Chereads / Path to Starlight / Chapter 3 - The City

Chapter 3 - The City

"So how did that 'man' save you exactly?"

"Who?"

"Y'know, the guy from 'Realm Zero'"

"Oh, well, I was just around 4 months old when it happened. My older sister was already around 1-2 years old at the time, but I doubt she has any memories of it. Our parents were members of a powerful family, we were the last generation of it, we're called 'The Divines'. Our family was being targeted by 'The Abyss' as we are direct descendants of 'The Founders', they were the ones who built the city we're going to now. The Abyss are led by their leader named 'Eterna', there are no records of who or what is Eterna, but everyone knows one thing about her; she's bad news. Anyways, any more questions?"

"How old are you and your sister?"

"I'm 20 years old, while my older sister is 21."

"Ahh, then how old is your 'father figure' then?"

"I don't know to be honest, he never told us since we never asked, he's more than likely older than the worlds themselves, he's the one who created them after all."

"Then why doesn't he just kill Eterna?"

"Then we would look weak, he didn't give people in this world magic without a reason, and there might be another reason for it."

"I guess we'll never know, so what's your sister's name?"

"She's-" Dawg was cut out by the sound of screaming coming from in front of them. One guy that was screaming stumbled onto Woods' feet.

"Please, please help my family! They're stuck in the city!"

"What happened?!"

"The Abyss, they're attacking again! They breached the defenses so fast that we didn't have time to even spot them!"

"This is the 5th time this month, Woods we need to go!"

"Alright, let's go." The 2 started running to the city, they passed even more citizens escaping the city.

"Why is the Abyss attacking the city?"

"Because it was built by the Founders, they were a part of a resistance faction against the Abyss, most of them are dead because of them."

"Makes sense, what about the Astraf family?"

"Your family? They are also Divines, descendants of the founder Stargazer, they are considered the strongest of all the families involved in this chaos, their most trusted ally is the Luna family. The Luna family is the 2nd most powerful, they are descendants of the founder Moongazer. I'll tell you more later." They soon arrived at the gates of the city, buildings were almost unrecognizable due to the flames that engulfed the city, dead soldiers filled the road with blood, the stench of rotting flesh filled the air along with the smell of smoke. Dawg looks at two dead bodies and closes his eyes, it was the daughter and mother of the soldier earlier, they got caught by Abyssal monsters and killed. There was no time to waste in paying respects to the dead, they continued running to the center of the city, they saw a young lady getting cornered by a huge ogre. The blade of the ogre was large compared to that of the young woman, it was clear who was going to win this fight.

"Tch, go get the young woman, I'll take care of the ogre!" Dawg told Woods.

"Roger!" Woods replied, he ran and placed his hand unto his sword. He channeled his mana into it, preparing to strike. Once he felt like the mana was enough, he used an art.

"Twin Dragons!" His sword hit the ogre's, but it was too strong, its blade didn't even budge, it switched its target to Woods.

"Woods look out! I told you to get the woman, not attack the ogre!" Dawg shouted, he began to charge up mana into his blade, once he felt it was enough, he charged at the ogre and managed to unarm it. But his power wasn't enough to damage it, he sheathed his blade and began chanting.

"Forgotten secrets sealed within, heed your master and become my power! Void access!" Dawg was surrounded by black and white aura that filled his body with overflowing power.

"Let's see how you like this! Void slash!" His sword flared up with the same aura that engulfed him, he swung the sword vertically, slicing the opponent in half with ease. After the powerful move all seemed quiet, too quiet. A knife was suddenly thrown onto Dawg, but he dodged it, its owner soon revealed itself. A woman in a dark outfit emerged from the flames surrounding them.

"Oh my, I seemed to have underestimated the city's defense team, but you don't look like you're a part of the defense team."

"That's because I'm not,"

"Well that explains the void form, you certainly have mastered it haven't you?"

"Hardwork paid off I guess,"

"Too bad, it's gonna be all for nothing!" The woman charged at Dawg without a second thought, but someone else had arrived. A large and fearsome cat appeared, it looked like a sabertooth tiger but with yellow-ish fur. Its claws scratched the opponent's upper body.

"That creature...…isn't that?" The woman pondered to herself.

"Sorry I'm late to the party, but it looks like I just arrived on time for the best part. Oh! It looks like we have a new friend too!" A woman in brown-ish clothes carrying a large scythe arrived on the battlefield, she had brown hair with a slight red color at the tip, it was tied up in a pigtails hairstyle. Her scythe was bigger than her entire body yet its weight didn't seem to bother her, the scythe had a futuristic looking aesthetic to it, both the woman and scythe reminded Woods of 2 different RPG games he played in the past.

"My name's Hyperion, and it seems you've already met my little brother! It's good that we have new friends in the team, honestly, the Abyss is getting quite annoying nowadays."

"Now Woods, that's my older sister, she's quite the prankster if I'm gonna be honest." Woods was carrying the fainted young lady on his back, probably fainted due to loss of stamina during her fight with the ogre.

"Now that me and Buko have arrived, let's continue this party shall we?" Hyperion was as swift as the wind, the opponent stood no chance against her, Hyperion didn't even use a single scythe art during that time. The battle ended quite faster, but there were more enemies on the way. The woman in Woods's arm awoke, and more ogres arrived at the same time.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"Relax, I just saved you from that ogre, becareful next time."

"I'll keep that in mind,"

"Hyperion and Dawg are just clearing up the remaining enemies, it's all in the day's work I guess?"

"Excuse me but who are you? I need your name, you still haven't gave me your name."

"Oh! I apologize. I'm Woods, I'm travelling with Dawg."

"Good grief, you should've at least said your name first, be mindful of what people are asking next time."

"I'll keep that in mind, and what's your name?"

"...Skye......Skye Luna..."

"Nice to meet you Skye."

"I've never seen you before, how long have you been travelling with Dawg?"

"Since a few hours ago."

"Huh? Did you meet him on the way here? Their headquarters takes at least a day to get to by horse or carriage."

"I was.....visiting a friend! And then I ended up meeting him along the way so I decided to come with him to the city." That was a lie,

"But I haven't seen you here before, is it your first time here?"

"Yes, it's my first time in the city, I was....from another continent."