“How could this happen when they had a Master there?!” Hwan yelled out to Grey. Shoving him away from Grey, Seo-Ji was ready to strike him but was stopped by Grey.
“Don’t fight amongst yourselves. The situation has been a result of our lack of reasoning. Now that the first strike has been towards us, that means the war has begun.” Clenching her fists, a knock came from the door to the entrance of the conference room.
As two people came in, both were from the royals, one having green pale hair that had long pointy ears with icy blue eyes. His robes hanged quite loosely on his chiseled body, along a crown made of a rich gold and hanging like strings of stars around his temple.
The other, a female with violet and pink hair that held an empty purple glare at us. Her military uniform made her look scary, and a rapier on her waist showed that she was prepared to fight at any time. Both took a step forward and bowed slightly to Grey.
“Ah, Prince Gran’Dal, and General Bryhne, it’s an honor to see you.” Grey took a deeper bow; her eyes set on the floor. “Master Grey, it’s been a while since I have seen you, along having the pleasure to meet the Heroes of this century.”
The young elf smiled, his handsome features radiating warmth as he lowered his head slightly to greet us. “Yes, the 14th generation. Quite surprising to see them be a bit older than the others.” General Bryhne didn’t bow or even move a muscle but instead gave us a look that showed us, we weren’t welcomed.
Grey just chuckled trying to keep General Bryhne from burning holes in us. She seemed to be a very distrustful woman. “We have come to speak with you and the rest of the Masters of the matter in Gran’Dal.” General Bryhne said.
“Ah yes. The other Masters are already in the meeting room, please do go on ahead, I was just explaining to the Heroes about that just now.” Prince Gran’Dal seemed interested. “Why not join us?” He said simply, but his eyes slightly narrowed, making me jolt.
“I don’t think that’s…”
“That’s correct, your majesty, I doubt these kids know of what we’ll be discussing, so please do reconsider.”
He looked at Bryhne, an innocent look and showed a playful smile. “Oh. But how will they learn if they are never shown how to properly discuss such themes.” She looked at him for a second, then lowered her gaze.
“You are correct. I apologize for my rudeness.” He waved her apology away and walked past Grey. “Well, we should begin. We don’t want the others waiting.” He left and went to open the doors that were to enter the meeting room. Right behind them, we went inside. As we did, the room was already filled with people, and the other Masters were up front.
Almost like a classroom, only this one had cushioned seats separated from each other about six or eight feet apart, along each one having a microphone and hologram with their name and kingdom on the side. The room was big enough to fit everyone, along having a sphere on the ceiling.
Prince Gran’Dal walked towards his respective seat, took a deep breath, and exhaled as he sunk on the chair. Everyone turned to look at us, and murmurs were beginning to be heard.
The scent of cologne, wood and perfume made me feel dizzy, but the eyes staring at me filled me with uneasiness. Grey went in front and walked towards the small stage and bowed. We followed and did the same. Sadly, not everyone from our group came as they thought this war was not theirs to fight.
As we bowed, Gram said, “now that everyone is here, we shall begin the report of the incident of Gran’Dal.” The small sphere on the ceiling lit up, and behind us, a projection of what appeared to be a kingdom was shown. The horrific scene was enough to leave me speechless. The damaged buildings, the people who were unfortunate enough to be crushed by the piles of what once were structures.
Taking my eyes off, I realized that Dae-Hyun’s eyes were glowing, the two golden suns were glaring at the scenes, his aura reflecting the anger he felt. Then, as it appeared, he closed his eyes and gave a small pray.
“On the fifth night of this month, near the paths of Gran’Dal and Vals Kingdom, a mysterious earthquake destroyed east of the kingdom of Gran’Dal, leaving 1200 dead and 200 injured. It also made the supplies stop from crossing and preventing any travels to be set towards the rest of the kingdoms.”
Gram pointed the the map, where Gran’Dal —between a river that crossed on the west— was showing that the kingdom sunk. Everyone murmured but respectively stayed silent a moment after.
“As seen, this earthquake wasn’t natural, it was planned. And by the shores that were supposed to set our soldiers to sail, Gray Scales came and attacked.” One of the ladies in the room gasped, and another showed to push her body forward.
“The Gray Scales were defeated and slain, however, one of them was captured and will be put in trial to extract information. As we speak, one of our former comrades is doing so.” Gram began to show another scene, this one of the oceans, showing the ships from afar.
“The war has begun your majesties.” This made the silence break, the royals all shouting and beginning to panic. Only a few seemed calm, this being Prince Gran’Dal, General Bryhne, a lady in the back, her head being supported by her wrist and a man who seems to be wearing a veil.
The room silenced once Crane lifted a hand, the royals sitting on their seats and awaiting her to speak. “As you may know your majesties, the war was inevitable, but it has come way too soon, which means the Tokyo Heroes know that the 14th generation has been summoned. They will now try to prevent them from growing, but we shall need to begin to create defenses and counters.”
“How did they know?!! We were told that the ritual was never told about, and that only the royals knew of when the Heroes would be summoned!” A woman shouted. Her black dress waved like liquid as she slammed her hand on the table in front of her. Crane looked at the royals and began to speak.
“It’s probably because of their auras. The summoning of a Hero is never certain, it could happen before or even later, and because the Tokyo Faction destroyed the artifact that aided us in summoning Heroes, we needed the Virtue to bring us a new one, however, it seems they felt the auras of the Heroes of Seoul.”
The royals stayed silent. “The war has begun, back in Gran’Diosa a few ships were sunk by our military, and the Gray Scales seem to be determined to invade Joyce. Why should we wait any longer?” General Bryhne said as she scanned the room. Her eyes sent shivers through all of them. Crane nodded to agree with her.
“Like General Bryhne said, the more we wait, the less time we will have to act on their attacks. Remember, Great One, the Argonaut of Chaos and Son of Valkyrie are their top strategists and known for their immense battle knowledge.” Murmurs filled the room once more. This tension only made me more nervous.
“Does this mean we’ll be sent to fight?” Hyun-Ha whispered next to me. I didn’t answer, more concentrated in what would be said. “The result of Gran’Dal being attacked makes it obvious that the Tokyo Faction is trying to cut supplies to all the kingdoms as that kingdom was the main way to export supplies throughout Joyce.”
“Plus, how they tried to attack Gran’Diosa, they are telling us they know our weak points.” General Bryhne said as she crushed the side of her chair. “Yes, of course they would know as they fought for us,” Prince Gran’Dal said as he tapped his finger on the table, “however they should really be quite daring to try and send ordinary soldiers to face the military of Gran’Diosa.”
“True.”
“Yes, that is true.”
“Dear me, that’s true.”
The voices in agreement were enough to tell us that the Heroes overestimated themselves in their full-scale attack. But it was still strange.
“Preparations should be immediate and wasting no time in beginning to get our troops ready for battle.” The man in the veil spoke, but his voice was more muffled, as if he were whispering. It was heard, but I could tell he didn’t speak with his mouth.
The rings on his horns that curved like a goat’s, jingling as he tilted his head. “Of course, Lord Tenebra. We shall begin the preparations. And begin to inform Altior and the other nations of the war commencing.” Nodding, the man gestured Crane to continue.
“We shall begin the defense on the shores of the kingdom; ships shall circle on the ocean and take in account to begin sending soldiers near the Abyss border and the ice wall.” Crane pointed to several dots that were red, each one pointing the outer of Joyce.
“Will the Heroes join the attacks?” General Bryhne asked, her eyes stabbing at us. She knew, she knew that we were still too green to fight in the war. She doubted our presence or was it because she knew that the Heroes of Tokyo wouldn’t hold back.
“That is to be determined in a few days, after all, the Heroes still haven’t completely trained.”
Murmurs began to rise once more in the room, each one negative and reasonable. “Though we lack experience General,” Dae-Hyun spoke out, “I’m willing to go out in the battlefield. If it means to kill a few to save millions, then gladly.” His eyes glowed, Bryhne surprisingly smiled at him, acknowledging him. It seemed she wasn’t the only one.
His presence in a matter of seconds made them begin to have more hope. The conference ended as the royals and the Masters needed to discuss more with the king of Joyce. We left early, and as a result, we began to wonder what might happen.
II
Yesterday we were in a conference room, today we are in a military base on the beach. “Well, this is new.” Tae-Soo said as he looked out from the helicopter. Machinery such as this was already invented, must be because of the Heroes who came from different eras.
Viewing the beach, it was filled with icy mountains and snow mixed with the sand. Light brown similar to brown sugar and white was washed by the waves. The smell of salt came with the cold breeze. Though we were still human in our minds, our bodies were already unfazed by the cold.
Such things were very alien to me, as I put my hand on the icy wind, but felt barely anything from it. Even weather won't affect me in anyway. How can I truly call myself a human being?
Dae-Hyun was staring down at the base. Taking a look, it was formed in a hive-like shape, along soldiers going on entering the vehicles. Their formations showed their training and dedication. Much of what Grey informed us, the soldiers were trained since children, as many signed up since kids to become elites.
Though this world showed us that they didn’t wish for war, this showed me that they were still capable of returning the favor. The soldiers all marched in blue marine and black outfits with boots and armor that seemed thin. Their helmets resemble that of a knight.
As the helicopter descended, we could see the vehicles pass by, all armored and had six to eight wheels. They seemed to resemble the mana beasts, along their armor as the scales and lights as the eyes that glow, ready to hunt.
Stepping out of the chopper, we were gestured to follow a yellow line that directed to where Master Aegis and Master Crane were waiting. Both looked quite different as they were dressed in military uniforms of complete black. The golden buttons on their jacket and chains that hanged from their shoulders and hips gave out an elegance.
Crane’s hair was tied in a bun behind her head that still hung a few straps of hair, and her eyes still as hollow as ever. Aegis had his crimson hair slide behind his head, being tied in a small tail. They stood straight and smiled at us.
“Welcome youngsters,” Aegis said loudly as his voice was muffled by the helicopter. Taking a few steps near them, the sixteen that came of our group stood in a straight line.
It was unfortunate that only sixteen came as the others have told us that they weren’t going to fight. Aegis smiled as he patted each of our shoulders. Crane lifted her chin and shouted, “Heroes, welcome to the Hun’Ru Base. Let’s head inside.”
Taking a simple turn, Crane began to walk to the bases. Unlike everyone in the base, we stood out by our glowing eyes. Our auras burned like the sun all together, everyone watching us as they stared in awe. My eyes turned to view the soldiers, each stopping what they were doing to see us pass. Men and women both stared with hope.
The building in which we entered was quite small, even being a single room. As we thought it would be this room, a small device in the middle of the room —that was rectangular and all black— began to hum with mana and open a small door. There, I could see a hall the same size as the room. Entering, we were dumbstruck by how it was clearly underwater.
“Is this…” Crane nodded firmly, “Yes. The base is underwater. Between the island of Gran’Diosa and the shore of Joyce. Thanks to this, mana can’t be sensed from all the way down here, plus a barrier that keeps anyone from sensing it or even attacking it.”
Walking, we found that the hall was filled with statues of previous Heroes. One was of the first ever Hero, Alicia. Shown to appear in a fetus position, her hair had small specks of gold glowing along her eyes shining golden as well. Her dress was white, but what made my eyes stay stuck to it was that her dress began to turn black.
It was incredibly beautiful. The next one was of a young man with a sword in his hands, kneeling in front of it and his hair covering his face. The statue had purple eyes glowing, and his sword shined white as liquid pearl.
Two other statues were shown after ten steps, which showed one woman holding a spear that seemed to cry out for blood. Crimson and a foot taller than its wielder. The woman had her head covered by a hood that was black as the night, but her eyes shined the same as the spear. Her smile gave off an eerie feeling.
The other, gave off the presence to a fairy. Her face wasn’t showing, and her body was covered by robes that were white and black. Blue highlighted tattoos came from her arms, one holding her giant staff and the other lowering her witch hat to cover her face. She sat on a throne made of swords, spears and spikes. It truly left me flabbergasted to the sight of such a gothic statue.
“Are these all Heroes from the past?” Si-Young asked Crane. Nodding to her question, Crane explained to us.
“Each statue was a Hero that left their mark on the world. From the first all the way to the last generation. As you saw on the first two statues, Alicia also known as the Child of Wonderland, was the first Hero to obtain godhood. Along the second being Galahad.”
“Wait— you mean as in the knight of the Arthurian legends?” Iseul asked Crane. Crane smiled gently and nodded. “Yes, Galahad was of the second generation of Heroes, also known as the Chosen One, he led Cypher to victory against the last of the Calamities.”
As we reached the last two statues, one was a girl who was praying with her eyes of a beautiful azure color. Her robes held elegance as they were knitted to have intricate patterns and shapes. Her hands held a chain with a small letter. The letter being S. Crane stopped and looked at the other. Turning to see the other one, we found a statue of a boy, his eyes being silver, along having messy hair and a sword on each hand. His white and blue armor shined, both swords blue and white the same as the armor.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“And these two are the Saints of the Tokyo Faction.” We all held our breaths. The Great Saint who was the disciple of the Virtue. She was mentioned back in the books in the library. But the other one, he was someone Grey only mentioned when she was tipsy.
“He is the disciple of Master Grey, right?” Dae-Hyun asked softly. Crane bit her lip, something I never saw her do. “Yes,” Aegis said as he went towards the statue.
“Setsuna Takemika. He was our little buddy back then. Though he was shy, he was quite talented in using two swords.”
Crane smiled, but it wasn’t of joy or even to calm herself, it was rather melancholic. “Yes, and because of that, he was given the title of Sword Saint.”
The mystery of Grey’s disciple finally revealed, but I wasn’t expecting that he had died. I thought he left with the others, but it resulted that he gave his life in the last war they fought. Everyone felt sad all of sudden.
“We should hurry now. The others are waiting.”
She touched the two doors that were painted in black, which opened to the touch of mana echoing in them. Everyone went to walk, but I was tranced with the last two statues.
Being smacked from behind, Hyun-Ha ran past me. Taking one last look, I entered the room as the doors closed behind me. The room was all black, with the table in the middle being round along an orb standing in the center. Master Grey, Gram, Diane and six more persons sat around. Master Aegis went to sit next to Diane, and Crane sat next to Grey.
One of them I recognized. General Bryhne, who was in military armor, along her rapier being placed besides her. She smirked at us and nodded. Surprised, I did the same. The other five, two males and three females showed to be military as well.
“I see that the Heroes have officially joined the fight.” The male with blonde hair said. His brown eyes scanned each of us, somewhat in a analytical way. The other male besides him lowered his head, “greetings Heroes, it shall be an honor to work with you.”
“Guys, these are the six generals of the major royals that will support us during the war.” Grey said as she moved her arm side to side. “Well present yourselves.” They nodded and each stood straight.
“General Jeremy H.K Drake, second son of Xavier Drake of house Drake. Pleasure to work with you.” The blonde man said. As he finished, he sat down, the next one man stood and saluted.
“General Bart Ulises of house Osiris. First son of Roger Ingrid Osiris. I look forward working with you young Heroes.” Taking one more bow, he sat down.
Bryhne stood straight and saluted for a second, then said, “General Aimée Genevieve Bryhne VI, last daughter of duke Jasper Bryhne, and first in command of the Gran’Diosa militia. Let’s get along Heroes.”
She took a small bow along sitting back. The next woman seemed more like a statue. A calm expression, not to tense nor too normal. It’s as if she were staring at my very soul. Her gray eyes shined like pearls, as her white hair that reminded me of snow. She was similar to a porcelain doll.
“General Ethel Venessa Kainel of house Antares. It’s a pleasure to work with you.” Blunt and cold, her voice made me feel uneasy as it was soft, and harsh. She sat down as she let the others continue.
The other girl —who seemed way much younger, perhaps younger than us— stood up and saluted. Her short pink hair resembled that of Crane, along her having pale empty blue eyes. But she smiled, having more expression on her face. “Hello Heroes. I am the General Jeannette Vena Crane. I’m the great granddaughter of Master Crane. And the daughter of the noble Hershel Gran Yydraig.”
Crane nodded to Jeannette who smiled and sat back down. We all turned to see Crane, who shook her head. “No, she isn’t directly descended from me but of my older sister.” Her smiled faded and she gestured for the last girl to present herself.
The last girl was older, between twenty-five and thirty years old. Her eyes were a beautiful orange that faded to purple, along her pupils being reptilian, and what made her stand out, was her horns. Horns that reminded me of a goat that curved to the back of her head and lifting the tip upward. Her majestic pale blonde-ash hair fell to a deep purple. She bowed and smiled.
“General Kasleya Gri’Mort Lilia IX, along being the eldest daughter to the Lord Tenebra. Pleasure to work with you.”
Her posture was perfect, and she was the tallest of the generals. “As they have presented themselves, these as well are the candidates to become Masters in the future.” Gram said as he nodded. “What, you mean you are replaced?”
He shook his head to the question of Tae-Soo. “The Masters are given a blessing by the Virtue. But we are all chosen in our times. But that’s a story for another time.” Gram lifted himself, his arms extending.
“The Heroes of Seoul, sadly only they have come, so please, we welcome them and may the Primordials watch over us in this war.”
We all seated behind them, and the orb began to hum, popping up documents.
“General Ethel, if you may give us the data you found.”
She nodded to Gram, standing up, she began to speak. “The info claims that in the night, a mysterious clicking sound was heard underneath the ground, along the sense of mana that was nauseating had begun to take over the air. Some of the guards even said that the ground didn’t shake but instead broke apart like glass.”
Glass? That was odd. “Crystallization. That means that the mana in the ground heated up to a point it would boil the mana that it holds, then frozen completely. This is something an ordinary soldier won’t be able to do, even if they were thousands.” General Jeremy said.
“It wasn’t a someone but a something.” General Kasleya said plainly. “The beast that did this happened to have done the same thing back one hundred years ago. One of the most ferocious and foul creatures that the Tokyo Faction had faced back in the rainforest of Tenebra.”
Everyone stayed silent, the sweat dripping from their foreheads, yet Ethel and Bryhne were the two that showed little fear or even worry. “A Calamity?” General Jeannette asked. Kasleya nodded, while Gram put his hands together, hiding his face.
“If it were true, how can it return from the dead!” Jeremy shouted. “Now Jeremy. We need to consider the fact that the beast was truly a Calamity, then that means none of us of the strongest in Cypher can injure them. The Heroes will be needed for that.”
“That may be true. But they still lack training.” Grey said as she glared at the Generals. “Considering that they are as well still too inexperienced, we need a plan to know if the Calamity is truly alive and if so, we should kill it immediately.” Grey turned the orb, in which it released more documents that projected around the table.
“It’s as well shown that the beast left a tunnel that it dug. And as Gram had predicted, it was directed to the Abyss. And in the search of our scouts, they found goo. Goo that was analyzed and well,” as General Kasleya turned the document, it showed a result of a DNA test. And with that, the Masters all lost color. Their eyes were bloodshot, sweat rolling down their foreheads.
“What is it?” Seo-Ji asked, but none of them answered. Bryhne instead, looked at her. “It’s a match with the Calamity Urho.” I didn’t understand, but General Ethel explained.
“Urho was the last Calamity to ever live. As you all know, the Calamities were beasts that were original denizens of this world before we were created by the Primordials. And the majority killed by the 2ND generation. But a few were born without us knowing, resulting in five of these legendary beasts' attack and killed by Great One and the Tokyo Faction.”
“As General Ethel said,” Grey spoke up, “these beast’ were killed, destroyed into nothing but ash. But for them to be alive, it can’t be.”
Grey held her hand on her mouth, but the rest seemed still tranced in fear. “We need to slay it as soon as possible. This isn’t a game where we let this beast run rampant. I have already informed my men to track it and to await my orders.” General Bart said as he pulled a small device from his pocket.
“Is it just one?” Grey asked. General Ethel shook her head. “We are to believe that two or three are alive as well. From the information we had from the frontier with the wall, we found that a Hero is guarding it with another Calamity.” Scoffing, Gram took a deep breath. “Then that means that they are already ten steps ahead of us.” Ethel nodded.
“Everything we are trying to solve; it only brings more holes in our plans to attack and defend. Great One seems to already know where we will even shit.” She said as she cracked her knuckles.
“Perhaps. But if we defeat the Calamities, we can progress in attacking their lines of defense. Even being able to strike them where they know they’ll need to retreat.” Dae-Hyun spoke up, walking where Gram sat. “If we finish off Urho first, we won’t need to worry about it running away. That beast will be the first one to go.”
Ethel stared at the documents for a second, then began to open the map. For a few minutes, she was beginning to scribble on the map.
“If the Calamity appears, are you really willing to face it?” She asked in a cold but firm voice. Dae-Hyun didn’t nod or say anything, but his eyes gave her the answer.
“I understand. The Calamity shall now be the first priority of the Heroes.” Ethel said as she gestured Jeremy and Bart to write. As they did, they pointed it to the device, and the piece of paper became data.
“We shall inform of anything that leads us to the beast. For now, we shall begin the preparations.” Bryhne said. “So, for now, Heroes, it's time to inform you of the Calamities.”
III
After a while, well six days exact, we all were informed that the Calamity had been hiding somewhere near the ruins of the glaciers. It was right in the icy lands in the mountains. There, the soldiers have found an entrance that led to its hiding spot. Checking my Cosmo, I began to remember my mother Hanuel.
She was combing my hair as a routine we made to have time together at the hospital. Her honey eyes gleamed with kindness, nothing but purity that made her my figure to follow. “There you go BB.” She said as she gave me the mirror.
“I like it mommy.” Hugging her, she chuckled as I began to look at the door. The door became black, and that blackness began to devour the room. “BB.” My mother said, her face drowned in sadness. “It’s time to wake up.”
Staring at the ceiling, I felt wet my cheeks. Taking my hand up to my face, I wiped, finding tears. The nightmares have become more frequent, which was something that worried me. Lifting myself fro. The small bed, I took some time to get my thoughts together.
My eyes glowed in the dark room, my System scanning my surroundings, finding a mana signature at my door. “Come in.” I said simply. The door creaked open, and Seo-Ji was there. “Seo-Ji, what’s up?” Her eyes were squinting as she smiled at me. “Sorry BB, I just heard you whimper and thought to check on you.”
“I see.” Putting on my boots on, she came inside and turned on the light. “Nightmares?” Nodding she walked towards me, sitting right beside me. “Yeah, it's been like that for a while now.”
“Yeah, everyone is having those nightmares. From the books it’s known that Heroes dreams and nightmares are quite mystical.” Seo-Ji said, falling on my bed. “Yeah, I read that the dreams take a turn in your path. Well so the book says.” I said in a sarcastic tone. Seo-Ji laughed, her laugh fading as she let out a sigh. “True. I began to dream about my little brother and parents.”
“Oh, a memory?” I asked her. “Something like that. It always twists at the very end. I dreamt of the accident we were in a year ago. Dad was in the hospital for quite some time. Mom and baby brother were always worried. Who knows really. I just hope their doing well.”
Seo-Ji sounded sad, but her eyes showed a different emotion. “Do you miss your mom and sis?” I tilted my head and chuckled. “Yep, I do. But I keep dreaming with my late mother.” Taking back the image of her face. “I see. Hyun-Ha told me your mother passed away when you were still little. Does she visit you in your dreams?”
“Ever since we were brought here, she had been in every dream I’ve been having.” Seo-Ji stared at the ceiling for a minute, then said, “memories, visions and even seeing events happen sometimes bring you to realize sometimes your alone. Probably she felt that you needed someone to keep you going.”
Truth be told, I do feel lonely, something I didn’t feel since losing her. The thought faded as another knock was heard at my door. But before I could answer, a soldier opened and saluted.
“Hero Bon-Bon, Hero Seo-Ji, I’ve been ordered to escort you to the main base for the assault.” We both looked at each other and began to proceed to head to the base.
Entering the base, everyone was shouting, clanking and even some keyboards and pens were sounding all across the base. Entering the room to meet with the generals and Masters, I found that Dae-Hyun, Tae-Soo, Eun-Ji, Si-Young and the others were already present. But they all had grim expressions.
“Alright, it seems everyone is here.” General Ethel said. “We have found Urho and have managed to make a barrier around just in case to avoid it detecting mana.” General Bart said as he was checking each paper in hand.
“The beasts seem to be sleeping in the tunnel it made. If we strike now, the beast will not know what hit it.” General Jeremy said as he began to write on the piece of paper. “The Heroes will be deployed as soon as possible in order to begin the attack in 1 hour. Prepare deployment and the mammoths.”
A soldier was called inside and was given the paper that Jeremy was just writing. Saluting, he left and rushed outside. We were surprised with what we heard. “Then that means we’re deploying now.” Dae-Hyun said. Ethel nodded. “Yes, we shall send the Gamma squad with you.”
“Don’t forget us.” Gram said as he entered with Aegis. They were both dressed in blue royal armor and each with a sword on their hip. Knights in shining armor is the proper term for these two.
“Looking good Masters.” Tae-Soo said. They nodded as they entered the room. “Will the others join us?” Seo-Ji asked. “No, we will be the ones to help you in your mission, and to ensure that everyone comes back safe. You have my word kids.” Gram put his fist to his heart and lowered his head.
We were left speechless. “You’ll join us to fight?” Tae-Soo said enthusiastically. Aegis patted his shoulder as they both came to salute the generals.
“I hope you know what you’re doing Uncle Gram.” General Jeannette said as she went to leave. “The others have been sent to inform the royals of the current progress. We shall begin the task to neutralize Urho.
The following few minutes began to go fast as we were told to work together in order to defeat Urho. From the data we were given, Urho was the last Calamity to have appeared and was killed by the Hero, Great One, current leader of the Tokyo Faction.
The Calamity has been put in the Chilopoda category, one of its kind as a beast similar to it hasn’t appeared. Urho, which meant “too glutton” in Primordial language, was the name given by the enemy that had released it back a century ago.
The beast was skilled in lava and frost magic. Along it being a beast that could swallow whole a kingdom. It was the very first creature we’re sent to kill.
“Preparations complete. Masters, Heroes, its time.” General Ethel said as she saluted us. “May the Primordials bless you, may the spirits bind you with strength and luck, and to come back to the land of Joyce.” We saluted back, but my hand trembled as I did.
Unlike the Masters or soldiers that were sent with us, we didn’t use armor as it was useless do to our strong bodies and auras. Unlike the knight armor back in our world, the armor made here practically used to protect and fuel auras and abilities. Some were used to attract mana and others to pulse it in order for better mana manipulation.
But to a Hero, that was the same as breathing. Heading inside a massive yard, three giant trucks were stationed and revving. “The mammoths are ready to go Veta Gram.” Saluting and rushing back, the soldier left as Gram gestured to enter the vehicles. The women were put on the second vehicle, while the boys were put on the first and second.
“Ready to go.” A female soldier said as she revved the vehicle and began to follow the one in front of it. The smell of fuel came from the vehicles, and my heart pounded, scared or excited as it wanted to break free from my ribs. Taking a deep breath, I began to pray.
A hand grabbed mine as I prayed. Hyun-Ha looked at me, her presence giving more confidence. The first fight we will have. As we began to enter a bumpy path, we barely felt it. Taking the view from the small thin window of the vehicle, I could tell we were entering a rocky road, along the ocean gone from sight.
Taking the sight, white snow, some trees and mostly ice the size of rocks and mountains filled the area. “Is this thee glacier ruins?” I asked to no one in specific. “Glacier ruins, this is where the fight between the Tokyo Heroes and the Calamity Urho took place.”
“So, it has meaning as to why the beast came over here of all places?” Seo-Ji asked the soldier. “Yes, probably it remembers the events of its death, or simply came by instinct.” She said as she turned the vehicle. “That’s quite weird.” Iseul said as she tapped her fingers against her staff.
Her staff was quite luster, having beautiful golden carving around the blue royal staff which seemed to be made of glass. Nothing but a staff was there except a chain that was wrapped around it. “Yeah, kind of creepy going back to where it was killed.”
Staring at the floor, Si-Young seemed rather focused, not a glint of light in them, as if lost in her own world. The tight grip around her sword was enough to tell she was ready and willing to fight. Everyone was tense but had begun to talk to distract themselves.
Throughout the three hours we were speaking, I had already begun to sense more of the shield, enough that the humming sound resonated throughout the mammoth. For a single split moment, I felt a high pressure of mana engulf the vehicle, the vehicle even almost shutting down.
Taking my staff in my grip, I waited for anything, luckily nothing happened. “Don’t worry girls, the shield just jolted the mammoth with mana. It’s normal.”
The mana gave a jolt to the vehicle, which explains why the mana increased by a moment there. What was the shield powered by to have such mana levels that even it alarmed us?
The inside of the shield barrier made the mana stay inside as well. It was dense, and because it had no way to go into the atmosphere, it kept bouncing from the barrier. Looking around inside, I could tell the shield kept a significant distance for the battle to come.
Snow piled around the ice structured mountains; the dirt road was full of mud and water. The earthy smell came to pass inside, but there was another scent that made my nostrils seal. Rotten meat and eggs came to my nose, nausea already piling in my throat.
Everyone began to cough and gag but quickly took back their breaths and sealed the mammoth with mana to prevent the smell from entering again. “What is that wretched smell?” Bing-Bing said as she tried to wipe her tears.
“It smelled like something died.” Ji-Hye said. Her pink eyes were watery as she kept her hand to her mouth. “Yeah, that sure is right.” Hyun-Ha said as she swallowed hard.
The road led to a river nearby, but the river wasn’t clear, but filled with corpses of beasts, mana-beasts to be precise. They were all slaughtered, small, big and even venomous ones.
“This is all work of Urho?” Ji-Hye asked as she looked outside.” No one answered as we were all terrified. The silence made it more difficult to form courage, nothing but a slaughter was left by that monster. Then it came to my mind.
“The former generation had to face something like this?” Everyone stared at the floor. “It seems so.” Seo-Ji said. “But its still hard to believe a bunch of sixteen-year-olds had to fight and kill even stronger opponents.”
Though we could only imagine, we all stayed quiet by how harsh the war before we came really was. War would keep on coming after us if we don’t stop this from expanding. I now understood that here, on Earth, or anywhere else where intelligent beings lived, war will always appear even if they try to do good.
“No wonder those kids went loco.” Hyun-Ha said as she made circles with her finger on the side of her head. “Anyone would go mad if they saw such things, especially if they were young.”
“True.” Seo-Ji said as she cracked her fingers. Nothing could have changed what would’ve happened to them if they weren’t in a situation such as being sent to war. Yet, it didn’t explain why they would cause a war as well. If they were truly traumatized by such events, why would they begin another one.
Why would they use the same beasts they fought and killed against the world they helped to restore. Why break the balance they once placed back?
My thoughts and questions mixed as I lost track of how much time passed. To avoid any more unnecessary questions to come in mind, I began to meditate. My Cosmo already is the 2nd phase, and with a few more to reach the 3rd.
The fragments floating as to make a constellation, and my mana surging like a nebula. It was ginormous, even to the point where I couldn’t see the end of it. And that’s only the first few phases of what it truly can become.
Floating in the middle of all it, I began to fall deeper, trying to understand more of what the power is. My Cosmo began to drown me, the nebula engulfing the darkness, and voices began to swarm all around me. Not being able to take the sound of endless voices, I returned to my physical body and found that everyone was pale.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as everyone else wasn’t speaking. Hyun-Ha held my hand and shook her head slow that it made me lose my calmness. My heart began to beat faster, then, I heard a click.
This clicking sound wasn’t like a keyboard or even a nail tapping. It was unnatural, eerie enough to keep me from even breathing. The clicking began again, this time faster, a sound that couldn’t even be explained, a sound that made my body shiver and want to crawl inside a hole and hide.
The frigid wind didn’t enter the vehicle, but my body began to lose its warmth as the sound echoed. Then, the tapping of snow being stepped on began to sound around. As if thousands of soldiers were marching outside.
“It’s outside, it knows we’re here.” Iseul whispered as a whimper came out. The beast was here, it knew we were inside the vehicles. The clicking sound faded, but what replaced it was a hiss.
This left me in a state that my body didn’t respond to me wanting to grip my staff. The hissing began to be more frequent, and a slam sounded off in front. “Prepare to attack!” Gram’s voice was heard as the vehicle in front of us began to be crushed. Seo-Ji lifted her head, then began to bring up her hands, creating a barrier.
The sudden hit caused the ground below us to crack and crush down. “We need to get out!” Si-Young shouted. Everyone began to get up as Iseul opened the back of mammoth. Stopping in my tracks I turned. “Where are you going BB?” Hyun-Ha asked suddenly. “The driver and the other soldier, they’ll die if we leave them inside.”
Making a fist, I inhaled and slammed the iron door that protected behind the driver. The door bent like a piece of paper and sinking my fingers in it, I pulled, taking the door completely crushed. There, both female soldiers were already packing their weapons and even devices.
“Hero, take these artifacts!” The one on the passenger side said as she threw four small diamond-shaped that had a small white light in the center.
They both got up and began to exit with me behind them. Grabbing Seo-Ji by the arm, we ran out of the mammoth just seconds before it got crushed. We all looked around us and found that the boys were already trying to help the soldiers in the first vehicle.
“Situation, Dae-Hyun?!” Seo-Ji shouted. “Urho has killed two soldiers, one injured. The rest are fine.”
Squinting, Seo-Ji and I began to look around. Because of all the crushing and slamming, snow had turned into a mist around us, nothing but a blurry whiteness covered.
My ability gave me a clear view of every mana signature; I realized that the one that was of Urho was nowhere to be found. “Urho isn’t here!” I said to everyone. Then, some crimson signature blazed as flames from hell below the third vehicle.
“It’s below the third vehicle!” I shouted. Gram —who was driving— floored the mammoth and managed to avoid the sudden attack. But the vehicle flew above our heads as it fell upside down.
There, a monster that began to make the clicking sound had appeared. The crimson eyes burned at us as it stared down at us. The monster was still unseen as the snow mist became denser.
The beast hissed as it began to detect our auras, each of us burning with mana and fury. “What do we do now?” Ji-Hye shouted as she held her spear. “Seo-Ji, Si-Young, go help Master Gram and Aegis! Bon-Bon, Iseul, use stones and wind to strike the beast!” Dae-Hyun shouted as he ran towards the beast.
I didn’t waste a single second as my staff began to hum, the nebula turning into a silver color, creating stones from air and pointing them at the beast.
“Iseul, now!”
As I said this, Iseul summoned air strings that began to whip at the direction of the monster. The sharpened stones went directly to its eyes, along the hissing turning into a full roar.
Without even thinking about it, Dae-Hyun disappeared in the mist as both him and Urho began to clash. Unable to see what was going on, I activated my skill again. Dae-Hyun was slashing and dashing along the body of the monster, but the creature wasn’t fazed.
Without even moving, the beast slammed its tail against Dae-Hyun, sending him flying. He was thrown directly towards the mammoth where Gram was stepping out of. Gram jumped as the vehicle was shot as a projectile towards the ground. The smash made a shockwave that caused the snowy mist to fade.
There, we could see the beast, causing our blood to run cold. “So, that’s a Calamity?”