"Ah. Sh*t I didn't expect this." Zeke said to himself, angered by his own lack of foresight.
Right now, he is in his subconscious again. His real body is fast and heavily asleep. With the amount of stress built up by his body, he knows that it won't be waking up anytime soon.
"This won't do. This definitely won't lead to anything good." He continued, knowing that his body would need around 12 hours of sleep at this point before he can regain consciousness.
Zeke wanted to do something, anything in his power in order to create a change. His mind quickly raced to all possible routes and, at every turn he takes in the maze of his own mind, all he sees is a dead end. A giant wall that looms over him which he cannot pass through. For the first time in his life, Zeke felt powerless.
"The voice chat is unavailable. I can only get a feed from everything that's happening through Allesiah's eyes but, that in itself won't be enough." Zeke continued.
With a heavy sigh, Zeke decided to just focus on optimizing both his set of [Skills] and [Items] so that, when he wakes up, he can act quickly. As he did this, he opened the rewards list of his quests. There are two that he has yet to claim. One is the [Memory Piece] and the other is the [Meeting with the Goddess of the Hunt].
With the choices laid before him and, knowing that he won't be waking up anytime soon, Zeke decided to play the [Memory Piece].
[Beginning Transmission…]
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"How should we search for them?" Allesiah asked, bringing her staff along just in case she encounters an enemy.
"I have an idea. Why don't we split up? That way we have a better chance of finding them." Glade said with a smile on his face.
"That's true, we should also use a communication spell in order to update each other." Sylph continued, agreeing with the idea of Glade.
At this, the three separated routes. Glade's expression changed after they all turned their backs, moving to where the capital's soldiers are residing. Meanwhile Allesiah moved carefully, making sure that she wouldn't get inside any area with too many people.
She is nervous of course. After all, among the two of her sisters, she respects Sylvia the most. Not only is she a refined woman and an elf looked up by everyone, she is also the envy of all female noblewoman as she was chosen to be the bride of the future king. Adding to Allesiah's worry is that she still hasn't reached a level where she could match her sister at spellcasting.
Her breathing became heavy as she continued moving through town. Going through the whole of Hezsfra is not an easy task after all. The size of the place could be considered as big as the capital of Elysium. Gigantic trees can be seen all around and, their roots envelope the houses, making the place look a bit more enchanted and ancient.
Allesiah kept worrying but then, she remembered the conversation she had with Zeke before they left. She remembered how Zeke smiled to her with so much resolve, telling her to go meet up with her sisters. And this gave her courage, enough for her to finally be able to make up with her sister Sylph and, probably also enough resolve to face Sylvia on equal footing.
As she thought of all this, she reached the end of an alleyway that leads to the town square. And there, walking alongside a man of warrior - like build, is her sister Sylvia.
"Sister!" She shouted, making Sylvia look at her for a moment. The last that she would probably be able to see.
As she was about to approach, soldiers descended into the scene, surrounding the whole town square with 300 elves of various job classes. There are archers, spellcasters, swordsmen, defenders, and two abominations – monsters that have only been used during the calamity war 1,000 years ago.
"What's going on?" Allesiah said to herself, remembering clearly that the letter Zeke found told that the operation would happen tomorrow.
"Why are they moving now?" Allesiah said, wanting to move but suddenly not being able to. She saw Sylvia mouth some words which made her drop to the ground. Allesiah is then covered by a kind of invisible wall, preventing the soldiers from seeing her.
"No. No!" Allesiah said, watching the whole scene unfold.
In the middle of it all, both Hark and Sylvia are prepared to begin battle. Hark brought out two broadswords while Sylvia brought out a staff made from the wind itself.
There was a second of stillness that seemed to hang in the air. It seemed to suffocate everyone, wanting to move and, this began by the closing in of the defenders. They circled the two with their thick shields, moving in closely so as to trap Hark and Sylvia.
Hark didn't allow this to happen as he jumped up and over the formation. The archers and spellcasters tried to act in response but, Sylvia created a thick mist that covered the whole area. The denseness of the spell prevented the elves from seeing anything until it is finally right in front of them.
However, Hark had the perfect skill to complement the fog. He only has three skills in his arsenal yet, it is also these three skills that he honed to perfection. The first two are what he relies on for most of his battles while, his third skill is something which he rathers not use.
[Skill Name: Primal Instinct]
[Rank: A]
[Skill Type: Passive]
[Mana Consumed: None]
[Information: Heightens the five sense of the skill owner. Reaction time is also increased exponentially, making things look as if they are moving slower than usual when desired.]
…
[Skill Name: The Monarch]
[Rank: A]
[Skill Type: Active]
[Mana Consumed: 500]
[Information: Increases the base stats of the skill owner tenfold. An armor made of mana is also created, giving weapons of the same kind. The skill [Decimating Slash] is also added. The backlash after the skill duration ends will paralyze the caster for a short duration, hindering any form of movement.]
Activating both skills gave Hark the upper hand in the battle. The reason why he was able to lead a rebellion which relied solely on humans with pickaxes and shovels is because, he in himself is enough to deal a large blow to the capital.
He moved through the battlefield, using [Decimating Slash] to destroy the soldiers who moved in groups as they tried to find Hark. But then, a blade hindered Hark's – surprising him as this is followed by two fireballs.
"I kinda hoped you weren't with them." Hark said as the same blade tried slashing him again. He leapt up in the air, but as he did, five ice spears came flying toward him. With his enhanced senses and attributes, he was able to dodge them all and land on the ground again.
"You shouldn't rely on that skill too much. It's taxing for a human's body." Hark's enemy came forward, swinging his sword forward which Hark deflected.
"Then you shouldn't' have ambushed us with this many soldiers." He replied, knowing that it is the elven general he is now facing.
As Hark continued fighting, Sylvia also did her part and began shooting down all the long-range opponents. Like Hark, Sylvia also has a skill which helped her move through the mist but, she knows that some archers and spellcasters would also have this. A hunch that was confirmed as she saw the spells that tried to make contact with her husband.
"Oh no you don't!" She said, tying up her hair – a gesture she does whenever she goes all out. In a single instant, she was able to create multiple magic circles; enough to surround the whole town square.
"Ember's Spite!" She shouted, creating flame orbs out of the magic circles that went after opponents from every direction. Some got hit in the process – shouting as they got burnt. Then there were others who are either able to dodge or block the attack.
"There's no end to them." Sylvia said, feeling tired from continually firing off AoE spells.
"Flash Freeze." She continued, targeting the furthest areas within the area and holding down the enemies there.
Although both of them are worn out, they know that they can win the fight. But then, A spell stronger than Sylvia's broke the fog, shocking the couple and all the soldiers in the area.
"I expected nothing less from Master Sylvia and the King Slayer." A voice said, making everyone look at the direction where the sound came from.
Right in the middle of the town square is Glade, with an unconscious Sylph tied down – a blade pointed at her neck.
"Glade! What is the meaning of this!" Sylvia shouted, knowing the male elf all too well.
The only reason why she was able to leave the capital without worrying about Sylph is because, she knew she could trust Glade Yet here he is, threatening to kill her sister.
"Please calm down." Glade said, with a worried look on his face. He has already mastered the art of deception, lying to everyone for the purpose of his goals.
"Good work soldier." Erio said, coming to the side of Glade as he breathed heavily from the exchange with Hark.
The Blademaster also came back to the side of Sylvia who didn't know what to do next.
"The next part is actually pretty simple. Both of you are to surrender or else, we'll be taking your precious sister's life."
"You fiend! I trusted you!" Sylvia shouted, not able to do anything.
"And who's fault is that?" Glade answered, holding back the thrill he felt at the moment.
Hark knew how much his wife loved her siblings. He also knows that she left them with a heavy heart and, would even wake up at nights because she thought of how they are doing.
"It's fine." Hark said. Dropping his swords to the ground which made Sylvia look.
"I'm sorry." Sylvia replied, making her staff vanish.
Allesiah watched the whole scene unfold before her, unable to do anything. Sylvia didn't look at her again as it may give her coordinates away. As the soldiers took their targets, Glade stopped and looked at Allesiah. His eyes looking nothing like the Glade she knew of.
"He can't see me right?" Allesiah said, knowing that the concealing spell is still in effect.
But then, Glade gave a menacing smile to her. Looking directly at her eyes before moving with the soldiers.
At this, the sun began to set. With all the enemies gone, the spells used by Sylvia vanished, leaving Allesiah in the middle of a darkened alley and allowing the grief to consume her from her own helplessness.