"Reporting for duty, sir!" The one who spoke was the healer's squad leader, Miyazaki. The healer's squad contained 13 members.
"Your orders are simple. When the storm hits us, heal any and every protector who get's burnt due to over accumulation of dark energy particles on his body. Position three healers at each of the four assigned locations atop the wall and you will continue patrolling the four points throughout the operation. Is that understood?" A busy Hisashi ordered as he was over seeing the preparations for the night's operation.
"Roger that, sir." Miyazaki left after she gave a rigid salute to Hisashi.
"Split up into four groups, cadets." The healer's squad in front of Miyazaki, split up as they were directed to. "You are given the names H1, H2, H3 and H4. Is that understood?"
"MAM, YES MAM!" The cadets in front of her shouted in unison as they slipped into a salute position.
"Everything looks good so far. None of my men noticed any unusual behaviour from any civilian in the city. Looks like we were successful in maintaining the confidentiality of the situation." Isao Sato, captain of the patrol squad approached Hisashi at a slow pace as he viewed how the preparations were going on.
"It would be great if things just continue like this. Order all the citizens to be indoors today by 8 pm. Let's just get this done with and get ourselves a drink tomorrow." Hisashi let out a loose smile as he looked towards Isao.
"Yeah...Let's get a drink just like you said, but you are paying Hisashi. See you later." Isao marched away as he trapped Hisashi into buying him a drink.
"Wait...I never said...uh" Hisashi sighed as he saw Isao leave before he could finish his sentence. "This guy just never changes." He murmured to himself as he diverted his focus back towards work.
"We are almost finished. Hold the grip and the blade together Ken! Shin increase the heat. Miss Izumi, you need to concentrate...this is the last day." Ryu ordered as he kept the spell intact.
"Got it..." A heavily panting Izumi replied with a husky tone as Ken and Shin followed Ryu's orders exactly as he said.
The tang at the edge of the blade melted slowly due to the heat. The tang slid itself into the grip and fitted exactly inside the grip's vacant space as it melted down a little bit and started to become one with the grip.
"Stop it! That would be enough. It would be my work from here onwards." Ryu ordered as he held the fully forged Soul Sword, a Katana, in his hands.
As Izumi was about to collapse after transferring energy straight for six hours, Shin caught her and slowly sat her down as Ken handed her a glass of water.
"Thanks Ken..." Izumi slowly drank the water with heavy panting.
"Congratulations on holding yourself out till the end, Miss Izumi. I just need to shape the Katana's blade and Grip's junction we just made and let it cool for a while. You will have your sword by tomorrow evening." Ryu congratulated as he smiled looking towards the Soul sword he made after a long time.
"Thank you, Mr. Takahashi. I will be here tomorrow evening and pay the charges in full and take my Soul sword." Izumi thanked Ryu as she forced a smile on her exhausted face.
"Shin...take Miss Izumi home and go on with the night stroll you asked me for. Ken help me with the final touches of the Soul sword and we will close the workshop for the day after we finish this." Ryu ordered the two around as he was checking out the Soul sword's condition.
"I will take my leave then Mr. Takahashi." Izumi said as she left with Shin.
"Sir, the storm is in a range that we can sense it now." Hisashi stated as he walked slowly towards a calm Zeyner who was atop of the North gate with his eyes closed as he sensed the approaching storm of darkness.
"Let's begin...pass the order Hisashi!" Zeyner ordered as his face suddenly turned serious as he faced Hisashi.
"Sir!" Hisashi turned around and walked towards the edge of the wall as he shouted "Begin the operation! Assume formation! Ready yourself to infuse energy! healer's, position yourselves!"
Roughly 250 protectors were present there for the operation. Upon hearing Hisashi's order they all shouted in unison "Yes, Sir!"
All the protectors on the wall spread towards four different spots of the large fortified Northern wall of Areon as 125 protectors waited as standby on the ground to replace the protectors who can't continue any more.
"Sir, Every one's in position and awaiting your order." Isao reported to Zeyner as he sensed the storm a few hundred meters away.
"Order them to get ready to infuse their energy into the barrier." Zeyner nodded as he riled up his energy causing strong winds to emit from where he stood as the energy started to go wild inside him.
"CLYPEUS AUTEM...!!!" A golden coloured energy circle appeared over the city as Zeyner's eyes engulfed with pure golden coloured energy as he activated the spell.
A tremendous amount of energy was released from the protector's office in the city which made it's way towards the large energy circle situated right above it. White, pure energy filled the protector's office as if a beam of energy engulfed the head quarters. Strong winds swept through the city for a moment in response to the release of such tremendous energy.
The circle started to fade as it dissipated the energy it received to create a dome shaped energy barrier over the city which slowly spread to engulf the city.
"Infuse your energy into the barrier, c'mon put your back into it protectors. Concentrate!" All the protectors atop the wall infused their energy into the barrier and held the barrier firmly with their energy as they concentrated everything they got into the barrier.
"I really do hope, no one saw the energy circle created above the city. Even though we ordered the city to stay indoors after 8 pm today, we didn't give them a reason. Some people might be roaming outside defying our orders." Isao complained to Hisashi as he infused his energy along with Hisashi and other captains.
"If anyone causes any trouble, the remaining protectors and the captains who are waiting to replace us will take care of it as fast as they can and rush back here. So, you concentrate on the infusion." Hisashi ordered a nagging Isao.
The barrier had no colour but could be sensed by any protector as it emitted a powerful aura. It was around 9:30 in the night by the time, Areon was hit by the storm.
"Brace yourselves protectors, here it comes." Zeyner shouted as he saw the incoming storm.
The storm hit the barrier causing the barrier to move a few inches back, forcing the protectors back as well. "Hold it mates!...Hold it steady!" Isao shouted as he held his position.
Shin sensed what was going on in the city as he sat on the cliff he always comes to, as the sea waves hit the cliff slowly, miles away from the city.
"I can't let that breeze of darkness touch me, I don't want to get reminded of the dark past it bought along with itself." Shin whispered in the dark as he slipped into meditation to control his energy and his feelings.