THE REBORN PLANET - 2
Morning came in what felt like seconds. He could still hear the sound of his servant snoring as she lay there on him. It had been a long time. He almost forgot how difficult it was to share a bed with her. She constantly rolled and couldn't stay in one place for long... Nonetheless, he didn't complain...
Rather he gave her a soft kiss on the forehead as he tried to get out of bed. However, when he tried to stand his legs buckled under him and he fell to the floor.
"Grk!?" He winced.
"Huh?" The noise had awakened Nero.
She turned to see her master, and almost flew into a panic
"Maestro! Are you alright!?" She asked as she frantically got him back on the bed.
"Yeah…Yeah, didn't realize I was still so weak…" he replied…
His right cheek was slightly bruised, he was fine but he had to refrain from any further attempts at walking until they were absolutely certain that he had fully recovered.
"Don't push yourself my king, let me be your legs" she told him
"Well…" Hakuno paused, he didn't want to offend her but…
"What, don't tell me you're embarrassed… I've carried you around before last night, and well… Depending on the night you get pretty…"
"Ah, that's enough! Someone's outside the door!" Hakuno pleaded.
Nero turned to the sounds of footsteps coming gradually closer, it was strange to her, no one was allowed up here other then of course Hakuno and for security purposes Nameless. But these footsteps were much heavier then any of her people.
"Who is it?" Hakuno asked.
"I don't know, stay here maestro" she said seriously as she went to answer the door.
Upon opening it, she saw the tall and muscular king of conquerors. He held his usual smile and confident stance.
"Ah, good morning to you emperor of New Rome, I've came to remind you about the meeting we were supposed to have….Your nearly late" he told her.
Her expression went from serious to annoyed in almost an instant…
"I wouldn't be late for my own meeting, oh king of conquerors, I'll be down there momentarily, as of now I'm tending to the king" she said back.
The king of conquerors went silent briefly, before laughing out loud.
"Ah I see! I see! Well, keep up the good work emperor, I'll meet you down in the throne room" he said as he turned away and waved.
Once he was gone Nero let out an audible sigh. People say the two of them are quite alike, though perhaps that's why she found herself somewhat disliking him…
"Should we go? That sounded urgent" Hakuno asked.
As much as she'd like to stay here with him, this was something she couldn't ignore.
"I have to deal with this, it's like I told you yesterday, a lots happened since you've been asleep, this world has many dangers… If you don't mind me asking, maestro just what did you wish for?" She asked him curiously.
She didn't know?
"I thought I told you, saber" he said.
"Hm? No, or if you did I can't remember now…" She told him.
His wish, what he wanted from the mooncell…
"The world, from before…" he replied.
"The world… from before? You mean before the mooncell was discovered?" Nero asked.
"Yeah, before everything fell apart," he answered.
In complete honesty, he himself couldn't entirely remember what he'd asked of the mooncell core either, but that was most certainly part of it…
Nero said nothing for a moment, as she felt there was something she couldn't quite remember either, something important…
Nonetheless, she had a better idea as to where they were now, or at the very least what kind of world the mooncell had created.
"Maestro! If you wanted to know about the old world you could've asked me all about it! I lived there my whole life!" She told him.
He supposed she was right but, there was a difference between being told and actually being there. He didn't actually have a body back on earth, he was created within the mooncell similar to an npc. Even if the earth was restored he couldnt go there. So he really only had one option…
Nero was about to say something else, however, she'd already spent more time here then she'd planned. The others were probably all wondering what she was doing at the moment.
"I'll be back soon maestro, we can continue this then alright, try to rest up some more" she told him as she turned to leave.
"Hold on"
Nero turned towards the sudden new voice in the room, it was Nameless who'd seemingly just arrived.
"You announced yesterday that he was the true king did you not? Wouldn't it look strange if he wasn't present for this meeting? It would also be a good way to catch him up on the situation" Nameless said.
"Yes, it would, but he's in no condition to me moving around right now, I'll fill him in after, my maesteo needs his rest" she said back.
Nameless let out a sigh…
"I think he'll be alright personally, sure he might not be able to move much right now but he seems alert… either way it's up to you emperor, but I think this would be the best way to keep him informed, and perhaps…" he paused, after hearing someone scream.
"What was that?" Hakuno asked.
"I handle it. I'll join the meeting once I deal with whatever's going on down there", Nameless replied as he went into spirit form and took off.
Nero looked extremely conflicted, but after a heavy sigh asked.
"Would you like to join me, my king?"
"Yeah, let's get to that meeting," Hakuno replied.
Within the throne room three servants stood, awaiting the emperors arrival.
"What's taking so long, I wonder?" Li Shuwen asked.
"Oh it's quite alright, I checked in, she's looking after the king right now, he has some kind of illness I assume?" the king of conquerors said
"I mean the guy slept for an entire year so yeah I don't think I'd be moving much for awhile after that either, he'll be good to go soon enough" Cu said back.
"I understand, it must be hard on the emperor, she did call him her love after all" the king of conquerors commented.
"I could only imagine, however, it would seem that both the king and emperor would be joining us this day" Li Shuwen said aloud as he watched Nero walk to her throne with Hakuno in her arms.
They all bowed to her.
"Oh its quite alright, especially you king Iskandar" Nero told them.
They all rose back to their feet.
"It is all out of respect for your kingdom emperor Nero Claudius" Iskandar said.
She let out a brief chuckle.
"I appreciate it, now anyways we have a situation to discuss, I'm pretty sure Nameless should have filled you in, right?" She asked.
"Yes, he had, you encountered a dark figure in the northwestern woods" Iskandar replied.
Nero told him the entire story from start to finish, Iskandar held a grave expression.
"Yeah that sounds about right, we encountered two of those creatures… From our experience they are extremely powerful and should not be underestimated, even I struggle to face them alone" he said.
"I see, knowing your strength that's a huge concern, where were they when you encountered them?" Nero asked seriously.
"They were spotted just a few miles from our city, hiding in the forests. We had went there originally to find out what was happening to our gatherers and well we certainly found out… The creatures were targeting them almost on sight, they killed several before we intervened and just the two of them nearly killed one of my men, he's still struggling with the injury he sustained, so much so that he can no longer fight, or move…" Iskandar explained.
"And all of that was done by a single scratch?" Nero asked.
"Yes, one large mark across the stomach," he replied.
Dark figures or well, creatures? To Hakuno these sounded like attack programs of some sort, similar to what he and Nero fought in the holy grail war… But this lingering effect…
"Could it be some kind of poison?" Hakuno asked him.
"No, actually thats what we thought too until we seen how it progressed, large black splotches all over him, like the mooncell itself was struggling to keep him here, each passing day more of him goes missing" Iskandar replied.
That sounded familiar, to a certain assassin class servant they encountered in the holy grail war. Hakuno turned to Nero and got up close to her ear.
"It sounds like he's corrupting, remember the Li Shuwen we fought?" Hakuno whispered.
She nodded.
"Yeah, your right" she whispered back.
She wasn't entirely sure how Iskandar would react but either way, either that man was going to suffer terribly until he died, or go mad and start attacking whatever and whoever he could find.
"I see, that sounds familiar, me and the king encountered something similar during the holy grail war, an assassin class servant who was experimented on by his master underwent similar changes and went mad, attacking anything that moved, the circumstances are different here but your solider sounds like he's showing similar symptoms, I'm sorry King of conquerors" she told him.
"So he's corrupting then? That's strange, how would these things be capable of corrupting a servant?" Cu said aloud.
That was a good question, perhaps it could be some kind of virus…
No that couldn't be it, a virus has to be distributed by another user.
It was possible, but the chances of someone hacking into the mooncell and doing something like this was slim to none…
Iskandar looked slightly frustrated, though evntually gave an accepting gaze.
"I see how it is, yes, it does appear to be what you say" he finally said.
"I imagine there's no cure for something like this," Li Shuwen asked.
"As far as were aware, no, once you start to corrupt, there's no turning back," Nero replied.
"We're in a predicament, that's for certain" Cu commented.
A predicament indeed thankfully we have farmers inside that can handle most food production, not all however Nero thought to herself.
"Iskandar, in my opinion, until we have a better understanding as to how we're going to handle these new creatures. I think it would be best if you tried to avoid sending anymore people outside your walls… It's risky, and if too many people get corrupted, it could cause issues for everyone" Nero suggested.
"That's impossible. Our lands aren't great for farming, and the trees we gather our fruit from would take decades to grow. The mooncell's growth rate here with life is close to how it was on Earth, and the only other source of food we have is meat, which we have to send people out to hunt." Li Shuwen argued.
He was right, it'd be extremely difficult to make that kind of arrangement work, but the current situation called for it. New Rome could also help them in that area, though it would surely be taxing on her own people. Nero knew this well, she may have to reconsider New Camelot's proposal, but what if the same thing happened over there?
"As it seems, we have a lot to think about, I think this calls for another meeting, however, as long as we don't begin to starve ourselves, we'll try to supply your people with food for the time being, focus on trying to get some sort of food production going within your walls in the meantime, if you need some of our wheat or seeds to get you started we'll supply you with enough. Is that all clear?" Nero proposed.
"Yes, it is, and I think that's some very good compromising, we'll accept both the wheat and seeds, thank you for you most generous offer" Iskandar said.
Li Shuwen made no comments, though he appeared to be content.
"Alright, it would seem that the matter is settled, I would advise we all keep our walls heavily guarded, at least until we can figure out a way to strike back against these… Things" Nero said.
It would seem that the meeting was nearing its conclusion, there was alot that Hakuno wanted to ask, however that would have to wait as he heard the voice of Nameless in his mind. It startled him at first, he wasn't used to telepathic communication anymore…
"Master, we have an issue outside the eastern walls" Nameless said.
"What is it? Is it one of those things?" Hakuno asked.
"Ah, I suppose they filled you in, but yes, or rather there's a man outside causing a ruckus, I've sent the guards away as none of their weapons can affect him, he seems to be a servant of sorts, or something on par with one" Nameless replied.
"Saber! There's trouble outside!" Hakuno quickly said to her.
"I thought I sensed something" Cu said aloud as he readied his spear.
"I had the same feeling, where maestro?" Nero asked.
Hakuno explained the situation as everyone rushed out of the castle.
Cu Chulainn ran ahead, spear in hand.
"Time to see what these guys are all about!" He yelled.
On the eastern walls, Nameless stood with his bow aimed straight for the man's head. He had already tried to reason with him to no avail. Nameless fired several arrows at him, the man dodged five and deflected the last two before launching himself to the top of the wall, leaving a crater in the ground.
He lunged forward almost right as his feet hit the floor taking a wide swing for Namelesses neck. Nameless could hardly avoid it, feeling a sharp pain along the left side of his face.
He fired several more arrows and lept back a few meters.
"Trace on"
Both Kanshou and Bakuya formed in each hand as his bow turned to blue dust. He got into a defensive stance and readied himself for the mans next move…
He looked to be someone of high rank in the King of Conquerors army, a general it seemed.
The general held two large swords and had some heavily padded armor, his head being the only thing uncovered, topped off with a large red cape just like the King of Conquerors himself, the only difference being that his body was covered in large black splotches, that seemed to get progressively larger as time went on…
The general let out a loud scream as he charged towards Nameless once more. Nameless stayed where he was, not moving an inch. Once the general was right on top of him he leaned low, rushed forward and caught the general under his right arm with the sharp edge of Bakuya before turning around and taking another swing at his back with Kanshou. However it was steel his blade met as the general caught Kanshou with little effort. Nameless released his sword and tried to back away but the general wasn't about to give him any room to breathe.
He lunged forward unleashing several flurries of blows in quick succession, which Nameless struggled to keep up with, both the generals speed and physical strength overpowered him. The general turned and bashed his foot into Namelessess stomach and slammed him straight into the ground, he spat up a few drops of blood and found himself unable to move briefly.
The general snarled as he raised his right hand sword.
Right as he was about to swing down upon Namelesses head, Nameless sent Kanshou into his right arm, and swung Bakuya across his left leg, knocking him off balance, Nameless then got up and finally made some distance between them.
The general fell to one knee, blood pouring from his wounds, he slowly turned his head towards Nameless, bearing his teeth. Nameless took this opportunity to fire another several arrows at him, all but one hit its mark, in the generals left hand was the seventh arrow that was heading right for his forehead. He got up, the other six arrows clearly not slowing him down. Nameless jumped, hoping to reach the nearest archer tower but felt something grab him by the leg, he summoned Bakuya and hacked at the generals arm as he was swung back into the ground, lifted and then thrown across the opposite side of the wall. Before Nameless could get up the general was right in front of him, barrelling towards him with both swords at the ready.
Then, coming up from the left, a red spear entered the generals side. He let out a loud roar as he swung towards his assailant. His sword only met air and he was suddenly slashed across the face, raining blood all over the brick floor.
"Sorry for the wait archer, I thought you had em there, don't worry though, I'll take care of him… Buddy"
Cu Chulainn got into an offensive stance and held an eager smile.
"You kind of remind me of another servant I know… Come on! Let's make this fun!" He said eagerly to the general.
The general let out an ear pounding roar and unleashed a flurry of blows upon his new enemy, Cu managed to parry them all before making two heavy jabs at the base of the generals swords, knocking both of his arms into the air. Cu then leaned in and sent gae bolg right through his stomach.
The general let out a loud scream as he kicked Cu away from him and jumped ten feet back, freeing himself of the deadly red spear…
His eyes followed its edge, it was clear to Nameless that he'd actually felt that one, so he must be resistant to anything below a level B noble phantasm.
"Come on, don't tell me thats all you got, at this rate archer could've handled ya" Cu said mockingly.
The general jumped up high, both swords raised and descended towards Cu.
So he thinks he can beat me with sheer power? Cu thought as he got into a defensive position.
The general let out another roar as he hit the ground, a loud crack rang out along the wall from the impact, causing dust and debris to fly all over. His swords didn't meet their target, or that's what it seemed at first. The general felt a sharp pain along his back side, quickly turned and counter-attacked, swiping Cu Chulainn across the chest. Cu made some distance and got ready for another swing.
That second hit had hardly done anything, only grazed him, but he hadn't managed to fully avoid the generals first attack either, which was much worse.
Right as he was about to charge back in, he noticed Nameless nodding towards the outside of the wall and was quite certain he knew what he was thinking. Cu got into a defensive position and waited for the generals next move. The general charged right for him, swords aiming for Cu's throat, while he was distracted, Nameless got into the nearest archer tower and aimed for the generals back.
Cu managed to dodge two of the generals mad swings as he swerved behind him, thrusting gae bolg through the back of his knee, knocking him off balance. Not even a second after, Nameless sent fourteen arrows through him, which thankfully was enough to send the large servant barrelling off the wall.
"I am the bone of my sword"
Nameless held a sword in his hand, the blade almost appeared to swirl up to the tip, he nocked it into the bow and pulled it back as far as it would go.
"Caladbolg!"
The moment he let go, the sword launched right at his target faster than the eye could comprehend, what followed was a massive explosion of blue and red flames, that swirled up into a huge fiery whirlpool.
Once it dissipated, Cu Chulainn jumped down off the wall, searching for the general. He was a servant after all, and clearly a corrupted one at that, he had doubts that would've killed him.
He found a huge tearing in the grass well beyond the blast zone, likely where the generals body had landed.
He'd escaped, that was clear enough…
"Damn it" he mumbled as he turned back and returned to the empire.
Nameless caught up with him as Cu Chulainn jumped back up on the wall.
"Did he escape? I still felt his presence" Nameless asked seriously.
"Yeah,yeah he got away," Cu replied, resting his spear across his shoulders.
"Hey! You guys!"
It was Iskandar who joined them on the wall.
"Where are the others? The king and empress were both with you" Cu asked with concern.
"Their alright, there was a situation down by the city square we had to handle first, they are safe I assure you" Iskandar replied.
Nameless looked off into the city, spotting the two of them… It looked like they were having some trouble.
"I'm going to take a look" Nameless said as he jumped off the wall.
After a brief silence, Cu finally asked.
"So, when were you going to tell us about the berserker?"
"Berserker? There's no berserker class in my army" Iskandar replied.
"That guy who just got his ass kicked fought like a berserker, was just as tough as one too" Cu said with a tinge of annoyance.
"My army is made up of warriors from my past life whom I commanded. There were lancer, saber, and archer class warriors. Someone who can't control their emotions is unsuited for battle" Iskandar said back.
"I get that part, actually…" Cu paused for a moment.
"What is it?" Iskandar asked him, noticing Cu eyes inspecting his cape…
"No,its nothing, I'll worry about that part later," he replied.
Shit… Cu thought to himself, that must've been the corrupted soldier he was talking about, or maybe someone who'd been watching him…
Nameless stood on a rooftop close to Nero's position. They had a man tied up against a post. He was hysterically angry, baring his teeth and clawing at the ropes. He too had the same dark splotches that the general had.
"To all of our proud citizens, head inside quickly! He might not be the only one acting like this!" Nero ordered.
All of the residents took off inside their homes by her order excluding the guards whom surrounded the man. Hakuno didn't know what course of action they should take, this guy wasn't a soldier, he likely never even left New Rome. He probably had a family too…
Nero let out a heavy sigh as she aimed her sword for the man's chest.
"I don't want to do it either, but his suffering won't end unless we do this" she said aloud.
They couldn't even afford to move him the way he was now, one wrong move and either of them could face the same fate.
With one quick thrust her sword pierced right through him, his body went limp and they watched as he disintegrated into black dust.
Nameless said nothing, he simply watched from above, ensuring that nothing else was coming their way.
That man was someone living here in New Rome and Nameless was certain that the guy he'd fought had never made it into the city. But that meant that someone else was, someone they knew next to nothing about as of now…
"All this, happening right under our nose" Nero said aloud.
"Emperor, I believe this calls for another meeting, as far as we are aware no one should've been able get past our walls without permission, either someones not doing their job or this was the fault of someone we invited in" Nameless said as he joined the two of them.
"Yeah, I agree with that, there's no way anyone could just walk in here unannounced," Hakuno said back.
A meeting would be fine but Nero didn't want to be stuck in the same room as a possible corrupted, Iskandar did say that one of his men had been inflicted.
"Hey, saber" Hakuno said
"Yes, maestro?"
"We should handle this somewhere away from the city, in a place with an easy escape route and no risk of casualties" Hakuno suggested.
Only issue was that he had no idea where a place like that would be…
"I would say we could always handle this outside the walls but just considering what just happened" Cu said as he met up with them.
One look at him was enough to tell what kind of fight he'd had on top of the walls. There was a bloody opening on the back of his left shoulder, as a servant, even large wounds like that could heal relatively quick, but it was still a serious injury nonetheless.
"Don't worry, that big bastard is out of commission for the time being" he said with a smirk.
"Whoa, just what happened up there?!" Nero asked seriously.
"It's a long story, let's save it until everyones together, I imagine the king of conquerors will be more than interested," Nameless replied.
It was then, a shadow loomed over them.
"Everyone! I surveyed the area outside the city walls, it seems that we're in the clear for now" Iskandar told them, riding his trusty steed.
"That's good, because I have a favor to ask" Nero said back.
"Of course, what is it?"
"Go get your chariot, were going to ride a ways away from here, Cu, you're staying, hold down the fort until our return, we shouldnt be long,'' Nero ordered.
"You sure? Isn't that a bad idea just considering what just happened?" Cu asked.
"Just do it for now, we'll be back shortly" she replied.
"Fine, fine, whatever you say emperor," Cu said enthusiastically.
Iskandar landed about two feet away from the group, summoning his chariot behind him.
"Alright, come along you three, just tell me where to go and we'll be there" he told them.
"Head east, towards the lake" Nero told him.
"The eastern lake? Fine, but what for?" Iskandar asked curiously.
Namelesses brow furrowed slightly as he peered off the side of the chariot.
"That man we fought on the walls was on par with a heroic spirit and the only other servant here who has access to anything close to that is you" he answered.
Nero gave him a surprised look, though perhaps she shouldn't have. What else could have left both him and the Irish hound in such a state…
"Was he now… I see your point, however I can guarantee that who attacked you today was no man of my army, the sick are still at home, we made sure of that before we left" Iskandar said assuringly.
"Thats a good point but, can't your soliders appear at your side at any time? I remember not long ago two appeared behind you during one of our ship races at the very lake were riding to" Nero asked with concern.
Iskandar let out an annoyed huff.
"I allowed them to, they wanted to stand by me and serve their duty as my guardians, I wouldnt deny any of them that privilage" he replied with a chuckle.
He sure was a true king through and through Hakuno thought to himself…
"Look, were nearly there! And the skies are clear today! Its really quite the sight!" Iskandar said loudly as he set his eyes on a bright blue water.
"I know! Its a beauty to behold! A treat for the eyes!" Nero added in agreement.
They landed just a few feet away from the glistening water, the three passengers got off first followed by Iskandar who stood across from them.
"Like I already said, I have no knowledge of any of my men appearing without my knowledge and say so" he said.
"Yes, but, the corrupted being we fought resembled your soldiers attire nearly one to one, theres no way thats a coicidence" Nameless said back.
Iskandar had no defense, Hakuno could tell that much just by looking at him, he was as dumbfounded as the rest of them. That being said…
"You said you were trying to heal someone right? Who?" He asked.
Nero turned to him, appearing slightly confused briefly before her eyes lit up in surprise.
Good idea! She thought it was quite clever of him.
Iskandar did not respond right away, whomever it was must be important, because this was the only she'd ever seen him visibly distressed, either that or they'd caught him.
"He's a friend of mine, also my general, he was the one who was attacked when we tried to help our gatherers" Iskandar replied.
So that means he must still the summoned then, or at the very least there'd be a good chance of it. The corruption behaves similarly to the way as the moon cells' deletion system, just at a much slower rate and with… Additional side effects, and with the way it spreads it'd make sense to keep him away from the rest of the army.
"So he would be in a hospital right now, or the equivalent" Nameless said, following along.
"Yes, your right, he's with our best doctors at the moment, though because of the nature of this condition…I'm unsure if recovery is possible" Iskandar replied.
That might just explain everything then, the only question is how the heck he got here, he couldn't imagine someone bringing him along in the condition he was in… Unless there was some kind of conspiracy going on…
"Remember my king, the general wasn't the only corrupted that visited New Rome, remember that poor man?" she asked seriously.
Yeah, that's right, how that happened no one could explain, theres a chance someone could be there right now, corrupting more people…
"Hold on, this just came to mind, you can summon your army where ever you go and whenever you want right, so I'd imagine they probably know where you are at all times then" Nameless asked.
Iskandar went silent briefly.
"You're telling me my dying man crawled all the way here?" He asked with a tinge of anger.
"With the way this corruption works it wouldn't be that far off the mark" Nameless responded.
Iskandar supposed it could've happened but…
"What reason would he have?" He asked.
That was bothering Nameless himself as well, he wasn't there to spread the corruption, he had more than enough opportunities to go through with it but either he didn't or corrupted servants were not capable of it.
"We'll worry about that part once we've rooted the remaining invaders out,
before that however, summon your army, I want to ensure no one else is missing" Nameless told him.
"I can tell you from here that it's pointless, but if you insist" Iskandar said back.
Shortly after he said that, the ground and sky around them changed, the green grass turned to sand and the sky felt a little brighter than before. Behind them, stood nearly 47,000 men.
"Line up!" Iskandar ordered.
"Impressive, I don't think I've ever seen your full power," Nero commented.
"Only because your walls lack the space, these men can take any castle, any piece of land that we desire, the whole world if we seek it!" Iskandar said proudly.
"Hmm…" Nameless murmured as he quickly counted through each soldier.
To a normal man this would be a ridiculous task, however as an archer class heroic spirit it was nothing to him, within a minute he had every last man in Iskandars army counted down.
"Several men are missing, the first is called for, but what about the other six?" Nameless asked with a conflicted look.
"In my kingdom of course! Whenever I leave for long outings I order a few of my men to guard the city, they're all very capable and they've seen these corrupters before, they're more than qualified for the job" Iskandar explained.
"Corrupters?" Hakuno mumbled to himself.
"Yes, the name just came to mind, but it matches them well"
"Yes it does, I was thinking something similar, anyway, it seems we've found what we were looking for, empress, master, should we return to New Rome now? In these circumstances we shouldn't be gone for long" Nameless said.
"Yeah, I agree, we shouldn't waste anymore time, come, let us return '' Nero said back.
They all climbed back into Iskandar's chariot and took off into the sky.
Nameless found himself lost in thought, what happens if one of those six men ended up afflicted with the corruption? Would there be any stopping its spread?