The first thing I noticed upon reaching solid ground after teleporting, was how much magical power it actually used.
Teleporting myself was one thing, even mildly long distances.
But more than one person?
I would need to think carefully before trying this again because I felt exhausted for a few minutes after we landed.
Alice put her hands on my arm and looked at me. I couldn't see her face due to the mask, but I knew she was worried.
"Are you okay, Tyranus?" She asked quietly.
"I'm...fine... Let's just get moving."
There weren't any living people around, but we remained invisible and kept our masks on. Once we reached the fence, I reluctantly teleported us a short distance to the other side and we ran into the forest.
Alice made sure to restore my strength so that we could escape.
"What's the plan now?" Alice asked.
"Well, we need to get to the capital. So let's go to the nearest city and see if we can get on a plane."
"Understood."
* * *
After that, we spent the next few days travelling in secret to a nearby city. I didn't keep us cloaked, but we made sure to stay hidden regardless.
Eventually, we came to a large city with high walls and approached the front gate.
"Hold there! Where are you two from?" One of the guards said as he eyed us suspiciously.
"We've just come from work district 12-E. Our helicopter crashed about a day away from here," Alice said.
"You don't look injured. Is that true?" The guard said.
"Sorry, my Aspect is to create barriers. My husband and I weren't injured because of it. Would you like me to prove it?"
"That won't be necessary. You two have ID? That can serve as proof."
We each showed the guard our fake IDs and he scanned them with a device he had at his side.
"Looks like everything checks out, um...Tyranus and Alice. Please come in. What are the coordinates of the crashed helicopter?"
"If it's alright with you, we were carrying something important on board. We need to speak with your commander."
"Tch...stupid classified nonsense..." He muttered.
"Excuse me?" Alice said.
"You'll find Overlord Draiko in HQ. Currently, he's the only one in. He's new but...well...you know..."
"Yes...of course... Overlord Draiko... I'm afraid we've been rather...secluded at the worker's district. Who is that, exactly?" Alice asked nervously.
"They must have had you in the quarry then, didn't they? Overlord Kiyomi runs a tight shift even for her Attendants... Well, Draiko is the newest Overlord. Replaced that idiot Yakon who went and got himself captured a few years ago. He's got an Ultra Aspect. The Vampire. His second is Advanced Decay."
"That's comforting to hear. It means we can finally win this foolish war with Arcadia," Alice said.
"I hope so. Though I'm not so sure now. They have two new Enforcers that look like they'll be a big problem. How the hell is that even possible!? Iris has seven now. Seven! Both of those monsters have two Ultra Aspects..."
"Rest assured, the item we were carrying is something that could help us be rid of them. At least we hope so..." Alice said.
"Well, alright then. You two should go talk to Draiko and get it salvaged."
After that, we went into the city.
As we walked, I decided now would be a very good time to discuss this.
"Alice, that guard said Draiko had an Ultra Aspect, didn't he?"
"He did. The Vampire. That doesn't sound like it'll be easy to deal with. Together, he and Kazuma might stand a chance against us."
"It would be a good idea to deal with him, but...we need to get moving quickly. Let's find the nearest airport and get to the capital. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
* * *
A few hours later, we hailed a taxi and were currently purchasing tickets for transport to the capital. We never bothered to visit Draiko for obvious reasons.
We made it through security with relatively no issues and sat in our seats on the plane.
At this point, it would be a good idea to contact Leiso.
"Leiso. We have terrible news..."
"Report, Mizik."
"The sixth Overlord has already awoken. He has the Advanced Aspect of Decay and the Ultra Aspect of The Vampire."
"By Iris, that's horrible news... Normally, I would be much more distraught at hearing such a thing, but we already have you two."
"True, but it's still a problem, isn't it?"
"Did I say it wasn't? Of course it's a problem! Anyone with an Ultra Aspect is an extreme threat of the highest kind! I would ask you to kill him, but you currently have another assignment. I'll send this information to Iris and you continue the mission. What is this Overlord's name?"
"Draiko."
"Noted. Overlord Draiko. Thank you for your report, Mizik."
"Yes ma'am."
Alice placed her hand on mine as I finished communicating to Leiso.
I smiled at her and she rested her head on my shoulder.
After that, as took turns sleeping until we reached the capital of Nexus. Appropriately named Central City.
Now all as have to do is follow the compass...
Surprisingly enough, our trip had been relatively quick and easy. The security in most places seemed kind of lazy and not many people had even spoken with us about anything important.
It was probably due largely to the presence of the Abyss Engine, of course.
Everyone knew that Attendants and Enforcers made with Iris' power couldn't even come to the coast let alone travel inland.
Normal soldiers were so weak by comparison to Nexus Attendant troops and the Overlords that they didn't represent any kind of real threat.
They did know of our immunity to the Engine, but they weren't aware of our ability to change our appearances using magic.
In short, Nexus seemed to believe that it was invincible.
Their pride would be their downfall.
Once we exited the airport, we followed the compass for several hours further into the center of the city. As far as we could tell, this city was inhabited by exclusively Attendants. The outer reaches housed many slave workers, though.
After all, they needed manual labor to build their towers and other things...
And at one point while we were walking, we felt a familiar and oppressive presence come close to us.
I turned and saw Kazuma himself out on patrol.
Why am I not surprised that this is his territory?
Eventually, he saw us and started walking over.
I felt Alice lightly tap my arm.
"What is it, Alice?"
"Let me do the talking. I practiced Nexian etiquette for a reason."
"Understood."
"You two...I haven't seen you before," Kazuma said.
"Yes, Overlord Kazuma. We've just arrived here," Alice said with a smile.
He looked her up and down and his normally intense expression softened slightly.
"You're quite beautiful...Ms...?"
"Alice. And this is my husband Tyranus. It's a pleasure to finally meet the mythical Overlord Kazuma in person!" Alice said with excitement.
"Hm...husband...? Well, whatever. Do you two have ID's? Where are you from?"
"We have ID's, Overlord Kazuma. And we're from District 7-E originally. We just came from District 4-C and have plans to live here."
"Well, you made a good choice," Kazuma said as he examined our ID's.
"Aspects of fire and barriers... Interesting. Care to prove it?" He said.
I lifted my hand up and began swirling fire around it with ease.
Alice raised her hands and a barely visible barrier formed in the air between us and Kazuma.
He tapped it to be sure and nodded.
"Fine, your story checks out. Where are you heading now?" He asked.
"We were hungry, so we planned on stopping somewhere for food."
"The culinary district in Central is that way. The center of the city is reserved for authorized personnel only. You two need to stay away...unless you want to accompany me home that is, Alice."
This piece of shit is hitting on my wife right in front of me! I see how it is. I'll make sure to pay you back for that as well, Kazuma.
[That is no doubt a sin. He will be punished for such a thing. Vengeance would also be pleased!]
I don't care about that right now, Justice. I'm going to murder this bastard for my OWN reasons!
"I appreciate your kind offer, Overlord Kazuma. But my husband has always been so loving. I cherish him more than all the riches and pleasures of the world. I couldn't abandon him for anything," Alice said sweetly.
As much as I enjoyed listening to Alice turn this bastard down, it was honestly hard to suppress my indignant rage while standing so close to this pile of garbage.
He cut my arm off, took our swords, and nearly killed us both.
I knew that if I had Vengeance right now, it would be screaming at me to end his miserable life...but I had to be patient.
One day...very soon... I would have my revenge upon him...
As I thought about these things, I heard Justice speak again.
[My lord, I can hear the Overseer. He resides in the central building of this city. He calls for you. He calls for the blood of his enemies! Although something feels...off...]
Off? In what way?
[It feels like the Overseer might be bound to someone else somehow. I'm not sure.]
How could that even be possible!?
[I do not know, Mizik. Regardless, I will try to communicate with him.]
Thank you.
It was surprising to me that the swords could communicate so effectively, but I didn't think I should question it.
Although it begged the question of why Vengeance hadn't spoken directly with Bravery in the past. And of course there was the issue of Vengeance potentially being bound to someone else...
The thought of someone else using my sword made me so angry I couldn't see straight.
Regardless, we needed to get far away from Kazuma.
"Suit yourself, Alice. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me. Now begone with you! Get away from here!" Kazuma said angrily.
He handed us our ID's and we bowed our heads just before walking away in the direction of the culinary district.
"Kazuma seems like a pervert doesn't he, Alice?"
"I agree. Ugh...I'm so tired of being hit on..."
The two of us walked into the culinary district and got something to eat.
The food in central was actually quite good. This is likely due to it being specifically made for Attendants and Overlords.
While we were eating, I felt another presence nearby. Like we were being watched.
I looked over and saw a man standing on the roof of one of the buildings. He was dressed like Kazuma. He had eyes as red as blood and his hair was dark brown.
This man was also quite large and imposing. He had some kind of metal piece of armor covering his lower jaw.
The more I stared at him, the more oppressive his presence felt. Like he had an incredible amount of power.
Since we were trying to be hidden, I looked away quickly and continued eating. The two of us didn't worry much about our powers being discovered due to the fact that we were manually suppressing them.
Regardless, I contacted Alice.
"That guy on the building is watching us. Did you see him?"
"Yes, I did. He might be an Overlord based on the amount of power he radiates. He's dressed like one, too."
"Should we try to get out of here?"
"Hmm...no. We don't have anything to hide, do we? If we ran away, that would give him plenty of reason to think we were suspicious. Besides, if he wants to talk, he can approach us like a decent human being."
"Good point."
"Now let's get this mission over with so we can turn back to normal. I don't like being Alice."
"Yeah...being Tyranus makes me want to punch myself."
We finished eating before casually getting up and leaving. Then we walked around for a bit longer before stopping at a dimly lit street corner.
That man was still following us, so we decided to just stop and chat with each other.
"How amazing must it be to be an Overlord? I mean honestly, the power they wield is truly spectacular," Alice said.
"Indeed. Their power makes us far superior to Arcadia and their pitiful Enforcers. Hopefully this war will end soon and we can have control of Ignitus," I said.
As we spoke, I noted that the man who had been following us left.
"Alice, we should get moving. Let's go into a building and get our gear together. I'll cloak us and we can head towards the Abyss Engine power source."
"Understood."
Once we were sure that the two of us were alone, we made our way into a back alley and I used a cloaking spell. While invisible, we put our masks on and put hoods up.
Then we strapped our guns to our sides, geared up with grenades and the like.
Normal firearms wouldn't have much of an affect on Attendants and outright wouldn't do anything at all to Enforcers or Overlords.
Which is why we had special variants.
These weapons were made from similar technology to the type used in awakening Attendant Aspects.
They drew on our power when we fired and each bullet had strength relative to the energy of our Aspects.
In short...our weapons were lethal even to Overlords.
I looked up at the darkened sky and smiled.
It's time to assault the tower.