“Hey, is it just me, or does–”

“It’s not just you,” Bianca knew I was going to question the multitudinous gathering before our eyes. Even she was surprised. We entered the city. How much goddamn money do they have? Did they wall this entire city? I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. Lining every single street that we could see from our perspective, were soldiers like ants. At the main street going down the middle, had one man in front of the rest. A leader of some sort, but low enough on the totem pole to personally see to us. Otherwise he’d be in the back, giving orders. We were still, and they were somewhat calm. Their numbers must’ve reinforced their confidence.

August and I walked up to the man, and Bianca put herself out of harm’s way. After she learned I’d just massacre an entire town once I didn’t see civilians, she knew to remove herself from the battle. “So, you’re the two everyone’s talking about. Rumours are that there is another one of you, is that true?” the man asked, his guttural voice partly afflicted by a cold of some sort.

“Yes, it is.” I made a lot of ice, to which the soldiers all grabbed their swords tightly, in anticipation of attack, but the man simply raised his hand for them to stand down. I then made a three simple chairs.

“You know,” August said, “your higherups don’t value your life at all.” He sat down cross-legged.

“Aye, that is nothing new. But, does that mean you believe you can kill me and survive after?”

“Survive?” August laughed a little. “Well, yes. But ‘survive’ sounds like we’d be fighting for our lives, when in fact it would be the other way around. But forget that, I’m more interested to know why you would agree to even sitting and speaking with us, instead of attacking on sight.”

The man sighed, then let out a cough, “Excuse me. Nasty little cold.” He cleared his throat, “Well, the idea was – or still is, rather – to get as much information from you, then when it looks like it’s getting sticky, I’d bolt out of here and let the men deal with you.”

“Hmm, yeah. Makes sense. So,” August leaned back, quite comfy, “what would you like to know?”

What the hell is this conversation?

He sighed again, something he seemed to like doing. “Although we probably already know, we’d like to confirm why you’re doing this and what nation you belong to.”

“Well,” Aug said in a high pitch, “we’ll leave the nation thing as a little mystery. As for why we’re doing it? Well, we’ve decided Ulanos is getting out of hand, and so, a culling is in order. Perhaps if you were a peaceful people, we’d leave you be.”

“So, we attacked your country?” he asked the obvious. They attacked so many that it would be hard to figure out where we were from.

“That you did,” August replied.

“Since you aren’t one of us, can we assume the power you use is not what our military are trained to use?”

“I don’t even know what power you use. So, no, I guess. So, I’ve got a question myself. Did you evacuate Blackmane’s citizens?”

The man raised an eyebrow, “What’s it matter to you?”

“Haven’t you realised? We don’t kill citizens, as long as they don’t attack us.”

“W-why?”

“Why?” August tilted his head a little. “We’d be nothing more than another Ulanos if we did, wouldn’t we?”

The man sighed once more, “That really makes us sound like the bad guys. Guess that’s true, though. Is there no way to convince you to stop?”

August cackled out this time. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll let you go.”

“We will?” I asked.

“Yeah,” August put down his crossed leg and leaned forward, “and you’re going to tell your higherups, that if they were serious about getting us to stop, they’d be here themselves to talk.”

“So, you still intend to kill all these men?” the man inquired in a way that said we were bluffing.

“How many are ‘all these’ supposed to be?”

“Quarter million.”

“Then yes.”

Again, what the hell is this conversation? I wondered. It felt like my cheeky and messed up negotiation skills were rubbing off on August.

“Sure you want him to go back?” I asked the blacksmith and he nodded. “Alright then,” I nicely summoned a zephyr for the man. “This will take you back to wherever. Now listen, if any harm comes to this beautiful lady,” I pat along the bird’s neck, “it won’t just be soldiers dying.”

Now that was a bluff. I still had no intention of hurting civilians, but I’d still find some way to get them back if they touched one feather. Well, this was a zephyr we’re talking about, second in strength to Gale.

August informed him which town we’d attack tomorrow, so his higherups would know where to find us. With that, he flew off since there wasn’t much else to find out.

It was time now for those men in front of us to go.

At first, I stacked Timedial twice. Then I stacked Purist five times. Divergence treated them like paper, pushing them back blocks away and ruining whatever formations they had. To confirm that there were no civilians in unassuming places, I cast Voidwalk and sank beneath the earth, then used Life Perception and Hawk Eye to ensure no one was in the range of an upcoming Arctic Rage. There were certainly no one in the houses around. Truly, only Ulanos soldiers remained.

The blizzard hit them, and outed their lights in no time. August sat this one out as well, joining Bianca on the wall. I took Purist off and flew upwards, casting many other Arctic Rages around the city. From time to time, they’d have a window of opportunity to launch a volley of fire spells at me. Coming from that many people, it was dangerous, but Reflect nulled the danger, assuming the fire made it past my wind manipulation in the first place. Most of the wild flames were simply dissipated by the winds I wrought, and the more condensed Fireballs would be sent right back at them. Not all of them would use fire though. At rare times, other elements would hit me, but none of them were truly strong enough to do anything.

There was one spell however, that certainly hit me when they cast it as a group. I wasn’t sure what it was called, but its effects grounded me, literally. Gravity had increased for me tremendously, at least until my casting of Arctic Rage finished. Afterward, the effects would simply vanish. Hmm, should’ve tested Dispel on it. I flew back up again and continued on. The damn city was more than twice the size of Methelia, so I only finished at sunset.

How many mana potions did I drink? I asked myself. The stash I prepared beforehand were all finished. Blackmane fell, just like that.

We went to another cave to sleep. Well, I alone felt exhausted, mentally at least. After a quick dinner, I grabbed Hydra up, carried her to bed, and used her as a life-sized pillow. She couldn’t be happier, that stupid grin on her face proved it. I must’ve slept around ten hours that night.

Before sunrise, I awoke, snuck out of bed and made myself breakfast. I practised alchemy for a couple hours before August walked outside to take a leak and saw me.

“Hey, dude, you okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah, man,” I chewed on a bagel, and made the blacksmith some breakfast.

“Are you, though?”

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“Are any of us? Dude, none of us are ‘okay’. We’ve been murdering thousands every fucking day.”

He looked at me silently. “You finally cracked. I cracked a long time ago. At what point is it enough?”

I shrugged. Our first day here felt like enough to us, at least for revenge’s sake. Hydra and Bianca joined us soon after. The other spirits lords went back to their world. We cut that conversation when they came. Bianca wasprobably the worst off.

“Hungry, sword girl?”

“Yes. Yes, I am. Feed me, chef boy.” She sat down between August and I, and Hydra boldly sat in my lap. We shared some laughs and suited up after.

We had a town to clear out.

After some flying, we arrived at the place. There was no hesitation and we simply waltzed through the entrance of the wall-less town. An old man confronted us the minute we stepped in. He drew his sword, not a word leaking from his mouth. There was something different about him, and August sensed it as well. Hence why the blacksmith wasted no time in darting forward with his longsword seeking to cleave the man in two, but Bianca deflected the strike. Her shoulder dislocated in the process.

I quickly used Eden to heal her back. “You insane sword girl! Please stay away from August while he’s fighting, unless you got a damn death wish.” I yelled at her. I was angry, worried, and relieved at the same time, and by the looks of it, August felt the same.

The old man stepped back, confused. It happened too fast for me to even see without Timedial. I don’t know how trained his eye was, but he was a foot or two away from death. He must’ve instinctively felt that, but still, he brandished his sword.

“Wait,” Bianca said to him, “grandpa, it’s me, Bianca. But uh, can’t take the helmet off right now unless I wanna become a criminal.”

“Bianca… where the hell have you been? Isana came back a long time ago but you weren’t with her. Do you know how worried I was?!” he exclaimed in a hushed voice.

“Isana is here?”

“Shit. Bianca, calm down. Wait, better question. Why in blazes are you looking like the people attacking us?”

“Step aside, Solomon,” a voice came from behind.

Oh, so she’s here. I thought, wanting to kill her on sight for starting this mess, but there were some fancily dressed people behind her that made me remember we told that guy we’d be at this town today. Ugh, I guess the talks begin now.

They asked nicely for us to join them inside a barrack. They even had refreshments for us. How nice.

“Hmm, would you allow us a couple minutes to discuss things before we commence?” I asked.

They looked at me for a while, then agreed. I warped Bianca and August to the spirit world; wanted to ensure they couldn’t eavesdrop on us. “Bianca, I don’t think you should say anything. Your sister will recognise your voice.”

“Yeah, was thinkin’ the same thing,” August agreed. “Also, do you know who those men are?”

“My sister is the highest ranked person amongst them. They definitely aren’t anything important. The generals apparently have better things to do.”

“Hmm,” August leaned against me, “so they’re messin’ with us. Should we kill ‘em?”

“Nah,” Bianca refused. “I want to get my grandpa out of this town. We can just return later to do the job.”

“Alright,” August nodded and we decided to do just that. “I’m terribly sorry, but it seems you lot aren’t worth our time. We’ll be back here later today, and if there aren’t truly important decision-makers here, it will resemble Blackmane before the end of the day.”

“Strangers,” one of the men besides Isana spoke up, “know that if you turn your backs now, you won’t leave this room alive.”

“Hmm, yeah, thanks for the warning,” I let loose a Chain Lightning from my fingertips and ended them within a second. They might’ve been fast, but the speed of light was faster. Only Isana remained, purely because I knew Bianca wanted her head. The room ran quiet. August turned around and began walking out, and so did Bianca.

“I knew that voice was familiar. You’re the mage who nearly killed me,” she moaned. “It sure felt,” her fingers traced along her breasts, “good.”

Aaand she’s crazy. I put Magnet on immediately and turned around to walk out as well, but she appeared in front of me, her blade drawn, as well as her smile. “I love when a man plays hard to get. It gets me off,” she said, in an alluring voice. She dropped her sword and tried to place her fingers on my chest, but they went right through. Her stunned expression lasted for a hot second before it turned to irritability. “When you tire of that child, let a real woman please you. I’ll be waiting right here,” she walked right through me, “Eric.”

Right then, I honestly thought about just forgetting Bianca’s wish and sticking an Ice Javelin through Isana’s back. My cover was compromised, and I had no idea how long I had until the rest of Ulanos knew the attackers were Methelian. Why did I even go on that damn boat? I grumbled.

“And you’d better not keep me waiting. You know the consequence,” she giggled.

After we flew to the hills with Bianca’s grandfather, Solomon, in tow, we made a little camp.

“Hey, uh, Bianca,” I placed an arm over her shoulder, “on a scale of one to ten, how bad do you want to kill your sister?”

She looked right at me with eyes as serious as ever, “It’s the one reason I haven’t killed myself yet.”

“Ooh boy, that’s not good.”

Her eyebrows raised, totally suspect that something was going down. I wasn’t planning on cheating and a girl who wasn’t even my girl was looking at me strange. “She likes you, doesn’t she?” Bianca asked.

“Sword girl, you’re scary.”

“And you’re, reckless.”

Afterwards, I told her what Isana said after they left. “Just send a clone,” she blurted out, like it was obvious.

“Y-you might be a genius after all. But, nah, it still feels like cheating.”

“You’re going to put the whole of Methelia at risk of destruction because of your morals?”

It was hard to refuse when she put it like that. Guess I’ll just make sure the clone doesn’t send me that memory.

Whilst she and I conversed about it, August and the old man spoke about something.

Later that night, my clone went back to the town we were at to do the deed, however foul it was. Bianca went to bed early, and Solomon used that opportunity to question the living daylights out of August and I. “So, you snot-nosed little shits are telling me she’s working with another country to fight Ulanos?!”

We both nodded. His face went through a few emotions well, then eventually he came to a shrug. “Ulanos is a pretty fucked up place. I should be mad at you, but as long as I know Bianca is safe, I can’t be.”

“So, old dude, what’s the deal with the sisterly hate?” I asked.

He chuckled, “You best ask Bianca when she wakes up, eh?”

I didn’t bother to say anything more, and simply went to bed as well.

~

Yesterday had a curious turn of events. I awoke to Bianca practising Windsail, but August was still sleeping. Solomon was nowhere to be found.

“Hey, mornin’,” I scratched my stomach lazily and observed her. A tree stood as her combat dummy whilst she skipped around, executing strike after strike.

She stopped when she heard me and pouted, “I’m famished. Make me some breakfast, magic boy.”

“Maybe I should transmute you into breakfast.”

“Are you saying you want to eat me up?” she asked, getting uncomfortably close. I knew it was in jest, but this was new. Renew and a mana potion got her back to full capacity.

“Can you make me a bath?” she held onto my arm and gently tugged on it.

“Yeah, sure.” I created the pool of sorts, filled it with warm water and placed an Invisibility spell on her.

Some minutes later, August came out the tent, looking like death itself. What will these two do without me? I fixed him up some breakfast and we chatted for a bit after we ate.

“So, uh, dude, listen,” August cleaned his teeth. “I was talkin’ to gramps last night. Ever heard of something called a Firmament?”

I raised a brow, “Nope.”

“So,” he turned to me, “it’s this old tradition in Ulanos. In short, it’s a duel to the death. The catch is, that the winner can now legally claim everything the loser owned. I’m talking money, land, house, wife. Hell, even kids. Everything, dude.”

Hmm? That’s some interestin’ stuff. But… “You tellin’ me this because you just feel like small talking, or do you actually plan to do something?”

“Well,” he leaned back, “both. I’m not Ulanosian. So, I’m not sure if they’d allow me to challenge people, but it’s worth a shot. By the way, the person being issued the challenge has to accept it publicly, and the duel is also held in the public. Y’know, witnesses and stuff.”

Hmm… Hmm! “That might actually be a good idea,” I thought out loud. “Man, if you could challenge some high-ranking fellas then take their stuff, you’re golden. We could stop Ulanos without the mass genocide. Uh, you’re doing it though. Better to beat them with a sword than with magic.”

Just getting into the conversation, Bianca called out to me. “Comin’,” I said drearily. My butt had just gotten comfortable too. My hands rested alongside the walls of the pool, “Sup?” She was invisible, so I couldn’t see shit. I only heard the swish of the waters and then felt her wet arms around me, bringing me into a hug. What was a guy to do? In my head, I thought she used the Invisibility to hide herself and whatever expression she was making. Assuming she was just succumbing to all this killing and having a moment, I hugged back. The embrace got tighter and tighter, and lasted really damn long.

“Won’t lie, hugging air like that looks freaky, man,” August gave a little comment, and only then did Bianca loosen her hold. But before we could really separate, she gave me a little peck on the cheek.

“You should try it sometime. It’s extremely satisfying,” I yelled over yonder then turned my attention back to the now visible Bianca – who, might I add, was also very naked. She tittered a bit, but it wasn’t truly enough to mask the look of distress on her face. It barked at me from the back of my mind from the get-go. The minute she sprinted towards us at our little sending-off in Methelia, I thought this moment would come. Regret piled on now; I should’ve made it my responsibility to convince her not to take part in any of this, even if it meant strong-arming her. And even though I did somewhat foresee this situation, that decision still felt like the wrong one to take, but I didn’t have a clue as to why.

Bianca got dressed and joined August and I after a while. The atmosphere was painfully awkward. Was it the kiss?

Thank goodness for my best friend. He brought her attention to our plans to use the Firmament, and she agreed it was actually a much better alternative to what we were doing, but still found it necessary to cut down Ulanos’ military at least as much as we already have.

We arrived back at the same town we met Isana at; thankfully, she wasn’t there anymore. I never imagined we’d see the same place twice.

A smile crept about August’s face. This was the first time in a long time we’d enter a place with a lot of people without our armour to block our identity.

“Let’s go kick some ass.”