It’s midnight, one night that was supposed to be calm and peaceful, now turned into an earful of screams and hellish by all means. Herlan looks at his surroundings with weak expression as he support his body by grabbing the street lamp near him, he is panting his breath and his ragged face as he saw all the innocence got squashed by monsters and the buildings got collapsed and got burned, from the outer area all the way into the royal area, especially on the palace, there is an abomination being who destroyed everything, a barrage of bullets keeps showering that creature but it has no effect or whatsoever.
“Bloody hell…haah…Antonio…haah…he is batshit crazy… son of a bitch.” said Herlan, he was cursing Antonio while he made himself stand again, releasing his grip from the street lamp. In front of Herlan are two monsters who are busy eating the corpse of a man, their hideous appearance of raw skin all over their body, sharp teeth and an acid liquid that keeps dropping from their body.
Herlan took a deep breath and then he is standing on the middle of the street near the plaza, glaring at the two monsters who noticed his presence, they soon ran to Herlan, each of their steps caused a crack on the ground like an effect of earthquake, Herlan closed his eyes and clapped his hands together near his chest, he can hear all the voice of crackling flames, the sound of the wind which carried the misery of the people, but most of it, he can hear his heartbeat beating wildly, he questioned himself, am I failed?, am I the one to blame to all of this?, since it all became like this, should I give up?.
Herlan grit his teeth then red hue intensely enveloped his body, soon, the two monsters leap to crush him, a deafening clash happened between Herlan and those two monsters, but Herlan hold those big creatures with four bloodied giant hands around him, the ground cracks, debris and dirt flies, the street lamps broke and a fire spread circling Herlan and those two creatures. Herlan's left mask fell off, revealing his face which is full of tiny tentacles and maggots, he shouts out loudly to those two creatures.
“NO!, FOR MY OATH!, FOR MY FAITH!, FOR THE GODDESS!, THE 20th GENERATION WATCHER, HERLAN REWEAD, I WILL NOT SUCCUMB TO THE WICKED.”
Herlan successfully block those two creatures death blow, then those two creatures roared loudly, the one on the left run then climbed to the broken tower leaving Herlan, while the one on the right keeps throwing Herlan with burning rubbles, Herlan block all the incoming attacks with the four bloodied giant hands, he conjured his white cane, and place the red gem to his left eyes, he entered his incognito mode, soon he floats to the air and approach the monster with blink, that monster keeps throwing marbles at random direction, and then Herlan pin that monster down with the four bloodied giant hands, and he pierce the monster head with the red laser on his left eye, then he forcefully tore the monster to two parts using the four bloodied giant hands, he saw a brief reflection of a boy smiling at him, it’s the soul of this monster, Herlan got shocked and he felt an intense dizziness floods his mind, the effect of his power is too much, he is slowly losing his sanity while keeps maintaining his identity and humanity.
“Oh! My goddess, please forgive this boy… he didn’t have any sins…let me bear all these sins instead.” Herlan said while he clasped his hands together and dropped to his knees, he was kneeling at the top of the monster’s dead body. Soon he got up and floated again trying to search for that monster who ran away and climbed to the broken tower near the water fountain.
But then, he saw a black feather, soon his vision was full of black feathers, he got surrounded with black feathers. Herlan clicked his tongue, then he felt a tight grip on his neck which caught him off guard only to get slammed to the ground very hard, the grounds cracked and Herlan throw a lot of bloods, his bloods splattered into a person’s mask, a long beak bird mask, the man who is gripping Herlan’s neck with his right arm is the Doctor, Jerrim.
“My, you should watch your surroundings more Herlan, aren’t you the Watcher?,” said Jerrim with cold voice, Herlan tried to break free from Jerrim’s tight grip, but Jerrim soon slam him again, Herlan throw a lot of blood again, Jerrim chuckles when he saw that, he mockingly said,
“Fucking weak!, and you dare to ruin master grand plan?, if it’s not for master order I’d kill you in the past, but I’ll give you a chance, that’s right, a good doctor always gave everyone a fair chance, a chance to live, stay the fuck down here! Herlan Rewead!!” Jerrim slams Herlan again, this time the red hue on Herlan’s body disperses, he is breathing frantically like a prey that got caught. Jerrim got up and tidied himself up, he looked at the sky and mumbled, Herlan heard Jerrim's words.
“Master ordered me to kill a person wearing Vendetta mask, he should be somewhere around here, slippery bastard, he utilized this city complex intersections to hide from my air surveillance, he remind me of someone…ah right, that inspector, the binman, Morgan Jester, *kukuku, this is getting interesting” Jerrim morphed into a black crow and fly off to the night sky, Herlan became shocked when he heard Jerrim’s word, he know the person Jerrim’s talking about, he can’t let him get killed by Jerrim, if Jerrim noticed something about that person, he will forcefully kill that person, afterall, he possessed an item that shouldn’t exist in this world, an item to descend the evil god, the mask of existence, Herlan squeezed out every will power he had to conjure the four little hands, but this time he can only conjure one tiny hand, with rough breathing and pained expressions as his wounds got opened up, he said.
“Haah…haah…please protect…that young man…oh...goddess.” Herlan said as the tiny hand floats and disappeared to the air, Herlan looks at the twin moon at the night sky, he felt a weird sensation of peace, it’s like he is looking at his goddess, no, it’s like the goddess is watching him, it was a beautiful sight to his vision knowing he’s been in the darkness for too long, it’s like he is looking at hope, with a smile Herlan passed out on the cold wrecked street, and then… he got surrounded with many monsters, only to get devoured ravenously, like a group of people eating a delicious food at a buffet.
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In one of the intersections near plaza, Vendetta drop to his knee and held his head with both his hands, he suddenly felt a strong dizziness inside his head, he felt his inside churning up and he ended up vomiting all his inside stomach, Vilily keeps gripping Vendetta’s hand and rubbing Vendetta’s back trying to make sure he is alright. Vendetta protects Vilily from Antonio’s assault at the opera house, he shielded Vilily when the opera house collapsed, keeping her safe from the monsters pursuit by running through many intersections all the way from the royal are to the main street near plaza, now both of them hiding in one of the intersections, Vendetta had a vague feeling that Antonio probably searching after him, he felt that he once had this kind of experience before, the feeling of being pursued by his enemy, but Vendetta can't remember anything, especially when this strong dizziness still happening.
“V-vee…a-are you alright?” said Vilily while touching Vendetta’s face with her hands, Vendetta can feel the trembles on Vilily’s hand, she is so scared, she heard all the despair and misery voice of people while running, even though her vision is grey-colorless, when she looks at Vendetta who keeps protecting her, she become worried, worried that something terrible will happen to Vendetta.
“I’m fine…we need to hurry… the church…they will protect us there…I can’t let those monsters and that man harm you, Vily.” Said Vendetta, he touched Vilily’s left cheek with his right hand, trying to calm her down, Vilily just look at Vendetta and nod her head. Vendetta gets up with Vilily’s help.
Both of them run again, suddenly Vilily heard a noise, it’s a young lady’s noise calling for help, it reminds her of what she experienced in the past, she didn’t want anyone to suffer the same as her, she begged Vendetta to stop for a moment and search for the sound of that desperation noise.
“Vee… I can hear a person…calling for help…from that direction…we need to help that person.”
Said Vilily while tugging Vendetta’s shirt, Vendetta stop his feet and look at Vilily who is begging to him, he need to make a decision here, if he abandon that person calling for help, both of them can safely arrived to the church, if he search and help that person who is calling for help like Vilily suggestion, his pursuer may find him or even worse he will get surrounded with many monsters who is roaming on the main streets, morality or selfishness?, trying to be a hero or remained a nobody, is just a single person right?, Vilily worth more than that person who is calling for help, that’s right, when a human trying to make a decision he will prioritize what’s important to him, the value, the cost, and what kind of things they need to sacrifice. Vendetta swallowed his saliva and with a heavy heart he made the decision.
“We can’t Vily…it’s too dangerous…let them be…maybe, it’s the goddess fate.”
Vendetta replied in concerned voice to Vilily while holding her shoulder. Ironic isn’t it?, fate, he surrenders himself to a mere goddess fate, since when did he became pathetic and became such an idiot, does love have an effect to alter your personality and intelligence, who knows?, unlike Vendetta, Vilily made a strong decision, a commitment, she decided she will save that person, no matter what happened to her, she can’t accept that it was the goddess fate to let anyone died after they are calling for help, is just not right, it didn’t felt fit for the goddess teaching of life.
“No!, we need to save that person!…I…I will go and save that person… you can go back to the church first, Vee.”
Vilily insist as she raise her voice to Vendetta for the first time, and she releases his grip on her shoulder, Vendetta widen his eyes when he heard Vilily word, she rejects his idea for abandoning that insignificant person who is calling for help, he didn’t understand, earlier she was trembling and scared and now she wants to go out there when many monsters roaming just to try one person?, for what?, there is no benefit for doing so, you might get yourself killed. How laughable, the young lady in front of him is willing to save a person even though she is blind, while Vendetta became a coward when he saw those terrifying monsters and the city engulfed in flames…yeah…it seems he is familiar with flames… but what is it?.
Vilily leave Vendetta alone in one of the intersections, he stood there looking at Lily's back, he doesn’t know what to do in this dangerous situation where many monsters roamed the streets, why Vilily want to save a person, she should save herself first, isn’t that a common sense in this situation?, Vendetta clicked his tongue and rub his hair which make it a mess then he followed Vilily to save the person who is calling for help.
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It’s midnight, the one night that was supposed to be calm and peaceful, now turned into an earful of screams and hellish by all means. Silvie looks outside of the academy through the window, she can see the city engulfed in flames, and there are many monsters wreaking havoc and roaring loudly. She is alone in her room, all of this reminds her of something, and it’s also midnight, a memory… Silvie's eyes widened when she realized that. Does she want to repeat what will happen, being alone again, she can’t do anything again, letting people die one by one, didn’t she promise that she will not let it all happen again, why did she practice hard to this point if she just sits around at the corner doing nothing. No! She needs to do something, unlike her, her brother will probably go out there and save every person calling for help, even if he sacrificed himself to save Silvie and Herlan that night, a true hero.
“I can’t twiddle my finger here, not when everyone struggles… I need to save them!” said Silvie, her eyes burning with determination, she grabs her rapier from her baggage and leave the room, all the students were sleeping, even if they are not sleeping, they pretend to, because outside, outside felt like a nightmare, the corridor that used to be crowded and noisy, now turn into dead silence, the only noise that could be heard is Silvie’s step.
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Silvie finally arrived at the front gate of Stella Ethereal Academy, when suddenly a thick fog surrounds her when she wants to open the gate to go outside, Silvie didn’t get panicked, her eyes scan the surrounding and she spotted a person sitting on the top of the tall wall eating his food while looking at the outside, he wore red hooded cloak, a master ranked student.
“Go back… don’t do anything stupid, gal, go…. Sleep like everyone else… don’t concern yourself over those people… you are Stella Ethereal Academy student, you are worth more than those people.” Said him as he kept eating his food, Silvie could hear his munching sound, this dense fog must be his ability, as expected from a master ranked student, he is a transcendent.
“I refuse!... I need to save those people… if you said I am worth more than those people… then I’m obliged to save them more… to prove my worth… Someone once said this to me, a hero didn’t shed a tear, a hero didn’t need a reason, even if he is the last person on earth… he needs to bring light, I shall be the light for them!.” Said Silvie, she is looking at the master ranked student with burning eyes, a breeze of wind brushing past her hair, the twin moon shining brightly and it reflects Silvie's figure, it looks like she is shining with brilliant light in the middle of the night.
That master ranked student stops eating, he gets up and stands on the top of the wall, suddenly, he vaporizes to air, yes, he vaporizes like boiling water. Silvie tried to track him again, the fog around her disperse, but then she felt a person behind her, that fog compiled into one and turn into that master ranked student, he took of his hood, and Silvie saw his face, the face of the master ranked student, he had black long pulled back dreads hair, there are a lot of crimson red tattoo on his face and body, his skin tone is black, his black pupil eyes focused on Silvie’s figure and then he pointed at Silvie while laughing.
“Bahahaha, aren’t you the gal who can see me while I was eating my breakfast, impressive! Finally, an interesting person who wants to be a hero has come. And you… you’re an albino, that old shaman from our tribe said that an albino was born… so it was you, ah I’m Aganju by the way.” Said that master ranked student, Aganju, as he extends his right arm to Silvie wanted to do a handshake. Silvie accept that handshake, there is this thing that keeps bugging Silvie for a while, a certain people keeps telling her that she is an albino, even that elf from that night incident mentioned this, maybe this master ranked student knows something about this, sir Herlan and Kevin always tried to avoid answering this question by changing the topic all the time.
“Uhh… hey, Aganju, why did you mention that I’m albino, does being albino mean something, isn’t more akin to disease?, my mom told me that my skin is the result of color figment which is different from normal people.” Said Silvie, she looks at Aganju with curiosity to know why some people paid special attention to his albinism.
Aganju looks at Silvie, he rubs his chin and went silence for a while, then he search his pocket for cigarettes and lit it with finger snap, blowing sweet smoke into the cold air, he said, “Well, since you’re a Stella Ethereal Academy student and the person who is able to see me, I guess I could share what I heard from that old shaman…there is this old legend according to that old shaman, every 100 years an albino will born, it will mark the beginning of a great disaster to humanity, an albino was meant to save this world from that great disaster since the creation of mankind, and like a circle of loop, it keeps repeating, a hundred years ago an albino succeed to save this world… most people worship her…and do you want to know her name?” said Aganju as he looks at Silvie who is full of anticipation, she swallows her saliva for the truth to her curiosity and her identity of being an albino.
“Her name is Seraphina, yes, the one that people of this city worshipped, the goddess of life and light… and you… you’re her incarnation, an albino means being an incarnation of past albino, all the way to the first albino since the creation day, that’s it, that’s all what I heard from that old shaman.” Aganju finished his explanation, Silvie heard all of it loud and clear, she ponders over what Aganju just said about albino, it means being an incarnation of past albino, all the way to the first albino since the creation day, could it be being an albino means carrying the legacy to protect this world, protect from what?, when Silvie in a deep thought, she heard a person running to her while shouting her name, it was Velvet, she was carrying a handmade sniper on her hands, both Silvie and Aganju look at Velvet with surprised expression.
“SILVIE!!!...haah…haah, what are you doing?, you want to go outside alone?, knowing there are many terrifying monsters and flames, you could get yourself killed!” said Velvet it seems she is nagging Silvie about how serious the situation outside and it’s better to hide inside the secure and protected Stella Ethereal academy, Silvie lower her head and listen to Velvet nagging, she can’t refute her because she is right and she is older than her, strangely Silvie felt like Velvet truly become her big sister somehow.
“Damn, gal, that’s some serious stuff you carrying, did you make it?, as expected from the half-elf folks, you are also a deadly marksman, a badass.” said Aganju, he moved closer to examine the handmade sniper on Velvet hands in amazement, he had never seen such high craftsmanship like this in Tribal tribe.
“Um, thank you… I guess, wait half-elf?, what is that?, is it some delicacies or something you put on a buffet?.” Said Velvet as she looked at Aganju in confusion, she didn’t know what half-elf is, mother Roselyn didn’t mention anything about half-elf when she taught Velvet, even sir Herlan.
“Bahahaha…I like your humor sense, alright, because I like your humor sense, I’ll tell you something, a half-elf folks refer to human who have hair color other than black and brown, king Edward, he is blonde, I have an assumption, he is a half-elf, and you, your red Velvet hair is the proof that you’re a half-elf. Except for you, Silvie, your white hair is because of albinism, unfortunately, half-elf folks didn’t have a long lifespan like a true elf, so yeah they are just a human with coloured hair, well some of them have a talent in marksmanship or craftsmanship, and I think you have both, red velvet haired gal.” said Aganju while he keeps admiring the handmade sniper on Velvet hands, Velvet and Silvie listen attentively to what Aganju said, it seems both of them felt like they are in a lecture class or something, as expected from master ranked student, he knows a lot than most student.
“I see… w-wait, who are you?!, and why did you approach Silvie earlier, are you a monster in disguise?” Velvet took a step back and aimed her sniper at Aganju while pulling Silvie closer to her, Aganju widened his eyes and froze on his spot while Silvie facepalm when she heard Velvet wild delusion, as such she whispers to Velvet ears.
“He is a master ranked student that I’ve seen and mentioned in the canteen, when you gave me the academy tour on the first day.” Silvie said which made Velvet sweats a lot and she even trembles, then she points her finger and nervously asked to Silvie,
“A m-m-master r-r-ranked student?!! Aigoo, why didn’t you tell me earlier, Silvie, what should I do? I don’t want to get killed by a master ranked student in the first week since I became a student of Stella Ethereal academy!” Velvet panicked as Aganju got closer to both Velvet and Silvie, he gave a thumbs up to Velvet’s swift movement earlier.
“As expected, you’re an expert marksman, clairvoyance and agility, I like it. So… *ahem, to clarify things, this gal, Silvie wants to go outside there and save many people, I just making sure that she is sure about her determination, that’s all.” said Aganju, he blew another big puff of smoke to the cold air, Velvet nod her head while Silvie looks at Aganju with deadpan expression.
Suddenly, the gate of Stella Ethereal academy opened up. Velvet, Aganju, and Silvie looked at the person who opened the gate from the outside, as he caught his breath and coughing blood, then dropped to his knees. That person is Kevin, he is in bad condition as his clothes got ripped apart and there are a lot of scars on his body.
“Sir Kevin!!” Silvie rushes to Kevin to help him by letting Kevin sit at the nearest bench, Kevin’s eyes look unfocused and it seems he just witnessed something terrible, his face is incredibly pale.
“Sir Kevin, what happened to you?, seems like the situation outside is worse than I thought Silvie, I need to survey the outside area.” Said Aganju, he tried to survey the outside area alone, leaving Velvet and Silvie, both of them busy tending Kevin’s wound. With trembling lips, Kevin uttered the reason why he is like this.
“S-s-sir Herlan… h-h he is dead… the church tried to fend off many emerging monsters earlier, sir Herlan acted as a bait and lure many monsters to him.”
That information from Kevin’s mouth felt like a bomb to Silvie and Velvet, both of them knew who sir Herlan is, he is the watcher from the church, their mentor, and their guardian, Velvet clench her fist and grit her teeth, she grabs Kevin’s shirt collar and shout to him.
“THERE IS NO WAY SIR HERLAN DIED!!, HE IS STRONG!, SIR KEVIN…y-you’re lying right?” Velvet lowered her voice, she released her grip from Kevin’s shirt collar and looked directly at Kevin’s eyes, as he looked at her with his soulless and detached eyes, he said, “I wish… I’m lying to you…but, it’s all the truth…I-I saw it with my own eyes, how the monsters eat sir Herlan… I-I I was too late…this is all my fault…I-I disappoint the goddess…I should’ve died there and not sir Herlan…I didn’t deserve to li-.”
-Plack
Silvie’s right hand give a satisfying smack to Kevin’s left cheek, Silvie stands up after she slap Kevin to keep him sane, even though Silvie stand up, her whole body is trembling, her eyes starts to get watery, she bit her lips to not cried, she had sworn to herself after all, that night is the last time she cried, she must keep moving forward, no matter how painful live is, no matter how horrendous things that she will witness, it’s her way to let their soul rest in peace.
“Stop saying further sir Kevin!, sir Herlan didn’t want you to blame yourself of his dead…we…we need to keep living, so sir Herlan sacrifice didn’t became a vain, there are many people out there that needs our help, if it’s sir Herlan, I think, he will prioritize the innocent lives first just like when he saved me from that farm incident.” Silvie finished speaking, Kevin looks at Silvie figure for a second, the stinging pain that Silvie caused on his left check made him realize something, that’s right, sir Herlan is that kind of person, a person who get annoyed when other people get depressed because he needs to watch over those people, adding more jobs to him. Kevin bit his lips and shake his head to throw away the negative thoughts, he needs to become like sir Herlan, he needs to keeps his head cool no matter how worse the situation, it’s his duty as the watcher’s assistant, he gets up from the bench with Velvet’s help, his eyes lit up with burning will to live once again, he looks at Silvie and said.
“You’re right Silvie… thank you for reminding me… there are still people we need to save…but…I’m injured…I have no choice then…Silvie, listen to what I’m about to say.” Kevin grabs Silvie shoulders and he looks directly at her white pupil eyes, Silvie focused on Kevin, then he said, “You…are a goddess incarnation…there is a prophecy in the church…a goddess incarnation is akin to the goddess herself…you…you need to make a pledge…a pledge to the current goddess… it will trigger something in your soul, can you do it?, it’s the only way to save those people.”
Silvie clench her fist after hearing Kevin word, she needs to do something right this instant, there is no next time, there is no tomorrow, she needs to make a pledge, a pledge that is sacrilegious and maybe dangerous, but she didn’t care what will happen to her, she needs to save everyone, it’s a hero duty to become a savior, to become the beacon of light in this dark and cruel world, she closed her eyes, inhaled the night air and let out a long breath, nodding her head to Kevin and stand under the twin moon light, then she unsheathe her rapier and place it upward near her face, a strong wind starts gathering around her, her wolf hair and her black and red uniform flutters, she open her mouth and said,
“I pledge myself, upon my honor, to be loyal to my Faith, to the Goddess.”
The ground under Silvie’s feet cracked, a sudden burst of light from above surge through her body like waterfall, as her body glowing and became brighter, her black and red uniform change itself to a brilliant shining armor along with long white cape, her wolf hair became longer and it glows at the end of each strands, Silvie saw many silhouette on the sky looking down to her, she knows those silhouette is in fact the past albino, the past god and goddess, their soul still dwell in this world, they are giving their authority over Silvie to command over the light, but, the agitation is too much, her body can’t hold on these unimaginable power for far too long, she can feel her body crumbling to dust every passing minute, but she needs to endure this unbearable pain, she needs to sacrifice her body to harness this god-like power.
Silvie opened her eyes, she looks at Velvet and Kevin, their mouth opens agape like a koi fish, Kevin immediately prostrate on his spot, it’s true, the prophecy is true, it’s similar to the goddess herself has descend, as a devout believer, it was a miracle to witness this holy event. Silvie moves her feet and she look back at Velvet and Kevin, she said, “Big sis Velvet, can I entrust my back to you?, I will keep moving forward to pierce through all the monsters.”
Velvet smiled when she heard that, yeah, she is still Silvie, the cute, and aloof young lady Velvet knows, no matter what change happens to her, Velvet gave a thumbs up, and soon ran to the nearest tower. Silvie walks to the gate when she hears Kevin say, “Be careful, Silvie, the most dangerous thing is not those monsters but, a member of Sanctuary, don’t engage with them, never, I repeat never engage with them.”
Silvie nod her head heeding Kevin advice, the cold night air brush past her long white cape and her glowing hair which made it flutters, Silvie grabs the gate handle and opened it, she walked to the outside which full of monsters and blazing flames, her eyes however were full of determination, she can’t let all of it happened again, she refuses the helplessness she felt in the past while knowing people got slaughtered. Silvie walk away from the Stella Ethereal academy, her lonely figure walking through the dark night gives an impression of someone who cherished all the lives, as she, herself made a pledge that resonate through her soul, and before she knew it, that pledge turned her into a single ray of light, a brilliant light called hope.