...

"You have very powerful magic, Sir Yukihana."

"You shall not stop me in my tracks! Get off of me, you human scum!"

"Oh, my word. Be careful of your words. Elves are naturally conservative, but hearing such things out of that pretty mouth of yours was vile."

"Get the hell away from me!"

"No can do, mister. I am instructed by His Almighty himself to occupy you here in this world."

"What?!"

"Yes! We're in another world! Can you believe it? This is the power that His Almighty possessed! Many thought that it's only those worldlings that can do this, but nooo, His Almighty can even create worlds of his own fingers as well!"

"This is insanity!"

"Oh don't be surprised, His Almighty was just that amazing. Don't worry though, I'll keep you company for the duration of the war."


"Signals of Hololive 3: The Legend of IRyS"

CHAPTER 8: Precipitous Walks

Everyone around Ayer let out a massive cry of encouragement, and a boost of morale had emerged within the bandits and the remaining knights as they pushed back against the monsters.

Solus did not like what he just saw and immediately ordered a large portion of the monsters to charge at the army that Ra'Khar was leading.

The battle in the area was rife with the clashing of blades, spells, and monster roars.

Because of the help and increased manpower, some monsters were starting to desert, and little by little, all of the remaining monsters have finally died. For a brief moment, before everyone let out a roar and cheers of victory, Soluss watched this with fury before he left.

Ayer and Riss approached their orc guardian, Ra'Khar, and were glad to see him alive and well. It turns out, the orc did not manage to defeat the Fire Devil. But his wounds were far too severe and he was about to die in the cave. Luckily, a woman dressed in white found him and healed him. The woman also gave him a map of where to go and said he should go there, bringing along reinforcements.

Of course, Ra'Khar did those things without any hesitation because the woman saved his life. He returned back to his village and asked for a few soldiers. On the way, he met Garrel and then a group of knights who were heading in the same direction as he was. And here they are now.

Upon mentioning the woman, Riss could not help but feel like she knew the woman with just a vague description. But she could not tell where and when. She decided to forget about those and reminded Ayer that they needed to go to the elven village.

So the boy asked Ra'Khar if he would follow him still, and the orc nodded without hesitation. The boy then told Ghastly about Ra'Khar and that this time she should help the princess. The sorceress was saddened because she had grown attached to the children, but she nonetheless agreed.

They decided to rest, and so they did. Chill joined with them, taking the spot between her 'older siblings'. Ra'Khar asked how the girl woke up, and Ayer explained it in a short way. The orc immediately understood, but they were then interrupted by Ghevanna, who asked if they were okay.

Now that Ayer remembered, she told him that she lacked an army to at least fight an army within the King's ranks. So he asked Ra'Khar if he could bring those orc warriors with Ghevanna, along with Garrel's. It took awhile, but Ayer managed to convince Ra'Khar about the dire situation within the kingdom that is in the hands of the Blazing Order.

Hearing this, the princess appreciated the help provided by Ayer. And she will promise to Ra'Khar that once this is over, she will try to clean some records that were branded by the orcs. This gave relief to Ra'Khar, who understood because of the race discrimination. After that, the three children and Ra'Khar bade their farewell to the rest and wished them good luck on their big mission.

All the while, Chill noticed a strange person amongst the knights. She saw a man clad in grey armor staring at her. It felt like he was talking to her about something, and it made the young girl sad. She looked away. The grey knight simply looked away before he backed away from the crowd, unnoticed by anyone.

According to the map given by the sage to Ayer, it was located somewhere south. They headed there and found a pathway that was different from the rest. They left in a hurry, but Ayer was glad to see that there were a lot of convenient items in his pocket dimension given to him by the princess. With that, they can continue.

It took them a day to finally reach their destination. And what awaited them in the end was... the same forest. They checked their map once again, but Ra'Khar reminded the three kids that the elves are always hidden. If they patiently wait, those elves might acknowledge their existence. But Ayer decided to do something. He shouted that it was the map given by the sage and they meant no harm, especially in the case of Ra'Khar.

After that, they sat and rested. They waited for a few hours before a male elf suddenly appeared before them and asked the boy for the map, ignoring the rest. The elf examined the map and found it authentic indeed. The elf then guided them to a secret path, where they were greeted by a hidden portal.

They were greeted by a beautiful village with elves all around, watching the four foreigners who dared to set foot on their hidden elf. The four were considered VIPs because of the sage whom they respected, but they wouldn't give them the entitlement of rest. The elves had been hidden in the area for more than a century, and no other human or other race had entered their village except the sage.

So Ayer decided to cut to the chase and asked if they had an elder that could guide them to the place where the alter of the Permafrost Spirit King is. This earned numerous gasps, but the elf who was with them guided them to the center of the place. They then stepped onto the hills, and there, an old elf could be seen.

It turns out, the old elf was indeed expecting them. He dreamt of the arrival of the new hero that would protect the world from the second awakening of the God of Inferno, and it was indeed Ayer whom he was expecting. The elder then took the place of the elf to guide the group to another portal.

The place was very cold, but the old man protected them with his magic. They were somewhere far north, deep down beneath the earth. There, the altar was humming in response to Ayer's appearance. The boy approached the altar and everything turned cold still. Then, the Permafrost Spirit King appeared before him.

The Spirit King literally froze the time around them, leaving Ayer talking with the Spirit King alone. The Spirit King then handed over to him the final piece of the artifact, the helm. Then it blessed him with his power, and with it, the Spirit King finally vanished, but not without telling Ayer to be prepared and to be careful.

Everything returned to normal as the kids and Ra'Khar asked the boy what happened. The elder was gladdened at the news of blessing the boy and asked him if he would rest in their village from their tiring village. Ayer accepted the kind offer, though they wondered if it would be fine. But the elderly will take care of it.

They exited the place, but suddenly, they were greeted by the male elf who had first toured them. An unknown group of invaders had managed to find their hidden passage and were attacking them. The old man was about to order the male elf to call for reinforcements when he was suddenly engulfed in a fire. What greeted them before was Dread, who wore a large, maniacal grin. Behind him, chaos was happening and fire was blazing around them.

The crazy man was glad to see the boy. His objective was to simply collect the final artifact, but he was not expecting the boy. This would make things easier for him not to search for the boy any longer. The old man was pissed at what Dread had done to his people, and Ayer and the others were prepared to help them.

Dread's fiery magic appears to be at a disadvantage, as it try to burn the elder's power to ashes. But with Ayer's and Chill's ice powers, they managed to keep Dread at bay. With physical strength, it was up to Ra'Khar with the support of Riss.

The numbers proved to be too much for Dread, despite having a powerful type of element. He cursed his luck as he was backed into a corner. When the man in grey armor appeared out of nowhere and killed the , with the exception of Ra'Khar, was surprised to see a man named Grim.

The armored man then ran towards Ra'Khar, who was too late to block the attack as he was sent spiraling down the burning village. With her powerful ice magic, Chill defended Ayer and Riss. She managed to freeze the man-even so far as to freeze the entire village behind. Ultimately, this made Chill almost pass out as the two kids carried her away, leaving Dread shocked and unmoved by what he witnessed.

Unfortunately, as they stepped forward and began their escape, The armored man broke free from his ice cage and attacked the unguarded children. The kids, Ayer and Riss, were violently thrown aside, with the girl passing out unconscious. Chill was left unprotected before the armored man lifted her up and carried her on his shoulder.

Dread then called for Grim to help him, but the latter then killed the crazy man by decapitating his head with his sword. Ayer tried to stop him, but the pain from the impact earlier stopped him. The armored man then stole the pocket dimension from Ayer before he left the village by exiting from the same portal where they first came from, leaving everyone and everything in cold ice.

Outside, Ghastly was hiding in the shadows of the trees. She was, apparently, following Ayer ever since they separated. She felt like leaving the child alone with only an orc by his side proved to be a mistake. However, she lagged behind due to her stature and arrived late. She saw Grim exit the portal, and the two faced each other.

Upon seeing Chill, weakened from Grim's arms, she took out her staff and ordered the armored man to let the girl go. But he did not listen and instead asked the girl if he would let her go. This made Chill shake her head. The sorceress was understandably confused by this and asked what was going on.

Grim then told her that killing the Deity of Blaze would require a sacrifice. This made Ghastly even more confused before something clicked in her mind; her sister.

Grim and her sister had a deep relationship. The two joined the Blazing Order in the church, thinking that it was only a group of good-willed people. Once they rose through the ranks and the two learned the truth, their sister was killed for almost exposing them. However, Grim did not leave the group and instead stayed with them, becoming one of the wingmen; he, Dread, and Sear.

The sorceress understood that he was doing all of this to exact his revenge quietly. Ghastly remained silent as she simply looked down. All the while, Grim walked past her and told her that the kids were still inside the village, alive and well.

Meanwhile, Ayer crawled his way towards Riss, who was unconscious, and tried to wake her up. He cursed his luck as he looked around. The guilt resurfaced with the blood of the innocent people, but he pushed it back. And doubt crept into his mind: will he be able to do this? He was the Inheritor of Cold, linked with the hero.

Ayer lay beside Riss and wondered where Ra'Khar was, hoping that he was fine. The boy wanted to rest, so he closed his eyes.

...

The boy felt a boiling desire. He found himself in the darkness along with Caliber's gauntlets, chestplate, and helm. He watched the artifacts as they were covered in red flames, then they melted and the fire exploded. It then formed into a big, flaming creature right before him.

It growled lowly at Ayer, and the boy crawled away in fear. But then the flaming creature turned its eyes on another person. Ayer recognized the said person as the Hunter back in Lowe's Village. He was about to ask what was going on before the creature swallowed the hunter in flames.

The boy watched with horror in his eyes as the hunter cried in pain as he was scorched alive. And then, there are the priest woman, the chieftain of his village, Garrel, Mage Marlin, the sage Gund, Sir Grant, Captain Thom, Princess Ghevanna, Ghastly, and even Caliber. There, Ayer watched their individual screams of death torment him as the flaming creatures continued to slaughter each and everyone he knew about.

But what got him the most was when Riss and Chill appeared. His adrenaline shot forward as he tried to stop the flaming creature. He cried in desperation as he felt an invisible barrier separating him from the two. His eyes widening in shock as the two looked at him with tearful eyes, hope was lost in the boy's eyes.

...

Ayer gasped for air as he shot up awake. The nightmare he experienced was nothing like he had experienced before. It was so vivid, like it was real. His entire body was shaking in fear as the boy cowered on the bed.

He was sobbing underneath the sheets as he remembered Riss and Chill. He was about to call their names when he noticed that he was not in the village anymore. There, beside him, was the unconscious girl, Riss. And then, Ghastly entered the room and was glad to see the boy alive.

She took them to her home since it was close by. Ghastly told Ayer how she found them and Ghastly told him the truth, except for the part where she let Grim take Chill away, noting this left a knot in her heart.

It was already night, so they could not go anywhere. The purple sorceress told him to stay here and continue by tomorrow. The boy asked where Ra'Khar was, and she answered him that he was outside, contemplating how he could not protect the two of you properly.

Ayer was troubled by this, so he asked for a time to be with Ra'Khar. The woman was allowed as she would take care of Riss. The boy exited the house, and he saw Ra'Khar playing with a campfire. The boy noticed how the orc refused to meet his eyes, but he wouldn't push. So he simply asked what was wrong.

The orc answered that he was strong, like his brother Hundar. So he remembered the time when they passed by his grave near the Sacred Tree Ground. He felt like a responsibility was passed on to him to protect the boy. At first, he was not certain if he would follow the human boy. Even if he swore in his name to protect Ayer, he had his doubts since he was just a child.

But then the orc told him that he was wrong; it was him who could not do anything good at all. Aside from helping the battle and bringing in reinforcements, he failed his foremost task of protecting the children. If Hundar were here, he would surely be scolded.

Not to mention, this was the second time he felt like he could not do anything. One was back in Fire Devil, and the second is now, for failing to apprehend Grim. The boy only listened. He did not know what to do. He did not really pay attention to the shortcomings of the orc, and was glad he was back. But it sounds disrespectful to the person who tried his best to protect him and ended up being a failure.

Ra'Khar then merely let out a small laugh, earning a surprise look from Ayer. He questioned himself why he was doing this. Complaining in front of a child, he told Ayer to not worry about tomorrow. This time, he will do something to protect them.

He promised it. The boy could see something burning within the eyes of the orc. Something he couldn't help but stand up for and gulp for what was about to was sudden, but he remembered how Caliber ordered Hundar back in his dreams.

Then the boy asked if Ra'Khar would protect him-as he stuttered a little-properly this time. With his oath on the line, he must fulfill his mission until everything is over. Until he finally defeated the God of orc could not help but admire his valiant words. If Ayer was not only a mage, he would be a great image as a powerful knight.

Then Ra'Khar swore that he would be Ayer's strength that he lacked and be his shield to protect him.

Ghastly watched this as a small smile crept up her face. She was happy to see the boy's face lit up with a smile from the previous horrors she first saw in those eyes after he woke up.

She then remembered Grim and their past encounter back when she was also part of the group, at least for a period of time. She contemplated what she was about to do before she exited the house. She faced the boy and the orc and told them that she knew where Grim carried Chill away.

Back at the place where the Burning Order had begun,

...

Meanwhile, the day after Ayer's gang left in a hurry, Princess Ghevanna was planning an attack tomorrow by sundown. It was the only choice for the moment, since they had a suspicion that Soluss might manipulate the King to make an order and form an army. They must attack now before that can even happen.

With the help from the other races, the dwarves and the orcs, there will be a chance to reclaim the castle and capture Soluss once and for all.

Captain Thom told everyone to rest and be prepared for tonight's attack on the Hana castle. He assured everyone that as long as the plan went smoothly, reclaiming the castle and ensuring the rule state fell into the right hands, everything would be okay. The only problem left is the initiation.

Sir Grant suggested an attack at the barracks first before the castle since that was the place where weapons could be acquired. By capturing this building, the soldiers won't have a weapon to arm themselves, so it could be a bloodless victory. His suggestion immediately went to tab by the order of the Princess, who found the plan solid.

Meanwhile, the sun began to set as the army marched down.