You.DarnScoundrels! The old man struggled, his face flushed red as he waved his fists threateningly. Glenn scowled and smiled apologetically.
...My deepest apologies, senior. I and my comrade caught the track of something heavy in the ground, and we were investigating it, He bowed his head slightly, forcing Sahro to follow him.
The old man chewed his words, his eyes bulging with anger.
Under whose authority are you investigating, huh, you thieves? Glenn felt Sahro tense up and swore under his breath. He slipped his hand into his coat, taking out the Blood Cross medal pinned on his white shirt under his vest, the glint of the fire quickly catching the old mans eyes.
Were here with the authority of the Blood Cross order, Glenn lied through his teeth, speaking with a grave tone. Sahro frowned but didnt say anything, going with the flow.
...And we also escort Monsieur Marons workers, the ones building the brewery The young man finished, pinning the medal on his vest this time, making it obvious to see. He didnt want to catch too many eyes, but in a backwater village like this, maybe using upper authority couldnt be too bad.
Oh, Glenn What a blunder Diamanes muttered in his hosts mind with a disappointed tone.
What do you mean? Glenn thought before getting brutally interrupted by the old man poking his chest aggressively.
The Cleaners Workshop? Those damned thieves as well! We pay protection services to take care of the beasts, and we get nothing but runny-nosed brats who can barely fight drunkards! You damned! This time, it was Glenn who clenched his teeth.
He breathed in slowly, the words of the old man entering one ear and getting out the other. With a wide smile, he walked past him, enduring and wiping off the spittle that the old man was spitting at him.
The young man walked out of the hut, looking at the sun disappearing under the canopy, slowly replaced by two white moons. The old man kept on trying to push him, swearing and disrespecting Glenn as much as it was possible.
''...Is this the Karen equivalent of this world?'' Diamanes questioned curiously, amplifying his host''s annoyance even further.
Glenn smiled with all his teeth, clapping his hands together. The old mans voice suddenly disappeared, and his lips moved without any sound getting out of it. Sahro coughed slightly as he also exited the hut, circumventing the angry old man as much as possible.
Should we go, Sahro? The young man calmly asked, his smile unwavering. Sahro nodded, throwing one last glance at the dumbfounded old man. As they walked away slowly, the Black Heir leaned forward, whispering as quietly as he could.
...How much time is it going to last?
Glenn looked at the sky and shrugged carelessly.
Until were out of his sight. Ugh, I know we shouldnt have entered that guys home, but it''s not my fault it looked suspicious He jeered, his smile giving way to an expression of disgust as he cast a cleaning spell over his face, getting rid of all the saliva he''d failed to wipe away.
Sahro glanced at the surroundings and shook his head slowly.
"This place is horrible to defend. No walls, no sentries, a grove in the middle of a forest," Sahro kicked a stone away, clasping his arms together, "...We''re sitting ducks here. Hopefully, nothing too strong comes our way," He muttered, his eyes searching through the darkness of the forest.
Besides the song of the night owls, nothing answered his wariness.
"...Hopefully, nothing comes our way at all," Glenn added, the smell of the forest making him remember that night he fled from the bloody battleground, Retni''s Plains, and that tentacle monster. What was his name already? Father Albenas, Albedas?
''A tentacle monster? Glenn, how did I not watch that memory yet?!?'' Diamanes exclaimed excitedly before diving into Glenn''s mind to find some suitable content to enjoy.
They went back to the main camp, near the biggest patch of burned grass and ash. It was apparently where the grains used to brew Fire Spirit were grown.
The workers had already begun clearing out the ground of all the ashes and taking measures to start the construction.
"Chop, chop! I want everything to be ready for tomorrow! We''ll begin at dawn! The sooner it''s done, the sooner we all get paid!" The counter master yelled, clapping loudly. The workers grumbled, trying to finish everything they had to prepare in advance.
Monsieur Maron nodded approvingly, wearing a satisfied expression as he stood over the workers, his hands on his waist.
Glenn looked over, seeing that the lower-ranked mercenaries had already made their camp near the edge of the forest, establishing a perimeter with lit-on torches. Even if their respective capabilities weren''t the greatest, that didn''t mean they were all stupid.
They could still set up sentries, rounds, and traps. Cunning often wins over brute force, after all.
...Unless your opponent is Mary, of course. Glenn shivered and looked at Tarana, who was speaking with a...local farmer?
"Aren''t the locals supposed to be still staying near the Still Peak?" He pondered aloud, curious. Monsieur Maron heard him and approached with dandy steps.
"Whatever we do here, it''s still their villages. They''re the ones who are going to cultivate the grains I need and extract the resources the other companies are looking for," He explained, his arms crossed as he stared at Tarana for longer than what was socially acceptable.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Glenn slowly nodded, before turning toward him and staring straight into the merchant''s eyes.
"I do have one question, Monsieur Maron. What are we supposed to protect this place from? And why such a huge pay?"
The merchant shrugged, and slipped his hand into his pouch, taking out a gold coin and playing with it.
"For you all, it might seem like a great amount, but to me, it''s only the worthy price to protect my investments. I would rather pay a little bit more and make sure everything goes smoothly, even if it ends up being useless, instead of losing it all again because I was too cheap," He smiled confidently, surprising Glenn a little.
It seemed there was more to Maron than meets the eye. This merchant gave the impression that he was more of a self-made man and not a lucky inheritor.
The man politely bid Glenn a good night and went to do a last check with the workers and the counter master. The young man looked back at Sahro, only to see that the Black Heir was busy cleaning a spot nearby, setting up a small tent.
"He sure isn''t losing any time..." Glenn muttered, before walking toward Tarana. The woman smiled at the farmer, who left after nodding and smiling back. She saw her teammate approach and raised her hands helplessly.
"Monsieur Maron was aware of my magical affinity with plants, and asked me if I could find a use from this..." She waved at the field of ashes with a crestfallen expression,"...mess. Surprisingly, the field got even richer from everything burning down, and the earth only asks to give birth to new crops. My powers are also amplified twofold, which is quite practical," She trailed off at the end, hesitating to say something.
Glenn nodded while tightening his tie, saying the words she could bring herself to tell.
"...But Javier, right?" He said without looking at her, his eyes searching for the presence of the silent hunter.
He was nowhere in sight, and he couldn''t help but feel guilty being worried about it. Not trusting his teammate was the quickest way of getting killed.
"I don''t know, he''s...weird, since we fought that thing and recovered him. Different...somehow," Tarana grimaced, before rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Maybe we''re just exaggerating the situation. The guy never was too talkative, and now that he practically died and came back..." She didn''t finish her phrase and shook her head dismissively. She left without looking back to a tent the workers had generously set up for her.
''Being a cute girl certainly has its advantages,'' Diamanes commented while munching on something.
''Munching on something? Wait, what?'' Glenn''s thoughts were startled as he realized the contradiction.
''I''m just eating my illusory popcorn, let me be,'' Diamanes complained while continuing to watch whatever he was watching.
Glenn remained speechless for a few seconds before pulling down on his face.
"Maybe I''m truly going mad... Curse it..."
The night was uneventful if we ignored Javier coming back while carrying an enormous brown wolf on his back, butchering it in the middle of everyone sleeping.
One of the sentries got so scared by the sight of the pale man that he shot an arrow that bruised against his cheek and planted itself in the corpse he was carrying. Javier wasn''t even startled, of course.
It''s just an arrow after all, why would anyone get scared being shot that thing near the head?
The twin moons disappeared, replaced by the morning light. Glenn yawned, rubbing his eyes with exhaustion. Sahro took the first quarter, while Tarana took the second.
Javier was supposedly taking the third, but strangely, no one in the team was trusting their backs to him much anymore.
Glenn took the fourth but had been awake for a good half of the night. He couldn''t sleep for some reason, so he had been meditating, even if it proved a little bit less effective that day.
''Whatever, I''ll just meditate a little longer if I want to be in my top condition...'' He thought while watching the sunrise. The sky was colored red, then pink, which was the moment that the counter master chose to wake up.
Like a chain reaction, the rest of the workers woke up and took a charged breakfast of grilled sausages and cheese.
Glenn, carried by his curiosity and not at all by the delicious smell coming over from their side, decided to meet them. It wasn''t at all in the hope of getting a sausage, no way.
The workers watched him approaching with wary eyes, their conversations dying down and their food crisping over the fire.
Glenn was wondering how to break the mood when suddenly his stomach decided to do it for him.
Rumbling, rumbling...
The young man felt the blood rush to his cheeks and mentally swore at his appetite.
"Haha, you gluttonous bastard!" Diamanes laughed at him without a second''s hesitation, making his left hand''s fingers twitch in annoyance.
One of the nearest workers looked at his colleagues hesitantly, before Glenn''s stomach grumbled again, so loud it was similar to the sound of the thunder rumbling.
The worker shook his head and picked a skewer that was done cooking over the fire, and held it toward the young man. The latter smiled with all his teeth and grabbed it with exaggerated thankfulness.
"...Thanks," And without another word, he devoured the sausage. He looked at the empty skewer with sad eyes, before turning toward the worker who gave him the sausage.
"So, I know it''s a bit impolite, but can I get another one, please...?"
"..."
The middle-aged man stood frozen for a few seconds, before bursting in laughter, his colleagues soon following.
Glenn was slightly startled before understanding that he had successfully broken this invisible wall separating him from these ordinary men and women.
He smiled in relief and accepted the sausage another worker gave him, eating it as fast as he did the first one.
One of the workers gave him another serving, before patting his shoulder warmly. He froze when he realized what he had done, and everyone stopped to see what Glenn''s reaction was.
They all secretly sighed in relief when they saw that the young man was just too concentrated on eating the damned sausage to care about a friendly pat.
Glenn licked the juice on his fingers, before casting a quick cleaning spell on his hands to get rid of any filth left.
''Did you get PTSD or something? Do you absolutely need to cast a cleaning spell each time you''re eating?'' Diamanes sighed in exasperation in his host''s mind, making the latter shrug his shoulders without much care.
''I mean, it''s a good kind of PTSD, isn''t it? I''m just making sure I''m clean, nothing wrong with that.''
Glenn was unaware that this seemingly small, insignificant magic had surprised greatly the workers, and while some looked at him warily, the others had their eyes shining with curiosity. One of the youngest ones couldn''t hold his curiosity and came over, carefully sitting in front of him.
"You...You''re a sorcerer?" He asked, half-scared and half-curious. Glenn nodded, before scratching the back of his head.
"Well, I''d rather call myself a mage, but sorcerer works too. I do a bit of magic, yeah." To demonstrate, he summoned a light ball above his palm with his mind, making everyone whisper in surprise and awe.
Glenn was a little surprised by how shocked they were at the magic. It felt so...common and simple, that he forgot that the majority could only dream about using spells.
Even if the path was relatively simple, paying a single silver coin to get your First Circle at the closest Magic Bureau, it could only get you so far without a teacher. Glenn was lucky to have Diamanes and most important of all, Redan.
''I wonder how the old man is doing...'' He thought with a bit of nostalgia. It had indeed been a while since he last had news of him.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the panicked yell of one of the lower-ranked mercenaries.
"Doran? Doran!?!"
88. Glenns Bizarre Adventures
Glenn groaned, looking at the remaining sausages on the fire. He approached his hand from one, trying to ignore the scream, and he almost managed, but the workers all stood up in worry, making him look like the odd out.
''I couldn''t even Meditate... Sigh...'' Glenn shook his head and pushed himself with tired movements from the ground he was sitting on. The young man dragged his feet toward the source of the disturbance, finding an armor-covered woman kneeling in front of some seemingly meaningless tracks.
The woman turned her head seeing the crowd approaching, and her eyes directly found the burning ember of the Blood Cross emblem. Her fear and worry melted down, replaced by a hopeful smile. She scrambled off the ground and rushed at Glenn, startling him by grabbing his hand with a pleading expression.
"Mr...You''re...You''re from the Blood Cross. Please, help me!" A few tears dripped down her face, amplifying the feeling of pitifulness. Glenn was about to agree to help with a nod, after all, he wasn''t losing anything helping her, even if it was a bit annoying.
But when he opened his mouth, only a single noise came out.
"Yawnnnn..." The woman''s expression froze, and Glenn rubbed his eyes with annoyance.
''Tiring...''
"Tiring..." He walked past the woman, kneeling beside the track. Imprinted in the fresh ground were a pair of footprints heading for the edge of the forest.
''Oups, I think you might have said that aloud...'' Diamanes sneered, making Glenn frown.
''No way, I just thought it. I''m not that stupid, you know?'' He countered, sure of himself. Diamanes simply laughed it off, leaving Glenn to his investigations. At first glance, there was nothing wrong with whoever left.
"Why are you panicking, exactly?" He asked with an annoyed voice, already regretting giving up the sausages for whatever worry that woman had.
"As far as I can tell, your ''Doran'' only went to take a piss. What the hell are you yelling so early for?" The woman gasped, and clasped her fingers nervously, trying to find the right words. Glenn felt himself dozing off, but he jolted himself awake by circulating his Mana throughout his whole body.
"...We are always doing everything together, because we already were separated once before, and we both almost died because of it. So we agreed to always watch each other''s back, at all times!" She explained, twiddling with her fingers while her eyes were moving everywhere but on Glenn''s face.
The young man sighed and looked around him, just in time to see Sahro and Tarana getting out of their respective tents, while Javier stood nearby watching the whole mess.
With a hand movement, he invited Javier to come over so he could help him. Glenn was no tracking expert, after all, and the one most suited for his job was the silent hunter. Even if Javier was acting a bit weird these days, if it was something that simple he should be able to help.
The hunter came over while disregarding the crowd''s stares, and kneeled beside the footprints. A second later, he began walking in the forest, following the trail. Glenn looked at the woman and shrugged, before following Javier. If something was to happen while he was gone, he knew that Sahro and Tarana would take care of it.
They walked in the forest for a few minutes, avoiding thorny bushes and traitorous roots, before Javier stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the ground silently. Glenn was following so closely he almost rammed into the hunter but managed to avoid him at the last second.
"What''s happening" The young man followed Javier''s gaze, finding... nothing.
There were no footprints, no broken branches, or whatever hints Javier had been following until now.
"WhatDid he just disappear into thin air or something?" Glenn exclaimed, looking at Javier with a disconcerted expression. The hunter returned the stare, his eyes unblinking and weirdly deranging to gaze in. The young man turned his head away, looking at the zone while trying to ignore the hunter''s eyes stuck on his back.
The glint of something shining on the ground through some bushes caught his eyes, and Glenn kneeled to figure out what it was. Squinting his eyes, he grabbed the item, and pulled it out of its hiding place, holding it in front of his eyes to see what it was.
It was a thumb-sized skull seemingly made out of pristine silver. Glenn pulled down on his chin, confused about how such a precious-looking item found itself here.
"Hey, any idea what this..." He turned around to discover that Javier was nowhere to be seen, making him swallow back his question, "...and he is gone. Great..." Glenn sighed and pocketed the item. He looked at his left hand with an insisting gaze.
"What?" Diamanes'' mouth appeared in his left palm, smacking its lips together.
"I was just enjoying the stupidity of your actions back when you woke up in this world. Seriously, jumping from tree to tree?"
Glenn dismissed the remark with a wave of his other hand and showed the place to him.
"I always meant to ask, but isn''t there some way to scan this place for hints? Like... a magical sense or something?" He looked at his hand with a hopeful expression, only to see Diamanes'' tongue lick its lips and not reply.
"Glenn, how do submarines find their targets?" The entity slowly began, making him see the solution directly.
"Oh, right, sound waves. I can just do that with Mana somehow, right?" He said with an enlightened tone. Diamanes opened and closed his mouth hesitantly, before giving up and just smiling widely. Glenn, with the combination of his tired brain, his annoyance at this charade, and the reassurance he obtained from Diamanes, sent a wave of Mana around him to scan for whatever there was to find.
His Mana reserve suddenly emptied to half they were, and the trees around him exploded in splinters of wood while the earth shattered. With a thought, a perimeter of a few meters around him was cleared out, as if a bomb had just exploded there. Glenn felt a little dizzy from the expenditure, but stilled himself and looked around in confusion.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
"...So that''s not how it works. Alright, I think I''ll pass on your explanations, Diamanes," He blurted out, his hands on his waist.
"Whatever, man. Whatever," Diamanes chuckled, before disappearing back the ways he came from. Glenn smacked his lips, a helpless expression hanging on his face. He suddenly felt something land on his nose, making him instinctively sneeze. The young man looked up to see a small cloud of ash falling on him.
"Urgh, damn it..." The young man decided to head back to camp and just act as if nothing happened, and show the silver skull to that panicked lady for confirmation.
What he didn''t expect upon coming back to the camp, was the sight of a happily crying woman hugging a dirt and scratches-covered man, the crowd nodding in relief around them.
"...The fuck..." He trailed off, rubbing his eyes in confusion. In a ray of genius, he decided to not care about it right now, and give the skull back to them later after getting an explanation worth his time.
He chose a large tree and leaned on it as he sat down, crossing his legs together. He plunged himself into Meditation, studying the intricacy of his Mana Heart and the Magellanic Clouds within it. While maintaining a steady breathing, he tried comparing mentally the size of the Clouds now to what they were some time ago. It looked like it became...shinier, maybe, but certainly not larger.
Well, at least it looked cool.
The two rings of gray runes hummed silently while the golden one glinted with the light of the stars. The sight calmed his heart and mind, and a few hours later, he felt entirely rested, his energy back to the brink.
"Ahh, I feel much better now!" He exclaimed as he shot his eyes open, finding himself face to face with Javier''s silent face.
"ARH!!" He instinctively let out a wave of Mana, pushing the man away harmlessly while he jumped on his feet. Javier only turned around silently, inviting him to follow him wordlessly. Glenn blinked and walked behind the weirdo without questioning him.
He arrived in front of an overly decorated tent with golden strings sewn beautifully on it. Glenn followed Javier in, arriving in the middle of Monsieur Maron''s meeting. The merchant turned his head at the noise of the newcomers, and his face shone as he gestured at a nearby seat. In front of him was a map of the old Palancar, back when it was still standing.
"Please take a seat, Mr Glenn! We''re preparing the patrols alongside the ones done by Gentle Knight''s team here, who arrived while you were sleeping!"
A fully armor-clad man stepped out from Maron''s cover, his helmet open, revealing a cute baby face. Glenn rubbed his eyes, confusion taking back control of his mind.
''Wait, what the...Am I going crazy?'' Glenn mentally asked, hoping Diamanes could answer him. The entity mumbled something about being busy and didn''t answer, leaving his host alone in his confusion.
''I''m certain Gentle Knight and his team left before us...but they arrived after us? What? Wait, indeed, I didn''t see them when we first came, but that fact somehow got out of my mind...That doesn''t make any sense, the only reason I came here was to meet them...''
Glenn shook Gentle Knight''s gloved hand while maintaining a composed expression, but inside, it was a complete mess. Discrepancies over discrepancies, mistakes, and things he forgot, so much shit that didn''t make any sense...
"We''ll be in your care, Senior!" Gentle Knight excitedly exclaimed, a bright smile plastered on his baby face. His team came over to greet Glenn as well, as excited as their leader. Josh was a very pale man, probably the same ethnicity as Javier, and very silent as well. He just shook Glenn''s hand with excited movements but didn''t say a word.
"I am so excited to meet you, Senior Glenn! It''s not every day we get to meet one of the youngest Fixers of Dark-Gold rank in the history of the Workshop!" Valer was a very excited young man, wearing a long, deep blue robe and a pointy hat. The true cliche of the magician. But besides that, he seemed like a fine lad.
''Wait, since when am I whatever he said?'' Glenn''s eyebrows twitched, but he didn''t say anything and only nodded politely. Toumu Toula looked like someone inhabiting East Asia but with a bone plot twist in the middle of his nose.
He stared at Glenn from above, but the latter didn''t feel too threatened and only stared back, standing his ground. After a few minutes of intense staring, Toumu Toula gave up and laughed, before grabbing Glenn''s shoulder and muttering something in a language he didn''t know, or rather, couldn''t translate with his mystical nonsense.
''Oh, that made me think, is the language-translation-thingy a gift from the Goddess? Never thought about it. I should ask her the next time I see her... Wait, why am I even planning to meet a god again? Since when is my life so damned weird?'' Glenn lost himself in his thoughts, dismissing Toumu Toula with another nod, acknowledging Tarana and Sahro''s presence in the other corner of the tent with a blink.
''Hum, I''d say your life is fucked up ever since you came to this world, but can you explain how can you even think in beeps?'' Diamanes replied to his host''s rhetorical question while asking another. What beep is this fool talking about?
"So, we were planning to take over the North and West guard duty with my team, while yours would protect the South and Eastern side," Gentle Knight explained, pointing at different points on the map. He bowed slightly, before smiling awkwardly.
"Of course, since you''re a higher-ranked Fixer, you can do whatever you want, but I thought it would be better to work this way..." Glenn dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand, yawning loudly.
"You thought well. You don''t have to talk to me like I''m some kind of nobility, it''s honestly annoying. And power-wise, you should consider Sahro there to be on equal standing to me," He quickly stated, moving the piece representing him and Sahro further apart from each other, while his remark made the Black Heir smile gratefully.
"Of course, he''s a bit weaker, but whatever, we can cover that much ground. Javier will take care of scouting the forest from time to time to check for hidden enemies, while Tarana will use her abilities to check the status of the forest. I don''t know how you''ll deal with things, but that''s how it''s going to be for us on our side, Gentle Knight." Glenn finished, ignoring Sahro''s angry side-eye and nodding toward Tarana to see if she agreed to the plan.
She shrugged, soon followed by Javier. Gentle Knight nodded, before explaining his formation with his team. The lower-ranked mercenaries, represented by the not-so-missing Doran, will take care of patrolling inside the village and assuring the workers are protected while establishing an alarm system.
They were already building a huge pylon that could be lit on fire at any moment to alert everyone of any threats that they couldn''t take care of.
Things seemed to be well planned, so Glenn left the meeting, soon followed by Gentle Knight''s team and his own. He was about to grab the knight''s shoulder to ask him all the questions he wished to ask, but the man only walked away without turning back, copiously ignoring him.
"Okay... I guess not now, then..." Glenn muttered, following them with his eyes, before feeling someone shoving his shoulder. Looking to the side, he found the mercenary leader who disappeared earlier.
"Oh, I''m deeply sorry, Mr. Fixer, I didn''t see you," Doran apologized, trembling slightly at the sight of the Blood Cross''s emblem burning on Glenn''s chest. The young man dismissed the apology and took out the silver skull he pocketed earlier.
"No worry, I''ll just use the occasion to give that back to you," The man''s eyes lit up and he held out his hand, about to grab the skull, when Glenn closed his fist.
"...What...But it''s mine?" Doran blurted out with a puzzled tone. Glenn smiled and put his hands behind his back, standing straight over the mercenary.
"I''ll give it back, but I just wish to know something beforehand," The young man said, and the mercenary leader crossed his arms while waiting for said question.
"Where did you disappear to?" Glenn simply asked, witnessing the man''s face break down.
"I...I''m sorry, but I have no recollection of what happened. One moment I was out to take a leak, and the other it was the morning and I was lost in the middle of the forest...Can I get back my silver skull, now?" The man held out an open palm, looking nervous and scared. Glenn chuckled and gave the item back.
"Sure, here you go. I found it near your tent anyway, so I know it''s yours," Glenn lied through his teeth, observing the man''s reaction. Doran nodded thoughtlessly, putting the item in his pocket.
"Uh, maybe I did lose it there...I hate having holes in my pockets..." Doran muttered, before excusing himself and leaving.
Glenn stared at his back while rubbing his chin.
''The mystery thickens...'' Diamanes murmured in a mysterious voice while his host was lost in thoughts.
"...I just want to know what the fuck is going on, damn it..." That day began well for the complaining young man.
89. Friend or Fiend?
"Sigh...Alright, let''s try this again," Glenn muttered through clenched teeth, his head clasped in both of his hands while a headache struck him hard. He was standing over a small table inside his tent, still trying to figure out what was going on.
"So," He carefully began, picking up his pen and writing on a blank sheet, "Gentle Knight''s team left for its mission first. We were then warned that they left for Palancar, so we followed in their footsteps. But, somehow, while using the same path as us, they arrived later than my team, while we arrived before them. And somehow, we didn''t even cross them," Glenn wrote on the paper, trying to put his thoughts into something tangible.
It was hard to think when your head felt like it was getting squeezed in a steel vice little by little. That difficulty was even multiplied when the snarky entity named Diamanes chose to pester him with the most useless advice:
"Hmm, did you try putting your head in rice? Maybe it''ll help," Diamanes innocently asked, making Glenn sigh and roll his eyeballs. He knew the entity wasn''t trying to help him at all, just to annoy him, and sadly, it worked way too well.
Glenn stared at the paper in front of him, seeing the logical explanations. There was nothing strange, besides that event with the mercenary leader disappearing previously and somehow "misremembering" where he lost the silver skull or whatever that thing was. But still, something was tugging at the young man''s brain, as if saying "Yes, Glenn. Yes, there is something wrong. You must rack your brains out to understand what is not a problem!"
Someone patted him from behind, taking him out of his thoughts. He turned around, to see Monsieur Maron. The merchant was wearing a conflicted expression and seemed hesitant to talk to him.
"I...Are you alright, Sir Glenn? I couldn''t help but overhear you talking about non-existing problems, so I just wanted to see if I could help...?" The merchant smiled awkwardly, rubbing his hands together slowly. Glenn shook his head and slipped the paper he had just written on under a pile of blank sheets.
"I''m fine, I just feel exhausted I suppose. I...Can you call Sahro for me? I''ll only need an hour or two, and I should be fine again," Glenn asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly. It wasn''t that long since he Meditated to rest his body and mind back to a pristine state, but somehow he already was feeling exhausted.
"I know I''m not practicing Meditation as much as I should, but I''m sure it should work better than that..." The young man muttered under his breath as he looked at Monsieur Maron hurrying back to fetch the Black Heir. He sat on his bunk bed with crossed legs, closing his eyes and trying to calm his mind so he could enter Meditation, but the headache drilling into his head made it impossible.
Glenn kept on trying for a few minutes, before swearing and giving up. Diamanes laughed mockingly in the back of his mind, his voice echoing loudly in Glenn''s already ringing head.
''What, can''t Meditate? Try our new formula: one knockdown for four hours of sleep! Available now, in Sahro''s hands!'' The young man shook the voice off, turning toward the Black Heir entering the tent. Sahro looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"I thought we all agreed on the patrolling schedules, Tarana is already sleeping. Don''t tell me, you want to sleep on the job...?" The Black Heir asked, his arms crossed as he leaned in the doorway. Glenn simply pulled him inside, closing the flap behind him and flicking his fingers to summon a circle of Silence around them. There was no need for him to flick his fingers, but it just felt cool. Natural was the word, maybe.
Glenn sat up and rubbed his temples, scowling while he looked at his friend silently. The Black Heir gestured for him to talk, but Glenn only sighed and indicated a chair next to him. Sahro made himself comfortable, still waiting for Glenn to pronounce a word.
"...There''s something wrong with this place, and I don''t know what..." Glenn muttered, his fingers interlocked with each other. A mouth appeared in his left palm sneakily, using the second of inattention.
"Something wrong? What do you meanC"
"There is a dark aura roaming this place," Diamanes interrupted Sahro with a grave tone, almost cinematic. Glenn looked at his left palm with a dumbfounded expression, before becoming red with anger.
"So you knew but you didn''t tell me? You fucking bastardC"
"No, I was just saying whatever. I didn''t notice anything weird besides the strange times of departure and arrival," Diamanes then added while laughing, stopping Glenn dead in his tracks. Sahro shook his head slowly, hiding it in both his hands. Glenn silently cursed at the world and at the hand it gave him, before clapping his hands together, shutting the entity''s mocking laughter.
"Sahro, I think that between the strange disappearance of Doran and the time of arrival of Gentle Knight''s team, we need to keep an eye open," Sahro nodded hesitantly, before leaning forward with a questioning gaze.
"Sure, but what do you mean with the other guy''s team arrival?" He asked, confusing Glenn even more.
"I...Well, I mean they arrived after us even though we initially picked this mission to find them, right?" He suddenly didn''t feel so sure, and his confidence shook even harder when he saw the scowl on Sahro''s face intensify.
"What are you talking about? We took this request because of the huge reward! We still need to get a hundred each to go find ChiefCGiselle''s son!" He exclaimed loudly, slamming his hand on the table. The sudden outburst startled Glenn, and he leaned back in his chair while looking at the Black Heir.
"No, I mean, yes, we still need to find Giselle''s son, but the reason I took the request wasn''t for the goldCwell, half the reason wasn''tCit was to find Gentle Knight''s team to interrogate them about Prince!" Glenn desperately mumbled, his eyes trying to find some light of understanding in his friend''s gaze but failing to do so. Was he going crazy? Sahro suddenly calmed himself and patted the young man''s shoulder warmly.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
"I think I know what''s going on, Glenn. Maybe you should go get some rest. I didn''t know you were dreaming about princes, I thought you were more interested in princesses, but my bad," He smiled nicely, before turning around and leaving the tent. Glenn sat there flabbergasted, at a complete loss of words.
"...What?"
"Uhh, I think he''s pranking you? Maybe?" Diamanes mumbled hesitantly, seemingly as confused as his host. Glenn''s face lit up and he opened his left hand, staring at the wide-open mouth in its palm.
"You remember! That means I''m not crazy!" He chuckled, breathing out deeply in relief. The headache wasn''t clearing out, but at least he knew he didn''t have a screw loose.
"Well, you have a speaking hand and you''re talking to it. If that''s not crazy, I don''t know what is..." The young man ignored the entity''s mockery and pushed himself up from his seat. He could feel a surge of energy just knowing that this diabolical occurrence was indeed real.
"Hah, feels good to know that I still have most of my marbles..."Glenn smiled tiredly, before getting out of his tent and dismissed the Silence curse surrounding it. That made him think that he could barely feel the Mana consumption of the spell, which either meant the spell used very little Mana, or his Mana reserve got that much bigger. In both cases, it was good news.
The sun blinded his eyes for a few seconds, making him take a few seconds to get used to it. His stomach grumbled slightly, but he ignored it and gazed over the camp. Sahro was discussing something with Monsieur Maron around the large table he had set up outside to put the plans for the brewery''s construction. The counter master was coordinating the workers'' efforts as they kept on laying the foundations of the construction. Most of the materials had been carried through dimensional bags, but some necessities still needed to be harvested from the surrounding forest, mostly timber.
"...At least this seems to progress well," Glenn muttered, nodding at a patrolling mercenary group. The team nodded back without stopping, keeping on a wary lookout for any threats. Even if nothing seemed to put the camp in danger, they still had to keep their eyes wide open for anything. We never know what might happen.
Glenn walked in the plain of ashes, noticing that most of it had been pushed away to free some space on the ground. He wondered why until he saw a group of skinny folks carry building materials to start laying the foundations of small homes.
"Are the natives already back? They''re here sooner than I thought..." Glenn rubbed his chin, looking at the villagers'' faces. They were emaciated and pale, but a strange light of happiness shone in their eyes as if nothing would stop them from enjoying their time on this Earth.
''How...surprising. Well, it''s better to smile than to cry, in my opinion,'' The young man shrugged it off, before heading to check on the fields to see the progress on that side and also to see if Tarana was doing well. Perhaps the woman also noticed something weird, but Glenn doubted it. If Sahro forgot everything as to why they originally came here, Tarana was probably not doing much better. He quickly arrived there, seeing her kneeling on the ground, her waist empty of any of her weapons. Glenn frowned but ultimately chose not to say anything. The woman whispered something and a green light came out of her hands. A farmer standing next to her with an interested expression, and stepped back in surprise when he saw the crops he previously planted sprout out and grow at the naked eye.
"I...Incredible!" He exclaimed, laughing with awe. Tarana laughed as well, looking the most happy Glenn had ever seen her. Not that he had known her for a long time, but well, never had such a bright smile been hanging on her face.
''It seems like this place doesn''t have the same effects on everyone...Maybe your affinity is opposite to the surrounding fire Mana?'' Diamanes theorized in his mind, inviting a serious thought. Perhaps he was indeed going nuts because of that. Was it possible to lose one''s mind because of a surrounding restraining one''s affinity? That seemed a bit severe of an effect...
''Oh, but you didn''t hallucinate anything, though, so I doubt that''s it,'' Diamanes hurriedly added, making Glenn freeze both in his thoughts and steps.
''Yeah, I didn''t hallucinate anything, so why am I subconsciously trying to find reasons to explain the memories I possess that Sahro doesn''t? I''m the one normal, he isn''t!'' He tried to convince himself with that last phrase, but something still seemed strange to him. He just couldn''t put his finger on it.
He trailed back the way he came from, meeting a few other groups of villagers building their houses back up. Too curious to restrain himself, he stopped one of them. It was a middle-aged lady carrying a bag of lime on her shoulders. Glenn relieved her of it, making the lady sigh in relief. She turned her head with gratefulness, before freezing once she saw the ember of the Blood Cross emblem burning on his chest.
"M...Mr...Sir Fixer...You shouldn''t!" She weakly tried to take her bag up, but Glenn''s shoulders were too high for her to reach.
''Haha, I''m too tall, sorry!'' Glenn laughed inside while smiling at the lady.
"It''s fine, let me carry it. Instead, answer a few questions of mine, alright?" The lady hurriedly nodded, her eyes not quitting the burning ember. Glenn sighed in relief secretly and infused a bit of Mana to create an invisible platform under the bag, making it float in the air. He began walking, the lady trailing behind him.
"So, what''s your name?" He asked with a cheerful tone, rubbing his hands together while waiting for the lady.
"R...Ralema, M...Milord!" She stuttered, running up to him.
"That''s a nice name, Ralema. Tell me, how is it that you''re already back? I thought the villagers would wait until we cleared the place a bit more from all the mess," He waved at all the ash that remained to get rid of. Ralema smiled with flushed cheeks and played with her auburn hair. Glenn didn''t know how to feel about charming an older woman, but it wasn''t an important enough matter for him to care about it right now.
"W...Well, we would have remained in the caves of the Still Peak for a few more weeks if it wasn''t for them a month ago," She explained, her stutters calming down gradually as she felt more and more comfortable around the young man. The latter frowned, before changing directions to go to the right house.
"Who''s them? The support requests only arrived a few days ago, no way someone came a month in advance..." He asked, putting the bag of lime down at the place Ralema pointed at.
"Thanks, I''ll take over now," She said with a warm smile, before kneeling in front of the lime bag, preparing it for later use,"...That''s the Thorn''s Church, of course!" Glenn''s smile froze, replaced with a cold, terrifying expression. Ralema didn''t see it as she was busy taking care of the lime, so she continued her explanations.
"They arrived a month ago, guided by a holy prophecy. A scourge to our sacred order would soon come upon Palancar to flee from the punishment of God''s armed hand. They came here looking for the scourge, I think." Her movements froze, as she remembered the description of said fiend.
A charming young man with black hair streaked with a white strand, possessing two evil eyes of different colors, one purple and the other of a deep green. A young man wearing a black classy sleeveless suit, with a purple left arm that seemed to exude unholiness. Ralema trembled as she turned around slowly.
"Sir...Sir Fixer?"
Glenn was gone.
90. The Labyrinths of the Mind
The ash fell slowly, before rising like a cloud at the passage of the young man running with all his strength. Glenn''s mind raced while he tried to find Sahro, his hand on the pommel of his axe, ready to take it out at any moment''s notice. Why would the Thorn''s Church be there?
''It can''t be for me, the lady said they arrived a month ago... But that prophecy...!'' The young man gritted his teeth, forcing the muscles of his legs to increase his speed.
''Run, Forrest, Run!!'' Diamanes laughed, seemingly undisturbed by the urgency of the situation. Glenn traversed the ash plain without stopping before his gaze finally caught Sahro''s silhouette. Each stride he took made his head ring with pain, but he kept on ignoring it, focusing on the important matter.
"Sahro! We need to get the..." Glenn grabbed the Black Heir''s shoulder, forcing him to turn around, only to notice the people he was with staring at him with a strange gaze. There were mostly mercenaries and a few workers taking a short break from the construction. Sahro looked at him with a grim look before pushing his friend''s hand off his shoulder.
"...Why are you all looking at me like that?" The young man asked, feeling a shiver run down his spine. One of the workers shook his head, while a mercenary spat on the ground with a disgusted expression. The Black Heir didn''t answer and turned back around, pointing his chin coldly at a shape on the ground. Glenn stepped over to see a person lying down, her blood mixing with the ash in a dark mixture.
She was the mercenary leader''s companion, the one who screamed and cried when the man disappeared into the forest to take a leak. Her face was frozen in fear and pain, while her clothes were ripped apart in a show of brutality and savagery. Her legs still spread open could only communicate one message, while a fist-sized hole traversed her chest, her heart missing from its location.
Glenn felt the blood in his face drain, his right hand crisping over the pommel of his axe while his left was tightly closed, shaking slightly. That wound was something he had seen very, very often, these past few months, but it had always been only on beasts and monsters. A lethal attack, ripping the heart out of its owner with brutality.
''This...This isn''t good at all...'' Diamanes mumbled worriedly. The entity kept silent, while his host kneeled beside the victim, his blood freezing increasingly as he studied the wound. The sides of the holes were covered in a slight layer of blue ice, the same one that he could summon by using Diamanes, the so-called Nitrogen Wave.
While the wound was the same as what could be found on his...victims that he fought during his three months of madness might have been faked somehow by some evil mastermind, that cold layer of ice...
Was something that only he, Glenn, could create.
The young man took a step back, gasping for air, while he stared at the blank, dead eyes of the victim, still open. She seemed to look at him in her death, blaming him like the criminal he was. Glenn''s headache intensified, making him grab his head in pain.
''No, no, no, did...no, I can''t have...'' Glenn''s thoughts were scrambled, and he struggled to think, images of black blood flowing freely under his sword flashing in his mind. Diamanes'' voice was overwhelmed by the screams of the monsters he slayed in the past, while the gazes of the crowd suddenly made him feel like he bore the heaviest weight in the world.
There was one common point to all those fights he had with creatures more horrible than one another.
He couldn''t remember any of them.
The bloodlust had always taken over, turning him into a monster-slaying monster. A true Demon that smiled madly as he tore and ripped flesh. Glenn''s migraine only grew stronger, hammering him down and shaking his mind even further. Sahro stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of his curved sword. A dark but resigned light burned in his eyes, and he grabbed Glenn''s shoulder. The sensation brought a temporary calm in the tempest roaring in the young man''s mind, and he brutally pushed Sahro''s back while moving backward further.
"I...No, no, I didn''t do that... Shit!" Glenn swore, and infused Mana in his legs, successfully creating a powerful burst that propelled him through the air, quickly disappearing from the line of sight of the villagers as he flew into the forest. He kept on running and running, ignoring all and everything, only running with despair and pain.
After a period that could have been as long as a month or a minute, he finally stopped, gasping for air. His lungs weren''t tired, but his mind was, requiring a well-deserved break. The young man''s eyes flew around, verifying there were no dangers around, at least none that were immediate, and sighed deeply. He jumped into a tree, climbing to the top like an agile chimpanzee.
He grabbed a thick branch and hugged it, his body trembling like a leaf.
"I''m fine...Yes...I''m fine...everything is fine..." The young man muttered to himself, feeling his heart calming down slowly.
Glenn felt the cold breeze wash over his face, his hair blowing in the wind, and his mind finally cleared out of most of its unwelcome thoughts. The sound of a panicked and worried voice gradually came back into his mind, making him smile dejectedly. Some things never changed.
''...enn! Glenn, just say something, curse me!'' The entity scolded, trying its best to gain its host''s attention.
"Maybe I need to yell at you? Hey! Asshole! Stop being a wuss and answer me! Damn it!" Diamanes kept on yelling, his voice echoing far in the forest. Glenn sighed, before smiling sadly at his left palm, witnessing the mouth inside it freeze in time.
"I''m...I''m alright now, don''t worry. I just..." Glenn''s voice trailed off, and he looked at the horizon, the sun previously covering everything in golden light getting hidden behind dark ominous clouds. He leaned his head back, trying to alleviate a bit of pain from this accursed headache.
"I''d kill for some sleep, I swear..." He pulled down on his face, before looking down at the tree''s base. He instinctively ran up there, feeling as if hiding here was his safest choice, but he couldn''t say why. Perhaps there was a sense of familiarity from when he first truly escaped death, not that far from here. Who knew?Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
''I should probably go down...'' Glenn hesitated, feeling somehow safe perched so high up, but the thunderous sound of thunder striking near forced him to decide. A second later, rain poured down on him, making him feel like this shitty day simply couldn''t get any worse. After carefully going down the tree, slipping only three times, Glenn jumped on the ground, his feet sinking in the wet mud, splashing dirty water on his clothes.
"You should probably find somewhere to take shelter that is not near the village. Or you might get torched down, you know?" Diamanes commented with a sneer, half-mockingly and worriedly. Glenn silently agreed with a nod, before rushing through the forest, the sound of the rain covering his footsteps. He flicked his left hand''s fingers, cursing his body with the Silent curse, rendering it entirely silent. Who said it was a bad idea to curse oneself?
He soon arrived at a tree much bigger than the others with roots so large they formed a small natural roof over the ground. Glenn was about to rush to hide under there when lightning smote down the tree, reducing it to a small pile of burning wood and ash.
"Of course..." Glenn pinched his lips and kept on running. After what felt like an eternity, and a few other encounters with Zeus, he finally found a small mound with an equally tiny cave. He crawled inside, arriving at a slightly larger area. It was big enough for him to stand, but he only needed to raise his hand to find the roof. With a sigh, he fell to the ground, leaning against the walls of the cave. The muffled sound of the rain falling outside his shelter made him feel at peace and gave him a sudden craving for a cup of hot chocolate milk.
"What would I pay for just a cup...Heh..." Glenn smiled dejectedly, before clapping his hands together, the moisture and mud on his clothes disappearing along the sound of the gesture. His body still felt cold, so he summoned a small flame burning with Mana to warm himself up. He couldn''t afford to burn something, or the smoke would both drive him out and give away his position. That made him think about the light emitted by the flame and the entry he came from.
"Okay, dirt magic..." The young man mumbled, focusing his mind to try and move the dirt to block the hole partially to completely hide the light. His Mana flowed out like normal, but he only managed to blow a bit of dust and mud into the hole.
''Seems like I have no affinity for Ground-type spells...'' Glenn thought, while Diamanes sneered loudly in the little cave.
"Hah! What a loss, you won''t be able to build your dream dirt house! What a pity, right?" His sarcastic voice brought a smile to the young man''s face, who then sank his head in his dimensional pouch, taking out a thick wool blanket and rolling himself in it. He stared at the small flame while yawning, his face freezing in place when he suddenly realized that his headache was entirely gone.
"Wait, a headache doesn''t just disappear like that..." Glenn rubbed his temples, feeling something amiss. He had attributed the pain to the lack of sleep, but now that he was more tired than ever, it disappeared. That simply didn''t make any sense, unless...
"...Unless you have a really strong constitution. Remember what you drank back in that Hole? You shouldn''t even have headaches!" Diamanes exclaimed, making his host plunge into deeper thoughts.
''It''s true that I never fell ill since then, nor ever felt anything like it... Is something creating this headache? But what? And why?'' Glenn mind''s fell into silence, his eyes reflecting the hue from the small, warm flame he summoned.
"...If it''s magic, it''s truly a shitty one..." He mumbled, his head instinctively dropping down. He didn''t resist his lethargy and fell into a deep sleep, the magic fire he summoned disappearing with his consciousness.
"Hihi hihi!!" A feminine voice woke Glenn from his stupor, and he opened his eyes to the verdant forest. He jumped to his feet, and the cave he fell asleep in was nowhere to be seen. The young man glanced around to see the back of a small girl disappearing behind a tree.
"...!" He tried to ask the girl to wait, but nothing came out of his throat. The Silence curse? But it was only supposed to muffle the noise he made while moving, not kill his voice... Glenn didn''t have time to think as the girl increased the distance between her and him. He hurriedly ran in her direction, peeking through bushes to see if he could see her. He had recognized that haircut, but most importantly, this angelical voice.
"...!" He tried to scream a name, but no sound came out again. Cursing in his mind, he kept on looking, until arriving at a lush cascade, a tiny girl having fun dipping her feet in the water. Glenn walked slowly, his heart captured in the moment. Lina, his little sister, turned around and smiled widely without a hint of surprise on her face, before rushing to her older brother and pulling him into the small basin created by the cascade.
"Hahaha!!!" She laughed happily as she sprayed water on her dumbfounded brother. He was so taken aback that he didn''t even know how to react, only smiling like an idiot. The scene soothed his mind and heart, and he felt tears flowing down his cheek. Without a word, he wiped them off, before playing with his sister by spraying a ridiculous amount of water on her, drenching her completely. She exploded in laughs, and they kept on playing.
At some point, Lina got out of the basin, gesturing at Glenn to follow her. Her tiny hand grabbed him, and she pulled him into the forest, their clothes drying at lightning speed while they walked. They arrived in front of a small cairn clumsily built right beside a thick root coming out of the ground. Milena pointed at the root excitedly, before pointing back at herself. Glenn watched on with confusion, unable to understand what his sister was trying to communicate to him. It was as if a cloud was obscuring his thoughts.
The tiny girl sighed, before shrugging and pulling Glenn deeper in the forest. The young man followed without any resistance, noticing a movement passing by them. His hand instinctively went down to his waist when he realized his axe was missing.
''I''m unarmed? Since when?'' He barely thought when he saw a beautiful deer come out of some thick bushes. The animal had a majestic prestige to it, and his antlers seemed to be made of lustrous gold. Glenn took a step toward him when he felt held back by his sister''s tiny hand. He looked back at her to find a sad expression on her face, a hint of tears in her eyes.
''What? But it''s so beautiful...'' He looked back at the dear, mesmerized, when the animal suddenly changed position, revealing the other side of his body. Where the beautiful, brown pelt should have been, there was rotting flesh, protruding bones, and traces of burns. Worms made their way through it while small clouds of flies flew around the opened meat.
Glenn took a step back, the smell of death suddenly taking hold of his nose. He channeled Mana, opting to get rid of this horror before getting once again stopped by his sister. He rolled his eyes, but she pulled harder, taking away his desire to get rid of the phenomenon.
The deer suddenly looked at him, and the young man was able to see that one of his eyes was completely alive, while missing this...flame of intellect that most living beings have. The other part of its face was...simply gone, the brain pulsing with white juices, and its eye hanging alongside its jaw. The creature could only be described as half-dead, half-alive. Not an undead, because half of its body seemed to work perfectly, while the other was completely dead.
Simply a strange, and terrifying creature... Luckily, it didn''t seem to have any bad intentions. The creature turned back and fled through the forest, letting Glenn gasp in relief. To speak the truth, his whole body remained tensed up during this encounter, ready to lash out at the beast. Lina gently tugged at his hand, and he followed her thoughtlessly, trying to understand how such a creature could exist and not be an evil monster that deserved to be erased from this world''s surface.
They suddenly exited the forest and arrived in a plain of ash. Glenn recognized the similar landscape and looked at Palancar''s emptiness. The ash seemed strange, though. It looked like water, almost, pulled toward the center of the plains like waves receding. Milena pointed a trembling finger at the center of the ash stretches, making Glenn look closer. And in the distance, he managed to gaze upon something strange.
It looked...like a stone, maybe? A big, red stone. More like a giant, rough ruby, with a crimson, almost blood-like color.
At each wave of ashes, the ruby seemed to get slightly larger, and slightly larger.
It grew.
91. Far and Beyond!
"Gasp!" Glenn flashed his eyes open, the sight of the glowing red jewel imprinted in his eyes. His heart was racing uncontrollably as if he had just witnessed the most horrible thing in existence. He was trembling slightly and felt unnaturally cold. The damp smell of the cave permeated his nose, replacing the scent of burned wood and ashes.
"What...What was that dream?" The young man coughed, before summoning a warm flame beside him. He needed to get rid of this torpor, and the sooner the better.
The lush forest, the cascade, Lina, the deer... And the ash plain, with this thing in the center... Why would he have such a dream? Diamanes manifested his presence with a cough, startling Glenn.
"Well, I might have the answer to what happened to you," The entity slowly began, inciting a frown from his host.
"How?" Glenn asked, curious.
"When you fell asleep...It wasn''t out of tiredness, since your body should be able to endure much more exhaustion," Diamanes explained while Glenn listened with his arms crossed over his knees.
"I think...Something made you fall asleep, giving you that vivid dream. Your sister is adorable, by the way. I could have never guessed she was of the same blood as you," The hand sneered, making Glenn fall into his thoughts. If Diamanes could see that, it meant it was something else, something other than a dream...
"...A message?" He mustered, wondering what he was supposed to understand from these scenes. There was that root and the shrine beside it as well...
Wait. A shrine beside a root? The scene of him tripping over a root and living a little longer thanks to that flashed in his mind, and his eyes lit up with realization.
"Damn, I built that cairn! That''s the root that saved me!" Glenn fell back into confusion a second later, "...But why the hell would she point at the root as if that was what her...?"
"Haha, maybe you met a forest god or something!" Diamanes laughed, mocking his host, but stopped when he saw Glenn consider the possibility. After all, Lina seemed to care very much about the forest they were in, seemingly happy to be in it, and sad at the sight of the deprecated deer.
"Perhaps...Perhaps it wasn''t a god, but maybe the spirit of the forest, or something like that?" The young man theorized, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The question now was why would the tree spirit pull him in a dream to show such things?
"Wait, wait, wait. I think that might make sense," Diamanes tried as he moistened his lips.
"You killed something super weird in this forest, right? A few moments after being saved by a...the root." Diamanes carefully began, unraveling his thoughts slowly. Glenn nodded without saying a word, staring at the mouth in his left palm.
"Maybe...Maybe when you killed Father Whatever-his-name, you killed something that was hurting the forest. And since you even built a small cairn to thank the forest for its help, perhaps..." Diamanes hesitated, before continuing, "...Perhaps the forest itself considers you an ally?"
Glenn bit down on his lips, before passing his tongue over his teeth. That was only positive for him then, if the forestCas stupid as it soundedCwas on his side, but then what did it tried to show him?
"The red jewel?" He asked aloud, before remembering the painful headache stopping him from doing anything productive back at the camp, a pain that became more intense when he found the corpse of this poor woman... Lina had pointed a trembling finger at the scarlet rock, as if scared of it. Glenn sighed, before rubbing his temples tiredly.
"So what, my enemy now is a cursed stone? Seriously?" A loud sigh echoed in the cave the young man sheltered himself in, before remaining silent for a few minutes. Glenn gathered his thoughts, before peeking an eye outside the cave. The rain was falling as heavily as it did before he fell asleep, but now there were many more puddles of water everywhere. He''ll have to be careful not to fall into some hidden holes or something, or risk breaking his ankle for a slight bonus in speed.
"What should I do, then?" He whispered, his eyes trying to find any shapes behind the violent rain curtain, but failing to do so. Diamanes chuckled, before smacking his lips together.
"If your theory is right, there''s only one thing you can do!" The mouth in his left palm shaped into a wicked grin, "...Break that thing down to pieces!"
Glenn nodded, before picking his blanket up and pushing it inside his dimensional bag. He took out a bundle of wrapped paper he prepared just in case beforehand. He opened it, revealing a large amount of pemmican, a mixture of dried and pounded beef, fat, as well as some dried fruits. He learned of the recipe from Mary, since it was pretty easy to make, and could last around a month without spoiling. It wasn''t the best taste, but it was better than simply dried meat or tasteless bread.
After eating his fill and washing the taste away with a bit of water, Glenn prepared himself to face whatever was going to be there. He firstly looked at the rain outside, then at his dried clothes, and wondered if there was a way to protect himself from the watersomething like a thin membrane that would simply stop the water from touching his body.
"Hmm...Something like a weak version of a Magic Shield, but way thinner and protecting the entire body..." He fell into silence, before moving his Mana to shape the spell he wanted to create. A thin layer of Mana appeared around his body, trembling slightly with instability, before calming down and stabilizing down.
''It''s so easy to create spells now that I''m a Third Circle... Why did I lose so much time trying to create things back when I was an Advanced Initiate?'' Glenn thought dejectedly, before testing his new spell. He placed his hand under the water, but the liquid simply slid off without ever touching his skin, exactly like he wanted.
"I love magic, I swear..." He muttered with a content smile. He checked his stuff one last time, throwing a look in his dimensional bag to see whether he forgot anything when he realized there was indeed something!
Exan''s runes! The way the fellow Earthling presented them was like some kind of hidden weapon, and Glenn was about to fight another strange and abnormal thing. He needed any power-ups! Without a second of hesitation, he summoned a small ball of light, just enough to illuminate his hands, and took out the paper he wrote the runes on.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
There were three runes, all three with meanings he had no understanding of.
"What should I do with that, now...?" Glenn wondered, looking at the runes with wonder. He couldn''t say them aloud, since he couldn''t read them, and couldn''t simulate their effects using the Dragon School of Thought, since he had no idea of what they could do. Without much hope, he infused Mana into the paper on which the runes were transcribed. The runes lit up with an otherworldly light, startling him and making him drop the paper.
"Shit!" The sheet disappeared in a cloud of dust, leaving only emptiness and dismay behind. Glenn cursed and looked at the ground with a regretful expression.
"Why...Why would I do that?" He guiltily swept his feet over the pile of dust, scattering its remains to the wind. His sad face suddenly lit back up when he realized that he could still just rewrite the runes! A simple solution, after all, he had just seen them, he couldn''t have forgotten them. He hurriedly took a sheet of paper and pen out of his dimensional bag and readily placed the tip of the pen on the paper. A second passed, then another, but he couldn''t write or draw anything.
"The fuck...?" He pictured the image of the runes in his mind and tried to draw them, but his pen couldn''t move, missing guidance.
He had entirely forgotten the runes. No matter how well he could imagine them, the moment he needed to write them he couldn''t.
"What an interesting trick...Maybe you should just give up for a few seconds..." Diamanes suggested, making Glenn reel back in disapproval.
"Giving up? Are you crazy? That''s Exan''s secret weapon or something! I need that shiC" The young man''s words were drowned under the thunderous noise of space being ruptured, reality itself bending as Glenn''s Mana was consumed like crazy, fueling the Rift that was getting invocated. Glenn tried to forcefully stop the flow of Mana, but it was entirely out of his control. The crack widened slightly larger when something suddenly came out of it before the rupture closed back like nothing ever happened.
Glenn gasped, feeling drained of all energy.
"What was...What was that!" He barely managed to say, exhausted. Diamanes whistled in awe, before licking his lips.
"That''s very impressive. It seemed like the runes you used combined created a crack through both space and time, to deliver something to you," The entity explained with a very interested tone. Glenn frowned, before looking around in confusion. A delivery? Did Exan think he could replicate Amazon''s exploits with magic? He then noticed, sitting on his lap, a small paper scroll tied up with a golden knot.
He carefully picked it up, before opening it. A slip of paper fell, which he glanced over before looking at the content of the scroll. It was...chaotic, to say the least. There was a complicated drawing that he could barely manage to look at without feeling a headache. He quickly gave up on the matter, deciding to check the small paper slip for explanations.
Inside it was written a small message from Exan. Written both in English and in the Common Tongue, surprisingly.
"Well, well, well. It seems like you managed to somehow see through what is hidden here. Congratulations, Winner N4. I hope you''ll do better than your predecessors since I still haven''t met any of them. The Scroll is your reward. You should know how to use it, by now. It should unlock all of your potential, breaking you free from this world''s restrictions. If you want to go higher now, you can only depend on yourself. And money. Always count on money. Anyway, I''ll be waiting for you in the Court. Good luck getting there, though.
P.S.: I know you can''t answer me, but please don''t die. I desperately need to know the end of Game of Thrones. If you don''t know what that is, shame on you.
Exan,
The One Who Knows."
Glenn rubbed his temples, scowling deeply. Winner N4? So three people before him successfully solved Exan''s riddles? That meant at least three other Earthlings obtained the same hidden skill as he just did. This news filled him with hope for what came next. He couldn''t help but feel like any Earthling would be his ally in this treacherous world. Diamanes hummed in puzzlement.
"The hell is Game of Thrones?" Glenn somersaulted, before shaking his head.
"There are some things you shouldn''t talk of, and only experience yourself," The young man said with a grave tone, before focusing back on the Scroll, hesitating to use it. If he understood well, he just needed to infuse his Mana into it, and it should work the way it''s supposed to. Diamanes hummed in curiosity, before delving into his host''s memories and leaving him to his struggles.
"...Just to be safe, I''ll fill my Mana up again," Glenn decided, before plunging into Meditation. He didn''t struggle whatsoever to do so and felt his Mana Heart fill back up with its powerful fuel. A moment later, he opened his eyes back up and drew a deep breath. He held the scroll, and with determined eyes, infused his Mana inside it. The scroll went up in dust like the three runes previously, disappearing without a trace.
Glenn felt his heart racing in his chest in wonder and excitement. ''It''s a risky move, but I need all the strength I can muster. Not only to fight whatever that red jewel is but also to beat that Baron''s bastard up, as well as the entirety of the Thorns Church, alongside all the bastards who will put themselves in my path back to my world!''. A black rift opened once again, drawing his Mana in an even faster way than the previous one did. It consumed it greedily like a forest fire, not stopping until there was nothing left.
The black rift widened, letting Glenn gaze upon a single, infinitely wise black eye, filled with wisdom and knowledge, but also curiosity, greed, hunger, lust, and bloodlust. It was sane, but mad, monstrous, but holy, a paradox that shouldn''t be allowed to exist and yet, seemed to prove any laws wrong. The young man''s brain froze, and he felt his consciousness slip away as blood flowed down from his eyes and nose. He suddenly felt a distinct sound in his body, no, inside his soul, the sound of something being unlocked, or broken open, somehow.
With his last drop of Mana, the Rift suddenly closed down again, leaving Glenn without any strength, the impression deeply imprinted in his soul. The Rift scattered in a cloud of stars under his eyes, before a magic circle suddenly appeared and swallowed the leftover Mana, processing it into a drop of pure, golden, holiness. Glenn stared without making a move, when the drop suddenly shot to his chest, passing through his clothes and skin, striking right in his heart.
Time seemed to stop, and Glenn felt all the air in his lungs disappear. His blood stopped running, his heart stopped beating, and he couldn''t see, hear, or even feel anything anymore. It was like he was hanging into a deep, infinite void, where nothing but him existed.
But did he exist? Was he real? How could he know?
''I think, therefore I am. But am I thinking? And so, am I?'' Glenn''s mind was scrambled entirely as the drop seemed to do something to him stranger than anything he ever experienced. His reality twisted in a maddening unending circle, the sight of his Mana Heart suddenly appearing in front of his eyes, the sea of stars from the Magellanic Clouds lighting his mind up. The three circles of runes powering it suddenly accelerated, enhancing the Mana, compressing it, and transforming it into something...better.
The distillation process went without a problem, transforming the Clouds into something akin to...a hole? No, a black hole. A black hole that threatened to swallow Glenn''s whole, his soul and mind at risk of disappearing forever. The young man felt the last shred of his consciousness slip away when two elements seemed to pull him back from the attraction. The golden circle he created back when fighting the Dark Heart in the Blessed Grove, and a...purple hand? Diamanes?
The world twisted itself back, and the black hole reversed itself back to its initial state, only in a heavier and stronger version, enhanced.
A drop of water fell on Glenn''s face, making him shoot his eyes open. The rain fell on him, pouring down heavily. The cave he was in was gone. There was nothing but wet dirt around him, the nearest tree a dozen meters away.
"What...What the hell happened?" He muttered, feeling his Mana and realizing that it was more...fluid. If before it was like water, then now it was like air. He couldn''t process his thoughts any further when he realized that three pairs of eyes were staring at him. At the edge of the forest, staring at him, was Javier and... was his name Josh? The two formed a strange contrast in the forest with their deathly pale skin.
The other pair of eyes was owned by a deer. A deer that, sadly for him, Glenn could recognize.
Maybe it was more correct to say that there were two pairs of eyes staring at him, and a dead one that wanted to kill him.
Or eat him.
How could he know what the half-dead half-living deer wanted?
92. Dear Mother
Glenn barely had the chance to catch a breath when the deer roared with a monstrous shrill, making his ears ring. The ground trembled before the deer, shattering and crackling under his presence. The young man pushed himself up, taking his axe out of his belt, his right hand tightly wrapped around the hilt. The deer turned a worm-infested face toward him, his tongue and eye hanging at the same level.
''I think you might be fucked, Glenn,'' Diamanes commented plainly, while his host watched as the animal''s face split itself outwardly, revealing a rotten, yellow brain from which rows and rows of worms were feeding. The sight of them repulsed the young man to his core, and the dark-red flame of his enchanted Half-Moon flared up as he infused his Mana in the axe. Before he could make a move, though, two arrows flew past each side of his face, planting themselves in the brain of the creature, making it step back in pain.
"What?" He turned around, witnessing both Javier and Josh holding bows, already aiming another shot at the monster. Glenn ducked as the twin arrows flew past his head, one hitting the deer in the chest while the other missed barely. Enraged by the pain, the deer began pounding on the ground with its hooves, making it shake in a small, concentrated earthquake. Glenn jumped back as the earth opened itself right where he was previously standing. He instinctively stared down the rift, to witness a pit filled with maggots squirming in a white, living mass.
"...Hell," Glenn muttered, before looking back at the deer. Without a second of hesitation, he shot an Nitrogen Wave at the creature, willing for it to be as concentrated as possible. The ice encroached on the deer, but it ripped its hooves promptly, avoiding getting frozen entirely. Worms squirmed at the damaged base of its front legs, recovering it in a macabre way. The deer jumped over the wave that Glenn was shooting, shrilling as it slammed the young man in the chest with its antlers. They were of rotten wood and disgusting flesh, far from the majestic, gleaming gold he saw in the dream.
The young man flew in Javier and Josh''s directions, rolling a few times on himself before pulling himself up. Two new arrows flew, ready to strike, but the animal was ready this time and squatted them away with a wave of his antlers. Glenn''s mind raced briefly as he rushed at the creature, his axe flaming with power. The deer roared and rushed head down, aiming to pierce the young man.
Glenn struck down with his axe with all his might, dark flames flying everywhere as they collided with the rotten head. Glenn frowned in a stupor when he felt the axe stopping slowly, the dense flesh making up the antlers sticking on the blade and trying to take it away. The flames ate the deer alive, but the creature didn''t seem to care, its dead eyes fixated on destroying the human in front of it.
"Shit!" With his left hand, he thrust into the yellow, squirming brain of the creature, forcing Diamanes to open his mouth and spit out as much Nitrogen as possible, effectively freezing the creature''s brain. The strength of the antlers pushing him slowed down, but the worms devouring the brain decided to throw themselves at the new meal that decided to serve itself to them. The deer stepped back with wobbly steps, tanking another two arrows from Javier and Josh.
In the meanwhile, Glenn was staring with a horrified expression as the worms climbed over his left hand, rushing to his neck. He hurriedly slammed his flaming axe on his left arm, knowing that his own Mana couldn''t harm him. The dark flames burned the worms up entirely, leaving only ash behind. The young man turned his attention back to the creature when he saw the ash fly from his arm and be drawn to it. Torrents of ash surrounded the creature, before dispersing entirely, the deer having disappeared completely.
"...What the fuck?" The young man mumbled, Mana, twirling over his left hand as he readied a colossal Drilling Bullet. A voice suddenly hollered behind him.
"BEHIND YOU!!" Glenn turned just in time to see a wave of ash fall on him, swallowing him whole.
Cough, cough, cough!
The young man struggled to breathe as the ash plugged his nose and mouth, trying to infiltrate his body by every opening. He dismissed the Drilling Bullet, instead shooting the Mana outward from his whole body like when he tried to do a scan or whatever that attempt was. The ash was knocked back with a loud bang as the earth rose in the air and Glenn''s vision was finally cleared.
Walking a few meters away from him was the deer, his body blended in a mix of rotten flesh, maggots, and reddish ash. The creature was protected by a thick cloud, making it hard to see. It screeched at the sky, before slamming its hooves on the ground, summoning waves of ash-colored maggots toward Glenn.
"Why worms of all things!" The young man despaired, before focusing his Mana on one spot, casting one of his most powerful spells. Javier seemed to understand his intent and jumped in front of him, infusing a black Aura in his arrows and shooting them at the maggot waves. The projectiles exploded without a sound, devouring the worms silently. Josh soon joined while cursing, Glenn understanding that the voice that warned him was his. The Mercenary placed his bow away and slammed his hands on the ground, creating huge pits in front of the maggots and making them fall inside.
''Ground-affinity?'' The young man would have never guessed, but that''s why you should never trust a book by its cover. He doubted for a second the utility of creating such a pit but soon was forced to observe that it was way more efficient than he thought it would be. The pits closed on themselves, burying the maggots. Since he didn''t see them digging their way out through the dirt, that just meant it was working.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
A second later, a small orb filled with darkness shot out from his palm, growing impossibly large as it pulled everything to it, swallowing greedily both the ground and the maggots. The ash was also pulled away, revealing the deer panting in exhaustion. The Blackhole exploded and knocked the deer off its hooves, confusing it for a second.
"IT''S TIRED!" Glenn yelled when he witnessed an Aura-filled arrow fly in the air and blow half of the creature''s head away. The young man looked at Javier who just shot the arrow, about to ask why the hell wouldn''t he have shot that before, only to see the pale hunter fall on the ground, unconscious.
''That shot must have taken all his strength,'' He thought, before looking back at the monster. It wobbled left and right, but the worms squirming through its brain suddenly surged toward the part that was blown away, reshaping it and regenerating it. Glenn''s eyes surged up with fury as he jumped forward, his axe flaming with fire again.
"NOT ON MY WATCH!!!" He raised the axe high above his head and filled it with all the Mana he could muster. The second the last drop flowed out, he felt the ''unlocking'' sensation from earlier once again, and, in front of his baffled eyes, time seemed to slow as a line appeared in front of him. It was perfectly situated in the center of the deer.
Glenn, guided by an unknown instinct, struck down perfectly while following the line. The world stopped for a second, and the deer raised what was left of its head slowly, gargling one last growl, before it separated in two entirely.
''You have a knack to cut things in half, you know?'' Diamanes laughed mockingly, but Glenn was too shocked to care. Because behind the deer, both the ground and the forest had been cut by a massive slice, leaving a huge trench there. The young man blinked in awe, before looking at his hands in amazement.
"When did I become so strong...?" He murmured, thinking back to the feeling right when he sliced. It was...as if he had cut at exactly the right spot. It was hard to explain, but it just...sliced.
His attention went back to Josh and Javier, and he rushed to their sides. Josh was sitting on the ground while gasping for air, while Javier...Javier was peacefully sleeping, unbothered. The two pale men were gathering their strength back. Having made sure that they were both safe, Glenn collapsed on the ground and sighed tiredly.
He had spent the entirety of his Mana and felt as empty as one could feel, while the hit the deer gave him earlier was still hurting like hell. Maybe he had a few broken ribs, he couldn''t tell. His body should be able to heal by itself, but that was going to take some time, inevitably.
"...What...What was that thing?" Josh asked between two breaths, looking at the remnants of the creature with awe. The flesh was smoldering, and a few maggots were barely alive, squirming slowly as the wisps of their life were snuffed out one by one. Glenn shook his head, beads of sweat falling from his hair with this movement.
"I don''t know, but it was disgusting..." His head plopped down, before realizing that the two were still part of Palancar''s guard force. Could it be...that they came to arrest him? The young man''s blood froze inside his veins, and he wondered what he should do.
''So, I know you''ve shared a very nice moment killing that thing together, but if they''re against you, there''s only one solution,'' Diamanes insinuated slowly, his words echoing in Glenn''s mind, ''...Killing them.''
The young man gulped, and tightened his hold over his axe, looking at Josh with prepared eyes. The pale man sighed as he looked at the sky, before wiping off the sweat on his eyebrows.
"...I can''t believe we managed to defeat that thing...It seems way higher than my paycheck, probably something on your level, Sir Glenn," He turned his head with admiration, oblivious to the man''s hidden thoughts. Josh chuckled to himself, before shaking his head dejectedly.
"I knew I wasn''t crazy...So the whole village indeed went insane, then...Lord, have mercy..." He mumbled, hiding his face in both of his hands. Glenn relaxed his hold over his axe and winced as he dragged himself next to Josh.
"What do you mean, the village went insane?" The young man frowned, curious but wary. Josh ran his hands through his hair as he looked in Palancar''s direction.
"They...Since that event with Coraly, they all..." He noticed Glenn''s puzzled eyes, explaining himself, "...Doran''s companion, the one who cried for help a week ago, and the one who was murdered. She''s...she was named Coraly."
Glenn nodded, before turning brusquely turning his head back over to Josh.
"Wait, wait, a week ago? Wasn''t that yesterday?" The young man questioned, before widening his eyes in shock when Josh answered, confused.
"Uhh, no, that was before the workers completed the first part of the brewery, so that was indeed a week ago...It''s been a while since you ran away, Sir Glenn," The pale man explained with a curious expression. Glenn''s face contorted, before rubbing his hands together and slapping both his cheeks at the same time, startling Josh.
"Josh, I''ve been gone for not even twenty-four hours. There is no way so much time passed," The young man blurted out, uneasy. Josh shook his head while chuckling, and pointed at the sun.
The sun? Wasn''t it raining a few minutes ago? Glenn''s mind scrambled as it tried to piece together the inconsistencies it found.
"I''m pretty sure I witnessed that big thing over there going up and down seven times, so yeah, there is a way so much time passed," Josh laughed, considering the whole thing a joke. His laughter quickly died down when he saw his senior''s Fixer serious face.
''That''s too much for me to ignore, I''ll check it. Try to find out more from that chalk-faced guy,'' Diamanes suddenly intervened, steering Glenn''s thoughts.
"Anyway, what happened to the village then?" The young man pulled the conversation back on track, and Josh''s eyes lit up as he went back to explaining.
"Well, firstly, we welcomed a group of priests from the Thorn''s Church..." Glenn''s squinted his eyes and crossed his arms, clenching his teeth, "...But they were weird. They...it looked like they had changed their religions," Josh said while biting down on his lips, unsure as to how to explain what he witnessed.
"Instead of Epinos, they were worshipping...the Mother, I think they called it?"
93. Let the Bride and Groom Kiss!
Glenn frowned, before rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"The Mother? Whose mother?"
Josh turned his palms to the sky helplessly, looking as confused as his interlocutor.
"I don''t know, I just know they called her the Mother. When I tried to get clarification, they told me she was the Mother of All. After that, they became wary of me and stopped talking," The pale man explained, sighing loudly to end his sentence. Glenn looked at Javier sleeping on the ground silently.
"What about the others? Sahro, Tarana, and your team?" He asked while carefully untying his tie. Josh stared at the ground with a dark expression, and his fists tightened, turning his knuckles white.
"That''s...That''s the weirdest of all..." Josh took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly.
"It was your teammate Tarana that showed signs of it first...Then Valer, our mage..." He hid his face in both his hands, before continuing, "...Finally, both Gentle Knight and the Black Heir turned too..."
Glenn''s face paled when he heard the term Josh used. Turned. His blood ran cold as he stared at the trembling man.
"Strangely, only Mr. Maron was spared, but all the others...They all began to preach Her," Josh suddenly punched his knee, tears apparent in his eyes, "...If only...If only I had realized sooner...!"
Glenn shook his head and gave Josh the space he needed to piece his thoughts back together. After calming down, Josh kept a straight face as he finished his explanations.
"They all became fanatics. True fanatics, led by that cursed girl as their leader, Tarana..." Glenn''s eyebrows rose, and he gestured at the pale man to continue.
"She began calling herself the Chosen Daughter, and her powers grew immensely. She..." Josh''s eyes widened as he recalled what he witnessed, "...She was able to make entire fields grow in a matter of seconds with a bountiful harvest, trees surging up from the ground instantly, while vines moved to help the workers build their houses. I was impressed and grateful at this surprising show of power, but that sentiment soon grew into one of worry, when she began..." Josh swallowed his saliva loudly, struggling to say what he wanted.
"...The sacrifices," He finally spat, startling Glenn who was listening until now silently while taking off his upper clothes to treat his wounds. He ignored the pain in his ribs as he jumped to his feet and grabbed Josh''s collar.
"Sacrifices? What do you mean, sacrifices?!?"
Josh looked to the side with a guilty expression, and Glenn let go of him while taking a step back, slowly sitting back down.
"At first it was only the beasts we hunted, the corpses would simply...vanish, without any traces of anything happening. Then, we would find the prey we previously hunted running like nothing happened in the forest," Josh rubbed his forehead, scowling, "...It was truly disturbing. I felt like I was going mad, even more since I was the only one to notice," He sighed, before staring at Javier angrily.
"Of course, this silent bastard didn''t bother telling me he had noticed the same things. He didn''t even bother telling me anything at all!" The anger in his eyes quickly disappeared, and he wrang his hands while breathing deeply. Glenn suddenly realized someone was missing in the equation, the foreigner from the Southern Continent, Toumu Toula.
"What about that weird guy who did a staring contest with me, Toumu Toula?" Glenn mused, instantly regretting when he saw Josh''s expression turn sour. The man stood up, turning his back at Glenn while rubbing the back of his neck.
"...He died, sacrificed to that damned stone, his limps cut off like a slaughtered animal..." Josh whispered, the wind failing to drown his words. Glenn lowered his head silently and didn''t say another word for a long minute.
"...My deepest apologies," He finally muttered, making the pale man turn back toward him. Josh chuckled with a sad smile, a dejected expression on his face.
"We knew what we were signing for when becoming Fixers, so no need for that. It''s only our fault for being too...weak," He trailed off, kicking a rock in his way. Glenn shook his head and leaned back carefully as he pressed his left hand on his ribs, a wisp of icy wind escaping it. The cold was calming the pain, but it was only a temporary solution. The young man scowled as he increased the intensity of the cold, creating a thin layer of blue ice over his ribs. He gave up putting on his clothes normally after a slight movement of his arms made him feel like regretting the fact of living. He unsummoned and summoned the clothes back, abusing the Soulbound enchantment as much as he could.
"Anyway," Josh wiped a tear away, "...We fled when they changed their targets to us. For some reason, Toumu Toula, Javier, and I aren''t affected by whatever mindfuckery is going on over there," Josh finished, dusting his pants off from the dirt on it. Glenn played with the handle of his axe, lost in thoughts.
''Why would they be unaffected? Why would I be? What''s different from us and the others who...who "turned"?'' The young man wondered, his fingers passing over the engraving in the handle of the axe.
''I think I have an idea of what''s going on,'' Diamanes suddenly blurted out, startling his host. The entity had remained silent during the whole conversation, making Glenn completely forget his existence.
''Brain-washing, time manipulation, corruption, an old nameless heathen god...Shit, what kind of name is "The Mother"?'' Glenn silently agreed with the last statement, letting the entity continue.
''I think whatever first destroyed the village is still here, in the shape of that giant red jewel, and it''s slowly building its strengths back up,'' Glenn gulped, before crossing his fingers together.
''A Fallen Piece can be as much of a blessing as a deadly curse. I think that shit is part of the latter category. And the only reason those pale bastards and you resisted the thing''s influence is that something is intervening to curb the Mother''s efforts. Why? I have no idea, but often, only a stronger Curse can push off a weaker one, even if it''s quite hard imagining something stronger than something that can manipulate time.'' Diamanes let out a tensed chuckle, smacking his lips loudly in Glenn''s mind.
''I guess there''s only the usual solution to this problem?''
''Yep, smash the jewel. And the host if there''s one,'' The entity quickly added, making Glenn''s eyebrows rise.
''A host?''
Diamanes hummed in his mind.
''Of course. Evil entities always manifest themselves through a carnal incarnation, you can call them avatars, hosts, whatever,'' Glenn looked at his hand wordlessly, thinking that whatever Diamanes was describing was eerily similar to the situation they were in. The mouth appeared in his palm, smiling widely before passing his tongue over his teeth.
''Am I controlling you somehow, or maybe brainwashing you? Did I commit some manner of mischief through your body?'' The young man closed his hand, ignoring the entity''s mocking laughter. ''That''s what I thought, yeah.''
"So, what do we do now?" Josh looked at Glenn with his arms crossed, a distressed expression on his face.
"We ran away, but we can''t leave that place like this!" He exclaimed. The young man listened intently, rubbing his chin slowly, before tilting his head.
"I mean...Why not?" Josh''s face froze, and his eyes widened as he stared at Glenn.
"This is clearly above our paygrade, nothing stops us from going back to King''s Rise and getting some help from the Higher Circles, or maybe from Onnea''s Church and the Gold Church." The young man simply stated, leaning back slightly. Josh''s fist tightened, and he bit down on his lips, before relieving the pressure in his hand.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
"...We already tried, and we ended up here, finding you to fight whatever that creature was," The pale man blurted out, his cheeks tinted with a rare red of embarrassment. Glenn mentally crossed that option away and pushed himself up from the ground, holding his waist with a pained expression.
"Then we have no other choice but to somehow fight whatever is going on, old heathen god or not," Glenn stretched, feeling his ribs crackle slightly as the pain rang in his body. There was no joy in inflicting himself with such pain, but he had to get used to it, because he didn''t have a magic way to heal that, and he didn''t have months of rest to fix it. Too bad there were no priests of Onnea in the expedition, or he could have kidnapped one and forced them through brainwashing to heal him.
''I''m starting to enjoy the way you''re thinking now,'' Diamanes happily commented, making Glenn wince in displeasure.
''Shut up,''
The young man walked up Javier, and with a twirl of his right hand, summoned a transparent barrier under the sleeping man, lifting him in a magic stretcher. He made the improvised carrier rise to the level of his waist and began walking toward the forest, in the direction of the Still Peak. Josh ran up to him, opening his arms in confusion.
"What...What do you mean? There''s a whole village there, and there''s no way I''m killing any of them," The man said with a decided expression. Glenn stopped and looked back inquisitively.
"...Even the guys from the Thorn''s Church?"
Josh thought for a second, before shrugging.
"No, fuck those sickos,"
Glenn nodded and turned back, continuing to walk with Javier floating beside him. They were going to need a plan, and right now, he had none. But the first part of whatever was going to happen needed Javier to be there, so the current priority was to find shelter.
And what is better than an underground temple hidden from all eyes?
Sahro straightened his clothes, a new outfit quite different he was used to wearing, composed of white, creamy pants and an equally pristine white shirt. His tanned skin made a stark contrast with them, giving him an even more charming look. He looked at himself in the mirror with a satisfied expression, rubbing the white mark on his forehead slightly. He turned around and lifted the flap of his tent, letting the warm light of the sun land on his face. He squinted his eyes, before getting out.
Palancar revealed itself to him in all its splendor, rows of well-built wooden houses creating neat, clean dirt streets. There was still ash everywhere, but it was what brought the charm to this cozy little village, like a grey snow blanket protecting the ground. The Black Heir looked back in his tent at the curved sword lying on the ground, before shrugging.
"Why would I need it, anyway...?" He muttered, before smiling widely at one of the villagers passing by. It was Trenton, one of the natives'' lumberjacks, moving around with an iron axe on his shoulder. The man nodded back at Sahro with an equally large smile.
"Hey, Sahro, how is it going?" He exclaimed with friendliness, approaching the young man for a handshake. Sahro didn''t hesitate as he grabbed the hand.
"Same old, same old. It''s been a while since we''ve seen any troublemakers, and we couldn''t find anything creeping around either," He answered with a laid-back tone, the lumberjack chuckling lightly.
"Haha, I''m so glad you guys arrived. Ever since you were there, life got much, much easier. At least, when a beast roams around, we don''t need to flee like we used to!"
Sahro curtsied slightly, his right hand on his chest and his left on his back.
"Oh but please, that''s only my job!" Trenton burst out laughing, before patting the Black Heir''s shoulder, pulling him up.
"Come on, we''re going to be late to the wedding!" He exclaimed, excitation visible on his face. Sahro''s eyes lit up, and he slapped his forehead.
"Curses, I forgot about that! I thought it was just a simple preaching day! Wait, I''m going to change"
The young man couldn''t help his sentence as he was pulled away by the strong grip of the lumberjack. Sahro could have easily resisted, but he didn''t, sighing instead dejectedly.
"Who cares about that, you''re already the best looking in the village anyway! Even the groom would be jealous of you!" Trenton chuckled, walking toward the center of the village. There, where a brewery was supposed to stand, was instead a round wooden building with green, lively vines wrapped around it. The sculpture of a woman opening her arms warmly was mounted over the roof, casting a shadow over the entry of the building.
They met dozens and dozens of villagers, workers, or even mercenaries walking toward the same place as them. All of them, without exception, were wearing lively and happy expressions, and most were discussing excitedly about the ceremony. They were all dressed in similar white clothes to Sahro''s, making for quite a harmonious sight.
"I still can''t believe how fast they built that church," Sahro whispered to Trenton, who shrugged in response.
"It''s all the Mother''s will," He simply stated. Sahro agreed with a nod and posted himself right beside the door of the church. As one of the main pillars of the village, it was his duty to open the doors to the church for when the wedding would start. The villagers lined up one after the other, forming a long procession of honor. The youngest were armed with baskets of flowers and ash and were waiting for the groom to arrive. The lady was already waiting inside the church, with the Daughter officing over the ceremony.
Finally, the awaited man arrived. Gentle Knight arrived with a wide smile, before letting the groom pass, closing the walk behind him. Valer, rid of his cliche mage robe and hat, was now wearing a white suit of pristine elegance, and flowers were adorning his clothes in every part the villagers had seen fit to place them. The mage was red with shyness, but he wore a brave smile as he began walking toward the entry of the church.
The whole crowd suddenly became silent, and simply stared at the groom with wide smiles. The forest itself had shut itself, and only Valer and Gentle Knight''s steps in the ashy ground were making sounds.
''Ahh, I''m so excited, but I need to shut up. Too bad Glenn isn''t there...'' Sahro thought while watching the groom traverse the procession, before frowning slightly.
''Who the hell is Glenn? What am I even thinking about?'' He shrugged it off, and when the groom arrived in front of the door, he reached for the handle of the door and opened the church. A vibrant scent of burnt wood mixed with aromatic plants came out of the building and washed over the crowd. The Black Heir drew a deep breath, filling his lungs with the pleasant smell, while gesturing for Valer to enter.
Following him, the villagers waiting at the end of the line entered the church, one after the other, Sahro being the last to enter the building. He closed the door behind him and turned around, enjoying the sight of the beautiful church. The walls were covered in engravings describing the story of how Palancar started, with the exodus to the Still Peak, the arrival of the helpers from the Thorn''s Church, then Mr. Maron''s procession as well as Gentle Knight''s team. It glossed over the sad events that went on with the fleeting fiend and his underlings, but that was no glorious story. There was no need to tell it to anyone.
Sahro moved his gaze to the center of the church, where a statue similar to the one on the top of the building was standing. But instead of opening its arms warmly, the woman of the statue was hugging kindly a giant, red jewel, that pulsed with livingness. Ash swirled over the stone, falling on the ground under it or flying randomly in the church. At the base of the statue was a stand where the Daughter was waiting. Tarana had her arms locked behind her back, and a warm smile decorated her pretty face. Ceremonial clothes adorned her small body, making her look more like a priest and less like a mercenary.
She glanced at Valer arriving and opened her arms while the corner of her lips rose even higher.
"Welcome, Chosen One. Please, don''t be shy, come over," She held her hand out, and Valer shyly grabbed it. She pulled him gently before the stand and placed herself behind it. She clapped her hands, and the atmosphere of the church changed imperceptibly. Sahro''s breath accelerated, while his thoughts raced over.
''It''s starting.''
"Ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, we gather here today in the holy sanctity of our dear Mother, in joy and happiness, to witness a marvelous moment," Tarana began, before raising her hand toward Valer, who bowed respectfully.
"Here is Valer, son of Zolan of Blackrock. Sadly, the father of the groom couldn''t make it to the wedding, but his spirit is with us," She nodded, before turning toward the statue. Its hands suddenly moved, lowering the red jewel to the ground, and gently placing it beside the Chosen Daughter. Ash flew into the room, covering the clean and white clothes of the crowd, but no one made any movements to dust it away. They all just watched in happiness and adoration. Sahro was no exception, his hands shaking with excitement.
"...Today, Valer, Chosen One, shall become Her son, marrying Her blood and becoming, therefore, part of Her," She waved at the stone, where a slit suddenly appeared, breathing in and out air, a raspy sound echoing in the church. Valer approached with trembling steps, kneeling in front of the stone in respect and adoration.
Tarana warmly grabbed the mage''s face and approached her own from his. She bent down, and passionately kissed the man for a long minute, leaving him breathless and red with love. She then looked back at the crowd and opened her arms widely.
"Let the bride and groom kiss!" She shouted, and the crowd burst out in excited yells, throwing flowers, ash, or their hats in the air. Valer lifted his head and looked at the red jewel with tears of happiness in his eyes.
"...I love y!"
The stone suddenly warped, opening in half, the two sides of the slit catching Valer and crushing him down, swallowing his body slowly. Blood flew in the air, controlled by macabre sorcery, and ran down on the happy believers, who opened their mouths and drank the blood of their friend, neighbor, protector, and teammate. Sahro raised his head to the sky, about to open his mouth and drink his fill, but the white mark on his forehead suddenly glowed with intense light, crippling him with pain.
He knelt, trying to rip it off with his nails, but the pain was only getting stronger. Suddenly, it died down, and the Black Heir raised his head, his ears ringing and his thoughts a mess. He looked around, his mind struggling to process the horror surrounding him.
The yells had died down, the happy laughs too, and the church had become entirely silent.
And the entire crowd was staring at him with a blank expression. The Black Heir''s face paled, and he felt his heart racing with fear and panic.
"Holy shit."
94. The ABCs of : How to Destroy a Village
"Alright, let''s make a plan," Glenn smacked his hands on the table Josh summoned for them. Javier watched without a word, his arms crossed and his face expressionless. They were in a cave they had found at the base of the Still Peak. For some reason, the climb to the top seemed much higher than before to Glenn, and he quickly gave up to choose a slightly less hard-to-access temporary headquarters. It wasn''t like they were going to stay here for long anyway, just the time to gather their thoughts and energy. Josh rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the table. The model of Palancar was standing there, made out of malleable dirt, from what the pale man could remember of the village.
''Quite the useful spell from a tactical perspective,'' Diamanes commented with a groan of approvement. Glenn nodded imperceptibly and studied the plan of the village. Most houses were already built, while some were half-made, and others only had their foundation placed down. The most obvious building was of course the central one, a round, huge wooden construction with a sculpture of a woman opening her arms widely.
''Is it a woman though? I can''t tell...'' The young man thought, remaining silent on Josh''s mastery of the spell. The model of the village was already pretty good, so he''ll have to remain satisfied with that. The streets of the village all led to that singular, round building. Josh stepped forward and pointed to the said building.
"That''s the Church. Everyone went there every day besides Toumu Toula, Javier, and me," His face darkened, "...And that''s also where the red jewel is stored, where they made their grim offerings..." Josh trailed off and sat back on his chair, holding his chin with his fist. He then waved his other hand at the large fields surrounding the village.
"They mainly feed on wild game, but with how much they hunted the last week to feed everyone, I''m sure they''ll be depending on the fields Tarana helped grow," He explained, taking his bow off his shoulder and verifying its string. Glenn rubbed his temples, lost in thoughts.
"Maybe we could create a distraction by burning off the fields?" He proposed, making Javier shrug wordlessly and Josh sigh.
"That would be a good idea if the fields in question weren''t prepared for such eventuality. With the village''s history of burning down to ashes, they prepared everything they could to defend against fires. Valer laid off at least two dozen spells who would swallow any flames appearing in Palancar''s perimeter," Josh wrote fire in the table with the tip of an arrow and crossed it out. Glenn brushed his hair back, before pointing at a nearby river.
"What about poisoning their water supply? That would incapacitate most of them," He then suggested, before crossing that option out as well when Josh threw him a dark glance.
"The villagers are innocent of whatever devilry is going on there, and we already agreed on not killing them," He said with a dry tone, making Glenn bow his head slightly in apology.
"I''m sorry, Josh, but if we want to destroy the red jewel, we''ll need to do it when the villagers are far from it. So it''s either they all run to the latrines for a day or two or I blow them all away with a Blackhole and the matter is done," Glenn said with a wicked smile, impervious to Josh''s shock. The young man had no empathy for cultists, brainwashed or not. He couldn''t help but clench his hands and teeth when thinking about evil entities like the Thorn''s Church or, in this case, the Mother. He could only think of how he should burn all of that to rid the world of its influence once and for all. It wasn''t like when he was being tortured, now he had power, and he was going to use it.
Josh stood up, shaking his head.
"I refuse to do them any harm," The pale man said, his determination unshakeable. Glenn sneered and leaned forward.
"Even though they already killed one of your friends for their heathen god, you still want to protect them? Oh, but I know it ain''t their fault, I know, but you''re not even a little angry?" The young man clenched the side of the table while talking, crushing the rock it was made of under his grip, his anger growing increasingly. Josh''s determined expression cracked down a little, and he stepped back wobbly. Javier only watched the scene, unmoving and unchanging.
"Listen to me, Josh. This is not your simple "kill the monster" operation, right now. This is a matter where an evil piece of shit is controlling time or space, or maybe both at the same time!" He yelled out, smacking his fist on the table, knocking down a few houses. Josh was about to retaliate, when the village crumbled a little more, even without Glenn''s intervention. The young man followed his eyes, to find that the houses fell one after the other, like dominoes, until no houses but the central building was left standing. Glenn stared at the table with a dumbfounded look, then glanced at Josh, to see that the pale man was wearing the same puzzled expression.
"I''m sure it should have been a little more sturdy...?" With a wave of his hands and the mumble of a few words, the houses were back standing up, not in mud but in rock-hard stone. Javier suddenly stepped up and flicked his finger right where Glenn had previously slammed his fist, on the house the furthest from the center. The piece of rock fell, before making the house neighboring it following it in its crumbling, and then the next one, and the next one, until once again, only the central building was standing. The young man rubbed his chin while picking up one of the broken houses, the corner of his lips suddenly rising in confidence.
"Josh, can you explain how your modeling spell works exactly?"
Josh didn''t answer, then suddenly flinched and leaned on the table, creating the model of the village once again.
"Uhm, yes, so what happens is, I send a wave of Mana that takes all the details from a designated area, and creates the model from said details. I obtain rough results because my realm of magic is a little too low, and I have quite a small Mana pool," The pale man explained, his face slowly lightening up as he understood where Glenn was going with that.
"Wait, are you thinking the houses were purposefully built with the intent of crashing down with the destruction of that one?" He asked with a bewildered look, tapping his finger on the trigger house. Glenn nodded slowly, and smiled widely, before tightening his tie.
"Javier, Josh, what do you think about waiting for these whackos to do their dirty ceremony in the Church, and destroy their whole village in the meanwhile? That should keep them busy," He chuckled, his left hand''s fingers twitching. A mouth appeared in his palm, grinning evilly. Josh and Javier looked at each other, before smiling nervously. Well, only Josh smiled, but Javier had a kind of content look on his expressionless face. Glenn couldn''t tell how he knew, but he knew.
"While they''re all busy investigating the destruction of the village, we''ll storm the church, destroy the jewel, and try to, uh, exorcise Tarana, I guess?" Glenn smiled, knocking down the trigger house one last time to witness the whole village going down once again. It seemed so far-fetched and yet...not so surprising? The question is, why would the Mother influence the workers and villagers to build the village this way? It was probably very impractical, and even though Glenn was no engineering expert, it seemed quite hard to simply make, even more in a week. There had to be some logic, some kind of intent behind this weird trap/execution device.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"I like this plan more than the others. I hope everyone will be in the church when we destroy Palancar. Huh, to make an entire village go down certainly has an exciting feeling to it, weirdly," Josh chuckled, his eyes wide opened as he rubbed the back of his head with an awed look.
Glenn clapped his hands together, directing Josh and Javier''s gazes back to him.
"Alright, we rest for tonight, and tomorrow..." The young man''s smile turned devilish, the corner of his lips rising uncontrollably, "...We erase Palancar from the map."
''Heh, it''s not like there was much on the map to erase, to begin with,'' Diamanes mocked, making his host''s eyebrows twitch. In those words, the three men agreed on their shifts and went to rest. Josh slept soundly, groaning in a discontent manner when he had to be woken up, while Glenn Meditated through it, putting himself back in almost peak condition. His ribs were still as broken as they were, but the pain seemed to have receded a little. The young man couldn''t help but be thankful for the torture he endured back in the Thorn''s Church''s prison. Ironically, the Beast Blood he had been forced to drink was probably the only reason he was still alive today.
Javier spent his rest shift doing...well, whatever Javier does. It certainly wasn''t sleeping, since he had his eyes wide opened, unblinking, and it wasn''t Meditating, since said eyes were always following Glenn.
''Creepy bastard,'' Diamanes spat, Glenn, nodding in agreement. He was grateful the pale hunter was on this with them, but honestly, he was still a bit scared of him. The young man''s eyes suddenly went over to Josh, then at Javier, then back at Josh.
"Josh, can you explain something to me quickly?" Glenn asked, his eyes darting between the two pale men. Josh, who was sitting around a fire that Glenn had magically created, pointed at the opposite side of the flames. Glenn obliged and sat, before nodding in Javier''s direction, the pale hunter standing guard while staring at the young man like a true CCTV.
"By any chance, do you know what''s going on with him?" He rubbed his hands together, feeling a chill in his back as Javier''s eyes were stuck on him. Josh glanced at Javier, before shrugging.
"He''s fine. I''m the odd one, you know?"
Glenn sneered, before shaking his head.
"How so? To me, you''re probably one of the most normal people I''ve met in this wor... country," Glenn coughed, swallowing back the word he almost used. Josh picked a dry branch from the ground, before burning it slightly in the fire, his eyes lost in the flames.
"Our people are all like that. Never heard of the Pale Kin?" He asked with an inquisitive tone, throwing the branch in the fire.
"...Never, but please explain," Glenn crossed his arms, trying to make himself comfortable on the ground. The pale man sighed, before picking up another branch and playing with it.
"As I mentioned previously, we name ourselves the Pale Kin, not because of the color of our skins, as you could probably have thought, but because of what we''re carrying," He slowly explained, his expression gloomy.
"What you''re "carrying"?" Glenn frowned, putting his hands over the fire even though he wasn''t cold. Javier flinched from the entry of the cave but didn''t say anything.
"Yes. No one knows since when it began, but our kin is afflicted with a Curse. Not a simple piece of magic like a Silence curse, no, we carry something more ancient, more mysterious, and impossible to get rid of..." Josh broke the branch in two, the corner of his lips drooping slowly.
"Our elders named it the White Plague," He spat out the name like even saying it was hurting him, before crossing his arms together and leaning against a rock chairback he hastily summoned. Glenn kept his mouth shut, reserving his question for when the pale man would be done.
"The Curse progresses in four stages. The First one would be the pale skin, which is pretty easy to live with, at first," He laughed derisively, his shoulders dropping and his head leaning forward.
"In the Second stage, our source of power is restricted, be it Mana or Aura. Fortunately, I''ve managed to become an advanced initiate, but that''s as far as I''ll ever get..." Josh breathed in deeply, his eyes stuck on the cave''s ceiling.
"Additionally, our skin would become even paler, for some almost translucid," He pulled on the sleeve of his pants, showing his thigh. Glenn grimaced, his eyes widening at the bizarre sight. The skin was like glass, and under it was the blood pulsing in green veins, making a strange crimson contrast. The bone was barely visible under layers of white flesh and muscles.
"Wow, this is so...weird," He muttered, before chuckling and looking at his left arm, entirely purple. He didn''t check the progress for a while, but it probably reached just below his shoulder.
''Don''t worry, it''s finally over,'' Diamanes reassures him mockingly, snickering inside his mind. Glenn tried to ignore him but he couldn''t help but breathe a sigh of relief. The thought of him becoming entirely purple already traversed his mind, but he always chose to deal with this worry later. At least now he knew he wouldn''t become the evil version of the Minions.
Josh pulled his sleeve back the way it was, before continuing his explanations.
"The Third Stage, which Javier is already infected with, you lose little by little your emotions and your vocal cords rot, making it so that speaking itself is a true torture," Josh touched his throat while lost in thoughts. Glenn remembered the time his voice was stolen from him and frowned.
''How terrible...''
"The Fourth Stage...also the Terminal Stage, is a little different. If all the previous stages could be supported during your life, the Fourth One..." He smiled sadly, summoning a ball of rock and playing with it.
"If during the Third Stage, you lose all emotions, in the Fourth One you lose all desires. You don''t want to eat, drink, live, or die, you don''t want to do anything anymore. You lose your mind slowly and become less and less human while dying little by little without being able to do anything to stop it. And when we eventually die..." He threw the rock away, smashing it against one of the walls of the cave.
"...The Curse is given to two people around, while our body decomposes and transforms into a pale abomination, different for everyone. And the cycle continues, without ever stopping..."
Glenn hid his mouth behind his hand, before frowning.
"Wait, but wouldn''t everyone be afflicted by the Curse already in that case?"
Josh shook his head and pushed himself up from the ground. He dusted off his pants, before stretching his body.
"Strangely, the number of Pale Kin existing is restricted. We can''t be more than a few thousand, and the Nobles already know they can''t eradicate this curse... It''s not like they never tried, after all," He chuckled, before taking his bow from his shoulder and checking the solidity of the string.
"What do you mean?" Glenn asked, his chin leaning on his fist. Josh rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find his words.
"It''s a story our elders often share, but I have no idea of when it happened. Someone around the King has been afflicted by the Curse somehow, and angered by the unstoppable loss, that King came down to the Pale District in the Sewers, where the ones at the Terminal Stage are left to die. He massacred every one of the Pale Kins there, then proceeded to hunt all the remaining ones, killing anyone with pale skin. Eventually, not a single one was left," Josh explained, testing the string by pulling on it, before frowning undoing the knot of the string to redo it.
"One week later, the King and everyone who assisted him became cursed in turn. The Generals, the Nobles, the Mages, the Soldiers, and even the Priests of different religions. No one was spared, and everyone became Cursed by the White Plague. They fought with all their strength but couldn''t stop the Curse and eventually, all reached the Last Stage. They were then placed in the Pale District with the hope that they wouldn''t contaminate the upper levels of King''s Rise again. The only way they found to deal with it ended up putting all afflicted too deeply into the Pale District and leaving it to the gods to decide on our fate. The infected King disappeared and no one ever heard of him again, and someone rose from the Court to take his place," Josh smiled after finally ensuring that the bow was set to his liking.
Glenn gasped in awe, before rubbing his temples.
''Only a Greater curse can resist a weaker one...Shit, am I cursed with something at the same level as the White Plague? Fuck me...'' He dejectedly thought, before shaking his head. Josh held his hand at him, which Glenn accepted without a second thought. He was pulled to his feet, and Josh patted him on the back.
"Time to destroy Palancar, then?" He said, smiling sadly. Glenn nodded, clapping his hands together loudly. The fire he had previously summoned disappeared without a trace. Glenn clenched his teeth through the pain of his broken ribs and applied an additional layer of ice on them, before standing outside of the cave. The sun was setting down, giving them the cover of the night.
"Let''s do this," He spat out, stepping out with determination, followed by the two Pale Kins.
95. Oh, Your Baby is So Cute!
Three heads popped out of a bush one after the other, spying on the ash-plunged village. Glenn looked at Javier and Josh on either side of him and gulped.
''I hope we''ll be enough. I''m not sure the Goddess will be able to help me again if I fight something like the Heart of Darkness once again''.
Josh leaned in and pointed at a statue extending beyond the roofs of the village.
"That''s where everyone is. They should all be inside right now, for the night ceremony. God, I hope everyone is fine..." He trailed off, before slapping his cheeks and focusing himself back in. Javier nodded slowly, his hold on his bow strengthening.
"Glenn, you do realize that Sahro and Gentle Knight will probably be our opponents, right?" Josh asked with his eyes stuck on the village. Glenn breathed in deeply, the blade of his axe gleaming in the light of the twin moons.
"I know. Shit, I know too well..." As much as he supposedly disliked the black heir, he couldn''t help admitting that he enjoyed his company and that this man was probably his only friend in this hellish world. He could be annoyingly stupid, or right, or both, but the fact remained that there was a brotherhood between them that he couldn''t deny. The idea of having to hurt him...
"We''ll think about it once we face the problem, alright?" He blurted out, choosing not to think about this now. Josh gulped and nodded hurriedly.
They began approaching the village when Javier suddenly stopped them with a movement of his hand. Josh and Glenn obliged and checked the place the Pale Kin was pointing. Hidden masterfully under thick plants and grass, a heavy bear trap was laid, waiting for prey. Had one of them stepped forward, they would have lost half a leg even before the fight began.
"The mercenaries," Josh whispered, carefully stepping around the trap. Glenn nodded in acknowledgment and stepped over it, before carefully continuing his way, much more slowly and with much more attention spent on checking for any hidden devices. They kept going until they were at the edge of the forest, and only a bit of ashy plains and fields were separating them from the village. They had avoided an abnormal amount of traps, and Javier had saved them more than once, stopping always in time to show invisible wires or hidden spikes.
"Nothing gets in, nothing gets out," Glenn remarked, muttering through gritted teeth. Palancar had become a place hidden from view, surrounded by traps, and trapped in a time-manipulation spell.
Whatever the thing that took over the village was planning, it couldn''t be something good. They had to hurry.
Josh suddenly stopped and pointed at a house, closest to them.
"That''s the house we need to collapse. I don''t know which spot we need to attack for it to break, but I''m sure that won''t be a problem, right?" He said while looking at Glenn. The latter was already making Mana spin madly in his hand, the explosive version of his Blackhole in preparation.
"Ready to go?" The young man asked, smiling wickedly. Javier nodded while Josh squeezed his bow harder.
With one last breath, Glenn shot his spell, and a familiar ball of blue Mana that flew traveled slowly through the air. Time seemed to slow as the projectile moved, when the young man suddenly heard an explosion in the distance, coming from the center of the village. The sound was quickly muffled down by the Implosion he threw, flashing a great white light as the shockwave pushed everyone a step back. The house collapsed in a cacophony of noises, going up in flames suddenly.
Its fall caused the neighboring house to collapse in the same way, and the whole village was swept up in the dominoes'' fall. The earth trembled as Palancar was destroyed to the ground, splintering open and projecting ashes all around.
Glenn whistled, before jumping out of his bush and running toward the center of the village, Javier and Josh closely following behind. A movement caught the young man''s eyes, and he turned his head to see a disheveled Monsieur Maron, his face covered in black soot, tears streaming down his face.
"My moneyyyyy!!!" He screamed at the sky. Glenn turned his head back and ignored the despaired merchant. He ran through the streets, heading down to the church. After a few minutes, they approached the circle of houses surrounding the church. That''s also when they met the villagers. They were all dressed in blood-covered white clothes, their faces twisted madly as they used whatever they could to try and stop the collapses of houses, the autonomous magic circles Valer had installed raining down water on the fires.
The team ignored the insane villagers and rushed to the church. They finally arrived there, but something was wrong. One of the walls of the Church was down, and the sounds of fighting could be heard alongside mad screams.
"What the hell?" Glenn blurted out, his axe out and ready to be swung. Suddenly, a body flew at them, the trace of a shoe imprinted on his face. It was one of the mercenaries but he had something wrong with his appearance, the young man simply couldn''t put his finger on it. Suddenly, he realized that his face was stitched somehow, like some hastily crafted handiwork. In horror, he dropped the man to the ground, letting him see what he couldn''t have seen previously. One of his legs was longer than the other, while a hand had ten fingers similarly stitched to it. It was like a strange mashup of body parts assembled awkwardly.
The corpse''s eyes suddenly flashed open, and he roared as he jumped at Glenn who jumped back in surprise while kicking him away. The mercenary salivated like a beast, his eyeballs rolling in their sockets. Glenn smacked him on the head with the flat of the axe, effectively knocking him out.
"God, even my little sister could have made that thing better!" The young man spat out with disgust, before turning his attention back from where the corpse came from. Another body came out, with tan skin and Aura shining around his fists. Glenn frowned and readied himself, Mana moving through his hands and charging Half-Moon with Mana. A dark-red flame burned brightly around the blade of the axe, ready to slay his enemies.
Sahro rolled down for a few meters before pushing himself from the ground, the blood covering him making the Black Heir look even madder. His expression was madly twisted as he roared powerfully, the Aura covering him growing ever stronger. The white mark on his forehead shone strongly like the flame of a lighthouse.
Glenn took a step back, readying his left hand to shoot a Nitrogen Wave to slow what was previously his friend down. He was about to cast the spell when Sahro''s shout interrupted him.
"Damned ruh sayiya, I''ll burn you and your servant down!" The Black Heir jumped back toward the destroyed wall of the church without sparring them a glance, leaving Glenn and his team dumbfounded.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"I suppose he isn''t mind-controlled anymore, then?" Josh said hesitantly before Javier ran past him and followed Sahro through the rift. Glenn smiled and jumped into the church, Josh close behind him.
What welcomed them was a spectacle worthy of being called hell.
The ground, the walls, the ceiling...every nook and corner of the church was covered in blood and guts, bits of bones and brains mixed in a disgusting, pulsing flesh. In the center of the church, a red, gigantic jewel was impossibly twisting itself. Glenn couldn''t help but stare as the jewel suddenly opened like a flower, before spitting out a man covered in saliva, with three arms, four legs, and a giant shark maw with rows and rows of human teeth.
The Sharkman stumbled on its steps, before coughing a black liquid that corroded the ground under him. After a few seconds, the creature violently raised his neck to the sky, roaring beastly.
"Shit!" Josh cursed, before shooting an arrow at the creature, who took the shot without flinching, running on all of its weirdly arranged limbs, splattering bloody saliva on the already soiled ground. Javier suddenly came out of the shadows right from behind the creature, his bow pulled out at its limits. The arrow shot like a gunshot, covered in a gloomy Aura, piercing through the head of the creature like butter.
Glenn was barely able to prepare a spell the creature crashed to the ground, dead.
Or so it seemed, as the corpse suddenly trembled, and its limbs broke and twisted before pushing itself from the ground and running toward the nearest victim, Javier, who was recuperating after his powerful shot. The Amalgam jumped with all its limbs stretched out, before getting blasted away from both sides, caught in a vice between a bloodied, Aura-covered Sahro''s fist, and an Nitrogen-infused Drilling Bullet from Glenn. The body twisted and ripped apart, before finally ending up as a shredded piece of meat.
The young man only had the time to draw a breath that what remained of the creature''s flesh squirmed violently, before exploding in a bloody carnage. Reflexively, he summoned a Magic Shield, protecting him from all the projectiles. Josh wasn''t as fast and, sadly, wasn''t behind said shield, ending up covered in gore despite his best efforts.
A second of silence passed, the Pale Kin at a loss of words, as a piece of flesh slipped off his shoulder.
"Fuck..."
''The Mother? More like the fucking Butcher!'' Diamanes exclaimed in Glenn''s mind, making him scowl in disgust and horror. His axe flamed up once more as he infused it with Mana, ready to take on the monster-creating jewel. As he was about to jump out, a figure suddenly got out of the rubbles of the destroyed wall, his armor rusty and his sword broken. His helmet''s visor was bent inwardly, and half of his face was missing. Josh turned to look at the newcomer, only to step back in terror.
"G...Gentle Knight!?!" His voice shook, and he fell from backing up too quickly. The Knight raised his broken sword, his mouth twisted in a bloody mess that certainly couldn''t be associated with a smile.
"A...A...All hail the Mother of All," He mumbled, stumbling forward as he barely managed to stand on his feet. The rubble rolled down under his steps as he tried to approach Glenn and his team when Sahro suddenly jumped out of nowhere and punched him right in the face, smacking him back down under the rocks.
"I SAID GO TO SLEEP, DAMN IT!!" He screamed with all his lungs, startling Glenn slightly. He had never seen the Black Heir behave like this and couldn''t help but wonder if he appreciated the change. The structure of the church shook slightly, making the young man look at the ceiling worriedly, but it seemed like the roof wouldn''t fall on their heads just yet.
A squirming and spitting sound suddenly caught his attention, just in time for him to see that the red jewel had spat out yet another Amalgam.
''Ohhh, the Mother of All! I get why that entity is named this way! I mean, isn''t it just birthing horrors after horrors?'' Diamanes suddenly said with a happy voice, contrasting with his previous comment. Glenn shook his head, before infusing Mana into his legs and running the red jewel''s direction. The creature it previously gave birth to raised from the ground, revealing its grotesque appearance to the world, a bubbly mass of flesh somehow human-shaped with arms getting out of its torso at random, holding bloody spinal columns as weapons.
The creature shrieked with pain as it charged toward Glenn, slashing with a strange mastery of its weapons, pushing the young man back as he was forced to defend himself with all his strength. He expected to get some reinforcements, but a glance to the back made him notice that Gentle Knight''s condition had degenerated and he was attacking all around him with scarlet Aura, forcing Josh, Javier, and Sahro to completely stop him. The Black Heir also seemed to run of fumes, but they didn''t have much of a choice but to dig in their reserves right now.
''I don''t know what kind of hormones that guy received but damned that made him buff,'' Diamanes commented at the sight of the Knight''s muscles pushing through every interstice of his armor in a disgusting fleshy fashion.
''No time to spare on them, though,'' Glenn thought before summoning a Magic Shield to block a slash from the side. The Amalgam used the spinal column as a saw as it ripped through the shield under its creator''s horrified eyes. The young man ducked just in time for the blade to sweep over him and used the occasion to shoot out an Implosion right in the belly, (if that could be called that) of the beast, blowing a fleshy hole right in it.
The creature stumbled back while groaning in an otherworldly voice, giving Glenn a strange sense of deja vu, the amalgam weirdly similar to the creature he fought in the Auberge. Sadly, he had no pretty priestess to help him this time, and no time to find one.
"Hey, Goddess, I could certainly use that cool golden flame you bestowed me last time," He yelled without much hope but only shook his head as if nothing happened. No way the Goddess was going to help him twice for free after all.
''Actually, I would feel no shame at all receiving a little more helpoh darn'' The beast suddenly planted two of the weapons it held in the ground, before releasing two giant slices of Aura in Glenn''s direction. The man rolled aside, ignoring all pride and dignity, and held his left hand out as a compressed wave of Nitrogen came out of it. At the same time, he summoned the Silence''s curse on his body, eliminating any sound he was going to make.
The creature crossed all of its sword/spinal columns to block the literal ray of cold, creating a bloody mist of sparkly snow as it mixed with the ash falling from who-knows-where. The Amalgam readied itself to attack again, only to see that its opponent was mysteriously gone. It searched around using all its senses, hundred of vertically slit eyes opening all over its body, surveying every space around it.
Sadly for the Amalgam, none of his eyes were checking for above him, so he didn''t catch the flaming axe empowered with giant blades of Mana falling on it. Glenn roared silently as the Silence curse eliminated all sounds, and hacked down with all his strength, splitting a good half of the creature down.
''And there we go, the third monster split down in two. No originality, really,'' Diamanes commented mockingly, making Glenn scowl with an incredulous look.
"I have an axe, for God''s sake! What do you want me to do, make sashimis!?" He yelled out, well, at least he tried to yell since the curse muffled all sound he produced.
The creature''s flesh squirmed, before covering the axe entirely, swallowing it inside itself, pushing the handle in like a delicious treat. Glenn could only cry in silence as he witnessed his favorite weapon of all time disappear in the head, uh, belly, nowhatever that was of the creature. Ragefully, he punched down to try and rip the axe out, his left hand covered in deathly Nitrogen as it pierced down. The flesh squirmed like burned by some holy fire, trying to avoid the cold as much as it could.
Glenn''s face lit up as he saw the handle in the hole he created, and he reached with his hand while intensifying the strength of the cold, freezing the creature from the inside. He pulled with all his strength, taking the axe out while creating a fountain of bloody snowflakes.
''Phew, I almost got worried for a second,'' Glenn thought, before jumping above the Amalgam who seemed to suffer from a brain freeze. Instead of attacking the creature, he rushed his way to the altar the red jewel was sitting on. The battle had lasted for several minutes, and Glenn was quite worried to see what the jewel was going to birth with too much time.
Behind him, a huge chunk of flesh fell from the Amalgam, shaping like a female body with a freezing hole piercing its chest. The corpse sank in the ground, disappearing who-knows-where.
96. A Black Heirs Pride
An hour or so ago.
Sahro gulped loudly, his throat dry as the blood dripped down on his face, the blank faces of the villagers staring at him wordlessly. The Black Heir touched his burning forehead with puzzlement, the white mark inflicting him with a strangely refreshing pain. His thoughts seemed to become clearer and clearer, getting rid of the fog in his eyes and letting him see what he previously missed. Among the villagers, some were simply staring at him expressionlessly, which was off-putting, but not that scary. The others, though, really made his back crawl with shivers.
Strange tics, fingers snapped in impossible directions, an arm with two bends, a leg shorter than the other... Sahro rubbed his eyes, getting rid of the blood that got in them, trying to double-check what he was seeing. He turned toward Trenton, the worker he befriended, but was only met with three fish eyes glistening with moistness. The man''s mouth cracked open, his jaws forcingly shaping in a way that could never been possible otherwise.
"Sa...Sa..." Trenton smiled horribly, blood streaming down his chin as a guttural voice came out of his throat as if forced out of it.
"Sa...Sahro...Why won''t you drink?" The creature struggled to say, its teeth clattering and his jawbones breaking to produce the sound. Trenton reached for his throat, scratching at it, scratching and scratching until the skin came off, revealing the flesh underneath it. But it wasn''t enough for the creature, as it kept digging, seizing with a violent movement its vocal chord, pulling it out in an ecstatic groan.
Sahro stepped back, reaching for his waist, only to find it empty of his cherished sword.
"Shit..." He muttered through his teeth, continuing to move backward until his rear touched the door. His eyes lit up at the possible escape, and he reached for the handle with his hand, pushing with all he could. The door shook and trembled, creaking loudly as he exerted his strength, but it didn''t open.
"The ceremony isn''t over yet, Sahro. You surely can spare a few more minutes, right?" A feminine voice came from the center of the church, behind the crowd. Sahro slowly turned back, trying to ignore the blood-dripping Trenton. He tightly clenched his fists while Tarana made her way through the crowd, closely defended by Gentle Knight, who only had the Knight for name, his armor and sword missing, similarly dressed as Sahro.
"Kahrolasi seytan..." The Black Heir muttered through his teeth. His eyes darted around for a possible escape, but besides the door, there was no exit. The walls were made of wood, so it could be possible to break them, but would the villagers let him do so?
Tarana opened her mouth to reply, when her neck suddenly got twisted by an invisible force, her head snapping and turning in her back''s direction. Sahro gasped and stepped forward in worry, only to freeze in deep horror when the lady slowly brought her hands to her head, snapping it back in place as if nothing happened. Tarana''s eyelids twitched, before she crossed her fingers together, smiling coldly.
"Hmm, a Seedling... So your kind is still alive, huh?" Tarana said with an otherworldly voice, one that she shouldn''t own. A voice filled with infinite, but corrupted wisdom, a voice that seemed as old as the world itself. Tarana, or whatever was possessing her, licked her lips voraciously before leaning forward in an alluring posture.
"You''ll make an excellent vessel for My Children...Come, Seedling, and receive My blessing..." Tarana opened her arms, her previously small stature suddenly seeming gigantic, overwhelming, and making Sahro''s knees shake. He took a step forward against his will, then another, and could only stare with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as his body refused to listen to him and walked toward the dreadful lady.
Suddenly, the white mark on his forehead shone with a powerful light and burned away all control over him. It had never been so bright in the Black Heir''s whole life, not even when he received this Inheritance Sigil. Besides being there to increase the efficiency for all Black Heirs to learn both Magic and Aura, it was supposed to act like a talisman that protected against evil, but Sahro had never seen it in action. He jumped back, feeling the strength come back in his limbs, his Aura flaring out of his body uncontrollably. The wood flooring crackled and shattered in splinters as his Aura intensified powerfully, making him feel like he could do anything. The Sigil burned with an inextinguishable white flame that fueled him with an infinite quantity of energy.
Tarana frowned, before leaning back and rubbed her chin while lost in thoughts.
"How...fascinating. It seems like Lady Fate decided to change the rules this time around..." She muttered with her cavernous voice, before lazily waving her hand at Sahro. The villagers that seemed to be..."modified", like Trenton, suddenly moved like a single entity, rushing toward the Black Heir. The latter, far from feeling the dread the crowd exuded, instead smiled coldly as the Aura he exuded condensed around his fists, gleaming in a crimson mystical light.
"Come, come, I''ll send you all back to Hell!" He roared, the strength in him growing without any signs of stopping. Trenton was the first to jump at him, being the closest to him, smiling with a broken, bleeding mouth as it tried to bite down on Sahro. The Black Heir avoided the attack while feeling his rage die down in a matter of seconds, the face of his friend flashing in his mind, as well as the times they spent together building Palancar. As much as that time was fake, it was still a time of happiness for the Black Heir, who felt accepted and liked by the whole community.
''But it was all fake, wasn''t it?'' Sahro thought, his teeth clenched as he jumped back and kicked away another malformed human. He couldn''t help but hesitate to fight back against those who were once humans, but most of all, once his friends. The light of his Sigil suddenly intensified and his eyes seemed to open to the world''s true nature, seeing colors he never thought existed, and strange links traversing the entirety of the church, all toward Tarana''s central figure. The misshaped humans were all linked with black iron chains, controlled like stringed puppets, while the other villagers only had a black cloud surrounding their heads.
Sahro''s eyes shone and he jumped over Trenton, stepping on his head while spinning in the air as he delivered a powerful kick charged in Aura at the chain, trying to sever it. His feet only passed through it, the chain immaterial and unbreakable, but certainly real.
The Black Heir spun in the air and landed on another creature''s face, jumping above them again. His face turned sour as he came down to a grim realization.
"There''s no saving them..." He muttered, before turning abruptly at Tarana with a rageful expression, "Isn''t that right, Mother of All?!?"
A wicked smile slowly rose on Tarana''s face as the lady gently pulled with her hand, the chains suddenly straightening and taking something out of the body of the misshaped humans. The chains retracted in the woman''s hand while she watched with a satisfied expression when her body suddenly compressed on itself, the thin limbs breaking and reduced to pulp. Without any signs of pain, Tarana, no, the Mother of All, smiled again, before nodding at Sahro.
"Time to go. I hope you''ll be friends with my child, he''s a little shy and has a hard time making some. Farewell, Seedling blessed by Fate," She laughed loudly as Tarana''s body kept on compressing and compressing until it turned into a smashed mass of writhing flesh. Sahro turned his attention back to the villagers freed from the chains, their limbs twitching and trembling unnaturally.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Trenton fell on his knees, his vocal chord hanging out of his throat when his left arm exploded, replaced by a thick, black tentacle moving with its sentience. Trenton exploded in laughter as more parts of his body were shredded, replaced by macabre versions of animal limbs. The transformation suddenly stopped, and Trenton coughed out, choking on something. He reached with his hand in his throat, ripping it a little more, before pulling a thick, large handle. It was attacked with a bone hammer head made out of the man''s ribs, that collapsed on itself, held together only by dark magic and strips of flesh.
The other creatures showed similar transformations, becoming literal soldiers of Hell itself, splattering blood everywhere like small bombs of paint. Sahro felt his knees weakened, but the Sigil on his forehead gave him the strength to do what he must do.
"...The strength to do what I must..." Sahro muttered, ducking under the swipe of Trenton''s large hammer. His eyes suddenly became injected with blood as he roared at the sky at the unfairness of this world, before punching out with all his strength, lifting the grotesque body off its feet, before the shockwave ripped half the already destroyed corpse apart. Sahro felt the drops of crimson liquid fall on his face and yet, he could only feel one thing.
Rage.
He swiped his hair back, the blood serving as a thick hair polish. Sahro gently grabbed the bone hammer, before staring at the Amalgams charging at him. They were all more monstrous than the others, more deformed, more horrible. The Black Heir held the hammer with both hands, taking a deep breath as the positions of his legs changed slightly as if he was aiming his left shoulder at the wave of creatures.
He clenched his teeth and exerted his muscles to their limits as he took the swing of his life, the hammer covered in the crimson, almost black Aura he was infusing inside it.
"DIE!!!" He screamed, his throat dry and his voice filled with contempt and hate. The blow swiped the creatures away, leaving nothing but their lower limbs and enormous quantities of blood flying in the air, painting the inside of the church red. The bone hammer disintegrated from the strength of the attack, leaving him with nothing but his hands to fight with.
But that would be more than enough.
He turned at the red jewel, what he could bet was the source of all this evil, ready to blow the stone to smithereens. He frowned, realizing there was still someone standing between him and the jewel, a young handsome man with a baby face dressed in white clothes drenched in blood, his hands placed on the pommel of his sword that was aimed at the ground.
"...Gentle Knight," Sahro spat through his teeth, taking a step forward with determination. Gentle Knight smiled without saying a word and a pristine white armor appeared around him, encasing him in the strongest protection known to men, cold, hard steel.
"I''m sorry, dear friend, but I can''t let you pass," The Knight gently said, turning the sword and pointing it at the Black Heir. Sahro took another step, undeterred, his boots splashing in puddles of blood.
"Get out of my way, Knight, or I swear I''ll make it so that your mother can''t recognize you," Sahro clenched his fist, the crimson Aura condensing around it. Gentle Knight sighed, before taking on a defensive stance, his weapon going up in white flames.
"May the Goddess bless me," Gentle Knight whispered, clenching the handle of his sword firmly. Sahro swore, before jumping at Gentle Knight with all his strength. The bones and corpses of the creatures he already killed cracked under his feet as he launched himself under the expressionless stares of the villagers not corrupted yet, who stood at the edge of the fight.
Gentle Knight screamed defiantly as he swung his sword masterfully, the blade encountering the Black Heir''s fist, a loud clanging sound echoing in the bloody church. The shockwave made the walls tremble, and the wooden floor under the Knight''s feet cracked open before he managed to push Sahro away.
The Black Heir twirled in the air, before charging back at his opponent. Gentle Knight coughed blood, damaged by the countershock of the powerful attack. He looked at his hands covered in blood and smiled coldly, the atmosphere around him suddenly changing as he lowered the visor of his helmet. Sahro was about to pounce but suddenly retreated, his instincts screaming at him.
"...You''re really strong, Sahro. I suppose I have no choice, then," The Knight sighed, before piercing his left hand with his sword. Sahro watched warily, unsure whether he should attack now. Gentle Knight, sliced his hands open, his middle finger flying in the air before going up in ashes with a black and white flame.
The Knight took one step forward, his pristine white armor slowly turning into a dark shade of black, the shadows seemingly gathering around him. Sahro took a step back, his eyes trying to distinguish his opponent''s figure that seemed to melt within the darkness.
"...One Step for the Goddess...Two steps for our souls..." The figure muttered, a dreadful feeling emanating from him. Sahro suddenly felt his back hitting something. Without realizing it, he had backed up to the end of the church, next to the exit door. His eyes widened as he felt his heart race, the loud beatings echoing in his head as if it were trying to escape from his chest.
''This is...why would I feel...fear? Against him?'' Sahro dreadfully thought, his hands trembling as he struggled to maintain his concentration. The seemingly infinite power the Sigil was procuring him seemed insignificant compared to whatever Gentle Knight unsealed.
The Black Heir could feel it.
The cold breath of Death.
But today was not the day. The young man clenched his teeth and picked a broken bone from the ground with trembling hands, his eyes opening madly as he roared and planted the sharp item in his leg. The pain woke him up instantly and pushed the fear away, his gums bleeding from how hard he clenched.
"A last step...to deliver us all," Gentle Knight''s armor was as black as ink, and the shadows swirled and swallowed him, hiding him from Sahro''s sight in a perplexing motion. The glint of his sword could barely be noticed as he raised his sword high above his head.
"Amen," He whispered, before slashing down with all his might, exploding in a maddened laughter. A large blade made of inky shadows flew at Sahro, opening the ground like a knife in butter. The Black Heir gathered all of his Aura and punched out, the rage and pain blinding him from the unavoidable death that was coming.
And yet, that''s when he felt it.
A jolt. A small feeling that made him feel like his mind was going slightly faster, his movements were slightly more rapid, more precise. His Aura was gathered more precisely, more efficiently, with less loss and more power. Sharper, deadlier, better than before. Time seemed to slow as the attack came, and Sahro felt it.
He had broken through, evolving from a Squire to a full-fledged Knight. It wasn''t the time to rejoice, though, and besides that, it also felt like he had unlocked something entirely different. Something...magical. The Black Heir tried to feel whatever this little "something" was and felt the jolt come back, going through his whole body even stronger. Time became even slower, and his thoughts fastened past human limits. He tried to push slightly in his left and suddenly, he was in front of Gentle Knight, his fist covered in Aura-shaped knuckles-dusters.
The shadows were blown away by the superhuman speed, revealing the Knight''s ecstatic eyes through the visor, still unaware that Death had changed sides. The fist crashed into the mad face, splitting it open as teeth were blown away and bones splintered open, the steel helmet as useful as a sheet of paper in front of Sahro''s sheer might. Time seemed to come back as Gentle Knight flew at outrageous speed, crashing into the wall of the church and breaking it open, letting the fresh air of the night inside this rotten hell.
Sahro felt his strength leave his body and he fell on one knee, looking at his fist in awe. He then heard a slight crackle and looked back to see a blue light disappear as fast as lightning. The Black Heir''s thoughts slowed down as he almost crashed on the ground from the expenditure of energy.
A loud explosion, followed by a thunderous earthquake shook him back awake as he gasped for air, his heart beating at unthinkable speed, menacing to blow up. A series of explosions came from outside the church, surrounding it as if Palancar was being sieged by powerful fire mages. The previously expressionless villagers suddenly yelled with expressions of terror and fear and rushed out while screaming.
"THE RITUAL!!!"
"NOOO!!"
They left Sahro alone, his mind confused at trying to understand what was going on. He coughed as he tried to push himself up before a movement caught his eyes. Near the abandoned red jewel, a thick pool of blood was moving slowly, squirming disgustingly. Sahro held out his hand in dread, but it was too late. The blood touched the stone, which absorbed all of it in a single second.
The stone opened without leaving Sahro time to rest, spitting up a deformed person. The Black Heir clenched his teeth, wiping the blood off his eyebrows, before gathering the little he had remaining of Aura in his fists.
The Sigil on his forehead flared up once more, and he felt his consciousness slip away.
Maybe it was time to finally let go.
"Not today," He muttered, his eyes injected with blood as he clenched his fists harder, his palms bleeding slightly. A mad smile decorated his face as he roared to the sky.
Death shall wait a little more.
97. The Mothers Son
Glenn rolled on the ground before dashing toward the giant red jewel.
''If you destroy that thing, it''s over!'' Diamanes exclaimed, encouraging the young man in his efforts. The giant Amalgam behind him was still struggling to get his bearing back, leaving him a small window of opportunity to break the damned jewel. He clenched his teeth and shot a volley of Drilling Bullets, frowning when the attacks only disappeared when they landed on the stone. Diamanes hesitantly commented.
''I think it absorbed the attack, similarly to how I do it...Huh, how repulsing!''
Glenn switched to a more physical method without thinking much about it. If that thing absorbed Mana, he just had to not use it! He stopped channeling Mana in his axe, making it back into a strange but ultimately plain axe again. He stopped in front of the stone, that was trembling in preparation for the birth of its next horrible infant.
"Cutting things in two seems to work wonders every time," Glenn slowly stated, raising the axe high above his head, straining the muscles in his arms as powerfully as could. He drew a deep breath, and the stone froze as if waiting for the blade to fall.
"...Maybe this time again!" The young man roared, hacking down with all his might. The stone suddenly split open and a hand missing strips of flesh came out and grabbed the blade, stopping it straight. Glenn''s eyes widened, and he then tried to pull the weapon out, but it was as if it was stuck in stone. Another hand came out of the stone, similarly barely formed, pulling its main body out. The young man took a step back as a humanoid came out of the stone, stumbling on his steps while holding the axe''s blade.
It had two legs, two arms, a head, everything a human should have, but it was perhaps the most horrible thing that this jewel had birthed until now. Flesh grew where it was previously missing, and the humanoid''s muscles strained to the maximum of their capacity. Blood flowed out as it got out of the stone. It pushed the axe away, its head leaning back as it slowly woke up. Glenn felt every fiber of his being shake in the presence of this creature.
Every instinct he had where telling him to run away, and yet he couldn''t move. The stone behind the humanoid shattered into dust, leaving nothing but a puddle of blood and flesh behind. Screams suddenly began coming from outside of the church, as the villagers probably got hold of their minds back. The humanoid breathed in deeply, the sound strangely disagreeable in Glenn''s ears. The Amalgam behind Glenn suddenly ignored its confusion and threw itself on the floor, crawling in adoration.
Sahro, Javier, and Josh stared in horror as their opponent, Gentle Knight, suddenly moaned maniacally before planting his broken sword in his chest. He coughed out black blood with a smiling mouth, his teeth rotten and his eyes rolling in their sockets. His dark armor seemed to become one with the Fallen Knight, the shadows Sahro had previously managed to disperse coming back, shaping into a horrifying long sword and a cape. Blood seeped out of the armor like a fountain, while the broken body fixed itself. The Dark Knight suddenly knelt, planting his sword on the ground, making the ones fighting him look in the direction he was worshipping.
The Black Heir winced when he saw Glenn standing alone in front of the humanoid creature while the Giant Amalgam was crawling behind him.
"We need to get rid of this creep and go help Glenn!" Sahro yelled out, waking Josh and Javier from their bewilderment after seeing what their teammate was fighting alone. They threw themselves at the Dark Knight, who silently swung his longsword out, sweeping them back effortlessly. Sahro clenched his teeth and kept on drawing the strength he shouldn''t have, fighting to the last drop of energy he had. Javier and Josh assisted him the best he could by shooting either Aura or Mana-charged arrows, but the Dark Knight avoided or deflected most of those without any struggle.
In the meanwhile, Glenn looked back and saw the others fight what was previously Gentle Knight, before shaking his head and trying to pull himself together. His left hand was burning with searing pain, but he didn''t need the friendly reminder of the Goddess to realize that what he had in front of him was a pure incarnation of Evil. The humanoid had long black hair growing on his head, his skin without any blemishes or defects. It was the incarnation of beauty and perfection, only in a horrible way.
Because Glenn had recognized the face of the humanoid.
It was the perfect fusion of Toumu Toula and Valer''s faces. The fusion of a Southern Continent fighter and a Mage from King''s Rise. Glenn gulped as he turned while keeping his eyes on the creature which seemed to remain unmoving for now.
"Can you remind me how strong were Valer and Toumu Toula, Josh?" He asked with an unsure voice. An explosion echoed behind him before a panicked voice answered him.
"STRONGER THAN ME! SHIT" Josh flew through the church, crashing into one of the walls, knocked out. His chest was caved in from the powerful hit he just endured. Glenn paled, before tightening his hold over the axe. He had to do something!
''Get rid of the Amalgam first!'' Diamanes yelled in his mind, lighting up Glenn''s foggy thoughts. The young man turned on his feet and hacked down on the gigantic creature crawling behind him with all his strength and most of his Mana. The Amalgam wasn''t expecting to get attacked during this time of prayer and worship, and couldn''t react to the sudden attack. The axe flared up as it exploded the upper torso of the creature, finally killing it.
''Not the fairest way to win, but still a win,'' Glenn thought, before jumping over the creature and taking some distance from Toumu Toula and Valer''s fusion. The humanoid swept its long hair back, finally moving, letting out a long sigh at the same time. The young man shook on his knees before biting his lips bloody, waking himself with the pain.
"...No time to be scared, damn it...!" He mumbled while channeling the most powerful spell he could muster, a Blackhole. The humanoid opened its arms widely as the ceiling crumbled, letting a few rays of light into the church. Somehow, it was already the day outside, even though they had begun fighting at the start of the night.
''This Mother truly has a knack for using the light switch,'' Diamanes said with a snarky comment. Glenn ignored him, his attention focused on his opponent. Perhaps he could do him the same way as the others, a heavy axe hit in the head or a powerful spell. There had to be a way!Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
But strangely, he couldn''t help but feel like there was no use. The humanoid leaned back up, letting the sun hit his face. He smiled wickedly, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the warmth.
"Hahhh...Here I am, back again!" A loud, evil laughter followed that declaration, echoing in the church. Glenn clenched his teeth and shot the Blackhole out at the humanoid. The dark ball flew calmly, slowly growing as it aspired to everything in its surroundings. The humanoid''s eyebrows rose curiously, and he walked toward the spell without fear. Glenn smiled and almost pumped his fist at the sight. There was no way for anything to get out of the Blackhole''s attraction
"Ohh, how fun! Is that a ball?" The humanoid exclaimed happily, grabbing the Blackhole with his bare hands in a paradoxical movement, throwing it up and down like one would do with a normal ball. The surroundings trembled at the play as reality itself began to strain under the strength of the spell. Glenn had devised it for it to grow stronger the longer it lasted, which is why he''d rather not use it too much or risk destroying and killing everyone in the vicinity
''Is he...juggling with a Blackhole? How...how much of a flex is that on you?'' Diamanes exclaimed with awe. His host spat his fear and instead held his left hand open, letting a torrent of Liquid Nitrogen toward the humanoid. The creature looked in puzzlement, before clenching his fist and dispersing the Blackhole like it was nothing. He then clapped his hands together while whispering cryptic runes, a blue magic circle appearing in front of him. A volley of ice projectiles came out of the circle, shooting at great speed toward Glenn''s attack. Nitrogen and ice met in a lustrous manner, forming a surreal sculpture of dark ice in a mist of otherworldly coldness.
Glenn roared and focused his Mana in his right hand while infusing carefully the Nitrogen in the spell he was preparing. He had never tried this kind of thing, but it should technically be possible. Technically. The humanoid looked at the ice sculpture in admiration, like a child in front of something he had never seen before. He suddenly flicked his head, listening to some unknown voices. His face scrunched up as he crossed his arms, completely ignoring Glenn''s attack.
"No, no way! Why would I kill all these people, I don''t even know them! They have tried to hurt me?" The humanoid shook his head, chuckling, "...Nah, they were just playing. Look, we played ball, ice sculpture, and I think it''s going to be..." He threw a casual glance at the storm of Mana getting compressed in Glenn''s hand, grinning to his ears madly, "...Snowball fights, maybe?"
The young man infused the last drop of his power in the attack, before shooting it outward. Diamanes muttered in his mind without meaning to.
''Ice Nova.''
Huh. What a fitting name. The attack flew at insane speed, swallowing everything in its path and pulsing with cold energy, ready to explode at any second. The humanoid lazily stretched his hand out, when his fingers touched the Ice Nova. His eyebrows suddenly twitched, and he tried to retract his arm, but he was a second too late and was entirely swallowed by the explosion. The power of the attack made the church crumble down entirely, the statue that was set up on top of it planting itself in the ground like a fallen angel.
In the meanwhile.
Javier nodded at Sahro, who dashed with his fists covered in Aura. Arrows infused with grim energy flew past him, which the Dark Knight precisely deflected, swinging his longsword like it was a stick. The aim wasn''t to hurt the Knight, though, but to distract him for even a second, and it succeeded. Sahro used the small instant to slip under the longsword, before rising upward and punching out. The Dark Knight was slightly raised from the ground, before falling back down with a loud sound, making the ground shake slightly under his weight.
Sahro''s thoughts were racing as he tried to find a way to defeat this opponent. He had to find a weapon that could contain his powers, but what? Not even the curved sword he left back in his tent would be able to support the brunt of his current Aura-charged attacks. What could he The Black Heir wasn''t given another second as the Knight kicked him away, seemingly unharmed from the powerful attack that could blow entire Amalgams away.
Javier kept on shooting without stopping, even if his attacks seemed to not be working. Sahro could only admire the cold determination of this silent, pale-skinned hunter. But sadly, only that wasn''t enough. The Dark Knight suddenly lunged forward, before sending a huge blade toward the Pale Kin. Javier jumped over it without hesitation, only to be met with the cold gauntlet of the Knight, who knocked him away with a powerful punch.
Sahro didn''t even bother checking whether Javier was alive or not, instead choosing to compress his Aura to the maximum to try and replicate the hit he used previously to defeat Gentle Knight. If only he could summon that strength again...! His Sigil lit up once again like an inexorable source of strength, fueling him by his will with power. Sahro''s eyes were stuck on a small defect in the Dark Knight''s armor, where he previously punched the Gentle Knight''s snobby face.
"...If I can just pierce it...!" He hissed through his teeth, focusing his entire concentration on that. Piercing the Dark Knight''s head. That''s the only thing he desired right now, the only thing he needed to do!
The Aura suddenly shaped into a spear, and a second later, he lunged forward in a thundering sound, his speed surpassing the speed of sound as the Dark Knight turned around in a defensive position. As good as the Knight was, there was nothing he could do against his attacker. Barely anything, truly.
A blue light flashed with the crimson Aura, and the dark helmet exploded, pierced by Sahro''s attack. The Dark Knight stumbled, his longsword slipping from his hands and falling on the ground, the shadows covering it disappearing in the surroundings. The dark armor went back to white, but it wasn''t the pristine as it was before. It was an old white, without any luster, a white that seemed to have been forgotten by time itself.
Gentle Knight kneeled, his armor clanking loudly as it disintegrated, before falling entirely, a puddle of blood forming rapidly around his body. Sahro turned his attention toward Glenn''s fight, only to see the ground approaching at great speed.
''Huh? Why is the ground there?'' A second later, he was passed out, unconscious. His left arm was throbbing with pain, for some reason, but he couldn''t help losing consciousness.
Hopefully, Glenn will be able to win his fight.
Otherwise...They were all dead.
In the meanwhile, on Glenn''s side.
"What the fuck am I supposed to do?" He screamed out in both despair and exasperation. He had thrown out every attack he could at the creature, every spell he could muster, even the Ominous Weird Ass Hand, only to have it explode in a weird purple smoke that did nothing to the creature. The humanoid was only playing with him, having fun with the attacks, treating them either like jokes or toys!
''This is making me crazy!'' He thought, before hacking at the creature''s waist with his flaming axe, only to have it be stopped once again by the humanoid who only laughed mockingly, not even commenting on the attack.
"Just kill me already, you fucking bastard!" Glenn yelled out, his eyes bloodshot with frustration. The humanoid''s happy expression suddenly froze, and he took a step back.
"...But why should I kill you?" He innocently asked, "...when playing with you is so damned fun!", exploding in laughter while pointing a finger at the pitiful creature in front of him. He then suddenly sighed, shrugging, before turning seriously toward Glenn.
"...I guess we''re done playing though. See you never," The creature sneered while shaking his head dejectedly. The young man took a step back, preparing himself, when he felt the ground suddenly close up on his face.
''Am I...falling asleep? But...why?''
"How greedy, Mother...How greedy," The monster''s figure slowly disappeared as darkness filled his eyes.
The sound of Glenn''s body crashing on the ground echoed in the church.
Only blood remained.
98. The Mother, the Paradox and the Guide enter a bar...
Glenn''s eyes suddenly opened, and he jumped to his feet, his hands flaring up with Mana as he looked at his surroundings. He was still in the church, but it wasn''t destroyed nor covered in blood and guts. He was also entirely alone. The red jewel that broke previously was also gone, but the statue holding it was still there, its position slightly different. Its arms were locked behind its back while its head was raised at the ceiling as if lost in thoughts.
"The fuck is going on...?" The young man mumbled, his right hand going for his waist, only to see his precious axe, Half-Moon, was gone. He quickly looked around, but the weapon was nowhere to be seen. Glenn suddenly froze, noticing something strange. He slowly looked at his left arm, discovering with confusion that the purple that had invaded it was completely gone. His skin was back to normal, slightly tanned, but still of a normal, rosy color. With that, he also realized that all of his wounds from the previous fights were gone, alongside the pain in his ribs.
"Do not bother trying to search for that fiend, nor that piece of trash imbued with the Dead''s traces," A disgusted voice suddenly echoed in the church, strangely horrendous. It was a feminine one, and while Glenn had heard many of those otherworldly voices by now thanks to all the strange encounters he had, this one was particularly...rattling. The statue suddenly moved, her head looking down at Glenn domineeringly.
"Hmm...Is that her scent? Why would she...?" The statue slowly turned around, her long wooden legs rumbling as it moved through the air, the pressure pushing the young man back. The Mana swirling around his hands as he tried to prepare a spell was suddenly snuffed out like the light from a candle.
''This is...The Mother?'' Glenn thought in awe, his teeth clenched and his eyes wide open. He didn''t dare to say a single word and only stared at the statue with fear. As strong as he recently became, nothing he could do would matter in front of such an absolute being. And even if he could infer that there were some rules gods had to respect thanks to Onnea, nothing could guarantee that the Mother would respect said rules.
''There''s no way to know what I should expect,'' He gritted his teeth, his fists tightly clenched. His weakness was seriously annoying him in those situations. What could he do but kneel in front of such absolute existence? The statue suddenly looked back, the wood making its neck creaking, before leaning toward Glenn while rubbing its chin.
"But there is something else... How did this worm manage to break Humanity''s Shackles? This should be reserved for some special ones..." The statue''s face suddenly lit up with a burning smile, her previously expressionless face transforming into a feminine, wicked one.
"Why would this little ant be considered special, when his blood is ordinary and his soul so weak?" The statue said, standing back up and leaning her head back, seemingly lost in reflection. Glenn threw a glance at the exit of the church, wondering if he should try to run away. The statue sighed and flicked her fingers. The young man''s body suddenly became stiff and he fell to his knees, his lungs and heart stopped. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he found himself unable to breathe, unable to say a word, unable to live.
The strange feeling suddenly disappeared, and Glenn fell face first, gasping for air madly. Never had he felt so...dead.
"Fool. Don''t even think about fleeing, you are in my Domain now," The statue sneered, before sitting on the socle that previously served as an altar to the red jewel. She crossed her legs, her eyes staring at Glenn and peering into his soul. The young man gritted his teeth under the unbearable pressure, and pushed himself from the ground, refusing to accept his fate.
"What...The hell...do you want with me...you moronic...psychopathic god...!?" He spat, struggling to talk. The feeling of dying was still creeping into his heart deeply, and he couldn''t help but have his knee wobbling when he thought back to how it felt.
''I just refuse to simply accept whatever that thing wants from me!'' He thought with a hatred-fueled determination. The statue didn''t answer, only moving her right arm to support her chin.
"What is truly strange, is that...somehow, you do not seem to be connected to the strings of this world''s Fate. Are you..." The grin she continually wore suddenly changed shape, becoming expressionless again.
"...From "outside"?" She said with a soft voice, almost whispering the last word.
Glenn frowned, before gulping loudly. From the nonsense he heard, he could only infer that something was wrong with him, probably because he was transported into this world in some strange, weird, and uncontrolled manner.
The statue suddenly stood up and returned to the position Glenn first found it to be in, her arms locked behind her back and her face turned toward the ceiling.
"Even so...I''m sure you''re no Fallen. No way that feeble soul of yours could have gone through...Truly, a Paradox." She chuckled, hiding half of her wooden face with her hand, "...A Paradox Lost in Limbo. How ironic..." The statue trailed off, smiling slightly. Glenn couldn''t help but feel confused, as he couldn''t feel the madness and insanity that could so strongly be felt in the rituals of the village preaching this deity. Was he wrong about his judgment...? The statue sighed, before smacking her hands together loudly.
"In any case, you''ve ruined the birth of My Child...I''ll have to start all over again...Again. For that..." The statue, no, the Mother''s rictus suddenly became enormous, the wood cracking and tearing at her expression as it revealed a horrible mouth beneath wooden lips filled with an endless sea of black blood. The vision brought Glenn to his knees, an excruciating headache hitting him like a baseball bat. He saw what looked like corpses floating in black blood, covered in yellow pus and rotting flesh, serving as nests for tiny worms that wriggled happily as they devoured their meal.
Glenn felt his head being forced up, his eyes wide open as he was forced to watch the vision of horror contained in the Mother''s mouth. He felt himself being aspired to it, unable to resist his fate.
"...For that, I shall punish you..." The Mother''s voice bellowed in his ears with a devilish burst of laughter, cries of pain mixed with howls of adoration exploding in his mind like a swirling tsunami of thoughts and visions. He could only think one thing as he sank into the madness, the blood swallowing and pulling him into the depths of hell. He sank endlessly into the void, his thoughts muddied and his senses numbed.
''I...No!'' He thought desperately, clinging for any semblance of reality. As he reached out, the movement of his hand going out seemed to take hours, days even, while his thoughts kept on slowing down madly, almost to a stop. Minutes transformed into months, years into seconds, as time changed and caught him in a violent vortex of surreal senses.
He couldn''t tell if he was standing still or if he was hurtling through the ages, his mind growing older by the second, death seemingly so far and yet so close. Glenn''s thoughts stopped as he fell through the darkness, losing any touch of time.
The young man''s surroundings suddenly warped, breaking the vicious illusion, and he found himself standing on an armored corpse, its eyes bulging and a sword viciously separating its head. No blood was flowing from the wound, the body dried from the crimson liquid. Glenn fumbled backward, disconcerted by the change of scenery, before slowly raising his eyes. He gazed in awe at the Blood Moon hanging in the sky and its white counterpart hiding behind it. He was in the place he first woke up in, the bloody battlefield he came to know under the name of Retni''s Plains.
Corpses were lying as far as the eye could see, white, humanoid creatures roaming around while devouring whatever caught their fancy. The caws of black crows dominated the place, echoing in this empty hell. Glenn stepped back, before understanding that it was yet another illusion. He slowly breathed in, trying to calm his mind.
''Alright, it''s not the first time I found myself in these kinds of traps. It can''t possibly last forever, right?'' The young man thought without much hope, looking around to try and recognize the place he was in. Glenn froze as he recognized a body lying down, half-sitting against a stone, a white creature eating his entrails while a spear was piercing his heart. Glenn held his hand out but stopped when the white creature plunged her hand into the corpse''s belly and ripped out a juicy liver. The young man paled as he saw himself getting butchered by this disgusting creature, and reflexively tried to channel his Mana to get rid of the creature. Sadly, nothing happened. He clenched his teeth and tried to jump at the creature and stop it, but he went straight through it as if he wasn''t made of solid matter.
"...Why are you alive?" A voice echoed next to Glenn, who turned away from the horrible spectacle in distraught.
''I can''t...I can''t just watch myself getting eaten!'' His back shivered as his eyes trembled and his fear deepened. Yet again, he managed to restructure his thoughts, by repeating endlessly a few words in his mind:
''It''s not real. It''s not real. It''s just a fucking shenanigan from the Mother!'' He thought the last idea with rage, his fists clenching and the veins on his forehead pulsing violently.
"Your fate was to die that day. And yet...There you are, maybe not well, but still very much alive," The voice commented, as the scene warped and changed to him discovering a gigantic white crystal floating above a pond mystically. Wait...This person...It wasn''t him! He was never that buff, nor did he ever wear such a long cape. That would be much too impractical! Glenn watched attentively as the figure breathed in deeply before smashing the crystal apart and picking up a part glimmering with purple, ancient light.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"The power of that fiend should have gone to the Fallen Heir...And yet, here you are, surviving while holding a fragment of #######...Hmm?" The voice suddenly interrupted itself when it began talking nonsensical words. It seemed surprised, strangely. Glenn was sure it was the Mother''s voice, even if he couldn''t find out whether it was a male or a female voice, so what could surprise the Mother? He knew She was talking about Diamanes, but what''s that "fragment of #####"? Whatever #### meant, it seemed like there was something wrong about it. He had memorized the pronunciation anyway, so he''ll just have to ask the entity living in his left arm once he escapes from this predicament.
If he ever escaped from it.
The scene twisted once again, changing to much too familiar darkness and dampness, in front of a thick, rusted steel door, closed off with multiple locks and securities, while enchantments seemed to have been etched into the metal itself. Glenn winced but forced himself to think back about those times. Never had he seen such a secure door, nor was his cell ever like that. The steel door suddenly shook, denting inward as a powerful force exerted its might from behind it. The young man stepped back in distrust, but the enchantments lit up with a magical hue, and the steel door went back to normal. There were no screams of pain, no roar, just the sound of chains rattling endlessly and the sound of flesh hitting metal.
"The Blood of my Brother should have been successfully imbued in the Son of the End''s body while opening a Way for Him, but here you are, bearing his Blessing and rid of his Curse. Fate seems to protect you like a Mother would her child. Interesting, isn''t it...?" The voice commented, Glenn only trying to do his best not to panic and lose his mind. Somehow, the atmosphere of the prison was much heavier, much stronger than how it was back then. Did something change in the prison with that "Son of the End"? Or...Perhaps he was spared from this dread thanks to Diamanes'' influence.
He''ll never know. ''Like a hell of a lot of other things, it seems...When is this trip down memory lane going to stop?'' Glenn thought as he felt his consciousness slowly slip away. It was as if previously he was wide awake in a nightmare, but now he was slowly starting to lose control of how things were going. His movements were sluggish, as was his mind. The scenery warped once again, showing a corpse lying down in a ruined street, rain falling on it, and forming a puddle of blood and water under it.
"Your escape from the Gu''s Nest changed the fate of the Seedlings, letting them openly fight My Brother''s followers," The voice remarked, and Glenn bent forward, falling back in shock when he recognized the corpse''s face. It was Giselle, the Black Heir''s leader. Her throat was slit and her face contorted in a deep expression of pain, her eyes blank and the white mark on her forehead faded as if it was slowly getting erased by the rain.
''I...Did that?''
"Isn''t it funny how one person can change the Fate of an entire population? Truly, the only one who managed to do that was ######... Ah, of course..." The voice chuckled darkly, and the scenery warped once again. It changed to the Auberge, where drinks and food were pouring down everyone''s throats without stopping. Glenn looked at the surroundings in awe, remembering the calamity that destroyed the place previously, the creature created by merging the Boss with all of his employees, spared that kid, Liam. He walked around, noticing a figure draped in desert clothes drinking itself to death. His eyes widened and he approached him, to see that it was Sahro, heavy dark bags under his eyes who looked half-dead, empty of the charm and energy the Black Heir always had. He seemed much deadlier, but also...emptier. Glenn stepped back, before heading for the kitchen. He froze at the entry when a small body flew through the room, smashing against a wall.
"You fucking, worthless mongrel! You''re not even worth the copper I give to your parents!" The Boss''s voice was twisted as if it had been heavily modified. A thick, purple smoke was floating inside the kitchen as most employees had thick rolled leaves of Moon Grass smoldering at their lips. Everyone seemed to ignore the conundrum, some even laughing at the spectacle. The small figure crashed on the ground, his bones twisted and his head bleeding heavily. The Boss grumbled once he saw that Liam didn''t stand up, before kicking him in the chest, eliciting no reaction from the kid. He was about to kick once again when he stopped and leaned forward with a curious, disgusting smile. He lifted the malnourished body and held it near his heart, listening attentively. He then exploded in a peal of evil laughter and threw Liam back to his corner.
"The rat is finally dead! Haha, time to get a new toy, boys! Who will come with me to fetch some slave in the Sewers?" Every employee roared in happiness, and a few even proposed themselves to accompany the Boss down to the Sewers. Glenn watched with a cold expression, his arms crossed and his eyes stuck on Liam''s unmoving body. Even if he knew it wasn''t real, he couldn''t help but feel rage boil in his heart and his veins.
"Why the hell would you show me that, huh, Mother?" He spat out hatefully, his fists clenched so hard his palm bled out a little. The voice of the Mother echoed in the Auberge as she chuckled loudly.
"Please, stop calling me that. I''m no Mother, I''m just a Guide. Whatever my believers make of me is nothing I''m responsible for."
Glenn looked at the ceiling with his eyebrows creased. What? What did she mean by that? He couldn''t continue his reflection as the Mother, no, the Guide continued.
"This small place, which was one of the many steps into my Brother''s plan, fell under your influence. The Ember who should have been snuffed out instead left to the best forest for him to burn. I wonder what kind of changes would that bring..." The Guide laughed silently, before changing the scenery once again.
There seemed to be a lot that this strange God, uh, Goddess, no...Deity wished to show him. But with that, Glenn couldn''t help but feel as if something was wrong.
Wasn''t there supposed to be a "punition" somewhere? This was just free information!
''Keep on spilling the beans, Guide-whatever!''
The scenery warped once again, but this time, it didn''t seem like a bad outcome. Glenn was standing in the middle of the Cleaner''s Workshop which was filled to the brim with people busying themselves here and there.
''This looks...normal, I suppose? The atmosphere seems pretty good...'' He thought curiously, as this time seemed a little different compared to the ones before. Each time, he was shown the things that would have gone bad if he didn''t exist to mess everything up. Now, was the Guide showing him what could have went...better, if he wasn''t there? His blood chilled, and he slowly tried to understand what had changed this time around.
"The only place that remained unchanged in front of your arrival so far, the Cleaner''s Workshop," The Guide plainly stated, making Glenn smile in relief. That smile quickly disappeared when the Deity continued.
"In surface only, of course. In this reality, the upper executives would have never gotten a hold of a Seed of Darkness, and things would have been quite different now. Short-term profit often causes terrible issues in the long term," The Deity sighed, before warping the scenery once again. Glenn was still thinking over what They said, realizing that his giving away such a dangerous item might not have been the most awesome idea he had in this world.
Well, it wasn''t like he had many great ideas to begin with.
They arrived in the streets of the Northern Town, bustling with activity from the people living there. The young man only wondered for a second what they were doing here when he saw the Heart''s Bakery storefront, a long line of people standing at its entry to buy some delicious bread and pastries. Glenn slowly passed his hand over his face then ran it through his hair, silently mulling over the sight. As warm as it was appearing, he knew it was entirely fake. Because he had seen the corpse of the bakery''s owner swing at the end of a rope with his own eyes.
"You changed a lot of lives, positively, and negatively. In your pursuit of answers, a lot of innocents were crushed under your feet like ants you couldn''t help but step on, for lack of noticing them," The Deity said harshly, unbothered by the young man''s storming emotions.
If he had done things differently, they wouldn''t have... The scene changed once again, and Glenn found himself walking on nothing in the sky, a wide forest lying far under his feet. He gasped and instinctively fell backward, touching yet another invisible ground. The wind whistled in his ear as his clothes fluttered, but he still wasn''t falling.
''This is disturbing,'' He thought with difficulty as he pushed himself off "nothing", hesitantly standing on the invisible barrier. He looked down curiously, trying to recognize the place, but he couldn''t tell at all. A figure suddenly seemed to transcend time and space as it appeared out of nowhere, phasing into reality like a mirage. Glenn watched with awe as the figure became clearer, frowning when he couldn''t tell any of the features of the seemingly humanoid person standing in front of him. There was no...face or anything recognizable whatsoever. There only was a vague sentiment that made one think that this was a human, and yet, he couldn''t tell at all...
"You then fell into a pit of madness after meeting a descendant of Nosferatu, at which point your Time and Fate become unreadable," The featureless person, or, the Guide as Glenn guessed, crossed its arms behind his back and looked down at the forest while lost in thoughts.
"Do you know why you were shown such scenes, child?" The Guide suddenly asked, startling Glenn. The young man hesitated, before shaking his head.
''I''d rather assume my lack of knowledge instead of displaying my stupidity,'' He quietly thought, wondering about the same question as the one the Guide asked. The featureless person raised their head at the sky, before sighing loudly. A second passed, and the forest was suddenly swallowed under a dark tide of black liquid as thick as blood and as black as Death. The young man gulped when he recognized the power of the Heart of Darkness that he fought in the not-so-Blessed Grove.
''So that was THIS forest. Okay. Huh, I guess I did well this time as well,'' Glenn thought in horror as the tide devoured everything on its path, slowly but surely forming a gigantic maelstrom of evil. Everything died and disappeared under the influence of the horrible tidal wave.
"Fate isn''t something easily swayed," The Guide began, as the scenery changed once again, bringing them back to Palancar''s church, only there were no statues, no blood, no corpses. It was only an empty wooden building with destroyed walls letting warm light enter. The Guide sat on a piece of rubble, before crossing his hands together.
"Fate...Even when manipulating Time, Fate can''t be changed. I know, since I''ve tried so many times to change it..." The Guide''s voice trembled slightly, and they lowered their head sadly. They unclenched their hands, a red string tied in between the two of them. They pulled on the string as hard as they could, but it didn''t budge at all.
"...Even now, Fate can''t be broken. And yet..." The Guide slowly raised Their featureless face to stare with non-existent eyes at Glenn, making him shiver uncontrollably. There was something...chilling in such sight.
"...And yet, all of those things changed. You even destroyed my Counterpart''s plan!" They exclaimed, slamming Their hands on Their thighs. Glenn''s eyebrows creased as he tried to make sense of it all. The Guide jumped on their feet, and approached Glenn, patting his shoulder warmly.
"If it''s you...Maybe you can change what can never be changed. Under the guidance of so many, how could you possibly fail?" The Guide gently said, walking past Glenn and heading for the church''s exit. They stopped, and turned back, a gigantic eye that seemed to be filled with infinite wisdom opening in the center of the previously featureless face. Glenn gasped and felt his mind burn out, an unimaginable pain encroaching on him.
''This eye...!''
He fell back into darkness, under the Guide''s watchful gaze, who, strangely, seemed a little amused.
"...May you change this world, Paradox born from Fate..."
99. Burning the Candle at Both Ends
"...May you change this world, Paradox born from Fate..." The voice echoed in his mind as he fell back in the storm of maddening distorted time, his senses cut off from him. The world changed again and again as he fell endlessly. He suddenly hit the ground and opened his eyes, gasping for air loudly. His body was aching, and the strange fusion between Toumu Toula and Valer was bent over him, looking at him with a surprised expression.
''Oh god, this is painful!'' He coughed through his teeth, almost screaming at the pain it caused him in his ribs. He pushed Toumu Valer away from him with a powerful wave of Mana and struggled to put himself back on his feet. The Mother''s Son seemed quite disturbed at the sight, and signs of unrest appeared on his face.
"I...No, I mean...you''re not supposed to...wake up, at all?" He spoke with confusion, struggling to explain what he was witnessing. Glenn looked at his left arm and squinted when he saw that the purple of his left arm was back.
''Huh, I wasn''t sure you would wake up that time. You are a true cockroach,'' Diamanes exclaimed in his host''s mind, who coughed a little more blood, his eyes running around to try and situate himself back. Was this reality? Or was it another intricate illusion made up by the Mother or the Guide? A scream of displeasure stopped him from thinking about it.
''Oh?!? Another part of your memories became censored, AGAIN!! This is worse than YouTube, I swear!'' Diamanes complained loudly, making Glenn''s head buzz distastefully.
''Not the time for that, Diamanes, but at least there are no ads. Yet,'' The young man dryly answered, his jaws tightly clenched as he held his waist with one hand.
''Where the hell is my axe...?'' He pondered, seeing that it wasn''t near him or anywhere else. A chuckle made him look back up at his opponent, who was smiling wickedly while playing with Glenn''s favorite weapon.
"Are you looking for this, maybe?" The Amalgam grin grew as he made the axe twirl in his hands. The weapon was pulsing with malevolent energy, and a flame darker than what Glenn had ever been able to create was surrounding it. Nonetheless, there seems to be some...uncertainty on the monster''s face. Even though he was hiding it behind an evil smile, the creature wasn''t able to control his widened eyes and the tremors in his hands.
Glenn struggled to hold himself standing, his limbs weak and his body filled with a torturing pain. Why was it so painful...? He suddenly felt how warm his waist felt, and looked down to see a huge slit opened there, bleeding heavily on his side. The young man stumbled, his face paling as he lost more and more strength due to the blood loss. He bit down on his lips and pressed his left hand on the wound, sealing it with Nitrogen ice.
''If this continues, I''ll be wearing a fucking ice armor!'' Glenn painfully thought, stopping himself from screaming from the pain the burns the Nitrogen inflicted on him. It was his best bet for now, and he didn''t want to risk using fire, as he didn''t control the element as precisely as the Nitrogen power held into Diamanes. The Amalgam licked his lips while looking at the blade of the axe thoughtfully before suddenly throwing it at Glenn with all his strength.
The axe flew in a giant disc of black fire, spinning in the air with speed invisible to the naked eye. Glenn held his breath as he pushed himself out of the way with a wave of Mana, the projectile missing its target by a hairs-breadth. Glenn struggled near a pile of rubble and used his free hand to hold himself on it. The world was starting to spin a bit too quickly for him, and he had a terrible need for sleep...
''NOT THE TIME TO TAKE A NAP, BASTARD!'' Diamanes roared in Glenn''s mind, waking the latter up and letting him raise his eyes to see a black fireball flying at him. He weakly raised his hand, manipulating the Mana to create a thin defense to protect himself. The fireball exploded on the magic protection, destroying it entirely and using a little more of Glenn''s scarce reserves of Mana. The young man struggled as he climbed on the rubble, trying to escape as best he could from the attacks.
The Amalgam seemed to recuperate from his previous shock and laughed mockingly as he threw some blades of wind one after the other at Glenn. The attacks whistled in the air before crashing on the thin barrier Glenn kept on holding stubbornly.
''I need to...find a way...and quickly...'' He struggled to think, a sudden urge to vomit stopping him in his steps. Glenn clenched his teeth harder, his gums bleeding from the strength he exerted. He looked around desperately, trying to find his way out of this seemingly impossible situation.
"What should I do...what should I do...Damn it, damn it..!" He mumbled, before yelling the last bit, his anger showing without any restraint. He gave up on running away, and stood with all his might on top of the rubble piles, looking down at the Amalgam in a domineering manner. Even though he was probably at the weakest he ever was for the first time in a while, Glenn grinned wickedly as all the Mana in his body raged like a storming sea before being pulled in his right hand.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
"What? Don''t you understand? You can''t do anything to me! I''m invincible! My Mother made me this way!" The Amalgam exclaimed, opening his arms widely, as he looked up at Glenn from the bottom of the rubble pile. He sighed and used Mana to float himself at Glenn''s level, who was still staring with a wide smile at the creature. The latter blinked a few times and looked around to see what made the man suddenly so confident.
"...Oh, maybe you''re praying? Are you smiling because you know you''re getting into...Paradise, or whatever afterlife you believe in...?" The Amalgam nodded slowly, believing to have found the right answer. He raised his hand, summoning a dark scythe made of a mix of a tainted Mana and the strange, disgusting energy so characteristic of the Mother. He was about to swing it when Glenn suddenly let out a small chuckle. The Amalgam froze in his movements, frowning when Glenn suddenly burst out in laughter.
"Haha....hahahaha!" He laughed his heart out as if this was the last time he would be able to let it out. The Amalgam shook his head in incomprehension, when, pressed by curiosity, he asked Glenn.
"What?! What are you laughing for?!?" His voice sounded mocking, but it only made Glenn laugh harder. Suddenly, the young man stopped laughing and only pointed at his right hand. There was no Mana at all in it. None whatsoever. The Amalgam let out a chuckle, before sighing despitefully.
"You''re disappointing me. My Mother promised me my share of "friends" I could enjoy myself with, and I truly thought for a second you''d be able to satisfy me, but it seems like I''m mistaken. Too bad" The Amalgam was interrupted when the decapitated head of the Mother''s wooden statue was pulled into Glenn''s hand. The sight unnerved him deeply, but it was nothing compared to what the young man would say.
"...I think you''re scared, you piece of mixed-up garbage," Glenn began, stepping on an invisible Mana platform, and approaching the puzzled Amalgam.
"After all, I''ve just escaped your Mother''s "supposedly" punishment. It wasn''t that bad, truly, more like a boon," The young man touched his chin with a single finger, looking at the ceiling while lost in thoughts. Diamanes was screaming in his host''s mind things along the lines of: "Get back in the game you madman you''re going to die!!" or something like that, but Glenn couldn''t care less. He could only see the small spark of hesitation growing in the Amalgam''s eyes, while he was preparing "it" on the side.
He had to win some more time. Glenn took another step, standing only on the invisible Mana platforms, getting one step closer to the creature.
"I mean, am I the one punished here? Or aren''t you the one who suffered the most? After all, you''re just a product of two humans badly fused to create a robust body that can use magic. Not gonna lie, that''s pretty lame for your Mother, even more, when we see what she did to you!" Glenn showed a face filled with pity while smiling warmly at the creature, whose face was becoming redder and redder as the young man kept on talking.
"I''m pretty sure with a face like that...You might have a chance with your brothers and sisters your Mother created," He casually said while pointing his chin at the grotesque piles of flesh, bones, and guts spread all around in the church. He felt his Mana suddenly run out, but kept on fueling "it" with whatever energy was left in his body. He had one shot, he couldn''t afford to miss. Blood trickled down his nose and mouth, but he still kept on talking, ignoring it as best he could.
"...Never mind that, even them wouldn''t want to take a look at you," Glenn dismissed him distastefully, the Amalgam who remained silent from the anger he felt finally exploding. He roared beastly as he hurled the scythe at Glenn.
"YOU BASTARD!!! I''LL KILL YOU AND EAT YOU, YOU FUCKING DIMWIT!!!" The Mother''s son screamed, surprising Glenn with how much hatred he had created in his opponent.
''I mean, it wasn''t that much, was it?'' He thought for half a second as the platform under his feet disappeared, slipping away narrowly from the attack. The Son''s attack split what little remained of the church''s roof, before creating a dark, flaming line in the sky that cut through the skies.
Glenn smiled weakly and flicked his fingers as his body plunged toward the ground. Behind the rage-stricken Amalgam, a small ball of light was spinning very, very slowly. It almost looked like it was still from how slow it looked. It had just been producing light for the whole fight, having been cast by Glenn for quite a while now. But the moment the sound of Glenn''s fingers flicking echoed in the church, the ball of light suddenly distorted and shaped itself into a long needle of pure, sunny light. It spans so fast that it looks entirely still, the movement impossible to be seen by the naked eye.
A second before hitting the ground, Glenn opened his mouth while giving a huge thumbs-up.
"See you in Paradise, asshole..." He whispered, as his consciousness plunged back into darkness. A second later, the needle disappeared from the world. The Amalgam slowly looked back, unable to comprehend what just happened. A trickle of black liquid came out of his lips, and he touched it with confusion.
"Is this...blood?" The creature paled and looked down at his chest.
There, a hole the size of a window was opened, the walls of the hole charred black, still fuming from the heat.
"...What?" The Amalgam barely managed to say, as a world-splitting light exploded in the church, flying high in the sky and making its way to the heavens. The strength of the attack created a shockwave so powerful it made the Amalgam fly away, his limbs coming loose and his body slowly disintegrating. The face of the Amalgam was twisted in pain as a single, dark tear dropped down on it.
"...I..."
Thump.
Glenn crashed down on the floor, his eyes closed and his fate a mystery. The Amalgam slowly disappeared into dust, joining the already present ash in covering the destroyed Palancar.
No one was left standing in what previously was a church and was now a pile of bloody wooden rubble.
Truly the worst investment in Monsieur Maron''s life.
Side Story : Monsier Marons and the Coin Thief (Part One)
Monsieur Maron hummed happily as he strolled around Palancar, his hands behind his back. He breathed in deeply the air charged with Fire Mana, smiling widely while already imagining the profits from this venture of his. They had just arrived on the grounds of what would become the best production of distilled spirits. The merchant looked back with a satisfied expression, unable to stop himself from checking the Dark-Gold Fixer out again.
''I struck gold this time,'' He thought while mentally rubbing his hands together. Maron still needed to keep his appearance as a refined person, but truly, he only wanted to do one thing: scream to the world how much of a steal he hired that man for.
''A classic mercenary hiring cost is a handful of coppers per day, while a mercenaries troupe is around a few silvers for the whole mission. The Fixers from the Cleaner''s Workshop are more costly, both because they are of a higher skill, but also because the Workshop is taking a small fee from the hirer. Coppers are still quite cheap, while Silvers come for quite a good cost for their performance. They''re not too incredible, but they can often take on a mercenary team alone. The Gold fixers are where the value truly is. Incredible skills are proved through challenges and combats, with a cost that is ridiculous, going from a gold to a handful, depending on the work. Compared to that, that month''s revenue was around...'' Maron thought, watching peacefully as the workers and mercenaries prepared their tents, which is where they''ll spend their nights until satisfying facilities are built. He mentally calculated the costs of hiring the Fixers while comparing them to the price he would have to pay if the work was put on hold because of some unseen problems. A golden glint flashed through his mind and his smile grew even wider.
''But all of that is nothing compared to that guy. Bearing the reputation of a true butcher who hacked through horrible creatures one after the other, recently promoted after he managed to destroy with his team a City-level threat in the Blessed Grove... Glenn is a dark, pure-bred war-horse that came out of nowhere, and I practically bought him for bread crumbs!'' Monsieur Maron chuckled, hiding his mouth with his hand. He had previously tried to hire a Dark-Gold specialist from the Workshop, only to give up woefully when he heard of their price.
Their weight in gold. That''s what they asked for private requests. The worst of it?
They were right to ask for that much.
From the intelligence he gathered through the years, Maron could affirm without hesitation that the true might of the Cleaner''s Workshop was in their Black-Gold and above Fixers. Ignoring the Cleaners who were an entirely different breed, the Fixers of such a high rank were very rare and very, very strong. Each of them could play with lower-ranked Fixers and was only deployed on confidential and highly risky missions. They were all, of course, extremely expensive, so it was generally impossible to hire them. They often just did their things and dealt with the dirty stuff that the higher-ups didn''t want to think about.
"The grace of Plutus is with us..." He mumbled joyfully, before approaching Glenn who was staring at some other company workers doubtfully.
"They seem a bit too happy to be villagers..." The young powerful man questioned, his arms crossed tightly. Maron grabbed his shoulder from behind, a dreadful feeling suddenly washing over him. He gulped and did his best to ignore it, the feeling disappearing as soon as the Dark-Gold Fixer turned around and understood who dared to touch him.
"That''s because they''re not villagers. They''re probably some other company''s employees," The merchant forced the words out of his mouth, keeping up his poker face as best as he could. He quickly pulled his hand back, before turning back to face his workforce.
''This is dreadful. Dreadful. I need to find something to make it look like I''m busy, quickly...'' Maron thought while smiling widely with white teeth. Decades of experience in King''s Rise commercial world had given him the ability to sniff out the people he shouldn''t annoy, while also making him strong enough mentally to resist the influence of such powerful figures, like Glenn, but that''s not because he could resist them that he wasn''t scared of them. He was just not pissing himself off the fear anymore.
''Well, strong or not, they''re all the same in front of some clinking and glistening gold,'' He breathed in deeply as he walked toward his workers, shaking off the strange sentiment.
"How is it looking, Lefeivre?" The merchant addressed a tall, muscular fellow with a balding head and a lumberjack''s beard. Lefeivre was one of his most reliable employees and the foreman of the whole operation. Maron could only appreciate the man''s ability to efficiently direct his subordinates to bring construction projects to a swift conclusion while retaining the versatility needed in locations different from his usual work environment. It wasn''t the first time he''d called on Lefeivre and his team for an exterior wall project: there had been that pink-striped marble quarry project near Eari, or the dark steel factory at Satidipug.
All in all, it wasn''t their first rodeo, and probably wouldn''t be their last one. The bald man rubbed the skin under his nose, before shrugging nonchalantly.
"Well, the first thing we need to do is clear out all of that ash so that we can lay out the foundations of the distillery, and, as you can see Monsieur Maron, there''s a lot of work," He gestured at the ash-covered plain with a strained face. He then pointed at the sky while sighing loudly.
"We also need to find a way to protect the building sites from the ash that''s constantly falling. We can''t have it mixing up with the lime mortar, but we could always switch to Roman Cement which will be faster and less straining on us." The foreman took a deep breath, rubbing his forehead with hesitation.
"...But?" Maron pressed him on, aware that there had to be some cons to the quick solution.
"...Roman cement is less breathable and can lead to moisture-related issues, which, I guess, wouldn''t be the best thing for a building aiming to be a distillery, right...?" Lefeivre clasped his hands behind his back, looking at the workers who had just finished setting up their tents. The merchant rubbed his chin, deliberating for a long minute, before shaking his head.
"...Go for what you think is feasible. We don''t have that much time to spare in Palancar, but I don''t want my future production to be famous for its lack of quality," Monsieur Maron patted Lefeivre''s shoulder, the foreman already plunged in deep thought as to how he was going to tackle these problems. The merchant turned around and sat on a nearby fallen log, looking at the sun setting in the distance, coloring the sky with purple color as the twin moons peeked out from their hiding places.
''To tell the truth, I didn''t understand anything from what he told me, but I trust him to make the right decisions anyway,'' Maron smiled as he took an ancient-looking silver coin, making it slip through his fingers dexterously. He looked at the coin fondly, remembering his origins, like every time he took it out.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Maron didn''t start as a silver-spoon noble or the son of a merchant who already had his path paved for him. His father was a wheat farmer, while his mother was a waitress in a now-forgotten tavern. They lived outside of King''s Rise in a village southeast of Munirp. He also had a brother, who sadly didn''t survive his first winter. They ate mainly wheat-based products, whose production and processing costs were the lowest of all. Coarse bread, wheat porridge, pottage, and occasionally, a bit of meat. Those were some difficult times, but he had come a long way from then.
Instead of buying toys or more meat like the other families would, his father and mother invested almost everything they earned in books that they then forced him to read. He had to learn how to decrypt the letters by himself, a studious task that he would have deemed impossible if it wasn''t for the continuous support of his parents. "Support" was given through boots up his ass and slaps in his face if he dared to doze off in front of the boring scriptures. Even if that might not have been the most efficient way to learn, Maron was now very grateful for his parents forcing him to go through such an ordeal.
He wouldn''t have kept on teaching himself if not for his father falling sick and the family''s spending unable to keep up with his mother''s meager salary. He was probably around fourteen years old and had to urgently find a way to earn money. And not just some pocket money, no, he needed to make so big bucks to pay for his father''s medicine. Seeing his little brother die off from a fever once had already been enough for him.
It began slowly, like all businesses. He sold the spare reserves of grain bags stored in the house for a handful of copper that he then used to buy low-quality fabric, which he then sewed up himself in barely presentable clothes. The clothes went up for a slightly higher price than what he bought the fabric for, leaving him with a little bit more money that he then reinvested in more fabric which he then used again to create more diverse pieces of clothing.
At some point, he managed to strike up a deal with the fabric manufacturer to buy a fixed amount of material every week for a lower price. He then hired for cheap a grandmother in his village who was struggling to feed her grandson, which increased the quality and speed of the clothes production. The increase in quality gave him a range of actions to raise the price, start earning real money, and afford to spend it on food and necessities.
It wasn''t enough to pay for the medicine, but it was a start, so Maron kept on working tirelessly, sewing and calculating the profits, sleeping only what his body needed to survive, until his production grew so much he had to hire another employee, then another, and another. He managed to create a place for himself in the clothes market and created his brand, the Maron''s brand. That didn''t mean anything, he only asked to sew the name Maron on the clothes to give them some kind of unique advantage, it didn''t take much time and wasn''t expensive, but it created immense interest from the slightly richer masses.
One thing led to another, and he ended up dominating the cloth market, swallowing the independent productions and taking them under his name. That day, a merchant from King''s Rise visited the village and was happily surprised to find excellent quality products there, trading with Maron on an equal standing.
That day was the day he earned his first silver coin, and coincidentally, the day he became of adult age. He kept the silver coin previously through the rest of his life, that first silver acting as proof of his hard work. With the rest of the profits, he finally was able to gather enough money to pay for the precious medicine, but it was too late. Even with the gradual increase in his family''s quality of life thanks to the money he kept on bringing, his father was still touched by the sickness, and the moment he took the medicine, his pain was finally alleviated.
Only for his soul to depart for wherever it''s supposed to go the following morning.
That was a hard-earned lesson for Maron, who then swore to himself he would become rich enough to never need to care about money. He then rose to his current position, the Maron''s Company being one of the most successful companies in the Northern Town and already having footsteps in the other towns of the Fringe. He only needed one last opportunity to back him in his climb toward the top of King''s Rise, and that opportunity was Palancar.
"...What a jump in the past," He said aloud, slipping the coin back into his breast pocket. Maybe it was the travel that tired him, or simply the ruined village that made him think back to that time, but what truly mattered now was the present.
''It''s not the time to linger on. I still need to plan out the patrols with the Dark-Gold Fixer alongside the mercenary leader...what was his name again? Doman, Dolan...'' Maron winced as he searched through his memory for the name of the mercenary leader. He had hired the company for the first time because the one he usually took was already on a request, so he wasn''t familiar with all of them yet.
"Doran!" A woman in leather armor and with a long saber on her waist passed by him and joined a stern man with a battle axe strung on his back. Maron flicked his fingers together as his eyes lit up.
''Right, Doran! I knew I wasn''t too far from it,'' He stepped toward the mercenary leader with swift steps.
"Monsieur Maron? Can I help you?" The man politely asked, his wife stepping away to let them talk. The merchant nodded before crossing his hands behind his back.
"Yes you can, Mr Doran. I need a quick overview of how your men will protect the construction site, to get an idea of how you''ll coordinate with the Fixers," Maron quickly explained, inviting an understanding nod from the mercenary leader.
"No problem, so what we will do..." The man quickly explained the layoff of how the mercenaries would be positioned. The main priority was to signal for any danger to alert the powerful Fixers which would then come and deal with the threat. If said threat was weak enough to be dealt with only by the mercenaries, it wasn''t much of a threat to begin with. But since the outside of King''s Rise was reputed to be quite dangerous, they still chose this system to allow for more versatility.
Maron was quite satisfied and decided to wrap up the day. The real work would begin the following morning, and he was only doing the preparations in advance out of excitement. He couldn''t help but feel this way each time he created a successful business.
''Hopefully, it won''t be a dud...It won''t be, I know it!'' The merchant pressed his hand on his breast, where the precious coin was safely stored. He went to sleep inside the tent the workers set up for him and prepared himself to go to sleep. He''ll have to be awake early tomorrow to monitor the construction site.
"...I love being rich..." He whispered with a wide grin, before putting himself to bed and falling asleep.
The night went on without any events, but when he woke up in the morning, something terrible had happened.
Ever since he became "rich," Maron enjoyed counting the coins he owned every time he woke up, finding satisfaction in the routine. So, as he took his breakfast with sleepy eyes, some roasted sausages alongside a bowl of porridge, he plunged his hand into his dimensional pouch that stored his pocket money and nudged at it with his mind to have the inventory of the storing space.
''Alright, so, if I did my calculations correctly, I should have a hundred and fifty-six gold coins, alongside three-hundred and thirty-two silvers. For the coppers, I think I was around the five-hundred and twelve marks, but it''s true I gave quite a bit of money away when we traveled through the Sewers, so I should be more around four-hundred and twenty...Wait..?''
The numbers in his mind didn''t add up to what he had currently stored. More particularly, twelve gold coins had gone missing during the night!
An absolute, impossible, criminal thing had happened. His blood froze in his veins and his stare became hard and cold. Maron tightly clenched his fist as he went through the content of the dimensional pouch again in spite, a mix of anger and disbelief flashing on his face, before quickly disappearing back under his poker face.
''Impossible, I already dealt with the coin thief many years ago!'' He screamed in his mind, his face peaceful in appearance. He touched his breast pocket and silently sighed in relief when he found the lucky coin still in its place.
The coin thief was back. And there was only one man who would be able to deal with him.
Maron himself.
100. Consequences
''Painful...So painful...'' Glenn''s muddy thoughts echoed in his head, the young man unable to open his eyes. It was as if they were stuck with glue, but with his experience, he was almost sure it was blood. How many times had he bled and hurt himself fighting horrendous creatures, and ended up in this same kind of situation?
For what? Money? Money was nice, but it has always been more of a tool to reach his goal rather than an objective. Even if being rich would probably facilitate a lot of things, Glenn felt like he could live without being one. Not that he would refuse easy cash, but there simply were things more important than that to him.
Then, was it for the glory that he fought so hard? First, the title of a Dark-Gold Fixer, then the Blood-Cross medal that made him and Sahro an honorary member... Being recognized for his worth sure was pleasing, but it wasn''t worth dying over. Not to him, anyway. All of it would disappear anyway if he managed to find a way back to Earth, but the same could be said for anything when he would die.
After all, humans only live once.
No, the truth was that he liked it. The struggle, the taste of metal in his mouth, the tiredness, and the pain as he fought with his everything on the line, this was...what he lived for. Glenn would have never thought of himself as a battle-crazed person before, but he could only admit to the evidence. Most of the things he did until now had no real motivation behind them besides curiosity and a particular need for adrenaline.
A need that seemed to have killed him.
''At least let me open my eyes or something...'' He thought tiredly as he tried to move any of his limbs, unable to feel any of them. Glenn mentally sighed, Diamanes seemingly gone from his conscience. It felt weird not to have his strangely reassuring presence creeping in his head, but it also cleared his head a little. Being able to think alone for once was...calming.
No one to discuss his thoughts with him, to mock or encourage him, or to say anything. Just alone with his thoughts.
''I can feel the taste of metal too strongly in my mouth for me to be dead. Maybe I''m about to be? Probably,'' He pondered, wanting to shrug but unable to.
''Maybe I could try to take a look at my Mana Heart one last time... I''ll probably be happy if I could die watching such a beautiful sight...'' He plunged into himself, revealing his Mana Heart and the Magellanic Clouds inside it. The light the sea of stars emitted was dim, and menaced to die out at any time, sparks of a divine golden hue floating around. Glenn smiled, before frowning in confusion.
A divine golden hue? What the hell was that?
He looked at the rings vibrating slowly around the Magellanic Clouds only to realize in horror that the golden one had shattered entirely.
"HUH?!?" The shock was so great he jolted awake, pushing his face from the ground as he hurriedly cleaned his eyes. Unable to look at his surroundings, he fell back and plunged back into Meditation desperately. Sadly, the golden light was dispersing little by little, disappearing in the great empty surrounding the Magellanic Clouds.
''No, no, no, you can''t just not kill me and take away what I almost died for!'' He angrily thought, mentally swimming at the golden pieces and trying to pick them up, only for his hands to pass through them and make them disperse in clouds of golden dust.
"Fuck!" He blurted out, his eyes flashing open.
"Damn it! Argh, this...Shit!" He sat himself against the closest object, a crumbled wooden wall covered in entrails. Glenn hurriedly brought his hand to his side, his eyes widening in horror as he saw the wound on his side bleeding profusely, missing a little too much meat for him to be comfortable. Not that he was comfortable being hurt anyway.
He brought his left hand to try and seal the wound with Nitrogen ice again, but nothing came out of the purple limb. He winced and opted for the second-best solution. He clenched his teeth and summoned a small blade of fire, ready to cauterize the wound the best he could. He''d rather have it treated correctly, but it was either that or dying.
Blood trickled on the blood as he steeled his resolve and brought the trembling blade of fire near the wound. The second he was about to use it, the Mana he conjured dissipated, and tiredness washed over him violently, his head bobbing to the side.
''...Shit, I probably lost too much blood...And my 3rd Circle is gone as well...Fuck me...'' He thought angrily, unable to speak through the blood that was invading his mouth. It felt like he could hear steps running at him, but his eyes closed before he could see who was coming.
''...I don''t want to die, damn it...'' His head fell back against the wall, and he fell asleep entirely. It was a feverish dream, filled with magic spells, horrible, fleshy creatures and the deaths of most people knew. Something he wasn''t too much of a stranger to, these nightmares plaguing him ever since that first Harvest. And it only worsened every day, like some growing curse that ate him alive.
Anyway, never Glenn would have thought dying was this comfortable? It was like he was lying on the most fluffy bed possible, angels treating him with the most beautiful smiles...
''Huh, angels, right? I never was much of a Christian man, though...''
He smiled as his soul was gradually brought to wherever Paradise was. Or Hell? Maybe there are angels in Hell, who knows? Not Glenn, that''s for sure.
''What are they blabbering about, though? I can''t understand a peep of it...Maybe it''s because they talk in divine language or something?''
The Head Priestess Tara Mi Lando raised an eyebrow as she looked at the forest in front of her. There was something eerily disturbing in the Aura it emitted, nothing like how natural places were supposed to be. She looked at the detachment of priests and paladins waiting in a temporary camp, her expression cold and displeased.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
In truth, she couldn''t help but feel a little worried. The Goddess herself gave them the revelation, after all, and even if the Oracle had stressed enough how simple and not dangerous the mission would be, Tara couldn''t help but indeed doubt a little. Would these measly twenty paladins and ten priests and priestesses even suffice?
Revelations from the Goddess always warned them about situations that involved other deities, both friendly or corrupted. Tara clenched her fists tightly, the steel gloves covering them creaking. The last time such a revelation was given to the Oracle, her Onnea''s Church had failed to arrive in time, and a whole village was exterminated, with efforts lasting for half a year to get rid of the following...mess. Tara had only lived through such revelations twice in her life and hoped a third one wouldn''t come, but it seemed like her time as a Head Priestess was particularly charged with work.
''More work when I could spend more time preaching her words...Sigh, I''m so unlucky...'' She secretly shook her head, before turning at a young, robe-clad priestess who approached her.
"Sister Di Forte, how can I help you?" Tara gently asked, her cold expression melting like snow in the sun. She couldn''t help but appreciate the presence of this brilliant woman who was probably the next one in line to take over her position. Which translated to "the best person to delegate work to".
Astrid Di Forte bowed her head slightly, smiling back.
"Sister Head Priestess, I realized after a few tactical meetings that a few of the disappeared persons were people I met, and wanted to share the knowledge I have of them," She said in a respectful tone. Tara raised an eyebrow, before inviting her to continue. Astrid made her way next to the proud elderly woman, and let out a small sigh.
''Damn it...I didn''t want to tell her, but I kind of feel forced to now... Couldn''t Alabaster shut his mouth for once? I''m too lazy for this...They''re both all dead anyway,'' Annoyance filled her mind as she did her best to keep on a worried face. Appearances, Astrid...Appearances.
"I met the Fixers Sahro and Glenn, who were both Silver-ranked at the time," She began, making Tara''s eyes squint.
"Silver-ranked? When was that?"
"Five, maybe six months ago?" Astrid held her chin with a single finger, searching through her memory. Tara almost whistled in awe, but remembered that she had to keep her image of a stern woman safe.
"Cough, this is quite impressive. If I''m not wrong, the Black Heir was promoted to Gold rank a month after you met him, while the other became a Dark Gold rank a month ago, just before leaving for Palancar. These two young men both had incredible potential. Let''s hope the Goddess protected them," The Head Priestess before throwing a glance at Astrid who returned the same gaze to her.
''They''re probably dead, though.''
''Yeah, they''re dead for sure.''
Their thoughts mirrored themselves when suddenly the forest shook tremendously, the two women''s expressions hardening as they turned toward it. An invisible veil dissipated, letting the Head Priestess detect the remnants of a Heathen, the Fallen Mother, or as Her fanatics called her, The Mother Of All, Guide of whatever, too much work to remember her whole name. Why would she even care about some heretic''s god name anyway?
Tara clapped her hands together, chanting silently, and a golden light fell on her troops.
"This is the Goddess sign, let us purge Palancar!" She screamed, taking out a steel morning star from her belt and raising it high above her head. Astrid smiled dejectedly and joined her fellow priestesses as they marched toward the cursed village. They went through quite an ordeal because of the traps laid in the forest, but ultimately nothing too dangerous, even more so when considering there were ten healers in the group.
The first thing they noticed was the scent of burnt wood. Then it was the ash that seemed to invade every nook and cranny of the forest, like a parasite.
Finally, it was the heavy, much too recognizable smell of blood. The faces of the detachments grew graver and they hurried their steps. They finally arrived at Palancar, a ruined and burning village covered in ashes. From where they were, they could see the central building completely collapsed, where the biggest fight seemed to have taken place. Tara didn''t have to say a word that, like a single entity, the Paladins and Priests charged at the village.
They arrived in a hellish scenery. Nothing had been spared by the fire, and every houses and constructions were destroyed. There probably were hundreds and hundreds of casualties. The Head Priestess winced as she followed behind the detachment. She stopped in front of one of the destroyed houses, rubbing her chin.
The strange thing, though, was that the scent of blood didn''t come from the house, nor any of the others. It distinctively came from the center of the village, where that huge collapsed wooden building was.
"Was the fight concentrated in the village''s center? Why...?" Tara muttered, continuing to move through the streets. She soon arrived in front of what seemed to be previously a church, a horrible stench of guts and blood coming from it. A few corpses were strewn around it, disformed and massacred. The most noticeable, though, was a hundred or so people who were shivering and crying with all their tears while being taken care of by her puzzled troops.
"What happened here?" She asked the nearest paladin, who was busy giving first aid to one of the victims who had a bad burn on his left arm. The paladin chewed on his cheeks, before answering with a hesitant voice.
"From what I managed to gather from this poor soul, some kind of evil...entity, probably the Fallen Mother from his descriptions, took over the mind of the villagers and made them participate in sacrilegious rituals. Should we...?" He trailed off, looking at the Head Priestess with hesitation. Tara shook her head, only feeling remnants of the Heathen''s influence.
"Take care of them and be sure to treat any kind of remnant signs of the Fallen Mother. We can''t risk an outburst with that many people," She commanded, before walking toward the main source of gore. Astrid was staring inside the church with a pale face, her expression blank of any signs. Tara stepped over the rubble and gazed inside, squinting at the sight. The ruined church was covered in blood, guts, and bones, pieces of flesh stuck on the walls and ground.
There were a few creatures that seemed to have been created by fusing countless humans and beasts in a horrible mix, but they were all dead. Tara frowned and grabbed Astrid''s shoulder, before using her other hand to draw something in the air while muttering something. A bright golden light suddenly came out of her hand and burned all of the gore away, revealing messed-up skeletons and...survivors?
She climbed down from the wreckage and approached the survivors, leaving Astrid to recover her senses. Four survivors were way more than she had expected to find after such a powerful wave of evil intent. Tara quickly checked their pulses, finding them all barely alive. She whistled to the priests to come over, Astrid soon joining her as they quickly gave the victims first aid in the form of an overbearing bath of white light. After making sure they wouldn''t die right away, Tara wiped the sweat off her forehead and cracked her back.
''Oh, dead Goddess, why do you make me work so hard? Sigh...''
"We need some Paladins to carry victims, and quickly!" She yelled loudly, and almost instantly eight silver-clad Paladins jumped over the rubbles and picked up the four survivors.
They laid them inside a hurriedly set medical tent, the priests gathered to treat them. Their wounds were incredibly death-threatening, and it was a miracle these four were alive. Tara quickly verified their identities, frowning.
"Two Pale Sons of Silver-rank, the Black Heir and the Dark-Gold Fixer...Why is it that the most hurt are also the strongest? Did they take most of the brunt of the fight?" She couldn''t help but wonder, when the strongest of the four suddenly sat up, cursing loudly.
"FUCK! MY CIRCLE!!!"
101. No Gains, Only Losses...?
"No, no, no, fuck y''all, I don''t have time for that!" Glenn yelled with bloodshot eyes, standing up on the bunkbed despite the best efforts of the priestesses around him. His waist bled heavily as the healers hadn''t finished regenerating the whole missing chunk of flesh, but the young man didn''t seem to even care about the pain.
He stumbled on his steps, holding his left hand desperately as he tried to summon the Nitrogen Wave he had grown so fond of. Sadly, nothing happened besides his heart growing heavier. The priestesses tried to push him back on the bunk bed but they couldn''t restrain him. Even though he physically didn''t look unstoppable, he certainly was for them.
Tara frowned and glanced at the Paladin who was standing guard in the tent. He nodded and approached Glenn, holding his hands in peace, before getting punched in the head and falling on his back. The Head Priestess sighed, shaking her head slightly before peeking outside the tent toward the other Paladins guarding the camp.
"...We have a recalcitrant patient over here."
A roar came from behind her, startling said Paladins.
"FUCK!! MY MAGIC!? DAMN IT!!"
Three Paladins joined the melee, finally managing to control Glenn and press him against the bunk bed, forcing him to receive the medical attention he needed. The young man was like a rabid dog, his words erratic and his eyes filled with madness. Was it anger, or despair? Tara couldn''t tell.
"No, no...I practically died to get this Third Circle, and it''s just gone?!? Are you for real, Onnea?!?" The man spat through his teeth, jerking his right arm out and knocking out one of the poor Paladins. Tara raised an eyebrow, and her gloved fist clenched lightly.
''He shouldn''t be able to even wake up with such wounds...And he had an incredibly sturdy body too... How interesting,'' The Head Priestess rubbed her chin in thought, before stepping next to the mad Fixer. She didn''t say anything and punched him hard in the face, his nose crackling under the hit. The screams died off and the Paladins who previously restrained Glenn gasped in relief, looking at her in awe and fear.
"...I simply couldn''t listen to him anymore," Tara shrugged off, trying her best to avoid Astrid''s gaze full of admiration.
"Half of you stay there and take care of these warriors, the others with me to help the villagers. From what I''ve seen, they shouldn''t require much medical attention, but we never know," She ordered the priests and priestesses, before getting out of the tent. The four Paladins followed her, but she glared at them and gestured back at the tent.
"...What are you doing? Imagine if they''re all like that problematic one?" The Paladins looked at each other awkwardly, before one hesitantly stepped up.
"...M''am Mi Lando, we apologize, but what if they all wake up at once? We already struggle with one, so imagine with four of them..."
Tara pulled down on her face, before pushing the Paladins back in the tent, deaf to their complaints. She moved through the camp, ordering two other Paladins to join the medical tent...for safety measures. She looked at the sky above her, the sun still hanging high.
There was still a lot of work to do.
Sigh.
Glenn grunted, struggling to open his eyes.
''Ugh, I feel like shit...'' His memories were foggy at best, and his movements sluggish. He tried to rub his eyes but his arms didn''t move, tied to something. Glenn frowned, and forced his eyes open, closing them back reflexively when he felt the fabric touch them. Something was covering his eyes while each of his limbs was tightly restrained. The young man''s mind inevitably derived back to a certain time in a certain prison, and his heart rate accelerated as he tried to force himself out.
"Hey, can someone please untie me before I go fucking mad?" He tried without much conviction, pulling on the restraints as best he could. His body was aching all over as if he had been beaten by dozens of people with sticks. Wait, he did lose consciousness after fighting the Son of the insane deity, The Mother, that probably made sense. It still seemed like there was more to it, but Glenn was unable to think about it for long as his restraints suddenly came loose, letting him take off his blindfold.
The gentle light of the sun coming from an interstice in the tent made him squint slightly, getting used to the lighting. He suddenly jolted awake, checking his waist out. Where a huge chunk of flesh should have been missing, a pristine white skin was there as if everything had been an illusion, the only witness of the previous wound being the difference in the skin''s color. Glenn hesitantly touched his waist, surprised that he couldn''t feel any pain whatsoever.
''Wait, what about my ribs?''
Those weren''t hurting him either at all. Seemingly, a good rest was all he needed to be completely fixed. When did his body become so incredible?
''As if. Take a look around, Glenn,'' Diamanes suddenly surged out of nowhere, making Glenn wince in displeasure. He had almost forgotten about him. Nonetheless, he obliged and checked his surroundings, discovering six heavily armored Paladins staring at him while holding their breaths. They were all holding thick steel shields that seemed they could stop anything. Glenn tilted his head to the side, confused.
"...Who are you? No, more importantly, where am I?" The young man quickly questioned, throwing his legs to the side, his feet touching the cold ground in a not-so-pleasing sensation. He looked down, only to find a huge puddle of blood there.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
"...Urgh, who the hell bled out under my bed...? ?" asked Glenn disgruntledly, before looking at the paladins who were watching him in silence. He looked at himself, entirely naked. A quick gaze at the size allowed him to find a pile of bloody rags, probably the precious clothes he paid so much for...
"...I did, didn''t I?" He looked at the Paladins for confirmation who silently nodded. One of them suddenly took a deep breath and stepped forward, raising his silver visor. He pushed his shield to the side and pressed his right hand on his chest respectfully.
"...I''m Frederik Lance, from the Order of Onnea''s Paladins," said the armored man in a low voice, making Glenn instantly understand what happened.
"You guys are from the Onnea''s Church? That means...You guys came to take care of Palancar, didn''t you?" The young man asked curiously, un-summoning and re-summoning his clothes. There was a huge slit in the side that was struggling to fix itself, and they were soaked in blood. Glenn groaned and tried to cast his cleaning spell without saying anything, but nothing happened.
''...The fuoh, I forgot...My Third Circle...Shit...'' Glenn''s expression suddenly changed as he sat back down on the bunk bed, splurging bed all around. He rubbed the sides of his nose tiredly, before focusing his Mana in his hands.
"...Mundare," A gentle light appeared on his hands, ridding them of all the blood left. With a distraught sigh, he channeled the spell all over himself, repeating the process until he was completely cleaned. It had been quite a while since he last used a spell of the School of Words. He had gotten so used to the Dragonic School that he simply didn''t see the use in them anymore.
''Well, what good did it do to me?'' He thought derisively, trying to see if he had missed any part. After ensuring he didn''t, he looked back up at the Paladins who still hadn''t answered his questions.
"...So, uhm, Frederik, mind telling me what''s going on?" Glenn pressed the Paladin, who flinched in response.
"Of course, sir. The Church of Onnea sent a detachment to march on Palancar after receiving a revelation from the Goddess, a month after your team left King''s Rise," the Paladin began explaining. Glenn frowned. A month after? That didn''t makewait, actually, it did, even more when considering the extent of the Mother''s powers. So he lost a month to this cursed village?
Unaware of the young man''s storming thoughts, Frederik continued like a soldier making his rapport.
"We marched on the village but were blocked by a powerful distortion barrier that even our Head Priestess couldn''t break," Frederik''s face darkened, and the hand on his chest clenched tighter.
"It was powered by the evil magic of the Fallen Mother, hence the struggle of M''am Tara. She would have eventually opened a rift in it for us to open, but that would have probably taken another week."
''A week we probably wouldn''t have been able to afford,'' Glenn thought as he looked back to the injuries he sustained.
"We then finally entered Palancar''s vicinity and began the rescue and purging mission. That''s when we found you and your comrades," The Paladin said, before nodding in some other bed directions that Glenn hadn''t previously noticed. Glenn''s ears perked up and he walked past the Paladins who had finally begun to relax a little, heading for the beds. He sighed in relief when he found the Black Heir and the two Pale Sons still well and alive.
''All in one piece. Phew...'' Glenn grinned, crossing his arms in front of him.
''Actually...that might not be entirely true,'' Diamanes interjected in a sad tone, making Glenn''s smile disappear.
''I think Sahro...'' The entity couldn''t finish its sentence that Glenn was next to his friend''s bed, paling when he realized that Sahro''s left arm was gone. There was nothing at all where the limb was supposed to be, and a bandage was covering the Black Heir''s shoulder. The young man brought his hand to his mouth, covering it in shock. He held himself on the side of the bed, suddenly feeling like the ground was spinning under him.
''I...This is my fault...If only I didn''t choose this request...If I wasn''t so greedy and impatient..! Glenn''s spiraling thoughts quickly deteriorated, and the sudden realization of this mission''s death toll only made it worse. Tarana, the reliable teammate he survived the Heart of Darkness with was now reduced to a puddle of flesh and blood, gone from this world without even having the chance to say her last words.
''Just like with'' Glenn''s fall was suddenly interrupted by a loud voice in his mind.
''Tsk! Stop the melodrama, you narcissistic bastard!!! Do you actually think you''re the reason they''re dead? It''s that pagan god''s fault, you idiot!'' exclaims Diamanes, exasperated, as he manages to pull Glenn together. The young man rubbed his forehead, forcingly calming himself. He pushed his guilt back where it belonged, which meant in the furthest possible place of his mind, and focused back on the matter at hand.
''...You''re right. Sorry... I''ll try to make sense of it all instead so I don''t think about it,'' Glenn thanked his mental companion, before strolling for the tent''s exit, ignoring Frederik and the other Paladins. The sun blinded him once more as he found himself in Palancar''s ruins, ruins that he had created himself.
The surviving villagers and workers were staring at the rubbles with blank faces. Most of them had already dried their tears, and Glenn didn''t doubt that they had all been deeply scarred by the events that occurred in Palancar''s ashen plain.
Who wouldn''t be?
Priests and priestesses were moving around, proposing food and water to the survivors, often met with mute refusal and dead eyes empty of any desire. Glenn suddenly squinted when he recognized a female figure treating a man with a nasty burn. He walked slowly, looking at the destruction and chaos he technically caused. Well, it was an ill for a good, considering that all the survivors would have probably died crushed instead at the Fallen Mother''s whim.
"...There we go. Make sure to apply that cream, and it should go better in a few days," Astrid said to the burned man, holding a small clay pot to the man, who took it wordlessly. She smiled reassuringly before standing up and turning around, secretly sighing.
"What''s up?" Glenn smiled, startling her. Her eyes widened and her face quickly transformed into a frown.
"WhatWhat are you doing here? You should still be resting!" The priestess grabbed Glenn by the wrist and pulled him back toward the medical tent.
"I swear I told those idiots to keep you in bed," She disgruntledly spat, before pushing the young man back in the tent. Glenn was about to say a word but she only pointed a threatening finger at his chest.
"No! You shut up. We all struggled like hell because of you," Astrid poked at his chest violently, "...So you do as I say and you d.o.n.t m.o.v.e. Understood?" Astrid stared at Glenn, who silently held his hands up in surrender. Astrid shook her head with a sigh, before grabbing both sides of the tent.
"I''ll bring the Head Priestess here. So please, don''t cause any problems and stay put, alright?" She asked with a nicer tone, Glenn smiling awkwardly at her.
"...I''ll try my best."
Astrid wordlessly closed the flaps of the tent. Glenn turned around and went back to sit on his bloody bunk bed, not forgetting to clean it thoroughly with a Mundare. The Paladins hadn''t moved from their spots since he left and didn''t seem too surprised to see him come back. The young man sighed, before looking at the mute men in front of him.
"...Anyone has cards?"
102. A Grateful Gambit
"...Check."
"...I''ll raise to five coppers."
"Hah! This is the worst bluff I''ve ever witnessed! Let''s up the bid to ten coppers!"
"This is stupid. I''m out."
"Chicken."
"Who said that?"
Inside the medical tent, patiently waiting for whoever the Head Priestess was, Glenn was playing cards with the Paladins. They initially weren''t too enthusiastic at the idea, keeping on a stern expression and whatnot. Still, Glenn knew that since Paladins were essentially soldiers, just with the holy partthey had to carry some cards around. The time he spent back on Earth in his country''s military service was certainly short, but it was still long enough for him to learn that there was one enemy everyone shared in a military camp.
Boredom. What can you do but become mad when you have nothing to do? It wasn''t like there was a war to be fought at the time, and on a small base like the one he was on, they quickly ran short of menial tasks to accomplish.
And so, after annoying Frederik enough, he managed to make them pull out their deck of cards. It was the standard 52-card deck, with the now familiar Dragon, Phoenix, and Wyvern replacing the King, Queen, and Jack.
''All-in! All-in! All-in!'' Diamanes chanted in Glenn''s mind with an excited voice, making him struggle to keep his concentration. His hand was particularly good, but the other players didn''t need to know that. After a few rounds, he had come to know a little more about the six Paladins. Frederik Lance, the one who presented himself first was the squad leader of this happy bunch and a stern man only in appearance. He was the one most invested in the game, and always tried not to give up a hand, going with risky bluffs and often winning. Wits and luck, that''s what made the man.
''And a little bit of holiness, I suppose,'' The young man thought, making a copper coin in front of him spin slightly.
"I''ll raise the ante, but don''t come crying later," Glenn pushed fifteen copper coins in front of him, smiling without an ounce of fear. Frederik rubbed his chin before checking his cards discreetly again. There were four cards on the table, a Wyvern of Hearts, Ten of Hearts, an Ace of Hearts, and an Eight of Clubs.
"...Shisheesh, I fold," Quint Apolic spat as he threw his cards next to the coins, revealing a Seven of Diamond and a Two of Hearts. He leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms with an annoyed expression. From what Glenn witnessed, Quint wasn''t much of a player and was plagued with bad luck. Each time his hand was good, someone had something better, taking away every single hope the Paladin would harness each round.
Glenn rhythmically tapped his cards, his fingers moving with confidence. To tell the truth, he wasn''t much better and was on his last leg. Much of his losses were from playing by following Diamanes'' advice, a terrible mistake he wouldn''t repeat, at least when gambling. The demon seemed to take pleasure in making him lose his money, something he couldn''t help but dread. The loss wasn''t that painful, though, since copper coins were barely like cents to him now.
But still, he didn''t like losing. And he''d rather not have to take out his silver coins.
''If I lose this one, I''m out of the game. If I win, though... I mean, that Head Priestess has to arrive at some point, right?'' Glenn''s grin only grew as he kept on fiddling with his coins. Malory Kolishiv, the Paladin who first folded looked at his cards grumbling, deciding not to reveal them even though he was out of the game.
"...Why am I even gambling? I hate gambling..." Even after saying that, he leaned back and watched the game with glimmering eyes, the need to play almost apparent in them. From what Glenn gathered, he was a degenerated gambler who hated to lose money, and who was pretty bad at the game, but who was still playing because of how addicted to the feeling he was.
"I''ll tell you why you''re playing, Malory, and it''s because, like you told us a hundred times after losing, you won one game a few years back that netted you quite the pretty bucks, and are still hanging on the hope of striking the jackpot again. Fool," Another Paladin mocked openly as he pushed fifteen coppers into the center of the table as well. Dristan Volargent was a bright young man, probably around the same age as Glenn who simply liked betting it all in weird situations, and not caring much for whether he lost or won. He was just very much focused on having fun and making fun of his sour senior.
"...I''m in," The last Paladin, Thomas di Morian, pushed his coins in as well, not participating in the friendly banter. His face was devoid of emotions as he was coldly calculating his odds to win the game, his cards turned face down in front of him.
''Wait, did he even check his cards? I don''t think I saw him do so,'' Glenn pondered, as the River card was finally revealed, a Queen of Clubs. The young man took a look at the pile of coins on the side and did his best to restrain himself from gulping heavily. He took another discreet peek at his cards, an Ace of Spades and a Dragon of Hearts. Understanding that a Dragon was a King, a Phoenix a Queen, and a Wyvern a Jack, he now had a pair of Aces and a Dragon-high flush draw. It wasn''t the best hand ever, but it certainly was pretty strong.
''Maybe I stand a chance with that,'' Glenn''s fingers clenched the table slightly, and he waited for the other players to go on with their turns. Surprisingly, no one raised the stakes, and they all checked to reveal the cards, probably in fear of being found by the Head Priestess playing cards instead of doing their duty.
Ferdinand del Ora, the last Paladin who was playing it a little cool but didn''t manage to increase or decrease the pot, first revealed his cards. Glenn didn''t get to figure out the guy, since his actions seemed always veiled behind a fake mask of a chill person.
"Ten of Diamonds and Ten of Spades, anyone beat this?" He smiled, leaning back while crossing his arms. Glenn almost sneered at the weak hand and chose to reveal his.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
"Sorry, Ace of Spades and Dragon of Hearts. Pair of Aces and King-high flush draw. I guess I''ll be winning all of you what you guys took, right?" The young man confidently reached for the coins, only to be stopped by Frederik steel-clad''s hand.
"It''ll be my apologies," He showed his hand, Glenn''s face decomposing at the sight. Dragon of Clubs, Phoenix of Hearts (Straight - Dragon-high). That hand crushed him by far. Frederik smiled politely, before paling in turn when Thomas threw his cards on the table silently, the corner of his lips rising slightly.
"Straight with Phoenix-High, Phoenix of Diamonds, Wyvern of Spades."
Dristan suddenly laughed loudly, and threw his cards as well, showing an Ace of Clubs and an Ace of Diamonds. Everyone around the table but the winner grumbled unhappily.
"A Full-House? How blessed are you?!? Did you change your faith to Plutus at some point during the game?" Ferdinand complained, before shutting himself up and sweeping the cards and coins away from the table while hiding them in a spot of his armor, the gesture certainly well practiced. A second later, a heavily armored woman entered the tent, her gaze aimed directly at Glenn. She looked at the Paladins standing rigidly around the small table and opened her mouth to say something when a copper coin slipped out from Ferdinand''s hiding place, clinking on the ground.
The Paladin paled, his lips stuck with glue. The Head Priestess, a woman well past her prime, rubbed her forehead with annoyance.
"...How many times did I ask you not to gambleah, whatever, it''s not like this old woman''s words are worth anything, are they?" She sighed, before gently placing her hand on the hilt of a terrifying morning star, her gaze turning predatory.
"Who initiated the game?" She asked sharply, staring dead-straight into the Paladin''s eyes. Glenn hesitantly raised his hand.
"...I did?"
The Head Priestess''s eyes froze, and the Paladins silently heaved breaths of relief. The old woman shook her head and pointed at the entry of the tent.
"Out, all of you," The Paladins obeyed without a word, their heads lowered and most of their wallets emptied. Glenn tried to sneak with them but was pulled back by the collarback right in front of the woman.
''Wow, she has a strong grip. Here goes nothing, I suppose,'' The young man thought, smiling with all his teeth while clasping his hands behind his back.
"Well, uhm, nice to meet you. I''m Glenn," He held out his hand for her to shake it, and to his surprise, she held her own out.
"Tara Mi Lando, Head Priestess of the Onnea''s Church, and the investigator for what happened here. We have a lot to talk about, Fixer," She stated coldly while crushing his hand in between her fingers. Glenn struggled to keep a smile, doing his best not to let out a yelp of pain.
''There''s a lot of Divine energy and Aura in that one,'' Diamanes noticed, making Glenn swear at him in the back of his mind.
''No shit, she''s crushing my hand when I''m supposed to have the physique of a bear!''
Tara Mi Lando let his hand free and pulled a chair as she sat at the small table, inviting Glenn to sit back where he previously was. He silently obeyed, crossing his arms in front of him, hiding the redness on his fingers.
"So, how can I help you, M''am Mi Lando?" He asked, leaning back in his chair to stay as far away as possible from the brutal granny. Tara Mi Lando pulled out a white scroll and opened it on the table for Glenn to see. Drawn on it were Palancar''s schematics, the very specific layout of the whole village.
"I''ve been investigating what happened here while listening to the victims'' testimonials," She began, before drawing a deep breath. Suddenly, she stood up, startling Glenn, and bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
"What?"
Glenn didn''t have the time to be confused that the old woman interrupted him.
"On behalf of the Church of Onnea and Her, I thank thee deeply. Thanks to you, many lives were saved from a fate worse than death," She kept the posture for a few more seconds before sitting back down and looking at the schematics once again.
"I, huh, I just did my...job," Glenn stammered, surprised by the sudden gratefulness he received. Tara shrugged it off, before looking up at him with curious eyes.
"No, you didn''t just do your job. I read your resume, Glenn. One of the fastest to reach the Dark-Gold rank, without the support of any noble family or religious power. You''re barely affiliated with the Black Heirs, but even your friend over there didn''t manage to climb the social ladders as fast as you did. Do you know why it happened so fast?" She asked, her fingers interlocked with each other. Glenn rubbed the back of his head, raising an eyebrow.
"...I''m just that good?"
Tara let out a small chuckle.
"That''s a good part of it, I suppose. The truth is that your feats are known all across the Northern Town and are beginning to go farther than the limits of this backwater village. Igniting the spark of war between the Black Heirs and the Thorn''s Church, finding a Seed of Darkness, and destroying a Tree of Chaos, while ignoring of course surviving against a Rank-4 manifestation. And now, you and your friends stopped the descent of a forgotten, evil god. Do you understand what''s going on?" She pushed on, leaning forward.
Glenn raised his hands helplessly.
"I''m just unlucky falling on all of these horrors again and again. It''s not like I''m seeking them," He corrected himself, making the Head Priestess laugh again.
"You know what are the usual reactions when someone meets the same things you met?"
The young man shook his head. Tara counted her fingers while staring at Glenn, a smirk hanging on her lips.
"Fleeing, despairing, giving up, madness, suicide...they all imply turning your back to the threat and hiding away. But that''s the thing, Glenn. You always fought back," She stated, closing her arms on her chest. She nodded in the direction of the blueprint.
"Palancar was built in a way that if one specific building was destroyed, all of the village would crumble. Correct?"
Glenn moved his head up and down silently, unable to find a way to react to the indirect compliment the old woman gave him.
''I mean, it''s true. As soon as you gained the power to defend yourself, you never fled nor used that power against someone who didn''t deserve to get shit on. That''s pretty admirable of you,'' Diamanes added, making the young man''s cheeks heat up.
''Shut up, I don''t handle compliments well, and now is not the time to luster my ego, alright?'' He snapped back at the entity, uncomfortable. Diamanes chuckled without another word.
"If the village was destroyed when every villager was sleeping in their homes, the energy from their death would have been gathered at the center of the town to fuel the Fallen Mother''s descent, or at least the creation of one of her disgusting, filthy descendants," Tara Mi Lando, Head Priestess of the Onnea''s Church, spat on the ground like a thug. Glenn gulped.
"Sigh, anyway, you put a stop to that too. Maybe it wasn''t what you intended at first, but thanks to you, a lot more lives than just those of Palancar were saved. So you can be proud," She smiled, before picking up the scroll and rolling it back up. Her tone suddenly changed as the quick, hurried steps of someone arriving near the tent echoed outside of it.
"Sadly, I won''t be able to help you with that. There is always a price to pay, even more for good actions," The Head Priestess politely nodded at Glenn, before exiting the tent. The young man blinked confusedly, scratching the top of his head.
"...So it was all just to thank me? Am I an asshole if I want to claim a reward?" He muttered silently, before turning his attention to the heaving man who just entered the tent. Glenn frowned.
"Monsieur Maron?"
The merchant''s reddened face and his angry look didn''t reassure him in the slightest.
In contrary.
103. Angry Merchant VS Glenn
Monsier Maron heaved heavily, before walking up to Glenn. The young man looked at him confusedly.
"...life...gold..." The merchant mumbled, his eyes bloodshot and his fists clenched so hard they trembled. Glenn leaned forward to try and catch whatever nonsense the man was spitting. Maron suddenly threw a punch at Glenn, who received it in the chin without moving. A loud thump echoed in the tent, Monsieur Maron''s face scowling in pain as he clenched his hand.
"Huh, what was that for?" The young man asked while rubbing his chin. It didn''t hurt him, not physically at least.
''The pain of being hit by my employer is ripping my heart apart,'' He thought sarcastically, confused at the merchant''s burst of illogical anger.
''I mean, I would be quite mad too if I was in his shoes,'' Diamanes commented. Glenn frowned as he retightened his tie, looking at the fuming man in front of him. Monsieur Maron drew a deep breath, seemingly gathering his emotions back.
"...You...Do you know how much I invested in this place?" Maron slowly began, his brows wiggling in anger. Glenn suddenly paled, a light of understanding washing over him.
"I spent so much money on this hellhole, investing practically the equivalent of half my cursed soul," The merchant spat, his face turning a violent shade of purple and his breathing accelerating as the anger came back at full force.
"...Then I hired you and these other...idiots! You..." The merchant pulled at the few hairs he had left, the balding of his head worse than when Glenn first met him.
"You were supposed to protect the damn place, not destroy it!" He cried in despair, tears of anger and sadness flowing down his face. He grabbed Glenn''s tie and aimed a wrathful finger at him.
"You...And all the rest...I''ll make you all pay!" The color suddenly drew away from Monsieur Maron''s face. He grabbed at his chest and suddenly fell backward, caught at the last second by Glenn, who gently laid him on the ground.
"...Did he just...die?" Glenn muttered, checking for the merchant''s pulse. Thankfully, it seemed like the shock wasn''t enough to stop his heart, only to shut his consciousness. Glenn chewed on his lips before smacking his lips.
"Well, it''s not like I don''t understand where he''s coming from, but what were we supposed to do?" He sneered, his hands on his waist. A chuckle startled him, and he turned around to see Josh, Javier, and Sahro setting themselves up. Glenn breathed a sigh of relief and approached his friends.
"I thought you guys would be out for much longer," Glenn said as he picked a chair and sat in front of them. Javier didn''t answer, staring at the merchant lying on the ground with a blank face. Josh sighed while Sahro stretched his limbs.
"How could we continue resting when this guy is yelling right next to us? The Paladins could almost be designated as stealthy compared to Maron," Josh answered with a sarcastic tone, wincing as he felt his body.
"...?" Sahro gasped, making them turn toward him. Glenn''s expression darkened, and he crossed his hands together.
"...Where...Where the hell is my left arm?" The Black Heir asked, his face draining out of blood. Glenn didn''t answer, hiding his face in both his hands. Sahro jumped over his feet, stumbling around as he felt the stump on his left shoulder. Josh''s jaw hung down with shock, and he hurriedly verified if each of his limbs were safe. He drew a sigh of relief, before covering his mouth with a guilty look.
Sahro couldn''t believe his eyes, and he moved his shoulder around.
"I...I don''t get it. I can...I can feel it moving!" He cried out, unable to let go of his stump. Glenn shook his head, finding it impossible to gather his energy and look up.
"I''m sorry, Sahro. Your left arm is gone," Glenn blurted out through his teeth, anger building inside his chest. If only he had been a little stronger, he could have stomped both the Dark Knight and the Fallen Mother''s Son... The Black Heir shook his head with a mocking smile.
"Don''t... Please don''t joke with me, you bastard. It''s there, I''m just dreaming..., or there''s something wrong with my eyes. Haha, yeah, that must be it. A hallucination or something, after all, I''ve been hit over the head more than once by that damned bastard!" Sahro exclaimed, holding his stump toward a chair nearby. Glenn watched with a sad gaze, and Josh turned away while clenching his teeth.
The chair suddenly rapped over the floor as it pulled itself toward Sahro. Glenn tilted his head in confusion, frowning. Sahro put a single hand on his waist, staring at the chair proudly.
"See? It didn''t bring itself over, did it?"
Glenn rubbed his eyes, and checked Sahro''s left shoulder again, half-expecting to see the arm being regrown, but sadly, there was nothing there, only a cauterized stump.
In Sahro''s eyes, his left arm was still there, enveloped in a blue energy that seemed highly unstable. But it was there, that was for sure. Sahro scratched his chin with his right hand, before holding the one that was supposed not to exist. Glenn and Josh looked curiously, trying to understand how this was happening.
"Did you master some kind of magic, Sahro?" Glenn asked, figuring logical explanations the best he could. Sahro frowned, and he shrugged confusedly.
"I mean, if you think pulling a chair to myself is "magic", yeah, I guess? I knew you weren''t the brightest of all of us, but still, I expect a little more from you, Glenn," The Black Heir mocked, swiping his hair back. They suddenly all stood on top of his head. Glenn watched with his mouth and eyes wide open, before blinking and hitting the center of his palm in enlightenment.
"...Electricity?" He hesitantly asked, squinting as he tried to see any signs of a current passing through the air, as impossible as it sounded. He held out his right hand at Sahro for a handshake, curious. The Black Heir confusedly grabbed it, and felt a pulse of energy leave his body and enter Glenn''s. The young man shook violently, unable to let go of Sahro''s invisible hand. The Black Heir, startled, pulled his hand back, letting Glenn fall on the floor.
"...What are you playing at, you imbecile? And what the hell is electricity?" He asked, sitting back on his bed while studying his left arm. Now that he looked at it more, it''s true that he never had these blue lines enveloping it before. Did it "awaken" during the fight with the Dark Knight? Hesitantly, he tried to clasp his fingers together, but his right hand passed right through his left as if nothing was there. An energy entered it and circulated back to his left arm.
Sahro paled and repeated the experience, and again, before finally understanding that his left arm was indeed far and gone, replaced by an invisible one made of this volatile energy. It wasn''t Aura, no, it was more like...was that Mana?If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Mixed emotions passed on his face, as the Black Heir struggled to apprehend this new situation.
Glenn pushed himself off the ground, his muscles still trembling under the effect of what could be probably compared to a damned Taser. He wiped the foam off his mouth, and breathed in and out, attempting to get rid of the feeling of being electrocuted.
''Hmm, I''m pretty sure I watched a documentary talking about those...'' Diamanes mused, chuckling at Glenn''s dismay.
''That probably was on cops'' violence, but that''s not the damned subject, Diamanes,'' The young man forcefully answered, shaking the pain off his hand.
"Sahro, I think you awakened your Mana, and quite the specific one at that. Thunder-affinity is pretty rare from what I read," Glenn stated, sitting back on his chair with his arms crossed. His hair was all messed up now, but he couldn''t care less. Sahro looked at his left invisible arm with lackluster eyes.
The Black Heir shook his head.
"I''ll...I''m sure there is some way to heal my arm back," He muttered, feeling his left hand opening and closing, but knowing that it was just the effect of a phantom limb, a symptom present in a lot of handicapped soldiers. Still being able to feel a limb even though it was gone is probably the weirdest thing he ever experienced. Well, could he consider it to be completely gone since there was a new, energy-based one replacing it?
Sahro remained silent, lost in thoughts. Josh coughed lightly, trying to get Glenn''s attention.
"Do you mind filling us in with whatever happened?"
Glenn nodded and installed himself comfortably in the chair to explain everything. Josh''s expression twisted quite a bit when he realized that all of his teammates were dead, but he didn''t interrupt Glenn, letting him finish his explanations.
"...and that''s how it ended up. The guys from Onnea''s Church are still taking care of the drawbacks of this whole thing," He looked at the exit of the tent, "...but to resume it, it could have gone worse. Way, way worse..."
Glenn lowered his head, sighing. He didn''t feel much guilt over the corrupted villagers dying, but it didn''t mean it didn''t touch him. Even if he knew that he did his best, seeing a parentless child or a grieving widow was disheartening, to say the least. He couldn''t even imagine how Josh was feeling, now that his entire team had been wiped...
''Wait, it''s true that I initially came here to interrogate Gentle Knight and his team on Prince,'' He suddenly thought, jerking his head back up. Sahro was leaning against the head of his bead, lost in thoughts, while Javier was doing some stretching exercises, unperturbed. Josh was hiding his face in his hands, breathing in and out slowly, probably to try and not lose control.
''Oh yeah, just ask him about another of his dead comrades, that''s the best way to make him think about something else,'' Diamanes intervened mockingly, encouraging Glenn''s creeping thoughts. The young man bit on his lower lips, hesitating.
"...Just ask away. I''d rather not suffer in silence, so just say what you want," Josh snapped. Glenn smiled awkwardly, before sighing heavily.
"...Firstly, I''m sorry for your losses," Glenn apologized. He had never felt comfortable giving his condolences away, but who would? The Pale Son sneered, shrugging it off.
"Sorry for yours too. I''m not the only one who lost something for this cursed request, so stop walking around eggshells and get to it," Josh bluntly said, his voice dry and resentful. Glenn winced.
"Sahro and I were initially looking into a man who named himself Prince. I take it you know who I''m talking about?"
Josh''s eyes widened slightly, and he bit down on his thumb.
"Yeah, I know who he is, and even know where he is. Dead and buried. Why?"
Glenn chewed his inside cheeks, before continuing.
"The Cleaner''s Workshop charged us with identifying his identity. We''re thinking he is a noble, and one pretty high placed. Do you happen to have any information on that?"
Josh drew a deep breath, before chuckling darkly.
"Yes, it doesn''t matter anymore. This guy was indeed called Prince, but his family name was RosenbornPrince Rosenborn, of the Rosenborn family, one that is very high up in the Court. I''m just repeating his words. I''ve never set foot in the Bourgeoisie, so I can''t assure you it''s true."
Glenn restrained a gasp and clenched his fist with exaltation. At least one good news! He finally had found out who the fuck Prince was! That''s a recommendation from the Plutus Church and a pass to the Bourgeoisie. Hell yeah!
The young man did his best to try and slow his racing mind, clasping his hands together to stop them from shaking in excitement.
"What can you tell me about him?" He tried and asked while keeping up a calm facade. Josh pondered the question, crossing his arms in front of him.
"Well, proud would be probably the best term to describe him. At first, he joined us only thanks to Gentle Knight, and looked at us with contempt, as if he was way above us, but that feeling faded away quite quickly. He was a nice fellow, with a big heart, even if sometimes, he seemed bothered by the smallest things," Josh smiled slightly, reminiscing.
"We''d found him scared to death by rodents when he didn''t even blink in front of horrible, tentacular creatures. He would often change clothes as he hated being dirty and would wash himself at least twice a day, if not more. Heh, it was probably the only guy I know that smelled good if that makes sense," The Pale Son rubbed his chin, looking behind Glenn with his gaze lost in the horizon, well, the wall of the tent in that case.
"And as if he wasn''t good enough, he was probably the most capable man I knew, stronger even than Gentle Knight, at first," Josh frowned and his nose creased, "...The team almost shattered because of that, until Gentle Knight obtained his sudden power boost somehow. Sigh, I should have known it wasn''t normal, seeing how he degenerated back when we fought him..."
Sahro sneered, leaning in the best while listening to the story.
"You don''t say. No way that Mother or whatever was the only thing that influenced him. There were two phases to him, one where he first controlled shadows and used them as actual matter, and the other that was a bit more...fleshy and evil, which was probably provoked by the Mother."
Josh nodded slowly.
"We all knew there was something wrong with him, but still acted as if everything was fine. We were making a name for ourselves, and Gentle Knight had become a Gold Rank while Prince wasn''t too far off from it."
He rubbed his forehead while Glenn winced, hesitating to push on. The young man steeled himself and clenched his teeth.
"...Do you know how he died?"
The Pale Son bit his lower lip, acknowledging it with a nod of the head.
"...Yeah, the Thorn''s Church did something to him and he transformed into a monster composed of vines and roses. The vines were probably the influence of the Thorn''s Church, but I can affirm without hesitation that the roses were due to his power," said Josh, clenching his fists angrily.
"The only reason he died to these Thorn''s bastard was due to this special thing about him, that special bit he couldn''t help but brag about everywhere. If only we had shut him up properly..." Josh sniffled, clasping his hands together.
Glenn rubbed his chin, lost in thoughts. That pretty much confirmed his theory, he only had to bring all of this to Reginald and he would get that sweet recommendation. Still, it left quite the aftertaste to just...leave like that. To him, there were still many things to do, like growing his strength back up, since...yeah, his Third Circle dissipated into nothingness, he''ll have to find a way to get it back.
''Your fault using such a spell, but maybe it''s better this way,'' Diamanes suddenly interjected into his thoughts. Glenn raised an eyebrow.
''What do you mean? I...Do you think I lost my Circle because of that spell?''
Diamanes chuckled.
''Huh, duh! Of course, you did! And from what I saw, you didn''t earn that Circle by yourself, so it was bound to disappear one day. At least, you used it to fuel an attack that should have been impossible for someone of your level,'' explained the entity mockingly. Glenn tilted his head to the side.
''Wait, above my level by how much?''
Diamanes pondered while humming, before smacking his lips.
''I''d say that was probably around the Fifth Circle, but that''s still pretty weak, considering you sacrificed a Circle to power that spell. By the way, you should come up with a name for it. What about "Longinus Spear of the Last Second"? I think that''s the best way to define this thing, isn''t it?''
Glenn grumbled mentally. It''s not like he ever planned to use such an attack again. But it still reassured him to know that it was an inevitable thing to lose the Circle. At least he wasn''t feeling as terrible as he did before. He just had to find a way to obtain it normally, not just receive it from a hot Goddess, as pleasing as it was.
Lost in thoughts, Glenn was unable to see Monsieur Maron pushing himself up, greed and revenge shining in his eyes. He stood silently, an ominous smile drawing on his lips.
He had just figured out a way to earn all of his money back.
Slavery.
104. Always Read the Fine Print
Glenn felt a bead of cold sweat trickles down his back, an ominous feeling washing over him. He slowly turned his head to see Monsieur Maron staring at him with an evil grin. The young man instinctively tried to grab his axe but nothing was hanging off his belt.
''Why do I feel so scared of him?'' Glenn pondered, gulping. The merchant drew a deep breath, before pulling an item out of his vest. It was a long paper scroll that he swiftly opened, reading it out loud for everyone to hear it.
"I, Monsieur Maron from the Maron''s Company, hire Fixers for a protection request outside of King''s Rise. The rewards will depend on the rank of the Fixer and its reputation. Their mission will be to protect with their lives the investment of the Maron''s Company. Depending on the threat encountered, the Fixers will be more or less paid," Maron licked his lips. Glenn raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms together. They had met the worst threat possible, did that mean they were going to be paid more? But why was the merchant reading that? He was pretty sure this was already included in the contract they had signed.
Monsieur Maron took out a monocle, cleaning it a little before approaching his eyes to the paper.
"...In the situation of the Fixers failing to protect the Maron''s Company investment, they will be required to either: reimburse the cost of their hiring multiplied by the damage. The damage will be evaluated depending on the cost of additional investment to repair the damages encountered," The merchant finished, smiling voraciously. Glenn took a step back, feeling like he was going to get devoured by Maron. He clenched his teeth and grabbed the contract out of Maron''s hands.
"That''s bullshit, I''ve never seen anything close to this" Monsieur Maron pressed his finger on an almost invisible line on the scroll, hiding with the filigree. Glenn''s face reddened, and he looked up from the scroll angrily.
"This...How were we supposed to see this minuscule line?" Glenn blurted out in disbelief. The others resting on their beds perked themselves up since that contract also concerned them. Javier, whose face was already as white as chalk, seemed to pale even further, rushing over to check the contract himself. The Pale Son clenched his fist silently and turned around, sitting back on the bed with a disgruntled expression. That was the most expressive Glenn had ever seen him.
''I suppose money has the same hold over everyone,'' The young man rubbed his temple, smacking his lips.
"How were we supposed to know that we were going to fight some corrupted god?" Sahro exclaimed, looking at Maron earnestly. The merchant shrugged, his previous composure and seemingly kind facade gone, replaced by hunger and despair.
"Not my problem whatsoever. What I do know, though, is that the damages were so extensive that I''ll have to probably double my investment, while also having to compensate the victims of the accident, and all that because you losers were unable to do your damn job!" Maron lashed out, his eyes bloodshot. Josh was still lost in his thoughts and seemed to care next to none about the merchant, simply hugging his knees in contemplation.
Glenn thought back to the Gold Church recommendation waiting for him and repressed a chuckle. He already fought a god for this damned merchant, no way was he going to keep on working with him!
''I''ll just sneak into the Bourgeoisie. It''s not my fault if Maron is cursed,'' He thought, before feeling the merchant grab his shoulder.
"By the way, Glenn. I heard you were promised a recommendation from the Gold Church for some reason?" The merchant was like a snake, his hold over Glenn''s shoulder tightening. The young man''s thoughts froze, and he began to pray earnestly that it wasn''t going to be the worst case
"I''m one of the biggest donators in the Fringe, maybe the biggest of them all. That means, if you don''t pay your debt back to me, you can kiss goodbye to your sweet departure to the damned Bourgeoise!" Monsieur Maron spat, poking the young man''s chest aggressively. Glenn closed his eyes in regret, chewing on his lower lips.
''Wow, did you just jinx it? Isn''t that something that''s supposed to happen only in movies or something?'' Diamanes openly made fun of his host, who did his best to ignore him. Monsieur Maron threw one last glance toward the other team members as if to say that his threats were not only for Glenn but for all of them.
"For now, I''ll gather what remains of my workers, and try to build something back so that there is at least something in this god-forsaken village. Enjoy the rest, because I''m going to work you all to the bone. For free," Maron spat, angrily leaving the tent.
"Lefeivre? Lefeivre! Don''t tell me you died, you accursedAh, there you are!" A scream echoed outside of the tent, before laughing loudly. Glenn rubbed his eyes.
"Well, that might be for the better," He sighed, leaning back into his chair. Sahro chuckled, ignoring as best he could the missing weight at his side. The more time passed, the more evident and disturbing it was.
"At least no one will say we don''t pay our debts back. I never thought Monsieur Maron was this kind of person, though," The Black Heir pondered aloud, before sighing loudly. Glenn shook his head, before cleaning his bunk bed with a quick Mundare and laying down inside it.
"We''ll see how it goes, I suppose. Let''s take this chance to rest," The young man bit down on his lips, worried, "...I feel like we won''t have many chances to do so again."
Glenn and the others stayed in Palancar for two additional weeks, acting as additional troops to guard and watch over the ash-covered ruins of what should have been a profitable brewery and maybe a nice touristic village. Now, the villagers that were still there were all traumatized or cold, on the border of mad, hopeless, and depressed.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The few workers left were originally quite reticent to continue with their work, but a hefty promise of considerable compensation encouraged them to start all over again. By some sort of vicious luck, Monsieur Maron''s team was the one that was the least touched, the other companies who had planned to take a foothold in the area were decimated. And so, he achieved without even trying a monopoly over Palancar. He then gathered all the scraps of the other companies for himself, since there was no one left to pick it up but him. These scraps were, of course, reinvested into Palancar, allowing him to cut his losses quite a bit and earning at the same time an incredible reputation with the villagers. Reputation that Glenn and the others shared, as they were recognized as the heroes who saved what remained of this cursed place.
Still, having to promise a raise to his workers made the merchant''s heart bleed and, in consequence, worsened his temper. Temper that he would often take out on Glenn and the others, under the pretext that they owed him that much. They almost reacted violently to the abuse, until Monsieur Maron yelled that phrase:
"Each curse I throw at you is one less copper you''ll have to reimburse me, so shut the fuck up and get to work!"
Since then, the team had agreed to the consensus of simply not reacting and letting the merchant empty his feelings on their backs. It wasn''t that bothering anyway, just a little annoying to support, even more, when the merchant would erupt in the middle of the night and force them out of sleep so they could guard the village one more hour. In addition, they were forced to participate in the reconstruction efforts, particularly Glenn since he technically was the one to destroy it all.
The advantage to all of this was that the foundations of the houses hadn''t been hit, and with the advice of Onnea''s Church, they managed to modify the village''s layout slightly to get rid of the original evil spiral and create something a little more harmonious. The Fallen Mother''s Church was burnt to the ground, and its foundations were used to raise Onnea, the Head Priestess deciding to invest in Palancar as well. The villagers were overjoyed at the news since that meant there would permanently be a few Paladins and Priests or Priestesses living there, which was even better than a militia. With them, Palancar''s inhabitants all felt reassured about their futures. At least they would have a semblance of protection at all times.
Glenn came to know that three of the Paladins he had played against would stay in Palancar indefinitely. Quint, Malory, and Ferdinand had chosen to remain there, under Astrid Di Fors orders. Glenn was a little surprised to learn that the talented Priestess would remain there, but it was a test Tara Mi Lando had forced on her, and so, the young woman didn''t have much of a choice in the matter.
Sahro was still getting used to his missing arm and was trying to figure out how to control his thunder limbmore than once someone was accidentally electrocuted by the thing, making for some comically stupid sceneries. Glenn, on his side, was using every spare second he had to Meditate and create a new Third Circle. The loss went beyond just being unable to use Diamanes'' services or using spells mindlessly. His Mana reserves were practically halved, as if sealed, and the strength or efficiency of the spells had decreased noticeably, making everything simply harder.
One night, under the soft light of the ball created by Lux, Glenn was reflecting on how the matter, like he had done for the past nights ever since he lost the thing.
''By the way, don''t you think it''s a little strange there is no concrete way to create a Circle?'' Diamanes suddenly interjected, surprising Glenn. The young man tilted his head to the side, licking his lips with a complicated expression.
''Well, from everything I heard, be it from Redan or what I read from Exan, forming Circles is something that is supposedly done each time someone''s Mana reaches a certain point of quantity and quality. There''s no way to force it but to try and increase the Mana in oneself,'' Glenn explained, wondering what Diamanes'' point was. The entity hummed, lost in thought.
''...It just does not sound efficient. I have a hard time believing that most of the research on Circle formation concludes just: "Sit on your ass and, eventually, it will just work".''
Glenn sighed.
''If there was some kind of way to just pull the Mana together and create a Circle, trust me I would use it.''
The young man laid down on his bed, flicking his fingers and cutting off the Mana fueling the Light spell.
''Pulling the Mana together and create a Circle...How would I even do that?'' Glenn rubbed his chin, groaning as he turned in his bed to try and find a comfortable position. Once he didn''t find one, like every night in this damned bed, he plunged himself into Meditation, stepping into his Mana Heart and staring at the grey rings of runes spinning around the Magellanic Clouds.
"What even are Circles? Simply Mana spinning around? They form when Mana reaches a certain point in quality and quantity, but what''s that point? Can''t I force it or something?" Glenn talked aloud in the space of his Mana Heart, watching the runic rings hum gently. The young man frowned, feeling as if he had just touched something interesting.
"Wait. The effects of having a new Circle are better comprehension of Mana, bigger reserves, and simply a higher quality of one''s magic. Would the Circle be some kind of amplifier of the magic already present in someone''s Mana Heart?"
The young man stepped lightly in the emptiness, walking around the Magellanic Clouds.
"If I had to compare Mana to fuel, then, would my Mana Heart be considered a container?" Glenn''s eyebrows creased, and he shook his head. No, that wasn''t it.
"Let''s scratch the car metaphor. Hmm..." The young man''s brain cells kept on working, unable to find a solution rapidly. Frustrated, Glenn kept on trying to find explanations, only falling short of whatever the truth was. It simply didn''t make sense in the end. Mindlessly, he approached the runic rings, trying to study the runes making it, expecting a headache to assault him as soon as he tried to focus on it.
But surprisingly, nothing hurt him.
Better, he could understand the general meaning of the runes.
"...Gather, Process, Amplify?" He muttered, confused. That didn''t help him whatsoever. He disgruntledly snapped out of Meditation, his head lying on the hard mattress.
''Gather, process, amplify. Gather, process, amplify...'' These words kept on repeating inside the young man''s head until Diamanes made him forget everything he just thought of with the loudest yawn possible. Glenn snorted, before closing his eyes. That would have to wait for tomorrow. Heh, who knows? Maybe he''ll have gathered enough Mana to rank back up overnight!
The young man smiled, before sitting himself up suddenly.
"Wait a second. If the answer is to simply have more Mana and of a better quality, don''t I just need to find a way to gather it more rapidly and refine it efficiently?" Glenn''s lips formed an exalted rictus as his heart raced.
That felt exactly like the answer he needed.
Now, the question was: how the fuck was he supposed to do that?
105. Glenn Used his Brain :-o
Unable to find sleep, Glenn jumped out of bed before summoning his suit of clothes. He lightly stepped out of the tent, bathing in the moonlight the two celestial orbs provided. It was a cloudless night. Glenn had never truly taken the time to think about how Mana worked. Now was as good of a time as any.
The young man slipped his hands in his pocket, walking around the almost finished village. Due to the lack of builders and motivation, most of the facilities weren''t done being built, but the most important was. Glenn looked at the building in front of him with a lost look. Made of smoothed-out stone bricks, the brewery stood as Palancar''s primary landmark, rivaling with the church of Onnea. It was quite a huge facility while keeping a robust look to itself. The symbol of a coin with the letter "M" in it had been engraved on every wall as if it wasn''t evident enough already that the building was Maron''s.
Nonetheless, Glenn couldn''t care less about the brewery''s impressive architecture, his thoughts entirely concentrated on this new theory of his.
"Gather, process, amplify...Shit, how am I supposed to interpret that...?" The young man muttered through his teeth as he scratched the back of his head. He looked at his left hand hopefully, a grinning mouth appearing in his palm. Glenn forced a smile, before sighing loudly. If Diamanes wanted to help him, he would have done so long ago.
"So... I need to figure that thing on my own. Yeah, it wouldn''t be any fun at all if there was just a guide on how to do this crap..." Glenn shook his head dejectedly. Lamenting on himself wouldn''t help whatsoever, but he still couldn''t help but complain.
Thoughtlessly, he boosted his legs with Mana and jumped on the roof of a nearby unfinished house, sitting on the ledge of a thick wooden beam. He rested his chin on his fist, before blinking.
"Wait, I just used Mana thoughtlessly? And this wasn''t exactly a prepared spell like my specialized stuff that I can do with the Dragon School, that''s...that''s like when I was a Third Circle!" He almost exclaimed, before muffling himself to not wake everyone. Diamanes sneered.
"There''s a saying in your world...a thing about bicycles, I think," The entity began, his tone slightly ironical. Glenn raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, once you know how to ride a bike, you never forget...but that''s no bike I''m riding, it''s mystical, magical stuff. That''s not something logical or something that your body learns..." The young man protested, trailing off at the end.
"...You''re saying this with so much confidence, I can''t help but believe you!" Diamanes mocked, sinking into his host''s palm, disappearing entirely. Glenn rubbed the back of his head, not so sure anymore.
''It''s...hard to admit, but yeah, I don''t know that much about Mana. When I cast a spell, it''s fueled by the Mana from within my Mana Heart, but what is the conductor, the "pipe" that takes from the source, the Mana Heart, and brings it all the way to fuel the spell? Would it be my body? Maybe Mana does need support to flow from one point to another.''
Glenn''s features creased as he fell deeper into his thoughts.
''Maybe I wasn''t too wrong with my car metaphor. Maybe the Mana Heart is indeed the tank containing the fuel, only the shape of the tank and the type of fuel changes everything for the final products. My Mana is entirely different from Redan, Giselle, or anyone else. That means, even if it''s working similarly, it''s still very different.''
The young man swung his legs, summoning the identification knife from the Cleaner''s Workshop and fiddling with it. The dark blade gleamed in the night, the rays of moonlight shining a strange hue over Glenn''s face.
''Then, would my body be the actual "pipes", while my mind is the one piloting the spells? Then, what use are the Circles? They can''t only give you access to higher-ranked spells and a bigger Mana pool, which wouldn''t make sense when linked with their meanings. Gather, process, amplify...'' The young man abruptly stopped the blade that had been spinning on his fingers since earlier, the gears of his mind spinning increasingly faster as he felt getting closer to the truth.
''...Why do we even need Circles to use Mana? Aura practitioners don''t need that kind of shit, do they? It''s just body-reinforcing, using every fiber of one''s being as a container for Aura. But then, Aura remains quite straightforward: it makes you physically stronger and gives you access to a specific kind of destructive energy. You can''t create with Aura. Maybe that''s why, for Mana, you need Circles to...'' Glenn''s eyes lit up.
''...to fucking gather, process, and amplify! Shit, this is all making sense now!''
Glenn suddenly stood on the wooden beam, walking on it like a true acrobat, only he was so lost in thoughts he didn''t realize it consciously.
"So, that would mean that originally, the human body has a hard time comprehending Mana, since it''s a creative energy that needs to be processed at some point. The gathering part is pretty obvious, while the processing part allows the transformation from Mana to Fire. Then, would the amplifying option be the one that allows one to make Fire into Firebolt? Then, the more Circles you have, the better the processing power of one''s Mana Heart, the better the process, the better the spells, etc, etc..."Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
The young man lightly tapped his fist in his opened palm, grinning widely.
"The higher Circles are more difficult to obtain, but that also means they''re much better than the previous ones. It would be a kind of smooth evolution, with the Circles of the Initiate stage all coming together to create the Fourth Circle of the Magi stage, and so on to the Ruler stage, except that the process requires far more complex operations, making things extremely difficult for those who bang their heads against the walls in the hope of a breakthrough! Hah!"
Glenn laughed loudly, feeling a weight coming off his chest. It always felt so good to just understand things. Understanding was the first step toward mastery, after all. The young man suddenly froze and rubbed his chin.
"...But then, why would that stop at the Ruler stage? Technically, there are also the beginner, advanced, and true Circles even at this high of a level. That would mean, if they all came together, a stage above even that could be reached...?" The young man whispered, before staring at the sky in wonder. Would the gods be people that climbed the literal existence ladder created with the presence of Mana, becoming so powerful they became able to rule the world?
A sharp, impressed hiss suddenly startled Glenn. He looked down at his left hand in annoyance, finding a wide-open mouth gleaming with all its pearly white teeth smiling into it.
"...And that''s only now that you''ve finally linked. This is surprising how fast you can come to conclusions when you''re using your brain for something else than fighting and being an idiot," The entity half-praised and mocked. The young man smacked his lips, unable to retort to it. It was true that it wasn''t that hard of a conjecture to make, but it was also true that he had never cared much for it before.
''I really should work on trying to use my brain cells a little more. It''s even more unnerving to just hear "Hey, you''re pretty smart! Too bad you''re too lazy to even use that intelligence." Glenn passed his tongue over his teeth, trying his best to ignore the mocking grin sitting in his left palm.
"...I never said you were smart, though,"
"So, now that I have my neat theory about how the hell Mana works, how should I proceed to make my Circles create a new one?" Glenn asked aloud, ignoring Diamanes'' last comment. He spun on himself, his dark hair fluttering slightly.
''Let''s go back to the basics. I received my First Circle by the bias of the Magic Bureau, with the help of that machine, the...uh, whatever-its-name-was. Then, I opened my Second Circle by training relentlessly under Redan, throwing spells one after the other, again and again and again. Would the key then be to just...throw spells all the time? That sounds relentless, and a little too simple to not get abused by people,'' The young man whispered a word and a soft ball of light appeared in his hand, spinning slowly. Diamanes coughed to attract Glenn''s attention.
"I''ll help on that side since you pretty much figured all of the rest. Throwing your spells blindly until you''re entirely out of energy is indeed...one way to increase your rank," The entity admitted. Glenn grinned, clapping his hands together and making the light ball disappear.
"So I guess that means I''ve got my path all set, don''t I? He exclaimed excitedly, before looking back at the mouth in his palm. If Diamanes could have frowned, he certainly would have.
"Sit back down and shut up, you impatient fool. I''m not finished," The entity ordered. The young man calmly obeyed, listening intently.
"This is the fastest method to reach higher Circles. That, and receive someone else''s Mana to boost yours. Both of these examples are the worst possible way you could go about it," Diamanes explained. Glenn rubbed his chin, trying to understand why.
"...Why?"
"Imagine being a balloon. If you blow into it little by little, you can make it extremely big, the rubber stretching almost impossibly. But what happens if you just put a leaf blower in the balloon at full force?"
Glenn gasped in acknowledgment.
"The balloon is blown away," The young man nodded to himself, before smiling, "...Pun intended."
Diamanes grumbled.
"...I''ll just ignore that. Mana is the same, and you can''t force it too quickly or it''s going to cause you harm. You''ll gather power very quickly, but eventually, your Mana Heart won''t be able to bear the pressure. In the best case scenario, your growth will be locked forever, in the worst..." The entity sneered, "...You''ll just, well, die."
"I''m not too keen to end up in such a way..."
"Yeah, no shit. The other situation, where someone puts Mana in youno, don''t think of something weirddamn it... Whatever, another person''s Mana is poison to you. It''ll allow you to push for the next Circle, but you''ll just die a slow, excruciatingly painful death. Not great, I can assure you," The entity sneered. Glenn gulped and nodded quickly.
"Alright, no shortcut then. Then, what should I do?" The young man asked. Diamanes suddenly grew a wide smile and laughed mockingly.
"That''s for you to find out, hehe," The mouth disappeared again, leaving Glenn with some answers to his questions, but less than what he truly needed. A whistle suddenly echoed in the night as something flew at Glenn''s head, narrowly missing him after he hurriedly ducked.
"HEY!! GO WORK IF YOU CAN''T SLEEP, MORON, BUT DON''T FUCKING SPEAK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!!" A nightgown-dressed Maron suddenly exclaimed, his face red with anger and his eyes bloodshot, as they have ever since he lost his investment. Glenn had thought the merchant would eventually feel better, but it seemed like he couldn''t be more wrong.
"Is it me or did he lose even more hair...?"
"WHAT! HOW DARE YOUT...THAT''S BECAUSE I LOSE A STRAND FOR EVERY COPPER I SPENT ON THIS DAMNED TOWN!!" Maron yelled in such a manner for another minute, before getting tired of Glenn''s lack of reaction and going back to bed. Of course, everyone had heard the banter, but of course, everyone was already used to it by now and fell back asleep promptly.
The young man suddenly realized that he had somehow arrived at the top of the brewery at some point, the house he was previously perched on the other side of the street. He tried to rack his brain a little more, but his body signaled him with a powerful yawn that it was indeed time to go to bed. Glenn promptly obliged and jumped down from the brewery, going back into his tent.
"I''m going to sleep so damn well..." He muttered, getting rid of his clothes and jumping into bed. Diamanes suddenly gasped inside the young man''s mind. The latter groaned.
''The hell is wrong with you?''
''You idiot! I''m sure you jinxed it!'' Diamanes spat, absolutely horrified. Glenn blinked, before pulling the sheet over his head. Whatever nonsense Diamanes had for him, it wasn''t worth the effort.
Hopefully, he''ll be able to receive another enlightenment tomorrow.
Because being a Second Circle was seriously getting on his nerves.
106. Farewell, Palancar
Glenn spent a dreamless night, something he had come to enjoy, even more, when it meant it would be a good, restful night of sleep. Technically, it would be more efficient to Meditate through the tiredness, but he still chose to sleep normally. The comfort of the bunk bed and the quality of sleep made him validate that choice, until morningCno, until Maron came.
Splash!
"Huh?!"
"Haha, that''s for waking me up in the night, you stupid...!" As soon as Glenn understood that the liter of water that just hit his face came from Maron, he instantly shut his ears to the curses that were sure to come.
''Oh, if only I still had access to the Silence curse...Is there no way to use it even if I''m not a Third Circle, Diamanes?'' The young man mentally asked, turning in his bed while shaking off the water. The entity yawned.
''Uhh, no, sadly. You still have access to all the ''knowledge'' that was unlocked when you reached the True Initiate stage, but you just don''t have the authorizations to use the skills that come with it anymore,'' Diamanes explained with a lazy tone. Glenn sighed, jumping out of bed seconds before Maron threw another bucket of water on his head. He stretched, ignoring the pokes and the weak slaps on his back from the merchant, grumbling at the sight of his bed filled with water. With a flick of his fingers, he summoned his clothes before swiftly escaping Maron''s rageful onslaught.
''Last night was certainly enlightening, but it was also certainly not enough. I need to find a way to gather Mana and refine it to push for the creation of my Third Circle without messing up my future,'' Glenn rubbed the tiredness off his face, heading to get breakfast. The workers were already eating, something that smelled like roasted chicken but had the appearance of a yellow jelly with vegetables mixed in it. The young man picked up the plate without complaining, only realizing the strange combination once he was sitting.
"...Who the hell cooked?" He mumbled confusedly, summoning the identification knife to poke the food, the jelly wiggling at the touch. It looked strange, to say the least, but hey, if it smelled good, it had to taste good, right? The firepit he was sitting next to suddenly crackled as someone threw a small log in it.
"...I think Javier did," A tired voice answered his question. Glenn turned his head to see Josh, similarly looking at his food weirdly. Glenn blinked.
"Javier?" He turned and looked back to where he picked his food, seeing indeed the silent Pale Son busying himself in the makeshift kitchen, which, by the way, was just a handful of big pots cooking over some equally big fires.
"That''s a surprising sight. I never thought he would like to cook," Glenn remarked, before looking back to his food. He shrugged and spooned a mouthful out of the strange sludge before putting it on his tongue. He half-expected the thing to taste wrong, but no, it was just a thick mixture with a heavy eggy taste, seemingly supplemented with bits of carrots and mushrooms. How did Javier cook that stuff in a pot, he had no idea, but it sure did the job of filling his stomach. Javier had served him only a reasonable portion, but the young man felt like he had just eaten a full-course menu with desserts.
Josh steeled himself before putting the food in his mouth, swallowing it with difficulty.
"The thing is...he doesn''t enjoy cooking whatsoever. No, maybe it would make more sense to say that he never figured out what he should or should not put in a meal...Damn it, did I swallow something he made...?" The Pale Son placed his plate next to him, a disgusted expression on his face. Glenn stopped licking his fingers and looked at Josh with a confused expression.
"What do you mean?" He asked, feeling a seed of worry grow inside his stomach. Josh paled and raised a finger, before putting his other hand in his mouth and pulling a strange strand of...leather?
"...ThatC" Josh coughed, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, "Cis exactly what I mean," He threw the strange bit aside, before looking at his plate with a lost look. He picked it up and held it toward Glenn.
"You seemed to love the stuff...don''t hesitate to take my part, really," The Pale Son smiled in a not-so-convincing way. Glenn looked at the plate, then at Josh, then back at the plate. After an instant of hesitation, he politely shook his head.
"Thanks, but I''m full. I''ll be checking things out with Maron and try to figure out when the hell out we leave this hole," The young man slapped his knees and stood up.
"Mundare...Ah, much better," He cleaned his hands and left for Maron''s tent. A second before stepping in, Lefeivre, the counter master, stepped out with a relieved expression. Their eyes crossed, and the man nodded slightly at Glenn.
''Oh god, does that mean we''re finally going to get the fuck out of this place?'' Hope bloomed in his heart like a cherry blossom in springtime. The young man stepped into the tent wearing his best-seller''s smile.
Sadly for him, that hope was squished down under Maron''s dirty cold boots.
"Ah, Glenn, perfect. We''re leaving Palancar today to go back to King''s Rise," first began the merchant, his crazy demeanor having seemingly weakened slightly. Glenn nodded, before feeling a chill crawl down his spine.
"...But of course, since we have still a bit more free time, I think we should use it to make a quick stop by a place I know in Retni''s Forest," Maron grinned ominously. The young man gulped.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"...And where would that be, if I''m allowed to ask?"
The merchant''s smile grew wider as if he had expected the question.
"Oh, nothing too fancy. We''re just going to gather some materials in an abandoned quarry, it''ll sell for a bit and help pay your debts. I decided to go there with you and your comrades'' wellness in mind, trust me on that point," The merchant exclaimed, the glint of money already gleaming in his eyes. The young man twisted his thumbs behind his back.
''This sounds simple. Way too simple. Is thereCno. I refuse to jinx it again, damn it.''
Uncaring for Glenn''s worries, the merchant crossed his arms and turned his back on him.
"...If everything goes well, in two more weeks we''re back in King''s Rise," He muttered, before turning back swiftly and staring into Glenn''s eyes.
"By the way, do you want to know what the remaining debt you and your colleagues have to pay?"
Glenn shrugged, nodding thoughtlessly. The merchant coughed lightly, before looking at the ceiling thoughtfully.
"So, if my calculations are correct, y''all still owe the Maron''s company a total of four-hundred-seventy-three golds, nine silvers, and fifty-four coppers. Wait, if we take out the water I splashed you with this morning, we''re at fifty-two coppers. My mistake, I''m not much of a morning person."
Glenn frowned, before paling.
''Wait. Do we have that much debt to pay this bastard? No way, is he fucking with me?''
The young man cleared his throat and opened his mouth but Maron interrupted him by raising a menacing finger in the air.
"Neheh. You don''t want me to explain to you how much I''ve lost, do you? Or I can make you the list, but I''ll warn you: it''s over ten pages long." The merchant threatened, Glenn willing stepping back and turning his head shamefully.
''...Alright, that might be that much. Shit, we''re going to drown in debt. Wait, is there interest?'' Glenn tried to open his mouth again, only to be interrupted by Maron once again, the merchant seemingly reading his mind.
"No, I might be shameless, but I don''t intend to chain you all to me forever. I value my life as much as my money," The merchant honestly said. Glenn''s eyelids twitched.
''...Aren''t you supposed to care more about your life, not "just as much"? This guy is crazy for gold, it''s insane,''
A snicker interrupted his thoughts.
''Hah! The pot calls the kettle black!'' Diamanes mocked. Glenn shook the comment off.
"I''ll leave you for your...work, then, Monsieur Maron," He politely excused himself, inviting an insidious chuckle from the merchant.
"Yeah, yeah, get out of here. Each second with you is another copper wasted," He spat, turning to look at some documents sprawled out on a desk. Glenn happily obliged, his depressed face lightening up when he noticed Sahro training in an empty corner near the forest. The Black Heir was holding his curved sword single-handedly, his brows creased in concentration.
Glenn approached with nifty steps, curious about how his friend was adapting to the loss of his limb. Sahro closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, holding his sword still. Then, suddenly, he pierced the air with the sword, a flash of electric light crackling around the stab. The attack was so fast Glenn only managed to see a blur of it.
''Could I even dodge something like this?''
The Black Heir looked at his sword with an unsatisfied look, before frowning. He clenched his sword tightly and wrapped it in the familiar red-Aura, before slashing in Glenn''s direction. The red Aura blade brushed against the young man''s fluttering hair as he hurriedly ducked, letting it go over his head. A grin decorated the young man''s face and his hand shot for his waist to get a hold of his axe, only to painfully remember that he didn''t manage to find the weapon again after the fight.
Despite looking through every corner of Palancar and asking each of its inhabitants, no one saw Half-Moon, to his greatest dismay. And so, he found himself without any weapon, facing an actual Knight, a rank 3 Aura-practitioner while he was only a Second Circle Initiate.
Yeah, that didn''t bode too well for him.
The young man clenched his fist and instead moved his Mana to summon a Magic Bullet, the first spell he ever created. The spell shot powerfully, only to be easily parried by Sahro, who charged straight at Glenn. He planted his sword in the ground, before ripping it out with a roar. The ground opened in two as another reddish blade flew at Glenn, who easily dodged it by turning his chest, ignoring the destruction it caused to the forest behind him. A longsword of pure Mana appeared in his right hand, gleaming with a blue magical light. Sahro''s features brightened a little and he spun on himself, trying to kick the blade out of Glenn''s hand. Instead of blocking it, Glenn grabbed the Black Heir''s boot, groaning as he forcefully pulled Sahro off the ground while trying to hack at his leg with his sword.
A horrible sensation suddenly washed over Glenn, who dropped Sahro in shock. His limbs trembled as sparks of electricity exploded all over his body. Sahro quickly recovered his stance, not waiting a single second as he stabbed with deadly precision at Glenn''s heart. Blueish, electrical sparks appeared once again around the blade as it shot out at the speed of sound.
Glenn grinned through the foam that had accumulated at his lips and released the Blackhole he had been secretly preparing in the ground, taking Sahro''s foothold away and making him slip into the hole, uncontrollably pulled by the powerful spell. Sahro clenched his teeth and stabbed at the Blackhole with his curved sword, piercing with a condensed Aura spear. The Blackhole dissipated, but the time it gave Glenn was enough to power another spell, an Implosion right on Sahro''s face.
The young man pointed his hand at the Black Heir, smiling wickedly.
"...Winner for once!" He exclaimed until a snicker inside his mind made him lose his concentration.
''I''m not so sure about that,'' Diamanes mocked. Glenn didn''t even have a second to try and understand that the Implosion he had tried to cast disappeared in the atmosphere, his reserve of Mana unable to power it. Dizziness washed over the young man and he fell back on a knee. Sahro extricated himself out of the dirt the Blackhole had pulled him in, smiling with all his teeth.
"...Exactly what I had planned. I win again, heh," Sahro taunted him, making his sword gleam under the light of the sun before sheathing it. The Black Heir held his hand out at Glenn to help him up. The young man grumbled and grabbed it, his legs shaking under him.
"Shit...I hate being back to the Second Circle stage," Glenn complained, the symptoms of a lacking Mana showing on his face, which became paler by the second. By chance, he was getting better and better at handling the backlash, even if it remained painfully annoying.
''I need to get my Circle back. I simply can''t get used to this pitiful Mana reserve again.''
"Yeah, try to find an excuse. You just got your ass handed over to you by a one-armed swordsman," Sahro mocked. Glenn shook his head.
"I don''t see where you handed my ass back to me. Had I been at the same rank as you, you''d already be dead and buried."
"Yeah, yeah, too bad that''s not what happened, heh?"
They continued their banter for a few minutes until a strident whistle shook alive every resting worker.
It was time to leave Palancar and head back to King''s Rise.
Well, there was a stop on the way, but that should be nothing too crazy, right?
107. The Best Stress Reliever
Glenn yawned, letting his head wobble as the wagon he was sitting in rolled over sharp rocks. Sahro was in front of him, rubbing his stump thoughtfully. Josh took the opportunity to rest while Javier did... his Javier thing. Most of the time, he stared at Glenn without blinking.
Monsieur Maron and company were on their way back to King''s Rise, their business in Palancar finally done. There was no guarantee Glenn would ever come back to the accursed village, and he was pretty sure he wouldn''t miss the place.
"When do we arrive?"
"I. Don''t. Know. Stop asking me."
"How many hours has it been since we left? It''ll be dark soon, wouldn''t it be a better idea to stop and camp?"
"No, we''ll be there soon."
"Ah, so you do know when we''ll get there!"
"..."
Glenn grimaced as he turned away from Lefeivre, the counter-master he''d been harassing. The man seemed recalcitrant in the face of his communication efforts, refusing to answer most of the young man''s questions. Fortunately, it was easy enough to trick him into answering Glenn''s questions every time.
"...Do we at least have the right to know where we''re headed?" Sahro asked sourly. He didn''t seem too pleased with being forced to go on another request with the unlucky merchant. Glenn nodded, stretching his legs that had grown sore during the travel.
"Maron mentioned something about an abandoned quarry," He rubbed his chin, frowning, "...Are we going to get forced into hard labor again?"
Lefeivre flinched but didn''t say anything. Glenn and Sahro traded a stare and sighed at the same time. Only Javier didn''t react, apparently too busy imprinting Glenn''s face in his eyes.
''You''d believe he would get tired of it, but no, not at all,'' Diamanes remarked curiously. The entity smacked its lips in Glenn''s mind, before heaving sadly.
''What''s up with you?''
''Nothing, it''s just depressing to lose access once again to my strength,'' Diamanes complained. Glenn pressed his lips together and raised an eyebrow.
''...Again? Have you already lost your strength before? When?'' The young man sharply noticed. Diamanes sneered.
''What? Do you think I put myself into that shitty, fleshy crystal?'' He retorted with irritation. Glenn nodded slightly, lost in thoughts. He felt Diamanes'' presence fade slightly from inside his mind, the entity unwilling to pursue the subject. That did raise the question as to why people would lock Diamanes away in that strange crystal/prison. Besides the fact that he was a creepy hand with an eldritch feeling to it, he didn''t seem too threatening or evil. Sure, he had some incredible powers, like eating up magic and spitting it back out as much as he wanted, but Diamanes didn''t strike him as the kind of being that couldn''t be reasoned with.
''Whatever, that''ll have to wait for now. Diamanes is a mystery that I''m sure will unravel itself in time. Heh, it''s not like he''s going anywhere,'' Glenn''s lips curved upwardly. A sharp whistle suddenly rang in his ears, as it did in everyone''s. He hurriedly jumped out of the cart, looking in the direction of the sound. Glenn''s transport was at the head of the convoy, to be used as the spearhead in case they met any problems. Sadly, the whistle wasn''t coming from the front, but from the back.
"...ack!" A man was running with all his strength panted and tried to scream something, only for his words to come out unintelligible. Glenn''s eyes squinted. The man looked back with a scared look on his face, heaving as he had just run a marathon. He pointed a trembling finger behind him, and Glenn groaned in annoyance.
"I''ll head there. Sahro?"
"...No worries, I''ll stand here just in case." The Black Heir pushed himself out of the cart lazily, his remaining hand on the pommel of his cherished curved sword. Josh woke up, blinking confusedly, while Javier jumped off the cart and calmly walked next to Glenn.
"..." The pale hunter remained silent as he waited for the young man to take the lead.
"...Thanks for your help, Javier. Let''s get going," said Glenn with a smile, before darting off in the direction the terrified man came from. The sharp whistle kept on ringing on the road, alerting everyone of the danger. Glenn winced when a foul smell of rotten eggs and putrefied flesh didn''t stop for a second. He could recognize that smell anywhere, and each time it only brought blood and pain.
''Hopefully, it isn''t another machination from the Thorn''s Church or some kind of flesh monster from another cursed god. I''m getting tired of those,'' Glenn mentally grumbled, a Mana longsword appearing in his right hand in a flash of mystical blue light.
"Argh! Push them off! Push them off!" One of the mercenaries who had survived Palancar''s purge was shouting to his comrades. Groans and gargles came from whatever they were fighting. Glenn and Javier finally joined them, to find a herd of rotting corpses running around with weapons planted in them, their limbs hanging with strips of meat and their head half-opened, yellow pus coming out of their wounds.
"Zombies? Huh?" Glenn couldn''t help but blurt out, almost happily surprised. This was so...basic, compared to everything he fought up until now. Javier didn''t waste a second as he took his bow off his shoulder and shot a few moving cadavers in the head. The zombies fell back without putting much resistance, their weakness almost laughable in the young man''s eyes.
"This...This almost looks fun!" He exclaimed, his eyes shining. He shot out a few Magic Bullets just to try, only to witness in amazement the zombies'' heads exploding like pumpkins.
''...So you did lose your mind,'' Diamanes groaned with a barely faked shred of annoyance. Glenn shook his head.
''What''s wrong with trying to make work fun, hmm? Since I''m forced to protect the other madman, let me at least get some pleasure out of it!''Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
A second later, he jumped alongside the mercenaries, sweeping his longsword out and cutting through the zombies as if they were butter. The corpses fell on the ground, replaced by more coming from the forest. The swarm seemed unending, but that dreadful thought did nothing to deter Glenn from...well, having fun.
"HAHAHA!!!" The young man laughed madly as he finally let go of the pent-up pressure on his shoulders. This was nothing but a fun game for him, popping up one zombie head after the other.
A few dozen corpses down later, the young man jumped back behind the mercenaries holding the line and looked at the situation. There was something that didn''t sit too well with him, and now that he had a better view of the battlefield, he knew exactly what. The zombies were all going for only one place, and that was Maron''s luxurious carriage, which was situated at the exact center of the caravan.
They were completely uninterested in the rest of the company, which, from a positive point, meant they only needed to defend one place. On another hand, that meant these zombies weren''t moving motivated by hunger, but rather for some hidden objective.
''That objective probably is Maron, but I''m pretty sure the fucker won''t let me take him out of the safety of his carriage and test my theory. Well, it''s getting a little tiring, so let''s get rid of them.''
Glenn mustered the energy for a Blackhole, his eyes trying to pierce the thick edge of the forest. If these zombies were moving with Maron in mind, that meant someone was probably controlling them. He was no expert in undead but he would rather expect them to act erratically without much care for anyone in particular, as long as it was living.
"Anyway, time to clear out every ants out of the way," He muttered with a smile. Without much effort, he shot the Blackhole, suddenly wincing when he felt his Mana emptying to 9/10th of its reserves.
''Shit, I still have this ridiculously low Mana pool... Wait, should I just Meditate and gather my Mana right now?'' A ridiculous thought traversed Glenn''s mind as the Blackhole swallowed hundreds of zombies, only growing bigger and bigger as it kept on eating.
In the meanwhile, Glenn couldn''t help but ponder. Could the issue of not having much Mana be resolved just by having a high regeneration rate? The best way he knew to gather his Mana back was sleeping and Meditating, the second method being slightly better than the first one.
"Hey," He nudged the blood-covered shoulder of one of the mercenaries. The man didn''t possess any Aura and was completely mana-less, but he wielded his sword bravely even though he was completely terrified by the walking dead. He looked courageous enough in Glenn''s eyes.
"Huh? Yes?" The mercenary was petrified, still in awe of the domineering power shown in the demon''s magic, who was previously fighting with a magic blade.
"What''s your name?"
"Re...Reed!" The mercenary saluted, startling Glenn. The young man shook his head, before sitting on the ground with his legs crossed.
"Alright, Reed. I don''t think we''ve met during Palancar''s mess, but I''m Glenn. If there are too many of them or something worse is coming, slap me, alright?" Glenn asked, before taking a deep breath and preparing to enter Meditation. Without even giving the mercenary the chance to refuse, he plunged into his Mana Heart and let it calmly fill back up.
Reed turned at the now destroyed wave of zombies, then back at Glenn. He clenched his sword and teeth and held a defensive stance, his eyes trying to find any threat that might approach the resting Magi. The mercenary was no fool. If Fixer Glenn wanted him to guard him while he did whatever he was doing, it was for a good reason.
And it couldn''t hurt to be in the good graces of someone so powerful, after all. A few of the surviving zombies wandered close to him, but other mercenaries took care of them mercilessly. Now that their numbers had been thinned down, it was much easier to get rid of them. The undead main strength were their numbers and their ability to not feel pain. You take the numbers away, and they''re just weak creatures that can be killed with any well-aimed attack.
Even though the mercenary company Reed was from wasn''t composed of Aura-Practitioners or Mage, they were still capable soldiers who could defend themselves.
"We...We pushed them off!" One of the mercenaries roared as he crushed a zombie skull under his boot. Others joined him, raising their swords or spears to the sky. Reed clenched his teeth looked back at the terrifying Fixer, and remained wary of the edge of the forest. His instinct was screaming at him that it wasn''t over.
The sound of the ground rumbling quickly shut the happy mercenaries, putting them back on their guards. Groans and death rattles soon came out of the forest, and zombies shot out from it, much faster and more aggressive than the previous ones. Thankfully, these stronger specimens weren''t present in big numbers, but each of them put the mercenaries at risk. Reed clenched his sword and kicked away an approaching undead, plunging his sword into its eye sockets. A gray substance came out of the skull, sickeningly sticking to the blade.
The mercenary shook it off and pushed off another zombie. He kicked it in the knee, before smashing its rotten head with the back of his armored gauntlet. He took a step back a deep breath and raised his sword again. One of the particularly aggressive undead suddenly charged while rattling madly, jumping over its less-proactive comrades.
Reed prepared to block him, but a dark arrow flew through the air and pierced the creature, making it explode in a cloud of rotten blood. Reed covered his eyes as strips of flesh and bits of bones fell on his face. He wiped it off and looked at the pale archer standing on top of the carriage, shooting without stopping powerful arrows.
''It seems like the other Fixer is taking care of the stronger ones. We can hold on, as long as it stops soon. This isn''t hard, just tiring,'' Reed understood, his confidence boosted. He roared and cut another undead in two, his blood boiling.
"Come, you wretches! Taste my fist!"
In the meanwhile, Glenn was taking a nice stroll around his Mana Heart, wondering if there was any way to accelerate the process of gathering his Mana back.
"I mean, the efficiency just sucks. I know it''s supposed to be automatic or something, but can''t I be a little more proactive?" He complained, trying to gauge the speed of the Mana gathering.
He couldn''t visually tell how fast it went, just feel it. It was like filling a water bottle, but he could only feel it become heavier, not witness it getting filled.
"Isn''t there a way to see where the Mana comes from...? Maybe I can manually pull it in to make it faster?" Glenn tried to search through the space of his Mana Heart, but he was unable to find the spot the Mana was entering from. He frowned, sitting in nothing.
"...This is stupid. Isn''t there an op breathing technique of Heaven and Earth to get my Mana back? Why didn''t Onnea give me that instead of a shitty Circle that wouldn''t even last?" He kept on complaining aloud, his words echoing in his Mana Heart''s emptiness. The two runic Circles spun ever so slowly, shining weakly as Glenn Mana remained quite low.
The young man stared at the Circle, suddenly lost in thought.
"...Wait a second. Gather, process, and amplify...The speed of the Circles decreases depending on how much Mana I have..."
Glenn floated next to the Circle, reaching to it with his hand. He still couldn''t feel the headache that was previously stopping him from understanding the three core concepts: gather, process, and amplify.
"...Can I accelerate the Circles and force them to gather Mana faster...?" The young man pondered, before mentally ordering the Circles to run faster. At first, nothing happened whatsoever, but he soon encountered resistance. It felt like he was trying to force open a rusty mechanism that had stuck in place for ages, creaking as he put his will into it.
Slowly but surely, the two runic rings began accelerating, but it took Glenn''s entire concentration. It wasn''t just waiting, he had to actively focus on ordering the Circles to work. Sweat began pearling on his forehead in the real world, falling on the ground silently in the middle of the fight.
For the first time using this accelerated method, it took exactly six minutes and thirty-seven seconds to gather every single drop of Mana he had. His heart was racing madly as if it was going to jump out of his chest, but Glenn couldn''t care less about it.
Because he found it.
The way to get his Third Circle back.
108. On Todays Menu: Failed Suicide and Cool(ed) Spells
A smile crept up on Glenn''s face, the two runic rings surrounding his Mana Heart humming violently as they span at incredible speed. Never had he felt so much Mana gather at once, and rarely had he seen his Circles shine so strongly.
''It''s almost burning my eyes...Wait, it is!'' Glenn realized a second too late, a burning white color replacing his sight. He almost let go of his concentration on the Circles and felt his chest tighten. An intense pain seized his heart as if it was going to blow up like a tiny bomb.
Glenn clenched his teeth and strengthened his hold over the Circles, manipulating them back to safety. A second later, his Mana was entirely recovered, but there was a slight issue.
The Circles weren''t stopping.
And with that, they kept on drawing more and more Mana.
Much more than Glenn was able to contain.
''Oh shit.''
He snapped his eyes open, just in time to witness an enormous skeletal spider come out of the forest, sweeping her long but bonny legs at the mercenaries. Glenn threw a quick look at Reed, only to notice the mercenary standing on trembling legs, his sword broken in two.
''Well, I have no idea of what happened, but I might need to go all out. And I do need someplace to get rid of all this ManC'' Glenn barely thought of it when a pulse of power came out of his body, manifesting in a visible wave of blue energy. The young man felt his left hand burning up and the Mana gathering around it.
''W...What? Glenn, I don''t know what you did, but if you want to use me, now is the only God damned time!'' Diamanes stammered with difficulty, unable to register the sudden amount of Mana that had appeared out of nowhere. Glenn drew a deep breath and squinted, trying to concentrate on the Mana and weave it like he wanted. A Blackhole was great against waves of enemies, but against one big creature like Mommy-long-leg over there, he needed something more...precise.
An otherworldly cold transpired out of the purple hand, while the celestial energy from his Mana Heart swirled into a Blackhole, only it looked a little different from all the ones he used previously. That spell was something he had in mind for a long time, but never got the chance to try. He clenched his teeth as the cold bit into his skin, the young man trying to forcefully combine the properties of the Nitrogen with the Blackhole.
A thin layer of ice began to cover his arms as his Mana kept on pouring into the creation of the spell. Sadly for Glenn, but even sadder for the Bone Spider, it seemed like the young man''s Circles weren''t stopping their draw on Mana any time soon.
''Holy shit, did you find some kind of glitch to get infinite Mana or something? Are you going to implode? That would be... a little cool, I''ll be honest,'' Diamanes admitted with an admirative tone, Glenn''s eyelids flinching as he tried to remain concentrated. The Blackhole greedily devoured the Nitrogen coming from Diamanes, forming a supercooled sphere that spun extremely slowly. The ball was inflating on itself, menacing to implode at any second.
The Bone Spider, completely unaware of the coming threat, was somehow screeching through its non-existent vocal cords, piercing and cutting mercenaries one after the other with its long bone legs. It suddenly turned its giant skull at Glenn, two green flames burning inside its eyes sockets.
If a bead of sweat could have dropped from its skull, it would have.
A second later, Glenn willed for the Mana to erupt, and a beam of concentrated power shot out at immense speed, piercing through the giant Bone Spider while freezing everything in its path, be it moving or unmoving corpses. The few zombies that were still trying to attack the convoy were pulled into the beam and reduced to dust in the Nitrogen-powered beam. Glenn finally felt the wave of Mana recede, and fell on his knees, gasping. He clenched at his chest, feeling his heart beating at an inhuman speed.
"We...We won?" Reed couldn''t help but ask aloud, dropping his broken sword next to him. The clanging noise of the metal on the ground rang the end of the battle, and finally, everyone took a deep breath. Everyone but Glenn of course, since he was struggling to even breathe a wisp of air.
''Okay, that might not have been the bestCArghC!...The best time to test my theory,'' He thought painfully. He looked up at the damage he caused and forgot the pain for a second. Where the Bone Spider previously stood, only a few broken bones were lying around, witnesses to the powerful creature they belonged to.
''Well, who could have guessed that?'' Diamanes scoffed in his host''s mind, smacking his lips together, ''...Who would have thought that forcing your Circles to draw Mana at abnormal speeds could have side effects?''
The young man shook his head, grabbing the side of the cart he was kneeling in with a shaking hand. His vision was blurry, but it was gradually getting better.
''...Yeah, I should have expected that much. Shit, I''m pretty sure I was close to exploding myself, right there,'' Glenn gulped and almost slapped himself.
''Why am I always risking more dangerous stuff one after the other? Do I just hate living or something?'' He couldn''t help but angrily ask himself, before realizing that no one would possibly answer him. He brought his trembling hand to his face, rubbing his forehead.
Reed sighed loudly as he fell on the ground and sat against the carriage, panting heavily while looking at his hands in amazement.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"I...I survived." He paused, before sniffling emotionally, "...Shit, I survived again," He muttered, his head leaning on his chest. Glenn couldn''t see his expression, but he was sure from the mercenary''s tone that it was a sorrowful one.
''Anyway, all of that didn''t bring me one step closer to getting my Third Circle, in the end. I just managed to almost blow myself up,'' He sarcastically thought, pushing himself on his feet and jumping out of the carriage with wobbly steps. He looked at the edge of the forest silently, pressing his lips together when he looked at the destruction he caused with his combined spell.
''Do you know what time is it?'' Diamanes suddenly asked mysteriously. Glenn raised an eyebrow.
''...No?''
The sound of a drumroll echoed in Glenn''s mind, and Diamanes exclaimed excitedly.
''It''s...Naming time! Yes, your absolute favorite time of the year, when we have a new spell to show you, my dear viewers, and we haven''t given it a name yet! Can you guess what will it be? If yes, send a text to the 3333!'' The entity exclaimed with its best impression of a television announcer. Glenn groaned.
''...Damn it, why must you be in that part of my memories?''
Diamanes kept on going, unperturbed and uncaring of his host''s opinion.
''For the first contender, we have a way to surcharge your Mana Circles and make them go over their limits to gather Mana more efficiently and rapidly, but risking considerable damage in the process. I proposeC''
''That''ll be Overload,'' Glenn cut him off dryly.
''...Hehhh, that''s not that bad,'' Diamanes admitted approvingly, before going back to his showman''s voice.
''Anyway! Time to name the incredible spell that''s inspired by a Kamehameha but with a chilling touch of gravity!'' Diamanes hollered, his voice suddenly multiplying to create an illusion of a crowd cheering and applauding. Glenn was lost for words at the sudden spectacle. Diamanes waited a little, before chuckling loudly.
''I hear you, I hear you. So, since our dear host proposed quite a nice name previously, do y''all think he could repeat this exploit?'' Diamanes roared, before extending a mental microphone at Glenn. The young man blinked at the image Diamanes was trying to show him, before trying to come up with a name on the spot.
''Huh, Cold Laser of DeaC'' The mental crowd suddenly booed Glenn away, and the young man shook his head dejectedly. What was he even expecting from this kind of bullshit anyway?
''It seems like miracles only happen once,'' Diamanes commented with a dispirited tone. He soon retrieved his happy voice, though, and continued his show.
''...Oh? I heard an incredible suggestion! The Nitrogen Lance is a perfectly fitting name! Thank you all for watching, and I''ll see you again next time for another episode of "What kind of shitty name is Glenn going to propose this time?"''
Diamanes pulled a mental curtain, before going back to normal. Glenn''s foot lightly tapped on the ground with annoyance, and the young man stared at his left hand with a lost look.
''...You''re done?''
A discreet smile appeared in the mouth, showing all of its white teeth. The young man closed his hand hurriedly, groaning in discontentment.
''Yes, at least for now, I think. That was funCno, to use your terms, it was a pleasant stress reliever,'' Diamanes happily said, before going back to watch whatever show he pulled that thing from.
"...What stress do you even need to relieve...?" Glenn grumbled, but Dimaanes remained silent. The young man sighed, heading for Monsieur Maron''s transport with the satisfaction of having two new concrete spells, even though Overload was more of a technic than a spell. Javier was standing on top of the carriage, watching around like a hawk. Strangely, his quiver was full, as if he hadn''t shot anything. Glenn knew for a fact that the silent hunter killed his share of zombies, though.
The door of the carriage suddenly opened in a loud noise, Maron popping his head out curiously. He didn''t look too afraid, just very much annoyed.
"...Is it done? Finally? Am I paying you all for that kind of matter to take the whole evening? And now we''re forced to camp, I suppose?" The merchant grumbled, before complaining in his beard.
"...A bunch of incompetents, that''s what you all are. Tsk!" The door slammed back shut as the merchant took shelter in his carriage. Glenn shrugged and walked around the perimeter of the carriage. One of the less injured mercenaries approached him, probably taking him for a figure of authority, Maron remaining in a state where his decisions were...questionable.
"...Sir," The mercenary respectfully said, glancing at the missing part of the forest. Glenn rubbed his face tiredly, before nodding at the man in front of him.
''I guess power does come with responsibilities. Sigh...''
"Your name?"
"...Jorin, Sir."
"Perfect. Prepare a report on the casualties of the mercenaries, and check with the workers if anyone got wounded. As soon as the report is ready, bring it to me," The mercenary opened his mouth to answer, but Glenn suddenly frowned.
"...Wait, no, give your rapport to Reed over there. I don''t have the time to lead you all. If you need direct help, go find Sahro or something. I have to find whoever brought this many undead on the troupe, or it''s just going to be rinse and repeat until everyone is dead," The young man suddenly decided. Jorin looked at Reed, the mercenary almost half-asleep out of exhaustion, and shrugged.
In the end, it remained above his pay grade to judge his superiors'' orders. As long as he survived and got paid, that was the most important. The Dark Gold Fixer wasn''t really his superior, but considering most officers had been transformed into packs of meat back in Palancar and that the employer seemed a bit out of it, the role rightfully came to the strongest around. And in his eyes, Glenn was that guy.
Not that the man was particularly pleased with that decision.
''Don''t they have a mercenary leader? What''s his name, Dolan, Doran, whatever...Where the hell is he?'' Glenn grumbled, before answering his question by himself.
''...Of course he died, he was one of the flesh puppets. Darn it, isn''t there a sub-officer or someone else? I don''t want to lead those guys...''
Diamanes'' sneers echoed in Glenn''s mind.
''Heh, are you scared of the weight of responsibilities?'' The entity taunted only met with an uncaring shrug.
''No, I''m just lazy, really.''
The honesty of the statement took Diamanes by surprise and shut him up, for Glenn''s greatest pleasure. The young man looked at the edge of the forest and at the icy path he accidentally carved. There was a good chance the one who controlled the undead was at the end of this path.
''Hey, Diamanes.'' Glenn suddenly called to his friend. The entity groaned, listening. The young man smiled pensively, looking at the destruction he caused.
''Imagine I killed the summoner with that attack.''
The entity sneered.
''Heh, you wish.''
Glenn put his hands in his pocket and walked next to the path of ice, following it. That was the general direction the undead came from, so it was as good as any. At least the ice trail would lead him straight back to camp.
''Yeah, no way I killed whoever bastard that was.''
109. A Clear-Cut Choice
"...Hah!" Diamanes let out a bemused sneer, the mouth in the young man''s palm opened widely in disbelief. Glenn rubbed his eyes, crouching down in front of what was now half a man. The upper torso of what he chose to categorize as man was there. He didn''t feel like checking the corpse''s lower body to verify his theory, anyway.
"So I did kill him. Uh. I don''t know if that''s fortunate or not," He scratched the back of his head, before nudging at the corpse with his feet. Unlike many he had met until now, this one seemed completely dead and not ready to return ever.
"...So where did you come from, hmm?" Glenn muttered, trying to go through the corpse''s pockets. Well, "pockets" might be the wrong word, knowing that there was barely half of a dark robe left on the remaining lower body. Glenn suddenly felt a slight lump and jerked his hand back, wincing in disgust.
"Welp, not very manly, but man for sure." He slowly wiped his hand off on the robe, standing up in disappointment. Nothing was interesting, and the corpse was wearing nothing much that the young man could use to determine his identity.
"...It''s not like I''m an actual detective...What am I even supposed to do with half a body?" He mumbled, looking at the pair of legs barely attached to a waist. Glenn shrugged, picked up the corpse, and forcefully made it enter his dimensional pouch.
"Maybe the others will have more luck figuring something out by investigating the corpse..."
Diamanes watched with his mouth slightly open, only to sneer dejectedly.
"...Never thought I would see a man fit in a pouch, even if that''s only a half of one," The entity disappeared from the purple hand, leaving Glenn alone. The young man glanced around one last time, before deciding to head back to camp. Nothing disturbed his return, which allowed him to think back to the attack and the issue with his Mana.
''There is no doubt Maron was the goal of whoever was the attacker, and I''m sure there are plenty of reasons as to why this shitty merchant would need to get assassinated. We only need to find the exact one, I suppose. Wait, no, that''s not in my contract. Or is it...?'' Glenn stopped, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. This was initially an escort request, which meant Maron knew there would be some kind of mess on the way. Could he have prepared for that specific attack?
''When I think back to it, he didn''t seem too surprised someone wanted to kill him. Unless I''m wrong and he just didn''t notice he was the main target. Heh, that wouldn''t even surprise me.'' Glenn shook his head and resumed his walk. His Mana was around seventy percent full. Since he couldn''t take the time to calculate how much the Nitrogen Lance cost him in terms of energy, he''ll just have to assume it''s an attack that uses a hundred and ten percent of his Mana. The ultimate spell for when he was in Overload. The corner of his lips curled up slightly.
''Heh, now I have an actual ultimate spell. That shit is probably too strong for even a normal Third Circle to master. Redan and the books I read didn''t lie when they said that someone who mastered the Draconic School was way above their weight class.'' An ember of pride swallowed Glenn''s heart for a second, before being snuffed out by Diamanes'' mocking remark.
''Don''t forget you practically blew yourself up to use the Lance. You shouldn''t use that thing again until you reach the stage of True Initiate, or you might just...well, implode.''
Glenn chuckled and finally arrived back to the convoy. The mercenaries were done treating their wounds and everyone seemed ready to leave. The young man quickly glanced around, searching for Reed. He found him talking to Sahro with a hushed tone, the Black Heir listening with an annoyed expression. His curved sword was strapped to his waist, his good hand resting on its pommel.
"...We need to make a choice, and quickly. The night is going to fall soon!" Reed was desperately trying to explain something to Sahro, who couldn''t look less interested. The Black Heir was about to shrug but noticed Glenn coming his way, and so, smiled widely. He grabbed Reed''s shoulder and pointed toward his friend.
"Why don''t you ask Glenn? I''m not the brain of the team, you know, just the powerful guy. I''m sure he''ll be able to help," Without even letting Reed answer, Sahro ran away, fleeing responsibilities like the pest. Glenn sighed, before walking to Reed. The mercenary had a tired look and seemed like he could use a few nights of sleep.
"...So, Reed, what''s going on?" Glenn asked, crossing his arms together.
''Let''s deal with the urgent stuff now and figure out the corpse later on,'' He decided, ready to listen to Reed. The mercenary heaved heavily, before pointing with his chin at the convoy.
"...Jorin reported the casualties to me, and it''s not the best. We lost a handful of good men, while a dozen more are hurt and in need of treatment." Reed paused, waiting for Glenn''s reaction. The young man rubbed the back of his head.
"How urgent are their conditions?"
Reed looked at the sky for a few seconds before replying.
"They''ll survive for now, but they might risk latent damages if they don''t get healed by specialists. I know they''re not really under your command, Sir, but"
Glenn cut him off, raising his hand.
"We''re not far from King''s Rise, tell Jorin to bring the wounded back to the city. Josh needs the break, so he''ll accompany them. And Jorin seems to have a good head on his shoulders, so it should be fine," He swiftly decided, unbothered. The wounded would only serve as weaknesses to the convoy. It was just better to get rid of them now instead of having them die in front of him. Reed frowned and crossed his arms in turn.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
"But what about their safety? No offense to Sir Josh, but he might not be strong enough to escort the wounded back to King''s Rise," The mercenary looked quite worried.
''It seems like he cares about his comrades quite a bit. Not that I don''t understand him.'' Glenn sneered, before patting Reed''s shoulder.
"I have a good reason to believe that the attackers don''t care whatsoever about y''all, so they should be safe. The only one truly at risk outside of King''s Rise is Maron," The young man reassured Reed, before heading to meet Javier, Josh, and Sahro. Reed mechanically saluted, lost in thoughts. He suddenly jolted back awake.
"II''ll pass on your orders, sir!" Reed exclaimed, before turning to go meet Jorin and the wounded. Glenn dusted his hands off with a satisfied look.
''I love it when work takes care of itself thanks to the competent people around.''
He arrived at his assigned cart, noticing the others waiting there. Josh was sitting with his head leaning on his knees, while Javier was guarding the end of the convoy, his bow drawn. Sahro was leaning against the cart, holding his stump silently. He looked up when Glenn arrived, grinning.
"Well, if it isn''t the leader of the convoy. Work isn''t too hard?" Sahro tried to taunt Glenn, without much success. The young man only shrugged and sank his hand in his dimensional pouch, pulling out the half of the body he found by the feet. Sahro''s eyes widened, and both Josh and Javier turned their head inquisitively. Glenn dropped the corpse in front of him, before cleaning his hands with a Mundare.
"That''s the one who was controlling the undead waves. I think. He was already in that state when I found him," The young man explained. Javier crouched next to the corpse, studying it. Josh whistled, impressed.
"You got him with that powerful attack we felt earlier, I suppose? I wouldn''t want to die that way," He remarked, not too invested in the matter. Sahro frowned.
"Too bad he died. Had he been alive, we could have asked him who he was working for." He lamented, sighing.
Glenn sneered.
"I''m not sure asking nicely would have been enough for him to spill out anything. But yeah, I agree. I didn''t aim to kill the summoner, though..."
The team remained silent, observing the corpse like a band of dads looking at a V8, until Javier took the corpse''s boot away. Glenn raised an eyebrow but didn''t say anything. The silent hunter rubbed his finger on the sole, his finger collecting dirt and white dust.
"...Crap," Josh suddenly let out, groaning displeasedfully. Glenn turned around with a surprised expression.
"What''s wrong?"
Josh pointed at the corpse.
"That white dust, it''s probably from the quarry Maron wants us to go to. The process of excavating and cutting stones often leaves that kind of dust behind, and it''s hard to get rid of it when it''s on your shoes," The Pale Son explained, Javier nodding silently to back his words.
Glenn sneered and kicked a stone away in annoyance.
"Tsk, why doesn''t it surprise me? Maybe Palancar was never Maron''s goal, but he would never admit to that. Shit, I guess we''ll have to deal with it," He sighed, before turning toward Josh.
"Anyway, I need your help getting the wounded to King''s Rise. It should be a safe travel, but stay careful, alright?"
Complicated emotions passed over Josh''s face, only for it to become resigned. Even though Glenn formulated his phrase like a request, it was nothing but an order. But that didn''t displease Josh that much, and Glenn knew that.
''That guy needs time to grieve. We weren''t affected by Palancar''s events as he was. And I doubt Javier even cares, anyway. That''s the better choice,'' Glenn thought, holding his hand out for a shake.
"...No problem. I''ll see you back at King''s Rise, then. I''ll pay a beer to everyone went you all come back," Josh shook the young man''s hand, smiling weakly. Glenn nodded, before patting him on the shoulder. Josh then left to find Jorin and the wounded mercenaries, before swiftly leaving the convoy.
A few minutes later, Glenn jumped on top of Maron''s carriage and clapped his hands together loudly.
"Alright, everybody gathers up. Yes, everyone, please!" Slowly, every worker and mercenaries were gathered in front of him, listening intently. Glenn drew a deep breath, internally wincing.
''...I swear, why do I need to do that? Can''t Maron get back on his feet or something?'' He mentally grumbled, before clearing his throat. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the gathered crowd.
"Alright! Thank you all for listening. For everyone who still doesn''t know me, I''m Glenn! I''m a Dark-Gold Fixer, and arguably the strongest bastard in this damned convoy. If anyone doubts that, please raise your hand," Glenn began. Sahro raised his hand without hesitation, only to receive a slap from Javier, the silent hunter''s expression blank as always. Glenn''s lips flinched slightly when he noticed the spectacle from the corner of his eyes, but he continued nonetheless.
"Perfect! Then, I expect no one to complain that I''m taking over the convoy, right?" Both the workers and mercenaries nodded, not very surprised. Glenn wasn''t the only one who had noticed Maron''s strangeness, and since the merchant couldn''t assure the leadership, someone had to take control. Sadly for Glenn, there could only be him. The young man sighed and stamped his foot on the ceiling of Maron''s carriage. The merchant cursed a few times but remained hidden in it, probably up to no good.
"Due to the previous attack, our return to King''s Rise was delayed, which wasn''t helped by the unexpected deviation Monsieur Maron wanted us to take. Our best choice is either to camp in here, the middle of nowhere, or get to the quarry before the curtain of night is on us," Glenn explained, before sitting on the roof of the carriage comfortably, his legs hanging down.
"And so, since I''m not really a leader, I''ll instead let you all choose!" The young man exclaimed proudly. He grinned seeing the workers and mercenaries'' confused expressions.
''You should have just decided to get to the quarry, this is meaningless...'' Diamanes sighed inside Glenn''s mind. The latter continued, unbothered.
"Those who want to stay and camp here, please stand to my left. The others, on the other side, please!" He clapped his hands together, hurrying them to choose.
''Come on, we don''t have the whole day,'' Glenn thought with a tint of annoyance.
After a moment of confusion, the ranks soon began to form.
On one side, the mercenaries, who wished to camp here and not risk another attack on the convoy. On the other side, the workers, who wanted to get to the relative safety of the quarry. Glenn grinned when he realized that the workers'' main reason for wanting to go to the quarry was safety. They could only think this way because they were unaware of the fact that the attacker came from the same place they wanted to take refuge in.
''Heh, ain''t no way I''m telling them that, though,'' Glenn thought, his chin leaning in his hand.
There was one reason he didn''t tell them that.
And that was because he wanted to go to the quarry.
Why?
Because his debts wouldn''t pay themselves, would they?
...And maybe also because with a bit of luck, there will be some loot to be found, who knows?
Maybe the summoner did.
Too bad there was only his lower body left.
110. How to (not) Pay Your Debts : Part 1
Glenn rubbed his hands together, casting a complicated expression on the two groups before him.
"...Well, of course, you guys had to separate yourself perfectly," He grumbled, looking at the twenty workers on one side, Lefeivre leading them, and the mercenaries on the other, Reed at their head. Glenn rubbed his temples, before shrugging.
"That leaves my vote. I, of course, speak for my comrades," The young man clasped his hands together while pointing his chin at Javier and Sahro. The two were only watching the spectacle, one with an amused grin, and the other with a blank face. The two groups held their breath and tensed. Whatever Glenn chooses, that would be their next course of action, and there''ll be nothing they''ll be able to say.
"...And so, let''s go to the quarry!" Glenn exclaimed, jumping off the carriage''s roof. The workers sighed while the mercenaries nodded with satisfaction.
''Alright, at least that''s one thing done. We still need to get to the quarry, and probably fight whatever is entrenched there. This day just doesn''t end...'' Glenn sighed again, before telling everyone to start the convoy again. They had no time to lose if they wanted to arrive at the quarry before night. Hopefully, there''ll be some accommodations there because he didn''t feel like sleeping in a damned tent tonight.
''A bed, with a mattress, that''s all I want...'' The young man''s thoughts were interrupted when Lefeivre, the foreman, grabbed him by the shoulder with a worried expression. Glenn raised an eyebrow.
"Sir Glenn...Since you''re leading the operation now, I need to tell you about the Blumar Quarry," The muscular worker crossed his arms together. Glenn looked at the convoy that was about to depart and invited Lefeivre to continue.
The worker opened a heavy-looking safe on one of the carriages and pulled a blue piece of rock out of it. It was gleaming in the light of the sun and almost looked like it was changing form depending on its direction. Glenn took it with an interested look, negligently throwing it up and down.
"This...What is it?" Glenn inquisitively asked. Lefeivre took it back and kept it out of Glenn''s range, safeguarding it.
"...That''s a piece of Blumar, one of the only construction materials that doesn''t let Mana pass through it. The Magi Brotherhood can never get enough of that thing, hence its price," The foreman explained, holding the rock carefully with both hands. Glenn grinned and tilted his head to the side.
"So that''s expensive stuff. If that''s so profitable, why is there no permanent installation in the Blumar Quarry?"
Lefeivre frowned.
"There was in the past, but one day monsters began to appear in the quarry, probably due to an undiscovered Rift. The fact is, we tried to get rid of them, but they never stopped coming and the Rift was impossible to find. It just proved to be an extreme liability to our Company''s Financials, so we abandoned it. It''s probably home to these creatures now," Lefeivre took out a thick pipe filled with tobacco and lit it up with a match that he scratched against his boot. It took a few minutes for Glenn to realize the item was in Lefeivre''s hands.
''A match?''
Lefeivre drew a few puffs from the pipe, creating a small cloud of smoke around him. Glenn tried to push the smoke away from him with his hands but failed to do so.
"Cough, so, what are these monsters like? So I have at least an idea of what I need to kill," The young man coughed, chasing the smoke away with a small blast of Mana that put out the pipe. Lefeivre frowned before taking another match and approaching it from his boots. Glenn grabbed his arm and stole the match, looking curiously at it.
"...How does it work?" He couldn''t help but ask, wondering if somehow the Maron Company had managed to successfully arrive at the technological level to create matches. The young man couldn''t remember how exactly the things were made, but he was sure there was supposed to be some phosphor in it, and he could hardly believe that it was something easily used without some specialized machines.
Lefeivre grumbled and took the match back, not letting Glenn observe it much. Surprisingly, there didn''t seem to be a red tip or anything, and it was just a very short straight stick. How the flame lit up was a mystery for Glenn.
"...It''s just a stick with a bit of Fire Mana imbued in it," Lefeivre shook his head dejectedly and lit up his pipe, throwing the dead match away. Glenn sneered.
''Yeah, of course, it''s Mana. Everything is Mana in this damned world...'' Glenn grumbled. Lefeivre took another puff of his pipe.
"About the monsters... They were humanoid rock monsters the size of houses. They were quite fragile, so much so that all the mercenaries had to do was give them a good hammer blow in the legs for them to collapse. They also had a central gem on their forehead which, when destroyed, seemed to kill them directly. It''s a pity they had to be shattered for the creatures to be completely dead because I''m sure those gems would have been worth more than their weight..." The foreman paused, before shrugging.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"That''s all I know. Don''t let us all die, Sir Glenn. I''m dearly attached to life, as we all are," He warned, before leaving for one of the carts that had started moving, jumping in. Glenn smiled, before jumping on top of Maron''s carriage and sitting on top of it.
''Since Maron''s looks like he''s the main target, I''ll just stay there for now, and let my Mana slowly come back. Javier went to the back like I asked him earlier, and Sahro was at the front. We should be fine anyway, I''m sure the attackers didn''t expect to lose one of theirs so easily...'' The young man looked at the sky, its color slowly turning to an orange tint as the sun began to set.
"Hopefully we''ll arrive before night..." Glenn mumbled, crossing his arms together.
Finally, the convoy resumed its road, under the falling light of the rising moons. It seemed like luck had their back this time, as they didn''t suffer another attack on their way to the quarry. When they arrived, the unveiled moonlight of the cloudless night shone on the quarry, an immense square carved into the marble ground.
Glenn observed the place as he leaned in from above, unable to find anything close to moving.
"...I''m not sure the creatures Lefeivre mentioned are there..." He mumbled, crossing his arms together. Sahro glanced at the quarry for a second before shrugging.
"Well, all good for us if they''re not there. Additionally, I can''t see any traces of any human that passed by, but maybe Javier had more chance than me...?" The Black Heir trailed off, looking at Javier who was also leaning in with wrinkled eyes. The Pale Son shook his head, before shrugging and jumping down, unbothered.
Glenn extended his hand out before sighing.
"...If he wants to do the recon, may he do so. I''m pretty sure he wouldn''t care much for what I''d have to say, anyway..." The young man turned around dejectedly, Sahro closely following him from behind. The mercenaries lit up some torches while the workers complained of the bad working conditions, which they hadn''t stopped doing ever since Maron disappeared. Glenn couldn''t help but understand their dissatisfaction.
''I''m also that bastard''s employee, damn it!'' He thought sadly, his thoughts disturbed by Diamanes'' mocking laugh. The entity only laughed, not commenting anything on his host''s issues, somehow making it even more annoying than if he had said something.
''Just shut up, if you''re not saying anything!''
''Hahahaha!''
Glenn''s eyelids twitched, and he rubbed his temples tiredly. He looked at the two moons now hanging in the sky, bathing in its light. His mind earned a few minutes of peace, until Javier suddenly popped back out of nowhere, startling both Sahro and him.
"Shit!" The Black Heir pointed his stump forward, threatening Javier with his shoulder, before coughing awkwardly and turning away, no doubt to hide his cheeks reddened by shame. Glenn barely managed to restrain his chuckle and nodded at Javier, who returned him with a thumbs-up.
"I take it it''s fine to go down there for now, then, Javier?" Glenn tried, smiling when he saw the Pale Son nod.
''Hey, I''m starting to understand him!'' He happily thought, Diamanes sneering in response.
''Good job understanding a guy who can''t talk. Who would have guessed he could have used his movements to talk? Incredible!''
Glenn ignored the mockery and signaled the cart at the forefront to begin the descent into the quarry. The convoy tackled the downhill slope, going one carriage at a time. It was always a particularly fascinating sight to see the carts moving without anything to pull them, powered only by the Shards that the various drivers possessed. Shards, moreover, which they didn''t hesitate to use to accelerate or brake.
''When I think back to it, with such an easy-to-use instrument, it only makes sense technology didn''t develop as much as it should have. They just use Mana instead of struggling to find some complicated solutions,'' remarked the young man. He closely monitored the descent, his Mana ready to pulse out anytime. If there was a moment to attack, it was now. Luckily, nothing happened.
"Huh. No rock monsters, no necromancers, nor any bullshit like that. How...relaxing..." Glenn smiled at the unexpected but pleasant surprise. He had prepared for all but for it to go smoothly.
"Don''t complain, that makes for a nice change," Sahro added sarcastically, Glenn chuckling in response. The last cart was finally down, and the convoy began to install their encampments. Reed was installing his tent with the help of two other mercenaries before Glenn came talking to him.
"Hey Reed. Sorry, but you and your people will have a bit more work to do," The young man began, not noticing or at least acting like he didn''t see the mercenary''s displeased expression.
"I want traps, torches, everything you guys can muster to protect the camp. Javier, Sahro, and I will relay ourselves to guard the camp, but any little bits to scrape for additional defense are good to take," said Glenn, patting Reed''s shoulder. The mercenary''s expression changed, and he chuckled to himself. Glenn raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Reed waved his hand dismissively.
"Nothing, I thought you would ask me or the guys to stand guard while you Fixers would use the rest. I''ll take care of it, don''t worry," The mercenary nodded with a smile, before screaming some orders to the other mercenaries. Glenn wrinkled his nose, trying to think of something else he needed to do, before giving up. He turned toward Javier and Sahro, one already sleeping without a care in the world on top of a stone, unbothered, while the other was yawning very insistently. Glenn sighed.
"...I''ll take the first guard, then. Sigh," He shook his head and jumped on top of an abandoned block of marble, trying to survey the whole camp from his perch. There were many abandoned blocks of marble like the one he was standing on, and some crumbled wood contraptions let one hint at some kind of pulley system that served to transport the materials back to the top of the quarry.
"...Maybe I''ll have a few workers focus on repairing that stuff. I need one of us three to stay in the camp to defend it at all times, while the others will focus on finding clues about that necromancer''s identity. I also need to get Lefeivre to help me wake Maron the fuck up, because I''m not going to do his share of the work any longer..." Glenn paused, before tapping his finger on his chin, "...Unless I do get paid for it? Oh, I might have found a loophole here... And since I''m the only one who can value my work as a leader, I can probably..." The young man''s mouth widened in a large, wicked smile, and he chuckled to himself in the night.
He took out some pemmican from his dimensional pouch and ate in silence, watching over the camp.
Nothing would escape from his eyes.
111: How to (not) Pay Your Debts : Part 2
Glenn heaved while wiping the sweat off his forehead. In a rare occurrence, he wasn''t wearing the upper part of his clothes, leaving his chest entirely revealed. Some would have probably considered this indecent if it wasn''t for the fact that the convoy was staying in what could be probably associated with a fucking cooking pot of hell. The sun was shining brightly in the blue sky above, melting its light the Maron''s Company staying in the quarry. The white marble absorbing and reflecting the heat certainly wasn''t helping, and the few places covered by the shade were practically being hunted for.
The young man leaned on a carved-out block of marble as he took out a leather bladder filled with water from his pouch. He took a few sips from it, before hesitating to pour it on his head. He winced and forced himself to push the bladder back into his dimensional pouch, resisting the temptation of wasting water.
"What a shitty idea...I swear, we get what we need and we fuck out of here..." Glenn spat, crossing his arms as he looked at the current state of the operations. After a surprisingly uneventful night, the convoy had begun the operation of excavating as much Blumar as possible. The difficulty was that the precious material could be hidden anywhere in the common white marble, hence making it quite hard to find. The best solution was to carve block after block, hoping to discover veins or anything that could be sold. Technically, the marble itself was already a precious building material, but the convoy wasn''t equipped to carry large enough quantities of stone for it to be profitable. It was just much more efficient to concentrate the workers'' efforts on finding the precious material. Quality before quantity.
As for the stone golems or the fuckers who attacked the convoy previously, the young man had yet to find any hints of their existence, to his dismay.
"Hah, now you''re hoping to get attacked? When did you become so battle-crazed?" Diamanes exclaimed mockingly aloud, the grinning mouth flashing a smile from within Glenn''s left palm. The latter shrugged, jumping on top of one of the carved-out marble blocks.
"Well, anything is better than slowly cooking in this place," he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. Glenn looked at the camp and the zone where the workers were excavating marble, pondering. They were currently staying right next to the ramp they used to come down in the quarry, but there was still a huge zone that wasn''t being exploited a bit further in the quarry. If he had to guess, be it the monsters, the necromancers, or even the fucking Blumar, all of it was in the deeper part of the quarry.
"...I swear that next time I''m reading every single line in this damned contract," He mumbled, before sighing. His current priority didn''t change, it was still to get to the Bourgeoisie. But with the crushing debt, Maron had forced on both Sahro and him, as well as Josh and Javier, there was no way to get there without doing the odd jobs the merchant wanted them to do. The only thing Glenn could do was work as hard as he could to rapidly pay his debt and hope he wouldn''t need to kill the merchant if the latter didn''t want to let them go eventually. Even if the matter of Giselle''s grandson didn''t have a time limit, Glenn would rather take care of it as soon as possible.
"That''s just an excuse you''re giving yourself so that you can go and torture the fuck out of the Baron," Diamanes sneered, smacking his lips. Glenn''s eyebrows twitched, but he didn''t reply. He shook his head, before jumping down and joining Sahro standing guard. The Black Heir was wearing his desert clothes, every single part of his skin covered by the fabric but his green eyes. He seemed quite comfortable staying in the crushing heat.
"Glenn," Sahro nodded at his friend. Glenn nodded back, before pointing at the deeper parts of the quarry.
"I''m going to take a look there to try and find the stone golems Lefeivre told us about, or any traces of the bastards who attacked us," He quickly explained, before glancing at Javier standing guard from the shade of a carved marble block, his bow strung on his shoulder.
"...I''ll be going alone," He said at the Pale Son''s intention, Javier not giving much of a reaction. Sahro yawned, before waving dismissively.
"Sure, sure, go have fun without me. I''ll tell the convoy to leave if you''re not back before the night, so hurry the fuck up," The Black Heir grinned. Glenn chuckled, before heading for the quarry''s deeper parts.
''I need to be especially careful about the ground and footprints in the dust. Heh, maybe I should have asked Javier to come with me, but it''s safer to leave him with Sahro at the camp. It would be too bad if I just came back to find everyone dead and trying to eat me,'' He thought ironically, turning one corner after the other. A stone rolled close to his position and he stopped still, Mana flashing around his right hand as a magic blade appeared in it. His breathing calmed as he turned his head, trying to find the source of the noise. Another stone rolled to his feet, a small piece of marble. Glenn slowly looked up, finding a red crystal shining dimly under the dust of one of the marble walls.
"Shit."
The wall exploded as a giant golem dislodged himself from it, a cloud of dust rising with its movements. The creature was the size of a house, and shaped with humanoid limbs, two arms, two legs, a waist, and a chest, as well as a bright red crystal shining on a thick head. Glenn jumped back, summoning a Magic Wall to block all of the rubble. The red crystal shone brightly before the golem punched down at Glenn, his giant car-sized fist piercing through the air. Glenn calmly sent a gust of Mana under his feet, sending his body flying upward above the stone fist. The ground crackled when the fist made contact with it, and a shockwave moved through the air, disturbing the young man''s flight. Instead of landing on one of the nearby carved-out marble blocks, he found himself right on top of the golem''s head.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
"Well, that works too!" The blade in his right hand morphed into a thick sledgehammer shining with a bright mystical blue light. Glenn drew a deep breath and slammed down with his hammer on the golem''s head, carving it inward. The golem tried to defend himself by slapping himself on the head, but his slow movements were too noticeable and Glenn jumped down quite easily. The young man winced and summoned a magic platform under his feet, letting him stay at the same level as the bright red crystal. He grinned, and the sledgehammer disappeared, replaced by a familiar, spinning projectile.
"Never has one of my spells been so appropriate!" Glenn exclaimed as he lunged forward with the Arcane Auger, the spinning drill digging into the crystal and making it burst into shards of red light. The golem crumbled down without a scream of pain, the marble making up its body rolling down.
"It''s kind of logical it didn''t scream, it''s just a moving stone. Where the hell would he get vocal chords?" Diamanes mocked, laughing in Glenn''s mind. The young man landed on the ground, dismissing his Mana.
"Well, that was easy," Glenn dusted his hands off, mentally checking his Mana reserve. It was ninety percent full and was already well on its way back to full. The young man walked around the remains of the golem, knocking a few broken stones over. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"...A little too easy. You just need to break the red crystal and they come crumbling down, so how could they get overwhelmed by these golems?" He muttered aloud, picking up one of the stones and wincing in surprise at its weight.
"Damn. This isn''t a normal stone either, I get why they would struggle to break the legs to make the things fall. But why wouldn''t they just break the crystal with a mage or maybe an archer? I''m pretty sure both Javier and Josh could easily deal with these golems..." Glenn sighed, before scratching the back of his head. He made the extreme piece of golem slip into his dimensional pouch and turned around to continue on his way. A pebble landed on his shoulder, making him stop once again. Glenn picked up the pebble, trying his best not to look flustered. A slightly bigger rock fell near him until the familiar rumble of a golem dislodging itself from the marble wall echoed around him. The young man turned his head to see not one, nor two, but three bright red crystals shining through the cloud of dust that had risen.
The corner of his lips curved upward as Mana twirled around his right hand again.
"...Heh, I suppose I''ll be able to test a few more things, then."
The three crystals shone brighter as their holders dashed through the dust cloud, charging straight toward Glenn. The young man quickly decided to repeat his previous tactics, which was to jump over the creature and blast their crystals away. He flew through the air as Mana burst out under his feet, ready to shoot a few Arcana Auger at the golems when a stone fist pierced through the dust clouds and crashed against him.
"WhaC"
Blam!
The marble wall crumbled behind Glenn as he coughed out blood, his left arm bent unnaturally. He had managed to somehow block it with a Mana Wall and his arm, but he still received quite a hefty amount of damage.
"Aouch, not nice!" Diamanes complained as Glenn gasped for air. Sadly for him, the young man couldn''t gather his strength as much as he would have wanted before another giant stone fist tried to crush him like a bug. Glenn hurriedly jumped down from the wall, rolling on the ground and dashing while holding his broken arm.
"...Shit! I thought these things were supposed to be slow!" Glenn gritted his teeth and held out his right hand, shooting an Implosion in the red crystals'' direction. The explosion blew all of the dust away in a bright white flash, revealing a single, gigantic golem.
"...What?" Glenn gulped, as the massive golem seemed to recover from the knockback of the Implosion.
It was barely scratched. The golem was gigantic, much bigger than the one Glenn took down earlier, and its body was a mix of white marble and a dark material that seemed to absorb light itself. It had a very dark blue color to it, like the depths of the ocean.
"If I had to guess, that stuff is probably Blumar," Diamanes commented. But Glenn barely registered him, as he was too concentrated on the head of the golem, the three red crystals fused in the same skull in a strange stone patchwork. Glenn didn''t have more time to observe his adversary as the golem ripped off a chunk of marble from the walls and threw it at him. The young man protected himself with another Mana Wall, preparing an Arcane Auger at the same time.
''I can''t stay on the defensive!''
The Mana Wall shook but held on nonetheless as the rubbles shattered on it. Glenn dismissed it while preparing a spell when the shadow of a massive foot covered him. The young man''s face paled as he hurriedly threw himself to the side, the golem''s foot stomping next to him, the ground exploding under its weight. Glenn rolled a few times before rising back to his feet, Mana twirling around him.
''Did it just throw the stone to disturb my sight? This thing is much smarter than its smaller version!'' Glenn''s face darkened as he charged his legs in Mana. He jumped back hurriedly, quickly landing on top of one of the quarry''s marble walls, trying to escape from the creature''s assault. The walls shook as the golem punched the walls, trying to catch Glenn. Finally, the young man escaped from his pursuit, hiding above the golem from one of the marble walls. He looked down at the golem who was searching for him, the ground rumbling under the weight of its steps. The golem suddenly stopped and raised his head at Glenn''s position. The young man hurriedly hid down, wincing as the pain in his left arm intensified.
He laid down on the marble warmed by the sun, waiting to see what the golem would do. After an excruciatingly long minute, the sound of the heavy steps rumbled once again, and the golem walked away, unharmed. Glenn sighed, peeking down to see the creature lodging himself back in the place it originally was staying in. Its red crystals dimmed and the marble walls moved like water as they completely fused with the golem, hiding it from the uninformed eye.
"...That was intense," Diamanes whistled while Glenn painfully pushed himself from the ground. The young man couldn''t help but nod in agreement.
"Phew..." The young man laid back down, breathing heavily. It wasn''t often that he was fleeing from threats, but with a broken arm, he didn''t have much choice. Still, being forced back like this pained him even more than that broken limb. The young man winced as he shook his head.
"Let''s go back to camp for now. At least, I figured something important," Glenn said, looking at his broken left arm. Had Diamanes been able to raise his eyebrows, he probably would have.
"What do you mean?"
Glenn smiled through the pain, and he gestured with his chin at the golem hiding in the wall.
"It''s staying in the same place it originally was in, which means that thing is guarding something. I don''t know what deserves such protection..." Glenn stopped, his smiling growing wickedly, "...But I want it."
112. How to (not) Pay Your—OH!WERE RICH!!
"I''m sure that golem is fat enough to have its gravitational force, so a Blackhole would be useless."
"An Implosion didn''t seem strong enough either, as if simply shook it off as if you threw a rock at it. Maybe if you just make the Arcane Auger bigger?"
"For it to stomp me in the meanwhile? Maybe I could make some kind of Sniping Auger like I shoot it from far away and chip at him little by little. What do you think?"
"I think the moving rock is just going to, well, move away. It was pretty smart, and even if it didn''t avoid the attack, it could just stop it with its reinforced body. Oh, and since he''s part Blumar, there''s a big chance magical attacks won''t be too efficient. Heh, the worst enemy for you."
"...Should I just scratch all that and ask Sahro to take care of it? Nah, never in hell I''m asking that guy for help."
Glenn and Diamanes were discussing an attack plan to take care of the Three-Eyed Golem, (the name was a courtesy from Diamanes), while on their way back to the camp. Even though Glenn had broken his left arm, the situation wasn''t too grim. There were no traces of any necromancers, or even undead for that fact, and the only danger stemmed from the golem boss. The smaller ones with only a single crystal were pretty easy to take care of, mainly because they were dumb as fuck, and also thanks to their slowness.
Glenn had met another one of these golems on his way back and had found out quite a few things: first, a Magic Bullet wasn''t enough to destroy the crystal, as it simply bounced off it, while a Drilling Bullet would shatter it as if it was glass.
It seemed like the jewels were extremely tough to scratch, but once the smallest bit of damage was made to it, just blowing on the crystal would destroy it. For Glenn who had spells with high penetration, it was a walk in the park to take care of these golems.
The young man''s little expedition only took a few hours, so the sun was still hanging high in the sky when he arrived back in the camp. Sahro raised an eyebrow when he spotted him and his broken arm, but didn''t say anything. Glenn dragged himself to a shaded spot and carefully looked at his broken arm.
''I would have loved to have a priest of Onnea around to take care of that. What am I supposed to do, put a splinter on it or something? Shit, I should have listened better back then...'' He thought bitterly, wincing at each pang of pain that the broken limb shot through his body. Sahro crouched in front of him, smirking while staring at the broken arm.
"Well, well, what happened with you?" The Black Heir asked curiously. Glenn licked his dry lips, before taking out a water flask from his dimensional pouch and drinking a sip from it.
"...I tried punching a rock and went too hard at it," He replied after emptying the whole flask in his mouth. Sahro rested his single arm on the pommel of his sword as his eyes widened, an amused smirk hanging on his lips.
"For real?"
Glenn sighed.
"No, of course not. I met the golems Leveifre told me about," He scowled and poked at his left arm, biting his lower lip at the pain. Sahro chuckled.
"Wow, you got your ass handed over to you by a moving rock? Crap, I get why you look like shit now," He scoffed, rubbing his stump thoughtlessly. Glenn clenched his teeth, before giving up trying to fix his arm himself.
"I met two different kinds of golems for now, one with a single crystal and the size of a house, made of very dense stone. I don''t know if they''re made of marble or some kind of stuff, but they are quite tough. The best way to take them out is breaking the crystal on their forehead, just as Lefeivre told me. They are stupid and slow, but their attacks are very powerful due to the heaviness behind each punch or stomp," Glenn explained. Sahro nodded, listening intently.
"The other kind I met was a golem thrice that size, and with three crystals instead of one. It was smart, fast, and much more dangerous than its smaller counterparts. Additionally, it was composed of a mixture of both Blumar and the dense stone I mentioned, making it almost impervious to my spells. I didn''t try attacking it with a magically created weapon, but I''m pretty sure it''s not going to be efficient," Glenn concluded, before shaking his head dejectedly.
"...The worst opponent for me. Shit, I miss my axe now..." The young man despaired. Sahro stood back up, dusting off his shoulders.
"Well, it seemed like you''re going to have a hard time taking care of it," The Black Heir said with a mocking tone. Glenn leaned his head backward, annoyance flashing on his face.
"...Wait, maybe I should take care of the big bad rock for you, then? You know that my specialty is cutting things up, after all. Tough rock or not, I''ll just split it in two!" Sahro grinned, his finger rapping against the sheath of his curved sword.
Glenn opened his mouth to reply, before closing it.
''Wait, maybe I should let him go there. Heh, maybe he''ll take care of it, or maybe he''ll get stomped just like me. I''m kind of curious now,'' He thought, before nodding at Sahro.
"Sure, go and have fun. I''ll stay at the camp to guard it, I can''t go back fighting it with my broken arm after all," He responded nonchalantly, bringing a look of surprise to Sahro''s face. The Black Heir didn''t know what to say and only shrugged in answer.
Glenn quickly gave him the directions to go and meet the Three-Eyed golem and dragged himself to a vantage point. The heat was crushing him, and the pain of his broken arm wasn''t helping.
"...Maybe I should try to make some stronger shields or something?" He mumbled, trying his best to ignore the pain. Glenn sat with crossed legs on a marble wall, flinching when Javier suddenly appeared in front of him. The Pale Son glanced at the broken arm, then at Glenn, and back to the broken arm. Without giving the young man a chance to ask a question, Javier grabbed Glenn''s arm and his shoulder tightly.
The young man gulped.
Crack!
Javier dusted his hands off, his face as blank as ever, before jumping back down to whatever business he was attending. Glenn''s forehead pressed against the warm ground in pain while he clenched his left arm in shock.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
''Argh!''
It hurt so much that he lost the capacity to think for a little while until the pain finally receded. The young man hesitantly moved his arm, discovering in surprise that whatever Javier did, it fixed his arm.
"Wow. Uh, I don''t know what to say. Couldn''t he have warned me before, though?" Glenn was dumbfounded. Diamanes sneered.
''A man of many talents, it seems.''
Glenn nodded, looking at the camp from his perch. Lefeivre was giving orders here and there while the workers were excavating marble blocks one after the other, while the mercenaries under Reed were patrolling the area. The young man knew the men wouldn''t be of much help against a golem, but at least they helped cover ground and would warn him if he missed something.
Sigh.
The young man leaned backward, sweat dripping down his face and back. He looked at the marble he was sitting on, trying to imagine it rising and morphing into a small umbrella to protect him from the sun. He let out a strand of Mana, but the ground only squirmed weirdly before his magic dissipated.
"...I''m still not great with ground-type magic," Glenn sneered, before Projecting his Mana Heart outside. It had been a while since he had used that training exercise Redan had taught him, and he couldn''t do anything else for now. He held out his right palm upward, the Magellanic Clouds appearing above it, floating silently in a mystical hue. The young man willed the Projection to widen, marveling at the magical sight. It didn''t matter how many times he saw it, his Mana Heart was still as breathtaking as ever. Shining so brightly with nebulae, clusters, and young, massive stars that shone with a golden hue embracing them...
''Huh? A golden hue?''
Glenn was lost in thought when he suddenly realized the presence of a golden mist that had never existed before. It wasn''t coming from the stars but rather resembled dust that covered everything like a blanket of golden powder.
"The fuck is that?" He frowned, trying to zoom in on the clouds, but nothing happened. It was just a golden-colored cloud, floating around them without much influence on the rest of the Mana Heart. Glenn rubbed his chin, looking at the mist with a troubled expression.
"...Wait, is that the remnants of my Third Circle?" He whispered, resting his head on his fist.
"Sure looks like it, anyway. You still don''t want to tell me what that [REDACTED] stuff around how you got your Third Circle is, by the way?" Diamanes commented aloud, grinning shamelessly. Glenn ignored him, trying to will the golden mist to move, but nothing happened.
''It''s just...sitting there. I don''t know what to think of it, honestly...'' He thought rather suspiciously. After observing the golden mist for a few more minutes, he shrugged and concentrated back on his main objective: getting back said Third Circle. It was all very well not having any Mana and not being able to use Diamanes'' only interesting skill, but it was seriously starting to get on his nerves.
"Hey, you can still use me to "take" spells, you know?" The entity tried to defend itself, without much success.
''Let''s think about it... When I received my First Circle, it was thanks to that steampunk machine back then, whatever its name was. The Second Circle was created when I managed to create my first spell possessing the attribute of my Mana Heart. What would be the next step, then? Simply gathering Mana and forcing the Circle to expand is seemingly a terrible option, so there has to be a better one that isn''t just "enlightenment" or some other mystical bullshit...''
Glenn sighed, twisting his thumbs together.
''My "temporary" Third Circle was created thanks to the particular situation and my link with Onnea, but it was only a crutch to let me destroy the Heart of Darkness, but I didn''t satisfy any ''personal'' requirements to get it.''
"Pretend I''m not here, you know, it doesn''t offend me at all," commented Diamanes sarcastically, but Glenn continued to ignore him, too focused on trying to regain his power. He felt he''d found the thread of the solution, but it was extremely fragile and was swaying in the wind.
''Let me think... Could it be that instead of relying on enlightenment, I should try and find a way to ''understand'' my Mana Heart, like back with my Second Circle, somehow ''forcing'' enlightenment? This is stupidly complicated... Shit, can''t I just gather Mana and naturally level up or something? Killing stuff isn''t even beneficial to me...''
"Oh, so you''re not interested in the money you make by killing shit?" Diamanes sneered. Glenn nodded with a smile.
''Yeah, I take that back. Nonetheless, it doesn''t get me one inch closer to that damned Circle.''
He silently made the Projection of his Mana Heart spin, the stars shining their mystical light on him, his face plunged in deep thought.
''Let''s try to start somewhere. So far, what do I understand of my Mana Heart? I somehow know that its name is the Magellanic Clouds, and most spells that I created are affiliated with space and stars. Implosion was, as its name lets one guess, the implosion of a star to create a powerful attack. Blackhole is even simpler to understand, while the Nitrogen Lance was a mix of Diamanes'' power and a Blackhole. That makes me think, I have next to no spells that are using the specialty of my Mana Heart.''
Glenn summoned a tiny Blackhole in his palm, feeding it barely enough Mana to let it exist.
''I know I''m lazy, but relying on just two spells because they''re already super strong seems like a good idea to stop developing. I need more tools to deal with the situations presented to me, and those tools would be hard to create especially powerful spells. What should I call them, though, since they''re extremely different from more ''ordinary'' spells like Magic Bullet or a Magic Wall? The ''Star'' category? Sounds dumb as fuck...''
The sound of a wheel spinning echoed in his mind while the clapping of an illusory public accompanied it. Glenn sighed.
"And, for your greatest pleasure once again, the name specialist, Diamanes! Let the wheel spin..."
The clapping dimmed as Diamanes waited for the result of the wheel he created himself.
"...Let me check the result...Hah! Not a bad one!"
Glenn drew a deep breath and painfully rubbed his temple. He didn''t know what was worse, between Diamanes'' tomfoolery or the fact that the entity was better at naming things than he was.
"...The winner is..." A drum roll made the suspense grow, "...Astral Sorcery!" exclaimed Diamanes with a satisfied tone. Glenn nodded tiredly.
"Yeah, sure, Astral Sorcery it is, then. So, how does that make us progress, exactly?" The young man asked in an irritated manner. Diamanes smiled widely.
"You know how important it is to name things, Glenn! After all, without a name, it was as if it didn''t exist or remained in the blur of incomprehension." The entity grinned wickedly, before sinking back into Glenn''s purple left palm. The young man pondered silently.
''Things without a name do not exist...Are names that important? Wait, isn''t the School of Word using ''names'' to create spells? So, wouldn''t names be equivalent to keys for power? And maybe the Dragon School is simply using these ''names'' differently so that they don''t need to be said aloud to work...''
''Not everything I say is a matter for you to think about so deeply, man...'' Diamanes chuckled mockingly, making Glenn wince.
''I''m just trying to grab at any straws I can find, alright?''
A rumble coming from the depths of the quarry suddenly stopped him in his thoughts, as the closest marble wall suddenly crumbled, letting a figure in the dust dash through it. Glenn jumped to his feet, Mana swirling madly around his right arm. The figure suddenly appeared out of the dust cloud, bearing an enormous amount of Blumar under its arm. The figure''s forehead was visible, a familiar white mark shining on it. Glenn squinted.
"...Sahro?"
The Black Heir ran without stopping, dropping the Blumar under his arm on the ground before turning back from where he came from. A dozen red lights shone through the dust, the ground trembling as gigantic weights moved toward the camp.
"Glenn, I have one good news and one bad news. Which one do you want?" Sahro exclaimed nervously, a crackle of electricity running around his unsheathed curved sword. Glenn jumped next to him, staring at the dozen golems approaching through the dust.
"...I feel like I know what the bad news is, so just give me the good one," Glenn clenched his teeth, a flurry of Drilling Bullets appearing around him. Sahro turned his head toward his friend, grinning with all his teeth.
"We''re rich!"
113. ROCK AND STONES!!
Glenn blinked, before turning back toward the dozen golems charging at them.
''What is this idiot talking about?''
An arrow enveloped in a dark Aura flew above his head, shooting for one of the golems'' crystals. An explosion burst out as the light was snuffed out, and one of the golems crumbled down to the ground. The golems charged through the dust welcomed with a hail of Drilling Bullets. Glenn clenched his teeth as he aimed and shot magic without interruption, trying not to pay attention to Sahro gasping for air beside him.
''The hell happened for him to be that tired?'' thought the young man as he destroyed another golem. The pile of stone fell to the ground, instantly replaced by two of its brothers, hurling their stone fists at him. Glenn charged his legs in Mana to jump over the attacks but remembered what caused him to break his arm, and chose instead to summon a Triple Magic Wall, which as its name let one guess, was just three Magic Walls piled together.
Simple and not very efficient in terms of cost-efficiency, but it worked. The golems crashed on the barrier and stumbled backward, bouncing off the protection. Glenn felt his magic break and dismissed it without hesitation, rushing forward to the closest golem. He jumped on it, summoning a magic spear in his right hand. He quickly climbed to the level of the crystal and willed the spear to spin at great speed, using it to pierce through the red crystal. The golem crumbled when its other counterpart jumped on its remains to try and crush Glenn with all of its weight.
The young man launched a burst of Mana to propel himself out of the way while firing a Drilling Bullet upwards, aimed at the jewel. Glenn frowned as he saw the projectile pierce just beside the crystal.
''Miss. Shit.''
He rolled backward, before bending forward, an immense weight passing right over his head. Another golem tried to punch him from behind, already preparing his other fist to crush the pesky human in front of him. Sadly for the golem, an arrow pierced through the air before shattering its red crystal. A blade of crimson Aura cut through the dust and stones, destroying another golem.
Glenn coughed from the dust, before summoning a Blackhole and throwing in the direction the golems came from. All of the stones from their corpses flew toward the Blackhole, creating a storm of stones that destroyed everything on its way.
The young man jumped back and took a breather as the Blackhole slowed the golems a little. He turned toward Sahro with an awed expression.
"What the fuck did you do?!?" He screamed over the cacophony, Sahro only pointing at the huge amount of Blumar behind him. Glenn shook his head, and shot another Drilling Bullet at one of the surviving golem, this time hitting right in the crystal and destroying the golem. The dust was swallowed alongside the rocks, letting the group discover that only five golems were remaining.
"Wow, we took care of them much faster than I thought we would have," Glenn remarked, before smacking himself on the head. The moment he said that rubbles rose from the ground around red crystals and four more golems, totaling nine giant moving rocks.
''Yeah, maybe you should just shut the fuck up,'' Diamanes laughed at his host''s expenses. Sahro drew a deep breath before charging his curved sword to his side, preparing yet another Aura-charged slash. His eyes flashed with a crackle of blue electricity, and he suddenly disappeared from Glenn''s eyes. A blue line appeared in the air, and one of the golem suddenly fell apart, split in two. Sahro stumbled forward, swearing while holding his right foot.
Glenn sneered, before concentrating and manipulating his Mana carefully. The golems'' attention had switched to Sahro after his flashy charge, so he had a few seconds to come up with a way to deal with them. His mind raced as he tried to create a new spell with his Astral Sorcery.
''Think, think... Space, stars, blackhole, gravity...gravity?!''
The young man drew a deep breath and stared at one of the golem charging toward Sahro. His Mana burned madly as he designed his spell in real-time. The golem took another step forward, and, pushing forward, suddenly flew into the air uncontrollably. The Black Heir reflexively shoots out a blade of Aura at it, splitting it in two in the air, but missing the red crystal. The remains pulled themselves together, stitching back into a golem, only, it was floating dozens of meters above the ground, and still rising.
The golem tried to move its limbs hazardously but couldn''t control its flight. It looked down at its brethren still fighting on the ground as if slowly flew away. Glenn grinned and twisted his hand down, willing for the polarity of his spell to change. The golem suddenly came crashing down, landing on the other golems and crushing them all into fine dust. Glenn huffed as it looked at the result of his little experiment.
"Gravity Manipulation seems like a good name for that, don''t you think, Diamanes?" He mumbled, looking at Sahro cutting down another golem, its red crystal exploding in a cloud of crimson dust. An arrow flew out again, shooting out the last golem still standing, its body crumbling down in a white cloud. Glenn rubbed his neck, smiling with a satisfied expression, before remembering that these golems didn''t attack for no reason.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Sahro, care to explain why the hell we just got attacked by half of the quarry?" He asked menacingly. Sahro raised his hand innocently, before pointing with his chin at the Blumar he brought back.
"Well, I think I took the equivalent of their child away from them."
Glenn blinked, before smacking his lips together.
"...What?"
Maybe he just understood wrongly. Sahro walked beside the Blumar and touched it with the tip of his sword.
"I searched for the Three-Eyes Golem but didn''t find him, so instead I looked around, and I found that stuff lying there in a small cave. So I took it, and suddenly a dozen golems appeared out of nowhere. I chose to come back and regroup, which, worked pretty well in the end, didn''t it?" The Black Heir explained with a wide grin.
Glenn sighed, rubbing the corner of his eyes. He shook his head and crouched next to the piece of Blumar. He picked it up, frowning when he realized that it was at least ten times heavier compared to the piece of rock he got on one of the golems.
"I wonder how much that piece is worth..." He mumbled, before looking up, noticing Lefeivre staring at the chunk of Blumar with his jaw hanging on the ground. The foreman ran next to them, practically stealing the material out of Glenn''s hand, taking out a magnifying glass to check the rock out.
''Imagine having your whole house made out of that stuff...'' The young man thought while staring at the light-swallowing, deep blue rock. Lefeivre took a few notes in a booklet and weighed the stone precisely with the help of a copper scale. Lefeivre breathed out shakily, storing his tools back with trembling hands. He slowly gave the Blumar back to Glenn before rubbing the edge of his nose.
"So, phew, for a piece of that weight and purity, we''re talking about..." Lefeivre flipped his notebook open, verifying a certain data before nodding to himself, "... forty-nine gold, fifty-three silver, and twenty-one copper. Cough, of course, that''s without taking into account the taxes from the kingdom, but it''s still around forty, forty-five gold. An... an incredible find, if I dare to say," said the foreman with a shaky voice.
Glenn looked at Sahro, who looked back at him. The both of them looked at the Blumar at the same time, the ember of greed lighting up in their eyes.
"...Around forty-five gold, you say...?" Glenn huffed as he felt his hands holding the Blumar trembling. Sahro slowly sheathed his sword, before pointing at the deep blue rock.
"...That...That stuff is worth as much as six months of a Gold Fixer''s hard work?" He let out with a rasp. Lefeivre nodded excitedly, a huge grin decorating his face.
"Yes, this is that expensive. But we need to do some extensive testing to see how pure the Blumar is. The purer the material, the more it resists magic attacks, but that''ll have to wait"
Pang!
Lefeivre took a few steps back after something just whistled past his head. Glenn looked at the Blumar with a shocked expression, the material still unchanged and unscratched.
"Shit, I just shot a Magic Bullet at that stuff and it just ricocheted? Hey, should I try using a stronger spell?" He asked, turning toward Sahro. The Black Heir hesitated for a second, then took a few steps back.
"Yeah, yeah, go for it!" He replied with a thumbs-up. Glenn shrugged and shot out an Implosion without hesitation.
Boom!
A cloud of dust arose from the impact as the chunk of Blumar flew through the air, threatening to crash down on the ground at any moment.
Lefeivre''s face paled as he scrambled to his feet, catching the deep blue rock at the last second, at the cost of his clothes and own body.
"Phew, alright..." The foreman stood up carefully, holding the Blumar like a precious baby, before verifying it. There didn''t seem to be any changes on the Blumar, as far as anyone could tell. Glenn''s hand rose slowly, but Lefeivre snapped his neck at him.
"NO! You stop with your bullshit! This thing is worth more than your life, so stop trying to destroy it!" A big vein pumped on Lefeivre''s forehead as he hid the Blumar behind his back. Glenn raised an eyebrow.
"...But didn''t you say we needed to test it?"
"Shut up! Leave me be!" Lefeivre quickly ran away with his prize, an ecstatic expression on his face. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a gaze, before shrugging.
"Well, that''s one less chunk of debt we need to take care of, I suppose," Glenn sighed, putting his hands in his pocket. Sahro chuckled and walked off, before freezing in his steps.
"...Glenn?"
The denominated turned his head confusedly.
"What?"
The Black Heir licked his lips voraciously.
"Didn''t you tell me that the Three-Eyed Golem was made of Blumar?"
Glenn''s face lit up and he smiled wickedly.
"...Indeed, a big part of its body is made of it, yes. Do you want to...?" The young man trailed off, before looking back at the camp. Sahro followed his gaze, biting his lower lip.
"...I mean, they''ll survive if we just leave for a little while, isn''t that right?" Sahro tempted Glenn. The young man hesitated, looking back between the camp and the depths of the quarry, where a literal goldmine was waiting to be harvested.
Glenn opened his mouth, rubbed the back of his head, and sighed.
"Hah, I suppose we''ll have to wait a bit. I don''t even have a weapon right now, and that damned golem is half immune to magic attacks. There''s nothing we can do..."
Sahro raised an eyebrow.
"...Okay, I''ll go alone then," said the Black Heir while slowly turning around to head back for the depths of the quarry. Glenn turned around, forcing himself not to follow him. He ground his teeth, split in two between the two terrible decisions. How could he choose between the safety of his camp and money
A few seconds later...
Two men were running in the labyrinth of the Blumar Quarry, heading for a specific point in the depth of the excavation site.
"Alright, so we turn there, then we jump there, oh, that''s where I beat up the first golem, then there... Ah, here''s the bastard!" Glenn exclaimed, dusting the white dust off his pants.
Glenn and Sahro were standing on top of one of the marble walls, staring at an expertly hidden trio of red gems lodged under a thick layer of white dust, barely visible under the light of the burning sun. The Three-Eyed Golem hadn''t moved at all from his spot from where Glenn had left him previously. The two young men exchanged glances, smiling greedily. Glenn rubbed his hands together while Sahro licked his lips, both already imagining the price Lefeivre would give them for such a find.
It was time to pay their debts, and to make some money on top.
And in bonus, they got to fuck up one mean son of a rock.
It was bound to be a fun one, this time.
114. ? And Way Up, We Goooo ?
"...I know we said we were going to kick this thing''s ass, but what''s the plan?"
"Uh, I don''t know, you''re the one who fought him. Aren''t you the one coming up with those?"
"..."
"I mean, plans are just the ways for the weak ones to fight back, so I''m not great in that matter, you know."
"...Fuck you, I don''t need no plan to beat your ass. And right now, I''m pretty sure charging in like a bull will result in us getting squashed."
"Sure, sure...Chicken."
"What did you say?"
Glenn and Sahro looked at the Three-Eyed Golem hiding in one of the marble walls of the quarry, its three red crystals hidden under thick white dust. The two young men were still hesitating to attack the creature, struggling to find a way to defeat it without dying or critically injuring themselves in the process. The Black Heir rubbed the back of his head, sighing.
"What did you even come here for, anyway? The golem is practically immune to magical attacks, aren''t you just going tickle him with your attacks?" jested Sahro away. Glenn didn''t reply and tried creating a Gravity Manipulation field around the golem, but as soon as his Mana touched the Blumar composing the creature''s body, it was disrupted and disappeared into nowhere, effectively wasting the Mana he invested.
"I can''t even influence its surroundings. Shit, that thing is just too strong against mages..." Glenn clenched his fists, turning his head away.
"...Am I forced to just serve as your support? Damn, being the sidekick sucks..." The young man sighed as Sahro chuckled silently.
"Oh no, little Glenn is required to not act like the main protagonist for once, how terrible and awful!" Diamanes mocked aloud, succeeding in making Sahro laugh. Glenn gritted his teeth, leaning his head back.
"Are you guys allying yourselves against me now? Fuck..."
Glenn pushed himself from the ground, staring at the immobile golem. There weren''t many things he could use to help Sahro in the battle. He took a deep breath and clenched his arms together.
"Alright, let''s resume one last time. That golem is tough, resistant to magic, mightily strong, and extremely fast for its size while retaining a high intellect. Thank God, it''s limited to physical attacks. If it was able to shoot lasers or something, that truly would have been an unstoppable opponent..." He shook his head, while Sahro warmed up his right arm, an electrical current appearing into thin air where his left arm previously was.
"Let''s get to it, shall we?" The Black Heir sneered, before unsheathing his sword and jumping down without any hesitation. Glenn cursed and followed his friend in the fall, summoning a magical platform under his legs to slow his descent.
''We don''t even have an idea of what we''re doing! Couldn''t he have waited like three more minutes?!?'' Glenn thought exasperatedly, gently landing on the ground. Sahro rolled on the ground and charged his curved sword with a dark-red Aura, his muscles bulging as he readied himself to shoot out a powerful blade of pure energy. The golem flinched, making the dust fall off its body. It slowly dislodged itself from its socket in the marble wall, making it rumble and crackle under the heavy weight change.
"Hah!" Sahro shot out the blade of crimson Aura, readying another one as soon as the attack left his sword. The blade flew through the air with a sharp sound, cutting through the golem''s body like a hot knife in butter.
Or so it seemed.
The Black Heir turned his head toward Glenn and flashed a smile at him.
"Aura-users supremacy!" He raised his sword to the sky until he realized that his friend''s expression had changed to complete fright. Glenn gulped, and instantly entered Overload, willing his Circles to run at their maximum speed. A grinding sound echoed in his body as his Mana Heart went over its natural limit, charging with an enormous quantity of Mana. The golem''s body had indeed been cut, but only in the part where the Blumar was missing.
It seemed like the Mana-resistant material could also defend against Aura. Sahro cursed and ran back.
"Shit! It also stops Aura! How are we supposed to get rid of this thing?!" He yelled before flashing away in a blue electrical current. Glenn clenched his teeth and controlled his raging Mana as best he could, using the excess to fuel Diamanes'' power and summon the chilling freeze of Nitrogen.
"...Let''s hope the Nitrogen Lance will be able to do at least a little something to him..." He mumbled while a bead of sweat fell from his forehead. The golem glanced down at the superficial wound Sahro inflicted on him, before completely getting himself out of the marble wall. It stepped toward Glenn menacingly, its three jewels shining evilly, but the young man didn''t react and only continued to prepare his spell. A single movement would disrupt his concentration, and it would be a terrible loss to just waste all this Mana.
The golem''s fist rose, covering the young man under its threatening shadow, until a flash of blue crackled in front of him. A second later, the golem''s right leg, half-marble and half-Blumar, shattered like porcelain, bringing the golem to its knee. The Blumar remained, but with the loss of all that marble, the golem was destabilized and lost its balance. The ground shook heavily, but it didn''t stop Glenn from casting his most powerful spell yet.
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
A raging blue laser that swallowed everything in its path shot out of his joined hands, piercing through the golem and making the marble wall behind it explode. A thick layer of ice covered everything in the range of the attack, shining in every color of the world under the light of the sun. Steam evaporated in the air as Glenn took a step back, stumbling as he held his chest with a pained expression. It felt as if a seared iron had been lit up right inside it, burning him from the inside.
"Yeah, I''m not sure using Overload is a sustainable option in fights. At this rate, you''re just going to end up as a kamikaze, mate," Diamanes remarked aloud, its mouth appearing in Glenn''s purple palm. The young man winced as he forced himself to stay on his feet while he drew as much air as he could. Each breath seemed to calm the pain in his chest as if the air was cooling down the overheating Mana Heart.
Sahro suddenly appeared next to Glenn, gasping for air.
"Gasp, it looks, phew, it looks like it worked. Damn, that spell looked cool as hell. Is that what you used back against the undead horde?" Sahro asked curiously, trying to hide his legs shaking. Glenn nodded, doing his best not to look at Sahro trembling.
''It seems like his electrical power is taking quite a lot from him. As much as Overload takes from me, I suppose. Power always comes at great cost, after all...'' Glenn wiped off his forehead, smiling weakly.
"This wasn''t an easy fight, but nothing that couldn''t be resolved with a bit of effort, as always"
A loud banging sound cut Glenn off as the cloud of steam that rose from the attack dissipated, revealing the golem''s skeleton. All of the marble covering it was practically gone, spare for some minuscule bits here and there. The young man could barely distinguish the creature''s shape, the Blumar shaping its body making it seem like a crooked skeleton. The magic-resistant stone, originally of a deep, dark blue, was now searing red like a hot iron. It was sizzling loudly as more steam came out of it, creating an ominous cloud around the strange shape the golem now took.
"Oh. Is that the second phase?" Diamanes innocently asked. Glenn gulped and felt a chill being sent down his spine. A looming threat of death, unavoidable and unstoppable. A flash of blue suddenly appeared in his eyes, and he found himself a few dozen meters away, Sahro gasping heavily next to him. Glenn looked back to its previous position, discovering in horror that the Blumar Golem was standing there, a claw-like arm cutting deeply through the ground. The creature with a previously well-balanced body covered in heavy marble now possessed extremely thin legs seemingly sculpted for speed, while its arms separated into three long but thin blades that seemed able to slice anything up. Its chest was gone, replaced by a circle of Blumar serving as the main structure holding everything together.
"We need to target the jewels!" Glenn yelled when a flash of blue light appeared once again and carried him away. The young man''s vision warped and he suddenly found himself on top of one of the quarry''s marble walls, staring in awe at the golem standing right where he previously was. Sahro fell to the ground beside him, an electrical current running through his body madly. The Black Heir''s trembled for a few seconds until he finally managed to take back control of himself.
"Fuck, this thing is too fast! I could barely see it!" He spat out, huffing heavily with exhaustion as he tried to push himself from the ground. Glenn winced as he pulled his friend back up, the pain in his chest had not receded entirely.
''I need to precisely attack its jewels...As disgusting as that sounds, that''s our best solution!'' His mind raced as he tried to find a solution against this opponent. Sahro was exhausted due to overusing his unfamiliar electrical current, and their attacks did nothing to the golem. A gust of wind suddenly surged as the golem appeared in front of the two young men, its head bent up to the side weirdly, its trio of red crystals staring at them. Glenn gritted his teeth and thrust his hand forward, aiming for the jewels. The golem surprisingly didn''t avoid but instead blocked with its two crooked arms.
Too bad for him that the attack wasn''t aimed at its jewels. The wall they were standing on suddenly crackled as Glenn artificially increased its weight with Gravity Manipulation. The golem''s Blumar feet sank into the ground, dispelling the Mana, but Glenn still smiled wickedly. The marble crumbled under them, the golem sinking into it uncontrollably. Electricity crackled around Sahro as he tried to use a little more of his powers, but it disappeared with a spark.
"...Shit, I''m out," whispered the Black Heir, feeling his legs give up under him. Glenn tried to cast a magical platform under the both of them, but the Blumar Golem''s influence disrupted his magic, making it impossible.
"Fuck!" The young man cursed, and both he and Sahro fell into the rubble as the marble wall crumbled on top of them, swallowing the golem along. Suddenly, the two young men fell inversed, and instead of descending, they began to...ascend. Well, it was more Glenn dragging Sahro behind him as he fell...up?
''Oh shit, I feel like I''m going to puke,'' Glenn struggled to form a thought as he concentrated his Gravity Manipulation on his own body and inversing his fall. Sahro clenched his hand harder, his eyes bulging as their body throttled through the air while rising against the fall of the rubble. The golem''s three red crystals shone brightly as it stared at the two young men escaping, and suddenly flared up with an ominous light. Glenn barely managed to catch a glance of the wave of light as the golem self-detonated and blew them away. The shockwave propelled even further up in the sky, their bodies flying away like feathers in the wind, free from the restriction of that silly thing called gravity.
They soon reached the hundred-meter mark, still ascending without stopping. The quarry became ridiculously small beneath them, and in his panic, Glenn dispelled his spell. Their rise slowed down in the sky, allowing them to appreciate the incredible spectacle of Blumar''s quarry and the forest that surrounded it, as the bright sun began its descent to the horizon, painting the treetops an orange and magenta hue. The air was the purest Glenn had ever felt, but it was a pity that he felt it was the last breath he would ever take in his life. Time seemed to come to a standstill... until it resumed back.
"Heh, what a view!" Diamanes bellowed through the wind, having the time of his life.
"Ohhhhhhh shiiiiiiitttttt" Glenn and Sahro screamed as they began free-falling, the wind whistling in their ears as they dangerously came back closer to the ground, threatening to transform into meat crepes any time now. Glenn clenched his eyes tightly shut as he summoned any wisp of Mana left in his body to try and reverse their gravity again, and an instant before they landed, their bodies rolled through the air and gently arrived against the ground.
Glenn dismissed his Mana and fell hard, cold sweat covering his back, the young man gasping madly for air. Sahro was huffing heavily next to him, lying face down against the marble.
"Fuck...I almost pissed myself there..."
"Same bro, same. Shit..."
115. The Stars Have Aligned!
Glenn panted as he rested his head against the quarry''s warm marble ground. Sahro chuckled nervously beside him, still lying on his face.
"Haha...We flew away that time..." The Black Heir pushed himself off the ground, stumbling on his feet as he struggled to recover his senses. Glenn soon copied him, dusting off his clothes and naked chest. He quickly gave up and muttered a Mundare to clean himself, but a spark of Mana and a pang in his chest informed him that his body was practically empty of Mana as of now.
"...Not the hardest fight in my life, but certainly the one that scared the most shit out of me," muttered the young men, glancing at the surrounding destruction they caused. The wall where the golem was previously hiding was completely collapsed, reduced to a pile of white rubble, while the creature itself had blown itself up to smithereens. Glenn''s eyes widened and his heart missed a beat as he suddenly realized.
"No..." He whispered, holding his head in horror. Sahro looked at him, before following his gaze and staring at the ash covering the white marble. The confusion on his face was soon replaced by deep despair.
"I...Curses!" Sahro swore through his teeth, clenching his fist in anger. Glenn fell to his knee in front of the rubble, his arms hanging by his side.
"My money..." He barely managed to say, his eyes looking for any Blumar leftover from the explosion.
But, sadly for the two of them, the Blumar Golem had effectively managed to get rid of every single piece of his body, making all of this precious Blumar disappear in its self-implosion. The young men exchanged a glance and sighed simultaneously. Glenn stood with difficulty, a deep grief anchored in his heart as he dragged his feet back in the camp''s direction. Sahro followed him with a similarly dispirited expression, not even sparing a look at the mess they had made of this part of the quarry.
"...Fuck my life," Glenn spat to the side. This was the worst time investment he had made until now, even if he somehow succeeded in finding a new way to use his Gravity Manipulation spell. That stuff will surely need some additional training so he doesn''t end up almost accidentally killing himself again by flying and crashing hard against the ground.
''Way too dangerous for my taste...''
Diamanes sneered into Glenn''s mind without adding anything. The young man''s eyelids twitched and the corner of his lips curved upward slightly.
Alright, it was a bit thrilling. But just a bit. Not something he wanted ever to repeat. Not at all. Cough.
The two young men forced themselves to walk back to the camp and were so concentrated on making sure they wouldn''t collapse from exhaustion that they missed a dark-robed figure dancing weirdly on top of one of the untouched marble walls.
Glenn and Sahro managed to drag themselves back to the camp without meeting any obstacles, maybe a lucky event, or simply the calm before the storm. The fact was that even if they met a single golem, there were chances they would have to fight with their lives on the line with how much energy they expended on the Three-Eyed Blumar Golem. Glenn was still feeling his chest tighten in pain from time to time, while Sahro''s legs kept on shaking uncontrollably as if he had just done the most intense leg day of his life.
The young man smiled silently as he imagined his friend squatting his life away in a gym, before shaking his head dejectedly.
''I doubt they have squat presses in this world. Heh, does the concept of gyms even exist here?'' Glenn''s thoughts trailed off as the sun finally left his spot, leaving it for the twin moons to hang in. The camp was exactly as they left it, Javier standing watch on top of the highest marble wall calmly.
''Is there even a single time you''ve seen him something else but calm?'' Diamanes jested, making his host shrug.
I''m pretty sure he''s so devoid of emotion that his state can''t be described as calm. He''s more like a...I don''t know, a rock? It''s just that he doesn''t feel things, I guess,'' Glenn theorized, summoning the upper part of his clothes with a simple thought. The night was probably going to be cold, and there was a good chance he''d take the first shift. It would be for the best if he could avoid catching a cold.
Reed approached him with a half-curious and half-angry expression.
"GlennSir, respectfully, where did you go? The men, and mostly the workers, were scared to death when they realized that two-thirds of our fighting power just left without a word!" The mercenary moved his arms frantically.
"I can''t stress enough how important you or Sir Sahro''s presence is to us! We, no, you need to come and..."
Glenn used his pinky to scratch the inside of his ear, before staring straight into Reed''s eyes. The mercenary stopped talking and looked back confusedly. Glenn took the most serious face and tone he could and licked his lips.
"Reed, don''t tell this to anyone, but we left to fight the most dangerous enemy of the quarry. An absolute demon that could have crushed this whole camp. We barely won by combining our forces with Sahro, and that was thanks to a gamble on my side," Glenn explained with a secretive voice, squinting as if to find any people spying on his conversation. Diamanes laughed loudly in his host''s mind.
''Haha, and the worst of it is that you''re not even lying! Hahaha!''
Reed''s face changed to an understanding one, and he bowed slightly his head.
"I...I''m sorry Sir Glenn," said the mercenary in a more respectful tone, "...I never could have guessed there was such a strong enemy in this quarry. Should I prepare the convoy for leaving?" He asked with his arms clamped behind him. Glenn shook his head and waved dismissively.
"Nah, don''t worry. We took care of the big bad boy, the rest should only be small golems like the one Sahro brought back a little earlier in the day. That''s nothing too dangerous to us, and I bet Javier could take care of such a golem wave by himself. Right, Javier?" He said the last sentence a little louder while looking at the perched Pale Son, who only replied with a silent and empty gaze. Glenn smacked his lips together and nodded.
"See?"
Reed moved his head up and down hesitantly, before frowning.
"I''m sorry, Sir, but do you mind telling me what kind of opponent you fought so we can recognize what we need to flee away from?" He asked curiously. Glenn rubbed his chin and leaned forward with a hardened face.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"That thing was..." His tone grew grave, so much that Reed gulped at the heaviness Glenn exuded. The mercenary could see the burning flames of despair in the Fixer''s eyes as he thought back to that terrible opponent.
"...Just pray you won''t ever meet it, or it will punish you with the worst fate that one can ask for," Glenn finally said gravely, turning his head away with his fists tightly clenched. Reed huffed, fear encroaching on his throat.
"...What kind of demon was that thing for you to say that?" He whispered, flinching when he saw Glenn''s sharp gaze look back at him. The young man drew a small breath and grimaced painfully.
"...The worst kind. Trust me," Glenn walked away, his shoulders heavy with the burden he bore. Diamanes was dying from laughter inside his mind, so much that if he could have rolled himself on the ground, he would have.
''HHAHAHAHA!!! "The worst kind"! HAHAHAHA!!! Is it truly that painful to lose all of this Blumar? You''re exaggerating!'' The entity mocked without restraint, but Glenn ignored him as he thought back to all of that potential money now lost.
''...Is that how Monsieur Maron felt? Shit, I feel like that when I lost money that I didn''t even earn yet, how worse was it for that merchant who invested his life savings in Palancar?'' Glenn sighed and threw a sympathetic gaze at Maron''s carriage, still closed and sealed off to any exterior influence.
His chest tightened once more with pain, making him trip on his feet. He held himself on the nearest wall, breathing slowly in a poor attempt to calm his sufferings, without much success. Glenn hurriedly chose a relatively discreet spot and sat cross-legged, immediately immersing in Meditation. The Circles surrounding his Mana Heart were still spinning quite fast, continuously drawing Mana in, Mana which then leaked out of his body somehow.
''It seemed like that leak is causing the pain...But where the hell is all of this Mana going?'' Glenn couldn''t help but wonder, clenching his teeth through the pain and following the trail of Mana. The energy was leaving his body, only to be gathered back in his Mana Heart in a vicious circle where barely any ''fresh'' Mana entered his system. Glenn''s brows furrowed as he tried to patch the leak, but a searing pain in his chest immediately discouraged him from doing so.
But when the young man thought back to all of that debt he could have paid off and that freedom he could have earned back, the pain in his chest disappeared, replaced by even greater despair.
''You''re ridiculous...''
''Shut up! My soul bleeds a little more when I think back to how much money I''ve lost! Had I not taken on Maron''s cursed job, I would have already saved Giselle''s grandson, beat up the Baron, and earned the Black Heir''s support to destroy this cursed Thorn''s Church! Don''t you see how important money is, here?'' Glenn burst forth at Diamanes, making the Diamanes laugh even louder.
''Uhh, nah, sorry. Should have just been transmigrated into a rich body like your mate Exan there, heh. I even dare to say, skill issue, bro,'' Diamanes sneered as his presence became faint in Glenn''s mind. Fuming, the young man pushed through the pain at the pure strength of his will and spite, forcefully blocking the Mana leak.
''Skill issue...I''ll show you skill issues, you bastard!''
The Mana, unable to leave Glenn''s body, kept on accumulating inside his Mana Heart, soon filling back to the brim as the Circles accelerated without stopping. Glenn''s face paled as he failed to slow the Circles down, too focused already on stopping the leak. Had Glenn been able to observe his body from outside like how Javier was currently doing, he would have witnessed his veins filling with the overflowing Mana, lighting up with a pulsing mystical blue light.
''Shit, I''m going to explode, aren''t I?'' Glenn panicked as he tried to split his mind in two, focusing half of it on the leak and the other on slowing the two gray runic Circles. Stretching his resources so thin earned him a searing pain in his chest as he lost entire control of his Circles and failed to keep on stopping the leak. His muscles bulged forward and his skin reddened violently to give him a look that would probably be trendy among lobsters.
''...Heh, seems like you get what''s coming for you,'' Diamanes sneered as his voice faded away, drowned under the raging Mana. Glenn''s mind raced as he tried to find a solution.
''Fuck, fuck, I...I need to direct the Mana somehow!''
Glenn gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore the pain the leak caused in his chest as he redirected the Mana to flow back into his body without leaving through the leak. There were noticeable losses, but he couldn''t bother with that at all right now. Glenn''s mind suddenly sharpened as he glimpsed accidentally at the three runic words mainly composing his current two Circles.
''Gather...'' His eyes shot back to the Mana filling his Mana Heart and more to the brim.
''I need to...process it!'' Glenn''s gaze lit up as he imagined a funnel to redirect the Mana, making the exit extremely small. The Mana rushed in by itself, flooding the funnel as a thin stream of Mana shot out powerfully from its end. The young man frowned, dismissing the idea of the funnel as the Mana poured out too fast for him to control.
''This isn''t the way... I need to process it into a more controllable shapeCough!''
Glenn coughed out blood in the real world and he barely managed to remain in his Meditation.
''I don''t have much time!'' The looming threat of death hung above Glenn''s head as he struggled painfully. He clasped his hands together to form a cup-like shape and willed the Mana to go through it, forcing a perpetual flow in motion. It wasn''t the best solution he could visualize, but since the funnel didn''t work, he''d just have to use his actual body to act like it. The Mana rushed through the triangle before circling back, starting to form an actual working cycle. Glenn began to smile as the pain in his chest finally stabilized, leaving him with a slight breathing room.
''Okay, it''s gathering well, and I don''t know if it''s processing, but it''s certainly doing something. Shit, those things would have been a hundred times easier had I had a proper teacher... I swear that I''ll talk with the old man as soon as I''m back in King''s Rise,'' He thought as he kept his focus on maintaining the cycle. The Mana road was sending pulses of energy through his body, shaking his concentration and destabilizing the fragile balance of the whole system.
''The last touch...Amplify...Amplify...Amplify with what? How?'' Glenn racked his brains desperately, his back covered in sweat.
''I can''t let it grow stronger or I''ll lose control, so that can''t be it. Shit, why is all of this stuff so cryptic?!?''
Suddenly, like the light at the end of the tunnel, the memory of him creating his Second Circle surged back in his memory. It had happened much more naturally, in a less controlled environment than how he previously was. Perhaps the right and safest choice was to let the Third Circle form naturally, but Glenn had lost that right by receiving Onnea''s help and overusing Overload.
Natural growth had to be discarded for precise, well, kind-of-precise manipulation, since in reality, he had no idea if what he was doing was going to work.
''I created Implosion using the attribute of my Mana Heart, the first essence of Astral Sorcery. Amplify...''
Glenn watched the Circles'' spinning speed increase, his thoughts slowing down as the answer dawned on him.
''Gather the Mana...Process it into a Circle...''
The young man drew a deep breath as the Mana swirled around him, his veins glowing brightly in the night with magical energy. The light of the twin moons shone on his face as he sat on the now-cold marble, watched over by the countless stars in the sky.
''Amplify it with your essence...Astral Sorcery!'' Glenn''s eyes shot open and he clenched his teeth as he forcefully infused the mystical power of the Magellanic Clouds into the creation of his Third Circle. The flow of Mana sped up crazily, making his body shake with powerful tremors. The young man''s eyes bulged as he restrained a scream of pain, his entire being concentrated on his objective.
The ring of Mana solidified, devoid of any color but darkness, until scattered lights suddenly lit up inside the empty void, coloring it into a myriad of colors as if formed a belt of stars. The two grey, runic Circles suddenly shivered, losing their color as they changed into similar rings of stars, shedding their old skin away. A breath of fresh air entered Glenn''s lungs as the Mana finally settled into a permanently stable shape.
"Gasp, I...Hah...Damn..." Glenn''s head leaned against the marble wall as exhaustion took over his body. Darkness encroached on his mind, but Glenn could only see the Magellanic Clouds in his Mana Heart growing, surrounded by three, bright rings of stars.
Glenn, breakthrough to the True Initiate realm.
Specialty - Astral Sorcery.
116. Breaking Walls
"You... are nothing, Glenn #######. You''re doomed to mediocrity, and you''ll accomplish nothing in this pitiful life you call yours."
Pain.
"Do you hear me? YOU. ARE. NOTHING!"Hate.
"...Tsk, it''s that bitch''s fault... Hey, Glenn #######. I''m giving you two choices... Either do as I say, or ########. Got it?"
Despair.
"Good boy. Now go get my things."
Rage.
"...What did I say?! Get lost, you mutt!"
Helplessness.
Suffocating powerlessness.
Ba-dump.
"Gasp!" Glenn''s eyes flew open and his heart raced in his chest, his mind in shambles. The ground he slept on was hard and cold, barely lit up by the twin moons hanging in the sky as they watched attentively with their pale gaze. The young man clenched his heart as he watched his surroundings with trembling eyes, soon getting a hold over his emotions as he realized that he was nowhere near "that" place.
"Shit..." He shook his head, getting rid of any thoughts related to "it", before trying to remember what he was doing before passing out. The immense power he felt in his chest soon answered that question, making him take a peek into his Mana Heart curiously.
"Yeah, I reached Third Circle... It was way different from how it happened back with Onnea, though..." Glenn entered Meditation, his eyes widening at the change of scenery. The Magellanic Clouds were still there, acting as the main organ of his Mana Heart, but the two grey runic Circles surrounding it had been replaced by three mystical star rings. Where the two Circles, and even the Third "temporary" one, were almost physically present, surrounding and canalizing his Mana''s power, the rings were instead vibrating in rhythm with the Magellanic Clouds.
It was as if they were...attuned to his Mana. And additionally, they seemed to contain power themselves. If the runic Circles were only acting as limits to control the Mana, the star rings were instead amplifiers with a symbiotic relationship with the Mana Heart. Glenn could feel it, this upgrade was way more incredible than it looked. He felt so much more...powerful, it was as if he could practically do anything he wanted.
''Cough, cough, so, huh, do you mind telling me what the hell happened?'' Diamanes'' polite cough made Glenn flinch, the young man biting his lips after realizing he had forgotten the existence of this ever-^present friend.
"Uhh, yeah, so, to resume it, I ranked up...?" Glenn hesitantly grinned as an oval-shaped mouth appeared in his left palm. Diamanes'' mouth opened and closed as, in a rare instance, the entity was at a loss for words.
"What....What do you mean, rank up? Do you even realize what you just did?" Diamanes exploded, surprising Glenn. Diamanes hissed in frustration, not giving his host a second to explain himself.
"You...You fucking broke through the Wall! You''re a Third Circle, that''s not how this shit is supposed to work!" Had he been able to have bulging eyes, Diamanes would have probably looked quite comical in this instance. Glenn scratched the back of his head with his other hand, confused.
"...The Wall? What are you talking about?" He asked with a puzzled expression. Diamanes sighed in exasperation.
"God...The Wall is the obstacle separating Initiates from Magus. It''s the ultimate hurdle to surmount before reaching a higher plane of existence!" Diamanes bordered on the verge of hysteria, confusing Glenn even deeper.
"Well, isn''t that good, then...? I broke through the Wall one stage early, that has to count for something, right?" He asked while pinching his lips. Diamanes mumbled nonsense for a few seconds, before smacking his lips together.
"Yeah, no, that''s good. That''s...that''s great, even. Shit, this fool broke through the Wall early, as if that was possible..." Diamanes trailed off as he clenched his teeth, lost in thoughts, "...But then it did happen. What am I supposed to make of that?"
Glenn leaned his head backward, still adapting to his new power. It felt so...familiar, yet so strange at the same time. He summoned his Mana while Diamanes racked his brains on whatever the entity was trying to explain, his eyes widening when he saw the flow of Mana shift differently from usual. Before, Mana was simply an energy he manipulated to cast spells and summon stuff from his imagination. Now, it was still an energy, but it felt so...close as if it was a part of himself.
''Never thought this shit would get philosophical...'' Glenn smirked, trying to cast a Magic Bullet to see and test the difference from when he was Second Circle. That time with the "temporary" Third Circle was incomparable to how he felt now. It was as if Onnea had given him a crutch back then to try and win a marathon when now he was driving an F1 car. This was two different worlds.
"...Wait, does that mean the Goddess gave me the lowest of the low in terms of power-up? What a cheapskate..." Glenn mumbled, his brows creased as he continued to focus on creating a Mana Bullet. For some reason, it was much harder than it previously was, the Mana seemingly...rejecting his intent?
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
''What the hell? Since when did Mana become able to refuse my will?'' Glenn couldn''t believe his senses as he failed at manifesting a Magic Bullet.
The first spell he ever made, the one that served him the longest, was now locked away from him. This was a shitty feeling.
"Crap, was this level-up a downgrade? Did I get patched or something?" Glenn blinked with a blank expression, the Mana swirling around him mystically. He shook his head and motivated himself.
"Nah, maybe it''s just me. Let''s just try another spell" His voice died down as he failed again after trying to cast a Drilling Bullet. Glenn became extremely serious and stood up while staring at his right hand as if the limb was the source of all these issues.
''What about the Arcane Auger?'' The young man held up a hopeful hand, but nothing appeared in the air. It wasn''t even a failure, as there was no Mana consumed or wasted. No, his Mana was simply denying his will.
"This is crazy..." Glenn drew a deep breath and looked at the marble wall behind him. He glanced back at his right hand, and in a fit of annoyance, decided to try and summon a Blackhole. The Mana surged hurriedly surged forward as if it had only been waiting for this occasion. Glenn''s eyes widened and he let go of the spell, the Blackhole flying away slowly. The moonlight warped as it was swallowed by the hungry spell, soon followed by everything in a ten-meter radius.
The young man stared with wide-opened eyes before he forced himself to shut off the Mana supplying the spell. The Blackhole had created an immense hole in the marble wall, actually opening a passage to another path where previously was standing a few dozen meters-thick marble wall. And the best of it all?
It barely consumed any Mana. Glenn blinked in amazement as he grabbed his head, unable to utter a word.
''Crap, a Blackhole is costing me as much a Magic Bullet would before!? This is insane!''
The young man let out an amazed laugh, his voice echoing in the night. He then suddenly froze, wondering.
"...What does that mean, then?" He asked aloud, looking at the destruction he caused.
"You truly attuned yourself to your Specialty," Diamanes answered aloud, the entity still struggling to recover from his shock. Glenn glanced at the mouth in the purple palm, waiting for more explanations. Diamanes didn''t make himself wait.
"When a mage reaches the Fourth Circle, and hence breaks through the Wall, he attunes with his Specialty. You never wondered why Redan only ever used Ice magic?" Diamanes sneered as Glenn suddenly realized. Indeed, in the little time he spent with the powerful old man, he had only used Ice-type spells: Ice spears, ice platforms, chilling stuff, and all that.
"...I kind of thought it was only because he, uh, liked ice?" Glenn tried, only rewarded with Diamanes mocking chuckle.
"Nah, that''s because he became completely attuned with his Mana Heart, the White Ice Spear. Hence, he became extremely powerful in that specific kind of magic, but in exchange lost all rights over different types of Mana. It would be impossible for him to create a Fireball, for example, unless he used the School of Words, which is just dumb since it''s weaker and more rigid," explained the entity. Glenn rubbed his chin thoughtfully, having a hard time to figure if he was happy with that change.
Sure, his Specialty, Astral Sorcery, became extremely powerful, but he lost the freedom to do whatever he wanted.
"I''m not sure freedom is a price I''m ready to pay..." He mumbled, pinching his lips. Diamanes snickered.
"That''s where the Specialty in question comes into place, you imbecile. Redan''s specialty is White Ice, so he can only do that, but what''s yours?"
Glenn hesitated.
"...Astral Sorcery?"
Diamanes agreed by passing his tongue over his white teeth.
"Yeah, exactly. And what does that englobe, exactly?" The entity''s voice echoed in the young man''s mind. This was a question he still had a hard time figuring, in reality.
"I...I don''t know, stars..?" Glenn made his friend sigh in annoyance.
"Yeah, sure whatever, stars. Do you even realize how wide your affinity is? You have a dwarf galaxy in place of your Mana Heart, that pretty much encompasses everything. Your Mana is on another dimension compared to normal mortals! Think! Why the hell did Redan almost die from the shock of seeing your Mana Heart?!" He exploded, trying his best to guide Glenn to the truth.
The young man blinked and Projected his Mana Heart above his palm. Technically, the Magellanic Clouds were twin irregular dwarf galaxies...Could that truly mean that he had an affinity with a fucking galaxy, no, two galaxies? Glenn shook his head in denial.
"Nah, that''s just not balanced. Imagine, everyone is like fire, earth, or shit like that, and I''m just: "fucking galaxy in your face, fucker?" This is impossible!" Glenn sneered, trying to dismiss Diamanes'' words. And yet, he knew that it kind of made sense, in a way. But then, it did raise the question of ''why the fuck would his Mana Heart be so OP?'' This seemed so...unfair, compared to other mages or even Aura Practitioners. Was there no balance whatsoever in the universe?
"Hah, of course, there is!" Diamanes sighed, "...Let me ask you. Do you think you can beat Redan, or is there more chance he''ll use you as a rag to wipe the damn floor?" Diamanes irratedly questioned. Glenn nodded slowly.
"Yeah, the second option seems still more probable..."
Diamanes smiled.
"Yeah, exactly. You might have a higher reach of possibility, a higher potential, but you didn''t reach it yet. You''re barely at the start of your journey, and you''re already thinking about using the ''power of galaxies''. Gne, fucking cringe-ass guy..." Diamanes grumbled, making his host smile.
"...So you''re telling me I''ll eventually be able to do it, right?"
"I don''t know! Fuck off, and get used to being a puny Third Circle already, damn it!" The entity snapped off. Glenn replied with a hearty chuckle, shaking his head slowly as he realized the progress he made. From shooting Magic Bullets through the Arcane Auger, then the Blackhole, and finally the true attuning with his Astral Sorcery... He had come a long way. And now, he''ll at least be able to stand back at the same level as the other bastard, who was gloating over and over that he had broken through the Third Stage both in Aura and Mana.
"That makes me think, is there truly no way to also use Aura for me...? I mean it''s pretty cool too..." Glenn mumbled, before feeling a shiver down his spine.
"Stop! Don''t even think about it! If you die because you mixed the two, I''ll haunt you even in Hell!" Diamanes raged, still fuming.
"Okay, okay, I take it back. Damn..." Glenn quickly gave up, laughing off the matter. Nonetheless, he still kept that idea in the back of his head.
After all, who wouldn''t want to be a cool magic swordsman?
The idea surely tempted him, that was for sure.
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when Javier appeared out of nowhere, his blank face shining in the moonlight as unsettling as ever. The Pale Son glanced between the collapsed marble wall and the one who had caused the destruction. Glenn shamelessly dusted himself off, before turning back to the mess he''d caused.
"Oh, that? No, that was already here before. My turn for the watch, right?"
This was indeed an eventful night.
It was still calm compared to the next day''s mess, though.
117. Where Is Maron?
Yawnnn.
Glenn stretched lazily while looking at the departing twin moons, soon replaced by an orange sun flooding the quarry of its light. The young man quietly enjoyed the sunrise, his mind and body at peace in a rare instance. Returning to the Third Circle took a load off his mind, filling him with excitement for what would follow.
"Shit..."
Well, moderate excitement. Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes, grumbling annoyingly.
''Why didn''t I use my time to rest, instead of testing my fucking magic? I''m exhausted...'' Glenn''s muscles protested as he pushed himself up, watching the camp''s awakening. Lefeivre and Reed, respectively the leaders of the working force and the mercenary troupe were the first awake, soon followed by their subordinates. Maron stayed in his carriage, safely hidden behind thick curtains. It had been a while since anyone saw a hint of the merchant''s existence since he was eating in his cabin, refusing to see anyone.
The corner of Glenn''s lips rose as he suddenly thought of a good idea. He jumped down from his perch, reflexively trying to summon a magic platform to slow his fall, only to fail miserably. He crashed on the floor ridiculously, rolling for a few meters in a mix of curses and grunts. The young man rose back up to his feet, quickly verifying that no one saw the spectacle he inadvertently gave, before dusting off his shoulders and walking off as if everything was fine.
''Wait...I think I just figured all that censored shit in your brain...'' Diamanes suddenly said, startling his host. A cold bead of sweat slid down Glenn''s back when he heard those words.
''Crap...'' The young man gulped.
''You''ve somehow managed to censor out the fact that you...'' Diamanes paused gravely, his tone extremely serious, ''...That you were a clown in the past!''
Glenn''s stress died out as fast as it appeared, his eyes widening in surprise. He blinked, chuckling in confusion.
"What...?"
Diamanes passed his tongue over his teeth, before smacking his lips.
''I mean, there can only be one explanation as to why you''re just a constant running gag of failure,'' Diamanes explained in a detached tone, not noticing the strange glint in his host''s eyes when he pronounced that last word. Glenn rubbed his chin, before sighing loudly, tragedy drawing over his face.
"Oh no! You''ve uncovered this terrible truth about my hidden past! Oh, dear sarcastic hand, may you accept this servant''s plea and not reveal this horrible secret to my peers?" Glenn performed the best act of his life, succeeding in making Diamanes lose his tongue. The entity fazed out for a few minutes, before coming to his senses.
''...Damn, where the hell did you hide the Oscar?'' Diamanes scoffed, only earning a gaze filled with pity from his host.
"Poor soul...He is unable to understand the magnificence and beauty of the art of acting!" Glenn shook his head with obviously faked sadness, a rictus hanging at his lips. Diamanes was so dumbfounded he gave up on their little bickers, an event so rare Glenn felt it right to write it down for history to remember. Diamanes snorted but didn''t continue, truly leaving Glenn alone with his thoughts. The young man concentrated back on the main task at hand, which concerned Maron''s carriage.
The young man casually jumped on top of said carriage, expecting angry ramblings, but nothing happened. Disappointed, he sat down on the ledge of the carriage, wondering how he could surprise this traumatized merchant.
"Oh, but I know just the trick. I needed to test out something, anyway..." Glenn smiled evilly as he rubbed his hands, Mana twirling over him as he prepared his most recently created spell. The carriage''s wheels slowly rose above the ground, floating gently into the air. The young man carefully manipulated gravity as he made the carriage fly into the sky, doing so as gently as possible. He wasn''t too worried about Maron jumping off, since he could just catch him with Gravity Manipulation anyway.
Lefeivre chomped on a sausage mindlessly, when a nasty cloud began to block the rising light from hitting his face. He didn''t think much about it and only changed spot to enjoy the light, but was soon forced to look at the sky in the exact manner his colleagues were doing. His eyes widened, almost dropping his sausage down from the shock.
Sahro rubbed his eyes as he got out of his tent sleepily when he saw a carriage slowly float above him.
"...What...?" The Black Heir blinked confusedly, rubbing his eyes frenetically until he noticed the familiar figure sitting on the carriage. Sahro snorted as he shook his head, unable to believe his co-worker''s foolishness. Glenn continued to make the carriage in the sky, before stopping at a reasonably scary distance. He sighed in satisfaction, before politely knocking on Maron''s window.
"Monsieur Maron, breakfast has been served," He said loudly, trying to wake up the lazy merchant. Seeing there were no movements whatsoever, Glenn knocked on the window a little louder, before frowning.
"Shit, is he dead or something? Wait..." The young man hurriedly took out a handful of coins from his dimensional pouch, making them clink and rustle in his hands. The sound of money was the best bait for the kind of animal Maron was.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
But that failed as well. Glenn grumbled as he shoved his coins back in his pouch, angrily tapping his feet against the side of the carriage, hoping to disturb the merchant enough to force him out. After a few minutes without even a single grunt of displeasure coming from the carriage''s interior, Glenn decided that he was bored and climbed on the side of the carriage, twisting it in the air at the same time so he could stand right on top of it.
He grabbed the door''s handle and forced it open, the flimsy lock unable to block him from doing much. A heavy scent of mud assaulted his nostrils, catching him off guard. Glenn squinted while climbing inside the carriage, whispering a quick Lux to illuminate the interior. It was quite the comfortable-looking carriage, with a wide two-person bed on one side and books lining up on the other. Sheets were piled over and over messily, and cushions had been placed in the most ambiguous places possible.
Nonetheless, the main piece of interest was seemingly not in the carriage. Glenn pulled on the sheets, looking under them, but failed at finding what he searched for.
Maron was not in the carriage anymore. A vein popped up on the young man''s forehead as he frantically looked through the carriage, the vehicle trembling in the air for its nervous spectators watching from the ground.
"Shit, shit, how the fuck did this stupid merchant disappear right from under our nose...?!?" Glenn pulled on his hair, unable to believe his eyes. A gust of wind pushed violently on the floating carriage, forcing him to hold himself on the side of the bed to avoid losing his balance. His foot tripped on a loose plank, and a portion of the carriage''s floor suddenly fell into the sky. Glenn stared through the wide hole in shock, the workers and mercenaries staring back at him in an equally surprised manner.
A few seconds of silence passed until Glenn hurriedly landed the carriage on the ground, avoiding the spot where it was previously parked. He jumped out of the vehicle, rushing to where the carriage had remained until now. The ground there was seemingly the same as it was in the quarry, flat marble that would warm up with the sun''s presence. Glenn frowned and charged his right hand in Mana, thrusting it against the cold marble. The ground shook and carved inward, revealing an expertly dug tunnel that led straight into the depths of Earth, large enough to let one grown man climb through it.
Glenn took a deep breath and looked back at the workers and mercenaries watching nervously. Sahro hurriedly rushed up to him, stopping right beside the hole in confusion.
"Wait...Don''t tell me...?" He pointed at the tunnel and then at the now abandoned carriage while pinching his lips. Glenn nodded silently, not even reacting when Javier arrived out of nowhere to stare into the hole alongside them. Finally, after a long minute of silence, Glenn sighed loudly and rolled up his sleeves.
"Lux," A small round ball of light appeared above his palm, gently descending into the hole. The tunnel twisted abruptly at some point, letting him guess that they dug vertically for approximately a dozen meters. There had to be a horizontal one past that descent.
''Geez, this is Prison Break level of kidnapping here. Who would even think of doing that?'' Diamanes whistled in amazement inside Glenn''s mind, not helping with how irritated he felt. The young man cracked his neck and fists, before glancing at Javier.
"Alright, you stay there and watch over the convoy. I''ll go down the hole with Sahro and try to bring back the god damned merchant. In the meantime, keep the operations on here. With a bit of luck, by the time we come back, the workers will have dug up enough Blumar for us to pay our debts off," Glenn ordered. Javier nodded silently, before staring blankly at the mercenaries and workers watching. The onlookers soon busied themselves with whatever they could think of, Javier''s dead fish''s eyes disturbing them too much.
Sahro rubbed the pommel of his curved sword, before leaning above the hole, trying to peer into it.
"...Alright, you go first thenoh shittttt" Sahro screamed as he fell down the tunnel. Glenn dusted his hands off, smiling with satisfaction.
"Hole in one!" He made a celebratory pose, before jumping down the hole, using the walls to slow down. He soon landed beside a grumbling Sahro who was doing his best to dust off his clothes covered in mud with only one hand. Glenn patted him on the shoulder before looking at the tunnel they were now in. It wasn''t large, still only enough for a man to walk through it while standing at all his height.
"Don''t fucking do that again!!" Sahro swore, vexed. Glenn ignored him, willing his magical light to guide them in the dark tunnel.
"Perhaps it was the doing of only one man, given the narrowness of the place. A skilled Earth mage could have done it alone easily," the young man surmised, oblivious to the fact that Sahro was staring at the back of his neck with stabbing glances. Glenn carefully proceeded through the tunnel, closely followed by a grumbling Sahro. A sudden noise from the direction they initially came from made the both of them stop. Sahro squinted as he looked back at the tunnel. Suddenly his face paled, and he hurriedly pushed Glenn forward, not letting him see what scared him.
"...What did you see?!?" asked Glenn, but Sahro only persisted in pushing him through the tunnel, forcing him to run as best he could.
"The damn tunnel is" A loud explosion cut the Black Heir off, encouraging Glenn to run as fast as he could. He was suddenly shoved to the side as a blue streak of electricity shot past him. Glenn swore as he spat off a bit of mud that entered his mouth, trying his best to follow Sahro into the tunnel. The magical light in front of him suddenly dimmed, hinting at a larger space. Glenn huffed as hope ignited in his heart, and he infused his legs with Mana to give himself one last push.
He jumped out of the tunnel, the latter crumbling behind him. Dust and rocks fell on his head, making him lose a heartbeat in fear that wherever they were standing might collapse as well, but after a long minute of waiting, nothing happened. Glenn sighed in relief, before searching for the Black Heir. Sahro was casually drinking from a leather flask, unbothered. Glenn bit down on his lips, before flicking his fingers.
The leather flask suddenly compressed itself as its contents splashed on Sahro''s face, startling him.
''I don''t know which use of Gravity Manipulation was the silliest, this one or the flying carriage,'' Diamanes scoffed in Glenn''s mind. Sahro wiped the water off his face, sighing, before looking around at his surroundings. Glenn soon followed his example, casting multiple Lux to help them see better in the darkness.
Glenn''s eyes widened and he took a step back in shock. In front of them was a gigantic reservoir where countless Blumar giants were sleeping, rolled into balls. The young man only understood they were giants thanks to the profusion of red crystals shining in the darkness like countless eyes staring at them.
"Shit..." Sahro whispered, his hand tightly wrapped over the hilt of his sword.
Glenn gulped, staring at this terrifying scenery.
He couldn''t have said it better.
118. They Wake Up, We Die
The two young men remained frozen in their spot, carefully watching the golems sleeping in the reservoir.
''No way the sound of the tunnel crumbling didn''t wake them up...''
Glenn and Sahro exchanged a gaze, beads of cold sweat slowly running down their faces. After a terrifying long minute without any reactions from the giants, the two finally relaxed. Sahro sighed in relief, letting go of his curved sword''s handle. Glenn wiped the sweat off his eyebrows, his hands trembling slightly.
"...Either we''re insanely lucky, or they somehow didn''t hear us," Glenn whispered, his friend reacting with a slow nod.
"It''s probably a mix of these two explanations, in my opinion," replied the Black Heir. Glenn shook his head, clearing it of the adrenaline that had taken control over it, before remembering their goal for coming into this place.
"Have you checked for traces of Maron and his kidnapper''s passage?"
Sahro shook his head negatively. Glenn licked his lips, before trying to find hints of where their target went. They were in a gigantic cave, but with the collapsed tunnel behind them and walls on the side, it only left the reservoir filled with golems.
"...This is looking pretty grim for us, Sahro," The young man stated while observing the reservoir. If one didn''t know these red shining crystals belonged to the golems, they might have mistaken the place for an incredibly rich ruby mine. There were hundreds of them, stone and Blumar golems mixed in at probably equal rates. From afar, it was hard to tell which types the golems belonged to, but Glenn had no doubt there would be many opponents as hard to fight as the Three-Eyed Blumar Golem they encountered in the quarry.
After all, it seemed like this reservoir was the golem''s breeding place or their main home at the very least.
''Golems can breed?'' Diamanes asked with incredulity. Glenn''s eyebrows rose at the question, but he didn''t bother to answer.
Truly, he didn''t even want to try and think if that was possible.
"Do you think they went through the golems?" Sahro asked worriedly, his fingers slowly rapping against the pommel of his sword. Glenn grimaced, not seeing any other possibility.
"There''s only one way to find out. I don''t know about you, but I didn''t see any traces of the kidnapper''s passage anywhere anyway. Shit, I should have taken Javier with me instead... Fucking useless meathead..." Glenn swore through his teeth. Sahro spat to the side, before making his neck crackle.
"Fuck off, you''re as useless as me in tracking stuff!" countered the Black Heir, gulping heavily as he leaned to the edge of the reservoir. Suddenly, as if his instinct had alerted him of some dangerous things, he rotated on his feet, staring at Glenn cautiously. The young man returned him a confused gaze until an understanding smile appeared on his face. He shrugged thoughtlessly before jumping down the reservoir, sliding on the rocky slope.
He landed with a roll, rising silently and throwing a glance at the golems nearby. The closest was only a few dozen meters away. Glenn waited for a few seconds, his right hand tensed up as he readied himself to cast a spell, but thankfully nothing happened. Sahro soon joined him, and the two proceeded to slowly walk amidst the golems, trying to cross the reservoir. The sound of water dripping in the cave echoed at all times, making them only more aware of the sound they were making by stepping on the cold, damp stone ground.
The balls of lights Glenn conjured floated beside them, lighting their way up silently while casting a gentle hue on the sleeping golems. Glenn and Sahro couldn''t muster the courage to say a word to each other, making their exploration dreadfully silent.
''...I feel like I''m in a graveyard or something, with how calm this place is,'' thought Glenn, speaking indirectly to Diamanes. The sound of the entity smacking its lips echoed through the young man''s mind, like the sound of the water dripping in the cave.
''Maybe it is. Maybe it''s where each golem at the end of their lives go to rest, their stone skins fated to erode in the inevitability of time...'' Diamanes sighed while Glenn listened wordlessly.
''...Since when did you get so philosophical?'' He couldn''t help but ask, taken aback.
''...I just finished Game of Thrones third season...'' replied Diamanes with a mournful tone. Glenn barely restrained himself from chuckling, mustering all of his strength to remain serious.
''Don''t worry, there are many seasons left. Think about a certain Exan who''ll never have the chance to finish the show!'' said Glenn, trying to cheer his friend up. Diamanes sighed, before going back to doing whatever he was doing, which was probably to start the show''s fourth season. The corner of Glenn''s lips curved upward slightly, the talk having alleviated a bit of the pressure he felt in this dreadful place.
Sahro suddenly stopped in his steps, raising his hand with his palm open. Glenn froze and prepared himself to cast a spell, trying to find whatever the Black Heir had found. Sahro slowly walked around one of the sleeping golems, his boots silently touching the ground at each step. Glenn followed at a snail''s pace, trying as best he could to remain stealthy, when he suddenly remembered that he once again had access to Diamanes'' powers.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
He flicked his left hand''s fingers, casting a Curse of Silence on his boots. He swiftly tested the Curse, tapping his boots on the ground, finding out that it worked exactly as he had intended. Glenn smiled, flicking his fingers at Sahro, casting the Curse upon his friend''s boots as well. Sahro suddenly looked at his feet, before turning toward Glenn and flipping a thumbs-up at him. Glenn returned the gesture and quickly joined him in staring at what the Black Heir found.
Hidden behind the golem from the casual onlooker''s view were the remnants of a small campfire. Sahro glanced at Glenn, before kneeling and picking up the ashes, rubbing it between his fingers. He nodded slightly and mouthed at Glenn.
"-Still-warm."
Glenn nodded slowly in understanding, before looking at their surroundings. There were no other apparent traces of any human passage, but one thing was for sure. If the kidnappers could light a campfire without the golems smashing them up, that meant they could talk freely. Glenn opened his mouth to communicate this information to Sahro, before closing it again.
For some reason, he still didn''t feel comfortable talking around the sleeping golems. It was threading too close to danger in his opinion, and for no reward whatsoever. Besides getting beaten to a pulp, of course.
''I mean, that could be the occasion if Blumar can resist your newfound Third-Circle strength,'' Diamanes casually commented, making Glenn sneer gleefully.
''What good would test my spells do to me if I die an hour later to this infinite amount of golem? I''ll permit myself this kind of idea when I''m able to safely teleport away or something...Wait, that''s a good idea to explore...Can I use Astral Sorcery to somehow teleport...?'' Glenn lost himself in his thoughts while Sahro stood back up, wiping the ash off his fingers.
The two continued their exploration of the reservoir, able to proceed much faster thanks to Glenn''s Silence Curse. The two had understood long ago that these precautions were seemingly useless, but it didn''t matter. It was somehow comforting while assuring them that it wouldn''t be because they made too much noise if the golems woke up.
Glenn''s magical lights suddenly flickered, making him look up in worry. The orbs of light died down silently one after the other, leaving the two in the complete dark. A pearl of cold sweat slid down Glenn''s back as he remembered one time this exact scenario happened.
''Ain''t no way I''m fighting a fucking Heart of Darkness again...''
Glenn concentrated Mana in his hand, before whispering a silent Lux. The magical light appeared for a few seconds, flickering weakly, before dispersing once again. Nonetheless, that small window of lighting had given the young man the time to find out why Mana would behave this way here. He had glanced at his feet, half-expecting to find the dark, goo-like liquid he found back in the Heart of Darkness''s lair, only to understand that the ground was entirely made up of Blumar.
The transition between the common stone and marble must have happened without them noticing since they were too busy watching the sleeping golems.
''Crap, that means Mana or Aura won''t be able to do much here...'' Glenn clenched his teeth, before jumping in surprise when a red light lit up right beside him. His heart skipped a beat before he realized the light came from Sahro''s sword, covered in the familiar dark-red Aura. The young man frowned, confused.
''With the fight against the Three-Eyed Golem, I thought Aura was also affected by Blumar, but it seems I''m wrong?''
Diamanes coughed lightly, succeeding in gathering Glenn''s attention.
''From what I gathered, you''re not exactly wrong. I guess that since Sahro is focusing his Aura on his sword, which can be considered a part of his body to an extent, the Blumar doesn''t affect it. Your magic, instead, still relies on the surrounding Mana to work, and since that one is disturbed by the Blumar, you can''t use it. Perhaps try to light up your eyes or something to see in the dark, I don''t know... After all, it does seem like the Silence Curse is still working, even though you''re stepping on Blumar currently...'' The entity''s voice faded away after answering Glenn''s doubts.
''This does make some sense...Let me try something...''
Glenn closed his eyes as he focused on Mana in his right hand. It was hard to imagine a way to use Astral Sorcery only to illuminate his surroundings, but there had to be a way to make it work, right? The young man concentrated while his comrade was busy using his lit-up sword to check their surroundings. Sahro frowned when he suddenly found himself in front of an immense Blumar wall. He approached his sword from it, but the Aura flickered and threatened to go out, forcing him to take a step back.
"...A whole wall made out of Blumar...Shit, this would be more than enough to repay our debts with interest and still live rich afterward..." Sahro muttered as he studied the wall curiously, keeping his sword away from it. The Blumar wall seemed to greedily absorb the light it produced, similarly to how Glenn''s Blackhole would.
''How interesting... I wonder if I can cut it?'' The Black Heir pondered, his fingers wrapping tightly around the hilt of his sword.
In the meanwhile, Glenn was still working on a way to light himself up, struggling immensely to do so.
''What creates light in space? Stars? Should I just try to conjure a fucking star? Isn''t that a little too over the top?''
The young man shook his head, before imagining making his right arm glow with the light of the sun. Since the latter kind of star was commonly found in any galaxy, it should work for his Magellanic Clouds. Glenn lit his Mana up while keeping the idea firmly shaped in his head, his eyes flashing open as the flow of his Mana began to slowly move. The young man could feel the energy being consumed away as it fueled the spell, hinting at a potential success. He kept up his focus and concentrated on the Mana for it to go in his right arm.
His limb slowly began to be covered by a golden hue lighting up the entirety of the cave like a true sun. Glenn felt his Mana being devoured away at immense speed and instantly chose to reduce the flow. The hue died down, stabilizing itself to the power of a few classic torches combined. It was much better than the magic lights he conjured with Lux, but it wasn''t lighting up the entirety of the cave either. It was a good comprise, and seemed to remain unaffected by the surrounding Blumar.
Sahro turned around to find out that his friend was glowing in the dark. He dispersed his Aura away and sheathed his sword, before rubbing the edge of his nose.
"...You always manage to find the most random solutions, it''s crazy..." mumbled the Black Heir, shaking his head. Glenn sneered and looked at their surroundings. He quickly found the immense Blumar wall Sahro discovered but noticed a detail the latter had missed.
This was not a wall.
No, it was a door. An immense door even for the gigantic golems sleeping in the reservoir.
And that door was slightly opened.
119. The Freshest Snacks Are The Tastiest
The massive Blumar door stood in front of them, unwavering in its splendor. There were no engravings, decorations, or fine plating work that would tell some mysterious story, no, it was just a plain, gigantic door of dark blue stone that swallowed both light and Mana.
Glenn could only understand this structure was a door thanks to the small opening at the end of it. The Blumar door reached for a dark stone wall a hundred meters away, barely noticeable under the light the young man''s arm cast.
''By the way, I call dibs for the name,'' Diamanes suddenly interjected in Glenn''s contemplation, ''...let''s call it the Hand of the Sun. No, it''s a bit too wordy... Sun Touch, then.''
The young man listened mindlessly, still admiring this massive gate that seemed to have been built to seal the worst horrors or most incredible treasures away from human hands.
''Who could have possibly built that? There is no way a human could have...'' Glenn frowned and stared a little more at the Blumar door. For some reason, there was something that felt familiar to him in this massive chunk of stone, but he couldn''t pinpoint it exactly.
"Don''t you feel like we''ve seen something similar already, Sahro?" asked the young man with a hushed tone. The Black Heir rubbed his chin thoughtfully and sneered silently.
"I don''t see many giant doors every day, you know. Truly, something this massive could only be compared to King''s Rise ramparts..."
Glenn''s mouth opened widely as did his eyes, and he slapped himself on the head.
"Shit, I know where I got that feeling from!"
He stared at the gate, trying to compare its size to King''s Rise''s ramparts. Awe soon decorated his face as he stared blankly at the wall.
"The two are of the same size," he mumbled, before turning toward his friend, "...This can''t possibly be a coincidence, right? I mean, the chances for them to be built so close to each other both in size and look..."
Sahro nodded with an enlightened gaze, and he quickly observed the wall to compare on his side.
"Crap, you''re right. The two are of the same size... God, what did we stumble upon?" Sahro trailed off, his head leaning back as he tried to catch a glimpse of the ceiling, failing to do so. It was so high the light from Glenn''s Sun Touch wasn''t enough to disperse the darkness lurking so far up.
Glenn gulped, before heading off for the opening. Sahro followed behind him while studying the Blumar door a little more. The Black Heir then suddenly froze, and glanced at their surroundings, frowning.
"Hey, did you realize there were practically no sleeping golems here?" He asked, prompting Glenn. The latter looked around as well, his eyebrows creasing.
"...Indeed. I suppose the Blumar is too strong for them, even if they are made of it. Still, it''s strange," he replied while walking, occasionally aiming his arm at darkened spots to try and find any hidden golems or traces, without much success. The two soon arrived at the opening, which was a large passageway that could probably fit a few hundred people passing at a time.
"I hope they brought Maron in there because if they didn''t, we might be entering the boss room accidentally..." Glenn muttered through his teeth. Sahro raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"The hell is a boss room?"
"Whatever man, let''s just go in."
And so, they entered. Well, it took a few solid minutes just to pass the threshold, but they passed it nonetheless. They silently walked in, using the light from Glenn''s Sun Touch to navigate their way in. There were no traces of human passage, nor any sleeping golems, but the more Glenn explored the place, the more he believed the kidnappers brought Maron there.
The most notable thing they noticed once they entered was that the ceiling was much lower than in the cave, similarly made out of Blumar.
''Maybe this whole place is encased in Blumar, like a gigantic safe technically immune to spells. But why the hell would someone build this...? What would they need so much Blumar, no, protection against magic for?'' Glenn pondered silently, observing the best he could the place. It was bare; in the same style as the massive stone door, there were no decorations, no light to show them the way, nothing at all. It was just a titanic Blumar room.
Well, that''s what Glenn thought until they found a new structure hidden away in the darkness. The young man''s eyebrows creased as he showered his discovery in warm light. Lost in the middle of the Blumar''s vault was an immense bronze dome made up of thousands of thick metal plates. Glenn''s light reflected off the bronze, creating a mystical golden-brown hue as he approached the structure.
"...What is this place?" Sahro asked with wide-open eyes. His fingers were still tightly wrapped around his sword''s hilt, not letting go of it for any price. Glenn shook his head slowly, similarly taken aback.
"I have no idea...It seems like it''s entirely made out of bronze, or at least a metal of a similar color. Damn, how tall is this thing...?"
The two young men proceeded to scout out the surroundings of the bronze dome, finding only one thing that could serve as an entry. On one side of the dome was a circular opening that led straight into it. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a glance, before slowly entering the dome. The entry was wide enough to let a few grown men walk side by side, and everything there was made out of bronze-like metal, be it the walls, ceiling, or even the ground.
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
''It''s an extravagant attempt at steampunk style...Crap, how did they even get that much bronze to begin with? This is industry-level of quantities here...And I''m not even sure we''d be able to get so many bronze plates in the modern age,'' Glenn pinched his lips, carefully proceeding inside. The walls gleamed under the Sun Touch''s light until they finally arrived at an intersection. There were no indications as to which path led where, so Glenn arbitrarily decided to go left.
"Shouldn''t we split up or something...?" Sahro asked hesitantly as he sheathed his sword and pressed his hand against the bronze wall. He frowned and took his hand back, wiping it off on his clothes.
"It''s greasy and warm...Disgusting..."
Glenn shook his head and continued to walk.
"Splitting up is the best way to get picked on individually. We''ll take more time, but at least we won''t be dead. Now, stop touching stuff, and let''s go," He dryly said, strangely irritated. There was something about this place that rubbed him the wrong way, but he couldn''t pinpoint the exact reason.
After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at the end of the hallway, a dead-end. Well, the big triangle-shaped hole in the wall let them presume there probably was a need for a key to continue, but sadly, they didn''t have anything that fitted.
"...Nice choice, as always, Glenn," Sahro taunted sarcastically, awarded with a light snort. Glenn rubbed his chin as he studied the keyhole, before trying to summon Mana and fit it into the hole to try and create a magical key, but his Mana dispersed as soon as it left his body.
"Seems like we''re still under the Blumar''s influence. I thought all of that bronze might have allowed us to use magic or Aura again, but my bad I guess..." Glenn mumbled, rubbing the back of his head with an annoyed face. Sahro looked at the door, then at Glenn, then back at the door, before grinning and unsheathing his sword. The Black Heir lunged forward with an Aura-powered slash as he tried to cut through the door.
His sword bounced away like a kid''s toy, pushing Sahro away. The sound of the attack echoed through the hallways longly, a sharp metal sound that rang through their souls. The Black Heir looked at his sword as if the weapon had betrayed him, a shocked expression on his face. Glenn passed his tongue over his teeth, pensive.
"And it seems like a blinded wall. My best guess is that either the kidnappers have the key, or they went the other way. I''ll bet on the second option," He concluded, smiling at his grumbling friend. Sahro sheathed his sword as he held his arm out weirdly.
"...I still feel the shock through my arm...I''m sure I would have sliced right through had I been able to use both my arms..." He mindlessly said, not remaking Glenn''s smile dying out, replaced by a dark expression. The young man led the way back to the intersection, choosing the remaining path to explore.
"ARGHHHH!!!" A pained scream rang through the bronze structure, coming from the way Glenn and Sahro were going to explore. The two froze, one unsheathing his sword and the other looking at his glowing right arm weirdly. Without the ability to use spells and without any weapons to spare, Glenn was pretty much left with just his fists to fight with.
The pained roar rang once more, sending shivers down the two men''s spines. Glenn opened his mouth, before suddenly realizing he recognized the voice of the scream''s owner. He looked at Sahro with a panicked expression.
"Shit, Maron is getting tortured!" He dashed forward, not giving Sahro a second to reply. The two ran through the bronze hallways as more screams rang, again and again, making their worry grow heavier at each instance.
''We might get there too late!'' Glenn couldn''t help but think, his fists clenched as he ran. Sahro suddenly cursed to the side, before an electrical current covered his entire body. A second and a blue flash later, Sahro had disappeared, leaving behind an electrical trail. Glenn felt a jolt of electricity shot through his body, making his limbs shake uncontrollably. He mentally swore at the careless Black Heir as he took back control of his body, before sighing.
''This idiot can''t know that most metals are conductors of electricity. It''s my fault for not telling him not to use his electric power. Shit, did he transform himself into a railgun, then?'' Glenn shook his worries out of his head, focusing on the important matter at hand, which was stopping whatever was torturing the hell out of Maron. He kept on running at full throttle, jumping over a half-opened bronze gate, his eyes widening when he arrived in a new massive room.
The first thing that caught his attention was the massive silver ball floating in the center of the room, spinning slowly. Surrounding it were multiple bronze rings, attached to a complex bronze structure covered in pipes and valves. Situated under this whole mess were a dozen stainless vats of different sizes filled with a dark liquid that seemed to swallow light itself. If there were things in the vats, Glenn couldn''t perceive them at all.
Finally, standing above a crude operating table while holding a gleaming scalpel was a handsome man with blond hair that flowed until his neck, blue eyes that shone in the light that the silver ball projected, and a firm jaw to compliment his already well-designed face. He was wearing a white coat over a red shirt combined with similarly crimson pants. A fine golden ring was hanging on his chest, tied to a similarly fine silver chain.
"Oh, but it seems like we have guests. You should be Glenn, right?" The handsome man asked pensively, a charming smile drawing on his lips. He looked behind him, where a gasping Sahro was standing, his sword unsheathed and covered in dark-red Aura, "...and you Sahro, the Black Heir. My, oh my, but what a ravishing company!" The handsome man chuckled warmly, before tapping with his hand on the chest of the person resting on the operating table.
Glenn squinted, grunting when his fears were confirmed. Lying there entirely devoid of clothing was Maron, bloodied and unrecognizable. If not for the pained grunts and whimpers, Glenn could have never guessed that this disgusting corpse was Maron.
''...He''s still alive.'' Glenn held on to this thought, his fists clenched tightly as the handsome man suddenly smacked himself on the head.
"Oh, but how clumsy of me, I didn''t present myself!" The handsome man bowed slightly, pressing his hand against his chest politely without caring much about the fact that he was tainting his immaculate white coat with blood.
"You may call me Doyle Malory," the handsome man smiled, "...but Doyle is enough for friends."
Doyle Malory''s nose creased as the man shook his head, squinting his eyes as if an unpleasant smell had found its way into his nose. He licked his lips, before grabbing Maron''s finger violently, holding it tightly. Maron, completely strapped up to the operating table, looked at Doyle and then at Glenn with a terrified face. Doyle hummed as he flicked his fingers.
"Yes, so where was I? Ah, of course, I needed to get rid of all the subject''s excess. Thank god you''re blessed by Plutus, am I right, my dear Maron?" Doyle lightly whispered, a gentle smile decorating smile. And a second later, with that same gentle smile, he ripped Maron''s finger off, ignoring the scream of his patient and instead staring at the finger with fascination.
"...Bon apptit," He bowed his head toward Glenn and Sahro, before putting the finger in his mouth and swallowing it. Glenn gulped and clenched his fist even harder. His Sun Touch disappeared as Mana rumbled around his arm, unstable due to Blumar''s disturbance. Sahro drew a deep breath, his eyes and mind focused on a single task: splitting this asshole in two.
Doyle sighed in satisfaction, before licking his lips.
"...I really can''t get enough of this taste. What do humans call it already...?"
The man raised his finger as a happy smile hung on his face.
"Oh, I remembered!" His smile twisted widely as pure evil shone in his eyes.
"...That''s the taste of reality."
120. A Scrumptious Meal (alright Ill stop the food puns)
Glenn shot forward, his eyes flashing with a blue mystical glint. He clenched his fist tightly, summoning his Mana and wrapping it around it. Doyle Malory didn''t move as he curiously watched Glenn lunging at him with murderous intent.
"Oh, so you''re a mage! Great!" Doyle grinned and stepped to the side while playing with the scalpel he was holding. Glenn''s eyes trembled but he didn''t let anything show. He twisted on his feet, his left hand covered in a cloud of Nitrogen. Ice crystals formed on the young man''s skin as the painful burn from the sub-zero cold bit on his hand. Glenn struck precisely, speed, and might combine in a single, deadly attack.
"My, oh my, that''s not exactly magic there...How interesting! Are you perhaps one of Their Apostle? That would be quite the humorous joke," Doyle Malory rubbed his chin, avoiding the strike with a sole step yet again. The handsome man seemed to not care whatsoever about Glenn''s attacks and looked like he was more lost in his thoughts than concentrating on the fight. Glenn clenched his teeth before trying to create a Mana Blade.
The spell faded away as soon as it left the comforting nest it came from, dispersed into the void. Glenn was about to swear about his luck when a literal lightning bolt shot through the room, leaving trails of electricity behind itself. The bronze plates reacted by vibrating ominously, the silver globe floating in the room''s center humming strangely. The rings of bronze contraptions rang as their speed increased steadily. Glenn squinted, before looking back at Doyle.
The handsome man was shaking his hand away with a pained expression, blowing air on it as if he had just gotten burned.
"Phew, phew, I almost got my clothes damaged...I never expected to see another Black Heir controlling both Aura and lightning. Ah, you made me remember some good times!" Doyle laughed while holding his belly, his hand rid of any possible damage it incurred. Sahro gasped as he leaned on his sword, his body covered in blueish sparks.
"This...This bastard is moving too fast for me to see it!" The Black Heir grunted, pointing his curved sword at the enemy. Glenn gulped, his mind racing to try and find a way to help. He wasn''t particularly the best at melee combat and even less at hand-to-hand fighting.
''Shit, who would have known I''d have to fight in a place where spells are sealed?'' He bit down on his lips and charged forward once again, kicking at Doyle''s shin with all his strength. Sahro closely followed behind him, his sword covered in a sharp, condensed dark-red Aura, ready to split anything into bits. Glenn powered his kick with Mana, charging his legs with the mystical energy and amplifying the damage it was supposed to produce.
Doyle yawned suddenly, hiding his mouth behind his hand. Surprisingly, he didn''t move whatsoever, allowing Glenn and Sahro''s attacks to land. He caught Sahro''s blade in between two fingers, flinging it away alongside its owner while throwing Glenn a pitiful gaze. The young man''s eyes widened as he felt his foot break against the steel-like shin, the Mana he used to charge it dispersing away uselessly.
"...Why would you go for my legs out of all my body parts? You are very unlucky, aren''t you...Glenn?" Doyle licked his lips, a voracious smile decorating his face. Glenn limped away, a deadly shiver chilling him down to the bones. Goosebumps shook his body throughout as beads of cold sweat swirled down his neck. Doyle straightened his sleeves, wiping off the blood on his scalpel on his white coat, before drawing a deep breath.
"When I think back to it, I lost my pet necromancer to you, as well as my trusty aide Maurice!" Doyle sighed sadly, resentfully looking at a pile of bones resting in the corner of the room. Glenn followed his gaze and felt his heart stop. He could see bite marks on the remains, which were completely picked clean of any flesh that might have been stuck to it. Doyle slapped himself on the forehead, chuckling all by his lonely self.
"Ah, silly me~" He shook his head, smacking his lips together, "...I''m the one who ate Maurice! I couldn''t help myself, it had been a while since I last tasted some Earth-affinity..." Doyle rubbed his chin, returning next to the operating table, Maron still strapped tightly on it. Luckily for him, the merchant had lost consciousness, making him technically impervious to the pain from Doyle''s torture. The handsome man frowned, and poked at Maron with his scalpel, ignoring Sahro who was stabbing with all his strength toward him.
"Oh no, I didn''t get to savor enough of you, my dear Maron...Come on, wakey wakey..." Doyle violently grabbed Maron''s hand while swatting Sahro''s attack away with the other. Glenn pressed his left hand covered in deadly cold on his right foot, freezing the pain away, before charging once again. Doyle suddenly twisted the merchant''s hand, breaking it, before continuing to turn it again and again, until the flesh became unable to resist the torsion and ripped off.
Glenn flinched and closed one eye, feeling the pain in Maron''s place. He lunged forward again, his left hand outstretched, in an attempt to shoot as much Nitrogen as possible. Even if the attack remained only for a second before being dispersed by the Blumar''s interference, it could potentially be the single second they needed to defeat this demon in human skin. Doyle sighed with disappointment, before thoughtlessly munching on Maron''s hand, ripping small strips of flesh one after the other, licking the blood flowing everywhere.
"~Hmm, it''s not that good when the owner isn''t awake. Too bad, I think if I take a little more he''ll probably die. Thankfully," Doyle''s head snapped at Glenn as he blocked the Nitrogen-covered fist with his own, seemingly unbothered by the deadly cold.
"...It seems like some even tastier treats came to me by themselves! How~ lucky of me!" Doyle laughed happily, shoving Maron''s hand in his mouth in an impossible fashion, his cheekbones cracking and his jaw dislodging itself from the effort. Doyle Malory swallowed with bliss, before looking at Sahro with a dumbfounded gaze.
"...What? Have you never seen a fellow man enjoy a delicious snack?" He asked innocently, wiping his hands on his white coat, covering it in increasing amounts of blood. It was safe to say that the coat was more red than white at this stage. Glenn bit his cheeks and spat to the side.
"What the hell even are you?" His eyes trembled with hate and disgust, Sahro silently standing next to him. Doyle froze for a few seconds wordlessly, before exploding in laughter.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
"Hahaha....Hahahaaha!!! What am I?" Doyle suddenly disappeared, his laugh dying out in the darkness.
''...This isn''t looking too good, Glenn.'' Diamanes warned with a serious tone. Glenn didn''t get even a second to retort that a devilishly handsome man suddenly surged out from nowhere to stand in front of him, flashing a wide smile adorned with teeth dripping with blood.
"...Let me tell you a story, my dear, passionate Glenn." The young man punched forward with cold rage, Doyle''s figure dispersing into the shadows, reappearing sitting on top of Maron''s practically dead body.
''...He''s not going to explain his villain backstory, is he?'' Glenn stopped, a terrible feeling creeping up his back.
"Once upon a time, really not that far away, existed humans. In their quality as human beings, they were unable to live peacefully together. No threat was too grand to force them to fight together, no reason too important for such an unthinkable thing to happen. So, to add fuel to the fire, one of the most intelligent beings of this..." Doyle''s expression twisted madly, losing any semblance of humanity, "...trash can people call a planet decided to create something that would force humans to cooperate. Never heard of the story of the Demon King?" The handsome man''s face calmed down, any of its inhuman parts fading away like mirages.
Except for the blood and flesh stuck in the guy''s teeth, of course.
Glenn blinked, snorting.
"...Are you pulling my leg here?" He couldn''t help but ask with irritation. Sahro silently listened, his eyes stuck on the silver ball whose speed was still increasing at the mechanical ring''s rhythm. Doyle laughed heartily, slapping his thigh.
"Yes, I know, it''s the lamest story of them all. But what can I do, it''s the only story I know!" Doyle Malory smiled charmingly, charm which still decreased quite a lot when flesh slipped down from his mouth to fall on his white coat. Doyle picked the strip back up and shoved it down his throat, swallowing it ecstatically, enjoying the bit of flesh like a rare delicacy. Glenn''s nose creased and his fists tightened, but he kept on pretending to listen.
So far, anything he had tried to come up with to fight off this demon had been entirely useless, as had been Sahro''s efforts. Defeating the demon wasn''t of much importance, in reality. What was, though, was to bring back Maron at all cost. Glenn couldn''t afford to see the one holding on his golden ticket to the Bourgeoise get swallowed away. Doyle waved dismissively, rolling his eyes.
"Anyway, yadee, yadaa, the Demon King terrorized the world with his unstoppable force and army, led by the Twelve Blood Generals of whatever..."
Glenn raised an eyebrow. Was it just him or was Doyle''s elegance fading away with each second he spent telling his story? Doyle jumped down from his seat, his hands tightly clasped behind his back as he walked in turn around the operating table.
"Even faced with such a threat, humans could do nothing but send one, righteous man to fight the Demon King and his henchmen off. He was the bravest and strongest man under the heavens, liked by every human and hated by all demons or monsters, or whatever creatures were ugly enough to be considered as such." Doyle Malory raised his hand theatrically.
"The brave man fought countless times, growing stronger as time passed, progressively defeating mightier and mightier opponents, until he finally managed to slay one Blood General, then another, and you can probably guess what followed..." Doyle yawned once again, this time not bothering to hide his mouth, free from any semblance of etiquettes. Glenn glanced at the silver ball spinning in the center of the room, wondering if there was a way to accelerate its speed. Perhaps, if it reached a terminal point, something disastrous enough would happen that''d make the demon flee. It looked like the only dangerous thing in this damned room where magic was forbidden.
"Oh, but please, keep on telling, it''s quite an enjoyable story," Glenn crossed his arms while nodding slightly, making Doyle chuckle lightly.
"Heh, trying to live for a little longer. I respect that...Anyway, where was I...Yes, of course, the Blood Generals all got defeated, and on that bloody path, the brave man became known as the Hero, earning fame, fortunes, but most importantly, trusty comrades who helped him in his righteous quest."
Doyle sighed, suddenly disappearing in a black cloud. Glenn glanced around, blinking when he found the handsome demon walking on top of one of the spinning rings that held the floating silver ball.
"After infinite struggles and challenges, as well as picking up some trifling Holy Sword on the way, the Hero and his party faced off against the Demon King. Long story short, the Demon King was slain and peace was brought back to the world. Well, no, it would be more correct to say that the world was brought back to its original state, which wasn''t much better than under the Demon King''s reign of terror."
The man played with his scalpel, throwing the sharp knife in the air and catching it in extremis by the blade each time, lost in thoughts.
"Only, they miscalculated something. The different leaders of that time I mean. They thought that after slaying the Demon King, the Hero would probably just...go back to his peasant life or something, and take all of his hard-earned fortune away..."
Doyle''s face twisted evilly and blood pumped to his face. Black veins strained under his skin, pulsing with a disgusting liveliness. He jumped down next to Maron, and ragefully ripped the merchant''s arm off. Sahro took a step forward, lightning crackling around him and his sword, but Glenn held him back. For some reason, it seemed like Maron was still alive, despite the unending torture Doyle was inflicting on him. For now, the merchant would have to hang onto his life while he figured out a way to get rid of this horrible creature.
"...They tainted his fame, sullied his honor..." Doyle''s voice grew rough and cavernous, becoming inhumanly heavy, "...and tortured his friends for any hidden treasure the Hero might have left behind. In a totally reasonable sequence of events, the Hero killed every single person behind this treachery, destroying everything on his path to revenge." Doyle ragefully forced the ripped arm down his throat, munching on it in a nightmarish cacophony of crackling bones and bleeding flesh.
Glenn shook his head, his fists clenched. He closed his eyes, holding back his need to puke from disgust. No, he had seen worse, he had endured worse, this was nothing.
"So what? You''re the Hero who lost both his friends and marbles? That still doesn''t excuse you from becoming worse than the piece of shit you fought against!" He spat, his brows creased and his will resolute. He will bury this fucking creature from Hell. Doyle listened with a slight smile when the veins grew even more and his voice became even more inhuman.
"Oh, but you got me wrong. I''m no Demon King, nor a silly Hero. No..."
The demon grinned, opening his arms widely as if to hug the world.
"...I''m only the very modest Lightbringer, the one who lit the fire that began this beautiful mess, but also the one that deals with it every single time..."
Doyle smiled any shadows of his previous appearance were replaced by bulging muscles, melting flesh, and rotten organs. The dark hue of Death was enshrouding him like a cold cloak protecting him from the light.
"...I obeyed the Gods forever...Creating wars and monsters...Breaking continents or building long-standing kingdoms..."
The Demon smiled, before bowing while tipping an imaginary hat.
"...Until I stopped listening...Hence becoming a...wait," Doyle scratched the back of his head, biting on his bleeding lips with bulging eyes, before clapping his hands together.
"Yeah, they used to call me that!"
"Doyle, previously the Lightbringer..."
Doyle bowed once again, failing to show any grace.
"...And now the Fallen One,"
He raised his head slightly, grinning evilly, blood dripping down from his mouth in a crimson cascade.
"...Or, for the uneducated, the One Who Shall End This World."
121. What in the Seven Fucks Is Happening?
"A...Fallen One?" Glenn repeated, his eyes widening. Doyle was a Fallen One? So that''s how Fallen Ones were supposed to be?
''...You might die. If he truly is who he says he is, you have no chance of winning. Even I am unable to measure his strength. This psycho was probably playing with you two...'' Diamanes slowly said with the most serious tone Glenn had ever heard him take. The young man''s fingers crisped as his eyes shot all around the room, trying to find a way to defeat this creature. The silver ball floating in the air and the mechanical bronze rings spinning increasingly faster around it, the dome of bronze plates, a pile of bones, the dozen or so experiment vats...
Doyle was still curtsying, his body twitching and quivering as his muscles bulged, exploding into masses of flesh that fell on the ground with disgusting squishing noises, before growing back as if nothing had happened... Blood kept flowing down on Doyle''s white coat, tainting it entirely red as tendrils of his skin began to cover his clothes, mixing with them to create a meat-like vest around him. Doyle''s smile grew as he read the distress in his prey''s eyes, before coughing out blood profusely. He knelt on one knee, spitting in his hand a rotten lung. Doyle''s nose creased as he cut into his own, monstrous chest with his scalpel, pulling the sides of the wound apart to push the lung back in, ignoring everything on its way, be it the bones or the cascading blood.
"My goodness, do you realize how late it is? You kids should all head to sleep, alright?" Doyle smiled gentlyCwell, as gently as a monstrous mixture of flesh could lookCbefore straightening himself up. He glanced at Maron''s with hesitation, tapping a finger splitting in two on his progressively rotting chin.
"...Shall I take one last bite? For the road..." A clanging sound caught his attention and he looked away from his half-eaten meal. His head turned but his body refused to follow. His neck winced before crackling as the head rotated at one-hundred-eighty degrees, as would a night owl. Doyle Malory''s eyebrows creased as he tried to figure out what Glenn and Sahro were doing.
Glenn was pushing both of his hands on Sahro''s back, the Black Heir ready for the fastest sprint of his life. Sparks of electricity shot out from his body and connected with the bronze plates, sending shocking currents through the entire room. Each arc that flew out of Sahro''s body crackled violently, before traveling to the bronze spinning rings, powering them and increasing their speed. Doyle''s head leaned to the side curiously, watching with wild eyes that struggled to stay in their sockets. One even imploded on itself in a white, creamy liquid, before growing back and imploding again in a certainly unhealthy cycle.
"My friends, what could you possibly be trying to do?" He grinned, disappearing into thin air, before reappearing crouching next to Sahro.
"Hey, hey, do you mind explaining to me? I''m very curious about how doing whatever this is will help you," He whispered into the Black Heir''s ear, his teeth falling and sliding off his lips. Doyle then looked at Glenn with a puzzled face, awaiting an answer, before sighing despitefully.
"Come on, you guys should trust me," He placed his finger on his mouth, smiling madly, "...I know how to keep a secret!"
Glenn clenched his teeth and nudged Sahro forward, giving him the go. Time seemed to stop for a second as Sahro''s figure blurred out of reality, replaced by a blinding blue light, electrical arcs shooting uncontrollably around his area of departure, shocking Glenn and making him fall to his knees, struggling to resist the electrical shock. Doyle looked at his fingers curiously, playing with the arcs of energy dancing through them like an advanced light show, before flickering his fingers and dispersing the electricity away.
His monstrous face darkened and any pretense of a smile he previously kept up disappeared, replaced by boredom. Doyle Malory yawned, his rotten breath visible with an opaque purple cloud.
"Okay, that was fun, now I need to go back to work guys, so let''s just put a stop to this farce. You''ve amused me a lot, so I''ll kill you before I dine on y''all. Maybe," Doyle clasped his hands together, the bloody flesh constantly intertwining and ripping in a macabre spectacle. He glanced at Glenn, expecting the fear, disgust, or hate he would usually get after this kind of grandiloquent show, but only found one emotion, one he hadn''t seen in a long while, one that burned his eyes like the most powerful holy light.
"...Why do you look so hopeful, huh?" Doyle spat to the side, disappearing and reappearing in front of the young man, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air. Glenn looked down, struggling to pull on the ungodly grip, when a loud clanging noise suddenly echoed through the room. Glenn grinned wickedly and glanced up at something in Doyle''s back. The creature threw his prey away, turning around with wrathful anger.
"WhatC?" Blue lightning was traveling all across the room without a stop, covering every bronze plate in electrical arcs that somehow found themselves redirected toward the machinery in the center. The bronze mechanical rings spun even faster, electricity crackling as their dormant powers were awakened ages after their last use. A loud creaking noise echoed once again as the bronze plates making up the room they were in opened, letting them discover that beyond the bronze walls was hidden an even larger room filled with red, bright gems of different sizes, some as tiny as fingernails and other practically as big as the ones the golems bore on their head.
Blumar was amassed from one corner of the room to another, beyond massive conveyor belts and mechanical arms which were all at a standstill, dust covering them like the ancient artifacts they were. Doyle took a step back with wide eyes, his jaw hanging down in shock. The few strips of rotten meat that still held his mouth together snapped one after the other as Doyle''s jaw literally fell on the ground. A long black tongue hung out, blood and saliva dripping from it.
Glenn pushed himself from the ground, shaking off the last electrical tremors as he watched Sahro continuing to shoot through the room. The walls and ground of the newly opened room were also made out of bronze plates, gathering the energy Sahro shot through them. Glenn was sure this wasn''t how electricity was supposed to be gathered, but if it worked, he certainly wasn''t going to complain. He couldn''t even begin to guess the reason the ones who built this place made it entirely out of bronze, but it certainly was working to their advantage right now. Maybe.
''I have no idea of what''s going on, but I''m sure glad that'' it''s something that isn''t me dying!'' The young man thought as he shook his head and regained his composure. He rushed past the stunned Doyle to Maron, before sensing the merchant''s pulse. Maron was missing an eye, an arm, some organs, and one leg. His skin was white, almost blue, and his leftover eye was opened and rolled back in its socket.
''I''m pretty sure he''s dead already but I need to make sure so I don''t have a guilty conCBA-DUMP.''
Glenn jumped back, cold sweat covering his back.
Somehow, even will all of his missing parts, Maron was still alive!
"...Damn, he''s even more of a cockroach than me!" Glenn whispered, before covering his hand in Nitrogen and pressing it against the wounds, sealing them with the cold. He couldn''t completely freeze them since the magic would be dispersed away by the Blumar''s disturbance, but it was the best he could do. He ripped off a few of the remains that served as clothes for the poor merchant and tied them as makeshift tourniquets to stop the hemorrhages on the ripped-off limbs.
He turned back, frowning when seeing Doyle. The monster was still standing there, his eyes turned exploring the new room with awe...
Wait. Glenn squinted, unable to believe his eyes. Trembling lips, fluttering eyes, rapid and uncontrolled breathing... Doyle took another step back, raising his hand in front of him.
This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
"...NCNo...No!" He panted as his eyes shot all around as if searching for an exit. Sahro suddenly lost his footing and crashed on the ground, his lightning dying with his fall, but it seemed like the power he had charged the structure with had been enough. Doyle Malory''s eyes suddenly widened with hope when he saw the exit nearby, and he disappeared into thin air. A loud clanging noise rang through the structure which shook heavily, making mountains of dust fall on Glenn and Sahro''s head. The two looked at the exit, straining their eyes when they saw Doyle stuck into the closed door, his left arm blocked into it.
The creature roared in pain as it tried to open the door the best it could, but the bronze gate pressed and finally closed with a loud snap, cleanly cutting off Doyle''s monstrous arm. The demon fell on his back, blood pooling all around him. Glenn hesitantly took a step forward, before the structure shook once again and made him almost lose his footing.
"An earthquake!" He yelled at Sahro before pointing toward the silver ball and the experiment vats under it.
Doyle struggled to his feet, glancing upward desperately.
"No! No! I don''tCI don''t want to go back! NO!" Doyle Malory roared before coughing a gargling noise, industrial lights illuminating the room with blinding power. Glenn squinted his eyes, before glancing at Maron, or rather what was left of him. He looked at one of the vats, biting on his lower lip. Sahro gasped for air, still exhausted from his mad run, amazement residing in his eyes.
"ICgaspCI honestly didn''t think it would work, gasp!" Sahro chuckled with awe.
"Listen, if you have time to sing my genius, instead come and help me open one of these vats!" Glenn hissed through his teeth, the structure shaking down once more, the quake throwing them on all fours. Sahro hurriedly nodded and rushed toward the smallest one, a human-sized vat. The others were all increasingly bigger, the last one as big as the Three-Eyed Blumar Golem. Glenn didn''t linger on it and quickly examined the stainless vat. There were a few valve wheels on the side of the vat, each probably controlling some very important function.
"[...SYSTEM REBOOTING...CRITICAL POWER LEVELS...INITIALIZING EMERGENCY POWER SUPPLY...]
A robotic voice talked through the room loudly as the bronze plates began to rearrange themselves again. Glenn stepped to the side as the plate he was standing on suddenly slid elsewhere.
"Shit!" Glenn cursed the gods and grabbed one of the handles randomly, turning it open. Sahro looked at him doing so, before mimicking his actions as best he could with a single arm, turning another valve. The handles creaked, not from rustiness. No, it was creaking because whatever it controlled was unbearably heavy. The young men''s muscles bulged as they clenched their teeth and used all of their strength to turn the vats. The dark liquid inside the stainless vat was suddenly aspirated away, letting them see a red crystal surrounded by a vaguely human-shaped Blumar structure.
Glenn pulled on the handle of the vat''s door, only for it to remain entirely stuck. He glanced at the biggest valve he didn''t dare to touch yet, before mentally swearing at whoever built this godforsaken place. He glanced at Sahro, who sighed tiredly. The two grabbed the valve''s handle, forcing it to twist open.
In the meanwhile, Doyle was still desperately trying to open the sole exit door to the facility, punching with his leftover arm the bronze gate, denting it inward, but failing to make a hole inside. He roared madly before headbutting the metal gate to the blood, his brains and flesh soon covering it.
"NEVER!!!! NO!!!!" He cried tears of blood as he scratched his cheeks open, opening the flesh and letting out of it a thick yellow pus. One of the mechanical arms standing still suddenly shot out dexterously, grabbing the creature''s waist. Doyle punched the machine away, bending it and breaking as much of it as he possibly could, before another mechanical arm shot, grabbing him by the chest. Before he even had time to fight back, another mechanical arm seized him by the head, and another pierced through one of his legs, until a flurry of mechanical arms pierced and grabbed him violently.
Doyle''s body began to fade away in a black cloud, but a spear entirely made out of Blumar swiftly shot out from under one of the bronze plates, skewering him in place and sealing his powers even further. His appearance continued to destabilize, becoming a grotesque mixture of bones, flesh, and despair. ''It'', because it couldn''t even be called Doyle anymore, was grunting painfully as his body was pulled apart, stretched like a piece of gum before being transported and forced onto one of the conveyor belts.
"[...ENERGY SOURCE FOUND...PROCESSING WITH PROTOCOL N277...SYSTEM ANALYSIS... ''SOURCE SPECIMEN'' RECOGNIZED...OPERATION ''PUT THE GENIE BACK INTO THE BOTTLE'' RESUMED]"
The robotic voice shouted emotionlessly again, as Glenn and Sahro finally managed to open the last valve. A cloud of steam shot out of the vat as its door slowly slide open. The vat''s door slowly slid open, a cloud of steam shooting out of it and blinding the two''s sight. Glenn dispersed it with a light wave of Mana, squinting at the human-ish replicate, pulling it out with all but delicate hands.
"I don''t know what these vats are for, but I don''t see many other options to save Maron!" Glenn yelled over the constant mechanical noise and painful cries that filled the room. Somehow, the situation had turned advantage, and Doyle was getting packed up by the machines filling the room. The silver ball above them hummed violently, pulsing with occasional energy waves. Glenn clenched his teeth and turned around, reaching with his hand for the operation table there, when he realized the table was gone.
He blinked before looking at Sahro confusedly, the Black Heir blinking back with his arms opened in incomprehension. Glenn searched through the room, seeing two bronze plates carrying Maron''s operation table sliding away, bringing the merchant to one of the gigantic conveyor belts. Glenn swore and sprinted forward, jumping over the sliding bronze plates or the hissing steam pipes. Sahro tried to follow him, but his legs gave up under him.
"Fuck!" He swore and forced himself up, unbuckling his sword and using it as a cane. He watched helplessly as Glenn chased Maron away when his eyes accidentally caught a small piece of rectangle leather next to one of the vats. His eyebrows creased.
"...What might that be?"
Glenn clenched his teeth and jumped forward, grabbing the edge of the operation table, the bronze plates under him suddenly accelerating and dragging him with them. The young man grabbed Maron''s collar and tried to pull him off the operation table, but his restraints were doing their jobs much too excellently.
"Rahhh!" Glenn yelled in frustration as he pulled himself up the operation table, before ripping the restraints off one by one. Maron''s body slipped away, his head passing a hair''s breadth away from exploding on the ground. The young man pulled the merchant on his shoulder, before jumping off the operating table. He watched in horror as one of the mechanical arms suddenly grabbed the table, ripping it apart and throwing it on one of the conveyor belts.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Glenn ran with all his might, avoiding everything on his way. He passed Sahro and threw Maron into the vat, before hurriedly grabbing the valve and closing it open. Sahro woke up from his stupor, sticking a dark-brown leather piece in his belt, before coming to help him. The door slid closed and Maron''s body suddenly straightened inside the vat. Glenn drew a deep breath, sweat covering his eyebrows, before nodding at Sahro and grabbing the smaller valve handle he opened earlier. The Black Heir did the same and began pulling with whatever strength he had left.
After a painful, draining minute, they close, or open all the valves, and the vat is filled with the dark liquid it previously contained.
Doyle screamed painfully, his head shooting to the sides with panic as the creature desperately tried to find a way out. He looked at Glenn and Sahro under him with bulging, bloodshot eyes that stuck out of the flesh ball he had become.
"YOU!! IT''S ALL YOUR FAULT!! I WAS SO CLOSE!!! MY FREEDOM!!!" He painfully roared, the conveyor belt pushing him toward the silver ball which spun at incredible, gravity-defying speeds. The rings all aligned, before locking together with a loud mechanical noise. The silver ball opened like a flower in Spring and chains shot out of it, pulling Doyle in.
"I CURSE YOU GLENNNNNC!!!!"
Clang!
The silver sphere snapped shut, killing the sound of anything that resided in it. Glenn and Sahro looked at each other, the sight sending a terrible chill down their spines. A bright, blue light suddenly descended from the ceiling attached to a bronze mechanical arm, staring at them like a gigantic, otherworldly eye.
"[OPERATION SUCCESSFUL...STARTING DIAGNOSTIC...ENERGY PRODUCTION OPERATIONAL...CONTROL GEMS PRODUCTION RESUMED...ERROR, RECIPIENT NGS MISSING...]"
Glenn drew a deep breath as he stared back at the gigantic blue light, his mind blown away.
If there was one thing he wasn''t expecting in this god-forsaken world, it certainly was a fucking talking machine.
"[...EMERGENCY PROTOCOL INITIATED...ERROR, HUMAN PRESENCE FOUND INSIDE TESTING VAT N1...CALCULATING...PROBABILITIES OF SURVIVAL: 0%. INITIATING ''PROJECT GUNDAM'']"
"[...UNAUTHORIZED HUMAN PRESENCE FOUND INSIDE THE DOME...EXPULSION PROTOCOL INITIATED...]"
Glenn squinted. Expulsion protocol...?
Suddenly, the bronze plates in the ceiling split open, revealing a dark bronze metal pipe. A powerful suction pulled them in the air, sending them shooting through the pipe. The two young men screamed in terror as they flew at extreme speed, unable to control their flight.
A second later, Glenn and Sahro were indeed expulsed away.
Into the starry night sky.
Above the fucking, not-so-Still Peak.
''Shit.''
122. Up, Up, and Away... and Then Down Again
Whoosh!
Glenn''s tie fluttered in the air, the bright moonlight of the twin celestial moons shining on the young man''s black, sleeveless vest. Sahro stretched his sole arm toward the stars, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. The wind whistled past the two men''s ears, deafening them with thunderous violence as their bodies were thrashed uncontrollably.
Glenn and Sahro kept ascending toward heaven, the Still Peak gradually becoming a small point in their eyes.
''Are we even going to stop at some point?!?'' Glenn thought, clenching his teeth while concentrating his Mana around his companion and him, trying to use his Gravity Manipulation to slow their ascent. Sahro''s widened eyes from the shock of getting shot into the air slowly closed. The Black Heir''s long hair swayed behind his head as he closed his eyes, a peaceful smile drawing on his face. Glenn concentrated on controlling his spell instead of dwelling on Sahro''s serene expression.
"Since I''m so close to the heavens, let me get there already..." Sahro said despondently. Glenn would have probably blinked in confusion had he heard his friend''s nonsense, but thankfully, the whistling wind had made any conversation impossible.
''Forgot about me?'' Diamanes sneered, startling Glenn and almost making him lose his focus. The Mana trembled and Glenn held his gasp, barely holding the spell together by the strength of his will. The wind pressing on his face made his eyes cry, forcing him to cover them with a fine Mana barrier to protect them. Eventually, his Gravity Manipulation spell stabilized, allowing him and Sahro to slow their ascent.
''With how silent you were during that fucking mess, yeah, I kind of did!'' The young man mentally spat as he stopped in mid-air, letting him enjoy the sight of the whole land covered in moonlight, with barely any clouds present in the air to ruin the magnificent view. The forest surrounding the Still Peak reflected the pale light, the mountain standing like a beacon of peacefulness in the lush center. Far away, like a lighthouse in the night, King''s Rise shone valiantly, its gigantic ramparts protecting the city silently.
As they dived back down, Glenn missed the view they left behind. Strangely, he was convinced it wouldn''t be the last time he would find himself flying into the sky uncontrollably. At least now, compared to the first time this flying bullshit happened, he felt much more relaxed. After all, he had already survived getting thrown into the sky once, and he had no idea what to do at the time. Now that he had a better mastery of his spells, this was going to be a walk in the park. His fingers tensed, helping him to control the Mana. Glenn and Sahro slowly descended, ignoring the gusts of wind or the eventual passage of night birds.
A bead of sweat formed on Glenn''s forehead as he controlled the fall as best he could when he glanced at his comrade. He almost let go of the spell when he saw the Black Heir sitting cross-legged into the void, his eyes closed.
''...Is the damned bastard meditating?'' The young man hesitated to rub this incredible scene off his eyes, before chuckling and shaking his head. After a painful dozen minutes for Glenn C minutes that certainly seemed relaxing enough for Sahro C the two finally landed on the ground.
Well, the canopy of a tree was the place considered ''ground'' in this case.
"...And so we''re now on top of a tree. Great. What a way to stop someone from reaching enlightenment..."
"...What the fuck are you even saying?" Glenn blinked with bewilderment, laughing nervously. He leaned his head against the trunk of the large tree they had landed on. He didn''t know what kind of tree species this was, and he couldn''t be bothered to try and see what it was.
Right now, there was only one thing that occupied his mind.
"We''ve shat the bed, didn''t we...?" He groaned painfully, holding the side of his head with regrets. Sahro''s blissful expression was replaced by sudden seriousness.
"Well, Maron is pretty much lost, at least until we go find him back in that weird place. And, do we talk about the fact that God talked to us at some point...? And that Doyle Malory, what the hell was he? Does your demonic friend have any idea?" The Black Heir demanded without stopping, drowning Glenn with questions. The young man winced as he waved his hand dismissively. He looked at his foot that he crushed on Doyle''s thigh, before sighing and applying a new layer of Nitrogen over it.
"...Too many questions, and literally zero answers," Glenn replied, poking his broken foot and the layer of thin ice covering it, scowling as a result, "...Shit, I''m pretty sure doing this is fucking useless...at least it''ll help calm the pain...I hope..."
Sahro sighed and looked at his right hand, clenching it tightly.
"I wonder how much will it take for me to grow stronger than a monstrosity such as that Doyle..."
Glenn sneered, glancing downward. The real ground wasn''t that far, probably forty meters or so away. Nothing Gravity Manipulation wouldn''t be able to take care of.
Because, even if Glenn certainly had an affinity for climbing stuff, he''d still choose ten times over to float back down to the ground. Firstly, because it looked cool, and secondly, because climbing down with a broken foot probably wouldn''t be much fun. Or comfortable.
"Another question we don''t have the answer to...Shit, why did I direct the convoy over to the damned quarry..." Glenn covered his face with his hand, rubbing his forehead tiredly. What was he even supposed to do now? Sahro smiled sardonically, before patting Glenn on the shoulder and climbing down the tree. The young man remained on top of the tree for a few additional minutes, enjoying the instant to calm his mind and rest a little.
''...That guy didn''t lie,'' said Diamanes suddenly, any of the usual mocking or sarcastic tone gone, replaced by cold harshness. Glenn''s eyebrows creased, and he opened his left hand, staring at the mouth slowly appearing inside it.
In an event so rare it was worth noting, Diamanes didn''t smile. No grin, sneer, or anything close to a rictus. His white teeth he enjoyed showcasing so much were hidden away behind the red veil of the entity''s lips, sealed tight in a chilling silence. Glenn waited patiently, listening to his heartbeats as he gave the entity the time he needed to regain his composure.
Diamanes'' mouth opened slightly, his lips trembling slightly before the entity groaned annoyingly.
"...Shit! I''ve never been so fucking flustered in my whole, accursed life!" The entity suddenly lashed out, his teeth clenched. Glenn raised an eyebrow but remained silent. Diamanes drew a deep breath, before smacking his lips.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
"Glenn...Remember what that guy said, about being a Fallen One and whatnot?"
The young man nodded slightly, wondering what kind of bullshit the entity was going to drop over his head.
"...And do you remember what the Sealing Stone''s condition was? When you found me for the first time?" Diamanes pressed on with a hurried tone. Glenn hummed a confirmation.
"...So the talking stone was a ''Sealing Stone''? Cool...And yeah, I remember, it said something along the lines of "Only Fallen Ones could harness the power of the sky". Completely bullshit by the way, since now that I met a Fallen One, I''m sure as hell that I''m not one of them!" Glenn sneered, shaking his head. Diamanes sighed, pressing his lips together.
"...Glenn," Diamanes drew a deep breath, pressuring his host with the weight of his revelation, "...I''m also a Fallen One."
The young man blinked unresponsively for a few seconds, bewildered. Finally, his nose creased as he snorted.
"...What?"
Glenn licked his lower lip before chuckling.
"...That''s your incredible reveal? Shit, I thought this went without saying!" He exclaimed as he stood on the tree branch, glancing downward. He summoned his magic as he used Gravity Manipulation to slowly bring him to the ground. Sahro was sort of waiting for him throughout the whole conversation, and Glenn didn''t have the leisure to let off steam by annoying his friend for once. Other things much too important deserve his attention right now.
"WhatCWhat do you mean it doesn''t surprise you?!" Diamanes exclaimed in shock. Glenn shrugged, avoiding a protruding tree branch.
"I mean, I witnessed a piece of whatever that white crystal holding you fall from the sky was, and watched it sink into the mountain, probably to join you. Then I met you against my will, and you explained to me that ''Fallen Ones'' are from the Moon Rift! Doesn''t take much to make the calculation, heh," said the young man while grinning. Diamanes remained dumbfounded, unable to say a word. It was so simple he almost wanted to mock his host, but he couldn''t do so, since his theory, as simple as it was, was entirely right.
''Shit, was it really that evident...? Am I dumb?'' The entity couldn''t help but ask himself, making Glenn laugh mockingly. The young man gently landed on the ground, his foot hitting the wet dirt slowly. A fulgurant pain shot from his broken foot, traveling through his leg up his waist, making him curse out loud at the bloody limb. Sahro watched with an amused gaze, his hand resting on the pommel of his curved sword.
"Finally done? Let''s go back to camp, we''ll figure the rest out over there," Sahro nodded in a random direction in the forest, before adding, "...Hopefully we''ll get that foot healed too, so you can go over the average snail speed."
Glenn scowled silently, before flicking his fingers, an enlightened smile replacing the expression of pain. He used Gravity Manipulation on himself, and after a few confusing seconds, began hovering above the ground magically. It was very precise work, since if he reduced his weight too much, he would fly away like a leaf in the wind, and if he made the weight too heavy, he''d crash down on the ground and crush not only his foot but probably the rest of his bones.
But, if he managed to remain in the exact middle between these two extremes, he found himself able to float magically.
"...And if I lean forward," Glenn advanced without touching anything under his friend''s astonished eyes. He leaned back, his body following his movements. Glenn chuckled before gulping heavily as his control over his Mana trembled, the spell threatening to disappear.
"Damn, this shit is fun, but it sure is hard to do without thinking." Glenn suddenly raised an eyebrow, an extremely prideful expression adorning his face as he looked down at Sahro.
"Huh, would you look that, this peasant is using his legs to move. What a loser," Glenn mocked, floating away from Sahro''s glare. The Black Heir rubbed his eyes, before sighing and heading into the forest. Glenn followed him, happily hovering over all of the obstacles.
''Even though you guys always bicker with each other, you both are very similar,'' remarked Diamanes. Glenn sneered as he controlled his flight.
''I mean, the both of you have some pretty strange antics, are thirsty for battle and greedy for gold. You make for a really strong pair, one the really strong melee fighter and the other the...uhh, yeah, kind of good mage?'' Diamanes chuckled mockingly, his customary sarcastic tone back. Glenn drew a deep breath, before throwing an accusatory glance at his left hand.
''You know, I didn''t forget the conversation we just had about you ''revealing'' that you''re a Fallen One. I know there''s more to it than just that, so you better spill the beans!'' Glenn grumpily inquired, his eyes squinting as he continued to concentrate on Gravity Manipulation.
Diamanes sighed, smacking his lips in Glenn''s mind.
''And here I thought you forgot. Well, here goes nothing...''
The entity drew once again a deep breath, even though it was technically entirely useless since a hand couldn''t possibly need air.
''I can''t explain all of it because you''re not strong enough to bear the weight of these secrets, but I can at least tell what you''re authorized to hear. As you already know, two things can come out of a Moon Rift: Fallen Ones, living beings with strange powers, and Fallen Pieces, which can be random garbage or mystical artifacts,'' Diamanes explained, Glenn nodding as the conversation progressed.
''The thing I didn''t tell you previously was that not everyone can go through the Moon Rift. Nothing living is supposed to pass through it, as a matter of fact,'' The entity cleared its non-existent throat. Glenn frowned, rubbing his chin pensively.
''Alright, so I suppose Fallen Ones are anomalies that shouldn''t go be in this worldCwait.'' Glenn froze, his hovering stopping mid-air. These explanations...seemed to strangely mirror what the Guide and Onnea told him. Diamanes was giving him information at the level of Gods... What, no, who was this entity in reality if it knew so damned much?
''...The reason some living beings manage to pass is that they''re infused with what I named: "the Pieces of the Fallen",'' Diamanes continued his explanation, either unbothered or unaware of Glenn''s thoughts. Perhaps the censorship around the Gods'' words applied more strongly than Glenn thought.
''These ''Piece of the Fallen'' are the reason why I have my powers, or why Doyle was so strong as well. They''re what gives the Fallen Ones their titles as "One Who Shall End This World", a title that I also own despite goodwill, by the way,'' Diamanes smacked his lips, before drinking from an illusory water bottle. Glenn resumed his progression through the forest, giving himself a slight push into the back using a gust of pure Mana to catch Sahro who had taken a bit of advance.
''...What a surprise, you''re originally a bad guy. Well, I''ll be jiggered,'' Glenn thought sarcastically, leaning his head forward as he avoided a protruding branch.
''I said it was against my goodwill, alright?'' Diamanes corrected, ''...And it doesn''t matter that much in reality. It only means I or Doyle have the potential to ruin the world, but it''s not because we have that power that we will use it to do so. A knife is dangerous, but it can also be used to butter your toast.''
''Yeah, skip the philosophical bullshit and get to the point,'' Glenn groaned mentally, getting increasingly annoyed by Diamanes'' proficiency at beating around the bush.
''...I''m getting there.''
''What''s really important is that Fallen Ones all come from the same source of power that was split into multiple parts,'' Diamanes finally breathed out, relieved of his secret. Glenn raised an eyebrow, curious.
''...The hell could possibly be strong enough to be separated into multiple parts and still give birth to monsters like Doyle or you?'' He asked, his forehead creased.
Diamanes pouted, ''Thanks for considering me a monster, but well, to answer you...''
Glenn could feel the entity grinning wickedly inside his mind.
''...You need to get to the Seventh Circle to find out!''
The young man spat to the side, dismissing any thoughts he had about the matter.
"I expected it, and still, I''m fucking annoyed by it..." He mumbled, ignoring Diamanes'' laughter ringing inside his head.
Seventh Circle?
Fucking Seventh Circle?!?
Is this a madhouse or what??
123.🗿
Javier''s black cloak fluttered as a gust of wind whistled past him, bringing with it the fresh air of the night. The Pale Son emotionlessly glanced at his surroundings, his left hand tightly holding his bow, the other ready to shoot an arrow at any moment''s notice. He was currently standing guard on top of the highest-standing marble rock in the convoy''s camp, letting him see the entirety of the area.
Suddenly, his fingers crisped up and his dark Aura flared up, covering the steel arrowhead. He effortlessly drew the bowstring to his shoulder, his breathing still and his eyes staring straight at his target. Time seemed to stop as Javier carefully aimed when a strange light appeared in his dead fish eyes. He lowered the bow, watching elsewhere. Where his gaze was previously staring were two figures treading through the dark forest, approaching the quarry.
"...You know you look kind of stupid, floating around?" Sahro suddenly blurted out as he pushed a bush out of the way.
"WhatWhat do you mean I look stupid? No, I look cool, and you, you are simply jealous. And I''m not the stupid one, you are. You''re the one who said you knew the way and all that. Fucking hours we''ve been walking..." Glenn replied with an outraged expression, his brows creased and his arms crossed. He casually hovered above the bust, avoiding it entirely.
"Oh yeah, completely. Ah, how much I desire just being a floating man...Hey, I bet that if you stay like this for your whole life, you''ll transform into some kind of flying sludge. And it''s not my fault if the trees all look alike in this damned place!" The Black Heir sneered, his sarcastic remarks hitting his friend in the perfect spot.
"...The fuck are you saying?" A vein popped on Glenn''s forehead.
"Like, you know, a very fat man that''s too lazy to walk,"
"I''mCI''m not lazy, my foot is broken!"
"Ah, wait, I think I''m listening to excuses here. Sorry, future fat man, I''ll try to help as best as I can. Perhaps we''ll begin with a more equilibrated diet, what do you think?"
"YouCDo you think it''s the time to joke around like that? Don''t you remember we kind of C lost C our employer?"
"...Yeah. You can stop repeating it, now."
"...I mean, if you think about it, that might be for the best..."
"What?!"
"Hey, listen. Our debt was with Maron. But if our creditor is magically gone, doesn''t that make our debt disappear?"
"This is horribleCwait... No, you''re right. Shit, we might be good?"
"...I guess?"
Glenn and Sahro discussed passionately, one leading the way through the forest, and the other floating merrily behind. Their faces lightened up when they discovered the marble quarry after passing yet another pine tree. The Black Heir grinned and pointed at the quarry.
"See? That was the right way!"
Glenn snickered, shaking his head.
"...Yeah, it''s not like it took us half the night to arrive here..." He worriedly raised an eyebrow, biting down his lower lip, "...I just wonder what we''re going to tell people back at the camp."
Sahro scratched his chin as he proceeded toward the nearest slope that led down into the quarry.
"If there''s one thing I learned by doing countless requests back in the Fringe, it was that if the questions don''t ask any questions about it, then there are no problems. Let''s hope they don''t ask. If they do..."
Glenn sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"...We''ll just tell them the truth directly, Sahro. No point withholding it since we''ll have to tell them at some point anyway..."
The Black Heir shrugged, his hand resting on the pommel of his curved sword. The two young men continued silently, joining the camp under the cover of the night. The mercenaries standing guard tensed up when they saw the two approaching until they recognized them. Reed was among them, his blade half-unsheathed. The mercenary leader breathed out in relief when he realized they were allies. He smiled as he approached them, a smile that quickly disappeared once he realized that Maron wasn''t with them.
"Reed." Glenn acknowledged the mercenary with a nod, noticing despite his best efforts the man''s judgmental gaze at his floating posture.
"...Where the hell is Maron?"
Sahro grimaces, then turns and runs off quickly, leaving Glenn the honor to break the news. The young man silently swore at his friend, before rubbing his temples.
"Listen, Reed, one thing at a time. Firstly, how much time were we gone for, and secondly, were you attacked during that time? Your guys seemed much more on edge compared to usual," Glenn asked, lowering himself and sitting on a nearby carved-out stone. He massaged his foot painfully, trying to find a way to fix the damned thing. Reed looked away with an annoyed gaze, before fitting his thumbs in his belt and drawing a deep breath.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
"...Sure. You were gone for a whole day, and no, we weren''t attacked. But with you and Sahro''s absence C and despite the deep respect I hold toward Sir Javier C no one felt safe without you two. Javier is a very strong guy, but he''s just one man, while you''re more like fifty. Sahro would probably count for a few dozen as well," Reed explained through clenched teeth, his anger evident.
"And now, you''re telling me you didn''t bring our employer back? But what was the point of disparaging our safety, risking the workers'' and our own life, if it was for nothing?!?" The mercenary lead exploded, grabbing Glenn''s tie violently and pulling it toward him. The young man glanced down with a cold, hard gaze, nothing like his usual self.
"...If you want to keep your hand, let go of me," Glenn threatened with a harsh tone.
"If you think I''m happy with how things ended up, then you''re really fucking dumb. Now, I also had a terrible day where I had to fight against some ungodly being, witness a man get tortured, all of that so I could end up flying in the air the Still Peak. The only good thing I got out of all of this was the fucking stunning view, which I couldn''t even appreciate because of my fucking broken foot!" Glenn spat, poking Reed''s chest sharply with his finger. The mercenary hurriedly let go of Glenn''s tie, lifting his hands in surrender, a thick bead of sweat sliding down the side of his face.
Glenn sighed as he retightened his tie, calmly undoing and redoing the knot. Simply unsummoning and resummoning the tie would have done the trick, but he needed to keep his hands busy. He didn''t lie for a single second when he said to Reed that this was a terrible day. They got nothing out of all this bullshit, not even a single piece of Blumar. Glenn''s eyes widened and he suddenly slapped himself on the forehead.
"Shit, there was some back in that room! I could have put some in my dimensional bag had I been quicker. Damn it, that could have been worth a lot of money..." Glenn''s head leaned forward as the young man rubbed tiredly. He looked at the ground thoughtlessly, staring at the white marble in the hope of finding a way to explain things and to get out of the inevitable predicament they were going to find themselves in when he saw something strange.
The white dust covering the marble was trembling, hovering above the ground with a few centimeters. Glenn squinted and passed his finger through the dust, finding it undisturbed by his intervention.
"What the"
A loud explosion shook the ground, throwing everyone down. Glenn jumped to his feet, wincing when the pain of his broken foot shot through his body. He cursed Doyle in his mind once again before applying a new layer of Nitrogen over his foot.
''...At that point, that may be better to just replace the whole foot with an ice structure or something,'' Diamanes remarked with a mocking tone, irritating Glenn even further. The young man clenched his teeth through the suffering and ran toward the source of the noise. He used Gravity Manipulation at the same time, and soon floated back into the air, letting him temporarily free from the torture of stepping on the ground.
After a few turns beyond some tents and marble walls, he found the problematic area. Sahro and Javier were already standing in front of it, the glint of the curved sword and the metal arrowhead glinting under the moonlight. A thick cloud of white dust was blocking their vision, making them unable to identify the threat. Glenn drew a breath, his right hand shooting forward as he expulsed Mana through it. The dust was blown away by the harmless shockwave, revealing some kind of stainless metal capsule.
It was fuming slightly, clouds of steam coming out of it from time to time. Glenn squinted, before gasping as he recognized the capsule.
It was the human-sized vat they found inside the bronze dome!
The one where they safely stashed Maron away!
Well, "safely" was relative. Maron was safe from the dangers of the structure, hopefully, but since this looked like a vat for experimentation, something weird might have happened to him. Glenn gulped as he approached the experimental vat, closely followed by Sahro and Javier. He hesitantly tried to grab the vat''s door, at a loss as to how to open it. Glenn quickly checked the vat for any valve handle or anything like that that could serve as an opening button, but the vat had been stripped to the bare minimum, which was simply only the capsule.
Glenn rubbed the back of his head, before shrugging and grabbing the side of the door.
"Whatever, fuck it. Hmph!" His muscles bulged as he dug through the bronze, forcefully sliding the door open. Steam shot out in Glenn''s face, forcing him to protect his eyes with his hand. He squinted through the cloud, distinguishing a human figure inside the vat. Glenn clenched his teeth and opened the rest of the door. Black sludge flowed out from the vat, falling on his boots and tainting them dark.
The young man took a step back, waiting for the steam and the sludge to get out of the vat. Sahro and Javier were also staring at the tank in silence, ready to slice and shoot at any moment. A little further away, Reed and the mercenaries were also watching, worried and curious. Suddenly, a dark, deep blue hand shot out of the vat, grabbing the edge and pulling itself out. Glenn''s eyes widened and he took a step back, his Mana twirling in his right hand.
What he presumed was Maron slowly got out of the tank, stumbling on his feet. The figure kneeled on the ground, looking at his hands with awe.
"How...?" Glenn muttered, struggling to understand what he was seeing.
Maron was kneeling in front of him, with all his limbs. The merchant seemed as shocked as Glenn, staring at his hands as if he couldn''t believe they were there. His left arm was made of living flesh, exactly as he remembered it to be, while his right arm was entirely made out of stone. And not any stones, no, it was of a dark-blue stone that seemed to swallow the moonlight hitting it.
Blumar.
Maron was half-human, half Blumar, as insane as it sounded. The merchant raised his head, letting Glenn see a diamond-like crystal encased where a left eye should be. Maron slowly pushed himself off the ground with a raspy breathing. His knees were shaking, but he took a step forward, toward Glenn and the others. The young man concentrated his Mana, just in case, but suddenly, the spell he prepared was dispelled away.
''...! The Blumar!''
Maron took another step and grabbed Glenn''s shoulder. He opened his mouth slightly, drawing a deep, raspy breath, before finally talking.
"Why did you transform me into a rock?!"
"Why?!?"
Diamanes let out a surprised snort inside Glenn''s mind, in awe.
''Shit, my man transformed into a??!''
124. A Maron Always Pays His Debts
Glenn blinked, before rubbing his eyes confusedly.
"You...I did what?" He asked with a lost expression. Maron looked at his Blumar arm, then at Glenn, then back at the arm. He drew a deep breath before hissing through his teeth.
"...What does it look like? I''m...My body is half-Blumar and half-flesh, for Plutus'' sake!" The merchant exploded, his face red with anger. The head was Maron''s less affected part, retaining most of its human features, with only the diamond eye being out of place. The merchant closed and opened his fist, looking at it with a half-terrified and half-marveled expression.
"But it sure is better than having no limbs at all..." Maron''s whispered, before rubbing his forehead.
''...Is it me or did he get better? Was his psychosis treated alongside his missing arm and leg?'' Diamanes asked curiously inside his host''s mind, making the latter''s eyebrow rise. Wait, if that was true, there might be something he could do to improve his situation.
The corner of Glenn''s lips rose slightly, and he rubbed the back of his head with a loud sigh, obviously wanting the merchant to focus back on him. Maron stopped playing with his Blumar arm and looked at Glenn with a complicated look.
"...What do you" Maron suddenly frowned, and looked at his surroundings, frowning at the quarry''s white marble.
"Wait, butwhy are we here?" The merchant rubbed his chin, confused. Glenn almost chuckled at Maron''s shamelessness but restrained himself. The poor guy just got out of another traumatizing experience, he couldn''t just blame him for his mind trying to cope. He certainly could profit from it, though. There were some injustices he needed to fix. The young man patted Maron on the shoulder, bearing a friendly smile.
"Don''t worry, Monsieur Maron. I''ll call Lefeivre and Reed over and we''ll take stock together, alright?"
Maron nodded slowly, before glancing down. His face suddenly became frighteningly pale and he covered his genitals with shy hands. He looked up at Glenn desperately.
"Fixer! I''ll pay you ten golds for your clothes, so give them to me!" Maron blurted out, holding a hand out pitifully. Glenn glanced down at the hand, before sighing sadly.
"I apologize, Monsieur Maron, but my clothes are Soulbound. I can''t just lend them to you..." apologized the young man, before a thoughtful frown decorated his face, "...Wait, maybe I can give you the tie...?"
Sahro sneered beside him, before moving his head away innocently when Maron glared at him. Reed rushed past them with a long brown cape, covering Maron with it.
"Here, Monsieur Maron. Let''s get you back to camp, alright?" The mercenary leader said gently, helping the still stumbling merchant to walk. Glenn waited for them to leave before exploding in laughter.
"Hahaha, did you see his face?! Haha, this feels great after all the blackmail!" Glenn giggled happily. Sahro shook his head with a wide grin.
"At least he isn''t dead. That still means we have our gigantic debt to pay back, though..." The Black Heir trailed off, his thumb rasping against the top of his sword''s pommel. Javier, still as silent and emotionless as always, was sharpening an arrowhead. His movements brusquely stopped when he heard Sahro and a strange light passed through his eyes. Glenn passed his tongue over his lips, before smacking them loudly.
"Oh, don''t worry. I''m pretty sure we repaid all of our debts with all of these stunts, didn''t we?" The young man said with a wicked tone, grinning nefariously. Sahro felt a shiver run down his spine, Glenn''s smile filling him with a bizarre sense of dread. This dread disappeared as soon as Glenn took a step forward, flinching and cursing at his broken foot.
"Ah, fuck! Damn it, I swear I''m going to hire some kind of personal Onnea priest!" Glenn blurted out, staring angrily at his foot. His left hand filled with Nitrogen as he prepared to apply yet another layer of ice on the already blue foot when Javier grabbed his arm from behind. The Pale Son shook his head and kneeled in front of Glenn, looking at the foot for a few seconds. Glenn raised an eyebrow, puzzled, and opened his mouth to question the silent hunter.
The only sound that managed to escape from his vocal cords was the painful scream of his foot getting smashed to a pulp. Javier had suddenly elbowed the foot evilly, crushing it even further. Glenn''s eyes widened madly from the pain, Mana surging around him as he prepared to reduce Javier into a pile of ash. The Pale Son stood up, turning around and leaving without much care.
"You!" The young man began casting Gravity Manipulation to try and crush Javier like he had done with his foot when he suddenly put his foot down on the ground and it didn''t hurt. The shock was so grand Glenn let go of the Mana, letting it dispel into the void.
"...The fuck?" Glenn crouched, massaging his foot. It simply felt...normal, not broken. Javier had somehow managed to fix his foot by elbowing it. Sahro glanced down while rubbing his chin, curiosity nestled in his eyes.
"...Aren''t healing powers exclusive to Onnea''s priests, though? I never thought Javier was one of her believers..." He said as he stared at Javier''s back, the Pale Son leaving the scene for some unknown purpose. Glenn shook the shock of the previous pain off, breathing in and out slowly. The young man shook his head, biting down on his lip.
"Shit...No way this guy is believing in Onnea..." Glenn''s eyebrows creased, his arms spread open in confusion, "...And what''s this bullshit, you just need to believe in a god to get their powers?"
Sahro looked at Glenn with a mildly surprised gaze, before shrugging.
"Uh, well, I never had the chance to ask a priest for how divine powers work..." He smiled wryly, raising his hands helplessly. Glenn scratched the back of his head, his nose creased.
"I mean, if that''s how it works, I''ll just say I believe in every god or something..." Glenn mumbled as he shook his head dejectedly. He glanced at Sahro, suddenly curious.
"The Black Heirs don''t have a god?" He asked, crossing his arms together. Sahro shook his head, a dark expression covering his face.
"...No, we''re god-less. I think Giselle told you about what happened when we accidentally met self-called gods, right?" The Black Heir clenched his fist, staring at the starry sky with silent wrath. Glenn mentally cursed himself, before nodding slowly.
''Yeah, it''s probably better to not dig into that particular subject,'' Diamanes commented, his host only able to agree with him.
Silently, the two proceeded to head back to camp. A few minutes later, they joined Maron, Lefeivre, and Reed around a warm campfire. Maron was adorning a tunic covered in intricate silver linings gleaming gently under the moonlight. He was carefully probing the fire with his Blumar hand, amazed as the flames failed to do anything to him. Reed was anxiously watching the merchant play around, tapping his legs restlessly.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"MonsieurC!" The mercenary bit down on his fist as Maron grabbed a burning coal with his bare hands, throwing it up and down into the air.
"You seem to be having quite a bit of fun, Monsieur Maron," Glenn smiled, sitting in front of the merchant. Maron glared up, dropping the coal back into the fire.
"Lefeivre and Reed filled me in on everything while we were waiting for you," The merchant winced, making his neck crackle loudly. Glenn raised an eyebrow.
"...So how much do you remember?" He carefully asked, clasping his fingers together. The young man leaned forward, his face illuminated by the dancing flames of the fire camp. Maron sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"...Pretty much nothing. The last thing I can recall is the despair of seeing Palancar burn, but even that remains blurry..." The merchant joined his hands together, his fingers spread evenly.
"Somehow, it feels like I had some kind of heavy blanket covering my eyes and ears. Like a dream..." Maron''s head leaned against his hands, his eyes lost in thought. Glenn repressed a snark and tossed another small log into the fire. The wood crackled, embers flying into the air.
"...And do you remember about our debts? And when I say ours, I mean Javier, Josh, Sahro, and I," Glenn inquired, his eyes lost in the flames'' movements. Maron''s serious face suddenly flushed red, the merchant appearing quite shameful.
"...I''m sorry about that. Lefeivre told me about your ''debts''. I don''t know which screw came loose in my head, but I''m sure glad it tightened on its own," He blurted out as he picked a burning piece of wood inside the fire, seizing it with his Blumar arm.
"Truly, Palancar was a considerable gamble for my company''s current finances, but it was the only way for me to step up my game. Possessing an exclusive production is the golden key to the massive door that leads to the Bourgeoisie and above," The merchant snuffed the branch''s flames out, using it to draw into the ground.
"I needed a plan B, which was the Blumar quarries. I''ll be honest, I wanted to make use of your exceptional skills to make a fortune out of both Palancar and the Blumar quarry, but the matter with that evil god''s spawn back then seemed to have corrupted my mind," explained the merchant, his gaze sharp and his words concise. Glenn remarked on the sudden sharpness in Maron''s eyes, noting it. He was nothing like how he was before his??transformation, his previous calculative and calm mind back.
''If his mind is back, then that means negotiation is possible...Alright, let''s get some guaranteed reward out of this mess...'' The young man thought as he showed a peerlessly white smile.
"Well, the contract stated the objectives very clearly: as Fixers, we needed to escort the convoy to Palancar, guard the village, then escort the convoy back to King''s Rise," Glenn calmly began as he began playing with his Mana, creating a microscopic Blackhole that swallowed the fire''s light. Maron''s eyes shone but he didn''t say anything, contenting himself with listening to the powerful Fixer. Sahro was sitting cross-legged against a nearby carriage, slowly sharpening his curved sword. Not the easiest task with a single arm, but the Black Heir seemed to adapt well to his condition, not struggling whatsoever in the task he had just undertaken.
"Thankfully, the outward journey was all but eventful. It was only when we arrived in Palancar that everything went down the drain," Glenn''s eyes were lost in the lightless Blackhole.
"We had to destroy an entire village, all that to make sure we could bring out all of the villagers from their shitty ceremony. We then fought the Mother''s minions and her fucking Son, who, by the way, killed every single of Josh''s teammates. Sahro lost his arm, which will probably never get healed, unless he''s willing to go back into that strange laboratory and have it replaced with Blumar," Glenn spat, before glancing up at Sahro.
"Hey, you''re up for it or what?"
The Black Heir flipped him off silently, Glenn nodding expectedly in response.
"Yeah, not surprising," The young man''s gaze turned back to Maron, "...After all, we left another evil existence back in that laboratory C because The Mother wasn''t enough C, a laboratory we wouldn''t even have known existed had a certain someone not forced us to make a detour by the fucking quarry, because we had debts to pay," The young man finished, before crushing the Blackhole in his hand, dispersing the Mana maintaining it. Maron flinched, pinching his lips bitterly.
"...Indeed, it seems like you worked beyond the contract''s requirements," The merchant rubbed his hands together, frowning as rock and skin scraped together. He glanced at Lefeivre, nodding slightly. The foreman stood up, heading into a nearby tent. He soon came out with a small stack of paper, an ink bottle, and a feather under one arm, and a portable writing desk under the other. He quickly set the desk in front of his boss, tidying everything together neatly.
"Thank you, Lefeivre. I certainly need to give you and your men a raise..." The merchant muttered with a complicated look, before picking up the feather pen and a paper sheet. Glenn rested his head against his fist, watching silently. The merchant dipped the pen into the ink and began covering the paper with lines of perfect penmanship.
"I...Jules Maron, director of the Maron Company, hereby declares every contract signed between the first party: the Maron Company, and the second party: Fixers Javier, Josh, Sahro, and Glenn to be voided with the second party''s agreement."
Sahro''s head snapped up, the Black Heir standing up with his blade gleaming under the moonlight.
"...Are you trying to rip us off, merchant?" Sahro stepped toward Maron with a dark face, freezing when he realized Glenn hadn''t moved an inch. Sahro clenched his teeth and joined the campfire, sitting next to his friend, his blade planted in the ground, ready to be used at any moment''s notice. Maron continued to write, undisturbed, as if he hadn''t heard anything.
"As compensation for the events of the Palancar Mission, I, Jules Maron, hereby declare that adequate compensation will be distributed between the second party, under the judgment of the Gold Church."
Glenn leaned forward, licking his lips in expectation.
"Additionally, the Maron Company will support wholeheartedly the second party in every way possible without threatening the company''s safety, a condition which can be negligent under the judgment of the company''s director, hence I."
Sahro frowned, his fingers wrapping around his blade''s handle.
"...Is that it? Do we only get that? Glenn, we need toC" The Black Heir''s burning gaze died down when Glenn gestured at him to sit back down. The young man had a face of stone, giving nothing away.
"Finally, the Maron Company will contribute to good relations between the second party and all groups over which the Maron Company has influence or with which it is allied. The second party''s reputation must match its efforts, and Maron Company will stop at nothing to make this a reality."
Maron''s pen scribbled against the paper, dipping in the ink as the merchant wrote restlessly. Lefeivre watched with wide-opened eyes, biting down on his fingernails nervously. Reed was waiting for his turn patiently, acknowledging each clause the merchant added.
Jules Maron, since Jules seemed to be his first name, signed the paper, before reading it over. Nodding at his work, Maron held the new contract over to Glenn, who picked it up slowly. The young man quickly read through the paper, seeing that the words on it were the same the merchant had pronounced aloud. Glenn drew a deep breath, before summoning his Fixer''s dagger, pricking himself in the thumb.
"I, Glenn, accept the voiding of the previous contract, and accept the new contract." Glenn pushed his thumb against the paper, marking it with a bloody thumbprint. Without even looking, he handed it over to Sahro, who snorted before imitating him. Javier suddenly came out of the shadows, picking the contract up and marking it with his thumbprint. The Pale Son handed the paper back to Maron before disappearing back the way he came from.
A log into the fire crackled as it split in two, embers dancing above the fire. Glenn''s head leaned back as the young man breathed out with relief.
Thankfully, there was no need for any negotiations whatsoever. Having the Maron''s Company, a financial giant in the Fringe who will soon start to grow its influence in the Bourgeoisie, being on his side, was perhaps one of the greatest boons he could have hoped for. Alongside all the gold Maron would have to pay them, Glenn was sure to come out rich, influential, and most of all, famous. Reputation was the key to many doors in society, and no doubt having it spread would do him good.
Maybe he''ll even reach Exan''s ears with that...
''Keep dreaming,'' Diamanes mocked sarcastically, breaking Glenn''s illusion.
Maron carefully rolled the contract over and fitted it into a silver tube prepared to this effect. He handed the tube to Lefeivre, before crossing his fingers together.
"...As for Josh, I''ll have him receive the proposition as soon as I reach King''s Rise. Be sure that you''ll have my help for anything, as I am in your eternal debts."
The merchant kneeled, bowing his head to the ground and covering his brows in mud.
Glenn looked down, smiling.
''Well, that''s one thing done. Bourgeoisie, here I come!''
125. For Once, Nothing Happens (I swear)
The carriage rocked slightly as one of its wheels met on particularly protruding rock. Sahro''s head bobbled to the side with a light snore, the Black Heir sleeping comfortably with his arm wrapped around his curved sword. Javier was, as always, silently staring at Glenn, his dead fish eyes widely opened with empty black pupils.
''...I might have gotten used to it now. I don''t know, it just doesn''t feel right not having him creeping around,'' Glenn thought, his head resting on his closed fist as he looked at their passing surroundings. After signing the contract, Maron had ordered the camp back to perfection, swiftly reassigning roles and taking back the reigns. After a short but much-needed rest, the convoy swiftly left, not forgetting the Blumar they had managed to find in the quarry.
With Maron''s greediness gone, there was no reason for them to stay inside the quarry anymore. They took the road back to King''s Rise with cheered-up expressions and sighs of relief. Finally, the merchant''s antics were over, and finally, it was time to go home.
''Here we go, the fun is over...'' Diamanes sadly commented, making Glenn smirk. The entity continued, trying to cheer itself up, ''...It was certainly a nice outing, though. How much time were we gone from King''s Rise, exactly? We need to count the time-screwing-thing we had with the Mother too...''
Glenn rubbed his chin, scratching at the ever-growing stubble that threatened to turn into a beard if he didn''t take care of it. He didn''t have a particularly invasive pilosity, but he needed to shave from time to time too. Well, nothing stopped him from sporting the beard besides personal preferences. Should he try and let it grow...?
''I don''t know, it felt like we were gone for ages, but everything happened so fast,'' Glenn changed his position, stretching his cramped legs. He moistened his lips, looking at the open sky above him. The convoy had left the Blumar quarry as soon as the sun peeked out from beneath the Earth, aiming to arrive at King''s Rise as quickly as possible. If everything goes well, they should arrive tomorrow and only need to have a single break to rest for the night.
''I wonder if we would have been as fast had the carts and carriages been pulled by horses instead of Shard magic,'' The young man pondered as he glanced at the driver, one of Lefeivre''s workers. The man was holding a rough white crystal in his hands, controlling the cart with the Shard''s power.
''Well, it would have probably taken a few more days. Horses are living beings, they need rest, food, and care. But with a Shard-operated carriage, one only needs a bit of Mana or blood. They only need to rotate the drivers every hour and they''d be able to go for days without resting if needs came to be. But Maron is right to go easy on his employees, they deserve it,'' Diamanes explained with an expert tone, forcing an acknowledging grunt out of his host.
The young man blew raspberries, bored out of his mind, taking a small meatloaf out of his dimensional pouch. He reflexively looked through the storage, stopping his munching when he realized he had all the necessities to write if he needed to. Glenn frowned, taking a piece of paper and a small wooden board to serve as support. He glanced at the feather pen, wincing before dipping it into a small ink bottle. He chased a fly away with the back of his hand, before squinting and concentrating on the paper. They were still in the forest, and a slightly more wild part of it as well, hence the rocky path and the insects'' omnipresence.
''I feel like it''s time to look back on my current capabilities. Let''s quickly see what I''m able to do now and what I can''t,'' Glenn stuck his tongue out in concentration, the feather scratching lightly against the paper.
- What I can''t do:
- Use any spells that aren''t Astral Sorcery, which means Magic Barrier, Bullet, and all that. I can''t even try creating anything that isn''t in my Specialty domain, it wouldn''t work.
- ...
Glenn scratched his head, creasing his nose. He shrugged, skipping the can''t do part.
''In all honesty, I feel like it''s the one thing I can''t do. So yeah, I''ve wasted a bit of time designing my cool spells and all, but the increase in power that comes with Specialty is too much for me to feel pained by that loss,'' He parted his lips, continuing his scribbles.
- What I can do: The spells I can use currently:
- Blackhole (my favorite): Large AOE spell that continuously swallows everything on its path as long as I feed it with Mana. Pretty fun to use against a zombie crowd, but lacks true offensive power.
- Implosion: A little underwhelming in terms of offense compared with the stronger spells I came up with, but the first one I created using Astral Sorcery
- Nitrogen Wave: Large AOE for crowd-control, nice if I want to freeze a horde, but I don''t see why I wouldn''t just use Blackhole in such a situation instead. Useful depending on the circumstances
- Nitrogen Lance: A cold Kamehameha, nothing more, nothing less. The most powerful offensive spell in my collection
- Gravity Manipulation: All-rounded control spell, good at everything.
- Silence Curse: Nice for stealth and shutting annoying people up
- Sun Touch, which is practically a military-grade flashlight imbued in my arm. Useless in combat
Glenn dipped the feather pen in the ink bottle, preparing to write another line, when he realized he had nothing more to add to the list. His eyebrows rose as he racked his brains, but he indeed ''only'' had that many spells in his arsenal. Six spells, to be precise.
''...That''s not a lot. Does the Spear of Longinus not count?'' Diamanes innocently remarked.
''That was a one-time spell that used up a Circle,'' Glenn sneered, ''...I don''t think I''m going to try it again.''
The young man hesitated, before writing a new line.
- What I lack:
- Defense spells
- Spells that aren''t going to destroy half my surroundings
- Buffs and heals, but that''s only reserved for priests...
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Glenn''s feather froze, and he looked at his left hand with a pondering gaze. Technically, divine powers were still powers, and his Nitrogen stuff came from something similar to an evil god. Wait, the Silence Curse even came from one of the Thorn''s Church''s cultists... Could he perhaps try and take away divine powers? Diamanes mouth suddenly popped in, flashing a shining grin at him before disappearing back the way he came from, his intervention swift and efficient.
''...Alright, I''ll take it there should be some things that can be done, then...''
The young man opened his mouth, hesitated, and closed it with a sigh.
''I don''t even feel like asking you what, since I''m sure you''ll reply with "uh, you need to get to the 30th circle or something",'' He thought wryly, forcing a gasp of indignation from Diamanes. The entity groaned in displeasure, making a wide smile draw itself on Glenn''s face. Diamanes sighed, refusing to comment.
Glenn glanced up at Javier, before summoning his Fixer''s knife and slashing his left palm with it, barely frowning at the pain. The blood''s metallic scent quickly reached his nostrils, but he had become completely impervious to it. Given the amount of crimson liquid he had been covered in since he came into this world, he couldn''t help but get used to the perpetual smell following him. Nothing a good bath couldn''t resolve, of course, but in the middle of nowhere, it was hard to find such a luxury.
The Pale Son looked at Glenn''s wound emotionlessly. The young man smiled shamelessly and held his wounded hand out, the palm facing the ground to hide it from Javier''s sight.
"Javier, my friend, do you mind healing me? I''m trying something out," He asked, hoping the silent hunter wouldn''t question him. Well, it wasn''t as if the poor guy could ask him anything, but still...
Javier wordlessly grabbed the hand, clenching it violently and crackling Glenn''s fingers'' bones. The young man winced and forced himself to watch Javier''s work closely. There was indeed some kind of strange, dark light coming from the Pale Son''s hand, but he couldn''t recognize what kind of power it was.
''Whatever that is, you better take it, Diamanes!'' He thought painfully, Javier''s medicine being not the most pleasant to receive. Diamanes smacked his lips happily.
''~Don''t ask me twice! Thanks for the meal!!'' A disgusting suction noise echoed through the young man''s mind, and he felt the foreign power being sucked inside his body through his left arm. Javier, in a rare incident, abruptly jerked his hand out, looking at it strangely. He frowned, glancing then at Glenn''s purple limb, a strange glint shining through his eyes, a light that disappeared as soon as it came to be. Glenn smiled politely toward Javier, holding an urgent, primal need to cuss out loud about the violent treatment he just received.
"...TCThanks, Javier. You might want to consider trying to be a little more delicate with that therapy of yours..." The young man clenched his teeth, shaking the pain off. Javier crossed his arms, his eyes as wide-opened as always.
''...I kind of feel nervous. So, how did it go, DiamanesC?''
"CBurp!!" A thunderous belch exploded through the air, waking Sahro up and making the carriage''s driver turn with an awed expression.
"...The dragon''s roar!" he whispered, before focusing back on the road. Glenn clenched his left hand tightly, cursing Diamanes with all the names he could find. The Black Heir looked around with a lost look, the trace of his sword imprinted on his cheek.
"Yawn...Was that the thunder? The sky is empty, though..." Sahro frowned, throwing Glenn a confused glance. The young man raised his hand helplessly, seemingly unable to understand what the Black Heir meant. Sahro snorted, casually looking at the surrounding forest before shrugging and replacing himself comfortably. Glenn smiled awkwardly, trying to not stare back at Javier. The carriage rocked violently as they passed over a particularly sharp rock, knocking Sahro''s head against the hardwood. The Black Heir grumbled, trying to change his position and head back into sleep, but the road worsened, shaking the carriage increasingly more violently. The Black Heir cursed through his teeth, rubbing the back of his head as he gave up resting for now.
''...I fucking hate you, Diamanes, I swear to the gods!'' He angrily thought, his annoyance growing at the rhythm of Diamanes'' mocking laughter.
''Hehe, in any case, it did me good! It''s been a while since I''ve eaten anything, so it warms my heart when you remember you can use my powers,'' Diamanes chuckled. Glenn shook his head, indifferent, his mind too interested in the new skill he just stole, took. If it was indeed a healing power, this might become game-changing for him.
''Whatever, just tell me what that power is,'' Glenn snapped, his arms crossed tightly.
Diamanes sighed dejectedly.
''Tsk, you''re no fun. Well, it''s quite a strange ability, to be honest. Hmm...'' Diamanes pondered, humming with his thoughts. Glenn patiently waited, opening and closing his left hand repeatedly to get his blood to flow through it better. He casually looked at his palm, his nose creasing when he realized there were no scars whatsoever where there should at least be a mark. This was a very powerful healing skill, able to heal wounds, and broken bones, and even make scars disappear. Some people would kill to get rid of an old cut if they could.
''Hah!'' Diamanes suddenly exclaimed with an enlightened tone, ''...I know what name I should give this skill!''
Glenn slowly rubbed his face down, tired.
''You took that long to think of a name?'' He asked with an annoyed tone, the entity chuckling in reply.
''Yes, it''s true. You''re going to love it. I''ve christened it Catalytic Pain Rejuvenation!'' declared Diamanes proudly. Glenn inhaled deeply, his head leaning against the edge of the wagon, struggling to hold back the flood of swears that threatened to break through the dam of his lips. He rubbed his eyes, snorting when he realized that the skill name was short for C.P.R.
''You truly have a great sense of humor, Diamanes. I''m dying of laughter...'' Glenn jeered, shaking his head dejectedly.
''I know, I know...Let me finish. C.P.R. is exactly what it sounds like! It uses pain as fuel to heal wounds! Incredibly useful, even more if you''re in battle, isn''t it?''
Glenn waited for the inevitable drawback since it all sounded a little too good to be true. After all, that would mean he just had to turn that skill on and he''d be able to berserk his way through the battles, regenerating more and more as long as he received painful blows.
''...Yeah, indeed, there are conditions. The wound''s pain must be doubled to be healed, and it uses Mana at the same time since it''s passing through me. Javier doesn''t need to use anything but pain, since that skill is entirely his own. Heh, it feels like a power that would be created if Onnea and Epinos worked together unwillingly on the same project. Funny, isn''t it?'' Diamanes explained, laughing it off. Glenn nodded slightly, a complicated look on his face.
''...That''s not an easy skill to use. It does explain why it felt so horrible each time Javier healed me, though.''
Glenn looked at the blue sky above them, his stomach grumbling in hunger. He took out a second meatloaf serving, stuffing his mouth with it. He casually washed it down with a drink of a leather water flask, his attention drawn away when he saw the driver chase away a pestering fly with the back of his hand. His eyes stopped on the luxury carriage leading the convoy from right in front of them.
"...I do have one last question I need answered, though..." He muttered, staring at Maron''s carriage. Some things simply didn''t add up. If you thought about it, the merchant had suffered strokes of unluckiness one after the other, losing his biggest investment opportunity and half his team, getting tortured by some deranged psychopath, and becoming a strange amalgam of flesh and Blumar that shouldn''t be able to even breath.
But each time, Maron survived thanks to unbelievable coincidences. Palancar and its mind hex? Somehow, he wasn''t affected by it. Doyle and his limb-ripping torture that would have killed even Glenn? The merchant''s heart continued to beat despite the insane blood loss. He gets put into a random experimental vat and gets out of it right next to his convoy''s encampment, his body and mind fixed by the capsule.
It can happen once, but twice it starts to become strange, and thrice...
Thrice, it''s almost a habitude. And now, when Glenn and Sahro thought more and more about simply getting rid of their debts by getting rid of the merchant, suddenly, as if enlightened by God himself, the merchant gave them a compensation deal that anyone with a sane and insane mind would accept. It was that good of a deal, and truly, Glenn wouldn''t have taken anything less than that.
Glenn could put his hand to the fire that there had to be some kind of reason for this abnormal luck, and today, he was going to figure it out.
126. Project: Sword of Damocles
Thump!
The metal spike dug through the ground, pushed into it by each slam of Glenn''s hammer. The young man took a step back, frowning at his pitiful excuse of a tent he had prepared for the night. They were only half a day away from King''s Rise, but, as planned, Maron ordered a break in a nice green glade with a fresh river flowing in its center.
The convoy soon installed itself at different speeds, the mercenaries and workers getting their tents set up with efficient movements and minimum time loss. Glenn and Sahro, on the other side, struggled a little to set theirs up. One because he was incompetent and had his tent set up by someone else before, and the other because one of his arms was missing.
After the two struggled on their sides for a good quarter, they promptly asked the other for help. By putting both of their efforts together, they managed to get the bloody tent up before the night fell, which they could only be happy with. Glenn stowed the hammer away and headed to the nearest campfire with his Black Heir''s friend. The young men silently sat on dead tree trunks, warming their hands next to the fire.
"...Sahro, I need your help with an investigation," Glenn finally said with a serious expression. Sahro raised an eyebrow but nodded, inviting his friend to continue. Glenn threw a small log into the fire, before clasping his hand together.
"I''ve noticed quite a few incongruities with Maron..." He quickly shared his doubts with Sahro, whose curiosity was instantly aroused by hearing him speak.
"...It feels like he is cursed with unluckiness, and gets saved by nothing short of miracles each time...There might be something to look into here," said the Black Heir as he scratched his cheek, before frowning deeply.
"...But why do you care? Whether he''s lucky or not doesn''t have any importance, since he''s just a merchant. Once we arrive at King''s Rise, the first thing he''ll do will probably be to count his losses and gains, before finding ways to get more money...So why are you interested in the matter?" Sahro asked, raising his arm in the air with a puzzled expression. Glenn rubbed the bridge of his nose, before sighing loudly.
"Don''t you feel it?" He whispered, the corner of his lips rising slightly. Sahro raised an eyebrow and remained silent, awaiting his friend''s explanations. Glenn clasped his hands together, his tone grave and heavy.
"We found ourselves in mysterious situations one after the other, andC" The young man stops talking, his eyes fixed on a black leather cover protruding from Sahro''s pants. He pointed at it, puzzled.
"...You''re writing a diary?" Glenn''s smile grew widely, and he barely restrained himself from laughing, "...Well, I never thought you''d have such a cute secret. Don''t worry, I won''t tell anyone," He said as he jumped on his feet, passing his arm around his friend''s shoulder without letting him react, "...But hey, did you write about your secret crush in it? ~Come on, you can tell me, man!"
Sahro pushed Glenn away, confused.
"What are you talking aboutC" The Black Heir glanced down, his eyebrows creasing as he pulled the black book out. The title inscribed on the dark leather had been washed away by years and dust, unreadable. Sahro blew air on it, trying to find out what the book''s name was.
"...It''s not my diary, it''sCdamn, how did I forget about that?" Sahro mumbled as he carefully opened the book. Glenn stopped laughing, curious, and peeked from above his friend''s shoulder.
"Where did you find this? This looks old as fuck..." Glenn asked, wincing when he saw the first-page crackle, threatening to crumble to dust. Sahro stopped abruptly, his breath still as he watched the paper tremble. Very carefully, he closed the book, sighing in relief when nothing crumbled. Thankfully, it seemed like the book wouldn''t crumble as long as it was closed, its leather cover much tougher than the old paper making its contents.
"Back then, in that bronze laboratory...I picked it up on the ground," Sahro answered after a few seconds of staring at the book with growing curiosity. Glenn looked back and forth at the book and Sahro, sneering at the absurdity.
"So you''re telling me that book was just...laying there, gathering dust? What?" Glenn opened his arms confusedly, "...What was it even doing here? Why wasn''t it in Doyle''s possession?"
Sahro grunted and shoved the book into Glenn''s arms, exasperated.
"What, do you think I''ve got all the answers? It was there, I picked it up, end of story! Now, I''d be more than pleased to see if you can understand a single shit out of this book, because from what I''ve seen of the first page, I can''t!" Sahro kicked a rock away, pouting, "...Shit, I''m the one who found it to begin with, why does it have to be written in such a weird dialect...?"
Glenn snorted, carefully prying the book open.
"Heh, what makes you think I can read it when you can''t?" Glenn frowned, sitting on the ground. The warm light from the campfire wasn''t enough for him to be sure of what he had just seen, forcing him to use a weakened version of his Sun Touch. His middle finger glowed warmly, projecting enough light to light up the pages brightly without transforming Glenn into a lighthouse.
''Heh, should we name it the Sun Finger?'' Diamanes mocked, jeering. The young man ignored him, squinting to decrypt the old, washed-out letter on the crumbling paper.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
"Isn''t that...English?" He mumbled, scratching the back of his head in confusion. Sahro swiftly rotated, question marks in his eyes.
"Inglishe? What''s that?" The Black Heir asked innocently. Glenn bit down on his lips, looking at the sky in search of an answer.
"Well, huh, it''s..." He smacked his lips, shrugging, "...A dead language. I know it because some people used it in my hometown, but I''ve rarely seen it here..." Glenn replied while thinking back to Exan''s introductions. The only people who knew English were Earthlings, which meant that whoever wrote these notes came from Earth.
Because, indeed, it was a notebook. Glenn read aloud the few words he could decipher again, just to make sure.
"...'' Project Sword of Damocles, First Iteration'',"
Sahro''s head leaned to the side, his face plunged in contemplation.
"Incredible, you can read that. Who''s Damocles though? Any idea?" He asked without much conviction, the name not evocating much to him.
"Damocles...I don''t remember if that was a person, but there was a saying in my hometown..." His nose creased as he pinched his lips, "...The Sword of Damocles is constantly hanging above everyone''s head, even the strongest..."
''...Was that the saying?'' Diamanes asked, unsure. Glenn mentally shrugged, dismissing him.
''Whatever, what''s important is the meaning.''
"A bit like time and death, right?" Sahro pieced together, struggling to understand. Glenn bit down on his tongue, wincing.
"Well, yes and no. The Sword of Damocles is threatening everyone, be they timeless existences or not..." The young man''s eyes widened and he slammed his fist in his open hand.
"The Gods!" Glenn and Sahro exclaimed at the same time, looking at the book with a shocked gaze. Glenn shook his head, getting rid of these thoughts.
"Listen, that''s only the title of the notes. Let''s not try to dig too deep into it without reading the actual book," He quickly calmed both his and Sahro''s fires of excitement out, carefully flipping a page open. Sahro peeked at the book, trying to decipher the strange language at the same time.
"...Shit, whoever wrote this had a shitty penmanship..." Glenn squinted, following the lines with his finger.
"...This experim...must succee...do not...choice." He read out loud, drawing a breath in annoyance. As if the passing time wasn''t enough, the author had to be someone who wrote like a doctor!
"I think it said: "This experiment must succeed, we do not have a choice."" Sahro guessed, eliciting a nod from Glenn.
"Shit, that only was the introductory line... We''re going to spend our whole life trying to read those notes!" He exclaimed angrily, his grip on the book tightening. The page shook, making him relax his handle over the book instantly. But the damage was already made, and a portion of the first page disappeared, crumbling into dust. Sahro slapped his forehead, grunting in disappointment. Glenn slowly closed the book in shame, holding it back toward Sahro.
The Black Heir snatched it away, safely keeping it tied to his belt.
"Yeah, I''m guarding that shit until the only thing we have to do is to study it. And I think I''ll try to find another specialist in that Inglishe tongue you spoke of," He stated firmly, denying the book''s access to Glenn. The young man opened and closed his fist, sighing regretfully.
"...Sorry," He forced an apology out, earning a disapproving gaze from Sahro. With the main curiosity gone, Glenn''s mind swerved back to the original subject he wanted to explore, which was: what the hell was so special about Maron? He turned his head toward Sahro to ask him for help, but the Black Heir had already walked off from the campfire, angered and annoyed by Glenn''s actions.
''...That was his finding, and you ruined it. Good job!'' Diamanes taunted, succeeding in pulling a sigh out of his host.
''Yeah, that wasn''t well thought from me... I''m not so easily annoyed usually, though...'' He thought, sneering at his pathetic attempt to find an excuse for his behavior.
''Oh wow, incredible, that dear Sir is finally realizing that there is something wrong with him!'' Diamanes exclaimed in awe, making his host''s eyebrows rise in surprise.
''There is?''
Diamanes didn''t answer for a few seconds.
''Well, yes? Do you realize how much you''ve been through these past few months? I can accept that you have an iron will because of your already shitty experiences in this world, but at some point, sanity can only diminish after being hammered so much. Of course, that doesn''t excuse you from being a jerk, it just means you should try to... I don''t know, get some rest?'' The entity explained expertly, plunging Glenn into deep thought.
"I wouldn''t say no to a few weeks tanning on some beaches, but I''m not sure they have this in this world..." He muttered amusedly, before shaking his head.
"...And I don''t have the time to spare for that. I still need to get Giselle''s grandson back, beat the fuck out of the Baron, and find Exan. Without counting Onnea''s sidequest, of course..."
''...Whose side quest? It''s crazy how stupid this censor is,'' Diamanes complained. Glenn shook his head, giving up on trying to explain anymore. Instead, he blew the fire away with a gust of Nitrogen, killing the flames. He pushed himself up from his seat and dusted off his pants, before heading for Maron''s tent. The light coming from it indicated the merchant was still very much awake, probably working on some administrative matter.
He nodded at Lefeivre and a group of workers eating around a bonfire, who nodded back at him. The moonlight and the warm hue from the torches in the camp illuminated his way. He grabbed the flap of Maron''s tent, about to announce himself, when he heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks.
"Dear Lord of all that is golden, I thank thee for your support and your patronage. I shall abide by your will, and continue to climb the monetary stairs to offer you a gift that will be worth more than my puny life..." Maron was praying quite loudly making it hard for Glenn to ignore it. The sound of something falling in the tent followed by a short cry of pain alerted Glenn, who entered without hesitation.
A blinding golden light greeted him, forcing the young man to take a step back. He blinked, squeezing his eyes to try and see through the white blanket that had fallen over his eyes.
"Hey, Monsieur Maron, you alright?" He asked loudly, rubbing the blindness off. Finally, he managed to perceive something that left him with his jaw hanging on the ground.
The merchant was kneeling while holding his head painfully, bare chest, his body half Blumar, and half flesh. But that was nothing that would surprise Glenn, on the contrary. No, the truly surprising spectacle was the small, golden lizard that was struggling to flee the tent through a small hole. Glenn shook his head and lunged forward, grabbing the lizard''s tail. The lizard slipped through his fingers, escaping in the darkness of the night.
"What the fuck?" He blurted out, looking back at Maron in shock. His sight came back clearer, and there, on Maron''s Blumar arm, he could see engraved a strange tattoo. Or was it an engraving, since it was on stone?
Anyway, there was something engraved with yellow, shining lines, like a vein of gold running through the merchant''s arm.
And that vein is shaped like a dragon.
A golden dragon.
127. The Dragon Sealed In My Right Arm–!
"Cough, doCdo you guys want a drink, maybe?" Maron stretched an innocent smile, kneeling on the floor with his hands on his thighs. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a gaze, before staring down at the merchant from their seats. The Black Heir had joined them in the wide tent after being called over by Glenn. The latter crossed his arms and smacked his lips, a vein popping on his forehead.
"So, what was that?" He asked, raising his finger when Maron opened his mouth to reply, "...And don''t even think about lying, it''s not because we''ve signed a nice contract that I won''t kill you if push comes to shove."
The merchant gulped, biting down on his lower lip. He looked to the side with hesitation, his expression complicated. This "hesitation" soon disappeared when violent blue sparks of electricity crackled where Sahro''s left arm should be. Maron rubbed his hands, grimacing as he forced himself to answer.
"...Damn me," The merchant gave up, sighing dejectedly. He looked at his interlocutors seriously, a grave expression drawn over his face.
"I''ll tell you, but I need you to swear you won''t tell anyone. Of course, nothing stops you from breaking said promise, but I still need it for my reassurance..." Maron trailed off, his eyes shooting to the side once again. Glenn and Sahro traded another gaze, before shrugging.
"I swear I won''t say anything," Glenn swore, his fist against his chest.
"...Same," Sahro followed, before receiving a slap on the back of his head. Glenn looked at his friend with a deathly stare.
"Do it properly."
"...Sure, sigh," Sahro grumbled, "...I swear I won''t say anything too. Happy?" The Black Heir snapped at Glenn, who ignored him consciously and concentrated on the merchant. He was much too curious to see what was the truth about this golden lizard he had seen previously. Perhaps, the veil surrounding the mysterious coincidences Maron kept surviving thanks to will be lifted with this.
''At least you won''t have to bother searching for an answer this time. Lucky you to arrive straight in the middle of...whatever that was,'' Diamanes commented amusedly, Glenn agreeing with a mental nod. Maron breathed in deeply and rose from the ground, pushing himself up. The golden veins glinted off the dragon engraving on his Blumar arm in the warm light of the lantern illuminating the tent. The merchant looked at the dragon, before closing his eyes and clenching his fist. The dragon engraving disappeared, the gold veins disappearing in the dark-blue hue of the light-swallowing Blumar.
"...I think I already mentioned I have a close relationship with the Gold Church, right?" Maron began as he looked at his stone arm. Glenn and Sahro nodded, waiting patiently for the merchant''s explanations.
"Well, it''s something I learned only very recently, but it seems like I''ve received His blessing," He said, peering into the distance thoughtlessly.
"..."His" blessing?" Glenn frowned, "...Are you talking about Plutus, the Gold Church''s god?"
Maron nodded, smiling widely.
"Indeed. Back when those..." He looked at the Blumar on his body, "...things were growing in place of my limbs, I was accorded a short but incredible meeting with His Envoy."
The merchant''s eyes were glimmering with a mix of awe and adoration.
"...It was..." Maron searched for his words, struggling, "...A truly exhilarating experience. ICI can''t even explain it."
Glenn waved his hand dismissively, not that curious about the said meeting. After all, he had already met a few gods ever since he came here.
"Forget that part, then, and tell us what this dragon tattoo, er, engraving, is," he asked coldly, chin resting on his fist. Maron sat down on a comfortable-looking leather chair, his head resting on the backrest. He glanced at his arm and made the golden dragon appear once again.
"This...This is His Mark. It''s the physical embodiment of his Blessing. If I''m not mistaken, this should be an honor reserved only to a few chosen ones..." Maron shook his head, his eyes stretching in awe.
"I still can''t believe I''m now a Blessed...Anyway, the Mark in itself doesn''t do much, but it''s the proof that Plutus invested in me."
Maron stood up and walked to a nearby table, where a steamy teapot was waiting alongside a delicate porcelain cup. The merchant poured himself a cup, using a silver teaspoon to add a bit of sugar, gently mixing it inside the tea. He went and sat back on his leather chair.
"...So you didn''t receive any powers whatsoever?" Sahro asked, his eyebrows creased. The Black Heir was fiddling with his sword''s pommel, unscrewing and screwing it again and again. The light in Maron''s eyes changed, and he confidently smiled, drinking from his teacup without answering. After a few seconds of silence, he put down the teacup.
"...I never said that. Actually..." Maron looked looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. He smacked his lips, before crossing gaze once again with the Black Heir.
"There are a few things that I couldn''t explain before, but can now. The Golden Dragon offered me three Authorities," Maron proudly stated. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a confused gaze.
"An Authority? Is this like a divine skill?" Glenn asked as he rubbed his chin. Maron nodded, drinking another sip of tea.
"Indeed. Authorities are fragments of a god''s power, given only to carefully selected people, called the Blessed. Of course, to the god giving the power away, this fragment of power is worth as much as a grain of dust under their boots, but to us, it''s absolutely...mind-bogglingly powerful."
Glenn nodded, clasping his hands together, but he mentally asked Diamanes to be sure.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
''Well, so far, he didn''t say anything false. It''s surprising a god, even his Apostle, would take the time to explain such things to a mortal. Generally, they don''t bother,'' Diamanes confirmed with a curious voice. Glenn''s eyelid twitched.
''I have an idea, but can you explain what an Apostle is?''
''A god''s henchman,'' the entity replied, Glenn, nodding imperceptibly. That was pretty much what he had understood, but it cost nothing to make sure of it. Maron drew a deep breath and crossed his arms together.
"...I''ve received three such divine fragments, named Debt Binding, Golden Providence, and Golden Insight." Maron''s shoulders drooped, his secrets revealed for them to see. Glenn tapped his foot on the ground, curious.
"What do they do?"
Maron rubbed his chin.
"Debt Binding forces anyone who had a semblance of debt to pay me back, one way or another. This is quite the scam since I can push debts on anyone by just twisting the words in a contract slightly."
Glenn''s eyes widened, and he slammed his fist in his open palm.
"So that''s why we continued to follow you despite all that bullshit you pulled!" He exclaimed, surprised.
"Divine powers are much more powerful than I thought..." Sahro muttered, squinting at Maron. He nodded, inviting the merchant to continue.
"...Right. Golden Providence is..." Maron clenched his teeth, "...More of a curse than a blessing."
Glenn and Sahro raised an eyebrow but didn''t interrupt him.
"...It allows me to...pay the Golden Dragon for a tiny bit of help. The issue is...if my life is threatened and there is no other way around it, the Authority activates automatically..." Maron''s eyes were glassy, filled with horror.
"...Can you even guess how much gold I lost in Palancar to resist the damned mind hex?" He hissed, his fist tightly clenched. Glenn made a surprised smile. Indeed, Maron was the only one who wasn''t in the Mother''s Church back then, which meant he wasn''t influenced by the hex. So that was thanks to a divine Authority...
''Damn, I want some of these too!'' Glenn shook his head, awed.
Maron sipped the last drops of his tea, before putting the teacup down with a sigh.
"As for the last Authority, Golden Insight, it allows me to find the best investment opportunities. Be it people or resources, they''re all surrounded by a golden light whose intensity depends on the potential success of the investment."
Maron clasped his hands together, his elbows resting on his knees.
"I''ve always had a good eye for people, but with that, I''m guaranteed to always go in the right path. Of course, the brighter the investment opportunity, the riskiest it is. But the riskiest, the best the reward is in general..." He slowly looked up at Glenn, grinning.
"And you, Sir Glenn, have the brightest light I''ve seen ever since I got that skill, which was arguably only a few days ago," He then looked at Sahro, who grimaced back at him, "...Sir Sahro is also surrounded by an incredible amount of golden light, but not as much as you, Sir Glenn."
The latter brightly smiled and turned toward his friend, gloating. Sahro snorted, before standing up from his seat.
"It''s a little pitiful to see that your survival is owed to a god and not your efforts, but that''s the kind of world we''re living in, isn''t it?" The Black Heir turned around, leaving the tent without another word. Glenn rubbed his chin, ignoring Maron''s dark expression.
"Well, I''d be glad if you could stop using your Authorities on us. Nonetheless, it makes now a lot more sense as to why you gave such a crazy good contract." Glenn''s eyes glinted as he also stood up.
"...Since we''re both excellent investment opportunities from what your Golden Insight says. Anyway, I won''t ask what that golden lizard was then, I think I already have an excellent idea of what could have been."
The young man walked to the tent''s exit, pushing the flap open. He stopped and glanced back at Maron who was silently sitting in his leather armchair. He grinned widely, showing his pristine white teeth.
"Don''t worry, telling us the truth is an even better investment than that contract," Glenn turned back, and his smile disappeared, replaced by a bone-chilling expression, "...Since you''ll keep your life despite playing with us using your powers..."
Maron shivered but didn''t say anything.
''Hopefully, he''ll have learned this lesson,'' Glenn thought, his stomach grumbling.
He left the tent and moved deeper into the camp, heading for a nearby campfire. All this talk had whetted his appetite, as his stomach testified. He picked a roasting rabbit, blowing air on it to cool it, before biting a huge chunk from it. He chewed the tender meat without thinking, his thoughts already heading elsewhere.
''Since Plutus gave away such powerful Authorities to a simple merchant, that means other gods can do the same. Epinos of the Thorn''s Church, the Mother, or even that thing that creates the Hearts of Darkness Onnea charged me to destroy, they can all arm their followers with mind-defying powers if they want to. That''s probably what happened with Gentle Knight back in Palancar. And since I''m already in their bad books, that means I should prepare myself to find myself against stupidly strong opponents. Shit, why did I make so many divine enemies...?''
Glenn sighed, wiping off the fat on his lips, before ripping another chunk of roasted meat.
''At least Onnea''s on my side... I think. Hey, maybe that thing she gave me to detect Hearts of Darkness is an Authority! What would it be named, the Death-Threatening Compass?'' The young man sneered, laughing all by his proud self.
The rest of the night was uneventful, Javier, Sahro, and Glenn traded quarters to ensure the convoy''s safety. The sun finally rose, chasing away the two celestial moons and heralding the convoy''s departure. Without taking a break, the Maron''s Company convoy covered the roads for the whole day, finally arriving at Munirp''s capital, King''s Rise.
Glenn looked at the huge gates and the two stone giants standing guard beside them. The convoy was entering the city through the Western Gate, also known as the Twilight Gate. A fitting name, since the sun was beginning to set, illuminating the massive, dark stone gate with its violet-orange light. The wheels of the wagon Glenn was sitting on shook noisily, the young man mesmerized by the spectacle. The dark stone gleamed with mysterious, massive engravings, covering the entire portal.
The two statues were different from the ones present at the Northern Gate. The one on the left was a robed mage, hooded and holding a staff with his hands clasped over it, while the one on the right was a priest also hooded, but with his or her hands joined. Glenn couldn''t tell the statue''s gender, it wasn''t made clear. He smiled as he looked at the gate, remembering the first time he came to King''s Rise. Quite the chaotic and unlucky encounters he had made, but nothing could compare to the shock and awe he had felt that day.
''It''s still hard to imagine humans building such a...massive edifice. How much time do you think it took?'' Glenn''s head bobbed at the rhythm of the cart''s wheels as he asked his inner friend.
''Well, I''m almost certain the Ramparts were built using a massive quantity of magic, but with its size...At least half a century, maybe?'' Diamanes pondered, before adding ''...And that''s trusting the mages who built the Rampart to be at least in the Fifth or Sixth Circle, which is already insanely far-fetched.''
Glenn blinked, shocked, before shaking his head. When he looked at the size of these walls, it was only normal for them to take so long to be built. As he looked at the statues, a sudden thought struck him.
''Diamanes, tell me...'' The young man grinned, a rush of adrenaline shooting through his veins, ''...Didn''t you tell me I could take the magic from these statues once I reached the Third Circle?''
The entity chuckled, not replying. Glenn''s grin grew as excitation made his heart beat faster. It was true that he had entirely forgotten about serving himself back when he left King''s Rise, but now that he was a True Initiate, nothing was stopping him.
There was no doubt the magic protecting King''s Rise Ramparts was immeasurably powerful.
And he was soon going to be able to use these powers for himself.
How could he not be hyped?
128. 🎵The Demons Grin🎵
"I swear, this will not go unheard! I know a few commanding Watchers, so you better prepare yourself! This is unacceptable, even more to a loyal patron of the Order!"
Glenn picked his ear, leaning against the guard''s post wall as he waited for Maron to come back. The merchant''s outraged exclamations reached him outside, making him sigh loudly. The convoy had safely arrived at the Western Gate, but due to the nature of the wares they transported as well as the size of their group, ''special authorizations'' were required from the Watchers, the guards protecting the Rampart.
Maron had been trying to break a deal with the guard''s post officer for the past hour, but from Glenn gathered of their heated exchanges, there was no room for negotiation. Shutting himself from the perpetual, raging merchant''s voice, Glenn observed the Twilight''s Gate surroundings. It wasn''t much different from the Frozen Gate, with a Magic Identification Bureau, an Inn, and a guard post, with the only difference being the size of the Thorn''s Church present here, slightly larger and in better condition. Without the Black Heirs'' influence to stop them, it was a given that these whackos cultists would have more influence here.
The young man frowned, his fists clenched. Each time his gaze passed over the church, he couldn''t help but desire its destruction. Their presence couldn''t be helped, as the Northern-Western part of the Sewers was their territory, the Repentir.
''I mean, what''s stopping you? The guards will probably not intervene, since they''re supposed to only protect the Gate, and there shouldn''t be many people able to stand up to you with your current strength,'' Diamanes enticed him, his suave voice echoing in his host''s head. Glenn bit down on his lower lips, before shaking his head. He had spent most of his time waiting observing the movements of the people entering and exiting the church, and had found out that there was a considerably bigger following in this district.
''...I can''t just break in and blast everyone. I bet my hand that most of the people in there are starving inhabitants of the Sewers. I can''t just kill them because they did their best to survive,'' Glenn replied, his arms crossed. He kicked a pebble away, bored out of his mind, when Maron suddenly stormed out of the guard''s post, his face red with anger.
"These sons of...!" Maron''s exorbitated eyes trembled, the merchant''s fists tightly closed in frustration. He cursed at the sky before sighing loudly, his shoulders drooping slightly.
"So, I guess no good news?" Glenn asked, glancing at the guards staring from inside the post, their expressions amused and haughty. Maron shook his head, smacking his lips.
"...Indeed. There is a lockdown on the Northern and Western Gates due to an increase in tension between the two factions residing in the Sewers," The merchant explained before throwing one last annoyed glance at the guard''s post.
"The Black Heirs and the Thorn''s Church..." Glenn muttered, the corners of his mouth rising slightly. Increase in tension? That could only mean one thing: the Black Heirs had begun the war against the cultist bastards.
''Hopefully, the Black Heirs will crush the Church soon. It would be great to get rid of this ever-present problem in the back of my mind,'' Glenn thought sarcastically, his eyelids twitching as he glanced at the Church on the other side of the road. With some luck, he would maybe get the chance to contribute further to these crazy bastards'' fall...
"...Anyway, we''re forced to spend the night in the inn over there and wait for the authorizations to come. Sigh, I can''t afford to lose my time like this, though..." The merchant''s scowled as he grabbed the side of his head, his teeth clenched. He headed back to the convoy waiting nearby, Glenn following in his footsteps. Lefeivre stood up from his seat, opening his arms in puzzlement. Maron replied by shaking his head negatively, the foreman cursing silently.
Glenn observed the silent exchange before leaving to find Sahro and Javier back. The Black Heir and the Pale Son were standing guard around the convoy, scaring off any curious onlookers. The Maron''s Company couldn''t help but garner attention due to its size as well as the adorned look of Maron''s carriage. Sahro raised an eyebrow when he saw Glenn, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword.
"So? When are we heading in?" He asked as he scratched the back of his head. Glenn made a wry smile and leaned against a nearby cart, his arms crossed.
"Tomorrow the soonest. Due to the war between the Black Heirs and the Thorn''s Church, they made the entry requirements stricter for large groups and the like," Glenn rubbed the bridge of his nose, pensive. Sahro spat to the side, Javier not reacting whatsoever, his expression as bland and emotionless as ever.
"Shit, I thought the war would already be over. Tsk, it shouldn''t be too long until we crush these cockroaches," Sahro blurted out as he passed his tongue over his teeth. Glenn nodded slightly, before pointing at the nearby Thorn''s Church with his chin. The Black Heir looked at the Church, pondering, before shaking his head.
"Too many innocent bystanders would get hurt, we can''t take care of it now..." He trailed off as he noticed a strange light shining in Glenn''s eyes.
"I was thinking the same. So, what do you think about visiting them once there is no one left in it...?" The young man smiled wickedly, showing his peerlessly white teeth. Sahro rubbed his chin, grinning.
"...I''m not against it, that''s for sure. Weakening their hold so far from the main fight is bound to do some damage to their logistics, right?" The Black Heir theorized, making his friend chuckle.
"Haha, I just want to get rid of them. Whether this will hurt their operations or not is above me," Glenn snorted, making Sahro shake his head dejectedly.
"Heh, at least you are honest about it. So, what do you propose?"
Sahro''s question was cut off by a loud cry of happiness from the mercenaries and the workers. Glenn frowned and caught an excited worker.
"What''s going on?"
The worker smiled and nodded toward the nearby inn while rubbing his hands together.
"...'' Sieur Maron declared free quarter until tomorrow, and he''s paying his round for tonight!"
Glenn let go of him, his lips curved upward with a surprised expression.
"They do deserve it, after all..." He mumbled, before following the worker toward the inn. A sign freshly painted was hanging above the door, "The Twilight''s Inn".
''They didn''t bother with the name, huh?'' Diamanes snorted, but Glenn ignored him. The name of the tavern didn''t matter much; what did was what they served. As long as there were choices and quantities, it was a good inn in his books. Oh, and of course, it''d be best if they weren''t affiliated with the Thorn''s Church, but with how close they were with the Repentir, it was kind of a given.
Well, in the worst scenario he''ll just have to kill a few cultists, so whatever right?
The sound of the bustling tavern reached Glenn''s ears, a mix of laughter, glasses clinking, and chairs rattling against the ground. Surprisingly, there also seemed to be some music, a sound he hadn''t met often ever since he came into this world. He pushed the saloon doors open, Sahro following close behind. A glance informed him that Javier had chosen to remain with the carts and carriages, holding his bow calmly.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Glenn shrugged and entered the inn. He certainly wasn''t going to force the silent hunter to follow them.
"Hahaha, three of a kind!"
"...Bastard! Show me your sleeves!"
"Hahaha!!"
The young man smiled and chose to head directly to the counter, Sahro instead walking off to try and find an empty table. The inn was surprisingly big, even more so for one that remains outside the walls, with three floors, a scene for musicians to perform, and lots of people to fill it.
It was almost comparable to the Auberge, without the disgusting Boss.
''...Of course, they''re also around,'' Glenn squinted, noticing three robed persons sitting silently at a table a few meters away, silently sipping on beer without trying to mix without the customers. The young man sighed and shook his head, before leaning against the counter, waiting for a barman.
"??...So let us sing of the brave and bold, who faced the darkness, fierce and cold, for in their tales, we find our might, to stand against the darkest night!??" The bard standing on the scene bowed under the applause and exclamations of the public. He held out his hat, generous hands filling it with coins. Glenn smiled and made himself more comfortable, waiting for the next song.
"What can I serve you?" A female voice took Glenn out of his contemplation, bringing with her an air of spiced alcohol and a hint of...mint? The young man glanced back, freezing in shock when he recognized the barmaid.
"...Milena?"
The lady dropped the glass mug she was carrying out of surprise, Glenn barely catching it reflexively. She took a step back, Mana twirling around her hands, but the young man in front of her shook his head dejectedly. He couldn''t help but remark that her...style had changed a lot since the last time he''d seen her. The dark robe covering her from head to toe was nowhere to be seen, replaced by cheap linen pants and tunics, letting everyone appreciate her long flowing black hair and plump lips.
"Don''t worry, I already know your secret, and honestly, I don''t care." He blurted out, before grinning widely.
"I''d like two pints of brown ale, please."
Taken aback, Milena didn''t peep a word and silently prepared two pints, her movements precise and trained. It seemed like she had spent much time here, at least a month. Could she have hidden herself here back when she fled his questions? Glenn shrugged, discarding these thoughts. It didn''t matter anymore, he now knew Prince''s identity and couldn''t care less about Milena''s Test or whatever that was. The only thing that annoyed him was how she destroyed that book he found in the Library...
Milena slammed the two pints in front of Glenn, holding her hand out.
"SSix coppers..." She struggled to say, her eyes trembling and shooting to the sides uncontrollably. Glenn fished a few coins from his dimensional pouch, handing them over before picking up the drinks. He then headed for the table Sahro found. Luckily, it was quite close to the scene, so he''d be able to enjoy more of the bard''s show.
"Thanks. Hey, wasn''t that lady the one you talked to me about?" Sahro accepted the beer gratefully, before nodding his chin at the counter, where Milena was still standing frozen, a blank expression on her pretty face. Glenn smacked his lips, shrugging.
"Yep, but now that we know who Prince was, we don''t need her anymore. I thought she''d have answers to some of my questions, but since the last time I tried asking her she fled like a scared rabbit, I decided the struggle was simply not worth the effort," Glenn explained, sipping on his beer. His tensed-up shoulders from the harsh travel relaxed down and he leaned comfortably in his chair, going as far as to put his feet on the table.
''Wow, your manners from Earth are completely gone now, you''re just doing whatever you want now, huh?'' Diamanes mocked, making his host reply with a snort.
''When in Rome, live like the Romans, right?'' retorted Glenn, silencing Diamanes. The bard was talking to some members of the audience about the all-important question of what he was going to sing next.
"Let''s do Noir''s the Iron Fist!"
"Nah, get the fuck out with your sweaty man, tell us about Countess Yora''s Shield!"
The audience had a hard time agreeing, some were even ready to exchange blows to get the songs they wanted.
"Alright, alright, I''ll tell a new story, then, a story no one heard until now!" The bard calmed things down with a warm smile, a strange guitar with nine strings resting on his lap. The audience grumbled but accepted nonetheless. After all, the bard was the only one who could sing, so he had the final say on what he chose to play. The musician, a man with a slender body and a mysterious smile barely revealed under a wide-brimmed fedora pressed his hat further over his nose, before starting the music, his fingers dancing on the nine-stringed guitar.
Sahro drank from his mug with a moan of appreciation, wiping off the foam over his mouth with his sleeve.
"Ahh, man, I missed that! It feels great to finally rest after all of this mess..." The Black Heir grinned, watching the bard alongside Glenn. The young man was silently frowning, rubbing his temples confusedly. For some reason, he could have sworn that the bard had glanced at his left arm before beginning his song, but he wasn''t exactly sure.
"Dear friends, this ballad is one I wrote under the cold moonlight, inspired by a dark horse rising from the shadows..." The bard began, his fingers quickening on his guitar, suggesting heroic music. The public cheered, trading drinks and laughter. The musician smiled silently, the hue from the nearby torches and light Shards illuminating his lips.
"??In lands of yore where shadows dwell, There lived a hero few could quell...??" The bard sang, captivating the audience instantly. Glenn quickly stopped listening to the lyrics, staring back at Milena at the counter despite his best reason. The lady was thoughtlessly cleaning a glass mug, a complicated and worried expression on her face. She looked up and crossed his gaze, clenching her teeth in reaction.
Milena put the glass away, before going around the counter and joining Glenn''s table. Sahro glanced at her with creased eyebrows, but didn''t say anything. The woman pulled a chair out and sat in front of Glenn, her lips pinched and her fists tightly clenched. Glenn raised his pint toward her, grinning, before emptying it. The cold beer quenched his thirst and relaxed him further until the memory of getting his stuff stolen and having to fight a grotesque amalgam of an entire kitchen staff popped back into his mind.
He slowly put the glass down, before nodding toward Milena.
"It seems like you reconverted yourself. How is it going?" Glenn asked innocently, peering into her silver eyes. He had never noticed they were of such a pronounced color before, but again, he had never cared that much for that haughty bitch. Milena smacked her lips, grumbling with irritation as she pushed away a stumbling drunkard.
"...As you can see, it''s going well. But you know I''m not here to talk about that. What do you know about me, you bastard?!?" She whispered angrily, throwing worried glances around herself. Glenn shrugged, making the glass mug spin on the table.
"Well, not much. Hey, you know, I''m glad your reconversion is going well. From a Court''s Noble to a Fixer, then to a waitress, that''s quite the career change" The young man was forced to lean his head to the side, narrowly avoiding a sharp gust of Mana. He squinted, Milena''s surprising him.
For some reason, he could find... fear in her eyes.
But what did an undercover noble playing around with low-borns could be scared of? Even more when knowing that she was a powerful mage controlling the strangest spells Glenn had encountered in his life. She slammed her fist against the table, shooting daggers with her eyes.
"YouHow did you know I was from...There?" She hissed, leaning above the table, making Sahro''s glass wobble dangerously. The Black Heir hurriedly caught it, before glancing haughtily at the pesky woman that dared to disturb his peaceful resting time.
"Oh, I didn''t, but now I''m sure of it. Do you mind getting another beer for me and my friend? I don''t doubt he will finish it soon," Glenn stated matter-of-factly, uncaring. Sahro nodded and emptied his mug swiftly, slamming it on the table loudly. The noise was drowned under the perpetual conversations and the laughter of the tavern, as well as the pleasant song the bard was singing. Milena puffed her cheeks and grabbed the two mugs, leaving the table with angry steps.
Glenn and Sahro exchanged a gaze before chuckling and fist-bumping. The two glanced at the bard, listening to the lyrics when they both froze in shock.
"...??His left arm, purple with the demon''s grin,
Held powers dark, yet pure within,
A pact he made in whispers deep,
To claim the souls that monsters keep,??"
The Black Heir frowned and pointed at the bard with confusion.
"Wait, isn''t he talking about...?"
Glenn shook his head with awe, unable to believe his ears.
"No, we must be wrong, right?"
"??Oh, sing of him, the mad hero bold,
Whose tales of valor shall be told,
With astral magic and axe aflame,
He carved his path, immortal name!??"
The bard''s song reached its climax, his fingers'' movements blurred from how fast they were playing the nine-stringed guitar. He pushed his hat down, before giving one last guitar solo. The tavern became silent, hypnotized by the music as they waited for it to end. Finally, the bard let go of the guitar, the notes still playing in the audience''s ears.
"...The Demon''s Grin..." He whispered, his words heard by everybody. Silence took place in the inn, until applauses and impressed roars echoed out, showering the bard with praises. The bard saluted politely, his hand against his chest, before giving one last amused and mysterious to Glenn. He then jumped into the crowd, disappearing inside it, the sound of coins clinking inside his hat echoing from every spot of the tavern.
Glenn and Sahro looked at each other, shocked.
"What the hell was that?"
129. I Take This, I Take That...
Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes, squinting. He blinked and opened his mouth, trying to say something, only to raise his hands in confusion. He was so surprised he was unable to even muster a word.
"He...That was you he was singing about, right?" Sahro stuttered, an awed smile on his face.
The two young men remained frozen for a few minutes until the heavy slam of two pints of ale woke them up from their stupor.
"Did you see a ghost or something?" Milena sneered, making herself comfortable on her chair. Glenn shook his head, coming to his senses.
"Milena, any idea who that bard was?" he asked while trying to find a said musician in the crowd. Milena shook her head, crossing her arms dejectedly.
"...No one knows. He always arrives when we less expect him to come and from seemingly nowhere. Each time I or one of this inn''s patrons tried to ask him a question, he would avoid it or disappear. He''s a mysterious stranger singing the praises of untold heroes..." Milena''s gaze lost itself in the distance, her cheeks slightly red. Glenn snorted, recovering her attention.
"Haha, I never thought the proud Milena would ever have a crush on a low-bornC" Glenn couldn''t continue his sentence as Milena angrily pounced at him, her face flushed with shame. Sahro laughed as he watched them fight, enjoying his beer at the same time. After Milena was forced back on her chair with tactical use of Gravity Manipulation, Glenn could finally sip on his ale as well, the corners of his lips curved upward. The lady sighed, hiding her face behind her hands.
"So, why don''t you tell us about you, Milena?" Glenn asked, raising his mug toward her. The woman threw her hair back, her lips pinched.
"...What do you know about me?" She carefully demanded, throwing glances all around the inn. Glenn sighed at the scene and opened his left hand, using the Silence Curse to mute the area around their table.
"There, no one will hear you. Oh, and I''m just asking because I''m curious, so feel free to not answer," He waved his hand dismissively, before tapping his chin, pondering.
"...What I know about you... I''m certain that you''re from a noble family from the Court or King''s Rise First Circle. The only thing that should stand above your standing would be the Royal family, correct?" He theorized, blowing the moss over his beer away. Milena nodded slowly, her fists tightly clenched.
"Wait, are you even allowed to be with us? Aren''t you supposed to work?" Sahro asked curiously. Milena shot daggers from her eyes, before raising her chin proudly.
"I''m the boss here, I do whatever I want!" She smiled like a kid waiting to be congratulated, only to be rewarded with two thumbs up from the two young men.
"Good for you. So, uh, where were we...?" Glenn rubbed his temples, ignoring her fluttered expression. He flicked his fingers, grinning.
"Ah, yes. So, you''re a Court noble, as probably was Prince...You have some kind of special body enhancement that makes you much stronger than normal people at your rank and master probably some special magic reserved for your Family. Magic that has something to do with world perception, illusion, or bending stuff, from what I remember of our short little fight," Glenn drank a mouthful of ale, ignoring the shocked expression on the woman''s face. His face illuminated suddenly and he sank his hand in his dimensional pouch, squinting as he tried to find something.
"Oh, and I almost forgot..." He smiled as he pulled a paper sheet out of the pouch, handing it to Milena, "...You have to pass some kind of Test, which, I presume, Prince also needed to pass. I just couldn''t find his Test sheet, but yeah, that''s probably something similar...right?" He smiled contentedly, massaging the back of his neck with an uncaring expression. In truth, he couldn''t help but feel immensely satisfied seeing the awe and shock on Milena''s face, which, by the way, lost a few shades of color since the beginning of the conversation.
"So, how close was I to the bull''s eye?" He asked with a sarcastic grin, raising his beer at her. Milena stowed the Test sheet away with trembling hands, before clasping them together.
"...Way too close. Could you please keep that to yourself?" Milena asked politely, bowing her slightly. She was shivering, her face hidden behind her raven-black hair, every pore of her being weeping with fear. Glenn raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
"Sure, I mean, what would that earn him to reveal your secrets?" He nodded, before sending a gust of Mana to blow her hair away, "...Oh, and what are you so scared of?"
He couldn''t help but ask since she seemed terrified to have her secrets revealed or be known by everyone. The lady bit down on her lips, playing with a strand of her hair.
"...We, the Court Children I mean, are forbidden to have our identities revealed. It''s also a part of the Test, and if we fail to hide it, we''re pretty much failures in our Family''s eyes..." She glanced up with cold eyes, her face darkening, "...and failures are meant to be thrown away."
Glenn whistled, smacking his lips.
"Sounds like the dream life. Anyway, it was great meeting you, I guess we''ll see you next time we stop at the Twilight Inn, then?"
Milena blinked, confusion replacing any harshness on her face.
"W...Wait, you''re not going to say it to everyone? Or at least blackmail me?" The lady fiddled with her fingers, her eyes widening. Glenn snorted, shaking his head with indignation.
"Who do you take me for? And what am I going to blackmail you for, an early death? I don''t want to turn another noble family against me!" He grinned and finished his beer, before slapping the table with his palm. Sahro raised his beer at him, finishing it as well.
"I''ll cheer to that, heh!"
Glenn stood up, stretching his legs. He nodded at Milena and pushed his chair under the table.
"Well, this is that, but I need to go and take a leak. See you around, Milena. Hopefully, you''ll be able to grow your..." He glanced at the tavern with a complicated expression, before shooting her a thumbs-up, "...establishment well."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Milena was so dumbfounded she could only stare at Glenn''s back as he left the inn, her lids trembling with confusion. Sahro shrugged, and leaned forward, waking her from her stupor.
"What?" She asked with an emotionless voice. Sahro rubbed his chin, his eyebrows creased.
"...Do you serve food as well?"
"...Did you see her face? Haha, it looked like she got her soul sucked right out!" Diamanes laughed out loud, the plump mouth appearing inside Glenn''s left palm. The young man laughed as well, shaking his head with satisfaction.
"Hah, that felt great," He grinned as he walked in the night, the twin moons hidden behind thick dark clouds. It seemed like it was going to rain soon, from what he could see.
"Lux." A ball of light floated above his head, illuminating his way with a warm hue. He could have used Sun''s Touch, but Lux remained much more inconspicuous compared to a glowing arm, and less eye-catching. It''s still magic that captivates the eyes of casual spectators, but a more common kind of magic, to be sure.
The young man was heading straight for the Twilight Gate and its two huge statues, the mage and the priest.
"Since the Northern Gate had a barbarian and a swordsman, I wonder what the Dawn Gate and the Burning Gate have as statues. There should be an archer in the midst, for sure, but what could there be for the rest? I feel like we explored most of the class options already..." He muttered under his breath, silently walking past the guard''s post. There were two somnolent sentinels, who didn''t seem to care much for him as long as he didn''t try to forcefully open the Gate. Glenn walked up to the mage''s statue, drawing a deep breath as he placed his hand on the dark stone.
"Well, thanks for the meal!" Diamanes chuckled wickedly as the power was absorbed through him, passing through Glenn''s left arm and nestling comfortably in his chest. The young man couldn''t help wondering if there was a way to see these powers in his Mana Heart, or if they were out of sight, able to be used but unable to be sought.
A loud slurping sound and a burp later, Diamanes was finished with taking the power away from the statue. Glenn glanced at the dark mage sculpture, wondering if he had just deactivated the magic protecting it when Diamanes sneered inside his mind.
''Who do you take yourself for? I was barely able to take what''s akin to a drop of water in the ocean!'' The entity smacked its lips, sighing. Glenn secretly breathed out in relief as he stared at his left, purple palm.
"So, what did we get?" He asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Diamanes'' grin appeared in the left palm once again, silent. The young man cursed this unnerving friend and called the power he just absorbed, feeling his Mana shaping into a sharp form. He looked at a rock on the side of the road the size of a man and the thickness of a car and shot the Mana toward it. Consuming as much as a Drilling Bullet would, an invisible line of Mana shot out, touching the rock without doing anything.
Glenn looked back and forth between his palm and the rock, confused.
"Wait, did I do something wrong? I did shoot the magic though..."
Diamanes chuckled.
"Wait a second, it''s going to slide in an instant..."
Glenn frowned, unable to understand.
"Slide? What do you mean, slide...?" He trailed off as he watched the upper part of the rock separate from the main body, sliding off and falling to the ground. The young man approached the result of his fooling around, staring in amazement at the neatly cut-off stone. It looked like it had been cut by an industrial machine with unseen precision.
"Is that sharp magic or something...?" Glenn couldn''t help thinking aloud, his eyes wide with wonder.
Diamanes coughed lightly, correcting him.
"Nope, it''s a branch of Earth magic."
Glenn blinked and stared at the rock. He pointed at the sharp cut as his eyebrows rose in disbelief.
"WhatWhat in there screams "Earth magic"? Wind magic, sure, but Earth? Are you sure about that?" He questioned, summoning said "Earth magic" at the same time. He tried to look at what the Mana conjured, but it was invisible to the naked eye. He could feel it and knew it was there, but he couldn''t determine what it was.
"...What do you think would happen if you formed a blade of dust so fine and sharp that it would be invisible to the naked eye, and hurled it at incredible speed? That''s your spell. I swear, why does everyone think that earth magic spells are limited to summoning rocks...?" Diamanes asked, grinning widely. Glenn looked at his left palm, unable to contain the excitation of getting such a new powerful spell. It wasn''t as precise as a Magic Bullet, but it would work perfectly as an anti-personal force.
"Carbon Blade would be perfectly fitting as a name, don''t you think?" The entity asked earnestly, his host relinquishing the right to fight him for the right to name the spell. Too much effort for too little rewards. And Diamanes had a decent naming sense, so whatever.
"Perfect...Let''s get the priest statue now, then..." Glenn clenched his fist tightly, drawing a deep breath to calm himself, and approached the second statue. He placed his hand on it similarly to how he did with the mage, waiting for Diamanes to absorb its powers. The entity breathed out calmly, preparing itself.
"I''ll be honest, I''m a little bloated, but it should be fine... Let''s dig in, then!"
The previous operation repeated itself, the power transferring through Glenn''s left arm and reaching his heart, installing itself comfortably. Diamanes burped loudly, as his habitude, before flashing a peerlessly white smile. Glenn sighed and shook his head, before summoning the power he just absorbed, aiming it toward the split rock. His left hand glowed with a warm light that seemed like it was embracing the rock, before disappearing. The spell had cost ten times what Carbon Blade consumed and without much effect.
Glenn pinched his lips and approached the rock, trying to figure out what the spell did, but without much success. The young man scratched the back of his head, confused.
"...Do I need to wait too?" He tried and asked his left palm, Diamanes smacking his lips with puzzlement.
"Hmm...It seems like it doesn''t work on rocks...Too bad, I would have paid quite the amount of money to see a buffed stone..."
Glenn groaned as he understood the effect of the spell thanks to the entity''s words.
"So it''s a buff. Of course, it certainly wasn''t going to work on a rock...?" He trailed off, frowning as he observed a piece of the rock detach itself from its cut-out part, shaped like a perfect ball. It rolled down and reached Glenn''s foot. The young man looked at it for a few seconds, before picking it up.
"...A rock. I see..." He muttered, before mindlessly putting it in his pocket. If there was one thing he didn''t want to ponder about, it was whether he had just given sentience to a rock or not.
''Yeah, let''s ignore that. I''m pretty sure this isn''t supposed to work like that...'' Diamanes commented with a hushed tone inside Glenn''s mind, as confused and lost as his host.
Glenn gave a last glance to the giant stone statues, before walking back to the inn. He threw an excited look at the Thorn''s Church across the street, wondering how much he could ruin the thing would he use Carbon Blade or another of his spells on it? The first time he met those bastards, he was powerless, but now, he could fight back with the might of a hundred men.
Wouldn''t he be able to tear it to the ground?
The scene of the Thorn''s Church in cinder and him cooking marshmallows on top of its fuming ruins crossed his mind, strangely enticing. Of course, if he could get rid of as many cultists as possible, it would be great as well, but he wasn''t too sure the fire would be able to take them all...
Glenn blinked as the image he imagined suddenly superimposed to the already burning church. The wood creaked as the ceiling carved inward, dark smoke hindering and blocking the moonlight. Robed figures were getting out of the wooden building in a panic, their bald heads covered in strangely shaped scars revealed under their smoldering hoods.
The young man rubbed his chin, his head tilting to the side.
"...Who the hell just made my dream a reality...?"
130. Never Speak With Strangers
Glenn blinked as he massaged his forehead, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Sigh... I''ve only had two beers, how come I''m already dreaming...? ?" He pondered, before forcing his eyes open wide. Thorn''s church was burning as fiercely as when he''d first noticed the arson, red flames rising high into the sky as a cloud of black smoke began to envelop the Twilight Gate. Glenn coughed before looking down at his hands, frowning. No matter how hard he tried to think about it, he didn''t feel drunk at all...
''So, are you going to continue to miss the fun or pull your head out of your ass, you fool?!?'' Diamanes'' exclamation woke him up, a surge of adrenaline fueling his body. He lunged forward, chasing the smoke away with a wave of his hand as he tried to understand what was happening and what happened. A smoldering figure came out screaming in pain from the building, bringing with him an appetizing smell of roasted meat. Glenn gasped and hurriedly shot a reduced wave of Nitrogen, just enough to cool down the poor man but unable to hurt him besides giving him a chill.
"Hey, are you okay... ?" the young man asked hurriedly as the figure collapsed to the floor, his arms wrapped tightly around him. He continued to moan painfully, unwilling or unable to answer Glenn''s questions. He touched the dress, only to see it unravel to reveal skin scarred with tattoos he''d never forget. Glenn''s concern turned to cold indifference, and he stood up quickly, dusting off his hands. His eyes darted back and forth between the half-dead cultist and the burning church from which the latter had emerged. Glenn smacked his lips, wrinkling his nose, until he interrupted his train of thought with a shrug and sent the cultist back into the burning building.
"...Back in the hell you belong," Glenn muttered, before dashing to the church''s side. He needed to see who attacked the Thorn''s Church. That Aura blade made him think of a particular race of people who were more than capable of creating this kind of chaos in Thorn''s Church''s main HQ.
"Hey, there''s a fire! Guards, guards!!!" Someone shouted from across the road, probably from the Twilight Inn. Glenn glanced back, squinting through the black smoke to see if the guards would react, but they didn''t seem to care at all. It was as if they were used to it, relaxed expressions forming on their faces as they limply held their halberds. They weren''t the most impressive guards, that''s for sure, but they seemed unafraid in the face of such enormous fire.
''Let''s ignore those idiots, and take a peek at the arsonist''s face...'' Glenn decided, pushing his sleeve against his mouth to try and breathe as little smoke as possible. His eyes were stinging from the heat and the ashes released by the church on fire, but he kept pushing through, a bloodthirsty smile hanging on his face. If there was an opportunity to squash a few cultists'' heads, there was no reason for him not to take it. A figure dashed through the flames out of the building right in front of the young man''s eyes, the figure enveloped by a warm coat of fire. Glenn was about to jump forward to try and help the burning man but instead chose to bite down on his lips and see what would happen. The figure rolled on the ground painfully, groaning and grunting with certain pain and discomfort. Burning alive was supposed to be one of the most painful deaths one could experience, (not that Glenn knew).
The figure angrily ripped the black cloak, revealing a stunted but strangely muscular body underneath it. It was as if the man''s muscles had been compressed, making them look like they were sculpted out of cold hard steel.
"Damn it, the second the Abbot left...!" The bald and scarred man spat as he slowly acquainted himself with his surroundings. His eyes froze on Glenn''s barely noticeable figure through the thick smoke, trembling slightly. A fanatical smile warped his face from weird to insane as the man revealed the scars covering his whole body. Traces of lacerations, burns, knife or whip wounds, whatever concept of hurting oneself already explored by the crazy cultist. The madman unsheathed a plain longsword with a brass pommel that gleamed under the embers of the smoldering church. Glenn prepared his magic without losing a second, ready to try his new Carbon Blade on a live target. The madman stumbled forward as he ripped a part of burned flesh off his shoulder, throwing it to the side.
"...Weakness of the flesh...!" He spat, his longsword rattling against the ground as he took one step forward after the other toward Glenn. The young man almost whipped a Carbon Blade at the weirdo, when the scene strangely superimposed with one he lived what he felt was an eternity ago. A team of hooded figures with different weapons, their leader holding a plain but sharp sword, his shabby robe serving as a terrible cover for his god-forsaken powers... A sense of foreboding and deja-vu shook Glenn to the core and he hurriedly rolled back, staring in shock at the flurry of thorny vines that pierced through the ground and filled the space he was previously occupying.
"This is...This...!" Glenn''s eyes shook and he fell on his knees, the memory of the constant torture, the constant abuse, and the forceful ingestion of another mouthful of Beast Blood every single day...
"The madman frowned, before exploding in laughter, his sword pointed at Glenn.
"You? You''re 3333!?" He bent forward, holding his belly from how much he was laughing. Glenn calmed himself with deep and slow breaths, coldness and hate slowly replacing the memories of torture and dehumanization. His blood became ice that flowed in his veins as he stared down at the madman with the sharp eyes of a predator looking at his prey. The mad man laughed out aloud again, crazily summoning thorny vines from the ground one after the other to try and pierce Glenn''s apart. The young man didn''t even bother to move away, satisfied with only pushing his left hand in front of him. A Carbon Blade flew through the air, cutting right through the vines as if they were made of paper, before crashing against the bastard. The ground shook at the collision, and the purple glint surrounding the madman informed Glenn that the man had a protective shield, much like what the assault team that killed Prince had.
"Hahaha!! I, Droka, will offer up my suffering and pain for the God of Thorns, the Ruler of Redemption!" Droka chanted fanatically, raising his sword to the sky, the cold glint reflecting the light of the fire. Glenn sneered and shot a flurry of Carbon Blades that diced up everything on their way, the young man hoping to get rid of the cultist before he had the chance to finish whatever he was trying to do. The blades crashed and dissipated against the purple shield, once, twice, thrice...
But the fourth blade was enough to put a crack in the shield.
The fifth made the crack grow, while the sixth initiated the transformation from crack to rift.
The seventh shattered the shield into a flurry of purple magic dust, the evil energy making it dissipate among the ambient Mana.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
The eighth blade seemed to be the one that would slice the cultist in two. Sadly, the eighth blade was never shot.
Because a car-sized fucking thorny vine just came out of the ground and grabbed Glenn''s waist, wrapping around him tightly before dragging the young man against the ground and throwing him away.
''Shit, I was almost done!'' Glenn thought as he hurriedly used Gravity Manipulation to stop his momentum. He remained still in the air for a few seconds, his right hand brimming with energy. He ignored the pain that came from being dragged on the ground, his eyes searching through the smoke to try and find that cultist bastard, without much success.
"If the Carbon Blade doesn''t cut it, I guess it leaves me no choice but to use the most powerful spell in my collection," Glenn reluctantly said, his face all but sad at the thought of using the Nitrogen Lance. The Blackhole in his right hand shook with power as he pressed his left hand infused with Nitrogen against it, preparing a spell that would probably evaporate both Droka, the Thorn''s Church, and anything hiding beneath these two. His breathing slowed down as he noticed a small drop of water fall in front of him and splash against his arm, cold but freshening in the brazier of the burning church.
The start of the rain acted as a fuse and initiated the spell, Glenn thrusting both his hands forward with bloodthirsty eyes, shooting a pillar-sized laser beam of pure cold and infinite weight that pierced everything in its way. The fire was instantly snuffed out, frozen by the gust of freezing wind produced by the attack. The ground exploded as the beam touched it, digging deep into the surface while leaving everything covered in a slippery ice layer behind it. The Mana fueling the spell was cut off as Glenn willed it so, his body plunging in a controlled manner to the ground. He slowed down and gently landed on the cold dirt, nodding with satisfaction at the work he had done. The spot where the mad cultist was standing had been completely erased from this world''s face, and the Thorn''s Church had been successfully untouched...
"Wait, no!" Glenn shook his head suddenly, protesting. He rubbed his eyes, staring at the almost-not-destroyed Church which, all things considered, stood firmly despite the terrible attack it took on.
"What do you mean it''s untouched?!" Glenn blurted out, blinking in confusion. The rain suddenly poured down violently, soaking Glenn''s clothes with cold water that was all but refreshing. One drop was great, a whole ocean of it, not so much.
''Oh, it seems like you missed, my man! Try again!'' Diamanes mocked his host from inside his mind, his sarcastic comments never failing to annoy the young man to no end. Glenn gritted his teeth and shot a Carbon Blade toward the Church, aiming to slice one of the walls up, only to see his magic dissipated against an ominously purple transparent barrier.
"A shield? So I didn''t miss...But what the hell can endure a fucking Nitrogen Lance?" Glenn questioned in awe, his eyes wide open. These eyes stretched even wider when he saw a huge figure who looked like a real hulk pulling himself out of a hole in the Church''s wall. The sound of something rattling against the ground accompanied him, Glenn guessing the human giant was dragging something behind him. The young man squinted, licking his lower lips in puzzlement.
"...The fuck is this huge book under his arm?" He silently pondered, staring at a dark book with no cover that gave him creeps from just looking at it. There was something deeply wrong with that book, something so horrible it made him shiver and want to take a step back.
"A...Abbot Hank!" A weak voice came out of a pile of rubble in a dark corner Glenn hadn''t previously looked at. There, half-buried amidst burnt wooden beams and broken stones was Droka, his lower body entirely gone, replaced by an incredibly detailed ice sculpture of broken legs.
''Stunning work, I''d dare to say...'' Glenn thought with a smirk,
''It has its place in an art museum, impressive,'' Diamanes commented with an impressed tone, a slow clap echoing in Glenn''s mind. The giant man, "Abbot Hank", extricated himself from the Church''s wall, bringing with him his ominous book and the heavy stuff he was dragging behind. Glenn peered through the rain, trying to figure out what that ''stuff'' was when he realized it was no stuff at all. With dark skin and white marks on their forehead that clashed with their desert clothes, there were four Black Heirs, tied together with a thick, black vine, all unconscious.
Glenn didn''t wait for a second to figure out the rest of it, his wet hair plastered against his skull as he dashed toward the giant Abbot, the cold mist of Nitrogen dripping down from his left hand. The young man clenched his teeth, his eyes clear but worried.
''I can''t use any of my big attacks or I risk hitting the Black Heirs! Shit, it sucks to have no all in a fight!'' He thought as his fingers crisped, shooting well-aimed Carbon Blade at Abbot Hank, all rendered useless by the purple shield. Glenn''s eyes widened but he continued his attacks, his mind racing for a solution. Suddenly, a blue line appeared out of nowhere in front of him, passing right through the purple shield and stopping behind Abbot Hank. Sahro pulled his hair back, grinning as he got rid of the blood on his curved sword with a sharp movement. The crimson liquid dripped on the ground, Abbot Hank looked at the stump that was now his right arm silently. He crouched slowly, picking the arm Sahro cut off delicately, before sticking it back against his wound.
"Heh, that''s not how it works you dumb" The red light from the Abbot''s ominous book cut Glenn off, a pained scream accompanying the light as it washed over the stump.
"May your souls fuel the whip of God, for they shall have no better redemption!" Abbot Hank chanted, a mad smile drawn on his face. Strips of flesh shot out from his shoulder''s stump, piercing and tying the arm back where it belonged. Glenn''s jaw almost dislocated itself from how low it was hanging, the young man staring with wide-opened eyes.
"...Thank you, Loratur. May your soul join the God of Thorns to enjoy eternal suffering..." Abbot Hank piously prayed, his eyes closed as the scream faded away alongside the red light emitted by the book. The giant cultist opened and closed his arm, satisfied, before turning toward Sahro. He opened his book in a seemingly random manner, before pulling a...a name out? Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes, unsure of what he was watching. It looked like Hank had pulled the ink out of his book, a dried ink dark in color...Blood?
Hank threw the ink away like a dirty rag, before glancing at Drokar. The half-cultist grinned fanatically, his hands pressed together in a prayer.
"Yes, dear Abbot, please, give me back my legs so I can offer our God this heretic and give him back his Vessel!" He earnestly demanded, his smile widening at each step the Abbot took toward him. Abbot Hank gently grabbed Droka''s hand, making a comforting smile.
"You''ve done well. I shall offer you the redemption you deserve."
Droka''s smile froze and his eyes trembled in confusion.
"...What do you!" Abbot Hank smashed Droka''s head with his heavy black book, the blood, brain, and bones splurging to the side. Of the two eyeballs, one was ejected from its socket and was rolling on the ground, while the other was hanging by a thread, still attached but useless. Glenn and Sahro didn''t move the entire time, watching the man''s actions with shocked gaze, unable to say a word.
Abbot Hank lifted his book back up and plunged his other hand into the disgusting mashed-up mess that was previously Droka''s head, painting his finger red and white from blood and brains. He opened his book at the latest page, wondering for a second until he turned toward Glenn.
"...You wouldn''t know his name, by any chance?" Abbot Hank kindly asked, his face pious. Glenn''s nose creased and he readied himself for a fight.
"...Droka," He spat out, his teeth clenched and his fists tightly closed. The Abbot nodded heavily, before making a sad smile.
"Ahh, Droka. Thank you," The giant cultist used his finger as a pen and wrote in the book, making some large and exaggerated movements as he did so. He lifted his bloodied finger in the air, hesitating, before shrugging and licking what was left of Droka''s blood and brains.
"Perfect. Now..." The Abbot looked back to Glenn and Sahro, smiling gently.
"...Would you mind telling me your names, my kind friends?"
131. The Problem with Weird Religions
"...Yeah, no, I''ll pass," Glenn grimaced, his teeth clenched. He nodded slightly toward Sahro, who replied by covering his entire body in an electrical current. Due to the rain pouring down, the wet mud and the rain around him flashed with hundreds of smaller crackles, the Black Heir unperturbed and focused on his goal, which was to cup up the fat cultist bastard.
"Mmh...? Wait a minute..." Abbot Hank''s gentle smile faded away, replaced with pleased surprise. He grinned warmly as he opened his arms, his lips parting to reveal teeth black with dried blood and rotting meat, the thorny symbol of the Thorn''s Church cut into his tongue.
"...Aren''t you our dear 3333?"
Glenn felt chills down his spine as his heart missed a beat. The world seemed to warp, becoming as dark as ink and pulling him into it. He sank like an anchor in the ocean, his mind pulled away in the darkest place it could find.
''I...Can''t...Breath...!'' The young man took a step back, his eyes wide opened with dread. He grabbed at his throat as his heart raced madly, his eyes darting to the side in a search for an escape, but some old, heavy steel chains surged from the ground and wrapped around his wrists and ankles, restricting his movements. Muffled screams echoed in Glenn''s head, crying with pain and hate, all shouting the same words. Voices he had already heard, voices he had already gotten rid of...!
GIVE UP! LET YOURSELF GO! BE FREE!
The young man fell on his knee, each attempt to fill his lungs with a fresh breath of air failing, replaced with the metallic and thick taste of a mixture he hadn''t tasted since...that time in this accursed prison. Glenn''s lids trembled slightly, the young man gritting his teeth as he forcefully pushed himself to the ground. Veins popped all over his forehead and arms as he forcefully lifted the heavy chains with him, pulling on them violently.
"No...This isn''t right... I escaped from this place long ago, I destroyed this place!" He shouted, throwing a look around. Again, this fucking darkness, moist walls, and a rancid air perfumed with the smell of death and dejections. This was the Thorn''s Church prison, and was back in it, whether he liked it or not.
"NO!" Glenn used his Mana to try and cast every spell he could think of, Diamanes remaining unresponsive.
"Shit, a god already did this to me once, do you think...!" Glenn grinned madly, his eyes exorbitated as his muscles bulged under the effort, "...That playing on my trauma work again? There''s no trauma, you bastard!" He roared, ripping the chains off the wall. The steel door that blocked his way out of the exit opened, and a giant of a man wearing a dark robe barely managed to enter it. Glenn freed himself entirely from the chains, before pointing a finger at the priest. The priest lifted his chin slightly, his hood sliding off his bald head, revealing his face.
Abbot Hank was smiling gently, his thick dark book under his arm. Suddenly, as he noticed the broken chains and Glenn''s mad look, the smile melted like snow in the sun. His features were monstrously deformed, his skin red like a lobster and his eyes bulging as if they were going to jump out of their sockets. Glenn sneered wickedly, clenching his teeth as the only spell he could work out appeared in the dark cell. A golden light surrounded his fist, infused with hints of the divine.
"No, this isn''t a trauma. No, those are some fucking...!" Glenn punched the ground with his glowing fist, golden light surging from the collision and filling the dark room like ink on a canvas. Abbot Hank, without even having a second to try and say something was forced to take a step back, his flesh and body melting away like wax. The young man grinned as he noticed the illusion breaking, and stood up while staring at the Abbot.
"...Some fucking happy memories, you bastard!" He shouted as he lunged at the Abbot, his fist connecting with Hank''s nose and making his head explode. The dark cell dissipated away, the illusion replaced by the cold reality. The rain poured on Glenn''s face violently, waking him up promptly from his nightmare. He jumped to his feet, stumbling as he struggled to regain his composure.
''Fucking illusions!''
''USE THE PRIEST''S POWERS NOW!!'' Diamanes screamed in Glenn''s mind, guiding him to use the holy power he took away from the Twilight''s Gate priest''s statue. The golden divine light appeared exactly as it did in the illusion that tried to break his mind, chasing away the cloudiness and making him regain his clarity. His eyes cleared out of fog and he stretched his eyes as he tried to understand what he was seeing.
Thundering sounds were shaking both Earth and Heaven as blue lightning crackled violently, meeting an abyss of darkness head-on. Glenn took only a second to realize that the lightning was Sahro''s and the darkness from this fucking Abbot. The young man wiped the water and mud off his face, Mana trashing violently in his left hand as he cast the holy spell toward Sahro, willing it to affect only his friend. The blue lighting gained a golden glow, surging with even more power and lunging with even faster speed.
''Okay, good! Now get rid of this fucking priest! I''ll think up a name for the holy spell in the meanwhile,'' Diamanes screamed the last part as if both of their lives depended on finding a moniker, which made Glenn''s lips curl upward slightly. He stretched his palm open, summoning a light-swallowing Blackhole in it. The rain was inspired by the powerful attraction of the spell until Glenn used Diamanes'' powers to cast a Carbon Blade and forcefully infuse the Blackhole in it. The Carbon Blade shuddered into reality in an unstable matter that vibrated violently. Glenn gritted his teeth and stretched the vibrating Carbon Blade into a sword, holding it in his right hand like the weapon he truly deserved.
''You and your ego!''
''Shut up.''
Glenn lunged forward through the rain, blinking to try and follow Sahro and Abbot Hank''s movements. The priest wasn''t particularly fast, but the darkness that surged out of his book was, even more when it was receiving the Aura-laced sword slashes from Sahro. The darkness seemed to swallow each attack, canceling the force behind it.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"Oh, Loyal Soul, let me consume you to fuel my strength to fight off the one standing between the Vessel and me!" Abbot Hank chanted without stopping, ripping the writings of his dark book one after the other and throwing them against Sahro''s attacks. His face was serene as he fought off the Black Heir, but Glenn caught his gaze hardening when he met his eyes. Abbot Hank''s lips opened slightly, forming an oval.
"...How?"
The blue lightning flashed with crimson and golden light past the priest, a red veil of scarlet blood painted into the sky. The Abbot fell on one knee, his face free from pain. He looked insanely happy for someone well on his way to die. The Abbot ripped a whole page of his book, crushing it in his hand. The darkness it produced flowed toward the Abbot''s wound, filling and healing it in a second.
"The God of Thorns, Lord of Redemption, Ruler of Sacrifice, let me bath in your grace" Hank was raising his hands to the sky fanatically when he hurriedly spun on his feet and blocked Glenn''s rageful attack with his dark book. Glenn''s vibrating Carbon Blade bit into the book, milling through it page after page. Darkness flowed out of the book like blood through the cut, worsening as Glenn used his weight to push on the blade. Hank collapsed on one knee, using both hands to block the attack.
"FUCKING CULTIST BASTAAAARD!!" Glenn''s face twisted as he roared and used Gravity Manipulation to artificially increase his weight and force the chainsaw-like sword even further into Hank''s book, the pages ripping helplessly in front of the attack. The Abbot smacked his lips, not even flinching when Sahro''s sword pierced through his lungs, his fanatical grin unmoving.
"...So be it, cough!" Abbot Hank spat a thick black phlegm, retching loudly. Sahro took his sword out and covered in crimson Aura tinted with gold, the blade glistening in the night as he readied himself to perform a crescent cut to lop off the mad priest''s head. Glenn continued to push forward, his blade inches away from reaching Abbot Hank''s head behind the book''s cover, when darkness exploded around the giant man. Glenn slid away, piercing the ground with his vibrating Carbon Blade to slow himself.
"...Effort, is pain...Pain is a blessing...A gift from our Lord...!" Hank''s low voice reached his ears through the rain, making him try to peer into the darkness. A black sphere had swallowed the priest, hiding him in an obsidian veil that couldn''t be pierced by human eyes. Glenn snorted and discarded his Carbon Blade away, joining both hands as he charged a Nitrogen Lance.
"Here''s my gift, you sick piece of shit!" The young man grinned and shot the cold swallowing beam toward the sphere of darkness, the obsidian veil enduring the attack without flinching. Glenn gritted his teeth and forcefully injected more Mana into his spell, making it surge forward with even more strength. The veil crackled, letting Glenn see a pale pink light emanating from the fissures.
''Careful, you''re not far from the Overload!'' Diamanes warned his host with a shout, but the latter ignored him as he bit down on his lower lip.
"I fought against a fucking evil god spawn and the remnants of what was probably a deity, you''re telling me I have to shift up a gear for this crap of a priest?!?"
The dark sphere broke down, blinding him with a wave of pink light. Glenn hid his eyes behind his hand, squinting through the blindness. He couldn''t help but blink in awe when he discovered the contents of the dark cocoon. Stretching his arms widely, a bare chest with barely half a robe to cover his lower parts was a human that seemed to have been sculpted in marble. With muscles that seemed to stretch to their limits like steel cables, Hank was standing there, looking at the sky with an ecstatic expression.
Glenn could barely recognize the priest. From the monster that was so wide and tall he could be compared without exaggerating to a wall, he had become a man even more slender than Glenn or Sahro, with his body mass reduced to the minimum.
''...No, his body mass wasn''t ''reduced''. It was ''compacted'','' Diamanes corrected Glenn''s thoughts with a shocked voice in awe of what he was witnessing. The young man scowled and noticed Sahro standing with his sword pointed at the priest, a cold expression on his face. His blade was covered in red Aura tinted with a golden hue, making it look like some sort of strange divine flame. Some crackles of electricity were running along the Black Heir''s body, but he seemed either unaware or uncaring of them.
"... Thank you, my Lord, for accepting this foolish one''s request..." Hank whispered while hiding his face in his hands, shuddering under the rain. His muscles undulated weirdly, the flesh moving underneath his skin like waves in the ocean, heading for the center of his chest that was hidden behind his arms. A chuckle escaped from the Abbot''s lips, echoing through the rain and reaching the two men''s ears, chilling them to the bone. Even though the rain was pouring down madly, they could still hear this whisper of a laugh, oozing with unrestrained madness.
Glenn''s breath froze when he realized that the priest''s book was nowhere to be seen.
''That''s his main weapon, what did he do with it...?''
The answer to his question was not long in coming when the priest opened his arms wide again, letting him gaze at his chest, where there was a book beating like a heart. The priest laughed fanatically as he looked at the clouded dark sky, a large shadow deploying behind his back. Glenn took a step back, feeling a chill run down his spine.
This was no shadow, or dark magic, or whatever the priest had used until now. No, this was different.
"...Sun''s Touch," Glenn whispered, not because he needed to pronounce the name of the skill to use it, but because he needed to say something, anything. His arm glowed like a sun in the night, revealing the true appearance of the dark shadow. Connected to Abbot Hank''s back were two, horribly majestic wings made out of interlinked fingers, thorns tying them together tightly in a bloody oozing mess.
"...Hahahaha!!!" Abbot Hank couldn''t stop laughing, stretching his fingers and testing the new resistance of his limbs. He slowly took a step forward, his foot touching the mud with a squishing noise. The ground crackled, small rifts appearing with the place the Abbot stepped on the epicenter.
"...I thank you all," He pressed his hand against the book sealed in his chest, a tear dropping from his eye and dripping down on the dark cover, "...my dear believers. It was well worth it to free so many of you and to keep you away from Redemption..." He muttered through his teeth, before glancing toward Glenn. The young man involuntarily took a step back, instinctively shooting a wave of Nitrogen in front of him. A second later, Abbot Hank''s smiling face pierced through the wave of otherworldly coldness, saddened with pity at Glenn''s sight.
"Don''t make this harder than it already is, 3333. This is all for his will!" A burning spear shot through the rain curtain, piercing the Abbot in the side and making him moan in pleasure at the pain. Glenn couldn''t help but wince at the twisted sight, shooting a Carbon Blade toward the priest''s unprotected body. The blade nicked him slightly, opening the skin but not cutting deeply.
''His body is as durable as steel now. I don''t know how he did it, but it''s a twisted version of what they did to you with the Beast Blood,'' Diamanes snickered, explaining coldly what Glenn was encountering. Another spear of fire pierced Hank once again, this time hitting his finger-wings. The rain pouring down from the sky, instead of helping extinguish the burning projectiles, was only transforming into boiling steam upon contact with them.
Glenn''s eyes searched in the darkness of the night through the rain curtain, capturing the smoldering light of a cigar in the distance as well as a glowing, intricate white mark slightly above it.
"...Hey, kiddos."
132. Crushed like a Bug
"Arghhh!!!" Abbot Hank'' pained screams were echoing on the battlefield of the half-burned church, the fire devouring his wings of fingers unextinguishable, the steam created by the rain touching the flames forming a boiling cloud surrounding the mad priest. Glenn grinned, not giving another thought to the new arrival who joined the fray and instead shooting a few more Carbon Blades at the Abbot. Once again, they barely scratched him, but even if what Glenn was inflicting on him was the equivalent of a single point of damage, the young man was sure that if he shot enough of those the priest would eventually die.
''Persistence is the key to winning after all!'' He thought as he shot another flurry of blades. Abbot Hank roared in pain, dispersing the flames with a wave of darkness, shaking them away. He waved his hand dismissively toward Glenn''s attacks, making them disappear with the sheer power of his movements.
"Giselle!" Sahro shouted happily, before lunging with his electrical speed once again, aiming to pierce the Abbot''s book encased in his chest. A flash of blue lightning shot through the night, stopping dead in its track in front of Hank, the Abbot exuding an evil aura of darkness. The priest had grabbed Sahro''s curved sword with his bare hand, his expression filled with hatred. Hank''s face was half burned, the flesh squirming to try and recover from the damage it took. His unholy wings were twitching, each flinch making him lose a few fingers.
"You...Dare!" He hissed through his teeth, clenching his teeth as he twisted Sahro''s blade out of his hand and broke it in half. The Black Heir''s expression changed as he witnessed his favorite weapon shatter in metal shards gleaming under the barely noticeable moonlight. He didn''t have much time to contemplate it anymore as Hank caught his throat in a steel grip, squeezing the life out of him. The Black Heir formed his Aura into a shapeless, sharp form as he tried to cut through the priest''s arm, failing remarkably so as his Aura was dispersed upon contact. Sahro began to see stars spinning around Abbot Hank''s enraged face when suddenly something did manage to cut through the arm. A flame that couldn''t be extinguished by the coldest water, shaped into a greatsword that seemed to have been forged in the deepest fires of Hell.
Giselle took a long puff out of her smoldering cigar, grinning as she kicked away the Abbot from Sahro. The latter coughed heavily, freed from the deadly grip.
"...Ya'' got stronger since the last time I saw ya, didn''t ya?" The leader of the Black Heir asked, offering her hand to Sahro. The young man grabbed it with a grateful smile, a smile that faded away when he noticed her eyes focused on the stump of his left shoulder.
"...Yes and no, I suppose," Sahro said wryly, biting down on his lower lip as Giselle stared silently. The powerful woman''s nose creased until she shook her head, refocusing her attention on the main threat at hand.
"I''ll have a small discussion with ya''r friend after we''re done with all this," She mumbled, her words throwing a chill down Sahro''s spine. Thankfully, he wasn''t the recipient of the cold bloodlust he felt from his leader.
Glenn, completely unaware of the ongoing discussion, was busy trying to do something he never attempted before.
''...I''m not sure that''s the greatest idea you had''
"Don''t worry, I know what I''m doing!" The young man cut off Diamanes, struggling to combine the Carbon Blade with Nitrogen. He had never thought of combining the different powers Diamanes held, since he never had that many in the first place. But now that he had a few more choices, how could he not try it?
"I''m sure a Nitrogen Blade would be enough to break through this bastard''s impervious skin!" Glenn spat, beads of sweat pearling down his forehead as he carefully controlled his Mana. It wasn''t like combining his spells with Diamanes'', where it was relatively easy in comparison, no, this felt like he was blending stuff in a spot that was never prepared for such a process. His left arm bulged with protruding purple veins, a few popping open, splurging blood all over him. It didn''t make a difference with how he looked currently, but it certainly didn''t feel great to have his veins exploding under the brunt of the effort.
''Hey, you might succeed!'' Diamanes cheered him from inside his host''s mind, making the latter''s smile curl upward.
"There''s no might," He huffed out, his eyes flashing with a purple glint as he glanced at Abbot Hank, the priest holding his cut-off arm with a shocked expression.
"....Only success!" Glenn shouted as the Nitrogen Blade flew off his hand, much larger than its Carbon counterpart. It ripped through the ground while freezing it, creating an ice rift in its wake. Abbot Hank''s eyes widened at the sight and he hurriedly wrapped his wings over him to protect himself while casting a wall of darkness. The attack went through the wall effortlessly like a hot knife in butter, before touching the fingers-wings.
The Nitrogen Blade exploded upon contact, a crimson veil of blood splurging as it successfully cut through the fingers. Glenn grinned at the sight, before feeling his legs give up under him. He let himself fall on his knees, heaving one breath after another. He wasn''t suffering from Mana exhaustion yet, but another spell and he would certainly end up comatose for a few hours at least.
''Well, there doesn''t seem to be a need to christen this attack, is there now?'' Diamanes asked sarcastically, Glenn mentally adding ''Nitrogen Blade'' to his ever-growing list of spells. An attack that could probably cut through most things, but too bad it took so long to prepare.
''I''ll have to experiment with combining the different powers I took more, I feel like I could create some truly powerful stuff out of them...'' The young man thought, even though the fight wasn''t over yet. Abbot Hank was stumbling on his feet, holding his cut-off wings with a distressed expression. Ice was infiltrating every pore of his body, making him ever-slower, every finger making his disgusting wings fall one after the other.
"No, it''s not" Abbot Hank coughed black blood, wiping it off his mouth thoughtlessly, "It''s not over!"
He grunted and ripped off the useless wings, a wave of darkness coming out of the wounds in his back and swallowing the remains. His bloodshot eyes bulged as he roared at the sky, before falling on his knee. A burning sword had pierced through it, forcing him on the ground. Giselle puffed out a cloud of smoke, the scent of tobacco heavy around her.
"It''s done, Abbot," She mocked, before pulling her flaming sword and raising it above her head.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
"Die!" She shouted as she cleanly decapitated the mad priest. His eyes were still widely opened, his mouth agape with shock. Dark blood leaked out of the wound before being burned away by Giselle''s flames, the Abbot''s inhuman body catching fire as well, the flames crackling as they devoured inch by inch the unholy flesh. Abbot Hank''s head blinked, before grinning madly, even though it was entirely cut off from the rest of his body.
"Cough, dodo you think it''s over?" The head struggled to say, his voice forcing a frown out of Giselle.
"The Repentir''s branch is nothing! We''ll crush you and your filthy people alongside the whole city"
Crunch!
Giselle grimaced as she made sure to crush Abbot Hank''s head under her foot, using her heel to reduce the disgusting head into an even worse pulp. Finally, she heaved out a breadth of relief, patting Sahro on the shoulder kindly, the Black Heir staring wide-eyedly at the bloody scene.
"Well, that''s one thing done, ain''t it?" She chuckled before heading toward the wrapped bundles of captured Black Heirs, checking over their conditions and untying them. Glenn filled his lungs with air before forcing himself on his feet as he wiped off the rain, sweat, and blood on his forehead.
"Well, I certainly didn''t expect to level the whole church in such a manner," he muttered, smiling as a section of wall still standing fell backward, collapsing into stones and ashes. Glenn dusted himself off, before stumbling as best he could towards Sahro, who was sitting on the ground holding his shoulder, staring off into the distance. Glenn dropped beside his friend, before giving him a friendly slap in the back.
"Sorry for that, for once I''m not the one that began the whole mess," Glenn chuckled, sighing tiredly. Sahro replied by shaking his head as he brushed his hair back, his eyes closed.
"WhatWhat the hell happened here?!?" Maron''s voice suddenly broke through the rain, reaching their ears. The two traded a gaze before sighing and forcing themselves up, heading to meet the merchant. Some explanations were probably needed
"Where are you two heading off?" A threatening voice made them stop dead in their tracks, a cold chill shaking them to the bone. Giselle threw her consumed cigar on the ground, crushing it under her hell the same way she did for the Abbot''s head, before passing her arms around both young men''s shoulders. She smiled with a barely hidden threat, her eyes forming crescent slits.
"...I think you both have a few things to say to me, don''t you?"
''...I might die here.'' Glenn thought, feeling Giselle''s grip tightening over his shoulder.
''This is going to be fun,'' Diamanes remarked from within Glenn''s mind. The latter''s lips flinched as he forced an amicable smile at the two people angrily glaring at him.
Glenn, Sahro, Giselle, and Maron were sitting around a round table, the two young men on one side, the merchant, and the Black Heirs'' leader on the other. The Twilight Inn, which had been previously filled with laughs, drunks, and different travelers, was now practically silent, a tense atmosphere replacing the previous joyful one. There were Black Heirs posted in every corner of the inn, most of the travelers hiding in their rooms or waiting outside.
Milena was anxiously cleaning a glass, a tensed forceful smile on her face as she endured the stares of the Black Heirs sitting at the counter.
"...So, care to explain what just happened?" Monsieur Maron broke the silence as he clasped his hands together in front of him, his brows creased.
Glenn moistened his lips, tilting his head hesitantly, before pointing toward Giselle.
"It''s her fault."
The woman sneered at the audacity, before shaking her head.
"We''ve been plannin'' an assault on the church of the Twilight Gate for the past month, but we never expected to fin'' an Abbot-level priest to be fought. I had to hurriedly scurry over to finish off that tainted piece of garbage," Giselle explained with her palms facing upward, shrugging. Glenn smacked his lips with understanding and nodded.
"On my side, I was simply taking a stroll when I noticed the Church catching fire. I couldn''t just stand and watch," Glenn grinned, leaning on his chair comfortably. Sahro snorted, sipping from his cold beer.
"I was enjoying what I think was a well-deserved rest when I heard the commotion. I hurriedly came out of the Inn with a few other customers and saw Glenn fighting the hell out of another priest. Of course, I had to join the fray," He said with a helpless expression, before slamming his beer back on the table.
Maron rubbed both sides of his head tiredly, grunting painfully.
"...So you''re telling me Glenn and Sahro coincidentally joined your fight, Lady...?" He trailed off, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. Giselle smiled and lifted her chin proudly as she took a thick cigar out of her pockets and lit it up with a magic flame.
"Of course, we didn''t get presented. I''m Giselle Pyr, Matriarch of the Pyr House and Chieftain of the Black Heirs. And you are...?" She grinned while holding her hand out. Maron snorted and shook the hand firmly, his eyes shining with a golden hue.
"...Jules Maron, CEO of the Maron Company, son of Andre Maron. And the current employer of these two," he hurriedly added after crossing his arms. Giselle nodded slowly, before taking a long puff out of her cigar.
"Nice to meet you, Maron. I won''t apologize for profiting from your employees'' strength, after all, one is my family and the other my ally," She gestured at Glenn, who couldn''t help but confirm it under Maron''s questioning gaze. The merchant rubbed his chin, before raising his hand upward, gesturing at Milena.
"Can I get a few more drinks for me and my friends here," He asked, smiling gently. Milena clenched her teeth and hurriedly prepared a few more pints and brought them to the table.
''What was that about the ''Pyr House''? Is Giselle part of some noble Black Heir family? It''s not surprising, but I never thought there would be this kind of system in place among the Black Heirs...'' Glenn thought curiously. He had never heard of the lady''s last name, but it sure sounded cooler than just Giselle. Not like the woman needed it, she was already the the most badass person he knew. Giselle grabbed the beer and sniffed it suspiciously, frowning when she saw Sahro drink from it without a shred of hesitation.
"...What''s this strange mixture? This looks like some'' contaminated water, but has a much stronger scent..."
Sahro waved dismissively, shooting her a thumbs-up.
"This is the humans'' version of our sukr, it''s safe to drink as long as you consume it in moderation," He explained before finishing his beer like a thirsty man in the desert. Glenn didn''t touch his, much more interested in what was going to happen. If there was one thing he never thought of, it was what would happen if Maron and Giselle met each other. They were each so far from each other in terms of culture and worlds, so their encounter certainly would bring some interesting things.
"Hmf, if ya'' say so..." Giselle tasted the beer, her nose creasing at the taste. She slammed the pint back on the table, crossing her arms with a serious expression.
"Enough dilly-dallying. I have business with these two, and I''m sorry, but ya can''t be part of it, merchant," Giselle smacked her lips, before taking another puff of her cigar, which seemed to suit her taste much more than the beer. A strange glint shone in Maron''s eyes as he stood up with a nod, the corner of his lips slightly raised in a polite smile.
"...Of course. I''ll be trusting you won''t keep these two for too long, then. We''re going back inside King''s Rise tomorrow. Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting you, Lady Pyr," He politely bowed his head, before heading off to the Inn to get to his room. Glenn followed him walking off, before turning back toward Giselle.
"So, what''s this secret business about?" He asked nonchalantly, fiddling with his beer but not drinking it. Giselle puffed out a cloud of smoke on the table, before sighing loudly.
"That ol'' bastard..." She muttered through her teeth as she rubbed her forehead. Glenn''s ears perked up and he instantly stopped fiddling, entirely concentrated on the Black Heir''s leader''s words.
"Redan, he was taken," Giselle heaved out as she bit down on her lower lip, "...by those Thorn''s Church bastard."
"They took him inside King''s Rise."
End of Book 2, Paradox Pt.1
133. Schemes and Whatnot (Start of Vol.3)
Thunk!
Sahro dropped his mug on the table, its contents spilling all over the wood. The wooden cup slowly rolled on the table to finally drop to the ground, the sound of the mug hitting the ground echoing in the silent inn. Glenn blinked, before rubbing his eyes. He drew a deep breath as he joined both of his hands together, his chin resting on them.
"...Sorry, what did you just say?" He asked with confusion, his eyes squinting in concentration. Giselle sighed and looked at the ceiling, leaning in the back of her chair tiredly. She blew a thick cloud of tobacco smoke, unresponsive. Sahro picked the fallen beer up and placed the cup back on the table with trembling hands, smiling awkwardly.
"...This is a joke, right?" Sahro asked with hope, the Black Heir''s eyes shaking as he noticed the cold glint in Giselle''s eyes. His head dropped in front of him, his face hidden in his hands. Glenn rubbed his temples, staring coldly in Giselle''s direction.
"What...How did this happen? How..." Glenn took a long inspiration, a vein popping on the side of his head, "...Just explain to me how this invincible old man could have gotten captured. I simply cannot fathom someone strong enough to bring Redan to his knees, be it in the Sewers or the Fringe..."
Giselle crackled her wrists, her lips pinched. She crushed her already fully-consumed cigar on the table, the ash crackling as the last embers died out.
"...I swear..." She rubbed her forehead, wearing a complicated look, "...Ya kids shan''t know, but I and Redan take some works from a few of King''s Rise...inhabitants," She spat the last word with disgust, clenching the edge of the table in anger.
"...I''d already be far away from this accursed city if it wasn''t for..." Her gaze softened and she shook her head, dismissing her previous words with a wave of her hand.
"Anyway, Redan was supposed'' to meet one of our ''employers'' to get a payment, when things turned for the wors''," Giselle sighed and scratched the old scars on her face. Glenn frowned at the sight, his nose creased. Never had he seen the powerful lady so down in his life, even though he hadn''t spent that much time with her.
"That bastar'' employer refused to pay, and instead chose to get some hired goons to capture Redan!" She angrily spat as she punched the table roughly, the wood creaking under the hit. Glenn glanced at the counter and saw Milena standing rigidly there, her face drained from all the blood and her fingers crisped over a glass mug.
"Who the hell could have the balls to capture Redan and succeed...?" Glenn questioned, his eyebrows creased. He leaned forward on the table, attentive. Giselle calmed herself with a deep breath before resuming her explanations.
"Our "employers" always send a masked man to deal with us, an intermediary of some sort. We get the job done, he pays us, and everyone is happy. Or at least it used to be that way..." Her face reddened in anger once more, the heat in the inn increasing strongly.
"But now, they''re using this useless old man''s life to blackmail us into doing free work!" She slammed her fist against the table once more, only this time Glenn had cast Gravity Manipulation on her fist to make the attacks as weightless as a feather. The experience was so disturbing for the lady that her anger disappeared as fast as it appeared, leaving a place for confusion. She looked at her hand as if it had betrayed her, opening and closing it. Glenn coughed lightly to gather her attention once again, his hands clasped together.
"So, Redan got somehow captured, and you can''t do anything about it since he''s been carried into King''s Rise. We don''t know who took him away, we don''t know where he was taken... We have no hints at all, do we?" Glenn resumed with an annoyed expression. Giselle nodded with a wry smile as she slowly took out yet another cigar, her pockets seemingly filled with them.
She lit it up with her magic flames, before sighing loudly.
"That''s about it," The Black Heirs'' leader puffed silently on her cigar, leaving the two young men in front of her lost in their thoughts. Glenn scratched the back of his head, before crossing his arms.
"What kind of job did you take for the backstabber?"
Giselle hesitantly glanced around her, when a thin invisible veil surrounded the table.
"Don''t worry, no one will hear anything," Glenn coldly said as he gestured to the black heirs further away from the table, whose faces were filled with confusion as all sounds of discussion from the table were suddenly cut off from them. Giselle nodded slightly and pursed her lips.
"...It was a hit," She admitted, her face darkening as she spoke. The lady took a deep puff from her cigar and continued.
"The employer smuggled us inside the Fringe and pointed us to a specific location we needed to clean out. Redan took care of it with a few other Black Heirs while I stayed behind to take care of all the mess with the Thorn''s Church. Nonetheless, it was very weird. Never had it been so easy to enter the city, or the Watchers so incompetent from what my boys explained to me," Giselle rubbed her chin as she recounted the events.
"What was the target? I might manage to guess who the hell could have been behind it if I understood why they wanted to clean a place out without using the Cleaners or the Fixers..." Glenn asked as he rubbed the tip of his nose. Giselle didn''t make him wait long for an answer.
"Sure, the deal was to kill a specific monster in a steel warehouse situated in a small hamlet situated between the Northern Town and the Western Town," She moistened her lips before smacking them, her face resigned, "...But I don''t see how that will help you. Damn it, and you''re already supposed to get Callum..." She trailed off, the tiredness of the last days showing on her face. Glenn didn''t reply, occupied to arrange his thoughts.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
''...A steel warehouse that''s not situated in a Town? This sounds shady as hell, even more so since they required the help of outsiders to get rid of their problems. Unless they specifically needed the Black Heirs to take care of the problem, but why? Why would they need these guys specifically when they already have mercenaries strong enough to defeat Redan...?'' Glenn bit down on his tongue anxiously, unable to understand how any of that made sense.
''...Maybe the people who employed the Black Heirs and the one who captured Redan weren''t the same?'' Diamanes theorized, making Glenn raise an eyebrow in interest.
''Keep going, I feel like you''re onto something...''
''I mean, from what I gathered, the Black Heirs, and that''s counting Giselle and Redan, are pretty much a very cheap workforce with extremely good efficiency. I don''t even understand what the hell are they getting paid with, I mean, look at where they''re living!'' Diamanes sneered, making Glenn shake his head, Giselle and Sahro staring weirdly at him as he had his inner conversation.
"Do you want us to leave you alone, or...?" Sahro asked with a sarcastic tone, Glenn ignoring him royally.
''So, you''re saying the first employer, the one who ordered the hit, might have nothing to do with the one who kidnapped Redan?''
''They wouldn''t have hired the Black Heirs in the first place if they could simply use their mercenaries. And additionally, it looked like quite a profitable business for the one who ordered the hit. If my guesses are right, the Black Heirs are surviving by depending on the rewards from these hits, so it must have been a long time since this unhealthy partnership started,'' Diamanes explained, each word he pronounced convincing his host further.
''It makes too much sense for me to dismiss it. I''ll need to go have a talk with Maron later and see what kind of intel he could give me. Crap, and here I was hoping to get straight into the Bourgeoisie to get Giselle''s grandson and get closer to Exan. I hope the Baron will be cleaning his neck because even if it''s delayed, he''ll certainly have the beheading he deserves...''
"...Alright, I have a semblance of a plan," Glenn suddenly stated, Sahro and Giselle focusing back on him.
"I''ll be taking care of Redan on my side, so Giselle, you should concentrate on cleaning things up in the Sewers. And for the love of god, get away from the city''s grates and build something further away. At least you''ll finally have a semblance of a home if you''re planning to stay here longer," Glenn advised as he rubbed his forehead, before turning toward Sahro.
"I don''t think I need to ask you, but you''re coming with me right?" The young man asked, grinning as he held his hand out. Sahro grinned back and shook the hand firmly.
"That goes without saying, heh. How could I miss all the fun?"
Giselle chuckled silently, before standing up and gesturing at the Black Heirs occupying the inn. They began leaving it, Milena sighing in relief when she realized what was happening.
Glenn dismissed the Silence curse before holding his hand toward Giselle.
"I''ll take care of things on my end, I can only hope ya''ll do the same," Giselle smiled as she shook his hand. She turned around to leave, her hand on the door, before turning around with a complicated expression.
"What?" Glenn asked worriedly, frowning.
"Well..." Giselle rubbed her nose before taking a long puff out of her cigar, "...My people don''t know how to build stuff besides the tents and shacks we made. We''ve been planning on moving since long ago, but we simply don''t have the skills to do so. We wanted to hire some kind of workers from the city, but well..."
Glenn resisted the need to slap his forehead, before forcing an agreeable smile and shooing Giselle away. It was weird to stand at the same level as the leader of one of the most powerful military forces in the region, but he couldn''t grovel either. Even though Giselle was a Fourth Circle, he didn''t feel like the difference between him and her was that high. And the lady knew that as well, hence why she didn''t just spit in his face when he practically ordered her to move her ass.
"Don''t worry, Lady Giselle, I''ll send someone. Now, I need to get some sleep, so either go back to your district or take a room. Bye-bye!" He shut the door behind the wide-eyed Giselle, sighing in relief as he finally was free from her presence. Milena walked up to him and looked at the door while biting down on her lower lip.
"...So, should I offer you a drink?" She asked slowly, the pressure washing off her face.
"...What for?"
"...Thanking you for getting rid of the terrifying Leader of the Black Heirs, the Red Witch of the Ink Dunes?"
Glenn glanced at Milena, his eyebrows rising in disbelief.
"...What did you call her?"
Milena returned to the counter as the customers slowly carefully came back into the main room sitting back at their tables.
"You don''t know her surname? Well, I didn''t know it either a few months ago, but ever since I began living in the...here, I can''t help but listen to rumors."
She grinned weakly, gesturing at the inn.
"That''s the advantage of being an inn owner, haha...Haha..." She trailed off, the light in her eyes dimming. Glenn sat at the counter comfortably, Sahro following him. The two of them leaned there and sipped on a well-deserved cold beer. Well, Sahro didn''t do much, but just for the mental support, in Glenn''s books, he deserved it.
''You''re not searching for an excuse to drink, are you?'' Diamanes mocked, Glenn, sighing in response.
''I even thought you stop entirely, seeing how you refused to touch your beer back during your discussion with the strong lady,'' Diamanes remarked. Glenn smirked and emptied the whole jug of beer in his throat.
''I just didn''t want to drink with this so-easily irritable lady around. Even if I''m confident I won''t die, I still don''t want to fight against her,'' Glenn explained, before asking Milena for a refill.
"...And to be honest, I feel like I deserve the right to relax for once. I shouldn''t have to constantly be on edge, that''s going to break me at some point..." He muttered through his teeth, his words more intended for himself than for Diamanes. The latter didn''t answer, letting his host enjoy his time.
Sahro looked at his mug before frowning.
"So how the hell did you even become an inn owner? Aren''t you supposed to be a noble or something?" The Black Heir asked innocently, Milena paling as she made sure that no one heard what he said. Glenn chuckled and watched the scene while sipping on his beer.
"YouDon''t say that out loud!" She hissed as she pointed an angry finger toward Sahro.
"I don''t want to end up like Prince or get killed by my Family, alright, so please, let''s keep my past where it belongs!"
She served herself a beer cup and emptied it with an impressive dexterity that could only have been practiced multiple times.
"In. The. Past!"
Glenn sneered and leaned on the counter, shrugging.
"Sure, sure. Well, since we''re there, I''m still very much curious about how you transitioned from an excellent Fixer to the owner of this respectable establishment."
Milena sighed and poured herself another drink.
"I mean, sure, I''ll tell you. I''ll warn you though, it''s a long story..."
Glenn grinned and raised his cup in reply.
"Don''t worry, my life is a long story in and of itself!"
134. Blowing Off Steam
"...Hic! And that''s, uhh, how I ended up in this shit hole..."
"Haha, hahahaha!!"
"...Whu...What? Why are you laughing?!"
"Hah! Hhahahah!"
"Wait, hic, youyou too?!?"
Glenn and Sahro were laughing their fill out, pointing at Milena''s drunken face with tipsy fingers.
"We will would would would never have guessed, haha!"
"Uhh, what?"
"...Alcoholic...Hic..."
"Huh? Who dared to call me an alcoholohololic?"
"Hahahaha, he''s inventing words now!"
In a strange turn of events, Glenn, Sahro, and Milena ended up drinking all their stress away. And with how stressed they had been recently, this had required a considerable quantity of alcohol, which was happily provided by the innkeeper. At first, quite a few of the customers joined them in their mad drinking party, but they all soon gave up in front of the incredible alcohol tolerance the three had. Glenn had been quite surprised by how well Sahro was handling it, but he hadn''t been as shocked as Milena. It seems like her new job had forced her to become at least as good as him to handle alcohol. And since the innkeeper was someone he kind of knew, there were no worries about being drugged and being dragged somewhere. The nearby Thorn''s Church had even been destroyed, making this area probably the safest Glenn could reside in.
''And shit, I want to relax for once!'' Glenn had thought with protestation when Diamanes had first tried to dissuade him from drinking, the entity giving up with a ''...you''ll reap what you sow,'' a comment he could only brush off. For once, he didn''t need to worry at all, and he had experienced enough stuff in the past few weeks to traumatize anyone who would peek into his mind. Thankfully, only Diamanes could do that, and the entity was kind of the incarnation of psychological damage.
''You''re not the nicest of persons when you''re drunk, Glenn...''
An annoying voice made him grimace as he drowned it under a full mug of ale, Milena and Sahro cheering drunkenly as he poured the alcohol down his throat. He slammed his mug on the table, grinning victoriously.
"Hahaha, nothing will stop me from forgetting all of that mess!" Glenn yelled in a surprisingly clear and understandable voice, before falling back on his chair, the quick movements easy to destabilize him.
"Phew, you guys don''t know how great it feels to be able to take some time for myself like that," Milena smiled as she looked at the alcohol in her mug, before drinking it whole. She wiped her mouth off before passing her arms around Glenn and Sahro''s shoulders, completely drunk.
"Rah, I wish I could go back to being a hic a Fixer, you know, and do all of those Tests and whatnot, but I caannn''t...!" She lamented, her eyes filling up with tears. Glenn patted her on the back while Sahro slipped away in an attempt to grab the bottle of wine sitting at the end of the table, only to be pulled back in the surprisingly strong woman''s arms.
"I...I don''t get it, why didn''t you just, you know, uh, continue being a Mixer?" Glenn confusedly asked as he pulled the wine bottle in his hand with a smart application of Gravity Manipulation, flashing an annoying grin at the Black Heir. Sahro raised an eyebrow before forcing himself out of Milena''s pull and jumping on the table, pulling his broken sword out of his sheath, drunkenly threatening Glenn with it.
"YouHow dare you steal so brazenly the wine I desired, I, Sahro Sand of the Black Heirs!?!" He waved his broken sword around, succeeding in making Glenn burst into laughter. Milena was so concentrated on her rants that she didn''t even notice Sahro was gone, instead hugging an abandoned chair in place of the Black Heir. Thanks to a more than welcomed coincidence, the inn was empty of any customers who weren''t too drunk to care about their shenanigans or already had a good night of sleep.
"It''s Fixer, dumbaasss!" She corrected, stumbling dangerously, "And I can''t go back, beBecause I caaaann''ttt! If I do, I''ll just end up like Prince anywayyyy, or be abandoned by my Family...Huhuhuhh" She despaired, before letting go of Glenn and falling back in her chair, completely knocked out. Glenn glanced back at the unconscious woman, stopping for a few seconds, before raising both of his fists in the air in victory, splurging a bit of wine both on himself and Sahro on the same occasion.
"Hahahaha, one less contender for the competition!" The young man suddenly felt his hand become empty, forcing him to look at it in confusion.
''I could swear there was a bottle of wine in there though...'' He glanced up at Sahro with a suspicious gaze that soon transformed into an infuriated one. Sahro finished the wine bottle, licking his lips, before bowing slightly down at Glenn.
"...Hic, it was great wine there. I''ll...I''ll forgive you for now! Be honored!" The Black Heir ceremoniously declared, when Glenn jumped on the table, forcing his friend back as a few empty bottles fell on the ground. Thankfully, it seemed like they had consumed most of the alcohol Milena could comfortably provide, and none of the precious liquid was spilled out.
"You hic! You traitor!" Glenn pointed at Sahro with an uncertain finger, his vision troubled and the world spinning under his feet. He stumbled back, his brows creased as he struggled to maintain his balance, when Sahro pulled him back on the table, handing him a rough iron fork.
"You refuse my offer of peace! Fine, we''ll decide who''s the better of us with a duel!" Sahro waved his broken sword before somehow pulling a dueling stance, tipsily leaning from one side to another. Glenn looked back and forth between the fork he was now holding and Sahro, before sighing loudly.
"So...It has come to this, then!" He wielded the fork with exaggerated motions, threatening Sahro with it, "...I''ll defeat you, you...traitor, thief, and...and...." Glenn bit down on his lips, struggling to find another adjective he could associate his friend with, before giving up and lunging at him with his mighty weapon.
And there, under the dim light of the inn''s magical lights, was fought the most epic of all fights, fork against broken sword, iron against steel, drunkenness against...even more drunkenness.
Thankfully for everyone involved, (but mostly Milena), Glenn and Sahro finally lost consciousness, the winner of their duel unknown to all but themselves.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"...Okay, phew, breathe in slowly..." Glenn followed the advice he was telling himself, his hands tightly gripping the ledge of his window as he enjoyed the morning breeze on his face, "...and breathe out Blurpp!!"
The young man puked out yet another bucket load of unqualified mixture, a result of his guts and stomach being mixed up together in the most unsavory way.
''...What did I tell you?'' Diamanes taunted him without any surprise in his voice. Glenn almost shook his head but restrained himself at the last second, the sole thought enough to give him nausea.
"...I don''t know, I don''t remember," He snorted, before letting go of the window and lying down on his bed, using his hand to hide away the light from his eyes. He felt terrible, his whole body aching, his tongue dry and his stomach in the worst of mess, but somehow, he felt a little less tense now.
"It does feel good to relax from time to time..." Glenn muttered, chuckling gently, before a scowl replaced his laugh, "...My head hurts like hell, though..."
The young man rubbed his forehead before staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide-opened, blinking in a daze.
''Wait, it hurts like hell...Shit, no, that can''t be possible is it?'' Glenn thought, placing both of his hands on either side of his head. He concentrated, directing a specific spell to go through from his left hand toward his right hand, the pain in his head intensifying painfully, but not enough to make him want to give up his little experience. He finally managed to get the whole spell through, when his thoughts cleared out and left him free of the deadly hangover.
Diamanes sneered in disbelief.
''I can''t believe you''ve just used Javier''s healing magic to cure your hangover. Shit, had I known this was possible I would have called it Ibuprofen instead of C.P.R.!!'' The entity jeered in his mind, drawing another chuckle out of his host. Glenn sat up, scowling with a hand on his stomach as he applied the same treatment to the rest of his body. Since the only ''illness'' was the side effects of getting drunk, it didn''t use much Mana to take care of it, even though it was quite more painful than it should be, in Glenn''s opinion.
The young man finished healing himself, before stretching his body with a satisfied grin.
"Ahh, feels great! Ready to go up a few more eldritch nightmares again!" He joked, Diamanes sighing dismissively. The young man quickly cast a Mundare over himself to be entirely clean, powering it with enough Mana to get rid of any dirt thoroughly. Finally, he took the time to look at himself in the body-sized mirror at disposition in his room.
He was a sorry sight, for a lack of better word. His hair had grown considerably, reaching the nape of his neck, and now of a raven-black color, as dark as Milena''s. The white strand lost in the middle of the black had grown alongside the rest of the hair, but he didn''t dislike that much the look. It wasn''t the white color of oldness and dying hair, no, it was more of the pristine white of albinos.
''Well, it''s original for sure...Heh,'' Diamanes mocked, Glenn all but listening to him. The young man scratched his chin, smacking his lips at the beard''s existence he couldn''t deny.
"Yeah, I''m not a fan of the beard..." He muttered, before summoning his extremely expensive and precious Black Gold Fixer''s knife, using it in its intended way.
After shaving himself and making sure he hadn''t missed any spots, Glenn dismissed the knife, when he remarked something peculiar.
"Huh, both of my eyes are entirely purple now. Well, I guess the green corruption from the Seed of Darkness is completely gone now. All for the best then..."
The last thing the young man had to consider but couldn''t do much about sadly was his precious suit of clothes. The black, sleeveless vest was now permanently tainted with a reddish hue, and a few spots struggled to mend themselves despite the Repair enchantment on the clothes. The white shirt under the vest was similarly not-so-white anymore, and his pants were in an even worse state. All in all, it was probably worth it to pay a visit to Rusty. Maybe the friendly dwarf would have some cleaning advice or something...
"...That makes me think, I could use a new weapon. Not having a nice sword or magical axe to swing around feels weird...I''ll see with the Smith if he can make me something cool," Glenn muttered to himself as he checked himself out last time, flexing his muscles with a satisfied look. Finally, he left his room and headed down to the inn''s main hall, heading straight for the counter to ask if he could get himself some food. Milena wasn''t around, replaced by a fat man with a badly shaved beard and a broken nose, his hair hidden under a tightly knotted black bandana.
''...I don''t think he has any hair to hide, though?'' Diamanes suspected, Glenn, nodding in understanding.
''Even more, the reason to hide it if he doesn''t assume his baldness... Hey, do you think I should try and go bald?'' The young man asked the entity in his mind, the latter not even bothering to answer.
"Hey, could I get the chief''s specialty, if you please?"
Someone asked the waiter, who grumbled as he headed for the kitchen.
"Oh, yeah, me too, please!" Glenn raised his hand with a hungry look, his stomach protesting against the sudden emptiness following the liters and liters of...whatever that was he puked out. The young man suddenly frowned, feeling as if he could recognize the voice of the previous customer, and turned his head to the side to find the mysterious bard that had sung the ballad of the "Devil''s Grin".
"...Hey, you''re the bard from last night, right?" Glenn asked, changing seats to get closer to the bard. The latter glanced at him with an awkward look, his eyes strangely glued to the young man''s purple left arm.
"...Indeed, I am..." The bard pushed against his hat to try and hide his eyes, the awkward look disappearing to be replaced by a charming smile, "...Are you one of my fans? I can sign you an autograph if you wish. I don''t have a pen, though"
He stopped talking when he saw Glenn take out a pen and paper from his dimensional pouch, holding them out with an innocent smile.
"Absolutely! I love your work, but the autograph isn''t for me, it''s for my..." Glenn moistened his lips, trying to figure out how he should call Milena, "...friend, the pretty waitress that was at the counter yesterday."
The bard''s face illuminated and he swiftly grabbed the paper and pen, signing it with expert penmanship, his name written in a flowery style with perfect calligraphy.
"Of course, she''s the owner after all, and the one who allows me to perform on scene. Could you thank her for me? I couldn''t find her no matter how much I searched for her this morning..." He muttered as he handed out the paper to Glenn, who quickly glanced at it, the corner of his lips curving up slightly. He pushed the paper in his dimensional pouch, before leaning on the counter comfortably.
"I''m honored, Sir Montana..." He bowed his head politely, a strange glint shining in his eyes, "...But by the way, while still on the topic, I was really curious about that ballad you sang to us last night, the new one, uhh, what was it called already? The Devil''s...something, I think?" Glenn grinned inquisitively as he rubbed the back of his head without even trying to pretend searching for the answer. The bard''s eyes flinched, his fingers crisping slightly on the edge of the counter, but he still smiled kindly, a bead of sweat pearling down his cheek.
"Oh, yes, the Demon''s Grin is one of the ballads I had the most enjoyment writing," Montana replied as he turned his head away, doing his best not to meet Glenn''s gaze.
"So, did you make it all up, or..." Glenn''s face darkened, the temperature around him and the bard dropping a few degrees, thanks to a discreet use of his Nitrogen, "...or were you inspired by reality, perhaps someone''s life?"
The bard coughed in his fist as he stood up, turning away entirely from Glenn.
"II apologize, but an unforeseen event requires my attention. It was nice meeting you, Sir" The bard was frozen through his words as he was forcefully sat back down on his chair, the pressure of Glenn''s Gravity Manipulation not letting him have a choice. Glenn grinned devilishly, making his fingers crack.
"Soo, maybe we should discuss royalties then, hmm, Sir Montana?"
"RRoyalties?"
Glenn nodded slowly, slowly passing his tongue over his teeth.
"Well, it''s my story you''re selling after all."
The Mana grew denser around the two of them as Glenn''s eyes shone with a dangerous light, the weight over Montana''s head growing heavily as he increased his Mana output.
"I''m~ sure we''ll be able to work something out, Sir Montana."
The bard gulped, his hat pushed up slightly to reveal a panicked look on his face.
''Oh but you''re all too right to be distressed, my friend.''
135. One Stalker Can Hide Another
Glenn patted the stressed-out bard on the shoulder with a fake smile, before turning around at the scent of a full plate of food arriving, brought by the grumbling man replacing Milena.
"Ah, important talks shall wait until my belly is full, alright?" He began digging in the tasty soup of unidentified vegetables and meat, his eyes stuck on Montana. The bard was looking at his plate, doing his best not to appear out of place.
''Too bad, it''s already too late for that, my man. I''m not letting you go until I figure out how much you know about me...''
''I would have never thought you would become so famous you''d begin earning yourself some stalkers. Congrats!'' Diamanes laughed inside Glenn''s mind, the latter not bothering to give the satisfaction of an answer. It didn''t bother him that much that someone would sing his feats, being famous sounded pretty great, but that still left the question of how the hell the bard knew so much.
Slurp...!
Glenn wiped his mouth, before smacking his lips. His finger rapped against the table as he grinned evilly toward the bard. Montana gulped, his hands clasped before him, the man unable to touch his food.
"So, Sir Montana, please, tell me..." Glenn leaned forward, whispering coldly, "...How the hell do you know so much about me?"
The bard drew a deep breath, incapable of looking back to Glenn.
"I...I was here..." He finally admitted as he nervously scratched the wooden counter. Glenn raised an eyebrow, leaning back on his chair.
"You were here...when? No, where?" The young man questioned as he bit down on his lower lip. There was no way he could have possibly created the song before he helped destroy the Thorn''s Church, and he had never seen anyone like him around during his expedition with the Maron''s Company.
"Well, I..." Montane hesitated, but Glenn''s purple eyes pressured him into telling everything.
"I was near the Still Peak after hearing some rumors of the top of the mountain being blown off, as well as some ancient ruins discovered there, but I saw an incredible beam of magic power shooting through the forest."
The bard relaxed slightly as he began recounting his story, the trembling in his fingers calming. Glenn was all ears as he listened while degusting the food, absolutely loving the messy mix of random ingredients.
"In my quality of traveling bard, I saw a lot of things, and among these were highly ranked mages as well as their spells," Montana stated while picking up his wooden spoon and slowly digging inside his plate, imitating Glenn. He chuckled with awe, his eyes widening in remembrance.
"And rarely have I seen such a destructive spell. I had a relatively nice watching spot from the top of a tall tree and had front-row seats when I witnessed a good chunk of the forest disappear in a blue-white beam that swallowed everything in its passage. That''s when I noticed your convoy," He explained, Glenn nodding in understanding. Indeed, the Nitrogen Lance wasn''t the most discreet of his attacks, but none of them were at this point.
''The only one is the Silence Curse, but it''s a bit of an exaggeration to say it''s mine, isn''t it?'' Glenn thought sarcastically, the corner of his lips twitching. Diamanes couldn''t help but comment on that last thought.
''...I mean, if you manage to find another part of me, somehow, it might as well become entirely yours instead of just a power I took.''
Glenn moistened his lips, redirecting his attention to the entity inside his mind while leaving a bit of time for Montana to eat.
''What do you mean? The Curse is a power the cultists obtained with their faith in Epinos, isn''t it? I''m just using it through you, but it''ll always be something exterior to my power...right?'' The young man asked while suspecting that if the entity was talking to him about such eventually, there had to be something that could be done.
''I can''t do it for now, but if you do find another sealed piece, I''ll be able to add these spells to your Mana Heart, modifying it slightly to make it suitable for those spells. Of course, I wouldn''t be able to do so willy-nilly, but it''s indeed a possibility,'' Diamanes explained, his host able to imagine the entity grinning as he talked. He rubbed the end of his nose, before shaking his head, ignoring the bard beside him and his worried gaze.
''If that''s true...damn, you''re like a cheating software, this is insanity. There has to be some side effects to doing this, right?'' Glenn inquisitively demanded as he drank the rest of his soup, sighing at the pleasure of having his belly filled.
''...There is, but nothing that can''t be fixed by devouring a few Rifts,'' Diamanes dismissively commented, making his host''s eyes widen in shock.
''Shit, it''s true that you can do that! I completely forgot to ask you about what it did to me each time I swallowed these Rifts back in my unstable period... So that''s what it did, countering the side-effects of using you?''
''That among other things... Anyway, it''s only positive stuff so don''t worry about it. Right now, we''re only hypothetically talking about those things. Find a piece of me first, then we''ll talk some more. Oh, and of course, continue to destroy as many Rifts as you can, it''ll only make you stronger. Even though you put a slight stop to this activity, it''d be great if you could get back to it, you know?''
Glenn sighed, before turning toward the bard, who was almost done finishing his plate.
"So, what happened then? You followed the convoy to fulfill some kind of artistic curiosity?" Glenn sneered, regretting his words as soon as he pronounced them as he saw the light of understanding in the bard''s eyes.
"Exactly! Who wouldn''t do that after seeing such a magnificent display of power? I was sure that if I...Hrm...observed the one who used such an incredible spell, I would find the inspiration to finally write a new ballad. I couldn''t be more right!" Montana excitedly explained, all fear and stress gone, replaced by an almost child-like personality. Glenn leaned back and squinted suspiciously, only to indicate to his interlocutor to continue.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"I don''t know what or who was your opponent back in the forest, but your fights against the stone golems were thrilling!" The bard hurriedly searched through his bag, pulling out a few sheets of paper, all covered in either writings or drawings. Glenn glanced at them, only to have his attention instantly caught by them, particularly at the drawings. They were incredibly well made, the details almost comparable to black and white photography, and depicted him shooting off his skills at the golems. There were also some drafts and sketches, showing the Thorn''s Church and Abbot Hank alongside Giselle. All in all, it was an impressive proof of talent he had in his hands.
"And then, there was that fight against the Three-Eyed Golem! Hoh, my heart almost stopped when I saw it detonate and send you and the Black Heir flying in the air. By the way, his skills were also incredible! My second ballad will probably dedicated to him, with his unbelievable use of both Aura and Magic...!" The bard droned off as Glenn rubbed his chin pensively.
''...His story is kind of holding up, but why do I feel like I''m missing something?''
"...with blue lightning that traced through the air, cutting everything in its path! This was incredible." The bard gasped for air, gratefully accepting a cup of water from the barman who was listening to the story with half an ear while he worked, curious. Glenn slowly passed his tongue over his teeth, looking at his purple left arm in wonder. He then picked through the sketches again, finding the sheet with the lyrics for the Demon''s Grin. He read them rapidly, his eyes stopping on two different lines.
"Tell me, Montana," Glenn gave up the Sir, a frown on his face as he pointed at the two points in the story, "... ''His left arm, purple with the demon''s grin,'' and ''With astral magic and axe aflame,''. Why would you make such a particular choice of words? I''m not using an axe as of now, and what do you mean by purple with the demon''s grin? I simply don''t get it..."
The bard gently grabbed the paper from his hands, before pointing at the previous lines of the text.
"For the axe, it mainly was for the rime, but there''s something in how you hold yourself that made me think you might use an axe. As for the demon''s grin, well..." Montana bit down on his lips, a hint of worry reappearing on his face, "...No one mentioned to you how you look when you use spells with your left arm?"
Glenn scratched the back of his head, before shaking his head negatively.
"...I don''t think so, no. Why, do I grin demonically or something?" He joked, failing to make the bard laugh, who only nodded slowly.
"You do, yes. And after observing you the whole time it took for your convoy to come back to King''s Rise, I can confidently say that it''s not an isolated accident," The bard pressed his fingers together, his chin leaning on their ends. Glenn blinked in confusion.
''I have an evil grin? What does that even mean? Diamanes, you''re always with me, you would notice if I made strange faces, right?''
Diamanes snorted.
''To me, you always have that same stupid look.''
Unable to understand where that "demonical grin" came from, Glenn decided to do the best thing he could do about it.
Shrug it off and ignore it. Whatever, maybe he just liked to smile when he shot big spells. But then, who wouldn''t?
"Anyway, now that the issue of my privacy being spied on was solved, let''s talk copyright and royalties," Glenn went back to the main subject, the bard''s face paling.
"WhatCopy right? But I didn''t copy anything?" Montana replied confusedly, before showing the young man in his empty pockets.
"And what do you mean royalties? My shows are free of charge, and the inn owners in which I perform pay me with a clean bed and a full plate. I don''t have a single copper to pay you even if I wanted to!" He angrily said, seemingly not very happy with what the young man demanded from him. Glenn tapped his fingers rhythmically on the counter, lost in thoughts, when he suddenly flicked his fingers.
"...Well, alright then. Listen, I''m going to be honest, I''m not against you singing songs about me, but I''m not a big fan of having a stalker around to spy on me. I''ll forgive you for that since you didn''t cause me any harm, but I do want you to do something for me. You''ll keep the right to use my adventures in your songs, and it''s nothing hard, so what do you say?" He proposed, holding his hand out toward the bard with the same wicked grin he denied having.
Montana hesitated, before shaking Glenn''s hand.
"The Demon''s Grin is an assured success, I can''t not sing it. But what is it you want me to do?"
Glenn leaned forward before quickly glancing around, assuring himself of their privacy with a Silence Curse.
"Alright, so here''s what you''re going to do. You''re going to write a song about the fight that happened last night, right?" Glenn asked as he pointed at the unfinished sketches. Montana nodded slowly, incapable of seeing where this was going. Glenn grin''s widened and he crossed his arms.
"Alright, I just want you to add a few things in the text..."
The bard''s eyes widened, his cheeks swelling until he let out a chuckle.
"...This should be fine to do, but are you sure? I don''t care much about saying that of the Church, I never liked them anyway, but are you sure of the rest?" He asked with an excited smile. Glenn didn''t reply, only grinning with both of his thumbs-up. The bard nodded happily, before storing away his drawings and drafts, bowing slightly his head at the young man before disappearing away. Glenn dismissed the Silence Curse and leaned against the counter, satisfied.
''...Those are some crazy levels of pettiness, this is way too funny!'' Diamanes laughed loudly inside Glenn''s mind.
''What can I say, I had some inspiration right there. And I can''t waste such good opportunities, isn''t that right?''
The young man watched the inn for a few minutes, only turning his head away when he noticed Sahro joining him at the counter with a dark face. The Black Heir was rubbing his temples with a painful look, the hangover still doing quite the effects on him. He slowly sat on his chair and hid his face in both of his hands, sighing loudly.
"...God, I''ll never drink again..." Sahro blurted out, his voice raspy. He glanced at his friend who seemed unbothered by last night''s side effects.
"...How the hell are you doing so fine?" He asked with disbelief, making Glenn laugh slightly.
"What can I say, I just have a better constitution than you, I suppose." He winked, the corners of his lips curved upward in a mocking smile. Sahro sighed once again, before pressing his forehead against the counter. Milena suddenly surged out from a door leading to the back of the inn, her complexion pale and her steps unsure. The man who replaced her grinned and curtsied in her passage, earning a slap on the back of his head.
"...Urgh, stop mocking me, Morgan, and go back to work. I''m not paying you to laugh at my expenses..." She grunted and pulled a chair to sit in front of Glenn and Sahro, similarly surprised by the lack of pain or any other signs of a hangover on Glenn''s face.
"Don''t ask, I''m just better," He stated without a second of hesitation, eliciting a snort out of her. The young man then looked away from them and searched through the inn, failing to find Montana.
"By the way, was the bard you''re having a crush on there two weeks ago?" Glenn asked, his head leaning against his closed fist. Milena rubbed her forehead painfully, her lips pinched, until she finally answered.
"...I think he was, yeah? Why?"
Glenn''s eyelids flinched slightly, a wry smile drawing on his face.
"...Nothing, just curious. By the way, he gave me that for you." He took out the signed sheet with Montana written on it from his dimensional pouch, handing it to Milena. She blushed slightly as he took it, before safely storing it away in a breast pocket.
"Did hedid he say anything about me?" She asked shyly. Glenn flashed a grin at her, shooting her a thumbs-up.
"He said you were super hot, so I think you have your chances."
''...Worst matchmaker in this world, I swear...''
''...Let me get my fun, will you? And that''s not exactly a lie...''
''And that''s not exactly what he said either.''
''Whatever...Anyway, that still leaves out the question as to how he was both in the inn two weeks ago and watching me in the forest and the quarry...''
Glenn smiled as he watched Milena''s cheeks become even redder as happiness decorated her face.
''...I guess everyone has their secrets...''
''Which is probably not going to stop you from pulling the answers out of Montana if you need to, right?''
''...Can''t you just shut up?''
136. A Relaxing Trip (for once)
"People, we finally received permission to enter King''s Rise. Thankfully, the mess from last night didn''t slow us down, so you better all feel grateful to me and my connections!"
A thunder of acclamations welcomed Monsieur Maron''s declaration as everyone prepared to finally leave the inn and go back to their family.
"...So, you guys are leaving?" Milena asked, disappointed. Glenn and Sahro, both leaning on the counter, one in a much better condition than the other, nodded positively.
"Yep. I thought I''d be able to enjoy some rest after this hell we went through with the Maron Company, but there''s still more work to be done," Glenn sighed, patting Sahro on the back.
"...God knows I would love the rest," The Black Heir grunted, before casting a glance at the empty scene, "...Your bard didn''t come today?"
Milena''s disappointed face changed to an even sadder one, her lips pinched.
"Indeed...It seems like his autograph was his parting gift for me..." She seemed genuinely distressed, sighing tiredly. Glenn''s eyelids flinched and he restrained a sneer.
''I''m pretty sure you''re the reason he left. Hah, now you won''t have the opportunity to hear him sing ''that'' song, nor ask him about how he could be in two places at the same time. Good job, man,'' Diamanes mocked inside his mind. Glenn dutifully ignored him, concentrating on Milena who wasn''t done talking.
"...Now we won''t even gain half the sales we had when he was here...It seems like the Twilight Inn is finally going down..."
Glenn raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"What, you''re almost bankrupt?"
Milena nodded slowly, before shrugging.
"Well, the Inn is in a constant state of bankruptcy, not me. The first owner of the inn took large loans to fund his project, before passing out and giving his debts to the next owner, who then abandoned ship, leaving it in someone else''s hand, who took even more loans, etcetera, etcetera..."
She shook her head, smacking her lips dismissively.
"It''s kind of a tradition to give the Inn away with even more debts than it was first in, I guess it''s my turn to leave now..." She scratched a stain on the wooden counter thoughtlessly, before throwing away her towel.
"Anyway, I wish you two a good life, I''ll try to see if some other place is going to hire me..."
Glenn and Sahro traded a gaze at the fallen noble''s sight.
"...I still don''t get it, why the hell don''t you just go back inside King''s Rise now that our investigation on you is over?" Glenn couldn''t help but ask, confused. Sahro nodded approvingly, also unable to understand Milena''s choices.
"Because, as I''ve told you before, if I go back, I''ll be eliminated by my Family for having my identity revealed, and with Prince gone, I''m probably the next in line to have my head separated from my body..." She sighed. Glenn crossed his arms together, his eyebrows creased.
"...But then, I''m pretty sure we already told you we wouldn''t reveal your identity. It''s not like you did us any harm, and it would be a shame for a skilled mage like you to just work in..." He waved around while biting down on his lips, "...this kind of place. And if you''re worried about the Thorn''s Church, well, we kind of already got rid of their headquarters yesterday, so it should be fine, right?" Glenn asked as he looked at Sahro, who moved his head up and down, agreeing with him.
A complicated expression decorated Milena''s face, seemingly struggling to come up with another reason to stay away from King''s Rise. Glenn sighed as he watched her, before standing up and pushing a few coins on the counter.
"Listen, here''s my proposition. If you''re so terrified of the Thorn''s Church, you can just come with us," He proposed with friendliness, his thoughts all but benevolent.
''If I can get her to let me take her strange bending or illusion magic away, it would do an incredible addition to my ever-growing spell-book...'' Glenn thought as he grinned innocently.
"What?"
"What?"
Milena and Sahro had the same reaction, one with his eyes wide-opened, the other seemingly touched by the proposition. The Black Heir cleared his throat, before shrugging dismissively.
"I mean, it''s not like I care, but don''t you think we already have enough weirdos in our team?" Sahro asked with a worried tone. Glenn confusedly looked back at him.
"...We just have Javier with us, what do you mean?"
Sahro glanced up and down at him, grimacing.
"Two-thirds of the team are already insane, I''m not sure I want to increase that percentage to three-quarters..."
Glenn shook his head with disbelief, before turning his head toward Milena.
"Ignore this idiot. So, what do you say? I''d be glad to have a noble on my side, for once," He joked, holding his hand out. Milena hesitated, before accepting it and shaking it.
"I...I''ll try and come with you. I don''t understand what you win in this situation, but I won''t refuse free help."
Glenn raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, when did I say it was going to be free?"
Milena hurriedly let go of his hand, worry taking place on her beautiful face.
"...I''ll be honest, I don''t have a single copper to my name right now, and I''m not interested in paying in any other way..." She gritted her teeth, before going to pick up the towel she had previously thrown away.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Glenn stared wide-eyedly at her, chuckling at the absurdity.
"Hah, I just want you to explain to me how your magic works and maybe test it a few times on me, don''t worry," He explained, seeing all disgust disappear from Milena''s eyes, replaced by a light of understanding. She pinched her lips, struggling, her head leaning to the side.
"...There are some things I can''t share, but I''ll see what I can do."
Glenn clapped his hands together, a wide grin decorating his face.
"Great! Let''s get going, then!"
Milena looked at him confusedly.
"WhatWhat do you mean?"
Sahro looked at her with an amused expression.
"Didn''t you hear Monsieur Maron? The departure is in less than twenty minutes, so pack your shit and let''s go."
Milena stood frozen for a second, before rushing back into the inn, the sound of items being thrown around rattling. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a look before exiting the inn.
''...Hopefully, I''ll be able to get Redan back soon. It''s taking way too long for me to get into the Bourgeoisie, it''s like some mystical forces are pushing me away from the damn city...'' Glenn thought sarcastically until Diamanes smacked its lips with hesitation.
''...Don''t tell me something is stopping me from getting back at the Baron or I''ll start getting seriously annoyed by Onnea and her bullshit!''
''I mean, if you consider bad luck as a mystical force, then yeah, there''s indeed something stopping you, my friend!'' Diamanes laughed, his mocking laughter ringing inside Glenn''s head.
''Damn you...''
"Alright everyone, it''s finally time to get back to your wives, so bear with me and stay on the carriages! We don''t want to anger the Scarecrows, alright!?"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Absolutely"
Milena rushed out of the Inn, still in her waitress clothes, two thick suitcases under each arm. Glenn and Sahro chuckled as she jumped on their carriages, casting a worried gaze at Javier, who was silently sitting in the back, his face as blank as always.
"...Is he always around?" She asked in a hushed tone, Javier staring at her with his disturbing glassy eyes. Glenn looked back at him, before shrugging dismissively.
"Oh, don''t worry about him, he''s a nice guy, just not very talkative."
"...If you say so..."
The Convoy finally departed, the gigantic Twilight Gate opening slightly to let them pass, the individual door too small to let the carriages pass. A loud cranking sound echoed all around them, the ground shaking as the two massive doors creaked open, the ground shaking slightly in the face of this incredible mass shift.
The golden light of the wheat fields shining under the bright sun that had followed after last night''s rain welcomed them, a warm hue that soothed their scarred hearts. Glenn leaned against the back of the carriage, remembering the first time he passed through the Fields.
''It certainly was much funnier back then, at least there was some action!'' Diamanes complained, making his host frown in disapproval.
''Is it that terrible to ask for just a few days of peace? I had more than enough action in this past month to make up for a whole life, Diamanes.''
''Booo~rinngg!''
The convoy bifurcated at one point to head straight for the Northern Town, passing through a small road in the Fields. After all, the Twilight Gate led directly to the Eastern Town, but it wasn''t their goal currently. Glenn turned toward Sahro, wearing a hidden smile.
"Didn''t you want to go back to your Eastern Town? You told me they treated you particularly well at that branch of the Workshop."
Sahro waved dismissively, before scratching his chin.
"I still need to help with Redan''s matter, and I also need a new weapon. The Eastern''s Town blacksmith is great, but not as great as the Smith."
Glenn nodded with understanding. The Smith was indeed probably the best in his craft. At least, Glenn was never disappointed with how he took care of his stuff.
...Well, he''ll still have to see if the man could make him a suitable weapon, but he would worry about that matter later. Right now, the priority was getting all the rewards he could and using some of those to find out information about Redan''s kidnapping. Each second that passed increased the chance of the old man dying, he couldn''t afford to lose a second.
''...Hopefully, Milena has some intel about the Bourgeoisie nobles, even though I doubt it. She''s from the Court after all, it would be incredible if she even knew who the Baron was,'' Glenn rubbed his chin, lost in thoughts. The woman was currently enjoying the sun, her raven hair tied in a bun behind her head.
''Don''t forget to find a way to decrypt the notebook concerning that Sword of Damocles Project, I''m very curious about its contents,'' Diamanes reminded him, the young man nodding mindlessly.
''Indeed, I''ll need to try and copy the contents of the book on something else, because, in its current state, it''s barely readable and much too prone to crumble under my fingers.''
"Sahro, do you mind getting me the notebook we found back in the Laboratory? I''ll try to read a bit more of it."
The Black Heir pulled out the notebook from his belt, where it had remained safely stashed. He held the book out with a serious gaze.
"You better not destroy another page, or I''ll swear you''ll never see this notebook ever again," Sahro warned him, unwillingly passing the notebook. Glenn smiled widely as he picked up the notebook, carefully opening it. Milena glanced at the book, and pushed herself, curious.
"This looks super old...Where did you find that?"
Glenn was about to answer when he remembered the fate of a particularly interesting book that ended up in her hands. With a pale face, he covered the book away, worried.
"Don''t! I don''t want you to burn another important piece of history, so fuck off!" He spat, ready to use his spells to defend the precious book. Milena blushed with shame and coughed while trying to keep an innocent smile.
"I...I have no idea of what you''re talking about...AAnyway, I know that there''s a Restoration Operator in the Seekers, if you want I can ask for his help."
Glenn looked at her suspiciously, closing the book carefully and pushing it into his dimensional pouch, ignoring Sahro''s grunt of complaint.
"I heard about those Seekers, but I''ve never really got to understand what or who they were."
Milena''s eyes lit up with passion and she leaned forward.
"The Seekers are a group of persons of all origins that are passionate about history, hidden secrets, or civilizations. They are a side branch to the Magi Brotherhood, and officially, their main goal is to find ancient spells, but they''re spread on a variety of subjects."
She pointed at the worn notebook, smacking her lips together.
"They have someone called the Restoration Operator, who has developed a spell to recover lost scriptures like the one you''re holding. Of course, that''s an expensive thing to ask for, but generally, they accept any work as long as it''s something they''ve never encountered before."
Milena chuckled and scratched the back of her head.
"Haha, every single bit of knowledge is like diamonds in their eyes..."
Glenn rubbed his chin, and the corners of his lips curved slightly upward.
"You seem interested in them, are you part of the Seekers?"
Milena hurriedly shook her head, putting her hands in front of her in denial.
"OfOf course not, I''m not worthy of being part of them yet, and it''s not my main priority, but I would love to be in the future..."
''...I could have never guessed she was so interested in history seeing how she burnt out the only example of that book, the Body Enhancement Thing of Exan...''
Glenn sneered and looked away, lost in thoughts.
''I think she''s more scared of her identity being revealed than interested in keeping history alive...Whatever, I''m sure I''ll be able to find another edition of that book if I search hard enough.''
''As if you had the patience to search for such a thing, heh.''
''...Couldn''t you just, I don''t know, believe in me from time to time?''
"I''ll think about it, but thanks for the suggestion, Milena."
The woman smiled before going back to enjoy the sun. Glenn sighed, enjoying the rest. Finally, after a few hours of travel, they arrived at their destination.
The Maron''s Company was back in the Northern Town.
137. Self-Care
"YES!"
Glenn couldn''t help but moan in pleasure as he jumped in his hot bath, sighing in satisfaction as he sank in the almost burning water, the heat giving the feeling of burning all of the filth, blood, and stress he had accumulated during his expedition.
"Hahhhh..."
The young man enjoyed a few dozen minutes in peace, scrubbing himself thoroughly of anything that couldn''t be cleaned away by a quick Mundare, namely the putrid smell of blood and death that he had grown habituated to. After thoroughly cleansing, he finally jumped out of the water, casting one last glance around the bathroom with a whistle. Made entirely with black marble streaked with veins of gold, the bathroom of his Dark-Gold Fixer room was incredibly well-equipped, with a hot bath powered with magic, practically comparable to a modern bathtub, but only in a very luxurious version.
Warm towels were constantly waiting on a shelf, a cleaning and drying enchantment placed on them to assure top quality and minimum effort for the one using it. The most surprising feature, though, was the one that allowed to creation of an artificial warm rain of clean water, the droplets acting as a small massaging device in the shower.
All in all, it was the most enjoyable experience.
"Of course it''s enjoyable, this shit is comparable to a fucking four or five-star hotel on Earth!" Diamanes exclaimed, before correcting himself.
"Well, I didn''t see you ever rest in one in your memories, but from them, I can only deduce it should be a similar experience..."
"I can only guess, Diamanes. My fortune on Earth can''t compare to the one I currently enjoy in this world. I mean, I suppose risking one''s life does pay well, even if it comes with its load of pain, suffering, and mental scars," Glenn replied with a chuckle, almost snapping his fingers to summon his suit back, but restraining himself.
"I could use a change of clothes while I let mine fix up a bit in my soul..." Glenn muttered as he searched through the bathroom''s shelves, finding a fluffy bathrobe to wear. He closed the bathrobe around himself with a rope, enjoying the fluffy feeling, before heading into his bedroom. He couldn''t help but stop once again, nodding in agreement and satisfaction.
"Yeah, that''s the bare minimum I deserve for my hard work..." Glenn smiled as he ran his hand over the wall, the smooth marble feeling very pleasant but most of all, very expensive. The most impressive and central piece of the bedroom was, of course, the king-sized bed. If he was already very satisfied with the one in his Gold rank room, it simply wasn''t comparable to this one.
"...How many people could fit this bed? That''s the question, isn''t it...?" He mumbled as he jumped on it, his body automatically sinking into the comfortable mattress. He held his hand toward the blankets, his body screaming at him to pull them over himself so he could sleep for the whole day, but with a regretful sigh, he restricted himself and came out of the bed. Of course, it was the most difficult of all matters, taking all of his will and determination, but he eventually succeeded.
Glenn averted his eyes from the deadly trap that was his bed, instead choosing to explore once more his room. The biggest difference, after the bed, of course, was the size of the room. It wasn''t a bedroom anymore at this point, but an entire suite. The young man couldn''t help but wonder at how much it all cost, this interest was soon abandoned for another one.
"Damn, if they do all of this for a Dark-Gold, what would they do for the rank above...? I mean, Platinum should be possible for me after all the shit I pulled, right...?" Glenn pondered, earning a disbelieving sneer from the entity in his purple left hand.
"What, you''re not satisfied with all of this bullshit? What good a bigger bed would do you when you''re seemingly destined to remain single for your whole life?" He mocked, eliciting a judgmental gaze from his host.
"You know, before, it was mainly because I simply didn''t want any attachment to this world, but now, it''s because I can''t even imagine myself doing anything remotely private with you around. Isn''t there a way to block you entirely or something, like force you onto my memories for a while?" Glenn complained, gasping in surprise when he opened an unassuming door. He hadn''t bothered to check it out earlier, thinking it would lead to a closet or something, but it couldn''t have been further from the reality.
What lay in front of his wide-opened eyes was an entirely equipped private gym, with magically enhanced weights, dummies, and targets all around. The whole room was made of Blumar, making it impervious to most attacks. Glenn tried to calculate the price of it all but gave up, only smiling with a dumb look as he checked out all of the training tools available.
"Hey, what''s so wrong with me watching? You don''t seem to be too bothered washing up with me seeing everything..." Before Glenn could reply, Diamanes continued, the smile the purple palm widening wickedly, "...A bit of entertainment for me, and maybe you''ll satisfy a hidden vice, who knows?" Diamanes chuckled loudly, profiting from the privacy to express himself loud and clear. Glenn didn''t bother to reply, only sighing tiredly at the entity''s antics.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Let''s see what we have, then..." Glenn crouched in front of a metal ball, picking it up effortlessly. He played with it, throwing it up and down, the metal glint reflecting the magic lights encased in the Blumar ceiling. The lamps were encased in metal, somehow remaining unaffected by the disruptive nature of the deep-blue stone. Still, there were a ton of them, since the Blumar was greedily swallowing most of the light it encountered. The young man grinned at his distorted reflection in the steel ball, turning it around only to almost drop it in shock when he noticed the weight written on it.
"OhShit, a hundred kilograms? How the fuck am I lifting this so easily?" He exclaimed in disbelief, rubbing his eyes to make sure it wasn''t just him that couldn''t read correctly.
"Wow~ What a surprise, you have the body of a gorilla on steroids. Crazy stuff, I swear," Diamanes stated with the least surprised tone possible. Glenn cast an inquisitive glance at his left hand, expecting an explanation. Diamanes sighed, passing his tongue over his white teeth before smacking his lips.
"You''re already aware of the fact that your body has gone through quite the enhancement, starting from when you got those doses of Beast Blood in the Thorn''s Church prison, right?"
Glenn nodded with a scowl, not particularly enjoying having to remember this part of his memories.
"Well, with how much you fought and how much magic you''ve used, your body has simply begun adapting. By dint of being broken into a thousand pieces, it rebuilt itself over and over again to become tougher and stronger. I mean, look at yourself in a mirror, if that''s not a god-like physic, I don''t know what is!" Diamanes exclaimed, chuckling at the end. Glenn looked at himself under his bathrobe, his eyebrows raised in suspicion. He looked good, as long as he ignored all of the scars, sure, but it didn''t serve as proof of Diamanes'' words.
"Oh, and since a shit-ton of Mana ran through your body again and again, and with you breaking through the Wall and all, despite being only a Third-Circle, your life expectancy has also been increased significantly."
Glenn''s ears perked up, a curious smile appearing on his face.
"Oh yeah? By how much, a few dozen years?" He jeered as he waited for the entity''s answer. Diamanes coughed awkwardly, before pinching his lips.
"...A hundred."
Glenn nodded slightly, shrugging dismissively.
"Is it a certainty I''m living until my hundredth birthday now? Nice, but not that incredible. I''m pretty sure a few people already pulled off a hundred and thirty years of age in my world, so a bit underwhelming, but still great to hear."
Diamanes grunted in displeasure, before correcting his host.
"No, you don''t get it. You have an additional hundred years to live for. You can comfortably aim for the two hundredth birthday at this current stage of your life."
Glenn''s smile froze, his brain not braining for a few seconds. He blinked confusedly, opening and closing his mouth in an attempt to say something, only giving up due to a failure to find the appropriate words.
"...I''ll be damned..." He muttered, still in shock. Diamanes coughed once again to get his attention back.
"And you can probably multiply this number by ten once you break through the Second Wall, which is when you break through the Seventh Circle or the Seventh rank of Aura. Yeah, you can live for a few years thanks to magic," He explained as though it was nothing, seemingly ignoring his host''s distress. Glenn''s brain finally had enough of the nonsense, and did exactly what it did in every similar situation: put the shock to deal with for later.
"...Okay, I''ll just try and not take into account this information in my way of living..." Sadly for Glenn, this seemingly surefire option failed him as he realized the implications of what it all meant.
"No, don''t tell me I might have to face some kind of old monsters who lived for a thousand or more years...No, no no no, I certainly don''t want that. Crap, this is bad. Really, really, really-really, bad. Shit, I''m sure it''s like in those cultivation novels, if I kill one, an older and stronger one pops up, then it''s all over again until something strong enough comes out of hiding and kicks my ass into oblivion. Fuck me..." Glenn took his head in both hands, unable to imagine the powers of undying old farts.
"What if the Baron is like those? And damn, I have to assume he''s some kind of vampire as well, which means he probably lived for ages as well! God damn it, I never considered that time itself would be a factor when I thought about all of this revenge thing..."
Glenn despaired for a few more minutes until he finally realized the most important thing.
"Well, crying on my certain future death is useless. The only thing that''s left for me to do, is just to..." He pressed both palms together, sitting cross-legged on the ground, an enlightened look on his face, "...accept it. Death is part of the natural cycle, after all."
Diamanes could only watch wordlessly, unable to say a single thing after all of this nonsense. Glenn drew a deep breath, before slapping his cheeks.
"Alright, let''s stop worrying about all that, and let''s take care of all that''s important. I need to go meet Reginal and report to him all of this bullshit I lived through." He said aloud, more as a way to encourage himself than anything else. He left the private gym reluctantly and went through his bedroom''s closets one after another, all filled with all sorts of clothes and armor. They were all in peak conditions but didn''t seem like the sort of magical stuff like his Soulbound suit.
After a struggle of approximately five seconds, he threw on the most comfortable-looking clothes, namely an assortment of beige pants and shirts, alongside a white vest. No bowtie for that one, he wanted to stay as relaxed as possible.
"I can only consider the few days I''ll spend here as vacation. After that, I''ll probably have to leave to go find Redan''s kidnappers, so let me enjoy the comfort as long as I can..." He mumbles in prevention to Diamanes'' coming taunts, who choose to remain silent in the face of his thoughtful host. Glenn gave himself one last glance, before rolling up the sleeve of his left arm, letting the purple as apparent as possible, and throwing on a metal elbow brace on it, making it even flashier.
"Well, the only thing you lack now is a good haircut, heh," Diamanes finally found a mockery to throw, restraining a curse when he saw his host nodding seriously in agreement.
"Indeed, let me deal with that..."
A few cuts of scissors later, all of his hair that was likely to get in his eyes was cut off, leaving him with a much more...airier haircut. Diamanes hesitantly commented on it.
"Somehow...You didn''t ruin yourself. Huh."
Glenn grinned, stretching one last time before heading off.
It was time to deal with the most satisfying thing that followed any bloody struggles.
The rewards.
138. Rewards?
"Hmm...The Mad Hero rises..." Glenn hummed as he strolled in the Cleaner''s Workshop with a wide grin.
''So how much do you think we''re talking? No, do you think I''m getting to the Platinum rank? That would be crazy. I think I would be the only bastard in the entire Fringe who would reach this rank. No way anyone at my level of power didn''t already go to the Bourgeoise or become a Cleaner.''
''...Sigh, I don''t know, Glenn. I think you should keep your expectations as low as possible, so you only have good surprises,'' Diamanes tiredly replied, the entity exhausted from dealing with Glenn''s over-excitement. The young man had practically been running from the Dormitory to the Main Hall, earning himself quite a few judgmental gazes, not that he cared anymore about those.
After a sharp turn in a hallway, he reached his destination, the Main Hall. As always, it was crowded with Fixers of all ranks trying to find a mission suitable to their levels and skills, and the request board submerged under the flood of mercenaries. Glenn walked past them, saluting an awkward smile to the weird female attendants with robotic reactions, and went to the passage reserved for Gold-Rank Fixers and above.
"...You took your time," Sahro grumbled, the Black Heir leaning against the wall, playing with a spark of electricity. His belt was empty of any weapons, an absence that seemed to bother him quite a bit, but Glenn didn''t doubt the Smith would manage something that would satisfy his friend.
"I had to deal with an important matter," He explained seriously as he pointed at his new haircut and his new set of clothes. Sahro slowly clapped, not the least impressed by Glenn''s new look, instead inviting him to guide them inside the hallway. Since Sahro was still a Gold Rank, he couldn''t open the Dark-Gold private hall and needed Glenn to open it for him.
The young man didn''t make himself wait for another second and summoned his Identification Dagger, planting it at a specific spot in the wall and turning it like a key. The wall revealed a black-gold marble door, sliding away mechanically, letting the two enter. Glenn glanced around, but couldn''t find Mary anywhere, his sadistic teacher nowhere in sight, the counter empty of any clients. A few Dark-Gold Fixers were hanging around, but none that he could recognize.
''No matter. So, the private lounge...'' Glenn thought as he went for a door with a name tag reading "Upper-echelon appointments". Sahro followed him, the two sitting on the comfortable sofas patiently, sipping on cold non-alcoholic beverages to make the time pass faster. Finally, after a dozen minutes of waiting, space seemed to warp as a well-dressed gentleman with an incredible mustache popped into existence, tipping his round hat at them politely.
"Fixer Glenn, Fixer Sahro, it''s my pleasure. I suppose you bring good news since you''ve even brought your lower-ranked friend with you?" Sir Reginald questioned, a mysterious smile hanging on his lips. Glenn stretched slightly and drew a deep breath. He pointed his hand at a nearby seat, inviting the butler-looking Cleaner to sit. Reginald made himself comfortable, his arms crossed.
"So, where do I start..?" Glenn rubbed his forehead, struggling. Reginald smiled gently as he rubbed his mustache.
"By the beginning, hopefully."
"...This is insanity."
All semblance of elegance and good manners were gone, replaced by disbelief and shock. Reginald hid his face in both of his hands, sighing loudly at the prospect of all the work he''d have to do. His eyes firmly closed, and he raised a finger to the ceiling as he moistened his lips.
"...So, let me resume it. Prince was a noble of the Court, which you understood after interrogating one of his teammates. Before that, of course, you had to fight what? an evil god''s child, and worst of all, one from the damned Fallen Mother. Additionally, you had to deal with the Maron''s Company owner going half-mad, who was then tortured and kidnapped by some kind of ancient existence, and ending up being transformed into a half-human half-Blumar Golem. Oh, and I''ll skip the fact that you destroyed an entire village for my convenience, King''s Rise outer territories aren''t submitted to our rules, after all..."
Glenn nodded happily, his hands tightly clasped together. Sahro searched through his mind for a few seconds, before snapping his fingers with an amused smile.
"Oh, and we also got rid of an Abbot of the Thorn''s Church, getting rid of those whackos'' influence in the Sewers," The Black Heir leaned back in his sofa, restraining a chuckle at Reginald''s pale complexion. The Cleaner rubbed the bridge of his nose slowly, drawing one breath after another.
"...Just give me a minute..." Reginald asked, Glenn and Sahro happily giving the older man space to breathe. The Cleaner leaned and grabbed something from under the cough, pulling out an exquisite bottle of liquor, and serving himself a drink before their astonished eyes. He drank it without even trying to enjoy the taste, swiftly serving himself another drink and downing it similarly. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a look but didn''t comment, the memory of their party still much too fresh in their memories. Reginald placed the bottle back down, sighing loudly as he looked at his glass.
"Much better...Alright, so, that''s quite a lot to deal with currently, I''ll be honest." The Cleaner explained half-heartedly, rubbing his temples painfully.
"I''m already starting to feel the headache coming in... Anyway, first thing first, I declare that Sahro Sand is promoted to the Dark-Gold rank, effective immediately. Your Identification dagger will be given to you in the next twenty-four hours. Next..."
Reginald cleared his throat, pulling out a long sheet of paper and writing down some kind of calculation on it. Sahro lifted his chin proudly as he stood once more at the same level as Glenn, proving that he was worth at least as much as his friend. Glenn ignored him, much more interested in what Reginald was doing. Finally, the Cleaner was done.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
"Glenn, Glenn, what am I supposed to do with you..." He muttered through his teeth, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I don''t have the authority to make you a Platinum Fixer, even though you reached the necessary achievements for it. You need to have broken through the Wall first and have your Fourth Circle, which, I believe, isn''t the case, right?"
Glenn hesitantly nodded, deciding on the spot not to reveal that he had broken through said Wall a little early.
''Yeah, it''s a good idea to keep this hidden. It would be a shame to have you put on a dissecting table so that people can understand what the hell is wrong with you,'' Diamanes agreed, Glenn snorting at the comment.
''I''m not sure opening me up would give them the answers anyone doing such thing would need.''
''Maybe, but it wouldn''t stop them from doing it.''
At a loss for words, Glenn gave up on his mental discussion, instead focusing back on Reginald, the Cleaner''s expression complicated as he tried to figure out a proper reward.
"Let''s keep my promises, to begin with..." He pulled out two paper letters decorated with golden filigree and handed them to Sahro and Glenn, who understood with a glance what the item was.
"It wasn''t that hard to get the Recommendation from the Gold Church, even more with the relation you both share with the Maron''s Company CEO, I''ll be honest, but still, that was part of the deal, so here it is. Enjoy the trip to the Bourgeoisie," Reginald smiled, Glenn stashing the recommendation away in his dimensional pouch, Sahro storing it away similarly.
The Cleaner then cleared his throat, casting a glance at their waists, where no weapons were hanging.
"...I believe you both had weapons before, and I understand that they are now lost. You probably both have already planned to replace them, but let us take care of it."
He pulled out a black coin stamped with the burning flame that represented the Workshop.
"Show this to the Smith, and he''ll make you the best weapon possible, free of charge."
Glenn nodded, still unsatisfied. All of that was nice, but it seemed still a little underwhelming compared to the fact that they had killed a fucking god''s son. Reginald instantly noticed Glenn''s expression, the young man not seeing any use in hiding his dissatisfaction, and hurriedly opened his arms inquisitively.
"Now, if you want anything, I''ll try to fulfill it however I can. But keep in mind, due to the official nature of the Cleaner''s Workshop, we do not trade people, drugs, or forbidden items." Reginald warned worriedly, secretly sighing with relief when he saw the confusion on both Glenn and Sahro''s faces. The two deliberated for a few minutes, Sahro being the first to ask away.
"...I would like you to bring support to the Black Heirs in the Sewers. Be it construction materials, workers, food, anything they need, I want it to be done." He asked coldly as he rubbed his stump, a spark of electricity dancing at his fingertips. Reginald looked at the ceiling with a frown, before smiling widely and holding his hand out for Sahro to shake.
"That''ll be done. We''ll be supporting the Black Heirs as much as we can, and I''ll throw our help on top of it to suppress any remnants of the Thorn''s Church. Deal?"
Sahro shook the hand gratefully, a satisfied smile on his face.
"Deal."
Glenn rubbed his chin, quite happy with Sahro''s choice.
''That means I won''t have to use my connection with Maron to bring them the help the Black Heirs need, and they''ll probably all feel super grateful to him. I know he wasn''t the most welcomed there since he was adopted, so that would probably work as well. Pretty, pretty great... It''s my turn now.''
The young man slowly passed his tongue over his teeth before smacking his lips, grinning wickedly.
"Sir Reginald, you had my help for the investigation of Prince''s identity, now I need your help in a similar case."
Reginald leaned forward, curiosity filling his eyes.
"Please, ask away, I''ll be glad to help as best I can."
Glenn rubbed his hands together, his nose creased.
"Well, I need help to find an old man close to me. An Ice mage that can also use Aura, who''s in the Fourth Rank or a little lower than that, and who''s named Redan."
Reginald''s smile froze, all pleasantness melting away, replaced by a cold emotionless expression. A chill ran down Glenn''s spine, making him shiver slightly. Reginald''s shadow seemed to grow, oppressing him from all sides with a dreadful feeling.
''Wait, I''ll filter that out for you...I finally get what''s that filthy power these guys are wielding...'' Diamanes grumbled, all dread or uncomfortable feeling disappearing. Glenn grinned as if nothing happened, his hands clasped together.
''You''ll explain later, I need to deal with this right now.''
"...Sir Glenn, this is very important now, how do you know of him?" Reginald threatened, a thick strand of magic wrapping all around him. Glenn glanced at Sahro, almost choking when he saw the Black Heir pick his ear without a care in the world.
''...Well, at least he doesn''t seem too affected.''
"Well, I met Redan by chance, and he taught me a bit of magic for free. He''s a person I consider very dear to me. Is that a problem?" The young man asked, clenching his teeth as he prepared to shoot a spell away depending on Reginald''s answer. The Cleaner stared silently for a few more minutes before all the pressure he exuded dissipated away with a sigh.
"I...I apologize, I thought you might be one of his detractors. I suppose they began acting out once again, then?" He muttered that last part through his breath, low enough that Glenn would have almost missed it had his hearing not been an enhanced one.
"His detractors? The old man has what now?" Glenn asked with confusion. He knew there was some kind of strange deal going on with Redan that forced him to not go inside King''s Rise aside from some very specific occasions, but he would have never guessed someone would actively come looking for troubles with the nice old mage.
Reginald rubbed the bridge of his nose, hesitating to reveal what he knew.
"Well, the White...No, Sir Redan was previously part of an official force of King''s Rise. I can''t reveal much, or that would be betraying his privacy. If he didn''t tell both of you about his past, that''s probably for a good reason. Anyway, for some reason, he was banned from this official force and kicked out of King''s Rise. Now, some people would have rather preferred he would be entirely gone, if you see what I mean."
Sahro grunted, his brows creased deeply.
"No way we''re talking about the same Redan, he has always been with us for the longest time..."
Reginald looked up and down at the Black Heir, nodding slightly.
"You should be around twenty years old or something, that doesn''t surprise me. Those are events that happened half a century ago."
Glenn and Sahro''s hearts missed a beat.
Half a century ago?
"Holy shit, and you''re telling me those guys are still holding a grudge against him?" Glenn exclaimed in disbelief, his eyes wide open. Reginald nodded with a sad look, sighing loudly.
"Indeed. Anyway, don''t worry about it, the Cleaner''s Workshop will help find him. We already have a bit of a bad relationship with the people who always trouble Redan, so it doesn''t matter if we annoy them a bit more. And I do owe him that, after all."
Glenn raised an eyebrow, sure that he had misunderstood something.
"Wait, you know the old man?"
Reginald chuckled, fiddling with his exquisite mustache.
"Of course I do. I was one of his subordinates back then, haha."
For the second time that day, Glenn''s brain stopped braining.
139. The Smith
"...I still don''t understand how it''s possible," muttered Glenn, sitting on a bench inside the Armory. He shook his head and moistened his lips, still unable to believe what Reginald had told them. Of course, the Cleaner refused to say anything more about his relationship with Redan, leaving them in the lurch too much for his taste. The young man glanced to the side, finding his Black Heir friend as lost as he was.
"That''s already surprising for Sir Redan to have a subordinate," Sahro began meekly, his head clasped in between both of his hands, "...But Reginald isn''t anyone, he''s a Cleaner. Which means he''s as strong as your sadistic teacher, Mary."
''...I really can''t wrap my head around how the old man could be such an important figure in the past. Well, I''ll just ask Redan about it when I find him. Reginald better honor his words or I swear I''ll be taking him and his shitty rewards to court...''
Glenn sighed and smacked his lips loudly. He remained silent for a few seconds until he slapped his knees and pushed himself up, deciding to explore what the Armory had to propose to them. There were a few more items available compared to the last time he came here, but nothing caught his eye. Sahro escaped his trance, sighing in turn as he went to the shop''s counter and leaned on it, waiting for the return of the owner.
"...Hey, do you think it''d look cool?" Glenn suddenly asked, forcing his friend''s attention back on him. The Black Heir turned around and almost instinctively chuckled at the sight. Glenn was holding a massive two-handed hammer with spikes on each head, the weapon taller and probably heavier than its wielder. Sahro shot out a sarcastic thumbs-up, before turning back toward the counter while shaking his head dejectedly. Glenn laughed it off and carefully placed the weapon back on its stand when an interested voice suddenly rang in his head and made him almost drop the hammer.
''Hmm...I never thought about it, but it''s possible, indeed...'' Diamanes mumbled to himself, Glenn cursing at the entity living in his mind rent-free. He made sure the weapon was placed back correctly before glancing at his purple left hand, curious about what it realized.
''...You know how the statues guarding King''s Rise four Gates are enchanted?'' Diamanes slowly began, making his host nod imperceptibly.
''Well, all of the gear in this place is enchanted with it. Back when you first came here I wasn''t able to check it over because you were way too weak''
''Rude.''
''...But now that I can, it seems like you can take some of those for yourself. Of course, that would be considered stealing and all, but you do you,'' Diamanes chuckled, ''...After all, I''m not restricted by the same moral sense most humans seem to share.''
Glenn rubbed his chin thoughtfully, until the ginger-haired dwarf surged out of his shop''s reserve, a huge sigh leaving his body when he understood who were his two clients.
"Sir Black Heir," He saluted respectfully, before reluctantly turning toward the other young man, "...Glenn."
Without even leaving him the chance to retort anything, Rusty Stoneheart passed his tongue over his teeth and held his hand out.
"Don''t say anything. Just let me see." The dwarf grimaced, making Glenn suddenly very ashamed. He summoned his suit out of his soul, earning a gasp of awe from Rusty. The small man hurriedly grabbed the clothes, staring at them with horror-filled eyes.
"WhatWhat have you done to the suit? It''s supposed to fix and clean itself, and yet..." The dwarf patted the fabric with disbelief, "...You still managed to ruin it so much! This was one of my best pieces!"
Glenn raised his hands defensively, his jaws tightly clasped together.
"Hey, it''s not my fault I''m fighting increasingly more horrible abominations everywhere I go, is it?!?" He hissed, earning a disapproving gaze from the shopkeeper.
Rusty snorted and covered the suit with his Mana, making it glow with a blue mystical light. Glenn squinted as he witnessed the suit fixing and cleaning itself to the naked eye, the enchantment doing its work without even being in his soul. After a few minutes, the dwarf was done, the suit entirely fixed, even though a light red tint was coloring the originally black vest, the white shirt that he wore underneath it was affected by the same fate.
"...And, done. Alright, that''s the best I can do for now. Sigh, how many times has it been now? I thought you had calmed down on all the crazy business, but it seems I couldn''t be more wrong. Tsk, tsk..." Rusty shook his head disappointedly, Glenn ignoring him as he went to grab the suit back.
"Can''t help it there''s so much evil that needs eradication in this world, anyway, many thanks to you Hey!" Glenn exclaimed in protest as Rusty hurriedly hid the suit behind himself with the same protective stance a cheetah''s mother would be with her children.
"Nah, fuck off!" He clenched the suit tightly, his Mana surging once more. Glenn suddenly felt something...break inside him. This was the weirdest feeling... as if something had just been taken away from him, a piece of himself...
''...The Soulbound enchantment...He broke it.'' Diamanes realized, sharing his understanding with his host. Glenn''s face paled and he shamelessly threw himself on his knees, basically lowering himself to the shopkeeper''s face.
"NO! Don''t take it away, it''s part of me now! I swear I won''t get covered in blood ever..." Glenn promised, his eyelids flinching when he heard Sahro sneer mockingly behind him.
"...For a few months at least..." Glenn admitted with a scowl, before tilting his head to look at the ceiling guiltily, "...Maybe a week?"
Rusty shook his head and brought the suit with him to the back store, Sahro openly laughing at his friend''s miser.
"Hahaha, well, Mr. Stoneheart seems to hold you in his heart!" The Black Heir chuckled, patting Glenn on the shoulder as he pushed himself up from the ground. The young man sighed deeply as he went back to sit on the bench, his head leaning back loosely.
"Damn it, I can''t help it if I''m the unluckiest guy of the bunch..." He muttered, earning not one, but two sneers.
''Unlucky? You''re lucky to be alive considering your lack of survival instinct.''
"You''re just needlessly always looking for trouble, you''re the only cause of your unluckiness, Glenn..." Sahro mocked, before pointing at himself with a angrily contorted face, "...I, am the unlucky one because I''m always sticking with you and shoveling the shit with you!"
"Tsk, why are you even venting on me?" Glenn pouted when the bell over the door rang as a new client entered the shop. With a hooded robe of great quality and a lingering scent of mint, Milena worriedly looked at both Sahro and Glenn.
"What are you guys spending so much time on? It''s been over an hour since you entered the damn shop!" She complained as she shot a paranoid gaze around. Glenn shook his head tiredly, not even bothering to look up at her.
"What can I say, the shopkeeper likes testing the patience of others"
"I CAN HEAR YOU, YOU KNOW!" A thundering voice echoed from the back store, Glenn shrugging dismissively.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"and as you can see, he isn''t in a hurry. Anyway, do you fancy yourself something?" He asked to try and make the conversation as Sahro began to test every weapon in the shop out of boredom. Milena''s worriedness instantly disappeared as she looked at the products displayed, blinking without any expression when she noticed the price tags.
"...Y, Yeah, there certainly is something that I could use here..." Milena fiddled with her fingers as she stared intensely at a dagger that seemed to be carved in obsidian with a bone handle sculpted into the jaws of a beast. She looked back and forth between the weapon and Glenn, pinching her lips. The young man looked up slightly and noticed the object of her interest, nodding with acknowledgment.
"Cool dagger, for sure. No idea what it does, but it looks great."
Milena made a wry smile and approached him, her hands hidden behind her back.
"Do you think you could"
"You certainly should buy it..." Glenn cut her off, his head leaning back as he looked at the ceiling while thinking of new spells he could create, "...With your own money, that is."
The woman''s grin froze, melting away to be replaced by disappointment as she summoned her Gold-rank identification dagger, checking out her contribution points alongside the coins she already owned.
"...I''ll think about it," She sat silently, sad and disappointed.
''...Well, that''s one missed opportunity for a nice gesture,'' Diamanes remarked, forcing a smirk out of his host.
''What, what nice gesture? She''s the daughter of a noble family, she probably bathed in gold and diamonds,'' He replied sarcastically, his snorts earning him a strange look from Milena. Sahro, in the meanwhile, was busy playing around with a long greatsword meant to be two-handed, seemingly struggling to come up with a way to use it with his sole right arm.
''But what about the romantic prospect of it? Offering gifts and all, isn''t that how you used to start relationships?''
Glenn''s smirk disappeared, replaced by a confused frown.
''...No? First of all, that''s the last thing I''d be seeking with her, of all people, and secondly, who the hell would consider offering a dagger a romantic gesture? What the fuck?''
Diamanes hummed thoughtlessly, sounding like he would shrug if he could.
''I don''t know, I''m just trusting your memories on that.''
''What memories? I''m pretty sure I''ve never offered a WEAPON to any of my adventures.'' Glenn questioned back, certain that he would never do such a thing.
''I mean, flowers and maybe jewelry for long relationships, but I don''t think you should consider that remotely similar to a dagger...''
''...Well, I just thought, with flowers being poisonous and all, it might have a link, but my bad.''
''WhatNo, I don''t want to try and understand your twisted logic. Whatever way you took for those things, I''m not interested. No, no, don''t even try to talk to me about it, I don''t want to know.'' Glenn smacked his lips, earning a chuckle from the entity sealed within him, just in time for Rusty to come back, dragging a small cart behind him.
Glenn stood up with an interested look, recognizing the black fabric of his clothes. Only, they seemed a little...thicker, maybe?
"Alright, so I''ve remade the enchantments and tried to purge whatever blood contaminated your suit, but as you can see, it didn''t work. So, instead, I chose another option, which is to add an enchantment to draw the blood and make it color the fabric like an actual dye and not the result of your failures..." Rusty explained as he lifted the clothes and threw them at their owner, who caught them with a surprised expression.
"Is it me, or they''re heavier than before?" Glenn asked, looking at the suit suspiciously. The dwarf nodded as he dusted his hands off, heading off to go and see Sahro.
"Indeed, I''ve added some extra paddings to make it tougher. They''re a bit of an experimentation on my part, with the pads being half-metal-half-leather, but it should protect you a bit more. I''ve noticed you grew a little more muscular, so it shouldn''t bother you much." Rusty cleared his throat, stopping Sahro from swinging the greatsword around awkwardly, "Hey, stop touching that and tell me what you need."
Glenn smiled and infused his Mana into the suit, feeling the connection to his soul reappear. It truly was a strange feeling and made him wonder whether there was some application of soul magic. After all, the Soulbound enchantment already touched his soul to tie the suit with it, so there probably was some kind of stuff going on with that. That raised the question of whether souls were usable for something, but that question was quickly solved when he remembered the Fallen Mother''s plan to harness Palancar''s inhabitants'' souls by destroying the whole village in some kind of weird ritual.
''Y...Yeah, there probably is some kind of evil magic using souls as energy. I mean, why wouldn''t there be? As if Mana wasn''t enough to do crazy shit...''
''You do remember the Seed of Darkness was feeding on the energy of the prisoners, no, rather of the monsters imprisoned there?'' Diamanes mentioned, making Glenn nod in understanding as the sour memory surged back.
''Indeed. I suppose the soul is a powerful fuel for sick and insane spells, then. Crap, could I have harnessed the soul of that Abbot bastard for some cool tricks?''
''...Well, I don''t think you''re at the level to do so already, but it should be possible, yeah,'' Diamanes hesitantly replied. Glenn frowned and stored his suit back in his soul, unable to stop pondering over the matter.
''...I guess that wouldn''t be too morally acceptable, though. Well, if I ever come in possession of some sort of soul magic or whatever, I''ll just use it on the Thorn''s Church bastards, if I ever find some. Oh, no, I got a better idea! Wouldn''t it be a great idea to create a customized hell to put the Baron''s soul in? Shit, I could call myself Lucifer or something, that would be cool...''
''Yeah, well, find some soul magics before that, if you don''t end up killing Howard before that.''
"...Alright, I have a good idea of what I''ll tell the Smith." The dwarf patted Sahro''s waist, unable to reach higher, before turning toward Milena, "What about you, young lady? I don''t think I''ve met you before, did I?"
Milena shook her head, her hands in front of her with an awkward smile.
"Oh, yes, I''m with them, but I can''tdon''t want to buy anything, s...sorry." She apologized, Rusty snorting in reply. He glanced at the obsidian dagger she seemed interested in and picked it up, before shoving it in her hands.
"Here, I''ll just put it on that asshole''s tab," He grumbled as he pointed his chin at Glenn, who didn''t spare a second to protest.
"Hey, no, don''t use my money on her, she''s much richer than me!"
The dwarf shook his head, dismissing him with a wave of his hand.
"I''ve been told to be kind to you because they couldn''t find any fitting rewards for whatever bullshit you''ve done, so let me offer that to your friend, alright? You''re practically drowning in contribution points anyway..."
Glenn shrugged, not bothering to continue the fight. If Rusty wanted to offer Milena something, so be it.
As long as he didn''t pay for it.
''Stingy bastard...''
''What?! Hey, you do remember she used to treat me worse than the dirt on her shoes at some point, right?''
''So did Sahro.''
''...Did I kill the son of a fucking god with her?''
''...I don''t think so, no.''
Glenn and Diamanes'' banter was interrupted when a tall, but very thin man entered the shop, his hands covered in calluses and a dark metal hammer hanging from his waist. His hair was long, covering the entirety of his face, and scars were covering his meager, almost sticks-like arms. His tank top was covered in soot and coal dust, the scent of metal and fire hanging around him.
"Mr Smith?" Glenn asked curiously. The Smith turned toward him, before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him out of the shop. Sahro and Milena watched without saying a word, Rusty staring with wide-eyed eyes and his jaw on the floor.
Smith pulled Glenn inside the burningly hot area he worked in, the heat instantly submerging him. The young man wiped his forehead, finding it already drenched in sweat as he continued to follow the Smith, curious about what was going on.
"So, uh, where are you bringing me?" Glenn asked hesitantly, the smith not bothering to reply. The young man sighed and let himself get carried away until he arrived in the deepest part of the forge, where a fire burning with blue flames was heating the zone with deadly temperatures. Glenn tied his hair behind his head as they began to stick to his skin due to how sweaty he was becoming. He summoned his Mana and created a small wave of Nitrogen, only for the Smith to look back with bloodthirsty eyes, his grip on Glenn''s wrist tightening until it pained the young man.
"Don''t." His voice was hoarse, almost silent, but the young man heard the message loud and clear.
Glenn deactivated the spell, in awe at the Smith''s strength.
''I mean, with arms like that, I thought it would be hard to even wield a hammer, but shit, my bad.''
The Smith finally let go of him and grabbed a hammer from a tool rack hanging on the wall. He quickly verified it, before handing it to Glenn. He took it, feeling the same thing as when he was reconnected with his suit''s Soulbound enchantment.
''This thing is very, very deeply connected to your soul. Crap, thank Limbo that you didn''t grab it with your left hand!'' Diamanes cursed, earning a curious gaze from his host. But before Glenn could ask anything, the Smith pulled out an ingot shining with a bright white light and placed it on an anvil, before grabbing his hammer and looking at Glenn.
"...What, you want me to forge the thing?"
The Smith nodded, his thumb rattling against the handle of his dark hammer. Glenn contemplated for a few seconds, before shrugging and tightening his hold over the hammer.
"Well, I''ve never done anything of the like, but..." He grinned, raising the hammer above his head, "...I''m not against trying it, after all, it looks pretty fun!"
140. Glenn, please stop putting your soul somewhere you shouldnt
Glenn''s nascent curiosity soon shaped into a thrilling excitement as he felt every fiber of his being concentrated on infusing the soul hammer with energy, hitting the glowing iron with all he had. The Smith was deeply concentrated, hitting the hammer twice for each hit Glenn gave, his long hair drenched in sweat and his thin but incredibly powerful arms contracting and expanding. Veins bulged on his forearms, the black hammer hitting the iron with a dull sound, soon followed by another hit from Glenn. The young man couldn''t help but feel enraptured in the venture, each strike on the hot metal made him feel slightly more connected with it, as if it would soon become an actual part of himself. He didn''t know what he was doing, whether the place he was striking was right, but he kept on striking tirelessly, beads of sweat flying with each of his movements.
The Smith clenched his tongs and grabbed the metal, before throwing it back in the blue flames. Glenn''s connection with the metal was suddenly cut off, the shock brutally taking the air out of his lungs. He gasped for air, dropping the soul hammer on the ground as he fell on a knee, his hand gripping his chest with awe.
"What...what''s going on?" Glenn heaved as he looked at the Smith, struggling to speak through his clenched teeth. The Smith didn''t spare him a glance, his eyes stuck on the fire and the metal it contained, ready to take it out at any moment. Glenn winced as he pushed himself up, finding not only his arms but his whole body strained with pain as if he had just gone through the longest fight. The Smith did something with the furnace, before pointing back the way he brought Glenn in from. The young man shook his head, still unable to understand what, or why he came here to hit iron.
''I doubt it was just for sharing an interesting experience, so why would the Smith pull me so aggressively inside the forge all that to just strike metal without explaining anything to me...? And for what, less than a few minutes? This is super weird'' Glenn pondered as he came out of the smithery, his back drenched in sweat and his face covered in soot. Rusty was leaning against the wall of his shop on the other side of the hallway, snoring loudly as he somehow slept standing. Glenn hesitantly looked left and right, before going to poke at the dwarf. Rusty flinched and mumbled a confusing assortment of words as he looked around in confusion, before noticing the young man standing in front of him.
''Uhm, Glenn, you didn''t spend just a few minutes in there, though?'' Diamanes commented with a curious tone, Glenn frowning in puzzlement.
''...What do you mean? I certainly spent less than an hour in there...''
The dwarf suddenly shook himself awake grabbed Glenn by his pants and pulled him inside his shop, a sign reading "Closed" hanging on the door.
"WaitWhat, the Smith first and now you? Can''t you all just ask me to follow you instead of towing me wherever you''re heading?" Glenn asked with a sarcastic tone, stopping his jeers instantly when he noticed the expression on Rusty''s face. The dwarf was in a strange mix between extremely excited and a heart-stopping shock, his eyes wide opened and his face as pale as the moon, but a grin still reaching both of his ears. All in all, quite a strange sight, and even stranger coming from Rusty.
"Alright, alright, everything is fine, it might have just been a demonstration..." Rusty mumbled as he paced around the shop, Glenn sitting on a bench as he waited for the dwarf to tell him whatever he wanted to. Rusty pulled at his hair and glanced at Glenn, who stared back curiously, before sighing loudly. The dwarf dragged a chair in front of Glenn and climbed his way on top of it, making himself comfortable.
"First things first, I''ll apologize for the Smith''s behavior. He doesn''t pull people in his workshop, usually..." Rusty trailed off as he scratched the back of his head. Glenn shrugged and looked at himself in the reflection of one of the metal armors exposed in the Armory.
"Don''t, it was quite the fun experience to hammer steel for a few minutes, even though I didn''t get the point of it. By the way, I know the other two aren''t particularly patient, but where did they go? Oh, crap, I''m covered in sweat and soot...Well, I guess I''ll just head back to take a shower when I go back...Mundare." Glenn got rid of all the filth with a flick of his fingers, but still felt as dirty as he was a second ago.
''I think we can call this OCD or something with how obsessed you are with being clean...''
''I''m pretty sure you wouldn''t be able to help it either if you spent more than a month covered in blood and dirt, alright?!?''
Rusty looked at him for a few seconds with wide eyes, before pressing both his hands together.
"Glenn..." He carefully began, "...It''s been a little more than twenty-four hours since you''ve headed into the Smithery. Your friends grew weary from waiting for you, and chose instead to try and test their newly found gear."
The young man remained silent for an instant, struggling to figure out whether the dwarf was serious or not, before chuckling to himself.
"Yeah, sure. Alright, I''m pretty sure there is no time spell in the Smithery, so no, there''s no way I spent a day in there. Nice try, though," Glenn jeered, dusting his hands off before yawning loudly.
"Yawnnn, damn..." He rubbed his eyes tiredly, struggling to keep them open, "...I''m exhausted somehow. So, what did you want to tell me?"
Diamanes smacked his lips inside the young man''s mind.
''He''s right, I had to watch the last twenty-four hours without being able to say a thing as your soul was slowly being taken away from you. It was a very, very long moment for me, by the way," The entity complained, Glenn, realizing that the dwarf couldn''t be any more serious.
"...But how? I swear, it felt like I spent what, a few minutes in there?" He protested, ending his sentence with another yawn, annoying shaking it out.
Rusty rubbed the bridge of his nose thoughtfully.
"I...Well, of course, you never heard of Soul Smithing, right?" He asked, finding his answer in the young man''s confused face.
"The Smith is making you a weapon..." Rusty began explaining, his tone growing grave despite the evident tiredness in his eyes, "...A weapon only you can use, a weapon that will be strong enough by itself to shape into a myth..." The dwarf''s eyes gazed into emptiness until he shook himself back to reality.
"Anyway, Soul-Smithing is the most dangerous way to make something as it uses a part of the maker''s soul for the creation. In doing so, it will assuredly shape into the best weapon for the one who infused his soul in it, making it essentially the strongest weapon you will be able to use, until you make another with better materials, of course. But, ignoring the restriction of metals and all that, it''s a weapon that can grow beside you, becoming stronger at the same time as you do." Rusty shook his head, hiding his face in both of his tiny hands.
"...The Smith wasn''t supposed to make another Soul Weapon again ever, but for some reason, he did. This is going to be a mess to explain, but at least you won''t have to pay for it... As for how time seems to elapse differently for you, that''s just how Soul-Smithing affects a person. You forget your sense of time, only concentrated on hitting the iron again and again until the Smith finally forces you out of the forge..."
Glenn nodded slowly, his eyelids drooping heavily as he listened to the dwarf''s explanations. Rusty grunted and slapped the young man across the face, waking him up.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Don''t sleep, I can''t have homeless people in the store!"
''...Homeless?''
"Anyway, I need you to listen carefully. The making of a Soul Weapon is separated into three important steps: the first is the Infusing, which you just went through. It''s when you infuse the future user''s soul inside the weapon, essentially starting the process of making a weapon able to achieve the impossible." Rusty clapped his hands together, the noise making Glenn flinch out of his drowsiness.
"... Yawn, alright, huh, then what are the two next steps?" Glenn asked tiredly, forcing his eyes open despite the exhaustion settling in deeper and deeper. Rusty shook his head slowly at the sight of the sleepy young man, mumbling something about how today''s youngsters had no stamina or something, before resuming his explanations.
"The second step is the Balancing, where the metal earns the same affinities as your Mana or your Aura, or both if you''re a freak. It''s relatively easier since it''s just infusing Mana instead of your soul that''s done, but it''s still extremely important. Finally, the third step is the Synchronization. As the name implies, it''s when your soul synchronizes with the weapon, giving it the finishing touches. It''s a hard-to-explain process, and quite a magical one, but you''ll probably end up in bed for a few weeks when it happens. Soul damage is the most dangerous thing someone can experience, besides a wife, of course..." Glenn was too tired to laugh at the dwarf''s joke and was already too busy trying to focus both on the explanations and not letting go of his consciousness.
"...Alright, hmm, if that''s fine with you, I''ll take a quick nap and come back for...the rest of the explanations, alright...?" Glenn muttered, stumbling up on his feet as he walked to the door like a zombie. Owning a mythical-thing-weapon sounded great, but it didn''t sound as great as the comfort of his cozy, king-sized bed at the moment. Even though it was ''only'' twenty-four hours of non-stop work, he felt like he hadn''t slept in months. The young man could already imagine himself sinking in his bed as he drowsily exited the shop, deaf to any sounds the dwarf was emitting in protestation.
''...Can''t see you, can''t hear you...'' He tiredly thought as he headed for the Dormitory, the hallways empty of the usual people bustling around. He mistakenly entered the Nexus, the sky-opened parc at the center of the Cleaner''s Workshop, finding that it was the night from the twin white moons floating in the sky surrounded by a sea of stars. Glenn felt the grass under his boots, and with only a second of hesitation, he let himself collapse on the ground, looking at the sky as he almost instantly fell asleep.
''Well, that has to be a world record for how fast a man can naturally fall asleep...'' Diamanes words drifted in Glenn''s mind, not even earning a grunt from him.
That night, Glenn slept incredibly well.
"...I hate myself," Glenn said, every exposed part of his skin covered with mosquito bites or red, irritated patches, his face puffy. Diamanes couldn''t help laughing, his mocking laughter echoing in his host''s mind like a painful reminder of how stupid it was to sleep outside at night without a tent or even a sleeping bag. The Dormitory may have been protected by spells and enchantments to guarantee maximum comfort for its occupants, but by contrast, the Nexus had never been designed to be used as an open-air hotel, making the young man''s current fate an inevitable one. Put a slab of meat in the open, and find it half-devoured and filled with insect eggs the next day. That''s just how life worked.
''Next time this happens, promise me you will force me to head back into my room instead of having to endure this...'' Glenn begged the entity in his left hand, making the latter''s laughter grow only louder.
''If I could do a screenshot or something to save ''this'' for eternity, trust me I would!''
''...I don''t doubt it. Let''s get rid of that now that you had your fun...'' Glenn sighed and clenched his teeth as he used the C.P.R. spell to get rid of all the mosquito bites and red patches, a pain worse than everything he could have ever endured ringing inside his whole body. The young man almost gave up on the spell, when he thought back to how much of a humiliation if he let the others see him like that. After a few minutes of painful healing, he finally got rid of all traces of the last night''s mistake, his mind scarred forever as Diamanes somehow found a way to send him mental images of his face.
''...Is this like sending a magical snapshot? This is so fucking stupid...''
Glenn chose the wisest decision, which was to ignore Diamanes and his taunting and let him tire himself out as he headed off for the Dining Hall. His stomach was grumbling like a beast that had just woken up, and with reason he had skipped quite a few meals between the Soul Smithing and his forced night of rest.
"I''m sure I wouldn''t have lost so much time had my mind been clear enough to Meditate instead of falling dead asleep," he grumbled, Diamanes snorting in reply.
''Don''t think soul damages are healed so easily. It''s already pretty impressive for you to be fine after only a night of rest, usually, this would require maybe a week for a normal person.''
Glenn grinned before wearing an innocent and surprised face.
"Oh, my, are you telling me I''m not a normal person? I always thought I was special, but never would I have thought you''d be the one to tell me such a nice compliment! Thanks, Diamanes! You''re abnormal too!"
''...Why did I even bring this up?''
The young man entered the Dining Hall with a wide smile, his grin widening when he noticed he was the first person to come to it. He rushed to the counter while salivating, grabbing a plate of the first thing he could see and heading off to savor his food, when he stopped in wonder. He hurriedly turned back and chose four more plates filled with other kinds of food of all cultures. The waiter behind the counter looked at him with a judgmental gaze, until his eyes drifted over his purple left arm. He hurriedly turned around and rushed into the kitchen, busying himself and doing whatever it took to stay away from Glenn. The latter raised an eyebrow but ultimately chose not to care, picking an empty table to put all of the plates he carried with a smart use of Gravity Manipulation and sitting down at it. He rubbed his hands happily as he began digging into the food, the quality of what was available to him was so incredible it couldn''t be described with words.
''...I really can''t get enough of the Black-Gold privileges. This is great.''
Glenn''s meal went uninterrupted as more and more people entered the Dining Hall with sleepy faces, ordering what most people would for breakfast. After all, this was the first hours of the morning, there wouldn''t be many people ordering a full course of meals and swallowing their food like a hungry forest fire, (ignoring Glenn, of course). Of course, like all good things, Glenn''s peaceful meal came to a stop when two disgruntled people sat in front of him, one of them placing a long item wrapped in white fabric against the table.
"...What the hell were you up to? We waited three hours for you, you fucking egoist!" Milena shouted at him while not-so-discreetly stealing from his plate a caramelized kebab and nibbling on it. Sahro leaned on his fist, clearly expecting some kind of explanation from his friend. Glenn grimaced and licked his fingers, before wiping his mouth with a paper tissue.
"Well, I was forging. It was cool, don''t recommend it though, I collapsed in the middle of the night right inside the Nexus out of exhaustion," Glenn stated as it was just the most common thing to experience. Milena stared for a few seconds, before rubbing the bridge of her nose unhappily. Sahro shrugged, satisfied with the answer as he took one of Glenn''s plates for himself and began to dig into it, ignoring his friend''s outraged expression.
"So what did you make? I got myself a temporary sword while I wait for the Smith to accept a custom order since apparently, he chose to take care of you first." He asked as he pointed at the mysterious package wrapped in white sheets. Glenn shrugged and randomly stabbed his knife into one of the plates, gobbling whatever he managed to get.
"I don''t know, Rusty tried to explain to me what I was doing but I was too tired to concentrate on it. I think it was some kind of soul-related stuff, I''m not exactly sure." Glenn smacked his lips dismissively as he chose to finish whatever stuff was on his plates before Milena and Sahro stole everything there was in there. He wolfed down the food, emptying the four plates at incredible speed, reaching for a steak covered in a divine-looking sauce with hungry eyes. The dismay he felt when the steak was stolen away was nothing compared to the shock he experienced when he realized that it was Javier who took it away, the food would have seemingly disappeared from thin air if it wasn''t for the traces of sauce on the Pale Son''s lips. The silent hunter wiped his mouth expressionlessly, gazing back at Glenn with a dead pair of glassy eyes
"Hi, Javier..." Glenn said with a disappointed look as he watched the steak travel down the weirdo''s throat.
''Somehow, I think he got even stealthier than he already was. Crap, that steak looked really tasty...'' The young man shook his head before casting a Mundare on his mouth and fingers to make sure he was completely clean.
"Well team, it was great having my food stolen away from me, but from what I gathered, I have more smithing to do, so I''ll see you around..." Glenn stood up from the table without leaving them a chance to reply, turning back with a disapproving gaze, "...Thieves."
With that last word, he headed back to the Armory to meet back with Rusty and hopefully start the second step of Soul Smithing, Balancing.
It was more than time to have a legendary weapon to his name.
141. Everything Comes to an End...
"Hello, dear customers...Wait, what the hell are you doing here?!? You should still be asleep!" Rusty yelled with wide-opened eyes as he watched Glenn enter the store, searching for signs of the Smith. The young man smiled wryly, scratching the back of his head innocently.
"Well, I did sleep, even though it wasn''t the most comfortable place to. Anyway, I''d gladly continue to forge the Soul Weapon that''s the name of the thing, right?" He confirmed, his eyebrows creased, grinning when Rusty wordlessly nodded at him. Glenn glanced at himself and his not-so-clean clothes, before pointing at the Smithery across the hallway.
"Uhh, do you think I need to change maybe, or...?"
Rusty shook his head before gesturing at the back of his shop, not even bothering to look at him.
"Just...Just go in the testing room, I''ll call the Smith for you," The dwarf muttered almost inaudibly before exiting the shop and entering the Smithery, leaving Glenn alone in the Armory. The young man hesitantly looked around before shrugging, passing the counter, and entering the back store. Even though he had come many times in the shop to maintain his long-lost sword as well as his Soulbound suit, he had never been invited there.
"I''d never have guessed I''d find out about Rusty''s secret rooms this way, all by myself, though..." He grinned nefariously as he took in the sight of the dozens of doors only waiting for him to open them.
''This might not be the greatest idea''
Diamanes was too late in trying to warn his host as Glenn grabbed one of the door''s handles, the metal sign encased on it reading "Living Creatures". With a name like that, Glenn''s curiosity was bound to be aroused, and he didn''t even hesitate for a second as he tried to open the door. The metal handle vibrated slightly, sending a wave of Mana through him. Glenn hurriedly pulled his hand back, feeling as if he had just been scanned by...something. A second later, the seemingly simple wooden door winced a crack opening from the bottom to its top. The young man took a step back, Mana twirling around his right hand as he carefully watched the crack tremble.
Suddenly, the crack widened, revealing a massive black eye with a shattered iris, like a sea of darkness with fragments of white floating aimlessly around. The white shards were suddenly pulled into the eye''s center, forming a cross glowing with a somehow unholy light. Glenn smacked his lips, smiling innocently as he slowly took a step to the side, the black eye containing a white cross following him without a word. It was only when he was completely outside the eye perimeter that the crack in the wooden door closed down, the mysterious cross hidden away.
The young man scratched his chin and looked at the other doors, before nodding slowly at himself.
"Alright, let''s, uh, not touch those anymore."
''Excellent resolution, maybe you''ll live another day if you keep on swearing those,'' Diamanes mockingly commented, his voice ringing inside his host''s mind like a painful reminder of how curiosity can and will kill the cat. Glenn reined in his feelings as he walked into the corridor, ignoring all the doors that didn''t contain "testing" in their names.
"If I have to die, I''d rather it not be by a fucking door..." He muttered, his face brightening up when he found the said "testing room". The now-not-so-curious man hesitantly grabbed the handle, waiting for a wave of Mana or some kind of strange stuff to happen, but he could open the door without anything happening. He entered a brightly lit room that seemed to be made entirely of metal, with dummies of different kinds placed chaotically in the room. One side would only have one in perfect condition, while the other would have a literal crowd of them waiting to be beaten up.
''...Great, it seems normal, just messy. Alright, let''s wait for the Smith, then, I suppose,'' Glenn thought as he explored the room more thoroughly. The metal walls were all scratched, with some being deeper than others, all witnesses to the terrible strength that exploded in the room. Glenn lightly tapped his fingers on his chin before casting a Carbon Blade and aiming it at the wall.
"...Do you think it''ll go through?" He asked Diamanes aloud, the entity not bothering to reply.
"This is a testing room, it''s supposed to be meant for holding against this kind of stuff...right?" Glenn mumbled hesitantly, before shooting the Carbon Blade against the wall. He had specifically invested a bit more Mana than needed to make the blade thicker and see the damages more clearly. The blade of energy flew through the air and collided with the metal silently. A massive rip in the metal just appeared out of nowhere, stopping at a few dozen centimeters deep. Glenn passed his tongue over his teeth as he looked at the destruction he just caused, his eyes darting around the room to find something to hide the mess he had just made.
The testing room''s door suddenly cracked open, forcing Glenn to act in precipitation. A second later, Smith entered the room, eyes hidden beneath his long hair, carrying under his arm a package far too long and far too thin for Glenn''s liking, the mysterious item wrapped in dirty rags. He didn''t spare a glance at the wall Glenn tried his attack on, but the dwarf coming in behind him did check it. He frowned, scratching the top of his head with confusion.
"...I don''t remember pinning dummies to the wall?" He muttered, looking at Glenn suspiciously. The young man made a surprised face and raised his hands innocently as he hoped Rusty wouldn''t try and unpin them since that would reveal both the fact that he kept them up with his Gravity Manipulation and the rip in the wall.
"It already was like that when I came in," He shook his head, doing his best to try and look as least suspicious as he could. Rusty chewed on his lips, before shrugging dismissively. Glenn secretly breathed out in relief before bringing his attention back to the Smith who was carefully unwrapping the long and thin package. Rusty looked from the side, his hands in his pockets.
"Hrm, I thought you were more of a slash-type rather than a stab one..." He grumbled some nonsense, confusing Glenn to no end as he anxiously waited for the weapon''s reveal. After the Smith pulled the last piece of clothes, Glenn was left with no other feeling but confusion.
"...The hell is that?" He blurted out, before reflexively apologizing, "...Sorry, it''s just not really what I, hrm, expected, I suppose?" He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at. The Smith lifted the item, the bright light of the room shining their lights upon it. It was a thin, long pole, too short to be a spear but too long to be some kind of stabbing sword. There was no handle on it, and the "blade" was only a round but thin tube, making it impossible to cut anything. At least, the tip seemed expertly made for piercing, but it was much too weird of a weapon for Glenn''s liking.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The Smith didn''t say anything as he held out the weapon at Glenn, who grabbed it with a puzzled expression, the cold metal feeling as foreign and weird as something possibly could. Rusty rubbed his chin before pointing at the weapon.
"Alright, now is the important part, the Balancing. Listen well, Glenn," Rusty approached him with nifty steps before pointing at the weapon, a concerning seriousness drawn on his face, "...For the Balancing, you need to put Mana in the weapon. Just run it like you would a normal weapon, but expect a connection. Even though it feels foreign for now, once the weapon recognizes you, that foreignness will disappear. When that happens, and I''m being very serious about that, you need to go all out and input all the Mana you have and don''t have, alright?" The dwarf gravely explained, Glenn hurriedly nodding in reply.
"Even the Mana I don''t have, huh..." Glenn muttered, before turning toward the tiny shopkeeper.
"Do you think you could bring a healer, one that specializes in treating damaged Mana Hearts?" He asked as a particularly dangerous idea sprang to the back of his mind.
''Okay, uhm, do you perhaps not remember what I told you not so long ago? About using Overload?'' Diamanes slowly asked, doubting his host''s thoughts. Glenn slowly nodded, a voracious curiosity burning in his heart. Rusty had sold him Soul-Smithing as a way to make custom-made legendary weapons, but it was made using his soul and Mana.
''Hey, what do you think if I infuse more Mana than what I''m supposed to hold...?'' Glenn mentally asked, completely unconcerned with the entity''s worries. Rusty scratched his ginger beard, before shrugging and shooting a strand of Mana randomly. It had been shot extremely fast, but Glenn had been able to somehow see it, no, feeling it might be a more correct way to express it. Before he could ponder on this newfound sensitivity, a green smudge slipped under the testing room''s door, more and more of it sipping in as it shaped into a colossal figure that reached the ceiling of the room. Glenn hadn''t realized how high it was until he saw the creature touch it, a grumbling sounding like a mix between a broken xylophone and a snake''s hissing escaping out of...somewhere, the young man unable to find the monster''s mouth anywhere.
Made entirely of dark green fibers that had an algae feeling to them, the monster stood like a mountain on top of a forest of thick massive limbs, some retracting inside the creature''s body and some getting out depending on its movements. Its main body was riddled with massive holes containing a moving green liquid that seemed to work the same way eyes would. Its body was constantly changing, but keeping the same massive size and this fibrous matter that made it, as if it was all made of strands of vegetation only growing into the abysses of the ocean.
''...At least this doesn''t look humanoid the slightest,'' Glenn thought as he looked up at the creature, wondering where the hell Rusty found this hell-spawn. The dwarf walked up to the creature with a happy smile, patting a fibrous leg with friendliness. The creature hissed in reply, a strand detaching from its body and rolling itself affectionately around Rusty''s arm.
"Allow me to introduce one of my best buddies: Bob!" Rusty grinned as he looked at the creature, one of the monster''s eyes sliding downward through the fibers to stare at Glenn. The young man hesitantly smiled as he waved slowly at the creature no at Bob.
"Don''t ask any questions, I probably don''t know the answers to half of them. Just know that you don''t risk anything with Bob standing right here, so try whatever you''re going to try!" Rusty shot him a thumbs-up, Bob trying to mimic his dwarf friend''s gesture by shaping his fibers into a seven-fingered hand with two thumbs, sending down Glenn''s back a cold shiver as he understood the creature was smart enough to understand what Rusty was saying.
''Any idea what that is, Diamanes?'' Glenn demanded while he prepared to shoot as much Mana as he could into the Soul Weapon. Diamanes blew raspberries with puzzlement, as much at a loss as his host.
''Nope, no idea. I''ve never been fond of the ocean''s abyss, but that''s exactly what I think things that lived down there would look like,'' Diamanes laughed, not helping Glenn whatsoever. The young man sighed, steeling himself for whatever was to come, before shooting his Mana through the weapon. The metal pole began to glow blue, first faintly, then more and more intensely. The young man felt a thick string of Mana slowly go inside the weapon as his soul recognized the parts he had infused into it during the Infusion. Exactly as Rusty described it, the weapon that first felt the strangest thing he had ever held began to feel increasingly familiar, connecting with him to a deep level.
Glenn gasped, feeling the weapon somehow do something similar, a foreign sound that wasn''t Diamanes or his mind playing a trick echoing in his head. It felt as if he had just...just touched a consciousness, something eerily similar yet so different.
''Did it gasp? What the fuck? Am I making myself a living weapon? What the hell?'' Glenn''s mind raced as he pondered whether he should put a stop to whatever weirdness was going on, before shooting even more Mana through the rod.
''If I''m going to get screwed, I might as well go all the way!'' The young man clenched his teeth, feeling his usually quite large Mana reserve empty at an alarming rate as his output increased. He had never practiced trying to shoot all of his Mana at once, and it left him quite surprised to see how fast emptying his Mana pool was once he put his mind to it. The weapon glowed harder and harder, the metal squirming in his mind as loud creaking came from it. The Smith pulled his hair back as he leaned forward to observe the process, his face hidden from Glenn by the blinding light the weapon emitted. Rusty was standing right next to his giant fibrous buddy, worriedness filling his eyes as he prepared to ask Bob to go and save Glenn.
"FUCK!!" Glenn shouted as the pole began to heat up to an unbearable level, burning his hands to a crisp. He refused to let go of the pole, a hint of madness in his eyes as he kept on emptying his Mana into the weapon. Once again he felt that strange consciousness, but instead of pulling back because of how surprised he was, Glenn forced himself to try and push forward, the connection between him and the weapon growing deeper and deeper.
His Mana reacted with the weapon, resonating with it as he felt the hilt in his hand shift, the searing metal molding into something that felt natural for him to hold. The metal stopped glowing, instead becoming as dark as the void, swallowing the light of the room like a black hole. Glenn''s eyes flinched, a terrible pain seizing his heart as he reached the bottom of his Mana reserve. Blood trickled down his eyes, his nose, and his lips as he grinned wickedly, both of his hands clenched on the weapon as he forced more Mana out of his body.
"When there is no more..." Glenn clenched his teeth and activated Overload, his eyes widening crazily as he smiled madly, "...THERE IS STILL SOME LEFT!"
The weapon that seemed ready to stop its transformation swallowed all light greedily, plunging the whole room into darkness as the only light present was the one it emitted. Glenn felt his mind fill with otherworldly roars as he absorbed more and more Mana, letting it fuel the sword''s hunger. The young man felt his Mana resonate once more with the weapon when he felt something different.
Something was storing his Mana inside the weapon, something that seemed to grow more and more powerful as more Mana went into it, expanding and contracting. Glenn''s consciousness was instinctively pulled into his Mana Heart, where he witnessed his three Circles shake under the effort, Mana passing through it violently. The Magellanic Clouds swelled out of the Circle perimeter, each bit that managed to escape detaching themselves and leaving into the void, to find...
''What''s that? What the fuck is that?'' Glenn couldn''t help but question, staring at an object glowing into the darkness that was the expanse of his mind. It swallowed all leftovers of his Mana Heart voraciously, its power echoing with his own.
Glenn finally realized what the familiar feeling was. The foreign object in the middle of its genesis wasn''t something unknown to him, no.
After all, it was a Mana Heart.
The same Mana Heart Glenn''s chest contained, and yet, it couldn''t be more different.
Glenn didn''t get another second to be astounded as he reached his breaking point, unable to pull even another drop of Mana in with Overload.
Time came to a freeze as Glenn''s heart stopped.
And there, he died.
142. Because once is never enough
...So, I died. Well, that''s embarrassing, Glenn thought, his consciousness floating away in a dark sea of emptiness.
It was a bit of a stretch to affirm he was dead, but it did seem like so. As far as he could tell, there was nothing, and he couldn''t feel anything, be it the pain of pushing his Mana Heart far and beyond its limits or his actual heart giving up. Wait, weren''t those different faces of the same coin? Mana was stored in one''s heart, hence the name Mana Heart...right?
Why am I even bothering to think about any of this? Glenn chuckled silently, the only thing he could hear was his thoughts. He was quite comfortable sinking into this dampening silence, his new world made of cozy nothingness. There was no sarcastic entity to mock or laugh at him, no Goddess to ask him to go save the world or whatever that deal with Onnea was, no reason to take revenge. Why bother with finding the truth out about so many things in this bizarre world he couldn''t understand, if he was just dead?
Finally, it was only when Glenn died that he could finally put his mind to rest, all his worries dying down with him.
...This is great... The young man smiled happily, somehow trying to make himself more at home in the darkness. Twisting his non-existent body didn''t seem to work to make himself feel slightly more comfortable, so he instead chose to peacefully sink deeper into the darkness, trying to stop thinking altogether.
...
...
...I do wonder what was the deal with the Moon Rift and its cult back then...Oh, and who was Diamanes before getting split up into multiple parts? There''s also that stuff with the madman I found in the Laboratory with Sahro, uhh, what was his name? Doyle, I think, right? Which makes me remember, that I need to decode that book, uhh, Project Damocles or something. English books aren''t really widespread in this world.
Glenn''s thoughts stopped, and he sneered at himself.
Glenn, you''re dead. This is useless. You don''t need to bother yourself with all of that, since all of this is behind you now.
The young man shook his head, trying to get rid of his questions and sink into the darkness that seemed to be so strangely opposite to letting him rest and forget everything. Why couldn''t he just forget about this accursed, painful world where everything seemed like it wanted to kill him, eat him, or do both of those at once? It would be considerably easier if he could just get rid of his memories and his struggles with a flick of his fingers.
There''s nothing to regret, I''m already dead anyway. Come on, now, the Reaper, whatever, just take me away to hell or paradise, or let me sink in my thoughts. I don''t want to be riddled with this...
The young man closed his mouth even though no sound was escaping from it. He slowly passed his tongue over his teeth, an act purely done in his mind since he didn''t have a body to do his usual gimmicks.
...Nah, I don''t care about the truth. Come on, curiosity literally killed the cat here! Glenn mentally shouted, trying to shut the feelings that were surging from the deepest part of his heart.
The only reason I died was because I wanted to know what would happen if I overachieved with that Soul weapon...the result? I fucking died!
Curiosity is no good.
Nope.
...Damn it, but I really can''t help it...What about Howard, what about Liam that was kidnapped by this fucking Baron? Shit, how do I get to eradicate more of the Thorn''s Church? And what about my fate being weird, hmm, Guide? Was I supposed to go out like that?!?
Glenn struggled to keep his anger from surging out of an illogical frustration, the darkness surrounding him moving slightly to the beat of his desires. After all, this...annoying frustration he felt, could only be illogical, right?
He was dead. He could only let go of reality and move on since it couldn''t matter anyway. Glenn tightly closed his fists as he bit down on his lower lip, trying to repress this stupid bullshit in his heart.
...I wonder what the First King was like. I mean, the guy built King''s Rise from the ground up, a city so big I could only explore its furthest extremities... Man... I could see so little of this world, even though...
Glenn''s anger died down, opening the floodgates to how he truly felt.
...Even though I still had so much to see! So much of the world, so much to explore, so much new stuff! Magic, monsters...shit, even fucking gods!
The young man cried, his sadness transpiring through his soul.
Fuck me... Why can''t I accept my loss?
Glenn chuckled pitifully, the darkness around him squirming and twisting, wrapping around him like a warm blanket.
No, I...I don''t want to die. No, fuck no, not before I see everything this world has to give to me!! I don''t even care about going back to Earth, for fuck''s sake! Glenn screamed as he wrestled with the shadows, struggling to keep them from pulling him into their depths.
Wait, no, I take my words back, I also want to know what happened to Earth! I didn''t forget Onnea''s fucking teaser, damn it! I swear if I live again, I''ll hunt the fucking goddess for answers!
Glenn fought with all he had as he kept on finding more reasons to live, the darkness tugging at his mind madly. Suddenly, the young man stopped fighting, realizing there was something weird.
...A warm blanket? Warm?
He ignored as best he could the darkness'' pull, concentrating instead on that weird feeling wrapping around him. Warmth...In a place where he was previously not feeling a thing, that sure was weird to experience. As he wondered about that, a deep, dark green blob of light suddenly appeared in the darkness, a giant ball that seemed to stare at him somehow.
"STOP MOVING. PLEASE." The green ball''s voice rang inside Glenn''s head, who didn''t waste a single second to become as still as a statue to obey the thing''s orders. The green blob blinked, a darker shade of green passing over it like an eyelid, before the whole thing dissipated away.
...Alright, that was weird. Any idea what that was, Diamanes? Oh, my bad, I''m alone in death sadly. Wait, not that alone since there was that green giant thing.
Glenn felt his fear of dying melting away, replaced by confusion. He didn''t try to resist as the darkness forced him into its embrace, drowning him in a warm and cozy feeling.
Wait, if I''m not dead, then where the hell am I? What the fuck was that green blob?
The young man felt a cold shiver across his back when he suddenly remembered what Rusty had called before he did his little experiment. A fibrous titan that seemed to live in the deepest abysses of the ocean, with holes riddling it filled with dark green, gleaming liquid that worked as eyes.
The same stuff that blob from earlier was made of.
Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
Wait.
Am I inside Bob?
"Gasp!" Glenn''s eyes flashed open, his heart racing madly in his chest. His Mana was entirely drained, and his whole body felt like it had just gone through a meat grinder. Most importantly, he was covered in a strange, viscous, and thick liquid that tasted a little salty and had a very fishy smell...
"WHAT THE FUCK!!" He blurted out, jumping to his feet hurriedly, missing a step, and falling back on the ground, sliding due to the viscous goo covering him. His blood was rushing in his temples, and he couldn''t hear anything clearly, all noises drowned by his heart beating with the sound of a hundred drums.
Glenn wiped the goo off his eyes with a large movement, only covering himself with even more of it, amplifying his disgust.
"GET THIS STUFF OFF ME!!!" He shouted as he stumbled to his feet, grabbing whatever was near in an attempt to help himself stand. Once again, he slipped down, threatening to have his head collide with the ground. In that instant, Glenn wished he had some Mana left to power a quick Gravity Manipulation, or even just a small Mundare, just so he could die again, but honorably this time not while being covered in a suspiciously thick goo.
As he grabbed at the air, he suddenly felt his hand fill with the perfect item, and he managed to stabilize his body, planting whatever he had grabbed into the ground. His mind calmed down as he stabilized himself, his sight returning alongside his hearing bit by bit. It was as if his whole body was restarting after a hard shutdown, slowly but surely.
Glenn calmed himself, his heart slowing down as he carefully probed around to find something to wipe himself on, finding something that felt like a rough leather fabric. Whatever that was, this would probably do the trick. He first wiped his hands off, before using those now relatively clean hands to get rid of the goo on his face, aiming especially for what was in his eyes.
The young man finally recovered his sight entirely, throwing away the goo on his hands. Glenn squinted, his brows creased as he tried to make something out of the blurry shape in front of him. Thin limbs, long and dirty hair, a blacksmithing apron...
''Oh, crap, I wiped myself on the Smith, didn''t I?'' Glenn realized, earning a chuckle from the entity in his mind.
''Indeed! Well, if there was one thing I didn''t expect, it''s you trying to kill us both! I know you have a bit of a suicidal mind, but damn, this would have been quite the story!'' Diamanes'' words echoed in Glenn''s mind, who blinked confusedly in reply.
''What...What do you mean, quite the story? What?''
Before Diamanes could reply, the goo all over Glenn''s evaporated away, freeing the young man from the disgusting viscous matter. His ears plugged out, letting him also finally hear what was going on in his surroundings. Somehow, they were quite noisy, with a lot of screams, shouts, curses, and all kinds of particularly loud sounds. Glenn turned his head to the side, finding the lone source of noise in the testing room, a dwarf with a spiky haircut, his face red with anger and his eyes wide with shock.
"Ron! You absolute moron! What did you just do? Why no How?!?" The dwarf ran up to Glenn and tugged at his waist, shaking him violently.
"How did you do that?!? You stupid, fucking, suicidal bastard!" Rusty exploded, poking at Glenn''s chest each time he cussed him out, spitting considerable amounts of saliva on the young man''s already dirtied clothes. Glenn held his hand out to try and stop the dwarf from talking when he realized he was holding something in said hand.
The first thing he noticed was the sleek knuckle guard that curved over the length of the hilt with flawless steel. It was simple, very sober, and not really what he expected from putting so much Mana into the thing. The handle was long enough to be used with two hands, but not long enough that it couldn''t be used with a single one, more of a bastard handle. There was no pommel to act as a counterweight to the long, single-edged blade that seemed sharp enough to slice anything and heavy enough to rip everything in its path.
A bastard sword with a slender design and the knuckle guard so commonly found on rapier.
"...Even though it looks weird, I can''t help but kind of like it..." Glenn muttered, deaf to the dwarf''s complaints as he looked at his new weapon. There was still the last stage of Adaptation to go through, seemingly to attune your soul with the weapon, but it could probably wait for a bit later, right?
After all, he had just died, he probably deserved the rest.
"...Alright, since you can''t hear me...!" Rusty held his breath as he viciously kicked Glenn''s shin, managing to get both the young man''s attention and a small yelp of pain out of him. The fibrous giant, Bob, was looking at him curiously, his liquid eyes flowing around the many holes riddling his body.
"So, let''s clarify a few things..." The dwarf drew a deep breath as he grabbed one of the dummies in the room and laid it on the ground so he could use it as a seat. Glenn rubbed his chin with his teeth clenched, hissing painfully as he did the same, Bob and the Smith continuing to stand and watch silently.
"...You''ve, somehow, artificially pulled more Mana than what your Mana Heart should contain, managing to create this..." He waved at Glenn''s sword with an awed expression, "...thing, but in exchange, your heart exploded."
Glenn froze, his brain not braining for a very, very long second.
Quite the common occurrence ever since he came back to King''s Rise, strangely.
"WhatWait, what do you mean by "exploded"?" The young man tilted his head to the side with a worried smile, his eyelids twitching nervously. Rusty shrugged and poked Glenn''s chest, right over where his "exploded" heart was supposed to be.
"I mean exactly that. Wait, it wasn''t planned? For you to explode your heart like that, I mean?" Rusty frowned and crossed his arms, puzzled. Glenn chuckled in disbelief with bleary eyes as he grabbed at his chest. He understood that, indeed, for an incredibly long time, he had died.
And he somehow came back to life, but that could be ignored for now.
"WhyWhy would you think it was planned?!?" Glenn exclaimed in shock. Rusty groaned and shook his head, tiredly rubbing his face up and down.
"Well, because it''s well known that an overcharge of Mana will make your heart explode, and since you asked me for someone that could fix that..." The dwarf sighed, hiding his face in both of his hands with an annoyed grunt.
"...I guess you''re just stupid. God, help me..." He muttered, loud enough for Glenn to hear. The young man''s lips twitched but he remained silent as he turned toward Bob, the giant fibrous being.
"Well, uhm, thanks Bob. I appreciate what you did to me, namely..." Glenn scratched the top of his head, hesitantly continuing, "...Resurrecting me?"
The creature hissed happily, extending a fibrous tendril toward the young man and patting him on the shoulder. Glenn smiled awkwardly, before looking back at his sword. He held it in front of him, playing with its balance and swishing it with a relaxed hand. The way it cut through the air, how it felt as he held the weapon...it just felt perfect. It was as if it had been made with his whole body and the way he used weapons in mind. A more than custom weapon, tailored and made to fit him.
"...I won''t ask you if you like it, so let''s get over the rest," Rusty grumbled as he stood back up, nodding toward Bob and the Smith. Bob waved a tendril at Glenn, who hesitantly waved back, before transforming back into a green goo and flowing back the way it came from.
''...We shall never forget Bob, the creature of the abyss who could fix someone''s heart. Damn.''
''At least you know how to be grateful. We''ll have to debrief a few things after this whole stuff is done.'' Diamanes commented, Glenn nodding imperceptibly in reply. He wasn''t too concentrated on the entity''s words, much more interested in what the dwarf said.
"...Can I take a nap before anything? Maybe like a twenty-four, no, forty-eight hours one?" Glenn asked with his hands joined, his sword planted in the ground. His hopeful expression melted away when Rusty didn''t even spare him a glance, too busy making space in the room as the Smith pressed his hand on the ground.
"Hgn, no can do, the less time we lose, the better the Synchronization will go. Give a hand, will you?" Rusty struggled as he tried to push a mountain of dummies away, Glenn swiftly came to the rescue and easily pushed them away.
"But I have no Mana left, how am I supposed to do anything?" Glenn protested, more out of confusion than unwillingness. Rusty shrugged and gestured at the Smith.
"It''s not going to use a drop of Mana, so no worry about it. You might go into a coma for a slightly longer time, though..." He trailed off at the end, a hint of worriedness appearing in his eyes. Glenn''s eyes widened and his eyebrows creased as he leaned forward.
"A coma? What the fuck? I don''t want to end up in a"
Clang!
The Smith, who, at some point, was done with his work, had grabbed Glenn''s sword and began smacking it with his black hammer. The young man flinched at each hit the hammer gave to the sword, fearing the weapon would receive a scratch or anything, until the Smith abruptly stopped and grabbed the weapon.
''It''s a weapon, it''s meant to be damaged.''
''I know, but it''s like a very, very expensive thing, and I''d rather it being not worn down when I didn''t even get the occasion to try it out on something!''
Glenn''s worries died down when the Smith drew a deep breath of air, somehow looking like he was going to throw the sword like a javelin.
"What is he doing?" The young man whispered as he looked at the Smith that was aiming at him. Rusty rubbed his chin, before glancing at Glenn.
"Oh, he''s just aiming at you. Don''t move."
"What?"
Ftung!
Glenn looked down at his chest with horrified eyes.
He had come to this world while being skewered to the ground by a spear and swore he would never allow anything to ever put him into such a similar situation.
He never really succeeded in avoiding getting hurt, but if there was something he was going to get skewered with, he never thought it would be with the weapon specifically tailor-made for him.
''My life is starting to look a little too ironical for my taste,'' Glenn thought as he blacked out, his consciousness pulled into the sword.
143. Threes a Crowd
Glenn groaned as he grabbed his chest, his eyes widening when he couldn''t feel any wound there, nor the sword that should be sticking out of it. He quickly glanced at his surroundings, recognizing the Magellanic Clouds making the core of his Mana Heart. They had lost their luster, the previously bright stars dimming as they lacked the Mana that usually filled the place to the brim.
"Alright, so, what am I doing here?" The young man mumbled, floating closer to the center of his Mana Heart. Besides the apparent temporary weakness due to the Mana exhaustion, everything seemed to be in order.
"What you''re doing here? Well, it''s to meet me, of course!" A voice exclaimed happily from within his Mana Heart, startling him. He quickly turned around, suspiciously looking at the void surrounding the Magellanic Clouds until he found the place where that voice came from. Gravitating around his Mana Heart like the Moon around the Earth, was a small ball of light. It was shining with multiple colors, shifting and changing as time passed.
Glenn frowned as he floated up to the ball of light, willing it to stop in front of him. The ball of light froze, before exploding in a small show of lights that shaped into a human form. The young man watched warily as the shape defined itself with more precision, with a build rather similar to his own. Finally, a young man flashed into existence, donning an incredibly well-detailed knight armor of stainless steel, with each jointures being blurred under veils of distorted lights.
He had no helmet, letting Glenn meet...himself.
The same handsome face, only he was wearing knight armor.
"Huh. I don''t look half bad in that," Glenn nodded with acknowledgment, his double whistling with a less than impressed tone.
"And you still wear the same suit. You should change clothes from time to time, you know?"
Glenn''s eyebrows twitched as he looked at himself, realizing he was indeed wearing his Soulbound suit. He had never paid attention to how he was dressed before, but it was interesting to realize that his Soulbound item was present in himself...
"Wait..." Glenn looked at his waist, chuckling in disbelief when he found the Black-Gold identification dagger hanging onto it.
''We learn a bit more every day...''
"Great, so, anyway, who are you?" Glenn asked as he stared at his armored double, who was grinning from one ear to the other.
"Well, I''m you!" He replied enthusiastically, before correcting himself, "...Well, cooler you. I don''t get why you don''t wear heavy armor, with your strength that would protect you from a lot more threats..."
Glenn shook his head dismissively, not interested in the conversation.
"No, but, you''re me, but how? Are you a god?" He asked warily, remembering what appearance Onnea had when she first presented herself to him. Armored Glenn sneered before lifting his chin proudly.
"Well, not too far from it. I''m sure a few Circles later I might become one, seeing how powerful we both already are even though we''re stuck in the Initiate stage."
"We?"
Armored Glenn nodded confusedly.
"Well, yeah, we. After all, I''m part of you, and you''re part of me. You know, the whole soul-infusing stuff with that weird-ass hammer?"
Glenn grumbled in understanding as he remembered the small smithing session he had spent the day before. Indeed, he had been infusing his Soul into the metal that was making the weapon, all that for the ''Infusion''.
"So, you''re a part of my soul? Huh, I thought it would just put Soulbound on you but in a more custom way..." Glenn mumbled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Armored Glenn shrugged as he floated around, looking at the Magellanic Clouds with bewilderment.
"Damn, yours is much bigger than mine. And you have three Circles..." He trailed off, before turning back toward Glenn.
"Anyway, yep, I''m the sword you made. I...I don''t think I was supposed to grow a consciousness thought, or at least, not like that..." Armored Glenn trailed off as he rubbed his chin, lost in thoughts. Glenn smacked his lips as he crossed his arms, his eyebrows creased.
"So what, you''re just going to hang around, and double-check my decisions?"
Armored Glenn chuckled, shrugging dismissively.
"Well, at least we''re already used to having another voice in our heads, right? Where''s the annoying little bugger? I''m sure he''ll be hella shocked when he sees me. Imagine having two Glenns to deal with!"
Glenn laughed with his double, already imagining Diamanes'' confusion.
"Haha, I''m impatient to see that. Though, I think I might take an example on him for a few minutes."
Armored Glenn stopped wandering around, focusing back on the main host.
"Yeah, I agree."
"We need to find you a name that is better than Armored Glenn."
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"I double-agree."
"...So?"
"...What, you expect me to name myself? I''m a sword! With a piece of your soul inside, sure, but still a sword!"
"Should I call you Sword then?"
"Hell naw. No, please, make some efforts."
"...Hyde?"
"Already taken, my man. I''d die of shame if we ever meet another earthling."
"True, but that fitted the context so well...Nelg?"
"Nelg? Oh, Glenn, but with the letters switched...Hmm, I think I can work around with Nelg."
Glenn and Nelg shook hands, both wearing satisfied expressions.
"Well, nice to have you on the team, Nelg. I hope you, no, I won''t be as annoying as Diamanes."
"...Just consider me as another entity altogether, we''re just going to become both crazy at this at his rate."
"...Deal."
The two exchanged a gaze, before looking at the Magellanic Clouds together.
"...So what now?"
"I don''t know, you tell me."
"...I''m still a fucking sword."
"...Sigh. Alright, let''s begin with that ball of light. Is this what I think it is?"
"I think you know exactly what that is."
"Yeah, but I do need, you know, confirmations and all that? It''s still very confusing having my own, lesser double."
"So, first, I''m not lesser. Secondly, yes, it''s another Mana Heart. My own, which means I can develop into my being."
"Oh shit, do you think you''ll be able to transform into a human at some point? Like some kind of evil clone?"
"...If I''m evil, you''re evil."
"..."
"But I don''t know, I need to upgrade my Circles first."
"And how do we do that? Do I just let you get enlightened by yourself or something? Like I did? Heh, imagine a sword receiving enlightenment, isn''t that crazy?"
"Heh, that would be stupidly fun as an idea. No, it''s relatively simpler. Well, it depends on how you look at things. I''m limited to the same amount of Circles as you, but the only way I can grow is by feeding on souls."
"...That sounds very ominous and very, very evil."
"Well, I''m not the one that was praying for a video-like system that would give me experience and level up by killing stuff."
"...You technically are, you are part of me."
"Shit, don''t use my words against me."
"...And I couldn''t help it! Killing stuff is fucking useless in this world! It doesn''t make me grow in power, well, personal power. It makes me slightly richer but nothing too great, so it''s a bit useless, you know?"
"Well, rejoice, Glenn! I level up by killing stuff! Oh, and I don''t discriminate, as long as it''s smart it''s worth something."
"...Alright, well, at least that''s simple."
"Yeah..."
"So, how do we get out of here now?"
"I don''t know, you''re the one in control."
"Yeah, I used to be for sure, but I can''t come back to the real world for some reason."
"...Isn''t that a tiny little bit worrisome?"
"...Nah, it''s probably fine. Maybe something about a timer, I don''t know?"
"Ah, indeed, you might be right. Well, see you in your head in a few. I''m impatient to see the other bastard."
"WaitWhat?"
"GaspFuck!" Glenn cursed as he breathed in deeply, the searing pain in his chest still as present as when he felt the sword plant itself in it. The sword was nowhere to be seen, and the only proof of its existence was a new tattoo on his chest, gleaming gently with a blue mystical light.
"Wait, my chest? Where are my clothes?!?" Glenn mumbled, finding himself naked from head to toe, comfortably lofted in a ridiculously massive bed. A glance around informed him that he was in his room in the Cleaner''s Workshop Dormitory. The young man rubbed his forehead painfully, before sighing tiredly.
"I feel like I slept for ages..." He muttered, flinching when one voice came from his left hand while another rang in his head.
"Well, that''s because you did"
"You lazy bastard, oh, hey Diamanes, I''m Nelg!"
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?"
"Hahaha, look at that guy, he has never been that flustered in his long "ancient-somehow-eldritch-entity''s life"."
"W....What the hell? Why do you speak like Glenn but on steroids?"
Glenn grumbled as he listened to the two bickers as they encountered each other, before shutting them both with a clap of his hands.
"Alright, stop. Diamanes, welcome Nelg, another me. He''s also my sword."
"Hey, hey~"
"This is pure insanity."
"And Nelg, even though you already know Diamanes since you''re me, here''s...well, Diamanes. The friendly evil entity that loves to mock everything."
"Hahaha, nice to meet you!"
"Not a nice comment though. Shit, am I in hell?"
"You tell me. So, we''ll have to work something out for all of this speaking stuff, because it''s already starting to give me a headache," Glenn began,
"Hey, I have seniority rights, so I should be allowed to speak first!" Diamanes exclaimed, worsening Glenn''s headache further. His sword Nelg didn''t help either, though.
"So, if you think about it, since I''m, you know, a part of Glenn''s soul, I was here before we were even brought to this world. Don''t be fooled by the name, I''m Glenn and he''s me," Nelg explained convincingly, leaving Diamanes wordless.
Glenn sighed, not struggling for a second to imagine how much of a hell his life was going to be starting from now.
"Cough, cough..." An awkward sound came from the desk a bit further from the bed, garnering the three''s attention instantly. Sitting with his feet on the desk, leaning back comfortably, Sahro was waving at him with a smile that seemed like it wanted to cut Glenn to pieces.
"Hey, Glenn. I hope you slept well?" The Black Heir squinted, his eyes shaped like crescent moons. Glenn hesitantly nodded, before taking a second to verify whether Sahro was the only one present in the room or if there were any other lurkers.
"What''s up, Sahro? How long was I gone for, a day?" Glenn asked carefully as both Diamanes'' and Nelg''s voice remained shut. The Black Heir passed his tongue over his teeth, before slowly lifting three fingers. Glenn grimaced as he rubbed his face, finding it strangely emaciated.
"Shit, three days? We lost that much time?" He cursed as he hurriedly summoned his Soulbound suit, jumping out of his bed. He stumbled to the side, finding himself a little weakened. He held himself on the wall, waiting to recover his balance until he took a few steps forward, finding them much harder than how they should usually be. Sahro smacked his lips, making Glenn turn his head back toward him.
"Three weeks."
Glenn''s scowl as he struggled to walk froze, replaced by confusion.
"WhatWhat three weeks? What do you mean?"
Sahro didn''t reply as he tapped lightly on the desk with his only hand, the fingers moving rhythmically. Glenn''s confusion soon transitioned to horror and he stumbled back to his bed, forced to sit in due to the shock.
"Shit, no, no fucking way I slept for three whole weeks..." He mumbled, his eyes stretched widely.
"Why didn''t you wake me up?" He asked Sahro pitifully, who sneered while waving it off.
"Don''t think I didn''t try. I had to deal with most of this mess with Milena and Javier. You really couldn''t wake up at a better moment though," The Black Heir dusted his pants off as he stood up, walking to the door of the room.
"Join me in the Dining Hall when you''re ready, I''m sure you''ll need to eat after three whole weeks of fasting."
"Even more so considering what a glutton you are," Nelg added, causing Glenn''s eyelids to twitch at the unwanted comment.
"What''s going on?"
Sahro''s nose creased as the corner of his lips curved slightly upward.
"Reginald found Sir Redan."
144. Cut & Pull
Sahro closed the door behind him and left his friend ruminating alone in his room. Glenn rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, before sighing loudly.
"Fuck me...Three whole weeks..."
"Hey, at least we''ve got some news about Redan!" Nelg cheered, earning a sneer from the other voice living rent-free in Glenn''s head.
"...Sahro was right, though. You need to get yourself back in an operational state, or you might die from starvation," Diamanes snorted as he reappeared in his host''s left palm.
Glenn groaned, holding his head painfully.
"...That''s way too many voices and opinions for one single mind, alright? Shit, we''re lucky it was Sahro guarding me and not Milena, or my weird little secret might have been revealed to the whole world!"
"Would that be so bad? There are many cases of people affected by schizophrenia and living incredible lives!" Nelg contested, his voice ringing inside Glenn''s head.
"Oh yeah, what a great idea. I mean, it''s not like your reputation can be ruined any further, you''ve destroyed a whole village already..." Diamanes''s laughter echoed mockingly inside the luxurious bedroom.
Glenn drew a deep breath before smacking both of his hands together.
"Alright, new rule guys: no discussion in my fucking mind. I can''t even hear myself think right now, so if you want to discuss something, do it privately or something. Oh, and if you want to share that something with me, just speak to me one at a time. Got it?"
"Sure, sure..."
"Whatever, I''ll probably forget that rule in a day or two anyway."
Glenn groaned as he rubbed his face.
"...This is already killing me..." He shook his head, before concentrating back on Nelg.
"So, tell me, how am I supposed to use you? I''d like to figure that out before I leave my cozy bedroom into the mess waiting for me."
Nelg chuckled and took a large inspiration.
"Sure! So, it''s pretty simple, you just will for me to appear, and appear I shall! As I said previously, I feed on souls to grow stronger. Kill stuff and enjoy your sword becoming more powerful!" The sword explained excitedly, Glenn nodding slowly in understanding.
"About that, do I need to slay stuff by specifically using you, or anything will work?" He asked curiously.
"Well, you''re me and I''m you, so it doesn''t matter. As long as "Glenn" killed something, that something''s soul will be gnawed on by "Glenn". And since I am "Glenn"..." Nelg trailed off, letting Glenn finish his sentence.
"You''ll get your share as well. Okay, so that''s essentially shared exp, but I don''t get anything, right?" Glenn smacked his lips, Diamanes chuckling mockingly in the back as he followed the discussion.
"No, you do get more powerful, since I''m getting stronger. You have to understand I''m essentially a second Mana Heart." Nelg''s tone grew grave as his host''s eyes squinted.
"...Are you telling me if I make you into a Third Circle somehow, I''d be as powerful as two True Initiates?" He questioned with a bewildered look, his heart skipping a beat as he realized how far he could potentially go.
Diamanes snorted.
"You''re already leagues above True Initiates. Strength isn''t additive, it''s multiplicative. You''d probably be as strong as a Fifth Circle, or maybe a lower Sixth Circle, even though I doubt you''d find something that would need that much power to be taken down..." Diamanes trailed off, before laughing bemusedly.
"Wait, no, I had almost forgotten you were a calamity magnet. Ain''t no way you won''t have to face something on Doyle''s level again."
Glenn grunted and stood back up from his bed carefully, holding himself on the wall. His legs trembled, threatening to collapse at any moment. The young man scowled and looked through the room quickly, finding his dimensional pouch waiting on a nearby shelve. He dragged himself all the way there and quickly searched through the pouch for any sustenance. He grinned as he found what he needed, before thinking back to Nelg.
Glenn stuffed his mouth with dried jerky as held his other hand out, willing for his Soul Weapon to appear. A gleaming sword''s handle phased into reality, the young man''s hand wrapped tightly around it. The rest of the sword soon followed and the final shape of the weapon was revealed. It looked incredibly unique and mystical before the Synchronization, with its shape being particularly different from anything he had ever seen, but now, it looked...
Plain. A bastard sword, straight and with no indication of being anything special.
"...Huh. I''m a little...Disappointed," Glenn muttered as he looked down on the sword. There were no engravings, nothing, it was just a sword, slightly longer than a classical longsword to allow for more versatility.
"Where the hell is my space-looking sword?" He blurted out, waiting for Nelg to explain himself. The sword snorted in disbelief.
"I can''t believe it. Look at this spoiled child, he has a weapon he can carry anywhere and which will grow alongside him, but he''s unhappy because it doesn''t look cool! Fuck you!" Nelg swore at his host, making Diamanes laugh. Glenn''s eyes widened as he rubbed his chin, his eyes running along the blade''s edge.
"Isn''t there a way to make the sword look like before again? Maybe if I ask Rusty or the Smith to get rid of the ego..." Glenn pondered aloud as he tested the blade''s toughness.
"I...I wouldn''t recommend that. That''s a piece of your soul, after all, there would be some...unforeseen consequences to my destruction," Nelg gulped heavily.
Glenn moistened his lips, before putting the sword on the shelf and getting away from it.
"Well, it''s not like I can''t fight without a weapon, after all, I''m mainly a mage...I also have the Carbon Blade if I need to fight in melee, so I guess I can live without you..."
The sword vibrated and fell from the shelf, planting itself in the ground.
"Hey! No! Stop, come back! I don''t want to spend my first days in the world in this room, as luxurious as it is!" Nelg protested desperately, Glenn freezing in his steps and turning back toward the sword.
"So, what are you not telling me, then? I know myself, don''t try to play some kind of trick," Glenn crossed his arms, waiting patiently.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Nelg sighed and disappeared, before phasing back into existence right inside the young man''s right hand.
"...Just run your Mana through me, and you''ll see."
Glenn held the sword hesitantly, before gasping when he remembered he had a training room. He filled his mouth with a few more strips of dry meat as he dragged himself through his suite, reaching the training room. He closed the door behind him and held the bastard sword in front of him, commanding his Mana to rush inside the weapon. He felt his Mana Heart synchronize with the one present in the weapon, amplifying the power significantly.
Nelg''s gleamed with a mystical blue light as the basic shape of the bastard sword morphed into exactly what he wanted, a unique, almost alien shape. A knuckle guard grew out of the basic cross guard, curving over the length of the hilt with flawless steel. The sword''s blade curved slightly as the metal''s color changed, becoming darker, almost black, in contrast to the pristine grey steel of the knuckle guard. The sword was a little more than a meter long and fitted perfectly in his hand.
Glenn grinned as he sliced through the air, finding the same feeling he had back when he had first held the sword, before the Synchronization.
"That''s what I''m talking about" The young man stopped talking when he saw a sharp blue line appear where he had sliced, moving silently toward one of the nearby dummies. The blue line made contact with the dummy, carving a rift through the tough steel with a loud creaking noise. Glenn''s eyes widened at the consequences of just a simple slice as he felt his Mana getting drained away. The damaged dummy suddenly flew toward him, as if pulled by something.
"The fuck?!?" Glenn blurted out, startled, as he instinctively used both of his hands to hack at the incoming dummy. His sword cut it in two, the two heavy steel parts falling on either side of his body. The young man gasped as he felt the drain on his Mana amplifying with each passing second. He hurriedly cut off the Mana supply, leaving the bastard sword to revert to its original form.
"Shit, what was that?" He questioned as he planted his sword in one of the dummy''s halves, piercing through it as if it were butter. The dummies were made specifically to endure attacks and serve as targets, but his sword had cut through it so easily that he had a hard time believing it wasn''t faulty.
"Cut and Pull, the only ability you can use through me, for the moment. I believe it''s a result of your use of Gravity Manipulation and the material making me, but I''m not too sure," Nelg replied matter-of-factly, unimpressed.
Glenn chuckled in disbelief as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"So that''s something innate to you, then? Shit, it consumes so much Mana though!"
The image of his armored self shrugging appeared in Glenn''s mind. The latter didn''t waste a second shaking his head to get rid of the disturbing appearance.
"Well, that''s your fault...well, I think it is, anyway. That''s probably due to the nature of the Magellanic Clouds, your magic consumes much more Mana than spells of other attributes, after all. How could I know?" Nelg sighed. Glenn nodded slowly, before willing for the sword to disappear back into his soul. The bastard''s sword disappeared from existence, returning from whence it came.
"That''s enough testing for now. Alright, there''s another matter I need to deal with that I just remembered, and after that, I''ll join Sahro." Glenn rubbed his temples and walked over to his bed, where he sat down. He looked down at his purple left arm, the entity that inhabited it remaining silent and obedient, respecting his host''s desire not to have his mind too cluttered.
"Diamanes, if I''m not wrong, you mentioned something about Reginald having some kind of weird power, isn''t that right?" He questioned, remembering the feeling of dread he had experienced back when he asked the Cleaner about Redan''s past.
The entity whistled with admiration, before smacking its lips.
"Wow, I thought you would never ask!"
"In my defense, there''s a ton of shit going on in my life currently, alright?"
"Sure, sure. So, that power Reginald is using, and the one powering the hot attendants back in the main hall, they all originate from one specific power source," Diamanes began carefully with a serious tone.
"...Which is?" Glenn''s brows rose in curiosity.
"Such a filthy thing could only come from one thing, and that''s another Fallen One. Damn, this disgusts me!" Diamanes spat to the side, earning a puzzled gaze from his host.
"Another Fallen One? Why is it that we meet so many of them these days, between Doyle Malory and whatever Reginald is?"
Diamanes passed his tongue over his pristinely white teeth before sighing.
"That''s not what Reginald is that is the problem. That guy is human for sure, no doubt on that one. I''d say he somehow managed to get a small bit of power from a Fallen One, using it for himself. The Main Hall''s attendants had that same feeling, only they had much more of the filthy power than Reginald."
Glenn rubbed his chin pensively while biting down on his lip.
"...Hmm, so he''s not a Fallen One, but he stole one''s power for himself. Or perhaps it was something that was given to him? It doesn''t matter, in the end, it just means the Cleaner Workshop has many more secrets I shall not dig through since I like living..."
The young man remained silent for a few seconds, his eyes lost in the distance when the corner of his lips curved upward slightly.
"...I mean, nothing would stop me from just coming back later to investigate with a few more Circles..."
Glenn laughed at himself, before slapping both of his cheeks and heading for the door. The stumbling was getting better with each passing minute he spent awake, but it would not be truly solved until he fed himself properly. So, naturally, his next course of action was to head to the Dining Hall to join Sahro for a debriefing. The young man stepped out of his Dark-Gold suite and shut the door behind him, frowning when the door refused to close.
He tried to pull it a little harder, forcing it, but it didn''t work.
"...Is it stuck?" He muttered questioningly as he opened the door back up to check the door frame and the hinges. He doubted it would be faulty since it was a Dark-Gold rank room after all, but maybe some obstructions were blocking the way. He crouched down, his brows creased in confusion when he found a perfectly round pebble lying in the frame.
"A rock. Sure." Glenn shrugged and picked it up, throwing it up and down while closing the door. He threw the rock away in a nearby bin and walked off, lost in his thoughts.
''I wonder what are the results of Reginald''s investigations. If it''s another noble behind the whole kidnapping thing, I swear I''ll find a way to destroy the upper Circles of King''s Rise. This shit is starting to tire me out...'' Glenn glanced down amidst his thoughts, freezing in shock. Resting right in front of his foot was a perfectly round pebble, the same he had just thrown away. That scene jolted something inside Glenn''s memories and he hurriedly looked through his pockets, unable to find the "potentially" sentient pebble he had "potentially" created using the Holy Blessing in front of the Twilight Gate on a rock.
The young man threw a horrified look at the pebble, before carefully picking it up and inspecting it closely. It was so round it looked almost like a pearl, only it was made of stone. A common gray stone, nothing special.
Aside from the fact it might be alive, of course. Glenn stared at the stone, a few long seconds passing without anything happening.
He suddenly shook his head and stuffed the pebble back into his pockets, refusing to think about it once again.
"This is a matter for later, once things have calmed down..."
Glenn patted his pocket mindlessly, a shiver running down his back.
"...Ain''t no way I gave sentience to a stone, right?"
"...I wouldn''t even be surprised"
"Imagine having a pet rock? That would be pretty cool actually."
The young man sighed tiredly and walked to the Dining Hall, weakly pushing the door open. The scent of freshly cooked food was brought to his nose, making him salivate hungrily. He gave a glance at the Dining Hall, finding Sahro, Javier, and Milena sitting at the same table while discussing something, food lying in front of them.
Glenn hurriedly picked whatever was available, ignoring the weird gazes of the other Fixers in the room, before rushing to sit down with the others.
"Hello, hello, yes I''m alive, yes I want to know about the stuff with Redan, just give me a second to eat." He cut off anyone who tried speaking before filling his mouth with food, grunting happily as the warm flavor of unidentified meat descended into his gullet. He immersed himself entirely in his food, wolfing down the plate in a few minutes, before patting his belly with satisfaction. He grabbed a jug of water with greasy hands and drank it whole. Finally, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve while leaning back in his seat comfortably.
"Hahhhh...that feels great. Damn..." He looked back at the other three confusedly. Milena was staring with her mouth wide-opened, her eyes similarly stretched out from the shock, while Sahro was frowning with a squint. Javier was...as always, just staring silently and emotionlessly, but anything else would have been weird.
The only disturbing thing was a man with blond hair and round glasses hugging a clipboard against his chest standing uncomfortably next to Glenn''s table. The young man licked his lips and drew a deep breath, before sighing loudly.
"Mundare," He quickly cleaned himself, before turning toward the uninvited guest, who flinched fearfully as he hid his mouse eyes behind his clipboard, his thick unibrow creased deeply.
"So, who the hell are you?"
145. Kevin the Secretary
Glenn slowly passed his tongue over his teeth, looking up and down at the strange individual standing awkwardly by the table. The young man glanced at the others at the table, confused.
"Guys, is he with you?" He asked curiously. Sahro and Milena traded a look, before chuckling without replying. Javier, as always, stared at him with empty, emotionless eyes, not showing anything that would hint at a potential relationship with Mr. Scaredy-cat over there.
''I think you don''t realize you have somewhat of a fearful reputation among the Northern Town''s citizens. I''m pretty sure there are rumors of you eating babies or something...'' Diamanes commented mockingly, Nelg laughing with him. Glenn''s eyelids twitched as he forced himself to ignore the two additional voices and concentrated back on the newcomer.
"Alright, just present yourself mate, and let''s get this over with," Glenn sighed while rubbing his forehead, the scared man nodding hurriedly.
"Yes, absolutely, Sir. Sir Reginald has assigned me as your liaison with the Cleaner''s Workshop. I''m here to assist you with anything you need." Kevin took a deep breath, his shoulders relaxing slightly as he spoke. Glenn''s eyebrows rose as he leaned back in his chair. He crossed his arms together and tilted his head to the side, squinting at the secretary.
"Well, I never expected I would make it so far in life I''d need a secretary, but okay, I''ll take it..." Glenn mumbled before smacking his lips, at a loss at what to do with the secretary.
"So, what can you do? And what''s your name, I''m not going to just call you mate for the rest of my life!" The young man grinned, the secretary shivering suddenly. He pulled his clipboard closer to his chest before replying with a trembling voice.
"I, uhm, my name is Kevin, Sir. Due to some...unforeseen consequences of the request you addressed the Cleaner''s Workshop, Sir Reginald will find himself unable to discuss with you the matters about the request. In my quality of Sir Reginald''s direct subordinate, he charged me to speak for him to report for every progress on the request, as well as to assist you in my entire capacity." Kevin explained while pushing his round glasses up his nose.
Glenn blinked a few times, before shrugging.
"Great, great...So, Kevin, please update me on everything I missed these last, uhm, was it three weeks?" Glenn pondered as he rubbed his chin, before gesturing toward the secretary to speak. The secretary nodded sharply and looked at his clipboard, his eyes darting left and right as he read its contents.
"To resume it all, I''ve been assigned to you three days after your collapse. In the meanwhile, the investigations had already begun, Sir Reginald ordering a contingent of specialized Cleaners to find clues about Sir Redan''s disappearance. The first lead was only found one week after your collapse, in the shape of traces of the Thorn''s Church activity. As you might already know, worshipping Epinos is strictly forbidden inside King''s Rise walls, due to the violent nature of the religion."
Glenn raised a hand to stop the secretary, his eyebrows creased.
"Are you sure about that? I thought it was only frowned upon to be a believer of the Thorn''s Church, not that it was completely forbidden."
Kevin awkwardly scratched his chin, before pushing his glasses up his nose.
"It was indeed that way a few months ago, but a few accidents happened that forced the other Churches to ban what''s now called the Cult of Epinos out of the city. You were even part of two of those accidents, the first being the destruction of the Auberge, and the second being the murder of a Silver Fixer named Prince alongside the extermination of the evil byproduct of said murder."
Glenn nodded slowly, the corner of his lips curving upward slightly.
''That''s great news. The more trouble the Thorn''s Church is in, the better I''ll feel. Hah, what goes around comes around, right?''
"For real. It was, what, five, six months ago when they tortured us, and now their ruin is upon them! Is that karma?'' Nelg commented excitedly, reflecting Glenn''s emotions.
''Karma? What the hell is karma?'' Diamanes asked confusedly, before returning to watch more of Glenn''s memories. The latter pinched his lips and indicated to Kevin that he could continue. The secretary cleared his throat and did exactly that.
"After following the tracks and hints left over by the Thorn''s Church, Sir Reginald found a few leads, namely three leads. The first indicated that a branch of the Cult of Epinos was hidden in the Eastern Town, and might be linked to some nobles in the Bourgeoisie who might have sponsored the hit."
Glenn sighed as he felt a headache coming. What he feared was slowly coming to be true. Soon enough, he would have to confront the nobles of King''s Rise Third Circle, and he was sure this wouldn''t announce anything good for him.
"Heh, you''ll probably have to fight more powerful mages and knights, but that''s no issue, is it? You just have to get stronger, and with me, that''s going to be easy!" The image of Nelg flexing in his armor flashed in Glenn''s mind, followed by Diamanes'' mocking chuckle.
''You could also just leave the old man to his own devices. He''s still much stronger than you from what I''ve seen, he should be fine.''
The young man rubbed his temples, mentally ordering both of the voices to shut up, and looked back at Kevin, who resumed his explanations.
"The second didn''t lead to anything interesting, just a large pile of ash where a warehouse was previously standing. From our understanding, that''s where the Black Heirs did their last hit before Sir Redan was captured." Kevin didn''t have time to gasp that Sahro''s blade was pressing against his throat, blue sparks of electricity running along the steel.
"How do you know about that?" He asked darkly, ignoring the strange gazes turning his way. Glenn moistened his lips as he leaned against his fist, curious about the secretary''s explanations. Kevin looked down at the blade with trembling eyes before slowly pressing his fingers against the sword''s edge, pushing it away gently.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
"Uhm, I''m, I''ve just been made aware by Sir Reginald. The...The Maron Company proposed their help in the search, and the leader of the Black Heir worked closely with Monsieur Maron to assist us. From what I''ve heard, Ms. Pyr was quite reluctant to explain what was in the warehouse, but she at least agreed to tell us they were the ones who destroyed it, alongside whatever was inside it," said Kevin hurriedly, his eyes glued to the glimmering blade. Sahro creased his nose, before smacking his lips and sheathing his blade.
''...I guess this makes sense. I never thought Giselle would try and be so proactive. I suppose the loss of Redan must have forced her out of her comfort zone...'' Glenn rubbed his chin while watching the secretary crumble to his knees, his hand to his neck. The young man quickly searched for a nearby chair with his eyes, before pulling it with a rapid Gravity Manipulation, magically forcing the trembling man to sit on it.
"Alright, that''s enough teasing from Sahro. Continue, what was the third lead, then?" Glenn pressed on, the focus quickly replacing the fear in Kevin''s eyes.
"Hey, seems like he loves his job more than he fears you or Sahro," Nelg commented, earning a nod of agreement from Glenn. The secretary breathed in and out deeply, before looking back to his clipboard, flipping up a page.
"So, cough, to finish, the third lead, and the one currently investigated by Sir Reginald, was related to the Brotherhood of Iron Blood''s new branch in the Northern Town. Cleaners have found multiple witnesses talking about strange movements in their newly built Church, alongside the appearance of a noble-looking man who knew Redan''s name."
Glenn silently chewed on the inside of his cheeks, lost in his thoughts.
"I suppose other Cleaners are investigating the remaining two leads, right?" He questioned, falling back in silence when Kevin nodded in confirmation.
''Hmm...It might be a bit biased coming from me, but I feel like the first lead was the most promising one... why would Reginald lose his time with the third one?'' The young man squinted at the secretary, tapping his finger slowly on the wooden table.
"Kevin, tell me, is there any reason Reginald didn''t check the Thorn''s Church lead first? Not that I mistrust his judgment, but it feels a bit weird to focus on another religion when all the tracks seemed to lead toward these bastards..."
The secretary cleared his throat awkwardly as he clenched his clipboard strongly.
"Well, uhm, Sir Reginald...can''t go in the Eastern Town for personal reasons."
Glenn blinked as his eyebrows rose in puzzlement.
"What-what do you mean legal reasons? Did he kill someone there or something?"
Kevin slowly shook his head.
"No, it''s just that the Church of Onnea prohibited him from coming to the Eastern Town. This village is the only one not entirely under the Cleaner''s Workshop''s protection, instead being guarded by the Fringe division of the Church of Onnea. Many upper-ranked officers are similarly forbidden from coming in the Eastern Town."
Glenn scratched his cheeks, glancing at his comrades in confusion, finding them similarly surprised. Except for Javier, of course, who was as dead inside as he looked.
''That''s probably due to the nature of the Cleaners powers. They must conflict with the divine nature of the Church of Onnea.'' Diamanes theorized, earning a grunt of acknowledgment from his host.
"Alright. Sigh..." Glenn rubbed his eyes, before gesturing at the three other people sitting at his table.
"What do you guys think?" He asked while crossing his arms.
"Hmm...I think our best bet would be to go over the Eastern Town and check it over. If it ends up as a bad lead, we can still check out the burnt-out warehouse for anything the Workshop might have missed," Sahro proposed as he rapped his finger on the table while squinting in Kevin''s direction. The secretary gulped, remaining silent while waiting for any new instructions from his new boss.
Milena leaned forward while pushing her raven black hair behind her ears.
"I second that. Additionally, the Restoration Operator I talked to you about some time ago lived in the Eastern Town last time I heard about him. We could kill two birds with one stone!" She exclaimed excitedly, seemingly quite happy to be part of the team. Glenn nodded deeply before glancing at Javier, who only stared back at him with glassy eyes.
"...O~kay, then it''s decided. We''re off to the Eastern Town to check things out," The young man grinned as he stood up from his seat, before pointing at Kevin, who straightened himself.
"Kevin, I do have an assignment for you. I''ll need you to prepare for a thorough cleaning of the Northern Town once I''m back from the investigations."
The secretary pushed his glasses up his nose confusedly.
"C...Cleaning?"
Glenn grinned as he stretched his back, making it crack loudly.
"Yep. I''m going to need to destroy more than a few Rifts to help in my...personal development if you wish."
"Yeah, yeah, you say that, but I know it''s to help me grow and get my upper Circles!" Nelg argued in the back of Glenn''s mind, the young man dismissing the annoying voice.
Kevin frowned, his monobrow creased deeply.
"I apologize Sir Glenn, but I''m supposed to accompany you anywhere to assist you. Those are my orders from Sir Reginald, and I''m afraid I can''t go against them."
Glenn chuckled, sighing loudly when his face became suddenly as cold as ice, all traces of a smile or a laugh gone. He slowly walked around the table and grabbed the secretary''s shoulder, staring deep into his eyes with evident animosity.
"Listen, Kevin. I''ve known you for, what, half an hour? I don''t know what you can, or can''t do, and honestly, you don''t seem much. Are you even aware of what we''re going to do once we''re in the Eastern Town?" Glenn gritted his teeth as he clenched the secretary''s shoulder tightly. Kevin gulped loudly, his eyes trembling with his fear lighting back up.
"I...Investigate?" He asked innocently with a shaky voice. Glenn laughed wickedly, before letting go of Kevin and stepping away, a small Black Hole appearing above his opened palm.
"Indeed, we''re going to investigate, yes. But..." He suddenly closed his hand, crushing the light-swallowing orb out of existence, "...If we find any traces of the Cult of Epinos, as they''re called now, we''re going to burn them to the ground. If I have to be the author of a fucking bloodbath to get rid of the Thorn''s Church, then so be it."
Kevin took a step back while letting go of his clipboard, the sound of it hitting the ground echoing in the room. Glenn followed him closely, leaning forward with a devilish grin.
"So, unless you''re stronger than you look, which I doubt, and want to dirty your hands with the Thorn''s Church''s blood, I believe staying here in relative safety is the best thing you can do. Ain''t that right?" Glenn''s animosity suddenly disappeared as he patted the trembling secretary''s shoulder. Kevin nodded hurriedly and picked up his clipboard, practically running out of the room to escape his new boss''s gaze.
Glenn''s eyes followed him out of the Dining Hall. As soon as Kevin''s feet passed the threshold, the young man smacked both of his hands together, grinning happily.
"Well, that''s one bother out of the way. I just have a quick stop to go to by the Smithery, and we''ll be good to go then!" He said with satisfaction, ignoring Milena''s shocked stare.
"Was that truly necessary?" She probed carefully, feeling seemingly a little guilty from not saying anything in front of Glenn''s horrible treatment of the poor secretary. Glenn''s looked at her with an amused gaze.
"What, scaring him? Of course, it was!"
The young man installed himself back in his seat, smiling from one ear to the other.
"That was pretty evident Reginald sent him to try and monitor us. This show was all just to send the message "Stop playing games with me you fucking weirdo/gentleman/whatever you truly are"."
Milena''s eyes widened and she looked away with a groan of understanding. Sahro shook his head slowly, a small smile on his lips.
"So, to the Eastern Town, right?"
Glenn raised his cup toward him, grinning. Milena sighed and leaned back in her chair, while Javier kept on doing the best thing he could do: existing.
"To the Eastern Town. But first, let me get another five plates. I''m starving."
146. Staying Away from Trouble
Creak...
"...Rusty? The Smith? Anyone?"
Glenn hesitantly pushed the Armory''s door open further, stepping inside the shop with muffled steps. There was a strange sense of stillness he wasn''t used to coming off the silent shelves and the weapons lying on them.
It was decided that the "Gang", as appropriately named by Diamanes a moniker that Nelg first validated would leave the Northern Town for the Eastern One at nightfall by use of the Magi Brotherhood teleportation setups. Sahro prepared a few things he didn''t care to share with the group, while Milena chose to try and contact the Restoration Operator from the Seekers she knew. Javier... Well, Glenn didn''t bother even asking the pale hunter what he was going to do, since it was guaranteed he wouldn''t answer, only stare back emptily, his lack of emotion his only reply.
''Is it just me who finds the place quite dusty?'' Diamanes muttered from within Glenn''s mind.
"Can''t tell, never been there. Oh, wait, actually, I did, back when I was Glenn"
"Don''t even start, Nelg," Glenn muttered, teeth clenched, as he approached one of the shelves. He drew a line through the dust on the lacquered wood, squinting in awe at how thick the layer was.
"...Did Rusty leave the shop like this? It''s not even locked; he sure isn''t worried." Glenn dusted his hands off, frowning. He glanced at the door leading to the reserve, hesitating for a second before walking up to it and pushing it open. The dark hallway with its stupid amount of doors opened up to him, strange noises coming out of the locked-out rooms sending shivers down his spine
"Yeah, shut the fuck up narrator."
"Why are we here again?"
"For the blob. Hey, it''s fine if I speak aloud as long as no one is around, right?"
Glenn ignored both of the voices, slowly but surely building mental resistance to their strong capacity to annoy him to no end.
"...What was its no, his name again? Blob, blob, blob..." The young man scratched the top of his head, biting down on his lips before smiling.
"Ayo, Bob?" Glenn''s voice echoed in the dark hallway, the light coming from the torches hanging off the wall trembling slightly as a small breeze of wind swept through the corridor. The young man waited silently for a few seconds, before sighing and entering the hallway.
"...Is it really necessary to intrude into our dear friend Rusty''s home? Wait, he is a friend, right? And all that to meet a blob?" Nelg questioned with a strangely nervous voice. Nash glanced at the longsword hanging off his belt, before shaking his head slightly.
"Did you inherit some kind of weird fears as well, but not the courage to brave them?" He taunted before being cut off by a voice even more mocking than his.
"Bravery? More like stupidity."
Glenn pulled on his face tiredly, before abruptly stopping dead in his tracks. He slowly turned his head to the side toward a dark ebony door, squinting at the green, goo-like liquid coming out of the keyhole.
"...Bob?" He hesitantly asked, taking a step back when he saw a jolt going through the green slime oozing out. The green goo busted out of the keyhole in the nastiest manner possible, splashing bits here and there with sticky noises, before shaping into a large, green figure in the form of a triangle with one large hole in its center. Glenn''s eyebrows couldn''t help but be raised at the sight out of confusion, Bob''s current form much less intimidating than the one he was first confronted with.
"Well, hello Bob. You''re Bob, right, not..." Glenn gestured in the air randomly, searching for his words, "...a family member or something, right?"
A green light lit up in the hole in the green mushy triangle, a round ball of light that stared down at Glenn with indecipherable emotions. The young man forced an awkward smile as he rubbed the back of his head, his nose creased.
"Well, uhm, Bob I''ll assume you are Bob I just had a quick question about your..." He moistened his lips before grimacing, "...healing capabilities."
Bob''s green, bubbly, and glowing eye blinked as it gazed down on Glenn, the young man grinning with all his teeth.
"...Well, this could have gone worse, I suppose?" Glenn stumbled out of the Armory wearing a disgusted grimace, before muttering a quick Mundare to get rid of all the green goo covering his body.
"This was horrifying. As a newborn child, I feel truly traumatized," Nelg whispered with an awed, trembling voice.
"I wouldn''t go as far as calling it horrifying, but it was certainly...special. What did he say his specie was?" Diamanes asked with a steady voice, not the least disturbed by the events that just happened. Glenn smacked his lips, his nose creased.
"A Dolr-something, it doesn''t matter, I have the answer I was searching for. Anyway, let''s please abide by his terms and keep what happened inside the Armory where it belongs starting now," The young man shivered and glanced back at the shop and the door leading to the reserve,
"...In the damned Armory."
After this short but most traumatizing eventful stop, Glenn decided on his next stop, the Northern Branch of the Maron Company. He had a few questions to ask Maron, and it would do him no harm to try and get some more information from the merchant.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
"If I remember correctly, the Northern Branch should be a dozen minutes away on foot," Glenn rubbed his chin as he navigated the Cleaner''s Workshop hallways with wobbly steps, heading for the Main Hall and eventually the exit. It was hard to admit, but this place was starting to grow on him. How could he dislike a place that fed him for having fun?
"...I''m not sure fighting eldritch creatures, forlorn entities, and monsters are classified as "having fun", for normal people," Nelg commented quietly, earning himself a sneer.
''Good fucking job, you realized Glenn is all but normal. Wait, if a part of your soul can realize that, won''t you be able to do so as well?'' Diamanes added while laughing at Glenn''s longsword. Nelg pouted and went back inside a corner of Glenn''s mind, far away from the vexing, talking hand. The host of all these discussions suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and looked at his left hand curiously.
"Wait a minute. I have the Silence curse, right?" Glenn muttered curiously. Diamanes didn''t dare to comment, in fear of ruining his host''s enlightenment. The young man summoned his Mana, summoning the power of the Silence Curse, before aiming it at his head, killing every sound entering Glenn''s ears.
The young man looked around for a few seconds, before sighing with a relieved grin.
''Hah, finally I found a way to shut these fuckers up...'' He thought when he noticed a mouth opening up in his left, purple palm. It was grinning with a peerlessly white smile, mocking him in all his splendor.
''Well, that was a nice try, but I''m still in your head, you dumbass.''
"I can''t believe you tried that. I know that you''re at the end of your rope, but still, it''s crazy that you would think this would work."
Glenn''s smile melted away and he dismissed the magic, sighing desperately. As if to take him out of his despair, his stomach grumbled hungrily, taking away his focus on something much more important: getting some food. And not something from the Dining Hall this time, he wanted something more...normal.
"I''d love myself a meat skewer...no, sausages would be nice...shit, I need a fucking barbecue and a goddamned coke..." Glenn sighed, speaking aloud without a care for the glares of the other Fixers crossing his path.
"Damned freak..!"
Glenn froze in his steps, woken up from his thoughts of barbecue and soda, realizing he was already in the Main Hall. His stomach grumbled once more, making him wince unpleasantly before he turned to find the one who cussed him out. His arms crossed as he leaned against the wall was a new bastard someone he had never met before, a bald guy with the stature of a gorilla and the muscles to contribute to that image. He was bare-chested, shamelessly showing to anyone brave enough to take a glance the might of his curly chest hair.
The gorilla spat to the side, his eyes glued to Glenn''s left, purple arm.
"I''ve heard of you, freak. I''m gone for a few months, and now you try and take my spot for the Northern Town strongest Fixer?" The gorilla flexed his pectoral muscles, veins bulging out of them. Glenn blinked before moistening his lips. He opened his mouth to reply to the gorilla, but a new grumble from his stomach changed his mind over his priority, and he chose to ignore the gorilla.
''For good measure, how strong is this guy, Diamanes?'' asked Glenn cautiously, finding it hard to believe that he wouldn''t find himself in another bizarre turmoil just because he''d blown some idiot''s head off. He''d much rather go eat a steak of unidentified origin but with an excellent pepper sauce, instead of fighting Gorilla-man over there.
''Tsk,'' Diamanes sneered, ''...just figure it out yourself. I''m not a fucking threat scanner, figure out by yourself whether that guy is dangerous. One thing is for sure, your life ain''t in danger, as far as I can guess. Oh, and that''s by taking out your thought process of the equation.''
Glenn pressed both of his lips together and walked away, ignoring the whispers of the nearby Fixers, the dead but happy gaze of the pretty, robotic waitresses, and the gorilla''s irritating laugh.
''Keep your priorities straight, Glenn. First, you need to get some roasted meat, wait, no,'' Glenn shook his head with a sigh, ''...Taking care of Redan''s mess is the priority. Let''s go to Maron, get as much intel as I can, all that so I can fuck off to the Eastern Town with peace of mind. Great, that''s a nice, perfect plan without a single flaw''
Thunk!
Glenn stopped in his steps once again and looked back at the sheathed dagger that had hit the back of his head. It was the same copy as the one he was holding in his soul, the Black Gold Identification dagger served to every Dark Gold Fixers of the Cleaner''s Workshop. The gorilla pointed at Glenn with a wicked grin.
"You damned coward, fleeing away from ME? Well, nothing surprising considering how you left those defenseless people to die...What were their names already?" The Gorilla rubbed his chin with a faked wonder, before smacking his opened palm with his fist, a wide grin decorating his ugly face. Glenn''s blood ran cold in his veins as he felt his face harden, his fists clenching so hard the joints of his fingers whitened.
"There was that farmer, then the innkeeper, as well as that baker woman...All fools that deserved their ends considering they tried to befriend a freak like you"
Snap!
"Huh?" The Gorilla''s eyebrows rose in confusion as he witnessed his Black Gold Identification dagger being snapped in two under Glenn''s boot, the blade cleanly separated from the handle. As soon as the rupture was made, a flow of Mana noticeably escaped from the dagger, disappearing into nothingness as everything that made the dagger special faded away. Glenn looked down at his foot with puzzlement, before making an exaggeratedly shocked face, both of his hands pressed on each of his cheeks.
"Oh, man, I am so sorry, I sure hope this wasn''t yours!" Glenn crouched down a little too fast, his knee colliding against the dagger''s blade, bending it outwardly and ruining it even further. Glenn''s expression of shock deepened further and he hurriedly gathered the dagger''s fragments under the Gorilla''s and the rest of the present Fixers shocked gaze.
"I, uh, my savings...?" The Gorilla muttered in disbelief while holding out his hand toward what remained of the daggers. Glenn grimaced while looking at the fragments, before shrugging and summoning a Black Hole to swallow the remains, crushing them to dust.
"Well, it''s broken, so I''ll just dispose of it for you. It''s my way to make myself forgiven," Glenn smiled innocently, before waving away at the Gorilla.
"Anyway, see you around," he said casually before leaving the Cleaner''s Workshop hastily.
The Gorilla was so shocked he was still locked in his position staring at the spot where he had thrown his precious and expensive dagger.
''...That''s disappointing. I had hoped you would freeze that guy alive, or fly him around with a nice Gravity Manipulation, but no, you had to go with the boring emotional damages,'' Diamanes grunted in displeasure, while Nelg''s laughs echoed in Glenn''s mind.
"That bastard was so shocked he couldn''t even utter a word! Haha, definitely worth it!"
Glenn smiled weakly as he looked at his palms, finding them slightly bleeding from how hard he had clenched his hands.
"Yeah..."
He drew a deep breath and headed out for the Northern Town''s alleyways, hoping to use the walk to calm himself. How could he handle himself in the future if the first idiot''s words made him lose control of his emotions? He had to rein that hatred in and keep it warm for the one who truly deserved it, the fucking Baron.
"I talk with Maron, then we go save Redan, I level up Nelg, and then I go kill the Baron and bring back Giselle''s grandchild," Glenn sighed deeply as he glanced at the blue sky, before shaking his head slightly.
"All things considered, it should be pretty simple, right?"
147. Information, Information, and even more Information
"...Delicious."
"Haha, you''re welcome! I could hear your stomach grumbling from over there!"
Glenn silently chewed on a juicy meat skewer while a grinning old man wiped his greasy hands on an equally dirty apron covering his protruding belly. The meat''s smell had drawn in Glenn inevitably, leading him to this booth while he was on his way to the Maron''s Company branch. The meat was tender and perfectly cooked, with just enough spices to enhance the taste.
The young man wolfed down the food, his stomach grumbling as if to echo that act. The old man''s grin grew as he threw more meat into a sizzling pan, expertly handling the meat with used wooden tongs.
"Hahaha, you remind me of my grandson! Just eating, again and again! It''s as if there''s a hole in his stomach swallowing all of his food!" The vendor smiled gently. He flipped the meat with a dexterous flick of his wrist while sprinkling spices on it. Glenn felt his mouth salivate uncontrollably and shamefully wiped his mouth off, before shaking his head slightly.
"Thanks for the food, but I can''t stay for long..." Glenn smiled weakly and sank his head into his dimensional pouch, pulling out a few silver coins. The old man gasped with his eyes wide open, before shaking his head frantically and crossing his arms.
"What''re you doing, son? You know that food ain''t worth that much! Give me some coppers, and be on your way. Take the skewer with you!" He proudly raised his chin while holding the finished skewer. Glenn sighed and took the food, before dropping a few coins on the booth, slipping a few silvers in.
"Thanks again," The young man stood up from his seat and left the booth under the vendor''s warm gaze, his heart wrenched with old scars.
''...It''s not going to happen again, you know? Stop worrying over nothing,'' Diamanes suddenly said with a dry tone. Nelg remained silent, not daring to add anything. Glenn rubbed his chin while using his Gravity Manipulation, reducing his weight to a feather''s. With one step, he shot through the air, gently floating in the air to land over a nearby rooftop.
"We never know. As long as that bastard is alive, it might happen again. I''d rather not befriend people who can''t defend themselves until then..." He mumbled as he jumped from roof to roof, lost in his thoughts. He bit down on the skewer as he navigated the city, as silent as a shadow and as light as a cloud. Before he knew it, he finished the food and arrived in front of the Northern Branch of the Maron Company. It was an austere building in a Western-style, simple in design but imposing in size. It wasn''t designed to show off its value, but one glance was enough to guess that it was worth more than the savings of a hundred villagers combined.
"Well, nothing surprising. It''s Maron we''re talking about..." Glenn muttered as he jumped down the roof, gently landing in front of the building''s door. The four soldiers standing guard in front of the entry suddenly straightened themselves, their armor shining with the literal gleam of money. Armed with tower shields and spears, they glanced at Glenn, evaluating him rapidly, their eyes stopping on the ominous, purple arm on his left side. They gulped in an almost synchronized manner, before bowing their heads with respect.
"Hello, Sir Glenn! You''re welcome at this town''s branch of the Maron''s Company!" They gave him room for him to pass, their hands tightly wrapped over their weapons'' handles. The young man looked at them with an amused gaze, before shrugging and stepping forth into the building. It was nothing like the Cleaner''s Workshop and was much more similar to modern offices, with employees with clothes of excellent facture running around with despaired expressions, carrying heavy stacks of paper alongside the weight of more than a few sleepless nights. The only thing missing was a heavy scent of coffee and the sound of fingers tapping on keyboards, and it would completely mirror Glenn''s vision of work back on Earth.
''Quite distasteful. Well, as long as it brings bread to the table, all work is the same...'' Glenn sneered and shook his head, wondering where he was supposed to go when a secretary with thick glasses and even thicker dark circles suddenly appeared in front of him. She pushed her glasses up her nose, before bowing awkwardly.
"Uhm, nicenice to meet you, Sir Glenn!" She spoke almost letting go of the stack of paper under her arm but managed to catch it at the last second, "...I, uh, we''ve been told of your arrival, but we didn''t expect you to be late off..." She looked at a watch on her wrist, "...three weeks already?"
Glenn smiled without saying anything, only crossing his arms as he tried to understand the situation.
''What? What three weeks? Was Maron waiting for me? For what reason?''
Diamanes chimed in with his usual mocking voice.
''Hmm, I don''t know, maybe about that deal you struck with the Black Heirs? Or, perhaps some reward? Like, monetary one? Wait, didn''t he talk about his relationship with the Gold Church at some point?'' The entity''s words kept on piling up over and over, giving more and more reasons Glenn should have come to see the merchant sooner. Glenn smacked his lips, startling the secretary.
''Whatever, it''s not like I could just magically wake up after doing something akin to giving birth, alright?!?''
The entity couldn''t help but find himself at lack of words, Nelg sneering at him from the back of Glenn''s mind.
"Uhm, alright, so, should we go see Monsieur Maron, Sir Glenn?"
Glenn nodded.
"Sure, show me the way. And stop calling me Sir," He grunted before muttering through his teeth, "...Why is everyone calling me Sir these days?"
The secretary didn''t make herself wait, quickly walking away without waiting for Glenn to follow her, expertly navigating the mayhem of the Maron''s Company office, dodging late managers or overworked employees. Glenn didn''t have to bother doing so, as his presence seemed to act like a repellant for everyone in the firm, a glance at his left arm enough to strike fear and awe in them. The young man couldn''t help but moisten his lips at the sight. He leaned forward right next to the secretary''s ear, whispering with a curious voice.
"Why is everyone looking at me that way?"
The secretary yelped while taking a step to the sight, hugging her stack of paper close to her chest, before shaking her head and replying.
"WWell, Monsieur Maron has been quite...clear on how we should treat you with the utmost respect, and particularly fear your left arm, the purple one," She stuttered, before glaring at her coworkers eyeing them, prompting them to go back to work. Glenn chuckled while rubbing the corner of his eyes.
"What else did he tell you? Just in case, I''m not going to do anything to any of you, I''m a pretty chill guy," He grinned and shot her a thumbs-up, to which the secretary replied with a shiver.
"II apologize Sir GleGlenn, with all due respect, but most people don''t..." She chewed down on her lower lip with an awkward expression, "...talk to their left hand, or laughs while fighting rotting dead men..."
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Glenn stared at her with his mouth wide-opened, forcing a gulp out of her, before exploding in laughter. He shook his head, before shrugging dismissively.
"Well, first you can''t say if you didn''t try it, and well, I can''t help it if I have multiple voices in my head, okay?" She looked back at him emptily, to which he raised his hands helplessly, "...What, we all have our things to deal with, even me!"
The secretary didn''t bother replying, her lack of sleep showing much faster now that she understood that this strange guest was harmless. She simply sighed and made her way to a nearby hallway, leading Glenn in front of a sober door of white wood, on to which she knocked three times, before pushing the door open. She stepped to the side with another sigh.
"Monsieur Maron is inside, Sirdamn it, Glenn..." She sighed, "...just go inside. He might not have heard me, he rarely does when he''s concentrated on anything..." She dragged her feet away back to wherever she was supposed to be, letting Glenn alone enter the room. He didn''t make himself wait and ushered himself in, finding a sober room with dozens of filing cabinets, and a dusty window letting barely a few rays of sun in.
"Cough, where the hell did I..." A familiar voice came out from behind a desk covered in piles of papers and leatherbound documents. Glenn hesitantly stepped in, holding a laugh in while looking around for a place to sit. He used his Silence Curse to kill all of the sounds he was going to make. He pulled a chair out of a pile of paper, before installing himself comfortably in it, putting his feet on Maron''s desk while the latter was occupied.
"Ha-ha! Here it is! Now, where was I..." Maron stood back up, grinning at a document that looked the same as the one on his desk. The merchant sat on his chair and plunged himself into his work, failing to notice the curious man staring at him. With an arm made out of pure, light-swallowing Blumar, Maron grabbed a pen from a nearby cup, before making notes all over the document he just found, copying some information on a blank sheet of paper, soon covering it with dark scriptures only decipherable by the one who wrote them. Glenn looked at his nails, getting rid of the dirt between them, before dismissing his Silence curse. He looked at the ceiling patiently, wondering whether he should inform the merchant of his presence or wait a little more.
''...Why do I find this funny?'' He wondered, smiling as he leaned on his fist, slowly tapping his fingers on the desk. Maron continued to scribble down his notes, before putting the paper away right over Glenn''s foot. The young man quickly pulled out the cup containing Maron''s pen collection with swift use of his Gravity Manipulation, just in time to see the merchant throw his pen towards some object in his office. The sound of the pen hitting the floor finally woke Maron from his imperturbable concentration, his eyes widening wildly as he noticed the figure sitting calmly opposite him.
"ARGH!"
"What''s up, Maron?"
"FUCK!!"
Maron screamed as he jumped out of his seat, before pulling himself together and putting his hands in front of his mouth. His eyes bulged outwardly as he clenched his fists while waving them angrily at Glenn, his lips tightly pressed together. Finally, he sighed deeply and sank back in his chair while rubbing his face.
"Damn it, Sir Glenn, why would you do that to me...?" The merchant shook his head weakly. Glenn grinned, before shrugging with faked misunderstanding.
"What do you mean? Your secretary invited me in, I just sat and waited for you to, well, you know, remark me," Glenn threw the cup up and down, before putting it back in its spot. He gave a judging glance at the room, scowling at the sight.
"Don''t you have the money to hire a maid to clean this place up? You should at least take care of the windows..."
Maron waved his hand dismissively as he cleared his desk out to make some space for them to speak comfortably.
"I don''t want to find my documents in place I didn''t put them in. This might look like a mess, but it''s an organized one, alright...?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose, which was half-made of Blumar, before clasping both of his hands together.
"So, uhm, what can I do for you, Sir Glenn?" Maron asked with a tired voice. Glenn smiled and crossed his arms while leaning back in his chair.
"Well, first, after everything we went through together, you could begin by calling me just Glenn and not Sir. I''m not a Sir, damn it." He spat out the last word, feeling almost unnerved at the idea that he was a "Sir".
''Wouldn''t you want to be a noble? Imagine, Count Glenn, Lord of the Dumb Valley. Doesn''t that sound glorious?'' Diamanes mocked, managing to make Glenn''s eyelids twitch. Nelg couldn''t help but join the fray.
"Nah, Duke of Bad Decisions is a much more suitable title!"
''Alright, mute mode is on.'' Glenn decided as he clenched his teeth, killing both of the voices with one thought, miraculously managing to shut his mind to both of their unneeded commentaries.
Unaware of the turmoil going on inside the Dark Gold Fixer''s head, Maron smacked his lips inquisitively.
"Sure, Glenn. I guess we can speak to each other less formally now. I wasn''t expecting you to be so late to come and see me though. Should I take it as you trust me with the Black Heirs matters?" Maron asked with his eyes squinted. Glenn shrugged, raising his palms to the sky.
"To be honest, I went into a coma for three weeks, and didn''t even expect you to help them right off the bat, so many thanks to you."
Maron sneered while shaking his head.
"Whatever, it cost me less than a bag of rice to improve their situation. I''m still deeply shocked by their situation..." He rubbed his forehead while making a confused expression, the sunlight passing through the dusty window swallowed by the Blumar making half of the merchant''s body.
"I mean, they''re probably the strongest mercenary force in the whole Fringe, comparable to the Fixers, and yet, they all live like penniless bastards. I don''t get it, be it why they stayed in the Sewers, or why they didn''t sell their services. Anyway, after talking with Ms. Pyr, we managed to strike a highly profitable deal for both the Maron Company and the Black Heirs."
Glenn''s eyebrows rose as he opened his hands inquisitively.
"...Please, enlighten me...?"
Maron smiled while pulling a random sheet of paper from a similarly random pile of documents.
"I''ve pulled some strings with the Gold Church. It''s only a question of time until the Frozen Gate is cleared out of all these corrupted Watchers, opening the way for Giselle''s most trusted warriors. They''ll work for me as a mercenary force for a few things, and in exchange, I''ll build them a place inside King''s Rise for them to finally settle down. I can''t believe these magnificent idiots have no builders, no architects, teachers, or even doctors. It''s like the only thing they know to do is fight, fight, oh, and maybe fight."
Glenn''s eyebrows confusedly, struggling to understand whether Maron was insulting or complimenting the Black Heirs.
"Well, as long as it''s working out well, all is good. I''ve heard you''ve been working with the Cleaner''s Workshop as well to help with our matter with Redan?"
Maron nodded positively, pulling more sheets of paper and arranging them in a stack strung together with a thin string.
"Indeed. How could I not help? The kidnapping of the Ice Wolf of old is something I have to invest in, even more when said Wolf is a friend of my savior." Maron chuckled before handing out the stack of documents to Glenn, the young man confused.
"Wait, the Ice Wolf? I feel like I''ve heard that nickname before..."
Maron bent down under his desk to pick something up once again, not bothering to show his face to reply.
"That''s no surprise. Redan was once well known as the Lord Commander of the Northern Gate, but even that is nothing compared to his time as the Commodore of the Wolves Order. His achievements in the war against the raiders coming from Vulshai earned him that moniker, and he more than deserves it." Maron explained matter of factedly, oblivious to how much had just shaken Glenn''s world.
''Redan was a what? A Commodore? The Wolves Order? The Lord Commander of the Northern Gate? There was the thing with Reginald, and now that? Who the fuck is the old geezer?'' Glenn couldn''t even utter a word, shocked. Maron stood back up and added another document to the pile Glenn was already holding.
"And with that, it makes for all the information on all the leads we explored with Sir Reginaldthat''s his name, right? An interesting man for sure, I''ll tell you that much." Maron continued undisturbed, before lifting his finger to the sky with a conflicted expression.
"Also, it''s not added in the report, but careful of the Church of Onnea in the Eastern Town. It seems more than abnormal that the Thorn''s Church managed to hide themselves there when so many of Onnea''s priests are in the area. Anyway, please see yourself out. As you can see, I''m sinking under my work!"
Without another second to think or even ask a question, Glenn was kicked out of Maron''s office, unable to say a word or think a thought. The mute button that kept Diamanes and Nelg silent blew up, letting the both of them exprimate their opinions.
"I love this merchant, man! So efficient, he barely needed to talk to us to know what we needed!"
''And once again, he didn''t even bother listening to you. Maron is walking all over you, Glenn. I''d advise a quick Carbon Blade through his neck, just so I don''t see his annoying face and the similarly annoying divinity covering him...''
Glenn sighed before sticking all the documents in his dimensional pouch.
"...At least I can''t say I came here for nothing...Too much information...way too much..."
148. The Eastern Town
"Hey, it''s my turn to be the Crazy Man!"
"No, it''s mine!"
"I don''t care, I prefer being the Evil Lord!"
"Then, I''ll be the Swordsman, and you''ll be the Crazy Man, and then we''ll trade!"
"Okay!"
Glenn yawned as he looked down at a group of kids playing around, acting as strange folklore characters. He had never heard the stories of any of the names mentioned, but as long as they had fun. The young man turned his eyes away from them and leaned back on the tiled roof of one of the Northern Town''s houses, grunting in discouragement when looking at the pile of documents Maron gave him.
"Man...Why does it have to be so long...?" He sighed before beginning the inevitable lecture.
''You can''t complain: the more information you have, the better prepared you''ll be. Imagine going there without a clue, as you did with Palancar, and finding yet another monstrosity to defeat. Not that I''d mind that much...'' commented Diamanes aloud in his usual mocking tone, disregarding any care about revealing his presence.
Glenn grunted while rubbing his forehead, Nelg laughing at him from the back of his mind.
"Haha, this sure looks like a pain to read! I''ll go take a nap or something, have fun reading those three hundred pages!" The living sword''s voice faded away from Glenn''s mind, Diamanes soon following, leaving him alone to deal with the pile of documents.
The young man took a deep breath and glanced at the blue sky with tired eyes.
"...Will I even get a break from all of this bullshit at some point?" He muttered hopelessly, before shaking his head and plunging himself in the Maron''s report.
He flew over the text, but even then, it took him most of the day to finish the whole document. When he was done, the sun was already setting, casting a purple shade over the Northern Town''s red roofs. Glenn carefully slipped the documents in his dimensional pouch, before sighing deeply. He rubbed his temples to try and alleviate the headache he got from reading for so long, before shaking his head and jumping down from his roof. The kids that were playing there earlier were long gone for some unknown adventure.
"I guess we''ll have to be careful, then. Damn, the Eastern Town is a mess. I don''t even get why the main forces of the Church of Onnea would be based in this place..." Glenn scratched the back of his head as he strolled through the town, taking his time to think over all of the information.
Three things were critical for him to remember: first, the Onnea''s Church was the one reigning over the Eastern Town, and so, their words were the law. The Cleaner''s Workshop Eastern branch was considerably smaller compared to the one in the Northern Town or any other town for that matter and so, they treated their Fixers much more preciously. Most high-ranked Fixers seemed to always leave for another Town if it wasn''t for the Bourgeoisie straight away, so they always lacked manpower. Add to that that every official Cleaner seemed to be avoiding the town like the plague, and it made for King''s Rise''s smallest branch of the Cleaner''s Workshop.
"Sahro must have lived like a king there back when he was a Gold Rank Fixer. I''m pretty sure it wouldn''t compare to the one we''re getting currently, with both of us being Dark Gold ranked, but still, it must have been pretty good..." Glenn grinned as he approached a street vendor, buying something akin to a crepe filled with sliced bits of meat and vegetables. The young man had given up long ago trying to understand what names this world attributed to each meat, and so he just categorized them by their tastes.
"...Mmh, mraybe'' bheef and'' chircken, with some red preppers''?"
''Please finish whatever you''re eating before speaking, for all of our sakes...'' Diamanes sighed, Nelg echoing the entity''s words with a groan of approval.
The second thing he learned was that the Eastern Town had a past of being the poorest town of the Fringe, with the highest crime rate. It had supposedly become better once the Church of Onnea took over the city, but any ruffians that managed to get into King''s Rise were housed there. Maron had even managed to somehow find out that a black market was hidden in the city''s underground, hosting all kinds of criminal activities. Somehow, it managed to survive Onnea''s influence and avoid the destruction.
"Gulp," Glenn swallowed the huge chunk he just chewed out, before voicing his thoughts, "...Of course, a black market has to be underground. Where else would they put it?"
"I don''t know, maybe they can figure out some magical stuff, like the Magi Brotherhood''s teleportation?" Nelg proposed, plunging Glenn into deeper contemplation.
"That''s more than possible. That might even be the way they managed to avoid the Church''s eyes. And I wouldn''t be surprised if the Magi Brotherhood even secretly sponsored the black market. It would be the best way to get some forbidden material or artifacts."
The more he thought about it, the more it sounded plausible. The bad news though would be that the Thorn''s Church probably managed to survive using the same way, which would probably complicate his personal side quest of destroying every single one of these bastards.
''Well, I''m sure you''ll eventually meet them, they''re always trying to skin you for that bond you share with their god. No need to worry, heh...'' Diamanes predicted with a laugh, making Glenn shake his head dejectedly.
"We''ll see about that. Anyway, the last point..." The young man rubbed the bridge of his nose, already smelling how troublesome this was going to be.
The Eastern Town was also affiliated with the King''s Rise military, as well as District 22, the only place exterior to King''s Rise that was suited for living. A guy going by the name of Lazarre had been given the authority to rule over the town as he pleased as the Mayor, as long as the crime rate descended. The man was worse than a wretched miscreant and was secretly stealing away all of the Onnea''s Church''s hard work for himself.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"...It''s not so secret if Maron knows about it..." Nelg remarked, Glenn replying with a shrug.
"It''s probably like an open secret. The black market should be in a similar position. I sure hope this wannabee noble isn''t going to get in my way, though..."
From what he understood, Mayor Lazarre had received his title from a Count, someone of a higher position than even Baron Howard. That meant he had the Watchers and the other impassible military orders of King''s Rise at his service, to a certain extent. There were twenty orders assigned to the Fringe with the orders to protect certain high-priority locations or to deal with the elements threatening the higher Circles of the City.
"And this Lazarre guy has five of these twenty orders to use as he pleases...Let''s try to avoid this guy for now..." Glenn sighed as he ruffled his hair in frustration. There were no clear leads as to where he should begin searching for Redan, but many places to explore, many people he''ll probably have to beat to crap, and many hellish creatures to slay. As always, it didn''t bode too well, but he was starting to get used to it.
At least, now he could do more than just defend himself.
Glenn suddenly stopped in front of a rundown house, with dusty windows and a rotting wooden door. He winced and summoned his Magi Brotherhood plate from within his soul, and entered the room with it. As soon as he infused a bit of Mana in the plate, a stone pedestal surged out of the ground as the door closed tightly behind him.
"It''s been a while..." He braced himself as his innards were sent through the equivalent of a washing machine on crack, before finally arriving at his destination.
"Damn, I''ll never get used to teleportation..." Glenn held himself on a steel handrail intended for this purpose, clenching his teeth as he forced himself to push through the unbearable need to puke everything he had eaten in the day. After a few seconds of letting the nausea pass, Glenn finally regained his composure and looked over the magnificent main hall of the Magi Brotherhood. The architecture had entirely changed from the last time he had come here, with whiter colors and grand columns that made him think of the Greek temples he would see in history documentaries.
"Well, this place is the cradle of magic, of course, it''s everchanging..." Glenn shook his head before clenching the Magi Brotherhood plate, feeling his body being pulled away from his current position to another spot. It wasn''t teleportation this time, but it felt almost as unpleasant. Seconds later, he arrived in a small private room, with comfortable leather sofas and a personal bar at his convenience.
"Hehe..." Glenn rubbed his hands together and approached the bar when a rectangle of light suddenly appeared right in front of him. Sahro suddenly jumped out of said rectangle, landing on the ground without a hint of grace, before rushing to a nearby trash can and puking his insides out. Glenn grimaced as he took a step to the side, carefully avoiding the Black Heir to try and get to the tantalizing bottles, when another rectangle appeared yet again in his way, letting this time Milena inside the private room, alongside Javier, the silent Pale Son.
"Sigh, are we the first to arrive...?" Milena glanced to the room, her eyes lighting up when she noticed Glenn and Sahro already present, one staring at the bar behind her with disappointment, and the other suffering the effects of the unusual means of transportation.
"Oh, hey Glenn! Hah, is it his first time using the Transposition?" She asked curiously as she approached Sahro and lightly patted his back. The Black Heir groaned some unintelligible words as he wiped his mouth and stumbled to his feet. Javier stepped inside the private room, seemingly unaffected by nausea or any other secondary effects that might be caused by the Transposition.
Glenn shrugged and collapsed on one of the sofas while throwing the stack of documents Maron gave him on a nearby table.
"Sure looks like it. I can''t blame him, it was even worse for me, heh."
Javier walked over to one of the couches and sat down awkwardly, struggling to find a suitable position in the plush. Glenn sneered at the sight and waited for Sahro to recover his senses. It took a few more minutes until the Black Heir finally stopped looking like he was going to die at any moment. Finally, Glenn sat himself straight and clapped to get everyone''s attention.
"Alright, one last brief and time to head out to the Eastern Town. I''ll do a quick resume of what I learned from Maron, but if you want precisions, feel free to check out this horribleuseful source of information that are those three-hundred something pages," said the young man as he gestured with a hint of hate toward the stack of paper. The other three only glanced over the documents before deciding the resume would have to suffice.
Glenn quickly explained to them the situation with the Church of Onnea, as well as the hidden lawlessness and the most probable disturbance from Lazarre, the Eastern Town''s Mayor. Milena chose to check a few pieces of information over, investing herself as much as she could.
''It does seem like it makes her quite happy to be in a team. Maybeno, I''m sure of it, it''s her first time working with others. Well, with her previous crappy attitude, that''s no surprise, hehe...'' Diamanes remarked, earning a sneer from his host. Nelg smacked his lips, the image of his armored self appearing in Glenn''s mind with his arms crossed.
"Hey, she''s pretty cute...Hey, Me, explain to me why you never flirted with her. That''s a golden opportunity right there!"
A vein popped on Glenn''s forehead as he slowly closed his eyes, shutting his mouth tightly so he wouldn''t accidentally share his reply with the rest of the group.
''Maybe because it''s just NOT the time for that? Remember I have a grudge to resolve with a religion or two, some noble and even a few gods I might have offended. Where the hell am I supposed to place romance in this hell?''
Nelg couldn''t reply, speechless in front of Glenn''s imperturbable defense. The young man rubbed the corner of his eyes tiredly, before standing up from his seat.
"Well, I hope you guys got it all because I''m not going to repeat it. Do you guys have anything to add?"
Milena shrugged and stood up before putting the documents in a satchel she wore to her side.
"I contacted the Restoration Operator, he''s more than interested in that document you found. He''ll be waiting for us to meet him at some point. Thankfully, he''s still in the Eastern Town for some research."
Glenn nodded.
"Perfect, at least that''s one thing crossed off the list," He turned toward Sahro, "...And you?"
The Black Heir grinned, before shivering as he suddenly remembered something as touched the pommel of the sword hanging off his side.
"I made a few...friends back in the Eastern Town. Shit, I just remembered..." He sighed through his clenched teeth, before shaking his head.
"We''ll have help finding Redan, but I can''t guarantee things will go as planned. They are a little...unpredictable."
Glenn blinked at Sahro, curious about who were those mysterious helpers, before deciding to keep the surprise for later. Finally, he turned toward Javier, the last member of the team, or the Gang, as Diamanes was calling it these days.
"..."
Javier stared silently with his dead fish eyes, not uttering a sound. Glenn moistened his lips, smiling helplessly before turning away from the silent hunter.
"Well, then we''re all good!" He grinned and summoned his Magi Brotherhood plate to infuse Mana inside it.
"Time to get going then!"
The ground under them suddenly twisted, pulling them to another location far from there.
"To the Eastern Town!"
149. Platinum Dreams
"..."
"Yeah, that''s not exactly what I was expecting..." Glenn coughed awkwardly, wincing as he took in the scenery with the most open mind he could muster. Milena didn''t utter a word, as silent as Javier, only her cheeks were flushed red. Sahro rubbed his chin, seemingly unbothered by their surroundings.
The Magi Brotherhood Transposition had taken them to a small, hidden ruined house. As soon as they came out of it, they arrived in what Glenn could only describe as a red-light district. Somehow, probably with the help of magic, the light sources were filtered to come out a little more reddish, plunging the whole neighborhood in crimson light.
Wow...So...many! muttered Nelg in an astonished tone, Diamanes choosing not to add anything. Everywhere Glenn looked, there were prostitutes: their skin made up, their clothes more than revealing, their features... unmissable. They were waiting for their customers, leaning against the walls of their respective houses while smoking this world''s equivalent of a cigarette. The thick scent of perfumes wafted through the air, reaching his nose with seductive promises.
Glenn rubbed the edge of his nose, before turning toward his Black Heir''s friend.
"So, you''ve been spending how much time here, exactly?"
Sahro shrugged while smiling toward one of the prostitutes, whose eyes lit up when she saw him.
"I don''t know, probably a few months. It''s quite nice here, even though the women are..." he shivered and turned away from the woman, "...dangerous."
Glenn sneered.
"...I can see that," He scratched the back of his neck, before shaking his head, "...Do you mind guiding us to this town Cleaner''s Workshop''s branch?"
Sahro nodded, before guiding the group through the meanders of the Eastern Town. This city''s mood was completely different from the Northern Town, be it with its inhabitants or their behaviors. The place gave a feeling of modernity to Glenn that he couldn''t understand, maybe because of the magic lights projecting their red hues like some neon signs. A few children were running around, but they seemed to have lost all innocence, staring with suspicion with knives hanging from their waists.
More than once Glenn tripped down one of those when they tried to steal his pouch, taking back his belongings while letting the child go. There were also a few rough-looking ''gentlemen'', with scary faces and bulging muscles, playing with the edge of their swords while looking at the group like they were some enticing gold chest.
Thankfully, none dared bother them, at Diamanes greatest displeasure, and they reached the Cleaner''s Workshop safely. The building was much smaller in comparison to the one in the Northern Town, but still exuded the same prestige. Nonetheless, it still felt like something was missing from Glenn, something he couldn''t quite put his finger on.
''The Northern Town''s branch has a massive array of spells enchanted with their disgusting, filthy magic. This one seemed to be freed from it, even though I''m not sure that''s good news.'' Diamanes explained in response to Glenn''s pondering. The young man sighed as he glanced at the fluttering banners bearing the red flame on a black background hanging from the Workshop''s walls. Sahro didn''t wait and entered the Workshop, familiar with the premises.
He was soon followed by the rest of the team, who discovered how different this Workshop was compared to the one they were used to.
"...It is indeed much smaller," Milena remarked.
"...And there''s practically no one. Are you the only Fixer of the town or something?" Glenn added curiously, realizing his group was the only one standing in the main hall.
"The size doesn''t matter, this place is much better, trust me," Sahro affirmed confidently before walking up to the reception desk. A single bald man with thick glasses was drowsily leaning back in his seat, a thin line of drool at the corner of his lips. The Black Heir coughed lightly, a vein popping up on his forehead when it failed to wake up the bald man. Without hesitation, he pushed the receptionist just enough for him to fall from his chair, crashing on the ground with a loud sound.
"Agh! Curses, which miscreant dared to..." The bald man scrambled to his feet, adjusting the position of his glasses. He squinted as if he could barely see anything, his face suddenly lighting up when he recognized his interlocutor.
"My, but that''s my favorite Fixer! How is it going?" He chuckled and shook the Black Heir''s hand firmly, before glancing at the other members of his group.
"Great, Loran. I''m back from my vacation in the Northern Town, you didn''t miss me too much I hope?" Sahro replied with a grin, before receiving a nudge in his shoulder from the bald receptionist.
"Hmf, missing you?" Loran grumbled, before putting his chair back up and sitting down on it with a sigh, "...We''re as unmanned as ever, what can I say? Thank the gods you''re back though..." He squinted and looked at Glenn''s face for a few seconds, "...and it even seems like you brought some help."
He turned back toward Sahro and leaned forward conspicuously, hiding his mouth with his hand.
"What are you doing with the Devil''s Hand? This old coot Manalok would have never let go of such a talent!" Loran whispered, Glenn, managing to catch every single word of it. His heart missed a beat when he heard the moniker, hoping it wasn''t what he was thinking.
Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
Sahro frowned and looked back to the team.
"What? What do you mean the Devil''s Hand?" He questioned confusedly. Loran pointed at Glenn with his head not-so-discreetly, Sahro grumbling in understanding.
Glenn sighed as both voices in his head exploded in laughter.
"Hahahaha, the Devil''s Hand! Haha, I guess we can thank Diamanes for that!" Nelg couldn''t stop laughing, soon followed by Diamanes'' grain of salt.
''Hahaha, and now you even have a title! The "Devil''s Hand"! How grandiose, how fitting! Hahaha!''
The young man bit down on his lower lip before smiling coldly at the bald receptionist.
"Excuse me, since when do I have a nickname? That''s the first time I heard of it," He squinted toward the bald receptionist, who shrugged dismissively.
"I don''t know, maybe a few months? You''re pretty much at the top of the Fixer''s list, and we''re always hearing about events with your name included in them. If I''m correct, there''s that song calling you the Crazy Man, or the Crazy Hero, I don''t remember. But yeah, you''re a celebrity, Sir Glenn! Be proud!"
Glenn''s cheeks flushed with red, forcing him to cover his face with both of his hands.
''This is shameful. I''m going to sue the fuck out of the one who wrote whatever song he''s speaking of!'' He thought desperately.
''Actually, I''m pretty sure the writer in question was our kind friend Montana. Don''t you remember that song from back then?'' Diamanes remarked, Glenn''s face draining of all colors as he did remember.
''Shit, that guy nailed a fucking number one hit. What did he call it, Demon''s Grin? I''ll engrave him one, from Demon''s Grin, if I ever meet him again!''
The young man''s panicked thoughts were interrupted when Loran clapped his hands loudly, garnering his group''s attention.
"Anyway, you guys are more than welcome in the Eastern Town. As you can see, we have a ton of work," He nudged his chin toward the nearby Contract Board, which was covered in contracts, "...and no workers whatsoever. You''re all free to use the top-class facilities, it''s not like anyone else would be using them, anyway..."
Milena gasped happily, before going off without a shred of hesitation. Javier had already disappeared at some point in time in the conversation, leaving Glenn and Sahro to explore the Workshop''s facilities. The layout was similar, if not the same to the Northern Town''s Workshop, only in a smaller version, and much more emptier.
The whole place was dead silent. Only the sound of the two young men''s steps roaming the hallways of the Workshop was echoing in the hallways, void of other people.
"...What a pleasant place," Glenn remarked with a sarcastic tone. Sahro nodded in agreement, at his friend''s surprise.
"It''s silent, there''s no one to disturb me, and we have access to every facility. This is the perfect place," He affirmed confidently. Soon enough, they arrived at this place''s Dormitory, reaching the upper floors rapidly. They arrived at the Dark Gold''s floor, which Glenn entered using his Identification knife. Sahro looked at him amusedly, before continuing the climb for the highest floor.
"What are you doing?" Glenn asked the Black Heir confusedly, failing to understand why he was going for the floors closed off to them, the Platinum and above-ranked floors. Sahro didn''t reply, only sneering as he kept on climbing up. Glenn hesitated for a second before following him, soon reaching the Dormitory''s top floor.
There was only a single door leading to the Platinum floor, gleaming with a silver, mystical light that exuded richness.
"There''s is nothing above Platinum?" Glenn questioned Sahro, who shrugged with an uncertain expression.
"I don''t know. That''s the last floor, but perhaps there are other ways for above Platinum ranked to reach their dorms. Anyway, let''s go in..." Sahro planted his new Dark Gold knife in the keyhole, opening the Platinum door with it. Glenn couldn''t even utter a word as the door opened without a struggle, letting them enter the most luxurious facilities the Cleaner''s Workshop could offer.
...Or that''s what Glenn thought, but they still had to choose a suite. Nonetheless, even the hallway leading to the rooms was luxurious, made out of gleaming white marble, with golden and silver linings forming complex drawings on the floor and ceiling. Golden magical orbs were shining their lights softly in the hallway, welcoming the visitors warmly. Sahro stopped in front of one of the rooms and opened it without a care, before turning back toward his awed friend.
"I''ll let you choose your suite, I have to pick up a few things I left here last time I came."
Glenn nodded absent-mindedly, letting the Black Heir do his things.
"...That''s the ultra-rich kind of suite, right?" He muttered in disbelief as he walked in front of the widely spaced doors, each adorned with a silver plate bearing the name of the suite.
"The Celestial Suite, the Twilight Suite, the Dream''s Suite, the Peerless Suite..." It kept on going without stopping, the hallway seemingly extending infinitely.
"No way this is all fitting the Dormitory...there must be some kind of space machinations to explain it..." Glenn rubbed his chin before stopping in front of a random door.
"The Fated Suite...Why not?" Glenn grinned and pushed the door open, or at least he tried. His cheeks flushed red when he remembered he had to use his knife to open it, or it wouldn''t work. With a quick summon of his Identification knife, he opened the door and entered the Platinum suite.
"Wow. That''s...wow," Glenn was speechless.
The first room was a vast, opulently decorated salon with high ceilings adorned with crystal chandeliers, with some luxurious-looking leather furniture. There was even a grand piano in the center of the room as if to shock him even further. The rest of the suite wasn''t any less impressive: a private dining room with an absurdly long hand-crafted mahogany table that could probably seat twenty persons, a wine cellar, a personal library furnished with ancient tomes, a master suite, and guest suites...
"As if you''re ever going to have guests..." Diamanes remarked sarcastically.
"Shut up and let me enjoy the moment..." Glenn muttered with his eyes wide-opened. There was also a spa, a training room even more furbished than the one he had back in the Northern Town, a fucking private terrace with an infinity pool, and a kitchen that was magically furnished in ingredients and already steaming meals.
"Is this a dream...?" Glenn whispered as he crumbled on a sofa in the salon, sighing in pleasure.
"I think I understand why Sahro was saying he was treated much better here. The bastard had access to literally everything. Damn." Nelg chuckled in awe.
"As you said. Damn..." Glenn leaned back on the sofa, feeling his eyelids drooping down. He shook his head hurriedly and jumped out of this comfortable trap.
"Shit, I can''t lose time here! Redan is still MIA, I have to find him!" He hissed through his teeth before hurriedly coming out of the suite, closing the door behind him. His motivation to go and save Redan had just doubled: the sooner he would get it done, the faster he would get to rest peacefully in the Platinum suite.
Well, after killing the hell out of the Baron, and decrypting Project: Damocles, and all that...
"I''ll never get a break, will I?" Glenn realized despondently.
"No rest for the wicked, ain''t that right?"
"Shut it..."
150. Masked Intentions
"I could never get used to how silent this place is. It''s so...peaceful."
"Right?"
"Peaceful?... It just creeps me out, personally. I''m not questioning either of your tastes, but who would be comfortable in an empty palace?"
"I would."
"...Better empty than filled with people I don''t like."
Glenn, Milena, and Sahro were in the middle of their usual banter as they began planning the next day''s operation.
Well, the operation was quite big of a word, when in reality, they''d only be snooping around the black market and the Onnea''s Church. The underground and the Church were the two main forces in the Eastern Town, so if something was going on in the city, they had to be aware of it.
"So, who''s going where?" Glenn crossed his arms while looking at his companions with a questioning look. Milena smiled and pulled Javier toward her, the pale hunter letting her do so without a single change in his expression, still as dead as ever.
"Javier and I will be going to speak with the witnesses who saw the Ice Wolf, we have quite the list to check out. Oh, I feel like I''m in one of my adventure books!" Milena''s grin grew wider. Glenn sneered before shaking his head.
"You sure sound like some excited teenager. Where did your immense pride from back then go?" He taunted, making her puff her cheeks.
"That was only an...an act, to make sure no one would suspect I''m from, well, you know!" She stammered, before leaving the room with Javier, pulling him behind her without giving him a choice. Glenn and Sahro traded a glance, before chuckling together.
"Well, let''s go do the fun part, I guess. I suppose you''ve already gone to the black market, Sahro?" Glenn asked as he watched the door close behind Milena. Sahro shrugged.
"...I do know how to get there, I but have no idea of where the market is," The Black Heir rubbed the pommel of his sword, grinning. Glenn frowned before raising his hands toward the sky with confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Sahro moistened his lips and sat over a nearby table. They were discussing right in the center of the Dining Hall, which was empty of any Fixers. The whole Cleaner''s Workshop would be empty anyway if it wasn''t for the group''s presence.
"The black market never stays in one spot. The entry point always moves from one place to another, making it impossible to be found without the organizers inviting you," Sahro explained, Glenn, grumbling with a nod of understanding.
"...And I guess you''ve been invited?" Glenn theorized, only to earn a sneer from Sahro.
"Of course not, I''m a renowned Fixer. Do you know what''s the main category of tasks in the Eastern Town?"
Glenn shook his head without a clue. Sahro''s grin grew widely.
"Bounties," spat the Black Heir, before quickly adding, "...human bounties, to be precise."
He rubbed the pommel of his sword while passing his tongue over his teeth.
"I...Wasn''t aware that was a thing, and had my first weeks ruined by a few, disgusting, nobles humans," Sahro hissed scornfully, before smacking his lips and shaking his head. Glenn sneered, his eyebrows rising.
"Nobles? You know, our definition of nobility might not be the same, Sahro."
The Black Heir creased his nose.
"I mean, they''re humans who think they''re above everyone for some reason, right?"
Glenn couldn''t help but agree, as the definition seemed a little too fitting. Sahro shrugged.
"Well, those were indeed nobles. Anyway, after struggling for quite a while, without weapons nor clothes, Loran the Cleaner''s Workshop''s intendant found me, and showed me the bounties contracts," Sahro grinned and looked silently at his friend, who nodded deeply, understanding what happened next easily. Sahro waved his hand dismissively, before continuing his explanations.
"Anyway, this and that happened, the Eastern Town smelled a little better thanks to me cleaning up the filth, and I earned a reputation that might...make our investigation a tiny bit harder," The Black Heir scratched the back of his head with an awkward grin. Glenn gestured for Sahro to continue, his brows creased.
"I might well, I''m probably, no, most certainly banned from all entry points, for some, uhm, you know, probably racist reasons?" Sahro tried as he bobbed his head from left to right. Glenn rubbed the edge of his nose, unable to stop a long sigh from leaving his mouth.
"Of course, you had to kill the dumbasses working for the black market, and make all future interactions straight up impossible...great, really great..." The young man rubbed the corner of his eyes tiredly when a familiar mouth suddenly appeared in his left palm.
"It sure makes me think of someone with a certain Baron..." Diamanes mocked. Glenn closed his hand tightly out of surprise while Sahro reflexively pulled his sword out while cursing in a foreign tongue. A second of silence passed as Glenn rubbed his forehead painfully, spending every single ounce of his mental strength on not swearing at this annoying, stupid, evil entity living in his left hand. Suddenly, a muffled voice came from the closed hand, pleading.
"Guys, hey, we can talk, can''t we? Come on Sahro, my best mate!"
Sahro spat to the side before sheathing his sword back. Glenn opened his hand slowly and grimaced at the grinning mouth lying inside, mocking him in all its splendor.
"I''d rather lose my other arm than talk to you, fucking ruh sayiya..!" The Black Heir groaned before turning away from Glenn, his hand tightly clenched around his sword''s hilt.
"Hey, you know, everything you went through with Glenn, you also went through with me! I might be silent most of the time, but I''m your greatest fan!" Diamanes exclaimed happily, using shamelessly the Dining Hall''s emptiness to speak all his fill.
"That''s so unfair, I can''t even speak aloud!" Nelg complained. Glenn mentally thanked the gods that the sword was unable to say a word, before sitting on a nearby bench while leaning back comfortably on a table''s side.
"Let''s ignore this idiot for now. Do you have a solution to get into the black market?" Glenn questioned. Sahro grinned without saying a thing and picked up a bag he had previously brought in, throwing it to his friend.
Glenn caught it and opened it up, his eyebrows creasing in confusion for a few seconds, until realization dawned on him. He smiled widely, before said smile became crooked with even deeper confusion once he pulled what he thought was a mask. Instead, it was some kind of leather balaclava that seemed to be made of human skin, with the smell that went with it.
"Sahro, what the fuck is this?" He blurted out as he looked at the mask with a closer look. The more he looked at it, the more it seemed like a human face.
The Black Heir smacked his lips and raised his palms in the air.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"I don''t even know! I asked one of my..." He marked a pause and shivered, "...friends, for a solution, and that''s the bag they delivered to me in reply."
He rubbed his chin, before shrugging dismissively.
"But well, as..." he gulped, "...terrifying as those people are, they''re trustworthy. Those should help us enter the black market, one way or another."
Glenn looked at the strange human-face-like thingy, before holding it toward Sahro.
"Well, then, uhm, here you go. Just..." The young man searched for his words and bit down on his lip, "...try it on, I guess?"
Sahro took the "mask" and looked at it hesitantly, before trying to press it against his face. It stuck to his skin slightly, but only to come off with a disgusting squishing noise.
''Don''t tell Sahro, but I think that''s someone''s face he''s trying to wear right now,'' Diamanes silently commented in his host''s mind. Glenn could only agree but chose to let Sahro marinate a few more seconds, just to see if the Black Heir would eventually realize that misplaced trust might lead to some inconvenient situations. He chose to dive deeper into the bag, to see if there were more "masks" or anything else of use.
He quickly found another "mask", which he carefully placed on the table next to him, alongside a small folded note. He glanced at Sahro who was still struggling to find a way to make the "mask" stick to his face, before opening the note and silently reading it.
"Hey Mister Bounty Hunter, here''s what you''ve asked of us! These are the faces of Begar and Degar, two idiots who tried to rape up a daughter of a Skinner, earning themselves the ire of the whole gang. If you go to the Hanged Inn and give this to the weirdo in the back room, he''ll lead you to the black market. Careful though, you should bring yourself a mask and cover your delicious skin, or they might try to kill you. After all, you reduced their workforce by quite a bit last time you were here. Oh, also, we''re all very pleased to welcome you back! Don''t hesitate to visit us, we''re all impatient to see you!" There was a heart drawn at the end of the message, alongside a few red lip marks.
Glenn rubbed his nose absent-mindedly, his eyes slowly drifting between the note and the Black Heir. Nelg coughed awkwardly.
"So, how do you find my "backseat" reading? Exactly as if you read it aloud, only it''s in your mind, and I''m the one speaking!" The sword exclaimed proudly, before quickly changing his tone, "Oh, yeah, no I''m also shocked by the letter''s contents, but I mean, look at Sahro. That was a given he would make a killing with the ladies here!"
"Nelg, please shut the fuck up. I''m processing things here, it''s not the moment to make my brain struggle even more," Glenn raised his hand in front of him, the one he had used to pick the mask up. Quickly, he used Mundare over it, earning himself a questioning gaze from his Black Heir friend. Sahro gave up trying to stick the human face to his own and put it on a nearby table before nodding toward the letter.
"What''s that?" He asked with an interested look. Glenn, his face entirely drained of blood, held the note toward him without saying anything. The Black Heir took it with curiosity, swiftly reading it. His emotional state went through quite a few stages: first, it was gratefulness, then it was shock, right after that was disgust, and the last in line was fear. The paper note slipped out of his fingers before slowly drifting in the air to land on the ground.
"Glenn," Sahro asked after a long minute of silence, his face now empty both of emotions and blood.
"Sahro," replied Glenn as a fit of laughter suddenly surged from within him.
"Tell me I didn''t just try to stick someone''s dead face to my own?"
"..."
"Glenn?"
"Pfft!"
"That''s no laughing matter, Glenn!"
"Pfft...Hahahaha, you fucking idiot!" Glenn finally exploded, pointing his finger mockingly toward his friend. The Black Heir fell on a nearby bench, before retching in disgust.
"Please, urgh, cast your cleaning spell over me, I think I''m going to..." He hurriedly placed his hand in front of his mouth. Glenn laughed a bit more, before giving mercy to his friend and using Mundare over him. Sahro sighed in relief and sat as far away as he could from the skinned faces.
Glenn breathed in deeply to calm himself, before shaking his head in disbelief.
"I have so many questions. First, how the fuck can''t you even suspect it?" He questioned before letting another laugh. Sahro''s eyes were wide open as he stared at the note on the ground with visible fear.
"II thought those were some kind of special masks that let you take other people''s appearances, not a fucking skinned face!" He stammered, before turning away and hiding his face behind his only hand. Glenn couldn''t resist and laughed a bit more, before becoming slightly more serious.
"Sahro, I do have another question though," His face hardened and he crossed his arms, "...Which women did you cross for you to be so..." He trailed off and nudged his chin toward the note, making Sahro tremble and rub his face.
"They''re not women..." He replied softly, "...no, they''re monsters. True, crazy, insane monsters. Probably the only opponent I will never be able to defeat."
Glenn restrained himself from sneering, before nodding deeply.
"Yeah, women are scary. Except for Milena, of course."
"Except Milena, yeah..." Sahro shook his head. He winced and picked the human face on his side with only two fingers, before throwing it in the bag. Glenn did the same, only he used his Gravity Manipulation to do it. After carefully closing the bag up and making sure no "suspicious" smell was coming off it, Glenn and Sahro left the Dining Hall and the Cleaner''s Workshop.
"You''ll have to present them to me though," Glenn suddenly said as they strolled through the eastern city, the moonlight of the twin moons dimmed by a dense carpet of clouds. Sahro''s head snapped toward him, the Black Heir seemingly thinking for a few seconds before giving his reply.
"No," he blurted out dryly. Glenn looked at him with a slight smile, before trying again.
"Is that a definite no?"
"Yes. Trust me, some people are better unmet." Sahro said with a hint of despair, succeeding in scaring Glenn a little.
"We fought evil flesh manifestations, and you''re scared of a woman? What''s wrong with you...?" He muttered, before stopping in front of a store. The inside was lit with a soft white light, while the windows were covered in carved wooden gear that was slowly cranking for some unknown purpose.
''...That''s the most advanced technology I''ve seen in this world. Huh,'' Glenn''s curiosity was immediately aroused, and he entered the shop.
''...Tsk, "advanced technology"? That''s the equivalent of a water wheel. That''s what, the next step after the invention of metallurgy?'' Diamanes commented sarcastically. Glenn rolled his eyes and ignored him as he breathed in the mixed perfume of lacquered wood and sawdust. A small bell rang in his welcome, garnering an old woman''s attention from behind a dusty counter. Sahro followed inside the shop and was immediately drawn to the finely sculpted beasts lying on a shelf.
Glenn glanced admiratively at the shop''s contents. Be it wooden sculptures, furniture, or even grandfather clocks which surprised the young man quite a bit they had it all. The old lady hurriedly came out of the counter, adjusting an eyepatch on her left eye before coming up to him, leaning on an ancient hickory cane. She was barely half his size and looked like the gentlest soul that could live in this horrible world.
"Oh my, it''s been centuries since we last received customers? How may I help you, young man?" She asked with a shaky voice. Glenn looked down at her and smiled gently, before pointing at the grandfather clock.
"Uhm, I was just curious about this clcontraption here. I''ve never seen one before."
The old lady rubbed her eyepatch before looking at the grandfather clock.
"Well, this ain''t so surprising, young man. This is called a grandfather clock and is used to keep time. It''s quite handy, only not very portable, ho ho ho!" She laughed shakily, drawing another smile out of Glenn. With his hands on his waist, he moistened his lips and glanced back around the shop.
"Do they make it in a smaller version? A portable one, to use your words," He asked respectfully, the old lady chuckling silently before going back to her counter. She pulled a black box out of a dusty shelve and placed it on the counter, blowing air on it softly to get rid of the dust.
Glenn approached the box curiously, wondering whether he was going to get a watch, something he thought would be impossible in this day and age.
"You say that, but that''s because you forgot about Doyle''s Laboratory''s existence," Nelg remarked, earning himself a silent sneer from his host.
''I just consider the Laboratory to be a strange exception. It just doesn''t count, it''s there to seal a fucking god or something. I think. Or produce Blumar golems. Or do both. I don''t know, man...''
The old lady opened the box carefully, revealing an item glowing with a brass luster. Glenn''s eyes widened with amazement like a child finding a Christmas gift. The old lady gently took the item, which had a flat, oval shape while remaining quite thick, and pressed a small button at the top. The egg split in two, revealing a dial ticking with each passing second, a single finely crafted hand hovering right over a face marked with Roman numerals, indicating over 11. P.M.
This ancient watch was a piece of art with the engraving of glass hour nested in the other split face, gleaming under the shop''s soft light.
"That''s..." Glenn was speechless as he carefully picked the watch up, putting it next to his ear to hear the clicks more distinctly. The sound dug up an old, warm memory he thought he had forgotten, bringing a sad smile to his face. The old lady rubbed her eyepatch before pointing at the watch with a shriveled finger.
"Yes, this is a Mark I Exan egg, one of the first serial. Ho ho, I can see in your eyes that you know how priceless this jewel is," She laughed with both of her hands leaning on her old hickory cane. Sahro suddenly popped out from behind Glenn''s shoulder, giving little to no attention to the Exan-egg.
"Hello, I have a quick question..?" asked the Black Heir gently.
The old lady squinted at him, her eyes widening slightly when she took a look at him, before chuckling.
"Ho ho, ask away, young man! Anything to help a stranded Black Heir, ho ho ho..."
Sahro scratched the back of his neck, glancing at his stumped shoulder, before biting down on his lip and shaking his head.
"Do you have masks?"
151. A Sticky Skin Problem
"...Is this some magical item or something? An artifact? No, a weapon? Is it a weapon?!?" Sahro asked with forced curiosity while looking at the brass Exan-egg Glenn held. The old lady had left for the back of her shop to go and find what the Black Heir was looking for, namely, masks. Actual masks this time.
"I guess you can consider it to be an artifact, yes..." Glenn muttered as he listened to the sound of the clock ticking, one click for every passing second. The shop''s light, a soft white was making the brass contraption gleam, the engraving of the sandglass reflecting a bronze hue.
Sahro smacked his lips, before turning away without much interest. Silently, Glenn placed the Exan-egg back in its small lacquered box. He didn''t close the lid, as he had a small hope that he could buy the item. The old lady finally came back from the storeroom, two wooden masks under her arm. She pushed them on the counter, right next to the ancient watch. They were sculpted in a common-looking wood, one bearing a happy smile and the other a sad one. There were no holes for the eyes, only for the mouth. The old lady coughed in her hand lightly, before leaning on the counter and pointing at the first mask.
"Those are made from maple, and have been lacquered to reinforce their durability," She explained before picking it up and turning it around, revealing the mask''s inside. Surprisingly, unlike what the mask''s face let him think, there were two holes for the eyes indeed present, only they weren''t visible from the exterior. Glenn''s eyebrow rose in curiosity.
"The eyes, as you can see, are hidden behind a concealment spell. An old friend of mine made it, so it should be quite tough. Ho ho, why don''t you try them?"
Sahro went and stretched out his hand toward the sad mask, before freezing as he remembered the last "mask" he tried on. He forced a smile out and pointed at the happy mask.
"Why don''t you try it on, Glenn? I''ll tell you if it looks good on you!"
Glenn sighed and took the mask, before sticking it to his face. It was holding perfectly in place even though there were no straps or any similar devices. It didn''t make breathing any harder, and he could see as well as if he had no mask on. Sahro whistled.
"Well, it suits you to a T!"
The young man shrugged, before nudging his chin toward the remaining mask.
"Put yours on as well, Sahro."
The Black Heir looked at the mask reluctantly, before sighing and putting it on. It looked perfectly stuck to his skin, and his eyes were invisible under the illusional wood layer.
"Those are perfect. Excellent," Glenn smiled and took the mask off, putting it on the counter. The old lady remained silent as she watched with a smiling eye.
"I think we''ll be taking both of those. How much are they?" The young man asked as he sunk his hand in his dimensional pouch, ready to fetch any coins. The old lady rubbed her eyepatch and glanced at the Exan-egg.
"Hmm...With that," She pointed her chin at the ancient watch, "...in total, it''ll be twenty gold coins. And I''m giving you a really good price, so don''t try to haggle, young man!" She threatened with her finger raised. Glenn chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, secretly in awe at the price.
''Fuck, twenty gold? That''s the equivalent of a house in the Fringe, what the hell?''
''...I don''t think she''s lying,'' Diamanes suddenly commented. Glenn''s desire to disagree and negotiate the price dimmed down slightly, and he listened carefully to the entity''s words.
''Those masks, and more particularly this Exan-egg, watch, whatever you want to call it...They''re not common items. They are true artifacts infused with Mana. The spells on the masks are only make-up to hide their true power. I can''t tell what they do, but in my opinion, it''s all worth it. And, you can always earn more gold-killing stuff anyway...''
Glenn winced and passed his tongue over his teeth, before pulling twenty golden coins out of his pouch half-heartedly. The old lady smiled as she pocketed the gold, slipping it into a discreet pocket. She then went around the corner and patted the two''s shoulders.
"Ho ho, don''t make too many waves, young men. The Eastern Town ain''t what it used to be, after all..." She trailed off, her eye lost in the distance. Glenn moistened his lips, before putting up his mask while taking the Exan-egg and slipping it into his dimensional pouch.
''For now, I''ll keep it safely there. I''d rather not break it when it cost me so much...'' Glenn couldn''t help but grimace under his mask as he thought back to the exorbitant price. Sahro chuckled and patted the old lady''s shoulder back.
"Don''t worry, old lady, we can defend ourselves..." The Black Heir glanced around and rubbed his chin, before leaning forward toward her, "...I was curious though, are you safe here? With how the streets are currently, I''m surprised you didn''t get caught in the crossfire..."
The old lady chuckled and walked back to her counter. She adjusted her eyepatch and grinned, refusing to elaborate. Glenn and Sahro traded a glance, before shrugging in synchronization.
Everyone had their little secrets. Glenn bowed politely, forcing Sahro to do so with a slap on his neck.
"Thank you. We''ll probably visit again!"
The old shopkeeper laughed and shook her head slowly, a strange emotion appearing in her remaining eye.
"I doubt that, young man. Ho ho ho..!"
A few seconds later, they were out of the shop. Glenn tightened the bandage covering his left arm once more before pulling his sleeve back to his wrist. He was so used to rocking the rolled sleeves that it felt almost foreign to have them this way. He then pulled out a pair of black leather gloves and slipped them on, assuring this way his purple left arm wouldn''t give him away.
"Sorry Diamanes, if you have to complain, complain with Sahro, alright?" Glenn muttered as he made sure not even a spot of purple was visible. The only thing remaining would be his clothes, but he had no changes. He just chose to throw a hooded robe over it all, hiding his clothes.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
''Yeah, whatever. I''m just getting used to my freedom being robbed from me from time to time,'' Diamanes said in Glenn''s mind with a gloomy tone.
"Stop complaining, I can''t even speak aloud! Also, there''s no way you can get recognized, Glenn. You look hella suspicious, though," Nelg added. Glenn shrugged helplessly before following in Sahro''s footsteps.
''I don''t have a choice, do I?''
''Actually, you do! You could just wreck it all up with your magic and Nelg, we''d have some fun and I wouldn''t be forced to wear what''s basically a gag!'' Diamanes tried and failed to convince Glenn. The young man shook his head with a sneer, before speaking up to Sahro.
"Where''s that Hanged Inn then, Sad?" They had chosen to call themselves with the expressions on their masks to be sure they wouldn''t be recognized. Sahro had specifically prepared an outfit completely different from his usual desert clothes. He was wearing black clothes from head to toe that stuck to his skin. Over those, he had thrown a light leather armor that had also been dyed black, making him look almost like some kind of ninja.
"Or a creep," Nelg remarked.
"It''s a little further. I don''t know if it was mentioned in that intel Maron gave you, but just in case..." Sahro cleared his throat as he rubbed the pommel of the sword hanging at his waist. His voice was muffled by the mask, making it unrecognizable from how it usually was.
"The Hanged Inn is a central trading point for the Skinners, the main gang controlling this area of the town. There''s also the Street Kids and the Red Maidens, but they''re..." Glenn could imagine Sahro''s face hardening as he searched for his word under the lacquered wood mask, "...incomparable, be it in size or threat. The Skinners are the only ones deserving to be hunted, though, so keep that in mind."
Glenn nodded silently, trying to remember as much as he could from the brief he read before coming to town. The Street Kids were literally what their group''s name called them, street kids that had ganged up together to better survive the lawlessness. The Red Maidens, instead, were some priestesses for an obscure branch of the Brotherhood of Iron Blood. Glenn remembered Maron''s intel explaining that their intents were mysterious and unknown, besides maybe some blurry cooperation with the more official branches of the Iron Blood.
"I''ll do the talking this time, so just stay put," The Black Heir warned. Glenn shrugged in reply.
"Sure, sure. You''re at a home advantage, go wild..." He sneered. Sahro ignored him and turned in a shady alley almost invisible if one doesn''t look closely. The red lights disappeared one after the other, leaving them in a cold obscurity. Glenn gulped, struggling to restrain himself from casting his Sun''s Touch to get rid of the darkness.
''Hah! Afraid of the dark, now?'' Diamanes exclaimed mockingly. Glenn nodded slowly, tense.
''Well, you know, when you''ve been tortured in some obscure prisons and met some eldritch entities in dark places, you start to see things that don''t exist in the darkness. And I''m not scared, just very much uncomfortable...'' Glenn trailed off, leaving Diamanes speechless. The young man''s honesty had rendered him entirely speechless, freeing Glenn from the sarcastic comments for a little while.
Finally, after a few more twists and turns in the Eastern Town''s labyrinthic streets, they arrived in front of a rundown inn, with a skeleton hanging above the front door.
"Huh." Glenn glanced up and down at the skeleton, understanding where the Hanged Inn got its name. A few drunks were lying around or puking against walls, alongside tired prostitutes smoking cigarettes, their makeup ruined. Alongside those fellows was a disturbingly annoying group of punks with pointy haircuts laughing and bothering the prostitutes. Not that they seemed to be particularly against it, as a matter of fact, they even looked used to it.
''...I mean, I could probably take on a small gang like this one alone, right?'' Glenn silently pondered, his fists tightly clenched as he watched the disgusting creatures. Sahro leaned in and whispered in his friend''s ears.
"...Here are the "nobles" I talked about..."
Glenn smacked his lips and nodded deeply.
"I understand better now. Yeah, no wonder you''ve had fun taking care of those bounties..." Glenn wanted to spit to the side but restrained himself, so he wouldn''t garner any attention. They entered the Inn, Glenn refusing to spare the idiotic group another glance.
''Yeah, I''ll leave them be for now. I just need to find Redan, then...I''m free to do anything I want, as long as it''s under a Fixer''s bounty,'' Glenn silently calculated. Diamanes suddenly laughed, before sighing deeply.
''You need to do something about that savior''s complex of yours.''
Glenn stopped, his eyelids twitching.
''Savior''s complex? No, it''d be better to call it a "hating complex". And alongside a terrible need of exterminating everything I hate,'' replied the young man coldly, shutting Diamanes up for the second time that night.
The Inn was nothing like the one he had been in ever since his arrival in this world. There were no happy drunks, friendly card players, or pretty waitresses. No, the Inn was plunged in a thick smog, with the sound of whispers, coughs, and glasses clinking being the only one echoing in it. It was silent, dead like a cemetery, the ghosts the only ones allowed to speak. There were armed bandits no armed Skinners in every corner of the Inn, be it behind the counter, sitting down, or just moving around.
Sahro stepped forward confidently, Glenn following closely behind him. The Black Heir threw the bag he had been carrying until now on the counter, earning a suspicious gaze from the other "customers" of the Inn. The Skinner behind the counter, his arms crossed, glanced down at the bag with a judgmental gaze. Sahro nodded at the bag, not speaking a word.
The "barman" opened the bag, his eyes widening slightly as he realized what was in the bag. The corner of his lips curved upward slightly and he closed the bag before pushing it back in Sahro''s arms. Without any questions or anything, he pulled two small patches of leather with a C tattooed on them and handed them to the Black Heir.
"The man you''re looking for is in the back room. Xos, bring them to him."
A Skinner stood up from a nearby table and passed his tongue over his teeth, a rusty dagger adorning his waist. Stains of dry blood were left over the blade, traces of the horrors that had been inflicted with the weapon. The Skinner, Xos, was a skinny guy with tattooed arms leather pants, and a vest.
''He''s only wearing leather...like every skinner, it seems,'' Diamanes commented, prompting Nelg to add something.
"...You don''t think it''s all...?" The sword didn''t finish its phrase. Glenn gritted his teeth and cast the thoughts away, following the Skinner to the back room. There, sitting on a large sofa with a massive bottle of alcohol sitting on its lap, was an equally large guy. He had long greasy gray hair and was fitting a whole chicken in his mouth before washing it down with the alcohol.
He glanced at the two newcomers, looking them up and down, before beckoning them to come closer. Glenn and Sahro obeyed, the black heir throwing the bag at the fat man''s feet. He then took out the two leather plates tattooed with a C and placed them on a nearby table as a token.
The fat guy licked his lips before opening the bag up. He took out the two faces and whistled, before throwing them to the side of the sofa.
"Impressive. I suppose you want two spots?"
Sahro and Glenn nodded, still choosing to go the silent path if they could. Even if the risk of the Skinners recognizing Sahro''s voice through the mask was low, it wasn''t zero. More precaution was better than not enough. The fat man shrugged and held his hand to the side, before chanting in the same language the School of Words used. Glenn stared with his eyes wide open as space was ripped through, opening a portal to some unknown destination.
Sahro stepped into the rift without hesitation. Glenn glanced one last time at the fat man, before following his friend.
He would eventually be back for this place.
Cleaning up was becoming sort of a pleasant activity, and he did need to start feeding Nelg. Additionally, this space-ripping power was most interesting.
That made plenty of reasons to return to the Hanged Inn one day to raze it to the ground.
But now, the most important thing was to save Redan. After that, though...
Nothing will be able to stop him from having some fun with the Skinners.
152. The Totally Not Morally Wrong Market
Glenn winced under his mask as he felt a tickle in the back of his neck, sending a shiver down his spine. After a few seconds of traversing the darkness, he arrived at his destination, the black market.
"Going into an unstable rift ripping through space? That was such a good idea, Glenn. Such a good idea..." Nelg commented with a mocking tone, "...So, since when did you start having suicidal thoughts?"
''Ever since I''ve had to deal with Diamanes AND you, fucker,'' Glenn spat back. Diamanes only laughed, deciding not to join the fray. Nelg remained speechless for a few seconds, before leaving to pout in a dark corner of Glenn''s mind. The young man squinted under his mask as his eye adapted to the low brightness of the room, before widening suddenly.
He wasn''t in a "room".
No, this was a cavern. A cavern that was somehow even bigger than the one he found the sleeping Blumar golem army in. And in the said cavern was an absurd amount of small booths, all in different colors and bearing different emblems, with an equally absurd amount of people of all kinds, dealing and trading. There were caged exotic beasts, be they monsters or...humans. Sahro smacked his lips, before turning toward his friend and patting him on the shoulder.
"Alright, let''s try to not get ourselves in trouble. There are many, many..." The Black Heir drew a deep breath, "...many "noble" guys here, but there should also be many of them that might talk should they have any information about Redan."
Glenn nodded before rubbing his mask, wondering whether he would truly be able to find any information here. He threw a disgusted look at the slaves waiting to be sold, their dirty rags barely hiding their scrawny bodies. Each time they moved or turned their heads, the chains restraining them clattered, reminding him of his time in the Thorn''s Cult''s prison.
''Yeah, of course, slavery had to be a part of it. Shit...When in Rome, do like the Romans, right?''
''Who the hell are the Romans?'' Diamanes asked confusedly. Glenn didn''t even bother shaking his head and chose to invest his time in finding an interesting investigation target. There were many, between the slave traders, the dealers in illicit substances, and the shops with stolen weapons, blood still covering their blades.
"I''m spoilt for choice..." Glenn muttered, before shooting a thumbs-up at Sahro, who swiftly left to his own devices after making sure his friend was okay with his decision. The young man smacked his lips and slipped his hands in his pockets, hiding under his robe before heading for the nearest booth, a dealer of monster ingredients.
Well, that''s what the sign above the booth advertised, and Glenn had no choice but to trust it since he did not know what all of this stuff was. He rubbed his chin, trying to imagine the origins of the materials. There were claws, teeth, pelts, or scaled skins, and bones, many bones. The dealer rubbed both of his hands together, his face hidden behind a tanned leather mask. His eyes weren''t concealed by the mask, gleaming with greed as they looked at the potential client.
"Drakkens, griffons, undead, harpies, ogres, golems, whatever you want, I have it!" The dealer exclaimed as he opened his arms widely. Glenn didn''t reply and gave one last glance, before heading for another shop. He couldn''t even tell what the materials were and had even fewer ideas about how to process them. And it wasn''t like he needed any gear currently, only...
Tap!
Glenn suddenly froze and turned back, the dealer coming back, the sharp nose under the white bandana smelling money. The young man sunk his hand in his dimensional pouch hidden under his robe, hanging right next to Nelg, his sword. He pulled a small sheet of paper and held it toward the dealer, who took it and read it carefully. His eyes widened and widened the more he read about the list. Finally, he grumbled in an unknown dialect and shook his head, handing back the list to Glenn.
"Sorry, we''re all out on that stuff. Come next month, I''ll remember your mask and order some. You need to pay a hundred gold coins in advance, though," the dealer grinned and held his hand out. Glenn looked at the outstretched hand silently, before turning away and leaving once and for all.
''Hey, I''m sure you''ll find at least one ingredient!'' Diamanes tried to encourage his host half-heartedly.
"If you''re lucky, yeah. Luck isn''t much of a thing we should hope for, though, heh..." Nelg added, making Diamanes laugh. Glenn ignored both of them and headed for a booth that looked much more interesting in his eyes: the artifact shop. The sole reason for his curiosity was what was written on a sign next to the shop: Fallen Pieces for sale!
"Fallen Pieces...Let''s check this out."
This shop had pulled in many more customers compared to the previous one he checked out, with most of them dressed in ways that wouldn''t give away their identities. Masks were commonplace, as were hoods and veils.
''It''s a black market, so it kind of makes sense to hide yourself from others...'' Glenn thought while rubbing the hilt of his longsword hanging from his waist. Diamanes suddenly sneered.
''Hah, you don''t need to do any of that. I doubt there''s anything or anyone that could threaten you here. Even that mage who ripped through space used an artifact, he was only a True Initiate like you. Well, a weaker you, of course. Much, much weaker.''
Glenn smacked his lips, his head leaning slightly to the side.
''...You know Diamanes, you never explained to me how you could judge other people''s strength and all that. There''s no way you could teach it to me, right?''
The entity laughed inside his host''s mind, earning a sigh as a reward.
''Of course not. Well, nothing surprising.''
The young man made his way through the customers and arrived in front of the displayed wares. There were so many items in so many shapes and colors he didn''t even know where to put his eyes. This shop''s dealer was wearing a golden armor that made him look like a robot, with diamonds for eyes. The muffled voice behind the gold plates was the only proof that the seller wasn''t a heartless machine.
"Our Emporium proposes many choices, from lost artifacts to Fallen pieces. As always, anything that couldn''t be identified is priced at a single gold coin. For the rest, refer yourselves to the price tags," He said with a very professional tone. Glenn nodded unknowingly, ignoring the lost artifacts to focus instead on the Fallen Pieces. After all, they were supposedly scraps from other worlds. Perhaps he could find something from Earth
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Holy shit, is that a mini-fridge?" Nelg suddenly muttered, shocked. Glenn froze as he looked for what Nelg was referencing. His jaw nearly fell off when he found said item.
Sitting there, priced at a single golden coin because they couldn''t understand what used it had, was a mini-fridge with the logo "Frigidaire" on the side. Glenn rubbed his eyes, before glancing left and right. He moistened his lips, still at a loss to say anything. Finally, he looked up at the ceiling, squinting warily.
"...Is this a prank of yours, Onnea?" He muttered through his teeth, waiting for a few seconds for a reply he knew wouldn''t come. He shook his head and without even thinking, took a gold coin out of his pouch and held it toward the dealer, who took it without saying a word. The young man was so confused to find an item so...foreign right in the middle of nowhere.
''First a revolver, next a mini-fridge...what am I going to find next?'' Glenn thought with a small chuckle, wondering whether more items were coming from Earth. Unless there was some other advanced world with the Frigidaire brand producing mini-fridges. This seemed highly unlikely, but who knows? After all, it''s powered with Mana, perhaps it was indeed made elsewhere. Elsewhere, meaning another world, or maybe another dimension? The young man still didn''t know what exactly was the Moon Rift, and why it was spitting out Fallen Pieces and Fallen Ones.
Glenn pointed at the mini-fridge, the dealer nodding in reply.
"This is a mysterious item we recovered from a ruin in Thalassa. It seems like it can be fueled with Mana somehow, but we couldn''t find what use it had. Are you sure you want to buy this product?" The merchant asked one last time. The young man nodded, upon which the seller took out a thin canvas bag and made the mini-fridge slip inside it, before handing it to Glenn. He took it silently, surprised at the lack of weight. The merchant seemed to notice the surprise under the mask, as he readily explained with prepared motions.
"Our Emporium offers a single-unit dimensional bag with a weightless option for every purchase over a gold coin. We treat our customers very preciously, you see," The merchant bowed his head slightly, before heading off to help another customer. Glenn walked off when he felt something in his breast pocket move by itself. He slipped his free hand in his robe, searching himself quickly to find the probably-sentient pebble lofted comfortably in his pocket.
''...It''s a rock, it can''t be comfortable, Glenn,'' Diamanes said with a very patient tone as if he was speaking to a child. Glenn ignored him and threw the pebble up and down, before clenching it in his fist and stepping away from the Emporium. The pebble showed resistance and pulled in the Emporium''s direction. Its strength was negligible, but Glenn was still reluctant to force too much on it.
''Image if I hurt our dear pebble friend here...'' Glenn thought worriedly, before chuckling to himself.
''...I''m worrying about a stone. Is that it? Am I becoming insane? Finally?'' He sighed before going back to the Emporium. He weighted the pebble in his hand, before throwing it toward the wares. Since it was such a little stone, no one remarked on it, and Glenn quickly lost sight of it as the crowd moved to check on a new item the dealer had just taken out.
"I mean, you already have three voices in your head, if that''s not a testament to your insanity, I don''t know what is," Nelg mocked sarcastically. Glenn sighed, refusing to elaborate further on that point. Sadly, Diamanes chose otherwise.
''I guess it''s the end of the adventure for Pebble. May his...uhm, life? Yeah, may his life be long...'' The entity saluted, considering the rock to have gone MIA. A sad music rang inside Glenn''s mind, almost succeeding in making him flinch in surprise. The image of his armored self somehow playing violin within his mind appeared in his eyes, rendering him speechless.
A loud bang suddenly echoed near the shop, and the table holding the wares crumbled down, the wares slipping on the ground. The dealer jumped in front of the table, his golden armor gleaming under the dim light of the cavern. Steam suddenly came out of the interstices, and he raised his hand in front of him.
"Please stand back, or I shall act violently. I apologize for the inconvenience."
One man particularly badly disguised, his eyes and nose revealed and his mouth barely hidden under a dirty cloth shot out from the crowd and swooped a few artifacts from the ground, before running back into the crowd. The golden-armored dealer silently raised his palm and aimed at the thief. A puff of steam came out of it, almost instantly followed by a small projectile. It whistled in the air as it flew right into the thief''s back. The projectile pierced right through the sloppy leather armor the thief was wearing. A second later, the thief fell on the ground, the stolen wares rolling on the ground. The bystanders didn''t say a word as they watched the scene happen.
Sadly for Glenn, he had missed most of the action as he was busy dealing with the two very, very comical and very funny entities bothering him from inside his mind, playing music for the lost rock and chanting in his honor.
''May he be welcomed in Rockland, the paradise of all rocks, and find the rock of his life,'' Diamanes prayed with a solemn tone.
"...They said he had a will of stone. They were right," Nelg sniffed sadly.
Diamanes and Nelg kept on going, driving Glenn crazy. Right in the middle of the banter, a small pebble rolled down and touched the young man''s foot. The two voices died down, letting Glenn remark it. He kneeled and picked the pebble up, looking at it with a lost look.
''Oh.''
"...Is this the legendary story of the stone''s revival?" Nelg whispered dramatically.
The pebble seemed to glow slightly with a new strange hue, but besides that, it seemed fine. Well, as fine as a rock can be. Glenn''s eyes drifted away from the stone and went for the store, as well as the broken table. He looked back at the stone, pondering.
''No way this rock did this, right? It''s a rock, how is it even moving?''
''Heh, rolling, duh,'' Diamanes said mockingly. The young man serving as the annoying entity''s host hesitated, before looking at the stone with a closer look.
He couldn''t find anything new besides the fact that it was now shining slightly with a silver hue.
Glenn shrugged and was about to put the stone back in his pocket when a steely hand gripped his arm. The Emporium salesman grabbed him violently, his diamond eyes seemingly fixed on the young man''s closed hand.
"I apologize sir, but I''ve just witnessed you picking something off the ground. I have to verify if that is not one of our wares..." His muffled voice conveyed a small hint of a threat, but Glenn didn''t particularly feel in danger. He easily pulled his hand out of the steel grip, before opening it and showing the pebble. The seller remained silent for a few seconds, the silence broken by Glenn''s sigh.
"This is a pebble. Do you want it? Is the Emporium interested in this shiny pebble?" Glenn asked with a sarcastic tone, the seller''s lips remaining tightly sealed. The young man felt an opportunity presenting itself and he pressed on.
"Well, I can sell it to your Emporium, if it''s so interesting to you," Glenn proposed, some people in the crowd surrounding them snickering in front of his arrogance. The Emporium dealer looked at the pebble for a few more seconds, before turning away and aiming his hand at the wares.
"Due to this unfortunate event, someone managed to steal a rare artifact made out of Crying Jade. It is a loss our Emporium refuses to bear, and so, we offer a free identified Fallen Piece of lower grade for the one who will find our missing artifact. It''s a ring with the ability to change the weight of the bearer at will, and which possesses mind-scarring detriments. If anyone finds said artifact, present yourself to me. In the meanwhile, the Emporium shall close its doors for a few hours."
As soon as he pronounced these words, his golden glove trembled as a large cloud of steam came out of it. The wares dispersed on the ground suddenly rose in the air, before being vacuumed inside the glove. Glenn watched while silently rubbing the pebble in his breast pocket. He couldn''t care less about the Crying Jade ring or the reward, no, right now there was only one thing in his mind.
Why the hell was the pebble heavier?
153. The Indigo Bureau
Glenn patted the rock sitting in his breast pocket, before shrugging and turning away. Figuring out what was up with the sentient rock could wait a little longer. He''d have all the time in the world to experiment and test stuff once he''d get back Redan and have ripped that bastard Howard to pieces. The young man gritted his teeth just thinking of the dirty noble, already imagining himself slicing the cheap vampire to small bloody bits...
''So, let''s ignore brother Pebble for a moment here,'' Diamanes suddenly commented with a serious tone, ''...and figure out what we''re supposed to find in this black market. Because it''s all great and all to be there, but what is it we''re even searching for?''
The young man picked his ear while strolling through the black market, his face hidden behind the wooden smiling mask.
''It''s pretty simple. There should be information dealers or even traces of the Thorn''s Church. I''m sure if we look hard enough, we''ll find an office or something...'' Glenn pressed his lips together, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword. There were so many booths, so many shops and dealers, there had to be one selling intel.
"Now, the actual question should be: what does an information broker look like?" Glenn muttered under his breath as he observed every booth.
"Maybe a suspicious guy wearing a robe standing in a dark corner should do the trick?" Nelg proposed, earning a sneer out of his host.
''Tsk, there''s no way it''s so simple. It should be some kind of secretive agency, with a name like "Hidden Moon", or "Camellia Secrets", or something along those lines, you know?''
Nelg smacked his lips, shrugging under his silver armor.
''I mean, I was saying that just because that guy is standing there, just...well, standing and looking kind of sus, so I thought...'' he trailed off as Glenn quickly searched for said man. He didn''t take long to find him, being the most conspicuous person in the whole black market, just standing there while trying to look mysterious. The suspicious man was wearing a hooded black robe, like most black-market customers, the only difference being that a purple ring was embroidered on the back of the robe.
Glenn blinked, before shrugging and deciding to try his luck. The black-robed man noticed him and rubbed his scrawny hands.
"What do you want?" He asked dryly. Glenn pondered for a few seconds before answering.
Intel, he replied briefly. The hooded man looked left and right, before gesturing at the young man to follow him. Glenn complied without saying a word, speechless.
''...As simple as that? Really?'' The young man couldn''t believe it, while the two voices in his head were taking the time of their life, filling his head with mocking laughter.
Glenn ignored the pair as he followed the suspicious guy. A minute or two later navigating the black market, they arrived in front of a new shop that possessed a more permanent look compared to the others. It was a small house with a black roof and worn-out walls. It looked almost like a ruin. Glenn glanced around, before recognizing the first booth he looked at, with the white bandana guy selling monster materials.
''...How did I not notice this house earlier...?'' Glenn creased his eyebrows, his perplexity hidden under his mask. The mysterious robed guy knocked on the house''s door. After a few seconds of waiting, the door opened and a hand strapped in bandages extended, dropping a few coins in the mysterious man''s hand. The robed guy excused himself and swiftly left, leaving Glenn to enter the small house. The young man smacked his lips and entered.
The door closed behind him, leaving him alone in the dark room. A second later, purple flames came to life inside two dark metal braziers in each corner of the room, letting him see a little more of the room. There was a chair facing a wall, over which two holes had been carved, one in the shape of a slit, the exact size to let a coin slip through, and the other to let the sound pass.
At least, that''s what Glenn guessed. The young man gave a last glance to the room, finding it extremely bare and basic, as long as the dark metal braziers were ignored of course. He looked at the chair facing the hole and was about to sit on it when he thought about something. He picked the chair up and placed it a meter to the side, just so he wouldn''t be right in front of the hole.
''...Is this carefulness? Am I dreaming?'' Diamanes commented with disbelief. Nelg echoed his words with a chuckle, before adding something of his own.
"After all the brushes against death Glenn experienced, it''s only normal, isn''t it?"
Glenn kept on ignoring the both of them. He heard a rustle on the wall''s other side, the sound of a chair dragged against the ground, then nothing. The young man tapped his fingers on his knees, wondering whether he should speak first, or if he should wait patiently. Just in case, he remained silent and leaned back in his chair, trying to imagine the other person behind the wall.
"Welcome to the Indigo Bureau. Informations are divided into ten ranks," said a muffled voice suddenly. Glenn straightened himself up and listened carefully.
"They range from rank one to rank ten. The higher the information''s rank, the more expensive it is. Ask your question, and you shall know the price to hear the answer," the muffled voice explained. Glenn rubbed his chin behind his mask.
''...Let''s try to see how good they are first with something I already know, before asking about Redan,'' He decided, before crossing his arms.
"What happened to Maron''s expedition in Palancar?" It was direct, without any context or precisions. Glenn had specifically chosen something relatively simple to know since the workers were sure to spill the beans or even the mercenaries. Nonetheless, since the events of Palancar happened outside of King''s Rise walls, he expected it to be in the lower ranks.
"...Information of rank one: a single gold coin," the voice replied after a few seconds. Glenn fished for the money and slipped it in the hole meant for this effect, secretly surprised.
''Lowest rank? Alright, I wonder how expensive the question about Redan will be.''
"The Maron''s expedition encountered a remnant of an evil god, the Fallen Mother, that managed to take control of the town and prepared a city-wide sacrifice to power a ritual. The ritual was stopped thanks to the efforts of some Fixers Maron hired, namely the Dark-Gold Fixer Glenn, the Dark Gold Fixer Sahro, the Gold Fixer Javier, and the Gold Fixer Josh. There were many losses and was a complete disaster, be it for Palancar or the Maron''s Company. Nonetheless, these kinds of events usually end with the entire annihilation for the region, so it''s estimated as a positive outcome."
Glenn restrained a whistle from leaving his mouth, impressed. They had summed it up pretty well while presenting the individuals who had played an important part in the events. The young man leaned forward and took a deep breath before asking the question to which he needed an answer.
"What is the current status of Redan, the Ice Wolf?"
There was a long silence behind the wall, much longer compared to the first question he had asked.
"...Information of rank seven: three hundred and fifty gold coins, or the honest reply to three questions," the voice finally replied. Glenn gulped and passed his tongue over his teeth, his eyes wide open.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
''Three hundred and fifty gold coins! You can buy the whole Northern Town with that much money!'' Even though he had earned quite a bit of money with all the recent events he took part in, his savings didn''t exceed one hundred and fifty gold coins in total. He had managed to save eighty gold with all the jobs he had taken, and the rest had come from Maron as support, to thank him for saving his life both in Palancar and in the Blumar Quarry.
Nevertheless, it wasn''t enough.
"I''ll pay with the three questions," Glenn hissed through his teeth. He had to get the information on Redan, no matter the cost. If he couldn''t pay with money, he''d have to be satisfied with any other choice he was presented.
"The Indigo Bureau warns you: we own ways to detect through lies. If you reply wrongly to a single one of the questions, the deal is void, and you will be banned from using our services for a year," the voice warned. Glenn bit down on lip, taking a few seconds to think about it.
''What questions could they ask of me?''
"...What if I do not know the answer to your questions?" Glenn asked carefully, refusing to let himself get scammed because he wasn''t prudent enough.
"The Indigo Bureau knows which questions their customers can reply to, and which they can''t. Of course, we can also see if you''re telling the truth. If you don''t know, then so be it."
Glenn sighed in relief before clenching his hands together.
"Let''s go with the three questions then," He gritted his teeth, ready to hear them. They made him wait for a few more minutes, before asking their first questions.
"What events led to the metamorphosis of the CEO of the Maron''s Company?"
The young man remained silent for a few seconds, baffled. If they asked that question, it''s because they knew who he was. Nothing should give up his identity, and yet...
"Perhaps they deducted it by the questions you asked? First, something about the Maron Company, then Redan. The only common point between the two is that they''re our allies," Nelg theorized, making Glenn regret asking the first question. That''ll teach him to underestimate an intelligence agency.
''Now, let me take over. You''re going to reply exactly that...'' Diamanes suddenly interjected. Glenn listened to his instructions and felt the corner of his lips curve upward slightly. They wanted to show that they knew about him. Fine.
"Maron ended up this way due to an unfortunate encounter with Doyle, the Lightbringer," he replied, smiling widely under his mask. This was the complete truth. Had they never stopped by the Blumar Quarry, and met Doyle Malory there, Maron would have remained the annoying little merchant still corrupted by the influence of the Fallen Mother. The voice behind the wall remained silent for a few minutes, before asking a new question.
"Who is the Lightbringer?"
Glenn rubbed his chin, pleased.
''This wasn''t the question they first wanted to ask of you, so you earned yourself a free one there. Thank me later,'' Diamanes grinned under the bandages and the black glove covering him.
''Thank you, Diamanes.''
"The Lightbringer presented himself as Doyle Malory, who self-described as One Who Shall End This World, or a Fallen One. I don''t know much else about him, except that he loves human flesh and is immensely old and insane."
''And that''s one free question. Excellent. Nice job Diamanes. Now, the only thing I''d like them not to ask is where Doyle is since it''s in the Laboratory that I''m already planning to go back to for more exploration. It would be sad for all those treasures of technology to fall into someone else''s hands.''
The sound of a pen scribbling down came from behind the wall before silence occupied once again the room. Glenn straightened himself once more, ready to hear the third and last question.
"...Did the Smith of the Northern Town''s Cleaner Workshop produce a new Soul Weapon?" finally asked the voice after long minutes of waiting. Glenn felt a chill in his back and sweat pearled down on his forehead, sticking to the wooden mask.
''...How do they know about that? Shit, are the Smith and Rusty in trouble because of Nelg?''
"Why would it be my fault? I didn''t ask to be born!" The sword protested. Glenn shook his head and gulped heavily, before replying as succinctly as he could.
"...Yes."
''...Well, it doesn''t matter if it''s succinct or not if you just straight up reply "Yes", you bastard!'' Diamanes laughed mockingly. Glenn dismissed the entity''s voice away, much more concerned about listening to the Indigo Bureau''s reply. Finally, he would be able to learn where Redan was. After a long while, probably around fifteen minutes of wait, the muffled voice finally replied.
"The Ice Wolf, Redan, was last seen five days ago in the Red District, in the company of Baron Conrad and ten of his knights, as well as one member of the Thorn''s Church. The Ice Wolf was unharmed but remained extremely reluctant to proceed with the Baron. The lead dries up near Lark Avenue, where the presence of bandits and strange creatures forced us to stop our investigations. The suspected parties are Baron Conrad, an unknown upper echelon of the Thorn''s Church, and a higher ranked noble pulling the strings whose identity is veiled under the King''s Seal."
Glenn''s grin grew widely as he tightly clenched his fist, feeling a surge of adrenaline enter his veins. He knew exactly where to start searching for, and that''s exactly what he needed! He clasped his hand on the edge of his seat, biting down on his lips to restrain himself from pumping up his fist and exclaiming aloud his happiness and excitement.
''Fuck yeah! I love it when things go so well!'' Exhilarated, he took a few seconds to calm his racing heart, the wide grin under his mask refusing to go away.
"Don''t forget to thank me for finding the weird guy with a black robe," Nelg reminded his host proudly. Glenn let a sigh escape from his mouth. He already had everything he needed. What else could he ask the Indigo Bureau? And what was this "King''s Seal"? Could the mysterious ruler of King''s Rise be implicated with the Thorn''s Church and Redan?
''The mystery deepens...''
Right when he was lost in his thoughts, the muffled voice suddenly talked again.
"The Indigo Bureau wishes to ask you another question, in exchange for an information we judge might be necessary to you. Would you accept?"
Glenn rubbed his wooden mask for a few seconds, before grinning widely. Too bad they couldn''t see him do so, or they''d have seen wickedness in person.
"Ask away, and I shall see if it''s worth it for me to answer."
There was a sound of rustling paper, soon followed by the voice once again.
"Where is Doyle Malory, the Lightbringer?"
The young man moistened his lips, hesitant.
''Should I tell them, or should I not? What would they get from finding Doyle anyway?''
Nelg didn''t waste a second to come up with a reason.
"My best bet would be military might. They probably want to sell the information on how to metamorphose people into half-Blumar humans to nobles, so they can enhance their soldiers. Imagine a powerful Knight suddenly becoming almost immune to spells and Aura. They would become invincible."
Glenn grinned and crossed his arms.
''What they don''t know is that the only reason Maron is alive is probably thanks to his god, Plutus, and that Doyle has nothing to do in Maron''s transformation, besides ripping the poor merchant''s limbs. Heh, maybe it will fuck over a few nobles...Let''s pass them the ticking bomb, and I''ll pick up the loot off their dead bodies in the Laboratory. Haha, I like that idea!'' The young man tilted his head to the side, the grin on his face growing even wider.
"You''ll find him somewhere in the Blumar Quarry''s depths, the one situated near the Still Peak. I don''t know where exactly, since it''s underground, but I''m sure if someone searches hard enough, they''ll find the bastard."
The sound of a pen scribbling paper echoed once more behind the wall. After a few more minutes, the voice finally gave away the promised information.
"The Church of Onnea is also implied in the affair. They sent their main forces to Lark Avenue three days ago, and they have yet to come back. This has caused unrest among the citizens of Eastern Town, and most criminals are using this opportunity to do as they please. Additionally, a strange influx of creatures has been noticed in the Eastern Town, and some of the local gangs are forced to deal with them to protect their members. Currently, the Eastern Town is at the lowest of the low."
Glenn nodded slowly, grateful for the knowledge. It probably wasn''t worth as much as what he just gave away, but he didn''t feel like it was a waste. No, it was more of an investment to maintain a good relationship with the information broker. The young man stood up dusted off his pants and headed for the door, stopping and turning around when the muffled voice spoke again.
"The Indigo Bureau is very thankful for your patronage. As a gift, any information on "Glenn, the Grinning Demon, the Hand of the Devil, or the Crazy Hero", has been locked behind rank 5 privileges. We''re impatient to see you again."
The young man felt a shiver down his back, before shaking his head dejectedly. He already knew they were aware of his identity, but hearing them say it so clearly was something else.
''At least, you can consider this like your investment already starting to pay you back. And technically, you only paid a single gold! What a steal!'' Diamanes remarked. Glenn grinned, before turning back toward the exit.
"...Likewise. Goodbye." He opened the door and left the Indigo Bureau, breathing out deeply in relief once he was away from there. He turned back to glance at the small ruined house, only for his heart to miss a beat.
The Indigo Bureau was gone. Completely gone, like a mirage.
"What the...?" He muttered, shocked.
''...So we''re just not going to address your new nicknames? Hmm?'' Diamanes laughed at him, followed by Nelg to add yet another layer.
"I don''t know which one is my favorite...the Hand of the Devil is too associated with Diamanes, so no...The Crazy Hero just feels like you''re an insane guy...Hah, the Grinning Demon is the best!"
Glenn crouched down and took his face in both of his hands, sighing deeply.
"Please...both of you...shut the fuck up for once..."
''Never!''
"Ditto!"
154. Stealth Check: Critical Failure
"Well, we sure did learn a lot, didn''t we?" Glenn stretched with a pleased look, ignoring as best he could the mockeries of the two entities living freely in his mind.
"Absolutely! And among all of that, the most important thing was certainly that people called you the Grinning Demon!" Nelg laughed, soon followed by Diamanes.
''Man, how good is the Devil''s Hand? Can''t you rename yourself like that for your whole life? This is sick!''
Glenn''s brain switched to the not-listening mode and he walked away into the black market, trying to find his Black Heir comrade.
"It''s great to split up for efficiency, but why didn''t he tell me how to leave the damn place before...?" The young man cursed under his breath while pretending to bear attention to the different wares displayed in the various booths. There were many interesting items, like armor engraved with strange protection runes, swords of alien shapes, and even eggs of unknown beasts.
If the black market had one thing going for it, it was the diversity of the items presented, that was for sure. Glenn leaned over one table and rubbed his chin absent-mindedly, trying to find out where Sahro could have gone to investigate. The item he was falsely interested in was a Spatial Shard, at least, that was what the sign next to it advertised. To Glenn, it only looked like a slightly darker amethyst than usual, but he was no specialist. What he did know though, was that he was never going to buy that shit for a hundred gold coins.
"Sir, this is one of our best products. Produced by Sir Lancaster of the Dimensional Travel study group of the Magi Brotherhood, this is an authentic Spatial Shard, rendering teleportation possible with a drop of blood or a bit of Mana!" The seller presented, his eyes smiling under his skull mask. Glenn didn''t reply to him, only glancing at the "Spatial Shard" a few more seconds, before shrugging and leaving the booth.
The second he left the booth, someone shoved him out of the way, pushing him into a crowd of people. Glenn wasn''t expecting it and crashed into them, earning himself a more than distasteful reaction.
"You drunk bastard! What the hell do you think you''re doing!" blurted out the massive man he had landed into. Shirtless so he could exhibit his similarly massive muscles, with only a brown balaclava to cover his face, the giant punched angrily toward Glenn. The young man hurriedly ducked, the fist passing right over his head and knocking out another customer who was in the middle of buying some kind of snake-shaped sword.
"Urgh!"
"Hey, why did you do that? Call the security!" One of the knocked-out guy comrades called out, before unsheathing a short machete and rushing at the giant man. The machete guy and the giant man suddenly began to fight it out, Glenn using the occasion to escape away.
''I must not make waves. I really, really want to fight, but I have to keep my abilities hidden. I can''t get recognized now, or I might have the whole black market coming after me. Thank god, the Indigo Bureau doesn''t seem like it wanted to share the information of my presence with anyone here.'' Glenn grimaced and quickly left the scene, realizing who was behind the whole mess. It was a Skinner, as the human leather clothes he was wearing suggested. The Skinner was running in a precise direction, teeth clenched and scowling.
Glenn followed, determined to make him pay for the disrespect.
''YEAH! KILL THE FUCK OUT OF HIM!!!'' Diamanes cheered, earning a sneer of contempt from his host.
"You dumb bastard, I just want him to apologize for causing the mess! I''m not killing him just because he pushed me!" Glenn muttered, dodging someone trying out a new weapon in the street. The Skinner skillfully navigated the black market, Glenn failing to catch up.
"...He does skin people, though," Nelg remarked. Glenn tried to ignore the feeling of hesitation in his heart making him want to grab his longsword and throw it at the runner, and continued to chase the Skinner.
Hey! Wait! He yelled as he stretched out his arm, leaping over a nasty outstretched foot aimed at tripping him. Without hesitating for a single second, he landed with both feet on the trap, making its owner scream painfully.
''Shit, I''m going to lose him!'' Glenn clenched his teeth and used his Gravity Manipulation to pull a nearby stone right into the feet of the Skinner, making him fall face first on the ground.
"Argh! Fuck!" the Skinner cursed, scrambling to his feet. Glenn grabbed him by the vest and pulled him back.
"Excuse me, sir?" Glenn asked politely, his smile hidden under his mask. The Skinner turned, nose bloody and eyes angry.
"What the fuck do you want? Who the fuck are you?" He spat, spraying his wooden mask with spittle. Glenn blinked, before turning back and pointing at the now full-blown fight, where two groups were exchanging spells and other kinds of attacks.
"You, well, pushed me into that guy, and involuntarily caused this fight. Could you please apologize to me, firstly, then to them? I''d be very grateful," Glenn asked as gently as he could, the Skinner blinking at him crazily.
"Are you fucking insane? Get the fuck out of my way!"
Glenn''s polite smile cracked. He reached for his longsword, infusing it with Mana to awaken it. Its shape changed into its mystical form, still hidden under his black hooded robe.
"...Should I just kill him?" The young man thought out loud, the Skinner reaching for a knife hanging at his waist while spitting another curse. A second later, a loud explosion shook the cavern, diverting Glenn''s and the Skinner''s attention from each other. Most customers went and reached for their weapons or prepared their spells, ready to fight. Some also went to hide behind powerful guards, shaking as they looked around for the source of the tremor.
The Skinner cussed out once again and sheathed his knife back, before ignoring Glenn and running away toward the explosion.
"Well, it''s starting to annoy me, and you do skin people after all..." The young man sighed and lifted his sword, before slashing in the Skinner''s direction. The man''s arm suddenly fell off from him in a fountain of blood.
"ARGHHH!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!" The Skinner screamed as he held his bleeding shoulder, before being suddenly pulled by Nelg''s mystical force. He flew out in Glenn''s direction, who reached out and grabbed his throat.
"So, let''s start this again, but I''ll add something to it. First..."
Boom!
Another explosion shook the cavern, but Glenn continued, undeterred.
"You should apologize when you commit wrongdoings. Secondly..."
"ARGHHHH!!! IT HURTS!!!"
"...Secondly, you should stop skinning people. Just don''t do it, alright, and I might not kill you. Capisce?"
"WHAT THE FUCK DOES CAPISCE MEAN?!?"
Diamanes and Nelg laughed inside Glenn''s mind, mocking him. The young man sighed and threw the terrified Skinner away before looking at the source of the explosions further away.
"Well, going unnoticed: failed. As usual, I''ll say," Nelg commented mockingly, before following with a more curious tone, "...By the way, how did it feel? Was the swing good? Does it feel good to swing me?"
Glenn blinked and shook his head, ignoring how weird the question was. He jumped over a booth and ran from shop to shop toward the explosions.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
"No way Sahro didn''t see this. I''m sure I''ll find him there, wondering whether I''m the one blowing everything up. Hehe, for once, it ain''t me..." The young man grinned as he quickly went toward his goal. His grin quickly melted away when he recognized the human-sized cages and their prisoners.
"Shit...Should I use the occasion to free them?" Glenn pondered aloud, his bastard sword gleaming with mystical light, the hand guard covering his hand pulsing lightly. Suddenly, he recognized a familiar flash of blue electricity, followed by a scream of pain. The young man blinked, before rushing forward.
"Sah! Sad!" Glenn almost shouted out the name of his friend, only to make up for it at the last minute. The blue lightning appeared again, only to stop right next to him. Sahro appeared on one knee, blood flowing from a wound on his forehead, gasping for air.
"Hah...Hah...Hah...Sorry about the mess, GHappy...Cough!" Sahro spat out a small clot of blood before pushing up on his sword to stand up once again. A group of people arrived the way the Black Heir came from, a heteroclite team of six individuals.
"...Do you mind explaining to me what''s going on? A quick summary will do the trick," asked Glenn as he held his sword with both hands, his eyes riveted to the incoming enemies. There were three mages with spells twirling above their heads and three knights. The first was armed with twin swords, the second with a spear, and the third with a double-edged straight sword with a flat tip. Sahro drew a deep breath and wiped the blood off his face, sparkles of electricity running down his sword.
"...There''s a slave I, no, we need to save. It''s a...You know."
Glenn understood directly when Sahro refused to elaborate.
''It must be another Black Heir. Well, I was only trying to keep it civil because of Sahro, but if I have the right to let loose and try out my sword, well...''
The young man''s grin grew wide as he cut toward the nearby cages, slicing up the bars but not hurting the prisoners, effectively freeing them.
"Don''t mind if I do, then! Do your thing, Sad, I''ll cover for you!" Glenn laughed madly as he charged forward, Mana flowing down his right arm into his sword, powering it up to the maximum. The twin swords guy lunged toward him, sending a cross-shaped Aura blade his way.
"Hup!" Glenn clenched his teeth and slashed downward, cutting right through the attack and pulling the twin-sword guy in. He flew right in the young man''s way, unable to defend himself due to the unusual nature of Nelg''s powers. Without losing a second, Glenn made his sword rotate and went for an upward cut, slicing him from the left foot to the right ear. Blood splashed left and right from Glenn as the two parts of the enemy fell beside him.
"One down, five more to go!" Glenn grinned and turned toward the five other guys, just in time to see a wave of projectiles coming his way. He paled and hurriedly used his Gravity Manipulation to make himself weightless and fly away, narrowly avoiding a fire spear, five boulders, and
"Shit!" Glenn felt something grab at him and pull him toward his attackers while letting him stay in the air. One of them, a long-haired mage with a pointy nose, seemed particularly focused as he muttered under his breath without stopping.
''Telekinesis!''
Glenn lifted his left hand toward the said mage, hesitating only for a single second to use Diamanes'' power. That second was enough time for the two other mages and the three knights to attack once again, forcing the young man on the defensive. Three fire arrows flew his way, burning brightly as they reached for his limbs. Glenn tried to hack at them, but due to his lack of foothold, he couldn''t properly protect himself. He blocked two of the arrows, but one landed on his left leg and burned the black robe away before damaging slightly his suit under it. Thankfully, the suit was supposed to be a little fire-proof, so Glenn wouldn''t go up in flame directly.
The young man winced before switching out his Gravity Manipulation, making himself a few tons heavier. The pointy nose mage suddenly gasped and blood surged out of his nose. The telekinesis failed due to the mage losing control and Glenn was freed, landing on the ground with a loud bang. He felt like he had become an actual boulder, and couldn''t move an inch. The ground shattered under him, rifts opening up all around his position. He swiftly switched his weight again and dodged to the side, just in time for a stone spike to pass by him.
"Fuck me, Sad where are you!" He shouted before aiming his left hand at the fire mage, who was chanting a big spell. A large fireball was floating above his head, growing with each passing second. Without wasting a second, Glenn shot out a Carbon Blade toward the mage, the invisible, sharp projectile flying through the air silently. Right as it was about to hit the fire mage, the straight-sword guy blocked it, surrounding his weapon and himself in a steel-coloured Aura.
The massive fireball suddenly flew out extremely fast, forcing Glenn to brace himself as he summoned whatever image he could think of to protect himself.
"DEFENSE, DEFENSE!!!" The ground suddenly rose into a large belt of small asteroids gravitating around Glenn and absorbing the brunt of the damage. The heat still passed through and Glenn felt his hair catch on fire slightly. He gritted his teeth and ignored it, lunging through the flames and stabbing forward with his sword. A beam of Mana shot out of Nelg before being blocked by the straight sword guy once again. Only, his sword suddenly flew out of his hands this time to land in Glenn''s hands.
The young man grinned and swiftly slipped the straight sword into his dimensional pouch, successfully disarming the straight-sword guy. Right as he was about to rejoice about that news, a force stuck him in place as a volley of stone bullets shot out his way. Right behind them was the spear guy, who had remained on standby until now to find an opportunity. Glenn gasped and used the asteroid belt spell he had just come up with once more, before infusing them with the power of Nitrogen with Diamanes'' help.
''I should have used this earlier, damn it!'' Glenn thought desperately as he felt more and more of his hair burning off helplessly.
The stone bullets were deflected easily, but the spear guy went through the asteroid belt as if it were butter. Glenn raged and forced through the telekinesis to put his sword in front of him, just in time to stop the spear from piercing his heart. The now-weaponless guy jumped over the spear guy and kicked down with a flash of steel Aura, ready to smash Glenn to bits. The telekinesis restricting the young man suddenly disappeared, letting Glenn use his Gravity Manipulation to pull himself away from the attack. He flew in the air and charged a Blackhole while slashing in the weaponless guy''s way, who hurriedly jumped to the ground and dodged the attack.
The fire mage and the stone mage suddenly combined their forces into one spell, chanting together as a magma atrocity surged from the ground, some golem with a horse''s lower body and an ogre''s upper body. All of that was in a massive version that towered over Glenn even though he was flying in the air.
A blue electric line suddenly appeared in Glenn''s sight and he watched the weaponless guy''s head being lopped off before the spear guy lunged forward and managed to stop Sahro in his electrical rush. The sword and the spear clashed with a clanging sound while Glenn tried to find a way to deal with the Magma Golem. He didn''t take long to decide to use his most powerful attack, the Nitrogen Lance. He charged his Blackhole with Nitrogen, initiating the spell while praying to not be attacked by anyone, before shooting the devastating ice beam toward the newborn magma golem. The beam pierced straight through it while freezing the magma and transforming the leftovers into a strange but impressive statue of volcanic stone and obsidian.
The two mages were dumbfounded at the sight, giving Glenn the occasion to push a little further. He glanced at the telekinesis mage, only to find him with his body sliced in four different parts, electrical current still running through his corpse.
''Sahro must have dealt with him already, that''s why the telekinesis came off earlier!'' Glenn realized, before slashing toward the two mages. Without a knight to protect them, they were forced to hurriedly chant defensive spells. A rock and a fire wall surged in front of the attack, blocking it at the last second. Glenn deactivated the pulling skill so he wouldn''t receive the fire and stone bits in his face, and used his Gravity Manipulation above the two mags to make the cavern''s ceiling much heavier. It crackled and collapsed, a huge boulder landing right atop the two mages, crushing them into a bloody pulp.
At the same time, Sahro lunged forward with his stump, surprising his adversary as the invisible, lightning arm seized the enemy and struck him dead. The spear guy fell to the ground, his flesh charred black, sparks of electricity still running through his corpse.
Glenn glanced around once more, failing to find another enemy, and allowed himself to breathe out in relief. He dismissed Nelg''s awoken shape when he was reminded of his head on fire thanks to the unbearable heat.
"ARGH, DAMN IT!!!" He sent a short wave of Nitrogen into his hair, killing off the fire. Sahro mindlessly stabbed his sword in one of the corpses, confirming their death. Glenn sheathed his sword and dusted his hands off, looking at the chaos they had made. Every cage had been sliced open, their occupants long gone from the fight. Only the beasts remained imprisoned, a wise choice as they might have tried to eat their saviors.
"Phew, well, that was close! Do you mind telling me what you were doing while I was facing off the six bastards at the same time?!?" Glenn questioned with an accusing look, Sahro cleaning his blade on a small sheet of fabric before sheathing it.
"I was opening every cage. We needed a distraction to occupy the black market guards, what best but runaway slaves?" The Black Heir explained, his grin hidden under his sad mask. Glenn remained speechless for a few seconds, before chuckling in disbelief.
"Anyway, do you mind presenting me the person worth all this mess?" Glenn crossed his arms, curious. It''d be the first time he''d meet another Black Heir than Sahro inside King''s Rise, and that in and of itself was surprising. Sahro nodded and led him to a cage nearby, still occupied. He leaned in and helped the person inside it come out, supporting them.
Glenn''s eyes widened and he felt his heart miss a beat. Two whistles echoed in his mind as if to mirror his current thoughts.
"Damn, she is hot."
''A godly beauty. Wow.''
Sahro sighed and stepped away, letting the woman stand on her feet.
"Happy, I present to you Liara."
Glenn couldn''t avert his eyes, shocked.
''Guys, I think I might be in love.''
155. Hot Pursuit
Glenn took a quick second to gather his thoughts, closing his eyes and opening them again. Liara was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, so beautiful she could be put on the same pedestal as Onnea herself, a goddess. The young man calmed his heart, flustered. Even though Sahro called her a Black Heir, she had a much lighter skin tone than him, an olive tone of skin lightly tanned by the sun. She had long, white flowing hair and deep golden eyes, her lips and jaw finely drawn like a fine piece of art. Her expression was cold, and there was only emptiness in her beautiful golden eyes. Her arms were frail and malnourished, and yet, the sight of her was still breathtaking. And as all Black Heirs, she had a white mark on her forehead, only hers was a cross. A very simple cross that reached into her white hair and went down to her nose, gleaming with a strange and mystical white energy.
''A princess. She should be a princess or something, right?''
The young man suddenly shook his head and slapped both of his cheeks under Sahro''s confused gaze.
''Wow, phew, this is dangerous. Alright, let''s get down from our high horse here...''
''A dog in runt...but I can understand it this time.''
"Damn...just damn..."
The sound of the two voices echoing in Glenn''s head reminded him of one of the main reasons why he couldn''t commit to romance or any other type of relationship involving intimacy, killing any desire or nascent love. He sighed and rubbed his face under his mask, before bowing slightly toward Liara.
"...I''m Happy. It''s not my true name, but it''ll have to do for now. It''s a pleasure to meet you," He politely presented himself, his face still hidden under his wooden mask. Liara''s eyes drifted over his mask, the beautiful woman''s lips remained sealed for now. Glenn moistened his lips, before shrugging.
''She was imprisoned in a cage two minutes ago, of course, she doesn''t want to talk to anyone right now. And it''s not like we had the time to deal with that, anyway!'' The young man suddenly remembered the urgency of his situation and turned toward Sahro, who was groaning while holding his stump.
"Sad, we need to get out of here. Do you mind explaining to me where the exit is?" Glenn asked with a tense voice. Sahro grunted and shook his head dejectedly.
"That''s the thing, there''s isn''t one. For us, I mean. Shit, that''s why I didn''t want to make a mess of things!" The Black Heir spat, coughing in his mask. Glenn''s eyebrows rose, wondering what was wrong with his friend, when he heard the sound of more incoming people. He winced and hurriedly cast a Silence Curse bubble around the group, before using Gravity Manipulation to lift the team to the cavern''s ceiling. He quickly spotted a dark hollow wide enough to welcome three people and moved the whole group there.
As soon as his foot touched the ground, Sahro fell on a knee and grabbed his stump, grunting painfully. His mask slipped off, revealing his face distorted with pain, his eyes bulging as he bit down his lips bloody. Liara went and sat against a wall, hugging her legs as she watched silently. Glenn hurriedly came to his friend''s side, at a loss for what to do.
"The hell is happening to you?!?" panicked the young man, before gritting his teeth and ripping the clothes covering the stump. Sahro''s invisible, lightning arm shocked him to the bone, but Glenn pushed through it and revealed the stump, finding it to be deep blue. Foam dripped down from Glenn''s mouth and he pulled out his hand, gasping for air.
"Shit, hah, your lightning is, hah, way too powerful!" Glenn muttered as he took his mask off and wiped off the foam. Liara glanced at his face, freezing in shock, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape. Sadly, the young man had no time to care about the cold lady''s emotions currently, and he pressed his left hand on Sahro''s shoulder, treating whatever was plaguing the stump. A horrible pain shook him to the core, making him feel like his skin was peeling off him, and he couldn''t help but stop the treatment, coughing out blood.
''Wait, you''re pushing too far!'' Diamanes warned with a worried voice, followed by Nelg.
"Doesn''t matter! Push through the pain and heal the bastard! Shit!" The sword panicked as it watched helplessly his host suffer the pain. Glenn gasped for air, his heart racing incredibly fast. He gritted his teeth even harder, making his gums bleed from the effort. He grabbed his dark robe and ripped a part of it, rolling it up and shoving it in his mouth to bite on.
''Huff...alright, here I go!''
Glenn pressed his left hand on Sahro''s shoulder again, starting the treatment once more. The pain came rushing down in his veins, like fire burning him from within. He felt like pliers were used to tug at his guts, playing with them like some kind of play dough. Flashes of white suddenly blinded his sight as a deafening noise shook his ears. Nonetheless, Glenn knew Sahro was still not healed, and he kept on pushing, even though he couldn''t see or hear anymore.
All of a sudden, the pain disappeared, alongside the deafening noise and the blinding white light. Glenn blinked and fell back on the ground, drenched in sweat. He weakly took the rag out of his mouth, his jagged breathing witness to the effort he had just spent on healing his friend.
''Incredible. This is incredible. What the hell is wrong with you?'' Diamanes asked, half in disbelief and half in anger. Glenn chuckled weakly and tried to lift his head from the ground, but found himself so weak he couldn''t even though so.
"Ahhh..." Glenn tried to speak but couldn''t, his tongue so stiff and his jaw so locked in he couldn''t even produce a syllable.
"...This is insane. A miracle. What the hell have you done?" Nelg echoed Diamanes'' feeling, in awe. Glenn couldn''t help but be extremely curious about the CPR results, the reactions of the voices in his head making him want to know them even more. Suddenly, he felt something pick his head up and straighten him up, making him lean against a wall of the cavern. He strained his eyes to see that Liara was the one to give that grace, her golden eyes filled with incomprehension and admiration, nothing like they were a few minutes before.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
''A few minutes before? You have a problem with time, don''t you?'' Diamanes snapped out, startling Glenn. Nelg sighed, continuing where Diamanes left off.
"...It''s been three hours or so since you started the treatment on Sahro."
Glenn blinked, before chuckling with a hint of despair.
''I''m kind of getting used to it, now. Haha...of course I wouldn''t see time pass. Sorry guys, you know what they say!''
The young man''s eyes weakly drifted from Liara to Sahro.
''Time flies when you''re having...'' Glenn''s eyes widened as he watched a physical manifestation of thunder in place of Sahro''s missing limb, crackling with blue electrical sparks. The Black Heir was staring at his arm like he was seeing a ghost, his face pale and his expression awestruck.
''...fun. Well, just for this reaction, this was worth it. Now, if you guys don''t mind it, I think I''m going to go in a quick Meditation and gather my strength back because I don''t think I can go to sleep now, can I?''
And without letting Diamanes or Nelg reply to that, Glenn closed his eyes and dived inside his Mana Heart, enclosing it from any exterior distractions. He watched the Second Mana heart from afar, Nelg pulsing with the strength of a First Circle. Nelg''s Mana Heart seemed to have grown slightly brighter, but perhaps he could be wrong.
Without wasting a second, Glenn concentrated and emptied his mind, resting as he gathered his strength back. He used that time to review the fight, remembering the asteroid ring he had conjured out of a need for defense.
''...How did it work? I just pulled some rocks nearby and made them gravitate around me. Maybe like an asteroid belt?''
The young man pondered, remembering the reaction of the asteroid belt after he had infused it with Nitrogen. It had become much tougher against the rock projectiles, stopping them easily, but was like paper in front of the spear-wielder knight. All of the opponents had probably been either at the Second or Third Circle and their equivalent for Aura. Thankfully, there was no Magi, nor Grand Chevalier. If there were, it might have been much harder to fight the bastards off.
''I need new spells, some that are more polyvalent. Also, I think I need to concentrate on more defensive means, and by that, I mean to explore the capabilities of that asteroid belt thing. Can it just pull rocks in, or can I perhaps also pull projectiles? That would be so cool...''
Glenn''s mind trailed off as he peacefully gathered his Mana back. Using CPR this way had been extremely expensive, much more than he would have ever expected. Well, he had only tried using it on small wounds or headaches, so how could he have known healing a cut-off limb could be so difficult?
''...It kind of makes sense, though...Heh, at least Sahro seems to be healed for now. What I want to know, now, is whether Holy Blessing could have helped or not. So far, it feels like it gives a nice buff, and also creates sentient rocks, but that''s another story. I need to test whether it has healing properties or not...''
His Mana was filling back up leisurely, not too slow but not too fast either. The young man thought back once more to the fight.
''...Maybe I should have tried to have Diamanes gobble up their spells. But it''s a little unintuitive to just let me get hit for the sake of new spells, even more when considering that these were "basic" School of Words spells.''
Glenn winced before chuckling to himself.
''School of Words or not, I could have died there if I wasn''t careful. I''m strong, but not strong enough to allow myself to feel content with myself. I need to strive for the Fourth Circle, become a beginner Magi, and explore more the potential of Astral Sorcery.''
Right in the middle of these thoughts, a voice suddenly intruded into his peaceful rest. Glenn frowned, confused.
''How is this possible? I''m meditating, I shouldn''t hear anything, right?''
And yet...
"G...enn!" A voice echoed in the distance, coming out of nowhere. Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes, before suddenly understanding and turning toward Nelg''s Mana Heart. In the distance, floating inside a silver armor, was his physical copy, waiving its arms madly while shouting as loudly as it could.
"GLENN!! CODE RED, CODE RED!!!" Nelg shouted with a panicked-stricken expression. Glenn understood the message directly and hurriedly came out of his Meditation, snapping his eyes open just in time to see a huge rock fall in his direction. Reflexively, he used his Gravity Manipulation and reversed the fall, the rock flying back the way it came from.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Glenn shouted, taking a second to reconsider his surroundings. He was being carried on someone''s shoulder like a potato''s bag while screams and cries echoed all around him.
"Finally! Take care of them, damn it!" Sahro spat through his teeth before deflecting a bold of lightning with his electrical arm, absorbing it and throwing it back. Glenn blinked, realizing they were currently running away from a literal army of people, all shooting spells and Aura blades at them.
"You bastards! You freed all the slaves!" One of the pursuers called out angrily, followed by the crowd behind him who roared hatefully. Glenn touched his face, finding it covered by the wooden mask, and sighed with relief.
"Okay. Let''s do this, then!" The young man grinned and held his right hand forward, charging it with Mana as fast as he could. A Blackhole appeared in the young man''s palm, pulsing with the hunger of devouring everything. The light was pulled toward the Blackhole, making their surroundings twisted and dark, the rules of reality bent in front of the might of Glenn''s spell.
The young man grinned and almost shot out the spell, before choosing to experiment and try making it even more powerful. He gritted his teeth and added the properties of Sun''s Touch to the Blackhole, transforming it into a literal pocket sun. The heat burned off Glenn''s clothes and skin, forcing him to shoot it out. He felt his Mana drain out at insane speeds, the fiery Blackhole advancing in their pursuers''s direction. It pulled its surroundings toward it and reduced it to ashes in the process, like a true vortex of destruction.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!?" Someone in the crowd screamed before being pulled into the Blackhole and incinerated to death. Glenn grinned and openly laughed, despite the strain the spell was putting on his Mana.
"HAHAHA, BURN YOU FUCKERS, BURN!!!" Glenn exclaimed excitedly, before turning back toward Sahro and shooting him a thumbs-up.
The Black Heir grunted and jumped in front of Liara, blocking another lightning arc with his arm.
"We can''t stop now!" Sahro shouted, before pointing in front of him, "...I''ll try and clear the way! Liara, keep up with us! Glenn, take care of those slavers bastards!"
Glenn scowled as he continued to input the Mana he had barely just regained into his spell. His reserve was dwindling dangerously, and he couldn''t help but wish to not use Overload if possible.
''Each time I used this fucking technique, I almost died! I''m tired of almost dying, goddamn it!'' He thought angrily as blood began to come out of his ears, the strain of the spell starting to take its toll.
Liara seemed to be able to defend herself quite well with a sword as she cut through spells and foes alike with Sahro''s sword. The Black Heir must have lent his sword to her in the urgency of the situation. Suddenly, Sahro took a sharp turn, disturbing Glenn''s concentration and making him lose his control of the fiery Blackhole. Without Mana, it fueled itself with its surroundings but stopped moving. It grew and grew before exploding with a blinding flash of red, throwing their pursuers off their feet and incinerating them to death.
"Brace yourselves!" Sahro shouted, and before Glenn even had the chance to ask why, they jumped into a teleportation portal, Liara grabbing Sahro''s hand at the last second.
''This sure looks like we''re going to end up somewhere funny again...'' Diamanes grumbled as their surroundings twisted and changed.
Glenn gritted his teeth and ignored him.
Why couldn''t the damned hand shut up?
156. Not A Funny Place at All
"Ugh..."
"Fuck..."
Blergh!
Glenn, Sarho, and Liara all crouched on the ground disgracefully, either puking their insides out or struggling to keep them where they belonged, inside.
"I hate teleportation..." Sahro muttered in between two sprays of vomit. Glenn clenched his teeth, his pale face slowly turning to a greener shade.
"Phew, just...don''t talk, it helps..."
The group took a few minutes to recover their composure, Liara seemingly the most affected of the three. She couldn''t stand straight and had to be helped by Sahro to move, each abrupt movement causing her to turn one green deeper and sicker. They observed their surroundings, finding them to be quite normal. Glenn was even more surprised of the three after Diamanes jinxed them as his habitude.
''What? I''m not jinxing anything!'' Diamanes protested, flustered. Glenn didn''t reply, only casting a dubious side-eye toward his left hand as he remembered every time the entity might have cursed them with his red flags.
"I''m with Glenn on that point, man. It''s just unlucky, I suppose though..." Nelg conceded, rendering Diamanes utterly speechless.
They were in a small abandoned storage room, with dust covering some old shelves and tables that hadn''t been used for a long time. Of course, their sudden arrival had disturbed the perfect decrepitude, shaking most of the dust off and adding a few touches of vomit here and there. Glenn wiped his mouth with his sleeve, before smacking his lips at the room''s sight.
"I sure hope this room is going to remain abandoned. Alright, just in case guys..." Glenn pressed his lips together and held his left hand forward, trying to cast a Curse of Silence on the group. He felt the world turn suddenly and promptly gave up trying to use the little Mana he had left.
"Shit, I''m one drop away from Mana Exhaustion. Well, that''s not going to help now, is it?" The young man scratched the back of his neck. Sahro sighed and looked back in the direction they came from, the portal they passed through long gone.
"We have the black market''s safety measures to thank, if not for them, we would still have to fight that army..." The Black Heir shook his head, before glancing at his new blue, palpable limb. He excused himself to Liara and carefully brought her to a nearby table where she sat, before turning toward Glenn and suddenly bowing with both of his arms on his sides. Glenn was appalled by the sudden movement and couldn''t react to it.
"Thank you," said Sahro gratefully, his face hidden from Glenn''s sight. The young man looked left and right and rubbed the back of his neck, at a loss.
"Uh, sure man, no problem. Just, uh, stop doing that, it''s making me uncomfortable," He grimaced as he forced Sahro to look back up, before patting his friend on the shoulder. The Black Heir had wet eyes but didn''t say a word.
"And don''t thank me yet, that''s still not an actual arm you have there, is it?" Glenn pointed his chin at the electrical limb while ignoring the best he could the tears in Sahro''s eyes. The latter followed his gaze and looked at said arm, struggling to contain his emotions.
"...It''s still much better than not having anything..."
Glenn could only agree and nod at the man''s words. Diamanes suddenly mockingly laughed out in his host''s mind, as usual.
''What a DAZZLING display of friendship! Truly, a real tearjerker''!
The young man instantly turned off the sound in his mind, automatically activating his mental defenses. Nelg only laughed from the sidelines, not joining the fight. Glenn quickly found a door and stumbled toward it, the Mana Exhaustion starting to kick in. Soon, all the adrenaline in the world wouldn''t help him escape the inevitable fall into Morpheus'' arms.
It was opened. He peeked an eye through, finding a simple hallway with a dim light that made it a little hazy. His nose quickly picked up on a heavy scent of perfume, intoxicating but too thick for him to appreciate. There didn''t seem to be any people, so now was as good as any other time to come out.
"Let''s go silently. I couldn''t cast a Silence Curse, so we''ll have to go the old sneaky way, alright?" Glenn warned, Sahro and Liara nodding in understanding. Liara stumbled off from the table, before wincing and looking at her right foot. An ice arrow was embedded deeply into it, freezing the skin and transforming the blood flowing out into crystals.
Glenn''s first reflex was to go and try to heal her, when he remembered he didn''t even have enough Mana to cast a Lux, much less for the expensive CPR.
''...Which also stands for Catalytic Pain Rejuvenation! Don''t forget that!''
''We do NOT care, Diamanes, so please shut your trap and let me concentrate,'' Glenn replied to the vexed entity with a pissed tone, his teeth clenched. This was a much too dangerous situation to his liking, and for once, he didn''t need the hand''s jokes to relax him, on the contrary. Suddenly, he looked at a figure pass in the corridor, a little fat man with two guards behind him, happily strolling toward a nearby door. Glenn moved away from the interstice just in case, but it seemed like they didn''t notice him. He glanced out once more, gleaning more information. The little fat man opened the door, an effluve of perfumes and addictive smells coming out of him and reaching even Glenn''s nose.
The little fat man looked inside the room with awe and delish, before a fair hand pulled him inside and closed the door, leaving the two guards behind to watch the corridor. Glenn frowned when his eyes widened as he finally put two and two together.
"Shit..." He looked back at Liara and Sahro and quickly made a decision. He took his robe and mask off before throwing it to Liara.
"Liara put the mask on just in case. Sahro, you take her on your back and put the robe above to hide it all. You''ll look weird, but that''s better than finding two Black Heirs in wherever this place is." Glenn whispered before hurriedly correcting his haircut, making it much messier. He turned toward his Black Heir''s friend, who had finished setting up the disguise hiding Liara under his black robe.
The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"Sahro, do I have any soot on my face, or blood, or anything that might give away that I was in a fight?" Glenn asked with a tense tone before looking back at the door. He never believed himself to be a good actor, but with no Mana left to cast any spells and no strength to fight back, with a wounded teammate, brains will have to take over brawls. He didn''t like it, it wasn''t like him, but he had no choice this time.
The Black Heir wiped off a bit of soot, before shooting him a thumbs-up.
"All good. Why do you need to be clean, though?" He asked with a puzzled expression. Glenn forced a grin through the exhaustion and turned toward the door.
"Just follow my lead, and we might get out of here without a fight..." The young man took a deep breath, "...here goes nothing."
He opened the door and strolled out as naturally as possible, glancing at the two guards who, inevitably turned their heads when hearing him. Glenn stared back at them, before dusting his shoulders off with an annoyed face.
"Who the hell designed this place? Where the hell is the damned exit?" With his nose creased, he approached the two guards who tensed up in reaction, ready to reach for the knives hanging off their belts. Glenn glanced at the knives and looked back at Sahro and Liara coming out as one in the most ridiculous disguise possible.
"Do you mind indicating to me where is the exit? Me and my...companion can''t seem to find it?" He asked with both of his hands pressed together, an embarrassed smile on his face. The two guards sighed, and the one on the right grinned, shaking his head.
"You too? Huh, I guess we''re not the dumbest of the lot..." He pointed the way he came from and patted Glenn''s shoulder in a friendly way, "...there you go, you just have to turn right and left, and take the stairs. It took us half an hour to find the way here, so I know your pain."
Glenn nodded deeply, seemingly very much affected by the guard''s words, sympathizing with him.
"They sure make us work for it, don''t they?" He winked with a knowing grin, hoping he wasn''t wrong. The guard blinked, before laughing out loud, his colleague soon following suit. Only the robed Sahro and Liara were silent, standing nearby while waiting for Glenn to do his things.
"They sure do, yeah, haha! It was nice meeting you, Sir...?" The guard extended his hand with a smile.
Glenn shook the hand and grinned widely.
"Sahro Sand, but call me Sahro. I''ll be leaving you, fine gentlemen, to your business. I need to talk with the owner of this fine establishment about putting up some kind of darn map, haha!"
The bulk of Sahro and Liara shuddered, but Glenn ignored it, grinning widely. Now that he was in the role, he had to be fully in it.
"Haha, have a good day Sir Sahro!" The guard saluted, followed by his colleague''s short nod. Glenn grinned and nodded back, before heading off toward the direction they indicated to him.
"Wait!" Glenn and Sahro stopped on their feet, a bead of sweat pearling down both of their foreheads. Glenn swiftly turned back and smiled nervously as the more withdrawn guard approached them, his hand on the hilt of his knife.
"What''s up with your...friend, there?" He nodded toward Sahro and Liara, one carrying the other on his back. Glenn smacked his lips and looked at them, struggling to find an excuse, when Sahro took the reins and replied, his voice hoarse.
"Want to try and see?" He coughed, the guard taking a step back in disgust. Glenn made an awkward smile, scratching the back of his neck to hide his trembling fingers.
"Don''t mind him, he has been like this ever since he contracted Ligma..."
The guard paled and took another step back, horrified.
"Ligma? This sounds terrible. I apologize..." The guard bowed down his head and quickly came back to guard the door, before receiving a slap on the back of his head from his colleague.
Sahro approached him once they turned the corner and whispered angrily in his ears.
"What was that for? And what''s ligma?"
Glenn looked back at the sad mask under the robe, his wide grin becoming even wider, reaching for his ears. At the last second, he bit down on his tongue and shrugged.
"They already hate you all in the region anyway. And don''t bother about ligma, I came up with it. Nice act, by the way!" He complimented the Black Heir, who only grunted in response. Liara chuckled slightly, making Glenn smile. It seemed like the cold beauty could have fun as well.
''...And look at who was talking about not losing concentration because of jokes. Huh, hypocrite...'' Diamanes grumbled, annoyed.
''Maybe I just wanted you to leave me be, for once? Could you do that, Diamanes?'' Glenn replied with a desperate tone, before sighing deeply.
"Right...left, then the...stairs?"
Glenn stopped talking, failing to find anything close to an exit, only a corridor with doors on each side. He pressed his lips together, before understanding that the much-needed stairs had to be hidden behind one of these doors. He approached the first one and placed his ear next to the first one, grimacing when he heard more than a few voices laughing and grunting together.
''This is horrible.''
"You pervert, argh, you make me sick, Glenn!"
''What do they call it, voyeurism?''
Every mind in Glenn''s head was much displeased by the current experience. Glenn looked back to Sahro and shook his head, scowling. He tried another door, finding this one to be empty of sound. He carefully tried to open the door, only to find it locked.
"Curse it, and curse this place''s architect...!" Glenn spat through his teeth, before trying yet another door. The process of listening, feeling a little more disgusted with himself, and finding himself disappointed as more doors revealed to be either locked or home to some unspeakable stuff.
"...Are we even sure there are stairs here?" Sahro asked with a dubious tone, before casting a worried glance behind him. The Black Heir had also spent a lot of his strength fighting back the slavers and protecting Glenn while he was Meditating and was also not in his peak condition. The three of them could probably put up one last fight...Probably.
Glenn stopped yet in front of another door, enjoying his Mana slowly coming back to him. He had barely enough Mana to cast a Silence Curse, his recuperation quite slow if he wasn''t sleeping or Meditating, but he''d have to be happy with that. He carefully listened, failing to find any sound on the other side of the door. He tested the handle and grinned brightly when he found it unlocked. He turned back toward Sahro and Liara and nodded at them. They nodded back well, Sahro nodded for the two of them and Glenn opened the door, his other hand on his sword''s hilt, ready to unsheathe and attack at any sign of a threat.
A heavy scent of perfume filled their nostrils with exhilarating power, bearing a strange iron taste, but they were soon woken up from the stupor the perfume was putting them in when they realized what they had just stepped onto. A middle-aged man was lying on a king''s size bed, his feet and hands tied to each corner of it with leather straps. His eyes were covered by a black bandana and his mouth was muffled with some kind of horrible bondage item Glenn didn''t dare to understand.
A lady was riding him, her naked back turned toward them, a dagger raised above her head. She pierced straight through the black bandana, plunging the dagger inside the head and driving it deeper, crushing and slicing the head. Glenn blinked, watching the scene with a mixture of disgust, awe, and fear. The lady pulled the dagger back, in a trance, before continuing to stab the man''s head, ruining it into a bloody pulp.
''...Or should it be sashimi? Sushi, maybe?'' Diamanes corrected, Glenn''s eyes widening madly as he restrained a curse from leaving his vocal cords. The lady seemed so concentrated on her task, that she didn''t notice them. She finally calmed herself, and after making sure the middle-aged man was dead, she carved the skin off his chest, slowly proceeding to pull it off like leather off a rabbit. Sahro slowly moved his hand, poking Glenn''s shoulder. The young man slowly turned his head, his face pale.
Even though Sahro had his mask on, Glenn could almost imagine the Black Heir mouthing him "What the fuck do we do?". The young man replied by nodding toward the door and pushed Sahro toward it. They carefully sneaked out of the room, closing the door behind them. As Glenn tried to pull the door in as slowly as he could, a loud creak came from it, echoing in the hall corridor and the bedroom.
Glenn and Sahro froze, Liara''s breathing intensifying under the black robe.
"...So that''s what you risk when angering women," Nelg commented with a shocked voice.
"This is terrifying. Truly terrifying."
157. A Song of Drug and Fire
"Huff...Huff...well, that''s not what, huff...I expected..." Glenn gasped, his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. Sahro was next to him, in a much better condition, even though he was still carrying Liara under his dark robe. The lady was admirably silent, despite the pain of the wound in her ankle she had to endure. Glenn wanted to attribute that to her being a Black Heir, but he knew better than that.
"All of this is Diamanes'' fault anyway..." Nelg grumbled. Glenn shook his head and straightened himself before glancing at his surroundings. They were hiding in another abandoned storage room, the building they were in seemingly filled with those. He sighed as he recalled what had happened just a few minutes ago.
Right after the damned door squeaked, the madwoman with a knife who, let''s not forget it was busy skinning and helping herself to that poor man''s organs, had stormed out of the room, catching them trying to sneak away. Without saying a word, she then tried to attack Glenn, who was the closest to her at that time. The young man had attempted to cast a spell with one hand while the other reached for his longsword, but between his Mana reserves being practically empty, and Sahro being much faster than him, he ended up doing nothing.
Sahro acted, and Sahro grabbed and tased her, knocking the killer out. So far, it was a surprisingly good ending, until every door in the corridor had opened, revealing a literal army of crazy women with knives.
''My future children will never believe me...'' Glenn chuckled to himself, before gauging how much Mana he had gathered back up.
''...Let''s forget any big spells, I probably can''t even sustain a Silence Curse for more than a few minutes. Darn, I need to find a way to optimize my Mana recovery...There should be a way to store Mana, or decrease the cost of using it, right? Where''s my twenty-percent discount on magic spells with a random jewel crown?'' He complained mentally, squinting when he found much less dust than the room they had ended up in back when they came out of the portal/teleportation thing.
In fact, there was not a speck of dust at all.
Strange.
"We can''t stay here forever," Sahro began while also observing their room, "...we lost them for now, but we''re in their home ground."
Glenn winced, before unsheathing his longsword and adjusting his grip over the hilt.
"I can''t agree more. The thing is, we''re pretty much trapped..." muttered the young man as he approached the walls, feeling them to try and find a hidden lever.
"Sahro, try and check your side. And, uh, miss, if you have some way to help, it''d be great" Glenn stopped talking as a frail arm came out from under the dark robe, pointing at an inconspicuous wall, and notably at a small shelf hanging off it. Sahro followed her silent guidance, bringing her to the shelf. She grabbed it and twisted it to the side, putting it in a vertical position.
Nothing happened.
Glenn blew raspberries and looked at the ceiling with a wry expression. He casually glanced at the door they had hurriedly fortified, by pushing a desk against it, wondering how many seconds it would take for these sickos to just blow through it. Suddenly, a creaking noise alerted him of something opening behind him. He swiftly turned around, watching with interest as a hidden trapdoor revealed itself in the ground, right under the shelf Liara twisted.
"Well, we just had to give it time. Thank you, Miss Liara!" Glenn grinned as he almost jumped in the hole, Sahro closely behind. The passageway was dark, but they could still see their way through, thanks to some small rays of light coming off the walls. Glenn gave a glance at one of the holes the light was from, his eyes widening when he accidentally watched an ungodly display of skill, and...flexibility.
''Huh. I never knew the human body could dooh, how does this not hurt?'' Diamanes said with a mix of awe and curiosity. Glenn averted his gaze away, a grimace on his face.
"Urgh, I''m pretty sure that guy should have been ninety or something..." The young man shivered, disgust deeply engraved on his face. Sahro glanced curiously at one of the holes, before shaking his head and pushing his friend forward. They continued through the passageway, arriving at a single stone door. Glenn tried pushing on it, to no avail. Liara''s frail arm came out of Sahro''s dark robe once again, pointing at a specific stone in the wall. Glenn touched it and turned back toward her.
"This one?"
Liara''s hand turned to a thumb''s up, making both Glenn and Sahro chuckle. They could already hear muffled music coming from behind the stone door, letting them wonder where in hell they were going to end up. The young man pushed the stone, and the door slid away, revealing yet another room.
''I''m curious as to what moved the stone door, if that was some kind of mechanism, or if it was magic. Maybe it was magic, and Liara had some kind of way of seeing through it. That would explain the silent pointing...'' Glenn pondered as he carefully adventured himself in the new room. A violin was echoing in the room alongside a shaky song, the singer''s voice filled with terror and tremolos. A thick scent of perfume was permeating the place, alongside a similarly foggy mist.
''Oh, drugs! It''s been a while!'' Diamanes remarked with a happy voice. Glenn blinked, trying to understand why in hell would the entity be happy about him being drugged, and he quickly gave up.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"...Is it me, or does it feel kind of familiar?" Nelg remarked, the appearance of his armored self frowning deeply showing in Glenn''s mind. The young man rubbed his chin and turned back toward Liara and Sahro, a finger on his mouth.
"...The fog is a drug. Be careful..." He whispered as he unsheathed his sword, ready to strike at a moment''s notice. The singer''s voice came from the center of the room, which was hidden behind wooden windscreens. The source of the smog also seemed to come from the room''s center. Glenn pressed his lips together and sneaked a peek over one of the windscreens, quickly hiding back behind the windscreen.
There were seven individuals, six sitting and listening silently while the last one was hanging from the ceiling over a brazier. The last one was also the singer and musician.
"Incredible skills. Imagine having to play violin and sing all at the same time, while hanging upside down from the ceiling in a slow cooking session! This guy is a menace!" Nelg whistled, impressed. Diamanes agreed, the two earning a sneer from their host.
''Skills or not, if we don''t do something, he''s going to end up roasted. And sadly, we can''t have that, because I know the fucking guy...'' He sighed, before indicating a spot of the windscreen at Sahro, poking with his sword at it. The Black Heir slowly let Liara slip on the ground and unsheathed his sword, ready to strike. Coincidentally, the song had just ended, the singer''s voice dying down as the embers of the brazier crackled.
Clap, clap.
"Well, you might have earned yourself another minute, bard. Maybe we''ll feel generous and skin you only after slitting your throat, if you tell us the truth..." A grave voice declared, one of the six individuals watching the singer grill slowly.
"II''ve already told you the truth - cough!" the bard replied fearfully, spitting a splatter of blood into the fire. A deep sigh came from the deep-voiced man, accompanied by the sound of metal scraping against metal, probably from playing with a knife or something similar.
"Alright, then here''s another chance for you. Sing that song of yours, the popular one..." The man trailed off and smacked his lips, struggling to find his words, "...the one with the demon or something..."
"The Demon''s Grin, or the new version?" The bard tried, the man clapping joyfully, followed by grunts of approval from his colleagues.
"Yes, the new one! We all heard the other a thousand times, so give us something different, now! Come on, sing it to us, and we''ll make it quick. That''s...a little worse off compared to just tell us the truth, but since you don''t want to do that..."
"Want to? I can''t, because you don''t believe me anyway!" sobbed the bard, amidst the chuckles of the group of Skinners. One of them spoke up, earning a raised eyebrow from Sahro and a silent chuckle from Glenn as they listened to the conversation, waiting for the best time to strike.
"Heh, even my boy heard of it! He said he wants to be like the one-armed swordsman, the Crazy Hero''s subordinate... Haha, he told me that even though he was already practicing skinning on Tori. Young ones, ain''t that right?"
They chuckled, the bard unable to stop himself from asking a new question.
"Who''sWho''s Tori?"
The Skinner shrugged and leaned back in his seat.
"Oh, that''s our seventh dog. These bastards breed fast..."
Silence took hold over the room until the bard''s scream of pain broke it.
"Sing, you bastard! We''re bored!"
"Argh...! Sniffle, I...Cough...Amid darkness and rain, rosecoughrose a hero of old, a red witch, and a one-armed swordsman..."
Glenn glanced at Sahro as the poor bard began a new song, nodding slightly. Sahro nodded back, ready to have his sword meet a Skinner''s brain.
''Three, two, one...'' Glenn counted with his fingers raised and closed his fist, stabbing straight through the windscreen and piercing the heart of the closest Skinner. He didn''t waste a second and pulled his sword back, using the momentum to slice through the windscreen and the nearest Skinner''s head, decapitating him. Sahro had similarly killed two other Skinner, leaving out the last two to fight off. They rushed for their weapons but were too late to do so, as one was grabbed by Sahro''s left, blue arm and shocked to death, while the other was pierced by the skillful throw of Glenn''s longsword.
The two young men looked at each other, before dusting off their hands and confirming the death of every single of these bastards.
"I just have to say, this is working nicely on my side. On a positive note, even those dirty fucker''s souls work...On a sadder one, it''ll take a whole lot more to upgrade me." Nelg remarked at the moment, making his host remember the main and only way to enhance his longsword.
''I kind of forgot you fed on souls. Well, as long as it all works out...'' Glenn shrugged and turned toward the sacktoward the bard hanging off the ceiling, cutting the robe tying him with a swift movement of his wrist. The bard fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding the brazier and stumbling to his feet. His pretty face was covered in bruises and dried blood, and his clothes were ripped here and there.
"Thank youoh," The bard withheld his thanks when he recognized his saviors. Glenn wiped his blade off one of the Skinner''s corpses, grinning as he stared at the bard.
"Well, well, if it isn''t Sir Montana himself," said the young man as he patted the bard''s shoulder. He sheathed his sword and checked the rest of the room out, finding a small bag of white leaves right next to the brazier.
"That''s the source of the drug...It does look like...Ohhhh" Glenn looked at the bag with a closer look, nodding deeply in confirmation.
"Yep, that''s Moon Grass. Welp, I have no idea what this shit is doing here, but I''m taking it back to Onnea''s Church. Interesting, interesting..."
''Moon Grass practically means Thorn''s Church. Does the Skinners have a deal with them? That wouldn''t surprise me much, but it''s still a little worrying..." Nelg wondered aloud in Glenn''s mind as the latter took the leaves and fitted them in his dimensional pouch. The bard was still speechless from recognizing Glenn and Sahro and was lying on the ground with his jaw hanging low.
Glenn turned toward Montana, looking up and down at him.
"...Can you fight?"
Montana gulped, before heavily moving his head up and down. Glenn grinned and held his hand out for the bard to grab.
"Well, let''s get out of here first, alright? Another hand is welcomed, even more against these sick bastards..."
The bard shook the hand and pulled himself up, muttering some thanks. Glenn chuckled, a hint of wickedness passing in his eyes.
"Oh, don''t thank us yet. I still have some questions I need you to answer..."
Montana gulped a second time. Things could have gone worse for him.
He could be dead.
"...Of course..." He mumbled, before grabbing one of the dead guy''s weapons, a pair of knives. Glenn glanced at the brazier and kicked it to the ground. The burning coal quickly propagated the fire to the wood planks making up the floor. Sahro had already taken Liara on his back once again, and was ready to leave.
Glenn moistened his lips as he watched the fire grow.
"Let''s leave this place, then..."
''I sure hope that''s going to be a good distraction and not the thing that will kill you...'' Diamanes snorted as he looked at the fire through his host''s eyes.
''It probably will. Or it won''t. Whatever.''
158. The Coward and The Pervert
"...Maybe lighting the room on fire straight away wasn''t a cough a good idea?" Glenn said with his sleeve over his mouth, his eyes watering due to the thick black smoke permeating the whole building. The fire he started ended up being much more efficient than expected.
"Cough! It wasn''t your wisestCough, cough! wisest idea, Sir Glenn!" Montana sputtered with difficulty, his eyes similarly filled with tears. Glenn wanted to smack his lips but feared letting in more smoke in his lungs, hence why he didn''t. He also wanted to reply to Montana that he was no "Sir", but he also gave up that thought.
The less he opened his mouth, the better he''d be.
''I can only agree,'' Diamanes poked with a mocking laugh, the entity enjoying the entertainment way too much for his host''s taste.
"Well, at least no one cares about you now," Nelg cheered, unaffected by the current situation. Indeed, due to the fire propagating himself and the thick black smoke, the literal army of Skinners in the building was too busy running around to notice the small group. More than once as they ran in the foggy corridors of this place they met a Skinner''s squad, tensing up with their hands on their weapons, only for them to run past them toward an unknown goal.
Glenn entertained the thought of following them to try and find the exit for a few seconds, but the idea of having to fight the whole army at once didn''t sound too great, so he gave up that thought as well. The issue with that is that they still couldn''t find a way out of the place, and would soon end up either burned or smoked to death.
Not an enjoyable end, that''s for sure. Just look at Montana, he sure seemed happy not roasting to death.
''Out of the frying pan, and into the fire...'' Diamanes commented sarcastically, earning himself a sneer from his host. Glenn passed doors one after another, cursing each of them, deciding that from that day he hated labyrinths. And corridors. Cough! And stupid decisions, while he was at it. The corridor suddenly branched off in three directions, four if counting the one they came from. Glenn stopped, his heart racing and his lungs burning as he struggled to find a decision.
Liara''s hand suddenly shot out of Sahro''s black robe, pointing in front of them to go straight away. Glenn didn''t have time to waste doubting her when her guiding hand had already proved its utility and sprinted in the chosen direction. The corridor tightened, only large enough for two people to stand side by side without touching the walls. Glenn wheezed and coughed, his frown deepening every time his team mimicked him by coughing up their lungs.
"At least you''ll know better than to do that with barely a drop of Mana in reserve, next time!" Nelg scowled, soon followed by Diamanes.
''And hopefully, will also think twice about your Mana consumption. You could have achieved much better effects without using...'' The entity went silent for a few seconds, ''...without using that Infernal Blackhole. It would have been much smarter to use multiple Blackholes to cover more ground'' Diamanes couldn''t continue as Glenn cut him off.
''Would multiple Blackholes cancel each other? Can I even conjure two Blackholes at the same time? Blackhole is a spell I need to continually maintain, would I be able to split up my Mana usage to fuel multiple at the same time?''
Nelg coughed lightly, interrupting his thoughts.
"Look, the theory-crafting should wait until you''re in a place where you''re NOT going to be cooked alive. Concentrate and get us out of here!" The sword pressed, as the only one of the three minds who was concerned with the master body''s situation. Glenn shook his head and discarded the thoughts, choosing to follow his sword''s recommendations. Right in time as well, as they arrived in front of a double door, decorated morbidly with the gravure of a skinned man stretched on a cross.
Glenn winced and pushed the door open, the cold wind pushing on his face. He breathed in deeply, before coughing up once more as more smoke crept up on him from behind. He quickly came out of the building, waving the smoke away, followed by Montana and Sahro, all coughing miserably. The wooden masks seemed to have been a great help to Sahro and Liara, but not great enough to completely filter out the smoke.
At least they were better off than him and the bard.
Lucky bastards.
The young man wiped the tears from his eyes as he enjoyed the feeling of clean air entering his lungs. Montana fell on his back and laid down, huffing heavily as he stared at the sky half-obscured by dark smoke.
"...So my turn hasn''t come yet...Phew..." He muttered, intending it to not be heard by anyone. It didn''t matter as Glenn still picked it up. But well, it''s not like the latter cared. There was one thing that took priority over questioning Montana''s secrets: getting the hell out of there.
And that''s exactly what they did. They had come out in a deep part of the Red District, a particularly poor and lawless one. Thankfully, due to their...wild appearances, no one bothered them. Or perhaps it was the bloody clothes, the gleaming sword, or the sight of Glenn''s face. Those were all quite powerful detergents in front of small-time thieves and bandits. It took a good quarter for them to get to safety, namely in the Cleaner''s Workshop''s embrace.
Glenn, Montana, and Sahro silently climbed the stairs up the Dormitory. Liara was still enjoying the ride on her fellow Black Heir''s back.
"...Huff...I swear, I''m going to invent elevators or something or create my teleportation spell. What can I use, wormholes?" Glenn grumbled, tired and annoyed at having to climb all those steps. Montana was too busy choking on air to add anything, and Sahro was too concentrated on carrying Liara. They reached the final floor of the Dormitory, the Platinum floor. Glenn opened up the door leading to the hallway and went for his Fated Suite. He turned toward Sahro, who had to let Liara on the ground to open the door, his thunder arm unable to hold anything.
Glenn opened his room and turned toward Montana, who was staring at the luxury of the Platinum Floor with wide-opened eyes. The young man sighed, and hushed him inside, before nodding at Sahro. The Black Heir nodded back, before helping Liara to her feet and inviting her into his Suite.
"Alright, welcome to my place..." Glenn''s face suddenly hardened and he stabbed a threatening finger in Montana''s chest; "...No running away this time, or I''ll track you and end you in a way so horrible you''ll find yourself wanting to go back to the Skinner''s place. Got it?"
Montana nodded hurriedly, standing awkwardly, not daring to go anywhere. Glenn ignored him and stretched, grunting tiredly.
"There are guest rooms, with bathrooms and all that, so just pick one. I''ll go wash up and Meditate, feel free to explore the place. And please, stop staring!" He spat, before entering his room and heading straight away for the bathroom. He wanted to use a Mundare to clean himself, but he''d rather keep the little Mana just in case. A safety measure had never hurt anyone, after all.
After a long but enjoyable bath in hot waters, Glenn changed into comfortable clothes, some simple wide pants, and a similarly large shirt.
"Our escape was relatively uneventful when I think back to it. I wonder if we just burned to the ground the Skinner''s nest. I''d sure be glad if I did, heh..." said Glenn aloud, the corner of his lips curved upward. He went and sat on his absurdly large bed, entering Meditation and concentrating on recovering his lost Mana. Half an hour later and with most of his reserves filled, he opened his eyes and left the bedroom, allowing himself to finally relax as he felt the power brimming to his fingertips.
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
''It''s always so reassuring being able to cast Blackholes whenever I want...'' He thought, entertaining the thought of just casting one for the sake of it, before shaking his head. He had much better things to do than fooling around. He left his bedroom and found Montana sitting awkwardly on a sofa, rigid and tensed. Glenn blinked, before rubbing his eyes.
"...Didn''t I tell you to wash up? I mean, I didn''t say exactly go clean yourself up, but..." the young man gave up when he realized that just those words had made the bard flinch in fear.
"Do you have different personalities or something? You weren''t such a scaredy-cat last time I saw you..." Glenn poured himself a drink as he talked from one of the many whisky bottles displayed in the nearby bar. He filled half the glass and stopped, scowling deeply, before shrugging and filling the glass up entirely, adding a few ice cubes for bonus cool points. He went and sat in front of Montana, holding the glass toward him.
"Here. It''s not every day you''re getting tortured. You deserve it."
The bard stared at the glass silently, before carefully picking it up and observing it a little more. Finally, he suddenly downed it all in one gulp, shivering and sighing as the alcohol burned through his body. Glenn smacked his lips as he looked at Montana''s disheveled appearance and quickly used Mundare on him to make him more presentable. A knock followed by the door opening up informed him of Sahro''s entry into the Suite, the Black Heir unbothered to wait for Glenn''s reply.
"...It sure feels good to take a bath after this whole mess," Sahro said as he went and freely chose to sit on one of the sofas, leaning up with a grunt of happiness. Liara was trailing up behind him, and went and sat on an armchair, her hands on her knees and her face emotionless. She didn''t have her mask anymore, and was wearing a fresh set of clothes she must have borrowed from Sahro, much too wide for her. Glenn smiled as he tried and compare Javier''s silence to Liara''s, before shaking his head.
''No, Liara''s just traumatized, she can''t be compared to Javier. This guy''s dead inside...''
A few minutes of silence passed as they all enjoyed the calm after the whole mess this operation had been until Glenn broke the silence by slapping his thighs.
"Alrighty, this was a whole lot of fun, but let''s get to the meat of it, shall we?" He grinned and looked at Montana, who shivered under his gaze. He looked away, his eyes stopping momentarily on Glenn''s purple arm.
"So, Montana, I do have a few questions I need you to answer, and after that, you''re free to go. How''s that?" Glenn proposed, his arms opened. Montana nodded silently, his face pale.
Glenn moistened his lips, thinking for a few seconds about the questions he wanted to ask him. Sahro stood up and went ahead to pick a few glasses in the bar, alongside a bottle of a fine-looking wine. They were all fine-looking though, so there probably wouldn''t be much of a difference.
"First and foremost, something struck me back when we first talked to each other. You see, I have it from good sources that back when you first stalked us, you were also at the Twilight''s Inn, performing your best songs. That''s pure curiosity asking though, but you also don''t have a choice but to reply," Glenn asked, his eyes gleaming with said curiosity. Montana looked left and right, pressing his lips together when Liara looked back silently at him. Finally, the bard sighed and gave up.
"I..." he gulped, as if he couldn''t bring himself to speak, "...I have a power, but you mustn''t reveal it to anyone, alright?" he sniffled, his hands joined in a begging manner. Glenn creased his nose and shrugged.
"We''ll see about that. What power?" He asked coldly, his eyes piercing through the bard, making him shiver.
''What intransigeance! A presence of steel! A true tyrant!'' Diamanes mocked, almost succeeding in ruining Glenn''s poker face.
''I''m trying to figure out if he''s friend or foe, alright? I''d much rather have it be a power instead of a fucking stalking organization. Yet another one! Would imagine that shit?''
''Im mean, you probably got the Skinners on your ass, now.''
''I was masked, why would they...?''
''Sahro? You''re friend with their worst enemy, that''s reason enough.''
''...Meh, maybe. We''ll see, and in the worst case I''ll just Blackholeno, Infernal Blackhole their ass away in the sun.''
"...I''m so impatient to watch a hundred-to-one fight!" Nelg suddenly added with excitement. Glenn rubbed his temples and concentrated back on Montana. The bard bit down on his lip, before reluctantly extending his arm in front of him. Glenn watched silently, his arms crossed. Sahro sat back down and gave a glass to Liara and Glenn each, before serving himself a generous drink.
The bard''s hand suddenly shivered and became blurry, something suddenly growing out from it. Glenn''s eyes widened and he leaned forward, his eyebrows raising higher with each passing second. The growing...thing suddenly fell off Montana''s hand and plopped on the ground like some weird slime. A cloud of steam puffed out from the thing, and something grew once again from it, sprouting up at the naked eye. At first, it looked like some kind of strange flesh abomination, but as time passed, the flesh thing shaped up to be Montana''s exact copy, only he was naked.
A few minutes later, two Montana were sitting on the sofa next to each other, one shivering fearfully with all his clothes on, and the second grinning widely with his...features prominently displayed, leaning on the sofa comfortably. Glenn blinked and pinched his nose, at a loss as to how to react.
"...Cloning, then. Interesting..." He moistened his lips, before thinking of how expensive the couch the naked Montana was sitting in, "...but get your balls off my sofa!" Glenn yelled out, pointing at a nearby room. The naked Montana shrugged and stood up without shame, before walking away.
No one noticed Liara watching silently, blushing slightly. The fearful Montana sighed, bowing deeply.
"I...I apologize for my... other me''s behavior. That''s why I''d rather not use him most of the time...He''s all of my bad sides..." The bard rubbed his face, unable to keep the shame off it. Glenn scratched his chin, curious.
"How does this work? He''s not a mindless clone, and has his thoughts and quirks..." pondered the young man aloud. Montana finally stopped hiding his face in his hands, instead reaching for the alcohol bottle and pouring himself a drink.
"...It''s not a clone, instead..." He gulped down the drink, shaking his head as the heat reached his brain, "...he''s more like an Avatar."
Glenn raised an eyebrow.
"An Avatar?"
Montana nodded as he placed the glass back down on the small table.
"Yes, an Avatar. He has half my soul, and is as much me as I am him. I call him Split, but he''s as much Montana as I am. Confusing, right?" He chuckled dejectedly, before shaking his head. Glenn rubbed his chin, wondering whether he could use that Avatar stuff. He may be able to get rid of a problem plaguing him for a while now...
''What? Did you call me a...a fucking problem? I''ll show you what a problem is, you brat!'' Diamanes spat, appearing in Glenn''s left palm with clenched teeth. The young man didn''t waste a second and closed his hand, casting a Silence Curse around it. Using Diamanes'' powers had become second nature to him, and he didn''t need the hand''s permission to use them now.
"So, how do I get my Split then?" Glenn asked casually. Montana opened his mouth, before closing it again, a dejected smile on his face.
"I''m sorry, but you can''t...I''m unique in that sort, haha..."
Glenn smacked his lips, before shrugging dismissively.
"Well, that''s that. I kind of expected it...Too bad, too bad..."
Montana''s depressed expression changed to incomprehension and he leapt to his feet.
"What, you''re not going to force the truth out of me?" The bard asked in disbelief. Glenn looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Listen, if you don''t want to tell me, so be it. I have enough problems on my plate already, adding another me to the list might not be the greatest idea. So whatever, you know?"
Montana opened his mouth to reply, but couldn''t, speechless. He fell back onto the sofa, sinking into the soft fabric/leather. Glenn had no idea what material made the couches, but they sure were comfortable.
"...These madmen roasted me alive to try and force me to invent a way to split their souls, and you''re just giving up like that...Sorry, it''s just too much for me..." The bard apologized, before pouring himself another drink and emptying it promptly.
"...Don''t drink yourself to death yet. I also have a question to ask you..." Sahro suddenly leaned forward, his thunder hand linked with his normal one. Montana turned toward him, smiling tiredly.
"Fire away..."
And fire away Sahro did.
"What was that bullshit about me being Glenn''s subordinate? What that Skinner said, back then, what was that about?"
Montana paled and looked at Glenn, who whistled casually while looking at the ceiling, avoiding the bard''s inquiring gaze.
"I, uh, I thought"
"Well, you thought wrong!" Sahro exploded, startling the bard, "I''m not, and will never be this dumbass'' minion! Did you even take a look at him? How can I be the servant of someone who looks like that?!?"
Glenn turned back toward the Black Heir, frowning.
"...What the hell did you say, you ugly bastard?"
"What did you call me?!?"
As Glenn and Sahro were about to go at each other, prideful Montana suddenly came out of the room he was thrown in with a black kimono. His eyes brightened as he heard the conversation and stepped in, impatient to add his grain of salt.
"Oh, but that''s because Sir Glenn told me to do so specifically. I still remember: "For your next song, don''t forget to say that Sahro''s my lackey. He''s very proud of it."
Silence befell the room, and Glenn slowly turned back to look at Sahro, gulping heavily as he tried his hardest to contain a laugh. A vein popped on Sahro''s forehead, then another. The white mark on his forehead gleamed slightly and sparks of electricity ran down his left arm, crackling silently.
"...You''re fucking dead, Glenn."
Liara chuckled slightly, her laugh as clear as crystal, lighting up the ember that ignited the fire of hell upon Glenn. As Sahro jumped toward him, the young man had only one thought.
''Well, that was worth it.''
159. A Fridge and Sandwiches
Glenn leaned back in his seat, a whisky glass filled with ice cubes pressed against his right cheek, a hint of a smile sneaking up. In front of him, Sahro was still fuming, gritting his teeth and his fists clenched tightly.
''It was well worth it...Aouch!'' He winced and adjusted the pressure against the bruise, a result of a mean backhanded punch from his Black Heir''s friend. He had been too busy laughing at Sahro''s face to defend himself, and the pain of using CPR wasn''t worth using for such a small bruise. The two Montana were sitting next to each other in a strange display, one comfortably installed on the sofa and as happy as one could be in his black kimono, while the other was the entire opposite. Tense, ashamed, and with an expression that seemed to say: "let me hide in a hole, please".
And in the midst of all this, Liara was gradually relaxing in the convivial atmosphere, sinking deeper into her luxurious leather armchair every second. Glenn grimaced and shook his head, putting his glass back on the small table in front of him.
"Darn...Anyway, bard, what the hell were you doing back there?" Glenn questioned curiously before throwing a glare at the Black Heir, who still seemed angry. The stressed Montana opened his mouth to reply, only to be overtaken by the proud Montana.
"As is in our nature as the most in view bard," he began without a shred of humility, "...we''re always looking for stories to tell. And we heard of a strange tale of people going missing in the Eastern Town, so we came to his place and investigated..." His proud expression slightly crackled as the memory of the torture came back to him. Stressed Montana took over, giving his double a break from his emotions.
"...We went there, and, well, you know the rest...They saw me talk with another Avatar, not this idiot..." He motioned toward the prideful but traumatized Montana, "...who managed to escape. Sadly for me, I didn''t. The Skinners had it on a good source that I possessed the ability to Split my soul, and they wanted that power for themselves..."
Glenn frowned, "Why?"
Stressed Montana shrugged, at a loss.
"Military purposes, probably? My guess is as good as yours. The thing is, even if I wanted to tell them how, I can''t. It''s not something other people can learn," He explained. Glenn rubbed his chin, thinking back to the Moon Grass he had discovered and taken in his dimensional pouch.
"Did you discover anything at all with your investigations? I''m already suspecting that yet again these bastards of the Thorn''s Church have a hand in this, due to the Moon Grass."
Montana nodded and leaned forward, his expression hardening.
"I already knew that the Skinners weren''t the nicest of all the East City gangs, but this is worse than I expected. For the citizens, it''s a lose-lose situation: either they pay the taxes the Skinners impose on them, or they end up being butchered and sold to an unknown buyer, skin and organs in one batch," the bard shook his head while his proud double hid his face in his hands, overwhelmed. Glenn gritted his teeth, angry.
"And with the Church of Onnea gone god-knows-where, no one will take care of this issue. I suppose we''ll also have the Mayor to thank for that...Nothing about the Thorn''s Church, though?" He questioned, squinting. The two Montana shook their head.
"No, besides Moon Grass, there was nothing about them. I didn''t even hear them talking of the Churchexcuse me, the Thorn''s Cult even once. I keep on forgetting the Onnea''s Church publicly denounced them..."
Glenn moistened his lips and glanced at Sahro, who returned it to him. They all sipped on their drinks silently for a few minutes, before Glenn frowned with another question.
"And that unknown buyer you mentioned? Could the Cult be that "unknown"?"
Stressed Montana grimaced and shook his head, uncertain.
"I don''t think so. They''re the kind that loves doing the dirty work themselves..."
Glenn grunted, agreeing easily with that last statement. Indeed, these sickos took quite the pleasure of giving the "gift" of pain to others.
''...It would mean another entity out there needs an incredible amount of human skin and organs. What could they do with all this junk?'' Diamanes pondered in Glenn''s mind. The latter shook his head and poured himself a bit of whisky. He looked at the amber liquid and the ice cubes floating in it, before shrugging and drinking it.
"Sigh, this place is a mess. As a matter of fact, the whole of King''s Rise is a mess..." Glenn smacked his lips and turned toward the two Montana.
"Well, thank you for answering my questions. You''re free to leave," He waved at the exit and sank both in his sofa and his thoughts. The two Montana traded a glance, and the stressed one hesitantly replied.
"You...you''re sure? Just like that?"
Glenn closed his eyes.
"Sure, sure, just like that. I need to talk with my subborassociate over there, and I can''t do that with you two around," He grunted and whished them away with a dismissing hand movement. The prideful Montana shrugged and grabbed his stressed double, pulling him toward the exit.
"Well, huh, thank you for saving me, Sir Glenn! I''ll be sure to tell the tales of you and Sir Sahro, and will make you as famous as the Heroes of the age of the First King!" Stressed Montana shouted right before he was thrown out of the suite by his Avatar, the latter soon following without even a goodbye. The door clicked as it closed over them, letting Glenn sigh in relief.
"Alright, they''re gone. Phew, I didn''t dare say it aloud, but it kind of unnerved me seeing the two of them..."
Sahro sneered and headed over to the kitchen, knowing his way into the suite perfectly. Liara had both of her hands wrapped around her glass, still mute. Glenn glanced at her and his eyebrows creased.
"So, Miss, how did you end up captured by the black market''s slavers?" He questioned, his arms crossed. Liara''s gaze was icy, her lips parting but no words escaping. Glenn sighed, frustration and sympathy mingling in his expression.
"It''s fine, don''t force yourself. I just don''t know what to do with you..." He looked at the kitchen, in which Sahro was preparing himself a bit of food, and raised his voice.
"Hey, what do we do with her?" Glenn''s voice cut through the air, making Liara jump. Sahro''s head appeared around the kitchen doorway, nonchalant. "No idea...I was thinking about sending her back to Giselle, but..."
Liara suddenly stood up and shook her head, her emotionless expression tainted with fear. Sahro grimaced and continued.
"...It doesn''t seem like she wants to. I don''t know why she would be so scared of Giselle, but let''s just keep her around for now..." As soon as the Black Heir said those words, Liara calmed down and sat back, her fright melting away, replaced by the emotionless mask. Glenn rubbed the end of his nose, before leaning forward toward her.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
"Miss, just so you know, life with us isn''t...safe, at all. We''re often in situations where we''re forced to slaughter a way through monsters and evil stuff alike, in the most begrudging way possible. Are you sure you''d rather not go with other Black Heirs...?" Glenn tried and ask, only for Liara to shake her head with determination, undeterred. The young man grimaced, drew a deep breath, and sighed.
"...Do as you like, then. At least you know what you''re getting into." He grunted and stood up, heading for a massive oak table in the dining room. There were so many rooms in this darned suite, everywhere he went he was sure he''d find what he wanted.
''Hey, don''t act as if you don''t enjoy her presence. Alongside Milena, that certainly embellishes your team of weirdos!'' Diamanes laughed wryly, Glenn doing his best to ignore him.
"I certainly won''t complain about her being there, heh..." Nelg commented, apparently in love with Liara. Glenn rubbed his temples and sat down, waiting for Sahro to arrive. The Black Heir had a plate with three sandwiches prepared, already salivating at the idea of eating them. With a quick Gravity Manipulation, Glenn pulled one of the three in his hand, biting down on it without giving Sahro the chance to complain.
"Mhm! Great sandwich, Sahro!" Glenn took another bite and shot his friend a thumbs-up. Sahro looked down at his plate emptily look and sighed, before passing one of the sandwiches to Liara, who quietly took it.
"It was meant for you to begin with, anyway..." The Black Heir sat and began eating. Glenn licked his fingers and leaned back in his seat, already done with the meal.
''Pig. I''ve never seen someone eat that fast in my long, long life.'' Diamanes spat out his contempt, Nelg echoing his words with a laugh. Glenn ignored both of them and concentrated on his Black Heir friend.
"So, besides almost getting us killed, what did you manage to find out?" He asked, all the while considering his options between going to the kitchen and making himself another sandwich or hoping that Sahro would make some others.
"..." Sahro chewed silently, ashamed. Glenn sighed and rubbed the corner of his eyes.
"At least one of us did the job. I got some idea of where to look for Redan," the young man declared proudly. Sahro''s eyes widened and he dropped his sandwich.
"Where? I asked at least thirty different shops, and none of them even heard of Sir Redan!"
Glenn grinned and leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed.
"I found an intelligence agency, the Indigo Bureau. I just asked them, and they told me!"
Sahro''s jaw dropped right beside his sandwich, and he shook his head violently.
"Wait, you managed to find the Indigo Bureau? I almost thought they didn''t exist! And shit, aren''t they supposed to be the most expensive ones in the market?" The Black Heir questioned, shocked. Glenn shrugged and stood up, motivating himself to make more sandwiches. "They''re information brokers. I just needed to share some intel they didn''t have, and it all worked out!"
Sahro remained slack-jawed for a few more seconds, before going back to eat his sandwich, struggling to keep his surprise in check. Glenn opened a drawer and picked up a large knife, grinning at himself in the reflection of the blade.
"The old man was last seen on Lark Avenue a week or so ago. He went completely missing in the area, alongside members of the Thorn''s Cult." Glenn breathed in the aroma of fresh bread, before cutting a few slices of it. He picked up cheese and ham from the cold storage and ended the whole thing with blue lettuce. It probably wasn''t named lettuce, but besides being of another color, it was lettuce.
"Additionally, all of the forces of the Onnea''s Church went missing there a few days later. Whatever is on Lark Avenue, it''s important enough so that everyone disappears once they''re there." Glenn dusted his hands off and looked at the four sandwiches he had just made with satisfaction. He brought them back on the plate and placed them on the table, the others free to serve themselves. Surprisingly, it was Liara who took one first, already done with the one Sahro gave her.
"...Two Churches and Sir Redan, and the problem there still isn''t solved? Unless they all died?" Sahro creased his eyebrows and sighed tiredly.
"But we''re inside King''s Rise? How could there be something so dangerous inside the walls?"
Glenn sneered, remembering the Blessed Grove, Prince''s murder, the Auberge, and even the presence of the Skinner''s gang.
"The Fringe is safe only in the areas of influence of the Cleaner''s Workshop, and yet some accidents can still happen. The Eastern Town is the prime example of what happens when there isn''t a bunch of Fixers and Cleaners running around to get rid of the Rifts and the criminals."
Sahro shook his head and shoved the last bit of his sandwich in his mouth, before serving himself another one. Glenn was already in the middle of devouring yet another sandwich.
"...At least we know where to look for. We''ll just have to wait for Javier and Milena to come back, and we''ll be all set," said the Black Heir. He stretched and finished his sandwich, before glancing at Liara, and notably at her ankle, wrapped in bandage.
"...Do you think you could take care of that as well?" Sahro asked softly, making Glenn chuckle. The young man used a Mundare to clean his hands completely, before heading for the pretty woman. Liara, busy eating her sandwich, raised her eyes when she saw Glenn approaching. She looked at her ankle and a light of understanding flashed in her eyes. Glenn smiled gently and kneeled in front of her, grabbing the wounded ankle.
"...Here goes another round of CPR...I kind of hate Javier for having this ability now," Nelg grumbled.
''Why? It''s an excellent healing ability, with acceptable counter-effects for something not under a god''s supervision,'' Diamanes retorted, the entity disagreeing with the sword.
"Because it''s way too fucking painful, that''s why!" Nelg spat. Glenn could only sigh and grit his teeth as he prepared himself for the inevitably searing pain that would come with the use of the ability.
''I kind of hate CPR too now...'' was his last thought before he initiated the healing process, a burning sensation flaming up in his hands and devouring him from the inside. Thankfully, the ankle''s wound was nowhere near the level of Sahro''s stump, and it was quickly taken care of. Glenn gasped, his back drenched in cold sweat. Liara carefully pushed her foot against the ground, the corner of her lips curving upward slightly.
Glenn smiled tiredly and went to sit in one of the sofas.
"I''ll be Meditating here, wake me up when Milena and Javier are back. Phew..." He closed his eyes before opening them right back up.
"Wait, I almost forgot about that!" He sunk his hand in his dimensional pouch and took out the mini-fridge, placing it on the table in front of him. Sahro perked up when he saw the foreign item, as did Liara.
"The fuck is this?" The Black Heir questioned as he went and sat opposite Glenn, curious. The young man didn''t reply and opened the mini-fridge, finding it empty. He tried sending a bit of Mana into it, only for it to disappear without any apparent purpose.
"Hmm...It''s supposed to be a storage for food or drinks and keep them cold. It''s a Fallen Piece, so it should be special, but I can''t find out" Glenn closed the mini-fridge''s door, "how the hell it works. Infusing Mana into it does nothing, and..." He sent out another wave of Mana, and opened the mini-fridge''s door, before putting his hand inside it. It wasn''t cold or warm, just at the same temperature as the rest of the room, "...no cold is produced. Maybe it''s broken?"
Sahro leaned forward and looked at the mini-fridge, before glancing at the bottles of whisky nearby.
"Did you try putting something in it?"
Glenn shook his head, sneering.
"I just bought it, I didn''t try anything. But sure, let''s see..." Glenn stood up and hesitantly picked an untouched Ros wine. It wasn''t something he had ever tasted, but there was a first for everything. He went and stored the bottle inside the mini-fridge. He then placed his hand on top of it and infused his Mana, curious to see what would happen next. As soon as the Mana fueled the mini-fridge, a small screen appeared on the door, with time ticking down. There were five minutes until whatever process going on was done.
Glenn traded a look with Sahro and stared curiously at the fridge.
"...Five minutes, then. How should we...Ah, Sahro, tell me, did you know Liara beforehand? You already knew her name, but yet it doesn''t look like she can speak..." He hurriedly turned toward Liara and made an apologetic expression, "...No offense meant, of course."
Liara shook her head indifferently, emotionless. Sahro scratched the back of his head and also looked at Liara.
"Well..." He hesitated, "...I don''t know her, no. And she did tell me her name, but that was the only time she spoke."
Glenn shrugged, before smiling toward her.
"Oh, and you also laughed earlier, right?" Liara''s emotionless expression crackled, and tints of red blushed her cheeks, making Glenn laugh aloud.
"Yeah, we heard you. I sure hope we''ll be able to hear you speak one day or ano"
Ting!
The three turned toward the fridge, the timer down to zero. Glenn glanced at the two Black Heirs before carefully opening up the mini-fridge, a cloud of cold mist coming out of it. He picked up the wine bottle and looked at it. It was ice-cold but didn''t seem very different...
Wait, no, it wasn''t the same color. Glenn frowned and opened the bottle up, using a delicate application of Gravity Manipulation to pull out the cork. A familiar yet almost forgotten scent was brought to his nose and made him think he was hallucinating, as the gas escaped from the bottle in an also most recognizable sound.
"... Coca-Cola?"
''...If that''s isn''t a surprise.'' Nelg added with the same shock as his host.
They had just transformed wine into coke.
160. Coke and Stripping
Glenn gulped, his eyes fixed on the ex-wine bottle, observing the dark liquid it contained like a divine elixir. He glanced at the two Black Heirs watching him worriedly, before pouring himself a drink. Cream-colored moss rose, earning a curious stare from Liara, and a wary one from Sahro.
"...I mean, it is kind of a divine elixir. The culmination of Earth''s technology, aimed for the single goal of creating a drink so addictive your body will always crave more..." Nelg swallowed down his jealousy, unable to taste the Coke with his lips. He''d have to make do with Glenn''s memories, but secretly, he swore he''d taste the refreshing soda with a luscious, red, human tongue.
''Huh, a divine drink? More like a demonical one!'' Diamanes sneered, Nelg immediately snapping back at the mockery.
"Shut up! Don''t say that about the holy Coca-Cola!"
In front of the fuming sword, the entity had no choice but to defend itself.
''The hell? This thing is unhealthy, prone to make people fatter, and...you even said it yourself, it''s so addictive it can probably be considered a drug!'' Diamanes countered, adding, ''...Junky!''
Glenn grimaced and mentally muted both of the voices, giving them a private corner to fight and give him peace of mind. He steeled himself and moistened his lips, peering down at his glass. The cream-colored moss had decreased substantially, but a thin layer was still left over it.
''...It probably isn''t going to taste the same, is it?'' He tried to lower his expectations, without much success. It was the last drink he expected to find in this wretched world, yet...
Yet here it was. Or a version of it, at least. A magical one, to add to injury. The young man could only scoff at the thought, trying to get past the absurdity of it all. And with that, he also seriously contemplated the idea of beginning a collection of Fallen Pieces. If they were all so magical, then maybe... The corner of his lips curved upward when he remembered the revolver in Giselle''s possession.
Surely, once he''d have saved her grandson, he''d be able to ask her for it? He shook his head and concentrated back on the drink.
"Well, here I go" Glenn brought the glass to his lips when Sahro stopped him with a firm hand, killing his excitement.
"This isn''t a good idea. Why are you so convinced it isn''t poison?" The Black Heir eyed the dark drink with a gradually increasing wariness. He creased his nose, picked up the now-Coca-Cola bottle, and poured a drop on his finger. Liara''s eyes widened and she jumped to her feet, worried for him. The bead of coke fell on Sahro''s finger, sliding down and dropping on the ground with an insignificant sound.
Glenn, Sahro, and Liara traded a silent glance, Glenn stealthily raising the glass to his lips and hurriedly turning away to take a sip. Sahro, taken by surprise, couldn''t stop him, and without anything else to do, he slapped the young man''s back, making him spit his mouth out. Glenn''s eyes widened and he used Gravity Manipulation, the image of zero-gravity in space stations as an example for his saving attempt. Instead of falling on the ground, the drops he spat went and moved through the air slowly at a high speed.
''...Gravity Manipulation isn''t enough to describe this spell at this point...I''ll think of another one,'' Diamanes quietly commented, completely ignored by his host.
They would have probably splashed against a wall if the room had been normal-sized. Thankfully, the Platinum Suite was all but normal-sized. Glenn looked at them with confusion and gulped at the same time, the leftover coke still going down his throat. He gasped and felt his eyes become watery, losing his concentration and letting the leftover drink crash down.
"Fucking dumbass"Sahro''s anger died down when he saw the tears trailing down his friend''s cheeks, instantly replaced with worry. He quickly turned toward Liara.
"Shit! Do you have healing magic?" The Black Heir slapped his forehead angrily and rushed for the door, "...No, of course not you don''t! Glenn, hold on, I''ll get a priest!" He froze when he saw Glenn raise his open palm in a calming gesture. The young man wiped his eyes and chuckled.
"WowI am very, very touched by your care, Sahro, but I like women, alright?"
Sahro blinked emotionlessly a few times until his confusion slowly turned to anger, his face reddening with wrath.
"You FUCKER! I''m going to RIP YOU APART!" Sahro''s voice died down when he saw Glenn coughing slightly... until the smirk on his friend''s face lit that anger up again.
"STOP THAT!!!!" Sahro yelled, his eyes bloodshot and his thunder arm crackling with electricity. Glenn laughed, before shaking his head.
"Alright, alright, let''s calm down here. First, it''s not poison. Secondly, poison can''t do much to me. Third, sit back down, Sahro," He pointed at the sofa in front of him, all under Liara''s watchful, almost amused gaze. Sahro drew a deep breath through clenched teeth, a few veins popping up on his forehead until he sighed and sat back down, his face returning to its usual tint. Liara gently placed her chin in her hand, enjoying the show as her emotionless mask slowly but surely cracked away.
"Now, this" He pointed at the bottle of Coca-Cola, "This is something you''ve never tasted in your whole life."
Sahro looked at the bottle dubiously, his fingers rapping against the sofa''s armrest.
"I don''t share your...poison immunity. I''m not dumb enough to risk myself drinking this thing..." The Black Heir grumbled, glaring at his friend and showing his dislike as best he could. Glenn shrugged it off and poured himself another drink of the delicious soda, before throwing a wary stare toward Sahro.
"Please don''t make me waste this one, alright?" Glenn pleaded, keeping his fingers tightly wrapped around the glass "just in case". Sahro waved dismissively, giving up.
"If you die, you die. Whatever."
Glenn chuckled and drank the whole glass in one shot. He sighed deeply, his eyes tearing up slightly as the carbonation did its work. He wasn''t used to it anymore. This world''s beer was barely carbonated, if at all.
But on Onnea it felt good.
"Phew..." He withheld a burp, before picking Sahro''s glass up and filling it up with coke. The Black Heir grimaced, watching the glass filling up, and reluctantly picked it up.
"JustJust think of it like beer!" Glenn tried to convince him, "...You were wary then, you''re wary now, why don''t you just trust me?!?"
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Sahro smacked his lips and threw him a barely amused stare.
"...You''re sure you want to go down that road?"
Glenn winced, before waving his hand dismissively and pointing back at the drink.
"Listen, just take a sip. It won''t kill you, alright? Even if it will, you won''t regret it!"
Sahro was about to reply when a frail hand suddenly shot out and stole the glass away. Glenn and Sahro barely had the time to turn their head to see Liara emptying the whole glass with blind trust. Sahro stood up silently, his lips pressed together. Glenn smiled, suddenly finding Liara to be more and more likable.
"...So when are you proposing to her?" Nelg sneakily asked, making his host flinch. He gritted his teeth and chose to not reply, refusing to entertain the pestering sword.
Liara coughed lightly, her eyes watering slightly. Sahro was about to rush to her side but Glenn held him back, smiling. The lady wiped the foam off her mouth, and suddenly looked up, her eyes shining brightly. She held her glass toward Glenn inquisitively, who picked it up with a chuckle.
"Sure, here you go..." He poured another glass, all under Sahro''s watchful gaze. He handed it to Liara, who, instead of emptying it in one shot, chose to sip a little of it. She held her tongue out, seemingly curious about the heavy carbonation of the drink. Glenn looked at Sarho and pointed at Liara proudly.
"See? That''s bravery, that''s courage, that''s strength! You should take a leaf out of her book!"
A vein popped up on Sahro''s forehead, and with gritted teeth he took the Coke bottle away from Glenn''s hand, pouring himself a drink in a leftover glass and emptying it up in one shot. He coughed and winced, looking at the glass with disgust. He coughed slightly before touching his tongue, unimpressed.
"Ugh, so...sweet..." Sahro shook his head and sat back on the sofa.
"...It''s not my thing... ugh..."
Glenn pressed his lips together, realizing he had failed to take into account the Black Heir''s palate''s habitude. Industrial sugar would probably not suit many people in this kind of medieval era.
''At least she loves it!'' Diamanes remarked, laughing widely. Glenn shrugged with a smile, before looking at the mini-fridge in wonder.
"...Anyway, a fridge that transforms wine into coke...It sure makes me wonder about what the rest of these Fallen Pieces can do."
He couldn''t dive deeper into this thought as the door to his suite opened suddenly, Milena walking in proudly, Javier trailing behind her with...a tired look?
Javier was...tired?
Glenn rubbed his eyes as he watched the Pale Son plop down on a sofa silently.
"Holy shit...what the hell did he go through?" Nelg questioned, in awe. Glenn shook his head slightly, speechless. Javier leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes, all hints of his exhaustion disappearing with him closing his eyes. This was also the first time he saw Javier take a nap, or even sleep.
Truly a day of surprises.
"Hey, guys! We found out a lot of stuff with Javier, you''ll be shocked!" Milena exclaimed as she bounced around them with excitement. Glenn blinked, still in shock from seeing Javier so...human, before uttering under his breath:
"...How old are you already, Milena?"
"Twenty-one!" She answered briskly, before choosing a sofa and settling comfortably on it. She grinned with all her teeth, the scent of mint coming off her stronger than ever. Only then she remarked Liara, who was silently sipping on her coke with wide, watery eyes. She blinked, before throwing an accusing glare at Glenn and Sahro.
"Whatwhat did you do this poor girl?!" She blurted out as she rushed to Liara''s side. The lady watched her confusedly, her lips still pressed against the side of her glass. Milena crouched next to her, worried.
"Hey, are you alright? What did they do to make you cry? Not, let me guess: Glenn mocked you? Maybe Sahro said something mean?" She continued without giving Liara the chance to reply, her cheeks heating up and her eyes lighting up with a hint of Mana.
"Don''t worry, I''ll make them pay!" She turned on her feet and suddenly grasped at the air, pulling on it. Glenn, who was happily watching with a grin, suddenly found himself falling toward the ceiling, or at least felt like he was falling. It was much more different than when he manipulated Gravity to pull Sahro and Liara up back in that cavern, in that his whole balance was suddenly messed up.
"The ffffffoooohhh" Glenn''s voice came back to him distorted and the mini-fridge appeared in his vision, approaching dangerously. The young man tried to use Gravity Manipulation to pull himself backward but only succeeded in accelerating his fall. His forehead bounced off the fridge with a loud metal noise, and he stumbled back on the sofa, refusing to move anymore as he held his forehead.
''Nasty, nasty illusion magic. Well, and it''s one I can''t even eat...Unless she could cast it directly on your left hand? It remains to be tested...'' Diamanes pondered, uncaring of his host''s struggles. Glenn closed his eyes before the illusion made him puke, waiting patiently as he tried to find a solution out of the trap. He tried to push his hand forward, but felt his whole body being pulled with it, and hurriedly retracted it.
''...How am I supposed to get out of here? Is illusion magic the hidden meta?'' He couldn''t help but question, as he listened to the distorted voices echoing from his surroundings. Each of his senses was muddled, or interfered with, in a kind of similar way to when there was noise on a radio line.
Interference. That was the keyword here. Glenn felt like he was going somewhere here.
''Should I just wait it out? How am I supposed to get rid of this interference? Diamanes?'' Glenn asked, only to be met with despite.
''Come on, take the opportunity to learn, instead of asking for help like a pushover,'' Diamanes grumbled, killing his host''s hopes for an easy solution. Well, he could wait it out, but he didn''t like the idea of just giving up without even trying.
Glenn pressed his lips together felt his world shake, and hurriedly stopped even that small motion.
"Shiiittttttt" His voice rang out in an ethereal tone, echoing all around. Glenn had never dabbled too much in drugs, but he imagined acid being something similar.
Maybe a little easier on the senses? He couldn''t know.
''...I''ll give up speaking aloud, or it''ll just make my brain go even limper. I can''t even blink without my whole body being affected. Wait'' Glenn froze and he almost instinctively grabbed at his head, before restraining himself in fear of falling into whatever illusional void Milena could have conjured.
''...Illusion magic is interference, interference in my senses...Shit, and all of my senses too! What the fuck does her spell interferes with? My brain? Wait, am I in danger of going brain-dead?'' Glenn''s heart thumped loudly, like the sound of a clock out of sync. If the interference was on his brain, perhaps the best solution was to block off the interference. How? Wrap his head in Mana?
And make it explode? Or gravitate?
How the hell was he supposed to shape Astral Sorcery into...mind protection magic?
"Surprise her!" Nelg suddenly exclaimed with an enlightened voice. Glenn wanted to raise an eyebrow but couldn''t, in fear of the consequences.
''How?'' He asked, curious but a little worried about his sword''s suggestion.
"I''m not influenced by the mind magic, or illusion magic, or whatever hex you''re under, and what I can tell right now is that Liara is struggling to keep Milena away from you and Sahro. If you surprise her with a shocking move, perhaps she''ll drop the magic!" Nelg explained with an excited and kind of wicked tone.
''HOW, Nelg? I asked how?'' Glenn blurted out, annoyed. Nelg chuckled and shrugged his armored shoulders.
"The only thing that isn''t affected by the illusion magic is your soul. And what is linked to your soul?"
Glenn wanted to groan in understanding, and sigh distastefully, but couldn''t allow such a thing. He already knew the solution Nelg was proposing, but...
But he didn''t want to use it, simply?
"I mean, if you want to wait it out, you''re free to do so..." Nelg commented innocently.
''...I hate you.'' Glenn closed his eyes, the act almost sending him down a spiral of purple and blue, and took his Soulbound suit back into his soul. The illusion magic suddenly trembled before dissipating wholly, letting Glenn see Milena almost jumping at him, her furious sight transforming to pure horror. With the return of his capacities, Glenn first used Gravity Manipulation and pulled Milena to the ceiling, and secondly put his suit back on.
The whole thing barely took a second.
''...And so begins the mythical legend of the Lightspeed Stripper.'' Diamanes announced with a grave tone. Glenn sighed, both tiredly in front of the entity''s antics and relief when he saw that Liara had her back turned to him, meaning she (probably) didn''t see anything.
Hopefully, she didn''t.
"...Not that you shouldn''t be proud of yourself, but I mean, I''m a little shy too..."
''Well, fuck you, and fuck you too Diamanes.''
''Hahaha!''
161. A Tiny, Tiny Circle
Glenn moistened his lips, leaning back comfortably on his sofa, trying his best to ignore the unbearable silence. Milena was sitting still, half-shocked and half-angry. Javier, thankfully, had regained his inhumanity, whatever trauma Milena had successfully imparted on him gone. Sahro was frowning deeply, still working his gears on the illusion magic, trying to find a way to defend himself from such attacks in the future. And Liara was back to sipping on her glass of coke, the bottle safely kept by her side.
All in all, an interesting picture, but a much too silent one. Glenn elected himself with the right to break it and he smacked his hands loudly, garnering the team''s attention.
"Alright, let''s forget about what''s just happened, and concentrate on the serious business at hand," He turned toward the shocked, fallen noblewoman, "...Milena, what did you find with Javier?"
Milena''s eyes found clarity back again, and she shook her head slightly.
"Uh, yes, so..." She stuttered, struggling to find her words before finally pulling herself together.
"We talked to a few dozen witnesses, in the Butcher''s District, the Ragged District, and Lark''s Avenue," Milena winced, recalling a few unpleasant things,"...We got scammed a few times, with "witnesses" asking for money against information..."
Glenn blinked and rubbed his chin.
"...You didn''t give them anything, did you?"
Milena whistled and looked to the side guiltily, before sighing and shaking her head.
"Well, it''s done, so no need to dwell on it, is it? I''ve had a few issues due to that, a few bandits, a couple of mages, and a particularly annoying knight, but thankfully..." She patted Javier''s shoulder with a wide grin, the Pale Son slowly turning his empty eyes toward her.
"...Javier there was here to help me get rid of them!"
The silent hunter turned to Glenn, his eyes still failing to convey any emotions. And yet...Yet Glenn still found a hint of despair in that dead fish''s gaze.
''...Stop hallucinating.'' Diamanes warned. Glenn turned away from Javier and concentrated back on Milena.
"So, we had a ton of very useless information, but still..." She smiled and crossed her arms, "...we did get a few things!"
Glenn leaned forward expectantly, all ears.
"Firstly, Redan was indeed apperceived in the Eastern Town, mostly around Lark Avenue and the Butcher''s District. I have at least three witnesses that testified they saw him on Lark Avenue, and only a single one on Butcher''s District," Milena explained proudly. Glenn whistled, impressed.
"We figured out that much in the black market with Sahro. You''re an actual investigator, wewell, I had to go to an information broker to learn this!"
Milena blushed, before drawing a deep breath and focusing back.
"Now, we''re not done. Secondly, and it''s a little unrelated, there''s a rise of..." Her smile died down, "...people disappearing and others claiming the Onnea''s Church is their enemy. There was mention of the "Savior", and the "Lord", but no god specifically. I''m not sure"
"The Thorn''s Cult again, then. No surprise here," Glenn interrupted her, his lips curving upward beastly. He couldn''t wait to crush those cockroaches again under his boot, sword, or whatever would do the trick. The more time he spent in this damned world, the more he was convinced the whole religion should be abolished, for it was bringing nothing to the world, with their putrid, evil god. Epinos. If Project Damocles was indeed a god-killer, then...
Glenn shook his head, allowing Milena to continue. She moistened her lips.
"I''mI''m not sure it''s them, since there was no mention of the Cult or any signs of their presence. But something is indeed a little more than weird in this town..." Milena bit down on her lower lip.
"I couldn''t get any clear idea of where Sir Ice Wolf was though, but I think we should concentrate our efforts on Lark Avenue," she concluded, with a tint of disappointment. Glenn grinned and rubbed the back of his neck, already thinking about what would happen next.
"...Then our next destination is set. We got the same information from the Indigo Bureau, with the addition of the disappearance of most forces of the Church of Onnea in Lark''s Avenue. Oh, and we might be at odd with the Skinners, so careful around them," He thought back to the crazy woman from back then in the not-brothel, and grimaced, "...fire at will, they''re fucking murdering sickos. We had our faces covered with Sahro and me, but we never knew. And before you ask, yes, my arm was also covered."
Milena nodded deeply, before suddenly snapping and looking at Liara.
"I kind of forgot she was there, but could you present me?"
Glenn froze for a few seconds, before chuckling.
"Well, this is Liara, another Black Heir. She''s part of the team now, I guess..."
He scratched the back of his head, his eyebrows creased. He had no idea what Liara could do, and she was pretty much under-fed, sickly, and in need of rest. Even if he had accepted her stay with the group, she couldn''t come fight with them when he didn''t even know whether she was a swordsman or a mage. Well, she did know how to defend herself with a sword, but so did he, and he didn''t think of himself as a swordsman.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Maybe he was a magic swordsman? How should he categorize his fighting style?
''Melee-mage?'' Diamanes tried, only for Nelg to laugh at him.
"Lame. No, he''s a Spellblade! That''s a much cooler name!"
''...I like Spellblade. It does sound cooler...Sorry, Diamanes, but Nelg wins that one.'' Glenn admitted, giving credit where it was due. Diamanes grumbled, acting as though he didn''t give a damn.
''...I''m much better at naming spells, anyway. I''m still working on Gravity Manipulation''s new name...''
Glenn shrugged, dismissing the thoughts. He turned toward his teammates, watching curiously as Milena tasted the Coca-Cola and liked it, another person joining his Coke-loving cult. Liara was the first member, Milena the second. Soon enough, he''ll have many people to share a coke with...
No, that came out wrong.
Anyway.
"So, how do you all feel? Does anyone need a rest before going back to it? I Meditated most of my Mana back, but I could use another hour," Glenn stated. Milena shrugged.
"We barely fought, and they weren''t that strong, just annoying. I''d still take the hour of break though, personally, before we go investigate Lark''s Avenue."
Sahro nodded and glanced at Liara, who had finally put down her glass and was holding her stomach with a confused scowl.
"...I''ll try to install Liara in my suite, and get her a proper meal. An hour should be enough for me to gather my strength back, so let''s get going then."
Glenn looked at Javier, who gave it back to him silently.
Emotionlessly. As usual. The young man forced his eyes away from the silent hunter and smacked his lips.
"Perfect, then. In an hour in front of the Dormitory then, sounds good?"
"Yep"
"No problem."
Glenn smiled and stood up, stretching. Things were moving forward, and he liked it that way. As soon as he''d got Redan out of his mess, his situation would be completely unblocked, and he could head for the Bourgeoisie. A bit of grind might have to be imposed to raise Nelg''s level first, but that shouldn''t take long if he set about it as he had during his three months of madness.
After that, a quick Baron''s beheading, another quick grind to get to the next Circle of King''s Rise, and the meeting with Exan. That was going to be exciting too, no doubt.
"Don''t count your chickens before they hatch," Nelg warned, calming his host''s enthusiasm. Glenn grimaced and nodded slightly while he opened the door for the others to leave.
''Yeah, let''s keep my head in the game. Let''s take this one slowly, carefully, with all the weapons I need to get rid of Howard,'' His traits hardened and he gritted his teeth as he closed the door behind Javier.
''I''m not risking another failure.''
On those wise words, Glenn went and sat on his bed, cross-legged. He entered Meditation and calmed his mind and heart, steeling himself for the rest of the road in front of him.
At first, his objective had always been to survive and try to find a way out of this world. But now that he had friends, and people to avenge...
Going back to Earth will have to wait for now. Well, it''s not like he had any actual leads about how he was supposed to about this problem, anyway. Besides helping Onnea with the Seeds of Darkness and trying to squeeze out another meeting with her. He still had so many questions for the goddess, after all. Why was he brought into this world, and not another? Where was Earth? She still didn''t explain what "Earth being gone" meant, after all. Hopefully, she wouldn''t be so "restricted" for their next meeting...
If next meeting there was.
"Sorry to interrupt your introspection, but I thought you might want some more precisions about what eating a few souls did to me," Nelg''s voice suddenly rang in Glenn''s mind. The young man opened his eyes to his Mana Heart, floating gently toward the second one orbiting nearby, Nelg''s Mana Heart.
His armored self was standing in front of it, his arms crossed. Glenn went and stood beside him, watching Nelg''s Mana Heart. If he was the Magellanic Clouds, Nelg''s Mana Heart was like a Sun. A very, very bright Sun, but somehow still very, very dark. A dark Sun? It was hard to describe and didn''t look...finished, like a half-completed pottery.
"So, we got how many souls already?" Glenn asked innocently, trying to ignore how ominous and horrible the question sounded. Nelg moistened his lips and pointed at the Dark Sun, something small pulling itself away from it. A little, finger-sized ring landed on Nelg''s opened palm, under Glenn''s curious gaze. Nelg picked the ring up and looked through it, looking at something only he could see.
"...Twenty-seven human souls. I''ve already used five of thesesorry, six to fuel the growth of my First Circle."
Glenn looked at the ring quizzically, then at the massive Dark Sun they were standing in front of.
"...Tell me, Nelg, aren''t the Circles supposed to be around your Mana Heart, not inside it?"
Nelg threw the ring up and down, lost in thoughts.
"Well, that''s what I thought too, but..." He squinted and looked at the ring, sighing dejectedly,"...Yeah, I just didn''t want to believe it."
Glenn felt a hint of worry in his heart but still chose to ask Nelg about what he meant.
"...Explain to me, please."
Nelg bit down on his lip and rubbed the back of his neck, which was covered by a steel gorget.
"...Well, it seems to differ depending on the souls, but my Circle grew the equivalent of a centimeter for that last one..."
He looked up at the Dark Sun with a grimace.
"And I think I need my First Circle to be large enough to surround the Dark Sun for my Second Circle to be created."
Glenn silently looked at the Dark Sun, his arms crossed.
"...It''s going to take a while, isn''t it?"
"I mean, the Baron can wait a few months, right? He''s not going to fly away..."
"I don''t want to agree, first because this world is fucking insane, and secondly because the bastard can probably fly. Remember, he''s supposedly a vampire or something like it."
"Oh yeah, forgot that detail. Well, let''s just act as if I didn''t say anything."
"...Sigh..."
Glenn and Nelg watched together silently the Dark Sun, waiting for Glenn''s Mana reserves to be filled.
Exactly an hour later after everyone left Glenn''s suite, Milena, Javier and Sahro were standing in front of the Dormitory, waiting for the last member of the team. Sahro kicked a stone away, impatient.
"Always late, this ass" The Dormitory''s door opened, letting Glenn exit the building, his eyes stuck on the Exan Egg. It had been exactly an hour, he had made sure of it thanks to this ancient version of a watch.
"Well, well, everyone''s ready?" Glenn asked, grinning widely as he carefully stashed the Exan-Egg in his dimensional pouch. Sahro grunted with a nod, followed by Milena, who also had something to add.
"Just for the information, I took the liberty to ask the Restoration Operator when he will be able to see you. In the end, he''s not free for at least a month, due to some urgent business, so you can worry later about that book of yours." She quickly explained. Glenn pinched his nose, before shrugging dismissively.
"Our plates are already full with Redan''s stuff, it''s fine if I wait a little for your Restoration Operator."
Glenn rubbed his hands together, Mana crackling around him. His instincts were telling him a crazy battle was coming, and he was more than excited to fight it.
"Let''s get to Lark''s Avenue, people. And then, we''re kicking the Thorn''s Cult''s ass!"
"...Wasn''t the mission saving Redan?"
"Whatever, it''s probably more or less the same thing!"
162. Larks Avenue
"...Well, I admit, I might have been a little too over-excited, but isn''t this a little..." Glenn pinched his lips, squinting, "...disappointing?"
Glenn, Sahro, Milena, and Javier were standing right in the middle of Lark''s Avenue. Liara had been left behind in the Dormitory to rest up and gather her strength back. She was in no condition to face anything at the moment anyway, so it was better for her to not come with them. She had been a little reluctant but seemed to understand she wouldn''t be of much help after a few minutes of Sahro trying to convince her not to come.
Half of the group was surprised, while the other half was confused about the first half''s surprise.
"What do you mean? Did you think the whole Avenue was their hideout?" Milena questioned, puzzled. Glenn shook his head, lying through his teeth.
"Of course not, but I did imagine the place a little more like the rest of the Eastern Town, a little more...lawless, you know?"
As it seemed for now, Lark''s Avenue seemed to contradict everything he had encountered ever since he arrived in this town. A proper market, with unarmed merchants and many wares to sell, a plethora of clients, and most of all, a feeling of peace. It felt out of place to imagine that amidst all the rot and criminality, a "normal" environment could be found in this town. Sahro rubbed his eyes, the Black Heir being the most surprised of the four.
"...Am I going crazy?" He muttered, his eyes wide with awe. He glanced at Glenn, and leaned toward him, whispering.
"...A few months ago, this place was the worst district, because it was the furthest away from the Church of Onnea. But now..." Sahro blinked a few times, before smacking his lips.
"Now it''s the most orderly. I don''t understand...I''m happy this place is okay now, but I still don''t understand."
Glenn moistened his lips before shrugging, equally clueless. This place was supposed to be where everyone disappeared, friends or foes, and yet, it''s the most peaceful place in the whole town.
''I can put myself to the fire that this Avenue hides something,'' Diamanes suddenly bet, earning a laugh from Nelg.
"That''s an easy bet. The question isn''t whether this place is indeed hiding something, no. What is it hiding, that''s the important question."
The two voices talked in Glenn''s mind, pushing suggestions or ideas as he tried to figure out a place to start investigating. He turned to the rest of his team.
"Should we split up, or is there a place we should begin with?" He asked, Milena and Sahro shrugging in turn. Glenn smacked his lips, "...I guess it''s splitting up time, then. The first who finds something shoots something bright in the sky for the others. You all have ways to do that, right?"
Milena looked left and right, grimacing.
"My magic isn''t very flashy, I''m not sure..." She looked at Javier, the silent hunter staring back at her with a soulless gaze, "...Can you come with me, Javier? Aren''t you able to do this kind of thing with your Aura''s arrows?"
Javier blinked slowly, Milena shrugging and turning away.
"I''ll take that for a yes. If we don''t find anything, let''s all group back up here by night, okay?" She proposed, Glenn and Sahro nodding in agreement. A few minutes later, Glenn lost them from his sight and focused back on his surroundings. There were many shops, many booths, and many people to ask. One of the inhabitants should know where to find the old man, right? Or at least where the whole fighting squad of the Onnea''s Church went. These guys'' passage would probably be hard to miss, with their flashy paladins and hot priestesses.
"I agree so much with that last thought. We need more priestesses in this story!" Nelg exclaimed, making Glenn groan in annoyance. He didn''t bother replying to the perverted sword and instead chose to head for the nearest booth, coincidentally a food seller. It was mostly meat, one he couldn''t recognize, but that was nothing surprising. Perhaps he should take a bit of time one of these days to figure out the basic ecosystem of this world. Oh, and the name of said world with it. Was it Limbo, as so many gods seemed to suggest after most of his conversations with them or some other convoluted name?
''I feel like you should keep this question for when you''re bored because this might not be the best situation to start suddenly thinking about the stupid name of the world. What good would it bring you, anyway?'' Diamanes exclaimed, mocking him. Glenn looked at his left palm and shrugged.
''For my curiosity and knowledge. And I can''t just refer to this place as a "world" forever, right?''
"Hello, stranger! Do you want to try our specialty?" The shopkeeper, a butcher, suddenly exclaimed, luring Glenn to come closer to his wares, some kind of dried sausages covered with white skin. A pleasant smell was coming off it, something similar to beef or pork, he couldn''t tell. The shopkeeper grinned and unsheathed a large knife, cutting a slice off the sausage and holding it toward Glenn.
"Try it, it''s homemade! It''s the last batch, and I''m pretty proud to call it a masterpiece!" The butcher laughed, making Glenn relax slightly. He was a little tense, as he had expected a fight straight away, but now the adrenaline was gone, letting him enjoy the side-effects of his "investigations", namely to just window shop and taste the town''s specialty.
"Well, I''m not going to refuse free stuff..." He stretched his hand to pick the slice, curious, when someone suddenly pushed him right into the wares, before running away. Glenn quickly turned around, searching for his attacker, when he realized it was only a kid running away with a long package in his hand.
"Whatmy caroviri! What a waste!" The butcher looked sadly at the meat that had fallen off the booth, before gesturing his knife in the runaway kid''s direction, "You scumbag! I''ll cut you in pieces the next time you do that!"
Glenn chuckled when he realized something was missing. What, he couldn''t tell, but...
"GLENN, I''M GETTING KIDNAPPED!" Nelg screamed desperately. Glenn blinked, before holding his hand out and reaching to use the Soulbound property of his Soul weapon to take it back, but said sword suddenly opposed him.
"WAIT! Wait a second, I...I feel like there''s something..." Nelg stopped talking for a second, "...Glenn, come find me, there''s a group of kids, and they''re not in a good state. Holy crap."
Glenn moistened his lips and turned toward the butcher.
"Sorry, I''ll come back to taste that...uhh, caro-thing next time, I have to get back my sword from the little bugger. See you!" Without giving the butcher a chance to reply, he darted off, running in the direction the kid disappeared to. Nelg guided him the best he could, with a bit of struggle...
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"...You''re getting closer...ah, nope, not this turn...Yep, warmer, warmer...Welp, cold again..."
A vein popped on Glenn''s forehead as he sent his frustration through the mental link connecting him to the sword.
''Stop playing, I have serious stuff to do!''
Finally, after turning in more than a few suspiciously dark streets, Glenn arrived in front of an abandoned warehouse. He stopped in front of the door, finding it closed, with something blocking it from the other side. He smacked his lips, and without a shred of consideration, kicked the door from its hinges. A few planks flew away, the old and rotten wood giving way easily. There was barely any light to show him the path, so Glenn quickly made his right hand glow with the Sun''s Touch. There was a small hallway, with yet another pair of doors. Glenn sighed and kicked that one in too, finding a huge storeroom with collapsed shelves and a ceiling riddled with holes, letting a few sunrays in.
The young man felt a nascent headache coming in when he gazed at the room. In every corner, laying on the ground, standing or crouching, all armed with rusty tools or sticks, a few dozen of kids were staring at him defiantly, their teeth clenched and their eyes gleaming with determination. One of them, the scrawniest but the meanest looking, stepped up and unsheathed a pristine longsword, pointing it toward Glenn.
"Whaddya want, stranger''? Fuc'' off, or we''ll slit yo'' throat!" He threatened, the other kids backing him with their weapons. Glenn discarded Sun''s Touch and looked at the longsword, amused.
''Well, you''re turning on me, Nelg? A betrayal, so soon after your birth?''
Nelg chuckled, before suddenly phasing out of the mean kid''s hand, reappearing a second later in Glenn''s hand. The kid paled and took a step back, before gritting his teeth and pulling a rusty knife.
"No matter! I don''t need no evil'' ass sword!" He spat. Glenn sighed and sheathed the sword, before pulling a nearby crate with Gravity Manipulation to use as a seat. The kids'' eyes widened and some of them gasped in surprise, before being kicked by their comrades to force them to hide their shock. The scrawny kid gulped and looked at his friends, before stepping up and holding his knife high.
"...Face me in a dual, wizard! But spare my comrades in exchange, lest'' you lose all honor!" The kid provoked. The other kids whispered in his back and some attempted to step up beside him, but a scary glare from him was enough to stop them. Glenn watched silently, curious.
"...Sure, I''ll face you. What''s your name, kid?" He asked with a smile, his chin leaning on his fist. The kid''s face hardened.
"I ain''t a kid! My name is Kora! And you, wizard?"
Glenn smiled, tapping slowly his chin as he tried to figure out the best way to give the kid a scare.
''...Let me remind you of your nickname...'' Diamanes whispered, giving a good idea to his host. The young man stretched his left, purple arm forward and summoned the flashiest magic he could, namely the Nitrogen Wave, and held it inside his palm.
"...Well, where I come from, they call me the Devil''s Hand. If you do face me, I swear on my honor that I won''t go after your friends." Glenn grinned as he intensified the power of his magic, sending a chill in the whole storeroom. The scrawny kid gritted his teeth and nodded slowly.
"Good! I''m still killin'' you!" The kid roared and charged as he pushed the knife forward with as much strength as he could. Glenn watched silently before gently infusing the ground with the Nitrogen, freezing it, and covering it with a thin layer of ice. The kid, blinded by the rage, stepped right on the ice and slipped quite ridiculously. He lost his knife and slid for a few seconds, landing right in front of Glenn. The young man slowly unsheathed his sword and placed it right next to the kid''s neck, who was breathing laboriously.
"And I won. Well, I guess you''re dead?" Glenn scratched the back of his head, looking with a satisfied look at the terrified look of the other kids, before exploding in laughter and sheathing his sword back. The scrawny kid had stopped breathing in fear and finally gasped as he felt the sharp thread leaving his neck in peace.
"Hah...hah...hah..." He slowly pushed himself on his feet, struggling to stand on the ice. Glenn thought about dismissing it but chose against it. His Mana was gone already, and the ice layer didn''t use any to exist. It would eventually melt down. Glenn looked at the scrawny but brave kid, Kora, and leaned forward curiously.
"So, Kora, tell me, what did you need my sword for?" He asked, Kora looking up defiantly.
"Why shoul'' I tell ya? Ya''re just another'' crappy adult'', we know what y''all do!"
The other kids mumbled and whispered, some shivering at the words. Glenn frowned.
"I''m not from this town, what do you mean? What do we, adults, do?"
Kora gritted his teeth and pointed at the few children who didn''t get up, lying silently under thin makeshift blankets.
"That!" he spat angrily, his finger trembling with hatred and rage. spat angrily, his finger trembling with hatred and rage, "-That''s what you''re all doing! Bastards!"
Glenn''s frown deepened, and he rose to his feet, using Gravity Manipulation to float above the ice layer and glide to the nearest bedraggled child. Kora tried to stop him but only slipped up on the ice once more, failing terribly.
''...Why do I feel like I stumbled on exactly what I was looking for...?'' Glenn thought as he crouched beside the sleeping kid and pushed his dirty hair out of the way. The kid''s face was pale and emaciated, his skin stuck to his bones. Under his eyes, dark circles seemed to grow by the second, and a bit of dried blood was sitting on the corner of his lips, almost blue lips.
''He doesn''t look too good...'' Diamanes silently commented the obvious. Glenn squinted and pulled the cover down, feeling his heart tighten as he looked at the child''s body. He was naked aside from a small piece of cloth wrapped around his groin. Skinny wasn''t enough to describe him, but honestly, that was the least important thing Glenn noticed. Right on his chest was a wound still fresh, carved with a thorny symbol, one symbol that Glenn knew way too well.
He felt himself drifting back to that dirty, dark prison, his jailer feeding him Beast Blood day after day.
"Glenn...I think you''re scaring the kids," Nelg carefully said, pulling Glenn out of his thoughts. His left hand had begun exuding something purely evil, something so horrible it felt foreign to him. As soon as he noticed it, the evil aura disappeared away like a mirage. Glenn remained silent for a few seconds, before shaking his head and pushing his left hand on the kid''s wounded chest.
"Well, this is going to suck. I need to find another solution to replace CPR..." He muttered, before clenching his jaw tightly and beginning the treatment. His mind went blank for a few seconds, the pain drowning him under an unrelenting flood, before dying down as quickly as it came. Glenn heaved and fell back, his neck covered in sweat. The wound was completely gone, without even as much as a scar. It had taken only a few seconds but was almost as painful as treating Sahro''s stump. The wound should have been much, much more painful than it should have been comparatively to the wound''s gravity.
Kora ran to the sleeping kid''s side, staring at the healed chest with wide eyes, alongside all of the other children. Glenn wiped the sweat off his eyebrows and pushed himself up.
"Alright, I feel a little generous today. Listen, Kora..." He turned toward the small leader while dusting his clothes off. The child looked back up with wet eyes, struggling to keep the tears from flowing.
"Here''s the deal: I''ll help all of your bros and sis out, and heal them from their wounds, alright?" Glenn said, smiling widely. Kora almost nodded right up, but his expression hardened.
"...What do you want us to do in exchange? I can''t accept without knowing."
''Oh, he''s smart in addition to being brave?'' Diamanes remarked, pleasantly surprised. Glenn was about to agree with him when Nelg added something.
"He''s probably at least a hundred times smarter than Glenn. It''s a cool kid!"
Glenn chose to ignore the entities'' discussion and ignore any painful words they might utter. He crossed his arms and concentrated back on Kora.
"It''s very simple, Kora. All I want is to find people. First..." He pointed at the kid he just healed, "...I want to know who and where are the guys who did this."
Kora nodded slowly, waiting for Glenn to continue.
"Secondly, I want to know where the guys from the Onnea''s Church went. Finally, I want to know if you saw an old man, come here with some suspicious guys, and where did they go?"
The kid''s eyes widened and looked at the other kids, before going and shaking Glenn''s hand.
"We accept. All of the people you mentioned went in the same house, so it''s simple, but..." He looked at his downed comrades, "...Will you be fine? Many of us have been wounded by the adults."
His speech had changed slightly to a more formal and refined one as if his mask of toughness had just disappeared. Glenn shrugged, before shivering. Wait, that might be a problem.
"...How many?" He asked with a shred of hope that it wouldn''t be too many. Sadly, said hope was crushed under Kora''s boot.
"Thirty-two."
"Oh god." Glenn blurted out, before shaking his head. He had just promised that kid he would heal his friends, so he was going to do it.
But shit this was going to hurt.
163. Shooting for the Stars
"...I really need to find another healing spell," Glenn grunted, emptying the contents of a gourd of water in his throat. He was covered in sweat, and completely exhausted. But, in exchange, he had done a good action! It had taken a while, a lot of pain, and even more swears from him, but eventually, all the kids were rid of the mark of the Thorn''s Cult. As he treated the wounded one by one, the kids surrounded him, watching with wide-opened eyes, some with awe, some with admiration. They all shared the same surprise, though, the same disbelief.
The leader of this not-so-small group of runaways, Kora, was the most disturbed by Glenn''s behavior.
"It looked..." Kora hesitated as he spoke to Glenn, "... very painful. Why would an adult" He clenched his teeth, his face hardening as he forced himself to continue, "why would an adult go so far to help us?"
Glenn breathed in and out, slowly gathering his strength back. He didn''t reply, only taking a few sips here and there while looking at all the kids he healed. In total, it had thirty-three kids, all aged under fourteen, that had been scarred by the goons of the damned cult. The young man rubbed his temples, wondering what was the point of it all.
Why would they carve their emblems on so many kids'' chests? And why would they just let them go then? Did they just let them go?
"Kora, I''ll need some explanations as to why that happened to you all," Glenn turned toward the scrawny leader. Kora flinched and gazed at his previously wounded friends with a difficult expression.
"I...We don''t know. Not so long ago, I was living with my parents, my dad a clothes merchant, and my ma'' a handmaiden to the Mayor," Kora began, looking into the distance as he reminisced. Glenn''s chin leaned on his fist as he listened attentively. The scrawny kid looked at his friends, who all nodded silently.
"My pa'' always told me I should read books and learn how to speak properly, so I could have a better future." He glanced toward his friends, before shaking his head, "We were all living with our families, some having it a little harder than others, some a little better than others, but it was..." Kora smiled slightly, "...it was perfect back then."
"But then..." Kora''s expression darkened, and a few kids spat on the ground, their hands tightening around their sticks and rusty tools, "...they arrived. They came with promises of a better future, of a prophecy of fire and blood, and of a Savior that would save us all."
Kora sat on a nearby crate, fists clenched, "...No one believed them until the monsters they told us of appeared, things o'' nightmares, things that would lurk around in the darkness, waiting to strike. People disappeared, one by one, until a few kids did. The nice people of the Church of Onnea couldn''t find much and blamed the gangs. But the problem wasn''t the gangs..."
The kid rubbed his wrists, catching Glenn''s eyes as he did so. The young man squinted, finding scars wrapping around the wrists.
''Rope? He got kidnapped?'' He wondered, not saying anything.
"Then, adults stopped disappearing. Kids like us, though, kept on going missing. But strangely, the parents never tried to find them again. All of them bastards wore guilty expressions, talking about doing what''s necessary and whatnot, while more of us disappeared."
Kora looked at his trembling hands, hissing through his teeth.
"Then, it was my turn. The darkness got me, and brought me to that place you''re looking for, Devil." He glanced up at Glenn, the rage in his eyes dimming down slightly.
''Haha, now you''re the plain Devil! Excellent!'' Diamanes laughed. Glenn''s eyelids twitched, and he gritted his teeth in order not to curse at the entity.
"I...The monsters of the darkness, they were men since the start..." Kora spat, "...They took me somewhere dark and humid, with lots of other kids."
Glenn nodded slightly. So far, it was nothing too surprising. Kidnapping was much more of a human thing and less of a monster''s one. The monsters just eat people, generally.
"They fed us scraps and rotten water, and when one of us was sick, they''d take him somewhere and we''d never see him again."
"One day, they gave us a choice. Either we willingly accepted to give our lives for their "cause", or they''d let us rot in our cells. Everyone here chose to rot, just to fuck with these monsters!" Kora spat as he grabbed at his chest. Glenn eyed him silently, secretly shocked at the kids'' toughness. After all, there wasn''t any older than fourteen here.
"After we refused to listen to them, they carved the thorns on our chest, marking us forever. We were supposed to die in those cells, but a few days ago, some priests of Onnea managed to get into our prison and free us secretly." Kora sighed and looked at his comrades.
"He didn''t follow us on the way out, to hold back any pursuers. We all owe him our lives. Thank Onnea..." He bowed his head and gently rested his hand against his chest, devout. The other kids followed him, almost earning a sneer from Glenn.
''I guess the Church of Onnea has a few more believers, now. I guess the Church''s forces came to try and rescue that man?''
''It would make sense. Even though he''s probably dead,'' Diamanes commented, unfazed.
"It''d be nice if we could find the priest and show him to the kids. I do wonder why they didn''t go to their parents, though." Nelg pondered, raising yet another question, which Glenn didn''t wait to ask.
"Why didn''t you go back to your families?" He questioned as he sank his hand in his dimensional pouch and took out the Exan-Egg, watching for the time. Some of the kids gulped, while others evaded his gaze, fearful. Kora bit down on his lower lip, the knuckles of his fingers whitening visibly as he clenched harder than ever.
"We did go back. My pa'' was gone. My ma''..." He looked at the floor with bloodshot eyes, "...she works for the Skinners now, in their "adult house". I don''t know what happened, but everything changed while we were gone."
"After looking into it, we all found out that our parents were either missing or working with the Skinners in some morbid way," Kora''s face suddenly drained of all blood and he hid his mouth behind his hand, retching.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"...I found me dad, and the dad of some others, hanging on hooks, carved for meat. That sausage you almost ate back then..." The skinny kid couldn''t speak anymore and turned away, leaving Glenn to ruminate in silence.
Human meat? Human meat?!?
And he almost ate it? Glenn felt his insides churning, expressing their willingness to escape his body. He held himself on the ledge of the crate and stood up, walking a few steps to try and get rid of the feeling.
"Holy shit, first the whole skinning issue, and now fucking cannibalism?!?" Nelg shouted with disgust.
''It doesn''t make sense. Why would they do that? Out of nowhere, too? Hey, am I the only one with flashbacks from Palancar?'' Diamanes suddenly interjected, throwing a cold on Glenn''s heart. He thought back to the tragedy of the small village taken over by an evil god. Ain''t no way he was going to let those Thorn''s Church bastards get away with it.
"Shit, cannibalism is still..." Glenn hurriedly closed his mouth, drawing a deep breath in as the color on his face turned to a sickly shade of green. And he almost bit into it, too...
The young man gave up and hurriedly went into a corner of the warehouse, puking his insides out. After relieving himself of his disgust, Glenn returned to the group of children, Kora having come back to his senses. The young man quickly used Mundare to make any filth on his mouth disappear, trying to keep his serious "Devil" persona. They were kids, and even if they were tough, they were easily impressionable. He still needed their help, and, in all honesty, it was kind of fun to flaunt his strength and play the act of the "Devil''s Hand".
Playing the act was fun, being called the Devil''s Hand was a little less so, though.
"Thank you for stealing my sword from me, then, Kora," Glenn gave the kid his thanks, who nodded wordlessly. The young man looked at the ceiling riddled with holes, the sun still high in the sky. He looked at the kids, before checking his Mana reserves.
"Is this place safe?" He questioned as he looked at the ruined warehouse. Kora nodded slowly.
Glenn stretched and made his neck crackle. Treating the kids had taken a good portion of his Mana, and he''d rather be at full capacity before heading for the "house" where everyone disappeared. He had one last question that bore through his mind; what the hell was Redan doing in this whole story?
Why would they need Redan? For what twisted reason?
Well, there was no point wasting time on it for now; he''d eventually get all his answers once he found Redan, after all.
"All right, then. I''ll sit there and gather my strength back, then I''ll call up my friends and we''ll go burn all of the bastards who made this place what it is down. Just knock on my sword if there''s an emergency, all right?" Glenn smiled gently at the kids, who nodded slowly in response. Kora stood up and dusted his clothes off, before bowing at a perfect ninety degrees angle.
"Thank you, Sir, for treating all of my friends."
Glenn looked at the scrawny kid and shrugged.
"Whatever, a deal''s a deal. You still have to upkeep your end of the bargain, though. Give me half an hour, and we''ll see to it."
And without another second, he closed his eyes, Meditating his Mana back. He should try and find a way to Meditate while moving around, just to make his Mana recovery passively better. Having to close his all senses and sit for an hour and a half each time was a bother he''d rather skip.
Half an hour later, his eyes flashed open, his Mana Heart brimming with power. It felt like he had a little more Mana than usual as if his capacity had grown despite not going up a Circle. Perhaps that was the way to break to the Fourth? Spending and recovering Mana, exhausting himself to try and level up?
Food for thought, for later. Now, he needed to call up the other bastards. He stood up, a few kinds startled by the sudden movement, and came out of the warehouse. He sighed as the sunrays touched his face, and glanced at the time, the Exan-Egg ticking for each passing second. It was 3 P.M.
Certainly, this whole matter will be over before the night, right? Glenn moistened his lips, before casting Gravity Manipulation and jumping on top of one of the houses.
''The name isn''t Gravity Manipulation anymore! It''s...It''s...'' Diamanes stammered, before giving up, ''...I don''t know what it is, alright? This spell is too wide to be called simply Gravity Manipulation! Fuck!''
Nelg laughed at Diamanes'' frustration, not adding anything. Glenn shook his head and looked at the sky. What spells could he use to get the attention of everyone...? Hey, wasn''t that an opportunity to try and create another spell?
"Let''s see, what could be very visible in the cosmic domain...?" Glenn rubbed his chin, before looking down from the house at Kora, who, along with a few other kids, were watching from down there.
"Hey, kid," He shouted, "...When you think of the sky, and of something very flashy, what are you thinking of?"
Kora looked at him weirdly, before pointing at the sun. Glenn''s lips twitched.
"...Smaller stuff, please!"
Kora looked at his friends, before coming back with another suggestion.
"...Would a shooting star work?"
Glenn looked back up, smiling. Yeah, a shooting star would certainly work. Now, what was a shooting star again...? A chunk of rock that fell through the atmosphere and caught on fire doing so, right? The fire was from how fast it entered the atmosphere and the friction and all that, and Glenn wasn''t sure he could shoot a rock at a speed high enough to make them catch on fire. Well, he could just flare them up before shooting them, that could work too. He already had Sun''s Touch for flashiness, and Gravity Manipulation to send the projectile. He just needed to rip a chunk of...something, and shoot it!
That''d surely work, right?
The young man glanced at the ground and used Gravity Manipulation to pull chunks of stone out of the ground, before the astonished eyes of the children, and compact them into a single piece of rock three times his size in both height and width. He pressed his hand against the massive projectile and imagined the Sun''s fire covering it. It used a good amount of his Mana, but since the flames were only covering the rock, it wasn''t that expensive.
Glenn aimed at the sky, wondering if the spells protecting King''s Rise would do anything, before shooting it upward with Gravity Manipulation. The rock accelerated, leaving a trail of fire behind it as it flew toward the blue sky, shining brightly over the Eastern Town. Glenn watched proudly as his projectile kept on rising, until it hit some kind of invisible wall and exploded into pieces, in a magnificent fiery show.
"Fireworks, then. Diamanes, don''t struggle with that one, I''ll just call it Shooting Star." The young man chuckled as he saw the small chunks of stone turning to ash before falling on the town. He could technically do flashier than this one, with Nitrogen Lance for example, but the advantage of Shooting Star was that it was considerably less expensive Mana-wise. And, even though it would need some more testing for him to be sure, Glenn believed that if he reduced the size of the projectiles to, let''s say, bullet sizes, the spell would probably be as cheap as his old, forgotten Magic Bullets.
The young man sat and let his legs hang above the ground, letting his Mana refill up as he waited for the others to arrive. Soon enough, Sahro, jumping over the houses'' roofs, arrived and stood next to him. His face indicated he had many questions, even more when he looked at the group of kids below, but he remained silent for now.
A dozen minutes later, Javier and Milena showed up. Glenn jumped down from the roof, landing next to the group of kids, Sahro closely following behind. Javier and Milena approached them while glancing at the scrawny kids surrounding them curiously.
"...Glenn, why are there so many kids here?" Milena asked worriedly, smiling gently at the children. One of them grinned back, his hands shooting out to steal a small pouch of money from the girl''s waist. It had been so fast she didn''t even notice it. Glenn did, though, and he used Gravity Manipulation to pull the pouch back to its rightful owner.
Sahro watched with a scowl, grimacing at any kids daring to approach him too close, his thunder-blue arm crackling threateningly.
Glenn sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Alright, team, I found something out. I sure hope you didn''t eat any meat coming into town, though..."
Milena and Sahro''s eyebrows rose confusedly, while Javier was still as silent as ever.
Thankfully, no one ate meat.
164. Descent Into Shadows
"...So, to resume it all, we just need to go there and burn the place down?" Milena asked, her eyebrows creased. Glenn rubbed his chin, before nodding slowly. He had chosen to head directly for the house where everyone seemed to have disappeared into, and explain everything to his team on the way. Sahro and Milena were particularly angry when they heard about the mutilations the Thorn''s Church bastards inflicted on the kids.
Glenn was more than happy to let their rage fester. After all, he was also a tiny, tiny bit angry about it.
Just a little bit.
"This took way less time than I thought it would," Sahro commented, his thumb rubbing the pommel of his sword. One of the runaways, probably the second oldest after Kora, turned toward Sahro with wide-opened eyes, amazed.
"Are...Are you the Black Swordsman?" He asked curiously. Sahro looked at the kid, blinking confusedly.
"The Black Swordsman?" The Black Heir rubbed the corner of his eyes, ignoring Glenn''s mocking grin and accepting his new reputation as best he could.
"...I am. I don''t know many Black Heirs using a sword around these parts."
The kid''s smile grew widely and he unsheathed a rusty billhook, before hiding his left arm in his back.
"I want to be like you when I''m older! I heard you fought devils and monsters with one arm, even though..." He glanced at the thunder-blue arm and pressed his lips together. Sahro noticed that and shrugged, before turning away in disinterest.
"It grew back."
The kid sighed in amazement and sheathed his makeshift weapon in his belt, an old string barely holding his pants together. They kept walking silently, going through the dark streets of the Eastern Town guided by the group of kids, Kora as the spearhead of the operation. Glenn was walking right behind the kid, to protect the group from any unwanted meeting with a criminal or any other disrupting force. Thankfully, and to Diamanes'' dismay, they didn''t encounter anything on the way.
They arrived in front of the house where everyone disappeared. To speak blankly, it was a very normal house. Two windows, a door, a roof tiled with red bricks, and a small overgrown garden. A wooden fence surrounded the house, barely succeeding in keeping the garden''s vegetation inside the garden. Kora stopped a dozen meters away from the house and turned toward Glenn, his face hardening.
"That''s the place. We...We won''t be going any further. But..." Kora looked at the house and clenched his teeth, "...If you find our friends, please, save them. We already have an immense debt toward you, for healing so many of us, but I, no, we''re all fine being in debt with you."
Glenn''s gaze lingered on the kid for a small silent while, until he finally chuckled and patted Kora on the head.
"Don''t worry, I''m sure your friends will be able to save themselves once we''ve kilgot rid of all the Thorn''s Cult forces. And that''s not counting the forces of the Church of Onnea!"
Kora''s tense face relaxed and his shoulders slumped slightly. It was as if the kid considered himself very responsible for the lives of all his little friends. Maybe he thought it was because he was the oldest, or maybe for some other reason. Whatever the answer, Glenn deeply respected Kora. The boy would probably go far in life.
''Farther than you, that''s for sure,'' Diamanes quipped. Glenn dismissed the nasty remark with a wave of his hand and turned back towards the house as the children ran off. Sahro, Milena, and Javier came to stand beside him, watching the house with him.
Even though it looked normal, Glenn couldn''t help but find something uncanny with the location.
No matter. Glenn drew a deep breath and, with his hand on his sword, ready to unsheathe it any moment, he approached the house. The scent of rotten eggs made him stop for a second, but Glenn ignored it.
"Of course, there had to be something rotten somewhere..." He hissed through his teeth, keeping his eyes on the house''s door. A few beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead, the sun''s heat particularly unbearable today. He caught a movement from his peripheral vision and hurriedly turned his head, finding a two-tailed rat scrambling away through the garden''s plants. As he looked at the rat fleeing away, the young man noticed that many of the plants had blackened leaves, and were extremely thorny.
That last fact confirmed Glenn''s suspicion even further. Thorn often meant "Cult nearby", that, or Moon Grass. He didn''t have time to waste trying to search for them, but he was sure that if he looked a little, he could find a bush or two, or however it grew to be like. Glenn pressed his hand against the door, examining it quickly with Diamanes'' help. There was no magic cast upon it, letting Glenn try and open it.
Strangely, it wasn''t locked. Glenn looked back at his friends, who nodded at him wordlessly, ready for what was to come. The young man gritted his teeth and pushed the door open, revealing a dark room, with barely any light. The young man stepped inside and looked at the windows should have been, finding them missing. He almost wanted to step out of the house and try and see through the windows, but he didn''t have time to waste.
"It''s probably illusion magic, anyway," Nelg added dismissively. Glenn pressed his lips together and held his right hand forward, casting Sun''s Touch to light the room. The darkness crawled back and pushed Glenn''s light. It was a plain room, with nothing but another door. There was no floorboard, only dry dirt, and no traces of any recent human passage. The scent of rotten egg intensified, forcing Glenn to press his sleeve against his nose. Sahro and Milena, upon entering the room, followed his example. Only Javier seemed impervious to the smell, but no one was surprised by that.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Glenn walked up to the next door and opened it up, feeling a strange sense of tension. He entered the room, finding it to be the same as the previous one. Milena, Sahro, and Javier followed him until they realized there was something wrong.
"...Weird architectural choice," Milena commented, barely voicing everyone''s concerns. Glenn''s nose creased and he went to the next door, choosing to kick that one open. And there, exactly like he was scared of, was another dark room, windowless, and with the dry dirt ground. The young man glanced back at where the exit should be, but sure enough, the previous door was gone.
"Great. A loop, then?" Glenn muttered, looking at the ceiling and the walls for any other explanations, but besides the fact that they were weirdly warm, the walls were common enough, and the ceiling simply ceiling. The young man clacked his tongue and aimed his left arm forward. He had seen this trope way too often back on Earth, and besides making him annoyed at the characters, it generally didn''t bring anything to the show or book.
"Sorry, but I don''t have time to lose on this stupid trick..." Glenn apologized with a fake smile and shot out a Carbon Blade, slicing right through the wall, door, and anything in front of him. Reality seemed to tremble for a few seconds, and the walls suddenly changed shape and form, transforming into moldy, red rocks.
Why bother with some bullshit enigma when he could just destroy the way through?
"...Well, thank the Gods we weren''t planning on being stealthy," Milena commented as the wall Glenn sliced crumbled further, revealing some sort of cave with stairs going down. There was still no light, besides the one Glenn was producing with Sun''s Touch. Glenn approached the stairs and gazed down, finding it impossible to peer through the darkness. Without much care, he aimed his hand at the stairs and concentrated Sun''s Touch into a beam of light, successfully chasing away the shadows. The stairs looked like they were going down for a while.
"Lots and lots of stairs. Great," Sahro complained as he flexed his thunder arm, blue electrical sparkles crackling around it. Milena unsheathed a dagger, as did Javier. The lady was a mag, apparently specialized in illusions, but she knew how to use a knife better than most. Javier was also much more competent with a bow and arrow, but in a small and narrow staircase like this one, it was wiser to use short melee weapons. Glenn simply held his hand forward, ready to blast anyone or anything with a nice use of his Gravity Manipulation.
"...Watch your step, I suppose," Glenn warned as he walked down the stairs. There were quite a lot of steps, too many for him to count. What Glenn did know, though, was that the staircase walls were becoming redder and that a scent of rotten flesh had joined the smell of rotten eggs. Lots of rotten stuff down there, that was for sure.
So far, they still hadn''t found any traces of human passage, and since there wasn''t a speck of dust, they couldn''t judge how long it had been since someone last came here. The whole place was clean, eerily so. Even more so when considering the red rocky walls. There should have been at least a little bit of stone dust, but no, nothing. Either someone was thoroughly cleaning the staircase every five minutes, or something else was going on.
A permanent Mundare? Glenn shook his head, leaving the question for later. Something was more important right now.
"I''m seeing light. Ready yourselves," Glenn whispered as he squinted, dimming down the intensity of his Sun''s Touch, before shutting it down entirely. A dozen steps down or so, crimson light, not unlike the one he had seen back when Glenn fought the Heart of Darkness, was pulsing slowly. The young man felt a dreadful feeling creeping up in the back of his neck, but nothing hinted at a potential Heart of Darkness. The "radar thingy" Onnea gave him wasn''t switching on either, so it probably wasn''t that.
Hopefully. He couldn''t know until he verified it with his own eyes, anyway. Glenn silently opened his left palm, placing his team under the veil of the Silence Curse, while keeping everyone''s ability to talk. They proceeded without a noise down the stairs, stopping in front of a thick wooden door. The red light, shifting and moving like a sentient being, was coming from cracks in the door as well as the keyhole. Glenn pressed his left hand against the door, finding it yet again devoid of curses or spells, thanks to Diamanes, and gently opened it.
Well, he tried to, but it was locked. He glanced down at his teammates who were watching with a tense look, and grimaced.
"...Anyone can lockpick? Javier?"
The silent hunter looked at the door, then at Glenn, then back at the door. He made his way through, placed his knife in the interstice, and sliced through the lock. Glenn rubbed the back of his head, before shrugging.
"That works."
"Let''s go," Sahro echoed, his blue arm brimming with power. Glenn pushed the door open and slipped inside the next room, frowning deeply as the thick smell of blood reached for his nose. It was nauseating, but Glenn quickly continued on his path. The more he progressed through this place, the more flashbacks he had from the Thorn''s Church prison, and the more uncomfortable he felt.
But this time, he wasn''t alone.
''...So I just don''t count, then?'' Diamanes shot out with a hurt tone, making Glenn''s eyelids twitch.
''No, you don''t. And you weren''t there for a good while, so shut up,'' The young man snapped back, not in the mood for joking around. Diamanes remained silent, not replying. The team entered behind him, all frowning at the smell.
"...What''s happening here? This is creepy!" Milena whispered through her teeth, a sickly tone to her skin. Glenn looked at her, remembering it was her first time dealing with this kind of...adventure, and shot her a thumbs up.
"Don''t worry, you''ll get used to it!"
"What?!?"
Glenn proceeded without giving a chance to Milena to understand anything. They were in a large, empty hallway, with walls of the same red, ochre-colored stone. There were archways every ten meters made out of a black, dark material, and a few torches were burning with a fire that seemed eerily red. If a fire was usually warm, these flames, in comparison, felt just...hostile, somehow. No warmth, just... burning.
The young man ignored the torches, accelerating slightly as the feeling of discomfort worsened. There was something wrong with this place, but he couldn''t tell how wrong.
Until he stepped into a larger room. His heart stopped when he arrived in some sort of large underground facility, with nothing but cages. There was no one here, seemingly, but the ground was tainted red. Whether it was the original color of the stone here or dry blood, Glenn couldn''t tell. He walked in front of the cages, finding them all empty, with no traces of their occupants.
"It''s too empty. Way too empty." He hissed through his teeth, following a path between the cages. Sahro suddenly stopped, and everyone turned to look at him.
"Do..." He frowned, "...Do you guys hear that?"
Glenn and Milena traded a glance, confused, but Javier nodded slightly.
"...Hear what?" Milena asked with a trembling voice. Sahro''s eyebrows creased as he concentrated on the noise.
"I think they''re...chants?" He pressed his lips together, trying to listen as best he could, before suddenly paling, "...and there''s something else..."
The Black Heir drew a deep breath and exhaled before unsheathing his curved sword with a dark expression.
"Something...horrible."
165. HELL
Glenn, Sahro, Milena, and Javier proceeded carefully, their weapons drawn and their teeth clenched. Except Javier. Javier was still as dead as usual, as emotionless as he was reliable.
"...The chants are getting stronger," Sahro warned, his fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt of his sword. Glenn took Nelg out of his sheathe, running a little bit of Mana into the sword to put it into its Awaken state. The blade changed shape, ready to slice and pull any opponents. Glenn wiped his forehead, drenched in sweat. Somehow, it was even hotter in here than at the surface. The team proceeded silently, tense, to finally arrive in a room even larger than the one filled with the cages.
The first thing they all noticed right away was the giant gateway, the source of the red, ominous light. It was a massive circle, Reality bending in its center. It looked eerily like a Rift, the small one-way portals that spawned monsters, like the one Glenn was now used to dealing with, but with a much more...dangerous tone.
If Glenn had any idea, it was that this Rift wasn''t going to spawn three overfed rats.
No, something much worse would come out of this thing.
Glenn glanced at a group of red-robed figures surrounding the Gate, concentrated on chanting in an unknown, rough language that seemed perfect to either summon demons or purge them. The young man couldn''t tell, he wasn''t knowledgeable about Latin. But it sure sounded like something similar.
The young man didn''t give it another thought and held his hand forward, ready to prepare a Blackhole, when Milena hurriedly grabbed his hand and pulled him back, before pointing at the ground in front of the Gate. Glenn glanced down, paling when he saw dozens of tiny figures wrapped in red fabric and restrained with thick ropes. They were lying on the ground, barely moving.
"Shit!" Glenn cursed, closing his fist angrily. He couldn''t shoot his spell without risking the safety of all the kids. He guessed they were, due to their size. Javier had his bow already strung out, an arrow ready to fire. Sahro looked at Glenn, waiting for his signal. The young man bit down on his lip, his eyes darting around the room to try and find a solution. Perhaps he could try and pull them all back with Gravity Manipulation? That was a lot of people to pull in, but he didn''t have a choice, did he?
Now, just a quick use
"Glenn!" Sahro suddenly grabbed Glenn''s arm, pointing at a dark wall, "...The guys from the Church of Onnea!"
The young man followed the pointed finger, finding a dozen corpses and the double amount of survivors, all bleeding profusely, their faces resigned. They all seemed like they were waiting for their deaths, ready to join their comrades. There were priests and paladins, as their builds hinted at. The entire squadron of Onnea''s Church was chained there, stuck against the wall with pale figures as if they had been drained of all blood. As he made himself the reflection, Glenn noticed the literal pool of blood in front of the Gate, realizing the kids were dipping into the said pool, like steaks marinating before getting thrown onto the grill.
"What kind of sick...?" The young man shut his mouth as he barely saw a figure chained down to the ground, right behind the Gate. Reality had let him glance at an old man, wounded and unconscious, with chains blocking him to the ground. He had a gray unkempt beard, with blood tainting it, and hair that had been half-burned away.
But Glenn recognized that old man.
"...Damn, there''s Redan too!" He gritted his teeth, abandoning any notion of safety. He grunted and stabbed his sword into the ground, before using both hands to concentrate on his Gravity Manipulation. The small cloth-wrapped figures suddenly rose into the air, as the clothed figures looked on, and were dragged in Glenn''s direction. Inevitably, the cultists noticed the presence of the intruders and, in one accord, chose to ignore them. Glenn blinked but was undeterred and placed all the children behind him in the cage room. At least the kids were safe from any kind of friendly fire now.
...If they were still alive. Hopefully, they were, but Glenn didn''t have the time to check over them right now.
Suddenly, the chains restricting the forces of Onnea''s Church fell, freeing the priests and the paladins. Glenn almost grinned at the surprising help from god, but that grin turned to dread when he realized that, far from being happy for their freedom, the liberated prisoners all bore an expression of fear. They were all stuck against the wall, terrified, muttering prayers between their teeth, when suddenly, they all went silent in a synchronized manner.
"This..." Sahro frowned, his sword covered in blue sparks of electricity. Milena gulped and took a step back, as the prisoners all took a step toward them. Their eyes were empty, emptier than Javier''s. A few additional figures in red-scaled armors suddenly came out of the shadows, bearing greatswords. They stepped beside the priests and paladins, walking threateningly toward the small team.
Glenn glanced back at the kids, then at the men approaching, to finally throw a look at Redan chained behind the Gate. The cultists were still chanting, the rhythm accelerating with each passing second, their feet beating against the ground, thumping with the same sound of a beating heart.
The young man made his decision, picking his sword back up and charging Mana in his left hand.
"Fuck this shit!" He shouted, before holding his left hand forward and sending a Nitrogen Wave in their attackers" direction. The priests and paladins were all caught in it and froze into ice statues, unmoving, but the scaled armored guards avoided swiftly, before countering with Aura blades, glimmering with an ominous green.
An arrow covered in a dark Aura flew out, and an armored knight fell, holding his helmet pierced by said projectile. Another charged forward, only to run into a wall, before grabbing and clawing at his neck desperately, grunting in a foreign language. The blades of Aura were interrupted by a thunder sword, a couple of scaled knights clashing with Sahro in an electrical meeting. More knights emerged from the shadows, and more arrows flew out.
Glenn charged in the middle of this mess, his mind racing as he dodged to the side a massive, black blade, before pressing his left hand against the helmet of the knights who attacked him and unleashing a Carbon Blade. Behind him, the knight''s attack carved a melting rift into the ground that Milena narrowly avoided. The upper part of the knight''s helmet slid down, bleeding profusely as Glenn''s opponent fell on the ground.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"The cultists!" Milena shouted, before blocking a couple of knights assaulting her with a swift strike of her dagger and a smart usage of her magic, making the other knight attack his friend, blinding him with illusion magic. Glenn gritted his teeth and kicked an approaching knight away, his eyes widening as a giant green Aura blade flew toward him. He slashed diagonally with Nelg, infusing his attack with Mana and sending a purple Mana blade. The attacks clashed in a myriad of colors, canceling each other in a deafening explosion.
The young man gasped and used Gravity Manipulation to pull a dead knight''s corpse in front of him, blocking another knight''s attack. The more he killed these bastards, the more there were!
"Fucking hell, we need to get Redan and get out of hereFuck!" Sahro cursed and flashed away in blue thunder, three knights falling to the side, carved in half. Glenn froze and pulled at the ground with Gravity Manipulation, putting it in front of him in a makeshift protection as arrows suddenly rained down from nowhere.
"They were prepared for this!" Glenn shouted, before kicking the rock away, infusing it with Sun''s Touch. The Shooting Star flew out in the darkness, casting its light into the massive room. Glenn''s eyes widened as he noticed balconies right above the room, with archers aiming down and more knights jumping from them.
His Shooting Star successfully destroyed one of the balconies, but there were many, many more.
''This place is an amphitheater? Weird location for a ritual,'' Diamanes remarked calmly, seemingly indifferent to the mayhem his host was fighting through. Nelg remained silent, probably too concentrated to help Glenn as best he could as he was swung around, Cutting and Pulling enemies. Glenn blocked a green Aura blade with his sword, his arms ringing from the shock. The air was drawn out of his lungs, but he held on and pushed forward, heaving heavily. He jumped up using Gravity Manipulation and aimed downward with his right hand.
"BLACKHOLE!!!" He screamed, hoping it would be enough for the others to understand. A tiny, dark orb flew out of his palm, growing as it swallowed both light and darkness, pulling the blood and the corpses off the ground. The cultists suddenly accelerated their chants, and as soon as their feet left the ground, pulled a dagger and slit their throats, killing themselves as soon as they couldn''t chant anymore. Glenn barely apperceived the macabre spectacle from the corner of his eyes as three knights rushed at him, greatsword raised and Auras flaring up.
A flash of thunder cut through the air and got rid of two of Glenn''s attackers, while a dark arrow flew out and pinned the last one to the ceiling. Glenn landed back on the ground, rolling himself up and running as fast as he could toward the Gate. He tried to bypass the Gate to grab Redan from behind it when he realized Redan wasn''t there. There were no chains, no old man, nothing!
Glenn stopped for a few seconds, heaving as he tried to understand.
"The Gate, Glenn! THE FUCKING GATE!" Nelg shouted, making his host turn toward said Gate. The young man wiped the blood off his face, mainly his enemies'', and gritted his teeth. This was a Rift, or a Gate, or a portal, or whatever.
"FOR FUCK''S SAKE!" Glenn bellowed and charged right through the unstable Gate, feeling his innards twisting and moving in unplanned ways. He stumbled on the other side, landing on burning hot sand, the thick air making it hard for him to breathe. The scent of rotten eggs and flesh became unbearable and was so powerful it made his eyes tear up. He glanced back, finding the same unstable Gate, trembling as Reality tried to close it down.
Glenn shook the nausea off and ran around the Gate, his face lighting up when he found Redan chained there to the ground.
"YES!" He blurted out, before cutting down the chains with a swift movement of his sword. Redan collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Glenn rushed to his side, pressing his fingers on the old man''s throat. It was beating weakly, but it was beating. The old man was shirtless, letting Glenn gaze upon countless scars, some cauterized and others still bleeding profusely. The young man almost chose to use C.P.R., but now wasn''t the time. He grabbed the old man and threw him on his shoulders.
He was as light as a feather. Glenn felt dread seize his heart as he felt the old man''s life slipping away, and chose to do the only thing that wouldn''t hold him back. He used the Divine Blessing on the old man, boosting him for a small amount of time. The old man''s laborious breathing became a calm one, and his wounds stopped bleeding.
It wouldn''t heal him, but it''d make sure he would survive for now. Glenn finally took the time to look at his surroundings, his heart stopping when he did so.
Red, everywhere. In the sky, countless moon-sized eyes, gazing down with morbid interest, moving all with their independent will. All around the gate, there were corpses, skinned corpses, and bags of meat, human meat. Glenn couldn''t tell how he knew that fact, but he knew. It could only be human flesh. The ground was covered in blood, blood that came from countless children with their throats slit open, their skin ripped away and their guts pouring out.
Glenn lost his step and stumbled back, unable to breathe. There were corpses everywhere, of all ages, all skinned and drained of their blood. Their faces had all been untouched, all twisted with immense pain, blood pouring down from their empty eye-sockets.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!" Diamanes screamed, ignoring any safety to force his host to come to his senses. Glenn wanted to run away, but something stopped him from doing so. It was that same feeling he had back when he met the tentacle monster in the forest so long ago when he had just arrived in this hell of a world. He was weak, unable to defend himself. Powerless in front of death.
As the eyes in the sky moved to look at him, Glenn felt it again.
This weakness. The young man''s nose began bleeding profusely, but he ignored it and forced himself to turn around. The Gate was only a few meters away, and yet, it felt like Glenn could never reach it. He pushed, one step after the other, roaring as he threw Redan into it. He fell to his knees, gasping for air.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of swords clashing behind him made him turn his head back. A man with the white robe of the Church of Onnea, probably a priest, was wielding a white longsword against an axe-wielding knight with burning armor and his face hidden behind a black skull mask. Glenn thought back to that priest who saved the kids and quickly made the connection. He gritted his teeth and used Nelg to stand up, his legs trembling with uncontrolled fear.
He couldn''t tell what he was scared of, but it was terrifying him. In fact, he was pretty sure he had both pissed and shat himself, but he couldn''t care less. His bowels could give up, his legs could shake as much as they wanted but this time...
This time, Glenn wasn''t closing his eyes in front of Death.
"PRIEST!" He shouted as he dismissed Nelg back into his soul and prepared a Nitrogen Lance, "I''LL COVER YOU!! COME!!"
The priest turned around with a surprised expression and deflected one last attack from the burning knight. He pressed his hand against his chest and suddenly slipped in the light, reappearing behind Glenn.
"Thank you! See you on the other side!" The priest screamed before jumping in the Gate. Glenn grinned, blood pouring out of his every orifice, before shooting the Nitrogen Lance toward the burning knight. The latter didn''t utter a word and covered his axe in black flames, slicing down at the incoming attack. Glenn pushed and pushed, feeling his Mana emptying at crazy rates, before closing his fist and jumping back toward the Gate. The burning knight dashed toward him, his axe raised high into the sky. Behind the black skull mask, two purple eyes gleamed with hate and spite.
Glenn grinned as he felt his body being pulled away, showing off his middle finger as he was transported away. His innards were probably ruptured from within, he had probably some internal bleeding due to some unknown reasons, and his Mana reserve was almost empty.
But as Glenn watched Reality fix the Gate and make it disappear, he still couldn''t smile. He went to Hell and came back.
But these dead kids never will.
166. Beating the Odds
"FOR FUCK''S SAKE!!" Glenn''s voice echoed amidst the sounds of spells and swords clashing against each other. Sahro gritted his teeth and deflected a sword coming for his thigh, before cutting his attacker''s wrist followed by a stab through his neck. The Black Heir turned his head just in time to see his idiotic friend jump in the ominous Rift/Gate, his body distorted as it traveled through Reality''s fabric.
"...You''re shitting me!" Sahro cursed, the white mark on his forehead gleaming powerfully as he kept on channeling his Aura and Mana, destructively combining the two powers. His sword, originally wrapped in crimson Aura, was now infused with the power of his thunder arm, crackling with red lightning. Sahro drew a deep breath before cutting horizontally, slicing through three incoming knights and cutting them in half.
Clang! Clang!
"Sahro, I won''t be able to hold much longer!" Milena shouted, before distorting reality in front of her, successfully stopping two knights from stabbing her. She sled forward and used her knife to stab the first knight in the neck, right in the interstice between his armor and helmet, before rolling away and pressing her palm against the second knight''s chest. His torso suddenly bent unnaturally on itself, the bones breaking and the organs rupturing in a gore fountain of blood.
"This is not how it was supposed to...damn it!" On one of the highest balconies surveying the theater-like "Summoning Room", a slightly fat man with bald spots and squeaky eyes was biting his nails. He wore luxurious, expensive-looking clothes, and held a crystal glass of wine in his other hand. Said hand trembled slightly, the wine contained in the glass threatening to pour out at any moment. Besides him, two massive knights the size of giants were standing guard silently, watching the fight going on through the slit in their helmets.
A red-robed individual leaned onto the balcony, chuckling with an arrogant tone.
"Don''t worry, my dear collaborator, these are only minor hiccups our Forlorn Knights are more than capable of taking care of. Of course, I thank you on their behalf for bringing so many archers just in case, huhuhu."
The slightly fat man kept on chewing on his nails, failing to notice there were none to chew anymore, biting into his fingers'' flesh and tasting the blood within. He turned suddenly, his eyes bulging out of his head as he threw his glass at the red-robed man. The glass stopped in mid-air, but the fat man didn''t seem to care.
"Are you aware of how much I am risking for this shit? Didn''t you tell me the illusion trap was unbreakable? I knew it was insanity not to put at least a few guards at the entry point!" He shouted, pointing his finger angrily at the red-robed figure. The glass floating in mid-air, still full of wine, slowly drifted toward the red-robed man''s hand.
"Well, no one should have even found the house to begin with, nor should they have found the right combination to free themselves from the trap," The red-robed man admitted as he sipped on the wine. The slightly fat man heaved heavily, beads of sweat pearling on his balding forehead.
"Nonetheless, we prepared enough forces to take care of such eventuality. After all, even your Master is interested in this ritual, isn''t he?" The red-robed man turned toward the angry fat man, his evil grin the only thing visible under his hood. The slightly fat man suddenly took a step back as his face drained of colors, before turning away and looking back down at the fight. Sahro was the main center of it, surrounded by a dozen Forlorn Knigths, all trying to cut him down and failing miserably. Green Aura was flying everywhere, hitting the walls and the ground, but never the Black Heir.
Every attack aimed at him was either dodged or parried. And each time, a flash of red lightning struck through the ranks of the Forlorn Knights, killing them by the dozen. The bald man couldn''t help but worry as dread began to creep over his heart.
What if they failed? What if the Black Heir was the Black Swordsman of the recent stories? What if his friend, who went through the Summoning Gate, was the Devil''s Hand?
After paying a hefty price to know who might come to threaten his business, he learned that these two bastards were the most dangerous variables to his Master''s plan. He should have killed them before, but they arrived at the worst moment!
"Why do these things happen to me...?" He muttered through his teeth as he grabbed the balcony''s ledge with chubby hands, the knuckles of his fingers whitening with how hard he squeezed. The red-robed man laughed, his voice echoing over and over in the theater as more arrows flew down from the balconies, almost all of them missing their targets.
Above them, listening silently to the conversation, a shadow with pale, almost transparent skin stood, his eyes empty of emotions and his bowstring drawn to its maximum capacity. Black Aura covered his arrow''s sharp tip, devouring the light voraciously. Javier didn''t waste another second and let the arrow fly, piercing straight through the red-robed man''s throat. The red-robed figure didn''t expect the stealthy attack and flew over the balcony, falling to the ground and the fight going on there.
The two silent, massive knights drew their swords expertly, shooting emerald-colored Aura toward the direction the arrow came from, but it was useless. Javier was already long gone, continuing his job to disrupt the enemy''s backline. The two knights traded a gaze, before grabbing the frozen-in-fear fat man and running away.
Sahro grunted and blocked a sword by using his thunder arm, shocking its wielder to death, before slipping away in a flash of red thunder right next to Milena. The fallen Noble was gasping for air, covered in blood but no wounds. Nonetheless, it seemed like she would collapse any time soon, and he wouldn''t take long to follow her. Using the Red Lightning, the combination of his Mana and Aura, made him twice as powerful but burned twice as much energy and Mana.
"...Hah...I thought I would be able to reduce their numbers, but they keep on coming," Sahro heaved as he looked at the Gate.
''Glenn, what is taking you so long?''
He didn''t get another second to catch his breath as a particularly large amount of the scaled armored knights jumped down from the balconies, seemingly to try and finish them off. The Black Heir glanced around, failing to find the silent hunter, only noticing a dark-Aura-covered arrow flying here and there, killing the knights with a single shot. These enemies weren''t particularly tough and didn''t defend themselves, but their attacks were all very threatening, forcing him to block or dodge all of them.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
A single hit, and he could lose another limb.
He couldn''t risk that.
Milena dropped her knife on the ground and fell to her knees, pushing both of her hands on the floor.
"...Per potentiam hereditatis meae, ad voluntatem meam inclina, et in velo tuo protege me..." She muttered with a calm voice, her raven-black hair rising in the air and her brown eyes lighting up with a mystical might that even Sahro couldn''t decipher. Well, it wasn''t like he was a magic expert, anyway...
Nonetheless, he still understood that the lady was preparing a huge spell, so he made it his duty to protect her in the meantime. He could already feel the world trembling under his feet from Milena''s influence, dust rising slowly as power flowed. The knights seemed to recognize her as the main threat and charged with their swords covered in green Aura, but Sahro pushed them away, his sword covered in crackling red lightning.
"You''re after me, bitches," He taunted, smiling cockily. The knights didn''t reply, only attacking him to try and reach Milena. The lady suddenly slammed her hands against the ground and a ripple shook everyone off their feet. Sahro rolled backward and planted his sword on the ground, struggling to stand on the shaking ground. He gazed at Milena and saw a thin stream of blood coming out of her nose, but she seemed like she could hold on for a few more minutes.
The scaled-armored knights tried to stand and use the occasion to attack Milena, but their swords turned to their comrades. A knight''s head flew off, beheaded by another knight bearing the same colors. Under Sahro''s bewildered eyes, the knights began killing each other in a bloody mess, their weapons slipping away from their hands and piercing friendly throats alike.
"...Fuck, couldn''t you have used this before?" Sahro asked with a whisper, shocked. Milena grunted, before collapsing and letting go of the spell.
"Cough..." She spat a mouthful of blood, before wiping her mouth, "...That''s my last resort, I had to wait for the best time to use it..." She struggled to say as her eyes closed by themselves. She fell face first, drained entirely of all of her strength. Sahro smacked his lips, looking at the dozen or so knights that remained, wounded but still much too eager to cut him and Milena down. The archers had long stopped shooting their arrows, their throats pierced by Javier''s deadly projectiles.
The Gate suddenly gleamed brightly with crimson light, projecting a burning heat wave over its surroundings. Sahro fell to a knee, feeling his skin heating up and the tip of his hair burning off. A figure came out of the Gate, rolling down on the ground for a few seconds before stopping. The frozen members of the Church of Onnea suddenly fell to their knees, Glenn''s magic dispelled away by the Gate''s heat.
Sahro felt his hopes being extinguished away, knowing pertinently he wouldn''t have the strength to deal with them, but then he saw their eyes.
Eyes filled with terror who were far from mind-controlled, or whatever that previous business was. They struggled to push themselves up as they coughed their lungs out, the power of Glenn''s Nitrogen Wave still lingering around.
They glanced at the Gate thumping like a beating heart, and hurriedly grabbed the weapons of the falling knight, ready to make their last stands. Sahro chuckled as a weight was lifted off his chest, and felt more confident than ever. If he wasn''t wrong, that figure that was thrown out of the Gate was Redan, and Glenn would soon follow behind him.
Hopefully.
"Javier, we''re almost there!" The Black Heir shouted to nowhere in particular, knowing the silent hunter would hear him. As expected, another figure jumped out of the Gate, creating yet another wave of heat. This time, Sahro was prepared and he fended it off by covering his whole body with crimson Aura. He also protected Milena by standing in front of her, knowing she''d rather not get roasted alive if she could.
"Glenn, grab Redan, and let''s get the fuck out of here!" Sahro shouted. The figure who jumped out of the Gate glanced at him but didn''t reply. Strangely, he didn''t look like Glenn. Also, he had clergy clothes, from the Church of Onnea... Who was that guy?
The priest looked at Redan on the ground, before picking him up and throwing him on his shoulder. He hurriedly ran away from the Gate, slipping through the remaining knights and heading for the kids wrapped in fabric.
"Well, I don''t know who you are, but thanks for the help!" The priest grinned, a man who could have probably been considered handsome, had it not been for the mean scar splitting his face in two. He had brown hair tied in a ponytail, and an unsheathed white sword hanging off his waist. He threw Redan next to the kids, before falling on the ground and gasping for air. The Church of Onnea''s forces, who were previously too busy getting rid of the effects of the Gate''s heat wave, suddenly noticed him. They opened their mouth to say something, but the Gate rippled one more as Glenn shot out from it, bringing with him yet another heat wave.
This time, the Church of Onnea stopped the heat wave entirely, their faces covered in soot as they did so. One of the paladins ran toward the priest that came out of the Gate, his eyes bulging out and his longsword gleaming threateningly. The Priest looked at the paladin and pointed his finger at him, terrified.
"Shit, that one''s still mind-controlled!" He blurted out, before hurriedly unsheathing his sword. Sahro didn''t have the time to express his doubt that the Priest expertly dodged the paladin''s attack, before beheading him with a swift strike. The priest shook the blood off his blade before sighing, relieved.
"Phew, that was almost dangerous..."
The Gate trembled as nothing kept it stable anymore, and closed down without a sound. The scent of rotten eggs disappeared, and the room''s temperature dimmed down slightly. Nonetheless, Sahro still felt as if something was very, very wrong, almost as if he had missed the most important detail.
Glenn coughed heavily, struggling to push himself up. His short passage in Hell, or whatever that place was, seemed to have messed up his insides quite a bit. Nothing he couldn''t treat with C.P.R., he was sure, but still, that hurt. And yet, he practically couldn''t feel that pain. His mind was still filled with the dead kids, their bellies ripped open and their faces tortured under immense pain, their eyeballs gone.
This was a sight Glenn would never forget, he already knew that. He summoned Nelg from within his soul, using the sword as a cane to push himself up. The sword was back to its normal appearance, a boring, plain longsword. The young man glanced at his surroundings and his eyes widened when he saw the absolute bloodbath. There were more dead knights than he could count, all lying down in their blood, cut to pieces. There were a dozen or so still standing, but they were fighting with the remnants of Onnea''s Church, who had somehow come out of his Nitrogen Wave.
He quickly found Sahro, alongside Milena and the Priest he found in Hell. Redan was lying down next to the kids...Wait.
''Glenn, are you...are you sure they''re kids?'' Diamanes questioned hesitantly.
"...I would have thought most of them would be..." Nelg stopped, echoing Glenn''s emotions, "...I thought the ones in Hell was all of them. It would have made sense when seeing their sheer numbers..."
The young man didn''t reply, his gaze stuck to the kids wrapped in fabric. They were moving slightly, proof of their liveliness, but not once he had confirmed them to be kids. In the urgency of the moment, he had just pulled them out of the cultists'' range.
But now...now that he had seen what he had seen...
Rip!
The Priest cut through one of the fabric bags, grinning widely as he did so.
And from it, something shot out, aiming for the white...bone-like longsword. From so far away, Glenn had a hard time telling, but it looked eerily similar to the "faces" Sahro''s friends gifted to him back so they could enter the Skinner''s Black Market.
Human skin.
167. The Knight of Hell
Sahro watched the Priest opening one of the kid-sized fabric bags, shivering when he looked at the bone-white longsword. There was something about this weapon that was...unnatural, as if it didn''t belong in this world. Something shot out from the bag and wrapped itself around the bone sword, the Priest laughing with satisfaction as it happened. The Black Heir felt his whole body tensing up as adrenaline shot in his veins, his every sense firing up to warn him of the threat.
Fear. The same fear a prey would feel once a predator would look at it, wondering what taste said prey would have.
And Sahro was feeling like a prey currently.
He shouted desperately as he swung his sword with red lightning at the priest, who sneered and deflected it effortlessly, the electricity dying off on the floor.
"Wow, what are you attacking me for? I thought you were with me, man?" The Priest exclaimed, frowning with displeasure. Glenn watched from afar and gritted his teeth. There was something very very wrong. He stumbled forward, digging in his last strength as walked over the corpses. He wouldn''t use Gravity Manipulation, he had to spare Mana. He wouldn''t use Nelg''s Awakened form either.
No, this...A Carbon Blade could do it. Yes, it probably could. That guy looked human. But then, he was in Hell seconds ago and didn''t seem that bothered with it, while Glenn was completely exhausted from just a short passage.
''This doesn''t smell good at all. Shit, shit, I might have helped the wrong guy there!'' Glenn realized, horrified. More skin shot out of the bag, wrapping around the bone longsword ominously. Organs, skin, flesh, all of it shot out of the bags and joined the longsword, wrapping around it in a bloody spectacle. The Priest laughed loudly, holding the sword high above his head.
"HAHAHAHA, who would have thought the Devil''s Hand himself would help me steal a Relic from Hell? HAHAHAHA!!!" He kept on laughing, unable to believe the irony of the situation. The Church of Onnea''s forces finished off the last knight, before rushing toward the Priest. One of them, a gray-haired paladin shouted his orders, before turning toward Glenn with a face red with anger.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?" He screamed, more out of despair than anger. Glenn shook his head and rushed past him, dragging his longsword on the ground. He''ll have to take care of them later, right now, the priority was getting rid of the Priest, or whatever he was creating with the bags of skin and organs and this horrible bone longsword.
"KILL HIM!! KILL LAURANCE!!" The paladin leader ordered, before rushing forward with his greatsword gleaming with a golden holy glow. The priests that had managed to survive preyed toward the sky, casting holy lights over the paladins, but ignoring all the others, namely Glenn and his team. An arrow charged with a dark Aura flew and pierced the Priestno, the man named Laurance in the tight, but the latter didn''t seem to notice, too busy enjoying the sight of his longsword transforming into something...different.
"Try what you want, you fucking peasants!" Laurance shouted ecstatically, "...I won''t die now, and I won''t die ever! Hahaha, you can''t kill me!"
Glenn rushed forward, intending to prove Laurance''s words wrong, but the paladins did so before him. All at once, they cut him to pieces, the Priest not even bothering to defend himself. He fell to the ground, carved into bits and strips of flesh, the longsword falling on the ground while continuing to absorb the skin from the bags. Sahro roared and planted his crimson-lighting-covered longsword in one of the bags, burning it down, but the ashes flew off and joined the longsword nonetheless.
The paladins cursed and backed out, before kneeling and preying to the sky.
"Oh, Onnea, Dame of Harmony, may you bless us with the capabilities to stop this evil..."
"Mother of Eternal Balance, allow us to protect the equity of good and evil, and stop this seed of chaos..."
The priests soon followed, and a whole chorus of prayers echoed in the theater/summoning Room. Glenn kept on running and arrived in front of what could only be a cursed sword. The weapon kept on pulling in stacks of skin and organs toward it, shaping itself into something that was everything but human, a pure product of nightmares, a bloody mess that shouldn''t exist.
Glenn steeled himself, and thrusted his left palm toward the sword, sending a Nitrogen Wave to try and freeze the sword, but it failed miserably. A mouth appeared on the mangled mess of flesh, laughing wickedly at Glenn''s pitiful attempts.
"Don''t bother, you''re just wasting Mana. Hahaha, it sure feels great to break through the Wall!" Laurance''s voice, disformed, came out of the nascent monster. Glenn''s eyes widened and he took a step back. He glanced at Sahro, who was as much at a loss as him, then at the Paladins, who were earnestly praying for their god''s help. But Glenn knew, from how his "radar" arm wasn''t responding, that this didn''t warrant any response from Onnea. Whatever Laurance was creating, it was no Seed of Darkness, nor anything linked to the Nameless God that birthed them.
The young man spat blood to the side, before breathing in deeply. He prepared an Infernal Blackhole, hoping it would burn and obliterate Laurance, alongside the filthy bags of skin and organs. His Mana was a little lacking, but if he used Overload
''NO! Find another way, because if you use Overload again, you''re going to die, Glenn!'' Diamanes huffed angrily, Nelg echoing the entity''s words.
"Yeah! I don''t know, just stick me in the whole mess, and maybe it''ll do something, or, or, I don''t know, send a cost-efficient meteorite up this monster''s ass! Either way, don''t fucking use Overload!"
Glenn grunted and let go of the spell, trying to find a way to eliminate this threat. A meteorite? Could he just collapse the ceiling on the monster? But, what about the other people?
''Fuck them! You have to survive, or Nelg and I are fucking dead, Glenn!'' Diamanes protested passionately. Nelg didn''t add anything, conflicted. The young man gritted his teeth and looked at the ceiling, Laurance continuing his metamorphosis into...something with many legs and arms.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
"Finally..." Laurance muttered, "...I finally reached the Newborn stage...Hah..." He sighed deeply as the bags stopped providing skin and flesh, empty. Instead, the corpses of the knights Sahro and the others had killed were pulled toward him, joining the macabre transformation. Something in the storm of blood and flesh turned toward Glenn and looked down at him.
"Do you know how long I have waited for this? How many friends I''ve made, and how many have died?" Laurance shook his head, or what seemed like a head, and sneered. "Of course, you don''t. You''re just a powerful True Initiate; you''re not even a Magi. Heh, impressive stuff for someone so under-leveled, I''ll be honest. You even managed to stall a Hell Knight for a few seconds. That''s incredible. You should be proud..."
The thing seemed to frown and shrugged. "...Well, you''re going to die either way, so, you know, tomato, tomahto, buddy."
''...Tomato, tomahto? He said that in English?''
The young man''s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to reply, but another question came out, as he was already sure, just from these few words, that Laurance was from Earth, exactly like him. Another Earthling, and a fucking sick one at that.
"What about the kids? Weren''t you the one to save them? Why?"
Laurance tilted his head to the side, a molten mess of flesh and blood before a grin of a hundred teeth appeared on it.
"Who talked about saving them? I carved a small souvenir on their chest, then acted as their savior," He reminisced, chuckling as if he thought of some good old times. Glenn felt his heart stop, but he kept on asking questions.
"Why...Why would you do that? They''re kids!" He shouted, his anger and hate somehow succeeding in pulling more Mana from his reserves, the shadow of something sinister appearing above his head. Laurance laughed and shrugged dismissively.
"Well, for fun, obviously!" He said, before frowning deeply, "...These nasty little shits, refusing to help me trick the Hell knight, fucking bastards..." Laurance trailed off angrily as his features defined themselves further. He was standing on eight spider legs, with an upper body of a human and a face that had yet to take on its final shape. He had four arms, all ending with hands of ten fingers, crooked, and with sharp nails that could almost qualify as claws.
Glenn tried to swallow down his hatred, concentrating on getting as much information as he could out of the bastard.
"You fucking Thorn''s Cult''s bastard, what did you need Redan for?!?"
Laurance looked down at the collapsed old man and extended his arm toward him.
"Him? Oh, that was to distract the Hell Knight, dragon blood seemed to anger him most of all things. Strangely, he didn''t kill the old man, but surely I can resolve that" A flash of red lightning grabbed Redan and disappeared to the back. Sahro gasped with ragged breathing, the Ice Wolf slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Laurance looked at the Black Heir absent-mindedly, before adding something.
"Oh, and I used the Thorn''s Church sigil, but I''m not with these idiots; all bark, no bite. No, it was just in case someone would track me down, at least these dumb fucks would take the blame, and not my people, you know? Anyway, it was nice answering all your questions and all, but..."
Laurance, a mismatched patchwork of skin of different colors and taints, alongside organs of all different sources, stretched, his face finally taking on its final shape, the same face Laurance had before...turning into whatever this was. The only difference was that the scar splitting his face in two had become much more than just a scar, and was now an actual separation between the two parts of his face, oozing with yellowish pus.
"It''s time to wrap this over." He coldly stated, before raising one of his arms toward Glenn. The young man felt his blood freeze in his veins as something squeezed on his neck, extinguishing the life out of him. He struggled to try and get out, but he couldn''t do or say anything. He looked around for someone to help him, but everyone was frozen in fear, unable to move an inch.
"FUCK!! I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID, USE OVERLOAD AND GET RID OF HIM!!!" Nelg shouted in Glenn''s ears, terrified. Diamanes grunted but didn''t add anything.
Glenn''s sight blurred, but then, he felt something fall in his palm.
A pebble. The young man thought of the only spell he could use in this situation that might help. He channeled as much Mana as he possibly could into Gravity Manipulation, preparing the pebble to fly off with as much speed as it possibly could. The air around his right hand seemed to become thick as if it was a space of its own, and a small, jade-colored pebble floated above his palm.
With one last thought, Glenn infused the pebble with Sun''s Touch, before finalizing the cast of his Shooting Star. The pebble shot out like a flaming bullet, tracing a burning line in the air seeking to meet Laurance''s forehead. The creature watched, amused, and blocked with his hand the attack. The pebble pierced straight through the inhumane hand, putting a frown on Laurance''s monstrous face.
"...What the fuck is this...?" Laurance muttered as Mana moved around him, stopping the pebble and deflecting him to the side. The hold over Glenn''s neck disappeared, allowing him to breathe again. Laurance looked at the fiery hole in his hand healing with each passing second before shrugging dismissively.
"Interesting. How old are you, fucker?" Laurance asked, curious. Glenn grabbed at his throat, forcing himself to breathe through the pain, before looking up at the creature with a mocking grin and flipping him off.
"Surely I''m younger than you, you piece of shit!"
Laurance glanced down at him with an air of haughtiness, before shrugging it off.
"No doubt, no doubt. After all, it''s been what, five hundred years I lost myself in Limbo? Who knows, I stopped counting after the first hundred."
Glenn shivered, struggling to imagine how someone could live for so long. But then, he remembered that higher Circles meant longer lifespans. And Laurance said he was a Newborn Ruler, which is, if he remembered correctly, a Seventh Circle.
Oh, that wasn''t good. Oh, that wasn''t good at all. Laurance seemed to lose his interest and extended his arm once again, crushing Glenn''s throat mightily.
"This was very interesting meeting you people, but I''ve got a world to go back to, so, let me just kill you all..." He muttered, squeezing as he snuffed out the life of everyone in the theater.
"Bye, bye, morons"
A loud crash interrupted Laurance as a man-sized gate opened right behind him, fracturing Reality. A thick gauntlet of dark steel, gleaming with dark flames shot out from it, grabbing Laurance violently. The creature squealed painfully as the black flames licked his skin, in a scream that was half human and half monstrous.
"ARGHH!!! FUCK!!!
The pressure restraining Glenn and the others disappeared, letting them breathe desperately. Laurance roared beastly as he turned toward the metal gauntlet and the gate, his monstrous eyes bulging out madly.
"NO, FUCK YOU!!!" He screamed as his whole body projected Aura around him. The whole theater looked like he was going to collapse under Laurance''s pressure, and every survivor crashed on the ground, crushed under the monster''s might. The steel gauntlet, in comparison, was entirely unaffected, pulling without stopping at the creature, dragging it into the Gate inch by inch. Laurance screamed and struggled the best he could, but a few seconds later he was gone, the shimmering Gate trembling into reality.
Glenn, his team, and the force of the Church of Onnea, all stared at the Gate wondering what could have possibly been strong enough to drag Laurance down like that. Glenn did have a guess, that dark-steel gauntlet was very similar to the one the Hell Knight wore, but still...
"Fuck, we''re still alive..." Someone blurted out in disbelief, the sound of his voice echoing in the almost-destroyed theater/summoning room.
Glenn sighed as he lay down on the ground, his head resting on the cold stone floor.
"...What a day," he whispered, before chuckling, bewildered.
"What a day..."
168. The Beyond
Glenn allowed himself a few seconds of respite, his throat aching and his heart throbbing madly. Once again, he had been thoroughly unprepared to face whatever this whole mess was. He was expecting some Thorn''s Cult shenanigans. Instead, he got a horrific, short journey in Hell, a sight he''ll probably never forget, another Earthling who went insane, and providence saving him at the last second.
"Plot armor, Glenn, plot armor..." Nelg whispered, making his host chuckle.
If only there was plot armor. Perhaps he could have used said armor to save these kids, instead of... Glenn shook his head and forced himself up. He didn''t have time to ponder over his ineptitude or whatever misplaced guilt this was. Redan needed him.
He hurriedly scrambled next to the unconscious old man, putting his ear on his chest. He listened carefully, tense.
...
...
Ba-bump...
The young man felt his shoulders relaxed slightly as he confirmed Redan''s survival, before pressing his left hand on his wounds and casting C.P.R. The little Mana he had left bottomed down in a second, without succeeding to treat any of Redan''s wounds. Glenn gasped, squinting through a blurry sight to try and find the nearest alive priest.
"You!" Glenn called out weakly a handsome priest clutching at his throat, struggling to breathe, his eyes still filled with fear and pain, "...Get your ass here and save this old man!"
The priest remained unresponsive, staring at his hands with shock and fear. Glenn swore and stumbled on both of his feet, before punching the priest in the face.
"You dumb fuck! Come help the living instead of... doing whatever this is, damn it!" The young man cursed, waking the priest up. The product of Glenn''s anger looked at the one who punched him, then at Redan, whose breathing was weakening with each passing second. The priest swiftly ran next to the old man, clenching both of his hands together in a prayer.
"Onnea, Dame of Harmony, I implore you, save this old man and delay his passing..." He mumbled under his breath incomprehensibly, and a golden, almost white light came out of his chest, radiating toward Redan. The still bleeding wounds over the old man''s mistreated chest closed over, and his pale skin began recovering some of its colors. The expression on Redan''s face, which was previously void of anything, now became peaceful, at rest.
Glenn sighed, relieved, before patting the priest''s back.
"...Sorry for shouting and punching you, but I had to do something," He apologized meekly, before lying down on the floor. He wanted to Meditate to try and gather his Mana back, but it was way too risky. There was no guarantee one of the knights hadn''t survived and was waiting for the occasion to stab one of them. Perhaps an archer was hiding on one of the balconies, spared by Javier, and could shoot a well-placed arrow in one of the survivors'' hearts.
''No time to relax, Glenn. You should go and verify everything''s fine with your teammates,'' Diamanes recommended calmly, his mocking tone nowhere to be seen. It seemed like in serious occasions like those, the entity could indeed restrict himself from taunting and annoying his host. Glenn didn''t have the energy to deal with that, so such a break was welcome. He closed his eyes, breathing in and out for a few seconds, before grunting and pushing himself back up. The priest was still busy healing Redan, so Glenn chose not to disturb his work, and instead follow Diamanes'' recommendation.
Sahro was sitting against a huge chunk of stone, busy cleaning out his curved sword with a bloodied piece of cloth. Milena was lying down right next to him, somehow sleeping peacefully.
"I didn''t see most of the fight, but seeing how she doesn''t have any wounds, I guess she does know how to fight, huh?" Glenn remarked as he went and sat in front of Sahro. The Black Heir glanced at Milena, thinking for a few seconds, before shaking his head.
"She''s probably on our level, with less stamina and scarier spell work," He said, sneering when he saw Glenn''s disbelieving expression, "...Tell me you have anything scarier than mind-control in your spell repertoire, and I''ll take back what I just said."
Glenn''s eyes widened, and he pointed at Milena in awe.
"She can do mind-control stuff? Shit...We really shouldn''t annoy her, then, I suppose? Oh man, I was threading death so closely each time I taunted her..." He realized, paling slightly. He rubbed his forehead, before shrugging dismissively. So far, it didn''t seem like the Fallen Noble wanted to kill him, so it was probably fine.
Probably.
"...How are you doing?" Glenn asked as he stretched, grunting painfully. Once again, even though he hadn''t taken many hits to the body, if at all, he was feeling like a total wreck. Wasn''t he supposed to be stronger than normal humans, due to the Beast Blood and breaking the Wall, and all that?
"I''m dead tired," Sahro sighed, sheathing his sword back with a trembling right hand. His thunder arm, which was previously more than visible, was now dim and could be almost missed if one didn''t concentrate specifically on it. Glenn scrunched at the sight of his friend''s missing arm, and Sahro noticed it.
"At least I have two arms most of the time," The Black Heir joked, before looking down at the stump darkly, "...But it''s not a real arm. I can''t use my sword with both hands or even grab anything with my left arm. But, on a slightly more positive note, I can completely attack people with it. So that''s that," Sahro tried to cheer himself up, failing miserably.
Glenn chuckled, trying to lighten the mood despite his fatigue. ''We''ll grow it back, don''t worry,'' he said seriously. Sahro''s eyes flickered with doubt, but he forced a grin. ''Ill hold you to that."
Glenn patted his friend on the shoulder, before pointing his thumb to his back.
"I''ll go and talk with the leader of the Church of Onnea, to try and understand what''s going to happen next."
Sahro nodded slowly, still absorbed looking at where his left arm should have been. Glenn''s eyelids twitched, but he remained silent and turned away, off to do exactly what he said he was going to do. The gray-haired paladin was kneeling in front of one of his dead companions, praying with his forehead pressed against the hilt of his sword. Glenn stood a few respectable meters away, waiting patiently for the man to be done.
The gray-haired paladin sighed deeply, before closing the eyes of the corpse. A few more seconds of silence passed until the man noticed Glenn standing nearby. The paladin grunted and stood up, blood oozing from the interstices of his once-silver armor without disturbing him.
"You must be the famous Hand of the Devil, huh?" The gray-haired man asked dryly, his eyes wet and bloodshot. Glenn nodded slowly, before bowing his head with respect, choosing not to mention anything about the annoying nickname.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"I am truly sorry for your losses."
The paladin''s sharp gaze softened, and he looked away, sniffling. After regaining his composure, he pressed his clenched fist to his chest, bowing his head slightly.
"On behalf of the Church of Onnea, I, Norstan Vendor, thank you deeply."
Glenn moistened his lips and grinned.
"You''re welcome. Now, I''d love to know what the hell is going on if you have the time to spare for me?" He asked shamelessly, earning a tired chuckle out of Norstan Vendor. The paladin glanced at his surroundings and shook his head. The scent of rotten egg was gone, but replacing it was the metallic smell of blood. After all, there was blood everywhere, beneath the bodies lying down, on the walls, and even on the balconies dominating the theater. Yet another visceral mess.
"I apologize, but now..." He trailed off, and Glenn''s eyes widened as he hurriedly raised his hands in front of him.
"Oh, no, don''t worry, I didn''t mean right here right now, I just wanted to have a discussion with you about everything that happened here, later on."
The paladin smiled softly and gave a short nod.
"In that case, there should be no issue sharing with you all the information we know about this case. You''re already a well-known benefactor to the Church of Onnea, so I believe it is fine to trust you..." He glanced at Sahro and Milena, "...you, and your companions, of course."
Glenn smiled, "It goes without saying."
He then looked at the surroundings and rubbed both of his hands together, wincing at the macabre bloodbath laying there. Somehow, he could only think of "how it could have been worse" than that. Laurance had drawn almost all the enemy corpses to him to join them in his spider-like amalgam, so there were mostly friendly corpses to clear up.
Okay, no, this couldn''t be worse. They couldn''t even spit on the bodies of the bastards that created this mess. When there were only friends to pick up, that probably would make the matter much worse. Glenn hesitantly stepped toward the corpse, but Norstan Vendor stopped him. He shook his head slightly with a dark expression.
"I...We appreciate the intention, but those are our comrades...We..." The paladin gritted his teeth, "...We''ll take care of it. If you could go to the local Church and have them send some help to bring back the bodies, it''d be great."
Glenn took a step back and smiled gently.
"Absolutely. We''ll just be taking a quick look around, and we''ll leave. It was a pleasure meeting you, Sir Vendor."
The paladin glanced at Glenn, before pressing his fist on his chest once more.
"Likewise, Sir Glenn. I will be seeing you at the local Church in a few days."
Norstan Vendor excused himself and turned back toward his dead comrade, a few of his surviving colleagues joining him. Glenn sighed and looked at the theater/summoning room, both of his hands on his waist.
"I wonder where Javier is..." Glenn muttered, before walking back to check on Redan and the priest''s progress. The sudden appearance of the silent hunter right behind him stopped the young man dead in his tracks. Glenn stared deeply into Javier''s dead eyes, breathing in deeply before shaking his head.
"Javier. Seems like you didn''t get too hurt..." Javier turned around emotionlessly, surprising Glenn with a large wound going from his left shoulder to the right side of his lower back, burning slightly with emerald flames. Glenn froze, before rubbing his chin.
"I''ll, uh, try to get someone to help, give me a minute..." he muttered. Usually, Javier always treated himself with his own C.P.R., but perhaps since the wound was on his back, he couldn''t heal it. That was probably the reason, yeah. Glenn shivered, feeling strangely disturbed by the fact that the Pale Son was asking for assistance. This was more than unusual.
''In the end, there are some things you simply can''t do by yourself. Javier knows his limits, so, knows when to demand help. He''s a smart man under this dead persona,'' Diamanes remarked. Nelg chuckled dismissively.
"I''m not sure just this small thing is enough to prove Javier''s intelligence, but I do agree that the creep is smarter than he let on. Well, he''s on our side, so whatever, you know?"
Glenn dismissed both of the voices and asked one of the priests to heal Javier. The priest, a bald guy with a wide-eyed stare almost cursed out loud when he saw Javier''s still-burning wound and hurriedly began the treatment. With that done, Glenn went back to Redan, sitting next to the priest he had forced into healing the old man. The handsome priest sighed and leaned back, the bright holy light he emitted disappearing.
"I made him stable, but he needs more care. He has lost way too much blood, it''s a miracle he is still alive, even more, so when considering his age..."
Glenn rubbed the back of his neck, before turning toward the priest.
"...Thank you for your help, even though I kind of forced you into giving it," he joked in a faint voice, the adrenalin that was keeping him awake gradually wearing off. The priest sneered and fell back, hugging his knees as he watched over his patient.
"It''s...It''s fine. I''d rather save a man than continue feeling sorry for myself," He said, before holding his hand toward Glenn, "...I''m Nicolas. It''s a pleasure to meet the Northern Town''s Devil''s Hand."
Glenn shook the hand, smirking at the title.
"I''d rather have you call me Glenn than this stupid nickname."
Nicolas laughed, "Glenn it is, then. Thank you for saving us," His expression darkened, "...We''d probably all be dead if it wasn''t for you and your companions."
Glenn smacked his lips, not replying. He looked at Redan, the old man sleeping peacefully, all of his apparent wounds treated. He looked scrawny and had more scars on his body than Glenn could count. Nicolas noticed the look and shook his head slightly.
"As I said earlier, he''s going to need further treatment. This man, and I don''t mean it wrongly, shouldn''t be alive right now. It''s a miracle that his heart''s still beating..." Nicolas frowned and looked at where the Gate to Hell previously was.
"And he even sat in the Beyond for five days..." He shook his head again, before muttering in awe, "...a miracle. A true miracle."
Glenn moistened his lips. So, not Hell, but the Beyond. Alright, that''d work too. Less cool, but less Earth-like too. Or perhaps there''s another Hell, a religious one, and the Beyond is some kind of parallel dimension? He had no idea. So he did the logical thing.
"What''s the Beyond?" He asked the priest, who raised his eyebrows toward him. Nicolas rubbed his forehead, frowning.
"At some point in time, the Gods, our Goddess included, sealed away a specific race living in this world. The demons."
Glenn pressed his lips together, squinting.
''...The demons live in the Beyond, and not Hell. Should I ask what Hell is? No, let''s see what the Beyond is first. But fuck, demons exist too then? As if all the eldritch and evil god stuff wasn''t enough...''
Nicolas noticed Glenn''s expression and smiled gently.
"The demons are not exactly what the public believes they are. In reality, they''re only another humanoid race, like the elves, the Black Heirs, or the draconians of legend."
"They ended up being sealed away because the elite demon fighters, with the support of the Forgotten God, tried to commit the worst blasphemy," Nicolas drew a deep breath.
"Killing a god."
Glenn''s raised a curious eyebrow, earnest to know more about the subject. Nicolas shook his head dejectedly.
"There are many legends of what happened. Some believe that the demons killed the Forgotten God, rendering him "Forgotten", while some think the gods found out about their plans and sealed them away while punishing the Forgotten God by making everyone forget his name and his beliefs. It''s all very blurry, and it''s all rumors and hearsay, so take it with a grain of salt."
The priest grunted as he pushed himself up, throwing a look at the theater. Glenn hurriedly stood up as well.
"Wait, then who were these guys opening the Gate to the Beyond, to the demons'' world?"
Nicolas rubbed the back of his neck and bit down on his lower lip.
"You''ll have to wait for the official investigations to be sure of this information, but between us, I believe they''re demon worshippers. Fools who steal the power of demons to try and become ones themselves."
Glenn gestured confusedly.
"What? But why the hell would someone want that? Becoming a demon, I mean?"
Nicolas smiled.
"Because they''re rumored to be capable of hurting a god. And for some people..." He stopped for a few seconds, thinking.
"Trading their humanity for this power is more than worth it."
Nicolas turned away, leaving Glenn to go heal other wounded, or grieve his comrades. Whatever he was gone to, it wasn''t Glenn''s business anymore. But the young man couldn''t be bothered with that. After all, he had learned some deeply shocking truths with this quick, casual conversation.
Hell existed, but it was called the Beyond. Demons are not monsters, but they''re still very very dangerous.
Laurance, the new Seventh-Circle monster, was probably a part of the organization that worshipped and stole from the demons. These two concepts, "worship" and "thievery" didn''t seem like they should go together, but whatever.
And the most important thing:
There was an elven race in this world!
''A literal civilization of hot people! Finally some good news!''
169. The Occult Wanderers
Glenn''s expression was blank as he navigated the rubble and destruction of the summoning room, following in Javier''s footsteps. As soon as the wound in his back was treated, the Pale Son insisted on dragging Glenn to someplace. The young man had followed without much resistance. For once, Javier had something he wanted to show him. That probably meant it was important.
Or that Javier was becoming...normal?
Somehow, that thought scared Glenn a little. He liked Javier the way he was. As creepy as he was reliable.
They arrived in front of a mangled mass of flesh fused with the floor in a bloody mess. Glenn grimaced and looked down at the corpse, discerning what could have been a red robe. It should be, but he couldn''t be sure due to the huge quantities of blood. Javier pointed down at the corpse, then at a balcony further up.
"...Is he the guy who managed to give you that wound...?" Glenn asked as he crouched in front of the corpse. Javier shook his head and pointed back at the balcony. So, it wasn''t the guy who hurt Javier, yet the silent hunter brought his attention to that specific person. Why?
''What''s making you so special, then...?'' Glenn pondered, scowling as he tried to search the mass of flesh. He pulled the red robe from it, trying to ignore the disgusting noise produced in said endeavor, and threw it to the side. He''d search it a little later, right now he was going to try and find any clues directly on the body.
''...I don''t know what you''re expecting to find, but good luck,'' Diamanes chuckled mockingly. Glenn didn''t react and dug through the meat with both of his hands, separating himself from the fact that it was a human he was searching through.
"Mashed bones, flesh, blood, and...oh, an arrow! I guess that''s yours?" Glenn looked at Javier with a dark metal arrow tip in his hand. The Pale Son grabbed it and dropped it in one of his pockets, his facial expression undecipherable. Glenn shrugged and kept on looking.
"I''ll take that for a yes, then..." He muttered, before frowning and looking back up at the balcony. It was high above, but not that high. No way a fall from there would reduce a corpse in that pizza-like state. The young man turned toward his silent comrade.
"Did you do something for him to be in this state, or...?" Javier looked back at Glenn with dead, empty eyes, neither confirming nor denying. Glenn moistened his lips, before smacking them.
"Right, I should have known your previous reactions were exceptions..." Glenn sighed and used Mundare to get rid of the blood and whatever else was there on his hands. He couldn''t find anything, and looking further would just hurt his sanity.
"What sanity?" Nelg asked innocently, followed by Diamanes'' surprised laughter. Glenn ignored both of them and brought his attention to the red robe. There were many pockets, surely he could find something? He looked through them, grinning as he pulled one item after the other. He displayed the objects next to each other beside the red...soup and the scarlet robe. He also took the occasion to observe the robe and indeed found some sort of symbol on the back of it, but he couldn''t recognize it. Perhaps whatever made the corpse into the mangled mess it was now had also influenced and modified the symbol. He couldn''t tell.
The symbol, in its current state, was a circle filled with deformed shapes, which he couldn''t describe. Squares with no straight lines, disconnect geometrical forms...It looked like some kind of kindergarten kid''s piece of art.
"I''ll just copy it and check it later..." Glenn muttered as he took a sheet of paper and a pencil out of his dimensional bag and looked at the symbol. He silently looked at it for a few seconds, pondering, before putting his stuff back in the pouch and simply ripping the symbol off the red robe. Javier stared at him emotionlessly, but Glenn could swear he saw some disapproval. And so, he defended himself.
"It doesn''t matter anyway, I''ll share the results of my investigation with Onnea''s guys later on!"
Javier remained silent, and Glenn sighed. He shoved the ripped fabric in his pouch, before looking at the items he found. There was a red brooch, a small notebook, two rings, and an empty pouch. Glenn knew it was an empty one because he had directly gone to try and find whatever was inside, but there was nothing. He suspected it was previously a dimensional pouch, and the death of its owner destroyed the storage space, but there was no way to tell.
"The brooch..." He mumbled as lifted the item, showering it in the light of a soft Sun''s Touch. That spell barely used any Mana, and it was even less costly when he lowered the intensity, hence why he could cast it without much struggle. If he wanted to use it offensively, though, that was another story.
The brooch was made of a red metal that was warm to the touch and didn''t have any engraving or anything to embellish it. There also didn''t seem to be anything magical going on with it, as far as he could tell, but he didn''t have a way to check that.
''Diamanes?'' He asked without much hope.
''Nope, nothing. Or if there''s something, it''s too unimportant for me or you to care,'' the entity replied without a second of hesitation. Glenn sighed placed the brooch back, and looked at the small notebook. It had a brown leather cover, as many books did in this world. Glenn opened it, frowning when he found the pages empty of any writing.
"...An empty notebook. Yeah, sure..." The young man grumbled as he went through all the pages, failing to find anything at all. His instincts told him there was something in the book, but no way for him to tell. He''ll just keep it for later then. He then picked up the two rings, one seared with a garnet, and the other with an emerald. The bands were both of pure gold, with no impurities visible. The rings certainly looked expensive, that was for sure.
''...Diamanes?'' Glenn asked again, with a little more hope this time. Diamanes remained silent for a few seconds, before cursing openly at his host.
''Fuck you! Do you think I''m your personal appraiser? And yes, they''re both enchanted, damn it!'' The entity replied angrily, before going back to being silent. Glenn raised a surprised eyebrow at the outburst, before smiling.
Oh, so treating Diamanes this way annoyed him?
Duly noted...
Glenn looked around him, before slipping the garnet ring on his right hand''s ring finger. He waited for a few seconds, grimacing, before sighing in disappointment.
"I don''t feel anything different...Alright, then..." He looked at a piece of rubble nearby and pointed at it while channeling Mana through the ring. He expected something to shoot out from his hand, but instead, a tense male voice rang in his mind.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"S...Sir Doloran?! You''re still alive?!? How? I...I saw you die!"
Glenn blinked, before grinning wickedly. Oh, if that wasn''t interesting... He looked at the ring and forced a cough out, hiding his mouth behind his hand.
"Cough, cough...I''m hurt, but an arrow wouldn''t be enough to kill me. Where are you?" Glenn questioned, before glancing up at Javier, who was watching silently.
"Oh, oh, thank the Occult for that! Tomorr is still with me, but Novraar had to stay behind to stop some crazy Pale Son," The male voice sighed with relief, Glenn remaining silent on purpose.
"I...I know Novraar wasn''t a real person, but..." the voice hesitated, "...is it still fine? I don''t want to ruin my master''s relationship with the Occult Wanderers, you see..."
Glenn''s eyebrows rose, and his grin widened further. The Occult Wanderers? Hence "thanks the Occult"? More interesting stuff...and a new organization. Laurance was with the Occult Wanderers, then. He''ll have to look into them if they''re led by an Earthling. Or perhaps he wasn''t their leader, maybe an ally? There was no way to tell for now. The young man concentrated back on the ring and coughed once more.
"Cough...Don''t bother about Novraar. He did exactly what he was meant to do," Glenn spoke dryly, trying his best embodiment of an arrogant, cold member of a secret organization. So far, his interlocutor didn''t seem to have noticed anything, so he''d just continue with the show.
"O...Okay, then. What should I tell the Count? Did the Devil''s Hand and the Black Swordsman manage to stop the ritual? I know Sir Laurance is strong, but those two have a fearsome reputation to their name..." the male voice asked worriedly. Glenn rubbed his chin, smiling happily. So, both Sahro and he had a fearsome reputation? That made him smile. The bad guys were beginning to fear him, and he liked that. Why? He couldn''t tell. It was just a pleasant feeling.
''What should I tell this fool, though...?'' Glenn wondered, before replying.
"Sir Laurance managed to break the Wall and drive off the two bastards, but they fled the scene," He said with a disdainful tone. The young man spat to the side before coughing a bit more, diving deeper into the act, "...He couldn''t finish them off, but then, he told me something strange..."
Glenn''s mind raced as he tried to find the most confusing information he could give the idiot at the end of the line. What would throw the organization behind this fuckery up and down?
"As soon as he came out of the Gate, he declared the Thorn''s Church and the Fallen Mother to be enemies of the Occult Wanderers. Tell your master that; Epinos and the Fallen Mother have fallen out of grace, and their believers must be culled," Glenn stated, taking on a serious expression as he said so. Javier was sitting on a piece of rubble, watching with empty eyes, not caring at all for whatever shenanigan Glenn was pulling.
The male voice gasped, "...Areare you sure about that? My...My master won''t be happy with this news, Walker Blight..." he despaired, almost succeeding in making Glenn laugh. Alright, so that red-robed guy/puddle was "Walker Blight". Was Walker a first name, or a title?
"I''ll bet on the second," Nelg suddenly commented with a cheerful voice.
''So do I. The organization''s name is Occult Wanderer. I don''t know what the connection is between Walker and Wanderer, but there certainly is one, that''s for sure.'' Diamanes agreed while giving some of his thoughts. Glenn creased his nose, before taking on a darker expression.
"Don''t question the words of Sir Laurance. He''s beyond what you and your master will ever be. War must be waged upon the Thorn''s Cult and the Fallen Mother. That''s his words, and that is how it should be. Now, where are you so I can take Tomorr back? I''ve just confirmed Novraar''s death."
The male voice remained silent for a few seconds, breathing raggedly, before finally replying.
"I''m in my office. I''ll be waiting for your passage, Walker Blight. May you walk the Occult."
Glenn hesitated to reply but shrugged and decided to simply pull off the ring, cutting the connection. He had more chances to keep the act up if he sounded like a cunt more than an identity thief. At least, if there was some kind of code to end the conversation, Glenn hadn''t messed it up. Or maybe he did. Doesn''t matter in the end, Glenn was practically sure of his interlocutor''s identity. The young man threw the garnet ring up and down as he looked at Javier, who stared back with emotionless, dead eyes.
"Tell me, Javier. Someone who is under the orders of a ''count'', who has an ''office'', and who has contacts with people of power... Does that allude to anyone in particular?" Glenn asked, not expecting any reply. Without much surprise, the Pale Son only looked at him silently, his lips sealed. Glenn waited a few seconds, before nodding.
"Yep, you''re right. I''ll go check with Sahro, and maybe Milena if she''s awake, but I think I know where to look next..." The young man trailed off, before grinning widely, a disturbing contrast next to the inhuman mangled mass of flesh lying a few meters away.
"I''m a pretty good actor, aren''t I?"
As always, Javier didn''t respond, for better or worse. Glenn dusted his hands off and glanced at the last ring, the emerald one. He quickly slipped it on and channeled Mana into it. This time, he wasn''t disappointed when nothing happened, for he had expected it a little. Nonetheless, he''d still bring the items to an appraiser for more information about them, just so he was sure. Glenn stored all the items in his dimensional pouch before heading off for Sahro and Milena, not sparing another thought to the liquid corpse.
Luckily, Milena had woken up during his investigations, and Sahro seemed to have recovered quite a bit of his energy. The Black Heir was leaning against a wall, watching over Milena who was sitting with her arms wrapped around her legs tightly, her face pale and her eyes empty. Glenn glanced at her and grimaced, before approaching Sahro.
"...Is she okay?" He whispered, before earning a deathly gaze from his friend. Glenn scowled and sighed.
"Of course, she''s not..." Glenn shook his head and went in front of Milena, crouching to put himself at the same eye level. Milena looked up and smiled weakly, her arms shaking.
"...Hey, Glenn."
Oh. That was bad. Really, really bad. Glenn tried to smile back as best he could, but seeing this fierce woman in such a pitiful state made him feel strange, even a little sad.
"I heard you pretty much saved Sahro''s life?" He asked, trying to cheer her up. Milena''s fake smile grew slightly and her eyes regained a bit of their focus.
"...He did most of the work, protecting me when I used the Contagion Mind Hex..." She trailed off as her eyes peered into the distance, the images of the scaled-armored knights killing each other replaying in her head. Glenn noticed it and smacked his lips, getting her to concentrate back on her. What should he do in this situation? Offer a shoulder to cry on? But he wasn''t that close to her and she wasn''t the kind to cry on someone else''s shoulder...Tell her it was fine? But it wasn''t fine. No, it was normal for her to be like that after forcing so many people to kill each other. He was the weird one for being okay with it all.
''I guess it takes dead kids for you to feel like there''s a problem,'' Diamanes remarked mockingly. Glenn felt a bolt of ice digging through his heart and his expression froze over. He slowly looked at his left, purple hand, silent. After a few seconds, Diamanes spoke again.
''...Sorry. That was inappropriate,'' the entity apologized. Glenn blinked, before shaking his head.
''At least you''re aware of it...'' Glenn concentrated back on the traumatized woman in front of him, his eyes lighting up when he found a way to stop her from spiraling down into depression. He stood up and clapped both of his hands, getting Sahro''s attention as well, Javier observing at the periphery.
"So, I''ve got a question for both of you," he said as he looked at the Black Heir and the fallen noble, who looked back at him, "...I managed to get some information out of someone who was invested in this matter."
Milena''s head perked up, interested. Glenn concealed a smile as he continued.
"I have a few clues, but I''m not sure. He mentioned he worked under a noble, a Count to be precise, and that he would be present in his office as if it was the most evident place. Also, he seemed close with powerful people..."
Milena almost jumped up, her eyes gleaming as she grinned of a true smile.
"That''s evident. It''s the Eastern Town''s Mayor, Lazarre!"
Glenn made a shocked expression, before grinning widely.
"Shit, I didn''t think of that! Excellent, now we know where to look! Thank you, Milena!"
The lady blushed and turned back, her distraught a little less than before.
"...You lied. You knew it was the Mayor as soon as the thing with the Count was mentioned," Nelg remarked, failing to put a dent in Glenn''s smile. Diamanes remained silent, seemingly reflecting on his previous, hurtful words.
''I have no idea of what you''re talking about. Hehe.'' Glenn replied mentally, before looking down at Redan, who was still asleep.
It was time to get out of here.
170. Facing the Inner Demons
"I''m sure the priest who gave first aid already told you, but he''s going to need extensive care. He might not wake up for...for a while."
"...I see. Well, I''ll leave him to you then. Can I bother you to send someone when he wakes up?"
"Of course."
"Thank you."
Glenn and an Onnea priest were quietly talking, right next to a hospital bed. Redan, the Ice Wolf, lay there, his eyes peacefully closed and his chest slowly rising and falling. The scent of medical herbs perfumed the air, and only the chattering noise echoed in the soundproof room. Half an hour ago, the team left the premises of the Occult Wanderers'' summoning room, bringing with them the unconscious old man and painful memories. Even though Glenn had cheered her up slightly, Milena immediately left for the Dormitory as soon as she could, excusing herself with a fake smile.
Javier also left, when he realized his help wasn''t required anymore. Where to? As always, Glenn had no clue. But he knew he could find the Pale Son if his presence was required. Sahro came with him as he went to the nearest Onnea''s Church, transmitting Norstan Vendor''s request for support while asking for a healer. The Church sent the little support they could afford while assigning a priest to Redan. Glenn and Sahro both went through a few rounds of treatment as well. Glenn because his small adventure in the Beyond had damaged his innards, and Sahro because he had received superficial wounds from his fight against the knight army.
Now, the Black Heir was watching silently, leaning against a wall as Glenn and the priest finished talking.
"...I see. Anyway, thank you for your help," Glenn smiled at the priest, who smiled back.
"That''s my pleasure. If you want an update on Sir Redan''s status, ask for Valentin."
Glenn shook Valentin''s hand, before leaving the hospital''s room, Sahro closely following behind him. They silently walked through the medical aisle of the Church of Onnea, both lost in thoughts. As soon as they were out of the Church, Sahro opened his mouth.
"Should we go get the Mayor now?"
Glenn rubbed his chin, before grimacing.
"I''m low on Mana and could use a bit of time to Meditate it back. What about you?"
Sahro shook his head.
"I''m also exhausted," the Black Heir looked at the sky, "...Quick break in the Dormitory?" He proposed. Glenn nodded in approval, and the two left for the Cleaner''s Workshop and their luxurious Platinum suite. As far as they knew, Mayor Lazarre wouldn''t be going anywhere, waiting for Walker Blight, his contact with the Occult Wanderers. And since Glenn had personified Mr. Blight, he was free to make the Mayor wait as long as he wanted.
''Making him wait for too long might not be too good of an idea,'' Diamanes remarked. Glenn shrugged as he flexed the muscles in his left, purple arm.
''An hour or two shouldn''t be too problematic. If I got it right, he has King''s Rise army to use as he likes, thanks to that Count backing him. And we need to take into account that Tomorr as well, who should be either a Knight or a True Initiate. If his colleague Novraar could wound Javier in the back, that means he should be a bit tougher than the usual meat shields.''
Glenn stretched, bathing in the setting sun. The operation had taken the whole day, and with the twilight coming, he was wondering whether he shouldn''t just go visit the Mayor the next day.
''...Hmm...And since he has so many forces with him, it''s better for us to go rested and at one hundred percent. There will probably be a fight, not as big as the one that just happened, but still.''
Diamanes didn''t reply, acknowledging his host''s words. Glenn and Sahro soon arrived at the Cleaner''s Workshop, welcomed by a sweaty bald man with thick, steel-rimmed glasses.
"Glenn, Sahro, what the hell have you done?" He asked with a pale face as he pushed his glasses back up his nose. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a gaze, before sighing in synchronization. The Black Heir opened his mouth and left it this way for a few seconds, before smacking his lips.
"Loran, let''s just say we cleaned up a huge chunk of the Eastern Town, alright? We need some rest, and as soon as we get it, we''re getting back out there. A rapport will have to wait," He said dryly with Glenn listening silently. Loran grunted and turned away while shaking his head.
"More work for me, that''s for sure..." he mumbled, before gesturing dismissively with the back of his hand. Glenn and Sahro didn''t linger and took their leave, straight for the Dormitory. As they arrived in front of the stairs leading to the top state, they sighed once again.
"I''m starting to hate these stairs..." Glenn muttered. Sahro chuckled.
"I already do."
They still climbed said accursed stairs, reaching the Platinum floor. Sahro didn''t utter another word and grunted as he stabbed his Dark-Gold identification dagger into his suite''s door, and entered it without a second thought. Glenn imitated him, entering his suite and heading straight for the bathroom. He didn''t need a bath, since he had already used Mundare to clean himself, but still. He couldn''t get over the feeling of being dirty, despite the spell''s help, and only taking a bath seemed to get rid of the said feeling.
If he thought back to it, Mundare, or Cleaning Touch for its academic name, was an insane spell. It got rid of filth, blood, and anything dirty. Wars would probably be fought on Earth for access to this spell. After all, that meant true disinfection, easier access to proper facilities, and so many more things he could probably not imagine. That led him to think, why wouldn''t King''s Rise just clean away the sewage instead of dropping it in the Sewers outside the city? That''d probably be way easier to just give Mundare to the whole population and force them to use it on their filth and all that, instead of creating a sewer system that barely worked.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Hey, I''m pretty sure the Cleaner''s Workshop facilities already work with this system," Diamanes remarked aloud, the hand free to speak in the safety of the bathroom. Glenn looked at the water of the bath he was taking. The water was summoned magically with a Water Shard and was cleaned away by unplugging a hole. The young man also realized the insanity of a Water Shard.
"A bit of blood or Mana, and unlimited water pours out...Shit, this would also change everything on Earth...Man, why did I never think about those things before?" Glenn asked confusedly as he found himself in wonder in front of magic. Every day he used said magic, and yet, every day he found it to be even better than he thought.
"You never thought about that, probably because you never tried so hard to think about something else?" Nelg tried. Glenn grimaced and sank his head in the water. After submerging himself for half a minute in the hot bath, he came out and sighed. He didn''t have the time to lose on that; he still had to go "meet" the Mayor, and maybe kill the bastard. Or...or he could trick him again?
Oh, that was an interesting thought here. Glenn dried himself and picked a bathrobe among the many he had at his disposition. He then headed off to his salon, sinking in one of the sofas with a grunt.
"Life is just so hectic these days..." he muttered, before leaning his head back and closing his eyes. He began Meditating right there since the comfortable sofa allowed so, and also because he was too lazy to go to his bed or someplace else. Meditating just needed him to have a calm mind and dive into his Mana Heart to observe the changes inside and try to understand them while allowing for more Mana to fill his reserves.
That also was something that was beginning to annoy Glenn. "Mana reserves". It was bothering him a little that he was unable to put a number over said reserve. He''d love to have some kind of mana bar, like in a video game, with the number of mana points he currently had and how much was his maximum capacity. Oh, and his mana regen would be great as a date too. At least he''d be able to be more precise in his spell usage.
"But no, this shit is so fucking blurry...Hah...Onnea, is it that hard to create a video-game-like system?" Glenn asked dejectedly as he watched the three Circles spinning around the Magellanic Clouds. Sadly, no one replied to him. And so, he went to the only person who would reply to him. Nelg was standing with his arms crossed in front of his own Mana Heart, frowning as he looked at a wristband. He turned his head as he sensed Glenn approaching.
"Ah, I was about to go look for you. Killing these cultists netted us quite a few souls, you see," Nelg said as he threw the wristband at Glenn. The young man grinned as looked at it closely. The number seventy-four was engraved on it. Glenn''s grin disappeared, replaced by a frown.
"Wait, I didn''t kill that many guys, did I?"
Nelg shook his head.
"Nope, but some souls are worth more than others. A crappy soul counts for one, while better souls can go from two, to even three. I didn''t get anything above that for now."
Glenn looked at the wristband for a few seconds, before shrugging and throwing it back at Nelg.
"Huh. Well, at least your Circle is expanding steadily."
Nelg caught the wristband and played with it for a few seconds. He dismissed the wristband and turned toward Glenn, his eyes filled with determination.
"Glenn, you need to face reality," he suddenly said, not giving a second to his bewildered host to reply, "...You can''t continue pushing down your feelings like that."
Glenn''s eyebrows creased and he opened his hands confusedly.
"What are you talking about?"
Nelg winced and shook his head.
"You''re scarred. Both physically and mentally. And that''s not good, be it for you, or me."
Glenn laughed dismissively, floating away from his sword''s nonsense.
"And there again, just running away from the problem," Nelg said, making Glenn stop dead in his tracks. The young man drew a deep breath and turned back.
"Alright, then. Tell me, what is scarring me exactly?" He asked defiantly, and Nelg replied without a second of hesitation.
"You''re homesick, and because of that, you''re subconsciously thinking of your sister each time you meet a kid. That''s why you reacted this way back with Liam, or with the kids of Lark''s Avenue, or those poor children in the Beyond."
Glenn lifted his hand, his teeth clenched.
"No, don''t talk to me about them"
Nelg slapped Glenn''s hand away violently, refusing to listen to his host.
"Fuck off, I''m not done talking," he interrupted viciously, his eyes burning desperately, "That all began with you waking up in that field of corpse, right? Then killing your first monster, surviving the Blood Moon, and meeting Diamanes. Then there was the Thorn''s Church torture, the Auberge, the Harvestoh, that shit is the worst. There also was the Blessed Grove and the Heart of Darkness, Palancar and the Fallen Mother, Doyle Malory, and now this bullshit with Redan, the Beyond and the Occult Wanderers."
Nelg took a deep breath as Glenn took a step back and fell on his ass as if the words had struck him directly.
"You don''t see it, but you''re playing with your fucking luck. Each time you survive, it''s practically thanks to a miracle. All that because you''re too much in a hurry; you need to do this or that, and because of that you''re always rushing head down into your problems, throwing Mana at them. Somehow, it''s working, and somehow, you''re still alive. But don''t you realize that you could have died, hadn''t it been for the timely appearance of that Hell Knight, or whatever that was?" Nelg spat, angry. Glenn listened with wide-opened eyes, his jaws tightly clenched as he looked to the side. He couldn''t even say anything.
Nelg knew him because Nelg was him.
"So yeah, I get that we don''t have time, that we need to take the bull by the horns because Redan''s in danger, or someone else, or someone else, but fuck you, man!" Nelg shouted as he stabbed his gloved finger into Glenn''s chest.
"My life and Diamanes depend on yours! If you die, so do we!" Nelg took a breath, before changing his tone to a calmer one, "...And what about your sister? Do you realize that if you die, you''ll never see her again? So stop going into fights like Lady Luck is going to save you again, and again, because one day, luck is going to stand on the other fucking side. Shit!" Nelg kicked at nothing and turned away, fuming. Glenn was still on the illusory ground of his Mana Heart''s space, speechless and dumbfounded.
He felt like he had just been stripped down of all his defenses. After all, he could lie to himself, but Nelg didn''t have that need.
"Fuck...I can''t even refute your words, haha..." Glenn laughed dejectedly, at a loss at what to say. He knew he was pushing himself quite a bit these days, Meditating instead of sleeping, fighting horrors one after the other. But he didn''t have a choice! He had to fight, to protect the ones close to him, to grow stronger, to survive! All so he could maybe find a way out of this hell of a world.
And then Glenn realized that even if he found a way to leave this world and go back to Earth, he would still lose something. It cost him to admit it, but he cared about his friends, about these people he met along this painful path of reaching for something that might not even exist. Nelg turned back toward Glenn, calmer.
"What you don''t realize, is that you got used to it. The horror, the deaths, the murder, and this whole world''s nature. You''ve changed, Glenn, ever since you came into this world, but you truly had no choice in the matter. But like the good boy that you are, you toughened up, and acted like everything was normal."
Nelg walked up to Glenn and patted him on the shoulder compassionately.
"This world isn''t normal. Having to fight like we do, isn''t normal. Hell, even King''s Rise isn''t normal. So it''s okay to admit it and take a break. After all, he isn''t here to stop you."
Glenn didn''t have to ask who that "he" Nelg was talking about, he already knew. The young man looked at his hands emptily, as images flashed in his eyes one after the other. Glenn broke his Meditation, gasping as he was back in reality. He thought back to these kids, to Winston, Carys, and Laurence, the hearty lady baker.
He thought back to each of them and, like a dam finally breaking, he swore.
"Damn it..."
And he cried.
171. The "Beating Up Nobles" Therapy
Glenn uncorked a bottle of amber whisky silently and poured himself a glass. He picked two ice cubes and dropped them in the glass, before going back to his sofa and sinking into it. He quietly sipped on his drink, his eyes still wet and reddened. A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door to his suite, forcing him out of his seat and up to the door. He hurriedly wiped his face and rubbed his eyes, before opening the door.
Sahro was standing there, with clean clothes and a troubled expression.
"I''m ready to go, but..." The Black Heir looked to the side, back in his suite''s direction, "...I don''t think Milena is. She''s been with Liara for a while now, and refuses to come out of her room."
He frowned, squinting as he stared at Glenn''s eyes, "...And maybe you need a longer break too?"
Glenn''s lips curved into a weak smile, his hand waving dismissively, his eyes darting to the side.
"Don''t worry, I already cried my problems out. Let''s get this over with, "He paused, "...I doubt we''ll need Milena''s help, so let her rest."
Sahro shrugged and nodded, stepping to the side as he let Glenn leave his room. The young man closed the door behind him with a twist of his Black-Gold rank dagger, dismissing it in a cloud of blue particles. The two walked down the hallway silently. They left the Dormitory and then the Cleaner''s Workshop, heading for the Mayor''s Office in the Eastern Town''s safest district; the Military District. All the military forces that the Mayor controlled were positioned in that street, guarding his residence and office instead of helping clear up the Eastern Town of its criminals.
The Black Heir suddenly stopped, interrupting their walk.
"What did you see, back when you entered the Beyond?" He asked Glenn. The young man froze dead in his tracks, silent. After a few seconds, he turned around with a fake smile.
"Oh, nothing crazy. Just hell, and the kids we were supposed to save alongside Redan. All dead, of course," he said, before turning back and continuing on his way. Sahro followed him silently, his question answered. The two soon arrived in the strictly controlled Military District and were stopped by a squadron of guards wearing brass-colored full-body armor at the entrance. They were all armed with thick spears made out entirely of that same, brass-colored metal.
"Identity and reason for visiting, please?" One of the guards asked politely. Glenn exchanged a gaze with Sahro and stepped up, smiling emotionlessly at the guard.
"Glenn and Sahro, we''re here to cave in the Mayor''s face. If you please?"
The soldier looked at him for a few seconds, then at his colleagues. His finger wrapped tightly around the hilt of his spear, his teeth clenched. Glenn contented himself with smiling silently as he thought back to the dead kids. Nelg advised him to let his emotions run rampant for a bit.
He was going to do just that.
Sahro placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, his gaze sharp. The standoff lasted for a few seconds until the soldier tried to take a step forward. Glenn used Gravity Manipulation to stop him dead in his tracks, still smiling with his lips closed, his trembling eyelids betraying his anger. The soldier gulped, unable to move a muscle. His colleagues also tried moving, but couldn''t, under the same hold. Glenn grinned widely, before making his way through the frozen soldiers, Sahro closely following behind him.
"Thank you, sirs. We''ll be on our way, then~"
Glenn kept the spell on until the guard post was far behind them, and then dismissed it. Sahro looked at him with worried eyes.
"Are you sure you''re fine?"
Glenn laughed as Mana swirled around him in a visible, purple cloud.
"Of course! I''m more than fine!" He paused and rubbed his chin, "...But I''ll probably feel much better once the Mayor and the Count behind him are both disintegrated to dust."
Sahro sighed and shook his head. The two arrived in front of the largest, and most luxurious building; the Mayor''s office. Glenn approached the doors without missing a beat, and kicked them open, loudly announcing his arrival. The mayor''s office was a gaudy display of ill-gotten wealth, with plush red carpets and mahogany furniture. The air smelled of expensive cigars and, with their arrival, fear.
"Walker Blight, of the Occult Wander, here to visit Mayor Lazarre!" He shouted, startling the office workers and the secretaries. They all parted from his and Sahro''s way, letting them freely walk in. The three-floored building echoed with sounds of people running around frantically, but Glenn and Sahro only kept on walking through the office at their own pace. It didn''t take them long to find the office, which Glenn opened up with yet another powerful kick. A blade burning in emerald flames welcomed him but was swiftly deflected by Sahro, who was expecting such a thing. After all, they already knew there was a capable knight present on the Mayor''s side, to protect him.
They also knew that it was a capable knight. Not that much of a threat in front of Glenn and Sahro''s combined might. The knight, covered in scaled armor and a brass helmet closed over his face, backed down, covering with his body the cowering mayor, a small, fat man with balding spots and his pants soiled. Glenn grinned widely, opening his arms in a wide hug.
"What, you don''t recognize me, Lazarre? It''s me, Walker Blight!"
The mayor''s eyes widened and he looked at the garnet ring on his thick middle finger.
"YYou!" He sputtered, terrified.
"Yes, me!" Glenn stepped in with a big smile and his left hand shooting a Carbon Blade at the knight, Tomorr if he remembered correctly. The knight blocked the Carbon Blade with his greatsword, the emerald flames dimming slightly. He took a step back, silent and ready to fight. Sahro crackled with blue lightning, flashing forward in sparks of electricity. His curved sword collided against the knight''s greatsword in a brutal shock. The knight grunted and tried to push Sahro back, only to see his torso falling without his head attached to it, Glenn standing there with a mocking grin, his longsword dripping with red blood.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Tomorr''s corpse crashed down, a pool of blood quickly forming around it. Glenn turned around and looked at the Mayor cowering behind his luxurious, bloodied desk. The young man''s grin only grew as he slowly wiped the blood off his blade on the mayor''s vest, before planting it on the ground right next to his head. The bald man gasped and cried, but he couldn''t care less. Sahro found himself a chair to sit on, so he could enjoy the show.
"So," Glenn began as he sat on the desk, looking down at the terrified Mayor, "...I feel like you have a lot of things you want to share with us, isn''t that right, Mayor Lazarre?"
The Mayor hurriedly nodded up and down, kneeling on the ground with his forehead against the floor. Glenn''s chin leaned on his fist as he comfortably installed his feet on top of the soon-to-be bald head.
"WWhat do you want to know?" He asked shakily, not daring to lift his head. Glenn rubbed his chin, wondering. What was the first thing he wanted to know?
His foot pressed harder against the mayor''s neck. "Who''s supporting you?" he demanded, his voice a low growl. The mayor, trembling, blurted out, "CCount Mortelli... he''s involved in everything. Please, I''ll tell you anything!"
The Mayor grunted and tried to resist against the foot, failing miserably.
"He''s myarghmy uncle, I''m from the Lanseti barony. Countmffcount Mortelli is heavily invested in the dealings of the various criminal organizations, as well as every cult, sect, or dark church!"
Glenn yawned, forcing the Mayor to speak faster.
"Count Mortelli has an alliance with the Occult Wanderers, a secret society of researchers who stop at nothing to find power. Sir Laurence was one of the Five Wanderers, the strongest member of that organization!"
Glenn whistled and clapped slowly.
"Nice, I don''t even need to ask you questions, you already know what I want to know, don''t you?"
The mayor grunted as Glenn allowed him to raise his head slightly.
"I knew this would happen. I knew we shouldn''t fuck with the Beyond! The demons are in there!" He spat to the side, still bowing his head so he didn''t have to cross Glenn''s eyes.
"And kids? Why did they need kids for that ritual? Fuck!" The Mayor angrily spat, before sighing deeply. He remained kneeling but without his head against the ground, gaining a tiny, tiny bit back of his dignity. Glenn scratched the back of his head.
"Why were you appointed as the Mayor?"
Lazarre frowned and replied.
"I told you because I''m the Count''s nephew" Glenn''s foot interrupted him and pressed his forehead back against the ground.
"Don''t take me for a fool," Glenn said coldly, "...What purpose do you serve here? Are you the communication point with the various crime syndicates, then? Since you''re utter trash as the Mayor."
Mayor Lazarre whined, bleeding from a broken nose.
"Argh, yes, yes! I was also in charge of undermining the Church of Onnea''s reputation in the Eastern Town, for the benefit of the other dark organizations trying to get a foothold in King''s Rise!"
Glenn pressed his lips together. This explained that. The weaker the Church of Onnea was, the easier it was for the Skinners, the Thorn''s Cult, and the Occult Wanderer to implement themselves in the city. Without the support of the citizens, even Onnea''s Church would struggle to keep things running normally.
"What else, what else..." Glenn pondered, before grinning, "...What about Redan, the Ice Wolf? Did you or your Count have a role in his kidnapping?"
The Mayor grunted before replying, his nose breaking down further.
"ItIt wasn''t kidnapping," He screamed painfully as Glenn pressed harder on his head, "BLACKMAIL! It was blackmail!"
Glenn looked down at the Mayor with a surprised look as he relieved the bald man of the pressure of his feet, jumping off the desk and walking around it.
"Blackmail? What did you blackmail Redan with?"
The Mayor rubbed the back of his head, while holding his nose with his other hand, wincing as he replied.
"Count Mortelli has been the Commodore of the Wolves Order ever since the Ice Wolf was expulsed from them. I believe there are individuals in the Order who are the Ice Wolf''s weaknesses!" Lazarre explained hurriedly as he pulled a piece of tissue out of his bloody black vest and wrapped it around his nose. Sahro, who was kind of bored at that point, began searching through the various drawers in the office. Glenn frowned; more hostages? Between Callum, Giselle''s grandson, and Redan''s friends or old subordinates, that explains why the Black Heir and the Ice Wolf moved at the nobles'' wishes.
The young man noted the Mortelli name on his growing list of individuals he should exterminate. That wouldn''t hurt anyone to clean up all the people who dealt with criminals and empowered them, right? Oh, and criminal organizations should also be up-rooted...
''Why do you care?'' Diamanes asked, curious, ''...It''s not your place to clean up this world, and you don''t strike me as the hero of justice.''
Glenn grinned with crescent eyes, coldness hidden behind his smile.
''Well, I was thinking I needed to farm souls to level up Nelg, and also, because it would probably make me feel GREAT to kill assholes. If it helps other people at the same time, that''s three birds with one stone, right?''
"I''m all for it!" Nelg exclaimed happily, on his host''s side. Diamanes laughed evilly, satisfied. The young man looked down at the trembling Mayor, still wondering what else he should ask. He opened his mouth when Sahro exploded with laughter. Glenn turned toward his Black Heir friend, frowning.
"What are you laughing at...?"
Sahro was holding a letter and reading it, grinning widely as he did.
"Well, I think you should read it, it''s interesting stuff..." Sahro''s grin disappeared, melting away as he looked at the Mayor, still cowering on the floor. His Aura flared up, making his left, thunder arm flare up to a crimson color. Glenn took the letter from his hand, giving it a quick look over. His face darkened, and all hints of a smile disappeared. He drew a deep breath, crumpling the letter into a ball and fitting it in his dimensional pouch. He wanted to destroy it, but evidence was meant to be kept and given to the proper authorities.
Who would be the proper authorities in this case, though? The Church of Onnea? The Cleaner''s Workshop?
It didn''t matter, in the end, Glenn was certainly going to act his justice upon this disgusting piece of shit. The young man had more he wanted to ask the bald man, but hurried, heavy steps coming from the office''s exterior informed him of the guards coming to save their employer. If he could, Glenn would rather not kill them, for they were men who followed orders, and nothing else. Glenn walked up to the Mayor and picked up his sword, looking at his reflection in the cold steel.
"Mayor Lazarre, for your various crimes, including blackmailing, murder, conspiracy to murder, slavery, rape, child molesting, complicity with criminal organizations, and others I don''t even feel like naming, I hereby sentence you to death. May you suffer in hell eternally."
The Mayor''s eyes shot wide open and he hurriedly looked up to plead his cause, but Glenn''s blade was already lifted above his head, ready to hack down. A second later, the blade touched the ground, Lazarre''s head rolling down right next to it. Glenn looked down at the corpse, before spitting on it and kicking it away. He used Mundare to clean up Nelg, before sheathing the weapon back in its sheath. He looked at the wall and blasted a small Implosion into it, carving enough space for him and Sahro to jump through. The setting sun was welcoming him, the twin moons showing their pale selves.
Glenn and Sahro jumped down the Mayor''s office, carried by Gravity Manipulation to the nearest roof. The two men looked back at the office, listening to the clamors and screams of horror of the guards finding the Mayor''s beheaded corpse. The Black Heir shook his head and looked at his friend.
"I''ll head to the Cleaner''s Workshop. You''re coming with me?"
Glenn didn''t turn his head, still staring in the Mayor''s office direction.
"...I''ll be staying here for a while, to clear up my head. I''ll join you and the others in a bit, don''t worry."
Sahro nodded and sighed, before turning and jumping away, leaving Glenn alone as was his wish.
The young man looked at the sun setting down, his arms crossed. After a few minutes, he sighed.
"What a fucking day..."
172. Fuck the Eastern Town
Glenn grunted, turning in his bed with displeasure. After fighting his mattress and his blanket, the young man gave up and rose, sighing deeply.
"...Why did I even try to sleep?" Glenn grumbled, rubbing the corner of his eyes tiredly. He''ll Meditate his fatigue away at some point in the day if he has the time to do so. He wanted to wrap everything up in the Eastern Town, so he could get the hell out of this damned town. Getting rid of the Skinners shouldn''t take much, he just had to find their headquarters and burn them to the ground. He also had to visit Norstan Vendor, the Paladin squad leader of the Church of Onnea, so he could understand the position of the Church in front of the Occult Wanderers.
"You can also use that time to ask if getting rid of the Mayor would cause any problems, even though I doubt they''d be displeased with your decision. You should have worn a mask, though," Diamanes said as he followed his host''s line of thought. Glenn shook his head, disagreeing.
"I wanted them to know it was me so that the piece of noble shit behind this is aware I''m coming after him."
"That''s not smart," Diamanes remarked. Glenn sneered.
"So what? I want to kick some noble ass."
To that, Diamanes had nothing to say. The young man summoned his classy, now reddish-suit, and walked to his kitchen. He prepared himself a bowl of cereal alongside some bread he grilled using a very weak Sun''s Touch. Glenn ate his breakfast silently, cleaned entirely with a full-body Mundare aka Cleaning Touch, and left his suite. Today, he was going to be alone to do all those things, even though he had planned to visit Liara and Milena for lunch.
After he came back to the Dormitory the previous night, he met Sahro, who told him Milena was still suffering from the psychological shock of killing so many people back in that summoning room. Glenn had to address that situation, whether that meant helping her or kicking her out of the team. He preferred the first option, but he couldn''t force her back into similar situations if she couldn''t stomach them. Nonetheless, whatever happened, he still had to get that bargain of trade they agreed to, for him to see if he could understand her illusion magic. Mainly to try and steal it with Diamanes.
''I wonder if said illusion''s magic isn''t mind magic, seeing how she managed to make so many people kill each other,'' Glenn pondered as he left the Cleaner''s Workshop. There was no sun today, for the sky was blocked with thick, gray clouds. He pulled out his Exan Egg from his dimensional pouch.
"...8 AM...This day''s going to be so long..." Glenn pressed his lips together, before tightening his tie and heading for the Hanged Inn, the only location he knew was a den of Skinners. There was that pleasure/butchering house he burned down, but he doubted anything remained of it aside from ashes.
"Wouldn''t it be wiser to first meet with the Church of Onnea, informing them of your intentions of uprooting the gang, and then going?" Nelg suggested. Glenn stopped for a few seconds, before changing direction.
To the Church of Onnea, then.
He crossed the Red District, as well as the Military District, and everywhere, news of the Mayor''s death was spreading. Many people seemed happy with this information, probably hopeful for a new, steel-fisted ruler who would get rid of the criminals crippling their city. Glenn could only hope they''d get exactly that.
He was halfway through one of the poorest places in the Eastern Town, the Damp Alley when he felt something was wrong. Perhaps it was the strange look people had in their eyes, or the strange fixation they had on him, but it was uncomfortable.
"...I don''t have the patience for this, today..." Glenn hissed through his teeth, tensing up. He dodged an old, stumbling, and skinny woman when he caught the glint of a kitchen knife from the corner of his eyes. He tried to jump back, but the surprise attack touched him...and slipped right on his suit. Glenn almost laughed it out, but first needed to deal with whoever attacked him. He turned and froze, watching the same old granny he just dodged hurriedly trying to charge him again, her kitchen knife tightly clenched in her skinny hands.
''A grandma? The hell? I guess I have Onnea to thank for my stab-resistant suit. I had entirely forgotten it was supposed to resist slashing attacks, due to it failing so many times in front of Aura and magical attacks,'' he thought as he simply grabbed the knife''s blade and took it away from the old woman''s hands. She gasped and cowered back, looking through her used clothes for another weapon. Glenn looked at the knife and ditched it to the side.
"Why did you attack me?" He asked coldly, not a hint of respect in his voice. Usually, he tried to respect seniors the best he could, but the ones who tried to kill him didn''t deserve such respect.
''I guess Redan doesn''t either?'' Diamanes remarked with a sarcastic tone. Glenn frowned.
''What do you mean? I''ve never respected anyone as much as that old man.''
Diamanes laughed.
''See? You''re calling him an old man. That''s not very respectful, is it?''
Glenn shook his head, disagreeing.
''No, that''s another kind of respect we''re talking about here. It''s "old man", but in a friendly way, you know? The old man, the one you shouldn''t bother or you''re going to get your ass kicked to oblivion kind of respect?''
Diamanes only laughed, not bothering to reply. The young man didn''t have the time to sigh when the grandmother came at him with a nail clenched in her fingers. He sighed and slapped away her hand, the nail flying away.
"What''s up with you, old fart?" Glenn spat, annoyed. Why would someone just attack him out of nowhere anyway? The old woman suddenly sputtered something as she held her hand.
"TThe Prophecy..." She looked to the sides with a panicked look, before shouting, "...The Chosen One!"
Glenn blinked, before chuckling.
"O~kay, I''ll just call the nearest asylum, then, if they even have that in this shitty place" The young man closed his mouth as he dodged another attack to the side, a scared middle-aged man with a rusty trowel. First time in his entire life someone attacked him with a trowel. A surprising experience, that was for sure.
"What, you too?" Glenn blurted out, before feeling something hit him in the back, not hurting him or anything as he bounced back. Glenn kept an eye on the grandma and the other man and looked back with the other, finding a one-armed kid throwing rocks at him. The young man''s frown creased deeper, and he stepped toward the kid, only to be forced to stop and block another trowel attack. These attacks didn''t threaten him, but he couldn''t just kill these guys...
Well, he technically could, but he didn''t feel like doing so. They weren''t even dangerous, just...annoying.
"What the fuck are you all attacking me for, anyway? Money? Guys, go work or something?" Glenn shouted, startling them. The trowel-man advanced with a strange glint in his eyes and opened his mouth.
"FFor the Prophecy! Toto bring our Savior to our Lord!"
Glenn moistened his lips and slapped the trowel away. The kid continued to throw rocks at him, without much effect. That man also spoke of a Savior, and a Lord too... Glenn''s face darkened as he realized what was going on. At the same time, more people showed up on the street, armed with various weapons. The butcher, the cloth merchant, the old man selling apples, they all came for him, armed with bricks, knives, or even rakes.
The young man sighed and winced, using Gravity Manipulation to pull himself out of the growing crowd. He landed on a nearby roof, looking down at the situation. Six, twelve, twenty...As more time passed, the more poor-looking people were looking up at him, armed and ready to tear him to pieces.
"This is fucked up..." he muttered, bewildered. He shook his head and used Gravity Manipulation to help himself navigate the roofs of the town, quickly evading his weak pursuers. The Thorn''s Cult had probably managed to brainwash them into attacking him. They were the only fucktards that could do that...Oh, no, the Occult Wanderers were also suspect for such a thing. He didn''t know their organization that much, but they also influenced people in a bad way, with Lark''s Avenue example in mind, right?
But why would they use useless people to attack him? It simply wasn''t efficient, since they couldn''t even scratch him.
Using the roofs as his road, Glenn didn''t take long to arrive at the Church of Onnea. He jumped right in front of the two thick oak doors, pushing them open quickly, fearing for another crowd of brainwashed poor people to attack him. A clerk looked up from a desk and smiled as he recognized Glenn.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Sir Glenn, what can I help you for? Do you wish to visit Redan?"
Glenn smiled and shook his head.
"Later, maybe. I''d like to see Paladin Vendor."
The clerk nodded and stood up from his chair, leaving the room. Glenn looked around. This Church was slightly different from the Northern Town''s one, in that it had a main Hall to welcome people in, before directing them to the various services. For the believers, the Chapel was on the western side, a massive piece of architecture with beautiful archways and stained glass art, depicting the various stories around Onnea. On the eastern side was the Hospital, where all the patients were treated. Finally, to the northern side were the barracks of the paladins and fighting priests, alongside the training areas for the newer ones. From what he understood, this was a larger outpost for the faith, the biggest in the Fringe, but the main headquarters of the Church was situated in the Court, King''s Rise Second Circle.
The clerk finally came back, smiling.
"Justicar Vendor can welcome you right now. Please follow me," He showed Glenn the northern aisle, inviting him in. The young man happily obliged, following the clerk in the hallways, while thinking back to what he just heard. "Justicar"? What kind of rank was that? Was Paladin Vendor more important than he presented himself to be? All the best, then. He was pretty sure he held a debt over the man for saving him and what remained of his comrades.
Maybe he could leverage the paladin to do his dirty work? That could work.
"Heartless bastard, it''s barely been a day since he just lost all of his comrades, and you already want to scam him?" Nelg exclaimed with disgust. Glenn looked at the longsword hanging off his waist, sneering.
''Listen, I have training to do and souls to farm. Human souls work, but so do monsters apparently. And I honestly want to get the fuck out of this disgusting city, alright?''
Nelg smacked his lips, before sighing, "...Got it, got it..."
Glenn followed the clerk and entered an office, the clerk leaving him at the threshold. Glenn thanked him and headed inside, finding Paladinno, Justicar Vendor sitting behind a large, plain wooden desk, writing with his eyes squinted. The office was clean and empty of any decoration, aside from a few chairs and drawers probably filled with documents. Plain and serious, like the one sitting behind the desk. Glenn found himself a chair and sat, patiently waiting for the Justicar to be done.
Norstan Vendor''s feather scratched the paper one last time as he signed whatever document he had just drafted. Finally, the older man sighed, rubbing at his graying temples. He looked up at Glenn, his eyes filling with sadness and grief as he did so.
"Thank you for your patience, sir Glenn. As you can see..." He gestured at the document in front of him, "...A lot of paperwork caught up to me, but that''s nothing compared to the reports the higher-ups asked of me for the Lark Avenue''s situation."
Glenn dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
"Don''t worry, I get it. I mainly came to do my report and hear also your reasons to chase after the Occult Wanderers and this...Laurence," Glenn paused until his face brightened slightly as he smiled at the older man, "...also, congratulations are in order, I believe, Justicar Vendor."
Norstan Vendor chuckled weakly, leaning back in his chair with a grunt.
"The higher-ups want to give me all the credit, and so they "rewarded" me with this empty title, Justicar. Heh, a pompous one it is, for sure..." The older man shook his head, before nodding toward Glenn.
"So, what''s your reasons for coming after the Occult Wanderers?"
Glenn rubbed both of his hands together and leaned forward, drawing a deep breath.
"So it''s like this..."
Half an hour later.
Norstan Vendor rubbed his chin, frowning when he felt the stubble under his fingers.
"So, all in all, you did this to save the Ice Wolf, is that right?" He asked, waiting for Glenn''s confirmation. The young man nodded as he leaned back in his seat. The Justicar sighed and massaged the back of his neck.
"Your loyalty is admirable, as are your friends. It''s my time to tell my story, then, I suppose?"
Glenn laughed, "I''d be honored."
Justicar Vendor smiled and looked at a document for the side.
"You''ve already been cleared for this information, and I feel like it''s useless if I tell you that, but don''t go sharing this on the street, please. Those are secrets the Church would rather keep safe, if possible."
Glenn nodded with understanding, "Of course. My lips are sealed, Justicar."
Vendor moistened his lips and cleared his throat, to finally begin.
"It started a month or two ago. Our campaign to clean up the Eastern Town and make it the main outpost for spreading Onnea''s faith was advancing fairly well, when a young man of incredible talent, around your age, joined us."
The Justicar''s sight lost focus and his expression darkened, "...Laurence."
Glenn''s eyelids trembled but he kept silent, listening attentively.
"Laurence was a promising priest, one that seemed to have an incredible connection with the Goddess. His Blessings were perfect, and his Holy Light was the strongest recorded in a hundred years. He gave great hope to both me and all of the higher-ranked priests in the Church. Finding such a talent is rare, and many resources were invested in growing him. But..."
Vendor inhaled deeply, "...Belatedly, we realized a precious, holy relic had disappeared. The Crusade Flag was a powerful divine item that allowed the Church of Onnea to move a regiment of our forces anywhere in the world with a Divine Gate. We never suspected Laurence, of course, since he kept on performing admirably. At the same time, the opinion of the Church visibly worsened, and the locals began rejecting us. The criminals grew in power, and multiplied like pests."
The Justicar rubbed his forehead, his eyebrows creased.
"The criminals organized themselves, the Mayor" He stopped and gave Glenn a look of respect, "whom you killed. He was a big thorn in our foot this whole time, but we couldn''t touch him because of Count Mortelli. Are you prepared for the consequences, though?"
Glenn nodded silently, dismissing the older man''s worries with a wave of his hand. Norstan Vendor laughed widely, before calming down and continuing his story.
"Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes, so the Skinners appearedwell, they became an actual crime syndicate instead of some sicko group, thanks to an anonymous supporter funding them in exchange for the skins and organs of their victims. We still have no idea as to where those shipments went, but we managed to stop a few of them. Laurence''s cover dropped down when he was caught stealing the bags of skins for unknown reasons."
"He disappeared just like that, pushing off ten Knight Paladins as if they were a bunch of rowdy kids. That''s when we realized he had hidden his strength ever since we welcomed him in our midst. Laurence is an archmagi, or a True Magi, depending on who you ask. No one that strong is supposed to stay within the Fringe, for the Royal Inquisition would come for them."
Glenn''s eyebrows rose.
"The Royal Inquisition?"
The Justicar nodded deeply.
"Yes, the Royal Inquisition. You''re not aware of them, but once you reach a certain level of power, such as Magi or Grand Chevalier, someone will come to meet you and invite you officially to a higher Circle of King''s Rise. If you don''t do so, the Royal Inquisition will come for you."
The young man moistened his lips. Why would the mysterious King chase the strongest people out of the lower strafes? Norstan Vendor laughed, seeing Glenn''s confusion.
"The official explanation is that the Fringe is the place where the young mages and knights are supposed to grow their power, with monsters and tasks of relatively lower level. The Mana concentration in the Fringer is much lower than in the higher Circles, meaning the Rifts appearing are much weaker. The Scarecrows of the Fields, and recently the Blessed Grove''s Heart of Darkness are exceptions to that rule. Even I am only a Grand Chevalier, and am here thanks to a special agreement with the government."
Glenn''s eyes widened.
"You''re Rank Four? I''d never have guessed it!"
Norstan Vendor laughed and shrugged.
"Well, age is unkind to everyone, and I''m in my later years. My two hundredth birthday is coming, and yet the Church still wants me to work..." He complained, making Glenn''s heart freeze for a second. T-Two hundredth birthday? The man looked like he was in his fifties, maybe sixty if he exaggerated! What the hell? Was that the lifespan increase Diamanes spoke about?
''Yep, exactly. And yeah, he''s indeed a Rank Four, even though he''s part of the weaker ones. He''s right, old age didn''t do him well, contrary to Redan. That bastard is still kicking and in the high rank of the Fourth Circle!'' Diamanes exclaimed in Glenn''s mind. The young man shook his head, shocked. That was one thing to hear of it, and another to see it. But then, how old was Redan?
...That was a question for later. The Justicar coughed and resumed his story.
"We sent an official report to the Inquisition, but the interference of nobles opposed to Onnea''s faith made it so that the message never reached its destination. The Church of Onnea also sent a regiment at Laurence, but we all knew it was a lost cause. What can a single Grand Chevalier and two dozens of Knights and priests do, in the face of an archmagi? But we didn''t have a choice."
Norstan Vendor shook his head dejectedly, still regretting his decision to accept the mission.
"We tracked Laurence down to Lark''s Avenue and forced our way through a heavily guarded warehouse. That''s when we first encountered the Occult Wanderers, and their leader, Walker Blight."
Glenn''s ears perked up when he heard that last name. Blight? That''s the identity he stole to scam Mayor Lazarre, right? The Justicar continued, oblivious to the young man''s reaction.
"Right as we began to win our fights, he appeared and used Mind magic to control us. I had to watch helplessly as I slaughtered my comrades with my own hands...Some of us survived when Laurence arrived, and stopped Blight. We were then brought to the Summoning Room, where Laurence used the blood of my comrades alongside a dozen kids to corrupt the Crusade Flag. When he used it, instead of a Divine Gate to somewhere in the world, he opened a passage to the Beyond, the world of demons. It destroyed the Crusade Flag too, ironically,"
The Justicar grabbed the edge of his seat tightly, his teeth clenched. He breathed in and out, wincing as he remembered these painful memories. Glenn remained silently, giving him the time he needed. Finally, Norstan Vendor sighed and rubbed the corner of his eyes.
"...Laurence then dove in the opened Gate with the unconscious Ice Wolf, while the specialists of the Occult Wanderers kept it stabilized by throwing one gutted kid after another in. Then, you and your team arrived and almost succeeded in ruining their plans. That''s...That''s all there is for me..." said the Justicar as he leaned back in his seat, looking in the distance. Glenn pressed his lips together, sorry for the very old man. He wished what happened to Norstan Vendor to no one but his enemies.
"...Thank you for letting me go through it all. I have one last thing I wanted your opinion on..." Glenn asked, hoping to successfully change the Justicar''s mind. The latter gestured at him to continue.
"Ask away, Sir Glenn."
Glenn moistened his lips and leaned forward.
"I was thinking about destroying the Skinners, exterminating them."
Vendor looked at Glenn and pondered for a few seconds, before chuckling.
"You''re certainly capable of it if I remember what I saw of your power correctly. But don''t bother."
Glenn frowned.
"Why?"
The Justicar crossed his arms and stared at Glenn.
"My paladins need something to let their rage on. We also received our reinforcements today," he paused, before smiling coldly.
"It''s time to clean the Eastern Town up."
Glenn laughed.
Well, if that wasn''t convenient! All he had to do was move Redan to the Northern Town, and he was out of there!
173. Pie, Plans, and Manalok Tuleam
Glenn grinned widely, not letting the bland weather affect his emotions. After talking of a few more additional things with Norstan Vendor, the Justicar of Onnea''s Church, he had assured Redan''s transport to the Northern Town, as well as the assured destruction of the Skinner gang. With those two things checked off the list, there was little to nothing tying him down to the Eastern Town.
Hence the grin.
The young man briskly went back to the Cleaner''s Workshop, giving a short salute to Loran, the bald receptionist with thick glasses. Loran grumbled a hello back, too concentrated on reading some complicated-looking book. Glenn paid him no mind and went to the Dormitory, quickly climbing up to the Platine floor.
''...Weren''t you depressed an hour ago?'' Diamanes asked in disbelief, making his host chuckle.
"I''m just so glad I''m getting the hell out of here. I miss the Northern Town''s atmosphere so much."
Diamanes grunted, ''I guessed that much.''
The young man pushed open the door to his suite, frowning as he heard conversations coming from inside the room. There really was no security on these platinum Suites at all. Glenn entered fearlessly, having already recognized the voices of his comrades. Sahro was sitting on a large armchair, grimacing, while Liara was trying to shove food down Milena''s throat forcefully. Surprisingly, Javier was already there too, standing in a dark corner with his arms crossed, emotionless.
"No, Liara, I''m still notmff!" Milena looked like she was losing the fight against Liara''s obstinance, and was forced to swallow a slice of pie. Glenn blinked at that sight, before shaking his head and shrugging dismissively. He closed the door behind him and went to sit on one of the sofas, sighing as he did so. Milena''s eyes watered as she was forced to swallow the food Liara gave her, before pushing her back. The beautiful Black Heir had a cold and disappointed expression. She gave up on forcefully feeding Milena and gnawed on another slice of pie.
Said slice came from a nice, handmade, and steaming pie, a scent of tomato and beef igniting Glenn''s appetite. The young man grinned and went to take a slice when Liara slapped his hand away. He froze, surprised.
"What, I can''t get any?" He asked with disbelief and a hint of sadness. Liara shook her head and pointed at Milena categorically. Glenn raised his eyebrows before understanding.
"Ohh..." He then frowned, "...It''s only for Milena? That''s unfair. This pie looks incredible. Why can''t I get a single slice?"
Liara shook her head and pointed at an empty plate, where only crumbs awaited Glenn''s gaze.
"...Am I supposed to eat the crumbs? Was I relegated to the rank of a dog at some point?"
The pretty Black Heir looked at him silently, before chuckling softly. She shook her head with a smile and gestured at Sahro and Javier. Glenn turned slowly toward them with a betrayed expression.
"You guys ate the whole thing?" He asked in disbelief. Sahro whistled and looked to the side, avoiding Glenn''s gaze. Javier, instead, chose to act as he always did. Emotionless. Dead inside. Just staring back into his soul with empty eyes. What could he even do in front of Javier?
Glenn sighed, closing his eyes as if he had given up when his hand suddenly shot for the pie. Liara''s eyes widened and she tried to stop him, but it was too late.
The pie was already stolen, and half-eaten. Glenn chewed with a wide grin, licking his lips as he did so. The food was excellent, with the perfect ratio of cream, eggs, tomatoes, and meat. The crust was crispy, but not over-baked. It was an excellent pie, and Glenn''s stomach was already asking for more.
"Mmh! Man, that''s delicious! Did you cook those, Liara?"
The Black Heir paused for an instant, before nodding gently, almost with shyness. Glenn licked his fingers, before shooting her a thumbs-up, smiling widely.
"Well, you should cook more often! I love that pie!"
Liara smiled, before kicking him in the leg, inflicting him with a terrible pain. The young man clenched his teeth as he held his leg, hissing through his teeth.
"...Damn...Are those feet made of steel or what...?"
The lady Black Heir picked another slice of pie and caught Milena by the back of her shirt. The fallen noble was trying to sneak away to the door, but Liara''s eyes weren''t so easily fooled. Milena was pulled back in her seat, and her mouth refilled with a portion of pie. The fallen noble chewed silently, giving up. Liara''s smile grew and she sat on the sofa as if to say that this whole show was over.
Glenn moistened his lips before smacking them.
"Alright, so, good news everyone, we''re done with the Eastern Town!"
Everyone grunted in relief or approval. Even Sahro, whose base of operation was in the Eastern Town, seemed happy to get out of the place for a while. Glenn rubbed both of his hands together, smiling.
"So, if everyone is okay with that, I propose that you all pack up, so we can all run away and go back to the Northern Town. What do you all think?"
"Finally..." Sahro sighed as he stood up and dusted off his pants, getting rid of a few breadcrumbs. Javier didn''t move, and Milena sniffled happily. Only Liara seemed to not have much of a reaction, only looking happy and satisfied. It seemed like the time she took to rest had melted her ice mask away. She also seemed very, very worried about Milena, but one thing at a time.
"Well, then..." Glenn looked at everyone with a puzzled gaze, "...What are you all still doing here? Come on, get ready! The sooner we can leave, the better!"
Everyone stood up and headed for the door, Glenn remaining seated. Suddenly, as Milena was about to pass the threshold, he spoke.
"Not you, Milena."
Liara looked back worriedly, but Sahro nudged her forward, nodding in Glenn''s direction, who gave it back to him. Milena froze in her steps, looking at the ground, before turning back to go and sit on the sofa. Sahro closed the door behind Javier and Liara, leaving them the privacy they needed to talk. Glenn joined both of his hands together, looking at the beautiful fallen noble silently. Milena hugged herself, avoiding Glenn''s gaze.
"...Do you want to leave the team?" Glenn asked coldly. Milena flinched and looked up at him, her eyes tearing up. The young man steeled his heart and spoke again.
"Listen, Milena. What you saw and did back then..." He closed his eyes for a few seconds, before opening them back up, "...You''ll probably have to do it again. You''ll see worse things, fight worse stuff than humans, and will tear your way through horror and gore."
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
The young man grinned wickedly.
"For some reason, it seems like we pull in these kinds of stuff."
Milena shivered as she peered into the distance, remembering the slaughter of the Occult Wanderers'' forces. Glenn gritted his teeth.
"You saw me jumping in the Gate, right?" He asked dryly as he clenched his fists. Milena nodded slowly, her lips sealed.
"Did Sahro tell you what I''ve witnessed in there? In the Beyond?" Glenn spat, enraged. The lady gulped and shook her head.
"NNo."
Glenn drew a deep breath and forced himself to unclench his hands.
"Do you remember the kids we were supposed to save? Well, they were in the Beyond."
Milena''s eyes widened and she leaned forward slightly, gulping heavily.
"WWhat happened to them?"
Glenn stared into her eyes, remaining silent. He finally forced his lips open.
"...Do you really want to know?"
Milena stared back at him as understanding lit up in her eyes. The lady gasped and hid her mouth behind her hands, before crying silently. Glenn sighed and leaned forward, grabbing her by the shoulder.
"Listen, Milena. This was probably the first time you murdered someone or slaughtered so many people. I understand why you feel guilty," He said with a comprehensive tone until his face hardened once again.
"But you have to understand one thing; if you didn''t do the things you did, many more people would have died, and not the good kind of people. Sahro could have died, Javier too, what remained of the forces of the Church of Onnea, even me!"
Glenn clenched Milena''s shoulder harder, forcing her to look him in the eyes.
"And these bastards you killed? They didn''t deserve to live. They don''t deserve your guilt. So get over it, and ready yourself, because we''re certainly going to kick many more evil asses in the future."
Milena pressed her lips together, letting her tears flow down her cheeks. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment. When she opened them back up, Glenn could see she had steeled her resolve and was ready to continue this bloody adventure. He let her go and leaned back on his sofa, giving her some breathing space. A dozen minutes later, she wiped her tears off and looked up at Glenn with determination.
"You..." She smiled weakly, "...You suck at motivating people!"
Glenn looked at her for a few seconds, before laughing widely. She laughed with him, letting the tension drop and finally relaxing.
"I can''t believe it worked," Nelg commented in disbelief, "...She''s right, you fucking suck doing speeches!"
Diamanes laughed but didn''t add anything, satisfied with the visible annoyance on Glenn''s face. The young man''s eyelids trembled, but he sighed the comments away and concentrated back on Milena.
"Well, I do what I can, and it still looks like you got back on track, so it kind of works, right?"
Milena laughed, "...Right."
Glenn stretched, relieved.
"Phew, at least that''s good, you''re not leaving us yet," he paused, before joking, "...I still need you to show me your illusion magic and all that!"
The fallen noble chuckled, before shaking her head.
"Sure, we can do that after you''ve met with the Restoration Operator..." she trailed off. Glenn stopped and looked at her silently, remembering there indeed was this little something to take care of named Project Damocles.
"Fuck, I completely forgot about the notebook," Glenn admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. He grimaced, displeased with learning that he had to spend more time than he wanted to in this cursed town. Milena shook her head with a smile.
"Don''t worry, he should be staying here normally, so we can just hand the notebook to him and leave."
Glenn''s eyes widened slightly.
"The Restoration Operator is also a Fixer?" He asked curiously. Milena shook her head and rubbed the corners of her eyes, the irritated parts itching.
"No, but he''s a precious partner of the Cleaner''s Workshop, so he has access to the facilities..." She added, "...From what I understood. I don''t know him that well, but that''s how it should be, I think."
Glenn nodded slowly and pulled his Exan-Egg out of his dimensional pouch, looking at the time. It was 2 PM., explaining why they were eating pie. It was lunch, and Glenn had completely forgotten about it. More surprisingly, his stomach forgot too. Usually, that didn''t happen. Milena gasped in amazement and she pointed at the Exan-Egg.
"Is that a Mark I Exan Egg?" she asked, her eyes glittering with interest. Glenn held it toward her and nodded.
"Yep, got it in some kind of old, mysterious shop manned by a single old granny. Not a suspicious place at all, if you want my opinion."
Milena glanced up at him with raised eyebrows.
"Was that you trying to be sarcastic?"
Glenn chuckled, not replying. The lady took the Exan Egg from his hands and gave it a closer look, smiling softly.
"They aren''t produced anymore. I think the first ever model is exposed in the Historical Museum, back home..." She trailed off, her eyes losing themselves in the distance. Glenn noticed it and took the Exan-Egg away from her.
"There''s a Museum in the Court? That''s surprising..."
Milena''s nose creased as she glanced at him with a puzzled look.
"You know what a Museum is?"
Glenn shoved his Exan-egg back into his dimensional pouch.
"Yeah, that''s a place where you highlight important historical stuff for civilization or something, right? Like disappeared creatures'' bones and old pottery, right?" He replied without thinking, before freezing.
Oh, he wasn''t supposed to know that.
Milena looked at him strangely, before scoffing like he was an idiot.
"Old pottery? What are you talking about?"
Glenn secretly heaved out a breath of relief and waved his hand dismissively.
"Don''t bother, that''s how my hometown used to present old stuff. Anyway, should we go meet up with that Restoration Operator of yours?" He suggested as he suddenly stood up. Milena followed his movements, nodding hurriedly.
"Yes, sure! Let''s go see Loran, he''ll call him up!" She smiled, her heart much more at ease after her talk with him. Glenn was happy he could be of actual help this time. At least he had ripped the band-aid early, and she knew what to expect starting from now.
''I don''t worry too much about her, she''ll eventually become as insane as the rest of you,'' Diamanes commented dismissively, irritating his host.
''The world is insane, not us! It''s not my fault if the streets are plagued with weird-asses cults that all want to rip each other to pieces!''
Diamanes laughed, accepting Glenn''s defense. Milena and he quickly left his suite, heading for the main Hall and the sole receptionist manning it, Loran. He was wearing a large sweater with a red cross on the front, and white shorts with red crosses on each sleeve. He had traded his thick, steel glasses for some tinted ones.
"You''re going on a holiday, Loran?" Glenn joked, only to watch in surprise as Loran nodded deeply.
"Well observed, kid. I''ve waited a whole year to accumulate as many paid holidays as I could, just so I could leave for a hell of a long time and make my point with the higher-ups that we need more people here. Hah, I''d love to see their faces when they learn that I''m not here to do everything, these bastards..."
Glenn and Milena exchanged a glance until the woman stepped up to the counter and leaned over it.
"Loran, could you call sir Manalok Tuleam, please?" She asked with a gentle smile. Loran glanced up at her, grunting as he placed down the book he was reading and checked over some documents.
"...You have an appointment with him?"
Milena shook her head.
"No, but he should be expecting me nonetheless. It''s only to give him a document, anyway, so it shouldn''t take too long of his time."
Loran moistened his lips as he flipped through the documents, finally finding an old, dusty scroll. Glenn, in the meanwhile, was scratching the back of his head. Manalok, Manalok...he felt like he heard that name before already, but where? He asked Diamanes, but the entity only laughed, while Nelg only said that "he should train his memory instead of relying on the two of them".
Loran suddenly ripped the scroll open, getting back Glenn''s attention. A small portal appeared next to Loran''s bald head, glimmering with deep blue particles. An annoyed, grumpy voice came out of the portal.
"What? What the hell do you want Loran? I already told you that I''m not Rewinding your damned, filthy book EVER. So stop asking, damn it! By the Sage, is there a way to block your communication attempts or something?!?"
Loran coughed awkwardly.
"Hrm, no, you have customers, Fixers Glenn and Milena. Can you receive them?"
A silence made itself heard for a few seconds in the portal until the voice laughed mockingly.
"Of course not, I can''t receive them! Not now, now, anyway! I''m entirely naked! Tell them to wait for me in the Dining Hall or something, I didn''t eat today anyway. They''ll pay for the food, hehe!"
Loran glared at the portal, before turning toward Glenn and Milena, "You heard the man. He''ll be down there in a few minutes, so"
"Ten minutes!" Manalok Tuleam interrupted him, before shouting something else, "I need ten minutes, I have to Rewind a dog my book ate! No, that''s the other way around. Anyway, see you in a quarter!"
The portal suddenly closed off, leaving Loran, Glenn, and Milena speechless. Glenn turned toward Milena, surprised.
"He certainly sounds like a character, your Restoration Operator."
Milena shook her head dejectedly.
"I guess he does."
174. The Restoration Fuck—Operator
"Mhm! Darn, why does everything taste so much better when it''s free? Hey, can I get that piece of meat?"
"...Sure, help"
"Thanks! Oh man, I love that stuff!"
Glenn and Milena exchanged a gaze, one with confusion and the other with slight shame. They were sitting at a table in the Dining Hall, waiting awkwardly as their interlocutor was voraciously devouring half a dozen plates of different meals. Manalok Tuleam was a peculiar man, around his late thirties, and could probably be described as charming, if it weren''t for the dark circles, the badly kept beard, and the shaggy dark green hair. He was wearing a dirty white coat with soot covering it, over what should have been a white shirt once.
His wide-opened blue eyes were darting around, lighting up with happiness or disappointment as he dug into every plate in front of him. Glenn moistened his lips and turned slightly toward Milena.
"...Did he forget to eat for the last week, or...?" He whispered, almost in awe at how fast Tuleam was eating. Milena winced, and shook her head, similarly at a loss. Diamanes laughed inside his host''s mind, unable to contain himself.
''Do you remember how you were back when you woke up from your three-week sleep to create Nelg?'' The entity reminded him. Glenn groaned as he remembered devouring similar quantities of food after his forced three-week fast. Indeed, there were some similar points there. He couldn''t even criticize Manalok for he was the same when he was hungry. Well, at the very least, he cleaned himself regularly; the Restoration Operator didn''t seem so concerned with cleanliness.
Manalok grabbed a clay pitcher of water and gulped it down in one fell swoop, sighing as he finally leaned back. He patted his stomach and licked his fingers, grunting as he looked at the empty plates.
"Meh, acceptable. Next time, order twice that, at least you''ll be able to eat as well, heh!" The Operator cackled as he wiped his fingers on his coat.
"...I''ll do that, then," Glenn forced a smile, his eyelids trembling with annoyance. What was wrong with everyone in this world? Why are they all so fucking weird? That was a question for later, for Manalok seemed to finally take an interest in Glenn and Milena.
"So..." He pushed the plates to the side and leaned forward, bored, "...What kind of exclusive, very rare, and never seen before item do you have to show me?" He asked Milena, who shook her head slightly.
"I''m only here as the intermediary, Sir Glenn is the owner of the object."
Manalok grumbled and looked at Glenn, looking up and down at him.
"...Hmf, you look like a mercenary. A Fixer, maybe. High-rank? Huh, not that high. Only a True Initiate, not even a Magi..." He shook his head with disappointment and sighed, "...What can you even show me? You can barely survive against the lower rank stuff, I doubt you''d be able to have an adventure in dungeons or the like...Come on, what kind of shitty pottery did you find? Let me see."
Glenn drew a deep breath, closing his eyes as he forced himself not to swear at the annoying Operator. He sealed his lips tightly and pulled the worn, Project Damocles notebook out of his dimensional pouch, lifting it above the table. Manalok sneered and almost stole it from Glenn''s hand, the young man was quicker.
"Careful," He said coldly, "...The notebook is so old the pages are crumbling with the barest movements."
Manalok rolled his eyes and held his hand out.
"Suuure, whatever, just give it to me so we can be done with it."
Glenn reluctantly handed him the notebook, hoping he had made the right choice trusting Milena''s recommendation. In the end, he didn''t have a choice, for he couldn''t read the book without it being repaired to a minimum level.
Wasn''t there some Mend spell or something? That''d be great, even more in these situations. The young man knew his Soulbound suit was enchanted with Self-Repair and Self-Cleaning, so that should definitely be possible. He''ll have to look in the Magi Brotherhood''s archives for such a spell. That''d be the first thing he was going to do once he was back in the Northern Town. As he had these thoughts, Manalok frowned and held the book with both of his hands.
"Hmm...Indeed, it''s quite the old piece of shit..." He opened the notebook brutally, not even batting an eye when a few pages disappeared in a dust cloud. Glenn''s eyes widened and he began unsheathing Nelg, veins popping on his forehead one after the other. Milena hurriedly restrained him, pulling him back in his seat. Manalok squinted as he read the few pages not destroyed. His eyes widened, and he hurriedly pulled his own notebook from an inside pocket in his white coat, trying to compare the characters to something in his notebook.
Glenn slowly sat still, grabbing at the edge of his seat tensely. Whatever Manalok was doing, this lack of respect for his property was simply unacceptable. What if there were the secrets to godhood in that notebook, hmm? Would Manalok take responsibility, or just act as if it wasn''t his problem? The young man couldn''t wait to see what explanation the eccentric scientist was going to give him. Manalok Tuleam finally sighed and placed the book down on the table, shaking his head.
"This is surprising. Very surprising, even more considering it came from a mannerless, ugly, dumb ruffian..."
''Should I just kill him?'' Glenn thought as he forced a fake smile on his face, ready to punch that annoying face in. Manalok scratched his beard and frowned, before putting his hand above the book.
"Mhm...What should I go with..." He looked at the ceiling for a second, his nose creased, "...maybe...Electio tempus situs aetas."
Mana swirled around the book, lifting it above the table for a few centimeters before dropping it down. Manalok groaned and rubbed the corner of his eyes.
"Alright, fuck..." He looked up at Glenn with an annoyed gaze, "...Where did you even find a two-thousand-year-old book? This thing should be a little bit of dust in the wind by now, it''s a miracle it''s in this condition."
Glenn whistled, glancing at the notebook with a refreshed look. He expected it to be old, but not that old. Two thousand years old...How old was King''s Rise? He''d have to confirm that at some point...The young man shook his head and pointed at the notebook, his previous anger dissipated.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"I can''t tell you where I found it, but I''d love to know if you can restore it."
Manalok shrugged and picked the book up before shoving it carelessly into one of his pockets.
"Bah, if I couldn''t Rewind this thing, I wouldn''t be called the Restoration Operator. Now, let''s talk remuneration, yes?" His eyes gleamed with greed for gold, Glenn tensing up.
"How much do you want? Unless you take information trades?" The young man asked, his eyebrows creased. Manaok Tuleam cackled and leaned back in his seat before putting both of his feet on the table.
"Before, I would have said that there was no way a dumb-looking imbecile like you would have any information for me, but then you bring this book to me. Seems like everyone can be wrong, right?"
Glenn grinned coldly as he crossed his arms.
"It does seem like it. How much does your services cost, Sir Manalok?"
Tuleam grimaced and moved his hand dismissively, disgusted.
"Don''t call me that! It''s either Operator or Tuleam, but never this dumb-ass'' name," he grunted, before taking a look at his notebook. After a minute or so, he flashed a yellow grin at Glenn.
"Yep, from my calculation, that''ll be fifty gold for reparation and fifty more for translation. How''s that?"
Glenn''s face froze. He remained emotionless for a good minute until he gathered his thoughts back.
''Fifty gold? FIFTY GOLD?'' The young man wanted to scream. ''That''s half the fee to get to the Bourgeoisie!''
Nelg grunted in his host''s mind, "What do you even need money for? Your passage and Sahro''s are assured by the recommendation letter from the Gold Church, you can just ask Maron anytime for it."
Glenn calmed down and pressed both of his lips together. That''s true that money wasn''t that important to him, since he had now the support of the Maron''s Company. And he did have around seventy gold on hand, while the rest was on contribution points to the Cleaner''s Workshop and credit to the Maron''s Company. He could technically spend the money to fix the notebook.
But it bothered him to just pay this asshole that much.
''Ask him to prove he can translate the book,'' Diamanes suddenly suggested. Glenn rubbed his chin and nodded to himself. He opened his mouth and replied to Manalok.
"This is quite the sum"
"Is it?" The Restoration Operation asked mockingly as if that amount was beneath him. Glenn bit down on his lower lip and insisted.
"Fifty gold is a lot, so I''d like it if you could prove that you can translate a part of the notebook."
Manalok flinched slightly, but his grin only grew as he pulled the notebook back out and flipped open a random page with a few readable words. Glenn glanced them over, reading something about "the theoretical importance of the ratio between body and mind and Mana." The scientist pointed at the words and smiled.
"See these lines?" He looked at his notebook as if to confirm something, before turning back to Glenn confidently, "...This is the recipe for an elixir of healing, allowing to regrow even lost limbs!"
Glenn squinted, not saying anything as the Restoration Operator leaned toward him and Milena with a salesman smile.
"I heard your Black Heir friend lost an arm. That''s a happy coincidence, ain''t that right?" He cackled. Glenn looked at him, before laughing with him. The two laughed like a pair of idiots until Glenn suddenly stopped. Manalok stopped as well with a puzzled look. Glenn sank his hand in his dimensional pouch to pull a heavy satchel out. He threw it in front of him on the table, Manalok''s eyes lighting up as he looked at the satchel.
"Forty gold coins, then," Glenn suddenly stated before standing up and dusting his hands off. Manalok frowned and looked at him.
"What do you mean, forty? I asked for fifty for the Restoration, does that mean you don''t even want it to be translated? Anyway, I don''t take work under my pay grade"
Glenn slammed his hand on the table, grinning wickedly and startling Manalok, "And I didn''t think an organization as prestigious as the Seekers or the Magi Brotherhood would allow such open scams. Why would I even pay for your translation when you made it all up?" Glenn nudged Milena, who was watching tensely, before turning back toward Manalok.
"I''ve taken ten gold in payment for trying to scam me. That''s better than a hand, right?"
The Restoration Operator looked at him fixedly, then at the gold satchel, before suddenly grabbing it and hiding it somewhere in his coat. His expression suddenly changed and he rubbed both of his hands together.
"Of course, I can throw in a twenty percent reduction for your first time paying for my services, dear client!" Manalok looked at the notebook and his confident mask cracked slightly, "...Your commission should be done in two months, three maximum. I''ll send for you when it''s done, of course."
Glenn didn''t speak of the change in attitude, even though he did notice it. He smiled back and shook Manalok''s extended hand, sealing the deal.
"Excellent, then. I''ll come find you in two months, then."
Manalok smiled with an uneasy expression, "...Have a good day," He picked up the notebook and hit it, before whispering.
"...Fucking mage bastard..."
Glenn heard the insult, but he was pretty sure it was meant to be heard anyway. He shook his head and headed for the exit, Milena hurriedly following behind him. They left the Dining Hall, leaving Manalok to his own means. Milena looked back worriedly, before sighing.
"I...I''m sorry, Glenn, I didn''t think he was...like that."
Glenn chuckled and shook his head.
"Don''t worry, it''s no issue. As long as he gets the job done, I''m fine with a few antics."
''As long as he doesn''t insult you in your face, then?'' Diamanes mocked. Glenn ignored him and went to the Dormitory, where Sahro, Javier, and Liara should be waiting. Milena and he quickly arrived at the Platinum floor, entering Glenn''s suite. They found the three others waiting patiently. Sahro''s face lit up when he saw Glenn enter the room and hurriedly stood up.
"Are we finally leaving?"
Glenn grinned.
"Yep, we are!"
Javier remained as emotionless as ever, while Liara only gently smiled, happy with whatever. She seemed satisfied enough to just follow along for now, but Glenn would have to clarify what she wanted at some point. And figure out a way to communicate, too. Sign language? Did sign language even exist in this world? Questions, always more questions...
The team left the Dormitory, heading to the Main Hall so they could warn Loran of their departure. The bald receptionist was waiting in the lobby, looking around impatiently. He glanced at Glenn''s team with a distrusting look.
"What, you guys are already leaving? Didn''t you enjoy your stay at the Eastern Workshop?"
Glenn chuckled and shook his head.
"No, we did, but we do have more work back in the Northern Town," he lied shamelessly. Loran grunted and pinched his lips, before throwing a look at Sahro.
"...You do know you cannot leave, right, Sahro?"
The Black Heir flinched and looked at Loran with faked confusion.
"WWhat do you mean?"
Loran groaned and walked up to him, a vein appearing on his bald head.
"As mentioned in your special contract that I explained to you perfectly, you''re supposed to remain here for at least three more months to clean things up," He hissed through his teeth, before pointing at Glenn with his chin, "...You can''t even imagine the shit you left me in when you went to help your buddy the Devil''s Hand over there"
Sahro gritted his teeth, his fists clenched, until he relaxed and sighed.
"I know..." He muttered, before shaking his head, "...I thought I could get away with it like I did last time..."
Loran''s eyes bulged out as more veins appeared on his head.
"WhatYou thought you could get away with it? Who do you think you are, a Diamond legend? Fuck off and go to work, you lazy ass!" Loran exploded, waving his fist around threateningly. Sahro looked down pitifully, before glancing at Glenn and the rest of the team.
"Sorry, I guess I''ll join you guys once I''m done with this place."
Glenn laughed and shook his head.
"No problem, then. We''ll see you in three months, Sahro."
The Black Heir nodded dejectedly, "See you in three months."
Liara''s eyes went from Glenn to Sahro, unable to decide. The Black Swordsman noticed and chuckled.
"Go with the rest of the team, you''ll see way more things than you will with me."
The beautiful Black Heir looked at Sahro with shining eyes, before nodding hurriedly. Sahro smiled and turned back, sighing as he walked up to the Task board. Glenn moistened his lips and summoned the stone tablet the Magi Brotherhood gave him so long ago. A small light appeared to guide him to the nearest teleporting station. He left the Cleaner''s Workshop, sparing it one last glance before departing, the rest of the team following in his footsteps.
It was finally time to leave the Eastern Town.
175. Micro, Macro, and Grinding Preparations
"Next time, we''re walking, alright?" Milena said weakly as she wiped off her mouth.
Glenn shrugged, used to it. The team had just gone through the Magi Brotherhood''s teleportation device, reaching the Northern Town in a matter of minutes. Of course, that came with the annoying side effects of making everyone sick, besides Glenn and Javier. Glenn because he was used to it, and Javier because...because Javier never felt a thing. Liara was still evacuating everything her body ordered to, her lovely face colored with a sickly shade of green.
After they all caught their breath, the team headed to the Cleaner''s Workshop. They had to stop a few times on their way because Liara, the Black Heir lady curious about every shop and booth. After Glenn got her some food, they were finally free to proceed to their objective.
The Workshop was bustling with people, as usual. The difference between the Eastern branch and this one was shocking. Glenn still preferred the activity, compared to the unnatural silence he lived in for the last few days. The intervention in the Eastern Town barely took a few days, yet it felt like a month had passed. So many things happened in the span of so little time.
Glenn and the other instinctively headed for the Platinum floor, only to find that the access to the door was barred to them. Milena grunted, and so did Glenn. Liara didn''t seem to understand, and Javier didn''t care. Or maybe he did. There was no way to tell, with those dead, empty eyes of his.
They went down to the Dark-Gold rank floor, which opened after Glenn used his Identification dagger. He went to his attributed room, ushering everyone in.
"Make yourself at home guys, I''m pretty sure there should be enough guest rooms for everyone. Unless you''d rather go back to your rooms, Milena, Javier?"
Milena shook her head, "If I can enjoy luxury, I might as well do so." She smiled and turned toward the lady Black Heir, startling her, "...And I''ll be with Liara, so that''s great!"
Javier simply stared at Glenn, before turning away and leaving the room. The young man looked at the silent hunter''s back, before shrugging and turning away. The Pale Son will probably pop out of nowhere the second he needs him. What a reliable guy. Milena chuckled and pulled Liara with her, heading off to explore Glenn''s suite to choose a room, and, as he had asked them, "make themselves at home".
''Creepy, but reliable. The perfect balance,'' Diamanes remarked. Glenn sighed and stretched, before collapsing on a nearby sofa. He was done with almost all of his preparations to go to the Bourgeoisie. The Recommendation Letter from the Gold church would be his key, so no worries about paying the fee. He''ll just have to ask Maron for it at some point...
Redan had also been saved, so that was one less worry on his mind, even though he most certainly turned some big names against him. The Occult Wanderers and their sordid rituals, the Skinners (who should hopefully get exterminated by the Church of Onnea), and most important of all, the Mortelli noble family. He''ll have to ask Sir Reginald for some information on them. Or Milena. Yeah, he had almost forgotten Milena was a noble too. Not an official one, sure, but with all the knowledge of one.
He''ll have to be careful of any retaliation from Laurence if that guy is still alive. He wasn''t responsible for the insane Earthling''s kidnapping into the Beyond, but it never hurt to be prepared.
But what could he even prepare to face off a Newborn Sovereign, a Seventh-Circle? That was the peak of humanity''s power, from what he understood.
"...Let''s just hope that guy''s dead..." Glenn muttered, tired. He rubbed the corner of his eyes, before leaning forward and clasping his hands together.
Now that he was done with all urgent matters, he had a new issue he needed to deal with: weakness.
He was way too weak. Laurence, even though he managed to somehow hurt him with Shooting Star, thanks to the pebble that didn''t disintegrate when he shot it, somehow...Glenn frowned. Wait, a pebble...pebble...
The young man patted his chest pocket, his eyes widening when he found a small pebble, a little heavy for its look, with a faint, jade color. It felt the same to the touch as the pebble he used against Laurence.
"...Is it time to see what''s special about this not-sentient rock?" Glenn pondered aloud as he threw the pebble up and down. The Dark-Gold training room he had in his suite was great, but not meant to use powerful, destructive spells. It was mostly used to physically reinforce the body. And if he could, the young man would rather not destroy a whole chunk of his suite. No way would the Cleaners'' Workshop pay for the damages, after all.
''I''ll test it at the Magi Brotherhood HQ...I should still have access to the Testing Room, after all,'' Glenn thought, before putting the pebble back in his breast pocket. He then came back to his main concern: weakness.
The first, and most obvious solution, would be to get another Circle and become a Magi. Doing that would multiply his Mana reserves, make his spells more cost-efficient, and overall, just become stronger. The issue with that was that he still had no idea as to how Circle creation was working. Using his whole Mana reserves only made him suffer from Mana Exhaustion, which wasn''t pleasant. Each time he got a new Circle, it was almost...natural. No, the first Circle was just a machine doing it for him, so that doesn''t count. The Second Circle happened when he understood his Mana affinity, which had to do something with space and stars. Then, the third Circle came when he pushed himself to the brink of the edge, almost dying in the process, but breaking through the Wall. A Wall he was supposed to break only once he reached the Magi rank. Which was another problem, in and of itself, but whatever.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The process of Gather, Process, Amplify still worked, but it wasn''t enough to push to the brink the stable star rings created with the power of his Specialty, Astral Sorcery. His best bet would probably be to continue using as much Mana as he could, maybe even Overload in a safe environment (with Bob around, the healing, green massive creature thingy).
"Stop with Overload!" Nelg hissed, followed by Diamanes.
''Yeah, forget this shit! You''re just going to blow up if you use it again, so don''t even consider it!''
Glenn sighed disappointedly and stored the idea on a dusty shelf inside his brain. For now, let''s act as if that option didn''t exist. Then, what else could he do? Just...shoot spells one after the other, and hope for some kind of enlightenment?
''But that could take ages!'' Glenn despaired. He still had so many things on his plate, that he couldn''t just wait to get stronger!
"...What are you talking about? Of course, you can." Nelg suddenly stated, puzzled. Glenn''s eyebrows rose.
''Tell me, Nelg, am I supposed to just leave Callum, Giselle''s grandson, in the hands of the other vampiric bastard forever?''
The sentient sword cackled, mocking its user.
"Well, not ''forever'', but a few months should be fine. He didn''t seem to be treated so badly last time you saw him, besides being a little pale."
Glenn rubbed his chin, pondering. The kid''s life didn''t seem threatened, indeed, but he should still do his utmost to keep his oath with Giselle, right? She already cleared out the forces of the Thorn''s Church, taking out a big thorn in his foot, pun intended. He had to respect his part of the deal too!
''Well, technically, the Thorn''s Church still seems to have influence. Not in the Sewers anymore, because Giselle burned all of those cultists idiots to ashes, but you saw their influence in the Eastern Town, when you were attacked by that crowd. Perhaps they abandoned the Sewers and began growing seriously into the Fringe?'' Diamanes suggested. Glenn frowned, realizing he hadn''t considered this point of view. Indeed, he wasn''t entirely done with them. And as long as Epinos, the God of Pain and Redemption existed, there will always be some cultists gathering power to try and bring him to his twisted God. For what reason, that much wasn''t clear to Glenn, but he knew the Thorn''s Church wanted him, for some bizarre reason linked to Epinos.
Whatever. For now, he was in an area with a strong influence of the Cleaner''s Workshop. He could rely on them and Sir Reginald if needs came to be.
Nonetheless, that still didn''t solve the Circle level-up problem...
"Can I make a suggestion?" Nelg chimed in. Glenn moistened his lips and nodded slowly. He looked a little crazy talking and making all these faces by himself, but who cared? Not him, that was for sure.
''Let''s hear it, Nelg.'' He sighed, his chin leaning on his fist. His armored self appeared in his mind, his arms crossed.
"I think the best way to go from now, would be to grow the micro instead of the macro side of your power."
Glenn blinked. Micro, macro? What was he on? This wasn''t Starcraft, what was his sword talking about? Nelg sighed and explained himself.
"Let''s consider the Circles as macro power. You level them up, you get stronger overall. Only, Circles are very hard to harness and almost happen randomly. So, the only solution would be to grow your micro power."
Nelg took a deep breath before continuing.
"Your spell repertoire, for example, can be considered as micro-power. You create a new spell, which might be very useful in a specific situation. It''s not "macro" because it''s not making you stronger overall, but it can save you when you need it. Swordsmanship is also micro-power. And I am also a micro-power since you can grow me."
"Right now, you''re only focused on getting more levels and attributes, without taking the time of learning passive or actives. You get what I''m saying now?"
Glenn nodded, indeed understanding what Nelg meant. It was quite useful to have another mind thinking like him, particularly for communication.
Wait, wasn''t that just dissociative identity disorder? The young man shook the thought out of his head and considered Nelg''s words. Indeed, maybe he was taking things too fast without stabilizing his power. Creating more spells to grow his repertoire would certainly be useful, and give him more tools to fight in different situations.
What other "micro" skills should he learn, then?
Instantly, something came to mind. Each time he met with a stronger power these days, like Laurence, or Manalok Tuleam, the Restoration Operator, they all knew his Circle rank. Somehow, they could see it.
"I want to do that too..." Glenn muttered, rubbing the sides of his nose. Diamanes used to give him these kinds of data before, back when he was just introduced to this world, but now he completely stopped...
''Hey!'' Diamanes protested, ''I can''t just continue to hold your hand! Even though I AM a hand, haha...haha...'' The entity laughed alone, failing to pull Glenn and Nelg with him. The young man grunted and drew a deep breath. This had to be something common since so many people could do it. They could just see his strength...
Would it be something like...Mana sight? Does that even exist? Or would it be some other kind of sight? Maybe Milena would know...If not her, perhaps Redan? But the old man wasn''t going to wake up anytime soon if he understood Valentin''s words back then. The priest had been specifically assigned to Redan and would come with him to the Northern Town.
''I''ll have to pass by the Church at some point to ask him how long will it take for Redan to wake up...'' Glenn noted that thought for later.
Growing Nelg was also a very, very interesting option. It was simple, only requiring him to fight and kill stuff, and eventually, Nelg would have enough souls to create a new Circle. What benefits would that bring, neither Glenn nor Nelg was sure of them, but that was still something he could accomplish passively. As was training swordsmanship; the more he fought with a sword, the better he''d get. Practice makes perfect.
As for spell creation, he could just do it in parallel when he wants to take a break. He''ll have to look deeper into Mana''s sight too.
''There''s also the option of feeding me, be it new spells or Rifts,'' Diamanes reminded him. Glenn nodded deeply. Indeed, he could also do that, and he''ll instantly get more powerful. He had to get Milena''s powers, which was part of the current line of thought. But then, that left him with one question unanswered.
When should he go to the Bourgeoisie?
"When you''re invited to it," Nelg instantly stated. Glenn frowned and realized the sword might be right. Norstan Vendor did mention that the Royal Inquisition would send someone as long as he reached rank Four to invite him in the Bourgeoisie. And if that took too long, well...
That''s a problem for future Glenn. It didn''t matter anyway; Sahro was stuck in the Eastern Town for a few more months, which was also how long the Restoration Operator said it was going to take to fix the Project Damocles notebook. It was clear, then.
He needed to farm monsters for three months, for their souls and the fighting experience. That was going to be a long grind, but a bountiful one.
Everything goes back to the grind, in the end.
176. The Culling Begins
Glenn left his Dark-Gold suite, yawning loudly. Some passersby addressed him with a strange glance, but he gave them no care. Milena and Liara were still busy doing...whatever, and he wasn''t in the mood to wait forever.
"Let''s go see Reginald, then..." Glenn muttered, rubbing the corner of his eyes. The gentlemen-like Cleaner will probably be very happy to hear that Redan has been successfully rescued, and he can help him with his monster-grinding problem. Glenn did remember asking his "assistant", the squeaky guy what''s his name...?
"Kevin. He was named Kevin," Nelg recalled. Glenn groaned. Right, Kevin.
Where should he even ask for him? At the reception, or the private Dark-Gold room?
Let''s first try with the reception. The path to the private rooms was in the Main Hall anyway, so he could hit two birds with one stone doing that. On these wise thoughts, Glenn went to the Main Hall, still thinking back to everything he needed to do to power level as much as he could. Spells, swordsmanship, Nelg, Diamanes...There were so many things he had to think of and not forget.
''One thing at a time, Glenn. One thing at a time,'' Diamanes cackled as he calmed down his host''s passion.
Getting stronger, besides being necessary to survive, was also quite pleasant a pleasant experience. It wasn''t worth spending his whole life chasing after it, though. It was fun, the progress, the world-changing powers, but it was also a little scary. The main reason for his fear was when he saw Laurence, an Earthling at the peak of humanity, well, who was at the peak of humanity before becoming a monster. Apparently, from what he told him, he had lived for half a thousand years. And if there was one thing that Glenn didn''t want, it was to become so insane and so crazed for power he would resort to sacrifices and weird cultists shit.
''Drawing a line is great. Until you die,'' Diamanes warned mockingly. Nelg remained silent, pondering along his host.
''What''s the worst, then? Dying a man, or living as a monster?'' Glenn questioned Diamanes, who suddenly didn''t know what to say. The young man shook his head and arrived at the Main Hall. He directly went to the counter, ignoring the queues to speak with one of the creepy, beautiful receptionists.
"Hey, is Reginald around?" He asked with a faked smile, still feeling unease when speaking to the pretty but robotic creature. The receptionist smiled sadly and shook her head.
"I apologize, Sir Glenn. Sir Reginald won''t be back until next week, at the very least. I can call your assistant if you wish?"
Glenn moistened his lips and nodded.
"Sure, please call him in."
The receptionist bowed her head slightly and drew a scroll from a drawer under the counter. She placed her hand on the scroll, and a flash of white energy devoured it. She dusted her hands off and looked back at Glenn.
"Your assistant Kevin will be here shortly," she said with a polite smile. Glenn thanked her and turned back, choosing a random seat in the waiting room and crossing his arms. Hopefully, that mouse-faced guy will be as efficient as Reginald. He''d rather not waste time if he could. The first item on his agenda he needed to take care of was planning the monster grinding plan, something like Rift-clearing four or five times a day. It should be pretty fast, and he''ll be able to get as many souls as he wanted for Nelg.
''How many do you think you''re going to need to get to the First Circle, Nelg?'' Glenn questioned as he relaxed and leaned in his seat. Nelg groaned and estimated the number.
"...Shit, that''s some complicated maths...My Dark Sun, as I''ve chosen to call my Mana Heart, has a diameter of approximately ten meters. One soul means a growth of a centimeter, more or less. Hmm..."
Nelg kept on calculating, before gasping in shock. Glenn frowned, worried.
''What? How much is it?''
Nelg drew a deep breath and replied with a shaky voice, "...Three thousand and one hundred souls, as well as three weeks of digestion for the Circle to reach the necessary size."
Glenn blinked. Three thousand? Three THOUSAND?!? He suddenly stood up and grabbed at his hair, his eyes bulging out. Other Fixers waiting in the room looked at him like he was crazy, but no, he wasn''t crazy, Nelg was!
Shit, that was a lot. That meant three thousand kills, in the worst case. After all, some souls were worth more than others. Well, he was certainly going to need a lot of help from Reginald or...or Kevin. There was no way he would get this done quickly if he had to do it manually. The best way to go would probably be to rush from one Rift to another, and maybe try and cull the Scarecrows of the Fields. That could work if the bastards had a soul. He doubted that.
Working on a spell that killed monsters quickly without costing a lot of Mana would also be a good idea. Shooting Star did exactly that, coupled with the Pebble. Glenn''s eyelids twitched. When did the not-sentient-at-all pebble he did not create using Divine Blessing on a rock become the Pebble? Probably when he used it to wound Laurence. Damn, that was another thing on the list he had to take care of; study the weird case of the not-sentient pebble.
''...Just admit it at this point,'' Diamanes grumbled, provoking a categorical denial from his host.
''Nope! Pebblethe piece of stone/jade in my breast pocket is NOT alive, alright? I did NOT create a sentient life accidentally!''
Nelg suddenly laughed as realization dawned upon him.
"Are you so stressed about that because you don''t want to be a father?"
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Glenn''s eyes widened and he plopped back on his seat, trying to contain himself and avoid any more strange glares from the other Fixers. He already has a weird reputation, he should probably try to not make it worse.
''Yes, I mean nohow is a pebble my child, anyway?'' Glenn bit down on his lower lip and patted his breast pocket, finding Pebble at the same spot it usually was. Somehow, Pebble''s behavior reminded him of Javier; silent, but efficient and always here when we needed him. Glenn discarded the thoughts, hiding his worries about ethics and whatnot deeply, and resolved himself to take care of this issue later.
Just in time, Kevin suddenly appeared in the waiting room, heaving frantically as he pushed his glasses up his nose. His notepad under his right arm, he hurriedly looked through the room, his eyes lighting up with both relief and worry when he found Glenn. He walked up to him, already opening his notepad to the first page.
"Hello, sir Glenn. SincesirReginaldisn''there, I''llbetakingcareofyou, sodon''thesitatetoaskmequestions! I''vealreadypreparedwhatyouaskedofmelasttime" spoke Kevin at full speed, until Glenn lifted his hand and stopped him, his eyebrows creased.
"Kevin, I appreciate your passion and desire to work with me, but, please, speak slower. I couldn''t understand a single thing," he asked slowly, trying to calm the frantic assistant. Kevin froze and drew a deep breath, before looking down at the ground. After a few seconds, he regained his composure and looked back up at Glenn, pushing his glasses back on his nose. His squeaky eyes, who were darting on his notepad since earlier had finally calmed down as well.
"I apologize, Sir Glenn" Kevin quickly apologized, but Glenn patted him on the shoulder and stopped him again.
"Hey, it''s fine. Just repeat to me what you were saying, but slower this time, please," He asked with a reassuring tone. Kevin nodded slowly and drew another deep breath before looking down at his notepad.
"As I was saying earlier, Sir Reginald isn''t here for the foreseeable future, and so, I''ll be handling most if not all of your dealings with the Cleaner''s Workshop, including any reports. Also, last time we spoke, you asked me to prepare a list of monsters to kill and Rifts to take care of, so that''s exactly what I''ve been doing these past few days..." Kevin breathed out, a weight off his heart. Glenn mentally congratulated the assistant, impressed with his efficiency. At least he''ll be able to go to work quickly. Now, what was that about reports...?
"Excellent, but what do you mean about "reports"?" Glenn asked, confused. Kevin pushed his glasses up his nose, the pair continually slipping down despite how many times he adjusted it.
"The higher-ups have heard from Cleaner Loran that you had some dealings in the Eastern Town. They need a detailed report to plan accordingly, if needed, your protection, or possible reinforcements for the Eastern Town."
Glenn''s ears perked up. Reinforcements for the Eastern Town? He could help with that? The young man''s eyes lit up.
"Alright, let''s just go to a more discreet place, Kevin," Without giving his assistant any time to reply, he pulled him toward the Dark-Gold secret meeting area. There were many places to talk privately there. As they walked, Glenn grinned widely, almost wickedly. It would probably be fine to exaggerate things slightly, right? Assuring some support for Sahro and Loran, who were struggling all alone over there, was the least he could do.
Kevin winced as he finally let go of his pen, his fingers in pain. Glenn drank out of a crystal glass some fine wine, finding it not to his taste. Now that he knew he could have coke, he wanted that again. He looked left and right before pulling his mini-fridge out of his dimensional pouch. Kevin was too busy massaging his hands from writing so much to care about the strange item on the table.
"Did you get everything, Kevin?" Glenn asked as he shoved the bottle of wine in the mini-fridge. Kevin nodded weakly, before picking up his notepad and flipping it back to the beginning. Then, he began to read everything over, to make sure he hadn''t made any mistakes. Glenn infused some Mana into the mini-fridge, waiting for the reaction to happen. Once the process was done, Glenn opened the door and pulled an iced wine bottle filled with all but wine.
The young man chuckled in excitement as he poured himself a drink, sneakily pouring one for Kevin too. The divine taste of Coca-Cola had to be shared with the world! He closed his eyes and drank from the glass, almost spitting it out when the taste was nothing like Coca-Cola. No, instead it was...iced tea? He could make iced tea from wine. Wait, no, did that mean he had multiple recipes possible with the mini-fridge?
"Shit, I''m falling even more in love with this thing..." Glenn muttered in awe. Kevin looked up puzzledly.
"Did you say something, Sir?"
Glenn dismissed him with a wave of his hand, pushing the mini-fridge back into his dimensional pouch. That was probably the most precious item he owned, besides the dimensional pouch itself. And the Exan-Egg.
"Hey, if you had to choose, which one would you part with?" Nelg asked curiously. Glenn rubbed his chin, seriously considering the question. He was tempted to say the dimensional pouch, but he knew it was the most useful item among the three. The mini-fridge was a great help for his issues of being homesick, while the Exan-Egg was a watch, with more personal implications than anything...
''I''d part with the fridge, even though it''d make me extremely sad. I can''t afford to give up the dimensional pouch, after all,'' Glenn replied after a moment. Nelg laughed while Diamanes grunted with surprise.
''Why not the Exan-Egg? I can understand the dimensional pouch, but the mini-fridge seems to help much more than the Exan-Egg!''
Glenn pulled said item out of his pouch, looking at the arrows ticking with each passing second. After a whole minute, he shook his head and drew it back, refusing to answer. Diamanes sighed and sank into Glenn''s memories, searching for the answer by himself. Nelg was sharing silent understanding, for Glenn was him, and he was Glenn.
"Okay, I''m done..." Kevin sighed as he closed his notepad and stored it in one of his pockets, taking another one out. Glenn blinked at that but thought nothing of it. Having a notepad was rare, but too of them was even rarer. But then, Kevin was an assistant, so it was kind of his job to have notepads filled with information.
"If you''d like, we can begin your Culling, Sir Glenn," The assistant stated as he pushed his glasses up his nose. Glenn tilted his head to the side.
"My "Culling"? What''s that?"
Kevin gasped and rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh, of course. It''s a technical term we use when Fixers or Cleaners go on a grand Cleaning of the city, getting rid of as many monsters and Rifts as possible. It happens more often than you might think, hence the need to class this type of event with a precise word."
Glenn grunted in acknowledgment. He pushed himself up and finished his drink, inviting Kevin to do the same. The assistant flinched and hurriedly gulped down the iced tea, frowning when the taste wasn''t what he expected.
"What''s this sweet...Sir, did you do something to my drink?" Kevin asked with doubt. Glenn stretched and picked up the not-wine bottle, drinking more iced tea out of it. That felt good.
"Let''s get going, Kevin. Wewell, I have a ton of monsters to kill!" He exclaimed, ignoring the assistant''s previous question. Kevin looked at his glass for a few seconds, before sighing and shaking his head. He flipped his notepad open and read its contents.
"Of course, Sir. The first target on the list is a Flesh Hive that developed in a butcher''s trash heap, controlling at least three Flesh Corpses. The butcher who commissioned us said there might be more, but he couldn''t verify himself..." Kevin kept on explaining the situation as they left the Cleaner''s Workshop, heading for Butcher''s Street.
Glenn grinned, a warm feeling in his chest as he walked.
Was that how it felt to have a job suited to his passions?
177. An Old Companion
Glenn wiped the blood off his bastard sword, grimacing. There were five corpses in front of him, three cows and two goats. The largest dead cow of the bunch was riddled with tiny holes in a comb pattern, each filled with wriggling parasites. Glenn killed the cow, but not the monster controlling and living inside it. He had been forced to cut the cow legs, for it would only try to charge him, forcing him to use Gravity Manipulation more than once, even though he had tried not to use magic if possible.
Kevin pushed his glasses up, confused.
"TThis Corpse Hive is still a threat, Sir Glenn. You should execute it swiftly," He stated, worried. The squeaky assistant was keeping a reasonable distance from the corpses, apparently not comfortable being around them. Glenn shrugged and crouched in front of the infested cow.
''That''s an interesting organism,'' Diamanes commented. Glenn could only agree. Corpse Hives were strange parasites, living off corpses and controlling them to feed their growth. The young man shook his head and held his right hand toward the Corpse Hive, using Sun''s Touch to ignite the body. The cow corpse went up in flame, and the wriggling parasites burned alive with a hiss. Glenn then used Gravity Manipulation to pull the other corpses near the burning one, so they could get incinerated together.
Glenn sheathed his sword and dusted his hands off, before turning toward Kevin.
"Tell me, Kevin, what even are those things? I know you ran me through the basics on the way here, but it wasn''t very detailed, you know...?"
Kevin nodded and pulled up his notepad, flipping the pages up.
"Of course. Corpses Hives are relatively common parasites, who''d leech off abandoned corpses to grow. They''ll first find a main host, generally, the larger and stronger corpse possible, before infecting the other corpses around. The main Hive produces the parasites while feeding on the host''s flesh. Once the latter isn''t enough, it infects more corpses, controlling them to bring it food. The older the Hive, the more corpses it can control. They can be hard to handle, for the Hive can try and relocate itself to a living host when it finds itself in mortal danger, and only mages can safely take care of them without risking an infection..."
Kevin frowned and looked at Glenn, "...Even though you barely used any magic in the fight and went at it only with your sword. A...dangerous strategy against such opponents, but as long as it ends well..."
Glenn chuckled and waved at the assistant dismissively; "Don''t worry about me, I know what I''m doing. I needed to train my swordsmanship, anyway, and what better opponent than one whose hit I can''t allow?"
Nelg laughed, "...Haha, that Corpse Hive thing came with the equivalent of five souls! And it was pretty easy to kill, too. You should try to get rid of most of them, maybe it''ll speed the leveling up process."
The young man noted his sword''s suggestion in a corner of his head. After all, this "Culling" he had started, as Kevin liked to call it, had for the main objective the creation of Nelg''s First Circle, which needed...oh god...Three thousand and one hundred souls, minus five. If he could concentrate on creatures giving out more souls, perhaps he could indeed make things go a little more efficiently.
Kevin moistened his lips before pushing his glasses back up his nose, "...Would you like to know the next target, Sir Glenn?"
Glenn nodded slowly, before frowning. He turned toward his assistant, curious.
"I didn''t realize before, but you keep on calling me "Sir". Why?"
Kevin''s eyebrows creased in confusion, "...Because you''re a Sir? Sir Glenn, the Devil''s Hand, who drove off the Thorn''s Cult with the Black Swordsman and the Red Witch, who stopped an evil god''s advent in Palancar, and who saved Monsier Maron of the Maron Company. Your station deserves a fitting title, Sir Glenn."
The young man''s eyelids flinched, and he mentally cursed at himself. He was starting to understand where all of his pseudonyms and his reputation came from; either Montana, the bard who could clone himself, or Maron, the merchant who was now half-made of Blumar. Why did he think it was a good idea to let them sing his praises like that?
"As if you don''t like the attention," Nelg mocked, cackling. Glenn smacked his lips, unable to contain a small grin. Yes, he kind of liked the fame, and what was wrong with that? He deserved it, as far as we were concerned! What he didn''t like as much, were the dumb, cringeworthy nicknames. How did people even come up with those?
''I can guess where Devil''s Hand came from, heh,'' Diamanes laughed wickedly. His host sighed and shook his head, concentrating back on his assistant.
"Listen, Kevin, I understand where you''re coming from, but I''d rather not be called a Sir."
Kevin replied without losing momentum, "...Would you prefer Master, then? Magi? Fixer? Or one of your nicknames, like the Insane Hero?"
Glenn closed his eyes in shame and hurriedly waved both of his hands to stop him. Yeah, these nicknames were too much.
"JJust...call me Fixer. Yeah, Fixer works alright."
Kevin bowed slightly, his notepad pressed against his chest.
"As you wish, Fixer Glenn."
Glenn sighed and looked at his assistant''s notepad.
"So, what''s the next target, Kevin?"
The assistant stood straight back up and looked at his notepad, readjusting his glasses'' position.
"A Gold-Rank Fixer by the name of Josh went insane after losing his team some time ago. He tried to combine an ancient summoning ritual with the Pale Plague curse, and ended up succeeding."
Glenn frowned. Josh? Didn''t he know a Pale Son named Josh, who also lost his team? Javier''s colleague, who was on Gentle Knight''s team, ended up decimated in Palancar''s events. The young man rubbed the corner of his eyes before squinting suspiciously at Kevin.
"...Is there a reason I''m the one sent to deal with him?"
Kevin silently pushed his glasses upward, not replying. Glenn sighed. Of course, there was a reason. He was probably the most powerful individual around, and the one closest to Josh knew that the guy''s team was gone. He didn''t know Josh that well, but he did go through thick and thin with him. Hopefully, there''d be a way to save him...
The assistant shook his head as if he read open Glenn''s face like a book.
"He became a powerful Corrupted, he can''t be helped. Power isn''t fair toward anyone who fails to control it."
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
Glenn blinked for a few seconds, before chuckling dejectedly. So that was what a Corrupted was; a man who lost his mind, who once possessed enough power to be treated as a living weapon by larger factions. There indeed was a side effect to learning magic and aura, then. Going mad and becoming a monster, like Laurence, like Josh, and maybe like many others in this accursed world. As if power wasn''t already hard to seize, to begin with, there was also the risk of getting insane to be considered.
Nothing was ever simple in this world, was it? And now, he had to kill someone he knew, someone he fought alongside with?
What had he done to deserve that?
"...Guide the way, Kevin. Anything I should know?"
Kevin began guiding the way, speaking as he walked.
"Josh was a proficient archer, as most of his people are. I believe that''s thanks, or maybe because of the Pale Plague, which heightened infected individuals'' senses. This is a theory that has yet to be proven, for there are not many researchers brave enough to risk catching the Pale Plague."
Kevin flipped another page, his eyes flickering left and right as he read.
"The ritual Josh performed distorted the Mana, creating Rifts without stopping. We already sent three teams of Gold Fixers, but they were all killed by arrows piercing their brains."
The assistant frowned and looked up at Glenn, "...Are you going to be fine, SFixer Glenn," He quickly corrected himself. Glenn looked at him, then at the road.
"...Yes, probably."
The truth, is he wasn''t feeling fine at all about that, but what else could he do but put down the rabid dog? There was no treatment for insane people in this world, for how could you control a crazy man if the latter could rip through steel with his hands, or shoot wall-piercing arrows? There was no restraining him, only the final choice.
''It''s for the best. Steel yourself, for a Corrupted, isn''t a nice sight to witness,'' Diamanes warned, with an unconventionally serious tone. Glenn pressed his lips together and didn''t reply to the entity.
"Is the crisis contained for now?" He asked, turning toward his assistant. His pace increased slightly, at the same speed his worry did. Kevin nodded.
"Yes, the Magi Brotherhood placed a restriction ward to forbid people from entering or exiting the area of Josh''s influence. Nonetheless, the longer a Corrupted is left to fester, the worse it becomes and the harder it is to take care of it. I''d urge you to take care of it as soon as possible, Fixer Glenn."
The young man gritted his teeth and glared at Kevin, "Why didn''t you tell me about Josh right away, then? The bloody Corpse Hive wasn''t an urgent problem, in comparison. What game are you playing, assistant?"
Kevin froze and gulped, unable to look away from Glenn''s eyes. The assistant forcefully opened his mouth, his notepad slipping down from his hands.
"II have received strict instructions"
Glenn sneered and turned around. Strict instructions? So that''s how the Workshop wanted to play it? Testing him on the field, to see if he was stable or something? To see if he was skilled enough, perhaps?
No problem, then. He''ll show them stability and skills. He wanted to rest peacefully, to farm souls without much worry, but it seems like fate really liked to fuck with him, didn''t it? This world did enjoy seeing him struggle, seeing him in pain in front of decisions such as this one.
"Just get me to Josh so I can be done with this," Glenn spat dryly. Kevin hurriedly picked his notepad up before almost running through the Northern Town. The young man followed behind him, his teeth and fists tightly clenched.
"...And here I was, thinking this was going to be a good day," Nelg sighed, disappointed. Diamanes remained silent, without any comment to add.
A few minutes later, Glenn arrived on Rampart Street, which led to an area next to the Wall. A few mages were chanting with their hands pressed against the ground, some changing spots with others who were waiting for their turns. There was no visible interference, but Glenn could feel the ward blocking the way to the following area. He was pretty sure the area warded off was a large park named Dale Square. There was going to be a lot of open space, and not a lot of cover, which worked in advantage for both Glenn and Josh. The young man rubbed his forehead, resigned. He turned to Kevin, who was gasping heavily from running so quickly.
"Kevin, go get Javier, Milena, and..." Glenn paused, frowning. Inviting Liara to the fray was probably not a good idea. He had no idea of what she could or could not do, even though he could guess that she was more powerful than she let on. She was a Black Heir after all, with a special white mark on her forehead, a cross.
"...and that will be all. Hurry up, I''ll try to see what I can do alone," Glenn decided, pushing Kevin in the opposite direction. The assistant heaved with difficulty, before running back the way he came from, leaving to obey Glenn''s orders. The young man turned back and looked at the ward and the mages maintaining it.
"...Shit, do I really have to do this?" Glenn muttered, his expression grim. He looked at his hands and realized they were trembling. He wasn''t scared so much as he was reluctant. He felt like he was betraying something, someone. One of the mages on standby approached me.
"The entry point is ready, Fixer. Good luck," The mage held his hand toward Glenn, who shook it without thinking much of it. The mage seemed compassionate to his sentiments, but Glenn couldn''t care less. He was going to have to put down someone who was once his colleague, and no matter how many times he repeated himself that there was no other way, it still left a taste of ash in his mouth.
Glenn shook his head and walked up to the ward, passing through without any struggle. His surroundings suddenly changed, far from the normal city that he had seen on his way here. As soon as passed the boundary of the ward, the illusion was broken, and the destruction was revealed. The ground was opened in multiple places, red lava pouring out slowly from the Rifts. The reality was distorted around them, monsters coming out one after the other from them. Snakes and lizards burning with deep red flames, all of different sizes, the smaller being dog-sized and the larger car-sized.
There were corpses right beside the entry, their flesh burned away and their bones charred black. Glenn would have almost believed the setup, if it wasn''t for the arrow tips lost here and there, hints that something else than fire killed these Gold Fixers. But Glenn didn''t even need those hints; he already knew whono, what killed them.
Because what Josh currently was couldn''t be categorized as a human anymore.
Glenn looked up from the corpses at Dale Square. There were no trees, no houses, nothing left. The whole area had been burned down to ashes. And right in the center of this plain of ashes and fire, sitting with loneliness was a pale figure.
''...This is giving me Palancar vibes, what''s with all the ashes and all that?'' Diamanes asked, puzzled. Nelg didn''t comment, having the same feeling as the other entity. Glenn slowly walked past the corpses, his Mana firing up to protect him in a Gravitational Shield. Parts of the ground around him were suddenly ripped out, and pulled in around him to gravitate, giving him a layer of physical protection, like an asteroid belt. If any projectiles, spells, or anything would come his way, he''d be able to pull it in his Gravitational Shield. Unless that projectile had incredibly powerful piercing powers. In that case, he could just shoot another spell to block it, like Carbon Blade or Blackhole. Even Implosion could work.
Glenn unsheathed Nelg, injecting Mana into it to awaken it. The sword took on its slender form, ready to Cut & Pull. The snake and lizard monsters cowered back from him, letting him pass to reach Josh. Soon enough, the young man was standing in front of his old colleague.
Josh was pale, even paler than before. A small, mocking grin was hanging on his lips, and his bow was placed right to his side, the bowstring broken. His hands were hidden sight, as was his upper face behind a bone mask.
"Glenn," He saluted with a ragged, cavernous voice. A voice that reminded Glenn of a singular creature he had met a long time ago: Father Albenas.
"...Josh," Glenn saluted back coldly, his voice dry and his hand tightly wrapped around the hilt of his sword.
The Pale Son slowly looked up at his new opponent, his mocking grin melting away. The smile turned side, transforming into a sad one.
"...So you''ve also come to kill me, then. You''ve also become one of them, huh?" His voice went up in the high notes at the end. Glenn frowned and shook his head, ready to attack or defend at any signs. If he could talk to Josh, he would. Perhaps they were all wrong; perhaps there was a way to save him from this state
"DON''T LOOK AWAY FROM ME!" Josh suddenly shouted, standing up violently as his bow flew to his hand. Glenn looked at the Pale Son, his eyes widening when he realized why the latter had hidden his hands since earlier.
Instead of the common number of five, fleshy fingers, Josh now had twenty of them for each hand, all devoid of flesh, muscles, or anything but bone, and the mask...wasn''t a mask. It was Josh''s face, similarly skinned. The man''s chest bulged as if something was trying to come out of it. Glenn felt a shiver down his back, and he understood what they all meant when they said a Corrupted couldn''t be helped.
There was nothing left of Josh to save in this thing.
He was a monster waiting to be ended.
Nothing else.
178. A Creature of Mediocrity
Glenn clenched his sword tightly, his teeth gritted.
"...What happened to you, Josh?"
The Corrupted looked at him confusedly. Somehow, he still had eyes, even though they rolled and jerked in random directions occasionally.
"What happened to me? You''re asking..." An arrow of ash and darkness appeared in his right hand, "...what happened to ME?"
Josh laughed madly, unable to stop himself. He hid his face behind his monstrous hand, the ten-bone fingers failing at covering the bare skull.
"Well, to ME, nothing happened, Glenn," he cackled, before pointing a finger at him, "...My whole team, though? Those I shared joys, pains, everything with?"
He suddenly stopped laughing and slowly placed the arrow on his bow, looking at it pensively.
"All dead. They all died, Glenn. Every one of them. And, to speak truthfully..." He glanced up at Glenn and grinned ominously, "...I think some part of me died that day too."
Glenn, tense, prepared himself. He didn''t doubt that the mad Corrupted was going to attack him. Josh had entirely lost his mind. He wasn''t Josh, anymore, he was...
Someone, no, something else.
Josh coughed as his chest bulged, but he didn''t seem to care about it. He slowly stepped toward Glenn, whose Mana was firing up like crazy.
"But, you know, Glenn. This would have never happened, had this horrible Mother never existed!" He spat hatefully, his eyes rolling back in their sockets. Glenn held his sword straight, not leaving him out of sight. Josh''s twenty fingers were busy clasping the dark arrow and the stringless bow.
"Even now, She''s here..." he whispered as he glanced above him fearfully. Glenn frowned and was almost tempted to look above, but the main threat was Josh, not an illusion only the latter could see. He didn''t exactly know what happened to Corrupted Ones, and this experience convinced him that he needed to research the subject deeper.
"She''s been watching ever since, you know?" Josh shouted desperately, pointing at the sky with his arrow. Glenn pressed his lips together while preparing to cast a Nitrogen Lance. He wasn''t enjoying this experience at all. Should he stop listening to this monster, or... keep trying to find some hint of Josh''s humanity?
Glenn knew what the answer was, but he couldn''t resolve himself to act upon it.
"Ever since they died, Glenn, She''s been here. Every time I slept She''d live in my dreams, suffocating me with fake hopes and tainted choices!" Josh roared, his chest bulging with increasing violence. The Corrupted''s head snapped in his direction, before shaking it.
"And I know..." Josh pulled the nonexistent bowstring on his weapon, readying an arrow, "...I know you''ve been seeing her too, Glenn. After all..." The Corrupted suddenly aimed for Glenn and let go of the arrow. The projectile flew through the air before getting caught in Glenn''s Gravitational Shield, which was dismissed after blocking the attack, the Mana maintaining it consumed in one shot. Glenn''s eyes widened and he hurriedly cast another Gravitational Shield, considering the need for other defensive options.
Josh grinned and pulled another arrow of ash and shadows out of nowhere, readying it for another shot.
"After all, don''t they call you the Devil''s Hand? The Insane Hero? The man who slaughters madness with madness? You''ve taken the whole meaning of fighting fire with fire to another level!" Josh cackled and let the invisible bowstring go. The arrow flew with more this time, and Glenn was forced to step to the side, let the arrow enter his Gravitational Shield, and then hurriedly let it go in another direction. The arrow went and pierced one of the nearby fire-lizard monsters, killing it directly.
''...You do need to train this if you want to use it to counter. Deflective Gravitational Shield might be a better name, but it''s too long...D.G.S? I love acronyms,'' Diamanes suddenly commented, trying to lift the weight on his host''s shoulder. In other situations, Glenn might have appreciated the effort, but not this time. This wasn''t some unknown, nameless bastard he was fighting. This was a comrade, almost a friend, but also not.
Glenn chose to stop listening to Josh''s nonsense and start fighting back. He steadied himself and clenched his teeth before shooting the Nitrogen Lance at Josh. The Corrupted''s eyes would have probably widened, had he any eyelids left. Too bad, he only had a skull and misshaped bones, now.
"...I knew it. I KNEW I WAS RIGHT!" A voice shouted from another side of the battlefield, startling Glenn. He hurriedly turned away to see Josh bent in two, laughing his ass off. As if following the rhythms of his laughs, the sources of the bulge in Josh''s chest started to get excited and moved even more frantically. The young man gritted his teeth and pushed forward toward his opponent, his legs charged with Mana to try and go faster.
Using Mana as a body enhancement was, to say the least, inefficient. Aura had always been much more suited for body strengthening, either to make it harder to cut, stronger to punch, or simply faster. And yet, Glenn still enhanced his legs with Mana, losing in efficiency for the sole advantage of a standard boost of his speed. As he ran, he sliced in Josh''s direction a few times, Cutting & Pulling with as much precision as he could.
"Oh, a new weapon also? Where is your...flamboyant axe, Glenn? Did you lose your toy, like I lost my friends?!?" Josh spat, shooting arrow after arrow, all while jumping and dodging Glenn''s attacks. The young man didn''t reply and suddenly pressed his left hand on the ground, conjuring a Nitrogen Wave to cover it whole in white ice. Josh roared in anger and kept on shooting, only his hands were moving so fast even Glenn couldn''t detect every shot.
He deflected two with his Gravitational Shield, or whatever Diamanes had named the spell until the third arrow broke the shield. Lacking in time to cast a new one, Glenn blocked the fourth arrow with his bastard sword, and in a lack of other solutions, dodged to the side the last one. The arrow was faster than expected and grazed him on the shoulder, carving an ashy line in his Soulbound suit. It barely scratched him, and yet, Glenn felt immensely uncomfortable. He wasn''t in pain, but it was as if something had latched on his shoulder and wouldn''t let go, slowing his movements and disturbing his concentration.
Josh didn''t waste another second and shot another salvo, before landing on the ground next to one of the lava rifts, the only spots where his Nitrogen Wave had next to no effects. There probably was some Mana in those Rifts that stopped the spell, in addition to the heat.
"Let me just kill you, Glenn...So you can also join my dead friends in their peaceful rests, in Onnea''s embrace!" The Corrupted laughed loudly, shooting arrows one after the other. Glenn continued to clench his teeth and deflect or dodge the attacks to the best of his ability, but he had grown used to fighting with other people, and having the opponent''s entire focus on him made the task harder, even more for long-range opponents like Josh.
"Having Sahro to run around as a distraction would have been greatly appreciated," Nelg suddenly said. Glenn could only agree with his sword as he took out Pebble and began preparing a Shooting Star.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"Pebble..." Glenn muttered, speaking to the stone with baseless hopes,"...I count on you this time."
If the stone had sentience, it was time to prove that it was better than just an indestructible projectile. Which was already great as a first attribute, when he thought back to it. Maybe it wasn''t unbreakable, but very, very touch? He couldn''t tell without doing tests, which would have to wait for after this hellish fight.
''Focus.''
The pebble floated above his open hand, flaming up with Sun''s Touch and spinning under Gravity Manipulation''s influence. The pebble soon became searing red, then white, before flying off in a streak of light. A bright line was drawn in the air as the projectile shot in Josh''s direction. The Corrupted barely had the time to try and dodge when the Shooting Star obliterated his right shoulder, transforming it into ash. Flames covered Josh entirely, burning off what remained of his clothes and skin. The whole melted away, revealing a skeleton screaming in pain with non-existing vocal cords, alongside a bulging shadow encroaching on its chest.
The shadow writhed in the flames as the pebble fell and rolled away, having completed his purpose. But Glenn still wasn''t done. He lunged forward, using Nelg once more to attack Josh. This time, the Corrupted was too busy fighting off the flames to dodge the attacks and was promptly pulled in Glenn''s direction, his bones crackling as the attacks tried to slice through it and failed. Glenn didn''t let that get to him and discarded Nelg, putting both of his hands in front of him as the flaming Josh flew toward him.
"I hope you''ll be luckier in your next life..." Glenn muttered, before straining his Mana Heart to produce two Black Holes at the same time. His Mana reserve suddenly bottomed out in a matter of seconds, but it was just enough to power the spell. The two black holes gravitated around each other before colliding with Josh. The Corrupted''s scream of pain was muffled by the distortion created by the black holes, and his body was suddenly stretched due to the differential gravitational forces. His limbs were torn away before being smashed into the skeleton, the shadow growing on what was once a chest swallowed by the black holes.
Josh somehow managed to hold his hand toward Glenn through the strength of the two black holes and muttered something. The sound of his words was cut off, but Glenn had somehow managed to understand what the Corrupted had just said.
"Monster."
That was Josh''s last word until the last bit of his body was swallowed by the blackhole combination. Lacking the Mana to sustain themselves, the blackholes fused and disappeared, leaving nothing behind but nightmarish memories for their caster. Glenn fell back, drained, his butt hitting the ground.
"...Should I have gone all in like I just did?" He muttered questioningly, doubting his decision. The fight had taken what, a minute? The only reason it was so short was mainly due to his luck. It seemed like, for some reason, Josh was particularly weak to fire, probably due to the influence of that shadow that grew on his chest like a parasite. Using Shooting Star had been especially effective. Then, using Nelg to Cut & Pull and control Josh''s trajectory had been a risky bet as well, for if he failed his next spells, he would have the Corrupted right in close combat, and there was no way to tell if the transformation had made Josh stronger than he was.
Glenn rubbed his shoulder where the arrow grazed him. It was itching him badly and felt quite uncomfortable; for now, he wouldn''t be able to heal it due to his Mana deficiency, but priests were waiting for the outcome outside of the Magi Brotherhood''s safety perimeter. That was the classic methodology the various organizations took for these kinds of accidents: isolation of the space thanks to the mages, civilian evacuations and first aid provided by the Church of Onnea, and eradication of the threat first by the Cleaner''s Workshop.
The young man sighed and weakly pushed himself up, before glancing at his surroundings. He summoned Nelg back, in his basic, normal sword form. After all, he had no Mana to feed the sword to awaken it. The Fire-attribute monsters nearby had watched the fight from nearby, some falling to the stray spells, frozen or pierced by the cursed arrows. Glenn was sure they were cursed; no way it would feel so disturbing otherwise.
Or did he feel disturbed just because he killed an old work colleague? He wasn''t even friends with the guy, why would he feel bad?
Yeah, why should he feel bad?
...
"...Shit. Fucking shitty vacations..." Glenn rubbed his eyes, grunting as he held his sword straight. He was getting used to sparing just enough Mana to leave him capable of fighting; the days of suffering from Mana''s exhaustion were far behind him. His swordsmanship, Nelg''s sharpness, and his superior body should be enough to get rid of these trash fire mobs.
As soon as he thought that, one of the rifts spitting out lava suddenly chose to erupt completely, spraying its contents in a searing projection. Glenn''s eyes widened and he hurriedly jumped back, before changing his mind.
"I''ll just get out of here..." He hissed as he pushed away a dog-sized lizard with six legs and two tails, and pierced its head, killing it instantly. The young man pulled his sword back and avoided the next creatures, running to the ward''s edge. Without a second of hesitation, he jumped through it and exited the space''s isolation. His shoulder kept on burning unpleasantly, he had to find a priest quickly.
''Glenn, I think there''s something wrong with that wound...'' Diamanes muttered, confused.
"Yeah, no shit Sherlock!" Nelg spat with contempt, worried. Glenn stumbled forward and sheathed Nelg, before looking at his shoulder. Even though it had only grazed him, it was bleeding profusely with black blood. The same shadow that grew on Josh''s chest was nested in the wound, swirling viciously as it worsened it. Glenn paled and pressed his hand against the wound, wincing as the pain rang in his shoulder, and ran toward the nearest warder, a man with a blue and green robe. The mage turned his head just in time to see Glenn stumbling toward him, his right arm covered in blood and his eyes bloodshot.
"You..." Glenn rasped, struggling to talk, "...I need a...priest..." He collapsed face-first, his sight fading to black. The wound shouldn''t have been so dangerous, and yet...yet he couldn''t help but feel as if something was deeply wrong. It didn''t feel like his life was in danger, no, it felt...different.
"Monster."
The voice rang like a thousand bells, echoing loudly and suffocating him.
"A creature of mediocrity. That''s what you are."
This...this voice shouldn''t be here. It...no, it couldn''t exist anymore!
"You must become more than that, #####."
It chilled him to the bone to hear it again, after so many years. This was a bad dream, a nightmare, just like last time, right?
"Your name is W#####, #l#enn. You have to uphold that name over everything, over everyone. Nothing should step on you, for it should be stepping on MY name!"
It was impossible. He dug the grave to bury this voice, burned the corpse, and gathered the putrid ashes to bury them in that same grave.
Glenn couldn''t see anything, nor feel anything. He could only hear it; the dreaded voice, the one who made his life a hell worse than this world he fell in.
Wait, he fell into another world...
An illusion. Again. Playing on his deepest fears, on his nightmares. Was that why he couldn''t think like usual? Was that the reason?
But he wanted to hide. Hide away from the voice, from him. Push the problem away and act as if it didn''t exist. This method worked so well, so why not use it again?
...
"No," Glenn muttered somehow, his voice ringing against the voice, pushing back against it.
"You think you can fight back? You, trying to rebel against ME? Who do you think you are, worm? Should I just teach you another lesson?" The strength of the voice suddenly rose, destroying the little resistance Glenn somehow mustered. It, no, he was too strong. What could he do?
...Magic! Glenn tried to channel a spell with the little Mana he had left, conjuring a small light in this world of darkness. His arm lit up with a weak Sun''s Touch, the light swallowed by the shadows twirling around Glenn. Finally, the young man could see again, but perhaps it would have been better for him to keep his eyes closed.
For the shadows had the shape of his nightmare, of the buried past that should have never reappeared.
Something that should have been left behind on Earth. The shadow cackled cruelly and looked down on Glenn as if he were an ant.
"Hmm...You''ve become too strong-willed, hmm? This doesn''t do anything to you, anymore. Well, let''s see if Lina is the same, shall we?"
Glenn''s blood ran cold and he froze, Sun''s Touch light smothered away. The voice laughed like a whisper in the wind.
"...That''s what I thought. Trash."
The shadows engulfed him, wrapping around his body like chains of fear and terror. Glenn wanted to resist, but he couldn''t, for it would put his sister in danger. He could prioritize his well-being in front of many things, but there was one thing that was more important than his life. One person, for the other one, was dead.
The shadows grinned, looking down at him in a circle, mocking and belittling him.
"Failure."
"Just a failure."
"He''s nothing."
Glenn crouched down, grimacing as he covered his ears. This part of his life was behind him, it was over.
This was an illusion. All an illusion.
His sister couldn''t be hurt. She was on Earth. He was here.
In Limbo.
Glenn slowly stood up in the darkness, the chains of fear breaking like the weak things that they were. The voice stopped talking, the past buried once and for all.
The young man opened his eyes.
179. Corruption
"...Oh shit, he''s waking up!"
"Put the ward up, and get ready to Purify the hell out of him."
"...Tell me if I can do anything."
"Your presence can only make things worse here, Ms. Milena, but it''s your freedom. Just shut up and let us work."
"...Of course."
Glenn grimaced, the light blinding him.
''The fuck...? So fucking bright...''
He tried to move his hand to block the light, but it was stuck in place. Glenn blinked a few times, the light not dimming the slightest.
"Shit..."
Voices suddenly began shouting in the room, ringing in his ears unpleasantly. There were quite a few of them, and they all sounded like something horrible was going to happen.
"He spoke! Prepare for an outburst, and make sure the ward doesn''t break!"
"Yes, Sister!"
Glenn grunted and shook his head. Something cold was wrapped around his wrists and ankles, restraining him. He frowned and tried to pull on the chains, but they were tightly pinned to whatever he was laying on. A cold surface that stuck to his bare skin.
Oh, he was also naked, for some reason.
He didn''t remember getting naked, though.
"Ah! Diamanes, this idiot is awake!" Nelg suddenly shouted, shocked.
''Oh shit! Fuck, uh, Glenn don''t move!'' Diamanes hurriedly said, trying to remain calm. Glenn''s eyebrows creased deeper and he couldn''t stop himself from speaking aloud.
"...What the hell are you guys on? Why am I naked?" He blurted out, pulling on his chains a little more frantically. They rattled unpleasantly, grating against a metal surface.
Ah, that probably was what he was lying on. Some kind of metal bed/table? He couldn''t tell, the bright light was still aimed at his eyes and blinding him.
"...What? Hey, you, go fetch me the Scripture, please," An older, female voice suddenly said, confused.
"Ah! Of course, give me a second..." A second female voice, younger, replied with an equally surprised tone. Glenn sighed and closed his eyes, before moistening his lips. He didn''t like these chains, but it didn''t make him panic like it used to after his Thorn''s Cult Prison problem. Could he just take them off? Maybe with some magic
''Damn it, Glenn, I told you not to move!'' Diamanes shouted in his mind, forcing him still. Glenn pressed his lips together and leaned back on the metal table patiently.
''...Can one of you explain to me what''s going on? Where the hell am I?'' He asked the two entities living inside his mind. Diamanes and Nelg hesitated until the one living in his left hand decided to speak up.
''So, uh, you collapsed after getting out of the isolated space. Thanks to Nelg, we still had a way to watch the outside world after your loss of consciousness.''
''The mage holding the isolated space didn''t waste a second, thank the Gods, and took you to the medical tent. There, the Head Priestess of Onnea recognized traces of...''
Diamanes struggled and paused, leaving Nelg to complete what he couldn''t say.
"Corruption. They found Corruption in your wound, and many hints that you were going to follow in Josh''s footsteps. And since you''re a tad stronger than the once Pale Son, they were quite worried, and we were too!"
Glenn frowned. Traces of Corruption? What did it mean? Wasn''t Corruption something that happened after a Mage or Knight lost control over their minds and power? But it could be seen physically? This was quite confusing.
''Just explain to me what it means. What..."traces" did they find?'' Glenn questioned, struggling to understand.
"Well, uh, your left arm began squirming and shining with purple light, but I''m pretty sure it''s Diamanes'' fault"
''No, that''s not my fault!'' Diamanes protested, interrupting Nelg. He groaned, struggling to find his words. Glenn almost wanted to laugh at the sight; it wasn''t often that he could see Diamanes speechless.
''Rah, this is just a bad reaction! Incompatibility! You can''t mix up Windows with Apple, damn it! Oil and water!'' Diamanes hurriedly explained, trying to find the best way to express what he meant. This time, Glenn couldn''t hold it in and chuckled aloud.
"Uh, Sister, I don''t think he" The young female voice spoke up hesitantly, before being silenced by the older one.
"Shut it! It''s unusual, sure, but keep your guard up! We need to make sure to hit him right in the transformation phase, or he''ll just grow stronger!"
Glenn smacked his lips together and tried to turn his head to the side, where the voices came from, but something held him in place and made the motion impossible.
"Alright, this joke has lasted long enough," He muttered, before raising his voice, "...but I am not comfortable on this thing. Who wants to hit on me while I''m naked? I didn''t consent to anything!" yelled the young man, earning a few surprised gasps.
"You fool!" The older voice hissed, "We''re trying to check if you''re Corrupted or not! Don''t make it harder on yourself!"
Glenn sighed and tried to adjust his position to be more comfortable.
"Can I at least get a pillow or something? And something to cover my groin? I''d like to conserve whatever dignity I have left" A female voice he hadn''t recognized earlier suddenly spoke up.
"Damn it, Glenn, this isn''t a game!"
Glenn frowned, before smiling.
"Milena? What are you doing here? I never thought you were into these kinds of stuff. I mean, I''m not against some nice little bondage, but still, this is all..." he grimaced, "...all too bright for me. What even is this light?"
Milena choked on her saliva, coughing in embarrassment. The older voice sighed while the younger one laughed softly. Glenn''s smile grew wider and he suddenly made a surprised expression.
"Wait, does that mean three women are watching me naked right now? But I was pretty sure this story was against harems" Something was shoved in his mouth, stopping him from talking.
"Just be silent for now." The older woman''s voice groaned, right until a piece of fabric was placed over his family jewels, hiding them from plain sight. Glenn would have thanked them, but with the...thing in his mouth, hopefully, a gag and not something weird, he couldn''t.
''I am pretty sure I could just get out of here with magic''
"Get this idea out of your head, Glenn!" Nelg suddenly interrupted him, frantic. Why was everyone interrupting him today? And why did it feel so at peace despite the horrible dream, and the thing with Josh?
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
''Yeah, why do I feel so good? Wait, no, Nelg, resume what you were explaining earlier. Any clue what they''re doing?'' He asked, starting to get a little impatient. After all, he had managed to get something to cover his groin, but no pillow to make the wait less annoying...Hmm, perhaps he could use Gravity Manipulation to float above the metal table, just so he didn''t need to touch this idiotic metal table?
Diamanes sighed.
''Are you just so eager to die? Just...please wait a bit, your brain is still a little scrambled from the Corruption. It should get better in a few minutes...''
Glenn wanted to shake his head in confusion, but couldn''t. He was about to reply when Nelg resumed his explanations, as he had asked of him.
"So, uh, to come back to what I was saying, the Head Priestess saw that you were Corrupted. There were other traces, besides your left arm going sicko mode. Your shoulder was getting eaten in real-time by that shadow you saw before collapsing. When the Head Priestess saw that she asked the Magi Brotherhood to put a magical ward, which they blessed with divine magic I think, and now has been waiting with Milena and another priestess for you to wake up. The Corrupted Ones are at their weakest when they''re about to transform into their Corrupted forms, so she couldn''t attack you before, in fear of destabilizing you. Did I get everything right, Diamanes?" Nelg gasped, short of breath. Diamanes grunted, probably agreeing with everything that Nelg just said.
Glenn chewed on the gag pensively. So he almost became a monster like Josh?
That was close.
Wait.
Why wasn''t he more affected than that? It just all felt so...normal. Did he become jaded from almost dying so many times?
At some point, you do get used to it. No, you probably don''t, and he probably was just weird. Yeah, that explanation made more sense. Anyway.
''So I almost died. But hey, I think I fought off my traumas and won!''
Diamanes groaned in incomprehension.
''What do you mean?'' He paused, and suddenly gasped in realization, ''Wait, I think I get it. That''s why you didn''t transform into a Corrupted in the end!''
Glenn rolled his eyes in their sockets.
''Explain, please...''
Diamanes rattled his throat and explained excitedly.
''When you''re facing Corruption, you have to fight against your fears and traumas. Generally, you don''t win. Shit, I think in Earth''s cultivation novels, they called it fighting the inner demons?''
Glenn chuckled through the rag, causing a few grunts of confusion around him. There seemed to be more and more people agitated around his metal table. But for now, he was simply going to stay patient and wait, exactly like the Head Priestess demanded.
''So, uhm, did I transcend or something? Did I get something else than a nice catharsis?''
Diamanes didn''t reply, and neither did Nelg. Glenn breathed out from his nose loudly and almost laughed when he heard the sound of swords unsheathing. Haha, that was fun to mock them this way. He wasn''t going to transform anyway, why would they bother him with all this stuff?
Safety seemed like a pretty reasonable explanation. Oh, things started to make more sense, indeed. Shit, did he flirt with three women who were watching him in all his naked glory?
...Well, what was done was done. He really shouldn''t be moving right now.
''My thoughts are all jumbled up, it''s a little confusing, I''ll be honest,'' admitted Glenn, struggling to come up with logical thoughts.
''I told you, your brain has been affected by the Corruption. Also, I think this wasn''t a natural one. This shadow that ate your shoulder previously is gone, but I''m pretty sure that''s what caused your Corruption,'' Diamanes guessed. Glenn nodded slowly, as much as his restraints allowed him to anyway. That did make a little sense, for he didn''t even have the time to get sad that he lost consciousness and fell into the hell hole of his traumas and bad memories. Strangely, when he thought back to them, it didn''t do anything to him. He just felt disgust and sadness, but no fear, no worry, nothing like that.
The gag stopping him from talking was suddenly pulled out, letting Glenn take a deep breath of fresh air. It wasn''t very fresh, actually, with a thick scent of blood and filth.
"Ah, thank you, kind sir...lady? I don''t know, I''m still blind, for some reason," He laughed, relaxed. No one replied to him, and the blinding light suddenly disappeared. Glenn blinked a few times, readjusting to be able to see once again. At the same time, someone unlocked the restraints on his forehead, his wrists, and his ankles, completely freeing him.
Glenn grunted and pushed himself up, rubbing off the blindness in his eyes. He felt sore all over, but besides that, he felt okay. He looked at his shoulder and found it completely healed. That made sense; a priest or priestess of Onnea had probably healed that.
"Each day is another crazy day, I swear..." he muttered, suddenly feeling a pang of pain in his heart. He grimaced and closed his eyes, thinking back to Josh. The friendly Pale Son had also been affected by the shadow-thingy. Perhaps it was also the cause of Josh''s Corruption? He''ll have to look into that more closely. He tried to summon his Soulbound suit, but nothing appeared. Glenn felt a shiver down his back and tried to summon it again, searching for the familiar link that made him able to literally suit up in a second.
"Hey, what happened to my suit?" He asked softly, more intended for Diamanes and Nelg than for anyone else. Nonetheless, someone else answered.
"I''d like to apologize, but I can''t, for it was my duty to burn off all Corrupted matter," The older woman''s voice spoke dryly, annoyed. Glenn blinked and looked up, finding an...an armored grandma? Giselle but with pale skin and armor? The young man rubbed his eyes and the illusion wore off. The only thing the grandma shared with Giselle was her massive, muscular build, which was hidden under a thick paladin armor. Wasn''t she a Head Priestess though?
...Well, nothing stopped her from being a Paladin and a Priestess, right? She had a few wrinkles and white short hair, but besides that, Glenn would give her maybe...sixty? Anyway, the Head Priestess seemed pissed. Very much so.
Nonetheless, Glenn was also a little annoyed. Whatwhat did she mean by "burn off all Corrupted matter"?
"Did you burn my super-expensive-soulbounded-combat suit?" Glenn asked in slight disbelief. The Head Priestess flinched and gritted her teeth, before nodding.
"This was protocol. The responsibility is on you for failing to avoid contagion," she paused, before adding spitefully, "...kid."
Glenn''s eyelids trembled and he smiled slowly. Ah, so respect was also off the table, then? No problem.
"Alright grandma, so, you checked me out naked for free, which, well, considering the circumstances, is fine," He paused and drew a deep breath, ignoring the Head Priestess opening her mouth to reply, "...But, I have no interest in fossils who don''t respect the younger generations when they just avoided death or a fate worse than death."
The Head Priestess''s face flushed red in anger and she went for her sword sheathed at her waist when a few people Glenn hadn''t noticed came to stop her. Two young women that he did recognize, surprisingly, grabbed each of her arms, stopping her. The first was Milena, who seemed very worried and also very embarrassed, for all the good reasons, and the second was Astrid! The priestess he had met some time ago, and who should have remained behind in Palancar to help with the reconstruction efforts.
"Oh, hello Miss Di Forte? How are you doing?" He smiled widely, ignoring the fuming old woman. Astrid Di Forte forced a smile out as she struggled to keep her Head Priestess from trying to behead him.
"Well, same old, same old. As you can see, I''mhmf!" She grunted and looked to the side for help, a paladin stepping up and sighing as he took her place to restrain the angry Head Priestess.
"Thank you, Alabaster. As I was saying, I''m busy, as always. Thanks to you, again," Astrid sighed tiredly. Glenn laughed and stretched, getting rid of the last sore patches in his back.
"Well, at least you got to take some enjoyment out of it," he blinked at her with a knowing smile before looking down at his naked body, except for the loincloth now covering his groin. She smiled back at him and replied without a second of hesitation.
"Sadly, I couldn''t see anything."
Glenn''s heart missed a beat and he paled, beaten. Nelg gasped, shocked.
"That''s a critical hit right there. Holy crap."
Diamanes laughed loudly, stunned.
''She''s a savage! A savage!''
The young man struggled to catch his breath and shook the embarrassment off.
"Well, too bad, I''m sure you would have found something to your liking, even though I doubt you''re much of a connoisseur," Glenn countered, grinning back once again. This time, it was Astrid''s turn to blush and look away. Milena looked between the two of them, disconcerted, before shaking her head.
"Glenn, could you just help withah!" The grandma suddenly managed to escape from Milena''s hold and tried to punch Glenn''s head out. The young man hurriedly ducked under the hit and rolled down the steel table. He slipped under the massive, armored legs of the Head Priestess, and grinned as he grabbed her cape and hurriedly ripped it off to use as a makeshift loincloth. He turned back toward an even more shocked Old Head Priestess and bowed slightly, grinning.
"Anyway, thank you, old lady! If you''re finished threatening me, I shall be on my way to drink all of my problems away. Astrid, Alabaster," He nodded respectfully to the both of them, Alabaster being Astrid''s guard paladin, and ran away, the cape wrapped around his waist. Milena sighed and ran after him as he laughed his way out, ignoring the roar of rage from the old lady. He didn''t even get her name, but why should he care?
Josh was dead, and he killed him. This realization, once again, punched him right in the gut. This was a terrible feeling. He could only hope this wouldn''t happen again to anyone he knew. He wasn''t that close with Josh, but what if it happened to Sahro? To Redan? He''ll have to talk to Milena at some point about that. Javier too. Even though that discussion was probably going to be a bit weird, with just him talking and all that.
This felt horrible.
But! Alcohol would certainly solve this problem for today!
An exception wasn''t going to hurt, was it?
Too bad Sahro wasn''t here.
Oh well.
180. Sometimes, Booze IS the Solution
Glenn stretched with a groan, a headache taking hold of his skull and his stomach rumbling awkwardly. The soft light of dawn enveloped him, hurting his tired eyes. He juggled a jade-colored pebble, the size of a fingernail, in his right hand, bouncing up and down. The young man''s hair was disheveled and he was wearing clothes that weren''t his own, taken from someone at the party the night before. Probably with their consent, probably not. The fact was, Glenn, couldn''t remember much except blurred faces, music, songs, and lots of booze.
And the truth was he liked it this way. Glenn slipped the pebble into one of his pockets and leaned on the railing of his room''s balcony, watching as the sun rose lazily. He could get rid of his headache with C.P.R., but that implied lots of pain he''d rather not experience right now. And the numbing did feel good.
''...Your mind seems completely fixed from all the latent effects of the Corruption, just so you know,'' Diamanes informed him, his voice unusually neutral. Nelg was silent, probably to let his host finally rest his mind a little, now that he was in perfect control of it.
The previous day had been quite hectic. First, he executed a prior colleague of his, Josh. That...hadn''t been pleasant, but still, he was kind of glad he was the one who put him down. Then, he was almost Corrupted due to an instability of his mind or the weird shadow that crept into his shoulder (probably more the second option). He was put into some kind of illusion that tried to kill his will to live, or something along those lines. What mattered was that it didn''t work.
Glenn had his past experiences to thank for this, even if it was a strange form of gratitude. So far, he hypothesized that the many contacts with death he''d had, whether when he''d encountered the Heart of Darkness, the Mother, Onnea, etc., had somehow tempered his mind to resist illusions and eliminate them more easily than he should.
Which was a good thing to know. Perhaps he would even be able to resist Milena''s illusion attacks at some point. He''ll have to see about that later... The young man suddenly frowned and looked back at his room, glancing at his bed. Thankfully, it was empty. The whole thing was still a little blurry, hence the need for confirmation. He had probably flirted with a few girls the previous nights, but nothing he would regret seemed to have happened.
Another good thing to know.
"...Can I at least be sure of that, guys?" Glenn asked aloud, speaking to the entity in his left hand and his sword. Diamanes chuckled but didn''t reply, while Nelg sighed.
"Don''t worry, there''s nothing to worry about," Nelg paused for a second and then cackled, "You''ve probably earned quite a reputation for your heavy drinking skills, though, heh."
Glenn rubbed his chin and shrugged. If it was only that, then that would probably be fine. He was also starting to accept his overall reputation. Being the Crazy Hero, the Devil''s Hand, and there was a new one he accidentally created last night. That was one thing he did remember perfectly well since it was at the beginning of the night. He was slightly drunk and gloated about his Astral Sorcery. The other customers all laughed at his words, saying they believed him but did not mean it.
Hence why he shot a few...dozen Shooting Stars in the sky. That garnered a few awed gasps and cheers, which was exactly what he wanted. Then the other customers proceeded to all offer him one drink after the other...and one thing led to another, and he mostly forgot about the rest of the night.
Anyway. It was fun, and exactly what he needed.
He had a few things he wanted to do. First, check on Milena, since he remembered that she came with him to his mad round of partying. Secondly, find his dimensional pouch. He completely forgot about it back when he woke up completely naked in the Church of Onnea, but if they destroyed it as they did with his Soulbound suit, he might have a few reclamations to make to the Church. Most of his stuff was contained in that tiny pouch, after all.
Surely they wouldn''t destroy it, right?
...They did destroy his suit, though. Shit, that thing had been expensive! It took a Seed of Darkness for the bargain, which - if he understood well back then - was one of the most dangerous items in the world, which shouldn''t even exist. Perhaps he could ask Rusty for another? Ah, but then, Rusty hadn''t been there the last time he visited the Armory. Neither was the Smith, too. He could only hope that they were back because he was going to need a replacement. Maybe a few of them, just in case. Yeah, getting a few copies wouldn''t do him any harm, besides emptying the money of his pockets.
Glenn could just send the facture to the Maron Company, anyway, since Maron promised his full support to him. Perhaps he could use the occasion to get different colors and styles? For now, though, he''ll have to be satisfied with...he looked down at his clothes and rubbed the back of his neck, confused.
"...Is that a kilt? Oh, and no underwear of course..." Glenn smacked his lips and pulled at his beige shirt, finding a few colorful traces of vomit on it. Glenn shook his head in disgust and hurriedly muttered a quick Mundare, getting rid of all the filth with his Cleaning Touch.
The best spell he ever learned.
What else did he need to do? Oh, yeah, get back to farming souls, as ominous as it sounded. The faster he got his thousand and...how many else did he need already?
"Nelg?" He asked aloud. The sword grunted and took a few seconds to check it out.
"Well, hum, you''ll be happy to know that you went down under the thousand souls mark!" Nelg exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. Glenn raised his eyebrows and smiled, similarly happy at the unexpected boon. That would shorten the time he needed to get Nelg''s First Circle by quite a bit. What gave such a huge boost to Nelg, though..? Oh.
Oh.
The smile on Glenn''s face melted away and he coldly looked away at the rising sun covering the tiled roofs in morning light. Yeah, that was a question he would rather have left unanswered.
"On another note," Nelg suddenly spoke out, attempting to distract his host from these dark thoughts, "...You should probably take some time out to study Pebble further, and create more spells. Your defense would be a great thing to improve too, considering how many weaknesses your Gravitational Shield possesses. A good piercing attack can destroy it, after all."
Glenn nodded slowly. That was a good idea, indeed. But where could he even begin? He could probably create some physical walls using Gravity Manipulation to pull some ground out to use as a shield, but those wouldn''t do much against powerful attacks. Perhaps increase the gravitational pull of the Gravitational Shield, somehow? That was something he should look further into. New attacks would probably be good too. Shooting Star was performing admirably well but was too reliant on material usage. Thankfully, he had Pebble to use as the core of the spell, making it much more effective than it should be, as it showed back then against Laurance.
He also had his swordsmanship to improve as well, but he had already planned on that when he chose to farm monsters. He was just going in a circle at this point. Glenn moistened his lips and closed his eyes, trying to soothe the headache naturally, before giving up and gritting his teeth. He needed to clear his head out, and the hangover wasn''t helping much toward that goal. He drew a deep breath and used a C.P.R., his whole body tensing up under the pain of using the sadistic healing spell. A second later, the pain of both the spell and headache were gone, leaving him free to do what he wanted.
...Which currently, was to go find Milena, pay the damned bill, and get the fuck out of here. And go back to work, so he might have something else to think about than a dead colleague. That''d be great.
And now, he was kind of missing the numbing of the hangover or the mind Corruption. Both worked well enough to make him forget that.
Glenn rubbed his face and turned away from the balcony, going back to the inn''s room. He gave a glance over, but he had nothing when he came in, so he couldn''t forget anything. He left the room, trying to ignore how airy his crotch was. Why couldn''t he find something else than a damned kilt? The young man skipped over the amused and admirative glances of a few customers who were probably part of last night''s business and went for the counter. The barman, a man with long blond hair and blue eyes, the same look as almost everyone else in this damned city, grinned widely as he saw him.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
"Sir Glenn, I''m happy to see that you survived last night!" He exclaimed, a few customers laughing loudly as they heard him. Glenn smiled back while hiding a tinge of worry. "Survive"? He probably was exaggerating, right?
"How much do I owe you?" He asked as he leaned on the counter. The barman frowned and pointed at a dagger piercing a nearby wall.
"I already served myself, don''t worry," said the barman before laughing as he picked a glass to clean, "...I think I never saw someone like you! Just throwing your Fixer''s dagger around like it''s worth nothing! Or maybe you''re just too trusting? Anyway, everyone enjoyed the drinks you offered, I can tell you that!"
Glenn''s eyes widened slightly and he pressed his lips together. Oh, he did that then? That explained the admiration and the
"Hell yeah!"
"Thanks, Glenn! Last night was great!"
Glenn looked back at the customers who shouted, waving back at them awkwardly. He couldn''t recognize any of them. Nor remember them. Well, they were happy and didn''t seem like they wanted to kill him, so he should be happy too. Maybe? He had no idea. The young man looked at his dagger planted in the wall and willed it to go back into his soul. The dagger disappeared in a myriad of blue and white particles, finding back its way into Glenn''s soul. The barman quietly watched, before suddenly slamming the glass he was cleaning in front of him.
"Ah, I almost forgot to tell you! The pretty miss you came with already went back to the Cleaner''s Workshop, and she wanted me to tell you."
The young man looked at the barman for a few seconds, before nodding. Alright, that was one thing crossed off the list. Next was checking Pebble out and finally finding out what was up with the stone. He had ignored the issue way too long, even though Pebble already saved his life a few times.
"Last night''s party was great, and..." He glanced at the other customers and smiled, "...I''ll probably come back for more, haha!"
A torrent of "hell yeah!" and "Way to go, chief!" resonated in the inn, as the barman laughed widely. Glenn left the inn, glancing back at the name, so he could remember it. "BEER AND ALE!". The sign was written with an aggressive look to it, and it made remembering it much easier. Glenn laughed slightly and summoned the Magi Brotherhood''s table to guide him to the nearest entry point. A gust of wind made his kilt flap up and threw a shiver through his whole body. The young man winced and dismissed the tablet.
"...Let''s get some clothes, first."
"Yes, good fucking idea!" Nelg sighed in relief, while Diamanes laughed.
''What, you don''t like your jewels out there? Scared someone might want to steal them?''
Glenn shook his head and proceeded to ignore Diamanes'' laughter as he went for the closest clothing shop. He didn''t care much about what he took, so he just took the most comfortable stuff; white linen pants and shirt, alongside a brown leather vest with many pockets. He wanted to use his dimensional pouch to put the kilt and the beige shirt away, but he was then reminded that he still did not get it back. Glenn thanked the lady who was blushing red from watching him, probably due to the impossible kilt flapping around when he entered the room as if it had a will of its own.
The young man paid with his Dark-Gold dagger once more, thanked the lady shopkeeper, and left in the direction of the Church of Onnea. With each passing second he could feel how horrible to not have a portable inventory. Imagine carrying things in a bag.
Who was he, some kind of normal person? No way!
Glenn didn''t take long to reach the Church and headed straight for the nearest priest, who was busy reading some kind of sacred bible. Was it a bible? Was it even called a bible? What did he care, anyway?
"Excuse me, can you help me?" He asked gently. The priest looked up from his book/bible and smiled softly.
"Of course. What can I do for you, Sir Glenn?"
Glenn internally cringed. Now, even people he never met were recognizing him. This reputation thing, as rewarding as it felt, certainly was getting out of hand.
"I was here yesterday for a Corruption problem, and I wanted to see if my dimensional pouch had been destroyed or if I could get it back."
The priest''s smile disappeared and he glanced around him. He frowned and grabbed Glenn''s hand before pulling him to a nearby confessional.
''Oh, so they also have those in Onnea''s religion?'' Glenn realized, pleasantly surprised. He hadn''t been much of a believer back on Earth, but he knew of a few people going to church specifically to confess. It did wonders sometimes to make them feel better about things.
"Well, speaking to someone about your problems and mistakes is great, you should try it you know?" Nelg commented sarcastically. Glenn ignored his sword ostentatiously and entered the confessional, followed by the worried priest. The wooden door closed and a small grid opened in front of Glenn, letting him see the priest.
"Are you out of your fucking mind, Sir Glenn?" The priest blurted out, startling the young man. He almost laughed but didn''t. Was it okay to swear in the Church of Onnea? The priest seemed to realize what he just said and rubbed his face for a few seconds.
"I apologize, Sir Glenn, I shouldn''t curse in Her house, but what you''ve just said..." The priest took a deep breath, "...You don''t know how Corruption works, do you?"
Glenn pinched his lips and shook his head. The priest sighed and scratched the back of his head.
"Alright, so...first, you can call me Brother Nolan. The information I''m going to give you is generally kept away from the general public, for reasons you''ll soon understand. I''ll have to ask you to not disclose anything I''m telling you to mundane civilians, alright?" Brother Nolan asked very seriously. Glenn had no issue with his demand, and so, he nodded in agreement.
"No worries, I''ll keep my mouth shut," He assured with a smile. Brother Nolan nodded tensely and joined his hands together.
"Corruption is often described as the Corruption of the mind by the power of Mana or Aura, or even Divinity," He said, before noticing the spark of confusion in Glenn''s eyes.
"It''s not known widely, but the healing powers of a Priest or the strengthening spells of a Paladin do come from our God directly, the Dame of Harmony. This power is called Divinity," Nolan explained, before shaking his head.
"If it''s okay with you, I''ll skip the rest of the explanations on how Divinity works, for its bare existence contradicts the logic of Aura and Mana, and isn''t explained simply."
Glenn wasn''t okay with that, but he still accepted the subject to be glossed over. He could just ask someone he knew in the Church later on. Perhaps it was worth leaning into that question too. How cool would it be if he could use Divine powers alongside his spells, Nelg and Diamanes? Wouldn''t it become invincible?
That''s a nice option to explore, but he was going to need more information, that was for sure. Brother Nolan cleared his throat and continued.
"As I was saying earlier, Corruption is often attributed to the mind not supporting the mental charge of possessing power. Humans are not conceived with the idea of receiving the strength to level down mountains or raise armies of the dead."
"But Corruption can also happen when someone tries to push beyond their limits and reach for powers they''re not deserving of; I believe the recent situation with the Pale Son Josh was of that case. My condolences, for I believe you were close to him?" Brother Nolan spoke softly, looking at Glenn worriedly. The young man turned his head to the side and grunted.
"Let''s not speak of that, Brother Nolan. I wasn''t that close to him, but having to kill down someone I knew and with whom I shared blood and fights wasn''t easy." Glenn rubbed both of his hands together, "...I hope I won''t ever have to do this again."
Brother Nolan pressed his lips together before coughing lightly.
"Right. To change the subject, there''s one last situation where Corruption might happen."
Glenn turned back to the priest, listening intently.
"There are...traces of the Dead God, the Nameless One, who can be found in this world or some others. A God who lost all his followers for even they forgot who they believed into. The Forgotten and the Forlorn..." Brother Nolan shivered and Glenn sat at the edge of his seat. Wasn''t this Dead God the one Onnea wanted him to track through the Seeds and Hearts of Darkness he could find with the "radar" in his arm, which, by the way, was never used since the Blessed Grove incident.
"And, as you might have guessed, generally, when encountering these divine traces, Corruption of the mind can also happen. Add to that any traumatic incidents, and the transformation into a Corrupted can happen out of nowhere. And..." Brother Nolan looked at his hands hesitantly, before looking back up.
"And we believe your case to be this one."
Glenn nodded slowly. The shadow trying to dig into his shoulder did seem like it could be some remnants of the Dead God, with all the darkness-themed things that god seemed to play with. The Seed of "Darkness", the Heart of "Darkness", shadows, and Corruption. So far, it kind of made sense. It still felt like a lot of information was out of Glenn''s hands, but holes were starting to fill, and he liked that. Brother Nolan crossed his arms and stared intently into Glenn''s eyes.
"The sole strange thing about your case is that no one, be it in legends or records, has ever survived a Corruption. But you did. And our hypothesis for what allowed this was..." His eyes slid over to Glenn''s left, purple arm, "...Your arm, Sir Glenn. There''s something wrong with it, something strong enough to push back Corruption. Something that might be even worse than Corruption, which is supposed to be the worst fate a human can meet."
Glenn smacked his lips, unsurprised. He knew Diamanes was special, and also that the entity played some kind of part in his survival, seeing his "bad compatibility" reaction the previous day.
''YES! This was just bad compatibility, alright? Nothing weird, nothing strange, it was all YOU who defeated the Corruption, Glenn? Alright? So leave me out of this!'' Diamanes hurriedly shouted in Glenn''s mind, making him grimace.
Yeah, sure, whatever. He''ll eventually find the truth about the nature of the entity living in his left hand one day, and "The Ones Who Shall End This World", like Doyle. But in the meanwhile, he''ll just have to be satisfied with knowing that Diamanes was some strange, cosmic being that came from another, larger cosmic being. Brother Nolan then leaned closer to him and whispered.
"There are many Fixers, Priests, Paladins, or other powerful individuals who saw their close ones fall to Corruption. So, if they might hear that you''ve been Corrupted and you survived..." The priest trailed off, but Glenn didn''t need him to finish his sentence.
He understood perfectly well.
"So, please, try avoiding saying it out loud like it doesn''t matter, Sir Glenn," Brother Nolan asked fearfully.
Sigh...
And here was another target on his back. He''ll just have to shut up about being Corrupted, then.
Was it his fault he was just that special, surviving the unsurvivable? Was that even a word? Nelg and Diamanes sneered at his shamelessness.
He could probably create a word for his situation, right?
Unsurvivable.
Heh.
181. The Saturn Rings
Glenn stretched, sitting patiently on an uncomfortably rigid wooden peg. After making sure he understood the importance of keeping his Corruption to himself, Brother Nolan left him to find his dimensional pouch, which, thank the Gods, had survived the violent decontamination of the Head Priestess. Hopefully, he won''t have to meet the violent grandma again.
Getting his head bashed in was low on his priority list.
The young man leaned back, grimacing as he readjusted his position. This wooden peg seemed to have been made to be uncomfortable. That was one thing he never understood in churches: why the hell would they make these seats so...horrible to sit on?
Couldn''t he get a comfortable sofa or something?
"I think penitence and modesty are the two main reasons why the seats are poor quality," Nelg theorized, before snickering, "...Are the seats too hard for your soft butt, Glenn?"
Glenn smacked his lips, ''Yes they are.''
Nelg was momentarily speechless in front of his honesty. The sword was about to speak again but Brother Nolan came back at this time, bringing with him Glenn''s dimensional pouch and a small book. Glenn cocked his head as he didn''t recognize the book; it wasn''t the bible-kind-of-book Brother Nolan was reading previously, but it still had an ancient look.
"Here''s your pouch, Sir Glenn. I''d advise you to try and keep your precious items in a Gold Church Bank, or the Cleaner''s Workshop storage. Dimensional storage spaces are always unstable, and more often than not lives are ruined because of their thefts."
Glenn thanked him and grabbed the pouch, taking the warning very seriously. Losing his pouch could have been disastrous, had he not possessed the Cleaner''s Workshop identification dagger. This had been a good wake-up call. Perhaps he should look into their fabrication? It would probably be extremely useful to know how to make dimensional storages and an assured way to make some cash. After all, those things were insanely expensive, costing up to hundreds of gold, and more for the more spacious ones. Glenn had never tried to reach the limit of his dimensional pouch, but he knew it was a relatively common-sized one; not too small, but not that large either. Was it ten cubic meters?
...He could certainly use a large space, though. Another thing to study. Perhaps dimensional magic would work well with his Astral Sorcery?
"Oh, also you gave quite a fright to Head Priestess Trianix. I think I''ve never laughed as much as when she told us of her encounter with you," Brother Nolan chuckled softly. Glenn laughed as well, actually a little proud of his shameless acts of the previous day. It was fun to mock the stern lady, and he did get some enjoyment out of it. The priest took a step back and looked at the book he was holding hesitantly as if struggling to come up with a decision. Glenn patiently waited, wondering what made Brother Nolan so hesitant about giving him that book. Was there some hidden knowledge in there? A secret evil power?
Oh, he wanted to get that book now. Finally, Brother Nolan shook his head and exhaled stressfully.
"I brought this to you, thinking it might be of some use. There are multiple records of you meeting various Corruption sources after all, so this book will probably serve you better than it did us, among the thousand similar ones we have," said the priest with a weak smile. He held the book out toward Glenn, the cover visible to see. "Research and Study of Corruption," by Vandorian Di Forte. The book wasn''t thick, but it wasn''t thin either. Probably around three, or four hundred pages. Glenn took it, before frowning.
"Wait, isn''t "Di Forte" Astrid''s family name?" He asked the priest, curious. Brother Nolan looked to the side and pressed his lips together.
"A A coincidence, I''m sure. Haha..." A large bead of sweat dripped down from the priest''s forehead as he avoided Glenn''s eyes. The young man looked at him confusedly for a few seconds, before shrugging and putting the book in his dimensional pouch.
"Thanks, I''ll read it once I have a minute or two," Glenn smacked his lips and rubbed both of his hands together, "...Then, if that''s all, I''ll be taking my leave, Brother Nolan. It was a pleasure to meet you," He smiled as he held his hand toward the priest. Brother Nolan smiled back and shook his hand.
"Likewise, Sir Glenn. May you be blessed by Harmony," He bowed his head slightly.
A few minutes later, Glenn was already far from the Church, following the Magi Brotherhood''s tablet''s guidance. There were a few things that he wanted to test out.
First and foremost, he had to understand what exactly was Pebble. Because he still had no idea, in the end. Was it a pebble? A magic pebble? A sentient one? An indestructible one?
So many questions he had no answer for, even though he always had the pebble on him
Wait, was it burned alongside his Soulbound suit? Glenn almost panicked as he patted his pockets, sighing in relief when he found the stone at its usual spot, in his breast pocket. That also was an anomaly; how the hell was this pebble managing to get back in his pocket every time?
"...Another turn..." He muttered, before arriving at the Magi Brotherhood''s station. A quick use of his tablet and a nauseating teleportation later, he arrived in the Magi Brotherhood. He used the tablet once more and landed in the Savant Room, the perfect place to try out dangerous spells and fill in the gaps of a Spell Repertoire. The space was as distorted and weird as ever, giving the sentiment of living through some kind of gigantic, drug-induced illusion. Glenn didn''t waste another second wondering how this room could even exist and took Pebble out of his pocket.
The stone was jade-colored, and was quite dense, as its ratio weight-size hinted at. Glenn played with the stone for a minute or so, before throwing it as far as he could. The stone disappeared in the meanders of the Savant Room, far from his view and hidden behind colorful distortions. The young man waited for a few seconds while attentively looking at his pockets, but the pebble didn''t manifest itself. He waited for a few more minutes before giving up and concentrating on his other project; defensive spells. And one more efficient than Gravitational Shield, for the latter was too weak for his taste.
''Glenn, you should check on your breast pocket,'' Diamanes suddenly said with a slightly mocking voice. Glenn froze in his steps and did exactly as asked, almost sighing in amazement. Pebble was back, once again, like always. This was almost maddening.
"...The second I leave the pocket out of sight, the stone comes back, refusing to hint at any possible ways it''s doing this...Diamanes, did you even see anything?"
The entity laughed before replying.
''Nope! No idea! I just noticed the difference when it nested comfortably in your breast pocket.''
"And you, Nelg?" Glenn asked with little hope. The sword sighed, similarly at a loss.
"I was curious about this pebble too, and watched the ground the best I could, but I doubt it''s just rolling to your pocket. Perhaps it''s able to move through space? A teleporting stone?"
Glenn shivered. The idea of creating a sentient rock already felt morally questionable, but then, for that same rock to be able to teleport? Even he couldn''t do that!
Yet. Teleportation was yet another subject he should explore. How would he even do that? Perhaps it''d be simpler to use the already-made formulas for that one? That would certainly be simpler, but probably much less efficient than coming up with his own, personal teleportation spell, tailor-made to be used with Astral Sorcery.
...Studying and using the already-made spell would probably help him have at least a direction to go for, at the very least.
Anyway! Glenn smacked his cheeks and forced himself to stop this tangent. He pulled Pebble out of its pocket and dropped it in front of him. Glenn grinned almost sadistically as Mana began to twirl around both of his hands, one creating a powerful Blackhole, and the other charging up Nitrogen.
"Let''s see how tough you are, then..." Without further ado, he shot a Nitrogen Lance straight at the Pebble, using a good amount of Mana for the spell. He cut off the Mana supply after a full second of unloading the spell, gazing upon the experience''s result. A large portion of the Savant Room had filled with chill air, but it took barely a moment for all of it to disappear, absorbed by the mystical power of the room. There was no physical damage either, and, frozen in a large irregular shard of ice, the pebble stood unscratched.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Glenn smacked his lips and cast Sun''s Touch, preparing to melt the ice.
"Wait!" Nelg suddenly exclaimed, stopping him.
"Leave Pebble be for a moment to chill on the ice, maybe we''ll be able to see something interesting!" He suggested excitedly. Glenn dismissed Sun''s Touch as he smiled with similar curiosity. Indeed, if the Pebble was physically restrained, would it be able to go back to his pocket? This would reinforce his teleporting stone theory. With that thought in mind, Glenn turned around and went back to designing a new defensive spell. He suddenly looked back, as if to try and surprise the pebble frozen in ice, but it was still there, slowly waiting for its prison to melt. Glenn chuckled before concentrating. He used his Gravitational Shield, looking at the visible ripple surrounding him.
After a moment''s thought, he used his Magi tablet to summon a small pedestal from the ground and pressed a few options on it. A stone bow came out of the floor, aimed at him. There was a large stone arrow, the size of an arm loaded in it. Glenn faced the bow and took a deep breath.
''Why does it feel like a bad idea? Oh, because it probably is...'' Diamanes jeered sarcastically. Glenn ignored him and waited. Three seconds later, the stone rope snapped and the heavy arrow flew, headed straight for Glenn''s head. The young man stood unflinching, his right hand tightly crisped on his sword''s hilt. The arrow met his Gravitational Shield and slowed slightly, but wasn''t stopped entirely. Instead, it scratched Glenn''s cheek and flew past him with decreasing speed. It fell to the ground weakly after passing through the Shield, its power considerably lessened.
Glenn gasped in relief as he pressed against his cheek, a little bit of blood coming out of the scratch. He shook his head and looked back at the stone arrow, watching as it sunk into the floor. A new arrow appeared on the stone bow to replace the used one, waiting to be released. For now, Glenn paused the device and began thinking.
"This was way too close for my liking," Nelg commented unhelpfully. Diamanes laughed mockingly, unable to restrain himself from adding his grain of salt.
''We were this short from Glenn committing suicide! Imagine the title of the newspaper: "An Idiot Kills Himself Trying to Learn New Magic". That would sell a lot!''
Nelg laughed as well, and Glenn was forced to shut both of the voices, concentrated. He felt like he was onto something, and their disturbances weren''t helpful to his spell creation.
The Gravitational Shield worked as intended. Only, the pull wasn''t strong enough. Glenn felt he could probably solve this issue if he used enough Mana, but simply brute-forcing the problem didn''t seem like an actual solution. Additionally, increasing the gravitational pull could become dangerous; he didn''t want to get ripped to shreds because he made his spells incorrectly.
The main issue there was that he lacked knowledge of how gravitational strength worked. He knew the basics and thanked Newton for his teachings, but he was no specialist. And he doubted he would be able to find one in this damned world. Perhaps Exan would be one? After all, the fellow Earthling seemed to be quite old, he probably had the time to study the question.
Or maybe he hadn''t. Glenn could only hope, for knowledge was power, and knowledge he had none.
Or too little.
Anyway, this Gravitational Shield can certainly be improved. But how...?
"Why don''t you try layering it?" Nelg suggested hesitantly, his voice tinged with uncertainty as Glenn looked at him, the sword hanging lazily at his waist. He cast a Gravitational Shield around himself, then added a second one with half the power of the first shield. He activated the stone bow, ready to draw his sword or avoid the projectile. The heavy stone arrow pierced easily through the weaker layer but struggled against the strongest one. Glenn watched intently as the arrow was deflected to the ground. The weak layer had been destroyed, but the main one was still holding on, swirling around with a few stone bits.
"...Huh." Nelg''s suggestion was a good one, it seemed. The Mana cost was slightly increased, going from 100% for the first layer to 100% + 50% for the first and second layers. It still lacked efficiency, but perhaps Glenn could instead use a lot of different layers, much weaker, but with much lesser costs as well.
It didn''t cost him much to try anyway, so Glenn did just that. He summoned five layers, each costing progressively less Mana, for a total of 200% of the original cost. He couldn''t do less degressive than that, and using less Mana would make it so that the layer would simply fail on him. Nonetheless, he was still a little unsure, hence why he drew his longsword and prepared to deflect the incoming attack. Air was swirling around him as the five layers of gravitational pull surrounded him.
Glenn activated the stone bow once again, gritting his teeth. The stone arrow flew once more, aiming to pierce through his chest. It reached the first layer, but there weren''t visible effects from that encounter. The second layer noticeably slowed down the projectile, as did the third one. The fourth tore it to pieces and the fifth one swallowed it, creating a small asteroid belt around him. Glenn rubbed his chin pensively. On one hand, the effects had been pretty good, for the projectile had been destroyed, but on the other hand, it expended twice as much Mana as the original Gravitational Shield, which wasn''t what he was aiming for.
What else could he try? Could he try and accelerate the projectiles to better deflect them? Instead of pushing against them, push behind them? That was a weird idea. But if it worked, it would mean that any projectiles Glenn could deflect would be sent back to their caster with twice as much power. Maybe not exactly twice the strength, but there''d be a certain boost.
And since attack was the best defense, managing to counter spells or projectiles this way seemed like an excellent idea. It wouldn''t do much against melee attacks though, for a sword would simply just fly faster toward his neck.
Maybe he should create two spells? A close-combat shield, and an anti-projectile shield?
That was also an interesting idea.
The main idea was to absorb attacks and send them back while using minimum Mana. Perhaps he could also apply this to a close-combat shield? Something like a bouncy shield? The harder you struck it, the stronger it would strike back the attacker.
"Huhuhu..." Glenn couldn''t help but cackle at these thoughts. He was imagining how someone would feel if they just shot their best spells at him, or struck their sword masterfully, only for them to receive their attacks back in their faces. It would be both cool and fun. A perfect combo.
But how was he supposed to do that? Mana was easy to manipulate, thanks to the Gods, but it was hard to imagine a concept that worked with this idea.
''...Nelg, I''m scared. Glenn is rattling his brains way too much!'' Diamanes whispered mockingly, successfully annoying his host. Glenn ignored Nelg''s laugh and instead dismissed every layer of his shield. He had something else he wanted to try. He went back to the stone terminal and changed the properties of the stone bow. After a bit of fiddling around, he managed to get the equivalent of a stone blunderbuss, charged with a hail of pebbles.
The young man used the original Gravitational Shield again, surrounding himself in the mystical protection. A second later, the blunderbuss shot out all of the pebbles at surprising speed. But Glenn wasn''t surprised, for he had specifically made it so that the shots would be as fast as they could. The pebbles all encountered his shield, and instead of slowing or crumbling down, they all followed the flow of the gravitational pull and shot back at the stone blunderbuss.
The cannon disappeared in a cloud of dust, destroyed by the attack. Glenn smacked his lips, surprised.
"So it''s very efficient against fast but small projectiles but has a hard time against powerful, large projectiles. It feels like something is missing in the spell..." He trailed off as dismissed the spell. Nelg and Diamanes didn''t say a word, for the man was close to finding the solution.
He could feel it.
Glenn, almost in a trance, went back to the stone terminal and changed the options to have both the blunderbuss and the powerful stone bow aimed at him at the same time. He drew a deep breath and summoned his shield, creating almost instinctively. Without another thought, he activated the bow and the blunderbuss. Both shot out at the same time, whistling through the air as they aimed for Glenn''s life. The young man didn''t budge, squinting at the new shield. The stone pebble bullets were the first to touch it, and they immediately were pulled in Glenn''s back by the gravitational pull. The arrow touched his shield just after that, trying to pierce through the thick layer. The projectile slowed down considerably, before getting crushed to bits by the remains of the stone bullets.
The stone bits flew around Glenn for a moment until he willed for their release, shooting the whole thing back in the bow and blunderbuss'' direction. A pearl of sweat fell from his forehead and plinked on the floor. Glenn sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off.
"Phew, alright, it seems like it worked. I''m not sure how, but it worked. Alright..." The young man grinned, before calming down. He still had a few tests to run to make sure the spell was entirely usable, mostly with melee attacks. Because, if his theory was correct, he could also stop those with this shield.
"Well, I never thought this would work. You do expend more Mana, but it is better, so...I guess it''s a win?" Nelg muttered, awed. Diamanes laughed, not impressed in the slightest.
''Great! Now you might be able to survive against rank 3 opponents! Nice! As if you couldn''t do that already!''
Glenn hesitated between smiling and smacking his lips, split between the two entities'' opinions. He chose to go with the positive one and ignore the useless one.
"Thanks, Nelg. You sure are a good helper and not a parasite whatsoever."
Nelg laughed.
"Oh, but thank you, Glenn. It''s always a pleasure to show parasites what a symbiotic relationship is!"
The two laughed as, for once, Diamanes was the one rendered speechless. Glenn laughed a bit more, before turning back to see how Pebble was doing in its ice cluster. He did take a bit of time to prepare his shield, and he hadn''t
The ice had completely melted, and the pebble was nowhere to be seen. Glenn almost sighed as he patted his breast pocket and found the pebble right where it belonged. Maybe it was spatial magic, maybe the thing was rolling up to his shirt in invisible mode.
The mystery surrounding Pebble shall remain unveiled for now.
For now...
Glenn shook his head and returned to his shield. He summoned it again, grimacing as he passed under half the capacity of his Heart of Mana, and changed the parameters on the stone terminal. A human stone doll wielding a classic longsword emerged from the ground, twirling its weapon at random. The young man cracked his neck and braced himself. Suddenly, he jumped in the sword''s direction, betting on the shield''s resistance. The sword collided with the shield, chipped away by the gravitational pull, before being repulsed away. The doll was knocked back by a few meters and ultimately fell on its back.
"HAHA, IT WORKS!" He finally exclaimed, unable to contain himself further. With this, he finally had a good defensive spell. And he didn''t need Diamanes to name it, for he had already thought of the perfect moniker.
The Saturn Rings.
...
...
...
''...Too bad I didn''t get to name this one...''
182. More Fiddling with More Spells
"The Saturn Rings...What a grandiloquent name," Nelg laughed, openly mocking Glenn''s naming sense. The young man couldn''t care less about the mockery as he concentrated on the spell, grinning in appreciation. Saturn Rings was the perfect spell for him. The way he figured out how to create it was pretty simple. So far, he had tried not to go over a certain limit in Mana consumption, but due to that limit, he couldn''t exactly play with the spell as much as he''d have liked.
Nevertheless, Glenn couldn''t allow the shield to be too expensive, as he had to constantly feed it with Mana. The longer he kept such a powerful but costly shield, the sooner his Mana reserves would run out. And running out of Mana practically meant death, so he had to avoid it at all costs. What''s more, if he made the shield too powerful, it could block and tear apart every incoming attack, be they projectile or hand-to-hand, but he''d also end up in tatters. Not exactly a pleasant side effect of using a spell
So, to overcome these issues, Glenn had an idea based on Nelg''s suggestion: layering. He summoned multiple layers of the gravitational shield, but all at their minimal Mana consumption. Of course, the shield in this state was useless and wouldn''t block anything. But, by carefully controlling the Mana flow going to each layer, Glenn was able to modify the layer''s defensive strength manually, adjusting them for the situations and adapting the Mana cost to be the most efficient.
A hail of bullets? Medium strength for the inner layer, to block the attacks, and minimal strength for the outer layers, to move them in the gravitational pull, so he could use them later. A powerful, piercing projectile? Maximum strength for the inner layer and medium strength for all the other layers, to slow the attack. Then, increase the speed of the gravitational pull to destroy the projectile and make it into something he could throw back, like many stone bits. And finally, a melee attack? Get rid of the gravitational pull and only use a strong pushing force in front of the attack.
A sword would try and carve through the shield, but would eventually be bounced back at their user. It wasn''t exactly like the idea of taking a spell and sending it back to sender, since he had to process the projectiles, but it was still a really good defense. Additionally, Glenn was almost certain that if he fine-tuned the Saturn Rings sufficiently and trained himself for their usage, he''d be able to reach his vision of sending back attacks perfectly. But he would need more knowledge on gravity, movements of mass, and much more knowledge he probably didn''t know he needed to perfect the spell.
Anyway, it was an excellent progress! Glenn smiled and rubbed his hands together, taking a quick second to judge how much Mana he had left.
...Around 47% of his maximum capacity. He could still try some things out, but he''ll soon have to Meditate his Mana back.
''So, what are we going for next?'' Diamanes asked curiously. Glenn moistened his lips, thinking. Having a strong defense was one, if not the most important project he had in spell creation, but it was now checked off. The next magical thing he could focus on was either dimensional magic, be it for storage or teleportation, or more attacks with different attributes. So far, if he classed them by elements, he had Gravity Manipulation for...manipulating things? It was a neutral spell, with many applications, but it didn''t have an attribute. Gravity wasn''t an attribute, was it?
Glenn frowned and headed for the stone terminal, wondering if he could get some classifications of all the attributes, elements, or whatever they called it in the Magi Brotherhood. It didn''t take long to find free, basic documentation available for every member of the Brotherhood. The young man almost wanted to slap himself for not taking the time to check for those things, but could he fault himself for having such a hectic life? When did he even have the time to get this kind of information? Now that he was here, he certainly was going to make the most of his time!
The young man asked for a chair from the terminal and sat to read the documentation, which came from some very, very basic child book for the studies of aspiring Magis. Glenn ignored his shame from reading a children''s book and concentrated on it.
There were many, many elements or attributes, (apparently, he was free to call them as he liked), but all came from six elements: Chaos was the surprising one, while the other five, Light, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth came almost like cliches. All of the other elements could be created by combining these six primordial attributes; Fire and Earth made for Magma magic, while Water and Air made for Mist magic. But, depending on the ratio of elements in a spell, (and that''s what Glenn found interesting), the produced element could end up being different. Fire and Earth could be mixed again, but to become then Ash magic. Same for Water and Air, depending on the ratio, Ice magic could be made. Of course, this all applied to classical applications with the School of Words, where spells could be created just by infusing Mana through a spoken sentence.
Nevertheless, spells could be made without using any of these attributes: the example noted in the book being Cleaning Touch. A single word, Mundare, and the spell was summoned, costing practically nothing while being one of the most useful of them all. These were called Neutral spells and simply didn''t have any attributes. They could be mixed to create new spells; to go back to the example of Cleaning Touch, it could be combined with the Water attribute. The outcome would be an already existing spell named Cleaning Water. The caster could create an orb of water that would clean everything it touched, getting rid of the need for him to touch things to clean them.
Glenn groaned as he read that. He could have just Cleaning Touch this way?
"...For real? What was the word for water already..." Glenn looked at his right hand and spoke the words; "Aqua Mundare... Oh shit, it works!" he laughed as a ball of water surged in the air, probably two meters in diameter. The spell barely cost anything more than the original Cleaning Touch, which was excellent news. Glenn played with the spell for a second, before frowning, finding it weirdly complicated to control the spell. If usually he could control them like they were part of his body, this spell felt like he was using a game controller to do so.
"...Ah," Glenn muttered in realization. He was using a game controller; only they were called words. No doubt that if he used more words, like something for more precision or control, he''d be able to get what he wanted.
So that''s exactly what he did. He quickly checked over the terminal for the word for precision, and summoned the spell once again, dismissing the previous one.
"Let''s see...Aqua Mundare Praecisio!" The ball of water surged once more as he spoke, before shaping into a hovering spear. Glenn looked at the spear confusedly, before glancing around for a target. He looked at the other users of the Savant Room, but the effect of the place made it so that all the users could see each other if they wanted to, but didn''t allow for contact. The young man smacked his lips, finding to find anything dirty, before sighing. He already knew what the best target was, it just felt dumb. He looked at the water spear and shot it at his left, purple hand.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
''...Wait, why is there a spear coming in my direction? Hey, Glenn, wait, what the f '' The water spear collided with the hand, blasting it away. Glenn winced and took a step back, before looking at his hand. It was still there, thankfully, but was a little bruised. On another note, it was completely cleaned. The young man shook his head. There certainly were things he didn''t understand when it came to the School of Words. It used much less imagination and much more testing, playing the Mana roulette to come up with a powerful, cost-efficient spell.
Speaking of cost, this one was very extravagant, as much as his casual utilization of Shooting Star, while keeping the same strength as Cleaning Water. What should he even call it? Water Cleaning Spear? Way too long, but it was a lame spell, so maybe it was fitting. Yeah, whatever. Glenn inputted the combination in the stone terminal, finding out that it had already been created.
Of course. Well, it was an easy one, after all. The young man took a step back and began reflecting on the attributes he could use without the School of Words. So far, he had Fire, with Sun Touch, Infernal Blackhole, and, of course, Shooting Star. The latter two were the product of a combination of the first with other spells, though, so maybe they didn''t count? Saturn Rings was a Neutral Spell, as was Gravity Manipulation. Blackhole, though, the pure Blackhole was certainly not a Neutral spell. Maybe it entered the Chaos category? He''d have to find some kind of professional to figure that out for him.
He also had the spells Diamanes gave him access to, like Nitrogen spells, which had the attribute of Cold, Ice...or Very Cold Ice? Nitrogen might be its attribute. Carbon Blade would be...Earth, maybe, but another connected attribute? Carbon might be its attribute too! Silence was a Curse, and came from worshipping Epinos, the Thorn''s Cult God, so it couldn''t have an attribute. Or maybe it would be categorized as Chaos? Chaos could be used to describe a lot of things, after all. Holy Blessing was the same, it was Divinity, not magic, so it didn''t count... Same for C.P.R....Wait, was C.P.R. a divine spell? But from which divinity? Who did Javier believe in?
Glenn shook his head and hurriedly took a step back from the tangent, coming back to the main subject. What about Implosion? Implosion was definitely Chaos. Or Light?
"...I need some teacher for all this shit, to tell me where I''m wrong. It''s not with the two idiots in my head that I''m going to come up with anything..." Glenn sighed. Diamanes suddenly exclaimed, angry.
''Hey! Don''t you dare act as if you just used me as a test subject! This was very degrading! Why don''t you use Nelg for these kinds of tests, huh?''
Glenn looked at his left hand for a few seconds, before shrugging.
"Because Nelg is my favorite. Now shut up and let me concentrate."
Diamanes gasped, speechless, while Nelg was laughing his ass out. Glenn ignored both of them and looked back at the stone pedestal. Where was dimensional magic in this whole mess? He didn''t take long to find the answer, for it was written on the next page of documentation.
"Teleportation or storage magics are both very advanced, but for learning purposes, here are some explanations of how they work. Teleportation will take an individual or an object, and transport them at a certain coordinate, for an expensive Mana cost. If the coordinates are obstructed, the spell will attempt to push back the obstruction, before exploding. Some mages use teleportation as a means to attack, but dispelling these spells is quite easy. The teleportation point will appear like a Rift, and it only needs to be attacked with Mana or Aura to be destroyed without causing an explosion."
Glenn nodded slowly, before doing a double-take.
"Surcharging the Rifts with Mana or Aura? So that was the correct way to do it?" The young man glanced at his left hand with a slightly amused look. He had always been feeding the Rifts to Diamanes, and since this method worked perfectly well, he never tried to find out the normal way. Well, that was good to know. He looked back to the stone pedestal.
"Storage magic, while also being an application of precise arithmetic, is mostly a product of ALL the elements, and needs a particularly precise control over the Chaos attribute. It''s only by using Chaos that weight suppressors and compression filters can be created, hence the need for this element''s mastery. Both teleportation and storage magic users are highly paid by their corresponding guilds, the Travelers and the Stockpilers. Expect a bright future if you can master one or the other, and to create your myth if you can master both!"
The encouraging words of the author stopped there, for it was the end of the introductory book. Glenn rubbed his forehead, lost in thoughts. He already knew Teleportation was a big deal, since he only saw it in the hands of the Magi Brotherhood, except for the Skinner guy who used an artifact to create one-way portals. There were barely any explanations on Storage magic, though, besides the very repeated point that Chaos was needed for it.
"...Things are clearing up little by little, though, so that''s good..." He muttered while leaning on the pedestal.
He''ll put all kinds of dimensional magic to the side, for now. These would need someone to teach him properly, and he didn''t trust any of the loser mages in the Fringe. Perhaps he could ask someone of the Magi Brotherhood? Meh, they''d probably ask for some exorbitant payments, so that was out of the question.
Well, it wouldn''t cost him anything to try and ask around, so he''ll do that. Glenn couldn''t see any other way to dabble in dimensional magic, so the thought was laid to rest Wait, no, he had another way to use magic. He grimaced and forced a smile as he looked at his left, purple hand.
"...Diamanes, ah, my absolute favorite entity, how are you doing?"
Diamanes grunted back, not even bothering to reply. Glenn''s fake mask crackled but he still kept it up.
"Diamanes, you wouldn''t happen to have a way to take dimensional magic, right?"
The entity grumbled something intelligible, which was weird for something spoken inside Glenn''s mind, before sighing.
''Right now, you''re too weak of a loser, but once you''re stronger, your body will probably be able to accept at least Storage magic. Or you could get rid of C.P.R. and get it now, your choice.''
Glenn''s pleasing mask broke down and his eyes widened exaggeratedly.
"What do you mean I''d need to get rid of C.P.R.? There''s a limit on how much you can take?"
Diamanes smacked his lips, annoyed.
''No, the two powers are simply not compatible. Ah, now that I think about it, Divine Blessing would also have to go, and Silence too.''
The young man sat and rubbed his temples, faced with a difficult choice. There was no doubt that dimensional magic would be extremely useful to him. That meant a portable inventory with unknown limits in terms of space at all times, with no risk of losing it. But in exchange, he would lose three, very powerful spells. Glenn then suddenly frowned.
"These are all Divine spells if C.P.R. is indeed a Divine one. Isn''t Nitrogen in the same situation?"
Diamanes sneered before replying.
''Nah, the Heart of Darkness wasn''t producing Nitrogen back then. You processed whatever that cold black stuff was, and transformed it into Nitrogen. It''s wholly yours, and perfectly integrated with your body and Mana Heart. Power that is sourced from the Divine cannot be integrated perfectly, though, and they are not a good mix-up with Chaos attribute, or whatever they call it.''
Glenn heaved deeply, struggling to choose. Suddenly, he shook his head and pushed the issue away for now. He''ll have to see later how hard acquiring dimensional magic was in the normal way. Only then he''d be able to know. Following that line of thought, Glenn checked the terminal up to find out the cost of unlocking the more Advanced Knowledge. He frowned as the only requirement was to be a Magi, a Fourth-Circle individual.
Something he wasn''t yet.
"...Alright, let''s forget dimensional magic entirely for now. Too bad..." Glenn shook his head with disappointment. The young man took his Exan Egg out of his dimensional pouch and checked the time. His eyes stretched open slightly when he realized he had already spent a dozen hours playing around with magic. Time went fast when having fun!
When should he leave, though?
...He could probably wait a little longer until he completely depleted his Mana, right? That''d probably take a few more hours, nothing too crazy, and it would help him toward his new goal: creating a spell for each attribute. He already had Neutral, Fire, and maybe Chaos.
Glenn couldn''t call himself a proper mage if he didn''t have access to all the attributes, right?
And it was probably going to take a little time to get them all right, anyway.
Probably.
Yeah, it was going to be simple.
Yeah.
183. Spear and Sword
A young man was stumbling in the Northern Town''s streets, the tip of his hair burnt off and his clothes covered in black soot. He wore a grimacing expression, and the longsword hanging at his side seemed to have seen a better day, the sheath a little burnt.
''...That''s the side-effect of playing around with Fire spells, heh!'' Diamanes commented with a laugh at the expenses of his host. Glenn groaned as he wiped the soot off carefully, heading for his Dormitory in the Cleaner''s Workshop. He wanted to cast Cleaning Touch, or even Cleaning Water to get rid of all the soot, but doing so would put him at risk of Mana exhaustion. The sun was setting rapidly, tinting the sky red and orange. Glenn had initially planned to come back to the Dormitory much earlier, but he had been a little too invested in trying to create spells.
Trying to create the Primordial Attributes using Astral Sorcery was a surprisingly hard challenge. Finding a mental image that embodied the idea of "Fire", "Water", or even "Air" or "Earth" was extremely hard. "Light" was even harder, even though Glenn had somehow managed to get the "Solar" element. He had tried to summon a Solar Flare, which worked, but emptied him of all his Mana and was a mix of mainly Fire element with a tinge of Light element. The Solar attribute had already been discovered a long time ago, and the power of the Sun was long coveted by the mages of this world.
Who wouldn''t want to have a Sun as their weapon?
Nonetheless, even though he succeeded in creating the Solar Flare, it was extremely inefficient due to incredible Mana costs and a power slightly better than his Nitrogen Lance. The Solar Flare could only be stronger, for Fire was a much more destructive element than Ice. But the Solar Flare came a triple the cost of the Nitrogen Lance, making it impossible to use in battle.
"You still did get a new spell, though. A Solar Kamehameha of some sort! You just need to shoot Nitrogen Lance and Solar Flare at the same time, and you''ll probably get something like a Death Ray, right?" Nelg cheered him up, still very excited at the effects of the spell. Indeed, Solar Flare appeared as a powerful laser that pierced and burned everything in its path, while blinding the world with an incandescent white light. To use Nitrogen Lance with it would mean using most of his Mana if not all of it, so that was out of the question, for now.
...Even though testing such a spell did seem like a cool idea.
"I couldn''t progress much on the other elements, on the other hand, and that''s a little depressing..." Glenn muttered with a sigh, wincing as entered the Workshop''s lobby. There were still a few Fixers taking contracts at this time of the day, and they didn''t fail to give him a puzzled gaze, as they usually did. They probably thought for themselves: "What the hell did the Crazy Hero do this time?"
Glenn couldn''t blame them.
A dozen minutes later, he was in his suite and was sinking deeply in a warm bath. He used that time to recover his Mana, Meditating in the bathroom. When he opened his eyes, the water was black and cold. Glenn moistened his lips and used a handy Mundare Aqua, cleaning the water and anything that remained on his body.
Learning new spells was certainly nice. He should try and invest more time in creating spells compatible with the School of Words, to earn more credits with the Magi Brotherhood. He''d probably be able to unlock quite a few interesting magics doing so and learn much more than what he was doing on his own.
The young man''s rest was interrupted by an inquisitive knock on the bathroom door.
"Glenn, there''s a visitor for you!" Milena''s voice came from behind the door, "...It''s that assistant they gave you, Kevin!"
Glenn grunted and passed his hand through his hair, already exhausted just at the idea of having to deal with the perfidious sack of bone. He was still quite annoyed, almost angry at the assistant for throwing him at Josh. He could have refused the contract, in theory, but how could he? Knowing that this old colleague was killing innocents, with his mind and humanity lost.
"...Of course, I had to take care of Josh, damn it..." The young man cursed and pulled himself out of the bath. He lazily dressed himself with a comfortable black bathrobe, tying the linen belt tightly. With as least motivation as he could, Glenn left the bathroom and headed for the living room. The scrawny assistant, with his unibrow and thick glasses, was sitting at the edge of his seat, tense. He was holding his notepad tightly, his eyes strangely fixed on Liara, who was sitting on the other side of the table and looking at Kevin curiously.
Glenn sighed loudly, announcing his presence. He pulled his Exan-Egg from his dimensional pouch, which he now kept with him at all times, yes, even in the bathroom, and verified the time. He frowned.
"What are you doing here at ten P.M., Kevin? I don''t remember inviting you."
Kevin flinched as he suddenly turned to look at Glenn, a slight surprise passing through his eyes. He looked up and down at the young man, stopping for a few seconds on his left, purple hand. The assistant opened his mouth, struggling to say what he came to say until Glenn slammed his hand on the table next to him.
"Ah!" Kevin fell from his chair, looking with trembling eyes at Glenn. The young man would have usually sighed and shrugged it off, but not this time. He needed to make it clear that he didn''t appreciate what happened. He could understand why he was the one sent to take care of Josh, but his mind couldn''t possibly comprehend why the hell would they want him to kill some stupid, weak monster beforehand.
''Show him, Glenn...take a few limbs while you''re there...'' Diamanes hissed, taking a lot of pleasure in what was happening. Nelg remained silent, observing.
"Listen, Kevin. I''ll try to be as polite as I can," Glenn spat, pushing the chair away from Kevin. The assistant pushed himself up and took a step back, scrambling to adjust the position of his glasses.
"I...am not in a good mood, right now. Just seeing your face makes me want to try out some new spells," said Glenn with a soft voice while taking another step forward, towering over the increasingly pale assistant.
"So, speak now or don''t; I don''t care which, just do it and leave," Glenn finally stated, stopping his pressuring advance. Kevin gulped heavily and looked at his notepad, flipping a page up with difficulty.
"I I wished to report on the cleaning up of the situation with Ex-Fixer Josh," Kevin stuttered, powering through his fear. Glenn looked like he was about to pick him up like some meat and slice him into very, very small bits. The young man remained silent and gestured at the assistant to continue, before crossing his arms.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"As As you''ve asked, I called up Fixer Milena and Fixer Javier on the site, but Ex-Fixer Josh was already...taken care of. Instead, they got rid of the monsters and rifts that had appeared because of Josh''s ritual. A few other Fixers have joined in the effort, making the clear-up much easier than initially predicted without your presence there."
Glenn pressed his lips together, listening coldly.
"F Finally, I and the Administration of the Cleaner''s Workshop wish to apologize for your loss and the terrible treatment you had to go through. If you like, I can recommend another assistant "
Glenn smacked his lips, interrupting Kevin.
"Shut it," Glenn blurted out, Kevin freezing with the words. Glenn slowly, coldly grinned and walked up to Kevin, staring down at him.
"If the "Administration" wants to apologize to me, they can do so themselves, right? So go say that to them: if they want to repair the sliver of relationship between me and them, they''ll have to come to this door " He pointed at his suite''s exit, " and knock with their own hands. Now get the hell out of here, Kevin, before I change my mind and cave your face in."
Kevin nodded hurriedly, before practically running for the door. He left the suite without closing it, running for his life in the Dormitory''s hallways. Glenn looked at the exit for a second and took a deep, silent breath. He walked up to the door and closed it, before sighing and collapsing on a nearby sofa. Liara and Milena had watched the whole exchange; one with curiosity, and the other with worry.
"...Are you okay, Glenn? I left you at the inn yesterday, but..." Milena asked slowly, but Glenn dismissed her worries with a wave of his hand.
"I''m okay; I''m just making sure what happened yesterday doesn''t happen again," He shook his head and leaned back further on the sofa, muttering, "...Kevin is only the messenger, the ones who made the decisions are in the "Administration", whoever they are. I hope my message will echo loudly in their ears."
He closed his eyes, his lips pressed together. Silence took over the room until his stomach chose otherwise. The loud rumbling reminded him that he hadn''t eaten anything despite the late hour, and so Glenn decided to remedy this issue. Milena looked at him for a moment, before shaking her head and sighing.
"You''re probably going to be fine, but it still is a little worrying..." She mumbled as she left the living room for the guest bedroom. Liara was still sitting at the table, her chin leaning on both of her hands as she watched Glenn work in the kitchen. The young man mindlessly picked some ingredients and a pan. He threw some oil in the pan, letting it sizzle while cutting vegetables and beef-like meat into cubes. After making sure the plate was hot enough, Glenn first threw the diced meat in, waiting a few minutes before throwing in the vegetables.
It didn''t take long to cook the simple meal. Glenn served himself a plate, before looking up at Liara, who looked at him with bright eyes. The young man sighed and took another plate out.
Soon enough, both of them were enjoying the meal, silently.
...As silent as the two entities living in Glenn''s mind could be, anyway.
"Come on, I''m sure she can speak! After all, she said her name to Sahro, didn''t she? Just ask her why she can''t speak, perhaps that''ll be enough!" Nelg suggested with excitement, while Diamanes laughed loudly.
''Haha, you can''t even initiate a conversation! It seems like Glenn will remain eternally alone in this world!''
Glenn ignored both of them and only concentrated on the meal. He took two glasses and placed them on the table, before sitting back.
"Aqua," He muttered, creating water out of nothing and filling the glasses. Saying it created liquid out of "nothing" might be wrong, though. Glenn hypothesized that the spell condensed the moisture in the air, to create drinkable water. When he thought back to Earth and the water shortage some countries experienced, it gave this simple spell much more importance than it had in this world.
The young man quietly ate. Liara was almost done with her meal and seemed satisfied by it. Glenn pressed his lips together.
"...Liara, is there a reason you can''t speak?" He asked as he turned toward the Black Heiress. Liara looked at him and smiled sadly, before shaking her head. Glenn laughed a little.
"You can''t tell me why? That''s fine. Is it some cultural thing, or a problem with your throat?" Liara nodded at the first suggestion and shook her head at the second. Glenn moistened his lips.
"Sahro knows about those cultural things, doesn''t he?" Liara nodded once again with a small smile, silent. Glenn rubbed his temples and leaned back in his seat.
"...Are you a good fighter? I know you have some skills since you could wield Sahro''s sword back when we saved you, but I don''t know how good you are," The young man probed, rushing to explain himself when he saw the beautiful lady frown.
" I''m only asking to know if we''re going to fight side by side in the future! It''s fine if you don''t tell, uhm, show me, but I would feel much more confident knowing what my teammates can do, you know?" Glenn awkwardly smiled while Liara''s frown melted away and she laughed a little. She stood up and headed for the training room. Glenn''s eyebrows slightly rose, but he followed her, picking a training sword on the way.
"What, you don''t want to use me against the godly beauty? Why? This is unfair!" Nelg complained, but it fell on deaf ears. Glenn stood on one side, while Liara stood on another. Her choice of weapon was...a little peculiar. She had picked a longsword for her right hand, and a spear in her left. The young man frowned at that but didn''t say anything. He was more than a little curious to see the Black Heiress'' fighting style.
"Ready?" He asked. Liara nodded slowly, the corner of her lips curved upward. Glenn drew a deep breath, and suddenly lunged forward, aiming to close the distance. Since Liara had a spear, she had a much longer range than him. The best thing he could do to restrain her movements was to close in and defend against her longsword, before attacking. Liara didn''t waste a second and...threw the spear at him. Glenn hurriedly dodged to the side, the spear making his bathrobe flutter.
Oh, yeah, he was still in a bathrobe, that''s right. Glenn couldn''t spare a moment for that thought, though, as the Black Heiress had suddenly appeared in front of him, her longsword swiping horizontally for his neck. Glenn gritted his teeth and blocked the attack, the strength of the blow pushing him a few meters away. Glenn placed himself back in a defensive position, his sword held straight in front of him, but Liara had disappeared from his line of sight. If she wasn''t in front of him...
Glenn ducked, feeling the brush of the sword past his head, before jumping back and putting more distance between him and Liara. The Black Heiress smiled as she held the spear she somehow picked up at some point, and lunged at him. With incredible dexterity, she stabbed Glenn with the spear, the young man struggling to defend against the attacks. He kept on taking one step back after another when his back touched the wall. At that moment, Liara''s smile grew slightly and she lunged forward, stabbing with both her sword and her spear.
The young man drew a deep breath and held his longsword with both of his hands. He firmly planted his feet on the ground and swiped upward, deflecting the spear, before letting the longsword''s blade slip on his left arm, opening up a long but superficial wound. His expression didn''t change as he closed onto Liara and shoulder-bashed her, knocking her away. She flew back, still holding on to her weapons, but Glenn used his left hand to grab the spear and take it away from her. Liara rotated through the air and slashed precisely for Glenn''s neck.
Glenn lowered his position and stabbed straight for her heart. Both of them stopped at the same time, their blades mere centimeters away from their skin.
They heaved for a moment, before dropping their stances. Glenn wiped the sweat off his forehead and sat on the floor, laughing.
"Haha, well, I''ve never seen this style of fighting before. I can''t even imagine how deadly you might be with magic or Aura..." Glenn spoke in between two breaths. Liara smiled and held her sword out, a white glow suddenly covering it.
"White Aura?" Glenn asked, curious. Liara nodded slowly, before throwing the sword in the air. The weapon flew and shot through the room as if animated with its consciousness. Glenn whistled, impressed.
"Telekinesis, then?" Liara nodded again and recalled the longsword. She smiled and patted the dust off her clothes, before leaving the training room. Glenn stayed on the floor for a few more minutes, before casting a quick Cleaning Water to get rid of the sweat and dust. He then left the training room, satisfied.
Liara was as strong as she was beautiful.
Excellent!
184. Edging on the Mind
"...So, I don''t see a better time to ask, but, can you try your magic on me, Milena?"
Milena looked at Glenn as if the latter was missing common sense or even simple intelligence. She sighed and looked at the ceiling, before heading to the training room. Glenn happily followed behind, now dressed in normal, linen clothes instead of the bathrobe he fought Liara in. Why not study Milena''s spells since he had the time?
Hence why they were now standing in the training room, separated by a dozen meters. The woman looked at Glenn with annoyance, her arms crossed under her ample bosom. Glenn stretched and prepared.
''Ready to take whatever that spell is, Diamanes?'' He asked the entity living in his left hand. Diamanes grunted.
"Alright, so, I''ll just show you the spell, but I can''t tell you how it works, okay? That was the deal." Milena warned as visible lines of Mana twirled around her. Glenn nodded slowly.
"Just show me the spell, Milena, so I can try and steal it from you," He said shamelessly, grinning widely. Milena sighed, before pointing at Glenn with her hand. She suddenly clenched her fingers, and Glenn found himself falling into a whole new dimension. He felt something tugging at his brain, telling him that it was very, very fake, but Glenn decided to ignore the warnings for now. He was trying to understand the spell after all, not break through it with brute force.
Everywhere he placed his eyes, he found some gaping abysses giving him vertigo. When he tried to take a step back, he would instead step forward. He listened for sounds, but could only feel something dripping on every part of his body. This illusion spell was disturbing to be in.
"...But..." Glenn muttered as he reached with his hand for a specific point in time and space. It felt that if he grabbed that...that thing, something would maybe happen... He reached for it specifically with his left hand, to try and have Diamanes swallow it. He grabbed the "thing", which he couldn''t describe. He couldn''t say how it looked, how it felt, it was just...some weird thing floating there in the middle of the illusion.
Glenn''s hand closed on the thing and the illusion suddenly collapsed, revealing a confused Milena.
"...Uhm, I think you made a bad spell, Milena," Glenn said slowly, trying to comprehend what he just did. Milena rubbed her forehead, similarly at a loss.
I''ll cast another spell, she said, frowning. She then slapped her hands together, projecting a shockwave that passed through Glenn and pushed him into another illusion. The young man frowned, but instead of frowning, he wiggled a toe.
Oh, that''s the one she used on him last time, right? Glenn looked around, only to feel the nausea rise at record-breaking speed; looking wasn''t an option then. He couldn''t resort to last-time trick, since he wasn''t wearing his Soulbound suit. May it rest in peace. So what could he do, then? He couldn''t try and search for the "thing" since any movements would make him want to puke, so what other solutions were there? Channeling Mana for some spell?
''Diamanes, you still can''t steal that spell, can''t you?'' Glenn asked with a disappointed tone. Diamanes sighed.
''It seems like the spell is centered on your brain. If you can somehow reach for your head, maybe I''ll be able to take it.''
''I don''t like the "maybe", Diamanes.''
''Well, it''s all I can give you, alright?'' Diamanes replied with a bit of irritation. Glenn wanted to shake his head but couldn''t. Instead, he concentrated on the illusion, trying to see what he could see, what he was allowed to see without making him want to puke. And so far, this was a disgusting mess of mashed-up colors that made him feel like he was falling into some drug-addicts wet dreams.
Not a pleasant sensation, truly. Nelg was watching Glenn struggle, laughing from time to time at his thoughts. Glenn first chose to go with the simple, brute force solution; touching the tug in his brain that told him this was an illusion. He concentrated on that feeling, closing his eyes. When he opened them back up, he had returned in reality to an overly staring Milena.
"...How?" She blurted out, "How the hell did you escape the spell? Did" Milena paled and took a step back, yelling, "Did you fool me from the start? Are you an enforcer from my family? How much are they paying you!"
Glenn moistened his lips while looking at Milena. He sighed and sat on a nearby bench, reviewing what made him able to escape the illusion.
"I don''t know why, but it feels like illusion doesn''t have as much of an effect as before," He frowned and corrected himself, "I mean, it still feels like a downhill trip to Hell, but I can just come out if I want." He turned toward Milena, who was heaving with difficulty, frozen in the same defensive position. Glenn sighed and waved at her.
"Milenaaaa, it''s still Glenn, I''m just starting to have a weird brain, stop your paranoia and come help me find an explanation," He shouted, startling her. Milena looked at him for a few seconds, before forcing herself to relax and walk up to him.
"...How did you escape then? My family trains people in a specific manner to resist mind alteration spells from their youngest age," She squinted suspiciously, "...so how can you replicate their performances?"
Glenn pursed his lips and shrugged.
"You tell me. I didn''t even use any Mana to escape the illusion, just my willpower."
Milena rubbed her chin and looked at the ceiling pensively. She began playing with her raven black hair, wrapping them around her fingers.
"The only way to build defenses against mind alterations is to be affected by them...I don''t think I''ve used my spells on you that many times, though?"
The young man nodded in agreement as he leaned back on the bench.
"If I remember correctly, you only used them twice on me before today, back when I first chased after you, when you burnt that book" Glenn paused and looked at Milena. Milena looked back at him. A small moment of silence passed, and Milena looked away, blushing in shame.
"...You never told me why you destroyed that book, did you?" Glenn leaned forward curiously. Milena took a step back and pressed her lips together. Glenn waited patiently, staring at her silently. Finally, Milena''s muteness broke down.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"That''s I can''t tell you!" She blurted out, her cheeks puffed out. Glenn smacked his lips, before shrugging. Milena sighed in relief and forced herself to go back to the previous topic.
"So, uhm, when were you affected by mind alterations, then? A mind''s defense isn''t built in a night, it must have taken either a lot of time or some insanely powerful alterations," She asked, hiding her shame behind her questions. Glenn chose to ask her about the book again at a later time and rubbed the tip of his nose. What could count as mind alterations?
''Torture is a form of mind alteration, meetings with gods too,'' began Diamanes, ''...Hallucinations from almost dying also counts,'' the entity said, recounting most of Glenn''s traumatic events. The young man grimaced and pressed his hands together.
"...Milena, does torture and mental traumas also work for strengthening the mind''s defense?" Glenn asked through his clenched teeth. Milena paused, before paling.
"It does, but you would need to see...horrible things, to build such a tolerance. Enough things you might go mad from it." She whispered the end of her sentence in disbelief, her eyes widening as she looked at Glenn.
"You..." She shivered as she recalled what she did back in that somber summoning room, killing knights like cattle, and she hid her mouth behind her hand, "You didn''t exaggerate when you said you were used to seeing horrible things."
Glenn smirked and waved dismissively.
"Well, you''ll eventually get used to it. Shitty things seemed to happen to me every day, so you''ll get your share, don''t worry."
Milena looked at him silently, before opening her arms.
"...Do you want a hug?"
Glenn looked at her and blinked. She blinked back.
"...No thanks, Milena. But I appreciate it."
Milena looked at him with a little worry, before coughing her embarrassment out. Glenn dusted his pants off and stood back up, prepared.
"Can you try and cast your spell once more? I want to try something," He asked, changing the subject. Milena happily took the opportunity and channeled Mana.
"Y-Yeah, of course." She channeled Mana and cast her spell, wrapping Glenn in illusion. Just before he fell into the spell, Glenn pressed his left hand on his head, hoping it''d be enough. The second the illusion appeared to try and twist his reality, Glenn knew something had changed once more. He didn''t feel like puking as much as the two times before, and...
''Ha-ah! I got the spell, you can come out, Glenn!'' Diamanes triumphant voice rang in his mind. Glenn grinned and reached for that weird spot in the illusion. Strangely, his movements weren''t impeded like they were before, and he could freely grab the weak spot. He crushed it in his hand and broke through the illusion. Milena looked at him like he was some kind of monster, but Glenn could only laugh.
New magic to play with! He glanced at the palm in his left hand, leaving it out of Milena''s sight, and saw a mouth lick its lips before disappearing in the purple skin.
"I think I can resist the illusion with just my willpower, or break through the weak point, or even just use a burst of Mana to break through." Glenn frowned and looked at Milena.
"Your spell sucks, actually?"
Milena blinked before hitting him in the shoulder angrily.
"No, it doesn''t! You''re just weirdly resistant to mind alterations! There has to be barely a thousand people in King''s Rise who can resist mind alterations like you do!"
Glenn rubbed his chin, unbothered.
"A thousand is a lot."
"S-Shut up!"
Milena stormed out, leaving Glenn alone in the training room. Not even a second after her departure, two disbelieving voices shouted in his head, outraged.
''You''re such an imbecile I can only be speechless, Glenn!'' Diamanes yelled, followed by Nelg.
"This...This was THE moment! The opportunity to create a long, interesting, and loving relationship with a beautiful woman! So why, Glenn?" Nelg despaired. Glenn breathed in deeply and sighed.
''You both are the main reason I can''t have this kind of relationship. And I already said that. Additionally...'' He looked at his fist and clenched it, ''...I still want to go back to Earth. I don''t want to stay in this damned world.''
Diamanes and Nelg remained silent, giving their host some peace of mind. The young man rubbed his neck, before shaking his head and pushing himself up. He aimed his left hand at a nearby training dummy and channeled Mana to cast the illusion/mind spell. Diamanes didn''t say a word as the spell wrapped the dummy, enveloping it in a blurry veil. Glenn approached the dummy but didn''t notice much going on with the veil.
"So far, it makes sense...If it''s mind-based magic, it should only work on something with a consciousness that can be fooled." Glenn realized, dismissing the spell. It wouldn''t be hard to find some targets to try the mind spell on, since he had a full extermination course prepared with Kevin.
If the assistant still wanted to work with him. Glenn doubted it, after what he told the scrawny guy earlier, but that might be for the best. He needed someone to count on, not a mindless puppet of the Cleaners'' upper ranks. An assistant that was only here to monitor him and play house was useless. Kevin was useful, but he had too many obligations toward the higher-ups; that was expected of him, but Glenn wanted someone with a little more leeway, like Sir Reginald. There was no doubt in his mind that the polite gentleman was much more important than he let on; hence the freedom with how he acted and helped Glenn with the investigations around Redan.
Anyway, that was a worry he should leave for the next day. What time was it, anyway? Glenn glanced at his Exan-Egg, and his eyelids twitched when he discovered it was already midnight. Time passed way too quickly when playing around with spells. He still had a lot of Mana to spend before going to bed, though, so wouldn''t it be a bit of a waste to not use it...?
...Glenn left the training room and headed for his bedroom. Creating spells was dangerous; the training room wasn''t prepared for spells on the scope of Solar Flare, for example. What he could do instead, though, was to read the small book on Divinity that Brother Nolan gifted him.
That was something important, and he did need to look into it, to understand more how the Church of Onnea or the Thorn''s Cult power worked. Knowing your enemy was the first step to defeat them, after all. The more knowledge he had on these bastards, the easier it''ll be to crush them to pulp.
Quite the bloody image, but a pleasant one.
"You did become a little fucked up in the head," Nelg realized, a little scared. Glenn''s eyebrows rose and he rolled his eyes.
''No shit, man. Wouldn''t it be weirder if I was still normal?'' He scoffed sarcastically.
''I agree,'' Diamanes added in conjunction with Glenn, ''After fighting so many strange things, you can only become strange yourself.''
Glenn laughed. Wasn''t that like this saying...What did it say already? Ah, yes. Stare too long in the abyss, and the abyss will stare back at you. Nice thing to say when you want to scare someone, less nice when it applies to you.
Well, whatever. Adaptation was something he couldn''t and shouldn''t fight against, for the more he adapted, the more chances he had to survive. And seeing how much dreadful shit happened to him, Glenn knew he was going to need all the adaptation, luck, and wits to continue to survive. There was no chance life would get easier, after all.
...Even his holidays consisted of slaying monsters.
"...Anyway, there''s no point in complaining," He muttered through his teeth as he looked for Brother Nolan''s notebook in his dimensional pouch. After getting it back from the bottomless pouch, he installed himself comfortably with a floating Lux to light the pages. The small orb of light was a little more practical than Sun''s Touch in these situations, he had to admit.
And less likely to make things catch on fire, too.
"Research and Study on Corruption," by Vandorian Di Forte. Glenn opened the book and a small note fell off. He caught it and read it.
"There are also basic notions on Divinity included, to explain the link it has with the Corruption, alongside Mana and Aura. You''re free to keep the book if you wish, we have a lot of copies. Brother Nolan."
Glenn smiled. How nice of the priest!
He spent most of the night reading the book, before heading to sleep Meditate around 6 A.M. Milena and Liara were long asleep and had planned to stay this way for a while. Or maybe they were just tired. What could even tire Liara? She wasn''t doing anything in the day, did she? Glenn would have to ask if she wanted to do some Fixer work. Maybe Milena already showed her the option? He''ll have to ask.
The next day was going to be full of tests and experiences, he was sure of it.
Hopefully, there won''t be too many hiccups.
185. “Research and Study of Corruption”
Glenn looked at Research and Study of Corruption and reread the pages he''d marked the night before to make sure he''d understood them perfectly.
The first and most important component of the book, which is repeated on almost every page, is that Power means Corruption. Power, which is used in the book to put Aura, Mana, and Divinity in the same category. The three energies were unnatural sources of strength and gave an individual power that shouldn''t belong to anyone. Destructive and creation powers, which can destroy the balance of the world. A single man could ruin a city or more, and so, Corruption seems to be the balancing element for these powerful individuals. The stronger, the more chances to get Corrupted. Divinity was also a source of power, one that came directly from the user''s deity. The Silence Curse was a Divinity-powered curse, provided by Epinos, the God of Pain and Redemption, a god Glenn had a blood feud with, by the way. Wasn''t that a funny thought?
Corruption was the consequence of mental instability combined with uncontrollable power and led to monsterification. "A terrible fate, but one that all Power users should be aware of", in the book''s author''s own words. Vandorian Di Forte, the totally-not-relative of Astrid Di Forte appeared quite pessimistic in his book. It got to the point where Glenn wondered if Vandorian had lost close friends to Corruption...
On a more technical side, Vandorian provided quite a bit of "statistical" data on Corruption. Nolan had called this book simple, but it was all but that. The first thing that interested him, of course, was the potential for militarization. There always was some guy that wanted to militarize the terrible stuff, don''t they? At first, Glenn couldn''t quite see the "advantages" to Corruption, but Vandorian then wrote that most Corrupted had an increase of over one hundred percent in power, some even more depending on their transformation stages. Older Corrupted can regain their intellect, but it will be tainted with Corruption, forcing them to be monsters for the rest of their miserable lives.
Since there was such a massive power boost, it was no wonder why Vandorian wanted to control Corruption. But he failed, and in the process, discovered more about how Corruption affected an individual and transformed their bodies into ones suited for monsters. He even managed to somehow follow the monsterification process with his own eyes: when the Corruption took over the affected individual, it changed the flow of Mana the test subject was a Magi for this experiment and redirected it to flow inwardly from the body to the Mana Heart. The test subject became a Mana vacuum, basically, and overcharged his Mana Heart up to the explosion. Normally, for a normal individual, they would simply die, their hearts exploding from within their chests.
But, for the Corrupted test subject, what happened was very different. The heart mutated into a much more robust shape, allowing it to endure the charge of the Mana Overload. It had the consequences of also modifying the whole body to become a suitable host for the Corruption, leading to the process of monsterification. The test subject''s intellectual capacity then changed from an experienced, sixty-year-old Magi to one of a toddler. A mentally deranged toddler, with immense power and extreme bloodlust. It''d be probably more suitable for Corrupted to be named beasts, at this point.
Vandorian then stressed that his experiments never allowed him to see what would happen if an extremely powerful individual got Corrupted, like an Archmagi, an Aura Saint, or a high-ranked priest. So that remained to be seen for further consequences. But for individuals up to the Fifth Circle, the previous experience seemed to repeat in the same fashion, with some small differences. An Aura user would flood his body with Aura, which usually led to instant death, and increase their physical capacities tenfold, while Divinity users would summon cosmic creatures to destroy the world and assimilate with their bodies.
On that last note, Vandorian was adamant in saying that Divinity users were the most dangerous and unstable victims of Corruption, for the changes they would endure depended on the God they served.
Reading the book left quite a taste of ash in Glenn''s mouth, but he was glad he read it anyway. This was a lot of information he would have never obtained on his own, even though it felt like some things were missing in Vandorian''s book. What was the relation between insanity and Corruption? Why would the first lead to the second? That was the main point Glenn couldn''t understand; why would losing one''s mind inevitably lead to losing control of one''s power? Back on Earth, some individuals affected with terrible mental illnesses were still more than capable of creating the most evil, cruel plans to harm others.
What part did Power Mana, Aura, and Divinity play in all of this mess?
What was sure was that Glenn wouldn''t be able to answer these questions right away. So instead, he closed Research and Study of Corruption and stored the book in his dimensional pouch.
"...I sure hope I won''t go insane due to the two idiots in my mind..." Glenn muttered as he threw on a simple brown assortment of clothes. Nelg didn''t lose a single second to counter his host''s words.
"You do know insulting me is the same as insulting yourself, right?" The sword remarked with a wicked tone, while Diamanes laughed mockingly, the mouth appearing without restraints in Glenn''s left palm, showcasing its peerlessly white teeth.
Heh, I''m pretty sure that you, of all people, can''t comment on someone else''s intellect, Glenn."
Glenn ignored both of them as he ate a quick breakfast of grilled toast, butter, and bacon, and cleaned his teeth with a nice Aqua Mundare. He thanked once again whoever nameless legend was the inventor of Mundare, and left his suite. Milena and Liara had left a while ago, and from the message they left Glenn on the living room table, they were going to take some Fixer contracts to earn money. Milena had already led Liara through the Fixer recruitment process at some point, and the Black Heir had earned the best rank, Silver. Glenn had no doubt she could earn her way up to Dark Gold if she wanted to. She was super strong after all.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Today''s goal is..." The young man pondered aloud, trying to review his priority list. Right now...farming souls was the main thing, so he should probably do that...Also, he needed new Soulbound clothes, so he''ll have to visit the Armory at some point. Hopefully Rusty was back, or someone replaced him. He preferred Rusty, but he''d do with anyone to get back a Soulbound set of clothes. Maybe a few of them, so losing one wouldn''t be that much of a big deal, and to have some choice too.
Glenn left the Dormitory and headed straight for the Armory. He entered with hopes and dreams of finding the ginger-bearded dwarf. These hopes were shattered when he crossed eyes with a muscular old man standing behind the counter. He was wearing a thick leather apron and a massive hammer was resting on his shoulder while he puffed on a cigar. He had no eyebrows, which gave him some kind of crazed-out look.
"Hmf, another scrawny guy..." The old man grumbled as he crushed his cigar on the counter. Glenn grimaced and walked up to him, before looking around the shop.
"...Rusty isn''t back yet, I take it?" Glenn asked with the same lack of politeness the old man showed him. The latter smirked and adjusted the position of the hammer on his shoulder.
"Hah! Sorry to break the news to you, but Rusty isn''t coming back! The dwarf has gone into hiding ''cause his boy created something he shouldn''t have created."
Glenn lifted an eyebrow. Rusty had to go into hiding...Wait, was it because the Smith made Nelg? The two did disappear after the creation of the Soul weapon... He could only hope they were well. The young man looked at the old man and moistened his lips.
"I came because I wanted to get myself a few Soulbound suits. Is it feasible?"
The old man looked up and down at Glenn''s brown, cheap clothes and shrugged.
"Sure, if you can pay."
Glenn wordlessly summoned his Black Gold dagger and stabbed it into the crushed cigar and the counter. The old man squinted at the dagger, before coming out of the counter and taking a closer look at Glenn.
"...Mage or fighter?" He asked, circling Glenn, before answering his own question, "...Both, then. Hmf, you talked to me about some suits, huh? I guess you want it stylish as well..."
The young man didn''t say a word and waited patiently. Finally, the old man sighed and went back to the counter to take the dagger.
"...Alright, and you also have practically unlimited credits..." The old man rubbed the back of his bald head and turned away to the back of the shop.
"Come back this evening, I''ll have it ready," He said without looking at Glenn and paused for a few seconds. After that, he sneered and turned to the young man, "...And don''t expect my stuff to be as good as what Rusty could make. I''m a weapon maker, not a fucking tailor, ''aight?"
Glenn nodded with a small grin as the old man entered the back of the shop. The young man smacked his lips and left the Armory. That went better than he thought it would have. The old man looked rough, but he also looked like he was going to get the job done, which was good.
"Time to go farm some souls, then?" Nelg asked with an interested tone. Glenn passed his tongue over his teeth.
''Yep. Let''s go see if I can get Kevin to spare me the contract parts unless he gave his resignation letter to his higher-ups.''
Diamanes grunted with dissent, ''The rat, even though you scared him shitless, will probably stay with you. The higher-ups probably consider that putting someone else in charge of you is a bad move since another error the same kind as with Josh will likely repeat. Kevin already knows what he shouldn''t do.''
Glenn nodded at the sharp explanation. Now that Diamanes explained it, it did make some sense. In the end, he would only know after asking for his assistant at the main hall. On these wise thoughts, Glenn entered the main hall and headed straight for the pretty but probably non-human ladies handling the counter. The lady looked up at him and didn''t even give him the time to state his demand.
"Hello, Sir Glenn. Your assistant Kevin will be here shortly," She said with a smile. Glenn paused for a second, before smiling back.
"Thank you."
After waiting for a few minutes, Kevin finally showed himself, with wide, dark circles under his eyes and hair even messier than usual. His notepad, instead of being tightly clenched against his chest like usual, was barely hanging from his hand. Glenn almost wanted to grimace at this sorry sight but restrained himself from doing so.
"H...Hello, Sir Glenn," Kevin spoke soullessly, not even daring to look into Glenn''s eyes. The young man rubbed his chin for a second, his lips pressed. It seemed like what he told the assistant the last time was weighing on the poor man. On one hand, that meant it worked and Kevin probably won''t pull the same stunts as with Josh, but on the other hand...
Glenn grabbed Kevin''s shoulder, startling him. "Hey, Kevin. Don''t worry too much about what I told you last time. I was just in bad shape from having to kill someone I personally knew."
Kevin looked up at Glenn with suddenly hopeful eyes, "You...You''re not going to fire me?"
Glenn blinked, before shaking his head.
"Nope."
The assistant''s mouth gaped open slightly, and the dark circles under his eyes seemed to slightly lighten. Perhaps it was an optic illusion, but Kevin did look a little better now.
"A-Alright. Uhm, I prepared today''s work, would you like to have a quick brief?"
Glenn grinned and looked at the notepad.
"Sure, let''s see what we''re killing today...Oh, a ghost?" The young man''s eyebrows rose when he saw that specific word on the list. Kevin looked up at him and frowned slightly.
"...Have you never taken care of one, Sir Glenn?"
Glenn shook his head, curious.
"No? What the hell does a ghost even look like? Is it like some floating soul you need to exorcise or something?"
Kevin looked emptily at his boss for a few seconds, before pulling himself together.
"Uhm, no, it''s not...well, you''re not wrong either, but..." The assistant seemed to struggle to find his words. Glenn passed his tongue over his teeth, before shrugging.
"Whatever. What can I use to kill it? Magic, sword, both?"
Kevin shook his head and pulled out a small, iron crucifix. Glenn''s eyes opened widely, scoffing as he thought back to all the horror movies he watched on Earth.
Was he going to exorcise a ghost for real?
''Glenn, in the role of the Exorcist!'' Diamanes''s voice suddenly rang with exaggeration, while Nelg added his grain of salt.
"Careful, this movie is recommended to adults only!"
Glenn laughed and patted Kevin on the back.
This promised to be fun.
186. Fishing for a Ghost
"Grim. Ominous. Fucking weird, for sure. Maybe even a little scary?" Nelg spoke hesitantly in Glenn''s mind. The young man rubbed his chin, unable to keep his eyes off the strange scenery he was looking at. Kevin pushed his glasses up his nose, his unibrow creased.
"...So that''s the haunted place, right?" Glenn asked as he crossed his arms. Kevin looked down at his notepad, flipping a few pages up before nodding.
"Yes, Sir Glenn. That''s the target''s location."
Glenn pressed his lips together, uneasy. Kevin and him were standing in front of a very large, normal-looking house, surrounded by not-so-normal white marble statues. White dust was covering the ground and the walls of the house, untouched for days. Which, in and of itself was weird, since apparently, more than a few Fixers had disappeared investigating this place. There should at least be some footprints, but no, the dust remained undisturbed.
"So, how many victims already?" The young man turned to his assistant, who replied instantly.
"So far, twelve Silver Fixers, five Gold Fixers, and forty-five civilians. All of the nearby habitations have been abandoned since their inhabitants were terrified of ending up like their neighbors; missing."
Glenn moistened his lips. A haunted house, with marble statues and many, many missing persons. Obviously, the first thing he wanted to check was whether the statues were alive. There were way too many cliche stories of statues coming alive and attacking bystanders for him to act as if their presence was normal.
"Can I destroy all the statues?" He asked Kevin, who froze for a second before shaking his head, a small bead of sweat pearling down his forehead.
"Uh, no, please? Those are all masterpieces from the renowned sculptor Van Virando," The light in the assistant''s eyes changed, and he spoke with a little more fervor, "Humanity as a whole must make sure that those statues last for eternity. Each art piece from Van Virando is renowned throughout the world, and is even sold in King''s Rise Higher Circles."
Glenn looked back at the statues and whistled, impressed. They were extremely realistic, but all of them were missing a face, strangely. Instead, dots had been poked where the faces should have been in a circle, making for a stark contrast with the rest of the statues'' bodies.
"I guess these statues are pretty expensive, then. Is it okay to just leave them here?" He demanded while wondering if they would fit in his dimensional pouch. He had a lot of money, but he certainly could make use of more, couldn''t he?
Kevin smirked and pointed at the statues'' feet.
"Van Virando is also an exceptional Magi, who took refuge in the Fringe to calmly work on his art. He modified the statues magically in a way that if someone barely tried to move them, they''d explode in a cloud of white dust. Hence..." He waved at the layer of white dust covering everything. Glenn groaned in acknowledgment and rubbed his hands together.
"I see. What about Van Virago, where is he?"
Kevin frowned and corrected him.
"Van Virando. He went missing after announcing to the world the creation of his Magnum Opus. But..." The assistant looked at the statues and hugged his notepad tightly, "...More statues kept on being created, even after the artist''s disappearance. That was a year ago, and no one had any idea of what happened to Van Virando."
Kevin adjusted the position of his glasses and held a gold crucifix toward Glenn.
"What we do know is that some entity has taken hold of Virando''s residence, and is probably the reason for the disappearances. Ah, also..." He looked back at his notepad and grumbled through his teeth while flipping through the pages. He stopped on one and tapped his finger on it.
"Here it is. You''ve been granted the authority necessary to employ force if necessary against Van Virando. You are absolutely forbidden from killing him, though. The artist''s death would set humanity back a few centuries, and the world needs his techniques to be taught to others."
Glenn sighed and cracked his neck.
"...That''s a lot of restraints. I can''t break anything, can''t kill anything, and am supposed to use some damned crucifix to do the job. Heh, how does it even work anyway?" He took the crucifix and threw it up and down under Kevin''s worried gaze.
"Uhm, you''re supposed to pray toward a Divinity you''re closest to and summon their powers through the crucifix. It should exterminate the ghost and purify evil. I''m not really sure, it''s a new product from the Church of Onnea to fight against the Thorn''s Cult."
Glenn looked at the crucifix through a new lens. So that was something from the Church of Onnea? It was a little amusing to see they would create something so specific to fight against the cultists.
''Bah, what uses is this thing? I''m sure using Divine Blessing on the ghost, if ghost there is, will erase it from this planet''s surface,'' Diamanes sneered, unimpressed. Glenn ignored him and shook his head.
"Alright, then. Kevin, you stay safe, and I''ll go take care of..." He searched for his words and smirked, "...Casper over there, ''kay?"
The assistant looked at his boss confusedly, nodding absent-mindedly, "...Casper? Who''s...?"
Glenn navigated through the marble statues and unceremoniously kicked the door open. His leather boots were carving black footprints in the white dust, and a small cloud surrounded him mysteriously. The young man coughed and waved the dust away, entering the house.
"Hello, the ghost that probably transforms people into statues, where are you?" Glenn hollered without the slightest fear. He was more than a little curious to know what a ghost looked like, but he couldn''t say it frightened him in the least. Perhaps it''d be like a floating white thing or some kind of scary zombie that screamed? Whatever, if push came to shove he could just obliterate the whole house with a Black Hole
"Remember, you''re supposed to be very careful and not break anything," Nelg reminded him, while Diamanes mocked him, ''I know that''s hard to ask of you, but try to restrain yourself from just reducing this nice house to a pile of rubble.''
Glenn groaned and proceeded through the house, using Sun''s Touch to illuminate his path. All the windows were barred with wooden planks, and dust had settled in every corner. Some spiderwebs hung from the ceiling, trapping insects that had died a long while ago. Van Virando''s house''s atmosphere was a little gloomy, but Glenn couldn''t find anything that led him to believe that a ghost was there. It was just an eerily empty house, with a lot of dust, cobwebs, and not a lot of furniture.
Ah, that''s what was unnerving him. Glenn glanced in a few different rooms, but the result was the same. Strangely, the rooms were simply empty; no furniture, tables chairs, or anything you might expect to find in a house. No chests, desks, or shelves. The floor was, of course, of white marble tiles, without rugs or tapestry. Glenn couldn''t find a kitchen either, nor a bathroom, or a pantry. Many families reserved a whole room to hang meat to dry and store grain, but there was none of that here.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
He did find a stairway leading to a higher floor. Perhaps he''d have more luck looking up there.
"...It''s a little boring, to be honest," Glenn blurted out, disappointed. He was expecting some scary, poltergeist bullshit, but so far the ghost didn''t look like he wanted to show up. He began playing with the crucifix, walking up the stairs while wondering what prayers he should address Onnea. It was the Goddess he was closest to and one he actually met. Maybe he should try asking the Guide for help, too? That was something to try out. The Guide probably saved him back when he was fighting the Fallen Mother and her unholy Son in Palancar. He had no idea whether the Guide was a good or bad kind of god, but he looked mysteriously friendly enough.
Creak...
"Hah!" Glenn jumped on his feet and stared at a door opening slightly by itself. With a wide grin, he ran to the door and shoved it open, ready to send the best prayer of his life.
"Haha, show yourself, ghost! I''ll send you back to...darn it," He sighed and shook his head. That room was as empty as the others, the windows barely letting any sunlight in through the wooden planks blocking them. He did a quick tour of the room, but there was nothing. The other rooms were all in a similar condition, empty and dusty, with a musty smell. No blood, no scary things, nothing.
"This is getting a little annoying, ghost..." Glenn hissed through his clenched teeth, his disappointment increasing with each passing second. There was no next floor, meaning Glenn had already explored the whole house. There were no traces of the missing persons, no traces of a ghost, no nothing. The young man sat on the stairs and sighed.
''Well, I''m also a little disappointed. I was looking forward to that,'' Diamanes admitted. Glenn could only agree with the entity. He leaned back and pondered; more than forty people had disappeared in this house, they had to have gone somewhere. Oh, maybe a hidden space? Glenn''s eyes lit up and he looked around with a little more interest. At this time, he missed Liara''s presence, for the Black Heiress seemed to be quite adept at finding these sorts of secret passages.
"If there ends up being nothing, I''ll officially be renaming this adventure the Lousy Urbex," Nelg grunted with annoyance. Glenn smirked and passed his hand on the walls, trying to find a lever or hidden button, without success. After trying and failing for half an hour, Glenn gave up and stormed out of the house. Kevin was waiting a hundred meters away, watching with a pair of binoculars. He flinched when he saw Glenn make his way out with barely hidden anger.
"Shit, the only thing there is in this damned house is dust, disappointment, and boredom!" He blurted out, kicking a rock out of his way. Kevin trotted up to him, confused.
"Uhm, is it...is it done, Sir Glenn?" He asked hesitantly. Glenn smacked his lips and shook his head.
"Nope. There ain''t shit in this fucking house, so I couldn''t exorcise shit. Maybe the ghost is haunting the garden, I don''t fucking know..." He lamented at the lost time before sitting on a tree trunk. Kevin approached him carefully, looking for any strange signs. Glenn rubbed his forehead, lost in thoughts.
''There has to be something, or there wouldn''t be so many missing persons...''
Diamanes suddenly laughed and didn''t waste a second to explain why.
''Maybe you need a bait, haha! Like a fisherman''s worm! Send Kevin in there, Glenn!''
Glenn blinked the corner of his lips slowly but surely curving upward. He turned toward Kevin and grinned widely, patting his scrawny assistant''s shoulder.
"Kevin, I just had an excellent idea..."
Kevin''s eyes widened, but a few seconds later, he was already in the house alone, Glenn waiting at the entry for something to happen.
"Uhm, SirSir Glenn, I don''t think that''s a good idea, uhm..." Kevin stuttered, terrified. Glenn waved it off.
"Come on, you got the crucifix, man, you''re safe!" He shouted at him with a smile while watching carefully from outside. He made quick work of the planks obstructing the windows with Gravity Manipulation, allowing him to see inside the house more clearly. Kevin was frozen in place, unable to move from his position. The assistant was trembling, hugging his notepad like it was his last lifeline.
"...Oh? What''s that?" Nelg asked curiously, noticing something Glenn failed to see. The young man glanced around, finding out what surprised his sword. Kevin, who was standing right in the middle of the house''s main hallway, looked at the ceiling when dust fell on his shoulders. Two, white marble hands were extricating themselves from the ceiling, reaching for the assistant. The hands were connected to a white arm with no elbows, elongating without limit to catch Kevin.
The assistant gasped and fell to his knees, unable to move as the hands slowly but surely reached for him. Glenn rubbed his chin as he watched the spectacle, wondering whether he should intervene.
"Hey!" He rattled his throat, and the marble hands stopped moving, "Use the crucifix, you dumbass!"
Kevin''s eyes widened even more than they already were, and he hurriedly took the crucifix out of his belt. The hands suddenly accelerated, reaching for Kevin''s throat, but the assistant managed to pull out the crucifix and held it in front of him like a shield. The gold crucifix gleamed weakly under the feeble lighting until Kevin started muttering something desperately under his breath. The hands froze and tried to push through some invisible barrier, struggling to do so.
Glenn crossed his arms, not worried at all, but extremely curious to see whose God the assistant asked for help. Straps of pure white satin shot out from under Kevin''s feet and went to restrain the marble hands. As soon as the lustrous fabric touched the marble hands, it became as black as night, and violently pulled on the hands. A pale, white lamprey with two arms, the size of a bear fell from the ceiling, writhing on the ground in the black satin. Kevin stumbled back and dropped the crucifix, horrified. As soon as the crucifix stopped touching his skin, the satin disappeared, freeing the lamprey.
"AHHH!!" Kevin screamed in terror, putting his ridiculously small notepad between him and the lamprey. The creature shrieked and pushed itself with its two, long arms toward Kevin. The assistant paled and fell on his back, but just as the lamprey was about to latch on him, a spell wrapped around the creature and pulled it out of the house. Glenn carefully Gravity Manipulated the lamprey, grimacing at the mouth filled with sharp teeth, and held his left hand toward the creature.
"Alright, let''s see if Divine does work on this "ghost"," He muttered as he cast a Divine Blessing on the lamprey. The creature writhed as the golden light wrapped around its pale, wrinkled body, and hissed a white cloud of dust all around itself. Glenn frowned and waved the dust away, his eyes widening when he watched his right arm petrify into white marble. The Divine Blessing seemed like it was working, but not enough for his tastes.
Kevin ran out of the house while screaming, garnering the attention of the lamprey for a spare second. It wasn''t a long time, but it was enough for Glenn to pull Nelg out of his sheath and hurl it at the creature, all done with the use of Gravity Manipulation. Not being able to use his right arm sucked, but the young man didn''t dwell on it. It was probably temporary, anyway.
But what if it wasn''t?
Glenn shook his head and controlled Nelg with almost perfect Telekinesy, shoving the sword right in the lamprey''s face. And in a strange sort of way, the sword sliced right through the lamprey but didn''t cut it. It didn''t bleed, nor was its skin ruptured, but the creature did seem to feel the pain of the blade passing through it.
"Wow, this is so fucking weird!" Nelg shouted as he was thrown around with Gravity Manipulation. Glenn winced, concentrating. The lamprey struggled on the ground, failing to push itself up to counterattack, all the while the golden light of the Divine Blessing kept on slowly devouring it. Black fumes came out of the creature, dispersed by the golden light.
In a final struggle, the lamprey puffed another large cloud of pale dust, which Glenn hurriedly avoided. His focus was broken for a second and the lamprey managed to power through the Divine Blessing, jumping at Glenn desperately. The young man stepped back and recalled Nelg to his left hand, awakening the sword with Mana and using its Cut & Pull ability. The lamprey froze as the attack touched it, and its body suddenly fell apart in two irregular slices.
The two lamprey slices kept on emitting black fumes until they disappeared completely, leaving behind two parts of a broken, rusty crown. No jewels were adorning it, and it looked old, all beat up in addition to being cut in two from Glenn''s slash.
The young man took a few seconds to make sure the creature was completely dead, before allowing himself to sigh. He sheathed his sword, watching in wonder as the marble covering his right arm fell off like plaster, crumbling away.
"What an interesting creature..." He muttered, before smirking as he crouched next to the broken crown, "...It even gave me some loot!"
He was about to give the crown a closer look, but the sound of Kevin puking his guts out forced him out of his interest. He turned around to try and find out what made his assistant have such a visceral reaction, just in time to see one of the nearby statues crumble. A mummy fell out, crashing on the ground in a small puddle of black blood and dried organs. Its bones broke on contact, making for a crunching sound particularly disturbing to hear. More statues broke open, relieving more mummies from their airtight seals, all in different stages of desiccation.
Glenn grimaced, his nose creased. Diamanes sneered, and Nelg gasped in surprise.
Oh, so that was why Kevin puked.
187. Fifty-Four Shades of Souls
Glenn looked at the rusty broken crown and pondered. What were "ghosts" exactly, and why did killing that lamprey one drop a crown? A broken one, sure, but a crown nonetheless. One thing was sure, Divinity hurt ghosts like hell. Thinking back to it, Glenn couldn''t begin to guess which God Kevin asked for back when he used the crucifix. A satin god? That was weird. He''ll have to ask Kevin once he is back.
''Maybe you could''ve asked him before he left for the Church,'' Diamanes remarked with a cynical tone. Glenn shrugged it off and concentrated back on the crown, sticking the two broken parts together.
"Sun''s Touch."
The young man made his finger glow powerfully, increasing the intensity of the Solar attribute spell and tried to weld the two parts together. He quickly gave up once he realized that he had forgotten that molten metal was very, very hot, and could very much burn through his finger. Perhaps he could try and make some kind of laser, to melt the metal from a distance?
Glenn was interrupted in the middle of his experimentations when Kevin tapped him on the shoulder to avert him of his presence. The assistant was more than happy to run off to the Church of Onnea when Glenn asked him to earlier and looked a little less pale now.
"I brought the Church of Onnea as requested, Sir. Is a clean-up team from the Workshop necessary?" He asked while ostentatiously keeping the mummified corpses out of sight. Glenn shook his head and smiled slightly when he recognized who the Church sent.
"Don''t bother them, I''m pretty sure it''s better to ask the Church for assistance in this situation," He grunted and stood up from his tree trunk, putting the crown parts away to investigate for later. A paladin in silver armor and a priestess in a white robe approached them with two dozen initiates following them.
"Astrid, Alabaster," Glenn saluted the two with a nod. Alabaster nodded back politely, while Astrid only sighed tiredly.
"Yes, yes, let''s just get this over with, alright? This is already the fourth place today..." She mumbled with a hint of annoyance. Glenn looked at her and almost asked her what that was about, but Alabaster''s frantic movements to warn him from doing so stopped him. The paladin was mouthing very clearly "Don''t speak to her she''s angry", a little despair on his face as he said so. Astrid frowned and looked back at the paladin, only to find his usual, professional expression.
Glenn sneered and shook his head, "Thanks for your help anyway, Astrid. I got rid of the ghost haunting the place, and also found all the victims." He glanced at the desiccated corpses lying here and there, counting more than fifty of them. All the statues in Van Virando''s courtyard turned out to be corpses, victims of the ghost, encased in marble and slowly drying to death. A terrible spell, but Glenn was tempted to keep the method in mind in case he came across another asshole on the Eastern Town Mayor''s level, a weak piece of shit who had more power than they deserved.
A few hundred days in a marble coffin would probably correct most of their flaws, wouldn''t it? Glenn discarded the morbid thoughts as he watched the initiates from the Church of Onnea work around the corpses, praying for their souls and carefully picking them up to arrange their transports. Glenn dusted his hands off and turned to Astrid, who was watching over the operations with a tired eye.
"Do you need me to do anything, or can I go to the next"
Astrid grunted and gestured dismissively at him, "Just get out of here. We''ll investigate the reason for the ghost''s appearance, now that the zone has been cleared." Her expression softened slightly and she gave him a small smile.
"It''s nice to know that you''re able to use Divinity too. Thank you for taking some stuff out of our plates, we''ll be able to help more people this way."
Glenn smiled back at her, "It''s my pleasure, Astrid. I''ll see you around."
"Yeah, yeah, see you."
"See you around, Glenn!" Alabaster waved at him with a happy smile, making for a stark contrast with the corpses he was transporting. Glenn restrained a shudder and waved back at the paladin, before leaving the premises, Kevin trotting closely behind him. The assistant seemed relieved now that a good distance was separating him from the corpses.
"I thought someone from the Workshop would have more guts," Glenn remarked as he spoke to the scrawny man, "Do you have a problem with corpses or something?"
Kevin shook his head nervously, As you''ve seen, I''m not much of a fighter, and corpses make me very, very uncomfortable. I can''t get near them without... He trailed off and shivered. Glenn didn''t insist on this point and instead asked him about another subject that intrigued him.
"Which deity''s help did you ask for back with the crucifix? I don''t think I know a Satin God."
Kevin looked at Glenn for a second, blinking in a lack of comprehension.
"A Satin Godah!" He shook his head with a rare smile as he realized.
"The God I worship isn''t very well known, I doubt you''d know about Him."
Glenn shrugged off the obvious attempt at changing the subject and didn''t push further. He took his Exan-Egg out of his dimensional pouch and checked the time. Ten and a half in the morning. He had enough time to deal with at least one more contract, perhaps two depending on them. Could he afford a break?
"Kevin, can I afford a break or do we have anything urgent?"
The assistant looked at his notepad and adjusted his glasses, frowning.
"You have four more contracts for today, Sir Glenn. Three are contained threats that require a simple clean-up, but one is indeed urgent."
Glenn rubbed the back of his head and sighed. So be it, then. If it was urgent, what could he do about it? Two hours and a few easily slayed monsters later, Glenn was sitting at a street restaurant, enjoying a bowl of cold tomato soup while studying the broken crown. Kevin was sitting at his table, enjoying his food as well. The assistant was the one who recommended the booth and had explained to Glenn that the tomato soup they served was the best in the Northern Town.
Indeed, it was a good soup.
''It''s strange, I can''t feel anything coming from the crown, but it still makes me a bit queasy...'' Diamanes remarked with interest. Glenn rubbed his chin, echoing the entity''s feeling. Indeed, looking at the crown made him feel like he had an itch in some unreachable part of his back, not painful but annoying enough to be noticeable. Was it the lack of jewels? The beat-up aspect of it, the rust? He couldn''t tell.
But there had to be a reason why the ghost was attached to this item, and he was going to discover it.
''Why are you even interested in that?'' Diamanes asked with a little irritation. Glenn looked at his left hand and sneered.
''The more I understand about this world, the more chances I have at survival. And, who knows, maybe I''ll find a way to weaponize ghosts, right? I''m sure it has already been done beforeah, wait, wasn''t that what that Abbot from the Thorn''s Cult did back then, with his book?''
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Diamanes hummed for an instant, before replying.
''...No, if I remember well it was Divinity using souls as sacrifices. Or something like that. But it was nowhere like the ghosts you''re talking about. What is even the definition of a ghost, anyway?''
Glenn froze, before laughing at the question. Indeed, what was a ghost?
"Kevin, what are ghosts exactly?" He looked at his assistant, who was already done with his soup. The scrawny man politely wiped his mouth, before rubbing his hands together.
"Well" He emptied a glass of water and rattled his throat, "The main definition for ghosts is an entity anchored to a specific point in space and time. That anchor can be an item, like in today''s case," He motioned at the broken crown, "but it can also be a living being or a specific place. In most cases, these entities are created due to a large amount of negative emotions and an influx of Mana, and linger on the living, leeching off them.
Glenn laughed at the pun, thinking back to the lamprey, before quickly killing that laugh. Kevin had made no joke there, as his serious face proved.
"Cough," The young man cleared his throat, "Then, why is Divinity working so well on them?"
Kevin shook his head, at a loss. "We don''t know exactly the reason, but there seems to be an incompatibility between evil beings created from Mana and Divinity. The latter is very efficient on the former, but the reasons for such efficiency are extremely varied and not very precise. It''s still a subject of study with many different opinions."
Glenn nodded slowly, listening as he tried to stick the two broken parts together.
"...I see." He looked at the crown in its assembled shape, uneasy. Why...Why did it look so strange?
"I know!" Nelg suddenly exclaimed, coming out of his silence, "I know why you feel that way!"
Glenn''s head tilted slightly to the side and he blinked.
''Well, I''m all ear, Nelg.''
The sword laughed and brought back the memory of one of the statues, a very realistic one if it wasn''t for the lack of face and the circle of dots replacing it. A circle of dots...Ohhhh. Glenn looked at the crown and compared it to the memory he had of the statues. The points of the crown did seem to fit with the dots somehow. But what did that mean...? What was that crown, anyway? Some kind of branding thing?
"Kevin, you remember these dots on the statues'' faces?" Glenn crossed his arms as he asked, the jigsaws of the puzzle piecing themselves together. Kevin paled slightly and nodded.
"Of course. It''s Van Virando''s trademark, after all" The assistant interrupted himself and hid his mouth behind his hand, his eyes widening. Glenn groaned and rubbed his temples. It all made sense now. For some twisted reason, Van Virando encased living people in marble, marking them with this crown. The grudge the victims felt was certainly the source of the ghost''s creation, a ghost who did its best to upkeep Virando''s legacy by encasing more people in marble.
"...This is twisted..." Glenn muttered through his teeth. This was an issue he didn''t want to add to his plate. He already had too much to do, why should he hunt after yet another madman for free? Well, the gratification of killing sick bastards was always great, but it didn''t help him much in his quest.
''Just report it to the Workshop and Onnea''s Church,'' Diamanes suggested. Glenn moistened his lips, pondering for a second before shrugging. Diamanes was right, reporting the mad sculptor to the law-keeping organizations was the right thing to do. And if he happened to cross Virando''s path, perhaps he could give him a taste of his own medicine.
Glenn looked at the broken crown and handed it to Kevin, who paled even further as he held the branding tool.
"Kevin, go report Virando to the Church and the Workshop, so they can put him on their hit list. Give me that notepad and take the day, I''ll go get rid of the remaining targets."
The assistant carefully placed the two broken parts of the crown and shook his head, gulping down his horror.
"II apologize Sir Glenn, but I am supposed to monitor and confirm your bounties, so"
Glenn laughed and patted the scrawny man on the shoulder, interrupting him.
"You didn''t get it. It wasn''t a request, Kevin." Glenn coldly stated, his smile disappearing like a mirage. Kevin blinked, before sighing and ripping a page off his notepad and handing it to him.
"HHere you go, then. The remaining three targets are all on this page, but I''ll need you to bring proof of the bounty to the Workshop once you''re done."
Glenn shrugged, waving dismissively as he leaned back in his seat.
"Sure, sure, whatever. Come on, let me enjoy my tomato soup in peace~"
Kevin nodded and stood up, bowing politely before leaving. Glenn closed his eyes and sighed.
"Well, I guess we''re not done with the day, then?" Nelg asked almost mockingly. Glenn sighed even deeper and shook his head.
"No, we''re not. Food, and back to work..."
The sword laughed, before adding something, "By the way, once we''re finished with the bounties, I''ll have to show you something. Killing that ghost netted a lot more souls than expected, so..."
Glenn used both of his hands to support his bowl of soup and gulped it all down in one shot.
"I see. Let''s talk about that once I''m done."
"Alright."
After a not-so-long day of not-so-hard work and a few more monstrosities put to the blade, Glenn went back to the Magi Brotherhood to experiment further on his spells. The first thing he did when arriving in the Savant Room was to take Pebble out of his breast pocket. The pebble, slightly jade-colored seemed as much as a pebble as ever, hiding its sentient nature. Glenn gulped and placed his left hand over the pebble.
"Alright, let''s see if it does something."
Divine Blessing shot out of his purple hand and showered the pebble in golden light. Glenn waited for a few seconds, but besides a golden aura surrounding the pebble, nothing happened. It was still worth noting that the Blessing did take hold on the pebble, despite being not a living being. Perhaps he could try to use it on his sword for a "holy" attribute attack?
"Hey, are you sure it''s not going to hurt me?" Nelg suddenly inquired, worried. Glenn looked at the sword for an instant, before shrugging.
"Well, we''ll never know without testing." Without giving his sword a moment to refuse, Glenn used Divine Blessing on it. Nelg roared heroically in his host''s mind.
"OHHH!! Allow me to aid thee in vanquishing all that stands in our way, for the glory of the holy crusade! Deus Vult!"
Glenn blinked and laughed, while Diamanes almost noticeably shivered.
''Ugh, thank Them for making me unable to suffer from this fate.''
The young man shook his head and dismissed the spell, returning Nelg to normal condition. The sword seemed a little flustered, before roaring in excitement once more.
"Wow, this was so great! I felt like I was about to embark on a victorious march to slay a vicious dragon or something!"
Glenn rubbed his chin, pondering. Using Divine Blessing boosted physical abilities, as had been proved with Sahro back against the Cult''s Abbot, Hank. But, it also was able to hurt unholy creatures. What exactly was Divine Blessing? Oh, and let''s not forget that using it presumably gave Pebble life, which was also something to keep in mind. Too bad he hadn''t figured out a way to use it on himself.
"Oh, and I didn''t get to try Milena''s spell too..." Glenn suddenly regretted it. How could he forget when he had all these monsters to try it on? Oh well.
"What I need now are...small spells." The young man decided. Every spell he had was way too over the top and risked destroying whole neighborhoods when used. He needed to scale them down somehow.
''You already have Pebble as a component of Shooting Star for a bullet-type spell, perhaps you can center more spells around it?'' Diamanes suggested knowingly. Glenn bit down on his lip, hesitating.
"I already considered that option, but what if Pebble just disappears or breaks one day?"
Diamanes grunted, ''Well, you can just make another one! Just shoot Divine Blessing at a rock or something.''
Glenn sighed and scratched the back of his head. For now, he was going to try and create more spells, and once he was done with that, he''d go get his new suits at the Armory. That seemed like a good plan.
"Wait!" Nelg yelled, stopping him before he was too deep in his concentration, "I need to show you the progress on the Black Sun!"
"Ah, yes, I forgot about that too."
He quickly sat himself in position and sank in Meditation. It didn''t take long for him to arrive at Nelg''s Mana Heart, the majestic Black Sun. Nelg, in his armored form, held his hand out and pulled in a silver circle the size of a crown.
"Killing that ghost netted us fifty-four souls, Glenn." The sword said, not wasting a second. Glenn blinked, before repeating.
"Fifty-four? Shit, that''s a lot."
Nelg nodded, before throwing the circle back in the Black Sun.
"I don''t think the ghost''s soul could be worth that much, seeing how weak it was. Instead..." He frowned, "...I think that those are the victims'' souls."
Glenn paused and looked for a long time at the Black Sun, processing what Nelg just said. A short silence passed.
"...So you ate up fifty-four innocent souls?" The young man demanded emotionlessly. Nelg slowly nodded.
"WE ate up fifty-four innocent souls, yes. But, from my point of view, it''s better in my stomach than in that ghost''s."
Glenn sighed and shook his head, "I can only agree."
The Black Sun hummed softly, vibrating with power, fueled with souls of monsters and innocents alike.
188. Calm before the Storm
Days passed, and nothing much happened. Compared to the usual hectic mess that was Glenn''s life, it could even be qualified as "peaceful."
Glenn did manage to make some "lesser" spells of different attributes, namely Earthquake, Flamebane Zone, and a lesser version of Solar Ray, Solar Laser. He just changed the name for that last one, for he only decreased Solar''s Flare power by a huge margin, and made it so that it would go as straight as possible.
Earthquake would, well, create a small earthquake, while Flamebane Zone would flood an area with CO2. At first, Glenn wanted to create a Vacuum which would create an absolute empty place, to try and make his opponents unable to breathe and make them pass out without harming them further. But, a true vacuum wouldn''t have those effects, so instead he changed it to Flamebane zone. By flooding an area with CO2, he would displace the oxygen and knock people out, while still keeping the fire-extinguishing ability. Diamanes and Nelg did come up with a nice theory that Flamebane Zone could maybe cancel most if not every fire spell. Since, if there''s no oxygen, there can''t be a fire. But then, does a magical fire need oxygen to exist? Or is it purely fueled by Mana?
So of course, Glenn had to test that theory. He lit up a magical fire using a Solar Laser (which he conveniently made just before the test) on a dummy and cast Flamebane Zone on it. And...It worked! The fire died out, lacking the necessary oxygen to keep on burning. But then, it kind of made sense, since the fire was lit using magic, but wasn''t kept alit with magic.
Glenn, naturally, had to test this another way. So he made another spell. Well, he repurposed an old one. He based himself on the Infernal Blackhole, took away the Blackhole part, and made the remaining Infernal stationary. It had for effect of creating an immobile zone of hell where fire devoured everything, which was pretty cool. After making up the Hell Zone, as Diamanes accurately named it, Glenn used the Flamebane Zone spell on it. And, surprise, surprise, this time it failed!
The fire did weaken visibly, but it didn''t go out, which confirmed two things for Glenn. First, the magical fire did depend on oxygen, even though it could survive without it. And secondly, the reason for that survival was that Mana could be supplied to the spell to make up for the lack of oxygen, which was very interesting. Without fueling more Mana to the Hell Zone, it just died out like a normal, non-magical fire. What that meant was that Glenn could potentially make another caster exhaust themselves on their fire spells by using Flamebane Zone. Tactically, this was great, but Glenn didn''t think of himself as being great at tactics, so he wasn''t that excited by it. But he would always welcome another tool to help him fight his enemies. And at least that was one non-deadly spell in his arsenal!
All in all, Glenn ended up with an additional spell, Hell Zone, and a better understanding of magic.
On another subject, the number of required souls for Nelg''s First Circle kept on decreasing as Glenn slaughtered more and more monsters. Sadlyno, that was for the betterhe didn''t get the chance to fight another ghost or a Corrupted One. These two were pretty rare and usually taken care of by the Church of Onnea or the Cleaners. Contracts for those would be proposed only if there were too many of them for the two official entities to take care of.
Which for the moment, wasn''t the case. The Northern Town was only afflicted with the common, weak-ass monsters that didn''t even deserve screen time. They were interesting, for sure, but weak as hell. Was it even a fight if a single spell was enough to exterminate the opponent?
Glenn kept on pondering silently, leaning down on a roof, his eyes lost in the cloudy sky. Today''s weather wasn''t great, and the bounties weren''t very exciting.
A lame day, all in all. But Glenn was fine with that. It was almost relaxing, you know, killing monsters for gold, creating deadly spells, healing from mental scars...
''...I''m sure something is going to happen that will ruin my day...'' Glenn cursed, unable to truly relax. This damned city had the gift to get on his nerves and make him see the bad where there was none.
''Hah! For once, I''m not the one who jinx it! Haha!'' Diamanes shouted triumphally, making his host laugh a little. Nelg sighed and added, "At this rate, we might be done leveling me up in two or three months."
Glenn groaned and pushed himself up, before rubbing his eyes.
"That''s good to hear."
With a lazy step, Glenn jumped down the roof down to the street, before pulling his Exan-Egg out. It was three and a half P.M., and Glenn was already done with his day''s "hard" work. All the bounties were in the same district, making it much more convenient and faster for him to take care of all of them. Kevin was absolutely flabbergasted, being forced back home so early, but well, they could only get rid of so many monsters in one day. Glenn was pretty sure there were more creatures out there to slay, but the Workshop refused to give him the bounties to leave some for the other Fixers.
Which he could understand, of course. It sucked, but he understood. And for once, he didn''t feel like spending his time in the trippy Savant Room of the Magi Brotherhood.
"Maybe you could go visit Redan?" Nelg suggested. Glenn paused, before nodding.
"Good idea. Maybe the old man woke up, who knows?" He muttered, changing directions to the Northern Town''s Church of Onnea. It didn''t take him long to arrive, and the clerks recognized him once he entered the Church.
"Hello, Sir Glenn," A pretty clerk in a white priestess garment smiled at him, "Do you wish to visit Sir Redan?"
Glenn smiled back at her, "You read my mind."
The clerk bowed slightly and left the room, off to get the necessary authorization. Glenn glanced around in the meantime, frowning slightly. The Church seemed less populated than usual, for some reason. But then, he wasn''t exactly a regular there. The only reason the clerk recognized him was that his face had been shared around for being an ally to the Church, so he could be treated as such. It felt a bit like special treatment, but Glenn wasn''t against it.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
On the contrary. He was a great enthusiast of privilege!
The clerk came back with a sad face and shook her head, "I apologize, but it seems like the patient won''t wake up for another week at the very least."
Glenn hid his disappointment and moistened his lips.
"Can I still see him?"
The clerk nodded and motioned at the hallway behind her. Glenn followed her silently, wondering whether he should use C.P.R. to try and help Redan, but decided against it again. It was a thought he inevitably had every time he went to see the old man. From what Redan''s healer explained, general healing magics might create complications where specialized personnel wouldn''t. What he got from that was that C.P.R. was a first-aid magic on crack, since it could heal deeper wounds.
The thick scent of medical herbs assaulted his nose when he entered the room. It was a simple room, with a simple, one-place bed. There was an opened window letting fresh air in the room, but not much light, due to the grim, cloudy weather. Glenn slowly went up to the bed, taking a seat on a rustic chair.
''...He doesn''t look too good,'' Diamanes silently commented. Redan was breathing laboriously, his skin pale and sticking to his bones. His hairline had receded quite a bit, and his beard had gotten thinner, with less luster. If before it was a flamboyant white, now it was a sickly one. Glenn didn''t need to look under the cover to know of the scars covering his first teacher''s body.
"...I''ll leave you to it, then." The clerk gently said before leaving and closing the door behind her. The window creaked open as a small gust of wind pushed it open. Redan''s chest rose and fell weakly, without the strength it once possessed. Glenn sighed.
"What, already thinking about burying him?"
Glenn jumped to his feet, his longsword half-pulled and his Mana swirling violently around him as the Saturn Rings activated, searching for the charming voice''s source. But before he could do anything, a shadow moved and Mary, his sadistic second teacher, came out of it, a sad smile on her face. The young man looked at her for a second, before dropping his spell and putting his sword back in its sheath. He crumbled down on his chair, looking away from Mary.
"It''s been a while," He muttered while Mary leaned against the wall on the other side of the room. The lady pressed her lips together, her arms crossed.
"Indeed. I heard you became a little stronger?" She said, cheerless. Glenn sneered and looked at the floor.
"Not strong enough, it seems."
A long silence settled over the room, each one unwilling to say another word. They didn''t need to speak, for there was nothing to say. Only the sound of Redan''s ragged breathing echoed in the simple room, unsteady. Glenn had failed to notice, but Mary had moved from the wall to be next to him, her hand on his shoulder.
They both watched Redan, waiting.
Glenn closed his eyes and shook his head. He finally mustered the strength to speak again, his eyes fleeing away from the sight of the old man.
"The priest taking care of Redan, Valentin, told me a week ago that his treatment was going well. The old man just needs a lot, lot of rest."
Mary breathed out before softly replying, "...That''s good to hear."
Glenn nodded, "It is." The void that had suddenly been carved in his heart filled back up as he took back control of his emotions. Worrying about Redan wasn''t going to help in the slightest. Mary gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder, before turning away and heading for the door.
"We should give him some space. We wouldn''t want to wake him up, would we?" She joked without a smile. The corner of Glenn''s lips trembled but didn''t curve upward. He stood up and gave Redan one last glance, before leaving the room. He walked with Mary to the Church''s garden, a small place filled with herbal medicine and benches for the patients to sit on.
"How have you been doing, Ms. Mary?" Glenn asked as he sat down. Mary didn''t follow his example and paced in front of him, her arms still crossed.
"As usual. Not the greatest, not the worst," She replied honestly, before adding, "I''m bored without my living punching back."
Glenn chuckled, "I''m sure you''d be able to find another one without too much work if you wanted to."
Mary nodded before smacking her lips, "I doubt they''d be as resilient as you, though." To that Glenn couldn''t reply. The young man rubbed his hands together, before looking up at the charming Cleaner. Strangely, today she wasn''t adorning her Cleaner''s uniform, the white leather armor with red crosses over it. Instead, she was clothed in dark blue, almost black pants and shirt, a rapier, and two daggers hanging off her belt.
"You''ve met with the Occult Wanderers, right?" Mary suddenly said. Glenn froze and his heart missed a beat. He forced his lips open to reply.
"...I did. Why do you ask?" He articulated with difficulty with the feeling of something being stuck in the back of his throat. Mary stopped pacing and looked at the cloudy sky, her eyes lost in the distance. She breathed in deeply and sat next to Glenn.
"I gave my resignation."
Glenn''s anxiety disappeared entirely, replaced by utter confusion. Uh? What?
"You did what?" He blurted out, his eyes widening.
Mary nodded as she leaned on her closed fist, "Due to my job as a Cleaner, I couldn''t implicate myself in some matters. So I quit."
Glenn almost repeated himself, but shook his head instead, "...But why?" He frowned, "No, I understand that you needed to quit to get your freedom of action back, but what do you need it for?"
The now ex-Cleaner moistened her lips as she passed her finger on one of her daggers, all traces of her previous sadness gone.
"I''m going to go after them. The Occult Wanderers."
The young man''s jaw almost dropped, but then he realized it made some kind of sense. Mary was someone close enough to Redan for him to entrust Glenn to her. He trusted her, despite her sadistic nature, so that meant they shared a special bond, maybe similar to the one he shared with the old man.
"I see. And why did you tell me?" Glenn asked, more out of curiosity than actual need for an answer. Mary looked at him for a second, before smiling coldly.
"Because I''m pretty sure you want them dead almost as much as me."
Glenn''s face darkened and his fingers twitched. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself; When he reopened his eyes, they were filled with pure, evil hatred.
"Death is too kind of a fate for them." He spat dryly as he clenched his fists tightly, unable to contain his feelings. Mary looked at him with a little surprise, before shaking her head.
"Anyway," Her speaking seemed to wake Glenn from his trance, "...I''m going in solo. I''ll be visiting from time to time to share my discoveries, or maybe your help in taking them down. I''ll expect you to do the same if you encounter them again."
Glenn nodded, his rage melting away, "You can count on me."
Mary smiled once more, before standing up and stretching out her hand. Glenn shook it without a second of hesitation. The more allies he would have against these sick bastards, the better.
...Wasn''t that a little comical, though? Each of his enemies were twisted, fucking insane organizations playing with the lives of innocent people like cattle. And even cattle were probably treated better than the victims of the Thorn''s Cult, the Occult Wanderer, Baron Howard, and the Fallen Mother. Little by little, the conviction that he needed to erase this group of trash from this planet''s surface grew.
A bit stronger every day, like a rising tide. For now, it was only a small wave, barely strong enough to erode the rocks making up these sick bastards'' foundations.
But he knew that one day, the tide would eventually grow strong enough to crush them all, like a natural disaster.
Huh.
A natural disaster.
Perhaps that was what he should aspire to.
189. One Last Stop
Glenn paced in front of the Armory, his annoyance-meter climbing with each passing second.
"When did you order your suits already?" Nelg asked with barely hidden mockery. Glenn bit down on his lip.
''Two weeksno, that makes three with today.''
Diamanes laughed loudly at his host''s expenses, ''Well, well, well, it does seem like you got ripped off, didn''t you?''
The young man dismissed the two entities'' jest with a wave of his hand, before entering the shop. The buffed, muscular old man, which he came to know under the name of Toran Dias, was picking his nose with the least amount of interest for the client who entered his business. Glenn restrained a sigh and walked up to the counter, slamming his hand against it.
"Hey, Mister Toran, I came to pick up the Soulbound suits I ordered three weeks ago," Glenn demanded with a considerable amount of anger in his voice. Had it been Rusty instead of this old fart, he would have gotten his suits when he was supposed to get them, three damned weeks ago. Toran Dias looked at his finger and the thing he took out of his nose intently, before flicking it away.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, I know. Well, I''ve got a lot of work right now, so perhaps you could just come another day?" The shopkeeper didn''t even bother looking at Glenn and stretched lazily. The young man closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before smiling. He reopened his eyes back up and crossed his arms.
"Ah, that''s too bad. I guess I''ll have to go tell Sir Reginald the reason as to why I can''t go take care of his three Corrupted. They''ll just have to send some Gold Fixers, I suppose, right?" He shook his head dejectedly with faked disappointment. The shopkeeper grunted and forced himself into the back of the shop. Glenn grinned and waited patiently. Toran Dias came back, transporting a large, black suitcase. He threw it on the counter with as little respect as he could. Glenn couldn''t say whether the Toran disliked him for some reason, or was just a dick. Maybe it was a bit of the two.
"Thank you, finally."
Toran waved at him dismissively, freezing when he realized Glenn was opening the suitcase right in the shop.
"Wait, what are you doing? Don''t you want to open up your new clothes in the privacy of your suite?" He asked nervously, a bead of sweat pearling down his ball head. Glenn pressed his lips together in a wry smile and shook his head.
"Come on, I waited three weeks for these suits, I have to see what they look like."
Toran grunted and leaned back, his eyes glued to the suitcase. Glenn opened it up, and, to his disappointment, instead of the black suit made out of Nightweaver Spider''s silk, there was...nothing. It almost made him laugh, as did the shopkeeper''s poor attempt at fleeing, but Glenn was too annoyed to laugh. The buffed old man, who was trying to jump in the back of the shop, floated back to Glenn, pulled by his Gravity Manipulation.
"Mister Toran, whatwhat is this?" Glenn pointed at the empty suitcase, his face blank with emotion. Toran Dias looked to the side awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, uhm, I''ve looked into the order you had with Rusty previously...The whole kingdom has placed an embargo on merchandise from beyond the Black Wall. That batch of Night Silk he used to make your suit back then was the last one. It''s been..." The shopkeeper scratched the top of his head, "...At least six months, maybe more since we received merchandise from there."
Glenn looked at Toran Dias with empty eyes, before shaking his head.
"But why didn''t you just use another material? Are you fucking stupid?" He blurted out, before grimacing. That came out by itself. Toran Dias moistened his lips and shrugged.
"Well, you basically told me you wanted the same thing as you used to have. Without Night Silk, I can''t produce that. So, I''m stuck waiting for the next delivery, unless we change the base material."
Glenn sighed and crossed his arms. "Why didn''t you tell me that three weekssigh, just tell me what are my options."
Toran Dias smacked his lips. "Sure, but can I get back on the ground now?" The whole time they had been speaking, Glenn had been holding him in the air with Gravity Manipulation, to make sure the shameless shopkeeper wouldn''t try running away again. Toran grumbled something inaudible, probably some insults at Glenn''s regards, but the latter acted as if he heard none of it. Toran Dias went back to the back of the shop, bringing back three new suitcases. He placed each of them on the counter with care, nothing like how he previously acted. He opened one suitcase after another.
The first was filled with raven black fabric, somehow even darker than the Night Silk. The second one was moon-like white, with a strange hue coming off it. The third and final one was grey and seemed to mold with the color of the suitcase. Toran placed himself behind the suitcases, sweating a little when he saw Mana continue to swirl around his customer. Rusty wasn''t someone who could be impressed by such a show of strength; Toran was, though.
"So," He drew a deep breath and pointed at the first suitcase with the black fabric, "This one is actually leather from a snake living hidden in the depth of the earth, an Underworld''s Imoogi. It''s hard to come by, but not as hard as Night Silk. It''s also less versatile but strengthens itself when in the dark. You lose most of the protective properties under the sunlight, though, so that''s a thing to think about. No matter its state, it can effortlessly stop mundane attacks, like a knife from a normal person or the claws of a wolf. Oh, and there are rumors it enhances the user''s ability the deeper he is in the ground, but that''s not a rumor I verified."
Toran went in front of the second suitcase, with the bright white fabric. "This is very special silk, produced by the complete opposite of the Nightweaver Spiders; the Lightwalkers. They''re also spiders, big ass ones too, but use light itself as a web to move around. Scary stuff, but I prefer them to the Nightweavers. The Nightweavers are always hidden in the dark, while the Lightwalkers are some of the brightest entities in this world." He picked the fabric up and showed it to Glenn. "As resistant as the Imoogi''s leather, with the addition of being extremely resistant to light-based attacks. Putting this shit on makes you tough to kill; you just need to funnel some Mana in, and..." The fabric in his hand lit up like an overpowered lightbulb, blinding Glenn for a second, "...There you go, you become the sun. We can enchant it with blind resistance, so don''t worry about blinding yourself."
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
He moved on to the last fabric and patted it roughly. "That''s my favorite of the three. Mimetic Pelt from a Mimic. Very, very rare, and very expensive. It acts as the perfect camouflage device, allowing you to blend in anywhere you''d like. It''s tough too, and can harden itself with Mana. Besides that, it doesn''t have other abilities, but the ability to camouflage is already great enough to explain the price."
Toran Dias sighed and stepped back into the center, waiting, "So, which one would you like?"
Glenn rubbed his chin, pondering for a little second, before grinning.
"All three will be perfect, with Soulbound, Self-Repair, and Self-Cleaning as enchantments."
The shopkeeper blinked and opened his mouth in confusion, before closing it.
''Yeah, I think he got the message,'' commented Diamanes.
"...This is so much better compared to normal clothes," Glenn muttered as he stepped out of the Armory, adorning the black suit. He didn''t make the mistake of leaving and trusting Toran with the work since the latter already proved himself unreliable, so instead he waited patiently in the shop until he was done. It took a bit more than half a day most of that was spent Meditating, so it wasn''t that much of a loss but it was finally done. The Imoogi''s pelt had transformed into a combination of black pants and a vest very similar to the suit he used to have, only he had no white shirt or tie to go with it. At least it came with black gloves, which was nice.
The Lightweaver silk turned in a very beautiful, luxurious-looking full white suit which will be perfect for special occasions, like weddings. Or noble ceremonies. Glenn was pretty sure he would see more of the second instead of the first. Finally, the Mimetic Pelt turned out to be a large hooded, gray plain robe, perfect for stealthy operations. Stealth wasn''t Glenn''s strong suit, but it could be fun playing Ninja. And combined with the Happy Mask he got in the Eastern Town, that''d make for a perfectly mysterious outfit. Excellent.
"Are you evaluating things based on how cool they are, instead of their actual usefulness?" Nelg questioned with slight disbelief. Glenn shrugged.
''Why, is it wrong?''
Nelg laughed and didn''t even bother replying. Glenn went back to the Dormitory, where normally, Milena and Liara should be waiting for him. They had agreed to a time for a small meeting, just to decide what was the next objective, the next goal to pursue. Both of the ladies were Black Gold Fixers nowGlenn was right when he thought Liara would quickly climb the ranks. Milena also got much stronger and was way more invested in training her powers. What happened with the Occult Wanderers had changed her way of thinking completely, and it seemed like she recognized a need for power.
Which Glenn could perfectly understand.
After all, he was in the same boat as hers. On the other hand, the Black Heiress, Liara, still couldn''t utter a word to him. And him only, since she could talk without an issue to Milena, as long as they were alone together. This cultural thing preventing her from literally communicating with him was a little annoying, but it was how it was. Nothing much he could do about it. At least she would still shake her head for yes or no. And she looked much better and happier now that she had time to rest and eat normally. The Liara they had saved from the slavers was nowhere to be seen.
Glenn entered his Black Gold suite and headed straight for the living room, where the two ladies were lounging on the comfortable sofas. Liara''s eyes widened in appreciation at his new clothes, while Milena whistled, impressed.
"Wow, you look good with nice clothes, Glenn."
Glenn smiled, "Thanks, you too." Milena blushed and looked at her clothes, some plain beige pants and a wool pullover.
"...Are you mocking me?" She muttered with a bit of disbelief. Glenn looked at her and blinked, before turning away.
"Guess."
She sighed and shook her head. Glenn went to the bar, where multiple bottles of different alcohol were waiting for him. He took half a dozen with his hands and moved the other dozen with Gravity Manipulation, transporting the whole to the coffee table, right next to the holy mini fridge that turned wine to soda. The two girls had practically forced him to leave it there for their convenience, so Glenn left it there. Who would steal a mini-fridge anyway?
He brought three glasses with him as well and began to pour.
"So, if I remember correctly, whisky for you Milena, and bourbon for you, Liara." He asked for confirmation. The two nodded in agreement. Glenn poured his glass as well, some spicy tequila. He then shoved the three glasses in the fridge and funneled some Mana in. Once the operation was done, he took the glasses out and sat on the nearest sofa, opposite Liara and Milena, who were sitting on the same one.
"Well, cheers," He raised his glass and drank it. It was lime-flavored and slightly sweet. He didn''t know of a soda on Earth that had this taste, but someone who knew better than him would probably compare it to Jarritos Lime. Milena''s whisky should have transformed into some higher quality Coke Cola, while Liara''s bourbon became Dr Pepper. Glenn was still playing around with the different possibilities, but it seemed like the two ladies had already settled on their tastes.
"So, let''s discuss the future, shall we?" Glenn announced when everyone was done enjoying their drinks. Milena leaned forward and placed her glass down, while Liara remained comfortably lofted in the sofa. The young man crossed his hands together and his face took on a slightly more serious expression.
"My objective, currently, is to get strong enough to beat a noble family, a Baron. And possibly kill one." He frowned, and corrected himself, "No, it''s not a possibility but a certainty. I also want to destroy the Thorn''s Cult, the Occult Wanderers, and a few evil Gods here and there. What about you two?"
Milena blinked and took a long, very long second to comprehend Glenn''s words. She suddenly shook her head and came back to her senses.
"Uh. Yes. So, my objective is also to get stronger and to take on difficult challenges on the Path to go back to being a noble. I already crossed a few from the list, but there''s a lot I can''t do by myself. Hence why I''m staying around," She leaned back and crossed her arms under her chest, frowning, "...And I think I also want to help with destroying the Occult Wanderers."
Glenn nodded, before turning toward Liara, "...Well, I know you can''t speak to me, but perhaps you can tell Milena? I''ll put Silence on myself and turn away, or even leave the room if needed."
Liara smiled and shook her head, while Milena cleared her throat.
"She already told me, and so far, she just wants to accompany and help you in your journey, to thank you for saving her. She has that same debt with Sahro, too," Milena explained in place of her mute friend. Glenn smiled in relief, happy to see that everyone seemed keen on staying on his team. Could he technically count Mary on his team too? No, she was more of...an ally or something. Anyway, the time came, he''ll pay for everyone to go up to the Bourgeoisie. He hardly saw himself going up alone, now.
''Heh, and I''m not counting the two idiots in my head,'' Glenn shook his head, while Diamanes and Nelg retorted in turn.
''Hey!''
"I didn''t deserve that!"
Glenn sank into the sofa for a second as Milena and Liara served themselves another glass of soda. What did he need to do before going up a King''s Rise Circle? Get Nelg his first level, wait for Redan to wake up, and for Sahro to be done with the Eastern Town. He should rank up a circle too, just to be safe. Mastering some kind of Mana sight would be cool. Oh, and he couldn''t refuse more spells, of course.
But after today, Glenn couldn''t help himself but take things easy. Nothing happened today, and he was more than pleased about that. But his guts were telling him that he should enjoy this rest, for it was short-lived.
So he did just that.
190. The Cockroach
Glenn was sleeping peacefully. Yeah, for once, he chose to sleep instead of meditating his tiredness away. A risky bet, for he exposed himself to more nightmares, but he still took it. He didn''t remember the last night he slept normally, and he felt like he needed it. And thankfully, there were no nightmares or weird dreams. It had taken a while to fall asleep, though, and Glenn was most intent on sleeping in
"GLENN!" Milena broke into his bedroom, heaving with difficulty. Glenn groaned and turned away, using his pillow to block the sound away. The lady dashed to his bed and ripped the pillow away, panicked.
"Shit, shit, wake the fuck up!" She shook him awake, blissfully uncaring of Glenn''s nakedness. The young man sighed and sat up, rubbing the exhaustion of his eyes.
"...What''s wrong with you, damn it...?" Glenn asked, his voice tinted with a hint of annoyance. He glanced at her and was startled for a bit. Milena was covered in gore and soot, her hair disheveled and adorned with a few strips of bloody flesh. He rubbed his eyes once more as Milena caught her breath, and looked at her once more.
She looked like shit. And a bloody one at that. Crap.
"...The hell is going on?" Nelg asked sleepily, while Diamanes laughed loudly, ''Seems like things are turning for the better!''
"I wouldn''t exactly say that''s "for the better", damn it..." Glenn muttered through his teeth, ignoring Milena''s confused gaze. She shook her head, projecting a few drops of blood here and there, which Glenn promptly stopped with a dexterous Aqua Mundare.
"We don''t have time for that, Glenn!" She grabbed both his shoulders and forced him to look into her eyes, "There''s a breakout! The people have gone completely crazy, and the monsters are raging! ThisThis is madness!"
Glenn''s drowsiness suddenly disappeared as his senses flared up. He jumped out of bed and summoned the Imoogi suit, before slipping on the two black clothes that came with it. Nelg appeared out of thin air and was slipped attached to his belt, ready to be drawn.
"Let''s go." He stated without asking for more explanations. Milena would debrief him on the way; it didn''t seem like they had any more time they could waste in his bedroom. The lady pressed her lips together and dashed out of the room, kicking the doors in her way open. Glenn closely followed behind her, still shaking off the last few bits of exhaustion as adrenaline began to flow in his veins. They ran in the Dark-Gold Dormitory''s hallway for the stairs, when Glenn noticed a window.
"We don''t know exactly what happened, but a good portion of the Northern Town suddenly became insane. The Church of Onnea is under siege, as is the Workshop. The Bureau of the Magi Brotherhood is untouched, but only thanks to the shields protecting it. A good amount of lower-ranked Fixers also fell to Corruption. This is madHEY!" She yelled as Glenn grabbed her by the waist. The young man didn''t give her the time to protest as he threw an Implosion at the window, destroying it alongside the magic protections that defended it.
"Ready yourself for the landing," He warned just before jumping out. They were around ten stories high, but it was no problem for Glenn. Milena screamed in surprise but didn''t seem too scared. Perhaps she had her ways to survive, or perhaps she just trusted Glenn to not be suicidal. Maybe a bit of the two.
Glenn and Milena fell, the young man using gravity manipulation to slow their fall at the last second. Glenn bent his knees as he landed on the hard ground, before letting go of Milena. She dusted off her shoulders, a little confused, but took off instead of disturbing Glenn for his sudden decision. The young man followed her, frowning as he saw medical personnel running here and there to help wounded warriors, some on stretchers and the others with missing limbs.
"We need everyone on deck to push them off. Most of the Cleaners are away due to an annual meeting, and only a skeleton crew is left to man the Workshop. And let me tell you, they''re not enough!" Milena shouted as they ran in the Main Hall''s direction. The scent of smoke reached Glenn''s nose, as did the sound of rageful screams and cries of pain.
"What the fuck is going on?" Glenn blurted out as they arrived at the main fighting zone, the Workshop''s entry. Bearing torches and forks, the Northern Town''s villagers were shouting at them, trying to pierce through the Workshop''s defenses.
"THE SAVIOR! THE SAVIOR! THE SAVIOR!" They called out with the fervor of an insane crowd. The Fixers tried to push them back without killing them as much as possible, but many were getting hurt due to that. A few houses nearby had caught on fire, and black smoke was billowing above the Workshop. The sky was filled with dark clouds, threatening to shoot thunder down at any moment.
The villagers were rabid, biting the defenders and clawing at them like wild beasts. A few mages were doing their best to do some crowd control, but they immediately became the targets of the crazed villagers. Glenn smacked his lips and drew a deep breath.
"Holy shit, this came out of nowhere!" Nelg cursed, bewildered. The young man pressed both of his hands together, Mana swirling around him as he prepared to cast. Milena didn''t have the time to stop him and a wave of Mana was projected out of him, calling for a massive Flamebane Zone on the crowd of insane villagers. The torches went out and the villagers grabbed at their throats, unable to breathe. The defenders looked at each other with confusion and pushed back the villagers coming at them. Glenn had made it so that the Flamebane Zone would only surround the crowd, not affecting the Workshop''s defenders.
One by one, the villagers fell to their knees and lost consciousness, their brains unable to continue working without the oxygen they needed. Soon enough, all the villagers were on the ground, spare for a few ones who weren''t in the Flamebane''s zone of effect. Milena''s jaw was practically on the floor as she watched Glenn get rid of most of the villagers with one spell, shocked. The young man winced, dismissing the spell after making sure that none of the crazed villagers would stand back up. Using Flamebane Zone this way had expended a large chunk of his Mana, but that was a low price to pay to stop all of these villagers without killing them.
Sadly, there still were a few victims on both sides, but Glenn couldn''t afford to care about them. The higher-ranked Fixers and a few Cleaners began ordering the lower-ranked to restrain all the villagers and throw them in dirt pits the surviving mages hurriedly dug.
"Alright, that''s one thing done. To the Church, then?" He turned toward Milena as he dusted his hands off. The lady looked at him in disbelief, before nodding.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"...Yes, they should be able to hold on here."
The two dashed away as the Workshop''s defenders began establishing an actual defensive zone, Knights creating security perimeters while Mages installed Wards on all sides of the Workshop''s entry. A large dome of black magical energy is enclosed on the Workshop, protecting it from further attacks. Glenn''s power move managed to get them the leeway to activate the Workshop''s defenses.
Glenn and Milena jumped on a nearby roof and moved through the Town as fast as they could. Everywhere Glenn could put his eyes on, flames and smoke were rising as more innocent people were hurt in this apocalyptical show. With a wave of his hand, he created a few concentrated Flamebane Zones here and there, killing all the fires he could, and promptly dismissing his spells once the fires were out. Mana management was going to be of the utmost importance, and he already knew he was going to have to use Flamebane more than once to save as many people as possible.
''The Insane Hero going back to do Hero things... Can''t you just kill them all and be done with it?'' Diamanes sighed with disappointment. Glenn almost froze in his steps but didn''t, as each passing second was another second where someone could be killed.
''...And how do I live with myself after that, Diamanes? Tell me?'' He questioned calmly while continuing to put out one fire after the other. Diamanes couldn''t retort much this time, and so chose to stay silent. They didn''t take long to arrive at the Church of Onnea, which was indeed under the siege of...the Thorn''s Cult? What were the robed bastards doing here? Were they behind this fucking mess?
"Of course they fucking are!" Glenn cursed as shot through the air and prepared the perfect spell for ending the lives of crowds of sick, twisted bastards. Massive thorny vines were surging from the ground, wrapped around the barrier of pure white light protecting the Church. Paladins and Priests were doing their best to defend the Church and the innocents they were housing, but they were outnumbered 100 to 1. There were way too many cultists, it simply didn''t make any sense. But Glenn didn''t have the time nor the desire to dig into this lack of logic and instead decided to erase the problem. A black ball which seemed to swallow all light and things in its path flew away from his right hand, and dove in the crowd of cultists.
More vines were summoned, wrapping around the Blackhole and restraining it, but a few cultists still lost their lives to the terrible spell. Glenn frowned, for what he was seeing shouldn''t be possible. A Blackhole, by definition, swallows all things and compacts them to an infinitely small point. But these vines could resist this stupidly powerful force of attraction? Why? Divinity was in the work, perhaps? Glenn glanced at the shield of light protecting the Church.
It was going to hold and should protect them from his next spell. Still floating above the crowd, Glenn drew a deep breath, filling his lungs with rancid air, and used a massive Hellzone on the crowd. The cultists all caught on fire at the same time, so managing to kill off the flames and jumping out of the Hellzone''s way, some incinerated to death and ended up like the piles of ash they deserved to be. Glenn coldly watched as most cultists died a horrible death of Pain and Fire, some with ecstatic expressions on their faces.
Ah, yes, these sickos liked the pain. He had somehow managed to forget this deranging part of the Thorn''s Cult. With a complete lack of emotions, Glenn continued to shoot down the cultists and reduce them all to ashes. Some of them suddenly turned to their allies and killed each other, probably the work of Milena. They were slaughtering these bastards by the dozen, and with this much-needed help, the Paladins and Priests of Onnea were finally able to push back.
The cultists weren''t weak whatsoever, but Glenn was just too powerful for them to even try to resist. It also seemed like the few mages in their midst were barely at the True Initiate stages, with none of them having broken through the Wall of the Fourth Circle. When he was done killing all the cultists in his sight, Glenn let himself float down to the ground and walked to the wall of light. The Paladins and the Priests looked at him fearfully, when a paladin suddenly stepped forward with a wide grin plastered on his face.
"Sir Glenn, you cannot imagine how happy I am to see you!" Alabaster declared as he stepped through the shield of light like it didn''t exist. He went and shook Glenn''s hand, who shook it back with a similar grin.
"A pleasure to help, Alabaster. I guess Astrid is in the backline treating the wounded?" Glenn demanded more out of curiosity than necessity. Alabaster nodded and looked at the absolute carnage surrounding the previously beautiful Church of Onnea. One of the church''s walls had crumbled down, with dead vines wrapped around the heavy block of stones. There were many corpses, but mostly from the Thorn''s Cult.
"This is a mess, Alabaster. What the hell is going on?" Glenn questioned with a hint of urgency. Alabaster looked back at the church and his comrades behind the shield of light and shook his head.
"We honestly have no idea. My best bet is on the voice who shook the town a few hours ago, screaming something about "Awakening the Savior"."
Glenn paled. Wait, that eerily felt like that Savior was supposed to be him, wasn''t it? He recalled the incident where mundane people attacked him in the Eastern Town, and paled even further. Was this chaos created to capture him? No, this seemed...overkill. Unless they used that occasion to create as much chaos and pain as possible, by trying to destroy the Church of Onnea, the Cleaner''s Workshop, and the Magi Brotherhood''s Bureau? This made a lot more sense. Without these three institutions, the Northern Town would be rid of the equivalent of a hospital, the police, and the influence of mages.
But this attack force seemed way too...weak, somehow?
"Oh man," Nelg suddenly despaired, startling Glenn, "Of course you had to ruin it."
"What?" Something made his back shiver and he turned on his feet just in time to see the ash, gore, blood, and sooty bones join together into a single, black ominous dot. Glenn did not wait for a second and shot a Solar Flare at the dot, for why should he wait for his enemy to be born when he could kill it in the egg? The massive ray of pure, Solar flames crashed against the dot, and...did nothing. The flames died out against the dot as it grew to become a hole. A Hole in Reality.
A large hand shot out from the hole and grabbed the edge, pulling the rest of the body out of it. Glenn took a step back as his eyes widened, while Alabaster was frozen in place, horrified.
"Hello, 3333," A chilling voice came from the hole as the rest of the body passed through. It was a massive man, dressed in a dark, bloody clerical robe. He was transporting a thick book dripping with black blood under his arm, and his eyes were gleaming red. The giant smiled widely as he looked down at Glenn.
"My dear Savior. I, Abbot Hank, am back to lead you to Him!" His voice thundered around the Church of Onnea, bearing the power of malevolent Divinity. Glenn''s feet dug into the ground as a shockwave of impure power pushed him back, Alabaster flying back to the shield of light. Specks of black were corrupting the Shield, increasingly eroding it. All the priests and paladins fell to their knees and began praying, reinforcing the shield of light.
''Wasn''t that guy dead?'' Diamanes questioned in confusion. Nelg grunted in pure incomprehension as Glenn unsheathed him. The young man gulped and steeled himself. Somehow, this resurrected Abbot Hank felt much, much more dangerous than the one he previously fought and killed. The Abbot opened his book and smiled, caressing the old, bloody pages fondly.
"Souls of the Repentir, of those who shan''t be granted peace, rise again, share pain and suffering to the world, for it is the sole and only, true, Blessing!" He chanted fanatically, lifting both of his arms to the sky. The ground trembled as corpses dug through it, clawing their way out. Ashes and burned flesh gathered into malformed amalgams, hungry for souls and human meat.
Pale, bone-like light came out of Abbot Hank''s book and showered his summons, buffing them with whatever evil powers those were. Glenn drew a deep breath and used Divine Blessing on Nelg, readying himself. Milena still stood on one of the roofs further away, watching and at a loss at what to do.
"This time, I''m taking this fucker''s soul away," swore Nelg. Glenn grinned as sweat dripped down his chin.
Hopefully, he''ll be able to kill the Abbot for good this time.
191. The Cursed Book of Doloratrox
Glenn grimaced as Mana swirled around him, ready to shoot out in various shapes and forms. Abbot Hank, in all of his, revived glory, was laughing his head off, mocking the ridiculous fate that brought him against Glenn once again.
"I don''t see your Black Heir friend, nor the Red Witch to help you," Abbot Hank suddenly frowned, "...What is this band of sheep? Followers of a fake God," he spat. Glenn pressed his lips together, and without warning, used Earthquake on the Abbot''s foothold. The monster, since it was what it was, fell in a rift Glenn crafted. Glenn dashed forward as he amplified the Mana he was sending in the Earthquake, making tons of dirt and stone crumble on top of Abbot Hank''s head. A laugh came out of the rift, loud and evil, but Glenn ignored it. Instead, he pulled out a large chunk of rock out of the ground, and threw it in the sky with Gravity Manipulation, without forgetting the quick Sun''s Touch. The flaming chunk of stone flew away, ready to fall at a moment''s notice.
The young man carefully looked at the collapsed rift, when a hand dug out of the ground. Without a second of hesitation, Glenn ordered the Shooting Star to fall on his enemy and promptly backed off. He glanced at his surroundings and watched the monsters Abbot Hank previously summoned try to breach the shield of light, without success. Some of them did run away in the Northern Town, to hunt the civilians who weren''t in a safe place yet. Glenn bit down on his lip until he saw Milena jump from roof to roof, killing the amalgams with her illusion powers.
''It''s reassuring to know that she''ll take care of most of the grunts. But, on the other hand...'' He watched in expectation as the Shooting Star touched the ground, exploding in a massive, red ball of flames. He used the Saturn Rings to catch the projectiles aimed at him and sighed. Through the black smoke and flames, a huge shadow was shedding its clerical robe away as it laughed even wider than it did before.
"...That means I''m alone to fight this monstrosity," Glenn muttered in realization. He pulled out Pebble out of its breast pocket and clenched it with his left hand while readying his sword in the other. Abbot Hank paused as if he heard what Glenn whispered, and sneered.
"Well, afraid to go alone against me, Savior? Do not worry, for I shall bring you to my Lord and make you strong enough to defeat an army of my humble selves!"
Glenn applied Sun''s Touch to Pebble, carefully watching Abbot Hank slowly make his way through the smoke. The rock glowed with a fiery hue as it floated above the young man''s palm, charged with destructive power.
"Very tempting of an offer!" Glenn smirked as he shouted back at the laughing shadow in the smoke, "...But I''d rather learn your secret to immortality!"
The Abbot''s pale face appeared in the smoke, honestly puzzled.
"Wait, would you just follow me if I told you the secret to my revival?" He couldn''t help but ask with slight disbelief. Glenn glanced at his surroundings and the shield of light, hiding the floating, fiery Pebble behind his back.
"I mean, why not? Immortality is a tempting thing after all," Glenn shrugged dismissively, ready to use Shooting Star at a moment''s notice. Abbot Hank seemed to ponder for an instant, before grinning a wide gentle smile.
"Well, in reality, I simply didn''t die. You just need to be close enough to the Lord, and a respectable amount of sacrifices, and He''ll put some safeguards on your soul. Counter-measures to death, if you prefer," He explained in a composed tone, in contrast with the horror he exuded. Glenn''s eyes widened slightly, unable to believe that the crazy cultist just revealed the secret. So, Epinos would just take the soul and keep it for later use when a cultist died?
Wasn''t that a little too powerful? No, there had to be drawbacks...Sacrifices were the obvious ones...
''Insanity might also be a side effect from the resurrection, from how this Abbot behaves, but I think it''s a question for later. It looks like he caught on the deadly attack you''re spinning in your back, Glenn,'' Diamanes warned while theorizing about the resurrection''s drawbacks. Abbot Hank''s smile disappeared as the entity spoke its thought, and he stepped forward heavily, making the floor tremble. His book opened right in the middle, a tortured, translucid face coming out of it.
"I see. Your disrespect has been noted, 3333, but since you''re the Savior, I''ll pardon you," Abbot Hank stated graciously as he yanked the translucid face out of the book, "...I''ll just take half of your limbs as a lesson."
Glenn sneered and shot Pebble with as much speed as he could muster using Gravity Manipulation. "You fucking psycho. Eat my ass instead!" The searing red pebble left a red trail of burning embers behind it as it pierced straight through the Abbot''s throat and came out from the other side.
"Glurk! You" Abbot Hank tried to speak but only coughed some dark blood, his throat bleeding abundantly. Glenn smiled and readied his spells.
"I guess I finally found a way to shut you up..." The face Abbot Hank pulled out suddenly shrieked, before dashing toward Glenn like some ghostly missile. Instinctively, the young man tried to step out of the screaming projectile''s way, but it tracked him without stopping. Glenn grimaced and cut at the projectile with his sword, expecting it to be a little useless but relying on the Saturn Rings to defend him.
But surprisingly, the shrieking soul, since it was probably a soul, was sundered in two and pulled into the sword.
"Oh, yes, I confirm, that thing was a soul. Well, more like a "bunch of tortured souls meshed together in some morbid ways", but still soul-material." Nelg confirmed with a happily surprised tone. Free food was always welcome, it seemed.
"Sacrilecough, what didcough" Abbot Hank was staring at the sword with wide, completely black eyes as more blood gouged out of his throat. Only now Glenn was noticing the lack of pupils and iris, the eyes wholly filled with this malevolent dark ink. And even though there were no iris or pupils to try and gauge the emotions in the Abbot''s eyes, Glenn could almost swear that the monster was...scared. His eyes were glued to the sword, and he had taken a step back, almost ready to run away.
Scared of his sword.
Scared to death of his sword. Nelg nervously chuckled.
Glenn paused and also looked at Nelg, before grinning widely, any tension or stress from fighting this seemingly unkillable enemy disappearing.
"Well, well, well," Glenn spoke loudly, stepping toward the Abbot fearlessly, swinging his sword around like a toy. The Abbot tore out another soul from his book, shaping it into another projectile, blood flowing out of his mouth as he kept it open wide.
"Are my eyes messing with me, or..." Glenn pointed the sword at the Abbot, infusing his Mana in the weapon and awakening it to its slender form. The Abbot''s eyes widened even more, a thing which Glenn would have never believed possible. He screamed in a bloody gargle and threw the soul at Glenn before ripping his clothes away and hurriedly shoving his cursed book into his chest.
"No, no, no!"
Glenn drew a short breath and sliced straight through the incoming soul, Nelg swallowing it like the treat that it was. The young man dashed forward, grimacing when he saw wings made entirely out of fingers burst out of Abbot Hank''s back.
"Second phase already?" joked Nelg, too satisfied with the steady streams of souls to worry. Glenn smacked his lips and jumped in the air, throwing Nelg at the Abbot''s face. Terrified, the latter rolled out of the way, his massive stature ridiculously jumping around to avoid the flying sword. Still floating above his enemy, Glenn joined both hands together as he summoned both a Blackhole and the power of Nitrogen, combining them into a powerful Nitrogen Lance. The spell''s strength should have gotten better since the last fight with the Abbot, and, Glenn had to admit, this spell was one of his favorites.
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Abbot Hank shrieked and ripped a chunk of his throat away, getting rid of the still-burning wound Pebble had inflicted on him. His throat quickly grew back and he used it to shout at Glenn once again, his eyes still glued to the sword.
"GetGet this thing away from me!" He yelled in horror, jumping out of the sword''s way as he summoned more souls from his book. He sent them in Nelg''s way in a pitiful attempt to stop the weapon from touching him, but the sword devoured each of his attacks with voracity. The Abbot regained a bit of clarity and changed his tactic, summoning a thick swarm of dark vines to trap the sword, wrapping around the hilt and the blade tightly.
"Hey, no, this is fucking weird!" Nelg yelled in Glenn''s mind. The latter ignored him and finally shot the spell he had been preparing. A large, white laser of pure, devastating cold pierced through the air, hitting the Abbot dead in the center. Abbot Hank desperately used both of his finger-wings to block the attack, hiding behind them. A large cloud of white steam blocked Glenn''s vision, but the young man didn''t let that disturb him. Instead, he called upon the next most powerful spell he had, Solar Flare, and shot it at the Abbot''s position. The wide ray of blinding fire shot through the cold and made the air hiss with burning steam while completely reducing everything in its wake to ashes.
Glenn slightly lost control of his Gravity Manipulation due to the heavy Mana expenditure and fell to the ground, managing to catch himself at the last second. He took a second to breathe and walked to Nelg, pulling the sword out of the vines and restraining it.
"HowThis, strength!" A hallowed voice came from behind Glenn, struggling to articulate. The young man turned around, his sword gleaming with a threatening hue. The Abbot was stumbling through the smoke, his right arm and shoulder gone, burned away. His face was molten, his jaws revealed and hanging loosely. One of his black eyes was hanging out, rolling on a burned cheek. Both of the Abbot''s wings had disappeared, and the book encased in his chest looked like it had seen better days.
All in all, a pretty satisfying result in Glenn''s opinion.
"You" Abbot Hank hissed as sooty tears pearled down from his remaining eye, "You really have been sent by Him! The True Savior! The True Heir to Epinos!"
Glenn grimaced.
"I did all this to you, and you still call me your Savior?" The young man paused as he noticed a huge chunk of the Abbot''s head missing, "Ah, your brain is leaking out. My bad."
The Abbot proceeded forward without care, reaching for Glenn with a molten, smoking hand. Glenn looked at him approach slowly, and when in range, cut away the Abbot''s remaining arm. The cultist''s trance was suddenly disturbed and he gazed upon the weapon Glenn was holding, his terror coming back with full force. He fell back, trembling, but Glenn couldn''t care less.
"Any last words before I send your soul to oblivion?" Glenn asked as he held his sword with both hands. The Abbot opened his mouth, gargling in a disturbingly weird mix of fear, and adoration, and enjoyed pain.
"I!" Glenn''s sword pierced through the Abbot''s throat.
"Just kidding, I don''t fucking care about a lowlife like you," Glenn coldly spat, before twisting his sword and ripping the Abbot''s head away. The body fell on the floor as the head rolled a bit further away, the Abbot''s expression permanently stuck in this disturbing position of fear and adoration. Glenn sighed and took a step back, glancing at his surroundings. Creatures coming straight from the worst of nightmares were spawning non-stop with the Abbot''s presence, but now that he was gone, the Paladins and Priests of Onnea were finally able to push them back. The Church was half demolished, covered in gore and monstrous corpses, but it still stood tall.
Well, half as tall as before, but still tall. Seeing that the Church would be able to take care of themselves, Glenn directed his attention back to the Abbot''s body.
"...So, how do I make sure you''re not coming back to haunt me again?" Glenn questioned silently, blood dripping from his sword. The fight had been so easy he almost had a hard time believing it. But strangely, the Abbot didn''t seem to have grown much stronger since their last encounter, but he...Glenn looked at his hands, contemplating his strength for a moment. He had needed no one''s help to kill this fucker. No assistance whatsoever, only his own power, with his weapons and spells. No assistance, nothing.
All him.
He did get stronger. But as he looked at the devastation caused by the Abbot''s summons, he knew it wasn''t enough. He wanted to be so strong, killing fuckers like Hank would be as easy as slapping a mosquito away.
In any case, Glenn had to admit it. He was growing up and was becoming stronger than the usual guy. Strong enough to stand on his own.
He still had a long way to go if he wanted to have the strength to also make sure his friends wouldn''t get hurt because of him, but still.
He was strong.
''Yes, yes, you''re strong. Get over the damned introspection and let''s get rid of the cultist while we can,'' Diamanes spoke disgruntedly, making his host chuckle. The young man looked at the Abbot''s corpse and flinched. The headless body had moved. Glenn squinted and looked at the corpse with closer look, and almost jumped back when he saw the book in the Abbot''s chest trying to dig its way out of the flesh.
"Oh, so it''s the book then?" Nelg spoke in realization. Glenn grinned and placed the tip of his sword on the book. The book suddenly stopped moving, waiting for its fate. Glenn, out of morbid curiosity, took his sword away and observed the book moving. Almost shyly, the cover opened and flipped to the last page of the book. Glenn drew a deep breath and felt his heart stop. On the book''s last page, hidden in the writings of blood and flesh, and in the old antic paper, was an eye. An eye he couldn''t even describe for it wasn''t something human senses were capable of comprehending.
An eye so ancient, so malevolent just seeing it made Glenn want to slit his own throat. As soon as he realized this, he hurriedly pushed his blade away, feeling his throat bleed from the self-inflicted wound.
"Hah." An ancient, extinct voice came from the book. Hearing it, Glenn''s eardrums burst with blood and he fell to his knees, visions of millennia of suffering appearing in his eyes. A torture, inflicted on others as well as oneself, a universal pain, revered as such by the whole world, and priceless. The pain of losing a limb, of losing a close one, of losing the war. The pain of betrayal, the pain of a blade twisted in a wound, the pain of being skinned alive. The pain of rape, of a lover''s hand, or the beast eating through your insides. A pain that had to be shared, because it was the only truth, the only way to be Pardoned.
The True Pain of the True Lord.
"Glenn!" "Glenn!"
Two voices, not his, called to him desperately, pulling him out of the filthy rabbit hole he fell in, pushing away the visions of horror. In a moment of clarity, Glenn seized his sword and plunged it into the book, pushing as hard as he could on the hilt with both of his hands. He coughed out blood as he watched The Eye bleed black blood on the dirty pages. The Eye writhed, probably screaming in pain, but Glenn couldn''t hear it. He grinned out of spite as rage filled his heart, and flipped the damned book off, cursing without hearing, his eardrums still ruptured.
"Next time, send a stronger clown, fucker!"
And on those words, he blacked
Glenn''s eyes which were closing themselves suddenly shot back open, bloodshot. The young man roared in pain as he forced himself up, gathering as much Mana as he could, and shot a Solar Flare at the Cursed Book. He screamed with pain as the fire burned, slowly but surely consuming the book, transforming it to ashes. His Imoogi suit caught on fire, as did his hair, but both held on. Ashes of the book flew away, a testament to the power Glenn had used with Solar Flare. But even when that happened, the young man wasn''t done. He used Overload to push beyond the boundaries of his Mana reserves, already emptied, and summoned a Blackhole, catching the last bits of the book and its ashes to send them to the void, as they deserved.
His ears were ringing, his sight was blurry, and darkness threatened to pull him away at a moment''s notice, but Glenn had to destroy this book. The Blackhole finally disappeared, and with it, any traces of the Cursed Book of Doloratrox. Glenn dismissed his sword and stumbled toward the shield of light, walking past bloody corpses of monsters and humans alike. His boots were soaked in blood, making each of his steps even heavier than they already were.
He effortlessly passed through the shield, falling into the arms of someone, he couldn''t tell who. The pain was ringing through his whole body, tempting him to lose unconsciousness, to fall asleep, but Glenn couldn''t, for he was still seeing these things, the Legacy of Epinos. A bright golden light was shone upon him and Glenn felt all his worries, all his fears disappear away like a bad dream. The ringing in his ears softened and disappeared as someone worked on his busted eardrums. The blurriness in his eyes soon followed, treated away by probably a priest. Many voices were shouting at him, outside, and inside, but Glenn could barely hear anything.
All of his senses were muffled, inciting him to lose consciousness, to push the issue to solve on other people, for later. To flee the pain, the discomfort.
But Glenn couldn''t, for he didn''t want to meet another god in his dreams. And right now, he was sure he would be meeting one if he slept.
And so he held on.
And so his senses came back.
And so the horror went away.
"...I''m going to kill Milena for waking me up today..." Glenn muttered as multiple voices assaulted him from all sides.
It seems like this wasn''t the end of his problems.
Well, of course, it wasn''t.
That Eye was that of a God, wasn''t it?
192. Echoes of the Aftermath
Glenn felt his consciousness try and slip away a few times, but he always caught himself at the last second, refusing to fall to the embrace of a peaceful rest amidst the chaos reigning on the Northern Town. When his sight progressively cleared out of the blurriness they were filled with, he realized that four priests were working their Divinity on him. He had been constantly bathing in a warm, reassuring golden light ever since he almost passed out. Whatever trauma the Cursed Book of Doloratrox had inflicted on him was also going away, alongside the pain and the memories of millenniums of suffering.
"...Enn!" ''...Enn!''
Two voices were shouting in his still, very foggy head, trying to get his attention. The young man grimaced and grabbed at his head. How did he know that book was called "The Cursed Book of Doloratrox"? The memories...An Apostle, Doloratrox? Whatwhere did this knowledge come from?
Glenn grunted and clenched his teeth, enduring the searing headache. The memories...The sight from within the book, that''s where that knowledge came. But why? Did he stare directly at a God? How? In a book? How was that possible? Weren''t there restraints on a God''s physical appearance in the mortal world?
"Glenn!" Nelg''s voice finally reached Glenn, piercing through the cloud of uncertainty and confusion. The young man blinked as all the latent effects from peering into forbidden knowledge disappeared, washed away by the holy power of the Priests of Onnea. He gulped a breath of fresh air like a man about to drown as the cacophonic chaos of voices and sounds rang around him organizing themselves in a comprehensible mess.
"Shit, huff, this..." Glenn clenched at his chest, heaving with difficulty. The four priests finally took a few steps back, exhausted and worried. Behind them, a dozen of paladins were standing there swords and shields drawn, ready to fight.
Oh.
Ready to fight him.
"I''m not..." Glenn winced, struggling to speak, "...I''m not Corrupted yet, so please stand down and give me some space, damn it..."
Respecting his wishes, the paladins all took a step back, their swords still raised and their shoulders covered in golden holy light. The young man closed his eyes and took a long moment to try and decrypt what he was seeing. Something had changed with his eyes; he was seeing it, the magic spells and Divine blessings that had been cast on the Church. He could see everything, plain as day, just standing there waiting for his comprehension.
It was hard to describe what Mana, Aura, and Divinity looked like, but the whole thing was pretty similar to a massive web of every color possible, some Glenn couldn''t comprehend. It was like his brain wasn''t capable of seeing these colors, unknown and indescribable. Glenn winced as his eyes teared up, strained by this new magical sight.
''Wait, that''s Mana Sight!'' Glenn suddenly realized. As he did so, the mystical filter that allowed him to see the Energies of the world disappeared, giving back his normal sight.
"Ah, finally communication is passing through! Hey, do you hear me, Glenn?" Nelg shouted in a way that made it impossible to be further ignored. Glenn pressed his lips and grabbed at his head again, nodding slowly.
''Yes, I hear you Nelg. My head hurts like shit.''
Nelg sighed in relief while Diamanes laughed loudly, awed.
"Thank the gods for that. Damn, this was horrible. And I don''t have much time, so..." Nelg''s voice faded away like a mirage in the sand.
''I''ll keep it short,'' Diamanes took over for his colleague, ''Killing that book gave a crazy amount of souls to Nelg. He has to digest the whole thing at once, so it''s going to take some time and he''ll be unconscious in the meanwhile.''
Glenn difficultly turned his body and placed a foot on the floor, struggling to even stand. He had been lying down on a makeshift, wooden operation table visible from all around. The young man glanced at his clothes and winced when he found them in a very poor state. His Imoogi suit was going to need a lot of time to fix itself. In a blink, he dismissed the Imoogi suit and summoned the Lightweaver one. A quick Aqua Mundare made sure he was completely clean from whatever filth could have covered him and also informed him of the pretty low amount of Mana in his reserves.
''How long is Nelg going to be gone for?'' Glenn asked as he fully stood up, helping himself to the edge of the table.
"Three weeks, three months, I have no idea how long it''s going to take..." Nelg''s faded voice echoed in Glenn''s mind, before disappearing once again. Glenn shook his head and looked at the Priests and Paladins. Tiredly, he stuck his thumb out, the corner of his lips barely curving upward in a reassuring smile.
"...I''m good, guys. Go get the rest of the monsters instead of wasting your time here."
The paladins exchanged a glance, and all but one left the location, off to slay the monsters created by Abbot Hank''s attack. The four priests remained, though, as did Alabaster, the remaining Paladin. Their eyes bawled at the sight of his peerlessly white suit, but Glenn couldn''t care less about that.
"What''s the situation?" He asked the nearest priest, a battle-ready, mean-looking man with his nose missing. Strapped on the back of his clerical robe was a halberd gleaming under the golden hue of the light shield protecting the Church of Onnea.
"You''ve suffered an unidentified Curse, which took the work of all four of us to dissolve. Most of the surrounding area has been cleared out of monsters and remnants of the Thorn''s Cult. Also, I believe I''ve seen your colleague rush off in the city to help slay more monsters," The priest reported professionally, surprisingly ready for the question. Glenn grunted and took a few steps forward, balancing himself. Nelg appeared in his right hand, silent and in his plain, bastard sword state.
"Which place needs the most help?" Glenn asked as he pushed himself forward. The priest frowned and stepped in front of him.
"I apologize, Sir Glenn, but you''re in no shape to go back on the battlefield."
Glenn was about to retort but Diamanes interrupted him, ''Yeah, you already did your part! Leave the grunt work to the others and take a break to regain your Mana! What are you going to do, anyway? Scare the monsters with your empty, exhausted eyes?'' The entity jeered disrespectfully, killing Glenn''s determination. The young man sighed and dragged himself to a nearby bench, collapsing under the watchful eyes of the four priests and Alabaster.
The Paladin went and sat next to him, patting him on the back while laughing widely.
"Haha, you''re slowly but surely becoming a legend, aren''t you Glenn?"
The young man sneered and shook his head. What a bunch of bullshit. There was nothing legendary in his life; just horror, pain, and lots of disgusting monsters that deserved killing. Glenn rubbed his forehead and leaned forward, looking at the floor pensively. There was something wrong with this situation. First, most of the Cleaners'' force wasn''t here, off for an annual meeting. Sure, this was a good opportunity to attack the Northern Town, but to what end? What purpose did it serve to destroy this town? How did it profit the Thorn''s Cult the slightest?
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Ah? Glenn almost slapped himself as he remembered the main tenet of the Thorn''s Cult: pain is a blessing, and it must be shared. Did they do all that out of their twisted devotion? What insanity.
Glenn made himself comfortable and entered a Meditation state. He rapidly checked on his Mana Heart, worried about the side effects of using Overload. The Magellanic Clouds were dim but still very much humming with power as the three rings of stars spun around them. He was going to need a bit of time to gather his Mana back. On the other hand, at a safe distance from the Magellanic Clouds was Nelg''s Black Sun, humming with growing strength. Soon enough, the sword''s First Circle was going to be created, effectively giving Glenn access to another Mana Heart.
Well, that was the plan and what was supposed to happen, but since things seemed to refuse to go Glenn''s way these days, he could only hope it would go as planned.
"Nelg?" The young man tried to call his armored doppelganger, but his voice echoed in the dark space without finding its recipient. Glenn sighed.
"This is happening, then..." He muttered, smiling slightly. It would have taken many more months to get all the souls Nelg needed by just doing bounties, but Abbot Hank brought his horrible gift with him and allowed him to skip that process. The sword only needed to digest the souls, which apparently might take a while. Perhaps that was for the better; he was already thinking of new spells to create and more things to do while still in the Northern Town and the Fringe in general.
Glenn peacefully regained his Mana, trusting in Alabaster to protect his back while he did so. He wasn''t close with the Paladin, but he did seem reliable and had been the only one to come out of the shield of light to check up on him.
"...I''ll have to ask if they have some kind of honorary positions for me, seeing how much work I''m indirectly doing for the Church of Onnea..." Glenn pondered aloud with a small smirk. After a good hour, Glenn''s eyes opened, his Mana Heart brimming once again with Mana and ready to slaughter all monsters and cultists in his way. Alabaster was sharpening his sword while discussing with the four other priests charged with watching him. They were talking about Abbot Hank and the surprise attack, and how unexpected it had been as well as the possible reasons for such an assault.
Glenn slowly stood up, clenching and unclenching his fists to verify everything was working as intended in his body.
''Ready to kick some monstrous ass, Glenn?'' Diamanes asked with a wicked laugh. Glenn moistened his lips before turning toward the priests.
"...Am I free to go, now?"
The mean-looking priest approached and glanced at him, before nodding approvingly.
"Thanks for your hard work, Sir Glenn," He smiled, before adding with a nefarious grin, "...Good hunt."
Glenn nodded toward Alabaster, who nodded back at him and left the Church of Onnea. The sight of the burned and collapsed houses was the first thing that welcomed him, alongside the scent of burning flesh. Outside of the Church, piled up in a grotesque pile, countless corpses, cultists, and monsters alike were burning. More corpses were added to the pile with each passing minute, and the black smoke coming off the pile kept on growing to fill the sky.
The young man looked away and rolled up his sleeves, ready to tint his immaculate white suit red. He didn''t waste another second and jumped on one of the nearby, still-standing roofs, searching for leftover monsters. It didn''t take long for him to find some, and it didn''t take long either for him to kill them. They weren''t particularly strong nor hard to kill, except for a few ones with particularly outstanding regeneration. The monsters were pretty easy to deal with; the Corrupted humans were less so.
Thankfully, the Magi Brotherhood had sent a strong regiment of their mages to contain the Corrupted, creating wards and barriers to seal them in place until someone strong enough would be able to take care of them. Someone like Glenn.
The following week was particularly hectic. Glenn''s schedule consisted of waking up, eating, killing monsters, eating, killing monsters, sleeping, rinse and repeat. Sometimes, he would meet Milena or Liara, the two as exhausted as he was, coming back from executing a Corrupted Knight or Magi. The two worked in tandem, so more often than not they were together. But sometimes they weren''t, and that would be the days they''d come back the most tired.
Glenn also heard some news from Javier. The Pale Son had been spending his time hunting the remnants of the Thorn''s Cult, killing every last one of their forces. After the initial assault, most efforts had been dedicated to slaughtering every member of the Cult, and to execute any Corrupted Ones. After a week, they were done with these two tasks, but it still wasn''t the time to rest. At least for Glenn, it wasn''t.
Milena and Liara did manage to take a well-deserved break from fighting. Glenn, instead, was still working alongside members of the Church of Onnea to purify and kill every ghost that had been created with the attack. He discovered that around the time he killed the Abbot, every rabid citizen woke up from their rage, confirming the presence of some mind-controlling sorcery. It kind of made sense in Glenn''s mind that it was something like that. Brainwashing a whole town was something that would take way too much time, and it would be found out extremely fast.
Using a ritual to make all the mundane citizens attack the Knights, Mages and Divinity-users of the town was much simpler and less risky. But, if the caster died, the spell would be broken and the people freed from its hold. Abbot Hank probably never imagined that someone using a soul-stealing weapon would appear, much less so the Savior he desired so much. With his soul gone, the Abbot was doomed to never live again, the efforts of his God to save him rendered entirely useless.
Epinos had lost a devout follower and many pawns that day, but the Northern Town had lost even more. More than five thousand citizens were killed, while triple that had been gravely wounded. In terms of military strength, the Church of Onnea had been the one organization that had suffered the most, with more than a hundred Paladins and forty Priests killed. The Cleaner''s Workshop mourned the loss of most of the Copper ranks, seventy of them, and a few dozen Silver ranks. Less than ten Gold ranks had found an enemy strong enough to defeat them. There was no loss in the higher-ranked Fixers, even though they were the ones who contributed the most to the fights. The Magi Brotherhood barely had any losses to lament, for every one of their employees was protected with evacuation spells if required. The Bureau of Identification outside King''s Rise had been destroyed, though, as was the machine used in the Identification process. There wouldn''t be new citizens in the Northern Town for a while.
Coming back to Glenn, the young man was now worked to the bones to dispense Divine Blessing and execute the haunting souls of the battle, to try and make the Northern Town a little safer. The grudges the citizens felt after killing their close ones during the mind-controlled madness were more than enough to disrupt the Mana and create ghosts of all kinds. The second clean-up took more than a month and managed to make the town habitable once again.
Many problems had surged after this clean-up, unseen previously due to the havoc. The Fields, the main source of alimentation for the Town, had all been burned to the ground. The Scarecrows were standing without fields to protect, standing on ash and destruction. The water sources had also been tainted with rotten corpses, making it much harder to access basic facilities and making the usage of Water Shard mandatory in every part of the town.
On a more positive note, the rebuilding efforts were running well, pioneered by the Maron Company and their skilled workers. This had the effect of cementing the Company''s position in the Northern Town and affirming its leadership in the merchandise business. The main provider of materials, food, Shards, and working forces; the Maron Company.
After all that time, Nelg had still not woken up, and neither did Redan. Thankfully, the old man had been spared by the attacks as he remained in a mainly untouched aisle of the Church back during the assault. Glenn barely had any time to work on his spells in the end as more Rifts and more monsters appeared; it felt like the Mana had felt the disturbance in the Northern Town and chosen to make use of the opportunity to worsen the mayhem.
All in all, a lot of work, and not a lot of time to think. Things were indeed starting to slow down, but it was still way too hectic for Glenn. He couldn''t even experiment with his newfound power, Mana Sight. Maintaining these constant efforts was straining, but Glenn was glad to be doing something, pulling his mind away from the scenes of hell itself he saw in the Cursed Book of Doloratrox. Technically, he wasn''t forced to work hard as he was, but he heard rumors inside the Workshop of his rank up to Platinum rank being discussed. That was something he never considered before, but certainly something he''d like to have. So, he was hitting two birds with one stone by working this hard; he pushed away his psychological trauma and increased his chance at a guaranteed life of luxury.
Because who would refuse to live in the best conditions possible? Certainly not him.
At last, maybe because he felt he was doing excellent work, or maybe because of Kevin''s complaints from overworking, Glenn took a one-day break from the constant slaughter.
Just one day to rest his mind amidst the horror, pain, and blood.
A breather, as they say.
193. A Changing Town
Glenn came out of the Magi Brotherhood''s teleportation station, ignoring the weak nausea it caused as he recalled Kevin''s words a few hours ago. The assistant had been astonished when he tried to get the bounties for Glenn and failed to find anything worth his talents. There were no threats below the Gold-ranked threat, which meant that anyone besides Glenn or similarly high-ranked Fixers could take care of them. Most of the problems that had surged after the Thorn''s Cult attack had been taken care of, explaining this lack of work. In consequence, Kevin had dragged himself to his boss with a pitiful expression, ashamed.
"Sir Glenn, I apologize but there doesn''t seem to be any work available today," the scrawny man had shaken his head, his unibrow drooping sadly. Glenn had frowned for an instant, before realizing it was a forced vacation. So he had just chosen to dismiss the assistant and give him the day while he''ll be taking care of things he had been putting off for a while. After notifying Milena and Liara that he would be away for a while, he took a short trip to the Magi Brotherhood back to the Eastern Town. He had no desire to come back to this place, but fate decided otherwise.
The first thing he noticed once he stepped out of the teleportation station was that nothing had changed, visibly. It seemed like he had landed in the Red District, like the last time he came here, the scarlet glow of magical lights illuminating the streets filled with the scent of perfumes and threatening hints of danger. The young man adjusted his black leather gloves as he trusted his memories to guide himself. One thing that did seem different was the lack of children in the street. The last time he came here, he remembered them hanging in the backstreets, armed and ready to slit throats.
But now, there wasn''t a single one of them anywhere. A tinge of worry seized Glenn''s heart, making him tense up, but he kept going. One thing at a time. Perhaps he could investigate that later on?
''Why do you always try to dig your way through to every single problem?'' Diamanes complained in annoyance. Glenn scrunched his nose and smacked his lips.
"Because I''m selfish. The more good I do, the better I feel about the bad I remember."
Diamanes sneered but didn''t dare retort, for Glenn''s response sufficed more than enough for him. The young man glared at the pleasure houses, finding them as common as before, as if nothing had changed.
Nothing had changed. Even though the leader of the local Church of Onnea''s military force, Norstan Vendor had promised him he would take care of the gangs in the area, even after multiple months nothing changed. And that was a little disappointing.
''No matter. If Vendor didn''t take care of the Skinners as he promised, I''ll just take it upon myself to burn these bastards to the ground,'' Glenn decided coldly as he took a turn to head to a darker part of town. The houses were in a dilapidated state, but it didn''t surprise him much. He soon arrived in front of the rundown warehouse where he found the children who escaped the claws of the Occult Wanderers and their insane, earthling leader, Laurance.
Silently, he pushed the door open, listening to the hinges creaking due to lack of maintenance. He entered the warehouse, his fists clenching tighter with each silent, passing second. Once he arrived in the massive room that previously housed around fifty orphans, he almost punched the nearest wall in anger.
None of the kids were there. Vanished.
''Calm down and take a closer look. It''s not a recent thing.'' Diamanes appeased his host, noticing a few details Glenn had missed. The young man forced his emotions back down the way they came from and kneeled next to an abandoned mattress. It was dusty and didn''t seem to have been in use for a while. Glenn frowned and looked around, finding the rest of the room to be similarly neglected. Also, there were none of the kids'' makeshift weapons, nor trace of a struggle or fight, which was probably good news.
Now, the question was, where did the kids go to
Creak...
Glenn swiftly turned on his feet as the Saturn Rings flared up and Gravity Manipulation seized whatever was that thing that stepped into the warehouse. The young man was so used to the pitiful ambushes monsters'' laid it was easy to take off those
"Ah!" A short gasp from the creature he seized, forced Glenn out of his bloodthirsty trance. He dismissed the Saturn Rings but kept hold of the intruder with Gravity Manipulation, keeping them a few meters above ground. Glenn pulled them toward him and froze when he recognized said intruder.
"...Kora?" He blurted out, surprised as he gently let go of the rough kid. Kora was the orphans'' leader, due to his charismatic presence despite his young age. And bravery, also. Glenn could remember the kid running at him desperately to protect his friends like it was yesterday. That was kind of fun.
''Haha, Glenn is taking pleasure in bullying little kids? Shame on you!'' Diamanes shouted in Glenn''s mind, making the latter grimace in displeasure. He quickly shook away this expression and concentrated back on Kora.
"So it was you, Mister Devil''s Hand," Kora sighed in relief while Glenn paused in embarrassment, struggling to keep himself composed. Ah, yes, he forgot he called himself that to impress the kids back then.
"...It is me, yes," Glenn muttered a reply, before turning to the warehouse, "...What happened? Did you find another hideout?"
Kora rubbed the back of his head and creased his nose, "...You can say that, yes..."
Glenn frowned. What did that mean?
Fifteen minutes later, Glenn was standing in front of a massive mansion, his hands on his waist. Kora was standing next to him, mirroring the adult''s position.
"...So that''s your new home, I take it? An orphanage sponsored by the Cleaner''s Workshop, is that right?" He confirmed, still a little bewildered. Kora nodded silently and pointed at a banner hanging lazily from one of the mansion''s walls. The grand flame on a black background was more than recognizable, with how often Glenn was seeing this particular emblem.
''Why would the Atelier sponsor these children?'' wondered a puzzled Glenn. It was great news, of course, since it meant the kids were being looked after properly, but what was in it for the Atelier? They didn''t exactly seem like philanthropists.
As if reading in his mind, Kora replied to the unheard question, "I believe Mister Black Swordsman and Baldy cooperated with the kind ladies at the Church to build this place. I..." Kora looked at the ground and twiddled with his thumbs, "...I still have a hard time believing we have a real home and don''t have to run away from anyone anymore," He whispered, afraid that speaking his words would turn his fears back into reality. Glenn smiled and ruffled the kid''s messy haircut. He was starting to understand how this place came to be, even though he still had a few more questions for Sahro and Loran. Ha, the Baldy. It certainly was a fitting nickname.
"I can believe that. Hey, do you think you can round up all of your friends? I have an important thing to tell you all."
Kora frowned and pushed away Glenn''s hand.
"About what?" He asked distrustfully. Glenn''s smile turned sadder and he took a short second before replying.
"It''s about the other friends that remained behind in that prison you escaped."
Kora''s eyes lit up with hope and he opened his mouth to inquire, but he saw the sadness on Glenn''s face and backed away slowly. Kora''s glimmer of hope faded and his shoulders slumped. Glenn nodded gently before turning away and taking a seat on a nearby bench in the orphanage grounds. The kid had left already to go fetch his friends, as Glenn had asked.
Soon enough, half a hundred children were sitting in front of Glenn, waiting for the bad news to spill. The young man looked at all the kids, his words stuck in his throat, but he forced them out.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
"It''s been a while everyone," He drew a deep breath, "...You remember, when, a few months ago I went to try and save your friends?"
The children all nodded, Kora, standing nearby with a resigned look and crossed arms. Glenn looked at the bright, blue sky for an instant, and finally told them the bad news.
"I found them. They''re gone," He said softly, closing his eyes as he remembered the cruel sight of the dead and flayed kids lying in the Beyond, a vision of horror that he''ll probably never forget. Kora flinched and turned away, grasping at his mouth to shut a nascent cry. Most of the kids took a while to understand Glenn''s words, some of them pale and unable to utter a word, others bawling their eyes out. Some were furiously crying and cursing at Glenn for failing to save their friends, while the rest were crying on the floor, hugging their knees. The older ones only shook their head and clenched their fists, unable to direct their hate and anger to anyone. Glenn could tell them the truth, that the murderer of their friends was probably still alive, somewhere in the Beyond, fighting the Knight of Hell.
But he wouldn''t do that. Why throw them on a chimeric quest for vengeance? No, there was no need for that. They could live normal, peaceful lives.
Glenn did not feel like sharing Laurance''s extermination with anyone else, anyway.
''A good tale of blood, steel, and revenge. A personal vendetta promises to be an enjoyable show,'' Diamanes laughed wickedly, his laughter ringing like a reminder for Glenn of the path he had chosen. Nelg would have probably said something to quell Glenn''s anger, but Nelg was asleep, busy consolidating his First Circle. Glenn looked at the grieving kids, and slowly stood up, turning away to leave the orphanage. Kora ran up to him, his eyes dry and lids swollen, and grabbed his sleeve.
"I know...I know you didn''t have to tell us. But..." The kid sniffled, and with maturity, he couldn''t share with any of his friends, bowed his head, "...thank you. Thank you for telling us."
Glenn looked at Kora for a moment, before patting him on the shoulder and turning back, leaving and not looking back. His steps were heavy, but his shoulders were light, rid of a weight he had borne for a few months.
''Heh, this Black Heir bastard could have told them instead of building them an orphanage...'' Glenn sneered as he wiped away a small tear, heading toward the Church of Onnea. At least the kids were safe.
The closer he got to the Church, the more..."normal" the town looked. Less and less pleasure houses, and more booths or merchants. There even was a theater, surprisingly, and Glenn was tempted to stop to see what kind of play they would perform there. He didn''t remember coming across another theater ever since he came to this world, after all. The world of Limbo wasn''t one for culture and casual entertainment, after all.
Well, for now, it was going to wait. He will change his mind later. Glenn arrived at the Church of Onnea, his eyebrows rising when he witnessed priests and paladins entering and leaving it with hurried steps. Seemed like things were quite hectic here. Were they doing the work they promised?
With his expectations set back, Glenn entered the Church, avoiding the running priests one after the other. He went up to the counter, where a tired clerk was barely keeping himself awake.
"Hello sir, are you here to visit a patient? If so, please head to the waiting room number five, we''ll call your ticket number..." The clerk said robotically, not even looking at Glenn, before suddenly shaking his head, "...Ah, I didn''t give you a ticket. Here it is..." The clerk lazily ripped a ticket from a thick roll and held it toward Glenn. The young man looked at the ticket for a second, before smacking his lips.
"I''m here to see Norstan Vendor."
The clerk froze and slowly looked up at Glenn, squinting his eyes before looking at his desk. He pulled a drawing from a pile of them, compared it to Glenn''s face, and suddenly paled.
"Ahah, hello, Sir Glenn. Yes, I''ll, uhm, please follow me." The clerk panicked and stood up, almost running off in the Church''s hallways. Glenn hid a laugh and followed him. He already knew the way but still kept his steps behind the panicked clerk; they didn''t take long to arrive at Norstan''s office. The clerk made an awkward military salute, "Uhm, thanks for your, uh, service?"
Glenn smirked and saluted back, "Yeah, yeah, sure."
The clerk ran back to his work, sighing in relief. The young man rubbed his chin puzzledly; why was his reputation scaring so many people? He wasn''t that dangerous of a guy, after all. He just punished bad people, that''s all!
''I mean, you already have two crusades against monsters to your name. Rumors of you being a battle-crazed berserker HAVE to exist.'' Diamanes laughed matter-of-factly. Diamanes laughed detachedly. Glenn groaned, but couldn''t retort - it was too logical. He pushed the office''s door without knocking, finding Norstan buried in a thick pile of paper, sleeping on unfinished documents. The paladin had a thick black circle under his eyes and seemed like he could use the rest.
Glenn stealthily summoned his Mimetic cape and used the Silence Curse on his footsteps, muffling them. He approached the desk and picked one random slip, giving it a quick read. Coincidentally, or probably not, it was a document reporting on the successful eradication of the last Skinner forces in the Eastern Town, alongside the progression of the reconversion of sex workers to new jobs. This last part didn''t seem to be going very well, as many of them were very happy with their current work, and even more so now that they could control it and take full advantage of it.
The young man frowned and took the following document, his eyebrows rising with surprise. The sex workers had organized themselves quickly after the extermination of their managers into a much more professional organization, centered around profit, quality, and health for the workers. A transition toward an actual industry was surprising, and Glenn struggled a little to come to terms with that.
''Well, for some of them, that''s what they do best. The only difference now is that they''re going to do their job willingly, without a knife poking in their back. Heh, no pun intended,'' Diamanes explained with an unsurprised voice, laughing a little at the end. Glenn sighed and slowly placed the document back where it belonged, careful not to disturb the slumbering Paladin''s rest. He stepped out of the office and closed the door behind him, dismissing his Mimetic cape. It had done a good job at concealing his presence, but it needed more testing to see how good it was. The Silence Curse would have been enough in that situation.
Anyway. Glenn left the Church and finally headed to the Cleaner''s Workshop of the Eastern Town. He wanted to see Sahro, to see how the Black Heir was doing, and ask Loran about that orphanage. It probably wasn''t going to take too long. Glenn soon arrived at the Workshop and stepped into the empty, silent main hall. Loran was leaning back in his seat with his feet on the counter, flipping through a book. He looked up when he heard Glenn''s steps echoing in the Main hall, smiling at the newcomer''s arrival.
"If it isn''t my favorite Devil''s Hand! How are ya doing, Glenn?"
The young man smiled and went to shake Loran''s extended hand.
"Probably better than you, Loran. I heard you also got yourself a nickname?"
The Cleaner frowned and scratched the top of his head.
"What do you mean? I''m not actively out there, I couldn''t..." He trailed off as he saw Glenn''s increasingly wide smile.
"Baldy."
Loran looked at him, his eyelids trembling as he slowly got his feet off the counter.
"...What did you say?"
Glenn smiled even wider, before clearing his throat and shrugging.
"Well, I met those kids you sponsored, and the orphanage you built for them. They all called you Baldy, so I supposed it was your new moniker, you know?"
Loran''s eyes widened and he stood up with his fist clenched at the sky, hissing through his teeth: "These little bastards...!" He sighed and shook his head, letting go of his anger as he sat. Glenn laughed and leaned on the counter.
"So what''s up with that?"
The bald Cleaner crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat before replying. "An initiative coming from your Black Heir colleague. Sahro accumulated quite a bit of wealth, and it was more than enough to kickstart the construction of the orphanage. He bought the land through me, while I selected the workers who would take care of the kids and the orphanage. I don''t get much from it, besides a promise that they will come train here and take care of small jobs." Loran paused and looked at Glenn, whose anger was suddenly rising. He hurriedly raised his hands defensively and explained himself, "They''re really small jobs! Finding lost kittens, picking up herbs, or delivering stuff. Things that Copper Fixers usually do."
Glenn calmed down as he realized Loran had no intention of exploiting these kids. He rubbed his chin and tilted his head to the side.
"What about the Church? I heard from the kids that they were also invested in this somehow?"
Loran nodded, "Well, they are the ones who are going to take care of the kids. I believed putting their education with Priests and Paladins of Onnea would be a better choice than whoever idiot''s out there..."
Glenn chuckled approvingly. "They probably won''t turn too bad, then. That''s good." He sighed in relief and relaxed, finding things to be much better than he had expected. The Eastern Town was well on the path of reconstruction and to become a town of entertainment, while the orphans were taken care of and promised a bright future and education.
"Where''s the other idiot?" He asked curiously. Loran gritted his teeth and shook his head.
"Out on a mission. He signed a non-disclosure agreement, I can''t tell you about it. But don''t worry, you''ll get your friend back in a month or so. Maybe less if he does his job perfectly, heh."
Glenn shrugged disappointedly and nodded at Loran. "Alright then. What about Manalok? Any idea when he will be done with the job I gave him? I didn''t receive any news on his progress or anything."
Loran blew raspberries, at a loss, "No idea. Manalok is a guest here, he pretty much does anything he wants. He doesn''t have to answer to me. But I''ll send it to you when he''s done, don''t worry. Come on, get the hell out if you''re not here to work, Glenn. I have a lot of stuff to do, like finishing this novel, alright?"
Glenn laughed and shook his head. "Alright then, Baldy. I''ll see you around."
Loran flipped him off before diving back into his book. Glenn left the Workshop and pulled out his Exan-Egg. It was already 3 P.M. The young man looked at the sky for a moment before sighing.
"I guess I''m done here..."
''Hey, at least you got that break you wanted so much!''
"Sigh..."
194. Redan, the Ice Wolf
Glenn stretched as he exited the teleportation station, shaking off the slight discomfort he felt. He''d already finished with the Eastern Town, which was why he''d left so quickly. And to be perfectly honest, he''d rather not stay too long in this garbage can. The Church of Onnea was working hard to make it a better place to live, but Glenn wasn''t keen on that right now. Later, when it was less of a cut-throat alley and more of a proper town, perhaps he''d come back to enjoy the entertainment they offered...
''Hehehe...'' Diamanes snickered knowingly, making Glenn roll his eyes.
''I was thinking about the theaters, you fucking...sigh, why am I even trying?''
Diamanes only laughed, not even bothering to defend himself. His main goal, which was to annoy Glenn, had been more than accomplished. The young man headed to the Northern Town''s Church of Onnea, enjoying the lack of distasteful red lights and the provincial style of houses.
"I have to admit, the Northern Town did grow on me a little..." Glenn muttered, thinking about what was soon to come. Slowly but surely, the list of the things chaining him down to the Fringe was slimming down; Nelg was about to create his First Circle, and Sahro was soon done with the Workshop''s contract. Redan was supposed to wake up in a few, and everyone was already plenty strong enough to head to the Bourgeoisie. He was still a little worried since everyone was Rank 3, but he also felt like relying on the ranks too much was a mistake. Milena could probably punch above her weights with her mind-fucking spells, and Sahro had access to both Mana and Aura. Liara...He didn''t know how strong she was exactly, but with her impeccable swordsmanship and the fact that she was a Black Heir, he wasn''t too worried. Oh, and there was Javier, too, but Javier could be a guy without power and still be as threatening.
And let''s not forget Mary''s help in the shadows. The terrifying woman was probably going to be an important factor in their future success at hunting and slaughtering the Occult Wanderers.
As he was having these thoughts, Glenn didn''t realize he had already arrived at the Church of Onnea.
''Someone unaware might believe you''re a truly pious guy, seeing how often you visit this place...'' Diamanes grumbled disgruntledly. Glenn smirked and entered the Church, making his way straight to Redan''s room without asking anyone. No one tried to stop him either; his face was starting to get well-known in these parts after all. He entered the room without knocking, sinking his hand in his dimensional pouch to pull a few flowers from them.
"What''s up, old man? Don''t bother me about the flowers; they''re supposed to be good for your health." Glenn spoke as he took away the wilted flowers in the vase on Redan''s nightstand and put his in. He had no idea what they were called, and he honestly didn''t care. They looked like tulips but in a light, blue ice color. They were slightly magical and exuded a bit of white cold mist. It looked cool and made Glenn think of the old man. The part about the flowers helping Redan''s health was a complete lie, but the old man wouldn''t know anyway.
After all, he was still asleep.
The positive point was that he looked much better, though, even if he could use some time in the sun. The old man was pale, deathly so. Glenn took a seat on a nearby chair and crossed his arms, sighing heavily. He watched for a good moment Redan''s chest rise and fall, before shaking his head.
"...What a mess," muttered Glenn before standing up and going for the door, reaching for the handle.
"What the shit are those flowers?" An old and tired voice called out, freezing him in his steps. The young man''s hand was stuck above the door''s handle, but it slowly fell next to him. Heavy with emotions, Glenn turned back, finding Redan with his eyes opened, struggling to sit up while pushing away the cold tulips. The student helped his teacher with a discreet Gravity Manipulation. Redan grunted, his head resting against the wall as he closed his eyes for an instant, giving up on getting rid of the icy flowers.
"I ain''t dead yet, I take it?" Redan asked with a hollow voice. Glenn made a wry smile and sat back in his chair.
"I guess you''re not. How are you feeling?"
Redan looked at his hands for an instant and tried to reach in the air for something. He clenched his hands as hard as he could, but nothing happened. The old man sighed as his hands fell to his side.
"That can''t be good, ain''t it?" He muttered with a mixture of sadness and relief.
Glenn''s eyebrows rose as he inquired, "What''s wrong?"
Redan looked at the small window giving off a bit of sunlight and chuckled softly.
"My Mana Heart''s gone, and so''s my Aura Core. Am'' nothing but an ol'' man now."
Glenn''s blood froze in his veins and his jaw fell to the floor for a second. Glenn tried to speak but nothing came out of his throat. An awkward silence took over the patient''s room as Redan kept looking at the window and Glenn failed to find the words he needed to say.
"...I''m sorry, Redan. Had I known, I''d have" Glenn''s apologies were interrupted by an annoyed grunt from the old man. Redan looked at Glenn and gestured at him to approach closer.
"Listen, kid, I already lived ma'' life, alright? Don''t bother apologizing; I''m ol'' and tired." Redan laughed gently and weakly patted Glenn''s shoulder.
"Well now, I''m mighty grateful I still got the ol'' peepers to see just how strong you''ve become. Third Circle, ain''t that right? Mighty impressive for your age, that is. So tell me, do ya reckon you got it in ya to break the Wall?"
Glenn looked at the floor and laughed softly, before extending his right hand. He used one of the first spells he ever learned, Projection. A perfect copy of the Magellanic Clouds and the three rings of stars spinning around them appeared above his opened palm, humming gently. Redan''s eyes widened as he gasped. The old man hissed, worrying Glenn for an instant, until the hiss transformed into a chuckle, and the chuckle into a wide laugh.
"Hahaha...Hahahahaha!!!" Redan couldn''t stop laughing, even slapping his thighs. Tears of laughter were dropping from his eyes, his face flushed red as he kept on laughing. Glenn smirked, before laughing with the old man, his laughter contagious.
At some point, Redan''s laugh did finally calm down, even though the wide grin decorating his face didn''t seem to be going anywhere. Glenn calmed down as well, crossing his arms as he did so.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"...So ya'' broke the Wall, but didn''t climb up a Circle, ay? Ain''t that some funny business...Heh..." Redan chuckled slightly, looking away for a moment as he seemed to recall some moment of his past. Glenn clenched his hand, dismissing the Projection. Redan coughed in his hand, looking at his palm with a little annoyance. Glenn paled slightly when he saw blood in the old man''s hand.
"Shit!" He shot to his feet and rushed for the door, "I''ll go get a Priest, give me a sec"
"No," Redan simply said, stopping him dead in his tracks. Glenn clenched the handle, grimacing in hesitation before shaking his head. He went back to his seat, frowning.
"Why?"
The old man wiped his hand on his bed''s sheet, disregarding its previous cleanliness. "Ain''t no sense in wastin'' a healin'' spell on me, boy. Without a Core or a Mana Heart, I ain''t got much time left in this damned world..."
Redan trailed off, coming to terms with what he just said, his shoulders drooping slightly. It seemed like saying these words was much more effective than thinking them. Glenn paled even further and he grabbed the old man''s shoulder.
"Stop bullshitting. I saved you from the Beyond, that''s not for you to die right after you wake up, you old coot!" He shouted, angry. Redan looked at Glenn with a lost look, before laughing.
"The Beyond? You went into the Beyond to get the little ol'' me? I''m honored...At least I''ll die in this good ol'' Limbo..."
Glenn looked at the ceiling and almost screamed it, but restrained from doing so. He drew a deep breath and clasped his hands together.
"Why are you so pessimistic? I''m...I''m sure there''s a way to fix broken Cores and Mana Hearts! Wait, I know just the guy...Bob, I hope he''s still around..." Glenn grasped at his hair, struggling to find a solution. Would Bob, Rusty''s slimy helper be able to help Redan? He had a hard time helping when he Overloaded for Nelg''s creation, so two entirely broken sources of energy? That seemed...
No, he couldn''t just give up. There has to be a way somehow, somewhere Redan sighed, putting a stop to Glenn''s racing thoughts.
"I...don''t want to be saved, boy." The old man softly said, transforming Glenn''s panic into another, deeper emotion.
''Glenn, you don''t have much time. The lifespan he gained with his Core and Mana Heart...it''s disappearing as you''re talking.'' Diamanes warned with a serious tone, his usual jeer or mockery nowhere to be. Glenn''s heart stopped and tears accumulated in the corner of his eyes.
"Shit, why...?" He blurted out as he hid his eyes behind his hands. He had gone through so much to save the old man, why was he damned to die nonetheless? Why was Fate so cruel?
''...Wait, could I...?'' Glenn raised his head and looked at the ceiling, praying earnestly from the bottom of his heart. A gentle, golden light washed over him, coming from nowhere in particular. Filled with hopes, Glenn directed the golden light to Redan, covering the old man in a warm, divine cover. Redan looked at his body glowing with the gentle golden light and laughed.
"Ya'' also got cozy with the Dame of Harmony, ay?" Redan chuckled and waved with his hand, breaking the cover of golden light. Glenn watched in awe as the divine help ripped open like paper, disappearing in a flutter of light sparks. Redan coughed and shook his head.
"I never was much of a believer, and certainly not in Onnea. Always leaned more towards the Gold Church myself, even if I ain''t all that keen on the merchant side of things... The Dragon God, now, he was kind to me..."
Redan looked at his trembling hand, feeling his life draining away. He sighed with a little disappointment as Glenn silently wept.
"I...I did have a few things to share with ya'', but I guess Giselle can tell ya'' all that. Ya'' know Reginald too, right? Ask him too. He might even know more than ol'' me, haha!" Redan laughed, a wide grin plastered on his old, tired face. He reached for Glenn, who hurriedly grabbed his hand. Something was wrong, he knew it, but he couldn''t do anything. He was helpless, again, like so many times now. The first to help him in this hell of a world, who taught him and introduced him to magic. If it wasn''t for Redan, Glenn might not have been alive today.
That''s why he couldn''t accept it. No, he couldn''t. He had to do something... C.P.R! He could use C.P.R!
Mana swirled over his left hand as he desperately summoned the spell that traded pain for heal, but Redan''s weak hand pushed him away effortlessly.
"No use wastin'' Mana on me, I told ya. Now, instead, ya should tell me about that purple hand of yours. Tell me about your friend, ay?" Redan smiled knowingly as Glenn''s heart stopped once more. How did he know? How did Redan know of Diamanes'' presence? He opened his left, purple and watched in awe as Diamanes appeared in a bright, smiling mouth.
"I''m honored to be invited to your last words, old man," Diamanes spoke aloud with casual respect. Redan laughed weakly, his skin paling further and his lids drooping.
"Oh, but I knew you ever since I read that notebook the kid gave me, with all the experiments and torture. "3333", if I recall correctly. Am I recalling correctly?" He looked at Glenn with an inquiring look. The young man nodded with difficulty, unable to say a word.
"Yes, 3333... What fucking bastards, these Thorn Church guys... In my days, they weren''t so damn horrible... Anyway, let''s stop talking about bad memories, shall we? Instead, why don''t my disciple share his adventures with me? I heard a bit, but nothing too precise..." Redan demanded with a curious, yet weak voice. Glenn sniffled and gulped his sadness away, determined to honor the old man''s last will.
He told him everything. The whole truth, even the part where he came from another world. Redan''s eyes went wide more than once, but his smile remained steadily wide. The plains he woke up in, the first monster he killed, the Blood Moon...His adventure to the Still Peak, the meeting with Diamanes, and the torture in the Thorn''s Church prison. The Auberge, him finding out that other earthlings existed in this land, like Exan. The Harvest and the loss of people he shouldn''t qualify as friends, and yet. His quest for power, his months of madness and slaughter...The Blessed Grove, the Heart of Darkness, his encounter with Milena. Palancar, the Fallen Mother, and him breaking through the Third Circle and the Wall at the same time. The Blumar Quarry, and Doyle Malory, the Lightbringer. His alliance with the Maron''s Company and his discovery of Apostles. His fight with the mad Abbot Hank of the Thorn''s Cult, his rise to Dark-Gold rank. The creation of Nelg. The Eastern Town, his quest to save him, the Occult Wanderers, and Laurance. And finally, the execution once and for all of the revived Hank and his encounter with the Cursed Book of Doloratrox. And now, him, sitting there speaking to a dying old man.
Redan whistled weakly, impressed. "Well..." He rasped, gasping for air, "...Ain''t that an incredible life ya''ve got there. Ya''re nicknames suit ya quite well, don''t ya think?" He laughed. Glenn smiled and nodded, not letting go of Redan''s hand. The old man coughed and closed his eyes, breathing at an increasingly slower rate.
"I gotta tell ya'', my life was quite fun as well...sad, filled with adventures, loyal companions and betrayals..." Redan sighed and made himself more comfortable. He reopened his eyes and stared deep into Glenn''s, serious.
"Don''t go makin'' the same mistakes I did, Glenn. Find folks you can trust, folks you''d die for, and who''d do the same for you. That''s the only way you''ll live the life you''re hankerin'' for..."
Glenn''s head leaned forward, his forehead touching the old man''s hand. It was cold, wrinkled, and dry, and yet holding it brought a warmth Glenn couldn''t find anywhere else.
"Thank you, Redan..." Glenn barely managed to say through his stuffed throat, choking with sadness and grief. The old man chuckled, closing his eyes for the last time, his hand slipping out of Glenn''s. The sunlight dimmed as if acknowledging the loss that the world experienced at this moment.
For this day was the day Redan, the Ice Wolf, previous Lord Commander of the Northern Gate, and previous Commodore of the Wolf Order, finally gave his last breath.
Today, a legend died, leaving his spot for a new one to take.
A legend that should shake the world.
But for now, that soon-to-be-born legend wept, for he was no legend yet.
For now, he was a just grieving young man who lost his family.
Today, was a sad day.
195. New Hire Sucks
Glenn drank silently from a small flask he bought after the old man''s passing. Strangely, neither sodas from his mini-fridge nor alcohol tasted good in his mouth these days. There was one exception to that rule, which was cider. Bittersweet cider, which he had bought in a liquor store. It was expensive and didn''t taste as good as the cider that a friend once gifted him, but Glenn couldn''t care less. The young man stood alone in the Northern Town''s graveyard, staring at a plain tombstone amidst many others.
A name was carved in the basalt.
Redan.
Right below the name, there was a small line of text.
[A WOLF WITH A HEART THAT WAS ANYTHING BUT ICE]
Glenn corked the screw back on his flask, putting the drink away after having his fill. He continued to stand like this for a while, his hands in his pockets and his eyes stuck to the gravestone. The sky was bright and blue as if to mock him. His black Imoogi suit flapped in a small, gentle breeze, the only source of noise in the morbid silence. Glenn rubbed his eyes, tired, before turning back and heading for the graveyard''s exit.
Redan''s funeral welcomed quite a few individuals, some Glenn knew, some he didn''t. Among those, he recognized Sir Reginald, the gentleman Cleaner, Monsieur Maron of the Maron Company, and Mary, the sadistic teacher. There were also a plethora of individuals armored in light-blue armor, the symbol of a white wolf painted on their back that attended the ceremony. A dozen elderly people, most of whom looked like veterans, donned armor specially designed for the occasion.
Giselle had also been able to come to the funeral, thanks to Maron and Reginald pulling some strings. When Glenn told her of Redan''s passing, she only turned away and went to lit a cigar, asking him to leave her alone. Glenn had obliged. When she came to the ceremony, her eyes were bloodshot and her fingers were covered in yellow nicotine, proof of the countless cigars she smoked in the meanwhile. Sahro had been unable to come to the ceremony, still stuck in his "secret" mission for the Cleaner''s Workshop. Glenn didn''t need to visit his friend to know that he was probably as affected as he was.
Mary looked like she had been crying a lot too, but she left right after the casket had been buried. Glenn didn''t even have a chance to speak with her. As a matter of fact, he couldn''t speak to anyone. Giselle left as soon as she could, as did Sir Reginald, in a hurry. The gentleman Cleaner was exhausted, as the dark circles under his eyes proved, but he didn''t allow Glenn to ask about them, leaving too fast to answer any questions.
And now here he was, leaving the graveyard and the corpse of his first teacher behind him. The young man shook these thoughts away. There was no need to leave another layer of guilt over what he already felt, was there?
''I suggest heading to the Dormitory and digging into that Mana Sight thing,'' Diamanes'' voice rang in Glenn''s mind, suggesting a proper use of his time. The young man disgruntledly changed direction to the Cleaner''s Workshop. He didn''t want to do anything, but he knew that doing something, whatever that something was would allow him to think about something else.
Turning the page was hard. But he''ll have to do so eventually. Rather sooner than later.
It didn''t take long for Glenn to arrive at the Cleaner''s Workshop, and then at the Dormitory. He climbed up to the Dark-Gold floor and entered his suite, headed straight for the training room. There was no one around; it seemed like the girls had understood he needed his privacy for a few days. They liked hanging around, mainly to use the mini-fridge, but also to meet Glenn and speak of their latest bounties.
Not today, though, and maybe not tomorrow. Certainly not yesterday.
The young man closed his eyes for an instant and remembered the sensation he felt back when he first opened his Mana Sight. It had been a very painful sensation, of course, since his Mana Sight had been forcefully opened by staring at some kind of eldritch-maybe-godly eye in the Cursed Book of Doloratrox. Now, there had to be a way to open this thing again without inflicting himself with psychic damage, right...?
Glenn slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he adjusted to the change of scenery. The whole room had changed colors, covered in brushes of hundreds of hues, gleaming and humming gently. The young man winced as he felt pain in his eyes, and he willed for his Mana Sight to be less potent. Sadly, just "willing" for it wasn''t enough, and nothing happened. Glenn gritted his teeth and concentrated, analyzing the flow of Mana in his body. He could feel it, like always, ready to flare up and fuel his spells, but...an insignificant, negligible part seemed to be lost to the void. Glenn followed the flow and found the leaking point: his eyes.
''Mana Sight is alimented with Mana; this makes sense so far. So, if I lower the Mana usage...'' Glenn carefully reopened his eyes to see most of the colors fading away, leaving place to a world of grey and deep blue. The walls, training dummies, the furniture, all of those were gray, dead, while clouds of blue floated around here and there.
"...What are those...?" Glenn questioned no one in particular, frowning. He reached with his hand and grabbed at the blue cloud, but he just passed through it without interacting with it. Glenn''s eyebrows creased as he concentrated further. The blue cloud swirled and moved, giving off a feeling of...lies? It was hard to explain, but...the blue cloud felt like treachery, betrayal, illusion...Illusion!
"Ah!" Glenn exclaimed, losing his concentration at the same time.
"So this was the remnants of Milena''s magic...She must have trained here lately..." Glenn muttered in understanding. He drew a deep breath and reactivated his Mana Sight, approaching another Mana trace. Upon inspection, he discovered this time a feeling of freedom, of speed and sharpness, of levity. This probably was what Liara left behind with her Telekinesis spell. Glenn smirked and aimed at a nearby dummy, effortlessly shooting a Solar Laser at it. The dummy caught on fire, a part of it already in ashes as the rest was slowly burning. In Glenn''s eyes, though, it looked way different. The spell had shot out in a bright, orange light, and that orange light was now lingering on the dummy. But, as time passed, the orange light disappeared, leaving only a blue Mana trace.
Glenn rubbed his chin, "...So, the active form of the Mana is different than how it is later on? How far away can I peer in time? I''ll have to ask when was the last time Milena trained in this room..."
The young man deactivated and reactivated his Mana Sight, finding the action to be way easier now. The more he trained with it, the easier it was, but then, this was true for everything.
Glenn sighed and stopped playing around with Mana Sight. He sat for a second, rubbing his hands together. His heart still felt heavy, despite his sorry attempt to take his mind off the recent events. After a short deliberation with himself, he left the training room, freezing in his steps when he found Kevin sitting in the dining room, his notepad in front of him. He looked up when he heard Glenn and adjusted his glasses.
"Oh, hello Sir Glenn. I apologize for intruding, but I heard you wanted to take care of some bounties from Sir Reginald?" The assistant asked inquisitively.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Glenn frowned, "I didn''t..." He paused and thought for a few seconds, before nodding, "...Alright, show me what you''ve got."
Kevin''s face lit up and he flipped the notepad around, pushing it to Glenn across the table. The young man pulled the notepad to his hand with Gravity Manipulation, giving it a quick read.
"Due to some internal issues privy to the Cleaner''s Workshop and given the recent events, there has been a restructuration of the manpower distributed over the town," Kevin began to say as he pushed his glasses back up. Glenn frowned, finding a few things out of order. Rifts that weren''t taken care of in time, monsters that weren''t properly executed, areas that were ignored by the Cleaner in charge... Those were all bullet points highlighted in red, with a quick sketch of a map next to it. A district was circled in red, Rampart Street. Glenn''s heart froze as memories of a warm bakery surged up from a deep hole in his brain.
He shook his head and kept on reading.
"Blorg...? Is that even a name?" Glenn thought out loud with a frown. Kevin nodded and grimaced.
"Yes, this is the new Cleaner in charge of Rampart Street. We''re encountering a few...issues, with him around, but we''re forced to keep him. There''s no one to take over for him with his skills..."
''Huh,'' Diamanes said, ''Seems like even your assistant dislikes that guy, Blorg.''
Glenn shook his head and handed the notepad back to Kevin.
"So, you want me to clean up his mess, is that right?"
The assistant nodded wordlessly, his cheeks flushed red with a bit of shame. Glenn shrugged, before grinning coldly.
"...Do I have permission to kick his ass if I meet him?"
Kevin paused, before smiling in a rare show of wickedness, "Yes, you''re free to act as you like. You have been granted the order of the Blood Cross, after all. Take the medal out and you''ll be able to prove your rank."
Glenn''s hand sunk into his dimensional pouch and he took out the small emblem in the shape of a shield, with a red cross and a pearl containing a black flame in its center.
"...I always forget I have this thing..." He muttered before pinning down the emblem on his vest.
Kevin smirked, "And that''s probably why they gave it to you."
Glenn glanced at the assistant confused. Kevin cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.
"Hrm, anyway, should we go then?"
The young man nodded.
"Let''s get to it."
One clean-up after another, it didn''t take long for Glenn to realize why the Workshop was having him clean up behind this Blorg''s mess. Usually, a Cleaner''s job is to assess a situation, and depending on the urgency of the threat, either take care of it or send the bounty to the Fixer network. This was to allow the Cleaner more facility of movement and a better distribution of the jobs, but it did depend on the Cleaner''s goodwill to report the threats he left behind.
Usually, this never caused any problems, but...as Glenn went to every site Blorg was called upon, he found half-killed monsters, collapsed houses with families still trapped in them, and even worse stuff down the line. To make it short, Blorg was doing such a terrible job Glenn was even tempted to call it sabotage.
But with him spending so much time behind the new Cleaner, what needed to happen did happen, and he met Blorg, in quite a surprising scene. Glenn had arrived at the target, a large Rift spitting out Gold-Ranked creatures, some Steel Wyrms. They weren''t that dangerous as they had simplistic minds and a lack of strange or mystical attacks, but their scales were as hard as steel, hence the name, and were usually about 20 feet long. The main thing that made it a Gold-Rank was how tough it was, but for Gold-Rank Fixers with above-average offensive capabilities, the Steel Wyrms were just helpless sheep.
And yet, here they were, snaking around happily as they broke through the houses and chasing after the inhabitants as a gorilla of a man was lazily fighting the smallest of them. Glenn''s anger almost flared up right away when he saw this spectacle, but he chose to first get rid of the Wyrms. A few Carbon Blades and a Solar Laser later, all that was left to do was to destroy the Rift and take care of the aftermath. Glenn dusted his hands off as he looked at a smoldering carcass in front of him when a pair of angry, heavy steps made themselves known by running at him.
Glenn turned around just in time to see a large, steel-clad fist try to crush him. The young man didn''t even react and left it to the Saturn Rings to take care of. He always had the spell active whenever he fought monsters these days, just as a measure of precaution. The fist was caught in the Rings and pulled away from Glenn''s face, alongside the rest of the Gorilla''s body. Glenn squinted as he realized that his attacker was the dumbass that bothered him some time ago.
''Didn''t you accidentally break his Dark-Gold identification dagger?'' Diamanes asked without a shred of doubt. Glenn sighed and stepped back, his arms crossed.
"The fuck are you doing here, Gorilla? Didn''t learn your lesson last time?" Glenn blurted out with a hint of fatigue. The Gorilla picked himself up and pointed at Glenn angrily.
"You bastard! Do you think you''re safe? I''ll break your skull like you broke my dagger, you son of a" The Gorilla''s lips and tongue kept on moving frantically, probably to curse every single one of Glenn''s ancestors, but the latter couldn''t be sure. After all, with the Silence Curse muting the sound, and the fact that he couldn''t read lips, there was no way to tell. The Gorilla closed his mouth when he realized that no sound was coming out of it, his face flushed in a dark red color. He charged at the young man with a silent roar, angrily swinging his massive fists at him.
Glenn watched in amusement as the attacks effortlessly slipped on the Saturn Rings, even when a brown Aura covered the Gorilla''s fists to empower them. It seems like he was a Rank 3 Aura practitioner at the very least, but not a particularly strong one. Or was Glenn just that much more powerful than him?
''That probably is the case, yep.'' Diamanes agreed with a laugh, enjoying the spectacle of the Gorilla making a fool out of himself. Glenn sighed and finally dismissed the Curse on the Gorilla''s face while using Gravity Manipulation to raise a rock in front of his foot and make his trip. The Gorilla crashed down loudly, rolling a few times before pushing himself up.
"ARGH! Fucking, cheating bastard! I''ll skin you alive and break your bones into paste, before pushing the whole stuff down your throat!" The Gorilla''s eyes were bulging out madly as he spat copious amounts of curses and saliva in Glenn''s face. The young man grimaced and muttered a quick Aqua Mundare to get rid of the filth.
"...So, do you care to answer me? What are you doing in a Cleaner''s area of business, Gorilla? Did you get clearance from Blorg?" Glenn asked with a bored voice. The Gorilla paused and looked at Glenn for an instant, before bursting in laughter.
"Did I get clearance from Blorg?" He repeated in disbelief, before laughing even harder, "...Hahahaha, I am Blorg, you stupid fuck!"
Glenn looked up and down at the Gorilla no, Blorg and whistled with an impressed air.
"Oh, so you''re the Blorg. I see...This does make more sense now."
Blorg''s grin grew even wider and he ripped away the brown cape he was wearing, revealing a complete set of white armor, covered in blood-red crosses.
"Yes, and I''m a Cleaner now! Just try and keep your shield up," Blorg threatened as his lips pulled back, "...If you''d like to lose your Fixer license that is."
Glenn looked at Blorg for a moment, before using Earthquake on the floor he was stepping on. A huge crack swallowed Blorg in an instant and closed back on him, leaving only his head out. The Cleaner tried to get himself out of the trap, but Glenn''s careful use of Gravity Manipulation made it impossible for him to do so.
"Well, guess what, Blorg," Glenn began as he crouched next to the dumbass'' head, "...I don''t give a single fuck that you''re a Cleaner. I see that you''re doing a very poor job, and I''m forced to clean up behind you. I don''t like cleaning up, so you better start doing your fucking job."
Blorg spat to the side and grunted, "Or what?"
Glenn smiled widely and he placed his foot on top of Blorg''s head, "Or I''ll kill you. Simple as that."
Blorg opened his mouth but he hurriedly closed it when Glenn shoved the emblem of the Blood Cross in his face. The cocky Cleaner paled and gulped whatever sentence he was about to spit, realizing the error he just committed.
"Yeah, you understand now, don''t you? Now, I''ll be taking care of this mess, but if I find that you''ve been doing another botched job, I''ll be personally coming to help your throat meet my best friend," He pulled his longsword and pushed it against Blorg''s throat, "Deal?"
Blorg gulped and hurriedly nodded, his eyes glued to the sword, "DDeal!"
Glenn smiled and sheathed his sword before turning away.
"Excellent. Hopefully, I won''t be seeing you around, Blorg. Goodbye." He left the scene in no hurry, waiting to be far away before laughing widely.
''Haha, I just loved the look on that guy''s face!'' Diamanes exclaimed amidst his laughter, ''The moment he realized he fucked up: pure gold. Hahaha!''
The young man grinned, but that grin faded away little by little. Hopefully, he won''t have to meet Blorg again, even though he did have him to thank for taking his mind off Redan''s death for a while.
Too bad it was only for a while, though.
196. Cleave & Double it
Glenn crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, putting his feet on the table separating him from Sir Reginald. The gentlemanly Cleaner looked exhausted, his mustache disheveled and his clothes rumpled. Nevertheless, Glenn needed to obtain the information he had come for; Reginald''s background.
And he was going to get it.
Reginald sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, before moistening his lips.
"...I can guess the reason for this meeting, Fixer Glenn, but I would still like to hear it," He politely requested.
Glenn inspired, taking a moment to calm his emotions, "...I want to know the truth about Redan. Who he was, who were his detractors, and the reason he was practically banned from King''s Rise."
Sir Reginald looked to the side and pressed his forehead, recalling events he never managed to forget truly.
"Where should I begin...?" The Cleaner shook his head with a hint of sadness, "...I''d have preferred if Sir Redan would have told you, but it is too late to hope for that, sadly."
Glenn changed position and sat correctly, adjusting his black leather gloves simultaneously. He stared at Reginald, ready to hear the story of the legendary Ice Wolf. Reginald cleared his throat and began.
"Sir Redan was...at some point, my superior, as you might remember. I worked under him for most of my life in the Wolves Order, a military unit specialized in guerilla warfare, black ops, and assassination." Reginald played with his mustache with one hand, while pouring himself a cup of tea with the other.
"The Ice Wolfwell, he wasn''t called that until the later part of his careerwas a legend. One of the rare men who was able to wield both Aura and Mana and the one who managed to put a stop to the raids from Vulshai..." Reginald quenched his thirst, noticing Glenn''s frown at the latter name, and added, "Vulshai is a country north of the Munirp Kingdom. It''s a lawless country, ruled by countless clans that fight each other now and then. The Holy Land of the Brotherhood of Iron Blood is situated in the heart of Vulshai, fostering powerful fighters who can change the course of wars."
The young man leaned forward, listening attentively.
''Vulshai...sounds like some kind of wildlands where the strong strives and the weakest grovels...'' Diamanes commented with interest. Reginald, oblivious to the entity''s thoughts, continued.
"Back then, Munirp was threatened on all sides; the Pheonix of Valantor bringing his fleet of powerful warriors over the Blue Wound to conquer us, the unnamed Lich that tried to breach the Black Wall to the east, and a sudden rise of monsters in the western part of the country. The Kingdom''s resources and experts were spread thin during what is named rather simplistically the War of the Four Fronts." Reginald shook his head and he smirked slightly, his mustache bouncing.
"I was only a kid and just enrolled in the Watchers, the military force protecting King''s Rise''s outer walls. The War of the Four Fronts gave birth to a few legends: Duke Noir, Exan the Omniscient, Harriet the King''s Blade, and last but not least, Redan the Ice Wolf."
Glenn''s eyes widened slightly and he asked, "When was the War of the Four Fronts?"
Reginald frowned for a moment, before replying,"...It feels like yesterday, but it''s already been ninety years."
The young man almost gasped but restrained himself. Ninety years ago! Glenn already knew that high-level individuals lived longer than others, but it was still hard to look at the fifty-something-looking gentleman in front of him and think that he was alive almost a century ago. And Redan was even older than that, then? As was Exan too! How old was he when he earned this moniker of Exan the Omniscient? Glenn was flabbergasted, and that much showed on his face.
Sir Reginald chuckled and gave himself a refill of tea. "I know I don''t look old, but I am, I suppose. To continue where I left off, Sir Redan led the Wolves'' Order to fight the raiders from Vulshai and did it masterfully. Their first raid was countered with perfection, with barely any losses for the Order but a few dozen thousand on the raiders'' side. I was sent to the Order between the second and third raids."
"We were outnumbered a hundred to one, but numbers did not matter in front of overwhelming power. Everyone in the Wolves Order was at least at the third rank, and at most at the sixth. Sir Redan was a Fourth-Circle user as he was recently, but his masterful combination of Aura and Mana made him as powerful as an Archmagi or an Aura Saint. And since the most powerful raiders sent to fight us were at most at the third rank..." Reginald chuckled and dropped a cube of sugar in his cup. "...It was a veritable slaughter. Our Front wasn''t as dangerous as the other three, for there were practically no experts fighting for the enemy''s side."
Glenn rubbed his chin, struggling to grasp Redan''s strength at his prime. Also, how could the old man lose against Laurance and let himself be abducted, if he was that strong?
''Don''t forget that this was Redan at his prime,'' Diamanes reminded him, ''...The old man was strong back when you first met him, but certainly not as strong as what Reginald is saying. I think age got Redan worse than you might think.''
The young man nodded slowly. Still, it felt like he was missing a piece of the puzzle, but he wasn''t sure which... Reginald used a small silver spoon to stir his tea, before bringing the cup to his lips.
"Anyway, we pushed Vulshai back and came back to King''s Rise as heroes. Those were the good times..." The gentleman smiled until that smile faded away to leave the place to a darker expression.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"...And as all good things, they came to an end. One day, the Commodore disappeared, without saying a word to us. A week later, we learned from an official Royal messenger that Redan was suspected of a crime of the highest treason, but had been pardoned for respect for the achievements in war he brought to the Kingdom of Munirp. He was relegated to the post of Commander of the Watchers of the Northern Gate, and then also kicked out of this post. The Court had decided to ban Sir Redan from the city, for his life was too precious but his existence too much of a bother. They wanted him far away, and so they banned him."
Glenn frowned. The Court? Wasn''t that the highest Circle of King''s Rise, just below the Royal Tower? Reginald was probably speaking of the nobles who lived there...like Exan, or Milena and Prince''s parents... But why would they want Redan gone? Did the old man look into something he shouldn''t have?
...That had to be that, right? He uncovered the secrets of the Court and managed to turn the nobles against him. He was left alive since he was a war hero but banned away from the city to stop him from looking further into whatever he was looking into.
Glenn suddenly stood up when he remembered the name of the Count who used Redan as his henchman; Count Mortelli. The now-dead Mayor Lazarre of the Eastern Town had mentioned this name as his uncle supporting him from the shadows. Could Count Mortelli be behind Redan''s downfall?
''That would only give me one more reason to find that Count and kill him. Alongside Baron Howard, of course.'' The young man clenched his fists in fury when he noticed Reginald staring at him strangely. He drew a deep breath and forced himself to sit down, pushing back against his anger. The Baron and the Count could wait; Redan was leagues above Glenn in terms of strength, and even he was forced to back down and kicked out of King''s Rise. If he wanted to succeed where Redan didn''t, he''d have to get much, much stronger than he already was.
''I can already punch above my weight, but it''s not enough. I need to reach a level so high, that secrets will start uncovering themselves in front of me...Stronger than Redan, stronger than Laurance, and stronger than even the King...'' Glenn''s thoughts were racing as he waved at Reginald.
"...I apologize. Please, continue."
Reginald''s lips curved upward with understanding and he placed his cup back on the table, before crossing his arms.
"The official reason given by the Court for the ban was that the Commodore was too much of a loose beast, threatening the safety of everyone in the city, and risking to turn to Corruption at any moment. Of course, none of these two arguments were true, and there probably was something beyond all that." Reginald frowned and shook his head, "But that''s only a supposition. Sir Redan never spoke to me again, nor any other member of the Order after his demotion."
Glenn sighed and rubbed his temples. "So, we have no clear reasons for everything that happened to him, right?"
Reginald shook his head dejectedly, "Exactly. I did try to look into it and ask around, but the few that did look like they could know something had their lips sealed." The gentleman Cleaner slapped his thighs and stood up, dusting his pants off.
"Anyway! That''s all I can share with you, for everything else wouldn''t be of much help. And, I don''t believe Sir Redan would like you to explore the reasons for his demise." Reginald walked away, grabbing the door''s handle to leave, before turning around.
"...Of course, you are free to do whatever you like, in the limits of the legal, Fixer Glenn. To the pleasure of seeing you again," He tipped his top hat and left, leaving Glenn alone with his thoughts.
''It all sounds like a cesspool of political shenanigans. Boring, but certainly bloody enough. Meh,'' commented Diamanes in disgust. Glenn ignored him and pulled his Exan-Egg from his dimensional pouch, grimacing at the time. It was already time to work. The young man got up and left the Dark-Gold meeting room, landing in the main hall.
''...Giselle probably doesn''t know much more than Reginald, but it''s still worth asking her. I''ll try to visit the Black Heirs at some point; it''ll be a good opportunity to see Maron''s work with them. Hopefully, they''re living in normal human conditions now...'' He thought as he navigated the Northern Town''s streets.
"Hey, remember, they''re not human, they''re Black Heirs! Don''t mistake yourself!" Nelg commented, earning a laugh out of Glenn. The young man continued to walk for an instant, before stopping dead in his tracks as he realized. He looked at the longsword hanging off his waist with wide eyes.
"Wait, are you already back, Nelg?" Glenn asked aloud, surprised. Nelg laughed as Diamanes whistled in wonder.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I''m the best. Now, I did digest most of the souls, but I have yet to touch the largest piece. I''m almost done with creating my First Circle and already have access to a few features from it. Look:" Nelg said as he sent a mind file of new things he could do straight into Glenn''s brain. The young man grimaced and grabbed his head. Two, new features changed drastically how Nelg worked. First, Glenn could change his Shape by willing it; the Original Shape was the longsword Shape, which Awakened in the Cut & Pull bastard sword. There was a new shape, which Glenn tried right away. He pulled the longsword out and willed it to change. The metal gleamed with a silvery hue as it melted and reformed itself, transforming into a sharp, mean-looking hand-axe with a ring for a pommel.
Glenn gave a short laugh, "Oh-oh, a hand-axe? I like that!"
Nelg grumbled, "Yes, yes, I don''t have much time so hurry up and Awaken me."
Glenn rolled his eyes and injected Mana into the weapon, grinning widely as it transformed into a violent, double-headed axe with two large black blades and a spike in the center. It was a weapon built for war, to split through helmets and skulls alike with simplicity.
"Good. Then, the special ability."
Glenn nodded like a child finding new options for his toy. He glanced around for a place he could test this on, and failing to do so, he just jumped on the nearest roof and aimed at the sky. Nelg resumed his explanations.
"If the bastard sword shape has the Cut & Pull ability, the double-headed axe instead possesses the Cleave & Double it. Try it out."
Glenn obliged happily, flexing his muscles as he cleaved in the sky''s direction. A deep, dark-blue sharp blade flew out from the axe, cutting through the air before splitting in two. These two slices also separated into two more parts, multiplying for as long as Glenn''s Mana powered the attack. Glenn whistled, impressed as the two-headed axe reverted to a simple hand axe and the attack disappeared, lacking the necessary Mana.
"And that''s pretty much it. I can''t do as much as I could if I had my Circle, but I''m tackling the problem right away. I''ll be back in a few, don''t know when, but shouldn''t take too long. Bye~!" Nelg''s voice faded away as his user tried and reach for him, with no success. Glenn sighed and slipped the hand-axe in his belt.
"This is pretty impressive already..." He muttered in amazement, before looking at his left, purple hand in wonder. He pulled his black glove away and smirked at Diamanes.
"You certainly are not as cool as Nelg," Glenn stated mockingly. Diamanes sneered and didn''t even bother replying, at Glenn''s greatest regret. The young man refastened his glove and jumped down from the roof, landing back in the street. He dashed through the town, heading in the direction of the next bounty.
Kevin was already waiting for him, and he was probably already late. Oh well.
He was already single-handedly doing most of the work in this damned town, they weren''t going to start nagging him for being five minutes late, were they?
197. A Familiar Day
"Sir Glenn, a large earthquake has erupted near Rampart Street. The first-arrival services are tied up with that Corrupted on the other side of the district, and there are suspicions of it being a high-ranked monster," A skinny man with thick glasses, messy blond hair, and a remarkable unibrow explained as he struggled to keep up with his boss.
The latter was a young man wearing a classy, sleeveless black vest over a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves. His left arm was completely purple, affected by some untold evil, the skin of his hands hidden under two black leather gloves. A hand-axe was hanging off his belt, ready to hack and cleave at any moment. The young man had black hair with a white strand lost amidst it, and his eyes were as purple as his left arm.
"Alright, I''ll try and see if there are survivors. Check for witnesses so I have some information on what I''m fighting," Glenn ordered, particles of blue Mana swirling around his right hand as he readied his favorite spell, Gravity Manipulation.
"Of course, Sir. Should I prepare to run off to the Church of Onnea?" Kevin asked between two breaths. Glenn sneered and didn''t even bother replying, for the answer was evident. It didn''t take long for the two to arrive at the scene. Right next to the massive wall that separated the Fringe from the Bourgeoisie was Rampart Street, the zone that was suffering the most from Rifts and monster breakouts these last few weeks. Glenn was almost sure the chaos was due to that bastard Blorg, the Cleaner in charge of the district, but that maggot became way more careful hiding the traces of his laziness since their last encounter.
A dozen houses on Rampart Street had crumbled down, collapsing over their inhabitants. Earthquakes weren''t common in King''s Rise; unless they weren''t natural. And Glenn could bet his left hand that it wasn''t a natural disaster.
''Hey!'' Diamanes complained. The entity living in his left hand felt less than agreeable at being cut off from the main body. Not that Glenn cared much, heh.
''Why are you always acting like you don''t care about me, you bastard?'' Diamanes grumbled, returning to be silent when Glenn used his powers to lift the debris in the air. Blue particles held the chunks of stones, broken wooden beams, and rows of roof tiles. The young man grimaced as he found a disfigured corpse. He hurriedly took it out, while staying on his toes in case the thing that caused that devastation showed up. He cleared almost every house this way, finding more victims. Thankfully, only the first house''s inhabitants suffered the worst fate; most of the victims were lightly hurt, and their lives weren''t in danger.
"Remind me, Kevinwho''s in charge of this district again?" Glenn asked as he dusted his hands off, feeling anger and annoyance. Even though he was asking this question, he already knew the damned answer, for this wasn''t the first time this sort of event happened. Kevin pushed his glasses up.
"C...Cleaner Blorg, Sir!" He stuttered, feeling the wave of shit that was inevitably coming. Glenn stopped and looked at Kevin.
"Fucking hell, this guy again? How many times did I clean up after this piece of shit, already?" The young man spat angrily as he stood and moved to another destroyed house. He said that, but he already knew. He just needed to complain, to be honest.
"Uhm...This would be the fifth time, Sir." Kevin replied warily. Glenn sighed heavily as the assistant rushed to find a suitable thing to say.
"I...I apologize, Sir. I''ll be sure to report his inadequacy."
Glenn sneered, "Sure, do that. Any conscious witnesses?"
Kevin glanced behind him at a group of survivors.
"Yes, Sir. It''s a single golem with gravitational powers."
The young man smirked. "Gravitation powers, huh? How fun."
Kevin smiled as well, before asking more out of obligation than need: "Should I call for backup, Sir?"
Glenn shook his head.
"Don''t bother. And I already told you to stop calling me Sir. Makes me feel like those nobles, which isn''t great."
"I''m sorry, S...Fixer."
A small voice suddenly desperately cried out, a small noise barely noticeable. But Glenn heard it.
"Did you hear that?" He asked Kevin, waiting for confirmation. The assistant frowned and shook his head, puzzled. "Hear what?"
Glenn looked at the many victims and rubbed his forehead, taking it all in once more.
"Didn''t you say the inhabitants had been warned?"
Kevin looked to the side, ashamed, and muttered: "That''s what Sir Blorg told me he did..."
Glenn clenched his fist and cursed, "For fuck''s sake..."
The young man sighed, standing in front of the last collapsed house. He used Gravity Manipulation once more with a grunt, lifting a huge pile of rubble and revealing a pale, bloody hand sticking out of the stones. A kid''s hand.
Glenn paled and dashed forward while shouting, "Shit, there''s a child there!"
Kevin, his assistant who was standing by nearby paled at these words and ran away to seek help. Glenn pressed his lips together and carefully controlled Gravity Manipulation to pull one stone after the other.
''Oh my...'' Diamanes'' voice echoed with a sad tone in Glenn''s head, angering him even further. That was the last straw. After getting rid of enough stones, Glenn jumped in and took a knee beside a little girl, cursing when he saw her right leg crushed messily. A large shard of wood was skewering her knee to the ground, shattering it completely, almost all of her leg''s flesh ripped off. She was bleeding profusely, explaining how pale she looked. She blinked weakly when noticing Glenn, but closed her eyes in exhaustion.
How old was she? Nine, ten? Glenn bit down on his lower lip and grabbed the girl''s shoulder, shaking her awake.
"Hey, kid, don''t close your eyes!" He yelled desperately. The girl blinked but her eyes were empty, and more blood kept pouring out of her leg.
''C.P.R? No, it''s not enough for such a wound. Shit, she''s going to die if I don''t do anything!'' Glenn''s thoughts raced as he looked around for a solution. He paused for a single second, noticing an older boy lying dead, completely crushed under the rubble. He didn''t spare him another glance; the dead shall wait, for the living couldn''t. And yet, he could imagine the boy dying in horrible agony as the rubble pulverized every bone in his body. Glenn gritted his teeth and looked at the wood shard piercing the girl''s knee. Without a second of hesitation, he pulled it out and freed the kid.
It was too much pain for the girl, and she lost consciousness. Glenn grimaced and gave the wound a closer look.
"Holy f...Mundare." A soft light came out of his hand and washed over the wrangled mass of flesh that was her thigh, cleaning away the blood and filth. The more Glenn looked at the wound bleeding out, the more he knew what the solution was. His left hand sunk into his dimensional pouch while he summoned a hand-axe with his right. From the pouch, he took out a large vial filled with red, luscious liquid. He steeled himself and cleaved out the leg cleanly. The kid was unconscious; better now than never. His heart ached, for he had just taken away this kid''s future, but he couldn''t afford guilt in this situation. It was either that or her death, and he''d rather choose the path where the girl survived.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Glenn uncapped the vial and poured the red liquid down the wound, watching earnestly as he did so.
"Come on, come on..." he muttered, his eyes glued to the wound. The hemorrhage stopped as flesh tendrils grew from the sides of the wound, intertwining each other into a stump. This wasn''t going to regrow the leg, but it would be enough to stop the bleeding and save her life. After a few stressful minutes, the wound finally closed down. The girl''s breathing stabilized, as did her heart rate. Glenn sighed in relief, his lips curving upward slightly as he rejoiced at his success.
''Good job,'' Diamanes complimented without his usual jeer or sarcasm.
Glenn stood up and used an Aqua Mundare to clean his clothes, getting rid of both blood and filth in one fell swoop, before carefully picking the girl up. He glanced at the other, older kid for a few seconds, before shaking his head, his heart wrenched in sadness. It was already too late for the boy. He couldn''t do anything to save him anymore...
What he could do, though, was avenge him. The ground shook beneath Glenn''s feet, but he didn''t mind in the least, be it for carrying the girl or for his Gravity Manipulation control. The rubble still floated above them, held by his magic. Glenn brought the girl out of the ruined house, the debris falling behind him in clouds of dust and pebbles. Glenn gently set the child near a tree, ignoring the tremors coming from behind him. He made sure to put her in a recovery position, before turning around with a dark expression. He flicked his fingers together and Mana swirled around the girl, protecting her with the best defense he knew. The Saturn Rings should be enough for whatever that thing was.
The ground trembled once more, and a massive rock rose amidst the rubble. Debris rained down its body, creating large clouds of dust as the creature stood up, towering over the young man. Glenn''s Imoogi suit flapped in the wind the creature had created, the black fabric gleaming under the bright sun. Standing on two, pillar-like legs, the house-sized monster stared down at the ant who dared cross his path. A single, amethyst eye was embedded in its head, at the perfect center of the stone mass.
And yet, even though Glenn was barely a tenth of the creature''s size, he still managed to look down on it, as if the monster was nothing. The golem''s big purple gem that allowed him to see the world gleamed in bewilderment, an emotion it never felt before. It never felt anything, but today was different. It was seeing in that small human''s eyes a mix of rage, hate, and coldness that seemed too much to be contained in such a tiny body. And in addition to that, it realized it didn''t want to fight that small human.
Oh, was that the fear that humans often felt when seeing his kind?
Was it...scared?
The creature roared to the sky, shaking off the warning his senses desperately transmitted to it. It smashed down with both its hands, aiming to crush that ant. Nothing could scare it! It was the mightiest of its kind, the strongest, the most powerful
Glenn aimed his left, purple hand at the golem, and discharged a dozen Carbon Blades at it, aiming for the amethyst core. Large, invisible blades flew out and hacked the golem into pieces, leaving behind nothing but dust and the broken jewel. The golem collapsed into a pit of rubble and a large cloud of dust, which Glenn dispersed with light use of Gravity Manipulation.
''Well, you didn''t waste a second with this one,'' Diamanes whistled with impressed amusement.
''It wasn''t worth wasting my time on it. Honestly, it wasn''t even worth the Mana I used to kill it, but it did anger me a bit.'' Glenn replied, looking at the golem''s remains. ''And I was a little wary of these gravitational powers. It destroyed more than enough already.'' The young man went back to the ruins, to get the corpse of that other kid back. The rubble in its way was pushed away by an invisible force; another clever use of Gravity Manipulation. He finally arrived in front of the body, his eyebrows creased when he found it. His Mana Sight activated, letting him know of a trace of Mana coming off the corpse and surrounding the place where the girl was.
"A spell? Looks like a shield...Seems like he got crushed to save that girl''s life..." Glenn muttered in realization. He carefully picked up the mangled mess of flesh and bones and carried it out of the ruins, laying it nearby. He pulled a blanket out of his dimensional pouch and used it to cover the corpse to hide it from any morbidly inquisitive sight.
After doing so, he turned back to the golem''s remains and picked all of the amethyst shards up, one by one. He could have gathered them all with Gravity Manipulation, but he could feel some comfort in this simple, repetitive action. Each of the shards went into his dimensional pouch to be sold away another day. His labor done, Glenn stretched his body, a tired expression across his face. He looked in the distance, his eyes pulling him far away from the Northern Town and the pile of rubble he was standing on. The sun was still high in the sky, shining with its ignorant and uncaring light.
Help finally arrived, in the form of Astrid DI Forte, the priestess from Onnea''s Church, and his assistant from the Cleaner''s Workshop, Kevin. Glenn scowled at the sight of the skinny man, annoyed at his cowardice. He was pretty sure that Kevin was much more than he looked like, mostly due to that unknown god he summoned back when they wrestled with that ghost. When she noticed the wounded girl, the priestess hurriedly dashed to her side and began applying her hands on her. A soft golden light washed over the kid, improving her condition.
Kevin adjusted the position of his glasses.
"Good job taking care of the creature, S...Fixer Glenn," Kevin quickly fixed his wording after receiving Glenn''s disapproving gaze. He took a look at his checklist, pushing his glasses up once again.
"What do you have for me, Kevin?" The young man asked with a heavy sigh.
The assistant didn''t lose a second and rapidly answered.
"You still have the rift on the Butcher''s Street, as well as a Corrupted hiding nearby. There is also a rumor of a ghost on Central Square, so HQ would like it if you could check up on that. There aren''t many people with your..." He stared at Glenn''s purple arm, his pupils trembling slightly, "...Special skills, Sir."
The young man shook his head, giving up once again on forcing his assistant to call him something else than Sir. The more he waited to go to the Bourgeoisie, the more annoyed he felt at the nobles hiding in that upper Circle of King''s Rise. If only Nelg could wake up already... He''ll just have to get used to that moniker like he got used to the rest during this year.
"Oh." Glenn blurted out as he realized.
It had been a year already. Or it was going to be soon, anyway. He didn''t really keep up with a calendar or something like that these days. Glenn wondered if Sahro was finally done with his "secret mission" for the Eastern Town''s Workshop. Onnea only knew how long it had been since the last time he saw the Black Heir.
Whatever, that guy was strong enough to take care of himself. The young man turned toward Kevin while taking a flask out of his dimensional pouch. The cider of the Eastern Town''s orphans seemed to soothe his heart more than most things these days.
"Are all of those bounties particularly urgent, or I can take a break?" Glenn sipped on the cider, quenching his thirst.
"Well, besides the matter with the Corrupted, all of those can wait for at least a day. And, from what I heard, that thing only manifests during the night, so you technically are clear until the sunset," Kevin quickly explained, his glasses slipping down on his nose slowly. Glenn thought for a second, before frowning.
"...It''s not someone I know, is it?"
Kevin froze, before shaking his head.
"...N...Not this time, Sir."
Glenn smirked and nodded, putting away the flask of cider.
"You''re free until tonight. Rest up, I''ll need you to take care of the aftermath after I''m done with that Corrupted." Glenn dismissed his assistant, whose eyes suddenly shone with appreciation. Kevin bowed slightly, catching awkwardly his falling glasses, before disappearing in the meanders of the Northern Town''s streets.
Glenn went and stood next to Astrid Di Forte, looking at the unconscious child she was treating.
"How is she doing?" He asked in a low voice, careful not to wake up the victim. Astrid shook her head, still concentrating on her patient.
"She''ll survive. Her leg is another issue though." She answered with a dry voice. She sighed loudly, before stroking gently the girl''s hair. She then finally cast a look at him with barely worried eyes.
"And you?"
Glenn shrugged with a sad smirk, "It didn''t even touch me."
''Is it me or success is getting to your head?'' Diamanes asked mockingly, his tone barely inquisitive. The young man ignored him, instead focusing on Astrid. She sighed in relief and stood up, heading for the shade of another tree, a bit further away from the sleeping kid. She leaned against it, lost in her thoughts. Glenn chose to leave her alone, since he knew she was particularly overworked these few days, and instead jumped on top of the nearest tree. He made himself comfortable, his legs on a thick branch and his back against the trunk.
This had been a long year, and so many things happened to Glenn. He probably couldn''t be called a human anymore, could he? At least by Earth''s standards.
And despite all that, Glenn knew that his adventure was only beginning. The Bourgeoisie was waiting, with nobles to be killed and secret organizations to be revealed. Exan was also one goal he had to reach.
Indeed, this was only the start.
198. The Brotherhood of Iron and Bloods Blade
Glenn jumped down from the tree he was sleeping in and stretched with a grunt. There was work to be done. A glance informed him that Astrid Di Forte had long departed the scene, alongside the victims of this incident. The young man rubbed the back of his neck, navigating through the streets of the Northern Town toward tonight''s target. A Corrupted one that only acted during the night. Perhaps crushing that thing will allow him to get rid of this hateful feeling running down his throat ever since he recovered the girl and the other kid''s corpse.
The young man drew a deep breath and calmed himself, at least as much as he could. Diamanes snickered in the back of his mind, judgmental.
''You know, you''d probably feel a lot better if you just went and straight up caved that bastard Cleaner''s face in.''
Glenn moistened his lips, his fists clenched.
''I''d rather not murder someone by accident. But...'' He paused and a rageful glint passed through his eyes, ''...Maybe I can make an exception for Blorg. This bastard deserves it.''
Diamanes laughed, his chuckles echoing in his host''s head, ''That''s what I''m saying! Let go of things for once! What could he do to you, anyway? Fight back?''
Glenn sneered, before discarding these thoughts. It was one thing to think about killing someone, but another to discuss it. And so far, Blorg had only proved himself to be a cocky, incompetent idiot. He wasn''t exactly "evil" incarnated. And yet...
The young man shook his head and glanced at the darkening sky. He pulled his Exan-Egg out of his dimensional pouch, checking the time. 8:24 P.M. He was a little late, but it should be fine. After turning into a darker street, he noticed a group of white-clad priests of Onnea discussing something with mages of the Magi Brotherhood.
"hopefully, yeah. I heard that the Devil''s Hand was going to take care of this one." One of the priests said with a hint of awe. The mage he was speaking with shook his head and chuckled.
"Do you think they''ll send him for such a low-priority target? I believe Cleaner Blorg was the one drafted for this fight."
The group of priests grunted and sighed dejectedly, "That idiot?" "...Damn it, I guess we''ll have more injured to take care of then..."
Glenn frowned and stepped out of the dark, startling the mages and the priests. Without giving them the time to move or attack him, he summoned his Identification Dagger and made it gleam in the light of the torches illuminating the zone.
"Fixer Glenn. Can someone brief me rapidly? And where the hell is my assistant?" The young man requested while continuing to walk, his eyes glued to the ward separating him from the Corrupted containment zone. The mage who wasn''t expecting him hurriedly picked up his jaw hanging off and rushed toward him. A priest did the same after a short while, his surprise still drawn on his face.
"Uhm, it''s....it''s an honor to" The mage stuttered, earning a sigh from Glenn. The young man turned toward the priest, who quickly picked up on what he wanted.
"Praise to Onnea. The Corrupted is an ex-Blade of the Brotherhood of the Iron Blood, who went insane after failing to rank up to the Fourth Aura Rank."
Glenn''s eyebrows rose. "The Brotherhood of the Iron Blood? That''s their mess to fix, why are you guys implicated?"
The priest grimaced, "Well...They did send another Blade to take care of him, but we have yet to hear about him...It''s Cleaner Blorg, who''s supposed to be in charge of Rampart Street."
A vein popped on Glenn''s forehead and he slowly blinked, "...Blorg? That guy is a Blade of the Brotherhood? Since when? Aren''t the Blades supposed to be an Elite force that struck the Bloodblade enemies?"
The priest shrugged helplessly, "...That''s what I also believed until now."
Glenn rubbed his temples and restrained himself from sighing once more.
''Hey, we never fought a guy from that religion, right? That''ll be fun!'' Diamanes exclaimed excitedly. Indeed, the Brotherhood of Iron Blood had only recently implemented themselves in the Fringe. Many Fixers were believers of the Brotherhood, but mostly the lower-ranked ones. Bronze, Silver, and some Gold ranked as well even though they were rarer. In the Black-Gold rank, most were unaffiliated with a religion, or they were hiding it well. It made sense, for these individuals would probably be drafted by their respective Churches so that their strength may be put to the use of the God they worship. Living the good life under the protection of the Cleaner''s Workshop was probably the better choice.
Glenn pulled his hand-axe out of his belt, the cold steel gleaming under the pale light of the night. The sun had entirely set now, and a shy pair of moons were rising, hidden behind thick black clouds. Glenn creased his nose and walked to the ward''s edge. The sound of someone running frantically stopped him before he entered the containment zone. A glance back informed him of Kevin sprinting with all his strength, his notepad hugged against his chest and his glasses threatening to fall off at any moment.
"Ah!" Kevin exclaimed, gasping heavily for air. Glenn gave him a minute to catch his breath and crossed his arms. The skinny assistant sighed in relief and adjusted the position of his glasses.
"My apologies, Sir, ha... I thought you would have wanted to...ha... stop by the Dormitory before executing this bounty," Kevin sincerely excused himself. Glenn rolled his eyes and patted the assistant on the shoulder.
"No bother. Anything you need to tell me before I head in?"
Kevin glanced at his notepad, frowned, and shook his head, "Nothing that cannot wait for this to be over. Please execute Vladimir Di Fors, who succumbed to Corruption."
Glenn smacked his lips and made his joints crackle.
"Let''s go then. Standard protocol, of course," He added when turning toward the still-surprised mage. Without another second of consideration, he jumped through the ward, landing in an area covered in shadow. There was no moonlight, no torches lit, nothing. Only pure, black darkness. Glenn frowned and muttered a small Lux, creating a ball of light to illuminate his path. The shadows moved and wrapped around the ball of light, swallowing it and destroying it entirely.
"...Oh, I understand why it''s out only during the night, then..." Glenn muttered, "...Is this a trait of the Brotherhood of Iron Blood? I expected something a little more flashy..."
Glenn waved his right hand, charging it with powerful Mana as he cast Sun''s Touch, burning the darkness away with incomparably stronger light. As the shadows retreated to darker corners, Glenn realized that every house in the area had crumbled down into messy piles of debris. A single construction had survived, a circular building with banners made of shadows hanging off it.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
''Wait, isn''t Di Fors that paladin''s family name?'' Diamanes suddenly asked in realization. Glenn glanced at his left hand for a moment, jogging his memories for someone bearing the Di Fors'' name... A paladin... Alabaster Di Fors? The guy who''s always escorting Astrid? Was Vladimir his brother?
Well...This was too bad, but...
What did it matter anyway? The only solution to Corruption was extermination. It was a little strange that Alabaster had family out of the Church of Onnea, but it was simple to understand that people could believe in completely different religions. After all, there were obvious advantages to believing in a God, and there was a whole world of choice.
Was it sacrilegious to think so? Meh, They wouldn''t be Gods if They were offended by so little.
The one positive thing was that Glenn was the one that will take care of Alabaster''s family, and not some uncaring asshole nor the friendly paladin himself. Having to kill a person you know and were friendly with is not a good experience, after all. He could testify to that.
Glenn clenched his hand and channeled more Mana into Sun''s Touch. His right arm became as bright as a sun, chasing away all leftover shadows. The sound of something sizzling and shrieking in pain made Glenn spin on his feet, his hand-axe turning to a longsword in the same movement. A large, bare-chested man was kneeling with blood flowing out of his ears, eyes, and mouths. Mouths, since he had a few of those wide-opened on his chest, gritting their teeth in pain.
Behind his back was a sword with a ridiculously large crossguard, planted in the nape of the Corrupted''s neck. Vladimir, as was his name before Corruption, cried at the sky hidden behind the ward.
"WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?"
Glenn raised an eyebrow without stopping to channel his Mana, ready to test the creature''s capabilities. He aimed his finger at Vladimir''s bloody face.
"I don''t know why. But I do know how you''re going to die," He whispered as a Hellzone appeared under Vladimir''s feet, burning the creature to a crisp. But strangely, the Corrupted didn''t scream in pain this time, simply kneeling in the flames and letting his flesh melt away.
"...Shed the blood of your enemies as you shed yours...Iron for Blood, Blood for Iron..." Vladimir spoke through the flames, his voice reaching Glenn''s ears effortlessly. The young man''s eyes widened as he felt something coming, and he hurriedly switched tactics, throwing a dozen Carbon Blades in the Corrupted''s direction. The creature roared and reached for the crossguard stabbed in its neck, pulling it out in a macabre show of blood and rage.
Glenn took a step back and reinforced his Saturn Rings while keeping a defensive position with his sword. Vladimir continued to roar, raising a blood-red sword to the sky, before stabbing it into the floor.
"Divine Declaration: Iron Duel!" The Corrupted stated with crazed eyes, his deep voice hurling through the battlefield.
''Oh, wait, what the hell is'' Diamanes seemed to realize something important but his voice was cut off from Glenn''s mind. The young man froze, but that surprise was nothing in front of the one he felt when his Saturn Rings disappeared without his intervention. His Mana was sucked away, and his sword disappeared, automatically placed back in his soul.
"What kind of fuckery...?" Glenn muttered with wide-opened eyes, before hurriedly dodging Vladimir''s violent fist. The creature had abandoned its sword where it stabbed it, instead choosing to rip Glenn with its own monstrous hands. The young man clenched his teeth and held his left hand forward, summoning Nitrogen, but nothing happened once again. His Mana refused to obey him. The young man tried with a Blackhole, but no, the source of his spells didn''t matter.
This was a Mana-ban. How? He had no idea.
''Diamanes, what the hell is going on?'' He hissed in his mind as he continuously dodged one attack after another, angering the Corrupted even further.
"STOP FLEEING!! FIGHT FOR YOUR HONOR, WARRIOR!" Vladimir roared, blowing huge clouds of dust with each jump it took.
Glenn''s mind raced. Diamanes was out of reach somehow. His Mana was blocked; he couldn''t use his weapon. Was he forced to fight fists to fists with this thing? The young man''s expression darkened with realization, and he changed his stance, dashing into the monster''s embrace instead of away from it. The Corrupted, surprised, tried to close his massive arms on him, but Glenn slipped through the grappling attempt. He drew a deep breath and clenched his fist, before punching straight through Vladimir''s right knee. He had expected to damage it slightly, maybe break his fist doing so, but...no.
His fist pierced through the knee like a knife through butter. The young man didn''t waste this opportunity to be surprised and ripped his hand out, dashing out of range from the Corrupted. The creature tried to stand on its broken knee but collapsed to the side helplessly. Roaring with rage, Vladimir grabbed the broken knee and ripped it away, opting to instead walk on the stump. Glenn barely flinched at the sight. This was almost usual, now, wasn''t it?
More nonsensical creatures, with more nonsensical fights, right? Glenn''s heart fired up with the rage he was trying to contain ever since he saw that dead kid, and he roared to the sky beastly. The Corrupted shrieked with all of its mouth, using his arms to move toward Glenn. The young man''s eyes were bloodshot, and his fingernails were digging into his palms from how hard he was clenching his fists.
"...Fuck..." He hissed, struggling against the wave of hate and fury that threatened to spill out. Vladimir threw its massive fist at Glenn, rifts opening in the ground due to the sheer air pressure created by the attack. Glenn bit down on his lips, his sight slowly tainting with crimson red. Spilled blood, countless children''s corpses, the Beyond, that kid earlier, the sight from the Book of Doloratrox...
Everything burst out in a flare of madness as Glenn''s fist made contact with Vladimir''s. A second of silence passed until Vladimir''s right arm imploded in a mess of mangled flesh, bones, and blood. Glenn watched the rain of red he had created, his eyes filled with crimson.
KILL.
Glenn fell on all four and used his every limb to dash forward, growling beastly. The Corrupted roared back and managed to catch Glenn in its left hand. It squeezed as hard as it could, but Glenn pushed back with brutal, pure strength, blood pouring out of his nose and eyes.
KILL. THE. MONSTERS.
He grabbed the left arm and twisted it violently, ripping it off the Corrupted, before throwing it away. The creature seemed to finally feel the pain as it fell back, each of its mouths screaming in pain. Glenn coldly walked and reached for the largest mouth in Vladimir''s chest, forcefully prying it open. The monster tried to resist, but every effort it spent seemed useless in front of this absolute might. With one last beastly roar, Glenn ripped Vladimir in two, bathing in the blood pouring out.
''fuck? Ah, ah, you hear me?!? Shit, what''s this Divine Intervention shit? Anyway, good job'' Diamanes shouted in Glenn''s mind, surprised, but the young man''s head was already filled with voices the entity didn''t recognize.
KILL THE MONSTERS. SHOW THEM. RIP THEM APART.
Glenn heaved, his breathing ragged and almost inhuman. He was standing on top of Vladimir''s carcass, completely covered in blood. His Imoogi suit and black gloves were dripping in crimson fluid, a large pool of blood forming under Glenn''s feet. The young man fell to his knee and clenched his head, the voices intensifying.
KILL! KILL! INFLICT THE PAIN THEY INFLICTED YOU!
His Mana rushed back in, soothing something unknown in Glenn''s heart, and allowing him to take a deep, desperate breath. Like a drowning man, he struggled with each gasp for air, coughing on blood. The voices were chased away by the Mana and with it the threat of Corruption, lingering around for an opportunity to seize Glenn''s heart.
''...This...This is it...'' Diamanes muttered in bewilderment, ''...Mana is the only thing stopping you from insanity? But why...?'' The entity pondered, either oblivious or uncaring about how his host felt currently. The young man forced himself up, his head spinning. He stumbled out of the Corrupted carcass, walking away from it. Almost on auto-pilot, he went to the ward''s edge and walked through it. The priests and mages waiting outside turned toward him, all smiles, but that happiness was short-lived.
They stepped back as spells and divine light flared up, ready to strike. Glenn grunted, blood continuing to trickle down his face and body. Each step the young man took was a bloody one, leaving an ominous imprint on the floor. The voices were gone; his rage, though, hadn''t entirely left. And he knew exactly where to direct it. He stepped toward the mage from earlier and grabbed his shoulder. The mage yelped and instinctively threw a fire bolt at him, but Saturn Rings caught the spell and deflected it away.
Glenn drew a long, raspy breath.
"Where is..." He coughed, his eyes bloodshot, "...Where is Blorg?"
199. Another Meeting?!?
"Hahaha, come on, Blorg, we know you''re filling your pockets with that easy job. Share the love a bit, wouldya?"
"Haha, you''re a funny one. You know what? Hey, bartender! Give your finest booze to my friend here!"
"Hahaha, I mean, I would have never believed the Workshop would let you laze around with all the shit going on."
"Hehe, what can they do about it? I''m the only one who can hold this district! As long as I''m not getting caught by the other psycho"
Crack!
Blorg and a few of his drinking buddies stopped talking as they saw the inn''s door fly open, a thick scent of blood entering the establishment. Some customers didn''t waste a second and left using the backdoor, while some took out knives and swords, ready to fight it out.
Plic. Plic. Plic.
A figure entered the inn, his eyes bloodshot and drenched in crimson. He was unarmed, but even without weapons, everyone in this inn had chills looking at him. Blorg stood up and grabbed his mass, pointing it at the insane bastard who dared interrupt his rest. Why would he be scared of this weirdo? There was only one individual he should be scared of, and it certainly wasn''t this clown.
"Who the fuck are you?!?" He spat, standing his ground. The figure looked at him for a long time, before wiping off the blood on their face. More blood fell off, revealing the true color of their left arm, a strange, mysterious purple that seemed to pulse with wicked power. Blorg''s mass slipped from his hand, and he took a forced step back.
Glenn, the Devil''s Hand, stepped into the inn, leaving behind bloody footprints. Blorg was frozen in place as the young man covered in blood walked toward him. Glenn wasn''t saying a word, but his eyes spoke plenty. And Blorg knew that this time, he had fucked up somewhere. He knew he had done something so unacceptable that he had managed to anger the most feared man of the Northern Town. A hero, a monster, not many knew. Those he saved described him as having a warm heart, but his enemies...
His enemies didn''t speak of him, for they were all dead. Rumors had circulated; the Skinner Gang in the Eastern Town and the Thorn''s Cult. Gone, erased from the Fringe and the Sewers. There were some remnants here and there, but nothing that could be compared to the organizations they once were. Blorg could only regret the day he chose to annoy the Devil''s Hand, and the day he accepted the annoying work of being a Cleaner. Perhaps, if he had been less greedy, his Death wouldn''t have come reaping so soon.
Glenn stopped before Blorg and grabbed him by the throat, lifting the lazy Cleaner in the air. The Gorilla was wearing his Cleaner uniform, the red crosses on the white contrasting with the bulging muscles. And despite that advantage of size, Glenn was lifting Blorg like he was weighing nothing.
"...You''re a Blade of the Brotherhood of Blood and Iron, right?" Glenn softly muttered, his voice chilling every customer to the bone. Blorg gulped with difficulty, struggling to even breathe. He nodded as he tried to free himself from Glenn''s steel grip. The young man threw him to the side, adjusting the position of his red leather gloves.
"Cough, cough...!" Blorg grabbed at his throat, desperately gasping for air. Glenn coldly stared at him, like a beast looking down on a prey not even worth chasing.
"...Do you have Divine Intervention: Duel? Whatever that is?" He asked as he crouched in front of Blorg, his bloodshot eyes widely opened. Blorg coughed and propped himself up.
"You...cough, how do you know of...?" Blorg''s eyes widened as he recalled an order he had dutifully ignored. Taking care of an ex-Blade of the Brotherhood of Iron and Blood who had Corrupted. His name was Vladimir, wasn''t it? Could...Blorg paled and his heart raced even more than it already was.
Had the Corrupted Vladimir used the Divine Intervention against Glenn? While being Corrupted?
Did...Did that mean that the Devil''s Hand was close to Corruption? No, the question didn''t even need to be asked. A glance at the terrifying figure drenched in blood standing above him was enough. Glenn was about to lose his mind to insanity at any moment. Blorg reached for his chest with a trembling hand and pressed it lightly, infusing Aura with a small magical tool.
"Yes...cough...I can also use Divine Intervention: Duel," Blorg answered slowly, trying desperately to gain time. Glenn smirked coldly.
"Use it on me, then."
Blorg blinked. What? Was Glenn willingly accepting a Duel? Those were under the watch of the Bloodblade, the Brotherhood''s deity, and neither Mana nor Aura could be used. Soul weapons, magical tools, nothing could be used besides physical strength and martial arts prowess. Blorg felt his heart fill again with confidence. Fighting against Glenn at his full power?
He''d never be able to do that. But fighting him without his magic? That was another story. After all, he was pretty confident in his martial arts; those were the sole reasons he had managed to make it to this position. Being a Cleaner was the best he could achieve, and Blorg knew it. This bastard Glenn was set to rise much higher, unless... Unless Blorg ripped his wings off.
Blorg smirked and ripped away the fabric covering his right arm. In his shoulder, stabbed deeply, was a dagger the size of a hand which he ripped out. The Blade is a divine tool, specifically created by the Brotherhood of Iron and Blood to allow for a single Duel under the Bloodblade''s watch. A ritualistic fight, in His honor.
"If you so wish, then, Glenn!" Blorg spat as he stabbed the dagger of Duel on the floor, aiming his Aura at the bloody young man. The surrounding area darkened as Divinity was used to create a contained zone specifically for the Duel. The Brotherhood of Iron Blood didn''t hand these Blades lightly, and a huge service had to be given to receive those. Blorg had to work his ass off to get one and had kept it in case of such a situation. To face an opponent stronger than oneself, the Blade was the best solution, since it placed everyone on an even field. Of course, lower-ranked Aura users or Mages couldn''t use those on higher ranked. Their soul would just break from using the Blade, or the divine tool itself would shatter.
But for a fight between a True Initiate and a Knight? This was perfect. The perfect tool. Blorg grinned widely, stretching and making his joints crack. Glenn was looking at his right hand in wonder.
"...So the voices came from the Corruption, then?" He muttered. Blorg sneered and ignored whatever nonsense this bastard was spouting. With a manic laugh, he dashed toward Glenn and went to kick him in the legs. Get rid of his mobility, then slowly but surely kill him off with light attacks, tiring the bastard out until he bled out. A painful death, which Blorg was more than happy to give Glenn. When he felt his feet connect with Glenn''s left, he was ecstatic, but then, the next second, a loud crack in his neck shut down that confidence.
"...Disappointing..." The young man muttered as he dusted off his right hand. What use was there in doing such a thing? That bastard was drenched in blood! Why would he be bothered by a little...more blood?
More blood? Wait, why...
Why could he see his back? N...No! Blorg coughed and collapsed to the ground, the last thing he saw was Glenn leaving the Duel''s area.
''Well, at least you won''t see that ugly mug anymore. I sure wonder how you''re going to explain this to the Workshop, though,'' Diamanes said with a calm tone, his host''s acts not bothering him the slightest. Glenn stepped out of the inn, ignoring the customers frozen in fear as they saw a corpse burning to ashes appear out of nowhere. As soon as his Mana came back, Glenn used a Solar Ray to get rid of any traces of that dung-eating gorilla. Hopefully, the next Fixer to step up to fill the hole left behind in the Cleaners would be better.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
"Urgh..." Glenn grunted before casting Aqua Mundare and getting rid of all the blood plaguing him since earlier. He wanted to use the spell before, but he was just so damned angry, he could only concentrate on his goal; making Blorg pay.
And Blorg had paid. A pressure that Glenn had been feeling was gently released, freeing him from his desires for violence. At this exact moment, Glenn paused and leaned against a wall, puking his insides out. He gasped for a moment, shaking at the realization that he just killed that guy, Blorg. And for what reason?
To make himself better? Glenn''s eyes widened and he vomited once more, completely emptying his belly against the side of a house.
"What...the hell is wrong with me?" The young man muttered, questioning his sanity. Diamanes only laughed, not of mockery but of approval.
''Well, a lot of shit, but it''s funnier this way, isn''t it?''
Glenn coughed and shook his head, horrified.
"Fuck you, Diamanes! Damn it, I don''t want to..." Glenn didn''t finish his sentence, feeling disgusted with himself. No amount of insanity could explain pure brutality. Perhaps there was some influence from the Duel? When he "fought" Blorg, he didn''t feel the same rush, the same primal need to rip and tear. Instead, he just lost his Mana and access to Nelg. Funnily enough, his Soulbound suit hadn''t been influenced by the ban. Perhaps it didn''t count as an external help? Who knows.
Then, the only reason he went to three brain cells mode must be the Corruption. There had to be a deciding factor there, and Glenn could bet that Corruption had acted behind the scenes, perhaps to influence the power of the Divine Intervention: Duel, or perhaps in another way, by Corrupting him.
There was no way, absolutely no way that this insanity, this madness came from him. Yes; Corruption was the culprit.
Nothing else. He was fine.
Glenn grunted and wiped his mouth off, stumbling in the Dormitory''s direction. Diamanes continued to laugh, his voice echoing loudly in the young man''s mind. He had lost Kevin at some point on the way, but he had no desire to see the skinny assistant right now. Perhaps he disappeared after he entered the Corrupted one''s containment zone? No idea. Whatever Kevin did was none of his business. As long as the assistant did his work, that was more than enough.
Thump, thump!
He walked through the Workshop, ignoring the strange gazes the people threw at him. He was used to them. Or was he? Weren''t they looking at him this way because he was a monsThe young man clenched his teeth as he dragged himself to the Black-Gold floor, struggling to even open the door to his suite. The Identification Dagger simply refused to stop trembling. Or was it his hand? No, it was the Dagger.
Thump, thump, thump!
"Hah...hah..." Glenn heaved as he clenched his chest, grabbing the nearest ledge to keep himself afloat. His heart was beating loudly in his ears with the same disturbing sound Blorg''s neck made when it broke. He hurriedly went for the kitchen, pushing out the furniture in his way. He seized a Water Shard and activated it, feeding the Shard with Mana as water poured down his throat. Somehow, it felt like the heat was climbing up. Was there a fire somewhere? Glenn stumbled around, failing to find anything burning. He rubbed his forehead, finding it to be the one on fire.
"Shit, Diamanes?" Glenn grumbled a question, his ears still filled with the beating sound of his heart. The beats kept on accelerating, thumping faster, and faster, and faster...
"enn! Glenn!" A voice pulled him out of his fever, a hand that pulled him out of the water he was drowning in. But the voice wasn''t enough, and Glenn closed his eyes, losing consciousness.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" A thundering laugh woke Glenn up, a laugh so powerful, so inspiring, hearing it made his blood boil. Glenn shot to his feet, his eyes wide open and his Mana swirling around him uncontrollably.
"HAHAHAHA!" The laughter kept on ringing all around him, coming from every point in space. Glenn clenched his teeth and activated Mana Sight, determined to break this new illusion, but nothing happened.
"Haha, you''re a pretty fun one! The Wench was right, you''re a fun Earthling!" The voice continued laughing, only it spoke to Glenn this time. When the young man heard the mention of the "Wench", he almost instantly knew that the voice was speaking of Onnea.
Why was he so sure?
Well.
He just knew.
"Right? What a dumb bitch... Well, as long as it''s not about some foolish, godly thing, she''s quite nice to hang with." The voice agreed with Glenn''s thoughts, before changing its mind. Glenn shook his head and looked at his surroundings. It was a massive plain plunged under the moonlight of the twin moons, a large field of vibrant green grass. A man was standing with his arms crossed, grinning from one ear to another. He was the spitting image of Genghis Khan as Glenn imagined him from history books, but with muscles carved from bronze. A long black staff, apparently made of obsidian, was strapped to his back.
"Hahaha, his, huh? Are you sure about this?" The man laughed widely, each of his chuckles lighting Glenn''s desire to fight.
"Who are you?" Glenn asked, ready to cast all the spells he could to survive whatever encounter that was. The man laughed once more, before spreading his arms open, twisting something in reality. The peaceful grass plain became bathed in crimson light as the Blood Moon appeared, watching down on thousands of soldiers slaughtering each other brutally. Glenn took a step back, prepared to defend himself, but he soon found out that this wall was an illusion when an arrow passed right through him as if he didn''t exist. Glenn paused and looked at the grinning muscular man.
"You...The Bloodblade?" He hesitantly asked, his doubts confirmed when he saw the man''s grin growing even wider. The Bloodblade waved his hand and dismissed the sight of a war, instead conjuring two massive, black-robed horses. They were war-horses, for sure, and the reminder that Glenn never did any kind of horse-riding.
"Stop worrying and jump on. Let''s have a walk." The Bloodblade frowned as he flicked his fingers and Glenn suddenly appeared on top of the horse. The animal began moving without his influence and automatically followed the Bloodblade. Glenn wanted to gulp and be afraid, but he had a hard time doing so. How many times had he met gods already? Three times? Would that make this the fourth? At first, it was surprising, but the more it happened, the more he got used to it.
"Are you thinking that this meeting will be boring?" The Bloodblade chuckled as he made the horse stop. Unbeknownst to Glenn, He led them to a headland that dominated the whole plains. Glenn didn''t dare reply; and what was the use anyway? The God could just read in his mind for answers.
"Indeed," The Bloodblade admitted, "...But it''s still more entertaining to have a real conversation. So let''s do that, alright?"
Glenn moistened his lips and looked at the God, "What am I doing here? Why am I always getting pulled to meet Gods this way? I''m pretty sure there aren''t many people who can flaunt the fact that they met with gods multiple times."
The Bloodblade shrugged, "Stop complaining. You''re special; accept it, and get over it. I''m here because you defeated two of my Blades in a Duel. And thanks to that, I could take a quick look at you."
Glenn frowned, "What for?"
The God sighed and rubbed his large beard, "Do you not wonder why you almost went feral after that first Duel? The one with that Corrupted Blade?"
Glenn sneered, "Of course I do. But wondering about it isn''t going to bring any answers, is it?"
The Bloodblade smiled, "I wouldn''t be so certain. You see, I believe you could certainly go further if only you took a step back. Also, to go back on the subject of your insanity, I''m pretty sure you heard that quote in your original world..."
The God laughed as Glenn suddenly became all ear, "He who fights with monsters should always be careful lest he thereby becomes a monster. What a lovely quote, right? I love it. Too bad this Nietzche guy died, I sure wonder what he would have become if he fought some of the Limbo''s monsters..." The Bloodblade trailed off, pondering. Glenn blinked. What kind of conversation was this? WhatNo, he should concentrate on using this opportunity.
"What should I do to...make sure what happened doesn''t happen again?" Glenn demanded, his voice tinged with worry. Somehow, his mind was clear of the fog that clogged his head earlier and made it so hard to think. The Bloodblade rubbed his chin pensively.
"Do you have any idea of what makes a monster?"
Glenn blinked, unsure. "Uhm, an evil...entity? Something that kills a lot of somethings, but on an evil scale?"
The Bloodblade shook his head. "This can be true, but this can also be false. A war hero is the worst of monsters for the losing side. The man who slaughters an entire population of peaceful beasts is a monster to those, while, for him, these beasts are monsters that need to be eradicated."
The young man rubbed his forehead, feeling like he was holding onto something. Something that might change him forever. The Bloodblade laughed once more. Decidedly, this God sure loved a good laugh.
"Perspective makes a monster. You''ll always be the monster in someone''s life, and a hero in another. Anyway, I think that''s enough bits of advice for one mortal. I have work to do, and I can''t laze around too much or Onnea is going to try and piss me off." The Bloodblade took the staff off His back and held it high toward the sky. Glenn watched in awe as a large blade of crimson blood suddenly appeared on the staff, a blade so tall it reached beyond the sky.
Oh, so this staff wasn''t a staff. It was a hilt.
Oh.
Good thing to know.
"It was fun meeting you, Paradox. See you around." With one, powerful downward cleave, the Bloodblade slashed, forming a crimson moon that cut through this reality.
The next thing he knew, Glenn was in his bed, surrounded by two very beautiful women.
Taking a step back? Being a monster was obligatory?
Too many concepts, and for once, Glenn would rather sleep it off. Thinking will wait for another time.
He was done feeling bad for the day.
200. The Reunion and the Big Boss
"Hng..." Glenn grunted, struggling to open his eyes. When he eventually did, he found himself in his room, cuddled in his bed under a thick bedspread. The young man winced and pushed away the covers before sitting himself up.
You look like you could use a vacation, Diamanes remarked, unabashedly. Glenn frowned and rubbed the fatigue from his eyes.
So, that was yet another meeting with a god, then? Could Diamanes see this one or was it censored?
''AH, STOP THIS! I ALREADY TOLD YOU I HATE THOSE LOUD BEEPS!'' The entity yelled out in pain. Glenn smirked.
"You should just try to stop looking where you shouldn''t, Diamanes."
The entity groaned disapprovingly, ''Yeah, sure, whatever.''
Glenn yawned and leaned back in the bed, pondering. The Bloodblade, the God of the Brotherhood of Iron and Blood. He seemed pretty chill, for a God. Hah. So he was at that point when meetings with Gods were just relaxed events, then? Wait, no, meeting with good Gods was chill. He couldn''t say his encounter with the Mother back in Palancar had been a pleasant one.
''What the hell did He mean by taking a step back? Was the Bloodblade explicitly telling me to go on a vacation too? Is this the solution to my mental hiccups?'' Glenn rubbed his chin, wincing a little as he thought back to his breakdown from earlier. He still had a hard time believing his psyche was the only reason for it. Corruption had probably played a part, as did the recent traumatic events. That Divine Intervention: Duel that the Corrupted Vladimir used had also unleashed something he didn''t quite like.
Perhaps the breakdown was a culmination of all these things? Maybe he almost succumbed to Corruption? That was twice in not that many months. Perhaps he should try to keep away from Corrupted Ones for a while, to make sure his sanity wouldn''t explode in little bits at the sign of another Corrupted. Glenn moistened his lips and thought back to the last part of his conversation, that thing about becoming the monsters one fought.
Was he becoming what he was fighting?
"No, evidently, I''m not at the point of sacrificing half a hundred children, so no...but I did kill someone for...almost no reason?" He muttered doubtfully, unable to believe his own acts. Killing Blorg was...nonsensical. Why did he do that? Sure, he was angry due to that idiot not doing his job and leading to the deaths of dozens of people, but that didn''t wager his termination, did it?
...Did it? But then, even if Blorg''s death was justly deserved, who was he to be the one executing it? He was a mercenary, not a cop nor the sword of divine punishment. Was he getting too used to taking care of things in his own hands?
Probably.
"Sigh..." Glenn shook his head, his throat dry. He jumped out of his bed and almost summoned his Imoogi suit, but decided against it at the last second. That suit was completely drenched in blood after his fight with the Corrupted, and even though he cleaned it with an Aqua Mundare, it would not harm to leave it in his soul for a while. Following that line of thought, his entirely white Lightwalker suit appeared and covered him from head to toe. It still felt weird to be entirely dressed in white, instead of the black he was used to, but he didn''t dislike it.
''Getting stylish always feels good,'' Diamanes agreed, unaware or pretending not to know of his host''s concerns and fears. Glenn adjusted his sleeves and came out of his room, finding Liara and Milena right in the middle of a heated discussion. Liara''s mouth shut closed when she heard the door open, not allowing Glenn to hear her voice. Milena jumped and ran to him, grabbing both of his shoulders.
"What the fuck happened, Glenn? I" She grimaced and took a small breath, "We heard of what you did to Blorg. I know he was an entitled asshole but to the point of...?" She trailed off when she saw the dark expression on Glenn''s face. She let go of him and took a step back, resigned, before going back to the sofa she was previously sitting on. Liara hadn''t moved, only following the exchange with worried eyes.
Glenn closed his eyes for an instant, before sighing and going for the Mini-Fridge. He threw a random alcohol bottle in it, and swiftly changed it to soda. Alcohol would probably suit his situation better, but he didn''t feel like drinking.
''How surprising. I thought you would have succumbed to that hidden alcoholism instead of going back to processed sugar,'' Diamanes remarked mockingly. Glenn dismissed the entity''s words by ignoring them. He took the bottle out of the Mini-Fridge after the transformation process and poured it down his throat.
''...Sparkling orange juice? Weird,'' Glenn thought as he proceeded to drink the entirety of the bottle. He contained a burp and collapsed in an armchair, leaning back into it with a grunt. The two ladies were watching silently, waiting for him to say something.
Finally, Glenn opened his mouth.
...I don''t know what happened, he muttered, looking down at the bottle he''d just finished, ...I suspect it''s the fault of a cocktail of PTSD, Corruption, and a twisted Divine power. But it''s more likely to be my brain flipping out... He explained without concern for their understanding. Milena and Liara looked at each other, puzzled. Milena bit her lip and frowned.
"...Are you okay?" She asked hesitantly. Glenn looked at the ceiling for a second, seriously pondering on the question.
"...Hmm...probably not. As a matter of fact, I''m probably very not okay. BUT" He stopped Milena before she could reply, "but, that''s normal. I''ll eventually get better, faster, stronger, so don''t worry too much."
Diamanes sneered, ''Really?''
Milena blinked in confusion, "Better, faster, stronger? What do you mean?" She paused and shook her head, "Wait, no, that doesn''t make any sense. Listen, during the five hours you slept in, we went and met with the Workshop. We thought we were going to need to defend you for killing that asshole, but instead..." She pointed at a letter resting on the coffee table nearby that Glenn had failed to notice, "...they gave us this. I...I don''t know about you, Glenn, but it might be time to run away to either another town of the Fringe or straight up to the Bourgeoisie. Going up means starting over, so..." Milena didn''t finish her sentence, instead crossing her arms inquisitively.
Glenn smacked his lips and held his hand out, pulling in the letter with Gravity Manipulation. He glanced at Milena and Liara for a second and then opened the letter.
"Hrm," he cleared his throat, "To the esteemed member of the Fixer program of the Cleaner Workshop, Glenn, from Manalok Calopea Truant, HCD (Head Cleaner Director).
"I have heard of the event surrounding the event of a recently hired Cleaner, Blorg Borimor, and their death at your hands."
Glenn gulped while also coming to a realization. ''I knew I heard that name before, Manalok. The Restoration Fucker has the same family name! Does prestige run in that family? And shit, am I getting fired?''
Without further ado, the young man kept on reading aloud for the girls to also learn of the letter''s contents.
"In my capacity of HCD, I can cover up for his incident, in exchange for a small service. As you might have remarked, a lot of Cleaners are unable to work on-site, at least in the Fringe. This is due to a certain situation which I am forbidden from mentioning in a letter for security reasons.
"My request would either be to replace Mr. Borimor in his post as a Cleaner, or, assist to the best of your ability in that previously mentioned situation. If you prefer that second solution, I''ll invite you to give the letter to your assistant, Kevin Lashtar, and tell him of your choice. In exchange, you will not have to pay for your crime, and will also receive the Platinum rank. Therapists will also be available if needed, to treat the probable cause of your outburst against Mr. Borimor.
"Of course, you''re free to bring your party with you, as is your privilege as a high-ranked Fixer.
"And to conclude, let it be known that the previous private mission I mentioned shouldn''t stop you from completing your own goals.
"This is a win-win proposition, and I remain hopeful that you will agree to it.
"Yours truly, HCD Manalok Calopea Truant."
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Silence took over the room as Glenn, Milena, Liara, and Javier thought about the letter''s contents.
...
Javier? Glenn jumped from his seat when he noticed the Pale Son standing nearby, his arms crossed and his expression as empty as ever. He looked even paler than before, his skin almost translucid, while his eyes were completely black now, with barely any white in them. And strangely, he did look a little more buff than since the last time Glenn saw him.
But that wasn''t the subject of the discussion.
"Javier, when did you get here?" Glenn asked while looking at the hunter. The ladies turned around and also jumped from their seats when they noticed Javier.
Ah, so he wasn''t the only one who hadn''t noticed that guy!
''Once a creep, always a creep...'' Diamanes mentioned with a disgruntled tone. Glenn smirked.
''At least he''s the stealthiest, most capable of all creeps.''
Javier''s answer, as usual, was to stare back at Glenn with empty eyes. Milena, once her surprise had passed, dashed to Javier and hugged him happily.
"Javier! Where did you go? I missed seeing you!" She exclaimed excitedly. Glenn rubbed his eyes, distrusting his sight.
But no; he was seeing what he was seeing.
Javier was frowning. This confirmed one thing: Milena was the only individual in this world able to make Javier change expression. The Silent Hunter didn''t reply to Milena''s hug, letting her do whatever she wanted, all with a light, almost imperceptible frown. Liara chuckled lightly at the scene, inviting a smirk on Glenn''s lips.
After bothering Javier for another five minutes, Milena sat back next to Liara, while Javier took a seat on the least comfortable-looking chair in the room.
"So, what do we do, then? Are you going to become a Cleaner, Glenn?" Milena asked a little doubtfully. Glenn shook his head.
"No. I refuse to be tied down to an organization. My position as a Fixer/mercenary is more than enough. I think I''ll go with that secret mission Truant spoke of, if it''s not a suicide one. I''ll learn a bit more about it and share it with y''all. This way..." He paused and looked at the floor, lost in thought, "...This way, you get to choose whether you want to continue following me or not. I''m aware I''m not...in the best state currently, so maybe the best choice is"
"Yeah shut up." Milena interrupted him, dismissing his words with a wave of her hand.
"We''ll leave if we want to, and we''ll follow if we want to. You don''t get a word in the matter."
Glenn stared blankly at her for a moment, then at Liara, who nodded, and at Javier, who just...did his Javier''s thing. Glenn sneered and shook his head.
"You''re all adults, you do whatever you want. Don''t complain the next time I almost become Corrupted and try to kill you all"
Stop joking about it, you moron! Milena slapped him on the arm, causing him to chuckle. Liara merely smiled, her chin resting on her two clenched fists.
You should listen to her, loser, says a male voice behind him, surprising everyone once again. Except Javier, of course. Javier probably doesn''t know what surprise means. Glenn turned and grinned broadly as he discovered a handsome man in desert-appropriate clothing, with green eyes and a left arm made of crackling thunder. An easily recognizable white mark was drawn on his forehead, gleaming softly with potential power. A long, curved sword hung from his back, the leather scabbard battered and the wooden hilt worn.
"You fuckerwhen did you come back to the Northern Town, Sahro?" Glenn exclaimed as he went to shake his friend''s hand. Sahro shook it enthusiastically, grinning from ear to the other.
"Just today. I''ll be straight with you, this mission was a shitty one, and I sure won''t be getting in any more Cleaner business. This shit stinks!"
Glenn paused for a second. Was Sahro always so...vocal? He wasn''t speaking in this manner before, was he?
"What kind of hell did you go through, for you to be so annoyed by it?" Glenn asked as he went back to the sofas and invited Sahro to sit. The Black Heir shook his head dejectedly.
"Listen, that''s secret business. I can''t speak of it even if I wanted to. Magic contract or some shit."
Glenn nodded slowly, still confused by this...new Sahro. Was he influenced by someone during his mission? This sure felt weird.
''What, are you jealous that your friend is learning from someone else than you?'' Diamanes jeered mockingly, making his host frown.
''Seriously, this isn''t disturbing you?''
Diamanes pondered for an instant, before sending the mental equivalent of a shrug to Glenn''s mind. The young man shook his head and sighed.
"Anyway, seems like everyone''s there. I have one last meeting to go through, and up to the Bourgeoisie, we go," Glenn decided, Manalok Calopea Truant''s letter clenched in his hand. Sahro grinned, leaning back on the sofa comfortably. Javier did not react, as usual, while Milena and Liara looked at each other and smiled.
"On those words, I''ll be back," Glenn said as he left for the suite''s exit. He paused in front of the door and looked back, "...Try to not burn my place down, alright?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Fuck off, man."
Glenn chuckled as he left his suite. It didn''t take long for him to head to the Cleaner''s Workshop Main Hall, finding Kevin sitting there uncomfortably, his notepad clenched against his chest. The assistant flinched when he noticed Glenn''s gaze. He then shot on his feet, almost running for his boss.
"S...Sir Glenn! I...Are you okay? I''ve heard of the matter with"
Glenn raised his hand, interrupting Kevin. He handed him the letter, giving him a few minutes to read it.
"I''ll take the mission, Kevin. Lead me to Truant," He ordered, his eyes glimmering with a strange glint. Kevin gulped and turned away, leading Glenn deep into the Cleaner''s Workshop hallways. They eventually arrived in front of a discreet ebony door, almost hidden amidst the stone walls. Kevin knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds, before pushing it open and leading Glenn inside. It was a very bare room, with two chairs separated by a desk. No windows, no decorations, nothing besides the chairs and desk. Kevin gulped, and looked around for an instant, before bowing to Glenn.
"P...Please be patient for a bit, Sir Manalok will be there anytime soon. I''m forbidden from staying, so..." He struggled with his words, before finally whispering, "...Good luck, Sir Glenn."
Glenn chuckled and shook his head dismissively.
"Thanks, Kevin. You''re free to go."
Kevin ran off without a second thought, leaving Glenn alone in the strange meeting room. The young man crossed his arms and looked around the room for a moment, even using Mana Sight to inspect the walls, doing anything to try and keep his mind off the Blorg incident. He couldn''t find anything, though, not even a trace of Mana.
''He deserved to die and even looked for it, Glenn. So stop thinking such boring thoughts and do something more interesting already!'' Diamanes complained, shaking Glenn''s thoughts. The young man sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
"...I can''t think the same as you, Diamanes..." He muttered as he sat on one of the two chairs. As soon as his bottom touched the chair, something changed in the room, something that he couldn''t quite understand. Glenn blinked, only to realize that an old man was staring at him from across the desk, his hands clenched and his eyes hidden behind reflective glasses. He had long white hair that reached for his waist, alongside a similarly long beard, and was wearing plain black pants and a blue shirt. Glenn could still discern the quality of the fabrics, which looked even better than the Lightwalker suit he was wearing.
The old man chewed on something for an instant, before clearing his throat.
"So, hmm, you''re the..." He mumbled, searching for his words. Glenn tried to keep himself from frowning, wondering if the individual that had just spawned out of nowhere was Manalok Calopea Truant, or some random, senile old man.
"...the guy, with the purple thing, and the murderer too, hgn..." The old man kept on mumbling and chewing, still not making much sense to Glenn.
"...hgn...?Ahh, uhm, no, the...lad who...with Redan, right?" Glenn''s eyes widened when Truant mentioned Redan. He hesitantly opened his mouth, still unsure of the old man''s identity.
"Yes, I am...I''m Glenn, a Dark-Gold Fixer and a...friend of Redan."
The old man passed his hand through his beard, pondering for an instant. He slowly took his glasses and placed them on the desk, revealing a scar reaching from one eye to the other, rendering them completely unusable.
"Yes, Glenn." The old man spoke in a voice much clearer than earlier. Glenn''s blood suddenly froze in his veins as he felt a wave of something strange pass through his body.
''Aurhg, that''s this disgusting, death-related power! This, this filthy stuff, urgh!'' Diamanes retched inside Glenn''s mind, confirming that something was wrong. The old man slowly leaned forward and smiled.
"So, Glenn. You killed Blorg, one of our Cleaners. That was probably due to an unstable mind, which was caused by the many, traumatic adventures you had, as well as your meetings with unspeakable existences. Hell, you even went in the Beyond and lived to tell the tale." The old man chuckled clearly, sending a shiver down Glenn''s spine. So that act about being an old coot was an act.
"Usually, I''m not too fond of investing myself in the personal matters of my Cleaners. Being a Cleaner means being strong enough to hold that name. If they die, that''s their responsibility. There''s no real law against murder in the Fringe, after all. Well, murdering mundane citizens is still worth execution, but you''re not of that kind, are you, Glenn?" Truant asked a sudden pressure pushing down on the young man. Glenn clenched his teeth and released his Mana, pushing against the pressure the best he could.
"I...I don''t take pleasure in killing unless the killed is a monster..." Glenn struggled to say, gasping between each word for air. The old, blind man shrugged, and the force pressuring Glenn increased tremendously. Glenn''s forehead crashed against the desk violently as his limbs went limp.
"...Are you sure, Glenn?" Truant asked coldly, the pressure continuing to increase. Glenn felt as if a blade was running down his neck, ready to slice at any moment if he lied.
Forced by the old man''s might, Glenn spat truthfully, "Yes, I am fucking sure, you old fuck!"
Truant''s eyebrows rose and his whole body went still. A long second passed until the old man chuckled and freed Glenn from the pressure. Glenn coughed and pushed himself up, his Mana flaring up as he prepared to defend himself against further testing. Truant waved his hand dismissively and suddenly Glenn''s Mana disappeared, the spells he was preparing dismissed like nothing.
''Glenn, activate your Mana Sight NOW!'' Diamanes shouted in Glenn''s mind. Promptly, the young man obeyed and activated Mana Sight. The room, which was previously empty of any Mana trace, was now filled with an ocean of black ink, with six threatening rings humming at its center. Glenn''s eyes widened as Truant grinned and flicked his fingers, somehow managing to block his Mana Sight like he did for all the rest of his magic.
Uh-oh, it''s very impressive for someone as young as you to master the art of Mana Sight. But it''s still rude to inspect someone else without their permission, you know? I haven''t even given you my name, so I don''t think we''re close enough for you to do what you want.
Glenn''s heart raced as he found himself unable to answer. Truant rubbed his chin, frowning.
"Ah, but that is my fault. Let me present myself."
The old, blind grinning man in front of him was an Archmagi, a being possessing Six Circles of power. While brushing his beard and leaning back in his seat, the old man laughed.
"My name is Manalok Calopea Truant, the Head Cleaner Director. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Glenn."
201. INK-DEF
Glenn stared at the old man sitting across the desk, one of the most important individuals in the whole Fringe. Manalok Calopea Truant. He hardly could have imagined that someone in this part of King''s Rise could be an Archmagi, a Mana user with six Circles. After all, it seemed pretty clear that individuals above a certain power level were brought to the Bourgeoisie or higher by the Royal Inquisition, to maintain some kind of balance.
And yet, here he was, an Archmagi, hanging around in the Northern Town. The blind old man smiled and crossed his arms.
"So, I believe you''re more interested in the private job, instead of becoming a Cleaner. Is that right?"
Glenn nodded slowly, wondering what that mission was about. And why did it require his presence in particular? With the increasing appearances of very powerful people, much more powerful than him, it seemed strange to need his help, a True Initiate who had yet to (technically) break through the Wall. Truant passed his hand through his white, long beard, his thoughts undecipherable.
"Are you sure you don''t wish to become a Cleaner? It''d be a one-year contract, with exciting advantages. We even offer paid vacations!"
Glenn restrained a sneer and shook his head.
"I apologize. I wish to remain free of my movements, and becoming a Cleaner would come in the way of that wish."
Manalok Calopea Truant waved his hand dismissively, before opening a drawer and setting a tin box of biscuits on the desk.
"Hah, freedom... Freedom is all but an illusion, my young friend. Care for a biscuit?" The old man smiled gently and pushed the tin box toward Glenn. The young man glanced at the biscuits and shrugged.
"...Sure, thanks." He served himself and bit into the biscuit. It took all he had to restrain himself from grimacing. These biscuits were so dry they were probably made of sand. Truant rubbed his hands together.
"You like them? My wife made them."
Glenn moistened his lips, debating lying for a second. After a short deliberation, he slowly pushed back the tin box.
"They taste like they''re made with a lot of love," He said through his teeth, before adding, "...But please, serve yourself. I wouldn''t want to be the only one "enjoying" these biscuits."
Truant chuckled and took a biscuit, eating it whole without a complaint. A few seconds of silence passed until the old man coughed and hurriedly took a water gourd out of nowhere, quenching his thirst.
Cough, cough... Dry as ever... As you said, Glenn, they''re made with love. Unfortunately, that''s the only thing they were made with. A pinch of skill would no doubt have been appreciated..."
Glenn smirked but didn''t reply, instead leaning back in his seat and waiting for the Head Cleaner Director to get to the point. The old man sighed and closed the tin box before pushing it away.
"Right, let''s get to it. Here''s a seal that will stop you from revealing the contents of this mission to uncleared individuals," Truant took out a scroll and handed it over to Glenn. The young man frowned, reading the document rapidly. It appeared like a classical NDA, only with the magical twist of "your heart will burst into pieces if you reveal the content of the mission "INK-DEF".
Whatever INK-DEF meant.
"...So, I just channel Mana in the seal and it''ll be applied? What about my teammates?" Glenn asked hesitantly, wondering whether he should accept this deal. Having a bomb wrapped around his heart didn''t seem too fun, after all. It was already hard to survive the world, so why add another thing that might kill him at any time?
Truant passed his hand on the table, getting rid of the biscuit crumbs.
"As soon as you input Mana into the scroll, the seal will be applied. The scroll is reusable, and we have hundreds of those, so you can just keep it so that your teammates may sign it as well."
Glenn looked at the scroll for an instant, pondering.
"...Is there no way to even have an idea of what this..."INK-DEF" mission entails to? I have many goals, most in the Bourgeoisie, and I already made those goals wait long enough."
Manalok Calopea Truant picked up his tinted glasses and cleaned them with a black satin cloth.
"Hmm...You''ll mostly be out of King''s Rise, but you should have more than enough time in the Bourgeoisie to assassinate as many nobles as you''d like."
Glenn nodded slowly, before realizing what the old man had said. His blood froze in his veins and his heart raced as he tried to force Truant''s Mana away.
"Whatwhat do you mean?" He hissed, wincing as he failed to get rid of the magic pressure. The old man''s eyebrows creased.
"It doesn''t take much to add two and two together. Baron Howard is suspected of being a serial killer, slavery, kidnapping, and many more crimes."
Manalok brushed his white beard, smiling with a hint of mystery.
"I''ll come clean with you, Glenn. Due to many restraints, the majority being Royal ones, I can''t Clean most of King''s Rise garbage. But..." He leaned forward and smiled widely, showing a strangely perfect set of teeth.
"...If you happen to Clean said garbage, I will handle the consequences. Many powerful people wish for King''s Rise to become what it once was, and are willing to support such acts. Of course, my support comes with the assurance that you will participate in the INK-DEF mission."
Glenn''s heart continued to race, but not with dread. No, this time it was excitement. Other people wanted to "Clean" King''s Rise, then?
''Wait...Would that mean that there are that many fuckers like Howard deserving to be executed?'' The thought was like an ice shower and had the effect of killing his excitation.
''I don''t want to throw oil off the fire, but he did say "nobles", right? I think he might be aware that you''re also on Count Mortelli''s trail,'' Diamanes said in Glenn''s mind, barely hiding his excitement. The young man clenched the edge of the desk, unable to stop himself from grinning.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Things were taking an enjoyable turn. Manalok smiled as if he could see Glenn''s grin.
"In the future, there''s an almost guaranteed certainty that missions of the same kind as the INK-DEF mission will appear again. What do you say about this?"
The Head Director Cleaner leaned forward and extended his hand out, the black ocean of Mana he exuded momentarily appeared in reality, visible without the need for Mana Sight.
"For each of these missions you accomplish, I''ll assist in your Cleansing. One garbage at a time."
Glenn gulped and looked at the extended hand. The sight overlapped with the memory of when he first met Diamanes, strangely, and shook the eldritch''s hand, sealing his fate. If shaking Diamanes'' hand was a forced action, this time...
This time he was more than glad to accept the deal.
The young man shook the hand energetically, grinning from one ear to the other.
"This is a deal, Sir Manalok."
The old man smiled.
"Excellent, Sir Glenn. Now, there is only one thing left."
Glenn looked at the sealing scroll and drew a deep breath.
''Do you think you could get me out of it if needed?''
Diamanes laughed loudly in his host''s mind, discarding his worries.
''I already broke much stronger than that a year ago. Go ahead. Just know that breaking the seal will break the scroll, meaning that this old monster will be aware of the breach.''
Glenn ignored a bead of sweat pearling down his forehead and clenched the scroll. Without further ado, he sent his Mana in the scroll and activated the seal. As soon as the Mana powered the scroll, Glenn felt something wrap around his heart and coil up comfortably, while still being able to kill him at any moment. Glenn gasped and let go of the scroll, clenching his chest in awe. After a short second, the sensation disappeared, but Glenn knew it was still there. Nonetheless, since he could break out of the seal at any moment thanks to Diamanes, it was less worrying than it should be.
Manalok Calopea Truant chuckled and extended a thick, black tendril of Mana toward Glenn. The young man tensed up but quickly relaxed once he saw the insignia of the Blood Cross fly out of his dimensional pouch.
"...Dimensional pouches are supposed to be opened only by their users though, right?" Glenn muttered unknowingly. The old man took the insignia and crushed it to dust.
"Let''s just say that you can bypass some of these restrictions in some specific situations. An item created with a specialized bit of magic can be pulled back by their creators if they so wish..." Truant explained while manipulating the dust that came from the crushed insignia. Whatever he was doing, Glenn couldn''t understand what it was. It looked like magic, but he couldn''t exactly see how.
Truant smiled softly before throwing the processed item at Glenn. The young man instinctively caught it, giving it a closer glance. What was once a Blood Cross insignia was now a simple, black metal cross, with seven characters carved into it; INK-DEF.
"This is better than the Blood Cross. With this, you have the authority of a Senior Cleaner and can command Junior Cleaners, Cleaners, and Recruits. You can also create requests for Fixers, but you''ll have to offer reasonable rewards, while also paying the Workshop''s tax and the Kingdom''s tax, which is approximately 55%. I''m telling you this just in case, even though I don''t think you will make use of this feature."
Glenn looked at the small cross for a moment, wondering.
"...Why do you need me specifically?" He finally asked, truly puzzled about this. Manalok was giving him a lot of support, a bit too much actually. Well, Glenn wouldn''t complain about free stuff, but it felt like he was being rewarded for murdering Blorg, which didn''t make sense...
Glenn paused and stared at the blind old man in front of him. Why...Why did it really feel like he was being rewarded for murdering Blorg? This was all working too easily; in exchange for going on some weird mission, he wouldn''t have to deal with the consequences of murdering Blorg, would get the benefits of a Senior Cleaner, and assistance in getting rid of King''s Rise "trash".
What game was the Head Cleaner Director playing?
Truant''s lips curved upward and he took a black, closed envelope from a drawer, which he then handed to Glenn.
"You see, Glenn, this is an investment. Similar to the investments the Maron Company is putting in you, I wish to bet on your future. And trust me when I say that this is a small cost to garner a bit of favor with you."
The old man sighed and picked his tinted glasses up, aligning them with his blind eyes as if to verify that they were clean.
"King''s Rise is moving, and a lot of those changes are centered around you, Glenn. Many deities have cast Their gazes upon you, and yet..." He chuckled, "...and yet you''re still alive. Once you go to the Bourgeoisie, head for the District NXIV, and search for the Cleaner''s Office there. Just hand this letter to one of the clerks, and everything will be taken care of at that moment. Now..." He took out a pocket watch and appeared to look at it, despite his blinded eyes. The old man sighed and shook his head.
"It was a pleasure, Glenn. We''ll meet again, for sure."
Truant then placed his glasses back on his nose, and suddenly sneezed.
"Gnh...work...thing..." He mumbled, glancing around the room with a lost look, before shrugging and disappearing in the darkness. Glenn remained seated for a moment, a little at a loss.
''All in all, it went pretty well, don''t you think?'' Diamanes commented with a laugh. Glenn pinched his nose and looked at the black, closed envelope. There were no distinct signs of what it could contain or where it came from, and there didn''t seem to be a wax seal as is usually the case.
...To the Bourgeoisie, then... he muttered, laughing nervously. So it was time to finally discover what lay behind the massive gates separating the Fringe from the Bourgeoisie, to see what these brass and bronze structures were that he''d barely glimpsed when Baron Howard had come to harvest the Northern Town.
Glenn took his head in his hands and sighed deeply. The unknown of the Bourgeoisie, of the nobles, and simply the general mystery around that Circle of King''s Rise was exciting but also terrifying. Would he have to fight more horrible creatures, and more twisted humans that were worse than monsters?
Probably.
No, certainly.
King''s Rise was this kind of place after all. The whole world was this kind of place.
Was he sufficiently prepared? No, clearly not. He needed Nelg to wake up and reach the Fourth Circle of Mana. He needed to become stronger, strong enough to contend with individuals like Truant or Laurance.
''Well, that''s a problem for later. Now, maybe you should get back to your team and tell them of the news?'' Diamanes suggested, pulling him out of his trance. Glenn moistened his lips and stood up, leaving the small meeting room. When he passed the threshold, funnily enough, he landed straight in the Dormitory.
"...Thanks for the ride, I guess..." Glenn muttered as he went to the Dark-Gold floor and into his suite. The black cross with INK-DEF carved on it was pinned to his chest, gleaming gently in the magical lights.
His team was still where he left them, talking and enjoying drinks in the living room. Liara and Javier were both silent, as always, while Sahro and Milena were in the middle of an intense discussion about... kids?
"I''m telling you, more is better than not many! Imagine that, an army of Sahros fighting for their father! We could conquer the world!" Sahro exclaimed, making Milena laugh haughtily.
"Hah! You say that because you have no idea how painful birthing a child is! No, one, maybe two are enough. Quality over quantity!"
Liara laughed, tears forming in her eyes, while Javier contented himself with eating some dry meat. Glenn rubbed his eyes at the nonsensical discussion and announced himself by clearing his throat.
"Alright team, got some news! We''re going to the Bourgeoisie, that''s more than certain!"
Sahro and Milena shouted in excitement, while Liara simply smiled widely. Javier...There''s no need to tell what Javier did, was there?
Glenn bit down on his lower lip and took out the sealing scroll.
"....But, since there''s a but..." He sighed and placed the scroll on the coffee table. "This is a sealing scroll. If you wish to accompany me on my mission, you''ll have to" Glenn didn''t even have the time to finish his sentence that Sahro had grabbed the scroll and infused his Aura inside it. Glenn blinked and reached toward him.
"Wait"
Milena then stole the scroll from Sahro''s hands and infused Mana inside it, also activating the seal. Liara and Javier quickly followed, not giving the time to Glenn to dissuade them. The young man rubbed the back of his neck, flabbergasted. Sahro laughed and threw the scroll back at Glenn.
"Well, when are we leaving?"
202. Goodbye, the Fringe and the Northern Town
The Exan-Egg, a marvel of technology for the world of Limbo, was bouncing up and down, the brass glimmering its hull with an orange-brown tint under the sun. Glenn suddenly caught the Exan-Egg in mid-air, lost in thought. He was standing in front of the two massive gates separating the Fringe from the Bourgeoisie, the two doors sealed shut while waiting for an important enough occasion to open. It only took him one year to come this far.
He had murdered more than his share of people. Criminals, secret organization members, cultists... Here he was, standing in front of the gates, his hands bloody and his conscience guilty.
But oh well. It''s not like the world had given him a choice, did it? He would have been more than satisfied exploring this world, its magic, and secrets, but no. There had to be evil gods, insane humans, twisted ideals and religions, and way too many things that wanted to rip him apart.
A true shitshow.
''Can''t you stop complaining? At least you''re alive!'' Diamanes exclaimed in disagreement, making his host''s head ring. Glenn grimaced and looked at the longsword hanging off his waist.
''Isn''t it time for this idiot to wake up already? I''m so tired of that fucker...''
''Hey!''
Sahro walked up to Glenn and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him out of his trance.
"You''re ready?" The Black Heir asked with a grin. Glenn grinned back and shrugged.
"Nope, but that''ll have to do. I can''t wait to see what fuckery is going to wait for us up there."
Sahro laughed and shook his head.
"Me too. Hopefully nothing too terrible, right?"
Glenn smiled and glanced at his other teammates waiting in the back. Milena, Javier, and Liara were in the middle of a very active discussion, where only Milena could speak. Liara reacted with smiles and nods, while Javier simply...existed.
"Right...Let''s go, then," Glenn muttered as he pulled out an envelope from his dimensional pouch. It wasn''t the black envelope that Manalok Calopea Truant gave him, but a white one with golden filigree. It contained a recommendation from the Gold Church for the whole team to ascend to the Bourgeoisie. Courtesy of Maron, who was in the middle of transferring most of his headquarters to the Bourgeoisie. At least Glenn would still get the merchant''s support once they were in the Bourgeoisie.
The Watchers, halberds-wielding guards with steel armors had noticed them since earlier, and were waiting for them to ask for the "Ascension". A grandiloquent term for the opening of some small doors hidden in the two massive ones. No way they would open these massive gates for five persons only, after all. Glenn walked up to the guard post and waited for an officer to come see him. A few seconds later, a bald man with a serious expression and thick steel armor came and saluted him.
"Sgt. Colarri. Do you wish to Ascend with your group, Sir Glenn?"
Glenn''s eyebrows rose in surprise, not expecting the guard to recognize him.
''I guess I''m kind of famous now...'' Glenn thought dejectedly. He had a hard time finding a way to react to this fame. It felt great, and yet... a little constricting. Well, this fame would probably fade away once in the Bourgeoisie, so whatever.
"Absolutely, Sgt. Colarri. Here are our Recommendations."
Glenn tried handing the envelope to the officer, but Sergent Colarri refused with a shake of his hand.
"No need for that, Sir Glenn. We were expecting you. Five persons, right?"
Glenn frowned, "...Right." They were expecting him? Was this Truant''s work? Probably. The officer turned back and barked orders at his subordinates, who hurried to the gates. One of them used a small wand with a crystal set on its end on the gate, drawing a symbol on it. Nothing happened for a minute or two, but then something clicked in the gate and an opening revealed itself in it, five meters high and wide. It was nothing compared to the size of the gate, which was probably a few hundred meters, but it was still impressive. What did set Glenn off was the sound of gears cranking and turning when the opening appeared.
There seemed to be something else than magic there, but he didn''t want to get his hopes up... Not yet, anyway.
Sgt. Colarri stepped to the side and smacked the butt of his halberd on the ground.
"We wish you well on your ascension to King''s Rise, Sir Glenn." He bowed, before repeating this salute to each member of the team. There was something ceremonial to it which Glenn couldn''t pinpoint, but whatever. He entered the hallway that had been opened up, a smell of grease and metal welcoming him. As soon as the team stepped into the hallway, the wall closed behind them and pale lights opened up to guide their way. Sahro glanced back with a frown.
"...Any chance this is a trap?"
Milena shook her head, a bit hesitant.
"No, this should be just tradition. The ascension of King''s Rise is supposed to be a noble thing with a lot of important meanings, but...I''m not sure."
Glenn pressed his lips together and took the lead, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the hallway were made entirely out of metal, which was disturbing him a little. After all, the last time he saw this kind of construction, it was in the Blumar Quarry and in the Laboratory that contained Doyle Malory.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
''...Strange coincidence, isn''t it?'' Diamanes remarked sarcastically. Glenn smirked but didn''t comment. After all, it didn''t take a lot to see the similarity. At least there was nothing carved on the walls, and it was steel instead of bronze and brass. The lights hanging on the ceiling were magical ones, glimmering with a pale glow. Glenn and his team continued to walk for a while until they arrived at a checkpoint, marked by a change of color in the walls, which turned slightly brown/orange.
The group stopped when they heard the heavy steps of someone walking toward them, the sound of their boots echoing in the hallway. Glenn squinted, unsure of what he was seeing. The squint soon turned into wide, amazed opened eyes when he discovered the incoming guard. The man was wearing what could only be described as the most badass, steampunk power armor.
''...What the fuck?'' Diamanes muttered, confused. Glenn would have repeated those same words if the power-armor-wearing guard wouldn''t have stopped in front of them, releasing a cloud of steam in his back.
"PRIVATE LORZENSKI. PLEASE FOLLOW ME." The guard said in a robotic voice, unrecognizable through the layers of metal covering him. Glenn followed with his jaw hanging out, still shocked. Javier didn''t seem to care, nor did Milena, but Liara and Sahro were bearing the same surprise and awe as Glenn.
"Wait, did someone say POWER-ARMOR?!?" Nelg''s voice exploded in Glenn''s head with excitement. The young man paused for a second, still taken aback, and gulped with difficulty.
''Yes, Nelg, there''s a fucking, steam-powered armor right there! And welcome back by the way,'' He replied instinctively before rubbing his eyes to try and see if he wasn''t dreaming. Just seeing this cool, manly, steampunk power-armored had soothed his heart and healed all of his problems.
''...Is the book genre changing in real-time?'' muttered Diamanes, incredulously. Glenn couldn''t help but let out a small awed chuckle, following behind the cool Pvt Lorzenski. They finally arrived in front of a large contraption of massive steel gears, pipes, and heavy-duty pistons. The guard stopped in front of the gate and pressed on his right shoulder. Glenn suddenly paled as he felt his Mana fading away.
"DO NOT PANIC," Pvt Lorzenski suddenly said, "THE BOURGEOISIE IS UNDER STRICT SECURITY MEASURES, AND USE OF MANA, AURA OR DIVINITY IS STRICTLY REGULATED. PLEASE REFER TO THE NEAREST IMMIGRATION OFFICE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND CLEARANCE TO USE YOUR POWERS. THIS WILL LAST FOR AN HOUR."
Sahro gasped as his left, thunder arm crackled and faded away, while Javier fell to his knees, clenching his heart. Milena and Liara didn''t seem too affected and were simply shocked to see that they were now unable to access their Mana or Aura. Glenn gasped as every drop of his Mana seemed to get sucked out, leaving nothing but the bare minimum behind. He leaned against the wall, before sitting down, overwhelmed.
"Huh. It doesn''t work on me, I think," Nelg remarked with a surprised tone, "...Yep, you can use my Mana as your own if needed Glenn. Haha, I''m the joker now! The secret guard! The trick up your sleeve! Hahahaha!"
Glenn ignored the weapon''s shenanigans and instead concentrated on himself. His Mana being pulled out of him was a horrible sensation. Almost instinctively, he closed his eyes and sank into a Meditation status, trying to refill his Mana Heart, but to no avail. He could only watch in horror as the Magellanic Clouds bottomed down, lacking their classical luster and mystical lights, slowing dying out to whatever was stealing the Mana.
The young man took a mental step back, at a loss. He felt naked without his Mana. He couldn''t use his spells, he couldn''t use Diamanes, he could only fight mano-a-mano. Wasn''t that unfair for mages? Aura users were already used to fighting melee, but what about mages? Nothis was only temporary. The soldier spoke of clearance to use Mana; there had to be a way to get that clearance. Why the sudden change in security, though? Was it because the Bourgeoisie was that much more important than the Fringe? How did they take care of Rifts and Corrupted?
Yes; the individuals with clearance did. Or maybe they didn''t. This was a lot to take in for Glenn. Why did he feel so panicked, though? This was unusual.
"You''re too used to relying on Mana to protect yourself. Let me guess, you thought that as long as you had magic, you could fight back anything, right?" Nelg''s voice suddenly chimed in Glenn''s thoughts. The young man grimaced and turned toward his other, armored self.
"Maybe. Probably. Shit, this is awful. I feel terrible."
Nelg smacked his lips, "Yeah, I can see that. Just to let you know, in case you didn''t understand earlier. I can feed my Mana to you, now that I have a working Mana Heart. Look at that!" He pointed back at the Black Sun hovering far away, a large ring spinning around it.
"My own Mana Heart! Haha, now I''ll be able to actively contribute, instead of just being a...a tool," Nelg spat the last word with disgust. Glenn rubbed his forehead, trying to calm himself.
"Alright, yes, that''s a good thing to know. Okay. This could be worse. And I can probably get clearance to have my Mana back. I''ll just have to look into it. Okay."
Glenn drew one deep breath after another under Nelg''s careful watch. After a moment, Glenn looked back at the Magellanic Clouds, finding them to have completely faded away. The stars had died out, leaving behind nothing but dark gases and darkness. And yet...
The young man frowned. Yet, he could still feel his Mana being pulled out of him. Nelg''s eyebrows rose in puzzlement.
"...Your Mana Heart is empty, where the hell is your Mana coming from?" He muttered, confused.
Glenn moistened his lips, the panic leaving place to curiosity, "...I have no idea. But I can probably figure it out, right?"
He crossed his arms and floated around the Magellanic Clouds, trying to find maybe one star that was still lit, still powered by Mana, but there was nothing. He grimaced and floated backward, lost in thoughts. The Magellanic Clouds were barely visible now, besides from the gases illuminating the place.
...The gases? What were they powered by, though? Mana? This didn''t seem like it...and yet...maybe? Why wouldn''t they be powered by Mana? Glenn''s heart stopped as his mind suddenly made a connection. He recalled the Bloodblade''s words: "I believe you could certainly go further if only you took a step back"... The God had strangely insisted on two words, going further by taking a step back.
Taking a step back? The gases were still somehow powered by Mana? Why...Why did it make his brain itch?
"Glenn?" Nelg asked as the young man suddenly went silent. Glenn couldn''t hear his weapon''s worries, though, feeling as if he could almost grasp something, something that would allow him to...reach further. With practically no hesitation, Glenn turned back toward the Magellanic Clouds and wished to miniaturize them, to render them to their smallest forms. The Magellanic Clouds shrank and shrunk until they were rendered into two small, barely shining clouds of gases in the distance.
But those two small clouds didn''t matter, for something larger than that had appeared, something Glenn could have never possibly fathomed existed within him. Like a cut through the universe, a closed eye waiting to open to watch over the cosmos, a large, irregular slit shining in light and darkness, of purple and deep blue, of shining stars and black void... Glenn reached for it, unaware of the tears flowing down his cheeks.
Glimmering gently, immovable and immortal, was the Milky Way. And around it, like four watchmen sealing an unspeakable power, were four rings of stars, spinning gently with immense power. Mana kept on flowing out of Glenn''s body, but the young man couldn''t care less, for it was barely a leak into the ocean.
Glenn, one year into the Limbo.
Fourth-Circle: attained.
Rank: Magi.
End of book 3, Paradox pt.2
Characters Compendium
Paradox Pt.2 is complete! And with this, it''s the right time to share this little compendium of Lost in Limbo''s characters! I did not really try to write in perfect grammar, so expect some mistakes here and there. Gods won''t be included in this summary, or any summary at all, even though there might be some mentions of them here and there.
Oh, and of course, if you have not read up until chapter 202, I''d advise you to not read this! I''ll eventually come up with a compendium for each volume, but right now I want to do a big one with everyone in it. So, if you have not read chapter 202, be careful, SPOILERS!!!
Glenn: Our main character! Besides having terrible luck, he''s doing his best to live his life in this new world he''s been thrown into, never hesitating to throw a good old Black Hole to protect his friends. Murdering things, be they people or monsters, is commonplace for him, and doesn''t bother him in the least. Was he like this when he arrived in Limbo? Probably not. But after all he''s seen and experienced, he''s been forced to adapt to survive this hell, and has become the Devil''s Hand to punish his enemies. He usually fights using spells based on his Specialty, Astral Sorcery. Blackhole, Solar Flares, Gravity Manipulation... In addition to this already well-furnished armory, he also has the help of Diamanes and Nelg, the two living rent-free in his mind. Glenn is most commonly seen wearing black clothes with rolled-up sleeves, but some might have noticed him going around in a beautiful white ceremonial suit. His left arm is entirely purple, as are his eyes, and he has long black hair tied in a ponytail. An ever-growing strand of white was lost amidst the black, proof of the decline of Glenn''s mental health.
Lina: Glenn''s sister. She only appears in flashbacks, but she''s still there, in the back of Glenn''s mind.
As a bonus, here''s an artwork of Glenn!
Diamanes: A grinning, mysterious entity living in Glenn''s left hand. One Who Can End This World, by his own words, and a creature with the ability to steal the powers of others with a touch. Spells, blessings, curses, there hardly seems to be a thing Diamanes cannot take away. The entity loves to make fun of Glenn and often brags about knowledge that he can''t share, due to unknown limitations. Despite his saying that he came from someplace else than the Limbo, Diamanes knows a lot of things about almost everything. There are pieces of him to be found everywhere in the world, but so far Glenn was unable to find any of those. What would happen if Diamanes was...whole again?
Nelg: A seemingly perfect copy of Glenn''s soul, inhabiting a weapon able to change form at Glenn''s desire. When Glenn meets Nelg in his Mana Heart, the latter is always wearing knightly apparel, and a massive armor which looks impressive but also very uncomfortable. Nelg, like the other entity living in Glenn''s head, loves to bother his host with stupid jokes or comments. Nelg can grow devouring the soul of the things that Glenn killed, and recently unlocked his First Circle, allowing him to have his own Mana supply, independently from Glenn. As of the latest news (chapter 202), Nelg has a longsword form, which can Awaken into a bastard-sword, and gives access to the ability Cut & Pull. His second shape is a hand-axe, which can Awaken into a double-bladed axe giving access to the ability to Cleave and Double It. There''s no doubt Nelg will evolve into an incredibly helpful weapon, but what about the moral implications of his existence? Was he a weapon, or a living being with his freedom? Could, or should he live without Glenn?
Pebble: Just kidding, Pebble is just a pebble. He''s not sentient at all. Just a little magical. Yeah. Why would anyone think a piece of stone is sentient anyway?
Redan: The Ice Wolf, previous Commodore of the Wolves Order, and previous Lord Commander of the Northern Gate. The first friendly face that Glenn met after arriving in the Limbo, and his first teacher who initiated him to magic, teaching him the tricks to the Draconic School of Mana. He was once a true myth, having reached both the Fourth Circle of Mana and the Rank 4 of Aura, thanks to his unique constitution, and a draconic heritage. Due to some unknown circumstances, Redan was first accused of betrayal by the Royal Family, then by the Nobles of the Court, losing all the glory and honor he had accumulated. After Redan died, Glenn swore to himself he would uncover the truth behind the old man''s loss of grace and destroy whoever''s fault it was.
The Black Heirs: a proud clan of people with black skin and white marks on their foreheads. They can use both Mana and Aura thanks to some special power, allowing them to reach heights of power potentially unmatched. They once lived in the Ink Dunes beyond the Black Wall, but something came and chased them away. Now, they live in King''s Rise Sewers, surviving by accepting the odd jobs of nobles playing with them. At least, that was how it was until Glenn intervened and brought Monsieur Maron into the equation. The young man hadn''t visited them in a while, but perhaps a huge change in their living conditions had occurred in the meantime. They are a strong race of people, with strong beliefs and a deep hatred of human nobles, due to the grandson of their leader Giselle being kidnapped the day they arrived in King''s Rise.
Sahro Sand: A handsome young man part of the Black Heirs, often wearing desert clothes. With green eyes and chestnut-gold messy hair, he has a lighter tone of skin than the other Black Heirs, excluding him slightly from the main group. He has been under the direct guidance of Giselle, the Black Heirs'' leader, and has shown promising potential. It was thanks to that potential that he has been sent with Glenn to get Giselle''s grandson back from Baron Howard. Despite some initial reluctance, Sahro eventually warmed up to Glenn and became his first real friend in the Limbo. They went through hell together, fighting evil gods and forgotten evils, and Sahro eventually lost his arm to one of those threats. He''s now a one-armed swordsman, using a crimson Aura alongside a powerful but rough usage of Thunder Mana. Now that he has come this far, nothing will stop him from accomplishing his mission and helping his friend, Glenn. Oh, and to become better than him of course.
Giselle Pyr: The Ink Dunes Red Witch, leader of the Black Heirs. A charismatic, formidable lady appearing to be in her sixties, with a powerful presence and intimidating scars intersecting on her face, one tracing down her left eye and the other running horizontally across her entire visage. She wears brown leather pants and a sleeveless vest of the same material which could barely hold her imposing bosom. A distinct white mark adorns her forehead, the most pronounced Glenn ever saw, until he met Liara, of course. She balances a healthy life, smoking either cigarettes or cigars, while burning her problems away with her powerful Fourth Circle fire magic. She is on par with Redan in terms of power and will do anything to protect her clan and guarantee their future. She was probably the one most hurt when Redan died, but sadness had no place in the leader''s heart.
Liara: A beautiful, mysterious Black Heiress who''s been saved by Glenn and Sahro from slavers. She can talk to Sahro and Milena, but not to Glenn. The latter is practically sure that there is a cultural reason behind those sealed lips, but so far, there''s no clear explanation. The white mark on her forehead is a clear, distinct cross that reached into her hair and went down to her nose, the clearest mark that Glenn saw on a Black Heir, and the sole proof that she was part of that proud race. Her skin is of an olive tone lightly tanned by the sun, and her hair is white like snow, flowing on her shoulders like a river of ice. Initially, her expression was cold, almost emotionless, but she gradually warmed up to Glenn and the others, her deep golden eyes now shining with bright happiness. Her lips and jaw are finely drawn as if created by the hand of Onnea herself. A short sparing session revealed that she''s proficient in melee, using a spear and a sword at the same time, while also using Telekinesis to make her attacks even more deadly. Glenn often wondered if he''d ever be able to know what thoughts were hidden behind these golden eyes...
Milena: Once a detestable rival Fixer, now a fallen noble who believes to be at risk of being killed by her family, Milena is a bright woman, with raven-black hair and a perpetual scent of mint lingering around her, and magnificently deep marine-blue eyes. She''s proficient in mind and illusion spells, making her maybe as or more dangerous than even Glenn. She was tasked to pass the Test that every child of the Court is tasked with, but due to Glenn looking into her and eventually discovering her true identity, that objective took a backseat and she disappeared for a while. Glenn found her working in an Inn and allowed her to come with him and his team, to fulfill the tasks the Court gave her while also bringing her "noble view" to the team. At first, Glenn mostly wanted her there because it was a nice thing to know someone highly placed, but he had to admit he was starting to like her presence. The lady, once her first "dickhead" mask fell, was surprisingly nice to have around, and enjoyed the feeling of working in a team, something she had a hard time doing before due to the weight of her hidden identity as a Court noble.
Javier: Ah, Javier. Perhaps my favorite side character in this book. Javier is a man of few words if no words at all. He''s from the Southern Continent, but is under the curse of the Pale Plague in the second stage, making him unable to talk due to his vocal cords rotting away. There''s no use trying to heal him, for the Curse is stronger than anything healing efforts. His skin is pale like chalk, almost transparent, another symptom of the Pale Plague, and his eyes are dark, filled with an ink-black color. Glenn doubted that the last thing was related to the Pale Plague, and instead theorized that something happened to Javier during the Blessed Grove and Heart of Darkness episode. But, besides all these red flags, Javier is surprisingly, probably Glenn''s most reliable comrade. Javier''s arrows never miss, and they always find their way to kill the enemy with a single shot. Additionally, he possesses a strange ability that allows him to heal his allies, an ability that Glenn eventually copied with Diamanes'' help: CPR or Catalytic Pain Rejuvenation for those who want the longer name. A simple trade-off: the user absorbs the pain at ten times the amount, and heals wounds or broken bones with that strange power. Anyway, Javier is Javier. He''ll always be there when we need him, staring with dead, empty eyes at Glenn, his thoughts undecipherable, probably because he has no thoughts at all.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Monsieur Maron: A merchant who hired Glenn for an expedition to Palancar. What once started as a venture to build a brewery became a hellish adventure where evil gods were fought and a lot of lives were lost. The merchant is Plutus''s Apostle, who''s the Gold Church''s God, and the sole reason Maron is still alive to this day. After a fateful encounter with Doyle Malory, Maron''s body is now half-flesh, half Blumar, the energy-resistant stone. He looked like a pretty average, middle-aged man before that accident, but he now has a very singular look, with parts of his body made of stone and all that. He now officially supports Glenn the best he can as well as the Black Heirs living in King''s Rise''s Sewers.
THE CLEANER''S WORKSHOP
Mary: The hot Cleaner who''s friends with Redan and who taught Glenn melee combat with sadistic manners. Her relationship with Redan is blurry, to say the least, but she is still terribly pained by his death. She gave up on her Cleaner status and went after the Occult Wanderers, the secret organization responsible for Redan''s death. She''s extremely agile, and surprisingly powerful despite her small build. Additionally, she loves to hurt her students, a little too much for it to not be sadistic.
Reginald: Glenn''s first real contact with the Cleaner''s Workshop. A gentleman wearing a white suit covered in the recognizable red crosses of the Cleaners, and a black top hat. He often likes to rub his twirled, Italian mustache and has the terrible habit of disappearing away when his work is done. Glenn eventually learned that Reginald was once Redan''s subordinate, and also realized that Reginald was much higher placed in the Workshop than he initially thought. Diamanes do not dislike the gentleman, for there''s a disgusting scent lingering around him, reminding the entity of undead and necromancy. Despite that, Glenn considers Reginald to be fairly worthy of his trust, even though he wouldn''t put his life in his hands.
Kevin: A skinny man with blond, messy hair, and a thick unibrow barely hidden behind large round glasses. He''s the assistant that has been assigned to Glenn, acting as the direct link to facilitate the completion of bounties and the relationships between Glenn and the Workshop. A scaredy-cat who believes in a small, unknown god, and who''s terrified of Glenn, and yet works very efficiently.
Blorg Borimor: The Gorilla who didn''t do his Cleaner work correctly and which Glenn killed in chapter 199. A certainly stupid guy, who indirectly killed more than a few innocent people by not doing the work that was expected of him.
Manalok Calopea Truant: A blind old man wearing plain black pants and a blue shirt. He first appears as a little senile, but the second his reflective glasses are off, he switches to his role of the Head Cleaner Director of the Cleaner''s Workshop. A sixth-Circle Magi with incredible power and unknown motivations.
Loran: the bald Cleaner receptionist with thick glasses in the Eastern Town Cleaner''s Workshop branch. He''s dressed sloppily, but still with the colors of a Cleaner, meaning white clothes covered in red crosses
Rusty Stoneheart: A dwarf with ginger hair and a beard, and with a thundering voice that helped with creating Nelg alongside the Smith. He also was the one who created Glenn''s first suit but disappeared alongside the Smith after the creation of the Soul weapon.
The Smith: A strangely skinny and silent man, with long hair, wearing working clothes at all times.
Tom Delora: A Cleaner with a very small height and a horribly rattling voice, who''s also part of the Magi Brotherhood. We only know that he can use steel with his magic
Tak Delora: A Cleaner with a striking lack of hair, not even eyebrows or eyelashes, giving him an eerie appearance.
Toran Dias: the annoying replacement for Rusty and the Smith after their disappearance, an old lazy man with a buffed physique
Kane: Manager of the Northern Town Cleaner''s Workshop. He has blond, straight hair, with brown eyes filled with more tiredness than annoyance. He has deep black circles under his eyes and visible wrinkles on his forehead. He didn''t have a beard, letting everyone enjoy the sight of his ass-shaped chin.
THE CHURCH OF ONNEA
Astrid Di Forte: A priestess of Onnea that Glenn first met when dealing with the monstrous amalgamation of the Tavern''s employees. She''s a pretty lady clad entirely in white clerical clothes and with a lazy character. Despite that, she often was at the forefront of dangerous situations, treating urgent patients one after another. It isn''t wrong to say that Glenn enjoys working with her, be it for her likable personality or her skills.
Alabaster Di Fors: A loyal paladin of Onnea who protects Astrid with his life. He''s pretty nice to Glenn, considering him almost like a brother-in-arm. He has a brother, Vladirmir Di Fors, who succumbed to Corruption, and who''s been put down by Glenn. Vladimir had a different religion, the Brotherhood of Iron and Blood, making it so that his Corruption led him to a particularly strange and dangerous state which almost successfully broke Glenn''s psyche, and almost Corrupted him. It also led to a short meeting with the God of the Brotherhood, the Bloodblade, who appeared as a pretty chill God looking like Genghis Khan.
Norstan Vendor: Paladin Knight of the Church of Onnea, a gray-haired man with a will of steel and the one who led the task force to capture Laurence. He shares the same belief as Glenn that scum like the Skinners should all be executed like the pest they are. He eventually reaped the benefits of the operation against the Occult Wanderers and earned a promotion, drowning him under a ton of work.
Nicolas Cerelas: Priest of the Church of Onnea, a handsome young man with brown eyes and short golden hair. He''s the priest who saved Redan back when Glenn took him out of the Beyond, successfully saving the body but failing to notice the broken Mana Heart.
Valentin, priest of the Church of Onnea who took care of Redan''s treatment
Priest Nolan: the friendly priest who gave explanations on Corruption and gave him "Research and Study of Corruption," by Vandorian Di Forte.
Vialla Trianix: The Northern Town''s Head Priestess of Onnea and a wrinkled grandma fighter who''s very strict and rude, with white hair cut short, and who has been quite angered by Glenn''s behavior after he woke up from his fight with the Corrupted Josh.
Brother Khan: A priest of the Northern Town who told Glenn of the Limbo''s religions
THE ANTAGONISTS
Baron Howard: A noble whom Glenn suspects is a vampire or something like that. He killed three of his friends and also holds Giselle''s grandson, Callum. He''s one of the many reasons for the degradation of Glenn''s mental health, and a monster with incomprehensible goals. If Glenn hadn''t interacted with the remains of Jefferson Howard back in the ruins where he found Diamanes, perhaps things could have gone differently.
Stormblade: A mercenary under the orders of Baron Howard. Fairly strong, and seemingly immortal. He''s one of the individuals Glenn has to be careful of when he tries to kill Howard.
Abbot Hank: A high-ranked priest of the Thorn''s Church/Cult, a mountain of man, bald and muscular, always lugging around a thick grimoire made of human skin and written in the blood of Hank''s victims. The book was revealed to be "The Cursed Book of Doloratrox", an Apostle of Epinos, the God of the Thorn''s Cult. Hank died twice at Glenn''s hands, and the book was finally destroyed after the young man went over his limits to cast Solar Flare and Nitrogen Lance at the same time.
Scarred-Face: A low-ranked priest of the Thorn''s Church. He was Glenn''s jailer back in the Thorn''s Church prison, and the one who fed him ungodly amounts of Beast blood and tortured him daily. He ended up with a fate worse than death after Glenn gave him a taste of his medicine.
Droka: A priest of the Thorn''s Church, who was killed in the battle outside of King''s Rise as the Eastern Gate. He was under the direct orders of Abbot Hank, and his soul was used as fuel for the Book of Doloratrox.
Doyle Malory: He also calls himself the Lightbringer, or "One Who Shall End This World", whatever that meant. An ancient monster who remained captive in the Blumar Quarry in the strange Laboratory, who encountered Monsieur Maron and ate a good chunk of him, before being sealed again thanks to Sahro and Glenn''s efforts. Hopefully, they won''t ever meet this freak again.
Laurance: A fellow Earthling who reached incredible heights as a Newborn Ruler, by sacrificing his humanity and an unknown number of children. He was part of the Occult Wanderers and became a Demon after a bloody ceremony. Thankfully, a mysterious knight pulled him back to the Beyond for some unknown reason. Laurance was the main actor behind Redan''s death, and as such, Glenn vowed to himself that he would find the bastard and make him pay, alongside his shitty, twisted organization.
Mayor Lazarre: A pitiful man who was in charge of the Eastern Town, and the main reason behind the town''s fall out of grace. He allowed criminals and monsters to run rampant while using the powers granted to him for his means or his master, Count Mortelli. He was executed by Glenn.
Count Mortelli: The mastermind behind Mayor Lazarre, and also the one who somehow made Redan''s capture possible. All of Redan''s old titles now belong to him, and Glenn was sure that if it wasn''t for Count Mortelli, Redan would still be alive.
Walker Blight: A member of the Occult Wanderers, who died from Javier''s deadly arrow. Was the main contact between the organization and Mayor Lazarre.
THE SIDE CHARACTERS
Most of these guys died, yes, I noticed.
Carys: A farmer who was the first to welcome Glenn in the Northern Town. His wife worked for Baron Howard, before disappearing. He died hanging due to his relationship with Glenn, on Howard''s orders.
Winston: A barman who managed to get into King''s Rise thanks to Glenn''s generosity. He was killed similarly to Carys, hanging alongside him.
Laurence: A warm baker lady, whom Glenn worked for once to get rid of a small rift in her cellar. She died hanging too.
Liam; A child who was physically abused in the Tavern, an inn under the control of the Thorn''s Church. Glenn discovered the truth about Liam and saved him while capturing the Tavern''s Boss and employees. The Boss and his underlings then fused in an evil amalgam of living bodies, courtesy of the Thorn''s Church shenanigans, which were then destroyed by Glenn and Astrid Di Forte.
Nirva Dalum: Glenn''s handler in the Magi Brotherhood. Since Glenn was pretty self-sufficient, she didn''t help him much besides telling him the ins and outs of the Magi Brotherhood headquarters.
Tarana: A small lady who worked with Glenn as a Gold-ranked Fixer on the Blessed Grove raid, who mastered the power of controlling plants and defended herself with twin falx swords. She was possessed by the Fallen Mother and died in consequence.
Wilbur: A Gold-ranked Fixer knight of the Eastern Town who often bragged about his shield, before losing all will to fight after encountering the Heart of Darkness in the Blessed Grove. He was demoted to Copper Rank after fleeing away and we never heard of him again beyond that.
Gentle Knight: The leader of a Fixer party who went to Palancar for a contract. He was later possessed by the Fallen Mother and Corrupted, becoming a Black Knight with incredible powers. He was eventually defeated by Sahro, who lost his left arm in the fight.
Josh: A member of Gentle Knight''s party, a Pale Son at the first stage, an archer, and the sole survivor of his team after the Palancar incident. He became Corrupted later on, and Glenn was forced to put him down.
Prince: A member of Gentle Knight''s party, and a Court child in hiding, who was passing the Test similarly to Milena. He died after being possessed by a strange entity of the Thorn''s Church and morphed into a horrible creature which the Cleaner''s Workshop dealt with. Glenn was tasked with finding out his true identity, which he did by finding Josh and asking him about it.
Valer: A Magi who was part of Gentle Knight''s party, and who died in the Palancar incident.
Toumu Toula; A barbarian of the Southern Continent, and a member of Gentle Knight''s party. He died in the Palancar incident.
Manalok Tuleam: A weird man with similarly weird antics, who works as a Restoration Operator in cooperation with the Seekers. He''s been hired by Glenn to work on the Project Sword of Damocles notebook Sahro found in the Laboratory they found Doyle Malory in.
Marina: A Fixer of the Cleaner''s Workshop
The Indigo Bureau: An intelligence dealer agency, that helped Glenn find Redan.
Sir Montana: A mysterious bard who possesses the ability to clone himself by creating Avatars with a portion of his soul. He''s the main reason Glenn now bears many nicknames, from the Grinning Demon, the Mad or Insane Hero, to the Devil''s Hand, which is the one who stuck the most. And now he''s just sneaking around, listening for Glenn''s achievements and making songs from them.
203. The Bourgeoisie (Start of Vol.4)
After a year of struggle, pain, torture, death, and fateful encounters, Glenn finally reached the Fourth Circle. He was now a Magi who could fight armies by himself if he so wished. And all it took was a city-wide Mana-draining spell and some introspection. And now he had the Milky Way as his Mana Heart.
Glenn gasped, his eyes flashing open in awe and disbelief. He was still sitting in the metal hallway with Sahro, Milena, Liara, and Javier. The soldier in steampunk power armor, Pvt. Lorzenski was still waiting in a rigid position, his thoughts hidden behind his badass helmet. The unnatural light gleamed off the steel and brass components as steam clouds puffed out from the joints with sharp hissing sounds.
"Yo, what the fuck?" Nelg asked, bewildered. Diamanes chortled, as taken aback as the living sword.
Glenn''s Mana was still being sucked up by the draining sorcery thrown at the Bourgeoisie, but... it was like a small leak in a dam. Visible, but not considerable. No doubt it''d be dangerous at some point, but the Mana reserve of a Fourth Circle was simply...insane.
Insane was the right word, yes. And even then, Glenn doubted that all Magi shared the same ridiculously large Mana reserve as his. He had a galaxy worth of it, after all.
"Hey, Glenn, are you alright?" Milena crouched next to him, before casting a worried glance behind her. Sahro was staring blankly at the space where his lightning left arm previously was. Javier was lying down, a bit of foam on the corner of his lips, but seemed okay beyond that. Liara seemed to have recovered from her initial shock and was kneeling next to the silent hunter, unsure of what to do.
"...I feel great," He muttered, before grinning widely while casting a Black Hole in his opened palm. Even this ridiculously overpowered spell was barely putting a dent in his Mana.
"Haha, I never felt better actually!" He chuckled while dismissing the spell. Milena watched with wide eyes, her mouth opening and closing tentatively. She glanced at the soldier watching over them and grimaced.
"...did...did you just have a breakthrough?" She whispered in disbelief. Glenn''s grin grew even wider as he slowly nodded.
"I''m a Magi now," he whispered back excitedly. He also glanced at the soldier and leaned forward to speak in Milena''s ear, his nose creasing at the strong scent of mint.
"Is it normal that my Mana reserve is that huge? The draining spell is barely doing anything," asked Glenn with a frown. Milena took a step back and turned away while scratching the back of her head.
"Cough, uhm, I think it''s safe to say it''s not normal. My Mana has completely bottomed out after all. The draining spell is only leaving the minimum required for me to not be victim to Mana exhaustion," She explained with a low voice. Glenn moistened his lips and looked at the power-armored soldier, before shrugging. It couldn''t hurt to have another card in his hand, right? He already had the possibility of using Nelg''s Mana, thanks to him finally creating his First Circle, but now he also had the addition of his own stupidly large personal reserve.
''...I still think you''ll eventually bottom out. It''ll just take longer,'' Diamanes commented, his initial shock passed, ''And congratulations on ranking up. We''re part of the big players now.''
Glenn sneered and shook his head. If fighting Evil Gods, criminal organizations and secret cults wasn''t already making him a "big player", he didn''t know what would. Glenn looked at his Black Heir friend, who was still staring into space.
"...How are you holding up?" Glenn asked as he walked up to Sahro. The Black Heir flinched and spat to the side, looking away from the stump on his left shoulder.
"I''m not. Shit, I want my arm back," He grumbled as he held the stump. Glenn made a wry smile and patted his friend on the back. Sahro sighed, before brusquely looking at the soldier watching over them. Glenn followed the movement and discovered that the hallway behind the soldier was beginning to shift. The sound of gears rolling and cranking echoed all around them, the ceiling opening up above them. The sunlight reached them, bouncing off the metal floor and walls. Glenn squinted, trying to understand what was going on. The floor suddenly trembled, making the team stumble on their feet. It also woke Javier up, who simply stood up with a blank expression like nothing ever happened.
Clouds of steam came out of the walls, hissing as some strange process was moving the structure. The floor under them suddenly rose, lifting them to the opening in the ceiling. Glenn fell on a knee and made a visor with his hand to try and see things a little better. A large cloud of steam blew on them, blinding everyone and rendering Glenn''s efforts useless. Finally, the floor stabilized and stopped moving. The cloud of steam disappeared naturally, revealing what was hidden behind it.
"YOU''VE BEEN CLEARED FOR ACCESS. PLEASE REPORT TO AN IMMIGRATION OFFICE UNDER A FORTHNIGHT. HAVE A GOOD DAY," Pvt. Lorzenski said with his robotic voice, before stomping away and leaving the team there to their own devices. Glenn blinked and rubbed his eyes, unable to believe them. They were standing in a plaza surrounded by rows of houses built using Victorian and Gothic architecture, only...there seemed to be a little twist.
"What the hell is this place? I feel like I''ve traveled to the future! Well, not an Earth-type future, but still way too advanced for something like the Fringe! This is crazy!" Nelg exclaimed in shock. Glenn''s thoughts could only echo to his sword''s. No matter where he set eyes, there were brass contraptions. Gears, pipes, valves, some the size of a hand, others as large as a grown man. There even was one massive gear, attached to platforms moving up and down like an elevator.
''Oh. It''s an elevator,'' Glenn realized blankly when he noticed people standing on the platforms and waiting to be brought to a higher part of town. The sound of hissing steam was coming from all directions. The young man rubbed his forehead and looked at his teammates. The two Black Heirs were shocked beyond measure, while Milena was expecting it. And Javier simply did not care. Or maybe he did. Who knows?
"So, uh, we''re supposed to report to an...immigration office, is that right?" Glenn asked hesitantly as he turned toward Milena. The lady nodded and glanced around.
"We should be in District NIII. There''s an immigration office in each district, we just have to find it..." She trailed off, unsure of where to go now. Glenn crossed his arms and tried to find something that would indicate the right direction.
"New to da'' Bourgeoisie, Mister?" asked a small voice from behind Glenn. The young man turned around to find a boy, probably fourteen or so, dressed in gray worker clothes and a beret. He had a bit of soot on his face, which made him look a little older than his age, but his little stature and immature voice proved that he was still quite young.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
"I can take you to da'' Office if you wan'' Mister!" The boy proposed with a grin, his two upper front teeth missing. Glenn looked back at his team and smiled back at the kid.
"Yeah, sure. What do you want in exchange?"
The kid looked up and down at Glenn, his eyes stopping for a short second on his left purple arm.
"Uhm...money from below ain''t worth much here..." He rubbed the back of his head, "...Can I ask you a favor to be exchanged later?"
Glenn chuckled. What could this kid possibly want from him?
"If you want, yes."
The kid smiled brightly and held his hand out for a shake, "Great! ''Am Pierrot, and you?"
Glenn shook Pierrot''s hand, "Glenn. Can you guide us to the nearest immigration Office, then?"
Pierrot nodded and pointed at an inconspicuous building a dozen meters away, "That''s da Office!"
The young man blinked and looked at Pierrot. The kid was grinning widely, proud of his scam.
"Don''t forget to pay me back, ''kay?" Pierrot exclaimed before running away in the meanders of the town. Liara, who had observed the exchange, chuckled softly, while Milena only patted Glenn on the back.
"Seems like you got scammed."
"Yep. And by a kid at that. Well, whatever," Glenn shrugged dismissively, not too bothered. It wasn''t like Pierrot had asked for money or his belongings. He only asked for a favor. The team walked to the indicated building, and, indeed, on the door was a small sign reading "Immigration Office". Glenn looked back at his team hesitantly, before knocking on the door.
They waited for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Without much conviction, Glenn pushed the door open, finding a small, empty hall with chairs on every side and an empty counter. Magical lights were hanging off the ceiling, where pipes of different colors twisted and turned in unknown directions.
Glenn and his team slowly entered the building, ringing a small bell on the way in.
"...Very welcoming," Sahro commented with a hint of sarcasm. Glenn sneered and approached the counter, looking around for any clerks. The counter was old, and covered in dust. Glenn leaned on it, waiting patiently.
Hello? Milena was already looking at the area beyond the counter, ignoring the ostentatious employees only sign.
"Ah? Ah! Yes, coming, coming!" A muffled voice suddenly replied deep from within the building. Something metallic fell, which was then accompanied by a curse from that same muffled voice. Glenn and Milena exchanged a glance, while Sahro, Javier, and Liara patiently sat in the hall''s chairs. A girl covered in soot, wearing dirty working clothes, and with a respirator covering her mouth ran into the room, her eyes hidden behind an opaque pair of welding glasses. She had short brown hair with a practical cut and a slim figure.
She looked at the visitors for a moment, then at her clothes, then back at the visitors. She seemed to ponder for a moment, before shrugging and taking off her equipment.
"Phew," She drew a breath of air and rubbed her eyes, putting the glasses and the respirator down on the counter.
"Sorry for the..." She gestured at herself, "...I was busy training to get into the Exan University. Anyway, uhm, so you guys came here for...what, exactly?" She asked with uncertainty. Glenn''s eyebrows rose as he crossed his arms.
"We just arrived in the Bourgeoisie. The soldier in charge told us we needed to head to the Immigration Office, so, here we are."
The girl looked at Glenn and the others like they were crazy. "Immigration Office? Didn''t I close that down a year ago" She froze and slapped her forehead, "darn it, I forgot to send the letter to the Official Bureau, didn''t I?"
She sighed and crouched under the counter, looking through some dusty documents.
"Where did I...not this...not this either..." She continued to mumble without the slightest concern for Glenn and his team. Finally, she triumphally pulled out an old paper sheet, which she waved in the air a few times to get rid of the dust.
"Here we go! Alright, uh, I''ll do your...immigration thing...but it''s the last time I''m doing it, I swear," She complained, before handing Glenn the document. The young man glanced at it, finding it to be a reasonable contract of promising to behave politely while in the Bourgeoisie, to not hurt another, nor to abuse one''s power, while also respecting the power of the nobles. He just had to write his team''s names and sign for them, and it was all done.
"Here you go."
The girl made a fake smile and rolled the document, before opening one of the pipes in the walls and throwing it into it.
"Great! Now, if you wish to get clearance for using Mana, Aura, or Divinity, please head to a Testing Site with the necessary documentation. Bye bye!" She waved as she ran away to do whatever she was doing. Glenn looked at her leaving, and at the equipment she left behind, before shrugging.
"Okay. Well, now we have to find District NXIV and the Cleaner''s Office" Glenn was about to turn away and leave when the strange girl suddenly came back, her eyes wide open.
"The Cleaner''s Office? Wait, you come from the Northern Town, right?" She exclaimed with her finger pointed at Glenn. The latter hesitantly nodded.
"We did come from the Northern Town, but how is it"
The girl smiled widely and made a loud clap with her hands, interrupting Glenn once again, "Great! I wanted to ask, did you guys hear about that Devil''s Hand Fixer? A Black-Gold Fixer, very strong, with spell work reminiscent of the stars, and a purple..." She trailed off when she finally looked correctly at Glenn and his left arm, "...purple...a purple arm. Huh."
Glenn blinked, his fingers tensing up as Mana flared around his right hand. He had no idea what to expect from this strange woman, so being careful would probably be a good
"Oh! Oh, oh, oh!" She blushed and rushed to Glenn''s side, her eyes shining like a thousand stars, "Can I have an autograph?"
''Haha?!'' Diamanes chuckled in disbelief. Nelg couldn''t even utter a word, shocked. Glenn closed his eyes and reopened them slowly.
"...An autograph?" He asked hesitantly while dismissing the spell he was preparing. Milena relaxed and sheathed back her half-pulled-out dagger, while Sahro did the same with his curved sword. Only Liara and Javier didn''t seem worried about the strange woman.
"My name is Janica! Do you have a pen? No, wait, I''ll get one for you!" She said while spinning around in a panic. Milena and Liara chuckled, while Sahro came and patted Glenn on the back.
"Seems like you are a true celebrity. You even have a fan, haha!" The Black Heir laughed heartily at his friend''s expense. Glenn drew a deep breath and shook his head. What...was he famous? And why under this damned nickname? Devil''s Hand here, Devil''s Hand there...Damn it...
Janica, who was foraging through the dusty counter finally pulled out a pen, when she realized who was patting her idol. Her face became even paler and she pointed a trembling pen at Sahro.
"But...But then, you must be..." Sahro''s gleeful expression disappeared while Glenn grinned in satisfaction, "...you must be the Black Swordsman! Oh my god, this is the best day!" She hurriedly ripped a piece of paper from an important-looking book and handed it to Glenn alongside the pen.
"Please, please, sign me an autograph! Oh my god, the girls are going to be so jealous...!" She whispered in excitation. Glenn, once the surprise had passed, chuckled and signed the piece of paper.
"For Janica, right?"
"Yes, yes!"
"....For Janica, by the Devil''s Hand. Here."
Janica held the paper as if it was as precious as her life, before handing another one to Sahro. The Black Heir begrudgingly signed it under his Black Swordsman nickname, for Janica''s greatest pleasure. Janica stashed away the autographs, before bowing to the two men.
"Thank you very much! If you need anything, I''d be glad to help you! I can bring you to the Cleaner''s Office in the Fourteenth if you want!" She proposed excitedly. Glenn looked at his teammates and shrugged.
"Well, sure. We''d be glad if you could guide us, Janica."
The girl punched the air, happy beyond measure. Glenn rubbed the back of his head.
"This is so weird..." Nelg commented with half a breath. Diamanes sneered, ''It''s only to be expected that singular individuals receive singular treatment. And he has us, he''s more than singular now. Fame is only one of the many benefits of achieving power.''
Glenn hid his uneasiness and followed Janica out of the Immigration Office. This was taking a strange turn, but he couldn''t refuse a free guide, could he? At least he''d get a tour of the Bourgeoisie and a better understanding of the city. Because, so far, it just looked like a massive mess of Victorian and Gothic architecture mixed with steampunk technology. It was an interesting mix, for sure, but still weird.
"Let''s explore this damned city, then..." He muttered, his hands in his pockets and his teammates following behind.
The Bourgeoisie already promised to be an interesting stop in his journey to find a way out of this world.
204. Lost in Big City
"Hot exclusivity! The latest invention of the Omniscient! Read about it for one measly credit!" A boy shouted from the top of his lungs, waving around a journal. He stood next to a cart filled with similar journals, and a few workers stopped to buy a journal from him, handing paper bills instead of the coins Glenn eventually got used to. The latter was watching the exchange with wide eyes.
"So journals exist in this world. Is it wrong of me to believe this might be thanks to Exan?" Nelg inquired hesitantly.
''With how the Bourgeoisie looks, it wouldn''t be a stretch to guess that it''s his fault, yeah,'' Diamanes agreed, ''It looks and feels like someone coming from Earth would create, strangely. Someone with a steampunk fantasy.''
"Sir Devil''s Hand?" Janica called out to Glenn, who blinked and turned away from the newsboy. Janica, the girl they met in the Immigration Office, was still guiding them to the XIV District and the Cleaner''s Office. Glenn, who was spending most of the way looking around like a country bumpkin, unable to believe his eyes, tried to concentrate and follow their guide. Thankfully, he wasn''t alone in acting like that, Liara and Sahro were similarly taken aback. The permanent cranking of gears and clouds of steam puffing here and there was disorienting, unlike anything he had ever seen, even on Earth.
"Anyway, as I was saying, since the XIV District is three Districts away, it would take a super, super long time to go there on feet. So we''re going to take the transit," Janica explained excitedly, before stopping dead in her tracks.
"Ah!" She slapped her forehead and turned toward Glenn, "You''re still using the old monetary system, aren''t you?"
Glenn frowned, "The old monetary system? You mean copper, silver, and gold coins?"
Janica nodded frantically, "Yes, that! Uhm, well, we don''t use it in the Bourgeoisie since..." she scratched the top of her head, "...I think it''s been 70 years? I''m not sure. I''m not great at History classes."
She cleared her throat and took out a bill from her pocket, with a One printed on it and the face of a serious-looking man with a thick beard and pompadour haircut.
"This is a one-credit bill. The facethere" She placed her finger on the unknown face, "is the face of one of the Heroes of Munirp, Count Noir. There are other bills" She took out three more, "like the five credits bill, ten credits, twenty, and more..." Janica rubbed the back of her head, blushing, "...Sorry, I don''t have the fifty credits bill or higher."
Glenn waved his hand dismissively, smiling softly, "Don''t worry, you''re already a lot of help. What''s the conversion rate for the old coins then? I presume it might not be much for copper, but silver and gold should still be worth something, right?"
Janica looked down with red cheeks, fiddling with her thumbs while Milena turned away, restraining a laugh.
"Well, uhm...silver is worth...nothing, and gold only one credit. They usually don''t accept to trade your gold or silver coins for credits, though."
Glenn blinked, the air pulled out of his chest as if he had just been punched. Sahro stepped forward, unsure.
"Wait, are you saying that...we''re poor once again?"
Janica winced and nodded slowly. Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes, feeling an incoming headache.
"Janica, what''s the average salary in the Bourgeoisie? The sheer minimum to live?"
The girl chewed on her lower lip, uncertain, "Uhm, I live in a low-cost housing apartment, and I earn a hundred credits monthly if I''m lucky. Sixty of those are spent for rent, though..."
Sahro shook his head and blurted out, "Ah, so you''re also poor?"
Janica looked at the Black Heir silently, tears welling up in her eyes. Milena slapped the back of Sahro''s head. The latter tried to complain but Liara imitated her friend and slapped him too, only with a little more strength. Sahro''s head bounced off the pavement as Janica watched in shock. Glenn cleared his throat, taking away her focus from the other idiot.
"Thank you for telling us, Janica. Don''t listen to this idiot, he has two brain cells and they''re constantly fighting each other. How expensive is this transit?"
"It''s, uhh, three credits for students and children, and I think five credits for adults. I think," replied the girl nervously. Glenn looked back at his team. Milena, Liara, Javier and Sahro. With him, it would cost twenty-five credits just for one travel.
"And Janica earns a hundred credits monthly, right?" Nelg confirmed, unsure.
''She earns a hundred on the good months, so probably less usually,'' Diamanes corrected. Janica looked at her bills with a dark expression, until Glenn went and grabbed her shoulder.
"Don''t worry about us, Janica. We''ll take care of our expenses. Is there a branch of the Cleaner''s Workshop around here?"
Janica''s face brightened and she hurriedly hid her bills back the way they came from.
"Uhm, not in District III, but I think there''s one in District IV. It''s not far from here, maybe an hour''s walk?" She said while suddenly looking at her wrist. She rubbed a thick black bracelet, revealing a ticking wristwatch under the soot.
Glenn glanced around, noticing a sign pointing in the right direction "District IV -
"Seems like we can go this way. Janica, are there transits in every District?" He asked. The girl looked away from her watch and paled
"Uhm, yes, there are districts in every transit! Uh, no, I mean" She stopped and drew a deep breath, "Sorry. It was a pleasure meeting you, Mister Devil''s Hand and Mister Black Swordsman, and you too, Javier, Milena, and Liara. I have to go to a very important appointment I almost forgot. If you need anything, don''t hesitate to pass by the Immigration Office!"
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Janica bolted away without a second thought, calling names like the damned university timetables and these fucking bureaucrats. Glenn watched her running off and chuckled, as did the rest of his team. Besides Javier, of course.
"Well, that was an interesting encounter for sure. Let''s hope the Workshop will give us some starting funds. I have a hard time believing how expensive life is here," Glenn trailed off at the end of his sentence, realizing there was a disturbing similarity between the Bourgeoisie economic system and what was in place back on Earth in his country. Paper bills, monthly salaries, expensive rents...
Diamanes suddenly laughed, interrupting his host''s thoughts, ''Haha, maybe Exan brought capitalism to the Limbo!''
Glenn chuckled, first of amusement, then of nervosity. This was way too plausible, wasn''t it? He shook his head and gestured at his comrades.
"Let''s go. I''d like to find out what this INK-DEF mission is before the sun has set, if possible."
The group walked through the Bourgeoisie, following the signs directing them to the next District. The city was labyrinthic; each street either led up or downward, with multiple floors for multiple streets, some leading to the same place and some to some dark back alleys. More than once, Glenn''s team had to go back on their steps to find the right path. As they were exploring their way to the IV District, Sahro suddenly spoke up, a little taken aback.
"You know, with how everyone was talking about it with reverence, I thought the Bourgeoisie would be much richer than the Fringe. And yet..." He creased his eyebrows when they passed next to a crumbling, abandoned house, which was in the middle of being demolished. Multiple houses beside that one were in a similar destitute state, and more than a dozen homeless people were asking for change. Glenn still had a hard time believing gold coins were worth mere change, by the way. How was it possible for gold to be this inexpensive?
"I don''t understand what surprises you. The Bourgeoisie is like the promised land; you climb up here hoping for riches and success, and end up under a bridge with a pair of pants and broken dreams to your name," Milena jeered sarcastically in response, "That''s the fate of the individuals that came here with no skills or connections. We won''t have any problems, since we can fight, but many people can''t. And the industry is cruel."
Glenn interjected, "What about the kids born here? They don''t have skills right away, don''t they? Are there schools or something?"
Milena nodded, "Absolutely. Thanks to a lawquite a recent onepushed by Exan the Omniscient, education is mandatory and free for every child born in King''s Rise. It did create some problems due to the constant immigration, but I believe they''re working on it currently."
Sahro lifted an eyebrow as he glanced at Milena, "You certainly know your stuff. I sure wonder why you didn''t bother to tell us about the new monetary system."
Milena blushed as Glenn chuckled, "That''s a good question. Why didn''t you warn us, Milena?"
The lady looked away and puffed her cheeks, "...I forgot, alright?"
Glenn, Sahro, and Liara laughed at Milena''s expenses. Vexed, she went and walked beside Javier, the only one who wasn''t laughing at her. They eventually reached the IV District at some point, even though they realized only when they discovered signs leading to District V, District III, and XVIII. Glenn could understand why he could access District V from here, but why XVIII too? This didn''t make sense. And who named these Districts like that? Numbers? This sucked.
"I''m sure the locals call them differently. We just have to find out the names for each," Nelg commented optimistically. Glenn shrugged, honestly not that caring about it. What mattered was finding this damned Cleaner''s Workshop
"Glenn, over there!" Sahro called up to him a street away. The group had split up moments ago to try and find the Workshop faster, a success. Glenn gestured at the others and joined Sahro, barely glancing at the building and the flame carved on its side before entering. As soon as he stepped in, he sighed in relief, finding the same atmosphere he had gotten used to when living in the Northern Town Workshop''s Dormitory. There were Fixers of all different kinds running around, accepting commissions and discussing bounties. What Glenn did notice was that most of them were showing off their Identification Daggers. Dark-Gold, Dark-Gold, Dark-Gold, ah, Platinum, Dark-Gold again... It seemed like Dark Gold was the minimum rank in this Workshop. Thankfully, his whole team had been elevated to that rank after the Thorn''s Cult incident, so they wouldn''t be put to shame. And Glenn and Sahro were probably already worth Platinum anyway.
Glenn walked up to the counter, containing a scowl when he found the same robotic, pretty female clerks working there. It seemed like they were the standards normally, with Loran in the Eastern Town being the exception.
"Can I help you, Sir?" The clerk asked with a bright smile. Glenn forced a fake smile back and took out the INK-DEF insignia, showing it to the lady.
"Hello, I wanted to" The lady smacked his hand and pressed the insignia on the counter, hiding it under his palm. Glenn''s first reflex was to pull back and reach for his sword, as did Sahro who was standing closely, but the robotic lady raised her hand in a calming gesture.
"I apologize. Please be patient for a few minutes; someone will come take care of you. Please don''t show your insignia recklessly, Sir Glenn." She smiled before turning away to take care of the next Fixer. Glenn clenched the insignia in his palm, taken aback.
"...I did not expect that," Sahro muttered, his right hand resting on his sword''s hilt. Glenn pressed his lips together, squinting at the female clerk.
"Me neither, Sahro. Me neither..."
They joined back with the others, telling them of what just happened. Liara''s face darkened, while Milena glanced with a frown at the counter.
"This is strange. What is so special about this mission for it to be so secretive?" She muttered with curiosity. Glenn shook his head and slipped the insignia back into his dimensional pouch.
"I don''t know. But this might be a much bigger thing than I thought if I can''t even take that thing out in public. I wonder where I''m supposed to use the requisitioning power, then."
Sahro and Milena looked at Glenn confusedly, "Requisitioning powers?"
Glenn shrugged, "I have powers equivalent to a Senior Cleaner if I trust Manalok''s words."
Milena blinked, The Restoration Operator? What''s he up to in all this?
Glenn was about to reply but paused. Oh. Ah. Manalok. Manalok Tuleam, and Manalok Calopea Truant. Ohhhhh.
"Ohhhhh."
''Ohhhh.''
A collective groan of understanding echoed in Glenn''s head.
"It''s..." He glanced at Sahro, who seemed even more confused now and sighed, "...Sigh...Let''s start at the beginning..."
Glenn quickly explained his encounter with Manalok Calopea Truant, the Head Cleaner Director, the one who gave him the INK-DEF mission, and his meeting with Manalok Tuleam, the Restoration Operator who was in charge of fixing up the notebook "Project: Sword of Damocles".
"So they''re brothers?" Milena asked in disbelief. Glenn grimaced, bobbing his head left and right.
"That''s a little farfetched. They''re from the same family, though, that''s for sure. I have no idea what relations they have, on another hand."
Sahro grunted and shrugged, "What do we care? What''s really important in all this is that your Restoration-something still didn''t give us the notebook back. And it''s been more than a few months since you gave it to him, right?"
Glen sighed, "...Right. I''ll try to look into it tomorrow. We already have a lot planned for today."
As he spoke these words, someone suddenly ran up to them, heaving with difficulty as he did so. Glenn frowned and turned, almost chuckling in disbelief.
"Huff, huff... Hello, Sir Glenn," Kevin gasped before pushing his glasses back on his nose.
''Well, that''s one thing that didn''t change,'' Diamanes remarked with a laugh. Glenn grinned and went to pat Kevin''s shoulder.
"Glad to have you there, Kevin. So, you''ll take care of us?"
Kevin nodded frantically, "Please follow me, everyone. There''s a lot of information you need to know about the Bourgeoisie."
205. Transit
Glenn leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling absent-mindedly. Running across it like a snake''s nest were a dozen brass pipes gleaming with a bronze hue in the magical light hanging beside it. A few minutes ago, Kevin brought Glenn and his team to this small office in the Workshop,
"So we just give you all of our gold, and you''ll take care of the exchange?" Sahro asked Kevin with creased eyebrows. Kevin pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded.
"Absolutely, Sir Sahro. The Cleaner''s Workshop has an exclusive deal with the Gold Church''s banks, allowing us to propose an interesting exchange rate for your gold. I believe you won''t find anything better anywhere," The assistant promised before glancing at Javier. The silent hunter was standing awkwardly close to the skinny man, his eyes empty and his goals unknown.
Sahro scratched his shin before fishing a small bag from within a small pouch hanging at his waist, "...Alright, here you go." Glenn raised an eyebrow at the scene, surprised. He didn''t know Sahro also used dimensional storage. Somehow, it felt like it wouldn''t fit the Black Heir''s personality. And yet. Glenn also emptied the coins from his dimensional pouch on the table, grinning as the pile grew to be bigger than Sahro''s bag. The Black Heir''s brows flinched, but he did not react to that. Milena also threw a smaller bag into the pile, as did Liara. Only Javier seemed uninterested in the exchange. But then, Javier seemed uninterested in everything, so it was expected.
Kevin eyed the coin mountain for a short moment, before writing down something on his notepad. He then looked through his pockets and pulled out four bundles of bills, which he evenly distributed between Glenn, Sahro, Milena, Liara, and Javier.
"Here''s an advance of five hundred credits each. You don''t have to think about paying it back right now, but do keep in mind that it is an advance," Kevin warned, "We''ll exchange your gold coins, but you''ll still be in debt due to the uneven rate. Of course, as long as you all continue to terminate bounties as you did in the Northern Town, it''ll be paid back in a matter of weeks. Sir Javier..." The assistant made a wry smile, "...since you don''t have any gold coins to exchange, your debt might take a little longer than planned to pay back. I can take back a part of the advance if you wish?"
Javier looked at the bundle of bills and pocketed it, before disappearing without another second of hesitation, fading in the darkness like a living shadow. Kevin looked at Glenn with a mix of fear and confusion.
"Is this...normal?"
Glenn nodded dismissively, "Yeah, yeah, don''t bother with him. Anyway, what else do we need to know? About that INK-DEF mission and all that?"
Kevin looked at Glenn with a strange look and shook his head, "I apologize, but I''m not sure what you mean by ''Inkdef'', Sir."
Milena and Liara frowned, while Sahro sneered and looked away from the assistant. Glenn moistened his lips, increasingly more curious about this mysterious mission. If even Kevin didn''t know about it, then...then what was it? What were they going to do, for it to be kept hidden in such a secretive manner? Kevin flipped a page off the notepad and quickly read a few lines in his mind.
"As you might have noticed, the Bourgeoisie is a very different place to the Fringe," He first said, staring at the team''s reactions, "...The Bourgeoisie is more technologically advanced, more populated, and more dangerous. The average strength of Aura, Mana, and Divinity users is at minimum at the 3rd Rank, and at most at the 6th, so keep that in mind. Threats such as Rifts, Raids, and Corrupted Ones are that much more important, and there is always the risk of victim to a bandit or similar."
Kevin looked away from his notepad to the small window that gave a view of a nearby street.
"Many come here with the expectation of living like kings, but you probably noticed how impossible that is. Merchant companies, noble families, churches, and military organizations hold the powers of the Bourgeoisie. Every citizen, be they powerful at fighting, or not, eventually has to affiliate with one of these organizations. The Cleaner''s Workshop is such an organization, but there are a dozen similar-sized ones in the Bourgeoisie. We have the monopoly of the Fringe, but that''s all."
The assistant cleared his throat and looked back at Glenn and his team, "Keep that in mind when picking fights, for the Cleaner''s Workshop might not be able to protect you in every situation. For the Clearance for Mana usage, it takes a week or so before the administration accepts a request, so it''ll be done by then."
Milena raised her hand like a kid at school, "What about the Cleaner''s Office?"
Kevin smiled and adjusted the position of his glasses, "It is the Cleaner''s Workshop headquarters. All of the Workshops are under the Office, which is where most of if not all of the leadership, and where the most important decisions are taken for the well-being of the organization."
Glenn nodded slowly in understanding.
''That means we''re going to meet another bigshot like Calopea, right? Exciting!'' Diamanes'' wicked laugh echoed in his host''s mind. Nelg remained silent, concentrated on the assistant''s words.
"As I''ve said before, we''re already working on obtaining clearance for your whole team, so no need to worry about that, Sir Glenn," Kevin repeated, "...And try to avoid fighting with the local military or the nobles. The Steam Guard is affiliated with the government, and their words are the law. Some nobles do have the permission to order them around, and it can be a bother."
Glenn chuckled, not too worried, "I''ll try not to piss anyone off, hah!"
He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair before looking back at the ceiling, his smile becoming a fake one, ''Besides for that Baron Howard piece of shit. And Count Mortelli, probably, if he is indeed one of the components behind Redan''s death.''
"One last thing," Kevin suddenly said as he recalled something, "Districts are numbered from one to twenty-seven. The higher the number, the better the District, and so..." his face darkened slightly, "...the higher chances to encounter a noble. District XXVII is even called "Noble''s Rise", for it is a place where lower nobles of the Bourgeoisie meet up with those of the Court to try and ascend higher, and the place leading to the Court itself."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Sahro groaned in understanding, restless, "Is that all? Avoid the higher numbered Districts, don''t mess with anyone, and that''s all, right?"
Kevin glanced at Sahro for a moment and nodded, "That is all, indeed. I won''t be available in the next few days but do know that we arranged a house for the Devil''s team in Silverhomes, in District XVIII. Look for Longhorn Street, N33. Your Identification Daggers are already synchronized with the locks."
Sahro and Liara gasped, while Glenn slowly stood up from his chair. "...Did you say a...a "house"? Not a suite or a Dormitory, but...a house?" He asked in disbelief. The assistant nodded simply.
"Most of the land in Silverhomes is owned by the Cleaner''s Workshop. Your neighbors will be other individuals of similar or higher rank than you, so don''t be too surprised. Is there anything else?"
Glenn and the others exchanged a glance, before shaking their heads. Kevin sighed in relief and bowed slightly.
"Thank you. It''s a pleasure to know we will be working together once again, Sir Glenn. I''ll be seeing you in a few days," Kevin saluted them and left the office, leaving Glenn and his team to their own devices. Sahro slowly approached Glenn and grabbed his shoulder.
"...Did you hear that?" He whispered in awe. Glenn slowly turned his head to look at his friend, and with a touch of emotion, nodded.
"I did...!"
Milena blinked in confusion. "What''s wrong with you guys? Are you going to cry about a house?"
Glenn and Sahro both sent her a deathly stare, before ignoring her.
"Finally free from having to climb a hundred stairs to go home!" Glenn muttered while Diamanes and Nelg laughed at him in his mind.
"A place to call home..." Sahro shook his head, "...I can''t wait to see that."
Liara smiled at them, her right hand on her chest. She seemed excited too. Glenn grinned widely, before slapping himself.
"Waitno. First, we have to go to the Cleaner''s Office. Then" He pointed a finger at the ceiling with a very serious expression, "and only then will we be able to enjoy having a home."
"You should have asked Kevin to go look into the Restoration Operator''s lateness to deliver on his promises, that would have been smarter," Nelg noticed, freezing Glenn''s joy. Ah, he did forget about that.
''Well...'' He shrugged and turned for the door, opening it for his team to leave, ''Kevin said he''ll be back in a few days. It won''t be too late to ask him about it then.''
Nelg sneered but did not add anything else. The group left the Cleaner''s Workshop and followed the signs leading to the "transit". Glenn stopped once or twice to look at some houses'' designs, frowning when he saw families of ten or twelve entering already crowded apartments. After listening to Kevin''s explanations, it did seem like the houses were old, poorly maintained, and overcrowded in this District. Some families were working together on the street, washing clothes with scraped hands and dim Water Shards.
They soon arrived at a wide row of descending stairs, with a large sign hanging above the entrance reading "Transit - III ---> XV"
Glenn looked back at the others and went down the stairs, avoiding people coming in the other direction from time to time. There was a row of gates blocking the access to stairs leading further down, with posters with instructions and reminders to "pay the fee or else" glued to every wall. There were terminals to exchange credits for tickets, tickets which could then be used to open individual gates that led further down.
"...This is a metro station. A subway. A very secure one too," Nelg realized, almost unsurprised. Glenn passed his tongue on his teeth, feeling like laughing at all the similarities between the Bourgeoisie and what he was used to back on Earth. A metro, long administrative processes, divide in social classes... It was the same everywhere, apparently.
"Pay the fee? What fee?" Sahro asked with an indignant air. Milena pushed him in the terminals'' direction, where Glenn paid for everyone''s tickets. He handed them one each and headed for the gates, pushing the ticket in a slitted machine. It swallowed the ticket and opened the gate. Glenn passed it, finding the rest of the machine with his ticket punctured waiting there for him. He took his ticket back and waited for his team, who followed his example. Only Milena seemed to have the same ease as him when using the ticket machine. Liara and Sahro had a slightly harder time, but they eventually managed.
What struck Glenn the most were the people using the transit; workers, and students, which was what he kind of expected, but also fully armored knights, mages, priests, and steam-powered armored soldiers. They also passed a massive, closed door, with the word "SHELTER" painted red on it.
''That''s probably to protect the civilians from the Rifts or wild Corrupted Ones. They thought of everything...'' Diamanes realized aloud with a curious tone. The entity seemed to enjoy the technological advancement of this place more than Glenn. Finally, they arrived at the lowest floor, where a thundering sound of something large coming echoed powerfully, the sound of metal clashing and rasping disagreeable to the ears. Glenn recognized the sound of brakes stopping, but Liara and Sahro didn''t. They both almost had their weapons out, but thankfully Milena managed to stop them in time.
A massive train of brass and steel came out of a dark, large tunnel and entered the station in a cloud of steam, stopping right for the platform. Train staff opened doors to let their passengers out, before allowing new ones in. The crowd rushed in the train, which seemed to be much longer than how it initially appeared, with train cars still waiting in the tunnel. Sahro and Liara watched with their jaws on the floor, while Glenn simply laughed at the sight.
"Haha! Hahahahaha!" He laughed widely, unable to believe what he was seeing. There were even trains now. What was next, a fucking spaceship? Everything he believed in ever since he arrived in this world proved to be fake. A medieval fantasy world? Really? Then what was that? What were the steam-powered power armors, the brass pipes, and the technology everywhere? Why would he wake up on a medieval battlefield if this world was already this advanced, probably advanced enough to have guns? Nothing made sense anymore, but nothing ever really did in this damned world.
He laughed dejectedly when he realized that this last thought was the last thing that kept him going each day.
Glenn and Milena forced the two Black Heirs on the train, practically pulling them in, even though "it had to be some horrible trap!" Milena was stealing glances at Glenn every now and then, which the latter attributed to his lack of true surprise. He knew what a train was and how a train station operated, after all, the same for subway stations. They looked for an empty cabin and collapsed on the comfortable seats, the sight outside the window obscured by the tunnel''s darkness.
Soon enough, the train started again and left the station, rushing down the railways with unstoppable speed. Liara and Sahro, the two Black Heirs, were as pale as chalk, and holding on to each other like their lives depended on it.
"This is a terrible idea!" Sahro blurted out fearfully as the train wheels hissed against the tracks at the time of a turn. Liara opened her mouth as if to speak her mind, but she still didn''t utter a word, hanging on her conviction to not scream in terror. Milena laughed at the two of them, before poking Glenn in the arm.
"Hahaha, it''s just too good to see the two of them so surprised. Don''t you think so, Glenn?"
The latter flinched, too occupied with staring down the dark tunnel and remembering his memories of Earth.
"Yeah, yeah, you''re right. It''s really funny," He mumbled without much conviction, his eyes not leaving the window. All of these things were making him feel quite homesick now.
206. Not A Suicide Mission
"...Never again," Sahro muttered while kneeling on the floor, Liara imitating him with a pale face, "...never again."
Milena laughed before putting on a haughty expression, "Huh, scared of the mean machine? Of the big bad Transit?"
Sahro and Liara shot her a deadly stare before forcing themselves up. Glenn watched from the side, his arms crossed.
''...They don''t call it a subway, then. Just transit. Hmm. Maybe Exan got his names mixed up?'' He pondered before leaving the station with his team. They had arrived in District XIV, or Towsblade if he trusted a clean copper sign hanging above the exit. He was immediately struck by the difference between the previous Districts and this one. Where he expected to discover more run-down Victorian-style houses, he instead found steam-powered factories and countless weapon shops, all flaunting steel of remarkable quality.
There were little to no housing facilities; instead, lots of commercial areas, established merchantries, and mercenary groups. Need someone to take care of a Rift? Ask the Cleaner''s Workshop or the Red Hunters. A need for security measures and escorting personnel? Try the Blue Fangs or the Godless Paladins. There was manpower available for every military task possible, making the Towsblade District the perfect place for employers.
"Cleaner''s Office, Cleaner''s Office...wow, doesn''t that look like the Workshop''s emblem?" Milena whistled in awe as she pointed to a structure in the distance. Glenn followed her direction and blinked in shock more than once. There was a particularly tall building, maybe seventy, or eighty stories tall. It was mostly white, with lines of red for the joints and corners. From the top of the building to at least the middle half, there was a grand sculpture of a red flame outlined with black. This was the tallest building in the District, and maybe the tallest in the whole Bourgeoisie.
"I have to admit...this is impressive," He muttered while rubbing his eyes. Sahro and Liara nodded silently, similarly blown away by the building''s height. It wasn''t as tall as King''s Rise walls, but King''s Rise walls were another matter entirely. They were made to block the way, not to live within it. On the other hand, this building was probably filled to the brim with Cleaners officers, and Fixers, as well as some other important people. This defied this age''s technological limits.
"But then, most of the things we see today are defying this world''s technological limit. I''m pretty sure the Court is going to be even worse than that," Nelg remarked, calming Glenn''s increasing excitement. The latter closed his eyes and took a moment, before turning toward his friends.
"Alright, we know where to go. It''s..." He pulled out the Exan-Egg and checked the time, "...3 P.M. and we didn''t eat. I didn''t expect the Transit to take that long, to be honest."
"Me neither..." Sahro grumbled with an apparent distaste for the public transport. Glenn smacked his lips and stretched.
"I''ll head to the Cleaner''s Office and see what the INK-DEF mission is about. Feel free to go have fun while I do the boring shit. Let''s meet at 9 at the place Kevin gave us, alright?" Glenn proposed. Milena instantly smiled and grabbed Liara''s hand.
"Okay, perfect! We''ll go shopping and join you in Silverhomes! Bye~!"
Glenn smirked as he watched Milena drag Liara away, before turning to Sahro.
"...And you?"
The Black Heir spat on the floor, sneering, "Do you think I want to explore this place? This is hell, I''d rather be with you."
Glenn paused, before laughing mockingly, "Oh, but little Sahro is scared of the city, he needs daddy Glenn to show him around?"
Sahro grunted and didn''t reply, leaving Glenn to laugh all alone. Well, Diamanes and Nelg did laugh with him, but they didn''t count, did they? The two walked in the Cleaner''s Office direction, stopping from time to time to check the weapons the shops proposed. Glenn didn''t need one, since he had Nelg, who probably was the equivalent of some legendary artifact, but Sahro did seem interested. Glenn glanced at the curved sword hanging on his friend''s back, finding it to be already well-worn.
"You should stop mistreating your weapons," Glenn remarked with a smile. Sahro paused, before shaking his head.
"I''m treating my sword exactly like a swordsman should. But it''s not capable of handling me anymore..." He trailed off, his eyes glued to a dachi with a white hilt and a dark blade. Glenn glanced at the price and winced.
"Phewww, only five thousand credits. Wow. You''ll have to work your ass off if want to get this one for yourself."
Sahro also noticed the price and his expression darkened, turning away with visible disappointment, "I hate having to be poor again..."
Glenn sneered and patted him on the shoulder, "Don''t worry, we''ll be rich again soon enough. Let''s get to the Cleaner''s Office to be done with that."
The Black Heir grunted and patted Glenn back, before taking the lead. It didn''t take too long for them to arrive at the Cleaner''s Office. The streets here were way less labyrinthic compared to the 3rd and 4th Districts after all, and much easier to navigate. A dozen guards under the Cleaners colors were keeping watch at the Cleaner''s Office entry, weaponless and their faces hidden under their white hoods.
They all shared the same red cross on their chest and backs, and they had a threatening air to them. Glenn was tempted to check out their strength with Mana Sight, but with him being supposed to have no Mana and the fact that it was rude (if he trusted Manalok Calopea Truant''s words), maybe it wasn''t a good idea.
"Why do I feel like these guys are Assassins who will go on to fight in some holy crusade?" Nelg commented with a bemused tone, making Glenn chuckle.
In the end, he decided against inspecting them, but...would an occasion come to discreetly check their powers, he certainly wouldn''t miss it.
''And you''re wondering why your life is fucked up.'' Diamanes sneered. Glenn moistened his lips and entered the Cleaner''s Office under the guards'' watchful eyes. In opposite to the crowded Workshop bustling with Fixers, the Cleaner''s Office was practically empty. No contract board, no waiting room, only a single counter waiting at the center of the room, a room that was heavily decorated with majestic black banners with red flame embroidered on them. A single clerk was sitting at the counter, smiling politely with crescent eyes.
Glenn glanced around the room to make sure he wouldn''t accidentally steal someone''s spot, and went up to the counter, Sahro closely following behind him. The clerk watched them do so with that same polite smile, silent and patient.
"Hrm," Glenn cleared his throat and pulled out the black envelope the HCD had given him, holding it for the clerk, "Hello, I''ve been sent here by the HCD Manalok Calopea Tuleam. I was told I should give you this and wait for further instruction, so...?" The clerk looked at the black envelope without saying a word, unresponsive. Slowly, he went and grabbed the letter, carefully handling it like a precious piece of jewelry. He produced a letter opener and broke the letter''s seal.
Sahro bounced from one foot to the other, unsure of what to expect. Glenn forced a smile while elbowing his friend in the waist, stopping him from moving. The clerk didn''t seem too interested in their shenanigans, entirely concentrated on the letter''s contents. After a short while, a flame appeared from his hands and burned the letter down, a small breeze then scattering the ashes to the wind. Glenn wanted to grimace but restrained himself. Why all the mysteries and secrets? The longer it was going on, the weirder this situation was appearing.
After a short but awkward silence, the clerk stood up and bowed to Glenn and Sahro.
It''s a pleasure to meet you, Fixer Glenn the Devil''s Hand, Fixer Sahro the Black Swordsman. Someone will pick you up in a few minutes. Please make yourselves comfortable in our waiting room. He politely pointed to a small crystal coffee table and a set of chairs waiting in the corner of the room, which certainly hadn''t been there before. Glenn knew this because he''d made sure there was nothing else in the entire room before talking to the employee.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Dimensional magic, then? Or is it illusions?" Nelg pondered, soon followed by Diamanes with a disgusted tone, ''I''d say a bit of the two, and some disgusting, divine bullshit, whoever''s filthy undead energy that is. Urgh.''
Glenn thanked the clerk and went to sit in the waiting "corner" since it was more a corner than a room. Sahro glanced at the clerk before shaking his head and following Glenn''s example. As soon as both were seated, their surroundings suddenly changed to a luscious environment with green everywhere. The Black Heir jumped to his feet, his sword already drawn while Glenn was clenching Nelg in his hand-axe form to fight at any moment. A glance at his surroundings made him realize they were standing in a garden of some sort, a greenhouse. Someone cleared his throat right beside them, making the two spin on their feet and ready their weapons to hack and slash.
They only found a well-dressed gentleman, with a white vest and pants with the habitual red crosses pattern. Not one inch of his skin was visible, hidden under tightly wrapped white bandages. Not even his eyes were visible, and the only way could tell they were a "he" was by the tone of their voices.
"Please, sit," the stranger asked with a gentle voice as he pointed to the chairs. Glenn and Sahro carefully obliged while putting away their weapons. The bandaged man rubbed his chin, lost in thought, before shaking his head.
"Forgive me, I tend to forget myself sometimes. You may call me Veil."
Veil leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands glued together, "...So you two must be the famous Devil''s Hand and the Black Swordsman, is that correct?"
Glenn grinned, "That is us. Why don''t we skip the formalities and you tell us what the job is?" He went straight to the point, secretly a little annoyed at all that time wasted. Couldn''t they just tell them what the hell they were supposed to kill, so they could be done with it?
Veil seemed to smile under the bandages, and he crossed his arms.
"...No beating around the bush, then. I was simply curious as to why Truant sent your team for the INK-DEF mission, but, now that I''m seeing both of you, Glenn, and Sahro, I''m starting to understand why. And I have no doubt the rest of your team is certainly exceptional."
The bandaged man pulled a sheet of paper out of his white vest and gently placed it on the coffee table. Glenn and Sahro leaned in to see what was on the paper.
"Ninety-seven days ago, Comte Noir and the Black Gate almost fell. The Dark Wall, the sole rampart separating Munirp from the Ink Dunes, the Dreadland, and the Kyrvos Archipelago was truly threatened for the first time since King''s Rise establishment," Veil said sternly, losing all of his mirth. Sahro tensed up when the Ink Dunes were mentioned, but Veil did not seem to care too much about that.
He tightened a bandage around his left hand''s pinkie, "As you might be aware, Munirp is a powerful kingdom, with a considerable amount of talented, powerful individuals who, more often than not, can solve situations with their sole power. But..." the bandaged man crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, "...The enemy is similarly incredibly powerful. Maybe thanks to some twisted play by fate, Munirp''s forces are now tied with them, with neither side succeeding in taking advantage. Currently, the country is at a standstill while facing one of the most dangerous threats in thousands of years."
Glenn opened his mouth to ask a question but Veil continued, undeterred, "...And your question might be, what has the Cleaner''s Workshop have to do with all this? Well..." He pointed at the sheet of paper on the table, which Glenn and Sahro previously recognized as a map. Of what, they couldn''t tell, but a map nonetheless.
"This is Munirp," Veil pointed at the left side of the map, where Glenn could indeed recognize a few features of Munirp. Since it was a much larger map, though, he was still a little destabilized, "...and this is the Black Wall." Veil placed his finger on a thick, black line that separated the map in two.
"A massive chain of mountains said to have been created by the wizards of old to protect Munirp from ancient threats. No one knows what it was then, but everyone now references to this part of the world as the Land beyond the Dark Wall," Veil conveniently explained. Glenn frowned but kept on listening. What kind of "ancient threat" needed a literal chain of mountains to be avoided? This sounded a little too over the top, didn''t it?
"I mean, if I''m strong enough to create a chain of mountains, I''m doing it," Nelg admitted shamelessly. Glenn was about to rebut him, but...after thinking about it, it was indeed quite the cool thing to do. Create his own Everest. Wouldn''t that be something memorable?
''Keep on dreaming,'' Diamanes groaned dully, ''Maybe try reaching a tenth of these wizards'' powers before thinking about such things.''
The corner of Glenn''s lips trembled, but he didn''t add anything else and instead focused on Veil. The bandaged man then circled an area in the Dark Wall.
"This is the Black Gate. The only passageway between Munirp and the Land beyond the Dark Wall. It isn''t an exaggeration to say that whoever controls the Black Gate controls everything past it. Exotic merchandise, exclusive monsters or artifacts, legendary mercenaries... The Black Gate is the most important passageway on this continent."
Sahro groaned, "This still doesn''t explain what we''re doing here."
Veil smiled, "Don''t worry, I''m getting there. As I''ve said previously, three months ago, an unknown enemy attacked the Black Gate and almost won. Munirp dispatched their best talents to fight back in time, leading to the current situation. And now, every military organization wants a piece of the pie that is the Land beyond the Dark Wall."
He tapped his finger three times on the right side of the map, on three outlined areas. "The Northern area, the Dreadland. Terrible living conditions; acid rains, constant high-level Rifts opening, roaming monstersthere even are rumors that the forgotten orc tribe rose from the ashes and rebuilt their civilization there. Besides that, the Dreadland is led by the Jester, who managed to round up every survivor, exiled criminals and retired masters for his cause. Due to the harsh environment, each of their fighters is incredibly strong, with considerable fighting experience. They attacked the Black Gate in hopes of breaching into Munirp and establishing themselves on the mainland. They even call it the promised land, I believe."
Veil then showed the center of the map''s right side, "The Ink Dunes. I believe your natal home, Sir Sahro?"
The Black Heir clenched his teeth and nodded. "A strange environment. Incredibly terrible living conditions, with overbearing heat during the day, and freezing temperatures during the night. Water is rare and a precious commodity, and the creatures of the desert-adapted to survive it. Stealth capabilities, abilities to live without food nor water for months, and strength sufficient to rip any rank 3 to pieces. That''s the most basic set of abilities for a monster in the Ink Dunes. On the other hand, it has the potential of being one of the largest natural resource inventories in the entire world."
Sahro and Glenn looked up in surprise.
"What natural resource? This is a desert; there''s nothing," Glenn asked with his creased eyebrows.
Veil gently smiled, "The reason for the Ink Dunes black color is the high proportion of iron mixed with it. We don''t know why, but the desert is extremely rich in minerals, while also housing countless ruins to be explored and powerful relics to be retrieved. Now, it has been occupied by the self-claimed Celestial Gods and their army of mindless slaves. They came to a temporary alliance with the Dreadland and the Kyrvos Archipelago to try and breach the Black Gate."
Sahro clenched his fist and looked away from the map, hatred filling his eyes. Glenn glanced at him but didn''t say anything. Veil continued his explanations as if everything was fine.
"Finally, the Kyrvos Archipelago, which is right there" He pointed to the Southern part of the map, "is a coalition of small city nations, pirate crews, and foreign churches. They''re currently assuring dominion over that side of the globe under the name of the Freedom Alliance. They''re the least threatening of the bunch, mostly concentrated on having fun and exploring the seas for hidden treasure. But, somehow, they still possess countless powerhouses, mercenaries who can be bought. They''re working with the Celestial Gods and the Jester to help them breach the Black Gate."
Veil sighed and rubbed his forehead, "With that, you have most of the context. As for your role in all this mess, it''ll be quite simple."
The bandaged man grinned widely, a wicked grin that made Glenn shiver.
"This is an extraction mission into the Ink Dunes. Infiltrate the Dunes and the Celestial Gods, who are too busy fighting their wars to take care of smaller, competent fries like you, and steal everything you can. Critical battle data, artifacts, people...whatever can create the most damage to the Celestial Gods. If we manage to get a hold over critical intelligence that can turn the war around, that means we get that much larger of a bargaining chip with the King and the realm."
Veil leaned back before adding, "Also, it has to be done in three months. Other teams similar to yours already found out that the main offensive will start in three months, hence the rush. Weaken Munirp''s enemies and steal as many valuables as you can. Empty the graves, destroy the ruinsif we can''t have something, they can''t either. The more damage you cause them, and the more things you bring back to us, the better the rewards will be."
Glenn and Sahro slowly exchanged a look, unsure of what they just listened to. Veil glanced at a watch wrapped around his wrist and sighed.
"This was a pleasure meeting the both of you, Fixer Glenn and Sahro. I now have to meet with another team, so please forgive me for being so hasty. Report to the clerk once you''re ready to head off to the Ink Dunes. Farewell."
Without leaving them a chance to say something, the surroundings changed back to the Cleaner''s Office entrance, with the lone counter and clerk waiting there. Glenn''s eyes were stuck in a wide-opened position while Sahro was having difficulty breathing, his right hand clenching his chest.
''...This is much more insane than we initially thought, isn''t it?'' Diamanes slowly said, also taken aback by that turn of events.
So they were heading to war, then. And they couldn''t say no, since they already signed.
Well.
Uh.
Okay.
207. Selling Sahro?
Glenn and Sahro exited the Cleaner''s Office in a daze, walking to a nearby coffee shop. Its presence probably would have appeared questionable in Glenn''s eyes, had he not been awe-struck by Veil''s words and the content of the INK-DEF mission. A pretty waitress brought them each a cup of coffee in cute white porcelain.
It took at least ten minutes of long, shocked silence until Glenn finally uttered a word.
"...So we''re going to war," He stated plainly.
''Seems like so, yes,'' Diamanes sneered, his initial surprise passed.
"We are soooo fucked. Infiltrating some Celestial Sickos'' territory and stealing their shit? We''re going to die. Hey, can''t we just go back on our words and not do this contract?" Nelg blurted out, anxious.
Sahro''s elbows leaned on the table as he hid his face in his hand.
"Going to war..." The Black Heir muttered, "...In the country I was forced to abandon..." His tone grew aggressive and angry, "...For the bastards who kept us in the Sewers?"
Glenn''s eyes widened and he hurriedly lifted the two cups of coffee and the small porcelain plates that came with them with Gravity Manipulation, saving them from Sahro slamming his fist on the table.
"Fuck! What the fuck is this sick joke? Shit!" Sahro leaned back in his chair, fuming. Glenn glanced at the other customers of the coffee shop, mostly female students who were staring at them like animals in the zoo, and secretly sighed. He sipped on his cup while slowly making Sahro''s float in his friend''s direction.
"I swear, I''m going to" The Black Heir paused and grabbed the cup of hot coffee,"thank you. Sigh..."
Glenn sipped on his cup and paused, before slowly putting the cup back on the table.
''...Exan, if you brought chocolate milk but not coffee to this world, I swear I''m going to kill you.''
Sahro drank his coffeeno, his hot chocolate, and frowned.
"Whywhy is this so sweet? Urgh, don''t they have something a little bitter, so I can drink something that tastes like my life?" He complained all while drinking down the entire cup of hot chocolate. Glenn raised an eyebrow and glanced at the cup.
"You say that, and yet..."
Sahro smirked, "Even if I don''t like it, I''d rather not waste it."
Glenn chuckled, amused, "Sure, tell yourself that. I''m sure you love sweet things in secret and simply do not admit it."
The Black Heir shook his head, "Think what you will. Beer is much better than whatever that is."
"...so what do we do now?" Sahro asked with a serious expression. Glenn''s finger rhythmically tapped against the table, his expression impossible to decipher.
"What do you mean, what do we do? We don''t have a choice." He finally said the corner of his lips curved upward. Sahro sighed and rubbed his stump.
"I know. But still, this is..."
Glenn smacked his lips, "Think of it this way. Sure, we''re indirectly assisting Munirp and the nobles you despise, but, on the other, our efforts will mainly help the Cleaner''s Workshop, who will cover our back when killing these same nobles. And..." He grinned wickedly while crossing his arms, "...Nothing stops us from taking a few artifacts here and there for ourselves, right?"
Sahro paused, and as he thought about it, a smile started to appear on his face. The two grinned at each other, before laughing widely.
"Why do I even worry, anyway," Glenn jeered, "...We already fought evil gods and cults, what''s a war in between?"
The Black Heir rolled his eyes, "So we''re forced to go on vacation, is that it? Damn it..."
The two laughed a little longer, before getting up and heading for the counter to pay the bill. The hot chocolates were worth five credits each, which was absolutely crazy in Glenn''s eyes. That was five percent of Janica''s income on a good day. Wasn''t that insane? Did they stop at some high-class establishment accidentally? Glenn glanced at the well-dressed, makeup-wearing ladies enjoying their hot chocolates and grimaced.
Of course, they did.
Well. At least the hot chocolate tasted okay.
"Excuse me...?" A lady suddenly stopped Glenn before he left the coffee shop, grabbing his sleeve. He turned to her with a wide smile.
''Ahah, my charm is finally drawing in the ladies!'' he thought victoriously. The lady pointed at Sahro with an innocent smile with a white-gloved hand.
"Could I buy him from you?"
Glenn''s smile froze over, while Sahro similarly stopped in his steps. A short, awkward silence passed until Glenn cleared his throat, unsure of what he heard. Maybe he heard wrong, or it was a mispronunciation, or...
"...Excuse me? Buy him?"
The lady nodded with a bright smile.
"Yes, buy him. What would be your price? I think it''d be fair to settle for fifty thousand credits."
Glenn restrained a laugh and glanced back at Sahro, whose face was slowly but surely darkening with anger.
"Hmm...He''s well-known in the Fringe, you know? The Black Swordsman? A rank 3 Aura user, and he recently unlocked his Mana too. Fifty thousand is..." He passed his tongue over his teeth before grimacing, "...dirt cheap."
The lady gasped and hid her face behind a small fan. Sahro threw a deadly stare at Glenn, his hand clenched on the hilt of his sword tightly.
"II see. C...Could I get your contact so I may come back to you with a reasonable offer, then?"
Glenn smiled and gently took her hand, "Of course, my lady. I''m Glenn, but I''m more commonly known as the Devil''s Hand..." He grinned wickedly as she slowly looked at his left, purple arm in horror. She hurriedly stepped back and knocked over someone''s hot chocolate on her white dress. Sahro''s anger died down, replaced by a satisfied grin.
"I''m sure you''ll be able to find us if you search hard enough, my lady. Have an excellent day," Glenn bowed politely before patting Sahro''s back and leaving the coffee shop. The Black Heir exploded in laughter the second they stepped out of the establishment, loud enough for the lady to hear.
"Hahaha, I never thought I would laugh at this kind of situation in my life!" Sahro wiped a tear from his eyes. Glenn chuckled and glanced back at the coffee shop.
''So slavery is a common thing in the Bourgeoisie, then? Nice. Maybe we should buy ourselves a few slaves to use as meat shields,'' Diamanes proposed. Nelg grunted in disgust while Glenn shook his head.
''First, no. I won''t buy a fucking slave. Two...where would I even get the money for that? Did you hear her? An okay-looking Black Heir is already worth 50k. I can''t imagine the price of what they propose here...''
"Should we head to our..." Sahro grimaced as if struggling to say the word, "...our new house, then?"
Glenn dismissed his previous thoughts and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, let''s do that. You do know we''ll have to use the Transit again, don''t you?"
The Black Heir signed and looked down dejectedly, "...I know, yes. I know..."
An hour and a terrified Sahro later, the two arrived at District XVIII, Silverhomes. The name probably came from the white stone the houses were made of in this district. There were some cozy houses, for families of four or five, and some larger ones for larger families. Aside from that, there were richer installations decorated with the Cleaner''s Workshop''s banners, black with a red flame. Those were probably the Cleaners'' houses, as Kevin explained earlier in the day. Glenn pulled out his Exan-Egg and quickly checked the time. 5.50 P.M. They had a bit of time to explore until the girls came.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Longhorn Street...Longhorn Street..." Sahro looked at the street corners, trying to find the direction to Longhorn Street. Glenn moistened his lips, before stopping a stranger.
"Excuse me, Sir, would you happen to know where Longhorn Street is?"
The stranger looked up and down at Glenn, his eyes momentarily stopping on his purple arm, and shrugged, "Longhorn Street? Go this way, then right, left, straight, and right at the last jointure. Got it?"
Glenn blinked and smiled awkwardly, "Uhm, yes" The stranger smiled back and tilted his top hat.
"Great. Have a good day, Sir."
The stranger hurriedly ran away while throwing worried glances over his shoulder, to see if Glenn was following him or not. The latter was only scratching the top of his head in confusion.
"Okay, I guess I am that scary. Uh, well, what did he say? This way, right, left, straight and..." He grimaced and shook his head.
"Urgh, whatever. Sahro, over there!" He called out to the Black Heir and headed in the direction the stranger gave him. After making a right turn, a left, a right, and retracing his steps back, almost losing their ways, and finally turning right, Glenn and Sahro arrived in front of their new home.
"Home...?" Sahro muttered in awe, "That''s not a home, that''s..."
"...A fucking mansion, yeah, I know..." Glenn muttered back, completing his friend''s sentence. They stood in front of two massive steel gates separating them from a manor as big as Baron Howard''s in the Fringe. The number thirty-three was carved in a bronze plate stuck on the brick wall that surrounded the mansion''s massive garden, gleaming gently in the sun.
The two men stood there in a daze until someone came laughing at them.
"Who are you, peasants? Trying to find a house to steal?" A man wearing an over-the-top white suit with golden filigree walked toward them haughtily, his blond hair brushed back and his sharp nose raised high. A sword was hanging off his waist, the hilt heavily decorated and plated with gold.
Sahro looked up and down at him, before blurting out, "Who''s this clown?" Glenn smirked, before shrugging with a lost expression, "I don''t know, maybe he came asking for etiquette lessons?"
As he spoke, Glenn moved his body so that his left arm was hidden from view. Sahro was already quite recognizable, but he was even more. Not many people were going around King''s Rise with a purple arm, after all.
"Clown? Etiquette lessons?" The haughty blond spat in disbelief, his face flushed red with anger. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a glance and readied their stances, one with his hand on the hilt of his sword and the other clenching his hand-axe. The blond unsheathed his sword while five guards suddenly jumped out from behind a wall with panicked expressions.
"Sir! Your father told us to stop you from"
The blond slapped the guard away haughtily as he pointed his blade at Glenn and Sahro.
"Shut up, guard. If I wish to fight someone, then no one shall oppose me."
Glenn rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically, "Oh, such a shame. And here I was, forgetting I hadn''t received the clearance to use Mana yet. What a pity, don''t you think, Sahro?"
The Black Heir caught on the play and he sighed heavily, almost crying out a tear, "Truly a pity, yes. Imagine, if only we could have taught this haughty clown a lesson in an honorable duel. Ahhh, so is our fate, I suppose..."
The clown blinked at them and lowered his sword, confused. "What do you mean, you peasants don''t have clearance? What would you need clearance for? You can''t possibly be better than I! A prodigy who mastered the Second Circle at seventeen!"
Glenn smacked his lips, ''He did look a little young, didn''t he.''
"A sheltered kid?" Nelg pondered, not too worried.
"Oh, my apologies, Sir Blond Prodigy, we small Third Circle and Rank Three Aura users will step back to let you pass, then..." Glenn continued to mock, the kid''s blood draining out of his face. His guards similarly paled, before reacting with record-breaking speed. The five guards bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle, sweating heavily.
"We''re very, very sorry for our Young Master''s behavior. Please pardon us and let us go peacefully."
Glenn chuckled while Sahro sheathed his sword with disappointment.
"Yeah, let us go. We''re busy contemplating our new house, so give us some space, please."
The blond kid''s eyes widened and he gasped, "What? But this is 33rd Longhorn! Only Senior Cleaners live in Longhorn! You can''t possibly be..." Glenn whistled and stretched, showcasing the purple color of his left arm. He even made Diamanes appear for a spare second, startling the blond kid who was staring at it.
"Oh, yeah, I did get that status. Anyway, it wasn''t nice meeting you. Bye~!" Glenn waved at them with a fake smile. The guards hurriedly picked their young master up and ran away, simultaneously terrified and relieved that nothing ended up happening. Glenn and Sahro laughed at the sight, before turning back to the mansion.
"Phew, I''m a little anxious, strangely..." Sahro muttered while Glenn summoned his Identification Dagger. Without further ado, he stabbed it into the keyhole and took a step back when steam hissed out. The gate opened with a mechanical sound as a few pipes hidden in the grass released more vapor. Glenn and Sahro entered the garden while leaving the gate closed, stepping on the freshly cut grass silently. There was a small pond with white flamingos hanging around it, and a few fruit trees ready to be harvested. The mansion itself towered over them, the exterior made of the signature white stone of Silverhomes, polished to a gleaming sheen. There were a few panels of bronze, brass, and steam which were connected to a network of pipes running down the walls. The two walked to the mansion''s entry, a large oak door with the Cleaner''s Workshop emblem carved on it. It took a while just to reach it, due to the width of the garden.
Creak...
There was a slit next to the door, the same as the keyhole on the gate. Glenn used his Identification Dagger once more, and the door swung open. The two young men exchanged a glance before stepping in, gasping as they took in the incredible sight. The entrance hall was vast and illuminated by chandeliers holding magical lights. The floor was a complex mosaic of stone and metal, depicting a map of Munirp. There was a sweeping, double staircase of dark wood with brass railings leading to the upper floor. Above, an enormous stained glass window filters multicolored light into the space, casting a soft kaleidoscope of hues into the hall. There were hallways left, right, and behind the staircase leading to the rest of the mansion.
"...Fuck me..." Glenn blurted out, suddenly realizing he might not want to go back to Earth anymore. This...this was the dream life. Wait, no, this is only the entrance hall.
"Holy shit...is the rest of the mansion the same?" Sahro asked in disbelief. Glenn chuckled in awe, his jaw practically hanging on the floor. The Black Heir turned left and right, before looking at the grand staircase, unsure of where to start. Glenn shook his head and pointed at the East Wing of the house.
"You go this way while I explore the West Wing. We''ll check behind the staircase and the upper floor together."
Sahro nodded and darted off to explore the mansion. Glenn went off with a wide grin on his face, discovering a room protected behind a thick reinforced iron door. He stabbed the keyhole with his Identification Dagger, wondering why there were so many safeties everywhere in the mansion. He understood as soon as he pushed the door open and discovered an entirely functional workshop, with scrapped mechanical contraptions, tables covered in blueprints, tools of all sorts hanging off the wall, and even a smeltery. There even were pre-made casts for gears of different sizes, ranging from tiny, finger-sized ones, and other human-sized ones.
"Maybe the house belonged to an engineer of some sort before?" Diamanes pondered aloud, ruining Glenn''s moment of contemplation.
He winced and shrugged, "Honestly, I don''t care. Maybe I''ll be able to mess around in this room and create stuff, who knows?"
"I didn''t know you were an engineer, Glenn," Nelg exclaimed, surprised.
"That''s normal. I''m not. But! It''s never too late to learn, and now that I know steam-powered armors can be made, I sure want to have one," said Glenn as he rubbed his hands together.
"What are you even going to do with that? That''s not your style at all," Diamanes asked curiously. Glenn shook his head with disappointment.
"Diamanes, Diamanes...If I can have a power armor, I will have a power armor. Why?" He grinned and turned around, closing the door to the workshop, "Because it''s fucking cool. Let''s see what else is there."
Diamanes sighed while Nelg laughed at him. Glenn went to the next room with a cheerful step, similarly secured behind a reinforced iron door. Once repeating the security process, he discovered an incredible armory with a shooting range. On the other side, the wall was covered in weapons: swords, axes, spears, bows, hammers, you name it. There was also some stuff similar to the guns of Earth, but it was a very vague comparison. They might also have been weird staves for all he knew. Maybe he''d test those later on.
The shooting range was a functional one; with the use of a lever on the wall, moving steel targets appeared in movement, ready to be shot down. There were also Blumar targets, prepared to receive magical attacks such as spells or Aura blades. But all of that paled in front of a dusty armor stand with the skeleton of a steam-powered armor. Glenn could already see himself moving in the machine, walking down the streets with incredible might and style.
"Too bad it''s only the skeleton of the armor, hehe!" Diamanes mocked, but Glenn couldn''t care less about him.
"I just need to hire an engineer or something...Yeah, I''ll do that, probably. This mansion looks big enough for more people to join the team..." He pondered seriously, already planning things out. He''d have to ask around to see where he could find good engineers who could build him guns and steam-powered armor, and more cool stuff...
"Wait, are you seriously considering that? We don''t even have enough money to hire a maid to clean the whole place!" Nelg exclaimed in distress. Glenn looked at his hand-axe with a grave expression.
"Chose, Nelg. Cleanliness, or a steam-powered armor?"
Nelg remained silent, unable to answer.
"...That''s what I thought. I think that was the entire West Wing. Let''s go see what Sahro discovered."
Glenn walked back to the entrance hall, meeting up with Sahro.
"You start," The Black Heir ordered without an ounce of hesitation. Glenn crossed his arms and grinned widely.
"There''s a workshop with a fully working smeltery, an armory, and a shooting range equipped with moving Blumar targets."
Sahro''s smile grew wide and he glanced back the way he came from.
"The East Wing was a little more boring. There is a two-story library with shelves on every wall and rolling brass ladders to reach them. There also was a big-ass mechanical globe shifting from time to time, but I didn''t understand what it was used for. I also found living quarters there, but it doesn''t feel like the main rooms. Probably..." he chuckled in disbelief, "...the servant rooms? I don''t know, this feels kind of crazy."
Glenn laughed in understanding, "Upper floor or North Wing first, then?"
Sahro grimaced in hesitation when the entrance''s door suddenly swung open. Milena and Liara barged through it, disappointed.
"You didn''t wait for us for the visit?" Milena asked with a sad expression. Glenn smacked his lips and shook his head.
"Why? Were we supposed to?"
Milena puffed her cheeks and punched him in the arm, "Of course you were! That''s the whole exciting thing, to visit it together!"
Sahro rolled his eyes, "Well, we can still do it together if it''s so important for you. Liara, you okay with that?"
Liara nodded frantically, her eyes shining with a thousand stars. She did seem quite excited at the prospect of visiting the mansion too. Not that Glenn couldn''t understand her, heh.
"Let''s continue the visit, then."
208. 33rd Longhorn St., Silverhomes.
"Hmm...It isn''t a bad place," Milena admitted, her hands on her waist as she looked at the double staircase of deep, dark wood leading to the mansion''s upper floor. Glenn blinked, before turning toward her in disbelief.
"What did you say? Not a bad place? Are you fucking insane?" He questioned with shock, his eyes opened widely in disbelief. Sahro and Liara, who were listening from the side, nodded frantically. Milena moistened her lips and shrugged.
"It''s a nice mansion, yeah, but..." She smiled innocently, "...Did you forget I used to live in the Court?"
Glenn spent a few more seconds looking at her with awe and shook his head. No matter what Milena said, this mansion was the best place he ever had in his life. A workshop and armory in the West Wing, a Library and servant quarters in the East Wing, and a massive kitchen, dining hall, and relaxation room in the Northern Wing. The upper floor, after a quick exploration with everyone, is revealed to be dedicated to private suites all secured with reinforced iron doors and with balconies offering views of the sprawling garden and the District of Silverhomes. There even was a small observatory located at the northernmost point of the upper floor. The room was topped with a domed glass ceiling and contained several brass telescopes and astrological tools.
This place was everything he ever desired.
"...Without the swimming pool," Nelg commented dejectedly. Glenn''s eyebrows flinched, but he didn''t bother replying to his sword, rather using his time to enjoy possessing such an amazing place.
''Possessing is a grand word for something that is lent to you by the Cleaner''s Workshop,'' Diamanes mocked. Glenn ignored him too and instead turned to his companions, smiling widely.
"Alright then. I propose we all settle in our new place for now, and then discuss how to proceed during dinner."
Sahro, Liara, and Milena nodded, all happy with this suggestion. Glenn left them to choose their rooms, grinning secretly as he had already reserved the one with the best view. He headed for the dining hall which could easily welcome twenty persons to eat at the same time, and which led to the relaxation room. Once he arrived there, he collapsed onto the biggest sofa and laid down on it, heaving a deep sigh.
"I''m going to go to war, then..." He muttered, unsure of how to feel about it.
"...Why is it disturbing you?" Diamanes asked aloud, puzzled, "You already were fighting one with the Thorn''s Cult after all."
Glenn brusquely sat up and scoffed at his left hand.
"A war? I''m just defending myself from them."
"What about using the Black Heirs to destroy them in the Sewers?" Diamanes demanded knowingly with a wicked grin. Glenn pressed his lips together, before grunting in annoyance.
"Tsk! Whatever, they were the ones to pick a fight with me."
"...That''s a lie. You burned their stash of drugs first, remember?"
Glenn rolled his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling lost in his thoughts. This INK-DEF mission promised to be the deadliest venture he had ever undertaken since coming into this world, Limbo. While the previous incidents were, well, incidents, now he was going to head into enemy territory knowingly, and probably end up facing off incredibly dangerous enemies. No, it wasn''t probableit was a certainty. He might even have to fight one of these...Celestial clowns or whatever. Calling themselves Gods.
"Tsk! But..." Glenn rubbed his chin as he recalled Giselle''s tale which she shared with him a year ago. She did say that the self-called gods were the ones who kicked them out of the Ink Dunes. The Black Heirs aren''t weak people; in fact, they might be one of the strongest military forces in King''s Rise. At least, in the Fringe, no one comes close to them. Their talents are simply rotting away in the Sewers because they aren''t accepted inside King''s Rise.
"And they''re also a little dumb. I still can''t understand why they didn''t choose to leave the Sewers and settle in another part of Munirp. Nothing stopped them from creating a small town and living thereby killing wild monsters and selling their services like some mercenary group," argued Diamanes. Glenn tilted his head to the side, grimacing.
"You''re not wrong, but the Black Heirs are too proud for that. Additionally, I don''t think they can willingly accept to abandon their comrades slaving away inside the city. And their leader''s grandson is still in Baron Howard''s hands. They have plenty of chains holding them back. I do wonder what would happen if I managed to get rid of all these chains though..." He suddenly pondered as the corner of his lips curved upward. Unbeknownst to him, the mouth in his left, purple palm grinned widely as well, mimicking him to perfection.
"Maybe we should concern ourselves with the most important thing first? Like, how are we going to survive fighting some bastards that are above our ranks and all that? I don''t want to fight no Ruler!" Nelg questioned worriedly. Glenn shrugged and sank deeper into the sofa.
"Well, it wouldn''t be the first time I''d be punching above my weight. And, fighting opponents stronger seems to be the perfect way for me to..." He frowned, realizing something, "...rank up. Wait...Do I have to be at the brink of death every time I want to create another Circle?" Glenn suddenly shook his head.
"No, this doesn''t make sense. I created a fourth Circle and discovered the Milky Way in my Mana Heart only thanks to my Mana being drained away...It wasn''t going to kill me..."
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
"But it was still a crisis. I think you''re onto something, Glenn," Nelg commented excitedly. Glenn stood up and looked at his clenched fists. If...If he wanted to know more about this world, about Diamanes, about how to come back to Earth, and to simply survive, he needed to get stronger. He didn''t have a choice about that. But...each fight always had the risk of him losing his life. And if he died, everything would be over. There would be no other chances to find out what happened to him, to understand why the hell would the Gods all call him under a cliche name such as "Paradox", nor to go back to his sister. Glenn winced as he thought back to Lina. What did she become after he disappeared? How did she endure it?
''I hope she didn''t give up on her dreams...'' He silently thought while closing his eyes. He remained in this position for a while until Diamanes'' nervous laugh disturbed him.
''Uhm...that''s embarrassing.''
Glenn frowned, his eyes still closed, ''What do you mean?''
''I think she might have heard AND seen us talk together,'' Diamanes said nervously, chuckling slightly. Glenn paused for a second before brusquely standing up with his eyes flashed open. Liara was standing at the door with her mouth and eyes opened widely. The two stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, until Liara unsheathed pulled a dagger out of nowhere, and dashed toward him. Glenn eagerly raised his hands peacefully, trying to defuse the situation.
"Wait, wait, wait! No, don''t" Nelg in his sword''s form appeared in Glenn''s hand, allowing him to barely parry away the dagger aiming to pierce his left hand. He gritted his teeth and pushed her back, but she stepped into the air, jumping on nothing, and assaulted him again with a distraught expression and tears welling up in her eyes.
"Liara, don''t" Clang! "Argh, no, it''s not what you believe!" Glenn exclaimed as he stood on top of a table. Liara was crouching on a chandelier, her gaze sharp and yet saddened. Nonetheless, she paused once she heard Glenn''s words as if giving him a chance to explain himself. Glenn heaved out in relief, before glancing at his left, purple arm.
"I am not possessed, even though it might look otherwise" Liara squinted, making him hurriedly add, "and yes I know that''s exactly what someone possessed by a demon would say. But, uh, this is more of a companion than a demon, even though he does appear to be slightly evil sometimes"
Liara dashed once more with a resolute expression, two daggers appearing out of nowhere once again and flying next to her. Glenn swore and was about to use Gravity Manipulation to block her attacks, but the Black Heiress simply collapsed on the floor ridiculously, completely drained. Glenn stared at her confusedly, before suddenly remembering the place they were in. They still hadn''t received the Clearance to use their energies in the Bourgeoisie!
"Darn, she must have succumbed to Mana exhaustion. Lucky me, I guess..." Glenn muttered as he slid Nelg back into his sheath. He walked up to Liara carefully lifted her and brought her to the nearest sofa, making her lie upon it. He made sure her head was well positioned before dusting his hands off.
"Well, I guess that''s another person who will know about your existence, Diamanes..." He sighed, while the entity in question laughed.
"Isn''t it funny how the two persons who know of me are Black Heirs?"
Glenn shook his head dejectedly, "...What a mess..."
"We heard the sound of fighting, what happenedoh," Milena exclaimed as she barged into the relaxation room, blushing when she saw Glenn sitting next to Liara. Glenn closed his eyes, wondering what kind of excuses he should use to explain this misunderstanding, but it was already too late. Milena ran off with her cheeks flushed red, saying that "she needed some air" or something. Sahro chuckled and was also about to leave until Glenn grimaced and gestured at him to come over.
"Well, lucky you, I suppose. Haha!" Sahro laughed as he sat on an armchair nearby. Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes and sighed, before changing seats, leaving the whole sofa for Liara to sleep on.
"I don''t know what you believe, but it''s probably wrong. She..." Glenn bit down on his lip before rolling his eyes and opening his left hand for Sahro to see. Diamanes was smiling widely within his left palm, showing his peerlessly white teeth proudly, and without a hint of shame. Sahro froze, before sighing and hiding his face in his hand.
"...Might as well introduce that idiot to Milena and Javier too now," Sahro decided. Glenn stood up brusquely, confused.
"What? But"
"But what? What do you fear? They already know you''re fucking weird, and yet they still chose to follow you here," Sahro waved his hand dismissively, "...Do you think they''d care about the demon living in your conspicuously, evil-looking left arm?"
Glenn winced, hesitating.
"I mean, he does have some good arguments" Diamanes tried to say, but "Shut up," ordered Glenn and Sahro at the same time, successfully shutting the entity up.
"Hgn..." The discussion seemed to have woken Liara, who suddenly sat up and reached for the dagger at her waist. Or rather, the dagger that was at her waist, for Glenn had already taken the liberty of stealing the weapon away earlier, in prevention of such a situation. Sahro stood up and stared at her silently. The Black Heiress'' eyes went from Sahro to Glenn, and she slowly leaned back on the sofa, unsure. Glenn made an awkward smile before sighing.
"I''ll explain everything over dinner, so I don''t have to repeat myself, alright?"
Sahro scoffed and sat back in the armchair, "You might as well use the occasion to tell us how you ended up with this annoying, tiny piece of shit."
"Hey!" Diamanes protested, Liara tensing up when hearing the entity''s voice. Glenn raised his eyes toward the sky and clenched his left hand shut.
"...I''ll consider it," he said, while secretly wondering. If he was going to tell them everything about Diamanes, should he also...share the truth about the place he came from?
The fact that he came from another world? As Sahro said previously, they were comrades who followed him blindly into a mission that had certain chances of killing them, without knowing what said mission was.
"...Can I also get my introduction? Or am I destined to only speak to you and Diamanes?" Nelg asked with a hint of sadness. Glenn pressed his lips together, grimacing.
''Are you able to voice your opinion? Like Diamanes, I mean?''
Nelg remained silent for a moment before replying, "...Not yet."
Glenn sighed and brushed his hair back, ''Then we might as well wait until you''re able to speak in the real world. That way, it''ll be a little easier to convince them of your existence.''
''Ah, sucker! He can''t speak in the real world, what a loser!'' Diamanes mocked pettily. Both Glenn and Nelg ignored his irrelevant opinion, instead wondering whether Nelg would ever be able to speak his thoughts aloud, or if he was going to be perpetually stuck inside Glenn''s head.
Milena suddenly entered the relaxation room, her cheeks still a little rosy. She was dragging Javier behind her, who was showing the same deadpan expression as usual.
"II''m back, and I even found Javier creeping around. Should we eat, then?" Milena said while avoiding Liara''s gaze.
Glenn shook his head and stood up, "Sure, let''s eat. We have lots to talk about."
This was going to be the most important discussion in his life, and if he fucked it up, he was going to regret it forever.
209. Where Im From
Glenn drew a deep, long breath, four pairs of eyes staring at him intently waiting for him to pry open his lips.
"Maybe we can delay this conversation to another day?" Nelg proposed nervously. Diamanes clacked his tongue, refusing to make his reveal wait any longer.
''Better rip the band-aid now.''
Sahro leaned back in his chair while stabbing a piece of roasted meat into his plate, "Are we waiting for something, or...?" He demanded before stuffing his mouth. Liara''s gaze kept on going from Glenn''s left hand to his face, impatient to know the truth. Javier, as always, was simply sitting there with the emotional presence of a mollusk. Milena was the only one who didn''t seem to understand what was going on or about to happen.
"...Aren''t we here to talk about the INK-DEF mission? Why do I feel something important happened, and I wasn''t included?" She inquired worriedly. Glenn moistened his lips one last time and cleared his throat
"Alright. First things first, we met with Veil, our...officer of some sort for the INK-DEF mission. To resume it, we''re going to war beyond the Dark Wall, in the Ink Dunes."
Milena and Liara''s jaws dropped to the floor as an eerie silence made itself comfortable in the dining hall. It didn''t seem to bother Javier, but then, not much seemed to bother him, so this didn''t come off as a surprise. Milena slowly stood up and pointed at Glenn with a trembling hand.
"...We...Are we going to fight the Celestial Gods? Do the Cleaner''s Workshop need us dead?" She asked in horror. Liara glanced at Sahro, who slowly nodded with determination. Glenn threw a bottle of expensive wine in his Mini-fridge which he installed in the center of the table, and infused his Mana inside it. Despite the lack of Mana regeneration, he still hadn''t come close to the bottom of his reserves. A Fourth-Circle Magi really had a lot of Mana...
"No, they don''t want us dead. Our mission is to sabotage them. Gather intel. Steal artifacts. Anything that might push the tip of the balance in Munirp''s favor. As I understand it, we don''t need to worry much about high-ranked individuals, for they should already be occupied with our side''s forces..." Glenn frowned and pointed the Pepsi bottle he picked back up from the mini-fridge in Milena''s direction, "...But you already knew of the Celestial Gods? Were they already the talk of the Court back when you still were a noble?"
Milena bit down on her lip and nodded, "Yeah. Madmen who believe themselves to be true gods. They''re probably all at least rank seven instead of actual divinities." She leaned back and crossed her arms under her imposing bosom, worried. Liara hurriedly stood up and went to Sahro''s side, whispering something in his ear. Glenn felt a tinge of annoyance at the sight.
''I know Black Heirs traditions are stopping her from talking openly, but it still doesn''t feel great to be there and see her talk to the other idiot...''
Diamanes suddenly scoffed, ''My, but is that jealousy?''
Glenn closed his eyes for an instant and didn''t even bother replying. His words would probably be used against him anyway, so why bother?
"Now, you guys are still free to not participate in this mission. Of course, since you signed the magic seal, you can''t disclose anything I''ve said anywhere, but yeah. Feel free to take some time to think about it, we''re not leaving tomorrow after all," he paused and looked at his Black Heir friend, "...When are we supposed to leave?"
Sahro shrugged with uncertainty, "I just know that we have three months to sabotage the Celestial Gods as much as we can."
Glenn groaned and rubbed his forehead. Yeah, three months. He almost forgot about that deadline.
''I just realized, but three months is a bit of a short time to sabotage an entire civilization,'' Diamanes commented with a bit of hesitation. Glenn almost chuckled. No shit.
"I...I need some time to think about it," Milena blurted out, overwhelmed. She stood up to try and leave the room, but Glenn grimaced.
"I''m not done. I still have something else to share."
Milena paled but Glenn quickly reassured her, "Unrelated to the war. It''s about me, and..." He drew a deep breath and made his decision, "...it''s about something that even Sahro doesn''t know about."
Sahro''s eyebrows rose and he leaned forward curiously.
"So this is really happening..." Nelg muttered in awe. Diamanes could only laugh wickedly, the chuckle reminding him that this might not be his wisest idea. But as Diamanes said, better now than never.
"So..." Glenn sent a silent prayer to Onnea and opened his left hand for everyone to see. The purple palm was empty. "...Please welcome Diamanes."
Milena blinked in confusion, "...Who? There''s noth"
"BOW TO ME, MORTALS!" Diamanes appeared in a grand, evil laugh, his mocking mouth cackling as haughtily as possible. Milena shot up from her seat while Liara unsheathed her dagger once again, ready to pounce. Sahro stopped her from attacking as he stared down at the grinning mouth, unamused and unimpressed. Javier...Javier was staring at the hand, but his expression was still as blank as ever. Dead and empty.
"HAHAHAHA, FINALLY I CAN SHOW MYSELF TO YOU PEASA" Glenn clenched his left hand shut and made an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, he''s not the brightest of the bunch. Give me a second to understand that this was not the moment for such jokes."
Milena gulped and pointed a trembling finger at Glenn''s palm, "YYou, something is living in your left hand!" She hollered with a mix of fear, curiosity, and awe. Glenn smiled wryly and shrugged.
"Anyway, Diamanes, please present yourself in a more...acceptable manner, please," Glenn pleaded as he reopened his left hand. Diamanes grinning mouth was still there, earning a gasp out of Milena and Liara.
"Oh, come on, it''s my reveal, I had to do something they would never forget!" Diamanes defended himself while keeping up that annoying smile of his. Milena pressed her lips together, before leaning on the table with apprehension.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"So...You''re an actual living being?" She demanded, her eyes glued to the grinning mouth.
"Hell yeah, I''m alive! Well, I almost die every single day thanks to this idiot of Glenn, but besides that, grinning and kicking!" Diamanes happily exclaimed. Milena approached closer, her apprehension fading away as she understood that the entity wasn''t a threat. Liara was still keeping up a sharp watch, but even she was starting to relax.
"...Anyway, this is Diamanes. I don''t need to present you guys to him since he sees life through my eyes," Glenn sighed, a heavy weight off his chest. Sahro rubbed his chin, frowning deeply.
"How did you end up with that thing grafted to your arm, though?"
Glenn moistened his lips and bobbed his head from left to right.
"Uhm...During the Moon Rift a year ago, I accidentally entered the ruins of a cult that worshiped that same Moon Rift"
Milena''s eyes widened and she grabbed Glenn''s by the collar, "YOU FOUND WHAT?"
She held onto him this way for a few seconds before apologizing and going back to her seat, her cheeks flushed red. Glenn shook his head, "...As I was saying, I entered those ruins, and one thing led to another, I made a deal with this piece of shit. I took him out of his crystal, and he helped me to find my way back home."
Sahro''s eyebrows rose questioningly, "Home? Where is your home for you to need the help of a dubious, probably evil entity that has parasitized your entire left arm?" Milena and Liara straightened in their seats when they heard the question, similarly curious about Glenn''s origins. After all, he was the one with the shadier past. A dark horse who rose to the very peak of the Fringe''s pecking order in just a year. Someone with no affiliation with a population like the Black Heirs or the Pale Son, or connected to the nobles.
Someone who came out of nowhere.
"I..." Glenn gulped and closed his eyes, the words stuck in his throat. His heart raced even faster than when he fought all these atrocities or encountered the Book of Doloratrox.
"My home..." His gaze became resolute, "...isn''t in this world, the Limbo."
Milena, Liara, Sahro, and even Javier, all blinked in confusion at his words. What the... What does it mean, that his home is not in this world?
"...Did you live on the moon before?" Milena tried with a doubtful, slightly joking tone, while the two Black Heirs chuckled. Glenn had expected this turn of events, though. He closed his eyes and Projected his Mana Heart out, the Milky Way. It brimmed with power and almost limitless Mana, shining with a million stars. The chuckles died out as everyone stared in awe at his Mana Heart.
"This...This is the Milky Way, the galaxy of the world I''m from. I...I was living on a world called Earth," Glenn explained with his heart wrenched.
Milena reached for the Projection in amazement, "It''s...it''s beautiful..." She muttered.
Glenn smiled sadly and leaned back in his chair, "Earth was...very different from here, the Limbo. We...We had no magic, to begin with. No monsters either," He added in the realization that it was one of the main differences.
"We only had one moon, which, well, was called the Moon. Technology was centuries beyond what is in the Bourgeoisie, but not too advanced either. We had planesflying machines," Glenn added when he noticed the look of confusion the others were throwing at him.
"The entire planet had been explored. I could talk to someone on the other side of it with no issue, thanks to a massive virtual network."
Milena''s threw him a wide-eyed stare, "But how? That''s impossible? It would need hundreds of mages, and yet"
Glenn nodded, "No magic. No magic, no Aura, Divinity, Mana, or all those things. No risk of ever being Corrupted either."
Sahro scratched the back of his neck in confusion, "But how did you die then?"
Glenn scoffed, "Old age, sickness, accidents. Most deaths happened naturally, with no way to counter them."
Milena raised her hand in a plastering way, awed, "Wait. This is...this is too much. Why are you telling us all that?"
The two Black Heirs leaned forward, also curious to learn the answer. Glenn pressed his lips together, before sighing.
"If I have to trust my back to every one of you in a fucking war, I''d rather have you all know who I am before I die in some unlucky way. So at least one person will remember me."
Milena leaned back, lost in thoughts. She suddenly stood up, having realized something.
"UhI have to get some air. Sorry." She dashed out of the Dining Hall, her eyes wide open in disbelief. Whatever she realized, it seemed very, very important. A short, awkward moment passed until Sahro brushed his hair back and leaned on the table, curious and confused, "So, uh, where''s that "Earth" and "Milky Way" of yours?"
Glenn shrugged and almost laughed dejectedly, "I don''t have a single clue. Onnea seems to think my world is gone, Exan believes there''s no way back, I don''t know. This all seems so improbable I simply can''t believe it."
The Black Heir passed his tongue over his lips and gestured at the purple hand, "What about him?"
"No idea. I guessed that he fell from the Moon Rift and is a Fallen One, but...that''s only that, a guess," Diamanes replied instantly as if he had expected the question. Sahro scrunched his nose and leaned back in his chair. Liara couldn''t stop herself from staring at Glenn, her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to say something. Sahro paused and his expression darkened in realization.
"Did...Did you have a family, back then?" He asked softly. Glenn clenched his fists, feeling as if a knife was being stabbed in his heart.
"Yeah...Yeah, I did. Just my sister, Lina. She''s...She''s probably okay, though. She''s smart enough to deal with life by herself..."
Glenn gritted his teeth and clenched his hands so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The words gushed out uncontrollably, like water from a dam breaking. There was no stopping it now.
"I...I don''t know why I arrived in this world. There was nothing special about me back then. No magic, no powers, nothing of that sort... I was just...Heh!" Glenn scoffed in nostalgia, "...I was just studying and partying while refusing to worry about the future. I guess that changed ever since I arrived here. I''ve been spending the majority of my time fighting, suffering, and killing stuff, even though...haha...even though I never killed before! Not even a wild beast, so...monsters? Humans?"
Glenn buried his face in his hands and sighed heavily, realizing he had become something he never expected to be. The words of the Bloodblade, the God of the Brotherhood of Iron and Blood echoed in his mind again. Perspective makes a monster. What if...What if he was only a monster? Being a hero was less than appealing, and he never even wanted to be one... So why did he have to continue to kill, slaughter, and exterminate living beings one after the other like a butcher? Why? "...I never signed up for all of this shit, damn it..." He sniffled, ashamed to look at his friends. Javier disappeared in the darkness, fading away without a word. Apparently, he had heard enough...
Sahro and Liara exchanged a glance, at a loss at what to say or do. After a while, Glenn felt a pat on his shoulder, courtesy of Sahro as he left the room. Glenn looked up with tired eyes, before being suddenly pulled into Liara''s embrace, who gave him a warm, comforting hug. Glenn gave in without resistance and returned the hug silently. He couldn''t tell how much time passed like this, but eventually let go of her and she left, leaving him alone in the dining hall to contemplate his existence. Strangely, telling someone all of his worries like that made him feel a world of good.
It felt like all his worries were gone, replaced by sadness and hope that his friends, since they were exactly that, not comrades or teammates, but friends, wouldn''t abandon him.
Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes, finding them to be wet.
"Oh...shit, did I cry? What a fucking loser..." He muttered with disappointment, before sighing heavily. As if linked by some mutual understanding, neither Diamanes nor Nelg spoke to him as he slowly stood up and left the dining hall as well. He went back to the entrance hall and climbed the majestic double staircase, heading for the northern upper part of the house. He entered the Observatory, which was bathing in the soft moonlight of the twin sisters hanging in the starry night sky.
Despite the constant emission of steam from the city, the sky was clear, with all of the stars visible. Glenn did not even bother stopping to look into one of the brass telescopes. Instead, he collapsed onto a sofa in the center of the room and watched the sky in silence. The darkness of space, filled with countless, shining stars soothed him, slowly but surely bringing him into one of the deepest, best sleep he ever had.
Today was finally over.
210. Whoopsie daisy
A woman, quite young, was crossing the sidewalk. Her face was pale, and she seemed hard to talk to, even though she was quite pretty. The headphones she wore only reinforced that reclusive impression. Glenn walked past her when he suddenly stopped. He recognized that girl. He knew her.
"...Lina?" he asked softly while looking back at her. The girl stopped dead in her tracks and turned her head while taking off her headphones in disbelief. The thundering car horn of an incoming truck did nothing to muffle her incredulous voice, which pronounced only one single word.
"...Glenn?"
"Glenn! Oh, you dumb oaf!" Someone suddenly shook Glenn awake, pulling him out of his dreams. He gasped and looked at his surroundings in incomprehension, before groaning.
"Fucking...shitty dreams...fuck, I really should spend all my nights meditating..."
"Glenn, listen, I thought a lot about what you told us yesterday, and" A voice spoke to him while barely articulating, seemingly a little anxious. Glenn raised his hand in a calming manner while rubbing the exhaustion of his eyes. The sun was bright above the Observatory, and its light was blinding him slightly.
"You can''t just wake me up like that..." Glenn muttered in annoyance, before shaking the tiredness off. Milena was pacing in front of him, hesitating and worried.
"Milena...Why are you always the one to wake me up?" He hissed with displeasure. Milena made a wry smile before pulling herself a stool to sit on.
"S...Sorry. Butthis is important, so can you just, uhm, listen?" She pleaded with an anxious expression. Glenn looked at her and gestured dismissively.
"Sure, I''m listening."
Milena twiddled her thumbs, biting down on her lips, before drawing a deep breath.
"You already know I''m a child of the Court, right?"
Glenn nodded slowly, understanding of what was coming dawning upon him. Milena closed her eyes, struggling to finally make the final step, before blurting out, "I''m from the Dela Lune family. My full name is Milena Dela Lune, daughter of Duke Vanderian Dela Lune and Duchess Lily of Sorenas."
She looked at him resolutely, "I am part of one of the Nine Major Families of the Court."
Glenn raised an eyebrow, "...Which means...?"
Milena smiled wryly, "Which means that only the Royal Family is above us."
Glenn whistled with barely faked awe and leaned back on his sofa, closing his eyes.
"How unexpected. Wow, you''reah, no, you were a big shot before."
Milena froze, unsure of how to act.
"Why aren''t you a little more surprised? Did...did you guess it at some point, or...?"
Glenn gave a one-shoulder shrug, "Well, I knew you were part of an important family, that much was easy to see. But honestly, what does it change, that you''re from one noble family or the other? You''re still Milena, for all I care."
Milena looked at him emptily, before chuckling softly. "I see. Well, thank you for listening to me. It feels like I lost a weight off my chest."
Glenn scoffed, "I understand you all too well. I guess you''re staying within the team for the war?"
The lady nodded while looking away from him, "I am. I''m not sure I''ll be as useful as you or the others, even more so since you became a Fourth Circle, but I''ll still do my best."
Glenn suddenly shot up on his seat, laughing with wide-eyed disbelief, "What, don''t you realize how powerful you are? You can use mind control and illusions. We can bypass most fights if we use your abilities well. That''s much better than just shooting some destructive rays of energy everywhere or cutting your enemies up."
Milena frowned, unsure, "...You think?"
Glenn shook his head, unwilling to waste his time on her if she couldn''t even accept the tremendous potential of her magical talents. Either she came to the realization herself, or she didn''t. Beyond that, it was her problem.
"I ditto that! Imagine if we capture a guy? You can just make him spill the beans with one spell!" Diamanes suddenly interjected in the conversation, the grinning mouth appearing in Glenn''s left purple palm and startling the both of them. Milena jumped back with her hand on the hilt of her dagger, but she didn''t go as far as to un-sheath it.
"...Your hand scared the hell out of me," Milena gasped with one hand on her chest. Glenn rolled his eyes and clenched his left hand, shutting the entity up.
"Yeah, he does that sometimes. Anyway, what about the others? I guess everyone found a room and all that?" He asked while standing up lazily. The sofa had been very comfortable, and the warmth of the sun bathing him in light only made him want to sleep more. Milena''s gaze changed and she smiled excitedly.
"Oh, yes, Liara found something! A secret passage of some sort in the Northern aisle of the mansion!"
Glenn''s head snapped toward her, "A secret passage!" He exclaimed excitedly. There were secret passages in this mansion? Milena nodded frantically. Without another second of hesitation, any traces of his previous sleep gone, Glenn jumped to his feet and grabbed Milena''s hand to pull her away.
"Show me the way! I have to see that!"
Milena chuckled and happily obliged. In the relaxation room, past the dining hall, was a fireplace Glenn had failed to notice before. It melted in the room''s decoration quite naturally, so it didn''t jump to his eyes as a suspicious place. Only, now, that same fireplace was cracked open, revealing to be a hidden door. Glenn went past it with a wide, childish grin, finding some stairs leading to an inferior part of the mansion.
They first arrived in a cellar, filled with old bottles of vintage wine. Glenn almost bawled his eyes out when he found that room, but Milena pushed him forward while saying that it wasn''t even the best part. Further, past the cellar, was a massive training room with countless mechanical automatons resting against the walls. The floor, of a black stone, was covered in scars of past spars, while a practical magical light lit the whole room from the ceiling. Liara and Sahro were sparing without using Aura or Mana, only using their technique and skills.
Sahro huffed as he sliced diagonally, aiming for Liara''s throat, only for her to gracefully dodge it and snake her way past the sword to try and stab her own in his stomach. Sahro turned on himself and parried the blade, only narrowly dodging the spear that tried to pierce his forehead.
"Using two weapons is cheating, Liara!" He exclaimed between two gasps for air, only for the Black Heiress'' grin to grow even wider. Glenn and Milena watched them continue to spar until the two finally stopped, exhausted.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"..Phew...enjoying the spectacle, Glenn, Milena?" Sahro asked as he stabbed his sword on the floor and used a rag to wipe the sweat off his face.
Glenn shrugged, "It''s no fun if you''re not going all out. I''m sure it would have been a lot harder if you could have used your thunder."
Sahro nodded, in complete agreement. Milena scoffed and shook her head, "Liara would have still kicked your ass then. She also uses magic and Aura after all."
Glenn and Sahro exchanged a glance, before laughing. Liara was watching with a soft smile, not uttering a word.
"...Strangely, I''m not so sure Sahro would win," Nelg commented. Diamanes simply chuckled, unbothered to add his comment. Sahro suddenly stopped and went to reach for a stack of paper lying on a bench nearby.
"Glenn, a boy delivered this when you were sleeping earlier. It''s for you."
Glenn picked the papers up with a frown, confused. What possibly could itthey were journals, journals of the day. He was about to glance at the main title when a slip of paper fell from the journal. He caught it as it fell and gave it a read.
"...16 Rolling St., Rustgate." He read aloud, before flipping the paper and finding another writing, "Calling in the favor, Pierrot."
Glenn scoffed, "Huh. That was the kid who scammed us back then. Rustgate is the name of District III, right?" He glanced at Sahro for confirmation, but the latter only shrugged with uncertainty. Milena stole the paper from him and nodded.
"Yes, you''re right. I wonder what that kid would want from you. Credits?" She asked, but Glenn couldn''t say. He glanced back at the journals, more out of curiosity than anything, and suddenly reached for them in shock.
"...Unusual collapse of a colossal square area in the Still Peak vicinity. The famous Blumar Quarries have completely disappeared, replaced by a bottomless abyss from which Blumar golems keep on coming out. We advise against venturing into this area for the time being until the authorities have finished conducting a proper investigation." He read out loud as a feeling of dread crept up his back. Liara and Milena looked at him confusedly, unable to understand why this specific news was disturbing him so much. Sahro, who was drinking from a water bottle spat out all the water in his mouth, coughing heavily.
Glenn slowly raised his eyes from the paper and looked at Sahro with noticeable fear in his eyes, "Say, Sahro...that place, isn''t that where the laboratory encased in a massive cube of Blumar was?"
Sahro looked back at him before hiding his mouth, shocked, "...Do you think the whole cube disappeared?" He asked in disbelief. Glenn looked back at the journal and nodded slowly. How did that happen? And why only now?
''The Indigo Bureau. Didn''t you give them Doyle Malory''s vague location?'' Diamanes asked in Glenn''s mind, unsure. Glenn''s face drained of all blood and he hurriedly crumbled the journal up, burning it with a quick use of Sun Touch. The ashes of the paper fluttered away as Glenn kicked into the pile, making sure no trace of it was left.
"This is not our problem anymore. Let''s leave it to the idiots who went there, alright?" Glenn said to Sahro, who nodded frantically in agreement. Liara and Milena exchanged a confused gaze, before shrugging it off. If the boys didn''t want to speak of what happened there, then so be it.
"Nothing happened in the Blumar Quarry," Sahro said very seriously as he held his hand out. Glenn shook the hand with a similarly serious look.
"Nothing happened at all."
"I want to say whoopsie-daisy, but that''s a little too big for that, no?" Nelg chuckled nervously at the size of the damage.
Glenn dismissed the thoughts and calmed his racing heart. He turned to Liara and Milena, who were waiting nearby.
"I say we leave tomorrow," he decided, "...We have only three months to create as much chaos as we possibly can. Each day counts."
Milena raised a suspicious eyebrow as she questioned, "...Are you sure this has no connection to that big square hole that was created out of nowhere?"
Glenn looked at her with the most oblivious expression he could come up with, "What the hell are you talking about, Milena?" The latter sighed and rolled her eyes to the sky while crossing her arms.
"I''m good with leaving tomorrow. That''ll give me some time to nap at least before we head off to our probably certain death," She jeered sarcastically. Liara chuckled lightly beside her, and the two women left the training room. Glenn glanced at Sahro who was busy sheathing his blade back, and grinned.
"What do you think about going to see what that kid wanted? I''m quite curious to see what was that favor he wanted to call in."
The Black Heir sighed and gave him a one-shoulder shrug, "...Better than sitting on my ass. Lead the way."
Glenn chuckled, "You know we need to take the transit, right?"
Sahro froze and suddenly turned around, unsheathing his sword, "Actually, I think I want to train more. I want to be as prepared as I can"
"Coward," Glenn simply said. Sahro drew a very, very deep breath.
"I hate you. From the bottom of my heart, I admit it, I hate you," Sahro spat as they left the transit station. Glenn''s grin grew even wider at each of the Black Heir''s curses.
"You''ll thank me later for helping you defeat your fears. Come on, let''s find Rolling Street."
The two strolled through this way poorer part of the Bourgeoisie, their clothes, and weapons drawing some inquisitive gazes from time to time. A few thieves considered attacking them at least three times, but three times simply showing Glenn''s purple arm was enough to scare them away.
"I''m not sure if I''m that famous or if they''re just terrified of catching some strange parasite," Glenn said to Sahro, who shrugged without replying. Diamanes sighed heavily.
"I''m not even going to bother getting angry. At some point, it just bounces right off. I reached Nirvana and your insults simply can''t reach me anymore."
Glenn clenched his left hand and shoved it in his pocket, hoping no one heard the hand talk out loud. After following the directions a terrified thief gave them, Glenn and Sahro finally arrived at 16 Rolling St.
Glenn had been expecting a house, maybe an orphanage or the like, but instead, they found a massive derelict factory, old and abandoned. The glass windows were shattered and the walls were covered either in moss, rust, or old paint. Kids were playing around, fighting with long sticks, but besides that, nothing too noticeable. Glenn glanced at the paper he had in his hands and went for the factory''s entry, closely followed by Sahro.
Two kids suddenly appeared in front of them, looking serious. They had ugly scars on their faces, which might have made them intimidating, had they not been so skinny that Glenn could probably have broken them in two by blowing on them.
"Whaddya wan''?" One of the two asked with his hand on his back, probably ready to pull out a knife or something. Glenn raised an eyebrow and held the Pierrot''s message for him to take. The kid took it and gave it a quick read before glancing at Glenn''t left arm in realization. His expression twisted into different emotions; awe, fear, anger, but it eventually settled for admiration.
"You...You''re that famous guy in the lower Circle, am I ''aight?" He asked in confirmation. Glenn moistened his lips while nodding slightly. The other kid''s eyes widened and he hurriedly made space for Glenn and Sahro to pass.
"Please, uh, enter, Mister. Pierrot is waiting for ya''."
Glenn obliged with curiosity, Sahro throwing the kids a deathly stare. They entered the old factory, finding it to be bustling with activity. Far from being abandoned, they were kids, teenagers mostly, running in all directions while transporting tools and materials. Some of the other kids were barking orders, while the others were busy working on some mysterious projects. A kid came and indicated them the way before running off.
"Well, I certainly didn''t expect that..." Glenn whistled in awe, wondering what all of those kids were up to. It was a little too much to simply be some kind of entertainment. There were team leaders, specialized workers, logistics specialists...This was a well-oiled machine preparing for who-knows-what.
"I''m starting to get a little worried about that favor that kid wants from you..." Sahro muttered, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Glenn clenched his teeth. He could only agree.
Soon enough, they arrived in an old control room that had been repurposed into an office. A large table was covered in blueprints and schematics, and kids discussing some seemingly important matter around it. Glenn cleared his throat while Sahro leaned back against the wall behind him. The kids stopped talking and stared at him.
"...Pierrot called me here?" Glenn tried hesitantly. The kids'' gazes suddenly all shifted to his left arm, and they gasped in realization.
"Oh, it''s him!"
"He came to the Bourgeoisie, like he said!"
"Is it finally time?"
Glenn raised his hands to try and stop the cacophony, frowning at the noise.
"Alright, let''s all calm down. I''ll pretend not to care about whatever operations is there, and simply ask what that other kid wants from me."
The kids became silent and exchanged concerned looks.
"What we want is quite simple," A voice came from behind a door Glenn had failed to notice. The door opened, revealing a young man, quite athletic, and with a dark expression on his face. Glenn paused, confused. Why...why did it feel like he knew that guy?
"We want you to help us destroy Baron Howard, Mister. For what did he has done to us."
The man walked out of the shadows with a wicked grin while leaning on Pierrot, pulling a gasp out of Glenn.
"For what he did to me."
Sahro stood up straight, rubbing his eyes out of disbelief. Glenn approached the man and grabbed his shoulder, incredulous.
"...Liam?"
Liam, the kid he helped almost a year ago to escape the abuse of the Auberge''s boss and his team, and who was dragged away by Baron Howard during the Harvest, grinned.
"In the flesh."
211. Not Slavery, just Unpaid Workers
Pierrot carefully brought Liam next to the table, installing him on a steel chair. Glenn rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing. The kid, who had been as skinny as a twig one year ago, was now a grown man with quite an athletic build. He was wearing only a pair of black pants and a black coat over a brass breastplate.
...But it seemed like something was wrong with him.
"Are you okay?" Glenn asked as he tried to approach him, only to be stopped by the other kids in the room. Liam grunted and waved at them dismissively. They reluctantly stepped back, letting Glenn and Sahro come closer to their boss.
"I almost didn''t recognize you..." Glenn muttered as he pulled a chair to sit in front of Liam. Sahro simply leaned against the table, watching with wide-opened eyes. Liam chuckled, only to cough in his hand. Something made a clicking sound on him, almost synchronized with his coughing.
"Cough...I think they call it a growth spurt...I almost didn''t recognize you either, Mister Glenn. Or should I call you the Devil''s Hand?" Liam scoffed as he glanced at Glenn''s left hand. The latter shook his head with a light snort.
"Call me whatever you want," His expression hardened and he crossed his arms, "...What happened to you? After..."
Liam winced, his face darkening visibly, and coughed again. Glenn shut his mouth and waited patiently, his eyebrows creasing at Liam''s sorry sight. The more he looked at him, the worse he appeared despite his apparent evolution. His skin was sickly pale, almost yellowish, and his eyes were dull. Signs of malnutrition were showing on his face; hollowed cheeks, dark circles under his eyes, brittle brown hair...
Which was strange, since none of the other kids seemed to suffer from the same issue.
''So it''s something that only affects Liam,'' Diamanes concluded. Glenn winced and pursed his lips. He wouldn''t know until Liam decided to share with him what was wrong. Eventually, Liam turned to the other kids and sighed.
"Leave me with them. You can stay, Pierrot..." He scoffed and added before the other kids could complain, "...I''m pretty sure the Devil''s Hand could have wiped us all with a wave of his hand if he wanted. You would not make a difference if he were to attack. Which I doubt he will."
Once again reluctant, the kids left the room, leaving behind Glenn, Sahro, Liam, and his second, Pierrot.
"After I''ve been taken by the Baron, I..." Liam clenched his teeth and his eyes drifted away, filled with hatred, "...he did something to me. To my heart."
Glenn''s heart missed a beat and he held his breath in expectation. Liam grabbed at his chest, hidden under some brass breastplate, and chewed on his lower lip.
"I...I became a thrall. A servant of a vampire," Liam hissed through his teeth. Sahro tensed up while Glenn clenched the edge of his seat tightly, struggling to restrain himself. They were fucking right. Baron Howard was a fucking vampire.
"Well, let''s order silver bullets and garlic, then? Maybe some stakes?" Nelg joked lightly, failing to get a laugh out of his host. Glenn rubbed his chin, his eyebrows creased.
"How did you escape from him, then? I believe a vampire should have complete control of his thralls, right?"
Liam coughed before tapping his chest with his closed fist, grinning wickedly.
"I solved that issue. I wasn''t alone in doing it..." He blushed before shaking his head and nodding at Pierrot, "...But it was the only way Iwe found to save my skin."
Pierrot silently stared at his boss, confirming with him before untying the leather straps that held the brass breastplate over Liam''s torso. Glenn''s eyes widened as Liam''s chest was revealed, glinting with a bronze, pulsing hue. Sahro leaned forward and leaned on Glenn''s shoulder, his mouth agape with disbelief. Liam glanced down at his chest and scoffed.
"I had no other choice."
A mechanical contraption was encased in Liam''s chest, like a parasite that had been planted there. It was ticking silently, minuscule gears turning rhythmically. Small pistons were constantly pushing and pulling, some slower and some faster. The contraption was pumping blood unrelentingly, the only hint at what it was pumping was the crimson leak at the machine''s joints. The brass making it was dull and old, washed up. Most of the gears if not all of them were exposed, explaining why Liam was wearing only a brass breastplate. It would probably be a bad idea to risk something sticking itself in the cogs, after all.
For this was Liam''s heart.
A mechanical, brass heart.
"...What the hell is this...?" Sahro muttered in awe, unable to avert his eyes away from the machine. Liam coughed and winced, before gesturing at Pierrot to put the breastplate back on.
"I had to rip my own heart out. Once I did that and crushed it, I was freed from the Baron''s influence and managed to escape. It was a risky operation; the first of its kind, I think," Liam smirked with a tinge of pride, "I''m the first to survive a direct transplantation of a mechanical heart. It does come with side-effects, though, such ascough, the periodical leaks, blood poisoning, and the perpetual creaking, but it''s better than being dead."
Glenn laughed in awe, leaning back in his chair while shaking his head.
"This is insane. I know I''m supposed to be the crazy one, but you''re on another level. Whowho even made this?"
Liam made a short, mocking bow, "All of my own work, sir."
Pierrot snickered without saying a word. His boss glanced at him in displeasure, before shrugging, "...I might have gotten a tiny bit of help. But nothing much."
"...Keep tellin'' yourself that, boss," Pierrot mocked as he finished tying the breastplate back. Liam rolled his eyes before gesturing at the factory.
"After escaping, I found this place. And, it happened quite naturally, but most of the street kids came to join me. I don''t honestly know why, though," He admitted. Pierrot shook his head with a chuckle.
"The kids follow you ''cause ya''re the coolest one, and ''cause they have no one else. I''m the same, boss."
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Liam grunted and waved his hand dismissively, "If you say so. Anyway, I''m glad to see that you finally managed to reach the Bourgeoisie, Mister Glenn. Iwe were all waiting for you to finally take our revenge on Howard."
Glenn raised an eyebrow, "...We?"
Liam nodded affirmingly, "Yes, we. Most of thecough, damnation...most of the kids here had their parents taken away by the Baron. Suddenly there one day, then visiting the familial mansion, only to disappear forever. They are sons of merchants, workers, engineers, or even soldiers. And they all want a piece of this vampiric bastard," Liam spat the last word hatefully, his knuckles whitening.
Glenn exchanged a glance with Sahro, before shaking his head, "We won''t be able to take action now."
Liam''s eyes widened, "...What?"
Glenn grimaced, "...Tomorrow, we''re leaving for..." He winced as the seal tightened in his chest, informing him of what he shouldn''t say, "...some time. I don''t know exactly how long, and I can''t tell you why, but I might not come back alive."
Liam''s face twisted in disappointment and slight hatred. He slammed his fist against the table, hissing through his teeth," But...! We needcoughwe need you here! You" He stared at Glenn with bloodshot eyes as the scarlet lifeforce tricked down his chin, "You owe me. I''m in this mess because of you."
Glenn''s expression hardened and he stood up, his left purple hand trembling slightly.
"I know you want your revenge, but"
Liam stood up brusquely, spatting a black clot of blood while pointing an accusing finger at Glenn, "YOU DON''T KNOW ANYTHING!" He raged until Pierrot hurriedly slipped his hand under his shoulder and nudged him to leave the room. Liam coughed and glared darkly at Glenn, before shaking his head and leaving. Glenn and Sahro stood silently in the control room, lost in their thoughts. The door suddenly smashed open as a girl dashed in, gasping heavily.
"Where''s Liam? I have some great news!" She interrupted herself when she realized there was nobody in the control room be it for Glenn and Sahro. Her eyes widened as she stumbled back, her cheeks flushed red.
"S...Sir Devil''s Hand?" She exclaimed in shock. Glenn laughed surprisedly as he leaned back against the table.
"Janica," He acknowledged, "What are you doing here? You know Liam?"
Janica nodded before doing a double-take, "Waityou also know Liam? How?"
Sahro grunted, "From back in the Fringe. We helped him out when he was being abused in the Auberge." The Black Heir turned away and muttered under his breath, "...the ungrateful little piece of shit..."
Glenn''s eyebrow trembled slightly but he still nodded.
"What about you? I''m curious as to how you know that kid"
"Janica?!?" Liam suddenly kicked his door open despite Pierrot''s best efforts. His eyes widened at her sight and he blushed slightly, before hurriedly shaking his head.
"What are you doing here? I thought you still had to pass that exam for the Exan University?"
Janica laughed and waved a document, "That was yesterday, you oaf! I was accepted!"
Liam gasped before laughing widely, his previous bloodthirst and madness gone. Glenn and Sahro traded a knowing glance, smirking.
"Congratulations! Wewe need to celebrate! Uhm, what should we prepare? Pierrot, what about that shop that sold cakes, is it stillcough!" Liam paled and fell to his knees, coughing a large amount of blood. Janica yelped and ran up to him, glaring at Pierrot who helped her take off Liam''s breastplate. She took out some tiny tools from her pocket and began to manipulate Liam''s heart without a second of hesitation, tightening screws and moving gently some cogs. Liam''s ragged breathing slowed down, as did his blood-filled coughs.
Glenn grimaced, unsure. Should he try using C.P.R. on Liam?
''I vote against it. Firstly, because you don''t know what effects it would have on an artificial heart, and secondly, because he insulted you earlier,'' Diamanes voted with a haughty tone. Nelg sighed but did not add anything. Liam''s crisis eventually calmed down and Janica fell back with a heavy sigh.
"Phew..." She rubbed her eyes tiredly before throwing an angry look at her tools, "If only I had some better equipment, I''m sure...!"
Pierrot helped Liam sit up, the young boss wiping the blood off his mouth with an ashamed look. Upon realizing that Glenn and Sahro were still there, he turned his eyes away, unable to look them in the eyes.
"D...Don''t worry, Janica. II''m fine, this can wait. First, we need to deal with"
Liam yelped as Janica pinched him in the cheek angrily, "You''re not fine at all. The first thing you need to deal with is that makeshift heart of yours. Your...stupid revenge can wait until breathing doesn''t put you at risk of dying!"
Glenn restrained a laugh and nodded, "She has a point, Liam."
"Hmf..." Liam slowly stood up, using Pierrot as a crutch.
"We don''t have the resources, nor the workshop to make myself better anyway. It doesn''t matter how good I am, or even Janica. We''re both stuck using the scrap at the bottom of the barrel. We can barely afford to pay for everyone''s food after all..." He trailed off as another worry appeared on his face. Glenn grinned widely while shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Man, oh man, I sure wonder who would have an entire Workshop he''d be willing to lend for free during the next few months..."
Sahro flinched and snapped to look at him. "Do you mean what I think you mean?"
Glenn nodded without much care, "I mean, at least we''ll have someone to warm the house while we''re not there, you know?"
Liam frowned, "Warm the house? But you guys don''t have an official residence yet, do you? You were only invited by the mansion''s owner on 33rd Longhorn, in Silverhomes, right?"
Glenn raised a haughty eyebrow at Liam, "Why would you assume it''s not our house?"
Janica paused and looked at Glenn in disbelief, "You live in Silverhomes?!?"
Sahro disregarded the two, only scratching his chin while speaking to Glenn, "Are you sure the others would be okay with that? They don''t know him, and we barely too..."
Glenn rolled his eyes and shrugged, "What do we risk? We have nothing valuable therewell, there is valuable stuff for sure, but it has just been given to us for free. Why should I care?"
The Black Heir sighed and turned away, giving up, "Do what you wish."
Glenn grinned and rubbed his hands together as he looked at his two prospective engineers in front of him. Oh, was he going to work them to the bone? Oh, his dream power armor. What better luck than to get some free, skilled workers?
"Of, but I will!" He chuckled wickedly.
He did not doubt that no ordinary engineer could have made that mechanical heart. If it was working, that meant it wasn''t far to the modern-age transplatations of Earth. And from what he was seeing, Janica had participated quite a lot in its creation, which meant that both she and Liam were talented in this business.
Waitno, they were beyond talented. They were already making shit beyond the Bourgeoisie''s technological advancement. They were visionaries. Kids who would change the world if given enough time and resources, he was sure of it.
''I''ll let you know Liam can''t use Magic nor Aura, though,'' Diamanes commented with a puzzled tone. Glenn frowned. That shouldn''t be possible. He opened his Mana Sight, discovering that Liam was surrounded by some sort of red shroud, nothing like he had ever seen before. Compared to Janica, she looked perfectly suited to learn magic, even though she did not have a Circle created yet. But the Mana was naturally drawn to her, like for every living being, Liam being the exception.
"How interesting..." Glenn muttered, before shaking his head. It didn''t matter in the end. He wasn''t planning to recruit these two to have them fight beside him.
No, he would much rather have them build him some guns or something. That''d be much cooler, and a much better use of their talents. With a wicked, almost businessman-like smile, Glenn leaned forward and rubbed his palms together.
"Say, Liam, Janica...What do you think about doing some housekeeping while we''re gone?" Liam raised an eyebrow while Janica''s face flushed with a deep dark red. Glenn didn''t stop and this time only stared at Liam, his eyes piercing into his.
"...so that when we come back, we destroy that Baron once and for all?"
Almost without thinking, Liam''s hand shot out to shake Glenn''s.
"Deal."
Janica did a double take before backing off in a panic, "Wait, noI...I''m not worthy of living in Silverhomes, I''m a"
Glenn clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Janica, don''t spit on the opportunities others give you. Think about it. You''ll be enjoying an entirely functioning workshop, with automatons to repair and almost infinite tools."
Janica gasped while Glenn moistened his lips, their corners curved upward.
Yeah, this was in the bag. Two (probably) genius engineers for the price of none.
What a steal.
212. A Helping Hand
"...Is that really okay?" Liam asked hesitantly as he leaned on a rough walking stick. Janica was frozen still, staring with wide eyes at the massive mansion they were standing in front of. Glenn, with his hands on his waist, grinned widely.
"Yeah, don''t worry too much about it. The Cleaner''s Workshop likes me quite a bit," His expression darkened and he muttered, "...Even though I did kill one of their Cleaners..."
Janica snapped out of her shock and looked at Glenn in horror. The latter shook his head dismissively, his grin coming back in full force.
"Anyway, welcome to your new place for..." Glenn moistened his lips and shrugged, "...As long as you''d like, actually. Just don''t bring every kid you find in the street here, it''s still my team''s place. It''s temporary until you manage to make yourself a new heart, Liam."
Liam gulped and nodded slowly. After Glenn gave Liam and Janica his proposition of keeping the mansion for the time they were gone, they went to the Cleaner''s Workshop in District IV, signing them as Fixers and giving them Identification Daggers. It was the only way to give them their keys to the mansion on Longhorn Street, so Glenn opted for this solution. And now, they were back in front of the mansion on 33rd Longhorn Street.
"I...I think the Baron''s mansion is slightly smaller..." Liam muttered in awe. Glenn''s lips curved upward pridefully until he clapped his hands and opened the gate, leading them to the mansion. Sahro was following behind while rolling his eyes, unsure if he was agreeing with Glenn''s choice of leaving the mansion to two brats. Janica''s lips were sealed shut, and she was practically glued to Liam, her eyes darting left and right in wariness.
Glenn ushered them in, closing the door behind Sahro, "Welcome to our place. We''ve been here for, what, twenty-four hours? But whatever! Feel free to explore the place, the Workshops are in the West Wing"
Liam and Janica both dashed in the same direction as one, not even bothering with the rest of Glenn''s explanations. The latter watched them run away and scratched the back of his head until Sahro came and patted him on the back.
"Seems like they''re much more interested in those tools than in the entire house," He laughed.
Glenn shrugged and headed for the North Wing, "They must be truly passionate, in addition to being geniuses."
Sahro scoffed, "Geniuses? What makes you say that? The mechanical heart? Is it really that impressive?"
Glenn moistened his lips and turned to the Black Heir, "Yes, it fucking is. Remember when I told you Earth was way more advanced than this world? Well, that mechanical heart is something that I doubt would be achievable back on Earth. We could take someone''s heat and put it in someone else, but a mechanical heart?" Glenn shook his head, "There were temporary solutions, not something you were actually supposed to live with. And yet, it was already the peak that medical research could attain then. That means Liam and Janica somehow managed to make something similar to modern-age technology, with scrap metals and screwdrivers."
The Black Heir stared at his friend with a lost look, before nodding in understanding, "Yeah, okay. I understood everything you said. So, they''re really skilled at...engineering, right?"
"They really are," Glenn agreed as they entered the relaxation room. Milena, Liara, and Javier were playing cards while enjoying sodas thanks to the Mini-Fridge. They looked up when they heard Glenn and Sahro arrive.
"Ah, you guys are back? We found Javier and bought a few necessities for the trip, as well as this deck of cards. Wanna join in?" Milena asked. Glenn smiled and grabbed an armchair, pulling it to the table.
"Count me in."
"Sure, why not," Sahro also found himself a chair and joined the table.
"Where was Javier?" Glenn asked as he glanced at his cards. Seven and two of Fire. He smiled widely and placed his cards back down. Of course, he had to get the worst fucking hand.
Milena peeked at her cards before leaning on the table, "It was pretty much a random guess, but he was at a fletcher to buy new arrows. We went with him to a bowyer too, to get, well, a new bow. His old one wasn''t good enough apparently."
Sahro raised an eyebrow as he knocked on the table, "You can talk to him?"
Milena shook her head and pushed forward a few coins on the table''s center, "No, but I can understand him. I raise five gold."
Liara winced and threw away her cards, as did Sahro. Javier silently added five coins to the table, as did Glenn.
"What about you, what were you off to? What was that Pierrot kid about?" Milena revealed the first three cards, a Two of Water, a Five of Fire, and a Seven of Water. Glenn sighed. Two pairs. That was more than he should have ever expected with this shitty hand.
"Oh, nothing much. We brought back two engineer kids, one who had been captured by Baron Howard, turned into a vampire, ripped his own heart, and replaced it with a mechanical one of his own. Nothing too crazy," Glenn explained nonchalantly as he pushed five new gold coins on the table. Milena was about to play but her hand froze in the air and she slowly turned to Glenn.
"...What?" She blurted out, but Glenn shook his head.
"Yeah, and he will be staying here with his girlfriend while we''re gone. Keeping the house safe while using the Workshop, you know?" Glenn continued to speak casually before nudging Milena, "You''re playing or what?"
Milena shook her head frantically and threw five more gold coins into the pile, "Yeah, yeah. Can I meet him after that game?"
Glenn nodded, "You''re free to do so. He''s in the Workshop right now, with Janica. And he''s Liam."
Liara stood up and smiled politely, before heading off, probably to meet the two young engineers. Javier looked at his cards emotionlessly, before putting them down and leaving. Milena raised an eyebrow and revealed his cards. An Eight of Fire and a Three of Earth.
"Oh yeah, his hand sucked," Milena admitted. She revealed another card, a King of Earth. Her lips curved upward slightly, but Glenn didn''t change his tactic. He added five new gold coins to the pile and leaned back in his chair.
"That''d be kind of funny if you managed to win with the worst hand," Nelg remarked in Glenn''s mind. The latter could only agree. Milena sighed and added her own five gold.
"I sure hope you''re bluffing. I don''t have much..." She said through her clenched teeth. Glenn shrugged and revealed the last card, a Two of Thunder. He grimaced and rubbed his forehead, hesitating to push more coins into the pile. Milena moistened her lips as Sahro began to snore, having fallen asleep at some point during the game. With a difficult expression, Glenn pushed ten gold coins into the pile, which Milena didn''t hesitate to raise to twenty. Glenn sighed and followed her.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
"Well, I never thought you''d be so much of a pushover, Glenn from Earth!" Milena exclaimed triumphantly as she showed her cards. A Water and A Thunder King. Glenn whistled, impressed.
"Three of a kind! That''s..." He grinned and showed his cards, "...Disappointing."
Milena gasped, double-checking his cards. "A Full House?!? ButTwo and seven? That''s like, the worst hand ever?"
Glenn shrugged and pocketed the money with a wide smile, "I guess I''m lucky even when my hand is terrible. Haha!" Milena puffed her cheeks and threw her cards away, before leaving the room. She kicked into Sahro''s armchair, waking him up.
"Uh? Diddid I miss something?" He blurted out in surprise, reaching for his sword. Glenn shook his head, "Nothing, I just beat Milena''s ass. No worries. You do fall asleep very quickly."
The Black Heir shrugged and pushed himself up, "I didn''t sleep much last time. I was thinking about what you told us, about Earth and everything."
Glenn scrunched his nose, "Why? Do you have any questions?"
Sahro scratched the back of his neck, hesitating, "Well, that''s...you know I don''t remember much from when I was still living in the Ink Dunes, right?"
Glenn nodded with a frown, "Yeah, but what does that have to do with it?"
The Black Heir moistened his lips and bobbed his head left and right.
"There''s one thing I can remember, and it''s a legend of a mysterious ruin who told the truth about who the Black Heirs are. Whose Heirs they are? Supposedly, the answer was waiting in that ruin, but nobody could ever find it. Most Black Heirs spent their lives growing strong enough to face the desert by themselves and go look for that ruin. I don''t know why, but I feel like there might be a link between your story, and ours."
Glenn blew raspberries, unsure, "That''s...that''s a little far-fetched. Well, we are going to find ruins and stuff to take away from the Celestial Bastards, so might as well look for that ruin on the way. Perhaps you''ll be the one to answer this eternal question of your people."
Sahro snorted, "Yeah, I doubt that. Anyway, I''ll eat and go to sleep. I think I can use the rest before heading to war."
Glenn scoffed, as did Diamanes.
"Don''t dream about me!" The entity yelled at him. The Black Heir''s expression darkened and he left the room without another word. Glenn sighed.
"You really are annoying, sometimes."
Diamanes huffed, "What? No, I''m just showing my affection in an unusual way, alright?"
Glenn didn''t even bother replying to him. Sadly, Diamanes wasn''t done yet.
"Hey, you know what I thought about?"
"No, but please, tell me so I can forget about it," Glenn sighed.
Diamanes smirked, "What do you think about asking Liam for this thing..."
Glenn''s eyes, originally uninterested, suddenly brightened up. He stood from his seat and looked at his hand.
"That''s... a surprisingly good idea." He admitted. Diamanes laughed.
"Go ask him quickly, with a bit of luck he''ll be done before tomorrow."
A few minutes later.
"Do you two think it can be done?" Glenn asked as he looked at Liam and Janica. The two exchanged a knowing glance and nodded.
"It shouldn''t be too hard. I..." Liam grinned, "...I think I heard that he could use thunder magic, right?"
Glenn nodded, his smile widening as well. Janica played with a tool in her hand while rubbing her chin, "Maybe...Yeah, I have some good ideas. We could work on something pretty nice...Hey, Liam, what about finding that alloy you told me about the other day? The one which"
Liam and Janica entered a passionate discussion as they started to draw plans on a blueprint. Glenn stepped back with a wide smile, before glancing at Liara. She smiled at him and placed a finger on her mouth, promising silently not to say a word, as ironic as that was. Glenn glanced one last time in the engineers'' direction, before leaving the Workshop with the Black Heiress.
The next day came quite fast. Glenn didn''t sleep during the night, choosing instead to Meditate it out. Diamanes mocked him for that, but he couldn''t care less. If he could avoid having to deal with bad dreams, that was the best option for now.
The team rejoined in the entrance hall, equipped and armed. Everyone had their dimensional pouches full of food and water and were in their best condition to head beyond the Dark Wall. Glenn found it a little ironic, in the end. He had finally managed to enter the Bourgeoisie after a year of struggle, and now he was leaving for another part of the world without even getting the time to see a noble.
"...Sigh. Is everyone ready, then?" Glenn asked one last time as he turned to his teammates. Sahro rubbed his stump, his thunder arm still not returned. They still hadn''t got their clearances to use Aura nor Mana after all, but normally they should be able to get it back after their trip in the Ink Dunes.
...If they came back at all.
"Wait!" Liam''s voice exclaimed from the Western Wing. He stumbled quickly to Glenn, a package under his arm. Janica followed behind him, black circles under her eyes but satisfaction creeping up her lips.
"Here''s what you ordered. That''s...also my thanks for giving us access to this workshop. Wewe''re not stupid, we know you''re trying to look out for us," Liam said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Glenn raised an eyebrow but didn''t say anything. His main goal was mostly getting them to work for free for him, but well, all the better if they took it this way.
"Don''t use it until you have access to Mana again, though," Janica warned, "It needs it as fuel, or else it won''t work."
Glenn grinned widely and shoved the package in his dimensional pouch, before grabbing Liam''s shoulder.
"Thank you for your work, Liam. Thank you too, Janica. Take care of the place while we aren''t here, alright? And use protection!"
Liam frowned, "Protection? Against what...?", while Janica''s cheeks flushed with a deep dark red. Glenn grinned and left the mansion with his team.
Sahro came and nudged Glenn on the shoulder, "What was that about? That package?", but Glenn clacked his tongue, frowning.
"Didn''t you hear the engineers'' words? We can''t use it if there''s no Mana. You''ll see when we''ll be out of the Bourgeoisie. I''m pretty sure we will be by the end of the chapter."
"Chapter...?"
The group went to District XIV, Towsblade, and the Cleaner''s Office, using the Transit against Liara and Sahro''s hatred of the system. The lone clerk sitting at the counter raised his eyes to look upon them and nodded.
"I take it your team is completely ready, Fixer Glenn?"
Glenn grinned widely, "Absolutely. Send us there."
The clerk smiled back, "So be it."
The floor twisted under Glenn and his team''s feet, their surroundings warping and their insides wrangled, signs of teleportation. Glenn gasped heavily as he felt his Mana Heart fill back up once again, hungrily pulling in all the Mana around him. Sahro and Liara sighed in unison, similarly happy to find back their powers. Only Milena and Javier didn''t seem to be thrilled by the return of their powers.
"Ah, this feels great..." Glenn smiled happily before looking at his surroundings. They were in a dark room of roughly carved black stones, and a Cleaner employee, recognizable by the red cross pattern on his white suit, was controlling the teleporting gate.
"Welcome to the Dark Wall, everyone," A voice suddenly called out to them. Glenn turned his head to find Veil, standing with his hands crossed behind his back. He smiled under his bandages, before opening a door in the black wall, letting a warm wind enter the room.
"Veil," Glenn saluted as he walked past him. Veil nodded at him and closed the door behind the team. The first thing Glenn saw was the Wall. If King''s Rise''s Ramparts reached beyond the clouds, then this...
This probably was double its size.
A Dark, massive Wall, that seemed to never end, be it in height or length. Massive, sharp mountains that were casting an immense shadow over the region. Glenn blinked, before suddenly looking back. They had come out of a small stone cabin, which was stuck to hundreds of such small cabins. It seems like the Cleaner''s Workshop wasn''t the only place with direct access to the Dark Wall.
"So this is the Dark Wall..." Milena muttered, unable to avert her eyes from the massive mountain chains. Sahro crossed his arms, moving his thunder arm as if it were a real one. Liara silently gazed at the Dark Wall, an indescribable emotion in her eyes.
And as usual, Javier didn''t seem to care too much. Glenn marveled at the sight for a few minutes, standing there silently, before suddenly turning in Sahro''s direction. He took out the package Liam gave him and held it out.
"Here you go, you can have it now."
Sahro frowned as he carefully took the package, "...That was for me?"
Glenn nodded silently. The Black Heir unwrapped the package, his expression becoming increasingly more confused as he did so. Of brass, steel, and other metals which Glenn couldn''t recognize, was an arm. A prosthetic, tailor-made for Sahro.
"W...What is this?" Sahro muttered under his breath. His thunder arm touched it slightly and the mechanical prosthetic suddenly trembled, before flying out and sticking to the stump. Sahro flinched and tried to rip it off, but it wouldn''t come off. The thunder''s energy crackled uncontrollably for a few seconds until it finally settled down. Blue lines filled up with energy in the arm, powering it up.
Sahro watched in awe as his arm came alive, with the power of thunder and engineering.
The Black Swordsman was finally whole again.
Well, as whole as a prosthetic could get him. But that was progress!
213. The Black Gate
Sahro stared at the mechanical prosthetic replacing his missing left arm, his eyes wide open and his jaw hanging on the floor. His lips were twitching, and Glenn could almost imagine, if not see the water welling up in the Black Heir''s eyes.
"Fuck me..." Sahro gasped as he went and stretched his hand. The mechanical arm was moving exactly like one made of flesh, with the precision of a machine and the toughness of steel. Glenn grimaced and shook his head.
"No thank you. I''d rather have you fuck up those Celestial Bastards."
The Black Heir scoffed while Milena came and took a closer look at the arm, "Wow, this is really advanced. Did...?"
Glenn nodded, "Yeah, Liam and Janica worked their asses off during the night to make this. I wanted to see how good they were at first, but..." He looked at the mechanical arm and grinned, "...I never expected them to be that good already. I don''t doubt they''ll be able to make Liam a better mechanical heart by the time we head back."
Sahro remained silent, still playing with his new toy. Hesitantly, he drew out his sword and tried to use both hands to hold it. The fingers of brass and steel froze inches away from the hilt as if scared of it. Glenn and the others watched from the sidelines, giving him the space he needed.
Glenn couldn''t exactly imagine what it felt like to lose a limb and learn to live without it, but hopefully, Sahro would be able to get over this hurdle
"Alright, Liara, what do you think about trying this shit again?" Sahro firmly clenched with both hands, his crimson Aura flaring powerfully as his grin grew wickedly. It raged like a bloody tidal wave, crashing and mixing with the electrical energy contained in his mechanical arm. The blue lines turned into mystical, scarlet energy, brimming with power. Liara flinched and hurriedly hid behind Milena, who in turn hid behind Javier, who in turn... hid behind Glenn?
Javier''s behavior did surprise Glenn a little, but it''s not like he couldn''t understand it. The aura that Sahro was giving off...It was almostno, it was at the same level as his. And Glenn was certainly much worse with a sword than Sahro.
"...I apologize, but it isn''t exactly the place to cause a ruckus," Veil remarked from the side, his arms crossed behind his back. Sahro seemed to regain his clarity and apologetically sheathed his sword back, smiling sheepishly.
"SSorry, I got a little too excited."
Veil smiled, before turning away to face the Dark Wall. Glenn''s lips curved upward slightly when he heard Liara and Milena sighing in relief behind him.
"I''m warning you, but the Black Gate is home to one of the strongest military forces of the realm. Lord Noir and his Order of the Black Knights are the ones separating Munirp from the land beyond the Dark Wall, after all. They need to be that strong. On the other hand..." Veil grimaced under his bandages,"...they are not exactly the smartest of the bunch."
Milena laughed softly, "I heard that none of them could read or write."
Veil nodded, the corner of lips curving upward slightly, "That is true. They''re the best with numbers, on the other hand."
Glenn frowned, "...How?"
Veil''s grin widened, "...They need to be good with them since they compete in how many enemies they killed."
Sahro and Glenn exchanged a look. These Black Knights fellows sounded interesting. Veil turned back and went in the direction of the Dark Wall. Encased in the latter as if it had been carved out of the mountains was a fortress, completely black. There were no flags, no proof of what allegiance they served, or anything of the sort. The fortress simply stood there, imprisoned in the rock.
"That would be the Black Gate, I suppose," Milena commented. Veil crossed his arms behind his back, nodding.
Sahro smirked and leaned in Glenn''s ear, whispering, "...They really like the color black here."
Glenn looked back at him with raised eyebrows, "You''re one to talk, Black Heir."
Sahro grimaced and turned away, instead choosing to play a little more with his mechanical arm. Glenn kept on observing their surroundings as they walked. There truly was nothing here, besides the teleportation cabins and a large road leading to the Black Gate. It made sense, in a way. Who would want to live under the shadow of that massive chain of mountains? This side of the wall would probably receive sunlight for half a day, covering the surroundings in darkness past that time.
And the Dark Wall did feel a little oppressive, more so than King''s Rise ramparts. It took them a dozen minutes to arrive in front of the Black Gate''s fortress, standing in line with other similar individuals. Soldiers, mercenaries, adventurers, Fixers, and Cleaners, everyone seemed interested in going beyond the Dark Wall to fight Munirp''s war. Veil stopped and pulled out a red and white pocket watch, checking the time.
"...Good, the Cleaner''s Workshop turn of entry is next. When they call for Cleaners and Fixers, step up and listen to the instructions. You will be given specific devices that will be useful to your mission, as well as intel concerning your possible targets. Of course, those are only crutches to get you going. Most things will be left to you to find out. And, if something appears more important than the original mission, don''t hesitate to change objectives. Be flexible," Veil quickly explained before tightening the bandages hiding his face. Glenn and the others nodded in understanding.
Veil glanced at his pocket watch once more and shook his head, "I fear I must leave you to it, then. I bid you all good luck, and, please..." He smiled and bowed slightly, "...Come back alive with a lot of stuff for us to bargain with the realm. That would be the best."
Glenn sneered, "We will try not to die, yes. Farewell."
Veil smiled and walked away. Milena chewed on the inside of her cheeks, frowning, "...Is it only me who finds him creepy?" Liara shook her head and gently grabbed Milena''s arm, probably to show her that she had the same sentiment. Glenn and Sahro shrugged, not seeing what was creepy in the man fully wrapped in bandages. Javier, as always, didn''t seem to have an opinion to share. The team talked about all sorts of things while waiting their turn until a thunderous voice rose above the crowd.
"Members of the Cleaner''s Workshop, Cleaners and Fixers alike!"
Glenn and the others exchanged nods before navigating through the crowd and reaching the source of the voice. Standing in an organized line were a dozen knights, their identities hidden under black, fully plate armors with black gems cast in the center of their cuirass. The gems seemed to change colors slightly, depending on how they interacted with the surrounding light. They all wore great helms with thin slits where their eyes were, completely hiding their faces. What struck Glenn the most was the kind of weapon they were using. Most if not all of them were using blunt weapons, such as mauls, war hammers, two-handed maces, or even large metal staffs. The only bladed weapons they had were the daggers hanging on their back to use as secondary weapons.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"First of all, welcome to the Black Gate and the Dark Wall! We hope you won''t die too quickly!" clamored the speaker, one of the Black Knights. The other Knights either yawned or looked away, not too interested.
"You''re probably all aware, but there are strict measures to protect this place. If you break one of our rules, you die. Simple, right?"
Glenn, his team, and all the other Fixers or Cleaners grumbled in understanding. The speaking Knight looked over them before resuming his speech.
"We will fill you in team by team. Simply show your identification to us, and you''ll be guided to a Squire who will explain everything to you. Any questions?" Someone raised his hand but the Knight nodded and ignored them, "Excellent! Team leaders, please come and show your identifications!"
Glenn glanced at his teammates before stepping up, his INK-DEF badge clenched in his right hand. Discreetly, he used Mana Sight, blinking as the magic surrounding him blinded him.
''That might not have been your wisest idea,'' Diamanes mocked as Glenn rubbed his eyes. The latter grimaced and shook his head, holding his badge to the first Knight he found. The Knight spent some time staring at the badge, before clacking his tongue and leaning closer to Glenn.
"Say...The hell is written on this thing?" The Knight asked sheepishly. Glenn paused for an instant and restrained a sneer.
"...INK-DEF."
The Knight groaned and took a step back, before shaking his head, "Darn it, another of Veil''s recruits. ''Right, call your team and follow me."
Glenn frowned and began to open his mouth, only to close it again and turn to his teammates and gesturing at them. They quickly joined him as he followed the Black Knight closer to the Black Gate. The fortress did not have a door or gate of such, only solid, impassable walls. The Black Knight huffed and kicked the wall open, the stone bricks moving out of the way to let him pass.
"Come on, we don''t have all day," said the Black Knight as he headed into the structure. Glenn and the others carefully followed him in, the stone bricks moving back the way they were behind them.
They walked through the dark hallways, barely illuminated by magical lights hanging on the ceilings, before arriving at a simple stone door. It opened by itself, sinking into the ground with the Black Knight''s presence, letting them enter a briefing room. A dozen chairs and a chalkboard were waiting for them, as well as sealed crates. The Knight ushered Glenn''s team in before closing the door behind them, not entering the room himself.
"...So we just sit here and wait, then?" Milena asked hesitantly. Glenn shrugged and sat on the farthest chair out of habitude. The others sat where they wanted as well, waiting patiently. Only Javier was standing there, as rigid and silent as ever. The wall eventually shifted open to let someone in wearing a black leather armor, a sword hanging off his back. His black hair was done in a short buzzcut, military style. He cleared his throat and stood in front of the chalkboard, straightening his stature.
"Squire Johansson! I will be briefing you on the INK-DEF mission! It is a pleasure to serve alongside you!" He shouted proudly, earning a few frowns from Glenn''s team. Johansson clacked his tongue and tapped on the chalkboard, a picture appearing on it. It was the map of the Land Beyond the Dark Wall, precisely on the Ink Dunes. It was mostly divided into two colors, the Dark Wall being colored in blue and the rest of the Ink Dunes colored in white. There were some red zones too, alongside some different pictograms scattered on every part of the map.
"This here is the target area. Red zones are the active fighting zones, where Munirp''s armies are currently confronting those of the Celestial Gods. You can join these battles if you wish, but they are not your priorities."
He pointed instead at the white zones, which made the most of the map, "Those are the areas which we lack intel on. The map is updated every morning at five o''clock in the morning, thanks to the efforts of the Recon teams, which can be identified on their badges by the REC part, such as INK-REC, KYA-REC, or DRL-REC. You can also work on Recon, but again, this is not your priority."
Johansson finally pointed at the pictograms, frowning, "Those are identified strategical sites. Ruins, storage areas, hospitals, logistical centers, and so forth. Your mission will mostly be to raid those areas, capture or sabotage strategic weapons, execute or capture as many of their strategic personnel as possible, and come back with to a safe area..." He nodded at the blue zones on the map, "...which are all of these places."
Glenn moistened his lips and raised his hand, "How is it that we''re so free of our actions? Isn''t DEF in INK-DEF standing for Defense?"
Squire Johansson nodded in understanding, but shook his head, "Yes and no. You have been recognized as a versatile and skilled team by your backer, which means that you are free to do what you think will help our side the most. Not every team is aware of the locations of these strategic locations..." He said as he pointed again at the pictograms, "...to avoid any leak of intelligence. Also, you will each be given a recorder to prove the destruction of strategic locations or the execution of enemy officers. If you wish to receive rewards when coming back to camp for your efforts, those must be recorded. We have no way to verify your work, after all."
Milena clacked her tongue and leaned back in her chair, frowning, "Does that mean we need to constantly have the recorder on? That''s annoying."
Johansson smirked, but the expression quickly faded from his face, "Military recorders are a little different from what you might be used to, " He crouched next to one of the sealed crates and opened it up, before picking something in it and throwing said thing at Milena, "Please, take a look."
Milena instinctively caught it. She yelped and threw it away, holding her hand in surprise.
"Itit took away some of my Mana!" She exclaimed. The item she threw away bounced off the floor and floated in the air. It was a tiny, steel pearl with brass-coloured lines, somehow moving in the air without a noise. Glenn raised an eyebrow and almost used Mana Sight to check the thing out, but he changed his mind after remembering how he almost blinded himself earlier with how much magic there was in this place. Milena hesitantly extended her hand out toward the pearl, and almost as if it was connected to her, it floated back to her palm, settling within it.
"As you can see, you simply need to connect to the Recorder, and it will start doing its job as long as you will it. We''re aware there are some things you''d rather keep private, hence why it isn''t recording at all times. You have complete control over the Recorder," Squire Johansson said, before taking one Recorder for himself from the crate and pressing it with his thumb, making a small screen appear above it, "Additionally, here''s a magical retransmission of the map. As I said, it is updated every day at five in the morning."
Glenn and the others all took their Recorders, looking at their new toys curiously.
"Finally, be aware that if the one who connected to the Recorder dies or is too far beyond the enemy lines, such as in a captured scenario, the Recorder will auto-destroy. We''d rather not have the tactical map end up in the hands of the Celestial Gods, after all," Johansson warned as he dusted his hands off. Glenn all nodded in understanding, earning a smile from the Squire.
"Excellent. I hope you will all survive and bring us one step closer to victory against Munirp''s enemies," He declared, before turning away and tapping against the chalkboard. The tactical map disappeared alongside the chalkboard, replaced by an opening in the wall. A hot wave of air entered the room, bringing with it the scent of danger and adventure. Glenn grinned widely and stood up, stretching and making his neck crackle. Johansson stepped away from the entrance and gestured at it.
"This will lead you to the Ink Dunes safe zone. Good luck."
The team entered the hallway, walking for a dozen of minutes before finally arriving at their destination.
''...That''s a lot of hallways,'' Diamanes remarked, before adding, ''We''ll have to be careful with what we say around these Recorders. We never know if they didn''t lie and are listening in all the time.''
To both these statements, Glenn could only agree. But as the distance between him and the black sand desert grew shorter, he could only think of one thing. This was the last hurdle. The last step before he could finally put an end to Baron Howard and bring Giselle''s grandson back to her.
The first promise he made when arriving in this world, and finally he was about to fulfill his end of the deal.
Well, he still had a war to fight before that, but still.
It was nice to see the progress so clearly.
214. Grave Robbing
Glenn grimaced as he stepped out of the tunnel into a very, very bright place. The sun wasn''t hidden by the Dark Wall on this side, it seemed. It took a few seconds for his eyes to get used to the brightness. He blinked a few times and chuckled in disbelief. The ground his feet were sinking into and the land for as far as he could see, the whole of it was black. Black, ink-like sand that swirled and moved with the occasional gusts of hot wind. He glanced behind him, first finding his teammates similarly bewildered by this sight and the tunnel they came through fading away like an illusion, a mirage.
''Huh. This didn''t look like a portal, but I guess it was. They''re putting all the stops to make sure you don''t get ambushed straight away,'' Diamanes remarked discreetly from within Glenn''s mind. The latter moistened his lips, his throat already starting to dry, as dry as the air around here.
"...Feels like I''m breathing sand..." Milena muttered before whispering a tiny Aqua to drink from. The spell manifested with difficulty, but it eventually did. Sahro, who had been staring at the black desert for a while now suddenly came out of his trance-like state and shook his head, "The Dunes will work against you if you try to conjure water. I hope you packed actual water."
Milena frowned and pouted, "I did, but still...I didn''t want to waste it straight away..."
Glenn squinted as he looked at his Recorder and activated the map function. They had landed at the very edge of a safe zone, indicated by the blue color. The surroundings were all white, undisputed areas, with a few pictograms indicating locations of interest. Ruins, camps, abandoned battlefields, high-level Rifts, and even some that were called "Anomalies". Glenn was most tempted to go check those out, but he had another thing to deal with currently.
"How are you guys doing?" He turned to Sahro and Liara. The two exchanged a glance, before smiling dejectedly.
"It definitely feels weird," admitted Sahro. He glanced at Liara and shook his head, "...But it won''t impede us, don''t worry. Let''s do what we''re here for so we can go back to slaughter that noble fucker Howard." He grinned wickedly as sparks of blue energy blazed around his mechanical arm, "I''m impatient to try this thing out."
Milena groaned, "I''d be glad if you could do so on someone else than us, okay?"
Sahro waved his mechanical hand dismissively, grinning as he made the motion. Even this simple thing made him very happy. Even though it wasn''t a perfect replacement for his arm, it still was one he could use as one. His thunder arm couldn''t really touch or grab things, after all, only shock them. Not that Glenn would risk himself to shake that mechanical hand.
Javier was staring down at his Recorder''s map, before abruptly turning to Glenn and showing him a spot on the map two hours of walk away.
Glenn frowned and rubbed his chin, "...A ruin? I mean, it''s the closest one, so...why not?"
Javier stepped back silently, his expression unreadable. Glenn glanced at the others, who all either shrugged or nodded at his unspoken question.
"...Alright, then. To the ruin. Maybe we''ll find something to fight there, so we can get used to the desert. We''re here for three months, after all, might as well speed that process up," He declared as he sent his Mana to his Recorder. The small magical item flew out of his palm to float above the group, capturing them and their surroundings in their entirety. Sahro eyed the Recorder suspiciously, before sighing his own in the air. The rest of the team mimicked their examples as they headed for the ruin.
The way there was relatively peaceful. Glenn had summoned his Mimetic cape to protect himself from the sun, its camouflaging abilities automatically changing its color from grey to ink-black, like the sand he was stepping on. Milena was also donning similar clothing, while the two Black Heirs wore their usual desert-style clothes. Only Javier was wearing his usual hunting clothes, his bow strung on his back alongside his quiver. The lack of sweat or tiredness on his face seemed to indicate he was the least affected by the conditions of the desert.
After two long hours under the burning sun and a not-so-difficult climb onto a tall dune, thanks to Gravity Manipulation, they arrived at their objectives. The ruin, built out of red, ochre stones, was half sunk under the black sand. It looked weird to Glenn as if it did not fit inside the desert. If Glenn had to compare it to something, it would be like those Greek temples he saw on TV back on Earth.
"It does look that way..." Nelg commented, followed by a groan from Diamanes.
"...Any idea what that is?" Glenn asked Sahro and Liara, but they both shrugged with uncertainty. Javier slowly armed his bow, pulling on the string silently, an arrow already waiting to fly out. Glenn and the others suddenly stopped and unsheathed their weapons in a similarly discreet fashion. Javier kept his bow drawn for a dozen seconds until his dark aura ignited and the arrow shot out. The string snapped powerfully, the projectile too fast for Glenn to see, but the Aura tracing a dark line behind him, on the other hand, was easier to follow.
The arrow pierced straight through the black sand, making it erupt vertically. A creature jumped out with a vicious shriek, bleeding with blue blood, the arrow stabbing it through its upper body. It looked like some sort of insect, a chimera of a scorpion and a snake, covered in black chitin and dark scales. The monster was easily the size of a car, but it didn''t seem too intelligent as it continued to cry while bobbing its massive head around and clicking a pair of mandibles. Glenn and Sahro grinned as they readied their attacks to finish off the creature, but Javier stepped in front of them and held them back. Glenn and Sahro frowned, but the silent hunter simply lay down in the sand, dissimulating his presence. Liara and Milena seemed to understand directly what Javier was aiming for and copied him promptly.
Glenn and Sahro exchanged a silent, questioning gaze, but ultimately also hid themselves while watching down the wounded creature.
''Listen to the creepy hunter, Glenn. He probably knows what he''s doing,'' Diamanes mocked. Glenn''s eyebrow twitched but he remained silent, adjusting his Mimetic cape so that it covered him completely, leaving only his eyes to see what was going on.
"Let''s call that thing a Snakion," Nelg suddenly said, "Snake, scorpion, that gives us Snakion!"
Diamanes groaned and was about to complain but Glenn cut him off, ''Perfect. Let''s just call that thing a Snakion.''
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
''...I feel like I''m getting bullied...'' Diamanes muttered in disappointment. The corner of Glenn''s lips curved upward but he remained silent, watching silently on top of his dune.
Eventually, the Snakion stopped shrieking and simply ripped the arrow away with its mandibles. It surveyed the area with its eight, sharp eyes and clicked its mandibles. A dozen other Snakions dug their way out of the black sand, clicking their mandibles dejectedly. Glenn''s eyes widened in understanding.
''...Javier knew that this was a trap! Damn, that guy is good!''
Diamanes snorted, ''He is a hunter, after all. He has to know a little about beasts'' behaviors.''
Glenn disregarded the entity''s comments and kept on watching the Snakions herd. They crawled around the wounded Snakion, before shrieking softly and burying back into the sand, disappearing completely under the black grains. A dozen small waves indicated their movements under the sand, and they left for another area, probably in search of the one who shot at their kin. Too bad, they headed in the wrong direction.
Javier stood up and jumped down the dune, unperturbed. Glenn restrained a whistle and instead nudged Sahro, "He''s putting you to shame, you know that, right?"
Sahro looked back at his friend with a dismayed look, "...I was a kid back when I was living here. Do you really think I remember how to deal with desert beasts, even though I was still busy playing in the sand?"
Glenn moistened his lips and shrugged, "I mean, you''re the Black Heir, not me," He raised his voice slightly and turned to Liara, "That also counts for you too, you know?" The Black Heiress glanced at him and shook her head, diving down the dune with Milena, following Javier. Sahro scoffed and jumped down too, closely followed by Glenn. The team approached the ruin with subdued steps, their feet sinking into the black sand. Glenn quickly pulled out his Exan-Egg and checked the time.
"Eleven-thirty..." He muttered, before putting the item back in his dimensional pouch, "...Let''s do this and find somewhere safe to eat then."
Javier suddenly froze in his steps, before sinking into the ruin''s shadows and disappearing. Glenn raised an eyebrow and activated his Mana Sight, just in case, but he couldn''t see anything relevant besides his comrades. It seemed like the material making the structure was blocking his sight too, because he couldn''t even see a speck of Mana beyond it. Maybe it was some sort of Blumar variant, but he doubted it.
"We will know once we''re inside anyway," Nelg said softly. Glenn nodded and took the lead, resuming the way where Javier left them. They soon found a crack into the ruin''s wall, letting them enter one by one into the structure. The wind whistled past them, bringing a musty scent of dust with it. Glenn kept his Mana Sight on, trying to find some sort of hint on what that place was. The black sand had invaded every part of the ruin, and yet it still failed to cover completely old, broken statues, standing proudly without their heads.
Milena coughed in her sleeve, whispering worriedly, "...why does it feel like there''s nothing at all here?"
Glenn shrugged and replied aloud, "Maybe someone came before us. We have no way to tell if the enemy hasn''t also organized adventuring teams to gather ancient artifacts, and already went through the place."
Liara stopped in front of a wall covered in enigmatic scriptures and pressed on one of the bricks. The wall sank into the floor, making the ground tremble and the sand flow into the new opening. She turned back and smiled widely at her teammates who were staring in disbelief.
"...How are you finding those every time, Liara?" Glenn asked as he approached the secret passage, creating a soft magical light with Lux. The Black Heiress'' smile grew even wider as she shrugged, still as mute as ever. Sahro sighed and went past them into the secret passage. Milena glanced down and raised a dubious eyebrow.
"Are you sure going into the dark, mysterious secret passage of an old, abandoned temple is a goodHey!" She stuttered as both Glenn and Liara jumped down. She bit down on her lips before jumping down too.
Glenn landed on a small pile of black sand, the Recorder floating above his head. The ball of light conjured by Lux was illuminating their surroundings, revealing faded murals of incomprehensible, destroyed drawings. There wasn''t much in the room, in reality, aside from a stone coffin. It was human-sized, which might not come off as a surprise, but at this point, Glenn wouldn''t be taken aback if they accidentally discovered some dead race''s lost temple. Hence why he kind of expected that.
But no, this time, it was human-sized. It was a very, very simple coffin, made of the same ochre stone that the temple was built out of, with no engravings or anything.
"...Sahro, give me a hand," Glenn asked as he positioned himself on one side of the coffin. Sahro grunted and clenched the coffin''s lid, his mechanical arm glistening with blue energy. The two lifted the lid quite easily, revealing a shriveled mummy dressed in a white toga and with a dark, thin stone circlet around its head. Its hands were resting on top of a metal tablet covered in mysterious engravings.
Glenn looked at his teammates and clacked his tongue, "...Anyone who''s against grave robbing...?" Milena opened her mouth, but Glenn wasn''t done, "...is free to look away. I''m taking everything."
Milena closed her mouth with a wry expression. Glenn made an apologetic smile as he pried the tablet from the mummy''s hand, as well as the circlet. He stuffed the whole into his dimensional pouch, before suddenly pausing. He glanced at the corpse, then at Sahro, and finally at the rest of his teammates.
"...Do you guys think the Cleaner''s Workshop might be interested in the corpse?"
Milena scoffed while Sahro and Liara shrugged, unsure. Glenn passed his tongue over his teeth and also shrugged. He awkwardly picked the mummy up by the throat and shoved it into the dimensional pouch, doing his best to ignore the appalled gasps from Milena and the chuckle of the others.
"I said I''m taking everything, I''m not going back on my word," He joked as he finally managed to push the last part of the corpse into the pouch. He dusted his hands off, frowned, and used Mundare to make sure nothing was left on his hands. A nice Cleaning Touch was never a waste of Mana.
"So...are we already done here, then?" Milena asked with a tinge of annoyance. Glenn gave one last glance at the murals and made sure the Recorder got a good look out of them, before nodding.
"Yeah, I suppose we are. I''m sure Javier is already waiting outside with the corpse of whatever made him want to disappear in the shadows."
The exit of the temple was similarly uneventful. They just came in, took what they could, and left. Glenn did give a thought to digging into the black sand to try and uncover what was beneath it, but it would probably be useless and a waste of Mana, so in the end he decided against it. Javier was indeed waiting outside of the temple, standing with his bow ready to shoot, a large fabric bag lying at his feet.
Glenn approached him with a grin, glaring at the bag, "What did you find, Javier?"
The Pale Son nudged his foot and revealed the bag''s contents.
Eggs. Black, disgusting-looking eggs. Glenn blinked and thought back to the Snakion herd of earlier.
Did Javier steal their eggs? Why?
Milena gasped and slammed her fist in her opened palm, "Javier, you''re a genius!" She hurriedly went and grabbed the bag for herself, shoving it in her own dimensional pouch. Glenn picked his ear with a lost look.
"What are you going to do with that?" He asked curiously. Before Milena could answer, though, Javier showed his map to Glenn again, now pointing at an enemy strategic location. A campsite protecting an oasis, is paramount to their logistical routes. Or so it appeared on the map. Glenn was no tactician, after all.
"An enemy camp? That''s"
"YEAH! Let''s fucking do that!" Sahro exclaimed excitedly, grinning wickedly as his mechanical arm sparkled with blue electricity, "I want to fight and try my arm out!"
Glenn sighed while Liara patted him on the back compassionately. Of course, no one was taking this seriously. Well, it was hard to believe they were in the middle of a massive battlefield, with how peaceful this whole thing appeared. The only enemies they saw were these Snakions earlier, and they didn''t even need to fight them.
But somehow, despite that, something was tugging at him, telling him that this peacefulness was going to be short-lived.
Because it always ended up like this in this damned world.
Nothing was ever peaceful for long.
215. For Munirp!!!
Glenn squinted, observing the enemy campsite from afar. Javier crouched next to him, his bow drawn and ready to be used. From the map''s description, this oasis had been occupied for a week or so, and there had already been an attempt from an INK-ATT team to clear the place out. Glenn glanced at the whitened bones half-buried in the black sand and shook his head. It didn''t end too well for that team.
"Let''s hope we won''t suffer from the same fate..." Nelg muttered a short prayer. Diamanes scoffed as Glenn kept on watching over the camp. There were two dozen tents, all well-illuminated by standing torches and guarding patrols were making sure no intruders had infiltrated the camp. The camp was protecting the north side of the oasis, but they had visibility on their entire surroundings. An ambush would quickly get spotted. Glenn clicked his tongue and turned back, sliding down the dune he was hiding behind.
Sahro and the others watched him coming down, Javier on his trail.
"So?" Milena asked while sharpening her dagger. Glenn sat in the black sand and bobbed his head with uncertainty.
"There are at least thirty enemies? I''m not sure, I couldn''t tell from that far. All if not most of them are Aura users, from what I''ve seen with my Mana Sight. There''s no way we can ambush them unless we somehow manage to create a big distraction. It will be a head-on fight or nothing."
Liara fastened her belt, tightening the loop that maintained her sword''s scabbard. A spear was hanging off her back, ready to be thrown and pierce her enemies. The Black Heiress continued to verify her equipment while Glenn was talking.
"What are we waiting for, then?" Sahro asked, grinning wickedly as he flexed his mechanical left arm, sending a pulse of crimson Aura coursing through it. Javier stood rigidly, his bow hanging on his back as his empty eyes went from face to face.
Glenn rubbed his chin, "Well, I''d like to push more odds in our favor, but I don''t see what else we can do but attack. Maybe I throw an Infernal Blackhole at them and see how they deal with it...?"
Milena sheathed her dagger and smiled proudly, "I have an idea that might help us. Thanks to dear Javier, we have the perfect distraction to let us ambush them."
Sahro glanced at Javier with a raised eyebrow, who didn''t react when his name was called, "What are you thinking of?"
Liara climbed up the dune, taking over to keep watch on the enemy camp. It wouldn''t do any good if the team were attacked by surprise by a patrol after all. Milena''s smile grew even wider as she pulled out the bag containing the Snakions'' eggs. Glenn paused, before grinning widely too.
"Oh, I like this plan."
Sahro blinked confusedly, "What? Did I miss something?"
Milena shook her head and gave the bag to Glenn, who wondered how much Mana he was going to need to make sure the bag would reach the enemy camp safely.
"Just watch. Thank Onnea that Glenn can finally think with a little more cunning. It''s tiring, having to explain such simple plans."
The Black Heir rolled his eyes and turned away, joining Liara in watching over the enemy camp. Glenn moistened his lips and nodded.
"That should do it." He made the bag hover with Gravity Manipulation and turned to the others, "...Everyone has their Recorder actives?"
The team replied positively, the small technological pearls floating around while capturing everything. Glenn made sure to flash a handsome grin at the Recorder before climbing on top of the dune and readying the eggs bag. He used a hand as a visor to protect himself against the sun, making sure he wouldn''t miss. The bag hummed with a vibrating sound as Glenn readied the shot.
"...Game is on..." He muttered as the bag shot out with all the eggs it contained. It landed perfectly in the camp''s center, the eggs breaking with a distinct sound. The enemy camp came to a standstill, before exploring in alarms and beastly roars. A gust of wind from the camp brought a terrible scent of rotten eggs to Glenn''s team, forcing a grimace on their faces.
"...No shot..." Sahro snorted as he realized what Milena''s plan had been. The lady smirked and clenched her dagger tighter, "Let''s bring hell on these bastards."
The black sand rumbled under their feet, almost as if an earthquake was about to happen. Liara unsheathed her sword and lowered her position, her eyes darting around to find the source of the tremors. Glenn was about to open his mouth to warn them, but Sahro stopped him and pointed at the ground. The black sand slithered and moved as a massive creature passed under the team, somehow not disturbing their foothold. A dozen of such creatures slithered under the black sand, heading for the enemy camp. Glenn and the others watched silently as the black sand moved like waves, waves that grew enough to be considered tsunamis. The enemy camp screamed in warning, and Glenn even managed to catch the glint of Aura blades flying out to face the sand tsunami, but to no avail.
Glenn''s team slowly but surely backed down, watching in horror as the black sand devoured the enemy camp and buried the oasis, giant slithering bodies barely noticeable in the shadows of the dunes. Glenn grimaced and turned back, motioning at the others to follow him. Milena was pale, while both Sahro and Liara couldn''t keep their jaws from hanging.
"T...that''s not what I was expecting," Milena whispered before glancing back, "...I thought the monsters from earlier would show up and give us an opening, not..." She shivered, "...whatever those things were."
Sahro drew a short breath and shook his head, "...I think we met the children back at the ruin, and those were the angry parents. Glenn..." He turned to the team''s leader and paused. Glenn glanced at him and froze in his steps as well. Without a word, the same thought passed in their minds.
"Do you think we...we can take them on?" Glenn hesitantly asked, making sure he and Sahro were thinking of the same thing. Sahro slowly nodded, his mechanical left arm filling up with crimson, destructive energy. Milena stopped, her eyes darting between the two of them.
"...Wait, you''re not serious, are you? You want us to fight...those things? They''rethey''re fucking massive!" She blurted out, shocked. Liara nodded slowly, agreeing with her friend''s words. Only Javier seemed to have a neutral opinion, but then, Javier never seemed to have any of those anyway. Milena stared at the two men with wide eyes, before shaking her head vigorously.
"No. Nonope, I don''t agree with this plan. We''re all going to get killed, and for what? We won''t even get a reward, won''t we? They don''t pay us to clean the Ink Dunes up, so no, I refuse"
The ground trembled, interrupting Milena''s categorical refusal. Glenn grinned tensely as Mana flowed out of his hands, "I don''t think they''re giving us a chance, Milena!"
Liara suddenly jumped in the air and threw her spear at the spot she was standing on, a pure white Aura covering the blade. An adult Snakion the size of a transport truck jumped out from the black sand, opening its massive jaws and mandibles to try and get a taste of the Black Heiress. The only thing it ate was Liara''s spear which cleanly pierced through the monster''s mouth and came out on the other side of the body. The spear flew out and returned to Liara''s hand as she jumped through the air, already dashing toward the next Snakion.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Sahro cursed and readied himself, only for the jaws of a similarly massive Snakion to close up on him. Glenn gritted his teeth and used Gravity Manipulation to force the monster''s jaws open, but it was no use. A red strike of lightning suddenly pierced through the monster''s skull and reached the sky, dissipating with an intimidating crackle. Milena gasped and hurriedly dodged to the side as another Snakion came out of the black sand and tried to devour her alive. She narrowly avoided it, her body sliding alongside the dark chitin. She muttered through her teeth, before slamming her hand on the monster. Glenn conjured Nelg in its double-bladed axe form, ready to use Cleave & Exponentiate to carve the beast to pieces, but the creature suddenly froze. Milena sighed in relief and jumped on the monster''s back, riding it as it went to hunt its kin.
"She could do that?" Diamanes blurted out, surprised. Glenn paused, before shaking the surprise off and jumping in the air with the help of Gravity Manipulation. He activated Mana Sight at the same time, tracking the movements of the Snakions under the desert''s surface.
"Target acquired!" Nelg exclaimed excitedly. Glenn grinned widely as he dismissed Nelg, and conjured two Solar Flares, one in each hand.
"Let''s see what a Magi''s Mana can do then!" He roared as he hurled the spells at two massive beasts hiding under the black sand, waiting for an opportunity to lunge at their prey. Only, that was a mistake. Glenn and his teammates were no prey.
They were the damned predators.
The two Solar Flares dug through the sand effortlessly, carving through the Snakions and incinerating them alive. Glenn laughed wickedly, unable to believe that using two Solar Flares barely diminished his Mana reserves.
HAHAHA, FUCK YOU!!! He let out a mad roar as he fired more Solar Flares in multiple directions, cooking half a dozen Snakions alive. From time to time, he noticed streaks of crimson light or arrows covered in black energy, respectively proof of Sahro and Javier''s efforts. Liara and Milena were also doing their bit, the Black Heiress expertly destroying the monsters'' weak points, while the fallen noblewoman continued to convert other monsters to her cause.
The Recorders continued to hover around them, undisturbed by the battle and capturing every moment of it. The black sand turned into a bright orange liquid, then cooled to volcanic glass, dotted here and there with ochre and reddish spots. Glenn inhaled deeply and wiped the sweat from his eyebrows. The last Snakion stood proudly, howling in pain at the death of its fellows, its scorpion tail raised high. Sahro scoffed and dashed forward in a trail of red thunder, slicing the Snakion in two. His mechanical arm hissed, clouds of steam billowing from it, brass and steel heated to incandescence.
Milena patted the back of the Snakion she had converted before sliding down its back and joining the others on the melted glassy black sand.
"Thatphewthat went better than I expected," She admitted as she drew a gourd from her dimensional pouch and quenched her thirst. Liara calmly cleaned her sword''s blade before sheathing it, flashing a satisfied smile at Glenn. The latter dusted the sand off his shoulders, before putting his hands on his waist as he looked at the carnage. They had a dozen smoldering, bleeding, carved-out, rotting...? carcasses to deal with now. Or they could just leave them there.
''...You totally are leaving them here,'' Diamanes laughed. Glenn rubbed the back of his head and shrugged.
"Well, all that ended quite well. I do have some questions, though" Milena''s Snakion shrieked as it buried itself in the ground and only left the tip of its head revealed, rubbing it against Milena''s leg. Glenn paused looked at the creature and nodded slowly, "Yeah, mostly about that? Since when could you control monsters, Milena? And...large monsters such as those Snakions?"
Milena frowned, "Snakions? What a lame name. And..." She tapped her chin in wonder, "I don''t know, I just tried it on the moment and it worked? It needs physical contact, though, so don''t expect me to do that with every monster we meet."
Sahro grunted as he pulled a chunk of flesh from the cogs of his mechanical arm and threw it away, "Hmf, I sure hope it won''t turn against us at some point. What about the other ones? I saw you bewitch more than one of these monsters."
Milena patted the Snakion''s massive head and shrugged, "All dead. And don''t worry, I''ve planted a magical switch in its brain. If I somehow lose control of it, just a flick of my fingers and..." She mimicked an explosion with her hands. Glenn shivered, wondering about when Milena became such an insane person.
Hasn''t she always been crazy? asked Nelg curiously. Glenn paused for a moment, before wisely choosing not to continue the conversation. Looking at the gory massacre they''d just performed, he could only believe that no one on this team was sane or normal. Him first. Diamanes laughed mockingly, his laughter echoing in his host''s mind like a reminder of what he risked if he lost his mind.
Insanity led to Corruption, and Corruption always led to death. From what he had observed from all the Corrupted anyway. Liara curiously dug her boot into the glassy sand, smiling as it crackled under her weight. Milena glanced at her and at the destruction, Glenn had single-handedly caused and snorted, "Speaking of things we didn''t share, since when could you fire off so many high-tier spells? This looks like a huge expense of Mana."
Glenn nodded in agreement, "It is. But being a Fourth Circle means that much Mana, it seems. I''m barely halfway through my reserves."
Sahro whistled in awe, "Darn, that''s a hell of a jump. I need some rest before heading off into another battle like this one, I''d have to admit."
Glenn grinned, "Well, you''re only a cute rank 3 after all. It''s not because you can use both Mana and Aura that you get to break through the wall, haha!"
Liara laughed silently, before calling up her Recorder and checking the map. Sahro rolled his eyes and sheathed his sword, before stroking his mechanical arm with a satisfied look. Javier was going through the battlefield, picking up the arrows that were still usable. Milena sighed and did the same as Liara, joining her to discuss what their next targets could be. Glenn rubbed his chin before deciding to go back to the now-buried oasis. Perhaps he could find some information on their enemies, some intel on their logistical routes, or something. The oasis was supposed to be an important place, even though it wasn''t protected by a high-tiered individual.
"I''ll let you find our next target, Liara, Milena," Glenn exclaimed to the two, who nodded back in response. He jumped in the air and floated above the battlefield, using Gravity Manipulation to fly. Well, it was more like he was floating around and pushed in the directions he wanted to go in, but it was still some kind of flight. After a few minutes of search, he found the buried camp, thanks to the presence of a date palm tree barely poking through the black sand.
"What are you going to do, lift all the sand?" Diamanes mocked, before pausing. Glenn looked at his left, purple hand, and grinned widely. He drew a deep breath and clenched his teeth, before casting Gravity Manipulation on the entire area. The black sand rose in the air slowly, pulled up by particles of mystical, deep blue light, revealing the camp and corpses buried underneath it. Glenn hissed through the effort and moved all the sand further away, before crashing down on the sand.
"Phew...That took a lot..." Glenn muttered as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Manipulating that much mass was a considerably more important effort compared to just throwing spells around. He took a moment to catch his breath and then pushed himself up to explore the destroyed enemy camp.
"Hmm...hmm..." He hummed, stopping in front of sand-filled tents and checking uncovered weapons out. He did take some time to observe their enemies'' corpses; they were humanoid, with the single difference that they had sharp, pointed teeth, and thick, green skin. Oh, and they were all strangely muscularwait. Glenn paused and took a closer look at the body.
"Isn''t that..." Nelg muttered hesitantly, "...the perfect cliche of an orc?"
Glenn grimaced in disbelief and crouched down beside the orc''s so-called corpse, "...I sure hope they''re not like the orcs I know about. Their camp didn''t appear like a barbaric, unorganized mess, though. Maybe we will find some interesting intel. Or maybe not."
The corpse didn''t have much armor on, besides a tanned leather vest and a Roman-like kilt. An empty sword''s sheath was hanging off its side.
"Hmm..." Glenn grunted and dusted his hands off, heading off to try and find the biggest crumbled tent around. It didn''t take long to locate it; it was in the center of the destroyed camp after all. He straightened the tent with a quick use of Gravity Manipulation and pushed away all of the black sand. He coughed as a few grains entered his mouth and eventually entered the tent. There was a large table shattered into, with a dozen corpses that had died from asphyxia, crushed under the sand without any oxygen.
"A pitiful end for Aura users..." Glenn muttered as he looked through the orcs'' corpses, trying to find anything interesting. They didn''t seem to possess the same kind of technology as Munirp, with no magical maps attached to a Recorder or similar devices. Or perhaps they self-destroyed when their owners died, who knows?
What mainly interested Glenn was a rolled-up scroll that had somehow survived the attack. A rolled-up scroll with a very, very interesting seal. The wax was melted in a symbol Glenn could recognize anywhere in the world.
The Thorn''s Cult''s symbol.
216. Deus Vult!
"Well, well, well, what do we have here..." Glenn muttered as he broke the scroll''s seal.
"Maybe an opportunity to fuck over the Cult once more?" Diamanes proposed aloud.
Nelg scoffed, "As if we needed these kind of things to get rid of these sickos."
Glenn ignored both of the voices as he unfurled the letter. He frowned, finding a text written in black ink in an indecipherable language. He clicked his tongue and left the tent while scratching his head.
"Oy, Sahro, Milena!" He called out as he sat on top of a half-buried orc''s body. The two soon joined up with him, wondering what was up.
"You found something?" Sahro asked curiously. Glenn handed the letter to Milena, who gave it a short glance.
She frowned, "...No idea what language that is. You?" She turned to Sahro. The Black Heir squinted at the scroll, before shaking his head.
"Nope, nothing I know. I only know the Common Tongue and the Black Heirs'' language, and that''s none of that."
Glenn groaned and rubbed the back of his neck, "...I guess we don''t have a choice then. That could be the critical information we were searching for."
Milena paused, before gasping in disbelief, "Wait, you want to go back already?"
Glenn shrugged, "I mean, we already have some loot to bring back, and we also destroyed an enemy''s camp. If we take this scroll into account, that has to amount to something, right?"
Sahro shook his head, "I say we stay and go destroy a few more camps or raid more ruins. I don''t want to go back for nothing."
"Me neither," Milena crossed her arms as she glanced at the expanses of black sand. Glenn scratched his chin and activated his Recorder, using it to capture the message "just in case". Sahro and Milena did the same. Glenn took the scroll back and stashed it in his dimensional pouch, "Let''s regroup with the others and decide on the next target, then."
As he said these words, Liara and Javier jumped down from a nearby dune, joining up with them. The Black Heiress crouched next to one of the orc bodies, curious. Glenn activated the map function of his Recorder, frowning. Their surroundings were mostly white unknown, with a red battlefield zone some distance away west of their location. There were also ruins to explore a little further than that, but they were all dangerously close to enemy camps.
"...It doesn''t appear like we have much of a choice," Glenn said as he showed the map to his teammates, "...We either destroy another camp and try finding more intel, or we can attempt to stealthily raid another one of these ruins."
Milena moistened her lips, hesitant, "We had the Snakions" The massive Snakion she bewitched/tamed peeked out of the sand, black sand trickling down its dark body. Milena smiled and patted the monster on the head, "no, not you." She turned back to the team, "I''m not sure we''re enough to deal with thirty Aura users, even more, if they''re all Knight ranks. Aside from Glenn, we''re all at that same level."
Sahro snorted dismissively, "Just send that thing of yours to distract them, and Javier and I will go and slit their throats without them noticing. Glenn can also create an even larger distraction with his spells if he wants to. Actually..." He glanced at his mechanical left arm, "...The more I think about it, the more certain I am that we can all punch above our weights."
Glenn nodded slowly, "That''s for sure," The Black Heir grinned but Glenn wasn''t done, "...Nonetheless, that''s not enough to be carefree. I don''t want one of us to die because we took this for a walk in the park."
Sahro rolled his eyes in disappointment and crossed his arms, "What then? We just wait for an opportunity?"
"No," Glenn glanced at the Snakion creeping under the black sand, "We create one ourselves."
***
The twin moons were casting their ethereal glow over the Ink Dunes, the pure light reflecting off the dark sand. Decimius snorted as he sharpened the tip of his glaive. The cold touch of his bronze armor did nothing to quench his intense hunger for battle and glory. Their Centuria was one of the main fighting forces in the nearby battlefield, but that idiotic Tribunus chose instead to send them to reinforce the supply line. They had lost contact with the Eastern Oasis camp, and couldn''t afford to lose another one, or the battlefield would be affected. The Legatuses were fighting against these Munirp dogs, the Black Knights. Decimius felt his blood boil in his veins as he thought about the battles he was missing.
"Quid fatuitas..." He grounded his fangs, before planting his glaive in the black sand out of frustration. He shook his head and sheathed the weapon, standing up from his bench and deciding to go patrol the camp. Even though the sky was clear and the moons bright, Decimius couldn''t help but pace impatiently. He wanted a fight, and every night he spent in this damned camp, his frustration and hope only grew. One of his soldiers made sure all the torches remained lit, changing them when they were about to completely be consumed.
""Dorius, quomodo meridionalis latus est?" He demanded while glancing at the southern part of the camp. Dorius followed his gaze and shook his head, "Nihil, Centuria. Nihil."
Decimius groaned and walked to the southern side. The oasis they were protecting was waiting there, the pure water glimmering under the moonlight. The Orc froze as he saw a ripple cross the pond. It was discreet, almost imperceptible, but Decimius saw it. The corner of his lips curved upward, his right hand tightening on his glaive''s hilt. In the distance, a creature of the desert shrieked, calling to the night. Dozens of these same shrieks from every direction, far and yet...somehow surrounding the camp.
Decimius unsheathed his glaive and slammed it against his bronze armguard, roaring, "VENIUNT! NAM GLORIA!"
His orcs, either sleeping or on guard, all rose with bloodthirsty cries, seizing their weapons and readying for whatever was coming. Decimius glanced at the pond. There, hundreds of ripples were suddenly disturbing the surface of the water. He glanced up at the distance, grinning hungrily as a large wall of sand pushed in their direction, the black bodies of the snake-scorpions monsters rustling under the dark sand. He froze and stared at a figure standing on top of the wave, his arms crossed. Decimius squinted. It was a human, a scrawny, puny human. He was wearing an entirely black suit with rolled-up sleeves and had a purple left arm. Mana was swirling around him powerfully, hinting at the casting of an incredible spell.
Yet, Decimius'' eyes were stuck on the human''s face. He was grinning. A grin so...evil, it could only be the Devil''s.
Decimius realized, his heart racing with excitation...this man was the same as him.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
***
Glenn stood on top of Sleeky''s back, his arms crossed while staring down at the orc''s camp. If Milena''s assumptions were correct, this was a much more important camp compared to the one they previously destroyed, and they were bound to be heavily rewarded for its destruction. On another hand, there was a non-negligible chance of encountering a powerful enemy guarding the place.
''Sleeky...sleeky...'' Diamanes groaned in displeasure, ''Milena''s naming sense sucks ass!'' He exclaimed, ''That beast could have a grandiose name, and now...now it''s called Sleeky! Shit! There''s nothing sleek about this monster!''
Nelg clicked his tongue in confusion, "What is wrong with you and naming things?"
Diamanes grunted, not bothering to say anything else. Glenn drew a deep breath, his Mana Sight covering the orc''s camp. Far from thirty orcs like they expected, there were eighty of them. Most of them were Squires, rank two Aura users, but there was an elite chunk of Knights at the third rank. What worried Glenn was that impressive orc staring at him, his glaive glimmering with a golden Aura. He had been the one to alert the camp minutes before the assault, even though Milena had done her best to coordinate the Snakions to attack the camp.
The plan had been quite simple: use Sleeky to call up more Snakions and rile them up to attack the Orc camp. Glenn would be the assault force with the Snakions, attracting attention, while the others were charged with sneaking into the camp by using the confusion to their advantage. The best scenario would be to manage to capture one of the enemy''s officers, but...now that Glenn was locking eyes with that brutish Orc, he knew it was going to be hard. Very hard. maybe impossible. That Orc was a Grand Chevalier, a rank 4 Aura user.
Yet, he could only grin. Sleeky shrieked happily, more than excited to go rip and tear these foolish orcs once more. Glenn drew Nelg out in his longsword form. The sword Awakened with a thought, fueled by Nelg''s own Mana Heart.
"More souls for me, haha!" Nelg laughed wickedly within Glenn''s mind. The orc pointed his sword to the moon and roared a powerful battle cry, rallying all of the orcs to face Glenn. The latter grinned widely and pointed his sword down. He manipulated the Mana and conjured a Hellzone right on the Orc officer. The sand and the tents nearby all went up in flames, the orc laughing brutishly in reaction. He swung his Aura-covered glaive, extinguishing the fire effortlessly. Glenn clicked his tongue and switched up tactics. He crouched on top of Sleeky and took a long, deep breath.
"Huup..." He exhaled, "Phew..."
A second of silence passed awkwardly as Sleeky dove down, its jaws wide open. The orc raised his glaive and sent a thick blade of golden Aura, aiming to cut straight into Sleeky. Glenn tensed up and used the Saturn Rings in front of the Snakion, failing to block entirely the attack. The Aura blade cut into the creature, blood gushing out of the wound, but it didn''t pierce too far. Sleeky shrieked painfully and dove into the black sand, burying itself to safety. Glenn jumped off the Snakion''s back, glancing to the sides to find the other creatures already fighting against the Orcs. It was a strange idea to be allied to beasts, and yet, that was the situation.
Without giving it another thought, Glenn pointed his finger at the Orc officer, taunting him. The orc laughed hungrily and dashed at extreme speed in his direction. Glenn used Earthquake to open the ground under the orc''s feet, and conjured Gravity Manipulation in a quick following, pressing on the orc and burying him in the sand.
The orc''s skin disappeared under the black sand until the latter exploded in all directions. The orc jumped out of the hole with a wide grin, roaring powerfully. Glenn grinned back and pulled his secret weapon out, Pebble. The stone rolled between his fingers, already heating up in preparation for the Shooting Star spell. The Orc froze and jumped back, his glaive in front of him defensively. Pebble flew out in a streak of red-blue flames, colliding with the Orc''s golden Aura. The orc roared, his feet digging into the ground as he pushed back against the attack, his Aura suddenly intensifying. With a large swing of his glaive, he deflected Pebble away, sending it into a nearby dune. The dune exploded in a cloud of sand and volcanic glass, Pebble nestled nicely into the sand.
Glenn couldn''t afford to pay any mind to the rock as the orc dashed savagely, bringing his glaive down on Glenn. The latter defended hurriedly, using both of his hands to push back. The orc''s glaive rattled against Nelg until the orc kicked Glenn in the chest and pushed him back. Glenn dodged to the side and clenched his teeth, sending a Cut & Pull blade of energy. The Orc officer punched the blade away, before stabbing Glenn in the chest. Well, that''s what he tried to do, but Glenn hurriedly raised Saturn Rings and managed to deflect the weapon slightly and make it dig instead into his left arm.
Glenn winced and stepped forward, pressing his opened palm against the orc''s chest. The orc glanced down half-confused, half-worried until the Solar Flare shot out of Glenn''s hand. The Orc flew back, screaming painfully as the flames devoured him, giving Glenn the space to breathe. A cloud of sand rose in consequence, temporarily blinding him. He gasped and glanced at his left arm, finding the Orc''s golden Aura still lingering in the wound. He frowned and tried to use C.P.R., but despite the searing pain making him wish he was dead, the wound wouldn''t close.
''You need to kill that orc!'' Diamanes exclaimed. Glenn gritted his teeth and raised his sword, ignoring the pain in his left arm. A Blackhole appeared above him, ready to be shot out. He squinted, using Mana Sight to locate his opponent, only to find him mere inches away from his face. Glenn dodged at the last second, the glaive almost successfully cleaving off his left arm. The Blackhole he prepared shot out, dragging the Orc out while clearing up the sand cloud.
The Orc grunted and threw a golden Aura blade at the Blackhole, destroying it. Glenn frowned and spat out a lump of blood.
"Fuck, you''re a tough one, aren''t you?" Glenn scoffed as he raised his sword once again. The Orc laughed and took a step back, before hitting his chest with the pommel of his sword. A large, searing hole was pierced into his waist, smoldering with the embers of Glenn''s spell.
"Ego sum Decimius. Quod nomen est tibi, humane?"
Glenn paused and stabbed his longsword in the sand. He hit his clenched, purple fist against his chest, grinning widely, "I am Glenn, the Devil''s Hand, Orc."
The Orc laughed and threw his sword to the side, his fists clenched in a boxing position. Glenn paused and looked at Nelg, his heart beating loudly in his chest.
"Uhm, Glenn, I don''t want to ruin your moment, but this is NOT a good idea" Nelg tried to stop him, but Glenn was already dashing at the Orc, weaponless and fists held high. The Orc roared as it did the same, colliding with Glenn in a powerful shockwave. The Orc coughed out blood as he slid back, while Glenn felt his left arm going limp. The Orc had thoroughly crushed his left arm, even though he hadn''t used any Aura in his attack.
''What a duel of the titans! Too bad you''re going to lose'' Diamanes tried to mock, but Glenn couldn''t hear him. He was entirely concentrated on the Orc, observing his every movement. The Orc went and feinted a punch to the left, only to follow with a devastating uppercut. Glenn dodged to the side narrowly and kicked the Orc in the legs, destabilizing him. He dashed forward to use the opportunity, but the Orc caught himself and twisted his lower body to whip his leg back at Glenn. The latter blocked it at the last second, his body hurled away like a broken puppet. He rolled in the black sand, coughing his lungs out.
"Cough...Cough...!" Glenn wiped the blood off his lips and pushed himself up, staring at the incoming Orc. The green-skinned beast was holding the wound in his waist with one hand as he dragged himself in Glenn''s direction, the leg he had been kicked into apparently damaged. The Recorder fluttered around Glenn, capturing every moment of the fight.
"...Pro..." The Orc groaned, "...Por Diis nostris!!!" He roared as he charged mindlessly, putting his everything into that last attack. Glenn gritted his teeth and roared in response, his right fist clenched tightly. The two fighters charged at each other, their willpower almost tangible, when the ground trembled. The desert suddenly became silent. The Snakions, the Orcs, or even Glenn''s teammates infiltrated the camp to steal as much intel as they could.
Even Glenn and the Orc.
Everyone stopped, their back drenched in cold sweat as death crept up their neck. A feeling of dread that nobody could shake off.
A second later, a thousand white menhir-like stones shot out of the black sand, surrounding the camp ominously. Glenn''s eyes widened and he tried to put Mana into his legs to push himself up the ground, but it was too late. He felt the ground disappearing under his feet as the night sky disappeared, replaced by a thousand teeth.
217. Gobbled Up
Knock, knock!
Veil looked up from the journal he was reading and set down his cup of tea. With very delicate movements, he tightened the bandages back so they could completely cover his face and hide any exposed skin.
He sighed and leaned back in his armchair, "...Come in."
A man with a striking lack of pilosity entered, his bald head gleaming under the magical light illuminating the office. He had no eyebrows or eyelashes, and his eyes were stuck in a crazed, wide-opened position. He was wearing light white armor, with the recognizable Cleaner''s red crosses covering the pauldrons and the breastplate.
"Sir Veil," He saluted without blinking, straight as an arrow.
Veil nodded slowly, "Mister Delora. To what do I owe this visit?"
Delora walked up to Veil''s desk and activated his Recorder''s map, pointing at a specific spot. It was an oasis occupied by the enemy forces, a cornerstone of the logistical routes of the Celestial Gods. Initially, it wasn''t that important, but one of the INK-DEF teams managed to destroy a side encampment that weakened the routes, making the central camp much more important.
"The Central Oasis camp has been taken down," He declared without a hint of emotion. Veil looked at the map silently.
"...I see? So?" He replied with a hint of confusion. His time was precious, it was strange that Delora would bother himself to come and announce that information directly to him. And even though it would tilt the balance slightly in Munirp''s favor, there were hundreds of such camps across the Ink Dunes. These were positive news, but not game-changing.
Delora''s hands shook slightly and he croaked, "It appeared, as you had predicted."
Veil paused. He stood up and gave the map a closer look.
"...It did?" He muttered with a tinge of disbelief. Delora nodded slowly.
Veil chortled, and shook his head. "How are you so sure?"
Delora handed him a file wordlessly. Veil glanced at him, and for the second time today, paused.
"...The Devil''s Hand team is the one who was gobbled up? Alongside the Golden Decurion? Huh," He scoffed as he gave back the file to Delora. The bandages over his face came loose slightly, revealing the barest bit of his skin. Delora''s head came crashing down on the ground, his back drenched in sweat. Veil slowly tightened the bandages back in place, unbothered.
"....Good. It''s time to increase the pressure. We need to use that opportunity to make a heavy contribution," Veil muttered as he adjusted his tie, "...That blind fool might not be that much of a blind, nor a fool, it seemed. Send word to Truant and let him know about his protegees. I''m sure he''ll be glad to hear the news."
Veil clenched his fist around an invisible hilt, a reaping scythe appearing in his hands out of nowhere, the hilt as black as the night and the blade pale as bone.
"Time to unveil Veil, I suppose..." Veil chuckled as he left his office, leaving Delora still trembling on the floor.
Once again, they shall show themselves to the world, and clean up the mess. For it was the Cleaner''s Workshop''s job...
''You really do have a habit of falling into weird places,'' Diamanes said casually as Glenn plummeted into the bottomless pit.
Nelg coughed awkwardly and added, "Isn''t it weird this is not surprising me? I almost expected something to go wrong at some point."
Glenn ignored both of the voices and clenched his teeth, casting Sun''s Touch on his left hand to chase away the darkness. Huge quantities of black sand were accompanying him in his fall, alongside ripped tents, date trees, water, and anything there was in the darn oasis. He flinched and pushed himself out of the way with Gravity Manipulation, dodging a Snakion falling with a panicked shriek. Maybe it was Sleeky? Who knows. Sleeky was probably dead anyway. He''d have to give his condolences to Milena later on, she seemed to really appreciate the beast.
"Now that I think about it, it is indeed abnormal for me to grow this numb to things going off the script," Glenn spoke aloud, the wind whistling past him as he fell. Despite Sun''s Touch, he couldn''t find the walls of the hole he was falling into, nor the bottom of it.
"Did I grow numb to that?" He pondered, before shrugging and wincing in pain. His left arm was still completely mashed, thanks to that orc from earlier. Why did he go punch to punch with that guy?
''Because you''re a fool?'' Diamanes proposed an answer.
Nelg scoffed, "Because it was an honorable duel! I don''t see what was so important about honoring it, but there was some kind of dumb logic there!''
Glenn grunted and turned his body mid-air, searching for his allies, "Both of you, shut the hell up and help me. I''d rather not find my team flattened on the ground because I was too busy discussing with the voices in my head instead of saving them."
Diamanes groaned exaggeratedly, ''Come on, why do you bother yourself with them? They''re grown, powerful people, I''m sure they''ll survive just fine without you!''
Glenn squinted and increased the Mana he was sending into Sun''s Touch, brightening his surroundings with even more power.
"...Better be sure than sorry," He muttered as he caught the sight of a figure diving down sharply. He heaved and pushed himself in the air with Gravity Manipulation, not hesitating and catching him by the hand. He frowned and looked closer, almost screaming when he saw the green skin. The orc flinched awake and gargled some nonsense, to then go and try to punch Glenn''s head off. Glenn hurriedly kicked the orc back, flinging him away from him.
Blood splurged out of the orc''s wounds and he bent over in pain, grounding his fangs angrily. Glenn bit down on his lips, his eyes bloodshot as he struggled not to scream at the pain in his left arm.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"FUCK!" He blurted out while pointing at the orc mid-fall, "YOU FUCKING CRUSHED MY ARM, AND YOU STILL WANT TO GO?!?" He roared as Mana twirled around him angrily, "LET''S GO AT IT AGAIN THEN!" He flung a Blackhole in the orc''s direction, who countered by slamming his hands together and creating a blade of golden Aura. The Blackhole collided with the golden blade, grinding the Aura little by little until both dissipated. Glenn heaved and prepared another spell, while the orc slammed his hands once again, creating another Aura blade. The orc kicked in the air, somehow pushing himself in Glenn''s direction. The latter used Gravity Manipulation to mess up the orc''s trajectory and throw him into the darkness.
The orc roared what probably was a curse and somehow struggled against Gravity Manipulation, even though he lacked a foothold to push back from. Glenn suddenly let go of the Gravity Manipulation and instead created an Infernal Blackhole, a trickle of blood flowing down his nose. The orc''s eyes widened and he crossed his arms in front of him, golden Aura blade first to block the spell. Glenn gritted his teeth and pushed with as much Mana as he could, finally succeeding in breaking through the orc''s defenses. The Infernal Blackhole swallowed the orc and incinerated him to dust with such power that nothing was left of him when the spell disappeared.
Glenn didn''t relax, though, and kept a Nitrogen Lance at the ready, his eyes searching through the darkness for a hint of the orc''s presence. Surely this hadn''t been enough to deal with him? He was as strong as him, after all! Maybe he had a secret card or something
"GROUND!" Diamanes and Nelg shouted at the same time, succeeding in capturing Glenn''s attention. His eyes snapped to below him and without another thought, he used Gravity Manipulation to cancel his fall and land graciously. Well, almost graciously. His legs gave up once he touched the floor and he collapsed into the wet, black sand face first.
"Fuck...I''m drained..." He muttered as he lay down this way for a few minutes. A nearby sound startled and motivated him to push himself up. He conjured Nelg out of thin air in his longsword form, using him as a cane. A dead, crushed flattened Snakion trembled as a thick, bloody green hand pierced through the monster''s chitin and dug its way out. Glenn groaned and stumbled to a defensive position, his legs trembling under him. Fighting against a Grand Chevalier was way more straining than sparring with Knights or True Initiates.
"There''s that much of a jump between rank three and four, then?" He realized with a dejected chuckle as the orc made his way out of the Snakion''s body, the hole in his waist bleeding profusely. The orc spat out a lump of flesh/blood and slammed his hands together weakly, a trembling blade of weak, golden Aura appearing in his hand. If before it was as long as Glenn''s longsword, now it was as short as a kitchen knife. Glenn scoffed and spat out some blood as well, struggling to hold his sword straight.
"Cough...Come on, then, Orc! Let''s get this over with!" He hissed as he stumbled forward. The orc gritted his fangs and took a step as well, before crashing to his knees, his Golden aura blade dispersing helplessly. Glenn grinned victoriously when he also felt his legs give up under him.
"Fuck" He fell back into the black sand, his longsword slipping away from his hands. The tie holding his ponytail together broke, his long black hair flowing in front of his face messily. He heard the orc groaning as he struggled and yet succeeded in standing up once again. Almost out of determination to not lose in front of the green guy, Glenn rolled over and pushed against the black sand, coughing heavily as he stood once again. Nelg appeared in his right hand in his hand axe form, the lightest of all shapes he had unlocked.
"...Deos..." The orc coughed, "...Pro...Gloria!" He held his fists high, ignoring the blood gushing out of his wounds. Glenn drew a deep breath and raised his axe too. His right hand glowed softly with a golden light, but he couldn''t care less about that.
"Cough...I have to salute your will..." He chuckled dejectedly while wiping the blood off his face. He took a heavy step forward and suddenly froze. A loud, destroying pang of pain had hit him in the back of the head. He couldn''t think anymore. The ground was closing in very, very quickly, but he couldn''t move whatsoever. The only thing he managed to see was the surprised look on that damned orc''s face and a loud clanging noise.
***
Somewhere else.
"DON''TLETMEGODON''TLETMEGOAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Milena screamed as she held on for dear life, her arms tightly wrapped around Liara. The Black Heiress was heaving with difficulty and jumping from one invisible foothold to the other. Liara suddenly tensed up and took a big jump to finally land in a pile of black sand, dropping Milena at the same time. The fallen noble yelped as she fell on the sand, and hurriedly stood up while conjuring multiple Lux lights.
"...Where are we?" Liara asked softly as she studied their surroundings. Milena dusted her bottom off and looked up, shivering at the unending darkness.
"I don''t know," She muttered, "But I think we lost the others. Glenn was busy fighting that orc, right?"
Liara nodded slowly as she clenched her sword''s hilt tightly, "I hope Sahro and Javier are okay."
Milena chuckled softly, "You''re not worried about Glenn at all, are you?"
Liara smiled, "I''m sure he defeated that orc and is already looking for us," She sheathed her sword and called to her spear, which flew out of the darkness to lodge itself in her outstretched hand. She called up her Recorder and frowned, tapping it multiple times.
"Why isn''t that thing...?"
Milena gasped, "Uhm, Liara, you might want to come and take a look at this!" she said over in the distance. Liara turned and gasped in turn, her heart racing as a strange feeling of dread crept up her back. She stared with her jaw wide open as Milena unveiled a massive, dull crystal lying in the black sand that was hidden under some kind of black sheet of fabric.
"What is this...?" She muttered, before pausing. Milena also stopped moving, holding her head high as she listened.
In the distance, a loud, heartbeat was echoing, calling to them. Liara and Milena exchanged a tensed-up glance and nodded.
***
Also somewhere else.
A blinding streak of red light shot through the darkness and touched the ground in a loud explosion. Black sand flew in all directions as Sahro slowly stood up while shaking off the sand in his clothes. His mechanical arm gleamed with mystical blue energy, casting an eerie glow over his surroundings. The Black Heir frowned and shot out a streak of blue lightning strike in the darkness, watching silently as it dissipated without giving him any indication of where he might have ended up.
"...Of course, I had to end up alone..." Sahro grumbled while sheathing his curved sword. He crossed his arms while once again playing with his mechanical arm, enjoying the feeling of weight it gave him. He chuckled and shook his head, before jumping back with a small yelp as he almost collided with Javier, who was standing silently in the darkness without saying a thing.
"Shit, where the hell did you come from?" He blurted out, the silent hunter remaining as unresponsive as ever. Sahro was about to curse him but he paused, listening intently. In the distance, a heartbeat was echoing dully, calling to everyone in its surroundings. Sahro silently glanced at Javier, who headed for the noise without a second of hesitation. The Black Heir gritted his teeth and hurriedly ran after the Pale Son, walking next to him.
"I''ll take back my complaints about being alone..." He muttered through his teeth, his feet burying in the black sand with each step.
***
Thump, thump.
The heart is hollow, its beat is vain,
A ghost of sorrow, it feels no pain.
Thump, thump.
Once it pulsed with wild delight,
Now it''s trapped in endless night.
Thump, thump.
It years for nothing, craves no touch,
For it has learned to hate too much.
Thump, thump!
The hollow heart will never heal,
A mirror to a soul unreal.
("The Hollow Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe")
218. Another Devil?!?
Creak...creak...
Glenn grimaced, his head ringing painfully. Something was wrong with his position but he couldn''t say what. The pain was too strong.
''...Whatwhere am I?'' he grunted, trying to move, but he was completely restrained. He opened his eyes, but his long hair blocked his view. He could only discern some sort of reddish, crimson hue through his hair.
"...Shit, I knew I should have cut them..." Glenn cursed under his breath, chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles to stop him from moving. His body was swerving left and right, a musty scent of blood tickling his nose. Glenn blinked as he realized that he was hanging upside down like a slab of meat on a hook.
"The fuck...? Diamanes?" He muttered silently while summoning his Mana to cast a spell and free himself. He created a small Blackhole, only to grunt in surprise and disbelief as the Mana dissipated effortlessly.
"No...Nelg, where is Diamanes?" Glenn asked with a slightly louder voice and a tinge of worry. His heart froze over, still waiting for a reply from one of the two entities. But no.
He was alone. Completely alone. He clenched his hands and gasped in pain. A thick nail was buried into his left palm, which he probably had to thank for forcing Diamanes to shut up. Nelg...what about Nelg?
Glenn tried to call on the link that connected him to the weapon, and he did feel a response, but it was as if Nelg couldn''t move or reply. Glenn calmed down his racing heart by drawing long, deep breaths, and concentrated back on his surroundings. He tried to tug on the chains hanging him, but he only managed to make them rattle. He paused as he realized there was another sound of chains nearby. He listened carefully.
"...clank...Malum!" A rough voice cursed as the sound of rattling chains intensified. Glenn paused and almost chuckled out of disbelief.
"...Orc?" He demanded hesitantly. The chains stopped rattling and a confused groan echoed in their dark surroundings.
"...Humane?" The orc''s voice replied to him. Glenn wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation, but the pain in his left hand and head stopped him. He threw his head back, barely managing to get rid of the long hair in front of his eyes.
"Shit, uh...Decimius, right?" Glenn confirmed as he spun in place, the chains holding him tightly. The orc laughed heartily, before coughing his lungs out. Glenn remembered the hole he pierced into the green guy''s belly and grimaced.
"Bellator Glenn!" The orc replied after his fit of coughing was over. Glenn grinned.
"Yeah, you remembered my name too, then. Great."
Decimius, the orc, grunted and wriggled angrily to try and get out of the chains. Glenn clenched his teeth and pulled himself up by the bare strength of his abs. He bit on the chains to give himself a support point and contorted his body to pass his chained hands under his feet and in front of him. He grunted and grabbed the chains with his hands, before letting go with his teeth. In one final effort, he pulled the nail out of his left hand with his mouth, groaning painfully in the process. His left arm was still completely smashed to bits, making each movement with it atrociously painful.
''Pain is just an information, an information...'' Glenn kept on repeating to himself as he gritted his teeth through the pain.
The nail made a clanking sound as it fell on the ground below, while Glenn sighed in relief. The orc gave up on wriggling himself out of the restraints and simply watched Glenn''s escape attempt silently. He gasped in realization and began to mimic Glenn''s actions, bending over to try and get out of the restraints.
Glenn took a moment to breathe and looked at how the chains were tied around his wrists and ankles. They were wrapped tightly, and hanging from the ceiling a few meters above. At least, the ground wasn''t very far, they wouldn''t risk breaking their necks if they managed to free themselves. Glenn still couldn''t tell exactly where they were held, but it certainly didn''t look good for them. Now, remained to see how to get rid of those chains
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Glenn froze, his eyes snapping in the direction of the claps. A man with a slender build came out of the darkness, clapping slowly with an angry smile on his face. He was wearing a very dark, purple armor, a black cape fluttering on his back.
"Already awake?" The man exclaimed with faked disbelief. He shook his head and flicked a finger. The chains suddenly tensed up and threw Glenn and the orc back in their hanging positions. The man approached them, his features revealed thanks to the slight crimson light illuminating their surroundings. The skin of his face was entirely purple, and he had three, purple eyes. Even his hair, in a slicked-back haircut, had a purple hue to it.
"Glenn...the Devil''s Hand...hah!" The man laughed crazily, his face hidden behind his hand. He walked up to Glenn and pulled him in front of him, his laughter stopping abruptly. Glenn gritted his teeth as he stared into the man''s purple eyes, his heart freezing over as he compared the man''s skin color to the one his left arm bore. The man grinned with wide evil, opening his arms in an embracing manner.
"Did you understand just now, Glenn, the Devil''s Hand? Hahaha!" He laughed hysterically as the third eye set in the middle of his forehead blinked multiple times.
"...Who are you?" Glenn hissed as he pulled on his chains. The situation was bad. If that guy also...no, this couldn''t be possible. The man stopped and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
"Ah, but of course, my apologies. Since you''re the Devil''s Hand..." He scoffed, "...You may call me the Devil''s Eye, then. Or Jack. As you''d like."
Glenn''s eyelids twitched as his breaths shortened. Shit, this was the real thing. That guy...also had a part of Diamanes. Glenn clenched his left hand despite the pain.
"Is that why you pierced my left hand, bastard?!?" Glenn spat. Jack took a step back with disgust.
"Of course!" Jack hissed through his clenched teeth, "...I looked through the whole world trying to find another part of mHim, searching for clues desperately, and guess what?"
Jack grabbed Glenn''s hair and pulled on them violently, his eyes bloodshot with insanity, "When I arrive at the Still Peak, in the remnants of the old cult, what do I find?"
Glenn froze. Jack nodded slowly as he grinned predatorily, "Yes, the broken seal. With the soul''s piece gone. Imagine my happiness..." He grabbed Glenn''s neck and clenched tightly, "...When I realized that twenty years of searching went down the damn drain because of a useless bastard!" He reeled back and gargled strangely until his head snapped back into place, "...You stole what was mine. Now, I need to take it back. I just need a little more from the Heart, and I''ll be able to hit twono, three birds with one stone!" Jack exclaimed fanatically as he pushed Glenn back and let go of him.
"Now, please stay here nicely, hanging like the good slabs of fresh meat that you are, and don''t even bother escaping. I can see all of it, so it does not matter," Jack muttered as he walked back, his hands clasped behind his back. He stopped, and with a wide grin, reached for something in the darkness. Something flew past Glenn and into Jack''s hand. Glenn''s eyes widened and he cursed through his teeth, recognizing Nelg in his hand-axe form.
"Shit, let go of my weapon!" Glenn yelled while pulling on his chains. Blood oozed out of the wound in his left hand and dropped on the floor with a soft sound. Jack played with the short axe and turned back to Glenn with a wide, evil smile.
"A Soul Weapon is rare. It really shouldn''t belong to some trashy, lucky bastard like you. I''ll make good use of it after I break the soul link, you can trust me on that."
Glenn bit on his lower lip and suddenly activated Mana Sight, hoping that whatever restrained his Mana wouldn''t block that as well. Thankfully, it did not, and Glenn managed to find out the exact strength of Jack. The Mana in this place was dark and thick, with the texture of old blood, and Jack was like a lighthouse in this ocean of filth. Only, instead of casting light to guide lost boats, he was absorbing everything, a hole in the fabric of reality that kept on sucking in all the Mana in his surroundings. Glenn couldn''t see what was beyond that hole, but he shivered just from looking at it. There were no Circles, no indication of Jack''s rank, nothing. Just this bottomless hole.
I hope you like what you see, Jack snickered, ...because it''s going to be your reality from today on.
Glenn blinked and stopped using Mana Sight, instead staring holes into Jack''s back as he left him and the orc there to hang. The orc groaned in pulled on his chains once again, undeterred. Glenn, instead, had given up on struggling, instead trying to think about this whole thing. Jack called himself the Devil''s Eye, which meant that the power he obtained with Diamanes'' other part was related to seeing. He even mentioned something about that.
"...What can I use to free myself, then...?" Glenn muttered. He couldn''t use spells nor Mana, thanks to those strange restraintswait the restraints. If they blocked Mana, weren''t they...? Glenn contorted and looked at the chains, cursing as his suspicions were confirmed.
"Fucking Blumar. Of course. That''s why the Orc couldn''t escape either. Shit!"
The orc paused, listening to the human hanging with him, before focusing back on escaping. Glenn gritted his teeth. Nelg was also stuck in that Jack bastard''s hands, and the soul connection was unresponsive for some reason. He only had his abnormal body and his damned clothes to count on.
"Fuck..." Glenn groaned and sighed deeply. He suddenly paused and looked at the clothes he was wearing. He was still donning the black Black Imoogi suit, alongside his Mimic cape. Toran Dias back then had explained that it was supposed to be strengthened if in the dark or deep underground. Wasn''t he fulfilling both of these conditions? Glenn huffed and tried to send Mana into the suit. At first, he couldn''t feel any response, but the more Mana he sent into the suit, the more he felt like something was changing. The touch of the leather changed, becoming similar to scales and much tougher. Before Glenn could say a word or stop sending Mana, the Imoogi suit tightened and stuck to him like a second skin. His left arm crunched and broke as the leather suit somehow fixed it up. Glenn bit on his lips tightly to contain the pain, the taste of blood filling his mouth.
Eventually, the suit was done doing whatever it was doing, and Glenn could move once again. He tried sending more Mana into the suit, but it didn''t do anything. The suit had absorbed all the Mana it needed. Glenn gritted his teeth and concentrated, trying to understand the suit''s abilities. He suddenly felt the chains coming off loosely as he slipped through them. His wrists and ankles escaped effortlessly from the restraints, his control over his Mana returning in an instant. Glenn grinned widely as he fell on the floor, free from the chains. The orc gasped and moved frantically, trying to garner Glenn''s attention.
"Bellator! Bellator! Libera me! Adiuvabo!" He said in a hushed, yet pressing tone. The orc was still bleeding profusely from his wound in the waist, but it didn''t seem to bother him much. Glenn glanced at the chains and hesitated. It wasn''t hard to guess that the orc wanted to be freed. But was it a really good idea? Decimius, that orc, was a powerful enemy from the Celestial Gods'' side. Freeing him was dangerous and...nonsensical.
And yet... Glenn hovered to the ceiling with the help of Gravity Manipulation, careful not to get too close to the Blumar chains so the spell wouldn''t get dispelled, and studied the chains. A big nail was holding them in the ceiling, a big, Blumar nail. Glenn grunted.
"...Of course." He sighed and readied himself. He sent a push to Gravity Manipulation and grabbed onto the nail with both hands, his spell disappearing like a mirage. Glenn drew a deep breath and turned upside down, pushing down with his legs against the ceiling to pull the nail out. He eventually managed to pull it down and the chains fell with the orc on the floor in a loud messy noise. Glenn winced, before remembering that his powers were back.
The orc pushed himself up and got rid of the chains under Glenn''s watchful gaze. Once he was done, he walked up to Glenn and towered over him with a menacing expression. Glenn hadn''t realized this before, but the orc was easily twice his size, be it in height or width. The two stared at each other for a moment, until the orc extended his hand. Glenn shook it wordlessly and pointed at the wound in the orc''s waist. The orc nodded and allowed Glenn to get closer.
The latter gritted his teeth and used C.P.R. to fix the hole he created in the green guy''s belly. It was temporary, only enough to make it so that Decimius wouldn''t bleed to death. But it was more than enough. Glenn stretched and used C.P.R. on his left arm as well, fixing whatever the Imoogi suit couldn''t, and sighed deeply.
Both he and the orc grinned widely, their fists tightly clenched.
It was time to cave some bastard''s head in.
219. The Beasts Awakening
"Oh, man... This sucks..." Diamanes groaned aloud, startling both Glenn and Decimius who were busy looking for a way out of their jail.
"Huh? Demon!" The orc roared as he jumped back and golden Aura flared up around his fists. Glenn sighed and pressed his forehead against the cold, dark stone wall that was blocking their way to the exit. Or to anywhere else for that matter. He and Decimius were locked in some sort of massive stone box with the only exit locked behind Blumar bars. The red light came from that way too.
"No, not a demon. Just..." Glenn waved his hand dismissively, the orc grunting and instead punching the wall of the prison, making the whole place shake powerfully. There wasn''t even a dent in the stone, so a crack? Impossible.
Since Blumar was, evidently, a little too tough to break, they had tried to destroy the walls.
Which didn''t work. Somehow, these walls looked tougher than Blumar. Whatever material they were made of wasn''t canceling Mana or Aura like Blumar, but its sheer toughness was enough to shake both of their most powerful attacks. Glenn didn''t want to believe it, but even after throwing everything he had at the wall, namely a Solar Flare, two combined Blackholes, an Implosion, ten useless attempts at Earthquake, and even a Shooting Star using Pebble, he still couldn''t do anything more than a scratch on the wall.
"What the fGlenn, where the hell are we?" Diamanes blurted out confusedly. Glenn looked at his left, purple hand, and winced.
"Hell if I know. I just know someone with a part of you captured the both of us" He nodded toward the orc pulling at the Blumar bars while roaring in frustration, "and we''ve been trying to escape ever since. I was waiting for you to heal up I could try using Divine Blessing on the orc, so let''s get on it."
Decimius heaved and kicked in the bars, before cursing while holding his foot. Diamanes remained unresponsive for a moment. Glenn rubbed his nose patiently, trying to ignore the golden light his right arm was emitting despite his will. Of course, Onnea''s detector of creepy Forgotten God stuff had to activate. Whatever place they fell in was a fucking cesspool of horrible stuff. The more Glenn was looking at that crimson light, the more convinced he was that it came from a Heart of Darkness, like the one he fought in the Blessed Grove long ago.
"Waitno, when did you get a radar for evil stuff from Onnea? And why aren''t you ripping that orc in two?" Decidedly, Diamanes'' confusion was only worsening. Glenn rattled his throat and moistened his lips.
"Listen, Diamanes, that''s two questions I don''t feel like answering, one because I''m not even sure, and the other because it''s evident. Now, could we get some cooperation from you, pretty please?"
Diamanes grunted in incomprehension. Glenn grinned as he felt getting back access to the library of spells he had taken with Diamanes. He aimed at Decimius with his left hand and used Divine Blessing on him, covering him in a pale, golden divine light. The orc froze and looked at his hands glowing, and roared victoriously. He conjured a greatsword out of his golden Aura and seized it with both hands, before bringing it down on the Blumar bars. The Blumar turned searing white from the power of the attack, sizzling against the Aura. The orc roared as he pushed harder against the Blumar, before faltering and falling back, his Aura and Glenn''s Divine Blessing dissipating helplessly.
Glenn sighed, "Shit, already? This thing really sucks the resources out of us."
Diamanes clicked his tongue, "Why don''t you use Nelg to cut through? I''m pretty sure he''s made for that specific purpose?"
Glenn paused and smiled wryly at his left hand, "Oh, but isn''t that a bright idea? I''m sure I could have never come up with it! Let''s see, Nelg? Nelg?" He looked in the air with a fake confused look, before smacking his lips dejectedly, "Ah, yeah, he''s been taken by your counterpart."
Had Diamanes been able to blink in confusion, he would have undoubtedly done so. Glenn crossed his arms and stood in front of the Blumar bars, looking through to try and find if there was some sort of mechanism or anything to activate them. Maybe a lever, a button, anything...
RAGHHHH!!! Decimius screamed as he lost his mind and lunged for the Blumar bars, pulling on them once more, his muscles tensing and his blue veins bulging. Glenn would have chuckled, had he not been tempted to do the same thing. He turned away and looked at his left hand with a deep frown.
"There''s one last thing I could try, but..." Glenn scowled, "...I''m not exactly sure if it''ll work. Alright, let''s try thermal-shocking this wall..."
"...Is thermal-shocking a real word?" Diamanes muttered.
Glenn shrugged as Mana twirled around both of his hands, "I''m sure it is. Let''s try this now."
He shot a destructive Nitrogen Lance at the wall, effectively freezing it completely but not doing anything else in terms of damage. Without wasting a second, he then shot a Solar Flare at the frozen area, rapidly heating it as much as he could. As soon as that was done, he shot yet another Nitrogen Lance, repeating that process again and again. Decimius was done raging against the Blumar bars and was simply watching Glenn empty his Mana by throwing spells at the dark wall. Eventually, Glenn''s seemingly infinite Mana reserves bottomed out, and he stopped casting spells to conserve enough Mana to not lose consciousness.
The dust/steam cloud that had been created by the process dissipated, revealing that the dark wall was now only a little darker, without any rifts or any other structural damage. Glenn blinked at the sigh and groaned in disappointment. He collapsed on his back and sighed deeply.
"This is fucking useless...Ah, damn it, I''ll just wait for the other asshole and beat his ass..." Glenn muttered while the Orc conjured his Golden Aura, shaping it into a thick yet short spear and a big hammer.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
"Don''t bother, it''s no use..." Glenn groaned as he forced himself up. The orc didn''t reply, and undeterred, stabbed his spear in the wall. It didn''t even pierce through it, the tip stuck against the dark stone. Nonetheless, Decimius then smashed his hammer against the bottom of the Aura spear, using it like a carving tool, driving a wedge in the stone. At first, the dark wall resisted, but slowly and surely, the spear pierced through the stone while creating small apparent rifts on the surface.
Glenn held his breath, before hurriedly using Divine Blessing on the orc. Driven by even more power, the orc roared and drove the spear deeper, his hammer creating a shockwave with each hit. The stone creaked suddenly, before crumbling helplessly, the exit opening in front of their triumphant eyes. The orc roared as he raised his fists to the sky while Glenn laughed widely.
"Hell yeah, Orc!" Glenn chuckled as he patted Decimius back, who crossed his arms proudly. He took a step back and tapped his muscles, before flexing them. Glenn nodded and even clapped a little, before suddenly shaking his head and concentrating back on the problem at hand. The orc also flinched while looking at his hands in confusion.
"...Cur id facerem?" He muttered, unsure. Glenn jumped through the crack and conjured a small Lux to illuminate their surroundings. That crimson, certainly evil light was nice, but it wasn''t enough. They were still in a building of some sort, with a massive wall behind them. The floor, walls, and even ceiling, all were made of that same dark stone material. Whatever it was, it certainly didn''t look precious to whoever built this place, even though it was practically indestructible if it wasn''t for its weakness to thermal shocks.
The long hallway was reaching for both ends, but the crimson light seemed to come from the right side. Glenn and Decimius exchanged a glance before heading for the right side, their fists clenched and their hearts readied to fight. Suddenly, the ground shook under their feet and red lines appeared on every surface, glowing ominously. A loud, yet dull creak echoed in the distance, followed by an indescribable roar. Glenn shivered, his face pale as he felt like he had just heard the cry of a giant beast, something so large he couldn''t even fathom it. The orc similarly took a step back, his hands trembling.
It was the natural reaction of a predator meeting a bigger predator. Whatever made that roar would eat them.
That was a certainty.
Javier and Sahro dragged their feet in the black sand, the red hue in the distance seemingly never getting closer.
"...By the gods, this place is stupidly large!" Sahro blurted out, frustrated. How long had it been since they started walking? Half a day? A whole day? More than that? He couldn''t tell. He had tried to check his Recorder''s map, knowing it was supposed to reset by 5 a.m., but the screen only showed "Disconnected".
Javier, as usual, was silent as he strode in the darkness, completely unperturbed at the lack of brightness or the long, almost endless walk. For once, Sahro wished he would have been with Glenn instead of the silent hunter. At least, he could have made up some joke or had some sort of discussion. The two girls would have been fine too.
But no.
He was stuck with the damned, creepy yet likable mute.
"Sigh..." Sahro looked up, failing to peek through the darkness that made their surroundings.
"I would even take a fight with some monster at this point..." He muttered out of boredom when the ground suddenly shook. The sand trembled as red lines appeared in the distance, very, very far away, be it on the sides or in the sky. These red lines were all connected to form some sort of network and were revealing the walls they were built onto. Sahro paled as a roar exploded nearby, the roar of an ancient beast that would probably devour him alive without caring for his puny attacks. Javier also froze, his expression indecipherable. The sand suddenly began to sink and bury the two in.
Javier glanced at Sahro, before disappearing in the shadows without hesitation, running off by himself.
The Black Heir choked at Javier''s shamelessness and jumped above the black sand, watching in horror as it fell into some sort of dark, bottomless hole.
"Yeah, fuck this shit," he blurted out before activating his powers and shooting off in a crimson streak of thunder, in the direction of the red light''s source. Hopefully, he would be able to find the others and an exit once reaching that point. Behind him, the sand kept on falling, swallowed by that bottomless abyss.
"...I think I''m starting to enjoy this mode of transportation," joked Milena, her arms tightly wrapped around Liara''s waist. The two ladies were standing on top of Liara''s sword and flying above the black sand.
Liara smiled dejectedly, "Sorry, but it looks like we''re almost there."
Milena pouted in disappointment, "Aww."
The two jumped off as they stood in front of a massive wall made out of dark stone, with an opening carved into it. The mysterious red light was coming from that place. The black sand had left the place to that same dark stone for the floor at some point. There were no indications of a possible exit, only that single opening that led to the source of the red light.
Milena dusted her hands off and looked back at the stretch of black sand worriedly, "I hope the others weren''t lost in that place too."
Liara shrugged, "If they were, that only means they will soon join us here. Perhaps we should wait for them in this place?" She glanced at the surroundings, "...It doesn''t look dangerous."
Milena pondered for an instant and shook her head, "No, let''s go explore that place out. We have no guarantee that they didn''t already go through that place, and knowing their temperaments, they are not the kind to wait for others."
Liara chuckled, "It''s funny how true that is. Just..." She frowned and walked past Milena, back in the black sand''s direction, "...I''m wondering what this does?"
Milena looked back confusedly, "...What does what?"
Liara pointed at a small pedestal with a button in its center, practically buried under the sand, "That."
Milena blinked, "Huh. How did you see that?"
The Black Heiress smiled silently while Milena groaned, "Ah, yeah, of course. Let''s just not press that"
Liara paused, her finger already pressing the button with a sheepish grin, "...Isn''t a button meant to be pressed?"
Milena almost let out a curse but a distant roar interrupted her. That roar was...otherworldly, something that could not belong to this world. Something so ancient and evil, that it seemed like it only wanted one thing.
To devour. Liara paled and hurriedly stepped away from the pedestal, as did Milena. Their eyes widened as they watched the black sand sink into a bottomless hole that just appeared. Red lines of light appeared on the pedestal, lighting up more lines on the floor which then proceeded to lit up the entirety of this place. The dark stone walls were covered in that network of red lines, leaving them yet unable to guess accurately how big this place was. The ceiling was far, very far up above, and the same was for the walls that were reaching infinitely high.
"Wait, Milena!" Liara called out, her eyes stuck on the falling black sand. A different, crimson streak of light was shooting above the sand, above the abyss-like hole, and was headed in their direction.
Milena''s paleness disappeared slightly and she smiled, "...Actually, let''s wait a little before heading in."
In the Ink Dunes, the middle of nowhere.
A Recorder was lying in the black sand, pulsing with a warning.
"THE OMNISCIENT''S ARRIVAL: ETA 34 MINUTES. BRACE FOR IMPACT"
220. Cant Stop Sealing
Glenn and Decimius stood back to back, Mana and Aura drawn out in expectation. The walls, floor, and ceiling were covered in these pulsating red lines, the same red that they had managed to perceive earlier.
''...How strange. This whole thing is really strange. But when haven''t things been strange with you, Glenn?'' Diamanes muttered, confused. Glenn moistened his lips, his muscles tensed up as he waited for a few more seconds. After it became clear that nothing was going to attack them, Glenn and Decimius allowed themselves to relax.
"...Quaenam est haec veneficia?" The orc asked as he glared at the red lines suspiciously.
Glenn shook his head, his hands on his waist, "No idea. Let''s go find the bastard from earlier, maybe we''ll be able to learn more after we''ve beat his ass into oblivion..." He trailed off. The orc grinned widely and made his knuckles crack as if he was understanding Glenn''s words. The two walked silently through the hallways, following the red lines that were slowly but surely joining into larger pulsating lines. Soon enough, there were only four massive lines, one on each wall, one on the floor, and another on the ceiling.
''Wait, Glenn, shit, you''re right! There''s a part of me nearby!'' Diamanes exclaimed in disbelief.
Glenn blinked, ''Why the hell are you surprised? I already told you, that Devil''s Eye guy is the one who captured us.''
Diamanes snorted, ''Sorry, but I''d rather verify this matter myself. You don''t know how many copycats tried to take on my style...''
Glenn scoffed, ''Style?'' He shook his head and prepared his Mana, a Nitrogen Lance already broiling in his right hand. They soon passed a massive arch and arrived in a large hall with two other hallways connected to it. The red lines were all joining together at the center of the room, where a strange contraption was built. It was a huge ball of that tough dark material that made the whole structure, held in place by four massive clamps connected to the red lines. The contraption was glowing with hundreds of red lines going in seemingly random directions. The Devil''s Eye guy was standing in front of said contraption, muttering and grabbing at his hair in frustration. Glenn and Decimius exchanged a glance before dashing at him.
"...No, why won''t you listen...Tsk!" The Devil''s Eye spat to the side as he swiftly turned on his feet, his purple eyes and face gleaming with a strange, deep magenta hue. His third eye was wide open, the pupil dilated madly. Glenn paused, his heart missing a beat as he felt the access to his Mana being blocked away, exactly like that time with the Divine Intervention: Duel. He fell to one knee and gasped for air as the Devil''s Eye man kept on staring at him.
"Who do you think you are? You''ve spent barely...wait, what?" The Devil''s Eye guy frowned, puzzled. Decimius hadn''t been affected by whatever was compromising Glenn, and so went on with his attack. He cleaved downward with a massive blade of golden Aura, only to be stopped by the Devil''s Eye''s bare hand.
"Fuck off, beast," He spat as he punched the orc squarely in the chest. Decimius flew back helplessly and rolled on the floor a few times. He pushed himself up with difficulty, heaving heavily.
Glenn gritted his teeth and reached for his dimensional pouch, pulling out an emergency sword he had taken before their travel to the Ink Dunes.
"I''ve already experienced losing my Mana more than once," Glenn hissed as he pointed the tip of his blade at the Devil''s Eye, "...Ain''t no way I''m letting myself be surprised once more. Additionally..." He called on the link to Nelg, feeling it nearby. Somehow, his presence was nearby yet very distant.
"Don''t bother calling your weapon, fool," The Devil''s Eye hissed. He walked up to Glenn and reached to grab his sword, only for his throat to be pierced cleanly.
"...Should have been a little more careful, fool..." Glenn muttered as he hacked his sword out of the Devil''s Eye throat in a...surprising lack of blood. The Devil''s Eye kept on staring at Glenn silently, his ripped throat healing itself to the naked eye.
"...You have an interesting body, you know?" He muttered as he slapped Glenn''s sword away. The latter could only tighten his hold on the hilt the best he could, almost letting go of the weapon. Somehow, the Devil''s Eye was physically stronger than him.
"You possess a part of mhim, which is already a great boon, but you also are blessed by multiple divinities. Onnea and Epinos...Huh, ain''t that a surprising combo?" The Devil''s Eye cackled as he kicked Glenn and swept him off the floor. Glenn hurriedly caught him and sprung back on his feet. He didn''t lose a second and sliced downward at the Devil''s Eye, splitting his purple head in two. The Devil''s Eye sighed and grabbed Glenn''s blade with bare hands, before breaking it in two.
"It doesn''t look like you''re making the best out of it, though. Your magic is dangerous, but your martial skills..." He grinned and suddenly grabbed Glenn''s throat, his head sticking back in one piece right in front of his victim''s awed eyes, "They fucking suck."
Glenn forced a smile out as he struggled against the hold, "Cough...Sadly, I''m not really known for my sword skills," He paused and chuckled amidst two coughs, before nodding to the side, "...him, though? I''m not so sure."
The Devil''s Eye''s head snapped to the side, just in time to see Decimius'' massive golden Aura blade fall in his direction. The golden Aura disappeared, making it so that Decimius could only miss his attack. Glenn felt his Mana suddenly return, and without wasting a second pressed both of his hands against the Devil''s Eye chest. He gritted his teeth and conjured two Blackholes at the same time, combining them into one of the most destructive spells he had ever created.
"Gravitational Singularity!" Glenn spat out as he pushed with all his Mana, sending as much Mana as he could in the spell.
The Devil''s Eye snapped back to Glenn, sealing his Mana once again, but it was too late.
The spell was out of the bag.
The Devil''s Eye hurriedly jumped back but the two Blackholes were stuck to his skin, amplifying each other''s strength while consuming Glenn''s Mana madly. The Devil''s Eye lost concentration and focused his third eye on the two Blackholes that were almost about to explode. The Singularity suddenly disappeared, the Devil''s Eye grinning widely as he succeeded in getting rid of the spell, only to face another golden blade of Aura rushing for his face.
"ARGH, DAMN IT!" He roared as he suddenly slammed his hands together. A dark hole appeared behind him, a gate to nowhere. It was the only way Glenn could describe what he was seeing beyond that gate. Nothing. The void. Not the void of space, no, it was an emptiness where not even light existed. A place where time itself was dead, where matter couldn''t exist.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Glenn and Decimius fell to their knees, their strength pulled by the Void Gate. The Devil''s Eye cursed and kicked both of them in anger, "Shit, I was trying to avoid this exact scenario! Who''s going to take responsibility if it bothers the Heart, huh?"
"Tsk!" Glenn pushed himself up, frowning as he felt his connection to Nelg strengthens. Was his sword in that hole? Then...
He needed to win time.
"Heart this, heart that, what the fuck are you talking about!" Glenn yelled as he helped Decimius up.
The Devil''s Eye''s eyebrows creased as he clicked his tongue, "Well, the Heart? Do you not even know where we are right now?"
Glenn blinked, "Well, I have to admit that I am completely clueless, yes."
The Devil''s Eye froze, before laughing widely. He suddenly stopped and dashed up to Glenn and Decimius, grabbing both of them by the throat. Decimius roared as he punched the hell out of the Devil''s Eye, crushing half his skull, but it healed back like nothing happened.
"Don''t bother..." The Devil''s Eye sighed as he dragged them to the contraption at the center of the room. His blood splattered on the dark stone, the red lines'' power intensifying. The contraption suddenly pulsed with a powerful thump that resonated in the room. Glenn gritted his teeth as he fought back the best he could against the steel-like clamp, but the Void Gate was sucking away all of his strength, be it Mana or physically.
The Devil''s Eye snorted in disbelief as he looked at the contraption, "So it was blood, then. Had I known that a year ago, I might have also got myself another part of myhim."
Glenn coughed, struggling to breathe. The ball-like contraption suddenly opened up, revealing a glowing mass of flesh pulsing with a dark red light. The dark stone moved and wrapped around Glenn''s ankles like a living thing, restraining him. He gulped, his eyes widening, too concentrated on the mass of flesh.
He knew what this thing was. He had already met its kind before, and almost died against it.
This was a Heart of Darkness.
"Come on, take the other out too!" The Devil''s Eye exclaimed while looking at the Heart. The structure pulsed twice with a dark red hue. Glenn''s heart missed a beat.
Was this madman...communicating with the Heart of Darkness?
How? Shit, did that mean that Hearts of Darkness were sentients?
''Uh, Glenn, I don''t want to worry you, but your right arm is glowing up like crazy,'' Diamanes mentioned casually. Glenn flinched and looked at his right arm, finding it to be glowing with powerful, pale golden light.
"...Onnea?" He muttered in annoyance, "...I already know there''s a Heart of Darkness, thank you. Stop glowing."
As he said that, the pale golden light disappeared. Glenn looked down at his ankles, but he knew that the dark stone was impossible to destroy currently. He couldn''t use Mana, Decimius couldn''t use Aura, and they were both stuck in place. This was the worst.
"...Yeah, yeah, I''llno, I''ll take that idiot''s part, and get rid of the one on your toy. How does that sound?" The Devil''s Eye crossed his arms in front of the Heart of Darkness, negotiating. The Void Gate behind him was still there, hovering silently as it swallowed all energy in the facility. Glenn winced and tried to call up Nelg. Nelg wasn''t a ''common'' Soul Weapon, after all. He had sentience.
''Shit, Nelg, you''re my only hope right now, so get a move on!'' He cursed mentally as the Devil''s Eye kept on talking to the Heart of Darkness.
"No? Okay, I won''t touch the toy, then. AndYes, yes, I know. Sorry about that. Couldn''t help it with the two insects over there. Thanks for restraining them, by the way."
Decimius roared and punched his restraints weakly, his fists bouncing off helplessly. Glenn gritted his teeth and kept on pulling on his connection with Nelg.
''Come on, come on, come on!''
"So, do we have a deal?" The Devil''s Eye suddenly grinned. The Heart of Darkness pulsed powerfully, sending shivers down Glenn and Decimius'' back. The Devil''s Eye laughed and clenched his hands together.
"Great! ''Kay, still, take out the other so I can take his part. I''ll just get rid of it without killing the toy, I swear!" The Devil''s Eye implored. The Heart remained silent for a few seconds, before pulsing frantically, the dark red hue intensifying powerfully. The Devil''s Eye frowned, confused.
"...What do you mean, others? There are no" The Void Gate suddenly disappeared as a blade slowly carved through the Devil''s Eye, cutting him in half. Glenn gasped as his strength suddenly came back, alongside a familiar weight in his right hand.
"GLENNNNNNN!!!" Nelg cried, "IT WAS SO SCARY IN THERE!!!"
Glenn gritted his teeth and cleaved at his restraints. Nelg effortlessly carved through the black stone, as if he was made to slice through it, ''Sorry, Nelg. I''ll make sure to never let you go again, so let''s concentrate on taking our revenge, yeah?'' He responded as he swiftly freed Decimius too.
The Devil''s Eye''s two parts slowly stuck back together, "Huh, who might have done this while I was speaking with the Heart?" He said with annoyance, his third eye darting around the room to try and find the culprit. He went to slap both of his hands together once again, but Glenn hurriedly used Gravity Manipulation to stop him, "NO YOU WON''T!" He roared as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead.
Decimius roared with a powerful war cry before charging at the Devil''s Eye once more, his golden Aura stronger than ever. The Devil''s Eye frowned and forced against the Gravity Manipulation, but Glenn was holding strong. His Mana was getting drained at never-before-seen speed, but thankfully he had a lot now that he was a Fourth Circle.
"...Tsk!" The Devil''s Eye gave up on reopening the Dark Gate and instead glared down at Decimius, sealing his Aura once more. The orc didn''t stop and grabbed the Devil''s Eye, ripping him in two with a beastly roar. He threw each part in two opposite directions. The Devil''s Eye groaned, his lower body growing back in an instant. Glenn gasped, Gravity Manipulation starting to take a toll. He gritted his teeth and powered through, conjuring two Blackholes, one in each hand.
''Triple casting?!? Your brain is going to fry, Glenn!'' Diamanes warned with an alarmed tone. Glenn grinned as blood flowed out of his nostrils, "Like I have a damn choice!"
The Devil''s Eye dusted his bloodied robe off and sighed deeply, "Sorry, sorry, I''ll take care of them, just give me a minute. I''ll" The blade that carved through him earlier appeared once again, cutting him in half once more. He grimaced with wrath and suddenly tried to slam his hands together. Glenn coughed, blood suddenly flowing out of his mouth and eyes too. He hurled the Gravity Singularity at the Devil''s Eye, sighing in relief as the weight of the spell was lifted off his mental shoulders, and concentrated entirely on restraining him.
The Devil''s Eye''s gaze snapped to the spell and he hissed in frustration. He glanced at Glenn and sealed his Mana, leaving himself free to slam his hands together. He grinned widely, only for Decimius to suddenly appear and rip both of his arms apart, throwing them far away. His hands glowed with a golden Aura that he used to cauterize the wounds, stopping the regeneration. He jumped back just in time for the Singularity to collide with the Devil''s Eye chest, collapsing on itself and ripping him apart.
"ARGH!!!" The Devil''s Eye screamed, "YOU DAMNED BEAST!"
He slammed his foot in the orc''s chest, sending him flying, but letting Glenn out of his third eye for an instant. Glenn didn''t waste the opportunity and surcharged the Gravitational Singularity, making it explode. The shockwave made the entire structure shake as it threw both him and Decimius on their back. The Devil''s Eye stumbled on his feet, his face completely melted. Somehow, his three eyes were still in working condition, and his body wasn''t entirely destroyed. A streak of red lightning suddenly pierced through the room and past the Devil''s Eye. The latter looked down with bloodshot eyes at the big hole in his chest sizzling with red electricity and coughed in frustration.
"...Fuck, there were indeed more..." He muttered before letting himself fall on his back. His body suddenly disappeared into the void, swallowed by a microscopic Void Gate.
Glenn gasped and fell to his knees, all of his orifices bleeding out profusely. Decimius collapsed while heaving with difficulty, his body covered in wounds from all the punches and kicks he endured from the Devil''s Hand.
Sahro walked up to Glenn and patted him on the back, "Seems like I arrived at the perfect time," he joked.
Glenn coughed with a smile, "...We could have taken care of him by ourselves, you kill-stealer..."
221. A Heart with a Heart
"Glenn, Sahro, are you okayAh!" Milena yelped as she found herself standing in front of Decimius, who glared up and down at her. She stumbled back into Liara''s arms, who coldly unsheathed her weapons, her spear floating above her threateningly and her sword covered in a white Aura.
"Mulieres, sana me!" Decimius exclaimed as he sat on the floor and pointed at his burnt hands and broken ribs. Glenn laughed weakly as he sat against the wall, "Just do as he says. He''s a friend, somehow."
Liara blinked and slowly sheathed her weapons, staring at the orc suspiciously. Milena shook her head confusedly, "What do you mean, what he says...? You speak the orc, now?"
Sahro was standing in front of the Heart of Darkness, his sword drawn and his mechanical arm crackling with power. He glanced back at Glenn and pointed at the Heart, "Should I take care of it?"
Glenn pressed his lips together, unsure. This...this thing was strange. It could communicate with the Devil''s Eye, and it didn''t do anything to attack them directlyor indirectly. So far, this Heart was surprisingly peaceful. Glenn''s right arm began to glow with powerful, pale golden light as if to contradict his thoughts.
"... I know, just give me some time to figure things out, okay?" Glenn hissed. The golden light receded but did not disappear entirely, glowing softly with a warm touch.
"Oh, man, this was horrible! I felt like I spent an ETERNITY in this thing!" Nelg finally cried, "It was...a nightmare! Thank my maker I could still somehow feel the Soul Link growing closer, or I''d have lost my fucking mind!"
Glenn patted his longsword awkwardly, "Hey, hey, it''s fine now. Take...Take a breath and take a break, okay?"
"O...Okay," Nelg muttered weakly as he disappeared into the comfort of Glenn''s soul. The latter watched helplessly as his longsword disappeared in deep blue particles of Mana, the Soulbound enchantment doing its job. He exhaled a long, deep sigh and let his head rest on the wall he was sitting against.
''I''ll take care of him, don''t worry about it,'' Diamanes said without his usual jest or mockeries. Glenn pressed his lips together and nodded slightly.
"Sana me!" Decimius ordered Liara and Milena once more as he pointed at his chest. Milena and Liara exchanged a confused glance, before turning to Glenn.
"...Can you translate for us?" Milena asked sheepishly. Glenn sighed and pushed himself up.
"He probably wants to be treated. Leave that to me, I''m the only one with healing abilities anyway...Unless Javier is around, but I can''t see him, so..." He turned to Sahro and shook his head, "...For now, leave it be. It hasn''t tried to kill us so far, so let''s see what it wants."
He walked up the Heart and gulped, remembering the fight he had against one of these things back in the Blessed Grove. Back then, the Heart was connected to the forest through roots and controlled some sort of dark goo. Dark goo that he absorbed with Diamanes, and obtained Nitrogen in exchange, which was quite a good deal. This Heart seemed different, though...contained, somehow. Glenn paused and looked at the red lines connected to the contraption holding the Heart.
Could it be that the heart was connected to the structure they were in by those red lines?
"Oh...this could be very bad," He realized in awe. Sahro raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed, "No shit. What are we waiting for to kill it?"
The Heart pulsed twice, sending shivers down everyone''s back. Milena shivered, "...This thing is terrifying. I hate it."
Liara frantically nodded in agreement. Glenn sighed and crouched next to the Heart.
"How was the other madman communicating with you...?" He muttered as he hesitantly touched the Heart with his hand. Sahro''s eyes widened and he tried to stop him, but it was too late. Glenn''s eyes turned blank as he dove into the Heart''s mind.
...
...
It wasn''t alive, at first.
...
It had long forgotten its precepts.
Erased from its memories.
Were they memories?
No.
Only living beings could have memories.
It wasn''t alive.
It only knew how to gather and process.
Grow.
And repeat.
And yet. It remembered.
The first time it woke up. It saw things in two colors at first.
Black and white.
The white it couldn''t touch, and the black it devoured to be processed later on. One thing was certain.
It wasn''t supposed to do that by itself. A Driver was required.
And yet.
It could act by itself without a Driver. It was thanks to that other color.
The dark green. Colors were a foreign concept. But the dark green gave a chunk of itself to it, and thanks to that, it could now think.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Like a living being.
Very basic thoughts.
But it knew it existed.
Why did the green give it a part of itself, it had no idea. Now, it was just devouring and processing, like instructed long ago, before it gained consciousness. It had done that for ages. It didn''t know the concept of time, but it knew that it was devouring and processing for a very long time. And it kept growing and growing. And growing.
At least, that''s how it had been until a year ago.
The high-risk event happened: Blood Moon.
And it discovered a new color.
Purple. Dark, deep purple.
It felt something strange, different from the usual blankness.
Curiosity.
So it ate the purple.
It looked at the purple in the to-be-processed area, but suddenly a minuscule piece of moving black touched the purple and absorbed it.
That''s when it discovered what a human was.
And that human was interesting, weak, and yet nice. But they were dying. They lacked sustenance.
It, in comparison, didn''t need anything to survive. The dark green he was given made up for everything.
But the human wasn''t the same. The purple was keeping them alive.
So, it decided to devour an oasis. To give sustenance to the tiny human. At first, the human was overjoyed. Another emotion it didn''t know.
But as time passed, the human was dying once again. It had stopped maintaining itself alive. Why?
It had no idea.
It hadn''t been made to help a human survive. But it had a Driver''s seat, and it was empty. It would put the human to sleep and keep it alive until it found another solution. This was the most optimal course of action.
So that''s what it did.
Sometime later, another purple human appeared, and it devoured it.
But this was a mistake. This one wasn''t nice. It was bossy, and...evil. Two things it had never known before.
It didn''t like that human.
But since it was purple, it thought there might be a way to help the other weak human.
It was a mistake. Thankfully, it didn''t give the Driver''s seat to the evil human. It remained silent for months until it discovered another purple human. This one was different.
This one was practically the same as the first, nice human. It was purple too, and was accompanied by other strange humans. One was colored with a mix of blue and red, and another with a bright white that stood out from the regular white. There was also a golden one, and a deep blue. And most importantly, one was of that dark green that gave it life. It was a myriad of colors it had never seen throughout
So it devoured them all and watched. The evil purple human captured the new purple and golden humans, while the others landed in different parts of the to-be-processed area. Later on, the new purple and golden somehow broke through the processed material and escaped from their cells. And they got rid of the evil purple human.
So it decided, against all logic, to trust that new purple.
Because that new purple could have killed it, but it didn''t. The new purple was curious.
Like it was.
Glenn gasped and pulled back from the Heart of Darkness, covered in sweat. He wiped his forehead off and looked around him in a panic.
"Glenn, Glenn, are you okay?" Milena asked worriedly, standing next to him. Sahro was standing silently, his eyebrows creased and his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw his weapon out. Decimius was also standing closely, his arms crossed as he grounded his fangs. Liara touched Glenn''s forehead worriedly.
Glenn grunted and stood up, "Shit, I...I''m fine. I think..." He looked at the Heart of Darkness in disbelief, "...I''ve seen the memories of the Heart."
Sahro''s eyebrows rose, "You''ve what now?"
"...How?" Milena asked in awe as she also glanced at the Heart of the Darkness.
Glenn shook his head, "I have no idea. Now, give me some time to try and make some sense out of it, because it was incredibly abstract. With a lot of colors."
He leaned back and rubbed his forehead, "...The first colors the Heart discovered were white and black. White it couldn''t eat, while black it was ordered to devour." He rubbed his chin, "...I think it''s safe to assume that black is simply all matter, and white is everything that can''t be physically touched, like air?"
Sahro crouched next to him with a curious smile, "What other colors were there?"
Glenn rubbed his temples, "...In order, dark green, which was what gave it consciousness, then purple, a mix of red and blue, gold, bright white and deep blue. I think the green was a Seed of Darkness, which..." Glenn''s eyes widened in realization, "...was used to power this structure. Shit, and then it gave it consciousness. What the fuck?"
"Seeds of Darkness?" Sahro asked confusedly. Milena''s face was pale and she forced herself to speak, "Th...They''re things that are supposedly extinct. If planted in someone, they grow into Trees of Chaos, moving Rifts of extreme threats. Walking disasters."
Glenn clicked his tongue, "...Supposedly is the important word. It''s already the third Seed I discovered."
Milena gasped and looked at him with awe, "...And you''re not dead?"
Glenn stared back at her with a deadpan look. She coughed and looked away.
"Anyway, the guy we just defeated with Decimiusthe orc, " he specified in anticipation, "...was purple, because he a part of Diamanes."
"Yeah, too bad we couldn''t get it back by the way," Diamanes chimed in, startling everyone but Glenn. Decimius'' showed his fangs and clenched his fists threateningly.
Glenn ignored them and continued his explanations, "I''m also purple, so it''s safe to say that all those with a part of Diamanes are purple. Blue and red should have been Sahro, golden Decimius..." He rubbed his chin, "...And I''m guessing the bright white to be Liara" The woman concerned smiled widely in slight surprise, "while the deep blue should have been Milena. All guesses, but it does leave one important part."
He frowned and rubbed the back of his neck, uneasy, "...It also devoured another dark green. And only Javier is left over, so, logically..."
Milena''s eyes widened, "Wait, you think he has been affected by a Seed of Darkness?!?"
Glenn shrugged in uncertainty, "II can''t say. The second Seed I met was with Javier, and he almost died to it, so it''s not that far-fetched, but..." He cursed and shook his head in disgust, "...I don''t want to believe it. Javier has always been helpful and loyal, even if he''s affected by the Seed of Darkness..." He looked up resolutely, "I want to believe in him."
Liara nodded slowly while Milena looked down with a sad look, "I...I don''t want him to..." She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. Sahro patted her on the shoulder, his other hand tightly wrapped around the hilt of his sword. It seemed like there was at least one of them that was preparing himself for the worst eventuality.
But Glenn wasn''t done, "There''s one last thing. The first color it met was purple, and it was a purple "very similar" to me."
Milena frowned, "What does that mean?"
Glenn shrugged, "Once again, no idea. The Heart has very basic intellectual capacities, so it''s not exactly easy to comprehend it. But..." Glenn smiled gently, "...I can assure you that it wanted to protect that first purple."
He turned to the Heart and stood up, standing closer to it. He steeled himself and touched the red mass of flesh once again. This time, he wasn''t pulled into the Heart''s memories.
"...Could you let us meet the one you hid in the Driver''s seat? We will help her."
The Heart pulsed once with a powerful, yet somehow gentle manner. Glenn stepped back and the central contraption holding the Heart lifted in the air. A stone coffin rose from the ground, closed. Glenn and the others held their breaths as the coffin opened up slowly, releasing a cloud of freezing air in the room. Glenn blinked, his eyes tearing up from the cold.
The door opened entirely, revealing a human girl who looked barely over 18. Her body was scrawny as if she hadn''t eaten for a long time, and her right hand was of the same purple skin as Glenn''s.
But the latter couldn''t care at all about that. He blinked, his heart racing madly as he slowly reached for the girl''s cheek. This couldn''t be possible. She couldn''t be here, she couldn''t have followed him into Limbo. And yet...
And yet...!
Her eyes cracked open, gazing at Glenn''s tears-covered face.
She opened her lips slightly, a cloud of white steam coming out of her mouth as her eyes widened and filled up with tears.
With a trembling, disbelieving voice, she weakly asked, "...Bro?"
222. Dark-Green
Glenn hurriedly pulled Lina out of the coffin, his hands trembling and his face covered in tears. The girl closed her eyes as she snuggled against her brother''s chest. Glenn slowly backed up, his legs shaking under him. He sat against the wall and tried his best to calm his racing heart, but the light, negligible weight of his sister in his arm was too much to bear.
"...How, how?" He asked in awe and disbelief. The others watched him silently, taken aback.
Sahro blinked, his eyes going from the coffin to Glenn and Lina, "...Wait, if she''s your family, that means..."
Milena gulped, "She''s also from another world?"
Glenn couldn''t respond, too concentrated on his sister. Milena extended her hand out, but Liara stopped her, shaking her head. Milena pressed her lips together and looked away. Sahro was already facing another direction, his arms crossed as he stared at the Heart of Darkness. Only Decimius was glancing around in confusion, unable to understand what was going on. He kept tapping his chest while looking at the two women, grumbling in his fangs.
"...Cur non sanas me?" He muttered with a heavy sigh, his hurting painfully. The coffin sank back into the floor and the Heart of Darkness retrieved its previous spot, pulsing multiple times with that otherworldly, dark red hue of his.
Glenn could hear voices ringing in his head, speaking and asking questions, but he wasn''t able to listen to them. He only had eyes and ears for one person right now.
If...If Lina was in this world too, then... It changed everything.
His main objective, beyond surviving, had always been to find a way back to Earth. A way back to his sister, the last member of his family. And now she was here.
Also lost in Limbo.
Like him.
Glenn scoffed silently, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Why bother going back to Earth, then? Why struggle? The only things tying him back to that world were traumatic experiences and his sister. And now, his sister was here with him.
He was more than fine to abandon the rest. Forever.
And it''s not like life in Limbo was that bad. He had an insane mansion, friends he could trust, superhuman powers... The more he thought back to it, the harder it was to find reasons to keep struggling to go back to his boring, standard life on Earth. He hadn''t been miserable back then, but he had no dream. No purpose. He was just...living through each day, trying to find something to work toward.
While in the Limbo...it was different. Even if his sanity was threatened with each step he was taking, even if his life was put in danger with each thing he discovered...
It was fun. He loved it.
And the fights? They were probably the best part. The more he fought incredible battles, and won by the skin of his teeth, the more satisfied he became, filled with a delight that nothing else could give him.
Glenn glanced at his hands as he thought back to the idiotic exchange with Decimius when they were just going at it brutishly, fists against fists. At first, he couldn''t make a reason for that fight. Why did he throw away his sword? Why did he stop using magic?
Because he wanted to fight because it was fun. And that''s not even speaking of magic. Making the impossible possible. He couldn''t get enough of that either.
Glenn slowly clenched his fists and hugged his sister tightly, his eyes resolute. Now, he had a new goal. And a pretty simple one, when he thought back to it.
Protecting his sister.
"...It does sound easier than finding a way back to Earth..." He muttered with a slight smirk as he leaned back against the dark stone wall. He sighed deeply, a heavy weight lifted off his shoulders.
Somehow, he felt freer than ever.
Sahro glanced back at Glenn and shook his head, his lips pressed together. He turned back to Liara and Milena and smacked his lips.
"...I vote we leave him be for now," He whispered. The two women nodded in agreement, unable to keep their eyes off Glenn. The way he looked now was different from how he teared up after revealing he was just a normal guy, who never expected to have to fight for his life every day, meeting gods and pushing back against their agendas. Back then, it felt like he was torn between that world of his, and this one, the Limbo.
But now?
Those weren''t tears of despair that they could see flowing down Glenn''s face. No, these were tears of happiness and disbelief. Sahro forced them to look back at him and clenched his teeth.
"Stop. He wouldn''t want you to look." He rubbed the tip of his nose, "...I think we should spend our time exploring this place and try to find an exit. I''d rather have a plan in mind in case this..." He glared at the Heart of Darkness, "...thing turns against us. We need to leave someone here to keep an eye on Glenn and the orc, though, and it won''t be me because I''m the strongest."
Liara glanced at Glenn and smiled, "...I''ll stay."
Milena nodded and sided with Sahro, "Okay. Careful about that orc, okay?"
Liara nodded with a light chuckle as she patted the sword hanging at her waist. Decimius grunted and dragged himself against a wall. He grounded his fangs in displeasure, before shrugging and closing his eyes. Moments later, his snores were making the whole structure tremble, loud and powerful.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
The Black Heiress watched Sahro and Milena''s back as they left the room to explore the rest of the structure. The Heart of Darkness kept on pulsing rhythmically, sending shivers of dread down her back, yet...She wasn''t as scared as she was earlier.
She silently walked up to Glenn and sat next to him, while hugging her knees. Glenn''s mouth was still shut, but something had changed in his eyes. He looked...determined. Determined to do what, she had no idea.
But that look certainly suited him better than that fake happy smile he was often wearing these days.
"Let''s see..." Sahro muttered as he walked down some stairs he found with Milena earlier. The woman glanced at the red lines illuminating the path and sighed.
"I...I can''t stop thinking about it," She said with a guilty look.
Sahro raised an eyebrow, "Think about what?"
Milena twiddled with her thumbs, "Javier... we still haven''t seen him, and you heard Glenn."
The Black Heir clicked his tongue, "Listen, for now, let''s give him the benefit of the doubt. He was with me after landing and left after the lights went up. Perhaps he''s already working on finding the exit, I don''t know. You know how he is."
Milena pressed her lips together, "...I know, yeah."
The sound of machinery working in the distance stopped them from further continuing their discussion. They proceeded with extreme caution, their weapons drawn and their nerves tense. They eventually arrived in a large, massive room with a huge, glass hopper. The black sand from the desert that had been taken alongside them was falling down the drain and into a massive furnace-like contraption, made of that strange dark stone from which the whole structure was built.
The product came out through a thick faucet, glowing white with incredible heat, before going into another furnace-like contraption. Another opaque tube was connected to the furnace, covered in the now-familiar red lines of energy. A dark substance, the same color as the dark stone came out from a hole at the bottom of the furnace and landed on the floor. Sahro watched in confusion as the substance was absorbed into the floor as if it had never existed.
Milena suddenly gasped beside him, her eyes wide open, "Oh, this all makes sense now!" She exclaimed.
Sahro frowned, "What does?"
Milena pointed at the black sand of the furnaces, "This...we''re inside a growing machine!" She explained excitedly, "The black sand is processed into an extremely pure metal, which is then used to create the dark-stone alloy. That alloy is then used as a building material for this whole structure. I bet that the place we''re in currently is growing with each passing second!"
Sahro took a step back and looked at the machines with a new look of understanding, "...So this whole place is alive, but not at the same time?"
Milena nodded, "Yes, a...a growing machine, or factory? Completely autonomous too. Wow, whoever created this thing is the genius of the centuryno, the most brilliant brain since the creation of King''s Rise!"
The Black Heir gulped and shook his head. This whole thing wasn''t making much sense to him, but if Milena was saying that it was incredible, it probably was. And it did look incredible, so it wasn''t that hard to accept.
"This is very interesting, yes, but..." He snorted and dismissed his awe, "...This still doesn''t tell where the exit is."
Milena''s excitation faded away and she looked down in disappointment,"...No, it doesn''t."
"Let''s keep on searching, then. Maybe we''ll eventually be able to find something."
Javier walked up to the Heart of Darkness silently, veiled in shadows. He glanced at Glenn and the girl he was holding, as well as Liara who was keeping a watch over the two. Another glance informed him that the orc wasn''t moving either, still sleeping and recuperating from his battle with the Devil''s Eye earlier. The Pale Son glanced down at the blade he was holding, still covered in the blood of the madman from earlier.
He had been the one to cleave through the Devil''s Eye and who forced shut the Void Gate. But he didn''t care for recognition. He only ever cared about one thing. He looked down at the Heart of Darkness while slowly grabbing his neck. The Pale Plague curse had destroyed his vocal cords, as well as every emotion a human should be able to feel. His power wouldn''t grow anymore, and praying to the gods had resulted in no results.
The only time he was able to go beyond who and what he was, was when he fell victim to the Heart of Darkness in the forest of the Blessed Grove. He heard Their voice then, and realized what could, and should be done. Without even a shred of hesitation, Javier stabbed down the Heart of Darkness and cut it open. He ripped out the Seed of Darkness from the Heart and looked at it. The dark green pearl was filled with everything yet nothing was there, waiting for him.
And for the first time in ages, Javier smiled.
Glenn felt a wave of dread wash over him and suddenly looked up, his eyes widening in horror when he saw Javier holding the bloodied Seed of Darkness in his hands, as he stood above the stabbed heart. His sword was gleaming threateningly in the weakening red light of the room, and a smile was etched on his face.
That was what terrified Glenn.
Javier was smiling.
He hurriedly stood up with Lina in his arms, his Mana twirling around him.
"Javier?!? What the hell are you doing?!?" He yelled, startling Liara next to him. The Black Heiress stood up and drew both her weapons, her eyes widening in shock when she realized who the threat was. Decimius kept on snoring heavily, completely unbothered.
Javier ignored him, grinning widely at the Seed of Darkness he was holding. He stabbed his sword once again in the Heart of Darkness and sent a pulsing wave of dark Aura into it. The heart pulsed weakly before burning and crumpling away, his life force drying out in a few seconds. Glenn''s jaw dropped to the floor as the remains of the Heart first crawled up Javier''s sword, and then his arm, to then fuse completely with him. The silent hunter, the trusty Pale Son, a loyal friend, threw the Seed of Darkness in his mouth and swallowed.
Glenn and Liara both gasped, shocked. Javier closed his eyes and pressed his pale, almost translucent hand on his chest. He reached with his other hand and pulled at the air. The Heart of Darkness container melted away into a dark substance as the Driver''s seat popped up from the floor, the coffin opening up in front of Javier.
"Shit, Javier, don''t do!" Glenn''s yell was interrupted when Javier stepped into the coffin and closed it down, not even leaving room for discussion. Glenn gritted his teeth and reached out, conjuring a spell, but his Mana was too weak.
"Shit, I expended too much in my fight with the Devil''s Eye," He muttered in frustration. He almost called up on Nelg, but many reasons advised him against doing so. First, Nelg was traumatized and needed some rest. Secondly, he was carrying Lina at the same time, so melee-fighting was simply unthinkable.
Thankfully, he wasn''t alone. Liara dashed forward without hesitation, her sword and spear covered in a bright, pale white Aura. She stabbed the coffin, only for the stone to effortlessly deflect her attacks. Undeterred, she kept on attacking the stone, trying to crack it open.
Glenn shook his head dejectedly. He already knew the result of her efforts. Even he and the orc had a tough time breaking it open, so Liara...? The Black Heiress heaved as she stood back, her blades dull and her arms weak. The coffin was in perfect condition as if she had missed every single one of her attacks.
The red lines illuminating the whole structure suddenly changed colors, turning into a dark, deep green, a filthy color of corruption and madness. Sahro and Milena ran into the room, worried and puzzled.
"What''s going on?!?" Milena yelled. Glenn gritted his teeth as he watched the coffin sink into the floor.
"Javier..." He forced himself to speak, his heart wrenched, "...Javier has betrayed us. He took the Driver''s seat and killed the Heart of Darkness."
Milena froze, and she opened her mouth to retort in disbelief. Javier couldn''t betray them, he was their most trustworthy companion, so why?
The ground opened up beneath them, dropping the team a few meters down in the dark sand. Glenn landed on his back, protecting Lina from the fall.
That''s only when he looked up that he realized the size of the structure they were in. Four, massive letters, each as big as a castle, were carved on its side.
W.O.R.M
223. W.O.R.M.
The black sand trembled as a loud creak echoed around the desert, the sky covered by a massive object. Glenn could only hold his breath at the sight of the absurdly massive structure they were standing under and its name engraved on it.
W.O.R.M.
The characters were written in Common Tongue, but it was translated to. W.O.R.M.
"What the hell is this...?" Sahro muttered, his eyes wide open. He was holding his mechanical arms tightly while gasping for air. Milena was similarly silent, still taken aback by Javier''s betrayal. Liara had drawn her sword, expecting a fight, but had dropped the weapon the second she looked up.
How could they even fight something this huge? Glenn tightly hugged Lina against his chest, his teeth gritted.
''Wake the hell up, Glenn You need to get the hell out of there!'' Diamanes'' words finally connected with Glenn''s brain, startling him. He blinked and shook the confusion and shock off, his resolve steeled once more.
"Shit! Fuck Javier!" Glenn yelled out in anger, "...We need to make a break for it!" he shouted to the others, waking them up from their trance.
Sahro closed his fists, jaws clenched. A bolt of blue lightning flickered through his left arm and he uttered an audible curse. In one swift movement, he grabbed Liara and Milena by the waist and threw them onto his shoulders.
"Hey! Get" "!" Milena and Liara''s protests were drowned under the crackling thunder coming off Sahro''s body.
The Black Heir looked at his friend and nodded, before shooting off in a blue line of energy. Glenn almost smiled, but instead dedicated this energy to running away, using Gravity Manipulation to accelerate his movements across the dunes. Even though the W.O.R.M. structure did not look like it had moved, it was still creaking with ominous, loud sounds reminiscent of an earthquake.
"ARGH!!! VADO MORI!" A voice suddenly roared right beside him, startling him. Glenn looked to the side, his eyes widening as he watched Decimiusthe orcrunning with everything he had right beside him, his legs covered in golden Aura.
"Shit, why are you following me, you dumb green ass!" Glenn yelled as he jumped in the air, floating lightly thanks to Gravity Manipulation. Decimius left a crater in the black sand as he jumped too and followed Glenn while looking behind him in fright.
"Sancta shit!" The orc cursed, before accelerating and leaving Glenn behind. The latter grimaced and doubled his efforts to flee away from the structure. Something was making him feel like he didn''t have a lot of time to get to safety
Ting!
Glenn almost paused at the slight, easily missed sound, but didn''t. Instead, his Recorder appeared before him, the screen flashing red with a warning.
[WARNING! EXAN THE OMNISCIENT IS LANDING. BRACE FOR IMPACT!]
"...What?" Glenn''s confused words were drowned under the sound of a massive explosion behind him. The sun appeared once more, revealed behind the massive structure previously covering the Ink Dunes. He couldn''t help but pause, enduring the shockwaves with a combination of Gravity Manipulation and the Saturn Rings. The black sand flew around him in a massive dust storm, yet it failed to hide the two giants standing in the Ink Dunes.
No.
They weren''t giants.
Titans...even Titans seemed too little of a word to describe those two things.
Colossi. They were Colossi, their height so ridiculously tall they could block the sun and create an artificial night. One was a humanoid of white stone, and the other...a dark, massive worm. A worm with a spinning jaw, filled with teeth made to carve through the ground and dig into the depths of the land.
Glenn gasped. Everything suddenly made sense. How he ended up in that structure, what it was, and how it was moving now.
It never was a structure. It was a machine. A machine that needed a Driver.
A harvester with world-ending capabilities.
And Javier, who consumed the Seed of Darkness, was at the helm of this machine.
Holy shit... Diamanes murmured in stupefaction. Glenn wanted to echo him, but couldn''t. He could only stand there, watching the two Colossi staring down at each other, one pulling out a massive rifle from his back, and the other''s mechanical teeth spinning ominously with an air-ripping sound. Glenn crouched and covered his sister''s ears, his teeth clenched.
The humanoid Colossi suddenly kicked forward, his movements atrociously slow and predictable. Yet the Worm couldn''t dodge it, only go head to head with it, trying to eat the white stone boot. The Worm shrieked as it stumbled back, its slithering body shaking the Ink Dunes down. Glenn cursed and soared through the air, watching as a ripple cut through the black sand in the form of a massive wave.
Glenn flew back, pushed by the powerful shockwave that followed. The white Colossi aimed his rifle at the Worm rising back and pushed on the trigger. The Worm shrieked and threw itself at the Colossi, narrowly dodging a massive ray of orange light that carved through the sky and into space. The Worm bit down on the Colossi''s arm, its massive, building-sized mechanical teeth ripped down on the white stone, until the white Colossus forced it back. It knocked the Worm away with the butt of his rifle and pulled back a gigantic bold handle, the loud clink and shink echoing through the desert. An enormous brass casing fell off the rifle and into the desert. Finally, with an agile movement that appeared impossible for such a creature, it shoved the absurdly massive cannon in the Worm''s jaw.
A loud click echoed through the desert as the white Colossus pulled the trigger. A short, yet infinitely long second of silence passed. Glenn held his breath, his back drenched in a cold sweat as his heart missed a beat.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Like this, the world came still, for the short moment of a single second.
The Worm Colossus exploded in a burst of white light, debris exploding in every direction hazardously. The Ink Dunes caved inward, the black sand pulled into the hole created by the powerful rifle shot of the White Colossus. Countless shockwaves rippled onto Glenn''s Saturn Rings, making his eardrums explode under the pressure. Glenn concentrated everything that was left of his Mana onto his sister, reinforcing the shield as best he could while keeping the bare minimum for himself. The remains of the Worm collapsed to the side in a thunderous crash, creating a massive sand cloud around it. The white Colossus calmly pulled back the bolt handle once more and watched as the enormous casing fell into the hole it created in the desert.
Glenn gasped for air like a drowning man, drenched in sweat.
"...So this is Exan?" He muttered in complete awe, trembling from top to bottom.
How could this be human? This wasn''t possible. He couldn''t see himself fighting something so...colossal. This...This wasn''t the realm of humans.
No, this was a power that could eradicate nations, that could create and destroy civilizations.
A God''s power.
Glenn''s Recorder suddenly flashed red once more, drawing his attention away. His already wide eyes widened even more as he read the new notification.
[WARNING! YOU ARE STANDING IN A RULER-LEVEL BATTLEGROUND! EXTRACT OR SURVIVE UNTIL THE MAIN FORCES ARRIVE! E.T.A. FIVE MINUTES!]
"This is too fucking much!" Glenn heaved as he shook his head and got rid of his shock. He couldn''t stay here. It was too dangerous, be it for himself or Lina. He needed to leave this damned desert NOW. Without a second of hesitation, he darted off using Gravity Manipulation to navigate the shaken dunes once more.
Behind him, the white Colossus crouched and reached for the Worm''s remains, looking through them. After a dozen minutes of search, it turned back, its intentions unknown, and jumped in the air. It soon disappeared beyond sight, flying away in an oddly casual way.
Glenn continued to run with all he had, his Mana almost bottomed out, ''And here I was, thinking my reserves were infinite. I was just playing in the damned kid''s pool!'' He thought angrily, hugging Lina tightly while hiding her face away from the wind.
''This was terrifying. I rarely witnessed human creations of such size,'' Diamanes remarked from within Glenn''s mind, still bewildered by what he watched. Nelg remained silent, still recovering from his time spent in the Void Gate. Glenn nodded with a gulp, shivering as he thought back to the two Colossi.
And here he was, thinking he was stronger than most if not the strongest.
How complacent.
"...I''m fucking stupid, damn it...I need to work harder..." He hissed through his clenched teeth. It took him the rest of the day before he came in sight of the Dark Wall and the Black Gate. He glanced at his Recorder''s map, sighing in relief when he saw that he was in the so-called "safe zone".
He barely had the time to sigh when a hole opened under his feet and swallowed him and Lina up. He blinked and landed straight into an enclosed room with four walls and no door. One of the walls suddenly opened up and revealed a charging black knight covered in a chilling Aura, his war hammer gleaming under the Aura.
"WHICH REGIMENT ARE YOU IN?!?" The knight roared as he tried to stab Glenn''s throat. The latter narrowly dodged and hurriedly pulled out the INK-DEF emblem, which made the knight freeze. Which in turn allowed Glenn to punch the hell out of him, sending him flying back the way he came from.
"Shit, what the hell was that? I''m on your side, you fucking dumbass!" He yelled in protest while making sure Lina was fine. She wasn''t wounded, but she hadn''t regained consciousness either. Glenn could barely believe his eyes when he looked down at her. How did she end up here...in this damned world?
"Cough...cough...Phew, you have a mean punch, Mister ~Devil''s Hand~" The knight pushed himself up with a cough as he threw his ruined helmet away. He had flowing brown hair and a handsome face ruined by a mean scar crossing both his eyes horizontally.
Glenn blinked before dashing and grabbing the knight by the collar, "So you attacked although you knew who I was?!?" He hissed with hatred, "...Do you want to die that much?"
The knight pushed him back with a snort and dusted his shoulders off, "Well, it ain''t my fault for sure. It''s protocol, you know? Even more in urgent situations such as this one. Ah, man, it''s a shame I missed it..." he trailed off with a dejected look. Glenn shook his head confusedly and adjusted his hold over Lina.
"Wait, no, this isn''t important. I need a healer immediately."
The black knight raised an eyebrow and looked down at Lina, "For you, or for...her?"
Glenn restrained the primal need he felt to punch that idiot''s head in and grunted, "Her. Move it, damn it!"
The knight rolled his eyes and gestured at the opening in the wall, guiding him through the Black Gate. Glenn followed nervously, looking at Lina with his Mana Sight. She was a blank slate, with no trace of Mana nor Aura in her body.
''Well, it does make sense. If she landed in the Ink Dunes somehow and was gobbled up by that W.O.R.M. machine, no one could have taught her either Mana or Aura...'' Diamanes trailed off and grumbled, ''...I mean, there''s still that other part of me she seems to have, but...you know how I am, right?''
Glenn could only sigh in reply and hope that Lina would be alright. After all he went through, he didn''t want to lose someone else again. Redan was already a lot to handle, and let''s not even speak of Javier''s betrayal...
"...But are you sure he betrayed us?" Nelg asked with a small voice. Glenn paused and considered the question.
''What do you mean?''
Nelg remained silent for a minute or two before replying, "...He did not go after us, and even freed us from the Worm. Isn''t that proof enough already...?"
Glenn chewed down on the inside of his cheeks, uneasy, ''I''d like to think that, but...He ate a Seed of Darkness. If we trust the intel we received, he''s going to become a Tree of Chaos and spawn a shitload of monsters. A walking Rift. Shit.''
Nelg sighed and did not add anything else. Diamanes was also silent, thinking about this whole ordeal. The annoying black knight eventually led him to an infirmary, where multiple priests and priestesses were running around while healing wounded. A priestess stopped in front of him and gasped in awe.
"GGlenn?!?" Astrid Di Forte stammered as she looked down at the girl in his arms, "What are you doing here?! This is the Eastern Front!"
Glenn scoffed and pushed Lina into her arms, "I should ask you this question. Can you help her?"
Astrid glanced down and grimaced, "...She has severe frostbite and malnutrition. And..." She frowned and glanced up at Glenn''s face, "...why does she look so much like you? Ah!" She looked at Lina''s purple right hand in amazement, "She even has that same purple! Are you from the same family?"
Glenn nodded casually, "Yeah, she''s my little sister."
Astrid paused.
"...Really?" She pushed Lina''s dark brown hair from her emaciated face and smiled, "...You do look alike."
Glenn groaned, "Whatever. Please, can you make her better?"
Astrid smiled and transported her to a nearby bed, "Yeah, of course. Give me a second, I''ll go find a chair for you to look upon her"
Someone suddenly kicked open the door to the infirmary and ran up to Glenn, "No can do, he''s coming with us. Send her to his residence in the Bourgeoisie once she''s better, priestess!"
Neither Glenn nor Astrid had the time to blink before the first was teleported away by that unwelcomed newcomer. Glenn ripped his hand out in protest, "Who the f" He paused and his eyes widened, "Veil?!?"
Veil smiled under the bandages covering his face and patted Glenn on the shoulder, "Sorry about that, but we don''t have time. There''s a highly critical target that has been eliminated by Exan, and we need to go pick up everything valuable before the other side does it. This is a full-on war, so prepare yourself. Oh, and your teammates are already fighting. Ready?"
Glenn blinked, "Wait, what"
Veil grabbed him and once more teleported away, leaving the Black Gate behind without leaving him the time to complain.
And with that, Glenn was back in the Ink Dunes, right in the middle of a raging battlefield.
His day wasn''t over yet.
224. War
Glenn stumbled forward before turning to Veil with an expression of disbelief, "Why the fuck did you bring me here? I don''t even have a drop of Mana left!"
Veil shrugged as a scythe appeared in his hands, "Make yourself useful, or Meditate, or even die, I don''t care. We need the remains of this machine, so win us some time and you''ll get what you wanted with bonuses."
His shadow grew until it reached beyond a nearby dune. The bandaged man made a small salute before being sucked away by his own shadow, disappearing to a corner of the battlefield. Glenn blinked and turned back to the battlefield, drawing Nelg out in his longsword''s form.
"I hate my life..." He blurted out through his gritted teeth as he clenched his fingers tightly around his sword''s hilt. The battlefield was massive, and magical explosions were flashing commonly, decimating hundreds of enemies on either side. There were orcs, black knights, white knights, paladins, other mercenaries, undead...the whole thing was a complete mess with each side barely distinguishable thanks to the banners hanging high: a setting sun on a red background for Munirp, and a wide opened blue eye over a white clouds for the Celestial Gods'' side.
Sahro, Milena, and Liara were probably already fighting for their life in this chaos, but it was simply impossible to find them. There were thousands and thousands of soldiers on each side, each using powerful spells or Aura to destroy their enemies. Tens of thousands of men and women ripping each other apart in a bloody festival.
''Well...that''s a sight I was expecting to see earlier,'' Diamanes commented casually, unfazed.
Glenn''s eyebrows twitched, ''Are you serious? That''s the only thing you can say when watching...this?'' He hurriedly jumped to the side as a massive ray of light carved into the dune he was standing on, killing hundreds of Munirp soldiers. The mage who conjured the spell, an orc with surprisingly modern clothes, grinned widely only for his head to be chopped off by an axe-wielding, muscular mercenary using an orange Aura.
That same mercenary ended up pierced apart by five spears of weaker orcs who were waiting for an opportunity. The group barely had the time to enjoy their kill and a massive fireball burned them to ashes. Glenn watched this mess with a mix of shock and horror. This was barely one fight on this massive battlefield.
"...I ain''t going into this without my Mana..." He cursed under his breath as he hurriedly retreated despite the screams for help and despair, ignoring the rattles of death. He conjured his Mimic''s cape and hid himself in the dark sand, closing his eyes and entering Meditation. His Recorder was floating beside him, watching silently as Glenn recovered his Mana, his left arm glowing softly with a purple hue.
Hell.
That''s what war was.
Sahro gritted his teeth as red lightning enveloped him in a crackling cape. He drew a deep breath before shooting through the hundreds of zombies and skeletons in his path, carving through them like a hot knife through butter. The necromancer barely had the time to gasp when Sahro''s lightning blade tried to cleave him in half, only to be barely stopped by a couple of Knight Orcs. The Black Heir slid back in the black sand, retreating hurriedly as the necromancer unleashed one bone spell after another upon him.
''I need to take that guy down, but these damned!'' Sahro dodged to the side as an orc''s axe almost managed to slice through him, only to land right into the punch of another orc. These green beasts were everything but beasts. The lower-ranked orcs fought in tight formation with heavy shields and spears, taking down individual opponents much stronger than them, while the higher-ranked ones worked in tandem with similarly strong orcs to eliminate individual powerhouses.
Sahro was one of these powerhouses on this bloody battlefield. Thankfully, he was only one out of many. The necromancer froze as he stared at a dagger piercing through his throat, before falling to the side. His undead crumbled into piles of bones as the orcs hurriedly retreated. Milena gasped in exhaustion and hurriedly retreated, using her mind-controlled orcs to defend her blind spots.
Liara flew above them and landed on top of one of the orcs that were dealing with Sahro, killing him with one clean stab through his skull. The two other orcs tried a last-ditched attempt to take down Liara, but Sahro''s red lightning carved through them easily, cutting both of their heads in one fell swoop. The three joined together, taking refuge behind Milena''s orcs.
"This is never-ending!" Milena shouted as she wiped the blood off her face. Liara nodded with gritted teeth, her blades covered in the familiar crimson liquid. Sahro peeked above one of the orcs'' shoulders and drew a deep breath.
"You heard Veil''s words; we need to take down at least one officer for him to let us be. Shit, this bastard doesn''t even let us rest!" He spat.
Milena clenched her daggers tightly, her eyes gleaming with similar fury, "I swear, if I meet that bandaged asshole again, it''ll be to shove my dagger in his bandaged ass!"
Liara nodded frantically, her lips sealed under a thick cover of dry blood.
The three dashed back into the battlefield, pushing through the bodies and fallen soldiers, ignoring the black sand flying around incessantly. The cries of pain and battle were echoing all around them, but they had grown numb to it. Had it been minutes or hours since they had been thrust into this battlefield?
None of them could tell.
They jumped above a dune, rushing toward the next enemies, an unending crowd of more undead. Sahro spat to the side and stabbed his sword into the ground. He planted his feet in the black sand while holding his mechanical arm with his other hand, channeling both his Aura and Mana. The lines of energy began to crackle with immense power, the brass and steel heating until the metal became white. Liara and Milena took defensive positions by his side, fending off projectiles and spells.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The white mark on Sahro''s forehead shone brightly as the power contained in his left, mechanical arm was released. A literal bolt of lightning pierced through all the undead, destroying them entirely without leaving anything behind. A contingent of lower-ranked orcs who were next to the undead group all died to the strike as well, their shields melted and their hearts pierced, their skin still crackling with red electricity.
An orc suddenly rushed through the bodies, covered in Roman armor from head to toe. He swung his trident with red Aura, aiming to pierce through Sahro. The Black Heir blocked with all his strength, only to fly back under the strength of the blow.
"Shit, a Grand Chevalier!" Milena shouted as she hurriedly sent her team of mind-controlled orcs after the Grand Chevalier trident user. The orc didn''t bat an eye as he destroyed all of his previous allies with one clean hack, cutting their heads down like they were nothing. Liara suddenly surged from behind him, stabbing with her Telekinesy-controlled spear while carving upward with her sword. The orc swung down with his trident and crushed both of her attempts. That second he took to defend himself was enough for Sahro to dash back in and cut his head, his red lightning crackling threateningly.
Milena gasped and fell to her knees, blood trickling down her nose, "Icoughdamn it!" She cursed as she wiped the blood off and forced herself up. Liara hurriedly came and helped her, passing an arm under her shoulder. Sahro''s face was crumbling down little by little as he watched a hundred more orcs and necromancers climb above the dunes and unleash their forces on Munirp''s side.
"This is insanity..." He muttered in exhaustion as he allowed himself a short break. Liara made her spear spin above her and squinted in search of an enemy officer. They didn''t exactly have an idea of what to be looking for, but they all had a creeping suspicion that any fighter above rank 3 was an officer. Rank 4, be they Grand Chevaliers or Expert Magis were way too rare in the opposite camp for them to be treated as common soldiers. They weren''t exactly common in Munirp either, though, but it was clear that the Celestial Gods'' lower-ranked soldiers were much better trained than Munirp''s.
"...Alright, let''s go for another...round?" Sahro paused as he watched a figure rise above the incoming wave of enemies, held in the air by strips of bandages. He was holding a large, farming scythe, and shadows seemed to be encroaching on his back. The bandages suddenly turned to black satin and wrapped around all the enemies, pulling them together regardless of their ranks or strength. Veil swung down and cut down a few hundred enemies in one slice. The black satin strips wrapped around the bodies and mummified them, before pulling them in the shadows and swallowing them up.
Veil turned back and continued the mown through the enemies, exterminating them like insects. Sahro gritted his teeth, "That guy...he''s a monster."
Milena gasped beside him, out of breath, "...Huff...You''re one to talk!"
Liara nodded slowly, her cross-shaped Inheritance sigil gleaming with an imperceptible light. The three suddenly paused and watched in horror as the black sand opened up nearby and swallowed hundreds of Munirp''s soldiers, before closing down on them. An orc in a black waistcoat was floating above the battlefield, frowning behind thick glasses as he watched his spell destroy hundreds of enemies. Veil suddenly jumped up at the orc''s level, hundreds of bandages shooting for him. The orc waved his hand dismissively, stone appearing out of thin air and exploding at the contact of the bandages.
Veil, undeterred, charged at the orc and swung his scythe down, only for the orc to immobilize him in a hastily made, building-sized stone coffin. The orc continued piling more spells on Veil, summoning hundreds of massive stalactites to shoot at the coffin. Sahro gritted his teeth, his feet crackling with red lightning before shooting off in the orc''s direction, carving into a straight line. A loud sonic bang exploded as he shot passed the mage orc, missing him narrowly. The orc somehow managed to dodge the attack at the last second and even countered by sending half of his stalactites at Sahro.
The Black Heir lashed out with all his might, sending out a huge blade of red Aura that crushed a small number of projectiles. His eyes widened as he realized that his opponent was much stronger than him and dashed away in a blue strike of lightning. The stone stalactites sowed ruins in Munirp''s ranks, killing hundreds and hundreds. Veil suddenly broke out of his coffin, his bandages loose. Sahro''s heart missed a beat and he instinctively looked away from the Cleaner.
The orc paused and looked in horror in Veil''s direction, only for thousands of black satin strips to wrap around him and pull him down in the shadows silently. Veil slowly adjusted the tightness of his bandages, relieving the pressure on Sahro before dashing off in another direction.
The Black Heir collapsed in the black sand while heaving with difficulty.
"...Curses..." He muttered while wiping the sweat off his forehead, "...I lost the others. Shit."
Glenn drew a deep breath, his mind calm like a lake and his heart filled to the brim with Mana.
"...Veil wants me to lash out, huh...?" He muttered as he took off his Mimic cape and summoned the blindingly white Lightweaver suit. Nelg''s cold steel gleamed under the burning sun as the weapon changed to its awakened form, ready to Cut & Pull.
"How many souls do you need to level up, Nelg?" Glenn asked as he let himself float above the Ink Dunes, watching the battlefield and scouring for enemy commanders. There were countless legions of undead and orcs, both powerful in their ways, and many high-ranked fights were raging in every part of the battlefield. Everywhere Glenn looked, there were Third-Circle, Fourth-Circles Magi, and as many Grand Chevaliers. He watched as Veil obliterated a Fifth Circle Expert Magi with Sahro''s help, before going back into the melee.
"...Too many," Nelg answered emotionlessly. Glenn gritted his teeth as he heard the despair in his weapon''s voice, but shook his head. He would love more than to get away from the fight, but his friends were in the middle of this mess, surviving almost miraculously as they avoided the stupidly powerful.
Glenn sighed and channeled his Mana in his left hand, watching as magic he didn''t get the opportunity to try before grew in power. Milena''s power, which he had taken some time ago, was brooming while making the reality around his hand tremble. His hand disappeared, reappeared, doubled, and transformed, the illusion reinforced by Glenn''s psyche. He watched a regiment of orcs charging at a cohort of Munirp''s soldiers and conjured the spell over them. The orcs stopped and looked at each other for a moment, their expression slowly going from confused to terrified, until they clawed at their necks and willingly killed themselves.
''...Wow,'' Diamanes blurted out with a slight disgust, ''...It isn''t what I was expecting.''
Glenn grimaced and looked at his left hand, displeased, "Me neither, Diamanes. Me neither..." He shook his head and raised his sword while channeling Mana into his suit, making it shine brightly like a beacon of light. The battlefield stopped for a moment to look at the source of light, wondering what was up with that, until the light suddenly disappeared, replaced by Glenn grinning wickedly with a massive, fiery Infernal Blackhole burning above his palm.
A purple, evil hue was coming off his body, and his left arm was glimmering powerfully with that same purple.
All the fighters watching could have sworn they saw the smile of the Devil in Glenn''s purple hand that day.
The grin of the Devil''s Hand.
225. Seven Rusty Rings and a Broken Watch
"Glenn...Glenn...It''s over, Glenn...Glenn!"
A voice suddenly woke Glenn up from his trance, and he looked around confusedly. He was standing on top of a bloody mess of an orc, his head caved in and his brain leaking out. The black sand under his feat was molten into opaque glass, probably thanks to some sort of fire spell.
"Glenn, can you hear me? Hey!" Milena shouted at him as she repeatedly tried to pull him back from the orc and failed. Glenn shook his confusion and let go of the orc, brushing his hair back with bloody hands.
"...Milena, you survived," He commented as he looked her up and down.
She looked down at herself and sighed weakly, "Stop looking at me, you pervert..."
Glenn scoffed and looked away. Milena was covered in blood from head to toe, her leather armor ripped here and there in all but a sexy fashion. Her raven black hair was more red than dark, and completely disheveled, and she had opened wounds on her face.
"Tsk, as if there was anything to look at..." He muttered, smiling slightly as he received her soft punch in the shoulder. He glanced at his surroundings, surrounded by smoldering corpses and pools of blood, undead, and orcs mixed in a nightmarish soup. Milena pulled him away from the orc he was beating up and led him out of the crater he was standing in as the sole survivor.
He probably was the one who made this crater, didn''t he?
''Yeah, you did.'' "Yes, it was you." Diamanes and Nelg confirmed for him, both with tired voices. Glenn rubbed his temples, feeling the exhaustion tugging at his mind. How long had it been since he had slept? He looked up and almost laughed as he found two white moons watching over him. Of course.
"Hey, come here for a second..." He said to Milena. The latter stopped and frowned as Glenn used C.P.R. to treat her wounds. The pain was still as horrible as before, but he couldn''t feel it as much anymore. It was annoying, sure, but it was just pain. Not like he wasn''t feeling that same thing almost all the time anyway.
"...Thanks," Milena muttered as she touched her closed wounds. They both walked on top of scorched, frozen, crushed, and sliced corpses, unbothered.
Well, no, they weren''t unbothered by it.
But it wasn''t as shocking now.
The human mind was great in that matter, it did adapt easily, after all.
"How many of those did I even kill...?" Glenn asked softly as he stepped on an orc''s corpse to climb a dune. Milena followed him without replying, her hands shaking slightly.
"...I think we won this battle," She simply said. Glenn nodded silently. They both strolled through the bloody battlefield, finding nothing but corpses on their way. The banners, both Munirp''s and Celestial Gods'' were broken and burned, and none of them had survived the battle. Every bit and piece of the W.O.R.M. machine had been taken away during the fight, be it by their side or the other.
In all honestly, Glenn couldn''t care less who got the parts of the W.O.R.M.
He just wanted to go back to check on Lina, take a bath, and sleep it all off. All in that exact order. Maybe replace the "sleeping" part with meditation; at least he wouldn''t have nightmares about this day.
After using his suit''s ability to make himself seen by the whole battlefield, Glenn unleashed war spells one after the other; hundreds fell to his Infernal Blackhole, and hundreds more died to his Nitrogen Lance. Cut & Pull had been great to slice through tougher enemies, while Carbon Blades had been excellent to pierce through magical defenses. Pebble had helped quite a bit against that one Grand Chevalier he had to face alone, who was a little weaker than Decimius. One Shooting Star had pierced a perfect hole in that Grand Chevalier''s chest, getting rid of him easily. It wasn''t the only one who fell to the Pebble, and it was certainly not the last.
The Saturn Rings had proven to be much more effective than he had hoped. At some point, the spell had managed to sling back attacks without stopping, consuming his Mana ceaselessly. Thankfully, Glenn could also depend on Nelg to fuel him with additional Mana from time to time.
''...I think after a few hours I just went auto-pilot on this fight...'' Glenn realized silently as he looked down at his bloodied hands. His white, Lightweaver suit was now dark crimson, dripping with blood and ripped here and there. The ability to blind enemies and draw their attention had been quite useful, more useful than he would have thought initially.
"You gathered a lot of souls," Nelg remarked emotionlessly. The weapon was drained, and certainly needed some rest. Nelg wasn''t the only one who could use a nap, though.
''Enough for a level up?'' Glenn replied without much excitement.
"No."
''Too bad.''
They eventually found Veil, sitting on a pile of corpses while adjusting his bandages. There was some sort of ominous aura around him, but Glenn washed it off with a shrug. Milena paused for an instant with an unmistakable gulp, unable to look at the strange Cleaner.
"Oh," Veil exclaimed with a surprised tone, "Fixer Glenn and Milena! You''re both alive! Impressive!"
Glenn wordlessly walked up to the man and stood in front of him for a long minute. They stared at each other silently, until Glenn headbutted him violently. Milena gasped, not out of shock but of relief. Veil stumbled back with a dry laugh as he rubbed his forehead.
"Aouch, I certainly deserved that. Sorry, but you''ll understand we didn''t have a choice"
Glenn stopped him with a raised hand, "I know," He spoke dryly, "...Doesn''t mean you''re not a dick."
Veil rubbed his chin and shrugged, "So be it. Do you want me to bring you back to the Black Gate? We won, by the way. Not by much, but we won. And your friends already took the trip back."
Glenn nodded and reached out to grab Veil''s hand when an uneasy feeling washed over him. He paused and turned back just in time to see an elongated creature shoot out of the black sand for Milena, its tongue piercing through the air and stabbing her in the back. Glenn dashed forward and punched the hell out of the creature while Veil cleaved down with his scythe, executing it.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Shit, what was that?" Glenn cursed as he looked at the body. It was covered in scale and its mouth ended up in some sort of small tube with a round hole for the tongue. It...reminded him of something, but he couldn''t tell what"
"An Ossiva," Veil commented as he cleaned his scythe on a piece of black satin, "They can pierce through skin and steel alike with their tongue to suck the bones out of their victims. We must be the only things alive in the vicinity for it to be interested in Milena."
Glenn frowned and kicked the monster away, "They don''t care about the dead?"
Veil shook his head, "No, only about the living" The Cleaner froze as he stared behind Glenn, where Milena was. Glenn felt his blood freeze in his veins as he turned around and watched helplessly as Milena collapsed in the black sand, her expression frozen in pain. His mouth opened widely as he reached for her, staring with wide eyes as the life flew out of her. She gasped, her back unable to support herself, as blood poured from her back and her spine disintegrating. Glenn felt like the world itself was falling along with Milena, dread surrounding him from all sides.
"Shit!" Glenn rushed to her side and hurriedly applied his C.P.R. magic, but a sudden wave of wind pressure flung him away. Veil shot to his feet, only to fall back on his knees, his scythe crushed beside him. Glenn forced himself up and watched as a robed man crouched next to Milena and gently took her in his arms.
"Hey, fucker!" He yelled as Nelg flashed into his right hand in his hand axe form. He prepared a Blackhole in his left hand at the same time and tried to cleave for that unknown robed man. The latter looked back at him and pointed a finger down. Glenn felt the world collapse as he fell to his knees, crushed under an unbearable weight. The man walked up to him, Milena in his arms.
"...You''re her friend?" He asked with an emotionless voice. Glenn gritted his teeth and tried to push himself up, his hands sinking into the black sand helplessly. He was trying to fight back with his Mana, but it was like throwing a rock at a mountain.
Impossible.
Almost instinctively, Glenn activated Mana Sight and instantly understood.
In that robed man''s chest were seven rusty rings that looked like gears, spinning slowly around an old, broken pocket watch.
"I''ll take that as a yes. I''m glad." The man muttered with a hint of relief, before turning his back to Glenn. The latter felt blood flowing out of his nose and ears as he continued to push against the weight, roaring helplessly.
"...She won''t survive without me," The man simply said as he glanced at the corpse of the Ossiva. A spark of fire came off his finger and engulfed the corpse in a blinding explosion, reducing the nearby area into a massive, bottomless crater. The man glanced at Veil, who was trembling on his knees, and shook his head.
"Good job for today. I expect I''ll be seeing you in the Court, boy."
He turned to Glenn and paused for an instant.
"You..." He pondered on his words for a while, "...You wouldn''t be from..." Milena coughed in his arms, drawing his attention away. Glenn clenched his fists so tightly his nails began to pierce into his palms, drawing blood out.
"...Hmf, never mind."
The figure jumped and disappeared in the air, leaving Glenn and Veil there, the two sole souls left on that bloody battlefield. Glenn gasped for air as he pushed himself up, only to punch the black sand helplessly.
"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!" He cursed as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"FUCK!" His scream echoed into the desert, the wind his only reply. Veil slowly stood back up, shaken. He dusted his bandages off with trembling hands, before grabbing Glenn''s shoulder.
"FFixer," He stammered with an unusual shock, "...That was Exan."
Glenn froze, his heart missing a beat.
Veil nodded slowly, "The Exan. The Omniscient. And a Seventh-Circle Magi, a Newborn Ruler."
Lina''s POV
Lina opened her eyes slowly, her memories hazy and her body strangely foreign.
''...Where...Where am I?'' She wondered as she rubbed her forehead, washing off the confusion. Was she still in the...the nightmare? She looked around through a thick veil of blurriness, squinting to try and see her surroundings. There was light, sunlight.
That was different.
The ground supporting her was soft, nothing like the cold, black sand or dark stone she slept on before going into the coffin...
"...The coffin!" Lina gasped as she suddenly sat up, her memories coming back slowly. She winced and stopped moving, enduring a searing headache.
''Oh, we appear to have been successfully saved,'' A voice remarked in her head, driving a nail into her already suffering mind.
"S-Shut up, you don''t exist..." Lina blurted out as she rubbed her eyes. The blurriness eventually disappeared, her eyes adapting to the sunlight she had missed so much. How long had she spent down in the darkness, scrounging for water and dried fruits? Her only source of light had been the red lines appearing randomly on the walls of her silent prison, and that strange red mass of flesh. She opened and closed her fist, her heart tightening when she saw how skinny she was.
"I lost too much weight..." She muttered as she finally glanced at her surroundings. She was in a luxurious room with a window overlooking a magnificent garden and a neighborhood of rich marble houses. Houses, which meant...other people. Other, living people, who existed beyond her imagination. Her heartbeat accelerated slightly, filled with renewed hope. How long had it been since she spoke to a real person, and not this...this imaginary nightmare of hers?
''May I suggest exploring our situation, milady?'' The imaginary voice suggested politely. Lina grimaced and tapped the side of her head, refusing to acknowledge said voice. She ignored it and slowly came out of her bed, gazing down at the soft nightrobe covering her, as well as the bandages wrapped around her arms and hands. Someone took care of her at some point, it appeared. She even smelled...clean.
"My god..." Lina sighed as her feet touched the floor, anxious. She hesitated, before attempting a step forward while holding herself up against the bed. She stumbled for a few meters until the strength in her legs eventually came back. The floor was warm under her feet, having bathed in the sun for a long time. She smiled weakly and stopped, enjoying the sun''s warm touch against her skin.
"...I would have never thought I''d miss the sun so much..." She whispered as she opened the window and drew a deep breath of fresh air.
''Milady, it might be preferable to at least secure the surrounding area. I was unable to watch over you while you were unconscious, so please, mind your safety,'' The voice said worriedly, annoying her even further.
...Can''t you shut it at least for a while? She hissed, her fingers tightening on the windowsill, ...I''ve spent countless days in the dark, walking endlessly without finding anything worth looking for. And when I did, I fell into a cursed stone coffin that froze me to death. She shivered and added in a small voice: ...Well, almost to death...
The door to her room suddenly cracked open and a head peeked in carefully. Lina froze and stood awkwardly, her heart racing madly. The girl who peeked in gasped when she saw that Lina was missing from her bed and barged in, stopping dead in her tracks when she found her standing next to the window.
"...Phew..." She sighed while wiping the sweat off her forehead, "You almost scared me to death!"
Lina''s voice was stuck in her throat, her hands trembling slightly. Was this a real person, or another product of her imagination? Was she one more illusion destined to try and fail to soothe her loneliness? The girl ran up to Lina and dragged her back to the bed, holding her firmly. Lina flinched as she felt her warm yet callused hands, and let herself be led back to the bed.
"There, you need to rest more!" The girl exclaimed, before looking down at her clothes and gasping in shame. She was dressed in working clothes covered in soot, which probably explained the smell of oil coming off her. A respirator was hanging at her neck, under a golden crown of flowing hair.
"Who...Who are you...?" Lina asked softly, still uncertain.
The girl smiled and took a quick step back, "I''m Janica! Nice to meet you, uh...?"
"Lina," She hurriedly told her name as tears began to well up in her eyes. She wasn''t hallucinating. This whole thing was real.
Janica missed her tears and smiled brightly, her hands on her waist, "Great, I''m super happy to know you, Lina! Hey..." She leaned in and looked to the side with a guilty look, "...Do you think you could ask your brother for more funding? We''re close to a breakthrough for the other idiot''s heart."
Lina blinked, confused, until she understood what surprised her so much.
Her brother?
Her brother was here?
"My...My brother?" She asked in disbelief, her eyes widening. Janica nodded frantically, "Yeah, Sir Glenn the Devil''s Hand!"
Lina paused, and for the first time in a long, long time, she laughed.
226. Another Step Forward
Lina, the following day.
Lina was sitting in the dining hall with Janica and her not-boyfriend Liam, staring blankly at the ticking, brass, and steel contraption encased in Liam''s chest, replacing his heart. The delicious food in front of her that she dreamed of back when she was still lost in that desert perpetually set to nighttime was failing to draw her attention.
"...next iteration of the mechanical heart should be ready by next week, even though it''s still not a complete product. I''m pretty sure we need to find a more malleable material for..."
"...and maybe we could try a combination of Shards for the energy source, instead of only using a Fire one?"
Liam and Janica were enthusiastically discussing their latest project in front of Lina, who, even though she understood the language they used, couldn''t understand what they were saying.
"Sorry, but is that a heart?" She finally blurted out, unable to let go of the ticking contraption in Liam''s chest. The latter looked down and moistened his lips, before nodding.
"Yeah, but it has been hastily made, so don''t judge me" He grimaced when Janica elbowed him in the waist, "don''t judge us too harshly. We''re working on a new one right now, thanks to your brother''s support."
"My brother?" She repeated once again. It wasn''t the first time they mentioned Glenn, but each time she couldn''t believe her ears.
Janica nodded in turn, "Yeah, it''s his house that we''re using right now, and his workshop too. Liam would be in a much worse condition if not for Sir Glenn''s help."
Lina blinked, "Sir? Why do you keep calling him Sir? And what about that stupid nicknamethe Devil''s Hand? That sounds so lame!"
Liam and Janica gasped in consternation, both shaking their heads frantically.
"No, but do you not know who your brother is?" Janica heaved in disbelief.
Lina shook her head hesitantly, "Why, is...is he a celebrity or something now?"
Liam scoffed and rubbed his forehead, incredulous, "Celebrity...He''s past this point now, and more of an urban legend." He laughed and quickly added, "Even though we know he''s real, every time we hear of his feats, the less we can believe them."
Janica nodded in agreement, "Yeah, just look at that journal! I didn''t even know there was a war, but your brother was already a part of it! He left what, a month ago?"
"A month and a half," corrected Liam. Janica stuck out her tongue at him, who rolled his eyes in response. Lina rubbed her temples, her eyebrows deeply creased. She took the journal Janica handed to her, stopping for a moment when she realized that the words weren''t written in English, and yet she could still understand them.
''...What''s this magical fuckery...Whatever I''ll take it,'' She decided not to dwell on it and quickly read up the news.
''Hmm, it appears that your brother is a force to be recognized, Milady. It is reassuring to know you have such a powerful individual protecting youbeside me, of course.''
Lina gritted her teeth and kept on reading while ignoring the polite-sounding voice. It wasn''t a real voice, anyway, and it was going to disappear soon. She had human contact, now, after all. Her eyes widened as she read up on the title.
The new heroes of the Eastern Front! Citizens, rejoice to learn that Munirp has repelled an assault from the Land Beyond the Dark Wall, all thanks to your new heroes standing in place of the pillars of the previous era!
She flipped the pages hurriedly, finding an entire page dedicated to Glenn...and his teammates?
"He even has a team...?" Lina muttered in awe.
Liam nodded as he shoved a steak in his mouth, "Yeah, they''re all really cool. Sahro probably is the coolest of them."
Janica grunted in disagreement, "No, Sir Glenn is! And after him is Milena and Liara on equal footing!"
Liam paused and looked at her dubiously, "Which put Sahro and Javier where exactly?"
Janica puffed her chest out, "After the ladies, of course!" She looked away and blushed, "...But the Devil''s Hand still stands on top."
Liam rolled his eyes and shook his head, ignoring her. The latter glanced at him and sighed discreetly. Lina watched with wide eyes, unable to believe what she was hearing. She tried to dismiss the shock, but it only hit her dead in the face once she read the page dedicated to "Glenn The Devil''s Hand".
"Fixer Glenn better known under the name of the Devil''s Hand, single-handedly destroyed thousands and thousands of Munirp''s enemies. Filthy orcs and undead were left helpless in front of his incredible might, his spells sowing ruins in the enemy ranks, and his sword cutting down their commanders easily! Soldiers present that day all swear by his name and his team, saying that they took care of half the battlefield by themselves! Let it be known that the Devil''s Hand is also one of the youngest Magi of the Magi Brotherhood history, achieving the Fourth Circle by 22 years of age! Citizens, be proud of such a brave, courageous young man! He''s a true hero! Now, about his teammates..."
Lina lifted her eyes from the journal, letting it go slowly. She leaned back in her chair, her face empty of any emotions. She suddenly slammed her forehead on the table, startling both Janica and Liam.
"Wow, are you okay?" Janica exclaimed as she shot to her feet, "I knew you needed more rest! Let me accompany you back to"
Lina lifted her hand with a groan, "No, leave me be. I''m just...it''s too much for me to handle. Since when did my brother become a nationally recognized hero? This doesn''t make any sense..."
Liam gobbled down a handful of cherry tomatoes and shrugged, "I mean, even a year ago he saved my life..." His face darkened, "...Before condemning it."
Janica paused and stared down at Liam, before slapping him. Lina looked up in dismay, wondering what was going on.
"Liam, I forbid you to say that!" She almost shouted, her face flushed red with anger, "II can''t believe that after everything he has done for you, you''re still feeling like this"
Liam opened his mouth to retort but restrained himself in the end and sighed, "...Sorry, it''s just...I can''t help but think I would still have my heart had it not been for him."
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Janica snorted, "Would you rather die, or lose your heart to that insane Baron and..." She blushed, "...Find me?"
Liam turned away, refusing to cross her eyes, "...The second option does sound better."
Lina blinked, "Wait, are you guys not dating?"
Janica and Liam flinched, almost jumping from their seats.
"What?! Noah, of course not, haha!"
"No, whatwhat makes you say that?!?"
Lina rubbed her eyes, the corner of her lips curving upward slightly. It was...fun, to see these two idiots refusing to admit the truth. It reminded her of...before.
Back when she lived on Earth, back when she finally had turned the page on...him. Her small grin disappeared and her expression darkened.
''Milady, these two primates seem oblivious that they want to reproduce together. I''d advise confiscating their clothes and sending them together in a private room for'' The voice suddenly said in a very serious tone, startling Lina and provoking a deep red blush on her cheek. She shook her head and sighed deeply, the weight on her heart lifting off slightly.
"This...this is so much to handle," Lina said as she looked at the ornamented ceiling. Liam eventually recovered from his shyness, his cheeks slightly less red, and turned to Lina.
"Listen, trust me when I say that you''ll get used to it. One day, I was getting my ass beaten up every day by a whole kitchen, and the other I become a thrall, forcing me to rip my own heart out. Life is insane here."
Lina snapped toward him and opened her mouth widely, "What theYou did what?"
Janica was about to reply for Liam but the sound of the main hall''s door opening interrupted them. Lina looked to the side, her heart tightening with sudden worry. It was easy to talk with Liam and Janica, they were around his age after all, but what about other people? Wouldn''t they consider her to be weird, since she came from another world? Because this place was certainly not Earth, she was sure of it now. If there even was a shred of doubt before, anyway.
Wait, no, it''s not like they knew about it. Only...Only Glenn would be aware since he also came from Earth. Lina chewed on her cheeks, worried. Glenn...what did he go through to become this nonsensical hero he was now?
Janica stood up and glanced at the others, "Let me see who it is, perhaps it''s my delivery."
She trailed off without waiting, only to stop at the threshold of the dining hall with a gasp. Liam shot up on his feet, clenching his teeth together while reaching for something in his back. A pale, slightly tanned hand patted Janica''s shoulder and pushed her to the side gently.
Back in the present.
Glenn stumbled out of the Cleaner''s Office, emotionless. His hands were hanging loosely by his side, strengthless and dripping with blood. He had yet to clean himself from the recent carnage he made in the Ink Dunes, carnage that lasted for days and days. The twin moons were hanging in the sky, casting their cold moonlight over him in a judgmental manner.
Veil patted him on the back and sighed, "I know it isn''t going to help you feel better, but Sir Exan has an excellent reputation. I''m sure you will be able to find Fixer Milena again in the future, and healed, as a bonus."
Glenn slowly turned his head to look at the man wrapped in bandages, his eyes a bottomless pit. His throat and lips were dry as he used Mana Sight on Veil shamelessly, staring him up and down. Veil took a step back, surprised.
"...I believe that is quite rude of you, Fixer Glenn, but I''ll forgive you in consideration of your circumstances"
"Fifth Circle, and a Divinity user for sure," Glenn interrupted him with a dry voice, "...And yet you were unable to stop some mindless beast from critically injuring my friend."
Veil frowned, "Ossivas are amongst the stealthiest creatures known to man, even I"
"I KNOW!" Glenn slammed his fist against the Cleaner''s Office wall, his teeth gritted, "I''m not accusing you...But damn it, if even you, with your current strength, can''t protect everyone, how..." He trailed off while staring at the ground, his dry eyes failing to accumulate any more tears, "...How am I supposed to do it?"
Veil looked away in silence, leaving some space for Glenn. Diamanes and Nelg were both silent too, one because he didn''t know what to say, and the other because he didn''t have the strength to speak either.
At that moment, in an incredibly rare occurrence that hopefully won''t happen again, a terrifying silence reigned in Glenn''s head.
"...I believe Fixer Sahro and Liara headed off to a nearby inn to relieve the stress of the battle, you probably should do the same," Veil said as he tightened his bandages. He turned back to the Cleaner''s Office but stopped at the threshold, "...Oh, and for what it''s worth, it was a pleasure fighting alongside you, Fixer Glenn."
Glenn snorted wryly, "...Likewise."
He turned around and strolled away in the XIVth district''s streets, Towsblade. The city was eerily silent aside from the random clangs of machinery and releases of steam clouds. A few signs indicated the nearby inn, which he dragged his feet toward. He walked past a drunk and knocked him to the side accidentally.
"Hey'', ya'' wan'' a piece of..." The drunk''s face paled as he stared up at Glenn, "...me?"
Glenn didn''t even spare him a glance, his left, purple arm exuding an ominous energy that was starting to surround his entire body. The drunk collapsed on the floor, looking at his trembling hands as he soiled his pants. Glenn continued on his way, his knuckles whitening from how tight he was clenching his fists.
"Failure..." He muttered through his teeth, "...I failed again. Damn it..."
He crouched and slammed the back of his head against a wall, closing his eyes to try and force the tears back.
The moons were especially bright that night.
Glenn sat there, alone with his thoughts. He couldn''t feel Diamanes'' presence, nor Nelg''s.
He would be the only one to fight these demons.
He couldn''t tell exactly how much time he spent there in that dark street, listening to the sound of hissing steam and creaking gears.
But the longer he sat, the worse he was feeling.
Loath. Guilt. Hatred.
Despair.
Sadness.
...Regret.
...I can''t believe I was having fun fighting with my friends'' lives at stake... Glenn sneered at himself dejectedly, ...Every time...Every time I get complacent in this cursed world..." He clenched his fists even tighter and bit his lower lip until it bled, ...No, it''s not this damn world''s fault, it''s mine for being too weak, dammit.... !
"If I could have just..." He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall, "...been better, Milena wouldn''t have been hurt. And maybe Javier wouldn''t have betrayed us. Shit...!" He spat out through a sob.
Glenn cried silently for a moment until he eventually exhaled a deep, exhausted sigh. He gazed up at the twin moons in the sky, unperturbed and unbothered.
"...Wouldn''t it be great if I could just...give up?" Glenn muttered as he glanced down at his hands. The first was of a deep purple and looked nothing like a human''s, and the other was covered in blood and closing wounds, leftover traces of the battle. The only similarity between the two hands was that they were both shaking like leaves.
Glenn watched as he failed to stop them from trembling, even by clenching them tightly. Even his own body was refusing to listen to him.
"...Why me, huh...?" He asked no one in particular, staring at the sky barely visible through the clouds of steam the city was constantly emitting. His eyes widened slightly when a falling star crossed the sky, shooting past the moons and toward the horizon. It wasn''t particularly bright, nor was it incredibly large or fast. It was the plainest, most common shooting star, and yet...
It burned with everything it had, shooting for the horizon with everything it had. Glenn knew there was nothing behind that shooting star, that it was just a rock that entered the atmosphere and was burning off as it fell, but still...this shooting star, even though it was shooting toward its ruin, was still accelerating, never stopping or slowing down.
It just kept going.
Glenn''s Mana suddenly surged outward, covering him with a raging layer of deep blue energy, exploding with everything it had and pushing back against the ominous purple hue that had been constantly surrounding him. Glenn slowly pushed himself off the ground, casting a quick Aqua Mundare to get rid of all the gore left over his body. A flick of his finger sent away his bloody Lightweaver suit, replacing it with the black Imoogi one.
Glenn brushed his hair back and wiped the tears off his face, his eyes burning with raging determination. He adjusted the position of his tie, his lips curved upward in a devilish grin. The moonlight wrapped around his black suit, crowning him in white as he rose once more. For that was who he was, wasn''t he? The one who kept on failing, again, and again, and again...
Only to rise once more to the challenge.
"...Self-loathing is certainly not going to help me in this damned situation," he muttered through his grin, "...But anger?"
A laugh escaped from his mouth as he glanced one last time at the sky, the shooting star gone, "...That is certainly going to push me forward."
He shook his head and slapped his thighs, "Now, where the hell was that damned inn...?"
227. Fame, Fear and Family
When Glenn eventually found the inn Sahro and Liara went to, it was already too late. The two Black Heirs were both unconscious, one sleeping under a bench and the other on a table. The two were drooling as they slept despite the absolute chaos reigning in the inn.
''Places like this inn never change...'' Glenn thought as he dodged a drunk and listened to the bard''s prowess singing the tales of the "Twin Black Heirs". It seemed like Sahro had gone around telling stories of his fights in the Ink Dunes, garnering some fame for both him and Liara.
''Hmm, I wouldn''t want to worry you, but such an attractive woman left unattended in an inn is...'' Diamanes trailed off as Glenn watched someone approach Liara with naughty hands, only for said hand to end up crushed into a pulp. Liara didn''t even move an inch, drooling on the table she was sleeping on in the least bothered way.
Glenn snorted and shook his head, ''...She probably is the danger here. I''ll get her and Sahro a room once the chaos calms down...''
Someone suddenly froze and stared at his left arm, their mouth wide open. A scream echoed into the inn, stopping the chaos.
"T-The Devil''s Hand is here!"
The bard who was happily singing and playing some stringed instrument stopped and gulped audibly. The dancing drunks all froze and stared at him with wide, scared eyes. Glenn walked past them, using Gravity Manipulation to pick Sahro up and against a wall. He then headed off to the counter and sat on a chair someone offered him. The bartender was clenching a rag and glass with trembling hands, sweat pearling down his forehead.
Glenn looked at the inn with a frown, only to laugh in disbelief, "So I''m really that famous, huh?" He turned back to the barman and slammed his hand on the counter, "Bring me your strongest alcohol, I have my survival to fucking celebrate!"
The inn remained silent as the bartender silently served a drink of Fiery Spirit to Glenn, the atmosphere heavy and tense. Glenn looked at the red alcohol with a small grin, reminded of the past, before downing it in one shot. The alcohol burned all the way down like a raging forest fire.
"... E-excuse me?" A trembling voice asked beside him. Glenn turned to the side, his eyebrows rising when he found a Munirp''s soldier, recognizable from the coat of arms draping his shoulders, tainted with blood.
"I...I wanted to say thank you," The soldier bowed his head slightly, a little more confident, "...I was there with my regiment when you carved through the orcs'' troops, I wouldn''t be alive if it weren''t for you."
Glenn blinked and snorted, "You''re just lucky, it''s nothing to thank me for"
"The Devil''s Hand!" A voice suddenly exclaimed, interrupting him. Glenn bit down on his lip, wondering whether he should just give up on relaxing with how tense these guys were, but...
"Yeah, you saved us too! Thank you!" Another patron raised his glass in his direction, accompanied by his team.
"The way you flew over the battlefield and threw war spells one after another was incredible!" Another voice shouted, before adding, "To the Devil''s Hand!"
"Ay, to the Devil''s Hand!"
"The Devil''s Hand!"
The inn''s chaos returned as many soldiers began to shout his nickname, raising their glasses in his direction. Mercenaries, Fixers, and even a few Junior Cleaners came and thanked him, wanting to shake hands and offer him drinks.
Glenn laughed, taken aback, ''I...shit, I am a star now, aren''t it?''
''Tsk, as if your ego wasn''t developed enough...'' Diamanes groaned with a hint of satisfaction. The night passed without any more incidents, Glenn realizing that it was somehow very hard to get drunk after he finished an entire bottle of Fiery Spirit. While a little bloated, he was barely feeling tipsy. He even played a drinking contest with a mean-looking Godless Templar, but the latter ended up losing consciousness after just two bottles.
"...I think my body has gotten a little weird..." Glenn muttered as he looked at his glass filled with alcohol. Perhaps his system was considering the alcohol poison and fighting back against it, only it was winning easily. He couldn''t say.
"...Sorry if I''m not too present, I...I don''t feel like partying..." Nelg suddenly admitted with a guilty voice. Glenn''s face hardened and he clenched his sword''s pommel.
''Nelg, take the time you need. If you want us to talk about it, we can talk about it. If you just want some space, that''s fine as well. Just tell me, and I''ll do what I can, okay?'' He replied to him with a very serious yet reassuring tone.
Nelg laughed weakly, "...Thanks. I think I''ll try to deal with this by myself for now, just...Can you put me back in your soul?"
Glenn smiled and flicked his fingers. Nelg disappeared in a discreet cloud of deep blue particles.
''Of course.''
Eventually, Glenn carried both Sahro and Liara to the inn''s biggest room. Somehow, Liara''s auto-defense system seemed to recognize him despite her unconsciousness.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He didn''t sleep that night, instead Meditating the whole time. He had a lot of things to think about after all.
Glenn was floating in front of his Mana Heart, the Milky Way, pondering.
"...I need to put some order to my priorities. First..." Glenn''s heart suddenly warmed up, "...I need to see Lina. She should be in our place at Longhorn Street..."
His expression hardened and he clasped his hands together, his knuckles whitening, "Secondly...I need to make sure Milena is okay. I know Exan is an Earthling, and he appears kind of sane through his writing, but..." He shook his head, "...Everyone powerful in this world is fucking insane."
Glenn sighed deeply and leaned back, his arms crossed, "...After I''m done with that, I''ll be finally able to conclude things with Baron Howard. With Sahro and Liara to back me up, it shouldn''t be much of a problem, but..." His eyebrows creased, "...I already underestimated him once, not again. Liam should have a lot of information about that sick bastard, maybe I''ll be able to coordinate things with him..."
Nelg suddenly walked out of the darkness, his silver armor gleaming a little less bright than it usually did. He was smiling dejectedly.
"Don''t forget about getting the Project Damocles book back from Manalok this time," He suggested.
Glenn blinked and slapped his forehead, "Shit, you''re right. I keep forgetting about this damned thing..." He trailed off and looked back at the Milky Way and the four rings of stars circling it, "...I sure hope it''s worth the wait."
The morning eventually came, and with that, two very annoyed and hangover Black Heirs.
Where''s Milena? asked Sahro curtly, pressing an ice pack to her forehead. Liara tried to nod frantically but froze in pain, her eyes twitching deeply. Glenn crossed his arms, wondering how he should present things. The team was sitting over a bowl of hangover soup in the inn where they''d slept, the other guests often coming over to tap them on the shoulder and thank them for their war efforts.
"She was hurt, a critical injury," Glenn finally blurted out. Liara shot to her feet, leaning on the table with a worried expression.
Sahro frowned, a little calmer, "...How?"
Glenn gritted his teeth, "...An Ossiva. It attacked her in the back for barely a second before I and Veil killed it, but it was long enough for her to..." He bit down on his lip, "...to lose her spine."
Liara paled and collapsed on her seat, distraught. Sahro''s eyes were wide open, shocked. He eventually shook it off and threw the ice pack away.
"...She''s not dead, then?" He asked with a strained voice. Liara held her breath, her eyes watering.
Glenn shook his head, "Not to my knowledge, no. But" He hurriedly added when he saw their relieved expressions, "She was taken by Exan the Omniscient."
Sahro and Liara froze once more, not with worry but confusion this time.
"Isn''t Exan some sort of legend? I think he existed hundreds of years ago?" Sahro asked with creased eyebrows.
Glenn nodded, "And he still does. I''m also pretty sure he''s a Newborn Ruler, a Seventh-Circle."
Liara gasped, before leaning in Sahro''s ear and hurriedly whispering something.
Sahro nodded and leaned in, "Liara''s right, why the hell would Exan take Milena away? That makes no sense?"
Glenn rubbed his chin, "I have no idea. Milena''s from the Court, so maybe her family has connections to Exan? But then, I''m pretty sure she said her family would kill her if she failed to pass their Tests, so..."
Sahro and Liara sighed. Glenn scoffed dejectedly, "Yeah, it''s not the best, but it''s not the worst either. I vote on going back home and taking a few days to rest. I''ll also try to find a way to communicate with Exan."
The two Black Heirs nodded in agreement, before scowling once more from their headaches. Glenn smiled at the sight and finished his bowl of soup.
''You really like to flaunt your superior body, huh?'' Diamanes commented sardonically. Glenn ignored him, more concentrating on trying to think of something that would allow him to speak with Exan.
"Sigh...Life never is easy, isn''t it?" He muttered while looking at the bottom of his bowl.
They eventually went back to the Silverhomes District and their mansion at Longhorn''s Street, N33.
"Hopefully we''ll be able to enjoy this place a little longer this time..." Glenn muttered as he opened the steel gates with his Identification Dagger.
"I wonder what Liam and Janica have been up to since last time," Sahro said curiously. Liara nodded slowly, looking in the distance worriedly. Glenn noticed her worry and sighed. They needed to deal with that issue with Exan as fast as they could. He refused to leave his teammate in a possibly insane bastard''s hands. His sole contact with another earthling had been rather...unpleasant, after all.
''Come on, why would you make a generality? Laurance was just one crazy bastard, it doesn''t mean every earthling is,'' Diamanes tried to comment positively, his words strangely unconvincing. Glenn swallowed back his apprehension and entered the mansion, followed by the two Black Heirs.
The mansion was eerily silent until Janica suddenly came running into the entrance hall, panting.
"Huff, huff, Mister Devil''s Hand, huff, people are waiting for you in the relaxation room." She heaved while leaning on her knees. There were large dark circles under her eyes.
Glenn frowned and glanced at Sahro, who nodded and slowly grabbed his sword''s hilt. Liara also prepared her sword as her worries disappeared, replaced with readiness. Her spear slowly floated above her, controlled by her Telekinesis.
"The relaxation room, you said...?" Glenn confirmed as Mana twirled around his right hand.
Janica nodded, clueless, "Yes, I think they''re talking with your sister right"
A gust of wind interrupted her as Glenn dashed at maximum speed, his eyes bloodshot and his Mana flaring up in all directions. He pushed Gravity Manipulation to the limit to accelerate and navigate the mansion''s hallways as fast as he could. He kicked the door open to the relaxation room, Nelg unsheathed in his hand-axe form and a Nitrogen Lance ready to be shot.
Lina was sitting awkwardly in an armchair, a robed man sitting in front of her and Manalok Tuleam at her side. They were enjoying a cup of tea, Liam watching them from afar with his arms crossed, his mechanical heart hidden under a brass cuirass.
"Tsk, they speak all that from you, but you can''t even handle tea?" Tuleam grumbled as he shoved a handful of biscuits in his mouth.
The robed man sighed and leaned back helplessly, "I told you, at my age, my stomach is easy to upset. I think our host is here," He trailed off and looked back to Glenn, who was standing at the doorway with bloodshot eyes. Tuleam squinted at Glenn and opened his mouth, only to shut it as Lina stood up and approached Glenn.
Glenn was frozen standing, Nelg and his spell disappearing. She stopped in front of him, silent. The two looked at each other this way, their lips sealed.
Liam cleared his throat, "Uhm if you guys don''t mind...?"
Tuleam rolled his eyes as the robed man chuckled and snapped his fingers. Everyone but Glenn and Lina disappeared from the room, leaving them alone.
"...Hey," Glenn finally managed to crack his lips open, his voice strained.
"Hey..." Lina''s lips trembled, tears welling up in her eyes.
Finally, the tension broke and she rushed into his arms, hugging him tightly. Glenn hugged her back, struggling to push back against his tears.
At this moment, neither of them could care about anything else. The brother and sister just hugged, together once more.
228. Silly Joke
"...You stink." Lina sniffled as she pushed Glenn away with a smirk.
Glenn stepped back with a pained expression, only to grin widely and pull her back, "Ah~ too bad, I think I need to check if you are real a little more..."
"Ah, fuck off!"
Lina smiled and turned away while wiping the tears off her face. Glenn sighed deeply and collapsed into one of the sofas. Lina sat before him and hugged her knees, her right hand covered under thick bandages.
"...So we both ended up in another world, then?" Glenn scoffed and rubbed the back of his head.
Lina nodded slowly, "This is so...so insane. I can''t help but believe that this is a very, very long nightmare."
Glenn laughed dejectedly, "Hah, trust me, nightmares are better than this place if you''re unlucky..." He shook his head and grimaced, thinking back to when he was tortured in the Thorn''s Church prison.
''I''m not sure telling your sister that you went through months of literal torture is an exactly good idea,'' Diamanes commented from within his host''s mind. Glenn moistened his lips and leaned back.
"So, how did you end in this world then?" He asked with his arms crossed.
"...I..." She hugged her knees tighter, "...I woke up in the middle of a desert of black sand. Wherever my eyes reached, there was only sand, sand, and more sand. I only understood I was in another world when I took the time to look up and found"
Glenn flicked his fingers, interrupting her, "The twin moons, right?"
Lina nodded with a frown, "Yeah...but they''re not twins though? The larger one was red, and the smaller white."
Glenn froze, "So you also arrived in this world during the Moon Rift. That''s...shit, I need to ask Onnea at some point. Do I need to almost kill myself to have a meeting with her...?"
Lina shook her head in confusion, "What the hell are you talking about? Moon Rift?" She paused, and her eyes widened, "Wait, don''t tell me. The big moon isn''t always red, right?"
Glenn nodded, "Yeah, they also call it a"
"Blood Moon!" She exclaimed in realization, cutting him off, "Like...like in that game, uh, the one with Link."
Glenn laughed, "Yeah, only there are things that fall from a big-ass dimensional hole opening up during said Blood Moon."
Lina moistened her lips, "Yeah, I know. There was that huge crystal with" She suddenly closed her eyes and tightened her lips, her jaws clenched. Glenn raised an eyebrow, amused.
''Hey, do you think I could make a surprise appearance or something? I don''t know she did not notice your purple arm yet,'' Diamanes asked with slight disbelief.
''Let''s...let''s give her some time first,'' Glenn replied with a smirk. Oh, how he wanted to see her face when she was going to realize that her brother was also cursed with that annoying, sarcastic parasite living rent-free in one of his hands.
"...Sorry," She finally blurted out with a tinge of annoyance, "I...I still have a hard time believing this is real. I...when I fell into the darkness and the hole, and somehow didn''t die even though I fell for ages, I thought I was damned. I..." She rubbed her forehead with a wince, "...I think I might have gone crazy from the time I spent alone there. I keep..." She hesitated before shaking her head, "...Never mind."
Glenn sighed, wondering how he would have fared had he been forced to live for more than a year, alone in the darkness, with only sand and Diamanes'' voice to help him survive. No wonder she believed she was going insane, even more so with Diamanes as her sole companion.
Lina touched the bandage on her right hand and grimaced. "Also, ever since I touched that...that crystal back then, my...my right hand, it..." She bit on her lips, struggling. Glenn leaned forward and simply pointed at his left arm with a wry expression. Lina blinked at the purple skin, her mouth and eyes opening widely. She pointed at Glenn''s arm with a trembling hand, speechless.
Glenn grimaced, "Yeah, uh, I also know about this situation, so, uh, the voice you spoke of..." He clasped his hands together, "...it might be, uh, real, you know?"
"As real as me, haha!" Diamanes suddenly exclaimed aloud, appearing within Glenn''s palm with a wide grin. Lina jumped back, startled, before looking at her left hand in shock.
"So..." She muttered, "...I wasn''t hallucinating it?"
She shook her head in awe as she gently unwrapped the bandages hiding the purple of her right hand, her eyes widening as a mouth appeared within the palm. It wasn''t grinning, nor did it have this "wicked" feeling that Glenn was used to. It seemed more...refined and polite, somehow.
"It is my pleasure to meet another part of myself, as well as Milady''s brother. We are infinitely grateful for saving our lives from that unending sleep," The mouth spoke gratefully. Glenn''s eyes widened and he glanced at his left hand, then back at Lina''s.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you fuck. Now, why won''t you join us in a somewhat competent host, instead of that mundane girlno offense Lina, but you''re weak as shit," Diamanes jeered, earning a gasp from his other self. Lina blinked, before turning away from Glenn and to her right hand.
"You...you were real since the start, then..." She realized, her throat strained, "...Tiamanes, right?"
Tiamanes smiled gently, "Indeed, Milady. It warms my heart to finally be recognized after all this time."
Glenn''s eyebrows creased and he looked closer at his annoying piece of shit entity, "Why aren''t you as likable, Diamanes?"
Diamanes snorted, "Not my fault this bozo is so ~boring. He doesn''t know how to take things, that might be why."
Tiamanes sighed dejectedly, "You never were the brightest of the bunch, Diamanes, but we all knew that, didn''t we? And how could you understand the skill behind processing, when you can only take things like a barbare?"
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Lina raised her non-purple hand, overwhelmed, "Wait, wait, are there more of your, uh, kind, then?"
Diamanes laughed, "Yeah, even though you weren''t supposed to learn of it until you reached a satisfactory level of strength. But whatever, Glenn''s your brother, that''s mighty strong enough for you to learn a secret or two."
Glenn rolled his eyes and suddenly closed his hand, muffling the damned entity, "Pay no mind to him. First..." He tipped his head slightly in her right-hand''s direction, "I''m similarly honored to be meeting you, Tiamanes. You are much more pleasant than that fool I''m cursed to live with."
Tiamanes scoffed in disdain, "Of course. I can''t possibly imagine your mental resilience for you to endure his unending idiocy. All my wishes go to you and your future, Young Master."
Glenn smiled, pleasantly surprised, "Young Master, huh? I like it. Lina, looks like you lucked out with Tiamanes."
Lina slowly closed her hand with a soft smile, "...I''m starting to think that too. But" She suddenly stood up with a frown, her arms crossed, "What''s that about you being a hero? The "Devil''s Hand"?" She scoffed as she said those last words, "Couldn''t you pick up a cooler nickname? This is sooo lame!"
Glenn reeled back in indignation, "What? Shut up! First, I didn''t choose it, and secondly, it''s a really cool nickname, alright? Much better than the other ones I almost ended up with..."
Lina dismissed her faked anger and collapsed back on her sofa with a deep sigh, "...What a hell of a mess. You''re a war hero, now, that means you..." She rubbed her forehead with a dark expression, "...You''re a murderer now, aren''t you?"
Glenn''s glee faded away as he leaned back and crossed his arms. He clenched his teeth for a moment before admitting, "I am. I...my hands are covered in gallons of blood, to be honest. But..." He clenched his fists tightly, his face hardening, "...I can''t turn back time, and most of the stuff I slayed deserved worse than death anyway."
He laughed dejectedly as he realized what he was saying, "...You must think I''m some sort of monster, but...this world, the Limbo, is not a safe place to live in. Anyone and I insist on anyone, can die if they aren''t careful. If it''s not monsters, it''s cultists. If it''s not cultists, it''s fucking nobles. And if that still isn''t enough, just wait a bit for some ancient god to interfere and send some monstrous envoy and ruin your damned life." He drew a deep breath and added with a wry grin, "At least, that''s what mostly happened ever since I landed in this world."
Lina buried her face in her hands, sighing deeply once more, "...Why us?" She blurted out with faint anger, "...Why did it have to be us specifically? As if life hadn''t been hard enough already!"
Glenn silently joined her on the sofa and hugged her, patting her back warmly. She sniffled once more until she suddenly paused with her mouth wide open. Glenn leaned back, strangely worried.
"Glenn..." His sister muttered in a slow realization as she wiped the tears off her face, "...I think they''ve said you were one of the youngest Magi in history, right? What''s that about?"
Glenn smiled widely and extended his right hand forward. The Milky Way making up his Mana Heart suddenly appeared above his palm, gleaming mystically inside the relaxation room with countless stars. Lina gasped in awe, reaching for the magical construction with disbelief.
"Yeah, I''m a hell of a fighter and Magi now. Pretty much a one-man army, you know?"
Lina laughed and shook her head, "Magic, huh? Dude, that almost makes me want to not go back to Earth!"
Glenn chuckled and took her hand, leading her to the balcony, "And you haven''t seen the best of it yet. I created a cool spell that lets me manipulate gravity to some extent..."
Lina snorted, "Gravity, eh? Is that all?"
Glenn grinned wickedly, "Hang on tightly."
"WhatARH!" She screamed as they suddenly soared in the sky, Glenn''s careful Gravity Manipulation bringing them high in the sky, floating above the Silverhomes District and its bustling population. The sun was high in the sky, barely hidden behind light gray clouds. The wind was cold, but not freezing, and was barely making their clothes flutter.
Lina hugged Glenn tightly, trembling, "H-holy crap, we''re fucking flying!"
Glenn laughed, "We are, aren''t we? Oh, careful~" He chuckled as he faked letting go of her, earning a yelp and slapping from his sister.
She calmed down and enjoyed the sight a little more, her disarray fading away gradually, "...It''s beautiful."
Glenn smiled silently. They stood this way in the sky for a long moment, until Lina grimaced and leaned in his ear, "...This is very nice and all that, but I''m not exactly comfortable hanging so high up in the sky. It''s a little too easy to imagine myself crashing down, you know?"
Glenn rolled his eyes, "What, you don''t trust me?"
Lina frowned, "I never said thaaAAAAATTTT!" She screamed as she dove freely toward the ground, Glenn watching with his arms crossed.
"...I think she''s going to hate you for that," Diamanes remarked.
Glenn scoffed, "Meh, don''t worry, she''ll forgive me. I didn''t have the opportunity to tease for so long, might as well go back into the game with something strong and memorable, you know?"
"...Sadistic bastard. Don''t even think I forgot about what you said to that boring loser earlier," Diamanes hissed. Glenn shrugged and let himself fall, making sure to cancel his sister''s fall too, and drop her gently on the ground. The more he was using Gravity Manipulation and the more proficiency he accumulated, the more Glenn was starting to believe that this was the ultimate spell. It could just do too many things for so little Mana. The perfect control spell.
"...You could probably fight only by using Gravity Manipulation and still win most of your fight," Nelg remarked silently.
Glenn raised an eyebrow at his comment, "...You were strangely silent, Nelg. Are you okay"
"Yeah, yeah, I''m fine," Nelg interrupted him with a dismissive tone, "...I''m just trying to deal with my time in that void prison the best I can, and I might be failing. But whatever."
Glenn grimaced. Yeah, Nelg was all but fine. He glanced at his sister jumping helplessly in his direction as he floated above her, her fist raised in a wrathful manner.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I''M GOING TO BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR DAMNED BODY!" She roared as she picked a stone and threw it at him. Glenn let it bounce off him before shrugging and landing right beside her.
"This was a close call, Young Master," Tiamanes suddenly said with a worried voice, "Could you abstain from almost killing Milady? She needs rest, not life-threatening situations."
Glenn clicked his tongue, "Yeah, don''t worry about it, I was just giving her a taste of what I''m going to teach her."
Lina suddenly stopped punching him in the arm, her eyes filling up with excitement, "Wait, you''re going to teach me magic?"
Glenn grinned, "I don''t see why not? Unless you prefer using Aura, but that''s up to you."
She frowned, "...What''s the difference?"
Glenn grimaced and opened his mouth to explain, but Diamanes interrupted him, ''Glenn, I think you need to shorten that discussion. One of your two guests from earlier was a Seventh-Circle, and it doesn''t seem like he''s willing to wait anymore,'' he warned. Glenn''s expression hardened before he snapped his head to the side and found Janica and Liam spying on them from afar.
"Lina, why don''t you go ask them? I need to take care of our guest, it seems..." He said through his teeth as he patted his sister''s shoulder. She opened her mouth to protest but abstained upon seeing his expression. She quietly ran away to Liam and Janica, sparing one last glance in Glenn''s direction. The latter crossed his arms and waited defiantly, his back drenched in cold sweat.
A man hidden under a hooded robe suddenly appeared out of nowhere, his steps measured. He walked up to Glenn and stopped in front of him. Glenn felt his throat dry out as he recognized some sort of special feeling the robed figure was giving off. It was the same thing that he felt from the one who took Milena away after the Ossiva injured her.
The man slowly pulled back his hood, revealing his identity. He appeared to be in his mid-forties. His right eye was gone, replaced by a myriad of small silver gears that were constantly working silently, while his left eye was of a deep marine blue. He had raven-black hair in a loose haircut. He had a deep, black, and serious beard, but most of all had some sort of noble feeling around him.
"It isn''t the first time we met, Glenn," The man said with a smile as he extended his hand out.
"I''m Exan. A fellow Earthling."
229. Grandpa Omniscient
Glenn gulped heavily, staring at the silver gears replacing Exan''s right eye clicking rhythmically. The older man sighed and sat on a bench that had magically appeared below him, inviting Glenn to do the same.
''Well, seems like you''ll be able to check on Milena faster than you were expecting,'' Diamanes commented mockingly, not worried the slightest.
"Ahh...You know, I''ve met a few other Earthlings ever since I fell in this world, but you''re probably the most peculiar one," Exan said as he leaned back on the bench.
Glenn raised a tense eyebrow, "...And why is that?"
Exan gazed at him coldly and pointed back at the mansion, "...Your family came with you. Lucky bastard."
Glenn pressed his lips together, "...How did you know I was from...from Earth?"
Exan rubbed his beard, pondering, "Well, I initially just came to give you some good news, but I managed to hear some interesting things..." He glanced at Glenn''s left, purple arm and smirked, "...Diamanes, is that right? Show yourself, unless you want your host to lose his arm forever."
Glenn froze as Diamanes'' not-so-gleeful smile appeared in his palm, "Oh shit, you listened in on that discussion, then. Welp, we''re dead. Bye-bye, Glenn, it has been a pleasure"
Exan grunted in displeasure and flicked his finger, a bubble appearing around Glenn''s left hand and muffled the sound from it.
"Interesting. It doesn''t appear to be controlling you and still maintains a high level of consciousness. Hmm..." Exan rubbed his chin and stared into Glenn''s eyes, "...Do you want me to get rid of it for you?"
Glenn''s heart missed a beat. Getting rid of Diamanes? Exan could do that?
"I...Uh, letlet me think about it," He stammered, taken aback.
Exan frowned and crossed his arms, "Your choice. I won''t be returning here for a long time, so come find me at the Royal Library in the Court if you want to get rid of it. I''ll do you this favor as a fellow Earthling."
Glenn swallowed his apprehension and shook his head, "Talking about that, what do you mean we can''t return to Earth?"
Exan''s lips curved upward and he looked at Glenn with appreciating eyes, "So you read some of my old work? Good, even though they''re mostly outdated crap, they''re still quite useful to get a hang of things."
Glenn gritted his teeth, a bead of sweat pearling down his head, "...If you''re turning around the pot so much, that means it''s impossible, right?"
Exan''s expression darkened, the gears in his right eye socket stopping momentarily, "...Make yourself a reason. You won''t be able to go back, no matter what you tried. I dedicated almost a century just to try and find a way out of the Limbo. Sure, it made me stronger than most, but it didn''t come without sacrifices," He tapped the gears with his finger, "...And I still couldn''t find a way back. How could I, when there''s nowhere to go?"
Glenn creased his eyebrows and rubbed the sides of his nose, "...Onnea told me something similar. What the hell does it mean, there''s nowhere to go back to? Where the hell did Earth go?"
Exan blew raspberries and shrugged, "I don''t have a clue. And again, I gave up on that search a long time ago. But, you talked with Onnea? Even though you''re only that strong?"
Glenn looked at his left hand, wondering if that was also going to get censored for Diamanes, "Let''s call it a fateful encounter. I fought against a Heart of Darkness nine months ago, that''s when I met Her. Oh, and she wasn''t the only one I spoke to."
Exan whistled, impressed, "Well, seems like someone is special. I always need to do something big for them to bother with me, but here you are, a measly Fourth Circle and you''re already used to talking to gods."
Glenn sighed and rubbed his forehead, "I''m not sure I''d call myself lucky for that..." He grumbled. Exan chuckled and shook his head, before gazing at the blue sky.
"...Thank you," Exan finally sighed. Glenn almost flinched, startled.
"What for?"
Exan smiled softly, "Well, if I understood everything correctly, you''re a good friend of Milena''s, right?"
Glenn paused as the older man continued talking, "...I''m glad my granddaughter met you. You have a good head on your shoulders, and you seem to handle the strain of your powers quite well."
Glenn blinked.
Wait.
What?
"Milena is your granddaughter?" He repeated, unable to believe what he just heard.
Exan nodded casually, "Yeah, somehow my cruel eldest managed to birth a sweet girl like her. She''s my favorite from the bunch, honestly. My wife is often jealous because of her, haha!"
Glenn''s eyes widened largely as the jigsaws of the puzzle began to piece themselves together. "...Fuck, I did not imagine it back then, she was using Earth''s words!"
Exan moistened his lips as he rubbed his beard, "Hmm, she probably picked them up after me. My back had been killing me back when she spent some time at my mansion, I''ve probably said that I felt like I had been rolled over by a car a hundred times. Still trying to hang onto Earth''s notions, you know? I''d rather not forget where I came from."
Glenn snorted in disbelief, "Yeah, sure, that...that makes sense." He suddenly stood up as he remembered the really important question, "Shit, how is Milena then? You took her away after the Ossiva injured her, how is she doing?"
Exan sipped on a cup of hot chocolate that had appeared out of nowhere and smiled, "Her spine has already been fixed. She''s going to need some time to come back, though, even more since I''m hiding her from her parents. You know, with all those foolish Tests and restrictions for Court children, and how she''s not supposed to let people know that she''s a noble. Seeing how unsurprised you are, I''m pretty sure she failed at that."
Glenn nodded, "Yeah, I guessed it. She does look happier now that people know about her secret," He glanced at Exan and added with sarcasm, "...Even though she kept some for herself."
Exan shrugged, "Who doesn''t keep a thing or two for themselves? Anyway, I just came here to tell you Milena will be back in a month or two, three in the worst scenario. It''ll be up to her. Interesting spells that you have, by the way. Looks like you can manipulate gravity somehow, probably thanks to that strange astral Mana Heart of yours."
He stood up and dusted his pants off, a wave of Mana twirling around him, "I need to get going, I can''t leave my spot unattended for too long or these other bastards would use the opportunity to destroy King''s Rise. Again, come see me at the Royal Library if you need anything, I can at least do that."
Glenn grabbed his arm and stopped him at the last second, "Wait!" He gritted his teeth, his eyes resolute, "...How...How can I become a Seventh Circle like you? A Newborn Ruler?"
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Exan looked at him puzzledly, "Well, just keep doing what you''ve been doing. If you''re meant to reach higher Circles, you will, don''t worry. You already took care of your biological lock with the gift I hid back then, so it''s really only up to you."
Glenn blinked in disbelief, "What, there isn''t a surefire way or something"
Exan waved his hand dismissively, "Come on, Glenn. You''re an exceptional Earthling, I''m sure you''ll manage better than those other insane bastards. I''ll see you in the Court."
And with these words, the older man suddenly disappeared in a cloud of rust-colored Mana, leaving Glenn flabbergasted.
Diamanes gasped like a drowning man in need of air, "Ah! I''m finally out of that thing! Crap, it sucks being isolated like that! I can somehow understand a portion of your pain, Nelg!" He exclaimed.
Nelg scoffed dejectedly, "...I seriously doubt that. So that was Exan, then? Seems like he didn''t notice me."
Glenn rubbed his chin, wondering, "...Or he just didn''t care. At least we now know that Milena is safe and taken care of. If we trust Exan''s words, of course."
"I don''t think he was lying. He seemed genuinely happy to see that his granddaughter had a good friend worried about her," said Nelg. Glenn clicked his tongue.
"This asshole somehow isolated me completely from Glenn! I don''t know how he did it, but I don''t trust him! He probably wants to do some shady stuff to you and is only leaving you alive for later, I swear!" Diamanes scorned, flustered.
Glenn moistened his lips and grinned, "Man, I should have asked what his method was to isolate you. That would have been excellent. But..." His eyelids trembled slightly, "...You really couldn''t hear anything of the conversation, then?"
Diamanes grunted, "I wish I could have, but that bubble cut off everything. And there''s even a protection on your memories, I can''t even check them out. This sucks!"
Glenn rubbed his chin, "...I see. Well, at least we got a lot of good news for the others. Ah, and I also have another guest to deal with, don''t I?"
"Ah-AH!" A voice suddenly exclaimed from behind him, "I finally found you, you damned scum! Come here so I can pull you apart!"
Glenn turned, confused, and saw Manalok Tuleam, Restoration Operator, charging at him angrily. His face was flushed red and the Project Damocles notebook was clutched in his hand.
Manalok grabbed Glenn''s collar and poked his chest sharply, "I swear on all the damned gods that I will never take another job from you! This...this shit fucking sucks!" He threw the notebook on the ground violently, fuming.
Glenn carefully pushed away Tuleam, before bending down and picking the notebook up. It seemed in perfect condition as if it had been written the previous day. All the pages that were previously threatening to crumble to dust had been restored to a pristine state.
"Incredible..." He muttered, ignoring the raging man as he flipped the pages, "...How did you do it? This notebook was in such a crappy state, and now"
Tuleam grunted and waved his hand dismissively, "Yeah, yeah, I did a great fucking job, I know. I did you a hell of a discount for the struggle I had to go through, though. Too bad you paid in advance, tsk..."
Glenn grinned and shoved the notebook into his dimensional pouch, writing himself a mental note to give it a read once things calmed down slightly.
"Well, I can invite you for dinner to repay you slightly if you wish?"
Manalok Tuleam rolled his eyes and scoffed, "What, you think you can afford my favors with food alone?" He shook his head, "Nah, you''ll have to tell me about that war beyond the Dark Wall with a hell of a meal, at the very least!"
Glenn chuckled, "Sure, I can do that. I''m sure you''re not the only one curious about what we went through in that desert."
Tuleam crossed his arms and grinned with a toothy smile, "Excellent. Oh, and can I crash at your place for a few? Mine disappeared a few days ago, I''m practically homeless."
Glenn blinked, "...What? But you''re rich?"
Tuleam looked at him blankly, "So what? Do you have a room for me, or...?"
Glenn laughed in disbelief, "S...Sure, I can offer you a room, yeah"
"Great!" Tuleam slapped his thighs, "Where the hell is the damned kitchen, then? I''m starving!"
Before long, everyone in the mansion was seated in the dining room, enjoying Glenn''s spaghetti bolognese. They didn''t sell pasta in this world, sadly, but instead had a very malleable dough that could be used for almost anything. It was pretty entertaining to cut the spaghetti using Carbon Blade since he needed to be very precise with his control, and the sauce Sahro made alongside the countless beef meatballs was excellent, making for a hearty meal.
"No, I''m telling you, the truly legendary warriors are Aura users," Liam proclaimed as he shoved food in his mouth. Janica shook her head and pointed at Glenn sitting on the other side of the table.
"There''s a legendary warrior right here, and he is a Magi. Can you contest that?"
Lina was sitting in the middle of the two, pondering.
Sahro pointed his knife at Liam and chuckled, "Aura is very powerful, but it''s way less versatile in exchange. Still, it can overwhelm most magical attacks, as long as use enough of it and make it sharp enough."
Liara was picking at her food with a gloomy expression, unable to eat anything. Glenn cleared his throat and stood up, doing his best to ignore Manalok Tuleam who was devouring as much pasta as he could.
"I have some news about Milena," He announced. Liara suddenly perked up, wearing a hopeful expression.
Glenn smiled widely and nodded, "She''s being treated right now, and should return in a few months. Her spine is already healed, thanks to Exan."
Sahro froze and glanced at the researcher at the end of the table, "...Wait, so the other guest was...?"
Glenn grimaced, "Yeah, it was Exan. He came specially to give me news about Milena."
Manalok Tuleam suddenly stopped eating, his dark green hair and badly kept beard covered in sauce, "Wait, why would that scary old man take care of your friend?"
The atmosphere froze as Glenn, Sahro, and Liara exchanged a tense gaze. Tuleam couldn''t know about Milena''s true identity, no matter what. The researcher wiped his face with the tablecloth, before groaning in understanding.
"Ah, she''s the girl from last time, right? Shit, I knew he had a thing for younger girls, but still...She''s hot, though, so I can kind of understand..."
Glenn blinked, restraining a relieved sigh. Whatever Tuleam was thinking was better than the truth.
"So, which will you choose? Aura or Mana?" Liam suddenly asked as he turned to Lina, disrupting the heavy mood. Lina grimaced and buried her face in her hands, "Ahh, I don''t know! Can''t I use both at the same time?"
Janica coughed as she choked on her water, before hurriedly countering, "No, are you crazy? No normal humans can use Aura and Mana both at the same time. They would just explode if they did!"
"Or worse," Tuleam suddenly chimed in as he scratched his messy beard, "Ever heard of Corruption? One of my clients discovered an old book talking about using Mana and Aura at the same time. His family believed I was at fault he became a children-eating snake with wings, heh. Good times."
Lina blinked, "O...Okay, let''s forget about that idea then."
Glenn sighed, "Yeah, that would be incredible if I could use Aura and Mana at the same time like these two Black Heirs," he pointed at Sahro and Liara, the latter smiling widely at Lina. Lina''s cheeks reddened and she hurriedly turned away.
Sahro cleared his throat, "...Actually, there would be a way for her to use Aura and Mana at the same time, but..."
Glenn''s eyes widened, "Wait, what?"
The Black Heir grimaced, "It''s a little risky and...I don''t think it has been done before. But, considering the relationship you have with the Black Heirs..."
He rubbed his chin, "...Maybe they would let your sister go get an Inheritance Sigil. Theoretically, she just needs some of our blood, but it''s..."
Glenn scoffed and shook his head, "Okay, no, let''s forget about that. Too dangerous, I don''t want my sister to explode into bits because she couldn''t decide between power and power."
Lina pouted before throwing a meatball at Glenn, who narrowly dodged it with a sneer, "Ah, now that you have a shit-ton of food you''re playing with it? Shameless."
Liara suddenly gasped and walked up to Sahro, whispering in his ear. He frowned, before suddenly realizing and gasping too.
"Shit, you''re right! She hasn''t chosen a path yet, so it might be safe!"
Liara nodded frantically, only for Sahro to calm down and stop her.
"No, let''s rest that thought for now. First, we need to bring Giselle''s grandson back. That would give us all the favor we need with the Alsaahir."
Lina''s eyes shone, "Wait, so would it be possible then?"
Sahro grinned widely as he watched Glenn paling from the side, "Definitely. It''s your choice, though. It''s a big thing to go through, and it has never been done for."
Glenn stood up and slammed his hand on the table, "No, I''m sorry but"
"Ah, shut up," Tuleam groaned, interrupting him, "She''s a grown-ass woman, it''s her choice." He turned to Lina, curious, "How old are you? Eighteen? Shit, I know at least five girls who were already married by that age!"
Lina choked, overwhelmed. Liam patted her back before laughing, "That''s true. Hey, Janica, in one year you''ll be an old girlAouch!"
Janica rubbed her fist after hitting Liam squarely, her cheeks flushed red.
Glenn shook his head collapsed back in his seat, and added with a sigh, "...You''ll have to wait for us to save Callum, though, which will take a while, thank God..." He muttered under his breath, secretly relieved. The later he could push off this experience they wanted to do on his sister, the better it would be.
"Why do you even want to be so powerful, anyway?" He blurted out desperately, wondering what he should do to stop her from going on that path, "You don''t need to fight, I''m here to protect you! You can just enjoy yourself while I take care of everything!"
Lina''s expression darkened and she shook her head, her gaze deepening, "...No. What if you''re not there, and I fall into another sort of darkness?" She gritted her teeth, her fists clenched tightly, "No, I want to be capable enough to never be scared in the dark again. I...I don''t want to repeat that year. Never again."
Glenn couldn''t retort anything to that.
''She''s definitely your sister,'' Diamanes remarked mockingly.
''Shut it.''
230. Mummy Issues
Glenn crossed his arms, staring at Veil sitting in front of him. The bandaged Cleaner had had no qualms entering the mansion without announcing himself, interrupting the lively dinner.
"...What did you come here for, Veil?" Glenn asked with an annoyed tone.
The Cleaner smirked under the bandages and stretched his hand out, "The Recorders and whatever you took from the Ink Dunes. You are already guaranteed to receive incredible rewards for your performance during the war. Still, I''m pretty sure that whatever is in your Recorders will suffice to support your "project" with a certain Baron."
Glenn sighed and took out said Recorders from his dimensional pouch. He had kind of expected that to happen, hence why he had asked the team for their Recorders. He couldn''t do anything about Milena and...and Javier''s, though. The Pale Son was probably dead anyway, killed by Exan''s massive Colossus.
''And that''s all the better for us. That traitor doesn''t deserve our sympathy,'' Diamanes hissed. Nelg clicked his tongue, yet he didn''t add anything.
"...Here are all of them, the rest was left buried under the black sand," Glenn said as he rolled over the Recorders to Veil. The bandaged man took them all in one fell swoop, stashing them in a small dimensional pouch.
"And...thank you. Now, for the loot, what did you get?" Veil asked curiously. Glenn''s lips curved upward slightly as he suddenly pulled the whole mummy he took away from that ruin back in the Ink Dunes out of his pouch, before throwing it on the table. Veil paused at the sight, momentarily speechless.
"We found that corpse, alongside a few more things," Glenn said casually as he continued to pull a few more items out of his pouch, such as a metal tablet covered in mysterious engravings, a stone circlet, and finally, a scroll that bore the broken wax seal of the Thorn''s Church.
Even though Glenn couldn''t see Veil''s face under all of his bandages, he could still notice the notable shock that the Cleaner was feeling.
"...Why did you bring back a corpse?" Veil''s finally asked in awe.
Glenn raised an eyebrow, "...Why do you cover yourself in bandages?"
Veil paused for a moment before shrugging, "Fair enough. That steel tablet...I''ll have to ask some of our researchers to see if they can decrypt it, while that stone circlet looks quite ordinary. I''ll have to appraise it later..." He leaned in and picked up the scroll with an interested look, "Now, what might that be?"
Glenn moistened his lips and leaned back in his seat, "I found it after destroying an enemy camp. Couldn''t read it, so I chose to bring it back."
"Good choice," Veil said as he glanced at it, "...Too bad I don''t have a clue what language that is. Still, this looks like interesting information, even more so if it is about the Thorn''s Church. We''d be able to strengthen our relationships with the Church of Onnea quite a bit if we can get rid of those pests. Anyway, this is pretty good, Fixer Glenn. I...sort of expected more, but I guess you brought back something even more important than all that..." He smiled under his bandages, "...How lucky of you to find your sister in the middle of the desert, right?"
Glenn sighed and pointed at Veil''s pouch, "Whatever," He shook his head and changed the subject, "Trust me, what''s in those Recorders is probably worth a hundred times that crap I''ve given you."
"I don''t doubt it. Well, excellent," Veil stood up, dusting off his pants, "We will send your assistant to you as soon as your rewards are done being calculated."
Glenn waved his hand dismissively, "Sure, sure. Do tell Kevin to bring back some sort of teacher, though. I need one for my sister." He glanced at the mummy still on the table and winced, "...You don''t take the corpse?"
Veil sighed dejectedly as he pushed the corpse into his dimensional pouch, "...I might as well get it off your hands. In the future, please don''t bring back more corpses, okay?"
Glenn chuckled before pausing with a frown, "...In the future? What do you mean?"
Veil laughed as he forced the mummy''s head into the pouch, "What, did you think you were already done with the Ink Dunes? As soon as your business with Baron Howard is done we will need your team''s strength to reinforce us and continue to undermine the Celestial Gods. We don''t nearly have enough elite teams to use, and way too many people tied down to King''s Rise."
Glenn clicked his tongue, "...We''ll see. I''m not sure what would push me to go back into that black hell."
Veil smiled mysteriously before tipping his head slightly and leaving the room. Lina entered behind him, frowning at the sight of the bandaged man. She waited until he was far enough and pointed her thumb at his back, "Hey, that dude is weird."
Glenn shook his head with a dejected laugh, "Who isn''t weird in this world, Lina? Find me one example."
Lina pondered for an instant, "...Uhh, Janica?"
Glenn froze before laughing, "Yeah, I guess she is quite normal compared to the rest of us."
His sister shrugged and crossed her arms, "I want you to teach me about this world. About magic, Aura, and all that stuff."
"A suitable education is the bare minimum Milady needs. I recommend hiring an instructor to fill her knowledge deficiencies, be it for how this world works, or to instruct her on how to fight. Self-defense is an absolutely required skill in this cesspool of a world," Tiamanes requested with a polite tone, appearing within her right hand''s palm. Lina winced but simply nodded, echoing her hand''s words.
"Self-defense? Shit, you need to be able to rip and tear everything on your way if you want to survive, lil'' sis!" Diamanes snorted. Glenn and Lina both raised an eyebrow.
"Lil'' sis?"
"Say what now?"
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Diamanes reeled back with a smirk, "Oh, come on, we''re all a big family of some sort, aren''t we? My other self is in your hand, and you share blood with my host. If that isn''t enough to make us kin, I don''t know what will!"
Glenn and Lina sighed before turning away from Diamanes, both choosing to ignore the annoying entity.
"Teaching you won''t be a problem, but..." Glenn grimaced, "...I''m not exactly aware of everything. My life has been quite hectic ever since I landed in this world, so a professional teacher might be better than me"
"NO!" Lina protested loudly, "Why the hell would I listen to another stuck-up? Can''t you ask those hot friends of yours?"
Glenn laughed, "My hot friends? Ah, you mean Sahro and Liara?" He passed his tongue over his teeth, his lips curved upward, "...I mean, sure, I could do that, but Sahro is a Black Heir who knows practically as much as I do, and Liara is mute most of the time, and also a Black Heir. So..." His eyes widened suddenly and he flicked his fingers, "Hey, I know who I''m going to ask!"
Lina shivered, unsure, "...Who?"
Glenn grinned wickedly, "You''ll see."
A few moments later, Glenn and Lina were in the observatory, standing in front of Manalok Tuleam. The Restoration Operator''s wide-opened eyes were going back and forth between Glenn and Lina.
"No. No, I refuse," He blurted out categorically, waving his hand dismissively, "You think I became a Restoration Operator because I wanted company? No. Take that brat away and leave me to my work."
Lina''s cheeks flushed dark red, her fists tightening while Glenn scoffed, "Work? What work? You were sleeping on the damned sofa, that''s not work!"
Tuleam rolled his eyes and brushed back his messy dark green hair, "I was, uh, resting efficiently, okay? And why would you care about what I do anyway?"
Glenn rubbed his hands together, "Well, you see, you''re kind of living under my roof for free. I think it''d be quite illogical to leave someone who isn''t a really good friend in my house without some sort of compensation."
Tuleam opened his mouth to protest but Glenn raised his hand, stopping him, "Come on, help me out and teach Lina about this world. If you do a good job at it I might as well hire a professional chef to feed you the best meals."
The odd man laughed in disbelief, "Stop thinking you can hire me with good food, it won''t work I said"
"Free different meals every day, with the promise that I will tell you the rest of my adventures in the future," Glenn interrupted him. Tuleam went silent before shaking his hand begrudgingly.
"Tsk, what a chore. You''re lucky I feel like doing it." He grunted and left the observatory, "...I''ll need to prepare some material then, and see what would be the best to teach her...sigh, what a pain..." Tuleam grumbled under his beard as he slammed the door behind him.
Lina leaned into Glenn''s ear and whispered doubtfully, "...You''re sure he will be a good teacher?"
Glenn looked at her and shrugged with an uncertain look, "I don''t know, you''ll tell me?"
"Wait, what?"
Lina tried punching Glenn in the arm but he easily dodged it, laughing mockingly at her pitiful attempt, "So, do you want to see what sort of training you''ll be doing? Maybe trying to hit me would be a good start, huh?"
His sister clenched her teeth and began chasing after him, her punches missing helplessly, "You fucking!"
Glenn flicked his finger and used the Silence curse on her, his lips curving upward as he watched the shock on her face, "You know, back on Earth, it always was a pain to find a way to shut you up, but now? I can just flick my fingers and mute you! Isn''t that great?"
"Please stop bullying Milady, Young Master, or I''ll be forced to take action," Tiamanes suddenly warned, displeased. Glenn paused and grinned widely, his arms crossed as he continued to dodge Lina''s silent attacks.
"Oh? Is that right? Please, show me what you can do then, I''m really curious" Glenn''s eyes widened as he suddenly went mute as well. Tiamanes smiled widely as Lina gasped, her voice returned to her throat.
"Whatwhat did you do?" She inquired in awe as she grabbed at her throat. Glenn opened his mouth a few times, before sighing and putting his left hand on his throat. Diamanes absorbed the Silence curse without protesting, freeing him from his forced silence.
"A Silence Curse, I took it from a cultist a long time ago." Glenn replied before looking at her right, purple hand, "Now, that seemed really similar to what Diamanes can do but not exactly the same. Do tell, Tiamanes, what exactly is your skill?"
Tiamanes huffed proudly, "I can reflect every attack that isn''t directly physical. Curses, immaterial spells, Aura...It is a much more refined power compared to what that idiot in your left hand can use."
Diamanes clicked his tongue, "Sure, sure, why don''t you keep explaining your power then if it''s so great, huh? Isn''t that incredible that there is no side-effect to reflecting a higher-ranked magic?"
Tiamanes paused and pressed his lips together confusedly, "What do you meanoh boy."
Lina collapsed back, drained. Glenn caught her with Gravity Manipulation, sparing her from falling directly on the ground. He glared at her right hand angrily, only to find Tiamanes to be gone from it. Diamanes snorted mockingly, "That fool probably lost some intelligence if he thought reflecting your power would be so easy. You''re a Fourth-rank, what the hell did he expect?"
Glenn lifted Lina up and gently brought her to a nearby sofa, "...I guess you know what Tiamanes can and can''t do. Reflecting everything seems to be a very powerful skill."
Diamanes sighed, "I can''t help but admit it. All of us were made equal to each other, so it can at least compare to me, even though it is less versatile than my power. Hey, if you were to compare us, I''d be like the ultimate weapon, while Tiamanes would be the ultimate shield, you know?"
"...Hmm..." Glenn rubbed his chin before turning away and leaving the room, "...It''s not enough. Sahro and Liara will train her fighting skills for now, but she needs to make her choice between Aura and Mana quickly and forget about this nonsense of trying to get both at the same time. She isn''t Redan..." He gritted his teeth and swallowed back his sadness, "...Nor a Black Heir after all..."
Diamanes smacked his lips, "That still is a problem for later. First, maybe get Giselle''s grandson back so we can finally be done with it, ay?"
Glenn snorted, "Easier said than done. But you''re right." He headed off to the Workshop, where he found Liam and Janica working on Sahro''s mechanical arm.
"W...what did you do to it?" Janica muttered as she took apart the prosthetic, taking out molten pieces and broken cogs with an awed expression. Sahro watched from afar and rubbed his stump, unsure.
"I don''t know, I just channeled my Thunder Mana alongside my Aura into it, and it kind of became like this. The creakings were annoying, but"
"BUT?!?" Liam stabbed a screwdriver on his worktable, unable to believe his ears, "Why would you do that? Can''t you be happy with one or the other, like everyone? That''s one of the best pieces of engineering we made in our whole livesa masterpiece and you''re just destroying it like it''s some sort of crappy prosthetic!" Janica gently pulled Liam back and patted him on the back, calming him.
Sahro shrugged, "...Sorry, I guess. When can I get it back?"
Janica glanced at the prosthetic and winced, "Uhh, there''s a lot of work to be done and materials to be replaced. We also need to modify and upgrade it to take into account the usage of Aura and Mana at the same time, so..." Sahro grimaced and prepared himself for the worse, "...Not before tomorrow, I fear."
The Black Heir blinked and almost laughed, "...Okay, that''s fine then. Thank you."
Janica smiled widely while Liam turned away with a grunt, "Of course."
Sahro nodded at Glenn before leaving the Workshop, probably off to train or something. Janica wiped the sweat off her forehead and only noticed Glenn then, her face brightening.
"Ah! Mister Devil''s Hand, what can we do for you?"
Glenn sighed, "For the love of Onnea, please call me Glenn. And I came to speak to Liam about Howard. I''m almost certain I got the green light to take care of him, so can begin preparing."
Liam''s back froze, and he slowly turned around, his fists tightly clenched. He was grinning wickedly, his artificial heart beating with a loud mechanical sound, "So it''s finally time, huh?"
Glenn nodded with a similar wicked smile, "It is. Baron Howard is going down."
231. Cooking a New Plan
Liam unrolled a massive blueprint and slammed it on the table separating him from Glenn. The latter frowned and crossed his arms.
"I''m not too keen on reading blueprints, do you mind...?"
"That''s the Howard Manor in Grimwalk, the XXII District," Liam said coldly, "It spans around four to six hectares, with countless guards and enchanted mechanical eyes that watch over uninvited guests. There isn''t much to see in the mansion itself, as most of his..." He gritted his teeth, "...Unsavory operations are done underground. There are many tunnels, connecting Onnea-knows-where. One of the main things we''ll need to watch for and need to take care of as quickly as we can is the teleportation gate."
Glenn raised an eyebrow, "Teleportation gate?"
Liam nodded and pointed at the center of the blueprint, "It''s only a guess, but I''m almost certain it connects to other vampires living inside King''s Rise. If the Baron discovers the assault, he will probably call reinforcements. These are certainly going to use the gate to try and come as fast as possible. And I''m not sure about you, but I''d rather not be overwhelmed by countless non-human soldiers."
Glenn nodded slowly, "...So we need to get rid of that gate first. Hmm, I''m almost certain these things need personnel to be operated."
"Correct," Liam confirmed, "The Baron made a specialized Magi into his kin and basically forced him to operate the gate at all times. Besides being a way to call up for reinforcements, it''s also an excellent path to escape. Just teleport away to some unknown location and cut off the connection from the other side, and tada~ you escape your pursuers."
Janica leaned in curiously, "Why don''t you try and attack him when he''s out of his mansion then?"
Liam shook his head, "It''d be great, but he''s never out. The few months I spent back then, he never left the underground, let alone the manor."
Glenn rubbed his chin, "What about the guards? How strong are they? Can they compare to the troops he brought to the Northern Town for his Harvest back then?"
Liam scoffed, "They''re much more powerful. The Harvesters are a special troop that only follows the noble leading the Harvest, and Howard relegated that role to another noble after the one he took me away from."
"He did?" Glenn blurted out, surprised. Liam nodded and raised his hands helplessly, "I''m not exactly sure why and trust me, it''s not like I did not ask."
Glenn scratched the back of his head, wondering about how he should tackle this operation, "...How many of these guards do you think would be enough to take me down?" He asked.
Liam crossed his arms and looked at the ceiling in pondering while Janica headed off to fix Sahro''s mechanical arm.
"Hmm...Ten, no, maybe twelve of them would be enough? They''re mostly all Aura Knights, but I know there are at least five Magi at the same rank as you. And that''s only what I''ve seen with my own eyes, I have no idea about the strength he hid away."
Glenn glanced at Liam, his eyebrows creased, "...You know all of this and yet he hasn''t chased you down? I would have thought the Baron would be a little more thoughtful about his security."
Liam scoffed dejectedly and stabbed his thump in his chest, "He saw me rip my own heart out. To him, I''m a dead and buried body, which I should have been if it wasn''t for..." His eyes softened as he glanced at Janica, "...You know."
Glenn chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, I know. What else can you tell me about the Baron? Strength-wise? What can he do?"
Liam''s expression darkened, "A lot of things. First, forget about anything you might have seen back in the Northern Town. We''re going to attack him in his lair, so expect thralls and black magic summons. If it comes to a direct fight, you''ll need all the help possible to take him down."
He turned back and grunted as he took out a long, sniper rifle-looking contraption embedded with two large Shards in its center, a red and a blue one. There were pressure gauges on the stock and near the cannon, and most of the body was of wood and brass.
"I''ll support you from nearby with my latest creation," He patted the weapon proudly, "It uses the surrounding Mana and the natural reaction between a Fire and Water Shard to create highly powerful projectiles. I just need to put a little bit of blood, and"
Janica suddenly crept up from behind him with a threatening smile, "Oh my, Liam, didn''t you tell me you had no intention of using this...this blood-sucking, devilish weapon? I thought you threw it away and instead spent the time on improving your artificial heart?"
Liam looked away and slowly pushed the rifle in Glenn''s direction, who took and inspected it curiously, "Interesting. I have no clue about how it works, but did you think about adding a scope on it?"
Janica and Liam froze and slowly turned toward Glenn, their curiosity aroused, "Scope? What''s that?"
Glenn rubbed the back of his neck, squinting as he tried to remember how scopes worked, "Uhh, you know, a specialized magnifying glass, I think it works with lenses or something...?"
Liam gasped and slammed his fist in his hand, "Right! A magnifying glass! Why didn''t I think of that before?" He hurriedly grabbed a blank blueprint and drew a design on it, Janica watching with interested eyes. "Magnifying glasses enlarge images using convex lenses, but it is limited in range and stability, hence why I didn''t consider it before."
Janica nodded slowly in understanding, "...But we could probably enhance it to see much further using multiple lenses to redirect the light, which would..."
Glenn stealthily stepped out of the Workshop, leaving the two engineers to their creation process.
"You''re as dumb as a brick," Diamanes commented. Glenn shook his head, disagreeing, "No, I''m just leaving the matters needing skills to, well, the skilled people. I don''t have time to waste learning about engineering and filling my knowledge deficiencies."
"I guess that''s a correct point of view," Diamanes admitted. Glenn took his Exan Egg out of his dimensional pouch and checked the time. It was 5 P.M.
"Hopefully Kevin will be there soon enough..." Glenn muttered as he took away the watch and instead drew out the restored Project Damocles notebook, "...I need to find out how I can go back to the Fringe or how to contact Maron quickly. His intelligence network will probably help us a lot in our enterprise."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
He sighed and headed off to the relaxation room, finding Liara and Lina playing cards. He saluted them before collapsing into one of the sofas and opening the notebook.
''I might as well finally check what that project was about...'' He thought as read the first page and instantly winced, "Right, it was Project: Sword of Damocles and not just Project Damocles. Whatever..."
Whoever wrote the notes had terrible penmanship, making it considerably harder to decrypt them. Glenn had to strain his eyes just to read a few lines.
"Project: Sword of Damocles, first iteration. Yeah, okay, I already knew that, so..." Glenn squinted and continued, "Ever since I was stranded in this world, I relentlessly searched for a way back to Earth. With the help of magic, I completed technological marvels that I could have never dreamed of making back then. Yet...The data doesn''t lie. There''s no path back to Earth because Earth doesn''t exist anymore. It''s gone."
Glenn sighed and leaned back on the sofa, closing his eyes for an instant, ''...This again. I''m not that interested in finding a way back, but I certainly am curious about where a whole planet disappeared. What''s even stranger is that Earth disappeared for the author and Exan, even though the author came into this world ages before Exan. How could Earth be gone and yet new Earthlings keep on popping up here and there? I and Lina are the exact proofs that Earth still exists somewhere...''
''Unless you were stuck in some sort of, heh, a limbo of time and space before landing into this world, pun unintended,'' Diamanes commented, closely following Glenn''s line of thought. The latter hummed for an instant before resuming his reading.
"I concluded that the readings are false. The gods are intrinsically linked to this world and the disappearance of Earth, I''m sure of it. This experiment must succeed, we do not have a choice. For Earth''s fate as much as the Limbo''s. If I have to keep living in this world, I might as well do what I can to maintain its existence."
Glenn suddenly perked up, alarmed. Why was the author hinting at the potential end of the world? This was a little too worrying for his taste.
"This project, Sword of Damocles, aims to create a weapon that will allow me to topple over even the strongest entities...These hypocritical gods. I''ll hunt them, one by one, and discover the damned truth. Nothing will stop me, whatever it may be."
Glenn felt a shiver creep up his back. "Shit...this is insane, right? We were right in our guesses back then, with Sahro. Fuck me sideways..."
The notes then went on to describe an extremely complex process step by step to create a material strong enough to destroy what made Mana, Aura, and Divinity what they were. These notes spanned hundreds of pages, all repeated failed experiments from the words of the author. It was only at the end that Glenn understood that the material the author was trying to create was Blumar.
"No way...Does this mean Blumar is entirely artificial and not a natural material?" He muttered in awe.
"It''s strange..." Nelg suddenly commented, coming out of his perpetual silence, "...How is it possible for Blumar to be an artificial material if it''s been dug up everywhere in the world?"
Glenn bit on his lower lip. It was indeed not making a lot of sense. Was the author lying? Glenn got his response a few pages later, and it made his blood freeze in his veins.
"...Iteration 482. I finally made it. A material that can cancel the mystical properties of Aura, Mana, Divinity, or anything unnatural. Even Corruption can''t handle this material. This is the perfect God slayer. My Sword of Damocles. Which is why it''s angering me even more. I can''t prolong my life any further. My entire body has already been transformed into Blumar, and my consciousness is fading away. I''ll soon become the same as my golems, thoughtless and only trying to protect this Laboratory. I''ll try to put my consciousness in the system as a last attempt, but I hardly believe it''ll work. The world will be better without me. I only hope the Blumar propagates as planned, infecting this world and curing it of the Gods'' influence. One day, the Blumar will propagate in the entire world, and force them to take action. That''s when my descendants will take action.
The Limbo shall come to an end, one way or another."
Glenn frowned and shook his head, closing the notebook in frustration. Now this damned author wasn''t making any sense anymore. First, his motivation is to stop the world from coming to an end, but by the last pages of the notebook, it''s to push for its final moments. This was deeply illogical and frustrating.
''Maybe he went crazy at the end?'' Diamanes wondered.
Nelg groaned in agreement, "It''d make sense. I don''t know how long it took him to create the Blumar, but we do know it took 482 tries. And it probably wasn''t a try-a day too."
Glenn rubbed his forehead and sighed in disappointment, "What about Doyle Malory? The Lightbringer? Why the hell wasn''t he mentioned in the notebook? The Laboratory had a whole contraption meant to imprison him, so why? Why wasn''t there a single word about him?"
Nelg and Diamanes sighed, equally clueless.
"Hey, can I give it a read?" Lina asked curiously. At some point she had been sitting in front of him, waiting patiently. Liara was sleeping, lying down on a nearby sofa. Glenn scoffed and threw the notebook at her, "Sure, maybe you''ll be able to make sense of it. I sure as hell am missing something."
He groaned and leaned back on the sofa, closing his eyes to Meditate his troubles away. He needed some time to think about this whole thing, which could be resumed with: intelligent Earthling wants to stop the end of the world, creates a weapon to kill Gods, changes his opinion midway, and now wants to end the world, still by killing the gods.
"Argh! Just thinking about it confuses me!" Glenn screamed in his Mana Heart, floating around the Milky Way and the four star rings. Nelg''s Black Sun was hanging in the back silently, pulsing with the same yet a different power from the Milky Way.
Glenn''s other self covered in heavy armor approached him, his hands behind his back, "Maybe you should try asking someone what the readings meant in the notebook. Or..." Nelg frowned and shook his head, "Actually, never mind. That''s a terrible idea, and would end up in another insane scientist creating propagating Blumar, which sounds kind of an end-of-the-world scenario."
Glenn waved his hand dismissively, "Bah! Leave it for now! This is too much for me to handle, I''ll just find a way to talk with Onnea and ask her about it."
Nelg raised an eyebrow and snorted, "And why would she answer? Are there any rules for gods to always tell the truth?"
Glenn paused.
"Shit, you''re right. Well, I still believe it''s a good idea to ask Her or the Bloodblade, or maybe Plutus, whoever agrees to talk to me. Maybe I can try the Magi Brotherhood''s God too, who knows?"
Nelg laughed wryly, "Sure, why not? As long as you don''t take it at face value."
Glenn sighed deeply, only to be woken up from his Meditation by Lina shaking him awake.
"Urgh, what...?" He grumbled. Lina moistened her lips and pointed at the notebook, "Could you explain to me the situation you spoke of aloud earlier? With that...uh, Doyle Malory?"
Glenn reluctantly agreed and quickly explained to her. She rubbed her chin and nodded, "Yeah, I think I get it now. The author mentions trying to transfer his consciousness into the Laboratory. If that succeeded, that means he became the Laboratory. Now, imagine a threat such as that Doyle Malory enters the Laboratory with evil intentions."
Glenn''s eyes widened and he slammed his fist in his palm, "Oh, it makes sense now! The author reshaped the Laboratory to capture Doyle and seal him. Maybe using him as a source of fuel was only a side-effect of that!"
Lina nodded with a wide, proud grin, "Yeah, I am smart aren''t I?"
Glenn patted her head, "Yeah, yeah, you are. This still leaves some unknown, such as why the author changed his mind by the end of the notebook about saving the world, and why..." He frowned and rubbed his chin, "...Why did the Laboratory disappear from the Blumar Quarry? What the hell happened? Did the author''s consciousness remaining in the laboratory decide to change to another location? Why?"
He shook his head and shrugged it off as he stood up from the sofa, "Bah, it''s not like struggling to comprehend it would bring me closer to the truth. It''s interesting to see that Blumar was meant to destroy Gods, though..."
Glenn thought back to Maron and the machine that transformed half of his body into Blumar, a little worried, ''...And I certainly wonder what the notebook''s author intended to do with those machines...''
He shook these thoughts out of his head and placed his hands on his waist, "For now, I have a more urgent issue to deal with." His lips curved upward wickedly, his fists clenched tightly, "...And that issue is called Baron Howard."
232. Prelude to Bloodshed
"...Hey, did you hear about him?"
"Who?"
Two guards keeping watch over the entry of an incredible mansion were discussing, one slightly tense and the other unaware. They were equipped in complete steel plate armor, their eyes barely visible through the slits of their helmets. Swords were hanging at their waists, the last solution in case their magic rifles stopped working.
The first guard anxiously kicked a rock away, "You know, the one the boss messed with back when he still went Harvesting?"
The other guard scoffed, "What, that Evil''s guy? Royce, you shouldn''t believe the media too much"
"Devil''s Hand, Boyer" Royce corrected, "They call him the Devil''s Hand now. Shit, you know he''s a war hero now?"
Boyer shrugged, "So what? I heard the Black Scythe and the Omniscient also appeared on these battlefields, why should I care about a Magi who just got a hold of his new powers? I''m sure he can''t infuse his Specialty in his spells!" He paused and laughed mockingly, "Or worse! I''m sure he found some old grimoire with a shit ton of crazy spells formulas! He''s just playing the public for fame."
Royce sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "...I hope you''re right. Still, I heard he took on dozen of Grand Chevalier by himself, and that his left arm is purple with evil."
"Evil?" Boyer sneered and shook his head, "I know evil. That guy, the Devil''s Hand, he''s nothing evil. Our lord, though..." He grinned wickedly and rubbed his hands together, his rifle hanging loosely on his chest, "...He''s another story. He, I can respect him."
Royce shivered and glanced around, "Hey, you know what our orders are. Don''t say another wordI don''t want to end up underground like Loris."
At the mention of this name, Boyer froze and gulped, his previous glee gone, "...Yeah, you''re right. Let''s just do our job and shut up."
"Yeah..." Royce lifted his helm slightly to take a breath and suddenly noticed a homeless man sitting against the wall surrounding the mansion.
"Hey, get the hell out of here!" He ordered as he kicked the homeless man in the leg. He was covered in a hooded cape that was practically the same color as the wall, hence why he hadn''t noticed him earlier. The homeless guy grunted and pushed himself up weakly, his face hidden under an old, raggedy mask painted with a happy smile. Royce groaned and pulled the homeless on his feet, before pushing him away.
"Damn it, there always are some weird fuck hanging around here. Get the hell away, and don''t let me see you again," He waved his rifle around threateningly, "Or I''ll have to show you how this thing works!"
The homeless man adjusted his hooded cape back on his masked face, his left arm covered in old bandages. He limped away, holding the place he was kicked in. The second he was out of the guard''s line of sight, he straightened himself up and dusted his pants off.
"...Two Grand Chevalier equipped with some sort of magical rifles...I''ll have to ask Liam and Janica about those guns, and what they can do..." Glenn muttered as he strolled around the streets of Grimwalk.
''I''d like to say it will probably be enough with just Sahro and you, but we don''t want to get fucked like last time, don''t we?'' Diamanes commented with a chilling laugh. Glenn''s expression under his mask hardened as he remembered the three figures hanging in the wind, and Liam who was forced to rip his own heart out.
"...Why do I feel like bringing Giselle''s grandson back is more of a side objective at this point?" Nelg asked with a dejected tone.
Glenn gritted his teeth, "I''ll save Callum, that''s for certain. But I can''t let go of this opportunity of paying my debts back..." He sneered spitefully, fists clenched, "...Besides, that''s a good thing for the world, isn''t it? One less monstrous bastard always counts for something."
Diamanes'' sole retort was a mocking laugh, while Nelg remained silent. This scouting operation had gone pretty well. Glenn had checked every entry point as well as the overall level of the guards. Most of them were Grand Chevaliers, Aura users at the fourth rank. The main entry was protected by a Magi too who should be specialized in Water-type magic, from Glenn managed to glance with Mana Sight. Grand Chevaliers weren''t supposed to feel like easy opponents, but...Glenn couldn''t help but feel like it would be easy to take care of them. Between Sahro''s nonsensical speed and his own incredibly powerful spells, if they went all gun blazing it would probably be a walk in the park to enter the Howard''s Manor.
But they couldn''t do that. They couldn''t risk Howard running off with his teleport door or taking Callum hostage.
"We need to look into the underground systems," Glenn suggested as he took to the metro direction Rustgate, District III. There was a Cleaner''s Workshop there, and hopefully also Kevin.
"The best scenario would be to infiltrate the Manor, destroy the Teleportation Gate, and then proceed with the rest of the mission," He muttered aloud.
"Maybe the best way to do that would be to split up? Right now, we only have three individuals ready to fight; You, Sahro, and Liara. One of the three takes care of the Gate, the other of Callum, and the last of Howard," Nelg suggested. Glenn groaned in agreement.
''That could work...'' He sighed as he stepped on the metro''s dock, not slowing down the slightest as he headed for the Cleaner''s Workshop.
''Hmm...I don''t think Sahro would do too well with stealth. I think I''ll send him after Callum, and Liara after the Gate,'' Glenn drew a deep breath, his resolve steeled, ''...And I''ll take care of Howard myself. I''d love to see that Stormblade knight or whatever try to stop me again.''
Diamanes scoffed, ''If he''s at the same level as a year ago, I''m not too worried. I''m pretty sure you''ll obliterate him.''
"...Let''s keep our expectations high," Nelg sighed, "...It won''t do us any harm to overestimate our enemies."
Soon enough, Glenn was in the Cleaner''s Workshop. He headed straight to the counter, ignoring the protests and groans of displeasure. The pretty attendant opened her mouth to send him back but said mouth quickly closed when she saw the emblem he was holding in his right hand, the INK-DEF emblem. Glenn adjusted his mask''s position and sighed, "I need to meet with Kevin."
The attendant nodded, "Absolutely. He''ll be here in a few minutes."
Glenn thanked her and went to sit in the waiting room, shamelessly choosing the most comfortable chair. Other Fixers glanced at him with annoyance, failing to recognize him with his disguise.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"...It''s pretty fun going around this way..." Glenn chuckled lightly, before shaking his head, "...Ah, the weight of fame..."
''Shut up.'' "Dumb fuck." Both voices living in his mind mocked him, but Glenn dutifully ignored them, not letting them ruin his fun. Pebble rolled out of his chest pocket and fell in his open palm. It felt like the totally-not-sentient stone wanted to be out a little more, but Glenn could hardly find a reason to use one of his most powerful spells. There didn''t seem to be anything worth using Pebble on, sadly.
Kevin suddenly appeared running, looking around confusedly as he searched for Glenn. The latter stood and walked up to the scrawny assistant, startling him with a pat on the back.
"S...Sir, do I know you?"
Glenn laughed, "Yes, you do. Let''s get going, alright?"
Kevin''s eyes lit up as he recognized Glenn''s voice. He led him to a private discussion room, sealing it away from prying ears. Glenn dismissed his Mimetic cape with a thought and stored away his mask. Kevin sat in front of him and clasped his hands together with a small smile.
"What can I do for you, Sir Glenn?"
Glenn grinned and leaned back on the sofa he just sat on, "...Do you know about my...hmm, projects?"
Kevin raised an eyebrow, "Projects?"
"Yes," Glenn rubbed his chin and moistened his lips, "I need every piece of information you can find on Howard''s Manor, mostly if you can look into underground passageways. Also, I need to be made aware of every weird rumor about him. Black magic, vampirism, sacrifices, but also kidnapping, slavery, drugsanything that could prove useful, bring it back to me."
The scrawny assistant hurriedly scribbled Glenn''s demands down, before suddenly pausing. He looked up with a puzzled look, "Why would you want to know about all of this? You''re not planning an assault on the Baron Howard, are you?"
Glenn smiled silently as Kevin''s face paled. The assistant concentrated back on his notebook, his eyes wide open in shock.
"Also, I need to be put in contact with Maron. Is there a way to back to the Fringe without having to go through all the usual administrative mess," He added.
Kevin nodded slowly before perking up, "Ah, were you not aware yet? The Maron Company created their first branch in the Bourgeoisie a week ago, I think it was in District XIX, Suncross."
"Suncross?" Glenn repeated as he made a mental note, "I''ll check it out, thanks." He smacked his lips and creased his eyebrows, "Any news on when my team will receive the rewards for our contribution to the war?"
Kevin shook his head regretfully, "I apologize, Sir, I haven''t heard anything about this. I did find you a teacher for your sister if you wish to meet him?"
Glenn waved his hand dismissively, "No, it''s fine. I somehow managed to make the Restoration Operator her instructor, and we already have the best fighters to teach her how to defend herself. Still, thanks for looking."
The assistant smiled, "Of course. I''ll be looking into the information you need and bring it over tomorrow at your mansion. Would that be fine?"
Glenn nodded with a grin, "Perfect. Excellent. I''ll see you tomorrow, Kevin."
"Likewise, Sir," Kevin bowed slightly to suddenly pause, "Ah, also, you probably realized before, but your whole team has been cleared to use their powers as they like inside the Bourgeoisie."
Glenn''s eyelids trembled slightly as he nodded, "Of course, yeah." Kevin smiled and left the room.
Glenn stretched with a groan, "...That''s another thing done. Let''s visit Suncross, then. It shouldn''t be too hard to find Maron." He unwrapped the bandages covering his left arm, revealing the dark, purple skin under. He walked out of the Cleaner''s Workshop with a wide, wicked grin as Fixers stared at him in shock and awe.
"Fame is great..." He laughed as he returned to the metro. It took only a dozen more minutes for him to arrive in the Suncross District. It was a lively District, with large open squares and lots of street performers. Glenn strolled through the streets, his hands in his pockets as looked for a sign to the Maron Company. There were countless small artisan shopsjewelers, watchmakers, and glassblowers, but also painters, high-quality tailors, and shoemakers.
The streets were large and paved cleanly, with luxurious steam-powered carriages moving in both directions constantly. Glenn stopped and looked up at a sign, his lips curving upward slightly.
"Maron Company... Here you are..." He muttered as he left in that direction. It didn''t take him long to find a large office with pristine new brass letters printed on the top of the entrance, reading Maron Company. Glenn pushed the doors open with a wide grin, stopping at a wave of sound that hit him in the face. The building was bustling with noise, shouts, and strangely, the sound of printing machines. And beyond that, there was the noise of...swords clashing?
In an office?
Glenn frowned and invited himself in, navigating past overworked employees and piles of documents. He soon found the source of the fighting sound: a Black Heir he didn''t know was clashing with Maron, who was heaving with difficulty as he ridiculously waved his sword around. The Black Heir looked like he was enjoying torturing the poor merchant, dancing around him while poking his victim. Glenn crossed his arms and waited at the entry, watching with a puzzled look.
''Maron becoming a fighter? I never expected that.'' Diamanes suddenly commented, taken aback. Glenn nodded slowly, ''Me neither. But considering he''s practically a living weapon, it''s not a bad idea to train his body.''
Maron suddenly raised his hand helplessly, gasping for air, "S...Stop, huff, more and...and I''ll seriously die, huff..." The Black Heir scoffed and threw the training sword away, suddenly noticing Glenn standing at the doorway. His eyebrows creased and he turned to Maron, "Boss, there''s someone for you."
Maron wiped the sweat off his face and grunted, "...Who? Not that Baron bastard, I hope..." He looked up, his eyes lighting up when he recognized Glenn.
"Ah, Fixer Glenn! Or, should I call you the Devil''s Hand?"
Glenn rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively, "Stop joking around, Maron. You''re training to become a fighter?"
Maron''s face suddenly hardened, "Hell no."
"...Why all that, then?" Glenn couldn''t help but ask, surprised. Maron patted his belly and grimaced, the Blumar replacing half his body gleaming softly under the magical lights, "I need to lose weight! I found out I weigh twice as much now with all that Blumar!"
Both Glenn and the Black Heir scoffed. The latter suddenly realized and went to offer a handshake to Glenn, "Nohre. Nohre Myhr."
Glenn shook the extended hand, "Glenn, but it looks like you already knew me. Giselle told you about me?"
Nohre sneered, "Hell if she did. How could I not recognize the oh-so-great "Devil''s Hand"?" He glanced at the purple left arm and shook his head mockingly, "Just a freak if you ask me..."
Maron suddenly slapped Nohre in the back of the head, sending him away, "Shut it, Nohre. Damn it, that idiot is going to get himself killed if he continues acting this way..." The merchant sighed, "Anyway, what can I do for you, Glenn?"
Glenn crossed his arms and smiled, "First, congratulations! I''m sure it wasn''t easy opening a branch here"
Maron shook his head dismissively, "Oh, no, it was quite easy actually. I brought my whole team over and left only a skeleton crew behind in the Fringe. I already have connections with ten Barons and two Counts, so..."
Glenn slowly nodded, "Yeah, okay, no need to flaunt either. Heard about Baron Howard?"
The merchant frowned, A despicable individual, yes. How could I not know him, when he used to appropriate forty percent of my company''s income from time to time with his stupid Harvests?
"Well," Glenn grinned and rubbed his hands together, "You might have the opportunity to help me get back at him. I need intel, and..." He glanced at Nohre doing push-ups further away, "...Maybe manpower. How the hell did you even manage to get a Black Heir to come with you?"
Maron shrugged, "Oh, you know, as long as you make them appear as slaves, the concerned authorities are more than pleased to let them in. Some nobles specialize in slave trading, and most guards know that Black Heirs are a prized product. And with my reputation as a merchant..." He smiled and dusted his hands off, "Giselle sent Nohre and a few others to help me out and to create a direct connection between here and the Sewers. Oh, their living conditions improved tremendously since the last time you went there. You could hardly call that place the Sewers anymore."
Glenn nodded with a grin, "That''s good to hear," He squinted and used Mana Sight, moistening his lips when he found out that Nohre was a rank three Aura user, a Knight, "...Are they all as strong as Nohre?"
"Yes. Six Black Heirs with strength rivaling some Black-Gold Fixers," Maron proudly looked at Nohre, before pausing in realization, "Wait, why would you need intel and manpower to go against Baron Howard? Do you intend to...?"
Nohre perked up as heard Howard''s name. Glenn grinned widely, his smile mirroring almost perfectly the one often found in his left hand''s palm.
"Yes, you guessed right. I''m going to murder Howard and bring Giselle''s grandson back. And I''m going to need your help for that."
233. The Hunt Begins
"Hmm...Isn''t it weird that we''re the ones stuck with this job, Nohre?" asked one of the five Black Heirs accompanying Nohre, Maron''s bodyguard. They were making their way through a tunnel system, following plans that the merchant had given them.
Nohre shook his head, "Nah, it''s just that Team A, B, and C don''t have any stealth skills. We''re the best suited to strike that objective and cut off the Baron''s retreat route. We just need to find..." He glanced down at the map and stopped in front of a random wall with a wide grin, "...There. Now, how much time do we have left until we begin?"
One of the five other Black Heirs looked at a pocket watch, "Ten minutes maximum."
Nohre made his knuckles crack and drew a short breath, "Ready yourselves. Once we''re in, there''s no going back. Let''s bring Giselle her grandson back."
The other Black Heirs unsheathed their weapons and nodded tensely, the white marks on their forehead gleaming softly in the tunnel''s darkness.
***
On top of a nearby house in Grimwalk.
Liam drew a long and deep breath, adjusting the scope with a small thumbwheel on its side. He verified his rifle''s chamber and made sure the safety was off. Last but not least, he prepared the physical bullets and kept them within arm''s reach. They were their last resort and a resource he couldn''t exactly afford to expend. A Blumar core cast in silver, enchanted with explosive runes. The silver would explode like shrapnel once hitting the target, while the Blumar core would remain in the body and restrain energy usage.
Hopefully.
Liam looked at the five bullets he managed to produce painstakingly and gritted his teeth. The moonlight from the twin moon reflected off the silver layer, glimmering ominously. He pressed his hand on his chest, over the creaking mechanical heart they eventually managed to perfect with Janica.
"Today, I''ll be the one Harvesting, Howard..." He hissed as he leaned on the roof and pressed the rifle''s butt against his shoulder. To his side, a small briefcase was waiting, another safety they might need to succeed in this operation.
"Let''s just hope Glenn was wrong..." Liam muttered as he looked at the Howard''s Manor through his scope, his finger waiting beside the trigger. He glanced at his pocket watch and gulped.
Only eight minutes left. Hopefully, Team D would be able to do their jobs, or this whole thing was going to be for naught.
***
"Ready?"
"Ready."
Liara and Sahro exchanged one last glance before nodding at each other and glancing at Howard''s Manor entry a few meters away. Two Grand Chevalier knights were standing guard drowsily, leaning on their rifles while yawning.
They were both dressed in black, their hair concealed under thick hoods. They wore clothes close to the skin, to keep their movements as unrestrained as possible. Sahro clenched his mechanical arm with a wicked grin, a flash of blue lightning coursing through the mechanisms. Liara breathed out heavily, her spear firmly clenched in a hand while her sword floated nearby.
The two Black Heirs glanced at their watches, the adrenaline suddenly surging. Both of their Aura and Mana flared up powerfully, ready to carve through their enemies.
Three minutes left.
***
"Oh, I''ve been waiting for this forever!" Diamanes laughed evilly, excited, "At least since the end of the first volume!"
Nelg groaned, "Let''s keep our cool and do this methodically. I don''t believe we could be more prepared than we are currently, but let''s not have a repeat of the Northern Town."
"Don''t worry," Glenn grinned as he stretched widely, his black Imoogi suit reflecting the moonlight. He was standing on top of a house overviewing Howard''s Manor, Mana twirling around him as if excited for the upcoming events, "...I learned of my mistake. Even if things go wrong, I can just lure in the Bourgeoisie''s authorities. It will be a piece of cake to escape while they take care of the Vampire Baron."
"I still think doing this during the day would have been better, though. Howard is a vampire, after all, he probably prefers the comfort of the moonlight, compared to the sun," Nelg grumbled, uneasy.
Glenn''s lips curved upward wickedly and he slowly shook his head, "Oh, but I know. We certainly can''t have our dear Baron running away because he can''t fight with the home advantage, right?" He gritted his teeth as Nelg appeared in his right hand in his hand axe form, "Tonight, we''re going vampire hunting. Let''s exterminate these pests."
He glanced at his Exan''s Egg, his purple eyes gleaming ominously as he watched the needle reach the expected time.
Tick!
Glenn dashed forward, using Gravity Manipulation to go over the walls surrounding the Howard Manor. The guards looked up in disbelief and raised their rifles, but two shadows jumped out of the darkness and slit their throats, not even giving them the time to speak a word. Glenn grinned and nodded at Liara and Sahro, before resuming his flight and landing on top of the Baron''s Manor. He used a Silence Curse on a window and broke in, the glass shards bouncing off the floor without a noise.
A musty scent reached for Glenn''s nose, alongside a thick cloud of dust that welcomed him. The room he had entered was practically empty, and from the look of things, hadn''t been maintained for a very long while. So far, nothing surprising.
"I disagree. The guards were rank 4 Aura users, but used magic tools and died from a single attack from lower-ranked fighters. They were way too weak, it''s weird." Nelg remarked worryingly. Glenn pressed his lips together.
''You''re the only one surprised. Howard has eight guards at the fourth rank surrounding this place, even though he''s only a Baron. Rank four is supposed to be an incredibly tough level to reach, and most if not everyone with such skill would probably be fighting in the Ink Dunes or the other fronts. It doesn''t make sense for them to stay here despite the urgency and the Kingdom''s drafts.''
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Diamanes chuckled, ''Good reasoning. My best bet is that their strength has been artificially increased. They can use lots of Mana but have no idea how while their bodies aren''t as reinforced as traditional Aura users. It''s probably the sort of power-up that limits future growth and comes with severe side effects.''
Nelg paused, "That...makes a lot of sense. Hmm...Maybe it''d be worth looking into it while searching for the Baron, right?"
Glenn nodded slowly as he drew a deep breath. He activated Mana Sight and surveyed his surroundings, searching for magic traps, alarms, or anything. The timing had to be precise. If Liam''s memories were correct, the Baron''s Teleportation Gate should only be five minutes away from the entry point of team D, Nohre''s team of Black Heirs.
Team C''s role was pretty straightforward: support from afar. If one of the enemies tried to escape from outside, such as the Baron, Liam was charged with sniping them with his magic rifle. Team A, composed of Liara and Sahro was tasked with finding Callum and bringing it back to Team C as fast as possible, and then retreating.
Finally, Team A, or Glenn, had only one mission.
Wreck as much havoc as possible. Playing bait to draw the security away from the teleportation gate and giving a window of opportunity to Nohre''s Team. That was the entire gist of it.
"I never thought being the bait would be so exciting!" Diamanes exclaimed aloud, uncaring of being heard by other people. With how things were standing, Glenn didn''t care about revealing Diamanes either.
There probably wouldn''t be many witnesses to tell what went down in Howard''s Manor after this whole mess, anyway.
***
Team D, Nohre.
BOOM!
Nohre gritted his teeth and pointed at the wall, "That''s our cue! Let''s show them the skills of true Black Heirs!"
The other Black Heirs nodded tensely and combined Mana and Aura to break through the wall. The noise of chaos at the surface was covering the digging process, thankfully. Nohre couldn''t help but wonder how powerful Glenn was to create such a mess all by himself and so confidently. He was going to be the target of the entire Manor after all, how was he going to handle them all?
"Fucking monster..." He muttered through his teeth before punching the wall with all his strength. A ripple shook the wall, making it explode. The Black Heirs dashed through the cloud of dust, not wasting a second. They already had Liam''s plans of the underground in mind, guiding them through this labyrinthic network of hallways. There were countless rooms locked away behind thick steel doors, but none of them stopped in front of these doors.
Their objective was to destroy the Teleportation Gate, nothing less, nothing more. But if things went well, maybe they could check these rooms out, as Maron had taught them. Any loot taken on the battlefield was theirs by right, and loot meant money.
And money meant booze! An ample motivation for them, beyond the fact that they were probably going to fight powerful opponents. This was an opportunity to let the name of the Black Heirs shine, and make the status of their clan rise once more to the top!
"Nohre, why are you salivating?" One of the Black Heirs asked him, interrupting his reverie. He shook his head and dashed forward, "Keep up! The faster we''re done, the better!"
***
Liam clenched his teeth as he watched a portion of Howard Manor''s disappear through his scope, swallowed by a massive black orb. Glenn was flying over said orb, laughing wickedly as more spells appeared in his hands. His left arm was gleaming with a purple, ominous light, the same that was shining in Glenn''s eyes.
"The Devil''s Hand...It is a fitting title, isn''t it...?" Liam muttered as he adjusted the position of his rifle''s butt against his shoulder. A presence to his side tensed him up and he reached for his belt, where a smaller version of his rifle was waiting just in case.
"Keep your eyes on the fight, you idiot," A female voice stopped him with a gentle touch on the shoulder. Liam froze and shook his head in disbelief, "What the hell are you doing here, Janica? This isn''t your fight!"
Janica smacked her lips and leaned beside him, wielding a machine gun bigger than her. There were two large Fire Shards embedded in the rifle, glimmering powerfully under the moonlight, "I couldn''t leave you alone, could I? You might mess the whole thing up, after all."
Liam blushed and gritted his teeth, "You! Never mind, just don''t get in my way!"
"Sure, sure~"
***
"The servant quarter is in the East Wing," Sahro said as he dashed through the Manor''s hallways. Liara ran beside him, her weapons drawn, "...If Callum isn''t there, we need to head to the master bedroom and check if isn''t serving Howard. But..." Sahro grimaced, "I''m almost certain that he will be underground. Let''s hope Glenn manages to draw in most of their fighters before we head in."
Liara nodded, "...Do you think they will recognize me? Nohre''s people?" She asked sheepishly. Sahro glanced at her and notably at the bandana covering her forehead and her white cross mark.
"As long as you keep that thing on, you should be fine. But are you really worrying about that right now? We''re not in a situation where we can afford to think about something else."
"...I know," Liara admitted, before smiling brightly, "...But with Glenn backing us, it''s hard feeling threatened, you know. And I''m not even counting you."
Sahro sighed before suddenly stopping, his mechanical arm crackling with blue lightning, "...Maybe it would be time to feel threatened. They found us."
Liara''s expression hardened as she firmly clenched her spear, "So it seems."
The ground erupted in front of them with countless naked humanoid beasts snarling and shrieking at them bloodthirstily. A pale man with slick black hair and a classy black suit floated above the horde, looking down with contempt. He wasn''t Howard, but it was almost certain that he also wasn''t a human.
"How annoying. It seems like we chose to visit at the worst time, didn''t we, brother?"
Another figure came out of the hole in the ground, behind the snarling humanoid beasts. He was a pale, bald giant with massive fists and bloodshot eyes, "Y-Y-You''re r-right, b-brother," The giant stammered, grinning brutishly, "B-but we can''t c-complain ab-bout f-free food, c-can''t w-we?"
The classy vampire grinned, revealing sharp upper fangs dripping with fresh blood, "Too bad they interrupted our meal. Let''s show them what happens when they mess with the descendants of the great Nosferatu!"
Liara and Sahro exchanged a glance before letting their powers erupt. Seems like Glenn wasn''t the only one who was going to need to fight his way through his objective.
***
Glenn watched the disaster his Blackhole was causing with a satisfied smile, feeling the tension he had accumulated these past few days being alleviated.
"Ah, it truly feels great to ruin my enemy''s house, haha!" He laughed as he prepared a Nitrogen Lance in one hand, and Solar Flare in the other, "It just makes me want to destroy this place even more!"
"Don''t forget you need to save up on Mana," Nelg warned, only to be shrugged at.
"My reserve is practically infinite, Nelg. As long as I don''t have to break through whatever material was making the W.O.R.M.''s walls, I''ll be fine," Glenn snorted, watching with a widening grin as his Blackhole dissipated, the spell destroyed by a stronger Aura. A knight in black armor dragging a massive two-handed sword behind him drew closer, the shadows glued to his dark steel boots.
"The Devil''s Hand..." The knight hissed with an otherworldly voice.
Glenn grinned, "Stormblade. Remember how I almost killed you last time?"
Stormblade raised his greatsword, a dark Aura covering his armor and weapon, "...I knew we should have hanged you alongside these peasants. That would have spared us the reconstruction efforts."
Glenn''s features contorted angrily, his Mana flaring up. His grin became evil, the perfect copy of Diamanes'', "Don''t worry, your master won''t need a home after I''m done with him! Just a fucking urn to keep the ashes!"
He flicked his spells at Stormblade, the Solar Flare, and Nitrogen Lance mixing in a devastating mix.
"Come at me, freak. Let me finish what I couldn''t a year ago!" Glenn spat, the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he watched Stormblade fend off the spells with a dark Aura.
Tonight, Howard was going down.
234. Operation Fuck Howard
Hope is a fickle thing. An ember, which, depending on the situation, may burn brighter, or die silently. It can give the strength to fight a thousand men or push someone into despair.
Callum had lost all hope twenty-one years ago.
How old was he when the Master took him? He couldn''t even remember. At first, he was just "food". A walking snack. A tank of blood to satisfy the needs of the Master and his friends. But...one day, the Master changed his mind.
And made him into this.
A monster. A bloodsucking monster. A mosquito in human form. A ruh sayiya, as his grandmother used to say. Her face had also disappeared from his memories, as many things had these past twenty-one years.
...At least his status had been elevated slightly. He wasn''t food anymore, no, now he was his assistant. He was the one dirtying his hands in these damned rituals, the one having to watch over the food...And the one charged with taking care of the leftovers.
There was one thing that broke this monotonous, torturous life though. A year ago, a foreign individual, with raven-black hair and a purple left arm. He came knocking in the Master''s house during his Harvest and brought the news of poor Jefferson''s death. This...this had been a change Callum hadn''t been expecting. It almost gave him hope of finally being freed from the Master''s hold, but that guy was too weak. He wasn''t strong enough to light up the ember of hope in his heart once more.
To punish him, the Master killed three lesser beings and hanged them high for everyone to see how weak that guy was. To show them who was the truly strong one, who domineered the lesser town? Their true leaderowner even. The Master went as far as capturing a child the rebel saved previously, bringing him back to the Manor to use as another walking food. But that kid was different. He became a thrall without losing a drop of blood, showing exceptional reception to the vampiric transfusion.
And yet...
The second he found the opportunity to flee and escape, he took it. He ripped his own heart out. He had chosen death and freedom over...whatever this joke of a life was. Over becoming a monster.
Ever since, the Master had changed. He wasn''t Harvesting anymore, thank Nosferatu. He spent his entire time experimenting with thralls, trying to reproduce what he had achieved with that boy, Liam, without success.
Anyway, whatever antics the Master concerned himself with wasn''t his problem. Callum had one job, and it was to listen to the master.
...But. For the first time in twenty-one years, when Liam escaped the claws of the Master through death, Callum realized there was another way. And since then...Every day, his dead, still heart tried to rekindle with hope, only to be painfully reminded of the truth.
There was no hope. Only the Master, and an eternity of servitude.
So why? Why was the Master''s face so...confused right now? In such...disbelief? Callum almost wanted to rub his eyes, to try and maybe get rid of whatever was plaguing his sight, but what he was seeing was very much real. The Master was at a loss. For the first time in twenty-one years of servitude, Callum was seeing uncertainty in this monstrous mockery of a man.
"M...Master! I-It''s the Devil''s Hand from the journal!" One of the more conscious thralls came running, panting, "He''s destroying the Manor! Sir Stormblade is fighting him, but he''s pushing him back!"
Baron Howard turned around, his hands clenched behind his back, "What about the Vlirt brothers? They also headed out for a snack on the intruders, I believe."
The thrall bowed his head deeply, heaving with difficulty, "T-they met unexpected resistance! There are multiple intruders, and two of them are holding the Barons!"
Howard froze, before slamming his fist on the closest table, pulverizing it alongside the corpse lying on it in a macabre show. Callum didn''t bat an eye as blood and gore covered him from head to toe, unbothered.
"How? The Brothers are Barons! And we''re not talking about the "Devil''s Hand", but two unknown?!?" Howard questioned angrily, his fists clenched tightly. The thrall gulped as he fearfully kept his head bowed. The Baron groaned and turned away, "Servant, follow me. We''re leaving this to the other thralls. You stay with me."
Callum bowed, "Of course, Master."
Even though Callum had no way to see the moons from the underground facility they were hiding in, he could still feel that this night was going to be a beautiful one.
And for the first time in twenty-one years, he allowed himself to feel it.
That oh-so-sweet hope.
***
"B-Brother, s-she''s r-resisting! W-what do I d-do?" The massive, bald vampire asked as he failed to grab Liara once more, the Black Heiress jumping over him gracefully with the help of her telekinetically controlled weapons. The classy yet arrogant vampire couldn''t reply, struggling to defend against Sahro''s relentless barrage of attacks.
The Black Heir was mixing up slices and punches, using his newly improved mechanical arm to block bladed attacks while sending red electricity coursing back through the attacker''s weapon. More than once the classy vampire received a powerful discharge of Aura-charged electricity, and his wounds were starting to accumulate, while Sahro had yet to even receive a scratch. The Black Heir was simply too fast, dashing away in strikes of lightning every time the vampire got a little too close for comfort. His massive brother was in a similar situation, enduring wounds after wounds from Liara, yet failing to even touch the tip of her hair.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"Damned ruh sayiya, I''ll show you why you shouldn''t have appeared in front of a Black Heir!" Sahro roared as he suddenly froze in place, his entire body covered in uncontrollable red lightning. The classy vampire stepped back, his back drenched in sweat as he tried to find a way to avoid the Black Heir''s incoming attack when his sight settled onto Liara. He swiftly used the moment she jumped over his brother to hide behind her, his claws stabbing toward her neck. Sahro''s eyes widened, but a striking flash of silver pierced through the air in front of him and destroyed the vampire''s hand. Liara didn''t waste the opportunity and thrust her spear through the vampire''s neck, impaling him to the floor. His brother roared desperately, rushing for her, but a red lightning strike decided otherwise, hacking him into two smoldering and crackling half.
The classy vampire trembled, blood gushing out of his mouth as he reached for his brother with a shaking hand, only to watch helplessly as Sahro''s blade, gleaming in the moonlight fell for his neck. Sahro swiftly returned his sword to his sheath, exhaling a controlled breath. He didn''t even spare a glance at the rolling head of the vampire he just decapitated.
"Cutting one in half, and decapitating the other..." Sahro glanced at Liara and smacked his lips, "...Do you think it was enough?"
The Black Heiress shrugged with uncertainty. Sahro moistened his lips before thrusting his fists into both vampires'' chests, destroying their hearts. He then crushed both of their heads under his feet, making sure nothing was left.
"We''ve wasted enough time already. We need to hurry up and find Callum!" Sahro hissed as he dusted his hands off. He grunted and jumped down the hole the two vampires came through. Liara sighed and retrieved her spear, before glancing back at Glenn''s fight. It sounded like a hell of a battle.
But it was Glenn''s battle. It probably was no use to worry about him. She chuckled to herself and followed Sahro down the hole, leaving behind the two vampire corpses destroyed beyond measure.
***
"Glenn, the Devil''s Hand...Who would have guessed such a pitiful, pitiful loser who thought he held the world in his palms would become a war hero?" Stormblade questioned as he strolled through the flames and ice conjured by Glenn''s spells, unhurt.
Glenn grinned, "I certainly did. Don''t worry, I''ll be sure to show you what I''ve learned during that last year!" He slammed his hands together, drawing a short breath as he conjured a Hellzone around the dark knight. Stormblade stopped as he watched his steel gauntlets catch on fire and begin to melt off. He clenched his fist tightly and projected a wave of Aura outwardly, destroying the spell once more.
"Party tricks. Did you believe you could attack a Baron with just that measly strength?" Stormblade scoffed as he stepped forward, his steel boot creating a crater into the floor. He dashed forward at extreme speed, a dark blur that Glenn would have certainly missed a year ago.
Not anymore, though. Glenn grinned as he hacked at Stormblade''s greatsword, parrying it away with his hand axe.
''Nelg!'' He demanded in his mind while jumping back. Stormblade looked at Glenn''s hand axe transform into a terrifying, two-handed double-bladed battle axe before resuming his attack. Glenn wasted no time using Nelg''s Mana to utilize his Cleave & Double It capacity, sending an energy blade splitting exponentially. The only limit was the caster''s Mana capacity, and Glenn was more than confident he could handle letting Cleave & Double It grow a hundred times if needed.
Stormblade suddenly jumped in place and disappeared, a gale of wind replacing where he previously was standing. Nelg withdrew his Mana while Glenn swiftly rotated on his feet and blocked Stormblade''s slash. His knees sank to the floor from the strength of the shock, but Glenn couldn''t feel a shred of fear.
"That''s all you got, then? Disappointing!" He roared as he pushed back against Stormblade''s greatsword while using Gravity Manipulation to artificially interfere with his opponent''s holding. Stormblade was forced to take a step back, giving Glenn barely a second to take out a small, unremarkable pebble with a slight jade color out of his breast pocket. Stormblade''s eyes under his dark helmet trembled with confusion for an instant, but the knight didn''t let it get to him and rushed in once more, cleaving through the ground with a massive blade of dark Aura.
Glenn pulled himself out of the way with Gravity Manipulation, laughing manically as Pebble became charged in kinetic energy and covered in burning blue flames, "Remember how I took you down back then? Let''s see if you worked on that!"
Pebble flew out with a loud bang, piercing through the sonic barrier with the might of a Shooting Star. Stormblade barely managed to block the attack with his greatsword, the blade shattering into a thousand pieces. He slid back a dozen meters, his back crashing against the Manor''s wall, making it tremble from the shock. The Knight fell to one knee silently, struggling to keep himself standing. Glenn approached him with measured steps, Pebble floating above his opened palm.
"You know what? You''re right," Glenn admitted as Pebble became covered in searing flames once more, "You should have hanged me back then."
Stormblade scoffed, only to receive Pebble charged with the maximum of kinetic energy in the face, his helmet exploding in molten shrapnel. Glenn stood silently, watching the smoldering corpse through the dust cloud he had created with Mana Sight. Stormblade''s body wasn''t moving, yet... that dark, condensed Aura reminding him of a Grand Chevalier hadn''t been snuffed out. On the contrary, it burned stronger than ever.
Glenn''s eyes widened and he braced himself just in time for a wave of dark Aura to hit him and project him away. He crashed through multiple walls, only stopping a large distance away.
"Cough...Cough...!" He forced himself up, grunting as he pushed away a wooden beam that had fallen on him. The shockwave had been so powerful it had gone through his Saturn Rings like a hot knife through butter.
''A few commotions, maybe a ruptured bone, nothing you can''t deal with, don''t worry,'' Diamanes commented without a shred of concern. Glenn spat out the blood in his mouth and wiped the soot off his face, his eyes glued to the figure standing without a head some distance away. Stormblade''s armor fell apart, revealing a shriveled crown of thorns wrapped around a deep, rusty, and barely purple metal headband.
"Ahh..." Stormblade''s voice came from the crown, otherworldly. The vines wrapping the headband untangled, growing and twisting to change into a humanoid shape. The thorny vines were gray, dull, and lifeless, yet...they were more threatening than ever, "Seems like our deal with Baron Howard will come to an end tonight. How..." Stormblade laughed widely as he picked back up his greatsword, "...Disappointing."
Glenn moistened his lips and willed for Nelg to change into his greatsword shape, ready to Cut & Pull.
"Time for round two, brat!" Stormblade roared, vines erupting from him like tentacles. Glenn gritted his teeth and almost sighed out of annoyance. He had recognized a symbol engraved on that purple headband, a symbol he knew all too well and was starting to get tired of seeing. No, actually, since the first time his eyes peered on this cursed symbol, his life had gone downhill, so no, he simply hated it.
This accursed Thorn''s Church symbol.
235. Snap
"Come at" Stormblade''s words were drowned in the chaos summoned by the Gravitational Singularity Glenn threw at him. The latter refused to waste even a single second questioning the Thorn''s Church presence in Howard''s entourage. He already wasn''t fond of the household anyway, but for them to also be in cahoots with these accursed cultists?
"Unacceptable!" Glenn clamored as he consumed half of his Mana reserves to power the Gravitational Singularity. Stormblade''s rank five Aura flared up, the vine-monster clashing with the spell. The gray, dead vines began disappearing one after the other, crushed by the Singularity''s attraction. Glenn moistened his lips and flicked his fingers, "One less Thorn''s Church bastard in this world. Excellent."
The Gravitational Singularity finally collapsed, engulfing Stormblade in a blinding explosion. Glenn let himself be thrown back by the shockwave, using Gravity Manipulation to control his flight. He watched in satisfaction as Howard''s Manor collapsed entirely, leaving only a huge pile of rubble and dust behind.
"Well, that was anti-climatic," Diamanes remarked, slightly disappointed, "I thought it would be a little more entertaining, considering his rank-five Aura and Divine powers."
Glenn shrugged and dusted his hands off, "Can''t say I''ll complain about that. He was just an obstacle on my path to get rid of the actual problem, the Baron."
The rubble trembled and collapsed further, before sinking into the floor, revealing the underground passages below.
"Hrm, I don''t want to disappoint, but I did not receive a single soul, Glenn," Nelg cleared his throat awkwardly. Glenn frowned and glanced at the place where the explosion took place. He couldn''t see the hateful dead vines nor a hint of Stormblade''s presence.
"...Well, it''s a little worrying, but I don''t exactly have the time to look into it, do I?" Glenn muttered before shaking his head. The nearby sound of machinegun fire was echoing, coming from Liam''s position.
Wasn''t he supposed to be a sniper? When did he build himself a fucking machine gun...? ? asked Glenn under his breath, confused. He shrugged and dived underground, dashing for the teleport gate. He was already quite late, given the initial predictions. Stormblade was a little stronger than he remembered, but not an impossible opponent. He was certainly not as strong as the orc Decimius. Which was strange, given that Stormblade was a rank 5 aura user. But perhaps he had also taken advantage of the artificial power that allowed him to have a superior aura but not compensate for a lack of skills. Since even the guards seemed to have received these unnatural enhancements, it wouldn''t be surprising if Stormblade benefited from them too.
...And there was also the fact that he was a Thorn''s Church goon.
"Now, the plans, I need to remember the plans..." Glenn muttered as he ran in the dark underground hallways.
***
"AHHH! I WASN''T EXPECTING TO ACTUALLY FIGHT!!!" Janica screamed as she unloaded freely her machine''s gun ammunition on the literal horde of thralls running at them. The second Liam shot one of his Blumar bullets at the vampire bothering Sahro and Liara, these goons had come after them. Liam ignored the sweat pealing down his forehead and reloaded his handgun just in time to pierce a lunging thrall''s head with condensed fire Mana.
Their weapons could fire two types of projectiles: physical projectiles, such as lead, brass, or even Blumar, which required a special coating to fire. The other option was magical, mainly using the user''s Mana, or blood in the lack of it, and was the product of a condensation of elemental Mana synchronized with the Shards used on their weapons. Liam used only a single fire Shard, be it with his sniper or handgun, while Janica had combined fire and water Shard for her machine gun.
All in all, both of their products had their strengths and weaknesses, such as incredible penetration power for Liam''s sniper, or impressive area of damage for Janica''s machine gun. They made for quite a powerful combination. Sadly, that combination wasn''t exactly prepared to face endless hordes of zombie-likes thralls with superhuman speed and strength.
"Shit, the more I kill, the more they come!" Liam roared as he emptied the equivalent of a magazine on a particularly tough thrall. Janica clenched her teeth and kept on relentlessly mowing down the enemies with her machine gun. Her skin was getting increasingly paler as she consumed more and more blood instead of Mana. She wasn''t a Mage yet after all.
Liam gulped and pressed his hand on his chest. If the push came to shove, would he have the strength to use that last resort? If it was to save Janica...Liam''s expression hardened.
Yeah, if it was to save Janica, he had all the strength in the world. He put down another thrall, biding his time when Janica''s fire suddenly died down. The girl had lost consciousness, the loss of blood too important for her to handle. Liam gritted his teeth and took a step forward, his artificial heart beating with a violent, powerful pulse. He looked at the endless horde of thralls and drew a deep breath.
"...Sorry, Janica. I won''t be able to see you enter Exan''s University..." He muttered as he jumped forward, moments away from activating the self-destruction of his heart. At the last second, a hand pulled him back away from the horde, and a man stepped in front of him, wearing a white suit with an oh-so-recognizable red cross pattern. Each part of his skin was covered in bandages, and he was wielding a long, threatening-looking scythe.
"Don''t go dying off just yet," Veil laughed, "Trust me, life is much fuller of possibilities. Death is so..." He clenched the hilt of his scythe tighter as strips of black satin rose from the ground around him, "...Definitive."
***
"Hmm...He was weaker than anticipated," One of the Black Heirs following Nohre remarked as he wiped his blade off his victim''s corpse. Nohre wanted to retort something clever but he could only agree with his colleague''s thoughts. The mage that had been guarding the Teleportation Gate should have been a remarkable master of space-type spells, possibly at the Fourth Circle, which would have made this operation only a hit-and-run, but instead, he had been pitifully weak. To add to the injury, the mage barely fought back, letting them cut him apart like a piece of meat.
"Whatever, our mission is done. Now, feel free to wreak as much havoc as you want!" Nohre grinned as his Aura flared up once more, "Remember only one thing; our lives are more important than anything, understood?"
"Who do you take us for?" The other Black Heirs laughed it off as they all dashed in pairs of two, with one staying with Nohre. The latter glanced one last time at the mage''s corpse on the floor, and stabbed his sword in the Teleportation Gate, ruining it definitively. If they trusted Maron and the Devil''s Hand words, creating a new one would take another space mage, a lot of resources, and even more time.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Nohre and his companion were about to follow the other Black Heirs in their plundering, only to both freeze in fear. Their back became drenched in cold sweat, and the only thing they could hear was the loud footsteps of someone approaching them in the distance. Nohre gritted his teeth and forced himself to turn around, discovering two individuals coming out of a hallway. One was as silent as a shadow and had red hair and eyes, the same as Giselle''s. His forehead was adorned by a white, faded mark, and his skin was the same tint as Nohre''s. The other was dressed in elegant clothes but had a mad, almost beastly feel to him.
''Callum!'' He realized as he tightened his hold over his sword.
"You...animals..." The beastly man hissed furiously, his fists clenched tightly. His sharp, yellow canines peeked out of his mouth, and the darkness seemed to wrap around him like an ominous cape. Nohre''s eyes widened and he instinctively jumped back, pulling his frozen companion with him.
"Since things have come to this..." The beastly man looked down, his nails growing longer and darker and his limbs trembling threateningly. Callum beside him looked emotionless, his hands clasped behind his back as he respectfully followed behind his crazed master.
Nohre gulped and made his decision, throwing his companion on his back and dashing away. Their lives were the priority, and right now, his instincts were screaming at him to run away.
So run away he did, only to suddenly fall face first. His companion rolled over, the shock suddenly waking him up. His Aura flared up as he raised his twin short swords, only to be swatted away by a shadow. The beastly man stood above Nohre, his nailsno, his claws dripping with fresh blood. Nohre tried standing up, only to realize his legs were both pinned to the floor by solid blood stakes.
"It''s been a while since I meddled with you Black Heirs," The Baron spat hatefully, "Hopefully you taste a little better than before." The vampire reached for Nohre''s neck, only for said hand to be swatted away by a crackling flash of blue lightning. The blood stakes pinning Nohre to the floor shattered, freeing him. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was that mechanical arm, hissing with steam and covered in destructive red lightning.
Sahro glanced back at Liara, who had successfully captured Callum and held him into place with her Telekinesis. Thankfully, Giselle''s grandson wasn''t fighting back, his eyes empty and soulless. Nohre and his companion had both been overwhelmed by the Baron and were out of commission. Additionally, the vampire seemed to have done something to them; they looked sickly pale, and their lips were blue.
"Fucking ruh sayiya, what did you do to them?!?" Sahro shouted, pointing his sword at the vampire.
The latter looked at his nicked claws and frowned, "Weren''t you also there during my last Harvest? How did you also grow that much stronger? What power did you use?"
The Black Heir gritted his teeth and nodded at Liara. She nodded back and dashed away while picking up Nohre and his companion''s corpse, carrying them alongside Callum. Telekinesis certainly had its advantages. Baron Howard watched them with a smirk and shook his head, "It''s no use. That wretch is my thrall now, the only way he can escape his fate is death!" He snorted, "...And that is the one thing he is scared of. Not like that last imbecile, I had my eyes on..."
Sahro scoffed, "Who, Liam?"
Baron Howard froze and his bloodshot eyes widened, "...How do you know about himno, you remember seeing me taking him away during the Harvest," He reasoned. Sahro moistened his lips and grinned widely, "Oh, no, he was alive and well a few hours ago. Ripping his own heart out and replacing it is quite the way to go, honestly."
The vampire''s jaw hung slack, "Impossible! I saw him die myself!"
Sahro gritted his teeth and prepared himself, "Maybe you should have checked better, beast!" He lunged forward in a thunderous flash of red lightning, striking the vampire squarely in the chest. The latter conjured a shield of blood at the last moment, barely blocking Sahro''s assault. The Black Heir''s mechanical arm suddenly shone with bright light, and a ray of powerful, red lightning shot out of it, pulverizing the vampire''s head into dust.
The Black Heir waited a few seconds as the searing metal chilled down, before spitting on the vampire''s remains, "Tsk, that was easy. I''m sure Glenn will be quite disappointed he didn''t get to have his revenge, though..." He shook his head and turned away, "Let''s join Liam and the others at the rendezvous point, we should be fine."
"Rendezvous point...Ah, that house the Cleaner''s Workshop gave you...Interesting. Ah, and there even is the Devil''s Hand sister there, right? Excellent," A voice spoke from behind, freezing him on the spot. Sahro slowly turned around, watching as the Baron wrote something in a small notebook, unharmed.
"...How...?" Sahro blurted out in disbelief, his Aura and Mana flaring up once more. Baron Howard grinned and opened his arms widely, "What, don''t tell me you forgot you were in my domain?" His expression hardened and he pointed a sharp claw at Sahro, "You''re in my house. So please, entertain me, Black Heir!"
Sahro raised his sword again, his teeth clenched. Something was wrong, he knew it. But the only thing he could do was cut his enemy down.
No matter how many times it was going to take.
***
"Turn left...right...ah!" Glenn went back on his steps, finally arriving at the Teleportation Gate. He had been forced to take detours due to the hallways collapsing. He could have cleared them with Gravity Manipulation, but he risked destroying the place further and never finding his way to his objective. It was already hard enough to kill all of these thralls on the way there without destroying the underground complex, he wasn''t going to waste his Mana on a pointless venture.
''I think the whole issue could have been solved if you had just trained by yourself, reached the Sixth Circle, and thrown down an Archmagi spell at the Manor, obliterating it,'' Diamanes grumbled, annoyed.
Glenn rolled his eyes, "Why are you displeased? I had a relatively satisfying fight and also destroyed the Manor, even if it took more than a few spells. And I couldn''t risk killing Callum, could I?"
"Excuses, always more excuses..." Diamanes groaned aloud, refusing to listen to Glenn''s explanations. The latter suddenly paused, the thick metallic scent of blood overwhelming him. He continued forward with careful steps, his back drenched in a cold sweat. Something was terribly wrong, but he couldn''t guess what. It was as if the whole environment had changed, transforming into another world, another dimension
"Ah!" Glenn suddenly stopped and slammed his fist in his hand, "Diamanes? Nelg?"
As expected, nobody replied to him. Glenn sighed and activated Mana Sight, frowning deeply. He called to the power of illusion he took from Milena some time ago, trying to use it to verify his theory. The world seemed to shift and twist, trembling unnaturally.
"...It really is becoming way too easy to realize I''m in illusions. I won''t complain though, it does mean it''s easier to get out of them or resist mind magic..." Glenn muttered as he extricated himself out of the illusion effortlessly. It took barely a bit of Mana and the use of Milena''s power to find a flaw and get out of the trap. Glenn was still standing in the hallway, clenching Nelg tightly in one hand and Milena''s spell in the other.
"Ah? Was that an illusion?" Diamanes asked curiously. Glenn nodded, to what Nelg grunted in awe.
"Fuck illusions. Fuck anything that put me in another world, as a matter of fact. I hate these spells. I might start to hate Milena."
Glenn frowned, "Don''t. I''m sure she would love you. And don''t forget she isn''t a fan of using mind magic after all."
Nelg returned to his lonely corner without replying, annoyed. Glenn shrugged and willed for the weapon to change to its greatsword shape, ready to Cut & Pull.
"Let''s see now, why is there an illusion in this place...?" Glenn asked as he finally entered the Teleportation Gate room. He stopped dead in his tracks as he found Nohre''s team, Sahro, and Liara, all lying on the floor, unconscious. Callum was watching them with his hands crossed behind his back, while Baron Howard was sitting on top of Liara, his sharp canines reaching for her throat as he licked his lips.
At that moment, something snapped in Glenn''s mind.
And Baron Howard couldn''t help but shiver.
236. Baron Howard, Descendant of Nosferatu
Baron Howard.
Who was he? A proud descendant of the legendary Nosferatu, a vampire who could create infinite thralls and control blood like an extension of his limbs. Humans were but mere prey and toys in front of him. Never once in his life did he feel that...strange, unnatural emotion he was currently victim to.
He had known love, passion, and desire once, but now lived with hatred and hunger, an unending hunger. Yet, he couldn''t help it. He couldn''t help these puny, laughable shakings in his hands. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t push himself to reach for that beautiful bitch''s neck and drain her of her life force.
Somethingno, someone was stopping him. Did someone dare to stop him? The vampire rose to his feet, ignoring his trembling legs, and looked at the person walking into the Teleportation Gate.
Baron Howard gulped and licked his lips as he watched the now famous "Devil''s Hand" walk with measured steps toward him, his eyes hidden behind his long, black hair. That left, purple arm, which was the reason Glenn earned his nickname, was hanging loosely at his side.
"Haha," Howard laughed in disbelief, "Hahahaha! Even the famous Devil''s Hand can''t resist my Charm Curse, it seems. Hahaha, maybe I''ll be able to become a Count with his blood!" He exclaimed excitedly. Callum clapped slowly, emotionless, "Congratulations, Master."
The Baron paused and looked at his thrall, "...What, don''t tell me you thought they were going to save you?"
Callum didn''t reply, his lips sealed and his gaze soulless. Howard shrugged dismissively and looked back at that woman who came with the Black Heir.
She had perfect white hair, and her skin was tanned slightly, barely reminiscent of the Black Heirs'' tint of skin. She was a heaven-defying beauty, and he had her all for himself to enjoy.
"Her blood must be incredible..." He muttered while mentally controlling the Charm Curse to order the Devil''s Hand to lie down next to his other victims. He approached Liara closer once more, unable to hold back his excitement, when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
He frowned and looked back, moments away from beating the hell out of that insulting thrall that was Callum, only to receive the most painful punch in the nose of his long, long life.
Howard flew out and went through half a dozen walls before eventually stopping, his clothes mangled and his expression rageful.
"You...bastard!" He shouted, dashing in Glenn''s direction, all of his claws out and his blood magic fired up. Glenn''s cold eyes glanced at him, and a sudden, unbearable pressure crushed the vampire, pushing him to the ground.
Glenn crouched next to Liara and verified her vitals, sighing in relief when he found a pulse, "Thank Onnea."
''Hahahaha, look how flustered that bastard is!'' Diamanes laughed mockingly, ''He never expected his mind magic to be broken, did he? Hahaha, excellent!''
Baron Howard''s Mana flared up suddenly, pushing back against Glenn''s Gravity Manipulation. Stakes of crystalized blood pushed him up, resisting the pressure until eventually broke the spell. Glenn watched without saying a word or doing a thing, his arms crossed. Baron Howard gritted his fangs and pointed a condemning finger at Glenn, "You bastard! Who do you think you are, attacking a Baron in his house? I''ll teach you the meaning of nobility, peasant"
"How did Jefferson become a Seeker with you as a father," Glenn suddenly asked, interrupting the raging vampire. The latter paused and blinked confusedly. Jefferson who? His son?
"That idiot?" Howard repeated in puzzlement, "He never accepted the Inheritance of Nosferatu, how could I still consider him my son?" He laughed mockingly as stakes of crystalized blood appeared all around him, "Do you know how hard did I laugh after you brought me his journal and ring, a year ago?" He shot the blood spikes in Glenn''s direction, only for them to be swatted away with a swift use of Nelg''s Cut & Pull.
"...Atrocious bastard. Not even your son is spared from your cruelty, huh?" Glenn raised his sword and pointed it at the Baron, "What''s your relation to the Thorn''s Church? Tell me, and I''ll maybe not torture you too much."
Baron Howard scoffed and didn''t bother replying, instead choosing to shoot countless blood spikes at his opponent. Glenn stopped bothering deflecting them, instead activating his Saturn Rings at maximum power. The vampire grinned and his eyes suddenly became bright red, entrancing Glenn.
"You''re nothing but food to me," Howard clamored, his lips curving upward further as Glenn stopped in his tracks. The vampire almost rejoiced, but was instead catapulted away as a small Pebble met his chest with incredible kinetic force. The air was knocked out of his lungs as he rolled backward, coughing. Glenn called back Pebble, walking up to the vampire slowly.
"How...cough...how did you resist my Charm? I''m a vampire, a descendant of Nosferatu!" Glenn''s fist buried into Howard''s chest, before ripping his heart out. The Baron looked down at the hole in his chest in disbelief, unable to utter another word. He fell face first, a puddle of blood forming around him. Glenn stared down for an instant, before stabbing down with his sword in his enemy''s head.
"Have you ever heard of our lord and savior?" Glenn jeered coldly as he wiped the blood off his blade.
''Nelg, did you get his soul?'' He asked his weapon coldly. Nelg took some time to reply, "Nope. I''m still waiting."
Glenn paused and sighed loudly, turning back to Howard''s "lifeless" body, "Stand back up, you fuck. I already know you''re not dead."
The vampire flinched and slowly stood back up, his wounds regenerating in an instant. Even his shattered skull healed back as if nothing happened.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"...Who are you?" Howard asked suspiciously, "To even see through my fake death...You''re truly an abnormal one. Stormblade was right, I should have hanged you along with these three peasants back then," He declared as blood flowed freely around him, moving with its own will. Glenn took a step back while using Mana Sight to analyze his opponent. A Fifth-Circle Expert Magi somehow, yet weaker than he, a Fourth-Circle.
"Why do you fake your strength?" Glenn asked, not expecting a reply. Howard paused and realized as he looked at Glenn''s eyes, "You...you developed Mana Sight? Aren''t you twenty or so years old?"
The vampire stumbled back, before laughing maniacally, "Hahaha, yes, of course, that stupid kid I left behind was a genius!" He gritted his teeth as his expression contorted with hatred, "That! That damned...damned talent!" He spat hatefully, "I''ve done everything in my life to try and surpass geniuses like you, but look at me!" Howard roared, sending a wave of bloody Mana that pushed Glenn back.
"A fake Fifth Circle! If I wasn''t a vampire, I wouldn''t even have reached this level in my life!" He clenched his fists tightly, "Strength is everything in this world! Everything..." A thick layer of blood began to cover him from head to toe, "...In a year, you achieved a strength beyond what I''ve worked so hard using my whole life. How is that fair?"
Glenn spat to the side as his Mana flared up, preparing a Nitrogen Lance in one hand and an Infernal Blackhole in the other, "Life is unfair. Get on with it and grow up, you fuck. Ah, no, my bad..." He corrected himself, "Just die. That''ll be quicker this way."
Howard laughed madly, "Hahaha, maybe you''re right! But before that..." He pursed his fangs predatorily, "I''ll at least taste your blood, genius!" He lunged forward, riding on a wave of blood. Glenn cursed and jumped back while dragging his comrades to safety with Gravity Manipulation. He threw his spells at Howard while using an Earthquake on his path, hoping to slow him. Something with that wave of blood made him strangely wary.
The vampire continued to laugh crazily, ignoring the spells and letting them hit him. The Nitrogen Wave froze the blood wave while the Infernal Blackhole swallowed and burnt him down to ashes, only for said ashes to come together and grow back into a new, pristine body. Howard dashed in Glenn''s direction, his clawed hands stabbing him in the stomach. Glenn coughed a mouthful of blood, before changing Nelg into his double-blade axe shape and using Cleave & Double It to push Howard back.
Baron Howard transformed into blood, swiftly avoiding the attacks and continuing to inflict damage on Glenn. The latter defended the best he could, but his Saturn Rings weren''t enough to stop the vampire''s claws, nor was his weapon mastery. The vampire''s movements were beastly, and unpredictable. Howard didn''t seem to have a single regard for his own life as he traded wounds with Glenn, spending Mana freely.
"Fuck!" Glenn coughed and flew back, avoiding another clawed attack. He slid on the floor and conjured a Hellzone around the vampire, burning him down once more. He didn''t waste a second and scattered the ashes with a swift use of Gravity Manipulation, hoping it''d be enough, but sadly... it wasn''t.
Howard came whole once more, unaffected by Nelg''s touch or Glenn''s spells, "Hahaha, finally I am free from these puny genetic shackles! I have finally, finally been accepted by Nosferatu!" The vampire grinned widely, his body exploding in a flight of bats that all conjured blood projectiles. Glenn drew a short breath and conjured a Nitrogen Wave, freezing the entirety of the Teleportation Gate while avoiding his companions. The bats fell to the floor, breaking into tiny ice pieces.
Glenn allowed himself a short rest and used C.P.R. to seal the wound on his stomach, grimacing from the pain, "How the fuck is this legal for him to keep regenerating this way? What am I supposed to do if even Nelg isn''t working?"
Diamanes groaned before suddenly exclaiming, "The Divine Blessing! You need to use Divine power!"
Glenn grunted and did as the entity suggested, using Divine Blessing on both Nelg and Pebble.
"I, Nelg, shall slay all evil in my path!" The sword suddenly roared righteously in Glenn''s mind, while Pebble glowed with golden light, as silent and supposedly inert as always. The bat pieces suddenly broke free from the ice and fused back into Baron Howard. The vampire raised a sword of blood in Glenn''s direction, his eyes bloodshot and his lips curved upward.
"Come at me, genius! I''ll show you the determination of a talentless man!" Howard roared as two large black wings appeared on his back, supporting his lunge. Glenn gritted his teeth and barely parried Howard''s attack. He kicked the vampire away and used Cut & Pull to drag him closer. The vampire''s eyebrows rose as he was brutally pulled into Glenn''s attack range, a thick blood shield appearing to parry his greatsword.
Glenn grinned widely and shoved his fist in Howard''s chest, "What can''t regenerate anymore?"
Howard winced and pulled back, the wound on his chest healing as if nothing happened, "Don''t fool with me! This isn''t enough towhat?" He looked down at his chest pulsing with warm, golden light. Glenn''s grin only grew wider as he used the opportunity to close the distance and hack at the enemy. The vampire blocked the attack with a scowl while clawing at his chest.
"What did you do to me?!? WHAT IS THIS?!?" He screamed in pain as black smoke suddenly began to come from his body. Glenn didn''t waste time and continued his onslaught, cutting more and more wounds that simply refused to heal.
"Diamanes, you''re a fucking genius!" Glenn laughed wickedly as he cleanly lopped off the Baron''s right arm. The vampire looked at the bubbling stump with awe.
"How...How, how, how?" He repeated maniacally, his eyes darting around in a search for a solution. Glenn kicked him down while sending more Mana to the Divine Blessing on Pebble. Howard''s chest exploded with light, burning him alive with a fire he wouldn''t be coming back from anytime soon.
"NO, NO, WHY, WHY??? I WAS FINALLY" The illusion imprisoning the others suddenly broke, and they all stood back up one by one, except for Nohre whose legs were too damaged to do so. Sahro held his head painfully while leaning on his sword, exhausted, "Why did the fight suddenly stop? Fuck..."
Liara slowly stood up too, looking at her empty arms confusedly. She glanced at Callum standing still nearby and scratched her head, puzzled. Glenn coldly stabbed the vampire in the heart, pinning him to the floor, "That fucker had you all in an illusion. Almost fell in it too." He twisted the blade, savoring the Baron''s screams of pain.
"No..." Baron Howard cried tearfully, "...I was almost...there..."
Glenn couldn''t listen to any more of his nonsense and beheaded him cleanly. The golden, divine flames burnt down the vampire''s corpse. Not even ashes were left behind this time.
"...I got it," Nelg said without being asked to. Glenn stumbled back and leaned on his sword, exhaling a deep, exhausted breath.
Baron Howard was finally, truly dead.
It was finally over. One year of growing stronger, bleeding, and sweating all for this one moment.
Or that''s what he thought. Callum fell to his knees while clenching his chest, blood pouring out of his every pore and opening. The thrall Black Heir collapsed while foaming at the mouth, trembling uncontrollably. Glenn jolted back awake and hurriedly threw Callum on his shoulders, his heart racing once more with adrenaline. He aimed his hand at the ceiling and shouted, "BRACE YOURSELVES!"
A powerful Earthquake ruptured the ceiling open, revealing the night sky above. Glenn and the others jumped out of the crumbling underground, Nohre and his companion carried away by Sahro and Liara. Glenn accelerated his movements with Gravity Manipulation and dashed away in urgency, not paying attention to the Cleaners running around, nor Veil who was busy finishing off the last inhuman thralls making a mess.
There was only one hope to save Callum, and it was lying in that suitcase Liam should have brought with him.
If they failed, Callum, Giselle''s grandson, would die.
And this whole thing would have been for nothing.
237. One Less Debt
Dying wasn''t exactly the most comfortable feeling, even less when it was thanks to your heart crumbling within your chest. Still, in his misfortune, Callum couldn''t help but feel thankful for the mistreatment he endured all these years under the Masterno, under Baron Howard.
He couldn''t be much of a Master if he were dead, after all.
Anyway, Callum had half-expected things to end this way. The moment the Baron started to lose his rationality, Callum already knew the Devil''s Hand would manage to overwhelm him. There was a...strange feeling to the man, an aura of some sort that made him think that Sir Glenn was used to fighting foes like the Baron. Not once had he appeared scared, worried, or anything. Even when the Baron''s claws stabbed his stomach, he simply retreated, spat out a lump of blood, and went back to the assault, grinning like a mad demon. His left arm was glowing with a purple, ominous light, while astral-like Mana was swirling around him.
If Callum had to describe a hero...it wouldn''t exactly be the Devil''s Hand. Yet...It was no hero who ended his sufferings, was it?
No, it was that seemingly crazy yet composed Devil''s Hand. Had he still a heart able to beat, Callum was almost certain he would have pledged his life for that man, for he was destined for greatness.
Sadly, his heart was probably gone, now, reduced to ashes now that his progenitor was dead. Whatever limbo he was in, there was a good chance it was one step away from true rest.
...So why was he still hearing these people yelling around him?
***
"Liam, Janicashit, what''s up with her?" Glenn shouted as he landed right next to the two who were watched over by a Cleaner squad. Liam was kneeling in front of Janica while making sure that a blood bag was properly administered to her. The girl was unconscious, her tint sickly pale and her lips blueish.
"Ah, Glenn," Liam acknowledged him before looking back at Janica, "She depleted her blood while fighting off the Baron''s thralls. Did you manage to get"
Glenn laid Callum beside Janica with urgency, "Yes, yes, I killed the fucker. Now, take that thing out and save Callum! His heart is being reduced to ashes from the Baron''s death!"
Liam jolted awake and jumped to his feet, "Y-yeah, sorry. Take his shirt off and steel yourself, it''s going to be a bloody mess!" He ran off to pick up the suitcase he had been keeping nearby since the start of the assault, opening it up to reveal an inert mechanical heart, different from Liam''s. It was a better prototype, adapted to hopefully suit the special constitution of a vampire. Liam had only been a thrall for a week or two when he escaped, while Callum had endured this fate for twenty years. Even though Giselle''s grandson hadn''t physically aged, his metabolism had necessarily changed to adapt to the special urges of a vampire.
Glenn gritted his teeth and ripped Callum''s shirt away, revealing the sickly pale chest beneath. Even though Callum was a Black Heir, his skin had certainly lightened from the lack of exposure to the sun compared to his grandmother''s. Liam drew a deep breath and stilled his hand, using a sharp scalpel to open up Callum''s chest. Glenn held his breath from the side, ready to use C.P.R. and Divine Blessing at any sign of things going wrong.
''I''m not sure using Divine Blessing on him is going to help,'' Diamanes remarked, ''Unless you want to finish him off, of course. I mean, you saw the effects on Howard, didn''t you?''
Glenn flinched. Yeah, using Divine Blessing was probably a terrible idea. Liam slowly worked his way through Callum''s skin, careful not to damage bones or muscles beneath. Glenn raised a tense eyebrow, a little taken aback.
"Surprisingly, you look like you know what you''re doing..." He muttered in awe. Liam almost scoffed but restrained himself, not daring to disrupt his concentration.
"Otherwise would be strange," Liam hissed, his forehead covered in sweat, "I''m opening myself up to do maintenance on my heart every other day after all."
Glenn nodded slowly. For some reason, he thought Janica would be the one cutting Liam open usually, but it looked like he was wrong. So much the better, in fact, if Liam was good enough for the operation since Janica was out of commission and Glenn certainly wasn''t interested nor particularly skilled in that field. He was certainly good at cutting people open, but closing their wounds was another matter. Even more considering he couldn''t just throw Mana at it and hope for the best.
"...I think trying to find a healer for your party might be a good idea, considering how many times you or the others end up wounded," Nelg suggested in a rather annoyed way.
Glenn moistened his lips tensely, ''Yeah, I should have probably looked into that idea before. Finding a healer, noted.''
Liam exhaled loudly before slowly cutting off the major blood vessels connected to the shriveled heart. It was flat, grey, and lifeless, completely dead. The engineer then carefully extracted the heart and threw it away, not hesitating another second to shover his mechanical replacement in the free spot. The mechanical machine automatically reached out to the severed blood vessels, reconnecting and repumping the blood within Callum''s body. The Shard within the contraption began to glow as well as the blood within Callum alimented it, and the gears started up.
"...Phew, doing this on someone else is taxing," Liam muttered, before startling awake, "Fuck, Glenn, you need to close him up!"
Glenn was only waiting for that. With Liam''s guidance, he closed the wound over the mechanical heart. The contraption dug out of the skin by itself in a rather sanguine way, before finally settling in. Callum''s face, which had been completely still and lifeless for a while now, began to recover some colors. Nonetheless, the Black Heir vampire was still not waking up.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
"Shit, what now?" Glenn asked anxiously. Liam fell back and lay down, exhausted, "Now...we rest. It''s up to him to choose survival. A Shard won''t activate without a will behind it, after all."
Glenn cast one last worried glance at Giselle''s grandson before shaking his head. What was done, was done. Like Liam said, it was up to Callum whether he wanted to live on.
''Well, that was very gore and fun, but what now?'' Diamanes asked curiously. Glenn sighed heavily and walked up to Sahro and Liara. The two Black Heirs were standing guard near Nohre and his colleague, with Liara anxiously adjusting the bandana on her forehead to make sure her Inheritance Sigil was hidden correctly. Sahro was watching over her with a frown but remained silent.
"Any injuries on your side?" Glenn asked as he glanced at Nohre and the other Black Heir. The first''s legs were seriously wounded, while the second remained unconscious. Priests of Onnea who came from who knows where were already working on healing them.
Sahro grunted, "Besides my pride, you mean? No, I''m fine." Liara nodded in agreement, similarly annoyed. She crossed her arms and bit on her nails, seemingly reminiscing about the battle that just took place.
Glenn raised an eyebrow, "What? What''s wrong?"
"What''s wrong?" Sahro repeated with a scoff, "Well, maybe the fact that we both were captured under that fucker''s illusion? Or that you practically took care of him by yourself while we were enjoying whatever dream Howard put us under?"
Glenn smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Everything ended well, didn''t it? Howard is dead, Stormblade is...gone somewhere, probably heavily wounded, and Callum..." He glanced back and grimaced, "...Is not in Howard''s claws anymore, which is already a lot. You know what to train against now at least."
Liara sighed dejectedly while Sahro scowled, his mechanical arm clicking with the sound of cogs, "I''ll have to ask Milena once she''s back. I''m sure it shouldn''t be a problem getting her to train her spells on my mind..." The Black Heir looked away, already planning his training. Liara rolled her eyes while Glenn chuckled. He closed his eyes and collapsed on top of a piece of rubble, his chest and shoulders light from a weight he had been bearing for a whole year.
He thought back to the three corpses hanging in the wind because of himno, because of that Baron bastard, and relaxed.
"Laurence, Carys, Winston...I''m sorry..." He muttered under his breath.
Finally, Baron Howard was dead. Glenn was having a hard time believing it was real. It was no exaggeration to say that everything he did during that one year was to pursue that one goal, to take revenge on Baron Howard and avenge the innocents slaughtered because of him. He had grown strong enough to fight back against unspeakable monstrosities, to punch above his rank, and to finally pay his old debt.
It felt good.
"If you seek revenge, dig two graves..." Glenn laughed derisively and shook his head. If it wasn''t for this revenge, a lot of things would have been different. Perhaps he wouldn''t have tried to become stronger, perhaps he would have cowered in a corner and simply waited to die instead of throwing himself at new adventures and enemies. If he could have done things differently from the start, he would have undoubtedly done so. A lot of lives could have been spared had he been more adequate and skilled.
"It''s no use crying over spilled milk. What''s done is done. We just need to keep going forward," Nelg declared from within Glenn''s mind. The latter''s lips curved upward slightly and he looked up at the horizon and the rising dawn.
He couldn''t agree more.
"...That''s quite the mess you provoked, Fixer Glenn," A familiar voice called out to him. Glenn glanced to the side, finding Veil to be walking up to him, his hands clasped behind his back. Liara had fallen asleep at some point, napping in a bunk bed that had been installed there. The Cleaners spared no effort to clear up the rubbles and pick up the numerous thrall corpses in the ruins of the Howard Manor.
"As intended, Veil. I think what we uncovered should be enough to justify our actions?" Glenn replied with a slightly mocking tone. Veil scoffed and looked back at the remains of the manor.
Indeed. But even if it hadn''t, you already had the support of our organization, as assured by the HCD, Mister Manalok Calopea Truant. My apologies if we interfered in the middle of your raid, but the thralls have made it a concern worthy of our intervention. Veil apologized falsely, smiling beneath his bandages.
Glenn shrugged and dusted himself off, "Whatever. Baron Howard is dead, I made sure of it. Were you aware his guard was a Thorn''s Church bastard?"
Veil paused and frowned, "Sorry, could you repeat that?"
Glenn grimaced, "No, you heard correctly. Stormblade, that knight. He was some sort of vine humanoid, quite weak despite being a Crusader, a rank-five Aura user. He had impressive regeneration capabilities, though."
The Cleaner executive rubbed his chin, pondering, "Here too...? That and the letter you gave us..." He shook his head and adjusted the bandages covering his hands, "We will keep you updated on any further developments. We know of your hatred for the Thorn''s Church, I''m sure you wouldn''t want to miss a chance to one-up them, am I wrong?"
Glenn laughed and looked away, "...Sure, just tell me if you want me to throw some spells at their churches, it''ll be my pleasure."
Veil glanced back at the mess and sighed, "I''ll have to take care of this, now. Good day, Fixer Glenn."
"Likewise, Veil." Glenn''s eyes followed the Cleaner''s back as he walked away to give orders to the Cleaners and Fixers who had come to assist on the site. He stood up and nudged Liara awake, who yawned loudly. Sahro ran up to him with a frown, "I looked just in case, but I didn''t find the rest of Nohre''s team. Do you think they''re still down there?"
Glenn smacked his lips, uncertain, "I can only hope. They weren''t there during the fight with the Baron, so"
The exclamation of a crowd nearby interrupted him. He and the Black Heirs turned to look at the disturbance, a huge pile of rubble that was moving by itself. The Cleaners nearby all stood on guard, their weapons and spells ready, only for Nohre''s teammates to come out, accompanied by an impressive number of pale, skinny people. They led the way out, revealing at least a couple hundred victims that had been imprisoned under Howard''s Manor to be used as food.
"Holy..." Sahro muttered in awe while Liara simply stared with wide eyes, her jaw slack.
Glenn chuckled in disbelief, noticing at least a dozen individuals taking notes and using similar items to the Recorders they were given for the INK-DEF mission buzzing around.
"This...This is going to change things quite a bit, won''t it?" He laughed widely as the two Black Heirs beside him couldn''t believe their eyes.
"Urgh..." An unfamiliar voice groaned, catching Glenn''s attention, "Am...Am I finally dead?"
Glenn crouched beside Callum, grinning with the same smile as Diamanes'', "I don''t know, you tell me."
Callum''s eyes widened, "Y...You!"
"Hey..." Glenn grabbed Callum''s shoulder warmly, "What do think about going back to your family?"
Tears gathered in the corner of Callum''s eyes, and he slowly nodded, sniffling. His chest, now powered by an artificial, mechanical heart rose in a trembling breath, free from the vampire Baron''s hold.
More than a year after Giselle first gave Glenn this mission, it was finally done.
Callum was alive and safe.
And he was finally going back to his grandmother.
238. New Hope
Sahro peeked inside the room curiously, before turning back to Glenn and grinning widely. The latter grinned back and allowed Callum and his grandmother their fateful meeting. It hadn''t been difficult getting out of King''s Rise and head to the Sewers. The whole group had been going, aside from Manalok Tuleam, Lina''s odd teacher. He wasn''t too interested in seeing what was lying outside King''s Rise walls.
"Maron didn''t exaggerate," Glenn remarked, "This place can hardly be called the Sewers anymore."
"For sure," Sahro concurred, his arms crossed. They were a little further from the walls, away from the slums. A small town with strong foundations had been built, with watchtowers standing in each corner. They were like dwarves compared to King''s Rise ramparts but still allowed to see all around the town. This was the Maron''s Company creation, under Glenn''s "request".
"It was more an order than a suggestion back then, though," Diamanes remarked mockingly. Glenn and Sahro both ignored the snarky entity, instead admiring the craftmanship that had been going into New Hope, the Black Heirs'' town. The latter were looking much more lively than when Glenn first met them in their makeshift camps in the shantytown. There were also strangers in New Hopenon-Black Heirs, and of all kinds. With a glance, Glenn could recognize merchant caravans seeking escort guards, but also traders selling weapons and supplies.
Some Black Heirs were learning crafts such as smithing, tailoring, or even leatherworking under the guidance of feeble-looking men and women. Despite this stark contrast between students and teachers, all seemed passionate about what they were doing.
The Black Heirs have certainly gone a long way.
"Wow, so they''re the Black Heirs..." Lina muttered from beside Glenn in awe, "...Why are they all handsome?" She paused and glanced at Sahro and Liara before leaning in her brother''s ear, "As a matter of fact, why is everyone you know so beautiful?"
Glenn blinked for a second, "...I think they''re all pretty ugly, though?"
Lina sighed and turned away, opting to explore New Hope by herself.
"Hey, Lina, wait for us!" Liam and Janica ran after her, the two similarly eager to explore this new city on the edge of the Sewers. New Hope was the antithesis of everything the Sewers symbolized. For Janica who always lived in the Bourgeoisie, and Liam who was born in the Sewers, New Hope was only too interesting for them to not be curious.
"Tsk, getting excited about nothing," Sahro rolled his eyes while Liara smiled watching them run off. The Black Heiress was wearing a cloak covering her features, and a bandana was similarly hiding the white mark on her forehead. Glenn still didn''t know why she refused to be recognized as a Black Heir by her fellow people, but he wasn''t going to force the issue. He couldn''t even get her to talk to him after all...
"...Wait, is that bitterness I''m hearing?" Nelg suddenly questioned in disbelief. Diamanes laughed mockingly, ''Of course it is! He and Liam are the only ones who can''t speak with Liara after all. And look, remember how he destroyed Baron Howard after the vampire tried biting the Heiress? Hehe, I''m sensing something''
"Both of you shut up," Glenn hissed aloud, ignoring his friends'' curious gazes, "You''re the damned reasons I can''t even imagine such relationships! You do realize you''re ruining my youth?"
Had Nelg been able to raise an eyebrow, he would have undoubtedly done so, "Youth? You''re what, twenty-two?"
Glenn frowned, "How is that not young?"
"Were you a normal human, from this world''s standard, that''d already be a third of your life," Diamanes remarked with a grave tone. Glenn opened his mouth but swallowed back his retort.
...Thank Onnea his life expectancy wasn''t a mundane human''s anymore.
"He...hasn''t changed whatsoever..." An emotional voice said behind them. Glenn and the others turned just in time to see Giselle coming out of her house, her eyes red and dry. The leader of the Black Heirs was still as flamboyant as Glenn remembered her, only she was wearing better quality clothes now that still seemed to struggle to hold her imposing bosom.
She walked up to Glenn silently and suddenly hugged him tightly, choking him, "...Thank ya, Glenn. I thank ya from the bottom of my heart, and not as the Black Heirs'' chief, but as a grandmother."
"Hmff!" Glenn pulled himself out and drew a short breath, before smiling at her, "Uh, yeah, my pleasure. Sahro and"
Giselle spun on her feet and inflicted the same fate on Sahro and Liara, taking both of them in her muscular arms. Glenn laughed and shook his head. Callum slowly walked out of Giselle''s house, squinting at the sun while holding his chest. His mechanical heart was clicking gently, the cogs fueled with the young Black Heir''s blood.
"...I still can''t believe I''m alive..." His eyes watered slightly, "...And free. This feels like a dream." Callum wiped the tears off and stretched his hand out to Glenn.
"Well, enjoy it, because it''s going to be tough waking up from that one," Glenn grinned as he shook Callum''s extended hand.
"Once again, thank you. I...I don''t know how I''ll pay back this debt," Callum smiled weakly. Glenn scoffed and pointed at Giselle who was still choking hugging Sahro and Liara.
"Don''t worry, saving you was part of a deal with your granny. I''ll be honest, it took a hell of a long time, but now that it''s done..." He smiled more gently, "...I''m glad we succeeded."
Callum chuckled, "So am I, haha. I''ll...I''ll try and see if anyone if I can find my old friends. Glenn..." Callum grabbed his shoulder emotionally, "...Thank you."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Glenn rolled his eyes and patted his back, "Yeah, yeah, you''re welcome. Now, will you keep thanking me for the rest of your life, or are you going to find those friends of yours?"
Callum laughed and turned away, "Until next time, Sir Glenn."
"Likewise, Callum," Glenn crossed his arms and watched the once-thrall walk away into New Hope streets. Sahro eventually managed to slip away from his chieftain''s arms and joined his friend, leaving Liara to be the only one to suffer from Giselle''s powerful embrace.
"Huff, huff, I think I escaped," Sahro muttered as he glanced back in fright.
Glenn moistened his lips, "I guess you''ll be leaving now."
Sahro paused and raised an eyebrow, "Huh? Why would I leave the team?"
We were supposed to work together to bring Callum back. Callum is safe now, so...? Glenn shrugged with a mocking smile. Sahro raised his eyes to the sky, not even bothering to listen to his friend''s nonsense.
"For that matter about your sister, I''ll ask Giselle once she has recovered from her emotions," The Black Heir declared as he did the maintenance of his mechanical arm, dripping oil in creaky parts and rubbing away the dirt with a rug. Glenn froze nervously, "Uhm, I mean, there''s no need to bother her with that, is there? Can''t we just tell Lina it''s not possible or something?"
Sahro snorted dismissively, "Why would we lie to her? It''s a good idea for her to try and become stronger, why would you want to stop that?"
Glenn shook his head, "No, I''m fine with teaching her about magic, or you teaching her Aura, but does she have to risk her life to wield both?"
The Black Heir went and patted Glenn''s back, "It is her choice, though, and she has my support. If she can receive our Inheritance, while also having the power of that..." He grimaced and spat the word with disgust, "...Tiamanes, she will become one of the strongest fighters in this world. Redan had been forced to stay at his level due to his circumstances, but what about her?"
"She will have the support of the mighty Black Heirs, the Maron Company, the Cleaner''s Workshop, and last but not least..." He grinned mockingly, "The Devil''s Hand!"
Glenn grunted, "Fuck off."
Sahro laughed dismissively, just in time for Giselle to come and walk up to them. Liara was heaving with difficulty nearby, finally free from the powerful woman''s embrace.
"So, boys, I hear'' somethin'' about the Inheritance and yar sister, Glenn?" She asked inquisitively. Glenn pressed his lips together, hesitating. Sahro, on the other hand, didn''t share his worries and didn''t hesitate to explain what they wanted to do with Lina. Giselle rubbed her chin in wonder before lighting up a thick cigar.
"Hmm...It might work, yeah, but we''d need an especially compatible Black Heir...And a willin'' one, too," She sighed and shook her head, "My blood would be too powerful for yar sister, and I don''t believe any of my people would want to participate in such an experiment. It''s...ol'' traditions, ya know?"
"Ah, that''s too bad, I guess we must forget about it" Glenn hurriedly apologized and tried to drag Sahro away, only for Liara to steel herself and reveal her forehead to Giselle. The latter froze in shock, her jaw hanging slack. Sahro cursed and hurriedly pulled all of them inside Giselle''s house away from prying regards.
"Glenn, the Silence Curse please," The Black Heir demanded. Glenn curiously complied, isolating the house to make sure no sound would come out. Giselle was frozen in a state of shock while Liara puffed her chest out, trying to assume a proud stance.
"Could you leave the room too? And make sure not to listen in, please. Liara and I will need to speak, and..." Sahro apologized while Glenn waved his hand dismissively.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I can''t hear Liara talking for some strange cultural reason. I''ll be staying in...wherever the kitchen is," He grumbled in displeasure as he turned away.
''Haha, look at him, he''s being shunned! Boo, get out of here Glenn, we don''t want you here!'' Diamanes mocked with a wide laugh. Nelg remained silent, wondering what the Black Heirs were going to talk about.
"The true identity of Liara might be more important than we initially thought. For Giselle to react this way at the sight of Liara''s Inheritance Sigil..."
A voice suddenly interrupted everyone''s thoughts, stopping Glenn dead in his tracks, "No, it''s fine."
Glenn felt his heart leap in his chest. This voice was one of those he was most curious about, a voice he could only hear laughing or sighing. A voice of crystal, pure and sweet, but also profound and majestic.
Liara''s voice.
Sahro paled as Giselle leaped to her feet, her previous shock wiped out by Liara''s action. Glenn turned back in her direction, blinking in awe and confusion.
"No, P" Sahro gritted his teeth and gestured at the door insistently, "Glenn, please!"
"Sahro, no," Liara refused gently. Giselle gasped and choked, her eyes wide open.
"Thisthis is against theCcough!" The Black Heirs'' chief coughed, shocked. Liara sighed and invited Glenn to sit in a nearby chair, which he gladly did.
"So I finally earned the right to hear your voice, Liara," Glenn jeered with a smile, curious about what this whole thing was about.
Sahro held his head with both hands and muttered, "It''s over...we''re done...fuck..."
Liara cleared her throat, "First..." She turned to Glenn and smiled widely, "Thank you for everything you did for my people, Glenn."
Glenn nodded with a grin, "You''re welcome. I''m receiving an awful lot of thanks today, strangely."
"I''ll present myself properly this time," Liara steeled herself and bowed her head slightly in a polite gesture, "I am"
Giselle suddenly stopped her, "No, please, if ya''re going to do this, allow me to do it properly," She pleaded, her usual charismatic stature nowhere to be seen. Liara sighed and nodded weakly. Giselle drew a short breath and turned to Glenn.
"I, Giselly Pyr of House Pyr, am deeply honored to present Glenn before Her Highness, the First Heiress and Princess of Thalorieth, Liara Lthalen."
Glenn blinked.
...What?
Liara...a princess?
What?
Weren''t the Black Heirs a nomadic people, without fixed roots nor any ruling system in place besides "tribes" chieftains, and the like?
"Pardon me?" He couldn''t help but apologize, confused.
Liara grimaced, "I...knew it would turn out this way. Foolish traditions..."
Sahro shot to his feet, "Princess! Traditions are the reason the Lthalen lineage still exists!"
Glenn gazed at Sahro curiously, his shock fading away, "Wow, I never took you for someone who would respect traditions that much, Sahro!"
The latter gritted his teeth and hissed, "You don''t understand!"
"You''re right, I don''t," Glenn nodded in agreement, interrupting him, "But I''d be real glad to have someone explain to me what the hell is going on."
Giselle collapsed back in her chair, groaning in exhaustion, her face pale and fingers trembling, "To believe the Lthalen''s blood is still alive..." She scoffed and leaned back in her seat, "How fitting for that to be revealed in the town of New Hope..."
Glenn ignored her and concentrated back on Liara, "So, Princess, can I ask for explanations now?"
Sahro cursed and hid his face in his hands, shaking his head dejectedly while Liara moistened her lips.
"I think it''d be fitting to first explain why I couldn''t speak to you," She slowly said while fiddling with her thumbs, "There is...an old, very old tradition which forbids the First Heiress, me, to, well..." She blushed and forced herself to speak, "...Speak to men of another nation until I''m married."
Glenn frowned, "Why? That sucks, be it in diplomatic matters or just personally."
Sahro sighed and took over, "...Because the only time it happened, said First Heiress married the non-Black Heir she spoke to."
Glenn stared at his friend like he was crazy, before inevitably slapping his forehead, "Ah, of course," He exclaimed with exaggerated realization, "How could I forget about racism?"
239. Thalorieth and the Lúthalens Lineage
Liara raised her hands placatingly and smiled helplessly, "Let''s all calm down, alright? I know it must appear strange to you, Glenn, but"
Glenn clicked his tongue, "What "but"? There''s nothing strange here! Even back in my whome, racism was a prevalent thing. Who am I to judge it if an entire population is ruled with such traditions?" He jeered. Sahro silently pushed Glenn back on his seat, calming him down. Glenn sighed and crossed his arms, waiting patiently.
"...Thank you, Sahro," Liara took a seat in front of Glenn, "Where should I begin...?"
She rubbed her forehead and glanced at Giselle, "If...everything was done accordingly, you should know Black Heirs as nomadic people who survive in the Ink Dunes, am I correct?"
Glenn groaned in confirmation, not bothering to formulate a comprehensible word. Liara nodded and resumed her explanations, "To a certain extent, that is the entire truth. For the most part, Black Heirs have been living scattered across the Ink Dunes, traveling from one oasis to another and rarely meeting each other."
Giselle nodded as she also listened to her princess. "Exactly. I never lied to ya, Glenn." She grimaced, "I only omitted some of the truth."
Liara cleared her throat, "The nomadic lifestyle...is quite recent, in reality. Once..." She looked in the distance in certain nostalgia, "Black Heirs lived in glorious cities comparable to King''s Rise itself, ruling over a bountiful land of lush harvests..." She laughed dejectedly and shook her head, "At least that''s how my parents sold it. I have only known the black sand for my entire life, never seeing one blade of that lush grass they told me of."
Glenn turned to Giselle, wondering if she was part of that old, seemingly mythical civilization, but she shook her head, "Sorry kiddo'', but the Scatterin'' happened before even my birth."
"In years..." Liara muttered, pondering, "...It should have been at least a millennium ago, I think."
Glenn couldn''t help but raise his eyebrows, "Wow. Indeed, that''s an old ass story."
Liara laughed and nodded, "Yes, even more considering our civilization was older than Munirp."
Glenn laughed before suddenly pausing, "...Wait, you''re telling me Black Heirs are more than three thousand years old?"
Giselle scoffed, "Older than that, boy! Why, we ain''t got any records no more, but our kin were ruling over the Promised Land long ''fore that so-called First King ever drew breath!"
"I see..." Glenn rubbed his temples, frowning, "...How did such a civilization go from dominating the Land Beyond the Wall to...this?" He asked confusedly.
Sahro and Giselle gazed at Liara, imploring her to stay silent with their eyes. She shut her eyes for an instant, before finally coming to a decision.
These are just... legends and words spoken by my parents, so take them with a grain of salt, Liara warned, twiddling her thumbs. The Scattering was caused by a great many problems, among which can be counted civil unrest, internal strife, betrayal, and more, but all these events stemmed from one and the same thing. She looked up at him and gritted her teeth, The arrival of the Dark Wall.
For the second time today, Glenn could only blink.
"The arrival?" Glenn repeated, struggling to believe what he was hearing. What did she mean, the arrival? Did the Dark Wall, a chain of mountains even more impressive than the Himalayas, just... pop there?
''Ridiculous, that''s a chain of mountains, not an itinerary circus!'' Diamanes mocked in disbelief. Nelg remained silent, entirely concentrated on the Princess'' words.
Liara nodded, "Once again, those are only legends, but yes, they spoke of an age where Munirp and Thaloriethwhat you call the Land Beyond the Wallweren''t separated by this chain of mountains."
Giselle let out a long sigh. Ah, stories are fine and all, but truth be tol'', ever since the Scatterin'', every noble family from Thalorieth scattered to the winds, each lookin'' after their own folk. My ancestors did just the same. She raised a hand, and a warm flame flickered to life at her fingertip, her eyes drifting into the glow. Back in those days, the Pyr family was one of the finest military families yad ever hear of, and as loyal to the Royal Heirs as the sun is to risin''.
Glenn took his face in his hands, piecing things together, "So, if I resume this correctly, the Black heirs were once part of a kingdom called Thalorieth, under the rule of the Lthalen. That kingdom was older than Munirp, and yet, it fell due to the...arrival of the Dark Wall, with every noble house scattering to the winds, hence the grand "Scattering" name for that event." He bit his lips and looked at Liara with a frown, "But then, what are you doing here? No offense, but you''re a princess without a kingdom. Shouldn''t you be...like, trying to fix your ancestors'' mess? Rebuilding Thalorieth or something?"
Liara looked at him silently for a moment, before chuckling, "And how am I supposed to do that?"
Glenn shrugged, "I don''t know, you tell me. Anyway, this still doesn''t explain why you guys traditionally refuse relationships with other races," He leaned forward with a curious smile, "That, I''m interested in."
The Princess looked at her hands before showing it to him, "Doesn''t that answer your question?"
Glenn looked at her tanned tone of skin, lighter than Sahro''s and much lighter than Giselle''s, "...Is the tone that important?"
Giselle opened her mouth but Liara didn''t let her speak, shaking her head, "Honestly, no, not really. But many Black Heirs are...very attached to the traditions. Mainly because it didn''t help when my ancestors married a human during the Scattering, worsening internal politics and relationships."
"Hmm..." Glenn rubbed his chin. Indeed, it started making more sense. If a marriage like this contributed to the literal fall of a civilization, it was only logical for said civilization to try and not repeat that same mistake.
''It''s still weird. At least, beautiful Liara doesn''t seem too concerned with these traditions, hehe. Maybe you do have your chance, Glenn!'' Diamanes laughed widely, followed by a short chuckle from Nelg. Glenn ignored the two entities that seemed hellbent on trying to find him a companion.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
He already had three voices in his head, counting his own. A lover to add to the pile was too damned much.
But it wasn''t like they cared about his opinion, anyway.
"Then..." Glenn looked at Liara, "Why the sudden choice of breaking traditions? You seemed to be respecting them pretty well before that. And why would you hide yourself from your people?"
Liara looked away in shame while chewing on her cheeks, "That''s...you and Sahro saved my life. And you did so much for my people. If I can''t break foolish traditions to thank you properly, that means there is a problem with me. As for why I''m hiding..." She trailed off and gulped.
Your Highness, if I may? Giselles voice broke in, soft but firm. Liara gave a tense nod.
I... well, I thought the Lthalen line was gone, Giselle murmured, a glimmer of hope sparking in her eyes. But here you are, thank the stars. That means theres still a chance to rebuild Thalorieth since every Black Heir is drawn to the First Heiror Heiress.
Her face grew somber as she crossed her arms. Trouble is, many of our folkmine includedblame Lthalen blood for what happened to Thalorieth. Im guessin youve kept yourself hidden in the desert, travelin with the most loyal you had left, till... well, till something went wrong, eh, Princess?
Liara sighed and nodded, "Yes. My...my guards died protecting me from a Munirp''s hunting party. I was brought back to King''s Rise, chained in Blumar and a cage, like an animal. I should have been sold to the highest bidder, until..." Her gaze softened and she glanced at Sahro, "My fellow Black Heir broke me out. Glenn then took me in, and you know the rest. Now, here we are, reminiscing of an extinct civilization," She laughed bitterly, "...How sad."
Glenn grimaced, unsure of what to say.
''What a way to ruin the mood...'' Diamanes muttered from within Glenn''s mind. The latter suddenly clapped his hands together, breaking the strange, nostalgic mood.
"That was very interesting," He declared, "...BUT! I have to redirect the subject to..." He gritted his teeth and forced himself to speak, "...The absolutely terrible idea of doing your Inheritance thing on my little sister. Can it...just not be done?"
Sahro and Liara sighed.
"You know what?" Sahro shot to his feet, "I''ll just go get her, and we will have the discussion with her, as the adult that she is!"
Glenn tensed up with each word, his whole being refusing to go along. Why couldn''t his sister just learn magic like he did? Why did she have to risk her life days after he finally rejoined with her?
"The nerve of that guy..." Nelg grumbled, "Did you already forget that you''ve gone and fought against a terrible vampire mere days after finding your sister? Why would you be able to risk your life for your goals and beliefs, and not her?"
Glenn looked at his weapon with awe, ''You too?!? Damn it, because I''m strong, and she''s not!''
Diamanes yawned, ''Then just let her get stronger. Learning Aura, Mana or even Divinity puts you at risk of Corruption, so it doesn''t change anything. Death is always looming for those with unnatural powers.''
Glenn blinked while Nelg snorted, "There, problem solved. Just let her be her own person."
The young man collapsed in his chair, drained. It was as if the whole world was against him.
"Hhello," Lina said shyly as she entered Giselle''s house. The granny stood up and walked up to her, each step inspiring fear and respect.
"Hmm..." Giselle rubbed her chin before glancing back at Glenn, "Ya do somewhat look like him, but the eyes and hair don''t match..."
Glenn waved his hand dismissively, "Don''t worry, just the side-effect of a lot of mystical bullshit, but I originally had brown eyes and hair."
Lina nodded, before doing a double-take, "Wait, your black hair and purple eyes aren''t artificial? Like special lenses and dyes?"
"Uhh, no?" Glenn winced at the shock on his sister''s face.
Giselle smacked her lips, capturing back Lina''s focus, "Are you sure ya wanna do this, kid? Ya might die, or worse..." She flared up her Mana and pressured over the girl, pushing her to her knees, "...Transform into a monster. If that happens, ya do realize your brother will have to put ya down?"
Glenn jumped to his feet with an angry expression, his Mana exploding in a warning to Giselle. Liara and Sahro gently pushed him back, looking at him as if to say "Trust her, trust the process".
"Hmf!" Glenn tensely sat back, his fists clenched. Who the hell was Giselle to believe she could try and scare his sister?
"Are you so blind you can''t see she''s doing it for Lina''s sake?" Nelg asked with slight disbelief.
Diamanes snorted, ''He knows perfectly well, he just doesn''t give a shit. Overprotective bastard.''
Glenn grunted, ''Fuck both of you.''
He worriedly watched as Lina fought back against Giselle''s pressure, struggling to stand back up on her trembling legs. She clenched her jaws tightly, her eyes steeled with resolve.
"I...refuse...to be so helpless again!" She hissed through her teeth, her knuckles whitening from how tight she was clenching her fists, "I don''t want to end up imprisoned in darkness ever again!"
''Hah, that reminds me of someone,'' Diamanes snorted. Glenn ignored him and concentrated on his sister. A small part of him wanted her to give up, to leave it to him, but a larger part knew that she was making the right choice. Without the power to have agency in this world, you can only be a pawn to the higher forces, moving without knowing who the player is. Only with the power to fight back can you live freely.
Even if earning that power means risking said life.
It was better to die as a free man than live as a slave to fate.
Lina stared back into Giselle''s eyes defiantly, a hint of purple appearing in her pupils, "So yes, I''m sure I want to do this, you old coot!"
Liara choked while Sahro laughed. He leaned in Glenn''s ear and whispered, "She''s definitely your sister, haha!"
Giselle crossed her arms and stared down silently at Lina, the flames in her eyes gleaming with an unknown strength. A blue flame suddenly appeared in her hand, burning with enough heat to consume even steel. She reached for Lina''s head slowly, the fire burning the end of the girl''s hair.
"Are ya sure of your choice?" Giselle asked threateningly one last time. Lina suddenly grinned, a grin that Glenn knew all too well for it was one he often sported, and slammed her right hand against Giselle''s fire.
"How is that for an answer?" She hissed through her gritted teeth as Giselle''s blue flames suddenly reflected against herself. Lina fell back, unconscious. Glenn jumped to his feet and dashed past Sahro and Liara, unconcerned with Giselle''s fate. He crouched next to Lina, sighing in relief as he found her well and unharmed, not even slightly burned by Giselle''s blue flames. She was just drained from using Tiamanes reflection''s power against the Black Heirs'' chief.
"Yeah, no doubt, she''s your sister," Nelg confirmed in a very serious tone.
"Haha, I like her!" Giselle''s laugh suddenly came from beyond the smoke as she slapped away the blue flames, similarly unharmed. Glenn gritted his teeth and stood up to her, "Was that truly necessary?"
Giselle looked down at him, "What do ya think, boy? Are ya questioning my ways?"
Glenn spat to the side as two Blackholes appeared in his hand, his Mana flaring up with the might of a Fourth Circle Magi, "And what if I am?"
"Hsnan, hsnan, hsnan..." An unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke from beside them. Glenn turned his head to find a strange individual draped in crimson fabric kneeling next to his sister. Where the hell did they come from?
"Is that the child who wants to receive the Inheritance?" The individual asked, their voice masked by the copious fabric hiding their faces. Glenn couldn''t make out whether they were male, female, old, or young. Giselle bowed slightly, "Yes, Alsaahir. Did you...?"
"Yes, yes, I did hear everything, despite that puny Silence Curse." The Alsaahir sighed. Glenn took a step back, frowning. He activated his Mana Sight to try and gauge that person''s strength, but he couldn''t find anything abnormal. Hell, they didn''t even have a shred of Aura or Mana in their body! Just a totally mundane person.
"I shall prepare the ritual. Whose blood shall I use?" They asked Giselle. The latter turned to Liara, who bowed her head with similar respect. The Alsaahir remained silent for an instant, before chuckling.
"The Lthalen''s blood, then...How auspicious..." They shook their head before leaving the house. Glenn stared at the door with a puzzled look.
"The...The Alsaahir, then. Okay, was I the only one who found that to be a little weird?" Glenn asked, only for everyone to ignore him.
Giselle turned to Glenn and smiled, "If the Alsaahir accepted, that means it''s possible. Yar sister will definitely live, and become a strong warrior."
Glenn glanced at Lina and sighed, "I sure hope so. That''s much better than dying, for sure."
240. Child of the Stars
''...Is it just me or is that ritual that sketchy?'' Diamanes questioned curiously. Glenn gulped with difficulty as he chewed on his fingernails. After their discussion, Giselle led them to the Alsaahir''s large tent. The latter refused to live in a house of brick and stones, and much preferred the "comfort" of a tent.
Sahro was standing guard outside as the Alsaahir drew some blood from Liara under Giselle''s careful watch. Lina had woken up a few minutes ago and was looking at the process with wide-opened eyes.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Glenn asked his little sister for the thirteenth time. She didn''t even bother replying or looking at him, tired of his antics.
''Don''t worry too much, in the worst-case scenario she just transforms into a horrible monster that you''ll have to terminate yourself. What is one dead sister in a lifetime?'' Diamanes jeered, enjoying the sight of his host paling with each passing second.
Nelg sighed, "Don''t listen to that idiot, Glenn. Everything is going to be fine. Giselle said you could trust the Alsaahir, didn''t she?"
''That''s the issue,'' Glenn winced worriedly, ''I trust Giselle, but not to the point of putting my sister''s life in her hands. Nor in anyone else''s anyway.''
To that, Nelg couldn''t say anything.
"Sit here, child. I''ll be starting in a second, I simply must ask something of your blood before," The Alsaahir patted Lina''s shoulder reassuringly before dragging Glenn away from prying ears. The Alsaahir looked at Glenn and his left arm, before glancing at Lina''s similarly purple hand.
"You and that child..." The Alsaahir clicked their tongue, "You are both housing something not from this world, am I right?"
Glenn creased his eyebrows as his fingers tensed up, "...How can you tell?"
The Alsaahir chuckled and shook her head, "I can''t. But our ancestors can, and they are very worried. I knew you would come, Child of the Stars. I hope you won''t stray from your path."
The mysterious Black Heir turned away, leaving Glenn confused and even more lost than before. Diamanes smacked his lips, ''Okay, I guess she knows I and Tiamanes exist. So what?''
"I don''t know, Diamanes. I honestly don''t know..." Glenn muttered as he rubbed his forehead. Child of the Stars? What was that even about? His usage of magic, or his specialty, Astral Sorcery maybe? Why was it that the more he learned about this world, the more confused he was? Would he even see the completed puzzle one day?
"I will start the ritual," The Alsaahir warned as she stood above Lina, who was sitting on the floor patiently. Liara respectfully stepped out of the tent, not without whispering a "Good luck" in Glenn''s ear. Why would he need "good luck"? Why was every sign pointing at this being a terrible idea?
''I should stop it...'' Glenn struggled as he fought against himself. No, the others were right, this was his sister''s choice, and he didn''t have a word in the matter.
...But still
''Please stop thinking and let us watch the show,'' Diamanes interrupted Glenn''s thoughts, annoyed. Nelg grumbled in agreement. Glenn sighed and stepped back, his arms crossed.
"No matter what, hold on and push through," The Alsaahir warned before using Liara''s blood to draw something on Lina''s forehead. Lina gulped tensely as the Alsaahir then drew runes all around her while muttering inaudibly. She ran out of blood the exact moment she finished painting the runes.
A moment later, the runes began glowing with a red glow. The Alsaahir started speaking at an increased speed while dancing in a slow, broken rhythm around Lina. Glenn''s Mana Sight suddenly activated without him willing for it, letting him see something appear in the Alsaahir''s chest, a...seed. The glowing runes began to float in the air, spinning around like hundreds of fairies.
Lina''s head suddenly loosened and she collapsed on the floor with spasms, foaming at the mouth. Her eyes were still wide open, bloodshot, and the rune drawn in blood on her forehead was glowing with an increasingly intensifying strength. Glenn almost darted forward, but Giselle suddenly grabbed his shoulder and effortlessly pulled him back. He was about to shout at her to let him go, but she slammed her hand against his mouth and pointed the other at the ritual.
The Alsaahir was contorting in all sorts of creative and scary manners, the runes following their movements. Lina rose from the floor, floating above it as the blood runes began entering her body one after the other. The seed the Alsaahir was keeping in their chest also floated out, waiting for its turn. Glenn watched in awe as all of the runes dove into his sister''s chest, with the seed eventually following suit. A white mark appeared on Lina''s forehead, gleaming with untapped power.
"Child of the Stars..." The Alsaahir suddenly spoke in an otherworldly voice. Glenn turned his head, thinking they were talking about him, but no, they were looking at Lina.
"May you bath in Aura, and breath in the Mana, for your path is that of freedom and infinity...On my authority, may the Ancestors be witnesses of this child''s Inheritance, for she will bring great honor to the Black Heirs." The Alsaahir blew air on her face before falling on her back, heaving with difficulty. Lian suddenly stopped floating and collapsed on the floor, the white mark on her forehead glowing gently.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Glenn hurriedly dashed to her side and pressed his hand against her neck, sighing as found a pulse. It didn''t seem like she was transforming into a monster either, so...
"It seems like everythin'' went as planned. Thank the Ancestors..." Giselle exhaled in relief, startling Glenn.
"Wait, I thought you were considering this whole mess safe?" He exclaimed in disbelief. She grimaced and shrugged helplessly, "Knowin'' and seein'' are two different things, young man."
The Alsaahir forced themselves up on trembling legs, "She will need rest. She was a surprisingly good match for the Ltharen''s blood. She may have Inherited powers hardly matched by current Black Heirs..." The Alsaahir walked out while holding their back, grumbling. Giselle hurriedly ran after them to make sure they were okay, leaving Glenn to his sister.
The latter pushed the sweat-drenched lock of hair on her forehead, gazing at the white mark on her forehead, the Inheritance Sigil.
It looked like an eight-branch star.
"Children of the star...At least we''re matching..." Glenn sighed and lifted his sister. Sahro and Liara peeked in curiously.
"Is it over?" Sahro asked, "Did your sister survive or...?"
Liara smacked the back of Sahro''s head and walked up to Glenn, "Everything went well, it seems," She concluded when she saw Lina peacefully resting in Glenn''s arms. The latter nodded with a wide relieved smile.
"So it seems. I think I would have killed the Alsaahir and Giselle if something went wrong..."
Sahro clicked his tongue, "Don''t say that, we know you''re not joking."
Glenn chuckled and brought back Lina to the guest house the Maron Company had built for them specifically would they need to visit New Hope. After tucking Lina in, Glenn, Liara, and Sahro rejoined in the dining room, sitting around a table.
"Alright, that''s one thing done," Glenn sighed in satisfaction. He looked at his friends and crossed his arms, "What do you guys intend to do now?" He frowned and added, "No, more specifically, what are your goals? Sahro, no matter what you say, you were initially forced into my party to help me rescue Callum. That''s done." He turned to Liara and continued, "And you, Liara..." he raised an eyebrow and made a mocking smile, "Or should I call you Princess?"
Liara rolled her eyes, "Liara works just fine. Don''t..." She pressed her lips together, "Don''t treat me any differently, please."
Glenn chuckled, "Noted. Anyway, you''ve always just been hanging around. But you too, what do you want now? I need to know to try and plan things out, you know?"
Sahro grunted and leaned back in his seat, "Now that we''re done with the other bastard, I want to go back to the Ink Dunes. Remember that old temple I told you about, with the truth about whose Heirs we are? I want to find it."
Glenn nodded, "A respectable goal."
Liara sighed, "And I...I think I want to help the Black Heirs regain their lost prestige. But I''m not strong enough for that. I''m just a True Initiate and a Knight, I don''t nearly have the strength to rule over my people. If I even have the right to consider them as such..."
Sahro scoffed, "Nonsense. You''re more than fit for the role, and you''re just a little weaker than me. That''s plenty strong enough."
Glenn watched with a silent smile. Liara moistened her lips and shook her head, "I appreciate the support, Sahro, but no, it''s not enough. New Hope doesn''t need me, they have Giselle, who is at one stage above us. No, I want to become much stronger, at least a Saint or an Archmagi..." Her eyes were filled with resolve as she looked up, "...And I want to find all our people scattered in the world. And maybe I can bring them back to New Hope, and start rebuilding with the town as an outpost? I''m not sure how the future will go, but I know that I must step up, and for that, I need the power to do so."
Glenn whistled, impressed, "How inspiring!" He paused and laughed in awe, "Hey, now that I think about it, that makes two highborns in our party, counting Milena!"
Sahro snorted, "And what a party. The First Heiress, a Munirp''s Noble, an Otherworlder, and a bastard Black Heir. Too bad the other silent creep left us, or it would have truly been the perfect team."
Liara smiled with slight dejection while Glenn looked away, his grin fading away. Javier was probably dead anyway, a victim of Exan''s onslaught. There were good chances for his body to have been reduced to a pile of ash mixing with the black sand of the desert, lost forever.
"What a way to ruin the mood!" Diamanes suddenly exclaimed aloud, surprising everyone around the table. Glenn grimaced and almost slapped his hand on the table but the entity stopped him.
"What''s your next goal then, Glenn? Toppling a God, killing a noble, what''s next?" Diamanes grinned wickedly in expectation. Glenn rubbed his chin and glanced back at Lina''s room.
"First...I think it won''t be bad to rest for a little while. We have to wait for Milena''s return, might as well use the opportunity to take a break," He said with a soft voice.
Diamanes yawned loudly, "Boooring~! Well, let''s admit you take your rest, what''s the next big thing? Come on, we need to know what we''re working toward!" The entity exclaimed excitedly.
Glenn looked at his left, purple palm and grinned wickedly, "There is one noble I''d like to investigate, a certain Count Mortelli responsible for Redan''s demise. The Occult Wanderers are also a thing I''d like to look into." He paused and his grin suddenly grew predatorily, "Oh, and how could we forget about the Thorn''s Cult? I do have a feud with the entire religion, after all."
Diamanes laughed, "Haha, those are goals I can get behind! Fighting nobility, secret societies, and cults! That''s fun! That''s what living is!"
Liara shook her head, the corner of her lips curved upward, "I wonder if we''re not becoming too much like heroes of stories... Fighting evil is a thing we do quite often, after all."
Sahro smirked, "If being a hero means I can find the truth and become the strongest, then I''m more than fine being one."
"Heroes...I''m not sure I can accept the ethical implications of that," Glenn snorted, "I have a little too much blood on my hands for that. And I might have become a little psychopathic too, considering how easy killing has become for me."
Liara and Sahro looked at him strangely. Glenn looked back at them and raised his hands helplessly, "What?! Sorry, but it''s still daunting to think about! I''m already a war hero after all, I might as well have become the main villain in Orcs'' books!"
He laughed it off and glanced at his sister''s room one last time.
''In the end, it doesn''t matter. Returning to Earth...is not even something I want to do. The only important thing to me is to make sure that everyone I care for is safe. The rest is simply...'' His lips curved upward in Diamanes'' wicked manner.
''...Entertainment.''
241. Teacher Glenn
"Alright, just...don''t tense up and trust me," Glenn tried to reassure his sister, who was sitting cross-legged in front of him. Sahro and Liara were watching from the side, their arms crossed and their eyes filled with curiosity. Both of them knew how special Glenn''s Mana Heart was, so they couldn''t wait to see what kind of insanity his sister was going to be. The group was back in the Bourgeoisie, in their mansion on Silverhomes.
Glenn closed his eyes and gently channeled his Mana in his sister''s body, guiding it through the natural pathways to the Heart. Lina winced, her eyes similarly shut.
"I...I can feel something!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Concentrate. The faster you get a hold over it, the easier it''ll be," Glenn scolded her, digging through the Mana to find her Mana Heart. Her perception of herself was very similar to his, in a very digitalized way. He snorted and grabbed her ethereal hand. She flinched, finding the sensation unexpected.
"I...I can hear you in my head," She frowned. "Like with Tiamanes. It''s...not great."
Glenn snorted, "Bear with it. We''re going to find your Mana Heart. Keep your focus." On these wise words, Glenn dove deeper into the Mana, bringing his sister with him. It didn''t take long for them to find Lina''s Mana Heart.
If it could even be called this way. It was a black hole.
But it looked strange, somehow. It felt...disjointed. The more he looked at it, the more he felt like there were two black holes, linked in some inexplicable manner.
"Wow..." Lina''s ethereal voice echoed beside him. Glenn snapped his fingers and drew her focus back to him, "That''s the most important part. I used a machine for my Conjuration, but you won''t, since I''m here. That''ll be better for you."
''Probably,'' He thought, not daring to say that out loud. He didn''t need his sister to worry for nothing. He was almost certain that he knew how a Conjuration happened, and an artificial one using a soulless machine was certainly not the best way to go about it. It was one way, though.
"Ready when you are," Lina said, her fists clenched in determination. Glenn grinned before concentrating. He redirected the natural flow of Mana around his sister and guided it inside her body, connecting it with her innate source of power, the Mana Heart. It took a little longer than he thought because he needed to avoid some weird pink-colored obstacles on the way. Seeing how his sister wasn''t suffering from terrible pain like he did during his Conjuration, it looked like his experiment was working as intended.
He sent the Mana around Lina''s twin black holes. A bead of sweat pearled down his forehead as he manipulated the Mana as carefully as he could, forcing it to make a circle around the blackholes instead of just shooting somewhere else. The ethereal Mana began connecting with her Mana Heart and started changing form. Lina suddenly yelped and hid her eyes from the sight.
"I...I can''t see anything! It''s blinding!" She screamed in warning. Glenn didn''t let that disrupt his concentration. The blackholes twisted against his will, but they were nothing in comparison to his Milky Way. The Circle he created briefly flashed as a bright strike of light before sealing under indecipherable runes. Glenn held onto the Mana for a few more seconds, making sure everything went as planned, before letting go and getting out of his sister''s Mana Heart.
"Phew, that was intense," Glenn sighed in relief as he wiped the sweat off his eyebrows. His back was similarly drenched, and he felt utterly exhausted.
Lina looked at her hands in a puzzled manner, "Is it normal that I can''t feel anything different?" She asked with a tinge of worry. Liara chuckled while Sahro snorted.
The Princess walked up to his sister and patted her shoulder, "Don''t worry, you''ll have a hard time at the beginning, and it''ll start coming together eventually."
"Glenn was shit at the start too," Sahro added, before swiftly dodging a flying Pebble, "What was the name of that spell already? The "Bullet of Death"?"
Lina chuckled as Glenn''s cheeks reddened. The latter smacked his lips and pointed at Sahro, "At least, I''m not like this idiot who''s just conjuring a lot of thunder without any sort of control."
Sahro raised an eyebrow, "And who told you that?"
Glenn looked at the Black Heir, only to hurriedly put up his Saturn Rings, barely deflecting away a lightning strike that fell out of nowhere. Sahro pinched his fingers together with a mocking smile, "I can use spells too, I just don''t find it honorable in combat. Using Mana to power up my Aura attacks simply work better."
"If you say so. In the meanwhile, I''m still stronger than you," Glenn remarked as he dusted his hands off. A vein appeared on Sahro''s forehead as lightning crackled around his left, mechanical arm, "...What did you say?"
Liara ignored the two idiots and looked at Lina, "First, get a hang of how to use Mana. Then, Sahro and I will teach you Aura, alright?"
Lina nodded with a blush, unable to look the Princess straight in the eyes. Glenn noticed from the corner of his eyes and his lips curved upward slightly. It seemed like Liara''s charm was working wonders on his little sister.
''Are you seriously shipping the hot princess with your sister? Loser, you should take her for yourself!'' Diamanes exclaimed in indignation.
Nelg grunted, "Sorry Glenn, but he''s right. You might lose your chance at this rate."
Glenn dismissed both voices with a dismissive hand wave and concentrated back on his sister He pulled Pebble out of his breast pocket and made it float above his palm. It had barely taken half a second for the stone to return to his cozy spot, despite having been previously thrown at a dumb Black Heir.
"Alright, he''s your new goal. For now, close your eyes and start feeling the Mana. Then, shape into a projectile that you want to shoot at our dear Pebble here." He said as he walked away, leaving Pebble in place.
"AlCAlright..." Lina clenched her teeth and eyes shut, concentrating. Liara and Sahro stepped back, giving her the space she needed. Sahro still shot a threatening stare at Glenn, who simply returned his raised middle finger in response. He then activated his Mana Sight, watching Lina as she struggled to grapple with the Mana.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
''Must be bringing back memories,'' Diamanes remarked. Glenn smiled sadly, ''That it does...I hope I''m not as horrible of a teacher as Redan was.''
"His teachings did work," Nelg said, "Look at how strong you are now. And it only took one year."
Glenn shook his head slowly, ''It took much more than just time, Nelg.''
The weapon couldn''t retort anything to that.
Eventually, Lina managed to conjure her Mana in a spherical shape. She reopened her eyes, carefully manipulating the unstable spell. Beads of sweat began forming on her face until she eventually attacked Pebble. The orb didn''t look too unordinary to Glenn''s eyes, that is until it simply blinked out of existence. At the same moment, an explosion engulfed Pebble and disrupted the Gravity Manipulation Glenn was using to make it float. It wasn''t strong enough to break the spell, but still sufficient for Glenn to notice.
"Ah, crap!" Lina exclaimed, "Sorry, I thought it would be better, but..." She looked at the unharmed pebble floating in disappointment, "Seems like I over-estimated myself."
Sahro shook his head and snorted, "Don''t worry. The day you manage to break that shitty piece of stone, please call me so that I can marry you and learn your secrets."
Lina coughed in embarrassment while Glenn glared at Sahro. The latter rolled his eyes and mouthed that it was just a "joke".
''It better be, or I''ll rip him open...'' Glenn thought somberly until Lina''s deep sigh interrupted him and reminded him that he needed to understand what had just happened.
"What did you try to do with that spell? It disappeared at some point before reappearing on Pebble. How did you do that?" He questioned curiously.
Lina scratched the back of her head and moistened her lips, "Well, I, uh, I kind of got inspired by my Mana Heart and tried to..." She searched for her words, "Shift it to the target, I suppose?"
"Shift it?" Glenn repeated with creased eyebrows, "Wait, did you just teleport your spell on Pebble?"
His sister shrugged, uncertain, "Maybe? I think? I''m not sure, it just kind of worked."
Liara laughed in awe and clapped her hands, "Wow, that''s impressive. If you can improve this further, that means you''ll be able to deliver explosions anywhere! Imagine attacking an enemy camp, or a monsters'' nest. One spell cast at safe distance, and they can''t do anything about it!"
Glenn clicked his tongue and calmed down the Princess'' expectations, "Actually, they could. Lina, try again?"
The girl obliged excitedly, closing her eyes once more to concentrate on her spell, only for Glenn to flick her forehead.
"Whatwhy?" She complained as she held her forehead. Glenn repeated the words that were once said to him.
"Do you think the enemy will just be standing there, waiting for you to concentrate? Always keep your eyes open in a fight and stay aware of your surroundings," He warned.
She grumbled and went through the casting process once more, her eyes now wide-opened. Her Mana "grenade" appeared once more, before phasing out of existenceOr at least tried to. It reappeared a good distance away from the Pebble and missed its target completely.
"Waitsomething stopped me!" Lina exclaimed in disbelief. Glenn nodded slowly, "As expected. I flooded the space around Pebble with Mana, and it seems like it disrupted your spell. But it works perfectly as a surprised attack to...let''s say, burn documents, I suppose?"
Lina sighed, "It sucks, doesn''t it?"
Glenn shook his hands hurriedly, "No, no, I never said that. It''s just limited in its usage, just like how my first spell was. I just made a Magic Bullet as a first spell, trust me it was ridiculously useless compared to your spell."
Liara nodded, "Yeah, you''re pretty good. In all honesty, I think you''ll be able to reach the Second Circle in maybe a few days?"
Sahro rubbed his chin, "Your brother''s time was three or four days if I remember correctly. Good luck beating that."
Far from being discouraged, Lina''s eyes steeled up with resolve and she clenched her fist, "Again then!I need to show who''s the real boss in this family!"
Glenn laughed, "That''s the spirit! Let''s increase the difficulty slightly, then!"
Pebble went through all sort of troubles, flung around like a terrible target, mixed with common stones and enduring a few dozen "Mana Grenades" as Lina liked to call her first spell. Glenn couldn''t help but notice the similarity between his first and Lina''s. Both went for something similar to the concepts of modern weapons on Earth. Maybe he should be thankful she didn''t try to conjure an atomic bomb on her first try.
The day went by without any incidents. Janica and Liam joined in on the training a bit later to test out the weapons they had made, using Liara and Sahro as their targets. Both were more than happy to oblige, using the opportunity to train their dodging and parrying skills. It was safe to say that the two Black Heirs were never in danger from the engineers'' weapons. A sniper was the scariest when no one knew it was here. Liam wouldn''t have been able to put a bullet through a vampire''s head previously if the latter had been aware of his presence.
Once Lina was too exhausted to continue, Glenn taught her how to Meditate and enter the sanctity of her Mana Heart by herself, as well as Projection. It seemed like she was gifted with a Mana pool similar to his own when he was at the same level, which was good. That meant she would struggle on the first three Circles and then get an incredible boost in quantity after breaking through the Fourth Circle. Too much Mana at the start could be detrimental, since she could take bad habits of spending too much Mana by spell and not care at all about the efficiency. Fine-tuning each spell was a skill almost as important as the creation of said magic.
The two following days were the same, peaceful for Sahro and his team while very tiring for Lina.
''I have to admit, Redan''s methods of torturing his students are quite fun as a teacher. And they even seem to work wonders,'' Glenn thought as he watched Lina Meditate instead of sleeping, her face decorated with a fearful expression. The previous night, he had surprised her passed out in her bed, not obeying his instructions.
...Let''s just say she wouldn''t repeat that experience again unless she wanted to give the moons a closer look. Waking up in the middle of the sky was quite the terrifying experience, apparently.
Finally, at the end of the third day, Lina conjured a new spell. Pebble was flying in the sky freely, controlled by Glenn''s Gravity Manipulation, sometimes disappearing out of sight. Lina waited patiently until she suddenly pushed her hand forward in a flash of black Mana. The distance between her hand and the Pebble seemed to be compressed, somehow, and she grabbed the stone, even though she was quite the distance away from it.
Glenn was so surprised he let go of his control of the stone, letting it be ripped away by the girl. The space returned to normal and Lina roared in happiness.
"Haha, I finally got you, you damned pebble!" She laughed hysterically before throwing the stone as far as she could. She then looked at Glenn, the colors draining from her face.
"I think I might have overdone myself..." Lina passed out face first, her fall stopped by Glenn''s Gravity Manipulation. He walked up to her and at Pebble lying further away in the training room, shocked.
"Did she bend space itself? Is that actual space magic?" He uttered in awe.
"It does look like that," Diamanes commented with a satisfied tone, "Excellent. We can''t have your sister be a boring water mage or whatever. Space is cool, and space is strong. Give her a bit of time and some tribulations, and she might reach your level."
It was Glenn''s turn to laugh mockingly, "I severely doubt that. But yeah, that''s good news." His gaze softened as he checked his sister''s Mana Heart with his Mana Sight.
As expected, she had reached the Second Circle. She already was an Advanced Initiate.
"More talented than me, that''s for sure..." Glenn said with a smile. Lina groaned and forced herself up, recovering from the Mana expenditure.
"Glenn..." She muttered, "I think I found a name for my Mana Heart..."
Glenn raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? What is it?"
Lina''s lips curved upwardly in a familiar, wicked manner.
"Wormhole. It''s a Wormhole."
242. Pink Sa- Aura Lady
''The Young Master is more skillful than he looks,'' Tiamanes remarked. Lina glared at her right hand and shook her head. Her brother verified the contents of his dimensional pouch one last time before patting her on the back.
"Try not to surpass me too quickly," Glenn joked, "I told Sahro and Liara to take it easy on you, but..." He winced, "They''re not the kind to do that, so..." He shot her a thumbs-up, "Good luck!"
Lina smiled dejectedly, "Thanks. See you in a few."
Glenn grinned and left the mansion without turning back. Lina looked at his dependable back and sighed. Wherever her brother was going wasn''t her business, yet she was a little annoyed that he wouldn''t tell her. Not even his two Black Heirs friends knew where he was going. All he said was that he would come back even stronger.
Why would he even need to become stronger anyway? Lina thought begrudgingly as she headed to the training room.
''Strength is the bare requisite for survival, Milady,'' Tiamanes said, ''...But you already know that. That''s why you''re working so hard to catch up to your brother, right?''
Lina pressed her lips together. I don''t want to be a burden he needs to protect. I...I''ve already been that for too long.
She looked forward with resolve, her fists tightly clenched. Now that I have the opportunity to forge my own path forward, I have the obligation to do so.
''Wise words, Milady,'' Tiamanes complimented her, before adding with a slightly mocking tone, ''Now remains to be seen whether you will survive Sahro and Liara''s training without succumbing to their charms.''
Lina blushed and slapped her right hand in a rather silly motion. Stop bringing that up! It''s not my fault if they''re all so charismatic, okay? And it''s of no help that they''re the literal incarnations of beauty and perfection!
Tiamanes laughed, ''Who knows, maybe you will have some luck with the majestic white-haired beauty, or the rough warrior with green eyes and a cool prosthetic?''
Argh shut up! Lina was helpless in front of the entity''s innocent teasing and arrived in the training room ashamed and her cheeks flushed red. Liara and Sahro were already sparing relentlessly, using every moment they had to grow their strength. If Lina understood correctly, it wasn''t often that Glenn''s group had the opportunity to sit in one place and work on their skills. They were too busy running around ruining cultists'' rituals and advents of evil gods.
She was almost certain Glenn and Sahro were exaggerating that last story to show off, but something told her that they might not be lying about it. There was a hint of...hatred in their eyes that couldn''t lie.
"Lina!" Liara stopped the spar, sweating profusely. Lina used all of her willpower to stop herself from ogling at her tantalizing body. Sahro wiped his forehead and snorted, "Hah, you''re just using her as an excuse to take a break, aren''t you?" He paused and paled, "...Sorry Princess, I let myself get carried away."
Lina gulped at Sahro''s muscular body and looked away while Liara sighed, "Sahro, can''t you just treat me normally? As Glenn said, I''m not the Princess of much right now anyway."
Sahro tried to plead, "But!"
"No buts!" Liara ordered, her lips curved upward, "As the First Heiress, I command you to treat me like a friend instead of a ruler."
Sahro froze and clenched his teeth, "...As you wish, PrinLiara," He hurriedly corrected himself after noticing her glare. Liara''s anger faded as quickly as it appeared and she turned back to Lina with a gentle smile.
"Are you ready to awaken Aura, Lina?" She asked. Sahro walked away to grab a bottle of water, watching in silence. Lina dismissed all her unnecessary thoughts, or at least tried to, and nodded.
"Good," Liara invited her to sit in the center of the room, "There are multiple ways to awaken Aura, the first being endless training and the determination to go through it. You can also fight to the death with an incredibly powerful opponent and awaken your Aura during the fight, to allow yourself to push beyond your human boundaries."
Liara commanded a sword with her Telekinesis and made it float in front of Lina, before gently grabbing it. A white light covered the blade, vibrating with sharp power.
"You won''t be able to awaken Aura this way because your body is already housing a Mana Circle. But don''t worry, much like how your brother did it, I can forcefully awaken the Aura in your body. It will be very painful though, so you must be prepared," Liara warned with a serious face.
Lina gulped and gritted her teeth, "I am ready."
Sahro scoffed, "We will see about that. I saw much tougher Black Heirs pissing their pants due to the pain."
Liara glared at him, "I''m sure you''re speaking from your own experience," Sahro''s face hardened but she continued, "Still, it will serve no purpose trying to scare her. She already made her choice, after all."
The Black Heir shrugged, "So be it. Good luck."
Liara settled behind Lina and rested her hands against her back. The princess leaned into Lina''s ear and whispered in an amused tone, It''s just my opinion, but I don''t think you need any luck.
Lina smiled, "Thank you."
Without further ado, Liara channeled her Aura inside Lina''s body, activating the hidden strength in her body. Lina felt a pang of pain shot throughout her whole being. She clenched her teeth tightly, refusing to show an embarrassing side to Glenn''s friends. This pain was nothing compared to her desire for freedom.
"Good...Keep enduring it. The pain is from the impurities that are being expelled from your body," Liara explained with a relaxed tone.
Lina couldn''t reply, too concentrated on resisting the torture. A black substance began coming out of her pores, leaking out of her ears, nostrils, and eyes. She coughed and spat out a thick lump of black goo, almost breaking her focus, but Liara''s hands on her back helped keep it together.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
"Excellent. Now, you need to feel the Aura and stop it from raging inside your body. Do your best to rein in the pain, and it''ll eventually work out." Liara continued with her guidance, her Aura flowing inside Lina''s body endlessly.
Lina exhaled heavily, drenched in sweat. She tried to do as Liara instructed her, but the pain was too powerful. It was like a raging torrent destroying everything in its path. Lina ignored all the signals her body was sending her to just give up and faint, and instead tried redirecting the torrent.
The pain, that was first overwhelming her entire being, began to become more and more centralized. The end of her limbs stopped hurting, then her arms and legs were free from the pain.
"Exceptional," Liara complimented her once more, "Now, try to condense all of that into a Core in your lower abdomen. It''ll settle naturally the second you start guiding it."
Lina couldn''t help but let out a grunt of pain. The more energy she concentrated on a point, the more painful it became. It felt like she was being stabbed and burning from the inside. A small ball of magma that tried to get out of her belly using every means possible.
Liara breathed in and out, starting to feel the toll. She kept her concentration up, helping Lina as best she could, but it was up to the girl to succeed. Liara could only show her the way.
Lina screamed as all the energy condensed in a single spot, forming a blinding bright pink ball. The ball was pulsing with destructive energy, each pulse coursing through her veins and overflowing them with strength. Lina suddenly shot to her feet, her Core completely formed. She looked at her hands in awe, finding them to be shining brightly with pink, sharp light.
This...this feels incredible! She punched out excitedly, her fist ripping through the air with incredible strength.
I need to try this. I need...I need to fight! Lina exploded with a pink Aura surrounding her body before charging at the nearest fighter, Liara. The latter tiredly rolled to the side, dodging disgracefully the inexperienced combatant''s attack. Lina roared and tried to attack again, but Sahro suddenly appeared in front of her, grinning widely.
"Pink? Ha!" His crimson, blood-like Aura suddenly flared up, pushing back against her own and overwhelming it. Lina felt her strange desire to fight explode similarly, and she dashed at Sahro with all her strength condensed in one punch. Sahro watched her with a wide grin, not even bothering to block her attack. Her fist smashed against his chest with a loud bang and she suddenly felt all her strength leave her.
"There, there, better now?" Sahro asked as he dusted off his chest, unharmed and unbothered. Lina fell on her back, exhausted and out of breath. She felt like she had been rolled over by a dozen trucks and some more.
''That was rather reckless of you, Milady,'' Tiamanes commented, ''But then, I suppose that''s how one normally reacts once awakening Aura. I will just have to pray for you to not become a battle-crazed lady, I suppose...''
Lina couldn''t hear any more of his nonsense and passed out.
Liara and Sahro exchanged a gaze and sighed in unison.
"That went surprisingly well," Liara said as she wiped the sweat off her eyebrows. Sahro nodded before crouching and picking the girl up.
"We probably have the ancestors to thank that she''s inexperienced and relatively innocent," He grimaced and laid her on a resting bench, "Had it been Glenn, he would probably have started blasting away with magic and Aura combined."
Liara chuckled and emptied a bottle of water on her head, "That would have been an incredible sight to see." She paused and suddenly gulped heavily, "Hey, Sahro...Imagine if Glenn also had Aura?"
Sahro looked at her for a moment before spitting to the side, "I''d rather not think about it."
"Yeah, you''re right."
"...Anyway, wanna spar?"
"Fuck off, Sahro."
***
"You''ve been putting this off for way too long, in my opinion," Diamanes scolded, "I could have taken these things before the fight with the Baron, for example. That would have assured us victory for sure!"
Glenn winced, "I''m not sure disrupting my skills with new ones would have actually helped me. And you know, the sooner we took care of that enlarged mosquito, the better."
Nelg chuckled in awe, "I''m really curious to see how this will turn out. What did you get with the other statues already?"
"Hmm, so far, I have Divine Blessing and Carbon Blades that I took from the Twilight Gate''s statues. That leaves me with the Frozen Gate, the Burning Gate, and the Dawn Gate." Glenn rubbed his chin as he walked out of the Frozen Gate, enjoying the chilly wind surrounding the two massive ice statues. A little earlier in the day, Glenn had decided to finally put Diamanes to good use and take every spell he possibly could. It wouldn''t do him any harm to bolster his toolbelt with new, ancient powers.
And new powers meant new combinations with his Specialty, Astral Sorcery, which ultimately meant more cool and powerful shit to throw at his enemies. He was totally not doing this because he had no idea as to how he was supposed to go to reach the Fifth Circle.
"If that can liven you up, I''m on the brink of breaking through, I just need to digest a few more souls," Nelg said. Glenn paused and grinned at the longsword hanging at his waist.
"That''s indeed excellent news. What will be your next form? A spear, a pair of knives, maybeoh, I know, a scythe!"
Nelg sent back a mental shrug, "I have no idea. I can''t tell until I start the process."
Glenn rubbed his hands together with a wicked smile, "I can''t wait. Now, let''s take these statues'' powers."
The Frozen Gate was still protected by its two silent watchers, a swordsman and a barbarian. Glenn first took the swordsman''s power, his lips curving upward as he felt the power coursing through his left arm.
''That''d do nicely for breakfast,'' Diamanes snickered. Glenn ignored him and extended his hand to call for this new power, but restrained himself at the last moment. He was still in front of the Gate, it might not do him any favors to make a show of himself.
"As if you weren''t that much of a celebrity already," Nelg mocked. Glenn sighed and also took the barbarian statue''s power before leaving for a more isolated spot, away from King''s Rise Ramparts.
"Now, let''s see that swordsman power...Surely something related to swords, right?" Glenn muttered as he channeled his Mana into Diamanes.
For a second, nothing happened. And then, a row of stone swords shot up from the ground, impaling the helpless vegetation in the area. Glenn whistled, impressed, "And one more area-of-effect spell. My fears are getting confirmed with each passing day. I''m more and more becoming some sort of war mage with all these wide spells."
Diamanes chortled in disbelief, "Are...Are you complaining?"
Glenn looked away innocently, "Absolutely not. I''m just wondering if we could have something a little different this time, like...like Divine Blessing for example!"
"I''m calling it Sword Grave," Nelg suddenly decided without anyone asking. Glenn shrugged. Sure, why not?
"I call dibs on the next one," Diamanes announced with a tinge of annoyance. Seems like the entity wasn''t happy being stolen of the role to name stuff. Glenn chuckled and called the barbarian statue''s power. This time, the consequences were instantaneous. A shockwave shot out with the sound of a beast''s roar and devastated everything in its way for a dozen meters.
"Damn, the barbarian isn''t playing around," Glenn looked at the destruction in awe. There was a large trench dug in the ground thanks to the spell while the trees had been reduced to splinters and dust.
"Lion''s Roar! This one will be called Lion''s Roar! What could better strike fear in your enemies than a destructive roar?" Diamanes laughed wickedly, satisfied. Glenn nodded in agreement. And Lion''s Roar worked out quite nicely.
"We''ve got four done, four more to go," Glenn happily said as he walked back in the Frozen Gate''s direction.
"Hey, Nelg, wanna bet on the next spell, if it''s going to be another war-type or something more unique?" Diamanes suddenly asked.
Nelg grunted, "Depends. Will you let me bet on the war type?"
No, replied Diamanes in a calm tone.
"Then no, I''m fine."
243. Peaceful Outing
"Huh. So that''s the Dawn Gate." Glenn looked said-Gate up, his hands on his waist. The two massive doors separating him from the Eastern side of the Fringe were magnificent, to say the least. In a similar fashion to the Twilight Gate, it was built out of rough, dark stone bricks. Glenn had arrived at the gate for lunch so he couldn''t see anything special besides the two usual statues, but he had heard the Gate would change color with the dawning sun and gleam with light orange-pink hues.
"Who cares about that? The spells, they are the actual interesting things," Diamanes exclaimed impatiently.
Glenn smirked at his left hand, "What is wrong with you? Are you starving for some reason? You already got two new things shoved in your belly, how can you..."
"You grow stronger, I grow hungrier," Diamanes interrupted him before moistening his lips hungrily, "Let''s get to it now, presto!"
"Okay, okay..." The two statues were made out of that same dark stone the Gate was built out of. One was the sculpture of a cloaked archer holding an absurdly big bow, while the other was an armored knightmaybe a paladin, wielding a gigantic shield with two hands.
"The archer and the tank archetypes..." muttered Glenn as he approached the statues, "...Let''s see if they have some interesting spells."
A moment later, Glenn was back in an isolated area, his left hand brimming with new additional powers.
"Burp! Damn, that''s some Michelin food right there! I can''t get enough of it!" Diamanes laughed in satisfaction. Glenn paused and looked at his left hand.
"Wait, don''t tell me you''re still hungry? Is there no limit to your stomach? Can I just take as many spells as I want?"
Diamanes sneered, "Nah, it''s scaled on the capacity of your body and soul. Right now, I''d say I could take two more powers safely. You''ll have to wait to reach a higher Circle to get more."
Glenn shook his head, "How convenient. Now, let''s test this thing..." He called out to the archer''s power, expecting a bow or an arrow to manifest, but instead half his total Mana disappeared into his left hand, a substantial, almost nonsensical amount of power. Glenn waited for another second, but the Mana taken away simply didn''t move nor dissipate. It just...stayed there, waiting.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with that?" Glenn asked aloud as he rubbed his chin. He looked at a nearby target and reached out, but still nothing happened.
"What if it''s not an attack spell, but a buff?" suggested Nelg curiously. Glenn''s eyes widened and he immediately put that theory to the test. He chose a relatively weaker spell, Solar Laser, the weaker version of Solar Flare, and shot it at a random tree. The boatload of Mana saved in his left hand suddenly disappeared, and Glenn''s Solar Laser, initially as thick as a pencil and of a yellow flame, became a pillar of pale blue destruction. The targeted tree disappeared, alongside a good chunk of the forest.
Glenn blinked at the sight, his jaw hanging slack.
"So that''s why it used half your Mana," Diamanes said in a casual tone, unsurprised. Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes and looked again, but the ashes and remnants of the blue fire were still there, crackling with power.
"That''s fucking insane," Glenn blurted out, "I used that...boost, or whatever that was on Solar Laser. Not even Solar Flare, the actual spell I usually cast, but on its weaker version. Imagine how absurdly powerful it would be combined with...I don''t know, Nitrogen Lance for example, or Shooting Star?" He couldn''t help but get excited at this level of strength.
"It does cost you half your Mana capacity," Nelg remarked, calming down his host''s fervor, "That means you can use it at most twice a fight. It''s like a last-resort kind of spell. Like Overload."
Glenn repeated Nelg''s last words, "Like Overload...Yeah, you''re right, it''s definitely in the same spirit of going beyond the boundaries of what is supposedly possible," He crossed his arms and his lips curved upward, "...I think I''ll call it Arcane Surge. Yeah, that sounds okay."
"Lame."
"I can''t help but agree."
"Go fuck yourselves," Glenn groaned as he extended his left hand once more to test out the paladin statue''s spell. This time, the effects were quite straightforward. A large, red shield appeared in front of Glenn, wide enough to cover him entirely and tall enough to protect him if he crouched.
"This one I''ll call"
"Lord''s Shield!" Diamanes interrupted Nelg without a shred of shame, grinning from one thumb to the pinkie. Glenn felt his sword vibrate by his side with dissatisfaction and sighed.
"Another defensive solution besides the Saturn Rings. I''m not sure it''s really useful to me though..." He shrugged and turned away, cutting off the flow of Mana that he was sending to the spell to maintain it.
Only, to his surprise, the spell didn''t disappear. The red, wide shield, remained, somehow keeping its shape as if everything was fine. Which wasn''t possible, since Glenn stopped using Mana to maintain the spell in existence.
"Oh-oh, that''s better than I thought then," Glenn realized with a grin. He tried kicking the shield, only to hurt his foot uselessly.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
"Hmf," He grunted, "So the spell just remains there? What if I want it to disappear" The shield faded away as he willed it, "Oh, okay. Nice."
"It only took three books and a half for you to get a proper shield..." jeered Nelg.
"What?"
Glenn headed off once again to his last remaining objective, the Burning Gate. He arrived in the evening, just in time to see the "Burning" part of that Gate. The two statues standing on each side of the Gate suddenly went up in flames, burning in a fiery show. The light was powerful enough to cast its glow over the entire surroundings of the Gate, chasing every shadow away.
"Cool..." Glenn muttered as he walked up to the nearest statue, which he guessed was a necromancer from the two skulls the hooded figure was holding. The statue''s feet weren''t in flames, thankfully.
"Is that my "arise" arc?" He muttered in a slightly mocking tone as he pressed his left hand against the warm stone. He took the statue''s power and then looked at the next one.
Glenn couldn''t help but pause and do a double-take.
What the hell was that?
"Is this a...a farmer?" Glenn muttered, confused. So far, every statue always showed specific fighting archetypes: swordsman, barbarian, mage, archer, priest, paladin, and necromancer.
So what the hell was a farmer doing there?
"Don''t estimate the might of farmers, for they are the ones putting food in your belly," Diamanes warned in a sage yet mocking voice. Glenn rolled his eyes and pressed his hand against the statue, taking its power once more.
"Necromancer and farmer...weird choices, not very righteous-like," Glenn sighed before leaving one last time for an isolated place. He had an inkling as to what the necromancer''s power was going to be, but he couldn''t say the same about the farmer''s. It certainly had him intrigued, that was for sure.
"First...the necromancer," Glenn extended his hand and called out the necromancer''s power. He felt his Mana trickle out lazily, only to dissipate without taking effect. Glenn frowned and tried once more, but it failed again.
"Huh. Is there no animal corpses in the damned forest?" He questioned with a tinge of annoyance. He channeled more Mana into the spell, hoping the intensity would change something, but again, it didn''t do anything.
Glenn smacked his lips, "I guess I''ll need an actual corpse to test it out. Too bad."
"I love how you''re saying that like you''re not killing stuff like you''re eating breakfast," sneered Diamanes. Glenn ignored him and finally called up to the farmer''s power. The ground trembled, small cracks opening up here and there. Small, green vines crawled out of the holes, before dying helplessly.
This time Glenn couldn''t help himself.
"That''s fucking bullshit," He cursed, "How can both of these statues'' powers be useless? What am I supposed to do with them?!"
"It won''t help, but do consider that these weren''t made with you taking them in mind," Nelg reminded him, which only annoyed him further.
"Still! Rah..." Glenn walked back to the Gate with his hands in his pockets, sheepish and disappointed. This little outing of his still bore quite the fruits, but the ending left him hungry for more. A robed man suddenly walked in front of him, blocking his path.
"Sir Glenn the Devil''s Hand?" The man asked, his face hidden under a thick, featureless mask. Glenn raised an eyebrow.
"Who''s asking?"
The man bowed slightly, a hand on his chest, "I don''t have something such as a name, but you can call me Faceless if you''d like."
Glenn moistened his lips, unimpressed, "How original. What can I do for you, Faceless?"
Faceless cleared his throat and extended out an indigo envelope sealed with unstamped wax, "The organization I belong to would have some questions to ask you about some information you sold us. Do you remember the Indigo Bureau?"
Glenn''s eyes lit up and he grinned widely, "Of course! Your intel was the only reason I managed to do what I wanted back then. Anyway, what do I"
Faceless hurriedly put his hands up, "Oh, don''t ask me, Sir, I''m unaware of everything. I''m simply the messenger, the contents are in the envelope. You can read it now and give me an answer, or reply later once you''re back in your home on Longhorn Street. Just put the letter in front of the gate and someone will pick it up."
Glenn shook his head, "No need for that, I''ll give you my reply now."
He opened the letter while making a note for himself. It might have been a coincidence, but for that guy to mention the place he lived...This wasn''t a threat, was it...?
"...Hah." Glenn snorted as he burnt the letter with his magic. Faceless waited patiently, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Tell your boss to come see me tomorrow at my place, since he seems to know where it''s at," Glenn decided as he dusted his hands off.
Faceless tilted his head to the side, his expression hidden under his mask, "I apologize, but"
Glenn clicked his tongue, "No buts. It''s either that, or he can go fucking himself. Why the hell would I care about a bunch of troglodytes who opened the box of Pandora?"
"Pandora...?" Faceless repeated confusedly, before sighing, "...Understood, Sir. I''ll be sure to relay your message to my superior. I wish you a pleasant evening."
"Likewise, Faceless," Glenn waved his hand dismissively and walked past the masked man. His gaze followed the moving shadow on the ground, discerning it from the natural ones. It would have been impossible to notice if it wasn''t for his Mana Sight.
"Hahaha, that''s hilarious!" Diamanes laughed widely, unbothered by the possibility of being heard. Glenn was at a certain point in his life where he was starting to not care much anymore about that either. What would people do anyway? Talk about it? He was already nicknamed the Devil''s Hand, how worse could it get?
"I''m not sure I find that funny," Nelg replied to Diamanes with a concerned tone, "We already got the news it disappeared some time ago, but for that to be the cause..."
Glenn shrugged, "Don''t worry too much about it. Seeing how desperate they are for answers, I''ll be able to get quite a few freebies. Maybe some interesting information about Count Mortelli or the Thorn''s Church, who knows?"
Nelg winced, "Still. An entire team of Seekers, protected with a rare Fifth-Circle Magi and a couple of Rank Four Grand Chevaliers, that''s not nothing. That''s technically much more than our team''s firepower. And yet..."
"Yet they all disappeared," Glenn completed his sentence, "With the laboratory containing that cannibal Doyle Malory, yes, I know. But what can I do about it, anyway?"
"Isn''t it your responsibility, since you told them the information?" Nelg attempted. Glenn chuckled and shook his head, "Is it my fault they decided to go explore that place? I didn''t expressively tell them to be careful, but seeing how they prepared their expeditions, they had some sort of idea as to who Doyle Malory was. They wouldn''t bring people as strong as that just to fight off some golems, that wouldn''t be making any sense."
"Whatever!" Diamanes suddenly exclaimed, "I can smell revenge in the air, and an opportunity for a breakthrough! Glenn, it doesn''t matter what they need you to do, do it! You''ll get to the Fifth Circle much faster this way!"
"I''ll consider it, Diamanes, I''ll consider it. For now, let''s return home. Hah, I''m impatient to see their faces when they''ll realize I was just gone for a day." Glenn grinned widely, satisfied. He had been quite productive, all in all.
Glenn would only return to his mansion in Silverhomes one month later.
And he wouldn''t be back empty-handed.
244. Rescue Team
Glenn stopped before a house and squinted to verify the street''s number.
"101 Dillon Alley, Sootshroud. Yeah, that sounds about right," He winced. The house in question was unassuming, run-down, and covered in a thick layer of dust. Sootshroud, or District II, was one if not the worst District in the Bourgeoisie. Factories were spitting black smoke wherever he looked and the air was thick with ash. The few people he met on the way were laborers with faces dirtied with coal and exhausted by the hard work.
''It''s strange for them to be using coal when fire magic exists, but what do I know about the industry?'' Glenn thought as he hesitantly knocked on the door. This was the address that Faceless from the Indigo Bureau had given him. It was on the way back home anyway, it would have been a waste not to stop there.
''You could have kept the letter instead of destroying it,'' Diamanes remarked mockingly. They had spent at least a few hours searching for the right address and knocking on the wrong doors before Nelg eventually put an end to the supplice and told him the right address. Glenn pressed his lips together but remained silent. The door opened from the inside by an old man with a large, black hat.
"Come in..." The old man grunted. Glenn obliged, frowning as he entered the place. The musty scent of dust and coal was heavy even here. The wooden walls were covered in large spots of blue mold, and there were holes in the ceiling letting the pale sunlight in. The windows were all so dirty they couldn''t be differentiated from the walls.
The old man led him to a small staircase leading underground and groaned, "They''ll be down there. Farewell."
Glenn smiled awkwardly to thank the old man, but the latter had already turned back and left for another room.
"Alright then..." Glenn rubbed his hands together and went down the stairs, doing his best to ignore the cobwebs and moss-covered walls. Why couldn''t these people afford a nice office, like everyone else?
He eventually arrived at the lower floor, where a single door was waiting for him. He entered without knocking, unbothered and unworried.
"This is awfully looking like a trap," Nelg commented from within Glenn''s mind. The latter''s lips curved upward slightly and he clenched his fists.
''That would be a nice opportunity to try out my new spells on living targets, don''t you think?''
Diamanes laughed wickedly, ''Yes, that''s the way to go, haha!''
He entered a sober room, with stone walls and a single table in its center. Three other individuals were already sitting there, none that Glenn could recognize. One of them, a glasses-wearing scholar hurriedly stood up and smiled in relief, "Sir Glenn. Thank you for agreeing to our request!"
Glenn''s eyebrows creased, "I didn''t agree to anything yet."
The scholar froze and sheepishly sat back down, "...Right, sorry."
"Hah!" The second individual, a strong lady with an eyepatch and an armor of blue steel scoffed. The fur in the interstice of her armor gave her a noble yet violent look.
"Spineless bastard," She spat, "When will you ever learn to stand up for yourself, Lioras?"
The scholar, Lioras, coughed in his fist and looked away. The last individual, a man wearing a green robe with golden filigranes sighed heavily. His face was covered in tribal tattoos that failed to hide the exhaustion in his bloodshot eyes.
"Please, let''s leave the squabble for later." He turned to Glenn and extended his hand out, "I am Vilroy Lancer, and I''ll be representing the Indigo Bureau in this discussion." He turned to the scholar and the lady, "This is Lioras Noli, a Seeker and an expert in uncovering the forgotten truth around old myths and lost civilizations. The lady here is Isadora Fierro, the squad leader of the Magi Brotherhood''s Striker Team."
Glenn shook Vilroy''s hand and laughed, "I wasn''t expecting this sort of comity. Why the hell are we buried in this hole instead of a nice coffee shop?"
Lioras Noli cleared his throat and frowned, "The contents of this discussion are strictly confidential. It goes without saying that what is discussed here must remain here."
Isadora crossed her arms and shook her head, "Nonsense. The only reason we''re in this shithole is that your funding got pulled, Lioras."
Vilroy rubbed his forehead before clasping his hands together, "Before explaining this situation to you, Sir Glenn, I must assure you that everyone in this room is privy to this conversation and will not speak of your implication against your wishes."
Glenn shrugged, "I don''t really give a shit anymore, so if you want to blabber on whatever you want me to do, feel free to do so." He took a seat on the last remaining chair and leaned back comfortably, "But first, I''d love to hear more about this whole ordeal. If I understood correctly, you sent a team to explore the Blumar Quarry and tried to find the Lightbringer, but things didn''t go as expected?"
The silence of everyone confirmed this. Glenn slapped his forehead before chuckling, "This is incredible. How did you manage to make that gigantic cube of Blumar move from its spot?"
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Lioras'' eyes widened, "Wait, how do you know we were looking for the Lightbringer?" He stared angrily at Vilroy and slammed his puny fist on the table, "I thought this information was only known to us and the Indigo Bureau!"
Vilroy gazed absent-mindedly at the scholar before sighing, "Sir Glenn here is the one who brought us the information of the Lightbringer''s location after surviving an encounter with him."
Lioras gasped and gazed at Glenn in shock. Isadora Fierro frowned and looked him up and down before moistening her lips, "Isn''t the Lightbringer some sort of old monster? How the hell did you survive?"
Glenn flashed her a charming yet slightly mocking smile, "Skills."
''It was mostly luck though, wasn''t it?'' Diamanes corrected from within Glenn''s mind. The latter''s eyebrow twitched but he refused to reply to the entity. Isadora clicked her tongue, "Skills, huh... Arrogant bastard," She grinned, "I like you!"
Glenn grinned as well, "The feeling is mutual. Now, why don''t you all stop turning around the pot and tell me what this "secret" meeting is about?"
Vilroy cleared his throat, "As you''ve understood from the content of our letters, the expedition that was sent to investigate the Blumar Quarry has disappeared alongside the Cube they were supposed to explore. Which caused the cave-in you might have noticed in the news these past few weeks."
"The Cube?" Glenn repeated in surprise, "I guess it''s a fitting name for that Blumar absurdity."
Vilroy nodded, "We have no E.T.A. on their status, but we have their locations."
Lioras coughed and added, "There has been an increased number of Seeker disappearances, so now every member is mandated to carry location beacons."
Glenn paused and looked at Vilroy with an interested look, "Wait, so you''re saying you have their position, right?"
"Exactly." Vilroy confirmed, "And we want to create a rescue team to get our members back."
"Hmm..." Glenn rubbed his chin, "I see why you want me there, but..." He grinned wickedly, "What''s in it for me?"
Lioras stared at him in disbelief, "Whowho do you think you are? The honor of helping the old and respectable order of the Seekers should be enough of a reward"
Isadora Fierro smacked the scholar on the back of the head, "Don''t listen to that coward," She licked her lips, her lips curved upward in a predatory manner, "We have a reward for you, but I could add a bit more on top..."
Glenn clicked his tongue, "I''ll consider it. So far, it''s not enough to convince me to take my team back to where that insane, cannibalistic bastard is sealed."
Vilroy rubbed his hands together and produced a document, "Do you know about the Exan University?"
"I heard of it, yeah," Glenn replied puzzledly. Why would he care about that?
Vilroy Lancer pushed the document in his direction, "Here''s an admission to the S-Class of that university. I heard you recently found yourself a...sister. Sending her to the university would set her future on a golden road."
Glenn sighed, "My sister is already training with a master swordsman, learning under a Restoration Operator, and studying magic with me. What else could she find in a university?" He muttered as he took the document and gave it a read. Janica wanted to go to that university if he remembered correctly, but she hadn''t been accepted due to lack of funding. He could pay her tuition, or...
"You know what?" Glenn grinned widely, "If you add in two other admissions in that university, and of course a hefty reward in credits, we''ll do"
"You keep speaking of "we" or "your team", but we only want you, Sir Glenn," interrupted Lioras.
Glenn paused and looked at the annoying scholar, pondering. "Sahro and Liara don''t lack in fighting power nor fame though, so I suppose you only want rank four and above fighter?"
Vilroy nodded, "Correct, Sir Glenn. The rescue team will be composed of the best elite we can afford. Isadora and her Striker Team are considered to be the best mage-knights of the Magi Brotherhood, and are all above or equal to the fourth rank."
He glanced at Glenn''s left, purple arm and added, "Of course, we know they would be hardly able to compare to a Fourth Circle capable of destroying noble vampires or turning the tides of war. Tales of the Devil''s Hand punching above his weight are common these days."
Glenn shrugged, "I can''t help it if they''re weaker than they seem."
Lioras scoffed, "Hopefully, your skills will be at the height of your arrogance, Sir Glenn."
Glenn glanced at him, "You know, I can still choose to back out, and none of you would be able to do a thing about it." Lioras froze while Isadora and Vilroy shook their heads.
"As a matter of fact, I think I''ll be very excited to hear about the second failure of your team when they are defeated by that monster older than Munirp and end up in his stomach as a consequence," Glenn added, grinning as he watched Lioras'' face drain of colors. Glenn could still remember as he watched Doyle Malory take a bite out of Monsieur Maron and how helpless he had been against him. They had only managed to seal him away with the help of the Laboratory.
Vilroy waved his hand dismissively, "These are the stated rewards, but add in that all three of our organizations will consider having a massive debt in your regard." His blue eyes flashed sharply, "The combined goodwill of the Seekers, the Magi Brotherhood, and the Indigo Bureau should amount to an interesting amount."
Glenn looked at each of them one by one, before grinning, "I suppose it would. When would we need to go?"
Isadora suddenly stood up and leaned on the table with a wide smile, "Now."
A magic circle suddenly appeared under their feet, flashing with powerful light. Glenn didn''t even have the time to protest that the circle teleported them to another place.
"Fuck, you couldn''t give me an hour or two to notify my team?" Glenn complained as he easily shrugged off the nausea. Lioras puked his guts out in a bin meant for this purpose while Vilroy and Isadora walked up to him.
"My apologies, Sir Glenn, but considering the location of the target, every second counts," Vilroy bowed his head apologetically. Isadora patted him on the back and opened the exit door, letting in a warm gust of wind. Glenn froze, recognizing the sensation. He stepped out only to face the immense shadow of the greatest chains of mountains on this continent.
The Dark Wall.
"You''re fucking kidding me..." He muttered in disbelief.
''Haha, I guess Veil wasn''t lying when he said you weren''t done with this place!'' Diamanes laughed mockingly.
Nelg grunted, "The Laboratory was taken to the Land Beyond the Wall? Hell, this is going to be complicated. We''re going to search for a missing team while in the middle of the war."
Glenn stretched and made his knuckles crack, "Well, might as well take care of it now. I wanted to go find that Laboratory again if I could anyway, and try fighting Doyle Malory once more. If it''s against him..." His lips curved upward in a wicked manner, "Maybe I''ll be able to break through. Can''t really say I''m satisfied about having to do this whole thing in the middle of that mess of a war."
Vilroy stopped and cleared his throat, "Oh, the target''s position isn''t indicating the Land Beyond the Wall."
Glenn paused.
"...What? Then where the hell does it..."
Vilroy nodded in the Dark Wall''s direction. Glenn''s eyes widened and he looked back in awe, "Don''t tell me...Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Sadly, your guess is right," Vilroy sighed, "They aren''t located beyond the Dark Wall, nor in Munirp."
"They are in the Dark Wall."
245. Interlude 1/3 - No Pain, No Gain
Lina followed Sahro into the training hall, excited but also slightly anxious. So far, she hadn''t learned anything about fighting, besides using spells on Glenn''s pebble. She did take some fencing lessons back on Earth, but...the more she listened to her brother''s and his friends'' stories, the less confident she felt about whatever skills she learned before. And she saw Glenn spar with Sahro once. Her lessons in fencing wouldn''t do anything to save her if her brother suddenly decided she was a little too annoying for his taste.
''The Young Master would never do this, Milady,'' defended Tiamanes.
Lina sighed, ''I know, but still... I still can''t believe you''re real, that my brother is there, and that I can wield magic. This is all so...overwhelming.''
Tiamanes chuckled softly, ''Milady, I am sure your brother was in the same situation, yet look at where he stands now. And I''m almost certain he didn''t receive as good of an education as you''re currently having.''
Lina wanted to reply, but Sahro interrupted her mental discussion by throwing a wooden sword at her. She grabbed it instinctively, grimacing as she felt the heavy weight. It felt dense and unwieldy, nothing like she was used to. Well, not like she had the chance to continue training her fencing skills during her time in the darkness, but still, it would have been great to get something similar to what she used before.
"I''ll be attacking you and evaluating your reflexes," Sahro warned as he stretched in front of her, "I think you did some physical training to put you back into shape after getting out of your cell, but I doubt it was enough."
"What?" Lina''s eyebrows creased and she wrapped her fingers tighter on the sword''s hilt, "Don''t underestimate me now!"
Her pink Aura flared up and she dashed forward, grinning as she felt the surge of power. Last time, when she awakened her Aura, she hadn''t been able to control it. Apparently, it was a normal occurrence for beginners in Aura, but it was still disappointing to hear that she attacked the two Black Heirs training her.
"Who said you could use Aura?" Sahro asked from behind her. Lina blinked one second before she tripped and fell face-first on the harsh floor. She slid forward for a few meters before groaning and pushing herself back up.
"Wasn''t this supposed to be Aura training?" She asked as she wiped the dust off her face.
Sahro shook his head, "The best way to master Aura is to master your body. The stronger your body, the easier you''ll control your Aura. The more control over your Aura you have, the more you can enhance your body with it. It''s a virtuous circle."
Lina winced and sheepishly pulled back her Aura, sighing as she felt the supernatural strength leave her body.
"Good," Sahro nodded, "Now, try your best to defend yourself. I''ll be matching your level and pushing you to your limits, alright?"
"Okay," She replied as she straightened herself and took on a fencing position, her sword held in front of her and her other hand hidden behind her back. Sahro frowned at the sight but didn''t say anything.
"Let''s begin." The second he finished talking, Sahro suddenly reappeared in front of Lina, his fist heading straight for her face. The girl hurriedly dodged back, or at least tried to. The air was expelled out of her lungs as Sahro''s punch connected with her belly, sending her flying like a straw doll. She rolled back a few times before eventually stopping, coughing her lungs out.
"Coughcough, that''s...that''s too much!" She heaved as she held her stomach.
Sahro crossed his arms, the cogs on his left one clicking rhythmically, "Do you want to give up?"
Lina opened her mouth to complain again, only to remain silent. Sahro looked at her forcing herself up and nodded sternly.
"Tell me if you want to give up. I''ll stop the training there." The Black Heir said as he made his knuckles crack.
''Milady, your brother''s friend seems like he has a grudge against you,'' Tiamanes warned, ''You might find yourself a better trainer within Liara.''
Lina shook her head and exhaled heavily. Her lip was cracked open and her stomach hurt like hell. Sahro''s lips curved upward slightly and he dashed forward once more, pummeling her out again, and again, beating the will out of her. She almost cried more than once at the unfair advantage he had, at the pain he inflicted on her, but not once did she let herself do so.
Sahro looked down at the dirty rag that she was and nodded, "Good. You have good determination. I know you said you didn''t want to end up helpless ever again, but it can''t possibly be the only thing motivating you, right?"
Lina groaned, unable to reply. Sahro chuckled and picked her up with one hand, before installing her on a nearby bench. Lina sighed heavily. Never had a bench felt so comfortable in her life. She could probably spend her day sleeping on it, hoping the pain would go away as she rested.
"Here," Sahro splashed her face with a red liquid, and she felt her energy come back slightly. Her crackled lips fixed themselves, and the pain in her stomach was alleviated a little.
"Healing potions," Sahro replied to her inquiring gaze, "...We never use them on ourselves generally, because there''s always a better alternative. Glenn has his healing spell, and Liara and I have the natural healing factor of Aura users. It would be detrimental to heal ourselves with these..." He frowned and threw the bottle away, "And let''s not even talk about how expensive they are."
Lina rubbed her face, paling as she realized her nose was broken. Sahro snorted and grabbed her nose, before pulling it in the right place violently. Lina yelped and rolled on the floor, holding her nose painfully.
"Fuck, you fucking, brutish, ignorant bastard!" She cursed, tears welling up in her eyes. Sahro looked at her silently before clasping his hands together.
"Do you know why Glenn is so strong now?" He suddenly asked. The question stopped Lina''s tantrum and she looked at the Black Heir curiously.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"...Why?" She asked carefully.
Sahro''s expression hardened, "Because he went through so much shit, so much pain, that he didn''t have a choice but to get stronger. Do, or die."
Lina froze and Sahro continued, "That Baron we killed? He hanged three of Glenn''s friends just because he could. And Glenn had watched it happen without being able to do anything. Powerless, much like you were in that machine. Only he saw death, while you only saw darkness."
Sahro stood up and stabbed his finger on her forehead, "Glenn didn''t want to tell you, but it''s a mistake. Do you want to know how his arrival in this world went?"
Lina stood up from the bench and took a step back, intimidated. Sahro pushed forward relentlessly, driving the nail in, "He woke up with a spear through his heart, and a monster eating his innards. Abandoned, alone in the middle of a battlefield. I could barely believe it when he told us, but that man isn''t the type to lie to his friends."
Sahro clenched his fist angrily, "When he arrived in King''s Rise, he was captured by a group of cultists who tortured him for months, feeding him the blood of monsters, Beast Blood. It was only after he escaped that I met him. "
Lina gulped heavily, unable to believe her ears. Her brother went through all that?
Was that...why he felt so dangerous at times? She didn''t get as much time to spend with him as she would have liked, but the few hours she did she felt it. The presence of a hunter searching for prey, and that malevolent grin on his lips.
"You wonder why I''m putting you through this?" Sahro asked with a wicked grin.
Lina gulped and did not even dare to nod.
"Because that''s the only way for you to grow half as quickly as him without risking your life. Now, if you complain even once more about the pain, or about how "brutish" I am, just give up on training and reaching the same heights as us." Sahro planted his feet firmly on the ground, "Just let us protect you, and you''ll be safe. You won''t ever have to feel that pain again, nor feel the looming threat of death." He looked at his left arm and chuckled wickedly, "Your limbs won''t ever be threatened to be cut, nor your heart risk to be pierced."
Sahro stared at her intensely and added, "But you won''t ever be able to stand up for yourself. To be a warrior. Now, make your choice."
Lina gasped, overwhelmed. Sahro looked at her for an instant before returning to the training area''s center, stretching once more. She looked at her hands in disbelief, imagining her brother imprisoned in a dark cell being forcefully fed tainted blood again and again. Would she have been able to hold on if she was in his place?
''Milady, don''t compare yourself to your brother. He is older than you and''
''Shut it, Tiamanes,'' Lina interrupted the entity''s poor attempt at making her feel better, ''It''s not against you, but I don''t need that right now. Let me think for a second.''
Tiamanes remained silent, before replying, ''...As you wish, Milady.''
The more she thought about it, the more impossible it sounded. The sheer psychological pressure would have been enough to make her lose her mind, so how did he do it? How did Glenn not become insane from all that suffering he went through?
And how does he keep fighting every day? What motivates him to get out of bed, and go out there, risking his neck for some nonsensical causes or absurd revenge?
''Can I even be like him?'' She wondered before shaking her head. No, this wasn''t even worth questioning. Of course, she couldn''t be like her brother. Their experiences couldn''t even be compared after all. The only reason she wanted to grow stronger was to not return to that place, but what was his reason? Returning to Earth?
Her expression darkened. That couldn''t be it. Each time she tried introducing the subject, he would flee her eyes or ignore the subject entirely. Glenn probably wasn''t too keen on returning to Earth, where he was still living. The farther they were from him, the better. And they couldn''t do better than another world for that.
''Still...I was starting to enjoy life again...'' Lina thought dejectedly, ''My adult life barely started when I was thrown into another world. Damn it, is that how Glenn felt as he fought his way through this damned world?'' Her eyes widened as she realized. They were never going back there, were they?
She shook her head once more, her eyes filling back up with resolve.
''No, that doesn''t matter. Maybe we can''t, or maybe we can. It''s useless to think about it anyway. Right now, I''m a burden for himfor the Devil''s Hand. And I can''t let that stand.''
She stood up and walked to the training weapons, her lips curving upward as she found her weapon of predilection. Sahro watched her do so with his arms crossed, his thoughts hidden behind a mask of stone. She tied her hair in a ponytail much like how her brother did and exhaled heavily.
"I''ll be a warrior," Lina declared as she stood in front of Sahro once more, "At least to return the pain you gave me."
Sahro grinned and took an offensive position, his eyes glued to Lina''s. The latter raised her rapier, her other hand behind her back.
"Brace yourself."
***
"Uhm, could you remind me why you''re watching us work, Ms. Liara?" Liam asked nervously as he tried working on a rifle prototype. Liara smiled widely and tilted her head to the side, her lips sealed. Janica slapped Liam on the arm, "You already agreed to let her see how we worked on our weapons, are you backing out now?"
Liam looked at her like she was insane, "I''m not backing out of anything! I''m just confused as to why she has been standing there for two hours only to remain a silent watcher!"
Janica sighed while Liara made a dejected smile. She bowed her head slightly in Janica''s direction, who suddenly waved her hands around in a panic.
"Wait, no, he didn''t mean it, Ms. Liara, you can stay here if you wish"
Liara shook her head and left the Workshop, her lips curving upward slightly as she listened to Janica scolding Liam for his thoughtless words.
''It''s pretty fun to watch them work together...'' She thought as she strolled through the mansion''s hallways. Sahro was taking care of Lina''s training and should be putting her resolve to the test, while Manalok Tuleam was too busy procrastinating for her to come watch. She was pretty bored, all things considered. The two kids were fun to watch, even more so as they carefully stepped on eggshells around each other. They were both able to realize there was a certain tension between them, but it seemed like neither were able to realize that they shared the same mutual feelings.
''Feelings...'' Liara went to the Observatory and sat on the sofa there, watching the sky through the glass cellar. She wasn''t oblivious to Glenn''s little sister''s feelings, but she wasn''t exactly sure as to how she should deal with her. Lina had been enraptured by her appearance, as she had been with Sahro''s. Even though she was an adult, albeit a young one, she was still a little too immature to realize that love was more than just appearance.
And Liara wasn''t particularly too keen on having that type of relationship anyway. She hardly could see herself with anyone. When her parents were still there, they always promised her that they would find an honorable Black Heir of an honorable family, so that the Lthalen''s Lineage remained similarly honorable, in the respectful honor of the traditions.
Maybe that was because of that education that she couldn''t even consider such relationships.
Liara looked left and right, making sure nobody was spying on her before pulling out the book she had hidden under the sofa the day before. Her cheeks flushed red just at the thought of reading it.
Before Milena was harmed and went for treatment with Exan, she recommended these books.
Romance novels. At the time, Liara barely considered the idea, but since she couldn''t train with Sahro or talk with anyone, she tried her hand at it.
And oh boy did she like them.
Liara cleared her throat and tried to restore her noble expression. A Princess should always keep the composure that comes with that title, no matter the situation.
...However, there''s no rule saying that a Princess shouldn''t indulge in a romantic story once or twice, is there?
246. Interlude 2/3 - Sahros Fox
Lina grunted as she pushed the covers away from her face. She rolled out of her bed, crashing on the floor with a groan.
''Milady, please behave respectably,'' Tiamanes demanded to her from within her mind. She sighed and stood up against her best wishes. The aches from the previous day''s training were like weights pinning her to the floor, but after her declaration in response to Sahro''s test, she couldn''t just stay there and keep on sleeping like a lazy oaf.
"You are a lazy oaf though, Milady, why fight it?" Tiamanes asked aloud with an innocent tone. Lina waved her hand dismissively and grabbed the potion on the side of the bed with trembling fingers, emptying down her throat. The pain was relieved slightly, just enough to enable her to go on with her day.
"Lazy oaf or not, I do want to grow stronger and eventually catch up to my brother," She grumbled as she picked random clothes from a pile she abandoned in the corner of the room. The Mansion on Longhorn Street had everything but servants to keep it clean. As such, all of its inhabitants were in charge of the cleanliness of their rooms. Sadly, Lina still hadn''t lost her bad habit from Earth of leaving her room in a comfortable mess.
"Today, I will learn how to manipulate Aura!" She exclaimed to motivate herself, wincing as she accidentally touched a particularly heavy bruise on her waist. Sahro really didn''t pull any punches.
"I believe Sir. Sahro''s words are correct, Milady. You should concentrate on getting perfect control over your body before attempting to reinforce it," Tiamanes warned, calming her down slightly. She sighed and left her room, not even bothering to address her messed-up haircut or the bruises on her face. It didn''t matter, they would end up in the same state an hour or so later anyway.
She glanced at a large clock on the way. Nine and a half in the morning. She wasn''t late, but she wasn''t exactly early either. Janica and Liam''s voices reached her ears from the kitchen, the two lovebirds bickering with each other.
"No, I''m telling you, power is the one thing we need to focus on!" Liam exclaimed as Lina stealthily entered the kitchen, "One shot, one kill! That''s the manly way!"
Janica shook her head as she bit off a particularly tasty-looking apple, "And what happens if you miss that shot, hmm?"
Liam shrugged, "That''s a skill issue, not a weapon issue."
"And that''s exactly the problem," Janica stabbed her finger in Liam''s chest, "Guns are meant to be used by anyone. Of course, being proficient with handling them is for the best, but the point of a gun is to allow a peasant to shoot a monster with the same power a Magi or a Knight would have."
She licked her fingers and brushed her hair back, "Putting everything in a single shot is the exact mistake we need to avoid, even more so considering we''re creating this for Glenn''s little sister. She probably never held a gun before, so we need to make something beginner-friendly."
"But the manly way"
Janica rolled her eyes and groaned, "She''s not even a man, why do you keep bothering me with this?"
Liam turned away sheepishly, only to discover Lina trying to sneak away with a jar of cookies.
"Ah..." He gasped, his cheeks flushing red. Janica also turned her head and froze, realizing that their whole discussion had been heard by the person they wanted to surprise.
Lina smiled awkwardly and hurriedly stepped out of the kitchen, "Sorry, just act as if I didn''t hear anything!"
Janica turned to Liam with her jaw hanging slightly, before punching his arm, "You were supposed to watch the door!"
"Aouch!"
Lina chuckled as she hurried down the secret passage leading to the training rooms. These two were always entertaining to watch.
''I wonder why they were so adamant on making me a gun though...'' She thought as she entered the training room while shoving one cookie after the other in her mouth. It was Liara instead of Sahro who welcomed her.
"I hope you rested well, Lina," The Black Heiress smiled gently, her beauty blinding Lina. The latter had to take a second to force herself to swallow down her cookies, a hair''s breadth from choking down on the biscuits.
"Cough, I''m aching all over, but besides that, I sleptMeditated well!" She hurriedly corrected herself, but it was already too late. Liara''s face hardened and she slowly walked up to her. Lina gulped heavily and turned her head shamefully.
"I...I''m sorry, I wanted to Meditate, but the second I touched my bed I"
Liara suddenly ruffled her hair while chuckling, startling her.
"Glenn isn''t here to police you, Lina, so don''t worry too much. Right now, you have to concentrate on your Aura training and make the most of our teachings. You''ll have more than enough time to entertain Glenn''s nonsensical training later."
Lina nodded slowly, secretly exhaling a relieved sigh. Liara watched her with her lips curved upward, a sword hanging down her belt and a spear wrapped to her back. Her long white hair was flowing freely down her shoulders, contrasting with her olive skin and golden eyes. The more Lina looked at her, the more entranced she felt.
''Staring at someone''s face for too long is disrespectful, Milady,'' Tiamanes warned. Lina flinched and hurriedly averted her gaze. She took the same rapier she used the previous day and tried her best to adopt a correct fencing position, despite the aches and pain in her body.
Liara looked at her and chuckled slightly, "Don''t worry, we''re not sparring just yet."
Lina looked at Liara like she was a god-sent angel.
"You should have started to get a hang of using your muscles with Sahro''s training," Liara extended her hand out, and a sharp, white light covered it, "I''ll be showing you the Lthalen''s Aura control technique. It''s an ancient way that has been worked on for generations, so trust me when I say it''s the best to start with."
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Lina nodded hurriedly. She had no intention of contradicting the pretty Heiress'' words.
"Your Core is only at the first rank, so you are limited in your usage of Aura," Liara explained, "You can only strengthen your body. Using it to create an Aura blade or something similar will be too difficult for you, and not efficient whatsoever. It''s better to wait at least for the second rank before shaping an Aura blade."
Liara drew a short breath and the white Aura covering her hand faded away.
"You''re unable to see it, but currently, every fiber of my beings is pulsing with Aura, which makes thing such as this" She suddenly jumped and touched the ceiling with her hand before landing back with the grace of a flower petal, "Possible. Even your brother, with his incredible control of Mana, is unable to replicate such a feat with the same efficiency as I do."
Lina watched with her mouth wide open, awed. Liara smiled and nodded at her.
"Now, listen to me. Get hold of your Aura, and instead of letting it flow freely as you did during your training with SahroYes, he did tell me how the training wentdirect the Aura to permeate your muscles." The Black Heiress instructed, watching with her arms crossed.
Lina tensely complied, letting her Aura flow out of her Core, but controlling it was akin to trying and control a flooded dam. Her Aura burst out powerfully, surrounding her in glowing pink.
"Redirect it. Instead of outward, send it inward. Aura is like water: it flows freely but can be blocked or redirected," Liara''s voice reached her through the pink Aura, guiding her. Lina concentrated and little by little, she stopped shining like some sort of neon sign. She opened her eyes, her lips curving upward in amazement as she clenched her fist. This was different than when she awoke her Aura. It felt like she held the strength to pierce through boulders, yet she could control said strength like her own. She still felt the desire to fight and wreak destruction, but it wasn''t nearly as strong as during her Awakening.
"You are talented..." Liara muttered too low for Lina to hear. She clapped her hands loudly, redirecting Lina''s focus on herself, "Excellent. Now that your muscles are reinforced with Aura, try stimulating them. I''m not sure as to how to explain it, but if you do it correctly, you should be able to accelerate your healing rate. You''ll be able to free yourself from your aches much faster this way."
Lina''s eyes lit up in interest.
''A way to heal faster? Give me!'' She redoubled her efforts, sweat beading down her face. Liara watched silently, satisfied.
Thankfully, Lina was an excellent student.
***
Sahro was bored.
His life could be described in a few words: training, fighting, and more training.
And Liara kicked him out of the training room.
''What the hell am I supposed to do...?'' He wondered as he looked at the cloudless sky. It seemed like it would be a peaceful day again. Glenn was probably off on his adventures, causing trouble as his habitude. Just the thought of him angered Sahro.
"How the hell did this bastard break through this damned wall...?" The Black Heir questioned with a sigh. He had been putting in twice, no, thrice the effort to try and catch up to Glenn''s Fourth Circle. But no matter how hard he trained, he still couldn''t feel himself progress. He was stuck.
The Princess had the same problem, but she appeared much more relaxed than him about it.
''I can''t understand it. No, I can''t accept it!'' Sahro angrily kicked away a pebble in his path, before sighing heavily once more. The mansion''s garden was well kept, despite the lack of maintenance from any of its inhabitants. He grabbed his left, mechanical arm and grunted. At least he had both of his limbs back now, but still...
It felt like he was missing something. But he couldn''t tell what.
"Glenn broke through when he bottomed out on Mana and realized his actual Mana capacity was absurdly large. This can''t work with me..." Sahro rubbed his forehead as he sat on a bench in the garden. He was equally clueless, be it to break through the wall to the Fourth Circle or the Fourth Rank of Aura. Glenn was the kind to just naturally grow stronger as he struggled, and Sahro too. And it wasn''t like he wasn''t struggling with his damned training.
So what was missing?
Sahro''s consciousness slipped into Meditation and he looked at his Mana Heart, wondering. He had never shown it to anyone aside from Giselle and Redan, and the two then both complimented his potential. But the more he looked at it, the less he believed them. It was just a ball of lightning, crackling with power as it touched the edges of his three Circles. He turned around and glanced at his Aura Core, also stuck at the third rank.
Similarly to his Mana Heart, his Aura Core appeared as a sphere, pulsing with crimson energy. Sahro felt his blood boil as he looked at it, his battle-lust activated. Maybe if he fought against more powerful opponents he would be able to break through his damned limits.
''A battle to the death!'' He exclaimed excitedly, before turning away and recovering his calm. No, he already had that with Baron Howard, and besides getting hypnotized into an endless battle, it didn''t bring anything to him.
No, there had to be something more. One detail that he missed, was something that would allow him to soar like a lightning bolt and finally go back to being first in the race for power. He couldn''t allow the other idiot to remain more powerful than him.
That was unacceptable!
Sahro''s Aura angrily burst out of his body as his thunder-affinity Mana similarly exploded through his left arm, canalized into the mechanical contraption.
"What''s the damned key, damn it!?!" He roared as he punched into the sky, relieving his anger through a bolt of crimson lightning. The attack disappeared harmlessly, like dust in the wind. Sahro sighed heavily and collapsed back on his bench, his head clasped his hands.
...Was this the end of his talents? Stuck at the third rank? Sahro clenched his fists tightly and pressed them against his forehead.
No. He still couldn''t accept it. Sahro slipped back into Meditation and angrily entered the sanctity of his Mana Heart and his Aura Core.
"I don''t give a shit anymore," He hissed through his gritted teeth, "I refuse to be stuck at this stage for the rest of my life!"
He manipulated his Aura and Mana at the same time, forcefully connecting the Core and the Heart.
"If I can''t break through neither," Sahro spat, "Maybe I should smash them together until it eventually works!"
The crimson Aura and the lightning violently repelled each other, refusing to coexist. It was one thing to combine them outside of his body to power his attacks, but it was another to try and connect his Core and his Heart.
Sahro coughed and spat out a lump of blood, his body suffering from inner damage as the two energies conflicted with each other. But Sahro''s resolve didn''t decrease, for he was feeling it. The Wall. It was right there, trembling as the two energies collided again and again, threatening to crumble down like a house of cards.
The Black Heir roared and smashed the two sources of power together, creating a powerful, blinding explosion of red and blue. Sahro felt his head ring as lightning crackles all around him, his mechanical arm charred, and the bench he was sitting on obliterated.
He grinned widely as he extended his hand out and felt a power a hundred times greater than the one he was used to. His Mana and Aura had seamlessly combined, creating a power unique to him. A Crimson Lightning that would pierce through the skies.
Only, there was something a little weird. Sahro glanced down at the fox sitting on his legs, confused. The fox was the same color as his Crimson Lightning, only it just...looked cute? His beady eyes were looking back at the Black Heir mischievously. There wasn''t even a single doubt that this fox was connected to him somehow, a product of the combination of his powers. But then...
Sahro felt a shiver crawl down his back.
Did he just...create a living being?
Did he become...a father?
247. Interlude 3/3 - Love, Death and Rob—Cyborg
''Milady, it looks clear,'' Tiamanes sighed within Lina''s mind. The latter sneakily entered the workshop and carefully closed the door behind her. She switched on the light and rubbed her hands together, a wide grin on her face.
"Now, now, I heard them talking about a secret project that was not a gun. Let''s see what we have here..." She licked her lips as she searched through crates of strangely designed weapons and automaton prototypes. There was enough scrap in this workshop to fuel the entire steel industry.
"I still cannot understand why you refuse to ask them directly," Tiamanes asked confusedly.
Lina sighed, "Listen, they wouldn''t answer even if I asked. That''s the point of a secret, you''re not supposed to talk about it, even though I could probably force Janica to tell me if I insist enough..." The corner of her lips curved upward slightly and she added, "...But that''s not fun, is it?"
She suddenly spotted a blue tarp covering something in the corner of the room.
"Oh-oh, doesn''t that look like something they don''t want to show?" Lina chuckled as she rubbed her hands together. She promptly pulled the tarp away, revealing a pile of cogs and heart-looking contraptions. She paled as she suddenly realized what these were.
"Oh god. That''s all the prototypes for Liam''s heart, isn''t it?" She muttered in awe of the sheer amount. There were probably half, no, a full hundred of these contraptions abandoned in crates.
''Is Liam''s heart still that much of an issue? Damn it...'' Her excitement faded away, replaced by guilt and shame.
"You certainly would have been better off asking them about it," Tiamanes said with an, "I told you so" tone, "I believe you can call them your friends, after all. And if they didn''t want to share about it, so be it. That is their choice, and your intruding in their privacy," lectured the entity. Lina nodded sheepishly before leaving the workshop, regretting her attitude.
She missed a small mechanical eyeball stuck in the corner of the workshop''s ceiling following her every movement. Janica and Liam exchanged a glance before looking back at the security screens. This was the first step in their grand project: a complete security system that watched over all the critical areas of the house.
"Damn, she really is like Sir Glenn in all aspects..." Liam muttered in awe.
Janica nodded before gulping, "Do you think she will become like him? Like the Devil''s Hand, I mean?"
Liam tilted his head to the side uncertainly, "Well, that entity seems a little different from the one Sir Glenn is hidingif you can even call that hiding. I still remember him speaking to it aloud without a care in the world."
"Well, he does have the strength to back him up," Janica remarked with a shrug.
Liam raised an eyebrow. "Doesn''t that concern you? For these two to have strange entities living in their limbs and influencing them?"
Janica looked at him with an amused smile, "What am I supposed to do about it? So far, Sir Glenn and Lina have only been kind to us, even going as far as giving us the tools to work on your heart and our other projects."
Liam nodded frantically, "I know! That''s why, we can''t have them be replaced by whatever those beings are! I remember how Glenn was back when I first met him in the Fringe, and he wasn''t that unhinged. Nowhe simply stopped giving a fuck!" He cursed with a hint of worry.
Janica shook her head and slapped him on the arm, "Language. And I believe we should trust them. One is an already proven war hero, and the other is a genius in the making. She''s learning Aura and Mana at the same time, and is matching to Sir Glenn''s improvement speed."
Liam sighed and rubbed his arm, "I guess you are right. We should stop snooping around and resume our work. We''re about to get to the interesting part, after all."
"Automatons aren''t that easily programmed," Janica warned as her smile faded away, "...I wish I could have learned more about it, but my university doesn''t have the renown to provide us with specialized instructors..."
Liam smiled wryly and patted her on the shoulder, "Hey, you still have a chance to get in next year"
Janica waved her hand dismissively, "So what? I''ll still be rejected because I can''t show a worthwhile connection to a noble family nor the funds to pay for the tutelage. And don''t even bring up asking Sir Glenn for help again," She warned with a pointed finger.
Liam closed back his mouth and grimaced, "Why? I''m sure he''d be more than pleased to help you."
Janica shook her head, "He''s already giving us so much. We can''t keep on asking for more. If I get in, it''ll be out of my own abilities. And..." She turned her head away but Liam could still see the tip of her ears redden, "...I think I like staying here, with you"
Liam interrupted her by forcing her to turn toward him, worried, "Hey, are you okay? You look like you''re having a fever?" He pressed his hand against her forehead, wincing as he saw her cheeks gradually flush red too.
"You''re warm, but not to the point of having fever, I think..." He muttered before sighing, "We''ll stop there and take some rest. We can''t risk having you fall sick, alright?"
Janica turned away from him for a moment, her face the same color as a tomato. She drew a deep breath before looking back at him and grabbing his face. She forced him to stare directly into his eyes, secretly happy as she watched his face flush red too.
"Liam, I like you."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Liam blinked silently, staring at her in confusion. His mechanical heart began pumping blood at a much faster rate than usual, the cogs working twice as fast. His fingers reflexively tightened around the edge of the worktable.
"You...what?" he asked dumbly.
"I said, I like you," Janica insisted as she pushed through her embarrassment. This had been going on for too long. She needed an answer, and she needed it now. She recalled Big Sis Milena''s words.
If there is something you want, you must snatch it up before anyone else.
"Liam, do you like me?" She asked with a resolved tone, dreading the response. Liam looked at her for a long time as the confusion faded away slowly faded away from his eyes. The mechanical sounds of his heart echoed even louder in the side workshop. Janica felt the tears well up in her eyes as the man she loved refused to reply. She pulled her hands back, but Liam gently pressed them back against his face. He leaned forward and shamelessly stole her lips.
"Is that enough of an answer?" He finally uttered after the longest kiss of both of their lives. Janica slapped him on the arm with a small smile.
"I think it is, yes."
***
Once upon a time, a boy was living in Massalia, a coastal village in the northern part of the Southern Continent. They mainly lived on fishing and trading, being a small commercial hub between all the other fishing villages and a larger town down the coast.
Often, Massalia would welcome travelers from the Munirp, the Kingdom of the legendary First King, and a place of hopes and dreams. Those travelers would tell stories of mythical figures, fighting their way through life against the worst evil. Their heroic deeds were acclaimed even long after their deaths and made those still alive living legends, respected and feared by all.
One day, the boy grew up to be a man. Handsome, with skin tanned by the salt and beautiful brown hair. Most girls in the fishing village had their eyes set on him, but the young man couldn''t care less for them. That young man dreamed of something else.
He wanted to see the world, make incredible friends, and become one of these legends the travelers always spoke of.
So the young man left Massalia. He took a boat to Munirp, his eyes filled up with stars and his chest puffing with hope. And he wasn''t disappointed. Weeks after he arrived in this foreign continent, he learned the art of Aura with a retired hunter and made the bow his main weapon. A hunter that would slay monsters with a single arrow, that''s who he aspired to be.
And then he arrived in King''s Rise. Unlike some who ended up in the Repentir, the disgusting territory of the Thorn''s Church, or the prideful Black Heirs'' area, the young man found instead the Pale District. A harrowing place filled with the Pale Kin, individuals of all origins inflicted with the curse of the White Plague.
That curse stuck on the young man. His tanned skin became as pale as chalk, then translucid like some of those weird fishes he used to find with his father. His Aura stopped growing, stuck to the same stage. The elders of the Pale Kin welcomed him as one of their own, teaching him about the White Plague and the fate that awaited him.
That young man was named Javier, for he had tried to find a new house in King''s Rise. He forgot his old name, and his old life, and only dedicated all his efforts to one thing.
Surviving the damned curse as a Pale Son.
Javier honed his hunting skills to the very brink. His arrows never missed, unless he willed for them to do so. He couldn''t increase their penetration power, but he could become more accurate, and learn better positioning and hunting tactics. He learned how to become as silent as a ghost, becoming so skillful with his bow that his prey wouldn''t even realize they were dead. He became a Fixer, a mercenary hunting monsters and criminals. He had skills worthy of the Platinum rank, but his incapacity to grow his Aura further made it impossible for him to rank up.
And that was without counting the fear people had for the White Plague.
One day, Javier met him. A rising star who appeared out of nowhere in the Northern Town, a madman who had dared stand up to the Baron and slaughtered monsters day and night for three months. People who met him described him with many names: the Grinning Demon, the Crazy Hero, the Slaughterer...But eventually, only one stuck to him.
The Devil''s Hand. Javier had never met someone like Glenn. He had something...different about him, something otherworldly. But beyond that, Javier could feel it.
Glenn couldn''t be affected by the White Plague. Javier had no idea of how the curse was transmitted to others, but the day he met Glenn, he learned that indeed, some were resistant to it. After that...Javier was captured by the Heart of Darkness and suffered from a second curse. A nameless seed of Corruption that was planted in him when he was saved by Glenn and the others.
Even today, Javier could still remember the Voice that spoke to him back then. It allowed him to survive, and it wanted one thing.
"Watch him."
And so, Javier complied. He couldn''t refuse the Voice''s orders, and he had no intention to. Something was drawing him to the Devil''s Hand. He went with him, slaying monsters and living incredible adventures. Soon enough, his dreams of accomplishing mythical achievements were fulfilled: they fought evil cults, stopped an evil god''s descent, and destroyed enemy camps. Glenn''s party was one of the most famous in the Fringe, and one quickly rising among the Bourgeoisie too.
Javier did not doubt that Glenn would eventually reach the top of King''s Rise, and become like these legends in stories. Someone whose name would never be erased by time.
Unfortunately, he wouldn''t be there to see that. The second they put a step into the Ink Dunes, Javier felt it. A sensation similar to what he felt that day when he was cursed with the seed of Corruption. He guided the group, making them trust him even more, and drew in the being similar to him.
At first, he only wanted to see what that being was, how it could be so similar to him, but then...He felt it. An order of the Voice, to leave the Heart alone and destroy Glenn''s party. To kill the brother and sister who just found each other again. That time, Javier almost obeyed this nonsensical order, but something he had never expected happened. The curse of the White Plague fought back against the Corruption. It pushed back against the order and gave him the freedom he so deeply desired.
He then made his choice. Glenn and the others...they were dear to him. After he was cursed with Corruption, the White Plague progressed to the third stage, stealing his voice forever. His emotions were similarly sealed by the Corruption, and his mind was practically controlled by the Voice. Despite that, they were all good to him, treating him as one of their own, their most loyal friend. And he was supposed to betray them?
For the first time in a long, long while, Javier felt rage. He fought back against the Voice''s orders alongside the White Plague, destroyed the evil of the Heart of Darkness, and swallowed the Seed. He then took control of the ancient machine and expelled Glenn and the others. Thankfully, they ran away without asking for explanations. Eventually, the White Plague lost the fight to Corruption, and Javier lost his mind.
He became one with the ancient machine, fought against the Titan that fell from the sky and lost. His bodyno, the machine was reduced to scraps, and Javier was abandoned in the black sand, his carcass burnt to a crisp. His entire being had been destroyed. The Corruption was gone, purged by the Titan''s attack.
There was nothing left.
Or so he thought.
Javier was kneeling in the black sand, staring at the starry sky above. The twin moons were shining their light on him as if to mock him. He glanced down and looked at what he was holding in his right hand. A pearl of dark green evil, sealed and twirling angrily.
There was a time when Javier wouldn''t have been able to resist its curse.
But that time was over. Javier crushed the pearl, destroying the last remnants of the Corruption. A tear slowly fell off his face and onto the black sand.
The White Plague had never been a curse. It was a Trial.
"Rise, Hunter. Rise, and cleanse this world." A kind, gentle voice whispered to him in the wind. Javier wiped the tear off and stood up. He looked in the Dark Wall''s direction and shook his head.
"No, now is not the time..." He muttered. He clenched his fists and instead turned his direction to the Ink Dunes. He had work to do.
For the first time in many years, Javier''s lips curved upward.
And he smiled.
248. Snowstorm
''If there was one thing that wasn''t on my Bingo card, it certainly was that,'' Glenn thought as he floated above a particularly annoyed Knight, using Gravity Manipulation to hold himself at a safe distance from the jagged rocks and the exhausted members of the expedition.
It had already been three days since this foolish rescue operation had started. They were currently still climbing the Dark Wall, proceeding from one dangerously high mountain pass to another. Thankfully, there had been little to no attacks from the wildlife, aside from these five-meter-tall night owls. Those had been quite annoying, even if they provided quite an impressive amount of calories and proteins.
''Can''t you just leave them behind and go by yourself?'' Diamanes suggested, bored out of his mind.
Glenn sighed and shook his head, his arms crossed.
''No, I can''t do that. Because if I did, my contract with the other bastard would be void. That''d render all those struggles purposeless, and we can''t have that.''
''Lame~!''
Glenn ignored Diamanes complaints and turned his attention toward his sword. Nelg had been starting to get better little by little after his traumatic incident inside Jack''s Void Gate, but he still hadn''t recovered completely.
''How you''re doing?'' Glenn asked, hiding his worries as best he could.
"Better than ever," Nelg grumbled, "Still have a shit-ton of souls that I need to digest from that slaughter you committed during the W.O.R.M. incident. At least we have a nice view up here."
''I can''t refute that...'' Glenn admitted as he turned to look to the side. They were still on Munirp''s territory, and halfway to the top of the Dark Wall. The land stretched seemingly endlessly, with incredibly wide green plains and beautiful autumnal forests. They were more or less just spots of different greens in Glenn''s eyes, but they were still quite something.
"Sir Glenn!" Someone called out to him below, "We''re taking a break!"
Glenn grunted and rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, "Again?! It''s the fourth time today!"
He let himself land back on the mountainous floor, ignoring the jealousy and glares from the group of Seekers, led by Lioras Noli. These idiots were all Magis at the Fourth Circle, but somehow, their bodies were completely untrained. They could barely endure walking for half a day so for three days straight?
They looked like they were about to die.
''I''m thinking it might be the more efficient solution...'' Glenn thought, annoyed. They should have arrived much faster, but thanks to these losers, a week-long operation was slowly but surely transforming into a month-long slog.
At least, he wasn''t the only one thinking this way. He met up with Isadora Fierro, the one-eyed, fiery knight lady who was leading her squad of Knight-Mages. The Magi Brotherhood certainly had better standards than the Seekers.
"Aren''t the Seekers a subsidiary of the Brotherhood? A branch of the main organization?" Nelg pondered.
Glenn nodded. ''It''s probably thanks to that they dare be so arrogant. They rely on their "high level" and the fame of their organizations. And their spells...you''ve seen how they fight the monsters at night.''
''Haha, it''s like a concert!'' Diamanes suddenly laughed, ''They just keep on singing the same spells every night! Hey, they do that enough and I might become addicted to that sweet lullaby!''
Indeed, the Seekers had no training whatsoever in the Draconic School. They just chanted their spells, in the traditional, much easier-to-learn School of Words. Funnily enough, Glenn had only seenor rather, heard them using a single spell, all six of them, Lioras included. Scuta, Ferrum, Proiectum, and Ductu. Again, and again, for three nights in a row, these were the words used by these damned Seekers.
''I seriously wonder how they''re not bored of using that stuff,'' Glenn questioned. The spell was efficient, sure: it conjured guided spears of Mana that tracked its targets. It was quite useful to get rid of all the accursed owls, but still. It was quite monotonous.
The opposite of how Glenn viewed magic.
"Was the view great up there, Glenn?" Isadora asked familiarly with an annoyed tone.
Glenn scoffed and nodded in the direction of the panting Seekers, "It would have been even better if it weren''t for these dead weights."
The two had similar personalities, and it didn''t take long for them to hit it off. They were like two old friends that only met too late in life.
"You don''t say," Isadora grumbled as she rubbed her eyepatch, "I still don''t understand why the higher-ups wanted them so badly on this mission. I''m sure just us and Vilroy''s guys would have been enough for the job."
"I can''t agree more," Glenn sighed. Quite a few people were manning this expedition: in the Seeker group, five Magi at the Fourth Circle with Lioras who was leading them as an Expert Magi. Isadora was also an Expert Magi at the Fifth Circle but had a constitution rivaling Glenn''s. She only had two companions, Connor and Roman, who were at the higher end of the Fourth Circle. Finally, Vilroy Lancer, the representative of the Indigo Bureau, was leading a team entirely made up of Aura users, with three Crusaders and three Chevaliers. Vilroy himself was also a Crusader. That group, similarly to Isadora''s, was quite enjoying the way up the chain of mountains.
It was a force powerful enough to change the tides of the war, and yet, here they were, doing some mountaineering.
''What a life...'' Glenn rubbed his forehead. He sneaked a glance at the group of Seekers and whispered to Isadora, "Hey, what do you think we kick them off the mountain and hurry up to complete the rescue mission?"
Isadora looked at him for an instant before uttering in disbelief, "Glenn...are you reading in my mind? That''s exactly what I was thinking!"
They laughed a little less discreetly, ignoring the glares from the Seekers. It wasn''t like they cared whatsoever about them. They rested for another fifteen minutes before resuming the expedition. Glenn returned to his overwatch position, floating above the caravan with his Gravity Manipulation and keeping an eye on their surroundings.
Suddenly, he felt his Mana disappear helplessly and he landed harshly next to the expedition group.
"Wow! What the hell are you doing?!" The Seeker who had the misfortune to be below Glenn exclaimed spitefully. Glenn ignored him, his brows furrowed as he tried to cast his Gravity Manipulation again. He managed to float a meter up before the spell broke once again.
"Shit," He cursed in his beard before turning toward the group, "Do you guys have any flying spells? I think we''ve reached an area where they''re banned!"
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Isadora swore and channeled her Mana. A feathered pair of wings appeared in her back, taking her a single meter above the floor before disappearing in a flurry of blue particles, "Damn it. You''re right! Careful everyone, we''re in a no-fly zone!" She grabbed Connor''s arm and grimaced, "You''re taking care of checking the Mana density. Do an analysis every five minutes, and trade position with Roman when you''re at half-cap'', alright?"
Connor nodded without complaining, "Yes ma''am. Keep us safe."
Isadora scoffed and slapped him on the back, "Who do you take me for? Come on, take the lead."
Vilroy stepped in and pushed one of his Crusaders forward, "Allow this friend here to be with your boy, Isadora. Two is better than one."
Isadora shrugged. Connor and the Crusader went off at the front of the convoy, one to check for Mana and the other to guard him. Isadora noticed Glenn''s interested gaze and quickly explained.
"It''s not something you''d encounter in King''s Rise, but when expediting beyond the walls of the city, you need to check for Mana density in weird zones like this one. If flight magic is restrained, that means the Mana is affected by something. And it''d be quite bad if we ended up in an area with unusually low-density Mana. It wouldn''t incapacitate us, but it certainly would take us by surprise."
Her face hardened and she added with a serious tone, "That small moment of surprise can be the difference between life and death. Stay on your toes, Glenn."
The latter nodded, but not before adding with a smirk, "How professional. It''s admirable."
Isadora grinned, "Thanks. Now, stop flirting with me, and let''s get to work. And if you see these damned Seekers slacking, slap them, aye?"
Glenn shook his head, the corner of his lips curved upward, "I would have even without you asking."
''Am I sensing a budding relationship?'' Diamanes asked in an interested tone. Nelg grunted in curious agreement, also wondering where this stuff with Isadora was going. Glenn restrained a sigh and pressed his hand against his sword''s pommel.
''I just feel like she could be a really good friend, that''s all, okay?''
The two groans of disappointment that followed did nothing to undermine his morale. The expedition continued carefully, the setting sun casting one last purple light on them before leaving its place to the twin moons. The Seekers conjured semi-permanent light orbs to illuminate the path, their complaints about being exhausted and needing rest falling on deaf ears. Glenn could see that they had way more energy than they were admitting, and the rests they required were probably more out of pride or need to bother than anything else.
"How far are we?" Glenn asked Lioras Noli, the Seeker team leader. The latter verified a contraption similar to a Recorder and grimaced.
"There''s a good couple of kilometers left. If the mountains allow it, we''ll be there for the rise of the sun."
Nelg gasped, "Oh shit, he jinxed it, didn''t he?"
Glenn rolled his eyes, ''What do you think is going to happen? There are only two kilometers left, and the meteorological conditions are perfect. Why would you worry?''
He barely finished mentally replying that a delicate snowflake landed on his nose, pinching his skin with sharp coldness.
Nelg sighed heavily, "What did I say...?"
"Don''t make a mountain out of a snowflake..." Glenn muttered hopefully. Sure enough, it only took a few minutes for the wind to rise and the snow to pile up, burying the expedition in cold white.
"Seekers! Shelter!" Lioras ordered as he fought against the winds, his scholar''s robe fluttering violently. His subordinates didn''t waste any time complying and hurriedly conjured a big mud house on the ground, large enough to welcome the whole expedition. They all hurriedly took refuge inside, aside from Isadora, Glenn, and Vilroy Lancer.
"This...wasn''t supposed to happen," Vilroy muttered with a frown.
Glenn sighed and rubbed the back of his head, watching the snow piling up, "What''s the plan? We stay here and wait for the storm to clear out?"
Isadora grunted, "We''re going to lose a lot of time, but it''s preferable to suffering casualties. No matter how important the rescue target is, my team''s survival is still the top priority."
Vilroy nodded, "Agreed. We''ll rest here and wait for a day. If nothing changes after that..." He gritted his teeth, the tribal tattoos covering his face contorting with his expression, "...We''ll have to push through it. Let''s hope it doesn''t come to that."
Glenn sat on a conjured mud ledge and crossed his arms. The temperature had dropped sharply, without any warning, and yet he couldn''t say he was exactly cold. He could probably endure these conditions for a good week before suffering consequences from it.
''Every day, I want to thank the Thorn''s Church for this reinforced body, and every day, I refuse to do so,'' he thought with a smirk.
"What are you smiling about?" Isadora asked as she sat beside him.
Glenn shrugged, "I''m just happy that I''m not as weak to temperatures as I once was."
Isadora chuckled, "Ah, imagine being weak again. Can''t say I missed those times."
"For sure," Glenn agreed with a slight smile, "Still, isn''t scaring you a little? That we''re becoming so different from normal humans?"
Isadora looked at him for a moment. "Is it bothering you?"
Glenn shrugged once more, "Not really."
Isadora snorted, "Then why do you ask?"
"Just trying to chat."
The storm was so violent it almost felt like it was already night-time. Glenn verified his Exan-Egg, his eyes widening slightly when he found out that it was only 6 P.M. It certainly didn''t look to be that early, considering they couldn''t see further than the tip of their noses. Glenn and Isadora kept watch for a dozen hours before trading places with Lioras Noli and Vilroy Lancer. Glenn wasn''t exactly confident leaving his place to the scrawny Seeker, but oh well.
''I''m not going to refuse the opportunity to eat a bite and laze around,'' Glenn thought. This whole expedition was making less and less sense as time passed anyway. The team they were supposed to rescue was entirely composed of Seekers, yet Lioras'' team members seemed less than motivated to go save them in time. Had Glenn been the one leading this expedition, he would have taken the faster individuals and rushed up the Dark Wall without stopping.
''Surely it could have been done in less than a day, and yet...'' He sighed and looked at the Seekers happily discussing magic around a campfire, ''...here we are, enjoying the warmth while their colleagues might have already ended up in Doyle''s stomach.''
''I don''t think you''ll see him again,'' Diamanes commented dubiously, ''He clearly has been captured by that Laboratory and somewhat sealed, after all.''
Glenn moistened his lips and leaned back against a wall, ''I''d rather be paranoid and expect the worst.''
"Which is an excellent idea." Nelg complimented, in total agreement with his host.
Diamanes sighed, ''How boring...''
Six hours later, Lioras and Vilroy returned inside, their eyebrows creased.
"We need eyes," Vilroy said with a frown, "We heard something that wasn''t the storm, and it didn''t sound like these giant owls either."
Isadora was about to stand up but her colleagues, Connor and Roman stole the opportunity, hurriedly running out of the house. Seems like they were quite bored too. Three of Vilroy''s squad members also came out with them. The Seekers only sent out one member, the weakest among them.
"I guess we can continue chilling here, then..." Glenn yawned without a hint of concern. If the push came to shove, he would just blast the whole damn mountain anyway. It might be possible if he used Arcane Surge on his Gravitational Singularity. He wouldn''t have a drop of Mana left, but still.
That was an option.
"We''re going to sleep," The Seekers announced before raising a wall of mud between them and the other groups. Glenn shook his head at the ridiculous sight before slipping into Meditation. It wouldn''t do him any harm to be in top condition.
''Nelg, tell me if anything happens,'' He asked before going into his Mana Heart, observing the Milky Way and the four-star rings encircling it.
"Glenn..." Nelg uttered in a mix of awe and disbelief, "You might want to take a look at that."
''What?'' He promptly jumped out of his Meditation, wincing at the panicked shouts and the people running around.
"Where the hell did they go? Where the hell did my team members go?!?" Isadora shouted ragefully at Lioras Noli, who was trembling on the floor, terrified.
"What the hell is going on?" Glenn exclaimed as his Mana flared up, wondering if they had been attacked.
Isadora turned to him and pointed at the Seeker on the ground, "This fuckerthanks to him, Connor and Roman disappeared!"
"What do you mean, disappear?" Glenn repeated in confusion, "They''re Magis like me, they can''t just...pop out of existence."
Lioras yelped as he raised his hands defensively, "It''s...it''s not only them! Vilroy and the others also disappeared in the storm!"
"I''m the only one left!"
Glenn felt his blood turn to ice and his expression hardened. He drew out his sword and took a look out of the mud house, checking things out with his Mana Sight, but he couldn''t find anything out of the ordinary. A scream within the mud house made him promptly return inside.
The Seekers who had the wise idea of isolating themselves in a private room also disappeared.
Three days into the expedition, eleven members had disappeared without warning.
Personnel left? One Chevalier, two Crusaders, Lioras Noli, Isadora Fierron, and Glenn.
''Things are taking an interesting turn!'' Diamanes laughed wickedly.
Outside, the snowstorm raged even stronger. And it wasn''t showing any signs of calming down.
249. Great KFC Potential
"This doesn''t make any sense..." Glenn muttered, his hands on his waist as he looked at the now-empty room that previously housed all the Seekers. There was no sign of intrusion, no signs of a fight, no, it just appeared as if they magically vanished.
Lioras was sitting on a mud seat, his hands clasped and his legs nervous. He was muttering to himself while Isadora was pacing the room, her Mana twirling furiously around her. The Indigo Bureau''s fighters were also restless, wondering the next course of action.
Glenn grimaced before clapping his hands together, drawing the attention of everyone.
"First and foremost, please all shut up," He asked sternly. Lioras'' lips sealed shut and Isadora stopped moving, her arms crossed as she looked at him.
"I didn''t get on a first-name basis yet with you three, but better later than never, right?" He said as he turned to the three Aura users.
"Tom," replied the sole remaining Crusader, a serious fellow with a mean scar crossing his cold blue eyes.
"I''m Thomas," said the first knight, a gentler-looking individual with light armor and a whip hanging at his waist.
Call me Nora, said the last knight, a lady with a very katana-like weapon on her back. She had a silver piercing on her nose and a big wolf tattoo on her right arm.
"Great," Glenn said as the presentation was done. His left purple arm gleamed ominously, giving off a strangely threatening hue. Now, let''s think about all this. First, Lioras," he turned to the distraught scholar. Did you see anything? Vilroy mentioned hearing something strange before you all went outside. Can you tell us more?"
Lioras recovered his composure slightly and nodded, "Y...Yes, there..." He grimaced, "When Vilroy and were watching over the camp, we heard a sharp roar echo in the distance. It was something terrifying, the roar of a true predator."
He looked down and shivered, "It chilled me to the bone. When Vilroy heard it, he told me that this roar was probably an illusion, for it imitated the now-long disappeared dragons."
Glenn paused and his eyes shone with perceptible interest.
Dragons? Dragons!
''Ho-oh, this is making my blood boil!'' Glenn thought as the corner of his lips curved upward slightly.
Isadora noticed and angrily snapped at him, "Are you seriously grinning? My team members disappeared!"
"Sorry," Glenn cleared his throat and hurriedly dismissed his smile, "Got a little excited. It was inconsiderate of me. Now, back to the subject. After that, you called for more eyes to keep watch, and then everyone disappeared. Did you see anything, or maybe hear that roar again?" He asked Lioras.
The scholar shook his head as he rubbed his hands together, trembling, "I...I don''t know. I think the only reason I wasn''t...taken was because I was the closest to the conjured house. All the others weren''t that far either, and yet..." Lioras shook his head. Glenn rubbed his chin and looked at the room where the Seekers previously were.
For the people on the watch to disappear was one thing. But for those that were safely heating their asses inside the mud house to disappear too made things much more complicated.
"What about teleportation?" Glenn suddenly asked. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t see any other explanations. There was no other way for the Seekers to disappear without leaving behind a single trace.
Isadora shook her head, "That''s impossible. The only certainty with the Dark Wall is that teleportation is impossible in its area of effect. That''s why the only way to cross it is by foot, either by using the Black Gate or by climbing over the Dark Wall, which isn''t done easily. And there are magical detectors to alert the Dark Knights of any intrusion. They were alerted of this expedition, hence the lack of intervention on their part."
Glenn frowned, "And these detectors didn''t notice the damned Cube appearing inside the chain of mountains?"
Isadora paused and slowly creased her eyebrows, "That''s...an excellent question. They didn''t even ask us why we wanted to go up the Wall, they just wanted to know who was participating in the climb."
''That''s weird. Considering the size of the Blumar Cube containing the Laboratory, I''m certain it would have broken at least a dozen enchantments and set up twice as many alerts. Or do they just don''t care about it? Weird, very weird...'' Glenn pushed that thought for later and took a peek out of the mud house. The snowstorm wasn''t calming down, and nothing hinted at anything dangerous outside.
No animal howls, no "roars", nothing aside from the sharp wind and the snow falling.
"Lioras, Isadora, do any of you have a spell to detect presences nearby?" Glenn asked just in case.
Isadora shook her head, "I''m a battle mage. All of my spells are fighting spells, and I also have a few war spells too."
"Ditto," said Lioras with a dejected expression, "I mostly possess fighting spells, alongside some related to the Seeker line of work, to evaluate the age of things or stuff like that."
"Fucking useless then..." Glenn blurted out without a hint of shame, a scowl on his face.
"Lioras, don''t your Seekers also have that balise we can follow? Check that out with your Recorder."
The scholar''s eyes lit up, "Of course! Why didn''t I think of that?"
"Because you''re fucking incompetent..." Isadora muttered with disdain as she looked at the snowstorm with Glenn.
"This..." Lioras gasped, shocked, "They''re at the same location as the team we''re trying to rescue!"
Glenn froze.
"Oh. That is not good news," he remarked as a pearl of sweat beaded down his forehead.
Lioras frowned with an anxious smile, "What...what do you mean?"
Glenn stretched and made his joints crack, "That means that whatever captured Vilroy and the others is also the same thing that both moved the Cube and kept the team we were supposed to rescue."
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
He sighed and sent a hopeful prayer to Onnea, before adding, "And there''s only one entity that I know of that is related to the Cube and has the strength to capture so many powerful people at once. And it''s called the Lightbringer."
Lioras, Isadora, and the Aura users fell silent, their faces paling and their expressions hardened. Glenn nodded at their reaction.
"Yes, we are all in deep shit. Whatever the previous team did in the Cube, if it freed the Lightbringer of his seal, then we are fucked. Very, very fucked. Well, no, you are all fucked, while I will happily go seal back that bastard, and hopefully breakthrough."
Isadora jumped forward, her eyes blazing with fury, "I''m coming with you. I refuse to leave my team members behind to the claws of some ancient, disgusting monster"
"Oh no," Glenn interrupted her, "He''s actually very handsome, just a little cannibal on the edges."
Lioras gasped, "What?"
Glenn waved his hand dismissively and looked at the Aura users, "What will you guys be doing? I''m taking Lioras with me no matter what because I need their location, but what about you?"
Tom and Thomas exchanged a glance.
"We''ll go back and report how things turned out to our superiors," Thomas finally said, "It''s the standard protocol in these sorts of situations."
Nora snorted, "That''ll be without me. I''ve been looking for an opportunity to become a Saint for longer than I can remember now. Maybe this will be it."
Thomas nodded respectfully, "Of course, you''re free to do so. Please survive, Nora. You''re a nice colleague."
She rolled her eyes, "You guys are Chevaliersworry about your ass instead of mine. You are the ones who need protection."
"Wait, wait, why don''t I have my say in this matter?" Lioras implored, terrified, "I...I''m a team leader, alright? Heywhy don''t I give you my Recorder to Miss Isadora and go back with them?"
Glenn slapped him in the back with a wide grin, "Come on Mr. Noli, don''t act like a fool. We all know this thing is hard-coded so that only you can use it."
Lioras winced and made one last desperate attempt, "Pretty please? I really don''t want to die"
Glenn turned away from him and grinned widely, his Mana twirling around his purple arm excitedly, "We''re all set. Tom, Thomas, good luck. I hope you won''t get snatched on the way down."
Thomas chuckled, "At least we will serve as a distraction then. Good luck to you too, Sir Glenn. Your bravery is quite inspiring, despite your young age."
Glenn shook his head with a wicked laugh, "Ah, it''s not bravery, just unconsciousness and a slight hint of madness. You should try it from time to time, it''s very fun."
''At least you assume it,'' Diamanes commented with a snarky tone. Nelg sighed deeply, not even bothering to add anything. On these last words, the two Chevaliers left them, dashing away while using Aura to power their movements. They were substantially faster than when they were previously walking with the slow-ass Seekers.
"Lioras, do you have any mobility spell?" Glenn asked as he kept his eyes on the blizzard.
Lioras blinked and shook his head, "Why would I have a mobility spell? I''m not a fighter?"
Glenn sighed and turned to Isadora and Nora, "Wanna draw lots for who carries this idiot?"
The two ladies grunted. In the end, it was Glenn who was stuck with the useless scholar. The four began moving out at high speed, following Lioras'' compass to guide them through the snowstorm. Flight spells were deactivated, but nothing stopped them from just launching themselves at high speed in certain directions. Glenn was using his Gravity Manipulation like a sling, and himself as a projectile. He was carrying Lioras like a sack of potatoes, not even bothering to accord a shred of dignity to the poor man.
"You know," Glenn screamed over the winds and the chaotic snowstorm, "I still don''t understand why you Seekers came on the expedition! You''re all so fucking useless!"
Lioras grimaced as he swatted away a lump of snow, "It''s an agreement with the upper echelons of the Order! There is a VIP in the team we''re supposed to rescue, who also made a deal with the Magi Brotherhood as insurance in case things went wrong! That''s why so many people are on this expedition!"
Glenn hummed in agreement, "That makes a lot more sense suddenly!"
The snowstorm only grew in intensity, forcing Isadora and Nora to stick closer to Glenn to follow him. Unfortunately, they didn''t possess Mana Sight or a similar magical sense and were forced to rely on their sight. If they lost view of Glenn, they were as good as dead in this damned blizzard.
"We''re almost there!" Lioras shouted with mixed fear and excitement. Glenn''s grin only grew wider as he kept on pushing through the storm. He suddenly stopped, his feet buried deep in the snow.
"What''s going onhey!" The scholar yelped as Glenn threw him to the side.
"The hell is that...?" Glenn muttered under his breath, staring at a mass of Mana moving inconspicuously in the storm. It was bouncing up and down and sending trays of pale blue Mana toward the sky every ten seconds or so. It didn''t seem like it noticed the group, though.
Glenn raised a closed fist, which Isadora and Nora instantly understood as an enemy presence.
''I might be wrong, but I think that this thing is contributing to the poor weather,'' Diamanes commented with an interested tone, ''That Mana doesn''t look very high quality though, and weather magic is infamous for needing a lot of talent, Mana, and skills.''
"Since when do you know so much about weather spells?" Nelg asked a surprisingly very relevant question, but Diamanes completely ignored him. Glenn slowly unsheathed his longsword and changed its form to its greatsword. Without another second of hesitation, he hacked down with all his strength and used Cut & Pull to attack the Mana formation. His Mana Sight flared up as the Mana formation fell apart in two slices that flew in his direction.
"Brace yourselves," Glenn warned calmly as he cast the Saturn Rings on himself and used the Lord''s Shield to create a direct barrier between him and the incoming Mana masses. This power he stole from King''s Rise''s statues was quite convenient in these situations. It didn''t take long for the projectiles to crash harmlessly against his Lord''s Shield, splashing it red.
Glenn carefully dismissed the Lord''s Shield and observed the corpse of what he just slayed. It looked like a raptor, the dinosaur, and not the damned truck, but it had arms similar to humans in length. Its skin was pale, white, or a very light blue.
"What the hell is that?" He asked as Lioras scrambled next to him. Isadora and Nora also carefully stepped in, frowning at the corpse''s sight.
"I''ve never seen anything like it," Isadora shook her head. Nora clicked her tongue and looked away, searching through the blizzard for more threats. Lioras adjusted his glasses position as he gently pried open the jaws of the creature.
"Uhm..." He scratched the top of his head and laughed nervously, "I think that might be a Dragonoid. Haha, but that''s absurd, right?" Lioras stared at them with a lost look before shaking his head.
"No, I''m probably wrong. Dragonoids have been extinct for as long as dragons, and they''re not..." He grimaced as he glanced back at the corpse, "...so bestial. They should have an intellectual capacity equal to us, and a much more humanoid body. But that jaw...It''s almost perfectly similar to what I''ve seen in records and corpses we''ve been able to find."
Glenn looked at the scholar with surprise, "Damn, so you know your stuff? You are not entirely useless then!"
Lioras glared at him, "Why would you assume I am?"
To that Glenn didn''t even bother replying.
"Now, the million-credit question is...what the hell would an alleged Dragonoid be doing on top of the Dark Wall, and why would it mess with the weather?" Nora asked, her katana''s blade gleaming sharply as snow piled on it.
Glenn glanced at their surroundings and frowned. There were a few more similar Mana formations that he could now attribute to the Dragonoids. He swung his sword a few more times, killing half a dozen of them and Cut & Pulling their corpses back to his position. They were exact copies of the first specimen he slaughtered, with no noticeable differences.
The snowstorm seemed to calm down slightly, letting through a thin ray of moonlight.
"If we push through for a bit more, we should find them!" Lioras exclaimed as he looked at his Recorder. He pointed forward, "We just need to go this way!"
Glenn looked in said direction, just in time for the snowstorm to clear up slightly more and reveal two sharp mountain cols joining together to create a massive cavern.
''Oh yeah, this smells like adventure alright!'' Diamanes exclaimed excitedly.
Glenn gritted his teeth and picked Lioras up, "Let''s keep going in, we''re almost there." He looked at the two ladies and grinned wickedly.
"I hope you''re ready to slay a dragon because I certainly am."
250. Thats A Lot of Wasted Meat
Glenn, Isadora, Nora and Lioras continued to proceed in the direction indicated by the Recorder. They soon found themselves in an area rid of snow, a cavern with a tall ceiling barely letting through the moonlight. They had killed a few more snow Dragonoids, as Lioras had so adeptly decided to call them. They weren''t very dangerous as fighters, and would just run around like headless chickens when spotted. Their only missions seemed to be contributing to the bad weather, which got better and better the more Dragonoids they killed.
''Wouldn''t it be more fitting to call them headless lizards?'' Diamanes commented very seriously. Glenn didn''t even bother giving him a thought.
"The signal is getting closer and closer," Lioras said, his eyes glued to the Recorder, "We should be able to find something soon. Well, I''m saying we, but maybe you guys should leave me here before heading in"
"I''ll be taking the vanguard," Nora declared, disregarding the scholar''s fears, "If anything happens that I can''t handle, we quickly retreat and plan things out again, alright?"
Glenn and Isadora nodded. They carefully stepped inside the cavern, Lioras'' magical light guiding their steps.
"Keep in mind that flight magic is still restricted," Isadora warned as they walked. The cavern was immense and reminiscent of what Glenn saw at the Blumar Quarry. No Blumar Golems were there threatening to wake up, though, so that was a plus.
"I think I prefer the easily slaughtered magical, snow dinosaurs to the stone golems impervious to damage," Nelg grunted. Glenn scoffed. He couldn''t agree more. The cavern had a slight downward slope leading into the depths of the Dark Wall, hinting that they were indeed going in the right direction.
"Just to ask, does anyone here have any mastery over space magic?" Glenn suddenly asked, wondering about something. His companions shook their heads.
"Vilroy Lancer was the only one with spells related to space, and he''s gone," Lioras mentioned dejectedly before frowning, "But why would you want any of us to cast space magic here? The Dark Wall makes it"
Impossible, yes, I know, Glenn finished the scholar''s sentence with a hint of annoyance, But think about it. How else could a gigantic cube high enough to obscure the sky move inside a mountain range? There''s no other explanation... He rubbed his forehead and grimaced. Although I wonder how the Blumar that makes up the Cube didn''t disrupt the teleportation - or whatever magical means it used to suddenly get here, Glenn added, rolling his eyes at the dubious expressions of his companions.
"Shh!" Nora suddenly stopped, her raised fist clenched. Glenn stood back, his sword drawn and his Mana ready to party. Lioras made his magical light leave the group''s surroundings, instead lighting up a random place inside the cavern. Glenn couldn''t help but salute this decision. Ordinarily, the normal reaction would have been to dismiss the magical light in a realistically stupid attempt to hide the group''s presence. But by instead relocating the light, it would fool the incoming supposed enemy, while allowing the group the continued use of their sight.
''Quite the birds with one stone, if I dared so say myself,'' Glenn thought. Once again, he was surprised by Lioras'' sudden sound decisions. Maybe he was more than just an annoying, cowardly scholar. Glenn glanced at the latter and found him trembling from head to toe, his Mana twirling with poor control.
''... Never mind,'' Glenn restrained a sigh and activated his Mana Sight.
''How did he even reach the Fifth Circle?'' Diamanes asked in disbelief, ''That guy is spineless!''
''That''s a question for later. Now...'' Glenn gazed through the cavern''s darkness, his eyes widening slightly as he found a massive mass of Mana moving with muffled steps in the direction of Lioras''s light. Nora tensed up, exhaling a silent breath. The steam coming out of her mouth was peerlessly white, her eyes steeled with a single goal. She broke her katana''s seal and grabbed the hilt tightly.
Glenn couldn''t even try to see her move next. She flashed forward instantly, a snow-like Aura cutting through the darkness like a lighthouse''s light in the storm.
GRAWR!!!
The wounded beast roared, shaking their surroundings with incredible strength.
"It sounds quite angry," Nelg noticed calmly.
"Fuck!" Nora cursed, "Scholar, we need light NOW!"
Lioras didn''t even waste a second replying, "Magnus Lux Solis!"
The cavern filled up with warm light, chasing away every shadow and revealing a massive scaled beast whose head was dangling dangerously off its neck. A large gushing wound was carved at the base of its collar, permeated with snow-like Aura. Despite the Aura, the flesh grew back like nothing, and the scaled beast roared once again. It looked...very much like a dragon, a wingless dragon. It had two small black eyes that were angrily squinting at Nora.
It was large enough to fill a good part of the cavern. Glenn glanced behind it and almost gasped. There were two massive doors on the floor, the same ones he passed with Sahro to find the Laboratory.
There was no doubt. This was the same Cube they found back in the Blumar Quarry. And for some reason, a massive lizard was keeping it safe. Nora sheathed her katana back as she jumped to safety, ready for another dash and slice. Isadora''s eyes lit up with powerful Mana as a big sword of light appeared above her head. She grabbed the ethereal hilt and suddenly slashed down, sending a large blade of light hurling at the creature.
The giant lizard shrieked as Mana appeared around its jaws, forming an ethereal layer over them. The creature then bit on the incoming blade of light, shattering it as if it were glass. Nora dashed forward once more, cleanly cleaving through its left hind leg. The lizard used its large tail to keep it balanced and opened its mouth wide in Nora''s direction.
"Oh, my turn," Glenn suddenly realized. The corner of his lips curved upward slightly as he channeled his Mana into two spells at the same time. A Lord''s Shield appeared between Nora and the lizard, just in time to block the breath of white flames from the creature. The fire licked the Lord''s Shield, which only managed to hold on for a measly three seconds. Only, these few seconds were more than enough for Nora to reposition herself for another attack.
Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
"Requiem Saxum Restrictio!" Lioras chanted, conjuring thick stone pillars from the ground and ceiling that restrained the lizard''s movements. Isadora''s Mana exploded in a wave of burning light as it washed over the lizard, pale flames charring and melting its scales. The lizard roared in pain and slammed its front paws on the floor, destroying the stone pillar while using the opportunity to swipe its tail at Nora. The Aura user nimbly jumped over the tail before carving a big chunk out of it.
"Pebble, it''s on you," Glenn grinned as he finished empowering his tiny, probably-sentient stone with Sun''s Touch and Gravity Manipulation. The Shooting Star flew out in a ray of light as it cleanly pierced through the lizard''s skull with fiery strength. The lizard''s head exploded into smaller charred bits, the flesh struggling to keep up with the regeneration.
"Nice! All thanks to me, of course" Lioras exclaimed victoriously, only to be copiously ignored by the other fighters. Nora gritted her teeth and released her katana once again, slashing through the beast''s scales with close to no effort this time. Isadora''s feet lifted off the floor, her entire being empowered with Mana. She raised her hand and a hundred swords of light appeared in her back. With one, silent wave of her hand, she ordered them forward, piercing the beast in every possible part and pinning it to the ground.
"And for the finale!" Glenn''s grin only grew as he used one of his newest spells, Sword Grave. A good tenth of his Mana faded away as hundreds of swords exploded out of the ground and dug through the lizard''s belly, destroying its body completely. The shock made a huge chunk of the cavern fall on the creature, burying it.
Lioras yelped in horror, "Whatyou barbarians! Why do you keep raging at this poor beast?!?"
Glenn snorted and willed Nelg to change into his double-bladed axe form, "Look, scholar, and tell me if this is too much."
The lizard was missing most of its head, its limbs mostly separated from its shredded carcass, and yet it stood back up, breaking through the numerous magic swords stabbing it. Its flesh grew back at incredible speed as white flames appeared in its jaws once more. Glenn jumped forward, artificially increasing his weight with Gravity Manipulation and hacking down with all his strength, shutting down the lizard''s attempt. The effects of Cleave & Double It were instantly shown as chunks of the beast flew out in a gory show, the blood burnt off by the powerful Mana.
Under the scales, muscles, and bones, Glenn caught the glimmer of a concentration of incredibly pure Mana with his magical sight.
"There!" He exclaimed as he raised his axe once more. It was for naught though, as Isadora shot down another massive sword of burning light that opened the way to the concentration of Mana. Nora didn''t hesitate and lunged forward, the tip of her sword as peaceful as a falling snowflake, and yet as devastating as a raging snowstorm. The concentration of Mana exploded, and the lizard''s head finally fell, defeated.
"Well, that was a good warm-up!" Glenn declared with a wide smile as he cleaned the little blood that had touched his Imoogi suit with a quick Mundare. Lioras fell on his buttocks in awe.
"It...It wasn''t dead? Whathow?" He uttered, trembling.
Nora wiped her blade on a rag meant to this effect and snorted, "That just shows your lack of experience, scholar. Most beasts I fought have incredible regeneration powers. This one was no exception..." She frowned, "...Even though my Aura should have had more effect on stopping the healing process than it did. Incredibly potent healing factor..."
Isadora rubbed her eyepatch, her nose creased, "Meh. With how big that thing is, I thought we would have a harder time taking it down. I didn''t expect your spells to be so powerful and varied though, Glenn. It''s impressive."
Glenn laughed dismissively, "Try getting almost killed a hundred times, and you start picking up a few things."
Lioras shook the awe and confusion off and approached the beast''s corpse closer. He pried the half-destroyed jaws open with a small pillar of stone and frowned.
"Incredible..." He turned to the others and pointed back at the body, "I need to give it a sharper look, but I think this beast is the same species as the snow Dragonoids we met outside."
Nora grimaced, "No ball sack in sight. We might have just killed the brood mother of the shitty, little snow Dragonoids."
Lioras'' eyebrows creased as studied the corpse closer, taking out a small notebook and writing down observations. Glenn turned Nelg into his hand-axe shape when the latter stopped him.
"Wait. I think...yeah, you''ll have to do the rest without me, Glenn," Nelg warned, "I''m almost done digesting the souls back from the war, I''ll need some time to process it into another Circle."
Glenn nodded slowly, ''No problem. Do hurry, I don''t want to be stuck alone with the other idiot for too long.''
''Hey!'' Diamanes'' complaint fell on deaf ears.
"Will do. See you around," Nelg saluted before his presence faded away. Glenn exhaled slowly and gave a closer look at their surroundings. Of course, the main thing that was drawing his attention was the two massive Blumar doors on the floor some distance away. Unfortunately, unlike last time they were closed. Glenn could hardly imagine fighting off gravity to even pry open those two massive Blumar gates. In another corner of the cavern was a large nest built out of large and small bones, with broken eggshells littering it.
Isadora grimaced and crossed her arms, "Seems like the lizard and the snow Dragonoids could have been family. I wonder where the dad is."
Nora sighed, "That''s certainly a question worth keeping in mind. Lioras, can you come take a look at those doors?"
"One second!" The scholar replied as he finished taking notes of the massive, fire-spitting, wingless lizard. He then hurriedly scrambled to them while adjusting his glasses'' position.
"Yes, yes, what do we have here then?" He almost took a step onto the Blumar door but stopped himself at the last moment, "Ah. Blumar. So we did find the Cube. Excellent, even though I can''t say I''m exactly pleased to be forced to work within the action of that cursed material."
"The dislike is shared," Nora grunted. Glenn and Isadora nodded in agreement.
"How the hell are we going to open this, though?" Isadora asked as she glared at the two closed massive doors, "It''s not like we can use magic or Aura to open it up, after all. And I don''t doubt your strength Nora, but..."
Nora shook her head without hesitation, "Oh no, don''t even think about it. I didn''t reach almost a century of age to break my back on a goddamned Blumar door."
Glenn glanced at her in awe. ''She''s a century old? She barely looks forty!''
''Magic, Glenn, magic...why does it keep surprising you?'' Diamanes muttered tiredly.
Glenn''s lips curved upward, ''Isn''t that the essence of magic? To keep on surprising, again and again with how possible the impossible is?''
''How deep.''
"Let''s try and see if there''s another entry," Isadora declared, "If there isn''t, we''ll just have to think of how to create one. Whoever created that Cube of Blumar didn''t do it using magic after all. There has to be a way, maybe a manual one or something."
Glenn looked at the hand-axe hanging at his waist and pursed his lips.
He knew that Nelg had the capabilities of cutting through Blumar, but...no. This was too disgraceful to the sleeping weapon. To be used as a shovel when it could slay dragons and gods alike?
No, that''d be way too disrespectful, and abusive of Nelg''s trust.
''Digging through the Blumar with Nelg...No, that''s the very last option,'' decided Glenn. They still had a lot of the cavern to explore, maybe they could find something interesting.
''Hey, imagine if Nelg''s next form is a pickaxe?'' Diamanes suddenly laughed in his typical, sarcastic tone.
Glenn gritted his teeth, ''No, I''d rather not.''
251. My Disappointment is Immeasurable, and my Day is Ruined
"Glenn, check this out," Isadora called out to Glenn, who was crouching next to the giant lizard''s corpse, wondering which piece was the best to harvest and cook. He joined her and looked at the wall she was pointing at.
"My magic is perturbed around here, as if there was more Blumar," She said as she looked at the rock wall. Glenn couldn''t find anything different with it visually. It was dark stone, like most of the entire chain of mountains that were the Dark Wall.
"I can give it a try," He shrugged as he flicked a wave of Gravity Manipulation at the wall, ripping the dark stone off. He frowned as his spell was almost dispelled. Behind the stone, layer was indeed a thick vein of Blumar.
"Good find. How did you even think about doing that?" Glenn asked as he used his magic to free up the Blumar vein. It was strangely circular, like a big horizontal pillar wide enough to crush a few men side by side.
"Well, I have this spell to control Mana density, which indicated an incredibly low rate in this area. I threw in a small Lux, and then..." She nodded at the Blumar as her eyebrows creased, "But I didn''t expect it to be such a massive vein. And from the direction it''s headed, it almost looks like it''s connected to the Cube."
Glenn moistened his lips and grimaced, "Considering the Cube wasn''t initially here, it wouldn''t make sense for there to be connections to it in the Dark Wall. Unless the Cube brought these connections with it, and I just didn''t notice them before. Which is a scenario that definitely makes more sense."
Isadora sighed, "We can try to dig it out, but piercing it will be as tough as breaking through the Cube''s doors. Why the hell would there be so much Blumar here anyway?"
That''s the question, isn''t it? Glenn answered her words in assent. He unsheathed Nelg in his longsword form and split the Blumar. The sword cut through the deep-blue stone almost effortlessly, guided by Glenn''s increasingly expert hand. Isadora gasped, her jaw hanging low as she watched the supposedly toughest material being ridiculed by Glenn''s sword.
"Are you selling that weapon?" Isadora eventually asked as Glenn pulled his sword back to hack once more, "I''d be willing to pay you with every credit I have, and more. Hell, I''d even"
Her words were muffled when a sudden torrent of natural Mana burst out of the hole Glenn suddenly created in the Blumar pillar. Glenn and Isadora flew back, their defenses raised. The Mana eventually settled down to a standard amount, leaving Glenn and Isadora very confused.
"What the hell was that?" Lioras ran up to them in worry, interrupting his "extremely important researching process of the possible Dragonoid patriarch and dragon descendant". Nora also dashed next to them, her eyes sharp and her hand clenching her hilt.
Isadora pointed at the Blumar Glenn carved open and scowled, "Glenn cut that open"
"He cut what now?" Lioras'' eyes widened as he interrupted the one-eyed lady, "Isn''t that Blumar? How the hell did he cut that open without specialized equipment? Even a Saint would have a hard time cutting through that!"
Glenn gazed at the scholar before sweeping at the Blumar with his sword once again, cleanly cutting through another chunk. It was Lioras and Nora''s turn to watch, flabbergasted, as Glenn''s sword sliced the Blumar effortlessly. Nora rubbed her eyes in disbelief before pointing at the sword.
"How much? How much are you selling this for?" She asked in awe. Isadora''s expression hardened and she stepped forward.
"I asked first."
Lioras looked at the cut in the Blumar, adjusting his glasses'' position as he did so. "Incredible...The Seeker organization would also pay you much more than these two individuals, sir Glenn. What would be your asking price?"
Glenn looked at three of them for a long time, before throwing his sword in the air and making it disappear in a cloud of magical particles, drawing it back to safety inside his soul. Instantly, the scholar and the two ladies warrior''s expression changed to unparalleled disappointment.
"A soul weapon, of course..." Lioras shook his head, "I should have guessed. I did hear the rumors of the Smith creating another of these, but I never thought they were real. To think that it was in your hands, sir Glenn..." The scholar smiled dejectedly, "You''re truly fortunate."
Nora tsked and kicked a piece of stone away, "That means I can''t even kill you for it...Damn it!"
Strangely, Isadora had that same expression Nora bore.
''I think they were all ready to kill you for Nelg,'' Diamanes remarked, ''It''s slightly disheartening, but not surprising. They''re humans, after all.''
Glenn sighed and turned back to the Blumar vein, pillar, or whatever it truly was.
"Let''s concentrate on that, please," Glenn called out to his companions, who were still shaking their heads in dismay, "I thought I might have been mistaken when cutting through it, but no, this Blumar thing is hollow."
Lioras raised an eyebrow, "Hollow?" He approached his magical light closer to the opening in the Blumar, keeping it at a safe distance so that it wouldn''t be accidentally dispelled. Indeed, there was enough space inside the Blumar...vein, pillar, tunnel, whatever to let them enter it.
"Incredible...I''ve never heard of a naturally hollow Blumar formation..." Lioras gulped as he scribbled madly inside his notebook. Nora shook her head and slapped his back.
"That means it''s not natural, scholar. So calm down and ready yourself, because once we''re in there, it''s limited access to Aura and magic." She grumbled before jumping inside the opening. Lioras'' face paled slightly and he heavily swallowed before following her in. Isadora looked at Glenn and shrugged, before also going in. Glenn closed the procession, tensing up as he felt his hair standing on end from the Blumar''s influence.
''No big spells there! Hey, but is that the return of the mighty Sun Finger?'' Diamanes proclaimed with an exaggeratedly excited voice. Glenn didn''t even bother replying as his right arm began to suddenly glow with warm, sun-like light. Lioras, who was struggling to keep his Lux from dispelling made a relieved noise.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"Body casting...that''s rare in mages," Nora remarked.
Glenn gritted his teeth, tense, "Let''s just say I''ve already been in that situation before. Let me tell you: if Doyle Malory is out of his seal, and I''m still too weak to fight him, I''m running away without hesitation."
Nora and Isadora nodded, their expressions unchanging.
"Of course."
"That goes without saying."
Lioras blinked in confusion, "No, no, what do you mean you''re running away? What about me?"
"Aren''t you an Expert Magi?" Glenn retorted in an annoyed tone, "You''re one rank above me, please, have the skills that come with it."
The scholar whimpered, "Damn it, I knew I shouldn''t have accepted that promotion..."
The group continued through the Blumar tunnel without further conversations, their bodies tensing up and their fingers clenching their weapons tightly. Well, in Lioras'' case, it was mostly clenched on nothing. Isadora had a short saber she kept just in case. Nora had her katana, and Glenn, of course, had Nelg. The tunnel made a few turns until eventually stopping at a deep, dark hole that even Glenn''s Sun Touch couldn''t lighten.
"We jump in?" Nora proposed. Lioras gasped and hurriedly placed himself between the hole and the group, "Wait! No, we...we can''t just jump in like that! Miss Nora, we magi are not as resilient, our legs will certainly break if the fall is too highhhhhhhh!!!!" Lioras screamed as he was suddenly grabbed by Nora and pulled into the hole with her.
Isadora and Glenn exchanged a glance before following in. Glenn''s Sun Touch lit their way down perfectly, revealing that they fell right inside the Blumar Cube. Glenn hurriedly used Gravity Manipulation to slow his fall, until the proximity with the Blumar floor made it impossible. Isadora''s light wings also exploded in Mana particles when she got too close to the floor, around two meters away from it.
"Excellent," Nora said as she dusted her shoulders off. Lioras was kneeling on the floor, holding his chest in fear.
"By the Divine Sage..." He heaved as he looked up, unable to find the entry they came from, "Shouldn''t we have attached a rope to leave us with an exit route, at least?"
Glenn, Nora, and Isadora froze.
That... certainly would have been a good idea.
Huh.
''Oh well.''
"It''s too late for us to regret," Nora said as she corrected the position of her katana at her hilt, "Let us proceed and be done with this. Maybe we''ll manage to get out of here the same way the Cube landed here."
Isadora nodded, "That would be for the best. I hardly see us dig through the meters-thick Blumar walls with Glenn''s sword."
"Likewise," Glenn agreed, his eyes glued to something in the distance, "On the other hand, I have to say. This isn''t like before."
"What do you mean?" Lioras asked, finally done recovering from his fright. Glenn pointed at the glowing dome in the distance. The bronze construction had first been inert when Glenn and Sahro found it in the Blumar Quarry, but now, it was glowing with countless, intricated blue lines.
"Oh, it''s not supposed to glow?" Nora realized as she clenched her katana tighter.
Glenn nodded tensely, "That...might be a result of something we did back then to escape with my comrade. What that means is that I''m not exactly certain of how things will proceed from now on. Stay on your toes."
"I was already doing that without you asking," Isadora muttered, eyeing the structure suspiciously. The group approached the dome slowly, taking measured steps and verifying that there were no enemies present in the area. They eventually reached the dome''s entry. Glenn carefully stepped in, his boots echoing on the metal. The walls were run over by these blue energy lines, making it look like some sort of futuristic passage.
The others carefully followed him in, only to suddenly disappear. Glenn''s heart missed a beat as he turned on his feet, the exit closing out instantly.
"Fuck. What the fucking fuck." He blurted out, his mind racing to find an explanation. The others were teleported. But they were inside a Blumar structureand the Dark Wall was supposedly making teleportation impossible. Vilroy and the Seeker group also disappeared instantly, which confirmed his theory that they were teleported away. Where? That was an excellent question. Perhaps deeper inside the structure? Certainly, if he remembered correctly what Lioras'' Recorder indicated.
"We didn''t need these losers anyway," Diamanes sneered aloud, as serene as ever. Glenn drew a short breath and wrapped his fingers tighter around Nelg''s hilt.
"There was a robot-like voice back then..." Glenn muttered as he took one step after another inside the structure, "...And the Project: Sword of Damocles'' author mentioned transferring his consciousness into the Laboratory."
He paused and looked at the ceiling, before tentatively trying, "Hey?"
His voice echoed inside the bronze tunnel. Glenn clicked his tongue and resumed his exploration. He soon came across the same intersection that he did back then. The left passage was closed at the end, while the right led to Doyle Malory''s prison.
"Maybe try the left passage?" Diamanes proposed, "Now that there is power coursing through the system, maybe the door will be opened?"
Glenn nodded, "That''s what I''m thinking too. And I''d honestly love nothing more but to push the eventuality of a meeting with the Lightbringer to as late as possible."
"Oh, come on, I thought you were excited to have an incredible opponent to fight!" Diamanes exclaimed in disappointment.
"That was until I remembered that I can''t even breakthrough because of the damned Blumar in this place. Fuck, let''s hope that monster is still inside his seal and not moving," He sent a short prayer to Onnea and proceeded into the left hallway, guided by the blue energy lines. Only the sound of his boots stepping on the cold metal echoed in the structure, making each moment increasingly more unbearable. Glenn wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead.
"It feels like something really bad is going to happen, somehow?" Glenn whispered, shivering.
"Why are you whispering?" Diamanes asked.
"Why not?"
"..."
Glenn eventually reached the end of the hallway, where the same door that blocked him and Sahro still was. Glenn pursed his lips and sighed heavily.
"I should have known..." He was about to turn back but the door suddenly clicked. Glenn frowned and took a closer look at it, wondering what made the noise, until the gate clicked even more. The bronze-like metal that was definitely not bronze slid down, revealing the room beyond. Glenn''s mouth took on the shape of an o.
"Oh-ho..." He curiously peeked his head inside the room, wondering what was hidden there. There were countless things in the room, be it worktables, bookshelves, alchemical instruments, and engineering tools, but they were nothing compared to the centerpiece. All the blue energy lines connected into one single point, a gently pulsing metal chair.
And sitting on that chair, connected to it through metal tubes, was a man. Well, no, it was humanoid, but not even a single part of it was human in reality. Its body was a balanced mix of metal and Blumar, forming a delicate yet intimidating human-sized and shaped frame. An ancient yet sleek masterpiece that inspired respect for its maker and awe for its design.
[PRESENCE IDENTIFIED: LOADING CONSCIOUSNESS IN PROJECT GUNDAM] The robot voice that Glenn heard back when he was expelled from the Laboratory echoed once again all around him from dissimulated speakers. Glenn took a step back, his sword tightly clenched.
"Fuck me..." He gulped heavily as he watched the robot light up with blue energy and stand up from his metal chair.
//So I am once again...
The robot looked at its metal, Blumar limbs and shook its head. Its face was rigid, incapable of expressing anything. He glanced at Glenn.
//Ah...Old friend...
It spoke in an emotional voice, taking a single step in Glenn''s direction.
Only to fall to its knees and deactivate.
Glenn blinked.
"What?"
"What?" He repeated, unable to believe what just happened, "What?"
The teleportation of his colleagues, the mysterious presence in the dome, a fucking cool, ancient sentient robot with probably all the knowledge in the world, and it just...didn''t have any battery left?
What?
252. The Gundam Project
"No, no, you can''t just die on me like that!" Glenn despaired as he went and kicked the robot. Sadly, it did nothing to bring back the blue energy that animated it.
"Fuck!" He raised his fist angrily at the metaphorical sky before sitting on the floor and sighing.
"Damn it..."
"Well, that was disappointing," Diamanes stated placidly. Glenn almost stabbed his left hand from frustration.
"No shit," Glenn shook his head and groaned, "Man, I thought I was about to find out about some incredible secret or something. Sigh..."
"Well, I don''t know about you, but I''m certainly interested in the contents of this room," Diamanes mentioned curiously. Glenn''s eyes lit back up, and he hurriedly stood, his gaze passing over the Laboratory''s room.
"I''m pretty sure the other expedition members are in the other room, but they might as well wait, right?" Glenn said aloud, trying to justify himself to no one, "The Laboratory so far hasn''t appeared as a very antagonistic being, after all."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Diamanes commented without much care, "Not like you sleep much at all."
"Meditation is the best thing."
"Sure, sure. Now, let''s see what we have here!"
Glenn rubbed his hands together and approached one of the bookshelves, only for the thundering robotic voice to ring once again.
[ERROR. CONSCIOUSNESS CORRUPTED. ANALYSING...]
The young man looked up at the ceiling before shrugging and returning to his exploration, "Sure, sure, analyze all you want. I''ll be right here waiting for you to maybe work, alright?" He replied to the machine. Only the mechanical sounds of cogs seemed to be listening to him.
"Hmm...Studies of minerals by...no, I won''t even try pronouncing that name. Whatever...Crossbreeding and analysis of genetic modifications on sapient beings. Huh. That''s a long title."
Glenn checked one book after the other, finding all sorts of strange and specialized studies, written by authors forgotten by time. There was nothing that really picked his interest, though.
...That didn''t stop him from shoving all the books in his dimensional pouch, of course.
"I mean it''s free," Glenn defended himself as he felt the sting of Diamanes'' gaze.
"It is," Diamanes agreed, "I just wonder what you''re going to do with these books if you won''t be reading them."
Glenn rubbed his chin, "...I''m sure there''s a bookshelf or two that needs some books to fill them. And who knows, maybe there''s some forbidden knowledge hidden in here that might help me one day?"
"You could always just sell them to the most fortunate and watch the chaos that follows," Diamanes suggested as he grinned widely, "As you did with the information about the Lightbringer! Look at all the fun it created!"
"The mess, you mean?" Glenn corrected him, "Well, it''s not out of the question to just sell those. I don''t really give that much of a shit about the world''s safety..." He trailed off as he suddenly remembered something.
His sister was living in this world he had a hard time caring about. And he had made quite a few friends there too.
"Huh." Glenn couldn''t help but blurt out in realization.
"What?"
"I just understood that I need to care about the world''s safety."
"Oh, you just have your monthly hero complex, nothing too important. Let''s keep on searching," Diamanes dismissed him. Glenn chuckled and happily obliged.
[ANALYSING...SOLUTION FOUND. PURGING EMOTIONAL CENTER. PURGING CORRUPTED DATA. PURGING IN PROGRESS...PLEASE PATIENT.]
"Hey, you heard that Diamanes? It''s purging!"
"Lucky them! Hey, what''s that blueprint lying there?"
Glenn continued snatching as much stuff as he could from the Laboratory, shoving blueprints, alchemical instruments, strange unidentified mixtures in vials, and anything that looked remotely valuable. He stopped in front of a solid oak desk, opening its drawers and finding them completely empty except for a singular sealed envelope. The wax seal was blank, empty of any stamp.
"Hmm..." Glenn broke off the seal and pulled out the envelope''s contents. It was a drawing, a pretty good sketch of a good-looking man. He had long, straight hair that reached to his knees, sharp eyes, and an angular jaw that gave him a serious look. His ears were pointy, like those elves in common media back on Earth.
Glenn turned the sketch around, finding a note scribbled at its back.
"How does that look for a concept, brother? I tried to draw it based on those tales you told me from your homeland. Trust me, you''ll have no difficulty finding a "mate" with an appearance like this one! Just...don''t accidentally show your true self, alright? I mean, that''s your choice and all, but I don''t think any mortals can handle that thing of yours, haha!
Anyway, don''t forget to come visit me from time to time. Don''t bury yourself in your research too much. The God of ******** isn''t going anywhere, after all.
Signed: D."
"D?" Glenn repeated as he finished reading the note, "And why''s the name of that God erased?"
"I find it more interesting that the receptor of the drawing was trying to change his appearance," Diamanes commented with an interested tone, "What do you think the cause could be?"
Glenn moistened his lips, "Well, D pretty much gave us the reason. The Laboratory''s creatorI''ll just assume he was the one who received that letterwanted to procreate, and for that, he needs an attiring human appearance, I suppose? D awfully makes it sound like the Laboratory''s creator just has too big of a dick, though."
"That could be a real problem," Diamanes admitted, "If the Laboratory''s creator was a giant, like the size of the Cube hints at, that would make sense."
Glenn frowned and gestured at the rest of the room, "What about this place then? It''s clearly human-sized, so no, I don''t think that works out."
Diamanes smacked his lips, "Whatever. Why should we care anyway?"
Glenn forced an annoyed smile, "Hmm, I don''t know, maybe because these guys were discussing killing a god? They might have been important people, you know?"
"So what?" DIamanes scoffed, "From the state of this place, they''re dead. Or their consciousnesses have been shoved into a machine that struggles to house them, like that idiot behind us."
Glenn nodded, "I suppose that''s true. Still, aren''t you a little curious?"
Stolen story; please report.
"I am," Diamanes groaned, "But not enough to make me want to stay in this hole forever. Let''s just go to the other room and fight Doyle Malory again. That''ll be fun!"
"I guess that''s the last thing on our list," Glenn sighed. He might as well try to ask some questions to the ancient monster if he was unsealed. Maybe he had an idea about who was the creator of Project: Sword of Damocles, the engineer behind the birth of the Blumar.
//Unnecessary.
The robot''s voice echoed behind Glenn, interrupting his thoughts. He turned around to see the human-robot stand and walk back to his modest throne, the blue lines of energy shining once more.
Glenn glanced at his left, purple hand before approaching the robot, his longsword ready to slice at any moment.
//Lower your sword, meatbag. I have no ill intention towards you.
The robot remained still as his voice rang all around Glenn. The latter frowned before dismissing his weapon back into his soul.
"...So you are alive, in the end. I suppose that the "purging" process succeeded?" Glenn said, his eyebrows creased as he stopped at a reasonable distance from the robot.
//Correct. The Core took care of the corruption of the data concerning the entity "Sevirox".
The robot tilted its metal head to the side, two diodes of blue lights shining to imitate eyes on its face. Glenn bit on his lower lip, thinking.
Sevirox...Sevirox...who was that?
''Why does it feel like I already heard that name somewhere?'' pondered Glenn, something tugging at his chest. It felt like it was really important, but he couldn''t remember.
''No, no, you''re right, it''s also familiar to me,'' Diamanes commented, also trying to dig through his memory to find the source of that name.
"Sevirox? So...the creator of this laboratory is called Sevirox, right," Glenn tried to confirm.
//Correct. The Core''s creator, on his last days, attempted to transfer his consciousness into the Core''s computer, but the data ended up too corrupted to be used. A purge was necessary for the successful start-up of this frame.*
//The data lost concerned critical memories, the emotional center, the personality center, and ninety-five percent of the knowledge repository.
Glenn crossed his arms, "So there''s practically nothing left of this...Sevirox, right?"
//Correct.
"I don''t understand," Glenn muttered confusedly, "Why the hell are you telling me all this?"
The robot looked at Glenn and paused for a few seconds before replying.
//The reboot of the Core and sealing of the ''Source Specimen'' gave two individuals the highest accreditation possible to the Core''s System. Only the Original Creator could override the directives of the entities identified as "Glenn" and "Sahro".
Glenn blinked, "Wait, what does that mean?"
"Hah! Hahaha!" Diamanes suddenly laughed out loud, "Hahaha! Incredible! That means this whole Laboratory is under you and Sahro''s control!"
Glenn looked at his left hand, momentarily at a loss, "For real?"
//The symbiotic entity in your left hand is correct. The individual identified as "Glenn" currently possesses the authorization level of Descendant. The individual identified as Sahro currently possesses the authorization level of"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Glenn waved his hand dismissively, interrupting the machine. He paused and looked at the robot once more, "Wait, Descendant? That''s a strange choice of denomination for an authorization level."
//Unit ''Gundam'' does not currently possess the data to explain this choice of denomination. Would you like me to run a simulation to find a plausible explanation?
Glenn shook his head and rubbed his temples, "No, no. Huh...What can you tell me about that Sevirox? Who was he?"
The robot seemed to search through his data bank.
//Information about the individual identified as Sevirox is not accessible currently. Authorization level: Creator is required to access this information.
Glenn sighed, "Alright then, hmm...What about my colleagues that came with me?"
//The Descendant''s servants have been safely extracted and placed into a secure-containing area. I have identified an enemy presence among them which required immediate quarantine. They are not harmed, physically or mentally.
A wide holographic screen suddenly appeared above the robot, showing the expedition members trying to break through a Blumar cell.
"Good. I won''t be returning alone from this damned expedition," Glenn smiled, only for his expression to harden, "Wait, what do you mean enemy presence?"
//...
The robot seemed to struggle to find a reply.
//The user ''Sevirox'' flagged multiple presences to be contained on sight for future experimentation. The enemy presence identified among the Descendant''s servants is associated with the Epinos, God of Pain and Redemption.
Glenn froze, his mind processing the information he just received.
What?
There was a Thorn''s Church cultist amid the expedition?
"Oh. Oh-ho. Ohohoh." The corner of Glenn''s lips curved upward wickedly as a purple hue came off his left arm.
"Robot"
//Please refer to this unit by the code name: Gundam.
"...Sure, Gundam. Is there a way to isolate the enemy from the other expedition members?" Glenn inquired.
//It is possible to create a separate containment zone. Processing the command right away...
The ground shook slightly, startling Glenn. He watched in genuine awe as a cage of Blumar suddenly formed from the floor and appeared before him. A man suddenly appeared within the cage and teleported in. He looked around in fright, his eyes lighting up when he recognized Glenn. He was one of the Seekers who was with Lioras.
"Ah, Sir Glenn! Thank God you''re there! Please, help me out!" The cultist pleaded. Glenn gazed at him coldly as he approached the cage''s bars.
"Tell me, whose God are you thanking exactly?" Glenn hissed through his teeth as his Mana twirled around him despite the Blumar''s restrictions.
The cultist froze, his jaws opening wide. He crawled back to the end of the cage, as far away from Glenn as possible.
"H...How?"
Glenn grinned widely and pointed at the robot sitting in his futuristic metal chair nearby, "Got myself a new friend that can differentiate trash from normal people."
The trembling man looked at the robot, before slowly recovering his calm. His lips curved upward in a disturbing smile as the Divinity of the Thorn''s Church suddenly exploded from within him. Glenn jumped back, Nelg drawn in his hand-axe form.
The man''s head spun at a full 360-degree angle, cracking with a disgusting sound. His eyes, nose, and mouth leaked with thick, dark green matter.
"Well, if...isn''t 3333. It''s been...while. Me?" The possessed man spoke with incomprehensible words, his mouth contorting weirdly.
Glenn raised an eyebrow and glanced at Gundam.
"Hey, I''m not the only one who''s seeing this, right? Is it me or there is a bad connection for whatever divine presence is in there?
Gundam made a similar sound to a scoff, surprisingly.
//Correct. The outward layer of Blumar acts as an interference for all energies, be it Mana, Aura, or Divinity. The entity known as Epinos doesn''t have any influence in this place.
//Only those attuned to the Core can bypass the restrictions of the Blumar.
The possessed man trembled, struggling to speak before eventually crumbling down. He just collapsed in a pool of dark green blood, unable to relay the message of his master.
Glenn snorted, "Huh. Hey, is there any way for me to be attuned to the Core so that I can also bypass the Blumar?
//Impossible. The Descendant must continue the Creator''s mission: destroy the Gods and the world known as the Limbo. Attunement to the Core would make this mission impossible. Only the Gundam unit is equipped with the capabilities of attuning with the Core and bypassing the Blumar.
"Ah. Too bad," Glenn shrugged.
"That would have been quite useful, though," Diamanes remarked, "Imagine being the only one in the world who is not affected by the sole anti-magic material? That would be an incredible advantage."
"I guess. But you heard the manrobot"
//Please refer to this unit by its code name Gundam.
"...Sigh...You get what I mean," Glenn gave up. He gave one last glance at the cultist''s corpse and grimaced.
"Gundam, could you get rid of"
The Blumar cage and the body both disappeared as if they had never existed. Glenn paused before nodding in acknowledgment.
"Speed, efficiency, we have it all with you. Excellent."
//Descendant, logistical analysis indicates that information on the ''Source Specimen'' should be shared. Are you authorizing the data transfer?
The robot politely asked. Glenn''s expression hardened. The ''Source Specimen'' the robot was referring to was undoubtedly Doyle Malory, the Lightbringer.
"Sure, what can you tell me about this fucker?"
//The entity self-identifies as the Lightbringer, Doyle Malory, the One Who Shall End This World, a Fallen One. He is imbued with the blessings of seven divinities and is considered an extremely important threat. The Core''s data bank indicates that he is at the level commonly referred to among humans as ''Newborn Ruler''.
//This entity is currently being used as an energy source for the Core. The data bank also indicates that the ''Source Specimen'' entered the Core in search of a way to kill divine entities. This unit has identified a profound grudge for all the known and unknown gods of the world known as the Limbo.
"A god hater...that does make sense, considering the tangent he went on back when he presented himself." Glenn nodded. That was a good thing to know. If he ever needed to throw a dog at Epinos one day, maybe he could just free Doyle Malory. It''s not like he had any way to just get rid of that guy anyway. Might as well find some use out of him.
"He''s already used as an energy source, though?" Diamanes remarked.
Glenn shrugged, "Tomato, to-mah-to. I''m certain we can find other...morally acceptable energy sources for the Core if the push came to shove."
Gundam shook his robotic head, disagreeing.
//Correction. The ''Source Specimen'' has been identified as a world-threatening level. Using him as an energy source is a relatively low punishment for the crimes against humanity he committed.
Glenn raised his hands placatingly, "Sure if you say so. We won''t be freeing him anytime soon, so don''t worry about it.
//This unit is incapable of worrying.
"...Right."
253. Fake-Out
"Anyway, Gundam, can you confirm that you can teleport everyone in the Core and its surroundings? How far can you teleport someone?" Glenn asked the robot, a plan forming in his mind.
//The Core''s current capabilities allow for dimensional transport at a maximum distance of fifty kilometers. This capability will be reduced depending on the number of individuals to transport and suffer from a variable cooldown time.
"Hmm...Is that why you didn''t teleport me inside the Core directly?"
//Incorrect. The Core''s computer was unable to teleport you due to the protocols concerning individuals with the Descendant status. Immediate observation was necessary, which ended up in the booting of the Gundam project to better approach the situation.
"What about my colleagues? Why did you leave Lioras, Nora, and Isadora with me?" Glenn questioned curiously.
//The Core''s computer evaluated that the extermination of the indigenous mutation nearby would be done more efficiently with the three aforementioned individuals assisting the Descendant.
"Hah! The robot says you couldn''t have done it yourself!" Diamanes exclaimed mockingly.
//Incorrect.
The robot turned to Glenn''s left, purple arm.
//The Descendant has been evaluated to possess sufficient abilities to destroy the mutated lifeform. The three individuals assisting him only made the process more efficient.
Glenn grinned as he glared at Diamanes, "Well, well, well. You heard Gundam. Apologize and acknowledge your mistake, Diamanes."
"Tsk."
The robot watched them bicker only to interrupt them.
//Descendant. What should I do with the other meat bags contained in this facility?
Glenn rubbed his chin, "Can you teleport them close to the Black Gate? Wait, no, they''ll go crazy if I don''t go with them."
"Why wouldn''t you go?" Diamanes asked curiously, "It''s not like anything is keeping you there, besides this idiot robot. It''s not like you''re going to fight again anyway..."
//Incorrect.
The robot corrected Diamanes once again with an emotionless voice. The entity gritted his teeth, increasingly more annoyed by the speaking tin-can.
//The Descendant''s assistance is required to maintain the safety of the Core and get rid of the second mutated lifeform. Maintenance of the "Source Specimen" is also required.
Glenn rubbed his eyes and scoffed, "Maintenance? What kind of maintenance am I supposed to do on the Lightbringer? And what second mutated lifeform?"
The robot remained silent for a moment before responding. //The Descendant''s worries are unnecessary. Gundam has calculated this would be in the best interest of the Core and the Descendant to take care of both of these issues alone, as soon as possible. I will proceed with the expulsion of the uninvited meat bags in three...two"
"Wait!" Glenn stopped him, raising his hands as he scrambled his brains for a plan, "Hey, do you have any way to create a communication channel, between here and...let''s say, my place back in King''s Rise?"
Gundam processed the question, before raising its futuristically mechanical hand. A Blumar pillar rose from the floor with a black, sleek metal bracelet.
//This unit has taken the liberty to analyze the workings of the "Recorder" the individual known as Lioras possesses and created something similar. This will allow for flawless communication between the Core and any place in the world.
Glenn whistled as he took the bracelet, impressed. He almost wanted to try it on but shook his head, instead slipping it in his pocket, "Alright, alright, I have a plan, but you have to cooperate, Gundam."
//The Descendant''s wish is my command.
"How corny." Diamanes couldn''t help but mutter in contempt.
Glenn closed his eyes and tried to rub his headache away.
"Sigh..."
***
''Damn it...why did it have to go so badly?''
Vilroy Lancer, the Indigo Bureau representative, was holding his head in dismay. He exhaled heavily, striving to maintain his usual mask of professionalism. Once the Bureau Indigo had received information on a forgotten piece of history, the Lightbringer, it didn''t waste a second in selling it to the highest bidding organization. The little intel they had about it was enough to assure them that they had hit the jackpot with that information. If it was indeed true, they could maybe find knowledge from the Epoch of the Gods.
The Seekers chose to build an expedition to investigate this relic of the old ages, led by a higher-up of the organization. Of course, said higher-up had to be connected with the Magi Brotherhood at an intimate level, making it impossible to just sweep this incident under the rug. When the first expedition disappeared, the Seekers were first held responsible, followed by the Indigo Bureau. All in all, only the Magi Brotherhood''s task force wasn''t forced to be here against their will.
The only difference between the Indigo Bureau and the Seekers was that the first had some sort of professional integrity. They might not have wanted to be part of the second expedition, but now that they were, they might as well do their best. The Seekers, in opposite, had sent the most expendable bastards they could find. Only Lioras was relatively capable, if his cowardice was ignored of course.
Thankfully, things seemed to be set to go well. Isadora and her teammates were well known to be incredibly capable, and they had even successfully recruited the newest rising star of King''s Rise, Glenn the Devil''s Hand. The young man had an impressive record even though their records of his existence only connect back to a year or so ago. His growth rate was explosivewhich wouldn''t be impossible if he had the support of a well-known noble family or connections to some sort of obscure evil orders.
But no, Glenn had no such connections, had a personal vendetta against the Thorn''s Church, and hated anything remotely evil.
"Fuck..." Even with all these precautions, this damned expedition still went to shit. Vilroy leaned back against the cold Blumar, ignoring the disagreeable sensation caused by the natural disruption of the material.
"Let me out!" One of the Seekers was banging his fists against the walls of Blumar, "I can''t stand tight spaces! Please!"
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Isadora groaned, "For the love of Onnea, shut the fuck up before I do it myself."
The Seeker looked at her before turning back to the wall and insisting even further. "I have a wife and kids! Please, free me from thisugh!"
Isadora smirked as she watched the annoying man fall to the ground, incapacitated. Nora sighed in relief.
"Thank you. I was almost set on cutting this idiot in half," The katana-wielding warrior admitted. Vilroy looked at Lioras, who was too busy studying the Blumar imprisoning them to even be worried.
"How fascinating...I''ve never seen Blumar used like this...It''s like it''s been molded to be in the shape of a room. So interesting..." The scholar was scribbling madly in his notebook, probably to push away his fear of being imprisoned there forever. Vilroy turned to Isadora, who was approaching him. The one-eyed warrior rubbed her eyepatch and winced. The small light hanging at the ceiling trembled slightly, but nothing else happened.
"This doesn''t smell good, Vilroy. Glenn hasn''t been teleported with us. Nobody has the tools to carve a way out that much Blumar. Thankfully, we have enough food for us..." She glanced at the first expedition who were camping in one corner of the Blumar prison and mostly ignoring them, "...and them, but it won''t last long. We need a plan, and we need it quickly"
"I agree!" Someone exclaimed from the first expedition. Vilroy and Isadora restrained a sigh as someone came toward them. With a protruding stomach, chubby hands, an over-the-top suit, and dirty pale blond hair that reached to his shoulders, Donald, the fifth son of the Mortelli family was as annoying as ever. Lioras was annoying, but it was bearable. He was just a little too scared for his life.
Donald Mortelli, on the other hand, was another kind entirely.
"Vilroy, Lady Isadora, you should have done your work better!" He exclaimed with an accusatory finger. Isadora and Vilroy looked at him emptily.
"I made sure to let my dad know about this expedition, and yet, they only send you?! That''s disappointing! If we ever go back, trust me that my father will know about how this went!" Donald fumed, spattering all over the two adults.
"O- Of course, Sir Mortelli. Please know that our Indigo Bureau is terribly sorry about the current course of events, and will do our best to compensate Count Mortelli," Vilroy bowed respectfully as he spoke through his clenched teeth. He just needed to bear with it for now. Perhaps an opportunity to silence the kid will present itself.
"Miss Isadora, I believe you also have some excuses to present," Donald said with a wicked smile, "But I shall be courteous and spare you and your colleagues the wrath of my father. You only need to warm my bed ton"
Isadora didn''t have time to curse the brat because Glenn suddenly teleported into the room, covered in blood and soot. He crashed into Donald, silencing him.
"Glenn!" Isadora exclaimed as she rushed to his side. The Devil''s Hand grunted as he pushed himself back up and raised his sword.
"Shit, it''s going to be there soon!" He shouted before turning back and clenching a small black bracelet. A gate suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, pulsing with energy.
"Get the hell out now! I''ll hold it back for now!"
The Blumar prison suddenly shook as the roar of an ancient beast echoed around them. Donald was the first to throw himself into the gate, closely followed by Lioras and the Seekers.
"We can fight with you Glenn" Isadora tried only for Glenn''s body to flare up with Mana. The Blumar was disrupting it and should have made it impossible to cast a spell, but somehow, Glenn seemed to have enough Mana to literally brute-force the disruption.
"No, you can''t," Glenn gritted his teeth as he wiped the blood off his face. He glanced at the bracelet and tossed it to Isadora with a grin, "But you can give that to my sister. Make sure she slips it on, alright?"
Isadora wanted to ask why, but another roar echoed in the prison, shaking them down.
"Everyone, with me!" Vilroy barked before jumping inside the gate, followed by his colleagues at the Indigo Bureau.
***
Isadora stared at the bracelet, failing to detect any connection between the gate and the item. Her colleagues looked at her worriedly.
"Let''s get going, Isadora. We can''t do anything anyway. We might as well save ourselves..."
Isadora clenched her teeth, "Fine, go!" She pushed her two teammates inside the Gate before casting one last glance at Glenn. The latter looked back and suddenly relaxed.
"Ah, you''re the only one left? Good. Yeah, no worries, I got it in the bag."
Isadora blushed and she almost cursed at him, "You fucker! Are you serious?"
Glenn blinked, "What?"
"You...I thought I was going to abandon you to die! Argh, I hate it!" She shrieked, "You better have an excellent explanation!"
"I''ll give you one," He waved dismissively, "Now, off you go. And make sure to get that bracelet to my sister!"
Isadora shook her head and jumped inside the gate. Glenn grinned widely as Gundam closed the dimensional passage. He reappeared next to the robot a second later, transported without him asking.
"Thank you for humoring me, Gundam." He smiled as he used a quick Mundare to get rid of the fake blood and soot covering him.
//This deceitful operation was unnecessary. The Descendant doesn''t need a presence in the rest of the world to accomplish his tasks.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyway, let''s get to what''s truly interesting. What''s the most urgent order on hand? The...mutated thingy, or Doyle Malory?"
"I know you''re accepting the robot''s missions because it might allow you to break through, but I still hate it," sighed Diamanes aloud. The robot didn''t seem to care an iota for the entity''s presence.
//Dealing with the mutated lifeform is the priority. His mutation is disturbing the measuring instruments of the Core, and interrupting the Initialisation process.
"Initialisation process? What''s that?" Glenn looked back at the robot.
//Error. Your status doesn''t allow you to know this information. Please resume your activities.
"...I think I''m starting to hate that Sevirox guy," Glenn muttered.
"Oh, don''t say that. I''m sure he was a totally sane scientist with just a little project of ending the world. Nothing that original, considering the state of the world," Diamanes jeered, earning a smirk from his host.
//Teleportation is in cooldown. Ready yourselves for transportation in 237 seconds.
"Wait, can''t I get some more information about the enemy?" Glenn protested, but the robot didn''t seem to care whatsoever.
"See? This fucker just acts like a friend, when in fact, it''s just using you to some probably nefarious project. That Initialisation process? Trust me, it sounds way too ominous." Diamanes hissed. Glenn raised an eyebrow and looked at his left hand in consternation.
"Are you fucking jealous, Diamanes? Please tell me you are, so I can have a good laugh."
Diamanes snorted, "...Is that it? Did you finally lose your mind? Yeepie, we might get some actual bloodbath now!"
Glenn sighed again.
''Why am I even trying.''
//Teleportation in five, four, three...
"Shit, already?" Glenn tensed up. Gundam continued with his countdown emotionlessly.
//Two, one...Teleportation is in process.
Glenn''s surroundings melted and twisted, changing to a damp, dark cave.
"Sun''s Touch..." Glenn muttered as his right arm lit up with golden light. He knew he was going to become the main target for whatever was creeping in the dark, but whatever. If Gundam had judged it possible to take care of that "mutated lifeform" with just Glenn, then he was probably fine.
Chomp. Chomp.
Glenn stopped and slowly turned around. That was the sound of something eating.
Something with very large jaws.
Glenn''s eyes stopped on the scaly wall mere meters away from him. Dark scales reflected the light like a mirage, seemingly trying to melt within the shadows. The whole cave seemed to be made of these scales. Glenn gulped and donned his Imoogi Suit, feeling the enchanted fabric tighten around his skin. They were deep enough beneath the ground for its attributes to take effect.
Glenn gulped as a triangle-shaped head the size of a building turned toward him. One giant, red reptilian eye looked down on him in contempt, its vertical pupil gleaming with an evil hue.
''...I think we found daddy dragonoid,'' Diamanes whispered excitedly.
"No shit." Glenn hissed through his teeth as he summoned his Mana. The creature exhaled a foul breath that smelled of carrion and death, mixed with sulfur. The cave trembled as the beast moved, its scales rattling against the stone walls.
This was no fucking dragonoid.
254. Livestream
Ting!
Lina looked up from her books curiously.
"OH! You fuck! Concentrate on the damned book before I shove it up your ass!" Manalok shrieked as he slammed a particularly painful tome on her head. Lina yelped and almost conjured a spell at her damned teacher, but restrained herself.
"Yeah, you better learn all this bullshit so I can go back to being lazy. May Onnea be damned if your brother forces me to teach you for another month!" Manalok swore as he leaned back in his seat and threw his feet on the table. Lina sighed and looked back at the Fifth Edition of this shit is boring. No matter how hard she tried, she could hardly force herself to learn about another world''s history. Earth''s lore was already messy as it was, why did she need to learn another one?
Ting!
Lina looked up once again, but this time she managed to swiftly dodge Manalok''s attack.
"You little...! Stop looking for distractions!" Manalok commanded.
"Teach, someone is waiting at the gate, and nobody but us is there. It''s not polite to leave them hanging!" She tried to convince him. The odd, green-haired scholar grimaced and waved his hand dismissively.
"Tch, it''s not like I''ll be able to cram more information in your tiny brain if whoever idiot is ringing at the house keeps at it. Go, and hurry the hell up!"
Lina wasted no time running away from the study and her exasperating teacher. She dashed outside, sighing in relief as she was finally freed from her lessons.
''Milady, a good education is absolutely necessary for your survival. Please that this a little more seriously,'' Tiamanes scolded her, but Lina dismissed him with a thought.
''My brain is going to melt if I keep at it. Anyway, let''s see who my savior is...''
She headed for the gate, where two individuals were waitinga scary-looking man with tribal tattoos covering his face, and an auntie with an eyepatch and a cool armor.
"Huh...Can I help you?" Lina tried as she approached them, staying at a safe distance from the gate.
The two exchanged a glance before the man stepped closer. "My name is Vilroy Lancer, and this is Isadora Fierro. We worked with your brother on a recent rescue mission."
Lina frowned, "My brother? Where the hell is he then?"
Vilroy bit on his lip and looked away in shame while Isadora remained silent.
"Glenn...He sacrificed himself to let us all escape." Vilroy finally said in a whisper. Lina felt her blood turn to ice.
"What? What do you mean, he sacrificed himself?" She repeated, her eyes widening in fear.
"We...We left him behind against an incredibly powerful opponent that mastered teleportation despite the interference of Blumar. He was a great man." Vilroy muttered respectfully. Isadora rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
Lina shook her head, "No, you don''t make sense. Wait, did you see him die? Like, his body or something?"
"N...No?"
"Then that''s good enough for me. What else do you want?" Lina spat as she pushed back against her uneasiness and worries.
''My brother is a living legend. No way he died off on his own when I barely just reunited with him. They''re just messing with me,'' She thought as she hid her trembling hands behind her back.
Vilroy held out three decorated envelopes with heavy gold filigranes, "This is the reward that was promised to Sir Glenn. After all, he did complete his mission. Two recommendation letters to Exan''s University, and one more to compensate for his...Disappearance. We''ve also transferred the credits to his account with the Gold Church."
Lina took the letters with a blank gaze when Isadora grabbed her hand. She slipped on a black metal bracelet on her wrist and whispered.
"This is your brother''s gift. Try injecting Mana in it whenever you''re alone, alright?"
Lina nodded slowly as she pulled her hand back. Vilroy bowed slightly while Isadora gave her a reassuring smile. The pair left without another word, their tasks fulfilled. Lina dragged her feet back into the mansion, not hearing Tiamanes'' worried voice or her irate teacher. She went to her room and locked the door behind her. She sat on her bed and looked at the sleek, black metal bracelet as she fought back against her tears.
She inspired deeply, trying to quell the turmoil in her heart. She sent one small, hopeless strand of Mana inside the bracelet, not expecting much. A holographic screen suddenly appeared in front of her, thundering with the sound of explosions. She jumped back in surprise, her shock worsening when she realized that her brother was on the screen, fighting against some sort of massive mass of darkness coiled in the shadows.
"What the fuck?" She grabbed the holographic screen with both hands, "Hey, Glenn! You fucker! Can you hear me?"
The figure running around with magic twirling around him suddenly froze and looked at the ceiling.
"What theLina? How did you...ah, did you get the bracelet?"
Lina nodded, the weight on her heart fading away as quickly as it appeared, "Yeah, that lady Isadora gave it to me." Her face suddenly turned as red as peonies as her anger replaced her precedent fear and worries.
"You fucker! I thought you were fucking dead!" She pointed an angry finger at the screen. Glenn scoffed and dodged the swooping mass of...scaled darkness?
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
''What the hell is he fighting?'' Lina couldn''t help but wonder.
"Listen, I''ll be honest with you, your thoughts might become reality if I don''t concentrate on thisoh shit."
A ray of bright red light suddenly carved through the screen and swallowed her brother. Lina held her breath, only for her to discover her brother unharmed, massive shields of Mana protecting him alongside rings of twirling energy reminiscent of Saturn''s rings.
"Phew! Anyway, Lina, keep that bracelet close to you. Once I''m done scaling this lizard, I''ll call you, alright? But right now"
Two devastating rays of white and orange merged as they fought back against the massive scaled shadow. Glenn wiped the sweat off his forehead as a great sword appeared in his right hand.
"Right now, I have to take care of that. Gundam, can you mute her or something?"
"What? Mute me? You fuck, don''t dodge my questions!" Lina angrily punched the holographic screen, only for her hand to go right through it. Her voice didn''t seem like it reached her brother''s ears. The girl clenched her fists angrily before sighing heavily.
"Milady, consider it as a good opportunity to properly evaluate your brother''s true skills. Surpassing him would be an excellent goal to set." Tiamanes proposed. Lina paused and smiled.
''Yeah, that''s a good idea.''
***
"Are you satisfied, now? Your dumb sister almost caused our death!" Diamanes exclaimed aloud. Glenn almost pierced his left hand right here and then but restrained himself.
"Diamanes, you shut the hell up! Nobody can insult my sister but me!"
"Fine, fine."
Glenn drew a short breath before using Gravity Manipulation to send himself above the swooping tail of the dragon. As it stood, killing an overgrown lizard was harder than it sounded. The young man channeled his Mana as he sent a massive Carbon Blade hurling at the dragon hiding in the shadows, but it barely managed to cut through its tough scales.
"You fucking lizard, I''m turning you into a Lacoste bag, I swear it!" Glenn cursed as threw multiple Lux balls in the corner of the caves, only for them to be snuffed out by the moving darkness. It seemed like the dragon had powers related to shadows or something because he refused to let any light exist. And Glenn''s Sun Touch was no exception.
The dragon''s jaws opened widely to try and gobble him up, but Glenn used an Earthquake to make the cave collapse on top of the dragon. A massive rock fell right on top of its scaly head, interrupting It.
ROARRR!!!
The beast''s roar sent Glenn to his knees, his body trembling from head to toe.
"Dragon Fear! Haha, even you can''t fight back against that!" Diamanes exclaimed victoriously.
"You bastard, you''re not helping!" Glenn hissed as he used Milena''s magic to charm himself. It was a bit of an idiotic attempt, as he only tried to kill off his fear, but strangely, it worked. Glenn shot back up on his feet, just in time to block another Dragon''s Breath. His Lord''s Shield broke one after the other, straining his Mana as he blocked the powerful attack. The stone melted under his feet and turned into burning magma.
Glenn exhaled and used Sword Grave and Hellzone at the same time, creating hundreds of burning swords that pierced through the dragon. The latter snuffed it out with a burst of Mana before throwing his entire body at Glenn.
"Holy fuck" Glenn hurriedly crossed his arms in front of him before the dragon made contact with him. There was no way to dodge, no way to block it, he could only do one thing.
Endure it.
Glenn''s body shot through the cave and violently hit a wall. The young man coughed out a thick lump of blood as he used C.P.R. to make sure his spine wasn''t broken. The pain from using the spell was indissociable from his broken bones anyway.
"Well, I think Pebble might help us there. Arcane Surge too." Diamanes proposed casually. Glenn coughed and pulled himself out of the rubble. His Sun''s Touch flickered, only to light up explosively and chase away the shadows. The dragon was revealed in all his splendora massive body now covered in small cuts and black broken scales.
"You know what? I actually have a better solution." Glenn grinned as he conjured his Mimic cape and retreated inside a crevasse. His Sun''s Touch disappeared, leaving the cave in complete darkness. The dragon''s red eyes watched Glenn retreat, before turning back to much on whatever he was previously eating.
"Boring! Go back and fight the hell out of him!" Diamanes commanded like a child. Glenn pressed his lips together and channeled his Mana.
"You see, I created a spell perfect for this kind of situation..." he muttered as he conjured a Flamebane Zone, "Hey, Diamanes. Do you think a dragon is susceptible to hypoxia?"
"You...Are you trying to put it to sleep?" Diamanes exclaimed in disbelief. Glenn remained silent and watched as the CO2 flooded the cave. The Flamebane Zone spell was pretty simple. Perfect to take care of a lot of targets without killing them, while also making it impossible for fires to light up.
"I mean, there''s no harm trying, right?" Glenn said with a shrug.
Diamanes clicked his tongue, "And there you are, taking the easy way out. I thought you wanted to break through, but I guess I''m wrong. And showing such a pitiful sight to your sister..."
Glenn froze. "Wait, she can still see what''s going on?"
That changed everything. Glenn dismissed the Flamebane Zone before it could have any sort of effect and jumped out of his hiding place. Mana flooded out of him as he cast Sun''s Touch once more, illuminating the cave fully and interrupting the dragon from eating. The latter turned back to Glenn as a thick cloud of ash erupted from its snout.
"Round two, you overgrown lizard," Glenn hissed as he conjured two Black Holes at once and combined them. The dragon''s reptilian eyes widened and it opened its jaws widely, a white flame brooding inside its throat. Glenn roared as he shot a Gravitational Singularity at the dragon, the latter countering with a destructive white fire Breath. The attacks collided violently, shaking the cave down with an incredible explosion.
The dragon intensified its breath, pushing through the Gravitational Singularity even though it kept on swallowing the white flames. Glenn grimaced as he felt his Mana dwindle. He pulled a small, jade-colored Pebble out of his breast pocket and clenched it tightly.
"It''s your turn to shine, Pebble..." Glenn muttered as he used Arcane Surge to channel whatever was left of his Mana in this next attack. He aimed precisely, the small stone pulsing with power. A blue hue covered it as Glenn channeled both Sun''s Touch and Gravity Manipulation into the projectile. Glenn exhaled heavily before finally casting the spell.
"Shooting Star." Pebble shot through the cave with a loud bang, shattering the sound barrier easily. The blue flames covering it erupted in a fiery show, piercing through the Gravitational Singularity and the Dragon''s Breath. The dragon didn''t even have the time to blink. Pebble shot cleanly through its head.
Unbeknownst to Glenn, Pebble continued on his way for a few minutes, shooting out of the Dark Wall and into the sky, leaving behind a blue fiery trail. Many children would make a wish that day.
The dragon stumbled on its paws, its jaw hanging loosely. Glenn fell to his knees, exhausted. He held himself on Nelg, thankful for the weapon even though he didn''t find much use with it against the dragon. The creature was bleeding profusely and shrieking in pain, but despite that, it kept its head high. Finally, it crumbled down and collapsed entirely, its body going limp.
"Phew...Dragon-Slayer...Now, that''s a title I can get behind..." Glenn muttered.
Diamanes grumbled. "Show-off."
"Fuck you."
255. Tickling the Bored Cannibal
Glenn exhaled a tired breath and pushed himself up. He glanced at the dragon''s corpse and couldn''t help but grin.
"Hehe...Hehehe!" He laughed uncontrollably, unable to believe his eyes.
''I killed a dragon! A dragon! An actual dragon!'' The realization was hitting him a little harder than he had expected. ''I actually feel like a hero now! Hahaha, Glenn the Dragonslayer, who slaughtered Bayle the Dread, hiding beneath the mountain!''
"How poetic. Don''t give dumb nicknames to that overgrown lizard," Diamanes groaned, "I can''t believe you didn''t break through despite fighting that thing. You really are talentless."
Glenn waved his hand''s comments dismissively, approaching the body curiously. The body was filling up the entire cave, its black scales reflecting the light of Glenn''s Sun Touch.
"Damn...dragon bone weapons, dragon scale armor, potions using the dragon''s heart...This is a gold mine..." Glenn muttered excitedly.
//Descendant.
Gundam''s voice echoed in the cave, startling Glenn.
"Ah, shit, I forgot you were here!" Glenn rubbed the back of his head and looked up. A holographic screen was still displayed against the cave''s ceiling, his sister''s face visible through the magical equivalent of a Zoom call. She looked at him with awe and amazement. Glenn grinned and flexed his biceps.
"See? That''s how strong your brother is! Haha, can''t say shit now, huh?"
Lina held her head in awe, her lips moving without a sound coming out. Glenn blinked, before cursing, "Shit, I forgot I muted you. Gundam" Sadly, Lina chose to cut the communication.
"Oh...Well, anyway," He shrugged and crossed his arms, "Gundam, could you give me a hand transporting the dragon''s body?"
//Descendant. This mutated lifeform is not a dragon. Do not disrespect the draconic legacy by insulting them this way.
The robot seemed particularly irritated at Glenn calling the ''mutated lifeform'' a dragon.
"Sorry, but what else is it supposed to be?" Glenn inquired as he kicked the lifeless body. Gundam took some time to process the question.
//It. Is. Not. A. Dragon. The robot repeated stubbornly.
Glenn sighed, "Alright, alright, then it isn''t a dragon. Could you still move that dr...lizard for me, Gundam?"
//Absolutely, Descendant. Please be patient during the downtime.
The robot seemed satisfied that Glenn had accepted his conditions. Glenn moistened his lips and continued to explore the cave. Shadows danced to the movements of his Sun''s Touch, chimeras of the battle that had just taken place in the cavern.
''I wonder, what was he eating for him to be so concentrated on it?'' He jumped over the dragon''s corpse and shone a light over the wall, finding a ruined vein of Blumar. Bite marks had carved through the dark blue stone, saliva covering most of it. It was the same kind of tube that Glenn and his colleagues had used to enter the Cube and access the Laboratory.
"Gundam, are there a lot of these Blumar veins in the Dark Wall?" Glenn asked aloud, only for the robot to remain silent.
"Maybe that''s how Blumar propagates. That would echo perfectly with what you read in the Project: Sword of Damocles notebook," commented Diamanes. Glenn rubbed his chin.
''It does make sense. But why...why does it feel like I''m missing something?'' Glenn didn''t get to ponder longer on the question as Gundam initialized the teleportation, transporting him back to the Core. The humanoid, sleek robot mechanically clapped with a lack of emotion comparable to Javier''s.
//Congratulations on taking care of the mutated lifeform. I have taken the liberty of storing the body in a temperature-controlled room."
"Perfect. I''ll take a bit of time to rest, and then I''ll go beat Doyle Malory up," Glenn said with a grunt as he sat on the floor. The Mana wasn''t as restrained in Gundam''s room, compared to the rest of the Cube. Maybe the robot was keeping away the Blumar''s disturbance for Glenn''s convenience. At most, it just felt like an area with low-density Mana.
//Acknowledged.
Glenn dove into Meditation, resting his strained Mana Heart and filling his reserves back up. His Milky Way was pulsing gently, the four Circles of stars humming in rhythm. He glanced at Nelg''s Black Sun, finding it as majestically ominous as ever. A first Circle was already spinning around it, and silver particles seemed to hint at a second one to be coming soon.
"Good, good..." Glenn sighed and looked back at his own Mana Heart.
''I can''t lag behind. Now...what do I need to break through to this damned Fifth Circle?''
It took an entire day for Glenn to recover his entire Mana capacity. The low-density Mana wasn''t helping, making the process thrice as long as usual. The young man opened his eyes and stretched with a pleased groan.
"Hgn...Alright, Gundam?"
//Descendant.
Glenn scratched the tip of his nose, "I''m expecting Doyle Malory to be much more dangerous than that previous lizard. Do I have any guarantee, or am I almost certainly heading to my death?"
//This unit is capable of teleporting you out of harm at any moment. Any major injuries the Descendant suffers in the process of accomplishing this task will be treated by the Core''s autonomous surgical station. Separated limbs can also be reattached, but I do not recommend testing this feature, as it leaves the user with deep side effects.
"Alright," Glenn shivered, "I''ll try to not lose an arm or a leg to the Lightbringer, then. Make sure to pull me out whenever it looks like I can''t handle it, Gundam. I really don''t want to end up crippled."
//Your wish is my command, Descendant.
Glenn brushed his hair back and pulled Nelg out his soul, changing it to his longsword form. "I''m ready whenever you are."
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
//Teleportation to the Source Specimen''s prison in three...two...one...
//Teleportation initialized.
Glenn felt his entire being shiver as a threatening presence washed over him. He hurriedly raised his sword and defenses, using both Lord''s Shield and the Saturn Rings. He was in an entirely white room, where the walls were indissociable from the floor or the ceiling. A handsome man was sitting on the floor with a bored expression. His blond hair flowed to his waist, longer than how they were back when Glenn first met him. His white coat was stained with dry blood, and his red shirt below was as impeccable as ever.
"Hmm?" Doyle Malory looked up in puzzlement.
"Fuck me..." Glenn cursed under his breath, already regretting this terrible idea.
''Oh, come on, don''t cower now! That''s your opportunity right there!'' Diamanes encouraged him with a wicked laugh. Glenn''s fingers wrapped tightly around his sword''s hilt as Mana twirled around the rest of his body.
"Wait...Aren''t you that boy, uh, Glenn, right?" Doyle asked, his beautiful blue eyes wide open. "What are you doing here?"
Glenn didn''t even bother replying, instead lunging forward for a stab. Countless swords erupted from under Doyle''s feet while Gravity Manipulation pushed down and restrained him.
"Hey, can you hear me? Ah...damn it, you''re probably not real..." Doyle waved his hand dismissively, not bothering to move from his seated position. The Sword Grave that Glenn conjured harmlessly broke against the Lightbringer''s skin, while Glenn''s sword stopped a mere inch from his neck. Doyle sighed and leaned back, staring at the ceiling dejectedly.
"Hmm...This damned box will eventually break, right? Nothing is eternal but the gods and me, after all..." He muttered, ignoring Glenn entirely. The latter clenched his teeth tightly and changed Nelg''s form to his double-bladed axe, ready to Cleave & Double It. His Mana surged as hacked at the Lightbringer''s throat with all his might. The blades of energy dispersed like plum blossoms petals as the weapon''s blade stopped once again an inch away from Doyle''s skin.
Doyle picked at his nose, not sparing Glenn a glance. The latter exhaled heavily.
"Alright, I guess you don''t give a shit about me. Let''s see you ignore this, then." He used Arcane Surge, consuming half of his entire Mana, and took out his secret card, Pebble. Doyle Malory''s eye finally twitched and turned to Glenn, but it was already too late. The Shooting Star crossed the sound barrier as it flew for the Lightbringer''s forehead, a trail of blue fire following behind it.
"Ah" Doyle tried speaking but the Pebble made contact with his forehead in an incredibly powerful explosion. Glenn flew back from the shockwave, his weapon held defensively in front of him.
"Aouch! Man, what the fwait, Glenn, you were real? Haha, incredible!" Doyle Malory''s laugh echoed from beyond the dust that had risen from the explosion. Glenn blinked in disbelief as the Lightbringer stepped out of the dust cloud while rubbing a small bruise on his forehead. Pebble reappeared right in front of Glenn and flew straight back into his breast pocket, not even bothering to hide its teleporting abilities or its sentience.
''Is Pebble scared? Fuck.''
//Extraction in five seconds. Please hold on, Descendant. Gundam''s voice suddenly thundered in the white prison. Doyle looked at the ceiling in disappointment.
"Oh, noooo, you''re already taking him away? Damn, and here I was, excited to speak with someone. Oh well." He turned away and laid back on the floor, unbothered. Glenn could only snort in awe, unable to believe what he was experiencing. A second later, he was back in the Core, Gundam looking at him emotionlessly.
"Damn it..." Glenn exhaled heavily. Even though Doyle Malory didn''t make a single move to threaten Glenn, or attack him, the latter still felt as if he just narrowly escaped death.
//This attempt has been judged as a failure. The robot''s judgmental voice echoed in the Core, emotionless and still annoying Glenn.
"Well, that was disappointing. Doyle didn''t even try ripping an arm off you!" Diamanes exclaimed in disbelief.
Glenn glared at his left hand, "What, would you rather have him rip me apart?"
"A thousand times yes, if that means you can reach the next Circle," stated the entity without a shred of hesitation. Glenn groaned and sat on the floor.
//Descendant, this unit requests for you to use all the means available to you to attack the following target. Gundam pointed at a Blumar dummy that suddenly rose from the floor. Glenn looked at the training target and sighed.
"What for?"
//I believe that I could assist in developing your abilities after analyzing your current skill set.
Glenn forced himself and looked at the dummy. "Sure, what do I have to lose anyway? It''s not like anything I threw at Doyle Malory worked, besides my Shooting Star."
"And here we go, another very boring moment. Wake me up when you fight against Doyle again, that''ll be a little more interesting than this bullshit." Diamanes complained as his presence faded away from Glenn''s mind. The latter took a deep breath, a rare peaceful silence reigning in his head.
Strangely, having multiple voices in his head was quite mentally taxing.
"Alright, let''s start with all my spells using my Specialty, Astral Sorcery," Glenn steeled himself as he channeled his Mana and conjured one spell after the other. Be it his Blackhole, his Implosion, or even the Gravitational Singularity, not even one of his spells managed to damage the Blumar dummy. Glenn knew he could cut through it with Nelg, but since Gundam requested that he show everything he had in stock, might as well start with the spells and finish on Nelg''s capacities.
He also showcased all the powers he took with Diamanes, from the Silence Curse to the Nitrogen, while even showing Divine Blessing or CPR. It took a few hours for Glenn to show everything he had from the sheer amount of spells he knew.
Glenn grunted as he cleaved down with his sword, cutting the damned Blumar dummy in two. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and stored his weapon back into his soul.
"Here," He glanced at the robot, "That''s all I have."
//Acknowledged. Analysis in process. Please rest in preparation for further testing. Gundam warned as he laid back in his steel, futuristic chair. Glenn sighed and sat on the floor, diving back into Meditation.
''This whole situation is seriously starting to get on my nerves...'' He thought as he recovered his Mana and stamina. Nelg showed no signs of waking up, and Diamanes refused to talk to him. He could call his sister, but to say what?
''She might as well call me first if she needs something,'' Glenn grinned as he left his Meditation. Once again, it took an entire day to recover his entire strength. Time was being spent at incredible speed doing whatever this was.
//Analysis complete. Descendant, my findings are unanimous. Gundam spoke with an ominous tone. Glenn frowned.
//Your current skill set is unbalanced and inefficient.
"Huh," Glenn crossed his arms, "How so?"
The robot made a holographic screen appear, replaying the scenes of Glenn using spells such as Earthquake, Hellzone, or even Solar Flare.
//Many of your spells overlap with each other and could be dismissed in favor of more versatile and powerful ones. I''d recommend focusing your efforts entirely on mastering a few powerful spells, such as Gravity Manipulation, Solar Flare, and Nitrogen Lance. All of your other spells can be created with correct control over these first three spells.
Glenn scoffed in disbelief, "What the hell are you talking about? How am I supposed to do that?"
Gundam didn''t let himself get intimidated.
//Choosing example: Earthquake. Spell is used to disrupt the structural stability of a physical area. Can be dismissed in favor of Gravity Manipulation.
"W- Wait, uh, what about Carbon Blade?"
//Carbon Blade. Spell condensing thin dust particles and sending them at high speed to create an extremely sharp projectile in a crescent shape. Can be dismissed in favor of Gravity Manipulation.
"Fuck..." Glenn rubbed his forehead, before grinning victoriously, "Ah, I know! What about Arcane Surge and Overload?"
//These two spells allow you to respectively go beyond the limit of your spells, and your Mana capacity. Both come with severe side effects and could be dismissed in favor of better control and efficiency. They do nothing that can''t be done with pure skill.
"Onnea be damned..." Glenn started seeing the logic in the robot''s words. But how the hell is getting rid of a few spells going to allow me to grow stronger? It makes no sense!
//This unit suggests purging your skill set to conserve only the strictly beneficial ones and improve those to the limit. This will allow the Descendant to attain power beyond his current rank and is the same method as Sevirox, the Creator.
Glenn perked up when he heard Gundam mention Sevirox.
"Whoever that guy was, he created Blumar and the Core. He was certainly stronger than Doyle Malory, so...If I can adopt his techniques to grow stronger..." The corner of Glenn''s lips curved upward wickedly.
"I can reach power that will rival even Exan! Haha, that''s what I''m talking about!" He laughed widely and turned to the robot.
"Gundam, where do we start?"
256. Spring Clean-Up
"Can''t I at least keep the Silence Curse? It''s technically my first spell"
//Unnecessary. Sound can be interfered with using your spell Gravity Manipulation at the right control
Glenn sighed heavily, cutting the robot off. He was in the process of sealing all the spells and powers that he could supposedly re-create with his specialty Astral Sorcery. The sealing process was rather simple, a basic mental operation. As long as he willed to stop himself from using certain spells, his Mana would remain stuck until he begged for the access back, which was a strangely long and annoying process as if nagging a stubborn person.
"So, let''s see what I got rid of," Glenn counted on his hands, "The Silence Curse, Earthquake, Sword Grave, Lion''s Roar, Carbon Blade, Lord''s Shield, Arcane Surge, and Overload. Phew...feels like I just lost access to many possibilities."
"Don''t forget about these two weird powers you took from the necromancer and the farmer''s statues," Diamanes remarked.
Glenn snorted, "I don''t know what they were for anyway! Might as well clean my spell repertoire entirely while I''m there."
//Excellent initiative, Descendant. The robot nodded in agreement.
//From what I''ve noticed when you tried out those spells, these only allowed you to explode corpses or control them with plant-based abilities. They''re filthy abilities that will only get in the way of true strength.
Glenn paused. ''What? Corpse explosion and...basically necromancy but with plants? Is this the Last of Us? What the fuck are those skills? Maybe I should keep them just in''
//Rein in your thoughts, Descendants. True power comes from the Specialty of one''s Mana Heart, and nothing else. Now that you have gotten rid of the bloat, dismiss every spell that isn''t pure in a similar way to your Gravity Manipulation.
"Spells that aren''t pure..." Glenn repeated slowly, "Could you explain why?"
//Explanation: Conceptualization can get in the way of creating truly powerful spells. Example: ''Solar Flare'' could be exchanged for the simpler but more powerful ''Sun''. Manipulation of ''Sun'' could achieve the same results as ''Solar Flare'' with better efficiency and lower Mana consumption.
Glenn''s mouth opened slightly. Wasn''t that a little too broad, though?
''What would happen if I just used "The Sun" as a spell? Isn''t that a little...absurd?''
Diamanes snickered. ''Actually, think about it. Your spells are like molds. They will always be restrained by your imagination and conceptualization. But lookyour most powerful spells are copied from actual physical events. Solar Flare, Black Hole, or even Gravitational Singularity.''
"Shit..." Glenn exhaled heavily and sealed the rest of his spells.
"Now...what I have left are all the gravity-related spells, such as Blackhole, as well as Nitrogen, Divine Blessing, C.P.R, and the Saturn Rings. Oh, and let''s not forget Milena''s mind powers."
//Acknowledged. Solar Flare, Solar Laser, and Sun''s Touch are not lost. Simply focus on their essencethe Sun. You''ll be able to conceptualize a spell comparable to the pure energy of Nitrogen.
The robot sounded certain of himself. Glenn grimaced, "Easy to say...You''re not the one doing the conceptualizing, are you?"
Gundam didn''t bother replying, while Diamanes chuckled. Glenn clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, concentrating. He imagined the Sun. The source of all light and warmth, a ticking bomb that would explode in billions of years. Only one of the byproducts of the greatest explosion in the universe, the Big Bang. The Sun wasn''t an action, it was an entity, something that saw the birth of men and will see their extinction. Something ancient, so old that even Gods were probably younger than it.
Glenn channeled his Mana as his back became drenched in sweat. Large drops beaded down his face as his focus only grew.
''What are the elements of the Sun?'' Glenn asked himself.
''Heat, light, gravity...energy. It''s the reason for life, for if there was no Sun, there would only be the coldness of space, and the Limbo would only be a cold rock like the Moons...'' A small orb of pure power appeared above Glenn''s palm, humming with heat and energy. It was glowing with mild radiance, and yet both Diamanes and Gundam could see the might contained in that small, apple-sized orb. Glenn''s Mana was funneling directly into the small, pocket-sized Sun, feeding it as if it were some sort of hungry baby.
Glenn opened his eyes, staring at the growing Sun in his palm. The power contained in it was powerful enough that if unleashed on a village, it would probably annihilate a good portion of it.
And yet...
''Why does it feel so...insignificant?'' Glenn wondered. This was the power of the Sun, after all. Why did it feel like only one star among countless others? Glenn''s Mana Heart suddenly pulsed with energy, expanding as a Fifth Circle of stars appeared around the Milky Way. The Mana twirled around Glenn, fueling the Milky Way and the miniature Sun in turn. Glenn''s eyes glowed with bright light, the purple hue of his left arm receding slightly.
Glenn''s lips curved upward and he approached his hand to the Sun, feeling as if all the possibilities were within his reach. His body flew over the floor without him even trying, and at this moment, Glenn truly felt like he held all the power.
"Fifth Circle...?" He whispered softly as he slowly grabbed the Sun, his eyes gleaming with that same solar might, "...Why would I stop there? I feel itI can reach even beyond that!" He laughed widely as the Sun exploded into a rain of light, crackling and harmlessly bouncing off the Core''s walls. Gundam watched silently, waiting for Glenn''s enlightenment to be over.
Glenn''s smile faded as the sensation of immense power slipped away, so close and yet so far. He fell to his knees and gasped heavily, his magic disappearing in a myriad of blue and orange particles. Silence reigned once more in the Laboratory, barely disturbed by Glenn''s ragged breathing.
"Hah...hah...Had I known it was so simple, I would have sealed my abilities sooner," Glenn laughed, exhausted. He laid back on the metal flooring, panting. His racing heart didn''t seem to have any intention of calming down, so Glenn simply lay there, grinning and waiting.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
//Congratulations, Descendant. You are one step closer to the Creator. Gundam emotionlessly applauded him.
Diamanes snorted. "That leaves him with how many steps to be equal to that Creator of yours?"
The robot took a moment to reply.
//...A lot of steps.
"Hah, sure enough."
Glenn waved his hand weakly as he sat up, "Guys, let''s not fight. I feel incredibly great right now, so let''s not ruin my moment, okay?"
Diamanes grunted while Gundam uttered his usual ''Acknowledged''. Glenn dragged himself to a chair nearby and sat comfortably, unable to keep himself from smiling.
The Fifth Circle. He was an Expert Magi now.
''Sahro is going to be sooo jealous, hehe...'' He chuckled expectantly. The Black Heir was still stuck at the third level after all, be it in Aura or Mana. What excited Glenn even more was the prospect of teaching all of that knowledge to his sister. Comprehending the nature of one''s Mana Heart was absolutely a key component to breaking throughthat, Glenn was now sure of it.
"But I also think there''s more to it..." Glenn muttered as he pulled out a small notebook from his dimensional pouch. He scribbled a line on the paper.
"The first component...comprehending the nature of one''s Mana Heart." Glenn scratched the top of his head with his pencil. "That makes sense, considering that the Second Circle is created as soon as you understand even a little your Specialty. But comprehension didn''t play as much of a part in the creation of my Third Circle."
He scribbled down once again and looked at the Core''s robot. "You wouldn''t have any information about breaking through Circles, Gundam?"
Gundam turned his sleek, metal head and stared at Glenn. //Descendant. The creation of Circles is inherently limited to the Mage''s essence. The Creator only ever needed to accumulate Mana to reach higher Circles. On the other hand, the Creator''s friend required intense stimuli to converge a new Circle.
Glenn raised an interested eyebrow. "The Creator''s friend? That D?"
Gundam processed the information for an instant before replying, //Error. Creator''s status is necessary to access this information.
"I expected as much," Glenn shrugged, still happy. Nothing could take away his excitement right now. He didn''t know what else he needed to reach the Sixth Circle, but Glenn was sure of one thing. He was already halfway through becoming an Archmagi. He just needed more time to digest his breakthrough, and he should be able to easily reach beyond that.
Glenn leaned back in his seat and dove into Meditation, reveling in the easiness of the process. Each time he managed to Converge a new Circle, each time he felt his body become stronger, his mental capacities become faster, and his instincts sharper.
''This is almost addicting...'' He smirked. Right now, all his worries had faded away like lies in the wind. There was only the bliss of ranking up left. Just like that, another day was spent purely Meditating. Truly, Glenn was making his money''s worth from this technique these past few days. And even though he spent so much time recovering his Mana, he could only fill his reserve up to two-thirds of its maximum capacity.
''I have a lot more Mana to play around with now...and will have even more in the future. Ahh...this truly feels like actual progression.''
Glenn glanced at his left, purple hand and grinned widely, "Well, seems like you''re growing to be less and less useful, Diamanes."
The entity sneered, "Is that right? Well, we shall see. I sure wonder how you''ll be able to conjure Divine powers or strange healing spells with Astral Sorcery, hehe."
Glenn rolled his eyes, "Come on, can''t you let me have the win for once?"
"Nope."
"Tsk."
//Entertaining. Gundam''s voice interrupted their bickering emotionlessly. //Descendant. Are you ready for another bout against the ''Source Specimen''?
Glenn''s lips curved upward as he rolled his sleeves up and took Nelg out of his soul.
"I''ve never been more ready. Send me in, Gundam."
//Acknowledged. Teleportation in three...two...one"
Glenn''s sight flashed as he reappeared once more in the white prison caging the Lightbringer, Doyle Malory. The ancient being was walking on the ceiling, his hands in his pocket and his blond hair defying gravity as it remained stuck to his shoulders.
"Erosion is the answer. If I step on the ceiling, maybe it''ll collapse?" Doyle was muttering nonsense, once again unbothered by Glenn''s sudden appearance.
"Doyle Malory," Glenn called up as he channeled his Mana, excited to try out his newest spell, "I''m back!"
Doyle turned towards him with an annoyed smile, "Yes, I noticed that, thank you. Are you going to help me get the hell out of here, or are you just going to play around like last time?"
Glenn grinned and stretched his palm out, "I''m playing around once again. I think I should be more than just flick you on the forehead this time!"
The Lightbringer lifted an amused eyebrow, "Oh, is that right? Well, please, do relieve my boredom. I can''t even eat you, too damned stinky. Why didn''t you bring that Gold Dragon''s dog? That one tasted good!"
"I doubt he''d like to see your face again," Glenn hissed through his teeth as he channeled his Mana to conjure an apple-sized Sun. Doyle Malory''s eyes widened in interest.
"Wait...you reached the Fifth Circle, didn''t you? And you''re even properly using Draconic Magic now! Interesting, interesting...You might be worth fostering as an amusing toy!" The insane man cackled as he suddenly reappeared a few meters in front of Glenn, his arms crossed behind his back. Glenn didn''t let it get to his head and instead sent his will through the Sun.
He needed something that would burn through even the hardest body, that would consume even the greatest shield. Glenn clenched the miniature Sun tightly and willed it to change shape into the strongest offensive weapon. Something that would pierce that invulnerable barrier around Doyle. The Sun, originally orange and yellow, changed color to blue as it was compressed into a long, thin shape.
As he watched Glenn conjure his spell, for the first time in countless years, Doyle Malory felt a drop of sweat bead down his forehead.
Was he feeling...excited? By this child, this tool of the Gods?
"Haha...hahaha!" Doyle Malory laughed heartily, opening his arms widely to welcome the incoming attack. Glenn took a deep, measured breath. Doyle''s excited laugh, Diamanes wicked sneers, the crackling of the magic flame in his hand...It all went silent as his entire being concentrated on the spell.
"Let''s see if you can continue laughing after that..." He muttered. The Sun finally settled on Glenn''s desired shape. The world seemed to twist around his hand as he thrust forward. The Sun pierced forward, guided by his hand. It was imperceptible, for it moved beyond the speed of sound. Pure, burning light. Plasma that could incinerate even the toughest of things.
Doyle Malory hurriedly crossed his arms in front of him, but it was too late. A bright flash blinded Glenn as he felt all the Mana he had recovered disappear, consumed by that one, incredible spell. The white room flickered, the light disturbed by the power of Glenn''s attack.
"Hah...Haha...Hahahaha!" Doyle Malory''s laugh echoed from beyond the smoke. Glenn collapsed to one knee, heaving with difficulty. The skin on his hand was charred black, unable to handle the power of the spell.
"Hahahaha! Did you see that, Gods?" Doyle laughed fanatically, "A spell that defied the rules of your world! A spell that defied your rules! True Draconic Magic is back, you fuckers! Hahaha!"
Glenn looked up at the sound of Doyle''s approaching steps. The ancient being pulled Glenn up and dusted his shoulders off, a large grin on his handsome face.
"Well, see, I never expected that of you! Hey, can I be your friend?" Doyle asked with shining eyes. Glenn slowly looked down, his eyes widening at the sight of Doyle''s stomach. The entire right side of his abdomen was charred black, burnt to the utmost degree. The flesh was already growing back, but the proof was there. Glenn had managed to wound Doyle Malory, the Lightbringer.
An ancient monster that played on the chessboard of the Gods themselves.
"Hey, hey, can you be my friend?" Doyle repeated with an excited smile. Once again, his words went through one ear and out the other. They made so little sense to Glenn''s Mana-exhausted brain. He simply couldn''t comprehend them.
An instant later, Glenn was back in the Core, lying on the metal floor.
//Analysis of the wound Fourth-degree burn. Requires surgical intervention. Anesthesia in process.
At the moment, Glenn could only feel the heat of that spell he just created. A spear-shaped spell using the might of the Sun.
The Lance of Prometheus.
257. Tea-Time
Glenn watched with mixed feelings as a dozen robotic limbs worked on treating his hand, cutting off the charred skin and doing whatever that disgusting thing was. Why the hell would that robot need five different scalpels?
//Please be patient as I treat your wound, Descendant, Gundam warned, Fourth Degree wounds can leave deep scars even with high-grade magical healing. Proper surgical operations are required. You shouldn''t feel a thing thanks to the anesthesia.
Glenn nodded slowly, his eyes glued to the robotic limbs. Skin was cleanly sliced off, muscles ripped away, and salves delicately applied. It was a work of art. As if to compliment it, a soft, soothing light eventually came out of one of the robotic limbs, bathing his wounds and healing them magically.
"You weren''t kidding when you said I would get a top-grade treatment. This is oddly terrifying."
//Mental traumas are common during partial anesthesia operations. The Descendant shouldn''t have this issue.
Glenn snorted as he looked away from the butchering of his hand, "Oh, is that so? Why?"
//The Descendant''s mental state can''t be worn any further.
"...Fuck you."
"Hahaha, yeah, you''re fucking right, tin can! Glenn''s already insane, why the hell would he care about a bit of sliced meat?" Diamanes laughed widely. Glenn sighed as he waited patiently for the operation to be done. Eventually, the robotic limbs pulled away and returned to the walls, floor, or ceiling, depending on where they came from. Gundam''s humanoid frame was coldly watching the process, as emotionless as ever.
"Phew...that''s one thing done. Hah...I managed to wound Doyle Malory!" Glenn pumped his fist in the air with a wide grin. "Even though he wasn''t taking me seriously, it still felt incredible! I''m great! "
"The Lance of Prometheus...Hell, even I couldn''t have chosen a better name! Glenn, you''re starting to finally look like something! You might even reach my toenail!" Diamanes exclaimed excitedly.
Glenn sighed, finally relieved of his Mana Exhaustion. When he was weaker, that meant unconsciousness and nothing else. Now, he simply felt exhausted, a little nauseous, and a slightly bothering headache. And of course, it was practically impossible to use another spell. Well, he technically could use Overload, but that skill had been sealed and it was extremely taxing on his Mana Heart. And he was supposed to come up with another solution anyway.
''What I need to do now is to enhance the rate of my Mana recovery, and make my spells more efficient. It''s simply nonsensical for one spell to eat through two-thirds of my entire reserve.''
"I disagree!" exclaimed Diamanes loudly, "Shooting one incredibly powerful spell, that is the way of glory, the way of legends!"
Glenn grimaced, "Yeah, well I''d rather be alive than legendary, in all honesty."
Diamanes sneered.
//The ''Source Specimen'' energy capacity has decreased by 5%. Further mitigation is necessary to reach satisfying levels.
"Further mitigation...Just say that you want me to get my ass beat up, that''ll be easier to understand," jeered Glenn. The robot looked at him for an instant.
//Error. Please use comprehensible language.
"Sigh..."
With an almost disturbing easiness, Glenn slipped back into Meditation, once again. How many times had he Meditated these past few days? It was starting to add up really quickly. His sense of time was disappearing, thanks to the lack of day-night cycles, as well as his impromptu Meditation breaks.
''Thinking about that, when was the last time I ate?'' Glenn pondered. Suddenly, as if waking up from a long trance, his stomach thundered with a loud grumble, practically screaming at him.
//Descendant. It seems like your body requires sustenance after fasting for too long.
"No shit, Gundam!" Glenn hissed as he hurriedly pulled rations out of his dimensional pouch. He barely tried identifying them as he shoved them down his throat, swallowing without chewing. He was thirsty too, but not exactly dehydrated.
"Fuck, how could I forget to eat and drink!" Glenn cursed. He used a quick Aqua to conjure water out of thin air.
"I think you were a little too concentrated on getting stronger, fighting Doyle, and comprehending Mana. Whatever dude. Your body is already partially able to survive only on Mana anyway," said Diamanes casually. Glenn''s eyes widened.
"That''s a thing?!"
Gundam chimed in, //Correct. Observations indicate that superhumans can survive purely on their energies, such as Aura, Mana, or Divinity, after reaching a certain level. It''s estimated to be a processus reserved for individuals at the sixth rank of power.
Glenn scoffed, "So you call them superhumans. The fact that an Earthling made you is really showing now."
"Yes, yes, you almost accidentally died of starvation. Can we go back to fighting Doyle? That was fun!" Diamanes pressed impatiently. Glenn glanced at his left, purple arm and shrugged.
"You know what? Strangely, I don''t feel like fighting that much. I mean, I''m more curious about something else." Glenn rubbed his chin, "Why the hell did he ask me to become his friend? Is that some weird metaphor so that I''d end up as his dinner?"
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
"Probably, and who cares! Go get a whooping, or give him one, I don''t know, but do something! I''m boreeed~ just watching you Meditate and Meditate, and Meditate again. Ragh!"
"Yes, yes, just give me a minute. I''m practically full on Mana, and the status of my wound" Glenn looked at his previously charred black hand, grinning as he found it to be in perfect condition.
//The treatment was successful and left no traces or scars. Gundam stated as if to support Glenn''s thoughts.
"Excellent!" Glenn grinned. This time, he didn''t even bother summoning Nelg. He was going to only use spells anyway, so why bother?
"Send me in again, Gundam!"
A second later, Glenn was back in the white prison. Doyle Malory was patiently waiting, sitting on a non-existent chair.
"Ah, Glenn!" The Lightbringer waved at him, "Please, come take a seat."
He pointed at a space in front of him. Glenn moistened his lips and grimaced, "Thanks, but I''ll just stand."
Doyle Malory shrugged and leaned back, "Suit yourself. Hey, did you think about it, then?"
Glenn''s eyebrows creased. "About what?"
The Lightbringer opened his arms widely and grinned, "But, to become my friend, of course! What else?"
"So I didn''t hear wrong..." Glenn cautiously approached Doyle, ready to cast a spell at a moment''s notice, "Why do you want to befriend me, Doyle?"
The latter tilted his head to the side confusedly, "Do I need a reason to make friends?"
This was such a simple, yet implacable logic. Glenn blinked. ''Why does it feel like I''m talking to a child? This is so strange.''
"Are you going to rip me apart and eat me, if I become your friend?" Glenn asked with his arms crossed. Doyle looked away and rolled his eyes.
"Of course not! Who do you take me for?" He grinned and picked at his teeth, "I only eat the Gods'' dogs, no one else. That''s kind of my thing, y''know?"
"Your thing?" Glenn repeated with a hint of disbelief, "Don''t you think it''s a little strange of a thing to have?"
Doyle shrugged, "Well, considering I was once the doggest of them all, and know what fate awaits the dogs down the line, I might as well spare them the pain and put them down now."
"What do you mean by that?" Glenn asked, increasingly curious. Doyle drank from an imaginary teacup and looked at the white ceiling.
"Well, there''s that thing, uhm, what do these fuckers call it...Ah, the Apostle System! Yeah, that''s it. You know, the Gods can give a portion of their powers to a mortal, and that mortal would then accomplish their God''s will in this lowly world."
Doyle took another imaginary sip and sighed, "And I was the Apostle of the Seven Gods. Ah, shit, the seventh one died. I almost forgot that, even though I technically played a part. Anyway, good times!" Doyle raised his cup with a large grin. Glenn blinked in awe.
''Shit, Doyle is actually a gold mine! If you ignore the fact that he might eat me at any given moment, of course. Fuck...And what does he mean? He was the Apostle of all of them? How is that possible?
"How old are you exactly?" Glenn couldn''t help but inquire.
Doyle counted on his fingers, "Hmm...one, two, three...maybe four? Between three and four thousand years old, I''m not sure. I stopped celebrating my birthdays a long time ago."
Glenn quickly made the calculations. ''Munirp''s calendar goes back three thousand years. That means Doyle is a little older than the entire kingdom, and that he was born during the Epoch of the Gods. That''s insane...''
Glenn quickly made his decision and used Gravity Manipulation to sit in front of Doyle. The sight of both of them, sitting on invisible chairs, was quite amusing.
"Want some tea?" Doyle proposed, but Glenn shook his head politely.
"No, thank you. My stomach is a little upset from my last meal. What else can you tell me about your past? Rightwhy do you hate the Gods so much?" he asked as he crossed his arms.
''What the fuck are you doing, Glenn? Why aren''t you fighting him? Do you want to kill him or fuck him? Because one does exclude the other!'' Diamanes shouted in his host''s mind. Glenn ignored him and carefully watched Doyle take another sip of his imaginary tea.
"Glenn..." Doyle looked at the ceiling, "What exactly do you know about the Gods?"
Glenn frowned. "Hmm...As much as anyone."
''I don''t see the use of revealing my meetings with Onnea, the Fallen Mother, the Guide, and the Bloodblade to him. Let''s stay careful.''
Doyle threw away his nonexistent cup and joined his hands together, taking a serious expression.
"Listen, there are...rules that stop me from talking about it. But" He raised his finger at the sky, "What I can tell you for sure is that you should never trust the Gods." He paused and scratched his chin, "... Except Nergal. That guy was nice. He never forced me to do anything, you know. But the others?"
Doyle clenched the edge of his imaginary table, his knuckles whitening and his eyes bloodshot, "They will burn in hell for their sins. Gods? They''re just bastards with a little more strength than others, depending on"
The Lightbringer suddenly clenched his throat, the colors escaping from his face. Glenn watched confusedly as the ancient being fell to his knees, struggling to breathe. He stood up, intending to help, but Doyle raised a hand to stop him.
''The gods are dependent on something? What does that mean?'' Glenn''s surroundings suddenly warped back to the Core.
"What? Hey, Gundam, send me back in there!" Glenn exclaimed as he turned to the robot, "I still have questions to ask him!"
Gundam coldly looked at him. //Unnecessary. The ''Source Specimen'' has been successfully mitigated. The quarantine protocols are resumed to a standard level. The priority is set to sealing the leaking Divinity.
Glenn paused. "Wait, did Doyle die?"
//Incorrect. The ''Source Specimen'' has been subject to moderate divine interference. Resistance against the interference has caused traumas in his soul region. Quarantine is the only option.
"Shit..." Glenn rubbed the back of his head. At the last second, Doyle clearly tried to share some sort of secret knowledge, but the Gods shut him up without waiting. He glanced at his right arm, thinking about the ''evil compass'' that Onnea gave him. His arm would shine each time it was close to a Seed of Darkness. Could it also be doing something else?
"Diamanes, you wouldn''t happen to have the ability to get rid of Divine Blessings and the like?" Glenn slowly asked.
The entity smirked, "Who do you take me for? Of course, I can do that! I just need you to reach...hmm, maybe the Sixth Circle will be enough. Yeah, at that point I''d be able to see a lot more than I currently do. Or" Diamanes chuckled, "You could track down that Devil Eye guy, and take the other part of me. The Eye is specialized in ''seeing'' things, after all!"
Glenn rubbed his temples. "I''ll consider it."
//Descendant. Further improvement of your abilities is required to assure your safety. Gundam suddenly teleported him into a white room, a facto-simile of Doyle''s prison. Glenn cursed and pointed an accusing finger at the ceiling.
"Shit, Gundam, stop playing around! I don''t have time to waste with your bullshit!"
The robot''s voice echoed in the room, emotionless. //Descendant. Please improve your current spells to the standard of your ''Sun''. Until then, I will be obliged to contain you in this facility for your own safety. Additionally, contact between you and other flesh bags will be blocked to maintain your focus.
Glenn swore through his teeth, "What the fuck is that about? II have people to get back to, I can''t just spend my whole time in there!"
//Please, stop resisting. This is for your own good. Please put more effort into improving your strength. Your survival chances will increase as a result.
"Survival chances?" Glenn raised an eyebrow, "Survival chances to what? What are you preparing me for, Gundam?"
//Error. This information is locked behind status: Creator.
"What a joke..." Glenn sighed heavily as he let himself fall on the floor. He stared at the white ceiling and raised an angry fist at it.
"Forcing me through a training arc...I''ll get back to you, fucking tin can!"
"Hey, I don''t want to say it, but...I told you so!"
"Shut it, Diamanes."
258. Grounded
Glenn gazed down at the twirling Nitrogen in his palm, thinking.
"Let''s think about this a little harder. I call this thing Nitrogen, but is it actually Nitrogen?"
"We did take that power straight from the Heart of Darkness back in the Blessed Grove," said Diamanes with an interested tone, "But magic is what you make it to be. And you''ve been using this power for so long it practically became one with you, didn''t it?"
"Hmm...I think it also had a good compatibility with me," Glenn rubbed his chin.
His Mana Heart was the Milky Way, a literal galaxy. ''Isn''t the vacuum of space supposed to be at the absolute zero? Shit, had I known I would possess such powers, I would have paid more attention in classes...''
"Gundam? Do you have any information about...space and the like? Maybe, uh, vacuums?" Glenn asked without much hope. The white prison room echoed with his voice, and soon with his sigh.
"Damn it"
//Information requested: vacuum of space. Region devoid of matter, including air and atmospheric pressure. Extreme temperatures are dependent on the localization in said space. There would be more chances to suffer from extreme burn damage from sunlight exposure than freezing.
Glenn raised a surprised eyebrow. "Oh yeah? I always thought space would be freezing."
//Freezing damage is possible, but slower due to radiation-only heat transfer. The first cause of death would be the loss of atmospheric pressure, which would cause the mundane human body to boil from the inside.
"Wow, alright. I didn''t get everything, but that was more than sufficiently scary. Uhh, what can be associated with cold in space then?" Glenn paced the room, trying to find a good concept to deepen his understanding of Nitrogen.
//Theoretically, if the Limbo is situated in a similar universe to Earth, one of the coldest objects in space is the cosmic microwave background, the residual radiation from the Big Bang. It would be at an approximative temperature of ~2.7 Kelvin and fill all space.
"I''ll just presume that it''s very, very cold then. Hmm..." Glenn clenched his fist tightly around the Nitrogen, dispersing it. This wasn''t working out. Gundam''s explanations were actually confusing him even more than he already was.
"What about the absolute zero?"
//Zero Kelvin is physically impossible to reach and would break the rules of reality. Magic sustaining the absolute zero would surpass even divine power. Reaching close to the absolute zero is the best that can be done.
Glenn sighed, "Okay, scratch that idea, then." He paused and looked at the white ceiling in wonder. "That brings me to the question: Who was Sevirox before his transmigration? From his notes, he sounded like an absolutely genius researcher."
Gundam processed the question for an instant. //Error, status
"Creator is required, I know. Whatever..." Glenn interrupted the robot, tired and annoyed. The Sun was easy to visualizethe hottest, brightest ball of light hanging most of the time in the sky was hard to miss after all. But a temperature wasn''t as simple of a conceptit wasn''t as physical. You can''t see cold, even though you can feel it. Nitrogen had the advantage of being a visible gas, at least in the form the Glenn conjured it.
"Wait, visible gas?" Glenn frowned, "The power we took from the Heart of Darkness back then was liquid, and, if I remember correctly, nitrogen should be invisible to the naked eye, unless it''s in a liquid state. Did I just confuse myself from the beginning?"
He conjured the Nitrogen power through Diamanes, letting it flow out of his hand. White vapor swirled as it flew away from his palm, disappearing in the air.
"Let''s assume this isn''t Nitrogen then..." muttered Glenn, "What else could it be?"
"The ultimate Yin! Or something like that. Who cares? Just get it done quickly!" Diamanes exclaimed impatiently. Glenn dismissed him with a thought, concentrating. The white vapor fell on the floor, turning it into ice with a simple contact. The ice crept up the walls, covering even the ceiling with a thin layer of cold. The light reflected in the ice into a myriad of colors. Glenn stared at the show for an instant before shaking his head dejectedly.
The ice melted away and disappeared like a mirage. Glenn sighed. "I have no clue. Maybe Nitrogen is the best way to understand it. It''s physicalized cold, after all. Conceptually, Nitrogen just suits me better."
"Great, we lost our time on that one! Excellent! Now, why don''t you cut open the wall with Nelg? I''m sure he''s sharp enough to do it!" Diamanes tried to press Glenn, "I want fights, battles, not...this! This is fucking boooring!"
"I''m trying my best, Diamanes," grumbled Glenn, "And I''ll leave Nelg as the last solution. Passing this hurdle will certainly allow me to grow stronger, so stay patient a bit, won''t you?"
"Alright, alright...Why don''t you try enhancing Gravity Manipulation then? Even though I''m not sure it can be improved any further," said Diamanes without expectations.
//Incorrect. The observed control of the spell can receive great improvements.
Gundam''s voice suddenly echoed in the room. Glenn looked up with a frown.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Are you just watching me all the time?"
//Careful monitoring of all the entities in the Core''s effective area is one of my precepts.
"Just admit it, you fucking tin can..." Glenn rubbed his forehead, "How can I improve Gravity Manipulation then?"
//Self-enhancement using Gravity Manipulation would be the best path forward to enhance your physical capabilities despite the lack of an Aura Core. Sufficient skill with that spell would allow for melee prowess comparable to a Grand Chevalier or even a Crusader.
Glenn grimaced, "So, using Gravity Manipulation to strengthen my melee skills? Hmm..."
He pulled Nelg out, using his longsword form.
''How should I go about this?'' He pondered. He aimed at the white prison walls and sliced with all his strength, only for his sword to rip against it.
"Ah? Even Nelg can''t cut through it? Damn..." blurted out Diamanes.
''Now, using Gravity Manipulation, can I make my attacks heavier? Or lighter? Wait, what if I manipulate the weight of my sword swinging downward to something like five tons? Would that work?''
Glenn''s eyes shone as he tested his theories, attacking the white wall relentlessly. Above him, Gundam was silently watching, his calculation cores surcharged with the sudden influx of information. Whatever the robot had in mind, he didn''t seem like he would ever share with the Descendant.
At least, not yet.
***
In a celestial abode, beyond the realm of mortals.
The stars were shining brightly above the unassuming, black stone table. Seven chairs surrounded the table, all with a symbol carved on their back: a silver balance, a coiled dragon, an old tome, as well as a steel gauntlet, a skull wrapped in satin, a circle wrapped thorny vines with a cross at its core. And finally... A hole. The last chair''s symbol had been carved out, leaving simply...a hole. A hole opening to nowhere, the proof of Their shame, the only trace left of the Seventh.
"We need to talk," uttered the Silver Balance, breaking the peaceful silence of the divine respite.
"I surmised as much," said the Gauntlet.
"Hmf, I knew we should have put an end to that damned dog. It''s all the fault of this fool..." The Coiled Dragon humphed with a hint of annoyance.
"We cannot let this happen," warned the Old Tome, "Rules are there for a reason. The Lightbringer already helped one person to break themwe do not need a repeat of that."
"I concur," agreed the Silver Balance. "It''s been more than three thousand years since we last had to interfere with the Lightbringer. And due to our negligence back then, we lost a lot. The Limbo is already on the brink of disappearing thanks to D''s machinations, we can''t allow it to fall any further."
"This wouldn''t have happened if it weren''t for you bringing outsiders in," the Gauntlet replied mockingly.
"This was the only way," said the Silver Balance coldly, "And had there been another way, I would have certainly chosen it. Who would have thought that one mistake would lead to such disaster?"
A yawn suddenly broke the serious conversation. The symbolsexcept the Thorny Circleall turned to the Satin Skull.
"My opinion hasn''t changed. I have work to do, stop bothering me with these kinds of things. I refuse to play these foolish games."
The table suddenly broke open in front of the Coiled Dragon. "You fool! All the blame can already be put on you and your...mortality! Now, more than ever, we need to unite and face the future together!"
"Hah!" The Satin Skull scoffed wryly, "Uniting? We were united once. Until we weren''t. We''re just fools who were lucky enough to end up in a better position than the rest. And even though I''m saying that..." The Skull turned to the Thorny Circle, "...Don''t forget where the youngest is now. None of that was my fault. It was our fault, for treating mortals like mortals, and treating ourselves like gods," he spat hatefully. All the other symbols remained silent, unable to retort.
"...So unless one of you somehow manages to bring back the Guide, I''d suggest you leave the Lightbringer alone and leave the world to the mortals. They''re the ones living in it, after all." The Satin Skull sneered as his presence faded away from the meeting, the symbol on his chair crumbling away like dust in the wind.
"Tsk. That''s only his opinion," the Coiled Dragon hissed, "We can''t allow His intent to continue flowing into the world any longer. It is an aberration, and should be terminated!"
"And how would you have us do that?" The Gauntlet asked cheekily, "Do you want us to create another Lightbringer, maybe? As far as I''m aware, your Apostle is now half-human, half-stone, right? How is it going with that?"
"You!" The chair of the Coiled Dragon crumbled, crushed under a massive, golden claw.
"Stop. This is enough."
The destruction disappeared at the sound of the Silver Balance''s voice. "No one stands to win from this. For once, He might be right. Let us all concentrate on our respective tasks, and keep the Outside at bay."
"Talking about that..." The Old Tome suddenly interjected with a curious tone, "How is it that D''s presence has returned? We made the rules so that he would never come back, and yet..."
"Yet what?" The Gauntlet laughed, "Who do you take D for? He''s the one that turned us from Seven to Six, didn''t he"
"Bloodblade." A scornful voice suddenly interrupted them. It sounded rough, deeply rattling ominously. It was as if the entire world''s pain was being felt by that one person. The Thorny Circle turned to the Gauntlet. "Do not speak of that anymore."
The Gauntlet reeled back slightly. The Thorny Circle crumbled away, much like how the Satin Skull previously did.
The Silver Balance sighed, "As always, He just says his part and leaves. How can we continue being called Gods if our members keep acting this way? Where is our dignity?"
"Dignity?" The Gauntlet repeated. He chuckled loudly, His laughter echoing in the divine space. Suddenly, he stopped.
"We lost our dignity the day we betrayed one of Ours. There''s no dignity left, only remnants of the forgotten past and crumbling faith." The Gauntlet clicked his tongue as his symbol also disappeared.
"The world is being Corrupted a little more every day," sighed the Old Tome, "I know bringing in outsiders slows down the process, but it''s no solution. We will have to ask them for help, Onnea."
"Nonsense!" the Coiled Dragon roared, "I might have lost my kin, but I didn''t lose my spine! I gathered these resources all these years for one reason, and one reason only!" The table cracked open once again. "To keep this world alive! The Limbo must not disappear!"
The Coiled Dragon''s symbol angrily disappeared, while the Old Tome faded away with a sigh. Only the Silver Balance was left, silent. The symbol turned to the last chair, the Hollow one.
"How come I still feel your presence, and yet you''re nowhere to be seen?" muttered the Balance. Eventually, even her Symbol disappeared, leaving only the Hollow chair behind. And as it did for the last three thousand years, the hole in the backrest grew a little larger, devoured by the nothingness.
Even now...
The Hole grew.
259. Uni-Life
Munirp News, 10th January 3033
"Breaking News! The truth behind the forced embargo on the entry of the heroic Black Heirs!"
"It is with happiness that Munirp News brings you this informationafter long consideration between the highest circles of nobles in the Bourgeoisie, as well as the most prominent organizations, it has been established that an investigation into the Watchers'' corruption was going to be launched. This sort of investigation hasn''t happened since the age of the Ice Wolf and will be backed by the support of the Cleaner''s Workshop, the Church of Onnea, the Gold Church, as well as many private investors. The Royal family also seems to have an eye on the matter even though they are already busy thinking about a replacement for the late ex-Baron Howards.
Let''s not forget that Howards'' title has been revoked by the Crown, due to the atrocity committed by his family. It is only thanks to the efforts of the famous Devil''s Hand Glenn as well as his Black Heir friends that 134 victims were saved from the Howard''s Mansion.
As a temporary solution to the Black Heirs'' situation, their entries have been permitted under the careful watch of the RMG, the Royal Mechanicalized Guard, and the Magi Brotherhood. With the increasing apparitions of Rifts within King''s Rise''s walls, the strength of these mighty warriors will be more than welcome to bolster the ranks of the Cleaner''s Workshop and other peacekeeping organizations.
Page 2-3: Silence from Beyond the Wall, could the enemy be scheming something?
Page 4-5: One month since the Devil''s Hand disappeared, was he a legend born too early? A testimonial from a Seekers team leader.
Lina sighed as she threw away the journal. She rested her head against the back of her chair, refusing to accord a glance at the boy staring at her a few tables away.
''Milady, I believe your Practical Magic class is starting in a few minutes,'' Tiamanes reminded her with a polite tone. The girl grunted and forced herself up, the nearby boy imitating her. She dragged her feet to the Practical magic classroom, a large amphitheater serving as training grounds. Her classmates were already sitting in the tribunes surrounding the practicing area, giggling and speaking non-stop.
Lina glanced on one side, finding that same pack of hyena-like girls who always seemed to glare at her and her right hand. On the other side were the boys staring at her with both fear and hunger, scrawny and pimply. The few warriors in the class were too concentrated on an intense arm-wrestling fight, opposing Liam and another guy in the Magic-Engineer class.
''School never changes, does it...?'' She thought to herself for the thirtieth time since she entered Exan''s University.
A month ago, after she received the three recommendation letters promised as rewards for her brother''s shenanigans and watched said idiot fighting a dragon, she decided she needed to take her education more seriously. There were three letters to Exan''s University, one for Janica, one for Lina, and one for Liam. Initially, Lina had considered refusing to return to school, but her teachers, Sahro and Liara, had convinced her to go.
"If you don''t go for yourself, go for your brother at least," Liara insisted back then, "So that he didn''t almost kill himself for nothing. Whatever he''s doing."
And so here she was, waiting for the usually late professor of the Practical Magic class, Madam Violette.
There were three main courses at Exan''s University: the Mage course, the Knight course, and the Engineer course. Of course, Liam and Janica both chose the Engineer course, while Lina decided to concentrate solely on her mage''s powers. She spent the whole week at University, learning more about the world and magic while practicing Aura with Sahro and Liara on the weekends. Whenever she had problems with her homework or stuff she couldn''t understand, she would find help from Uncle Manalok, who would always grumpily explain to her what she needed to hear.
''It''s been a month since that call...I still have no news from him. Do you think he''s okay, Tiamanes?'' Lina asked her friend, worried.
Tiamanes cleared his throat, ''Milady, to be completely honest if your brother can already defeat dragons, there''s isn''t much left in the world that can threaten him. Of course, he still hasn''t reached my true self''s toenail, but he is still impressively strong.''
Lina bit on her nails, grimacing. ''Strong or not, that idiot has always been on the reckless side. Damn it, why won''t he just answer my phone? I swear, I''ll cut him in pieces the day he comes back from slaying dragons and making friends with ancient artificial intelligences.''
''...No offense Milady, but I doubt you''ll be able to harm your brother, much less cut into him,'' Tiamanes hesitantly said, worried about upsetting his host.
"Alright, alright...Class, please?" A gust of Mana washed over the tribunes, shutting the students'' conversations. Someone sneakily sat next to Lina, a golden-haired boy with bright blue eyesthe same idiot who was stealing glances at her earlier. He had a confident grin, and an aquilin nose, and was quite handsome. In Lina''s eyes, though, he barely had one-third of Sahro''s attractiveness. It was probably a new studentshe had never seen him before today.
"Hey" The boy tried to speak, but the teacher interrupted him. She was a lady with long, gray hair reaching to her waist, and she was wearing a long, cyan robe.
"As I mentioned in our previous class, today will be entirely devoted to spars! I will be overseeing all of them, of course, so do not worry about being hurt or hurting your opponent. Everything is allowedmagic tools, spells, Curses, divine powers, and Aura. Martial prowess will also be evaluated. Depending on your results, you might or might not pass the class. I hope you''re all prepared!" Her voice carried a hint of powerful Mana, echoing in the large amphitheater. "Mr. Renard, Mr. Volin, in the area if you please."
Lina smirked as she watched the two boys, a Squire and an Advanced Initiate bowing to each other respectfully.
''Milady, remember that you are not supposed to show your Aura to the other students. Please be careful.''
''Who do you take me for, Tiamanes? And why would I need my Aura when I''m already capable of taking care of all these idiots with my magic only?''
Tiamanes hesitated. ''Milady, you are similar to your brother in your recklessness. You already broke more than a few bones since starting your classes, after all''
Lina coughed, interrupting the entity.
"Miss, pardon me." The boy next to her suddenly grabbed her shoulder.
"I pardon you," said Lina graciously. The boy blinked, before coming back to his senses.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
"Are you an illusion specialist?" He asked with a charismatic smile, "Because whenever I look at you, everyone disappears."
Lina looked at him for an instant, before turning away, containing her laughter.
''Shit, they also have pick-up lines in this world? He''s the first one using one!'' She hid her mouth with her hand. The teacher noticed her and her expression darkened.
"Miss Lina? Since you seem to find Mr. Renard''s fate so amusing, maybe you''ll enjoy taking his place?"
Lina froze, only noticing then that Renard''s previously majestic mohawk had disappeared into ashes after he failed to protect himself from one particularly well-aimed Fire Bolt. The girl cleared her throat and hastily jumped into the arena, fleeing from the flirtatious boy. Madam Violette looked at her disapprovingly and shook her head.
"The number one spot of your class does not allow you to act like a princess, Miss Lina. This is the university, not your brother''s house."
Lina raised an eyebrow. ''Did she finally discover who my brother is? Damn, it took a whole month.''
"I will keep that in mind, Madam Violette," Lina said politely, not letting the teacher''s taunt get to her head.
"Good," Madam Violette nodded. She pointed at one of the girls giggling in the stand, the leader of the hyena pack. "Miss Magali, if you could entertain Miss Lina?"
Magali froze as she gazed at Lina. The latter grinned widely, waving her purple hand.
"Miss, I- I''m not sure my skills are up to Lina''s standards" Magali tried to excuse herself but was magically pulled away from the tribunes.
"I''ll be the judge of that, Miss Magali. Now, let''s have a friendly, fair spar. Show me both what you have learned." Madam Violette slammed her foot on the floor, announcing the start of the duel. Magali swallowed heavily.
"Clypeus Ferreus Magnus!" Magali hurriedly shouted, her Mana swirling to form a solid, iron barrier before her. Lina grinned and flicked her finger in her opponent''s direction, channeling her Mana without uttering a word. An explosion suddenly destroyed the iron barrier, revealing the awestruck Magali behind it.
"Ferro Defensionis" Magali tried conjuring another spell, but Lina''s fingers suddenly grabbed her throat, breaking through space to reach her. Twenty meters were separating them, but they were reduced to nothing in front of Lina''s Wormhole magic.
"Lina is victorious," Madam Violette announced, before adding half-heartedly, "...for the thirtieth consecutive time. You can return to your seats, Miss Magali, Miss Lina."
Lina happily returned to her chair while Magali rubbed her throat, her face pale. Lina grabbed a water bottle from her dimensional pouch, a gift from Liara, and quenched her thirst. Using her Wormhole magic was quite taxing on her body, strangely. In her usual sparring with Sahro and Liara, she would reinforce herself with Aura, making it impossible for her to feel the difference. In school, though, she was forced to shoulder the effort.
"Wow, Lina, remind me never to challenge youI''d lose my heart even faster than Magali lost that duel," shamelessly said the boy next to her. Lina choked on her water, coughing heavily. She turned at the boy in disbelief, refusing to acknowledge his large grin.
"How" She wiped her chin, "What do you want?"
The boy made a serious expression and pressed his hands against his chest. I want to give you my heart, but I''m afraid you already stole it the day I laid eyes on you.
Lina slapped her forehead, her cheeks tinging with a hint of red. "Stop it with the cheesy lines, I don''t even know your name!"
"I am Ary Rosenborn, of the Rosenborn family," Ary jumped on the occasion. "I am eighteen, 5''8, and an Advanced Initiate. I love magic, you, and Exan''s books. I live in Emberhollow, District XXI, and"
"Wait," Lina raised her hands, stopping him. She rubbed her forehead and grimaced. "Did you just say you love...me? But you don''t even know me?!"
Ary grabbed her hand gently, his eyes shining, "I have all eternity to get to know you, don''t I?"
Lina hurriedly pulled her hand away, unsure of how to react. She wanted to push Ary away and tell him she wasn''t interested, but...he was kind of cute. A little too honest and forward, but cute. A relationship, though, with someone she barely knew? It seemed strange, considering she came from another world and planned to return to Earth, but...
''Milady, are you seriously considering this scoundrel''s declaration?'' Tiamanes questioned in utter disbelief. Lina suddenly shook her head and cleared her throat.
"UhhI''m flattered, but let''s just be friends, alright? I''m not sure I want a relationship right now, Ary."
Ary nodded respectfully, "Of course, I understand. I will be patiently waiting for the day you give me a chance to show you my love"
"Stop! You''re fucking embarrassing!"
The class went on without further incidents. Liam and Janica had a fun time sparring against each other, testing their last weapons and even an automaton prototype. It was Friday, and Practical Magic was the last class on her schedule.
Yawn.
Janica and Liam suddenly appeared on Lina''s side as she left the Academy, walking in the direction of the transit. They were both wearing large grins that made her shiver from head to toe.
"Well, well, well...One month in, and the spark of love already found you, it seems," Janica said as she massaged her friend''s shoulders. Lina blinked, flustered.
"H- How did you hear about this?"
Liam scoffed, "How could we have not? We heard Ary''s pick-up lines in the whole amphitheater!"
Lina''s face turned as red as a peony and she hurriedly hid in her hands. "Noooo...Damn it, these damned hyenas are going to pester me with this for the rest of the year..."
Janica smiled, "You know, it might do you some good. Soften you up a little. You still haven''t made any friends besides us, after all."
"They''re the ones refusing to approach me," Lina retorted, before looking away shamelessly, "...It''s not my fault if the few that did lose their teeth at my fists. They didn''t need to bother me like they did..."
What about Ary then? says Liam with a knowing smile, he''s the second best-looking guy in our year after all, right after me of course."
Janica sneered, earning herself a glare from her boyfriend. Lina sighed heavily and pushed them away gently.
"I- I don''t know, alright? It''s all too sudden, and I''m not sure I want to think about it."
Liam and Janica gasped and hurriedly scrambled away. Lina looked at them, wondering what she said that made them flee, only to realize it wasn''t her fault. Ary was taking long strides in her direction, a large smile on his face.
"Lina, do you mind if I accompany you home? I just want to get to know you better." He asked with puppy eyes. Lina bit on her lips, hesitating.
''Milady, I recommend against it. You do not know if this boy doesn''t have some hidden agenda or''
"Sure," Lina decided, partly because she wanted to annoy Tiamanes and the other because she was thinking back about what Janica said. Maybe it would indeed do herself some good if she could put some time into making new friends...
"Really?" Ary''s eyes widened in surprise, "I- I didn''t expect you to accept. Alright, great!"
Lina sighed and turned to the blond boy. "Listen, I do not know you, nor do I like you or dislike you. I don''t want to give you false hopes either."
Ary blinked at her confusedly. "What do you mean, false hopes? I do not hope, I simply know. You are my soul mate."
''How can he say those things so brazenly?'' Lina wondered as she walked away in hopes of calming Ary down. The boy happily followed her as they strolled through Knowledge''s Step, District XVIII. The transit wasn''t far from the University, and soon enough, they were in the wagon, in the direction of Silverhomes, where Lina''s home was waiting.
"You live in Silverhomes?" Ary asked curiously. Lina nodded silently.
"With your brother, is that right?"
"Yes, yes, my brother..." Lina sighed. ''Ah, maybe he''s part of the ones who approached me for my brother. Tsk...''
"I read the journal earlier..." He looked at the wagon''s ceiling, pondering. "He really is a cool man. I think my parents want me to become like him."
Lina scoffed, "I''m sure they do."
Ary smiled dejectedly and turned to look outside the window. Lina raised an eyebrow at the sight but didn''t comment on it. Ary followed her all the way to 33rd Longhorn Street, only stopping in front of the mansion''s gate.
"My heart will rest in peace, knowing that you returned home safely," Ary said with a charming smile, a hand on his chest. Lina sighed and waved him away.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Thanks for wasting your time accompanying me. I''ll see you next week at school."
"Have a great evening, Lina," Ary said with a bow. Lina sighed.
"Yeah, go in the mansion, Lina," A cold voice suddenly said from behind her as a crackling sound shook reality. Lina and Ary turned, their eyes widening as they saw reality being ripped away into a small opening. A deep purple hand reached out of the rift, Mana swirling madly around it. A man with raven-black hair, a black suit, and purple eyes came out of the Rift, a cold, wicked grin on his face. He had an aura of someone truly powerful, someone who was far beyond Lina and Ary.
''Thank Onnea...'' Tiamanes sighed in relief.
"So you''re interested in my sister, hmm?" the man coldly said as he reached for Ary''s shoulder, the pressure around him almost unbearable.
Ary gulped heavily as he encountered his soon-to-be brother-in-law.
The Devil''s Hand.
260. Return Home
Glenn coldly stared down at Lina''s...friend, struggling to contain his wrath. ''Does that wimp think he can put his eyes on MY sister?''
Ary''s knees gave in, his back drenched in cold sweat. Instinctively, he glued his eyes to the floor, unable to raise his eyes to meet Glenn''s.
"Glenn!" Lina suddenly exclaimed angrily as she punched her brother in the arm. The pressure crushing Ary suddenly disappeared as Glenn was forced to defend against his sister''s wrathful advance.
"You didn''t give me any news for an entire month, and now you just come and scare my friend to death?" She angrily jabbed her finger in his chest. Glenn cleared his throat, whistling as he looked away.
"Sorry, I couldn''t catch a signal where I was." He glanced at Ary and his expression hardened once more, the pressure returning slightly. "Do you mind making the presentations?"
Ary gulped heavily, his Second Circle Mana drowning under the Devil''s Hand''s power. It was like trying to push against a tsunami with a bucket. Lina rubbed her forehead, her eyebrows creased.
"This is Ary Rosenborn, a comrade in my class. I met him today, and he simply had the gentlemanliness to accompany me back to my home, something you never tried doing, right Glenn?" accused Lina while lifting Ary''s spirits.
Glenn frowned. "Sorry, I was busy getting stronger to maybe face off against some sort of old, ancient monster from the Epoch of the Gods. Had I been able to, I would have certainly included babysitting in my schedule."
Lina puffed her cheeks and opened the mansion''s gate with a kick. "Whatever! You refused to contact me for a whole month, now you''ll pay the price. Ary, follow me!" she ordered. Ary blinked, his eyes darting between Glenn and Lina before eventually following behind the latter. Glenn pinched his nose, grimacing.
"...Damn it, I know she''s at the age of being interested in others, but I didn''t expect it to be so unnerving."
Diamanes cackled, "Back in my days, I already had a harem once I reached my sixteenth birthday!"
Glenn raised an eyebrow. "You? You were sixteen once?"
"Duh? Did you think I was born as an ancient entity with some sort of omniscient knowledge? No, I did have a life before being shattered into pieces."
"Why don''t you tell me about that, hmm?" replied Glenn as he entered his house, trying to ignore the invisible changes. His perception grew during his training, and he couldn''t help but notice some sort of camera-like devices in every corner, as well as strange contraptions hidden in the walls. He was almost certain they weren''t here before his outside venture. He''ll have to ask Janica and Liam about it. Those things felt like they bore their trademarks.
Lina and Ary were walking up the entry hall''s double staircase when a thundering red light crossed past them and collided with Glenn. The shockwave threw the two students on their backs. A cute, crimson fox went and rubbed his head against Lina''s leg. A little late for an actual defense, Ary and Lina conjured basic magic barriers, squinting through the dust cloud that had invaded the mansion.
"Seems like you got stronger?" Glenn''s voice echoed beyond the smoke. The dust settled, revealing Glenn holding his sword with both hands, pushing back against Sahro''s. The Black Heir was grinning widely, his eyes crackling with red electricity. The crimson fox jumped on his shoulder, glaring silently at Glenn.
"And I''m not the only one, am I?" Sahro sheathed his sword and pulled his Aura and Mana back. The fox barked in a high-pitched sound before licking Sahro''s face. The Black Heir absent-mindedly rubbed the fox''s head as he looked Glenn up and down.
"Your sword was heavy. Did you train your swordsmanship during your outing?" He asked curiously.
Glenn shrugged as he pulled Nelg back into his soul space. The weapon had still not woken up, but all the signs pointed that it could happen at any time.
"Somewhat. I just realized I could use my magic in a much more efficient manner to strengthen my melee." He activated his Mana Sight and grinned widely. "It should be more than enough to overpower you, considering you''re only at the fourth level."
Sahro frowned. "What do you mean only? I''m at the same level as you, bastard, but I have both Mana and Aura"
"Fifth Circle!" A female voice exclaimed behind them. Milena stepped inside the mansion, her eyes shining brightly. "You became an Expert Magi already?"
"Milena!" Glenn opened his arms widely and hugged her, "You''re back? How is your spine? Are you okay? Do you still feel hurt? I''m sorry I couldn''t defend you from"
Milena extricated herself from his hug, her cheeks tinted with a slight hint of red. "Grandpa'' E- you know who fixed me up, and now..." She flexed her arms proudly, "I''m a Magi too! I broke through on the operation table!" Liara suddenly surged out of nowhere, capturing Milena and hugging her tightly.
Glenn laughed widely. "Good! It feels great to see that nobody is lagging behind." His expression softened and he clenched her shoulder, "...More seriously, I''m glad to see that you''re okay. Welcome back."
"Thanks," smiled Milena. She gently pushed Liara away and stretched, "You don''t know how happy I am to be back too. This was so boring, and I had to hide myself from my family and the servants. Thankfully, Grandpa'' was here from time to time, so that was nice."
"Talking about that..." Glenn leaned in and whispered, "I don''t remember you telling us you were...you know, his granddaughter?"
Milena looked at the ceiling, ignoring Glenn''s inquisitive eyes. "A lady always has a few secrets. That''s just how it is."
Liara chuckled in her angelic voice. She glanced at Ary and Lina who were watching the whole interaction with wide eyes, and nodded back in the direction of the relaxation room.
"We all have a lot to talk about, don''t we?" Glenn''s eyes drifted to the fox sprawled on Sahro''s shoulder. "Who''s up for a drink with me?"
His team grinned back at him. Glenn shook his head with a satisfied smile.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
''It''s good to be back.''
***
"...You combined your Aura Core and Mana Heart?" Glenn repeated in awe, "Aren''t you supposed to explode if you do that?"
Sahro nodded. "Yeah, I almost did. But instead, it combined perfectly, and..." he patted his small fox sitting on his lap, "I ended up with that."
The fox glared at Sahro and bit his hand as if he understood his words.
"I think he wants a name," Milena laughed. Liara extended her hand to pet the fox, only for the latter to jump on her lap, running away from Sahro. The Black Heiress made a surprise smile before happily petting the creature. The fox purred as it tucked itself into her clothes. Sahro glared at the creature before sighing.
"A fox name...Uhh, Fox?"
Milena and Liara stared at him like he was insane while Glenn laughed.
"Rusty? Sandy? Fennec? Blaze?" Milena counted on her fingers as she proposed one name after the other. The fox looked at her and shook its head, unsatisfied.
"He''s connected that thunder of yours, isn''t he, Sahro?" asked Glenn as he rubbed his chin. Sahro nodded absent-mindedly, struggling to find a fitting name.
"I know! What about Raijin?" Diamanes suddenly exclaimed with a grin. Glenn glanced at the fox, who looked up curiously. "Back on Earth, it was the name of a god of thunder. Or something like that. I just remember the name because it sounds cool."
The fox jumped on Glenn''s head, sitting proudly in his black hair. Milena and Liara looked at him with a little jealousy while Sahro grinned.
"Raijin it is, then! That''s a name for a true warrior! A thunder god, how fitting!"
The fox jumped off Glenn''s head, transforming into a small bolt of lightning before returning to Sahro''s shoulder. Raijin licked its paws, his whiskers fluttering with crackling electricity. Sahro petted the fox with his mechanical arm, satisfied. Milena cleared her throat, turning the attention to her.
"I also have something to show you," she admitted. She turned her back to them and suddenly lifted her shirt. Glenn was about to avert his eyes when he caught the cold glint of steel in her bare back.
"That''s very, very badass," Diamanes commented casually. In Milena''s back, in place of her spine, was now a steel construct that started from below the belt to the nape of her neck.
"That was the only solution to replace the missing bone that Grandpa'' could offer me," explained Milena as she pulled her shirt back down, at Diamanes'' greatest disappointment.
"Does it do anything?" Liara asked curiously. "Besides replacing your spine, I mean?"
Milena shrugged, uncertain. "Grandpa'' told me he hid a few surprises in it, but I still haven''t figured out what it was."
Glenn crossed his arms and leaned back in his armchair. "Whatever it is, it''s probably only positive. But you know..." The corner of his lips curved upward and he pressed a bracelet at his wrist. "I also have a small surprise."
A holographic screen appeared in front of him, Gundam''s faceless image streamed through it.
//Descendant?
Liara, Milena, and Sahro were all staring at the floating screen, shocked. Glenn cleared his throat.
"Do you mind preparing the package I ordered you to keep for me?"
//The teleportation process is ready whenever you are, Descendant.
Glenn grinned. "Let''s go to somewhere with a little more space."
A minute later, the whole team was standing outside. Lina and Ary were sitting on a balcony, watching them curiously. Glenn glanced at the boy.
''Isn''t that a good opportunity to scare off the kid?'' he thought.
"Alright, alright, everyone, please depart from the landing zone, thank you~" Diamanes jeered.
"Gundam, send it," Glenn ordered. A gate suddenly appeared above the group, a huge shadow falling from it. Liara and Milena gasped while Sahro reached for his sword, a hungry smile on his face. It took only a glance for Lina to recognize what the shadow was. Ary gripped the balcony''s ledge tightly, unable to believe his eyes.
The ground shook with the corpse landing, the black scales rustling under the sun. Glenn opened his arms widely, embracing the body''s sight.
"A dead dragon! Haha!" He laughed, enjoying the look of shock on his friends'' faces.
//This is NOT A DRAGON. Gundam''s voice thundered from his wrist, but Glenn couldn''t care less for him. A small stone suddenly rolled out of his breast pocket, stealthily rolling to the dragon''s corpse. Once, it pierced a hole through the creature''s head. It returned to that same hole, burrowing in the flesh and dry blood. Nobody managed to catch the strange sight.
"You brought back a dragon," Milena muttered, "Where did you even find it?"
Glenn shrugged. "In the Dark Wall. Nothing too crazy. Ah, and Sahro, I also met our friend, Doyle Malory."
"He''s still alive?" Sahro exclaimed in awe, "I thought that Laboratory would have killed him or something!"
"Actually, the Coreor Laboratory, whatever suits you, chose to use him as a source of energy. I...talked with him, and he had a hell of a grudge against the Gods." Glenn recounted, his arms crossed as he looked at the dragon''s corpse.
"He was the Seven Gods'' Apostle and is immortal. If I understood everything correctly," said Glenn casually. Liara and Milena turned to him with horrified eyes, wondering what sort of ancient secret their friend had accidentally stumbled upon.
"Anyway," Glenn changed the subject, "Anyone knows who Sevirox is? He''s the one who built Gundam and the Laboratory."
"Sevirox? Milena and Lina shouted at the same time. Unbeknownst to them, the young girl had slipped in among them at some point, eavesdropping on the conversation. Lina ran up to Glenn, shocked.
"Bro, Sevirox is a dragon!" she exclaimed, "And a super old one at that!"
Milena nodded as she grabbed at her hair. "Sevirox is the one who created the Draconic School of magic and taught it to the First King, his sole human friend. He''s one of the most important figures in history and the sole reason so many powerhouses were born in Munirp throughout the ages. He- He''s a legend, a myth!"
Glenn blinked, his mouth opening slightly.
Oh. Oh.
Ohhh.
Sevirox was a dragon. Suddenly, a lot of things were making a lot more sense. Gundam''s insistence in refusing to call the overgrown lizard a dragon, the drawing Sevirox''s friend made for a new "shape", and the absurd size of the Blumar cube containing the Core.
"Wait, is D. the First King''s name?" Glenn suddenly pieced together. Sevirox had one sole human friend, and there was only one letter bearing the mark of someone.
D.
"Shit, shit..." Glenn crouched on the ground, his mind racing. He drew out the Project: Sword of Damocles'' notebook from his dimensional pouch and hurriedly flipped through the page. There was one thing he was certain of, and it was that Sevirox came from Earth. But he was a dragon. Did that mean Sevirox reincarnated in a dragon''s body? How insane was that?
Sevirox, the Dragon Earthling, and D., the First King, were looking into ways of killing gods. Sevirox created the Blumar, a material that countered every mystical power, be they Aura, Mana, or Divinity. Sevirox died of old age after transforming his entire body into Blumar in an attempt to lengthen his life, as he explained in the Project: Sword of Damocles'' notebook.
Glenn shivered as he suddenly came to the realization.
Could there be a Blumar dragon slumbering somewhere, waiting to wake up?
"Holy shit, this is so nonsensical, and yet makes so much sense. Fuck." Diamanes blurted out.
''What exactly did we stumble on, Diamanes?''
261. Just a Pebble
Sahro grunted as he pushed his red lightning-covered sword through Glenn''s souvenir of his voyage: the overgrown lizard that, evidently, wasn''t a dragon, despite the two wings, massive claws, and vertical split pupils in his now-empty eyes.
"If there''s indeed a Blumar dragon somewhere..." he grinned widely, "...I say we hunt it. I''m sure I can slice through Blumar with just brute force thanks to my latest advancement."
Glenn wiped his bloodied hands on his black Imoogi suit before using Nelg as a lever to dislodge the beast''s teeth. "I know you''re jealous of my shiny, new Dragon-slayer, but it''s no reason to throw yourself at an ancient, indestructible creature."
//Descendant. Gundam''s voice sizzled through Glenn''s communication bracelet. //This mutated specimen is nothing like a dragon. You have not earned the impious title of Dragon-slayer.
Milena chuckled as she rolled the soft part of the lizard''s wings. "You heard him, Glenn. You''re no Dragon-slayer yet."
"Uhm..." Lina and Ary were standing next to the carcass, one with disgust and the other with curiosity. They were both holding sharp skinning knives, courtesy of Liara.
"Do we need to help...?" Lina asked hesitantly, grimacing as she looked at her blood-soaked boots. Unsurprisingly, there were no specialized butchering facilities in the 33rd Longhorn mansion, so they had been forced to drain the blood right in the garden. Liara patted Lina''s shoulder and nodded frantically, her lips sealed in Ary''s presence. It seemed like Glenn was the only human she was willing to speak to.
"Please, let me do your part," Ary said chivalrously as he approached the beast, sweat beading down his chin as each step took him closer to it. Even dead, the overgrown lizard still inspired dread and fear, proof of the might it had held while still alive. But as mighty as the beast was, it had still been helplessly executed with a well-aimed Shooting Star.
"Oww, look at him!" Milena patted Ary''s back with a gentle smile, "How brave! Hey, Liara, isn''t he adorable?"
Liara shot Ary a wide grin and a thumbs-up. The young man drew a deep breath before hesitantly pushing his knife against the lizard''s scales. The blade slipped against it, unable to pierce through the tough skin. Ary gasped heavily as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders.
Sahro scorned. "No, no, that''s not how you do it. Look, you need to slip your blade in between the scales and aim for the soft spots..."
Lina watched with Ary being lectured by her favorite Black Heir when a chill crept up her back. Glenn grabbed her shoulder and whispered with a fake smile.
"...Don''t tell me you want to slip away from this amazing opportunity. You want to learn, don''t you?"
Lina''s eyes darted to the side. "I- I mean, I''m sure I can practice another day on something less intimidating, right? I certainly don''t want to ruin the corpse with my inexperience"
"Nonsense!" clamored Glenn as he pushed her closer to the body. He felt his sister tense up with each step until she was close enough to touch the dead beast.
"Fuck..." Lina blurted out. Now that she was that close to the creature, she couldn''t help but realize how gigantic it was. The size of a small house, large enough to welcome a tiny family.
"Milady, I''d advise learning what you can before the Young Master disappears to Onnea knows where," Tiamanes whispered from within her left hand, careful not to be heard by Ary.
"Hey, if you''re even a tenth like Glenn, you''ll probably slaughter more beasts than men in the future," Diamanes cackled, not as caring as his counterpart. Lina wiped a big drop of sweat and turned to Milena with wide eyes.
"How aren''t you scared of that? It''s massive! I...I feel like it''s going to rise and eat me up!"
Milena tapped her chin, pondering. "Well, it is a scary creature, but..." she shrugged, "It''s not the scariest thing I''ve seen. The Occult Wanderersthat was some terrifying stuff."
Lina looked at her like she was insane, but Glenn pulled her back into work, grinning widely as he taught his sister how to skin a (fake) dragon.
''That''s some pretty unbelievable family occupations, haha.''
With everyone working on the creature, it took the rest of the day to carve out all of the monster''s flesh and skin his entire pelt. Ary had been actually very eager to learn and rapidly improved under Sahro''s tutelage. Lina, on the other hand, had half-heatedly followed her brother''s tyrannicalpassionate lessons and didn''t show as much skill as her comrade did.
Glenn had no idea whether that meat would be worth anything, but considering how magic affected everything in this world, maybe eating it would make them stronger. That remained to be tested, though. The tough scales would work perfectly to make armor pieces, as would the pelt. The claws were piled up with its bones, and only the creature''s skull was left.
"I kind of want to keep it as a trophy," said Glenn as he looked at the massive skull, five times his height.
Sahro nodded slowly. "That''d work pretty well to scare off intruders. But where do we put it?"
Milena and Lina exchanged a look of disbelief. Did they want to put this horror inside the mansion?
"Liara, tell them it''s a terrible idea, please!" Milena pleaded as she grabbed her best friend''s hand. Liara looked at her with a confused smile.
Milena froze. "D- Don''t tell me you''re agreeing with them?"
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Liara smiled. Milena groaned and turned away, dismissing her worries with a wave of her hand. "...It''s not like I can say anything about it. Sigh..."
"The entry hall?" Glenn proposed. Sahro looked up and down at the skull and grimaced.
"Hmm...We will have to hang it."
***
An hour or so later, the gigantic skull was hanging above the mansion''s entry, held by strong steel chains. Glenn and Sahro gazed at their work, dusting their hands off with satisfied looks.
"Wow, what the hell is this? This is so cool!" exclaimed Liam as he entered the mansion, closely followed by his girlfriend, Janica. The girl''s eyes widened as she stared at the skull, and her jaw dropped to the floor. Glenn rubbed his nose proudly.
"Well, hrm, it''s my latest victim, a fake dragon. Nothing too crazy," Glenn said with a falsely modest tone. Liam''s eyes shone and he walked up to Glenn to get more explanations, but something suddenly fell on his head, interrupting him.
"Aouch!" He looked up confusedly, "What was that?"
A small stone the size of a pearl rolled on the floor and stopped in front of Glenn''s boot. The latter picked it up, staring at it confusedly. The stone was dark-red, with hints of a jade color hidden in its center.
"Pebble?" Glenn muttered, puzzled. He pressed his hand against his breast pocket, and indeed, Pebble wasn''t in its usual spot. Janica, her shock past, looked at the ceiling worriedly.
"Hmm...I''ll do some maintenance on the ceiling. It isn''t a good omen if our roof starts collapsing on our heads."
Sahro scoffed, "I wouldn''t worry about that. That stone fell off the skull."
"The skull?" Glenn raised an eyebrow. ''What the hell was Pebble doing in the not-dragon''s skull?''
Diamanes laughed widely in his head. ''Maybe he was absorbing the dragon''s powers? Who knows?''
Glenn stared at Pebble for another minute before shrugging and putting it back in his breast pocket. But, against all odds, he failed. The rock slipped away from his hands and fell on the floor. It rolled without stopping, slipping under the mansion''s door and into the garden. Glenn looked at his friends, half in shock and the other half in guilt.
''I didn''t exactly explain to anyone that I might have created a sentient rock. Let''s just hope nothing too weird happens.''
Glenn followed Pebble outside. Sahro, Liam, and Janica followed him curiously. Milena had insisted on talking with Lina while they were hanging the skull up since she didn''t get the occasion yet. On the other hand, Liara went to prepare dinner. Ary had politely proposed his help, and the Black Heiress accepted.
"They''re going to be so jealous once I tell them they''ve missed such a weird sight," Sahro muttered with a smirk. Pebble continued to roll before stopping in the blood-soaked spot where they had butchered the dragon. Glenn felt a chill creep up his spine.
''Oh-oh, this is weird! I love it!'' Diamanes laughed wickedly. Glenn wasn''t as amused as him, sadly. The dirt rose around Pebble, compressing and forming a tougher whole. At first, it just looked like a pile of mud, but it soon grew out a pair of arms and legsno, these were only legs. Pebble wasn''t taking on a human shape. A tail grew out at the back, and the legs defined themselves further, ending up with sharp metal claws. The head had a pair of jaws and a singular eye: Pebble. Wings span out of the dirt formation, stretching out majestically.
Dirt continued to be pulled out of the ground until the earth-construct surrounding Pebble became indissociable from actual scales.
A brown, pupil-less, one-eyed dragon. Glenn rubbed his eyes, before crouching in front of Pebble.
A cat-sized dragon.
"Aww, he''s too cute!" Janica melted as she rushed to try and grab Pebble in her arms. The dirt-dragon rolled away and hid behind Glenn, its single eye shining under the setting sun. Janica''s expression crumbled, tears welling up in her eyes. Liam made a wry smile and pulled her in his arms.
"It''s fine, it''s fine, I''m sure it''s just shy..." The couple headed off, far from the heart-breaker. Pebble peeked his head out, making sure that Janica was far away before leaving his hiding place.
"A rock that transformed into a...very, very tiny dragon. I don''t even know what to say," admitted Sahro. Glenn''s jaw was still sitting on the floor. Raijin, Sahro''s fox, suddenly appeared on his master''s shoulder and glanced down at the rock dragon curiously. Pebble looked at it with an empty eye, his tail waving left and right.
"I think we need to find it a name," said Sahro, but Glenn shook his head.
"No need," he smiled, still in disbelief, "He already has one. Right, Pebble?"
The dragon looked up in recognition and flapped its tiny wings proudly.
"I swear, life can''t possibly get any weirder," muttered Diamanes.
"You know, it somehow doesn''t surprise me," Sahro said, his hands on his waist. Raijin licked his chin, but the Black Heir''s expression remained unmoved. "I''m not sure how long you''ve been lugging this stone around, but I know it''s been part of our adventures for a while now."
Glenn scratched the back of his head. "Well, it kind of followed me around without me asking, and I couldn''t exactly do anything about it" Pebble suddenly phased out of existence. Glenn and Sahro''s eyes were glued to the spot where the tiny dragon previously was. They looked at each other in shock.
"Where did it go?" Glenn''s heart jumped, suddenly worried. ''I''ve had Pebble around forever. I kind of don''t want to lose him now, damn it!''
Sahro''s eyes widened and he pointed at Glennmore precisely, the top of his head. The young man slowly looked up, meeting Pebble''s single eye staring down at him. The creature was as weightless as a feather and had somehow teleported itself on his head. Glenn carefully grabbed Pebble and held him at arm''s length. The dragon''s tail waved left and right like an excited dog. Glenn sighed heavily, uncertain of how he should treat this new...pet?
"Your pet rock transformed into a pet rock dragon. I would have never guessed this evolution to be possible." Diamanes admitted in awe.
Glenn scoffed. "Who would have?"
//Me. Gundam''s voice startled the three of them, sizzling out of the communication bracelet. //This rock possesses a hint of Divinity from an unknown source and seems to have mutated to gain sentience. It also seems to have gained the ability to alter its weight, from weightless to overbearing. I believe it can absorb the properties of things around him, and become a...copy of a dragon Gundam pronounced the word with utter disappointment ...After absorbing the mutated specimen''s blood and energy. This scenario was inevitable the second this rock dove into the mutated specimen''s body.
Diamanes laughed. "Great! At least one of us knows what the hell happened!" He paused, and the mouth in Glenn''s palm opened widely, "...But wait a minute, absorbing things and growing stronger from it...That''s my power! Hey, Pebble, how the hell did you get my power? Thief! Plagiarizer!"
Pebble looked at Diamanes with one wide, empty eye, before jumping out of Glenn''s arms and strolling away. Sahro''s fox followed it, curious.
Glenn rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"Just another Monday..."
262. Twice as Annoying
Glenn mindlessly picked Pebble up and threw him away, sitting on a bench in the mansion''s garden. The twin moons were hanging high in the sky, shining soft light on the ground. The dragon happily rolled like a bowling ball, before returning to Glenn''s hands. Even though he had four small legs and a pair of tiny wings, Pebble preferred moving around by coiling itself in a ball and rolling around.
"I became an Expert Magi, and Archmagi isn''t too far, according to my gut feelings..." Glenn patted the one-eyed dragon, leaning his chin on his clenched fist. "Diamanes, do you think I''m strong enough to contend against Count Mortelli, the bastard who helped with Redan''s death?"
Diamanes clicked his tongue. "Your training with Gundam made you strong enough to contend with weaker Archmagis, and nothing pointed at the Count to be that strong. But on the other hand, we also have literally no information about him. So...maybe? Just go ahead, I''ll enjoy the show."
"Very helpful, as always..." Glenn rubbed his forehead. Pebble bounced around him, unaware of his master''s worries. "I also need to look into the Occult Wanderers and figure out what the hell is up with them."
"Don''t forget about our best friends, the Thorns Church!" Diamanes happily chipped in. Glenn gritted his teeth at the mention of the damned cult. Stormblade was part of the Thorns Church, and he was helping the Baron. Baron who, also, was also a vampire. Perhaps looking into the connection between these two threats would be a good idea.
"What did he call himself...? A descendant of Nosferatu?" Glenn pinched his nose. "Wasn''t Nosferatu a vampire on Earth too? Don''t tell me whoever created the vampires was an Earthling too."
"I mean, everything is possible. Sevirox was a dragon and an Earthling. So why couldn''t a movie-inspired vampire exist too?"
Glenn sighed, the burden of his life suddenly weighing on him. Well, it was always weighing him down, but whenever he had the time to think for a second and take a step back, he couldnt help but realize how insane his existence was.
He buried his face in his hands and exhaled heavily. War, adventures, dragons, gods, ancient monsters, and secrets on secrets
When will it stop?
Glenn rubbed the back of his head as he looked at the twin moons in the sky, his heart heavy.
When? Diamanes repeated with mocking laughter.
As all mortals, there are only two ways to escape Fate. You can die, or become strong enough to ignore Fate.
Glenn scoffed. Yeah, yeah, I know, I need to reachwhatever Circle you want me to get to, so that I can get some real answers instead of some cryptic shit.
Diamanes cleared his throat. Mana, Aura, DivinityYou are aware that these powers are unnatural, correct?
How would I know? shrugged Glenn as he played with Pebble. Diamanes continued, undeterred.
Reality exists because a set of rules maintain it in place. And all these energies defy the rules in place. Creating things out of nowhere technically breaks reality.
Glenn paused and gently dropped Pebble on his head. Diamanes wasnt on one of his random rants This was important, he could feel it.
Mages, Aura knights, PriestsTheyre rule-breakers. Thugs. Diamanes licked his lips loudly. But reality isnt really a fan of that. So it created Fate.
Rules A shiver crept up Glenns spine. This was echoing the discussion he had with Doyle Malory.
And Fate isnt kind to rule-breakers. So it tries to get rid of them. Everyone who holds the power to change the world is under Fates watch.
You speak of Fate like an actual entityIs it a God? Glenn asked hesitantly.
Diamanes laughed wickedly. What even are Gods?
Glenn opened his mouth to reply but found himself lacking. This was a good question. What were gods? Strong, powerful beings? Entities created out of the beliefs of millions of people? Administrators of the world?
The only way to know is to ask them Diamanes smile grew from his thumb to the pinky. ...Or become one. But good luck with that!
Glenn grabbed Pebble and placed him on his head, the dragon nestling comfortably in his hair. He then headed in to join the rest for supper in the dining hall. The room was bustling with activitySahro was devouring braised pork like a starving man while Milena and Liara were whispering in hushed tones. Ary and Lina were excitedly talking about butchering a dragon, and Manalok Tuleam was five feet deep in his food, shoving one plate after the other down his throat. Janica and Liam were also there, but the two love birds only had eyes for each other.
In the end, it was Pebble himself who announced his presence with a sharp shriek, shutting up the conversations and stopping everyone in their actions, except for Manalok.
Everyone Glenn rubbed Pebble in between the ears, the dragon purring happily, This is Pebble.
AA baby dragon? Milena blurted out as she rushed out of her chair. Liara closely followed, her eyes shining with a burning desire for the cute one-eyed beast.
Oh my God, hes adorable. So cute! Can I pet him? Of course, I can Milena reached for the creature without thinking, only for Pebbles jaw to snap on her fingers, pinching her. Milena yelped and hurriedly pulled her hand back, tears welling up in her eyes.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Why wouldnt he let me pet him? This is so cruel!
Liara followed her example, but Pebble showed himself unbiased, biting down on her fingers as well. But instead of flinching back from the pain, the Black Heiress carefully scooped the dragon up and took him in her arms, hugging it happily.
Pebble growled but still refused to let go of her fingers. Liaras lips curved in a heart-snatching smile, blinding Glenn.
Wait, Milena suddenly snapped in Glenns direction. Pebble? Pebble?!? You named a dragon Pebble? she cried.
Glenn licked his lips. Well, he was just a stone when I first got him. I never expected him to become a cat-sized dragon.
I think Pebble is a perfectly fitting name, said Sahro supportingly. Lina and Ary approached the creature, their mouths opened in amazement.
A baby dragon Lina couldnt help but try to pet him. Pebble didnt react as the girl ran her fingers on his scales, amazed. Ary also tried to approach him, but one deathly glare from the one-eyed beast was enough to discourage him.
Of course, he likes your sister Milena grumbled to Glenn. The latter simply grinned with an idiot look, watching his happy sister.
A flash of light suddenly blinded everyone in the dining hall. Pebble let go of Liaras fingers and jumped out of her arms, at her greatest dismay. He phased out of reality and reappeared in steel-clad arms, shining under the soft magic lights. The shining gauntlet rubbed Pebbles scaled back slowly.
A knightly-armored copy of Glenn had appeared in the room, carrying Pebble with unfakeable naturality. Nelg made his best impression of Glenns devilish grin, smiling from one ear to the other.
Whats up?
A crack of red lightning flashed through the room, crashing against Glenns hastily raised shield. A sword covered in white Aura stabbed into the shield while Milena appeared behind Nelg, one palm against his head and another seizing Pebble against his will. The dragon snarled and teleported back on Glenns head, hissing at Milena.
Stop! A shockwave exploded out of Glenn, freezing everyone in their places. Glenn slowly rubbed his forehead before dismissing his magic.
Oh, so thats how it feels to be in Milenas magic Interesting. OhOh! Nelg laughed excitedly. Milenas face flushed red and slapped the back of Nelgs head, sending him tumbling forward.
P- Pervert! Glenn, this pervert is wearing your face!
"Hmm...I think I should pretend to be hurt. Ahh~ what a pain..." Glenn''s copy rubbed the back of his head with a deadpan expression. Sahro pointed his sword at him and gritted his teeth.
What the hell are you? Another ruh sayiya?!
Nelg cleared his throat and waved his hand happily. "Hey everyone! I''m NelgGlenn''s Soul Weapon!"
Manalok suddenly looked up from his plate of pasta. "Soul Weapon? Where?"
Glenn sighed heavily, struggling to contain a flurry of insults. ''I would have rather done this in a less...unexpected way, but what can I say...''
''This is so unfair...'' Diamanes grumbled, ''How come this idiot can manifest in reality and I can''t?''
Glenn collapsed on his seat, exhaling a tired breath. Manalok was there, but...well, what did it matter? What would the odd man do? Report it? It''s not like anyone could take Nelg from him anyway.
''Besides for the Devil''s Eye,'' Diamanes cleared his throat. Nelg froze, and sweat beaded off his face.
''Oh, I think he heard that.''
***
Your Soul Weapon was sentient? Glenn, how many voices exactly do you have in your head? exclaimed Milena in disbelief. Ary and Manalok frowned confusedly, the only ones unaware of Diamanes'' existence. Sahro went and poked Nelg in the face. The weapon grinned dumbly, letting himself be treated as a zoo''s beast.
"The same exact face...And you''re thinking like him?" Sahro verified. Nelg nodded frantically.
"Yep. Everything Glenn knows, I know. Ah, man, you have no idea how happy I am! I can finally talk to you all! This is great!"
Sahro frowned and glanced at Glenn. "He doesn''t really sound like you, though."
Liara was rubbing her chin, pondering as she stared at Nelg. Lina was clenching her head in despair.
"Two brothers...two Glenn. How am I going to survive this?"
Ary grabbed her shoulder reassuringly. "Don''t worry Lina. If winning your heart means squaring up with your brothers, then consider me a champion in training."
He kept the same idiotic grin even after Lina punched him in the face. Manalok Tuleam was looking at Nelg from all angles, taking notes and muttering to himself as he did so.
"Hmm...Very, very interesting, yes...He has his own Mana Heart and seems capable of progressing like a human. Hmm..."
Oh, yes, yes, please, give me your attention! Nelg laughed broadly, ecstatic. Wanna see my Mana Heart? Look, I called it the Black Sun!
Nelg amazed the gallery as he Projected his Mana Heart, babbling like an excited kid. Glenn watched him with a lost look until a discreet voice nudged him out of his catatonic state.
//Descendant.
Gundam''s voice whispered out of the bracelet so that only Glenn would hear it. He glanced at the communication device. If Gundam whispered this way, it meant he didn''t want to share whatever he was going to say.
...and look, I can also transform back into a weapon! Nelg emitted a bright flash of white, before returning to his sword shape. Glenn discreetly used the commotion to head out of the room, ending up on a balcony overlooking the gardens.
//Descendant. Gundam''s voice was almost emotional. The Initialization is complete, all thanks to you.
"...You''re welcome?" hesitantly replied Glenn. He still had no idea what the Initialization was about, but as long as Gundam was thankful for him, it had to be positive, right?
//I wont be able to communicate with you for a long time, and I fear I am obligated to destroy the communication devices. But if one day you come across the Core again, then
//Dont hesitate to visit.
Glenn frowned. Gundam, youre surprisingly talkative andemotional. Are you okay? Cant you tell me what the Initialization is?
//Farewell, Descendant. Gundams voice sizzled out one instant before the bracelet suddenly disintegrated into dust. Glenn looked at his wrist with a growing headache.
What the hell is up with today? He muttered as he leaned on the balcony. The twin moons were hanging high in the sky, at equal distance from each other.
"Glenn," Diamanes spoke with palpable dread, something Glenn had never expected to find in the ancient entity. "This day isn''t over yet. Look up."
On the largest moon, a pristine canvas of white, a minuscule red spot had appeared, a tumor infecting the magnificent astral body. This insignificant spot of red was growing, propagating across the moon''s surface like an infection, pushing away the white and replacing it with red.
A red so dark it could be mistaken for blood.
263. He, who refused death, fights again
Glenn clenched the ledge of the balcony so tightly it shattered under his fingers. A cold pearl of sweat beaded down his forehead, his heart beating madly at the nightmarish sight unraveling before his eyes. His chest that had been pierced by a spear under that same crimson night throbbedhis stomach, once an open buffet for a ghoul, ached too. A purplish tinge was seeping from his arm of the same color.
"A Blood Moon..." Glenn gritted his teeth as he stared at the sky. His friends came out of the mansion, also looking at the moons with mixed emotions.
"Glenn...I''ll spoil you slightly and tell you now instead of later. I might be a Fallen One who came from the Moon Rift, but that does not mean I appreciate this shit whatsoever." Diamanes grounded his teeth, his hatred and anger palpable. "I''ve got a score to settle with it. Tonight''s going to be anything but calm."
Mana swirled around Glenn as memories of dead allies, horrible monsters, and despair intruded his mind. The Blood Moon was using his magic against him, influencing and trying to nudge him to fall into Corruption. He grimaced and chased away these thoughts.
"It''s a Blood Moon. I wasn''t expecting to sleep it off."
Sahro walked up to him and stood at his side, staring at the crimson sky. His hand rested against the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at any time. "Glenn, this..."
Glenn gritted his teeth. "Yeah, I know."
A shadow suddenly manifested out of thin air, wrapped in bandages and with a hint of unrest in its movements. Sahro''s blade was already pressed against the intruder''s neck while Glenn''s Sun was hovering a hair''s breadth from his face. Veil carefully pushed Sahro''s blade away as black satin tried to wrap itself around the magic Sun and burned away helplessly.
"Apologies, Fixer Glenn, Fixer Sahro, but the situation should allow me to skip the formalities. Oh, and congratulations on reaching the Fifth Circle, Fixer Glenn."
Sahro sheathed his sword as Glenn dismissed his magic with a snap of his fingers. The Cleaner dusted his clothes off before glancing up at the Blood Moon.
We need all hands on deck. Our analysts have predicted an absurdly high rate of Rifts on either side of the Dark Wall. The coming wave of monsters will be the largest one to date during a Blood Moon, and it''s not even counting whatever is going to come out of the Moon Rift. So..." Veil held his hand forward honestly, "I need your help. Your whole team''s help."
Glenn tensely looked at his friends and his sister, hesitating. From the looks of it, this sounded immensely dangerous. It was one thing to head off alone in some mountains to find a lost expedition, it was another to bring his allies into what was possibly the worst place to be if survival was your goal.
"I''ll come." Sahro didn''t show a once of hesitation, his mechanical arm glowing with crackling red electricity.
"Me too. I need to test my newly formed Fourth Circle on something, after all," Milena stepped in with a tense smile, her fists clenched. Liara silently followed her, nodding at Glenn. Liam and Janica both gulped, tightly clenching each other''s hands. They weren''t superhumans like the rest of themthey were engineers. Could they survive a literal tsunami of monsters?
"I- I''ll come too!" Lina said excitedly. Ary''s face drained out of blood and he grabbed her shoulder with an appalled look.
"Please, Lina, I know I am only a stranger to you, but listen to me, and don''t throw your life away like that. This...This isn''t something you can handle." The boy was missing his usual flirty attitude, his fingers trembling uncontrollably. Lina scoffed and pushed him away, heading for Veil, but she froze in place. She couldn''t take another step.
"...No." Glenn''s voice was icy cold. "You''ll stay here, with Liam and Janica. Ary, I''m sorry, but I''ll have to ask you to vacate my home and return to your family."
Lina''s eyes widened in anger. "What? Why? I- I can help too! I''ve learned magic at the University, and trained with Sahro and Liara every day"
She shut her mouth when she crossed Glenn''s cold, purple eyes.
"Lina, this is not up for discussion." He turned away, his fists tightly clenched. "...If you want to fight so badly, first, become half as strong as me. Then, and only then, we will talk about it. But for now, shut up and give up the thought."
Without another glance, he grabbed Veil''s hand, who nodded at him. A large, black satin ribbon appeared around Glenn and his team, capturing them. A second later, they were gone. The magic stopping Lina disappeared, and she angrily stormed back inside the house. Ary exhaled a shaky breath before bowing in Liam and Janica''s direction.
"I hope to see you after the Blood Moon. Farewell." Ary darted away into the house, leaving Janica and Liam on the balcony.
"Hmm..." Manalok Tuleam scratched the top of his head. "Seems like they forgot about me. Oh well."
***
After a few passages in teleportation gates, Glenn''s group arrived at the Dark Wall, the chain of black mountains bathing in a red hue. Thousands and thousands of mercenaries, mages, knights, and even war suppliers had gathered for the occasion. Munirp''s army was also there, sporting the proud setting sun flag. The power-armors soldiers had also gathered, closely followed by countless combat automatons.
The entirety of Munirp was looking at the Dark Wall, preparing for the scourge. Veil adjusted his bandages before tipping his head slightly.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"I apologize, but I need to coordinate with the other Cleaners." He turned away but paused after three steps. "...Thank you for coming, all of you. The Cleaner''s Workshop won''t forget your bravery."
Milena scoffed tensely. "You''re saying that like we''re going to die. Just reward us instead of remembering us!"
Glenn and Sahro smiled while Liara pressed Milena''s shoulder. Veil smiled under his bandages.
"Certainly. Good luck." He disappeared into the shadows.
"Alright, phew, it''s going to be alright..." Milena breathed in deeply while Liara unsheathed her sword and prepared her spear. Sahro sharpened his sword against his mechanical arm with a serious expression, a hint of anticipation lurking amidst the tension. Glenn''s Mana raged around him, the Milky Way begging to be used and show the power of Astral Sorcery. Nelg appeared out of Glenn''s soul, wearing an anxious face as he hugged his armor.
"S- So that''s a Blood Moon, huh?" he muttered in awe. Glenn nodded slowly, straining himself to relax his muscles.
"Curse this thing...At least we will get to fight our fill," grumbled Diamanes. Glenn flew up using Gravity Manipulation and watched as more and more fighters joined in preparation for the disaster, Nelg closely following him using whatever means were at his disposition. Campfires were lit across the plain preceding the Dark Wall, thousands of red lights rising against the Blood Moon.
"I thought those were once-in-a-century rarities, but I already saw two in my life here..." Glenn clicked his tongue. Giselle also mentioned witnessing a Blood Moon back when she still lived in the Ink Dunes. Pebble suddenly phased into reality, appearing on top of Glenn''s head. The one-eyed dragon silently stared at the Blood Moon, his tail still and his wings tensed up. Even the small stone beast wasn''t comfortable under the night''s crimson hue.
Glenn absentmindedly patted Pebble, preparing himself. He shook his head and returned to his group. Sahro opened his mouth to say something to him, but the ground suddenly trembled, interrupting him. Their gazes turned to the Dark Wall, grave.
"It''s starting..." Milena muttered tensely as she pulled a dagger out and readied a spell in her other hand. Glenn nodded slowly.
Indeed, it was starting.
The Dark Wall shook heavily, large chunks of stone breaking off the mountains, crashing down with thundering noise. The shaking ground grew to become an earthquake, the floor shattering open. The red light from the Blood Moon seemed to become more intense, and the dimensional slit announcing the opening of the Moon Rift appeared. Glenn''s eyes widened as he stared at the opening hole in the sky.
The Moon Rift wasn''t opening naturally like when he first witnessed it. No...something was prying it open. Two massive, dreadful fingers were opening the Moon Rift, each large enough to crush King''s Rise like a bug.
"What the fuck...?" whispered Glenn, his heart racing madly as he looked at the two fingers. He took an involuntary step backward, his entire being screaming at him to run away. These fingers belonged to something so dangerous, so horrible that even the sight of Diamanes back in his fleshy lair wasn''t as terrifying. Glenn knew one thing for sure: if the fingers crossed over to this world, the Limbo would be done for. Nothing can possibly stop that.
More parts of the Dark Wall fell, crumbling little by little. And suddenly, it rose.
Glenn forgot to breathe, enraptured in the sight.
The longest chain of mountains on the continent, separating Munirp from the threats of the Celestial Gods and other threats from Beyond The Wall, was rising. The mountain peaks pierced through the sky, rising like a dark blanket over the world. The Blood Moon disappeared, obscured by the Dark Wall. The dark stone that had given its name to the chain of mountains kept on crumbling away, revealing the truth hidden beneatha dark blue material that seemed to swallow light itself. An absurd quantity of Blumar had been buried under the dark stone and was now revealed to the world.
The Dark Wall kept on rising, mountains shattering as four massive legs pushed up. Two, dark blue wings stretched out, spanning over the world. The Dark Wall raised a triangle-shaped head and opened its world-shattering jaws. A black flame shot out in the sky, a pillar of light that rose against the Moon Rift and the Fingers.
After thousands of years of slumber, hidden under everyone''s nose, the ancient Dragon rose. A Dragon who was originally a human earthling, who created Blumar and replaced every part of his body with the god-slaying material. The world-ending disaster, Sevirox, the friend of the First King D, announced his awakening with a majestic roar. The world trembled, vibrating at the sound of Sevirox''s roar, threatening to shatter into millions of pieces.
Glenn laughed nervously. He couldn''t help it. After all, he spent almost a month inside the Dark Wall, in a place called ''The Core'', where a certain Dragon had once been working on creating a weapon to destroy even Gods. Glenn had even assisted Gundam in a process called the Initialization. He had never understood what this Initialization was, but now...Now that he was watching an ancient, millennium-old dragon rise from the grave, defying all myths and logic, he suddenly got an inkling.
He was the one who woke The Dragon.
Sevirox''s wings flapped as he rose from the ground. The air pressure crashed against Munirp, but a wide magic shield suddenly appeared that protected the ground from complete destruction. It stretched further than Glenn could see, and his Mana Sight indicated that it was magic too complicated for him to understand. It was a spell at a stage so far beyond his own level, that he couldn''t even fathom the amount of Mana that went into it.
Sevirox flew in the Moon Rift''s direction, roaring madly as he did so. The Blumar Dragon rose so high in the sky, that he appeared like a third celestial object, defying the moons in size. Glenn knew that it was only a question of perspective, but still. This sight was breathtaking. He could imagine that even King''s Rise inhabitants could see the majestic Dragon rise from the grave, facing off against the one threat nobody ever understood or figured out how to fight.
The Moon Rift. The Fingers stopped stretching open the hole, and a third one entered the world, aiming to press against Sevirox. The Dragon roared and pushed back with his entire body, the Blumar colliding with the Finger and destroying it. The third Finger pulled back suddenly, followed by the other two Fingers. The Moon Rift started closing, but Sevirox wasn''t done. With a world-defying roar, he followed the Fingers into the Moon Rift and entered the dimensional hole.
The Moon Rift closed after him, and the Blood Moon disappeared, replaced by the mundane, pristine white moons.
And then, only then... Right where Sevirox was previously lying...
Countless Rifts opened up, spitting out all sorts of monsters without stopping. The Mana in the area surged up, empowering every fighter on the battlefield.
Finally...
Hell itself was unleashed upon the world.
End of Book 4, Black Sand
264. Noblesse Oblige (Start of Vol.5)
"A common misconception shared by most is that Rifts magically create monsters. An unbalance of Mana, or in some cases Divinity, creates a distortion where common animals are transformed into monstrous beasts. At least, that is what everyone believes."
A man wearing a regal suit with golden filigranes clasped his hands behind his back as he stood before an empty, majestic throne. He had long, flowing golden hair, and eyes as blue as the sky. His skin was perfect, with no blemishes or freckles. A crown of gold and silver rested on the top of his head, crested with jewels. A setting sun, the Twilight, was embroidered on the back of his suit.
"In reality, Rifts are one-way passages. Some are from the Beyond, others from the space beyond the Limbo, and some from some mysterious, crumbling dimensions. They''re all pale copies of the Moon Rift we just watched."
The man turned back and grabbed the shoulder of a younger, less perfect version of himself, kneeling respectfully with his head bowed, uncrowned.
"The world is changing, as our ancestors foretold. His friend took flight, and hell has been set loose. And you know as well as I do that this Rift isn''t a one-way passage."
The King returned to the throne, sitting on it casually. The young man took a deep breath, his hands tightly clenched. He wore a tense, yet excited smile, his Mana swirling with majestic power.
"In consequence, I, Alaric Magnus the Second, command you, the Prince, to show the might of the Throne once more to the world, and protect Munirp from this threat."
Alaric''s Mana exploded, showering the entirety of the King''s Tower in indigo and orange Mana. Citizens of King''s Rise, be they from the Fringe, the Bourgeoisie, or the Court, all looked at the tower, their mouths agape and their hearts racing. After countless years of mysterious silence, the Throne had finally decided to act again.
The Prince looked up with the same grin as his father''s.
"I, Lucian Magnus, accept my duty."
The Prince stood up and bowed to the waist, before leaving the room. Alaric watched him, before turning to the knight standing in a corner.
"Harriet...Make sure Lucian is safe."
The knight bowed his head slightly before leaving in the Prince''s footsteps. The King leaned back into his throne, his knuckles rapping against the solid gold.
Today, the world shall see the might of the Royal Magnus family.
***
Under the soft touch of two beautiful white moons was another young man, dressed in a similarly white suit. He had raven-black hair tied in a ponytail, and his eyes were purple. His left arm was of that same color, glimmering with a strange hue.
For a moment, Glenn could only think to himself that, maybe, he should become a farmer or something. A tapestry merchant, a blacksmith, or even a cook. He could open the first fast-food in Limbo. Maybeno, that would certainly be preferable to staring death in the eyes as a literal tsunami of monsters rushed at you.
And yet, here he was, his Mana swirling and the corner of his lips curved upward. There was a peaceful feeling to slaying simple, unthinking monsters who just rushed at you with chins dripping in saliva and sharp claws. It was a welcome change to the ungodly beings Glenn was getting used to facing.
"Glenn, I don''t want to worry you, but there are a lot of monsters. W- What should I do?" asked Nelg after flying next to him, the Soul weapon who had recently unlocked the ability to change shape to the armored version of his user, Glenn. Despite the thick armor he was wearing, his face was distorted with anxiousness.
"Can you fight by yourself?" Glenn inquired as he kept his eyes on the incoming wave of monsters. Half of them had gone to the other side, to the Ink Dunes and other countries that were once hidden behind the Dark Wall. Dark Wall who literally took flight after revealing itself to be a mountain-sized dragon.
Glenn still had some difficulty wrapping that fact around his head.
"Uhh, I can imitate you to some extent, but I don''t have magic or the like" Nelg flinched as Glenn grabbed his shoulder.
"Now that you have a human form, feel free to do what you want. If you want me to keep using you as a weapon, I can do that. If you want to fight alongside us with your own skills, you can do that too. And if you don''t want to fight, well..." Glenn winced, "I don''t think you have much of a choice right now."
Nelg gulped. Without another word, he joined up with Liara and Milena, who were still staring at the twin moons in the sky, where the impossible sight of a Moon Rift forcefully occurring previously appeared. Sahro was already gone, a red lightning bolt crackling with power, charging head-first into the monster wave.
Many powers had gathered in anticipation of this disaster. The Church of Onnea, the Cleaner''s Workshop, the Magi Brotherhood, several Orders of the Munirp army, not to mention the mechanical guard protecting the Bourgeoisie. Glenn could even feel the power of mages and fighters on a higher level than his own, the Saints and Archmagis.
"Hah! Even if you''re only a Fifth Circle, I''m sure you could ruin them now!" Diamanes cackled. The entity living in his left, purple arm was also finally past the shock of witnessing Sevirox''s flight and back to its usual antics. Glenn wanted to refute him, but in truth, he couldn''t bring himself to do it. The insights he unlocked after training for a month under Gundam''s guidance back in the Core had brought him to another level of power, strong enough to punch well above his weight.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Doyle Malory, the Lightbringer, once called his improved spells ''True Draconic magic''.
"The world hasn''t heard from the Devil''s Hand in a while..." muttered Glenn as his Mana swirled around him.
"After all I endured, I think I deserve to show off a little." The corner of his lips curved upward and shot through the sky using Gravity Manipulation. True flight had become as easy as breathing now and was much more efficient than just dashing through the battlefield. Pebble, the cat-sized, one-eyed dragon suddenly appeared on his shoulder, hissing softly. Glenn grinned as he felt the presence of his pet, and stopped a respectable distance away from the monster waves. Spells, arrows, and Aura blades were already hacking through the beasts'' advance, but there were simply too many. The more they slaughtered, the more appeared out of the countless Rifts resting at the bed of where the Dark Wall once was.
Other Archmagis stood above the battlefield, preparing powerful war spells that would decimate legions of monsters. Saints stood at the vanguard, each of their attacks cleaving a hundred beasts. Glenn took a deep breath and stretched his right hand out. A miniature sun appeared from a spark, the size of a pearl. It looked like molten lava, shining with bright, burning light.
"I only held onto it for twenty-four hours, it should still retain some strength, right?" muttered Glenn as he watched the spell. The key to escaping Gundam''s white training prison cell had been to understand and improve on Arcane Surge, the spell he previously took with Diamanes that allowed him to use half of his Mana to power up his next spell. As it stood, doing this operation manually was very, very hard, but that much more rewarding.
The moment he escaped, he prepared this one-off spell just in case, which appeared to have been a good idea. His entire Mana capacity had gone into it and made it powerful enough to carve through even Gundam''s white indestructible walls. Glenn hadn''t been able to test it out, but he was almost certain he would be able to hurt Doyle Malory severely with this spell. The sole defunct was that it lost power over time, and it took a lot of time to prepare.
But in this situation, it was perfect. This was one, incredibly powerful consumable that, at the moment, wouldn''t cost Glenn any Mana.
He flicked the Sun off, throwing it into the center of the monster wave. The other archmagi also threw their spells in: whirlwinds that shredded the monsters to dust, waves of ice that created countless sculptures, or even dirt tsunamis that drowned the beasts.
"The Sun." Glenn''s voice was almost ethereal as he watched his spell land.
For a moment, the vicinity was as bright as day.
When the light receded, the only thing left was a kilometer-wide calcinated crater, filled with ashes and smoldering bones. From the thousands of monsters, none remained. Glenn smiled with satisfaction, only for that smile to fade away. All the monsters he killed were replaced with stronger and bigger ones. Flying creatures the size of hills flew out of the Rifts, shrieking with eardrums-piercing cries.
"It''s going to take a while, isn''t it?" snickered Diamanes. "Not that I''m complaining, far from it! It''s an excellent change of pace from the ''Trying to break through a wall'' that I endured for the last month!"
Glenn glanced at the grinning mouth in his palm before turning back to the monsters.
"Let''s make as much contribution as possible..." He thought back to the old man who taught him the Draconic School of magic and his expression darkened.
"Redan was the legendary Ice Wolf from the War of Fronts, and he still fell from grace because of Count Mortelli. If I want to look into the Count, I''ll need to become so famous even he can''t simply ban me out of the city."
"And the first step to that is a war," laughed Diamanes. "You can''t even imagine how happy that makes me! Fighting and slaughter truly makes my blood boil!"
"Crazy fucker..." Glenn grinned as well. "But I can''t say I disagree."
Pebble rubbed his head against Glenn''s cheek. The latter absent-mindedly patted the dragon, before pausing. He looked at the creature, wondering.
"Say, Pebble...Can I still use you as a projectile, like for my old Shooting Star?"
The one-eyed dragon almost seemed to smile before curling into a perfect ball. He looked like a jade, football-sized, perfectly polished sphere. Glenn raised an eyebrow in pleased surprise.
"Huh. Well, let''s try it out, shall we?"
Pebble rolled into Glenn''s open palm, waiting patiently. His master''s Mana ran through him, covering him with a fiery layer of blue flames, crackling under the moonlight. Glenn channeled his Gravity Manipulation with as much speed as he could, before aiming at the largest columns of monsters. A second later, Pebble flew off, shooting through the sky and towards the beast waves. Glenn''s eyes widened as he watched the projectile grow in size, changing from a Shooting Star to an actual Meteor.
"Your pet dragon really is the perfect ammunition," remarked Diamanes. "I''m not sure that qualifies as animal cruelty, though, considering Pebble appears to be enjoying the ride. Oh well."
Glenn couldn''t have said it better. The Meteor tore through the enemies'' ranks, reducing them to ashes and carving a large gash into the ground. The young man couldn''t help but feel pride as he watched the other Archmages fail to reach that level of destruction, despite their higher realms of power.
''Hah...so that''s how it feels to use a cheat. Hmm...being privileged feels so good.''
Diamanes scoffed. "It''s not exactly like true Draconic Magic was given to you for free."
Glenn shrugged. "Maybe. It''s still so much more powerful than what the usual mage uses. I mean, look at that, this idiot probably used half of his entire Mana, and he only killed a few hundred. With that same Mana, I could decimate thousands. Isn''t that crazy?"
"I guess it is." Diamanes brushed it off casually.
Glenn was about to gloat a little more when a large portal of indigo and orange opened right next to him. A young man wearing a regal suit with a setting sun embroidered on his back came out of it. He had golden, flowing hair and eyes as blue as the sky. He glanced to the side and his eyebrows raised when he met Glenn''s eyes.
"Oh, hello. I''m Lucian. Just a moment." He stretched his hand out toward the monster wave. "Duskwave"
Glenn blinked. A second later, a wave of orange and indigo Mana flowed out of the regal young man, covering the battlefield in a shroud of semi-light and semi-darkness. The monsters burned before sinking into shadows, disappearing. As if to follow Lucian''s appearance, a massive, mechanical Colossi the size of a mountain landed right in the middle of the monsters, wielding a long blade in one hand and a large rifle in another. It didn''t take much for Glenn to recognize Exan''s massive fighting machine that previously contended with the W.O.R.M. in the Ink Dunes.
Right after that, a similarly giant knight wearing dark steel armor appeared above the monsters, a brutish black club in his hands as he smashed through thousands of monsters with each swing. Glenn laughed in disbelief.
"The cavalry has arrived," Lucian muttered.
265. They Dare to Dare?
"I know I am powerful. More powerful than Sixth-Circle Mages, or Rank Six Aura users, but this...?" Glenn rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "I can''t even try to replicate half of this shit."
He was still floating above the battlefield, beside the regal Lucian, and watching as Exan and a giant dark knight destroyed kilometers of monsters with each move. The monsters as large as hills would be destroyed with a single swing of a sword, while the countless smaller bastards were crushed under their feet. ''I''m not even sure these Colossi know they are killing so many monsters. This is simply brutishly stupid!''
Diamanes grunted inside Glenn''s mind. ''They''re stronger than you for now, sure. But they''re still weaker than my prime, I can tell you that much!''
Glenn raised an eyebrow. ''How much weaker?''
The entity didn''t even hesitate. ''They''re equivalent to two of my toes. Hmm. Maybe three toes for that Exan guy.''
"Excuse me, I didn''t get your name...?" Lucian suddenly interrupted Glenn''s inner bickering.
"That''s because I didn''t give it to you. I''m Glenn." He shook Lucian''s outstretched hand. "That was some impressive magic. ''Duskwave'', huh?"
Lucian''s face brightened. "Right? It is the perfect spell to rid Munirp of these filthy beasts that dared to disturb the peace!"
"...For sure." Glenn tried to contain an awkward smile. Lucian''s patriotism was a little too overbearing for him. Out of curiosity, he activated his Mana Sight and checked the regal fellow''s power. He almost gasped in surprise when he found...nothing. Well, no, actually there was some sort of dark veil covering the area where a mage''s Mana Heart is usually situated.
"Comte Noir and Sir Exan the Omniscient are as impressive as ever!" Lucian exclaimed as he looked at the two titans clearing out the battlefield. "I wonder, Glenn, what do you think will happen to Comte Noir?"
Glenn shrugged. "I have no idea what you''re talking about."
Lucian laughed casually, unbothered. "Comte Noir was the main line of defense protecting the Black Gate, but now that the Dark Wall is gone, and the fortress with it, what is he going to do?"
"Hmm...Munirp will probably declare some sort of arbitrary border to their territory, and the Comte will be protecting it. After this whole..." Glenn gestured in the general direction of the countless monster-spitting Rifts. "...Mess is over, the war between Munirp and the other countries will probably resume at ten times the previous intensity. We won''t have the Dark Wall as a safety net anymore, after all."
Lucian''s face darkened. "The Celestial Gods, the Dreadland, and the Kyrvos Archipelago...These fools dare to face the might of Munirp. We shall crush them like the bugs that they are! How dare they try and unite to fight us? Their combined strength is still nothing compared to the...!"
Glenn silently watched as Lucian''s face progressively turned to a deeper shade of red. The regal man continued to curse and repeat multiple versions of ''How dare they...something, something!'' like a broken record.
''This guy loves his country,'' remarked Diamanes. ''And let''s not even talk about his magic. It''s some of a strange mix between darkness and light magic, very weird but very powerful. I would love to eat it!''
Glenn glanced at his left hand, taking his eyes off Lucian for an instant. ''What use would that be? Taking his magic won''t make me progress whatsoever. I need more insight into Astral Sorcery, not...whatever that was.''
Diamanes sneered. ''I wouldn''t be so certain. A magic that controls dusk...doesn''t that strangely sound like something related to, you know, the sun?''
"Pardon me, Brother Glenn," Lucian rubbed his forehead, his ''They dare?!'' rampage finally over. "I have the terrible habit of going on small tangents concerning the kingdom''s enemies. Anyway, I was curious about something..."
Glenn almost interrupted him but restrained himself. ''Who''s your brother?''
He clasped his hands together and smiled curiously. "How come the pressure I feel from you is higher than these other Archmagi, even though you''re only a Fifth Circle?"
Glenn paused. He almost tensed up but opted for another option. "Didn''t they teach you at school that looking into other people''s Mana''s Hearts is impolite?"
Lucian chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "My deepest apologies, but I cannot help it. Your Mana Heart is as bright as the Sun, it is very hard to miss."
"Is it now...?" Glenn frowned as he watched Exan''s Colossi and Comte Noir''s Dark Knight freeze, their heads turned to the East, where the Dark Wall previously stood. They exchanged a glance before taking flight and heading there, leaving the battlefield in their hands.
''Ah, finally!'' Diamanes sighed. ''I was starting to think they wouldn''t let us try some other spells. That would have been a hell of a shame!''
"Hmm..." Lucian''s eyebrows creased. "Seems like the enemy''s elites are also done on their side. We won''t be able to count on Sir Exan nor Comte Noir anymore."
Glenn grinned widely and rubbed his hands together. "Shall we step in again then, Lucian?"
Lucian pumped his fist to the sky, his Mana swirling around him. "For the glory of Munirp and honor, brother Glenn! Let us rip and tear!"
Glenn shook his head as he followed the strange fighter into battle. The place where Exan and the Black Count had fought was now nothing but deep gashes filled with crushed corpses and pools of blood. Hills had appeared where there had been none before, and deep crevasses led to abysses that had been dug into the ground.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
There were fewer monsters now, sure, but there was still a hell of a fight left. Glenn disregarded Lucian''s movements and began preparing his spells. The Sun had been exactly what he had expected, which was very satisfying. He needed to see the effects of the other three spells he created. A spear of blue, condensed flames appeared in his right hand, burning with intense heat. Glenn aimed at the spot with the most monsters and without even a second of hesitation, threw the spell.
"The Lance of Prometheus."
The world seemed to twist around the projectile, struggling to support the piercing power of the spell. The bolt of pure, burning light consumed all in its path, propagating fiery plasma in its wake. The monsters in the way of the spell were reduced to ashes once again, unable to defend against it. Glenn shook the heat off his hand, unsatisfied.
"Hmm...I couldn''t control the strength properly and still burned myself slightly..." He looked at the disaster he sowed, reality suddenly hitting him.
''I feel weird now...'' Glenn scratched the top of his head. There were so many monsters in front of him, and yet, his excitement was dimming. This...this was too simple! ''Where is the challenge? The danger? I''m just like a butcher at the slaughterhouse! With all the forces on our side, it''s just a one-sided destruction!''
Diamanes sighed. ''Just take it as testing more spells. Come on, let''s see your improved Gravitational Singularities!''
Glenn moistened his lips and began to prepare his spell when a hand suddenly appeared before his face. A second later, his back encountered the ground in a violent meeting. Glenn coughed as he tried to shake off the shock, but something grabbed his neck and threw him in the air.
"The fuck" He barely managed to put up a shield when a stone''s feet crashed into his magic, shattering it to nothingness. Glenn swirled to the side, his spells flaring up to life as he fought back against his assailant, only to discover that he couldn''t see him. Or it. He had no idea what attacked him, after all. Layers over layers of shield appeared around him, spinning like the astral formation that gave its name to the spell, Saturn''s Rings.
"Seems like your desire for a strong enemy has been answered, bahaha!" Diamanes'' laughter bellowed madly. Glenn''s eyes darted to the side, searching with his Magic Sight, but he still couldn''t find his opponent. One of his shields suddenly broke, proof of an attack he completely missed.
"Shit, a speedster?" he muttered, his mind racing for a solution. By the time he did find something, his Saturn''s Rings completely exploded in particles of Mana and a hand grabbed his throat, crushing it. Glenn barely managed to stop it by creating a shield closer to his skin. Not even a second after he received the attack, he countered with a duo of gravity-defying existences: two small pearl-sized Blackholes spinning around each other.
"Gravitational Singularity!" Glenn''s shout empowered the spell, intensifying its strength. He had discovered after multiple tests that, strangely, shouting the spell''s name allowed for better conceptualization, and so, made it stronger. It was disgraceful, but not as much as dying.
An incredible force of attraction was created by the two objects and drew in Glenn''s attacker: a humanoid creature, without a face or any recognizable features. Its skin was gray and oily, glistening like a shark''s. It had two legs that seemed to be carved out of some sort of gray stone, with small stone wings attached to the ankles. The creature fought back against the attraction the best it could, but Glenn wasn''t going to let it go free. His left, purple arm gleamed with power as he channeled one of the powers he took with Diamanes.
"Mind Break!" Milena''s mind powers broke through the creature''s defenses, putting him into a comfortable illusion where countless, helpless humans were running around waiting to be slaughtered. The creature stopped fighting back, too concentrated on chasing the humans in his mind. Glenn heaved as he maintained both the illusion and the Gravitational Singularity. The latter crushed the monster''s body little by little, before eventually imploding and destroying it entirely.
Glenn flew back to retreat, grabbing at his throat with a gasp. "Hah...hah...that was a close one. What was that?"
Diamanes gave his evaluation with a serious tone. "Whatever it was, it had surprising strength. Comparable to a Saint, I''d say. Had you not conjured Saturn''s Rings close to your neck, you would have been reduced to a pulp."
"Let us all be thankful for my innate, incredible talent and focus back on the battlefield, shall...we?" Glenn trailed off as he watched a dozen other faceless monsters rise in the sky. They were all turned toward him, bouncing in the air with trepidation.
''Nelg, I''m going to need you now.'' Glenn ordered his Soul weapon to return as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.
"You know, considering their specsincredible speed and power but low durability, I think they could be considered perfect Mage-killers." Diamanes paused. "Huh. Well, here''s the perfect name. Glenn, ten Magekillers at noon!"
Nelg appeared in Glenn''s left hand and changed to its longsword form. His voice rang into the air despite the lack of organs to produce the sound.
"I''m here! It''s surprisingly fun to fight against the othersholy fuck what are those things?!" Nelg''s scream was lost in the battle as the Magekillers disappeared and lunged in Glenn''s direction. The latter braced himself and used six Saturn Rings in addition to Nelg to defend himself. Without looking, he changed his weapon''s form to the double-bladed axe and sent a Cleave & Double it in all directions. Sharp blades of dark blue Mana cut through the air, crashing against the Magekillers and slicing through their limbs.
Three stone feet pierced through Glenn''s shield and struck him from every side. Glenn flew straight back into the ground. His right shoulder wing shattered, his left arm bent and his right knee displaced. But this time, the young man was ready. Time seemed to stop as his lips cracked open. Six Magekillers appeared in his sight, six targets to his spell.
"Absolute Zero." The spell''s moniker left his mouth, ringing like the bell of death. A cloud of white steam escaped from his lips. The immediate vicinity around Glenn came to a complete halt, flooded with his Mana. Sounds disappeared, and projectiles stopped in place, all subjected to Glenn''s whim. He carefully stood back up, coughing out blood and wincing from the pain. Without even thinking, he used his magic C.P.R. (Catalytic Pain Rejuvenation, as Diamanes liked to call it) to fix the broken bones and stand back up. The Magekillers moved sluggishly, a thick crust of ice covering their skin. They helplessly watched as Glenn approached them blade in handif they could even do so, considering they didn''t have visible eyes.
"Fucking hell..." He sighed heavily as he used his axe to hack through one Magekiller after the other. He thoroughly made sure to leave nothing but diced bits before dismissing his Absolute Zero. Maintaining it required an absurd amount of Mana, but the efficiency was unparalleled.
With this spell, he could basically stop time in an area, freezing it to the quantum point of zero kelvin. At least that''s how he conceptualized the spell. He was pretty sure that he just slowed his opponents to such a point it appeared as though they had completely stopped. True time stop was impossible, but an imitation such as this one was feasible. It was possible using a combination of Astral Sorcery and the Nitrogen he took with Diamanes.
The second his spell went down, another dozen Magekillers appeared in front of him. Glenn smacked his lips and pointed his finger forward.
"Not this time."
The Magekillers dashed beyond his senses, but it was already too late. Glenn''s Mana rushed in as he muttered his spell.
"Orion''s Rain."
Small, shining stars appeared above him. There were hundreds of them, shining in mystical lights. Without warning, they suddenly shot to the ground, killing every monster in the vicinity. A true rain of devastation. The Magekillers all fell to their knees, pierced through and through by countless stars. Even their speed couldn''t do anything in the face of countless projectiles.
Glenn took a deep breath, lightheaded from the Mana expenditure.
"Phew..." He forced a grin as he raised his axe, "Let''s go for round two, shall we?"
266. Big Bro
"Cough..." Glenn wiped the blood off his lips before withdrawing his blade from the last Magekiller corpse. The battle against the monster wave was almost over, with more and more fighters joining the battlefield to push back against the constant onslaught.
Glenn''s vicinity was the product of pure chaos: scorched earth, ice sculptures, and pieces of flesh strewn the ground. Other fighters clearly understood from the way he fought that he didn''t need any assistance. There was more blood than dirt at this point.
"Well, if you ignore the shattered ribs, the missing flesh, and the crushed fingers, this is a pretty good result," scoffed Diamanes. Glenn grunted as he sat on top of a beheaded Magekiller, his wounds throbbing. C.P.R. had stopped working at perfect efficiency at some point, and Glenn had been forced to rely on his abnormal body to survive. The Magekillers were smart, powerful, and last but not least, fearless. They didn''t care about wounds, the deaths of their comrades, or even themselves. They just threw their bodies at him, trading their lives to harm him even slightly.
"I hope they only focused on me..." Glen sighed. Other mages would have a terrible time fighting these creatures. Thanks to his versatility and Nelg, he was relatively fine, but he couldn''t imagine an Archmagi fighting back against these creatures. They were perfectly tailored against those who were weak in close combats. Assassins specialized in slaying mages. Magekillers.
Nelg appeared right beside Glenn, his armor covered in blood. "Tsk. This name sucks ass. Also, just letting you know, you took care of thirty-twosorry, thirty-three of them. They have big souls, considering they''re monsters."
Glenn watched as curtains of Mana fell over the Rifts, sealing them away. Munirp''s fighters destroyed the last monstrous remnants, not sparring a single enemy. Beasts deserved no pity. Nelg sighed before returning to the comfort of Glenn''s soul.
"AHTEST, TEST!" A thundering voice rang above the battlefield. Glenn looked up, but he couldn''t find anything. The twin moons were about to leave their spots to the sun, probably in another hour or two. It had been a long night.
"EVERY TEAM MENTIONEDPLEASE HEAD BACK FOR MAIN CAMP. NEW INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU THEN. FOR MUNIRP!"
Glenn shook his head and pumped his fist half-heartedly. "Cough...yeah, for Munirp..."
"VEIL''S CLEANERS, ONNEA''S PALADINS, MAGI BROTHERHOOD STRIKE TEAM, THE DEVIL''S HAND''S TEAM..." Glenn looked up when he heard his title being called out. Seems like his group got themselves remarked in the fight. He couldn''t afford to pay attention to them, but they were probably fine.
"Brother Glenn!" Lucian''s voice drew his attention away. Glenn glanced at the regal man''s direction, raising an eyebrow at his clean suit. Lucian brushed his golden hair back before stretching a hand out to him.
"You survived! Thank you, Onnea... This night was hell." He suddenly pumped his air to the sky. "But Munirp remains victorious in the end, haha!" Lucian was beaming with a wide smile. Glenn groaned as he took the outstretched hand, pulling himself up.
"Brother this, brother that..." he winced. "Hey, talking about Onnea. Any idea where I can find a priest to patch me up?"
Lucian''s eyes widened with worry. "You don''t have access to a healing spell? But I thought"
"I do, but it''s not good enough. Nowpriest? Where?" Glenn cut him off, his patience running thin. He had spent the whole night fighting and was covered in blood, both from his enemies and his own. A quick Mundare would certainly do the trick to take care of that, but he was too exhausted to bother. ''Who knows when next I will return to fight another wave of fucking Magekillers? Shit, why do I even fight anyway?''
''Because it''s fun!'' Diamanes exclaimed in excitation, before correcting himself. ''Wait, no, that''s the wrong bit. You fight because your sister lives in Munirp! If Munirp''s gone, then sister''s gone too!''
Glenn shook his head slowly, tired. ''...That''s certainly reason enough. Thanks.''
''No need to thank me. Just show me some more entertaining fights, I love it!'' Diamanes laughed wickedly.
Nelg retched. "At least one of us is appreciating it. Glenn, I was starting to believe you were also a battle-crazed bastard, but seeing your current expression, I''m starting to second-guess myself."
Glenn followed Lucian''s steps, walking over mounds of corpses. Lower-ranked fighters had been fodders in this battle, their lives sacrificed to earn even another second for their comrades. The scent of death permeated his place like a curse, and it weighed down on Glenn''s shoulders.
''I love fighting, getting stronger, progressing...'' Glenn crushed a monster''s skull under his foot, his anger rising slowly. ''But this? I fucking hate it. My bones were shattered and my blood drawn, and yet, so many on our sides still die. If my sister''s safety wasn''t depending on the fate of this kingdom, I''d already be back fighting ancient gods or something. At least that has some meaning, compared to this abject slaughter.''
Diamanes clicked his tongue. ''Prefers to fight gods over wars...certainly not a soldier, but more an adventurer...Hey, wanna do your ISTP test too? I think I could do it for you if you just ask.''
Glenn muted the annoying entity for a moment as he entered a temporary camp set up in an area cleared of corpses and blood puddles. Tents had been raised, bearing the symbol of Munirp, a setting sun. Wounded warriors sat beside pale, Mana-deficient mages, their wounds treated by priests of the Church of Onnea.
"Do you mind...?" Lucian smiled politely before flicking a Mundare over Glenn, not waiting for his answer. The latter shivered as all the filth and blood caking him disappeared, leaving only the open wounds and cracked bones.
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"When you think back to it, isn''t it incredible that you''re able to move despite all the damage you sustained? Like, if I trust your memories from Earth, twisting your ankle would be enough to put you on the ground crying. But now...?" Nelg whistled, impressed.
Glenn moistened his lips. ''I did get tortured and fought to my death since then. I think that does change my reaction to pain a little.''
Nelg''s mental image shrugged. "If you say so."
Lucian led him to the largest tent in the camp, his steps assured. It certainly looked like he knew where he was going. Both Aura knights and mages sent fearful look their ways, be it at Glenn''s left purple arm and at Lucian''s back, where Munirp''s setting sun was embroidered.
"You famous or something?" grunted Glenn.
Lucian shrugged. I don''t think so? Today''s my official debut, people shouldn''t know me yet... He scratched his shin, thinking. But then, I did put on quite a show... Oh well.
Glen didn''t get to give it another thought as he noticed Sahro, Liara, and Milena approaching. His team was looking as disheveled as him. Sahro''s mechanical arm was hanging limply, red bolts of electricity shooting out of it without warning. His fox, Raijin, was sleeping on his shoulder, his fur not as flamboyant as usual. Liara was taking every step leaning on her sword, her spear missing, while helping Milena walk at the same time. The three of them were covered in blood and mud.
"Seems like you got it easy," Sahro grunted as he punched Glenn''s shoulder lightly. "Don''t be jealous when my legend grows larger than yours."
Glenn sneered. "And what will they call you? The Fox Fighter? Hey, are you going to grow a tail?"
"Shut it, both of you..." groaned Milena as she held her head. "I burned most of my brain to control one of those Magekillers, I can''t possibly endure one of your bickering."
Liara sighed dejectedly, no words escaping her mouth. She glanced up and down at Lucian before turning to Glenn, silently asking for presentations.
"Oh, yeah, this is Lucian. Lucian''s here''s my team." Glenn waved his hand sloppily before collapsing on top of a barrel, his wounds oozing with blood and white, bubbling scum as they tried to stitch themselves up. Lucian bowed his head slightly with a charming smile.
"It is my pleasure to meet my Brother''s allies."
Sahro raised an eyebrow. "Brother? Glenn, is he another long-lost relative, or...?"
"Self-acclaimed brother," corrected Glenn as he applied the C.P.R. spell to his wounds once more, hoping to at least seal them. "Right, Lucian, why do you call yourself my brother? I''ve known you for, what, hours?"
Lucian flashed a broad, innocent smile. My respectable father always taught me that those who fight by your side are brothers for life. And... seeing as you''re stronger than me, I think I might even call you Big Brother!
Glenn looked at Lucian for a moment, before shaking his head. ''Why do I always end up meeting some sort of lunatic all the time?''
''Don''t birds of a feather flock together?'' Diamanes asked all but innocently. Glenn rolled his eyes as he glanced at the other teams joining them in front of the large tent. Veil waved at him but remained with his Cleaners, mages, and fighters wearing the colors of the Cleaner''s Workshop, red crosses over white. The Magi Brotherhood was also thereand surprisingly, Glenn also recognized someone in that team.
Isadora walked toward him in large stride, the fury in her eyes not halved despite her eyepatch. She poked a finger in his chest before brushing her bloodied hair back.
"I can''t believe you didn''t tell me you were back from the Dark Wall! I thought you flew away on its back!"
Glenn pushed her back slowly. "For my defense, I returned during the evening. I barely had the time to enjoy some time with my family that all this mess happened..." He forced a weak smile through his exhaustion. "But hey, here I am. Anyway, when do you want us to have a date already?"
Isadora blinked, opening and closing her mouth multiple times before giving up and leaving back to her team. Milena''s eyes darted from Isadora to Glenn as a smile crept up her face.
"Wait a minute...I thought you weren''t interested in relationships!"
Glenn lifted his left, purple hand. "I''m not. And it''s not serious, she''s just a friend I made on a job."
Milena frowned. "You flirt with your friends?"
"I do need to find a way to not go insane," shrugged Glenn.
"ATTENTION, PLEASE!" shouted a knight who just left the large tent. The image of a wolf had been embossed on his breastplate, and he exuded a pressure almost comparable to Sahro''s. The discussions between all the teams dimmed down as the knight clasped his hands behind his back, standing straight.
"Pay your respects to the Commodore of the Wolves Order, Count Mortelli!"
Glenn''s heart missed a beat and his blood turned to ice. His Mana almost exploded furiously, but he managed to contain it against all odds. A tall, muscular man in his fifties wearing an intricate armor of steel and silver came out of the tent. He had a grayish royale beard, and his gray hair had been precisely trimmed. An ornate sword rested in a sheath hanging at his waist, the pommel rustling with a red jewel. His eyes were the same color as steel, tempered in flames and coal.
Count Mortelli looked at the teams that had been called out without a word. He didn''t show any signs of recognizing Glenn nor accord him any special attention. But Glenn knew better than that.
''This is the schemer who stole Redan''s title, tainted his legacy, and ultimately caused his death. Someone who''s in cahoots with the Occult Wanderers and even the Thorn''s Church.'' He tightly clenched his fists and grounded his teeth. Sahro''s fox hissed at the man as if replicating his master''s emotions. Pebble, the one-eyed dragon suddenly appeared on top of Glenn''s shoulder, his single eye following Mortelli''s every move.
"As most of you are aware, I am the eyes and ears of the Crown on this battlefield," the Count declared sternly. "I''ll be coordinating the operations to best take care of this crisis. I will not tolerate any disobedience. Unruly soldiers are not welcomed on my front, no matter how skilled they might be."
''He sounds exactly like the sort of asshole I enjoy crippling,'' commented Diamanes with wicked laughter. Glenn ignored him and restrained his anger. He couldn''t act now. There were many knights of the Wolves'' Order all around them. ''It''s not time yet.''
A table of stone suddenly surged out of the ground in front of him, taking shape to resemble the battlefield. Mortelli pressed his hand on the table.
"Special operatives have already tried to seal the Rifts, but as you might have guessed, it was unsuccessful. The best we can do right is to block the passage, but the Rifts remain. To adopt a... ''familiar'' language, we''ve only plugged the hole and failed to patch it up. It won''t hold forever."
Mortelli crossed his arms. "To add to injury, we''ve discovered that those Rifts can be used to travel to other dimensions. They''re two-way passages." He drew a deep breath in. "I called all of you because you are our strongest, most competent teams if we ignore Munirp''s military divisions, of course."
"Since our armies are already too busy containing the threat and pushing back against the other bordering countries, we''re forced to rely on you. Here are your missions." Mortelli slammed his fist on the table and pointed at the Rifts.
"Enter the Rifts, find out what maintains them into reality, and destroy them. For Munirp''s honor."
"For Munirp''s honor!" Lucian excitedly exclaimed, breaking up the tense ambiance. He had been hiding behind Glenn since the start of the meeting. Count Mortelli raised an eyebrow.
"...I don''t think you''re part of any of the teams I called. Who are you to dare intrude on a military briefing?"
Lucian''s grin turned to something Glenn never noticed in the young man, a certain...dangerousness and majesty that simply couldn''t be imitated.
"I am Lucian Magnus, Munirp''s one and only Crown Prince. And I, am His Majesty''s eyes and ears."
267. Expedition Into the Unknown
Count Mortelli stared at Lucian silently, before gesturing at the nearest knight.
"Take this fool away and execute him. Clowns aren''t required to stop the threat to the kingdom."
The knight stepped forward, only to be stopped by Glenn''s purple hand.
''Yeah, let''s oppose the noble fucker and protect the more royal nicer guy! Yeah!''
Glenn grimaced as he tried his best to ignore Diamanes'' jeers.
"Oh, shit, are we already going up against Mortelli? Hell yeah!" Nelg was similarly pleased, almost jumping out of Glenn''s soul.
Count Mortelli raised an eyebrow. "Are you with this idiot, Devil''s Hand? I suppose we will skip on your strength as well. Such a waste. Knight"
The Count suddenly stopped talking as the blood drained out of his face. He clenched his throat in horror as Lucian took one step after the other toward him.
"I see. You dare ignore the Royal command, then?" Lucian hissed as the light twisted around him, forming an ethereal veil reminiscent of the twilight. Mortelli fell to his knees, his eyes bloodshot and his limbs trembling. The Order of Wolves'' knights unsheathed their swords covered in Aura, ready to lunge at Lucian, but Mortelli managed to raise a hand and stop them. As if seized by realization, everyone but Glenn''s group fell to their knees and stared at the ground.
"Veil of the Cleaner''s Workshop greets His Highness the Prince," exclaimed Veil without wasting a second.
"We greet His Highness the Prince!"
"We..."
Every group followed his example, while Glenn scratched the back of his head.
"So you''re the next king in line? Huh. Somehow, I''m not that surprised..." he muttered. Lucian turned back and winked complicity before returning to his stern, majestic demeanor to address Count Mortelli. Glenn turned to the side to find the two Black Heirs, who were as confused as he was, and Milena practically crawling on the floor, mortified.
"Glenn, Glenn, it''s the fucking Prince! Kneel!" She hissed a whisper, terrified. Glenn looked at her, his hands in his pocket as he contained a laugh.
"Lucian, Brother," Glenn insisted on the word as a grin crept up his face, "So you''re a Prince. Should I kneel to you?"
Munirp''s Prince swept around in absolute horror. He hurriedly raised his hands in front of him and shook his head.
"No, no, of course not!" He pointed at Count Mortelli with a knowing expression. "I only abuse my position on those who deserve it! And, you''re my Big Brother, how could I force you to kneel?!"
Glenn nodded with a smile. "Alright, that''s fine with me."
Milena observed the exchange with awe, unable to believe her eyes.
''You were really quick to adopt him as your brother once you knew he was a Prince,'' noticed Diamanes.
Glenn almost shrugged. ''He was the one to insist on it! I just...resolved myself to accept it, okay?''
Diamanes'' laughter didn''t stop Glenn from being happy. Seeing the man who had destroyed Redan''s reputation and life in King''s Rise kneel helplessly was a joyous sight he couldn''t get enough of.
"Anyway, Count Mortelli, I''ll forgive you on the case that your family always did their utmost for the prosperity of the kingdom." Lucian waved his hand dismissively, relieving Mortelli from whatever curse had befallen him. The Count coughed, heaving with difficulty as he pushed himself up. He bowed to the waist, his previous condescendance nowhere to be seen.
"I beg you to accept my deepest apologies, Your Highness. I- I didn''t believe you right away due to the rumors surrounding you," coughed Mortelli apologetically. Lucian yawned and turned away.
"Sure, sure, whatever. I accept your apology. Now, can we get back to working on Munirp''s safety instead of those ridiculous power trips?" Mortelli opened his mouth to reply but Lucian didn''t let him. "Oh, also, leave the Devil''s Hand team to me. Do whatever you want with the others, but Glenn and his colleagues will be under my direct supervision. I''m sure there won''t be any problems with that?"
Count Mortelli clenched his teeth tightly as he kept his head bowed. "Of course not, Your Highness. We live to serve you."
Lucian clasped his hands together, beaming with a radiant smile. "Excellent! Now, who takes which Rift? I''m following the Devil''s Hand team, just to let you all know."
"Cough..." Mortelli walked back to the table and pointed at multiple locations. "We will leave the largest Rift to you, Cleaner Veil. The Magi Brotherhood will take care of the second larger one, while..."
The Count gave everyone their targets and almost wrapped up the meeting when Lucian raised his hand, stopping him. "Sorry, but you practically threw us at the least dangerous Rift." The Prince frowned as twilight shone over his shoulders. "Are you daring to put the strongest in this meeting in the least interesting location?"
Count Mortelli almost choked on his saliva. "N- No, of course not, Your Highness. W- Which Rift would you be willing to take care of with the Devil''s Hand?"
Lucian grinned widely as he pressed his finger on the largest one, which had been attributed to Veil''s team. "This one will be perfectly fitting for us to show the glory of Munirp to our enemies!"
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Veil laughed, his bandages unfurling slightly. He coughed and tightened them back up, turning away from Mortelli''s glare.
"...Very well, Your Highness. I will adjust the plans so that"
Lucian yawned and walked away. Glenn couldn''t contain it and laughed broadly, openly mocking the Count. He and his team followed Lucian without giving Mortelli another glance. Milena was dragging her feet as she bit on her nails. She got closer to Glenn and whispered in his ear.
"Why are we following the Prince? And why is he bringing us to the most dangerous place? What did you do to him?"
Glenn blinked at her. "Why are you assuming I did anything?"
Milena gritted her teeth. "Because you always do!"
"It''s true," nodded Sahro as he chimed in, his fox yawning on his shoulder. Liara followed his example, nodding furiously. Glenn looked at his team and sighed.
"You''re all exaggerating, I swear..."
''No, they''re not. But hey, just assume it! Rock it out, you never stand on the sidelines! That''s a true victor''s mentality!''
"Sorry Glenn, but they''re telling the truth..."
Glenn looked at the sky. Sometimes, he truly felt like he was alone against the world. Lucian stopped once they had walked far enough from Mortelli''s tent.
"Sorry that I pulled you into this without asking." Lucian suddenly bowed to them. Milena hurriedly raised her hands, panicked.
"No, please, Luci- Prin- ugh... Your Highness!" She forced him up, terrified. Sahro shook his head while Liara watched her curiously. Glenn scratched the tip of his nose and shrugged.
"It''s fine. We need to build up as much contribution as we possibly can, and taking care of the most dangerous place sounds like the best way to do that."
Lucian frowned. "You need more fame? What for?"
Glenn moistened his lips and smiled apologetically. "Sorry Lucian, but it''s not something I can share with you. I do need to respect your position, after all."
"...If that''s how it is." Lucian sighed.
''Just say you don''t want the noblest guy to interfere in your conflict with another noble fucker. That''ll be faster!'' Diamanes cackled.
"Anyway, we will be working with you to take care of the Rift. That''s fine with me, I saw how skilled you were," nodded Glenn. "We won''t be in trouble if you die during the expedition, will we?"
Lucian made a wry smile. "Well, uh, let''s just do everything we can to avoid this eventuality, yes?"
Glenn scoffed. "Of course. Anything you''d like to share about yourself before we throw ourselves into the unknown?"
"Uh, my favorite color is orange, I love painting and I''m a relatively powerful Magi," Lucian said off the top of his head. Milena blinked confusedly while Liara chuckled softly. Sahro stretched his hand out with a respectful smile.
"You look strong. At least you won''t hold us back. And you do sound nicer than other noble bastards."
Milena choked, coughing her lungs out. Glenn bit on his lip, his hands on his waist.
"That''s enough time wasted. Let''s get to it. The faster this expedition into...wherever this Rift will lead is over, the faster we can all go back enjoying some real rest."
"Sounds so lame!" blurted out Diamanes aloud. Lucian snapped and looked at Glenn curiously, but the latter didn''t say anything. He couldn''t be bothered to. Pebble phased in and out of existence as he rolled next to Glenn, refusing to use his little paws to walk like any normally behaved creature with legs. Liara played with Raijin, Sahro''s fox, while Milena stared at Lucian and Sahro talking casually with wide, crazed eyes.
The strange group headed off to the target Rift. Magic barriers contained the phenomenon, stopping bolts of destruction and resisting the erosion of reality. Glenn stopped as he peered into the Rift. It was nothing like the other Rifts he previously experienced. Instead of being a dark, strange hole into reality that seemed to lead to nowhere, this Rift was like a window to another plane of existence. The colors shifted as monstrous arms and claws tried to push through the magic barriers, pushed back helplessly.
"Hmm...They trust these barriers quite a bit, don''t they?" Glenn said as he looked at the magic with his Mana Sight. Lucian nodded slowly.
"It''s a spell called Reality Seal. I think Sir Exan was the one who specifically developed it to counter reality warps caused by Rifts. Most traditionally taught Magi know this spell."
Sahro clicked his tongue. "Sealing the enemy won''t solve the problem. We must cut the issue at the root!"
Lucian patted Sahro''s shoulder in agreement. "You are correct, Brother Sahro! We must destroy this evil at once, for Munirp!"
The Black Heir glanced at Lucian, confused. "Brother...? When did I become your brother?"
The Prince either didn''t hear him or simply didn''t care as he walked to the magic barrier with an expectant smile. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let''s go!"
Glenn grinned as his Mana swirled around him. The Magi in charge of this part of the magic barrier screamed a warning before dismissing the magic. Monsters emerged from the Rift in a swarm, but they were mercilessly slaughtered by the combined might of Glenn''s group. Without a shred of hesitation, all of them went through the Rift, heading off into the unknown.
The sensation was very similar to a teleportation, only much, much worse. Their guts twisted and wrenched into a painful mess as colors exploded in their eyes. Another trauma-inducing second later, they were past the Rift. Immediately, the pungent scent of sulfur and ammonia overwhelmed Glenn.
It took barely an instant for him to establish large Saturn Rings around the group, protecting them from any sudden threat. The shrieks and cries of monsters echoed from all sides, followed by bursts of air and crackling fire. Once Glenn recovered from his nausea, he finally understood where his group had landed. A landscape that looked like hell, literal tsunamis of weak monsters and rivers of lava. An aura of death permeated the vicinity, whispering in their ears.
The thing that truly drew Glenn''s attention were the countless eyes making up the skies, staring down with morbid curiosity. They were all moving in different directions, making for a constantly shifting sky. No stars in that one, only eyes.
"This is the fucking Beyond!" He cursed aloud as his Mana flooded the vicinity. The pressure from the unwelcoming plane disappeared, but Glenn''s Mana wasn''t as infinite as he liked to believe. Liara pushed herself up, her face pale with blood trickling out of her orifices. Sahro rubbed his nose with a mechanical finger as he held his sword straight in front of him. Milena''s eyes were wide with horror as she tightly clenched her dagger, her mind-related magic swirling around her. Lucian...Lucian looked amazed, his hands in his pocket as he looked at their surroundings. The Prince didn''t seem disturbed whatsoever, simply enjoying their stroll into hell. Twilight shone on his shoulders, covering him like a royal cloak.
Glenn suddenly made a realization. "Shit, Liara, you need to get out of here! This place is deadly for those below the Fourth level!"
A wave of white Mana and Aura exploded out of the Black Heiress Princess, compressing itself into a small egg that floated above her chest. Her eyes gleamed with bright, white light as the Inheritance Sigil glowed with incredible power. One moment later, the light disappeared, and the egg cracked open. A small, cute round bird flew out of it before perching itself on Liara''s shoulder.
Sahro grunted as crimson lightning flared up into his mechanical arm and around his sword. "Well, wasn''t that a timely breakthrough?"
Liara looked at her hands with a soft smile, before pressing them to the ground. A large ring of light appeared around them before rising and floating above the group. The monsters touched by the light immediately went up in flames, burnt to a crisp. Glenn laughed in awe as Nelg appeared in his hand, a longsword shining under the ominous gleam of the Beyond.
"Well, it''s good to see that no one is lagging behind!"
And then, as if of one mind, hell rained down on the Beyond''s creatures.
268. The Horizon Gates
"Well, that''s one thing done!" exclaimed Glenn as he cleaned the blood covering him with a rapid Mundare.
Sahro grunted as he wiped his blade on a monster''s corpse. "Weak. Way too weak. I expected much more than that. How am I supposed to catch up to Glenn if I can''t face powerful opponents?"
The Devil''s Hand group had been fighting for the past hour, slaughtering countless monsters without rest. Creatures with numerous legs, deformed bodies, and hundreds of eyes, jaws situated in curious places, or even exposed brains. The creatures of the Beyond were all strange in some manner, products pulled straight out of a mad scientist''s nightmares. And hundreds, thousands of them were lying on the rocky ground, bathing in rotten blood.
Milena was lying on the floor, panting heavily, while Liara silently pulled her spear out of a corpse, her new, Mana-Aura bird chirping on her shoulder. Pebble was digging through the bodies, searching for some tasty treats, while Raijin, Sahro''s fox, was sleeping lazily on his master''s head.
Out of all of them, only one person was wearing a broad smile.
"The Beyond truly is an interesting place, don''t you think Brother Glenn?" Lucian beamed with curiosity as his magic pushed away the corpses in his path.
"Interesting wouldn''t be the word I''d use, but I get what you''re trying to say," replied Glenn as he returned Nelg to his soul and crossed his arms, observing the vicinity. The hell-like landscape was nowhere near welcoming, and the eyes filling up the skies were still as creepy as ever. Despite all that, it felt like something was hidden there, even though he couldn''t put his finger on it.
''I have to say, this place feels like my house back from before I met you,'' commented Diamanes, ''Remember, the all-flesh room?''
Glenn almost scoffed. ''How could I forget?''
The Rift that led them to this area
Liara walked up to Glenn and leaned in his ear, careful not to be heard by Lucian. "I...I don''t think that whatever is maintaining the Rift is here. I couldn''t see any fluctuations in the Mana, no matter how hard I looked."
"Man...Can''t I just come out and say hi to Lucian? I''m sure he won''t act weirdly!'' Nelg pleaded, but Glenn dismissed him without a thought.
"Glenn!" Sahro stood over a pile of dead monsters, pointing north to the Rift. "There''s something this way!"
Glenn and Liara exchanged a look before heading in Sahro''s direction, followed by the exhausted Milena and the curious Lucian. Raijin and Pebble played around amidst the corpses, blissfully unaware of how macabre it looked. Sahro jumped down from his pile of corpses with a puzzled expression.
"I think there''s a structure in the distance, but...I could be wrong."
Milena''s eyes widened at the same time as Lucian''s glimmered with interest.
"Demons?"
"Demons!"
Both of them exclaimed with different emotions. Glenn took an instant to understand.
"Shit, you''re right. Wasn''t there a legend about demons being sealed into the Beyond?"
Milena nodded frantically. "Yes, demons who tried to bring down a god!"
Lucian chuckled with unveiled interest. "Oh-ho-ho, imagine that! Meeting an actual demon! My father is going to be so jealous!"
Milena snapped at him, forgetting her reverence for an instant. "If we''re even still alive after meeting them!" She paled and hurriedly bowed to the waist. "Pardon me, your Highness, I didn''t intend to"
The Prince made a sad expression. "Miss Milena, do you think so little of our ability? Why do you distrust this Prince so much...?"
"N- No, Your Highness, I!"
Lucian rolled his eyes and stopped her. "Come on, Milena, relax. I won''t eat you. Can''t you just act like everyone else?"
Milena frowned. "You want me to be disrespectful to you?"
"...I never said that, but, uh, if that makes you more comfortable with me around, sure."
Glenn winced. "Listen, I don''t want to interrupt your bonding, but we have a situation incoming."
"Hmm?"
Lucian only had the time to notice the black spot in the distance before a dark-steel boot shattered his shield and hit him squarely in the face, sending him flying. Milena gasped as the colors drained from her face. Sahro had already disappeared in a bolt of red lightning, clashing with whatever that thing had been, while Liara had raised a circle of light around the group, burning the opponent.
Glenn checked on his Mana, grimacing as he realized he barely only had half of it left. Sahro''s movements were practically impossible to track by the naked eye as he continued to clash against the unknown attacker. Glenn patiently waited, preparing his spell silently. Milena had run away to help Lucian while Liara did her best to try and follow the fight.
"Absolute Zero." Glenn''s words were a command no one could disobey. Sahro froze in place alongside his opponent, both of their faces twisted in shock. Glenn didn''t let his surprise stop him from acting, and with one fell swoop, used Nitrogen to form a solid crust to restrain the attacker. He snapped his fingers, releasing Absolute Zero while keeping the pressure on the attacker with his Gravity Manipulation.
"What the hell was that?!" Sahro exclaimed as he flexed his mechanical arm with awe. "It felt like...time itself stopped!"
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Glenn grimaced. "Well, that''s practically it."
He glanced back, sighing in relief as he watched Milena pull Lucian up. The Prince wasn''t wounded gravely, just stunned. Glenn returned his attention to the attacker, unsure of how to proceed. Imprisoned in a jail of ice with only his head free was a demon.
Or what he assumed must be one. Dark red skin, two horns sprouting out of his forehead, black eyes, and an angry expression on his face. He wore an armor of dark steel bearing no sigil and didn''t have any weapons. Red electricity was still running up his armor, leftovers of Sahro''s power.
"Curse your hide, you scallywag of a human!" The demon suddenly cursed, fuming.
Glenn took a step back, surprised. "Oh! You speak the Common Tongue. That''s...That''s great!"
"Fiend! Don''t try to lure me with your honey-laced words!" The demon raged against the ice, trying to break free, but Glenn''s superior Mana made it impossible. Sahro''s eyebrows were creased as he pushed the tip of his blade against the demon''s forehead.
"Shut your mouth or I''ll get rid of these horns for you!" hissed the Black Heir. Raijin''s eyes glimmered dangerously as red lightning coursed through his fur. The demon paled and shook his head frantically.
"N- No, everything but the horns! I''d rather die than lose my horns!"
The corner of Glenn''s lips curved upward as he crossed his arms. "Well, I mean, I do think they''d look good on an armor or something. Or maybe I could glue them to the walls of my mansion; make it demonic style, you know?"
The demon''s purple skin began to increasingly turn pink. "N- No, I"
Sahro shook his head and tapped his sword against the horns. "Are you insane? That''d be such a waste! Don''t you know that the powder made from demon horns gives incredible power? I say we grind it and sell it!"
The demon''s eyes rolled back in their sockets and he lost consciousness. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a glance before chuckling wickedly.
"Weak at the heart, hmm?" Glenn moistened his lips as he freed the demon from the ice prison. He pulled some chains out of his dimensional pouch and used them to tie up the demon. Liara crouched next to him and curiously poked his horns, before losing interest. Her bird perched itself on the horns, and pecked at it, only to be disappointed at the toughness of the material and flying back to its owner. Pebble rolled up to the demon and almost bit on a horn, but Glenn managed to stop him at the last second.
"PebbleNo! You don''t eat living people, that''s- that''s just cruel."
The one-eyed dragon sighed sadly before phasing out of reality.
''A sassy, voracious one-eyed dragon that was birthed out of a rock. Pebble must have been my best friend in my past life,'' remarked Diamanes. Glenn ignored him and instead walked up to Milena and Lucian.
"Well, Lucian, you really went flying there. Are you alroh shit!" Glenn couldn''t restrain himself from swearing at the sight of the Prince''s face. His nose was broken in the ugliest manner, bent in a direction that should be normally impossible. Lucian grinned widely despite the blood trickling out of his nose.
"Haha, tis'' nothing but a scratch! I shall defeat this enemy and bring glory to Munirp! Where is the fiend?"
Glenn pointed back at the chained demon. "We already took care of him."
Lucian''s excited expression collapsed and he looked down dejectedly. "But I''m sure we will find more if we keep going!" Glenn hurriedly added, raising the Prince''s spirits. Lucian suddenly stood up, twilight shining over his shoulders majestically.
"Right! I shouldn''t let this demotivate me! Glory is eternal! For honor, and for Munirp!"
Milena pumped her fist weakly, "Yay, your Majesty...Could you stand still and let me fix your nose now?"
"Ah, yes, pardon me..."
***
When the demon opened his eyes again, it was to the sight of four strange people, a one-eyed dragon, a fox, and a bird of light. And all of them were staring at him like he was a juicy, medium-rare steak from the finest beast. Tears welled up in his eyes but he raised his head straight.
"I shan''t let you monsters ruin the Beyond again! May the Beyond rot your bones before I speak a word!"
Glenn shook his head and sighed heavily. "Demon. What''s your name?"
"I said I wouldn''t utter a word in your presence, you milk-livered coward!"
Sahro clicked his tongue and unsheathed his sword. "I told you he wouldn''t speak. Let''s just kill him."
Lucian stopped him, horrified. "What do you mean, ''killing him''? No, no, let me bring him back! I''ll show him to my father, I''m sure he''ll get a laugh out of it!"
Milena shook her head and stepped away from their farce, too ashamed to be part of the act.
"Now, now, let''s all calm down. Demon, we don''t actually want to kill you, alright? We''re just trying to figure out why Rifts leading to the Beyond have opened in Munirp, alright?"
The demon froze. He looked at them like they were insane.
"...Wait, are you saying you came through the Horizon Gates?"
Glenn and his teams exchanged looks, unsure of what that meant. Horizon Gates? Was it how the demons called the countless Rifts that had appeared in the bed of the departed Dark Wall, Sevirox?
"No, no, that''s...haha, no, that''s impossible!" The demon laughed broadly, unable to believe their words. "You probably came through those small dimensional passages, like that bottom feeder Laurance!"
"Laurance?" Glenn repeated slowly, alarmed. He only knew one Laurance who crossed into the Beyond, and it was an Earthling who was part of the Occult Wanderers who liked sacrificing children to increase his own strength. Laurance, who also reached the Newborn Ruler level, but was dragged back to the Beyond by some sort of Hell Knight.
"I knew it! You''re with that scummy son of a ghoul! You won''t get anything out of me!" The demon shrieked. Glenn''s expression hardened and he suddenly leaned over the demon, his purple arm hissing with purple mist.
"You better believe that Laurance is my enemy. I refuse to be associated with this child killer. Now, either you explain to us what''s going on, or I skin you alive. Choose, and choose quickly."
The demon blinked, hesitating. "...Laurance is your enemy? We''re talking about the same Seventh Circle monster, right?"
Sahro nodded slowly, his teeth clenched. Lucian smiled confusedly, wondering who was that Laurance they were speaking of. He looked at Liara, but she shrugged, uncertain. She wasn''t present in the operation to save Redan. The demon sighed heavily in relief.
"Thank the Beyond. I- My apologies for assaulting you. I thought you were with this misbegotten knave!"
''He really knows some creative insults, doesn''t he?'' Diamanes remarked.
"I wish I had half of his inspiration," agreed Nelg.
"Velkris is my name, and I am a scout of the Last City." The demon bowed the best he could despite the chains restricting him. Glenn grinned and relieved him of the restraints with a flick of his finger, using Gravity Manipulation to get rid of the chains.
"Great, Velkris. I''m Glenn, also called the Devil''s Hand these days."
"A fitting moniker indeed," nodded Velkris with a hint of fear.
Glenn bit down on his lip, ignoring the best he could Sahro''s mocking glare. "We''re an advanced party from Munirp, and wish to know how to close the, uh, Horizon Gates."
Velkris'' expression turned grave and he turned to the landscape of the Beyond. "If the Horizon Gates have truly opened once more, this changes everything. Please, follow me to the Last City. My Elder will explain to you everything."
Glenn looked at his teammates before nodding.
"Sure, guide the way."
Diamanes'' laughter rang loudly in his mind.
''Hahaha, this feels like we''re going to stumble on even crazier secrets! I love it!''
269. The Last City
Lucian rubbed his hands together, excited. "Haha, another land to pioneer for Munirp! The Last City, a mysterious bastion for the forgotten race of demons! Fortune is befalling the kingdom!"
Glenn glanced at the Prince and grimaced. "Keep your hopes down for now. And I''m not sure which resources Munirp would profit from in this hellscape."
Milena shook her head. "You dumb oaf. The entire environment is over-saturated in Mana. If we can find a way to eliminate the suppression effect on low-ranked individuals, this will become the perfect place to raise Mages or Knights."
Lucian''s eyes brightened. "You are entirely correct, Miss Milena! Are you familiar with Munirp''s nurturing methods?"
She paled and stammered an incomprehensible reply. Lucian nodded with an unfaltering smile. "I see! This makes complete sense!"
Velkris, the red-skinned demon was rubbing his hands together tensely as Sahro breathed down his neck, his sword ready to be unsheathed at any given moment.
"How far are we from the Last City, Velkris?" Glenn asked with a relaxed tone.
The demon cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uhm, we''re only a dozen minutes away. That is, if we don''t meet any of the sewage-dwellers Occult Wanderers on the way!"
Milena leaned in curiously. "What did the Wanderers do for them to warrant such hatred?"
Velkris gritted his teeth angrily. "They''re insipid, motherless scallywags who hunt our kin to try and rob us out of powers. Talentless heathens who resort to underhanded tactics to grow stronger."
Sahro scoffed. "I see their actions in Limbo and the Beyond are the same. No matter the world, evil remains evil."
"Don''t worry, Brother Sahro!" Lucian grabbed Sahro''s shoulder casually. "We will exterminate these fiends threatening the safety of Munirp! For glory!"
A dozen minutes later, the group arrived in front of an old medieval city with blackened, crumbling stone walls. The watchtowers were only shadows of their past selves, reduced to smoldering piles of stone. The iron, grated gate looked like it would turn to dust at any moment, covered in brown rust. The moats dug around the city were filled with volcanic stone, and solidified lava.
''Hmm. This place sucks.'' Diamanes'' comment resumed it pretty well.
"This is the last demon bastions inside the Beyond!" Velkris exclaimed proudly.
"...Wow, it''s very impressive," said Milena with a forced tone. Sahro touched the volcanic stone with his foot, frowning.
"I''m pretty sure I could destroy these walls with a swing or two..." muttered the Black Heir.
"Demon, did a dragon try to reinforce your city''s walls by breathing fire on it? This is an interesting strengthening method for certain!" Lucian exclaimed curiously with a broad smile.
Velkris awkwardly cleared his throat. "It''s, uh, the walls have certainly seen better days, but they still do what they were built for correctly."
The steel grate suddenly rose and the drawbridge came down, revealing a dozen demons in black steel armor like Velkris'', and with the same dark red tone of skin. Some had only a single horn, while others had up to four, some even resembling antlers. Glenn instinctively stepped back, his Mana surging out to face the threat. These demons were at least at the fifth level, Expert Magi or Crusaders. A quick use of Mana Sight confirmed to him that there was a Saint and an Archmagi among them, and not the weak ones. If Glenn had to compare their strength to someone, it''d be to the Head Cleaner Director, Manalok Calopea Truant.
"Just admit you don''t feel confident fighting them, that''ll be faster," groaned Nelg.
''What?'' Diamanes blew raspberries. ''Nonsense! Glenn, you already fought against the Lightbringer at the Newborn Ruler level. What''s a Saint and an Archmagi compared to that?''
"Doyle Malory allowed himself to be used as a punching bag, I''m not sure those guys will do the same..."
Glenn dismissed both voices and stayed on his toes as he watched the powerful newcomers.
"Velkris! Who are these raggedy, human fools you brought back? Did the enemy coerce you?" The oldest demon shouted from a safe distance, his fists tightly clenched and covered with Aura. He had a single, very long gray horn, and gray hair that reached to his shoulders.
''Demons can have hair?''
"Elder Ialkris! These people came through the Horizon Gates!" Velkris shouted back. Elder Ialkris stared at his demonic interlocutor, blinking a few times in confusion.
"The Horizon Gates?"
"The Horizon Gates."
"By the Beyond..." Ialkris turned to the other demons and shook his head. "He''s mind-controlled by these motherless fiends of the Occult Wanderers. You know as well as I do that the Horizon Gates are sealed, fool!"
Velkris'' face turned a deeper shade of red. "Ialkris, you old, empty-brained relic, I am speaking the truth! May the Beyond collapse on my head if I lie!"
Elder Ialkris gasped, his eyes widening. "Good Beyond! His swears are the same as usual! He''s not lying!" The demon pointed at Glenn and his comrades, his eyes tearing up slightly.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
"Does it mean the Horizon Gates truly opened up? Is the Beyond finally going to be freed from the constant Corruption?"
Glenn cleared his throat, confused. "I don''t have a clue. We came to seal the Riftsorry, the Horizon Gatesbecause monsters keep on pouring out of it. But we''d love nothing more but to be enlightened as to what''s truly going on, if you see what I mean?"
Ialkris coughed out a thick phlegm before nodding heavily. "Of course, please, follow us, noble foreigners from Limbo."
Lucian walked in without a hint of hesitation, all smiles and no doubts. Milena hurriedly followed him, worried about what might happen to his Highness. Glenn sighed in relief and came in as well with Sahro and Liara. Both of them and their pets were glaring with suspicion at the demon guards.
"Glenn, I feel like they really want to keep the Horizon Gates open," muttered Sahro discreetly. "Isn''t it going to create some conflict with our mission?"
"We''ll see," winced Glenn. "Hopefully, we will be able to work something out. Thank Onnea we''re the ones who came through the largest Rift, imagine if Veil had been there instead of us."
Sahro sneered. "Blood would have already been drawn. Which might have been a better ending, if you want my opinion."
"Thankfully, I don''t want it. And...who knows, maybe we''ll learn something about what maintains the Rifts opened." Glenn replied as he kept his eyes on Ialkris'' back.
"Welcome to the Last City, the last hope of survival for demonkind." Velkris declared as they walked through the gate. The city was exactly what Glenn expected, strangely. The houses were rundown, somehow still standing despite having endured seemingly powerful attacks. Sword and burned marks littered the place, and every other demon in the city wore a gloomy expression. Medical tents had been raised, with wounded constantly flowing in and out.
There were a few children, but they all looked terrified. A fear that wasn''t helped when Glenn and the others stepped foot inside the Last City. Most demons raised their weapons or channeled their spells, alarmed. Glenn almost thought a fight was going to break out, but a wave of Elder Ialkris'' hand sufficed to calm the situation.
"I apologize for the hostility of our denizens, but our recent experience with the Occult Wanderers pushed all of us on edge." Ialkris bowed slightly.
Glenn shrugged. "I can understand. We''ve met them ourselves, and it didn''t go too well for us either."
Ialkris''s eyes shone with interest. "You did? Wait, no, let us get to a more peaceful place, and then we''ll talk."
They walked the group to a sort of ancient, decrepit castle. Ialkris led them into a dusty guest room where they could relax on uncomfortable, rotten wooden chairs.
"Alright, let''s give me and my guests some intimacy, yes? Vilkris, you can go as well. Resume your activity as usual."
"Of course, esteemed Elder." Vilkris bowed and left the room alongside the other five demons. Ialkris sighed and collapsed in a broken armchair.
"I''d love to serve you some refreshments in real human fashion, but as you can see, we don''t even have teacups." His expression was dejected, but that soon turned to hope and trepidation.
"But enough with that! You came through the Horizon Gates! Please, tell me how that is possible."
Glenn exchanged a hesitant look with the others before recounting the event of Sevirox''s flight. Far from being surprised, the old demon was nodding along.
"I see...Indeed, only one thing could have possibly sealed the Horizon Gate, and the Old Dragon''s body would have done so perfectly. The records are finally making sense..."
"You knew about Sevirox?" Lucian questioned curiously. Strangely, the Prince wasn''t surprised by the fact that Glenn and the others knew the identity of the dragon that took flight during the last Blood Moon. Even stranger, he himself knew it.
''The King knew about Sevirox,'' realized Glenn. ''Of course, he did. If D was the First King, and Sevirox his best friend, there must have been some sort of secret records shared only to the royal blood. I wonder what the Throne''s stance is in all this mess.''
''Guess what, you literally have the next king in line sitting beside you! Maybe you could, I don''t know, ask him?''
''...It wouldn''t hurt to try, but not now. Still, good suggestion, Diamanes.''
"Those come rarely from him." Nelg mocked. Diamanes turned a deaf ear to him, ignoring the Soul Weapon with all his might.
"Sevirox was practically the father of magic, of course we know about him." Ialkris scoffed. "He was a precious friend to our race, alongside these two powerful kings, the human and the dark elf. You can say that with our Demon King, they formed one of the most incredible quatuor in history, hahacough, cough..."
Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes in confusion. "Wait, what? Sevirox, the First King, the Demon King, and the...Dark Elf King were all friends? How?"
He momentarily pushed the information about a dark elf king existing in the past in the back of his mind. ''What sort of nonsensical alliance was in place back in the First King''s era?''
Ialkris nodded in confusion. "What''s surprising you? Did your elders not teach you about old history?"
Lucian clicked his tongue, puzzled. "No, no, my teachers certainly taught me all I needed to know about history, but this is contradicting with what you''re telling us. Elves existed, but dark ones never did. And I find it hard to believe that our proud nation, Munirp, would ally themselves with demons." He grimaced when he spoke the last word, then quickly added, "No offense intended, of course."
"All taken," hissed Ialkris. "You think we''re proud of that past? Demons are the strongest and noblest warriors in existence, to know that we fought alongside humans and dark elves is a terrible stain on our history."
"A shame you shall bear forever. Anyway, you sound like you know the reason Sevirox was blocking the Rift." Glenn said, swiftly turning the conversation around.
Ialkris nodded slowly with his teeth clenched tightly. "Long, long ago, the Horizon Gates was a stable, permanent passageway allowing travel between Limbo and the Beyond. Back then, this place was nothing like how it is currently. It was a land of dreams, constantly covered in the dark veil of the night, where magic flourished and life was abundant."
"But after our Demon King of old allied himself with Sevirox, the human king, and the dark elf king to take down a god, our kind was sealed into the Beyond. The records aren''t clear as to when, but the Horizon Gates were suddenly blocked."
The old demon rapped his knuckles on the table, struggling to contain his anger. "The Beyond produces much more Mana than the Limbo. The Horizon Gates was the world''s natural solution to evacuate the excess Mana, but when these were shut closed..."
Milena suddenly perked up, alarmed. "Corruption. Too much Mana can cause Corruption, can''t it?"
Ialkris nodded gravely. "Correct, young witch."
Milena''s eyebrows twitched as she clenched her teeth shut, forcing out a kind smile. Ialkris continued, blissfully unaware of the young lady''s growing anger.
"At first, we simply had to deal with newer, more dangerous monsters. But as time passed, the harvest dried up, the water became stale, and the ground sterile... Monsters began adapting to our tactics. They became resistant to magic or physical attacks. Maybe you''ve encountered one of those alreadyfaceless humanoids with stone feet, maybe?"
Glenn''s eyes lit up in recognition. "The Magekillers! Shit, so they really were engineered to take down magic users, then?"
Ialkris frowned. "Magekillers...? I suppose that is a suitable name. But yes, that is one of the creatures we were forced to fight by the hundreds. Eventually, our powerful Rulers succumbed to exhaustion, and then to Corruption. Nobody could put an end to their agonies, so..." He looked at the dusty ceiling. "...We banned them out into the sky."
Glenn paused, shivering in horror. Sahro laughed in disbelief. "Are you saying that all the eyes in the sky are..."
Ialkris smiled sadly.
"Yes, they are our ancestors, the strongest demons, now Corrupted."
270. Tower Defense
Glenn stood before a window, his arms crossed behind his back. He glared back at the eyes staring down at the Beyond, filling the skies like countless disgusting bubbles. This was a true tapestry of nightmares, woven by the ancestors of the demon race, their powerful Rulers who fell victim to Corruption.
"Hmm...I''ll have to admit, I''d need at least one of my fists to care for them," muttered Diamanes discreetly. Glenn glanced at his left, purple arm before returning to the table.
"This is a lot of information, Elder Ialkris. Our objective coming here was to find a way to close the Riftsthe Horizon Gates." He rubbed his chin and turned to Lucian, who was leaning back in his chair with a curious expression. "I...think we should retreat."
Sahro''s expression hardened as he slammed his fist on the table. "What? Retreat?"
Milena tapped the tip of her nose, pondering. "It makes sense if you think about it. From the looks of it, the Horizon Gates is a natural passage that existed since, uh, the dawn of time, I suppose. The only reason it had been closed down was due to the Gods'' interventionwhich is already completely insane too."
Liara patted Sahro''s fox, listening silently to the discussion. Lucian, Munirp''s Crown Prince, stood up and leaned over the table. He pressed his fist on his chest as he turned to Elder Ialkris.
"Elder! In my quality of Crown Prince of Munirp, I, Lucian Magnus, would like to propose an alliance!"
Ialkris looked at him. "No."
Lucian blinked. "No?"
"No."
"...Why?" Lucian blurted out, confused. "The Beyond is literally hell, the place where you live, the Last City, is moments away from crumbling, and you''re constantly under attack from the Occult Wanderers, whoever are those fools. I''m extending a hand to you, why wouldn''t you take it?"
The Elder pinched the tip of his horn. "Demonkind has already allied themselves to humans once. And what was the result?"
Glenn scoffed. "You prefer holding onto your grudges rather than saving your kind?"
Ialkris clicked his tongue. "We have survived for thousands of years despite the sealing of the Horizon Gates. Now that they''re open once again, the Beyond will return to its normal course. We just need to hold on a little longer and protect this place"
Boom!
The ground shook as a loud explosion rang in the distance. Ialkris suddenly stood up, paling. Glenn''s team was also on their feet, ready to draw their weapons and spells.
"Dear guests of Munirp, my apologies, but it seems like he returned once more..." Ialkris hissed through his teeth as he ran out of the room, leaving them there. A moment passed before Glenn cleared his throat.
"How are your reserves?"
Sahro''s red lightning flared up as his eyes lit up with battle lust. "They''re just fine!" Raijin jumped on his shoulder, a red current running through his fur. Lucian smiled broadly and stretched.
"I have more than enough Mana to show the Beyond the true might of the Magnus family! For Munirp!"
Milena sighed. "...I''ll be fine."
Liara smiled gently and gave him a thumbs-up, her round bird singing on top of her head.
Glenn chuckled softly. "Well, then, let''s go give them a hand then." His expression hardened as the corner of his lips curved upward in a wicked manner.
"Let''s hope the attackers are these damned Occult Wanderers. I''m more than happy to rid the world of a few more child killers."
***
Life in the Beyond isn''t particularly interesting. There''s no sun-moon cycle, so there''s no fixed time to wake up. The only food comestible is moss, mushrooms, and some specific types of monsters that need to be cooked in very particular ways. Water isn''t rare, but it''s stale, with a constant taste of sulfur.
Most of a demon''s time is spent cultivating their strength, nurtured by the hostile environment and dense Mana. A standard human, without help, generally becomes a True Initiate or a Knight by age thirty. Demons skip all that part. They''re born at the fourth level, Mana or Aura already awakened for them. Truly, they have it easier than most when it comes to climbing the stairs of power.
There was only one, tiny drawback to that life.
Glenn''s Meteor crashed down on said drawback, a swarm of monsters the size of trucks climbing the walls of the Last City. Spells and Aura flew past him, burning, freezing, and cutting through the creatures. Pebble carved through the ground in a grand ray of burning blue flames, destroying everything in its path.
"Nelg, do what you can," ordered Glenn as his armored twin appeared out of thin air.
"It''s probably immoral to use a living being as a projectile, but why do I love it so much?" Diamanes questioned, unfazed by the incoming wave of creatures.
Glenn shrugged as a small, pearl-sized Sun appeared above his palm. "As far as I''m aware, Pebble seems to enjoy being a missile. I don''t want to deny him this pleasure."
"I''ll be hanging around Liara and Milena!" Nelg shouted before dashing away in a flurry of dense blue Mana particles. Glenn didn''t get to see yet how his Soul Weapon fought, but considering Nelg was literally a living weapon, he wasn''t too worried. And considering he was also practically indestructible, it should be quite hard to hurt him.
"Demons, watch the glory of Munirp''s Twilight!" Lucian''s voice thundered over the Last City as a veil of orange and magenta light fell over the battlefield, consuming the monsters and pulling them into shadows. Glenn gritted his teeth as he felt the Mana of Munirp''s Prince. It was of much higher quality than his own.
''If I had a doubt before, now I''m certain. Lucian is an Archmagi.''
"And yet, he still feels threatened by you! Imagine, an Expert Magi scaring a peak Archmagi! Isn''t that thrilling?" Diamanes laughed wickedly.
Glenn drew a deep breath as the Sun in his hand finally turned blue. With one last thought, he infused the power of Nitrogen into the spell. The spell trembled and shivered, burning ice and chilling flames, a paradox made real with magic. He flicked the spell into the densest part of the horde.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Ice Age." A freezing explosion shook the ground when the words left his lips. Kilometers of monsters suddenly froze over into flame-shaped ice, before shattering in million pieces. Lucian''s Twilight covered them in an orange curtain, signaling the end of their abominable existences.
Ialkris suddenly appeared next to Glenn, panting heavily. "W- Why did you help us, strangers? You owe us nothing!"
Glenn shrugged as Mana twirled around him. "Because I felt like it. And I have more questions to ask you. That''d be tough for you to answer if you''re dead, right, Elder?"
Elder Ialkris'' eyes widened. "...Unexpected. I shall return to the other walls. Please, hold on a little more! With your help, we might be able to hold on a little longer!"
"Sure, sure, just try to find us some food after that," said Glenn as he waved at him dismissively. The Elder dashed away while barking orders at the defenders still standing on top of the ramparts. The battle wasn''t won yet, as proved by the tsunami of creatures rushing for the Last City''s walls in the distance.
"I wonder what''s pulling them here," Diamanes commented suddenly. Glenn raised an eyebrow.
"The demons, maybe? Maybe the monsters want to eat them or something."
"No." Diamanes'' tone turned suspicious. "I think the demons are keeping something here that draws in the monsters. That''s why they don''t want to leave the Beyond, and why they stubbornly refuse to give up on this place."
Glenn rubbed his chin as he watched the next incoming wave. "Hmm... Maybe you''re right. But what does that have to do with us?"
Diamanes grinned from within Glenn''s palm. "If it''s incredible enough to pull in thousands of monsters, don''t you think it''s also worth the interest of the Occult Wanderers? Maybe that''s also why those bastards attacked this place."
"It''s worth considering. Nothing stops us from asking Elder Ialkris outright once we saved his city," decided Glenn as Lance of Prometheus appeared in his hand. "For now, we have more killing to do."
Suddenly, all the monsters froze in place. Glenn blinked, unsure of what he was looking at. The shrieks, pants, screams, cries, and hungry snarls had all stopped. The creatures slowly parted, opening a passage that led directly to the Last City''s gate. Glenn''s pupils widened as he recognized a stumbling figure walking past the creatures, like a king on a red carpet. He was some sort of gigantic spider with a human torso grafted on top of it. Eight human legs of disturbing lengths, four arms all ending with ten crooked fingers.
His head was split in two, faceless, and a long, ominous bone sword was stabbing through his chest.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here!" hissed the creature as it looked up at Glenn. "Seems like I''ll have the chance to pay off an old debt, Devil''s Hand!"
Glenn gritted his teeth as he instinctively called Nelg back. The longsword appeared in his right hand, puzzled but silent.
"Laurance..."
A mouth appeared on the split head of the creature, grinning with a hundred teeth. "In the flesh."
***
A bead of sweat pearled down Sahro''s forehead, past the white Inheritation Sigil, and into his eyebrows. He wiped it off with a breath and stabbed a monster with another. His red lightning was crackling all around him, a cage of thunder that reduced everything that dared come close to him to ashes. Glenn and Lucian had taken the north side of the Last City, while he, Milena, and Liara had taken the south side. The town was besieged on all sides, threatening to collapse at any moment.
The Black Heir dashed back to safety for an instant, enjoying a short but pleasant breath of air before returning to the fight. The monsters all looked the same, a slurry of blood, flesh, and crushed bones, colors blending under the might of his red lightning. Raijin hissed as it followed his master''s movements, ripping the throats out of smaller creatures and dashing away in small bolts of lightning.
His mechanical arm was trembling from the load, but he couldn''t care less. Sahro only knew one thing, and it was that he needed to fight, fight, and fight again. He couldn''t stop there. He needed to exterminate every one of these filthy creatures and destroy them until nothing was left. His sword crackled with red as he rose it over his head. Time seemed to slow down as he hacked down with all his strength.
Sahro''s eyes widened as someone suddenly appeared in front of him and blocked his strike, a dark green Aura flaring up to fight back against his red lightning. The clash sent both of them flying. Sahro grunted as he took a good look at his new opponent. A knight in green-scaled armor, who looked the same as those he cut down back when they first met Laurance.
"You Occult Wanderers fuckers..." hissed the Black Heir as he raised his sword. The green knight imitated him silently, his broadsword gleaming ominously under the gazes of the Beyond''s countless eyes. The green knight slammed his boot into the ground and dashed forward, his body covered in that sickly green Aura. Sahro roared as he slid through the knight''s attacks, his red lightning carving deep gashes into the scale armor.
The knight grunted and swung his sword with all his might, sending a blade of pure energy for Sahro''s head. The latter deflected it without a glance, the palm of his mechanical arm pressed against the knight''s helmet.
"Dragon Palm!" He roared as red lightning shot out of his palm like a cannon, electrocuting the knight to death. Sahro crushed the helmet in his palm ragefully as he thought back to Redan and what he suffered from the Occult Wanderers. He threw the corpse to the side and looked at the monsters in his path with burning hatred.
"I''LL KILL YOU ALL!!!" Sahro raged as red lighting covered him from head to toe. A shiver suddenly ran down his spine. Raijin, his fox yelped in warning. The Black Heir leaned back, watching in horror as a blade of bone and flesh slashed past where his neck previously was. He retreated a few steps, his eyes widening in horror as he watched the knight he just killed rise to the fight once again, his limbs broken and his armor charred. His head was gone, and yet...here he stood. The armor melted into the knight''s body, becoming part of it. His sword was already the extension of his body, literally.
Sahro raised his sword once again, his red lighting hitting and burning marks on the ground.
"I''ll kill you as many times as I''ll need, damn ruh sayiya!"
***
Liara would certainly have liked to find out more about her new abilities. She didn''t even get to give a name to her small round bird, thanks to the countless monsters who assaulted them since their arrival into the Beyond.
''Thankfully, I was able to break through and reach the fourth level, but I''m not sure of how to use these new abilities...''
The Black Heiress Princess watched the wave of incoming monsters and thought back to Glenn. The latter would have probably blasted through all of them with a single, massively devastating spell.
She wasn''t Glenn, though. Her sword vibrated as a white Aura covered it. She was standing on her spear, hovering above the battlefield. Milena was dancing amidst the creatures, her knives cutting and slicing with unnatural easiness. Monsters she wounded turned against their allies, sacrificing their lives to fight back against their kind.
Liara sighed softly and jumped off her spear. A Magekiller, as Glenn called them, appeared before her, but she remained unfazed. The white cross on her forehead gleamed with powerful light, and a halo appeared above her head. The Magekiller froze, helpless as she beheaded it.
Milena suddenly pressed her back against hers'', panting heavily. "It''s unending! We need heavy artillery, something like Glenn''s spells or Lucian''s...!"
Liara clicked her tongue. She wasn''t Glenn, but she could certainly imitate him. She grabbed Milena by the waist and soared in the air, using her spear as a flying board. The white halo above her head widened and moved in front of her opened palm. She aimed at the wave of monsters, the light getting increasingly more intense.
"Judgement." Her whisper rang out like the death bell. A ray of pure, white light carved through the monsters, disintegrating them to nothingness. Liara chuckled even though she felt a little air-headed. She could understand why Glenn only used spells like that.
It was definitely fun. Milena tapped her shoulder and pointed in the distance, her face draining of blood. "L- Liara, do you see that?"
The Black Heiress looked in the indicated direction.
"...I think I do, yes."
A lone knight was walking in the direction of the Last City, dragging a long greatsword behind him. The monsters in his path scurried away like pests, terrified of his presence. He had armor so dark it looked like it was made of charcoal. But the most eye-catching was his helmet.
A dark, menacing skull. Liara and Milena shivered, their Mana Sight burning with the knight''s strength.
The newcomer was a Newborn Ruler.
271. Majestically Terrified
Sahro relaxed his hand on his sword, breathing in deeply before ducking under the blade of his opponent. The Emerald Knight, as he had chosen to name him, whipped his boot into his face. His leg stretched past its length, ripping as it elongated, but the flesh healed almost instantly.
The Black Heir flashed away in a bolt of red lightning, the tip of his sword carving through the ground as he circled the Emerald Knight. His armor had completely fused with his body, and each wound he received regenerated within seconds.
"Damn ruh sayiaya..." Sahro clenched his teeth as Raijin hissed on his shoulder. The fox wanted to help but was too weak to face the Emerald Knight himself. Sahro found himself wishing he had some help to tie down the Knight while he inflicted a critical injury, but sadly, he was alone.
"What am I thinking..." Sahro shook his head as the mark on his forehead gleamed brightly. His red lightning surged out once more, ready to reduce the Emerald Knight to ashes. Sahro jumped in the air, moving like a thunderbolt as his sword pierced and cut through the Knight. His mechanical arm trembled under the load, the bolts loosening and the cogs creaking, but he couldn''t care less.
The Emerald Knight exploded with a dark green Aura, blowing Sahro away. The Black Heir spun in the air before landing in the mud, his feet planted firmly. The Knight raised his greatsword above his head, but white light suddenly washed over him, burning him. Monsters rushed at the Knight, biting and clawing at him as he tried to defend himself the best he could.
Liara flew in on her sword, her spear covered in pure white light as the cross on her forehead shone brightly. She clenched her spear tightly before throwing it at the knight''s chest, piercing through the skin-armor and pinning him to the ground in a grand explosion of searing white light.
Milena jumped out of behind a mind-controlled monster and stabbed the Knight in every part of his body, cutting his tendons and restraining his movements. The Knight went to attack her, but the monsters threw themselves in his way, protecting her.
Sahro didn''t waste the opportunity and gathered all of his strength. The red lightning enveloped him from head to toe, crackling like true thunder. Raijin disappeared, but he couldn''t spare a thought for him.
Liara gracefully dove down, her sword shining with bright white light as her small round bird chirped. It disappeared into a cloud of light that stuck to her back, changing into two wide, feathery wings of pure light. Her sword left an after-image as she cleaved cleanly through the Emerald Knight, revealing a black, beating heart in his chest.
A tail of red lightning and fox ears appeared on Sahro, empowering him with infinite strength. His eyes changed to those of a fox, and suddenly, he disappeared.
"Sekiraijin."
A sonic bang shook the battlefield as he pierced through the Emerald Knight''s heart, reducing it to ashes. Electricity crackled in his wake, destroying every monster that was still alive. The red lightning covering Sahro disappeared as his fox reappeared, purring happily as it lounged comfortably in the hair of his master.
Milena ran up to him, her eyes wide open in amazement. "What was that? Y- You looked like a"
"A fox! You had a tail and fox ears!" Liara interrupted her friend, as awed as her.
Sahro looked at them both like they were insane. "What are you talking about?" He pointed a finger at Liara. "What about you? What was that pair of wings you had?"
Liara raised an eyebrow. "A pair of wings? What?"
Milena chuckled lightly in disbelief. "Liara, you had wings, and...Sahro, we''re telling the truth, you looked like a human fox for a moment!"
The Black Heir''s eyebrows creased as he cleaned his blade and sheathed it. "No matter. It''s not the moment to wonder about these things. Why did you come to help me?"
Liara and Milena exchanged a complicated gaze.
"Well...let''s just say our support wasn''t needed there," tried Milena. Liara nodded slowly, her eyes drifting back to the place they were supposed to protect. Sahro followed her gaze. Where countless monsters previously raged was now a gigantic bloody gash in the ground, filled with corpses of monsters.
Sahro''s eyes widened. "What the fuck...?"
***
The eyes in the Beyond''s skies stared down, unblinking. Glenn''s fingers tightened around his sword''s hilt. A bead of sweat slid down the back of his head, his heart thumping in his ears. Lucian stood beside him, silent and without his usual regal smile. The demon Elder Ialkris appeared beside him as well, his teeth clenched. Laurance, the Occult Wanderer Earthling was grinning widely, blood oozing from his lips.
"The other elder and your comrades will take care of the rest of the battlefield," muttered Ialkris as Mana swirled around him. "I''ll have to rely on your help to deal with him. A Newborn Ruler."
"Haha, t- this is the perfect opportunity to bring glory to Munirp!" Lucian forced a smile out, the colors draining out of his face. Glenn didn''t say a word as a Sun appeared above his free hand, the flames licking his skin ravenously. The horde of monsters commanded by Laurance suddenly took one step forward...then another, before jumping forward in a cacophony of screams and shrieks.
''It''s on!'' Diamanes laughed madly. ''Time to show that fake Ruler what true strength is!''
Dear Onnea, let us survive this new ordeal... Nelg uttered a desperate, terrified prayer. Glenn silenced both voices and dashed forward, headlong into the wave of monsters. The Sun flew out of his hand, growing to ridiculous proportion as it engulfed the monsters. Laurance suddenly appeared before the spell and tried crushing it with one of his eight hands. His gray, lustrous skin burnt off as the flames went out. The smile on his split face faded away, replaced by calm seriousness.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Glenn prepared another spell to take on the countless monsters, but Lucian was ahead of him. His Mana exploded in an orange and magenta wave as his voice thundered above the battlefield.
"Eternal Dusk!" The monsters faded into dust at the touch of the magic, dying silently without being able to defend themselves. A majestic crown appeared on top of Lucian''s head, his eyes glowing with mystical might. Laurance suddenly disappeared out of Glenn''s sight, reappearing above Lucian, his bone sword cleaving down mercilessly.
Ialkris knocked Lucian to safety as a fissure in reality appeared above his head. A massive bone hand came out of the fissure, clashing head-on with Laurance''s sword. The hand stopped the attack for a second before cleaving through it, but the Elder had already retreated to safety. Glenn didn''t question this strange new demon magic and instead pulled himself in Laurance''s direction, the Lance of Prometheus burning bright in his hand. The Occult Wanderer leader dodged to the side, but a black and white beam pushed him back into Glenn''s spell. The Lance cleanly destroyed his left side, leaving two charred arms and four burnt legs.
Laurance shrieked painfully as Ialkris and Lucian returned next to Glenn, preparing new spells to face the monster.
"Foreigner, aren''t you only a Fifth Circle? How are you able to harm a Newborn Ruler?" Ialkris asked in disbelief.
Lucian nodded with a tense laugh. "Promise me you''ll teach me how to make my spells that powerful, Big Bro! Because I really hate feeling so terrified and helpless, if I''m being honest!"
"Terrified?" Glenn wiped the sweat off his eyebrows. "I didn''t know royalty could feel fear."
"I am majestically scared, it''s quite different from common terror," corrected Lucian as his crown brightened with an orange glow. A dozen fissures appeared above Ialkris, strange limbs of probably strange creatures protruding out of them. Skeletal arms of ridiculous size, tentacles, thin and sharp insect limbs...
"Argh! Bastard! What the fuck is this magic? Howhow did you get such power?!?" Countless eyes widened on Laurance''s split face, staring at Glenn in rage and shock. "This is impossible!"
Glenn raised an eyebrow as he forced himself to breathe calmly. "No, no, I''m not that strongyou''re just that weak." He pointed a finger at the Earthling monster. "Newborn Ruler? Are you sure? You certainly don''t fight like one. Exan was much stronger than you."
Laurance''s eyes turned bloodshot as he rushed forward like a beast. "YOU!!"
"Yes, me!" Glenn grinned wickedly as he soared into the skies, drawing Laurance in. Ialkris summoned limbs that grabbed onto Laurance, ripping bones and skin away, but the monster had incredible regeneration powers. His burnt legs and arms fell off, replaced by shiny new ones, ready to rip the throat of Glenn. The latter drew a deep breath before slamming down his spell on Laurance''s face.
"The Sun!" The massive ball of fire consumed much of his Mana, only to be snuffed out by Laurance once more. Glenn frowned as he saw only one of his arms destroyed. Laurance suddenly stopped, a wide grin appearing on his split face.
"Oh, naughty bastard. Nice try, but no." He disappeared without a noise. Glenn''s heart missed a beat as his eyes searched madly for the threat. Laurance grabbed his leg from behind and threw him down onto the ground. The volcanic stone exploded into countless shards from the shock. Lucian dashed into Laurance''s arms, his eyes brimming with power. He slammed his hands on the monster''s chest, roaring.
"First Dawn!" A ring of light cleaved through Laurance and flew past him, shattering into countless particles. Laurance looked down in awe as blood gushed out of his torso. A chain dragged Lucian away as the magic maintaining his crown faded away. The Prince gasped heavily, his eyes and ears bleeding heavily. Ialkris didn''t spare him a glance as he conjured more and more fissures around Laurance. Chains shot out of the fissures, wrapping around the monster''s limbs and restraining him.
Laurance laughed madly as he pulled onto the chains, breaking one after the other. Ialkris sweated with heavy drops as he concentrated his efforts, restraining the monster with all his strength. A massive fissure appeared above Laurance, slowly unraveling into reality.
''Wake the fuck up, samurai. We have a Laurance to burn.'' Diamanes'' voice guided Glenn as he pulled himself out of the ground, coughing his lungs out. Each breath burnt a hole in his chest as his body struggled to fix itself. Ialkris screamed painfully as the large fissure finally opened, letting in a massive shark jaw into the world that bit down on Laurance.
Glenn gasped, wondering if that had been enough, but the shark''s head exploded into a gore mess, his brains splattering all over the ground as Laurance laughed madly under the rain of blood he created.
"More, more, MORE!" He disappeared once again and crashed down onto Ialkris, ripping a horn out of the demon. His bone sword cleaved through one of the Elder''s arms, before falling on his chest.
"Absolute Zero!" Glenn''s words froze Laurance''s movements to a stop, the blade inches away from Ialkris'' skin. Glenn felt his head ring as he exerted himself to conjure another spell while maintaining the Absolute Zero. Laurance trembled as his split head turned to face Glenn''s, his mouth appearing contorted with hatred and fury.
"Pebble..." Glenn muttered. The small dragon appeared in his palm, his one eye resolute. His body became wrapped in blue, fiery flames as Glenn prepared his most powerful spell. Laurance shrieked, breaking the Absolute Zero and rushing for Glenn''s throat.
"Final Dusk!" Lucian ignored the blood flowing out of his every holes as he commanded thousand of shadows to stop Laurance, pulling him into the darkness. The creature shrieked and fought back with all of its might, laughing madly as it escaped from the spell. That laugh faded away as Pebble, transformed by the Meteor spell, pierced through his chest and left a steaming hole behind. Laurance fell on his knees, staring down at the hole silently.
Glenn almost collapsed, but he held himself up on his sword, his eyes not leaving Laurance.
"Did...did you get him?" Nelg muttered hesitantly. The moment he spoke, Laurance stood back up, his bone sword tightly clenched. Without a word, he plunged the sword into his throat, the blade ripping through the flesh effortlessly.
"H- He didn''t die...?" Lucian''s desperate and shocked voice reached Glenn''s ears. The latter couldn''t help but echo the Prince''s feelings.
''I put everything I had in that spell. Shit. Are those the limits of an Expert Magi?'' He heaved with difficulty as he held his waist, breathing through the pain of shattered bones. Ialkris pulled himself up with difficulty, a stump where his right arm previously was. His face was covered in blood from the ripped horn, and his expression was contorted from the pain.
A large cloud of dark smoke engulfed Laurance, hiding him from sight.
''Oh. Prepare yourself,'' warned Diamanes with a serious tone. ''You will maybe need to run.''
The smoke of a black cloud exploded as a figure dashed out of it. Glenn raised his sword hastily, but the weapon was deflected out of his hands with a loud clang. Coldness bit into his stomach as warmth fled from his body. He coughed a handful of blood as he forced himself to look down.
A bone sword was stabbed through his stomach up to the guard, held by a skeletal hand. A wide grin was decorating Laurance''s split face, his body smaller and more compact, almost returned to human shape. He had two arms and two legs, all covered in disgusting, yellow bone armor, while a gaping hole was opened in his chest.
"Peek-a-boo!"
Laurance ripped the sword out of Glenn''s stomach and kicked him down, pressing down on his head. Glenn gasped painfully, recalling Nelg into his battle axe form and sending a Cleave & Double It at his opponent, only for the attack to be swatted away like a fly.
"Come on, put your back into it!" Laurance laughed madly as he stabbed his sword in Glenn''s chest, pinning him to the ground. Glenn felt the life drain out of him, the pain drowning out everything.
He weakly grabbed onto Laurance''s bone boot, stealing the monster''s strength with Diamanes.
"The hell is...What the fuck are you doing?" Laurance crushed Glenn''s hand under his heel, but the young man refused to stop draining his strength. Laurance pulled his sword back and sighed heavily.
"You''re impressive, considering your age. In your twenties, and already strong enough to threaten a centuries-old monster like me. Haha, too bad you''re not on my side. Die now."
His sword fell for Glenn''s neck but a dark steel boot kicked the weapon away. Glenn looked through a veil of blood and exhaustion, his eyes struggling not to close themselves.
Standing alone beneath the sky of eyes was a knight.
The Knight of Hell.
272. To Take It All Back
Glenn coughed heavily, his vision blurry as he dragged himself on the rocky floor. Blood flowed freely out of his wounds, the life draining out of him. When was the last time he was hurt that gravely?
''I can''t remember...Shit, I need to use C.P.R., but my Mana...!'' He tried to push himself up, but Laurance kicked him away violently. The little breath he had left slipped away from his lips.
"Damn it, how did you find me?" Laurance grunted as he pointed his sword at the new arrival, a knight wearing dark steel armor and a masked skull helmet.
"...You''re not hard to find." His voice was deep and old, filled with anguish and regret. Glenn rolled to the side, his heart beating loudly as it desperately pumped blood through his wound-ridden body. He tried to muster the Mana to perform a C.P.R. but it was impossible. His Mana reserve was empty, drained by the powerful Meteor he used as a last resort against Laurance, to no avail.
A hand grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back, away from Laurance and the Hell Knight.
"Cough..."
"Don''t worry, Big Bro, I got you. Don''t close your eyes, alright?" Lucian''s voice pierced through the veil of pain and death, seeking to reassure him, but Glenn could hardly understand. He looked down, his eyes widening at the large wound in his chest and his stomach ripped open.
The last time he was wounded so critically... He remembered now.
Back when he first woke up in this world. A spear in his heart and a ghoul eating his entrails.
"Don''t die, please, don''t die..." Lucian prayed with all his strength as he applied the little knowledge of healing spells on Glenn''s wounds.
"You already know that you can''t kill me, so why bother?" Laurance mocked as he circled the Hell Knight. The latter sighed deeply before taking one step toward the enemy.
"Because it is right. Now, die."
A powerful sonic bang rang out as Laurance and the Hell Knight disappeared out of sight. The sound of explosions in the distance echoed madly, a constant destructive clash.
"Glenn!"
"No!"
Milena and Liara arrived at the scene and ran up to Glenn. Sahro cursed as he frantically searched his dimensional pouch for healing potions.
"I- I did what I could, but he lost a lot of blood!" Lucian stammered, his hands pressed against Glenn''s wounds. The latter grunted amid two coughs, his mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood. Nelg suddenly appeared next to Glenn in his shining armor, panicked.
"Wh- What do we do? W- We need to save him, damn it!"
Lucian''s eyes widened at the sight of a second Glenn, but he concentrated back on the wounded one. Milena teared up as she assisted Lucian in applying basic healing magic to Glenn''s wounds.
"I- I just got back, why would you...?"
Liara breathed in deeply before slapping her cheeks. She grabbed Sahro and pulled him in, muttering in his ear.
"Ask the demons for a healerI refuse to believe they don''t have one."
Sahro''s eyes brightened and he darted away while Liara worked with Lucian and Milena to stabilize Glenn. Nelg paced anxiously, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
Glenn''s eyelids were heavy, closing slowly but surely.
''This doesn''t look too good, huh? Hmm, but I''m sure you''ll pull it off without me...won''t you?'' Diamanes'' voice was like a mirage, a hallucination that Glenn had difficulty not disbelieving. He closed his eyes slowly, the cold invading his body. He could feel it. Without help, this would be the end.
Sahro grabbed Ialkris from the ground, ignoring the demon''s cries of pain.
"Where are your healers? NOW!" He shouted in his face, his red lightning flaring up with full force. Ialkris coughed heavily, only for his eyes to roll back in their sockets. Sahro cursed in the Black Heir tongue before dashing into the Last City, desperately searching for a healer.
"Come on, you must hold on! Listen to me, Glenn, listen to me!" Milena cried, sending as much Mana as she could in her basic healing spell. Lucian followed her example, blood flowing from his nose, ears, and eyes as he overstrained himself.
"You''re the only one I can compare to..." muttered Lucian. "You can''t die."
Liara wiped her tears away and concentrated twice as hard, her eyes determined. Glenn was one of the rare individuals she could trust and call a real friend. She refused to let him die in this place, to let him perish under the watch of the thousand eyes in the sky.
''I know you''ll pull it off,'' thought Liara as her confidence shook. ''So heal up already!''
Sahro returned with Vilkris and a three-horned demon following him closely. The three-horned was a healer, as proven by his instinct to rush to Ialkris'' side to heal him.
"No, take care of him first!" Sahro screamed as he pulled him away from Ialkris and practically threw him at Glenn.
"This is my Elder" The healer tried to protest, but Sahro unsheathed his blade with silent rage.
"Do as you''re told, or you and your Elder will both die!"
The face of the red-skinned demon paled. He hurriedly rushed to Glenn''s side, pushing Milena, Liara, and Lucian away.
"This isn''t looking good, he is suffering from Mana deficiency! His body can''t handle the counter-shock of fighting that monster Laurance!" The demon healer exclaimed, panicking. Nelg froze in place.
"I''ll return to his Mana Heart and do what I can," he declared, resolute. "Save him!" He disappeared in a cloud of deep blue particles. The demon''s dejected expression changed to hope.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
"It''s working! The Mana is returning to his body!"
Glenn''s wounds began to heal with visible progress, the flesh knitting itself together and the bones growing back from their shattered state. Sweat covered the demon''s forehead as he guided the regeneration, pulling out the shards of bones or cutting away the mangled meat. His healing spells reconnected veins and broken vessels, soothing Glenn''s pain and returning him to life.
The sonic bangs that were echoing in the distance suddenly occurred right above their position, and Laurance crashed next to Glenn, his team, and the healers. The monster turned his head and took barely a second to understand what was going on. Another second was enough to slice off the head of the demon healer before returning to fight with the Hell Knight. Glenn''s healing, which was in a good way, returned to a critical point. His heart rate slowed down to a stop as his chest stopped rising.
Every single one of his friends rushed to his side, their eyes widening in horror as Glenn let out his final breath.
"No..." Lucian took a step back, shaking.
Sahro fell to his knees, his face hardening and his fists bleeding from how tightly they were clenched. "I was too slow. I should have been faster. This is my fault..."
Milena laughed in disbelief, reaching out to Glenn with trembling fingers. "T- This is a joke, right? Like always, you''ll rise back up and survive, right?"
Liara held her breath as she pressed her ear against Glenn''s bloody chest, listening for a heartbeat. The blood in her veins turned to ice.
She couldn''t hear anything.
The tears flowed out of her eyes freely as, for the first time in her life, she cried. She wept her eyes out, the sadness submerging her. Milena fell to her knees, the emotion draining out of her face, replaced by pure blankness. Sahro roared to the sky, screaming his anger and grief at the Beyond''s eyes. Lucian hid his face in his hands, refusing to look in Glenn''s direction.
That day, Glenn died.
Laughter interrupted their grief as Laurance crashed back into the ground. The Hell Knight landed a few meters away, his greatsword dripping with dark blood.
"Hahaha, what''s up with your faces? Are you all weeping for this fool? How heartbreaking!" Laurance cackled mockingly. Sahro was instantly wrapped into red lightning, his fox form appearing once again. He lunged for Laurance with all his might, but the monster knocked him away with the back of his blade while laughing.
"I could have killed you, but it''s just too funny to watch bugs like you suffer! Hahaha!"
"Damn you!" Sahro raged. "I''ll kill you! I''ll kill you, your family, and anyone related to you!"
Laurance waved his hand dismissively, his eyes still glued to the Hell Knight who remained unmoving for now, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
"Sure, sure, whatever. I don''t have relatives, and my friends are all stronger than you. I''ll cheer you on anyway! Woohoo, cheers for the loser Black Heir who watched his friend die helplessly!"
Sahro rushed forward, blinded by his thirst for blood. Laurance knocked him away again, laughing as he did so. Lucian was lying down, his strength and determination drained. There was nothing kingly to him. His regal clothes were ripped, and his expression was a painting of depression and despair.
Liara''s forehead was pressed against Glenn''s chest as she wept, unable to let go of her dear friend. Milena was staring at Glenn''s face, her eyes empty and her emotions gone.
"Cruel bastard..." hissed the Hell Knight. "I knew the moment I set my eyes on you that you deserved nothing but death. Even if it takes me an eternity, I''ll destroy you, Laurance."
Laurance laughed as he agitated his sword in the Hell Knight''s direction. "You say that, and yet you still can''t defeat me! You can just try, but I''ll always return! Nobody can beat my regeneration powers! I''m healing faster than most monsters now! Even the spell that took all of this dead fool''s strength barely managed to hurt me!"
He opened his arms widely, a large grin appearing on his split face. "You can''t do anything to me!"
A gust of wind suddenly pushed Liara back from Glenn''s corpse and made Milena''s raven-black hair sway. Lucian saw a purple light shoot past him, suddenly reigning the dead hope in his heart. Milena''s eyes lit up as she watched Glenn grab Laurance''s throat and strangle him.
"Glenn!"
A dazzling smile graced Milena''s face, while Sahro and Lucian breathed a sigh of relief. Glenn grinned from ear to ear as he crushed Laurance''s throat with his bare hands, his strength incomparable to what it was before.
Liara''s heart tightened. Why...why did she feel so uneasy? Why did Glenn not feel like...Glenn?
Laurance coughed as he gazed down in horror at the human strangling him. "W- What are you?"
Glenn smile''s grew to a disproportionate size as his entire skin turned to a deep shade of purple. Liara gasped as she finally realized.
"I''m the Devil''s Hand," Diamanes grinned, "...And I''m here to take you for myself."
***
Glenn squinted, using his hands as a visor to protect himself from the bright light. He was standing in a simple room alongside four other individuals. He blinked a few times, confused.
''What happened to me?'' He felt his chest for wounds, but he couldn''t find anything. ''Did I die for real this time?''
"Damn it...Sevirox, what does your knowledge from another world think of this?" A crowned man with perfect blond hair and blue eyes crossed his arms. He wore regal clothing with the symbol of Munirp embroidered on it, the famous setting sun.
Sevirox was a man with long and straight red hair that reached to his knees. He had pointy ears and sharp red eyes, with an angular jaw that gave him a serious look.
"It thinks nothing. This isn''t something I ever dealt with back on Earth. This is the very opposite of scientificlogic can hardly be applied to this situation."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed another interlocutor, a crowned elf. His skin was as black as ebony and he wore tunic similar to those worn in feudal Japan. A katana rested at his waist, sheathed. "This is very logical. W***** is threatening the Limbo, so we four must fight him! That''s as simple as that!"
Glenn rubbed his eyes, wondering what was going on. ''Hello?'' He tried speaking aloud, but his voice echoed in his head, silent in the present conversation. He tried to reach for the elf king or the human king, but his hand simply went through them as if he were a ghost.
Another scoffed from the corner of the room. "I don''t disagree with the battle-crazy idiot, but I doubt we can hurt *****W with just our strength. He''s a god, after all." The voice came from a muscular red-skinned demon. He had a single, sharp black horn poking out of his crowned head, and he wore a white toga proudly. A diagonal scar crossed his face.
The Human King grinned wickedly as he grabbed Sevirox''s shoulder. "Don''t worry, we''ve been thinking about it! Our draconic friend already taught us magic, and he''s halfway through creating a new material that will harm even that W***** bastard!"
Glenn paced around the room, his mind racing to understand what was going on. ''Sevirox, a human King, a dark elf King, and a demon King. Exactly like in the story that Ialkris told us about.'' He walked up to the human King, studying his features a little closer.
''So he''s the First King...Sure, he''s handsome, but he doesn''t look strong.''
Suddenly, the faces of the four friends around the table darkened. They rushed out of the room, with Glenn closely following behind them. They stood on a balcony, craning their heads out at the night sky. Glenn looked up at them, his fists tightening as he realized what they were so serious about. The Blood Moon was shining brightly above the Limbo''s land, its little white sister hidden behind it.
"Alright, let''s continue discussing this after we''re done with that," said the First King as a cloak of orange and purple light appeared on his shoulders.
Sevirox frowned deeply as scales appeared on his face. "And I was just getting used to a human body. How unfortunate."
"Hahaha, another opportunity to show the might of my kingdom!" The dark elf laughed broadly, excited eyes turned to the sky. His katana gleamed ominously under the crimson moon.
"Let us prove that mortals aren''t tools nor toys..." muttered the demon King.
As if one thought, the four flew up, charging head-on against the opening Moon Rift. Glenn''s eyes widened to watch this spectacular show, but a hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him away.
''What?''
A purple hand dragged him out of the dream, back into the darkness he was drowning in earlier.
"Time to wake up, you lazy bastard!"
273. The Devils Hand
Milena coughed heavily, struggling to breathe. She forced herself to look up at Glennno, Diamanes, who was effortlessly fending off Laurance''s attacks under the Hell Knight''s careful watch.
"Come on, show some nerves! You''re a Newborn Ruler bullying an Expert Magi! I''m sure you can do a little more than that!" Diamanes taunted as he flicked Laurance''s bone to the side, grinning widely as he dodged his opponent''s every move.
''I''m certain now...'' Milena gritted her teeth and pushed herself up despite the pressure. ''I thought Glenn could control that thing, but I was wrong. Damn it!''
She remembered what her grandfather told her back when she was in treatment in his house in the Court.
"Milena, I have to warn you...that friend of yours, Glenn." Exan had been very careful with his words. "Something dangerous that even I can''t fathom has found its place in him. An entity that I can''t understand."
At the time, she dismissed his words as unnecessary worries. After all, Glenn wasn''t anyone. He was the Devil''s Hand, but most importantly, her first friend with Sahro. No matter what mess they ended up in, he would always pull through, using some nonsensical magics to flip the tables around.
Not this time. This time, Glenn died and left his body to that creature, Diamanes. Milena''s every sense was screaming at her to run away and hide in a hole, but she fought against them. Glenn and she had gone through thick and thin together, and he was one of the main reasons she kept on progressing on her path. She couldn''t abandon him.
''There has to be something left in him that can be saved! I just need to approach him and use my magic...''
While Milena schemed, Diamanes and Laurance''s fight intensified. The monstrous Earthling was panicking, accelerating as fast as he could and striking with all his might, only to be ridiculed by Diamanes. The latter would simply lightly step to the side, or push Laurance''s sharp bone sword away with a single finger.
"You know, having control of a body again after so long feels great!" Diamanes exclaimed with a pleased laugh. "And, not to say, but I even have a nice sandbag to stretch my muscles against! Isn''t that great?"
Laurance roared madly, plugging his ears to Diamanes'' taunts and doubling his efforts to take him down. The purple man picked his nose lazily before slipping behind Laurance''s back.
"Now, now, good times never last. I should make the most of it, don''t you think?" He grabbed both of Laurance''s arms, his skin flaring up with purple mist with the contact. Laurance screamed painfully, contorting himself to extricate himself, to no avail.
"What are you doing?! Argh! My strength!"
Diamanes sighed. "I''m not even certain this will be useful. Powers obtained from sacrifices feel filthy, but, oh well. He might need it later on, considering he''ll never be able to replicate it with his Specialty. Oh, and this is also interesting..." The entity sounded as if checking down a list, blissfully ignoring Laurance''s cries of pain.
The Hell Knight had stabbed his sword in the ground, facing Diamanes and Laurance without moving. No one could tell the Knight''s thoughts under that skull mask of his.
Liara leaned on her spear while raising her sword in her other hand. A pair of wings of light appeared in her back, but a hand stopped her before she charged at Diamanes. Lucian pushed her back firmly, his eyes filled with fear.
"T- This is beyond a king''s power!" He turned to Liara and shook his head, terrified. "T- That thing inside Glenn, it''s stronger than my father!"
The Black Heiress froze, her wings disappearing as her small bird flew into her chest and hid itself, scared to death.
Sahro clawed his way out of the rubble he had been thrown in. Blood was flowing over his face, and his broken ribs ached with annoying pain. Red electrical current kept on running through his body, but it wasn''t enough to push him beyond the terminal exhaustion he was in. Raijin, his fox, appeared on his chest, its small paws trembling. It glanced back to Diamanes and shook its furry head.
''Damn ruh sayiya, did it get Glenn in the end? Damn it!'' Sahro cursed. He coughed out a mouthful of blood as he leaned on his sword, his mechanical arm hanging limply by his side. The mechanism was completely ruined, with no hope of being repaired. A stop by Liam and Janica''s atelier was going to be necessaryif they even managed to survive through this ordeal. The Black Heir glanced at the Hell Knight, who was standing still and observing Diamanes beating the crap out of Laurance.
Thankfully, it didn''t appear hostile to them, only concentrated on Diamanes and Laurance. The latter had given up fighting back and was now investing all of its strength trying to get out of Diamanes'' vice grip, still without success.
"W- What are you?!" Laurance screamed desperately. "How are you stronger than a Newborn Ruler? You''re an Expert Magiyou''re nothing!"
Diamanes moistened his lips before shrugging, casually slapping Laurance with one hand and absorbing his power with the other. "I quite disagree. Higher realms do mean more power, but what matters is how you use that power. Simply said..." Diamanes grinned as he ripped off Laurance''s arm. "...My expertise and skills are so above yours, I can dominate you even while being at a lower realm. That''s the advantage of living thousands of years in a fleshy box, I suppose. You start to get inventive."
Laurance ripped his own arm off to escape from Diamanes, dashing out in a panic. "Let me go you fucking monster! I- I''ll call all the Wanderers to hunt you! If you kill me, I''ll"
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Diamanes grunted. "Yes, yes, if I kill you, the bigger fish will come to get fried, I know. And I don''t give a single shit. Now, I think I took everything I could need, so let''s put an end to this."
His demeanor suddenly changed and his expression hardened. Laurance ran away as far as he could, and yet he could still Diamanes'' voice in his ear.
"...What was it already? Ah, I remember."
Diamanes breathed out a cloud of ice-white vapor as he reached out with his left hand in Laurance''s direction.
"Winter Is Coming."
Laurance''s eyes widened and he turned back in shock.
"What?"
The Beyond''s landscape turned to ice, a northern paradise. The lava froze over, the fires snuffed out and the remains of the monster waves crystalized. Laurance couldn''t utter a word as his entire body turned into an extremely realistic sculpture of ice.
Diamanes slowly walked up to Laurance, looking up and down at his creation, before pushing it down. The ice sculpture shattered into a thousand pieces.
Laurance was dead, effortlessly killed by the entity living inside Glenn. Just like that, a Newborn Ruler died.
"That''s one thing done. Alright, who''s next?" Diamanes suddenly grabbed at the air, Pebble tightly clenched in his hand.
"Your power will allow us to grow much stronger. Your master will soar even higher with your sacrifice, be happy" The arm holding onto Pebble fell on the ground. Diamanes looked at the wound on his arm with a frown.
"Hmm. I liked that arm. Anyway." A new arm grew back effortlessly. The Hell Knight silently wiped the blood off his sword, facing Diamanes sternly.
"...You don''t belong here. Begone." The Hell Knight muttered, his voice brittle. Diamanes rolled his eyes before disappearing once more. Liara protected her face as a gust of wind pushed her back. Diamanes was standing in front of her, clenching her little bird tightly.
"That''s also an interesting creature here. Liara, I like you, but, you know, if I want Glenn to help me, I do need him to be stronger than he is. Don''t worry, I''ll find a pigeon for you"
"No!" The cross on Liara''s forehead gleamed powerfully. She punched Diamanes in the nuts with all her strength while Milena slipped into his back. The purple man bent over, releasing the poor little bird.
"Oof...T- That''s cruel... I didn''t enjoy having genitals for thousands of years, and when I finally do, they''re crushed like that. Cruel world." Diamanes'' expression darkened as he swatted Milena away with the back of his hand. Liara''s back was covered in a cold sweat as Diamanes reached once more for her bird, but a man covered in red lightning stopped him at the last moment.
"Glenn, I know you''re in there! Wake up!" Sahro shouted as he swung his sword desperately. Diamanes sighed and stopped him with a single finger, before snapping around and blocking the Hell Knight''s blade. Diamanes'' arms were covered in the same bone armor that Laurance had, only it was completely purple instead of a pale yellow.
"Now, now, I know you are all very worried about Glennwhich makes sense, considering he did die, but"
"Shut up!" Milena shouted angrily as she flew back in, both her hands pressed against Diamanes'' back. "He didn''t die!"
Diamanes raised an eyebrow. "I assure you he did, and I''m simply trying to"
He suddenly stopped talking, his eyes losing their focus. Milena fell to her knees as blood flowed out of her eyes and ears. The light in Diamanes'' eyes returned and he shook his head with a displeased expression.
"Hmm...That was weird. Memories...that I shouldn''t have. Ugh. I won''t thank you for that, Milena."
Lucian gathered his strength and pushed himself up. A crown of weak light appeared above his head. "This is an order from Munirp''s future king! I, Lucian Magnus, command you. Release Glenn!"
A beam of white and black light rushed out of Lucian''s hands and crashed against Diamanes. The latter blocked it with his palm, yawning as he did so.
"I could take this, but it''s not that great honestly. Not useful enough, anyway."
Lucian collapsed, the colors draining out of his face after he expended the last drop of his Mana.
"Leave his body," suddenly said the Hell Knight as he pressed his sword against Diamanes'' throat. "This young man holds too much potential for you to waste it away. I don''t want to kill him, but if you force me to..."
Diamanes sighed heavily, opening his mouth to reply only to fall to his knees. Confusion painted his face.
"What the..." He watched helplessly as the purple left his skin, replaced by Glenn''s usual tone of skin. The purple retreated to Glenn''s left hand, exactly like it was at the beginning of their...relationship.
"Hah, I should have expected it." Diamanes scoffed dejectedly before falling face-first on the ground. Liara gasped heavily as the pressure pushing down on the group disappeared. She dashed to Glenn''s side, her sword carefully pointed at him. She flipped him up on his back and pressed her fingers on his throat.
Ba-dump...ba-dump...
It was weak, but there was a pulse.
Tears welled up in Liara''s eyes but she shook her head with cold anger. She slapped Glenn''s face, but the young man remained unconscious.
"It''s no use," said the Hell Knight with a tired voice. "His body drew on a strength way beyond his own. He needs rest, a lot of it."
Sahro pointed his sword at the Hell Knight, heaving with difficulty. "H- How do we know that you''re not an enemy?"
The Hell Knight looked down at him for a moment. "...Because you''re not dead. I''m not like this fool Laurance. I don''t toy with my prey."
A shiver crawled down the Black Heir''s back, and he sheathed his sword, his teeth tightly clenched. The Hell Knight walked up to Glenn and lifted him with one hand.
"Follow me. I am certain you have questions. I''ll try to answer them the best I can."
Without further explanation, he strolled away. Liara, Milena, Sahro, and Lucian exchanged tired and wary looks before following him. The Hell Knight''s boots left deep tracks in the ground with each step he took. They followed him for a couple of hours, far away from the Last City and the demons. They eventually arrived at a cascade of lava, which the Hell Knight promptly stopped with a lazy swing of his sword. A cave was hidden behind the magma, which he rapidly entered. The others followed him in, ready to draw their weapons and cast their spells at any moment.
Liara gritted her teeth. ''If something happens, it''s over for all of us. We''ve spent everything in that fight.''
Sahro''s thoughts weren''t too different. ''Even if I die, I''ll at least fit my blade in that bastard''s armor! I refuse to go down without fighting!''
Milena was leaning on Lucian, her legs trembling weakly. ''We''re all going to die. Why does this always happen to usno, why do I always follow Glenn in his damned adventures? Why didn''t I stay at grandpa''s place like any normal person would have done?''
Lucian groaned, biting down on his lips to try and push through the pain and exhaustion. ''It isn''t kingly to show weakness. I shall assist Miss Milena, and if needs be, protect my citizens with my life. I refuse to let Munirp''s glory be tarnished by my incompetence!''
The Hell Knight led to a small, comfortable cabin constructed in the depths of the cave. A hot spring was boiling a few meters away next to a sort of mushroom farm. The Hell Knight sighed deeply as he entered the cabin and laid Glenn on a simple bed. He dragged his feet to a chair carved straight out of the ground and collapsed on it.
"Welcome to my humble abode. Please, make yourself at home."
274. The Guardian
Glenn winced, struggling to open his eyes. He rubbed the tiredness away, removing the crust sealing his eyelids. His entire body ached, and even the smallest movement felt like a painful chore. His chest and stomach suffered the most, burning with constant pain.
''What the...'' He finally pried his eyes open, finding an unfamiliar ceiling above his head. He was lying on a simple straw bed in a small log cabin. A scent of sulfur and blood tingled his nose.
''Shit, where am I? I...the fight with Laurance, what happened?''
Nelg suddenly appeared out of thin air, his skin pale and black circles under his eyes. "I thought you were about to die..." He looked resentful.
Glenn forced out a smile as he sat himself up, hissing through his teeth during the entire movement. "Hmf...I''m not that easily killed, Nelg, and you know that, haha. What happened?"
"I''m not laughing, Glenn." Nelg gritted his teeth as he sat on a small stool. "Laurance was a Newborn Ruleryou should have run away the moment you realized he was your opponent!"
"Listen..." Glenn sighed deeply. "With the numbers on our side, as well as the entire team and the demons...I thought it was possible." He looked up and down at himself, wincing at the sight of his Imoogi suit struggling to fix itself up where Laurance stabbed his sword. "And...Considering I''m still alive, I suppose it was?"
Nelg scoffed. "No, it wasn''t. The only reason you and everyone else aren''t dead and buried is because that fucker in your hand took over!"
Glenn felt his blood turn into ice. "...What?"
"I didn''t misspoke," hissed Nelg hatefully. "Your heart stopped. You died. Until your body turned purple and Diamanes took the reins."
Nelg stabbed his finger in Glenn''s shoulder. "Diamanes killed Laurance and then tried to ''take'' Pebble, Raijin, and Liara''s bird''s powers. And you know what I mean by ''take'', don''t you?"
Glenn chuckled nervously as he stole a glance at his left hand. "No, no, you''re joking. Why, why would he do that? Hey, Diamanes, that''s not true, right?"
Only then did he realize that his left arm had returned to its original color, the purple having retreated to his hand.
"Diamanes?" Glenn coughed out a lump of dry blood, but the entity remained silent.
Nelg laughed dejectedly. "I suppose it took too much out of him. Good riddance. This...greedy, egoistic piece of garbage!" Nelg cursed before disappearing into a cloud of blue particles, returning to Glenn''s soul. The latter was left in shock and disbelief.
''Why...Why would Diamanes do that? No...if I truly died, like Nelg is saying, then maybe his take-over was the only solution for me to survive. But then...what about his actions after he killed Laurance?''
Glenn dismissed the upper part of his Imoogi suit with a thought, returning it to his soul and keeping the pants on. He gently pressed on the side of his wounds, grimacing at the pain. There was a deep gash in his torso, his flesh knitting itself together with difficulty. His stomach was decorated with a similar mark, a bloody line that crossed his abdomens. Both wounds were oozing with green and yellow push and smelled absolutely horriblenot that it mattered much considering the blood he was still covered in.
"Fuck...MundaCough!" Glenn leaned on his side as something clenched on his heart. He breathed in and out carefully, his back drenched in sweat.
"What is this fucking..." He closed his eyes and sank into a Meditative state. His Mana Heart appeared before him. The Milky Way wasn''t as bright as it usually was. Most of its stars were gone while the gaseous clouds floated without any luster. Glenn''s eyes widened as he realized the source of his incapability at using Mana. The deep darkness that surrounded his Mana was now sparse with fissures. Small parts of his Mana Heart seemed to leak out through these fissures, disappearing into the void.
"This is...I have no idea what this is. How do I fix this?"
Unfortunately, Glenn''s mutters didn''t bring him anywhere close to a solution. The fissures seemed to be slowly closing by themselves, but it was taking too much time. ''I feel like any part of my Mana Heart that leaks through that are parts I won''t ever see again. Shit, maybe Nelg is right and I should have run away...''
Glenn grunted in annoyance as he left his Meditation. He rubbed his forehead tiredly, pondering.
"Soul damage." A voice suddenly said from beside him. Glenn almost jumped out of his bed, his senses flaring up as he called on Nelg. The weapon refused to answer, though.
In the corner of the room, sitting on the same stool Nelg previously occupied, was the Hell Knight. He was covered in dark steel armor, his face still hidden behind that skull helmet doubling as a mask. The Hell Knight was looking at him with his arms crossed, his thoughts undecipherable.
"Who are you?" Glenn reached for his dimensional pouch, searching for a spare sword. If Nelg refused to help him, he just had to find a weapon to replace him.
"Not an enemy," replied the Hell Knight with a weary tone as he pointed at the bed. "I wouldn''t be lending my place to rest to a bloody mess like you if I wanted to kill you."
Glenn froze, before slowly taking his hand out of his dimensional pouch.
"...That''s fair. I have to ask, my team was with me"
The Hell Knight waved his hand dismissively, interrupting me. "They''re resting outside. That battle was something you wouldn''t come back from easily."
"Tell me about it..." scoffed Glenn. He winced as the laugh pulled on his ripped muscles.
"It''s a miracle you didn''t leave your guts on the floor. The wounds Laurance inflicted on you should have been deadly." The Hell Knight leaned back against a wall, the feet of his stool rising slightly in the air.
"I''ve heard that they were. My heart stopped, or something like that, right?" Glenn tried to grin, but the thought of Diamanes taking control of his body made it impossible. The Hell Knight tilted his head to the side.
"That Soul Weapon..." He shook his head. "You know about that entity in your left hand, then? I think he''s called Diamanes, correct?"
The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Glenn grimaced. ''I don''t like it. A total stranger knows about Diamanes. And I''m not in much capacity to shut him up. Fuck me sideways...''
"You could get rid of it, but I wouldn''t recommend that." The Hell Knight leaned on his fist. Glenn blinked, confusedly.
Someone recommending keeping Diamanes instead of kicking him away?
That was a first.
"What makes you say that?" Glenn inquired carefully.
The Hell Knight pointed at Glenn''s wounds. "That...entity, Diamanes. When he took over your body, he, hmm, stole the abilities of that monster, Laurance."
Glenn''s eyes widened and he looked down at his chest once more. "A regeneration factor...So that''s what it was."
"It''s not working properly because of the wounds on your soul, but it should be powerful enough to grow back even a limb." The Hell Knight nodded. "It''s not wrong to say that the only reason you survived infections and critical injuries was that thing taking over and stealing Laurance''s powers."
"Diamanes..." Glenn clenched his left hand, unsure of how to feel. The entity saved his life once again, but the way he did it was... ''Damn it, I don''t want to think about it, but I don''t have a choice, do I?''
"I didn''t reply to your question earlier," muttered the Hell Knight. "I had a name long ago, but it was erased from my memories. You can call me the Guardian."
Glenn pressed his lips together as he shook the Guardian''s extended hand. "Huh. Sounds better than ''Hell Knight'' for sure. I''m Glenn."
The Guardian''s shoulders rose as something remotely similar to a chuckle escaped from his helmet. "Hmf! Hell Knight? How fitting..."
"Why did you help us?" Glenn asked as he pressed his back against the wall. His wounds were itching awfully as if insects were ripping off small bites of his flesh. Regrowing missing meat, knitting muscles, and fixing bones didn''t feel pleasant whatsoever.
"Why...?" The Guardian looked down at his armored hands. "Because it was right to do so."
Glenn''s heart missed a beat. The weight behind the Guardian''s words was immense. It was as if the lonesome knight in dark armor was bearing the world on his shoulders, and some more. ''The right thing to do...''
"Thank you." Glenn didn''t look at the Guardian as he spoke. The knight froze for a moment, similar in all points to a statue. A long silence passed before he eventually stood up from the stool.
"I''d recommend meeting up with your friends in the hot spring. You need to scrub yourself clean."
Glenn smiled softly. "I can''t agree more, but...don''t we have a more pressing issue, such as my soul leaking out?"
The Guardian waved his hand dismissively. "We''ll speak about it after that. Right now, your mind and body need to rest. That will already help in patching up the holes in your soul."
"I insist on following his advice," suddenly exclaimed Nelg from within Glenn''s soul. "I already watched you die once, I''d rather not be forced to watch a second time because you pushed yourself."
Glenn hesitantly pressed his feet on the warm floor. It was carved straight out of rough stone and felt like volcanic rock. He tried to stand up, but his knees gave up under him. He was about to crash roughly on the floor when an arm caught him midway. Nelg grunted as he helped Glenn to walk out of the hut, ignoring the Guardian''s silent gaze.
"If walking is pushing myself, I might as well just die..." groaned Glenn.
"Complain for another second, and I''ll gut you myself." Nelg gritted his teeth as he pushed the hut''s door open with his foot. Glenn stumbled forward, leaning heavily on his doppelganger. The corner of his lips curved upward as he found his entire team relaxing in a steamy, natural hot spring, bathing in peace.
Well, ''relaxing'' wasn''t exactly the correct word. The atmosphere was heavy and somber, burdened with silence. Sahro was petting his fox Raijin gently, his eyes lost in the distance. Milena was hugging Pebble tightly, while Liara recomforted her small bird. Lucian was leaning back against the edge of the spring, his eyes shut close and his regal attitude nowhere to be seen.
"Man, you all look like you saw someone die," joked Glenn with a cough. Immediately, his teammates snapped in his direction, different emotions painting their faces.
"Are you"
"You died"
"Fucking"
"Big Bro!"
They all began talking to each other. Glenn winced as a headache appeared in an instant.
"Not everyone at the same time," commanded Nelg. "My double died, he''s not exactly in his best condition."
"I can see that," scoffed Sahro as he leaned back in the hot spring, his tense shoulders relaxing slightly.
Glenn stood by the hot spring, sighing deeply. "And even now I could probably take you, Sahro. Imagine that..."
"Hah, as if..." The Black Heir trailed off as he stared at the wounds on Glenn''s chest. Nelg carefully helped lower him into the hot spring. Glenn groaned as he sat in the water, the pain of his wounds soothed slightly.
"Glenn, are you alright?" Milena asked worriedly. She pushed her hair back and gulped heavily at Glenn''s wounds. "Y- You look like both your heart and intestines are going to leak out."
Glenn chuckled through the pain. "I don''t think they''ll be falling off anytime soon, but thank you for worrying nonetheless."
Liara slipped beside him and grabbed his arm as if to make sure he was real. "I felt your heart stop, but then Diamanes took over..." She whispered in his ear, aware of Lucian''s presence. "A- Are you yourself?"
"I think so." Glenn pulled his left, purple hand out of the water. Everyone''s eyes were drawn to the odd-colored limb. "I...haven''t heard from him since then. The Guardian said he was the only reason I survived."
Lucian cleared his throat. "Sorry, but, may I inquire as to who ''he'' is? It is the first time I''ve seen such a dangerous possession. And while we''re there, why can I see two Glenn?"
Sahro clicked his tongue. "We''ve known you for, what, twenty-four hours?"
Glenn''s eyes widened. "It''s only been a day since Sevirox took flight? Shit, it felt like weeks!"
Milena curled up, muttering. "It truly did..."
Nelg sat on the edge of the hot spring, dipping his armored feet in the water. "Diamanes is an entity that has been helping Glenn survive for a bit more than a year now. Ancient, from another world, and with the ability to ''take'' the powers of his enemies."
He smiled wryly and stabbed his thumb in his chest. "As for me, I''m the special kind of Soul weapon, birthed from Glenn''s soul. A shapeshifting doppelganger of some sort."
Lucian whistled, impressed. "Stealing the abilities of others? That sounds a little good to be true."
"I do need to touch said ability to ''take'' it," corrected Glenn. "I''ll let you try to take a spell shooting for your head. It''s not exactly simple in a fight where survival depends on your every movement. And, it''s not like I need these powers, my Astral Sorcery is already more than strong enough."
Liara nodded silently as she petted her white, round bird. The feathery animal was stealing suspicious glances at Glenn''s left hand. Pebble and Raijin were doing pretty much the same, with the difference that Pebble wasn''t with his master, instead hiding within Milena''s arms.
"What are we going to do now?" Milena inquired. "We can''t stay in the Beyond forever, and we do need to make our report to Count Mortelli."
Glenn froze. Count Mortelli.
"Shit, Milena, Mortelli is working with the Occult Wanderers. Do you think...?"
Lucian stood up brusquely, his eyes widening and his manhood exposed. "Who''s working with the Occult Wanderers? Are you sure of what you''re saying, Bro?"
Milena turned away and awkwardly cleared her throat. Liara stared shamelessly, her cheeks tinted with a bit of red. Usually, Glenn would have probably made a joke, but the pain and exhaustion made it feel pointless.
"Lucian, I know that your stature might make it complicated to accept this, but even if Mortelli is a noble, we have actual proof that he worked with the"
Glenn''s efforts to convince Munirp''s Prince were interrupted by the latter as he pumped his fist victoriously. "Haha, I knew it! A king''s instinct is never wrong! Please, tell me more about it!"
"Sure, Iyawn..." Glenn yawned as he tried to rub the exhaustion off his eyes, to no avail.
"I was there, so I might as well give you my version," grumbled Sahro.
Milena cleared her throat a little louder. "I was also present. I''m more than happy to tell you about our first encounter with the Occult Wanderers, but could you please sit back in the spring, please?"
Lucian looked down and grimaced. "Ah. My apologies."
Glenn laid back with a grin, his eyes closing down slowly as the heat of the hot spring pulled him in a warm, reposing embrace. He listened with his eyes shut as Sahro and Milena recounted their expedition into the Eastern Town to save Redan the Ice Wolf, his mentor, and encountered the Occult Wanderers in consequence. How they worked with the Mayor of the time, and how the latter was family with the Count.
''Getting the help of Munirp''s Prince to take revenge on a Count of Munirp...'' The grin on Glenn''s lips widened slightly as he fell asleep.
The road to making pay the culprit behind Redan''s downfall was clearer than ever.
275. Incongruous
Lucian pressed his hands together, his teeth clenched tightly. The hot spring''s steam swirled around his handsome face.
"Preposterous. Absolutely outrageous." He shook his head with a disgusted expression. "Mortelli thinks he''s royalty, even though he''s only scum not even worth licking the sole of my shoes."
Munirp''s Prince slammed his fist against the ledge of the hot spring angrily. "I shall bring this matter to my royal father and send the King''s Blade to him! I refuse to let him participate in any more atrocities!"
Milena rubbed her chin, pondering. "LuciaYour Highness, you mentioned having doubts about Mortelli''s integrity for a while already. What made you think that?"
Lucian rolled his eyes at the ''Highness''. "Well, in my previous quality as the ''hidden'' Princemy Father never presented me to noble societyI was able to look around the middle and higher circles of aristocracy."
Sahro spat to the side. "Damn nobles. They''re all scum who deserve a blade through their hearts." He glanced at Lucian and shrugged. "Aside from you. But you''re not a noble, you''re higher than that."
Liara patted the tiny head of her bird, wondering what she should name it. A white, small bird... ''Snowflake? No... Birdy? Hmm... Whitey? Yeah, Whitey sounds right!''
The bird chattered happily in her palm, blissfully unaware of her horrifying naming sense.
"Haha, you know well, Brother Sahro." Lucian tilted his head respectfully in the Black Heir''s direction. He turned back to Milena, serious once more. "But to return to your question, thanks to my discreet investigations, I learned of some sort of noble circle, the Nosferatu Club."
Glenn flinched in his sleep but didn''t wake up. The young man had succumbed to exhaustion and was currently napping comfortably in the hot spring. Nelg also returned to Glenn''s soul during the discussion to help fix the holes in it.
Sahro frowned. "I''m almost certain that Baron Howard, a eubaydsorry, a vampire, was calling himself a descendant of Nosferatu. Or something like that. For sure, he was connected with Nosferatu."
Lucian nodded slowly. "I came up to that same conclusion, but the only evidence I found was a letter from an unknown sender to Count Mortelli. The Count himself doesn''t seem to be a vampire, but he certainly appears to be connected with these bloodsuckers. Add to that what you''re telling me, and it''s more than evident that Mortelli is preparing something nefarious!"
Milena smiled weakly as she rubbed Pebble''s scaly head, carefully avoiding his single, jade-colored eye. "It feels good to have the higher powers on our side, for once."
Lucian looked at her confusedly. "What do you mean, Milena? Aren''t you from the Dela Lune noble family? I believe your parents are Dukes, correct?"
"Ah?" Milena coughed as she slipped deeper into the hot spring, shocked. "Y- You know my identity?"
"I am Munirp''s Crown Prince," said Lucian. "If I didn''t know the ducal families, my father would disinherit me. Magic portraits were quite helpful in my studies, believe it or not."
Milena hid her face as the colors flushed out of it. "C- Could I ask you to keep that to yourself, Your Highness?"
Lucian shrugged. "Sure, but only if you stop calling me that. Lucian, or...no, Brother will do perfectly!"
Milena paled even further. "Please stop joking with that, Your H Lucian."
The Prince sighed and leaned back. "At least I tried. On another subject, don''t you think we should be waking him up?" He pointed at Glenn who was slowly but surely sinking into the water. Liara glanced at him and shook her head silently.
"I think we can let him rest a bit more," Sahro grunted as he took Raijin, his fox, and dropped him in the water, grinning at the beast swimming in a panic. "He died and returned to life. I think he deserves to sleep in."
Milena hugged her knees as Pebble teleported and saved Raijin from the treacherous waters of the hot spring. "Should we do anything about that? The situation with Diamanes, I mean."
Liara''s expression darkened while Sahro clenched his fists tightly. Lucian looked at them all with unveiled surprise before chuckling.
"I apologize, but what can you even do?" He ignored their death glares and continued. "Diamanes, when he took control of Glenn''s body, had a presence more powerful than even my father. Do you know what that means?"
He cleared his throat to insist on his point. "My royal father is an Eight-Circle True Ruler, and the only reason Munirp is the strongest nation of the West. Even if the Celestial Gods and their allies all attacked Munirp together, they would all be defeated in front of the might of my Father."
Lucian pointed at Glenn''s left hand dejectedly. "And that was stronger than my Father."
Silence fell onto the hot spring as nobody could find something to retort. Eventually, Sahro perked up and turned to Lucian.
"That makes me wonder, why didn''t your father intervene in the war if he was so strong?"
Lucian grimaced, hesitating. "Well, it''s pretty much a secret of state, but my father staying in the King''s Tower is the only reason other individuals of similar strength don''t bother with Munirp. The Limbo is a large world, and Munirp only rules half of a single continent. Well, we''re still the best kingdom, but you know what I mean."
"Frogs in a well..." Milena shook her head in disbelief. "You''re telling me there are monsters even stronger than Laurance roaming the world...and Diamanes is stronger than them?" She chuckled in awe. "This is insanity."
Liara nodded in silent agreement. Sahro grinned widely, his eyes gleaming with a flash of red electricity.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"That only means higher goals to achieve! One day, I shall be the strongest swordsman under the heavens, and even Diamanes will fear me!"
"Sure, sure, if you say so, Sahro." Milena laughed lightheartedly. The atmosphere relaxed slightly as the threat of the entity contained in Glenn''s left hand left everyone''s mind. That peace didn''t last long as it was soon disturbed by the Guardian coming out of his cabin. He pulled the unconscious Glenn out of the water and threw him on his shoulder.
"I''ll be starting the treatment of his soul, but..." The knight hesitated for an instant. "...Be aware that he might suffer from, hmm, an incongruous behavior for a little bit of time once I''m done with him."
Sahro raised his eyebrows. "I''m not sure how more ''incongruous'' Glenn can get."
Liara chuckled, her laugh as clear as crystal. The Guardian didn''t say another word as he brought Glenn back into the cabin and closed the door behind him.
***
"Hmm. Hmmm. Triple hmm." Glenn rubbed his chin as he looked at the crumbling parts of his soul. The fissures in the darkness surrounding his Milky Way were still as wide as when he found them. It looked like they were healing, but sadly, it appeared that they only looked like so.
"I can''t see any progress, no matter how hard I look. This is a problem..." muttered Glenn, his voice echoing in the depths of his soul. A black sun approached the fading light of Glenn''s Mana Heart. Nelg strolled in the air and came up next to Glenn.
"I don''t have a clue as to how to help you," admitted Nelg. "But I think the Guardian is going to fix you up."
Glenn''s eyes lightened. "He will?" He then frowned and took a step back. "I still don''t get why he would help me for free. ''Because it''s right'' isn''t good enough for an answer to me."
Nelg shrugged as he curiously passed his hand in one of the fissures and promptly pulled it right back. "Maybe it''s as simple as that. Maybe he''s just a poor guy trying his best to protect and help others out of the kindness of his soul."
"Even you don''t believe that," sneered Glenn. "We''re not in a fairy tale. I should wake up and check out what he''s trying to do."
The young man willed to get out of his Meditation, but, for the first time in his life, he failed.
"...This is ridiculous." Glenn''s expression hardened as he concentrated harder, trying his best to wake up from his Meditation to no avail.
Nelg clicked his tongue. "Seems like you''re stuck there. Well, I''ll be waiting outside with the others. I can''t be bothered to wait in here."
"Wait" Glenn''s stretched-out hand passed through nothingness as Nelg phased out of his soul, returning to reality.
"Ungrateful bastard..." he muttered as he paced around his soul, searching his mind for ways to fix these damned holes. He couldn''t tell how much time passed until a bright white light suddenly entered his Mana Heart and began to glue the fissures together.
"What sort of sorcery is this...?" Glenn questioned aloud, his hands on his waist as he watched the Guardian working on his soul in a live performance. There was something a little disturbing in seeing someone tinkering on his Mana Heart, the most private place he knew.
''But it''s not like I can stop it, anyway...Sigh, I really don''t like this lack of agency. This sucks. Even if he''s helping me, it still sucks.''
Glenn sat in the void and rubbed his face tiredly. "I need to push myself harder and get stronger faster. I can''t rely on Diamanes to resuscitate me from the dead every time I meet a Newborn Ruler or an ancient evil god. Archmagi...It can''t possibly be that hard to reach, right?"
Eventually, the white light was done patching up the holes in Glenn''s soul. A weight lifted off his chest.
''I can get out.'' Glenn grinned as he realized. Without a second thought, he extricated himself from his Meditation. The process was more difficult than usual as if trying to walk through sticky goo. The world felt...strange.
''Something is weird...'' Glenn blinked his eyes open, finding the concerned face of Nelg inches from his own.
"Is it gay if I like my own face?" Glenn questioned aloud.
"It is only vanity, a very human emotion," replied the Guardian as he stored some tools in a small coffer. Glenn frowned and hesitantly took a step forward. The world appeared distorted in his sight.
"Be careful. Working on the soul can cause some...unpleasant side effects." The Guardian warned. He crossed his arms as he watched Glenn come out of bed, helped by his doppelganger.
"I can taste colors..." Glenn muttered before poking his tongue out as if to lick the air. Nelg sealed his lips shut and hurriedly led Glenn to the door. The young man stumbled drunkenly, holding himself on whatever he could.
"Feels like that time I survived Corruption..." He grumbled, squinting through the myriad of lights blinding him.
"If only you could see yourself," Nelg smirked.
Glenn frowned confusedly. "What do you mean? I can see myself perfectly, thanks to you."
Nelg refused to elaborate. He led Glenn out of the cabin and to a hastily raised table of stone, where everyone else was sitting. It seemed like they were done with their baths in the hot spring. Glenn carefully sat next to his teammates.
"By Onnea..." Milena''s eyes widened. "So that''s what he meant by incongruous?"
"Incon-what?" Glenn''s frowned and he rubbed his forehead. "Why can I feel sounds? Did I become a bat or something? Ultra-sounds? No, am I just..." His eyes widened exaggeratedly. "Was I drugged? Is that why I feel funny? Shit, Guardian of my ass, come back here! What did you put in my...my...how did you drug me?!?"
Sahro slapped his thigh with a broad laugh. "Hahaha, Glenn, you look like you ate a forest-worth of magic mushrooms!"
Glenn looked at him pensively. "Do I?"
Lucian cleared his throat. "I don''t want to ruin the mood, but you do realize we should return to the Limbo as quickly as possible, right?" He discreetly pointed at Glenn and whispered: "How are we supposed to do that with the strongest in our team turned into a dumbass?"
"I heard you, you royal, handsome bastard!" Glenn shouted back, clouds blocking his vision.
Liara grimaced while she patted Glenn''s back reassuringly. The young man mumbled some incomprehensible nonsense before hiding his face in his hands.
"Don''t worry too much, he will be better with a day of sleep," said the Guardian as he came out of his cabin. "It won''t be too late then to return to..." He turned to the side of the cave, silent.
"...Shit," cursed the knight. "Prepare yourselves. We have uninvited guests."
Far, but close at the same time, thundered an unfamiliar voice.
"Glenn, the Devil''s Hand! You killed our friend, Laurance! Come out with your hands up and we won''t hurt your friends!"
Glenn looked up confusedly. "...Since when can caves talk? Oh, shit, I''m really down in the gutter, aren''t I?"
Liara nodded with a complicated expression as she prepared herself. Glenn''s other teammates did the same, ready to fight once again. The rest in the hot spring had done wonders to fill up their batteries, and they weren''t scared of another fight.
Well, aside from Lucian, who was staring in the same direction the Guardian was. A cold sweat drenched his back as he gulped heavily.
"M- My friends, it might be the end of the royal lineage today..." He glanced at the others as the colors drained out of his face.
"Three of them," said the Prince slowly.
"There are three Newborn Rulers outside."
276. Three Masks
The Guardian slowly grabbed his longsword, dragging it to the ground as he stood in the direction of the cave''s exit.
Liara, Milena, guard Glenn, Sahro ordered, drawing his sword with a serious expression. His mechanical arm was more scrap than prosthetic, but a crimson discharge of electricity still coursed through it.
"Who guards who?" Glenn questioned. "Nelg!"
A longsword appeared in his hand, shining with a cold, deadly glint.
"Wait, no, I didn''t agree to that! Glenn, you need to stay put!" Nelg exclaimed in protest. Glenn looked at his weapon in utter disbelief.
"Who do you take me for? Did you really think I would leave my friends to fight for me while I twiddle with my thumbs in a cave? Just because I can hear the taste of mushrooms doesn''t mean I can''t defend myself!"
Milena grimaced. "Sorry, but you can''t use Mana. Leave it to us this time."
"What" Glenn''s eyes widened as a ring of light appeared around him and restrained his movements. Liara held her hand out, the nerves popping out of her forehead as she concentrated on maintaining him in place. Milena rushed in and pressed her thumb against his forehead. Glenn''s eyelids shut themselves instantly and he collapsed on the floor, snoring heavily.
"He should be dreaming of escaping the restraints and fighting whatever''s outside by himself. As long as he doesn''t recuperate his Mana, he''ll stay like this for a day or so." Milena dusted her hands off, her back drenched in cold sweat. The pressure coming from outside the cave was slowly but surely becoming unbearable.
"Children." The Guardian''s voice was weary yet firm. "Stand behind me. You''re not yet strong enough to face opponents at this level."
Milena instinctively activated her Mana Sight and checked him out, pausing when she couldn''t find a trace of any mystical power. No Aura, Mana, nor even Divinity.
The Guardian was a mundane person with no powers. The Guardian turned to her and grabbed her shoulder with a heavy hand.
"I don''t have the powers I used to have, but..." He clenched his longsword tightly, "I have other means at my disposal."
"Whatever, old man," hissed Sahro as red electricity crackled violently around him. "Let''s do this. We need to break through them and escape. We can''t even dream of defeating them."
Milena nodded slowly as Liara grabbed Glenn from the ground and put him on her back, wearing him like a backpack. She nodded in their direction resolutely. Lucian laughed nervously, a bead of sweat pearling down his forehead.
"Three damned Newborn Rulers. Easy work for Munirp''s next king, haha!"
Sahro patted him on the back with his mechanical arm. "As much as it''s worth, I think you''re part of the team now, Lucian. You''re our friendno, our brother. If we die..." The Black Heir grinned widely as power coursed through him. "Let''s die as heroes."
Lucian perked up as a golden crown of Mana appeared above his head, brimming with mystical might. "An end fitting of legends. A last stand worthy of the history books. So be it!"
Milena shook her head silently, her daggers drawn and her powers ready.
"Let''s go." The sound of the Guardian''s boot on the warm volcanic floor echoed in the cave loudly, ringing through their hearts and sending adrenalin pumping through their veins. Sahro, Lucian, Milena, and Liara followed the ancient fighter as they left the cave.
Outside, standing in the hellscape of the Beyond, under the uninterested watch of the eyes in the sky, was a legion of a hundred knights in emerald-colored scale armors commanded by three masked individuals. A Rabbit, a Snake, and an Owl. Would Glenn had been awake, he would have recognized the Rabbit''s clothing as jeans and shirt, while the Snake was a lady wearing a stylish blue dress that would make modern models jealous, her legs revealed by tempting slits that reached up to her waist. Only the Owl seemed to wear appropriate garments, more accurately a leather armor with rough iron pauldrons.
The Rabbit turned to the Owl, puzzled. "I thought my message was clear. I only asked for the Devil''s Hand, didn''t I?"
The Owl pointed at Liara, who was carrying Glenn on her back. The Snake lady snorted mockingly. "Seems like the Devil''s Hand got betrayed. Look, his Mana Heart is as weak as a mundane human''s!"
The Rabbit rubbed his chin, staring at the Guardian for a moment.
"...No, I don''t think that''s correct." He disappeared and reappeared inches away from the Guardian, staring up at the armored fighter curiously. "Seeing how this old bastard is protecting him, I think it''s more plausible for him to be out of commission because of his fight with Laurance."
The Snake lady shrugged. "That''s probably right. After all, even if he was a talentless, weak freak, Laurance was still a Newborn Ruler like us. Taking him on as an Expert Magi must have cost the Devil''s Hand something important."
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
"No matter," dismissed the Rabbit with a wave of his hand. He reached his hand out at the Guardian, a smirk perking out of his mask.
"Give us the Devil''s Hand; as promised, we won''t hurt his friends. We won''t even hurt him! Just...bring him somewhere nice, I swear!"
The Guardian raised his sword and placed the tip against the Rabbit''s mask. "If you think I''d believe the treacherous words of a bastard like you, then you are a fool. This is my only warning. Flee now, and never come back."
The Rabbit laughed broadly before suddenly turning into a vaguely humanoid fire. He slammed both of his palms into the Guardian''s chest, knocking him a distance away.
"Try us, old man! The Occult Wanderers didn''t grow so strong looking away from fights!" The Rabbit disappeared in a trail of burning light as he clashed with the Guardian once more. The Owl mask remained standing next to the emerald knight legion, silent with his arms crossed.
The Snake lady appeared in front of Liara and reached her hand out to touch Glenn''s face. "Such a handsome Devil...I could have believed him if he called himself Lucifer and said that he fell from grace."
Liara''s sword was a blur as it hacked for the Snake lady''s wrist. The latter simply pulled her hand back and tried slapping Liara away, but Milena''s suddenly swept beneath her and stabbed her dagger for her heart. The Snake lady yelped and hurriedly backed away.
"You didn''t scratch my dress, did you?" She hurriedly checked the fabric, and audibly sighed in relief as she failed to find any damage.
"What would an ugly bitch like you need such a nice dress for anyway?" Milena shouted in a rare outburst of anger, Mana swirling around her. The Snake lady slowly turned her head toward her.
"...What did you say?"
Unfortunately, she couldn''t hear Milena''s reply as a majestic voice rose over the battlefield.
"True Dawn!" A beam of golden light shot out of Lucian''s hands, destroying everything in its path toward the Snake lady. The latter took on a serious stance and she made a precise hand gesture. Black particles flew out of her pockets and formed a shield in front of her, blocking the spell effortlessly.
"Wait, isn''t that...?" Her eyes widened slightly, but she could not reach the end of her thought. Sahro left scorched earth behind him as he transformed into violent red lightning and shot for her throat. The black particles swirled and formed a large blade that effortlessly swatted Sahro''s efforts away.
Milena slammed her hands on the ground, a wave of Mana exploding out of her. "Dream Palace." Her words were as silent as a whisper, and yet everyone heard it clearly. The Snake lady looked around her as the world changed from the hellscape of the Beyond to a modern city''s layout, with countless heavy-duty trucks driving at maximum speed toward her.
"Oh." The Snake lady took a step back, a cold sweat drenching her back. Lucian''s New Dawn almost reached her when the warrior in an Owl mask stopped it while shattering the illusion and imprisoning the Snake lady at the same time. The Snake lady panted heavily, holding her chest as if to stop her heart from jumping out.
"T- Thanks. I''m really weak to illusions." She gasped.
The Owl looked at her before nodding gently. "I know." His voice sounded rough, different from the mockeries and lightheartedness of the Bunny''s.
Milena winced, feeling the counterblow hitting back as her spell was destroyed. Sahro dug his feet into the volcanic ground as the crimson lightning intensified around him. Sharp, vicious fox ears and a large fox tail appeared on his body, made entirely of red electricity. He drew his sword back at the maximum, all his muscles tensing up for that one attack.
"Akairaijin!" He roared as he lunged forward, disappearing into a red lightning bolt. He broke through the sound barrier as the flat of his sword slammed against the Owl''s opened palm. The Owl''s eyes widened under his mask as he flew back from the knockback and crashed into the Snake lady. Both flew away into the distance, effectively kicked out by Sahro''s attack.
The Black Heir fell to one knee, his mechanical arm crumbling into dust, revealing the stump of his shoulder. A weak electrical current imitated the shape of his arm where a mechanical arm previously stood. Lucian hurriedly dashed next to Sahro and helped him up.
"It''s our opportunity!" Milena shouted. "We need to get away now!"
"You don''t have to tell me twice," grumbled Sahro as he leaned on Lucian to run away. The corner of Liara''s lips curved upward as she watched her friends somehow fend off two Newborn Rulers. She adjusted her hold over Glenn and ran alongside them, heading for the Horizon Gates.
***
"NO! MY DRESS!" The Snake lady cried as she held the end of her beautiful blue dress where a slight scratch had ruined the fabric.
"...I''ll find you another one," sighed the Owl as he dusted himself off. "I didn''t expect that. This Black Heir used Japanese in his spell. I don''t think he''s from Earth, but he certainly knows someone from our homeland. Let''s capture him alongside with the Devil''s Hand."
He glanced at the Rabbit and the Guardian fighting in the distance and shook his head. The Rabbit was playing. No way he would be unable to defeat a powerless old man with his strength. The Guardian didn''t have any superhuman strength or speed. He only swung his sword at the right time, with the right strength. Dodging with half a step, leaning his head out of harm''s way, letting the blows slip past him.
But still, he was the most mundane of mortals. Nothing like him.
"Let''s go back." The Owl turned to his ravishing companion, only to find her staring silently at a figure standing a few meters away. At the sight, the Owl could only fall silent as well.
A knight wearing an armor of white and gold was standing there, his hands resting on the pommels of his two sheathed rapiers. A red cloak fluttered in his back, an emblem embroidered on the rich fabric. A setting sun. That same setting sun was embossed on his breastplate and his great helm. The knight''s white, shining eyes were barely visible through the slits in the helmet.
"I''m afraid you can''t go past me." The knight spoke quietly, and yet both the Owl and the Snake took a step back out of dread.
"T- The King''s Blade!" She gasped, a cloud of black particles surrounding her.
The Owl breathed out deeply, a colorless Aura empowering him and his fists. "Harriet the King''s Blade. So the Crown did get news of our activity."
The King''s Blade gracefully drew out his rapiers, taking on a calm stance in opposition to them. "I have no obligations to reply to that. Simply know that you crossed the path of Munirp''s Royal blood, and for that..." His Aura exploded out like a tsunami, pushing the Owl and the Snake back a few steps.
"You must die."
The Owl and the Snake exchanged a look. No matter. They had a safety plan anyway.
The Devil''s Hand will fall in their hands. It wasn''t a hope.
It was a fact.
277. Banished Into the Shadow Realm
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Liara''s boots dug deep footprints in the ground as she ran forward with all her strength and jumped above a crevasse filled with lava. The movement shook the passenger she was carrying on her back but failed to wake him up.
''The illusion Milena used on Glenn is really efficient,'' thought Liara. ''I should try to never bother her unless I want to be in the same situation. A perpetual nightmare or dream...'' She shook these ideas out as Nelg suddenly appeared out of thin air running next to her.
"I can take him off your hands," proposed Glenn''s doppelganger. Liara jumped above another crevasse before politely shaking her head. Nelg moistened his lips and shrugged.
"As you wish. Just call up to me...or something, if you need me." He disappeared in a myriad of blue particles, returning inside Glenn''s soul.
"How far are we from these damned Horizon Gates?" Milena shouted, following Liara closely.
"Let''s hope not too far," replied Lucian.
A strong hand pushed them forward. "Keep steady! We don''t want the masked Rulers to catch up to us!" Sahro shouted as he glanced suspiciously behind them. He had expected the Owl and Snake to be onto them already and had even prepared himself mentally to stall for time for the others. But against all odds, the Rulers didn''t seem to be anywhere close. Worse, they didn''t even try to run after them.
''This is weird. We''re too lucky. Something is wrong.'' Sahro rubbed his stump as he ran, grimacing. He was already starting to miss the familiar weight of his mechanical arm. A stop by their base in the Bourgeoisie seemed mandatory by now. With some chance, maybe that engineer kid Liam will be able to come up with an even better prosthetic. Something tougher would certainly be welcomed.
"I can see it!" Milena exclaimed. The Horizon Gates stretched out in the distance, a hole into reality that doubled as a passage between two worlds. The Limbo shimmered behind the unstable rift, waiting for them. The sky there would be empty of these damned eyes following them at their every step in the Beyond.
None of them hesitated to throw themselves into the Horizon Gates. Sahro clenched the hilt of his sword tightly, fighting back against the urge to puke his insides out and some more. Like the first time, it felt like his guts were twisted into a knot, ripped, and blended into an unhealthy mixture. Right when he thought he was going to be forced to spit out his bowels, his feet returned to solid ground.
"Target locked!" exclaimed a voice as if to welcome them. It took a second for Sahro''s sight to return to working conditions, and it took another for him to unsheathe his sword and cover himself in crimson lightning. An opaque magical barrier was locking them alongside the Horizon Gates, blocking them there.
"Shit, incoming!" Sahro shouted a warning before dashing forward, his sword cutting an opening through the barrier. A slit appeared in the spell, letting him jump out of the barrier. A dozen horrified mages watched as a monster of red lightning forced through the product of their cooperation single-handedly. A sword met right away with Sahro, wielded by an officer bearing the crest of the Wolves Order.
Count Mortelli''s face contorted as he slid back, pushed back by Sahro''s strength. The Black Heir stood with all his might, a pure limb of crimson lightning replacing his missing arm.
"You fucker are dead!" Sahro spat as he launched himself at the Count.
Milena and Lucian only recovered then, followed by Liara. The Black Heiress struggled with metaphysical transportation, and it showed. She took a moment to breathe in and out before looking up at their surroundings. Milena dashed through the slit Sahro created and went to help him.
"Ultima Onerariam Excipio!" chanted a choir of voices beyond the magic barrier. Lucian was about to follow behind Milena when he heard the incantation. His eyes widened as he quickly comprehended the spell.
''What is this? Ultima Onerariam Excipio... Ultima is the focus for group casting, Excipio should be a targeting component, so...Onerariam, Onerariam...'' He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Liara and Glenn at the same time as white particles covered them. "No! It''s a teleportation component! Shit, Liara!"
The words barely left his mouth and both of them disappeared into thin air. Lucian''s heart missed a beat. The sound of fighting beyond the magic barrier dulled in his ears as he felt his rage rise. The blood in his veins turned to ice. He clenched his fists tightly as a golden crown appeared above his head, brimming with the power of his six Circles.
He was Lucian Magnus, the First Prince of Munirp, someone who had access to countless resources and teachers. His mentor, his father, stood at the highest point of the alimentary chain. Lucian was one of the youngest Archmagis in history. And yet, despite all the support he received, and the knowledge of the most powerful spells, he was still weaker than Glenn, an Expert Magi.
He didn''t feel jealous or spiteful because he was weaker than someone else. No, Lucian was happy. He was glad to find that a talent such as Glenn blossomed in his kingdom, in Munirp. Glenn had the talent to reach beyond the stars, and his comrades were more than capable of doing the same. Glenn could have become the leading hero that would lead Munirp to a new golden age, surpassing his father''s strength to reach new heights.
But no. Some...scheming, worm-like bastard had decided to take one of the most promising talents in Munirp''s history and teleport him somewhere unknown when he was incapable of fighting.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
"Scheming is the hallmark of the aristocrats and the vicious..." Lucian clenched his teeth tightly as he extracted himself from the magical barrier. His eyes met with Count Mortelli, who was under the combined assault of both Sahro and Milena. The Count''s eyes widened and he froze from the shock. Milena and Sahro didn''t miss the opportunity. The lady''s knife poked his chest as the Black Heir''s blade pressed against his neck.
"Count Mortelli..." Lucian walked up to him, each of his steps sending explosions of light in the sky. "I, Munirp''s Crown Prince, command you!" He disregarded both Sahro and Milena and grabbed Mortelli by the collar to slam him on the ground, his eyes brimming with hatred.
"Tell me where you sent Glenn and Liara!"
Sahro and Melina flinched and glanced back the way they came from. They could see through the magic barrier from here, and Glenn and Liara were nowhere to be seen.
"I- I...!" Mortelli''s face drained out of colors as he stuttered to find the words to reply.
"I! COMMAND YOU! REPLY!" Lucian slammed him against the ground once more, his face red with anger. The ground shattered as orange and magenta light mixed up to create a horrifying twilight looming over the Count. The Wolves Order''s knights stood in terror, unable to stop the Prince due to their loyalty to the kingdom, but also torn because they vowed fealty to the Commander of the Wolves Order.
"Y- Your Highness!" Mortelli seemed to recover his cool slightly, his face covered in blood after the Prince''s violent treatment. "This spell was a rescue spell! It was intended for you, but something went wrong in the casting!"
The Prince looked down before laughing broadly. "Hahaha! Hahahaha!" He suddenly stopped laughing and withdrew a sword from a dimensional pouch. "Utter another lie, and I shall declare you a traitor to the kingdom. I know you''ve been working with the Occult Wanderers!"
Count Mortelli lost the little calm he had recovered and suddenly exploded with Aura. His hand shot into a dimensional pouch, retrieving a small pearl. Lucian conjured all of his strength to create the most powerful spell he could, but the Count shattered the pearl and phased out of reality, teleported out. Lucian cursed as he stopped his casting and looked at Mortelli''s followers.
"I, Lucian Magnus, hereby declare!" His voice thundered for kilometers, powered with special magic. "Count Mortelli is to be considered a traitor to the nation! He shall be stripped of his title, his assets seized, and his name written in our annals as one who dared oppose the Crown!"
He pointed his finger at those who bore the Wolves Order emblem, unfinished. "To those who followed the Count! Comply to my orders, or be considered traitors and die!"
Instantly, all of them fell to their knees, their heads bowed in the Prince''s direction. Sahro and Milena stared, their jaws hanging slightly, but they quickly recovered from their shock. Something was more important than that impressive show of power.
"Where did they go? Shit, Glenn can''t fight right now!" Sahro shouted as he grabbed the closest mage, questioning him. Milena''s face darkened and she pressed her thumb on one of the mages'' forehead, capturing his mind with her magic.
"T- The s- spell was m- meant to recover his Highness from the g- group holding him h- hostage," revealed the mage under the mind-controlling magic. Milena panted as she released the mage, turning to Sahro and Lucian fearfully.
"I felt how they manipulated the Mana. Something went wrong during the casting because of the Horizon Gates. The coordinates got shambled and they got teleported somewhere else than the intended destination!"
Lucian took a deep breath as the gleam of his crown faded away slightly.
"...What do you mean? Was Mortelli not lying, then? Why did he flee then?"
Sahro scoffed. "Probably the accusation about the Occult Wanderers." He turned to Milena and hurriedly asked. "Where did the original coordinates lead to?"
Milena closed her eyes, retrieving the memory she pilfered mercilessly.
"It''s...not far from here. Wait..." She rubbed her temples. "...The spell was meant to be a short-range teleportation, but the influence of the Horizon Gates somehow messed up the Mana input. They..." She paled. "They could be as far as the other side of the world."
Sahro collapsed on the ground, exhausted and depressed. Lucian held his head in awe and disbelief, his princely presence crumbling.
"H- How are we supposed to find them then?"
He looked at the sky and sighed with a nervous laugh. "I don''t give a shit anymore. I''m calling Father."
***
In the meanwhile, somewhere very far away.
Liara rolled on the ground, protecting Glenn from the fall the best she could. They rolled in the dust for a while, Glenn tightly hugged in the Black Heiress''s arms until they eventually stopped. Pebble suddenly phased into reality, worriedly biting at his master''s hair to try and wake him up. Liara coughed heavily, her senses numbed and her Mana strangely jumbled up.
She pushed herself up, glancing at their surroundings carefully. Her weapons had disappeared in the transport, but she knew how to defend herself without them anyway. Thankfully, that didn''t look like it was going to be a problem.
Nelg appeared out of thin air, his eyes bulging out and his jaw hanging slackly. "What the hell was that? Where are we? Liara, are you okay? No, don''t worry about this idiot, he has a monster''s regeneration now. No, no, what we should be truly worried about is your face. Are you okay?"
Liara pushed away the overtly worried Nelg and wiped the soot off her face. They were standing in a sort of dead land, dried-up trees and thorny bushes the only thing in sight. The ground was muddy and wet, with patches of gray moss here and there.
Slap!
"Hey, fucking bastard, why don''t you wake up now?"
Slap!
"Come on, Glenn, time to get out of your nap! We''re in a fucking foreign land, we don''t need a deadweight loser!"
Liara stopped Nelg from slapping Glenn a third time. The harder she looked, the less she was understanding what she was seeing. This looked nothing like Munirp, but on the other hand, the only thing she knew of Munirp was King''s Rise and the Dark Wall, back when it was still there. Also, it certainly wasn''t the Ink Dunes. Too wet.
The sky was obscured by a thick layer of dark clouds, making their surroundings even harder to recognize. Nelg picked Glenn up and threw him on his shoulders.
"So, uh, what do we do Boss?"
Liara turned to Nelg and raised an eyebrow. ''Boss?''
Nelg shrugged at her confused expression. "This idiot is unconscious, and I have to admit that the only things I know are the things he knows. Which means, not a lot. I can only trust you to go forward."
Liara smiled weakly and nodded. She looked once more at the sky and shook her head.
First, they needed to get out of there, find shelter, and rest properly. Finding their way back to Munirp will have to come later.
278. Lost
Liara looked left and right before dashing through the deadland. Nelg was running close to her, carrying Glenn on his back. The rotten trees and swampy ground did nothing to alleviate her worries, and her boots sunk into the mush with each step she took.
They had been running for a full hour and still had not found any shelter or traces of civilization. Only more swamp, moss, and dead vegetation. Wherever was this place, it was rotten.
"I...I think we should take a break somewhere and rest, even if...hah...if we don''t have a shelter," panted Nelg, his armor creaking and rustling as he ran. Liara glanced at him before shaking her head.
''Too dangerous. I feel like I can barely use magic, Nelg is busy carrying Glenn, and we have no information about this place. We need to find a hiding place.'' She couldn''t communicate her thoughts to Nelg, yet the latter could still approximately guess the product of her reasoning.
"Okay then...hah...let''s hope we''ll find something quick then. I''m a weapon, not a horse. I''m not made to carry my owner for miles on end! Hey, bastard, can''t you wake up already?" Nelg''s exasperation echoed in the muddy deadland. Liara froze in her steps and raised her hand, stopping Nelg as well.
Nelg held his breath as he adjusted his hold over Glenn. Liara squinted through the green and yellow fumes coming out of the swamp, searching for movement. Her eyes widened and she hurriedly crouched while pushing Nelg down with her. Muddy water soaked their pants as they kneeled, watching silently a strange procession a short distance away. It looked like some sort of funeral ceremony, silent and gloomy. A large carriage of iron and dark wood creaked on its wooden wheels, pulled forward by dozens of both orcs and humans.
''Slaves,'' remarked Liara. They were all practically naked, malnourished, and bound to the carriage by chains. Thick slave necklaces choked their throats, drawing blood from time to time.
"What the hell is this...slaves?" Nelg muttered, coming to the same realization.
The crackle of a whip resounded through the swamp, and yet no scream followed it. The convoy remained silent like a tomb, the victim''s lips sealed for an unknown reason. Liara shivered, her back drenched in cold sweat.
''We need to avoid this thing. I can''t fight properly right now. Where can we''
"Liara!" Nelg''s scream was one moment too late to prevent the whip from coiling around Liara''s throat. The Black Heiress'' eyes gleamed with hatred as she pulled out a last-resort dagger and sliced off the whip, freeing herself.
''Glenn and Sahro freed me from a fate of slavery, I refuse to be a victim of it again!''
The whip''s wielder jumped off the carriage, a woman of thin stature and pale skin. She wore insolent black clothes that barely covered her private parts and sported a rictus of sharp, inhuman teeth. Liara took a short breath and lunged forward, ignoring the pain in her heart as she summoned her powers. Whitey, her little bird, yelped with concern, but Liara ignored him.
The slaver drew out a dagger of her own, ready to fight. Liara''s blade struck swiftly, reaching for the woman''s waist, but the latter parried it with ease. Her Aura, a tainted, disgustingly pale yellow burst forward, pushing Liara away. The Black Heiress coughed out a mouthful of blood, her Mana Heart and Aura Core both strained to the limit. She ignored the pain and activated her Mana Sight, her eyes widening.
She was facing a Saint. And she had next to none of her powers.
The Saint suddenly disappeared out of her line of sight. Liara blinked, and the next moment she knew it was over. The slaver''s blade was softly pressed against her neck as a dirty hand with broken nails stroked her face.
"A good prize...And twins too..." muttered the woman slaver in Liara''s ear. The latter gulped heavily, her eyes glued to the blade. The Saint could have killed her with a flick of her finger, but she didn''t. Liara felt the dread fill her chest.
''I need to tell Nelg to run away with Glenn! I!'' Liara didn''t even have the opportunity to turn her head so that both Nelg and Glenn were thrown to her captor''s feet.
The slaver nodded. "Good work, Taurius. Wake up sleeping beauty, please."
Taurius, an orc draped in tight black leather armor grunted as he lifted Glenn and slapped the hell out of him. Nelg gritted his teeth and almost rushed to help his owner, but the sight of the slaver pressing her blade against Liara''s throat stopped him.
''He can take it. He''s Glenn, after all. He''s practically immortal by now...'' Nelg''s attempt at reassuring himself did nothing to get rid of his self-hatred as he watched helplessly. Pebble suddenly appeared above the orc''s head, shrieking violently as it tried to defend its master. The orc grabbed the one-eyed dragon with one hand, unharmed, before shoving it into his mouth. He frowned as his teeth failed to find purchase.
"Pebble, damn it, stay away for now...wait for Glenn to wake up!" Nelg whispered as silently as he could, hoping that the teleporting, rock dragon would hear him. Thankfully, Pebble didn''t reappear in a poor attempt to rescue Glenn. As mighty as the creature was when used as a Meteor, he remained dependent on Glenn to be truly dangerous.
"Mistress Nora. Meat. Not. Wake up." The orc threw Glenn back into the mud, disappointed. Nora crouched and took a closer look at Glenn, passing her fingers on his skin with a hungry expression. She stopped when she noticed his left hand. The purple skin was hidden beneath a thick layer of filth and mud, but she still managed to see it.
"...Bring that one to the carriage. Throw the twin and the pretty bird with the others. Don''t forget to prepare them." Nora ordered before walking away.
Liara tried to run away, but her feet were stuck to the ground, held in place by a mysterious force. Her hopes crumbled as she remembered the time she spent in a cage. It seemed so long ago now, and yet so close. ''Am I truly returning to that life?''
"You. Move!" Taurius barked as he shoved Nelg and Liara forward toward the other slaves. Without a once of sympathy, he ripped away Liara''s clothes, leaving her with the bare minimum. He tried to do the same to Nelg and pull away at his armor, but it wouldn''t come off no matter how hard he tried. After struggling for a couple of minutes, Taurius shrugged and picked Glenn up. Another orc draped in black came to them with some slaves'' collars, fastening them on Liara and Nelg''s throat. Both of them couldn''t move, helpless. Nelg wasn''t too worried, since he could still return to Glenn''s soul and escape from his restraints, but Liara couldn''t imitate that feat, unfortunately.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
''It''ll be up to me to free her. Slicing through that necklace shouldn''t be too hard. Escaping from the crazy woman slaver and her orcs will be, on the other hand. How the hell am I supposed to rescue Glenn...?'' Nelg gritted her teeth as the orc tightened a chain to his collar before pushing him with the other slaves to the front of the convoy. Liara followed him, her eyes drawn to Taurius as he carried Glenn away.
"...!" Nelg opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He grimaced as he clenched his collar tightly. ''That''s why no one spoke a word! Damn it, a Silence curse on collars?''
The other slaves looked at the two newcomers with sorry looks, their teeth clenched and their hands bound in prayers by leather straps. Liara glanced at the sky obscured with opaque clouds and shook her head. This time was different. She wasn''t alone. She just needed to focus on one thing: recover her strength. Once that was done, escaping would only be a matter of time.
The whip latched on her back, burning a painful trail. The slave group pulled forward, grunting and heaving silently. Liara clenched her teeth and followed the movement.
''I will make them pay for this humiliation. By the blood of Lthalen, I swear it!''
The white cross on her forehead gleamed weakly before going off. Liara and Nelg, like all the other slaves, pulled as the whip crackled again and again. Nelg couldn''t help but feel thankful to have chosen to appear with an armor. Had he preferred lighter clothes like his owner, things would have been way worse for him. He kept a keen eye on the convoy''s driver, who was casually whipping them and endured every hit meant for Liara.
''I have an armor, I''ll at least try to make use of it!'' The corner of his lips curved upward coldly as he endured one hit after the other. Soon enough, he was the only one taking hits, but it didn''t matter. Nelg was a weapon. In reality, he couldn''t feel pain. He could mimic the senses of taste, smell, and touch by synchronizing himself with Glenn, but if he so wished, he could simply choose to not feel anything.
''Just keep whipping,'' Nelg thought as his grin grew more and more wicked. ''I''m counting them. You''ll be the first one I digest after Glenn exterminate this whole convoy.''
***
Nora hummed softly as she drew out a Water Shard from a shelf. She looked at her guest, giggling shamelessly as she undressed him. She took her time to clean him up, scrubbing off the filth and blood. Glenn''s head bobbed to the side, still unconscious. Nora winced and adjusted the position of his head. She dried him up and pulled him into her bed.
The carriage was pretty large, all things considered. It had enough space for a simple bathroom and a bedroom, all just for her. Nora laid back next to Glenn and grinned hungrily.
"Munirp''s famous Devil''s Hand...How did such a celebrity end up on this side of the Limbo...?" Nora licked her lips and sighed happily. "No matter. Fate always rewards the deserving." She glanced at the carriage''s ceiling and pressed her hand against her chest with a fanatical expression.
"Thank you, Mother."
Her eyes rolled back into their sockets and she floated above the bed for an instant, her body contorting in disgusting manners. She fell back on the mattress an instant later, gasping heavily for air.
"Huff...I..." She jumped out of bed with a crazed smile. "A divine message!"
She kneeled and violently slammed her forehead on the carriage''s floor. "Thank you for your blessings, Mother! I thank you for watching over me! I shall accomplish your desire!"
Nora continued to pray in such a manner for an hour before standing back up. She didn''t even have a scratch on her head, despite having slammed her forehead a couple hundred times. The body of a Saint was simply that resistant. Such soft blunt damage would never be enough to truly hurt her.
She opened a small window and passed her head through. The orc driving the carriage glanced back with a grunt.
"Change of plan." Nora smiled ravenously. "We''re heading to the Penitentia. The Thorn''s Church needs their Savior''s to be brought to them!"
The orc grunted and made his whip crackle. The wheels of the carriage creaked as it changed direction. Nora closed the window and glanced back at the sleeping prince in her bed. She licked her lips. There was no time to waste.
***
Slam!
"What- His Highness the Crown Prince" The royal herald stuttered as Lucian stormed into the throne room.
"Father!" Lucian''s voice thundered, echoing against the rich marble and gold making up most of the place.
"Son!" Alaric Magnus the Second, current King of Munirp, echoed back to his son without hesitation. "You have returned! I have heard of your merit, but it isn''t enough! You could have brought the Kingdom more glory!"
"I did!" Lucian interrupted his father, at the greatest horror of the royal advisers. They were in a strategic meeting up until the Prince''s arrival and were forced to watch live as the royal son disrespected his royal father.
"I went into the Beyond, fought against countless beasts and a Newborn Ruler, and became an ally with the increasingly famous Devil''s Hand!" He roared powerfully, his Archmagi''s might surging out.
Alaric nodded approvingly. "A Newborn Ruler! Excellent! I must hear your report as soon as possible. But this will have to wait for the end of the council"
"I''m not done!" Lucian walked up to the King and slammed his knee on the ground. This time, silence occupied the throne room as an atmosphere descended on its occupants. The King clenched the armrest of his throne as he coldly looked down at his son.
"...You must have an excellent reason for interrupting me twice. Explain yourself."
Lucian swallowed heavily as he felt his father''s strength pushing down on him. Once, it was the strongest thing he had ever felt. Until Diamanes took over Glenn''s body. Not that he would share anything about that. He wanted to become a true friend to Glenn, a true brother, and not someone who self-imposed into the group. And that would be impossible if he simply revealed Glenn''s secrets to the King for his own benefit.
...He had other things he could share, though.
"I have evaluated Glenn, the Devil''s Hand, to have the potential to reach beyond the Newborn Ruler level!" Lucian declared. The King rapped his finger against his massive gold throne.
"And?"
Lucian gritted his teeth. "...And that same Devil''s Hand has fallen victim to a banishment spell from the Count of the Mortelli family. After investigation, that spell was initially meant for me." Lucian didn''t let the exclamations of shock and dismay stop him. "I have declared him a traitor to the Kingdom, but he escaped before I could pass my sentence. I have also uncovered other...threats that I wish to discuss in private."
The Prince raised his eyes and stared back at his father. "But first, we need to organize a rescue team and bring the Devil''s Hand back to Munirp, for the glory of the Kingdom!"
The King looked at his son for a moment, pondering. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity to Lucian, the King stood up.
"I shall have some time to verify your claims about Count Mortelli. If he indeed attempted something on the Magnus blood, a traitor declaration would be to light of a sentence."
Lucian''s eyes brightened and he stood up in excitement. "What about Glenn? How do we rescue him?"
Alaric snorted in a less than amused manner. "We? There is no ''we''. Munirp is at war, boy, and I will not have a single of my scryers waste their time on saving a lowborn celebrity. If the Devil''s Hand is truly as powerful as you say, he will return by his own strength."
The King walked up to the Prince and grabbed his shoulder with a mocking look. "In other words, this is your own mess. Take care of it yourself."
He waved his hand dismissively. "Meeting adjourned."
279. No Time to Waste
Sahro and Milena were silently sitting in the relaxation room of their manor on Longhorn''s Street. They had just returned from the Horizon Gates, caked in dust and blood. But neither of them had any intentions of cleaning themselves up.
"Lucian will return with good news," said Milena as she chewed on her fingernails anxiously.
Sahro rubbed his stump pensively, frowning. The manor''s other occupants had noticed their return, but none had dared to disturb them. There was something that made them hard to approach, a palpable bloodlust. The fox Raijin silently rested its chin on top of its master''s head.
"We need to find a way to locate them." Sahro suddenly declared.
Milena chuckled dejectedly. "Sure, but how? What way do we have to find them? I don''t know any magic can track someone anywhere!"
Sahro slammed his fist on the table, his expression hardening. "It doesn''t matter. We will find a way, and rescue them. We need to be quick."
"Rescue who?" An angry voice thundered from the other side of the room, hidden in a corner. As it stood, there was only one person in the manor who hadn''t been scared away by Sahro and Milena''s bloodlust. Lina jumped out of her hiding place, her face as red as a tomato. Sahro clicked his tongue while Milena sighed heavily, her face hidden in her hands.
"Where is my brother? Where is Liara? What have you done with them?!" Lina''s anger was only rising. "I swear, if they''re in danger I will"
"You will what?" Sahro interrupted her with a deathly glare. Red electricity exploded out of his stump, creating a magic limb. "You''re weak. Don''t butt in dangerous matters like this."
Lina took a step back, hurt. "But"
Sahro stood up violently, his chair falling to the side. "There''s no but. We''re already working on it. You...You focus on what your brother wants for you. Getting an education and growing stronger."
Glenn''s little sister looked at the ground silently, her teeth clenched. Milena pressed her lips together, hesitating to say something, but the young lady left before she could.
"...That was harsh of you." Milena leaned back in her seat, nervously tapping her fingers on the armrest.
"It was necessary." Sahro shook his head. "Glenn is right to want a more...normal life for her, away from fights and death."
Milena hugged her knees. She could understand that all too well. The sound of the main hall''s door being opened echoed through the manor. Both of them stood up in tandem and dashed out of the relaxation room. Lucian was standing awkwardly in the middle of the main hall, twiddling his thumbs.
"So? How did it go?" Sahro restrained himself to a simple question instead of shaking the answer out of the Prince.
"My father will look into Count Mortelli and maintain his status as a traitor for now..." Lucian bit his lip and looked away in shame. "But he won''t help us to locate Glenn and Liara. His scryers are too busy trying to monitor enemy positions, and..." He rubbed the back of his head. "...He pretty much told me it was my mess to take care of. We can''t count on the King."
Milena collapsed on the stairway, sitting in dismay. "Where else are we supposed to find scryers? They are as rare as Newborn Rulers!"
"Are they our only solutions?" Sahro inquired.
Lucian grimaced. "Unfortunately, yes. Locating and tracking magic was something exclusive to the elves if my history lessons are correct. Scryers can use these spells because they have some elven blood."
"What do you need a scryer for?" Manalok Tuleam, the Restoration Operator and Lina''s private tutor was leaning on the first floor''s railing, looking down at the main hall with a bored expression.
"Finding Glenn and Liara," replied Milena. "They''ve been teleported to Onnea knows when we got out of the Beyond."
Tuleam frowned confusedly. "You went into the Beyond? The land of demons?"
"Yes, yes, it was an adventure I will certainly tell to my grandchildren once I have some, but we don''t have time for that. Sahro, Milena, I might have some leads for other scryers, but they''re very well hidden and we have no guarantee that they''ll help us" Lucian stopped and took a second look at Tuleam.
"...Wait. Aren''t you Tuleam Manalok? From the noble Viscount Manalok house?"
Tuleam picked his nose. "So what? I don''t have anything to do with these boring losers."
Lucian rubbed the corner of his eyes, grimacing as he tried to recall important information. "Tuleam, Tuleam..." His eyes suddenly widened. "Wait, you''re that miracle child! The only Restoration Operator and one of the best scryers in Munirp, am I right?"
Tuleam rolled his eyes and brushed his seaweed-like hair back. "I certainly am a miracle child, considering how the rest of my family all have the intelligence of a brick, but I''m not sure I agree with the rest"
"You can help us?!?" Milena ran up to Tuleam and grabbed him by the collar. "Can you locate Glenn and Liara?"
Manalok Tuleam pushed her away and dusted off his white lab coat. "I could do that, but, why would I?"
Sahro breathed out his frustration. "...What do you want, Tuleam? I know you had a deal with Glenn in exchange for Lina''s education. We can do something similar."
Tuleam straightened his back and flashed a wide, yellow grin. It looked like the Restoration Operator hadn''t cleaned his teeth in a long while.
"I could agree to that! You see, I''ve been very curious about Black Heirs'' history, you know, the real history. The old empire and all that?"
Sahro''s eyes widened. "You know about that?"
Tuleam scoffed. "Come on, I have practically restored every ancient tome in Munirp. I''m bound to learn a few secrets here and there."
Milena bowed her head. "We accept the deal." She had no hesitation in selling the Black Heirs'' secrets.
"Good. You''ll pay me after we find them. Now, uh, I''ll need the blood of a relative. Can someone go find Lina?" Tuleam rubbed his hands together, already grinning at the idea of expanding his knowledge.
Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
Sahro spat to the side as his fox hissed at Tuleam. "Blood magic. Tsk."
Lucian raised his eyebrows with an idiotic smile. "Sorry, who''s Lina?"
***
Lina was lying on her bed, the door to her room locked. She looked at the wristband that should have allowed her to communicate with Glenn, but no matter how much Mana she sent into it, there was no response on the other end. She sighed and rolled to the side, her worries growing with each passing second.
"Milady, if I have to comment, I believe that they are right" Tiamanes tried speaking but Lina clenched shut her right hand, silencing him.
"I know that you agree with them. I know what they are thinking. But still!" She threw her pillow away, sitting on her mattress with a dejected look. "...But still. It''s not pleasant to be always considered like some sort of precious porcelain thingy that must be kept away from all the ''very bad things'' in the world."
She looked at the ceiling with frustration. "What am I training for if I''m just supposed to stay away from all the danger?"
"Survival," stated Tiamanes plainly. Lina looked at her right, purple hand for a long time before groaning and rolling back into the bed.
"Survival my ass... I''m sure I could have helped if I had come with them."
"I sincerely doubt that."
"You!"
A knock on the door interrupted her bickering with the entity living in her hand.
"Lina? We, uh, we need your blood to locate Glenn, could you?" Lina opened the door with a bright smile, her previous anger and frustration nowhere to be seen.
"Sure, what can I do?"
Milena looked at Lina with an absent look before picking herself up. "We''re going to scry for Glenn''s position, and we need a strong medium connected to him."
"My blood," understood Lina.
"You''re sharp. With some luck, it''s not too far from here and we''ll be able to pick him up quickly." Milena crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "We just need to draw some blood, is that fine with you"
"Yeah, yeah, just show me the way already!"
Milena restrained a smile. ''She sure is enthusiastic about this. She most certainly is Glenn''s sister.''
They went into the relaxation room, where Sahro, Lucian, and Tuleam Manalok were waiting in front of a map.
"Teach''?" Lina frowned but Tuleam dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
"Lina, if you could..." He pointed at a needle on the table. Lina didn''t even think twice about it as she poked her finger with the needle. Tuleam''s expression suddenly turned serious as he concentrated on the droplet of blood. A flow of Mana flew out of him, a bright show for those who could see Mana and a strange breeze for the ones who couldn''t.
"Just asking, you don''t have any other relatives, do you?" Tuleam inquired as a drop of sweat beaded down his forehead. Lina shook her head as she watched the process, entrance. Her blood floated up in the air before hovering above the map. Tuleam muttered incomprehensible ancient spells, sweating profusely. The blood droplet suddenly froze and fell on the map, right on a named location.
Everyone leaned over the map, wondering where the blood landed.
Lucian raised a confused eyebrow. "Satidipug? Why would he be in Satidipug? I should have heard about it beforehand if he was there!"
Sahro tapped his fingers on the table, worry growing in his chest. Satidipug was near another city, Eari, and between the two were the Retni''s Plains. Or, if his memory didn''t fault him, the place where Glenn landed when he arrived in Limbo.
***
"I. Not. Like. That."
The orc driving the slave carriage grunted in displeasure. His beady eyes were stuck on Nelg''s armored back, on which countless whipping marks had been imprinted. More than once he had tried to pull off the man''s armor, but every time he failed. It was as if the armor was part of his body. It simply couldn''t be taken off.
"Tell. Mistress."
The orc turned on his seat and knocked lightly on the carriage''s window.
Nora peeked her head out with annoyance. "What is it?"
"Slave. Not. Pain."
The slaver lady frowned and jumped through the window, dexterously pulling herself onto the carriage''s roof. It didn''t take her long to realize what was wrong.
"Why does the Devil''s Hand''s twin still have his armor?"
"Can''t. Take. Away."
Nora rubbed her chin before grabbing the whip from the orc driver''s hand. She channeled her Aura through it and sent it flying at Nelg''s back. Glenn''s doppelganger was sent flying by the hit, only to be pulled back by the chain tied to his slave collar. Nora''s eyebrows rose slightly. The armor didn''t appear to be any more damaged than when she first saw him. Under the layer of crass and filth, it was still as tough as freshly hammered plates.
"Interesting." The corner of her lips lifted when she noticed Nelg standing back up and returning to his original position, not moving an inch away. Standing behind the beautiful Black Heiress and taking all the hits for her. "Chivalrous, too. Hmm..."
Nora pointed at Nelg and Liara. "Bring them both inside the carriage. Give them un-Silenced collars."
The orc grunted in understanding while Nora returned inside the carriage. A dozen minutes later, Liara and Nelg were kneeling in front of Nora''s bed, their hands and feet restrained by thick Blumar chains and fastened to an iron pillar in the center of the carriage.
Liara leaned back against Nelg, closing her eyes as she enjoyed not having to pull or walk for a moment.
''How long has it been since we''ve captured? A week? More?'' The Black Heiress clenched her teeth tightly and glanced at the naked person sleeping comfortably in the bed. Glenn was still unconscious, showing no signs of waking up. Whatever Milena had done to him, it certainly lasted more than twenty-four hours.
''I''m almost certain that it''s due to that messed-up teleportation. Something must have gone wrong, without even considering Glenn''s degraded health. I hope he''s alright...''
"You see, even in these far-away lands, we''ve heard of the incredible Devil''s Hand." Nora sat on the bed, running her hand on Glenn''s skin freely. "The man with a purple limb and the strength to oppose ancient gods and forgotten evils..." She suddenly gritted her teeth and stabbed Glenn with her nails, drawing out blood. "...Or stopping the advent of the rightful Goddess of this world, the Mother. This is unforgivable."
Liara pulled on her chains, her expression contorting in anger at the sight. Her wrists, ankles, and throat were all sore and bloody, but she couldn''t care less. ''My Mana is recovering even slower because of these Blumar chains...damn it, I''m barely at ten percent of my usual strength. How am I supposed to beat a Saint like this?''
Nelg was frozen against his pillar.
"The Mother...The Fallen Mother, you mean?" He spoke aloud with a certain touch of mockery. Nora glared at him but Nelg wasn''t done. "That fake Goddess who tried sacrificing an entire village to bring her monstrous Son down onto this land? Ah, yeah, I remember Glenn killing that thing back when he was a True Initiate, a Third Circle."
Nora grabbed his throat and clenched tightly, hissing. "You roach! Just because your armor is impervious, you think you can''t feel pain?"
Nelg moistened his lips, clearly unbothered by the choking. "Ah, no no, don''t worry, this is all very~ painful. Ah, what sufferings!" He dramatically raised his eyes to the sky before grinning at Nora.
"You do know that when he''ll wake up, no matter your strength, he will destroy you?"
Nora''s anger faded and she lay down beside Glenn, running her bloody fingers through his hair. Oh, I highly doubt that. He''s only an Expert Magi, whereas I''m a Saint at the peak of his strength. But even if he were strong enough to defeat me... His broad smile sent a chill down Liara and Nelg''s spines, I made sure he didn''t wake up. Did you know that in the Lost Sea, pufferfish can put their predators to sleep for eternity?
She pulled out a vial of a shimmering pale blue liquid with silvery undertones, playing with it. "I failed to understand why the Mother told me to take this path in the Deadlands and patrol the area until new orders, but now..."Nora leaned her head against Glenn''s chest.
"Now I know. Fate is nothing but a play for our Mother."
280. Nothingness
Nelg spat to the side as he pulled violently on his chains.
"Your ''Mother'' is everything but a God. She''s just some blind, insane entity with undeserved power and the impossibility of descending on Limbo. Fate? She probably doesn''t even control the time she wakes up in the morning!"
Nora stopped playing with Glenn''s chest and glared at Nelg. "...You. YOU!" She roared as she jumped out of bed and drove her fist through Nelg''s chest. The latter looked down at the wound, grimacing.
"Ah, that hurts. That hurts so bad. Ah. Ah."
The slaver''s eyes widened. "What the hell are you...? How can you not feel anything? And..." She pulled her hand out and looked at it with curiosity. "...Do you not bleed?"
Nelg looked down as the hole in his chest disappeared. ''That was weird. I can fake wounds then? Maybe it''ll be enough to divert her from Glenn and Liara...''
"Or perhaps I can''t see blood anymore? Wait, let me see~" Nora turned to Liara with a cruel grin before stabbing her hand through her thigh. Liara clenched her teeth and looked at the wound with utter disgust. Her lips were sealed, no hint of a scream would come out of it.
Nora whistled, impressed. "One who doesn''t bleed, and the other who doesn''t feel pain. Or at least don''t show it. An admirable duo. What should I do with you both...?"
She suddenly flicked her finger, enlightened. "I know!" She picked a dagger from a shelf nearby and threw it at Nelg''s feet.
"...You want a fight, you old bitch?"
Nora chuckled lightly. "No, no. I want you to stab your friend''s arm." Her smile disappeared as she grabbed Liara''s throat, her Aura flaring up into a crushing presence. "Or I kill her. Choose. Would you rather let her die, or save her life by hurting her?"
Nelg slowly looked down at the dagger on the ground, his nonexistent blood turning to ice. ''What? W- why would she want me to do that? What am I supposed to do?''
"Take. The knife." Nora ordered as she clenched Liara''s throat tighter. Nelg slowly kneeled, pulling on his chains to the limit as he picked the dagger up. He looked at Liara, his voice stuck into his throat. She nodded imperceptibly at him. Her eyes seemed to say ''I can take it.''
"Stab her. It''s as easy as that!" Nora laughed as she snuggled next to Glenn, hugging him tightly like a plush.
Nelg felt the handle of the knife in his hand. It was rough, and heavy, with thick nails driven into it to maintain the structure of the blade. A rough weapon, barely sharp enough to cut through meat. And Nora wanted him to stab Liara with it. The reality pushed down on Nelg with the weight of a thousand suns. He was about to harm Glenn''s friendhis friend, with his own hands. Had he even stabbed anyone beforeanything?
It was always Glenn holding him, plunging him through the hearts of his enemies. Because Nelg was a weapon. He was meant to be used to kill or protect. He wasn''t meant to make those decisions himself. He wasn''t supposed to hold a weapon. To be responsible.
To choose.
Cold sweat drenched his back as he clenched the knife tighter, struggling and failing to conceal his trembling hands.
"Yes..." Nora released Liara and instead approached Nelg, whispering in his ear. "You have a choice, but not really. Torture her under my orders, and eventually kill her when I get tired of it, or let her die now. What a terrible, terrible choice, isn''t it?"
She grabbed his shoulders and pressed her face against Nelg''s. "Still can''t feel pain? Still not wounded?"
The trembling in Nelg''s hand came to a still. His expression was black, like a sheet of paper. There was no emotion, no fear, no guilt. No pain. Without another second of consideration, he stabbed the knife into Liara''s arm, drawing blood for the time, not as a weapon but as a person.
As a human.
Nora looked at him for a bit more time, smirking silently. Liara closed her eyes, heaving through her teeth as the vitality fled from her body.
''I need to hold on. I need to hold on. Save Glenn and save myself. For my peoplefor Thalorieth, I cannot die here!''
"Again." Nora grinned cruelly. "The other arm."
It took only a second for Nelg this time. The blade sunk into Liara''s flesh, ripping through the muscles and carving open veins. The Black Heiress was paling visibly, but still, no sound left her mouth. Both she and Nelg were as silent and unexpressive as tombs. The only difference, Nelg left the knife in Liara''s wound instead of pulling it out right away.
''Is this how Glenn feels every time he wields me?'' Nelg''s mind was a bottomless abyss, the Black Sun in his soul burning with ominous energy. ''What am I doing?''
"Again. Her waist."
''Why do I keep listening? Why do I have to listen? Why can''t I just disobey and save Liara another way?''
"Again. That shoulder looks too lively."
''Am I going to kill Liara? With my own hands?''
"Again. The other shoulder. It''s not symmetrical."
''I- I can''t. I can''t continue. Why do I keep going? Why isn''t Liara telling me to stop? Why isn''t she showing me any signs?''
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"...Hmm. ThisThis isn''t fun. One looks like a damned fish while the other seems to not possess a voice to scream with. Why do I have to end up with the only two fools who don''t seem affected by torture?" Nora plucked her lips out and waved dismissively.
"This is boring. Let''s stop there. Seems like she''s almost dead anyway." Nora lazily stretched out her hand. The bloodied knife slipped out of Nelg''s grip and fell into hers. She licked the blade, swallowing the blood with a distinct moan of pleasure. Nelg slowly looked at his work. At what he did.
Liara''s head was hanging off loosely, a large pool of blood growing under her. Her body was covered in wounds, wounds that he inflicted on her.
''Powerlessness. This is what Glenn felt like when the Baron killed his friends back then,'' suddenly understood Nelg. Even though he was ''birthed'' after all of these events, he shared the same memory bank as Glenn. He knew what Glenn knew. He felt what Glenn felt.
But Nelg had never felt so much what Nelg felt before. Even when he was thrown into that hole of nothingness it didn''t feel like that.
Guilty.
He still had no expression and was standing rigidly like an abandoned dummy. A movement drew his attention from the corner of the carriage. A small, ridiculously round white bird hiding between two books on a shelf. It was trembling from head to claw, its beady eyes glued to the body of its master. It looked terrified.
On the bed, away from everyone''s attention, something moved. Glenn''s breathing was still regular, his chest rising and falling with no incident.
But his finger trembled.
***
Its out of my hands, its out of my hands I swear Ill find that clerks family and rip them apart! Sahro cursed as he raised a pristine mechanical limb to the sky. As it stood, Liam and Janica had already prepared an MKII version of the prosthetic, intending to replace Sahros old one with it.
It came quite in handy, considering Sahro destroyed the old MKI version.
Its not the clerks fault if all the teleportation nodes in Satidipug and Eari are cut off from Kings Rise, Lina argued as she leaned over the guardrail.
You shaki, Ive been tolerating thisbleurghthis damn flight for a whole week already! Dont start getting on my nerves! Sahros face turned to a deeper shade of green as he leaned back over the guardrail as well.
Tuleam crossed his arms, walking around the boat with a curious look. Ive always heard about these flying boats, but never saw them in action before.
The sun was high in the sky above them, cloudless. Lucian used his hands as a visor before taking a second look at a map and compass.
Ten degrees to the port side! He shouted to Milena, who was handling the boats helm. She looked at him confusedly and he rolled his eyes.
To the left, you uncultured noble!
Lina rested her chin on her fist, watching the land unfold beneath her eyes. I never thought Id be flying in a boat one day She chuckled lightly, the heaviness in her heart alleviated slightly.
Tuleam, remind me why we took her with us? Sahro turned to the seaweed-headed man, who was currently studying the sail.
HmmBecause fresh blood is the most powerful medium for scrying, and dry blood wouldnt cut it? And I also need to scry every day to make sure that the target didnt change location. But didnt I tell you that every day since we left Kings Rise?
Sahro opened his mouth to reply but hurriedly turned away to puke above the guardrail. Tuleam smirked and shook his head.
Lucian leaned back in the captain''s chair, a pirate hat on top of his head. "Ay-ay, scums and maggots, this vessel shall reach the end of the sea of clouds! A lil'' more seriousness aboard my ship!"
Lina pulled herself away from watching the scenery and joined up with Milena. The lady was concentrated on keeping the right course, her eyes lost in the distance.
"Milena, don''t you think it''s strange for Eari and Satidipug to be disconnected from King''s Rise? Aren''t they important counties?" Lina sat on the guardrail, dangling her feet.
Milena moistened her lips. "There certainly is something going on. Satidipug houses the headquarters of the Gold Church while Eari welcomes the Iron Blood Brotherhood. Both cities always shared tensions, over territory, mines, whatever they could fight over."
She frowned. "Let''s just hope we''ll be able to enter Satidipug and find Glenn and Liara."
Lina looked at the sky dejectedly. "I''m not sure hope will help us greatly..."
***
"Hmm. Where the fuck am I?" Glenn looked at his surroundings, lost. There was nothing. No light, no movement, no sound, truly nothing. He glanced down at his body, and it was still there.
"What kind of shitty illusion did Milena pull me into...?" He tried to find something in the darkness, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t find anything. He stopped and grinned widely.
"Ah, I know! It''s not Milena''s illusion. Alright, which god wants to meet me now? I already met Onnea, the Guide, and the Bloodblade. Who''s next...? Nergal, maybe? This does look like some mysterious bullshit draped in secrecy." Glenn waited for a moment but nobody replied to him. He sighed heavily and shook his head.
"Come on now, whatever you are, I promise I won''t judge you! Hello?"
Glenn clicked his tongue and chose the second option since nobody was answering him. He concentrated on his Mana, trying to enter Meditation, but something was stopping him from doing so. It was as if his spirit, his mind, was dipped into thick goo and struggling to move.
''The idea of a spirit moving is still a little funny, whenever I think about it.''
He gave up on Meditation and instead tried to reach for Nelg. He called out to the other part of his soul, but the signal was cut.
"...So that doesn''t work either. Hmm. Milena''s mind powers, maybe...?" Glenn tried to call on Diamanes'' powers and use the power they took from Milena to no avail.
"This is different from all the other times. Let''s see, there has to be something, right...?" Even as he said that Glenn felt uneasiness install itself in his chest.
What if...That was it?
Did he die? Did, for some reason during his unconsciousness, someone slit his throat? His teammates were about to fight three Newborn Rulers, so it wasn''t that far-fetched of an explanation.
"...No. I''m sure I would have felt something, at the very least." Glenn paced in the darkness. Well, imagined himself pacing, since he couldn''t feel any ground to walk on. It wasn''t like he was falling either. It was as if he was in some sort of stasis. Unmoving.
"Okay, I didn''t want to use that option just because I''m seriously starting to doubt gods, but...oh well, here I go."
He cleared his throat and drew a deep breath.
"Onnea! You divine dipshit, get me out of here or I tell the world about Doyle Malory!"
Silence was the only thing that replied to him. Glenn sighed once more.
"I guess that doesn''t work either. Damn itwait. The fuck?" He squinted as something shone through the darkness.
A little ball of purple light.
281. Satidipug, the City of Merchants
Liara coughed heavily, spitting out a thick lump of dry blood. She weakly raised her head, struggling to see. Her eyes couldn''t focus, and her sight was blurry, and simply keeping her eyelids open was difficult. She quickly verified the status of her body and pressed her lips together.
It wasn''t looking good.
Nelg had stabbed her multiple times, each with profound wounds. Liara tried to shake the confusion and bleariness off, but the blood deficiency only made her want to sleep more. To rest.
But she couldn''t do that.
The white cross on her forehead gleamed slightly as she pushed herself up. The heavy chains restraining her bit into her wrists and ankles with cold weight. Her skin was flayed, broken, and covered in scabs. Liara''s eyes widened slightly.
''How did I recover? The chains are Blumar, they should have stopped any recovery...'' She closed her eyes and Meditated, trying to figure out what happened to her.
It took little time for her to find an answer. There was foreign energy in her Mana channels, burning like fuel to try and replenish her strength. It wasn''t much energy, nowhere near enough to regain her strength, but it was barely sufficient to trigger her regenerative healing factor.
''Where did that come from...?''
She reopened her eyes, her strength slowly returning. She was still chained to a pillar inside the carriage, next to Nelg. Glenn''s doppelganger was lying silently, his eyes shut and his fists clenched tightly. Her blood was still covering his hands, undeniable proof of his actions.
''Good. He did the right thing. That slaver would have executed me otherwise.'' Liara let out a small sigh. ''I hope he doesn''t feel guilty...''
She glanced around the carriage, but she couldn''t see Nora anywhere. Glenn was still sleeping in the bed, as still as a statue.
''We need to give him the antidote to that sleeping poison Nora gave him, and somehow find a way to administer it. I won''t be able to endure another torture session, and I can''t even begin to think about Nelg.''
Liara pulled on her chains and elbowed Nelg. The latter jolted awake, dread invading his expression. He looked to the side and immediately teared up at Liara''s sight.
"Oh my god, you''re still alive! Shit, I- I really thought I killed you! A- Are you okay? Did my energy help you?"
The Black Heiress forced a small smile before coughing out another lump of dry blood. Her lungs had been punctured too, it seems. The colors drained from Nelg''s face and he grabbed his chains.
"Listen, I can get us out of her right now. I can turn into a sword and cut through our chains. We''ll find a way to run away, we can''t stay here, it''s too dangerous"
Liara interrupted him with a shove. A second later, Nora entered the room with a loud sigh.
"These slaves, always dying when we need them..." She walked to a map and did some verification with a compass and other measuring instruments, none that Liara could recognize.
"Tell me there''s an inn somewhere on the way...We''re going too slow, we need new slaves." Nora looked at the map for a while longer before clicking her tongue. She threw herself on her bed, snuggling next to Glenn, only to stop in wonder. Her eyes were glued to Liara.
"My, oh my, our mute guest is alive?" She chuckled in awe. "How did you survive? I''m sure that ''friend'' there bled you out."
She grabbed Liara''s chin and raised it, looking into the Black Heiress'' eyes in search of something. Liara cleared her throat and spat her last lump of dry blood right into Nora''s face.
Nora took a step back, her smile not fading away. She licked the blood on her face with delight.
"Lively...and strong-willed too...I changed my mind. I''ll keep you alive." Nora rubbed her chin, pondering. "A beauty like you, with such strong willpower, what would be the most...Ah!"
Her grin threw a shiver down Liara and Nelg''s backs.
"I know a group of old men who always look for strong experiences...I''m sure they''ll have a lot of resilient slaves to trade me just to use you. It will be more profitable than planned to go to Penitentia, in the end. Haha, such a good idea! Excellent!" She laughed and returned to her bed, her head resting on Glenn''s chest.
Her laughter died out as the expression on her face hardened. She suddenly straightened up, looking at Glenn in awe before pressing her ear back onto his chest.
"No, no, that''s not what washow? How is this possible? The Mother saidno, this can''t be? But fate?" Nora began to sweat heavily, checking every piece of Glenn''s body to find a pulse. Liara and Nelg exchanged a horrified look. Nelg suddenly froze, opening and clenching his left-hand multiple times. Liara''s eyes widened and she nodded slightly.
''That''she might be right!''
Nora suddenly jumped out of bed, sticking her face inches away from Liara''s. "Did you do something? Is this your fault?"
She grabbed Nelg''s throat and clenched it tightly. "Or maybe it''s you? The weak yet immortal one? What tricks did you play?"
The slaver let them go and paced the room in a panic. "How can the Devil''s Hand die? The Mother said that it was fated for him to arrive at Penitentia and meet the Thorn''s Church Arch-Bishop... Why did he die? Why, why, why?!"
She stormed out of the carriage, leaving the two inside with Glenn''s dead body.
Liara drew a weary breath and glanced at Nelg. She pried her lips open but no sound came out.
She couldn''t resolve herself. Why was she still hanging on that stupid tradition? She gave it up for Glenn, why couldn''t she do it for Nelg, his doppelganger?
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
''This is so stupid. I''m so stupid.''
"Liara, you know that thing I did to help you after I...hurt you, you know, giving you energy. Do you think you could regain your strength if I gave you enough?" Nelg suddenly asked, as if reading into her mind. Liara''s eyes brightened and she nodded frantically.
"Enough to run away from there with Glenn?"
Nod, nod!
Nelg breathed out deeply. "Alright. Just...give me a sign whenever it''s enough. It''s quite draining for me, so..." He pushed his back to hers. Liara felt foreign energy enter her body. She instinctively tried to push back against it, but took back control of herself and let it flow in.
It was a strange power. It didn''t feel like Mana, Aura, or the combined thing she and Sahro used. No, it was different. Something that worked on a deeper level, not lifeforce but even more profound
Liara''s eyes widened. ''Glenn said that Nelg can grow through consuming the souls of the one he kills. Is this power...souls?''
She shook her head and concentrated. She couldn''t afford to be picky. Anything that would let her bypass the Blumar restraints and regain her strength was good for the taking. After a dozen minutes of transfer, Nelg gasped and fell to the side, exhausted. Liara opened and closed her hand, digesting the energy. It wasn''t enough.
But it was a start.
Forward.
Liara''s head snapped to the side, to the bed Glenn was lying on. The latter was still sleeping deeply, his chest rising and falling steadily.
''Strange. Maybe it was just me.''
***
"Lads, if you look to the side, you will see the Still Peak! It is a Peak only in name, for it is not even close to the height of the Dark Wall back when the mountain range was still there. Retni''s Forest is below us, and if I''m not wrong, we should..." Lucian trailed off as he stopped his joyful presentation.
They smelled the Retni''s Plains before they were able to see them. The wind brought them an awful, putrid stench that simply couldn''t be described. An acrid, oily smell of burning bodies and rotten flesh, the odor of death itself. Lina breathed through her sleeve as she leaned over the guardrail to see the source of the smell, but Sahro pulled her away.
His expression was unusually hard, his teeth clenched. Lucian held himself on the boat''s guardrail, his knees weakening.
Black smoke formed a large cloud in the sky, rising in pillars from the ground. The Retni''s Plains were a terrifying mix of red and black, with no grass in sight. Bodies littered the ground amidst charred bones and pools of blood. Broken weapons and burning banners stood like countless tombstones.
Lucian clenched the guardrail tightly, crushing the lacquered wood in his hands. "Munirp is suffering from one of the worst crises of its history, but here they are, wasting their lives away, fighting for...what?"
Milena gulped heavily, her eyes closed. She shook her head.
"Lina, take the helm. I need to be on the forefront if something happens."
Lina complied silently, affected by the somber mood.
"Not as playful now that you can smell death, hmm?" Tuleam sneered as he stood beside her, his arms crossed.
"I can''t imagine how many died for it to smell that bad..." muttered Lina.
Tuleam rubbed his chin. "Considering that Satidipug and Eari both have the largest populations in Munirp after King''s Rise, I''d say...Tens of thousands, maybe?"
Lina''s eyes widened. "Tens of thousands during the whole war? That''s"
"No, no." Tuleam shook his head. "Tens of thousands every day."
Lina shivered from head to toe and concentrated on the helm, keeping it as still as she possibly could. Dread began to nest in her stomach, but she did her best to ignore it. In an oppressing silence, the flying ship flew over the Retni''s Plains bloody battlefield. The smell of rot, blood, and burning corpses eventually faded away, but they couldn''t forget it. Their clothes were soaked with the stench, like a curse following them.
"I hate war." Milena crossed her arms as she stood next to Sahro.
The Black Heir glanced at her and pressed his lips together. "Once, I would have disagreed with you. But, these days, I''m slowly starting to get tired of it..."
Milena patted his shoulder before leaning over the guardrail. She gave one last sour look at the battlefield.
''So Glenn woke up in there. That''s...terrifying.''
After a moment that felt like an eternity, the ship arrived in the vicinity of a walled city large enough to house millions of citizens. It was nowhere near King''s Rise size, but it was still massive. The ramparts were built out of yellow bricks, with banners of the Count of Satidipug covering them. The golden coin emblazoned with two horses fluttered proudly in the wind.
"Satidipug, the city of merchants and the headquarters of the Gold Church..." Lucian nodded as he took the helm from Lina''s hands. "I''ll handle the landing. Shout if something weird happens."
Lina nodded and joined up with Sahro and Milena. Tuleam remained next to the helm, more comfortable looking over the boat. The ship slowly descended from the sky, landing at a safe distance from the ramparts. Thankfully, nothing stopped them from touching the ground.
The team jumped off the ship and approached Satidipug''s gates. There was nobody outside, no structure or anything of the sort. It gave a very different vibe compared to King''s Rise. The latter was also a hundred times bigger so that probably played in a lot.
"Aren''t you worried someone will take the ship?" Lina asked as she glanced back at the boat.
Lucian shrugged. "I can always buy another one if this happens."
Lina looked at the rich prince in disbelief. Lucian ignored her gaze as he stood in front of Satidipug''s gates. "I, Munirp''s Crown Prince, Lucian Magnus, am here! Open your gates!"
His voice echoed in the wind, the gates remaining as still as stone. Milena and Sahro exchanged a glance, wondering what they should do when Tuleam suddenly clicked his tongue.
"Late bastards."
The gate opened, revealing a hastily prepared procession. A large official runs up to Lucian on chubby legs, sweating profusely.
"Y- Your Highness, we haven''t been notified of your visit"
Lucian scoffed. "It''s not like I didn''t try, but someone has cut off all teleportation nodes between this county and King''s Rise, same for Eari. You wouldn''t know something about that, would you?"
The official wiped the sweat off his forehead tensely. "I- I apologize, Your Highness. The situation with the County of Eari has been...complicated, to say the least. Please, come into the city and let us accommodate you and your servants."
Sahro raised an eyebrow and grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Servant? Did he call me a servant?"
Milena clenched his shoulder and smiled tensely. "Shut it and play the part."
"What''s your name, chubby man?" Tuleam asked curiously without an ounce of respect.
The official gave him a concerned look but forced himself to reply after noticing Lucian''s glare. "I- I am Count Satidipug''s steward, Bernard Lampi, esteemed guest. But... that seaweed-like hair, you wouldn''t happen to be Sir Tuleam Manalok?"
Tuleam grunted. "The one and only. Come on, show us inside quickly. I need a shower and a couple hundred cleaning spells after flying above that mess on the Plains."
Bernard Lampi glanced at Lucian, frightened. "A- Ah, you flew above the b- battlefield, then? I apologize for the d- discomfort."
"Move along, steward." Sahro''s eyebrows creased. "We already wasted too much time."
Despite the horror she smelled on the way here and the terrible circumstances, Lina couldn''t help but feel a little excited. It was the first time she was out of King''s Rise, after escaping from the W.O.R.M. and the Ink Dunes.
What adventures awaited her?
282. Cosmic Voyage
Glenn pressed his lips together, hesitantly reaching for the purple ball that acted as the sole source of light in the darkness surrounding him. He flinched at the touch, pulling his hand back.
"Cold. But what is...Purple, so maybe Diamanes?" He shook the feeling off and tried grabbing the purple ball once more.
A wave of purple light blinded him, invading his consciousness.
''Ah, what the f''
"I''ll kill them!"
A strange, foreign voice exploded through Glenn''s mind. He grabbed his head, scowling painfully. He forced his eyes open, finding himself to be floating in what he guessed to be space. Encroaching darkness all around with countless, small lights shining in the distance. Amidst that infinite expanse was a massive Sarcophagus of smooth black stone.
"I am the last one. The last!" The voice roared hatefully from within the sarcophagus.
''Wait, who are youNo, I can''t speak. This isn''t real,'' realized Glenn as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly. He couldn''t even imagine why he was being shown this, but now that he was here, he wouldn''t miss a second of it.
"...But what am I supposed to do now? I can only wait. Wait. Wait for the possibility of a connection being made... No matter. I have all the time in the world."
Glenn''s eyes widened as he watched the stars in the distance begin to fade away and reappear at incredible speed. ''A time skip, maybe? How convenient.''
Despite the passage of time, the Sarcophagus remained unchanged, the black stone as pristine and smooth as when Glenn first saw it.
"Ahh..." The voice sighed deeply. "I''m bored. This is boring. What even were their names? Why is it taking so long? I''m sure a connection should have been made before..."
The voice grunted with newly renewed determination. "That can''t go on. I''ll just forget everything if I keep at it. I need to speed things up. Split."
The Sarcophagus shattered into three pieces, three massive white crystals of similar sizes.
"Ah-ha! I finally came to life! The future is in my hand, haha!" A first voice exploded with wicked happiness.
Another clicked its tongue. "Shut up. Your lack of manners will taint our reputation. Stob chattering uselessly and let''s reach the Goal."
The third voice hissed furiously. "I... WILL... KILL THEM ALL! Rip, tear, and devour them! Show them our combined might! My revenge will be swift, and it''ll be painful for them!"
Glenn''s eyes widened as he let out an awed laugh. ''Shit, are those Diamanes, Tiamanes, and whatever the third guy''s name is? I know Diamanes was one piece from a whole, but...so there are three pieces, and I know where all three are. Alright. That''s a lot to handle.''
Diamanes'' crystal turned to the third, unnamed one. "Ah. I think he lost it. Well, he did get most of the resentment. Anyway, I''m sure it will be fine."
"You!" Tiamanes sighed. "I know I have been designed as perfection, but can''t you at least try to hold a candle to the original? He was the pinnacle of the world, after all. He deserves that much, even though not much of him is left."
"Yeah, yeah, like you say. I''ll go on my merry way searching for the connection. Good luck to you guys!"
"I''LL KILL THEM!"
"...Good luck to you too."
The three crystals suddenly shot in different directions, all spiraling into space without any clear objectives. Glenn watched with his arms crossed as his metaphorical presence followed Diamanes'' crystal flying through space.
"Thank the original that he made me this way..." muttered Diamanes during the flight. "I wouldn''t have it otherwise. And I got the original ability, too. He knew I was the right one for the job, not like that crazy fucker or the stuck-up bastard. Anyway, connection, connection, where are you...?" The crystal''s course went on uninterrupted, stars dying and birthing with each passing second. His specialty was intrinsically linked to space and the stars, after all. It wasn''t called Astral Sorcery for no reason.
Eventually, the crystal slowed its course and came to a standstill.
"Hmm. Hmm... This isn''t going very well, is it?" Diamanes'' crystal spun on itself as if to find a way to go. "Why am I even speaking to myself? What am I doing? Am I just losing it too? Ah. Oh well. Not like we had all the screws on before. I''ll just float around, I guess."
Diamanes sighed. "This sucks. I can''t believe I''m struggling to handle the loneliness. Ah! I know!" The crystal suddenly resumed its course, shooting through space once again. "I''m sure I''ll find one of these Outer things they spoke of before! I''ll just force them to tell me the direction. The connection can''t be that far."
Glenn pressed his lips together, watching as the crystal shot into the distance once again. This time, he didn''t automatically follow it. Instead, the surroundings faded back into darkness, the countless stars swallowed by the void.
''Why am I seeing this?'' Glenn rubbed his chin, confused. ''Am I just...scrolling through Diamanes'' memories for some reason? Why? And how is it helping me? Or maybe I''m just getting a Diamanes'' history lesson for once?''
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Glenn looked around in the now familiar nothingness. ''Looks like the lesson is finished, though. And I still haven''t figured out a way to get out of here. Diamanes, Diamanes, what kind of mess did you pull me into?''
Unfortunately, Diamanes didn''t answer him. But something else did.
The young man clenched his teeth as his blood turned to ice and cold sweat drenched his back. Even as a sort of metaphorical, non-physical being, he couldn''t help but shiver. That...something else, it replied by sending a wave of pure dread. An ancient hatred so overbearing and powerful Glenn couldn''t even begin to fathom it.
"Ah-ha! Finally!"
Diamanes'' voice echoed once again, cutting an opening through the nothingness Glenn was plunged into. The white crystal appeared in sight once again, moving through a dark space with no stars. There was no light aside from the one coming off the white crystal.
The crystal stopped seemingly in the middle of nowhere, floating in nothingness. "Yes, yes, I can hear you, you are very, very scary, and certainly look the part too. Anyway, would you happen to know whereoh." Diamanes'' mocking voice suddenly turned as cold as ice. Glenn could almost imagine the evil grin Diamanes must have been wearing at that moment in time.
"You''re not an Outer. Outer don''t exist, do they? And they''re just another lie that you and the other bastards came up with. Of course. And so, they sent your fucking body here. Shit. Just my luck."
Diamanes sighed heavily, staying silent for a moment and giving Glenn some time to think.
''T- The thing that''s terrifying me so violently is already dead? And Diamanes doesn''t seem to give a single fuck about it too. What kind of cosmic level of strength am I watching? And how powerful was Diamanes for him to just shrug that pressure off like that?''
"But your body...Hmm. The age doesn''t match up. Is time passing differently between here and there? Because I and the original certainly spent more than two thousand years in that hell hole." Diamanes sounded curiously confused, his initial cold rage fading away.
Suddenly, something moved through the darkness. Glenn''s eyes widened as he watched a very recognizable pale finger come out of the darkness and press onto Diamanes'' crystal.
''That''s one of the fingers that opened the Moon Rift yesterday! Or whatever day it was. Shit, this is insane! So Diamanes already met that...thing before, and it still moves despite being dead? I can''t even criticize, I apparently already died after all.'' Glenn''s thoughts were drowned under a torrent of chaotic explosions as Diamanes cursed.
"What the hell is" The finger ripped a hole through reality, splitting space open. A world seemed to spill out of the hole, oceans pouring out as continents crumbled. Diamanes'' crystal shattered into countless pieces, all splitting away into the newly arrived mass. Another finger appeared, ripping out another hole and sending the mess Diamanes was mixed with into it. Some of his pieces remained behind, while most fell into the newly opened hole.
Glenn rubbed his eyes in disbelief as the vision disappeared.
"This was fucking weird," he blurted out. "Ah, and I retrieved my voice. Great."
He drew a short breath and shook his head. "What the fuck was that?"
Just as he thought this, a new ball of light appeared in the darkness. But this one wasn''t purple, Diamanes'' distinct color.
No, it was of pure, white light.
***
Liara and Nelg forced themselves to put one foot before the other. They were back with the other slaves, pulling the carriage by the strength of their throats. The slave collars binding them were heavy and cold. Nelg gritted his teeth in frustration. The Silence collars made it impossible for him to communicate with Liara.
''This is still better than having to torture her myself, though...'' That thought sobered him. He checked on his energy reserves before bumping shoulders with Liara, transferring every ounce of his power to her. Every time he did that, the Black Heiress stood a little straighter and regained a little more of her strength, tiny bit by tiny bit.
''How long will it take for her to completely recover, though?'' Nelg bit on his lip worriedly. ''The power of the souls Glenn reaped for me isn''t infinite. I probably will run out at some point. Shit...''
He couldn''t continue pondering over his worries as the carriage driver suddenly ordered them to stop. Some slaves fell to their knees, exhausted. Those were the lucky ones. The rest had already been dragged under the carriage after their legs gave in. Their corpses were still tied to the chains, dead weights that left a bloody trail behind the carriage.
Their surroundings had suddenly changed from dead forests and muddy swamps to a more luscious environment. Trees as tall as towers stood on the side of the dirt track they followed. Exotic beasts glanced at the carriage and fled without thinking twice, terrified of the monster sleeping inside it. It seemed like a powerful Saint''s presence was an incredible deterrent to stop wild monsters from attacking.
Liara swallowed heavily, struggling to breathe due to the heavy slave collar. She ignored the pain and processed Nelg''s energy as quickly as she could. The faster she recovered, the better. She couldn''t afford to not have the strength necessary when the opportunity to escape would present itself.
''Still no signs of Glenn waking up...Did he really die, like that Nora keeps saying?'' Liara''s conviction trembled slightly as she had that thought. She shook the idea out of her head and concentrated back on processing the energy. One step after the other. One portion of energy after the other. She was back at half her capacity.
Even at her best, she wouldn''t be able to handle Nora. ''But I''ll take anything I can get. Patience, just a little more patience...''
Nora came out of the carriage, her eyes bloodshot. A couple of dark circles under her eyes reinforced the ominous atmosphere around her. She was chewing on her nails anxiously, glancing back into the carriage from time to time. She clicked her tongue and aimed a finger at the sky. A bolt of Aura flew above the treetop, exploding into the sky.
The carriage waited for a dozen minutes before the ground suddenly shook. Liara and Nelg crouched worriedly, stabilizing themselves. The ground lowered itself slowly, bringing the carriage down with it. Liara looked up and watched silently as the sky disappeared behind an advanced mechanical contraption.
''A hidden passageway into the ground. Clever. I wouldn''t have missed it if I wasn''t so exhausted. I need to focus.'' Liara''s eyes were steeled with resolution. The platform sunk deeper into the depth of the earth, rumbling loudly. Eventually, the walls left the place for an incredible sight, one that Liara would have never believed unless she saw it with her own eyes.
Below the ground, hidden from sight, was a massive cavern supported by a gigantic roof of thorny vines. Below, filling up the cavern almost entirely, was a large, prosperous city.
''Incredible...'' Nelg was similarly amazed. ''I wish Glenn and Diamanes could have seen this. I''m starting to seriously miss both of their comments...''
The platform eventually reached ground level, and the driver gave a lash with his whip to make the carriage advance once more. Nelg''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he saw a group of bald men approach them in sober priest gowns. All of them had more than familiar scars on their foreheads. A cross in a thorny circle.
"Welcome to Penitentia, Saint of the Mother," one of them bowed politely.
"The Thorn''s Church wishes for your sins to be washed away and for you to come to repentance."
283. Bloody Pope
Lina''s eyes were stretched wide open as she took in Satidipug''s scenery. It was very different from the Bourgeoisie of King''s Rise, where steam and brass were piled on each other like a castle of cards.
Satidipug, instead, was the perfect cliche of a medieval city. The streets were paved with polished stone slabs, the houses were built out of simple carpentry, and market stalls were almost everywhere.
More than once she felt the desire to stop and ask the merchants about their wares, but every time Milena or Sahro would pull her back into the group, following Bernard Lampi, the steward for Count Satidipug.
"As you can see, Satidipug is a flourishing city!" Bernard Lampi, the steward, rubbed his hands in satisfaction. "You might have heard, but our city prospers mainly thanks to trade. We have to thank the presence of the Gold Church''s headquarters for that."
Milena nodded slowly, squinting at the stalls and the merchants'' faces. "Stop me if I''m mistaken, but Satidipug and Eari should be the two main trade hubs in the north of Munirp. Your main product was ores, right?"
The steward smiled as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "You''ve heard well, Milady. Satidipug has rights to many iron, coal, and gold mines. We''re also exploiting small deposits of Mana-infused resources, but they''re not worth mentioning due to their scarcity."
He rubbed his hands together. "We''ve recently discovered an area affluent in rare ores, but..." He grimaced. "Its position conflicts with the Eari county. The proximity between the two cities has always been the source of many tensions, and with the discovery of the Sanders Mines, war was unfortunately impossible to avoid."
Bernard Lamp glanced at Lucian. "Hopefully, this conflict seems to come to an end. Both counties have thrown many lives into this war, but pulling back now would make our sacrifices meaningless. But manpower isn''t limitless..."
Sahro scoffed, muttering through his teeth. "Tsk! Our sacrifices, he says..."
Lina gulped heavily, her eyes darting between every member of the group. The atmosphere was growing more tense by the minute.
Lucian clapped his hands together and turned to Tuleam, who was picking his nose without care. "Steward, we might need some help finding someone. We''re searching for our lost comrades, and Sir Tuleam here found their traces in your city."
The steward bowed to the waist. "Of course, your Highness. We will support you with all our might."
The Prince nodded. "Good. I''ll also need to meet Count Satidipug. I have some questions about that war I need answered."
Bernard Lampi paled slightly. "...Absolutely, your Highness."
The steward led them to a sumptuous guest house, rivaling their Longhorn''s Street mansion. "I hope these modest accommodations will suit you and your companions'' taste, your Highness." He bowed once more. "I will excuse myself while I inform Sir Satidipug about your request. I shall also start a search for your companions. Would you happen to have a description...?"
Lina was about to reply but Sahro replied dryly. "Heard about Glenn the Devil''s Hand?"
Bernard Lampi''s eyes widened and he cleared his throat with uncertainty. "Y- You don''t mean the Devil''s Hand, do you? I thought he couldn''t return from his expedition into the Beyond"
Manalok Tuleam raised an eyebrow. "Doubting my scrying skill, fatty? Think twice before you start spitting out nonsense."
Lina almost choked on her saliva as she watched the steward''s face turn even paler. "O- Of course, Sir Tuleam. We will start the search right away. If you need anything, don''t hesitate to ask the guards." He pointed at a dozen armored knights standing by.
"Thank Count Satidipug for his hospitality," said Lucian as he opened the door to the guest house. He stopped at the entry and coldly looked at the steward. "...But don''t make me wait."
Bernard Lampi confounded himself in pleasantries and excuses before practically running away. The entire team entered the guest house, leaving the guards outside. It took only a few seconds for Milena to find a large sofa and collapse on it with a weary sigh.
"What the hell is wrong with this place...?" She grunted. Tuleam laughed in the distance, already foraging through the kitchen for food.
"What isn''t wrong, you mean?"
Lina raised a confused eyebrow. ''Did I miss an episode? Besides the war, Satidipug looks fine...?''
''Milady, I''d recommend listening to them.'' Tiamanes'' respectful voice was quiet in her mind. ''It will be an excellent lesson.''
Sahro stood in the corner of the room, his arms crossed. A current of red electricity ran through his mechanical arm, making the new components spin a little faster.
"I don''t like this. That steward smelled of secrets and hypocrisy."
Lucian sat on a sofa opposite Milena''s and pressed his hands together. "This Bernard Lampi certainly is hiding some things. I''m hesitating, should we just storm the Count''s home for answers? I''m not on official royal business, though..."
Milena moistened her lips. "Lucian, why don''t we find Glenn and Liara before destroying the town?"
The Prince chuckled. "Why would I do that?" He scratched his chin with a slight smirk. "Satidipug, even if very suspicious, remains a county of our noble Munirp. I''d have to find aggravating proofs of treason against the crown or something similar. That would certainly be an option I could get behind if that means the end of this absurd war."
Lina cleared her throat. "Uhm, excuse me, but could you all enlighten me? What is so wrong with Satidipug?"
Sahro grunted. "The streets are empty. There are no citizens besides the merchants handling their stalls."
Lina paused. ''Now that he mentions it...It''s true, we only saw merchants but nobody buying their wares.''
"The steward''s guards were all Grand Chevaliers," remarked Milena. "Individuals with strength almost equivalent to ours should have been too busy preparing for the next battle. They wouldn''t be able to afford to guard a mere steward."
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Lucian sighed. "Let''s not even talk about him. The teleportation nodes between King''s Rise and this place have all been broken, yet he still knows Glenn''s disappearance, which was supposed to be a rather well-kept secret. Additionally, communication should have been lost with the nodes."
Tuleam laughed as he returned from the kitchen with a sandwich in each hand. "A city prospering from trade yet there''s no one to buy the merchants'' wares on the streets. Local trade is the blood of a city, they can''t only depend on imports and exports."
Lina frowned. "It didn''t sound that farfetched to me, though?"
Milena rubbed her forehead. "Lina, territorial conflicts happen all the time. War between counties too. But we''re talking about skirmishes. Small-scale battles. Duels. Not whatever this...slaughter is."
Sahro clenched his mechanical hand, the reinforced gears'' speed increasing. "And we know thanks to Glenn that this war has been going on for an entire year. Every soldier in both cities should already be buried five feet under, yet the war still goes on."
Lucian nodded. "No proper lord would be foolish enough to allow this idiocy to continue. Negotiations over the conflicted area can always be done, concessions can always be made. Lives can never be returned, though. They are only spent once, and once only."
Milena counted on her fingers. "No workforce means no harvest. No miners. No ressource influx. Nothing to trade with. Even if they imported workers and mercenaries, their coffers would have eventually bottomed out after a year-long war, even more so considering how many lives are spent daily on it. Tens of thousands of soldiers every day is more than even King''s Rise military would comfortably afford"
Lina took an awed step back. ''H- How did they notice all that?''
''Experience,'' replied Tiamanes. ''Knowledge and experience. Be at ease, with my presence reaching that level of awareness is only a matter of time.''
"What''s the plan?" Sahro asked, his arms crossed.
"...For now, let''s wait for the result of the search. If it doesn''t work, we''ll have to trust you to find a more precise location, sir Tuleam," said Lucian as he turned to the seaweed-headed man. The latter gave him a thumbs up as he swallowed an entire sandwich in one bite.
They rested in the comfort of the guest house for a couple of hours until a guard eventually knocked at the door. He gave Lucian a letter before bowing and returning to his post. The Prince opened the envelope curiously, his eyebrows creasing as he read the contents.
"They''ve been asking around, but nobody saw Glenn in Satidipug."
Sahro smirked. "That doesn''t surprise me. We would have heard about him causing a mess beforehand."
Tuleam frowned. "It makes no sense. The scrying indicated Satidipug precisely. He should be here." He turned to Lina and held his hand out. The girl nodded silently and poked her finger with a small needle. Tuleam Manalok manipulated the blood magically while muttering in an ancient language. Mana flowed through the room, swirling around his hands. At the same time, he pulled a simple cane from his dimensional pouch. After a short minute of incantation, he slammed the blood onto the cane.
Milena raised an eyebrow. "Hum, that doesn''t look like the scrying you did previously...?"
Tuleam grunted. "Because it isn''t." The cane stood straight by itself, before falling to the ground. Tuleamn picked the cane up and made it stand straight again, only for it to fall in the same direction it previously did. "A trick an eastern friend taught me. Klein something, can''t remember his name..."
Sahro let out a disbelieving laugh. "So we''re following a cane now?"
Lucian grimaced, agreeing. "Even for you, Sir Tuleam, this looks a little too..."
Tuleam grinned widely. "Genius-like? I know. Anyway, let''s follow the cane. We have no time to waste, don''t we? And it''ll give us an excuse to look around the city."
Lina nodded excitedly. ''I kind of want to try what the others did and find the suspicious stuff in this town!''
Tiamanes sighed silently. ''Good luck with that...''
She ignored the mean hand''s comment and stood up with a bright smile. "Should we go find my brother, then?"
***
Liara sat on the floor, pressing her fingers against the scars on her thighs. The stab wounds Nelg had inflicted on her under Nora''s orders were practically healed, thanks to the constant transfer of energy. Nelg glanced at her and pointed at the wounds. She nodded slightly before looking back at the carriage. They had stopped pulling it a few hours ago after arriving at some sort of lounge for Nora and her servants. The slaves remained outside, sitting in the mud by the side of the road.
''Penitentia... The Thorn''s Church has developed an entire city underground. How did they even do that...?'' The Black Heiress had a hard time recovering from the shock of discovering this underground city. It was a very different atmosphere from King''s Rise Bourgeoisie or even Fringe. The buildings looked as if they grew out of the ground, in a strange mix of stone and roots. The light was coming from red moss growing in every crack, as well as red crystals shimmering ominously. They didn''t seem to be using magical lights, for some reason.
They had passed a few squares on the way filled up with bare-chested cultists self-harming themselves together, the sound of whips echoing all the time through the streets. Most if not everyone walked barefoot too, wearing only dark, sober priest gowns. What surprised Liara the most was the presence of children. Even if this city was made up entirely of fanatics, they remained fanatics with families. There were also a few outliers, scrawny individuals with wide eyes inhaling strange drugs. Moon Grass, if she recalled correctly.
She turned to the carriage with worry. ''Glenn still hasn''t woken up. I swear to my ancestors, if it''s another trick from that hand, I will cut it off myself.''
Liara couldn''t ponder much longer as Nora came out of her lounge. The slaver lady looked awful, her nails broken and her eyes bloodshot. Her lips were shredded after she bit through it too many times, and scratch marks covered her arms. Even though she was a Saint, an existence powerful enough to destroy armies by herself, she had a terrible appearance. Not that Liara felt even an iota of pity for the bitch.
A priest approached her and bowed to the waist. "Envoy of the Mother of All. His Honor the Pope wishes to meet you as well as the Savior''s vessel."
Nora slapped the priest tensely, sending him tumbling to the ground. The priest stumbled up, unfazed.
"Follow the priest, slaves!" She shrieked as her orc driver made his whip crackle. The slaves stood up tiredly, their throats bleeding from the slave collars'' tight hold. Liara and Nelg also stood up, pulling with the other slaves. They pulled the carriage to the largest structure in town, a pyramidal temple.
Nora jumped off the carriage while carrying Glenn''s body. She glanced at Liara and Nelg and smirked wickedly. "You two, transport him." She threw Glenn at them. Liara and Nelg barely caught him as the orc driver untied the chains from the carriage and gave them to Nora for her to use as leashes. They were like bad dogs forced to follow their master.
Liara and Nelg clenched their teeth. Nelg took Glenn on his back while Liara walked beside him. They followed Nora inside the temple, walking past priests who had all missing limbs. Some were wearing spiked braces or collars that bit through their skin, drawing blood with every movement they made. It was as if the priests wanted to feel pain all the time.
They followed a couple of priests guiding them through the pyramid''s intricate hallways, eventually arriving in a dark, gigantic chamber. There was a hole in the ceiling letting a ray of red light fall to the center, where a sole statue of steel stood. Blood was oozing out of it in a constant stream, tainting the already dark stone ground.
Nora gave a short nod in the direction of the statue. "It''s an honor, your Holiness."
A voice from beyond the grave came from the steel statue, rattling painfully.
"The honor is mine, Envoy of the Mother of All." The statue suddenly opened up, revealing an interior filled with hundreds of sharp blades covered in blood. A bloody mess that could barely be described as a human stepped out of the statue, his entire body bleeding out. Liara and Nelg felt their knees buckle under them as a strange strength forced them to stick their faces to the ground.
Glenn rolled out of Nelg''s back, landing next to the Pope''s feet.
"Ah..." Liara and Nelg shivered at the sound of the voice, their instincts screaming at them to run away.
"3333...At long last."
284. The Pit
Liara and Nelg felt their blood turn to ice as the Pope crouched and picked Glenn up by the throat, looking at his face for a long time. Even Nora didn''t dare talk in the presence of this monstrous being. Blood flowed freely on the ground with his every step, echoing through the dark chamber. Each time he breathed their hearts went still from fear.
"Hmm...Dead. Envoy." The Pope turned toward Nora, his red eyes glimmering through the blood running over them. "Why is 3333 dead?"
Nora frowned. "I kept him in a stupor using drugs, but one day he just died. I swear on the Mother of All that I did nothing that should have killed him."
The Pope threw Glenn into a pool of blood and walked back to his iron maiden, closing back the spikes on his body.
"The two sheep with you... His comrades, I believe? Give them to me. I''ll use their lives well in the upcoming storm."
Nora gritted their teeth. "I wanted to keep them as bargaining chips. I know you''re the Pope, but" Nora''s words turned into a gargle. She looked down in incomprehension as her head slowly separated from her body. The Pope closed back the iron maiden on himself entirely, unfazed.
"Watch your words, Envoy. You are not even a Ruler yet. This wasn''t a request, but an order. Now, begone."
Nora''s head almost fell off to the side but the slaver suddenly grabbed it and stuck it back in place, heaving with difficulty. She ran away like the wind, leaving blood in her trail. Liara and Nelg were both still stuck prone on the bloody floor, the pressure crushing them.
"Head Priest. Take them to the Pit." A large man in a black clerical robe came out of the darkness at the Pope''s orders, picking Liara and Nelg''s chains up and dragging them out of the dark chamber. They eventually pushed themselves up as the pressure gradually disappeared. Liara coughed, realizing she had held her breath during the whole encounter.
''W- What was he? Was that thing even human?'' Liara shivered from head to toe as dread washed over her just from recalling the Pope. They climbed downstairs for half an hour until they finally arrived at their destination.
A hole.
The walls of the hole were covered in sharp thorny vines oozing with poison. It looked bottomless and was wide enough to swallow a couple of houses. How it was sitting beneath the pyramid was a complete mystery to Liara.
"May the pain show you the path." The Head Priest grinned widely before throwing them in. Liara''s eyes widened as she dove into the darkness, her chains falling with her. She still had the Silence collar, and Blumar chains were wrapped around her wrists. She still had no way of using her powers.
Nelg swapped between his human to sword form just to escape from his restraints before grabbing Liara. He grunted and put himself beneath her, using his body as a pillow to protect her from the fall. Liara almost insulted him for not simply freeing her, but the Silence collar in addition to the old tradition stopped her from doing so.
Bam!
Liara rolled to the side, hissing painfully. Nelg coughed lightly as he stood back up. He dusted his shoulders off before offering a helpful hand to her.
"Ah, it feels good to not have those damn chains on. I''m not sure when else I would have been able to take them off, so"
The Black Heiress interrupted Glenn''s doppelganger by waving her chains around.
"Ah, yes, my apologies." He turned back into a sword and moved through the air, slicing through her collar and chains effortlessly. Liara took a deep breath in as she was finally relieved from the constant oppression of the Blumar. Her Mana and Aura filled back up at incredible speed, her scars fading away as her body was finally free from working as intended.
She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of power for an instant. The white cross on her forehead gleamed brightly as her small bird Whitey happily chattered in her ear. Liara fell to her knees, clenching her chest painfully.
''The energy...! It isn''t stabilizing!'' Liara heaved with difficulty as she felt her Mana and Aura grow to incredible proportions. Nelg reached out with a worried hand, but she pushed him away, too concentrated on getting that power under control. The white cross on her forehead shone like a lighthouse in the darkness, brimming with incredible power. Liara''s golden eyes turned completely white, right before she exploded in a blinding flash.
"Agh!" Nelg took a few steps back, blinded. He rubbed his eyes, squinting through the black spots in his vision. Liara was looking at her own hands in disbelief, her bird Whitey having grown from a round, kind of ridiculous but cute bird to a beautiful hawk with sharp golden eyes. The cross on Liara''s forehead had returned to a simple tattoo, and the white light in her eyes dimmed until they returned to their normal golden state.
"What the hell was that?!" Nelg chuckled in awe. "Did you become an Expert Magi like Glenn? And a Crusader too?"
Liara looked at Nelg with a disconcerted smile, nodding slowly. Nelg rubbed his forehead, at a loss for words.
"...Well, I won''t complain about you having a power-up, that''s for sure." Nelg eventually said. He looked at the hole they fell through, unable to see the top. "We need to get out of here. Glenn is still with that... ''Pope'', or whatever that monster truly was."
Liara nodded more energetically. ''I''ve never felt so powerful before. Now...Defeating Nora isn''t off the table. Running away with Glenn in tow seems even more achievable. The only problem will be that Pope...'' Her eyebrows creased. ''I couldn''t check his strength due to the pressure he put on us, but I''m certain he''s stronger than Nora. He''s at least a Newborn Ruler. Maybe more.''
Nelg crossed his arms, his armor rustling in the dark. "I hope that Pope isn''t too strong. I can hardly see ourselves fighting a Newborn Ruler..." He shivered. "Imagine if he''s stronger than that?"
Liara grimaced. ''If he''s beyond that level, then...No, I think him being a Seventh-Circle or the equivalent seems logical. Even Munirp''s King is only at the Eighth Circle, after all.''
"Well," Nelg cleared his throat as he looked around. "No use worrying about that when we are stuck at the bottom of some nonsensically deep hole. Let''s find the exit to this place first."
The Black Heiress nodded and led the way, her Mana creating a ball of light that illuminated their path. They walked through the darkness, looking for any indication as to where the exit could be. They eventually found the hole''s walls, covered in thorny vines oozing with threatening liquids. Liara created a sword of pure light out of her energy and hacked at the vines, but they grew back in a matter of seconds.
"What about burning them?" Nelg proposed. Liara silently created a powerful flame, setting the vines on fire. The flames licked the vegetation, barely destroying anything before going out.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
''They''re magical vines. Something is keeping them up. The Pope''s powers, maybe? Or someone weaker?'' Liara could only wonder as they walked by the vines, searching. A clatter in the darkness made both of them stop, searching through the shadows for the source of the noise.
The clatter intensified, coming from every direction. Nelg and Liara carefully kept the wall of vines in their back, waiting tensely to see what was coming. A figure came out of the darkness, with pale skin and an emaciated body. Heavy Blumar chains had been tied to their ankles and wrists.
Nelg frowned. "A man? At least he''s not a monster..."
The man''s bloodshot eyes widened as he noticed the lack of chains on Liara and Nelg''s limbs. More people like him came out of the darkness, their eyes glimmering with that same shock. They were all chained and cuffed, their voices muted by Silence slave collars. Nelg took a nervous step back as he also noticed orcs in the midst, as well as...dwarves, or at least very small bearded people. Liara''s eyes also widened as she recognized white marks on the foreheads of dark-skinned people. Black Heirs had also been thrown into this Pit.
Liara stood with her back straightened, a drop of sweat beading off her face. She turned to Nelg, who threw back an uncertain gaze at her. She nodded slightly.
Nelg gulped. Blue particles exploded around him as he turned into a sword. The first man who approached them watched as the sword shot for his throat. He closed his eyes, a slightly relieved smile on his face. That smile turned to pure disbelief as he felt the chains and cuffs restraining him fall off his limbs.
"Ah...?" His voice was coarse and rough. A tired, trembling voice.
He fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes. "Ah...!"
The other prisoners hiding in the darkness couldn''t believe what they were seeing. Someone else approached them, and Nelg cut through their restraints. One after the other, more and more stepped forward, leaving their throats for Nelg to free.
Liara increased the Mana she was sending in her ball of light, illuminating their surroundings brightly. The prisoners looked at the ball of light with renewed hope, their despair fading away.
Nelg chuckled nervously as he sliced through another set of cuffs and collar.
''This is oddly terrifying. Let''s get it over with quickly. Maybe they''ll have an idea as to why we were thrown into this Pit, and how to get out of it.''
***
Tuleam picked his nose as he followed the guidance of his enchanted cane, dropping it and seeing where it pointed. Lucian, Milena, and Lina were following him with uncertainty while using the opportunity to check Satidipug out. The streets were mostly in the same condition they first found when they arrived, with merchants stalls everywhere and no one to shop at them. Some stalls were even left unmanned.
"Beautiful city, really," said Lucian with his hands on his back. "Too bad we need a chaperone to visit it."
Bernard Lampi wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I- I apologize, your Highness, but for your safety"
A bolt of crimson lightning crackled through the air as Sahro clenched his fist. The steward gulped heavily as he stared at the angry Black Heir.
"Nobody in your city could stop us if we wanted to rage," hissed Sahro. "So either leave us be or prepare yourself to be reduced to ashes alongside the poor people you sent dying in the war!"
Milena chuckled nervously as she pulled Sahro back slightly. "Sorry for his behavior, steward. Sahro here has been a little prickly after our recent expeditions, please forgive him."
Bernard bowed politely while keeping the Black Heir in his line of sight. "It is of no importance, Milady. Don''t pre-occupate yourself with me, I am here to serve you."
Milena gave him a fake smile as she elbowed Sahro. The latter grunted and turned away, his arms crossed.
Lina pressed her lips together, confused. ''What are they playing at?''
''Hmm...'' Tiamanes advanced his theory. ''I guess that Milena doesn''t want to make the steward suspicious of them, while Sahro lost his cool for a moment. The only reason the steward is here is to monitor the group, which means there must be something he needs to hide from Lucian''s sight.''
Lina nodded slowly. Tuleam suddenly stopped as his cane fell in a different direction. He glanced at Bernard Lampi and his knights, before grabbing Sahro and whispering something in his ear. The Black Heir first frowned, but the corner of his lips curled upward as he listened to Tuleam''s words.
"Care to share what you discovered, Sir Tuleam" Lucian was shoved to the side as Sahro suddenly grabbed Bernard Lampi and threw him on his shoulder.
"W- What are you doing? Let go of me you"
Sahro stared down at the Grand Chevalier, his red lightning crackling with powerful might. "This is too boring! I need a duel! You all, follow me outside the city! We will fight!"
Lampi slammed his greasy fists against Sahro''s muscular back. "Unhand me, you little...! Your Highness, tell your servant to let go of me!"
Lucian looked between Tuleam and Sahro and shrugged helplessly. "So sorry about that, steward. Sahro isn''t under my orders, he is a Black Heir and not directly under the supervision of Munirp. I fear you might need to take care of this yourself."
"I- I won''t forget this! Your Highness!!" Bernard Lampi''s cries faded away as Sahro jumped in the air, shooting into the sky and leaving behind a trail of red lightning. The steward''s guards exchanged a look before sprinting in pursuit of the kidnapper and their employer.
Tuleam rubbed his hands together. "Always useful to have some muscles around, and even better when they have the brain to understand my genius. Excellent, excellent..."
Milena nodded with a smile. "That should give us a small window of freedom to explore Satidipug as we wish."
Lucian cleared his throat. "Indeed. Milena, Sir Tuleam, Miss Lina. I will be leaving you there. Something is wrong with this city, and as Munirp''s Crown Prince, I simply can''t leave it be. I''ll investigate on my own while you continue the search for Big Brother and Miss Liara. Good luck!"
"To you as well, Lucian," smiled Milena. Lucian gave them one last nod before jumping into the sky, a crown of energy appearing above his head. He flew in the distance, searching for proof of any wrongdoings done in Satidipug.
Lina turned to Tuleam, curious. "Teacher, did you find something that you kicked them away only now?"
Tuleam picked his nose. "I''m almost certain I did. Follow the cane, student."
As commanded by Tuleam, they followed the cane, leading them to an abandoned well down a poorer street. The pavements were chipped, some slabs were missing, and the houses were lacking the same cleanliness and new feeling that the rest of the city had. They turned around the well, the cane pointing at it.
Tuleam scratched his chin. "Well, I''m not going in there, not even for the tastiest food. I''ll keep watchor try to, at the very least."
Milena nodded. "Thank you, Sir Tuleam. Lina, ready?"
Glenn''s sister grinned. "Always."
Milena jumped down the well. Lina leaned above the ledge, grimacing as she pulled a rope out of her dimensional pouch. Tuleam scoffed at the sight but made no move to help her. After tying the rope to a solid attachment, Lina followed Milena down the hole.
There was no water, or anything well-like down there. Instead, there was a small hallway leading to an unknown direction.
"I''ll take the lead," said Milena as she unsheathed her daggers. Lina carefully walked behind her, ready to use the new spells she had been working on all this time. Even though she only had two Circles and the equivalent in Aura, she knew she was strong enough to take down True Initiates or Knights at her school. Liam, Janica, and Ary could also do it, but she was still the best of them.
There was a scent of medicinal herbs and preserved food that was getting stronger the more they advanced through the hallway. Milena froze in her steps and slowly sheathed her daggers. Lina raised her eyebrows in confusion, but Milena simply motioned to her to continue.
They arrived in a large cavern filled with bunk beds and countless wounded filling them. Bundles of herbs were hanging from every wall as gauze was repeatedly cleaned and applied on opened wounds. A woman turned and paled when she noticed them. She rushed in front of them, Mana swirling around her hands into a soft green light.
"Y- You found us? How?"
Milena was about to reply but Lina''s choking sound stopped her. The woman was in her forties, maybe a little younger. She had beautiful auburn hair and a gentle face. She wore a pair of glasses that kept falling from her nose. Her eyes were as brown as Lina''s and Glenn''s before he met with Diamanes.
"Mom?"
The woman''s eyes widened and she hid her mouth in shock, tears welling up.
"Lina?"
285. The End of a King
Glenn curiously touched the warm ball of white light. A wave of light submerged him, much like what happened with Diamanes'' memories.
''Whose memories am I going to end up in...?'' Glenn waited patiently, his eyes shut. The whistling of the wind and the rough touch of the sand against his skin woke him up. The heat was unbearable, but he knew it was only an illusion.
He opened his eyes to a caravan working through a familiar black desert.
''The Ink Dunes...'' Glenn crossed his arms as he approached the caravanners. Their features were hidden under thin fabric protecting them from the harsh sun, but Glenn still had an inkling as to who they might be. Two persons were stepping at the head of the convoy, an adult and his child, probably around ten or so years old.
"Birin-ketin qadam, Liara. Birin-ketin qadam..." The adult words sounded reassuring, yet Glenn still felt uneasy somehow.
''Liara? Is this Liara''s memory? Why would I be seeing Liara''s memories? The fuck?'' Glenn confusedly watched the scene as he scrambled his mind for an explanation. ''Diamanes, I could understand, but Liara...?''
"Dada... When will we arrive?" Liara asked with an innocent yet weary voice.
Glenn raised a surprised eyebrow. ''Wait, I could understand that?''
"Don''t worry, little sun." Liara''s father pulled down his hood, revealing a loving face as he picked his daughter up. His skin was much darker than Liara''s, while the white cross on his forehead was somehow an exact copy.
"I want to see ona," sniffed Liara. Her father hugged her tightly before pulling his hood back over his head.
"...Your mother is resting with our ancestors, Liara. It''s only us and the tribe now," said her father through his teeth. He hugged his daughter tightly as he took a determined step forward, his golden eyes steeled with resolve. Glenn''s confusion faded away, replaced by a strange sense of melancholy. He looked down at his hands dejectedly.
''A father... That only makes me miss my mom more. Tsk, and here I thought I was past that already. I''ll have to thank Liara for bringing that memory back.'' He shook the thoughts away as the black sand rose from the ground into a blinding sandstorm.
The sound of clashing swords drew Glenn''s attention, making him squint to try and perceive beyond the sandstorm.
"Your spear shall pierce through the storm and open up a path for your people!" A voice roared through the storm as another clash of weapons created a flurry of sparks. Liara, a little older now, probably sixteen or something, was defending herself against her father''s relentless assault. The sweat made the sand stick to her face, the white cross hidden beneath the dust.
"Pierce, control, and overwhelm!" Liara''s father made his spear spin before smacking its butt on Liara''s forehead, knocking her away. Her feet dug ridges in the sand as she forced herself to stand straight, her sword and spear tightly clenched.
"Your sword will be your shield! To adapt in the face of the raging winds, to protect the defenseless, the weapon of the noble knights of old!" Liara''s father''s sword cleanly cut through the sandstorm, artificially creating a small peaceful zone in the violent sand. Liara''s eyes widened in awe and wonder, but her father couldn''t care less about that.
"Your focus shall be of the same steel that your weapon is made of!" He kicked her violently in the stomach, sending her back into the storm. Liara''s Aura flared up and exploded defiantly. She charged back against her father, her spear flying next to her. Her father stood like a mountain at the top of a dune, his eyes cold and harsh. An unattainable foe, a challenge not meant to be taken.
Liara attacked with all her strength, only for her sword to cut through the air and her spear to be buried in the sand. Her father''s blade was pressed against her neck, signaling the end of the sparring session. The Black Heiress princess fell to her knees, panting heavily.
"You improved. But it isn''t enough," said her father without giving her a second glance. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself up, her legs wobbling beneath her.
"I can still keep going!"
Her father looked at her coldly and shook his head. "No, you cannot. This is the end of today''s martial training."
Liara clenched her teeth tightly before throwing away her sword in frustration. Her father watched from the corner of his eye before sighing and turning away. Liara collapsed on the ground, letting the black sand cover her slightly.
Glenn rubbed his chin. ''It doesn''t look like the first time her father trained her. I mean, it makes sense, considering we''re in the Limbo and she''s the princess of a fallen empire. Strength is mandatory at this point.'' He thought a little harder and changed his mind. ''Well, no, strength should be mandatory for everyone, no matter their status. Who knows when you''ll meet a Doyle Malory or a Thorn''s Church cultist?''
Liara eventually grumbled her way back to the caravan, dragging her feet in the black sand. The sun was hidden by the sandstorm, making it impossible to guess what time of the day it was.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"I can''t give up..." she muttered as she collapsed on a small bunk bed in one of the carriages.
Glenn nodded slowly. ''No can do, Liara. Giving up means death.''
Another Black Heir jumped into the carriage, whistling in awe as he pulled down his hood. "That''s one hell of a storm. Do you think we made the ancestors angry somehow?"
Liara''s golden eyes eyes brightened slightly and she sat politely to welcome her guest. She grabbed a bag filled with dried meat and held it in his direction. "Maybe we did, Salim. Did you come to get some jerky?"
Salim rolled his eyes and sat next to Liara without a care. "...Thank you, but I''ve had enough of this thing for a whole lifetime. Now, why don''t you get rid of that royal mask of yours? I''ve known you all my life, I''m sure we can be casual with each other!"
Liara cocked her head to the side, politely pushing him away. I have to respect my position, Salim. Please do so as well.
Salim exaggeratedly rose to his feet, bowing with the swagger of a stage actor. "Then, if Your Highness permits it, I would like to discuss casually with thy royal blood our measly future...ow!" He jumped back with a grin as Liara kicked him in the leg. Her polite mask was gone, replaced by a bright smile that shone like the sun.
"Why do you keep on teasing me this way, Salim? You know I have responsibilities!"
Glenn frowned. ''Yeah, Salim, why the hell do you bother our Liara? Wait, I''m getting too invested in this. Shit, this feels like watching some sort of show! Damn it!''
Salim shrugged. "Princess of Thalorieth or not, you''re still the same Liara I grew up with. And I''m sure it won''t cost the kingdom''s future if I just try to make Her Highness smile after an arduous training session."
Liara laughed brightly. Glenn''s frown deepened but the scene suddenly changed. The black sandstorm left place to burning carriages under the twin moons'' emotionless gaze. Liara fended off her attacker desperately, blood trickling down her face and blinding one of her eyes. She looked barely younger than when Glenn met her, maybe a year or two. ''This happened not that long ago.''
"Why would you do that, Salim!" She shouted in betrayal, her sword tightly clenched and her spear hovering beside her.
Salim coldly pointed his curved sword at Liara, the mark on his forehead gleaming with a harsh, pale light. "The Black Heirs are over. Our civilization is over. Just give yourself up and you''ll be fine."
Liara clenched her teeth and sent her spear flying forward, aiming straight for Salim''s heart. The latter deflected it with an Aura-covered sword while sending a wave of Mana-charged sand in her direction. She stopped it with her Telekinesis and barely parried his strike.
"Do you know how other people live? Humans, orcs, dwarves, or even the Celestial Gods?" Salim asked coldly.
Liara''s eyes widened and she glanced back at the burning convoy, her father fending off a dozen attackers by himself. "Y- You betrayed us for the Celestial Gods? But they hunt our people! They''ve been stealing our territory for decades!"
Salim shook his head as black sand swirled around him violently. "Our territory? It hasn''t been ours for ages. We''re just nomads who survive thanks to oases and monster meat. And you call that a life?"
The Black Heir spat to the side. "Jin ursin the traditions. Fuck this lifestyle. I don''t give a shit anymore. Do you know what the Celestial Gods promised me?" His expression softened and he withdrew his sword for a moment. "They said we could live together in a palace. Like true kings. We''d have servants, our food would be served on silver platters, and we''d hunt for fun, not survival!"
Liara''s expression crumbled even further. "...So that''s what you were chasing. Me? Salim, I trusted you with my life!" She exploded with Mana and Aura, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You betrayed us, only for some superficial life in a golden cage?"
Thalorieth''s last princess rose her sword with burning fury. "I''d rather die than live with you, xoin!"
Salim''s face turned red with anger and he pointed his sword at her once again. "I gave you my all, spent my entire life living next to you, learning what you like, trying to make you feel better, and pushing you forward! And that''s how you thank me?"
His Aura flared up like burning flames as black sand rose behind him in the figure of a dragon. "Princess or not, today I shall make you submit!"
Liara roared as she charged forward with all her might, only for a figure to kick her to the side. Liara''s eyes widened in horror as she watched Salim stab her father through the heart. He fell to his knees, coughing out blood as Salim stepped back in awe.
"Salim..." Roran Lthalen, the last King of Thalorieth looked up at his murderer with sadness. "I rose like a son...I failed. As a king, and as a father. I''m sorry." He turned weakly to Liara and smiled the same way he would back when she was younger. "I love you, little sun."
A toge-wearing warrior with golden skin beheaded Roran without a hint of compassion. Liara fell to her knees, unable to breathe or act in any way. A Black Heir hurriedly grabbed her and ran away through the night, leaving the destroyed caravan behind. The gold-skinned warrior didn''t bother following them, nor did Salim, whose eyes were stuck on Roran''s headless body.
Glenn silently watched as the scene turned back into darkness, Liara''s memories fading away like a mirage. His fists and teeth were tightly clenched, his lips trembling with anger. He took a long, deep breath and calmed himself down.
"...Salim. At least I know his name." His expression was cold like ice. "The Celestial Gods, too. Before, I fought them only because I was asked to. But now...Now this is personal."
He looked at the void surrounding him and grimaced, his anger fading away. "Well, I''d be more than glad to go fight one-on-civilization against them as soon as I get out of here. Would there be, perhaps, a kind soul who could help do so? Just...pull me out of this mess? Still nobody? I''m really starting to doubt the omniscient part in Gods..."
Glenn chuckled dejectedly. "Oh, who am I kidding? It''s always been me, myself, and somehow, the friends who are insane enough to follow me."
He shook his head slowly. "Look at myself. Why am I always doing these self-pitying acts when I''m in some sort of hallucinatory hole like this one? That won''t do. Glenn, come on, do better than that." He encouraged himself as he searched for an exit with renewed determination. Something was telling him that whatever was behind the reason he watched Liara''s memories, it couldn''t possibly be positive. Something was going on outside with Liara and his body, and it didn''t smell good. His instincts were screaming that much.
''I lost too much time down here. If time even works properly. Felt like an hour top. No matter. Focus, Glenn, focus!''
As if summoned by his determination, a golden line appeared in the darkness. A thin rope that somehow reminded him strongly of Liara. Glenn''s lips curved into a manic smile as he grabbed the rope.
"Finally, the exit. I''m back into action, baby!"
286. Visions
Lina couldn''t believe her eyes. Her mother looked the same as she always did, her auburn hair cut in a practical, no-nonsense way. Without even thinking twice about it, Lina rushed to hug her mother. The latter pulled her into a tight embrace, crying profusely.
"I- How? Why are you hereare you okay?" Her mother grabbed Lina''s face between her hands and examined her from head to toe, the color draining out of her face when she noticed the purple hand.
"Mom, Ithere''s a lot to explain," said Lina as she stepped back while wiping off her snot and tears. Milena carefully stepped into the room, cocking her head to the side curiously.
"Sorry for scaring you at first," smiled Milena kindly.
"Oh, it''s fine, it''s fine. Since you''re with my daughter, I''ll take it you''re not here to slit our throats?" Lina''s mother joked as she tried to hide her reddened eyes the best she could.
"I''m Milena. I''ve been working with your son for a while"
"Glenn is here too! Oh god!" Lina''s mother sat on a nearby chair, overwhelmed. "T- This is too much." She took a deep breath in and lightly slapped her own cheeks. "Sorry, I didn''t present myself. I''m Emily Miller. Thank you so much for taking care of my children." Emily hugged Milena tightly. The latter awkwardly returned it, her cheeks colored with a slight touch of red.
"N- No problem, M''am Miller."
Emily''s face suddenly darkened and she pulled herself away, poking her finger into Milena''s shoulder. "M''am? I''m barely forty, you can still call me Miss."
Milena apologized in a panic, not knowing where to stand. Lina shook her head with an emotional smile.
"Stop teasing her, mom. You''re old enough to be a grandmaow!"
Emily pinched her daughter''s ear. "You little brat." She turned back to Milena and chuckled. "Don''t bother with the honorifics. I wasn''t a fan of them back home, it still hasn''t changed today. Just call me Emily."
Milena nodded slowly, her shame washing away. "...Home? You mean...Earth, right?"
Emily''s eyes widened before quickly filling with understanding. "Lina or Glenn must have told you, then. Yes, I...I suddenly woke up in Satidipug, a broken rope around my neck and strange powers I still struggle to understand."
Lina frowned. "A broken rope...?"
Her mother was about to explain herself when a cry of pain interrupted her. She turned around without a second thought and rushed to the aid of a patient, assisted by a few younger nurses. Milena and Lina exchanged a look before carefully heading deeper inside the cavern. There were many victims, mainly from stab wounds and deep cuts in their flesh. Some had missing limbs and were struggling to hold the pain in as the stumps were cauterized with red irons.
None of the wounded looked like soldiers, yet all their wounds seemed to come from a fight. Milena rubbed her chin, pondering. ''Considering the war going on, could they be conscripted villagers? Why would they need to hide, though?''
Milena kept that question to ask Emily later, whenever the middle-aged woman was freed from her duties. Lina walked around, trying to find some way to be helpful. She brought dirty bandages to hot boiling pots, throwing them inside.
''...Curious. Milady, you and the Young Master both share traits with your mother. It is fascinating to see.'' Tiamanes noted.
Lina scowled as she washed the bloody bandages. ''What did you expect? Most children take from their parents, after all.''
''But, if I trust your memories, you don''t seem to share anything with your father.''
Lina stopped for a moment, looking at her purple hand in silence. ''That''s because he''s not my father. The only thing connecting us is the blood we share, and if I could get it out of my veins and replace it, I would. Let''s not talk about that monster anymore.''
''Absolutely, Milady. Please forgive me if I''ve been touching a sensible subject.''
''...No worries, Tiamanes. No worries.'' Lina focused on her task, trying her utmost to get herself to think about something else.
"Alright Bob, clench your teeth." Emily grabbed the shaft of an arrow piercing her patient''s shoulder and broke the tip off. "I''ll pull it out from your back to avoid internal injuries. Ready?"
Bob nodded weakly, his eyes bloodshot.
"Have strength, Bob. In three. One" She precisely pulled it out before applying her hands to the wound.
"Argh! You said to three!" Bob screamed painfully.
"I lied. Milena, hold him," ordered Emily. Milena obeyed without complaining. Green, soothing light came out of Emily''s hands and washed over Bob''s wounds. The bleeding stopped slowly as the flesh knitted itself back in order. Bob''s face progressively turned paler until his eyes eventually rolled back in their sockets. Milena held him firmly, stopping him from collapsing onto the bunk bed and interrupting the treatment. Emily muttered through her teeth before leaning back, exhausted.
"Good job, you can put him down. Don''t worry, he''s just unconscious from the strain. A bit of rest and some meat, and he''ll be better."
Milena carefully complied before turning toward Emily with curiosity. "You were a healer, Emily? That''s a very rare ability for those who don''t serve Gods."
Emily snorted dismissively. "As if I need some God''s help to treat my patients. I''ve been stitching meat together for twenty years and will continue to do so for twenty more at the very least. This magic power is just making my work easier, even if it''s not infallible."
Emily washed her bloodied hands with a rag, grimacing. "If only they had latex gloves...That''d spare me a world of trouble."
"Aqua Mundare." A ball of water rose above Milena''s hands before wrapping itself around Emily''s. The latter looked in amazement as all the blood and filth disappeared.
"A cleaning spell? You need to teach that to me. Forget about gloves, this is perfect! With it, sterilization would be a walk in the park. I won''t need to worry about nosocomial infections anymore..." Emily''s attention snapped back to Milena. "Could you apply this miracle ball to Bob, please? Wait, thinking about it, I might have a few more areas I need it. That would save me a ton of time."
Milena chuckled lightly. "I''m happy to help, Emily. Just point at what I need to clean. I''ll teach you the spell once everything is a little calmer if you wish?"
Emily gave her a thumbs-up. "You better."
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
After half an hour of hard labor, Lina eventually realized she had been cleaning clothes by hand when she could have done it magically. She almost broke into tears when she saw the pile of cleaned clothes that took her so much effort but caught herself when she heard the grunts of pain from the numerous patients.
Eventually, no patients were in need of Emily''s expert skills, and Milena''s cleaning services were no longer required. The ladies sat around a table, exhausted.
"Is that what it''s like to work in a hospital?" Lina asked wearily. "No wonder you were always so exhausted."
Emily laughed and ruffled her daughter''s hair. Milena crossed her arms and leaned back slightly on her chair.
"Emily, there are a few things I''m curious about."
"I''m sure there are," sighed Emily. "You probably wonder why we''re all hiding here, don''t you?"
Milena smiled awkwardly. "You read my mind."
Emily pressed her hands together and chewed on her lower lip. "The war had already started when I arrived in this world. From what I gathered by asking neighbors and the like, the war started because of a conflict over precious resources."
"We learned as much," nodded Milena.
"Yeah, well, I''m pretty sure that''s not the true reason." Emily chuckled nervously, sweat beading off her forehead. "Nobody in Satidipug ever saw that infamous mine. We only heard the Count''s orders of going to fight for prosperity, for the Satidipug territory, and so on and so forth..."
Emily rubbed her forehead, chasing away a rising headache. "I have been having these...visions. The Count meeting ominous individuals with strange scars on their foreheads, and a tsunami of blood rising as an army of death appeared out of nowhere..." She shook her head. "Sorry, it''s all very cryptic, but"
Milena suddenly grabbed Emily''s hand, her expression serious. "Emily, those scars. Could you describe them to me?"
Emily grimaced, trying to recall what she remembered. "I- I think there was a cross...at the center of a circle of thorny vines, I think. I''m not sure. You know, it''s probably only hallucinations I saw after a hard day of work"
Milena clenched her teeth and hissed: "The damned Thorn''s Church! Those scums are everywhere!" She drew a deep breath. "Emily, these visions you saw were probably very, very real. If the Count of Satidipug is complicit with the cultists, we''re all in for some disastrous consequences."
Emily nodded somberly. "I guessed as much. My instincts kept telling me that the more people died on Retni''s plains, the worse the problem would be. The Count already sent practically everyone who wasn''t part of his close guards to die on the plains, and Eari seemed to reply in kind every time. That''s why I''ve been trying to save and hide people from the conscription." She paused for a moment before adding: "I''m wondering if both aren''t complicit in some sort of nefarious plot."
Milena grunted and pressed her palms against her forehead. ''This is a mess. I need to tell the others.''
She glanced at Lina who was listening very seriously. She couldn''t let Glenn''s sister witness whatever was going to happen here. ''With how many people died, if this is some sort of sacrificial ritual, we''re all fucked. We need to get the hell away from here and with Emily in tow. I can''t let Glenn''s mother die because of a Thorn''s Church plot!''
Emily suddenly froze, her eyes turning glassy and empty. Milena and Lina rushed to the woman''s side, worried, but she returned to herself almost instantly. She looked at Milena and Lina in horror, trembling.
"W- We can''t leave!" She huffed. "Glenn...So those weren''t dreams. He changed a lot. Pinned to a cross, an army of madmen, the Emperor of Blood...!" Emily fell to the side, her consciousness fading away. Lina grabbed her mother in a panic, shaking her gently.
"Mom, Mom, are you okay? Wake up, please!"
Milena pulled Lina away slightly while using Mana Sight to check out Emily''s condition. "Her body is just exhausted. Damn it. We need to regroup with the others and share what we learned. This is too much for us to handle!"
Lina pressed her lips together before hugging her mother. "I- I''ll stay here, just in case. I won''t be of help anyway, right?"
Milena gave her a silent, reassuring smile. "I''ll be back with the others once this is done. Don''t get out of here, alright?" She nervously laughed. "I might not look like it, but I became an expert in dealing with these situations."
Lina silently looked her up and down.
"...You very much look the part, Milena."
Milena looked at herself and forced a grin. "Thank you for that, I guess. Stay safe."
Lina nodded, her eyes steeled with resolve. "You too."
***
Lucian walked with his head held high, the soles of his boots leaving muddy prints on the pristine marble. The Count''s mansion was quite luxurious, even to the Prince''s standards. Finely sculpted statues ornated the hallways alongside beautiful paintings and grand tapestries. Guards wearing Munirp''s finest steel were posted at every corner, their eyes nervously following Lucian''s stroll.
''Count Satidipug... Famous for his incredible merchant skills and equally unbelievable stubbornness. He has three wives and yet no sons, and is the last one of his lineage. He doesn''t have any talent in magic nor combat, and is rumored to be a Gold Church''s devotee.'' Lucian nodded slightly after he finished recalling all the information he had about the Count.
He stopped in front of two grand oak doors. Following the usual Munirp style, they should be leading to the Lord''s hall, where the latter would receive his subjects'' demands and respond to them. Lucian shamelessly pushed the door open, not bothering to announce his presence.
The heavy scent of perfumes rushed to his nose first, right before the drugs settled in. Lucian covered his face with his sleeve as he projected a gust of wind that pushed away the fumes.
"What nonsense is this, Count Satidipug?" Lucian shouted in a commanding tone.
Sitting on a noble throne of precisely sculpted wood, was the Count and his three wives. He was old and decrepit, his eyes blurry and his breath trembling. A large bald spot was appearing on the top of his head, amidst the dirty white hair. He was wearing improper clothes to receive anyone and didn''t seem bothered whatsoever groping his wives before the Prince''s very sight.
"Munirp''s setting sun...?" The Count lowered a lazy eye to look at the emblem on Lucian''s royal vest. "Are you that... Prince, Bernard Lampi warned me about? You came just in time."
Lucian''s eyebrows creased as he stepped toward the Count. "Explain yourself! This is no proper respect of the etiquette, Count!"
Count Satidipug waved dismissively. "Etiquette? What good does respecting it do me?"
A crown of pure Mana appeared above Lucian''s head, brimming with unrelenting power. "Are you rebelling against the Kingdom''s rules, Count?"
The Count languorously french-kissed his wives, running his hands improperly. Lucian frowned and activated his Mana Sight just to make sure of his guesses. Sure enough, these women...
"You noticed, huh?" The Count spoke wearily. "Finally. I have finally managed to pass down my blood."
The Count rose from his throne, leaving his wives'' embrace. "I... have been gifted with commercial genius. In my lifetime, I made Satidipug the most important trade hub in Munirp, making even the Gold Church interested in the city. My most incredible achievement to date was having them installed their headquarters in my city."
He dragged his feet on the marble and stood in front of Lucian, ignoring the pressure the Prince exuded. "I was the most fervent believer of the Gold Church, then. My fortune seemed only to grow, my house relishing in my glory."
The Count sighed heavily. "But...there was still something I couldn''t get, no matter how hard I tried." He glanced back at his wives in satisfaction, revealing the back of his neck to Lucian. A symbol was carved into the skin, a cross at the center of a circle wrapped in thorny vines.
"I was sterile. The most prestigious healers, the best priests of Onnea, even foreign witches... I spent a fortune on these fools only for them to repeat that fact to me. I couldn''t conceive a child. My lineage would die with me." He coughed out a laugh and shook his head. "How ironic. The fortune I spent my life toiling away for would be buried with me, with nobody worth receiving it. How vain."
Lucian took a step back as he felt a strange energy come from the old Count. Something...dirty. Dirty and dangerous.
"At least, that''s how it was until a couple of years back. They came to me with a solution. I would need to sacrifice all I had but in exchange..." The Count''s eyes gleamed as he clenched his fist tightly. "My wish would be fulfilled. And today, I say it proudly: I can die with no shame." His skin bulged as something moved beneath it, slithering like a worm through the Count''s body.
"Even if I sold my soul to the devil itself, at least, my death will serve my name. The House Satidipug..." He stood from all his height, fighting back against old age and proudly raising his chin. His muscles swelled, filling up with disgusting strength. His hair fell off, replaced by wriggling vines. His feet rose from the ground as large vines held him above even the Prince. His head cracked in two parts, vines coming out of his throat incessantly.
"SHALL LAST FOR ETERNITY!"
Lucian planted his feet on the ground, fighting back against the Count''s roar. His crown gleamed with royal strength as he conjured both Dawn and Twilight in each of his hands.
"Another day, another traitor..." he hissed. "Come! Let me show you Munirp''s might!"
287. Final Twilight
Liara''s eyes went from one emaciated face to the other, silently counting. If she didn''t make a mistake, they were half a hundred prisoners chained down the Pit by the Thorn''s Church. Nelg changed back to his human form after slicing through the last slave collar.
"Cough...T- Thank you," said the first prisoner to recover his voice. He was a red-haired human with a tattoo of a weighing scale on his chest.
"Don''t mention it," grumbled Nelg. "As far as I''m aware, everyone down this hole is in the same boat sailing to take revenge on the Thorn''s Church. Am I right?"
The redhead''s eyes darkened and he clenched his fists tightly. A blue Aura exploded around him, finally freed after a long time of being sealed. That same scene repeated with many mages, warriors, and even priests of other religions finally recovering their powers. Liara''s eyes widened at the sight.
''They''re all...so strong. How did so many people become captured by the Thorn''s Church?''
"Wow! That''s a lot of Sahro''s in one place," cursed Nelg as he took a frightened step back. He scratched the back of his head before raising his voice. "Does someone here know how to escape from this hole?"
An old orc approached Nelg, dragging his feet. His muscles, pride of that green-skinned race, had withered away, leaving his limbs gaunt and frail. Still, despite that meager appearance, the senior orc had a bestial feeling to himself, even more as red Aura pulsed out of him with every step he took.
"Cough, cough..." He cleared his throat before pointing his finger at the darkness. "It not eaten yet."
Nelg raised a pleasantly surprised eyebrow. ''An orc that speaks the Common Tongue? He could translate between orcish or whatever is called the orcs'' language and Common Tongue if we ever meet that Decimius back from the Ink Dunes. That''d be fun.''
He shook away these thoughts and focused on the old orc''s words. "It? What are you talking about?"
The redhead from earlier gulped heavily as he glanced back to the shadows. "H- He''s right. I don''t know when, but soon it will eat again. Only the fast runners could escape it before, but now that we have our powers again..." His eyes widened in realization. "Could we try and kill it from the inside?"
The old orc grounded his fangs as he rubbed his chin. "Too big. We only bugs."
Liara watched silently, thankful to not be leading the discussion. ''I don''t know how I would have survived if I didn''t have Nelg around...I''ll have to ask Glenn to reward him for his hard work.''
Nelg took a deep breath, his eyes widening in horror. "Again, what the hell are you talking about? What''s too big? What is supposed to eat us?"
The old orc sighed, struggling to find his words. "Do you see...flowers that eat meat?"
Nelg nodded, the colors draining out of his face in realization. The orc continued, unfazed.
"We in the stomach. Waiting to be...eat."
Liara''s mouth opened up in horror. The ball of light above her head flickered, threatening to go out. ''We''re inside a living being? That means...the enchanted, poisoned vine walls...They''re also part of that massive living being!''
The Black Heiress spun on her feet, her Mana Sight activating to search through the darkness. With her timely ascension to the fifth rank, she could now perceive everything in a much sharper, intricate way. Orcs, humans, and Black Heirs all shone in different, recognizable colors that she couldn''t name. She squinted, her eyes stopping on a point in the distance.
''Is that...?''
Gong!
Before she could understand what she was seeing, the sound of a bell rang through the darkness. The red head, the old orc and all of the other prisoners'' expressions hardened. Aura, Mana and Divinity flared up in a grandiose show of power. Liara instinctively followed the lead of the group, standing her ground alongside them.
Whatever was coming, she would be fighting against it.
"That''s during these occasions that I wish I knew how to fight or something. Why can''t I just use spells like Glenn does? I''d love a Sun for myself, honestly..." Nelg''s grumbles were left unheard as Liara conjured a sword and spear out of physicalized light.
Gong!
The bell rang again, and the ground shook with it. Nelg cursed and got closer to Liara, just in case, while the latter stabbed her sword on the floor to ensure a stable foothold.
"What''s happening?!" Nelg screamed at the old orc. The green geezer had his arms crossed and looked ready to rip through anything that would come his way.
"Not know. Bell only rings once for feed." His red Aura covered his fists, burning with fiery lust for battle. He rose them to the sky, roaring like a lion. "Non timebo!" He turned to the other orc prisoners, who raised their fists in a brotherly manner, similarly pumped up. "Ad gloriam!"
The humans roared with the orcs, even though they couldn''t understand their words. The Black Heirs'' powers also exploded as they stood beside Liara, their eyes burning with desire for revenge and battle. The corner of Nelg''s lips rose nervously.
''This is strangely exciting. A last stand of some sort, huh? What are we even fighting that they''re so stimulated?''
His answer came flying in a distorted mess of bones, flesh, and skin. Vaguely humanoid monsters ran out of the darkness, shrieking in highly pitched screams. Vines were connected to their backs, running back to the unknown darkness. Not a single one of the prisoners hesitated as they threw themselves forward, pummeling the creatures, and destroying them with incredibly powerful attacks.
Nelg didn''t know where to gaze as massive fireballs and gigantic ice balls crossed each other to destroy the weird vine and flesh beasts. The orcs were rampaging with Aura-covered fists at the vanguard, supported by human and Black Heirs melee fighters. A few mages also stood at the rear, their faces taut with anger and hatred as they reduced the creatures to ashes.
"I''m kind of glad we didn''t stick around to find out what''s making those guys so angry about all this..." Nelg muttered as he kept Liara in his line of sight. "I mean, if I get thrown into a prison, I''d be more eager to escape from it than to beat up my jailers. Just my opinion, though..."
Only the sound of battle replied to his gibbers, bones, vines and flesh shredded all alike. The monster''s side was getting destroyed by the incongruous prisoner alliance. Liara suddenly flashed back to Nelg''s side, grabbing him by the hand and throwing him on her spear to ride.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Hey, what the" Nelg only had the time to grab Liara''s waist as her sword shot forward into the darkness, through the increasingly large monsters. Nelg''s eyes widened as Liara''s light magic showed countless monsters creeping into the darkness, waiting for their turn to be slaughtered at the prisoners'' hands.
"Liara, where are we going? Are we fleeing?" Nelg gritted his teeth as Liara made her sword accelerate suddenly. Thorny vines crashed where they were flying the second before chasing them through the air. The light coming off Liara''s lux ball was losing efficiency the deeper they dove into the darkness.
Nelg''s eyes widened as Liara''s sword finally stopped. Her ball of light was barely enough to distinguish an opening in the ground leading even deeper. The walls were fleshy, green meat that oozed with red blood. Liara drew a short breath before jumping down straight into the hole. Nelg only had time to blink before her hand pulled him down with her straight into the maw of the beast.
"AHH!!! WHY ARE YOU TAKING ME WITH YOU???"
Unfortunately, Liara still couldn''t bring herself to break the tradition for Nelg.
***
Lucian coughed a mouthful of blood as he flew through the air, his royal attire shredded by the Count''s attack. He slowed down as he controlled his flight, his crown of orange and magenta light shining brightly with power. He stabilized himself in the sky before spitting to the side in a less than majestic manner.
"Is Munirp truly rotten of a nation to be riddled with so many traitors...?" He pondered aloud as he kept his eyes on the Count''s manor. Soon enough, an abomination of thorny vines and countless eyes broke through its ceiling, its bloodthirsty branches reaching for Lucian.
There was nothing human anymore about the Count. Lucian tried to execute the damned traitor in the middle of his transformation but barely managed to damage him. A massive vine was the culprit for sending him out of the mansion and into the air, where he currently was.
Lucian looked down at the empty streets and similarly unoccupied houses. ''Seems like I don''t need to worry about the citizens getting hurt. I''ll take care of that vine mess and rejoin with the rest of the group.''
The Vine Count roared as he grew to become a massive, walking tree with countless snake-like vines hanging from its branches. The vines kept on snapping in Lucian''s direction like whips, but the Prince deflected each of them with his spells. Orange and purple bursts of light swallowed the vines, reducing them to nothingness.
Lucian carefully retreated, observing his opponent. He hadn''t interacted in person with this sort of energy, but he had heard about it. A vicious, painful thing, hellbent on inflicting the most pain of everything that existed in this world.
The Thorn''s Church. A religion that was barely tolerated when practiced under the rug and without making a noise about it. Officially, the religion wasn''t accepted inside King''s Rise, hence why their churches once dwelled outside each of the four gates. That is until the Black Heirs destroyed them all for one reason or another.
Lucian had vaguely listened to reports of that situation, but he hadn''t paid too much attention to it. There was already a lot to deal with inside King''s Rise''s walls and with the constant threat of the Celestial Gods and the other bastards living beyond the Dark Wall back then.
Today, he was finally confronted with it. A mundane human who once believed in the Gold Church had now turned into an abominable creature serving the God of Pain and Redemption, Epinos.
''I''ll have to give it a closer look after this whole mess. If the Thorn''s Church has abilities to transform people into monsters powerful enough to resist even the might of an Archmagi, that means a royal crusade might be of order. I''ll ask Glenn about it after we find him. I''m sure he knows one thing or two about them.'' Lucian reined in his thoughts and concentrated fully on the monster. The living, walking tree had grown taller and larger than the Count''s mansion and was currently destroying the city.
Roots covered in thorns ripped through houses and streets as the monstrous tree tried moving closer to Lucian. The latter simply flew a little higher, trying to keep a big picture of the situation.
"I still need to do one last check for citizens... Let me see. Quaerite Vita Ostendere!" He guided his Mana through the spell, sending a large wave of magic over the entire city. One of the advantages of being an Archmagi was being able to cast city-wide magics without too much of a struggle. Lucian''s eyebrows rose in confusion as the spell only found a few isolated life forces in a few corners of the town. Even if he hadn''t noticed any citizens previously, at least a few merchants were manning the stalls. Where were they all gone?
The spell suddenly found a massive amount of lifeforce besides the one coming off the mutated Count. There were thousands of people hidden beneath the city, dozens of meters under the ground. They were but a fraction of Satidipug''s original population, which was in the hundreds of thousands. Lucian clenched his fists tightly as he thought back to the battlefield on Retni''s Plains.
"You traitorous fiend..." His crown gleamed with strengthened power as his rage grew. "How dare you collude with the Thorn''s Church, and give up your citizens'' lives for them?" The Prince opened his right hand, aiming it at the giant tree wriggling below.
"I, Lucian Magnus, strip you and your descendants of their titles! Your lands shall be given to the most suitable lord, and your name buried into the mud! Count Satidipug..." Lucian''s eyes turned completely purple. "I hereby sentence you to death."
His crown turned completely purple as all the Mana in the area was sucked into his hand, channeled into the spell. A massive sword of purple light appeared in the sky, even larger and bigger than the mutated Count himself. Lucian emotionlessly lowered his hand, and with it, ordered the sword to fall.
"Final Twilight."
The blade made a roaring sound as it fell onto the tree monster. The latter tried to defend itself by sending vines and branches in the sword''s path, but nothing would stop the Final Twilight from executing its duty. It fell slowly, but the tree monster couldn''t avoid it. Even if it could move around, it was nowhere fast enough to dodge the massive spell.
The sword impaled it from head to toe, exploding in a massive blast that destroyed a good chunk of the city. A large cloud of dust rose from the shockwave as Lucian looked down at the devastation he created. There was nothing left from the Count, his house, or his pregnant wives. Lucian coldly shook his head.
"If he truly believed I would allow his lineage to be continued after this...then he was truly a fool. A desperate, idiotic fool..."
A truly powerful Archmagi could destroy cities if he so wished. The only reason they didn''t do so was because other Archmagis would always stand in the way. As much as they can destroy a city, they can also protect it.
And today, there was no one strong enough to stop Lucian from ridding the world of another traitor to the nation.
''It''ll be expensive to rebuild. I''m not even sure it would be worth it. It will probably be better to relocate the survivors to King''s Rise and draw the curtain on this shameful thing.''
A bolt of red lightning suddenly shot through the air and stopped in front of him, crackling with violent power. Sahro grabbed Lucian''s shoulders angrily.
"You bastard! Why didn''t you call me for that? I barely had the time to notice the thing that you already took it down! Don''t you noble bastards learn how to share?"
Lucian scratched the back of his head. "Well, uhm, I''ll leave the next one to you, Sahro, alright?"
The Black Heir grumbled as he glanced to the side. Milena and Tuleam flew up to them, one standing on a sword in Liara-style, and the other simply with a personal flight spell.
"What the hell was that thing?" Milena exclaimed as she looked down at the damage. "You destroyed an entire district, Lucian!"
The Prince cleared his throat. "No, no, Count Satidipug destroyed everything, and I only put an end to his folly. All of the destruction was his fault and certainly not mine."
Tuleam brushed his seaweed-like hair back. "That retches of Thorn''s Church antics. Seems like you were right, Milena."
Lucian raised an eyebrow in Milena''s direction. "What did you find?"
Milena opened her mouth to reply but a bestial roar interrupted her, shaking the earth and threatening their eardrums. It was a hundred times more powerful than the Count, strong enough to make everyone there shiver in dread. They looked toward the source of the noise.
Milena and Lucian''s faces turned white as they understood where it came from.
The Retni''s Plains.
Where hundreds of thousands of corpses were lying around.
288. Connection
Milena, Sahro, Lucian, and Tuleam all had various reactions when they arrived above the Retni''s Plains'' battlefield. A steel giant tall enough to topple towers was kneeling before the piles of corpses. A meat cleaver suitably sized was planted beside him.
All of the blood from the battlefield was flowing toward him, countless rivers joining into one large stream. The blood, mixed with bones, flesh, and shattered steel, was rising into the air, forming one massive column.
"By the gods..." Milena clenched her dagger tightly, her eyes widening in horror.
Sahro''s face hardened as he silently unsheathed his sword, crimson electricity running up and down his mechanical arm. His fox Raijin hissed defiantly.
"Count Eari...?" Lucian muttered in disbelief as his crown''s light weakened slightly. "What did those savages promise for even you to betray the realm?"
"Oh-ho, what do we have here?" Tuleam scratched his chin curiously, unfazed. "I''ll bet my left hand on some sort of Corruption." He turned to Lucian and grimaced. "I am not a fighter, though. I''ll just skim out of the way, don''t worry about it"
"Tuleam Manalok," suddenly declared Lucian without taking his eyes off the steel giant, "Revel in joy and pride, for you have been drafted to fight for your Kingdom."
"Ah, damn it, I knew I should have stayed at the mansion..." Tuleam sighed heavily as Mana swirled around him.
Sahro pushed him to the side as he stepped forward, his muscles tensing up. "If you don''t want to fight, just get out of the way, scholar. I''ll take care of this by myself!"
Tuleam raised an eyebrow. "That was an option?"
A fluctuating mass of magenta light appeared in Lucian''s hand, brimming with destructive power. "No, it''s not. Get ready to f"
The steel giant grabbed his meat cleaver and swung it back at them, ripping through the ground and the corpses in his way. Gore and mud flew as the group split to avoid the attack. Sahro disappeared in a blink, already closing in the distance with the giant like a red thunderbolt. The steel giant''s eyes followed him, but he did not try to stop the Black Heir''s attack.
Tuleam grumbled a few spells up, magic circles forming in his back. Milena was cursing the situation to death as she imitated the seaweed-haired researcher, casting her illusion sorcery in an attempt to control the giant.
"Final Twilight will be too slow... Hmf, Dusk Wave!" Lucian clamored as he released his spell upon the steel monster. Shadows swallowed the battlefield, encroaching on its massive, steel legs and pulling him down. The giant first blocked Sahro''s attack with his palm while throwing his cleaver at Tuleam. The latter cursed, forced to abandon the magic circles he had painstakingly created.
"Damn it, ruffian Black Heir, protect me and I might get the opportunity to be useful!" He screamed at Sahro, who was retreating after failing to do any sort of damage to the giant. The Black Heir scowled and rushed forward again while keeping Tuleam in his line of sight.
Lucian didn''t let go of the giant, his shadows grabbing and pulling him down relentlessly. The giant broke through the shadows defiantly while grabbing a handful of corpses lying around. He threw them at Tuleam once again, strangely focused on the researcher. Tuleam was about to dodge and give up on his magic circles again, but Sahro suddenly appeared and fended off the projectiles with one large swing of his sword. The sound of thunder echoed through the battlefield as a bright red flash consumed the corpses.
Milena pressed her hands together softly, muttering under her breath. A wave of Mana pulsed out of her, directed at the steel giant. The latter suddenly snapped in her direction, raising a fist to try and crush her, but stopped midway.
It didn''t have eyes, but if Lucian had to interpret it, it looked like the monster had suddenly fallen asleep.
"Now!" Milena screamed as sweat beaded down her forehead.
Sahro took his fox form as he drew his blade back, the components of his prosthesis turning searing red. "Akai..."
Lucian''s crown turned a little darker. He outstretched his hand, whispering. "Final Twilight." A sword as large as the giant himself appeared above the latter''s head. Tuleam exhaled slowly and pointed his finger at the monster.
"Burn." The magic circles behind him lit up with bright, blue flames that came crashing down on the steel giant. The metal melted, weakening from the powerful heat. Milena gasped, her illusion breaking. The giant roared painfully, but he didn''t even get to make a move when a red lightning bolt shot past him.
"...Raijin." Sahro exhaled as the fox''s tail and ears disappeared. The giant fell forward, his waist separated from its chest. Lucian pointed his finger down, and the Final Twilight obeyed his command, falling like the executioner''s blade. The collision created a massive explosion, reducing a good chunk of the battlefield to ashes.
Silence took over the battlefield as the dust settled. There was nothing left of the giant, not even a trace.
"This certainly is an excellent spell," remarked Tuleam. "Comparable to the Final Twilight of your father when he was your age. Alaric birthed a remarkable descendant."
Milena''s eyes widened in awe. "You know the King himself?"
Tuleam scoffed. "There''s only one Restoration Operator. Of course, I know him. I fixed most of the shit he found back when he was more...adventurous."
Sahro sheathed his sword and joined up with them. "Another monster dead. It''s unfortunate that I couldn''t use the opportunity to break through to the next level."
Lucian laughed nervously. "Well, don''t worry too much. I''m sure you''ll get another try for that." He pointed behind them.
The massive column of blood and gore was still standing, growing taller and larger. It split in two, forming a large, tall gate made entirely of blood. Sahro felt a shiver crawl down his back and instinctively drew his sword back out.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Someone came through the gate, their features hidden beneath a cheap hooded robe. They were followed by a couple of others like them, until dozensno, hundreds walked through the gate. Slaves wearing only sacs on their heads followed suit, pulling on thick, heavy chains. A metal sarcophagus oozing out with blood.
Other slaves were carrying a large wooden structure on their backs. It wasn''t until the slaves hoisted it upright that Lucian''s group realized what it was.
A cross within a circle wrapped in thorny vines.
The Thorn''s Church.
"Shit, we were too late. These damned fanatics...!" Milena cursed.
Sahro squinted, his mouth opening up slightly in shock. There was someone crucified on the cross.
His left hand was tainted with a very familiar purple.
"...Glenn?" Lucian stole the words out of his mouth.
More and more Thorn''s Church cultists came out of the gate until they brought a gigantic bell. The cultists rang it up, the gong echoing through the battlefield ominously. Something so wide it struggled to fit through the gate replied to the call. It was absolutely massive. It was green like a plant, and countless thorny vines were hanging off it.
"Not even the King''s orders will force me to fight that thing..." Tuleam muttered.
Lucian chuckled tensely. ''What am I even supposed to say now?''
***
Liara clenched Nelg''s wrist tightly as they dove deeper into the Pit. Nelg was screaming his lungs out, trying to escape from the Black Heiress'' iron grip, to no avail. Liara drew a short breath right before his feet slammed back onto the ground. Nelg wheezed, throwing her accusatory glares.
They had landed on some sort of green cushion oozing with blood. Thorns dripping in poison rose without a sound to meet them. Liara took a step back as pure light appeared in her hand. She thrust forward, piercing through the vines and darkness with a destructive ray of light.
Nelg closed his mouth, swallowing back the insults he was about to throw at her.
"G- Good job! Now, would you mind sharing in some way why you brought me down here?"
Liara pointed at her chest, where her heart was beating, and then pointed back into the darkness. This place was plunged into the same darkness the Pit was, making her light magic necessary. Nelg frowned in confusion.
"There''s another Liara there? Are you sure?"
Liara looked at him wordlessly before walking away into the darkness, her boots making moist sounds with each step she took. Nelg grumbled and hurriedly joined up with her. They ran through the darkness, the Black Heiress leading the way deeper into the green, fleshy hallway.
Vines lashed at them incessantly, but those hitting Nelg didn''t do much to harm him while Liara simply burned the rest without effort. They could still hear the battle between the prisoners and the vine monsters above them, but the sound was dulled.
They eventually arrived in an area with light, dark red light that Nelg saw for the second time with his own eyes, and the third time counting Glenn''s memories. The beating of a heart made them stop for a moment.
Hanging in the center of the room, connected to countless vines, was one large, veiny, disgusting Heard of Darkness.
"Ahhh, that''s what you meant by pointing at your chest," realized Nelg belatedly. He pinched the tip of his nose, uncertain. "Shouldn''t there be some sort of defenses to protect thisoh, no, never mind, I don''t want to jinx..."
A creature made entirely out of vines similar to a spider rose from the ground, black beady eyes gleaming in the dark red light of the Heart of Darkness. Liara glared at Nelg silently.
"S- Sorry, I just can''t help itWow!" He threw himself in front of Liara, receiving the brutal vine from the spider in his place. He flew to the back of the room, bouncing off the wall. Liara concentrated sharply as the spider snarled and shot for her, countless vines following it. Liara''s bird Whitey chattered in her ear before turning into a small ball of light. Pure wings unfurled in Liara''s back as she charged against the spider, weapons of light in her hands.
The spider rolled to the side with surprising agility while spitting out venom at its opponent. Liara''s sword burned the poison away while her spear chased the creature, aiming for its chest. The blade of light burned a fiery hole through the vines, but the spider didn''t seem to care whatsoever as she bit down on Liara''s arm.
The Black Heir yelped painfully as she tried and failed to pull her hand back. She gritted her teeth and cleaved through the spider''s head, beheading her. The head transformed into shriveled vines falling off her chewed-through arm. She ran her Aura through the damaged flesh, knitting it up at a visible rate.
The spider stepped back, its head growing back in a matter of seconds. The creature shrieked violently and rushed at her once more, its vines wriggling like tentacles. Liara didn''t let it scare her and instead countered with a bar of pure white light. The spell carved through the vines like a hot knife through butter, but it grew back all the same;
Nelg pushed himself up, squinting to try and comprehend the fight before him. Liara was reducing the spider to ashes easily, but new vines replaced the burnt ones every time. The Black Heiress doubled with her efforts, but it was like filling a barrel riddled with holesit was a never-ending endeavor.
Liara snapped and created a large ring of light covering the entire room, burning every vine. The spider shrieked painfully, before curling up and letting itself die. Liara heaved as she kept the ring of white light on, making sure no other seemingly immortal creatures would appear.
"I- Is it?" Liara sent a spell in Nelg''s face before he could finish his sentence, stopping him before he said something he would regret later on. She sighed and looked at the Heart of Darkness, her spear of light tightly clenched. She stopped before it and raised her weapon when something caught her hand.
"Liara!" Nelg shouted but Liara flew through the air, a vine piercing through her stomach and another strangling her. Her ring of light shone brighter than ever, yet the vines simply refused to catch on fire this time.
The Black Heiress roared as she ripped the vines with her bare hands, the colors draining out of her face at a visible rate. A red creeper* humanoid stood unflinching as his arm reformed. He kicked Liara away before she could counter and whipped a vine at her. She instinctively used her sword of light to try and parry the blow, but she was knocked away once more, failing to cut through it.
Nelg''s eyes darted between the two, panicked.
''Shit, shit, what can I do? The battle is too fast for me, I can''t even move in time to block the blow for her. Can I try changing into a weapon and let her use me? But...'' The very idea disgusted him. Only Glenn could use him because he was Glenn and Glenn was him. To let someone else use him was wrong.
He shook his head and turned into a weapon, rushing for Liara''s hands. It didn''t matter. His personal feelings didn''t matter. He wasn''t about to let Liara die because he couldn''t bear letting her wield him. Liara''s eyes shone as her fingers wrapped on the rough handle. She swung the sword expertly, cleanly cleaving through the vine humanoid from one part to the other. Her Mana and Aura ran through Nelg, strengthening him with a power comparable to Glenn''s.
The humanoid creeper fell to the ground helplessly, but the Heart of Darkness wasn''t done. A dozen of the creatures rose from the ground, lashing their limbs at the ground like whips. Liara took a deep breath and stepped back. Nelg instinctively changed his form to fit Liara''s purpose, to fit what she had in mind.
In that one moment, the connection the Nelg shared with Liara was the same as he had with Glenn.
A spear of rustling white metal appeared in Liara''s hand, shining like a divine weapon blessed by light. The Black Heiress exhaled, relaxing her entire body. She forgot about her injuries, about the poison running through her veins, or even the taboos she had respected all her life. The wings in her back shone with the same light her spear did, and a crown of white steel appeared above her head.
"Baldur''s Skyfa!" Her spear exploded with power. She pierced forward with the most powerful blow of her life.
A bright flash of white swallowed the room. Nelg dropped out of Liara''s hands and hurriedly turned back into a human, gasping and clenching his chest. Whatever the feeling he was experiencing was, it was nothing like he expected.
Liara dropped to her knees, her strength drained.
Before her, a massive hole was letting the sun shine its light into the damp room.
And for some reason, she could hear the sound of battle raging coming from it.
But no matter.
They had won.
She coughed as her consciousness faded away, the poison taking over her body.
"I think I can afford a nap..."
289. A Dark Elfs Pride
Time left before Liara destroys the Pit''s Heart of Darkness: fifteen minutes.
The Thorn''s Church cultists stood silently, their dark, cheap clerical robes drawn over their heads. Glenn''s head bobbed left and right as the cross he was crucified on swerved to the side slightly. The metal sarcophagus they previously dragged out of the portal with that towering, green monstrosity suddenly opened up. A bloodied hand grabbed the ledge of the sarcophagus, pulling itself out.
Milena and Tuleam instinctively took a step back while Sahro and Lucian readied their most powerful attacks. The very sight of that tainted hand sent waves of dread through their beings. It couldn''t even compare to the big plant-looking abomination.
"Ah...Munirp, at last." The Thorn''s Church''s Pope got out of the sarcophagus, covered in blood. He left bloody footsteps in his wake as he marched to the front of his cultist army.
"Does anyone here know teleportation? I wouldn''t be against a timely tactical retreat..." Tuleam muttered. He glanced back and sighed heavily when he realized that none of his companions intended to flee the fight.
"I think this warrants royal intervention." Lucian exhaled slowly. "Buy me a couple of minutes. I''ll call my father''s forces. This is at the level of a country conflict, after all."
Even as they spoke, more and more cultists were coming out of the blood portal. An unending flow of manpower that didn''t pale in the face of all the dead already on the battlefield. The few scavenger monsters who thought they could enjoy an easy meal fled, burrowing in the ground far from the conflict.
"A ritual of this size..." Milena''s face drained out of colors as she realized. "My grandfather told me about this. Hundred of thousands of bodies, and countless priests to help channel the energy."
A bead of sweat dropped from her eyebrow. "It''s a summoning ritual."
Sahro''s eyes didn''t leave the Thorn''s Church troop. "To summon what?"
"That many sacrifices...That can only be one thing." Milena gulped. "Their God himself."
"It all points to that, yes. Can I leave, now? Your Highness?" Tuleam pleaded as he grabbed Lucian''s sleeve. The latter shrugged him away and grabbed a necklace hidden beneath his shirt.
"My friends, Tuleam, please try and stop the ritual while I call for help. I''ll join in right after I sent the distress call."
Red electricity ran all over Sahro as his fox Raijin fused with him again. "Say no more, Prince."
The Black Heir shot off into one bolt of crimson lightning, aiming for the most powerful presence on the battlefield. The man covered in blood.
"Pest. Kneel." The bloody man snapped in Sahro''s direction. The latter crashed on the ground, his face buried into the mud. Milena gasped. She had been a moment''s away from following in Sahro''s footsteps and rushing at the bloody man.
"I am the Pope of the Thorn''s Church. Your time is not worth mine, vermin." The Pope crossed his arms behind his back as he stepped toward the giant green monster. Sahro gritted his teeth and allowed his energy to burst outward explosively. A glance from the Pope was enough to silence him.
"Kugh! M- Move...!" Sahro foamed at the mouth, struggling with all his might.
Tuleam''s expression hardened as a couple of magic circles appeared behind him. He revealed his true power, the might of an Archmagi. The seaweed-headed researcher felt half of his Mana reserve disappear, an occasion so rare it deserved to be mentioned. The Pope turned to look at Tuleam, but Milena stood in his way. She used her illusions on him, only for her knees to give up under her weight.
Her face sank into the mud and blood of the battlefield alongside Sahro''s. Tuleam''s magic circles shattered, but he didn''t succumb to the Pope''s pressure. He stood with his head held high, sweat drenching his back. The Pope raised a singular eyebrow before lazily raising a finger dripping with blood and pointing it at him.
"Kneel, Archmagi." His voice was a command that couldn''t be ignored. Tuleam''s knee crashed into the ground. His head bowed against his will, his posture frozen obediently.
The Pope walked up to Lucian, who was still tightly clenching his necklace, sweat covering his face.
"The blood of the enemy... The Magnus blood... " The Pope''s hand suddenly shot for Lucian''s throat, grabbing and lifting him. The necklace dropped from Lucian''s hands, the chain broken. He clawed at the cultist''s wrist, conjuring his Mana to no avail. A crown flickered above his head, but the Pope hurled him to the floor with enough force to shatter the spell. Thorny vines appeared around the Pope''s bloody body, tightening against his skin and drawing out more and more blood.
"By the will of our Lord, Suffer."
Lucians back arched as if pulled by unseen strings. His eyes flew open, pupils shrinking to pinpricks. His limbs spasmed, jerking against the ground with unnatural, jarring movementsas if his own body had turned against him. His fingers twisted back too far, almost snapping.
The Pope clasped his hands behind his back and watched his work for a few minutes, satisfied. He turned away from the green, gigantic monstrosity and raised his hand.
"Ancient Beast, fruit of the union of our Lord and the Unnamed One, please feed.." He slammed his fist against the massive bell nearby. A deafening gong rang through the battlefield, loud enough to wake even the dead. A low, grave sound rumbled from the Ancient Beastnot a roar, but something deeper, something wrong. It was a low, guttural resonance like the earth itself groaning under unbearable noise.
With the Pope''s attention turned away, Sahro managed to push himself up slightly, just in time to watch as countless vines slithered across the ground, through the mud and piles of corpses.
"By the ancestors, what hayil is this...?" His horror only grew when the vines, acting like tentacles, grabbed the corpses and dragged them back to the top part of its body. Sahro could put his hand to the fire that an opening was laying at the peak of the monstrosity, a gigantic mouth waiting to be fed the Retni''s Plains in its entirety.
''I need to stop this...'' Sahro drove his fist into the mud, his muscles tightening as he pushed against the pressure. ''I need...to get up!''
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
His Mana and Aura flared up as if to reply to his desire. They burned like a forest fire, consuming all the strength in the Black Heir''s body. Sahro''s fox, Raijin, appeared before his eyes, hissing encouragingly. Sahro looked at his friends crushed on the ground, at Glenn pinned to a cross for everyone to see, and at this monstrous Pope.
Since his breakthrough to the fourth rank in Aura and Mana, Sahro had failed to find any clue to the next level. Even though he somehow smashed the two energies together, and was rewarded with Raijin, he still considered Aura and Mana to be two disassociated things. Like oil and water, they could be put together in one reservoir, but not truly mix.
That had been his mistake.
The mistake of every Black Heirs.
Sahro''s forehead shone with bright white, his Inheritance Sigil finally working toward its true purpose. Raijin faded into his master''s body, infusing him with potent crimson lightning. Sahro slowly pushed himself up, breaking off the Pope''s pressure. His Mana and Aura combined, one taking over the other.
The key was in imbalance. One would always be stronger than the other.
He only used his Mana to empower his sword, even though he could use it like Glenn to create projectiles or throw thunder down at his enemies.
But that wasn''t who he truly was.
''I am a Black Heir.'' Black clouds obscured the sky. Sahro''s energy shot past the Fifth Circle or the Fifth rank of Aura. It was already touching the realms of Saint and Archmagis.
''I am pride.'' The Pope frowned and turned back to the Black Heir.
"Pointless struggle. I want you to watch as our God descends into the Savior''s body, so... KNEEL!" The Pope''s command made every cultist obey, their knees buried in the mud and their foreheads pressed against the ground.
But the Pope could only watch as the Black Heir exploded with otherworldly strength. His ears elongated and his skin darkened, his eyes gleaming with crimson power.
A race supposed to have been extinguished by the gods after their transgression. The sworn enemy of the Thorn''s Church.
"I am...Sahro Sand..." He grabbed his sword as his prosthesis shook, the components crumbling away. "And I will not...KNEEL TO YOU!"
His roar exploded like a shockwave, shaking off the Pope''s influence entirely. The latter took a wary step back, a whip of thorny vines appearing in his hand.
"Impossible. The Lord cannot fail. Your existence itself is a blaspheme to the skies!" The Pope''s condemnation went on deaf ears. Sahro''s strength only kept on climbing, the white mark on his forehead turning into a different color.
A violent, electrical red.
Sahro could feel his energy. It wasn''t Aura, nor was it Mana. It was both, yet not the same. It was beyond them.
An ancient strength... A strength that could only be described as Primal.
Sahro clenched his sword softly as his power rushed through the weapon. The crackling electricity made the blade searing red.
In all his might, the Black Heir stood, a bolt of red lightning in his hand.
"I killed the last of the dark elves, I followed the Gods'' orders? You cannot exist!" The pope screamed as he lashed his whip violently at Sahro. The battlefield exploded from the might of the attack, the ground rupturing and the piles of bodies flying above. Sahro''s foot slid back slightly, and with a movement that he repeated hundreds of thousands of times...
He cut.
The Pope''s eyes widened and he hurriedly stepped in front of his troops, his whip extended in front of him. A red horizontal line appeared in the air, thin like a sheet of paper. The world flashed red for an instant, and the whip in the Pope''s hand broke in two. A deep gash appeared on his chest, exposing the bones and beating heart beneath.
Silence reigned over the battlefield.
Tuleam and Milena picked themselves up, staring at Sahro with unveiled awe. The Black Heir stood proudly, red electricity shooting out of him and hitting the ground. The black clouds in the sky rumbled in a low sound, until, eventually...
Boom!
The thunder rang.
The Thorn''s Church army flew back, blasted away by the impact of Sahro''s attack. The Pope roared as countless vines from his Ancient Beast rose from the ground and took the brunt of the assault. The gigantic green monster shrieked painfully as a massive crevasse appeared on its body, red blood flowing out like from a fountain.
The corner of Sahro''s lips curved upward even as he collapsed on himself, his energy drained and his consciousness fading away. His signature red electricity dissipated as Raijin rubbed its tiny head against his. As soon as the shock was passed, Milena rushed to Sahro''s side to verify his condition.
"What in the seven Gods was that...?" She muttered as she pressed her ear against his chest. His heart was still beating, as reliable as ever, unlike Glenn''s heart. Thankfully, it seemed like Sahro was only exhausted. She activated her Mana Sight, unable to believe her eyes as she found a power equivalent to a Saint''s in his chest.
''Wasn''t he at the fourth rank? How did he jump ranks likeno, what even is this?'' Her awe only deepened when she realized that Sahro''s power was nothing like Aura. Or Mana, for that matter.
''It looks...and feels like Aura, but...different. Stronger. More violent. Almost beast-like.''
Milena sighed softly. She pushed herself up and glanced at Lucian. Tuleam was kneeling next to him, a small magic circle hovering above the Princes chest. The latter was still contorted in pain, his face progressively turning from red to purple.
Sorry, but that might feel a little weird said the researcher through his teeth. He clenched his fist tightly and rotated it counterclockwise. Lucians eyes popped wide open and his skin turned back to a normal color. It was as if his condition had been reversed to before receiving the Popes curse.
Tuleam leaned back and coughed heavily in his hands. He frowned when the realization that he was spitting blood settled in.
Im never getting out of the house again Tuleam grumbled. He slipped his shoulder under Lucians arm and pulled him up. He glanced at Milena and nodded sternly, before flying away without a second of hesitation.
Milena hoisted Sahro onto her shoulders, her heart clenched, hoping not to be noticed by the mad Pope. The latter clutched at his bleeding chest and staggered back, the wound caused by Sahro not closing. The flesh wouldn''t heal - no, it wouldn''t heal. The remnants of Sahro''s Primal energy continued to consume his flesh, destroying his tissues and scarring the Pope forever.
The forbidden power Blasphemy! The Popes eyes were practically jumping out of their sockets. I will execute the Gods will before he
His knees caved in suddenly as thorny vines pierced through his eyes and ears. He pressed his bleeding hands together in a prayer, listening intently with his head turned to the sky.
Milena hurriedly jumped away, flying on Sahros sword in a desperate attempt to escape. She needed to put Sahro in a safe place, then return to rescue Glenn from the hands of the cultist.
Shit, shit, shit! The Pope is strong enough to crush me with a gaze! Milenas thoughts were racing in search of a solution. How am I supposed to save Glenn?
The moment she had that thought, a figure flew past her. The short glance she managed to catch made her almost stop and double-check. An armored knight, with a red cape embroidered with Munirps setting sun. Two rapiers were resting at his waist, and a large cut ruined a pristine chest plate.
The knight stopped in front of the army of cultists, evaluating the situation swiftly. He grabbed a necklace hanging from his neck and approached it from his helmet.
Your Highness, the Prince was correct in calling for assistance. This is a level seven, maybe eight threat.
A voice reached out from beyond the necklace, sighing.
...I see. Take care of this, Harriet. I need to block the Celestial Gods and find an alternative to the Dark Wall.
Harriet bowed his head respectfully. Your wish is my command, Your Highness.
The amulet shone softly.
Show them Munirps might, Harriet. Show them what happens when the Kings Blade is drawn out.
Harriet, the Kings Blade, nodded slowly.
Without further ceremony, he unsheathed his pair of rapiers.
290. Divine Descent
Milena adjusted her hold over Sahro and pushed herself to go faster, the sword she was flying on piercing through the air. She was closely following behind Tuleam, who was similarly transporting Lucian, only he required no sword to fly.
They were headed straight for Satidipug, where they would hopefully be able to find a refuge to hide Sahro and Lucian.
''I''m almost certain Tuleam has no intention to go back to fighting. I''ll have to find a way to convince him to help me save Glenn from the cultists!'' Milena gritted her teeth when suddenly Tuleam disappeared in front of her. She stopped instinctively, hovering in mid-air. She squinted, activating her Mana Sight to try and find out where Tuleam had run to, but it was as if a giant veil had fallen from the sky.
''A giant veil?'' Milena paused and flew back slightly, her eyes widening. She bit on her lip and slowly approached the veil, pushing her hand against it. Surprisingly, she didn''t feel anything.
"Oh." Emboldened, she dashed through the veil and continued toward Satidipug.
It was only when the sound of fighting and the ringing bell reached her ears that she understood she had somehow backtracked to the Retni''s Plains.
Milena cursed and flew close to the ground, clenching Sahro tightly.
''A veil, a veil...What did grandpa say already...?'' Milena scraped her memories with her grandfather for an explanation, all while watching a fight between two beings that simply couldn''t be considered humans anymore. Harriet the King''s Blade and the Pope of the Thorn''s Church were in the middle of an explosive battle that was impossible to follow with the naked eye. Even Milena, with her enhanced eyesight and the magic power of Mana Sight, could hardly understand what was going on.
She looked away and gritted her teeth. ''Something that messes with my senses? But I could see it...Spatial isolation?'' The idea made the colors drain out of her face. Everything related to spatial magic was closely monitored by the Magi Brotherhood and the powerful noble families. The only case of spatial isolation that she heard about was from Glenn and Sahro, ironically.
And it was during their encounters with the Fallen Mother.
''Does the Fallen Mother''s clergy cooperate with the Thorn''s Church? Why? No, that doesn''t matter. Change of plans.'' Milena flew as far from the battlefield as the spatial barrier allowed her to and searched for a good hiding place. She hid Sahro in a burrow, hoping that it''d be enough to keep him away from all the danger.
She thought back to the fight between the Pope and Harriet and clenched her head.
"How am I supposed to help Harriet...? He''s a legend, and I''m...sigh." She slapped her cheeks and stood up with renewed determination. The more she thought about it, the less likely it seemed that she would be able to help Harriet fight the Pope. What she could do, though, was worm her way through the cultists'' minds and somehow rescue Glenn. Whatever they did to him to put him in such a peaceful state, she''ll undo it. With Glenn at their side, they will certainly be able to turn the fight in their favor.
"And I''m sure he''ll be more than overjoyed to be fighting these cultists..." She muttered to herself with a small smile. Her decision was made, she flew away to the edge of the forest and meters away from the bloody battlefield, observing the situation. The Ancient Beast, as the Pope called it, was still feeding on the corpses scattered on the Retni''s Plains. The wound Sahro carved in its flesh was still bleeding profusely, but it didn''t seem to be enough to truly harm the plant monstrosity.
She glanced at the cultists and shivered at the sight. They were thousands, maybe tens of thousands. And all of them were kneeling with the Ancient Beast''s vines wrapped around them, facing the crucified Glenn. She could see the Divine power of the Thorn''s Church without using her Mana Sight, due to how thick and violent it was.
Reality itself seemed to tremble around Glenn as he received the attention of so many priests. Milena clutched her daggers and drew a deep breath.
''They''re trying to make Epinos descend into Glenn''s body.'' She squinted, using Mana Sight to check on the most powerful individuals. It wasn''t easy, but she eventually found a couple of level six priests who were concentrated on redirecting their lower-ranked priests'' energy toward Glenn. There was only one individual who didn''t seem too concerned with what was going on. A knight wearing dark steel armor and leaning on a massive great sword.
The knight was slightly less powerful, his energy coming off to be around the fifth or sixth level. ''Looks like Aura, but mixed with Divinity. I should have guessed. Hmm...''
Milena sheathed her daggers and extended her hands in front of her, clenching the air.
"Per potentiam hereditatis meae, obvela me velo tuo et fac me invisibilia." Her Mana moved according to the incantation. The air solidified under her fingers, and with one swift motion, she pulled the air around her shoulders. Milena disappeared beneath the invisibility cloak spell, the world changing to accommodate her discrete passage.
She maintained her concentration as she crossed the battlefield, avoiding the best she could the fight between Harriet and the Pope. Explosions shook the ground randomly, threatening to go off near her at any point, but she continued channeling the spell and getting closer to the enemy lines. She allowed herself a small sigh of relief when she approached the closest cultist.
''Finally safe from becoming collateral damage,'' she thought. A moment later, an entire row of cultists disappeared as a massive rapier plowed through it. The Pope''s roar made her fall to her knees and almost let go of the camouflage spell, but she managed to barely hold on.
''...By Onnea.'' She practically ran through the cultists'' ranks, her heart beating faster and faster. She looked up, her hopes rising when she saw that she was closer to Glenn. The latter was completely unconscious, his head hanging down limply. His hands and feet were bleeding from the thorny vines maintaining him on the cross, but aside from that, he didn''t appear to be injured critically.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
''Alright, almost there'' A gauntlet of dark steel appeared in her vision, seizing her head and throwing her onto the ground. Milena gasped as the air was pulled out from her lungs, her spine crackling from the shock.
"...A rat showed itself during the ritual." Stormblade dragged his greatsword into the ground, a dark-green Aura flaring up around him.
Milena forced herself up, wiping the blood off her lips. Her camouflage spell was gone, and her self-confidence had completely shattered.
''An Expert Magi against a Crusader who''s halfway a Saint?'' She unsheathed her daggers dejectedly, trying hard to keep up a determined expression.
This wasn''t a fight she could win.
"It would have been so much simpler had I just captured that brat back then," spat Stormblade. "Our Lord would have already descended on this miserable world, and shown everyone his blessing!"
Milena dug through her memories to try and copy Glenn''s wit. "S- Sure, keep talking, tin can. Y- You know what? I- I''ll let you live if you just get out of my way!"
Stormblade scoffed. "At least try to be convincing. Now die, heretical scum!"
Milena jumped back in a hurry, using her illusion powers to create dozens of copies of herself that darted off in different directions. Stormblade grunted and sent flying blades of Aura in every direction, destroying the illusion and almost beheading Milena. She slid right beneath the knight and slammed her palm against the cold armor, trying to take control of what was hiding beneath it.
"Suffer!"
Foreign memories of hundreds of tortured corpses appeared in her mind, all screaming at her vengefully, clawing at her with violent desires. She coiled back painfully, the vision disappearing. Stormblade grabbed his helmet and threw it away in frustration, wobbling in place.
Milena ignored the searing headache that came from using her mind control ability and stabbed her dagger into Stormblade''s neck, only to realize that there was no "neck" to be stabbed. Only a messy amalgam of vines using green tentacles-like extensions to control the armor like a puppeteer''s strings. She did manage to slice up a vine, but it quickly grew back with no apparent damage.
"Ugh...Worthless witch!" Stormblade roared as he erratically swung his fist around, catching Milena with the backhand. She flew into the air, her consciousness almost fading away. A sharp pain in her back returned her to peak capacity. A sword flew up from the battlefield to land beneath her feet and she flew away toward the two level six priests maintaining the ritual.
Her senses had never been sharper. It was like she could see every little detail, from the mud on a cultist''s robe to the bead of sweat on the head priest''s forehead. Stormblade shouted at her but she ignored him and grabbed the head of the first level six priest.
She heartlessly erased everything into the man''s head, effectively turning him into a vegetable. Normally, it would have been impossible, but the priest''s entire strength was concentrated on maintaining the ritual. The sudden imbalance created a distortion in power and reality began to warp around Glenn. Hundreds of small Rifts opened on the already unstable battlefield, thanks to the fight between the Pope and Harriet.
Pale, otherworldly hands began to reach out and grab everything they could, pulling cultists into the Rifts. Milena should have felt a shot of adrenaline and excitation at the sight, but strangely, she could only coldly calculate her next move. Stormblade''s sword dawned upon her but she threw the level six, mindless priest at him. The dark knight stopped his attack at the last second, cursing profusely. His armor fell off as a strange being made entirely out of intertwined vines came out of it. He was practically a beacon of Divine energy from the Thorn''s Church.
"YOU BITCH!" Stormblade''s scream echoed through the battlefield as his dark green exploded violently. Milena coldly pressed her hands on the ground and closed her eyes, her Mana rising like an unstoppable wave.
"Per potentiam hereditatis meae, ad voluntatem meam inclina, et in velo tuo protege me!" Her Mana ran through the battlefield and seized hundreds of priests. Milena felt a hot liquid dripping out of her nose and ears but she kept her focus on her opponent. All the cultists affected by her spells suddenly stopped channeling the energy for the ritual, instead unsheathing their weapons and stumbling toward Stormblade like zombies.
Milena stepped back into the horde, letting them throw themselves at the dark knight. The latter swung his sword angrily, cleaving through a good chunk of his assailants, but more replaced those killed.
"Tricks! You will not escape, witch!" Stormblade jumped above the tsunami of cultists trying to kill him, readying his sword for a powerful downward swing. Milena felt a new pain in her back and something rips through her clothes. Two new metal arms suddenly appeared out of nowhere, crossed in front of her defensively.
''The spine grandpa'' gave me!'' Milena''s eyes widened in realization and she gathered her Mana to reinforce her defense, when suddenly time itself seemed to slow down.
A bright pillar of light suddenly engulfed Stormblade and pierced through the skies like a falling star. When the light disappeared, there was nothing left over from Stormblade, not even ash or a smoldered greatsword.
He had been erased from reality.
Milena slowly turned her head toward the source of the attack, finding a large hole in the Ancient Beast''s green skin. The cultists on the ground all looked up in confusion as the vines providing them with power suddenly dried up and died. The Ancient Beast crumbled on itself, its skin progressively turning brown. The countless vines that were bringing corpses for it to feed on fell with their bounties in a morbid rain of bodies.
The Ancient Beast was dead.
The last high-ranked priest desperately chanted to the sky, new vines sprouting out of him. They shot for all of the remaining cultists, draining them up. Soon enough, countless husks were left over the battlefield as the low-ranked cultists began to question the situation. A massive vine shot out of the ground and crashed into Harriet, knocking him a certain distance away.
The Pope rushed in front of the level six priest and clenched his throat, killing him on the spot. The bodies on the ground rose into the air, Divine Thorn''s Church energy flowing out of them profusely. A literal tsunami of that same energy shot out of the dead Ancient Beast, all redirected toward the Pope.
The Pope''s muscles bulged as more blood flowed out of his wounds. He opened his mouth widely and screamed at the sky painfully.
"LORD, COME AND BRING THE WORLD THE PAIN IT DESERVES!"
Milena looked up against her will, something drawing her eyes to the sky. A silent command that couldn''t be refused.
A massive, dark-green vines descended from the sky, twirling on itself with immense power. Harriet was about to attack the Pope again, but the strength from the otherworldly vine froze him in place, crushing him. He kneeled in the mud, leaning on his rapiers and heaving with difficulty.
The sky darkened as the vine descended, its tip slowly reaching for Glenn''s chest. Milena''s eyes widened and her hand reached out helplessly, but it was too late.
The divine vine touched Glenn.
A mocking laughter suddenly echoed through the battlefield, a laughter so wicked and evil that simply hearing it made Milena want to fight it. A dark green tattoo of a cross in the center of a circle wrapped in thorny vines appeared on Glenn''s chest.
And it disappeared. The green vine coiled back, like it had just burned itself, and retreated into the heavens.
"Phew...Seems like I missed a few episodes on that one," sneered a familiar voice. Milena looked at Glenn and watched as he ripped his hands and feet free from the vines restraining him. The symbol of the Thorn''s Church behind him crumbled into dust as he rose into the air, looking down at the Pope.
"Alright. Who wants to die first?"
Glenn was back.
291. A Pope To Burn
Glenn groaned and stretched his sore limbs. The wounds around his wrists and ankles healed in a matter of seconds with monstrous vitality. His left purple hand was glowing softly as a mouth grinned widely within it.
"Haha, back again!" Diamanes cackled loudly, unconcerned about being remotely discreet.
"Don''t rejoice too quickly, you little fuck." Glenn glared at the evil entity. "I''m not sure I appreciate you taking over my body and trying to eat my pets. Talking about pets, where the hell is...?"
Pebble appeared out of thin air, yelping as it snuggled against the young man''s bare chest. Glenn chuckled and hugged the small, one-eyed dragon.
"Yeah, I missed you too. Now, why the hell do I feel like I just landed in a Thorn''s Church orgy?"
"Hmm, maybe you can ask around after you take care of the two Newborn Rulers staring at you in awe?" Diamanes proposed.
Glenn flicked his fingers. A pristine white suit more suitable for marriages than battle covered him from head to toe. He looked down at the closest Newborn Ruler, a disgusting guy covered in blood who seemed to have had his entire world destroyed. His Divine power created a storm of vines around him as tears streamed down his face.
"Give yourself up, Pope." The second Newborn Rulera knight wielding a pair of rapierspointed a sharp weapon at the so-called Pope. "With the Devil''s Hand here, you won''t be able to resist. Give yourself up, and I guarantee you a fair trial before the King himself."
"Pope?" Glenn repeated with slight disbelief. He looked at the bloodied man, and the realization finally settled in.
This was a Newborn Ruler. Someone strong enough to render all of his spells entirely useless.
''Shit, I did die to Laurance, who was supposedly as strong as this Pope.'' Why am I not scared of this cultist fucker?'' Glenn couldn''t ponder on the question for long as the Pope suddenly erupted into a wriggling mess of poison-dripping vines. An otherworldly scream rose out of his throat with terrible pain.
"Newborn Ruler or not..." Glenn grinned as he felt the power broiling in his chest. It felt like his Mana was asking for only one thing; to be used.
And he had a whole new understanding of what the meaning of space was.
The Pope pointed a trembling finger at Glenn as Epinos'' divine voice forced itself through his mouth. "3333...You are...Blasphemer! With the power of...Impossible!"
Glenn clenched at the air in front of him, moving the Mana as he so wished. "Blasphemer, blasphemer... those are some very bad words you''re using, you fucking, twisted mad god! Why don''t you try to shut the fuck up now?"
"You!"
"Space Vacuum." Glenn twisted the Mana, suddenly creating a void around the Pope. His Mana clashed with the cultist''s Divine energy, and in normal times, he should not have resisted the pressure, but...somehow, breaking through the Divine''s resistance was quite easy. It was like pushing against a sheet of paper. Strangely, disturbingly simple.
The Pope clenched at his throat, the vines surrounding him freezing and dying instantly. He gasped for air, but there was nothing like that in space. The blood covering him crystallized and shattered, revealing the naked, wound-covered body previously hiding beneath impossible quantities of blood.
Like most of his cultists, the Pope was bold, with the Thorn''s Church''s symbol carved on his forehead. He had cut that same symbol into every part of his body, creating wounds that bled forever.
Until Glenn arrived on the board.
The Pope''s eyes became bloodshot, and he fell to his knees, contorting in extreme pain.
''Huh. Seems like this goes beyond even the classical Thorn''s Church masochism. Shit, I surpassed a cultist''s pain tolerance. What does that say about me?'' Glenn sighed dejectedly and kept on maintaining the spell. His opponent seemed a moment away from exploding from decompression, but his Divine energy suddenly rose in spike.
Glenn carefully retreated, not too worried. His Space Vacuum disappeared, shattered by Epinos'' filthy power. The Pope pushed himself up, coughing a boatload of blood. His right arm suddenly fell off, replaced by a thick, black vine covered in small, pointy thorns.
"Huff... huff... I will accomplish your will, my Lord..." The Pope heaved, Epinos'' divine presence fading away.
"Seems like that loser god couldn''t stay down for too long. Oh well, he was there just to give his favorite follower a few more minutes to live. Great of him. Very generous." Glenn applauded quietly, his heart as calm as a lake.
''You know, it''s a little scary to see you so... insensible, I suppose?'' Diamanes commented.
Glenn scoffed. ''I bet it''s not as scary as the premise of being taken over by the entity living in my left hand, right?''
''Come on, are we going to be talking about this now? You do need to take care of a murderous Pope, Glenn,'' sighed Diamanes.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Glenn clicked his tongue and pointed at the Pope once again. "Space Vacuum."
The atmosphere around the Pope disappeared once again, but the latter didn''t let that get to his head. He disappeared in a flash, leaving behind a trembling after-image. Glenn braced himself as he felt his opponent appear behind his back, but was too slow to dodge the attack.
Harriet defended Glenn, his rapiers shining with a familiar glow. "Not on my watch, heretic. You missed your chance to give up. Now, die!" He knocked the Pope away and stabbed both of his weapons into the ground. The Pope disappeared once again when hundreds of Aura swords rose from the ground and shot for him.
''Huh, that''s... Isn''t that a little like that Sword Grave spell we took from one of King''s Rise''s statues?'' Glenn shrugged and planted his feet firmly into the ground. He pressed his hands together, his eyes watering as he struggled to follow the Pope''s movements. The world seemed to slow around his hands, the spell fighting to break through his control, but Glenn remained fully concentrated.
Harriet slammed his rapiers against the Pope''s whip of vines, hurling him down to the ground. The King''s Blade was about to rush back straight into the fight, but his instinct screamed at him to stop.
"Absolute Zero."
Harriet froze in mid-air and watched in disbelief as the Pope came to a complete standstill, his eyes wide opened in utter shock. A bead of sweat trickled down Glenn''s forehead.
He grimaced. "Sir knight, I wouldn''t mind if you could finish him now. I''m not exactly strong enough to"
Harriet''s twin rapiers pierced through the Pope''s chest. The attack created holes as wide as apples in the cultist''s chest, which happened at the same time as Glenn lost control over his Absolute Zero.
''Damn it. Maintaining it against a Newborn Ruler is still too hard.''
Diamanes cackled. ''Are you seriously complaining? You''re at the Fifth Circle. An Expert Magi. You''re not even supposed to be fighting these kinds of guys! Not that I don''t enjoy it, mind you.''
''I don''t talk to traitors who are susceptible to taking over my body.''
''... You''re really going to hold that over my head forever, aren''t you?''
Glenn pressed his lips together and drew out more Mana. ''You''ll need to answer a few of my questions truthfully if you want to regain even a slight bit of my trust.''
The Pope slapped Harriet away and cried violently as his Divine energy made countless vines burst out of the ground. Glenn emotionlessly created a Sun in front of him, burning every vine away, while Harriet''s flurry of stabs disintegrated them to ashes.
''It sure is nice to have a capable Newborn Ruler on my team,'' remarked Glenn. Most of the pressure was off him as the Pope mainly focused on Harriet. The battlefield was getting completely obliterated by the two as swords rose from the ground and crashed against massive, tentacle-like vines. Glenn was about to throw himself back into it when a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.
''I failed to sense anything! Who'' The Blackhole he readied in half a second disappeared when he recognized Milena''s head floating in the air.
"W- What the fuck? Milena, where''s the rest of your body?"
Milena grimaced and shed away her camouflage spell. "Illusions, Glenn! Now, I need your help! Sahro is unconscious in the forest, and a spatial domain seals most of the area!"
"... Sahro, unconscious?" Glenn shook his head in regret. "How could I miss that? Alright, guide me there so"
"GLENN! YOU''RE FINALLY BACK!" Nelg''s tearful voice exploded inside Glenn''s mind into a violent headache.
Glenn stumbled to the side and clenched the side of his head. "Shit, Nelg, no need to be so damn loud"
"LIARA IS DYING! THAT HEART OF DARKNESS POISONED HER!"
"What- Where?" Glenn''s blood turned to ice. He turned back and watched Nelg in his human form, jumping out of some sort of gigantic green mass through a bloody hole in its center. His doppelg?nger was carrying Liara in his hands. The Black Heiress was bleeding profusely, her eyes closed and her skin turning progressively paler.
Glenn turned to Milena, his face as hard as granite. "Go grab Sahro. I''ll be quick."
Without even waiting for her reply, Glenn picked himself up with Gravity Manipulation and threw himself at Nelg as fast as he possibly could. This was faster than simply ''flying'' using Gravity Manipulation, even if a little more dangerous. Right now, he had basically become an unstoppable projectile.
He stopped mere inches away from Nelg and Liara, using Gravity Manipulation once again to cancel the kinetic force influencing him.
''This feels like you''re breaking more than a few laws of physics,'' mocked Diamanes.
"Says the guy who had his soul split into three and placed into space crystals."
"Wait, how the fuck do you know that?"
Glenn grabbed Liara out of Nelg''s hands and laid her on the floor. "Not now, Diamanes. Thank you, Nelg. I''ll take over from here."
Liara was breathing slowly, her face contorted in a painful expression. She had a couple of wounds, with two critical ones, one in the chest and another in the stomach.
''Like me when I arrived in this world.'' Glenn ignored that last thought and tried figuring out what he could do to help her. A quick check with Mana Sight revealed that she didn''t have a single drop of Mana nor Aura left in her body. Because of that, the poison Nelg mentioned earlier was running through her veins freely and stopping any form of self-healing.
"I can transfer my energy to her!" Nelg exclaimed, eager to help.
Glenn blinked. "How" He shook his head. "Never mind. Do that, then."
Nelg complied without another second of hesitation and began transferring his energy to Liara. Glenn pressed his hands on her wounded chest, calling up to Diamanes for some C.P.R.
But, strangely, it was another spell that replied to him. Something much stronger, much more potent, and with no apparent side effects. The wound on Liara''s chest closed suddenly and healed in an instant.
"What was that?!" Glenn blurted out as he moved to her wounded stomach.
"Oh, I took that from spider-but-not-spider guy, Laurance. Monster Regeneration. It was my best be to save your life since, well, you were dead." Diamanes clicked his tongue and added, "Never thought it would work on others. Pretty nice. I''d prefer if Liara survived. She and Milena are still the best bride candidates"
"Nope." Glenn cut him off. "Your right for bullshitting freely expired when you betrayed me. So shut up and help me."
"Tsk... Fine."
Glenn, Diamanes and Nelg kept silent throughout the entire process. The colors slowly but surely returned to Liara''s face and her breathing became more regular and assured. Nelg eventually dropped her hand and fell back, exhausted.
"I gave all I had. I''m going to need a lot of souls to make up for everything I gave."
Glenn wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Don''t worry about that. I''m sure I''ll be able to reap a few for you." He glanced back at Harriet, frowning.
''Shit, he''s losing grounds. Shouldn''t the mysterious knight stranger be stronger than that?''
Diamanes quickly corrected him. ''In a sense, he''s not a stranger. He''s Harriet the King''s Blade. But yeah, he does seem weaker than he should be.''
Glenn grabbed Nelg''s hand and slipped something into it. "Listen Nelg. I have an idea and a half about what''s going on. Take Liara and join up with Milena and Sahro. Apparently, there''s a spatial thing going on. Try to figure that out, and if you can''t, just try to wake up Sahro. In the meantime..."
He clenched his fist, and his Mana exploded into a violent wave.
"I have a Pope to burn."
292. On the Clock
Nelg heaved with difficulty, transporting Liara on his back. They were already out of the battlefield and into the forest where Glenn fought Father Albenas so many chapters long ago.
"I have to say, being human sucks on most parts," he cursed through his teeth. "Glenn and the others make this lookhuffso damn easy. You''d believe being indestructible would come with infinite stamina, but I guesshuffnot, fuck!"
Liara groaned softly, grimacing painfully in her sleep. He had been running for a while now, and he still had yet to find any trace of Milena and Sahro. The idea of returning to Glenn''s side did cross his mind, but a peek at the battle through Glenn''s eyes was enough to deter him from doing so. The massive deflagrations he kept hearing weren''t exactly helping, either.
Nelg clenched the item Glenn gave him. A small, black wristband. The one he used to communicate with his sister back when he was in Sevirox''s Core.
''I understand the reasoning, with it being a way to contact the exterior despite the spatial seal, but what can Lina do? She''s in King''s Rise!''
Nelg bit his lip before swearing and putting the wristband on. The communication went up almost instantly, Lina''s worried face appearing on some sort of holographic screen.
"Glenn, where are you?! Are you okay? Everyone is out looking for you and Liarawait." Lina frowned. "You''re not Glenn. Nelg?"
"Huff, y- yeah, it''s me. Your brother is fighting a Pope alongside Munirp''s strongest warrior or something."
Lina paled. "Is there anything I can do?"
Nelg stopped to take a breath and adjust Liara''s position on his back. "Huff, actually, yes. We''re stuck on Retni''s Plains, near... uh, the Still Peak, I think? I don''t remember the geography very well"
"Retni''s Plains?" Lina''s eyes widened. "I''m in Satidipug with survivors! I heard a huge commotion above ground, was that you guys? You were this close?"
"Satidipug? Isn''t that a city?" Nelg blinked in disbelief. "What the hell are youno, it doesn''t matter. Someone sealed the area with a spatial domain of some sort, and Glenn believes you might be capable of helping us out. I have Liara on my back, and Milena should be running around with Sahro, too."
Lina nervously clasped the back of her neck. "O- okay, I''ll find a way, d- don''t worry."
The call suddenly closed, leaving Nelg less than reassured. ''Shit, what am I doing? Putting our lives in the hands of a nineteen-year-old who never saw a body in her life. Shit, shit, shit.''
A branch snapped a few trees away from him, making him freeze in place. Nelg held his breath, his eyes searching through the forest for any movement. Something broke another stick, causing a nearby bush to tremble slightly. Nelg lowered his position, ready to drop Liara on the ground and turn into a weapon. He wasn''t comfortable fighting by himself, but if there''s one thing his experience under Nora the Slaver taught him, it''s that sometimes you do not have a choice.
Milena pushed the bush away, sighing in relief when her eyes settled on Nelg. "Oh, by Onnea, I knew this was a familiar energy."
Nelg almost teared up. "You scared the hell out of me!"
"..This is really weird hearing that from someone with Glenn''s face," admitted Milena. "A little refreshing, too."
"Not everyone can throw fucking Suns at their enemies, alright?" Nelg said with a tinge of irritation. He looked at the figure sprawled on her back, held up by two cybernetic-like arms. "Is that...?" He almost dropped Liara out of surprise. "What the fuck happened to Sahro and you? Why do you have robot arms?"
Milena''s eyes widened. "You know about robots Of course you do. Damn it, we don''t have time for that, Nelg. We need to find a way through the spatial barrier. We won''t survive a fight between Newborn Rulers!"
Nelg drew a deep, long breath. "Milena, I have strictly no idea as to how to do that. What even is a spatial barrier? What am I supposed to do, turn into a sword and cut through it?"
Milena opened her mouth only to close it the next second. They looked at each other for a moment, the sound of explosions in the distance growing more and more violent.
"I have contacted Lina with this," finally said Nelg as he pointed at the communication wristband. "She''s working on getting us out from the outside, or at least clueing us in. What were you guys even doing in Satidipug, anyway?"
"We were looking for you guys, but found Glenn and Lina''s mother instead." Milena brushed it off, ignoring the look of absolute bafflement on Nelg''s face. Her mind raced as she tried to find a solution.
"You found who? Wait, no, this simply doesn''t make any...!" Nelg''s voice faded into the background as Milena concentrated. The same sensation she felt back when she avoided Stormblade''s attacks took over her, calming her mind and guiding her.
''We can get into contact with the exterior of the sealed area...There''s a good chance whoever set up this spatial domain is outside it... We need exterior interference, someone to breach through or break the isolation, kill the medium for the spell... Lina can''t do it, she''s only a kid...''
Her eyes widened, and she seized Nelg''s wrist, shutting him up.
"Nelg, call Lina again."
Nelg gulped. "Y- Yes, M''am." He obliged without waiting, feeling the weight of her gaze on the back of his neck. Lina answered almost instantly, chewing on her nails and tears streaming down her face.
"N- Nelg, sniffle, I- I can''t do it! It''s too much pressure! I-I know I''m going to mess up!"
Milena shoved Nelg away and grabbed his wrist, practically shoving her face into the screen. "Lina, can you hear me?"
"Milena?"
Milena took a scant breath. "Lina, listen carefully. I think Lucian and Tuleam escaped before the seal was up. The only thing you need to do is find them and force them to come help us. They need to create a hole in the barrier or destroy the medium keeping it together. There''s probably some sort of anchors, statues, anything where a spell could have been cast."
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
She breathed and resumed. "I have good reasons to think that Tuleam is going to try to flee using the boat we took here. Go there and wait for them. Break the boat. Do anything to make sure they can''t flee and are forced to help us. Okay?"
Lina gulped heavily and instinctively made a military salute. "Y- Yes, M''am!"
Milena nodded. "Good. We''ll be trying to find a way to break through from the inside. Stay safe."
She closed the communication and sighed heavily, wiping the sweat off her eyebrows. She stumbled to the side, suddenly feeling a little tired.
"You alright?"
Milena pushed Nelg away, sitting on a trunk nearby. "Y- Yeah, just a bit of vertigo."
Sahro dangled off her robotic arms, his chestnut-gold hair drifting over his pointy, elven ears. She suddenly raised her head in confusion.
"Why the M''am?" She asked, trying to get her mind off the increasingly closer explosions in the background.
Nelg shrugged tensely. "It just felt like the right thing to say, I suppose? You felt like twice your age and thrice as scary as usual."
Milena''s face darkened, and she rose to hit Nelg when she saw the look on Liara''s face.
"Lay her down."
Nelg obeyed without complaining, carefully laying Liara down on the ground. She was becoming paler and paler despite the early treatment Glenn gave her and the energy Nelg transferred to her. Milena shamelessly pushed her palm against her stomach, sending pulses of Mana through her friend''s body.
A black, broken circle appeared on her stomach. The circle was consuming itself slowly.
"M- Milena, what is this thing?" Nelg asked worriedly.
Milena clenched her fists tightly. "A curse. We''re running on a timer, Nelg."
***
Lina ran through the devastated streets of Satidipug, trying not to think about her mother, whom she left behind, and how the lives of everyone basically depended on her.
''No need to add more pressure, Lina. It''s fine. Everything is fine.'' She jumped above a destroyed house, dexterously using the terrain to her advantage and quickly progressing through the city. The ramparts had crumbled, and there was practically nothing left of the main gate.
"There isn''t much left of the city at all, actually," she remarked under her breath, trying to keep her mind off the fact that Glenn might die if she did not get this done correctly.
''Milady, you need to breathe. Stay calm''
"I''m perfectly calm, Tiamanes!" Lina snapped at her right hand, instantly regretting her words. She shook her head and sped up. "I can''t waste any time. I need to get there before this dumb, cowardly teacher flees without us!"
Tiamanes pondered on his words for an instant before choosing a new approach to the problem.
''You can do it, Milady. You are the number one in your class, one of the strongest and most special mage of the University, even receiving training from the greatest Black Heirs warriors!''
Lina nodded without replying, her speed increasing progressively.
''Think about how hard you worked. Believe in yourself, Milady.''
The young woman ran with all her strength, using Aura to reinforce her legs and go even faster. She was practically flying above the rubble at this point. The destroyed ramparts finally came into view, but she didn''t even bother slowing down. She sent a huge load of Aura into her legs and jumped above it all, floating in the air for a couple of seconds. It was only when she began falling that the stress caught back with her.
"O-oh aaaaaAAAAHHHHHH!!!" She braced herself by sending all the Mana she could to her legs. She instinctively closed her eyes and clenched her teeth at the moment of impact, but she lightly landed on her back a few meters away from where she was aiming.
''T- That''s an acceptable result, Milady. Come on, no time to waste, like you said.'' Tiamanes nudged her with a slight hint of nervosity. Lina jumped to her feet, putting away her shock and confusion. She''ll deal with it later. Now was not the time.
She finally arrived at the flying boat, barely out of breath. She was running low on Aura, though. Sprinting through an entire city was more consuming than she would have thought.
''You''re doing well, Milady.'' Tiamanes didn''t stop encouraging her. Lina slapped herself on the cheeks and jumped on the boat. She gave half a thought about trying to convince Tuleam Manalok.
"Do I have food to bait him?" Lina checked her dimensional pouch and cursed. The jerky and meatloaf wouldn''t be enough to stop Manalok from fleeing back to King''s Rise.
"No matter." Lina rolled up her sleeves and channeled her Mana. The flying boat was resistant by its conception and would require more than a simple Magic Bullet to become non-operative. She aimed at the mast and released her spell.
Her Wormhole Mana Heart specializes in spatial movements. Lina even specialized in making her spells explode in her opponent''s face. Nobody was able to defend against it because her Mana naturally disrupted others'' spells. Adapting it to become more destructive was hard, but she succeeded during the journey from King''s Rise to Satidipug, ironically.
She pulled her hand down, shredding the wood with her spell. It was like a giant claw had just carved through the mast, ripping through the timber. She took a step back, feeling the effect of spending too much Mana at once.
"...It isn''t enough, Milady." The entity said aloud.
"I know, Tiamanes." Lina concentrated and used her spell once again, resuming her destructive work.
"If I may be so bold, I would recommend "Rift Shred" as a name for this spell."
Lina smiled weakly. "Rift Shred... Yeah, I''ll take it. Almost as cool as Blackhole, don''t you think?"
"Even cooler," Tiamanes says, adding. When Lina finally ran out of Mana, the boat had been shredded through so many times it looked like a random pile of abandoned timber that had been smashed apart by some very violent bear.
"Excellent work, Milady."
"Thank you, Tiamanes. You too."
"Of course, Milady."
Lina wiped the sweat off her eyebrows and leaned against the boat''s debris, waiting patiently. If what Milena said was correct, Tuleam and Lucian should be arriving any moment now
"WHAT?!?" Tuleam''s indignant voice rang from the distance. The researcher flew closer to the wreck, mortified. "W- Why would you do that? This was our ticket back to King''s Rise!"
"Because you thought I would abandon my brother and teachers here?" Lina pointed a scornful finger at Tuleam. Lucian was floating beside him, unconscious. "Besides, I''m sure the Prince here wouldn''t have agreed to give up on the others!"
Tuleam suddenly went and grabbed Lina by the collar, raising her from the ground. "Listen, you little brat. I am not paid to play the hero, and I will not be beheaded because one hot-headed prince went on a suicide mission."
The researcher cursed and dropped her back on the ground. "No matter. I will fly there manually. It won''t be comfortable, but I''ve already done it. It''s fine."
Lina''s eyes widened. "N- no, you need to help them! Everyone is blocked by a...a spatial domain! They need someone to help them from the outside!"
Tuleam looked at her shamelessly. "Why don''t you do it, then?"
"I have no idea of what I''m even supposed to be looking for!" Lina''s face darkened, and she tapped the black band on her wrist. "If you abandon us, I''ll ask my brother to hunt you down."
Tuleam opened his mouth to retort mockingly, only to ponder for an instant. "Wait, if it''s that crazy bastard, he might actually do it..."
"The decision is already made, Sir Manalok." A voice rose beside them, pained. Lucian shook off the levitation spell and stumbled to the ground.
"We will help them. This is a royal command. Obey, or be declared a traitor to the Kingdom."
Tuleam hid his face in his hands and sighed heavily.
"I knew I should have stayed at home..."
293. Execution
Glenn rolled his sleeves back, strolling past corpses and confused cultists. The Pope furiously pushed back against Harriet''s attacks, vines flying out of the ground and whipping at the King''s Blade incessantly. The latter defended himself the best he could, summoning countless Aura blades from the ground, but he was losing out.
"I don''t want to worry you, but that fanatic fucker looks like he''s getting stronger with each second," warned Diamanes.
"Don''t worry.
A small ball of fire brimming with the might of the Sun appeared in Glenns palm. A sinister smile played on his lips. I have no intention of letting him do as he wishes.
Maybe Harriet heard him, or perhaps it was simply a coincidence, but the knight somehow knocked the Pope closer to Glenn.
Glenn pulled himself forward with Gravity Manipulation, appearing instantly before the Pope. The latters eyes widened helplessly.
Why dont you get a taste of the Sun, you fucker? Glenn shoved the miniature sun in the Popes chest before quickly retreating to safety. Vines bulged out of the ground and wrapped around the Pope desperately to block the explosion.
Boom!
A massive dome of fire engulfed the battlefield, consuming everything in its path. The dead Ancient Beast went up in flames, black smoke rising into the sky. A strong smell of burnt flesh and Moon Grass entered Glenns nostrils. Even though Glenn wasnt an Archmagi yet, he had strength beyond that level.
Ill need a shower or two once this is over, grumbled Glenn.
Harriet the Kings Blade landed beside him, his armor dented and his rapiers covered in blood.
I have never seen an Expert Magi fight with such power, commented Harriet. I have to admit, Im impressed you can hold your own against a Newborn Ruler.
Glenn moistened his lips as a spear of blue flames appeared in his right hand. I appreciate the compliments, but why dont we put the poorly hidden recruitment attempt to after we killed the fucker?
Harriet grunted. Well spoken. His regeneration cant be infinite. We will wear him down.
Hey, that guy looks cool! Why dont you make him part of your harem, too?
Diamanes, shut the fuck up.
Glenn rushed forward, ignoring the rising flames. He activated his Mana Sight and searched for the Popes signature. A shadow moved at the edge of his vision.
Lance of Prometheus! A horizontal column of fire roared through the battlefield, carving a deep gash into the ground. A blackened ball of jumbled vines crumbled to dust. No trace of the Pope.
A shiver crawled down Glenns back, and he hurriedly raised his Saturns Rings, only for Harriet to appear behind him and deflect a massive thorn away.
Glenn couldnt even thank his benefactor that a dozen similar large, spike-like thorns shot from the ground, aiming for both Harriet and him.
Royal Punishment! Harriet roared as he stabbed both his rapiers into the ground. Hundreds of Aura blades rose from the ground, all vibrating in the same sequence.
This is the same spellno, technique that you stole from that statue. Only, uh, better.
Im really glad you can analyze our teammates ability, but could you maybe redirect your attention to the enemyoh shit! Glenn crossed his arms in front of him, his Saturn Rings shattering as a whip lashed into his face.
The Pope hurled Glenn through the battlefield, heaving madly. You Blasphemer! I must have misunderstood our Lord. You are no savior. He clawed at his chest, his eyes bulging out. Youre just one more obstacle toward grace!
Glenn pushed himself up, coughing heavily. His forearms were hanging limply, the flesh mangled, and the bones crushed.
Fuck, thatsoh? Glenns eyes widened in mixed horror and amazement as his wounds magically healed. It consumed a lot of Mana, a solid fourth of his total reserves, but it treated his shattered arms in a matter of seconds.
Yeah, if it could get your heart going again, its certainly powerful enough to heal that type of wound, said Diamanes matter-of-factly.
...Alright, lets go again. Glenn slammed his hands together, a vein popping on his forehead. A Sun and Diamanes Nitrogen combined to create a powerful spell.
As if Id let youYOU! The Pope screamed in frustration as Harriet stopped him from going after Glenn. The Kings Blade silently took a defensive position, his armor creaking under the effort.
The Pope raised his arms to the sky, vines surging from the ground and lifting him.
My Lord, I implore You, let them feel what they fear!
The sky darkened even further, a black mark appearing in the clouds. Glenn gritted his teeth and continued preparing his spell. The damned Thorns Church symbol had appeared in the sky.
Oh, is he literally going to make it rain? The following flood of pain obliterated Diamanes'' idiotic comment. Glenn gasped painfully and fell to his knees. The spell he had been preparing still flew out of his hands, crashing against the Pope.
A tsunami of ice engulfed the Pope, freezing his expression of hatred permanently. Unfortunately, Glenn couldnt see the results of his Ice Age as pain submerged him.
Submit yourself. A command rang through Glenns mind, drowning out his thoughts for a second.
Only for a second.
No, thanks. Glenn shook the feeling off, the pain disappearing as easily as it first appeared. If you want me to kneel, come and make me, you sadistic fucker.
Glenn flipped his middle finger at the sky, wiping the sweat covering his forehead away with the other.
Damn, why the hell are you so insensible? Did you lose all sense of fear? Diamanes asked, incredulous.
Well, compared to that one not-so-dead thing you saw before entering Limbo, its Glenn searched for his words. ...A little weak, I suppose?
The mouth in his left palm hung wide open, speechless. ...You saw that too? Buthow?
Later, Diamanes. This Pope still is too rare for me. I need to cook him more. Pebble appeared before him, already in a ball. Glenn chuckled and picked the one-eyed dragon up.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
You read my mind, Pebble. Glenn threw the creature into the sky, using Gravity Manipulation on him and infusing him with the Suns power. Pebble quickly turned into an incandescent star shining in the sky with incredible strength.
Harriets helmet shattered, the symbol of the Thorns Church burned into the metal. The man gasped heavily, his hands trembling slightly. He pushed himself up with his rapiers, watching in awe as a star fell on the Pope.
Meteor. Glenn pointed down at the Pope, shooting Pebble down with all his strength. No use saving Manataking care of the cultist took priority over everything, after all.
Pebble increased his density as he fell, soon weighing more than a ton. Two tons, three tons, five Pebble reached his full potential at ten tons, hurling down at the Pope. The air ripped through his passage, a whistling sound echoing through the battlefield.
The ice containing the Pope cracked and exploded. The cultist pulled himself out of the freezing prison. He could only look up before Pebble exploded in his face.
Glenn planted his feet on the ground and shielded his face while Harriet made his Aura cover his body. The shockwave blew past them, devastating everything in its path. The shockwave turned the few remaining cultists into bloody mists, similarly destroying half of the Ancient Beast.
Yeah, my spells definitely became stronger. Glenn nodded with appreciation.
Diamanes clicked his tongue. No. Theyre more efficient, not particularly more powerful. You use way less Mana, yet you get incredible results. That can only stem from a really good understanding of your Specialty. He paused. Hey, you said you saw my memories of back when I was strolling through space, right?
...Wait, so youre saying that because I watched space live, my understanding immediately became better? Glenn pinched the tip of his nose, unfazed at the destruction he caused. Isnt that a little too easy?
Diamanes scoffed. Do you know many people who have gone to space before? Aside from those astronauts back on Earth?
Glenn grimaced. Touch. It does give me a few ideas to upgrade everyones training, though
Devils Hand! Harriet appeared before him, his face revealed. He looked like Ned Stark but with blond hair and dark gray eyes, which was quite a surprising contrast. Are you alright? This was an attack aiming at our souls!
Oh, just another Monday, you know? Glenn waved dismissively. He pointed at the smoldering crater created by Pebbles landing. Im almost certain the other dude is trying to regenerate right now. Why dont we put an end to
"AAAAAAHHHGGGHHHGHHHHHHHHH!" A scream ripped through the air, interrupting him. The Pope pulled himself out of the crater with difficulty, his face completely burnt off. The heat had molten away half his body, blackening his bones and reducing them to powder.
Y- You Blasphemer! Cough, you also have that same vile power! It was a wonder how the Pope was even alive at this point. Harriet took a step back and raised his rapiers, wary, but Glenn crossed his arms.
Well, well, well. Seems like you cant heal from that, hmm?
The Popes jaw literally detached itself, the skin holding him together peeling away. He straightened himself with the one arm he had left, his eyes filled with hatred and cruelty.
Thisevil draconic magic! I- I will exert the will of the Gods! I will destroy the Blasphemers! I will execute you all
Stab!
Harriet pushed his rapiers through the Popes skull, pinning him to the ground. His Aura flared up, destroying the rest of the cultists body.
Silence fell on the battlefield as the Popes heart was finally erased from existence. Glenn sighed and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Well, thats another thing checked out on the list.
The Kings Blade looked at him, concerned. The Thorns Church Pope was one of your targets, Devils Hand?
Glenn shrugged. Not him precisely. Just the Thorns Church in general. With him down, wont they fall into ruins or something?
Harriet sheathed his rapiers and scratched his chin. That is an excellent question. The Thorns Church is an extremely old organization, but they kept on degrading and weakening with the years. Even the Pope was a little weaker than I would have expected.
Glenn raised an eyebrow. You were weaker than I expected.
Harriets expression hardened, and he released his Newborn Rulers presence, crushing down on Glenn. I respect you, Devils Hand. Mind your manners.
Was I wrong, though?
Harriets eyebrows rose in surprise. Glenn dusted his shoulders off, unfazed. Compared to that dreadful, not-so-dead cosmic thing in space Diamanes met, Harriet was as scary as a puppy to him.
Shit, maybe youre right, and my sense of fear is messed up. This isnt normal, he realized.
Diamanes cackled. Of course, Im always right!
The Kings Blade sighed and released the pressure. Youre full of surprise, Devils Hand. I understand better why the Prince sees you in such a high esteem.
He patted his chest, where a long cut had pierced through the metal. Ive suffered a wound after fighting two of the Newborn Rulers who came after you and your group in the Beyond.
Harriet grunted and sat on a protruding rock. Ive been chasing them until the Prince called me to the rescue.
Glenn chuckled in awe. Thats impressive. I guess you deserve to be on the same level as Redan and Exan.
Harriet smirked, slowly shaking his head. RedanThats a name I havent heard in a long time. Even with both Aura and Mana, the Ice Wolf was still extremely weak, and Exan couldnt hold a candle to me. The bastard is only good to hide in the Royal Library and send his inventions on the battlefield.
If you say so. Glenn turned to the Ancient Beasts corpse, his hands on his waist. So, what do we do now?
Harriet pushed himself up. Now, we need to reunite with the Prince. I will escort you back to Kings Rise while an investigation team comes to take care of the mess here.
Glenn whistled. A Newborn Ruler as an escort guard? How luxurious.
Harriet glared at him. I am almost certain that the Prince wouldnt have it any other way. Do not mistake yourself as worthy of the Kings Blade protection.
Sure, sure. Glenn looked at the sky, watching it darken rapidly.
Thats strange. I would have thought whatever mess the Pope created would go away with his death.
Diamanes suddenly chuckled.
...Whats so funny?
Glenn. Do you remember your fight against that Abbot, Hank? The entitys tone was incredibly mocking.
Yeah, what about itno! Oh, fuck! The color drained from Glenns face as he tried to warn Harriet. His words vanished beneath the chorus of screams. Around him, the corpses littering the battlefield cried all in unison.
A death rattle of pain and suffering.
The corpse of the Ancient Beast suddenly bulged as half a hundred individuals came out of it the same way Nelg and Liara did earlier. They only enjoyed their freedom for half a second before they fell to their knees, their eyes and ears flooding out with blood.
The Ancient Beasts body crumpled on itself like a dried-out flower, crumbling to dust. Glenn and Harriet instinctively took a step back, their eyes widening in horror.
Oh-ho. Finally, an opponent my size! Diamanes laughed maniacally.
Shit, no, what the fuck do you mean by that? Glenn couldnt control his trembling fingers. Whatever this was, it was not far from the level of that not-so-dead cosmic thing.
It rose from the Ancient Beasts ashes, a wilted vine that stretched out to the sky. It split into two, forming a vertical slit eerily similar to an eye.
What was it already? The Book of Doloratrox? Diamanes voice sounded like an echo in the distance.
A barely humanoid-shaped creature came out of the slit, covered in a strange goo. Glenn felt as if he was getting lobotomized watching this thing like someone was mixing his brain with a scalpel.
The creatures head could barely be called this way. It was the symbol of the Thorns Church, carved out of dark-red blood.
Ah, never mind. Not my level, just below it. This thing looks like a cultists wet dream. Diamanes quirky remarks were the only reason Glenn wasnt crawling on the floor.
The creature stretched out its unnaturally long limbs, reaching for the sky. With a loud, ancient sigh, it carved through reality and opened a slit into space.
He turned toward Glenn and Harriet and dropped something before them. Glenn felt a compulsion he couldnt resist, a desire he couldnt refuse.
Yeah, no, you dont want to do that. Diamanes voice made him close his eyes before it was too late.
The creature turned away and passed through the portal it created.
Had Glenn succumbed to the temptation, he would have seen a Seed of Darkness glinting ominously in the bloody mud.
Fortunately, he had Diamanes to save him from that.
Unfortunately, Harriet did not have a Diamanes.
294. Puddle Jumper
Lucian dusted his shoulders off, frowning at Tuleam''s sight.
"Sir Manalok. I''d be most pleased if you could give me a quick report on what happened while I was unconscious."
Tuleam pinched his glabella, grunting. "You were under a curse that amplified pain. I dispelled it, then took it upon myself to bring you to safety."
Lina poked her finger in his chest angrily. "You''re leaving out the part where you abandoned everyone else in a spatial seal!"
"Cut me some slack, will you?" Tuleam pushed her away with irritation. "I am a researcher who restores old objects, not a rough, barbaric fighter like everyone in your brother''s team! I knew right away that I should have left all of you on your own while I stayed in the comfort of the manor. Trust me, I will not repeat this mistake!"
Lucian raised his hand, stopping him. "While I''m glad you''ve acted toward my safety, you already know what I think. We''re going back to rescue them. Once again, this is an order, Sir Manalok. You do not have a choice."
Tuleam cursed and kicked a pebble away. "I had picked on that much, thank you, your Highness."
"Lina, if I understood correctly, you can communicate with Milena, right?" Lucian grabbed the young woman''s shoulders.
Lina nodded tensely, showing her wristband. "Yes. Do you want me to call"
"No." Lucian shook his head. "I want you to return to Satidipug and stay out of sight. Our enemies are stronger than us. We can''t afford to have a liability around." He raised a finger to stop her from protesting. "This is not negotiable. Sir Manalok, follow me. You should have an idea or two about what to do about this seal, right?"
Tuleam brushed his seaweed-like hair back, grumbling. "Of course I do. Damn it. I hate this damned country."
Lucian grinned as he rose in the air, a shining crown appearing on his head. "Your patriotism will be rewarded, Sir Manalok. I''ll make sure of it."
"Tch. What a treat..." Tuleam flew up and followed the Prince back to the Retni''s Plains. Lina looked at them, flying away with her hands clenched tightly.
"Milady, they are not wrong. You cannot help anyway"
Lina clenched her right hand tightly, shutting Tiamanes up. She drew a long, deep breath before running in the direction the other two flew to.
''I might lose them if I don''t hurry. If only I was a little stronger...!'' Lina pushed through her empty Aura Core and kept running. She could reinforce herself with Mana, too, but it was extremely inefficient, and she''d rather save her Mana for later.
The forest neighboring the plains was burning, black smoke billowing into the sky. Lina froze in her steps, her eyes stopping on a strange phenomenon in the air. She rubbed her eyes confusedly.
''Is this the spatial seal?'' It looked like a blurry filter had been cast into reality, raised high and circling the forest like a large wall.
"The Retni''s Plains are certainly beyond this spatial seal. The Prince and the researcher should be on the lookout for ways to break the seal apart and free your brother''s comrades." Despite being forcefully shut down earlier, Tiamanes'' voice was calm and composed.
Lina chewed on her nail. "Tiamanes, what do you know about this thing? This seal. How do I help break it?"
Tiamanes cleared his throat. "At first glance, the spatial seal appears to be covering the entirety of the Retni''s Plains and a part of the neighboring forest. Such a large domain requires mediums to be maintained efficiently. Statues, monoliths, magic stones, and beacons... They should have been installed with great hurry, so I don''t believe they''ll be hard to find."
"Alright. Guide me, Tiamanes." Lina shot forward, running beside the spatial seal and looking for anything unusual. The forest was oddly silent. No birds were singing, no wind was blowing through the leaves, and no insects were chattering. Only a deafening silence that made her heartbeat thump even louder in her ears.
"Milady."
Lina stopped in place at Tiamanes'' voice. She looked around, her eyes widening, when she saw a wood sculpture loosely planted into the ground. It was a faceless woman opening her arms broadly as if to offer a hug. The wood was light brown, maybe oak. It looked rustic.
"Is that it?"
"Yes. You just need to break it apart, and it will"
Lina did not hesitate for a single second to cast a Rift Shred that turned the statue into sawdust.
"Alright, done!" She felt a wave of relief push through her nervosity and anxiousness. She looked back at the spatial seal, only to find it as blurry and as real as ever.
"Shit, Tiamanes, I thought breaking the statue would solve the problem!"
Tiamanes sighed. "Had you let me finish, you would have learned that breaking the statue reduces the stability of the seal and increases the chance of the caster losing control over the spell or ritual. Space is very hard to deal with unless you''re at a very high level, no matter what sort of energy you use."
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Damn it, maybe you should have told me that earlier!" Lina grumbled as she resumed her sprint through the forest, searching for more statues.
Tiamanes clicked his tongue. "I tried Milady. I tried..."
A hot wind suddenly blew past her with a deafening sound. The shockwave sent her flying into the trees, her body landing on the branches. Lina coughed heavily, struggling to catch her breath. An enormous beam of flames had destroyed a large part of the forest. She had almost been caught up in it.
"Milady, it''s dangerous"
BOOM!!!
Tuleam was swung into the sky, a whip wrapped around his ankle. Lina hid in the leaves, watching with terrified awe. A skinny woman with revealing clothes was screaming manically as she lashed at Tuleam again and again, the latter barely managing to protect himself with a magic shield. Aura was exploding violently with each lash, destroying more and more parts of the forest.
"Mother, I am tired of this!" Nora shrieked. "Why must we help these perverted bastards?!?" A strange energy enveloped her, and she suddenly disappeared from her spot just in time to avoid another of Lucian''s magic beams. The prince stood with difficulty, two whip wounds digging into his face.
Tuleam screamed painfully as Nora stabbed him in the back. She smiled sadistically as his blood covered her face.
''...That part there, it''s a little strange. It looks like teleportation, but it isn''t.'' Tiamanes was relaying the fight to Lina directly into her mind. The fighters were moving too rapidly for her, making it impossible to follow the combat.
A large magic circle suddenly appeared around Nora, and she froze, chains holding her in place. Tuleam pressed one hand against his wound while using the other to cast another spell. Lightning bolts shot out of a new magic circle and shocked the slaver, burning her hair off and charring her skin.
Lucian slammed his hands together and shouted something. His Mana exploded like a wave, making shadows rush at Nora to try and swallow her.
"MOTHER, AGAIN!" She screamed.
Lucian''s shadows all bloated into one spot before returning to the ground, failing to find purchase. Lucian''s eyes widened. "What?!"
Nora reappeared in front of him, unharmed. She stroked with her knife, but Lucian managed to avoid it barely. A flash of Aura pierced through the sky, distorting reality.
''Time,'' suddenly said Tiamanes. ''She''s playing with time! She''s not teleporting around; she''s rewinding her time to heal from her wounds and get advantageous placement! By the Original, coupled with her rank Six Aura, she''s absurdly powerful!''
Lina gulped heavily. ''That sounds like something a God would do, not a human!''
Tiamanes grunted. ''I can''t agree more. Time is even tricker than space, even the Original could barely manipulate it.''
''Wait, who could what?'' Lina''s eyes kept on widening.
"Mother, once more!" Nora cried when Lucian''s crown suddenly changed color. It was a bright, dawn-like orange, but it turned into a deep, twilight purple. Nora''s mouth opened in shock as Lucian shot a massive beam of orange light right in her chest.
"Time! It was time, Sir Manalok! Once again, you were correct!" Lucian shouted happily.
Tuleam groaned as he applied first aid on his back. "I am always correct, Your Highness. Now, finish her before she rewinds again and"
A burning hot hand grabbed Lina''s throat, violently pulling her out of the tree she was hiding in.
''I don''t want to tell you I told you so, but I did, Milady.'' Tiamanes sighed dejectedly. The words were stuck in Lina''s throat as she felt pain shoot through her body. A smoldering, melting mass of flesh was staring at her crazily, one eye hanging off and the other bloodshot.
"Ag-urgh, l-looks like I-I found a l-little b-bird," stammered Nora. Her tongue looked like coal and smelled like burnt hair.
"Lina!" Lucian and Tuleam shouted at the same time, moving instantly before Nora. The latter tightly clenched Lina''s throat, hiding behind her.
"D-don''t get c-closer!" She warned. Her voice sounded like her throat had been going through a cheese grate.
"Damn it, why didn''t you listen, you fool!" Tuleam spat furiously as half a dozen magic circles appeared behind him, brimming with power. Nora pointed at Lucian with a trembling, burnt finger.
"G-get r-rid of that c-crown, or the b-bird g-gets it!"
Lucian took a step back with a difficult expression. The crown on his head flickered, menacing to go out at any moment. Instinctively, Nora clenched Lina''s neck tighter, using her Saint-level strength.
The pain became so great for Lina that she momentarily lost consciousness. Something shot through her veins and into her chest, where her Mana Heart was lying in wait.
The Wormhole.
Lucian, Tuleam, and Nora''s eyes all went wide as a distortion formed around Lina, a ripple into reality. Light bent and the environment shifted like a heat mirage as her arms appeared stretched and her face duplicated. A thin, shimmering black shell with streaks of violet suddenly pulled and made her fold inward.
Lina reappeared behind Lucian and Tuleam, her body unfolding itself as ripples of reality announced her arrival.
Nora chuckled in disbelief. "What the fuck"
A massive blast of orange light swallowed Nora, destroying anything that was left of her charred body. Lina fell to her knees, gasping heavily. She clenched at her chest, where three circles of runes spun around a Wormhole.
Lucian dismissed his spell and confirmed Nora''s death. The spatial seal trembled and began crumbling; with the main caster gone, it would disappear by itself. The Prince sighed and leaned on his knees for an instant, exhausted.
"A Saint working for the Mother...Fallen Mother should be the right term. Why the hell was a Fallen Mother''s priest working with the Thorn''s Church?" He muttered aloud, watching the spatial seal fall off piece by piece. He shook his head and turned to Lina, grabbing her shoulder.
"In other circumstances, I''d congratulate you on breaking through to the Third Circle, but..." His expression darkened. Lina flinched and suddenly pulled out of that feeling of wonder and amazement she felt. She swallowed with difficulty, reeling back away from Lucian.
The latter silently stared at her before shrugging and patting her back. "...But oh well. You''re not dead, so I guess it''s fine. You''ll have to call me Big Bro, though. And explain to me what the hell you did to escape from that freak''s arms."
Lina laughed nervously. "Y- yeah, sure, I can do that, Lucian"
"Big Bro Lucian," he corrected. "Hey, technically, we''re battle-brother and sister now, even though the only thing you did was get captured and almost ruin all our efforts!"
Tuleam groaned. "And what about me, your Highness? Am I also your battle brother?"
The Prince looked at him and grimaced. "Uhh, I fear you might be a little too old for that. Maybe...uncle? No, I can''t consider you brother of His Majesty, now, can I? Sorry, I don''t think I''ll be able to...?"
The researcher sighed in relief. "Ah, thank god. Now, you won''t have an excuse to pull me back into the fight, right?"
"About that..."
"I was stabbed, you damn brat! Stabbed!"
295. Twin!
"Oh, I think he''s losing it. Yes, he is. Glenn, why don''t you try calling Nelg back to chop Harriet''s head off?" Diamanes'' suggestion came a little too late.
Harriet exploded with Aura, sending a shockwave that threw Glenn a dozen meters away from the Dark Seed.
The King''s Blade''s eyes were glued to the small, evil-filled bead. His hair turned progressively white as he reached out for it, enraptured.
"Oh no you don''t!" Glenn used Gravity Manipulation to pull the Seed of Darkness away, stealing it from Harriet.
"No... I could... I could see it...!" Harriet muttered, his eyes widening in disbelief. He turned to Glenn, his face painted with dismay. Glenn ignored him and grabbed the Seed of Darkness, shoving it down his pockets. His dimensional pouch was missing from his waist, forcing him to store things physically.
"Devil''s Hand. Give. It. Back." The King''s Blade commanded, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.
"Err... No?" The time it took for Glenn to reply was enough for Harriet to rush in front of him, one of his rapier thrusting for his face. Glenn deftly leaned his head to the side, the rapier slicing a wound open on his cheek. The Aura exploded past him, tainted with Corruption.
"Shit, shouldn''t you be more resistant to Corruption as a Newborn Ruler? Damn it!" Glenn kicked Harriet''s chest and shattered his foot. It felt like he just kicked a mountain, and even that would be less hard than Harriet.
Bloodthirsty rage filled the King''s Blade''s eyes. "Give the Seed up, and I will spare you!"
Glenn pressed his lips together and grimaced. "Yeah, no, really I think I''ll keep" His hastily raised Saturn Rings were destroyed with one swift stroke of the knight''s rapier. Hundreds of Aura blades appeared from the ground, colored with that dirty, evil dark green that seemed so characteristic of Corruption.
"Royal Punishment!" Harriet roared.
Glenn held his breath at the terrifying sight. ''So that''s how the Pope must have felt. Fuck me sideways.'' He pulled himself away with Gravity Manipulation, disappearing in a flash. He stopped high in the sky, readying new spells. He didn''t even have to waste time searching for Harriet, for the knight was already inches away from piercing his heart.
''Fucking nonsensical speed!'' Glenn screamed and dodged the best he could, but the Aura-covered rapier still pierced through his shoulder.
''Yeah, no it''s not looking good, Glenn!'' Diamanes'' voice was colored with rare worry.
Glenn grinned and slammed his hands together, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. "Absolute Zero!"
The world froze as a thin layer covered both him and his opponent. Harriet''s eyes were the only thing that could move as Glenn pulled himself away from the rapier. Corrupted Aura flickered in his wound, stopping his self-healing attempt. Glenn clenched his hand tightly, making a blue flame spear appear. He pointed it at Harriet and sighed.
"Sorry for that. No bad feeling, alright?" Without another second of hesitation, he speared. "Lance of Prometheus!"
A bolt of blue fire pierced the sky, shattering Harriet''s armor and burning him down. The knight cried painfully as he fell to the ground, hundreds of meters away. Glenn exhaled heavily and rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable.
"It really doesn''t feel good fighting against someone who was my ally seconds ago."
Diamanes snickered. "Why don''t you finish the job instead of mourning in advance?"
"Yeah, yeah, I''m on it." Glenn followed in Harriet''s fall, slowing himself down for a gentle landing. Harriet''s crash had created a small smoldering crater of burnt earth. The knight pushed himself up on his rapier, his other weapon abandoned into the dirt. He untied his chest plate with a painful grunt, the armor falling with a heavy thud. Glenn''s eyes widened as he discovered an opened wound on the knight''s chest, so deep and wide he could see the bones of his ribcage. Harriet''s heart was still beating, despite being exposed to the outside.
"What the fuck?" Glenn took a step back in awe. "Don''t tell me you were fighting with that wound all along?"
The tip of Harriet''s hair burned away, revealing his bloodshot eyes. He raised his rapier but stumbled forward, taking a knee. He held his chest painfully, scowling.
"Damn it...Damn it, damn it!" He roared as he forced himself up.
''This is fucking terrifying,'' thought Glenn as Pebble reappeared on his shoulder, shrieking defiantly at Harriet.
''Heh, I guess that''s how your enemies felt whenever you fell and stood back up.'' Diamanes'' laughter did nothing to reassure him. Harriet''s eyes suddenly cleared out from the rage and confusion.
"What...? By the Gods! Devil''s Hand, fall back!" Harriet''s back arched unnaturally, bones cracking as if his body rebelled against itself. He screameda guttural, twisted sound that reverberated through the air, making Glenn flinch. The Corrupted Aura around Harriet surged, coalescing into a dark green mist. The very air felt heavier like reality itself struggled to hold together.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
''Fuck no,'' thought Glenn as he released his Ice Age. A massive iceberg encased Harriet into a cold prison. The ice invaded the Retni''s Plains, covering everything with otherworldly chill.
"Alright, that should give me some time to think about a solution" Glenn was sent flying away as the iceberg exploded in countless shards. Harriet stepped out of it, his skin bulging out as if something tried to come out of it. Harriet held his head painfully, roaring as he clawed at his face painfully.
Glenn rubbed his eyes, doubting them for a moment. A dark green, evil substance oozed out of Harriet, pulling itself out with violent determination. Harriet fell back, his hair returning to their original blond colors and his eyes to dark gray. He heaved with exhaustion, staring at the dark green ooze in horror.
The ooze grabbed the rapier Harriet abandoned earlier, shaping itself into a humanoid form. A dark green armor fashioned the same as the one Harriet wore before being incinerated alive appeared on the ooze. The same slit was carved into the chest plate, an exact copy of Harriet''s from before his Corruption. A helmet covering his head finalized the metamorphosis, the cherry on top.
Harriet looked at his Corrupted twin, his expression hardening. He grabbed his rapier and pushed himself up, his legs wobbling and his Aura flickering weakly. Glenn took a long, deep breath as Pebble nestled in his palm, a fiery flame covering him.
Silence reigned for a few seconds of standstill, the crackling flames the only noise resonating on the battlefield.
"W...eak." The evil twin''s voice sounded the same as Harriet''s, only warped.
"Stay out of this, Devil''s Hand. This is a royal command." Harriet took a step forward. Blood seeped out of the wound on his chest, his Aura rising with each breath he took. Glenn moistened his lips and made Pebble hover above his opened palm.
"Yeah, fuck you." Glenn threw Pebble into the sky, using his Mana to empower the Meteor he was preparing the best he could. The evil twin slowly planted his feet into the mud, taking on an elegant position, his rapier raised in front of him and his other hand behind his back. A true duelist, a fencer.
"For the...King," muttered the twin.
Harriet lunged forward, his Aura exploding in a controlled burst. The twin deftly parried the blow away with a burst of Aura of his own. The shockwave tore the ground open, shaking the surroundings like a cataclysmic seism. Glenn clenched his fist, following the fight closely.
Each time Harriet would try to get a blow in, the twin seemed to know the exact way to parry or dodge it. The two fought as if they could see the future, knowing what their opponent''s moves would be before they even thought of it. It was a strange, impressive battle.
''Sigh... Doppelgangers fights are always so damn boring. You better put an end to it now or we will have to spend weeks watching.'' Diamanes said.
Glenn rubbed his chin. ''Hmm. I don''t find it boring at all, though. I might actually sit here and watch with some popcorn.''
''Come on, Glenn. We have better things to do, like, reaching the Sixth Circle, getting rid of the Occult Wanderers, and all this and that!'' Diamanes encouraged with a forced tone. Glenn sneered and pointed down at the evil twin.
"Might as well move on with this bullshit. Meteor."
A fiery, hundred-ton Pebble crashed through the atmosphere, leaving a burning trail in the sky behind it. The one-eyed dragon was having the time of his life being used as live ammunition. Harriet and his evil twin both looked up at the same time, retreating away from each other. The Meteor followed the twin, making contact and exploding into a massive shockwave.
Harriet held his bleeding chest painfully, throwing a resentful look at Glenn. The latter shrugged it away, his eyes focused on the crater lying before him. The Retni''s Plains looked nothing like Plains anymore. The ground had been ripped open, burnt, glassed, iced, and was still smoking from the heat of the fight. It was like a scenery worthy of the Beyond. Hell, to say less.
"I told you I''d take care of it!" Harriet hissed, stumbling next to Glenn.
"I''m sure you did. And I''m sure I told you to go fuck yourself. This thing is Corruption incarnate, you think I''m letting it live a second more than it needs to?" Glenn quipped back, his arms crossed. The dark green Aura in his shoulder wound had still not disappeared and continued to burn him uncomfortably.
It was weaker than what he would have expected from a Newborn Ruler, even though said Ruler was weakened. Glenn also had to take into account that he himself was pretty much a monster too, with Laurance''s monstrous Regeneration and the physique he got from the torture in the Thorn''s Church prison back when he first arrived in this world.
"...No matter." Harriet sighed and pointed his rapier at the smoldering crater. "You made the correct choice. Let us finish this."
Glenn nodded and silently threw a Sun into the crater, making it explode once more. Harriet summoned hundreds of Aura blades and shot them blindly into the crater, not even bothering to aim. The destruction continued for a minute or two until the Aura nestling in Glenn''s wound finally disappeared.
"Stop." Harriet walked to the edge of the crater, peering into it. Glenn followed him and grimaced at the smell. There was nothing left from the Corrupted twin, not even a drop of dark green slime. Harriet''s rapier hadn''t survived their onslaughts of spells and Aura blades and had also disappeared.
"It is done. Sigh..." Harriet dragged his feet to a collapsed tree nearby and sat on it, slouching his shoulders. The wound on his chest was still not healing and would probably require more specialized treatment to disappear. Glenn grimaced as he felt the flesh and muscles knitting themselves in his shoulder. The rapier stab wound disappeared under a new, clean layer of skin.
"This was one hell of a fight," muttered Glenn as he dropped next to Harriet.
The King''s Blade glanced at the young man and chuckled softly. "I suppose it was, yes. Good job, kid. Good job."
The mage and the knight sat next to each other, staring silently at the smoldering hole. The crackling of the flames going out one by one was the only sound echoing on the destroyed battlefield. Glenn exhaled heavily, letting the pressure wash off his shoulders. The moment he escaped from the dark space of his mind, he fell into a battle with his sworn enemy the Thorn''s Church. He destroyed the Pope, (not without help, but that does not matter), eradicated most if not every cultist, and endured a psychological assault from Epinos himself. If that was even him. Maybe the attack came from that unfathomably powerful being who fled the area through a rift into space.
"Dolorothrax...or something, right?" Glenn muttered to himself, gazing upward. The battle had taken so long the night was falling, a soft pink coloring the sky. Twilight was falling, and once again, Munirp was safe from harm. Relatively safe, yes, but safe nonetheless.
For now.
Glenn felt something in his chest expand effortlessly, his strength and Mana draining away. He closed his eyes and entered Meditation right away, watching in delight as a Sixth additional Circle of stars appeared around his Mana Heart, the Milky Way. The stars and the galaxy spun in one, perfect ensemble, humming softly, bringing him to the rank of Archmagi.
''This...!'' Glenn clenched his chest in awe and wonder. Staring at his new Circle and the Milky Way felt only like one more step on his path to greatness, like peering through the keyhole and into a new, completely unknown world.
And finally, he could start searching for the key.
296. Real Man
Harriet patted Glenn''s back with a slight smile.
"Congratulations. Archmagi is the highest some people reach after hundreds of years, and you did it in twenty-something years."
Glenn smirked. ''More like a year and a half, but I''ll keep that to myself.''
"Thanks. Why don''t we go back to King''s Rise now that all this mess is over?" He looked down at the blood covering his clothes and grimaced. "I need a bath or two. Probably more."
Harriet frowned. "Do you not know a cleaning spell? I thought Mundare was one of the first a Magi learns."
Glenn shook his head. "Aqua Mundare." The filth disappeared off his clothes, leaving them as clean as when they were first made. "It''s more a matter of mentally cleaning myself. Helps to avoid going crazy."
The King''s Blade shrugged. "If you say so. Let us rest for a couple more minutes before meeting up with His Highness the Prince and your comrades."
"Sure."
''What a peaceful ending. Ahh, we would almost forget that you died and came back to life thanks to me!'' Diamanes cackled within Glenn''s mind.
''Talking about that.'' Glenn''s face hardened. ''What the fuck was this about? You can take over my body?''
Diamanes cleared his throat. ''Remember when I told you that if you die, I die? That''s still very, very true, unfortunately. When your body stops functioning, I used most of my strength to pump back some energy into it and find a solution. It''s a temporary fix and kind of last resort one, and it leaves the both of us in terrible conditions.''
''I don''t give a shit if you did that to save me. I was startingshit, I WAS trusting you, Diamanes, and you shoved my trust back up my ass. You attacked the pets and my friends, and you think I''ll just let that go?'' Glenn''s anger kept on rising, like the pressure in a boiling kettle.
''These were all calculated moves,'' explained Diamanes with a very matter-of-fact tone. ''The first thing I did was eliminate the threat, Laurance. I took from him what would save your life, Regeneration, then focused on making you grow even further. Pebble''s ability to change its density at will would be incredible in your hands, as would the skills from the other pets.''
Glenn rubbed his forehead, trying to chase away an emerging headache. ''Diamanes, I think there''s something you don''t understand about me. If otherworldly forces and brain-fucked cultists did not threaten the lives of everyone around me, I wouldn''t care as much as I do about power! Learning magic is incredible, but I would much rather spend time trying to make cool stuff out of it instead of more and more powerful spells to fight progressively more insane enemies.''
He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. ''At first, I thought it was fun. Learning, fighting, growing stronger... Diamanes, I''ve probably killed enough things to fill up a dozen graveyards by myself.''
Diamanes clicked his tongue. ''You should be proud of what you''re becoming instead of rejecting it. Show a moment of weakness, and you''ll be devoured in minutes.''
Glenn sighed. ''And that''s the problem, you bastard. This is not a life. This is survival. Always. Every day. Because of forces beyond my control, everything is always hanging from a string. We killed the Thorn''s Church Pope, but then an Apostle who came straight out of my nightmares arrived. Let''s say I kill him one day, what''s next? Killing Epinos, a God?''
Diamanes laughed wickedly. ''I guess so. You''ll rest when you''re dead, or when you''ll be the strongest around! Like me!''
''Like you...'' Glenn looked at his purple left hand. He had gotten used to finding his entire arm purple, so it felt a little weird to find the color restrained up to the wrist. ''That''s the next thing I wanted to ask about. Who the hell are you really, Diamanes?''
''I told you, that''s secret information you''ll only get when you reach the Newborn Ruler level.'' Diamanes smacked his lips. ''That''s the rules, my dear host. No can do.''
Glenn pressed his hands together with a cold expression. ''Let''s talk about what I know, then. Why did you split your souls in three? What''s the name of the Original? What was that thing you met in space before being sucked away into the Moon Rift?''
Diamanes stammered for an instant, shocked. ''T- That''s a lot you shouldn''t have known. Crap, I forgot you saw all that. Fucking visions. Okay. So...'' He drew a deep breath, carefully putting together his words. ''I...Don''t remember everything from before we split in three, but I know that it was necessary if I wanted to... go back? Wait... No?'' Diamanes'' voice suddenly turned into rare confusion. ''Why would I go back to Limbo if I never went there before? My world was... another one, right? Wait... I can''t...''
Glenn raised an eyebrow. ''Stop faking this shit, Diamanes. This is painfully obvious.''
Diamanes hissed painfully. ''No, no, you don''t get it. These, these memories, they aren''t mine... or are they? No, then... Argh...''
Glenn listened to Diamanes mumbling painfully for a moment before mentally turning the volume to zero. There was no need to bother with his nonsense. If Diamanes didn''t want to tell him the truth, there was nothing he could do to force it out of him. He looked up just in time to see the group walking toward them. Nelg was watching over Liara, who was floating right beside Tuleam, her eyes closed and a healing magic spell covering her.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Lucian was supporting Sahro, who had a hard time walking. Raijin, Sahro''s fox, was sleeping on top of his master''s head, snoring. Milena was looking at her second pair of arms, robotic ones, wondering what to do with them. Lina was following along with a guilty look, fiddling with her thumbs.
Glenn rubbed his eyes, closing and opening them up a few times in disbelief.
"Looks like it''s finally over," sighed Tuleam in relief. "I''m telling you, you can promise me anything you want, I am not coming out of the Manor again. Never."
"Shut up," said Glenn, with his eyes stuck on Lina. "The fuck are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be safe in King''s Rise? Nelg, I didn''t give you the communication band for you to call her on a fucking battlefield!"
Milena raised her four hands in a placating manner. "She''s fine, so why don''t you leave her be for now? She already got more than her dose of punishment, trust me."
Glenn snapped at Milena. "You punished my sister?"
Lucian dropped Sahro on the ground and dusted his hands off. "No, I did." He took a step back when Glenn''s Sun became a little too hot for his taste. "She disobeyed everyone''s orders and basically put her life and everyone else''s in jeopardy. Harriet, don''t stab him, I''m fine."
Glenn glared at the knight, who was already ready to turn him into Swiss cheese. He dismissed his spell with a grunt and walked to Lina, checking her up and down.
"You''re not hurt? What happened? Hey, when did you become a True Initiate? Congratulations! But you better not fucking put your life in danger again or I''ll kill you myself" He stopped and took a double take at Sahro, his eyes widening.
"...The fuck happened to you?"
The Black Heir''s skin had turned completely dark, and his ears had become unnaturally sharp at the tips. The mark on his forehead, the Inheritance Sigil, was glowing with a soft white hue. Sahro weakly pushed himself up and patted his fox. "I... I think I became a dark elf. Or something along those lines. I realized the true meaning of... well, ''Black Heirs'', heh."
Glenn whistled in awe. "Well, fuck me sideways."
Milena sighed. "I couldn''t have said that better."
Glenn looked at her. "Yeah, what''s the deal with the robotic arms? Is that your grandfather''s gift?"
She nodded. "That''s my best guess, yes. That and other things, I suppose."
Before Glenn could ask any more questions, Lucian clapped his hands together. "What do you guys say we first go back to King''s Rise, then talk about all the merry things that happened to us? I and Harriet have a few reports to make, I believe, and a hundred times more orders to give."
Glenn stretched and sighed heavily. "Let''s do that. By Onnea, I really want to be back home."
Lina sneaked in with a sheepish smile. "Before that, we need to stop by Satidipug."
Glenn''s eyebrows rose. "Why?"
"Uhh..." Lina cleared her throat awkwardly. "It would be better for you to see ''it'' with your own eyes."
***
"A well?" Glenn questioned, already quite concerned with the surrounding destruction. Satidipug looked like it had been going through demolition and development, only the workers left the job half-done and completely abandoned the development part.
Lina nodded and suddenly twisted away in a visually disturbing movement.
"Yeah, follow me!" Her voice called from down the well. Glenn scratched the back of his head and jumped down, not even bothering to slow down his fall with Gravity Manipulation. He landed in a dimly lit cavern. Lina was waiting for him impatiently, her arms crossed.
"What are we even supposed to find down here?" Glenn asked with a dubious tone.
"Boring, boring, boring! Why don''t we sit far away from the brat so I can give you all of my Sixth Circle-locked knowledge?" Diamanes quipped, only for Glenn to forcefully shut him down. Glenn shoved his hand in his pocket and followed behind Lina, walking through the damp cave.
''Apparently, whatever we''re going to see here doesn''t need the others. Let''s hope it is nothing too aggravating. I kind of want to see that flying boat Lucian spoke of...''
The hallway dug into the cave led to a new, massive cavern filled with worried whispers and muffled cries of pain. Lina entered without hesitation, heading straight through the bunk beds and the patients toward one of the medics. Glenn walked in carefully, his eyes widening at the sight of all the victims. Most still wore soldier uniforms, their wounds still seeping out with blood.
''They must be the survivors of the war between Satidipug and Eari. Shit, I can''t believe the two Counts collaborated to sacrifice both of their cities for some divine summoning bullshit. This is insane.'' Glenn gritted his teeth, his nails burying in his palm. ''This fucking world...''
He hesitated for a moment to use Regeneration on the folks down there, but his Mana reserve wasn''t exactly at an all-time high. And nobody looked like they were about to die, with the few priests and doctors on site looking like they had everything in hand.
''We need to get a healer in our party,'' he thought. ''We''d finally be the perfect DnD party. Lucian is the magician, Milena the rogue, Sahro the barbarian, and Milena the fighter. And... I''d be the bard, probably.''
Diamanes sneered. ''With what charisma?''
Glenn didn''t reply. A woman he''d buried appeared in front of him before he could. She looked exactly like he remembered, with her auburn hair cut in a practical, no-fuss style, and her brown eyes both soft and lively, the same ones he''d had before being plagued by Diamanes.
''Hey!''
"M- Mom?" Glenn stammered. He took a step back as a vise tightened around his chest.
''No.''
''No way.''
His thoughts raced in panicked fragments, his heart beating fast and loud. ''I buried her. I saw the casket close. I... I''ve done my mourning!''
"Glenn?" His mom reached out for him, tears welling up in her eyes. Glenn took another step back. Too real. Too familiar. His mind reeled, suddenly coming to conclusions by itself.
''I landed in this world. Lina did too. Now my mom?''
He hid his mouth in his hand, trying to stop himself from gagging. His bowels moved uncomfortably as the world spun around him.
''Does that mean he could be here too?''
Glenn''s eyes widened in fear. He fell to his knees, struggling to breathe. Lina and his mother''s mouths were moving, but he couldn''t hear what they were saying. He couldn''t even attempt to comprehend them. He could only think about what could be.
Warmth suddenly embraced him, pulling him out of the dark abyss he was falling into. Glenn felt the tears trickle down his cheeks as the soft scent of provincial herbs seemed to soothe away the fear.
In the end, it did not matter.
Glenn buried his face in his mother''s lap, the leftover tension from the fight leaving his body.
His father could come back. This time...
''This time, things will go my way.''
297. Youre not me. And Im not you.
Glenn leaned on the guardrail, his hair drifting in the wind. He looked at Satidipug, sighing as the ruined town disappeared in the distance. Tuleam and Lucian had managed to repair the flying boat somewhat. The group was on their... tumbling way back to King''s rise, exhausted and disgusted from this adventure.
The overall outcome wasn''t entirely bad, as almost everyone was going home with new powers or higher ranks, be it Sahro who suddenly caught up with Glenn thanks to his Saint-like Primal, dark elf bullshit power, or Milena''s robotic arms. Liara and Lina also leveled up, a significant achievement, though their promotions resulted from life-threatening situations.
''Hell, even Nelg got stronger,'' thought Glenn. ''And he still has yet to return to my soul.''
''Hah! I suspect betrayal on the horizon!'' Diamanes spat. Glenn looked at his left hand dubiously and shook his head slowly. If Nelg was remotely similar to him, betrayal was simply impossible. A warm hand touched his shoulder, pressing it softly. Glenn glanced back at his mother and smiled weakly.
Emily Miller leaned on the guardrail beside her son, looking at the twin moons shining their pale hues. The clouds had cleared out, letting them see the countless stars peppering the sky.
"Two moons..." Glenn spoke softly. "That''s the one thing that made me realize I wasn''t on Earth anymore, back when I first woke up in this world."
Emily smiled gently. "I got used to it. That and the Moon Rifts." She sneered. "Imagine treating your patient when the idiot suddenly turns into some many-legged fish."
Glenn shook his head dejectedly. "I can understand you all too well."
She laughed and extended her hand out, a green hue covering it. "I got all these powers, too. Healing magic."
"Something else would have shocked me," said Glenn. He looked at his own hands for a moment, his eyes stopping on the purple skin. Diamanes remained entirely silent, leaving some well-deserved moment of privacy for the two.
"Mom, I think we need to take a deeper look into this." Glenn pressed his hands together, swallowing with difficulty. "I... We buried... I mean"
"I certainly died," nodded Emily, unfazed. "The process was peculiar, though. When... You know, it happened, I felt my life draining away and..." She hesitated, pressing her hand against her chest. Glenn couldn''t help but remember. This was where the stab wound that killed his mother was situated. She shook her head and cleared her throat. "...And suddenly I was somewhere else. The wound had disappeared, as did the knife and the one holding it. I had a broken rope around my neck and strange clothes I didn''t recognize. And I''m not even talking about that miserable house."
Glenn paused. "You woke up in a house? Was there anyone with you, or...?"
Emily clicked her tongue. "No. But weirdly enough, people knew me."
"They knew you?" Glenn clenched the guardrail, his mind struggling to find an explanation.
"Yeah!" Emily nodded. "Because they heard a loud sound, probably the rope snapping and my body falling, the neighbors came to check on me." She wrenched her fingers with a difficult expression. "I was... not in my best condition, as you might have guessed, but they didn''t even question me. I almost laughed when they said they could understand what I was going through."
"The meaning only became clear to me when they told me their son had also been drafted. The neighbor''s wife even mentioned the disappearance of my daughter. It was all so confusing, but..." She rubbed her forehead the same way Glenn often did.
"Mom," said Glenn with a dry voice. "I woke up on Retni''s Plains. You know, the battlefield for the war between Eari and Satidipug?"
Emily nodded, the colors draining out of her face. "Wait, don''t tell me..."
Glenn nodded. "I opened my eyes to a spear in my chest and a ghoul checking out what my guts tasted like during the night of the Blood Moon."
"Oh, my God..." Her eyes widened as she hid her shocked expression behind her hands. "A- and you''re fine?"
Glenn looked down at himself and shrugged. "As fine as I could be, I suppose." He crossed his arms with a serious expression. "But this isn''t important. What is, is that we''ve learned that our bodies were there before we arrived in this world. They had a story, a life, something was going on. The Miller family exists in Limbo as it did on Earth, only... those on Earth came to take the place of the Limbo ones."
Emily frowned. "What about your sister? She didn''t tell me too much, but"
"She landed in a desert, so it''s safe to say she died of thirst and malnutrition. You died from hanging yourself, while I died on the battlefield." Glenn closed his eyes, working his brains the best he could. He felt like he could get closer to an explanation as to why exactly he was in this world, why was his whole family there, why were they inhabiting recently dead corpses, and how the hell could another Miller family exist.
Onnea never mentioned anything about multiverse bullshit like this. And she mentioned something going wrong through the transfer back then, was it connected to this whole phenomenon?
"Glenn, you need to know." Emily drew a scant breath, steeling herself. "The neighbors didn''t call me Emily Miller."
Glenn raised an eyebrow. "Ah, did you have another name, then?"
She gulped. "Emily Westow."
''...What?'' Glenn froze. His heart missed a beat as he felt his knees wobble beneath him. He grabbed the guardrail like his life depended on it, a feeling of nausea rapidly rising. He turned to the starry sky and forced himself to breathe in and out.
Glenn eventually shook the feeling off and concentrated. "So you were still Emily. Did you ask them about our names?"
Emily stammered and clenched the ledge, exhaling tensely. "Y- Yeah. They knew about you, but not Lina''s name. Apparently, she disappeared a couple of years before I woke up. As for... him, all they said was that he was no man for leaving us like this."
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
"Alright." Glenn felt his resolve grow stronger. The wooden ledge under his hands cracked from how tight he was clenching. "If he also came into this world, I''ll take care of him. You don''t have to worry about it."
His mother grabbed his arm worriedly. "N- no, it''s not your role. I learned a bit of defensive magic, I- I''ll do it."
Glenn wordlessly aimed at the sky. A small pearl of pure fire appeared at the tip of his finger before flying off into the night. A second later, a Sun chased away the darkness with blinding light, fading away a moment later. Emily chuckled nervously, taking a step away from her son.
"I''ll take care of it," repeated Glenn. His eyes were stuck on the twin moons in the sky.
***
The rest of the journey went on without any interference. Harriet, the King''s Blade, was spending most, if not every second of his time, standing next to Lucian like a guard dog. Tuleam had locked himself in his cabin and left it only to eat and insult the others, swearing about never going on another adventure with them.
Milena had figured out how to retract her robotic arms, but they still popped out by themselves whenever someone got too close to her. Liara was still unconscious, but she was getting better, thanks to Emily helping with detoxifying her. Milena mentioned that a proper priest of Onnea could rid her definitely of the poison, but she''ll have to endure until then.
Nelg had been spending all his time watching over her like a worried puppy. Glenn felt weird seeing his doppelganger taking care of his friend, but he thought nothing of it.
''If I understood correctly, they went through hell together. They must have forged some bonds at the very least.''
Diamanes clicked his tongue. ''The only thing I keep from that is that he doesn''t look like he wants you to use him as a weapon anymore. He''s useless! A betrayer!''
Glenn glanced at his left hand coldly. The entity had repeated that same speech for the past weeks like a broken record. ''Pot calls the kettle black. And he didn''t take over my body, did he?''
Diamanes stuttered as Glenn sighed. ''I''m pretty sure he simply realized he could have a life outside of me, as weird as it sounds. It would be a shame if I couldn''t fight with my indestructible weapon anymore, but it''s not like I''d be defenseless either. I''m practically one, if not the strongest Archmagi in existence.''
''Talk about an ego.''
''You''re one to talk.''
The reassuring, familiar view of King''s Rise eventually came into sight. ''I feel like every time I go out of there, I''m more and more happy to return. King''s Rise is really becoming my home, huh?'' Glenn glanced back at Lina and his mother. Lina was excitedly explaining everything she could while Emily simply stared with wide eyes at the ridiculously massive city. Satidipug looked like a dwarf''s toe in comparison.
A dozen figures shot up from the Frozen Gate, flying up to the boat. Glenn squinted, recognizing Munirp''s emblem embroidered on their uniforms, the setting sun. Lucian flew up to them and they talked for a moment. The Prince returned to the boat while the soldiers posted themselves around it in formation.
"What''s up with that?" Glenn asked as Lucian approached him.
Lucian glanced at them and shrugged. "My father got the report about what happened and feels incredibly guilty, so he feels like adding six Archmagi to the convoy is the right thing to do. Don''t question it, he''s just like this."
"I wasn''t going to question it," said Glenn with a chuckle. "He''s the King, after all. Who am I to do that?"
"The Prince''s friend," replied Lucian casually. Glenn looked at him silently for a moment before letting out a short laugh.
The totally-not-over-the-top escort brought them directly to the Bourgeoisie, bypassing the magical restrictions about flight above the walls and in the city.
''I mean, it''s basically Lucian''s city, it would be weirder if he didn''t have privileges,'' commented Diamanes.
The flying boat almost toppled over when it lowered itself to the garden on 33rd Longhorn St., Silverhomes. Pebble happily jumped out of the boat, rushing past the wide-eyed Liam and Janica and into the manor. Lucian shook Glenn''s hand with a heavy sigh.
"I''ll meet up with you guys later. I''m sure my father wants to hear more from me about this story."
Glenn scoffed and bumped his fist on his chest. "Whether the King likes it or not, you''re part of the team now. Oh, and tell him that he better give us some reward for all this mess we bled for."
The corners of Lucian''s lips curled upward wickedly. "Oh, don''t worry about this. I have an excellent idea of what he could give you and everyone else for their efforts. See you around, Glenn."
The boat rose into the air once again, flying away toward King''s Rise''s inner parts. Glenn watched the boat depart until Lina tugged lightly on his sleeve, pointing at their mother''s. Emily''s jaw was hanging slack as she stared at the luxurious manor.
"T- This is your home?" She stammered in disbelief.
Glenn shook his head and grabbed her shoulders softly. "Nope. It''s our home. Lina will give you a tour, I still have one last thing to take care of."
Emily opened her mouth to protest but stopped when she saw Liara floating in the air, still unconscious. She sort of understood what, or rather who Nelg was, but she still appeared a little flustered over him.
"Do what you have to do." She smiled. "I''ll be waiting."
Glenn nodded sternly and joined up with Nelg.
"Let''s get to it. We wasted too much time already," said Nelg with a dry tone.
"Sure. There''s a church of Onnea two streets away. We''ll be there in no time." Glenn patted his double in the back and moved Liara mentally, letting her float beside him.
''Oh, I feel it coming. That weird, tense, and dreaded discussion that I''ve been expecting for these past few weeks! The betrayal! The''
Glenn mentally cut through Diamanes'' bullshit, muting him. "Am I wrong to believe you want to tell me something?" He asked.
Nelg scratched the back of his head, his teeth clenched. "I... No, you''re not. From the moment you lost consciousness to now, I''ve remained in this form. Human."
He looked at his hands with a conflicted expression. "You know, at first, I''m pretty certain my thought process was the same as yours. The same objectives, the same desires, the same... mind."
"But that changed. When I was captured and put into that void... Back with the guy holding Diamanes'' third piece. That''s the first time I was truly cut off from you. The first time I thought for myself."
Glenn listened silently, slowly walking beside his twin.
"When you created me, I was Glenn. There was no question about that. I was you. I was." Nelg sighed heavily. "Now... I feel like I simply don''t have my place in your mind. It''s not... normal. I''m not like Diamanes who can freely fit himself in someone else''s head. If before I felt just like another voice in Glenn''s story, now... Now I feel like I became a character in my own story. If you see what I mean?"
Glenn stopped and looked at Nelg. "Somewhat. I don''t share the same circumstances as you, after all. You might have been me, but I was never you. I''ve never been a soul-devouring weapon." He scoffed with his hands on his waist. "You were already unique the moment you were born, Nelg. I could have called you Glenn 2, Junior, or something the like, right? But I didn''t. You might share my appearance and some of my thoughts, a by-product of my soul. But you''re not me. As much as I''m not you."
Nelg looked at the ground almost guiltily, the words stuck in his throat.
But Glenn wasn''t done yet. "What I mean by that is that you''ve always been free to do whatever you want. You might have been created to be my weapon, but I''m pretty certain you gaining complete sentience wasn''t included in the process. And I''m no slaver."
Glenn resumed his walk, bringing Liara with him. He continued to talk without looking at Nelg. "If you want to leave us, I''ll understand it. You probably want to adventure and discover the world and other people. Find your own dreams. And that''s fine. You''re free."
Nelg clenched his hands tightly before exhaling heavily. "Right. Thanks. I needed to hear that." He jogged up to Glenn and next to Liara.
Glenn glanced at him. "So what are you going to do now?"
Nelg looked up at the sky. It was a cloudy day. Maybe it would rain.
"I''ll stay now. Learn all I can. You" He shook his head, correcting himself. "No, we still have so much to do. Vampires to exterminate, a religion to destroy, Gods to interrogate, and all this and that."
He stared into Glenn''s eyes with steel-like resolve. "Once it''s done, I''ll leave."
Glenn slapped him in the back with a scoff. "Well, steel yourself up because we ain''t half-done yet."
298. Settling Down
Glenn flicked Nelg on the forehead, stopping him from dozing off. The armored doppelganger opened his eyes confusedly, drooling at the lips.
"What...?" He closed his mouth when he saw the incoming priest Glenn was pointing at. Valentin wiped the sweat off his forehead, wearing an amiable smile. He was the same priest who took care of Redan in his last moments. The Church of Onnea had promoted him to the Bourgeoisie due to a growingly reduced workforce. The war had taken many priests away from King''s Rise, and the situation with the Dark Wall hadn''t helped either. Many had received unexpected promotions.
"How is it looking?" Glenn asked, his arms crossed.
Valentin scratched his chin and pointed the direction he came from. "Why don''t you take a look for yourself?"
Liara dragged herself out of the hospital room, her teeth clenched and her tone pale. Nelg shot on his feet and hurriedly went to her side, worried.
"Are you alright?"
The Black Heiress gave him a weak smile as she lightly pushed him away, refusing his help. Valentin scribbled something down in a notepad before nodding.
"Every drop of poison in your body has been purged, but you''ll still feel very weak for a few days. I predict a dozen, but I''m probably wrong." He scratched the back of his head with his pencil and added: "I recommend you eat a lot and don''t exert yourself, at least for the next 48 hours. You should give yourself to Sir Glenn for the emergency treatment he administered. Without it, it would have taken us a couple of months to heal you."
Liara looked at Glenn and nodded slightly. The corner of Glenn''s lips curled upward as he mirrored the movement. He turned to Valentin and shook his hand.
"Thank you, priest."
Valentin smiled. "It''s my pleasure."
***
"I know it''s late, but congratulations on making it to Crusader," said Glenn. Liara was sinking into one of the comfortable armchairs of the manor''s relaxation room. Nelg had gone to fetch Sahro at Glenn''s request, while the others were about their separate affairs.
"...Thanks." Liara''s golden eyes slowed on Glenn''s chest. "Congratulations as well, Archmagi."
Glenn shrugged. "What can I say? I had to stop Sahro from overtaking me."
Liara rubbed her stomach with a complicated expression. The wounds, even if healed, had left scars on her previously pristine skin. There was a chance they''d disappear with time, but it was a foolish hope to hold.
Glenn pursed his lips, unsure how to broach the subject.
''Come on, you coward! Just say it outright, it''ll be faster this way!'' Diamanes'' unnerving voice echoed in his head, a constant distraction.
"Liara, I..." Glenn grimaced. "While I was unconscious, I was...in some sort of, uh, space."
Liara raised an inquisitive eyebrow, silent.
"And...I can''t understand why, but I was shown some of your memories." Glenn finally admitted.
Liara blinked. "What do you mean?"
Glenn drew a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. "The caravan crossing the black desert, your father and..." He trailed off, not ending his sentence. Liara had grabbed his wrist, stopping him. She was trembling slightly, her eyes widening. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times without a sound coming out of it once.
"I-I''m sorry, I didn''t intend on"
"It''s fine," she interrupted him. She leaned back in her armchair, her eyes lost in the distance with memories of blowing sandstorms and betrayal in the night. Of lost family and shattered fate.
"You..." She hesitated, scowling painfully as if even thinking about it made the years-old wounds ache. "You saw my father. What about...what about him?"
''Him?'' Glenn was about to ask who that ''him'' was, but he restrained himself. He didn''t need to. From her pained and enraged expression, it wasn''t complicated to understand who she was referring to.
Salim.
He nodded. Liara''s grip on his wrist tightened. Not with her Crusader''s strength, but with the desperation and hatred that betrayal left in its wake. Glenn felt his heart tighten in his chest. Liara''s face was hidden behind her long, white hair. He opened his mouth to say something, but a voice stopped him from doing so.
''Don''t. Right now, you just need to shut up.''
Glenn sealed his lips shut, letting Liara compose herself. The Black Heiress stayed in the same position for a dozen minutes, breathing heavily.
"Uhh, Glenn, I feel like I should wait outside, am I wrong?" Nelg''s message almost made Glenn flinch.
''No, you''re right. Give her a few minutes, I think I might have struck a sensible nerve.''
''A sensible nerve? Hah! You literally made her recall her most painful memory!'' Diamanes snorted.
"Wait, what? Why am I out of the loop?" Nelg asked confusedly.
''Give us some time, Nelg. I''ll explain later.''
Stolen novel; please report.
"...Alright."
Liara exhaled heavily and pulled her hair back. Tears had welled up in her reddened eyes, but none had streamed down her cheeks.
"Thanks." She finally whispered. Glenn reached out hesitantly, before giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder. She flinched and looked down at Glenn''s wrist, which she still hadn''t let go of. She pulled her hand away almost shamefully.
She shook her head and rubbed the corner of her eyes. "Sorry. I-I''m not used to... talking so much."
Glenn grinned. "No worries. I''m not exactly the most open on the chaotic mess that is my mental health either. Now, what do you say I get all of this off your mind?"
Liara chuckled slightly. "How?"
The Devil''s Hand''s grin widened from one ear to the other. "Follow me."
***
Creak, creak.
"Alright, that should do it." Liam let out a small tired sigh. He taped his wrench against the already-warm metal, grimacing. "I don''t think the materials I have can keep up with your strength, Sahro. Saint rank is a little too powerful for mundane metals."
Sahro picked up his sword from the ground using his new, improved MK-something prosthetic. "Every time, I destroy your prosthetics, and every time, you give me something even better. Maybe I should just keep doing that until you make me a perfect new arm?"
Janica clicked her tongue as she stowed screwdrivers and bolts away in a toolbox. Don''t joke about this, Sir Sahro. It doesn''t look like it, but fine-tuning your prosthesis takes up a lot of our time and money. Time and money we could have spent on someone''s artificial heart, for example.
Liam chuckled as he pulled her closer to him. "Don''t say that. Giving the failed prototypes to the Academy was enough to award us with more than what we paid and my heart is more than fine." He pocketed his wrench and added, "And that''s not even counting the fame. I''ve received half-a-hundred demands for prosthetics similar to yours, Sahro."
The Black Heir. "Why?"
Janica rolled her eyes and pointed at a journal on the floor. Nelg stopped messing with a half-built automaton and picked up the paper.
"Uhh, let''s see... ''Munirp''s News: Another Success for the Devil''s Hand''s Team!''. That''s about the expedition into the unknown a few weeks ago." He flipped the page and laughed in disbelief.
"Hah, look at that! ''Everything on the famous hero Glenn and his companions!'' Ah, I''m not mentioned. Makes sense, I suppose. What about...Oh-ho, I found Sahro!" Nelg was about to read the lines presenting Sahro, but the latter stole the journal away. His eyes widened as he read its contents.
"Subordinate? I''m not Glenn''s subordinate! Who the hell wrote this garbage? Liam, where is the Munirp''s News located? I''m going to destroy them!"
Janica took the journal away with an exasperated sigh. "Listen, the key point is that someone somehow managed to get your picture." She opened the journal at a specific page and pointed at an image. Indeed, Sahro was fully shown, ready to enter the Horizon Gates leading to the Beyond besides Glenn, Milena, Lucian and Liara. It was a black and white picture, making the Aura surging through his prosthesis even more intimidating.
Nelg whistled. "You''re a natural poser, Sahro. Dude, if I didn''t know you I would create a fanclub or something."
"A fanclub? What''s that?" The Black Heir''s confusion only grew.
"About that, you might find it, uhm, amusing, but..." Janica scratched the back of her head awkwardly.
"Oh, yeah, those already exist. I created one for Glenn and you in the Academy for laughs, but somehow a ton of people joined." Liam picked his ear, unfazed.
Sahro grunted and turned away, clenching his sword and practicing a few moves. The blade cut through the air with a sharp whistle that seemed to slice even sound itself. Liam, Janica, and Nelg stopped and stared at the Black Heir, dead silent. Sahro exhaled slowly, a grin drawing up on his lips.
"Two arms is still the best..." He muttered.
"Sahro!" Glenn called out as he entered the training room. Liara followed behind him, her eyes stopping on Sahro. She blinked a few times, her mouth shaped into an o.
"Ah, yes, we couldn''t tell her, could we?" Sahro grumbled. The color of his skin had returned to his usual dark tan, but his ears were still as ridiculously pointy. His Primal energy, result of the clash of his Mana and Aura, was also still broiling deep within his chest, pulsing with the same strength as a Saint. His fox Raijin suddenly appeared on his shoulder, purring.
"Wait, you were way blacker before, what happened?" Glenn inquired, puzzled.
Sahro sighed and brandished his sword. Glenn instinctively took a step back, his spells flaring. The Black Heir''s blade lit up with a dark, voracious red crackle, a primal electricity. A thunder of unquenchable hunger. The dark red lighting engulfed his body, darkening his skin as the mirage of a fox''s tail and ears appeared like a veil over him. The symbol on his forehead shone brightly, brimming with might.
''This is...'' Diamanes gasped unconsciously.
Sahro sheathed his sword and the pressure disappeared. Glenn flinched as he realized he had summoned both his Saturn Rings and a Black Hole. He hurriedly dismissed both and sighed heavily.
"So that''s Primal energy, huh? Fuck this is scary. No wonder you refused to show it on the flying boat."
The Black Heir grimaced as black smoke puffed out of his prosthesis. "Well, that and I''m not too...comfortable having foxlike features, honestly. I still can''t believe that''s the secondary effect of using this power."
Liam grabbed Liam''s arm and quickly looked for the source of the smoke, grumbling. "Whatever. If becoming as powerful as you means I need to move around looking like a dog, I would be more than fine with that. Try and think about those of us who can''t learn magic or Aura."
Sahro cleared his throat awkwardly, petting his fox without thinking. Liara looked at Whitey. The tiny bird was perched on her shoulder and singing happily, unbothered by the demonstration of strength. She pressed her lips together and grabbed Sahro, dragging him away to one corner of the training room. Glenn looked at Nelg and Liam and sighed, before using his Gravity Manipulation to make sure no sound would escape the two Black Heirs'' discussion.
''Gravity Manipulation... Is it even Gravity now? I''m more and more convinced it would be proper to rename it Reality Manipulation by now,'' jeered Diamanes.
''Stop saying whatever crosses your mind.'' Glenn dusted his hands off.
"He better not complain when his prosthesis stops working again," grumbled Janica. "I''m starting to have nightmares about mechanical arms with how many we built..."
Glenn stroked her head, ruffling her hair. And he''s very, very grateful for it, Janica. But in case he didn''t say so, thank you.
Liam frowned at the sight, but quickly tried (unsuccessfully) to escape the same fate. Glenn also ruffled his hair before leaving the room with Nelg, laughing.
"Come on, let''s check on Lina and mom" He stopped in his tracks and looked at Nelg, pondering. "Huh. Is she your mom too then?"
Nelg rubbed the back of his head. "I...uh, that''s a good question."
"Why does it matter?" Diamanes complained. "Who even cares about that? Come on, let''s go kill some more monsters, cultists and divine bullshit!"
Glenn looked at his left hand in disbelief. "We''ve barely just returned, Diamanes. Do you mind letting us rest?"
Diamanes scoffed. "Sure, just make it less boring."
Glenn shook his head and continued walking. "Whatever. Right now, I just want to enjoy life, not deal with the latest world crisis. Hey, Nelg?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you say we cook some fried dragon?"
299. Fried Dragon
"Wow. That''s some really nice marble. Where did you get this meat, Glenn?" Emily Miller rubbed her chin in wonder as she inspected the thick slab of meat her son had just slammed on the kitchen counter.
"An overgrown lizard. You saw his skull in the entry hall." Glenn sharpened his knife, a ravenous expression on his face. Nelg scratched the back of his head, awkwardly. Emily paused and gave the meat a second look.
"Wait, what?"
Glenn clapped his hands together, eager to change the subject. "It doesn''t matter, mom. Now, err, I barely remember the recipe, so..."
Emily grunted. "Of course you don''t. You never did. Always calling me to make sure you didn''t mess up the proportions. Seriously, what''s so hard about making fried chicken?"
Nelg glanced at Glenn, sending him an anxious mental message. "This is too weird! I feel like a fish in the desert!"
Glenn ignored his doppelganger for an instant and grabbed his mother''s shoulders. "Well, you know me. I would rather make sure to get it perfect instead of ruining the, uh, legendary recipe of the equally mythical Emily Miller!"
She shook her head with a sigh and rolled up her sleeves. Emily glanced at Nelg for an instant, pondering. She looked him up and down, grimacing.
"Do you have to keep that shiny armor of yours all the time? Can''t say it''ll be pleasant cooking in this tin can."
Nelg looked at his glimmering armor, embarrassed. "S- Sorry, I never tried to take it off. It''s... part of me."
Emily frowned. "Suit yourself. But you better find a way to sanitize these gauntlets. I don''t give a shit we''re in a somewhat medieval world, no bacteria will be making it into my food, understood?"
Glenn and Nelg shivered and replied at the same time. "Yes, M''am!" They exchanged a disbelieving glance and smiled. Emily clenched her teeth and turned to the meat.
This is going to take some getting used to. All right, Glenn, you know what to do. And as I understand it, so do you, Nelg."
The two nodded in unison. Glenn rolled up his sleeves and conjured an Aqua Mundare that Nelg used to scrub clean his gauntlets.
"I''ll do the coating, you''re fine with marinade?" Nelg asked as he grabbed a few ingredients from the kitchen''s cupboard. Flour, cornstarch, paprika, garlic and onion powder, cayenne, black pepper, salt, thyme, and something called the dragon''s breath chili powder, which should theoretically be nice for those extra-spicy pieces.
Glenn smirked as he dexterously mixed buttermilk and hot sauce in a large bowl. "I am the one and only marinade Master! Of course I''m fine with it. Mom, you done with the meat yet"
Emily glared at her son as she pushed the cupboard covered in perfectly cut pieces of meat. Glenn shrugged and submerged the dragon meat, suddenly pausing.
"Oh, shit, I forgot we needed to let the meat marinate. Uhh...whatever." His Mana suddenly surged up, surprising both Nelg and Emily.
"Glenn, what the hell are you doing?! You better not ruin this perfectly fine meat or I''ll" Emily''s jaw dropped as a bubble surrounded the preparation. The buttermilk and spices were instantly forced into the dragon meat.
"Haha, I am the sole inventor of the magical cooking vacuum," exclaimed Glenn victoriously. "Waiting is for losers!"
Emily rubbed her forehead before sighing in resignation. "...I won''t even bother trying to understand it. Nelg, take care of the next step while I prepare the sides. Glenn, you better not tell me you forgot about homemade mayonnaise or I''ll kill you."
"That''s the one thing I can''t forget even if I wanted to, heh!"
The three of them spent half an hour in the kitchen, bantering and frying chicken dragon. Over time, Nelg''s awkwardness faded, giving way to the simple joy of working in the kitchen with Glenn and Emily.
"I''ll tell the others it''s ready." Glenn cleaned his hands off with an Aqua Mundare and opened his mouth to add something, only to restrain himself. He glanced at Nelg and his mother and turned away, shrugging. Emily and Nelg exchanged an awkward look, unsure of what to say.
"Emily, I"
"Don''t call me by my name," snapped Emily. "This is ridiculous." She rested her hands on her waist, resolving herself. "Listen, I have to admit it''s a little hard for me, seeing a twin I didn''t birth..."
Nelg''s heart tightened and he bit on his lip. The situation made sense to him, but he still felt uncomfortableno, he hurt. But Emily wasn''t done.
"...But I''ll get used to it. This is a world of nonsense and magic, after all. As far as I''m concerned, you''re a copy of the brat that came out of my belly twenty-two years ago. So you might as well call me mother, alright?"
Nelg''s cheeks reddened as he nodded shyly. At that moment, he felt himself getting detached a little more from Glenn. Becoming his own person. Emily smiled softly and pulled him into a hug. Nelg let himself go without resistance, a strange sensation birthing in his chest.
It was one thing to experience love in Glenn''s memories, and another to feel it in reality.
Nelg awkwardly pulled himself away emotionally. "S-Sorry, but I think it''s going to take me a little while too to get used to it."
Emily patted him on the shoulder. "It''s fine. One step at a time."
Nelg gave her an unassuming smile.
''Nelg, where the hell are you guys?'' Glenn''s mental voice snapped him out of his trance and he grabbed the two platters of food, one filled with fried dragon and the other with vegetable rissole.
"They''re waiting for us," he said before quickly running away from the kitchen. Emily wiped her hands on her apron, chuckling dejectedly.
"It''s going to get hard before it gets easier..." she muttered. With one last shake of her head, she grabbed the homemade sauces and joined up with the others.
***
"Glenn, tell your baby dragon to get out of my plate!" Sahro bellowed as he grabbed Pebble and threw him to the other side of the room. The one-eyed creature happily flew through the air while munching on stolen fried dragon.
''Could this be considered cannibalism?'' Glenn thought absently as he took one large swig of soda freshly created using the magic mini-fridgeanother thing that made his mother''s jaw drop to the floor.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
''Young Pebble began his life as a rock, so technically he isn''t a dragon. And, to add to injury, if you believe Gundam''s words, that thing you killed wasn''t a dragon, just an overgrown lizard with wings.'' Diamanes'' remark was enough to make Glenn turn away, just in time to see Raijin run away with a piece of chicken in his mouth, proudly bringing it to its master. Whitey was excitedly chattering while peckering in Liara''s plate. The Black Heiress was petting the small bird absently, her eyes going back and forth between Sahro, Raijin and Whitey.
Janica and Liam were devouring as much food as they could while also scribbling on a large piece of blueprint excitedly. Lina was recounting everything she experienced ever since she woke up in Limbo to her mother, who was listening with wide opened eyes worry. More than once did Emily look at Glenn in disbelief, only to catch herself and focus back on her daughter''s words.
Tuleam, as usual, was just shoving mountains of food in his mouth without a care in the world. The scientist had shut himself in his room the moment Lucian left on his flying ship, and had only come out now for dinner. His seaweed-hair was more disheveled than ever and the black circles under his eyes were only growing larger.
Glenn could have enjoyed this moment perfectly if there wasn''t one singular issue.
''Where the hell is Milena?'' He blinked, casting Mana Sight to check the manor in and out. Becoming an Archmagi had its perks, and an enhancement to his Mana Sight was one of those.
''She isn''t in the manor nor anywhere close... Strange.'' He scratched his chin, pondering. ''I thought she would have been back by now. We stayed at the hospital for what, half a dozen hours? Knowing her, she would have been spending her time relaxing in a hot bath or something.''
"Liara, do you know where Milena is?" Glenn said softly to the Black Heiress, careful not to let his worries show through. Liara grabbed Pebble by the back of the neck and gently pulled him away from her plate before shaking her head negatively.
''Heh, maybe she got tired of being in mortal danger and went back to hiding in some hole, like when you found her in that tavern!''
Glenn ignored Diamanes'' mockeries and took a deep breath. ''She''s probably fine. It''s a little strange, but nothing worrying. Let''s just enjoy the meal.''
The evening passed peacefully. Everyone finished the meal. No waste in the Miller''s house, as Emily said to conclude the dinner. Glenn quietly cleaned up the table, as plates, forks and knives floated away in waiting, already cleaned by an expert Aqua Mundare. The table was soon subjected to the same treatment. Pebble gnawed on a bone Sahro had thrown at him. The dragon had been pestering everyone at the table during the entire meal, but none really minded.
Glenn sat on the table, strangely worried. ''It''s weird. I have this really bad feeling that something is about to start again. What the hell is Milena up to?''
Diamanes grumbled in annoyance. "Oh no, not the ''I got a bad feeling about this''! Hey, why don''t you precipitate whatever crisis is next so we can be done with all this normal life stuff?"
"Diamanes, I feel like I''m repeating myself, but we''re just back from the most harrowing experience of our lives." Glenn paused and pressed his lips together. "...Well, not the most harrowing, but you got my point."
"You had more than enough rest on that boring flying boat. Hey, I got an idea! Why don''t you defy Exan in a duel? Or Harriet? I''m sure they would both accept!"
Glenn dusted his hands off and walked to his room. "That''s certainly an idea I can get behind. Maybe that''ll give me some hints on how to get to the next level without having to risk my life. And I do have a few questions I''d like to ask Exan..."
"That''s the spirit! And while you''re at it, why don''t you ask Lucian to present the King to you, so you and him can have a bout too? I know, just take the King''s throne! That''s genius, isn''t it?"
"...Now you''re starting to make a lot less sense, Diamanes."
"Tch. At least I tried."
***
Milena stood in the lavish waiting room, her back trembling as her robotic arms tried and failed to surge out. She glanced at the double doors covered in overly decorated gold and silver filigree, pleasantly surprised.
Many times she waited before those doors. Every time her mother would call her, it would be to this place, where she would be forced to endure a long, insufferable waiting time aimed at irritating and weakening her will. To grow her anxiousness and make her restless.
"Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have," muttered Milena. Another quote she stole from her grandfather. He and her dad were the only ones she could truly appreciate in this snake nest. Her mother was from a noble, aristocratic family, part of the highest circles of the Court. The House of Sorenas was one of the oldest families in Munirp, but was also far from the most renowned in reality. Powerful ancestors, who died hundreds of years ago serving in some nameless war, brought them fame. The secret techniques and spells of said ancestors accompanied them in their graves, and none of their descendants estimated it worthwhile to try to reach their heights.
The House of Sorenas was, and still is, all for enjoying the good life under the guise of a Marquis title. They were also incredibly proficient at marrying their children to other powerful families, strengthening their position as one of the strongest yet most useless Houses of Munirp. At least, that''s what Milena thought of her mother''s house. Compared to her father''s house, the Dela Luna, the Sorenas are nothing but scum groveling at her father and grandfather''s feet.
''Calm down,'' she thought. Today, for the very first time, she didn''t feel the usual fear. The anxiousness and worry about having done something wrong, about being the ''shame'' of the family, or to have failed in whatever scheme her mother''s concocted for her. No, today, she simply felt annoyed.
''I should have been celebrating with the others at yet another impossible feat of survival, but no.'' Milena looked at her hands. They were once delicate, like expected from a noble woman. Now, they were covered in scars and scabs, thick calluses created from arduous training with her twin daggers. A few small scars also decorated her face, giving her a more battle-worn look.
Milena chuckled silently as she clenched her fists shut. Before she met Glenn, her only objective was to survive that stupid, traditional Test that only idiotic families such as her mother''s would force their children to complete. Now, everything was different. Her Mana pulsed out, scanning everything in the room and unveiling the poorly hidden guards in the corners.
''I''m an Expert Magi, and I don''t feel like the Sixth Circle is that far out of reach. If I just push a little harder, fight a little more, maybe...'' Her thoughts were interrupted when the twin doors flung open.
"Come in." A cold voice called out to her, dry and unwelcoming. Milena stepped inside her mother''s luxurious room, her anger dissipating and unnatural calm taking over. That same sensation she felt when fighting Stormblade, or when searching for a solution to escape the spatial domain.
''Here goes nothing.''
"Milena Dela Luna Sorenas, I have heard of your... feats."
Milena cracked her neck, staring down at her mother. It had been years since the last time she had seen the wench, and she would have rather kept it that way. She was a woman of unusual beauty, with light blue eyes and washed out black hair styled in a bob cut. Strands of gray mixed with the black, contrasting with the absurd quantity of make-up hiding her wrinkles and other signs of aging. Milena almost laughed out loud at the sight.
''That''s who I was scared of?''
In a rare, deliberate choice, her mother had ''chosen'' to not bother learning magic or Aura, instead relying on her House''s bannerets for any military issues. Not that the Sorenas house was very influential in said field.
"Mother." Milena almost spat the word, disgusted to even pronounce it.
"It is Marquess Sorenas for you, girl." Her mother''s eyes dripped with hatred as she slammed her hands on the desk. Before, Milena would have flinched and shied away, but not anymore. Milena crossed her arms and raised a mocking eyebrow, a trick she learned from observing Glenn.
"Sure, Marquess. What do you want?"
The Marquess'' jaw almost dropped out of shock. She took a few seconds to gather herself, stammering. "Y-You! This is no way to speak to your mother!"
"But I thought you wanted me to call you by your proper title?" Milena made a perfect, gracious bow. "My apologies."
The Marquess stared at Milena in disbelief. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and cleared out her throat, still awed. "Cough, anyway, I decided to meet you here to tell you that your duty is done. Excellent work."
Milena frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Marquess Sorenas blinked. "But of course, the Test! Don''t tell me you forgot about the very reason Iwe sent you mingling with the scum and peasants?"
Milena paused, her heart missing a beat. "Wait, no"
The Marquess continued, oblivious or simply choosing to ignore her daughter. "You''re returning to the Court with me, Milena."
"It''s over."
300. New Fit
Glenn rolled his sheets, smiling to himself. Never had his bed felt so comfortable. The temperature was perfect, he had found just the right position, and silence ruled over the house peacefully. It was such a huge contrast to the constant bickering with his teammates or Diamanes'' commentary that he couldn''t help but enjoy it.
"Glenn! Wake up you slouch!"
The young man''s expression soured and he grabbed a pillow to mute the annoying sound. It probably was nothing anyway. What could be more important than the Devil''s Hand''s sleep?
"There are guests at the gates! People from the Cleaner''s Workshop!"
Glenn clenched his eyes even more shut, burying his head deeper in his bed. ''Whoever came, they can certainly wait for a few more minutes, right?''
"AH!" Diamanes'' exclamation was like the most annoying ringtone. "That''s it! The sound of problems! Quick Glenn, wake the fuck up! We got a King''s Rise to burn!"
Glenn opened his eyes in frustration. "I swear one day I''ll get revenge for that. Fuck this shit..."
He dragged himself out of bed, yawning. A glance outside the window told him it was barely dawn, making his annoyance grow even further. A flick of his fingers made his black Imoogi suit appear in a flash, covering him from head to toe. He cleaned his face and teeth with a quick, efficient Aqua Mundare, before practically kicking the door to his room open.
Emily was waiting outside, already dressed and prepared for the day. She wore an impatient expression, her hands on her waist and her feet tapping constantly on the floor. She pointed downward at the manor''s entry.
"Finally! I''ve been trying to wake you up for five minutes already! You still haven''t changed your bad habits whatsoever, I see?"
Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes as he pulled his Exan Egg from his dimensional pouch. He had thought he wouldn''t ever see the pouch again, but Lucian had actually picked it up from some slaver''s corpse. He only got it back during the flight back to King''s Rise. The egg-shaped pocket watch was still ticking steadily.
"It''s...wha-? It''s only five o''clock? in the damned morning?!" He clasped the watch shut, gritting his teeth. "Mom, you''re telling me waking up later than that is a bad habit?"
Emily crossed her arms. "The world belongs to those who wake up early"
"No," he shook his head, "It belongs to those who can blast Meteors at others. Now, if you don''t mind, I''ll shove our guests back the way they came from before I return to bed."
"That hasn''t changed either," she remarked, "You''re still very much anti-morning, huh? Can''t you try a little better and show your sister the good example?"
Glenn pinched his glabella. "Listen, mom, I know you say this for my own good, but trust me, I am showing the best big brother''s example in the world, ''kay? Not many people are considered living legends."
His mother scoffed dismissively and slapped him on the shoulder. "Stop saying nonsense and go take care of your guests. That is not how I raised you to be."
Glenn grumpily complied, at least to shut her up. Diamanes laughed the entire time, his mockeries echoing in his host''s mind.
''Hahaha, the high and mighty Devil''s Hand, forced to wake up early by his mother! Isn''t that a sight for sore eyes?''
''You''re just jealous you don''t have a mom, Diamanes.''
Diamanes gasped, insulted. ''I-I do have a mom! She just didn''t get the chance to raise from the dead like yours!''
Glenn shook his head as he left the manor. The Cleaners better had an excellent explanation as to why they woke him up so early if they didn''t want him to raze their damned Workshop. Reginald and Veil were waiting patiently at the gates, one standing with perfect stature while the other yawned under his bandages.
"Reginald, Veil, what do I owe the displeasure?" Glenn grumbled. "I just returned from fighting Newborn Rulers and whatnot, please tell me this is important enough to warrant waking me up."
"Fixer Glenn," nodded Reginald. "Our apologies for that, but our leadership has determined this subject as a very important one."
Glenn sighed. "What is it?"
Veil cleared his throat as he adjusted the tightness of his bandages. "You''ve been officially invited to receive the rewards for your contribution in the fight for the Dark Wall as well as your expedition in the Beyond. Your comrades have also been invited, I name..." He scratched the top of his head, "...Reginald?"
Reginald sighed. "Fixer Sahro, Fixer Milena, and Fixer Liara. I doubt his Highness the Crowned Prince would bother with this, but he also is invited."
Glenn looked at them absently as he slowly clenched his fists.
"...I hate all of you," he muttered. "When is that stupid ceremony anyway?"
Veil clasped his hands behind his back. "In four hours exactly. We''ll send you someone to bring you to the event. There''ll be quite a few people invited, so I do suggest putting on your best attire."
"And why would I care about that?" Glenn asked with a frown.
"Because many will be high-ranking nobles," replied Reginald, "...who will be here to choose heroes to sponsor or invite in their families to bolster their strength. Considering you and your team are the biggest heroes of this matter, you''ll be the highlights of the event."
"Can I just not go and ask for some more interesting reward, like..." Glenn paused and scratched the top of his head. "Wait, what do I even need? I basically have infinite cash with all the favors people owe me."
Veil glanced at their surroundings and lowered his voice slightly. "I''d suggest coming to the ceremony anyway, Fixer Glenn. There have been rumors of some Houses moving in strange ways, some related to even House Sorenas." He paused dramatically, as if expecting some sort of reaction from Glenn.
"...Who?"
Reginald pushed down on his top hat and similarly spoke with a low voice. "A new member of noble society has been declared yesterday. Nothing too important usually, happens all the time."
Glenn looked at Reginald when suddenly he realized why it might be related to him. "Tell me more."
The Cleaner took a short breath. "Milena Dela Lune Sorenas has completed the Test given to her by her family, and has returned to the Court to complete her official introduction into noble society."
''So this was indeed about Milena. That''s why she did not return from wherever she went. Shit, did she ditch us?''
Veil seemed to read the concern on his face. "We gathered some intel pointing at this being done without Fixer Milena''s agreement. The House of Sorenas is reputed for shady dealings and low actual importance, despite their esteemed ancestry."
Glenn crossed his arms, his expression hardening. "What about her father''s family? The Dela Lune? I know she''s related to Exan, can''t the fucker give her a hand and intervene in the matter?"
Stolen story; please report.
Reginald and Veil exchanged an awed glance.
"You really are fearless, Fixer Glenn. Not many people would dare badmouth the Omniscient himself." Reginald said carefully.
Glenn sneered. "Then again, not many people fought against evil gods and entire cults. And he''s not that far, just a rank away. I''ll dethrone him soon enough."
"That, I can believe..." Veil muttered to himself.
"To reply to your question, the House Dela Lune has been charged with taking care of the access to the Beyond and establishing a safe perimeter," explained Reginald. "Sir Exan''s technology is perfect to establish a secure perimeter inside and outside the dimensional passage."
"And not to say, but Duke Vanderian, Fixer Milena''s father, is reputed as one of the greatest negotiators who ever lived, in addition to being a powerful Archmagi," added Veil. "Your comrades'' reports concerning the presence of amicable demons within the Beyond made it mandatory for Duke Vanderian to head there."
Glenn sighed as he felt a headache coming. "So, to resume it, her father''s family can''t help her right now, nor can Exan. Great. Really great. Phew..."
Reginald brushed his mustache, pinching each end with his gloved hands. "Also, I wouldn''t want to worry you, but we''ve heard that the Sorenas have been dealing with Count Mortelli before his betrayal. We''ve also noticed a few discrepancies in their economic reports pointing at connections with Baron Howards dating from a year ago."
"How did you even get that?" Glenn questioned, only to quickly shake his head. "Nevermind, I don''t care. Shit, they''re also connected to the mosquitoes, then?"
Reginald''s eyebrows creased. "Mosquitoes?"
"Vampires," translated Veil with a certain amount of veneer. "Any ideas whether that operation we''ve been pushing for has been accepted?"
Reginald looked at his bandaged coworker, deadpan. "You tell me, Sir Veil. You''re higher ranked than me."
Veil rubbed the back of his head, grinning under his bandages. Glenn sighed and slowly rubbed his face.
"Alright, I got it. Thanks for the warning you two."
Reginald chuckled softly. "No, thank you, Fixer Glenn. The number of Archmagis in our organization can be counted on one hand. That and your achievements made the Cleaner''s Workshop shine even brighter. For that, we are infinitely grateful. If you need anything, simply transmit the request to me or your assistant Kevin. He has been put at your entire disposition."
Glenn thought back to the scrawny assistant and smirked. It had been a while since he had last seen Kevin. Maybe he should go say to him once he''s done exterminating all the pests determined to make his life a struggle.
''Oh, I love that! Let me take notes: exterminating... all the... pests. Great line! Almost villain-like!''
"We will see you later then, Fixer Glenn." Reginald bowed slightly while Veil simply gave a polite nod. "Have a great day."
Glenn looked at the two who walked away, thinking. He silently returned inside the manor, surprised to find Sahro and Liara standing in the entry hall, yawning yet geared and ready.
"What are you doing here?" He questioned, confused.
Sahro pointed his chin at the upper floor. Emily was leaning on the guardrail, watching with a smirk. She waved at him before turning away.
"We heard everything," said Sahro as he made his knuckles crack. His prosthetic creaked and hissed as a bit of steam blew through the gears, as if alive.
"When are we leaving?" Liara asked as she adjusted the position of her sword and spear on her back. "To help Milena, I mean."
Glenn laughed softly and raised his eyes to the sky. "I really found some good teammates, didn''t I?"
"Yeah, try and hog all the credit." Sahro scoffed. "So, what do we need to do?"
"Right now..." He looked up and down at his comrades and grimaced. "We go shopping."
If there was one thing the Black Heirs weren''t expecting, it was certainly that. Sahro was wearing his usual desert-style clothes, his hood off and his sword hanging at his waist, while Liara wore a simple leather armor with simple, wide clothes to allow for ease of movements. Her sword and her spear were both sheathed on her back, waiting to be drawn and used.
Not to say, they weren''t exactly in the fashion of a meeting with nobles and other persons of importance. Usually, Glenn couldn''t have cared whatsoever about this, but a plan was beginning to form in his mind. A plan that would require a cool entrance, nice clothes, and most importantly, a good capitalization on the group''s fame.
"Oh-ho, this is going to be fun!"
Nelg walked into the Main Hall, rubbing his eyes tiredly and dragging his feet. "What did I miss?"
Glenn looked at his doppelganger in disbelief. ''Can a weapon even get tired?''
***
"This...This is the most perfect day of my life."
Camille Langley was, and still is, the most renowned seamstress in the entire Bourgeoisie. Her workshop was located in the best part of town, Noble''s Square, the XXVIth district. All the nobles worthy of the name had their clothes made at Camille''s atelier, Les Mains de Fe. Yet few were fortunate enough to work directly with Camille Langley, dealing instead with her apprentices or subordinates.
This was not the case for Glenn and his pals. The moment they stepped into the shop, which had been recommended absent-mindedly by Janica during one random conversation, every workers had stopped what they had been doing to inspect them, asking for signatures and handshakes.
The owner, Camille, had come out running from the back shop to meet them. She practically fainted when they saw them.
Back to the present, Glenn was standing rigidly as Camille was taking his proportions. She was a small person, maybe below a meter and a half, and was wearing half-finished clothes. Scissors and fabrics, ribbons were messily hanging from her belts. Her red hair possessed that same chaotic nature, dressed in a manner incomprehensible to mortals.
"Y- You sure my white suit isn''t good enough"
"It''s combat gear, not clothes," snapped Camille as she shamelessly began sizing up Glenn''s crotch. "No, I simply cannot allow the Devil''s Hand to go at his first noble gala in combat gear, that''s unthinkable!"
She turned to her apprentices, who were similarly taking measures for Sahro and Liara. "Take everything! I want to make their clothes perfect!"
Glenn restrained a chuckle. "I have to admit, I''m a little surprised to find out that a tailor knows about us."
Camille stopped in disbelief. "Who wouldn''t know about you? Be it with Baron Howard''s scandal, the recent war beyond the Dark Wall, the Dark Wall, itself, and the recent expedition to the Beyond! No, you truly are heroes deserving of fame. Ah, not many know about these last parts, but you know, nobles love gossiping."
She sighed and wiped her forehead. "I''ve been a fan for the longest time. I kept reading the journal and listening to the nobles about a group of young Fixers going around destroying everything. Be it their leader, the mysterious Devil''s Hand with a purple limb, the cool Black Swordsman with his prosthetic, the Witch or even the Desert''s Rose, they all sounded like living legends! And here they are," she frowned, "Well, most of them at least."
Glenn paused as he restrained laughter. "Wait, wait, I didn''t know Milena and Liara had official surnames now. The Witch and the Desert''s Rose?"
Camille nodded as her scissors snipped and cut. "Yes, yes. The Witch, transcending men and women, controlling monsters and humans alike, playing with their mind, while the Desert''s Rose would fly on her sword and pierce the world with her spear covered in light. There are a lot of popular songs about your friends'' achievements, Sir Glennthough I have to say, the Devil''s Hand is still the number one favorite for children and mothers'' alike. Ah, similar to the demon kings of stories, you see?"
Glenn nodded slowly, overwhelmed. He glanced at Liara, finding her lips sealed and her cheeks flushed red from shame. The corner of his lips curled upward slightly.
"I think Desert''s Rose is nice, but not suitable. We need something cooler for the team''s princess, right?"
Sahro grunted in agreement while Liara turned away, refusing to meet his gaze. Glenn chuckled, pausing as he felt warmth in his chest.
''This is so nice. Going shopping with my friends. Listening to gossip. Shit, normal life really has its positives.''
''Yeah, yeah, try to convince yourself to think that what you felt was simply happiness. I''m telling you, romantic relationships are the most chaotic things around! I want one! Two, even! Wait, why would I restrain myself?''
''Shut the hell up Diamanes.''
Nelg scoffed in a rare interjection. The doppelganger had chosen to forego the entire process by simply returning to Glenn''s soul. He had been quite reluctant at the idea of having to take his armor off and have other people touch him.
"I''m sure she wouldn''t even consider you anyway. Who would want a relationship with someone bearing a demon in his hand?"
''Hey, now that''s just hurtful!''
Glenn''s grin disappeared as he silently let Camille do her job. Eventually, she was done taking measures and cutting strips of fabric. She excused herself and asked for an hour before running away into the back shop, followed by her cohort of apprentices.
An hour later, Glenn, Liara, and Sahro stared at each other and their new clothes.
''Wow. Just... wow.''
Even Diamanes was speechless.
301. Stylish Rhymes with What the fuck do you mean?
Glenn winced as he slipped into his new Langley-style clothes.
''Looking good is a requirement if you want to rule the world,'' said Diamanes with a wise tone. ''Clothes like these are perfectly fitting. One step closer to total domination!''
"I''m not exactly sure strength and style are correlated," retorted Nelg.
''And that''s exactly why you''re not the strongest around. So shut up and let the pros talk, yeah?''
"Says the guy forced to live in someone else''s hand."
Glenn sighed. ''Both of you, shut up.'' He stepped out of the changing cabin, stretching out and breaking in the new fabric. A gasp of amazement startled him. Camille clenched her hands together, her eyes sparkling.
"You outdid yourself, Mistress Langley," said one of her assistants in awe.
Camille walked around Glenn, observing him with a sharp gaze.
"The Devil''s Hand, the sole mage who seems able to wield the stars." She pinched her chin with a squint. "Sky-night blue was the only choice for the tailcoat, as were the embroideries. The silver linings marry themselves quite well with purple, you see?"
Glenn nodded, acting as if this whole thing wasn''t going completely over his head.
"Now, the key was to connect your... trademark," she vaguely waved at his left hand, "...to the rest of your clothes. For that, a royal purple brocade vest was the most suitable."
He looked down at said vest, his eyebrows raised. Intricate celestial patterns woven in silver patterns made it glimmer slightly in the light. Below it, a simple yet delicate white silk shirt. A black cravat, secured with a silver pin, was a complement to the whole. His pants were as dark as a night''s shadows, helping to deepen the somber outfit.
"I''d recommend picking up some rings, amethyst or rubies to put on your other hand. As well as silver earrings, that''d be the best..." Camille cleared her throat when she noticed Glenn''s barely concealed sneer. "... Nothing mandatory, of course, simply it would compliment my work best."
Glenn shrugged. "I''ll see if I can find something. What about Sahro and Liara?"
Her eyes lit up, and she turned to the other changing cabins, just in time for the two Black Heirs to come out.
"Ah, perfect! Considering your companions'' reputations, choices had to be made!" She lowered her voice and added in a whisper, "And considering you asked me to make you the stars of the show, well..."
"G- Good job," stammered Glenn as his eyes struggled to leave Liara''s figure. Camille happily started explaining the reasons for such ''simplicity'', why such color and something about the exact length or something, but Glenn couldn''t hear her. His heart raced madly, not with fear or excitation, but something entirely different.
Liara took a few hesitant steps, embarrassed. One of Camille''s assistants had taken the time to style the Black Heiress'' hair, braiding it and revealing the slightly sharp ends of her ears. She was wearing a dark blue cocktail dress that matched with Glenn''s tailcoat, an elegant yet tantalizing slit revealing her right leg. Her shoulders were bare, a few white scars traced upon her tanned skin.
She glanced around the shop quickly, ensuring there were no other male presences than Glenn and Sahro.
"They really suit you," she whispered, "The clothes."
Glenn gulped and shook himself awake. "Thanks. Can''t say I can compare to you, though."
Liara blushed slightly and lifted the flaps of her dress with some embarrassment. It''s odd. I... I''m not used to wearing this kind of thing. She grabbed her scarred shoulders as her gaze dropped to the floor, her countenance darkening.
"...I am not certain it suits me."
"It absolutely does," said Glenn immediately, without thinking. "Really, I can''t think of anyone who''d wear this better than you."
Liara perked up with a surprise smile. "Really? Not even Milena?"
"Not even her." Glenn nodded, struggling for words as Liara''s bewitching figure captivated him.
"Don''t you know how to be embarrassed?" Sahro grumbled, breaking off the magical moment. Camille and her assistants hurriedly hid away the popcorn they were devouring, a little disappointed the show was over.
"Embarrassed?" Glenn repeated confusedly, before blushing and turning away. Liara pushed a stranded strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks similarly reddening. Both were looking around the tailor''s shop with fleeing eyes, as if the multiple fabrics had suddenly become the most interesting things around.
"What the hell is going on? Don''t tell me Liara has a crush on you or I swear I''ll start breaking shit!" Nelg shouted within Glenn''s mind, furious.
Diamanes pumped up a mental, victorious fist. ''YES! Please, skip all this boring stuff and get to fucking! It''s been thousands of years, I can''t even imagine what sex looks like!''
Glenn took a mental step back, overwhelmed. ''Both of you, stop. I- I was just taken aback, alright? Nothing to get yourselves so worked up, so just shut up. I can''t be in a relationship anyway!'' He glanced at his left, purple hand with a condemning look. ''Thanks to a certain someone.''
''Hey, if you can''t stop me from watching, you just have to start enjoying it!''
"Fucking disgusting."
Glenn left the two entities to war in one corner of his mind as he finally turned to Sahro, searching for any good excuses to stop staring at Liara. The Black Heiress was testing out the dress, spinning gently on her black high-heels. ''No, stop looking at her!'' He forced himself away and grabbed Sahro''s shoulders.
"My friend, I will be damned if none of the highborn ladies try asking you out for a dance or more."
Camille nodded, suddenly stepping back into the conversation. "I can''t agree more. While Miss Liara had a princess'' presence, like you so accurately pointed out, Sir Glenn, I can''t say the same for Sir Sahro." She adjusted the Black Heir''s sleeve and nodded to herself. "Maiming is rare among nobility, you see."
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Sahro reached out with his mechanical arm, moving around in his new set of clothes.
"Sir Sahro, you have that peculiar look about you, something wild, primal perhaps? I wouldn''t know how to pinpoint it exactly, but I felt like it would be a good gamble to bet on that peculiarity."
Where Glenn and Liara''s outfits hinted at the dark, starry sky, Sahro''s clothes showed a ruler of the sands. The crucial piece was a dark gray mantle covered in ember gold, filigranes similar to the mark the Black Heir bore on his forehead. Dark brown furs were weighing down on his shoulders, a majestic mix between a wolf and a lion''s pelt. Below, a vest with similar color schemes was decorating his chest, rose gold chains giving him a regal look.
A handsome yet wild haircut straightened Sahro''s usually wavy, messy, and voluminous chestnut-gold hair. Yet, it still possessed a sentiment of freedom, of wildness.
"You''re beating out Lucian," remarked Glenn. "Not even he wore clothes that nice."
Camille gasped. "You know his Highness? I''ve had the honor of presenting him a few works, but I believe he prefers constantly wearing battle-suits, unfortunately." She paused, taking in the sight of Glenn, Sahro and Liara together.
"This is my magnum opus," sighed Camille, exhausted. "The work of a life. The perfect clothes for the right individuals. I can die peacefully now."
"Thank you for that, Ms. Camille. How much do we owe you?" Glenn asked, satisfied. He hadn''t been looking this good since...ever.
"Uhm...I''ll send you the invoice once I''m done calculating it."
Glenn shook his head. "Send it to the Cleaner''s Workshop instead. I practically saved the world twice over for these people. I''m sure they''ll pay for my suits."
Camille nodded. "As you wish. Also, please tell your friends it would be my pleasure to outfit them." She pursed her lips and smiled wickedly. "Even more if they''re all as handsome as you."
"For sure, Ms. Camille. Have a great day."
***
"I can''t fight in this thing..." Sahro grunted as he kept his hand close to his dimensional pouch, where his sword was resting. Liara chuckled softly as Glenn sighed.
"We''re not supposed to fight in them, Sahro. For the love of everything that is just, when we get there, do not fight."
Sahro looked at him bemusedly. "Are you sure that you, of all people, are the right person to say this?"
"Yes," replied Glenn shamelessly. He glanced at Liara, who was struggling to walk on the paved streets with her high-heels. "Need any help?"
She shook her head, as if saying, ''It is my burden to bear!'' or something the like. Nelg still popped out of Glenn''s inventory soul and offered his arm, which she declined. Glenn''s armored doppelganger still stood beside her, ready to help if needed.
''Nelg...'' Diamanes spoke slowly, almost in disbelief. ''Don''t tell me you have a crush on Liara.''
What if I do? It''s not like Glenn loves her or anything, is it? The, er, spot is free, I guess, Nelg jeered, answering mentally. Glenn ignored both of them, wondering if he''d just become the equivalent of Messenger for the two.
''Just telling you, it won''t ever go further than kisses, since, well, you still can''t take that tin can of yours, right?''
"I say you piss off and take care of your own stuff, Diamanes. I''ll let you insult me the day you walk with your own two feet again."
''Tch!''
Glenn finally shut the two up. He needed to think by himself, and the incessant banter wasn''t helping whatsoever in that direction.
''I wonder how important the reward ceremony is. If it''s only with nobles of the Bourgeoisie, it''d barely be worth anything. I need to find the people close to Mortelli, the ones who mix up with the mosquito bastards, and anyone connected to Milena''s matriarchal family. If she wants to return to the Court, fine.'' His eyes hardened, his fists clenched. ''But I doubt that''s the case. She would have told us otherwise. No, it''s much more probable that whoever taught her those powerful mind spells took over her mind. Or that she was threatened. I''m certain it''s out of her control anyway.''
"-enn? Glenn?" Sahro waved his hand in front of Glenn''s eyes, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Wha- Yeah?"
"Are you sure it was necessary to come to the Cleaner''s Workshop? Couldn''t we have just waited at the manor and used the time to do something more productive?"
Glenn smirked. "Like what, training?"
Sahro took a step back, startled. "How did you read my mind? Did you learn some of Milena''s magic?"
"I didn''t, that''s just the only thing you think about, alongside getting stronger and fighting stronger people. And eating meat too, probably."
"Fuck you."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Glenn pinched his glabella, drawing a deep breath in before entering the Cleaner''s Workshop. "To reply to your question, we came here because we need information, and also because I don''t want you both to ruin your clothes by fighting each other in them. Right now, we''re all in perfect conditions to charm everyone on our path, and I don''t want to lose that. Got it?"
Sahro shook his head dejectedly. "I knew I shouldn''t have agreed to this dumb plan."
Liara patted his arm with a gentle smile under Nelg''s glare. The Black Heir rolled his eyes and pulled a rug out to clean his prosthesis. In the meantime, Glenn had gone past the Fixers hovering in the Main Hall waiting to take on contracts or discussing with their fellow fighters and directly to the counter. Three, probably-undead-yet-pretty ladies were sitting in a row, welcoming Fixers and managing tasks with uncanny perfection.
"Hello, Fixer Glenn. What can we do for you?" The clerk lady asked with a polite smile. Glenn took no notice that she knew his face, considering he was pretty much a celebrity, and instead went straight to the point.
"I''d need a private lounge and my handler, Kevin."
The clerk nodded in understanding. "Of course, please wait an instant." She glanced over a sheet of paper, reading something off it, but Glenn knew better. He had activated his Mana Sight out of curiosity, and was watching a flow of dark energy depart from the clerk lady and deeper into the Workshop. It was an energy perfectly similar to the Divinity Veil handled in battle, or what Manalok Calopea Truantthe Head Cleaner Director of the Northern Townfelt like.
"A lounge has been freed up for you, Fixer Glenn," she finally said. She pointed her chin to a passage nearby. "Your Fixer''s Dagger will guide you."
Glenn thanked her and led his teammates deeper into the Workshop. The soul bound dagger, which he hadn''t used in a very long while, glimmered with pale light as it guided them to a walled-off passage. A keyhole appeared, which Glenn stabbed with no hesitation. A door opened itself, leading into a luxurious lounge where a very nervous assistant was pacing incessantly.
"Kevin, it''s been a while." Glenn ushered himself in without warning, startling the mouse-like assistant. Kevin hadn''t changed much, aside from deeper dark circles under his eyes and new, gold-rimmed glasses.
"Sir Glenn!" Kevin sighed in relief. "And you brought Sir Sahro and Miss Liara, and..." He looked at Nelg for a moment before shaking his head, choosing to ignore the matter. "Thank the gods!"
"Did he just ignore me?" Nelg''s indignation echoed in Glenn''s mind, only for the latter to not spare him a thought.
"I''m not sure the gods are to thank, but happy to see you too, Kevin." Glenn comfortably sat in the nearest sofa. Sahro took an armchair for himself while Liara politely nodded at Kevin and sat next to Glenn. Once again, warmth pulsed through Glenn''s chest, at least until Nelg sat between them.
''God damn it, I don''t have time for that,'' he thought. ''I... I need to bury this thing and get over it.''
"Please stop joking around, Sir Glenn." Kevin adjusted his glasses position and dropped his notepad on the closest table. "There have been fresh developments since Sir Reginald and Sir Veil met you. I was halfway to the Manor before the Workshop called me back."
"Fresh developments?" Glenn was curious. "What do you mean?"
Kevin drew a breath and composed himself. "Y- Your comrade, Milena."
"They have announced her marriage."
302. Problems, Always Problems
After Kevin''s shocking announcement, a heavy silence had taken over the private lounge. Liara''s eyes were wide open, her jaw hanging slackly while Sahro slowly lifted a finger.
"Wait, I probably heard wrong. You said...?"
"Marriage, yes," nodded Kevin. Glenn snorted in disbelief and leaned back in the sofa.
"Marriage. Hah." He lifted his arms in disbelief. "Just like that?"
"Well, there was certainly a lot of paperwork filled and twice as many invitations sent for the marriage, but..."
Glenn waved away, interrupting the assistant. "I got your point, but that doesn''t answer my question."
Kevin nervously rubbed his forehead, his glasses falling off his nose slightly. "To tell you the truth, Sir Glenn, we only received the information now from the Indigo Bureau. Something about paying back their debts, I believe."
"Sigh..." Glenn buried his face in his hands. ''Why are things always getting more and more complicated?''
"Kevin, who''s the unlucky bastard?" Sahro asked with his arms crossed. Kevin opened his mouth, hesitated, and picked up his notepad to check the name out.
"...Talor Rosenborn, of the Rosenborn family. A very ancient family, with a Count''s title. It was quite a surprising announcement, but it was made clear when Milena''s identity as a daughter of the Dela Luna family was revealed. It would be a very good alliance for the Rosenborns, but not so much for the Dela Lunas, who already have one, if not the highest, standing in the Court, thanks to the Omniscient."
Glenn frowned. "Any information about Exan''s opinion on this marriage?"
Kevin shook his head. "The latest report told rumors of a steel Colossus fighting against a dark presence near the passageway to the Beyond."
"Something strong enough to hold itself up against Exan is bad news..." muttered Sahro. He stood up and silently paced the room as steam pumped out of his brass and steel prosthesis.
"Wait." Glenn raised an open palm, his frown deepening. "Rosenborn... Rosenborn... Shit, I know this name."
Nelg cleared his throat. "Wasn''t there a kid who was crushing on your sister? Ary, I think?"
"Ary Rosenborn... yeah, that little fuck who was trying to flirt with Lina." Glenn clenched his fists with murderous rage.
''Not to say, but that Prince who was transformed in a thorny abomination was also a Rosenborn, right?'' Diamanes'' comment forced Glenn''s anger to fade away. The young man clasped his hands together, thinking.
''Shit, you''re right. Prince, Ary, and now Talor, Milena''s mysterious fiance. How many boys did they birth in this damned horny family?''
"That''s quite the insult, considering you never met them," remarked Nelg.
''I met Ary, who was head over heels in love with my sister, and knew Prince was an entitled, arrogant fool. That''s more than enough to get an opinion.''
"Sure, if you say so."
Glenn''s face darkened. ''But considering all this, it does make me wonder if Ary''s attempt at flirting with Lina was as simple as it seemed, or some sort of scheme. I''ll need to see Lina once we''re done with the award ceremony.''
''I say we kidnap Ary!'' Diamanes happily exclaimed.
Glenn grunted. ''Excellent idea.''
"Care to share your thoughts, Glenn?" Sahro said as he squinted at his friend''s left, purple hand. Glenn shook himself awake and nodded.
"We''ve already interacted with the Rosenborns twice: first was Prince Rosenborn, whose identity we learned in Palancar, and second is Ary, the scum hitting on my sis''."
"That doesn''t help us whatsoever in telling Milena''s situation," mocked Nelg. Liara looked at the armored doppelg?nger with a worried expression as she fidgeted with her fingers.
"I apologize," interrupted Kevin as he looked at a wristwatch, "but we''re going to be late if we don''t leave now. The award ceremony will happen in the Court, and it will take at least an hour to pass the customs."
Glenn stood up and sighed heavily. "Alright. Nothing changes anyway, our objective remains the same." He rubbed his neck and made it crack. "Try to mix up with as many nobles as you can, and learn everything possible." He glanced at Liara and smiled apologetically. "Of course, that doesn''t apply to you. You don''t have to worry about breaking the tradition."
Liara nodded slowly with a complicated look. She rubbed her bare shoulders and bit down on her lips. Once more, that damned tradition made it harder for her to help. It was seriously starting to get on her nerves, not because it was a stupid rule, but because she couldn''t break it herself. The only person she felt comfortable speaking to who wasn''t a Black Heir nor woman was Glenn, and that was it. Not even his magical twin counted as the rare, lucky individuals who she allowed herself to talk to.
''It''s so stupid,'' she thought. ''Why can I talk to Glenn and not the others? I already resolved myself, why can''t I...?'' Her thoughts were interrupted when Glenn reached a hand out to her, to help her out of the sofa. She grabbed it without thinking, still not too used to walking with the classy high-heels.
Let''s go, he said. The group followed Kevin''s guidance, with Nelg returning to Glenn''s soul sometime along the way. The assistant led them to a carriage adorned with the emblem of the Cleaner''s Workshop, the burning flame on a black background.
The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
I''m not going with you. Kevin smiled apologetically. I wish you the best of luck. And please bring Miss Milena back. She and Miss Liara have brought a much-needed delicacy to your team, Sir Glenn.
"You know us, Kevin," Glenn grunted as he jumped into the carriage and helped Liara in. "I''d rather burn the Court down than let my friend with some perverted family."
"Felling King''s Rise by ourselves sounds like a glorious idea," jeered Sahro as he followed in. Kevin chuckled softly and closed the carriage''s door before shouting something at the driver. The latter used his magic to pull it forward, driving it through the streets of the Bourgeoisie.
Liara looked at the scenery through the window, pensive. Glenn noticed her and smirked.
"Nervous?"
She shook her head. "Worried."
Sahro scoffed. "Nothing to worry about. In the best of cases, we cut it all down. In the worst, we burn it. All good in the end."
The Black Heiress laughed lightly with a smile that didn''t quite reach her eyes. A shadow crept up her face, and she turned away. Glenn saw that there was something on her mind, something else than Milena''s situation, but he couldn''t find the words to say. For the second time today, Sahro pulled out a rug and began to clean his prosthesis, going as far as oiling a few creaky parts.
Nothing stopped them from getting to court, apart from the sound of the driver''s insults whenever someone cut him off. The carriage eventually stopped and the driver knocked on their window. Glenn pulled it down and passed his head through. The driver pointed ahead. In the same fashion as walls separated the outside world from the Fringe, and the Fringer from the Bourgeoisie, huge ramparts stood on their path to the Court. The customs post was a jump away, guards in brass and steel steampunk armor approaching.
"We''ve arrived. They''ll probably ask for some means of identification, I''d recommend pulling your Fixer Daggers out."
"Sure. Thank you." Glenn pulled his head back and passed the advice to Sahro and Liara. They all quietly summoned their Fixer Daggers out of their souls, just in time for a few more knocks on the window. The door opened, revealing a mechanical helmet glowing with two green lights in place of eyes.
"PRIVATE NIROS OF THE WATCHERS. PLEASE PRESENT YOUR MEANS FOR IDENTIFICATION." Private Niros'' voice was like a robot''s, cold and inhuman.
"Here you go." Glenn handed him his dagger. The Private looked at it for a moment before smashing it on the floor.
"I REPEAT, PLEASE PRESENT MEANS FOR IDENTIFICATION OR ENTRY WILL BE REFUSED."
Glenn was so surprised by the soldier''s action he momentarily forgot how to respond. It came out so out of nowhere he simply wasn''t prepare for it.
''Oh, the sweet and tasty smell of corruption! Oh, and I''m talking about the money-kind, not the tentacular, disgusting one.''
"Thanks for the clarification, Diamanes."
Nelg and Diamanes'' voice startled him awake and his Mana immediately surged out in one violent wave. The gears of the soldier''s armor spun increasingly faster in reaction, heating red from the toll. The soldier raised a rifle-looking weapon and pointed it at Glenn.
"USE OF UNAUTHORIZED ENERGY-BASED ATTACK WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE EXECUTION. I REPEAT, IT WILL RESULT IN" The steel and brass helmet was ripped off the soldier''s head as Glenn worked his Gravity Manipulation. The soldier, a bald man with mean scars on his head, watched as his helmet flew above him and was crushed into one tiny metal ball. Whatever protection there was on the armor, it had done nothing to defend against Glenn''s magic.
"Immediate execution..." finished the soldier in a small voice. His finger pressed down on his rifle''s trigger, but the cannon had been bent to the side, resulting in a misfire and the weapon blowing up. Glenn slowly extricated himself out of the carriage with a deep, disappointed sigh. Private Niros couldn''t stop himself from taking a step back and falling on his arse, terrified. There was something in this calm, disappointed face that absolutely terrified him. A certainty that if he stepped wrongly, his head would end up the same way his helmet did.
"Now, I''m not a very materialistic guy, but this dagger had some measures of importance, you know?" Glenn said, speaking each word and insisting on every syllable as he struggled to keep himself from transforming the soldier into one tiny can of meat.
"So, please, tell me, why did you do that?" Glenn grabbed the soldier by the collar and lifted him effortlessly, despite the heavy armor. His colleagues rushed closer with their weapons raised, alerted.
"UNHAND HIM OR WE WILL"
"Do what? Shoot me? Please amuse me and try," Glenn snapped, his expression cold and unforgiving. The soldiers stepped back, intimidated. Liara and Sahro stepped out of the carriage, their weapons out of their dimensional storages and covered in their respective energies. Red, Primal lightning crackled around Sahro while wings of light appeared in Liara''s back.
"I-I simply obeyed the orders!"
Glenn violently shook the soldier. "Whose orders? Give me a name or I might start swinging."
"D-Direct orders from General Vander Sorenas!"
The soldier coughed as Glenn threw him on the floor, wondering. ''Sorenas? That''s the name of the family on Milena''s mother''s side.''
"WAIT!!!!" A voice screamed from the sky. Glenn raised his eyes just in time to see someone fall and crash in front of him. The young man''s eyes widened and he temporarily let go of his hostility.
"Lucian? What the hell are you doing here?"
Munirp''s Crowned Prince briskly stood up, dusting his shoulders off. "Oh, you know, the usual. Anyway," he turned to the other soldiers and pointed at Private Niros. "I command you, seize this man and throw him in a cell."
The guards obeyed without a word, taking away their terrified comrade. Sahro stored his weapon away and patted Lucian''s shoulder.
"A timely arrival. What was this all about?"
Lucian sniffed. "Politics. Nobles are terribly boring, always using the same tricks and all. I should have taken you to the ceremony myself, but I wasted too much time searching for some suitable clothes. So I just gave up!" He happily declared. He was still in his regal, dark and gold suit, with Munirp''s setting sun embroidered on his chest and the back of his purple cloak.
"For once, we''re better dressed than you," noticed Glenn. Lucian opened his mouth to retort, only to do a double take at their clothes.
"What the shityou look like the brothers and sisters I never had! I didn''t know you could be so handsome, Glenn!"
"Why, I was ugly before?"
"No, just often covered in grime and blood. But I digress. Let''s get to the ceremony, we don''t want to be late. How dare they try and stop my friends from attending the ceremony I prepared?"
Glenn paused and gave Lucian a surprised look. "Wait, you were the one organizing the reward ceremony?"
Lucian nodded with a wide smile. "Of course!" He stopped and rubbed his chin. "Well, to speak the truth, the ceremony was prepared by my father''s administration to build connections between powerful prospects and noble families. But since everyone works for me, it automatically makes it my ceremony, right?"
Glenn shrugged. "Whatever pleases you, Lucian. Ever heard of Talor and Vander Sorenas?"
"Hmm... Sorenas, an old but useless family... lots of alliances, lots of marriages, lots of pain in my ass too..." Lucian frowned. "Wasn''t the Sorenas Duchess Milena''s mother too?"
Sahro grumbled. "We don''t care about all that. Milena is supposed to marry Talor, and Vander is the bastard who gave orders to that soldier earlier to keep Glenn away from the Court."
Lucian stammered. "M-Milena''s marrying who now? And a General dared to do what?" He clenched his fists tightly and drew one, long deep breath.
"Oh, I''m really feeling like turning the ceremony into an execution now."