Hikari lays still inside the bed and repeats what the king had said to him. The king nods his head saying, "Yes, a mission. Something fairly easy, not too much of a hassle if I do say so myself.". Hikari looks down at his hands and notices that they are shaking a little. Hikari's knowledge of the future makes him feel uneasy. All of the times Arcadia killed him in the Infinite Azure, that wasn't real, but this was real, and Hikari knows he is supposed to die. Hikari takes a deep breath and asks what the mission is supposed to be. The king rises from the chair, walks towards the door, and leans on it. "You are just going to be put on night watch at the capital gates. It could do the troops some good to work with you, raise their morale since things have been so grim during the war." the king says firmly. Hikari nods his head and says, "Yes sir." before getting out of bed. "Ryke will fill you in on the rest before you head to the gate, so make sure you've spoken to him and properly prepared yourself." the king tells Hikari before leaving the room. The king smiles a sick and filthy smile not befitting royalty when he finally closes the door behind him. The king walks swiftly back to the throne room and sits on the throne, feeling happy and content with himself. Everything he needed was coming together. The king blinks, and suddenly a tall man in a black leather hood is standing in front of him. "I'm sorry for my lateness, my king. It was difficult to get what you asked for, keep it in "that" place, and sneak into your very secure palace." The man says in a deep, strong voice. The king smiles at the man, leaning forward with intrigue. "You, good sir, cost me a lot of gold. The fact that you are standing here right now just proves that you were worth every gold coin." the king says, complimenting the hooded figure. "Yes, well, you paid my service fee, so I must do my best to satisfy the customer, in this case, you." The hooded man says seriously and firmly. "Well, either way, you have done wonderfully and especially for someone contacted on such short notice." The king says. The king continues by saying, "When the sun goes down, I want you to release that Umbra onto the section of the wall I told you about. Be quick and let no one see you. We need there to be as few questions as possible, if you get what I'm saying." The man in the dark cloak slowly bows down and promises he will act swiftly and efficiently. The cloaked man turns around to leave the room, and the king blinks. When his eyes reopened, all trace of the cloaked figure being there was gone. The king smiles to himself on the throne. While he was sacrificing a hero, he would also be regaining one of the most powerful weapons in all of creation. In his eyes, this was an even trade, power for power, a weapon for a weapon.
The princess, who was listening in on the whole conversation, chuckles softly and walks away. In her eyes, her father was a disgusting man, always plotting when there were much more simple solutions. While she was no better, she knew that this was a terrible plan and a huge mistake. The heroes were tools, but unlike other tools, they could not be easily replaced. She walks swiftly and with purpose down the halls. The princess has decided to try and foil her silly father's plan for the sake of the kingdom, but most importantly, for the fun of the game. Her mind raced and played with all kinds of scenarios, like what kind of Umbra would be released. How many lives would be lost, or maybe how strong would Hikari be. The thoughts her mind had the most fun with were of sacrifice. How many could she sacrifice while still making Hikari seem noble and powerful? That's when it all clicked inside of her head, and pressure was building in her loins. Only one sacrifice would be necessary, but it would be so world-shattering to Hikari that it would be worth ten thousand sacrifices. She replays the thought of his despair inside her mind over and over again until a powerful release of ecstasy explodes inside her. She collapses to the ground covered in sweat and light-headed. Yes, this plan would be her ultimate experience so far and the worst day of Hikari's life. It was perfect.
Elsewhere, a few hours later in the palace, Tiki is just getting out of the shower after a hard workout. The thought of her fight with Hikari is replaying inside her mind and it causes her to be uneasy. She knew Hikari was strong but he was stronger than she had expected. She considered not holding back a few times during the fight because of how fast he had grown. As she gets dressed, she focuses on the last surge of power she felt from Hikari. It was unlike anything else she had ever felt before, it made her feel small, it felt like an overbearing holy power. She walks over to the mirror and looks at her fine muscles. Not too burly, but not thin and stringy. While she is checking out her body when the Hero Mark on her chest dimly glows a golden hue, letting her know that something foul is afoot. She finishes getting dressed and grabs her sword. She rushes out the door but sees nothing. This catches her off guard, this is the capital of humanity where all the heroes reside. Hor there to be some unsavory actions going on around them seems so unreal. However, the Heroes Mark is never wrong no matter how faint the glow is, if it glows, that means there is something wrong. Tiki thinks about who is closest to her and runs to Hikari's room. She bursts into the room, startling Hikari and the magician doing advanced healing magic on his wounds. Hikari sits up quickly but hurts his ribs from the sudden movements. The nurse backs away from the bed as Tiki approaches them quickly. "Hikari, are you ok? The Heroes Mark sensed something, and I needed to check up on you." Hikari tells her that everything is fine here and that he needs to get healed. Tiki rolls up her sleeves and casts a high healing spell on Hikari before stumbling back into the wall. She shakes her head to clear her mind before smiling and saying, "Your welcome, Hikari". All of Hikari's wounds are gone and he practically feels brand new in his body. Tiki rushes out of the room before Hikari can ask what's going on and Hikari dismisses the mage from his side politely.
Hikari stands up and stretches his body. He fully dresses in his alternate hero uniform. The design is elaborate but simple in the color palette, black with hints of gold. After fully dressing, Hikari leaves the palace but not before talking to Ryke to get the full details of the mission. Ryke sits him down at a round table before saying, "What you're doing tonight is a simple night watch. All you need to do is watch and protect the outer wall from approaching Umbras and other wild animals, a fairly easy job to do for you. Just stay there for the night and come back after you are relieved in the morning." calmly. Hikari remains silent but nods his head. Hikari leaves the room and leaves the palace quickly, each step with purpose. When Hikari gets outside he takes a deep breath, tastes the air, and reminisces on old memories before summoning Infinite Azure to his hand. "I've got to stay alert tonight. If I don't, it'll be the end of me." Hikari whispers to himself. Hikari takes a deep breath before summoning mana and flying to the edge of the capital, the wall. Hikari checks into the guard and takes his place, does what he's told, and kills any Umbra that comes near the walls. Hikari never got too comfortable while on duty, but he doesn't sense anything too dangerous. Well, anything too dangerous to him. Hikari had been on duty for about five hours, and nothing peculiar had happened. Nothing out of the ordinary walked through the night. After Hikari had finished his sixth hour of guard duty, Hikari walked into the break room inside the wall and sat down at a table full of men. The room goes silent when he sits down, and Hikari coughs to break the silence. "Hello everyone, a fine night we're having, right?" Hikari says jokingly. Everyone groans in disapproval and either turns away from Hikari or goes back to their regular conversations, ignoring Hikari's attempt to break the ice. A young soldier walks over to Hikari's table as the men leave the table. The young man decides to sit with Hikari which confuses Hikari a little. The young man was a little older than Hikari, nineteen to be precise. His beard was starting to take solid footing, and he had no scars on his face, unlike other soldiers in the room. He was smiling brightly, and you could tell he was a cheerful guy. He was skinny with blonde hair, blue eyes, and an air of optimism. "Don't mind the veterans of the wall man, they just kinda hate you and all, but it doesn't last forever." The young man says with an upbeat voice. "Wait, they hate me? I didn't even do anything wrong to them!" Hikari remarks. The young man chuckles at Hikari and says, "Don't take it personally man. They don't hate you. It's more like they hate what you are and everything you have. I mean think about it, you were born with limitless potential and power from day one. You're special. You have the Heroes Sigil!" the boy exclaims. Hikari scoffs at the statement and rolls his eyes. "They have no idea what I've been through to get my strength. Maybe I'm naturally more gifted than them, I'll give them that, but I had to work hard to get here. I've been training my swordsmanship and body since I was young. I've only just started learning magic and I can only use basic attacking spells. I've poured my blood sweat and tears into my training. For everyone to think that I have it easy is a lie." Hikari grumbles. The skinny young man shrugs his shoulders sarcastically and lets out a sigh. "Well, either way, you're stuck here till morning comes. So best to ignore it and do ya job right." The young man gets up from his chair and starts to walk away before telling Hikari his name is Deb. Hikari gets some food and finishes his thirty-minute break before turning to guard duty in The Wall. Hikari looks at the sky and wonders, did he fret for nothing. Nothing happened tonight, just a lot of anxiety and unnecessary stress. Deb walks over to Hikari and leans on the railing overlooking the wall and looks at the sky with Hikari. "Looks like tonight went pretty smoothly with you here, Hikari. You'll be dismissed pretty soon, wanna get something to eat after this?" Deb smiled at Hikari, and it was a pretty smile. Hikari shrugs and says, "Fine, I might at well go with you. The food here tastes horrible, so a good breakfast should clean my tongue." Deb turns away and does a silent celebration. He pushes himself off the railing and falls back against the wall. "Great, then I'll see you in-" SPLAT! Deb's head explodes, and a black hand had pierced his head. The arm that had pierced Deb's head was elongated and stretched far beyond the shadow of the wall. Hikari was lost for words. It was a bloody mess, brain matter was splattered against the back of the wall and his body still convulsed as his corpse released its bowels and bladder. Only when Deb's head began to slide down the creature's arm because of the hole in it did Hikari scream. He yelled so loud that people rushed to the area to see what had happened, and were just as shocked as Hikari. Hikari turned his head and saw a pair of red glowing eyes approach from the shadows. It was a pitch-black creature, its limbs were sinewy and thin and back smoke radiated off of its body. The rest of the night's guard had begun to notice the creature too and were on guard. The arm of the creature retracted back to its body making the corpse fall to the ground. The thing smiled and opened its mouth saying in a disgusting hollow voice, "All of you, all of you will die. And know that when you die, I will lay this city to waste and feast on your families and their unborn children. This is my feast, and you are all my meals. You all now have permission to die".