There was a short flash, and the king and his infamous hunting metal bird were no more.
After that, Citura flapped its wings again, and the devastated castle rebuilt itself, even more beautiful than before. He then placed the soldiers on the ground, and began speaking again, this time addressing the people:
People of Inversia, for a long time you suffered from the tyranny of the king, but it is over. You are now free from his tyrannical rule. Live, loving and helping each other, and never again allow yourselves to be transformed into slaves by anyone, he told the people.
He then turned to the soldiers:
As for you, you have blindly obeyed the king all these years and committed many crimes. To make up for it, you will travel across all the islands the tyrant has conquered and deliver the message that Citura has returned and demands freedom for all mortals. And if ever there are forces that refuse this order you will have to fight them, even if they are superior to you. Did you all understand correctly? Citura asked.
Yes, great eagle god! replied all the soldiers, prostrating themselves.
After that, the people and the resistance also bowed down, leaving only Lum, Mike and Frey standing and quite embarrassed. Fortunately, Citura quickly got them out of the embarrassment:
Resisters, you who fought for your freedom, rather than prostrate yourself, you can stand and go find and free those who have been taken prisoner. They are in the basement of the castle, he said. I've unlocked all the passages leading there, so go free them now.
The resistance barely waited for the god to finish his sentence before getting up and running at full speed towards the castle:
Hold on, Damien, we're coming, said Paulia, who was running even faster than the other resistance fighters, just like Jase who was doing his best to follow her.
Meanwhile, the crowd had already gathered around Citura to get a closer look, leaving Lum, Frey and Mike alone.
Damn, we saw all the colors, but in the end everything went without problem, says Frey.
Maybe even a little too good, Mike said. I don't know why but I have a bad feeling. Maybe it's because of the destructor.
You're worrying for nothing, said Lum. Even if he finds us, Citura can beat him.
What if he just waits for us on the Ark? Mike asked. Citura won't be able to follow us there.
Hey well...
But before Lum could speak, a rift suddenly opened in the sky, outside the dome protecting the island, and something flew out of it and came to rest in the air, a few meters from the surface of the dome. They couldn't clearly discern what it was at this distance, but they could still see flames appearing out of nowhere to crash against the dome, weakening it little by little.
Looks like we won't need to think of a plan B, Frey said.
Let's hurry to the others and tell them to watch out for Damien. Even Citura won't be able to do anything if this world collapses after he gets killed, Lum says.
She then spread her wings and enlarged them using Imagination, then held out her hands to Mike and Frey:
No time for a pod or anything, the ride is short so you'll just have to hang on, she said, holding out her arms to them.
They barely had time to climb up before Lum took off and rushed towards the castle. A few minutes later, at the entrance to the castle:
Hmm... huh... you two are a lot heavier than you look, Lum complained as his wings grew back to normal size.
The two in question did not respond, too busy not to cough up their stomachs after this brutal journey, to say the least.
They looked in the direction of where the Destroyer was earlier and saw that the dome was nearly destroyed where the flames were hitting it.
We don't have time, let's quickly tell them to join Citura so that they can protect Damien! Lum said as he started running inside the castle.
Frey and Mike got up and followed her as best they could to a seemingly endless staircase which probably led to the basement:
At least it's a descent, Mike said, breathing heavily as he looked like he was about to die.
That also means we'll have to go back up afterwards, Frey reminded him.
Mike, who had sat down for a moment, tried to get up but his legs could no longer support him.
Sorry guys, I have to settle down a bit, I'll wait for you here, he said.
He was clearly ashamed of not being able to keep up in a situation like this, but was simply unable to get back on his feet.
It doesn't matter Mike, said Lum. We all have different abilities, the important thing is to know how to deal with them. Wait for us here while we go get the others and take the opportunity to recover a little.
Frey and Lum started down the stairs, leaving Mike alone.
Ah... ahh... again, he said as he struggled to just breathe. Left aside, useless, which always screws up everything. They were right in the end, I'm really just a good-for-nothing.
When no one could see him, Mike began to shed a few tears. It was always like that. He had always gotten good grades, made friends easily, had never been bullied or anything, and had grown up with loving parents. A banal and trouble-free childhood.
Once again, I'm being forgotten.
It ended there, an ordinary childhood. All this time, whether to himself or anyone else, he was just "that nice guy." When the girl he liked refused to go out with him because he was overweight, when he was refused entry to acting school because he stammered, and when Chloé, who he wanted to propose going out together, and Frey, his best friend, had gotten together… there was nothing he could do. Even when his father was stricken with incurable cancer, all he could do was stand by and watch him pass away in his hospital room.
Why do I always have to be of no use, why...w-why do I always r-fail everything.
What could he have done? He wasn't a magical creature like Lum or even someone charismatic like Frey, he was just Mike, the cool lighting guy. He couldn't just rewrite reality because he didn't like it.
…
..
.
Really ? Was it really impossible? Mike concentrated on using Imagination and after a minute a flower appeared in his hand, a tulip. It was aromaless, small, and with bland colors, far from a real tulip. But he didn't worry about it and decided to start again. After another minute, another tulip appeared in his hand. She was still miserable, but there was a marked improvement. He did it again and again and finally, on the thirteenth try, he managed to create a perfect tulip in less than thirty seconds. He had succeeded, and felt that he had progressed in his mastery of the Imagination. Mike tried to create other unrelated objects, like a t-shirt, glasses, a spinning top, and after a long time, he felt he could create whatever he wanted in less than an hour. minute.
Awesome ! he exclaimed, impressed by his own performance.
Then he realized something:
I've been doing this for almost two hours, why haven't the others come back up yet?
They would have abandoned him to flee or join Citura more easily? No, Frey and the others weren't the type to do that and it was unlikely there would be another exit leading out of the castle when the basement was just being used as a prison to keep people from getting out. to go out.
So something happened to them that forced them to stay down there? No longer, Citura had assured them that the coast was clear.
Well, not much choice anymore.
Mike decided that the best solution, rather than waiting here or going down, was to go outside and check the progress of the destroyer. He got up with difficulty and walked towards the front door of the castle. He was wondering how to open it, but saw on the side of the door a lever sticking out of the wall. Mike activated it, and the door opened by itself.
Hey, who would have thought that one day the door of a castle would open for me? he joked.
This joke served him more to reassure himself than to be funny. However, the idea of making jokes faded directly from his mind:
What...what happened!?
No doubt, the destroyer had managed to get in: Mike heard screams and cries coming from everywhere, he saw destroyed buildings all around him, some of them in flames, and the beauty of the island that he had seen when he had entered with Frey and Lum was ancient history, replaced by ruins lit by firelight.
But the worst was yet to come, that's what he realized as he turned his gaze in the direction where Citura was previously?
He dropped the tulip he had been holding in his hand all this time.
No...no...it's not possible...
He had to flee. Quickly. As soon as possible.
But in this case, did that mean abandoning Lum and Frey? And also Jase, Paulia, and all those other people who desperately needed help?
No way I'm doing that he said as he thought about how to go help them.
Where the others were was too far away, he would never get there in time.
It was then that an idea came to his mind: he concentrated, trying to remember as best he could the airplane with which Jase had saved them when they arrived and, after putting all his concentration into it for a good five minutes, an exact replica of the airplane appeared in front of him.
But was the machine really functional? After all, Mike had imagined it himself, he who had not the slightest idea how the machine could fly normally. Wasn't the airplane just going to stay stationary when he tried to drive it? Was it going to explode? And even if he managed to get it off the ground, would he even be able to pilot it once it was in flight?
Oh, and I don't care.
Mike entered the cockpit, positioned himself, and miraculously managed to get the plane into the air, now heading to where the action was taking place.
Now it's either make or break, he said, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.