Chapter 17

SOME BIRDS BLEED (1)

In the small village of Oakhart, a great danger loomed over the people. Yet, for some reason, while they stayed inside their homes or sought refuge in the safety of the mansion, not knowing from where the enemy troops might attack.

But for some unknown reason, they were not as afraid as they had been the last time the demon army approached from the sea.

Today, despite the great threat of a foreign army invasion —a war that no one could say had already begun or was just on the horizon. The sky looked optimistically clear.

The perimeter of the village and its surroundings were guarded by the newly appointed knights of Alicia, stationed throughout the forest and along the borders.

However, the forest’s outermost border was entrusted to a single knight ―Izek, the Shieldmaster Knight. His only order from Alicia was to protect the village and its people, he stood there alone by choice.

To unleash his full strength and skill, he needed to perform the task alone. From his golden ring manifested a giant golden shield in his left arm.

Izek plants his shield firmly into the ground. Taking a deep breath, he focuses on his soul core. His aura surges to life in an instant, radiating with a brilliant golden color.

Now almost the entire length of the border was covered with a giant rising golden translucent wall.

It was not just on a whim that Izek decided to raise the barrier. But because he instinctively sensed something inhumane approaching the town. And their large number reckoned him to prepare early.

Izek prepared to brace himself, augmenting his body and shield with his soul power. As he saw the tall trees in the forest started to waver. Something huge was approaching.

And finally, when Izek was able to make out their large bodies, made of stone. The giant trolls used their massive fist or threw boulders trying to take down the shield in their way.

The collision between the trolls and Izek’s aural shield created a cacophonous sound to resonate in the entire region. And yet the towering defense stood tall without any damage.

The troll's first wave had miserably failed and their parade was obstructed by the shield wall.

Now it was Izek’s turn to attack. Raising his sword, the aura of the giant walls started to form piercing light spears. Aiming at the trolls, Izek released an overwhelming barrage of spears on the trolls.

“So, they even went as far as to try to control the monsters with slave collars.” Izek muttered as he saw slave collars around the monster’s neck.

Even though it was impractical to control monsters with them. It was not at all out of reason to use monsters as fodder soldiers to tire down their enemy in a war.

But Izek held his ground, as he continuously took down the troll’s wave after waves.

But then, he sensed a breach in his barrier. Not at one place but two and having multiple impact areas.

Surprisingly, the walls made out of his aura did not fracture or malfunction.

In fact, he sensed monsters incoming from underground and above the sky where his aural shield could not reach.

His mobility was restricted in holding the trolls in their place. Izek now found himself in a difficult spot unable to figure out where to move to stop the monsters.

“Should I take down the shield and start fighting them? It should not be impossible for me. I am sure my knights would sense something is wrong once they see the shield walls down and come to help me.” Izek thought loudly.

Izek while trying his best to figure out a way to come out of his dilemma.

Suddenly the earth beneath him shook slightly. The intensity increased with the sound of drilling. And then the surface erupted with an earth-shattering explosion.

Two giant trolls jumped out from the hole they created in the earth’s crust.

Just when the trolls thought they were ready to cause chaos. A blur —a small figure hurtled toward them at blinding speed. It collided with their colossal forms like a pebble striking a mountain.

Yet, instead of being crushed or flung away, the impact unleashed a swirling storm of dust and debris.

As the dust cleared, a figure emerged from the rubble. Standing tall amidst the shattered stone was Hana, her unassuming presence belying the raw power she had just unleashed.

“Isn’t that the little girl who’s always hanging around Alicia? Her personal maid?” Izek muttered, utterly baffled.

But what he saw next had completely cleared his doubts but also left his mind boggled.

Hana betraying her small height and physique, sprinted to another crack in the earth where more Trolls had emerged from beneath the ground.

With a small fist clenched tight without fear or hesitation she she launched herself at the nearest troll.

The punch landed with a deceptively soft thud, like a hand pressing into a sponge. For a moment, it seemed as if her attack had no effect.

But then, with a terrifying crack, the Troll’s massive body shattered into tiny pieces of rocks, the force of her elastic punch obliterated it entirely.

“I suppose she doesn’t need anyone’s help.” Izek sighed and focused on maintaining the shield wall.

But there was still one more danger pending.

“Kwaaa… Kwaaa…” Flying monsters approached with trolls and giant rocks clutched between their claws.

“If they pass over, they could drop those over the village and destroy it.” Izek warned.

“Leave it to us.” said a girl with long, straight black hair, her voice calm yet confident. She wore a simple designed shirt tucked neatly into her pants. Caige reassured as if she had a plan ready.

Raising her hand as a signal, she unsheathed a knife and approached a young tree. With a calculated glance at one of the monstrous birds circling above, she pointed the knife toward it.

“Are you ready to take flight, Maia?” Caige asked.

“Yes, ma'am!” replied Maia, a demihuman with Doberman-like ears, her playful excitement bubbling over.

Without hesitation, Maia gripped the young tree barehanded, pulling it down with her unnatural strength. The branch bent low, almost grazing the ground, as she quickly secured it with a sturdy rope for support.

In one fluid motion, Maia climbed atop the branch, perched at its very edge like a coiled spring.

Caige nodded and, with a single precise slash, cut the rope.

SWOOSH!

The branch snapped upward with incredible force, launching Maia into the air like a streak of lightning.

The momentum magically sent her straight soaring toward the monster birds. Almost like her trajectory was perfectly calculated.

It was a primitive yet ingenious method of flight. Thankfully, the monster birds, weighed down by their burdens, were flying low and slow, making them vulnerable and unable to evade effectively.

“That’s dangerous.” Izek shouted, his voice filled with worry as he watched the daring spectacle.

Hana, however, had stars in her eyes, watching with uncontainable excitement. As if jealous that Caige and Maia were the only ones having fun.

“Hey, I wanna do that too. Let me also play.” Hana exclaimed, looking at Maia as though she had just discovered the greatest game in the world.

Maia gripped her chest tightly as the rush of wind whipped against her face, stinging her cheeks. Her sharp eyes locked onto the monstrous bird ahead, taking note of its every movement.

She was midway through her flight, and that is when her trajectory started to dip as gravity did its best to pull her down to the ground. To anyone watching from below, it seemed inevitable that Maia was going to fall down.

Izek felt the urgency to intervene and save Maia. He prepared to spring into action, but then something extraordinary happened.

In an instant, Maia’s body began to change. Her muscles bulged slightly with raw power. Veins pulsing beneath her skin as her frame grew larger.

Her short brown hair transformed into cascading waves of golden like yellow fur that spread rapidly across her body. Her hands morphed into razor-sharp claws, and her feet became deadly paws.

Her transformation into a beast-like warrior was swift. With a feral growl, she lunged mid-air toward the nearest monster bird.

Her claws sank deep into its lower body, eliciting a bloodcurdling shriek from the creature. The bird flailed wildly, desperate to shake Maia off, but she continued climbing its body.

Scaling up on its feet with speed almost making it look like climbing a stationary mountain. And once she reached its neck, her sharp claws sliced through the monster bird's throat.

The bird let out a final screech before the troll it carried slipped from its claws, crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces.

Maia didn't stop to catch her breath. As the dying bird began its descent, she leaped from its back, using its momentum to propel herself toward another monster bird.

She landed on the next creature, digging her claws into its feathery hide. The second bird thrashed violently, but Maia wasted no time, delivering another swift strike to its throat.

Maia repeated the process like a deadly dance —leap, strike, kill. One by one, the monster birds fell, their cries echoing through the skies.

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After a dozen kills, only one bird remained. Perched on its back, Maia realized she couldn’t leap off this time.

The remaining bird was too high, and she needed to use its body after killing it to cushion her landing. As she braced for impact, the feather she held onto suddenly tore free from the monster bird’s body and Maia got further separated, pushed by the winds.

Maia’s eyes widened in shock as she lost her grip and began to fall.

“Just my bad luck today.” Maia muttered bitterly to herself, the wind roaring past her.

As she plummeted toward the ground, she released her beast form, her fur receding and her body shrinking back to her normal size to make her body light as much as possible.

She focused on bracing for impact, muttering nervously. “Maybe just one bone —my leg? But then I can’t play… no. Then my arm? Then I can’t eat! Someone, please just save me!” Maia let out a cry, torn by the weight of her dilemma.

“―Caught you.” Came a steady voice.

Suddenly Maia felt firm arms wrap around her body.

Maia looked up in disbelief, her tired eyes meeting Izek’s. His strong arms held her securely, his own breath out of disarray.

Maia blinked, struggling to process what had just happened. She had seen this man before at the knighting ceremony where Alicia had knighted him as the leader of her knights. But they’d never spoken to each other.

Likewise, Izek knew who Maia was. She and her companion were Alicia’s trusted guests and business partners, but he’d never imagined interacting with her quite like this.

And yet for some reason Izek while standing and holding Maia in his arms, did not know what to do next. He couldn’t help but stare into her big bubbly eyes.

And Maia only innocently looked back at him.

“Hey mister, can you please put my partner down?” Caige walked up to Izek and shouted, interrupting his thoughts.

“Yeah.”

Izek bends to put down Maia on the round so that she does not have to feel any strain. While Caige quickly pulled her friend’s hand and put herself between them. Quickly glancing at the two repeatedly almost giving herself a neck pain.

“Just what is going on?” Caige sounded almost annoyed.

“My name is Izek Valoria. And I am miss Alicia’s knight.” Izek introduced himself.

“I am Caige and this is my friend Maia. We run the Sierra Union under Alicia.” Caige gave a suspicious look at him as if probing for more answers.

“And so…” Izek mumbled.

“So, what?” Caige answered back defiantly.

“I knew demi humans have great physical strength but I never knew they could do something like that what miss Maia did.” Izek almost spoke in awe acting out some of Maia’s flying stunts with his hands. “And she was really cool when taking down the flying monsters. And I did not want to see her get hurt, so I jumped to save her.”

Izek was a little too honest with his words to even make Caige feel a little bit guilty for suspecting him.

“Maia. Maia. I want to fly in the air too. So, help me.” Hana called out, waving at them.

While the three adults talked. Hana had already taken it upon herself to pull down the tallest tree in the region to the ground and seek help from Maia to do the same stunt.

“Miss Hanan. Wait that’s dangerous. Get down from that tree. You shouldn’t do that. Master will get worried.” Izek quickly ran at Hana to stop her from doing the deed.

Maia let out a tired chuckle, her cheeks flushed. “Thank you for saving me sir Knight Izek. Guess I owe you one.”

***

OAKHART BORDER FOREST

“Do you truly believe you can hide your friends from me?” Homura snarled through gritted teeth, his voice full of anger. “Once I’m finished with you, I’ll make them suffer too. But your suffering… yours will be the worst of all.”

Alicia had just now secured Athena and Regis by hiding them inside a capsule made out of her webs. Surprisingly Homura realized that it was a special kind of protection because his unique skill’s influence did not reach inside.

“Homura, let me give you one word of advice. Shut up and go away.” Alicia said coldly.

Homura froze at the sheer audacity of Alicia’s words catching him off guard.

For some reason, the Sachi he remembered from his previous world would never have dared to speak to him like this. That girl had been meek, timid, a shadow that faded under pressure.

But the girl standing before him now was something entirely different.

Homura almost felt like staring at a shell or more precisely a doll that had no emotions left inside it. Right now, he could not even tell what Sachi was thinking. She no longer felt human anymore, to him.

“What can these demi-humans possibly offer you? I can give you honor and a lot of wealth. Don’t lie to me that you are doing this out of the goodness of your heart, because something tells me it’s not.”

Alicia’s lips curled into a faint, bitter smile. “I don’t expect you to understand. But when your loved ones are lost in pain right before your eyes. It’s the greatest kind of pain that haunts you forever.”

Alicia’s every word made Homura’s smirk waver.

Alicia could not forgive what Homura had done to Lucia. Killing her grandparents right in front of her eyes. But right now, her voice was too deep, to say for sure it was only limited to that.

Homura knew from where all of this began. The first night that Zero appeared, Homura lost the person most close to him. And when he tried to stand up against that injustice he lost another important person ―his goddess.

The only thing left for him each day was to relive his helplessness and agony.

But now that Homura knew his goddess was alive he was ready to take that chance. He knew Freya had the strongest divine powers among all the gods who reincarnated while Sachi had the weakest ones.

If he pushed himself to use all his divine powers he would win for sure.

“Do you think I don’t know that better than anyone?” Homura roared, his voice shaking the air as golden flames erupted around him.

Divine energy surged from his body, forming a radiant golden aura that shimmered like a burning sun.

The sheer force of his power warped the terrain itself. Cracks split the ground beneath his feet, and the air around him grew heavy.

With a flicker of motion too fast for the eye to follow, Homura vanished, reappearing mid-strike as he rocketed toward Alicia with blinding speed.

His sword, glowing with divine energy was aimed directly at Alicia’s neck. In his mind, the fight was already over.

“I win.” Homura laughed.

Clang.

The sound of steel meeting steel shattered the air like a thunderclap.

Homura’s smirk vanished, replaced by stunned disbelief. His sword had stopped—no, it had been blocked. Just an inch from Alicia’s neck, his blade met an unexpected barrier: a blue scabbard.

Alicia stood motionless, her expression unreadable as she gripped the white hilt of her sheathed sword. The force of the collision sent a shock wave rippling outward, but she didn’t flinch.

“And that’s why from now I am going to make sure your each and every action count.”

Homura’s sword trembled against the scabbard, but it wouldn’t budge. His eyes widened in shock to see that the divine energy that should have easily cut through Alicia’s sword, in fact was blocking his divine aura.

“Impossible. How are you able to do it? What kind of sword is that? It’s neither divine nor sacred! There’s no way an ordinary weapon can block divine energy!” Homura bellowed, his frustration boiling over. His gaze flickered to the weapon, searching for an answer.

Only another divine tool could stand against divine energy.

But Homura felt nothing from Alicia’s sword. It was just an ordinary-looking weapon. And yet even in its scabbard, it stopped his strike.

“If you are so powerful then where were you all this time? Even without doing anything, we were living the life of our dream as princes and princesses. But everything changed once he showed up, while you and your goddess were hiding behind us.” Homura’s eyes burned with malice.

Alicia slid the scabbard forward just enough to push Homura back a step as if that was her answer. Or rather she did not think so highly of him to answer his questions any longer.

“I am a prince in this world, destined to become a king. I have a castle and the ability that makes everyone fall in love with me. Who are you to interfere in my plans? Anyways, let me ask you who are your parents here.” Homura then took it upon himself to aggravate Alicia further.

Alicia stayed quiet.

Homura smirked, sensing an opportunity to needle her further. “Don’t tell me they are just mere commoners you can’t even talk about. Or don’t tell me you are an orphan even here.” Homura laughed.

Clunk.

Homura froze, his laughter cut short. In the barest fraction of a second Homura heard the sound of unsheathing of a sword.

But the sword was already back in the scabbard as if she hadn’t moved at all.

And then he felt it.

A strange lightness overcame him, followed by a sickening drop in his stomach.

He blinked, confused, his vision spinning. His head turned to the left —only to see his left leg. Still standing upright. Still in place.

Detached from his body.

“Aghhhhh….. My leg. My leg.” Homura shouted as the pain exploded through him like wildfire.

“I said I would make every word and action of yours count.” Alicia tilted her head slightly, her icy gaze boring into him. “So, perhaps next time, you’ll choose your words more carefully.”

Homura’s hands trembled as he poured divine light into his wound, gritting his teeth as the radiant energy stitched his leg back together. The agonizing pain left him half unconscious even though he regenerated the nerves and healed quickly.

Alicia stepped forward, her boots crunching softly against the dirt.

Homura glanced up at Alicia, his blood turning cold as he met her eyes. The faint, eerie blue glow in her gaze made his stomach churn.

Now he finally remembered, that it was her eyes that changed along with Alicia’s demeanor.

“Kill her. All remaining troops charge at her. Don’t let her come close to me.” Homura thought he could run if he used everyone as a shield here.

He could again plan a comeback and attack again anytime.

“She will kill me.” The thought horrified Homura more than anything right now, continuously remembering the emotionless icy blue glow in her eye.

His instincts screamed at him to flee, to run as far as possible, but his body refused to obey.

Finally, desperation took over. Homura, seizing his chance, began to slither backward on the ground, using his troops as shields. But instead, he quickly fell down.

His hands had slipped, and suddenly he fell flat, his face slamming into the ground.

When he glanced down, his eyes bulged out. The ground beneath him had turned into a river of blood, thick and viscous, flowing from the countless corpses of his fallen troops.

He tried to wipe the blood off his hands, but it smeared across his face and soaked into his clean robes.

“This is so filthy! Get it off! GET IT OFF!” Homura screamed, his voice cracking in hysteria.

Then he froze.

His gaze locked forward, and for the first time, Homura truly saw what was really happening. His bloodshot eyes widened, and his breath got stuck in his throat midway.

‘Why hadn’t I noticed it before?’ Homura repeatedly questioned himself as he watched the massacre unfold in the most brutal, horrifying detail.

The soldiers he controlled —those he had enslaved with his divine charisma were being slaughtered like cattle.

Hundreds fell every second, their deaths swift, merciless, and absolute.

Those who dared to approach Alicia disintegrated on the spot, their bodies bursting apart from within, blood and organs splattering across the battlefield.

The ones who attacked from afar were engulfed in sudden, roaring black flames that could not be even put out by water.

And those who turned to flee were cut down in an instant. An invisible thread, razor-sharp and impossibly fast, sliced through their bodies, leaving them in perfect halves that collapsed to the ground like broken mannequins.

And before Homura could notice Alicia had reached him.

Homura’s breath came in shallow gasps. “Why... Why can’t I win?”

After all there was no sense to the carnage he just witnessed.

“You put too much faith in your divine energy and your pathetic unique skill. You were so blinded by your arrogance that you never considered there could be something or someone —greater than you.” Alicia said, her voice dropping to a whisper as if she already knew this would happen.

“Is it revenge for what we did that time to you in the divine realm?” Homura somehow moved his lips to ask.

Alicia shook her head puzzled as if she did not remember at all.

That’s when Homura realized her true nature. The devil in blue eyes and white hair.

No, the real Sachi in front of him was even worse than a devil. Like an incarnate of death itself.

“You should’ve figured it out by now.” Alicia continued, tilting her head slightly, her tone almost mocking. “I wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. You just didn’t look hard enough. You couldn’t see what was right in front of you.”

Alicia bent down slightly, her face now inches from his, her chilling presence suffocating. Alicia’s lips curled into the faintest smile, and then it happened.

A wave of golden light erupted from her body, so pure and radiant it seemed to consume the battlefield itself. Homura’s divine energy could not even hold a candle to the amount of divine energy Alicia showed.

The aura was blinding and infinite.

Homura’s mind reeled, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Alicia’s hair, white as snow, shimmered in the golden glow, and her eyes —those haunting blue eyes burned with a ferocity that froze his very soul.

“You see it now, don’t you? I am not the same old person I once was. I am stronger than you.”

***

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