Priad stood among the purple fires that continued to spread to the outer islands, burning everything in its path. The corpses of both allies and enemies were also burned by the fire, disintegrating them quickly and not leaving the ashes of their remains behind. These fires were abnormal, as they could only come from a potent yet corruptive energy source. The Grim energy. Such energies are rare to find thanks to the current galactic law, outlawing Grim from ever being used. However, in the realm of Akadia, such isn't the case. Because each trooper that they created contains a small amount of it to function as their heart.
Officially, the purpose of the Grim energy inside each trooper is to provide them with cheaper methods of surviving various environmental climates, as well as to provide them with sustenance, saving rations and supplies from being expended for them. However, there is another use that only Priad seems to have discovered just now. Force healing himself.
As the fire around him starts to die down, yet still spreading outward, Priad begins walking out of the ruins. When he does so, he suddenly falls to his knees, feeling too weakened to even take even one step. It seems that when he corrupted the barrier, the corruption took quite a lot of his Grim energy.
Even Grim energy the size of a trooper's body was enough to cause such massive fires and devastation. Normally, Priad would be able to withstand even the most tiring situation, but this one is different. It's like his body had suddenly ceased to obey him.
The mysterious girl suddenly appears again from his side, walking in front of him while admiring the sight of the destruction.
"Such powerful energy that you carry. It seems you may be the one to break the curse"
Priad wanted to stand up, but still, his body was too weak to do so "So you can appear in the real world as well"
The girl turned to him and smiled "You destroyed the barrier and regained your memories. Soon, your brothers will also regain theirs. Your fight will only get harder" She then walks over to Priad, lifting his chin to face her "Since you heeded my warning on not killing Shinaka Mori, I shall reward you for your effort"
When the girl touched him, Priad could feel his strength returning. All the energy he expended towards the barrier suddenly returns to him, enabling him to stand and move his body, yet something feels different. It's not only Grim energy that has been restored, but something else was put inside him.
"I not only restored your strength but put some part of myself within you. From here on, you shall be my vessel, and I will not let any harm befalls upon you"
Initially, Priad wanted to refuse. However, after giving him the much-needed information to not only restore his memory, but also escape the planet, he decided to trust the girl one more time, yet keeping some skepticism of her.
"If we're going to be comrades, then what should I call you?"
The girl smiled once again "Many people would refer to me with praises or higher names. But for you, you may refer to me by my name. Norion"
The introduction caught him off guard, yet not completely. He had already guessed who she was the moment Yami gave him the dream.
"I'm merely granting you an audience with her, as she requested"
Those words that Yami uttered back then came into his mind when Norion gave him her name. Even though Yami was hiding it from him with that excuse, it wasn't exactly hard to figure out. Especially, since she admitted that she was a follower of the goddess, Norion.
"Why would the goddess herself bother with a lowly trooper like me?" Priad crossed his hands, now even more skeptical of Norion than ever before "Especially since I'm from Akadia"
His communicator suddenly rang, cutting his conversation with Norion short. Norion chuckles at the sudden intervention.
"Why don't you answer that first? We will have many chances to speak later"
Priad sighed, then answered the communicator.
Trooper 309's voice came from the other side "117, we got trouble" His voice sounded grim.
"What is it?"
"The portal...It's gone...The entire gate and the portal itself. They're gone" The sound of an explosion and battle could be heard from the other side for a moment "Shit, it's closing in. What's the call, 117?"
It seems that something has happened outside. Did the kingdom just destroy the portal to lock them in here or was there something else that has happened outside? Priad took some time to think of a strategy to get them through this. It was then that Norion intervened by whispering to Priad "Why not defeat the monster and use its energy to create your own portal?"
Priad looks at Norion confused "Only problem now is the monster"
"The answer is already in your body. Use them"
Priad looked at the fire around him that was still spreading. While looking around, he would find that some of the naturally grown crystals turned purple as soon as the fire reached them, but the fire itself also vanished after shortly touching it. He then walked over to the crystals and grabbed one of them, taking a closer look at it. It seems that the fire was absorbed into the crystal, like a battery absorbing electricity to fill its body.
There was an open spot to his right which allowed him to test something. Priad threw the crystal there. Once it shatters, the fire within it is released and once again spreads itself everywhere.
"I see" Priad turns to the communicator, speaking through it again "309, listen to me. Grab as many of the natural crystals there as you can, then put your blood into it"
"Grab the crystals, what for? Wait...Are you saying that..." It sounds like 309 has started to remember something, and is catching on to what Priad is planning.
"Yes. Continue as I ordered, and advise the warriors to not touch the crystals or the purple flames"
"Understood. 309 out" The call ended.
Priad grabs his rifle that was on the ground and checks it. Confident that this plan of his might work to get them back safely through the portal. He then looks at Norion suspiciously.
"We'll continue this later"
Norion only gave a teasing smile "Of course. Best of luck, my vessel" then waved her hand at him.
He scoffs, ignoring her joke before running as fast as he can toward the rest of his men and the village warriors. Norion doesn't follow after him and instead disappears. Of course, Priad already knew she would disappear since her presence wasn't exactly that of a normal being. Not to mention that Norion strangely didn't follow after Priad.
Priad ran through the previous battle sites where the bodies of both his men, the warriors, and the kingdom's soldiers all lay dead in his path. Their bodies are also being burned by the purple fires that have spread there. However, as Priad ran through the fires, he himself wasn't harmed by the fire. It seems his body can withstand the corruptive and deadly fire.
As he gets closer, the sound of battle can be heard from where he is. He would then see that both his men and the village warriors were struggling in their fight against the golem. Despite the troopers using explosive weapons against it, it didn't seem to damage it.
Among them, Trooper 309, along with some other troopers were gathered. All of them were each holding several crystals, and they then cut their hand a little to spill some of their blood into the crystals. Priad ran up to them and patted 309's shoulders.
"I'm here. How many did you get?"
"Just 3. That thing barely gave us any chance to harvest these crystals" One by one, the crystals turned purple. Their blood seems to be sufficient to corrupt the crystals. 309 then looks at Priad with a concerned look "What exactly are you planning, 117?"
Priad took one of the crystals from them "We're going to corrupt it" He then looked at the golem "Though I don't think the fires are going to penetrate its skin"
"Maybe we can throw it there" 309 replied, then pointed to the golem "Look!"
The golem continues its rampage on the others, but the part that 309 pointed out is on its back. There seems to be an unusual hole there that's glowing blue. Looks like that hole connects to the inner part of the golem.
"Well, we got more to test them out" Priad grabbed one of the crystals from their hands "Keep gathering more. In case we need them"
He then turns on the communicator, transmitting to all troopers here "Listen up. We have a plan to take down the monster. Follow my orders and we'll defeat that thing!"
The troopers each responded to him, readying themselves to follow through with his plan. With that, Priad began relaying his plans. The troopers then relayed Priads instructions to the village warriors as none of them have any communicators to communicate with Priad.
They get into position as he instructed, leaving only one trooper to get the golem's attention. A single rifle fire was enough to anger the golem, making it chase the trooper.
Priad then emerges behind it, throwing the corrupted crystal to the golem's back. When the crystal landed inside the hole in its back, it exploded, releasing the purple fires contained within. The golem, despite being silent up until now, suddenly roars in pain as the fire spreads inside it. But, it wasn't enough to bring it down as the fire soon died down again.
After the pain subsides, the golem turns its attention towards Priad. Immediately giving chase to him. Priad started running, but the golem seemed to be chasing him faster than before, eventually catching up to him and trying to smash Priad with its giant fist.
Barely dodging its fist, Priad immediately uses his communicator to signal the other troopers.
"You're up!"
The same process Priad did before repeats itself. A trooper emerges behind the golem and throws another corrupted crystal at its back. As the golem was screaming in pain, the fire this time remained in its back instead of dying down. Now the golem becomes more enraged, rampaging into random directions rather than towards the trooper that threw the corrupted crystal.
Priad's strategy is working, and it only took one more throw to seal the golem's fate. However, now it would be even more tricky since the golem is moving around a lot, writhing in pain.
Some troopers fired their grappling cables from their rifles toward various locations near the golem. Making the golem fall when it accidentally steps onto the cables.
One of them then throws the last corrupted crystal towards the golem's back. This time, finally killing it. It screams in pain, but this time, it doesn't have the strength to even move an inch of his body. Eventually, the flames spread to other parts of his body, even burning parts that seemed impervious to the purple flames before.
The troopers cheered victoriously but the village warriors seemed to be watching in terror of the purple flames devouring the dead golem. Some even question what these fires are. Even though it looked like any normal fire only colored purple, There was a sense of dread upon seeing it burn the dead golem.
Priad noticed the warriors' dreadfulness of the purple fire. Before he could address them, Norion once again appeared in front of him, blocking his view of the warriors.
"A fine work you've done here, Priad"
Priad replied quietly not to be heard by everyone "I assume you already had something in mind"
Norion gave a teasing smile "It seems you're starting to understand me" She then touched Priad's forehead with her finger "Here are the designs. Feel free to construct it at any moment"
She walks past Priad to disappear again. He gave a tiring sigh, knowing that this might be a recurring thing for a long time. Priad then turns to Trooper 309 and calls him over.
"309!"
Trooper 309 who was celebrating their victory with the others walks over to Priad.
"Once the fires die down, I want you to scavenge the monster's corpse and use its body to build this specific design" Priad said, then describing the design of the portal gate to 309.
"Uh...Right. I'll tell the others"
"Good. I'll go see how Yami is doing. I have a feeling she's already got things dealt with"
After giving his order, Priad walks away in the direction where Yami went. 309 remained there, questioning how Priad came up with the design. However, he decided to not question Priad and follow his direction. Despite the doubt that clouds his mind right now.