Hello again, all.
This chapter is supposed to be the third of the final five, but seeing at how much the story has been progressing so far including this very chapter, I regret to say that there's no way I can wrap up this final arc within two more chapters without making everything look rushed. Therefore, this fanfic will unfortunately live a bit longer than I initially planned.
Well, what's done is done, so let's get on with the show. See you again in the afterword.
[X][X][X]
Ainz was alone in his office, reading several reports which had been delivered earlier, before his return from the brief trip to E-Rantel. Despite the possible imminent arrival of Dark Falz Double which likely would be another pain in the ass like Elder if not more, the world itself wouldn't stop flowing. Local events still happened, and it was Ainz's responsibility to be well-informed about matters which involved Nazarick in one way or another, and to decide on further courses of actions whenever necessary.
Hmm, this one is from Lupusregina... eh?
The report which Ainz picked up caught his interest because his eyes happened to stumble upon the part which said that Viviana had successfully learned the [Lightning] spell, the tome of which he had given to her quite a while ago.
How long ago was that...? Two months I suppose...?
In any case, Ainz felt notably impressed. According to the information he had, natives of New World took a long time to learn a new spell, especially third tier which was the pinnacle of common magic casters and would normally take at least a year to successfully learn a single spell. Despite the fact that Viviana possessed a Talent which accelerated the process and also another fact that she had the luxury of having the Tome of Lightning, cutting the learning time from the regular one year down to two months was an impressive feat.
And here it's also written that she's very grateful to me. Well, I'm also grateful to her for showing me something interesting, so it's a win-win.
Ainz then began pondering on what he should do with Viviana next.
I could give her another tome, but it's now less interesting to do that... How about having her learn another third tier spell but without a tome this time? I can potentially get a glimpse on how much difference a tome makes on the learning time.
While pondering, Ainz remembered something, and thus the topic of his inner thoughts changed.
Ah, but first I have to ask whether she's happy living like that in Carne Village. After all, the members of the Swords of Darkness team are among the few New World natives whom I can consider as friends, even though they don't know it. I don't want to tie them down in the village against their will.
However, before Ainz could ponder futher about it, the surveillance system of Nazarick surroundings was triggered. Ainz immediately turned his head towards the nearby Mirror of Remote Viewing to see what triggered the system, although he could somewhat make a guess.
Hmm?
What Ainz saw was within expectation, but also unexpected in a sense. It was Guardian by herself, and she arrived by falling from the sky at a much higher speed than terminal velocity. She landed right in front of the central mausoleum with a hard impact, which naturally registered as an intrusion, triggering POP monsters on the surface to spawn and attack her.
Ainz sighed and immediately contacted Shalltear, who was in charge of guarding the area.
[Message]
"Shalltear, halt those POP monsters and bring the newly arrived guest to me, politely"
"As you command, Ainz-sama"
After Ainz ended the [Message] spell, he let out another sigh and slouched on his seat. Less than a minute later, the door of his office was knocked on and Ainz quickly straightened up his sitting posture.
"Ainz-sama, this is Shalltear. The guest, Guardian Melrose, is with me"
"You may come in"
Right after Ainz finished speaking, the door opened and Shalltear came in along with Guardian. Ainz then spoke again while maintaining his upright position on his seat behind his work desk.
"Thank you, Shalltear. You may now return to your post"
"As you command, Ainz-sama"
Shalltear bowed, and then left the office. After the door closed, Ainz spoke to Guardian who was staring at him with a serious face.
"Take a seat"
Guardian took a seat across the work desk, and now they were sitting face to face.
"To be perfectly honest, I do not condone your way of coming here just now. Had we not been officially allied, I would have considered you as an intruder, and had you eliminated or taken prisoner. I hope you have a very good reason for coming here in such a hurry"
Guardian reached her hand forward, and within an instant a medium-sized container box appeared on the desk. Ainz had no idea what this box contained, but Guardian soon spoke to answer his confusion.
"Thirty units of Solid Barrier series photon armor for starters. Let us know when you need more. Also, yes. There is something I must inform you about immediately"
Ainz nodded as he looked at the box, and then he leaned forward with his arms folded on the table, preparing to hear whatever Guardian was about to say next.
"As I warned you before, Dark Falz Double from Ryu's universe is coming. As we speak, the ARKS Fleet of that universe is holding them off from crossing the rift. But, it's just a matter of time until they manage to slip through"
Ainz remained unfazed by the news of imminent threat, mainly thanks to having known in advance about their existence and their motives for coming, which was the Dark Falz Elder he had absorbed.
"I see. How did you get your hands on this news?"
"Some more ARKS operatives from there crossed the rift for reconnaissance. They brought the news, and we gave them our information"
Ainz nodded hearing the answer. Guardian's answer also gave him the implication that the two ARKS were now connected, and they eventually would converge. The time has come near for Ainz to witness the whole package of his allies instead of just a single gargantuan ship.
"Thank you for the news. Now, I suppose a large-scale battle on this planet is imminent, then?"
"We will try our best not to let that happen. I don't want to imagine the possible collateral damage to civilians if Double and their Darkers invade this planet"
Ainz put his hand under his chin, briefly showing a thinking posture before speaking.
"I may need more information from you. Elder has roamed the planet for a long time before I finally defeated him, and the damage he has done during that period was still within manageable levels. Is Double significantly more aggressive in damaging the environment than Elder?"
Guardian was briefly silent, and then she folded her arms on the desk while her face remained as serious as before.
"To put it into perspective, the Dark Falz Double in my universe once devoured an entire civilized race into extinction"
Before Ainz could react to Guardian's words, his Elder spoke from the inside of his mind.
"Hey, bonehead! Did you forget that I arrived on this planet weakened as hell? I needed to rebuild my strength first before I could put up a fight!"
Paying nearly no heed to Elder, Ainz spoke.
"I see. In that case, I should prepare even further. By the way, are you going to request for my assistance in the near future?"
"If possible, I don't even want you to encounter them. After all, you are their primary target"
"I see. You have a good point. However, we all should make preparations for even the unlikely cases, because there is nothing worse than being caught unprepared against a sudden development into a certain dire situation"
Guardian didn't immediately say anything in response to Ainz's words. She only leaned back to her seat with her arms remaining folded. Her silence only lasted for a couple seconds, though.
"Alright, point taken. I should go back to Laguz soon, but before that... I want to tell the Elder inside you that I have delivered the message to Melrondia"
"Wait, what? Don't tell me she's one of those...!"
Guardian of course didn't hear Elder's words, so she continued.
"She said thank you, and she will now reach for the future, no longer borrowing her late sister's name"
"...Hmph, alright. That's good to hear"
Ainz made a slight nod, and then he spoke.
"He heard that, and he sounded glad"
Guardian smiled slightly before replying.
"I'm glad to hear that. Lastly, what would be the better way to reach you in a hurry without having to be attacked by your... automatic monsters?"
"If the matter is genuinely urgent, I shall allow you to do as you just did. Otherwise, contact me through Narb- I mean, Nabe of Team Darkness. She is now stationed in the room next to yours in Shining Golden Pavilion"
"Got it. Thank you"
Ainz then raised his hand towards an empty spot in the office.
[Gate]
A familiar portal was conjured on the spot as Guardian stood up from her seat.
"That portal leads to the spot where you landed. You should be able to go back to Laguz from there, no?"
"Yes, thank you. I'll see you again later"
"Hmm..."
Ainz nodded as he replied, and then Guardian walked into the portal and disappeared from sight. Ainz then dispelled the portal and went into a slouching posture again. It was now clear to him that a war large enough to shake the whole New World was imminent, and one could never be too prepared for this kind of event.
[X][X][X]
Guardian walked into the bridge of Laguz, having returned from delivering the first batch of photon armor units and some news to Ainz. There was nobody else there other than Xiera, being busy monitoring everything shown on all the interface displays in front of her.
"How's the situation?"
Guardian asked the question as she walked, approaching Xiera. The latter quickly turned her seat around and spoke.
"The rift is still calm, but I can't help feeling anxious! If only Xiao was here!"
Hearing what Xiera just said, Guardian let out a small sigh.
"Yeah, I miss Xiao too. But right now we have to make do with what we currently have"
Guardian lowered her head, staring at the floor with her mind drifting somewhere. There was one thing she had not told Ryu and the others yet because she didn't want to add more agitating things into their mind.
Xiao was now effectively dead. His mothership body had been usurped by Shiva.
That was the main cause of ARKS ships getting scattered into independent operation protocol. With Xiao and the mothership gone, ARKS ships had nowhere to group up at and the general power of ARKS had greatly diminished. Guardian had no idea how many ships were left out there, possibly being picked off one by one even now.
But there was still hope to bring Xiao back, and Guardian was resolved to never give up no matter the odds presented in front of her. Right now, she had to focus on her current main objective, which was to prevent the rise of a second Profound Darkness.
"Just... believe in her, alright?"
Guardian spoke to Xiera, trying to get her focus back into the matter at hand. It seemed to be effective, because Xiera's eyes visibly went wider.
"Ah... you're right! She will definitely make it to Amduscia and bring Xiao back! She will bring hope back to ARKS!"
"That's right. Now, focus"
Guardian smiled as she spoke and gave a light pat on Xiera's shoulder. Xiera smiled as well and made a nod to Guardian.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Huh?"
The sound of an alarm came out from the bridge interface. Xiera quickly turned her seat forward and her hands began fiddling with the interface. It took just a couple seconds for her face to turn grim, and Guardian gritted her teeth seeing it.
"The rift is acting up again. Something's gonna come out!"
Guardian and Xiera glared at the screen displaying a live footage of the rift connecting this universe to Ryu's universe. Flashes of light occurred all over it like lightning strikes within an agitated storm cloud. They had a little hope that it was not what they were thinking, but they were soon proven false.
"Ehehehehe... Huhu... Hahahahahahahaha!"
There was no mistaking the creepy laugh echoing out from the rift. Just a couple seconds after the laugh, the dreaded figure of a toy castle blasted out from there.
"It's Double!"
"Tch! They have slipped through at last!"
Guardian clicked her tongue while Xiera's fingers danced around her interface briefly before shouting out an announcement.
"Emergency! Dark Falz Double has been sighted! All ARKS prepare for battle!"
"What's their position now?"
Xiera fiddled with her interface again after hearing Guardian's question.
"Uhh... they're moving at high speed straight towards the planet! At this rate they will make contact in... five seconds!"
"Damn! There's no time to intercept! They're gonna invade the planet!"
Guardian clenched her hands as she spoke, feeling upset about the situation and her inability to prevent this from happening.
Psshh...
The bridge door opened, and Guardian saw Ryu along with his siblings and the rest of the team entering hurriedly. Their faces were clearly tense, since they must have heard the announcement as well.
"So Double has slipped through. What's the situation now?"
Ryu asked the question, and Xiera promptly answered.
"Double has just landed on the planet, and now their readings are... gone!"
There was a brief silence, and then Ryu was the one who broke the silence.
"They went into stealth mode, didn't they?"
"Unfortunately... yes..."
Xiera sounded clearly depressed as she replied. It was natural, since now the planet down below was under the threat of a new Dark Falz. All other people in the room showed reactions of dread, anger, and sadness in varying degrees. Needless to say, none of them liked the new development of the situation. Xiera then spoke again to her interface, making a new announcement.
"Dark Falz Double has arrived on the planet below. All ARKS are to remain on standby for possible sorties on short notice"
Guardian let out a small sigh before walking closer to Xiera and asking a question.
"What's the last seen position?"
Xiera immediately fiddled with her interface again, and a new large screen appeared above her, displaying a map with a blinking dot on one spot.
"That's Double's last position before they escaped detection"
Ryu put his hand under his chin, and then he immediately spoke.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Liz. But isn't that Abelion Hills?"
"No, you're not wrong. So, are we going there?"
Alice asked the question, but she didn't get an immediate response. Instead, Ryu looked at Guardian, seemingly redirecting the question to her.
"Yeah, but not all of us. Some has to stay here for immediate response if their readings pop out again"
Guardian let out another sigh after giving her answer. This planet would have dark times ahead, and not much could be done with only one ship worth of ARKS.
[X][X][X]
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
The tapping sound of shoes hitting the floor echoed through the palace hallway of Slane Theocracy. Whoever was causing the sounds, he was clearly in a hurry.
The Pontifex Maximus was alone in his office doing mundane tasks as the head of a nation when the door opened quite violently, giving him a mild shock. The one who opened the door was Raymond, the Cardinal of Earth. Seeing the latter panting with cold sweat all over his face and showing a clear expression of dread, the Pontifex stopped his work and spoke with narrowed eyes and slightly raised eyebrows.
"What's the matter, Raymond?"
The Pontifex knew that Raymond would never come into his office without knocking first unless the matter was absolutely urgent, so he didn't ask any question about the rude manner and instead asked for the main point of whatever news Raymond had.
"The city is under attack!"
The Pontifex's eyes instantly went wide upon hearing the news, and he stood up from his seat as the immediate reaction.
"What!? Who? Is it the elves!?"
Raymond shook his head upon hearing the Pontifex.
"No, it was a bunch of monsters nobody in the Scriptures have ever seen before. The most frightening thing is that they all appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the city, as if they teleported in!"
The Pontifex gritted his teeth. A sudden attack by monsters which could teleport out of nowhere was something no city could ever be prepared for. For now, the best course of action he could take as the leader of the city and the nation was to give a single command.
"I want all the forces we can muster to concentrate on defending the civilians and evacuating them to safety!"
Raymond nodded hearing the command before he spoke.
"The order to carry out that exact objective has already been issued to the chain of commands. I'm here to escort you to the Palace Shelter"
The Pontifex nodded as he heard Raymond's words. The Palace Shelter was a special room laden with protective enchantments, built for the Pontifex and the Cardinals in the case of great dangers. It also functioned as a war room, where the occupants could still communicate and give orders as necessary.
Both the Pontifex and Raymond hurried towards the shelter. While hurrying, the Pontifex for some reason suddenly remembered about Guardian Angel and her companions, and some questions popped in his mind.
Could this monster attack possibly be related to Guardian Angel? Will she come back to assist our people if that was the case? Or...
"Raymond..."
The Pontifex called Raymond's name without slowing his pace. The latter immediately replied while doing the same.
"Yes?"
"Do you think we should deploy her against those monsters?"
"What? Why should we deploy our secret ace in the hole against those- Oh..."
Raymond opposed the idea of deploying Zesshi at first, but he halted his speech in the middle, seemingly realizing something. Pontifex smiled slightly right before he spoke in response to Raymond's realization.
"Now you see, those monsters might have something to do with Guardian Angel's mission. Isn't it possible that back then she gave Zesshi her blessings so Zesshi could fight those monsters in her stead in the case she is unable to assist us in time?"
Raymond was silent briefly with his head slightly lowered, showing that he was thinking.
"I can't deny the possibility, but..."
"You are more knowledgeable in military matters than I am, Raymond. I'll leave the final decision to you. I only pray that you do not take too long to make it"
"Understood... Then leave it to me"
With that, Raymond and the Pontifex continued, now jogging at a brisk pace towards the Palace Shelter. The city was now in a dire situation, and how these monsters had breached the city's wards and defenses mattered little now. They both knew that they had to do whatever was possible in their capabilities to minimize losses. Even if it meant exposing the existence of Zesshi Zetsumei, the Guardian of Humanity, to the public.
[X][X][X]
The capital city of Slane Theocracy was in chaos. Wails and screams of people, civilians and guards alike, echoed throughout the city along with the sounds of crumbling buildings. The guards were exerting their utmost effort to lead civilians to safety, but the ongoing chaos induced panic to a significant portion of the people, hindering the evacuation effort from working effectively.
Less than half an hour before, everything had been normal like any other day. All the people in the capital had been doing their activities after lunch with nothing special in sight.
But then, a bunch of red vortexes had appeared out of nowhere all over the city, and various monsters had come out from them, immediately attacking everything.
Boom! Splat!
A person had fallen victim to one type of the monsters. It took the shape of a colorful cauldron with a pair of long arms used as locomotion, and its apparent M.O. was to jump and hug a poor victim, followed up by blowing itself up. The person's head and dismembered limbs rolled on the street, painting the spot red and prompting grim reactions from those who witnessed.
Slash! Splorch!
At a distance, a poor guard had been dismembered by another type of monster. Its appearance was like a somewhat adorable large chubby doll, and it was docile at first, standing around doing nothing. However, the moment anybody attacked it, it immediately retaliated with either a quick flurry of claw slashes or a jumping slam depending on distance. After becoming agitated, the doll-like monster became highly aggressive, dashing around and slashing anything that moved with its claws.
Bonk! Bonk! Bonk! Splat! Drrrrd!
Meanwhile, another type of monster which looked like a house with arms and legs, and was half as large as a typical house was aggressively slamming everything with the large club it was carrying. Any person hit by the slam was instantly reduced to red paste, and any building hit was quickly reduced to rubble.
Despite the chaos, the guards and their respective squad leaders didn't miss noticing the apparent weakpoints of those monsters, especially the house monster which occasionally sprouted out three round heads from the window-like panels on its front side. One of the three was different from the others, being red and glowing. Upon closer inspection, other monsters also had a similar glowing core somewhere on their body, and therefore many combat-capable men took the hint.
However, that didn't mean the tables had turned. The difference in strength between the guards and the monsters was simply too large. A few coordinated attacks and decisive strikes on the glowing cores managed to stagger and hurt a few monsters, but not a single one had been slain other than the cauldron monsters which blew themselves up taking at least one man with it.
One guard fell on his butt, shivering and wetting his face with tears as one agitated chubby doll monster ripped and tore at his fellow guards in front of him. After being done with those guards it had just killed, the chubby doll monster immediately charged at him with its clawed arms extended forward. The blood-red eyes of the monster instilled so much fear in the poor guard, that the particular spot on the ground he was sitting on was no longer dry.
"U-Uwaaah!"
The guard closed his eyes and braced himself as the chubby doll monster closed the distance, fully expecting that he was going to die right then and there.
But he felt nothing.
A couple of seconds passed, and he still didn't feel anything striking him. He still could hear the sounds of battle around him, so it was certain that he still had not left this world yet. After another couple of seconds, the guard slowly opened his eyes, and what immediately came to his sight was the disintegrating carcass of the chubby doll monster, and a man standing next to it. The man had long black hair, wore a pretty fancy ornate armor, and wielded a seemingly simple spear.
"Are you alright?"
The man asked the question with his eyes glancing at the guard. It took the guard another few seconds before he finally could answer.
"I-I think... I think I have humiliated myself..."
The man made a small nod before speaking again.
"Retreat to shelter and help civilians you meet along the way. The Scriptures will be the first line of defense"
"R-Right!"
The guard mustered as much strength as he could to quickly stand up and retreat from that place. He didn't know the man who had saved him, but it was not difficult to conclude from what he had heard that the man was one of the Scriptures, the elite military organizations of Slane Theocracy. The guard kept running towards shelter, feeling quite delighted knowing that the cavalry had come and there was still hope.
[X][X][X]
The Captain of the Black Scripture stood atop the roof of a three-story building in the capital city of Slane Theocracy. The spot he stood on was a pretty good vantage point to observe the ongoing skirmish within the city. The combined effort of the present members of the Black Scripture and Holocaust Scripture had considerably dwindled down the amount of monsters, but there were still a significant amount of those mysterious monsters in several areas of the city.
Are those monsters actually the one Guardian Angel spoke about...? What was the name again... Darkers?
The Captain didn't get to muse for long, because someone arrived at the rooftop right behind him. The Captain didn't get alarmed because he knew the person very well. He just turned his head and spoke, asking a simple question.
"How did it go?"
The newly arrived person, none other than Zesshi Zetsumei, the Extra Seat of the Black Scripture, smiled with narrowed eyes in response before answering.
"Guardian Angel's blessings were very effective. I sliced and diced all those monsters like they were nothing. I like it...!"
Zesshi's smile went wider to the point of smirking as she spoke the last part while caressing the handle of her scythe. The Captain remained unfazed seeing that, and instead he also smiled while nodding slightly.
"Be sure to give her your thanks, should you meet her again someday"
"If you say so. But I still wanna fight her again, though!"
"With her consent, alright? In any case, if the blessings you got are effective, I think it is safe to assume that those monsters are Darkers..."
"Darkers or not, they are boringly weak. I expected more of a thrill fighting them"
Zesshi spoke with a visibly disappointed facial expression as she walked towards the spot right next to where the Captain was standing, overlooking the streets below.
"Unfortunate for you indeed, but I... I mean, the people still need you to exterminate the monsters. You are the Guardian of Humanity, blessed by a Guardian Angel who has entrusted you with the task of defending the people in her stead. I believe that you won't betray her trust, right?"
Zesshi didn't look impressed in the slightest hearing the Captain's speech. She just replied with a straight tone of speech.
"If that's all it takes to fight her again, I'll gladly do it"
The Captain smiled once more with a small nod, then he raised his weapon as he prepared to jump off the rooftop.
"Let's go!"
Both the Captain and Zesshi jumped from the rooftop, charging into the heat of battle against the mysterious monsters. Whether his assumption that these monsters being Darkers was right or wrong mattered little. All he knew was that he was here to defend the city by exterminating them all.
[X][X][X]
Abelion Hills, afternoon. Half an hour before present time.
A group of three consisting of Ryu, Lily, and Hikaru landed on the plains within Abelion Hills where Dark Falz Double had been last seen. Ryu was the first to stand up, and his head turned around, briefly scanning the vicinity as the others stood up from their landing posture. There was nothing unusual in sight because they didn't land exactly on the particular spot, which was actually one click away. This was a standard precaution when deploying against an undetected enemy, as landing right there would carry greater risk of getting ambushed.
"Remember, we're here for recon. The moment we spot Double, we retreat"
"Alright, Ryu-san!"
Lily answered loud and clear, while Hikaru just nodded without saying a word. After checking the map on Ryu's photon interface, the group activated their flight spell and flew straight towards the designated spot. They arrived there within less than a minute later, and what they saw there could be described with one word.
Destruction.
A significant portion of the land had been subjected to more than one kind of devastation. There were charred trees, leveled lands, and even some rock formations which seemed to be 'glassed', having been exposed to intense heat.
As Ryu landed followed by the other two, he could notice a few embers which looked a little strange, having emerald green color instead of the normal colors of fire. The embers quickly went out, having no more things to burn, so Ryu couldn't observe it further.
"Did Double go on a rampage here?"
Ryu spoke the question out without expecting any answer, and then he raised his hand to open a communication link with Xiera.
"Got any strange readings, Xiera?"
Xiera immediately gave her answer.
"Hmm, nope! Other than energy remnants of the destruction around you, I'm not picking up any presence!"
"Hmm, it seems Double has left as expected. I wonder what made them do this, though"
"Actually, Ryu... It might not be them..."
"What? What do you mean?"
"The signatures of the energy remnants around you don't match with the data we have about Dark Falz Double at all! The destruction around you has been caused by something else!"
"What...?"
Hikaru asked the short question with her head slightly tilted. Ryu was as confused as she was about the current situation.
"But make no mistake! Double was last seen there right before they escaped detection, I'm certain about it!"
Ryu nodded with one hand put right under his chin.
"I see. But with everything around us destroyed like this, finding any clues about Double is basically impossible"
"Yes, you're right. Please return to the ship for now"
Ryu nodded once again. He reached into his photon inventory, taking a teleportation beacon out for the Gate Ship to pick them up. However, before he got to use it...
"Ryu-san! Wait!"
Lily spoke out loud, halting him.
"Huh? Did you see something, Lily?"
"Look! There's someone over there!"
"What?"
Ryu looked at the direction Lily pointed at, and he saw nothing at first. But after a few moments of squinting his eyes, he finally noticed that indeed there was an unconscious man at a distance, lying face-down on the ground. For a moment he wondered just how sharp Lily's eyesight was before he put that curiosity away, since there was something more important.
"You're right. Let's go there!"
The three of them immediately dashed towards the unconscious man, with Ryu talking to Xiera while at it.
"Xiera, you didn't pick any readings of that guy?"
"No, I'm not picking up anything! It was just like he's not there at all until you gave me visuals just now!"
That was strange to Ryu at first, but then he considered the possibility that some kind of magic from this planet was shielding this man from detection. Before he could mull further on that, the group arrived near the fallen man. Even laying face down he looked tall, with long golden blonde hair that reached down the middle of his back. Despite being covered in soot and ash, the hair actually looked undamaged upon closer inspection.
The man wore a rather plain-looking brown-colored traveling attire which was generally similar to what Ryu had seen some adventurer natives of this planet usually wore. Yet strangely, it too seemed to be undamaged, implying the possibility that there was some kind of protective enchantment on it similar to photon armor.
The group stood there not sure what to do about the man. They weren't even sure if he was still alive or not, keeping Xiera's words in mind that there were no readings at all being picked up from him.
"Lily, could you try waking him up for me? Be careful, though"
"Alright, Ryu-san"
Ryu made the decision based on his judgement that Lily was the most hardy among the three, and therefore she would have the best chance in the case this was some kind of trap. Still, both him and Hikaru stood straight in full alert, ready to draw their weapons anytime.
"Hey, sir. Are you alright?"
Lily spoke to the fallen man while gently rubbing his shoulder. He stirred almost immediately with a weary groan, and propped himself on all fours. Taking a deep breath, the man opened his eyes and looked directly at Lily with an intense gaze. It started her enough to make her take a step back.
Ryu and Hikaru had similar reactions when the man looked at them as well. The man had a strong, menacing presence for sure. It was like those green eyes of his could see right through them. He took another deep breath, and the presence this man exuded seemed to vanish as soon as it came.
This confused the trio for a moment, but then the man stood up, calmly dusting himself off as he did. He was really tall, easily towering over them. For a moment he looked at them and then surveyed their surroundings with furrowed brows.
"So it's truly dead. That filthy Yo... Hm. Never mind. Who are you three?"
The man spoke as he regarded them. Ryu relaxed his stance as he stepped forward in a nonthreatening manner.
"My name is Ryu, and we mean you no harm. We simply found you unconscious just now. This is Lily, and Hikaru"
The man was silent for a few seconds as Ryu introduced himself and his party. He also relaxed his posture, and his gaze softened as he spoke in a calm and cordial manner.
"A pleasure. Call me Ishmael"
"So, can you tell us what happened to you? And what happened here?"
"..."
The man didn't immediately answer. He folded his arms and closed his eyes, seemingly thinking over how he should answer them as his gaze went over each of them. For a moment he remained silent before he finally replied to the question with a sigh.
"Simply put, I was fighting against a powerful monster. What you see around us is the impact of our battle. I was winning, and I was about to finish that filthy creature off when... suddenly a giant monster looking like a blackened castle came crashing down and... swallowed it whole. I was caught off guard by the ambush, and received a pretty powerful blow from it myself. And I don't remember anything after that"
Ryu and Hikaru looked at each other with shock clearly written all over their faces. It was very easy to conclude that Dark Falz Double had really been here and had devoured some kind of powerful monster. But that still left a lot of lingering questions. Where did Double go? Why did they leave? What are they doing now?
Although the questions of why and how Ishmael survived were pretty apparent to Ryu. If Xiera couldn't detect him, then Double likely didn't see him as someone worth paying any heed, because he would have been sensed as a weak ordinary person. As for surviving the impact of Double's arrival, if the menacing aura he had shown was any indication, Ishmael was strong, possibly as strong, if not stronger than Lily. Their experiences in dealing with residents of Nazarick and their recent bout with Elder in Laguz could tell them as much.
"I see, though now I'm wondering. What's the story behind you having an intense battle against a monster here?"
Ryu asked the question, and Ishmael once again didn't immediately give an answer. This time his silence was more brief than before, though.
"Simply put, it appeared here and I'm determined to exterminate every single one of them, because they can't be suffered to exist anywhere in this world"
Ryu's eyes went wide just slightly. While the explanation left out a lot of details, Ishmael's motive was more or less similar to ARKS on Darkers and Dark Falz, and that possible coincidence put a small degree of amazement on him. Thanks to that, Ryu spoke out about it without much thinking.
"Wow, your motive and ours are quite similar. Though our current target is the castle monster you saw"
"It seems we each have our own battles to fight..."
Ishmael nodded hearing Ryu's speech, but the chat couldn't go further because Xiera suddenly spoke through his communication device.
"Ryu! We may have an emergency! Please return to ship ASAP!"
"Ah, understood"
The message from Xiera was transmitted in the setting which only allowed Ryu to hear, so after speaking his affirmation to Xiera, he looked at Ishmael and spoke.
"I just got a call from our... headquarters. We should go"
Ishmael made a slight nod in response before speaking.
"I wish you luck in your future battles and endeavors"
The trio then turned away and activated their flight spell to get some distance in order to prevent them from showing themselves using a teleportation beacon right in front of Ishmael's eyes. It was probably unnecessary, but Ryu felt that he had to do this for some reason.
In any case, the unexpected encounter with the mysterious man had provided the group some information about Double. Ryu didn't know what could happen to Double after devouring an unknown local monster, so he intended to ask Guardian and Xiera about it once they got back to Laguz.
[X][X][X]
As Ishmael watched the trio leave, he sighed heavily at recent events. This was never how he wished things to play out. Events had already spiraled almost completely out of control. He wanted to handle things as quickly and quietly as possible, and nearly succeeded too. But now he had questions.
Just what was that strange castle monster? And more importantly, how was it able to counter Yogg's possession ability?
Beep! Beep!
Just as Ishmael mused over these things, a [Message] notification rang in his head.
"Master. I was able to track that monster that interrupted your battle with the Yogg. I have also confirmed that it somehow resisted the possession"
Ishmael hummed in thought at this.
Did that mean that there were other means of thwarting Yogg possession? A special ability of some kind perhaps? Or maybe it was the effects of something similar to the [World Item] in my possession? Too many questions without answers...
"Were you able to track its precise location, Charon?"
"Indeed I was, master. It was also able to spawn rather strange but powerful minions from long distance, and those minions are now in the process of attacking a number of major cities. Are we to assist?"
"No, Charon. We are not. If the Yogg possession has truly been averted, then we leave as per the original plan. We are to minimize our involvement in another world's affairs as much as possible. I need not remind you why?"
"Understood, master. Then I shall return to the prearranged exit"
"Good. See you there"
With that, the [Message] link was cut. Ishmael then reached into thin air, where a small black and purple portal opened. From there he pulled out a small, blue colored crystal. While he did for a moment lament that he would not help this world in its current crisis, it could very well cause more harm than good otherwise. Especially if his past experiences were any indication.
However, from the information he had gathered, he knew who that strong trio likely was, and the fact that Nazarick existed with its full power in this world. If salvation was to come to this world, it would be by their hands, since he had his own battles to fight. With that in mind, he crushed the crystal in hand, releasing the spell within...
[Greater Teleportation]
And with that, Ishmael disappeared in a flash of blue light.
[X][X][X]
Wilderness. Several minutes earlier.
Somewhere far away, in a desolate patch of land, a pair of twin children were lying motionless with their backs on the ground. Their eyes were closed as if they were sleeping soundly. However, every so often a grimace would show on their faces, clearly displaying a pained feeling.
"Uhhhh... I feel sick..."
One of the twins, Frau, spoke with a pained expression while rubbing her stomach.
"I feel sick too... Should we throw up?"
"No, that would be a waste..."
The other twin, Flo, went silent, not opposing Frau's resolve not to throw up. And so he continued enduring through the nausea.
Indeed, the twins had eaten something right upon their arrival on this planet. It was a strange creature, on the verge of death for some reason. They had made a quick decision to eat it rather than letting it waste away, but they had never expected the creature to cause such pain in their stomachs.
"My head feels floaty too..."
"I feel dizzy..."
In addition, their heads were a mess now. They had unexplainable bouts of headache and dizziness every few minutes, and their minds seemed to randomly drift off for brief moments.
"Hey... let's play a little bit"
"Play what?"
"Anything to distract me from this pain"
"Oh, I know, I know! Let's play with everyone!"
"Great idea! Everyone play with us!"
Both of the twins raised their arms towards the sky, and a stream of dark energy was shot out, dispersing to every direction. The twins then cheerfully and childishly laughed, enjoying their imminent game, which would soon be built on blood...
[X][X][X]
Afterword:
A large-scale battle has inevitably begun at last. How ARKS and Nazarick are going to work together against the new threat looming over the New World still remains to be seen.
I have updated the spoiler section of the gallery linked in my profile since I introduced a number of new monsters today.
On another note, Ishmael is the protagonist of another fanfic. His cameo here is just a little fun idea I had, and everything related to him was done with the consent of the author in particular.
See you again in another two weeks.
