《spirit of Gaia》 a fate influenced encounter Prolog 3000 years ago, a comet collided with Earth. The collision wiped out most of the human population but a large portion of their technology survived. Although the comet collision wiped out most of the life on Earth, strangely, no species went extinct, even previously endangered species such as pandas somehow managed to survive the collision. Not only that but soon after the collision hundreds of thousands of new species began to rapidly emerge. Some of the new species that emerged were humanoid in appearance and had similar intelligence to humans. The new humanoid species were classified into two main kinds, therianthropes, or therians for short, and elvenoids. The reason behind the names was that the new species resembled ancient creatures that were described in ancient myths and legends. Therians included numerous species but what they shared in common was that they all had animalistic features such as claws, tails, fur, or wings and they had sharper senses than humans and were stronger and more agile. Elvenoids had fewer species and they also didn¡¯t differ much from the human species but their most defining characteristic, besides their pointed ears, is their unique eyes which had the ability to see Aether. Before the elves appeared, Aether was a forgotten field that humans thought didn¡¯t exist. Aether is a medium that permeates all throughout space and allows light and an energy called mana to travel through it. Humanity had concluded in the early 1900s that Aether didn¡¯t exist but with its rediscovery, a new field of science was established or rather it re-emerged, and that field was known as Magic. The intelligent races became collectively called Sapiens and the comet collision became known as the Great Cataclysm among Sapiens. the knowledge about the cataclysm and the era before it is largely shrouded in mystery, as the collision whipped out most of the traces of civilization from that time and only a few records and relics survive. Now 3,000 years have passed. Technology is much more advanced than before and together with magic they brought civilization to a new height, and thus, mankind entered the age of magic technology. ************************************** Chapter 1 a fate influenced encounter Day: 13th of Jan year 5027 Location: Franklinstein forest _ haaaa_ She takes in deep breath and releases it in a long sigh. ¡®This place hasn¡¯t changed at all¡¯ She begins reminiscing on the old days when she used to walk this same road to the orphanage when she was still a child. She used to come out to the forest each day with the old man to hunt for food. Due to their circumstances, they couldn¡¯t buy anything and had to hunt for food and make their clothes from materials they gathered from the forest. However, that didn¡¯t mean that their clothes were bad, the old man was strangely skilled at netting clothes¡­and everything else now that she thinks about it. Before the silver cat is able to dwell on that thought, her peace is suddenly interrupted by the sound of fast heavy footsteps, crushed branches, and loud sirens. she turns towards the source of the noise and is met with an unexpected sight. a blonde human guy wearing a black shirt, black jeans, and glasses is running towards her with what looks like every police robot in the city chasing after him tearing down trees and breaking branches on their pass uncaring for the destruction they cause. ~HI NICE TO MEET YOU, BYE~ the blonde guy shouts as he passes by the cat girl Confused and a little startled the silver cat girl sweeps the air in front of her with her right hand and a magic circle appears in front of her. the magic circle emits light and forms a holographic screen that connects to the aethernet. The aethernet is a network that utilizes the Aether field to transfer information, making it much faster and accessible from any place on the planet without the need for a physical device to be carried around. The aethernet was developed by the famous magic scientist Diane, as were most of the early inventions after the cataclysm. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. the silver cat opens the wanted list and looks for the picture of the guy, she soon finds the article about him and skims over it. His name is Ken, a 21 year old male. According to the article he stole a newly discovered artifact while it was on its way to a famous archaeologist''s lab for analysis. The silver cat was fueled by anger toward the destroyed forest that she adored so much and her anger was further fueled by her strong sense of justice from knowing that the destruction was caused by a thief. As such, on reading this and without even looking at the large bounty of 1000000 aether coins that was placed on Ken, she decides to chase after him thinking she would have a better chance of catching him than the police robots. cat tribes are known to be the fastest among Therians and she knows this forest better than anyone, not to mention city robots are not designed for travel in the forest. _ Just give up you know you will get caught eventually it''s not like they will get tired _ The cat girl shouts to the guy named Ken in an effort to persuade him to surrender himself but that only makes the guy laugh ~pffft There''s no way I will get caught by such poorly made junk ~ The guy retorts then takes out a touch screen from his pocket and scrolls through several spells The touch screen Ken pulled out also known as a digital grimoire is another invention of the magic scientist Diane. it allows the user to store spells and the mana required to manifest them allowing the user to use any spells they want not limited by the magic affinity they are born with nor the amount of mana they have so long as they have the money to buy the spell. Ken picks a spell and then jumps. the spell uses wind magic to manifest a gust of wind that makes Ken float in the air for a short distance. however, it was slower than his running speed. Curious about why the thief would pick a spell to slow himself down and expecting trickery the silver cat decides to avoid the area of land he avoided with the spell. she jumps to a tree at her side and then uses the tree trunk as a platform to jump off of. Thanks to the high agility of the silver cat tribe, she is able to cover multiple feet with her jump and safely cross the area that the thief avoided. SPLASH As soon as the girl¡¯s feet touch the ground, she hears splashing sounds behind her. She looks behind to see the robots falling into a large hole filled with water that was covered by grass making it indistinguishable from the land around it. The silver cat knows this hole didn¡¯t exist before today. Furthermore, the water in the hole seemed to have many floating strings in it that entangled the robots when they fell in making them unable to get out. Ken had used spider silk ropes, which are now common thanks to spider silk producing goats created by genetic engineering. Ken tied the lower end of the silk to rocks at the bottom of the hole and the upper ends to grass that floated on top of the water. This made the grass stand upright and made the silk ropes stand straight up in the water ready to stick to and entangle whatever falls in. anger swells more inside the silver cat as the destruction to her beloved forest increases along with the list of crimes this thief is willing to commit. The silver cat runs faster and then begins to jump from one tree to another to close the distance before she launches herself towards the thief tackling him to the ground. But to her surprise, the thief turns around to face her and grabs her by the collar of her coat then falls backward with her, and uses his legs like a spring to catch and then launch her back in the air away from him. He gets back up and faces in the direction he threw. ~Why are you chasing me ~ ken questions the cat girl ''That''s one agile thief ¡­ for a human anyway '' the silver cat thinks to herself. she is a little surprised by the movements of the guy but it¡¯s not something she couldn¡¯t deal with if she had expected. She twists her body in the air effortlessly and gracefully lands on her feet as a cat should. she flicks her hair to return it to its place, before sweeping the air with her hand to access the aethernet. the holographic screen appears with his wanted poster displayed on it _You are a wanted criminal isn''t that obvious _ as she is displaying the wanted poster, the site updates. Ken looks at the site for a moment then his lips curl up into a smile as he tries to keep in his laughter _ What''s so funny _ the confused cat girl asks Ken points at the poster ~You just became a wanted criminal as well ~ the cat girl flips the screen to look at the poster to find it has just changed and now shows her name and picture beside his and says she works with Ken. The cat girl''s expression turns to shock before changing to one of extreme anger _ Why would they do that? you...... It''s your fault _ She points at Ken _ You, you will turn yourself in right now and explain I have nothing to do with this _ ~ Sorry for dragging you into this but I won''t and you are the one who chased me~ Ken shrugs with an uncaring expression the silver cat walks to him looking pissed off and punches him in the face making him fall to the ground then turns around and walks away. ~I deserved that, where are you going? ~ Ken sits up and caresses his cheek from the pain _to the police station to correct this misunderstanding _ Ken thinks to himself for a moment considering how this unexpected event would affect his plan, He then gets up quickly and grabs her arm stopping her ~no, you can''t, there is no misunderstanding they don''t want anyone to know about this they will torture you to get all the information you have and then probably kill you anyway~ She looks at him confused _You are a wanted criminal why would you care _ ~ I don''t. To be honest, helping you will probably just hurt me but it''s at least true you have nothing to do with it ~ He responds. However, in truth, he doesn¡¯t want her to report in and ends up lowering the time the world government needs to find his destination. _ How can I know you are not lying _ The cat girl looks at him skeptically her face still full of anger ~ Because I don''t have a reason to lie by the time you get to the police station, I will be gone you have to trust me ~ the anger the silver has been keeping down finally erupts _Trust you, you have ruined my life and made me a wanted criminal WHY WOULD I TRUST YOU _ she glares at him Although he doesn''t feel it''s his fault nor does he care, Ken decides to take the blame to cool the silver cat down ~ That is true and I am very sorry for it but right now I am the only one you can trust because I am wanted like you and I am going out of my way to help you as much as I can. I know it won''t make up for ruining your life like this but I at least don''t want you to die ~ the cat girl takes in a deep breath then sighs and looks at him while collecting her thoughts _ Fine I guess but you better believe if I find you doing anything that I don''t like I will be taking your life_ Ken Smiles looking at her then stands straight and salutes her like a military solider saluting his superior but with a smug look on his face ~ Sir, yes sir, now let''s leave before they send more robots ~ he begins to run but stops after a few steps and turns around and looks at her with a smile ~ By the way what''s your name? ~ he asks She looks at him intrigued and thinks to herself '' What an interesting guy '' Her lips curl up slightly into a smile before she answers - My name is Saiko - *********** Location: World capital city town square A guy wearing a brown leather coat and hoodie with a green scarf wrapped around his neck is walking in the streets of the town square, when suddenly, all the hologram ads in the sky of the city are interrupted by what seems to be an emergency announcement. the pictures of Ken and Saiko are displayed next to a reporter - Human male Kaneko Ken 21 years of age and therian female Izanau Saiko 20 years of age have stolen a historical artifact on its way to a lab for analysis. A bounty of 100,000 aether coins has been placed by the government on the two criminals and we urge anyone that has information on them to contact the authorities immediately - the reporter explains The hooded guy listens to the emergency report and his lips curl up -oh, it looks like someone stole the key how interesting ¨C Chapter 2 The key to Hermapolis Location: GSTF(global strike force ) headquarters, world capital city Day: 13th of Jan year 5027 soon after the emergency report, Secretary Clara an elf in her twenties enters the office of the director of the GSTF and adjusts her glasses -Sir you have a visitor ¨C she proclaims to the director The director a 40 years old human with a tired look sighs without even lifting his face from the report he is reading - Tell them to wait, I am busy did they not see the emergency announcement? - - I am afraid that won''t be possible sir - the secretary responds An old human with grey hair and a wrinkled face wearing a black tux enters the room - It''s been a while, William - the old man greets the director The familiar voice that called the director startles him making him immediately stand up to greet the old man - Mr. President! Why did you come personally you could''ve summoned me - - I have a special request that is of the utmost importance that could disrupt harmony it can''t wait and it must remain highly secretive - the old man responds A few minutes later - Alright Mr. President I will put our best man on the case ¨C Director William assures the president - I will be waiting to hear some good news, William ¨C The president nods and then leaves the director''s office Director William presses a button on his desk - bring me agent 00 immediately - ************************************************************************* location: Cedar Glade, the Central Nation Ken and Saiko are riding an off road car That Ken had hidden before he stole the artifact. _So, I think I at least deserve to know what this is about _ Saiko says while pointing at the golden sphere resting on a stand between the two of them _What is this thing? _ ~I have no idea. all I know is that it''s important and that the government spent millions of aether coins and tons of resources to obtain it ~ Ken responds Saiko smacks him on the head lightly and exclaims _and you stole it. Do you know how stupid and dangerous this is? _ Ken loses control of the car for a moment from the hit making them almost hit a tree, but the car¡¯s autopilot feature kicks in and avoids it before they do. ~ OUCH, right now I am far more worried about you killing us than the government, besides they weren''t going to share the information and I wanted to know what they are hiding and why. ~ _ What do you mean? why wouldn''t they share it? what''s so special about it?_ the silver cat asks with a skeptical look ~ As I said I don''t know but this sort of thing happens a lot. I love studying history and one thing I noticed is there are a lot of weird things going on with it. there are many holes that don''t get explained and discoveries that get ignored or outright suppressed and hidden, it''s like ancient history is fine and modern history is fine but the time period before the comet collision and the few thousand years before it is.....hazy to say the least ~ _ and what? you stole the artifact out of curiosity?_ ~ yeah, pretty much ~ Ken answers then he feels a chill run down his spin as an intense aura comes from beside him, he glances to the side and sees the Grim Reaper waiting for him as an angry Saiko raises her fist preparing to smack him all the way to the afterlife ~ WAIT, DON''T, IF YOU HIT ME WE ARE GOING TO CRASH~ a terrified Ken exclaims Saiko takes in a deep breath to calm herself down then sighs _ fine where are we going then? _ Ken lets go of the breath he was holding and sighs himself ~ that nearly gave me a heart attack you need to chill and we are going to a friend of mine who will tell us what the writings on this thing say ...hopefully ~ Time passes and the two of them arrive at a remote village that works as a gathering place for bounty hunters. Ken throws a white mask to Saiko. ~ Right now, this is the worst place for us to be. All the other bounty hunters will try to capture us if they see us so we will have to disguise ourselves. these masks will allow us to change forms to look like 2 bounty hunters but avoid any conversation if you can ~ _Okay _ Saiko nods as she checks out the mask They put on the masks which begin to alter the electromagnetic waves reflected and emitted from their bodies to change how others see them. Saiko changes to look like a tall man wearing a white cape with its hood down covering most of his face with a massive gun and a metal spear of some sort hanging behind him from his shoulders _ Interesting choice of weapons _ Saiko says as she checks herself out _ I look pretty hot, to be honest _ she says with a smile Ken changes to a serious looking black man wearing a black coat with one missing eye that''s covered by an eye patch. He had a shotgun at his back and two spell pistols hanging from his belt ~ Your name is Licht, who doesn''t talk much by the way, and always has a gloomy and serious demeanor so try to act that way, and My name is Zack ~ Ken says before getting out of the car and starting to walk Saiko follows after him and they walk to a shop in the middle of the village. Ken knocks on the door and a blonde human teenager wearing a blue hoodie and white jeans opens the door and lets them in then closes the door ken takes off the mask and returns to his normal look ~ Hey Rin~ he says with a smile -Hey Lunatic tell me why did you become the world''s number one enemy ¨C the teenager responds with a mocking look Saiko takes off her mask and answers _he stole an important artifact _ Rin looks curious -yeah, I got that from the announcement but why is it so important? Also - He looks at Ken -Aren''t you going to introduce me to your new friend here - ~ This is Saiko I kind of dragged her into this by mistake ~ Ken rubs the back of his head Rin chuckles -that''s just like you, you are always so reckless, and what about the artifact? ¨C A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.Ken takes the golden sphere out of his pocket and shows it to Rin. ~we don''t know. so I want you to translate what is written on it and hopefully, that will give us a clue ~ Rin walks to him and looks at it. -let me see, this is very different from any language I have ever seen but it reminds me of ancient Hieroglyphics but different ¨C _And what is that? _Saiko asks -It is a writing method used in ancient Egit for religious purposes and is known as the Holy text but this is a different one, I am guessing it''s a different writing method of the same language or maybe an earlier version of it - ~ But you can translate it still, right? ~ Ken looks at his friend with a confident smile as if he already knows the answer Rin smiles - Of course, I can I only need a few minutes ¨C Rin lifts the artifact up then a mechanical arm comes out from one of the walls then grabs the artifact from his hand and leaves with it. Moments later Rin''s eyes begin to flicker and he stares forward seemingly at nothing like he is daydreaming. Saiko observes his odd behavior then leans toward Ken''s ear and whispers _ Is your friend okay I don''t think that''s normal _ Ken chuckles slightly ~ this must be your first time seeing a techno mage they have a unique magic affinity that lets them communicate with and control machines through their mind and when they do that, that''s what they look like ~ _Oh that''s impressive I didn''t know that _ Saiko smiles and observes Rin -The artifact seems to be called the key to Hermapolis and it has a poem written on it that says: Oh Thoth I wish you would take me To your city in Al Ashmunin And take me to your temple of truth Guard my mouth when I speak So my tongue only speaks the truth I am for knowledge thirsty Like one who is looking for water in a desert It probably sounded better in the original language - Rin smiles as his eyes return to normal ~ Hmm any idea where or what Al Ashmunin is? ~ Ken asks - Well, yes, the only issue is this place is nothing but ruins now I don''t think you will find anything there ¨C ~ It''s worth a shot we have no other leads ~ - Alright ¨C Rin raises his hand and a mechanical arm comes out and places the artifact back in his hand ~ Did you finish what I asked for ~ Ken asks -Yeah, I did and I named it the demon sword ¨CRin answers with a grin on his face showing his pride in what he made _ Wait you had a weapon made? Didn''t we commit enough crimes? why do you want to add illegal weapons to it? _ Saiko''s eyes go wide from surprise and exclaims _ Is there no crime you are not planning to commit?_ ken shrugs as if it''s not a big deal to him ~ They already want our heads it can''t really get worse. we need weapons to be able to defend ourselves and not get killed ~ Saiko thinks about it for a bit still with signs of anger and frustration on her face, she knows that Ken is right but she can''t shake the feeling of guilt that she has. _haaaaa_ She sighs. _Fine, I guess. What does it do anyway; I don''t suppose you plan on fighting guns and robots with a normal sword _ Before Ken can respond Rin answers with a joyous and prideful tone. -Allow me to answer ¨C Rin walks to a wall and places his hand on it. the wall opens revealing a secret room. The room is filled with all different kinds of weapons, lab equipment, and what seems to be a large supercomputer. In the middle of the room, there is a table, on it is a large dark blue sword that is as long as Ken is tall with a blade that is way too wide for a normal sword, and the guard was shaped like a demon''s skull with two long horns. -This is the demon sword ¨C Rin says with a smile as he picks up the blade effortlessly - despite its look, it''s very light, the majority of the weight is in the skull itself as it serves two functions- He continues while counting on his fingers - 1 It houses the plasma reactor which is the main power source of the sword, you can think of it as a small sun, and 2 The nanobots are stored in the skull - as he says that the blade and handle of the sword seemingly disintegrate into small little particles that float in the air like a swarm of tiny insects and enter the skull - This way it could be easily carried around despite its large size - Rin continues - The two horns contain the two magnetic poles that are used to form a magnetic field to guide that plasma around, but they can also be used to generate electricity or well electromagnetic fields for other reasons - Rin shrugs his shoulders - knowing Ken, he will probably abuse every feature of the sword, so I gave him the freedom to use the separate components outside of their intended purposes - -The structures made by the nanobots are tough enough to withstand an explosion from a modern fusion bomb or a blast from an aether gun, but I certainly don''t need to explain that only the sword would survive in that case you would die still, so I don''t know why you wanted it this feature Rin looks at Ken with a skeptical expression for a moment then shrugs - but I learned not to question a lunatic so there is that I guess- - What''s an aether gun - a confused Saiko asks Rin and Ken look at her and then at each other - you don''t know? - Rin asks ~ Well, in this case, I guess most normal people wouldn''t be up to date with the latest weapons, so I think we are the weird ones ~ Ken chuckles then continues ~ I will try to explain it in simple terms. You know how the aether field is the medium in which light moves ~ Saiko nods _ yeah _ ~ Well it''s not just light, all electromagnetic waves travel in the aether, That is what light is it''s an electromagnetic wave; The current theory is that all of the fundamental forces arise from the aether field due to interactions between the electromagnetic waves in the aether. Although this is a very new field of study~ Ken smiles seemingly happy to talk about aetheric physics and was just waiting for an excuse to talk about it ~ The aether gun is the newest weapon built using this theory, It fires a beam of energy in the aether field to disrupt the weak and strong nuclear forces that are holding atoms together and thus making the atoms break down, the results are catastrophic to say the least ~ Saiko looks at Ken even more confused _ Yeah I am not sure I got most of that, I will just assume it''s terrible and very dangerous _ ~pffft ~ ken laughs ~ understatement of the year ~ -Ahm - Rin clears his throat to redirect the conversation back to the sword ¨C Well, anyway the nanobots of the sword all depend on the same theory their exoskeletons produce a very small aetheric field with a high density to prevent them from getting affected by any external force, next is the plasma core - The blade of the demon sword splits down the middle and each half moves to one edge of the mouth of the skull, making them resemble two massive fangs of the demon, then The mouth of the skull opens and begins to hum as a plasma blade forms between the two fangs and extending slightly beyond them. strong heat waves emanate from the plasma blade like ripples in reality, as though reality itself quacks under the weight of the demon sword. -The blade is about 500 million degree Celsius give or take a few million enough to vaporize pretty much anything it comes in contact with, well probably before it comes in contact with it, and it can be made into a blade or shot like a beam of plasma ¨C Saiko resists her instincts to back away from the demonic predator in front of her _Okay I admit it''s pretty impressive_ Rin answers with a proud expression as he makes the plasma blade recede and the two fangs close forming a normal blade -Of course, it is I made it and I can make a weapon for you as well if you desire- _No, I am fine I don''t want or need any weapons I prefer fighting with my hands _ -What about a shield or armor if you are on the fence because weapons are illegal, you should know armor is very legal so how about that - Rin smiles at the silver cat Saiko thinks for a moment then nods _yeah sounds good _ Rin places a hand on his chin and thinks for a moment - hmmm, all right I got it ¨C He raises an arm and a mechanical arm brings a box and hands it to him -this is the latest thing I developed, I call it Argus which means watchful guardian - Rin opens the box revealing a black gooey substance that seems to be moving and shifting constantly. - so basically, this is what I would like to call a smart fluid. it will enter your body and remain hidden inside it till you need it in which case it would come out and act as a second skin layer, it can also take different forms, and I am sure you will like it - Rin extends the box toward Saiko - Please put your hand in here - Saiko looks at the amorphous moving liquid with an unsettled look and hesitantly places her hand in the box. The liquid moves up her skin and immediately a shiver runs down her spine as the sensation of millions of little tiny insects crawling on her skin overwhelms her senses, but that was only the beginning as the millions of tiny insects then burrow into her flesh and crawl under her skin. in a few seconds, the box becomes empty and black goo disappears entirely inside Saiko leaving no trasses behind. Saiko shakes her head in displeasure _ eww, eww, I will never get used to this, well how do I control this exactly? _ Rin chuckles then answers - you won''t have to worry about that, Argus will connect to your nerves and be able to read your movements, sensations, and even your intentions and act upon them - Saiko looks confused but nods _ okay I guess _ -Oh, and by the way, Argus is self replicating, which means it can make more of itself over time, and to do that it will consume nutrients from your body so make sure you eat more food and drink a lot of water - _ Did you just give me a parasite?? _ Saiko exclaims raising one of her eyebrows at Rin -pffft - the little mad scientist laughs then gives her smug smile - yeah, I guess you can say that - ~ Well with that out of the way, we should move quickly before the government finds us, I estimate we have about five hours before they come here ~ Ken says as he puts on his mask _ and how exactly do you know this?_ Saiko looks at Ken skeptically ~ Simple, I hacked the government system and watched their pattern of behavior and how they deal with crimes for a few weeks in preparation for this mission~ - you mean, you made me hack them - Rin interrupts Ken ignores him and continues ~I then took the time they usually take to assign missions to a strike team and brief them and cut that time in half since I assumed they would do it quicker than usual for an important matter like this, then I made my plan to take half of that time, just in case something unexpected happens you know~ Saiko faces palms _ There is just no end to your crimes, is there? _ She then looks at Rin _ and you, why do you enable him? _ Rin chuckles - well you just can''t beat crazy you know, besides he pays me well - ~ Welcome to the team partner ~ Ken says with a smile then offers Saiko her mask The silver cat sighs then puts on her mask and follows Ken heading out of the shop Chapter 3 The girl with the evil eyes Day: 13th of Jan year 5027 location: town of bounty hunters, the central nation Ken and Saiko leave Rin''s shop disguised as the two bounty hunters Licht and Zack and walk towards Ken''s car that''s hidden outside of the town -Hey Licht- Saiko hears someone calling from behind them followed by Ken cursing in a hushed voice ~ Ah shit, why did he have to be in town ~ he whispers to Saiko ~ remember, leave the talking to me ~ Ken then turns around to face the bounty hunter calling for Licht ~ What do you want Drake ~ Saiko turns around and sees a middle aged human bounty hunter facing Ken, The bounty hunter has long black hair and is wearing camouflaged cargo pants, he is shirtless and his upper body is covered in tattoos. the two that stand out the most to Saiko are the ones on his shoulders. On his right shoulder, there is a tattoo of a one eyed man surrounded by crows and wolves, and on his left shoulder a horned man rests his back on the side of a massive wolf with an even more massive snake that curls around them and around the entire arm - Cold as usual huh? Just wanted to talk to my friend, besides since when are the two of you a team? - the bounty hunter sneers ~Since now ~ Saiko notes to herself ''Looks like he prefers to use traditional weapons '' Drake had two belts around his chest and one around his waist with all sorts of weapons, ammunition, and small pouches hanging from them, not mention the massive sniper rifle hanging from his back ''Between the 3 belts and the many pockets of his pants, I wonder if there is anything he doesn''t carry on him, A certain bat obsessed billionaire would be proud '' Saiko chuckles to herself quietly, but that chuckle was not missed by Drake, but he doesn''t comment on it The middle aged bounty hunter crosses his arms and responds to Ken sarcastically- Oh really well glad I am the first to know that ¨C He then looks at Saiko -Though I thought you said you wouldn''t team up with anyone - ~That changed ~ Ken responds - Hey, I don''t like the way you are talking to my master - Saiko shifts her eyes towards the kid who just called Drake his master. The kid who Saiko would later learn is called Leo, seems to be in his teens; maybe around 16 years old and he seems to have cold eyes. Unlike his master, he seems to be using modern spell guns specifically he has two pistols one on each of his hips Spell guns were developed after the comet impact 3000 years ago commonly referred to as the cataclysm. The earliest versions of spell guns were made by the magic scientist Diane, but they were later developed to a much higher degree The mechanism of spell guns can be summed up into two main parts, The first works in a way similar to the digital grimoire allowing the storing of spells with their required mana regardless of the magic affinity of the user. the second is an aetheric accelerator that launches the spells at very high speed at the target but not all guns can handle all spells. for example, spell pistols can only handle low intensity spells like a fireball or lightning bolt but if you want to use a high intensity spell like lava ball you need a spell rifle Drake lifts one hand up to stop his student then looks at Ken -Look buddy I am not talking to you I am talking to Licht, so you better stop speaking for him, got that? - Saiko hesitates for a moment worried she will expose them by misspeaking she was never a good actor nor a good liar, but it seems she can''t avoid speaking anymore, if she doesn''t this may turn into a fight _That¡¯s enough let''s not start a fight over this _ - Tell that to your new friend over here, why did you team up with him out of all people anyway? - Drake asks in a mocking tone _Well, he may have his flaws but he is good_ -Whatever man, anyway I heard that your mission had a big reward and I don''t see you carrying anything so where did you put all that money? - - The bank ?- Saiko answers confused with the odd question Drake looks confused for a second then smiles cheerfully - Well Licht, I am pretty sure your brother will be happy about all that money, how is he by the way - Saiko hesitates for a bit not wanting to lie but finds no other way _ he is fine _ Ken facepalms and thinks '' We are caught '' -hmm, I see, I see - Drake nods then pulls out a gun from his side and shoots Saiko in the stomach . . . Saiko takes a step back almost falling but catches herself. She coughs a bit of blood holding her stomach where she was shot and gives a weak silent laugh as the spell gets deactivated and she takes her real form _ That hurt _ Argus had moved quickly and blocked the bullet and although the bullet didn''t penetrate Argus, still the force of the point blank gunshot transferred to Saiko''s body and did a lot of damage to her internal organs. Ken takes off his mask as well and changes back to his normal appearance, Drake looks at him looking a bit surprised -ken! Of course, it had to be you I always thought you were a shady individual but even for you that''s a new low. why did you steal the artifact? - Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ~I liked how it looked ~ It was now Ken¡¯s turn to mock and he liked it - Is that so? Guess I won''t have to feel bad for capturing you. Still, it seems you didn''t give your partner all the needed information Licht never uses banks. the guy has serious trust issues, so it''s impossible for him to have someone else keep his money Additionally his brother is dead. That was a trick question to confirm my suspicions- ~ Well, I had to change my plans on my way here, Originally, I was going to be alone so, it is what it is I guess ~ Ken shrugs then continues ~I wish we had time to catch up but we have to go now if we want to be able to escape ~ By now most bounty hunters in the town became aware of Saiko and Ken''s presence and they began to surround them. They moved stealthily and hid like a pack of wolves circling their prey. However, Ken being a bounty hunter himself knows their tactics and how long it would take the information to spread and for them to surround them. Drake sneers - Oh, and you think I will just let you go just like that - Ken smiles confidently ~ Of course, you will, after I show you this, that is ~ Ken pulls out the demon skull from his pocket Drake looks at the demon skull curious and confused but still on guard. The eyes of the demon skull glows and fire off multiple bolts of lightning. Drake immediately jumps away in an attempt to dodge the lightning already expecting trickery from Ken. but alas it''s futile, had it been anything else Drake would have been able to escape but lightning is attracted to metal, and in this case, the metal in the weapons of the two bounty hunters. The lightning bolts chase after the master and student bounty hunters and electrocute them. Two screams of pain echo throughout the town then the two bounty hunters drop to the ground motionless ~ HA, losers ~ Ken laughs then kicks the motionless body of the middle aged bounty hunter Saiko looks at Ken both impressed and disgusted by his actions _ is this really necessary? They are already dead _ Ken stops and runs his fingers through his hair and calms down slightly ~ he bugged me with all his mocking and he wasted my precious time. also, he is not dead .....probably. he will probably have a few burns and a few other problems but most people who are struck by lightning survive and this is not as strong as actual lightening, so they should be back in action in no time after a visit to the hospital....unfortunately, maybe I should finish him of~ - GET THEM - one of the bounty hunters in hiding who got stunned by what they just saw snaps out of his daze when Ken suggests finishing off Drake and Leo and shouts. The rest of the bounty hunters snap out of their daze at the call of their colleague and come out of hiding and fire at Ken and Saiko with all kinds of weapons and magic spells they have The silver cat snaps into action and jumps in front of Ken to cover him, then Reading her intentions Argus rushes out of her hand forming a black shield between her and Ken, and the barrage of bullets and spells Ken smiles ~ See Argus is very useful~ he then points to a water tank on the roof of one of the buildings that looks like a hotel~ I want you to get there and break that tank ~ _ What about you? How are you going to deal with all the attacks without argus _ ~ oh me I am going to be invincible for a few seconds let''s see how long it takes them to figure it out ~ Ken uses some of the nanobots from the demon skull to make a floating face, he then adjusts his mask and puts it on the floating face. The mask then projects an illusion of Ken except this one is empty there is no physical body behind it, he then takes out his digital grimoire and picks an invisibility spell turning himself invisible. ~ I will run with you for a while and wait for you at the bottom of the hotel while my copy will act as a distraction ~ Ken runs and Saiko follows him the as barrage of spells and bullets from the bounty hunters continues. The copy of Ken runs in a different direction many of the hunters focus on Ken due to their anger at him but the spells and bullets go through the illusion like he is a ghost -What the ??- one bounty hunter questions his eyes - IT''S A FAKE - a more seasoned bounty hunter shouts - FOCUS ON THE GIRL ¨C The cat tribe and especially the silver cat tribe are not as physically strong as most therian races although their strength is still higher than most humans. However, what they lack in terms of strength they make up for with their heightened senses and agility. The whiskers of the cat tribe are able to sense vibration in the air alerting them to incoming attacks and nearby movement even if they can¡¯t see it. Their large movable ears are much better at picking sounds and the direction the sound is coming from. The cat tribes also possess a higher than normal amount of white muscle fibers which gives them fast burst like movement but makes them get tired more quickly than humans. However, that issue doesn¡¯t exist for Saiko as her white muscles were altered and are now red in color. Finally, the cat tribes, and especially the silver cat tribe have the fastest reflexes among Therians as their eyes have a wider field of view, and their nerves transmit signals faster. Relaying on her sharp senses and high agility Saiko is able to dodge most of the attacks and what she couldn''t dodge was blocked by Argus as she parkours her way from one building to another jumping from balcony to balcony and from wall to wall until she makes her way to the roof of the hotel. Meanwhile, a still invisible Ken fully forms the demon sword and stabs it into the ground then uses some nanobots to make a small floating platform for himself to sit on then waits. Saiko reaches the roof of the hotel and jumps towards the water tank and extends her arm preparing to claw at the tank, as she does Argus reacts to her intentions and rushes to her forearm and hand forming a massive black claw around her hand and hardens at the tips of her claw letting her rip through the metal tank like it is made of paper. The water in the tank is freed from its cage and rushes toward the ground flooding the town and everyone in the streets. Ken yawns as some water splashes against him. he then smirks mischievously as he makes the demon sword electrocute the water flooding the town and in turn, electrocute all the bounty hunters in the town who were touching the water Screams erupt followed by wicked laughter as all the bounty hunters collapse on the ground Ken appears, no longer invisible as his wicked laughter echoes in the now silent town ~ YOU ARE ALL A BUNCH OF FOOLS, IDIOTS, YOU FELL FOR THE SAME TRICK YOU JUST SAW DRAKE FALL INTO ~ Saiko lands next to him _ Do you have to do this? and I was just saying you are a good person _ ~ Hey they tried to kill us first. Besides, come on they just saw their friend get electrocuted and didn''t take any countermeasure against it. it''s funny~ Saiko sighs _ We have different definitions for that word _ ken shrugs and starts walking ~ I mean comedy is subjective so ~ Saiko follows after him _ is it okay to leave them like this ?_ ~ The cops will be here soon they will deal with it. Besides, the people inside the homes are still fine ~ _ By the way, shouldn¡¯t I get treatment? I probably have internal bleeding _ she asks ~ No need, in fact, you should be feeling better already ~ _Well, I guess you are not wrong, I am feeling oddly okay, why is that?_ Ken¡¯s lips curl up ~ That¡¯s because Argus stopped the bleeding and covered the damaged parts to allow them to heal back properly ~ _ How does that work? _ she asks while raising one eyebrow ~ let me give you an example to explain it, let¡¯s say one of your arteries were ruptured, Argus would move to the damaged artery, connect the two ends then covers them so no blood leaks out until they heal back up together ~ he turns toward Saiko and his expression turns to a stern one ~ however, it doesn¡¯t make you heal any faster, and there is a limit to how much it can hold your body together; so don¡¯t go thinking you are invincible ~ _ Wow, that¡¯s amazing, Why didn¡¯t you make Rin give you one as well? Wouldn¡¯t you feel much safer with it ?_ Ken shrugs his shoulders ~ Well, first, your Argus is the only Argus in existence it was the first one made. Second, it¡¯s still in its testing faze we didn¡¯t know how sapien bodies would react to Argus, and I didn¡¯t want to be the first one to test it ~ _oh, I see _ Saiko pauses for a moment then exclaims with anger _ WAIT, YOU MEAN YOU USED ME AS A LAB RAT _ Ken chuckles ~ It¡¯s more accurate to call you a lab cat, and you are welcome to remove Argus from your body, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend it since it¡¯s holding your internal organs together right now ~ _UGH_ On the roof of a building at the edge of the bounty hunter town. A girl sits at the edge of the roof and watches Ken and Saiko from a distance that would be too far for any normal person but not for her. Her eyes which have two pupils each, that she inherited from her family can see the two thieves easily. The girl was dressed in a black suit that looked to be a mix of traditional formal clothing and ninja attire. Her long black hair flowed behind her except for a portion that was held in a bun by a hairpin and 4 braided strands that wrapped around the back of her head before meeting in the middle and flowing down along the rest of her hair. a black face mask covered the lower half of her face leaving only her ominous black eyes visible. The girl sat there watching the two thieves like a predator eying its prey as they made their way to the car hidden outside the town and drove away. Chapter 4 On the road to Hermapolis Saiko rests on a tree branch enjoying the gentle breeze. She opens her eyes to look toward the building that used to be her home. the building sat on top of a hill surrounded by trees that sang with rustles and danced with the gentle breeze. The serene atmosphere and the bright sunlight reflecting off of the white walls of the building gave off a holy presence as if the divine dwelt within the shining white building. -Remember Saiko - The eyes of the silver cat grow wide in shock on hearing the familiar yet unexpected voice. her eyes dart to the side of the building looking for the source of the voice. she sees an old human man hanging up the laundry to dry on a simple clothesline hanging between the branches of the trees at the side of the white building. the man''s body looks healthy and youthful. one wouldn''t be able to tell his age if not for his gray hair and wrinkled skin. he is wearing a black buttoned up coat and black formal pants and had a black belt over his coat with an old book hanging from it. the book had a black hard cover with gold colored decorations and the title was written with ancient letters that Saiko didn''t know the meaning of. her eyes start to tear up as the youthful old man continues to speak -All people are born with a good nature however our spirits are drawn to evil. Evil is an enchanting mistress, it can be very tempting, and it will offer you an easier and faster solution to your problems but that solution will always make things worse in the long run, which is why your will must be strong and unwavering so you may resist her temptation - -that''s easy for you to say, old man- Saiko''s eyes drift behind the old man following the second familiar voice there she sees a younger version of herself sitting on an old tree stump behind the old man. the old man chuckles lightly. - indeed, it is much easier to say my child that''s why great people are not those who preach but those who act - the old man smiles and walks closer to the young saiko then kneels in front of her and pats her head - and I believe you can be one of those great people my child - the old man gets up with a smile and turns toward the building - alright saiko let''s go ba- - I AM HERE- -I AM HERE - -I AM HERE - Saiko opens her eyes and wakes up feeling groggy from sleeping in the car, they had gone to an abandoned ghost town and slept inside the car _What''s with that lame ringtone_ ~`It''s not lame it''s the catchphrase of an ancient hero who was living in Japan in the 21st century ~ _ And you made that into a ringtone _ she asks with a confused look - yeah- Ken responds with a proud smile while Saiko gives him a look that screams '' you are an idiot '' Ken ignores her and touches his watch. the ringtone stops, and then a small holographic blue screen appears in front of him showing a call from Rin, Ken picks up the call. the screen shows Rin sitting sideways on a comfy chair in the secret room of his shop. -Hey I snitched on you to the police- Rin says while munching on some snacks ~Good, did they confirm our location yet?~ Ken answers with a knowing smile like he expected it Rin nods- Yes, they did they have a satellite set on you right now. Saiko raises an eyebrow while watching the two of them rather confused _You are surprisingly okay with being snitched on_ she says with a questioning tone ~what they locked on is a fake, it''s a solid illusion spell covering a golem combined with an electromagnetic distortion device and a remove tracks spell to hide our real locati~ Rin interrupts ken - okay we get it we get it, you think of every little detail, also for the record they had updated their security system so it will cost you more this time- ~ sure thing buddy, how about a 20 % increase that should cover it ~ - no double - ~ DOUBLE THAT¡¯S BLATANT THEFT ~ Ken exclaims Rin shivers as he seems to recall something - you don¡¯t get man, there¡¯s something weird with their AI ¡­¡­no it wasn¡¯t their AI it was something else that thing was way too smart and it was a powerful techno mage it felt like it wouldn¡¯t stop at just hacking my computer but it felt like it was going to hack my mind I could feel it brush against my consciousness I shudder at the memory of it - Ken looks at the horrified Rin with surprise, it was his first time seeing Rin in such a state ~ told you there¡¯s something wrong with the government~ Rin shakes his head to get rid of the memory then looks at Ken - whatever just pay, and know that I will not take less than double- If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Ken sighs giving up not wanting to waste more time on negotiations knowing he will only have a few minutes ~ fine did they start moving ~ - yes, they are on their way to your location right now - Ken gets out of his car to the empty ghost town and walks towards an Aether port on the edge of the town, he then takes out his Digital grimoire and connects it to an old metal pillar in the middle of the town''s Aether port Saiko gets out of the car and follows Ken _ So I have a question, what''s with the watch? why not use the Aether net?_ ~well, I don''t know if it''s true but I suspect the government is somehow able to monitor everything on the aethernet and I do mean everything~ _ That''s impossible that''s too much information for anyone to monitor _ ~well, for any normal human yes, but a powerful techno mage connected to multiple quantum computers well, it''s suddenly not that impossible anymore, I long suspected that the government keeps the strongest techno mages for itself, and Rin¡¯s recent experience seems to confirm that ~ he continues ~ well to go around that we made these watches, instead of using the aethernet they use Rin''s techno magic connection with the watches so the information collected by the watch gets translated into mana signatures rather than electromagnetic waves, the mana signatures then travel to Rin''s brain and from it to the other watch you are trying to call and that watch translates the mana signatures back to electromagnetic waves, in fact, you should have one too ~ he takes a watch out of his pocket and gives it to Saiko Saiko pauses for a moment looking at Ken then takes the watch and wears it -I am not even going to pretend I got any of that, so anyway, care to tell me why we came here - ~ we will be teleporting to Hermapolis~ _ last time I checked teleportation can be done from anywhere it''s just another spell why do we need to be here _ - well, you are not wrong. however, that¡¯s only correct for short distance teleportation when it comes to long distance teleportation, you will have to take into account many things like the rotation of the earth, its speed, and place in its orbit, and the difference in latitude lines between the two points you are moving to and from, etc etc ~ the metal pillar begins to glow ~if you mess up any of these, the only place you will be teleporting to is outer space, and that''s why you need to use one of these pillars, they are all connected in a network, and each of them records their coordinates in space constantly to act as guides for teleportation, they also do all needed calculations for the portals, so the only way for safe long distance teleportation is through one of them - _ oh, I see I always thought that teleportation is only allowed from Aether ports to monitor immigration or smuggling, I didn¡¯t know it had a practical reason too, but why is there an Aether port in the middle of a random ghost town _ - it wasn¡¯t random, it was made here to teleport the scandium that¡¯s mind in the area when the mining ended and the town was abandoned no one bothered to break everything they left it to the elements no profits in breaking stuff down, aahh and I am done we are ready to teleport now - _ wait won¡¯t they detect us when we teleport the Aether field should be constantly monitored _ Ken smiles smugly proud of himself ~ that¡¯s why I made a false illusion, by making them go to a false location it will give us a few minutes after they detect us for them to bring their Men back to their base and then teleport them after us, and those few minutes are all we need ~ _ my God you really do think of everything a clap and a half to you_ Saiko smiles and claps for Ken as Rin chimes in - told you so the dude is a freak I doubt he is a sapien sometimes - _ They have a lot of other teams though couldn¡¯t they just send another team ?_ Saiko asks ~ they could, but I am placing my money on them wanting to keep this as tight lipped as possible, so they will probably have their best team on the job, but only their best team, so they won¡¯t risk sending another team and increase the risk of information spreading ~ Ken picks the teleportation spell from his digital grimoire, and a large blue portal appears in front of them ~ let''s go~ with a proud smile from knowing everything is going according to his plan, Ken walks to the car passenger seat and opens the door then bows towards Saiko ~ my lady, your ride awaits you ~ Saiko chuckles at Ken then walks to the car and enters _ what a true gentleman you are _ ~ I pride myself on following the example of old knights and heroes ~ Ken smiles then walks to the driver seat and enters the car Saiko looks at him with an amused look _ what kind of knights and heroes go around stealing, hacking, kicking, and mocking defenseless people, I could go on_ Ken''s confident smile continues unwaveringly ~well, just add a hypocrite to the list of crimes, problem solved~ Saiko looks bewildered by the answer and face palms as Ken drives through the portal at the other edge of the town, a girl with the eyes of a predator opens a similar blue portal and walks through it after Ken and Saiko leave ********************** A few minutes earlier location: the town of bounty hunters, the central nation Jorden walks around the town in a really sour mood, today was supposed to be his day off, he was going to go on a date with his girlfriend but instead, he is in a wasteland of a town filled with bounty hunters. -tsk damn bounty hunters - Jorden always hated bounty hunters, a bunch of lawless violent savages that would do anything for money, even now he was called to work because one of them had stolen some kind of ancient artifact. Jorden is a member of strike team 1 and his code name is 05, they were called by the director of GSTF to find the artifact and the people who stole it by any means necessary. he always hated when that sentence was used, he joined the police force to hunt down criminals but sometimes, on some of these missions, he felt like he was the criminal. - I should stop this line of thought I am sure the higher ups have their reasons, anyway, I have to report to the team leader- Jorden walks to an armored camouflaged vehicle at the center of the town. in front of the vehicle stands a man with blonde spiky hair and blue sparkly eyes, and pointed short ears a signature trait of half elves, unlike the men surrounding him, he wore no armor but a simple black coat with formal black pants and shirt. - team leader I received a report from a shop owner that the suspects headed west after buying several spells - - did you hear that operator; it matches the reports of other witnesses - - shouldn¡¯t you be calling your fianc¨¦e by her name Agent Claus, and yes, I have heard - the operator responds to the team leader through their team''s Aether channel from the team''s base back in the capital, the operator sits on her desk and then uses her techno magic to connect with the satellite system of the united world and scans for the suspects. the operator is a human with blueish silver bob cut hair, she wears a silver sleeveless long coat that goes past her knees, and covers her standard operator armor and gear; - operator Sophia we are on a mission - Sophia rolls her eyes - alright well agent double 0 I will have you know that I locked onto the location of the suspects - Jorden and the rest of the men become alert - team leader, we will proceed to intercept them - Jorden announces - hmm alright - Claus nods and continues - sure, do that - The men rush to their positions, and in a matter of seconds they are all in the vehicle and ready to leave - we are ready and waiting for you team leader - another member of the team says when he notices Claus doesn''t enter the vehicle - no, you can go without me - Claus responds The men look confused - what about you captain - Jorden asks - I will return to the base - a portal opens in front of him as Jorden and the rest of the team look in confusion but then they proceed with their mission and leave to capture the suspects **************** location: the base of strike team 1, the world capital Sophia turns from her desk to face Claus who just arrived through a portal - so why didn¡¯t you go with them - she asks - the Suspects won¡¯t be there - - what makes you think so - - there are reports of them wearing illusion masks and entering the town unnoticed, if they had access to them why wouldn¡¯t they use them to hide now, something is wrong- An alarm rings in Sophia''s mind through her connection with the satellite system and her lips curl up into a smile - looks like you¡¯re right. there¡¯s an illegal teleportation detected - -naturally -Claus nods then continue- now send me there ¨C chapter 5 agent double 0 Chapter 5 Agent double 0 Ken¡¯s car emerges out of the portal into a green lush dense jungle Saiko looks around and smiles enjoying the fresh air and the wildlife scenery _ What a nice place, but I don¡¯t think the car would be suitable for this _ Ken presses a button and the car begins to shrink and transform turning from a large car into a two seat buggy then drives through the jungle ~ don¡¯t worry I am prepared fo~ Sswwfft BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM RUMBLE Rumble rumble A plasma beam impacts the back of the buggy causing it to explode instantly the impact of the explosion rocks the jungle and sends all its surviving inhabitants running in fear. a ball of black gooey slime lands gracefully a distance away from the explosion and retracts revealing Saiko carrying Ken bridal style before disappearing back inside Saiko¡¯s body. having sensed the heat of the blast through her whiskers and fur and thanks to her sharp reflexes Saiko managed to grab Ken and jump from the buggy before the explosion and deploy Argus to form a shield around the two of them. _ way to jinx yourself princess guess you didn¡¯t prepare for this one _ Saiko chuckles slightly as she looks at Ken ~ well I didn¡¯t expect it to acutely happen, but I did prepare for it why do you think we got the weapons, and why I kept the backpack with me rather than keep it in the trunk of the car~ _ hm I guess you have a point there_ she nods ~ now let me down plea~ vrrrrrrrm Ken hears the sound of a bike. he looks toward the direction of the sound and sees a black armored motorbike with a blonde guy in a black coat riding it speeding towards them. Ken wraps his arms around Saiko¡¯s neck holding onto her tightly ~ on second thought I think I am gonna stay like this, you can outrun a motorcycle right ~ _ on a road no, in a jungle definitely _ Saiko chuckles, then starts jumping from tree to tree while carrying Ken Claus chases after the two of them on his motorbike - tsk, Sleipnir will need to be cleaned after this mission, what an annoying duo, why did they have to go to a jungle of all places - he complains - considering the nature of the item stolen and the location it¡¯s highly likely they will be trying to enter a historical site. however, this area is full of historical sites, so it''s difficult to guess which one- Sophia responds to Claus - tsk why couldn¡¯t they just explode in peace, why do criminals always pick the hard way - - the rest of the strike team is on their way back to the base; they will be able to teleport to you in a few minutes- - since when did I need a backup ¨C Claus''s lips curl up then he curls the handle of Sleipnir increasing his speed, and uses his spatial magic to open 3 portals that connect to a massive plasma cannon at the team base and fires them at the two thieves ********************** Three portals appear around Saiko one at each side and one behind her. she drops down to dodge them as three plasma beams intersect above her vaporizing the trees in their path, only to be met with another portal opening below her. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. she uses Argus on her hand to extend her reach to grab a branch and launch herself out of the way still carrying Ken who keeps having branches and pieces of debris slam into his face and body. one branch smacks his glasses off of his face leading him to reach out and grab the glasses before they fall. ~ hey can you be more steady these are expensive you know ~ he complains while putting his glasses back on. _ oh, I am sorry I am too busy trying to save our lives here _ ~ yeah, yeah whatever, I am getting tired of running away let''s end this ~ Ken adjusts his glasses and then grabs the demon skull that is hanging on his side by a leather belt. nanobots flood out of the skull forming the demon sword whose blade then splits down the middle then opens up to look like two massive fangs for the demon skull, then the mouth of the skull opens revealing the plasma core inside that glows like a burning sun. SCREEEEEECH the core screeches as it spins generating massive amounts of plasma making it resemble a wailing demon. Ken¡¯s glasses glow and then project an aiming assist display on the glass sheets of the glasses. he aims at Claus, then the screeching suddenly stops and for only a second the forest fell silent. none of the inhabitants dared to make a sound in the presence of such a predator and then suddenly as sudden as the moment of silence arrived it ended THUUUUUNDDDER A massive plasma beam erupts from the skull shaking the entire forest instantly vaporizing everything it touches, and leaving a path of lava, death, and destruction behind it, but it completely misses. Saiko had pushed Ken¡¯s arm away when he was firing, completely messing up his aim ~ WHAT¡¯S WRONG WITH YOU? WHY DID YOU DO THAT? ~ he shouts in frustration _You are not allowed to kill him _ ~ BUT HE IS TRYING TO KILL US ~ _ We are criminals, he, on the other hand, is just doing his job, that¡¯s the difference he doesn¡¯t deserve death and I won¡¯t let you kill him _ ~ you are insane whatever head north ~ ********************************************* a portal meant to Catch the plasma beam closes in front of Claus having caught nothing - a thief with morals, now that¡¯s new - Claus''s lips curl as he watches the thieves - people are complicated - Sophia responds to him - hey Sophia can you run me a background check on these two they don¡¯t look like your average criminals - - already on it - - oh and add a "creation and possession of illegal weapons" to their list of charges - Clause chuckles as he continues to chase after Ken and Saiko - I thought you were starting to like them - she asks - oh I am but work is work - the chase continues but at far less intensity, as Claus stops using deadly shots, opting more for shots that would incapacitate if they hit rather than kill, like aiming for the arms or legs, which makes them easier to evade as the three individuals race to the temple of knowledge, a girl with eyes that have two pupils each chases after them and watches from a distance far too long for normal eyes to see. he feels more intrigued about the two criminals. one used to be her colleague, well, as much as bounty hunters could be called colleagues, certainly, there was no sense of companionship that prevented her from trying to hunt him down the moment he became a wanted criminal, but he was among the better bounty hunters out there not that that was a hard bar to clear. ''and then there is the other one¡¯ She thinks to herself. she is a girl she never met before and she doesn¡¯t seem to have the mannerisms of a criminal let alone a bounty hunter, and for some reason, she glows in her eyes brighter than the sun at midday in the summer, it almost hurts her eyes to look at her. then there¡¯s the fact that they didn¡¯t try to sell the artifact but came to this jungle doesn¡¯t look like they are motivated by money ¡® something is iffy about this ¡® she wonders to herself as he continues to chase after them ***************** some time passes and Ken and Saiko arrive at the ruins of something, it¡¯s hard for them to tell as there¡¯s barely anything left but the key seems to be reacting and glowing the closer they are to it. Saiko jumps to the side as another plasma beam vaporizes the branch that she was standing on a moment earlier. _ I am starting to get tired here tell me we are close _ she says while panting ~ I have to say your endurance is impressive, you have been running, jumping, and dodging for about 15 minutes now, all while carrying me, but you will be happy to know that yes, we arrived ~ Ken smiles and lifts the key upwards and begins to chant the poem ~Oh Thoth I wish you would take me To your city in Al Ashmunin And take me to your temple of truth Guard my mouth when I speak So my tongue only speaks the truth I am for knowledge thirsty Like one who is looking for water in a desert ~ as he does the forest rumbles then rocks that look different from the natural rocks of the forest begin to lift up from the ground all over the area and float in the air. they were neatly carved granite rocks, heavily eroded by time, but still carry the magnificence they once had when they were first cut. the rocks float to an area in front of Ken and Saiko and form a massive temple ******************************** Claus gets taken off guard when the forest suddenly starts shaking as a big chunk of the earth he is driving on lifts off of the ground and floats towards the forming temple he jumps off of it barely avoiding crashing with his bike - what is going on here - he exclaims - there is a large spike in aether field activity where you are, be careful Claus - Claus dodges the flying rocks and opens multiple portals to fire at the forming temple, but the temple seems unaffected by the attacks. he rushes towards the two thieves firing at them but they manage to enter the forming temple, then its massive rock doors close behind them locking them inside. moments later the aether field spike stops then the temple begins to crumble returning to ruins as it once was, as though nothing ever happened with no traces of the two thieves to be seen Chapter 6 Welcome to the labyrinth new students Chapter 6 Welcome to the labyrinth new students Ken and Saiko enter the temple. the large stone doors close behind them, covering them in complete darkness, but the darkness only lasts a moment before sunlight enters the temple illuminating it Ken looks around in utter shock ~ how is the sunlight reaching inside the temple ~ Saiko shrugs her shoulders and looks at him _ I don¡¯t know magic, doesn''t sound like a big deal to me _ ~ no, magic has rules and laws. it doesn¡¯t break the laws of physics. how is light from the outside reaching us here when there are multiple feet of solid rock between us and it~ _ dude, we just watched a multi millennia old building reconstruct itself, and you are surprised by some light _ - that¡¯s different that could be explained- Ken messes up his hair in frustration and gives up - whatever let¡¯s move on - Despite its grand construction, the temple was rather small, it had multiple pillars with various ancient inscriptions on them. the pillars as well as the walls had various depictions of a man with the head of an ibis bird sometimes holding a scroll and a pen, and sometimes holding a scale. there were also various depictions of baboon monkeys and ibis birds but the most significant one was a large statue of a baboon with the head of a dog wearing a crown with a moon disk on its head. Below the statue lies a stone plaque. Inscribed on it in an ancient language, similar to the one used on the key and yet different, are the words [ LORD OF EL ASHMUNEIM ] Ken looks at Saiko with a blank expression on his face ~ you can read this right ~ _ yep, I certainly can _ ~ why can we read this?~ _I don¡¯t know _she responds while shrugging her shoulder ~ and why do I know that El Ashmunein refers to this place? I didn¡¯t know that before reading, better yet, why can I tell you exactly where this name came from and how it came to be ~ _ I don¡¯t know _ she shrugs ~ aaaaaarrrhhhh~he groans in frustration ~ I can tell this place is going to drive me nuts ~ Ken sighs looking very irritated _ oh, hey I think your key goes there _ Saiko smiles and points to a round depression below the statue that seems to match the shape of the key Ken takes out the key and places it in the depression - looks like a perfect fit- RUMBLE RUMBLE the ground shakes as the statue moves to the side revealing an underground tunnel Ken looks at the tunnel and then at Saiko and bows with a smile while pointing toward the tunnel with his hand ~ after you my lady~ If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Saiko rolls her eyes and enters the tunnel _oh, how knightly of you _ ~ hey you are objectively more durable than me since you have Argus~ Ken chuckles and follows after her then the statue moves back sealing the tunnel behind them *************** _ wow this is one long tunnel how long has it even been _ a jovial Saiko chuckles and turns to look at a half dead looking Ken who is barely able to drag his feet along at this point. ~ 49 hours 32 mins 27 seconds ~ he says with a raspy and weak voice he answers - heh, you are even counting the seconds how dedicated _ ~ how are you so jovial about this ~ _ not like panic would help us at all _ ~ WE HAVE BEEN WALKING FOR TWO WHOLE DAYS~ _ no, we took rests and we slept _ ~ NO YOU SLEPT HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO SLEEP IN A PLACE LIKE THIS ~ _ oh, I have been through worse_ Ken squints at Saiko skeptically ~ I will ignore how dark what you just said was ~ _ oh look! looks like we arrived _ ~ oh ~ Ken runs to catch up to Saiko and is met with a large stone door with an ibis bird carved on each side, and a moon carved on the center top of the door. below the moon, there are depictions of various humans sitting in cross legged positions and writing on boards RUMBLE the moon splits in half as the large multi ton door opens seemingly by itself. when the door opens, Ken and Saiko are met with seemingly endless halls with massive pillars and many rooms, the walls and pillars are all filled with writings and inscriptions with not an inch of space wasted. the rooms are filled with papyrus scrolls somehow perfectly preserved. the whole building is so marvelously designed with no seams as though it¡¯s all carved out of one single piece of rock after some walking Ken and Saiko come across a massive statue, the statue is of the man with an ibis bird head they saw earlier in the temple. he is wearing a crown with the moon above it, he holds in one hand a large staff with the head of a Jackel and in the hand a feather pen and a papyrus scroll Saiko smiles standing in front of the statue and admiring its magnificence _ I guess that¡¯s their god, the lord of el ashmunein Thoth _ Ken chuckles a bit and looks at her with a smug look on his face - there is no such thing, gods don¡¯t exist they are just fairy tales ancient people came up with to make sense of a world they didn''t understand and depend on in the face of an uncaring nature they feared and felt weak against- Saiko raises an eyebrow and gives him a skeptical look _ does it look to you like these people, the people who built this, didn''t understand nature and felt weak against it? _ Ken is about to answer then pauses for a minute to think ~ a¡­¡­. Okay I give you that point, but still, gods aren¡¯t real maybe these ones didn¡¯t come up with them just inherited them from people who were more primitive from an older time, when people haven¡¯t yet learned magic. doesn¡¯t matter~ Ken walks to the statue and knocks on it smugly ~what matters is this dingus doesn¡¯t exist. there¡¯s no man with an ibis head, there are no half fish women in the sea, no bird man is carrying the sun on its head, and there¡¯s definitely no old man in the skAAAAAAAAAAAAY- Ken gets lifted in the air and starts to chock as though an invisible person is holding him by the neck ~ o, okay I believe in you I believe in you l, let me go ~ Ken exclaims as he chocks - what was it again? Ah, right guard my mouth so that it may only speak the truth. since you came here, you have only been speaking none sense- a body starts to slowly materialize in front of Ken floating in the air and holding him by his neck. Ken looks at his assailant with terror. his body was transparent at first, but it slowly became more visible till it became like looking at colored glass or water ¡­no that¡¯s wrong ''it¡¯s like FIRE '' Ken looks more terrified as his brain tries to make sense of the entity he is looking at. his body is light blue, like a shimmering blue flame his body sways in the air, with bits of white light that flicker in and out of his body like stars in the night sky, and a beautiful dancing blue smokeless flame crowns his head where hair should be and emanate from his feet and shoulders. Violet eyes with yellow glowing slits stare down at Ken, no, they were looking at something else, something fundamental. ''he is looking into my soul '' Ken never believed in such a thing, but for some reason, that''s the only word he could think of to describe what he felt under the gaze of those eyes. Ken clasps his hands together and begins to pray ~ please Mister Thoth, I mean god Thoth please spar me ~ - ENOUGH WITH YOUR LIES - the entity shouts then throws Ken away slamming him against the ground ~ ow ow ow~ - I can tell you are lying; if something like that was enough to change your beliefs, then your faith is weak and your mind is weaker - ~ heh well since you know I am lying I guess my mind isn¡¯t weak ~ the entity looks at Ken, and then Ken¡¯s body gets slammed against the ground again. Ken tries to get up but is unable to move, his body feels many times heavier than before as though gravity itself changed for him and him alone. ~ how is this possible? why do impossible things keep happening today? ~ - they are not impossible your mind just can¡¯t comprehend them - the entity retorts ~ ahh well I guess I have to grant you that, I really can''t comprehend it ~ Saiko walks in front of the entity _ please Mister Thoth, let him go, he is quite foolish but he is not that bad of a person_ - don¡¯t worry young one I won¡¯t kill him, he just irritated me, also I am not the god Thoth - - HA I KNEW IT - the Entity waves his hand and Ken gets dragged across the floor, seemingly by nothing but the laws of the universe itself, and slams into a wall with a loud thud - Thoth was my master he unfortunately is no longer among us my name is Naoi I am the guardian of the labyrinth welcome new students- Chapter 7 ancient magic Chapter 7 ancient magic - my name is Naoi I am the guardian of the labyrinth - announces the Firey entity Saiko bows in respect toward the floating fiery entity _ a pleasure to meet you mister Naoi. I am Saiko, and the pile of bones over there is Ken_ - I am aware of your names, child - ~ can I ask what you are sir, if you are not a god ~ - I am an existence known as a Jinn we are a species that existed on Gaia far before sapiens were sent to Gaia - _ What¡¯s Gaia ?_ she asks Ken gets up when the effect of gravity on him returns to normal and starts checking if his body is okay ~ ow ow my everything hurts, Gaia is the name the ancient Greeks gave to planet Earth ~ - mhm you are half right - Ken raises an eyebrow looking at the floating Jinn ~ what? do you want to tell me she was a real goddess too? ~ - not quite, Gaia is not a goddess she¡¯s a godhood- Saiko chuckles looking at Ken _oh the look on your face is priceless right now _ A dumbfounded Ken looks at Naoi ~ what is that supposed to mean ~ - you don¡¯t need to know, not like you will ever become a god - Saiko''s ears turn towards Naoi and perks up at what he said _what? someone could become a god? _ Naoi smiles at Saiko with a gentle expression - indeed child, most gods were mortals, my master Thoth was once a human, a scholar with a hunger for knowledge unlike any other and with the devotion to match - Ken puts his hands at his waist and puffs his scrawny chest standing in a hero like pose and says mockingly ~ I hereby declare that I am the god Ken and from today forward everyone shall worship me, I have as much claim to godhood as Thoth anyway if he was a man that lived ~ _ pfft you don¡¯t have the body to pull that pose off_ Saiko laughs while an irritated Naoi rubs the area between his eyebrows with two fingers ~ well I have something more important than gods to ask about what is this place ~ Ken smiles and asks - this is the labyrinth built after the great cataclysm so that it may store the knowledge of sapiens for future generations, so that if another cataclysm occurs in the future, the knowledge may survive- Naoi continues while gesturing to the writings that cover the walls and pillars - the labyrinth contains all the knowledge that sapiens learn in the past present or future. it is all recorded here - Saiko looks at Naoi _ are you talking about the comet that hit Earth 3000 years ago _ - no that was certainly a cataclysm but it¡¯s not the one I am referring to - Naoi responds - the one I am referring to happened much earlier than that, but one can view the comet impact 3000 years ago as an example of why this labyrinth was built and a demonstration of my master''s foresight¡­¡­¡­but even my master as great as he was couldn¡¯t foresee a situation like what happened 3000 ago- Naoi whispers the last part to himself If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ken looks at Naoi with hungry eyes ~ wait! you are saying this place contains the knowledge of the crazy stuff that¡¯s been happening here ~ Naoi sighs and floats down - your thirst for knowledge is the only reason you are still alive, at least that part of was truthful, and yes you can learn everything here, well not quite, the labyrinth is designed to judge the people. it will only teach you what you know to ask, and what it judges you are fit to learn - he continues -let''s say you want to learn how gunpowder is made first you need to know that gunpowder is a thing that exists so you can ask about it then the labyrinth needs to judge whether you are fit to know how to make gunpowder or not - ~why the second requirement ~ Ken inquires -Master Thoth didn''t want knowledge to get into the hands of the wrong people; sapiens'' history is more than enough evidence of how knowledge could be misused if placed in the hands of the wrong people - ~ couldn''t I just you know walk around here and find what I want to know ~ Naoi sneers -well, you can, but first you need to be allowed inside by me and second knowledge is infinite you will search endlessly before you can find what you want - ~ fair enough teach us we want to learn your magic~ - very well - _you can do that? I thought magic types are something you are born with and can''t be changed that''s why we buy spells right? _Saiko asks - you are somewhat correct magic can be divided into four main types fire magic, water magic, earth magic, and air magic, or what is known as elemental magic, all other forms of magic are derived from one or more of these primary four elements, for example, light magic is derived from fire magic while organic magic that manipulates living bodies is a mix of water and earth magic- he continues -each person is born with an affinity for one type of magic with the exception of the race you call elves, who have an affinity to all elements and thus can have more than one type of magic and while it''s true a person can''t change their affinity so a person with light affinity can''t learn technology magic or wind magic they can return to their base element and learn fire magic - Naoi walks closer to Saiko and smiles at her -tell me child what''s your affinity? - Saiko hesitates for a moment and looks down in shame because of her magic affinity _ my affinity is decay _ Naoi places one hand on her shoulder using the warmth from his hands to soothe and calm her down - that''s quite alright child, that doesn''t mean your nature is a bad one don''t you already know that all people are born with good nature- Seiko''s ears twitch and she perks up looking at Naoi with a shocked look _How do you- Naoi cuts her off and continues with a smile ignoring how she is looking at him - decay is a part of the natural order of the world; life and death are in an eternal cycle without decay and death there wouldn''t be any life. decay is perhaps the closest element to life you need not feel shame about it. of the people that are alive on Gaia right now my child you are the closest to the divine - Ken interrupts and rushes to Saiko with a wide grin ~did I hear that correctly? you have decay magic? do you know how expensive that is we are rich not to mention all the spells and weapons we can make, we no longer have to fear the world governuaaaaaaaa- Ken starts floating in the air again before he is sent flying away -as I was saying before being rudely interrupted, decay is derived from darkness which is derived from water so my child would you like to learn water magic - ~ s, sure that sounds good ~ Saiko smiles slightly and rubs her upper arm the labyrinth walls glow and then begin to drift at very high speed like sliding doors and soon Saiko finds herself standing in a room with all there is to learn about ancient water magic Naoi smiles gently at Saiko - I will now leave you to study - Naoi floats to a different room where he had thrown Ken earlier -now shall we see what you will be learning, insolent bastard - Ken cracks his shoulders and neck then adjusts his glasses ~ my magic affinity is lightening magic so probably the fire element but I am not interested in that~ - oh - Ken points at the floating jinn ~ I want to learn your magic. I want the magic that bends the laws of physics ~ Naoi narrows his eyes looking at Ken - the laws of the world are absolute, unbendable, unchangeable - ~but you change them, you make a mockery of them, this place makes a mockery of them ~ - that is not the case, you simply lack the insight into how the world truly works - ~stop talking in riddles how do you do what you do ~ Naoi sighs - very well I will tell you. we jinns are creatures of pure energy created from the element of fire. we can manipulate the aetheric field itself transcending elemental magic and allowing us to control energy, its transfer, and what the sapiens call the fundamental forces of nature such as gravity and electromagnetic force - ~so, you do bend the la~ Naoi interrupts Ken before he can finish his sentence -HOWEVER, we do not manipulate the laws we simply have a better understanding of them, let me give you an analogy to what I mean. you know that magnets produce a magnetic field that attracts iron; what we do would be similar to you moving the magnet away from iron so it doesn''t attract it or introducing another magnet of equal strength to pull on the iron from the opposite direction to keep it in place however what you can''t do is you can''t make the magnet stop producing a magnetic field nor can you prevent the iron from attracting to the magnet - Ken thinks for a moment then smiles ~ All alright got it now teach me~ A final warning before you study aetheric magic, if you learn aetheric magic you will not be able to use elemental magic - ~ I am fine with that teach me already ~ a single pillar grows from the ground ~ huh? how come I only get a single pillar while Saiko gets a massive room with many pillars and even more scrolls - - this is what the labyrinth judges is fit for you to learn, maybe if your character changes, you will be given more knowledge in the future - ~ I call bull, are you sure you are not the one secretly controlling everything and just blaming it on the labyrinth - Naoi rolls his eyes then leaves Ken and floats away Chapter 8 Priest si u Chapter 8 Priest si u location: World Archives, the central nation Day: 16th of Jan 5027 -Claus - a tired operator Sophia calls agent double 0 through the team channel -yes - - there is nothing - she says as she places another file on the large stack of files next to her -what do you mean there is nothing - -just like I said, I have combed through everything. there is nothing; there is no digital record, no physical record, nothing it''s like she randomly appeared in the world two years ago - -maybe she is just a good hacker who was able to hide their identity from the system - Claus wonders - no, Claus you don''t get it. a good hacker could possibly remove themselves from the digital archive system but wouldn''t be able to get rid of their physical file. that''s why I came to the archives, for them to have no physical file in the archives means one of two things either they don''t exist or - -or someone high up in the government removed their file - *************************** location: the ancient labyrinth Ken walks towards Saiko and Naoi who is helping her study water magic, holding an empty bottle of water in his hand ~looks like we will have to leave this place soon ~ Saiko turns to look at Ken _ oh, why is that? _ ~we are running out of food and water we have been here for a week ~ - oh, but we haven''t finished studying yet besides there''s so much more to learn besides magic - during the week she spent in the labyrinth Saiko was able to learn one third of the information recorded in the room. if Naoi were to rank the silver cat among the water mages he met based on her talent, she would rank in the top 10 % ~ you are not wrong but my desire to live outweighs my desire to learn ~ Ken responds Naoi raises his hand and the two of them stop talking and look at him - you can take the labyrinth with you once the labyrinth gets a new heir it stays with them till they die - Ken looks at Naoi with intrigue ~how are we going to do that?~ having finished studying all the information on the pillar, he now realizes that many things he once thought impossible are now possible yet despite that nothing he learned would make it possible to take the labyrinth with them - the labyrinth''s form is changeable. it can be a scroll, it can be a massive building, it could be a library, it could be stone tablets but its most commonly used form is a book - the walls of the labyrinth glow with golden soothing light then begin to slide at extremely high speed toward Noai. the walls of the labyrinth shrink smaller and smaller the closer they get to Naoi, before turning into a mist like golden substance that then transforms into paper soon the entirety of the labyrinth has turned into paper; leaving them standing in a massive underground cave, then a string appears binding the papers together at one edge before a black cover with golden decorations appears around the paper and closes on them, finally, ancient writings appear on the cover of the book that Saiko and Ken are now able to read [ the book of knowledge ] Ken looks utterly dumbfounded before his expression turns to anger ~ DON''T BREAK THE LAWS OF PHYSICS MY AS~ Ken gets pushed to the side by Saiko who looks even more shocked than Ken is, she hastily tries to grab the floating book before hesitating and looking at Naoi You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. _th-this this book ....this book used to belong to my old man_ Naoi smiles gently at Saiko - that is correct my child priest choi si-u was the previous heir to the Labyrinth or should I say the Book of Knowledge now. he was a good man very close to the divine, that is also why I know you very well my child even better than you know yourself I have watched you grow up since the day si-u found you - Ken looks at Naoi with a look that says he finally understood something ~ so that''s why you showed her such blatant favoritism ~ Naoi ignores the insolent child and continues. - now it''s your turn to inherit the labyrinth I am sure priest si-u would be proud - a still shocked and confused Saiko looks at Naoi _ No, I don''t get it how is the old man involved in all of this _ Naoi looks at her apologetically - well, he wasn''t born a priest my child. he was always a good man close to the divine but he only became a priest after he found you. do you remember how he found you? - Saiko pauses for a moment recalling the day her suffering ended _ .... I, I do. I think I was 10 years old at the time_ she begins to tell them her story as the vivid memories play in her mind _Everything before that day is a haze, but that day I remember clearly _ ******************************************** BOOOOOOOOOOM WHEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOO - THE FACILITY IS UNDER ATTACK -shouts a worker BOOOOOOOOOOM explosions erupt all around the facility -PROTECT THE WEAPON - a guard shouts for the first time since she could remember the door to Saiko''s room opened and a group of armed men rushed inside. confused and scared little Saiko runs to her bed and hides behind it. her room was an empty one; four grey metal walls a bed, and a bathroom area leaving her with few places to hide a blurry figure enters the room after the guards. CLANK SWIFT its movements were so fast before Saiko could see who or what it was three guards had already dropped to the floor dead. sounds of gunshots and metal colliding against metal fill the room as the guards engage the intruder. Saiko sees this as her chance to escape; she collects her courage and runs out of the room. once outside she is met with a hellish sight; the entire facility seems to be burning and bloody corpses fill its halls she runs looking for an exit as the smell of burnt corpses fills her nose, but try as she might she can''t find an exit. getting desperate she decides to use decay magic on a wall but when the wall decays the only thing she finds is dirt as the facility is built underground. - EVERYONE HEAD TO THE WEAPON¡¯S ROOM- Saiko hears one of the guards shouts followed by the loud sound of footsteps she frantically looks around for a place to hide fearing if they find her, they put her back in her room again. she notices a lab area to her left then runs to it and hides in one of the cupboards. Saiko hides as the screams and sounds of fighting continue outside but after a few minutes it becomes quite tap tap tap sounds of calm footsteps echo outside of the cupboards. Saiko puts her hand over her mouth to muffle her breathing scared the guards will find her as footsteps get closer and closer . . . creeeeeeek _kyaaaaa_ little Saiko screams as the doors of the cupboard open and closes her eyes then throws a ball of decay at what she expects to be the guards -wow there that almost hit me - Saiko feels a gentle hand pat her head. she opens her eyes to see an old man wearing a black coat that''s half soaked in blood looking at her with a gentle smile -it''s okay now - the old man continues - you don''t have to be scared anymore - ********************************************** _ That was the first time I met the old man _ Saiko continues _As time went on my memories of the days I spent in the facility became hazy. I remember small glimpses sometimes visions in my dreams I remember a lot of blood I remember being locked up, but every time I asked about the facility or why he was there that day he always dodged the question _ -he sealed away some of your memories so you don''t remember the pain- Noai responds -originally, he was a special agent in the government. he climbed up in the ranks until one day he was high enough to be informed about the living weapon program as they called it when he saw the living weapon when he saw you and the suffering you were going through it weighed on his heart, they told him it was for the sake of harmony but he couldn''t endure watching you suffer he became the heir to the labyrinth and then broke you out of your confinement took you under his care and gave you a place you can call home - _but why? was I locked up _ Naoi looks at her with a sad look - I am sure you can guess why; you already have the pieces of the puzzle my child - Ken looks thoughtful for a moment ~ I think I figured it out it''s because of the labyrinth right? you said the labyrinth judges your character before it gives you knowledge right they used kids so that the labyrinth would judge that their innocent nature is worthy enough to gain powerful knowledge ~ Naoi nods - that is correct but only half correct, they also selected children with rare and powerful magic affinities such that when combined with the knowledge of the labyrinth they would produce the most powerful mages after all children are the most beloved by the divine Naoi continues- they kidnap them soon after birth and make them go through hardships the more hardships they make the children go through the closer to the divine the children become and the further away from the divine they become - Ken shakes his head and looks at Saiko ~ tsk tsk tsk told you this government is corrupt ~ Saiko looks at Naoi _ there are others besides me? _ -all your siblings in the orphanage were living weapons like you - _What happened to the old man why did he disappear two years ago _ - he went to save a child as he had done many times before but that time fate wasn''t on his side and he was caught to make sure the labyrinth didn''t return to their hands he asked me to return it to its original position and shape hence why they went looking for another key, but fate saw to it that a curious insolent child may steal the key and run into you my child bringing both of you here so that you may inherit the labyrinth - Ken looks offended by the insult ~hey ~ Saiko pauses for a moment _ We have to find the other children we have to save them _ ken interrupts Saiko ~sure, but first we need to get out of here get food water, and a place to hide then we can plan our next move if we want to save anyone, we need to be alive to do that if we move recklessly we will just end up being caught like your old man - Saiko pauses for a while and thinks - I guess you are right but what''s the plan where do you plan to hide from the world government it literally has the word world in its name - ken smiles smugly - well of course in the only country that''s still not part of the world government. the human republic of Kim sangtae - Chapter 9 The girl with the evil eyes (2) Chapter 9 The girl with the even eyes (2) Location: headquarters of the Cath ascension Co. Britannia Day: 19th of Jan 5027 - FAIR PAY FAIR PAY FAIR PAY - Edie Patton a human CEO of Cath Ascension Corporation, watches from a window as the striking workers continue their protest in front of the headquarters of the corporation -tsk a bunch of vermin, we are already paying them plenty all they do is carry stuff around - -that might be true sir, but Therians'' enhanced physical abilities make them very good at "carrying stuff around "Our net worth dropped by 20% thus far - Edie Patton turns around to face his secretary - so what if the home rent prices went up how is that our fault, they should rent homes they can afford - '' aren''t you a board member of white rock which owns most of the homes and was the one to raise the price of rent '' Secretary Dean sighs and keeps his thoughts to himself -but sir, you know we could afford to raise their wages, and raising their wages would cost us less than the damage the strike is causing - Edie Patton shakes his head and looks at his young and naive secretary - it''s about the principal Dean if we cave in now, we will set a precedent and they will expect us to cave in every time, and their demands will increase, sometimes you have to be patient and endure some short term losses to weather the storm - Edie Patton walks to his secretary and places a hand on his shoulder - you should remember this advice well if you want to rise to a higher position in the future - he then walks toward his office -I am going to take a nap don''t let anyone disturb me when I wake up I will figure out what we should do about the strike - Edie Patton enters his office and closes the door behind him then lies on a couch ... moments later, what most people would mistakenly call his soul leaves his body. in truth, it is not his soul but rather his astral body which exists in the astral field, that is beyond even the aetheric field. Edie Patton now in his astral body, travels through space heading toward the planet Saturn while his physical body remains dormant on Earth, anyone who would look at his physical body would think he is simply asleep. while no sapien would be able to survive on Saturn due to the harsh environment and lack of solid ground except for the core of the planet, these conditions present no issue to the non-physical astral body. Edie Patton arrives at the core of the planet and lands in front of a massive white temple built from the materials of the core itself. the temple was built in a style that Patton didn''t recognize, it looked like a palace or a castle but clearly wasn''t either. it had towers but they were not built for defense nor could anyone live in them. they were only big enough for one person to stand in them. in front of the temple sat a large statue of an angelic child surrounded by snakes and dragons. the angelic child looked longingly toward the heavens above, although his wings are intact, he would never fly toward the heavens again Edie Patton stands in front of the statue watching the fatherless child eternally longing for his father - Sir Patton Pendragon you came at last; do I take it you accept my offer- a male witch dressed in a black rope made of feathers and with a black witch hat walks out of the temple -No, your offer is still an insane one you want me to go up against the world government - -that is the only way my great lord, that is if you wish to continue growing. the world government won''t let you grow beyond a certain limit - Edie Patton looks at the male witch - I don''t get what''s in it for you ?- -we are simply a group that wishes to bring great Britannia to its former glory we are descendants of the archwitch Merlin and like our grandfather before us we believe the only way to do that is to unite Britannia under the rule of a member of the royal family - the witch raises one arm and points at Patton - as the descendent of King Arthur Pendragon it is both your right and your duty by blood to unite Britannia and restore it to its former glory as the kingdom on which the sun never sets- Patton sighs -stop dreaming, even if I wanted to do that, we can''t go against the world government - This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. the witch''s lips curl up into a smile - don''t worry my lord the order of the left path will help you reclaim your birthright but like King Arthur collected the knights of the Round Table, you should also collect trustworthy allies that will help you on your path, after all every king needs his aids - ****************************************************************** location: the cave in which the labyrinth once laid, Egit Day: 22nd of Jan 5027 ~ well of course, in the only country that''s still not part of the world government. The Human Republic of Kim Sangtae ~ Ken exclaims excitedly _whaaat? Are you serious those are like real life nazi or did you forget I am a Therian _ ~ well two things first no one is as bad as nazis they are fictional for a reason, people of Kim Sangtae are just a bit ...racist that''s all, and second when I made my plan, I didn''t plan to have someone else with me and I am a human so there were no issues going there for me ~ Saiko raises an eyebrow at Ken _ oh really they are not as bad as the nazi Well let''s see, do they believe humans to be a superior race _ Ken looks down a bit ~yes ~ _ do they discriminate against none humans and have they already killed all the none human sapiens in their country _ ken shrinks back ~yes ~ _ do they wish to take over the world and kill all the none human sapiens in the world _ Ken shrinks back more ~yes ....but, but listen to me it''s not all of them, it can''t be all of them, it''s just their ruling family besides in the legend nazis didn''t believe all humans were part of the superior race they believed they alone were part of the superior race they wanted to kill or rule the rest of humans too~ Saiko crosses her arms and stares at Ken unamused ~look I know it''s a bad place I am not trying to claim it''s good ....well it''s kind of good if you are human I guess, but we literally have no place else to go right now and if you put on an illusion mask to hide your ears and tail no one will notice a thing ~ Saiko sighs and nods _ I guess I have to agree but you know it''s only a temporary solution_ ken smiles ~ Yeah, I know once we restock and have access to better materials, I will figure out another solution now let''s GO ~ Ken excitedly grabs the floating book of knowledge and is about to run but suddenly stops then turns around and looks at Naoi - how are we going to get out to the surface actually please don''t tell me we have to walk for two days to return to the temple tell me you can magic your way out of this - Naoi sighs - how many times do I have to tell you there is no magic that breaks the laws of the world - Ken nods his head repeatedly ~ ahm ahm I want to believe you but you just turned an entire labyrinth into a book that I am holding in my hands right now, that breaks sooooooo many laws of physics like the conservation of mass, have you heard of it ~ Naoi shakes his head - not everything is as it seems child don''t trust your eyes, although the labyrinth was solid it was never made of matter - Ken thinks for a moment ~ wait don''t tell me it was a solid illusion spell~ Naoi nods - that''s only a part of it but you are correct - ken looks thoughtful ~ how could I have missed this?~ He points at Naoi with frustration. ~ I blame you for constantly doing impossible things all the time I thought this one was real ~ Saiko looks at Ken confused as to why this answered his question to her it still didn''t make any sense. _ What is a solid illusion anyway isn''t real if it''s solid _ Ken stops thinking and looks at her then answers ~no ... well kind of but no, usually when we say something is real we mean it''s made of matter as in electrons protons and all that, a solid illusion on the other hand, is made of light it''s photons treated in a way to act like matter and form crystals which then take the shape of the illusion so there is no actual matter there like the normal illusion it''s just light but in this case, it''s solidified light~ Ken looks at Naoi ~ but that doesn''t explain everything ~ Naoi''s lips curl up slightly - as I said that was only part of it, for example, knowledge is infinite so no medium regardless of its form can contain all of it, so the labyrinth or now the book only ever shows the part of the knowledge you are looking for and while I can spend the next few hours explaining to you every little detail of how the labyrinth works, I don''t have to and you are not worthy of that knowledge so instead you should just marvel at master Thoth''s masterpiece - Ken hangs his head down ~ I feel so cheated for a second there I thought gods are real and reality bending magic was real ~ Saiko chuckles then shrugs _ still looks mind blowing to me_ Naoi nods at Saiko''s words. - they are indeed my child ¨C He looks at her with a gentle smile and continues. -sapiens often make the mistake of glorifying what they don''t understand and diminishing that which they understand, however simply because you know and understand how it works doesn''t diminish in the least how marvelous it is and how great the ones who made it are - Naoi moves his arm to the side in a motion similar to opening a sliding door; following his movement, the ground begins to rumble the roof of the underground cave splits open revealing the clear blue sky above and letting the sunlight enter the cave he then raises his hand up and following his movement, neatly cut chunks of earth separate from the ground of the cave and rise up forming stairs that lead toward the opening in the roof. - gods are real but your first mistake was to think they can bend reality when in truth they became gods by reaching a better understanding of reality than anyone and by mastering their field to an unparalleled degree- the fiery entity then looks at Ken after having built the stairs -it only appears impossible for those who don''t understand it and lack the knowledge and imagination to see how it could be done - Ken and Saiko start climbing the stairs and Naoi floats behind them Ken turns his head to look at Naoi ~wait you are coming along ~ - of course, I am the guardian of the labyrinth Wherever it goes I must follow hmm I will start calling it the Book of Knowledge now - Ken¡¯s lips turn into a wide grin ~oh, if you are with us, we don''t have to fear the world government ~ -child my only mission is to protect the book, I care not for what happens to you and although I might have my preferences I also don''t care who owns it .....if the owner is completely unworthy I guess it would be a different issue but as we have discussed earlier the world has learned how to work around that defense mechanism for the book - ken sneers ~aha sure sure ~ the duo makes their way up the stairs when they reach the surface, they find themselves in a lush forest there is a clear river running in front of them, and behind them, there are the remains of an extremely old barely recognizable pyramid. Saiko smiles looking around her _ How come this place is so beautiful it''s so lush and full of life _ Naoi smiles - enjoy it while it lasts my child it wasn''t always like this and it won''t stay forever like this - ken perks up ~oh, I read about this before. this forest goes through cycles, they say 3000 years ago it was a great desert, they even called it the Great Sand Sea right?~ Saiko¡¯s expression turns to that of surprise _ really! this forest was once a dese- Seiko''s whiskers twitch reacting to the vibrations in the air and she reflexively raises her hand raising a massive ice wall to the side of her and Ken. BOOOOOOOM a moment later a loud explosion erupts as a dense ball of fire collides with the wall of ice and then explodes. Saiko''s ears turn sideways then forward then to the other side before she raises another ice wall blocking another ball of fire her ears keep turning following the movements of something hiding in the trees. Ken looks at Saiko with an impressed look ~ Man, therian senses are so unfair I am glad you are on my side ~ _You can keep the compliments till after the fight now focus _ ~ yeah yeah ~ Ken pulls out the demon skull from his waist. Nanobots quickly flood out of it like a hungry swarm and form the demon sword. Ken notices Saiko''s ears seem to finally stop moving and point forward. he follows them with his line of sight and sees two yellow eyes looking back at him from among the trees beyond the river each eye has two yellow pupils. ~evil eyes ~ Chapter 10 Followers of Vioarr Chapter 10 Followers of Vioarr ~ EVIL EYES ~ Ken waves at the girl and smiles ~ HEY EVIL EYES WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?~ a vein almost bursts on the bounty hunter girl''s forehead as her expression quickly changes from calm to furious ''Don''t let him get in your head '' she takes a deep breath to calm herself down ~ HEY EVIL EYES EVIL EYES EVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL EYEEEEEEEEEES ~ - DON''T CALL ME THAT YOU BASTARD - the girl shouts angrily her attempt to calm herself completely failing Saiko looks at Ken confused _Do you know each other?_ Ken''s lips curl into a smile ~ oh yeah, that''s evil eyes she is a bounty hunter, I guess you can say we are colleagues ~ he waves at the girl ~HEY EVIL EYES YOU ARE GETTING RUSTY WHY DID IT TAKE YOU SO LONG ?~ Ken waves more at the girl who is no longer able to contain her anger - IT''S DAXIA, DAXIA, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO CALL ME EVIL EYES- Ken shrugs his shoulders ~ why it''s a cool code name it''s better than most of the names of the other bounty hunters, you know~ - YOU PICKED THAT NAME YOU JERK NOT ME YOU KNOW I DON''T LIKE IT - ~ ain''t I amazing? you should thank me for coming up with such a cool nickname for you ~ Ken looks at the female hunter smugly - I AM SO GOING TO KILL YOU - Daxia lifts her two hands up and a ball of lightning manifests above each of them Ken shrugs while walking up ahead of Saiko ~meh you were going to do that anyway, isn''t that why you are here? ~ Daxia launches the two balls of lightning at Ken. Ken smirks pulling out the book of knowledge and using it to block the ball lightning in an attempt to drag Naoi into the fight. he then hears a calm ethereal voice from behind him - I told you before my only concern is the book and nothing else - the book disappears from Ken''s hand and appears in front of Saiko floating in the air Saiko looks at the book startled by its sudden appearance Ken shrugs then smiles ~oh well, it was worth a shot ~ he pulls out the demon sword and activates the horns of the skull while holding the sword in front of him. the horns of the demon skull emit a faint glow as they produce a magnetic field that catches and then deflects the balls of lightning. ''What did I just see?'' Daxia looks in disbelief at what her eyes just saw. her eyes could see what Ken and Saiko couldn''t see, but just because she could see it, doesn''t mean she understood what she saw. to a normal person''s eyes, it would appear as though the book just disappeared and reappeared somewhere else but to her eyes rather than teleport, it seemed the book exited space and reentered space in a different location. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it not only that but Daxia with her eyes, is able to see how the book is floating in the air. Gravity. Gravity which no magic known to sapiens could affect, gravity which continues to be a mystery to science despite science¡¯s many advancements, that same gravity that seemed to be an absolute unchanging law is now bending around that book. Daxia watches what only she can see, she watches gravity waves bend around the book, as though gravity decided not to attract the book. '' I have to be careful, I should keep my distance '' Daxia decides to use long range attacks to keep a safe distance from whatever is happening to space and gravity with that book. ''If lightning doesn''t work then'' she raises her hands again and small rocks rise up from the ground and compress to form arrow-head-like shapes, then in front of and behind each rock a wind vortex appears. the ones in the front are to remove air resistance, while the ones in the back are to propel the rocks further. _ this doesn''t look good _ Saiko moves to block the attack with another ice wall but is stopped by Naoi - that won''t be necessary - _huh? what do you mea- BOOOOOOOOM before Saiko can question Naoi a loud explosion erupts. in an instant, the rocks powered by earth and wind magic seemingly vanish with a speed even Saiko with her enhanced sense couldn''t see. the sound of explosions and impact craters left behind from the collision are the only evidence of them ever existing, and yet when the dust settles Ken is standing still unharmed having not even moved a single step. Saiko looks on confused _ did she miss?_ Naoi''s lips curl up slightly finding himself feeling oddly proud of the insolent child -no, she did not miss - Daxia looks at Ken in shock. even though she expected it, she can''t help but be shocked. once again gravity changed, it was nowhere near a big change as the one with the book, but a change nonetheless. the direction of gravity changed for the arrow-shaped rocks, rather than falling downwards toward the ground they fell to the left and right of Ken. it was only a weak change but it was enough to make them miss him completely. Daxia squints her eyes at Ken trying to think how she could overcome the gravity manipulation. ''perhaps ligh- ~ as if I would give you time ~ Daxia''s thoughts are interrupted by Ken who points the demon sword at her as its blade begins to split open. _NO _ Saiko recalls the destruction that the sword caused in the forest earlier. How it scorched the ground and vaporized everything in its path leaving only ash and destruction behind. She immediately jumps into action not wanting to let Ken kill the bounty hunter nor destroy the beautiful forest full of life. millions of water tentacles spring forth from the river, as though the river itself came to life and decided to swarm Daxia. Daxia immediately begins to dodge the swarm of tentacles but the tentacles change their direction and continue to chase her. '' what is this? '' Daxia¡¯s eyes allow her to keep track of the numerous tentacles and react to them despite their high speed. However, something else piques her interest every time she dodges, she sees an odd light in the water, a familiar light, she saw it many times before. ''Where did I see this '' as she continues to dodge, the water picks up speed and the light becomes more frantic and chaotic, and then she realizes where she saw it before, she saw it all the time around sapiens. - ARE THESE THOUGHTS - that single moment of shock was enough for the water of the river to finally catch her, but rather than kill her or crush her, the water of the river forms a massive hand around the bounty hunter and throws her away toward the forest. Ken looks at Saiko with a slightly annoyed look. ~ you know she will be back, right? She is the best bounty hunter out there, well behind me that is ~ his lips curl up into a smug smile Saiko raises an eyebrow at him. _ do you always have to brag? and it doesn''t matter, that''s a problem for the future _ Ken shrugs his shoulders. ~ suit yourself ~ _ why was she able to use so many types of magic by the way? she looked human I thought only elves could use multiple types of magic _ Ken starts walking and responds ~ she is a member of the Xia family; she possesses evil eyes, among many other things they allow her to copy any magic that she sees performed in front of her~ _ well, I guess that explains the nickname _ Saiko picks up the book of knowledge and follows behind Ken ***************************************************** elsewhere in the forest. Daxia watches the duo leave. despite having miles of woods between them she is able to see them clearly as though they are right in front of her. she recalls the last thing she saw. she recalls the river water that seemed to come to life and think and how it even seemed to get agitated by her dodging. whenever a sapien thinks, that thought is projected out of the brain in the form of electromagnetic waves and the eyes of the Xia family are able to see these waves as light. Although Daxia is not yet skilled enough to read someone''s thoughts, she is certain that the lights she saw from the river water were the same lights that represent people''s thoughts. - water that thinks and magic that controls gravity, this is going to be a tough mission - Daxia begins to formulate a plan on how to deal with the duo of thieves. ************************************** Location: followers of Nature hideout, Iland Date: 22nd of Jan 5027 a hooded figure with a green scarf wrapped around his neck sits in meditation in the middle of a large circular room. Root like extensions come out of his body connecting him to the ground and to the world as a whole. Through the eyes of a bird, he watches Saiko and Ken come out of the labyrinth and watches their fight with evil eyes. - the first missing living weapon inherited the Book of Knowledge ¨C His lips curl into a smile - fate is such a curious thing - A member of the followers of nature kneels behind him - master should we send someone to capture them- - no, there is no need to rush, let¡¯s wait and see how the government is going to react to this news first ¨C -as you command master ¨C The member gets up and leaves. The hooded figure looks up his vision shifts from the perspective of the bird to the perspective of a Squirrel sitting on a tree branch in the garden of the presidential palace. - now what are you going to do my old friend ¨C The hooded figure smiles as he watches his childhood friend through the eyes of the squirrel. Chapter 11 A fight in the forest Chapter 11 A fight in the forest location: Awara forest, Egit Day: 22nd of Jan 5027 _ Where are we going?_ Saiko questions ~ nowhere in particular ~ Ken responds the duo had been walking for a few hours now. Saiko raises an eyebrow looking confused _ You mean we are walking aimlessly _ ~ pretty much ~ _ I thought you never acted without a plan _ ~ I have a plan ~ Saiko looks at Ken even more confused now _What''s the plan? _ ~ waiting ~ _ What?_ Saiko''s confusion continues to grow. ~haaaa~ Ken sighs before answering. ~ we need to deal with Evil Eyes first, it will be troublesome if both Evil Eyes and the strike force come after us at the same time ~ he continues ~ I am waiting for her to attack us ~ Saiko''s eyes grow wide in surprise. _ Isn''t that dangerous? She can use different kinds of magic and combine them together _ Ken''s lips curl up slightly but he quickly brings them down keeping his expression in check, since he knows Evil eyes must be watching them now. '' but that''s fine she can see us but she can''t hear us '' ~it''s fine so long as you can predict her next attacks, Evil eye is a smart one, she will consider that we can block electromagnetic waves and lightning with the demon sword horns, and since gravity gets stronger the more mass you have she will exclude earth, and finally since you use water she will conclude that she needs to use wind and fire~ Saiko''s whiskers twitch alerting her. she raises a large ice wall to their left and as though to confirm Ken¡¯s prediction 3 massive fire balls collide with the ice wall. the intense heat of the fire instantly evaporates the ice covering the forest in mist. Saiko''s ears twitch to the left picking up the sound of quick footsteps, then she sees Daxia come out of the mist running towards them. she seems to have decided to close the distance to limit the use of Saiko''s water and Ken''s sword. ~ try to buy me some time I have a spell just for her ~ Ken says with a slightly louder than usual tone then takes out his digital grimoire and begins the scroll through it. not wanting to give him time to pick a spell, Daxia immediately launches multiple balls of fire at him but they are met with a wall of ice conjured by Saiko blocking their pass causing another explosion on impact. using the mist and dust caused by the new explosion as cover Daxia jumps upwards rising with the cloud of mist. Saiko tries to pick up her location with sound but to no avail. the experienced bounty hunter had jumped as soon as the explosion occurred using the sound of the explosion to hide the sound of her movement. inside the mist, Daxia conjures a small but dense flame. she covers the flame with her hands to hide its light while continuing to pour the majority of her mana into it making the flame denser and hotter. Although still hidden in the mist Daxia''s eyes let her see Ken clearly as he continues to scroll through the grimoire. she aims at him then fires. Saiko¡¯s whiskers twitch alerting her to the incoming attack she looks just in time to see a fire beam so dense it looks like a laser beam zooming towards Ken. Saiko raises her hand toward the beam to block it and Argus moves to her hand forming a massive black hand with sharp claws above her hand. Sizzle the beam collides with Argus and a sizzling sound can be heard. the intense heat evaporates the liquid Argus forcing Saiko to send more and more of it to her hand to block the fire beam. Saiko then shouts at Ken _ CAN YOU HURRY UP _ ~ hmm sure all right I found it ~ - I WON''T LET YOU - the bounty hunter shouts quickly summons a gust of wind at her feet using her remaining mana to propel her forward toward Ken. she draws her sword from her back to cut him before he can activate the spell while Saiko is occupied with the fire pillar. she reaches Ken and just as she is about to cut him, she stops when she sees Ken smiling at her smugly. she knows that smile it''s the smile he has when he is tricking someone, she tries to stop but is already caught in the momentum ~ got cha ~ the eyes of the demon skull hanging from Ken''s waist glow as a swarm of nanobots leaves the mouth of the demon skull forming tentacle like wires. the wires resemble the tentacles of an elderlich beast as they surround Daxia and warp around her body. HISSSSSSSS -AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH- the demon skull hisses loudly sending electricity through the wires and zapping the helpless bounty hunter caught in its trap. Daxia screams in pain before her head slumps down and her body goes limp passing out. Saiko checks on Argus after the fire pillar stops. it seems she lost half of it to block that attack but it will recover with time. she then looks at Ken _ You were never trying to pick a spell, were you? _ The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ken¡¯s lips rise up in a smug smile ~ of course, her eyes can copy spells anyway, any spell I use against her she would be able to use against us later I just needed her to think I was going to pick one the fear of the unknown is what I wanted her to have so I can trick her - Saiko smiles at Ken _oh! Let me guess, calling her evil eye earlier was also to make her angry and easier to trick _ ~ obviously, and to put it frankly if we didn''t outsmart her, I am not sure we could have won she is admittedly one of the strongest bounty hunters out there but mind always beats muscle and I am the smartest ~ Saiko rolls her eyes _ fine whatever _ ~ now shall we finish this ~ Ken takes out the skull and forms the demon sword. Its blade splits open turning into the fangs of the demon skull, then the mouth of the skull opens revealing the core which hisses louder as it spins and forms a plasma blade. heat waves reverberate from the blade as if it''s tearing up reality. ken moves to cut Daxia but massive ice walls emerge all around Ken trapping him. ~ haaaaa~ Ken sighs and then cuts a door for himself through the ice which turns to clear sizzling vapor even before touching the blade. he then looks at Saiko ~ what is it this time? she is a bounty hunter, not a cop~ Saiko shields Daxia behind her after having ripped her away from the wires with Argus and looks at Ken with a firm gaze while Naoi watches her with an affectionate proud gaze _ You are also a bounty hunter and a thief if she should be killed shouldn''t you also be killed _ Ken sighs as the demon sword closes and the nanobots return back to the skull ~ then what do you suggest we do with her as I said if we didn''t outsmart her, it would have been much harder to win, and escape would have been pretty much impossible, I am not confident I can trick her twice and if you suggest tying her up and leaving her here she would just be food for animals me finishing her is mercy ~ Saiko rolls her eyes _sure, if these are the only options you can pick from but those are all wrong options _ ~then what do you suggest we do? talk it out ?~ it was now Saiko''s turn to have a smug smile _yes _ Ken blinks repeatedly looking at Saiko in disbelief ~you can''t be serious .......my god you are serious ARE YOU INSANE !~ Saiko chuckles then smiles _maybe_ Ken rubs his face in frustration ~uhhhhh if we die it''s on you, you hear me~ _ yeah yeah stop fussing already besides I didn''t say we can''t take percussions watch_ Saiko makes a small strip of Argus and wraps it around Daxia''s neck like a collar _This way if the conversation goes south, we have our insurance but murder shouldn''t be your first option_ Ken crosses his arms unconvinced ~killing is more efficient you know, it leaves no loose threads, no chance of backstabbing or someone looking for revenge ~ _Of course, there wouldn''t be any of that because you would be alone in the world Now what''s our next move _ Ken rests his chin on one arm and closes his eyes to think for a moment before he looks up - all right I got it first we will need to go to a city to restock and sleep on a bed for once, and then head to Kim Sangtae, our main problem is that we can''t use any transaction without being caught since the system identifies both of us as criminals an alarm would be set off the moment we try to make any transaction~ he smiles and looks towards the passed out Daxia then continues. ~ but lucky for us we now have access to the account of someone who is not a criminal ~ Saiko''s lips curl up in a smile _see we wouldn''t have had this possibility if you had killed her_ ken sneers ~ that''s just a coincidence you can''t claim credit for this you didn''t spare her life for that reason~ Naoi floats in front of Ken and shakes his head - you are mistaken child every action has its consequences, fate rewards good actions and punishes bad actions that''s the source of virtue and sin a concept sapiens believed in for ages - ~ what? that''s just a coincidence besides I am the one who thought of it you are just walking backward from your conclusion ~ Ken protests Naoi sighs -that is not correct child, a good action is a good action regardless of whether you know the outcome of it or not, your lack of knowledge or foresight may prevent you from knowing why it''s the correct action but your ignorance of the relation between the cause and effect doesn''t mean that relation doesn''t exist - ~ wait are you trying to talk about morality right now you know that this so called morality is just the result of natural selection right? it''s no different from any other inherited trait just because primitive people did it doesn''t mean we should - Naoi raises an eyebrow at Ken looking amused and smiles - it seems that you know but you lack comprehension of what you know - Naoi continues -indeed, you can say that morality is the result of what you call natural selection although it''s not just that, regardless of their origin many ideas about morality and behavior appeared among sapiens. they competed and a select few survived but the next part is what you miss, child, that means that sapiens who didn''t follow this surviving morality perished while those who followed it survived to this day - Naoi raises his arms gesturing to the sky - like birds who migrate in the winter, or ants that plant and protect trees, they might not know why they do the things they do. to them it may only be actions they inherited from previous generations but if they didn''t do it, they would perish and such is the morality of sapiens - - .... - ken pauses for a while having nothing to say. Saiko although amused with Ken¡¯s blunder, decides to save him so they can continue moving _soooo how about you finish telling us your plan so we can go_ Ken rubs the back of his head ~ right well the two of us will use our illusion masks to look like servant robots. you will be using Argus to move Evil Eye''s body while I will use a voice alteration and voice conjuration spell to mimic her voice we will rent a hotel room and buy what we need using her account - Saiko smiles making Argus form a thin layer above Daxia''s skin and below her clothes letting her control Daxia''s body like a puppet while Ken sets the spells then they each wear their masks ************* Daxia wakes up. her body feels tired as if she was walking around for hours and she has the worst migraine of her life. she tries to recall what happened. she had tracked Ken and the new girl that was with him to some old ruins of a pyramid she remembers her name was Saiko and then... Daxia springs up opening her eyes, getting on guard, and drawing a dagger from a belt wrapped around her thighs having remembered the fight. _ oh, you woke up_ Daxia turns her head quickly towards the source of the voice she recalls it''s the voice of the girl but then the tension in her muscles eases up slightly as she is met with an unexpected sight. ken and Saiko sitting at a table eating pasta with chicken. looking around she realizes she is not in the forest but in a fancy room with decorations mimicking ancient sites like the ones in hotels made for tourists and she is on a bed completely unharmed. - well, that''s unexpected - Ken uses a piece of chicken to point at Saiko ~ don''t look at me. I would have killed you. you should thank her ~ Naoi who is floating in the air in a sitting position as though he is sitting on an invisible chair comments - at least you are honest - ~hey I am not a liar ~ Ken turns to face Naoi before answering him to the bewilderment of Daxia who blinks repeatedly questioning if the electricity fried her brain so much, that she is now hallucinating -who are you talking to? - she asks with a confused look Ken looks at Daxia while pointing at Naoi but to Daxia it looks like he is pointing at empty air - oh, this is Naoi - -okay either I am crazy or you are - Saiko giggles slightly _ well, he is crazy but I don''t think that''s the issue here _ Ken pauses for a moment ~ wait you can''t see him? ~ - I can only be seen by those I allow to see me - ken expression turns to that of surprise before he turns to face Saiko ~ and you knew? how did you know he is invisible while I didn''t ~ _Well earlier when he mentioned being with my old man at the orphanage and watching me grow up and I had no memories of him I figured he could be invisible - Daxia interrupts them shaking her hand -wait you want to tell me there is an invisible being here right now that even I can''t see?- '' that can''t be real '' Even though it didn''t look like they were messing with her she can''t help but deny the statement this is the first time she comes across something her eyes can''t see. ~ it''s a surprise to me too but this guy is not bound by logic ~ Ken responds with a sympathetic tone - impossible also where are we? why am I alive? And why are you so nonchalant about this I tried to kill you. - Saiko looks at Daxia with a smile - it''s okay I know you are confused and I will answer all your questions but first, why don''t you join us for food while we discuss - ********************** Daxia takes a deep breath and leans back in her seat absorbing everything she just heard - so let me get this straight there is a book that contains all knowledge that has an invisible guardian and the government is kidnapping young children with rare magic affinities and torturing them so they become able to use said book and turn them into powerful weapons but you don''t know why they are turning them to weapons and now you managed to take the book and are now on the run did I get all that? - Ken nods while using a toothpick to clean his teeth ~ yeah, pretty much ~ Saiko then adds _ and we will be trying to find the kidnapped kids and free them _ Daxia thinks for a moment - and you stumbled on all of that accidentally because you thought there were errors in history and it was being manipulated - ken nods again ~yeah ~ - but what you said still doesn''t explain why history is being changed although this might explain why they hid this specific artifact or maybe even this entire culture that doesn''t explain why they would change the rest of history - Ken¡¯s eyes go wide when he realizes it and sits up straight ~ you are right that still doesn''t explain everything does it? why would they change the rest of history? the more changes they make the more likely it is to be caught there is still something else behind this I have to find out what it is?~ Saiko looks at Ken surprised he didn''t learn anything from having his curiosity lead him to his current mess _ Ever heard the saying Curiosity killed the cat _ ~ yes, but I don''t want to be told that by an actual cat besides don''t you want to know too, dig inside your feline blood I am sure you are curious too - he retorts _ well I would be lying if I said I didn''t want to know as well but the priority should be saving the kids _ Daxia closes her eyes for a while to think. she weighs the risks of it, before she steels her resolve and opens her eyes - All alright count me in - Ken and Saiko pause surprised and turn to look at Daxia before shouting in unison - WHAT ?! - Chapter 12 All for the sake of harmony Chapter 12 All for the sake of harmony a bewildered Ken looks at Daxia. ~why would you want to join us? that''s the dumbest thing to do as a bounty hunter. ~ Daxia smiles and leans back in her chair and crosses her arms. - true, if I was a normal bounty hunter but you know I am not besides I have a few reasons to join you - Ken looks at Daxia skeptically. he begins to suspect it''s a trap, he knows he should''ve killed her but decides to humor her for now. ~and what are those reasons? ~ Daxia raises her index finger - first, what do you know about my eyes - Ken is surprised by the seemingly random question but he wouldn''t waste an opportunity to geek about history. he smiles and begins to pour out all he knows about the evil eyes. ~ the evil eyes are believed to have first emerged somewhere in Asia around 8000 years ago. many cultures spoke about evil eyes and their mystical powers ranging from vague and broad ideas like causing injuries and causing misfortune to exaggerated abilities such as the ability to steal anything you possess. such wrong ideas about evil eyes could be attributed to members possessing the eye trying to keep it a secret. however, it is now understood that the evil eye possesses four abilities ~ Ken raises his fist up and opens his fingers one by one as he lists the abilities. ~ 1 enhanced vision: being able to see much further and much smaller objects as well as better ability to track objects with their eyes 2 wider range of vision: being able to see the majority of the electromagnetic wave spectrum including x-rays, gamma rays, and infrared rays as well as being able to see mana the energy that fuels most spells, and the ability to control their range of vision at will choosing what to see and what to ignore 3 the ability to copy any spell they see which is believed to be the result of the previous two abilities 4 finally the ability to focus electromagnetic waves and project them through their eyes. which is believed to be the cause of the rumors about misfortune and injury as ancient people wouldn''t have been able to detect the radiation and thus it would appear to them as though the person just got sick and died. for their powerful abilities, evil eye possessors were usually recruited by armies as mercenaries the most famous owner of evil eyes in history was liu ch''ung governor of Shansi from ancient Chyna - Saiko blinks repeatedly surprised then claps for Ken and smiles _ wow how do you memorize all that a clap and a half to you_ Daxia''s lips curl up - you really are a freak you know? your mind is not human, but back to my point while the abilities of the eyes are correct, the entire history of it is wrong. our eyes are not the evil eyes from history but everyone in the world thinks that - Ken looks at her skeptical still. ~ are you sure you are not just mad about the name evil eyes I mean they look like evil eyes and have the abilities of evil eyes so maybe just maybe they are just evil eyes - Daxia looks upset - what? you are the history is fake guy why do you think this one is correct - ken shrugs ~ hey I am always skeptical I am skeptical of history but I am also skeptical of claims made about it why do you think it''s false ~ - because our eyes aren''t 8000 years old I don''t know if an evil eye existed in the past but our eyes aren''t even 2000 years old.- Daxia exclaims looking riled up. -an ancient ancestor of ours who was jealous of the elves'' abilities to use more than one type of magic used his organic magic to create the eyes for himself and changed his DNA so it can be inherited, he named the eyes T¨¤iy¨¢ng zh¨© y¨£n which means eyes of the sun to be an opposite to the elves who are always associated with the moon - Ken''s lips twitch in excitement ~ if what you are saying is correct and I am not saying I already believe but if you are correct, it means the history of an entire clan was entirely made up ~ Daxia adds - or linked to something that it''s not. - she continues her expression getting more and more agitated as she recalls the hardships her family suffered from it. -my family has suffered from this connection for ages. we are feared. we have a reputation for being evil, envious, and disloyal. it was always my dream to clear up my family''s name - Ken chuckles finding the information rather amusing since he has seen firsthand the source of this reputation. although Ken always brags about being the best bounty hunter, technically speaking, that title should belong to Daxia since she is the one who finished the most missions. '' but being the best is about quality, not quantity '' he reassures himself in his mind but he has to admit she is a fearsome fighter although they were able to win against her that''s only because half the features of the demon sword were made specifically to counter her. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. be it the horns that counter her lightning magic and radiation from her eyes or the sturdy swarm of nanobots, they were made with Daxia in mind knowing she would come after him. they also had the magic they learned from the labyrinth which was new to her and caused her to be more surprised than he expected. '' if not for all of these, the fight would have been much harder. although I would have still won of course '' he smiles to himself and then looks at Daxia. ~ I mean you are the equivalent of a modern day mercenary. you are a bounty hunter and a damn good one at that so if anything, aren''t you proof of the stereotypes it''s not like you became a scholar or a doctor ~ - WHAT? I AM BROKE OKAY. I needed money to support my family it''s hard to find work when everyone is scared you will bring them misfortune or curse them, we only have a few work options. this is probably the only job where the person would smile when they find out the one, they hired was from the infamous Xia family - Daxia throws her hand up in frustration before she crosses them and looks away pouting Saiko punches Ken''s arm light before she places a hand on Daxia''s shoulder to comfort her. _ It''s oka- Daxia raises her hand to interrupt Saiko - it''s fine I don''t need your comfort what I want is to clear my family''s name and prove we are not related to the evil eye but aside from that part I am surprised that you are surprised only a scum person would need a reason to stop the kidnapping and torturing of children that''s like comically evil - at that point, Daxia is startled as she hears a loud voice coming from an empty space in front of her. - I wouldn''t be so sure - Saiko is shocked by Naoi''s words and looks at him wide eyed. _You know why they are doing this ?_ - of course, I do. I have always been there and I have seen everything and met every heir to the Book of Knowledge - - THEN TELL US - Naoi shakes his head -if I tell you, you might not want to stop them you are not yet ready to know the answer and I want them to stop seeking the book in this way I will however tell you it''s all for the sake of harmony so their intention at least is not a bad one, but as your ancestors used to say the road to hell is paved with good intentions - Naoi looks at Saiko with a gentle smile. -you remember right, child? evil will tempt you with an easy answer to your problems - the words of the old man echo in Saiko''s mind along with Naoi''s words as she recalls his words '' remember Saiko all people are born with good nature however our spirits are drawn to evil, evil is an enchanting mistress, it can be very tempting, and it will offer you an easier and faster solution to your problems, which is why your will must be strong to resist the temptation '' naoi floats closer to Saiko and places a hand on her head patting her head gently with a soft smile - you must not be tempted child remember that for when the time comes for you to choose - anger begins to swell within Saiko as she looks at Naoi and recalls her past and the torture she went through. her mind dwells not on her own misery but on the children. children that knew not the light of day, that never saw the sun, that knew not a day without pain. children who at this very moment continue to suffer endless torment. _HOW CAN YOU SAY THIS? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY EXCUSE THIS ?_ Naoi shakes his head - when the time comes you shall know but you need to be ready for it - Daxia coughs and interrupts the conversation - so, what''s your next move - not wanting to deal with whatever the invisible ghost is talking about, Daxia tries redirecting the conversation to a more grounded level, although what the ghost said concerns her fighting over it will lead nowhere. besides angering the invisible ghost is probably a terrible idea. from what Ken and Saiko told her the ghost can toy with reality as he wishes. she doesn''t know how Saiko is able to talk to him with no fear like that, she is either an idiot or extremely brave maybe both. Ken smiles and points at Daxia ~ you will be taking a trip to Koya and we will be your robotic servants from there we will cross the border to kim sangtae. I will add once we do that we should split up if you are seen with us your account will change to a criminal one and everything will become much harder for us ~ Daxia nods agreeing to the idea - but you have to pay me back I am already struggling with money- Ken looks at Saiko sideways as his lips curl up into a mischievous smile Saiko becomes aggravated and looks him dead in the eyes and says _No, don''t even think about it we are not selling decay spells _ Ken''s lips curl up even more ~ now who said anything about decay spells you are now an extremely powerful water mage ~ Saiko crosses her arms looking at him _go on _ ~ it doesn''t have to be any form of attack spells; water conjuration spells are more than enough it would be great for use in deserts and Daxia would be able to sell them through legal means so ~ Saiko pauses for a moment to think about it. she sighs finding no reason to refuse this one since it doesn''t seem to be dangerous and since her water can think for itself, she can trust that the spells won''t be used for anything she doesn''t agree to even if she is not around. _haaaa, all right _ she proceeds to charge Daxia''s smart grimoire with multiple water conjuration spells ~ one last thing ~ Ken takes out a watch and gives it to Daxia ~ this will give up access to a private encrypted Aethernet channel right now it only has me, Saiko, and Rin from the Hades store at the bounty hunter town, and now you. consider it our little chat room - ************** Location: Alfym aether port Egit Day: 23rd Jan 5027 Daxia takes a deep breath as she walks through the main gates of the aether port followed by Ken and Saiko disguised as two servant robots. Daxia immediately notices that the Aether port is unusually filled with a large number of police personnel. after agent 00 lost track of Ken and Saiko following their entry into the temple of Thoth, she heard that the world government ordered an increase in the security for all the cities and aether ports of Egit. she assumes they are probably hoping to catch Ken and Saiko when they try to leave Egit. '' but that''s what the masks are for '' Saiko glances around with her eyes _ I have a bad feeling about this _ Ken whispers back. ~ it''s fine everything is going according to plan so far ~ he then calls Rin -what do you want I am in the middle of taking a bath- ~ I need you to hack an aether port system for me buddy ~ Ken hears a loud sigh through the call followed by splashing water - give me a minute - Daxia makes her way to the reception desk - how may I help you today miss - a young black-haired receptionist girl smiles at Daxia -Daxia, xia Daxia I would like to book a portal to Koya please- at this moment Ken suddenly hears Rin in his earpiece -aahh fuck - multiple portals open all over the port and multiple men wearing the iconic biomechanical armor of the GSTF rush out of them. on each of their right shoulders, there is a symbol of a golden eagle with strike team 1 written under it and their respective numbers written on the top right corner of their chest. each of the members is holding a spell rifle which they each point at the trio Ken, Daxia, and Saiko ************** a couple of minutes earlier a camera of the Aether port turns to face the people who just entered the port a girl and two servant robots. an internal sensor that was added recently detects an electromagnetic anomaly. the camera begins to tune its sensors to different electromagnetic wave frequencies looking for one that''s not altered by the anomaly. when it hits the x-ray range the two robots disappear and the bones of a human and a feline therian appear. the camera then beams the image through the aetheric filed ********** Sophia''s eyes flicker before her lips curl up into a smile as she receives an image from one of the cameras they had set in the airports throughout Egit - looks like we caught them you were correct to suspect they will use the illusion masks again - - of course, they will there''s only one place in the world where they can hide from the world government - - Kim sangtae- - correct and unless they plan to spend months getting there, they will need to teleport. now tell the team to get ready and teleport there immediately - Sophia uses technology magic to connect to all the speakers in the team base and relays Claus''s orders - already did - - techno magic sure is convenient - - says the guy who has spatial magic. have you ever acutely walked anywhere or carried anything - - I guess you have a point now please get up - -why? I quite like my comfy seat - Sophia smiles as she glances down. she is sitting on a comfy billow that rests on a 100 kilograms worth of weights which in turn rest on the back of a topless Claus in an off white sweat pants performing a weighted plank -operator- Sophia sighs and gets off of Claus - fine fine sometimes I wonder who you love more me or work - - of course, you but work is work - Claus gets up and kisses Sophia on the cheek before going to change - I will leave their hacker to you - Sophia smiles at Claus and responds - leave it to me- Chapter 13 Disappearing act Chapter 13 Disappearing act Ken looks around him surveying the situation and starts to think about their next move '' Eight strike force members, a dozen security members, and about a hundred regular police bots this is bad ¡® ~ hey Rin did you take over the port system ~ Rin responds to Ken through the earpiece sounding agitated - negative there is another techno mage fighting me for control and a good one too this will take a while - another portal opens in the port and Claus walks out wearing his usual white shirt, black pants, and black coat. Claus looks at the trio then smiles - we meet again. there seems to be a new face among you I don''t believe we met before Miss Ninja - Daxia thinks quickly and decides to stall for time for Rin - my name is Xia Daxia. I am a bounty hunter, what''s the meaning of this?- Claus raises an eyebrow -interesting well miss Daxia you have with you wanted criminals are you going to try to claim they were your prey or something Daxia sneers putting one hand on her hip - I am not claiming it''s an obvious fact I have the two of them caught right now do I not? what? are you going to try and steal my prey? - Claus'' lips curl up more finding her obvious lie amusing - this is very amusing, all right hand them over if you hand them over to me you will get your money since I am the agent tasked with capturing them, and the world government is the one placing the bounty - Daxia pauses and glances at Ken prompting him to ask Rin again ~ tell me good news ~ a tired Rin responds while breathing heavily - negative still fighting don''t make me waste my focus on you - Saiko steps forward standing in front of Daxia and facing Claus _don''t worry I got this _ Claus watches her looking more amused and intrigued. - oh, the moral thief is next. you were always the most interesting one. I wonder, how do you plan to stall for time ?- Saiko shakes her head _ No, I am not very good at lying or wasting time nor am I going to claim innocence _ -what is it going to be then? - _this _ the aether port building begins to rumble quietly Claus wastes no time to see what the rumbling is. his expression turns serious and he shouts his order to his men. - OPEN FIRE- all eight members of the strike team fire their guns at the trio. numerous spells are fired by the strike team members but they find all their spells impacting a black sphere of liquid that emerged from Saiko''s body and surrounded the trio. although numerous, the spells used by the strike team were relatively weak. the strike team was forced to use focused narrow damage spells to avoid friendly fire and innocent casualties since they are in an aether port, which allowed Argus to block them with low difficulty. the rumbling increases quickly then suddenly all the pipes in the building explode and water floods the aether port sending nearly all of the people outside the building. when the water clears out only the black ball remains. the black ball then recedes back into Saiko''s body revealing the trio Daxia smiles at Saiko giving her a thumbs up - nice one - ken looks disappointed ~the world is not fair how come your magic is so powerful meanwhile I can barely lift an apple with mine ~ Naoi floats in front of Ken This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. - all magic gets its energy from the divine the closer one is to the divine the stronger their magic becomes and the more energy they are allowed to draw upon - Ken looks at Naoi annoyed ~ I don''t need a lecture from you right now ~ a portal appears in front of them interrupting their happy moment. a soaked but completely unharmed Claus walks out of the portal looking more confused than angry. he can''t understand these thieves once again they seemed to waste their chance to get away by refusing to go for the kill. that girl Saiko if she had used her surprise attack in a more lethal way many of the strike team would''ve died. instead, she only wasted time. not only was her attack not lethal being only a wave of water but also the water itself seemed to change its direction in unnatural ways to make sure the people inside it avoid hitting solid objects. as though the water was trying to protect them from any harm, which surely made it a much harder spell to cast and control. Claus faces the silver cat. - I have to admit, I didn''t see this coming. I didn''t expect such powerful water magic nor such mastery over the water it looked as if the water was alive? - Claus wonders aloud trying to prompt the sliver cat to confirm or deny his suspicions. Saiko ignores his attempt to make her explain her magic _please leave I don''t want to hurt you _ -why? why do you not want to hurt me? I can¡¯t figure you out - he questions her looking very confused. _ You seem to be a good agent but I can''t tell you. if I tell you, you might be silenced. you can''t win so just take your team and leave _ Claus blinks shocked then he begins to chuckle -pffft, well, I can''t have you look down on strike team 1 like that, we have a reputation to keep - portals open all around the trio. Saiko is able to see members of the strike team on the other sides of the portals, she then hears Claus give his orders. - all members spell number 13 rapid fire on command fire - Saiko summons massive ice walls all around the trio which are immediately impacted by 100s of lava bullets. Claus looks at her with interest. -oh, you can use ice too, interesting. all members switch to spell number 9 fire - Saiko summons more ice walls but to no avail, as the members fire laser beams that travel through the ice unobstructed. Ken, having already predicted what spell number 9 was going to be, immediately pulls Daxia and Saiko and falls to the floor with them to dodge the laser beams. he then pulls Daxia towards him and begins to whisper ~I have a plan ~ Daxia looks at him like she was expecting it. - what took you so long? - ~I wanted to get an idea of their pattern of behavior, now listen ~ after hearing the plan Daxia gets up once the laser beams stop -all right all right we give up - Claus looks at her amused - somehow, I don''t believe you - - oh well you are right we don''t - -FIRE- all members fire their laser spells again. having already seen Claus use his spatial magic, Daxia copies his spell and opens multiple portals of her own all around her to catch the laser beams. the other ends of the portals open right next to each of the strike team members and Claus, sending the laser beams at them. Sophia who was watching the fight through the cameras, sees all members of the strike team get skewered by the laser beams and screams in shock - CLAUS - Sophia then winces in pain, as Rin uses that moment of distraction to take over the system and kick her out. she ignores Rin and immediately switches her attention to sending medical drones to her teammates and her fianc¨¦ but her thought process is interrupted by Claus'' calm voice - I am fine. did you forget I have protective spatial magic on me, the team is also fine they have the same magic on their armor - -haa, right - Sophia thighs in relief remembering the defense system that Claus made. it''s in the form of a small chip that works like a digital grimoire and stores portal spells and is equipped with multiple sensors that detect any fast moving object or energy beam that''s on a collision course with the body. the chip then intercepts it with a portal whose other end opens behind the person. the dimensions of the portal perfectly match the object making it appear as though the object fazed through them. the strike force team rarely needed to resort to it since their policy is to shoot first and ask questions later, which made Sophia forget about it. the trio hears Rin shout in their ear through their channels - I took over the system and ready to teleport you - Ken''s lips curl up when he hears that and gets up and bows toward Claus ~ ladies and gentlemen of strike team 1 that''s all for today''s show until we meet again~ Daxia then opens a portal below them and the trio falls through the portal and comes out right next to the teleportation pillar where Rin had prepared a portal for them. they run through the portal leaving Egit and heading to Koya. a fraction of a second later an exact replica of the pillar''s portal opens next to it and lava bullets similar to the ones fired by the strike team fly out and destroy the pillar Claus raises an eyebrow amused and strokes his chin - this is my first time seeing a member of the Xia family in action. what a handy little trick they got there - members of the strike team gather around their leader then one of them with the code number 01 written on his chest walks towards Claus - what''s our next move sir - Claus looks at Agent 01 his vice leader who worked alongside him for many years. he is an old dark elf with a rough looking face and a long scar that extends from the center of his forehead to the middle of his left cheek but misses his eye. although both light elves and dark elves had an affinity to all magic types and thus could learn any magic they desired, they did not view all magic equally. light elves and dark elves venerated different concepts leading to them viewing certain magic types to be more sacred than others. light elves venerated life and nature, leading to them viewing the element of fire and magic types related to it as holy. the highest of which is the mythical life magic. dark elves on the other hand venerated death and darkness, leading to them viewing the element of water and its related magic types as holy. the highest of which is the dreaded decay magic. these beliefs lead to light elves and dark elves being unrivaled masters of fire and water magics respectively. Claus pauses for a moment to reminisce about the countless battles in which he fought alongside his vice leader in the past and the many times he displayed amazing mastery over water before placing his hand on the shoulder of his old friend. - tell me Davis have you ever seen water magic no have you ever seen any water behave like this before - Davis closes his eyes and recalls how the water moved as though it was alive and had a will of its own. he recalls how it made him feel horrified when the element he knew most refused to obey him, how he feared for his life, and how the water as though in response to his fear gave off a comforting and soothing feeling as though to reassure him, he will be safe. he finally opens his eyes and shakes his head - no, I have never seen nor heard of water ever behaving like this - Claus pats his friend on the back then looks at the rest of his team - we will return to the base for now - - what about the criminals - Davis asks - if we leave them now, we will lose track of them - Claus turns around already starting to walk - do you think you could win had that water been trying to kill you rather than simply move you away- Davis flinches at the thought then shakes his head -no, I couldn''t- -that''s what I thought, we need to prepare before we can fight them again besides I am pretty sure I know where they will be heading next - '' And I need to find myself some answers first'' Chapter 14 Ancestral fire Chapter 14 Ancestral fire Ken high five''s Daxia and smiles. ~nice touch at the end there I didn''t know you could even copy the spells of machines - Daxia points at her eyes looking prideful - my eyes can see through any spell whether it''s cast by a human or a machine - ~that should give us 5 more minutes, which should be enough for us to pull a disappearing act ~ _ not to interrupt your victory celebration but we are still in the middle of a port with guns aimed at us _ Saiko interrupts the two bounty hunters and gestures with her eyes to the security robots and officers that are quickly surrounding them after they came out of the portal Ken scans their surroundings with his eyes already formulating a plan and performing multiple mental calculations ~ those are just normal aether port security they present no danger to us, Daxia on my mark I want portals there, there, there ......~ Ken starts pointing to seemingly random places where he wants Daxia to place portals the head of Aether Port security, a well built old man with a gray mustache comes out and uses a sound amplification spell and begins to threaten the trio - you are completely surrounded. Surrender peacefully and you won''t be hurt - Ken completely ignores the head of security and continues to detail his plan. ~ Saiko when I give you the signal, I want you to create an ice platform for us and fly us out of here - - this is your last warning raise your arms up and surrender - the head of security shouts, as the security bots aim their weapons at the trio. unbeknownst to everyone, a small force is being applied by Ken to the dial on the gun of one of the bots. he continues to spin the dial until he finds the spell he wants. Ken smiles, having finished all preparations for his plan, he shouts ~ NOW ~ portals appear all over the Aether port created by Daxia. one of the portals manifests right in front of the security bot that Ken had changed the spell picked on its gun. Ken then uses his aether magic to generate a force on the trigger of the security bot''s gun. the bot''s gun fires a laser beam. the laser travels through the portal and comes out through another portal next to a different bot blowing a hole right through it before going into a different portal and repeating the process. in less than a second, the laser beam aided by the portals, zigzags all over the Aether port destroying all of the security bots. the officers, workers, and civilians in the port look at falling security bots completely stunned. Ken uses their moment of shock and pulls out the demon skull which quickly forms the demon sword. he points the blade at the roof of the Aether port. the blade splits open and the demon skull opens its mouth. SCHEEEEEEEECH loud screeches emanate from the skull as its core spins generating plasma everyone in the Aether port cowers closing their eyes and covering their ears from the loud screech. . . . then there''s a moment of silence. people slowly open their eyes and uncover their ears thinking it''s over. but their eyes are met with blinding white light that devours their sight. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAR RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE thunder like roar erupts from the demon sword shaking the entire building, as the demon sword fires a pillar of blindingly glowing plasma. The plasma pillar vaporizes the ceiling of the Aether port revealing the clear blue sky above. the trio then hops on a floating sheet of ice that Saiko had created and flies out through the newly created hole in the ceiling. once outside of the city, Ken takes out his grimoire and uses an air conjuration spell for them to breath. he then points at the ground and fires the demon sword at it. the plasma vaporizes the ground forming a tunnel. the trio descends through the tunnel, as Ken continues to fire the demon sword in front of them carving a path for them through the rock. _ why are we going underground by the way? _ Saiko wonders as she flies the ice platform they are standing on through the tunnel created by Ken. ~ to avoid satellites~ he continues. ~ don''t worry we won''t stay underground for long I have a resting place planned beforehand ~ ****************************************************************** location: ancestral palace, Alfheim Day: 24th of Jan 5027 -hm, indeed that is a very unique magic - Ing¨¢lvur Elegast gently strokes his long white beard as he contemplates the story his youngest grandchild Claus told him. - If it¡¯s as you say the water acted as though it was alive that would mean one of two things- Claus stands in the ancestral hall in front of the Ing¨¢lvur throne. the Ing¨¢lvur is the highest position among the elves and it usually belongs to the oldest living elf. the man sitting on the throne, the current Ing¨¢lvur Alberic Elegast is Claus'' great grandfather. Claus came to the ancestral palace to consult him over the matter of living water and how to fight it. - either the person has some sort of artifact that we don''t know of that controls the water for her- Claus recalls the contents of the report he received. it said the two thieves stole some sort of recently discovered artifact. ''In the first fight, she didn''t use water either it must be something they got from the temple'' Claus concludes that it must be the temple and if so. '' Does that mean the other thief got something from the temple as well, I need more information Ing¨¢lvur Elegast continues. - or this might be the strongest water mage alive and perhaps in all of history, possibly both. in any case, it means they possess knowledge and understanding of water that is far beyond our understanding.- Elegast pauses for a moment to wonder. '' if they weren''t a thief they would have been treated as a holy individual by the dark elves such a pity'' - How would you fight it if you could - Claus asks interrupting Ing¨¢lvur''s thoughts Elegast looks down at his grandchild. -well naturally you would use fire. you said she was able to control ice, then it''s possible she can control water vapor as well. however, water vapor would be easier to deal with the worst she could do is try to suffocate you. - Claus'' lips curl up into his usual amused smile. -somehow, I get the feeling she won''t do that but I will take measures against it regardless. That being said I don''t think normal fire would be enough - Elegast''s eyelids narrow and his lips curl up into a smile. if Sophia were to see this smile, she would know where Claus got his signature amused smile from. -so this is what you were after from the start? - Claus bows to his great grandfather and gives him a confident smile. - your insights were truly valuable however it is also true that I came here to ask for the ancestral fire - the ancestral fire is one of the holiest treasures of the light elves. it was created by their great ancestor Alberic the Wise during his youth. it''s an artifact that rather than burning objects turns them to fire. it utilizes the aether field to expel electrons from atoms ionizing the materials and turning them into plasma without heating them. such a process allows for the creation of a cold fire or even a fire that freezes objects, although it can also create a hot fire as well. this process requires no oxygen or fuel and the fire can''t be put off by depriving it of oxygen and it''s a fire that produces no smoke. finally, since it''s not burning but rather a transformation to plasma it can turn even inflammable materials into fire including water. Elegast looks at his grandson while stroking his white beard. - you know such a treasure can''t be brought out so easily, certainly, you know - - I know, However, I am not asking for this favor as your grandson. I am asking you as agent double 0 of the GSTF; this mission is for the sake of harmony and I am not asking you as my grandfather I am asking you as the Ing¨¢lvur. - Elegast looks at his confident grandson for a few moments then sighs. -haaaa, all right then it cannot be helped all is for the sake of harmony. Claus'' lips curl up and he puts one arm across his chest. - don''t worry I promise to protect our great treasure with my life and this promise is made not as agent Double 0 but as Alberic Claus son of the elves - *************************************************** Location: Sophia''s laboratory, strike team 1 base, world capital Sophia floats in the air using her magnetic boots. her mind is connected to hundreds of mechanical arms and various machines as if the entire laboratory is an extension of her body. floating in the center of the laboratory is a golden mechanical armor that the entire machinery of the lab is working on. the golden armor had clear transparent veins running all over it and its helmet looked like a bald lion head. a 3 meter long and 1 meter wide golden metallic sheet floats and curls around the armor from the waist down forming an arc behind it and 4 golden blades each with a crystal at the base of the blade float at the shoulder level around the armor. - perfect this should be able to fight the living water - Sophia tells herself as she finishes the final touches on the new armor. one of the cameras alerts her to the portal opening behind her. she turns with a smile throwing herself in the arms of her fianc¨¦. - Welcome back - Claus smiles and catches her in his arms. - thanks - -did you get it? - rather than answer Claus pulls a crystal out of his pocket. the red crystal is surrounded by fire but doesn''t seem to burn Claus despite the flames covering his hands. - I never thought I would see a fire that doesn''t burn even if it''s plasma. - Sophia enthusiastically takes the crystal and then floats toward the armor. the chest of the armor opens up revealing a socket in which the crystal fits. she places the ancestral fire crystal into the socket then the chest closes. a second passes then lava-like liquid fire flows through the previously clear veins and then flames erupt from the helmet like a lion''s mane fluttering in the wind. - what do you think? - Sophia smiles as she looks proudly at her creation. Claus''s lips curl up as he watches the armor powered by the ancestral fire. - I think it''s perfect- She glances back at her fianc¨¦ with a smile. - what are you going to name it - Claus pauses for a moment then smiles - I will name it the lion of God Ariel - Chapter 15 More questions Chapter 15 More questions location: GSTF director office world capital Day: 25th of Jan 5027 the GSTF director William sits at the head of a large conference table. holograms of the chiefs of police of all the states in the United World fill the remaining seats at the table. the hologram of Italia¡¯s chief of police, a blue haired Therian from the bear tribe, stands up and begins his report. - attacks on our living weapon facility have increased. relocation didn''t decrease the frequency of attacks. we suspect the followers of nature can detect the location of the living weapons we request backup - the director nods after hearing the report and responds. - I will assign strike teams 20 and 31 to your state - the hologram of Britannia''s chief of police, a bald dark skinned human, adjusts his tie and begins his report next. - the protests against the Therian wage gap are growing in both size and frequency as construction companies refuse to raise their wages and are now requesting police intervention to suppress the protests - the GSTF director sighs and rubs his brows looking very tired - let me guess and the Britannia representative wants you to suppress those protests - -that is correct sir - - these idiots ...... all right you have your permission to suppress the protests however coordinate with the media to avoid covering it. Harmony must not be disturbed - - but sir ¨C Britannia''s chief of police is about to voice his disagreement but is cut off by the director - I know but what do you want me to do? our job isn''t to enact or change policy. we only have one job do you remember what it is? - Britannia''s chief of police bites his tongue and answers. - to protect and maintain harmony sir - the director observes the faces of the chiefs of police '' most of them seem to disapprove '' -haaaaaa- he sighs and leans back in his chair '' Can I blame them when I don''t like it either mister President, I really hope you are correct. this job will age me very quickly '' the director looks at the chiefs of police. - I am aware that many of you may disagree with the current policies, and some of you may see this as us serving oligarchs - the director leans in resting his elbows on the table then continues. -However, you must remember that we only serve harmony, and maintaining harmony is our only job. it''s just that their desires and harmony happened to align this time, but make no mistake about it they- the director''s trail of thoughts is interrupted as he notices a portal opening at the end of the room. - all right gentlemen we will have a quick break and will resume our meeting in 10 minutes - he presses a button on the table and the holograms disappear he then faces the portal - why do you never use doors, Claus?- Claus walks out of the portal. - would you meet me now if I did? or would you tell me to wait till the meeting is over - fair enough. tell me what brought you here then? - - you know exactly why I came here Director William and if you want me to continue this mission you better give me some answers - Director William taps his index finger on the table a few times debating what he should tell Claus and how much he would be allowed to reveal but he suddenly gets surprised by a familiar yet alien voice speaking in his head. Claus watches as the face of the director runs through a variety of emotions starting with his usual tired look then contemplation, shock, fear, and finally resignation. ''What the hell is going on? did he lose his mind or something '' the director sighs and rests his chin on his hands then looks at Claus with a serious expression - let me tell you a little story that''s hidden from the public and that you must also keep hidden from the public. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. long long ago more than 6000 years ago acutely. at the time the kingdom of Egit was ruled by King Rameses the Second. King Ramses had a son named Setna. Setna was a very powerful mage in his own right but he wanted even more power and even more knowledge. that''s when he hears about the Book of Knowledge; a book supposedly written by the god of knowledge Thoth himself. according to the legend reading only 2 pages is enough to let you enchant the Heaven and the Earth, you will enchant the abyss, the mountains, and the sea; you will know the language of the birds and all things that crawl on the earth; you will be able to see and summon all that lurks at the depth of the sea. if you read another page if you were in the world of the ghosts you can return to the world of the living - Claus claps his hands applauding the director sarcastically. - good story 7 out of 10 not enough dragons now tell me what did they really steal? - the director chuckles and then shakes his head - this may be the only time in which a legend doesn''t exaggerate but rather undersells its subject matter not only is the book real and that is indeed what they obtained but the book can do so much more - the director''s expression returns back to being serious as he looks at Claus. - this book is very dangerous but also very important to us. we are lucky they don''t comprehend what they have yet. even though I am sure it was explained to them what the book is and what it can do, I don''t think they figured out what questions to ask it yet- Director William gets up, then walks toward the window of his office and continues. -but the key word here is yet. it''s only a matter of time. they will eventually find out and when they do, they will be the greatest threat to harmony - the director turns around and faces Claus. -you must find the book before they ask it too many questions. the longer it remains with them the more dangerous they will become. - Claus pauses for a moment wondering if the director is being serious right now. talk to animals, and come back to life after death these can''t possibly be real but then again, he would have never believed there was such a thing as living water just a few days ago but he saw it. ''But more importantly his reaction '' Claus recalls the rapid change in the director''s facial expressions before telling him the story and his hesitation to tell him. it seemed like he didn''t want to tell him but then received orders to tell him. '' That means that someone is constantly monitoring the director of all people'' the GSTF is an independent agency that has only one mission to protect harmony. the only person the director should answer to is the president. Claus then recalls how Saiko''s file was removed from the archives and her words to him the last time they met. '' Please leave I don''t want to hurt you '' ''If I tell you, you might end up getting silenced '' the secrecy around the mission also bothers Claus. as the team leader of Strike Team 1, he should have the highest clearance level or so he thought. this mission showed him that there are things hidden from even him and there are even higher clearance levels. '' Does this mean the president himself is implicated in this? ¡® Claus decides to leave it at that for now until he gets more information. ¡®Hasty conclusions with a lack of information will only lead to wrong conclusions. Claus looks at the director. - if such a thing is real and you knew about it how come you didn''t keep it safe and didn''t hide it - the director''s expression changes to one of discomfort with a slight hint of fear that Claus didn''t miss. - it''s complicated we had it but we lost it. I can''t tell you about that you don''t have high enough clearance - Claus squints his eyes at the director - interesting what about Saiko she is one of the thieves why doesn''t she have a file be it physical or digital- - I can''t tell you that either please understand - '' Looks like I ended up with more questions than answers today, I will have to investigate this on my own '' - I have another job for you - the director interrupts Claus'' thought process - I know you are busy with your current mission but this will be a quick one - -what is it - inquires Claus - some of the upper echelons are getting slightly ahead of themselves they will be setting a party soon and they wanted someone from the strike force to attend as sort of representative - - let me guess you want me to put them in their place - -I just want you to remind them what our role is and what their role is - -all right you can consider it done - Claus turns around and opens another portal then walks through it ******************* location: a cave in a forest in Koya Day: 25th of Jan 5027 Ken and Daxia sit on rocks around a ball of lightning that Daxia had created for illumination. Ken had planned to hide in this cave to have a couple of days of rest before going to Kim Sangtae as having multiple feet of solid rock around them is one of the few ways to hide from satellites and drones. Daxia checks the aether net and sees that her name has been added to the wanted list as an accomplice to Ken and Saiko - well, I guess there goes your plan to sell water spells through me - ~ well we still have Rin or the black market ~ the duo hears a dragging noise they follow the noise with their eyes to the entrance of the cave and are met with a rather fascinating sight that makes Ken whistle in surprise. ~ how did you catch that ~ a fully covered in blood Saiko enters the cave dragging behind her a massive multi ton gyeryong. Gyeryong is a massive reptile covered in feathers that possess a powerful peak and claws and a head similar to that of a chicken it''s believed to be a subspecies of the cockatrice that evolved to live in the forests of Koya and its name means hen dragon. the massive creature was impaled in multiple places throughout its body with ice spikes and had multiple large open wounds across its body that seemed to be caused by claws. Saiko ignores Ken''s question and brings the gyeryong to the middle of the cave. _ I will leave the cooking to the two of you, I will go deeper into the cave to wash my clothes and take a shower _ Saiko then walks deeper inside the cave away from the duo''s eyes using the curtain of darkness to cover her as she begins to strip Ken chuckles feeling envious ~ Man, water magic sure is convenient ~ he glances at the curtain of darkness covering Saiko and wonders if he should sneak a beak '' Nah I prefer to have my head remain attached to my neck I don''t want to end up like this dude - Ken turns his attention to the gyeryong and wonders aloud ~ I wonder if it will taste like a chicken, it does have chicken in the name ~ Daxia takes out a dagger from a belt wrapped around her thighs and begins to clean the gyeryong - only one way to find out help me prepare it - ~ yeah ~ Ken joins Daxia in preparing the gyeryong. they pluck the feathers then Daxia uses her dagger to peel off the skin and remove the organs. Ken pulls out the demon sword and uses it to cut the body into smaller more manageable segments Daxia looks at Ken and asks. - well since you have a super brain, how much time do you think we have before the world government finds us- Ken chuckles slightly then smiles. ~ I don''t have a super brain and I would say we have about 37 hours~ -and you say you don''t have a super brain - ~I simply did my research beforehand and I can do simple math. the drone scan and satellite scan would take roughly 3 hours, then when theses find nothing they will switch to using specialized machinery for exploring underground called iron moles. those will take roughly 8 hours to tel- Daxia begins to tune out Ken''s rambling and focuses on preparing dinner as he continues to detail the government''s next 30 or so moves Chapter 16 a peek into other realms (1) Chapter 16 Different realms Saiko takes a deep breath enjoying the feeling of water on her body. She constantly conjures water above her and uses it to shower as it flows down her body washing away the blood and grime covering her. she begins to recall her memories from the orphanage and the days she spent with Priest Si-u and her siblings. ''Oh, Saiko did come to help this old man prepare dinner '' the old priest smiles as he watches the young Saiko peek at him from behind a wall ''sh, shut up old man - retorts the young child'' Saiko chuckles quietly at the mannerisms of her younger self. she remembers wanting to help the old man and wanting to get close to him but she had some trust issues at that age, to say the least. she was scared of all adults. after all, prior to meeting the old man every adult she met had harmed her. ''All alright everyone dinner is ready '' the old priest set up the table for the children but then he left the room. the children who had been watching him warily immediately flooded the room after he left and began to eat. Saiko always pitied the old priest. it must have been hard for him to take care of all these children and risk his life for them yet they all feared him from their trauma. Saiko finishes her shower and then pulls the water out of her clothes with magic to instantly dry them. ''I will probably need to buy new clothes soon '' she puts on her clothes and then walks to the part of the cave where Daxia and Ken are cooking the pleasant smell of roasting monster meat fills her nostrils. '' This is pretty nostalgic too I like it '' Saiko chuckles slightly at the absurd thought she just had. the priest couldn''t go out and buy normal groceries so he had to hunt various monsters for them to eat every day, he also grew various plants around the orphanage. ''It sure was hard for him '' Saiko then is met with quite an unexpected sight; the demon sword floating in the air likely by Ken''s magic with its mouth open. tentacle like wires come out of the skull and form a net for the meat to rest on below the net the demon skull breathes out gentle plasma to roast the meat. Saiko never would have expected such a fearsome weapon can be used in such a mundane way. she smiles slightly as the odd sight brings out more memories of the old priest. ''oh are you scared of knives?'' the old priest asked her one day when he noticed she got scared while she watched him cook whenever he used a knife. the priest gently smiled and looked at her. '' Well you are correct knives sure are scary things but you know Saiko a knife is just a tool it''s not bad or good it''s all about how you use it, even the venom of a snake can be used to make medicine '' Ken interrupts Saiko''s thoughts as he eats some of the meat ~ would you look at that! it does taste like chicken ~ Ken smiles as he savors the taste of the meat. he then orders the nanobots of the demon sword to form thin metal spikes which he sticks some meat on making kebabs and gives them over to Daxia and Saiko Saiko takes her kebab and begins to eat it savoring the taste. _ so, what''s our next move now_ ~Well I gave it some thought and I think we should head to the black market ~ Ken responds ~this way we can sell the water spells without risking exposing Rin. we can''t have him become wanted too and we can buy a new car, since mine got blown up~ Saiko scowls wondering why she has to keep going deeper and deeper into more shady situations. it seems like she will become completely entangled with the criminal world. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. she tries to think of an alternative and after a few seconds, she remembers the dark net. _ah! Wasn''t there something called the dark web that''s not monitored by the government why not use that one instead I would prefer if we don''t have to go to a black market _ Ken shakes his head ~unfortunately, not, the dark net is a trap it has the appearance of being free of the government and sure there is a lot of illegal stuff that happens on it or through it but in truth it''s controlled by the government and the illegal stuff that happen on it are those that are permitted or heck maybe even performed by the government itself~ -it''s like a massive honey trap for would be rookie criminals created by the government - adds Daxia while munching on her kebab Ken continues~ the only way to avoid the eyes of the government is through physical interactions that are completely separate from the aethernet. not just that you will have to inscribe your spells the old way through actual pen and paper ~ Saiko sighs as her shoulders slump down _ just how low am I going to sink in this weird world _ ~heh very low princess very low welcome to the dark side of the world ~ Ken sneers while Daxia chuckles quietly ******************************************************** location: Seoul, Koya Day: 26th of Jan 5027 Ken, Saiko, and Daxia walk through the busy metallic jungle of Seoul. large skyscrapers surround them in all directions, out of each skyscraper one or two holographic three-dimensional ads are displayed filling the sky of the bustling city with all sorts of colorful and elaborated displays, carefully designed and perfected over hundreds of years to capture the minds of sapiens and prey on their dormant instincts to make them consume the various product. from one building, a three floors tall massive hologram of a beautiful female kitsune wearing traditional clothes a hanbok with a white top and a long red skirt. she had flame like ginger hair, a fair skin with a few freckles on her cheeks, and she had seven long fluffy tails that curled upwards reaching up to her head, and large long fox like ears. the beautiful kitsune sat in a seiza position while drinking tea from another area of the sky, a massive whale hologram jumps out of non-existent water before diving back into it and disappearing followed by a group of mermaids in front of the logo of Water World Theme Park. in another area, a group of thinly clad women and muscular topless young men dance and party in the sky as they drink wine. many more colorful ads of a similar nature fill the sky of the city, the ads are so numerous that one couldn''t see the cloud or sun above. Daxia who is wearing a black face mask and sunglasses to avoid facial recognition looks around in wonder and amazement at all the ads and the vibrant city. - wow this city sure is something - Ken adjusts his black top hat which he bought as soon as they entered the city to block his face from cameras ~it sure is. Seoul is one of the three entertainment capitals of the world ~ Ken notices that Saiko is keeping her head down under the hood of her coat and keeping her eyes on the ground. he blinks confused while looking at her ~ what''s wrong with you?~ _ This is all haram _ the silver cat answers keeping her eyes facing the ground Ken blinks ~ I always guessed you were old school but I didn''t think you were one of those crazy people who are against technology ~ _ It''s not the technology it''s the ads, specifically ads like these ones _ she answers Ken chuckles and looks at the silver cat ~ why? it''s just some sweet candies for your eyes to enjoy ~ _ and some sweet poison to your mind _ Saiko adds with a sarcastic tone Ken opens his mouth to respond but pauses for a moment finding himself forced to agree ~a......okay fine technically you are not wrong but what''s wrong with them wanting to make money ads are supposed to make you want to buy right ~ Saiko shrugs her shoulders while keeping her eyes on the ground - you are supposed to buy what you need not what you have been subconsciously programmed to want. especially now that the ads have become a perfected art that preys on your instincts you may not care but I am a Therian and my instincts are stronger so I rather keep my mind cle- Saiko and Ken jump startled as naoi suddenly appears in front of the trio interrupting their conversation -greetings children - _where have you been _ Saiko immediately asks - I was in the realm of the jinn checking on a few things - Ken goes wide eyed staring at the floating ancient entity ~ realm? what do you mean by that? ~ - I mean a different plane of existence similar to this one yet different. - _ there are other realms? _ Saiko looks at Naoi with surprise. - of course, there are numerous planes of existence- the ancient entity answers calmly as though what he said is a matter of course. Daxia watches as her two companions randomly start talking to empty air. she assumes Noai is back and chuckles quietly to herself ''Man, I am feeling left out already I never thought there would come a day there is something I can''t see with my eyes I wish I could see him too '' *********** Ken rubs his head in frustration ~ so let me get this straight. you are telling me there are other spatial realms that share our physical space but which are in a different layer so we don''t interact with them and someone could be walking through my body right now but I can''t see, feel, hear or touch them ~ the ancient entity nods at the young children. - indeed, but it''s not just limited to your senses nothing on this layer of space can interact with anything that''s on a different layer of space, allow me to give you an analogy to understand it - Naoi lifts his hand and multiple blue squares appear in front of each other. on each of the blue squares, a moving drawing of a human on a hill appears - imagine if each of these two dimensional squares is its own world, then if you stand in front of them and look at them you will find they all occupy the same location in the two dimensions height and width but as three dimensional being yourselves, you know these squares are not touching since they are on different distances away from you. -meaning even though they occupy the same location in the first two dimensions they occupy different locations in the third dimension. you also know that our three dimensional world could house many of these two dimensional worlds perhaps you could even say an infinite number of them, and a human in one of these squares can''t see, hear, touch, or at all interact with someone in another square. they are so close yet very far apart. similarly, there are numerous three dimensional worlds that occupy the same location in the first three dimensions yet are in different locations in other spatial dimensions - Saiko slumps her head down in defeat. _my head hurts from all of this _ Ken opens his mouth to speak but closes it without saying anything while looking at Naoi looking dumbfounded. Daxia, starting to feel bored of the two crazy looking people talking with empty space for 10 minutes now, grabs the hands of the two of them and pulls them along with her as she starts walking again bringing the two of them back to reality - alright enough talking with the spooky ghost. let''s move on before the government finds us or we are thrown in a mental hospital - ~r,right you are correct - Ken shakes his head snapping back to reality, and walks with them to the black market Chapter 17 Living water Chapter 17 Living water Location: Seoul, Koya Day: 26th of Jan 5027 the trio arrives in front of a large hotel the hotel looked less like a hotel and more like an ancient traditional koyean palace. the palace is surrounded by holograms of numerous pink sakura leaves dancing in the wind. the flow of the endlessly falling leaves is occasionally interrupted by the hologram of a massive flying wingless reptile with blue crystal like scales and golden talons on its hands and feet, a pair of white horns that give off an ethereal glow crown its head. the flying serpent known as an imugi releases a gentle breath of fire out of its mouth that trails behind it drawing gorgeous glowing arcs as it dances in the wind before the imugi finally lands on the roof of the hotel to rest for a few moments before repeating its trip in the sky. Saiko looks at Ken with a questioning look _ I thought you said we are going to the black market this is a hotel in the middle of the rich part of the city _ ~ indeed, in our age where the government has the strongest surveillance system in history you have to get a little more creative where you hide your underworld ~ Ken responds with a smile as he walks toward the entrance of the hotel. the two girls and the ancient jinn follow behind him. they make their way to the receptionist. a beautiful young gumiho in her early twenties with sky blue hair and five fluffy tails. the gumiho is a Therian fox tribe with multiple tails that are native to Koya. they are distant relatives of the kitsune tribe from the land of the rising sun. Ken glances at the gumiho''s chest and notices she is wearing a pin with a small painting on it. the painting was of a black imugi flying over some fruit bearing trees. the receptionist bows to the trio - Welcome to the Gangcheori Hotel where spring never ends even if it is fall. how may I help you - Ken smiles at the receptionist and responds. - we would like to reserve a room for one night we would also like to request to have room service bring us some seafood for dinner, oh, and some blackberries and other fruits - the receptionist bows - with pleasure sir - she then takes out a key to a room and gives it to Ken then gestures to one of the servants to lead them to their room. the trio is led through the back door of the reception area which takes them to a large massive garden with multiple traditional homes along the way. _ This looks like a small village rather than a hotel _ Saiko looks around enjoying the scenery. - the goal of our hotel is to replicate an authentic version of how the life of the people was in the 21st century- the servant explains then leads the trio to a house at the edge of the garden. Saiko walks into the house and her nose is gently tickled with a sweet and relaxing scent. she follows the sent with her eyes to a small ceramic incense burner in the shape of a lotus flower, that''s emitting the sweetly scented fumes; she would later know this incense burner is called a Caledon. The caledon was placed on a small wooden counter in the middle of what seemed to be a living area. beyond it is an open door that leads to a balcony that overlooks a small private garden with a hot spring. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. her eyes wander around the room taking in the elaborate decorations on the walls. the walls of the room were decorated with multiple pieces of mosaic art depicting flying imugis dancing around each other cleverly placed to guide the viewer''s eyes toward multiple traditional paintings. a sliding door to the right of the Caledon opens into a long hallway that connects to multiple bedrooms a kitchen and a bathroom. the room lacked any electronics seeming to try and mimic the living conditions of the far ancient past. '' it would be nice if I could live here and forget about all of this '' Saiko sighs as she wonders to herself the servant leaves then Daxia looks at Ken. - what was the code I missed it ?- ~ it was the black imugi in the painting on her pin. you needed to order something with the color black in it hence me asking for blackberries ~ Saiko looks at the two bounty hunters confused - I am not following what are you talking about - Ken shrugs before throwing his body backward onto a comfy chair. ~well you know that the government watches everything right? if there is a camera or a microphone, they can spy on you through it. meaning that for the black market to form it can only exist in places with almost zero electronics while not being suspicious. that leaves only a few places as options places like warehouses for flammable materials in which electricity is a safety hazard or places where there are no cameras for privacy like a brothel or like a hotel room. some hotel rooms may have cameras but this being a traditional hotel also helps as a reason why they wouldn''t have them ~ Daxia leans against a wall while facing Saiko and adds. - then after you have your place for the black market. you need a way to differentiate between normal people who would use it normally and people who are here for the black market. to do that you set a changing code. for this hotel, the code is a color. every now and then they change the reception area but regardless it will always have an imugi somewhere a painting, a small statue, or the dress of the receptionist doesn''t matter what matters is the color of the imugi and its surroundings - Ken continues ~ this was a black imugi flying over fruit bearing trees so I ordered blackberries ~ a knocking on the door interrupts the trio. Daxia goes to the door and opens it letting the room service employee in. the room service employee, a well built human with an olive skin tone, black wavy hair, and a bright smile, walks in pushing a food tray in front of him. Daxia closes the door behind him and smiles at the employee. - business must be really bad for you to come this quickly - the room service employee drops his smile and leaves the food tray - no, but I rather the world''s most wanted criminals leave my hotel as quickly as possible - Ken chuckles and crosses his legs ~ chill boss we have a very good deal for you. it will be worth your time and worth the risk ~ - it better be - the room service employee. No, the black market manager responds Ken looks at Saiko and smiles. _haaaa_ she sighs and slumps her shoulders for a moment then raises her hand. water begins to crawl out of the hot spring like a loyal servant answering its master''s call. the water enters the room through the balcony then starts to collect and coalesce in front of the manager taking a vaguely humanoid female form with flowing hair and a blank face with no facial features, eyes, nose, or mouth. the humanoid form faces the manager while giving off an odd sense of majesty and calmness that fills the room. the manager feels a chill run down his spine as the water stares at him with non-existent eyes. his mind tries to convince him that it must be a trick of some sort but something else, something deeper more primal than his mind tells him he is in the presence of a living entity and an extremely old one. Ken''s lips curl up into a smug smile as he watches the manager''s reaction ~ I like to call this living water magic ~ Three employees rush into the room; one enters through the balcony, one through a hidden door in the floor, and the third falls from the ceiling landing between the water humanoid figure and the manager. the first two take out spell guns and aim at the humanoid figure, while the third deploys an aether shield around himself and the manager. Whistle Ken whistles as he watches the worried employees with amusement. ~ you have an aether shield as expected of the Gangcheori black market, I knew this was the right place to come ~ Daxia looks at the employees with sympathy. - don''t worry it''s not hostile but if it was, how exactly were you planning to kill water - the manager calms himself down and adjusts his shirt then signals to his employees to lower their weapons. - so, I take it you came to sell me a weapon - before Ken can answer Saiko immediately responds. _ No, you can''t use it as a weapon even if you want to, I won''t allow it_ Ken quickly interjects to protect the deal. ~ although you can''t use it as a weapon, you can still use it for many other things. for example, you no longer need to transport water since water would move by itself. you could also sell it to the Amazon desert. the possibilities of this magic are endless ~ the manager pauses for a moment to contemplate the uses of such magic. although the nature of the spell would prevent him from using it as a weapon even if he wanted to due to its intelligence, there are still plenty of other uses and even if those were to be ignored the spell would still strike a high value in an auction based on its rarity alone. the manager nods at Ken. -indeed, it''s definitely valuable no matter how you look at it. how about 100,000 aether coins per spell - Ken''s lips curl up at the immediate generous offer. ~ I am glad you won''t make me waste my time haggling ~ the manager responds with a smile. - we are all busy people here and the faster you leave my hotel the better- ~well that''s good and all but we need a few things in addition to money if anything money is almost useless to us right now I am sure you know that.~ the manager''s expression turns sour and he sighs. -haaaa, what do you want? - ~ oh nothing much just some food and water, a car oh, and just a few things from the warehouse of Gangcheori ~ Ken''s smile grows wider as he thinks of the numerous treasures in the warehouse of Gangcheori. Chapter 18 god emperor T. Chapter 18 god emperor T. location: Edie family mansion, Enlan, Britannia Day: 25th Jan 5027 Darrah looks in the small mirror of her makeup toolbox and adjusts her makeup one last time. she has already done so multiple times but one last time wouldn''t hurt right, right? She has to look absolutely perfect today, after all, today she is attending one of the most important social events for high society. on the surface, it''s just the birthday party of Edie Poet. the heir to the Edie family and only son of Edie Patton, the seventh wealthiest man in the world, but the affairs of the rich and powerful are never that simple. in truth, the party serves to establish connections and alliances among the rich and powerful and a meeting place for the elites to coordinate and plan their moves. As the heir of the Evans family, Darrah has two goals she needs to achieve today. the first is to establish connections and business deals with other families that would help her raise her family''s status back up, as it has been declining recently after her father made several wrong deals and failed investments. the second is to find out what the heads of the top thirteen families are planning. Darrah''s father has noticed that they have been acting suspiciously lately and he suspects they are planning a big move with the spike in renting prices. - my lady we have arrived - the driver informs Darrah. before, getting out of the car and opening the door for her to come out. Darrah gets out of the car and smiles at the six foot blue wolf that is her driver and bodyguard. -thank you, Derek - Darrah starts walking toward the gate of the mansion with Derek following behind her while the car drives to the parking area. in the current era of self driving cars, there is no need to hire a driver. however, having one is a sign of wealth, as it''s a tradition that the elites kept for generations. Darrah makes her way to the mansion, she observes the massive mansion in front of her. even by the standards of the elites of society, it''s an impressive piece of architecture. the building itself is like a grand palace rather than a mansion that spans multiple city blocks in width. the mansion is built in a gothic Victorian era style with multiple high towers and decorated with gargoyle statues. An even larger garden surrounds the mansion; in the middle of the garden and in front of the mansion gate, sits a beautiful fountain made of marble. in the middle of the fountain resides a statue of an angelic child with six wigs on his back, two on his head, and two more on his waist. simple white cloth wrapped around his angelic body. the child lifts one hand reaching for the heavens looking sorrowful. a small trail of water comes out from the child''s eyes and flows down his cheeks like tears and into the fountain basin below. the small child cries eternally wishing and longing for the heavens. - what a depressing fountain - comments Darrah looking noticeably less excited - they said Sir Edie Patton had a unique taste, now I can see what they meant ¨C Derek adds as he escorts his lady to the mansion Darrah enters the mansion with Derek and immediately gets hugged by another girl - Darrah you are late - the young dark elf smiles as she crushes Darrah with her hug - I m, missed you t,too - Darrah groans while trying to talk but is unable to draw any air into her lungs from the crushing hug. - lady Sarah, I would recommend you loosen your grip if you don''t wish to miss Lady Darrah forever ¨C the blue wolf chuckles quietly as he watches the two friends -oops - Sarah lets go of her childhood friend and backs away - my bad I got a little too excited - having obtained her sweet sweet freedom Darrah takes in a breath of air and then looks at her guard Derek - what kind of bodyguard are you? shouldn''t you protect me from assaults like this - - I am shameless I have no excuses my lady - Derek smiles while watching the two girls banter with a warm gaze. '' ahhh how nostalgic I am glad these two haven''t changed '' Derek starts to recall the first day he met Darrah he was the son of the head butler for the Evans family. all the servants of the Evans family lived in a building at the edge of the garden of the Evans family mansion, this way they were always close to the mansion. Derek lived in one of the apartments of the servants building with his father and mother. it was a decent three bedroom apartment, and the Evans paid his father pretty well. Despite that, Derek couldn''t help but feel slight inferiority towards the Evans, and that inferiority was slowly turning into resentment but fate had other plans in mind for him. one day, while he was in the garden, he saw two girls; one human and one dark elf, Derek recognized the human girl as Darrah Evans but he didn''t recognize the dark elf girl, it seemed like the two girls were playing catch ''Who are you? '' the dark elf girl stopped and looked at him tilting her head '' Your ears are too big '' Darrah stops as well and looks at the wolf boy then thinks for a moment '' Ah I got it, you must be the son of Uncle Truman wanna play with us? '' The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. the young dark elf girl doesn''t wait for him to answer and grabs Derek''s hands then drags him along while shouting loudly '' NEW FRIEND '' ''W, WAIT '' Derek tries to resist but the dark elf girl he will later know is called Sarah doesn''t relent as she drags the wolf boy along it was thanks to these two girls that Derek''s resentment and sense of inferiority disappeared. - hey did you hear? there''s a rumor that says that Agent 00 will attend the birthday party - Sarah''s words pull Derek out of his memories and back to reality - for real ?? - questions Darrah with a look of shock and excitement when the world was united, the concept of foreign enemies slowly disappeared, with the exception of the kingdom of Kim Sungtae. That led to the disappearance of the need for secrecy about the identity of agents. furthermore, since their main work now revolves around subjugating powerful monsters and hunting down criminal organizations, government agents became like local heroes and more powerful agents like members of the strike force became international celebrities. some of them even work as actors in their free time or have their own aethernet channels and sites with dedicated fan bases - why would Agent 00 attend a birthday party? he is not known to be interested in the social world - Derek asks Darrah recalls what her father told her about the nobles and starts to wonder if the suspicious movements of the other families are related to the government in some way. - I think he might come and if he does, we have to find out why - Darrah whispers the last part in a very low voice so that no one can hear her besides Derek who is both close enough and has very sensitive ears from being a wolf. ************************************************** location: warehouse of Gangcheori, Seoul, Koya Day 25th of Jan 5027 ~ Gangcheori really lives up to its name this is an amazing car ~ Ken comments as he checks the features of the car. as he does, he sneakily connects the car to his watch allowing Rin to hack it and connect it to the aethernet channel that''s centered around his brain; giving Ken and the others the ability to control the car via their watches, and protecting the car system from other techno mages. Daxia and Saiko load the food and water into the trunk of the car. the manager smiles benignly at the trio. -of course, it''s the best car we have in addition to the normal mode and off road mode, it also has a boat mode, submarine mode, and even an underground drill mode. it''s the only method of transportation you will need. - ~tsk, it can''t fly though that''s unfortunate ~ the manager has one of the veins on his forehead bulge out at Ken''s annoying nitpicking. he can''t help but feel like he is getting roped ''But it doesn''t matter I will be the one to win in the end '' he ignores Ken and continues -the car is made from chromium, cobalt, and nickel alloy making it extremely tough and can survive most explosions and projectiles - an invisible Noai floats next to Saiko while watching the manager and comments - he is a very good actor - Saiko takes note of Noai''s comment but doesn''t react to it. Ken gets out of the car and then smiles at the manager. ~now it''s time for us to pick a treasure ~ the manager maintains his benign smile and leads his trio of customers. - this way - the trio is led out of the machinery section of the warehouse and towards the artifact section. numerous paintings, weapons, and other historical artifacts surround the trio each placed in its own display case and held up on a pedestal. Saiko glances toward a painting that catches her attention. _Who is that? _ the painting is of a large man with orange skin, wearing golden bulky armor and a golden laurel crown. one of his hands had a massive claw, while in the other hand, he held a large fiery sword. the sword guard resembled a bird perhaps a phoenix except it was blue. the large man stood firmly full of the dignity of a warrior with the sun glowing behind him bathing him in her glory. ~oh! That''s god emperor Trump ~ Ken responds with a smile. ~ he was worshipped before the cataclysm and for some time after it. artifacts depicting him are rare but there are many records either about him or referencing him so many believe he was a real person~ the manager smiles - you have a very good eye miss. there are only 3 copies of this painting in the world and this happens to be one of them - Saiko shakes her head. _ I was just curious but I am not interested in the painting we are on the run right now, and it would be a hindrance to have something that big_ Ken then notices a weird transparent orb that floats in its display case. ~ that one looks interesting. what is it ?~ the manager looks at the orb. -to be completely honest I have no idea either. One of our men found it inside the corpse of a deformed and mummified animal. we have no idea what it is nor what the animal was from how damaged its body was. - Naoi moves closer to the orb and examines it. - it''s called a yeowoo guseul or fox bead, it has many uses but it¡¯s rarely used for good - Ken and Saiko listen to the invisible Naoi. - you should get the fox bead although most people can''t use it it''s better to make sure it doesn''t fall into the wrong hands - at the same time, Daxia notices something dart away at the edge of her sight. she follows it and sees it¡¯s a goblin like being. It had red Skin, sharp teeth with long fangs, and two short horns on its head. The little goblin continues to walk leading Daxia to a mask. the goblin like being is invisible to normal people but she can see it thanks to her eyes. - what''s this mask? - the manager watches her with intrigue but then returns to his benign smile. -that''s a dokkaebi mask, they say a dokkaebi possesses it which is ironic since the mask itself was made to look like the face of a dokkaebi- - what''s a dokkaebi ?- the manager smiles wider. - it''s a local spirit. you can think of it as a mix of a Ghost a goblin and a demon, it''s not evil just mischievous- Daxia observes the creature in front of her '' so that''s a dokkaebi, he looks oddly cute '' she chuckles to herself quietly and assumes the creature wants her to take him with her since he led her to the mask. ''well the mask fits my style too '' the mask covered mainly the lower half of the face from the nose down. it looked like the nose and mouth of a dokkaebi with sharp teeth and long fangs, and from the edge of the cheeks, the mask extended upwards to cover the edges of the face before ending in two small horns. Daxia takes the mask from its display case and puts it on. immediately upon putting on the mask, she feels a surge of energy flood her body leading her body to vibrate as a connection between her and the dokkaebi is formed. Ken notices and frowns. ~hey don''t go acting on your own. we had already picked something ~ Daxia chuckles a bit. -I am sorry, I got carried away but I think I am now linked to the mask so - ~you are shameless how~ Ken is about to get angry but gets interrupted by Saiko who places a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. _ It''s all right I can write more spells to pay for the two of them the mask and the bead _ she then looks at the manager to confirm if it''s fine with him. the manager nods with a smile. - of course, I would be happy with that - Ken sighs and then takes the fox bead out of its display case and places it in his pocket. ~well, I guess it''s our turn to fulfill our part of the deal please bring a traditional grimoire and mythical ink ~ the manager nods once again maintaining his benign smile all the time. - of course - he sends one of his employees to bring the grimoire and ink, and the employee returns with the items after a few minutes. _ my turn _ Saiko takes the items and begins to inscribe her spells. the manager observes Saiko carefully trying to get as much information about her magic as he can. however, he is completely surprised by her magic which is unlike anything he has ever seen. if one were to describe normal spells it would be like a series of equations and calculations to guide the energies in the aether field to obtain the desired outcome. if likened to a computer the caster would be a technician, the spell would be the circuit boards and energy would be the electricity flowing through the circuit board, and finally, the world itself would be the image projected by the computer screen. on the other hand, the spells Saiko is inscribing have little to no circuit boards instead it looks like a conversation, and that conversation is in a language he doesn''t understand. in this case, rather than a technician, she is a programmer who understands the coding language of the universe itself and is communicating with it. after a few moments, Saiko finishes inscribing the spells and offers the grimoire to the manager. _ here you go? _ the manager takes the grimoire with a smile but his facial expression changes to one of cruelty. - thank you but I am afraid none of you will leave this place - hundreds of employees flood the warehouse and surround the trio. - not with the artifacts you took, if you hand over the artifacts, I may let you go peacefully if you resist I will - Ken raises his hand up to interrupt the manager. ~ mate spare us the speech~ the manager looks at Ken perplexed. -what? - ~do you think this is our first time or something we all knew you would try to attack us and take the artifacts back once we give you the spells. why do you think I made us pick the artifacts first? ~ Ken takes out the demon skull and forms the demon sword. the manager looks more surprised -but- ~ we are on a tight schedule here let''s not waste time unnecessarily the government robot search will reach Seoul in another 45 minutes ~ Saiko looks at the manager apologetically. _ If it makes you feel better, I didn''t know until I was alerted by a friend _ the manager gets more confused at the declaration that a friend alerted her when there is no one else around. '' Did one of the employees betray me and tell them she doesn''t seem to be lying '' -pffft - Daxia laughs at the confused manager and prepares herself for battle as well eager to try on her new mask. Chapter 19 Everything looks like a nail Chapter 19 Everything looks like a nail Location: Warehouse of Gangcheori, Seoul, Koya Day 25th of Jan 5027 The manager shakes his head to regain his senses. Although he didn¡¯t expect them to know his plan, that changes nothing, all he needs to do is kill them to get the artifacts back and maybe he could even get the bounty for their heads. He points at the trio and shouts to his men. - GET THEM ¨C Ken splits the demon blade open to reveal the plasma blade beneath readying himself for battle. Through her link with the mask, Daxia becomes instinctively aware of the mask''s abilities and how to use them. She activates one of the mask¡¯s abilities turning herself invisible. She intends to try out all of the mask¡¯s abilities in this fight. Many employees rush toward the trio while others aim their weapons at them. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE The entire underground warehouse begins to shake violently. The sudden shaking stops everyone in their tracks. - what is this? An earthquake- - now of all times? - the employees begin to wonder in confusion at the sudden earthquake. Ken pauses for a moment and then realizes the true identity of the shaking; he then immediately turns towards Saiko and shouts. ~ NO, SAIKO WAI- Before he can finish his sentence, he sees Saiko raise her hand up a few inches gently. The reinforced floor and walls of the warehouse all crack before bursting open, as water comes flooding in. A barrage of spells is immediately fired by the employees; some were aimed at Saiko but were blocked by water that gathered around Saiko and solidified forming a multi meter thick wall of ice, some were defensive spells rock shields, force fields, metal walls, but all were crushed under the heavy water pressure, some tried to escape but there was nowhere to run as water rushed in from all directions. All is meaningless in the face of a natural disaster. In a matter of seconds, the entire warehouse was completely flooded by water. The water then gently embraced the manager and all of his employees suffocating them till they pass out. then the water continued to tunnel upward until it reached the surface. The water then released the passed out manager and his employees. The water recedes and in a matter of seconds, it all disappears as fast as it first appeared. The once full warehouse is now completely empty except for Saiko, a pissed of Ken, and Daxia who appeared after deactivating the mask¡¯s invisibility. - Man, I was really looking forward to trying the mask in battle how unlucky- Ken taps on his watch and the car turns on and drives to him. ~ we are leaving ~ Daxia raises an eyebrow confused. - what? But we have the whole warehouse to ourselves now we could take as many artifacts as we want ¨C ~ doesn¡¯t matter most of them are useless since we can¡¯t sell them and we don¡¯t have time to look for useful ones since Miss Hammer over there just exposed our location to the government ~ If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. _ miss hammer? _ Saiko asks confused at the weird title. ~ it¡¯s because you are a hammer and you see everything as a nail. you only have one answer to every question. we used to have more than 40 mins now we only have 2. Now everyone, get in the car ~ _ I mean it¡¯s a very effective answer is it not_ Saiko chuckles as she gets in the car with Daxia. Ken glares at Saiko and then sighs. ~ haaaaa, you are lucky we don¡¯t have time to argue, Rin, can you open the exist for us ~ - negative, the entrance tunnel collapsed because of the water ¨C Daxia chuckles and nudges Saiko. - looks like you overdid it this time. ¨C _ I guess, I am sorry about that _ Ken pauses for a moment to think. ~ I don¡¯t think we can escape at this point so instead let¡¯s go to a place that¡¯s advantageous to us ~ Ken switches the car to drill mode. The car contorts, as its many parts begin to move around and morph. The roof lowers down, the car sides move inward shrinking the car further then steel walls come up to cover the windows and the windshields and car tires grow metal spikes to help it dig through the ground. Four large steel arms come out of the car and connect to form a large drill, then finally a display screen appears in front of Ken inside the car that¡¯s connected to cameras on the front and back hood of the car. Ken starts to tunnel underground; he uses a map of the city provided by Rin as a guide to reach a lake in the middle of Seoul. Once they reach the lake, he switches the car to submarine mode and then looks at Saiko. Saiko looks at him confused. _ why a lake? _ ~ because we really need a hammer right now ~ _ you were just complaining about me being a hammer less than a minute ago? _ ~ that¡¯s because most of the time you don¡¯t need a hammer but sometimes you do, it¡¯s about when to use the hammer and right now a really strong hammer is our only way out of this~ SWIFT BOOOM BOOM BOOM Multiple rockets zoom through the air then fall inside the lake and explode sending the submarine zooming through the water from the explosion. ~ we won¡¯t last long at this rate I need you to buy time ~ Ken shouts at Saiko urging her to fight. _ Fine, but you know you didn¡¯t need to take us to a lake I can summon ground water _ ~ we didn¡¯t come to the lake for you. We came here to prevent them from swarming us. This lake is used for tourism and doesn¡¯t have police robots or machinery and while they can quickly deploy land and air robots, since there are no large bodies of water nearby, it will take them a while to transport water robots here, we need to escape before then ~ Saiko looks at Ken impressed by his ability to think and make decisions so quickly and begins to clap. _ Impressive you deserve a clap and a half_ BOOM BOOM BOOM Another round of explosions rattles the submarine. ~ this is not the time for that, focus. Rin, we need visuals. ~ - you got it ¨C Rin hacks the cameras surrounding the lake and links them to the display screen inside the submarine. The display screen shows the situation around the lack. Thousands of police robots and unmanned vehicles surround the lake from all directions with more arriving by the second and hundreds of drones fly above the lake and are constantly shooting rockets at the lake. Saiko observes the screen and then smiles. _ nice _ Daxia looks at Saiko confused and raises an eyebrow at her. - I am sorry, what is nice about this exactly? there is an entire army out there - Saiko smiles confidently. _ Well, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any people around which means I can let loss _ Saiko raises her hands up and her eyes begin to glow with a faint blueish white light. *********************** Location: Seoul police station - sir, we have the suspects surrounded but the underwater robot unit won¡¯t arrive until another 7 minutes should I send a sapiens unit to arrest the suspects? ¨C A police dispatcher informs the police chief of Koya. - no keep everyone on standby but don¡¯t send any sapien units. we received information that the suspects are highly dangerous and possess illegal weapons- The door to the office of the chief of police suddenly opens and another dispatcher comes running in with a shocked expression. - SIR, WE LOST A THIRD OF OUR UNITS ¨C - WHAT? ¨C The first dispatcher exclaims in shock it hasn¡¯t even been 5 minutes since he left his post and they already lost a third of the units there which means that at least 800 bots and vehicles were destroyed. -GIVE ME A LIVE FEED IMMEDIATELY ¨C The police chief immediately shouts and a large screen is lowered from the ceiling of the office displaying a hellish scene. - is, is that the lake? Th, there is no way, right? Right?- One of the dispatchers questions while looking at the scene in horror. ¡®Are all living weapons like this? Why would we even need something like this? ¡® The chief of police knew that the suspect was an escaped living weapon but even if he knew, nothing would prepare him to sight in front of him at the moment. He was told that living weapons were powerful but how could one person have so much power? Why would one person have so much power? The screen shows a massive water giant that towers over the city. It¡¯s as though the entire lake came to life and took the form of the upper half of a vaguely feminine humanoid figure. Thousands of spells, rockets, and bullets fly at the massive giant every second but it seems to only be a mild inconvenience to the massive giant. The giant swings its massive arm clawing at the ground and sending bits of crushed machinery into the air and causing a small earthquake. Numerous water tentacles come out of the giant and out of the ground crushing bots and vehicles alike. -w, we need to nuke it ¨C One of the two dispatchers suggests while taking a step back away from the screen from fright. - no, we need to use the aether gun ¨C The other one counters. - SHUT UP YOU FOOLS DO YOU WANT TO DESTROY THE ENTIRETY OF SEOUL? CALL THE STRIKE FORCE IMMEDIATELY ¨C -y, yes, sir- The police chief shouts at the two dispatchers causing them to rush out of his office to contact the strike force. The chief of police continues to watch the water giant decimate the machine police units with ease. ¡®we have to make sure that none of the other living weapons escapes nor gets kidnapped otherwise using a nuke would no longer be an absurd suggestion¡¯ Chapter 20 Happy birthday Poet Chapter 20 Happy birthday Poet Location: Seoul, Koya Day: 25th of Jan 5027 The water giant raises its arm up blocking the sun. BOOM BOOM BOOM Explosions erupt inside the giant¡¯s body as three rockets impact the giant causing three large clouds of mist to spread and cover the city from the amount of water evaporated by the explosions blocking the view of the residents watching from afar. The police bots don¡¯t stop and continue to fire their bullets and spells. The residents then see the shadow of the massive arm move through the mist with tremendous speed followed by a loud thud and the sound of the earth rumbling. The powerful shockwave drives the mist away revealing more crushed pots and the water giant with three holes in its body that are quickly closing as more water rises from the ground and replaces the evaporated water. - wow! I can almost understand why the government wants to use you as a weapon ¨C From inside the submarine floating in the chest of the giant, Daxia watches as Saiko single handedly clears waves upon waves of police bots. ~ Stop spacing out and help me ~ Ken reprimands Daxia as he connects the demon skull to the back of the submarine. - What are you doing exactly? - ~ I am getting us out of here. Rin, let¡¯s go for a space shuttle like shape so a mix between the drill form and the submarine form ~ - Got it ¨C Rin responds through the aether channel then the submarine begins to morph in response to his will. Daxia raises an eyebrow at Ken. - What do you need me for? I am not sure if you noticed but I am neither a techno mage nor am I an engineering nerd like you ¨C ~ But you are the best at stealth here and we need more parts Specifically we need parts from the drones ~ - oh! I can do that what parts do you need? ¨C ~ We need wings and tailpieces, preferably, ones that are in good shape. Try not to take too much time~ Ken is interrupted by the sound of something hitting the submarine. He looks outside the window and sees the parts he asked for floating next to the submarine. ~ what just happened?~ Daxia smirks at the perplexed genius. - This has to be my first time seeing your surprised expression. Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s one of the perks that came with the new mask- Ken looks at Daxia with amazement. ~what? I need to know more about this but we don¡¯t have time right now ~ Ken gets out of the submarine and begins to attach the new pieces to the submarine using the nanobots from the demon skull to make the tools he needs. The little invisible dokkaebi goblin chuckles while sitting on Daxia¡¯s shoulder and bumps fists with her. - What a cheeky little fella- The little dokkaebi thinks he is the biggest secret around and thus the strongest but unbeknownst to him, a far more ancient creature invisible even to him is watching. Saiko¡¯s ears perk up at Naoi¡¯s comment but she ignores it and continues to focus on the battle raging outside. *********************************************************** location: Edie family mansion, Enlan, Britannia Day: 25th Jan 5027 - Happy birthday poet ¨C Edie Poet turns to face the young lady behind him. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. - Miss Darrah correct? Glad you made it to the party ¨C Darrah scowls and leans in then pokes Edie Peot in the chest repeatedly. - Are you going to pretend you don¡¯t know me now? ¨C - ouch ouch, I was kidding. Chill ¨C Poet chuckles as he tries to dodge the parage of attacks. - how unladylike. glad to see you haven¡¯t changed at all ¨C Darrah crosses her arms. - glad to see you are as big an idiot as you were before ¨C - a certain lady used to say that¡¯s part of my charm ¨C Darrah punches his shoulder as her lips betray her and curl up slightly. - Well, if you are done greeting all the fake people around you can join us. Sarah and Derek are also here - Darrah points with her head toward one of the tables. Poet follows her with his gaze and sees Sarah drowning herself with alcohol as Derek stands guard next to her. Poet¡¯s face immediately cringes at the sight. - Why is he here? I don¡¯t remember inviting him- - You know I don¡¯t go anywhere without him. he is my bodyguard Besides I don¡¯t understand why the two of you hate each other- - We don¡¯t hate each other ¡­ you could say we compete with each other- -competing with Derek? ¨C Darrah gets confused and curious but Poet ignores her question. - Well let¡¯s go before Sarah kills herself via intoxication- He starts walking towards the table with Darrah following behind him. - hiccup, oh hey Poet ¨C Sarah raises her glass towards Poet to greet him looking clearly drunk. -I think you had enough drinks ¨C He takes the glass out of her hands. - nooooooo my glass ¨C GASPS - it¡¯s really him - - he acutely came ¨C Poet hears many gasps and whispers suddenly erupt all over the hall as everyone focuses their attention on a portal that suddenly appears at the entrance of the hall. Out of the portal, walks a man with blonde hair and pointed short ears wearing a long black coat and casual clothes. A strike force badge dangles from the man¡¯s neck as a necklace; written on it are the words ¡°Strike team 1 leader: agent 00¡± Darrah looks at Poet with a questioning look. - Just what did you do to make him come to your party?- Poet shakes his head with a defeated look. - It¡¯s not me. He is here for my father, not me.- Poet pauses for a moment as he watches the fake ¡°elites¡± that were sucking up to him just moments ago now racing to suck up to Agent 00, then his lips curl up as a twisted thought comes to his mind and he turns to look at his friends. -want to spy on my father and find out what this is about? ¨C - Definitely - Darrah responds with a smile - Then let''s go. We need to hide before they arrive - Poet leads them to his father¡¯s office, then he walks to a mirror and opens it like a door revealing a hidden room. - I didn¡¯t know Mr. Edie was so old school- Poet stops in his place at the stupid comment he just heard then looks at Derek. - Are you stupid? Have you seen the mansion? Of course, he is old school. sometimes I feel like I live in the Middle Ages now everyone inside- They enter the hidden room and close the mirror behind them. A few minutes pass then the heads of the thirteen wealthiest families enter the office one after another led by Edie Patton. Another minute passes then Agent 00 enters the office guided by a butler. - Thank you, Arnold. You can leave now.- The butler nods and then leaves. Edie Patton looks at Agent 00 with a courteous smile. - Thank you for accepting my invitation, sir Claus- Agent 00 nods as his sight moves from one family head to another then he looks past them at the mirror and his sight lingers on the mirror. For a moment it looked like his eyes were looking past the mirror and looking directly at the hidden Poet and his friends. -There is no way he can see us r, right?- Darrah worriedly whispers but rather than receiving an answer she gets shushed by Derek. Edie Patton continues to talk. - We know the strike force members are busy so we won¡¯t take too much of your time. We wanted to discuss two subjects; the first is the matter of the growing protests and the second is a donation to a charity of the GSTF director¡¯s choice. ¨C -pffft ¨C The agent starts to laugh causing the family heads to tense up and look at him with questioning gazes. ¨C You lot sure are bold, aren¡¯t you? What do you think I am acutely here for? - The head of the Ackermann family speaks up. - Didn¡¯t sir Edie just explain it? ¨C - pffft- The agent laughs again and seems to be finding the situation very amusing. - No, gentlemen I am here to put you in your place- BAAAM - CAREFUL WITH YOUR WORDS SIR CLAUS- The head of the Banfield family slams his hand on the chair¡¯s armrest and stands up looking furious at the blatant disrespect the agent is showing. Agent 00 walks to Sir Banfield and places his hand on Banfield''s shoulder and forces him to sit back down. - You are the ones that need to be careful gentlemen. You need to understand that the strike force ranks above the representatives and above the police force and although you may have managed to buy the latter two you can¡¯t buy the strike force. ¨C - Ahm- Edie Patton clears his throat and speaks in a low voice trying to defuse the tense atmosphere. - Buy is a strong word, sir Claus. We are simply proposing to work together in a mutually beneficial relationship. After all, we control the economy, and as private citizens and corporations we can do certain things that the government can¡¯t ¨C Agent 00 looks at Sir Edie and his lips curl up slightly. - As I thought you are the most amusing one here. However, Sir Edie, the strike force doesn¡¯t care about that. The strike force is only concerned with maintaining harmony, a harmony that with your recent actions you are beginning to disrupt. You gentlemen are an existence we tolerate so long as you are beneficial to harmony but should that change and you disrupt the harmony of the world, you will be swiftly eliminated. - - y, you can¡¯t hurt us. - Sir Ackermann exclaims with fright. -We are the true power behind the government and we have the representatives on our side. Huh? What are you doing- The agent makes a gun shape with his hand and aims at Sir Ackermann¡¯s leg. A small portal appears in front of the agent''s finger and a laser beam comes out of it piercing through Sir Ackermann''s thigh causing him to fall to the ground screaming in pain. -AAAAAAAARH ¨C - You are lucky you didn¡¯t say you can¡¯t kill us- Agent Claus sneers at the fallen man screaming in pain before facing the remaining family heads. - Gentlemen, I strongly advise you not to disrupt harmony and to deal with your issues wisely. otherwise- BADUMB BADUMB BADUMB A portal appears next to Agent 00 the sound of a beating heart can be heard coming from the portal. The family heads all clench their chests out of fear not knowing whose chest that portal connects to. Claus smiles at their reaction and continues. -Otherwise, you might find yourself mysteriously having a heart attack one day- Suddenly the agent stops and seems to be listening to someone through an aether channel and as he does his lips continue to curl upwards more and more with a hint of excitement in his expression. -Gentlemen, I believe I made myself clear and I am sure you are all wise men that won¡¯t disrupt harmony anymore. I would love to stay and continue our lovely conversation but my favorite group of thieves is moving again so I need to go. - The agent opens another portal and walks through it leaving the family heads alone in the office all with a newfound fear. 20.1 How Claus is able to teleport? And general information about the world It¡¯s my birthday ?????? ?? which is unrelated to poet¡¯s birthday, that was just an unexpected coincidence?? there won¡¯t be a new chapter today because I am celebrating. However, I will use this opportunity to explain some things about the novel that I find difficult to naturally explain in the story without it being out of place. Specifically, how is Claus able to teleport as he pleases and teleportation magic in general. As you might have noticed I am trying to make the story as grounded in real science as possible with the exception that aether is real. If I had to sum up the power system of the novel it would be modern science, maybe even theoretical science but with ancient philosophy guiding it. If some of you are familiar with ancient science mainly the writings of Aristotle though not limited to him, then you would know that in ancient times they divided everything in the world into 4 elements: fire, water, air, and earth. And I do mean everything and it wasn¡¯t limited to¡­. well to the obvious things only. To explain what I mean let¡¯s take fire for example. the fire element didn¡¯t just refer to normal fire it also referred to stuff like acids and venoms and such and in some places in the Middle East the common name for sulphuric acid to this day is liquid fire. Hence why in the ¡° ancestral fire¡± chapter plasma and fire are used interchangeably. That was my attempt to show that to people in the future, they are the same thing. Also, you would know there is a fifth element which is Aether, and that aether makes up and/or holds the heavens. in some writings, aether is actually the primary material of the universe and the 4 elements are just different parts and forms of aether similar to how the 7 colors of the rainbow make up white light when combined. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Also, based on when you were born you would be one of the 4 elements. Fun fact, and you might already know this but this idea sorta survived to this day. It¡¯s now part of astrology along with your zodiac sign you would be told which of the 4 elements you are. In our story though if you are an elf or a half you have affinity with the 4 elements not just one. Which finally brings us back to Claus. As a half elf he was born with an affinity to all 4 elements and as we just explained mixing all 4 elements gives you aether and specifically out of the four fundamental forces: electromagnetic, gravity, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear forces, Claus is able to access gravity. And he is able to use this gravity to bend space to create wormholes in the fabric of space. BUT And this is a very big BUT This is different from the aether magic that Naoi and Ken use . First Claus doesn¡¯t technically possess the ability to control aether, he is generating aether by mixing the 4 elements. Second, he is doing this instinctively due to his affinity he isn¡¯t aware of what exactly he is doing. That means a few things. One, it means if Ken wanted to do the same he would need to learn all the information and steps needed to do it¡­. Manually for the lack of better words. It also means Claus can¡¯t do anything else besides open portals since he doesn¡¯t control ambient aether and lacks the knowledge of how to do it. A side important note, people in the future don¡¯t know everything about aether and magic. For example, Claus doesn¡¯t know why he is able to open portals, to him it¡¯s just something he was born with. Now some perceptive people among you may have noticed two issues with what I am saying. First, wormholes are extremely unstable and need massive amounts of negative mass to maintain. Well, that would be true if it was a normal wormhole in which the gravity is the result of the massive amount of mass such as in the case of a black hole. However, in this case, gravity is generated directly without any mass attached and space is bent with gravity alone and energy is provided by the aether field. Second, in the early chapters, I explained that jumping long distances is impossible without the aid of the teleportation pillars which do the calculations for you unless you want to end up in outer space. Well, that remains to be true. However, Claus as team leader of strike team 1 was given an item to solve this issue for him. Specifically, a watch made by Sophia which is linked to the same network as the pillars and uses the closest 3 pillars to triangulate Claus¡¯s location in space at all times allowing him to perform long distance teleportation. Well, that is all for today ?? If you guys are interested, I could use more bonus chapters to discuss other stuff that I can¡¯t fit naturally into the story. it won¡¯t only be science topics there will be also other topics like the gear of the strike force teams, information on a certain nature obsessed organization, etc etc. and if you can¡¯t wait to read the next chapter well Kofi members get to read one chapter ahead it¡¯s only 3 $ a month, eventually I will add more chapters ahead for Kofi members and look out for Ken art coming soon. That is all see you Friday ?? Chapter 21 Ariel descends to the battlefield Chapter 21 Ariel descends to the battlefield Location: Seoul, Koya Day 25th of Jan 5027 The Door to the submarine opens and Ken enters. ~ All right, we are ready to leave ~ Daxia looks out of the window and sees the wings that are now attached to the submarine''s side. - Why do I have an ominous feeling you are about to do something dreadfully stupid ¨C Ken always had the craziest ideas, which is why he was the bounty hunter people dreaded working with the most. Although he almost never failed his missions and had the best record after Daxia, his partners frequently had near death experiences and they were almost always because of one of his crazy ideas. ~ Come on! you know me better than that. It¡¯s not stupid if I am the one doing it because it will work ~ Ken smiles confidently then moves the gear stick forward causing the back of the submarine to open up and reveal the demon skull. The demon skull opens its jaws wider than usual and begins to shriek loudly. Daxia looks through the back windshield at the demon skull, starting to piece together what Ken¡¯s plan is. - You can¡¯t possibly be serious. ¨C ~ oh! But I am ~ - WE ARE GOING TO DIE ¨C A black slimy hand comes out of Saiko¡¯s chest made by Argus and interrupts the two bounty hunters. _ If he says it will work, then I am sure that it will _ Ken looks at Saiko with surprise as he didn¡¯t expect her to take his side. He then notices his lips had curled up instinctively into a smile making him laugh inwardly at himself. He looks at Saiko through the rearview mirror and Salutes her military style. ~ Thank you for believing in me captain. You will not regret it ~ Saiko smiles at Ken¡¯s salute. _ you are welcome. Now get us out of here. _ ~Ai Ai sir. but there is something I need your help with ~ Daxia watches the two of them and then slumps her head down in defeat. - I am stuck with crazy people ¨C The dokkaebi goblin looks at her with sympathy and then pats her back to comfort her. ***************************************** Location: Seoul police chief office. The chief of police watches as the battle continues to rage on. The frequency and strength of explosions continue to increase as the government is forced to use more and more powerful weapons. ¡®at this rate we are going to be forced to use weapons that threaten the entire city. Should we evacuate the city¡¯ The chief of police slams his fist on his desk and shouts. - WHERE IS THE STRIKE TEAM WHY DIDN¡¯T THEY ARRIVE YET ¨C -sir, something is moving inside the giant. We believe it¡¯s the criminal¡¯s vehicle- One of the dispatchers informs the chief, and then the screen zooms in on a small dot moving through the giant¡¯s chest. - FOCUS ALL FIRE ON IT. MOBILIZE THE SAUCERS ¨C Saucers are disk shaped flying vehicles that generate a sphere void of aether around them which allows them to surf over gravity waves. This makes Saucers the fastest vehicles known to sapiens in this era becoming perfect weapons for assassinations. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. As they are extremely expensive to make each country in the United World can only afford a very limited number of them. Three blurry lines zoom out from one of the mountains of Seoul toward the water giant. The giant notices the objects flying toward it but before it can react the three Saucers pierce its chest and zoom toward the submarine. Unable to catch the Saucers, the giant freezes its chest to entrap them. Another wave of spells, rockets, and bullets fly at the giant¡¯s chest to break the ice and kill the targets but a large wall of groundwater rises to defend the giant. The giant sticks its arm inside its chest and grabs the submarine that now looks more like a jet. The giant moves its arm back twisting its waist, and then violently moves forward twisting its waist back and flicking its arm like a whip throwing the submarine into the air. A loud whip like popping noise echoes in Seoul accompanied by a powerful gust of wind as the giant¡¯s arm breaks the sound barrier. - AAAAAAAHHHHH YOU CRAZY BASTARDS I AM TOO YOUNG TO DIE- Daxia screams inside the submarine as her life flashes before her eyes from the immense speed. ~ RELAX THE AETHER SHIELD WILL PROTECT US ~ Ken reassures Daxia with a wide grin on his face clearly enjoying the flight. _ IS THIS GOING TO BE ENOUGH? _ Saiko questions recalling how fast those disk shaped flying machines were. They seemed to move without any propulsion and seemed to somehow evade the resistance of the water. ~ OF COURSE NOT ~ Saiko raises an eyebrow out of confusion but waits for Ken to continue, expecting him to have planned for it. ~ WE OBVIOUSLY NEED TO GO FASTER ~ Ken¡¯s grin grows wider as he pushes the gear stick forward. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE Saiko and Daxia look behind them to see electric arcs flying behind them coming out of the demon skull. - oh no ¨C ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- Daxia screams her lungs out as a plasma beam wider than the submarine erupts from the demon skull propelling the submarine faster through the Air leaving a violent shockwave in its wake. ********************************************************** Location: police chief office -s, sir, the criminal escaped - A dispatcher hesitantly reports to the police chief. - I CAN SEE THAT YOU FOOL- The police chief slams his fist on his disk, then sits back on his chair and rubs his forehead in frustration. ¡®Is the only solution really to use a nuke? I am not even sure a normal ballistic missile would be enough. Whose dumb idea was it to create these living weapons?¡¯ The police chief furrows his brows as he continues to weigh his options when his thoughts are interrupted. - Sir, you have a call ¨C The police chief looks up at his secretary with a curious look. Obviously, she knows this is not the time for useless calls, so he wonders who it is for her to bring it up to him despite the situation. - It¡¯s Agent Double 0, sir ¨C she proclaims -Connect him immediately- The secretary connects the agent to the police chief¡¯s aether channel. - Hey Chief ¨C The police chief hears Claus¡¯s laid back voice in his ears through the aether channel which immediately pisses him off. - YOU SHAMELESS BASTARD, HOW ARE YOU SO CALM? THE LIVING WE¡­THE CRIMINALS ESCAPED ¨C The chief catches himself before calling the criminal a living weapon. He recalls that the agents of the strike force are not informed about the living weapon project. Claus doesn¡¯t miss the chief¡¯s blunder but pretends not to notice. - Relax chief. I will catch the criminals ¨C - hmph, you are late, arrogant bastard. They already escaped. ¨C -pfft- The police chief hears a quiet chuckle causing his blood to boil even more. - YOU BASTARD ¨C - Relax chief. I am never late. I already know their destination and I am waiting for them there. - what? - Claus¡¯s confident claim shocks the police chief. It¡¯s one thing to know which country they want to go to maybe even what city but he claims to know their exact route. Despite Claus¡¯s arrogance, the police chief has to admit he is skilled. that is why he is the team leader of Strike Team One. However, that¡¯s on a different level. - How did you know? ¨C - I have to go now Chief. The criminals are nearly here ¨C - WAIT- Claus hangs up and his lips curl up slightly. - Sophia, did you notice- - I did - Sophia responds to Claus through their team''s Aether channel. - he didn¡¯t seem to be as concerned with the book as much as he was concerned with the individual- Claus pauses for a moment then asks -hm, How do you think we should go about this? ¨C - I am not sure, it seems to be hidden very well- Claus sighs. - haaaaa, if only our favorite group of thieves were to share their secrets with us, our lives would be much easier ¨C Claus recalls his last encounter with the group of thieves. ¡®I don¡¯t want to hurt you¡¯ ¡®If I tell you, you will be silenced¡¯ -pffft ¨C Claus laughs as he recalls another line. ¡®You can¡¯t win¡¯ - Well, we are going to see about that ¨C Claus¡¯s thoughts are interrupted by Sophia''s voice - By the way, I am curious. How did you know they would pass through here?- -oh! That. That¡¯s easy. They want to escape Kim sungtae but the border of Kim sungtae is extremely monitored and armed, if you were to try to cross you, would be immediately shot and killed and if you manage to survive then you would become a wanted criminal. It wouldn¡¯t make sense for them to escape being chased by the world government only to be chased by Kim sungtae, as such it¡¯s easy to assume they either want to work with Kim sungte government or want to get in undetected. We can dismiss the first option since one of them is a Therian. That leaves going in undetected as the only option and to do that, they need to come here. On the surface, Kim sungte is independent and self sufficient but in truth, they still rely on a significant amount of trade but it¡¯s all done through the black market which kim sungte turns a blind eye to. In order to do that Kim sungte prepared a tunnel system for black market trade and that tunnel system is below us. ¨C -I see, I didn¡¯t expect you to know so much about the black market but that¡¯s a conversation for another time they are here- ******************************************************************* ~ KIM SUNGTE WE ARE COMING ~ Ken grins as he drives the submarine, No, the jet through the air. ~uh oh~ Daxia notices what Ken said and leans forward from the back chair. -UH OH, WHAT DO YOU MEAN UH OH- She then sees a golden armor floating in the air, flames erupt from the head of the armor like the mane of a lion, and a golden metal sheet and four golden blades float around the armor. -CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP- She shouts. Ken quickly pulls the gear stick back and presses on the brakes as hard as he can. The demon skull closes its mouth and recedes back inside the back of the jet. The wings¡¯ ends bend making air brakes but despite all the jet is still incredibly fast from Its previous momentum. - Let me help you stop ¨C The golden armor raises its arm and a portal appears in front of it catching the jet. The other end of the portal opens above the ground causing the jet to crash. Chapter 22 Lion of God Ariel Chapter 22 Lion of God Ariel Location: kim sungtae-Koya border Day: 25th of Jan 5027 -AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH- Ken and Daxia scream as their jet races towards the ground. Saiko quickly raises both her arms. BOOM A large dust cloud erupts as the jet crashes into the ground - You know they can¡¯t answer your questions if they die right?- Sophia questions Claus as she observes the area through drones. - You worry too much I am sure they will be fine - The dust begins to settle to reveal a black ball of slime submerged in a pool of water in a basin made of snow. The black ball of slime that is Argus, retracts inside the jet revealing what appears to be hexagonal shaped see through cracks in reality. The hexagonal cracks are in truth simply distortions in light waves caused by light moving through the jet¡¯s damaged aether shield. Ken lowers his window and then sticks his head and arm out and shouts at the floating lion in the sky. ~ I JUST BOUGHT THIS CAR YOU BASTARD ~ A blurry shadow flies out of the car¡¯s back seat at tremendous speed and then lays flat against the ground. -I missed you so much. I never want to leave you again- The blurry figure turns out to be Daxia who is kissing and hugging the ground. - pffft, see they survived and they are still lively- Claus can¡¯t help but laugh as he watches his favorite group of thieves. ~ HEY YOU BASTARD DON¡¯T IGNORE ME~ Claus looks at Ken. - Don¡¯t you mean a car you just stole? ¨C Ken gets out of the car. The demon skull flies to him from the back of the car and then forms the demon sword which he points at the agent. ~ I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW IT WAS AN HONEST TRADE BETWEEN CRIMINALS YOU BASTARD ~ - I don¡¯t know why you are entertaining them, team leader, we should just arrest them or better yet kill them- A female member with the number ¡°02¡± written on the upper right corner of her chest questions. - Yeah, I am sick of this mission already. We just need the book, right? Let¡¯s just get rid of these bounty hunters ¨C Jorden shouts starting to get riled up only to get smacked in the back of the head. -WHO- Before he can get angry, he turns around to see the number ¡°01¡± on the chest of the one who hit him. He sheepishly looks upwards at the tall man in front of him. -v,vice leader ¨C - Keep a cool head you saw what they were capable of last time- Vice leader Davis reprimands Jorden. -y,yes, sir- Suddenly a wave of frost spreads at a rapid speed with the jet at its center flash freezing all 8 members of the strike team. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The wave of frost continues upwards instantly forming a mountain of ice in its path towards Agent Claus to freeze him. Saiko steps out of the car¡¯s back seat. Water freezes under her feet with each step she takes to support her and keep her dry. She then looks up and is surprised to find the golden Armor still floating in the air unfrozen. The mountain of ice stopped a few inches away from the golden armor. No, it appeared to be burning. Blue flickering flames dance atop the mountain, as though there is an invisible barrier around the golden armor and any ice that crosses it somehow burns. ¡®Can water burn? I didn¡¯t know that. How did he do it?¡¯ Saiko internally shakes her head but keeps her confident demeanor on the outside. ¡®Doesn¡¯t matter I am sure if I hit him hard enough, he won¡¯t be able to burn it¡¯ _ Please leave. I don¡¯t want to fight you and I don¡¯t think you can win _ - You are as arrogant as ever. Is it because you think you are the strongest? ¨C Claus asks, as the four golden blades floating next to him fly to his frozen team members and burn the ice freeing them. _ I know I am but I rather not have to use it on people _ The silver cat retorts. - Well, I guess we won¡¯t get anywhere unless I break that arrogance of yours- A portal opens next to Claus. BADUMB BADUMB -Let¡¯s see if you can keep that confidence after you see your heart outside of your chest.- Claus reaches his hand towards the portal but then stops as he is shocked by what he sees. He turns to look at Saiko. - Did you know all your organs are black in col- Multiple black spikes burst out of the portal forcing Claus to fly away to avoid getting impaled by the spikes. -Wow there, I can¡¯t believe even this won¡¯t work on you. Haaaa- He lets out a short sigh. - I guess, I have to do this the hard way- The intense sound of roaring fire fills the area as five fire pillars erupt from the golden armor. One from each arm and leg and a fifth one from the mouth, then the five fire pillars recede back toward the armor and condense around it forming a sun like ball of fire with the armor in its center. The sound of roaring fire turns to an eerie reverberating loud cry. SWIFFFT Like a shooting star falling from the sky, the ball of fire zooms towards Saiko. Saiko raises her arm and a massive wall of ice rises to block the path of the golden armor but the ball of fire doesn¡¯t slow down and bursts through the ice wall leaving a circular hole of burning ice behind. She conjures a jet of water and fires it toward the ball of fire but the water burns on contact and only feeds the ball of fire more. Finding no way to stop the golden armor¡¯s descent in time, she rushes toward Ken and using Argus she grabs him and then tosses him away to get him away from danger. ~huh? WAIT YOU IDIOT I CAN HELP YOU FIGHT ~ Ken shouts out of surprise as he gets tossed through the air. Saiko barely manages to jump away in time as the ball of fire crashes into the ground burning the rocks and creating a crater around it. Saiko raises her two arms and her eyes begin to glow as she summons all the ground water in the area to form a water giant. The water giant immediately slams its arm on the ball of fire shaking and cracking the ground in the process and causing a cloud of dust to rise. ¡®This has to be enough¡¯ Saiko watches from inside the water giant as the dust settles, expecting to see the golden armor crushed under the multi ton weight of the giant¡¯s arm but to her surprise, she sees the ball of fire rising through the giant¡¯s arm leaving a trail of blue flames from burning water behind it. She immediately freezes the giant¡¯s arm but the ball of fire burns through the ice just as easily as it burns through the water as it rushes toward Saiko unimpeded by anything in its path. Ken watches as Saiko throws mountain of ice after mountain of ice at the fiery lion to no avail. It took him a moment to figure it out but he now knows the true identity of the agent¡¯s fire and how it¡¯s seemingly able to burn through water, earth, ice, air, and even other fire if it needed. Although numerically speaking Saiko has more energy and more power, she is throwing around attacks that would decimate armies like it¡¯s nothing for God''s sake. ~haaaaa~ ¡®Life is so unfair¡¯ Ultimately that doesn¡¯t matter as no matter how much stronger she is none of her attacks would even reach the armor, let alone damage the ball of fire that¡¯s surrounding it. ~ I have to help her ~ Ken starts running toward the water giant and ball of fire fighting in the distance only to be stopped by four members of the strike team who surround them. - I am afraid you are going to have your hands full yourself ¨C The most senior of the four members retorts. Ken notices his number is 01. - It¡¯s time for you to die damn bounty hunter ¨C Shouts the one with the number 05. ~ We don¡¯t have time for this. DAXIA~ - I AM BUSY ¨C Ken turns toward the direction of the voice to find Daxia surrounded by the other four members of the strike team. ~shit ~ Saiko dodges to the side as the ball of fire rushes past her inside the giant¡¯s chest. Although she was able to dodge, the ball of fire broke her air bubble forcing her to exist the giant. A whirlpool of water catches her and carries her in the air as the water giant collapses into numerous water tentacles that chase after the ball of fire only to burn into blue flames as soon as they contact it. ¡®How is this possible? How is he burning water? Scratch that how is he doing it so fast? And it doesn¡¯t even turn into vapor If it did, I would still be able to control the vapor but it¡¯s like even that burns and it leaves nothing behind not even smoke¡¯ Saiko pauses for a moment at her own thoughts. ¡®Wait a minute a fire without smoke¡¯ She glances toward the floating Noai who¡¯s observing the fight. Sensing her thoughts Naoi looks toward her and answers in her mind. ¡®That¡¯s a good attempt but no when I said I was made of fire I didn¡¯t mean I was made of plasma¡¯ ¡®plasma what¡¯s that?¡¯ Saiko¡¯s thoughts are interrupted by her whiskers alerting her that the ball of fire is close causing her to sink through the whirlpool toward the ground as the whirlpool turns into a snake that coils around the ball of fire trying to entrap it but alas it¡¯s pointless as the ball of fire bursts through it. ¡®I have to focus I can¡¯t afford to get distracted right now. At least now I know it¡¯s not normal fire it¡¯s plasma whatever that is¡¯ Saiko lands on the ground and then immediately starts running as the ball of fire comes crashing behind through the ground causing another crater. - tell me Izanau Saiko. As a cat how does it feel to play the role of a mouse - Chapter 23 Shadow Magic Chapter 23 Shadow Magic - The police force of Koya confronted the criminals roughly 40 minutes ago. Despite the confrontation only lasting for 32 minutes the police force suffered losses that are worth 8.3 billion aether coins. however, despite the financial loss, the police force was able to protect the citizens as the number of casualties was zero, and damage to the city of Seoul was minimal. - tsk, Look at how they are trying to spin it when it¡¯s clear that the only reason there are no casualties is because Saiko didn¡¯t want to kill anyone ¨C - Well it¡¯s true that they made her job easy by evacuating the area - - She is just too soft ¨C Members of the followers of Vioarr argue among themselves as they watch the news report on their water tank full of octopi and surrounded by Lyrebirds. As the followers of Vioarr are unable to use any electronics to avoid being detected by the world government, they are forced to use a complex system to spy on the outside world created by their leader. Their leader created a hive mind between all living animals on the planet with himself at its center making it no exaggeration to call him the embodiment of nature itself. Although the members are not part of this hive mind, they can use it to spy on the outside world using the eyes and ears of the animals in the outside world. After an animal sees something of value such as the current news report they are watching, the information gets sent through the hive mind to the octopi and Lyrebirds. These octopi have a remarkable ability to camouflage, they are able to change the color, shape, and texture of their skin making them able to mimic what the spying animal is seeing in great detail, while the Lyrebirds have the ability to mimic any sound they want making them able to replicate what the spying animal hears. - Enough arguing I want to watch the fight ¨C They all look at their leader. -But the fight is over ¨C One of the members responds with a questioning tone. - not that fight, this fight ¨C The octopi and lyrebirds change to show Saiko creating what has to be 100s of feet tall block of ice and throwing it toward a glowing dot, only for the glowing dot to pierce through the block of ice like a bullet piercing through paper causing the block of ice to crack then shatter into four large chunks of ice. -WHAT IS THAT ?- Shouts one of the members. - that is agent double 0- The leader responds. The four chunks of ice break apart into hundreds of ice spikes which fly toward the ball of fire. The ball of fire doesn¡¯t dodge nor slow down as ice spikes turn into blue fire once they come in contact with the ball of fire. ¡®If water won¡¯t work then maybe rocks¡¯ Saiko reaches for a large boulder. Argus comes out covering her arm and forming a giant arm letting her grab the boulder which she then throws at the ball of fire. The boulder slams into the ball of fire and turns into white fire. - Oh! Are we changing up our attacks I can do that ¨C Claus says mockingly and stops his pursuit then raises his arm. The four golden blades point their gems at Saiko. Saiko¡¯s hair stands up and her whiskers scream at her at the impending danger. . . THUNDER . . . RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. . . . . Four bolts of lightning erupt from the golden blades causing the earth to rumble and the sky to cry, blinding all watchers as the wrath of the divine strikes his most beloved. - Don¡¯t get carried away. You can¡¯t interrogate her if she is dead. ¨C Sophia reprimands Claus through the aether channel. - Don¡¯t worry I am sure she is fine- The blinding light fades to reveal Saiko still standing but with an unsteady posture as though she would fall at any moment. - Okay, I admit, maybe I overdid it- Claus admits. She coughs up blood and then takes a deep breath as she corrects her posture and stands up straight. INHALE Her coat and clothes are burning and torn, smoke is rising from her skin as multiple lightning burn marks forcefully itched themselves all over her skin filling her nose with the smell of her own burnt flesh. Blood drips down her mouth and neck from the internal organ damage she received. The only reason she is still standing is Argus which was coating her nerves and vital organs, protecting them from the lightning. Argus begins to come out of Saiko¡¯s mouth, fingertips, and feet, then begins to coat her entire body and what¡¯s left of her clothes to stop them from burning. ********************************** ~ OUT OF MY WAY YOU PIECES OF SHIT ~ Ken shouts at the members of the strike team after witnessing Saiko¡¯s state after the lightning strike. - as if we would let you go just because you asked- A younger looking member of the strike team with the number ¡°06¡± written on his chest retorts. ~ I. WAS. NOT. ASKING ~ Ken shouts as he points the demon sword forward. The demon sword¡¯s skull opens its mouth causing massive heat waves to erupt from it along with a loud shriek. SHRIEEEEEEEEK ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR The demon sword roars loudly as it fires a massive beam of plasma causing three members of the strike team to be sent flying from the shockwave alone but it¡¯s only the shock wave that reached them. Ken looks puzzled at the beam of plasma that appears to stop right before hitting the oldest member of the strike team, the one with the number ¡°01¡± written on his chest, Vice Leader Davis. A wall of darkness stood between Davis and the plasma beam and seemed to swallow the plasma beam. ~shadow magic ~ Ken Says with a surprised tone. The old dark elf nods at Ken. - We did our homework properly. I am sure you will enjoy the preparations we made to capture all of you- - I personally rather you die but the team leader wants you alive for some reason ¨C Jorden adds as he places his hand on the ground and it begins to turn into mud below Ken and begins to swallow him. Ken raises the demon sword up making it fly and pull Ken out of the mud but mud tentacles come out of the ground and grab onto Ken to stop him. Thinking quickly Ken applies a force to Jorden¡¯s head causing it to jerk backwards and cause the mud to lose its grip on Ken. Davis looks at Jorden who looked like he got punched by an invisible hand. -hmm was it solid air magic? This wasn¡¯t in the report. you are supposed to have an affinity with lightning magic and I didn¡¯t see you use a grimoire- ~ no, I didn¡¯t but I will now ~ Ken scrolls through his smart grimoire which he is making float with aether magic and picks a spell. Multiple large rocks manifest above the members of the strike team and fall on them. Jorden tries to raise a dome of clay to protect his teammates but gets interrupted by another force that pulls on his right foot causing him to fall after forming only the lower half of the dome causing him to trap his teammates under the falling rocks. Davis raises a wall of darkness to block the rocks but as it only eats away energy and not matter it can only slow the rocks down and the strike team ends up getting buried alive. -Good job you dealt with them quickly - Rin congratulates Ken through their aether channel. ~ It¡¯s not over yet ~ A few moments of silence continue before Multiple lava bullets fly at Ken but only barely miss him. Ken had changed the direction of gravity waves around him in anticipation of an attack which caused the bullets to miss. ~Rin my glasses ~ -on it ¨C Rin adjusts Ken¡¯s glasses making them sift through different light wavelength filters until it finds a wavelength that reveals the hidden strike team members. ~illusion magic too. You really did your homework well but it¡¯s not good enough ~ -How did you know- A female elf of the strike team with the number ¡°07¡± written on her chest asks. ~ Your vice leader is a dark elf yet he used shadow magic instead of water magic to block the rocks even though shadow magic would be useless in that case. I was trying to force him to use water that was his only way to block the rocks at which point I was going to zap all of you with electricity using the water~ - impressive ability to strategize. You didn¡¯t just plan your moves you planned mine and you took into account dark elves¡¯ veneration of water magic into account as well- Davis praises the young thief before shaking his head. - It¡¯s a shame that your talent is wasted on criminal activity- ¡®I also wonder how he was able to make all the bullets miss him. I don¡¯t think there is any magic I know that can do that¡¯ Davis wonders to himself ~ I don¡¯t need your pity, old man. I just need you to piss off ~ ******************************* - NO- Daxia¡¯s eyes grow wide as she watches lightning strike Saiko not once not twice but four times. At the edge of her eyes, Daxia sees a blade slashing at her neck which she immediately dodges by taking a step backward moving out of the range of the Katana. - You shouldn¡¯t get distracted during a fight, evil eyes ¨C Zeva sneers at Daxia as she draws her Katana preparing for another slash. A vein bulges out on Daxia¡¯s forehead at the name but she doesn¡¯t have the time to get angry she sees two other members aim their guns at her. Daxia uses dokkaebi mask to bring the fourth member in front of her using his body to block the barrage of bullets. -huh? ¨C The guy with the number ¡°04¡± written on his chest exclaims in confusion as the bullets impact his back but his biomechanical armor protects him from the bullets. -tsk I hoped that would reduce your number by 1 ¨C Daxia Says as she uses wind magic to push Agent 04 at Zeva to block her next slash. -What was that? That wasn¡¯t in the report- One of the two members with the guns exclaims the number on his chest is ¡°03¡± -doesn¡¯t matter. we already prepared to fight her without magic guess we just have to fight her without guns either which honestly, I prefer. - Zeva says as she dodges Agent 04 and then rushes towards Daxia slashing at her vertically. - I don¡¯t have time for you. get out of my way ¨C Daxia says as she uses her sword to block Zeva''s Katana Then her two pupils merge together into one which focuses the radiation to fire the radiation as a laser beam at Zeva. Invisible to all but Daxia the radiation beam fires out of Daxia¡¯s eyes and disperses once it hits Zeva¡¯s armor. - That¡¯s useless. Our armor was modified to block your radiation ¨C Zeva sneers at the bounty hunter. -tsk how annoying ¨C Chapter 24 principals Chapter 24 principals Daxia takes a step to the side dodging Zeva¡¯s Katana then a step back as a monk looking strike team member with the number 08 falls from the sky with a spin kick powered by multiple thrusters all over his armor increasing his speed and power crushing the ground where Daxia was just standing. Daxia takes a step to the side and forward closing the distance to the monk and placing the monk between her and Zeva. In a split second, Daxia uses resonance magic on her blade causing it to vibrate at high speed then she coats the blade with brilliance and electricity magic and slashes at the monk¡¯s neck. The monk sees the blade rushing to separate his neck from his body and activates the thrusters at his side moving himself out of the way of the blade. - you can¡¯t run from me ¨C Daxia uses the Dokkaebi mask bringing the monk back in front of her as her blade continues its race toward his neck. Daxia¡¯s pupils move to the side then she stops her cut and takes a step to the side causing the remaining two members who were rushing to save their friend to slam into each other. - your footwork is impressive but it¡¯s not good enough ¨C Zeva says as she rushes forward with a wide step and slashes at Daxia. Daxia opens a portal to her side to escape through. Her eyes quickly Dart toward the portal and she sees multiple gun bullets coming out of the portal. Although her body is not fast enough to react to bullets, her eyes and mind are. She immediately opens another portal in front of the bullets teleporting them away. - we saw you copy the leader¡¯s magic last time did you think we wouldn¡¯t come prepared ¨C The monk says as he lowers his gun which he had fired at the other end of the portal that Daxia opened. -tsk how annoying ¨C Daxia says with a scowl as she is forced to block Zeva¡¯s Katana. - your sword skills are pretty good I would have loved to have a one on one spar with you but unfortunately we have to capture you- Zeva Says then at the last second before the two blades collide, she twists her wrist causing the blade to twist and slash at Daxia from the other side. Thanks to her eyes, Daxia is able to see through the faint and adjust her blade to block the cut then she uses her mask to bring a massive boulder on top of Zeva letting it drop on her. Zeva twists her body quickly with the aid of the thrusters on her armor then her Katana glows as a plasma edge is created along the edge of the katana letting her split the rock in two. Daxia rushes forward taking the opportunity to stab Zeva with her sword only to be blocked by the monk. -very very annoying ¨C She complains. **************************************** -that¡¯s enough playing around Zim it¡¯s your turn ¨C Davis commands then the youngest strike team member with the number 06 steps forward and then opens his mouth screaming but no sound comes out. ~ What¡¯s going on? I have a weird feeling in my chest~ -he is trying to establish resonances with your heart beating rhythm. If he does, he will be able to stop your heart from beating- Ken asks then Rin answers him through their aether channel. ~yeah well, I can¡¯t let that happen. Rin, calculate where his vocal cords are and display it on my glasses. -give me a second- Ken moves to the side to dodge a wall of darkness sent his way by Davis. - as if I would let you ¨C ~shut up old man since when did I need your permission ~ Ken sends some nanobots from the demon skull to form a floating board under his feet to fly with. He then points the demon sword at the strike team members and fires a large plasma beam at the kid. Davis raises a wall of Darkness and blocks the beam of plasma. - I told you that won¡¯t work ¨C Davis shouts. ~ I was just buying time old man ~ -got it ¨C Ken retorts with a smug smile on his face as Rin informs him and displays the vocal cords'' location on Ken¡¯s glasses. Ken applies a force to the kid''s vocal cords and tugs on them ripping them apart and causing blood to gush out of the kid¡¯s mouth as he falls to the ground trying to scream in pain but only gurgled noises come out. Davis and the female member with the number 07 rush to their youngest member while a furious Jorden summons as much clay as he can control and fires all the spells in his rifle at Ken. -HE IS A KID YOU BASTARD ¨C Ken turns off the recoil function on the demon sword and fires a plasma beam to the side launching himself away from the barrage of spells. ~ he literally tried to kill me. If you are so upset about it, don¡¯t bring a kid to a battlefield, you hypocrite.~ Using his watch Ken takes control of the car causing it to fly toward Jorden crashing into him and sending him tumbling through the forest. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ~Now how do I get us out of this situation¡­.hmm~ Ken thinks for a moment then flips the demon sword to aim the other way but lowers the power to slow himself down then he aims at the kid again and shouts before firing his sword. ~ DAXIA LOOK OVER HERE~ The demon sword fires at the young strike team member only to be once again blocked by another wall of Darkness. - you fool how many times do you plan on using the same trick I told you it¡¯s useless ¨C Davis shouts at Ken as he blocks the plasma beam. Ken¡¯s lips curl up into a smile. ~ you are the fool, old man we won ~ -AAAGHHH- - THE THRUSTERS STOPPED WORKING ¨C - MY ARMOR IS SHUTTING DOWN ¨C The multiple shouts grab Davis¡¯s attention forcing him to turn around. When he does, he sees his own shadow magic being used against his team members, as balls of Darkness get launched by Daxia at the strike team members sucking the energy out of their armor. -NO, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO AVOID- The monk shouts as his armor shuts down. Their plan was to fight Daxia without using magic to prevent her from copying their spells and using it against them. Daxia uses wind magic to blow the monk away, before using wind magic in front of and behind her to remove her wind resistance and push herself with wind to increase her speed as she makes her escape. - SCREW THE PLAN I WON¡¯T LET YOU RUN AWAY ¨C Zeva shouts as she quickly moves in front of Daxia blocking her path and slashing at her neck. Daxia raises her blade to block the slash but then her pupils quickly move down with shock to see Zeva¡¯s Katana phasing through her blade and continuing its path toward Daxia¡¯s neck. ¡®I got you¡¯ Zeva thinks to herself before it¡¯s her turn to be surprised, she watches Daxia¡¯s lips start to curl up into a smile as her eyes move back up to look at Zeva. Daxia¡¯s neck begins to phase through Katana letting the katana pass through Daxia¡¯s neck as though she was a ghost. Zeva¡¯s eyes grow wide and she stares at Daxia with a shocked expression. -impossible. There is no way you were able to copy my magic from just that glance- Daxia smiles at Zeva as she runs toward her and then phases through Zeva¡¯s body like a ghost. -oh, it¡¯s very possible thank you for the new skill- Daxia uses wind magic to boost her speed and rushes toward Ken¡¯s group. In their panic, the other three members fire their guns at Daxia but the bullets simply fall to the ground once they hit a wall of Darkness that Daxia placed behind her and lose all their energy. *********************************** A few minutes earlier. _ ha, ha, haaaaa_ Saiko breathes heavily as Argus covers her entire body. Responding to the damage done to her entire body, her fear, and her raging instincts, Argus begins to take in a vicious feral form. It covers her wounds and burns to help them heal. It forms large hands with large claws, a snout with large jagged teeth, and multiple spikes and horn like projections responding to her desire to keep the ball of fire away. It forms synthetic muscles increasing her speed and power and hardens at places for protection and to support the new muscles. Claus looks at the black feral beast in front of him. -oh, is this like in video games when the boss enters the second phase? I have to say I preferred your previous look better- The feral beast digs its claws into the ground. black tentacles come out of her body and anchor themselves to the ground as she pulls out a multi ton chunk of earth before hurling it at the floating ball of fire before raising its arms up summoning two equally large chunks of ice and launching them behind the chunk of earth. Unphased, the ball of fire remains still as both earth and ice alike burn as soon as they touch it. -how is she not out of water yet? Is there really that much groundwater in this area? ¨C Claus wonders. Sophia shows him a portion of the fire on his armor display screen. - do you see that small amount of yellowish plasma among the blue plasma - - yeah- -well, that color means the plasma is sodium plasma which means this is seawater that¡¯s burning- - wait are you trying to tell me she is somehow able to draw seawater all the way here? That¡¯s impressive- The two lovers discuss among themselves as the feral beast continues to hurl everything, she has at the ball of fire but to no avail. Well, almost everything. ¡®No, I won¡¯t use it I must never use it¡¯ Saiko shakes her to shake away the thought of using that magic. -well, time to wrap this up - Claus says then flies toward the black feral beast. -remember, you can¡¯t question her if you kill her - Sophia reminds Claus. Saiko panics as she sees the ball of fire rushing toward her once again and sends numerous ice spikes at the ball of fire but again to avail. She turns around and begins to run away, the synthetic muscles massively increase her speed. Claus opens a portal in front of himself, then flies through it and comes out in front of Saiko blocking her path. -ENOUGH- The golden armor amplifies his voice. The golden lion then roars sending more pillars of fire out scorching the land and surrounding Saiko with a burning hellscape. Saiko uses her arm to protect her eyes from the brightly glowing ball of fire as her heart pounds faster and faster. -IZANAU SAIKO YOU ARE UNDER ARREST, THERE IS NO USE STRUGGLING YOUR CELL IS WAITING FOR YOU- ¡®WHAT? NO, I CAN¡¯T BE LOCKED UP AGAIN NO¡¯ Memories from Saiko¡¯s childhood begin to flood her mind. Flashing images of her blood spilling on the floor, oh her body being torn up and being put back together over and over again. Memories of the unending loneliness and with nothing to look forward to but death. -Claus we have a problem ¨C Sophia exclaims. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE A massive beam of light breaks Saiko out of her darkness and drives the fiery lion away. Saiko looks to the side to see a demon skull close its mouth. The demon skull was held by a smiling old man dressed all in black. _old ma- ~ take that you piece of shit ~ Ken¡¯s vulgarity breaks Saiko¡¯s delusion causing the image of the old man to fade and be replaced by a smugly smiling Ken causing Saiko to laugh. _pffft _ The ball of fire flies out of the path of the beam of plasma and then flies toward the Saiko again only to be hit by another beam that sends it flying away again. - WHY IS IT NOT BURNING ¨C Claus shouts with anger rising up. ~ of course, it¡¯s not burning you idiot. you can¡¯t turn it to plasma when it¡¯s already plasma~ Claus opens a portal behind him and enters it then comes out flying above the trio. -fine let¡¯s do this the hard way - Claus exclaims as he opens multiple portals connected to their team base and out of each a massive laser beam is fired at the trio only to be met with a large wall of Darkness. -that¡¯s Davis¡¯s magic how- Claus exclaims in shock then looks out in the distance to see multiple of his team members laying on the ground motionless while the rest are desperately running toward him with their armors seemingly not working. -YOU BASTARDS ¨C Ken falls on Claus from a portal opened above him with the demon sword forming a plasma blade that¡¯s glowing even brighter than usual which he uses to cut the ball of fire in half revealing the fiery lion inside. ~did you know that denser plasma can push against and even cut lighter plasma ~ - WHAT? ¨C Claus exclaims in shock surprised by the attack. Ken smiles with a smug look at the surprised Claus and points the sword at him. ~time to die ~ _NO_ A massive ice mountain grows between the two causing both to fall tumbling down the mountain. A portal opens catching Ken as he falls and letting out in front of Saiko and Daxia. Ken gets up furious and looks at Saiko. ~ YOU NA?VE IDIOT. YOU CAN¡¯T NOT BE SERIOUS. HOW CAN YOU WORRY ABOUT OTHERS WHEN YOU ARE IN THIS STATE? YOU ARE BARELY ALIVE YOU IDIOT. IF IT WASN¡¯T FOR ARGUS YOU WOULD BE DEAD AND HE MADE YOU THAT WAY ~ _ It doesn¡¯t matter. I can¡¯t let you kill him when we are the ones in the wrong. He doesn¡¯t deserve to die _ Saiko responds to the furious Ken. Ken is about to continue his rant when he notices the other strike team members closing in. ~UGH, DAXIA PORTAL ~ Daxia opens a portal for Ken and the car comes out through it. ~ IN THE CAR NOW ~ The trio gets inside the car then the car drills through the ground to reach the tunnels leading to Kim sungta and drive to it. - they escaped- Sophia informs Claus who is laying on the ground. -I know ¨C - I can¡¯t believe she still tried to protect you even then- Claus sits up staring at the ice mountain in amazement. - I know right? Even on the verge of death, she can worry about others- -it¡¯s probably the adrenaline, she didn¡¯t realize she was dying- -pfft-Claus laughs ¨C more like she didn¡¯t care she was dying. She looked more afraid when I said I will put her in a cell - - you are not going to chase them ¨C Claus gets up and responds. - No, I need to take my members back to the base for treatment first what are the Damages- - all armors stopped working Zim¡¯s vocal cords are torn Jorden has multiple broken bones and torn tendons Tubal Cain has multiple internal injuries from being used to block gunshots multiple times The rest have minor injuries - The rest of the members reach Claus, and then Davis bows apologetically to Claus. - I failed you I apologize the mission failed because of me- -the mission didn¡¯t fail yet- -what? ¨C Claus responds which causes Davis to exclaim in surprise. - we will enter Kim sungtae after treating our wounded members- Chapter 25 Epilogue 1 What does it mean to be the strongest? Chapter 25 Epilogue 1 What does it mean to be the strongest? -would you look at that? She fell asleep ¨C Daxia Says as she observes the black beast sleeping peacefully in the back seat. ~ Rin, how is she? ~ Ken asks while looking at Saiko in the rearview mirror as he drives through the tunnel system connecting Koya and Kim Sungtae. -well let¡¯s start with the good news there were no third degree burns so at least she gets to keep all her limps attached and since Argus is mainly bonded to her nerves it was able to protect them thus avoiding neurological problems which are the main danger of lightning strikes- Rin explains to Ken and Daxia through their aether channel ~and the bad news~ -well, her entire body is covered in first and second degree burns and the majority are second degree burns from the lightning, the first degree burns are from her clothes burning on her skin. Also, the lighting caused the majority of her blood capillaries to rupture. even with Argus¡¯s help she will take a few months to recover- ~tsk, that stupid idiot ~ Daxia raises an eyebrow at Ken¡¯s comment and demeanor. -I am surprised. It¡¯s not like you to worry about others ¨C ~ shut up ~ -pffft- Daxia laughs slightly at Ken¡¯s reaction then glances at the peacefully sleeping Saiko. - she looks pretty happy I wonder what she is dreaming about- *********************************************************** _ hey old man, old man, I found an apple tree, look, look _ Priest si u smiles at young Saiko and pats her head. - good job Saiko guess we are eating apple pies today ¨C The priest starts picking apples from the tree and placing them in a basket he brought along to the forest. _ can we use some to make apple juice? _ The little cat asks the old priest. To which the old priest responds with a gentle smile. - of course, we can ¨C GROWLS A loud growl interrupts the peace of the little cat and old priest. Saiko turns toward the sound to see a large black bear behind the old priest charging at them. The direction of the wind prevented the little cat from smelling the approaching massive beast. _ OLD MAN WATCH OUT _ The panicked little cat conjures a black ball of decay. -NO SAIKO WAIT- The old priest notices the ball of decay and shouts at the young cat but the young cat is too panicked to hear him and fires her ball at the charging bear. In the blink of an eye, the old priest rushes to intercept the ball of decay. He then moves in front of the ball and uses his sword to block its path but the ball of decay blasts through the sword leaving metal dust behind then it pierces the priest¡¯s body blowing a hole through it as it continues its path toward the black bear. The old priest grits his teeth and runs to catch up to the ball of decay and is forced to use his body to block the ball of decay again and again until it runs out of steam. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The ball of decay finally disappears half way through digging the seventh hole in the old priest¡¯s body. The Black bear startled by the old man who suddenly appeared in front of him, bites at the old priest. The old priest shoves his arm in the bear¡¯s mouth to avoid the bear biting at his face and grinds his teeth from the pain then using his other arm punches the black bear¡¯s nose causing it to let go of the priest''s arm and run away. The little silver cat''s eyes grow wide with horror and she runs toward the old man. _OLD MAN_ It all happened so fast, that she barely had time to process it. In the blink of an eye, the old man went from standing next to her to standing in front of the bear with his arm shoved inside the bear¡¯s mouth and his body riddled with holes. _IT¡¯S MY FAULT, I AM SORRY, I AM SORRY _ The little silver cat cries out as she franticly tries to find something to block the holes with. The old man pats the little child¡¯s head to calm her down. -it¡¯s okay Saiko it¡¯s okay. I am fine. ¨C _ LIAR _ Shouts the young child. The old man chuckles weakly at the young child. -honest. I am fine. The edges of the holes made by the ball are frozen which prevents me from bleeding out and when we get home your sister Thea could use her magic to heal me- _you mean it ?_ The old man chuckles at the young child. - I mean it- The little cat sniffles and wipes away her tears. _But why did you do it? Why would you defend the bear like that? _ The old man smiles at the young child. -it¡¯s for the same reason the bear attacked us. It¡¯s because I am the strongest- _ huh? _ The little cat looks puzzled at the old man. The old man smiles gently and points with his healthy arm at the direction the bear ran off to. Little Saiko follows the old man¡¯s finger with her eyes and sees the mother black bear running to her two little cubs in the distance. -the strong protect themselves but the strongest protects everybody else. Just like that bear was protecting its cubs, I am protecting you, and your siblings, and also that bear- _BUT THE BEAR WANTED TO KILL YOU_ -no.- The old man shakes his head. - it didn¡¯t want to kill me. the bear wanted to protect its cubs, it may have also wanted to eat and feed its cubs; Killing me is just what it had to do to achieve those ends. I can¡¯t fault it for wanting to eat nor for wanting to protect and feed its children. ¨C _BUT IT ATTACKED YOU. IT DIDN¡¯T CARE THAT YOU WANTED TO PROTECT IT_ The little cat protests. - that doesn¡¯t matter little Saiko. The bear was doing what it thought it had to do and if I killed it or let you kill it then those two little cubs would be lonely and without a mother to defend them. Ouch, we should return home quickly my adrenaline level is getting lower so my sensation of pain is coming back- The old man holds the hand of the little cat and starts walking home to the orphanage. On the way back the little cat reflects on the words of the old man and compares herself to the little bear cups. She recalls how cold and hard the unforgiving world was on her when she was alone before the old man saved her. She recalls how nobody came to help her no matter how much pain she was in no matter how many times her mind and body were torn apart and put back together. and then she wonders. She wonders how this cruel world would have treated the bear cups if she had killed their mother. How their life would be if they lost the one protecting them? Her young mind still frustrated at the situation and looking for something to blame turns her anger toward her magic. Her vile evil magic, that can only hurt others and can never help anyone. She curses her decay magic and curses her luck. Why couldn¡¯t she be born with organic magic like Thea? If she was, she would have been able to help the old man. No, the old man wouldn¡¯t have been hurt in the first place if she didn¡¯t have decay magic. No, her mother wouldn¡¯t have died during pregnancy and she wouldn¡¯t have been kidnapped and needed saving in the first place if she didn¡¯t have decay magic. And so, the young cat began to resent and hate her magic. a cursed magic that only ever gave her misfortune from even before the day she was born, and vowed to never use decay magic again. **************************************************************************** Location: followers of Vioarr hideout -I gave you your chance old friend and you wasted it. It¡¯s now our turn. - The leader of the followers of nature Says as he watches the trio escape through the eyes of an eagle flying high above the battlefield. -Melky, Alfred, Ron ¨C The leader calls out then a large humanoid white robot carrying a human boy with different colored eyes eating a lollipop enters the room. Following behind the robot is a Therian from the Red Tiger tribe and following behind him is a light elf dressed in what can only be described as a mix of a camouflage suit and elven royal attire. The two men and the robot bow toward their leader then the boy speaks up. -you called us, leader- - the three of you should get ready to head to Kim Sungtae to retrieve Saiko and the book- ***************************************** Location: Saturn¡¯s core Day: 30th of Jan 5027 The astral body of Eddie Patton softly lands on the core of the planet Saturn. in front of him lays the temple of the fatherless child. A castle like temple built from the core of Saturn itself. In front of the temple gates lays the statue of the angelic fatherless child enterally crying and eternally yearning for his father. Three witches dressed in all black come out of the temple and bow toward Eddie Patton. Their clothes were made from black feathers. -my king you have returned- Spoke the most senior of the three witches and the same witch who spoke to Eddie last time. - I saw what happened. I told you the world government won¡¯t let you grow and will suppress you with all its might. ¨C Eddie scowls. - I suppose you are correct but if you saw what happened why didn¡¯t you help me like you said you would? I thought I was going to die- - it was clear to us that Agent Double 0 was only intending to threaten you but if he did try to harm you, we would have stepped in to protect you. Worry not my king- Eddie asks and the witch responds. The witch smiles slightly at Eddie Patton. -so my king do I take your visit today as you accepting our offer?- Eddie scowls more then sighs. - haaaa, do I even have a choice? But if you want me to go up against the world government, you will need to step in more than this. There is no way I can fight the world government alone. - The three witches smile brightly. - you don¡¯t have to worry my king. Like our great grandfather before us, the archwitch Merlin our loyalty to Britannia comes before all and like he helped your great grandfather King Arthur we will help you to lead Britannia to her former glory- Chapter 26.1 Global strike force Greetings everyone today we will have our first bonus chapter ??. And today we will discuss the global strike force broadly and then focus on strike team 1 specifically. The world government has two main forces that oversee security. The first is the police force, which is specific to each state. the second is the Global Strike Force ( GSTF ) and The global strike force oversees the police force. Finally, the GSTF is led by Director William. Meaning director William is the highest authority in terms of security after the president and he only gets orders from the president. Most of that is stuff that has already been explained previously in the story, now it¡¯s time for the new stuff. First, the GSTF¡¯s priority is harmony, not the government or the president. Meaning if the president disrupts harmony, then the GSTF will turn against the president. Next, we move to the equipment of strike team members. each of the strike teams of the GSTF consists of 10 members. Each time has a team leader, a vice leader, an operator, and 7 fighters. Each member is provided with a battle-type biomechanical armor except the operator who is provided with a support-type biomechanical armor. Battle-type armors have a generally form fitting slick design which means they are not mass produced and are instead made specifically for the strike team members, thus the members get a great deal of freedom to customize their armors to fit their fighting style and magic. In general, each armor has synthetic muscles in addition to 32 thrusters spread all over the armor to allow the members to fly as well as greatly increase their movement speed and strength. Each armor also has an auto-aiming system and a variety of sensors to aid the members in their battle. I will eventually add art for most if not all the strike team members but keyword here is eventually XD. In terms of protection, each armor can withstand: A 0.50 caliber bullet, which means it¡¯s almost bulletproof. A 6000 degree Celsius temperature, which means it can survive being on the surface of the sun of any energy attack of lesser temperature. A 65 psi shockwave, which means it can survive most explosions even at point blank range. But due to the nature of explosions, the distance does affect what it can survive. Like it can¡¯t withstand being at the center of a nuclear explosion but at a sufficient enough distance away from the center it can, but then again anything can survive at a sufficient enough distance so that still doesn¡¯t tell us much. So to use a different example it can easily withstand a category 5 hurricane wind, acutely it can survive twice the wind speed of a category 5 hurricane. Now let¡¯s take a moment to shout out the FBI and CIA agents who are now tasked with monitoring me after the amount of sketchy Google searches I needed to make to research and get these numbers XD. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Next is the support-type armor. Support-type armor doesn¡¯t focus on battle or defense instead it¡¯s equipped with features that make work easier and faster such as magnetic boots and gloves, additional mechanical arms and a variety of power tools. Moving on to the main weapon. The main weapon of the strike force is a hybrid spell rifle. Hybrid spell rifles can fire both heavy duty spells and low duty spells. As spells are numerous the only practical way to classify them is based on the amount of energy they consume. Low duty spells are all spells that use less than 1000 Watt and heavy duty spells are all spells that use more than that. The list of spells the strike team has access to is very long so it would be easier to say what they don¡¯t have access to. They don¡¯t have access to extremely rare magics such as decay, organic magic, or basically the magic of the living weapons, I could list some examples but I don¡¯t want to spoil what the magic of the other living weapons would be :P. Lastly, although they have access to pretty much all other spells, they mainly use projectile type spells or fast traveling speeds for efficiency. Finally, we can talk about strike team 1 ?? . So let¡¯s talk about them in order. p.s I will only talk about their equipment and magic here since that¡¯s the information that would be hard to naturally explain in the story. Strike team leader Agent 00 Name: Alberic Claus Race: half light elf, half human Gender: male Magic affinity: all elements Special affinity: Spatial magic Customization: 1- a watch that connects him to the network of the teleportation pillars letting him use spatial magic at any distance as he pleases Armor is made of small segmented parts that can move independently and thus whenever he needs the armor; he can open a portal to where it¡¯s stored and it would then fly out and assemble over his body Vice leader Agent 01 Name: Alvar Davis Race: Dark elf Gender: male Magic affinity: all elements Special affinity: Shadow magic Customization: storage units that can store the energy that is drained by his shadow magic to be used for attacks. Agent 02 Name: Zeva (last name redacted :P ) Race: human Gender: female Magic affinity: density magic (p.s inaccurate name for the magic affinity real name redacted :P) Special note: Agent Zeva is the world champion in sword Arts Customization: 1- Kirin, a katana whose edge can switch between normal edge, plasma edge and electric edge, and is equipped with a modified digital grimoire allowing for certain spells to be channeled through the blade 2- customization 2 is redacted Agent 03 name: Aella Agustus race: human gender: female Magic affinity: Solid air magic Customization: the armor contains multiple special gases for her to use with her magic Agent 04 Name:Tubal Cain Race: therian lizard tribe Gender: male Magic Affinity: metal magic Customization: his armor is much heavier and larger as it contains plenty of metal for him to use, the armor itself is mostly made of metal to allow him to manipulate the armor itself Agent: 05 Name: Jorden Wallace Race: Human Gender: male Magic affinity: Clay magic Customization: special explosive clay and flammable clay that is meant to mimic Greek fire so it can¡¯t be put off even if submerged underwater both are stored in different storage pockets in armor. Agent 06 Name: Zimran Isaac Race: human Gender: male Magic affinity: sound magic Special note: Zim is the youngest person to join the strike force because of his rare and strong magic (p.s Zim was almost made into a living weapon, he fit all necessary criteria in terms of magic but for some reason, he was rejected by the president thus he was not kidnapped and lived a normal life even becoming a strike force member.) Customization: floating disk shaped speakers that allow him to use his magic from a distance and from multiple locations at once. Agent 07 Name: Ahlam Kamel Race: Light elf Gender: Female Magic affinity: all elements. prefers to use illusion magic Special magic: dream magic Customization: small insect shaped drones that project sounds to match the illusions and make them more believable Agent 08 Name: Guo Jin Race: Human Gender: male Magic: wind magic Customization: 1- stronger synthetic muscles and a larger number of thrusters giving him faster and wider range movement to combine with his martial arts 2- customization 2 is redacted ( I rather keep that one hidden :P ) operator Agent 09 name: Sophia Cid race: human gender: female magic affinity: technology magic. Customization: none as Sophia is a techno mage she is able to instantly customize her armor as she sees fit for the current situation. Special note: Sophia is provided a lab inside the strike team 1 base That¡¯s all for the information. Now God help me to draw all of these characters XD See you next week for a side story ?? Chapter 26.2 Side story: brothers in Destiny Chapter 26.2 Side story brothers in Destiny Day: 30th of August 4945 Location: world capital, central nation A young human teenage boy sits in his room tinkering with a blue box full of electronic chips and wires. The young boy had curly red hair and his body looked thin but healthy. He wore a white shirt with a flying humanoid robot on it. He wipes his sweat and connects a square shaped screen to the main motherboard inside the box, then places the screen on the lid of the box closing it. The screen lights up and displays a smiling face. -greetings sir. General AI Demos is now active ¨C The eyes of the little boy sparkle with excitement. He picks up the box and starts jumping from joy. - I did it. I did it ¨C The boy runs out of his room, and then out of his home. - Vee, I did it. Vee- The boy shouts as he runs into the forest near his home where his friend always stays during the day. He eventually reaches a light elf boy who looks slightly older than him, around his mid-teens. The boy is sitting in a cross legged position under the shade of a large tree, with his eyes closed and his hands resting on his knees. The elf boy wore a brown tunic with gray pants and green boots. A green scarf wrapped around the boy¡¯s neck and shining silver hair adorned his head. The boy¡¯s clothes perfectly blended him with the forest as though he was part of it as though he was one with it. - Vee, I did it. ¨C -meditating ¨C The human boy shouts to which the elf responds without opening his eyes. -but I finally finished it ¨C The human boy protests. -I am meditating ¨C The elf boy repeats a little louder. - come on please I want to show you ¨C The human boy pleads. -haaa, fine what do you want to show me- The elf boy sighs and then opens his eyes. The human boy grins widely and shows his box to vee. - greetings sir Vioarr. My name is Demos ¨C - I finally made my first AI program ¨C Demos greets the elf boy and the human boy explains. The elf boy raises an eyebrow at his friend. -Fritz, are you sure you know what a program is? I think you made a lot more than the program but I also don¡¯t understand why you made that. Couldn¡¯t you like make your program on a computer or digital grimoire or something ¨C The human boy smiles and then sits next to the elf boy. -oh, I know but this is just the first step. This is the head you could say and I eventually want to build him a body ¨C -so, like a robot? ¨C The elf boy asks with a confused look. -yeah, kind of but Demos is not going to be a normal robot ¨C - I really don¡¯t understand your fascination with technology you know? Aren¡¯t we already the best machines that exist so why are you trying to make something that¡¯s worse than us? ¨C The elf boy gestures with his arm toward the vast forest that surrounds them. - look around you. Everything in nature is infinitely fascinating and infinitely complicated even the most simple and fundamental of acts of nature are millions of times more complicated than our most advanced machines. ¨C The boy then points to the large tree above them. - even the process by which this tree absorbs light; each one of the numerous leaves is a mighty machine that shames our supercomputers. each leaf performs hundreds of millions of quantum computations every second to absorb the light that falls on it which is then followed by equally numerous and equally complicated series of chemical and physical reactions to turn that light energy into a storable and useable form of chemical energy ¨C If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. -haaaa, I get it okay. Nature is cool but I can¡¯t make a tree you know. You don¡¯t have to give me a lecture every time- The human boy sighs and then protests to which the elf boy chuckles and pats his head. -well, although I don¡¯t understand your fascination with machines Fritz, I do have to admit that it¡¯s impressive you were able to make Demos on your own. ¨C The human boy smiles at his older friend¡¯s compliment who he views as his older brother. The elf boy continues to pat the head of his younger brother from a different mother as the forest alerts him to someone who is watching them from afar. The elf boy pretends not to know and continues to enjoy his fun time with his brother. ******************************************************** Later that night Fritz is running back home from their local virtual arena hub where he was showing off Demos to the other kids. His face is still lit up with joy and excitement from the positive compliments he received earlier as he continues to replay those moments in his head but if he had to pick a favorite moment, he would definitely pick when Vee praised him. Although what Vee told him barely counts as praise, it¡¯s still his favorite because Vee is his favorite. -young one ¨C The boy stops in his tracks when he hears an old woman calling him. He doesn¡¯t recognize her and it looks like she has a lot of heavy bags with her. - can you help me carry these bags home? My old bones aren¡¯t like they used to be when I was younger ¨C The woman asks with a smile. - sure ¨C Fritz says with a smile and rushes to the old lady to carry her bags. -let me carry them for yo- OUCH ¨C Fritz feels sharp pain in his hand and it starts to go numb. He looks down at his hand to see a sharp needle stuck in it. -what the? Where did that come frooomm- His words trail off as his vision becomes blurry before he passes out and falls on the floor unable to finish his sentence. The blue box falls on the floor and rolls onto the ground then its screen shifts to display. ¡°Calling 911¡± ************************************************** Fritz wakes up to find himself tied up and trapped inside what looks like an old cell. -where am I? ¨C - oh! You woke up. It doesn¡¯t matter though you can sleep again you will be sold off soon- The boy looks up toward the source of the voice and sees a man standing behind the bars of the cell and looking at him. - who are you? And what do you mean sold off? ¨C The man smiles wickedly. - you don¡¯t need to know who I am and as I just said you will be sold off ¨C -sold off to who? Besides you can¡¯t sell people? ¨C -pffft ¨C the man laughs. - oh man kids are best. Of course, I can sell you as for your question, well, to be honest, I don¡¯t know yet either. the boss doesn¡¯t tell us till the end but we can speculate together. Let¡¯s see if you are lucky, you could become a slave. ¨C The eyes of the boy go wide. -that¡¯s considered lucky? Then what¡¯s the unlucky? ¨C The man smiles more taking pleasure in the boy¡¯s reactions. - well, you could get chopped off if you are less lucky and your organs would be sold in the black market. organs are expensive you know especially young healthy ones like yours. Or you could be sold to some of the crazy cults out there that like to sacrifice people - The horror of the young boy and the pleasure of the man both continue to grow as the man continues to list worse and worse options. - and if you are really really really unlucky. You will be sold to some crazy witch that will keep you alive and tied up to harvest your blood and other bodily fluids for their crazy potions that they sell to equally crazy people- -WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THAT? ¨C The boy asks in shock. - they think it would make them young or something. some of those rich people would do anything to escape death you know but of course, no one can escape death. ¨C The man shrugs. - but I don¡¯t care I just care about the money and they have a lot of money. these ones pay the most acutely ¨C The man says with a wide smile as the boy looks terrified dreading his future. - at least I admire your confidence ¨C -huh? Who said that - The man asks then turns toward the unfamiliar voice. He sees an elf boy wearing a green scarf with a squirrel sitting on his shoulder walking toward him. - how did you get here? - -Vee! ¨C The man asks and Fritz shouts as he sees Vee walking down the hall. The man looks at the excited Fritz and then looks at the elf. - did you come here for your friend? What a good friend you are. sure you can join him. ¨C The man smiles widely as he wonders how much money he can get for selling a young elf. - I think I had enough of your annoying ramblings- Vee Says as a large tree root breaks through the floor and wraps around the man. -what the? Do you think your little magic trick can stop me? ¨C The man shouts as he prepares to use his magic but before he can the tree root fires off multiple thorns at the man causing the man to stop moving as they inject him with a paralysis poison. The tree root wraps around the man keeping him standing and fully aware and trapped inside his own body. Vee kicks the paralyzed man in the balls as another tree root breaks Fritz¡¯s cell door and frees him then the squirrel chews the ropes tying Fritz. - have you ever heard about Karma? You are about to find out how cruel of a mistress she is- The man¡¯s eyes tear up from the pain but is unable to scream or resist. The tree root grows more thorns and injects the man with more poisons causing the man¡¯s body to shake violently. Fritz jumps and hugs the elf boy. - How did you find me? ¨C The elf boy smiles at Fritz and pats his head then pulls a small ant from Fritz¡¯s shirt. - I asked this little friend to keep an eye on you. ¨C Fritz looks puzzled at the ant. -an ant? - - don¡¯t look down on the little guy. he just saved your life although technically speaking it wasn¡¯t him alone, these guys helped too ¨C Vee points at other flying insects around them that Fritz never noticed were around him. They looked like ants similar to the one on his shirt but those ones had wings and could fly. -well, I am glad I am not your enemy. Fighting you is like fighting nature - Fritz looks at the shaking paralyzed man who looks to be in unimaginable pain. -um, what¡¯s happening to him?- - do you know how when you dream you can spend days or weeks in the dream but wake up to find it¡¯s only been minutes? ¨C - yeah ¨C -well, he was injected with different poisons that replicate that effect as well as a variety of other poisons that cause either hallucinations or immense pain. Everything together means that every second for us is equivalent to multiple days of unending agony to him. ¨C Fritz looks at the man with pity. - yeah, I am definitely glad I am not your enemy ¨C Vee messes his hair and then takes out a small blue box from his pocket. - hey, cheer up. Look what I found. ¨C Fritz immediately cheers up and picks up the box. - you found Demos! Huh? It seems Demos called the cops but why didn¡¯t they come? ¨C Vee looks at his friend for a moment then sighs. - haaaa, do you really think this stuff happens without the knowledge of the government? They turn a blind eye to it of course they won¡¯t do anything about it- - huh? But why would they? - - I don¡¯t know but I can at least promise you one thing. It won¡¯t be like that when I get older, I will definitely change it. - Fritz pauses for a moment reflecting on everything that happened today and on his friend¡¯s words. - no, you won¡¯t ¨C -huh? Why wouldn¡¯t I? - The elf boy asks with confusion. -because I will change it first- The human boy responds with a smile causing the elf boy to laugh and mess up his hair more. -sure, let¡¯s consider it a race to see who changes it first- He takes the human boy under his shoulder and starts walking as the squirrel jumps back on his shoulder. -now let¡¯s get out of here ¨C On their way out Fritz notices there are tree roots everywhere as though nature has reclaimed the entire building and most of these tree roots are wrapped around people, likely they are the colleagues of the man from earlier, and like their colleague, they all seemed to have received the same treatment. All of them have been placed in eternal agonizing pain by the vengeful forest. Chapter 27 Today we celebrate Location: a house on the northern outskirts of Kim Sungta. Day: 10th of June 5027 ~we are back ~ Ken Says as he enters the house with Daxia. _welcome come back_ Saiko answers from inside of the rooms of the house. Ken places the bag of groceries on a table then the two bounty hunters walk to Saiko¡¯s room. When they enter, they see Saiko wearing sweatpants and a shirt, hanging from a black bar she made with Argus, and doing pull ups. Anger immediately begins to rise inside Ken. ~what the hell are you doing out of bed you idiot? ~ _ I am fine _ Saiko then pulls herself above the bar switching to a handstand on the bar, then she lets go of the bar with her right hand letting her left hand support her entire weight. _see? I am fully healed now and I am starting to get rusty from all the rest _ ~I Don¡¯t care. You need to rest ~ _ I don¡¯t though. I am good now _ The angry bounty hunter turns to his colleague for support. ~ Daxia help take her to bed ~ - acutely I think I have to take Saiko¡¯s side this time. I was with you the first 50 times this happened but at this point, I think your worry is getting a bit ridiculous- Ken¡¯s eyes grow wide and he shouts. ~ did you not see her get struck by lightning four times, four freaking times ~ - I did- ~then how can you take her side on this? ~ Daxia crosses her arms and looks at Ken. -look I took your side the other 30 times we had this conversation but as I said this is getting ridiculous ¨C ~ Rin, support me on this ~ -nah mate, I have to take their side this time. ¨C Ken looks surprised. ~ you too? ~ -Honestly, you are going overboard with this. I mean she is not back at a 100% but she is as healed as she is ever going to get without going to a hospital and getting her damaged tissue replaced and it¡¯s obvious why that¡¯s not an option for us, so at this point the excessive rest is doing more harm than good- Saiko jumps down from the bar, then the black bar and its supporting beams turn into slime and recede back inside Saiko¡¯s body. She looks at Ken with puppy eyes. _ pleeeeeeeeeeaaase, I have been stuck in this house for five months. I am starting to forget what the sun looks like. _ Ken sighs. ~haaaa, fine but I am not happy about this ~ _yes _ Saiko pumps her fists out of excitement. _let¡¯s get out already I want to see the outside world again _ ~if you want to go outside you are going to need this ~ Ken takes out a white mask and tosses it to Saiko. She puts on the mask and it keeps her general appearance but it hides her animalistic features making her look like a human. _ eh, I guess I do need to hide the fact that I am a Therian here. _ Saiko pauses for a moment then looks at Ken and asks. _ hey can¡¯t I use this to hide my scars? _ Ken nods at her question then smiles. ~ you can but I made the mask leave them because I thought they looked cool on you~ The silver cat blushes slightly at Ken¡¯s comment and lightly punches his shoulder. Daxia smiles at their antics then asks. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. -then what¡¯s our next move ¨C _ obviously we need to look for the other kidnapped children _ The silver cat responds with excitement. -and how do we intend to do that ?¨C _ Well first we find them, then we save them_ Ken blinks repeatedly at Saiko¡¯s answer. ~what? That¡¯s it? That¡¯s not a plan ~ Saiko chuckles then pokes Ken¡¯s chest. _ You are correct. I don¡¯t have a plan but that¡¯s fine because you do _ ~ what? Psh, I don¡¯t have a plan. What makes you think I do ~ Ken crosses his arms and looks to the side trying to dismiss the accusation. The silver cat smiles with amusement and places one hand on her hip. _ Of course, you do. Not only do you have a plan for how to find and save the children, but also, I am sure you have a plan for if we wanted to stay on the run, if we wanted to take over Kim sungtae, and maybe even one for if we wanted to overthrow the world government and probably many more situations I can¡¯t even begin to think of _ Daxia chuckles then crosses her arms and adds. - you know what. That does sound like him he probably has plans for all that and more ¨C Rin then adds through the aether channel. -can confirm, based on the amount of information he asked me to find out over the past five months he definitely has a ton of plans he is hiding ¨C Ken instinctively backs away from the united triple attack he is receiving. ~ since when did the three of you become a team? ~ Saiko¡¯s smile grows wider for having won this little confrontation. _so? _ ~ fine ~ he slumps his shoulders ~ I do have a few plans and a way to find the children¡­. Well sort of ~ Saiko raises an eyebrow. _ What do you mean sort of? _ Ken shrugs. ~ Well I didn¡¯t confirm it since I knew if I brought it up you would immediately want to go find the children before you are fully healed ~ _ Fair enough, what is it ? _ ~remember when we entered the labyrinth? The world government lost track of us but Daxia was waiting for us outside and attacked us immediately which makes me think that despite the distance and despite the multiple feet of solid rock between her and us she was able to see us somehow and I am not that special so she was probably not seeing me ~ Ken then turns to look at Daxia for confirmation. Daxia looks surprised he was able to guess that then she remembers who she is dealing with and smiles. -well, you are correct in my eyes Saiko glows brighter than the sun for some reason and I can see here clearly from miles away. Honestly, most of the time I have to tune that light out from my sight because it hurts my eyes from how strong it is. - Ken smiles and then gestures with his hand toward Daxia. ~well there you go. Assuming that light is something that comes out from all living weapons not just Saiko, we can show Daxia aerial footage from a satellite of the different states and she would be able to locate where each of the living weapons are ~ Saiko looks confused and turns to look at Daxia. _what light? What do you mean I am glowing? _ Daxia shrugs her shoulders. -even if you ask me what it is, I don¡¯t know. All I know is you glow with a brilliant golden light. - Naoi who is floating in the room raises his eyebrows at Daxia¡¯s comment and thinks to himself. ¡®She can see divinity? Now that¡¯s unexpected¡¯ Daxia places a hand on her chin for a moment to think then raises her hand. -well acutely if that light equals a living weapon, then I think there is one in Kim Sungtae ¨C Saiko perks up and looks at Daxia. _there is one here? Why? Shouldn¡¯t this be the one place that¡¯s separate from the world government _ ~that¡¯s to be expected acutely ~ Ken answers. ~that¡¯s the typical weapons race if one side does it then the other side has to do it too especially if the side that did it first is much Stronger and bigger than the other side ~ _haaa _ Saiko sighs then continues. _ I hate people sometimes. Well, let¡¯s go get that first since it¡¯s the closest to us but first I need to buy new clothes _ Ken raises an eyebrow at her. ~why don¡¯t you have a lot of clothes already? ~ Saiko glances toward the closet where she keeps all the Skimpy clothes that Ken and Daxia bought her during her recovery. It seemed like the two of them started to think of her as a dress up doll or a model and raced to buy her all sorts of clothes. The clothes that Ken bought her were dark and edgy, they didn¡¯t have many decorations and were mainly black in color, like what you expect to see from a spy thriller movie or an action movie heroine but these clothes were way too tight and way too revealing. Daxia, on the other hand, bought her many traditional looking clothes, and they are traditional looking not actually traditional. they are meant to mimic traditional clothes but with a modern taste, which basically means they were changed to be skimpier and more ¡° appealing to the eye¡±. ¡®I guess in a way they both picked clothes for me based on what they like to wear¡¯ She chuckles to herself. _well let¡¯s just say they don¡¯t exactly fit my tastes _ Ken shrugs his shoulders. ~sure, I guess we can go on a little shopping trip first ~ The trio leaves the house and walks to the nearby town. The town was rather small but despite its small size, it was bustling with life. It looked like all the people of the town were in the streets celebrating some sort of festival. They were dancing, drinking, and playing loading music. Large screens on the sides of buildings displayed various footage of their military mixed in with The streets were covered with all sorts of decorations and filled with paintings of the different monarchs of Kim sungtae. _Is there a festival going on today ?_ ~ yeah it¡¯s called the immortal monarch festival. The immortal monarch is a mythical figure supposedly from the time of the Cataclysm who fought against the central nation during the formation of the united world. Basically, they are celebrating their independence ~ Ken pauses for a moment then adds. ~ I should add I said mythical because there is no evidence that an immortal monarch existed but they vehemently believe he existed and was their first ruler and see him as a historical figure. Generally speaking, their version of history is the dumbest one there is and it basically contradicts all the historical knowledge we have ~ Saiko looks at Ken confused. _ is it really that bad? _ ~ oh yeah, it is unbelievably stupid you will see ~ The music stops followed by the dancing and singing then all the people turn to look at the screens. The screens on the sides of the buildings shift to show a golden podium. an extremely old man with long grey hair and an even longer grey beard wearing royal attire ascends the podium. All the people watch the old man with anticipation. _let me guess. that¡¯s their king ?_ Saiko asks and Ken nods. ~yep, King Kim Haneul ~ - citizens of Kim Sungtae ¨C The old man begins to speak in a low and calm voice and the people listen to his every word with reverence and admiration like it¡¯s the words of a god. -today we celebrate. We celebrate three thousand and fifty five years of resistance. today we celebrate. We celebrate being the last human nation on earth. - his voice starts to get louder as passion begins to swell inside him. A passion and stubbornness that refuses to die despite his age. A passion that he inherited from his family and that was ingrained in him as it was ingrained in every citizen of his country. -Today we celebrate. We celebrate our continued fight and resistance against the vile aliens who invaded our planet more than three thousand years ago- _ WHAT? _ Saiko turns with shock and looks at Ken for answers. ~ yep, dude thinks elves and Therians are aliens that invaded Earth ~ The voice of the king echoes behind them. - TODAY WE CELEBRATE - Chapter 28 Life is on our side _ WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE THINKS ELVES AND THERIANS ARE ALIENS? _ Ken shrugs his shoulders at Saiko¡¯s question before responding while the king continues his speech behind them. ~ I mean what I said and what he just said. They think the cataclysm 3000 years ago was an alien invasion and the invaders were the Elves and the Therians. ~ _but Elves and Therians existed on earth for thousands of years before the cataclysm though _ ~ hey, I did tell you their version of history goes against all the historical knowledge we have and that It¡¯s the dumbest one there is. they simply ignore all the records we have of elves and therians before the cataclysm. ~ _ why though? _ Ken shrugs his shoulders again. ~ if I had to guess I would say it¡¯s just war propaganda ~ Daxia interrupts while looking at the passionate king and the fanatic public listening to him with their utmost focus and respect. - I don¡¯t know about that. It looks to me like the king himself believes it and judging by the people¡¯s reactions they also believe it wholeheartedly and without any hint of doubt ¨C - THOSE VILE INVADERS WHO STOLE OUR LAND AND CAUSED AEONS OF BLOODSHED AND SUFFERING FOR OUR PEOPLE- The king continues his speech with undying passion and unyielding spirit. Ken looks at the king and then nods at Daxia¡¯s comment. ~ I mean it¡¯s thousands of years worth of propaganda, so it¡¯s possible the king also believes it. It¡¯s possible they lied so much they themselves believe the lie, but it does not matter how much they believe it, we have evidence that says otherwise. In fact, we have evidence that suggests the ancestor to elvenoids evolved first before the ancestor to humanoids. ~ Saiko looks at the fanatic people all around her. _ I can not believe all these people believe this. Did none of them question it or like did a simple search on it _ ~haaaa~ Ken lets out a short sigh at his na?ve partner. ~ well you know this is probably the only version of knowledge they have access to and ever came across. It¡¯s not like they can travel outside of Kim Sungtae. The rest of the world is enemy territory to them. They don¡¯t even have access to the aethernet; they only have access to a limited makeshift copy that only exists in Kim Sungtae and that only connects to other people here and all information on it is also from people here so it only confirms their wrong information. It¡¯s a massive echo chamber~ Noai raises an eyebrow at Ken and his lips curl up from amusement as he watches his insolent student continue to criticize the people of Kim Sungtae, unaware of the fact that everything he is saying can and does apply to him. For he also only ever got the version of events that was approved by the world government that he mistook for the truth because it¡¯s what the rest of the world thinks. but the fact that the rest of the world believes it only proves that his echo chamber is larger and more effective not that it¡¯s more correct. ¡®and to think that he started this journey because he found anomalies in history. Once again, my great Thoth, your lesson on the difference between knowledge and comprehension rings true in front of me¡¯ Naoi decides to Say nothing on the matter and simply observe his students on their path toward knowledge. Naoi glances toward an old man who is walking toward the trio. The old man had noticed the trio arguing with each other and not listening to the king¡¯s speech which caught his attention. - hello youngins, are you new here? ¨C The old man asks with a smile. The trio looks at the old man. He wore a long Dark grey hanbok, a traditional koyan dress. He had long grey hair and a matching grey beard that reached down to his chest. Ken smiles at the old man and answers quickly before Saiko can answer, because of how bad she is at acting. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ~that¡¯s right Grandpa. We are on sort of vacation traveling around the kingdom how did you know? ~ The old man smiles. -oh, I see I just made a guess since I have never seen you in the village before, but why did you visit this village there is nothing worth seeing here ¨C ~ I am sure that¡¯s not true Grandpa, but to answer your question this village wasn¡¯t our destination but we stopped here to buy some clothes for my friend here ~ Ken chuckles quietly at the old man¡¯s comment then points at Saiko. -oh, in that case, let me help you. Since you are tourists, you will probably be scammed but if am with you that won¡¯t happen. I know a good shop that is run by the daughter of a friend of mine, I might even be able to make her give you a discount ¨C Saiko smiles at the old man. _ you are very kind. We would appreciate that. _ The old man chuckles and then smiles. -it¡¯s nothing, my child. Now follow me- The old man leads the trio through the village until they reach a small clothes shop. The old man enters followed by two bounty hunters and the silver cat. They wait for the shopkeeper to greet them but no one comes to do so. They wander inside following behind the old man. - I promise you, my dear citizens, that humanity will prevail no matter how long it takes because life is on our side ¨C They hear the king¡¯s speech coming from deeper inside the shop, then they a girl sitting on a chair watching the king¡¯s speech on a holographic screen with the same zeal and reverence the rest of the people had. - you can pick whatever you want from the shop and I will take the money after the speech is over ¨C The girl mouths off without taking her eyes off of the king for even a second. Ken looks at the girl with confusion. ~is she not scared we would steal from her or leave without paying? ~ The old man laughs at the absurd suggestion. - this is a small town everyone knows everyone; we are a big family. Besides humans don¡¯t steal. That sort of savagery is only done by aliens we are above that. we are people of God. ¨C ~raaaight, my bad I forgot ~ Ken rubs the back of his head still puzzled by the situation. Although he already Kim Sungtae has a very low crime rate, due to their severe punishments and strong social unity, it still boggles his mind how trusting of other humans those people are. - All alright young lady, pick what you want ¨C _thank you again grandpa _ The old man says with a smile then the silver cat thanks him and begins to sift through the clothes in the shop. - don¡¯t mention it, my child. I will go to the bathroom for a little bit while you pick your clothes- Saiko picks a long thin black hoodie with a hem that reaches slightly past her waist looking like a miniskirt. From the waist up the hoodie is stripped with thin red and white stripes. She picks long leather boots that go up to slightly below her knees and leather gloves fingerless gloves that match her collar. She finishes the look with dark gray jeans and a long white trench coat. _ how do I look? _ She asks after exiting the changing room. - stunning my child ¨C The old man says with a smile. WHISTLE. - if I was a guy, I would be all over you- Daxia whistles while eyeing Saiko up and down before turning to face Ken. -don¡¯t you agree? ¨C Ken looks at Saiko in a daze and doesn¡¯t respond. -pffft ¨C Daxia laughs and elbows the dazed Ken snapping him out of his daze and back to reality. ~oh, right. Ahm y,you look great ~ Saiko blushes slightly Ken¡¯s reaction and Daxia¡¯s comment then smiles at them. - it¡¯s missing something hmmm ¨C The fiery entity looks at Saiko with interest. - I got it ¨C Naoi raises his hand then a large full moon drawing starts to form at the back of the coat surrounded by a brilliant blue aura then two more crescent moons begin to form one at each side of the full moon surrounded by a similar blue aura. _Naoi! _ Saiko looks with shock at the old man and shopkeeper then at Noai wondering what they would think of what just happened in front of them. -worry not my child I altered their memories they will think it was always part of the coat ¨C The fiery entity reassures her. Ken looks at the newly formed symbol on Saiko¡¯s back. ~what is that? ~ - it¡¯s the symbol of a friend of my master ¨C - I have no idea it must be some old symbol of some sort- The fiery entity answers then the old man responds to Ken¡¯s question thinking the question was meant for him since he is unable to see or hear naoi. Saiko walks to a mirror and checks the symbol on her back. _ I think I like it _ She Says with a smile before turning to face the two bounty hunters. _ We are ready to leave now _ -YEAAAAAAAAAH- WHISTLES She then hears the shopkeeper cheering followed by more cheering and whistles coming from outside. -OUR VICTORY IS WITHIN REACH. AND WE WILL NOT GIVE UP UNTIL WE RECLAIM EVERY SINGLE INCH OF OUR PLANET. ¨C The voice of the king gets louder. _ looks like the speech is coming to an end as well. Good, so we can pay for the clothes now_ -AND WE WILL ERADICATE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE ALIEN INVADERS- Saiko comments then cringes after hearing the king¡¯s next line. ¡® the guy who wrote World War 2 wasn¡¯t an author, he was a prophet. To think I would see nazis in real life like that¡¯ Saiko decides to keep her thoughts to herself, thinking that voicing them out would only bring trouble. -why are you in a rush young one? Stay a bit more the festival is just starting. ¨C _ I am really grateful, grandpa. But we are in a bit of a rush _ The old man asks. To which Saiko responds with a smile. - I am afraid I have to insist. ¨C The old man adds then moves in front of the door to block their path. Ken raises an eyebrow at the old man. Both at his odd behavior and at the absurd notion that he will try to use his body to block them. ~ grandpa, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s gotten into you but I am pretty sure you are too old for whatever you are trying to do ~ The shopkeeper also looks at the old man with a confused look. - yeah, Grandpa Lee what are you doing? ¨C The old man shakes his head at the shopkeeper''s question. -that¡¯s the problem with young people. They can¡¯t comprehend what it means to be in a constant war. These people are spies little John. I brought them here to buy time till the police arrives ¨C -WHAT? - The shopkeeper exclaims in shock. Saiko looks at the old man confused and blinks repeatedly from the absurd assumption. _ Grandpa, we are not spies _ SHATTER Before the silver cat can add another word, the windows to the shop shatter and multiple armed men storm the shop then point their spell rifles at the trio. -you are under arrest don¡¯t move- ~haaaaa~ Ken let¡¯s out a short sighs ~ and there goes our relatively short peace ~ Chapter 29 I am just an old man Chapter 29 I am just an old man ¡®A total of 25 cops armed with spell rifles¡¯ Daxia quickly scans the shop with her eyes allowing her to see the cops that are still hiding in different places in the shop. She then uses her long sleeves to obscure her hand from the sight of the cops and uses a sign language that was developed by the bounty hunters to inform Ken of their numbers and locations. Of the twenty five cops present, seven of them revealed themselves, while the remaining eighteen remained hidden in different places inside and around the shop. _ Grandpa you are mistaken. Why do you think we are spies? _ The sliver cat continues to plead with the old man hoping to resolve the situation peacefully. -you were not listening properly to the king¡¯s speech and you looked at our king with scorn ¨C The eyes of the silver cat grow wide from shock. _WHAT? From that alone? What if we were not spies? What if we just disagree with the king?_ -then that would be worse. you will be traitors. The king¡¯s speech was about restoring our stolen planet, if you disagree with that, then you are worse than spies, you are traitors to mankind and you don¡¯t deserve to live at all ¨C The sliver cat looks in disbelief at the old man. It¡¯s one thing if the old man was purely evil but it¡¯s clear from the way he treated them and from the way the shopkeeper treated him, that he is not. He truly believes that he is doing the right thing. She can not comprehend how someone can believe such an absurd thing but that doesn¡¯t matter, what matters is that he believes it. - it¡¯s all right Gramps. We can handle it from here ¨C One of the cops, who looks to be the most senior of the group, places a hand on the old man¡¯s shoulder to reassure him then turns to look at Saiko. The cops wore camouflaged body armor. It appeared to be traditional body armor, rather than the biomechanical suits worn by the police of the United world. The extremely low crime rate inside the Kim Sungtae led to their police force being a lot more lax compared to the rest of the world. - it¡¯s possible there may have been a misunderstanding miss ¡­- _ Saiko _ - right miss Saiko ¨C Ken instinctively facepalms. ¡®She told him her name just like that? Did she forget she is wanted?¡¯ The officer turns to look at Ken and his now red forehead. -should I ask? ¨C ~no, Sir, the absurdity of the situation is just killing my brain cells~ -right. Well, as I was saying. It¡¯s possible there may have been a misunderstanding, so if you would please come with us to the police station. We will just ask you some questions and confirm your identities then you can go on your way- ~ haaaa~ Ken lets out a short sigh. ~ Man, the people here are so nice; Insane but nice. I can¡¯t believe your way of arresting potential spies to kindly escort them to the police station. I feel like a father telling his Kid that God doesn¡¯t exist for the first time. ~ The invisible Naoi raises an eyebrow at Ken¡¯s comment. ~ It¡¯s like I am ruining your innocence. I mean you clearly never dealt with real criminals before. ~ The sliver cat blinks repeatedly while looking at Ken. _ What are you rambling on about? _ Ken ignores her question and continues. ~ I mean it almost makes me feel bad about what I am about to do you know ~ The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. -what are you waiting for you idiots? These Savages are not humans don¡¯t try to arrest them like you would arrest a human. What are you waiting for? What do you think the drills you train on are for? ¨C The old man shouts expecting Ken to use the naivety of the cops to attack them. Ken smiles wickedly as his hand moves toward the demon skull hanging from his waist. ~almost ~ _NO! _ The eyes of the sliver cat grow wide as soon as she sees Ken¡¯s hand moving toward the demon Skull. She shouts loudly and in the next split second water erupts from the ground all around the shop and floods the shop. Shopkeeper John blinks her eyes repeatedly. She didn¡¯t even realize when it happened but suddenly her shop was full of water. Weirder still there was a bubble of air around her that took her form and extended a few inches away from her. She extends her arm forward in an attempt to touch the water but the water moves away from her as if avoiding her. -yep, I am definitely dreaming. I definitely passed out at some point ¨C John sees a vague outline of a feminine figure walking toward her in the water. As the figure gets closer, she is able to make out its details and she realizes it¡¯s one of the people that came into the shop with Grandpa Lee. -oh, it¡¯s the one who shouted before I passed out ¨C The girl walks out of the water and into John¡¯s little air bubble. _ I am sorry for what happened today. This is the money for the clothes we bought and these are for the broken windows ¨C The girl hands John the money before disappearing back into the water before John can say anything in response. The last thing she saw was a beautiful full moon with crescent moons, one at each side of the full. All three moons seemed to give off a beautiful blue ethereal glow. -ah, I think I like that symbol. I think I should make more clothes with it ¨C After a few moments, the water disappears just as fast as it appeared. John looks around to see that her shop is completely fine except for the windows the cops broke. She also sees that the trio that came with Grandpa Lee is nowhere to be found and the cops all passed out on the ground. As for Grandpa Lee, he is screaming his lungs out at the cops. -you foolish bastards you can¡¯t treat them like humans. Look what they did to you. These are animals you fools ¨C -are you sure they are spies, Grandpa? ¨C -huh?- The old man turns to look at the shopkeeper. - are you seriously asking me that after you saw how they attacked the cops and the shop? Do you think humans can be this barbaric? ¨C -well, that¡¯s kind of my point Grandpa. The shop is fine, the cops also look fine just sleeping, and the girl even paid for her clothes and also paid for the broken windows even though she wasn¡¯t the one who broke them. ¨C The old man looks around the shop to confirm what little John told him. -hmmmm- *********************************************************** Location: Royal Palace of Kim Sungtae King Kim Haneul descends from the podium and starts walking toward the throne room using his royal scepter as a walking stick. Clap clap clap - amazing speech Royal Father ¨C Old King Haneul glances at his son who is clapping for him and looking at him with admiration. - what are you doing here? Don¡¯t you have duties to attend to? ¨C - what duty is higher than listening to the speech of the Kind of mankind? ¨C The old King sits on his throne. - I am just an old man. I can think of many things that would be a better use of your time ¨C - you are the hope of the people Royal Father ¨C The old king looks at his child¡¯s eyes and the eyes of the many attendants of the palace looking at him with passion and admiration. -haaaaa ¨C He lets out a short sigh then lowers his head and says in a low voice. A voice so low that no one would hear him so that he wouldn¡¯t disappoint the gazes looking at him. - I am just an old man. ¨C He complains to God. For he is the King. Who else can he complain to? -haaaa ¨C The king lets out another sigh then raises his head and looks at his head advisor. -how is little Lavi doing? ¨C - her body is healthy my king, her personality as stubborn as ever, and her power is steadily rising ¨C The king¡¯s heart aches from the advisor''s words, for he knows why the advisor phrased his sentence in such a way. - is there really no other way? ¨C The advisor bows apologetically to the king. - I am afraid so my king. This is the only way we know to raise her power further. This is also the way the alien government uses my King ¨C The king¡¯s expression becomes agitated and full of scorn. -since when did those Alien savages become the standard for how we should act? Did our morality fall so low that it needs to be compared to them? - The advisor flinches at the king¡¯s sudden aggression. - no, my king, that¡¯s not what I meant. I meant that even they with their superior technology and resources couldn¡¯t find another way, so another way likely doesn¡¯t exist- The king slams his hand on the armrest of his throne. - keep looking. Just because those aliens didn¡¯t find a way doesn¡¯t mean a way doesn¡¯t exist. They probably didn¡¯t care to find that way in the first place. ¨C -a, as you wish my king. We will keep looking. ¨C A blue holographic screen appears in front of the internal affairs advisor. -my king we may have an urgent situation on our hands.- -what is it? - The king looks at the screen then at the advisor and asks. The advisor spreads his hands causing the holographic screen to become larger to look like a large television screen. He then swipes at the screen causing it to flip to show the king. the holographic screen shows water erupting from the ground in one of the remote villages and engulfing a clothes shop. - the police received a report there were spies in the village. When they went to arrest the potential spies they were attacked by the suspects but there were no casualties- -what information do we have on them? ¨C -unfortunately, we don¡¯t have a lot of information, my king. All we know is the suspects are a group of three people 2 female and 1 male. one of the females had powerful water magic and said her name was Saiko- The King strokes his long beard. - a water mage called Saiko hmmm. That sounds familiar ¨C The king raises his hand and another blue screen appears in front of him. He opens his list of previous reports and scrolls through them then picks a report from five months ago. He then makes the screen grow bigger. The large screen displays a massive water giant destroying the police force of Seoul. - oh? Aren¡¯t these the people who stole the Book of Knowledge? ¨C The prince says as he watches the battle on the screen then thinks to himself. ¡®Ancient humans were truly fascinating I can¡¯t believe we lost to those aliens¡¯ The chief advisor''s lips curl into a wide grin as excitement - it seems fate hasn¡¯t abandoned us my king if we can get our hands on the book of knowledge Lavi will be complete ¨C The old king looks at the fanatic eyes of his advisor then sighs and lowers his head. -haaaa - ¡®God all mighty, please show me another way. Why must that child suffer like that?¡¯ Chapter 30 A work of fate Chapter 30 A work of fate CRUNCH CRUNCH -AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH- A little girl screams her longs out as millions of tiny insects eat her alive. The little girl looked not older than ten. CHRUNCH - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH- She had black hair that went down to her shoulders and black eyes devoid of life. She doesn¡¯t know where she is, nor how long she has been here. It must have been hundreds or maybe thousands of years but that can¡¯t be true, since when the insects go away and the people come back it doesn¡¯t look like they aged and she doesn¡¯t seem to age either. CRUNCH -AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- CRUNCH Maybe they messed with her sensation of time or maybe that¡¯s just how time works. She doesn¡¯t know, for this cycle of being eaten and then restored is all she knew. Suddenly the insects disappear and the empty void that was surrounding the little child is replaced by a beautiful vibrant hill. A gentle breeze blows over the hill causing the trees to sing with beautiful notes. The warmth of sunlight tickles the child¡¯s skin and her eyes are met with the sight of a shabby white building on the top of the hill. The white building shone brightly as it reflected the sunlight and gave off a pleasant serene atmosphere. The girl feels warmth coming from behind her. -you are back Mister Flame ¨C The girl smiles and turns around to see a person made of blue fire floating in the air behind her. A blue flame danced in the wind above his head where hair should be but no smoke came out of it. The world always got better when he came to visit her. It¡¯s like the world obeyed his will. She wished he stayed all the time or visited more often but she was always too shy to ask. The fiery entity looks at the child with a warm gaze. Even if she didn¡¯t say anything he was able to hear her thoughts. Torn between his ancestor and his master he finds neutrality his only option. He can only guide and teach Sapiens and hope they make the right choice. - I am back little Lavi. - The little girl pouts. - I am not little. I bet I am older than you ¨C -oh? ¨C -yeah, I have been alive for a long long time. It¡¯s so many I can¡¯t even count it on my fingers anymore ¨C The fiery entity chuckles and pats the head of the young child. -that is true little Lavi will turn 11 this year ¨C The little girl looks up at the fiery entity. -um, how old are you mister Flame? ¨C -Oh, well I am much much older than that my child. I am 15753 years old.- The fiery entity then projects the concept of fifteen thousand seven hundred and fifty three into the child¡¯s mind so she is able to comprehend the number. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The child¡¯s eyes grow wide in shock then she looks at the fiery entity in horror. -does that mean you were eaten by the insects for that many years? Is that why you don¡¯t have a body? ¨C The fiery entity looks at the child with pity. -no, my child, and soon you won¡¯t have to worry about the insects again either. - The child''s eyes grow hopeful. -really? Do the insects go away eventually? ¨C -yes, my child ¨C The fiery entity smiles at the young child as her face glows up with hope and she begins to smile but then she looks sorrowful. - you must be lying to me ¨C -have I ever lied to you? ¨C -no ¨C -then why would I lie now? The insects will go away and you will be able to see the outside world, maybe even you will be able to visit this hill one day and live in that home. - The little girl looks hopeful again. - will I be able to see Mom? ¨C - who knows maybe you will be able to. ¨C The little girl looks up at the fiery entity. - is she still looking for me? ¨C - she never once stopped trying to find you ¨C The little girl smiles then clenches her fists and looks determined. - then I won¡¯t give up either. I will live, I will visit the shining home on the hill, I will see the outside world and I will find my mom for sure- ******************************************************* _ I can¡¯t believe you were going to kill those cops _ The silver cat complains while the trio runs out of the town. ~ I wasn¡¯t going to ~ _huh? But I saw you grab the demon sword _ ~pffft ~ Ken laughs slightly. ~ I did that to make you flood the shop. You are not very good at discrete communication, or lying, or acting, or really any of this ~ _Hey! _ The sliver cat finds herself getting slightly offended. She knows he is not wrong and she doesn¡¯t even want to get good at lying in the first place but it still hurts to be told she can¡¯t do something. ~pffft, I didn¡¯t say that¡¯s necessarily a bad thing but back to my point. You are also easy to predict. You act in a very straightforward way so it¡¯s easier and safer for the plan to manipulate you to do the action I want rather than try to inform you of the plan ~ The silver cat pouts. _ That didn¡¯t make it better. It¡¯s worse acutely _ Ken shrugs his shoulders. ~ it is what it is. there was no way for me to tell you what to do without also having the cops know of the plan. Besides if I didn¡¯t force you to act, you might have argued with me over attacking the cops. heck, I wouldn¡¯t put it past you to acutely go with them to the station ~ Daxia raises her arms to stop the other two from running and interrupts their conversation. -you can continue this later. We have company- Ken looks at where Daxia is looking but sees nothing but endless trees. ~well, what is it? Also how far is it ~ -a 12 feet tall white robot carrying three individuals 1 human 1 light elf and 1 Therian from the Red Tiger tribe they are twenty miles away ¨C Ken blinks surprised. ~ an elf and a Therian? Well, that rules out them being from Kim Sungtae. Are they wearing strike force armor ~ - negative ¨C _maybe they are not after us. Why are we assuming we are the targets? _ Saiko asks the two bounty hunters. They are always too paranoid, granted that¡¯s probably needed since they are all wanted criminals at the moment but they take it to a ridiculous degree. It¡¯s like they view everyone in the world as a potential enemy. ~hmm, well I don¡¯t think we have enough information to guess who they are or their motive so why risk it ~ Ken shrugs his shoulders and then uses his watch to take control of their car and makes it drive to their location. ~ Saiko give us a lift so we can meet up with the car before they can reach us ~ Saiko raises her hand and water rises from underground forming an ice platform. The trio jumps onto the ice platform then Saiko uses her magic to fly them through the air in the direction of the car and away from the incoming white robot. ********************************************** The trio jumps off of the platform and quickly gets inside the car. ~are they still after us? ~ Daxia turns around and looks in the direction of the Robot to see it flying toward them still. -yes ¨C _ We have been flying in a straight line you know and in the direction they were flying. they probably can¡¯t even see us. The only reason we can see them in the first place is Daxia¡¯s eyes _ ~well, we will find out for sure now~ Ken says then presses a button causing the car to go into off road mode. He then drives to the left leaving the road and entering the forest. - they turned as well and are still flying toward us- Ken¡¯s lips curl up slightly and he looks at Saiko through the rearview mirror. ~see? ~ Saiko crosses her arms and looks at the smug bounty hunter. _ That doesn¡¯t mean anything. Yes, there are a lot of people after us but that doesn¡¯t mean ALL people are after us _ ~there are enough people after us to make it more likely that they are after us than not. Well, time to lose them ~ Ken presses another button and the car enters drill mode and begins to dig underground. ********************************* -pffft, would you look at that they are trying to avoid us ¨C The human boy with different colored eyes says while eating a lollipop and his black hair fluttered in the wind. He had his blue eye closed and his yellow eye open as he watched light brighter than the sun move underground. The human boy Sat on the robot¡¯s shoulder. He wore a white formal shirt and dark blue tie with a vest that is half blue and half grey and grey suit pants. The human boy gave off an aura of elegance and class in all his actions despite his bratty nature. The light elf and red tiger sitting in cross legged position on the Robot¡¯s back turned their heads to look at the human boy then the elf spoke then the elf spoke. - are you able to keep track of them? - -pfffft, with how bright Saiko is glowing I can keep track of them all the way from home. She is really the brightest one I have ever seen. ¨C - do you think it¡¯s because she was the first weapon, Melky? ¨C The human boy shrugs his shoulder. -how would I know? But I don¡¯t think it works that way after all our leader glows brighter than most of the living weapons I saw but he was never a living weapon himself. the glow is probably something independent from the living weapon program. ¨C The elf thinks for a moment. - so, it¡¯s correlation, not causation- The red tiger perks up after realizing something. -wait, did you say that Saiko is the brightest one you have ever seen? does that mean she glows brighter than even our leader? ¨C Melky looks at the puzzled red tiger and then smirks. -yes, yes I did - Chapter 31 A hard choice… eh, not really(1) Chapter 31 A hard choice¡­ eh, not really(1) Location: Namo Lake, north Hamyong, Chonyin, Kim Sungtae A drill comes out of the side of the lake and morphs into a submarine. ~ are they still following us? ~ Daxia turns around upon hearing Ken¡¯s question and looks in the direction of the giant robot. -yes, and they are closer now. There¡¯s less than ten miles between them and us- _How are they able to keep track of us till now?_ The trio had moved repeatedly above and below ground trying to lose their pursuers but to no avail. No matter where they went the pursuers were always able to know their exact location and chase them. ~well, if I had to guess, I would say they are also able to see the light that comes out of living weapons and if I am correct, we can use that to our advantage. ~ -haaa, it¡¯s about time you come up with a plan, so how in danger is my life going to be this time?- Daxia lets out a sigh as she braces herself for Ken¡¯s plan. ~ pffft, you really have no faith in me, do you? ~ - well, in my defense, your last plan involved us flying at Mach speed in a jet you made from the scrap parts of destroyed drones and powered by a demonic plasma reactor that you carry around your waist ¨C ~hey the jet worked, right? ~ -I recall us crashing into the ground though. ¨C ~no, that¡¯s different. The jet worked, but we crashed because of the strike force attack ~ _ can we focus, please? _ Saiko interrupts the two bounty hunters. _ How are the two of you simultaneously extremely paranoid and extremely laid back at the same time? _ Ken blinks and ponders the question for a moment then chuckles. ~ it¡¯s probably what happens when your life is in danger all the time. I guess you can say it comes with the profession. If you are not vigilant, you die, but it also happens all the time so you become numb to it. It¡¯s the same reason why I don¡¯t blame you for being suicidal. Being raised by a priest whose motto is ¡°turn the other cheek¡± would probably do that to you ~ Saiko raises an eyebrow at Ken. _ I am not suicidal? Know what? Doesn¡¯t matter let¡¯s keep that for after we deal with the giant robot _ ~pffft, well I will tell you the plan. if I am correct and they can only track you and not all three of us, then we can use you as bait to set an ambush for them ~ _ alright _ -what? Are you crazy? ¨C Daxia blinks repeatedly at Saiko surprised by her immediate approval. ~pffft, see I told you. you are suicidal. If Daxia was the bait, she wouldn¡¯t stop complaining for at least the next three months ~ _ I am not crazy nor suicidal but I prefer to be the bait anyway. I am faster, stronger, have better senses and I have Argus _ Ken¡¯s expression which was bright until that point turns sour. He turns silent for a few moments then looks at Saiko with a serious expression. ~I told you not to go around thinking you are invincible just because you have Argus or did you forget the permanent lightening tattoos that cover your body from head to toe ~ This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Saiko looks at Ken surprised by his sudden change in demeanor. Daxia looks at Ken then at Saiko and lets out a short sigh. -haaa ¨C ¡®if only she knows how rare it is for him to care about someone¡¯ She decides to keep her thoughts to herself. ~ well, it doesn¡¯t matter. I wasn¡¯t going to rely on you to keep yourself safe anyway. If something happens Daxia will pull you out using the dokkaebi mask. ~ ****************************************************** - it looks like they stopped moving ¨C Melky says then uses his techno magic connection with the robot to slow it down. - do you think they spotted us? ¨C - they spotted us a long time ago. It¡¯s clear they were trying to make us lose their trail. ¨C The light elf asks Melky but the red tiger responds before Melky can respond. Melky shrugs his shoulders. -I don¡¯t know but I am going to trust the tiger¡¯s hunting instincts ¨C A lyre bird lands on Melky¡¯s shoulder. The eyes of the trio immediately turn to look at the bird. -leader? ¨C The lyre bird opens its beak then the voice of a teenage boy comes out. - it¡¯s a trap but you don¡¯t have to worry Saiko won¡¯t let you get hurt even if the bounty hunters try to- Melky¡¯s lips curl up into a grin. - I guess we can¡¯t complain about Lady Izanau being too soft anymore, since it¡¯s playing in our favor ¨C ******************************* Saiko stands in the middle of a forest alone. Ken had decided that setting the trap in the middle of the forest would be better as the trees would provide them with the needed cover to hide themselves and the car. She closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath enjoying the atmosphere of the forest. Moments later her whiskers alert her to the approaching giant. She opens her eyes to a large twelve feet tall humanoid robot flying toward her. The robot floated in the air with elegance despite having no wings or any visible thrusters. It slowly descended from the sky seemingly careful to harm any tree and stopped descending a few inches above the ground. There was nothing below it to stop it from descending to the ground, which puzzled Saiko since it certainly consumes a large amount of energy to keep such a giant machine floating in the air. ¡®is it trying to avoid crushing the grass maybe?¡¯ That was the only guess Saiko was able to come up with based on how carefully it avoided the trees. A strong gust of wind carries three people from the shoulders of the gentle giant to the ground. The three individuals, a human, an elf, and a Therian, bowed toward Saiko then the human who looked to be the youngest among them spoke. - greetings lady Izanau Saiko - The human had a strange looking bird standing on his shoulder. Saiko raises an eyebrow at the odd trio. _ Should I know you?_ Melky smiles at the silver cat. -no, but we know you and we know about the Living Weapon program. We from the followers of nature- _ the terrorist group? _ Saiko exclaims interrupting the human boy causing him. -th,that¡¯s propaganda we are not a terrorist group- ¡®wow, why are the followers of nature here? Are they trying to recruit us¡¯ Ken thinks to himself as he watches the interaction from behind a tree. Thinking deeply about the words the human boy said Ken was able to come to some very unexpected conclusions. One, the followers of nature seemed to have a very powerful information network, since they were able to find information about the living weapons that even the members of the strike force didn¡¯t know about. ¡®Either that or they are directly involved with the living weapons program somehow¡¯ Two, the followers of nature are able to track down living weapons and they seem to be after living weapons too. ¡®that complicates things. That means even if we kill these three more will come after us since they can track us. Hmmm, we need to be cautious in our next move at least they don¡¯t seem antagonistic¡¯ _do you kill civilians? _ ¡®huh?¡¯ Ken¡¯s thoughts are interrupted by Saiko¡¯s question. -not intentionally. We are fighting the world government; they are the ones building facilities in the middle of cities and using civilians as shields- _I have heard enough. I will be merciful_ Saiko extends her arm and Argus comes out and forms a giant black claw. She starts to walk toward the followers of nature slowly with and cold gaze and the full intent to Kill. Melky flinches and instinctively takes a step back from the cold gaze. -this is not how this is supposed to work. ¨C Melky glances at his two teammates. -what should we do now? We were not given permission to fight, this wasn¡¯t supposed to be a fight at least not with her. ¨C _That¡¯s even better, Makes my job much easier_ Ken¡¯s eyes grow wide from shock and runs out getting between Saiko and the followers of nature. ~ what¡¯s wrong with you? Why do you want to kill them? ~ Saiko raises an eyebrow at Ken. _ What¡¯s wrong with me? What¡¯s wrong with you? You have tried to kill almost everyone we ever met but you are defending terrorists now? _ ~what¡¯s wrong with me? What¡¯s wrong with you? Those were our enemies and you defended them despite them trying to kill us. You always complain about me being too paranoid but the one time we meet people who are not trying to kill us, you want to kill them? ~ _They killed innocent people_ -but we have to. It¡¯s- _ I DON¡¯T CARE WHAT YOUR EXCUSE IS_ Melky tries to interject but Saiko cuts him off immediately. _ Nothing you Say will excuse killing innocent people_ ¡®What a terrifying sight¡¯ Daxia uses her arm to block her eyes. She has never seen Saiko¡¯s thoughts so violent before. Erratic and violent dark lights continuously emerge from Saiko. Even though she can see thoughts, she has yet to learn what each of those thoughts means. ¡®But I guess I just learned what violent murderous intent looks like¡¯ -but our goal is to free the living weapons just like priest Si u ¨C GROAN Daxia groans as the erratic lights become even more powerful and more violent to the point it hurts her eyes. _ Don¡¯t you dare compare yourselves to my old man. He never killed a single innocent life_ At that moment the lyrebird opened its beak. - I guess I have to intervene ¨C Before Saiko is even able to get surprised by the talking bird her whiskers twitch alerting her to incoming Danger. She glances to the side in the direction of the incoming object to see a massive three feet wide tree root rushing at her like a whip. Chapter 32 A hard choice… eh not really (2) Chapter 32 A hard choice¡­ eh not really (2) Saiko raises her arm covered in Argus to catch the incoming tree root and crushes it. The lyrebird opens its mouth. -why did you hurt the tree? The tree was innocent. ¨C Saiko raises an eyebrow and looks at the talking bird as more tree roots rush at Saiko from multiple directions aiming to crush her. Relying on her whiskers to tell her about the positions of all the tree roots, Saiko jumps backward onto the tree root rushing at her from behind, and uses its momentum to launch herself toward Melky or rather toward the talking bird on his shoulder. The bird opens its mouth once again as Saiko swings her claws at it. -for the record, I am not the bird either - Saiko stops her claw inches away from the bird and jumps away as multiple tree roots come down crushing the ground where she was standing a second ago. -do you understand now?- Saiko jumps on top of a tree root that swung at her from the side and then runs on it. - You can¡¯t hurt me. ¨C Saiko¡¯s whiskers twitch causing her to quickly bend backward as a leopard that was aiming for her neck passes above her. -You can¡¯t even reach me; I am hundreds of miles away. Not only that but also the attacks won¡¯t stop, I will continue to use innocent trees and animals to attack you ¨C SCREEEEECH The bird is interrupted by a screeching sound. ~I thought you were not supposed to be our enemies. what are you doing ~ Ken says while aiming the demon skull at the bird and the tree followers of nature. The bird opens its mouth and the sound of laughter comes out. -pffft, and I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. Child if I wanted all of you dead including your friend who is still hiding you would have already been dead. I am just making a point- ~and what point is that? ~ The forest stops attacking Saiko. - the point is what we do, we do not do by choice. Sometimes you are forced to hurt innocent people in order to protect your own people or people you care about and to stop a greater evil. They built cities devoid of nature and built their facilities there where I can¡¯t reach them. They let machines rule them relegate their thinking to the machines and follow their suggestions mindlessly even when the machines tell them to torture children. Understand that what I am doing is mercy. If I wished, I could crush those cities with overwhelming force but that would kill many more innocent lives. They built those cities specifically to hide from me they are hiding behind the innocent lives you care so much about. Sending my followers to free the children is my way of limiting the death of innocent lives as much as possible- Saiko cracks her neck and then looks at the talking bird. _Your followers are killing the innocent people you are trying to convince me you are trying to protect_ -as I said before it is necessary. I can not ask my men to prioritize the lives of civilians over their own lives. Instead of being made at us who are forced to kill civilians why are you not mad at the world government which is using innocent civilians to protect their facilities from me ¨C Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. _oh, I am mad at the world government I am no fan of them but don¡¯t act like you are forced to kill innocent civilians. You chose to prioritize your life over the lives of innocent people and made them pay for a sin they did not commit_ -I understand you idolize the way priest Si u did things but need I remind you his way of doing things led to his death ¨C Saiko¡¯s nerves calm a little at the memory of the old priest and looks a little saddened. _ and he died a hero. _ -do you not see it? If I kept attacking you, you would inevitably die without ever being able to reach me- The silver cat looks at the bird with a firm resolve. _Then I would die a hero and I rather die a hero than live to be a villain _ -what if I attacked your friends? ¨C _ Then I would defend them to my last breath but I would not take the life of an innocent man in the process_ The three followers of nature look at Saiko dumbfoundedly and then look at the bird their leader is talking through. ¡®To think she is as reckless as him¡¯ they did not expect the situation to turn out like this. All the followers of nature knew about priest Si u and many of them idolized him much like Saiko, for he shared many of their goals and symbolized many of their ideals. He stood alone against the world government, lived in harmony with nature, and didn¡¯t let machines control or dictate his life but most of them also viewed his methods as reckless, and that view was validated when he was ultimately killed. The bird once again opens his mouth breaking the moment of silence. -I could treat you. I know you can¡¯t go to a hospital and that you are injured. I could make you even stronger than before ¨C Saiko raises an eyebrow at the bird. _ I am perfectly healthy though _ Four tree roots curl around each other like strands of a rope then swing down with tremendous force at Saiko. Saiko raises her and covers it with Argus blocking the tree roots while Ken immediately turns to face the bird. ~ HEY I THOUGHT YOU MADE YOUR POINT ~ - relax, I am just showing her what I mean, look. ¨C Ken turns to look at Saiko and notices she is down on one knee with her arm shaking despite Argus forming multiple black pillars around Saiko that are carrying most of the weight. ~ Rin, what is happening? I thought you said she is healed. ~ -no, I said she is as healed as she will ever get without going to the hospital. Her muscles were damaged by the lightning and got weakened. for the most part, it¡¯s fine since Argus can support her muscles or even create synthetic muscles if need be, but if the load on her muscles is too heavy or placed on the muscles too quickly before Argus can form synthetic muscles then her muscles would give out. The only way for her to fully heal is to have her damaged muscle tissue replaced with healthy one which can only be done in a hospital- Rin responds to Ken through their aether channel. - I can heal her and I can even make her stronger ¨C Water rises from the ground around Saiko and lifts the giant tree roots then throws them away. Saiko slowly stands back up as her arm and legs shake rapidly threatening to give out again. _I don¡¯t need your help. Even if I am dying you can¡¯t buy me and I will not be okay with what you are doing _ Ken watches Saiko struggling to stand up then immediately turns to face the talking bird. ~listen mister bird, I will convince the suicidal miss but you need to give me some time to convince her~ Ken internally sighs as he waits for the bird¡¯s response. ¡®Priority one is to get that suicidal maniac treated; I can deal with everything else after that¡¯ Ken tries to end the confrontation quickly before it turns south and it looks like Saiko is adamant about making it go south. Be it the followers of nature¡¯s ability to track them down, their powerful information network, or their leader¡¯s ability to seemingly control anything that breathes, he knows he can figure out a way to deal with them if he is given the time to think but more importantly this might be their only chance to properly heal Saiko and he is not about to let that chance go away. _ It doesn¡¯t matter how much time you are given my decision on this will not change _ ~you are not helping ~ _ oh, I am aware but there is simply no way I am going to accept the sacrifice of innocent lives_ Ken instinctively facepalms. ¡®Why can she never lie?¡¯ The bird is silent for a moment then it opens its mouth. -well, I guess I am fine with that you don¡¯t have to be okay with it. In fact, that¡¯s better for us- Saiko raises an eyebrow at the bird. _ What do you mean? _ -if you work with us and join missions to free the children yourself, you can make sure no innocent lives are killed in the process. It¡¯s a win win, right?- Saiko raises her eyebrow even higher then crosses her arms. _ I am listening. _ The bird starts speaking in response. - you want to save the children anyway, right? In that sense, we have a common goal. We can aid you with supplies and information and even backup if you need it and you can do the missions yourselves and not kill any people in the process, and if you do it my men won¡¯t have to risk their lives and in turn, they wouldn¡¯t have to kill any innocent people ¨C Saiko pauses to think for a while. _ yeah, I think I am fine with that _ Ken blinks repeatedly at what Saiko said and turns to look at her. ~you are? ~ Saiko shrugs her shoulders. _It¡¯s not about the punishment. It¡¯s about innocent people not dying. If they are going to kill more innocent people, they must be stopped to protect those people, but If they are willing to turn over a new page, I am willing to do so as well _ Saiko then looks back at the bird with a serious look. _ but make no mistake about it if see even one more innocent person die, the deal is off and I will come after your life and I assume by that point I would know where you are hiding and I would be able to reach you _ Chapter 33 The road to hell is paved with good intentions Chapter 33 The road to hell is paved with good intentions The bird opens its mouth. -threats aside, I am glad we reached an agreement. My followers will lead you to our hideout - Melky steps forward and bows with a smile. -please follow us. We have a long journey ahead of us- Saiko shakes her head. _ I am afraid, that will have to wait. There is a living weapon facility here and we need to free the one here first _ -well, about that one - Melky rubs the back of his head and glances at the lyrebird. - I would like to ask you to leave that one for now. ¨C _WHAT? _ The lyrebird speaks causing Saiko to ask in surprise. -this is the only living weapon Kim Sungtae has and without it, they could be invaded ¨C _Hold on, hold on, you were just telling me that what you were doing was to save children, and now, you are suddenly okay with torturing children? _ - I still want to save her but if I do it now, it could cause a war in which many more people would die ¨C _really now? And how exactly are you different from the world government? I don¡¯t know their reason but I am sure the world government also has some messed up reason they are doing what they are doing. _ ~hold on Saiko~ Ken interjects. ~ I hate to side with the talking bird here but a war would bring about much more suffering and death ~ _ You don¡¯t trade with lives, You don¡¯t steal and give to charity, and you don¡¯t make someone suffer for a sin they didn¡¯t commit. What¡¯s so hard to understand about this? _ Ken lets out a short sigh. It always amazed him how pure Saiko is. She always acted and thought in a way that¡¯s completely different from anyone he met before, in a more stupid way, but as much as it frustrated him, he liked that about her. There were no ulterior motives, no hidden agenda, he felt he could let down his guard around her and trust her a thought that made him smile. he thought it was because she grew up sheltered but he now knows that¡¯s not the case which boggles his mind. Despite spending most of her life tortured in a living weapon facility and spending the rest of her life in a practically nomadic lifestyle, she is still as na?ve as a child, or maybe it¡¯s because of those that she is this na?ve. ¡®nah, most people would probably end up becoming hardened savages if they lived the same life. I guess that¡¯s what happens when you are raised by a priest, a true priest anyway since most are priests in name only¡¯ Ken looks at Saiko with a gentle expression. ~listen, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t understand what you are saying but it¡¯s a matter of numbers; one life versus the lives of many people. ~ Saiko lets out a sigh of her own as she recalls the words of the old man. ¡®Evil is an enchanting mistress. She will always tempt you with quick and easy solutions to your problems she looks at Ken and the bird. _ have you ever heard of the saying ¡° the road to hell is paved with good intentions¡±. The only life you can sacrifice is your own, and even then, you can only do it if you have no other options. If you really think it¡¯s necessary, then you defend them instead of forcing someone else to carry that burden. If a war breaks out and they need a living weapon to defend them I will defend them. _ This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Ken looks at Saiko dumbfoundedly then facepalms. ¡®that¡¯s not naivety, that¡¯s brain rot. That priest was a brain virus¡¯ -pffft- ¡® I wonder what plan he will come up with to fight a war with the world government¡¯ Daxia laughs and then turns her attention to Saiko and ponders on what she is seeing. -hmmm- -sir- Daxia turns her attention toward the human boy who just spoke and notices he looks shocked. -the light just got stronger- Daxia raises an eyebrow at the boy¡¯s comment. ¡® I guess that¡¯s the one that was tracking us. He seems to be able to see the golden light as well¡¯ The bird opens its mouth. -how fascinating! You are the first one I saw whose light grew after leaving the program usually the light remains constant or even weakens but you just grew stronger. You continue to grow in strength even after leaving the program. I wonder why? ¨C Saiko shrugs her shoulders. _ I don¡¯t even know what light is nor can I see it, so I can¡¯t help you. Can we focus back on the topic though? _ The bird shakes its head. - I won¡¯t argue with you. You are way too stubborn and I just finished getting you on my side and I don¡¯t want to undo that. Just know that you have chosen a hard path, one that will likely end in your death ¨C Saiko shrugs her shoulders. _it is what it is _ -Melky, Alfred, and Ron the three of you will be on stand by in Kim Sungtae consider it your vacation ¨C Melky jumps with excitement. -VACATION ¨C Daxia looks at the followers of nature with jealousy. -as for you three you should keep the bird with you- Ken looks at the bird. ~really? So you can spy on us? ~ - pffft, I think you are misunderstanding something. I am always watching; my eyes and ears are everywhere; it¡¯s my mouth that¡¯s in short demand since most animals can¡¯t replicate sapiens speech- ~ what a freak! ~ The lyrebird lands on Ken¡¯s head then pends its head down and pecks Ken¡¯s forehead. ~ouch, whatever everyone in the car ~ Ken says then uses his watch to call the car and they start driving. Saiko sits in the back seat of the car and begins to review the conversation she had with Ken and the talking bird in her mind. Her determination is unwavering but she can¡¯t help but wonder if she is correct. ¡®I guess it¡¯s at times like these that I need to have faith right old man¡¯ Saiko smiles slightly as she recalls memories from her past. *********************************************************** ¡®and then Cain because of his jealousy killed his brother Abel¡¯ The old priest sat on a chair next to Saiko¡¯s bed and telling her stories to help her sleep. ¡®but old man didn¡¯t you say that God writes fate? Why would God write that the first son of Adam killed his brother?¡¯ The old man is surprised by the question and thinks for a moment then smiles. ¡®well, it¡¯s hard to know all the reasons behind God¡¯s choices but I can at least tell you one of them. Since God is just, all people who commit the same Sin shall be judged equally, and since there were only two men at the time, killing one and then running away basically means you killed all Sapiens, since that one you killed was all there was and by having it be so, God made it so that if anyone kills anyone unjustly it is as though they have killed all people as they will all be equated with the first murder which Cain committed¡¯ ¡®That only made me more confused why?¡¯ ¡®Well, sometimes people think they are working for the greater good and justify the killing of innocent people, but certainly there is no greater good that would justify killing everyone for there would be no one to benefit from that good in the first place. So basically, God is eliminating that argument and saying nothing justifies killing an innocent person no matter how great a cause you think you are fighting for¡¯ Saiko thinks for a moment then looks at the old priest. ¡® but what if you are wrong? What if God is wrong?¡¯ The old priest smiles and pats the little kitten¡¯s head. ¡®well, that¡¯s where faith comes in¡¯ ¡®Faith?¡¯ ¡®Faith my child is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. It was by faith that Abel gave a more sincere sacrifice and his sacrifice was accepted. There are a lot of things that we don¡¯t know and that we don¡¯t understand and what happens in the future is one of them but we have faith that doing what¡¯s right will give us the best outcome¡¯ Saiko leans back in the car seat. ¡®that¡¯s kind of similar to what Naoi said before now that I think about it¡¯ ¡®Like birds that migrate in the winter or ants that take care of trees, they might not know why they do what they do. To them, it¡¯s simple actions they inherited from their ancestors but if they didn¡¯t do them, they would perish and such is the morality of Sapiens¡¯ ¡®Speaking of where is Naoi? He has been gone for a while now.¡¯ Just as Saiko was having that thought Naoi suddenly appeared in the car with half of his body phasing through the floor of the car. -turn right there is someone I want you to meet- The Firey entity announces making Ken jump from surprise and almost crash the car. ~AH, my dude you nearly gave me a heart attack you need to stop doing that~ -turn right ¨C Naoi repeats himself. ~fine, fine~ -pffft, I guess the ghost is back ¨C Daxia Says with amusement. It¡¯s not every day that she sees Ken freaked out. The lyrebird which was resting on Ken¡¯s head was thrown off and hit the roof of the car when Ken jumped making it go angry and attack Ken pecking at his head repeatedly. ~what the? Why are you hitting me ~ The lyrebird stops its assault for a moment to speak. - I am not. The lyrebird is doing that all on its own ¨C Saiko chuckles quietly at the lively scene and uses Argus to form a cage around the bird to free Ken from its assault. _ there _ -now, turn left- Naoi exclaims and Ken does as he is told. ~who do you want us to meet anyway? ~ -a mother- Chapter 34 A mother Chapter 34 A mother Location: Kapsan hospital, Hyesan province, Kim Sungta Day: 11th of June 5027 - Yawwwn ¨C One of the guards wakes up from his sleep and yawns. He looks up at the sky and sees the moon shining down on him he then looks to his side and sees his squad mate lip-syncing and head-banging to a song. He couldn¡¯t hear the song his squad mate was listening to, as his squad mate was using a feature of the extranet that projects the sound directly into the ear canal to act as a headset without the need for one. His squad mate¡¯s rifle was left on the ground resting on the wall behind them. ¡® he still has that habit, he will get in trouble if the sergeant catches him without his weapon¡¯ The guard thinks to himself then hugs his rifle tightly before descending back into the land of dreams. Faint footsteps could be heard walking toward the two guards but neither of them could hear it. The door behind the two guards opens slowly causing the receptionist to look up from her holographic screen but she sees nothing beyond the door besides the two guards. She shrugs her shoulders blaming it on the wind and goes back to watching her favorite steamer. The invisible intruder walks inside and internally sighs at the lax security or supposedly government hospital. ¡®This country is surviving on the grace of God alone, well, at least it¡¯s working in my favor¡¯ The invisible intruder slowly makes her way through the hospital looking for the office of the general. As this hospital is run by the military of kim sungta, most workers in it are members of the army and it¡¯s run by a military rank system. All the doctors carry the rank of lieutenant or above and the general acts both as CEO of the hospital and its medical director. It takes her a while but the intruder eventually finds the general¡¯s office in the basement of the hospital of all places. Next to the office door, there is a small room with four guards inside. The four guards seemed to be playing some sort of card game with holographic cards. Each of the cards had a weird symbol on its back; the symbol started with a star in the middle surrounded by a circular maze of lines inside a rhombus shape, four oval shapes extended out of the rhombus, one out of each edge of the rhombus, the four oval shapes intersected with another bigger circle making the full symbol look like a complex magical spell. Below the weird symbol stood three females, one very young, one mature looking, and one very old. The invisible intruder stops in front of the young guards watching them play with a sorrowful look. Military service is mandatory in Kim sungta. Once you reach the age of sixteen years old and finish your primary education, you have to join the military for three years, unless you pursue higher education at which point military service is delayed until you finish your education. The sight of the young teens playing card games caused the heart of the invisible intruder to ache. The young teens were only a few years older than her own child. She silently mourned the lost childhood of her daughter and wondered if her daughter would have enjoyed playing card games as well. The invisible intruder sighs internally and firms her resolve. She uses her light magic to create the illusion of the little girl to catch the attention of the guards. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. She subconsciously makes the illusion look like what she imagines her child to look like right now. One of the young guards notices the young kid. -huh? How did you get in here little girl ¨C The intruder makes the illusion of the girl giggle and then run across the hallway. -hey Kid wait ¨C The guard shouts then runs after the little girl. -what¡¯s wrong with you all of a sudden?- One of his squad mates asks in confusion. - there is a little girl here, I think she might be lost or something ¨C The rest of the guards get up to check on their mate and another one of them asks. -well, did you find her? ¨C -no, she disappeared I don¡¯t know where she went - Click - are you sure you were not imagining it? How would a child get here? ¨C One of his mates asks with a chuckle. - I am telling you I saw her ¨C Clack Because of their confusion, none of the guards noticed the faint clicking sound of the office door opening and closing behind them as the intruder makes her way inside the office. The office was very simple and it had almost no electronics at all. The military of Kim sungta had adopted a minimalistic or perhaps even primitive approach when it came to their organization or intelligence work. The reason for that was to avoid the world government; since they could never match the world government in terms of technology, they decided not to play that game in the first place. After all, no matter how advanced the world government is, they can¡¯t hack a carrier pigeon and they can¡¯t hack a device if it¡¯s not there. But that comes with its own downsides, especially in terms of efficiency, evidenced by the mountain of papers on the general¡¯s desk and filling every inch of his cupboard. ¡®this is going to take a while ¡® The intruder dispels her invisibility to conserve her mana. She knows she doesn¡¯t have to worry about cameras since they could also be hacked. The invisibility spell slowly deactivates revealing a slender woman in her early thirties. Her body was abnormally thin showing that she hadn¡¯t been eating well. Her muscles were toned and defined but not pronounced, after all, her body wasn¡¯t one crafted by rigorous training and careful nutrition like that of an athlete, her body was one molded by the harsh reality of her situation, one that was forced to be strong out of necessity not out of convenience or desire. Her long straight black hair seamlessly blended with her black shirt and pants and her black leather jacket. Her face looked tired, depressed, and lonely, which contrasted with her narrow, focused, and determined eyes. Leather belts crisscrossed over her shirt and below her jacket and from each of them hung a spell pistol hidden by her leather jacket. The lonely mother walked to the general¡¯s desk and began looking through his papers. It takes her a while but she eventually finds a file with the name ¡°Lavi¡± written on it causing her face to light up for what seems to be the first time in a long long time. ¡®my child¡¯ The mother hurriedly opens the file and using her light magic begins to create a holographic copy of it. -Good evening, Sir ¨C -Good evening, Sir ¨C -Good evening, Sir ¨C -Good evening, Sir - the mother hears the four guards shout in unison from beyond the door and hurries up her copying process. -Good evening, boys ¨C The mother flips through the pages quicker as she hears footsteps approaching the door. The door knop begins to rattle as the mother quickly flips through the final pages of the file as fast as she can. The general opens the door with a smile to find his office empty but his files are in a different position than how he left them and the cover to his air vent is removed. He immediately rushes to ring the alarm bells and shouts. - seal the vents and close all the exits we have an intruder ¨C -yes, sir ¨C the guards quickly run to follow his orders. The invisible mother rushes out of the office planning to use the chaos she caused by faking a vent intruder to hide her actual escape route. Unlike the inexperienced guards, the general is able to pick up on the sound of additional footsteps with seemingly no source and reaches out toward the mother as she runs past him grabbing her arm. - invisibility spell ¨C The mother is shocked for a moment not expecting to be caught but immediately turns around and kicks the general in the face making him let go of her before continuing to run away. The general groans holding his face where he was kicked then shouts as loud as he can. -invisibility spell- The guards that hear him shout the same before taking out goggles from their vests and putting them on. -invisibility spell- -invisibility spell- -invisibility spell- One after another shouts then puts on their goggles and in a matter of seconds, everyone in the building is wearing the goggles that let them see through invisibility. -sh*t ¨C -STAND STILL, DON¡¯T MOVE- -STAND STILL, DON¡¯T MOVE- -STAND STILL, DON¡¯T MOVE- -STAND STILL, DON¡¯T MOVE- The mother curses as multiple soldiers quickly shout at her while surrounding her and pointing their rifles at her. - don¡¯t arrest her you idiots, shoot her - The soldiers hesitate and some of them look at each other. Although they trained on what to do many times, these young and inexperienced soldiers never killed anyone before and they weren¡¯t ready to start killing now. Since Kim sungta is very peaceful most soldiers can spend their entire service time without having ever shot anyone let alone arrested one. That is especially true for a rural province like Hyesan and especially more so in a hospital. None of them expected to have to kill someone or was prepared for it. -What are you waiting for you idiots? SHOOT HER ¨C As the young teens struggle with the decision, a beam of white light descends on them from the top right as though it came from heaven to alleviate them from having to make that hard choice. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR The loud thunder like roar and powerful shockwave arrive a mere moment after the white light, turning what looked heavenly into a hellish scene. The powerful shockwave blows away the guards sending them flying. Bits of charred rubble from the walls of the basement fly away A trail of molten lava and charred ground is left in the path of the light that leads from the basement all the way to the surface. The mother looks up the trail of lava to see a blonde guy dressed in all black holding a vicious demonic skull with its mouth open and two girls standing next to him. Chapter 35 Secrets of the evil eyes(1) Chapter 35 Secrets of the evil eyes(1) Location: Kapsan hospital, Hyesan province, Kim Sungta A few minutes ago A car stops some yards away from the hospital. Ken gets out of the car followed by Daxia and Saiko. ~ a hospital? Is the one you wanted us to meet sick or something? ~ Ken asks while glancing at the fiery entity floating next to him. -no, however, she is in the hospital to steal some files, also, she uses invisibility magic a lot, so it might be tricky for you to find her- _well, Daxia can probably see her, so it¡¯s fine _ Saiko says with a smile as she sets the lyrebird free. The lyrebird flies and sits on top of Ken¡¯s head. ~ why does it like to sit on my head so much? also, no, Daxia probably can¡¯t see her, she probably could if she was outside but she probably can¡¯t see her inside the hospital.~ Saiko looks at Ken with surprise. _why? Her eyes seemed to be able to see almost anything _ ~well, think about it, when light reflects from an object and falls on our eyes, we are able to see that object, and different light waves can pass through and get reflected by different objects, for example, X rays can travel through skin and gets reflected by bones that¡¯s why we can use it to see bones~ _okay? _ Saiko raises an eyebrow at Ken unsure of how that¡¯s related to the question but expects him to explain. ~well, Daxia¡¯s eyes work in the same way, she just can see a much wider range of light waves, she can see pretty much all of them, but the mechanism remains the same, so if I place a piece of wood between Daxia and me, she would have to tune her eyes to the X ray light waves to be able to see past the wood but those light rays would also pass through my skin and she would see only my bones, in this case, she would be able to know someone is there but not who they are, now what if instead of the wood, we placed a metal wall between us?~ Ken says as he points at the metal walls of the hospital. Saiko¡¯s eyebrows rise up as she figures out the issue. _She won¡¯t be able to see anyone, since the light waves that pass through the metal would also pass through even the bones _ Ken smiles at her with a hint of satisfaction and pride. During their time together, Saiko has been slowly absorbing a lot of knowledge from Ken. She has a child like curiosity toward the world and has been slowly getting better and faster at picking up information. ¡®maybe that¡¯s because she didn¡¯t get to experience most of her actual childhood but let¡¯s not think about that¡¯ Daxia looks at Ken with shock. She didn¡¯t expect him to figure out the weakness of her eyes, after all, that weakness is one of the most guarded secrets of the Xia family and she is certain none of her family members would leak it. But her shock only lasts for a moment, as she remembers who she is dealing with. She realizes Ken was probably able to figure it out on his own and didn¡¯t need anyone to leak the information to him, she realizes how arrogant she was to try and hunt him down when he became a wanted criminal. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. She truly would have died if it wasn¡¯t for Saiko. ¡®What a terrifying intelligence¡¯ Although Saiko has terrifying power and magic, Ken is arguably more terrifying albeit in a very different way. ¡®but I can¡¯t lose to the two of them¡¯ Daxia looks at her two companions with a confident gaze. -it¡¯s true that I can¡¯t see her but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t find her- Now it was Ken¡¯s turn to be surprised. ~oh! How? ~ Daxia smiles taking joy in his surprise. - I am not going to tell you. I don¡¯t know how long it will take you to figure it out but I want to enjoy it while I can ¨C Daxia glances at the invisible dokkaebi and sends her intentions to him using the link between them. The dokkaebi chuckles then runs inside the hospital and shares his vision with her. Ken looks at Daxia confused and extremely curious but she ignores him. Saiko thinks for a moment then asks. _ I have a question, if Daxia can see all waves of light why can¡¯t she see Noai? _ Daxia slumps her head down in defeat. -that¡¯s what I want to know- She then hears a voice she heard once before. That mysterious voice that seems to come from nowhere. -I can answer that.- The fiery entity speaks. -I am invisible by nature, I have to make myself visible to be seen and I usually do that by projecting my image inside the minds of people I wish to let see me, however, my default nature is to be invisible, to try to see me is like trying to see air, although that¡¯s not the most accurate example since you can see air in certain conditions but it¡¯s the closest I can give you ¨C Daxia looks toward the empty air pleads. -then can you please let me see you? ¨C -Although I can, my answer is no ¨C Daxia looks shocked and hurt. -but why? ¨C -you have to earn it.- -what? I can understand if you said Saiko earned it but how did he earn it and I didn¡¯t? ¨C Daxia shouts as she points at Ken. ~I mean she does have a point there ~ _How are you so shameless? _ Ken says with a shrug causing Saiko to ask while shaking her head. -you are mistaken children, I am not making a moral comparison, Ken and Saiko have no way to see me so there is no point in making them earn it, but you Daxia are different, although you have no way to see me directly either you can see me indirectly thanks to your eyes, do not think that you have learned everything there is to learn about your eyes, that¡¯s why I want you to earn it, I want you to figure out how to see me on your own ¨C Daxia goes wide eyed with surprise at what Naoi said but she can¡¯t remain surprised for long as the dokkaebi finds the woman they are looking for in the office of the general. -I found her- ~you did? How? We were talking?~ Ken asks with surprise but Daxia ignores him. Usually, she would have enjoyed his confusion but right now her own mind is a mess because of what Noai told her. The dokkaebi hears the soldiers saluting the general and shares it with Daxia. -also, she is about to get caught ¨C ~can¡¯t you just bring her to us with the dokkaebi mask?~ -it¡¯s not teleportation it¡¯s very fast movement so she would get flattened against the wall- ~I call bs, that would mean it moves objects at speeds close to the speed of light if not faster, yet I don¡¯t see them blowing to bits let alone that it breaks the laws of physics~ Ken stands up straight and raises one finger imitating Noai then says in unison with the fiery entity. -the laws of the universe are unbendable unchangeable ¨C ~the laws of the universe are unbendable unchangeable, yeah, I know, you don¡¯t have to tell me every time~ _pffft _ Saiko holds in her laughter as Noai raises an eyebrow at Ken. Ken stops to think for a moment. ~hmmmm, it moves faster than light but doesn¡¯t break the laws of physics~ WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH The sound of alarm rings loudly from the hospital behind the trio. -I don¡¯t think you have time to figure that out now, we need to act quickly ¨C Daxia exclaims. ~fine, I will leave it for now, you just need a straight path from us to her right ~ -yeah ¨C ~great, follow me~ Ken says with a smile and walks to the side of the hospital. He grabs the demon skull hanging from his side and points it at the hospital. The demon skull opens its mouth revealing the plasma core inside and begins to shriek loudly. SHRIEEEEEEK Saiko stands in front of the skull. _what are you doing? That thing can vaporize the people inside _ Ken scowls then sighs in annoyance. ~if you know that don¡¯t try to block it with your body suicidal idiot, besides, I wouldn¡¯t risk killing the one we are trying to save, Daxia will help me aim it so no one gets hurt.~ _oh! Okay _ Ken sighs more. ~now, can you move away from the deadly weapon ~ Saiko looks a bit ashamed and walks away from the skull. _ right, my bad, I guess I should start trusting you more_ ~no, I wouldn¡¯t trust me either, that¡¯s not what I was mad about, I am just mad that you don¡¯t care about your own safety~ _ I care about my safety! _ ~shut up, Daxia, tell me where to aim ~ Ken sighs again then aims the demon skull with Daxia¡¯s help. SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK The shrieking of the demon skull gets louder and louder as the plasma core spins faster. And then it suddenly stops. Saiko and Daxia wait with a mix of anticipation and fright whiling at the ominous demonic skull. . . . Blinding white light devours the vision of the two girls. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR The silence breaks as suddenly as began, as a thunder like roar shakes the ground and the brilliant white light vaporizes everything in its path metal and rock alike. It only lasts a moment then the white light disappears revealing a hellish scene. Burnt bruised and bleeding bodies of young soldiers are scattered on the black charred remains of what used to be the basement of the hospital a moment ago. The smell of burnt flesh quickly rises in the air followed by the smell of blood as the blood of the young soldiers leaves their bodies and immediately starts boiling as soon as it touches the ground. Saiko¡¯s eyes grow wide with horror. Chapter 36 Fox bead Chapter 36 Fox bead Saiko goes wide eyed with horror at the scene in front of her and quickly raises her arms flooding the hospital basement to cool down the ground. Ken observes very carefully as Daxia uses the dokkaebi mask to pull the mother out of the basement. It only lasts a fraction of a second but reality seems to take a glitch like pattern with parts of the mother being visible and other parts invisible before the mother is completely yanked out of the invisibility spell and brought to the trio. Ken smiles confidently to himself. ~ I figure it out ~ Daxia looks at him with a look of disbelief. ¡®how?¡¯ -who are you?- The mother looks at three people around her with confusion. ~we will explain later, ma¡¯am~ Ken turns to look at Saiko who is flooding the hospital with water. ~for now, we need to go~ _ I am not going to leave them like this and leave _ ~you already did what you can, your magic can¡¯t treat them, besid- _SHUT UP_ Saiko shouts cutting him off _ THIS IS YOUR MESS _ Ken flinches from the sudden anger. Daxia quickly steps forward. - Saiko, you shouldn¡¯t be angry at him, I am the one who told him where to aim remember, they were about to shoot her, this was the only way- Daxia explains while pointing at the mother. Saiko lets out a short sigh. _doesn¡¯t change anything, I am still not going to leave them like this _ -you can use the fox bead- _huh?_ Saiko turns toward the floating Firey entity. -the fox bead can absorb and give away life, it will not heal them but it will ensure they live and make a full recovery in the future but it will greatly reduce your own life, you would likely die within the next five years if you do it- Saiko takes out the fox bead from her pocket. _ are you talking about the thing you made us pick in the warehouse? I don¡¯t know how to use that _ BOOM BOOOOM BOOM Explosions could be heard from inside the flooded basement as the remaining soldiers try to fight with the water flooding the basement and blocking their path but no one pays them any attention. Naoi raises an eyebrow at Saiko then snaps his fingers, then as though to answer his call, the book of knowledge which was hanging from a belt wrapped around Saiko¡¯s waist, starts to float up in front of Saiko. _right, my bad _ Saiko looks at the Book of Knowledge and asks. _ How can I use the fox bead? _ The pages of the book flip open and letters made of golden light begin to form on the empty page. ~NO no no~ Ken quickly steps between Saiko and the floating book ~ you are not about to give your life for some random soldiers who may I remind you, would definitely try to kill you or do you not hear the explosions coming from there ~ Ken then turns and points at Noai. ~and you, if you had a way to heal people why didn¡¯t you bring it up before we could have used that to treat Saiko from the lightening ~ -she wouldn¡¯t have taken the life of another to heal herself, so there was no point in bringing it up ¨C The Firey entity responds nonchalantly like the answer is obvious which only fuels Ken¡¯s anger more. The mother watches Ken and Saiko seemingly arguing with nothing and wonders what sort of crazy group she ran into. She notices their third member a girl with a mask that resembles the mouth of a monster is also watching them like her, so she leans toward the girl and asks. -are these two okay? ¨C Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. -pffft, nah they are talking to an invisible creature made of fire that¡¯s thousands of years old ¨C -Raaaiiiight ¨C The mother backs away slowly thinking this one is also crazy. She turns her attention to the other two. The conversation between them seems to have died down as they are just staring at each other now. Saiko stares at Ken unwaveringly as the sounds of gunshots and explosions echo behind them coming from the basement of the hospital. A few moments pass as they stare at each other but Ken knows time isn¡¯t on his side. While it¡¯s true the soldiers stationed inside the hospital probably don¡¯t have enough fire power to deal with Saiko¡¯s magic, they probably already called for backup from other units who are likely to be on their way to the hospital right now. Ken eventually gives up and messes his own hair in frustration as he doesn¡¯t want this to turn into a bigger fight. ~Ahhhh fine but you didn¡¯t hear the end of this~ Saiko smiles at him gently. _ don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t die right away _ Saiko starts reading from the Book of knowledge, she then lifts fox bead up and it starts to float in the air. A moment later, Saiko¡¯s body begins to float in the air as if following behind the bead. Her face begins to twist from immense pain and she looks like she is trying to scream but no sound comes out, instead, a faint blue light starts to come out of her body and enter the fox bead. Groans. Daxia groans from pain as she blocks her eyes and looks away but no one paid her attention as their eyes were fixated on Saiko. The golden light that usually surrounds Saiko was growing in intensity at a very rapid pace and it was very quickly becoming painful to look at. unlike her, Noai was able to watch the growing light without issues and he watched it with a hint of pride and satisfaction. ¡®Divine favor, what a hard thing to accumulate.¡¯ But the light soon became too strong for him as well. ¡®that¡¯s more than I expected¡¯ Groans. Daxia then heard more groans that were not her own. She wanted to look at the source of the groans but the light was so bright she couldn¡¯t open her eyes. It was as though a second sun had descended on them. But what Daxia didn¡¯t know was that she was not the only one who was able to see that sun. The golden light had gotten so bright that it became visible to the naked eye. -huh? What is that?- -Is that dawn?- -How would it be dawn you idiot the sun doesn¡¯t rise from the north. ¨C -Honey, what time is it right now?- -it¡¯s so bright- That night people all over Kim Sungta and the surrounding nations from the world government saw a beautiful dawn in the middle of the night, that dyed their skies with a brilliant golden color instead of the usual red. Later, the people of Kim Sungta would tell stories about that night. About the invisible demon who attacked the hospital and brought with him hellish fire and evil waters, and about the Vaillant soldiers who fought her. They would sing about the bravery of the soldiers and how their bravery touched the heart of an angel and made the angel descend to Earth surrounded by golden light. They would sing about how the angel blessed the soldiers with life, and how even though many of them had fatal injuries, life seemingly refused to leave them. Not only were they able to make a full recovery, but from that day forward they became able to shrug off fatal injuries as though no matter how damaged their bodies got, the angel of death simply refused to take their souls. From that day onward, that night became known as The Night of Divine Blessing. ******************************************************* Location: Strike Team 1 base, world capital, central nation. Day: the 12th of June 5027 Claus stands in the middle of the training grounds of the strike team base wearing nothing but grey sweatpants and his watch which lets him connect with the teleportation pillar¡¯s network. Davis, Zeva, Tubal Cain, and the monk stood in a circle around Claus. They all had on light flexible clothes suitable for training except for Tubal Cain who had on a full suit of metal armor. The silence lasted between them for a few long seconds before it was broken by Claus. -come- All four strike team members lunged at Claus from all directions. The first to reach him was the monk who used his wind magic to boost his speed and immediately delivered a powerful spin kick toward Claus. Claus takes a step away from the monk moving out of the kick¡¯s range but unlike the fight with Daxia the monk had expected it. The monk continues his spin and with a second kick and a powerful gust of wind propelling him, chases after Claus but instead of Claus, his leg hits a padded large metal cube that dropped from a portal between Him and Claus. Zeva quickly makes use of the blind spot created by the cube and runs into the cube phasing through it and coming out of the other side delivering a stab at Claus¡¯s head but a portal appears in front of the katana swallowing it and releasing it in front of Davis who was aiming for Claus¡¯s back stopping him. - you need to be faster, if I can react to it, the Xia girl definitely can as well ¨C Claus opens two portals below Davis and Zeva. The two portals swallow the two strike team members and throw them in the path of the incoming monk causing the three to collide and fall. Claus then opens a third portal below himself and falls through it as the armored giant that is Tubal Cain runs through where Claus was standing a moment ago and crashes into the metal cube denting it and causing its padding to rupture. Claus falls out of a portal behind Tubal Cain and then delivers two powerful punches followed by a straight kick toward the empty air. Small portals appear in front of Claus swallowing his punches and kick and releasing them inside the armored giant¡¯s helmet causing him to fall. A blue holographic screen appears in front of Claus showing Sophia in her lab. -sorry to disrupt your training but I believe you need to see this ¨C Tubal Cain raises his arm while lying on the floor and comments. - I believe the correct term for this is a beat down- Claus raises an eyebrow at him but decides to ignore his comment. -sure, show me ¨C The holographic screen enlarges and shifts to show what seems to be satellite footage of a massive golden ball of light illuminating the night sky of Kim Sungta. The other members get up one by one and stand behind Claus. -Is that an explosion of some sort?- -no, if it was, we would see a lot of destruction it seems to be just light- The monk asks and Davis responds to him. -this light appeared in Kim Sungta last night and the culprit ¨C Sophia comments as she makes the satellite footage zoom in greatly at the center of the ball of light until the silhouette of a person begins to appear. The light is too strong to be able to see any details but Sophia makes the screen display a comparison between the silhouette in the footage and Saiko and reveals they are a perfect match. Claus observes the ball of light intently trying to figure out what it could be and as he does, he can¡¯t help but recall the words of the director. ¡®The longer they have the book the more dangerous they will become¡¯ ¡®it¡¯s only a matter of time before they figure out what questions to ask of the book¡¯ ¡®This is the greatest threat to harmony¡¯ Claus turns to Sophia and asks. -are the modifications for Ariel finished? ¨C -yes, and I am sure you will like them greatly ¨C Sophia responds with a smile. - what are the conditions of Jorden and Zim? ¨C - Zim is slowly getting used to his new vocal cords and should be able to use magic with them soon, as for Jorden his physical rehabilitation ended about two months ago and he is currently on a specialized training course to bring him back to the standard level of fitness for the strike team ¨C -good, I think it¡¯s about time we have a reunion with our favorite group of thieves ¨C Claus¡¯s lips curl up into a smile with a hint of excitement. Chapter 37 Unworthy Chapter 37 Unworthy _cough, cough, who would have thought getting your life sucked out of you would be so painful _ Saiko says then chuckles weakly. After using the fox bead, she felt extremely weak and had to be carried by Ken and Daxia. They then traveled to the mother¡¯s hideout, a cabin in the woods at the edge of Hyesan province, and laid Saiko down on a bed in one of the rooms. -Saiko, you- The moment Daxia was about to say something¡­ BAM! The sound of a fist slamming against the wooden wall of the cabin attracts Saiko¡¯s attention. She looks down and flinches. Normally, she would expect Ken to start screaming and hurling insults at her, which she was ready for, but instead, he is staring at her unblinkingly with a furious and desperate gaze. Ken lifted his hand and using his aetheric magic made the book float to his hand, then without saying a word left the room. BAM! The door slammed behind him. Saiko felt apologetic toward Ken but didn¡¯t know how to soothe his anger. This is her first time seeing him like this. The invisible Noai follows after Ken, passing through the closed door like a ghost. -Ahm, change of subject who are you? And what do you want from me? ¨C The mother asks with a mix of curiosity and confusion. -I assume you don¡¯t want to hurt me, since you saved me, so what do you want from me? ¨C Daxia shrugs her shoulders. -well, we don¡¯t really know you either, we are here because the invisible Firey ghost asked us to meet you ¨C The mother looks annoyed. -this again? I don¡¯t have time for jokes- _ I know it¡¯s hard to believe but it¡¯s the truth, she is not joking, the only thing he told us is you are a mother _ The mother raises an eyebrow at Saiko looking even more confused now. -your ghost is not wrong but my daughter was kidnapped a long time ago. - Daxia and Saiko look at the mother in surprise then look at each other realizing why Naoi wanted them to meet her. Saiko turns to look at the mother. _ma¡¯am _ -you can call me Celine ¨C _alright, Celine can you please tell us your story and where your kid is right now _ Celine uses her light magic to conjure the holographic copy she made of the file. -well, I don¡¯t know where my daughter is right now, but hopefully, the answer is in this file as for my story, well- Celine stares off into the distance with a longing gaze and begins to reminisce about her past as memories begin to play in her mind. -I believe the misfortune began with the man I fell in love with- She sees herself in her wedding dress being embraced by a handsome man with dark hair and a strong build. She looked much healthier and was very happy with love being the only thing in her eyes. -Sean was a very good man but unfortunately, he was a light mage like me, light mages are very rare you know so imagine how rare it is for two of them to get married. - If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She sees herself lying on a bed while pregnant with Sean taking care of her. -but then a miracle happened, we expected our daughter to be born a lightning mage or if we were lucky a light mage like us but instead she was born with the mythical life magic. ¨C She recalls her little child. A cute young girl with black hair like her parents and black eyes that glowed with very faint barely noticeable blue light from her life magic leaking out. She recalls how her child would animate her dolls bringing them to life and playing with them. -you would think something like that would be something to celebrate and for a while we did but once word about my daughter¡¯s magic began to spread around, the government came knocking on our door.- She recalls how a unit from the royal guards of Kim Sungta that usually only protects the king came to their home demanding to take their daughter. -Sean was always hot headed and rather aggressive and light magic is not the best magic for combat in the first place.- She recalls how Sean fought with the guards. It wasn¡¯t a long fight nor an epic one, in fact, it ended rather quickly, all it took was one shot. BANG! -they blew a hole through his chest with a lava bullet. ¨C She chuckles to herself but it sounded like a sad mocking chuckle. -and then they had the nerve to try and apologize to me and claim it was an accident but of course, their apology didn¡¯t stop them from taking my daughter, Lavie, from me- She recalls the image of her daughter crying while the guards took her away and her husband lay dying in front of her. She recalls how terrified she was. She wanted to stop them but she was frozen from fear, scared she would meet the same fate as Sean. -after that, I tried for many years to get my daughter back through, let¡¯s say, conventional means, I tried to ask at many government facilities, but they either said they didn¡¯t know about my daughter or refused to tell me anything, I even tried to make a request to the king but they wouldn¡¯t even let me meet my daughter- Celine can¡¯t help but laugh at the helplessness of her former self. -at least, to their credit, they didn¡¯t try to kill me while I was trying the conventional methods but eventually, I grew tired of them, I wanted my daughter back, and I realized that Sean was correct that day, conversation was never an option, so here I am now, trying to find my daughter using unconventional methods, but of course now they are trying to kill me because of that- Daxia looks at Celine with a solemn look while Saiko looks at the ceiling feeling a little jealous of Lavie for having such a mother. She wonders to herself, would her mom have tried to save her like Celine, if she wasn¡¯t killed by her decay magic? At least, I had you, old man¡¯ Saiko¡¯s lips curl up slightly into a smile as the image of the cheerful old priest flashes in her mind. She turns to look at Celine. _ I think we have a lot to talk about and you will be happy to know that our goal is to save your daughter as well _ ****** In a different room in the cabin. Ken sits on the floor in a cross legged position. He stares at the book of knowledge in front of him while fidgeting with the fox bead in his left hand. ~what is life? ~ The book doesn¡¯t react. ~how can you give someone life? ~ The book doesn¡¯t react. Ken¡¯s frustration slowly rises. He has been trying to make the book tell him anything about life but the book refuses to tell him anything. ~how does the fox bead work? ~ No reaction. ~who made the fox bead? ~ No reaction. His frustration turns into anger. ~ TELL ME ANYTHING ~ No reaction. ~WHY WON¡¯T YOU ANSWER ME?~ Ken shouts at the book and finally gets an answer but not from the book. -because you are unworthy- Ken turns to face the fiery entity behind him. - and this time, unlike with Daxia, I am making a moral judgment ¨C ~why am I unworthy? I am not asking for something for myself, I want it for someone else ~ The fiery entity nods his head at Ken. - indeed, love is a very admirable emotion, however, ultimately, it¡¯s still a selfish one ¨C ~How can it be selfish when I am doing it for someone else?~ Ken shouts at the fiery entity from his frustration. -to illustrate my point, let me ask you, if the Book of Knowledge answered your questions, from where were you planning to steal the life you wished to give to Saiko? ¨C Ken flinches at Naoi¡¯s question and doesn¡¯t answer him. -what you lack child is not love but empathy, much like how Saiko is the object of your love, the random people you were planning to steal the life of are the object of the love of other people, meaning you were planning to inflict the pain you are feeling on many others ¨C Ken averts his eyes from Noai. -this is why the Book of Knowledge will never answer ¨C Ken turns to look at Naoi looking desperate. ~what do you want me to do? I don¡¯t even know what¡¯s wrong with her, the readings from Argus show there is nothing physically wrong with her body, I don¡¯t know what the fox bead took from her, I don¡¯t know what life is. ~ The fiery entity moves closer to Ken. -as I said, you need to develop your empathy only then would you be worthy ¨C The fiery entity pauses to debate with himself for a moment. He looks at Ken¡¯s desperate state and lets out a short sigh. -haaa, although, the Book of Knowledge won¡¯t answer you nor should it, since you are my student I will give you a small hint- Ken¡¯s eyes light up and he looks up at Noai. -it¡¯s only a hint so don¡¯t get your hopes up, whether it would lead you to anything is up to you, now listen carefully, you are confusing the process of necrosis with the end of life- ~huh?~ Ken looks at the fiery entity with confusion. -let me give you an analogy, observe a single living cell, at the ends of the DNA of a cell exists something called telomeres, every time the cell divides it consumes some of the telomeres until it consumes all of it and can¡¯t divide anymore, in that sense you can say that the telomeres represent the life span of the cell and when it ends the cell dies, which is a process that is different from lets say if I were to poison the cell or damage it in any way causing its death- Naoi makes holographic projections to show Ken. - in the first example, there is nothing wrong with the cell, its life simply ended that¡¯s how it¡¯s meant to work, how it was programmed if you will, such is life, it¡¯s what animates the body and if you run out it you die ¨C Ken is about to shout that this didn¡¯t help him at all but then he stops and closes his eyes to think. ~hmmm ~ The fiery entity smiles at the insolent child and then flies away. Chapter 38 A Hunt for life Chapter 38 A Hunt for life Location: Celine¡¯s cabin Day: 12th of June 5027 Gentle strands of sunlight descend on the cabin and the dark forest surrounding it, signaling a new dawn''s arrival. The lights in the cabin are all turned off except for one, as most of its inhabitants needed a long rest after the events of the previous day. In one of the pitch black rooms of the cabin, a small blue holographic window appears. The blue window casts a subtle radiance that delicately illuminates a small portion of the room revealing the sleeping figure of Daxia below it. The tender blue glow of the screen illuminates the outline of her soft features as she sleeps peacefully. None would be able to believe she is the same merciless bounty hunter, who always hides behind a monstrous mask that covers all of her features except for her dread inducing yellow eyes. RIIIIIIIIIIIIING! SWISH The blue window starts to ring causing Daxia to smash it with a pillow. The blue window disintegrates as the pillow passes through it only to reform again. RIIIIIIIIIING! Daxia sluggishly moves her arm in an arc. The moment her arm pointed at the blue window, a thin metal needle flew out of her hand and pierced the blue window before getting stuck in the ceiling above it. Only God knows where she had that needle hidden and when she pulled it out. The blue window disintegrates once again but it soon reforms again, as though it was as stubborn as the one who sent it. RIIIIING! Daxia sluggishly sits up feeling groggy and extends her arm toward the blue window then accepts the call. -what do you want? ¨C The blue window morphs to display a tired looking Ken with eyebags under his eyebags. -did you not sleep? ¨C Ken ignores her second question. ~I need your help with something, come to my room ~ -dude, it¡¯s seven am and we went to sleep at four- ~you only need two and a half hours of sleep to be able to function so long as you make up for the lost sleep later, and you can sleep in the car later ~ Daxia scowls in annoyance. Ken was never the understanding type, so she is not surprised he woke her up, but just because is not surprised by it, doesn¡¯t mean she is okay with it. Daxia is about to open her mouth to protest, but Ken cuts her off before she can. ~if you help me, I will tell you how your mask works~ Ken was able to read Daxia¡¯s intentions from her facial expression, so he decided to give her an offer she couldn¡¯t refuse. ~and I will tell you about a different way you can use the mask~ Daxia was still mad at Ken but she couldn¡¯t hide the fact that her interest was piqued; a fact that Ken did not miss. His lips curl up into a proud smile, while she scowls more, as they both inwardly acknowledge that he won again. -fine, I am coming ¨C Unlike the animals they are named after, Therians from the cat tribe are not fully nocturnal, however, they are still very alert at night. From the moment the blue window had appeared, Saiko had woken up and was able to listen to the conversation between the two bounty hunters, despite being in a different room, thanks to her heightened hearing. _haaaa _ She lets out a short sigh. Her mind was drifting between torrents caused by battling emotions. She doesn¡¯t regret sacrificing her life to save the soldiers, in fact, her heart is full of pride that she managed to do so. But she feels sorry for the pain she caused friends, especially Ken, who seems to be much more upset over it than Rin and Daxia. But even still she would never miss an opportunity to the right thing, and there is no doubt in her mind that this was the right thing to do. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Memories of her days with the old man play in her mind like a beautiful vivid dream. The old man used to bring food to many of the animals of the forest and in a way manage the ecosystem of the forest and which of the animals ate what. Saiko didn¡¯t really understand why the old man did that but she didn¡¯t question it. To her, it was just another thing the old man did out of kindness, but she really hated it when he brought food for the black bear family. The day when the mother bear had attacked them and the old priest was injured was still vivid in her memory and she hadn¡¯t made peace with it. ¡®do you have to feed that one too?¡¯ Little Saiko asked the priest one day. ¡®hm?¡¯ The old priest turned toward Saiko and noticed how upset she was. He smiled gently and then patted the little cat¡¯s head. ¡®well, I don¡¯t have to but I want to¡¯ Saiko looks at the old priest looking dumbfounded. ¡®huh? I understand if you don¡¯t want to hurt it, but why would you want to help it? Can we not at least leave it alone?¡¯ The old priest chuckles quietly. ¡®Well, again we can, there is nothing forcing me to do so, but I want to¡¯ The old priest sat on the floor of the cave of the black bear family and faced little Saiko with a smile as the three bears ate their food behind him. ¡®Do you know little Saiko, God doesn¡¯t need us to do, well anything really, if I didn¡¯t feed them and they were fated to eat then the food would have reached them one way or another, be it by them hunting, or by someone else bringing them food, or even by an animal simply dying in front of their cave¡¯ One of the bear cups who had finished eating, came and brushed against the old priest interrupting him. The old priest smiled then picked the bear cup up and placed it on his lap. ¡®Oh boy, you are one heavy puppy¡¯ The old man pets the bear cup then looks at Saiko and continues. ¡®When we do good deeds, it¡¯s a blessing and an honor for us my child, after all, those good deeds if they are fated to happen, could¡¯ve been done by someone else or by no one at all, the fact that we have enough food to feed ourselves and others is a great blessing and opportunity, it means God gave us an opportunity to do something good and we must never miss that opportunity, after all, we might not get another opportunity to do something good again¡¯ It was then the mother bear''s turn to interrupt the conversation. It came and started nuzzling the priest¡¯s face after it had finished eating as well. The force of the large bear almost made the priest fall but he quickly supported his body with one arm while using his other arm to stroke the mother bear¡¯s neck. ¡®God, I am too old to be playing with bears¡¯ He laughed then turned back to Saiko. ¡®Also, little Saiko by doing this, I am teaching the animals that we are not food but food sources, which would prevent them from attacking you or your siblings when you play in the forest¡¯ The second bear cup finished eating and went to Saiko then placed Its paw on her foot. Little Saiko looked down at it, then looked at the old man who was looking at her while smiling and playing with the mother bear and the other cup, then she hesitantly bent down and started petting the second cup. The bear cup brushed his head against her hand making her hand land on its neck, as though to ask her to stroke its neck like the old priest is doing its mother. Little Saiko smiled slightly and stroked the little cup¡¯s neck. **** Daxia walks into Ken¡¯s room and sees him sitting in a cross legged position on his bed surrounded by multiple holographic screens and one of the screens shows Rin on it. ¡®Looks like he dragged Rin into this too¡¯ She observes the other screens one by one. Some seem to have different vital readings on Saiko¡¯s health likely provided by Argus. Others seem to have different research papers displayed on them, while the last few seem to display ancient historical texts. One screen in particular grabbed Daxia¡¯s attention. It had a picture of a statue of a young boy in his teens wearing a large crown that was at least a third of the boy¡¯s size. The title of the page was ¡° the god of life Amon¡± -I thought you didn¡¯t believe in gods and things like that? ¨C ~I don¡¯t, but according to Naoi, the gods were Sapiens who excelled in their field, and I wouldn¡¯t ignore the research of very knowledgeable researchers just because they were a little crazy and claimed to be gods ~ Ken answers without shifting his eyes fully focused on his research. -well, I am here now, what do you want? ¨C Ken swipes his hand through the air and three holographic screens fly toward Daxia. One seems to be displaying a video of Saiko from when she was in Rin¡¯s shop, one is displaying a video taken from one of the cameras of the aether port of Egit when they were in it, and one showing a video of Saiko that Ken took last night after his conversation with Naoi. ~I want you to look at these three videos and tell me what changes ~ Daxia nods and then looks at the three videos. It¡¯s hard to see anything besides the golden light from how intense it is. -the golden light in the second is larger than the first, and in the third video, the golden light is much smaller than the other two but it¡¯s¡­denser like a laser, as if it had been compressed- Ken shakes his head. ~the golden light seems to be related to the Living Weapon program in some way, so it¡¯s not what are looking for, try to tune it out and look again ~ -that¡¯s still important information though, we might need it later, I don¡¯t know why none of my cameras can see that golden light- Rin adds. ~the golden light seems to be a unique case since it can become visible to the naked eye if it¡¯s strong enough, it means it¡¯s not a case of just being on a different wavelength outside of the human field of vision, but we can study that later~ Daxia nods and tunes out the golden light and looks through the wavelengths of light but is unable to find anything. - it doesn¡¯t seem like anything else changed- - told you so ¨C Rin adds after Daxia¡¯s comment. ~ are you sure? Tell me any changes no matter how small they are~ Daxia shrugs her shoulders. - as I said nothing changes at all, well except for the damage caused by the lightning strikes between the second and third video and the lights of her thoughts but those always change ¨C Ken pauses to think for a moment and places one hand under his chin. ~ are you sure all these lights are about thoughts? ~ Daxia looks at him with a confused look. -I guess? Why do you ask? ¨C ~well, it has to do with why you can see thoughts in the first place, our brains use neurotransmitters to send messages between nerve cells, and neurotransmitters are charged molecules which means they are accompanied by electromagnetic waves- Ken notices Daxia looking at him while crossing her arms and looking unamused. ~what? ~ -nothing, I am just waiting for the English translation- She retorts while shrugging her shoulders. ~ haaa~ Ken lets out a short sigh and then rephrases what he said. ~our brains use electricity; electricity is always accompanied by light which is what you see ~ Daxia nods her head. -okay but how does that change anything - ~well, the body uses electricity for many things not just thinking, observe my arm really carefully~ Daxia watches as a flashing light comes off of Ken¡¯s head then his neck then his shoulder then down his arm then Ken delivers a punch to the air. Daxia¡¯s eyes grow wide as she realizes what happened. -was that?- ~you are correct you witnessed a nerve impulse aka an order traveling from my brain to my arm to throw a punch~ Ken says while nodding his head then continues. ~ but again, those lights could be corresponding to many other things not just thoughts or movement orders, so let¡¯s work on them one by one ~ Daxia nods her head. -okay, got it - For the next few hours Ken, Rin, and Daxia worked on isolating all the lights Daxia is able to see and what they correspond to, to find out which of them if any at all corresponds to life. Chapter 39 The KHAT, the KA, and the BA Chapter 39 The KHAT, the KA, and the BA -that leaves these two ¨C Rin comments while pointing to two streams of light on a model of the sapien body he made based on what Daxia can see. In the past few hours, they were able to isolate and identify what most of the lights Daxia sees correspond to. Some lights corresponded to movement orders, some corresponded to muscle contraction be it rhythmic and automatic like the beating of the heart or the movement of the stomach and digestive system, and some others much smaller and fainter lights but more numerous corresponded to activities done inside the cells. However, there are two streams of lights they couldn¡¯t find out what they correspond to. One began below the stomach and spread throughout the body like a spider web, while the other began in the center of the chest and spread throughout the body like branches of a tree. -and the brain ¨C Daxia adds. The brain was a mess of colorful lights, it was extremely challenging to determine which of the lights corresponded to a thought, a memory, sensory information, or a different brain function such as maintaining the balance of the body. It also didn¡¯t help that each individual thought, memory, or sensory information had its own distinct sequence of lights that flashed at very high speed. Not only that but also there is a stream of light that comes out of the brain and spreads throughout the body and another stream that originates from all over the body and collects then travels to the brain. All these made it impossible to categorize anything relating to what happens inside the brain. Only after the lights exit the brain or before they enter it can they determine what they correspond to, and even then, they were only able to determine one of the lights exiting the brain that is the movement orders, and one of the lights entering the brain that being sensory information coming from the skin and sense organs like the eyes and ears. Ken points at the light stream originating from below the stomach. ~ Lucky for us we don¡¯t have to worry about the brain since we can see that the lights from this one are fainter in the third video than in the first and second videos, so this one is our prime suspect ~ Daxia crosses her arms and observes the stream of blue light. -so, is this life then? ¨C -not quite, like with everything else we discussed before, the light is just a by-product of life, not life itself - Daxia nods her head at Rin¡¯s comment. -okay, so we found life but we still don¡¯t know what it is- Ken scrolls through a list of documents. ~although I wasn¡¯t able to find something written by Amon himself, I found many documents that are from ancient Egit, originally, I dismissed them as some religious nonsense from that time period, because they spoke about souls and ghosts and whatnot ~ Ken selects a document and opens it. ~ however, unlike the typical idea of the soul and ghosts, it seems they had a much more detailed and complicated system, that divided the sapiens into nine different parts~ -nine? That¡¯s a lot of parts ¨C Ken nods his head at Daxia¡¯s comment. ~you are not wrong, that¡¯s part of why I dismissed it at first, especially when it included things such as the true name of the person and their shadow whatever they meant by those, but the nine parts could be said that they all arise from three main components~ Ken raises one finger. ~First the KHAT or the physical body of the person and its gate should exist somewhere in the mess that is the brain~ He then points to the stream of light that originates from the center of the chest. ~second is the KA or the spirit of the Sapien and its gate is in the chest and it¡¯s called JB which is described as something similar to the physical heart but different from it, so we can assume it¡¯s the source of this stream~ Ken then points to the third stream. The one that originates from below the stomach. ~and finally, the BA or the soul which nourishes both the spirit and the body, and its gate is described as being directly below the belly button ~ -I never thought I would hear you use words like soul and spirit unironically ¨C Ken shrugs his shoulder at Rin. ~I never thought I would either but considering how old these texts are, they are probably the first to discover it, so they get to call it whatever they want, besides, technically speaking, we are the ones who translated KA to spirit and BA to soul, their understanding of the soul or BA is clearly very different to our understanding of it, for example, most people nowadays uses the words spirit and soul interchangeably as though they are the same thing while it¡¯s clear that people from the time of Amon viewed them as distinct and different things ~ Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. -hold on a second- Daxia rubs her foreheads from exhaustion. Annoyance and frustration are very visible on her face. -are you trying to tell me, we spent all these hours just to conclude that the soul supplies the body with life? ¨C Rin looks at Daxia for a moment before he starts laughing. -pffft, well, I guess when you put it that way, it does sound like a waste of time ¨C Ken shakes his head trying to keep a serious tone but his lips keep trying to curl up. ~NO, no, it¡¯s more accurate to say we have found the origin of that belief, we also now know what that acutely means and we narrowed it down to a specific physical phenomenon that we can study and experiment on to find a way to replace the missing BA ~ Daxia rubs her forehead more then shakes her head in annoyance. -eh, whatever dude, just tell me how my mask works ¨C ~okay ~ -pffft- Ken keeps trying to have a serious look despite his lips almost turning into a full smile now, while Rin continues to laugh about it. ~so, about your mask, it works by bending space, that¡¯s why it can move faster than light by not doing so~ Daxia raises an eyebrow at him looking confused. - I think you stopped talking in English again - ~I will explain, I will explain ~ Ken turns away and opens a video on one of the blue holographic screens. The video shows a light beam and a car traveling on two lines from point A to B. ~ when we say nothing moves faster than light, what we acutely mean is nothing can travel in space faster than light, but you can go from point A to B faster than light in a few ways if you mess with space~ The video shows the line between point A and Point B bending to form a circle making the two points next to each other. ~ you can bend the space either partially or fully and by the way, that¡¯s how portals work, they bend the space to an extreme degree to the point that two places that are miles apart act as if they are right next to each other separated only by the portal ~ The video then shows the line between A and B returning to normal then a piece of the line that has point A on it breaks off from the line and moves up to be next to point B. ~another option and this is the one your mask uses, is to create a sort of wave in space by expanding space behind you and constricting it in front of you and ride that wave since space itself is not limited by the speed of light, you can think of it like surfing except you are surfing on space instead of water~ Ken presses on his watch causing a blue holographic screen similar to the ones created by the aether net to appear above it. ~ usually, stuff like that needs a lot of gravity and so a lot of mass but I suspect your mask uses the aether field to generate the gravity without the need for mass~ He presses a few buttons on the screen then Daxia¡¯s watch flashes a white light a few times. Daxia looks at her watch and sees she just received a file. ~ also I would like to study your mask later because I believe I should be able to do the same with my aether magic, but I will think about that after I finish studying life ~ -and how did you find that out exactly?- ~ from how your mask interacted with Celine¡¯s invisibility spell, the invisibility spell works by bending light around the user but when you used the mask on her some parts of her became visible but not all of her, it means something was causing the light to bend and hit her and since your mask doesn¡¯t affect light it means it bent the space itself that the light was traveling in ~ -and you got all that from a glance? ¨C Daxia looks at Ken both impressed and surprised. Even though he explained it, it still would take her a while to properly digest everything and yet it looked like he understood all that almost immediately when he saw her use the mask. - pffft, don¡¯t question it he is by no means normal- ~what do you mean? I am normal~ Daxia decides to ignore the two of them and focus on what she wants. -okay, how can I use that differently ¨C Ken looks at her and smiles confidently. ~ the file I prepared for you has all the information and instructions you need to be able to use the mask to move around, theoretically you can move faster than light with the mask probably don¡¯t do that though, as that could easily lead to an early grave, start with speeds you can manage ~ ***** Location: throne room of the royal palace of Kim Sungta Day: 12th of June 5027 Chief advisor Hwang Seo Jun enters the throne room with his lips curled into a wide grin. He kneels in front of the throne and starts his report with excitement. -my king the new armor is ready for use ¨C The old king raises an eyebrow at his chief advisor. He had ordered his advisor to study the fight between Saiko and the leader of the strike force team one and recreate his armor since it was able to fight against Saiko¡¯s water magic but he didn¡¯t expect to hear results so soon. - you were able to recreate this quickly ¨C The chief advisor shakes his head. - unfortunately, not my king, however by studying the fight and consulting our court magicians we were able to determine that the living weapon loses her control over water once its molecular structure changes, so we created an armor that would break down the water and separate it into the two elements oxygen and hydrogen- The old king scowls at the use of the term of the term living weapon. He always hated that term, especially so when it was used to refer to little Lavie. -didn¡¯t I tell you not to use that term, it¡¯s dehumanizing ¨C -but my king I didn¡¯t use it on a human ¨C -still don¡¯t use it ¨C The king turns to look at the head of the royal guards a bulky man in his late forties whose hair has already turned white. - I will entrust the armor to you, make sure to capture Saiko alive and avoid violence if possible - The head of the royal guards bows to the king but before he can say anything, he gets interrupted by the chief advisor. -my king, why limit Sir Allen and royal guards? the target is not human we only need the book- The king looks at the chief advisor and then at the members of the royal guards lining the walls of the throne room. He can tell from the looks on their faces that most of them share the same sentiment as the chief advisor. He turns his gaze back to the chief advisor. -although, she is a Therian she has shown enough humanity to expect the same level of humanity from us- -my king they attacked a hospital ¨C -and they could have killed everyone in the hospital but they chose to save them instead or do you think I don¡¯t know the real identity of the angel clad in golden light? ¨C The chief advisor lowers his head. It¡¯s clear he still disagrees but he knows not to challenge the king any further. - as you wish my king- The king observes the gazes of the royal guards. Some of them look conflicted. Although the real identity of the angel clad in golden light was kept a secret from the public, as members of the royal guards they were told about it and it shook the worldview of many of them. -haaa- The king lets out a short sigh. - I know many of you are conflicted over my orders, however, remember that we didn¡¯t survive this long through our strength, we all know that the invaders are much stronger than us, we survived this long through the grace of God, and if we want to keep his grace with us, we must return goodwill when it¡¯s given to us- The head of the royal guards puts his arm across his chest and bows. -we will not disappoint you my king - Chapter 40 The unkillable monster Chapter 40 The unkillable monster BAM! The sound of Ken¡¯s head slamming against a wooden table echoes in the cabin causing everyone to look at him. Currently, Ken, Saiko, and Daxia are seated around a small wooden table while Celine is preparing breakfast for everyone. -what¡¯s wrong with him?- Celine asks while placing a plate of food in front of Saiko. A blue holographic window displaying a video of Rin in his shop turns to face Celine. -the research on life hit a dead end ¨C The lyrebird lands on Ken¡¯s head and opens its mouth. -haha ha- The sound of a teenage boy laughing comes out of the bird¡¯s mouth. -your hubris knows no bounds boy; did you really think you would figure out the mysteries of life in one night? ¨C -oh, but he did ¨C -huh?!- Rin responds nonchalantly causing a stupefied noise to come out of the lyrebird. -in fact, that¡¯s the problem, it seems that life acts somewhat like blood as in it has many different types that can¡¯t mix so similar to how you need to get blood donation from someone that has the same blood type as you, if you want to transfer life from one person to another, they need to have the same type - -if we save my daughter, she might be able to do something about it, she has life magic after all ¨C Celine says while placing the last plate of food in front of Daxia before sitting next to her. Although she felt a mix of sympathy and admiration toward Saiko and how she gave up her life to save the lives of others, she wanted to shift the conversation back to Saving her daughter. That¡¯s the most important, no, the only thing that matters to her at the moment, everything else comes later. ¡®Besides, it¡¯s not like I lied, what I said was true, if anyone can help, it¡¯s my daughter¡¯ ~no, your daughter wouldn¡¯t be able to fix this, magic can¡¯t break the laws of the world as Naoi puts it, at least not using any method Saiko would be willing to do ~ Ken mumbled the last part to himself in a low voice but Saiko was still able to hear it thanks to her heightened hearing. She glances at him with the corners of her eyes then looks away. She hasn¡¯t been able to properly talk to him since the ¡°incident¡±. It was her first time seeing him look desperate like that. She thought he would quickly get over it like every time and return to his confident even egotistical and obnoxious self but instead, his desperation is turning into obsession. He spent every single second since the moment he took the book of knowledge from her researching life. He didn¡¯t even stop for sleep or food. ¡®I am probably just overthinking it, it has only been one night, you can¡¯t call that obsession, I am sure it will be okay¡¯ Saiko reassures herself. Although she knows she is only doing so because she can¡¯t bring herself to ask him to stop, after all, it¡¯s true that he is only doing this because of her own actions. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. -then I think we need to split up, although I appreciate you wanting to help, I can¡¯t wait for you to solve your problems, I need to get my daughter ¨C Celine''s words interrupt Saiko¡¯s thoughts. ~you can¡¯t, what we did wasn¡¯t small, it was seen by people in other countries, they will be ready for you and even worse they will be expecting us with you so if you go alone, it¡¯s a death sentence ~ -so, you want me to wait around doing nothing then? ¨C Ken raises finally raises his head and looks at Celine. ~no, we change the equation and add another variable ~ Ken turns to look at the lyrebird. ~you said you can see and hear through everything in the forest, right? ~ The lyrebird is silent for a moment then opens its mouth. -yes, I can¨C A hint of curiosity can be heard in the voice of the teenage boy. ~tell me where is the nearest Pulgasari ~ ************* Location: hideout of the followers of nature -ha ha haHA HAHAHA, absolutely fascinating ¨C The leader of the followers of nature, Vioarr grins widely beneath his hood. -this boy continues to amaze me ¨C Originally, Vioarr only cared about obtaining Saiko, the first of the living weapons, and the book of knowledge that he could use to complete the living weapons that the followers of nature already rescued. He didn¡¯t really care about the two bounty hunters traveling with Saiko and only considered them just be some icing on the cake. At worst they would be tools he could use to control Saiko while at best they would become front line soldiers he could use instead of his followers to keep his followers safe, and certainly between the two bounty hunters, Daxia was the more useful one, Ken on the other hand was ¡­. unimpressive. He wasn¡¯t a living weapon and he didn¡¯t possess any unique abilities such as the Evil Eyes, in fact, one could argue he was more of a hindrance to the group, at least in terms of power. -and yet the boy keeps punching way above his weight and even more surprisingly he keeps succeeding¨C At first, Vioarr thought he was a fool who would lose his life rather quickly for challenging the world government but the boy was able to constantly predict the movements of the world government and respond to them nearly perfectly. Even now despite the fact that Vioarr didn¡¯t alert him about the members of the royal guards marching toward them, Ken had decided to tunnel underground with their car to avoid the royal guards. In fact, Ken had already started avoiding the royal guards before the royal guards began their march toward them. He also was able to discover the mysteries of life in a single night. How amusing. -and now he is traveling towards the unkillable monster Pulgasari, usually, that would be called marching toward your death but I feel like I am about to witness something very amusing ¨C Vioarr¡¯s grin grows even wider but then a different lyrebird demands his attention and starts sharing its vision with Vioarr. Vioarr sees Melky Alfred and Ron surrounded by the world government forces from all sides. Although he said that the three of them would be on stand by in front of Saiko and the two bounty hunters, in truth they were sent to investigate a number of things that bothered Vioarr about Kim Sungta. The least of which is the existence of Kim Sungta, it¡¯s obvious that the world government could crush Kim sungta if they wanted so why haven¡¯t they? And even if the world government is afraid of the girl with life now, why haven¡¯t they invaded Kim Sungta before she was born? These questions annoyed Vioarr a lot so he sent Melky and his two teammates to investigate and now the three of them discovered a world government base inside of Kim sungta. SNAP! Vioarr snapped his fingers and as though to answer his call hundreds of tree roots grew around the trio impaling the world government soldiers. Melky turns and looks at the lyrebird with a wide smile. - thanks boss ¨C - most of them shouldn¡¯t have died instantly, pick a few of the survivors and interrogate them ¨C The lyrebird delivers the orders of their leader and the three followers bow toward it. - on it- Vioarr then turns his attention back to the lyrebird accompanying Saiko¡¯s group. -hmm, perhaps I can use Ken to solve some of these mysteries ¨C ************ The lyrebird opens its mouth. -we arrived the Pulgasari¡¯s lair is above us ¨C Ken pulls the steering wheel toward him and the car starts to tunnel upwards breaking through the surface of the ground. When they come out, they are met with complete with complete darkness. It takes them a moment to understand that they are looking at the entrance of a massive cave, one so massive in fact, that they can¡¯t see its ceiling. _wh- THUD THUD! Before Saiko can ask, the ground starts to shake and crack as the sound of heavy foot steps fills the cave. ~ t¡­cl¡­.~ Ken says something but no one is able to hear him from the loud footsteps. He quickly makes the car shift from drill mode to off road mode and drives away as fast as he can as the loud footsteps continue to echo from the massive cave behind them. THUD, THUD! the giant behemoth slowly starts to reveal itself as it exits the darkness of the massive cave. Four massive limbs exited the cave one by one each limb ends with a set of metallic claws that shine under the sunlight. A ferocious body like that of a muscular bear covered in metallic scales and fur. Its head was that of a predator with a tiger-like snout, sharp metallic teeth, two large tusks, and two horns growing from the sides of its head. The giant behemoth of a being stood proudly in the forest towering over all of its inhabitants. Ken presses a button on his glasses and it starts to measure the height of the massive creature as wide smile etches itself on his face. ~ a hundred and seventy feet, that¡¯s a good one ~ The giant behemoth raises its head in the air and opens its massive jaws announcing its presence. ROOOOAAAR! Chapter 41 the royal guards Chapter 41 the royal guards THUD! THUD! -you crazy bastard, can you tell me why we are being chased by a giant monster right now? ¨C Daxia shouts as loud as she can so her voice can be heard over the sound of loud footsteps chasing after them while holding tightly onto the grab handle next to her. THUD! THUD! The massive behemoth that is the Bulgasari chases after the small metallic car and the earth trembles violently under the weight of every step it takes. ~many reasons acutely but I don¡¯t have time to explain, Rin, can you take control of the car for me ~ -on it ¨C Ken presses a button on the door next to him which causes the roof of the car to open up. He then turns to look at Daxia and Celine sitting in the back seat and shouts as loudly as he can as well. ~ Celine, this monster likes to absorb metal that¡¯s why it¡¯s currently chasing the car but I don¡¯t want to risk my car getting eaten so please use your illusion magic to make a different bait for it to chase after ~ Celine nods and then uses her light magic to turn the car invisible and to make an illusion of a twenty foot high metallic horse running parallel to the car but a good distance away from it for safety. Ken gets up and stands on his seat while holding onto the door next to him for support as the car continues to shake with every step the Bulgasari takes. ~ I will go with Saiko to set up the ritual then I will meet with you for now please distract the beast ~ Ken leans over and bows toward Saiko extending his arm toward her doing his best impression of a medieval knight about to escort a royal princess. ~my lady ~ Saiko looks at him apprehensively. Usually, she would enjoy his antics but right now, she is still feeling anxious about what he is going to do. She knows he will do something crazy if he can¡¯t get his way but she doesn¡¯t know what his plan is. ¡®I will have to stop him if he tries to cross the line, although I hope I won¡¯t have to¡¯ Saiko holds Ken¡¯s hand and stands up on her chair as well. Ken takes out the demon skull and raises it above him. tentacle like wires come out of the skull and wrap around Ken and Saiko then the demon Skull opens its mouth. Ken turns off the recoil function and at that moment a powerful beam of plasma fires off from the Skull¡¯s mouth and Ken and Saiko vanish from the car leaving behind a trail of white light. The demon Skull flies through the air at tremendous using its plasma beam to propel itself while carrying Ken and Saiko. In a matter of seconds, the skull arrives back at the Bulgasari¡¯s cave before slowing down and landing. _ are they going to be okay alone? _ Saiko asks while glancing in the direction of the massive beast. Despite being so far away that it can¡¯t be seen anymore, the sound of its heavy footsteps continues to echo loudly with every step it takes. ~ they will be fine, if the situation gets dangerous Daxia will teleport them away, besides, I will meet with them after I am done here ~ _Speaking of which why are we here exactly? _ Ken takes out his digital grimoire and picks a light spell. A small glowing ball manifests in front of him and illuminates a small area around the duo as they walk deeper inside the cave. ~although it¡¯s true that blood types can¡¯t mix and usually you need a donation from someone who has the exact same blood type as you, there are two exceptions ~ This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. As they walk inside the cave a horrible stench of death assaults Saiko¡¯s sensitive nose causing her to almost gag and then cover her nose. ~ people with blood type O negative can give blood to anyone and thus are called universal donors while people with blood type AB positive can receive blood from anyone and are called universal receivers ~ As they walk deeper, the light from the glowing ball begins to illuminate hundreds mostly eaten of carcasses. Skeletons of many shapes and sizes, some with all the flesh on them devoured others with some bits of flesh still covering them remnants of the creatures they once were. Some of the skeletons belonged to sapiens others belonged to various animals and monsters one even belonged to a young imugi; although it was still just an imugi and hadn¡¯t grown up enough to be called a dragon, it was still a mighty creature that no normal predator would dream of hunting but to the Bulgasari, they were all just Leftovers from previous meals. ~there is something similar with the souls, truth is people from ancient Egit had many rituals that could transfer life from one creature to another but in all of these rituals the recipient had to be a dead person, only the souls of the dead could receive life from any creature ~ Ken takes out the demon Skull and fires its plasma beam at the ground then uses it to carve out multiple magical symbols and hieroglyphs. ~ at first I thought that this was possible because the creature didn¡¯t have a soul anymore since it was dead but I was wrong not only did it still have a soul, but the ritual itself was a part of a process to merge the creature¡¯s soul and spirit together~ Ken grabs Saiko¡¯s hand and makes her stand in the center of the magical circuit he drew. ~ please stand over here~ and then he continues his explanation~ so I decided to modify the ritual quite a bit to change the structure of your soul and make it like that of a dead person hopefully by doing so you would be able to receive life from others ~ Saiko feels her body stiffen up and ache as she feels something getting drawn out of her. The feeling is similar to when she used the fox bead but somewhat different. A blue light starts coming out from her eyes, mouth, and nose, while a red light begins to come out from dead carcasses. The two lights dance together in the air before merging and transforming into a purple light. Once it forms, the purple light enters Saiko¡¯s body and the process repeats except this time the blue light is slightly darker in color. Ken watches his creation with a proud and satisfied smile then raises the demon skull and wires extend from it and wrap around him. ~ please wait here till we come back with the Bulgasari ~ In the next moment, Ken vanishes leaving behind him a trail of white light. _haaa_ Saiko lets out a sigh of relief and then smiles. Although the process is painful, it doesn¡¯t seem to cross any lines. ¡®I guess I was worried for nothing¡¯ Judging by how Ken left to get the Bulgasari she can safely assume its soul will be used to replenish hers and although it probably won¡¯t feel nice for the beast, it likely has more than life to replenish hers and still live for hundreds of years. ************* In the forest outside the Bulgasari¡¯s cave, a young soldier wearing a camouflage suit and sitting inside a hole in the ground with only the upper half of his head visible outside of the hole watches as a beam of white light exits the massive cave and flies in the direction the Bulgasari ran in a few minutes earlier. the young soldier pulls out a small device and reports what he saw. Elsewhere in the forest. A pride of majestic creatures march through the forest at a terrifying speed. Each of the creatures possesses a muscular deer like body that is covered in brilliant azure scales that sparkle under the gentle rays of the sun. Four muscular legs that end in flat hooves like that of a horse gallop rapidly with enough force to crush the ground below them and yet no such damage occurred. The gentle creatures too afraid that they would harm an innocent soul choose to always use their powers to step on the air a few inches above the blades of the grass below them. their majestic white manes and tails flutter in the wind as they run through the air while the antlers crowning their dragon like heads glow with an ethereal blue light. These are the Girin the majestic creatures that are the symbol of the royal family of Kim Sungta from long before the cataclysm and on top of each of these creatures rides a knight clad in white armor from head to toe. the symbol of the royal guards, a shield protecting a three-legged crow, can be seen on the red capes fluttering in the wind behind them. A member of the royal guards receives a report and then tugs on the reins of his mount causing the majestic creature to increase its speed to reach the front of the pride to reach his superior. There at the head of the pride is Sir Eun Woo, the head of the royal guards, clad in the new silver armor created by court magicians and scientists of the royal palace and riding on his golden Girin, sparks of electricity are constantly dancing in the air around him. -Sir, we received a new report from the visual surveillance unit, it seems the Therian is alone in the cave at the moment while the blonde guy went to meet with the two being chased by the Bulgasari- Since the world government controls space and all the satellites in it, Kim Sungta had to rely on the old method of surveillance through human eyes by placing soldiers at different hiding spots all throughout its territory. Although such methods could be considered a waste of soldiers, Kim Sungta is able to do it since they conscript everyone into their military giving more than enough soldiers for it. From the moment the three intruders were discovered the visual surveillance unit was alerted to keep track of their movement, however, even before the royal guards were dispatched they received a report that the surveillance unit lost track of the intruders as they went underground causing them to halt their mission. Soon after that, they received another report that the trio were rediscovered in the vicinity of the Bulgasari¡¯s lair and they appeared to be leading the creature somewhere. ¡®Just what is their plan?¡¯ The head of the royal guard stares at his subordinate while deep in thought. ¡®I have a bad feeling about this¡¯ The head of the royal guards turns his head to face his men and gives them his orders. -Knights One through forty you will chase after and subdue the Bulgasari then arrest the bounty hunters, no matter what happens you cannot allow the creature to enter a city if it does thousands of people will die, and the creature will become much more powerful, the remaining ten knights will accompany me to arrest the Therian - -YES SIR- The royal guards shout then the majestic pride of Girins split into two groups, each one marching toward its respective targets. Chapter 42 Inside the veil of darkness Chapter 42 Inside the veil of darkness the pride consisting of forty Girins runs through the forest while carrying the members of the royal guards on their backs. Riding on the Girin at the head of the pride is Sir Herman, a man in his forties who is the most senior of the royal guards in the group, and as such command has defaulted to him. Hermans''s sharp eyes lock on a few metal spikes and horns emerging from the horizon. He reaches down and grabs a large halberd hanging on his Girin¡¯s side then shouts his command. -CHARGE ¨C The command was short. It was only one word but it had to be for by the time the word left his mouth, the Bulgasari which was barely visible on the horizon a moment ago had now been surrounded on all sides by growling Girins. That is the speed of the mythical Girin. The royal guards aim their Halberds at the giant creature, then crystals embedded in the center of the halberds glow with a green light. As though to respond to their call the earth begins to rumble then four massive arms made of rocks and dirt rise up from the ground and grab onto the Bulgasari pinning it to the ground. Even before the beast could react or understand what was happening to it, it was already buried alive. BOOM! An explosion erupts from the ground where the Bulgasari is buried. BOOM! BOOM! Explosion after explosion erupts from the ground accompanied by powerful heat waves and bits of lava. -it¡¯s melting the ground move to stage two ¨C Herman shouts then twenty of the forty royal guards spin their halberds causing the glow of their crystals to switch from green to blue causing a blizzard to manifest above the ground and cool it down, while the other twenty continue to use earth magic to pin the beast down. ¡® good the subjugation is proceeding smoothly¡¯ Although the Bulgasari is incredibly powerful, it¡¯s still just a large animal with simple and predictable behavior. Having lived next to the beast for thousands of years, the people of Kim Sungta were able to study the beast, its abilities, behaviors, and weaknesses, and although they weren¡¯t able to find a way to kill it, they developed multiple ways to subdue it. Burying it alive is one of them. with the burial process almost complete, Herman shifts his attention to the criminals. He scans the forest with his eyes but all he can see is the illusion of the metallic horse that was used to lure the Bulgasari. ¡®Where are those bounty hunters¡¯ CLANK! A clanking noise interrupts Herman¡¯s thought process. He turns toward the noise to see a royal guard falling from his Girin toward the molten lava below. CLANK, CLANK, CLANK. Several more clanking noises echo one by one followed by more guards falling off their Girins. Herman¡¯s eyes grow wide from the odd scene he is witnessing. The guards are falling one by one as though something is hitting them but nothing does. ¡®What is happening here?¡¯ Herman can¡¯t help but question his own eyes. The helmets of the royal guards are equipped with many sensors including mana sensors to help them detect the use of magic. ¡®There are no traces of mana¡¯ His helmet isn¡¯t picking up on any magic being used nor any machines or energy beams or anything that could be causing the phenomenon in front of his eyes. The only thing the sensors are picking are sudden spikes in energy next to the heads of the guards as though the world itself decided to knock them off of their Girins. Thoughts race inside Herman¡¯s head and his fixates not on the falling guards but on the rumbling ground below. The Girins rush toward their falling riders managing to catch them before they fall into the molten lava below. The guards quickly straddle their Girins and then raise their Halberds to reapply their spells. But. Herman knew. He knew. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡®We already failed¡¯ Although the weird phenomenon only stopped their spells for a few seconds, he knew that was more than enough. . . . ROOOOOAAAAAAR! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! With a thunderous roar, the ground erupts like a raging volcano sending bits of lava flying everywhere. A massive body rises from amidst the lava. its previously shining metallic body is now charred black with a violent inferno enveloping the entirety of it and lava oozing down its back and limbs. the Girins run through the air at tremendous speed to dodge the incoming lava. -switch to plan C ¨C Herman shouts his orders at the rest of the royal guards and immediately flinches. His shout attracted the attention of the furious Bulgasari which now has its eyes locked on Herman. The massive hellish beast launches itself from the pool of lava at Herman and opens its three stories wide jaw to swallow the royal guard whole. Herman quickly tugs on the reins of his Girin to dodge the massive beast but despite the speed of the Girin is unable to dodge the beast due to its massive size. He barely manages to reach the edge of the top jaw then raises his arm as though to block. An aether shield manifests in front of Herman¡¯s arm generated by his armor and collides with the front teeth of the Bulgasari. -Ughh- The intense heat and force of the Bulgasari press on the aether shield and it begins to crack but suddenly the massive beast is pulled backward away from Herman and toward a large black pillar surrounded by ten royal guards. Just before the Bulgasari collides with the black pillar, two more pillars rise from the ground and pull on the Bulgasari. Herman quickly rushes with Girin toward the final group of knights and spins his halberd to use earth magic along with five other guards to gather iron from underground to construct a fourth black pillar. The antler like horns of the Girins glow generating lightning arcs that dance around the black pillar in circular motions turning it into a magnet, while four other guards use ice magic on the pillar to cool it down thus increasing its magnetic power. The massive metallic beast roars in frustration as it becomes trapped between the four magnetic pillars tugging on it from four directions. -haaa- Herman lets out a sigh of relief but his relief is immediately cut short. A beam of white light shoots out from somewhere in the forest that is a long distance away from them. The beam of white light pierces through one of the black pillars melting it almost instantly as though they were made of butter instead of iron. The molten black pillar loses its magnetism from the intense heat causing the Bulgasari to be flung by the imbalanced magnetic field toward the opposing pillar and group of royal guards below it. In the blink of an eye, the massive Bulgasari crashes into the tower and flattens unfortunate royal guards. The Bulgasari staggers onto its feet and shakes its head as its body absorbs the metallic black pillar and the armors of the crushed royal guards. Its body grows in size and begins to morph as it absorbs the black pillar becoming magnetic as well. its body becomes bigger and heavier causing the remaining two black pillars to break off the ground and get flung toward the Bulgasari crashing into it and getting absorbed into its body increasing its size and magnetism even further. The remaining royal guards watch the unfolding events with horror, not only did their numbers decrease but also the Bulgasari managed to absorb the pillars intended to trap and is using the iron from it to modify its body. -focus- Herman¡¯s shout snaps the remaining royal guards out of their daze. -it has to be the bounty hunters, they are hiding somewhere in the forest, use the time of the Bulgasari morphing to find them ¨C -yes sir- The royal guards shout and then disperse through the forest to find the hidden criminals. Although they have just lost their friends and colleagues, there is no time to mourn on the battlefield. They could only grind their teeth, clench their weapons, and carry on with their mission. They all knew that and yet they are only humans. Silent tears fell down their cheeks inside their helmets as memories of comrades flashed before their eyes. Those memories soon passed and were replaced with immense anger. They knew the king was wrong. They knew all the invaders were violent savages who lacked humanity. They knew it and today they were reminded by it. Although this mission started as a peaceful one to arrest the intruders and bring them before the king, well, let''s just say accidents always happen on missions like these. ******************************* A few minutes earlier. a golden Girin arrives at the entrance of the Bulgasari¡¯s cave, followed by nine blue Girins, all carrying their respective royal guards on their backs. The royal guards glance down at their Girins wondering why they stopped. They tug on their reins to urge their Girins to enter the cave but the fierce draconic creatures refuse to budge. Sir Eun Woo, captain of the Royal Guards reaches down to pet the chest of his golden Girin. -what¡¯s wrong big gu- Eun Woo immediately flinches. He can feel his Girin¡¯s heart beating fast. He leans forward to look at the face of his Girin then turns to look at the other Girins behind him. ¡®They are scared!¡¯ Eun Woo stares at the veil of darkness in front of him wondering what possibly it could be hiding to scare the Girins like that. No matter how gentle the Girins are, they are still proud dragons not only that but also these Girins are the companions of the royal guards that fought with them against all sorts of powerful beasts and vile enemies. Eun Woo spends a solid minute inwardly debating if he should abandon the mission and retreat with the royal guards or not. The reaction of the Girins is more than enough reason for him to abandon the mission but he knows that the Bulgasari is not inside the cave, neither are the bounty hunters or the mother of Lavie. He knows from the surveillance unit report that the only one inside should be the Therian. He also knows that she is not one who kills humans indiscriminately like the other invaders, after all, she was the angel who healed and blessed the young soldiers from the hospital, so it should be possible to reason with her. Eun Woo decides to proceed with the mission, after all, this isn¡¯t a mission to eliminate her but simply to arrest her and bring her before the king perhaps it could even end without any fighting at all. ¡®Besides it¡¯s not like I can tell the king I ran away before even seeing the enemy¡¯ Eun Woo pets his golden Girin to calm it down. -there is nothing to fear Roan, it will be okay ¨C It takes a minute but Eun Woo manages to calm down his Girin, who then turns its head around toward the other Girins and snarls at them as though to calm them down and urge them to move. Responding to the call of their leader, the Girins start hesitantly and slowly begin to walk inside the Cave and soon all the Girins and their riders are swallowed by the veil of darkness. The Girins walk through the dark cave for what feels like hours but in reality, can¡¯t be more than a couple of minutes. As the Girins walk deeper and deeper inside the cave, a sense of dread slowly consumes all their minds. What the Girins felt at the entrance of the cave, the guards are now feeling. It is the type of dread one would feel if they spent a night in a graveyard. The type of dread you feel when there is something standing right at the corner of your eyes that shouldn¡¯t be there, that isn¡¯t there when you look. The type of dread you feel when a predator is watching you and when you turn around it¡¯s not there. It is the type of dread that warns you that reality as you know it is breaking apart and threatening you. It is at this moment when the sense of dread is at its peak, all the royal guards turn to look at the source of their dread. Except that, when they looked the predator was there. There at the far edge of the veil of darkness, faint crimson and violet lights dance in the air. Their faint glow illuminates hundreds of dead and mangled corpses that are oozing with the crimson light and in the midst of the corpses, a single girl stands while facing the royal guards. Her silver hair is dyed red by the crimson light and her eyes are staring at them while oozing violet light. Bonus chapter Jumping the shark Bonus chapter Jumping the shark Greetings everyone ?? I believe we are long overdue for one of these. I am sure that many people think that the story has jumped many sharks with all the talk about spirits and souls what not, so I wanted to address some of that. As we established before in the first bonus chapter, the power system of the story is basically modern science and even some theoretical science for the sci fi elements that are guided by ancient philosophy, with the premise that aether is real. Now, I am sure that to many of you, that statement sounds absurd, how could I claim that I am sticking to science and philosophy when I am talking about spirits and souls, not to mention they are doing rituals now? And yeah ?? I get it, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut as Ken explained in chapter 39 when we talk about spirits and souls and when ancient people speak about spirits and souls, we mean very very different things. First, when we talk about souls and spirits in the modern age, we talk about them as though they are some vague things that have no distinct definition or form. like, we use the terms soul and spirit interchangeably, we also say that humans have spirits as a component of them but also refer to supernatural creatures as ¡°spiritual beings¡± or beings of pure spirit. In this way, we are basically using the terms spirit and soul as catch all terms to refer to everything that is immaterial and that we don¡¯t know anything about, however, that couldn¡¯t be any further from how ancient people used these terms. For one souls and spirits meant specific things, and they were not one and the same, they were not interchangeable. They also didn¡¯t mean immaterial things, the soul and spirit being immaterial is acutely a very novel idea that developed relatively recently but the further back in time you go the more spirit and soul refer to physical material things. They also didn¡¯t use it as catch all terms for supernatural beings, for example, jinns are beings of fire that have a spirit and a soul but are not ¡°pure spirit¡±, they have a spirit as a component of them like humans who are beings of earth, while angels are beings of light and also have souls as a component of them. Side note: there was debate on whether or not angels have spirits cause, spirits have to do with will and many believed that angels not only wouldn¡¯t disobey God but acutely couldn¡¯t therefore they had no will therefore they had no spirit, or so the argument went. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Which is funny cause most people now refer to angels as beings of ¡°pure spirit¡± when ancient people weren¡¯t even sure if they had one. But back to our main topic, not only did the words soul and spirit refer to very specific things but they also referred to very real things that to ancient people were a matter of fact and more importantly a matter of study. We can see that people in ancient times studied the soul and the spirit, obviously, both Plato and Aristotle spoke a lot about the soul in fact Aristotle wrote a whole treatise on it called ¡°on the soul¡± but I didn¡¯t really like their writings on it, it was more on the vague side, in fact you can argue that the reason words soul and spirit have such vague meanings today is due to the dominance of Aristotle philosophy as time went on, and then deteriorated becoming even more and more vague until it became almost meaningless. And by deteriorated I don¡¯t mean that the philosophy itself deteriorated but I mean that it became so dominant that it basically became part of the pop culture of the normal man but the normal man didn¡¯t know or understand the details of the philosophy just some vague idea of it and that vague idea of it is what spread in culture and stayed in it. Think of it like the science of disease for us, most of us don¡¯t know the different types of bacteria or the different types of viruses nor how each of them causes disease or how to differentiate them. To us bacteria and viruses are just some vague terms that refer to something invisible we can¡¯t see but that we more or less know is bad for you and we may confuse a bacteria with a virus or vice versa sometimes. In that sense bacteria and viruses aren¡¯t very different to us from souls and spirits; it¡¯s a surface level vague understanding of what these things are that is so different from what it acutely is. Anyway, I preferred more specific writings such as the Eastern Internal Alchemy; many of you may recognize it as the inspiration behind many of the wuxia elements that you know and love such as the different cores, the internal energy, and the meridians, and obviously, the one I picked for the story which is the ancient Egyptian system. The ancient Egyptian system was so complex and so rich that I simply had to pick it. Not only did it have a soul, spirit, and body as separate and distinct things but also it had many details such as how ghosts form, different kinds of ghosts, how to transfer life, how to fuse the soul and spirit, what form that fusion takes and why you would want to do it, the energy of that fusion and how it uses it to affect the world aka how to become a poltergeist except even better, and many many more things, true names, shadows, hearts. So obviously it was the one I had to go with, but there are enough similarities between it and the Eastern internal alchemy to mix the two, so you can expect me to add some wuxia elements in the future ??, though the novel won¡¯t suddenly become a wuxia novel, it will just have some elements of it that work well with the current stuff established in the novel. Now all of this was just to show that we didn¡¯t jump the shark, well depending on how you look at it we kinda did, since I am sure most people wouldn¡¯t have expected us to end up here but our premise was a power system based on ancient philosophy and the soul was a very big and integral part of ancient philosophy that it would be criminal not to include it. ?? Honestly, this is one of the scarier parts of the novel for me, since I know some people cringe whenever an author tries to blend souls and such with science but it is something that¡¯s necessary for ¡°spirit of Gaia¡± so I hope I handled it well and that you enjoy it. comments and criticism on how I should¡¯ve handled it or could¡¯ve handled it better are more than welcome ?? New chapter comes out Saturday I am fairly certain I will be able to bring it out on time??. Chapter 43 The cornerstone of harmony Chapter 43 The cornerstone of harmony Saiko lays on the ground with her head resting on one of her arms and with one leg crossed over the other and watches the lights of life dance above her. Although her body continues to scream from the excruciating pain of hovering between life and death as life is constantly sucked out of and reinjected into it, her mind is at peace. She had already gotten used to the pain a while ago, in fact, rather than her mind being at peace, she is starting to get bored. Sure, the pain is terrible, she can feel various parts of her body trying to shut down as life is sucked out of them only to be reenergized as the new patch of life that has gotten slightly darker in color after mixing with the lights from the corpses is injected into them, but the pain is only terrible by the standards of normal people. She, however, is by no means normal. She had already experienced far worse pains during her time in the living weapon program, and thanks to that, she can brush aside and ignore most forms of pain, and even something as severe as the pain of death only hurts for a little bit before she gets used to it and it just becomes mildly annoying rather than painful. Out of boredom, Saiko raises her free hand reaching for the dancing lights above her, and tries to command it to move. There was no rhyme or reason for doing so, it was just an act out of boredom, it was no different from when children reach out toward the clouds, she didn¡¯t expect the lights to respond to her command but to her surprise they did. Her eyebrows go up in surprise as she watches the lights move following the movements of her hand. She tries again to confirm and the lights follow her commands once more. She blinks repeatedly wondering why that might be happening, she figures it might be because it¡¯s ¡°her life¡± so she can control it and perhaps that¡¯s something everyone could do or perhaps it¡¯s a side effect of the ritual that she is doing, or perhaps it¡¯s something else life is still a mysterious subject that they don¡¯t know much about. Saiko shrugs her shoulders and decides to forget about it, she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to figure it out even if she thought about it. She might ask Ken about it later, if anyone could figure it out, it would be him. For now, all that matters is she now has something to do to pass the time. Saiko starts playing with the lights above her but makes sure she doesn¡¯t manipulate the lights too much to avoid disrupting the ritual. after a few minutes, Saiko¡¯s whiskers twitch alerting her to a group of creatures coming her way. She raises an eyebrow in confusion. The creatures are large, so she should have heard their footsteps far earlier than she could sense them with her whiskers, especially with how much echo that should be created by the large cave she is in, but the creatures are making no sounds at all. Maybe these creatures are flying, well, even if they are, she should have heard something, a grunt, a cough, anything. ¡®hmmm¡¯ That means they are intentionally being stealthy, maybe they are trying to sneak up on her. The thought cracks Saiko up and she opens her mouth to chuckle but when she does life rushes out of her mouth drawn by the ritual preventing any sound from coming out. ¡®They should know even a blind and deaf cat can still hunt and I am neither of the two¡¯ With a jump, she springs up to her feet and dusts off her coat then the pupils of her eye dilate widely and start to glow brightly. The bright glow of her cat eyes mixes with the faint glow of life escaping through her eyes resulting in an ominous and eerie reddish violet glow. Saiko looks in the direction of the incoming creatures and thanks to her enhanced vision is able to see a group of ten reptilian creatures coming toward her. The creatures resembled horses if horses had snouts with jagged teeth, and antlers and were at least twice as big. Stolen story; please report. A group of ¡­ She raises an eyebrow. what she can only describe as medieval knights covered from head to toe in white armor and carrying large halberds are riding on the backs of the horse like creatures. No, on a closer look, she can tell that although the armors are made to resemble the ancient armors worn by humans before the cataclysm three thousand years ago, they are undoubtedly biomechanical armors. ¡®hmmm, they have a unique taste for sure but I kind of like it¡¯ The group visibly flinches, it seems they are finally close enough to see her. ¡®what¡¯s up with that reaction?¡¯ Saiko looks at the group in confusion. she can¡¯t see their expressions but even without seeing them, she can tell they are scared, and not just the knights, the horse like creatures are scared too. ¡®Hey, I am not that scary¡­wait, do they know I use decay magic? Is that why they are scared? But no one should know¡­ wait! are they from the living weapon program?¡¯ Thoughts quickly race through Saiko¡¯s head. Her revulsion and hatred toward her own magic made it the first thing she thought to blame, a vile and evil magic that brought misery every time she used it, but for them to know about it would mean- -Ahm ¨C The knight riding on the golden creature clears his through pulling Saiko¡¯s attention to him and out of her mind. -Miss Angel, we are from the royal guards ¨C ¡®Angel?¡¯ Saiko tilts her head in confusion. She remembers the people from the Living Weapon program liked to use a lot of weird names and acronyms; they used to call her things like the death of the universe, HOTU, the end, evil goddess, etc, but they never called her an angel before. ¡®I guess it¡¯s a new name they came up with at some point, it¡¯s been a few years after all¡¯ She also never heard of the royal guards before, but then again, it¡¯s not like they shared any information with her, she wasn¡¯t a scientist or a worker, she was the test subject. -we are here to capture you, young miss, but please think of it more like us escorting you, we would like to avoid fighting if possible ¨C She blinks her eyes repeatedly at the odd request. ¡®they can¡¯t possibly think I will return if they ask nicely¡¯ She feels tempted to attack them immediately for all the torment she suffered because of them but the unexpected and overly nice way they are ¡°arresting her¡± is preventing her from attacking. Saiko opens her mouth to object but life rushes out of her mouth drawn but ritual preventing any sound from coming out. ¡®oh right, I can¡¯t talk right now¡¯ Saiko shakes her head at the knight and crosses her arms in an X shape to indicate her refusal. The knight pauses for a moment then looks at her. -please miss, don¡¯t make this more difficult than it needs to be ¨C A hint of hesitation and fear can be heard in his voice. ¡®Hey dude, don¡¯t make me sound like the bad gal here¡¯ Saiko shakes her head repeatedly at the knights then makes a shooing gesture at the knights. The knights respond with a mixture of cringing motions and grunting noises. Although she can¡¯t see their facial expressions, she can tell many of them were angered by the gesture, which is understandable, what she did can be seen as disrespectful but she can¡¯t talk right now so her options are limited. -Young miss, you are forcing us to use force ¨C Saiko raises an eyebrow at the knight riding on the golden creature. ¡®Okay, I guess that¡¯s the end of this conversation, I will just flush them out of the cave¡¯ A massive wall of water rises from the ground devouring the sight of knights then rushes at them like a raging tsunami. Fueled by their sense of dread, The knights momentarily panic and rush toward the exit of the cave but then- -behind me- The one on the golden creature shouts pulling the knights out of their panic and causing them to switch their destination from the cave exit to the back of their leader even if he is only inches away from the massive wall of water. Saiko feels her control over some of the water vanishes as a circular hole is created in the wall of water around the knights. ¡®hmmm, I felt that before¡¯ The knights sigh in relief while watching arcs of electricity dance around the one she assumes to be their leader. It seems the knights came prepared. Well, she wouldn¡¯t expect anything less from the ones who kept her trapped for years. - I knew it, the king is wrong, there is no way she is the angel, she is just as barbaric as all the other Therians- Saiko tilts her head. ¡®hey, what¡¯s with the casual racism? ¡­wait!¡¯ Her eyes go wide from realization. ¡®Racists, overly nice with criminals, these people are from Kim Sungta¡¯ -you have forced our hand miss, remember, you attacked first- The leader of the knights points his halberd at Saiko. ¡®no, no, wait there¡¯s a misunderstanding¡¯ She opens her mouth to speak but no voice comes out, only life. She quickly makes the time out gesture to stop the knights but they ignore her plea. -charge ¨C The leader of the knights shouts his command and all the horse like creatures rush at her. ¡®0Wait, you don¡¯t understand¡¯ She raises her hand to summon a wall of ice to block the knights¡¯ path but their leader runs through it like it isn¡¯t there and the rest of them follow behind him. ¡®crap¡¯ ************************************* Location: a world government underground base near the northern border of Kim Sungta. A large metallic door connected to an underground tunnel slides open and the members of Strike Team 1 enter the base. -I didn¡¯t know we had bases in Kim Sungta ¨C -of course, we do, Kim Sunta is one of the most important cornerstones to protecting harmony- Zim, the youngest member of the strike force, wonders, and Jorden answers him. -huh? Then why not invade it? ¨C -listen closely kid- Claus places a hand on Zim¡¯s head causing the latter to look up at him. -our goal isn¡¯t world domination, it¡¯s not enforcing the law either, and it¡¯s definitely not following the whims of the government or the oligarchy, our one and only goal is to protect harmony, and the independence of Kim Sungta is necessary for that- - I wonder what¡¯s going on, it seems they are having some sort of emergency ¨C Claus hears Davis¡¯ comment and shifts his gaze to scan the base. He sees multiple soldiers running left and right, some carrying documents, others carrying weapons, and seem to be getting ready for battle. He turns his gaze to the soldier standing guard at the gate they walked in through. The soldier corrects his posture and opens his mouth. -Sir, a Bulgasari was spotted hiding toward a town sir while being lured by an illusion - Claus¡¯ lips curl up into a grin. -ho, who wants to bet that our favorite group of thieves is one responsible?- Chapter 44 An army of invincible ghosts Chapter 44 An army of invincible ghosts A few minutes earlier. Ken exits the Bulgasari¡¯s cave and flies in the direction of the Bulgasari. He quickly catches up to the massive beast and then starts looking around. ~now where- Before he can finish his question he notices reality warp around him and shifts around him and then in a fraction of a second he finds himself in the car with Daxia and Celine. ~ Man, your mask sure is fascinating ~ His lips curl up into a wide grin as he looks at Daxia. - focus nut case, we are still being chased by a giant monster¨C ~oh, you don¡¯t have to worry about that, the royal guards will come to handle it soon ~ Celine''s eyes grow wide at Ken¡¯s declaration. -the royal guards?!, why would the royal guards come here?- Ken looks at Celine with a blank look. ~ what do you mean why? Because we are leading a metal-devouring unkillable monster toward a city, of course, they have to come ~ -wait! Was that your plan from the start? Are you insane? ¨C Daxia chuckles quietly at Celine''s reaction. It¡¯s nice to see a normal person¡¯s reaction to Ken¡¯s crazy plans. She hates to admit it but even her own sense of danger has been twisted; his plans are always so crazy to the point that luring out the strongest force in the country to chase them sounds tame in comparison to his usual plans. -yes, yes, he is, you will get used to it - Ken crosses his arms looking annoyed. ~hey, I will have you know my plan is flawless, it hits three birds with one giant metallic stone ~ -you idiot, the royal guards can easily handle the Bulgasari and then they will come after us- ~ I am aware bu- RUMBLE RUMBLE the begins to rumble pulling the trio¡¯s attention toward the Bulgasari and interrupting their conversation. They watch as forty royal guards surround the Bulgasari while holding halberds that glow emerald green. The ground rises in response to their call and begins to wrestle with the Bulgasari and starts burying it alive. ~ damn they move quickly ~ Ken¡¯s lips curl up in a wide grin. ~ you should get ready; we will need to fight royal guards in a few moments ~ Ken waits till the forty royal guards split into two groups, one maintains the earth magic and the other uses ice magic to cool down the lava, then he uses aether magic to knock one royal guard after another off their Girins. Unlike Saiko who has enough magic to rival a nation on her own, his magic is very weak, in fact, it¡¯s weaker than the magic of a normal person. He always resented that fact and thought that life was unfair. Even if he used all his mana at once he could never hope to even hurt any of the royal guards with his magic. ¡®Is what a loser would think, I have a thousand and one ways to kill someone with my magic and that¡¯s just off the top of my head, but I don¡¯t need to at the moment¡¯ As the number of the royal guards maintaining the earth magic decreases one by one, the spell¡¯s ability to hold the Bulgasari decreases until the massive beast erupts from the ground like a hellish beast. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ~ give me your grimoire ~ Ken extends his hand toward Celine. Celine looks at him skeptically. - I am sure you know that light magic is not suited for physical confrontation if you take my grimoire, you will reduce my ability to fight the royal guards ¨C ~pffft ~ Ken looks at Celine. ~ light magic is not suited for combat? Well, ma¡¯am, I would like to happily inform you that your magic will henceforth be known as the scariest combat magic in Kim sungta, well, so long as you have the program I created that is~ Celine looks at Ken even more skeptically but decides to give him the grimoire anyway. Although she thinks he is at best exaggerating and at worst just delusional, either way, she will at least gain a new way to use her light magic even if it¡¯s a mediocre method. - I am listening - Ken grins and sends his program from his watch to her digital grimoire. ~ to sum it up, whenever the brain thinks of a thought, it releases an electromagnetic wave that corresponds to that thought but that process is reversible meaning you can subject a brain to a specific sequence of electromagnetic waves to induce thoughts in the brain of the target ~ CRACKLE CRACKLE Ken turns toward the crackling sound to see large black pillars surrounded by electric arcs rising from the ground one by one. ~they skipped plan B and went straight to C, welp that¡¯s bad it means we are running out of time ~ Ken turns to look at Celine. ~light is electromagnetic waves, which means you can use light magic to induce thoughts in others, of course, no Sapien would be able to read the waves produced by the brain fast enough nor accurately enough to use this in battle but that¡¯s where my program comes in, when you channel your magic into it, It will read the waves produced by my brain and recreate them with your magic and fire them at your targets ~ Once the fourth pillar forms and stabilizes Ken takes out the demon Skull and fires its plasma beam at one of the Pillars. ~ get ready, they will come now, also Daxia, please prepare a portal ~ ******************************************* The royal guards rush in the direction the beam of white light was fired from. More beams of white light are fired at them but they are able to easily dodge them thanks to their agile Girins. In the blink of an eye, the thirty Girins and their royal guards arrive at the source of light beams but when they do all they find is a blue demonic skull floating in the air in front of them. -on guard men, it could be a trap- Herman shouts his order at the royal guards to calm their nerves. It¡¯s clear to him that they are dancing in the palms of the bounty hunters, he doesn¡¯t know how long they planned this or- ~relax, Sir, Royal Guard there are no traps nor anything like that, I didn¡¯t have time to set any ~ -what the? ¨C Sir Herman flinches from surprise as he hears a voice inside his head. ~besides, I don¡¯t need any traps to deal with you ~ -show yourself, you coward ¨C The remaining Royal guards turn to look at their senior with looks of confusion and worry. Their senior randomly started shouting as though he is talking to someone but there is no one besides them around and the sensors in their helmets hasn¡¯t picked up on anything either. However, what they don¡¯t realize is that their sensors have in fact picked up on the use of light magic but the sensors ignored it, for it was identical to the electromagnetic waves created by the brain, which the sensors were told to ignore to not flood the royal guard with unnecessary endless information, for every thought by them or by those around them would be reported by the sensors. Unaware of the truth of the matter, the royal guards look for something to blame and can only turn toward the floating blue skull. -is it a cursed item?- - I don¡¯t know but I won¡¯t wait to find out ¨C The latter of the two royal guards raises his halberd and slams it down at the skull to break it but the skull vanishes before the halberd touches. ~don¡¯t break my sword, do you know how hard it was to make~ The remaining royal guards all flinch in surprise as they all hear the voice in their heads. -who is there? ¨C ~fine, fine, I will show myself since you all keep asking ~ A blonde guy in his early twenties wearing a black shirt, pants, and glasses begins to materialize in front of the royal guards. The skull that was floating in the air earlier was hanging by a strap from his waist. -impossible- -what is happening? ¨C -what are you? ¨C The royal guards begin to question their own eyes and their understanding of reality. They all can see the guy clear as day but all their equipment and sensors swear, he is not there, Swear that he is not real. None of the hundreds of sensors in the armor of the royal guards is able to pick up anything about the guy; no heat signature, no mana signature, not even their ultrasonic sensor can pick up anything, he is truly not there. -Calm down, it¡¯s surely an illusion ¨C ~pffft ~ Herman tries to calm down his junior royal guards but that only causes the blonde guy to laugh. ~you know that¡¯s not true, if I was an illusion, your helmets would¡¯ve detected it ~ The blonde guy bends down then picks up a stone from the ground and shows it to the royal guards. ~besides, if I was an illusion, would I be able to do this ~ Herman gulps while watching with horror. To his eyes, it¡¯s just a normal scene of a guy holding a stone but to his helmet, the stone is floating in the air held by nothing at all. Panic starts to consume the minds of the royal guards. -it¡¯s a ghost, it, it has to be ¨C One of the royal guards exclaims causing the rest to panic even more. -c, cut the crap ghosts aren¡¯t real ¨C One of the royal guards hesitantly shouts and raises his halberd then slashes the blonde guy in half but he feels no resistance. The halberd passed through the guy as though he wasn¡¯t there sending even more terror through the heart of the royal guard. The blonde guy looks at the royal guard with an annoyed expression. -how rude ¨C he then raises his fist and punches the royal guard. Of course, the royal guard raises his arm to guard against the punch but the hand phases through the royal guard¡¯s arm and then his helmet until it reaches his face at which point it collides with the royal guard¡¯s face sending him flying off his Girin while the rest watched with wide eyes. -I,I told you he is a ghost, how can we kill something already dead ¨C ~now, shall we have some fun together ~ The blonde guy cracks his neck followed by his knuckles and then hundreds of copies of the blonde guy materialize everywhere around the royal guards surrounding them, all of them are completely invisible to the sensors and equipment of the royal guards but all of them are all too real to the eyes of the royal guards. Chapter 45 She slipped Chapter 45 She slipped Location: inside the cave of the Bulgasari. Feeling emboldened by the success of their leader¡¯s new armor, the royal guards brush aside their sense of dread and charge at the girl with glowing eyes. -protocol S-three- Sir, Eun Woo shouts his order at his men. The royal guards raise their halberds and swing them in Saiko¡¯s direction despite the distance between them and her. The gems on the halberds release a brilliant silver glow and then the metallic blades of the halberds shift into a liquid form similar to that of mercury. Propelled by the momentums of the royal guards¡¯ swings, the liquid metals zoom toward her like whips. Saiko creates multiple water whips of her own to intercept the incoming metal but Eun Woo moves in the path of the water causing it to break down into oxygen and hydrogen. The metal whips rush at Saiko and wrap around her arms and legs. The antlers of the Girins start glowing and act as positive and negative rods causing electricity to crackle and dance between them. the Girins raise their heads to position the metal whips between their antlers, and channel the electricity through the metal whips to electrocute the dreadful entity and stun her. Through observation, Saiko can tell that the knights did something; however, she felt none of it. Her sense of pain has already been overwhelmed by the ritual keeping her in a limbo state between life and death, and even without it the electricity generated by the Girins, although strong, is nothing in comparison to the lightning strike that engraved itself upon her flesh. Furthermore, electricity follows the path of least resistance and in Saiko¡¯s case, that path is the path that was forcefully engraved by the lightning strike, a path along which most of her sensory neurons were fried by the lightning causing her to lose sensation in it. Saiko shrugs her shoulders and then grabs the metallic whips. Argus rushes to her arms forming synthetic muscles and claws transforming them into massive beastly arms. Saiko¡¯s lips curl up then she tugs on the metal whips pulling the knights off of their Girins and swinging them in the air before hurling them away from her. Sir Eun Woo quickly rushes with his Girin to help the other guards before they crash into the cave¡¯s wall but before he can, he sees a massive arm made of snow catch the guards and lower them safely to the ground. Eun Woo turns to look at the girl with glowing eyes with amazement. He looks down at his frightened Girin and once again inwardly debates whether or not he should take his men and escape. ¡®no¡¯ He shakes his head. ¡®she is the angel, that¡¯s for sure, how she prevented the guards from getting hurt just now proves it, which means we are in no real danger, I am sure she has some kind of weakness, I just have to find it¡¯ Eun Woo clenches his fist around his halberd and charges with his Girin toward Saiko. -men, recover and switch to protocol E-nine- Eun Woo spins his halberd and the gem on his halberd glows a brilliant white light as he gathers oxygen above his halberd. His golden Girin opens its mouth and rears its head as a bright orange glow ignites within its jaws. Together the head of the royal guards and his Girin release their attacks. A torrent of fire is released by the mythical dragon and combines with the air current filled with oxygen made by Eun Woo causing the dragon¡¯s fire to transform into a beam of condensed searing hot flames with a blinding glow. Saiko pulls back Argus to protect it from the heat. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Although Argus is heat resistant, she doubts it can withstand that level of heat. Instead, she summons a wall of ice to block the fire beam, and as though to confirm her suspicion, the ice immediately turns into vapor skipping the water phase from the immense heat but Saiko simply keeps summoning more ice to block the flame. The other royal guards quickly recover and get back on their Girins and then together with their Girins fire nine more pillars of condensed flames at Saiko but the nine pillars are all blocked by ice just as easily as their leader¡¯s pillar was. Eventually, the Girins stop their flames as their glands run out of fuel and need to recharge. Saiko removes the ice wall and then makes a shooing gesture which only angers the royal guards more causing many of them to grit their teeth. -there has to be something we can do- One of the royal guards shouts out of frustration. Eun Woo stops to think of a way to subdue the girl in front of him. The way he sees it none of the subduing protocols nor the elimination protocols would work on her, her strength is simply inhuman. ¡®yes, that¡¯s it inhuman¡¯ An idea flashes in Eun Woo¡¯s head and he turns around to look at his men. -Bulgasari subjugation plan A- The eyes of royal guards light up as they realize the orders of their leader. One by one, they raise their halberds and the gems on their halberds release an emerald green glow. RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE The ground below Saiko¡¯s feet begins to shake violently before coming to life. Four massive arms made of stone and dirt rise from the ground and wrap around Saiko to bury her alive. The silver cat blinks her eyes in surprise, then quickly jumps from her spot to the side of one of the arms planning to use it as a platform to jump away from the forming cage but when she does the arm splits open to swallow her. Saiko¡¯s eyes grow wide in shock as she finds herself jumping toward a dark abyss but thanks to her fast reflexes, she is able to summon an ice wall in time to jump off of and away from the forming earth cage. She twists her body in the air getting ready to land but sees the ground open up again where she is about to land to swallow her. ¡®What is going on?¡¯ She summons an ice pillar to land but more arms made out of stone and dirty rise from the ground to entrap her. ¡®Fine, it¡¯s time for a show of force¡¯ Saiko flash freezes the entirety of the Bulgasari¡¯s cave, floor, walls, and ceiling, forcefully pinning down the earth with ice to prevent it from moving. The royal guards freeze in their place, not by the ice but out of shock from the spectacle they just witnessed. Eun Woo hears a few audible gulps coming from his men and is about to order them to retreat but then notices that there is a circular area around them that is not frozen. ¡®right, the armor is made to protect us, we still have a chance¡¯ -stick close to me, this is the final push, we can win this- Saiko tilts her head at that weird declaration wondering how he could possibly think they can win. Can he not see it¡¯s all pointless? Can he not see that the only reason they are still alive is that she doesn¡¯t want to kill them? Can he not see that she is going easy on them? ¡®well, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter, he said this is the final push so I guess, I can entertain them for one more time¡¯ Saiko makes a come at me gesture and readies herself. The royal guards rush at Saiko led by Eun Woo, ice disappearing under him with each step he takes. Once on top of her, Eun Woo raises his halberd and Saiko raises her arm to block it but then. -Bulgasari plan A- His shout surprises her and she feels the ground opening up below her to swallow her. ¡®again?¡¯ Saiko tries to freeze the ground to hold it in place but realizes she is unable to. She looks below to see that any ice she summons disappears. Her whiskers twitch alerting her to the incoming attack from the halberd. She quickly summons Argus to her arm to block but by this point, it is already too late. Her arm unsupported by Argus collides with the shaft of the halberd to block it but her muscles which were weakened by the lightning strike immediately give out and she feels the hammer end of the halberd slam into her gut sending her fly. Eun Woo pauses in his place surprised that his attack landed but then he realizes that he discovered a weakness. If he can out speed or somehow remove the black liquid, he would be able to overpower her. Filled with confidence, Eun Woo chases after Saiko with his Girin and his men follow behind me. The silver cat notices the knight rushing toward her and summons an ice wall to block his path but the knight flies through it like it¡¯s nothing. She twists her body in mid air and summons Argus to her arm getting ready to collide with the knights. - E-nine- The knight shouts and nine pillars of condensed flames are fired at Argus causing it to quickly start boiling. ¡®w,wait¡¯ Eun Woo swings his halberd once more. She raises her arm to block but the boiling Argus is unable to give her arm any support and her muscles immediately give out once more causing the blade of the halberd to chop off her arm. Saiko¡¯s eyes grow wide as she watches her blood rush out of her. She quickly summons more of Argus to her leg, transforming it into a large beastly leg, and kicks Eun Woo away from her. ¡®what¡¯s happening?¡¯ She quickly reaches toward her arm to grab it but feels a cold metallic whip wrap around her leg and pulls her through the air away from her arm. She looks up and sees Eun Woo at the end of the whip with his men. Eun Woo swings Saiko in the air with his whip then hurls her toward the ground. The halberds of the guards glow emerald green and she notices the ground below her opening up to swallow her. ¡®No, no, no, no I will be locked up again¡¯ The loss of blood begins to weigh down on the silver cat¡¯s mind and she finds it harder to think as her body continues to fall toward the abyss opening up to swallow her. She looks away from the abyss only to see the knights are inches away from her. ¡®NO, STAY AWAY¡¯ Saiko closes her eyes and quickly raises her remaining arm to protect herself . . . . she waits for the knights'' next attack but the attack never comes. THUD She feels her body hit the ground and expects the ground to close up on her and the darkness of the abyss to swallow her but that never happens. Instead, she feels the gentle rays of sunlight tickle her skin and hears multiple other thuds as many other smaller and lighter objects hit the ground after her. It¡¯s then that she realizes what happened. She realizes that something far worse than being locked up has happened. She realizes that in her panic she slipped. she has used it. Decay. chapter 46 What does it mean to be the strongest (2) chapter 46 What does it mean to be the strongest (2) Saiko opens her eyes and quickly gets up to help any survivors but she immediately freezes in her place from the sight before her. A cruelly peaceful sight. The upper half of the mountain and all those unfortunate enough to have lived above it were erased from existence, leaving behind a giant hole in the ceiling of the cave. The frozen ground and walls of the cave shine and sparkle with a serene and calming glow as they bathe in and reflect the gentle rays of sunlight entering through the hole. several chunks of frozen human and Girin remains that belonged to those fortunate enough to have been at the edge of the wave of decay are scattered on the frozen ground of the cave; a severed Girin head, a couple of human torsos, one of them with a chunk of the head still attached, and several severed limbs. The leader of the Knights lies on the frozen ground, the right half of his body including a large portion of his face is missing and his left arm is stretched toward Saiko. The silver cat falls to her knees and stares at the remains of the knights. DRIP! DRIP! Droplets of water start to rain down from the sky one by one. The rain starts slow and gentle but in a matter of seconds, it becomes heavy and vicious. The silver cat raises her head and opens her mouth to scream in anguish but no sound comes out. The cruel ritual robbed her of even her anguish. instead of letting her scream out, the ritual began to draw the life out of the remains of the knights and inject it into Saiko. But that wasn¡¯t all. The eyes of the silver cat grow wide as memories that aren¡¯t her own start to flood her mind. Names she didn¡¯t know, families didn¡¯t recognize, emotions she didn¡¯t feel, skills she didn¡¯t learn, and desires she didn¡¯t have all of them were not her own but the royal guards¡¯. For some reason, the ritual didn¡¯t stop at making her devour their life, it was making her devour their souls whole. Saiko quickly tries to stop the ritual; she tries to freeze it, tries to erode the symbols with water, and tries to break it apart with Argus but it all fails. Ken had engraved the ritual in the aetheric field to protect it. Only another aether mage would be able to stop it. Soon, the silver cat stops her resistance and accepts her cruel fate. Perhaps decay could stop it but that cursed magic had already done enough harm for one day. Even if it does stop the ritual, it would likely result in an even worse outcome. It might end up erasing their souls entirely. She wasn¡¯t going to risk it. Defeated and with her spirit broken, Saiko gets up and walks toward her severed arm. She picks up the arm and dusts it off then holds the arm to her shoulder. Black tentacles made by Argus come out of her shoulder and hold her severed arm in place. Argus proceeds to reattach the nerves and blood supply to the arm and covers both the shoulder and the upper half of the arm to support the arm till it naturally heals. Saiko clenches the fist of her severed arm then stretches it to make sure it¡¯s working properly then chuckles weakly at herself. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡®too much for being the strongest, I have all the power in the world, yet I feel so weak¡¯ ************************** Naoi floats in the sky above what used to be a mountain a few seconds ago. He observes the heavy rain and then looks up at the sea of water forming above Kim Sungta. ¡®the element of water is angry¡¯ Naoi floats down through the hole and finds Saiko mindlessly walking among the corpses and collecting the remains of the royal guards. -aren¡¯t you a little too depressed for someone who won?- ¡®At this rate, you will flood the entire kingdom¡¯ Naoi keeps the second half to himself to not burden the young cat with even more guilt. Saiko turns to look at Naoi and doesn¡¯t bother even trying to answer. -oh right- Naoi snaps his fingers causing the ritual to alter its structure to avoid blocking the cat¡¯s mouth. Saiko notices the path of life changing to avoid her head and turns to look at Naoi. _ You could have done that earlier_ Naoi nods his head. -I could have but if I did, I would have robbed you of the opportunity to make a mistake ¨C _ I killed all the knights; I devoured their souls and I likely killed millions of creatures that lived above the mountain_ -I am aware- Saiko stares at Naoi. Usually, she would be furious but she is too emotionally exhausted to do that now. _was it worth it?_ -of course, it was, you wouldn¡¯t truly learn if you don¡¯t make mistakes- _My mistakes tend to cause enormous harm though_ -that¡¯s all the more reason to learn quickly to reduce the number of mistakes needed- Noai floats closer to the silver cat. -my child, only the strongest can afford to protect their enemies but you are mistaken about who the strongest is, despite being far weaker than many of the creatures on Gaia, humans are the most dominant, even among sapiens, they are not the fastest, not the strongest, and certainly not the most talented in magic, and their inferiority becomes even more obvious if we include creatures that are not sapiens, such as dragons or fey- -now child why do you think that is?- The silver cat tilts her head. _intelligence? _ Naoi smiles at her but shakes his head. - a good answer and intelligence certainly plays a role; however it¡¯s not true, there are no real differences between the intelligence of sapiens, furthermore there are many creatures that are far smarter than humans such as yongs which is a species of dragons, additionally even among traditional animals there plenty that can give humans a run for their money, like dolphins and elephants- The silver cat pauses for a moment. _then what? _ -ironically, it¡¯s their weakness, strong creatures become reliant on their strength, they become prideful, and that becomes their downfall, however, the weakness of humans drives them to use their ingenuity, to overcome those stronger than them, both the digital grimoires and the eyes of the Xia family are a testament to that, both were made to allow humans to compete with the natural talent of the elves to use many types of magic, contrast that with the elves that despite having an affinity to all the elements choose to limit themselves to certain types of magic- Naoi turns to face the symbols and hieroglyphs making up the ritual then smiles. -and perhaps there is no greater testament to that than the bastard who is the mastermind behind all of this, manipulating both friends and enemies alike, a rat standing in a fight between giants, the one who came this far with ingenuity alone, after all, he doesn¡¯t have many other good qualities- Naoi turns to face Saiko and gently smiles at her. -you certainly don¡¯t lack desire, child, and it¡¯s a desire to protect rather than overcome which is a far more noble desire, however, you are overconfident in your power and your superiority, your pride and confidence prevented you from growing - Naoi looks at Saiko with a warm and expectant gaze. -now, my child, what are you going to do? ¨C Saiko looks down for a moment then looks at the remains of the royal guards. As she does, some of the memories of the royal guards flash before her eyes, memories of how they studied her fight with the strike team one, how they developed an armor to protect them from her water. Then she recalls the battle, not from her perspective but from the perspective of the royal guards. She feels their dread and knows their fear, she recalls the memories of Eun Woo and how he was constantly thinking of his next move, evaluating and re-evaluating every action they were going to take, and how he was learning in the middle of the battle itself until he found the combination needed to win. Finally, she contrasts their memories with her own and how she was simply reacting to their attacks while being certain of her victory never once seeing them as a threat. ¡®I was a fool¡¯ _ haaa _ Saiko lets out a long tired sigh and then looks up at her teacher. _ I think I need to read _ Naoi¡¯s eyes cloud over and he smiles warmly at her. - a most excellent choice, my child- Naoi snaps his finger and the book of knowledge disappears from Ken¡¯s side and reappears in the Bulgasari¡¯s cave in front of Saiko. -I wonder, what questions are you going to ask the book this time- _ I think, I have a lot of questions to ask but I will start with this one_ Saiko closes her eyes and recalls her fight with the strike team. _how can I beat the plasma fire?_ The book doesn¡¯t react. Naoi shakes his head. -the book of Knowledge can¡¯t think, it¡¯s simply a vessel for knowledge about the laws of the world, it can only answer objective questions, not ones relative to your situation, in other words, the book can¡¯t think for you, try again- Saiko closes her eyes again to think about the fight, and what she could have done differently, and what she can learn from it. She pauses for a moment at the memory of her water burning up and her losing control over her water once it turned into fire. ¡®that¡¯s when everything started to go wrong¡¯ She tries to think of a way to stop it but can¡¯t think of any, perhaps, when she learns more, she will be able to think of something. ¡®but for now, I guess if you can¡¯t beat them, join them¡¯ Saiko looks up at the book of knowledge and opens her mouth to ask her question. _ How can you turn water into fire?_ The Book of Knowledge opens up and his pages flip at high speed until they stop at a certain page. Glowing golden letters materialize on the page one after another. Chapter 47 bon appetit, Bulgasari Chapter 47 bon appetit, Bulgasari Location: a world government underground base near the northern border of Kim Sungta. -Are they okay?- Zim asks with a confused look. He is standing with the rest of the strike team members in front of a large holographic screen. The holographic screen displays satellite footage of the forest outside the Bulgasari¡¯s cave. The footage shows the Blugasari inside some sort of metallic cocoon undergoing metamorphosis, which is the worst possible scenario since it means it¡¯s changing its body to adapt to the danger it¡¯s currently facing. Meanwhile, the royal guards whose first priority should be to prevent the metamorphosis, are flying around the forest firing all sorts of spells at seemingly nothing and occasionally trying to dodge or reacting as if they were hit by an invisible attacker. -maybe an invisible attacker- - no, sir, we checked all the electromagnetic spectrum, and there was also nothing picked by any of our sensors, not even the gravitational field is altered, there really is nothing that they are fighting- Jorden asks and one of the soldiers from the base answers him. -then maybe it¡¯s an illusion- Davis suggests while stroking his chin causing the rest of the members to look at their teammate with the number 07 on her chest, after all, she is their illusion specialist. Ahlam flinches and shrinks down under the gazes of her teammates. She looks down to avoid their gazes and starts to speak. - um, It, It¡¯s not an illusion, illusions can be seen by everyone, and can be detected through an electromagnetic spectrum scan, it¡¯s more accurate to call this a hallucination- - were they perhaps drugged in some way?- -No, miss, we have been observing the fight from the start and we can confidently say they weren¡¯t- Zeva asks and the soldier responds. Claus¡¯s lips curl up from amusement. -fascinating, I wonder what they did- ************************************** -get a hold of yourselves, they are fake find the real one, he must be hiding somewhere- Sir Herman shouts at the rest of the royal guards while his Girin shoots fire at a group of Kens. ~pffft, thank you for stating the obvious, dumbass~ A Ken sitting on a tree branch behind Herman says while laughing. ~of course, it¡¯s all fake but that¡¯s not the point~ Herman flinches as he hears one of the Kens talk from inside the fire caused by his Girin. the group of Kens walks out of the flames calmly, and seemingly unaffected by its heat. A Ken lands on the head of his Girin and his lips curl up into a smug smile. ~the point is, even if you know, are you going to believe your deduction or your lying eyes ~ The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The Ken on Herman¡¯s Girin twists his torso and delivers a powerful punch to Herman¡¯s head. The fist seemingly phases through the helmet and hits Herman¡¯s head directly causing his head to jerk back from the pain. Groan! Herman groans from the pain and then swings his halberd to cut the Ken on his Girin in half but the halberd simply phases through the blonde guy as though he is a ghost. -Sir Herman, we should just burn down the forest we won¡¯t be able to find the real one otherwise- One of the royal guards shouts while dodging three Kens jumping at him from three different sides. A ken falls out of the sky at the royal guard and kicks him in the chest causing him to almost fall off his Girin. ~pffft, you can do so if you want but even if you do, you won¡¯t be able to find the real me ~ ten more Kens rush toward the royal guard but before they can attack him a second royal guard rushes to him with his Girin and deploys an aether shield to protect his teammate. The ten Kens run through the aether shield as though it doesn¡¯t exist and deliver a multitude of kicks and punches to the two royal guards. -no, we won¡¯t do something barbaric like burning the forest, we are humans, do you want us to be as savage as the invaders- Herman shouts as he evades the Kens rushing at him from all directions. -besides- Herman looks at one of the Kens ¨C although I don¡¯t know how you are able to make us feel the pain, it¡¯s clear that you can¡¯t do any real damage, that¡¯s likely why you are limiting yourself to punches and kicks, to hide the fact that your attacks don¡¯t acutely cause any damage - All the Kens stop and turn to look at Herman with a look of amazement. They start to clap and one of them starts to speak. ~very impressive Mister Royal Guard, I didn¡¯t expect you to figure that out so quickly, however, ~ A wicked grin forms on the Kens¡¯ lips. ~even if you know that it doesn¡¯t mean you won¡¯t feel it, all you accomplished is stopping me from holding back ~ All the Kens pull out swords from seemingly nowhere. One of the Kens runs at Herman and swings the sword at him. Herman moves to the side to dodge the blade but a different Ken that appeared out of nowhere swings his sword down and cuts Herman¡¯s arm off. -AAAAAAAAAAAHH- Herman¡¯s arm falls to the ground and he grits his teeth from the pain as a blood fountain comes out of his shoulder. -haaa, haaa- Herman''s breaths is heavy but he remains calm. -even if my eyes lie and even if it hurts, I know my arm is still there and wasn¡¯t cut, you didn¡¯t accomplish anything you are just wasting time- Herman¡¯s eyes grow wide from shock as soon as his words leave his mouth and he realizes the blonde guy¡¯s true goal. He looks up to see one of the Kens grinning wickedly at him. ~that¡¯s right mister royal guard, I am wasting time~ CRACK CRACK ~you see my plan was never to kill you, well, at least not personally ~ Herman can see it. Far in the distance past the blonde guy¡¯s shoulder, the massive metallic cocoon is cracked. ~ unfortunately for you and fortunately for me, you realized that a little too late Mister Royal Guard ~ SIZZL! Magma starts to flow out of the cracks in the metallic cocoon. THUD! THUD! Loud noises of metal colliding with metal start to come out of the cocoon before a massive claw breaks out of the cocoon causing multiple metallic chucks to fall onto the ground. Each chunk of metal causes a small earthquake when it collides with the ground. Herman slams his jaws together and freezes in place completely forgetting about his arm as he locks eyes with the massive beast staring at it from inside the cocoon through one of the cracks. ~now~ the blonde guy speaks causing the royal guards to momentarily shift their gazes from the metallic cocoon to him. Ken grins wickedly at them and extends his hand toward them in a theatrical manner. ~ Royal guards, please kindly surrender your souls~ A second claw breaks through the cocoon and the beast starts to pull itself out. ~ I need them for a certain ritual you see ~ -w, what kind of demon are you? ¨C One of the royal guards mutters with a shaking voice. The blonde guy pouts and crosses his arms. ~rude, I am not a demon, I am a virtuous knight helping his na?ve lady~ The blonde guy smiles benignly. ~ let¡¯s not delay the hell beast¡¯s meal anymore~ a massive head with a long snout comes out of the metallic cocoon. It lost its tusks and horns and became a smooth reptilian head with jagged teeth. The massive beast uses its claws to break the cocoon apart revealing its massive metallic body. Its bear like body was gone and replaced with a smooth lean and long body with even longer limbs that ended in sharp non-retractable claws, and a powerful dragon like tail that is as long as the rest of its massive body. The now free Bulgasari swings Its tail to the side gently while eyeing its prey. BOOOOOOM The gentle swing travels down its whip like tail causing a sonic boom. -gulps- Herman gulps and shouts his orders at his men -activate invisibility spells quickly- The royal guards raise their halberds and they soon vanish from view. The blonde guy smiles benignly and shakes his head. ~ I am afraid I can¡¯t let you escape; I really need those souls you see, Daxia please proceed ~ Herman notices something quickly dart at a terrifying speed across the forest back and forth away from them. It was too fast for his eyes to see but it was picked by his gravitational sensors and only his gravitational sensors. That¡¯s because the thing caused gravitational waves behind it. That of course was Daxia using her dokkaebi mask to zoom across the forest to create ripples in gravity. The ripples in gravity stretch and compress space causing the invisibility spells to take a glitch-like appearance revealing the positions of the royal guards. Herman gulps as he realizes his body is now visible and raises his head up to look at the Bulgasari in the distance. BOOOOOOM! With another sonic boom, the Bulgasari vanishes from Herman¡¯s view and appears inches away from him with its jaws wide open. ~bon appetit, Bulgasari ~ Ken says with a benign smile. Chapter 48 They ended up blowing up the forest Chapter 48 They ended up blowing up the forest CRUNCH! The jaws of the Bulgasari slam shut on Herman. The blood of the royal guard and his Girin scatter in the air while his armor and weapon get absorbed by the Bulgasari. The remaining royal guards freeze from shock while their Girins quickly fly away to distance themselves from the massive predator. The beast turns its head, his eyes lock onto its next target. BOOOOM! A powerful sonic boom shakes the forest and the Bulgasari vanishes. The royal guards quickly scan the forest looking for the massive beast only to find him swallowing another one of their colleagues. -snap out of it- The most senior of the royal guards after Herman shouts. - stick to the plan, use mist instead of invisibility- The remaining royal guards quickly shake away their shock and raise their halberds. The gems on their halberds release a serene blue light and clouds of mist descend on the forest to block the Bulgasari¡¯s vision. the metallic beast raises its head and looks around in confusion. A slime like white material slowly rises from the ground around the Bulgasari to trap it. BOOOM! The metallic beast tries to break through the slime substance using its immense strength and newfound speed but its massive body bounces off of the slime as though it ran into an unmovable wall. The Bulgasari falls backward and finds its body sinking inside the white slime that is rising from the ground below him. ROAR! The metallic beast roars and tries to get out of the slime but every time it tries to pull out the slime hardness around its limbs preventing it from moving. Hidden by the mist, ten of the remaining royal guards draw particles of diamond from deep underground, each particle is only slightly bigger than a grain of sand. The remaining royal guards draw out water from underground and suspend the particles of diamond in the water to create the slime. The mixture of water and diamond of this specific size creates a type of non Newtonian fluid, that is a liquid that hardens when a force is applied to it. ¡®who would have thought that I would live to see the day when a children¡¯s toy is used to subdue a massive beast like this one¡¯ Baek Hyeon, the most senior of the royal guards after Herman wonders to himself as he watches the massive beast struggle against the slime. He recalls when he used to mix cornstarch with water to make a similar slime for his son to play with. The gravity sensors in his armor detect the changes in the gravitational field to construct an image for him of what¡¯s happening inside the dome of white slime. The massive beast opens its mouth and sprays lava at the slime but a portion of the water evaporates creating a layer of steam that protects the rest of the slime from the lava while royal knights replace the lost water. Baek Hyeon watches the massive beast claw, bite, ram into, and spray lava at the slowly rising slime while anxiously fidgeting with his locket necklace. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. As a tradition, each of the royal guards keeps a locket necklace with a picture of those dear to them to remind them of whom they are fighting to protect, for Baek that would be his wife and son. The tradition is believed to have begun during the early days of fighting against the Alien invasion when humans suffered defeat after defeat and many of them wanted to give up. ¡®I hate how slow this method is, but it can¡¯t be helped since diamond forms very deep underground, hopefully, the mist is enough to protect us¡¯ Baek Hyeon¡¯s gravity sensors pick up a powerful twist in the gravitational field indicating the opening of a portal inside the slime dome. ¡®Hmm¡¯ He waits for something or someone to exit the portal but nothing does. ¡®What is happening?¡¯ Of course, something did pass through the portal, but it wasn¡¯t a person. It was the electromagnetic waves created by Celine¡¯s light magic. The Bulgasari watches as a blonde human dressed in all black and wearing glasses manifests above its snout. Celine then projects feelings of calmness and safety into the brain of the Bulgasari letting it associate those feelings with the figure of the blonde human. The copy of Ken smiles at the metallic beast and opens its mouth. ~my dear Bulgasari, my perfect creation, you are almost complete, it¡¯s now time for you to learn magic. ~ Using Celine¡¯s light magic as a medium, Ken begins to download knowledge of magic and how to use Grimoires into the Bulgasari¡¯s mind. the Bulgasari is not a very smart animal, its intelligence could be compared to a smart dog or a slightly dumb crow, however, despite that, it would be able to use magic. That is because the Grimoires that Ken prepared for it are very easy to use, they were made to be able to activate quickly and with very simple movements, not to mention they are very powerful, after all, they were the royal guards'' grimoires. As soon as Ken finishes downloading the knowledge into the Bulgasari¡¯s mind, the metallic beast opens its massive jaw. Deep inside its mouth, twelve gems emit a serene emerald glow. The gems used to be part of the dead royal guards'' halberds but were absorbed into the Bulgasari when it absorbed the halberds. The royal guards'' eyes grow wide as they feel powerful earth magic wrestling with them for control over the diamond particles. A large hole opens in the slime dome and the Bulgasari walks outside with eyes full of rage. The glow inside its jaws shifts from green to white and a powerful breeze blows away the mist in the forest revealing the locations of the remaining royal guards. -what the hell is happening? ¨C -i-it¡¯s using magic- -how?- Panic and confusion quickly consume the remaining Royal guards. It¡¯s practically impossible to kill the Bulgasari, that is why they didn¡¯t even try to do it, that is why all their training and all their plans focused on subduing it, but even in their worst case scenarios, they never even considered that the beast would use magic. After all, how could it? No matter how powerful it is, at the end of the day, it is just an oversized animal, or at least that¡¯s how it should have been. The metallic beast opens its massive jaws. ROOOOAAAAR It lets out a powerful roar that shakes the forest then the glow in its jaws shifts from white to silver. Following the will of its magic, the Bulgasari¡¯s body takes on a semi liquid form similar to that of mercury, and then hundreds of metallic tentacles fire out of its body and chase after the remaining royal guards. The royal guards quickly run through the sky with their Girins, bobbing and weaving to dodge the incoming tentacles. -subjugation became impossible ¨C Baek Hyeon shouts at the remaining Royal Guards. -we have to lure it away from the city - ~wow, look at these fools~ Baek¡¯s new orders catch Ken¡¯s attention but as he is using his mind to control Celine¡¯s magic, his copy sitting on the Bulgasari¡¯s head begins to say his inner thoughts out loud. ~I can¡¯t believe they are still fighting even when victory is clearly impossible just to protect a random city, I didn¡¯t even plan to attack the city in the first but just because they are afraid I might do it, they are still fighting ~ A royal guard gets caught by the tentacles. He lets out a short sigh. ~haaa, this is why emotions are stupid, just because of that fear they will all die, well, not that I am complaining, the more of them that die the stronger my Bulgasari becomes, and the more souls I have for the ritual. ~ Another Royal Guard is caught and swallowed. -E eleven- Baek¡¯s shout grabs Ken¡¯s attention again causing him to narrow his eyes. ~ E eleven not plan E eleven? Interesting, I don¡¯t recognize that code ~ Ken watches as the royal guards summon large metallic spikes and fire them at the Bulgasari. Of course, they have no effect, not only that the Bulgasari absorbs them and gets excited and chases after the royal guards. ~hm, is it just to lure it? ~ The excited Bulgasari ignores the Royal guards and becomes focused on absorbing the metal. The royal guards continue to fire metallic spikes at the Bulgasari as they lure it away from the city. ~ E eleven, E eleven, what could it be? I know Plan E stands for elimination ~ Sizzle. ~hm? ~ A faint sizzling sound catches Ken¡¯s attention. He looks around to find the source of it but can only see the royal guards continuing their futile struggle against the Bulgasari. Sizzle. Finally, he sees it. A small flicker of smoke comes out of a metal spike when it touches a drop of the slime that was on the Bulgasari¡¯s body. ~what is that?... wait! ~ Ken finally realizes what it is. ~ E eleven, element eleven, Sodium!~ Ken quickly looks at the Bulgasari which is happily absorbing as many metallic spikes as it can. ~uh, oh~ -water- Baek Hyeon shouts and all the remaining royal guards fire as much water as they can at the Bulgasari. The water reacts violently with the sodium metal causing hundreds nay thousands of explosions to erupt all over the Bulgasari¡¯s body. -I am sorry Herman, we ended up blowing up the forest ¨C The blinding light of the explosions consumes the forest. Chapter 49 Lion of God Ariel (2) Chapter 49 Lion of God Ariel (2) Below the Bulgasari¡¯s metallic cocoon. ~ Daxia shadow magic~ Ken shouts and quickly pulls out the demon Skull. Nanobots flood out of the demon Skull and form a thin wall above the hole Ken, Daxia, and Celine are hiding in. Earlier, when Daxia was using the dokkaebi mask to generate the gravity waves to disrupt the royal guards¡¯ invisibility magic, she had moved Ken, Celine and herself below the cocoon to hide from the royal guards. Daxia creates a wall of darkness using shadow magic below Ken¡¯s nanobot wall. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Thousands upon thousands of explosions erupt one after the other. the explosions start small but quickly grow in strength, each one exposes more of the metal to the water causing the following explosion to be many magnitudes stronger than the last. Metallic chunks get flung in the air propelled by the explosions before raining down on the forest like flaming meteorites falling from heaven. Many of the metallic chunks are themselves made of Sodium and like ticking time bombs they explode once they touch any water causing further mayhem and destruction upon the once peaceful forest. Far up in the sky, far above the massive Bulgasari and even above raining down meteorites, a portal opens. A curtain of darkness spreads from the portal and swallows up the hellish scene below, and then. Silence. All the noise disappears. All the explosions stop as though they never started. All the flames die out. Everything was swallowed by the darkness. -children, children, children- A calm and mocking voice coming out of the portal breaks the silence. -you can play but you can¡¯t disrupt Harmony- The speaker is talking in a calm voice but his voice can be clearly heard all over the forest as it is amplified by sound magic. -do you have any idea, how many species are only native to Kim Sungta and would¡¯ve been endangered by this little trick of yours ¨C A golden armor floats down from the portal. Its lion head shaped helmet is crowned with a brilliantly glowing mane made of fire and the number 00 is written on its chest. The lion of God Ariel has descended upon the battlefield. Nine more armored individuals come out of the portal and float next to the golden lion. The curtain of darkness is connected to the hand of the one closest to the golden lion, the number 01 is written on his chest. The curtain of darkness recedes back into Davis¡¯ hand revealing the remaining royal guards and the remains of the Bulgasari or to be more accurate the buddle of liquid metal covering the forest floor with the occasional blocks of metal randomly scattered around. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Baek, the most senior of the remaining royal guards, looks up at the firey lion in the sky with a gaze full of hatred and contempt. - dogs of the invaders, I should have known you are the ones behind this, don¡¯t think you can weaken Kim Sungta with this scheme of yours, life is on our side and we will definitely win ¨C The man inside the golden armor speaks with an amused voice. -although I assure you we are on neither side and that we are only here to protect harmony, I think you are mistaken about who benefits from our arrival- -pffft- Zeva, the one on the other side of the golden lion and with the number 02 on her chest, snickers at the royal guards. -the idiots can¡¯t tell we saved their lives- Davis points down at the buddle of liquid metal and opens his mouth. -I am sure you of all people know that the Bulgasari is as close to immortality as any organic being could be and that attack of yours would have done nothing but buy a few minutes till it recovered but that would have been at the cost of putting many creatures in the endangered species list- Now that the buddle is no longer covered by darkness, it has started to gather together around a single point to reform the Bulgasari. Davis looks down at Baek. -aren¡¯t you the ones who always brag about how humans are much more noble and much more righteous than the other species, how could such righteous beings do such a thing? ¨C Rather than a tone of mockery or sarcasm, Davis¡¯ tone was one of scolding. Like an elder scolding the younger generation for failing to live up to the ideals of the previous generation. Due to Davis¡¯ old age he had witnessed and taken part in many battles against the humans of Kim Sungta, and although he strongly disagreed with their views and beliefs, he had always respected their honor and righteousness even if that righteousness came from a false sense of superiority. -if my memory serves me correctly, your rules of the battlefield included never harming a tree, wild animal, or livestock, never damaging a home, or a place of worship, and never killing a child, an elder, a mother, a man of faith, or one who can¡¯t or refuses to fight, aren¡¯t these the values that make you better than the other species? ¨C -tsk- Baek clicks his tongue and looks away in shame and the remaining royal guards avoid Davis¡¯ gaze. - the beast somehow learned magic, and we had no other choice ¨C Davis shakes his head refusing to accept the royal guards¡¯ excuse after all he has seen the old humans give up their lives to uphold these values against far worse situations than the current one. He opens his mouth to scold the royal guards again but the golden lion places his hand on Davis¡¯ shoulder to stop him. -it¡¯s alright Davis, remember this one wasn¡¯t supposed to lead, leadership defaulted to him because the one who was supposed to lead had already given up his life to uphold those values- The mention of Herman and the comparison made between him and Herman stings Baek and hurts his pride making him wonder if he should have acted differently. Should he have thought of a different plan? but what if the other plan failed and he died along with his men? So what? What even is the value of life if he will be looked down upon by those vile invaders? What is the value of life if he shamed humanity and tarnished the honor his ancestors struggled for thousands of years to uphold? What¡¯s worse is what if this plan failed and the Bulgasari still killed him and his men? Then he would have shamed humanity for no reason at all. How would he face his ancestors in heaven when he dies? Would he even get to heaven if this plan of his wasn¡¯t stopped by the invaders? A far greater shame descends on Baek as he realizes that the invaders didn¡¯t just save his life, they saved his afterlife. The golden lion turns to look at the royal guards. -but you are correct, the Bulgasari became too strong for this environment, its existence here is a threat to harmony in and of itself, so rejoice, we will solve your problem for you and relocate the Bulgasari to a suitable environment. ¨C Baek glares at the golden lion. - you have to be delusional if you think we will accept help from the invaders- -pffft- Claus, the man inside the golden armor, laughs. -that¡¯s funny I don¡¯t recall asking for your permission- he raises his arm. The royal guards immediately tense up and raise their weapons preparing for battle. Ten of them spin their halberds causing the gems on their halberds to glow red preparing to attack but even before they can activate their magic, twenty six portals appear, one in front of each of the remaining royal guards. The twenty six portals move forward swallowing the twenty six royal guards and forcefully teleporting them to the sky above the capital of Kim Sungta. -hmm, red glow? that means fire right? I wonder what spell they were going to use- The golden lion shrugs his shoulder and then continues. -oh well, I guess we will never know- He then looks down at the forest. - alright, now my favorite group of thieves, I have to say I was very surprised and very disappointed, I thought you were some kind of pacifists considering how much you avoided harming others till now, I don¡¯t know what made you change your mind but you went too far, you should have known I can¡¯t let you kill all the royal guards, that would disrupt the balance of power and thus disrupt harmony- No one comes out. -is that how you are going to play? ¨C No one comes out. -alright, I guess, I will take the Bulgasari and leave- Claus waits for the Bulgasari to fully reform. Soon the massive beast reforms and lets out a powerful roar. WHISTLE. -look over here big guy- Claus whistles and then calls for the beast to catch its attention. The massive beast looks up at the golden lion and growls then with a powerful sonic boom it lunges at the golden lion, but suddenly the golden lion vanishes from its vision and is replaced by a dark abyss. A massive portal had opened and swallowed the Bulgasari then released him a small distance backward in the same line. Due to the Bulgasari momentum from its jump, it found itself endlessly traveling between the two portals. Then, the two portals grow in size and bend toward each other until their edges touch sealing away any remaining hope the Bulgasari had of escaping the loop. Each portal takes on the form of half a sphere of the spherical spatial prison. -alright, we are done here for today time to leave- Strike team one starts to fly away with the spatial prison holding the Bulgasari flying behind them. A pissed off blonde guy dressed in all black and wearing glasses materializes in front of them. ~give me back my Bulgasari ~ Claus¡¯ lips curl up into a satisfied smile under Ariel¡¯s helmet. Chapter 50 Artifacts of the Messiah Chapter 50 Artifacts of the Messiah location: an underground bunker recently built under the Edie family mansion, Enlan, Britannia Date: the 12th of June 5027 -the mighty King Arthur was a great man, he was skilled, wise, righteous, and above all else he was the example for knights, he was the knight of knights, he was the knight in shining armor- -ah, okay, why are you telling me this, father?- Eidde Patton ignores his son¡¯s question and continues. - but despite his many skills and even more numerous virtues, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to defend and unite Britannia with his strength alone, he had three treasures that aided him, the three artifacts of the Messiah ¨C Eddie Patton and his son Poet are walking in a long hallway inside their newly built bunker. Poet¡¯s eyes drift around while listening to his father observing the bunker. The bunker looks very sturdy, although Poet doesn¡¯t know what the walls are made of, he at least knows each one is many inches thick and made of multiple layers of different materials and the outermost layer was of solid steel. The bunker also looked very primitive. It has no electronics in it, no cameras, no computers, not even digital Grimmiores, nothing for the world government to hack or use to spy on them. You would think the bunker was built by cavemen if not for the limited forms of technology in it but even those limited forms of technology are all analog technology and thus couldn¡¯t be hacked. ¡®I guess the visit from agent Double O really shocked him¡¯ Poet thinks to himself while looking at his father¡¯s back. -the first artifact was the spear of destiny, blessed by the Messiah¡¯s blood, the spear could control fate itself and King Arthur used it to determine the outcomes of battle- Poet raises an eyebrow at what his father said and decides to pay attention for a moment. -the second artifact is the Holy Grail, a cup that the Messiah used to drink from, which gave it the power to grant immortality- Poet tilts his head. -okay I know that one is not true, if it granted immortality King Arthur would still be alive today right?- Patton lets out a slight chuckle. -no, Poet that¡¯s not what I meant, it doesn¡¯t grant eternal life, hmmm, I suppose I should¡¯ve used the term invincibility, although that wouldn¡¯t be accurate either, you see the Messiah had a miraculous healing ability that could heal any wound or illness no matter how severe, it could even bring the dead back to life- The two of them arrive at a large door. A mural of the fatherless child sitting on a throne with his legs tucked in and his wings bent down is carved on the large door. A look of sorrow and emptiness can be seen on the angel like child¡¯s face. - you can think of the Holy Grail¡¯s power as having the Messiah¡¯s miraculous healing being constantly applied to your body instantly healing it from any injury or illness you receive, it was thanks to its power that King Arthur was nearly invincible and could shrug off any attack, but it won¡¯t save you from dying from old age, the angel of death comes for us all- Patton kneels in front of the mural. To Poet it looks like he is praying or paying respects but in truth, he only took that position for his body to keep its balance and not fall over when he leaves it. Patton¡¯s astral body leaves his physical body and walks through the wall, phasing through it like a ghost and entering a hidden sealed off control room. Once inside the room, Patton uses his earth magic to pull a lever Although the astral body can¡¯t interact with the physical realm, he can still use his magic to affect the physical realm. The sounds of massive spinning gears begin to echo in the bunker. Patton returns to his body and stands up. -finally, there is of course the mythical Sword Excalibur which King Arthur used to accomplish many feats, and its scabbard that protected King Arthur from wounds- The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. -wait, hold on, one of those is not like the rest, this one is a lot more vague, You also didn¡¯t mention how it was blessed by the Messiah and I am pretty sure the power of the scabbard overlaps with the holy grail- Patton chuckles slightly then turns to face Poet. -that¡¯s true you got me, there are no remaining records about the true origins of Excalibar, the extent of its abilities, or how it was blessed by the Messiah, but just because they don¡¯t exist now four thousand years in the future, doesn¡¯t mean some didn¡¯t exist back then, they were probably just lost to time- -wait, so the sword might not even exist- - no, although there are no records of its origins, there are plenty of records of King Arthur using the sword so we know it exists and we can always find out what it can do after we find it- The door before them slowly opens. A massive warehouse can be seen behind the door. Thousands of antique items, ancient books, documents, and artifacts are stored inside. -you want to find the Artifacts of the Messiah? Is that why you hired all those bounty hunters and had them collect this junk for you?- -careful boy, you should never call your products junk even if they are, you need to praise them as though they are treasures so you can sell them, besides, although most of these are junk, some of them are real deal like this one- Patton picks up and jade colored blade and lightly swings it. A powerful and sharp gust of mind manifests and flies toward a wall. Poet shrugs his shoulders. -okay a sword that can create wind, that¡¯s cool but we have mag- Poet flinches and slams his jaws shut as he sees a deep mark similar to a sword slash appear on the thick metallic wall. -this is the grass cutter, the weapon of the emperor of the land of the rising sun and if we are lucky maybe we can also find the flaming blue phoenix blade of god emperor T. - Patton places the jade colored blade back in its place. -treasures like this one we will keep for ourselves and the junk we will sell for profit but yes the main goal is to find the Artifacts of the Messiah- -okay, but why? And more importantly, why are you telling me this?- Eddie Patton gently smiles at his son. -I am telling you this because you are my son and because we are the descendants of King Arthur, it is both our duty and birthright to find and use the Artifacts of the Messiah ¨C *********************** location: the forest outside the Bulgasari¡¯s cave, Kim Sungta Date: the 12th of June 5027 ~give me back my Bulgasari ~ The copy of Ken says while glaring at the members of Strike Team One. -hmm- Claus strokes his armored chin while observing the copy of Ken. -is that what you did to the Royal guards?- Although he can see and hear Ken, Ariel¡¯s sensors aren¡¯t picking him up and are only showing empty air in front of them. -how are you doing it?- ~as if I would tell you? ~ The copy of Ken quickly rushes at the golden lion. -hmm- Fire rushes out of the golden lion forming a ball of fire around him. Once the ball of fire forms the copy of Ken disappears. -fascinating, that means you are firing something at me, and if that thing can¡¯t reach me I won¡¯t see the hallucination ¨C Claus removes the ball of fire around him and the copy of Ken reappears in front of him. ~tsk, how annoying~ Claus¡¯s lips curl up from amusement as he watches Ken becoming more and more pissed off. -How about we don¡¯t waste each other''s time and you don¡¯t try that again- The golden lion crosses his arms while looking at the copy of Ken. -so? Why did you resort to killing the Royal guards? and don¡¯t tell me it was just to empower the Bulgasari ¨C Ken shrugs his shoulders. ~would you believe me if I told you I needed to collect their souls for a ritual to extend the life span?~ -pffft, come on you didn¡¯t even try this time, at least the lie you used at the Aether port was believable ¨C ~that¡¯s what I thought~ -well what is the truth? ¨C ~that was the truth~ Ken shrugs his shoulders again. -you know a joke is not funny the second tim- Claus recalls reading about something similar. In the past, before the current world president, President Frederick, took office, a large group of elites consisting of politicians, government workers, and businessmen were kidnapping children to conduct rituals to extend their lives. When President Frederick took office he immediately purged all of them. When questioned, the group said that they were taught the ritual by a covenant of witches that somehow managed to evade the eyes of the world government and called themselves the order of the Blue Phoenix. The funny thing is the ritual didn¡¯t even work, it didn¡¯t do anything, so the group of elites was used as pawns by the witches but gained nothing from it but empty promises. The child kidnapping stopped for a while after President Frederick¡¯s purge but it soon restarted indicating that the order of Blue Phoenix is still out there somewhere, although it was on a much smaller scale, indicating that they also became much more careful. Claus stares at Ken with cold eyes. his usual joyful demeanor completely vanishes. - are you working with the order of the Blue Pheonix?- ~what? Are you insane? Of course not, even I am not that evil you know, besides, do the royal guards look like children to you?~ Claus lets out a sigh and his demeanor goes back to normal. -yeah, you are right, that¡¯s my bad I shouldn¡¯t have suggested you work for those devils, I take that back- ~pffft~ Ken laughs at the golden lion. ~oh man, if you hate the order of the blue phoenix so much, you are in for a big surprise in the future, I hope I will be there to see the look on your face ~ The golden lion raises his head and stares at Ken. -what is that supposed to mean?- Instead of getting an answer, Claus watches as Ken¡¯s face fills with rage and concern then he randomly starts shouting. The shouts appear random at first but it soon becomes clear it¡¯s one side of a conversation that he is likely having where his real body is hiding. ~what did you say?~ ~panic?~ ~what is happening there? ~what do you mean she lost an arm?~ And then it happened. It only lasted for a second. No, it was only a fraction of a second. A wave of dark energy coated the mountain and the heaven above in complete darkness. A fraction of a second later the wave of darkness disappears, and like an artist dragging an eraser across a beautiful painting, everything that was in the path of darkness vanished from existence, leaving behind nothing but particles of frozen dust. WOOOOOOSH. A powerful and chillingly cold gust of wind rushes in as reality tries to catch up to the damage caused by the wave of decay. The remainder of the mountain and the immediate surrounding area flash freezes. a bone chilling coldness creeps up the spines of the strike team members as their nerves finally catch up to the sudden drop in temperature. The members of Strike Team One watch the frozen dust gently floating down with wide eyes and frozen stiff bodies. Their minds have yet to catch up to the reality before them. Chapter 51 A lion’s dual loyalty between God and harmony Chapter 51 A lion¡¯s dual loyalty between God and harmony -¡­..- The members of Strike Team One stare at the frozen dust gently falling down from heaven. -w,what was that?- -I can¡¯t believe it, I witnessed the holy magic- Zim asks before turning to look at Davis along with the rest of the strike team members. -you know what that was?- Zeva asks after noticing Davis¡¯s gaze. While most of the strike team members have gazes filled with shock and fear, there is no fear in Davis¡¯s gaze. No, there was fear in it but the fear was overshadowed by the reverence and joy filling his eyes. -I have never seen it before, I only read about it in ancient books but I am certain that was the highest form of water magic, the magic of death, the holy magic of decay, it has been seen for over two thousand years, the last - -enough Davis, we have no time for you to gush over this, we need to move immediately- The golden lion cuts Davis off and quickly flies toward the frozen remains of what used to be a mountain a moment ago. The strike team members quickly fly after the golden lion. A copy of Ken materializes in front of the strike team members blocking their path. ~where are you going?~ -out of my way Ken, can¡¯t you see I have a bigger issue to deal with?- The golden lion shouts and flies through the copy of Ken. ~ what the hell are you going to do? if she wanted you dead, you would be dead, no portaling away out of this one~ Ken¡¯s words make the golden lion stop in his tracks. -she? You know who did this?- Dots quickly connect in Claus¡¯s mind recalling Davis¡¯s praise for Saiko¡¯s water magic back at the aether port and what he said a moment ago. The golden lion quickly turns his head to look at the copy of Ken. -was that Saiko?- ~you don¡¯t have to worry, Unlike me, she is an actual pacifist, this was a mistake and it was partly my fault, if you let this go, I can promise you it won¡¯t happen again, but if you go now and decide to poke the bear while it¡¯s agitated it might happen again~ Claus squints his eyes while looking at Ken from inside Ariel¡¯s helmet. -do you have any idea how big of an ask you are demanding from me right now?- Ken nods his head. ~I am aware, but let¡¯s be honest with each other here, you are not as loyal to your mission as you think you are, if you were, you would have tried to kill us, but you didn¡¯t, did you think I wouldn¡¯t notice you have been avoiding lethal force, you want answers right? If you let this go, I will give you the answers you want~ The golden lion turns to face the copy of Ken. -why would you give me the answers now when you kept it hidden all this time? ¨C Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Ken shakes his head. ~you are mistaken, so let me set the record straight for you, Saiko wanted to keep it hidden from you and she wanted that to keep you safe and to avoid causing chaos in the strike force, and yes I know how crazy it sounds for her to worry about the ones hunting her, it boggles my mind too you know, but it is the truth, I, on the other hand, don¡¯t care, in fact, the more chaos you cause, the better it is for me ~ Claus raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. - you have a unique way of asking for favors for sure- ~hey, I am just saying that it benefits me too for you to know the truth especially if you grant me this favor~ -haaa- Claus lets out a short sigh. -alright, go on ¨C Ken¡¯s lips curl up into a satisfied smile. He recalls the map he had Daxia look at to determine the locations of the living weapons a while back, then, using Celine¡¯s magic as a medium, he projects the map and the coordinates of the living weapon facilities into Claus¡¯s mind. The golden lion blinks repeatedly as he notices information seemingly downloading into his mind. -how did you- ~it¡¯s the same thing I have been doing since the beginning~ Ken cuts Claus off and continues. ~from this moment on, you might want to be careful of what you say~ Claus raises an eyebrow at Ken but says nothing. ~ you can visit any of these locations to find the answers you want but before you do that I recommend you secure all those you care about because they will become targets to get you ~ -are you sure you are not just trying to buy time?- ~pffft~ Claus¡¯s question causes Ken to laugh. ~that is a part of it, yeah, but you will regret it if you don¡¯t follow my advice ~ -why not just tell me now? ¨C ~where is the fun in that? Besides you didn¡¯t believe me earlier so you definitely won¡¯t believe me now if you don¡¯t see it with your own eyes, my only regret is I won¡¯t be there to see the look on your face ~ -huh? That again? Is this related to the order of blue phoenix?¨C ~there is only one way for you to find out ~ Ken says while smiling at the golden lion. Claus lets out a sigh. -strike team one we are leaving ¨C -huh? You are going to listen to him?- -it¡¯s alright Zim, trust your captain- Jorden places his arm on Zim¡¯s shoulder to calm him down. Zim looks at the rest of the strike team members with a confused look, but rather than getting answers his confusion only grows more as they all nod at him seemingly agreeing with Claus. The golden lion starts to fly away and the spatial prison holding the Bulgasari flies behind him. The rest of the strike team members follow behind the golden lion. Except for Zim, they all had no signs of hesitation. ~that¡¯s weird~ Ken watches the strike team members flying away with an unsettled look. ~oh right, I almost forgot~ He turns to the golden lion. ~ can you leave the Bulgasari as a part of the favor?~ -of course, not- Claus ignores Ken and increases his speed. ~hmmm~ Inside the hole below the Bulgasari¡¯s shell. The lyrebird lands on Ken¡¯s head and looks down at him. -why the unsettled look? Even if you lost the Bulgasari, everything mostly worked according to your plan and you got everything you wanted right? - ~huh? Who lost the Bulgasari?~ -what?- Ken chuckles and then looks at the bird. ~did you know? The real body of the Bulgasari is acutely very small, small enough to fit in my palm acutely, at least when it¡¯s born that is, then it starts absorbing metals and adding them onto its body but you can think of all that massive metallic body as a shell that surrounds the real body and the Bulgasari is not at all harmed by any damage that occurs to the shell, that is part of why it¡¯s very hard to kill~ -what are you saying?- ~I am saying that when the strike team members arrived, I used Celine¡¯s magic to tell the Bulgasari to gather the important parts of royal guards¡¯ armor and weapons and then hide underground~ -then what did the strike team members catch?- Ken¡¯s lips curl up into a proud smile enjoying the bird¡¯s surprise. ~they caught the shell, I had the Bulgasari move its shell with earth magic as bait~ -then why did you try to stop them?- ~pffft, I was never trying to stop them, it¡¯s called acting mate, I was afraid they might suspect something was off if I didn¡¯t try to stop them ~ Daxia starts to chuckle. -now that is the Ken I know- -hold on, hold on, then again, if everything worked as you wanted it to why the unsettled look?- ~it¡¯s the strike team members'' reaction~ Celine raises an eyebrow at Ken and asks. -what was wrong with their reaction?- ~they accepted too quickly, I expected to debate with them more and I had more cards to play but it went a lot smoother than it should have and it¡¯s bothering me, at least more of them should have reacted as the little boy reacted, but the fact that they didn¡¯t, tells me they all know something that he doesn¡¯t know and more importantly that I also don¡¯t know~ The two women and lyrebird stare at Ken in silence. A blue holographic window opens between them displaying Rin sitting on a large chair sideways. -now that, that is the Ken I know- Inside the hideout of the followers of nature. A young boy''s loud laughter can be heard echoing throughout the hideout. The young boy, Vioarr, lies on his back on the floor. His eyes sparkled under his hood with excitement, an excitement that he hadn¡¯t felt in ages. -impressive, very impressive Ken ¨C Vioarr¡¯s lips curl up into a smile. -it looks like, I will be visiting you sooner than expected Fritz and I will have three new friends with me, I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do- Vioarr¡¯s vision shits to that of a small squirrel sitting on a branch of a tree in the garden of the presidential palace. The squirrel watches President Frederick through a window as he dutifully works as always. Vioarr¡¯s gaze becomes saddened. -it¡¯s a shame what you became my friend- Chapter 52 What you lack is Empathy Chapter 52 What you lack is Empathy SHshshshSH SHshshshSH ~tsk, what¡¯s with all this annoying rain~ Ken grumbles as he drives the car toward the frozen remains of the mountain. Heavy rain had started soon after the wave of decay and was quickly flooding the forest. The ground which was once solid, is now full of mud and deep ponds. -we need to move quickly; this looks like it will turn into a flood- Celine says as she looks up at the dark clouds above. The Bulgasari, which is now the size of a slightly big house cat and sitting on Ken¡¯s lap, tries to bite the emergency brakes but gets smacked on the head by Ken. ~stop trying to eat my car already ~ -pfft, I didn¡¯t know you were an animal person- Daxia chuckles while watching Ken. The Bulgasari is sitting on Ken¡¯s lap while the lyrebird has been practically glued to Ken¡¯s head all day. ~I promise you I am not~ Celine turns to look at Ken. -well you practically made the Bulgasari imprint on you, so you reap what you sow ¨C ~okay, I get the Bulgasari, what about the bird? ~ The lyrebird looks down at Ken and opens its mouth. -It¡¯s not my fault that your hair looks like a nest- Suddenly everyone goes silent and the Bulgasari begins to whimper as a terrible sense of dread overwhelms everyone. Celine and Daxia¡¯s alert level goes through the roof and they frantically begin to scan their surroundings looking for the source. ~relax, I am pretty sure I know what¡¯s the source of this ~ Ken reassures them as he continues to drive toward the center of the frozen ground. Although he is clearly also affected by the sense of dread, he remains calm as though he expected it. Soon, the figure of a girl sitting in the middle of a pile of frozen and chopped up remains that once belonged to the royal guards and their Girins becomes visible to them. The girl closes the book from which she was reading and turns to face them and it becomes clear to them that she is the source of their dread. Saiko squints her eyes as she watches them exit the car. _You are also scared of me? That¡¯s interesting, why are you scared of me?_ Once out of the car, the Bulgasari quickly runs and hides behind Ken. Daxia looks at Saiko then turns to look at Ken. -you know that¡¯s a very good question ¨C ~well~ Ken rubs the back of his head while avoiding Saiko¡¯s gaze. ~it¡¯s an unfortunate side effect of the ritual ~ _please, do explain _ ~haaa~ Ken lets out a sigh. ~well, people think we have five senses but we acutely have a lot more than five, and one of these senses is the one we associate with haunted houses and ghosts and whatnot, you know the one we are currently feeling, though usually it¡¯s not triggered by a ghost or anything, it¡¯s triggered by faulty or exposed wiring ~ Daxia looks at Ken and raises her eyebrow at him. -I am not following, what does that have to do with this?- ~well, if you think about it, that sense isn¡¯t supposed to detect faulty wiring, it¡¯s not like ancient sapiens would have been exposed to the risk of running into random electrical wires, the fact that wires trigger that sense as well is just a funny coincidence ~ Ken looks up at Saiko. ~ for ancient sapiens to develop that sense, they would have had to be exposed to a real and constant danger to their lives, and although no such beings exist today, there are plenty of records of these beings existing in the past, predators, predators that devoured not your body but your very soul. ~ You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Saiko recalls how the ritual made her devour the souls of the royal guards and nods her head. _And you are saying I became one of those creatures, now that¡¯s just perfect, haaa_ Saiko lets out a tired sigh. Daxia smiles at Saiko. - I mean it¡¯s kind of cool, look at the bright side, now you can kill anyone you want- Saiko furrows her brows and looks at Daxia then shouts. _I ALREADY COULD_ She flinches at herself and at her anger. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath pushing her rage back deep inside her mind. _I didn¡¯t need another way, especially not this way_ ~that¡¯s not the point ~ Ken quickly cuts in. ~that¡¯s just another side effect, the point is you can absorb life now, we can extend your life span ~ _oh yeah?_ Saiko sneers at Ken. _and how many lives do you intend to sacrifice to do that this time? _ ~huh? ~ _I, in fact, did devour the souls of the dead royal guards and along with their souls I was able to observe their memories, I know you planned this from the start _ Saiko¡¯s lips curl up slightly as she notices the shock on Ken¡¯s face. _oh, I am guessing that wasn¡¯t part of the plan, I guess, even you can¡¯t think of every outcome, you probably wanted to hide it from me till the end, didn¡¯t you? But you know even without the memories of the guards, I would have suspected something was wrong, it¡¯s not like you not to prepare for something like that, or perhaps you assumed I would be too devasted after I killed the guards that I wouldn¡¯t think about it_ ~ listen, Saiko, it was necessary but it¡¯s over the remaining part doesn¡¯t involve any killing, I promise you ~ _I don¡¯t believe you_ ~huh?~ _I SAID, I DON¡¯T BELIEVE YOU _ Saiko shouts at Ken and glares at him. _Even if, you for some reason aren¡¯t lying this time, I still don¡¯t believe you_ ~but~ Saiko cuts Ken off and continues. _ If I didn¡¯t need your help to save the other living weapons, I would have already left, no more rituals, no more messing with life, if you won¡¯t help me save the other children then I don¡¯t need you _ Saiko extends her arm toward the remains of the royal guards. Black tentacles extend from her hand and grab the remains of the royal guards and their Girins then lift them off the ground. _ I am going to bury the remains of the royal guards, when I am done either we will move together or I will leave alone _ Saiko announces then walks toward the forest with the remains of the royal guards. Daxia watches Saiko leave and then looks at Ken. -well, we definitely come from different worlds ¨C Ken sits down on the floor and tucks his head between his legs before answering. ~no, that¡¯s not the issue, pretty sure even if she was from our world she would act in the same way ~ Daxia looks down at Ken. ¡®I should probably give him some time alone¡¯ She looks at Celine. -we should go help Saiko bury the remains- Celine nods and the two of them walk in the direction Saiko went. As they walk, Daxia notices some lights in the corner of her eyes. These lights were always present when Naoi, the fiery Jinn, communicated with Ken and Saiko. In the past, she didn¡¯t know what the different lights corresponded to and just assumed that all lights corresponded to thoughts and so she had assumed that these lights were Naoi¡¯s thoughts. However. Now that she worked with Ken and Rin to differentiate and classify many of the lights she sees, she can tell that these lights are like none of them, but that doesn¡¯t mean that she doesn¡¯t know what these lights are. In fact, after the events of today, she knows exactly what they are. These are the same type of lights that Ken asked Celine to create with her light magic. ¡®That means rather than becoming visible, Naoi was using these lights to project what he looks like into the minds of Ken and Saiko, that¡¯s why only the two of them can see him¡¯ The moment she has that thought, she notices the lights shift direction and rush toward her, and then she hears his Voice. ¡®that is amazing Daxia, you are only one step away from being able to see me on your own, next you need to learn how to hear colors and how to see sounds, when you do that, your eyes will be able to perceive me.¡¯ Daxia blinks repeatedly. ¡®hear colors, the hell is that crazy ghost going on about?¡¯ Daxia immediately flinches as she realizes she just insulted the multi millennia old reality bending invisible ghost. She braces herself for Naoi''s retaliation but instead, she hears Noai laughing in her mind. -go child and think carefully about what I told you- Ken watches Daxia''s odd behavior then looks up at Naoi. ~I am guessing you are related to that~ Noai nods at Ken and smiles gently. -that is correct, she is a quick learner, I am sure she will be able to see me in no time ¨C ~ why not just tell her? Wouldn¡¯t that be simpler? ~ Noai looks up at the sky. -well, it¡¯s true I could have done that, but we don¡¯t usually value lessons that are easy to learn, if I had to her the answer, she likely wouldn¡¯t ponder it and as such would only comprehend a small part of it, that is if she comprehends it at all ¨C Naoi looks down at Ken. -take yourself for example, I told you why the book won¡¯t answer you, I told you that you are unworthy and that you would immediately resort to murder and that¡¯s exactly what you did ¨C Ken looks at Noai and raises an eyebrow. ~huh? Don¡¯t give me that, if you were really against it, you wouldn¡¯t have told me anything ~ Naoi shakes his head at Ken. -I simply allowed you to make a mistake, that was by no means an endorsement of said mistake, I told you then that the outcome would depend on you ¨C Ken springs up to his feet and shouts at the fiery entity. ~it was the only way ~ Naoi¡¯s lips curl as watches Ken. -oh? Was it really the only way? Or was it the quickest way you found? ¨C Flinch. Ken flinches at Noai¡¯s question but Noai ignores him and continues. -you hit a wall, you didn¡¯t know what¡¯s the difference between a dead soul and a living soul, so instead of taking the time to study it, you decided to simply kill a few souls and have the ritual observe the transformation and copy it, do you truly believe you wouldn¡¯t have been able to figure it out had you spend more than a few hours studying life? You had five years ¨C ~I DON¡¯T HAVE FIVE YEARS ~ Ken shouts at the top of his lungs. ~you know she would have done it again, now that she knows how to do it, the moment we see someone else that is injured she would have done it again~ Noai nods his head at Ken. -indeed, that was a possibility, but you know it was Odin¡¯s attempts to stop Ragnarok that ultimately caused it, your fear, arrogance, and impatience brought upon the outcome you most wanted to avoid, one that you will regret many times in the future - Noai turns away from Ken and looks up at the dark clouds continuing to rage above. -you tend to mock others for being controlled by their emotions, but aren¡¯t you the one who is most controlled by his- Noai glances back at Ken before continuing to watch the sky. -however, you did not fail because you followed your emotions, you failed because you didn¡¯t value the emotions of others as much as your own- Naoi turns to look back at Ken. -what you lack is empathy- The heavy rain continues to fall down endlessly. The element of water was enraged. SHshshshshSH SHshshshshSH Chapter 52.5 Side story: The Fermi paradox (1) Chapter 52.5 Side story: The Fermi paradox (1) Location: true Alfheim Date: xxxx -wake up Elvey, we need to prepare for your brother¡¯s soboa¡¯a- A blonde elf with blue eyes wearing a white tunic calls out as he enters a dark room. Flinches! The elf immediately flinches as he notices a pair of glowing amber eyes staring at him from within the darkness. The pair of glowing eyes leap out of bed and run toward the elf. The light from the hallway illuminates the body attached to the pair of eyes revealing the body of a young light elf boy who looks to be around ten years old. -Soboa¡¯a- The young elf shouts excitedly as he runs past his dad with a wide grin on his face. -haaa- The elf lets out a sigh of relief as soon as he realizes it¡¯s his son. He reaches out and grabs his son¡¯s arm preventing his son from running past him. -where are you going?- The elf boy looks up at his dad with a confused look. -soboa¡¯a?- -aren¡¯t you forgetting something?- -no?- The elf boy tilts his head while looking up at his dad. -shouldn¡¯t you take a shower first?- -oh right! Hehe, be right back- The elf boy runs toward his bathroom excitedly while taking off his clothes. -Tara skirt, Ralph top ¨C The boy calls out as he enters the bathroom. Two articles of clothes respond to his call, fly out of his closet, and join him in the bathroom. -pffft- The elf chuckles to himself as he watches his son. - I will be waiting for you outside- He calls out then turns to look at the clothes his son took off. -now what are you waiting for? Go to the laundry basket- The clothes Elvey took off earlier rise up and fly to the laundry basket. The elf smiles and leaves the room. After a few minutes, Elvey comes out of the bathroom wearing the two Articles of clothes that flew to him earlier. The first one, a long piece of leather with a few metallic segments attached to it, is wrapped around Elvey¡¯s waist forming a skirt that goes down to his knees. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The second one, a piece of cloth that is made from a wolf¡¯s hide, is wrapped around Elvey¡¯s torso taking the shape of a sleeveless shirt with the wolf¡¯s head forming a hood. -Atlee ¨C Elvey calls and a wooden comb flies to his hand which he uses to comb his hair then goes outside. When he goes outside, he sees his dad dragging a large statue of an octopus like creature with numerous arms. The head of the creature has a large mouth with jagged teeth and two eyes positioned at the front of the head like a predator. The forehead of the creature is abnormally large and has a door on it, similar to a carriage door. -Elvey, you are ready, that¡¯s good. ¨C His dad announces, then climbs the large statue and opens the door revealing a circular couch inside the statue¡¯s head. -come- His dad calls after sitting on the couch. Elvey eagerly climbs the statue and sits beside his dad on the couch. -Widu and Cato- His dad calls and a white staff with a crystal at the top and a grimoire fly from the ground to his dad¡¯s hands. -Cato life spells- The book flips open on a chapter titled ¡°life spells¡± The dad raises his staff and crystal glows with a serene sky blue glow. The sky blue light covers the entire statue and then the statue comes to life and starts to move. -I shall name you Eri, now Eri straight ahead ¨C The statue bows then jumps into the air and uses its arms to swing from one enormous tree branch to another. -why do you have to rename it every time dad?- -hm, oh, that¡¯s because every time you inject it with life it¡¯s technically a different creature, it doesn¡¯t keep the memories from the last time it was alive- -then why not keep it alive then?- -well life spells are not easy to get, your great grandma is the only life mage in the whole tribe you know- -but we keep our clothes and the stuff inside the home alive right?- -well, those we use every day so it can¡¯t be helped, but we rarely need to travel long distances like today so keeping Eri alive would be a waste of life- The father and son duo continue their conversation as Eri carries them through the forest, occasionally the father stops the conversation to give Eri directions. Roughly an hour later, Eri arrives at a massive white temple. The temple is built on the edge of a river with half the temple being on land and the other half floats above the water of the river. The father and son duo jump out of Eri¡¯s head. Elvey raises his head up and his eyes widen as he marvels at the massive temple. -waaaaaw- The blonde elf glances down at his son and chuckles. -you like it?- -it looks bigger than I remember ¨C -that¡¯s because it is- The blonde elf pats Elvey¡¯s head and smiles. -every year build upon the temple of life to make it bigger, this way it looks like the temple is growing just like how living creatures grow, it also grows like how our knowledge grows, and every time we learn something new, it gets recorded in the temple of life ¨C -wow ¨C With wondering curious eyes, Elvey holds his father¡¯s hand and the two of them walk inside the temple of life. The two of them are met with a long path that leads to the inner halls of the temple. The path is lined on each side with numerous statues of sphinxes that have the bodies of lions and the heads of rams. As the two of them walk along the path, the eyes of the sphinxes watch them carefully. Elvey hides behind his father trying to avoid the gazes of the sphinxes. The father chuckles and pats his son¡¯s head. -don¡¯t worry Elvey they only attack intruders- The father and son duo soon reach the grand hall. The grand hall is a massive hall that floats above the water of the river. The father and son duo walk to a priest and bow toward him. The priest returns their bow and then smiles at them. -congratulation Ailwyn, I look forward to your son¡¯s Soboa¡¯a, follow me, I have already prepared water from the holy river for you- -thank you, Aldon- The father thanks the priest and then follows him along with Elvey. The priest leads the two of them to a shelf with a single ceramic bottle on it. -thank you again, Aldon, I look forward to seeing you in the Soboa¡¯a- Elvey¡¯s dad when he hears a feminine voice call his name. -Ailwyn, wait- Elvey turns in the direction of the voice. He sees a beautiful woman with silver white hair that looks to be in her early twenties. Her body looks youthful and full of vigor, although her facial expression is- Elvey tilts his head to the side and struggles for a moment trying to figure out what her expression looks like. It looked plank and somewhat tired, not exactly bored An idea finally flashes in Elvey¡¯s mind as he realizes what her expression reminds him of. ¡®it looks like the expression the village elders usually have¡¯ -how may I serve you, great grandmother- Elvey looks at his dad with wide eyes and his jaw drops as he watches his dad respectfully bow to a woman who looks half his age and addresses her as his grandmother. - I am coming with you, I will personally lead your son¡¯s Soboa¡¯a- Elvey¡¯s father raises his head and looks at the woman with surprise. -may I ask why, great grandmother? You normally never lead any Soboa¡¯a- The woman pauses for a moment debating if she should answer. After a moment it seems she came to a conclusion and she gestures to the other priests to leave thee grand hall. The priests quickly follow her command and leave the hall and once they have all left she turns to Elvey¡¯s father and answers his question. -your son was born with decay magic - Chapter 53 The rebirth of the Round Table Chapter 53 The rebirth of the Round Table SHshshshshshSH SHshshshshshSH The sky continues to rain endlessly. Saiko digs the ground using a shovel she made out of ice. Argus¡¯ black slime covers her hand to protect it from frostbite. -you were too harsh on him, you know.- Saiko¡¯s ears twitch and turn backward as she hears Daxia¡¯s voice coming from behind her. She turns her head to see Daxia and Celine walking toward her, then continues digging. _I should have been harsh on the two of you as well_ -huh?- _Although most of what I said was directed at him, that was just how the conversation went, the two of you are equally as guilty, it might have been his plan but the two of you didn¡¯t object to it and you participated in it_ -haaa- Daxia lets out a long sigh. -Saiko, why are you so upset about this? You are a Therian, these people hate you, Do you think anyone in Kim Sungta would be upset if you died? ¨C Saiko look at Daxia and raises an eyebrow at her then points at Celine. Daxia follows Saiko¡¯s finger with her gaze. -no wait, Celine is different, she doesn¡¯t count- Saiko rolls her eyes and then stabs her shovel in the ground then says with a calm voice. _it doesn¡¯t matter if they hate me, we all have our flaws we are all sinners Daxia, but not all sins are worthy of death, that being said_ Her tone of voice slowly rises as the anger that she struggled to push away slowly seeps back in. _ I can tell you about one sin that is definitely worthy of death, that is murder and we all committed it today _ -what about kidnapping my child?- Celine cuts Saiko off. -what about killing my husband? What about separating me from my child for years? Is any of these worthy of death to you? ¨C Saiko turns to look at Celine. Her expression softens and her judging gaze becomes lenient. _I understand your anger but were these the ones who killed your husband? Were they the ones who kidnapped your daughter? Or are you punishing them for the sin of another? Just because they work for the government of Kim Sungta doesn¡¯t mean they are related or responsible for everything the government does, why not kill some random tax collector they are equally as related to what happened to your husband and child as the royal guards _ Celine¡¯s emotionless face cracks for just a moment. Her own bottled up and buried emotions trying to rise back up to the surface. -I don¡¯t care Saiko, at this point, I don¡¯t care, I might have agreed with you ten years ago but now, I want vengeance ¨C If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. _haaa_ Saiko lets out a long sigh and then begins to list a long list of names. _Jin Ae, Hana, Bora, Sang hee, Iseul, Soo Ae, Naomi, Aya, Sarah, Emilia, Jana, Sama, Krystal, Hea, and Alexis, these are all wives who lost their husbands today. _ Saiko crosses her arms and looks at Celine who in turn stiffens up. _Should I list the children who lost their parents next, what about the mothers and fathers who lost their Kid, or maybe I should list the friends who lost a close friend today, now, all these people deserve to seek vengeance as much as you do, and maybe you don¡¯t care if they seek Vengeance from you but you know when we succeed in freeing your daughter, they could seek vengeance from your daughter as well, of course, when that happens I would defend your child, because if they do that they would be just as wrong as you are right now._ -okay, okay, we get it, jeez- Daxia cuts in to stop Saiko from grueling Celine. She sighs and looks at Saiko then shrugs her shoulder. - you were definitely raised by a priest, alright, but you know, Miss Beacon of virtue, it¡¯s not like we killed them for fun nor for vengeance, we did that to save you, and I am not usually one who defends Ken but the dude worked so hard to save you and you didn¡¯t even thank him- Saiko nods her head and answers in a low voice. _I know, I know, that¡¯s why I am only being this harsh. _ -No, I don¡¯t think you d- Daxia pauses after hearing the second half of Saiko¡¯s statement. - ¡­. I think you just implied that this is you being Lenient, which I feel is an entirely different issue that we definitely need to discuss, cause if this is lenient, I dread to think about what you consider being harsh, but that¡¯s an issue for another day- Daxia spreads her arms in the air as though she crossing the subject then continues. -Saiko, I really don¡¯t think you get it, What happened today is not something that Ken would do, and I am not referring to the killing, the killing is something he would definitely do, I am referring to the amount of effort and hard work he did for someone else besides himself- Saiko blinks repeatedly and looks at Daxia. _what¡¯s your point? I am confused. _ Daxia facepalms. -oh God, you are so dense it¡¯s making me mad and impatient, the dude likes you and it¡¯s obvious to everyone but you- _what? No?_ Saiko looks at Daxia with bewilderment wondering how she jumped to that conclusion. _sure, he worked hard to save me, I can acknowledge that, but he would have- -NO, Saiko, no, he wouldn¡¯t have- Daxia immediately cuts Saiko off before she can finish. Saiko opens her mouth to speak but before she can, Daxia cuts her off again. -and before you say anything, may I remind you, that we have already been through a similar situation before and the dude did not hesitate for a minute before trying to kill me, you were the one who stopped him- Saiko slams her lips shut unsure of what to say. -do you see what I am saying now?- _Aaaah_ -Hmph- Celine lets out a small chuckle. -this is acutely amusing, I thought the two of you were already in a relationship so this is a surprise to me- Saiko raises one hand up as though she is about to confess. _in my defense, I was raised by a priest_ Daxia chuckles at Saiko. -that you were, princess, that you were, now would you be more lenient on the guy- _aaah, I mean, I am still mad at him so¡­_ -oh God damn it- Daxia can¡¯t help but facepalm again. ************************************* Location: Director William''s office, headquarters of the GSTF, world capital Director William is sitting on his desk. A blue holographic screen floats in front of him displaying a report with the title ¡°The Rebirth of The Round Table¡±. -hmmm- ¡®it seems Edie Patton is trying to unite the wealthiest twenty five families in one group, it can¡¯t be that he is already trying to make a scheme to manipulate the market again right? It hasn¡¯t been that long since I sent Claus to scare him¡¯ Suddenly, Director William''s face stiffens up and he sits upright. -I see- -I understand- -yes, sir- -I will- -haaaa- Director William¡¯s face relaxes and he lets out a long tired sigh. BAM. The door to the director''s office slams open and his secretary rushes in. -Sir, we have an urgent report, the members of Strike Team One- Director William raises his hand to cut her off. -I already know Clara, for now, increase their surveillance level to top priority and inform strike teams two through six to be on high alert in case we need to arrest strike team one, finally ask Doctor Althea to look into any magic that can manipulate the mind and if any cases of mind control or brainwashing may have happened in the past ¨C Secretary Clara nods her head. -yes Sir, I will go immediately- She says then quickly exits the office. Director Willaim lets out another long tired Sigh. -haaaaa, what the hell happened with you, Claus?- TAP TAP TAP He taps his fingers slowly on the armrest of his chair while wondering about what happened with the members of Strike Team One in the forest of the Bulgasari. -hmmm- He glances back at the report about the round table. -I will deal with you later Patton- He swipes the air with his hand causing the report to disappear and be replaced by a screen filled with several icons. He presses on an icon titled ¡°operator 1¡± and then speaks. -Sophia come to my office immediately- The heavy rain continues to fall endlessly from the sky of Kim Sungta. SHshshshshshSH SHshshshshshSH Chapter 54 Robbed of Heaven Chapter 54 Robbed of Heaven Location: The Royal Palace of Kim Sungta The remaining Royal guards led by Baek Hyeon walk into the throne room and then kneel before the king. -my king we have failed you- Baek announces with a look of shame. Old King Haneul observes the Royal guards noting their decrease in number and that Baek is the one leading them. -give me a detailed report- -yes, sir- Baek starts telling the king about everything that happened from the moment the royal guard split into two groups until the arrival of the invaders and their forced teleportation. The old king strokes his long white beard with a troubled expression. He quickly scans the eyes of his vassals and advisors their increasing anger and frustration as Baek recalls the details of the fight. ¡®This was supposed to be a peaceful mission, what went wrong? Did I misjudge the intruders?¡¯ The old king thinks to himself about his next move. He is certain his advisors would want to avenge the fallen Royal Guards and he can¡¯t blame them, especially when the chief advisor was against treating them as humans. ¡®but that¡¯s a child who was burdened by the same fate as Lavie, hasn¡¯t she suffered enough¡¯ -haaa- The old king lets out a long tired sigh. ¡®then again, what do I know? I am just a hypocrite who is trying to help one tormented child while inflicting the same torment on a different child¡¯ The old king raises his head up. ¡®God All-mighty, is there really no other way?¡¯ -but then, Your Majesty, a portal opened in the sky, and the invaders came out of it- Baek¡¯s words pull King Haneul out of his thoughts. -the invaders?- -yes, Your Majesty they stopped the explosions and teleported us away- Gasp! Gasps and murmurs erupt among the vassals and advisors. The old king strokes his beard while taking note of their reactions. -my king, perhaps the water mage never escaped and is instead working for the invaders, this might have been a trap all along- The military advisor suggests. -hmm, that¡¯s unlikely, if this was a trap, then the invaders would have killed the remaining Royal guards not teleported them away, however, I am more concerned about how invaders knew of the fight and how they managed to teleport in, we are not part of the global aether port network so long-distance teleportation to Kim sungta should be impossible which means they must have teleported from somewhere inside our border ¨C -what?- -have we been infiltered already?- -we must do something about this- Murmurs erupt once more among the vassals. -Royal father, I request you grant me the privilege of commanding the Chollima knight order and let me hunt down the intruders- -your majesty, we should deploy the four divine knight orders to hunt down the invaders hiding within our borders- Suddenly the door to the throne room opens and a knight rushes in. -your majesty, the surveillance unit sent an urgent report, the Bulgasari¡¯s mountain has vanished and we lost contact with the group of Royal guards led by Sir Eun Woo- If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. King Haneul squints his eyes at the knight. -explain- -we don¡¯t know what happened my king, there was a wave of darkness then the mountain and everything on it simply vanished- The old king looks down from his throne at his son and his chief advisor. He pauses for a moment to consider their suggestions then shakes his head. -hmm, both of your requests are denied- -then my king, what are we going to do?- -we are going to wait- the murmurs all quiet down and the vassals look at the king with stunned looks. The chief advisor bows his head and opens his mouth. -my king, I dare not question your judgment but there is no way Your Majesty is suggesting we do nothing in the face of intruders and possible infiltration by the invaders- -haaa- The old king lets out a tired sigh and then looks at his chief advisor. - Ji-u, waiting is not nothing, it¡¯s an equally valid option and more often than not it¡¯s the correct one, we don¡¯t have enough information about what happened to Sir Eun Woo¡¯s group nor how the invaders are evading our surveillance unit, rash decisions would only lead to more of our men losing their lives in vain, we will wait for the seer unit¡¯s report before making our decision- The chief advisor bows his head more. -Your Majesty, your wisdom is as always enlightening to me- -Haaa, Ji-u, you are my chief advisor, the wisdom you are praising should be bestowed upon me by you- the chief advisor flinches from the king¡¯s words. -how could my insignificant wisdom be compared to the wisdom of the king of humanity, Your Majesty? ¨C -you lot think too highly of me, the king of humanity is also just a human- -that is not true, Your Majesty has always exceeded all expectations- -your majesty may be human but you are the pinnacle of humanity ¨C -your majesty is the example of what a human should be- The chief advisor starts then the rest of the advisors and vassals join him in showering the king with praise. Old King Haneul watches his vassals excitedly singing his praise and visibly gets more tired the more they praise him. The prince smiles as he watches his old father look more and more tired and flustered the more he is praised. -I agree with them Royal Father, be it wisdom or moral code Royal Father has always outclassed everyone- Old King Haneul looks at his son and sighs. -haaa, my son, wisdom is not a skill that one could raise but rather a matter of one¡¯s age, it is not a competition in which one is high and one is low, the truly wise is one who listens for by listening he adds the wisdom of others¡¯ age onto his own- All vassals go silent and stare at the king with sparkling eyes. The prince looks at his father stunned for a moment then laughs a little. -pfft, truly the sun cannot be covered, Royal Father even when trying to deny your superiority you ended up proving it- -haaaa- The old king lets out a long tired sigh deciding to give up. -my king- Old King Haneul turns his head to look at his chief advisor who called him. -although I now understand why we must wait, I am afraid the intruders will reach Lavie while we are waiting- -that¡¯s fine let them do that- -huh?- The Old King sits upright on his chair. -little Lavie is not so weak that she can¡¯t protect herself, if they make it close to the lab simply order the court scientists to stop injecting Lavie with REM drugs and then evacuate the lab- The chief advisor looks at the king with a confused expression for a moment but soon his eyes sparkle and he bows deeply to the king once he understands his plan. - truly the king of humanity is wise ¨C Shshshshshhshhshsh ShshshsSHSHSHSHSH SHSHSHSHHSHSHSH -huh? Was it supposed to rain today?- -aren¡¯t we in summer?- The vassals look out the window of the throne and watch and rain that suddenly started and quickly grew in strength. ************************************* Blink Blink Saiko blinks her eyes repeatedly questioning what she is seeing in front of her. She looks down at her own body to find that it¡¯s made of a dark black liquid substance that has a faint red glow. The black substance reminds her of Argus but she can tell it¡¯s different. Argus is viscous and slime like meanwhile, this substance flowed smoothly like water. Looking at it is like staring at an endless dark abyss with no end to it, one where all light is swallowed and none of it survives. She takes her eyes off her body and observes her surroundings. The only problem is there is nothing to observe. Her surroundings are the same as her body, an endless dark abyss that extends in all directions with no end in sight. For a moment she can¡¯t help but wonder if she somehow swallowed herself with her own decay but she knows that¡¯s not how decay works. Decay doesn¡¯t swallow nor transport anything, it simply destroys. It leaves nothing behind it, nothing, no traces, no remains, no evidence, it¡¯s simply nonexistence. Although powerful, decay is a simple magic, she doesn¡¯t quite understand how it works but she knows it breaks down anything and everything before erasing it leaving nothing but frozen particles of dust behind. This simplicity is why she is confused by the sight before her. Saiko raises her head and takes in the sight before her once again. TwentyTwo. Twenty Two Royal guards each riding on their respective Girins stand before her. Ten of which she had killed with her own decay, no magic or medical treatment could ever bring them back she knows that for a fact. As for the remaining twelve, they were killed by the Bulgasari, although not as definitive as decay, she knows she devoured their souls so they are definitely dead. _Ah, I see, I must be dreaming, is this perhaps because of my feeling of guilt? _ She concludes. After all, it being a dream is the only possible explanation for the sight before her. -pffft- She notices the captain of the Royal Guards, Eun Woo, laughing at her and raises her eyebrow at him. - well, you are sleeping that part is correct, however, I sense that you are using that word to say this is not real, but I promise you it¡¯s very real- Saiko crosses her arms and looks at the captain of the Royal Guards. _ Right, what is this then? _ Eun Woo shrugs his shoulder. -how would I know? I think we died but for some reason instead of seeing the infamous light that you are supposed to go to, for us it was nothing but endless darkness, well that is until you randomly showed up here- _and where is here?_ -I don¡¯t know, but if I had to guess it¡¯s something or somewhere inside you, perhaps your soul or perhaps something else, we didn¡¯t exactly receive an instruction manual- Eun Woo looks up at the endless void with a sorrowful look. -I was really looking forward to going to heaven you know, now I am stuck inside my own murderer, I never imagined there would be a fate worse than death ¨C Saiko rubs the back of her head while avoiding Eun Woo¡¯s gaze. Chapter 55 A peek into other realms (2) Chapter 55 A peek into other realms (2) Saiko rubs the back of her head while avoiding Eun Woo¡¯s gaze. _ I don¡¯t know if this makes it any better but I didn¡¯t mean for this to happen _ -well, it doesn¡¯t, and as much as I want to complain I think we have much more important things to discuss- Eun Woo lowers his head and looks at Saiko. -have you had a chance to sift through all the memories of the souls you have devoured?- Saiko raises an eyebrow at the Royal guard wondering why he is asking her such an odd question. -no? I have a mountain''s worth of memories but it¡¯s mostly memories of different plants and animals so I assume your memories and the memories of the surveillance unit members that were on the mountain are the only ones that matter- -pfft, you are so wrong, our memories are worth nothing in comparison to what you have hidden inside you- Saiko starts quickly going through the countless memories of the souls she had devoured. _What are you on abou- She suddenly stops midsentence as she notices odd memories flash before her eyes. She sees a sight she has never seen or heard of before. A world of fire. It¡¯s as if she is looking at hell or to be more accurate it looks like the pop culture version of hell, not Gehenna that her old man told her about. However, the pop culture version of hell is supposed to be a place of endless torment and suffering and this is anything but. This is a beautiful ethereal world one most can¡¯t even dream of or envision. She sees an endless forest of a living blue flame and creatures with burning bodies and goat like horns running freely through the endless forest of fire. She sees dragon like creatures diving from the sky into glowing lakes made of liquid fire. She calls them dragons but they look nothing like any dragons that live on earth. These beings are reptilian looking but their bodies are almost see through, you wouldn¡¯t be able to see them at all if not for the golden hue that surrounded their bodies and the freckles of golden light shining from within their bodies like stars in the night sky. She sees glowing castles whose walls look like the sun and people whose bodies are made of various flickering and colorful flames flying around them. All beings in this world be it the dragons or the people seem to have no definite shape and instead can take on any shape they want out of convenience or preference. The difference in species here seems to not be about the form your body takes which can be changed at will but is all about the type of fire your body is made of. If she had to guess they probably copied these forms from creatures living on Earth. the world of fire wasn¡¯t the only world she had memories of. There is a second world. A world that looks so similar to Earth that she almost dismissed it that is until she noticed the living creatures in it. Whirlwinds, tornadoes, and hurricanes wrapped around humanoid green creatures like protective shells as they fly through the sky. The bodies of the green creatures look somewhat similar to plants. They have no leaves or trunks or anything like that however their dark green skin has a soft texture that is somewhere between the texture of skin and that of leaves. Small transparent hair like structures grow on their skin similar to the hair that is seen on some plants on Earth as well as numerous appendages that look like vines. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Their skin allows them to feed on the light of the sun like plants saving them the need to ever touch the land of their world. As for their eyes, they have no pupils nor any discernible structures, instead, they look smooth and often have only one color that fills the entirety of the eye. The sky of that world is full of jellyfish like creatures that float and let the air currents carry them around. Numerous bird like and winged creatures roam the sky and feed on the jellyfish. Saiko looks stunned for a moment as she becomes aware of all these memories. _whose memories are these? _ -these would be our memories ¨C Saiko turns around following the voice and sees two fiery beings, one red and one orange, as well as five green creatures. Saiko points at the beings with a look of shock and horror. She can already guess what happened but she can¡¯t help but ask. Knowing and dreading the answer she hesitantly opens her mouth to ask. _w,why are you here?_ The oldest of the green beings, a female with violet eyes and white antennas wearing a long flowing dress similar to the petals of a violet flower, responds. You wouldn¡¯t be able to tell her age by looking at her, However, Saiko could tell from her having the most memories. -a wave of decay broke into our world and swallowed us and after that, we were drawn here- Saiko falls to her knees and stares at her victims. Noticing her state and wanting to keep the conversation focused on the discovery of new worlds, Eun Woo tries to comfort her. -hey, there are not a lot of victims from the other worlds and these seven seem to be the only sentient victims- -ahm- The red fiery being clears his throat. Of course, he has no real throat to clear but he is trying to mimic the mannerisms of someone from Earth speaking apologetically. -I wish that was the case, however, the wave of decay devoured many people besides us, additionally the wave of decay would have traveled in the space between layers as much as it traveled in your spatial layer, which means the wave of decay likely affected numerous worlds- The orange fiery being adds. - the reason we are the only people here isn¡¯t that we were the only ones to die but rather that whatever ritual that drew us here had reached capacity and was overwhelmed by the number of souls and simply couldn¡¯t absorb them all- Eun Woo glares at the fiery beings then turns his attention to Saiko, noticing her staring at the endless void. The words of the fiery beings had stabbed her heart deeply. It was already bad enough that she had killed ten royal guards and over twenty five surveillance unit members, let alone the countless plants and animals that called that mountain home, but now they are telling her that her vile magic had reached numerous worlds and killed even more numerous lives. This has to be some kind of joke. How destructive could that magic be? How could it reach other realms? She recalls that Noai said the interactions between the different spatial layers is impossible, so, how? How many more people has she killed? -snap out of it- She hears Eun Woo shouting from behind her and turns slightly to glance at him. -we don¡¯t have time for you to feel sorry about this, instead of worrying about those who have already died, you better start worrying about those who are still alive- Sir Herman steps forward with his Girin. -Miss Saiko, not only did we discover other realms, we had attacked them, although we don¡¯t know how many of these realms are aware of ours, nor how many of them can travel between realms, however, considering the sheer number of worlds affected, it¡¯s almost certain that some of them know of us and some them can travel through worlds, and many of the worlds who don¡¯t know will find out how to travel to our world when they investigate the wave of decay - Eun Woo continues with a voice full of urgency. -how many of these worlds would use the wave of decay as an excuse to invade our world? If not out of revenge, then out of greed, worlds that have beings that we have never seen before, that we don¡¯t know the abilities of, that our planet is not ready to fight- The red fiery being observes Eun Woo for a moment then nods his head. -although, I sense a great deal of hostility and hatred from him, what he said is indeed sensible, although our world is unlikely to attack yours, our great ancestor wouldn¡¯t allow it, that¡¯s not the case for every world, and considering the number of them at least some will.- - I mean no offense to you sir but the last time we made contact with otherworldly creatures it didn¡¯t end well for us, I may be dead but my family is still alive and my nation is still alive, and I don¡¯t plan on letting what happened three thousand years ago happen again- Eun Woo responds to the red fiery being. Herman looks at Saiko and pleads with her. -Miss Saiko, you are not only the only one living who can do anything about this, you are also the only one who is even aware that an invasion is coming- - you are also technically the one who caused it- A young boy of the green creatures with blue eyes and wearing a sky blue tunic adds. Herman glances at him for a moment then looks back at Saiko. -Miss Saiko, our king believed in you, please if you are not like the other invaders, you have to meet with our king and protect our world- Saiko raises an eyebrow at Herman¡¯s comment about the invaders, then lets out a sigh and decides to ignore it. After all, her cursed vile magic has really outdone itself this time. Of course, this time she had used more of it than any other time before. Instinctively, she had always been reserved when she used it to minimize the damage it caused and only used it a handful of times her entire life but learning water magic made her more comfortable with wielding her power. There is no risk of her water magic accidentally harming anyone, not only did she have a great deal of mastery over it but her water magic could think for itself and react appropriately to avoid harming others. This freedom and comfort that water magic granted her caused her to lose the instinctive reservation that is required for decay. ¡®Still, I never would have thought that this cursed magic would threaten the existence of the entire world¡¯ Saiko clenches her fist and looks at the Royal Guards. _ I can¡¯t promise you I will get along with your king, even if there is nothing bad about him in your memories, I can¡¯t ignore the fact that he is trying to turn Lavie into a living weapon, into what I am _ She pauses for a moment and closes her eyes then opens them and looks at the Royal guards. _but I can promise you, I will protect the world and won¡¯t let it be invaded, if there is anyone who should pay for this mistake, it¡¯s me _ Chapter 56 Everything looks like a nail (2) Chapter 56 Everything looks like a nail (2) Eun Woo pulls out his halberd. -good, now that this matter is settled let¡¯s move on to training- _training? _ Saiko raises an eyebrow and looks at Eun Woo. -yes, training, after all, you will need all the fighting experience you could possibly get to fight the invaders, besides it¡¯s obvious that the wave of decay was a result of you losing your composure, so the more skilled you become, the less likely we will have other waves of decay tearing through the fabric of the universe- Saiko rubs the back of her head. _ well, I don¡¯t disagree but how would we train? You are ¡­ well dead and I am not sure what this is but I assume it¡¯s a dream like state _ -that¡¯s correct, but this dream like state is why we can help you train ¨C _what? _ Eun Woo smiles amused by Saiko''s reaction then explains. -your brain doesn¡¯t differentiate between the actions you do in your dreams and the actions while awake, if you raise your arm in your dream, your brain sends a signal to your physical arm to rise up, the only reason it doesn¡¯t is that when you enter a dream state, your brain releases certain chemicals that prevent you from acting out your dreams ¨C Eun Woo¡¯s words trigger some of his memories inside Saiko. _ oh, so even though I won¡¯t be moving, my brain would still build the patterns and skills associated with the training as though I acutely did them _ _- not only that but since in dreams the brain isn¡¯t limited by the speed of the body but only by its processing speed, you can spend weeks in a dream but in reality, only a few seconds have passed-_ The two of them say the last part at the same time which causes Eun Woo to scowl. -that was weird and unpleasant ¨C The silver cat smiles slightly. _well, technically I know everything you know now _ Her expression then turns serious as she recalls how Eun Woo came to know this much about dreams. Specifically, she recalls him overhearing a conversation between two court magicians, upon inquiring, the court magicians explained it to him and told him that they were studying the invaders living weapon program. She then recalls her own memories. Although most of them are fuzzy due to her old man sealing them, she can still recall the sensation of her body being torn apart and put back together over and over and over and over. That is one of the memories that is still clear in her mind, not because that memory had any significance or special meaning for her, but simply because of the sheer quantity of it. There has always been a disconnect between her memories and the reality she knows to be true. she has eons worth of memories even though she knows she is only in her early twenties. Even if she combined the memories of the twenty-two Royal Guards, twenty-five surveillance unit members, and seven otherworldly beings, they would still be dwarfed by her own memories from the living weapon program. This fact has always puzzled her, however, now, she can guess that by studying dreams, the world government had found a way to mess with her sense of time causing her to experience the ten years she spent in the living weapon program as if they were thousands of years. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®I have to save the other children as soon as possible, every minute I waste is weeks of torment for them¡¯ Saiko clenches her first harder. It looks like she has two equally urgent problems to fix. Which should she focus on first? Which could she neglect? A war that threatens the world, or children¡¯s endless torment. Which should she sacrifice? At this moment the words of Naoi echo in her mind. ¡®if I tell you, you might not want to stop them, you are not yet ready to know the answer¡¯ She freezes in shock at herself. She couldn¡¯t believe it, she almost considered sacrificing these children. Despite knowing the suffering they are going through. The loneliness, the endless torment and pain, even though, she experienced them herself, she almost sacrificed the children as well. Although, she doesn¡¯t know the world government¡¯s reason for it, regardless of what it is, they clearly think it¡¯s a valid reason to sacrifice those kids. The words of her old man echo in her mind next. ¡®Remember Saiko, Evil is an enchanting mistress, it can be very tempting, and it will always offer you an easier and faster solution to your problems¡¯ ¡®NO¡¯ ¡®I Refuse, there must be another answer, I am not playing this game¡¯ She clenches her fist and her eyes glare with rage. ¡®I am not sacrificing innocent lives for this¡¯ -what about the children who die from the war?- -what?- Saiko hears Eun Woo¡¯s voice and turns to face him. due to the link between them, the souls inside Saiko were aware of her inner turmoil. Eun Woo continues. -if you prioritize saving the children in the living weapon program, you won¡¯t have time to prepare for the war which will lead to even more children suffering and dying- Herman adds. - Miss Saiko, sometimes life confronts us with difficult choices, choices where shedding blood is unavoidable and we have to choose the one that harms the smallest number of people- Saiko glares at the Royal Guards with blood shot eyes causing the two of them to flinch. _Would you have said that if the ones who had to suffer were your Sons instead of random kids that you don¡¯t know, or would you have traded the world to save your Sons? _ The Girins instinctively move back cowering from the gaze of the silver cat. Even in death, their instinctive sense of danger did not leave them. Eun Woo notices the fear of the Girins and raises an eyebrow at them but stands his ground and looks at Saiko. - It doesn¡¯t matter, it¡¯s not my son and it¡¯s not yours either, we can¡¯t be swayed by our emotions here, are you really suggesting that you want to sacrifice thousands of lives just to save a few dozen- _yeah that¡¯s right, they are not your sons and not mine either, that¡¯s their sin, isn¡¯t it? Their sin is they don¡¯t have anyone to protect them, they have no one to stand up for them, that¡¯s why it¡¯s okay for them to suffer, that was my sin too¡­. that is until it wasn¡¯t_ Saiko¡¯s lips curl up slightly into a soft smile as she recalls the day her old man came to save her from the facility. Eun Woo lets out a sigh. -I am not even telling you to abandon them forever, I am just asking you to focus on the war and save them after it¡¯s over, if don¡¯t thousands of lives will be lost- Saiko shakes her head at Eun Woo. _ I refuse to sacrifice those kids but don¡¯t worry, I am not saying I will ignore the war either, I won¡¯t sacrifice anyone, as I said if anyone has to pay for this it¡¯s me and only me _ -that¡¯s a nice sentiment and all but words can only take you so far, time is limited and you can¡¯t do both things at the same time, you have to pick one- Saiko closes her eyes and sinks deep in her thoughts. She knows that there are some truths in Eun Woo¡¯s words but she refuses to accept them. She won¡¯t allow herself to be locked up in that choice. ¡®there must be another way¡¯ She begins to come up with and analyze different ideas. ¡®what if I rush directly to where Lavie is?¡¯ no, even if I do that there are others and no matter how fast I am I won¡¯t have enough time¡¯ ¡®what if I talk to the king or the president? No, telling them there is a war coming would make them insist even more on using the children as weapons and probably use them in the war¡¯ ¡®can I do it on my own? Maybe there is a way to make me control all the water in the world- _pfff_ Saiko laughs at herself as she recalls Ken¡¯s words. ¡®you are a hammer and you see everything as a nail, you only have one answer to every question¡¯ She recalls how she always tried to brute force her way through problems, and how that brute force repeatedly failed her. Wasn¡¯t she supposed to change? Was killing the Royal guards not enough? Wasn¡¯t this entire situation born from her relying on her might? _ I really am a hammer; I haven¡¯t learned anything, I have to stop thinking like a weapon _ Saiko decides to reexamine the problem. What¡¯s really the problem here? That she can¡¯t do both things at once. The problem is she needs to be in two different places at the same time. Of course, that¡¯s impossible. ¡®is it really impossible though?¡¯ Saiko slowly goes through all her memories and all her knowledge. A long time passes as she thinks deeper and deeper in her thoughts, determined to find a solution, one that doesn¡¯t rely on her might alone. The Royal guards and seven otherworldly beings observe her patiently. Thanks to the fact that they are in dream like state, no matter how much time Saiko spends thinking, in the real world it would only be a few seconds. _ I got it _ She eventually exclaims and her lips curl up into a confident smile. _ I need to wake up now _ Sir Eun Woo bows to her and smiles. - I congratulate you on finding an answer, and I hope your plan succeeds but you can¡¯t wake up yet, we still have a training session to do ¨C _ right _ she smiles then raises her hand up and performs a ¡°come at me¡± gesture. _ let¡¯s not waste any more time_ Chapter 57 All for the sake of harmony (2) Chapter 57 All for the sake of harmony (2) Location: frozen remains of what was once the Bulgasari mountain. A peaceful and serene blanket of ice sparkles under the gaze of the full moon. glittering particles of frozen dust dance in the air like stars in the night sky as though the Heavens extended its arm to comfort and soothe the Earth after its injury. Above this blanket of ice, The rain which continues to fall endlessly all over Kim Sungta is replaced by gently falling crystals of snow that are carried on silent and chillingly cold gusts of wind. Four hooded figures emerge from the dark forest surrounding the blanket of ice, their camouflaged suits which had previously blended seamlessly with the forest behind them, are now in stark contrast with the blanket of ice, thus revealing the position of the hooded figures. But that contrast only lasted a moment, as the camouflaged suits soon transformed to match its new environment. But a moment was more than enough. ROOOAAAR ROOOAAAR ROOOAAAR Multiple powerful and distant roars echo in the heavens as though calling to one another, and then the vision of the hooded figures goes dark. before the hooded figures can react or comprehend what is happening, they hear a massive explosion and the sound of the ice shattering into pieces as something massive lands on the ground. A massive green tail covered in scales gently unwraps from around the hooded figures returning their vision and revealing nine enormous creatures standing in small craters. Noticing the destruction around them, the hooded figures tremble as they realize that if one of the creatures hadn¡¯t protected them with its tail, they would have been vaporized by the shockwave created by the creatures when they landed. the leader of the hooded figures gulps then with trembling hands, he takes off his spell rifle and throws it on the ground. -throw your weapons- The leader of the hooded figures commands. -but sir- -throw them now- He shouts at his subordinates and they throw down their rifles as well. The leader of the hooded figures looks up and gulps again then bows respectfully. - M,Mighty guardians of the world, esteemed dragons, how could we help you?- The oldest of the dragons, a white yong with a long flowing white beard and hair and massive deer like antlers that emit a serene blue glow, opens his mouth. -you are the seers unit, correct? You came to know what happened here, we also want to know what happened here- A green yong with emerald green scales that sparkle as gemstones adds. -normally, we would not concern ourselves with the fights between sapiens but what happened here is a clear threat to harmony ¨C -of course, esteemed dragons, we will start the spell right away ¨C The leader of the seers unit responds and then begins to activate his spell with his subordinates. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The seers unit are all light mages and they use their magic to trace the path of the light in the area to see what happened. A small sphere appears displaying the Royal Guards entering the cave of the Bulgasari but the upper portion of the sphere is blacked out. -why is the upper portion blacked out?- -we are not sure sir, it seems something erased the traces of the path of the light in that area- The silver yong asks and the leader of the seers unit responds. The sphere shows the Royal Guards meeting a girl with glowing red eyes and silver hair and then they begin to fight her. As the fight progresses more of the blacked out area appears and it seems the blacked out area takes the shape of a cone. At some point, the battle between the girl and the Royal Guard is taken to the air and they enter the blacked out area, then the girl can be seen falling from the tip of the cone and extending her hand upward and it becomes obvious that whatever caused the blacked out cone came out from her hand. -Hotu?!- -she finally revealed herself- -is that why the strike team escaped?- -no, they shouldn¡¯t have known about her identity- -it doesn¡¯t matter we must recapture her- -she is the biggest threat to harmony, she can¡¯t be left free- The dragons argue among themselves while the seers unit watches them with bewildered expressions. They already had a rough idea about the identity of the girl from the briefing they received. They knew that the girl was a living weapon, probably one of the earliest ever made, and that she escaped from the world government but even if that is the case, it still shouldn¡¯t have meant anything to the dragons. After all the dragons lived in seclusion from the rest of the world, they took no sides in any war and didn¡¯t care about what happened between the sapiens, only getting involved in matters that threatened the world itself. ¡®but if the dragons are aware of her, doesn¡¯t that mean she is a threat to the world itself, I must report this to the king¡¯ The leader of the seers unit thinks to himself. The sphere shows the girl burying the remains of the Royals Guards and then getting into a car with three other individuals before the car drills underground making it impossible to know what direction they went. ROOOAAAR ROOOAAAR ROOOAAAR The dragons roar again in anger, afraid they will lose track of the girl again. ***************************************** Location: a cave on the outskirts of Sinchin, Kim Sungta. Saiko wakes up and carefully gets out of the car to avoid waking up the others. When she does, she notices Ken sitting alone on top of a rock seemingly deep in thought. She walks closer to him. _Shouldn¡¯t you be asleep? You are the one who needs sleep the most among us_ Ken turns around to see her then looks away. ~ I can¡¯t sleep¡­hey think we can talk for a bit ~ _Sure, but not here if we talk here we will wake the others up Let¡¯s go outside _ ~ Alright ~ The two of them exit the cave and start walking through the forest. ~ I wanted to apologize for what happened ~ Saiko raises an eyebrow at Ken and looks at him. _ok _ ~ I am really sorry about the Royal Guards~ _ok_ ~I know you were against it but it was the only way to do it ~ Ken recalls his conversation with Noai and decides to correct himself to not lie to Saiko. ~well, it was the only way that was quick enough ~ _ok_ Ken looks at Saiko with annoyance. ~well, do you forgive me? ~ _ of course not _ ~what? Why? What should I do so you forgive me? I will do anything~ Ken looks at Saiko with confusion and desperation. Saiko looks at him and then sighs. _Ken, you are not sorry, that¡¯s why I can¡¯t forgive you, you are sorry your plan failed but you are not sorry for killing the Royal Guards _ ~I mean, I won¡¯t deny that, but I am sorry I upset you, that part is true ~ _yeah, but you don¡¯t care why I am upset _ Ken shrugs his shoulders. ~hey, I can¡¯t fake remorse what do you want me to do? I could pretend I care about the Royal Guards but that would be a lie ~ _haaa _ Saiko lets out another sigh. _But that¡¯s the problem, the problem is that you don¡¯t care and you don¡¯t care to the point that you didn¡¯t just rob multiple people of their life but their death too _ ~hey, that¡¯s not true, not saying I wouldn¡¯t do that if I had to, but that wasn¡¯t part of the plan, the ritual was only supposed to absorb their life, not their souls, I checked the ritual, a portion of it was erased by the wave of decay which is what caused it malfunction and absorb the souls, I didn¡¯t think you would use decay, you didn¡¯t use it even when you were about to die, so I didn¡¯t account for it ~ _ugh, you are completely missing the point, the problem isn¡¯t whether or not it was part of the plan, the problem is you see nothing wrong with it _ she shouts in frustration. ~no, I get the point, but again, I can¡¯t fake caring about them¡­ I mean I could fake it but well it would be faking it, it would be a lie ~ Saiko takes in a deep breath to calm herself down. _you know what, do that, fake it, pretend to be good _ ~what? ~ Ken blinks repeatedly and looks at Saiko with bewilderment. She smiles at him. _Virtue and vice are habits, if you ¡°pretend¡± to be good long enough who knows you might be good eventually _ She makes air quotes with her fingers when she says ¡°pretend¡±. _You are smart enough to know what¡¯s right and what¡¯s wrong and when I say the right thing, I don¡¯t mean what you think is beneficial to your plan, in fact, if you have to choose between what¡¯s right and beneficial, you should choose what¡¯s right _ Ken stares at Saiko looking even more bewildered. ~¡­ that¡¯s so dumb though ~ The heavy rain continues to fall on Kim Sungta. Shshshshshhshhshsh ShshshsSHSHSHSHSH SHSHSHSHHSHSHSH Chapter 58 HOTU we finally found you Chapter 58 HOTU we finally found you SHshshshshSH SHshshshshSH SHshshshshSH The heavy rain falls endlessly on Kim Sungta. ~tell you what, let¡¯s make a deal, I will do what you want if and only if you let me do the ritual to extend your life span ~ Saiko lets out a sigh and looks at Ken. _ alright, I will need more life for my plan anyway _ ~great,¡­~ Ken pauses for a moment then looks puzzled. ~plan?! Since when do you plan for stuff? Also a plan for what? ~ _ I will tell you but first _ ROOOOAAAR ROOOOAAAR ROOOOAAAR _What was that? _ Saiko hears distant Roars echoing in the heavens above. ~oh, that, the voices of some massive creatures like whales can travel for thousands of miles, if I had to guess these were dragons communicating with each other~ _ oh interesting, what are they saying?_ Ken raises an eyebrow at Saiko. ~why are you assuming I can speak dragon? ~ She shrugs her shoulders. _ I don¡¯t know, it looks like you know everything sometimes _ Ken¡¯s lips curl up in a smile. ~I am flattered but sadly no, I don¡¯t know the dragon language, I can translate it for you though ~ Ken swipes the air to open the aether net but Saiko stops him. _No, it¡¯s fine, we have important things to discuss _ Saiko uses her watch to call Rin and knocks on a tree. _Rin and Vioarr, the two of you need to listen to this too _ A holographic screen opens and then displays Rin in his shop and the lyrebird wakes up and flies to where Ken and Saiko are. Saiko proceeds to tell the three guys about the conversation she had with the souls trapped inside her and the incoming war. ~hmm~ Ken strokes his chin while carefully thinking about what Saiko just told them. ~then what¡¯s your plan how do you intend to be in multiple different places at once~ Saiko¡¯s lips curl up and she raises her arm up then a black slime tentacle comes out of her hand. _ Argus _ -Argus??- Rin asks and raises an eyebrow at Saiko. _I will use Argus to control the bodies of other people and as a vessel for my magic _ -how are you going to do that?- _it¡¯s easier for me to show you than to explain _ Saiko extends her arm and a portion of Argus flows out of her hand and covers Ken¡¯s body. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She turns to look at the lyrebird. _Vioarr, can you put me to sleep_ A small plant root grows from the ground and stings Saiko with one of its spins causing her to feel drowsy and fall down as she falls asleep but before she hits the ground, black tentacles grow out of her body stopping her fall. She then gets up but her face looks motionless and her eyes are closed showing that she is in deep sleep. Two tentacles grow from her shoulders and their tips turn into artificial eyes. Saiko¡¯s sleeping body opens its mouth. _This is a weird sensation, it will take a while to get used to_ -what the heck is happening? - Rin asks, getting creeped out by his own creation. _ at the moment, I am dreaming and Argus is acting as my eyes and ears and transmitting information from reality to me in my dream, then when I do an action in the dream, Argus can read my nerve impulses and make Ken act them out in reality like this. _ In her dream, Saiko raises her arm and waves causing Ken to raise his arm in reality. ~wow ~ Ken goes wide eyed and stares at his arm as it waves. ~this is kind of creepy ~ Rin stares at Ken¡¯s arm for a moment then looks at Saiko. -I don¡¯t understand, why do you need to be asleep to do this? ¨C _well, if I was awake, I could make Ken copy my movements but I would have to do those movements as well, but when you sleep your brain releases chemicals to prevent you from acting out your dream _ ~oh, Glycine and Gamma-aminobutyric acid~ Ken shouts and extends his arm forward. _ Ahh _ Saiko looks at Eun Woo inside her dream but the Royal Guard shrugs his shoulders, he could never memories those weird scientific terms. _ I guess so _ Ken looks at his arm which he had extended. ~I can still move on my own?~ Saiko''s eye tentacles turn to look at Ken. _of course, I wouldn¡¯t take away your free will, even though I could if I wanted to, I would just have to make Argus make your brain release those exact same chemicals but that would be too cruel _ ~ah, I see ~ Ken immediately starts to think of all the other ways they can use Argus. Could they use Argus to stop someone¡¯s heart? Well certainly it¡¯s possible but nah, that¡¯s too simple. What about someone¡¯s thoughts? How far could they take this? Certainly, they can use Argus to control the release of hormones and those heavily affect one¡¯s mood and thoughts- _ I know what you are doing right now _ Saiko¡¯s voice interrupts Ken¡¯s trail of thoughts. ~what? ~ _we are not doing that, we are not using Argus for any of your evil ideas _ Ken feels insulted and crosses his arms. ~why are you assuming they would be bad ideas? ~ It¡¯s now Saiko¡¯s turn to cross her arms and one of her eye tentacles moves closer to Ken and stares at him. _are you trying to tell me you didn¡¯t immediately find a way to use it for mind control right now? _ Ken blinks his eyes repeatedly. ~ h,how did you know? Did you think of it too? ~ Saiko lets out and sigh. _haaa, no, I didn¡¯t but I can tell it¡¯s possible, it seems like the logical next step and I knew you could figure it out, that¡¯s why I am telling you now, no, we won¡¯t do that _ -man, seems like I need to change Argus¡¯s name, he looks a lot more like a parasite now than a guardian.- Rin says looking dispirited and his lips curl up into a sad smile. Saiko tries to comfort him. _hey, it¡¯s still a guardian but it will no longer be used to protect me alone but the entire planet _ -yea, I guess so- _well, the other advantage to being asleep, is to me inside the dream, reality looks like it¡¯s moving in slow motion since my brain¡¯s processing speed is faster which makes it possible for me to control multiple bodies at the same time, and if we use Rin¡¯s techno magic link as a medium for communication those bodies could also be in separate places. _ ~but since Argus has to read your nerve impulses you are still limited by the speed of your nerves ~ Ken interjects. _yes, which means technically I can¡¯t send two orders at the same time unless it¡¯s the same order, meaning I can make myself raise my right arm, then make Ken raise the left arm, or I can make the two of us raise our right arms at once, but I can¡¯t make Ken raise the left while I raise the right at the same time, there has to be a fraction of second delay between the orders _ Rin raises his eyebrow in confusion. -doesn¡¯t sound like a drawback worth mentioning ¨C ~no, it is, those fractions of seconds eventually add up when you are trying to control hundreds of bodies especially when you consider that fights can end in seconds, but that¡¯s okay since the owners of the bodies keep their free will, they can act on their own when she can¡¯t ~ ROOOOAAAR ROOOOAAAR _ the dragons again?_ Saiko¡¯s eye tentacle looks up at the sky. ~oh they sound angry this time~ Saiko wakes herself up and Argus recedes back inside her body. _anyway, Rin, if I let Argus loose, how fast can it replicate? _ -well, it can replicate really quickly, at full speed, it can double in size every ten minutes assuming you provide it with the necessary materials- Saiko looks at the lyrebird. _Vioarr _ -alright- The forest rumbles and rustles as though something massive is moving with it but nothing is. It is the forest itself that is moving, massive tree roots drag carcasses of dead and decaying animals from all over the forest and offer them to Saiko. The silver cat extends her arm towards the remains of the animals to let Argus devour them but before she can. ROOOOAAAR ROOOOAAAR ROOOOAAAR The roars of the dragons echo again in the heavens above. The dragons have not missed the disturbance in the forest. Before Saiko can open her mouth to ask about the dragons her whiskers twitch alerting her to the incoming threat and her eyes grow wide from shock. She quickly extends her arms and all the water from the rain in the area rises up and freezes above the forest forming a massive ice shield. BOOOOOOOM A massive explosion erupts as multiple massive beings slam against the ice shield causing it to break apart. Saiko looks up at the nine massive dragons and scolds them. _ don¡¯t you know that the surveillance unit members are hiding everywhere, you can¡¯t act recklessly like that you could have killed three people _ The old white yong ignores her words and squints his eyes at her. -hotu, we finally found you- Saiko¡¯s eyes grow wide from shock, but the shock only lasts a moment. Her pupils dilate and emit an ominous red glow before they glare murderously at the dragons. She growls at dragons baring her fangs and her nails extend out like claws. _How do you know that name? _ The heavy rain turns into hail and lightning cries in the sky. RUMBLE SHSHSHSHSH SHSHSHSHSH SHSHSHSHSH Chapter 59 Dragons of Gaia Chapter 59 Dragons of Gaia A jagged streak of white and blue splits the heavens, Its light which only lasted for a moment illuminated the night as though it were daylight. THUNDER Its powerful roar soon followed, causing the earth to shake with fear. The once endless rain has become a raging hailstorm and the cold air shakes the trees violently threatening to rip them off the ground. Tree roots rise from the ground to form a cover over Ken to protect him from the falling ice. _ How do you know that name? _ Ken hears Saiko shout at the dragons then turns to look at her and feels his body tremble. Although the sense of dread has been ever present since they made the ritual, he was able to dismiss it. After all, he was the one who designed the ritual and knew that the sense of dread was just a side effect of it, however, for the first time since the ritual, no, for the first time since he met the silver cat, he is feeling genuine fear. For the first time since they met, the silver cat¡¯s eyes are full of hatred and anger, her eyes can only see the dragons forgetting everything else around her. Ken¡¯s eyes quickly dart across the sky scanning the dragons and their surroundings for as much information as he can get. ¡®nine dragons, six Asian dragons, all six seem to be mature yongs, no imugis, two true dragons, and one Egitian seraf¡¯ ~this is bad~ ¡®each one of the yongs and true dragons seems to be of different species as well¡¯ ~Rin, can you look up information about them and identify what species they are ~ One of the dragons, a yong with red scales, dark blue hair, and black antler like horns, raises its head to the sky and opens its massive jaws. THUNDER A pinkish red beam of fire explodes from the dragon¡¯s jaws bisecting the sky and dyeing the blue night red with its blinding glow. A power far less than lightning but nonetheless the apex of organic life. The holographic screen glitches then disappears and Ken¡¯s glasses and Ken and Saiko¡¯s watches release some sparks and smoke before they stop working. Ken looks at his watch and then stares at the dragon with amazement. ~wow, he used a plasma discharge as an EMP, smart, ouch~ A tree root smacks Ken on the head then the lyrebird opens its mouth. -focus, this is no time to marvel at your enemy- ~I am focused~ The bounty hunter complains then focuses his attention back on the dragons. ¡®looks like we won¡¯t be getting any information from Rin¡¯ the white yong opens its mouth as its antlers release a serene blue glow. Stolen novel; please report. -hotu, you are a threat to harmony, as the guardians of harmony we have come to take you back to where you belong, where you can be of use to harmony- Ken''s eyes grow wide as he stares at the dragon. ~wait, that¡¯s the way the strike force bastards talk, you work for the world government ~ ¡®I knew that stupid agent was up to something but I didn¡¯t expect them to send dragons¡¯ _ I would like to see you try _ Saiko shouts, grabbing Ken¡¯s attention. He sees her running up the sky towards the towering dragons, ice forming platforms under her feet. A yong with emerald green scales and three horns pointing backward moves in front of Saiko to block her path then opens its mouth releasing a torrent of green flames. The silver cat swipes her hand across the air and a wave of water rises from the ice shield to block the fire. Small explosions and crackling popping sounds echo out when the fire meets the wave of water, then Saiko feels her control over the water vanish as the green flames burn the water and continue its path toward the silver cat. _what the?_ Saiko quickly jumps to the side, narrowly avoiding the incoming flames, only to see a yong with dark violet scales and red antlers slither blow her and open its massive jaws. The maws of the absolute being are enormous, large enough to swallow a truck. Saiko stares down the beast¡¯s large throat as though she is staring into the abyss but then she notices something within the abyss. She sees small arcs of electricity jumping within the dragon¡¯s throat, and then, suddenly, a torrent of violet flames erupts from its jaws. The silver cat quickly summons more water from the hail to block the fire. BOOM! A massive explosion erupts when the water and fire meet and the shockwave sends her flying through the air. The white yong turns his head aiming at the silver cat and opens its mouth. A torrent of white flames rushes from its jaws toward the silver cat. The silver cat extends her arms and summons more water to block the incoming fire but once again she feels the fire burning through the water and fire reaches Saiko¡¯s hand. A strong burning and stinging sensation assaults the silver cat causing her to quickly pull her arm away but the white fire doesn¡¯t stop and quickly approaches the silver cat to devour her but before it can, Saiko¡¯s body quickly falls down dodging the incoming fire as though gravity increased for her and her alone. Tree roots rush to block the white flame and another group of tree roots quickly catch the silver cat and pull her down to safety. Ken rushes to Saiko and scolds her. ~don¡¯t rush in alone like that, I don¡¯t have the reflexes of a Therian- Ken stops midsentence and stares at Saiko¡¯s hand that was touched by the white fire. Her hand is hardened and a hard white substance can be seen covering small parts of her hand as though the fire was trying to turn her into a statue. He then notices Argus moving to the arm to treat it and lets out a sigh of relief. _ I am so sick of all fires these fires that don¡¯t obey physics, I use water I should have the advantage _ The silver cat complains as she gets up to her feet and forcefully closes her hand causing the white material to shatter and fall off her hand. ~they do acutely, yongs live primarily underwater and they adapted to breathe their fire underwater, to do that they use metals that are more active than hydrogen and can rip the oxygen out of the water itself ~ Ken points at the yongs one by one as he lists the elements they use. ~the violet flames are potassium, the green flames are barium and the white flames seems to be calcium powder although I am not sure, you can tell by the color of the flames and the effects of the fire ~ -impressive deduction young one, then you must also realize that you have no chance of winning and should surrender willingly, after all, we have yet to use magic ¨C The white yong praises Ken and tries to convince him to surrender. Although they will kill HOTU, if they have to, they prefer to recapture her so she can be used for the sake of harmony. ~well, I don¡¯t know about that, I think we just need more muscle ~ Ken places two fingers in his mouth and whistles. A true dragon with brilliant golden scales opens and sneers at Ken and opens its mouth. -it doesn¡¯t matter who you call or signal to, even if you call an entire army it won¡¯t change the outcome in the least ¨C ~oh, but I am not calling an army, I am calling something better ~ A short distance away behind the dragon, a small hill can be seen. On the side of that hill is the cave where Ken¡¯s car is parked. A small metallic creature lying on the driver¡¯s chair hears the whistle and raises its head up. Back on the battlefield, the dragons notice a faint green glow coming out of the cave. Although the glow was barely noticeable, the dragons¡¯ sharp senses did not miss it. -what is that? ¨C -it looks like earth magic is being used ¨C The red yong asks with a curious look and the white yong answers him. And then suddenly. ROOOOAAAAAR. The hill explodes and a powerful roar echoes throughout the forest as a massive metallic being that is twice as big as the hill was erupts out it. - a Bulgasari!? what¨C The golden true dragon exclaims in shock but before he can put another word in a sonic boom erupts and then suddenly metallic beast in the distance vanishes and appears in front of the true dragon with its jaws wide open and with the dragon¡¯s arms holding Said jaws in place preventing them from slamming shut on the dragon. ~see, I told you it is better than an army ~ Ken says with a smug smile while adjusting his glasses. Chapter 60 Dragons of Gaia (2) Chapter 60 Dragons of Gaia (2) Inside the car. WHISTLE! Daxia hears a very faint whistle in the distance causing her to stir slightly in her sleep. There were other noises before the whistle as well but they were all too faint, enough to disturb her sleep but not enough to wake her up. Suddenly, a bright dazzling green light floods her closed eyes. She springs up and opens her eyes wide to find the source. She finds twenty two floating gems, each one releasing a bright emerald glow. The gems are surrounded by a cloud of liquid metal, which she recognizes as the body of the Bulgasari. ¡®what the hell are you teaching a beast, Ken?¡¯ Thanks to her eyes, she can see that the gems are activating multiple spells simultaneously. Two of the floating gems maintain the Bulgasari¡¯s body in a liquid state, while another fifteen gems draw metals from ores underground and add them to the liquid metal cloud, finally, the last five gems arrange the metals in the form that the Bulgasai wants to take. Using this combination of spells together, the Bulgasari is able to skip its metamorphosis stage and immediately change its body to the form and size it desires. Soon the cloud of metal grows larger than the car and begins to swallow it. -Wait, we are still inside, stop ¨C Daxia turns around to wake up Celine but finds her already awake and calmly watching the Bulgasari with her arms crossed. -you are awake, good, quickly tell it not to swallow us- Daxia shouts at Celine urgently but the latter remains calm and responds. -don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t- -what? ¨C -my magic was the vessel Ken used to teach it, remember, I saw the instructions he gave to it, we will be fine but it will be a rough ride ¨C -why did I have to get involved in this? ¨C Daxia says with a sigh. Daxia notices the car getting completely dark as the car gets swallowed by the metal cloud which soon solidifies around them. ROOOOAAAAR -you might want to activate the aether shield- Celine comments as they hear the Bulgasari roar loudly. Daxia quickly slams her hand on the aether shield button to activate it before the Bulgasari moves. A second later, a powerful sonic boom echoes in the forest as the massive beast rushes to its destination. The aether shield, which works by blocking all external forces, protects the car from the g-forces generated by the Bulgasari¡¯s speed. -where are we? ¨C Daxia asks as she notices the beast stops. - we are inside the Bulgasari¡¯s nasal cavity, I think Ken picked this location since it¡¯s large enough for the car and would give us access to air as the Bulgasari breathes ¨C Daxia throws up in her mouth as she imagines their surroundings. -I am so glad there is no light here, also I didn¡¯t need to know this information that¡¯s not what I meant- -oh, you meant where the Bulgasari went, well we can find out- Suddenly, within the complete darkness, Celine and Daxia''s eyes become illuminated as Celine uses her light magic to bend the light from outside and make it travel up the beast¡¯s nostrils and to their eyes. -well then, that¡¯s unexpected- Celine comments calmly while Daxia flinches and stares at the sight outside the Bulgasari. The two of them see the upper part of a massive neck covered in golden yellow scales, the neck is connected to an equally massive head full of jagged sharp teeth and crowned with four golden horns. Two slitted eyes stare at the Bulgasari but then they seem to notice Celine''s magic and stare directly at the two of them. The golden dragon opens its mouth and breathes fire at the Bulgasari. The fire looks normal, seemingly having no effect on the Bulgasari as it is not hot enough to melt metals. However, soon the fumes from the fire enter the Bulgasari¡¯s nostrils. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Daxia notices a weird, pungent smell filling her nose, sharp and earthy with an underlying hint of burning plastic, making her dizzy and disoriented. Immediately, her instincts, honed by years of working as a bounty hunter from a young age, alert her to the potential threat. Her heart races as she quickly uses wind magic to disperse the fumes, but it''s too late. The poisonous fumes have already seeped into the Bulgasari''s nostrils and into her own lungs. Time seemingly slows down to a halt. The world around Daxia begins to fragment and distort, as though reality itself is unraveling before her. The trees outside the Bulgasari¡¯s body appear to grow and shrink in rapid succession, their branches stretch and warp, losing their normal shapes and morphing into strange, otherworldly forms, and the rustling of their leaves morphs and changes into distant whispers and haunting melodies. bizarre and uncanny creatures materialize around her out of thin air, their faces leering at her with wide, unsettling grins before dissolving into swirling patterns of light and shadow. Suddenly she finds herself staring at her own body as though her body and soul separated. Her limbs elongate and stretch rubber and bend in ways they shouldn¡¯t and she can almost swear she is tasting the metal from the Bulgasari on her tongue. Her body grows heavy and her movements become slow and laborious as though she is walking through a thick muddy swamp. Each step she takes feels disconnected from her intention, delayed, and out of sync. Daxia then realizes that if she had acted even a second later, she would have lost the ability to move completely. Her vision blurs and she perceives her surroundings in fragmented, kaleidoscopic images. Colors become intensely vibrant and shift unpredictably and yet despite all the distortion in her vision and the disconnect between her body and mind, the Evil eyes that were carefully crafted and engineered by her ancient ancestor, don¡¯t miss the light coming out of the golden dragon¡¯s distorted body. That light would be invisible to the naked eye but not to Evil eyes and Daxia immediately recognizes the light as the light accompanying electricity. Daxia opens a portal to the outside of the Bulgasari and then crawls with Celine through it. The two girls fall from a portal in the sky and particles of the hail coalesce together to form an ice platform that catches them. -be careful the breathe releases poisonous fumes - Daxia shouts as she collapses on the ice platform and watches the golden true dragon electrocute the Bulgasari and then fly away. The Bulgasari is stunned for a moment but then it moves frantically seemingly fighting invisible enemies as it falls under the same hallucinations the bounty hunter fell into. _ Vioarr, can you treat them? _ - I can treat the humans but I can¡¯t treat the Bulgasari, its metallic body would prevent the plants from infiltrating it- Saiko asks and the lyrebird responds before sending multiple tree roots to Daxia and Celine. Daxia feels multiple needle like projections come out of the tree roots and inject her body before she feels them wiggle and crawl under her skin. -how foolish of, you brought your friends here to die- A true dragon with crimson red scales, two curled black horns, and black quills covering the back of her neck and head like hair, comments before opening its mouth. Daxia watches in awe as dazzling yellow light rushes out of the dragon¡¯s mouth, the light is warm and inviting and it breaks down into various geometrical shapes and beautiful patterns but the warm inviting heating gets hotter and hotter as the light approaches, she immediately panics as she realizes the light was in truth yellow fire. She rushes to activate another portal but her body doesn¡¯t cooperate, the delay between her intentions and actions will make it so the portal only opens after she is burned to a crisp, the bounty hunter realizes it is too late and accepts her fate. after all it wouldn¡¯t be so bad to die by dragon breath and become one with the beautiful light. ¡®Ugh, God damn it, the stupid poison is messing with my thoughts as well¡¯ The bounty hunter curses in her mind tries to think of something but what can she do? The portal hasn¡¯t even been activated yet, any action she tries to take now will be delayed even more. Just before the yellow fire reaches Daxia, a wall of ice forms in front of her and blocks the fire. At that moment, the fire and ice collided releasing a strong hissing sound as heat and cold engaged in fierce fight. Daxia watches the fierce battle in front of her with amazement but then she notices something odd. She can¡¯t really describe or explain it but she can see the hissing sound, it shins like a powerful light whose colors change rapidly. it must be another effect of the poisonous fumes but she can¡¯t help but be drawn to it. The words of an annoying firey ghost echo in her mind. ¡®your next step is to hear light and see sound¡¯ -ssssh, I will handle the beast, ssssh- The Egitian Seraf, a massive cobra like dragon whose back is covered with gold and white feathers and whose massive wings are adorned with vibrant, colorful feathers, has no horns crowning its head but wears an actual golden crown, informs the white yong before flying toward the Bulgasari. The dragon opens its jaws and releases a fire that is as colorful as its wings are, shifting between blue and green. The colorful fire hits the Bulgasari as the beast continues to fight against nonexistent enemies, the fire not enough to cover all of the Bulgasari and is only enough to hit its portion of its massive back. The portion hit by the fire begins to crumble and erode turning into particles of dust. Tree roots quickly rise up to protect the Bulgasari. -what¡¯s happening I thought the Bulgasari is unkilla- THUNDER The lyrebird opens its mouth repeating Vioarr¡¯s massage as usual before it¡¯s frozen in fear mid sentence by a massive plasma breath that vaporizes the tree roots. -you who are one with the forest, Don¡¯t interfere, or else ¨C The red young says as the last pits of plasma exit its mouth. ~it¡¯s not killing the Bulgasari, it¡¯s changing it, the green portions of that fire are chlorine, it¡¯s reacting with the metal and turning into salt ~ Ken Says while covering his eyes from the bright red light of the plasma, he then uses his aether magic to strengthen the electromagnetic force in the atoms of the Bulgasari¡¯s metal to stop the chemical reaction. _Ken, buy me some time, I haven¡¯t had the time to memorize this so it will take me a few minutes to do it _ Saiko says as the book knowledge opens in front of her and flips through its pages at a rapid pace. ~you think, I can stall nine freaking dragons ~ _ I know you can _ Ken blinks repeatedly stunned for a moment, then his tense expression softens and his lips curl up into a smile. ~well, I can¡¯t break that trust now, can I? I will do it but what are you going to do ~ The book of knowledge finally stops flipping through its golden pages and the sliver cat reads the first line of the text and then looks up at the white yong with murderous eyes. _ I will teach those dragons why water is superior _ She says as a massive ball of water forms behind her. Chapter 61 The knight who ate from the Tree of Knowledge Chapter 61 The knight who ate from the Tree of Knowledge But not once from life location: The oval office, Presidential Palace, World Capital, The Central Nation Date: the 12th of June 5027 President Fredric sits at his desk, his old tired eyes are immersed in the document in front of him while his index finger constantly taps on his desk. Two large glass windows on each side of him illuminate the old president and cause his grey hair to shine with luster like that of metal while keeping the area behind him shrouded in the shade. The document in Fredric¡¯s hand is a proposal from the newly formed Round Table group. The group consists of the heads of the thirteen wealthiest families in the world, led by Eddie Patton. They want the right to implement their own laws within their companies, effectively governing them like miniature monarchies, in exchange for raising worker wages and providing housing to quell the growing protests over low wages. -what a sick joke, Demos ¨C President Fredric calls out to Demos and then throws the document in the air. A large fire erupts from behind the president and incinerates the document. For a brief moment, the light of the fire illuminated the darkness behind the president, revealing multiple people dressed all in black and wearing large visors that cover their eyes, similar to those of a virtual reality headset. One of them had her arm extended forward and her hand was the source of the flame. Fredric notices a button blinking repeatedly on his desk and clicks on it. In response to his action a hologram forms in front of his desk. -what¡¯s wrong William? ¨C - I have an urgent report, Sir- William the director of the GSTF responds as he bows respectfully to Fredric. - go on ¨C Fredric says as he studies Williams''s hologram and notices the beads of cold sweat dripping down his forehead. -Sir, the living weapon HOTU started moving again, Strike team one moved immediately to intercept HOTU and the bounty hunters with her as planned, however when they arrived there they found the Royal Guards of Kim Sungta suffering from a mental attack ¨C - a mental attack? ¨C Fredric raises his eyebrow at what William said. -yes, after examining the satellite footage repeatedly and through multiple scanners we believe that the bounty hunters used electromagnetic waves to induce nerve impulses in the brains of the Royal guards, it¡¯s similar to Transcranial magnetic stimulation which is used to treat mental health conditions but much more sophisticated- -hm, that¡¯s impressive but I still fail to see why you said this was urgent¨C -HOTU, used decay, Sir- Fredric¡¯s eyes grow wide for a moment and he sits up straight. - did strike team one perish?!- -no, Sir, thankfully they were not the target of the attack, it was the Bulgasari¡¯s mountain and a portion of the Royal Guards, however, we believe that strike team one was subject to the same mental attack as they were seen conversing and interacting with no one. likely they were suffering from mental hallucinations at the time, furthermore upon witnessing the wave of decay they did not move to intercept HOTU, instead, they left the scene completely, we believe they might be under mind control- -hmmm - Fredric leans over his desk and seems lost in thought for a moment. -I assume you already informed the Dragon Lord- -yes, sir, and she was kind enough to send nine dragons to the scene ¨C -hmmm, that won¡¯t be enough, I see why you came here want to use Demos don¡¯t you- William nods his. -Yes, Sir- -Alright, I will Authorize the use of the Priest, Demos bring model 110 ¨C A small square door opens on the floor of the office, and then an old man wearing long black priest coat and a large black visor that covers his eyes rises from the floor. The man¡¯s body is stiff and rigged and the small amount of skin that is visible from his face is full of wrinkles and deathly pale. ************************************ location: The edge of the Bulgasari¡¯s forest, Kim Sungta -ha, you will stall us? What a funny joke- The violet yong sneers at the bounty hunter. -let¡¯s end that miserable fool first ¨C The red true dragon comments as she descends on the bounty hunter along with the golden true dragon and four of the six yongs. The white yong notices Saiko completely ignoring them and focusing on the Book of Knowledge despite being surrounded by six dragons. ¡®something is off¡¯ -don¡¯t underestimate your opponent, vaporize him immediately - -you got it, geezer ¨C The white yong commands and the red true dragon responds before all six dragons open their jaws and release torrents of colorful flames. Ken immediately uses his aether magic to increase the electromagnetic force between the water molecules around him from the rain and hail. The increased force makes the water quickly freeze in hexagonal patterns around Ken forming a dome of ice. The colorful flames slam into the ice and numerous explosions erupt from where the fire and ice collide as the active elements in the dragon fire try to react violently with the water. However, the ice dome does not break. The increased electromagnetic force weakens the chemical reactions and continuously draws water from the rain and hail to feed the dome. Strong as the dragons may be, they could not beat the storm Although Ken maintained his confident demeanor on the outside, internally his mind is racing to find a solution to his current predicament. ¡®I have to think of something, some weakness to exploit some advantage I can abuse¡¯ -let me see you block this- The red yong says interrupting Ken¡¯s thoughts and then opens its jaws. THUNDER A pinkish red beam of plasma splits the Sky dyeing it red as it rushes toward Ken. Ken quickly pulls out the demon sword and points it to the side. The eyes of the demon skull glow faintly and it starts humming then suddenly the plasma beam fired by the red yong turns sideways and flies away from Ken. -what the?- -what it is happening?- The dragons watch with bewildered expressions as the plasma breath seemingly obeys Key and flies away from him. Ken had used the electromagnetic field of the demon horns which is usually used to control the demon Skull¡¯s plasma beam to control the red yongs plasma breath and deflect it away. ~phew, I am glad at least this one is still working ~ Ken sighs in relief while swinging the demon sword around. His expression then turns serious. ¡®Now, let¡¯s review our situation, my watch, glasses, and grimoire are not working and I can¡¯t contact Rin. But at least thanks to the miniature aether shields that Ken added to the nano pots my sword is still working.¡¯ He looks up at the dragons and studies them making use of their moment of shock. ¡®They are stronger, faster, and have better senses, I also can¡¯t attack their internal organs they are so big and heavy that any damage I do would be the equivalent of getting pricked by a needle¡¯ Ken¡¯s eyes narrow slowly before growing wide as an idea flashes in his mind. ¡®wait that¡¯s it, they are too big, that means their reaction time would be slower, even if they are faster than me, their reaction time would be slower because their nerve impulses would have to travel much longer distances¡¯ Ken¡¯s lips curl up into a smug grin.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ~ my turn ~ He says as he points the demon sword at Red yong. The blade of the demon sword splits down the middle and each half moves to one edge of the skull forming two large demonic fangs. The demon skull opens its mouth and starts hissing loudly. ~let¡¯s see who wins dragon fire or a demon¡¯s breath ~ ROOOOAAAR Ken taunts the red yong before the demon skull roars loudly and releases a bright white plasma beam that illuminates the darkness of the night. -hmph, cheap imitation ¨C The red yong comments before firing a plasma breath of his own dyeing the night sky red. The two sun like beams of plasma collide in the sky and split the heavens in two, one half a hellish red and the other a bright white like the daylight. A powerful shock wave erupts from the collision of the two beams shattering the trees below them and causing powerful gusts of wind. Soon the white light overpowers the red and devours it little by little but then the red yong¡¯s eyes glow as he activates his magic, energy magic, a magic derived from the fire elements that allows him to manipulate the energy of particles. The temperature drastically drops as the dragon absorbs the energy from his surroundings and injects it into his plasma beam. The hellish red light that was being pushed back becomes invigorated and overtakes the white light and devours it. The red yong¡¯s eyes cloud over and he glances down at the human with pride, eager to see the human¡¯s reaction to witnessing his weapon losing to his dragon fire, but instead of anger, surprise, or shock, he notices a smirk forming on the human¡¯s face. Before the yong has time to wonder, Ken uses his aether magic to tug downward at the electromagnetic field of the demon horns which controls his plasma beam. Ken¡¯s magic is not strong it can only move it very slightly, in fact, it was less than an inch but that small tug bends the demon sword¡¯s plasma beam like a whip and travels up it like a wave. The two heavens, the hellish red and pure white spin around each other, no longer opposing each other but layered one over the other, and each of them quickly rushes past the other toward its targets. Having been the one who initiated the action, Ken is able to quickly jump out of the way and narrowly dodge the red plasma beam, However unlike him the red yong was shocked to see the white plasma beam speeding toward him. Nerve impulses are very quick, even for massive creatures like dragons where nerve impulses would have to travel many times the distance that they would have traveled for a human, the delay in reaction time would only be a fraction of a second, but a fraction of a second is the difference between life and death in a battle, after all this whole sequence only took three seconds. The white beam of plasma reaches the red yong and rushes past it. A fraction of a second later the white beam disappears. The red yong¡¯s body has been split in two and the two halves fall from the sky and with a loud thud, they crash on the ground. A moment of silence overtakes the chaotic battlefield as the dragons stare in disbelief at the body of their fallen comrade and the only sound that could be heard is the falling hail. SHshshhshshshSH SHshshhshshshSH SHshshhshshshSH ~one down, eight more to go ~ Ken¡¯s comment breaks the silence snapping the dragon¡¯s back to reality. -Chaofeng!?¨C The golden yong shouts and rushes toward the red yong. ~hm, correction two down, seven more to go ~ -you bastard - The red true dragon shouts before the dragons all open their jaws releasing torrents of colorful flames to burn the blonde bounty hunter. Ken, once again, uses his aether magic to increase the electromagnetic force between the water molecules forming an ice dome around him once again blocking the torrent of fire. -tsk, fine then, let¡¯s see how you block this ¨C The golden true dragon shouts as he slams his claw on Ken to crush him causing the ground below to crack from the force but then he immediately groans in pain and looks at his claw and sees the blue blade of the demon sword piercing through his claw. Ken had extended the handle of the demon sword turning it into a spear shaft and rested it against the ground with the blade pointing up letting the golden dragon impale his claw on it. YAWN. ~I really need to sleep ~ Ken yawns, then places his thumb on the spear''s shaft, and the blade splits open as the demon skull begins to screech. The golden true dragon¡¯s eyes immediately grow wide and he instinctively pulls his hand away but the two halves of the blade which had already lodged themselves in the dragon¡¯s palm cause him to pull the now demon spear off the ground along with Ken who is holding onto it. Ken turns off the recoil function before the demon skull roars loudly and fires its plasma beam blowing a a hole in the golden true dragon¡¯s arm and sending Ken flying through the air. The golden dragon roars in agony while holding his claw and stares at the hole. Lucky for him, the extreme heat of the plasma beam melted the edges of the hole cauterizing it and preventing him from bleeding out. **************************** On a floating ice platform a small distance away from Saiko, Celine sits up and places a hand on her forehead. -uh, my head, that was one crazy acid trip ¨C -well it wasn¡¯t an acid trip but you are close, the dragon incorporated the Diviner¡¯s sage into its fire, and their fumes contain a powerful hallucinogenic and psychedelic compound ¨C Vioarr comments through the lyrebird which is resting on a tree root next to the ice platform. Celine looks around and then raises an eyebrow and her expression twists in confusion. -are you sure you neutralized all the poison, cause I think I am still hallucinating- -pfft, no you are not hallucinating, it¡¯s very impressive, isn¡¯t it? ¨C -so you are telling me that Ken is acutely holding his own against six dragons right now? ¨C She notices a shadow pass over them and looks up to see the Egitian seraf flying toward Ken. It seems he decided to ignore the Bulgasari and aid the other dragon. -make that seven dragons.- - I know right? At first, I was going to risk it and help him but then I saw him cut one in half was like, hold on let¡¯s wait and watch this for a bit ¨C Celine raises an eyebrow at the lyrebird. -even if he is doing well we should still help him, one wrong move and he could turn into dragon feed - She says then turns to look at Daxia hoping she backs her up but she finds Daxia lost in thought and staring off into space. -Daxia? ¨C -I saw it ¨C -huh?- Celine blinks and looks at Daxia with a confused look. - I saw sound, I heard light ¨C -Daxia we were hallucinating, I saw all sorts of crazy stuff too ¨C Daxia shakes her head. -you don¡¯t get it, I think this is a specific thing, he told me about it- Celine raises an eyebrow at Daxia¡¯s comment. -who did?- -¡­ the ghost¨C *********************** A few moments earlier. Ken flies away from the golden true dragon propelled by his demon sword. The red true dragon raises her arms up and following her command a portion of the ground melts turning into lava then flies after Ken. ~hmm~ The bounty hunter quickly scans his surroundings then pulls himself up toward the shaft of the demon spear and rests his foot on the demon horn to give himself better control over the trajectory of where he flies. He tilts the shaft to change directions and dodge the lava but the lava follows after him. ~hm, as expected ~ He flies through the air until he reaches the ice wall that Saiko created earlier to protect Daxia and Celine. He lands on the top of the wall, then quickly turns around and increases the gravity on the lava behind him. The sudden increase in gravity causes the lava to fall slightly down and crash into the side of the ice wall, instantly vaporizing a portion of it and releasing a cloud of steam that covers the wall and hides Ken from view. The red true dragon creates more lava and observes the cloud of steam carefully waiting for Ken to come out to attack him once again but then suddenly from within the cloud a white plasma beam is fired toward the red true dragon. She quickly moves to the side to dodge it but then she sees the plasma beam bend like a whip chasing after her cutting her right arm and wing. The old white yong guesses where Ken is standing by observing where the plasma beam was fired from. Then, with his jaws wide open, he dives into the cloud of steam to swallow the arrogant human but he tastes no flesh only a metallic object which he assumes is the human¡¯s weapon. the old yong notices a metal wire hanging from the edge of his mouth. He follows the wire with his gaze and finds the other end in the hand of Ken who is crouching in the cavity in the ice wall that was created when the lava collided with it. Ken notices the old yong make eye contact with him, so he smiles at the yong and waves to him then uses his aether magic to press the trigger on the demon skull inside the yong¡¯s maw. RAAAHHHH A plasma beam blows a hole through the yong¡¯s lower jaw causing him to roar in pain and flail his head wildly. The yong¡¯s flailing causes him to fling Ken into the air by the metal wire. Once in the air, Ken tugs on the metal wire in his hand pulling the demon skull out of yong¡¯s maw. The old yong¡¯s cries of pain grab the attention of the Eigitian Seraf. The Seraf¡¯s gaze shifts repeatedly between the Bulgasari and his elder and he makes a split second decision. He decides to ignore the Bulgasari as it is still under the effect of the poison and rushes to aid the other dragons against the arrogant human. The Eigitian Seraf¡¯s eyes meet the gaze of the blonde bounty hunter who is still flying in the air. He watches as the metal wire recedes back inside the demon skull and is replaced by a sword handle which the bounty grabs onto. The bounty hunter adjusts his stance in the air and holds the demon skull at his side. With a powerful roar, a plasma beam erupts from the skull, forming a blade that pierces the ground behind him. The seraf watches as the blonde bounty hunter swings his arm diagonally. A path of hellish destruction and scorched earth follows his arms as the blade of the demon sword rushes toward him. Recalling how the other dragons were injured and expecting the beam to bend at any second, the Eigitian Seraf quickly flies up and away to put as much distance between him and the plasma beam so that even if it bends it can¡¯t reach him. The seraf looks behind checking the distance between him and the plasma beam. Feeling confident that he is out of sword¡¯s reach, he shifts his gaze back to the bounty hunter but then suddenly, he notices the bounty hunter switching his stance and twisting his arms. The Egitian seraf¡¯s eyes tremble and shift to look in front of him only to be blinded by the white light. Following Ken¡¯s movement the plasma blade has spun two hundred and seventy degrees and is now rushing at the Egitian seraf from the opposite direction. The Seraf quickly tries to stop but is unable to due to his momentum, so instead, he tucks in his wings and bends its tail performing a nose dive barely managing to avoid the plasma beam by a hair''s breadth. ~gotcha ~ Before the Egitian Seraf can process the word a terrible stinging sensation assaults his mind overwhelming all his sensations. As soon as the plasma beam passed above the Egitian seraf, Ken used his aether magic to tug on the electromagnetic field of the demon horns causing the plasma beam to bend down like a whip cutting the Egitian Seraf¡¯s body in half and setting its feathers on fire causing him to crash to the ground as he roars in pain. -ROOAAAAH- Saiko¡¯s whiskers twitch, alerting her to the location of the plasma beam which is about to vaporize a seemingly random tree. She quickly sends her intentions to the water to protect the tree as she has to keep her focus on the book of knowledge. The falling hail quickly responds and gathers in front of the tree forming a massive ice wall to protect it from the plasma beam. _ Ken_ She calls out while keeping her focus on the book. _be careful there are surveillance unit members hiding in the forest _ ~ not now Saiko, I am busy? Besides, if you are worried about them then hurry up?~ He responds as he turns off the recoil function on the demon sword and uses the recoil to dodge the jaws of the green yong. _don¡¯t rush me, it said I could get cancer if I do this wrong¡­or are they the ones who will get cancer? I need to reread that part, what are free radicals anyway? _ The book of knowledge responds to her question and quickly flips through its infinite pages landing on a chapter titled free radicals. _NO, NO, NO, GO BACK, I don¡¯t need to know that now _ ~free radicals? ~ He raises an eyebrow at the words and repeats them in his mind over and over as he wonders what Saiko is doing. His gaze shifts to the ball of water behind her. It looks like just a normal ball of water. It doesn¡¯t look like anything is happening to it at all. ~hmm ~ He quickly strengthens the effect of gravity on his body to fall quicker dodging the calcium fire breath of the white yong and carefully studies the water ball. Finally, he notices it. The ball of water is full of air bubbles. Although it is fairly common to find some air bubbles in water, these ones are different. Normally, if you pour water anywhere or move it around some air bubbles will get stuck inside the water but these air bubbles would then quickly float to the surface of the water and disappear. However, that is not what¡¯s happening in the ball of water. The air bubbles in the water are not floating to the surface and they are rapidly increasing in number. ~oh, I see how it is~ Ken¡¯s lips curl up into a wide grin. Although the ball of water looks normal to the naked eye, it is in fact an intricate maze of pure water and salt water. When salt dissolves in water, it breaks down into positive ions and negative ions and these ions are what allow electricity to pass in the water, by contrast, pure water with no ions doesn¡¯t conduct electricity and is considered an insulator. Using her control over the molecules of water, Saiko carefully separates the positive ions from the negative ions and surrounds each of them with pure water to insulate them, once enough ions have accumulated, Saiko connects the positive and negative ions together with salt water which causes an electric current to run from the negative ions to the positive ion. When the electric current passes through the salt water it breaks the water down into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen. The two gases are then immediately collected by the surrounding water molecules and stored in the form of an air bubble. This process has been repeating over and over in hundreds of places throughout the massive water ball since the fight began. Once she is satisfied with the amount of gases she has generated, Saiko stretches her neck and arms then looks up at the dragons with murderous eyes as a wide grin forms on her lips. _Now, shall we end this?_ chapter 62 The pure flames of Gaia Chapter 62 The pure flames of Gaia Groans -Quiniu, can¡¯t you be any faster than this- Chaofeng, The Red Yong, groans and complains while his eyes drift downward toward the Golden Yong. -shut up, do you think it¡¯s easy to connect your body back together, you are lucky his weapon was plasma based, the extreme heat cauterized the wound otherwise, you would have already bled out and died- Quiniu, The golden yong, explains as she slowly tries to connect Chaofeng¡¯s body fiber by fiber and nerve by nerve. A ring around one of her talons carries an artificial gemstone that faintly glows with green and blue hues as it activates the organic magic stored inside it. THUD. Quiniu hears a thud behind her and turns to see the red true dragon landing behind her and looking at her with apologetic eyes. The red true dragon holds her severed arm in her mouth and carries one half of the passed out Egitian Seraf in her other arm and carries his other half with her tail. The red dragon drops her severed arm and looks at Quiniu. -I am sorry, Quiniu, but can you batch us up as well - The golden yong looks at the red true dragon in shock and rushes to her. -no, no, no, we don¡¯t have time for this, I am not even halfway done with Chaofeng we don¡¯t have enough time at this rate ¡­.- The Golden Yong pauses, unable to finish her own sentence. She shakes her head. -we need to retreat, I need to take them to a hospital- THUNDER. Suddenly, a blinding white light covers the entire forest, forcing the golden yong to groan from its brightness. The Golden Yong turns to look at the source of the light and sees a massive ball of white flames covering the sky like a curtain of flames, illuminating the forest with blinding white light. ~TIME OUT~ She shifts her gaze downward to look at the source of the voice and notices a small black dot falling from the sky, a black dot that she instantly recognizes, for it is the human who was the cause of all the injuries that her brethren have suffered. ¡®what kind of nonsense is he spouting now?¡¯ she is honestly flabbergasted, how could he ask for something so absurd right now? ¡®but, well, we could definitely use it¡¯ She glances at the Red Yong and Eigitian Seraf, who are on the brink of death. The Golden Yong¡¯s eyes grow wide and she quickly turns to look back at Ken. -was that his plan from the start?- ******************** Ken lands on the ground between Saiko and the White Yong and then walks toward the Yong. The remaining dragons land one by one in a circle around the tiny human and watch him cautiously. ~ oh, great dragons, I propose a cease fire, I do not know how your fire breath works, but I know it¡¯s an organic process and not magic, and I know organic processes have their limits. I believe a copra can spit its venom between 20 to 40 times before it completely runs out of venom, and it takes them hours to replenish it.~ Noticing the dragons gathering around Ken, Celine and Daxia decide to walk over to see what¡¯s happening. ~I don¡¯t imagine your fire is much different, so if I had to guess, each of you only has a few fire breathes left, you were not exactly using it sparingly~ The dragons look at each other and then at the White Yong, their eyes all but confirm what Ken has said. ~ Additionally, two of you need immediate medical attention if you Keep fighting, your healer will likely be able to save one, but the other will surely die ~ Ken says while pointing the demon sword at the spot where Quiniu is treating the injured dragons. The White Yong shifts his gaze to where Ken is pointing, but his attention is quickly pulled back by Ken¡¯s voice. ~finally, I promise you, you don¡¯t want to deal with what she has prepared back there ~ He says while pointing at Saiko behind him. The dragons¡¯ gazes shift to Saiko, and they look puzzled. They can see Saiko standing in front of a massive water sphere, and they know she has been reading from the book of knowledge for a while, but to them, it still just looks like a normal sphere of water.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Sure, the water looks unnaturally clear and sparkles a lot, but it doesn¡¯t look like anything they need to be scared of. If anything, they need to be scared of something else entirely. The dragons¡¯ gazes shift back to the demon sword, seemingly ignoring Saiko while the White Yong remains fixated on the sphere of water. Ken observes the White Yong¡¯s gaze as his lips curl up into a confident smile. He knows he cornered the dragons, and he knows the White Yong is wise enough to see it all he needs now is to wait for the White Yong¡¯s response. _ What are you doing? _ But a question came before the White Yong could respond. Ken turns around and looks at Saiko. ~ what do you mean? I am ending the fight ~ _ oh, I am going to end the fight alright, but certainly not like this _ ~ you can¡¯t be serious right now? ~ _ I am serious, I am going to kill them, all of them _ Saiko says while crossing her arms. -ha, you must be delusional if you thin- ~SHUT UP, I am trying to save your lives right now.~ The Golden True dragon sneers at Saiko but immediately gets cut off by Ken shouting at him, causing him to flinch. -what the?- Ken ignores the confused dragon and continues to plead with Saiko, looking agitated. ~I don¡¯t get it, why? You sacrifice your own life span to help complete strangers, almost every enemy we meet who tries to kill you, mind you, you try to save them and make sure they are never harmed, and yet now you are suddenly bloodthirsty?~ _haaa _ Saiko lets out a sigh and then looks at Ken. _those are different in all of those times we were criminals, and they were cops chasing thieves, they were the soldiers standing guard, and they were the bounty hunters hunting down criminals, they were doing their jobs, and we were in the wrong, but what about them? _ Saiko gestures to the dragons around them. Her eyes flash with an eerie red glow as she glares at them before shifting her gaze back to Ken. _why do you think they are here? They know they are in on it, If I let them go, they will Kidnap other children, they will torture other children, and they will turn them into weapons_ ¡®into me¡¯ She keeps the last part to herself. It echoes but only in her mind as she takes in a deep breath to calm down her emotions. The red glow slowly fades from her eyes. Ken observes the silver cat and takes in a deep breath, then slowly walks toward her. ~but Saiko, we could use them, you just finished telling us about the incoming war, don¡¯t you think we could use nine dragons on our side?~ -huh? What war?- The Green Yong asks, but Saiko and Ken ignore him. _ We don¡¯t need them for the war, I already have a plan for it _ ~ but it¡¯s definitely better if we have them ~ _UGH _ Saiko raises both arms in frustration. _ You want to tell me you wouldn¡¯t hesitate for a second before trying to Kill Daxia, a friend and colleague you have known for years, and now you are trying to save these vile monsters _ ~yeah, I wanted to kill Daxia, and I was wrong, look how useful she has been, see? I learned, and weren¡¯t you the one who taught me that? ~ Daxia blinks repeatedly while looking at Ken. - I am not sure how I should feel about that, but I guess I am not surprised ¨C Saiko glances at Daxia, then looks back at Ken. _You have learned nothing, you were selfish then, and you are selfish now, why you are doing something is more important_ ~hey, I am trying to save the world right now, How is that selfish? ~ _ You don¡¯t care about the world or anyone in it, you are trying to save yourself _ Ken pauses and looks at Saiko silently for a moment. ~¡­ that may be true, but I am also trying to save you~ The silver cat flinches and stares at Ken. . . . -may I suggest a compromise ¨C ~Huh?! _ The silver cat and bounty hunter Jump backward, startled, as Naoi appears between them. Naoi looks at Saiko. - is your goal revenge or to prevent them from harming any more victims- Saiko blinks repeatedly. _ it¡¯s to prevent them from harming any more victims, of course _ -then, there are other ways to prevent them from causing any more harm besides killing them- _ Like what? _ The silver cat looks at Naoi with a puzzled look. -I believe you already discovered one recently- _Huh?_ ~ Mind control ~ Ken shouts energetically as he realizes what Naoi is referring to. ~you can use Argus to control their bodies ~ _... but, ahh, I think that¡¯s a lot worse than death though _ Naoi smiles benignly. -well, you are in luck because I don¡¯t think death alone is enough to atone for what they have done - _haaa _ Saiko lets out a long sigh and then looks at the dragons. _ I still don¡¯t feel right about this, I will inject you with Argus, but I will let you keep your free will so long as you are obedient and help with the war and with stopping the living weapon program, if, however, you cross the line and try anything, well let¡¯s just say you will wish they allowed me to kill you _ Ken grins and turns to look at the White Yong. ~ so, what¡¯s your choice? ~ The White Yong, who has been calmly observing everything so far, tilts his head down towards Ken as he contemplates everything he just witnessed. His gaze shifts to the mysterious sphere of water and then to Ken and Saiko before it finally lingers for a long time at the area where Ken and Saiko were staring during the last portion of their conversation. It seemed that both Ken and Saiko were certain that this ball of water could kill them the only question wasn¡¯t if she could but if she should. ¡®and more importantly¡¯ During the last part of their conversation, they were clearly speaking with someone, someone he couldn¡¯t see and couldn¡¯t sense, neither with his sharp draconic sense nor with his magic. Also, the effect of Chaofeng¡¯s plasma pulse should still be in effect, so it¡¯s not technology either but an actual living being. There is only one being he can think of who can do that. ¡®The Guardian of the book¡¯ Although it hurts his pride, it is better to surrender if for no other reason than to gather more information about the war they mentioned, and so long as they are alive, the Dragon Lord will find a way out of this. The White Yong looks at Ken. - I suppose we have no choice ¨C Ken¡¯s smile grows wider. ~ I knew you were a reasonable person ~ _well, I suppose I don¡¯t need this anymore _ Saiko swipes her arm through the air and then clenches her fist. The water sphere immediately compresses and collects all the air bubbles in one spot before creating a small, narrow passage for the collected gases to escape through. The dragons quickly shift their gazes to the water sphere and watch it with anticipation as they finally get to see what it is. Celine and Daxia watch the water ball with interest, equally curious about what it is that Saiko was preparing all this time. The animals of the forest, led by the lyrebird, observe from the edges of the tree line while transmitting what they see to the followers of nature now, they will see a fragment of what the Book of Knowledge hides. Ken turns with a proud smile and looks above the ball of water. . . . SPARK. With a final electric spark, Saiko ignites the gases. -What the?!- -what is going on?! ¨C -How?!- The eyes of the dragons grow wide in disbelief while the animals of the forest cower in fear, and some of them escape deeper into the forest. The rain and hail above the sphere of water disappear, no, they instantly evaporate. The onlookers can¡¯t see what¡¯s making it evaporate, but they can tell, they can tell from the sound of hissing water as it evaporates and from the sound of crackling fire, but there is nothing there. Daxia rubs her eyes before opening them to take another look even she is questioning her own eyes. Thanks to her eyes, she can see the immense energy above the water sphere, but she can¡¯t see the flames. ~ a fire so pure it¡¯s invisible, it has no smoke, no smell, and when it burns, it turns back into water ~ The eyes of all the onlookers turn to look at Ken as he watches the invisible flames with a proud smile. Ken nudges the Golden True dragon¡¯s ankle. ~ aren¡¯t you glad I saved your lives ~ -I have to admit it¡¯s impressive looking, but we are dragons we are resistant to flames, and I can¡¯t feel any heat from this fire- ~ you are correct, this fire doesn¡¯t radiate heat you won¡¯t feel anything until you are inside the flames, but make no mistake, it¡¯s hot enough to melt steel ~ -Oh, Holy sh-