I've made a cover image for Volume 1! Go on over to Volume 1's prologue to get the link. Check it out if you're interested!
Here's Chapter 2, by the way. A little combat-heavy. Review?
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Little Wing It
Volume 3
In A Virtual Reality Without My VisiPhone!
Chapter 2
Destroyer In Black
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I
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"An underground cave sector... Didn't think there was such an area here in Mt. Elbars..."
Red mused out loud as we examined the appearance of the area.
It was certainly rougher than the previous place we were in. There was barely any obvious development, only basic bridges to cover streams and some lanterns.
It was warmer than the place we fell down to but it was still pretty chilly.
No fewer than a few steps into the place though, unsurprisingly, we were already being attacked.
"I thought we'd seen the last of the SEED?!"
"Filthy SEED... Stay back! Stay back!"
My attention snapped into the direction of the voice instantaneously.
And warningly approaching us was a man wielding a rod, looking decidedly not friendly. One quick look towards the other direction revealed two more people stalking us like dangerous animals, weapons in hand.
"Hey, what's the deal with these guys... Wait. Kara, look at that one's uniform."
"What about it... Hold on, isn't that...?"
A Guardians uniform.
Guess we found the missing people. Well, Lumia's missing people.
"Die, SEED! [Barta]!"
Without any provocation, the rod-guy fired off a blast of ice at us, prompting for a speedy evasion.
"Hey. I think these people think we're the SEED."
"You think, huh? Gee, what gave it away, gunman?"
What's the deal with gunman?
Well, whatever the reason, these people are attacking us. One way or another, we have to stop them.
I summoned my saber and shield, setting the blade to stun. Red had her double saber out, already trading swings with a saber-using Guardian.
I spun 90 degrees to block a slashing attack from a female claw wielder, pushing off for an opening.
I prepped my saber for a quick swipe but was forced to abandon and evade a fireball, the rod-user clearly not intending to be passive.
And I was immediately assaulted again by the claw-user, forcing me to stay in the defensive.
"Red, need an assist!"
"Kinda busy here!"
Red replied from the other side, managing to overwhelm the saber-user momentarily but had to back away because of the rod-user's lightning blast.
Damn it, they're confused but they're still skilled! I hate to say it but as expected of the Guardians! And being outnumbered isn't really helping our cause.
"We need to take out the rod-user!"
"Alright, I'm bringing the saber chick to you!"
Wait what.
Before I could ask what the midget was going on about, she was leaping past me, the saber-user hot on her heels.
Naturally, the dazed Guardian's attention shifted onto me.
I was forced to focus all my attention on the two melee Guardians, blocking and evading continuously.
"Hey, what-"
"Just a moment! [Tornado Dance]!"
And Red was off in a flash, spinning and accelerating like a damn jet and tornado fusion.
The Rednado blasted away a desperate Barta and collided with the rod-user, blowing him away into unconsciousness.
Unfortunately, my problems weren't over yet.
I swung my saber to gain a small wiggle room, both my opponents evading handily.
The claw-user recovered faster, charging at me with murderous intent.
And got a kick to side from the redhead, who was thankfully not nauseous from her little stunt.
"Just in time, midget!"
"Don't make me regret covering you, jackass!"
Grinning, I switched my shield for my machine gun and immediately open fired on the saber-user, forcing her on the defensive for a change.
She kept moving, and so did I.
"[Gravity Strike]!"
I unleashed the Photon Art, the combo of slashes overwhelming the saber-user. She fell down in a heap as I let out a weary sigh.
Damn, that was intense.
"Wow, so you're the type who would hit a girl, eh?"
"Cut the crap, Red."
"How am I saving your hide this much and not even getting a thank you? Ah, whatever. Let's move these guys."
We tucked the unconscious Guardians into a hidden corner, saving the area's coordinates for later extraction.
We should be stowing them in but we weren't exactly close to our ship. Best we can do is make sure these people are as safe as possible.
"Brr, out in the cold again... Why'd they hafta leave this place half-finished?"
"Keep it down. I hear something from over there."
A couple of familiar voices echoed somewhere near, along with footsteps that were gradually becoming louder.
"I sense... I sense Kara and Red! They're close by!"
"Huh? You sure, Yut? Where?!"
The trio rounded the corner, with an excited Yut pointing Emilia towards me and Red.
And as soon as my partner spotted us, she was running, an overjoyed grin plastered on her face.
"Kara! Kara! You're alright! Hah... Thank... Goodness!"
She stopped just in front of me, placed her hands on my shoulders and started shaking me back and forth.
"You stupid idiot! I thought you were buried in the snow and we had to dig you out!"
"One, that's redundant! Two, you did that anyway! Three, stop shaking me!"
She stopped shaking me after that, but still had quite an angry face.
I was about to ask what was her problem before she suddenly reared her arm back and punched me on the arm.
"Hey, what was that for?"
"For making me worry like that! Did you have any idea how scared I was when I heard Red scream and suddenly you two were gone?"
"Hey, who said I screamed?"
She totally did.
Nonetheless, what do I say in this situation? Do I say sorry?
That sounds reasonable. Let's go with that.
"Uh, sorry?"
"That won't cut it!"
"Jeez, we were already talking in the comms earlier. Whaddaya want me to say?"
"For the love of- Hey. Psst. C'mere."
Red pulled me aside and started whispering into my ear.
"Tell her you'll make it up to her. Take her somewhere."
"Where?"
"I don't know, figure it out!"
And I was pushed back into a still fuming Emilia who had her hands on her hips.
"I, uh, I'll make it up to you somehow? Err, cafe? My treat."
Emilia then turned her head slightly sideways, closing one eye while peeking at me with the one farther to me.
But I could also see the corners of her lip twitching, like she's forcing a poker face or something.
What in Moatoob is she doing?
"Hmph. Fine, if you insist."
"Hey, what's that sup- uogh!"
I was cut off by Red elbowing me. And before I was able to give her a piece of my mind, she was already whispering.
"Stop. Just roll with it. Trust me."
"Ugh, whatever."
At that point, I don't even want to question it anymore. Girls and their secret code or whatever it is they use to communicate.
"Those people..! They're the missing Guardians!"
Lumia exclaimed in surprise, spotting the unconscious forms of the Guardians me and Red fought earlier.
"Sure are. Strange thing happened, though. They thought we were SEED and attacked us."
"Oh, you too, huh?"
Emilia asked in response to Red's statement, catching my attention. So they were attacked too?
Lumia must have read the question from my face, nodding to affirm my suspicions.
"That happened to us too. The people we found, who your teammates have confirmed to be from your firm, mistook us for SEED-forms and attacked us as well."
Well, that's... unsettling.
Why? Why would they see us as the SEED? Could it be possible that they encountered the SEED just as we have? Then why weren't we hallucinating as well?
This is starting to cause a minor headache.
"They were afraid of something. I could sense their fear."
Yut supplied, looking a bit contemplative but other than that, it was an unreadable expression.
The SEED invasion from three years ago was the most horrible event to ever befall Gurhal, sowing great fear into the hearts of many.
If these people saw the SEED roaming these mountains like us, then there's no doubt that fear was brought out into the surface where Yut could easily sense it.
Or perhaps, it was something else that they were afraid of. It's a possibility for sure.
"In any case, there are bound to be more missing people further in. We will have to find and immobilize as many as we can."
Lumia spoke in a firm tone, clearly undeterred from her goal. Those missing people aren't gonna find themselves.
Although hopefully, if we keep establishing ourselves as intruders, then they might find us instead.
"It would be a smart move for us to avoid getting separated again. This area is unfamiliar territory."
"Yeah, don't disappear again!"
"In case you needed a reminder, Emilia, it was you who triggered the trap."
Emilia looked affronted from my accusation, stuttering a bit before bouncing back.
"Well, if I hadn't noticed the odd wall then we wouldn't have even found the MIA's!"
"Jungle boy over here thought there was something up with the wall too, though."
"The child is right, I did!"
"Not helping, Yut!"
"Who're you calling a child?!"
Did I honestly expect something different? Well, shame on me.
Lumia seemed like she had something to say, took a look at my exasperated facepalming, and decided against it.
She started walking towards the deeper parts of the cave, looking like she's getting used to my teammates' antics.
I followed shortly after.
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"I still can't believe we had to kill those little things..."
Emilia grumbled out loud as we trekked through the cold, rocky path, displeasure evident on her face.
"Those things were SEED. They needed to be eliminated."
"Yeah, I know but... they were so cute!"
They weren't so cute when they were blasting us with Barta spells like there was no tomorrow. It's not as if the place was cold enough.
The thing Emilia was upset about was our earlier encounter with more SEED-forms called Pannons, according to Lumia.
Looks like she did some research on the SEED while we were separated.
Pannons are little penguin-like creatures with a face that looked like several layered circles. They also liked bouncing around and firing off freezing gusts at people.
Although the curious thing is, just like with the SEED we fought outside the caves, the Pannons also disappeared into thin air the moment they were killed.
Which was very strange and very concerning.
"Emilia, those things orphaned a lot of people three years ago. No amount of cuteness will make them deserve any shred of mercy."
"That's harsh, Kara. But you're right..."
Emilia sighed and returned to scouting for more enemies or the missing people.
We've found a few more since we met up. Thankfully, we never encountered a group that outnumbered us, unlike when it was just me and Red.
It was still a challenge to non-lethaly incapacitate Guardians and mercenaries, but with our increased numbers, we were able to get the job done.
"I don't get it, though. Why were they congregating in corners?"
Emilia wondered, which in turn, got me wondering as well.
It was a valid question. If the abductor brainwashed them into thinking of intruders as SEED, then it would probably be to serve as guards.
But then, why would those people be stationed in secluded corners, hidden behind plenty of turns and large boulders?
We've thoroughly inspected those corners, but they were nothing but the deadest of dead-ends.
Was it simply a bug in the brainwash programming? No, it couldn't be.
Our kidnapper is an Ancient inhabiting the body of a man in black clothing. It's almost unthinkable for such a powerful entity to make such a careless mistake.
Unless they were specifically put there on purpose? Perhaps as a distraction? A distraction for what?
If the goal is to collect skilled combatants, then using them as distractions is completely counterproductive.
What's the point of abducting them then? Why go through all that trouble of making it so that they think we're SEED and attack on sight, if they were just going to be in a position where we can take them back easily?
This all makes no sense.
I have a feeling that this is all some trap, that we're all willingly walking towards to. But we can't just ignore those brainwashed people.
Ahh, that minor headache from before is starting to turn into a spectacular one.
"Hey. I know you don't talk much, but you're being awfully quiet."
I was brought out of my trance by a small nudge from Red, one of her eyebrows up with an expression on her face I couldn't place.
"Sorry. All of this just got me thinking..."
"Hmm. Meseta for your thoughts?"
"These missing people. Don't you think we're finding them a bit too easy?"
"A little bit. But hey, if this lets us complete the mission faster, then why complain?"
"Because we might be heading into a trap? There are a lot of reasons to be concerned."
Red shrugged in response. She looked like she was keeping what I said in mind, but she didn't have a very worried expression.
"If that is the case, then we will have to deal with it. Finding the men and women that were taken takes high priority."
Lumia said from in front, not a hint of hesitation on her face.
It's true. Our mission is to rescue the abducted. But...
"If the man in black is waiting for us, then I welcome it! I will take back the Land-Mother!"
Yut declared, determination etched on his face.
Idiot.
"That's completely reckless, Yut. We've fought the man in black before. He's too strong."
If you could even call that a fight. No, he wiped our faces with the planet.
"But if I don't try, how will I know? How will I get stronger?"
"Admirable resolve, but if you die then what's the point?"
"I'm not afraid of death! You've touched death before, Kara, and you're stronger from it! If I let fear control me, I will never truly get stronger!"
See, that's where Yut's mistaken. There's a gap, a difference, between not being afraid to die and being utterly, boneheadedly reckless.
Fear isn't something you control.
"You've 'touched death'? What?"
Before I could reprimand Yut or answer Red's question, Lumia raised up a hand, summoning her rod with her other.
The others summoned their weapons as well, getting the message instantly. I readied my rifle as well.
"I-is the ground shaking? What... what's going on?"
The ground shook further as my partner's confused mumblings continued.
And suddenly, there was a crack in the open area in front of us. The rumbling stopped.
Nobody said a word for a solid second, everything was deathly silent.
Before something large exploded from the cracked ground, spreading rock and dust everywhere.
"What... Seed-Vance!"
Lumia called out as soon as she got a look at what emerged from below.
Great. Another SEED. Doesn't look like small fry either.
Seed-Vance was a big SEED-Form with a helmet like head, half-burrowed in the soil, with two long tentacles ending in tridents serving as some sort of arms.
It was also not a very pretty monster.
"Ew, what's that?!"
I'm not sure if this thing can understand human speech but it answered Emilia's disgusted question by lashing out with a tentacle.
"[Diga]!"
The slab of rock hit the tentacle, exploding on impact but successfully deflecting the attack on my partner.
"That's how many times the Guardian saved you with a rock now? Get your head in the game, blondie!"
And Red was already running towards the seemingly stationary SEED-form.
"Ah, thanks! R-right! [Razonde]!"
"[Grants]!"
The bolt of lightning hit first, followed by a beam of light dropping on its head, seemingly stunning it, or so I think. Hard to tell if the target has no face.
"Grahh!"
Yut leapt up with his spear, ready to skewer the giant worm. Red was on the other side, Double Saber ready.
Their assault was halted, however, when the SEED-Vanve spun in a circle with it's tentacles outstretched, forcing the two to use their weapons to defend.
Yut crashed into the ground while Red was able to control her fall, skidding to a stop.
I immediately released the charge shot I was holding, the concentrated photon bullet blasting the creature in the face, or the bulb thing on its head.
That put its attention on me, and I rolled out of the way of a high-speed tentacle, and jumped to evade another impaling attempt.
I fired off another shot, hitting it dead-on once again. With such a large target, how I could I miss?
"[Rafoie]!"
"[Damgrants]!"
Emilia's fiery tech blasted the creature, before Lumia fired off a continuous beam of light from her rod, forcing it to try and defend with its trident-tentacles.
Didn't know she had a laser in her arsenal.
I switched to my machine-gun and joined in on the bombardment, pelting it with even more damage.
"[Damfoie]!"
And Emilia joined in on the fun, releasing a constant stream of fire towards the SEED-Vance's helpless form.
Then there was a red, black, and orange blur, and the tridents were cut off from the tentacles, forcing the hapless SEED to take in the combined force of three attacks.
That was when Yut decided to finish it off, dropping down from above with his spear, impaling the creature from the top of its head.
I stopped firing as the glowing parts of the Seed-Form's body dimmed down, indicating it's death. The two tech-users stopped their assault as well.
The giant creature fell down with a heavy thud, and instantly started fading out of existence just like the other SEED.
We still don't have an explanation for that.
"Good work. We're almost at the end of the cave. Let's keep going."
"Haha! That got the blood rushing! I'm ready for more!"
"Cool it, tribesboy. Eh, on second thought, never mind. It's cold in here, didn't even break a sweat."
"Whew, can't we take a break? C'mon, that was tiring! Don't listen to Red's lies!"
Tiring, a bit, but mostly because of the extended period of moving around we were doing since we left Clad 6.
But hard? Far from it. Normally, you wouldn't expect much from a non-moving opponent, especially if you outnumber it 5 to 1, but that was almost too easy.
Suspiciously so.
Now I know I've done nothing but be suspicious since we got here but can I be blamed here?
This is the man in black we're talking about. The same guy who burned down the Kasch Village, kidnapped mercenaries and Guardians, and is basically plotting to unleash an apocalypse.
So sue me if I'm being a little paranoid.
But as we moved even deeper into the caves, I couldn't help but notice a dark feeling welling up inside me.
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"Ugh... I know they're mind-controlled or whatever but it's getting really tiring being called a SEED. Do I look like a SEED to you?"
Emilia grumbled as we set down three more knocked out mercenaries, bringing the total rescued people to about 20.
I can maybe understand why Emilia's complaining so much. We've gotten by well enough due to our number advantage but fatigue is starting to kick in.
And not to mention the occasional monster or SEED attack.
"No, you're worse."
"Hardy-har-har, Red."
My troublesome partner glared at Red as the shortie chuckled, looking a bit winded as well but seemingly still having enough energy to make fun of Emilia.
Seeing as her glaring wasn't accomplishing anything, Emilia sighed, weariness apparent in her.
"Nothing we say gets through them. That must be some really powerful mind-control..."
"Apparently so. But why? Synthetics would be better for keeping intruders out."
Exactly what I was thinking about. Looks like Lumia is on the same wavelength as me on this one.
It all makes no sense.
"Hey, what's the tribesboy doing over there?"
"Huh? Yut? You alright?"
Emilia called out to the narrow-eyed Kasch, who was closely observing thin air.
Is this another one of his mystical abilities at use?
"I feel... something. Something close. Like a stench on the wind..."
Stench?
Before any of us could ask what he meant, he pointed to a path leading deeper into the caves.
"It's coming from inside. Is it... Is it the Land-Mother?"
The Land-Mother? The Codex?
If the Codex is apparently here, then...
"Feel? Stench? Land-Mother? Can somebody explain to me what this guy's been saying?"
Red suddenly called out and asked, looking slightly irritated for not being in the loop about Yut's abilities.
She didn't get an answer, though, as two wounded Guardians suddenly came running out of the passageway, drenched in cold sweat and blood.
Lumia went into full alert.
"Over there! Guardians!"
"There's no way! We can't beat that thing!"
One of the running Guardians exclaimed as they passed us and hid behind a boulder, not even acknowledging our presence.
Thing? What thing? What were they running from?
"Wha... I don't see a thing... What were they talking about?"
"It's right there!"
Yut pointed to the passageway, but there was nothing there.
"What exactly? There's nothing... wait."
I narrowed my eyes at the spot he pointed to, spotting a small distortion in the air.
Which suddenly grew into massive proportions, easily covering the passageway.
The ground started rumbling periodically, as if something big and heavy was approaching us.
"Um... What's happening?"
"Something's coming. Eyes alert. Stay sharp."
Lumia answered, summoning her rod.
And as if to confirm her suspicion, a large, gray foot emerged from the distortion and slammed into the ground, causing tremors to rock the cave.
I summoned my saber and shield, feeling a drop of cold sweat run down the side of my face.
Within a few seconds, the creature was fully out of the distorted space.
With a massive roar, the creature sent shockwaves that threatened to throw us off our feet if we weren't careful.
Lumia let out a sharp gasp upon laying eyes on the new arrival.
"Seed-Argine?!"
Seed-Argine was a giant Seed-Form that looked like an armored man with two big axes attached to its arms instead of hands.
Presumably for butchering it's targets, which was a nice mental image, thank you very much.
What made it truly Seed-like however, was that its lower body was completely different from what you'd expect of a humanoid monster.
Attached to its torso was what looked like a four-legged creature, complete with its own mouth, filled with numerous razor-sharp teeth.
Yeah, this is shaping up to be the highlight of such a terrific day.
"Did that appear out of thin air? Okay. Now I know I'm dreaming."
"This ain't a dream, boltie. You better wake up."
"It was a figure of- oh, never mind. This is more of a nightmare, really."
Ha, you wish.
It'd certainly make things easier if this was a dream. But I suppose this was payment due for the pushover that was Seed-Vance, relatively speaking.
Why couldn't that damned thing have been more of a challenge to balance things out?
Maybe I really should have not been too suspicious of things going well. For all I know, I could have jinxed this whole damn freak show.
"No time to play the guessing game. Here it comes!"
We all got out of the way quickly to avoid the monsters' charge, staying clear of those ax-arms taking top priority.
Red was the first to recover, leaping towards the giant Seed-Form with an overhead slash.
Seed-Argine blocked the attack with an ax, displaying impressive speed for such a big creature.
Red twisted in mid-air to strike with the other end of her double saber, which was parried by the other arm.
"[Zonde]!"
Red moved out of the way as the lightning bolts struck the monster, doing minimal, unnoticeable damage.
It ignored Emilia completely, instead charging towards the nearest targets.
Me and Yut.
I used my shield to block the sweeping slash, while Yut leapt up, getting in position to attack.
The force of the blow pushed me away a considerable distance, the strain almost too much to take.
Yut thrust with his spear, hitting Seed-Argine directly in the face, stunning it but not piercing its skin.
He got out of the way as a Grants, courtesy of Lumia hit the behemoth on the back. It didn't like it.
I switched to my rifle and fired at the beast to get it to switch targets, but it pushed through, intent on taking its revenge on Lumia.
Damn it, she can't outrun that thing!
I switched to my twin sabers and ran towards the lumbering beast, who swatted away attempts to attack it from Yut and Red.
"[Rabarta]!"
Emilia's tech blasted the Seed-Form with ice, slowing it for a single moment but ultimately not stopping it.
Lumia took a sharp turn at a wall, which the beast wasn't able to replicate, its momentum sending it crashing into said wall.
It didn't slow it down for long, but it allowed me to catch up.
I leapt up and brought my twin sabers down on the thing's back, drawing blood, finally, but also catching its attention.
Seed-Argine braked and spun slightly to allow itself to swing at me.
I switched to shield as fast as I could, the heavy hit throwing me towards the wall.
"Gah!"
"K-Kara!"
"[Damgrants]!"
Lumia fired off the beam of light at the giant, the force of the tech making it halt its attempted charge.
It was obviously a gargantuan task, the Guardian gritting her teeth as beads of swear started forming on her forehead.
Yut came charging in, ducking below a swing from the beast's free arm.
He thrust his spear into its side, eliciting a pained roar.
Red was next, dropping down to land on the beast's back, unleashing a barrage of slashes as it was busy fending off Yut's assault and Lumia's Damgrants.
"Hey, Kara, you okay?"
"Yeah."
I replied as I inspected my shield, obviously not holding up well because of the two heavy hits it endured. One more and it's probably gonna break.
"Go, I can manage."
"A-alright then."
It was at that moment that Seed-Argine finally had enough, unleashing a powerful roar that blew away Yut and Red and stopping Lumia's tech.
The beast rounded down towards Yut, looking absolutely enraged.
Yut gripped his spear tighter and charged the giant, opting for a forehand slash.
Which Seed-Argine countered with a backslash of its ax-arm, batting Yut away and into the ground. Not done, It began its charge towards the recovering Yut, all signs pointing to trampletown.
"Hey, get away from him! [Rafoie]!"
The explosion blasted the charging Seed-Form but did not deter it in the absolute slightest.
Emilia kept firing off Rafoie's, none of them doing a damned thing.
"[Tornado Dance]!"
The Rednado made it's second appearance today, slamming into Seed-Argine, finally bringing it off-course.
It retaliated with a swing, which Red evaded in mid-air, bringing down a slash on the giant's increasingly agitated face before dropping down.
Red got off another slash, dodging yet another swing by leaping up.
Her luck didn't last.
Seed-Argine reared up with its hind legs and kicked with its forelegs, something Red didn't foresee.
She was able to block with her double saber, but the force blasted her away into the far wall.
"Grrr, I've had it! [Razonde]! Maximum power!"
A glorious spear of lighting blasted the beast, actually stunning it in place as it was electrocuted.
Damn it, we need something with a bit more oomph.
Red's taking a long time to get up, so she's out. Yut seemed to be okay and Lumia's taking a little breather.
I think I got it.
"Hey, Lumia! You okay over there?"
"I'm fine! Just a little drained, but I'm good to go."
"Yut, what about you?"
"I can still fight!"
I called out to the two, an idea forming in my head. None of our attacks were dealing any significant damage. Even Emilia's current assault isn't managing to finish off the Seed-Form.
And I doubt any of my weapons can do a thing without risking a serious injury.
So what if we use two of our party's strongest available options, at the same time?
"I need you to charge your mirage blasts as much as you can. The rest of us will distract it. Fire on my signal. We're going for overkill."
"Alright!"
"Understood. Leave it to me."
And they both got on their casting stances, photon energy swirling around them.
"Hah... Hah... Had enough?"
Seed-Argine roared in response.
"Emilia, fall back for now. You're burnt out."
"I'm not...! Err, actually, yeah, I am. What are you going to do?"
"Something stupid, probably."
Red dropped down beside me, looking quite battered but still in fighting shape.
"Red. Good timing. We need to let those two charge up."
"Sheesh, why couldn't we have started with that?"
Red took the lead, running straight towards the Seed-Form.
I summoned my saber and machine-gun, firing off a round at the giant who decided to counter our charge with its own.
I ran in a circle around it, not giving it a straight line towards me.
Red jumped up high to dodge a low swing, slashing at the face before quickly retreating. It roared and prepared to chase Red.
Which allowed me to get in close and slash at its legs.
It got even more enraged, roaring loudly, the shockwave planting us in place, which was... not good.
I barely managed to dodge a retaliatory slash, the wind pressure blowing me away.
Seed-Argine then spun, blocking a sneak attack from red. It raised it's other arm to counter.
Red pushed off from the clash, avoiding a deadly return strike.
"[Rabarta]!"
And was blasted by an explosion of ice, immobilizing it temporarily.
This is it! An opening!
"Lumia, fire now!"
"Got it! [Clod Impact]!"
Lumia went first, bringing her rod down as if it was a hammer.
In perfect sync, the Earth beast, Toitoi, fell from above, slamming down on the partially frozen Seed-Form.
"Yut!"
"[Flaming Roar]!"
Next up was Yut, summoning the fire beast, Nui.
In short order, a wave of flame engulfed the immobilized Seed-Form, resulting in a fiery explosion.
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"Hah... Enough already..."
Emilia panted out as she fell down on the ground, her rod clanging off the hard rock before disappearing.
I could share her sentiments, for once. That was very much not pleasant.
Thankfully, the collosal Seed-Form lay immobile, already fading into nothing, as per frickin' usual.
"Haha... what'd I say? Easy..."
Red laughed as she completely fell down on her back, looking absolutely bedrazzled.
"I think we've seen the last of it but we mustn't let our guard down. If that thing can appear out of nowhere then we're never truly safe!"
"Geez, chill, robo-cop. Lemme just take a breather..."
The redhead was ignored, Lumia moving over to the Guardians who came running earlier. They somehow managed to knock themselves out one way or another. Must be a side effect of the mind-control deactivating.
That's less work, which I'll gladly take. I really don't wanna go through that again.
It's a relief two consecutive mirage blasts were able to take it down. It seemed like it was ready to tank anything we throw at it.
We might be getting a little overreliant on mirage blasts bailing us out of tough situations but we really had no other options at the time. The area was just big open space.
Which makes me wonder if this really was a trap, like I was suspicious of.
"It's a relief Emilia cast that Rabarta when she did. Me and Red weren't faring very well."
"H-huh? Me?"
Emilia sputtered out in surprise, obviously not expecting that.
It was true though, that Rabarta gave us that opportunity to blast it with the big guns.
"Speak for yourself, beastboy. I was doing alright. But yeah, that was some good thinking, boltie."
"I agree. Were it not for that momentary intervention, I doubt that we would have gotten both attacks to connect."
"U-um, I don't... I mean, that is to say! Yeah! I'm the MVP of this battle! Err, right?"
She boasted, looking very proud of herself before getting confused.
Really, this girl.
"Yep. Couldn't have done it without you."
"Ehehe, thanks..."
Emilia turned away as soon as she heard what I said.
What? What's wrong with what I said?
To my surprise, Red just laughed. Even Lumia had a smile on her face.
I don't get it.
"...!"
Yut all the sudden perked up, looking around frantically.
Come to think of it, he's been quiet since we beat Seed-Argine. What is it now?
"Yut, what's wrong? You in a hurry to leave or something?"
Emilia asked, a little concern in her voice.
"I... I feel it! I know I do! The Land-Mother is that way!"
Yut didn't give us a chance to ask any more questions, running off into the same passageway the two injured Guardians came from.
Did he say the Land-Mother, though? The Codex?
Oh... hell.
"Yut, wait! Come back here!"
"He can't hear us! I'm going after him!"
"Kara?! Hey!"
I started giving chase immediately. If who I'm thinking of is here, then Yut is not gonna be safe on his own.
To be fair, I started moving before I started thinking. What am I hoping to accomplish?
Stop Yut, sure. But the kid is running like we haven't just been in a slugfest with a tank.
So make sure he doesn't fight the genocidal Ancient on his own. But beyond that?
I know I improved over the past month, All of us did. But there's still this feeling of dread welling up within me.
Before I was able to collect my thoughts further, the cold, frigid air blasted me out of my thoughts as I exited the cave.
It was a little hard to see at first because of all the snow but after a while, my vision cleared.
And standing right there, in front of a spear-wielding Yut...
Was the man in black.
No rest for the wicked, huh?
I wasted no time.
I brought out my saber and ran towards the man, who wasn't having any problems with the cold despite the bare-chested outfit.
With a grunt of effort, I swung with a backhand slash while I was still unnoticed.
My blade stopped in mid-air, as if something invisible collided with it.
The man in black turned his face towards me, and I immediately felt my blood run cold.
I leapt away as fast as I could, feeling like I just escaped with my life. He didn't seem to have any plans of giving chase.
"You again? You seem bent on dogging my heels. Have you learnt nothing from before?"
"It was you. The missing people, the raid... You were behind all of it!"
"Hmph. I'll ask again. So what if I was? I've no time to discuss such trivialities with you."
Well, at least he's not denying it.
I forced myself to grin. I'm not letting him have the satisfaction of seeing my fear.
"You! You give it back! The Land-Mother belongs to the Kasch!"
The man in black's face shifted ever so slightly, as if confused, before scoffing.
"The Land-Mother? Ah, you must mean the Codex. Foolishness."
"What did you say?!"
Easy there, tiger.
I took a look at the tribesboy's face, no I dared to look away from the man in black.
Yut was furious, his grip on his spear turning his knuckles red.
"The Codex was always ours. You presume to claim it as your own? You, with your weak, mortal flesh?"
Again with the flesh thing. I get why he'd feel so superior, what with being an Ancient and all, but it was just making me cringe.
Never thought I'd call an ancient being bent on the apocalypse cringy.
Apparently, that set Yut off, running into action with full intent on stabbing the emo Ancient.
Well, here we go.
Yut thrust forward, and in the blink of an eye, the man in black was gone.
Before he could even start getting confused, he was kicked away with the same amount of force I could remember from the Kasch village.
Great.
I summoned a machine gun on my other hand and started firing rapidly.
To my surprise, or maybe not, the man in not-white clothing moved with such speed and fluidity to avoid each and every one of my bullets, looking sickeningly smug as he did so.
Okay, guns weren't working.
I ran forward and tried another saber attack, and this time, there were no invisible walls.
But I still missed.
I swung again. And again. And again.
Miss. Miss. Miss.
Before I could attack again, the person in dark attire leapt up, avoiding a slash from Yut.
And I felt a tremendous impact on my arm, which I managed to raise up to guard completely on instinct.
I was still sent flying.
"Oh?"
I heard a little surprise on the man's voice as I rolled uncontrollably on the snow. I'll take that as the smallest of victories.
Yut let out a battle cry before thrusting his spear at our opponent.
He caught the spear at the blade with his bare hand, and lifted Yut off the ground.
"Begone, insect."
And he slammed him hard on the ground, allowing him a second to cry out in pain, before kicking him towards the mountain wall.
Yut didn't get up.
At least he didn't kill him. Another small win.
I picked myself, with a great deal of effort, and summoned my twin sabers. If all else is failing, I'm going for an all-out offensive.
The man in black grinned a predator's grin, but instead of attacking me, jumped away before an orange blur sliced his previous position.
The attacker, who I've identified as Red immediately went for the place the man in black appeared to a split second later.
Red unleashed a three-slash combo, missing but, as far as I could see, actually grazing the dude in dim threads.
He leapt away, and Red followed, keeping up her assault, before he seemingly got fed up, landing a powerful kick which Red was able to block with her weapon.
Red slid to a stop next to me, panting.
"Hey, how's it going, man?"
"Just peachy."
"Cool. So this is our culprit?"
I nodded in response.
The man in black had an eyebrow raised. He didn't look particularly worried that Red was able to match him for a while there. If anything, he looked intrigued.
"That was unexpected. Looks like you lot aren't as completely helpless as I thought."
He let out a deep, unfriendly chuckle, before holding his arms out.
In a bright flash, two intricately designed sabers, red and black in color, appeared on each of his hands. They looked more like decorational pieces than actual weaponry.
"Fine. I'll indulge you for a while."
Red let out a sharp breath, before leaping into the fray, double saber at the ready.
I picked up on her trail, with a bit of surprise that I was able to keep up.
Red spun her weapon before swinging with a backhand slash. The man in black parried with one of his sabers.
I slid to his side before attempting an upward swing, which was parried by his other saber.
I swung with my other saber while Red pivoted to strike with her weapon's other end.
The man in black disappeared, but I caught a faint movement in the corner of my eye.
I leapt up to avoid a stabbing strike, surprising him, Red, and myself.
I let gravity power my next attack, bringing down both sabers, only to be blocked by a spinning parry.
The man in black pushed me off to avoid a double attack from Red, leaping away only to return for another assault.
It went on for a few more times, my disbelief growing with every second that passed.
How the heck am I keeping up? A moment ago, I couldn't even track his movements.
Well, if it's letting me stand the tiniest of chances, then I'll gladly take it.
I kicked off the ground to attempt another slash, and predictably missed, but it was closer than it was before.
I twisted my grip on the same saber and thrust forward to stab.
The man in black sidestepped to avoid the attack, and I felt pain in my stomach.
I must have been kicked, again, I realized, as I sailed through the air and into the snow.
The man in black reappeared in front of me, one saber already making its way towards me.
Which was parried by Red.
She was swiftly kicked away and right onto me, feeling our bodies collide as we crashed onto the frigid ground.
"Commendable. But not enough."
Before we could get ourselves out of the snow, the man in black moved, faster than we've ever seen him before.
This must have been a field day for my body moving on its own.
I summoned and raised my battered shield and got in front of Red, who I've noticed was the target of the man in black's attack.
Next thing I know, my shield shattered into numerous pieces, Emilia emerging from the cave with a growing horrified expression on her face...
And a whole lotta red.
ooo000ooo
V
ooo000ooo
I couldn't really point out when this day officially went from bad to worse.
Was it when the SEED suddenly reappeared after three years?
When me and Red fell down that cave? When a massive Seed-Form appeared out of nowhere? When the man in black is hanging around in Mt. Elbars for reasons I don't know?
Or how about when my trusty shield died and my chest got cut open?
"What did you do?! You utter and complete idiot!"
I heard Red shout out, as well as footsteps coming near me. Excuse me, I couldn't hear very well, what with all this snow around my body.
And you know, bleeding out and all.
"Hmph. As I've said. Mortal. Weak. That is the consequence of your continued defiance."
"I'll show you mortal!"
I could hear the man in black laugh. There seemed to be a hint of amusement in his voice, much to Red's irritation.
Well, whatever. I'll just hang around here, don't mind me.
That seemed like a good plan, until something blocked my view of the sun.
"H-hey, outta the way... Oh, 'sup, 'Lia."
"What do you mean "'sup"?! Just... just hang on, okay? [Resta]!"
I felt the healing energy enter my system, accelerating my body's regeneration and slowly but surely closing the wound.
"Ooh, that feels nice... I might actually survive at this rate."
"Shut up! Just shut up! I don't want another word!"
Party pooper.
"Consider this a warning. Interfere again, and you will not even get the glory of being the hosts of the reborn Ancients!"
"I know those words. You speak with the voice of a mortal, yet you have the tone of an Ancient."
A bright golden light emerged from behind Emilia, and I could catch a glimpse of our own Ancient.
"Hm? So you choose to show yourself, traitor."
"Traitor? Our civilization has already ended. This time, these worlds... The labor of these people has made them what they are now. No one has the right to take that from them."
The man in black laughed, yet again. This time, it was an uproarious laugh, finding what Mika said to be genuinely funny.
As the Resta's energies continued to fix my body, I could see Red still on guard, looking absolutely baffled.
"Who... who is he speaking to? What the hell is going on?"
The redhead asked out loud, getting a little freaked out by what was currently transpiring.
I couldn't blame her. Without the ability to see or hear Mika, the man in black must look a little coocoo at the moment.
I love small victories.
"An age built on the foundations we laid for them! All this, all they've made! We are the true architects of their prosperity! The fruits of their labors are ours for the taking! When the glory of our age returns, all this will be swept away. Like the consciousness of this feeble body."
Ignoring the incredibly entitled speech the guy just said, something else caught my attention.
The consciousness of the body?
So Mika wasn't kidding when she said we'd get wiped out if this guy gets what he wants. Not that I doubted her but, to actually hear it from the source is really something.
"Then you leave me no choice. I will stop you by force, if I must!"
"A funny notion, that. You would stand against me, the ruler of our race? The body in which you dwell and those who surround it are weak."
I didn't hear any response from Mika after that.
Hey, at least defend us from being called weak. Don't mind the fact that we just got our asses handed to us spectacularly.
I need my small victories.
"Consider well. The revival of our race is the destiny of Gurhal. Her chosen destiny. But don't worry. We will meet again soon. Although by then, it will already be too late!"
The man in black laughed once more, before suddenly disappearing without a trace, leaving Mika staring towards where he was a few seconds ago.
Silence permeated through the air, besides the sounds caused by Emilia's constant Resta, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
At the same time, I felt I had recovered enough energy, so I did the most reasonable thing I could think of.
I abruptly sat up.
"Hup! Ooh, ow, shouldn't have done that... Hey, is the world spinning?"
And I felt the snow on the back of my head once more. My wound might not be fatal anymore, but everything still hurts and I'm still a bit lightheaded from the blood loss.
But I managed to startle Emilia out of her concentration, so there's that.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Stopping you from pushing yourself too much. You look like you're about to pass out."
"Why exactly do you think I'm pushing myself?! If you weren't so... so...! Graahh!"
"Hey, ow! Don't hit the dying man!"
Is this girl trying to heal me or kill me?!
But despite my attempt to lift the dark cloud hanging over everyone, I still had a question I need answered.
I turned my head towards Mika.
"What was he doing here?"
"... I do not know. But whatever the reason, it's somehow connected to everything that's happened."
The benevolent Ancient answered after a short pause.
So even Mika doesn't know why the man in black was in Mt. Elbars, huh? Damn it.
"But don't we already know he's been behind it? I just wish we knew what "it" was."
Emilia chose that moment to supply some additional information.
She was right, though. We've had plenty of evidence to prove to ourselves the man's involvement in all these incidents.
But despite this encounter, we're still not any closer to proving any of this to everyone else than when we started.
How annoying.
"Alright, that's it. Has everyone here gone insane? Is there some secret part of the conversation I'm missing?!"
Red angrily demanded, snapping us out of our impromptu meeting.
I'm sure she tried to be intimidating or something when she interrupted us, arms crossed and all...
But she just looked adorable, honestly.
"I know what you're thinking, deadbrain. Want me to finish you off? I'm still pissed off at your little stunt earlier, just so you know."
Joking aside, we're surely going to have to let Red know everything now. We can't weasel our way out of this one.
"We'll tell you everything when we got back. It's a long one."
"Hey, Kara, are you sure about that? Cause I'm not. What if she doesn't believe us?"
"I'm sure. Red's already as involved in this as you and me. Are you okay with this, Mika?"
"If you think it will help our cause, then I see no problems with it."
"It's decided then. Once we're back in Clad 6, we'll explain everything. I mean it."
Red looked at us critically for a solid five seconds, before uncrossing her arms with a sigh.
"Fine. I'll hold you to that."
Hoo boy, that's gonna be a doozy later.
Just as Red finished her sentence, a dejected Yut came shambling over towards us. The kid looked absolutely miserable.
"Yut? You okay? Are you hurt?
"... He beat me. I never had a chance."
Relatable.
"Oh. Don't let it bother you too much, Yut. He's just too strong."
"I know. I need to face death. Then I'll be strong... Like my brother! Then I can beat him!"
"And beating him will solve all our problems. But that's easier said than done. He beat all three of you, and I doubt I would have made much of a difference. We need to find a way to take him down!"
"Heh. Piece of cake."
"Could you look at yourself first before saying that, Kara? If you weren't such a bonehead, I'd wish I had your confidence!"
Call me a bonehead again, you troublesome girl.
Wait, right now, the one who's causing trouble for the other is actually me.
Well, nevermind the small details.
I was about to retort with something when Emilia suddenly hung her head down, looking so defeated.
"I... I can't keep relying on you for everything, you know? Look what happened."
Before I could give an answer, my words died in my throat.
What exactly do I say?
If I tell her she can keep relying on me, wouldn't that be irresponsible of me, as someone who was supposed to be teaching her about responsibility and accountability?
And if I agree with her, wouldn't that just be kicking her while she's down?
I can't win here. Thankfully, I didn't have to.
"Do your abilities really warrant such pessimism?"
Someone said from behind us, and I could immediately tell who it was.
Emilia stood up and placed her hands on her hips, giving Lumia a solid glare.
"What exactly are you getting at?"
"To put it simply, it's time you showed some more self-confidence! On the one hand, you can see through an elaborate holograph. On the other, you complain that you're helpless!"
"What are you getting mad at me for? If you're trying to give me a compliment, you could use a little work."
"Let me finish!"
Lumia actually rose her voice for just an instant, her cool and collected mask gradually crumbling into dust the longer she spends time with us.
She picked herself up quite fast after that, returning to a stoic stature but looking a little...
Embarrassed?
"The fact is, I couldn't have found the people we were looking for on my own. So... I wanted to thank you. There, is that better?"
Emilia blinked a few times, her arms going slack as she tried to process what she just heard.
See, she's capable of showing gratitude. Just like back in Neudaiz. Even though that one was more of an indirect thank you.
This was a bit more face to face.
Emilia let out an exasperated sigh.
"You just don't know when to shut up, do you?
"And you do? My, look at the time. Let's get your friend treated."
Yes, please.