Little Author's note: This is a special chapter, meaning that its word count is the double of others, and it has a 'little' illustration on it. However because fanfiction doesn't let me put it in here, you can see it on my wordpress: hiogenworks, wordpress, com (Replace the comma with a dot and put it together)
Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
I tried sleeping again, however no matter how much time passed with my eyes closed, ultimately sleep never came.
After thinking for a moment I get up and sit on my bed with a face full of neglect.
Why?
Because tomorrow is a school-.
*Yawn*
A yawn comes out from me, before I was able to finish my inner monologue.
Coming back to the topic on hand, tomorrow I have school so I need to sleep, but as I can't, I don't have other than pass the time somehow.
A sigh comes out of my mouth.
.
.
.
While I look everywhere on the room thinking what to do, my tired eyes find the jacket laid on the chair next to the desk.
I stay still for some seconds but in the end I stop sitting on the bed and start walking towards it.
The moment I reach it, I put my hand on the inner pocket and from it, I take out the White Hand.
I try to see it, however thanks to the poor lighting I move myself close to the window, where I can easily see the catalyst.
As I near the window my eyes look outside for a moment to see the declining lights on the nearby buildings.
But my interest on them becomes replaced by the object in my hands.
*Yawn*
When my still tired gaze falls on the White Hand a thought surfaces on my mind, transforming the weary face I had some seconds ago to one more serious…
Although still tired.
'What the hell is it really?'
The dream- or nightmare, I don't know which one really it is now, started to appear after I became more adept with the White Hand and seeing the word prophecy.
Maybe I can understand the thing with the White Hand, as I don't know a lot about Originium arts and the world of Terra so there must be an explanation about it, but by seeing the meaning of a word?
.
.
.
Maybe it was something of a keyword?
Seeing such revelation makes me freeze for a moment, however I rapidly try to disperse it by shaking my head.
But the thought still remains on the back of my mind.
I look inside of my bedroom again, but this time I concentrate on my desk. More specifically a book on said desk. It's a small but colourful book that is easily discernible even in the dark.
As I take a step towards it, I stop-
No, I hesitate.
.
.
.
It isn't anything dangerous, just a normal dictionary, but…
What if I have another strange dream by looking at another word?
Just thinking about that makes me take out a small but self-deprecating laugh.
Since I met Yith my dreams became a nightmare after another.
First the black void, then myself being impaled, then the two of them together.
.
.
.
Great.
It makes me not wanting to go back to sleep.
*Yawn*
But I need to.
I walk to my jacket and put back the White Hand on the inner pocket.
Let's try to sleep again.
If I can't…
I'll think about what I will do later.
.
.
.
Why did I just feel a shiver, even though I am not cold?
As day came, I woke up lethargically thanks to not being able to sleep well the night before.
While I was slowly preparing myself to go to school, more specifically to enter the bathroom, my mom comes running towards me saying the following:
"Micha! Do you know what your dad won on the office?" My mom suddenly shouts excitedly and takes me in her embrace, waking me from my drowsiness.
'How does she have such energy on the morning?'
"Eh? What did he win?" I say in confusion while looking at her.
'…Didn't dad told her that I know that he is a scientist and not a salaryman?'
"He got us some vacations for the following weeks to a little village on the borders of Ursus, so after thinking for some time, we thought that starting from next week we'll go to relax a bit!" She says while handing me a pamphlet of the place.
It was a small village with a beautiful lake next to it, surrounded by snow and a hell lot of pines.
It almost looked like one of those default backgrounds found on computers. And there were no big buildings on it.
Well, that's a stretch, as there is one or two on other images, however even if there wasn't any I wouldn't be concerned, instead what I am really preoccupied about is that it isn't in a mobile city…
Although what were the possibilities of a catastrophe striking it?
.
.
.
I just hope that I didn't jinxed it.
"I see…" I say while making it seem that I am reading one of the descriptions of the place.
However, inside my mind, I concentrate more on mom than the village in hand.
Why?
Because she is lying.
I can see it in her eyes and smile. When mom is lying, her eyes start to get all fidgety, while her smile feels... false? I don't know, but it's something that I learned after living with her all of these years.
.
.
.
Why is she though?
And what part of it is a lie?
'…'
The travel isn't it, as it's the base of everything.
Then maybe the reason or how dad got the vacation?
'…'
And finally how is a vacation given by a workplace not one but an amount of weeks?
That's another thing that is peeking my interest.
'…'
"So, what do you think?" She says while taking the photo from my hands.
"…I like it, however… when will we come back?" I ask her.
"Ah! Don't worry about it, we already settled it with the director from school." She says while making a thumbs up.
'…It's even fishier if you say that…' I think while not trying to look at her dead-panned.
"Alright, I'd like to go." I say still looking at it.
"Ah, I knew you would like it!" She says putting more force on the hug.
'…I'll ask Yith later.' I think while putting a helpless expression.
.
.
.
However I didn't even need to.
I tried sleeping tonight again, but yet again I woke up from my nightmares.
As I tried to think about the nightmare while looking at the wall in neglect, a pair of voices are hearable through the wall, taking my attention.
"…how much time will it take?"
"I don't know, maybe two weeks or maybe a month. In the worst case years."
They are the voices of mom and dad in that order, talking about something.
As I press my ear to the wall, their conversation becomes more understandable.
"Then what will be the fate of Sergey's family? They insist on staying here?" Mom says with concern on her words.
"…Unfortunately, only god will know." Dad answers, sombrely.
After that a silence emerges.
Some seconds later mom's voice resounds again. But this time more crestfallen.
"Isn't there another choice or…" Mom says, trailing off her words.
"…Unfortunately, no." Dad says harshly. "The political climate in the capital right now is too volatile, and it's akin to sleeping with a ticking time bomb as our ground. We need to get away before we are caught on the storm, as the judgement of the nobility is nearing here. We will stay at one of the houses of Gulios, an old friend of mine. If we don't make too much ruckus, he won't have any problem."
Hearing those words, I try to think about what he refers. Then it dawned on me.
Although Ursus is a country known by its incredible military prowess, the amount of internal conflicts is on the same level too. There isn't almost a time in the history of the country that an internal conflict never happened.
However, isn't Ursus in a war with Lungmen? Is it really time for infighting?
"…I know but…" Mom says more hurt and low than before. "…We were finally getting settled down…"
Hearing my lively mom so weak made my heart sink. And it looked like I wasn't the only one.
"…Irina…" Dad's voice sounds almost the same.
Before I knew it, someone was crying.
Mom was crying.
They continued talking, however I forcefully changed my attention from the conversation to the diary right under my bed.
As I take it out, I move the pages rapidly, trying to search for one…
Or better said two events that Ursus will suffer on the upcoming years.
As reach them I see that both pages are next to the other to my surprise. I think for a moment, before I start reading the letters spelled on the first one.
"The Bloodpeak campaign."
Then I look at the next page, which title is:
"The Great Rebellion."
As I look at both of them I try to remember what happened on those two, however I don't know much about what happened in reality.
They were briefly mentioned in the game after all.
I only know that the campaign was a radical change to the empire, as the old emperor died and the infected became discriminated heavily. Meanwhile the rebellion was led by infected for how they were treated.
So in conclusion you can tell that the campaign was the foundation of why the rebellion happened.
Seeing how lately the infected are still without being heavily discriminated, then the event that will happen is…
The Bloodpeak Campaign.
'But still, isn't it too much with the war and the campaign happening at the same time?' I think while looking outside the window. '…Maybe I changed something? Or…'
A different thought altogether invaded my mind, instilling panic in me.
'…Or maybe it wasn't me…'
At that thought I start to get briefly scared, but I try to supress it, as it doesn't solve the problem I have right now, which is the campaign.
'…And what did they say with Sergey?' I try to recall what happened moments ago. '… It was something about his family staying-'
My thought process halts.
Staying?
The diary almost fell from my hands, but by reflex I catch it.
Here?
My mind starts to become turbulent.
.
.
.
When did Alex and Misha separate?
As soon as I think about it, I start to feel sweat on my back.
'Shit…'
I try to think as hard as I can, however, an answer never comes.
'Fuck…!'
.
.
.
Until it did.
I can only think of two opportunities, but mainly one.
As my eyes see the diary yet again I mutter the words that will persecute me the following days.
"The Bloodpeak Campaign…"
"We will be going the next week to a village near the border of Ursus and Leithania. It's called Kazin and is located to the northwest of Moscor. Unfortunately there isn't a trace of modernity in it." I tell Misha, while we wait for the next professor to come to class. "However it looks pretty peaceful, and its views are phenomenal if the photos aren't lying."
"Eh..." She says in amazement. "I'd like to have some vacations too…"
I glance briefly to her.
Misha's face only shows a bored expression, a total contrast of the feeling inside of me.
Looking at her, I take some breathes and after some seconds I start talking:
"H-How about coming with us? I d-don't think that Sergey will have a problem." My words come shaking, not in embarrassment, but in total concern.
Hearing my words, her face lights up, but slowly changes back.
"…I don't think I will be able." She says downcasted, however it rapidly changes to one pouting. "Unlike somebody I know, I am not that great at my subjects, so I don't think I can go." She finishes while crossing her arms.
"Ah… I see." I try not to say so disillusioned. "T-Then I can teach you there! A-Alex too!"
Before I knew it, my words come out in desperation.
.
.
.
I know that my words are unreasonable.
'Please Misha… say yes, I implore you.'
However I just want her and Alex to live peacefully.
.
.
.
But I am asking too much.
She is a child.
"Micha." Hearing her voice, I almost took my hopes up, however… "You are acting stranger than normal today, are you okay?" She says playfully, but still with a tint of preoccupation.
She is a child…
And so am I!
"I…"
Before I knew it, one of my hands that wasn't seeable by Misha was clenched.
'I…'
"I… am okay."
I mutter almost unheard, trying to contain myself from crying in front of her.
'Like hell I am…'
We are both children.
.
.
.
She can't choose for herself, and I need to continue acting like one.
But…
Knowing that your friends will suffer something akin to hell while you are safe…
Knowing that you don't know if you'll see them a next time…
And what is worse is knowing what will happen to them the next time you'll see them…
Alex will become one of the captains of Reunion, and Misha will follow after his death…
Ending with hers too.
I hate it.
"Micha…" Misha calls out my name in worry, however that only makes me to tighten my hand harder than before.
"I really I am okay." I say while trying to put a fake smile.
'Don't cry... Don't concern her more than necessary…'
"Just… Think about it alright?" I say to her while turning to look at the entering professor, ending the conversation.
I feel a something bitter in my mouth.
'She won't come. If what mom and dad said was true… then Sergey won't say yes.'
.
.
.
'Shit… Why the fuck I am so powerless!' I almost scream out unconsciously.
Just say it!
'Please come.'
Just do it!
.
.
.
But I can't.
And even if I did, it won't change the situation at all.
I hate it.
I really fucking hate it.
Why the fuck I trained so much with Yith, almost to the point of vomiting blood, and feeling pain with every step I had on the freezing snow…
…To not protect the people that I want to be with?
.
.
.
'I… I am going in the wrong path?'
.
.
.
I knew it the moment I remembered who they were.
I knew how they will end up.
And I still thought that I was able to help them.
I even said to myself:
"I am just a child, I can't do anything…"
.
.
.
And I was right.
But I still tried thinking for a way to change it.
However…
No matter how much I studied or trained…
No matter how much I thought for a way…
Can I go against a rebellion?
No.
Can I go against Ursus?
No.
.
.
.
Can I do something?
.
.
.
No.
"I had a feeling he was going to pick these two, however this one… It looks like I can't still see what his plan will be." The female voice resounds on the cold whitish hallway. "… Two Illusionists, one focused on illusions and other on hallucinations, and one Reinforcer… And not only that, he has the guts to ask for another Reinforcer like nothing… But the terms are pretty good even for me so… And I want that bastard to pay so he has the green light."
As she ends saying that, she hands the papers… to the air? With that motion, she talks.
"Let him know that I approve his terms, however he needs to make sure that they don't receive even a scratch. Nurturing them to that level takes a lot of time and money."
When she finishes, a black haired man appears suddenly, taking the papers from her hand.
"Yes Mistress."
With those words he disappears as fast as he came, to relay the order of her master.
Ignoring the man, the one called Mistress looks ahead, where a gigantic steel door is found right in front of her.
After some seconds, she opens them without any problem.
What greets her is a gigantic circular room, fitted as a laboratory with the latest tools provided by Rhine Lab itself. However unlike the normal ones found on said facility this one is a bit special…
In the middle of said room, an enormous hole with its perimeter covered in glass appears both on the floor and the roof, making a beautiful contrast between the white room and the black abyss shown.
What makes it weirder is that no light comes from the top or bottom part of said hole.
Not a single ounce.
"M-Mistress!" A hurried female voice shouts out in surprise, making her to look at the source. "W-What's the reason y-you came h-here?"
The moment she enters, a petite girl with a black short hair in a white coat appears in front of her while holding a clipboards on her tiny hands. The little mouse looking ears and tail shows that she is a Zalak ancient, however her big grey eyes are almost impossible to see because of her gigantic bangs across her face.
But there is two strange things on her attire. First the strange armband on her right arm. It depicts the normal star of life related to all medic operators, however unlike them an opening eye appears in the middle, surrounding the star by what appears to be a circle with bumps coming out. And secondly on her back, where the same symbol that the mistress has on her back appears.
"I just came to see the new seeds, Lily." She answers, trying to calm the girl. "Since Jade told me about them, I wanted to see how they were performing these last days."
"Ah!" Lily says in shock, however it becomes one full of nervousness after some seconds pass. "O-Of course! Erm… For the moment we found out which Arts are the greatest for each one, h-however there is a problem for one in special…" She says while slowly moving her gaze to one of the nearby tables-
"Mh?" Hearing that, the Mistress puts a strange face, followed by a direct gaze to the Zalak. "What? What is the problem with him?"
The crazed and scary look emanating from her makes Lily cower behind the little clipboard in panic.
"W-Well, I-In his analysis we f-found out that his muscle density is almost 50% greater than his peers and e-even has a g-great compatibility with Self-strengthening Arts, b-but unlike the others, h-he contracted Oripathy." She responds trying not to stutter, but fails miserably.
"Oh…" Hearing that, the Mistress puts a calmer face.
"A-And not only that, b-but his Cell-Originium F-Fusion Rate is nearing the 16% so even if he survives the tests, I don't know if we can count in him for the next ten years u-unlike the others-"
Lily's fast talking is stopped by an unexpected hand on her shoulder. Looking up from the clipboard, she can see the Mistress close to her with a soft smile unlike before her face is tranquil, making her beautiful features shine.
However in the mind on the Zalak girl, that smile is more terrifying than the crazier look of before…
"Don't worry, I will make sure we can use him."
…Because of the unnerving words coming out from her.
"…I'll make sure to use him well." She says containing a little laugh while getting closer to the gigantic hole, leaving the Zalak girl behind. "Tell me, which one is it?"
As she points to the bottom of the hole, an almost black abyss is shown, however if one squints his eyes just a bit, it can be seen that five people are fighting on the almost pitch darkness.
Seeing the actions of her, Lily walks rapidly next to her and says the following:
"H-He is a Vouivre, sub-species of L-Lighting. Erm…" She tries to continue but can't find the other information on the clipboard, so she continues trying to remember the information. "He is black haired, and his age is-"
"Is he the one overpowering the red haired one?" The mistress cuts off the Zalak's ramblings while looking the fighting with amusement.
"E-Eh? L-Let me see…" Lily tries to see if it's as she says, but need some seconds to finally see them. "Y-Yeah."
At the confirmation, the Mistress smile becomes wider.
"Oh ho. He is pretty good unlike the others. Too bad that he has oripathy, but we can expand his life if necessary."
"Yeah- wait what?" Hearing that, the Zalak girl looks at the mistress with surprise.
However what greets her is a scarily big smile.
Weeks later, two military landships with the symbol of Yen and two with Lungmen's moved on the wilderness outside of said city.
Said landships were surrounded by even lesser ones, known as vessels. For each military landship, around five to six vessels were around them, totalling in around 4000 to 5000 people per military ship including the vessels under them. Meaning that in total, there is around 20000 people for the four ships.
While they moved, on the highest point of one pertaining to Lungmen, two figures are talking while looking at the direction where the ships move.
"You know that if we fail Lungmen is doomed right?" Lin talks while stealing a glance to see his friend's reaction.
"I know it." Wei says before taking a puff of smoke. "Although, why the need to put more pressure?"
"Just wanted to make you a bit nervous." He responds shrugging his shoulder
A sigh is heard.
"Yet again I ask you, why?"
"I don't know, you looked concentrated so I took the opportunity to annoy you." Lin says while sneering.
"You…" Wei says while looking at him annoyed.
The future leader of Lungmen and future king of the underworld passed the time bickering with each other.
Although they were headed for the last battle against Koshchei's forces with backup from Yen and the Mistress, they couldn't help it.
"How is the new clothes treating you? I remember you they cost quite a penny." Wei says with humour in his voice.
"They feel great, I can move without any problem, and the plus that they absorb light better than other clothes is great." Lin says while stretching it.
They were nervous.
So they talked about almost anything to get even a bit calmer.
"Right, what do you think about the girls plan to go to the same school?" Wei asks after taking a puff of smoke.
"Mh… I need to think about it a little more." Lin says while looking at the people working on the main deck. "Yuhsia is growing up, and I want her to experience the world, however I can't say I am not preoccupied with sending her without my protection to another country."
"I see… Well just remember that she won't have much opportunities. I am sure that in the future I will need the help of the Lin clan more than one or two times, and if all goes well, she will become someone of importance, maybe becoming as crucial as you in some plans." Wei says while looking at the main deck too. "I say it, because even though some years remain, Ch'en and Tal are excited to go to the same high school as Yuhsia and Beatrix." He says while looking the deck too.
"…I'll think about it."
However no matter what they talked about, they always come back to the topic of tomorrow.
"Are you sure it will work?" Lin asks to Wei right next to him.
"It needs to." He responds while looking at the wilderness spreading in front of them. "They are already in position, and even though it's strenuous, they are capable of holding for two days. That is enough time for us to strike."
"…" However Lin just looks at the same direction while hearing those words.
"What?" Concerned by the ominous face that his friend made, Wei can't help but ask.
"…Is it okay to use them this much?" Lin talks after some seconds. "Won't another trouble like the one with Wao happen?"
"…" Hearing that Wei puts a strange face and turns to look at the wilderness again, while taking another puff in the meantime.
.
.
.
"Oi! Don't you dare to ignore my question!" Lin shouts in what appears to be in astonishment after some seconds passed without an answer in sight.
"I wasn't ignoring you, I was thinking about what to do." He responds like nothing.
"So you don't have an idea." Lin says dead-panned.
"Well, first we need to concentrate on Koshchei. After that I will deal with her." Wei says shrugging the problem all together. "Even if she looks like a scary being, I assure you she is more reasonable than you think." He says with a reassuring smile, which makes Lin to stare at him in disbelief. "Plus I am pretty sure she doesn't have that much problem to lending four men to me. I already promised that if they even get a scratch, my head will be the one rolling."
'Although those last words are more concerning.' Lin thinks while still looking at Wei dejectedly.
"Haa… Alright. Any idea about the spy?" He says in defeat after seeing how Wei is acting about the topic.
"What do you think I am? I am not a detective."
"I know that, however isn't it a bit bad to put all of them in an illusion?"
"This was the easiest and less time consuming solution I had without killing them. They still have some uses unfortunately." He says coldly.
"Ah right, the all to friendly representatives. Disguising themselves as sheep even though they are worse than a wolf." Lin talks dramatically just to annoy Wei more.
"Urgh. Stop that." Wei says irritated while clenching harder the rails he is holding onto. "Those bastards all took acting classes. They show empathy or become the victim just to get benefits. Especially that bastard Wao and his crocodile tears. Although his section was almost destroyed he is still never letting go of his hefty pay or his men to rebuild it. Plus he used the troops of the Mistress without my permission, which put my relationship with her in a bit of a pickle."
"Well, you are a bit like them though, with the acting classes and all."
"Yeah but I at least don't sell my own people as easy and cheap ancient labour like Yoru. And everything I do is for Lungmen, that you know." Wei refutes angrily just by thinking about the representative of the 14 section.
"Mhm… That is true." Lin nods in response.
In his anger he takes another puff, which prompts to calm him, although not by much. "When we end this we need to make a cleaning of the underground and upper ground, especially with those good for nothing mother- Ahem…" Wei coughs to stop himself. "In summary, they think they are big fish using underhanded methods to get profit and power, however…"
As those words end, Lin freezes for a moment and looks at Wei in surprise. His presence became heavier and more powerful than just some seconds ago.
'I know that he has an Elder bloodline, however for it to be this powerful…' Lin thinks while imagining what it would be to fight him.
"I'll show them what a real big fish is." He says with a smile which shows all of his teeth, making Lin to smile too.
'He really must see his own smile sometimes.' Lin thinks while looking at the setting horizon behind them. 'However I hope he doesn't get too trapped in it.'
[Image comes here]
.
.
.
"Sir, we are nearing the specified zone." A third voice interrupts the two.
"Then let's go down." Wei says looking at Lin.
"We had a pretty long break didn't we?" Lin responds cheekily to Wei.
"That we did. Now let's go and talk to the others about the last parts of the plan." Wei takes the final say before following the third person down the stairs.
A day later, on the wilderness outside of Lungmen.
Seven military landships were waiting in formation while looking on the direction of where the nomadic city, Lungmen, is located. These too were loaded with vessels around them.
Needless to say, these landships unlike the previous ones belong to Ursus, but it isn't as easily perceivable as with Lungmen, as instead of the country symbol, each one has a different symbol, representing a different noble of Ursus.
Except for four. In the middle of all of them, those four were being protected by the other ones. They had a gigantic snake preparing to attack as their symbol.
Inside of one of those two, a conversation is being held between an Ursus officer and a Pythia captain in what is apparently one of the safest parts of the ship. The room only has a table, two chairs and some books here and there. No windows. Pretty small for what you'll think it's the captain's office.
"…and finally sir, we don't have anything to report about Lungmen." The Ursus officer says, ending his report.
"I see… Go back to your position." The white haired captain tells the officer, not turning to look at him since the beginning.
"Yes sir."
With that, the officer leaves the room and the captain is the only remaining on the room.
.
.
.
It looks like to be the only one on the room.
After almost a minute, the captain talks coldly to the air.
"See our surroundings immediately. If that old lizard stood shut all this time then he must be plotting something. Any irregularities that you see, report them to me and Koshchei."
"Yes sir." An almost mechanical voice responds.
The door opens by itself and before you knew it, it was shut.
Like it never opened.
'To think that the Shadow Scales are so incredible.' The captain thinks amazed by their performance.
Minutes passed and the captain sits calmly on the chair which looks at the only door on the room.
He stayed still, like waiting for something to happen.
And before long…
*BOOM!*
An explosion is heard outside.
"Tch. He was right. That old dragon was too quiet even thought we were just steps outside Lungmen."
However it didn't make much of a reaction on the man.
"Well, by what the Duke said, we already expected them to retaliate and try to take the initiative, but…" The Pythia captain smiles at the thought of the enemy being in their hands. "We already took it."
As soon as his words end, the door opens suddenly and the same Ursus officer appears, however more panicked than before.
"Captain! We detected four military ships surrounding us!"
"And? The Ursus made landships are capable of withstanding a good amount of hits, just relocate and-"
But he is interrupted by the officer which talks with panic.
"We aren't capable of finding them!"
This time, the captain's face changes a bit. But becomes normal rapidly, illuminating his pale greenish eyes which unlike his expression, are cold.
"Continue."
"Even though we used the radar, scouts and even vessels, we can't pinpoint their location!" The official says in what appears to be shock.
"That is a strange thing indeed…"
'Maybe it is an illusion, however the enemy ships should appear on the radars…' The Pythia thinks for a moment. 'Unless…'
The moment the thought enters the man's mind he turns to look at the official and asks him:
"Do you feel lightheaded?"
"What?" The official responds incredulous.
"Respond the question."
Hearing the seriousness in the captain's voice the officer calms a bit.
"A-Ah now that you mention it, I… I do sir." The officer stutters a bit, but affirms at the end.
"Ah I see… I know what it is then."
"Really?!" The officer exclaims on stupor, but corrects itself after seeing how he acted in front of a superior.
"Yes, it's just a little illusion, however to be this extensive…" The captain stays thinking for a moment before reaching an answer. "Ah right. He told us that the Mistress betrayed us… That old hag said that she was pretty angry at our duke just because he was playing a bit of a game. Oh well, then it looks like I'll need to step up a bit." He says after getting up from the chair and starting to walk to the door with the officer behind him.
Like that they leave the room.
.
.
.
Minutes passed and…
"I thought he was going to say something more interesting, but he looks pretty brain dead for being under Koshchei's forces. I mean who stays for minutes here all alone and doing nothing when the enemy is just in front of him? Although the thing about the initiative is concerning, we already know what it is."
A voice resounds on the solitary room.
"And that little guy is pretty green to be one of the Shadow Scales. Oh well, it doesn't matter. Time to dispose all of them."
The moment the voice stops, bits of sand slowly move from the corner of the room.
The forces of Lungmen compromised of four military landships. Two from Lungmen and another two from Yen.
The ones from Koshchei counts in total seven. Four which are in control of the duke and the others were sent as support by allies of Koshchei.
To say the least, in numerical advantage the Ursus side is greater, however right now they lost the initiative and are surrounded by an invisible enemy.
But how was it able to be invisible?
In reality it wasn't.
There wasn't any illusion, but instead a hallucination in a grand scale as the captain said.
However it should be impossible.
And it is.
Normally.
*BOOM!*
Inside of the cockpit on Lungmen's ships…
"Wei sir, the attack onto the Ursus force-" An officer tries to report to Wei, however he is interrupted before he can continue.
"Koshchei's forces. If it was even a fraction of the empire, we wouldn't even be able to execute this attack." Wei responds coldly without sparring a glance to the man.
"A-Ah yes sir..." The officer responds in a stutter.
"Good, please continue."
"Yes… Ahem. The attack on Koshchei's forces was successful and we rescued the first team sent by the Mistress Sir."
"Good job." Wei says to the officer. "Tell them to please come here."
"…Yes sir." He says after some seconds.
'…Did he say please?' The officer thinks in a bit of shock. 'Are they so great that even the leader needs to tell them please?'
As soon as the officer left, Wei looks at the battlefield in front of him.
'I just hope he got onto them without any trouble.' Wei thinks of his friend who is right now inside of enemy territory.
The plan was only able to succeed thanks to the people from the mistress and the shadows commanded by Lin.
Trap the enemy forces while the high ranking and the ones in charge of detecting the surroundings are in a hallucination. Although the normal sailor's will be able to see the landships, it is of no problem, as the ones in charge the weapons will be in a state of chaos by the captains orders, the normal sailor men and finally our barrage. Unfortunately, they will soon or later find their position, so in the meantime they will proceed to do the following:
Take out the high ranking positions of the fleet. Without the head they will slowly crumble and become an easier target. With that done, then the hallucination will be undone and our forces will approach the weakened enemy.
But for the plan to succeed they needed an incredible force. First they needed to put the ones on charge in a hallucination for almost two days. Then they needed to get rid of the remaining forces rapidly. Although they won't have their head anymore, the presence of their numbers is still a threat.
Pretty primitive and really reliant on his allies, however Lungmen is by no means powerful, so they need to use everything they can to achieve victory. In a direct confrontation against these forces, they will be destroyed without a doubt.
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.
.
Where did that incredible force come from you ask?
From the men provided by the Mistress.
They are literal masters on their own field of Originium arts, and it's seen in their power. If you took the illusions of Yith and from one of the Mistress men, Yith ones are worse, not only because in power, but in technique too. More, in their eyes it will come as child play.
They were cultivated since childhood, and some from birth to become the greatest on their field, however that doesn't mean that they are more powerful than say for example Talulah. All being have limits and they especially so.
They are only able to do that. The strongest and weakest point of their existence is that they are so capable in their own field, that they can't do another thing. The illusionist isn't at all capable of fighting, as his whole live is for making illusions, not training in combat. This is the same for the others.
However in the end, as powerful as they are, that isn't enough to change the course of the battlefield. What she wanted was a being capable of becoming a one man army of their respective field.
And from there have an army of said people.
So the mistress seeing that problem searched for an answer…
Years of experimenting and years of failure passed. Then she found a solution.
Not a permanent one. But one that will help her reach it.
"What if instead of making the people more powerful, we have people that make them more powerful?"
That's when the concept of a Reinforcer came to light.
A trained ancient only seen on the men of the mistress. They are incapable of using normal arts or even special ones. But they are able to train their circuits somehow and use it to influence another person's arts, mainly to amplify it.
In summary it's an Ancient battery or power boost, choose whatever you like the most.
That is how the hallucination was capable of holding out in such a large scale for two days. Thanks to one of the greatest illusionist in his field and because of the two Reinforcers supporting him.
Such is the power of the mistress.
"Wei Sir, here they are." The official says, making Wei to stop looking at the bombardment.
"Thank you." Wei says to the officer while turning around.
With that he is capable of seeing the three persons sent by the mistress once again, in the same position as he seen them before. The biggest one is in front, and is the most talkative of the three. His height is just smaller than Wei's, and although almost unnoticeable, a horn akin to a reindeer is barely coming out of the robe. Finally his walking is the gaudiest thing that Wei has seen all day. The other two don't have anything remarkable, only that they are much smaller than the first one, and they only respond if they are talked to.
"I welcome and thank you on part of Lungmen." Wei says respectfully, extending his hand to the one on the front.
"I accept your thanks on part of the mistress, and if your terms for contracting one more of our Reinforcers is true, then we'll gratefully accept them." The one on front says cockily while shaking hands with Wei as a smile that is only seeable thanks to his pristine teeth appears on his face.
"…" Wei stays silent for some seconds, but then displays almost the same smile that the individual in front of him. "A cocky and rude being you are, but to tell you the truth, I prefer it than sugar-coating our words. Don't worry for said terms, as I promise that I will make sure to complete them."
"Then we won't have any problem. If you need our help with anything more, then just call us Uncle Wei. Until the contract ends, we won't have any problem to help ya." He says shamelessly, making the smile of Wei falter at the mention of him as an uncle.
"Ah in that case I just need one of your Reinforcers to help a friend of mine latter, if it isn't too much trouble." Wei asks imitating the boldly man in revenge.
Hearing that, the man only nods not caring much about how Wei said the request, and calls the one located on the left.
"Ira, you won't have any problem to help them latter don't you?"
Which is responded only with a nod from the individual in question.
"There you have it. Anything else?" He says, turning back to Wei.
"Mmh. Just one question to satiate my curiosity if you will."
The gaudy smile disappears, and his mannerism changed in an instant, stopping from being relaxed to tense.
"…If it isn't anything too troublesome to respond, then ask away."
His voice changed. It's still the same, although colder than before.
"How are you feeling?"
However at the mention of the question he relaxes, showing a smile again.
"Seeing how this question is going, I will tell you that I can maintain it for two hours more with the help of them." He says while patting the two petite figures right next to him.
"Then just maintain it for one hour more. I don't want to overstress a man from the mistress."
"Then I thank you Uncle. It was getting pretty taxing to us, to tell you the truth." He says after stretching a bit.
'Can I really believe that?' Wei thinks as he sees the man walking and talking like nothing, at the same time of ignoring how he was referred by him.
"Then if that's all we will go to rest and wait until the next part." He finally says after turning around and walking to the door.
"Alright, rest well."
At the end of Wei's words, the man raises his arm to say goodbye, however before he could lower it, the door closes.
As it closes, Wei's smile disappears and turns around to look at the battlefield again.
Like said exchange never took place.
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.
All of this happened while the official stayed with his mouth open.
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.
Some minutes later, Wei receives a call from the intercom in his pants.
Taking it out and putting it next to his ear, the call starts.
"What do you have to say Lin? Even though we are in advantage, the Ursus weaponry is no joke, so we need to put all our concentration on evading the ship's attacks." Wei says while still looking on the hellish battlefield in front of him.
"Hey Wei, we already got done with the higher ups from the leftmost and rightmost ships. I am still working on the central one, however I communicate because one of the captains said something concerning before I got him." The voice of Lin resounds leisurely, although a bit cold on the end.
"Okay, make it quick, as you have around an hour to kill the remaining ones."
"Yikes, that is pretty tight, but doable." Lin says jokingly, but his tone rapidly turns serious. "Well, right before I got rid of him, the captain said that four vessels are closing onto Lungmen."
"Yeah, and what about it?" Wei says not taking much attention on what Lin said.
"According to him, the four of them is going to the coordinates the representatives knew, however after quickly gathering information from the ship itself, we found that an unidentified mobility based vessel is heading straight to the real Lungmen."
Hearing that, Wei stands still, but relaxes.
The plan that is being unfolded right now was able to occur thanks to another one. It consisted of slowly moving Lungmen through the course of several weeks, all of this while the representatives and other suspicious people were inside of an illusion.
He can't touch them the representatives right now because it will cause unrest on the people of Lungmen and they are necessary to administrate the city, however Wei fears the first part the most, as right now, the city is in a volatile state thanks to the previous attacks of the 'Terrorist' organization.
So he choose to put them in an illusion, making them think that Lungmen is still on the same position weeks ago. Just by doing that, the higher ups didn't change at all their daily routines.
"If it was a military landship then we would be in trouble, however if it's just a vessel, then even the L.G.D. should be able to intercept them the moment they near Lungmen. It's a death wish for that vessel." Wei says without any problem.
"Yeah, that's what I thought too, however after tortu- I mean asking the captain before I killed him, he laughed."
"What?" Wei says strangely.
"Yeah, no matter what I did, I couldn't get him to talk more about it." Lin said confused too. "He even gave me a smile before my blade passed through his neck, like he was awaiting for that moment."
Wei's face starts to change.
"Then why did the other four go to the coordinates while one went directly to Lungm-?"
Before he could finish the question, his troubled expression changes to one of disbelief.
"This is all a trick!" Wei exclaims. "It's to make us think that everything went according to plan!"
His voice starts to become agitated. Seeing that his voice called the attention of the remaining people on the room, he excuses himself and goes outside the cockpit the same way the robed people went.
"The ships in front of us, and even the vessels going to the coordinates, it was all a ruse, while the real threat is that one vessel. He used a fleet of around 35000 people only to-" Wei stops talking for a moment when suddenly he asks Lin: "Tell me, did you find Koshchei?!"
However instead of an answer, Lin's calm voice appears.
"Calm down. We need to be down to earth. Don't panic, because it will affect morale and blind your judgement."
Hearing those words, Wei tries to refute him, however he was right.
After taking a breather he talks again.
"…You are right. I lost my cool for a moment."
"I know you want to get rid of him the most, but calm down. I searched high and low, and the other shadows too, but there wasn't any trace of him in none of them."
"But we were sure that he went to one of them, we even saw it with our own two eyes…" Wei says while searching for an answer. "…Unless the Intel was off-"
"Or it wasn't."
"What do you mean?"
"The vessel."
Hearing that, Wei talks rapidly.
"As soon as you get rid of- No, come back with the ones who already ended their missions. I'll try to get one vessel to head immediately to Lungmen as fast as possible." Wei says while looking at the sun on the horizon.
It will become night soon.
"...Alright." Lin said before ending the call.
The moment they reached the Great Lungmen, Wei looked at the docking port which had two vessels on it… The one they came in and another one, just slightly larger than theirs.
"Sir, the situation stabilized itself, so don't worry anymore about the battlefield. We suppressed the enemy's forces." The official voice resounds on the intercom on Wei's hands.
"Great, stay for the cleaning." He says ending the call without waiting an answer.
He had a bit of trouble convincing the mistress men, but reluctantly, they maintained the hallucination for one hour and a half.
The original plan was to dispel the hallucination and use one of the Reinforcers to power the arts of Lin, then attack the enemy with it, getting rid of a great amount of soldiers…
However because Lin and Wei needed to come back rapidly, a direct confrontation happened.
Fortunately, Koshchei's forces were defeated as they were incredibly weakened, but they lost more people than in the original plan.
Just thinking about it makes Wei's blood to boil, but he forcefully puts the thought on the back of his mind and tries to see if the docking part had any change to it, and after some seconds of silence…
The port… was totally quiet.
"All units here, disperse and locate Koshchei or any suspicious people!" He exclaims.
Finishing the order, the shadows didn't dally on the desolate dock.
Normally even at night some people stayed working, but… there was nobody.
"Mister Wei, these mark are recent!" A shadow exclaimed while searching scratches on the floor with little but noticeable puddles of blood. "Less than an hour passed!"
Hearing that, Wei started to run.
"Lin, let's hurry up to the central part of Lungmen!" He shouts to his friend.
"Yes." Lin says without a trace of the goofy attitude he showed previous times.
As they get out of the docking port, they see that not even a soul is nearby.
That only makes them to move faster.
They arrived in total darkness, not only because it was already night, but because the moon was obscured by the rain clouds above them too.
Just as the first droplets started to fall-
*BOOM!*
An explosion interrupts the quiet night.
The moment the noise is registered in their minds, they stop to look at the source.
And sure enough they found it.
To the west of where they were located.
"Lin, you go look at what happened there, I will continue!" Wei says while still heading to the centre of Lungmen.
"Alright, have caution!" Lin says before they separate.
'The vessel that came was larger than ours, so multiple people has come with him.' Wei thinks in desperation. 'Fumizuki still has her bodyguard, however the girls… It's too much people for only one person to protect. I need to hurry up.'
With such determination, Wei used his arts for the first time in a while.
In the blink of an eye, he already neared central Lungmen just by foot.
What it would normally take for a person to traverse in half an hour, he did it in almost two minutes.
For the normal passerby, they would think that a gust of wind passed right next to them. For the L.G.D. however, they would close and open their eyes repeatedly while thinking that they saw the ghost of their leader in front of them, haunting them.
*BOOM!*
But that was short lived, as the explosions took their full attention.
"All units, move to the zone of the explosion! Looks for suspicious individual on the way!" A L.G.D. guard shouts to the intercom on his chest, while others move the citizens to a safe place.
However Wei ignored them and continued his way without stopping even once.
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.
The moment that Wei entered central Lungmen, he went directly to his apartment, where Fumizuki and the girls were normally.
In the distance he was able to see it. The apartment complex.
A whole block was used to build it and it stayed tall on the middle of it, surrounded by greenery.
Just as he was to enter the block-
*CRASH!*
The sound of glass breaking is heard above him followed by a high pitched shout.
"Ch'en! Talulah!" Fumizuki's shriek reverberates on the dark night.
Hearing the noises, he raised his gaze, and there he saw him.
Koshchei.
As they looked at each other, the duke's eyes became full of surprise, but rapidly transformed in ones filled with ridicule.
No words were exchang-
"YOU FUCKER!" Wei raised his voice like never before, making the shout come more as a roar full of anger.
Some words were exchanged unilaterally.
The reason behind the shout was apparent.
In the hands of the Pythia duke were both a scared Ch'en and a struggling Talulah.
Seeing the duke with his nieces, Wei prepared to take out Chi Xiao, which was fastened on the inside of his attire, on the still air borne duke and shred him to-
He released her still in mid-air.
Ch'en is falling.
Time seemed to stop for Wei, and without thinking it twice, he let's go of the dragon slaying sword and jumped to catch the falling girl.
That made it so that the one in the air was Wei, while the one on the ground Koshchei.
With the roles reversed, he didn't waste the opportunity and aimed a serpent like attack filled with arts onto both Wei and Ch'en.
However, just as the attack was going to hit, Wei took Chi Xiao with its sheath still on to block it, but he still was sent flying away thanks to the clash.
"Ch'en!" The young Talulah screams, seeing Wei and Ch'en being launched by the attack. "Let… Me… Go!" She shouts while struggling more, however it made no effect on the duke.
As he rolled across the grassy ground, he tried to keep his eyes onto the retreating Koshchei, while at the same time protecting the Lung girl in his hands. If he could he would have got up instead of rolling so much, but he feared that Ch'en would get hurt by such a sudden action, so he endured it.
The moment he stopped, he checked the girl on his arms. Seeing how she was unharmed, Wei finally took a breath and got up.
He wanted to stay still on the grass, but before he could totally relax he needed to save Talulah.
As he was about to run behind Koshchei, a little hand grabs his clothes, stopping him.
Looking behind him he sees that it's Ch'en.
Wei was about to say something, however when he looks at her, his eyes open in astonishment.
The girl is pale and trembling. Her mouth quivering uncontrollably. And finally her grip so strong that a little bit more and she should be able to rip the clothes.
'She is in shock?!'
As the thought enter his mind, he is left with two options.
Follow Koshchei and leave Ch'en alone here until someone comes, or stay here with her but lose Talulah.
A second later, he already made his decision and takes the little girl in a hug.
"Ch'en, hear me out." He says while slowly caressing the girl and looking at her directly. "I am sorry, but you need to help me out."
The girl calms a bit at the familiar words, and looks at Wei with dumbfounded eyes.
"We need to go help Tal. I will need you to follow me."
'This is a bad decision, even I know it, however I can't let her be here alone, when more people of Koshchei are in the city. And seeing how the fucker was unharmed, the bodyguard is probably out of the equation.' Wei thinks rapidly.
"I am sorry that I need to pressure you but-"
Ch'en slightly nods, almost no quivering in sight.
This surprises Wei, but accepts it nonetheless.
'…Without Tal she is timid and easily scared, but when she needs to help her she won't hesitate. Even shrugging the shock of earlier for her.' Wei smiles at the thought of his niece.
"Then let's go!" Wei says while taking the kid in his arms. "Fumizuki, don't leave the apartment complex! I'll come back soon!"
After hearing a short but distant answer, he leaves to follow Koshchei.
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The rain starts to get heavier.
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.
After minutes of following Koshchei with the Lung in his arms, Wei's pocket vibrates, indicating that a call is coming from his intercom. He takes it out fast and gives it to Ch'en while saying the following:
"Could you please maintain this button pressed?" He says as he tries not to take out of his vision from the faraway duke.
With a nod from the girl, the call starts.
"Wei! We almost got rid of the-" Lin tries to tell Wei, however he is interrupted.
"Head to the deck on District five! I am right now following Koshchei." Wei says rapidly, never taking his eyes from the duke.
"…Alright, wait for us!" Lin stays silent for some seconds but responds and ends the call.
"Thank you Ch'en." He says to the girl, which responds with a weak nod.
Seeing that, Wei regrets not preparing himself better against Koshchei's plan earlier.
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.
Minutes passed again, and they are close to leaving the city.
Turning his gaze back to the closing figure of the duke, he asks to the child in his arms.
"Can I ask you to press it again?" Wei says to Ch'en. The moment she does, he talks. "He is right now on the bridge separating the decking point of district five and-"
*BOOM!*
However his words are cut short by the sound of explosions and the moving ground.
He looks around and…
The bridge is… breaking in half.
"Mister Wei!" A voice resounds from behind him, however the gigantic dust cloud makes it so his figure in impossible to see. "Have caution!" It belonged to one of the shadows.
"That I know!" Wei shouts in response while trying to stabilize himself while holding Ch'en. "Where is Lin?!"
"Mister Lin stayed behind because another invader appeared suddenly. We were sent to support you in replacement." The shadow that shouted before answered.
"Alright." Wei responded after seeing that Ch'en was without a single injury.
After some seconds, when the dust cloud passes thanks to the heavy rain, they raise their faces and see him looking down on them.
The Pythia duke with a red umbrella in one hand and a struggling Talulah in the other.
"Those are some great raincoats to tell you the truth, too bad they only come in black colour." Koshchei finally speaks with mirth in his voice.
"…the situation on the capital is becoming increasingly tense these past days. Already, seventeen royal guards were attacked by civilians on…"
'At the end I wasn't able to convince her.'
I think while looking outside of the cabin we stayed for some time now. It was snowing so hard, that after some meters, the only thing you could see was white.
The village of Kazin is small and so picturesque that looks like something out of a fairy tale. What is incredible is that it isn't as bad as I thought. The government of this part of Ursus takes good care of it for some reason.
However even though its beauty was enough to take the breath out of people, I couldn't appreciate it as much as I wanted to. Because I can't stop thinking about them.
A month and one or two weeks passed since we came here. Mom and dad moved like they knew the place from before, although they said that they never came here before.
Another lie.
'…'
I passed the majority of days alone, as they went to do something outside.
When I asked them about it, they just told me it was adult things, but there wasn't any innuendo in those words, just concern.
They said it like that because I am a child.
It was the same with the 'vacations'.
And-
'…'
Maybe it was some type of work they were doing. I don't know.
What mattered is that there was no way knowing when we are going back to Moscor.
'No, Sergey didn't change his opinion.'
I state, thinking that Misha wasn't the one on fault.
This happened countless times.
I started by searching if I could have done something more, entering in denial.
Then I found out that it wouldn't have worked and start to get annoyed.
In that annoyance I tried to find more options.
But I always ended up here, in front of one of the windows of the cabin.
Then finally I completely calmed down, accepting that in the end I can't change the past.
After that, the cycle repeated the next day.
'…'
It's pathetic.
I know pretty well.
And I try to stop, however I can't.
I passed all the days like these until training hours came. In that time I used my irritation to train harder and tire myself from it, and only stopping when dizziness overcame me prompting me to where I am right now.
Yith of course, didn't come with us, but he gave me two things before we left.
It was a book and one of those retractable poles for self-defence, but unlike the normal ones, when totally extended, a big arrowhead came out of one of the extremes. It wasn't sharp, but being hit by it would hurt a lot.
So a retractable spear instead of a pole. What was surprising about it, is that it was perfect for myself. It wasn't too heavy nor too light.
As soon they were put on my hand he said:
"It's time for you to learn something apart from arts, however because of the situation, I needed to make some amends. The book right there is one explaining the basics of spear training. I want you to train the first three to four chapters for the time being, then later down the line I will help you with the others."
What made me strange about it, was that my parents weren't against the gift. More, they welcomed it. Especially my mom. She jumped in glee when she saw the two things.
Meaning that my parents knew that Yith was training me to use arts…
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Who are they really?
'…'
I try to disperse my thoughts as I look behind me.
The cabin was a lot bigger than the apartment in Moscor, and it had one big living room fused with the kitchen, forming an L and three room's right next to the other, filling the last part of the void made by the L, making the cabin totally squared. Of course one was my bedroom, where all the books that I had on my bedroom on Moscor are, and next to it was mom and dad's bedroom. Finally the other room was a bathroom. It was warmer inside of the cabin that in Moscor because we had a hearth on the living room right next to a really big sofa which had the TV in front of it, but in contrast the weather outside was colder.
So cold that if you went outside at night, hypothermia became a common problem.
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.
"…the amount of disappeared increases by the day, and already a grand total of 103 people…" The news continues on the background.
The news that I hear every day always come with more injured, disappeared and causalities about the capital. Sometimes they say their names, other times not.
It maintains me and lets me know about the situation on Moscor, but at the same times it acts as a poison because…
'I can't get them out of my head.'
…I only get myself more concerned about Misha and Alex.
Just thinking about what she said the last day makes me more depressed.
"I'll be waiting for you, so don't worry and have fun." She said with her familiar childish smile. "Just have caution, because the moment you come back you'll see that I'll be more intelligent than you!"
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.
Those were the last words that Misha said to me before we came to here.
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I try to think of another thing, but…
It's hard.
I try to think of something while looking at the beautiful landscape in front of me…
But I can't.
And to add insult to injury…
Is that I can't even feel angry!
Without thinking I hit the wall in front of me.
I can't feel angry at the fate of my friends!
The moment I thought about it, I continued hitting the wall of the cabin.
"Why!?" I shout in irritation.
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Before I knew it my eyes were hot.
I can feel it. How my body wants to bath in said anger, however something is holding it.
It feels like I am drowning, like I try to breath, but no air comes to my lungs.
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.
I know it.
I am just throwing a tantrum. I punch the wall with my fists, kick it, and shout at it with all of my force.
I try everything.
Everything just to try to feel it.
'Let me just be a bit angry.'
Please!
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No response.
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"Fuck!" I bellow in annoyance, while using my hurting hands to take out the tears and snoot coming down my face. "Time!" I say while looking at the ceiling out of reflex. "Why the fuck I can't do anything!? Or even feel anger!? Why!?"
My shouting resounded on the cabin, waiting for a response.
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However only silence was heard.
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"Shit… why…" I say slowly becoming quieter. "Why…"
My body felt weak.
Before I knew it, I was sitting with my back to the wall I was kicking before.
I stayed there for god knows how much time. Maybe it was only seconds or minutes…
Hours?
I…
I don't know nor care.
I just know that I was there.
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After some moments, I just looked at the television from the wall, where the news continued.
Although it looked like I was unresponsive, I was just thinking-
Or better said hoping…
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Hoping that…
*sniff*
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.
That although minuscule, my meeting with them should have changed their future…
End of chapter 8: Fading War.
End of Arc I: Unchanging times.
Author's note: ON!
11061 words without counting both Author's notes.
The first illustration.
My. Fucking. God.
A bit more and my soul would have left my body.
I would have become a husk.
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.
I took a long time didn't I?
It's good to finally write something.
And before we continue I'll talk why I wasn't able to upload as often as I wanted (If you don't want to read it, just pass it):
Since October of the past year, I started studying to enter a pretty hard university in my country, which had an entrance exam on December.
Long story short, all of that studying went right to the toilet because I failed with a one (out of ten). So, I needed to take a summer course done by the same university from end of January until twenty of March.
Said course, teaches the subjects I needed to know, but it had exams too. In two parts. So after suffering for a second time, I learned from my mistakes and passed the course, the first part with a six (minimum note to pass it) and the second part with a ten out of ten. (I decimated that one)
That's the reason my upload schedule was horrifying.
Although I had other things in the middle, but that is a more personal topic.
I just hope that I don't take too much with the next upload, because the following arc is where everything will become better and... Hue hue.
And before you panic, no, I won't take an extensive break with the following chapter, because if I do, it will release the next year knowing myself.
Anyways, this chapter was as a combination of a thank you and sorry for waiting so long.
There is a lot of parts that I loved when I made this chapter, especially the talk of Lin and Wei on top of the landship, Wei and Koshchei's encounter, and Micha's trying to convince Misha. And to tell you the truth I was thinking of which part to illustrate, but I choose the first one, not only because it's easier, but because if I wanted to upload the chapter without passing three months since the last one, I needed to do it fast. (In reality I can't draw weather and I thought it was going to be easier so…. Yeah.)
[Hey, Hiogen from the future. This author's note I wrote it before I finished with the illustration, so I must add, that the drawing almost didn't make it because of how burned out I was from making it. So if you want, go take a look. Please.]
And before we go to the reviews, tell me in which part I made a mistake or something, because with a 10k chapter it is much harder to find an error than a 5k one.
Without further ado, here are the reviews:
Notice me sempai.2nd (Responding both reviews):
First review - Woooo Baby! That's what we been waiting for!
Second review - Yeah don't worry, although I don't have a cat, sometimes my dog is pretty rebellious, but he is a good boy nonetheless.
wwgaming: Yeah, you thought! (Says while sweating bullets)
AyakiTz: Oh no Yith is dead! Anyways… And unfortunately for you, the Victoria Royal Guard School is Arc III, so you'll need to wait for it (Shit, spoilers!).
techiocon: You were almost right, but in reality two months and a half passed! (I am not proud of that, like at all). I am trying to make it as lore friendly as I can, however with each chapter, and with each event, more and more lore is coming onto it, making it hard to keep track of the already knowing lore sometimes (I am pretty sure I had a part before which wasn't as lore friendly because I forgot for a bit, but right now I can't remember which one was it.).
IamNotaTrap: Unfortunately not. It was a cameo to Hellagur, as he deserts in the middle of the Bloodpeak campaign, meanwhile Patriot deserts later on the Great Rebellion. And I feel the same, his death was incredibly tragic…
Anyways, I hope I can see you soon, as here ends the Author's note!
So…
See you next time!
Author's Note: OFF!