Chapter 33: One Fulfillment
Everyone was still as they looked at their headless opponent who was standing in front of them after cutting down Flynn. The armor wore Flynn's blood like paint and made no move or attempted to wipe it off. They were able to see that the armor was hollow on the inside. There was no neck where one should be after a decapitation.
Karol even fell on his behind as he took steps back. "Th-ther isn't anybody in that armor," he stuttered painfully. He looked horrified at what was before them the way his hands shook as he held his axe in front of him very protectively. Yuri hadn't seen the young guild master so scared for a long time.
Rita shared a similar reaction. "What the hell is going on?" She shouted.
The armor started to moving toward where the helmet flew off. "It seems you've found out my big secret," Reaper's voice said as the armor picked up the helmet. The armor had to bend over and further showed them that there wasn't a body in the armor. It didn't look like there was anything in it.
"What are you? Some kind of living armor monster," Raven asked just as the armor straightened the helmet on the shoulders.
Yuri couldn't believe what he was seeing. But it made some sense now. How else could a person survive getting stabbed through the side, having his armor crushed, being pierced thought the heart, and decapitation. They wouldn't be a person. It was no wonder that Reaper had the title the 'Immortal Warrior.' That's how. Although this did just cause Yuri to wonder how something like Reaper could even exist. What it Nightwood's doing? This led to an even bigger concern, were there more like Reaper out there?
"Who knows," Reaper's voice said. He got back into his fighting stance. "Now let's resume this fight. I thought you were in a hurry."
How the hell were they supposed to defeat something without a body and didn't feel any damage? Yuri tighten his grip on his sword as he tried to think of a way through this. But before he could make a move toward the bodiless knight, Flynn suddenly pushed himself to his knees with his sword drawn.
His forearm pressed against Reaper's armored torso as a blue aura gathered there and Flynn shouted, "Beast." The aura changed its shape to a lion's head and the forced sent Reaper tumbling back. The knight lost his helmet again and also an arm as his armor hit the ground and he rolled on the ground.
Yuri was relieved to see his friend moving again. But then Flynn hunched over on all four. "Son of a-" the commandant started to say but gritted his teeth, probably because of the pain he was in.
"Flynn," Yuri called out and was about to make it to his friend.
"Just go Yuri," Flynn suddenly shouted, making Yuri stop in his tracks. Flynn forced himself to his face with a lot of painful breaths. Blood kept running down his back as he used both hands to hold his sword up. Reaper was currently gathering the pieces to the armor he had lost. "We can't waste any more time. Go get Lady Estellise and the others."
He was right, of course, but… "Don't be stupid Flynn, you can't fight him by yourself," Yuri yelled.
Judith and Raven quickly stepped in front of him. "He won't be alone," Judy said.
"We'll distract Reaper while the rest of you go save our little princess and our new companions," Raven informed.
Yuri felt uneasy leaving them. But what other choice did they have. "Hurry up Yuri," Rita shouted as she was opening the door to the lift. She probably would leave without him and go on her own if he didn't come.
"I'm going to get Estelle so she can heal you for being so careless," he told Flynn.
"Make it quick," Flynn replied, not bothering to hide the pain he was in.
Yuri quickly ran over to Rita and even roughly grabbed Karol's arm who was still frozen in his position. His gaze was stuck on the armor that was working on putting his arm back on. "Come on," Yuri told the youth. Yuri managed to pull Karol out of whatever daze he was in because the guild master quickly jumped into the lift.
Once the four of them were in the lift, Rita quickly pushed the lever up and the small room they were in jolted before they felt it moving up. Karol slid down to the ground and pulled his bag into his lap. Repede sat down next to him.
Rita put her hands on her hips like she was trying to catch her breath. "What the hell was that?" She blurted out.
"Reaper…" Karol started to say, "there wasn't a body in that armor." He was still freaked out about the whole ordeal.
Of course Yuri couldn't fault him for that. The thought of fighting Reaper now knowing there wasn't anything in the armor was worrisome. Reaper would never feel fatigue or pain. Reaper would win any fight given time. It made him worry about the friends he left behind.
But he had to focus of saving their other friends and stopping the cannon. Flynn and the others wouldn't have stayed behind if they weren't prepared to fight. They would just have to hurry. "Karol, get back on your feet. There will be more enemies," Yuri told him.
The youth did as he said and pushed himself back up with his axe. However, his mind was clearly below them. "They'll be okay, right?" He asked.
It was Rita who answered, probably hoping to convince herself too, "Flynn, Judith, and the old man are tough. There's no way an empty shell could beat them."
"We just need to focus on completing our job right now," Yuri told them and Repede even gave a howl at his statement.
The lift roughly stopped and they nearly tumbled over. "There's no way we've reached to top yet," Rita grumbled and the rest of them groaned at the thought of finding another lift to take them further up.
As the doors opened, Yuri and Rita both moved to the side because a small sickle on a chain came through like it was trying to take them by surprise. Thankfully Karol fell down on his bottom again and was able to avoid the weapon.
Repede started growling and was followed by a woman's voice saying, "Looks like we have more people who want to join in the fun." Looking out at the floor they stopped at, they could see Xiu the Huntress as she pulled her sickle back to her hand. She had some fresh wounds on her body but none seemed to be bothering her.
Over to the side was Ren and Verius on the ground as Ren propped herself on her elbows. "It's about damn time if you ask me," Ren's voice wheezed. "This was getting rather boring." She pushed herself to her feet. Thankfully she didn't seem to have any injuries, although that may be thanks to Verius. She only looked to be about out energy. Sweat was running down her face and her hair was matted against her forehead. The fight might have really might had turned south for Ren if Yuri and the others hadn't shown up soon.
Yuri hurried to Ren's side. "I guess this is what you get for going off on your own," he told her with a smirk.
"Ass," Ren muttered as she took the moment to catch her breath. The others gathered around them and prepared for anther fight. Now Yuri was certain that Xiu was killable. She was just crazy and hard to finish off from what Ren told them. How much more time would they have to waste before they got to Estelle and Veal.
"Great, now we got another freak to deal with," Rita complained as she was about to pull her scroll from her back.
But Karol stepped forward. "Yuri, you and Rita go on," he told him.
"What? Karol there is no way we're leaving you here to fight her," Rita objected angrily. She looked close to hitting him over the head.
The youth did move out of her reach. Then he glanced over at Ren and said, "But I won't be alone. Ren, are you willing to fight some more?"
A very heavy sigh escaped Ren. But she got down to her fighting stance and said, "What the hell, I can go another round."
So the two of them charged toward Xiu who swung both her weapons to sweep around the room. The two of them were able to either dodge or block her attack
Repede started barking and Verius said for the both of them, "Don't forget about the two of us." Then Repede ran up to join the fight and with his speed he was able to get into range and swipe at Xiu with his dagger. He was able to cut through her leather hunting greaves on her thigh. The huntress didn't seem to notice the cut and was about to kick the canine, But Repede was long out of her reach.
The small fox spirit turned his head to Yuri and Rita. "You leave this to us. And do everything you can to stop the cannon. Don't worry, Zalmon is the only Holy Knight left. Nightwood is also with him but I didn't sense any powers from her," Verius quickly informed them.
They were leaving more people behind. Yuri was not comfortable doing this again. And neither was Rita. "I should at least stay and help. Yuri you go get Estelle and the kid," she suggested.
"No, you'll have to stop the cannon," Verius told her. Out of all of them, she would know more about this technology. Yuri certainly wouldn't be able to figure it out. There was also no way Yuri could let Rita go by herself to face Zalmon.
So Yuri grabbed Rita's arm and started pulling her along. "Let's go Rita," he said. He didn't look back and trusted that they would keep Xiu occupied and not die in the process. The two of them practically jumped into the next lift. Yuri pushed the level up and the two of them started moving up.
The two of them were silent for a while as they waited to be taken to the next stop. Hopefully that would be were Estelle and Veal were. Yuri then began to notice that Rita's arms were by her side and they were shaking with anger. "I swear, they all better survive this. Even that fox mask wearing freak," she muttered.
"We should probably stay focused on what we're doing," Yuri commented. If they kept worrying over everyone else, then they may fail.
Rita crossed her arms and wouldn't look him in the face. Probably trying to hide the fact she was worrying from him. "I know that," she said in her usual tone.
The two of them waited for the lift to stop but it seemed to be taking some time. It seemed to be a good indication that they would reach the top this time. However the whole lift suddenly started shaking violently that they had to brace themselves. They were still moving up and nothing seemed to be breaking.
"The hell is going on?" Yuri asked out loud.
/~/~/
"You okay Karol," Ren yelled as he picked himself up.
"Yeah," he replied. Xiu's attack only caught him on the shoulder. He quickly got ready for what was coming next. A part of him surprised himself when he volunteered to stay behind and fight. After freezing up once Reaper revealed what he is, or isn't, Karol just felt like he needed to prove himself. Prove that he wasn't the same little kid Yuri first met. He wouldn't let anyone down or run away again.
Repede gave a few aggressive barks before running toward Xiu once more. After making the first cut in her leg, Repede was planning to continue hitting that same area. He had already hit it twice now and Karol could see that Xiu wasn't putting as much weight on it.
Xiu threw one of her weapons at the canine and Repede moved out of the way just in time and kept running toward her. Karol made a move like he was going for an attack to help Repede. With only one weapon in her hand, she couldn't attack both of them. So the huntress went for another swipe. So Karol purposely got in the way so his axe caught the sickle. Now Repede had a few moments before Xiu had a weapon back in her hand. She even tried to kick him when he was within range, but Repede's small statue was to his advantage. He just had to duck down a little more to avoid and he was still able to attack the same spot with a lot of force behind the slash. This attack brought her down to her knee.
Repede quickly regrouped with the Karol and Ren, howling after forcing his opponent to her knees. Ren was looking over the canine. "I don't think I've said this enough, but that is seriously one cool dog," she said.
Karol chucked a bit. "Repede is the best." Repede seemed to be affirming that with a couple barks.
But the light mood they had created soon vanished when Xiu started to laugh. The kind of laugh that only the insane had. The chains on her weapons started to glow red as she stood back up completely oblivious to the wound on her thigh. Her weapons returned hands and the top of her hands seemed to also glow underneath her gloves. "I'm going to cut all of you into tiny little pieces and burn you to a crisp," she threatened but in the lighter tone that wasn't any less threatening.
Repede became even more aggressive as Karol felt his legs start taking a step back. "You think this is her berserk mode Raven was telling us about?" Karol asked pointlessly.
"If it isn't then I'd hate to see it," Ren with a nervous smile.
Before they could quickly think of a new plan of attack, Xiu threw her weapon so fast at Karol that his first instinct was to block even though it looked like there were flames coming off the sickle. Karol's thought if he used the handle of his axe to catch the sickle and either pull Xiu off balance or just keep her from one weapon. That would give Ren and Repede an opening.
However, when he braced himself, the handle snapped from the impact. The next thing Karol felt was pain in his gut as he was sent back. Once he landed on his back, he could hear Ren shouting his name. She sounded worried and Karol was slightly afraid to see what happened to him. Staying still wasn't an option. He had to move or Xiu would really finish him of.
So he quickly sat up and only felt some pain along his chest. Looking down, he felt relief. He must have just got hit with the blunt end since his guts weren't spilling out.
Ren and Repede were holding Xiu off when Verius suddenly cried out in pain. It sounded far more painful than when he sensed Ren was in danger. He fell off Ren's shoulder and she caught him. His body even began to glow. "What's wrong?" Ren cried out.
"It's started," Verius breathed out.
This seemed to somehow calm Xiu some because her weapon returned to normal. But she still had that crazy laugh. "Looks like the main event is starting. I've been waiting to watch that eye sore of a capital get blown up for the longest time. I'd hate to miss this." Xiu turned her full attention to the window and waited for the cannon.
"Verius, you need to get out of here before it absorbs your mana," Ren quickly urged.
The fox spirit had his eyes closed. Then he suddenly vanished. Since Ren wasn't panicking then Karol assumed Verius got away. Then Ren glared at Xiu and was about to finish her off while the huntress was distracted. But that was when the room seemed to tremble. Karol cried out thinking that the tower was falling.
It grew brighter just before they could see that a giant orb that had to be condensed mana being shot in the direction of Zaphias. They all just froze and watched it fly toward its target. Though they couldn't the capital from where they were, they were able to see the explosion sphere envelop the area.
"Damn it, no," Ren yelled out.
"We were too late…" Karol muttered in defeat.
/~/~/
"You don't think…" Rita didn't finish her sentence because even she didn't want to think of it as a possibility.
Yuri knew exactly what she meant. There weren't many other things it could have been. Unless someone else was trying to destroy the tower. That seemed unlikely though. "Just be ready to fight," Yuri told her. They couldn't think of the possibility that Zaphias was gone.
The two waited for the lift to reach its destination. In their current state, it seemed to take forever. It at least seemed to help confirm that they were going to reach the top.
Eventually the lift began to slow down, so Yuri got ready to come out running once the doors opened up. "When we get there, I'll keep Nightwood and Zalmon's attention on me while you focus on getting Estelle and Veal," Yuri suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Rita said. Then she quickly added, "But don't even think about staying behind to fight. You know Estelle wouldn't allow that."
"She also wouldn't like us leaving the others behind either," Yuri rebuked. But he did add, "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on doing anything stupid," to eases the mage's worries. Although he couldn't say what he was going to do once he saw Nightwood. He very well could do something stupid in front of everyone. Especially if the cannon had indeed fired.
Rita folded her arms and even looked away from Yuri. "Like I'd actually be worried about you," she said. Yuri made no other additional comments and they waited.
Eventually the lift came to a stop and doors began to open. The two of them didn't wait for the doors to open fully. In fact, they were out of the lift before the doors were completly open. Once they were out of the lift they were met with the sounds of a fight going on.
They hurried down a short hall as the noise grew louder and after coming around a corner they came upon the source of the noise. Both Veal and Estelle were fighting Zalmon and his undead army, and they seemed to be winning against the Holy Knight at first glance. However, Zalmon seemed to be holding back. Yuri wasn't sure why anyone would want to hold back against Veal who looked as fierce as Yuri had ever seen him. The young krityan child was cutting down skeleton after skeleton with his chakrams. If the krityan ever got close to Zalmon, Yuri was sure that Veal would try and kill his fellow kinsmen. Estelle was backing Veal up with her magic and Yuri knew that he had never seen Estelle this angry. Though he was sure that she didn't have the same killing intent as Veal.
Off to the corner was Nightwood, who was just looking out a broken window while Zalmon's skeleton's protected her. She seemed to be admiring a large pillar of smoke from a distance that was rising from where Zaphias should be.
Yuri didn't want to believe it. But the cannon must have fired. And it had to have destroyed the capital based on Veal and Estelle's expressions and because Nightwood seemed very satisfied with the results. Zaphias…it was gone. What about the people? Flynn and Judith wouldn't have just abandon them just to rejoin them. They must be safe, right? Those two knew something. So Yuri wouldn't jump to conclusions without hearing from them.
But his hometown. It was gone. The place he grew up at was destroyed. And for what? That angered him and it nearly matched his other companions. But it was also the fact that Nightwood was smiling over this pissed him off even more.
Nightwood finally turned her attention from the window and said in a very light tone, "Looks like it was a success. It's time to leave and move on to the next phase." Zalmon looked tired. But he nodded and had his skeletons turn into a defensive form to keep Veal and Estelle from following.
Yuri and Rita were between her and the lift. The two of them stood their ground. "Like hell we're letting you leave after what you did," Yuri spat out.
Yuri had to give Nightwood some credit. She had some guts to look at him and Rita like they were a nuisance while she was unarmed. She let out an annoyed sigh and said, "What are those knights doing? I told them to deal with the intruders. Is it really that difficult for them to kill some pesky humans?"
"I'd suggest you keep your focus on us," Rita suggested.
Yuri was having a quick debate where he weighted the pros and cons to killing Nightwood, when Nightwood raised her hand with her palm open. A black orb suddenly appeared in her hands and grew to fit her hand. "Now, be gone."
It happened before Yuri or Rita could react. Everything went black, Yuri could hear their names being called, and he felt his back slam against the wall before falling to the ground. He couldn't move once he realized where he was, and when he opened his eye everything was so damn blurry, like there was a dark haze over everything.
He could hear heels that had to belong to Nightwood walking toward him. He had to get up and fight, but he couldn't. Opening his eyes was enough of a struggle for him. Yuri couldn't even turn his head to look for Rita. Then he heard Nightwood say, "They're tougher than I expected. I shouldn't have held back." It was strange that she sounded like there was glass between them.
Yuri was sure that he was hearing Estelle yelling, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. Nightwood ignored everything and Yuri could still hear her heels walking toward him. She got close enough to where Yuri could clearly see some of her features. She seemed to be kneeling in front of him and he could even see her extend her palm toward him and it seemed to be glowing dark like her last attack. "My this is truly a small world. I never would have imagined I'd randomly stumble upon someone who'd make me break my oath."
Yuri wanted to ask what hell she even meant. But he couldn't even bring himself to form words. He was also worried about Rita. He couldn't see or hear her. Damn, what did Nightwood do to the two of them?
"I suggest you leave now," a new voice said firmly. Verius? That was definitely the fox spirit's voice. But Yuri couldn't see him. "Because you used the spirits' power, they are coming here for revenge. So I suggest you leave, unless you want to fight eight angry spirits."
Nightwood didn't have consider what her next course of action would be. She moved away from Yuri and said, "I doubt I would be able to handle all of them. We'll be leaving then."
She left his line of sight and Yuri tried to move again. They couldn't just let her get away. She and her Holy Knights needed to pay for what they did. But he soon felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Please Mr. Yuri, don't move. You'll only make it worse," Veal's worried voice said. Yuri could see that the krityan child was beside him, of course he could only make out his dark red hair.
Yuri wanted to keep fighting. But since his body obviously wouldn't let him, he stayed still.
"Estelle, heal Rita first. She's lost consciousness. I'll keep Yuri alive," Verius said urgently. Then Yuri could see yellow fur jumping up on his chest, though he strangely couldn't feel the spirits paws walking on him.
But then Verius' words sunk in. I'll keep him alive. Did Nightwood's attack really cause them to be on deaths doors? At least Yuri couldn't feel anything. It was strange that Yuri didn't feel scared or worried that he might die. Maybe it was because this had happened several times before and he was getting used to it by now. Or maybe it was because Estelle was near.
Yuri wasn't sure if he passed out at any moment, but eventually feeling began to return to his body. It was all thanks to Estelle. Her healing light covered him and her artes kept him from feeling any pain that his body sustained. Everything returned to normal. His sight and hearing were back to normal. He was even able to clearly hear Estelle was sobbing as she kept healing him. "Don't die. Don't die. Don't die," she repeated over and over between her crying.
After a while, Yuri began to sit up to be more comfortable. His neck had been probed up against the wall and it was a little straining. Of course all of them panicked when he did. "Don't move, Ms. Estellies isn't finished healing your injuries yet," Veal's voice called out.
"I feel fine," Yuri told him. Although now that he spoke, he became aware of the iron taste in his mouth. He coughed out of reflex and sure enough blood came out. He didn't move again until Estelle finished healing him. He was a little scared to ask what he looked like before. "How's Rita?" He ended up asking. He was completely healed but his whole body felt sore after having it fully healed by magic.
Estelle was still trying to muffle her sobs, so Veal answered. "All of Ms. Rita's injuries are healed. Now we're just waiting for her to wake up."
Yuri glanced over to where Rita was to see her on her side. She did look like she could be asleep. However seeing blood in her hair and along her back was a little frightening. The front of her clothes were also tattered like she just took a wind spell head on. Yuri carefully reached back behind his head and could feel that his hair was matted and covered in something wet. He looked at his hand and saw it was smeared red. Then he decided to look back at the wall they were thrown against and his eyes widen when he saw the large cracks on the wall where he and Rita hit. It was amazing they didn't go all the way through by the way it looked like a one good push would make it come down. The two of them were lucky that Estelle was here. They would have died then.
"My apologies, I seriously underestimated Nightwood," Verius said with his head bowed down.
"I'm pretty sure that all of us did," Yuri said. He never would have guessed that the councilwoman would have this kind of power. It made him worry because no one should be able to use magic like that without a blastia. How was she able to?
Estelle was still crying softly beside him. Her hands were covering her eyes like she was trying to hide all the fluids that were coming from her face. Yuri could only imagine what seeing him and Rita close to death would do to her. And all because of her. So Yuri put his hand on her shoulder. "You really saved us Estelle. Thanks." That did cause Verius to clear his throat like he was trying to get some credit to. Yuri made a mental note to thank the spirit later.
But his words didn't change Estelle's mood. In fact, even Veal looked down at the ground and wouldn't look anyone in the eye. "But…Zaphias…" Estelle sobbed.
Of course they would have seen the cannon go off. He wondered if Nightwood made them watch.
Suddenly there was some groans next to them as, thankfully, Rita began to sit up. "My head…" she moaned as she began rubbing her temple like she just woke up with a hangover. "What happened-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence because she was practically tackled by Estelle, who wrapped her arms around the mages neck and cried into her shoulders. Rita looked lost as she seemed to be trying to figure out what happened between them blocking Nightwood to now. But she gently patted Estelle on the back in hopes of comforting her friend.
"Once the cannon fired…" Veal suddenly said in an automated way. The child was fighting the tears. "The chambers that held us released us. I feel certain that it was Mr. Zalmon who released us. But at the time, we were just so angry after what they did. We started fighting and…" For some reason Veal was trying to defend his actions. Yuri wasn't sure why he was. Neither he or Estelle were hurt and they didn't kill anyone. Although if they had gotten rid of a Holy Knight that wouldn't have been a bad thing.
Yuri stood up, which he got up too fast and he nearly feel over because the room felt like it was spinning. He fought to stay steady. He would hate to cause Estelle more worry. "Come on, we have a tower to destroy. I for one would like to see that," he told everyone. There were some nods.
Rita tried to get back to her feet but Estelle still had an iron grip on her friend. Yuri came over and held his hand out to Estelle. "Let's go meet up with the rest of our friends. I'm sure they could use you're healing artes."
He finally saw her face. Her eyes were swollen and her whole face was flushed. There was a very brief moment when their eyes meet. But Estelle quickly looked away. She still took his had anyway.
/~/~/
They were safely back with Ba'ul on the ship hovering by the tower. Everyone made it back in one piece which was all they could ask for. Estelle healed anyone who needed it and even lightly chastised Flynn for continuing to fight Reaper after sustain such a serious injury. Because of that, the commandant had a few others. It was rather entertaining to watch the commandant be put in his place by the princess.
Estelle's face was still swollen from all the tears she had shed. But no one made any comment about it. They also didn't say much about Yuri or Rita's appearances' other than asking if they were hurt. No one had dead. Not even a Holy Knight.
Apparently, after the cannon fired, both Reaper and Xiu left the tower like they had just received orders to do so. Raven commented that Reaper's departure was very strange. As they were fighting, Reaper suddenly froze. Then he dropped his sword and just stared at his hands before he just walked away without a single word. It was strange, but at least no one else was further harmed from their battle with him.
Now all of them were watching as Ren was calling on her pacts with the spirits so they could finally destroy the cannon. Both Veal and Estelle were too exhausted. Plus they all decided that Ren should have the honor. She was reciting what she needed to in order to call on the three spirits she made an agreement with. They all either took a seat or leaned against something so they could all witness the destruction.
Efreet and Undine were already summoned. While most of their mana had been absorbed by the cannon, they were willing to lend what they had left to get rid of the infernal thing. Ren was finished her last chant and the winds began to pick up.
The ship began to sway as Ba'ul tried to keep them steady. They knew it was Sylph's doing, though Yuri wished she'd go a little easy with her entrance. Then she suddenly appeared, but she was different. In fact, there were two small spirits that looked very similar with just slight variations.
"Sylph?" Judith asked.
The wind spirit didn't respond and just began gathering her mana like the other spirits. So Verius began to explain, "The injury Sylph sustained against Zane required many lesser spirits to heal her. They eventually merged and, for her to keep her individuality, she split her power into two. So the two of them together make up Sylph."
Learned something new about spirits. Who knew they could do something like that. But they were being's composed of mana. Yuri supposed anything was possible.
"Alright guys, do whatever you have to. Just destroy the cannon," Ren ordered.
The three spirits nodded and moved to where they made a triangle around the cannon. They were at various angles to make sure everything was destroyed. The mana they had been gathering in front of them was released and the stones easily gave in from the spirits power. Sections began to fall into the ocean.
Each of the spirit used more of their mana to further destroy the structure. They aimed lower and it was enough to bring the structure completely down. Everything was falling and smashing against other things. The shrine of Zaude was gone, along with the tower that had the cannon. It was gone.
With the horrible thing destroyed, the spirits gave them a nod and disappeared. The cannon was finally gone.
For the first time since they had met Ren, she seemed to finally relax. A great weight had been lifted from her shoulders now that her goal was complete. She fell to her knees and her hands gripped the railing. Ren kept repeating, "It's over. It's finally over."
Verius jumped down on her shoulder and nuzzled next to her neck for comfort. "The promise we made is finally fulfilled."
Ren turned to everyone else and she looked like she might cry with her eyes looking watery. She slammed her hands into the planks and dropped her head down. She was bowing to them. "If it wasn't for you all, I doubt I would have seen this day. I am grateful to you all," she said with her head still down.
It was Rita that spoke first. "Oh please, we definitely didn't do this for you," she said in her regular tone. Ren's head raised up.
"Well, if we did find out about all this without you, I'm sure we still would have found a way to destroy it," Karol said.
"It's just a shame we weren't able to stop it before it fired," Raven muttered.
Everyone fell silent at the thought of failing everyone in Zaphias. Yuri was just about to ask Flynn and Judith why they had returned instead of evacuating the city. But then Judith spoke up and began to answer what Yuri was wondering. "I suppose it's a good thing that no one was in the city."
"What do you mean?" Estelle asked. It was the first thing she had said since she healed everyone. Both she and Veal were like that. To them, they thought that they had caused the death of thousands of people. They didn't know that Flynn and Judith had known something the rest of them didn't.
"We flew over the capital several times," Flynn started to say. "But there wasn't a soul there."
"How is that even possible?" Raven quickly asked.
Judith just shrugged. "Not sure. Ba'ul couldn't even sense anyone around the city. So we decided it would be better to back you all up." Hearing that people weren't dead did relieve both Veal and Estelle, but only slightly. There was still immense guilt in both their faces.
"So where is everyone then?" It was Yuri's turn to ask. It was good to hear that no was killed from the cannon. But that did leave a concerning question. Where was a whole city worth of people?
"If I had to guess," Flynn offered, "then it might be Nor Harbor. After the last incident that caused the evacuation of Zaphias, the harbor towns are prepared to take in refugees or send them to Aurnion if it's a mass exodus."
"Nor Harbor it is then," Yuri declared as Ba'ul began flying away from the destroyed remains of the mana cannon.
End of Part Two: Mana Cannon.
Beginning of Part Three: Mana Lineage.