"Ah, right. This is where Caelum originally dies." A lighthearted laugh escaped me as I secretly scanned the area.
I was currently hiding on a cliff, with my torn and worn brown bandit cloak draped over my entire body to conceal my presence.
I looked out and just barely spotted a group of people with the exact same bandit cloak as me.
They were all hiding just as I was doing.
"The Luster Mountain Bandits," I recited.
They were about to execute a raid that they would surely regret.
"Virion is going to make his appearance," I muttered excitedly.
Virion Von Santos Sol.
The main character of [ Evergreen Passage ] and the character who I 'tormented' the most. I get to see my creation in the flesh.
Can you imagine that?
It's like having one's own work of art come to life before one's very eyes.
It was an exhilarating feeling that distracted me from the fact that the world I was in would end in the next few years.
And so, I waited.
For another hour or so.
Until the sound of a steam engine echoed across the sloped lands.
I looked over, and sure enough, travelling on a poorly maintained road, was a bus crafted out of gears and powered by steam.
It waddled over potholes and rocks that littered its path, creaking and crying out in terror with every moment it leaned too far to its side.
Imagine what its passengers were feeling, being on such nauseating rugged terrain.
It was surely a small pocket of hell.
More time passed as the bus gradually made its way downhill. It was still as careful as it was, making sure that no accident would befall them.
This snail's pace made it a prime target for bandits like Caelum.
Thus, when it finally arrived within the bandit's territory, the trap was instantly sprung.
I watched as the bandits rose from their hiding spots and rushed forth like angry wasps.
With weapons I could not directly identify from here, they disabled the bus.
If I were to draw from my memories, they must have used some sort of liquid nitrogen bomb that froze the steam engine and kept it from functioning.
Right, that was a scene I recall writing.
After all, in terms of technology, the world of Emerallia was crafted around the medieval age, steampunk, and magicpunk. Representing the lower class, the middle class, and the upper class respectively.
Liquid nitrogen bombs were toys that I simply felt like using as a weapon to disable steam engines en masse.
It was nifty, though the exact science that makes such a thing possible eludes me.
I even have doubts about its feasibility if it were on Earth.
But I guess this world simply makes it work because I had said so.
Shaking my head from these thoughts, I placed my attention back on the battle that was ensuing.
From the depths of my mind came the words that I wrote. The scene was practically identical.
[]=[]=[]
Virion was shocked awake by the abrupt halt of the bus he rode on.
Dazedly, he looked out the window and spotted bandits running towards him like moths approaching a flame. His drowsiness left him like the soul of a person experiencing a jump scare. He sprung up and grabbed his battleaxe.
He was going to have to fight for his life once again.
"ENEMY ATTACK! TO ARMS!" He roared, shaking many of his friends from their stupor.
Everyone grabbed their weapons and rushed out of the bus at his words, and they swiftly began the battle of steel against steel.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Like the bell towers of the great cathedrals in his hometown, the ringing of iron and steel clanged constantly and without rest.
Virion faced a bandit with a slim figure reminiscent of a woman's. The bandit moved swiftly, dancing around his swings and cutting small slashes across his skin.
He felt his power grow at the sight of blood dripping from his vessels. He grew swifter, stronger, and fiercer.
Slash!
The moment the bandit made a mistake, Virion dug his battleaxe into their chest. A giant gash was cleaved clean through flesh and bone.
The bandit was surely dead.
Virion confirmed their death when they fell lifelessly on the floor. Their eyes were dull and void of light.
Seeing that he had defeated his foe, he moved on to the next.
He battled and he battled, growing stronger with every drop of blood that blossomed from the bodies of his enemies.
That was until a shriek shook the battlefield.
Virion's body shuddered as he searched for the source of that scream.
He found that a teenager, perhaps only as old as him, with black hair, black eyes and an androgynous face, was holding Sylfie by her hair.
The teenager laughed with glee.
"You will die by my hands! The great Caelum Phricius! Hahahaha!"
Virion felt the next moment blur as he bolted forward. His battleaxe was already in motion, and the next second brought about a flower of crimson. It bloomed with all its extravagant beauty into the sky.
Virion had cleaved straight through Caelum's skull.
[]=[]=[]
I'll pause there.
Something else was happening in reality. The original Caelum no longer existed to injure Sylfie, one of Virion's close friends.
But the fate of tragedy I had designed for this world still ran its course.
Sylfie was bound to get injured in this encounter.
My gaze swiftly found the source of incoming death:
It was a bandit who had yet to properly involve themselves in battle.
"A user of spiritual mana. A wizard." I smacked my lips.
At the same time, a ball of flames blossomed above the wizard bandit's head.
It headed straight for the bus.
And with shocked expressions, everyone simply stared as the fireball made an explosive impact on the bus.
Boom!
An explosion shook the area the people were in... But that was not the end of it.
"In 3, 2, 1..." I counted silently.
BOOOM!
A stronger explosion shook the earth. Its shockwave even reached me, who was watching from far away.
Human beings were flung into the air and internal wounds numbered in the dozens.
"These bandits... It's a good thing I did not participate in their raid." I smiled to myself. "It's fun to put traitors everywhere I can."
The sight of broken bodies and heaving warriors pleased me. They were all in a terrible state, save for the wizard, and it was quite... funny.
But that's my sadism speaking.
Don't mind it.