I took Risa out of Ryan's building as we walked around the winding paths that connected the massive estate. There were too many buildings on this estate. for me to memorize.
I only knew some of the ones in the very front. The buildings where Ryan's parents and his sister lived, where he lived, a training yard for guards, and some gardens. These are all the places I knew.
Even in the first run, when we married, he had gone to war. I felt so unless at the time. I was not able to help him at all.
I locked myself inside and did nothing but cultivate. It was the only I could feel useful to him. I never really had the chance to see everything this place offered.
"Big sis the red sky is ugly. Can we make it blue again?" Risa asked. She was eating some candy I had given her while looking up.
The barrier around the city had not been taken down yet. Since last night the commander, Ryans's uncle and father, the city mayor, and the other nobles of 6th tier and above have been doing their best to break it.
They could not even leave a dent. They concluded that they would either need to destroy the mechanism that powers the barrier or a 9th-tier warrior or mage had to be summoned.
They have been searching all over the city, from building to building, looking for the source of the barrier. There was no progress yet since it was too big.
"It will be blue again. We just have to wait. Your father is doing his best." I reassured the cute little girl. I didn't like the red sky either.
It didn't go well with the color of my eyes.
"What do you want to play today?" I asked her.
Her eyes brightened and she said "It hot today! Let's play the snow game again!"
"That one?" I knew what game she was talking about. It's one I should have invented recently.
"Yep. The snow is so beautiful and cool. I love it when it lands on me." she explained.
"Okay then. let's go to the white garden today. It should be easy for you to hide with your dress." Risa was wearing a white dress with frills on the sleeve and skirt. She looked so cute and pure today.
It would also be easier to hide in a garden full of white flowers. The game was about her hiding while she summoned a small snow cloud.
It was a spell I had learned for fun. The snow cloud I could create was only the size of an adult's head. I would drop snow randomly over the field and if it touched Risa, she would lose.
It was a simple and fun game to play on such a hot day.
I held her in my arms as we walked towards the east side of the estate. The white garden was there. It would be a 10-minute walk in warm weather but that wasn't an issue.
Sshhhh!
I activated my mana and released some cold air around us.
"Ahh.."Risa seemed to enjoy it as she made a satisfied expression. I could see the sweat drops on her forehead. She probably wouldn't have enjoyed this walk if I wasn't here.
"Risa! Elina!" I heard a very loud voice that ruined my moment of bliss with Risa.
Celes, that crazy bitch. I thought I would have never seen her again after she died during the 3rd realm war.
But since I came back, I knew she would be back. I would have to deal with her craziness once again.I turned to my side where I could see the bitch walking towards us.
"Shit..." I cursed in my mind as soon as I saw her state.
Covered in head to toe with nothing but blood. Her clothes were so damp that they had become stuck to her skin. She was leaving a red trail all over the path she just walked in from.
Her sword was tied to her waist as she hopped over. her expression was one of excitement and joy but it was marred by the blood that didn't let a bit of her skin show.
I don't have any idea how many people it took for her to be so soaked.
"Why would you approach Risa like this!" I yelled at the woman before she could come any closer.
"Eh? Do you mean?" She said while tilting her head to the side and putting her index finger on her lips.
Fuck! Why is she acting cute? I was screaming inside. She was as clueless as ever.
'You can't walk up to a kid after taking a bath in blood!" I exclaimed.
"Ah. I didn't even realize." Celes was a total airhead when it came to anything except battle.
You can't even blame her. She was an orphan raised by adventurers who was then thrust into a war between sects as soon as he entered normal society.
Still, I hope to put in some effort to educate her over time. She died the first because of that lack of common sense. Her strength and potential was too important to lose.
Plus, she is important to Ryan as well. She was one of the few friends and companions he had during the realm wars.
"But does it really matter? Look, Risa doesn't seem scared at all." she said pointing to the girl in my arms
"Risa.." I looked at Risa's face and went silent. Her expression was strange. She was smiling with a huge grin. Her eyes were gleaming while they scanned Celes from head to toe.
This expression, where have I seen it before?
Celes smiled and her eyes widened as she scrutinized Risa herself. She moved her long black hair, which was sticky with blood, away from her face. She straightened her disheveled bangs and came closer to us.
Celes knelt in front of Risa. She looked at her at eye level and asked "Do you have something you want to ask me?"
"Big sis Celes, can you teach me how you fight?" Risa said immediately.
My mind was in a mess as soon as I heard this.
"Would your brother allow it?" asked Celes in return.
'Yep. Big brother said he would teach me after he gets better." Risa nodded in excitement and told her what Ryan had promised earlier.
"That that's settled. After lessons with your big brother, you can learn from me." Celes got up and took a look at me.
"How's he doing now?" she asked with a hint of worry.
I was able to catch my thoughts when she said this. My brain was this close to being turned into a ball of yarn. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. I couldn't falter this easily.
Just cause Risa had a similar expression to all those battle junkies that popped up during the war, doesn't mean she will end up like them.
"He woke up for a couple of minutes but it wasn't good. He was certainly in a lot of pain." I told her how I could hear the ache in Ryan's voice.
He was struggling just to stay awake. There was no medicine to combat with pain caused by a fractured core. I felt so useless at the moment. If only I could do something, Ryan wouldn't have to sacrifice so much.
The guilt that I had brought from the future and the guilt about this was causing my heart to sink with heaviness.
I must have shown this on my face as Celes noticed it.
"Don't blame yourself. I would have done the same if I was in his place. There was no other option there. If he didn't do it all of you.."
"Would have died." I finished her sentence for her. I didn't need her to tell me this.
I understood it well.
"If you want to do something, go out there and kill some cultists. I lost count of how many I took down today. The streets are crawling with them."
"I don't need advice from you." I scoffed at her. "Go take a bath." I would be the one to deal with my emotions. I don't need a battle maniac's suggestion. I already knew a way to lessen the guilt.
I took Risa and walked away. I looked back and saw that Celes was heading towards Ryan's place. She was living in one of his guestrooms.
Of course, that bitch supports Ryan's decision she was a hundred times more reckless than her. Honestly, he might have even been influenced by her. They did spend over 2 years together so she might have made his already bad tendencies worse.
Crazy, her crimson eyes fit a woman like her. Especially when she was soaked in so much blood.
As we approached the white garden, I could smell the sweet and fragrant scent of flowers.
There were a variety of smells mixed so deeply together that I couldn't tell them apart. Somehow they were still quite refreshing. The scents did not harm each other but rather, there was this sense of harmony.
I looked around. For an acre ahead of us, there was nothing but a field of white flowers. Little butterflies and bees were buzzing about. The breeze blowing gently.
The maids were working hard as they snipped weeds and spread fertilizers. Some even used magic to water the petals.
It would be nice to relax here with Risa. It should lower the feeling of suffocation I feel in my throat.
"YOU IGNORANT HUMANS. THE TIME HAS COME FOR YOUR SLAVATION."
"OFFER UP YOUR BLOOD TO THE BLOOD GOD AND BE SPARED FROM HELL."
"IF YOU RESIST, YOU SHALL BRING HELL TO YOU."
Just when I thought I could unwind, the consequence of my changes had arrived to haunt me.
...
...
...
The hoarse voice of Anton London echoed across the city barrier above and started trembling.
HSSSS!
Red portals appeared in the air in the number of thousands. These thousands of portals opened up all across the city but very few saw them.
All the citizens had been hiding in their homes since morning as the higher powers of this city had banned them from leaving their abodes.
In the very center of the city stood a formidable group of people. All middle aged men and women emitted visible streams of mana that were leaking from their bodies. Their expressions were not good in the slightest.
They looked at these newly arriving portals with caution. they did this while swinging their swords or shooting all sorts of colorful spells.
Surrounding them were hundreds of fo corpses of different sizes and states. Some were bodies of tall men but had been butchered to pieces while others were of adult women who had been burnt to a crisp.
It was a scene of chaos as more and more red-robed individuals were charging at the group. These people only became corpses as the blood and death further escalated.
"They keep on coming! There's no way the cult has this many followers!" yelled Commander Evan as his broad sword cut through 5 people at the same time.
His silver armor looked like it had been haphazardly dripped in red paint.
"They don't seem to be real people. Take a look at the bodies again," said Thomas Vornix. His green eyes scanned the bodies around him.
Unlike the commander, his body was untouched by blood as he had a thin, green mana shield surrounding him.
"These are all clones. There are only 8 or 9 unique faces among the bodes." said another middle aged man. He was skinny and tall with red hair and a thick red beard.
He wore a red and gold suit that was also untouched by blood. He was casting fireballs and turning the cultists into ashes.
"Are these perhaps, the infamous infinite blood clones?" asked a lady dressed in a nun outfit. She had short yellow hair and blue eyes. She was casting spells that looked like yellow balls.
These balls entered the bodies of the allies around her and increased their available mana. She was being protected in the middle.
Surrounding her and benefiting from her assistance were firstly the commander, Ryan's uncle Thomas Vornix, and the red haired mayor of Sofenia. There were 5 other nobles as well, all cutting and casting spells at the approaching cutists.
These 5 nobles were all in the 6th tier while the nun, the commander, the mayor, and Thomas were in the 7th tier.
"Infinite blood clones? You got to be kidding me. We can't deal with that Forbidden-class spell." yelled the mayor.
His face was somehow exhausted while his eyes seemed energetic. At this time, he felt like running but where would he run to?
"Where is the reinforcement from the capital? We can't deal with this without a 9th tier!" he yelled in fury.
"The military and church said they had sent 2 9th tiers together. They should have been here by now. I don't know what's causing the delay." Evan recelaed.
This caused everyone's frowns to deepen.
"Hah! This is already bad enough with the endless clones and now they are late. We also have those portals that just popped up." said one of the nobles.
"We can only wait and hope that the portals don't..." Before Thomas could finish, the portals began to spin rapidly.
Out of them came some sort of pointy metallic object. It was sharp and seeped to look like an oversized needle.
The needles seemed to be attached to something as they came out. It didn't take long for what had arrived from beyond the portals to be fully revealed.
"Is that a giant..mosquito?"