CHAPTER 22 - "Greetings, Klaus"
This web novel is a draft of the story. Please expect frequent changes and updates as I see fit. Enjoy! -Cloki
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-Siegfried revealed the truth about the Goddess Camriel to Azure in the Oakheart Inn, and initially, she didn't believe him, until Jurgen walked in and confirmed it as the truth. Jurgen also stated that others like Siegfried may exist in this world, Hiroshi, being a prime example. Siegfried and Azure are now resting in the Oakheart Inn before they will return to Formai.
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~~IN HASHER'S CASTLE~~
Vega: "Rigel, would you take me through exactly what transpired between you and Siegfried? I'm sure you experienced his true power... first hand... didn't you?"
-Vega chuckled as she lowered her hands. She ceased her healing spell on Rigel and looked at him. Rigel averted his eyes and assumed an annoyed expression as if he wished not to speak about his defeat at the hands of Siegfried. Vega turned Rigel's head toward hers, and proceeded to speak to him once more~
Vega: "Rigel-san, as I told Gurix earlier, don't worry about a petty defeat such as this. Despite you disregarding Hasher's warning, I'm impressed you managed to do the damage you did."
Rigel: "What damage? He's alive and well, I did jack shit to him..."
Vega: "That's not what Hasher told me, Rigel..."
-Rigel then looked toward Vega, and his eyes opened slightly more than normal. He sat up in his bed and stretched. Flakes of dead skin began to fall as he stretched, as a result of his injuries~
Rigel: "Well then, if the boss man has something else to say, then spill it, Vega. What did he think?"
Vega: "Well as you know Rigel, Hasher's clairvoyance is unparalleled. He can pretty much tap into any ongoings in Provincia whenever he wants to. He saw your battle and told me to tell you these words."
~~FLASHBACK~~
Hasher: "I'm seeing terrible things, Vega... terrible, terrible things..."
Vega: "What are you seeing, my lord?"
Hasher: "My suspicions have officially been confirmed. Siegfried, to put it bluntly, is beating the shit out of Rigel... he seems to have turned himself into a deity-like figure, he's literally flying, Vega."
Vega: "Do you think Rigel will make it out alive? Shall I try to retrieve him quickly before Siegfried can kill him? I could fly there in a minute or two and back..."
-Being a young witch, Vega is able to control a flight spell through the use of her large staff. Like a broomstick, she can fly upon it, and traverse all of Provincia in a matter of minutes. She is incredibly skilled with movement spells, and could easily retrieve Rigel should she need to~
Hasher: "I sense no need to retrieve Rigel. If he's smart, and actually listened to even a few words that I told him, he would make use of the portal I opened to him. He can channel a blink spell through it, and appear here if he needs to..."
Vega: "Yes, my lord. I'm sure we will be seeing him shortly. What shall I tell him, should he arrive, my lord?"
Hasher: "If Rigel survives, and returns, tell him I commend his efforts, and that he came within a hair's length of killing Siegfried. If we can all do what he did before he can channel his energy to the goddess, then we should have no trouble killing him in the future..."
Vega: "Is there anything else you would like me to say, my lord?"
Hasher: "Tell Rigel that he can take the next few days off and that I will command his division personally until he recovers. He's going to need quite a bit of time to heal. Light magic is as dangerous as it always has been to us..."
Vega: "Yes, my lord. Thank you.
Hasher: "Oh, and one more thing Vega."
Hasher: "Tell Betel and Pistol that they're on deck. If needed, I will be sending both of them to apprehend Siegfried. Two heads are better than one, and considering both of them are fire mages, they should have little trouble figuring out a dual tactic."
Vega: "Yes, my lord. I will notify them immediately."
~~BACK IN THE CASTLE~~
Rigel: "So, Hasher is impressed with how close I came to killing Siegfried? Well, that's a little bit more reassuring. I still don't quite understand how he was able to manifest such great strength though. He was incredible..."
Vega: "Well, Rigel. I'm unable to inform you at the moment exactly how Siegfried became that strong, but I'm sure that this battle will give Hasher reason to let the Void Stars know what's really going on soon."
-Rigel looked at Vega, confused. He had missed the initial meeting that the Void Stars had, and had basically disregarded Hasher's warning about Siegfried, so he has little idea of what's really transpiring in Provincia. He will need to be caught up to speed eventually~
-Sirius and Deneb walked past the door and did a double-take. Then, They entered the room with smug looks on their faces. They approached Rigel and Vega, and began to speak to them~
Sirius: "Well, looks like you had some fun outside, Rigel!"
Deneb: "Yeah man! What the hell happened to ya? You look like you just got into the worst fight of your life!"
-Rigel looked at the pair with aggravation. Then, he took a deep breath, and proceeded to explain exactly what happened between him and Siegfried. The pair listened, and proceeded to give their input~
Deneb: "Well damn Rigel you make it sound like he's some sort of god or something. A great light? Melting your skin? How tough is this dude?"
Sirius: "Deneb, he's probably over-exaggerating like he always does. I'm sure he just stumbled upon some powerful light magic user, and they got the best of him. He can't be THAT tough, right Vega?"
-Vega looked at Sirius and Deneb and stood up. She grabbed her staff and whacked both of them on the head with it~
Sirius and Deneb: *BONK* "Ow! What the hell, Vega!?"
Vega: "You two had better watch what you say! Rigel isn't lying when he says that Siegfried almost ended his life! He's not exaggerating one bit! If you two fight him, you'll understand what he's talking about."
Deneb: "Well, let's hope someone like you kills him before we have to. I sure as hell don't wanna end up like Rigel!"
-Rigel tilted his head up and looked at the pair. His skin was cracking as it healed. The light magic used by Siegfried quite literally started to melt Rigel~
Rigel: "If you two knew how powerful that boy could become, both of ya would be dust by now. I'm reluctant to say that Siegfried is the second most challenging opponent that I've ever had to fight."
-Deneb looked at Rigel. His expression changed from being smug to being suddenly concerned~
Deneb: "Wait, the second toughest? Damn, with what you told me, I'd be scared to ask who the first most challenging was! ....who was it?"
-Rigel tilted his head back down and uttered the name of the most challenging opponent he had ever fought. Upon saying these words, the expressions of the void stars shifted to that of great concern~
Rigel: "...Klaus Lamberdt..."
~~ON THE AQUA TRAIL~~
Klaus: *sneeze!*
Klaus: "Ah, must be something in the air."
~~IN HASHER'S CASTLE~~
Deneb: "Ohhhh shit. I forgot he existed. So, what you're telling me is you think Klaus is more powerful than Siegfried? You compared Siegfried to a god a second ago!"
Rigel: "easily... you don't understand how much of a monster Klaus really is until you fight him. The man is practically unbeatable at the moment. We're lucky that we can take refuge behind "The Great Eldritch Barrier", or else Klaus might have just ended the war all by himself."
Deneb: "Well, considering only "those people" are the only people capable of entering our barrier besides those native to this land, I'm sure that Klaus won't be of any concern to us. Despite how busted his powers are, not even his magic is capable of piercing our barrier. We have thousands of dark mages consistently protecting it at all times. Siegfried however, is concerning. If his power is close to that of Klaus, and he is one of "those people", then we should try to ramp up our security..."
Sirius: "I'm unsure of how Siegfried could have gained this much power in this short of a time span, but if what you say is true, then I'm all for ramping up the security as well, Rigel."
-Vega interrupted the two. She had been planning to tell them of the news for a while~
Vega: "Hasher will call us into his meeting room eventually to let every Void Star know of the events that transpired, as well as the truth of Siegfried. His suspicions have been confirmed, and he is planning a counter-attack as we speak..."
-Rigel looked at the three and began to speak~
Rigel: "You three, especially you, Vega. Don't try anything crazy around Siegfried. If you get too close, you could wind up dead, or worse, completely vaporized, as I almost was..."
-Vega grabbed her staff and gently put it onto Rigel's head. She was performing a type of advanced shaman magic known as Mental Projection, which is meant to present the caster with the thoughts and memories of the one on whom the spell is being cast. She was doing this to get an idea of what Rigel saw during his battle~
Vega: "Rigel, you've experienced terrible things... he looks terrifying..."
Rigel: "Yeah, Vega-san. He really is something. I just hope he can't 'tap in' to that power whenever he wants, or else we would really be screwed..."
Vega: "I'm sure he has some kind of drawback. Expelling that much mana in that short of a time can't be good for the body... speaking of the body, you should rest for now. I'm going to leave you alone to sleep, and recover. Come with me Deneb and Sirius."
Deneb and Sirius: "Yes ma'am, Vega-sama."
-The three left the room, and Rigel closed his eyes. He was gravely wounded, but not dead, and that's all that mattered to Hasher's Cult. If they had lost one of their Void Stars, then their army would be severely weakened...~
~~IN OAKHEART~~
Jurgen to himself: "Rest easy, you two. When you awake, I will send you off back to Formai with some extra equipment. You two need protection, more than you already have!"
-Jurgen left the room where Siegfried and Azure were resting, and made his way back to his weapon shop. Upon entering it, he gazed at a sword on the wall. It was a very special gladius. This gladius was the very sword that Jurgen himself used when he led the ranks in the League of Knights. He had racked up over 700 confirmed kills with this gladius, and some of the metal was still stained with the blood from his many battles. Jurgen then began to think about his son, whom he hadn't seen in a few months. The Lord of the Sword...
Jurgen: "It's been a minute since I've wielded that blade, yet each time I gaze upon its shape, I can't help but reminisce over the memories I made serving the League of Knights...Siegfried would make a fine addition to their ranks."
Jurgen to himself: "Klaus... I hope you are doing well. I'd like you to meet Siegfried someday soon. Perhaps I will refer him to you when he and his partner wake up. I'm sure he'd love to duel you..."
Jurgen aloud: "Welp, back to it then! I've got a whole order of blades to reforge! The League of Knights are really going all out in their battles! Perhaps it's time to forge them some stronger weapons."
-Jurgen began to melt down some of the damaged equipment, and prepare it for reforging. He had a new set of casts that he had developed, and was going to improve the overall quality of his weapons. He did this for about an hour~
Jurgen: "Yes, yes, this will work perfectly!"
-Suddenly, in stepped a man. He had elegance in his gate, and you could hear the fabric of his outfit rustling in the distance. With him came a great breeze, enough to move objects around from their positions. The man who had stepped foot into the weapons shop was a taller man, nearing 6'3. He wore a brilliant white knight's coat and had scarlet red hair. This was Klaus Lamberdt himself. The Lord of the Sword had come to visit his father, after 5 months. Jurgen turned around, and had a great look of shock~
Jurgen: "k-klaus... where did you come from?"
Klaus: "Heya, father! How's the shop been doing? I see you have a fine collection of weapons over there for repair!"
Jurgen: "The shop's been doing great as usual! Yes, I received a large shipment of damaged equipment to melt down and re-forge. Anyway, What brought you here to Oakheart after 5 months? I thought you were only visiting Formai for a day or two to turn in quests, then going back out to Rhodo again!"
Klaus: "Well, I was going to return to Rhodo, until I noticed a great beam of light pierce through the skies, and project itself near Oakheart. Considering you live here, I was going to come and check it out to see what had occurred, however, it seems like nothing much happened?"
Jurgen: "Ah yes, the great beam of light. Before I tell you anything about it, could you tell me how bright it was? From Formai, how easy was it to spot?"
Klaus: "Well, it sure was a spectacle. It was able to be seen easily from Formai! In fact, I'd be willing to bet the entire Province saw it! I thought something large was going to transpire, so I came here to investigate and see if I needed to help."
-Jurgen looked at Klaus, and chuckled. Something huge HAD transpired, but it wasn't going to be what Klaus probably thought it was, regardless, Jurgen gave his input~
Jurgen: "Well, Klaus, something big did happen. I cannot explain it to you though. However, I know someone that can. Here, follow me, I'll take you to him."
Klaus: "Sure thing father, lead the way!"
-As Jurgen and Klaus made their way to the Oakheart Inn, Klaus was greeted by everybody in Oakheart with praise and respect. He was pretty much a celebrity in Provincia, everybody knew his name! His father on the other hand only received a sliver of that same admiration~
-The pair walked into the Oakheart Inn, and entered the room where Siegfried and Azure were sleeping. The two of them had fallen asleep nearly an hour and a half ago, so they were both out. Regardless, Klaus walked over to Siegfried, and rested his index finger upon his forehead~
Klaus: "-- --"
Klaus: "Father..."
Jurgen: "Yes, Klaus?"
Klaus: "This boy... he's another one of "those people"..."
Jurgen: "Yes, Klaus. I'm surprised you could tell that quickly... when he wakes up, be sure to greet him. I'm sure he would love to hear what you have to say..."
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