...

"Say, are you sure about this?"

"...is that a no?"

"Um, I—I am not particularly ready yet, but I am looking forward to it."

"Hehe, well I guess not today then."

"No wait, I mean, I am-but, ugh, my face is so hot."

"Hey hey, I am not forcing you. In fact, I still enjoyed our moments. Of course I'll wait for you."

"But you must have felt that what I was giving you wasn't enough.

"I know it's been years and our relationship hasn't advanced yet, but I love you very much, so I will keep on waiting."

"Master Yukihana- I mean-"

"Shhhh, we can still remain as usual as long as it makes you happy."

"...you know what..."

"What...?"

"Come here."


"Signals of Hololive 3: The Legend of IRyS"

CHAPTER 4: Scream of Life

The kids held their breath with their invisibility on as the man clad in grey armor 'looked' at them. It lasted for a full minute before the man started to walk away. The man turned around, but the kids remained as they waited for the footsteps to disappear. Moments later, the footsteps were far away and finally gone.

The kids then let out a massive, collective sigh of relief as the spell vanished. They all thought they were done; Ayer and Riss wanted to leave, but Ghevanna insisted on rescuing the woman and bringing her back to safety two kids were reluctant, but they agreed.

So, it was decided that Ayer and Ghevanna would carry the unconscious sorceress. But before they did that, Ghevanna looked down the hallway to see the altar. The boy heard Ghevanna's angry mutterings and asked what was wrong, and she told him it was nothing, which Ayer found suspicious. Suddenly, a voice called upon Ayer. It was because he recognized the sayings of "Inheritor of Cold".

The boy approached the altar and called out to the voice that was calling him. And then suddenly, a spirit king appeared before him. It was the Ice Spirit King, but it appeared to be weakened as it told Ayer that the artifacts that were meant to be his were stolen by a man who came here not long ago.

The Ice Spirit King advised Ayer to hurry and meet the other spirit kings in order to obtain the artifacts before the continent faced an inferno. It blessed the boy with icy powers, and after that, the Ice Spirit King vanished into thin air.

Riss celebrated the news as she congratulated Ayer, who was taking it quite seriously this time, unlike before. If what the Spirit Kings are saying is true, then the boy will gladly accept the role of obtaining the artifacts. All the while, Ghevanna was shocked by what she had just seen.

She asked Ayer what he did because she had been trying to get the artifacts all this time to study them and figure out how to use stared at them, and that was when Ghevanna noticed she slipped her words. She then admitted to them that she was not a treasure hunter and that she was searching for the other artifacts that belonged to the hero in the past by the name of "Caliber".

But Ghevanna does not know why it was in the hands of the Spirit Kings, whom she tried to convince before that she needed it. At least, the Ice Spirit King, that is. She apologized for hiding her true purpose, and now that she knows the spirit king was with him, she can tell you honestly about her purpose. It took Ayer and Riss awhile, but they didn't mind in the end.

After that, they carried the sorceress back towards Mage Marlin's house. Though it was already late, the mage told Ayer that he could just use his magic power to create a bed and carry the sorceress instead of them carrying her. After that, the boy gave the magic stone to Marlin, who used it and began performing a complex magic circle on the unconscious girl.

Everyone was tense, especially Ayer, who could not help but worry and prayed that the unconscious girl was alright. It took awhile, but after a few minutes, the mage was done. However, the results are not what they expected. The mage told Ayer and Riss that the girl was really unconscious. Her physical state was still good, but it appeared that she did not want to wake up and was forcefully refusing to do so. For a moment, it looked like there was no choice, but the mage told them that there was a sage he knew and that the said sage could conjure spells far deeper than him, even if he has a lot of knowledge when it comes to magic.

That was their only chance, and as far as the mage could think, the sage was the last resort. Ayer and Riss took it and thanked the mage for his help. Not too long. The sorceress whom they saved had just woken up. The sorceress thanked the kids for saving her and said she would like to repay them by helping them. Ayer and Riss gladly accepted the help. But they also asked why she was there.

The sorceress introduced herself as "Ghastly," and she told them that the man she faced was "Grim," who was not only a member of an evil organization known as the Blazing Order but also one of its three wings. This got Ghevanna furious, and when Ayer asked, she answered him that the Blazing Order was an organization working at the churches, but in reality they were people who were finding the artifacts of Caliber.

And that gauntlet that Ayer was carrying and the artifact that was stolen back in the cave were Caliber 's artifacts. Then Ghevanna told them a story about how years ago, the hero, Caliber, was the most powerful magic swordsman who could manipulate ice magic. When, out of nowhere, a volcano near his hometown erupted, killing almost everyone, including most of his own family and his wife.

The only people who survived such a catastrophe were his little sister and a young girl. Though she doesn't know what happened to them, for the next few days, monsters such as fire devils emerged from the erupting volcano. The continent was facing an imminent peril of burning destruction, and so the people of the continent called upon Caliber to save them.

At that time, he was still conflicted with his emotional state with his sister and the young girl, whom they were taking care of, comforted him. For that, he managed to rise up and become a hero for the people.

The devils and numerous other monsters were strong, but with Caliber's powerful ice magic, they were no match as he pushed them back. He also found out that a being known as "The Deity of Blaze" was located in the same volcano near his hometown. He faced the said Deity of Blaze and ultimately used his powerful set of armor and his weapon to seal the Deity of Blaze and hide them away, and Ghevanna had a thought that he gave them to the Spirit Kings. After that, depleted of magical power, he turned into a normal but still powerful human and lived in a village with his sister and the young girl after he received the gift of the king of letting him live peacefully.

But a tragedy struck. It was not mentioned, but apparently there were other people there who were searching for his armor and they thought he was still holding it. They planned something evil and it caused the deaths of his sister and the young girl. Driven with grief, he killed himself.

And Ghevanna told them that one of those people was probably the one who was operating behind the Burning Order. And that she must find the other artifacts quickly before they disappear. But after Ghevanna saw what transpired back at the cave, maybe the artifacts should be given to Ayer instead. She then apologized to Ayer, but she must do something and it will be awhile before they meet again.

And after that, Ghevanna left, while Ghastly carried the unconscious girl, Ayer and Riss contemplated the story they just heard. But thinking about it would not give them any results, and so they decided to continue moving towards the said place of the sage. He asked for a route towards the place from the mage who gave him the map, and before that, the boy also asked what was wrong with Riss, who felt like her abilities were restricted.

The result was not that bad, but the mage told Riss that most of her magic power was stuck, but she just needed a few days to rest in order to get her magic power back in full. They exited the portal, and it vanished after they got out. It was already night and Ayer told Riss and Ghastly that they should rest, not to mention when the sorceress was still wounded and carrying the unconscious girl.

He decided to test his power at what Mage Marlin had advised him to and it worked without making a strain on him. They decided to go to the village where Ghevanna had led them when suddenly they heard noises on the way. But it was too late when they were knocked unconscious behind them.

They woke in a prison to find themselves tied and their weapons nowhere to be found. They were kidnapped by a group of bandits, but based on their attire, Ayer was certain they were not the bandits who were chasing him and the bandit's leader, "Sir Grant," introduced himself and asked what they were doing on their way to Mage Marlin's house.

Ayer decided to explain the situation, but Grant did not buy it when he was carrying Caliber's gauntlets. Not to mention, he also denied they met Ghevanna, whom he called "Princess Ghevanna". The boy and the others were confused by that, but the boy pleaded that he needed to hurry and that the unconscious girl that was with him needed to see the sage.

But Grant did not listen and instead left. This angered the boy, but there was no leaving these cells. They looked around, trying to find a way out, and when they could not, Ghastly told the kids that she would try to seduce the guards to let them go, which the two kids could never agree to. But the sorceress insisted that at least she would seduce them inside and they would knock the guards down. It sounded like a rough plan, but it could work.

Ayer and Riss lay on the ground, faking sleep, when Ghastly stood up and called to the bandit who was guarding them. She used a sweet tone in her voice as she tried to seduce the guard with her body. Surprisingly, her seduction worked as the guard entered the cell and grew closer to Ghastly. Then the two kids rose up from the ground and immediately brought the guard down, all the while silencing him.

After knocking the guard down unconscious, they took off the bindings and left the cells quietly. They slowly crept out of the hallway and noticed that they were in some sort of a hideout-style house showing numerous maps and locations. At first, it might have looked like they were doing something evil like ambushing, but as they looked at the objectives, they found out that the bandits of Sir Grant were also searching for said artifacts after he was ordered by Princess Ghevanna to hide them.

They still believed that a princess was with them, but for now, they needed to get out. Fortunately, most of the bandits in the house were eating in one place or sleeping, and they sneaked their way out of the house.

After that, they immediately ran away from the place, with Ghastly carrying the unconscious girl on her back. However, they were met with a dwarf, whom Ayer recognized. It was Garrel, but something was wrong. The said dwarf appeared before him and asked for his help. His village, just beside the mountain, was under attack by someone, and he needed help, so he came to ask Sir Grant's help. And so Ayer and company simply lie that they are on Grant's side and help the dwarf.

They followed Garrel down the trail to a mine. And judging by the situation inside, it was not looking good. They entered the mine and were greeted by numerous fire wolves who were fighting a small number of armed dwarves. He used his newfound power from both Snow Spirit King and Ice Spirit King. He has yet to fully use the blessings that were given to him, but he swore he just used a normal spell under the blessings and most of the fire wolves were knocked down.

Seeing the table turn tides, the dwarves fought back against the remaining fire wolves with Riss and Ghastly 's help. Meanwhile, Garrel asked Ayer's help to deal with the mastermind of this trouble. The dwarf led him to a room with ice and snow. It was a sanctum, Ayer thought, the same as those of the previous Spirit Kings. There, in front, a tall woman could be seen dressed in a flaming cloak as she held a chestplate. It was Caliber's chestplate, and Garrel told Ayer to immediately take it back before she could use the disastrous power sealed within the armor.

Ayer nodded, and he charged right at the woman, who then noticed him as she cast a spell on him. Clearly underestimating the boy, Ayer used this as an advantage to cast a powerful spell under the two blessings of the spirit kings, and when he did, the tall woman's spell turned to ash as she watched in horror as ice and snow collided against her. It was a powerful attack, and it took a lot of magic power from that, so Ayer could not help but collapse before bringing himself back.

The dwarf was amazed to see his power. However, it turns out, the tall woman was still alive. She was furious and introduced herself as "Sear" and said that she would turn Ayer into ashes with her powerful flaming spell. As Sear conjured a spell, the boy tried to stand up and cast a spell to protect himself and Garrel.

And then, a voice appeared to stop the woman. An apparition appeared behind Sear. It was the Glacier Spirit King who suddenly whacked the woman down, cancelling the spell. The spirit king then yelled at Ayer to finish his spell and get the armor quickly before it disappeared. The tall woman dropped to the ground and let go of the chestplate. Her eyes widened in shock to see that Ayer was about to cast a spell.

He finally cast the spell, and it was directed at Sear. Unfortunately, the tall woman suddenly pulled out a scroll and she was swallowed by the flame as she disappeared, barely dodging the attack as it exploded on contact with the walls. After that, the boy collapsed and nearly lost consciousness. Riss entered the area and immediately went to his side with tears in her eyes. Seconds later, Ghastly, the dwarves, and even Sir Grant and his bandits rushed in as well.

That was all that Ayer could see before his vision turned dark.

...

He opened his eyes to see himself lying on the snowy ground. He groaned in pain as he got up, and his eyes widened to see a young woman near him, dead being pierced by the sword. He knelt on the ground and cried. He had killed his only remaining family, his sister, whom he doted on.

His cries went unnoticed as an orc went by his side and tried to wake him up. The young man thrashed around, trying to break free from the orc's grip, who immediately resorted to violence by punching the young man in the face. After the orc did that, the young man calmed down, and the orc yelled at the young man to stand up and fight. The orc did not sign an everlasting contract of servanthood to him just to see him like this.

The young man was enraged, yelling at the orc, how could he understand the pain of losing a family? He immediately regretted what he had just said; he then remembered killing this orc's family on the orders of a noble who despised their race.

The young man stuttered as he apologized weakly to the orc, whose name was Hundar. It was quiet for a moment, saved for the sobs of the young man before the orc told him to get up and save the young girl. In which, the young man remembered, and so he stood up slowly. And against his bitter conscience, he pulled out the sword from his sister's body.

The young man then pulled out a pair of gauntlets from his coat. He then gave it to Hundar, who reluctantly accepted it. He then gave his final order to the orc to leave this place, take his sister's body and bury it somewhere peaceful and quiet, and he would have to save one last member of what he considered a dear family.

The orc could not utter a word as he watched the young man leave. After the said young man left, he then carried the corpse of the young woman before going in the opposite direction.

The young man was running towards a certain direction. He could feel the magic energy of the girl whom he and his late sister raised alongside. And said girl was carrying a massive secret that he did not want the world to know. Umeo himself met him at the location and greeted him with the dark young man was enraged to see Umeo, who was shocked to see him alive. The dark elf expected him to kill himself after killing his sister.

The fury in the young man's eyes could be seen as he noticed the young girl cowering in the corner under the mercy of the dark elf. This time, Umeo was not amused anymore and decided to fight him once and for all.

The two fight under the cold snow falling slowly from the sky. It was clear as day that the dark elf had a massive advantage against the young man when it came to magical abilities, all the while Umeo continued to taunt him. Any longer now and the young man would definitely lose, but he was determined not to.

It was at this moment that the young girl suddenly intervened. A bright light emerged from her, causing Umeo to back off and the young man to be horrified at what was going on. He tried to stop the girl, but it was too late as everything turned white.

The only thing the young man saw was the girl's tears before she turned into something else.