These lands are very different from Hippolyta, here it is much warmer, there is more moisture, the land is more fertile, and there are many times more people. At the same time, I notice that there are no less dangers here than in our homeland. This country is facing war, but the bodies of dead people scattered throughout the village already told us that it had already begun. Difficult times have begun for the inhabitants of the kingdom of Lakuus, requiring perseverance and courage from each of them.
Boris's people, that is, earthlings, go around every house in search of useful things while a caravan of five harnessed carts waits for them on the main road. Boris decided that we should wait here for the night and therefore the earthlings began to gradually settle into this village. The first thing, of course, was to properly bury the villagers killed by the robbers. According to the traditions of the kingdom of Hippolyta, the bodies of the dead are burned or drowned, but earthlings do everything differently. They bury them in the ground and place a sign at the burial site in the form of a tablet or a simple stone. This tradition seemed very strange to me, but at the same time understandable. From the words of one earthling I heard something like a prayer:
"We return its fruits to the earth."
Others just stood silently and looked at the graves. Another earthling, standing over one of the graves, uttered a very strange phrase that deeply clung to my mind and that I can never forget:
"Remember death."
After which everyone dispersed.
When everything was ready, a fire was lit inside several houses, where we all began to have dinner. I sat next to Alza, Niana and Zaden, opposite the adventurers: Ashwani, Furgur and Camellia with an earthling named Lecite. We had a lot to talk about while we ate smoked meat.
“I didn’t think that robbers would start ruling here.”
Said Furgur.
"Usually crown lands are the safest and most protected in the entire kingdom."
"Something's wrong."
Alza said.
"The soul screams of alarm."
"Perhaps you're having contractions?"
I asked her, but she shook her head in response.
"No. I feel it, I feel evil."
What does it mean?
I didn't understand her words.
"I have never seen a prophet."
Furgur asked suddenly looking at me.
“Your name is Ripun, right? Tell me what you see?”
"That's not how my predictions come."
I told the arrow shooter.
“If there is a path in which I will die, then the echo of the future will appear to me a day earlier before I turn onto this path.”
“So you have to die to see the future?”
Furgur asked and I nodded, confirming his guess.
“You are a strange people, Hippolytes, I know practically nothing about you.”
"We're talking about you too."
Their people were very different from ours, their language, their appearance were different, and this despite the fact that we were only separated by the goblin forest and the poisonous forest. We didn’t even know about the existence of their kingdom, while they were well aware of us, at least they knew that Hippolyta’s kingdom existed. This told us how out of touch Hippolyta was compared to her neighbors. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why the Antigone Empire managed to conquer our country so easily, we simply had no one to call for help.
What’s strange is that I haven’t seen any predictions for more than a month, although when Boris’s people decided to fight with the residents of Lakuus to save one of their women, I wanted to kill myself in order to inform my past self that trouble was coming, but I couldn’t do it. The fear of death has always been and will be stronger than the desire to do the best, but this prophecy would have fallen into the hands of the past me too late and by that time a black woman named Sigrun had already been captured by the guards.
I really could have helped avoid all this by warning Boris that she should not be allowed outside, but I could not, because I was afraid and because I could not prevent the tragedy. Everyone here knows about my ability, but everyone also knows how it works. To see the future, I need to die and doing this every time is simply unbearable. Fortunately, no one is forcing me to cut my guts open, at least not yet.
"Ripun."
Alza turned to me, placing her head on my shoulder.
"Will you take care of me?"
"Certainly."
I answered without any doubt, hugging her back.
"Thank you."
She said affectionately, closing her eyes and instantly falling asleep.
Since Boris decided on his act, Alza no longer sees him as a savior. She could not accept his decision to treat people so cruelly for the sake of one single person. I saw how love for him, for a stranger from another world, sparkled in her eyes, but from that moment only fear began to be read in her eyes. Alza could understand him, but she was unlikely to ever be able to forgive him.
If you only knew how many times I saved your life, then perhaps you would love me.
With some degree of regret, I thought as I hugged her a little tighter.
"Do you love her?"
Furgur asked me, but I didn’t answer him.
I really like this girl, even if there is someone else’s child in her womb, I will take care of him as if he were my own, I will protect Alza as the closest person in the world. I will not back down from my responsibilities and will protect Hippolyta's last hope, Princess Niana Ilti and her desire to free our country from the rule of the Antigone Empire. I will follow her and at the same time protect Alsa.
"I love her."
I answered Furgur.
"Then I don't envy you."
"Why?"
“Therefore, losing a loved one...”
Furgur, lowering his head, finished the sentence with one single word.
"It hurts."
"Have you lost someone?"
“No one..., but I know someone who lost everything and I sincerely feel sorry for this person.”
"Tch!"
Camellia knocked.
“You have nothing to grieve about when the prophet is nearby. Better go to bed, tomorrow we will continue our journey.”
And she acts very confident.
I noticed to myself and decided to listen to her advice.
We spent that night in silence, lying around a warm fireplace, covered in warm skins and blankets, and in the morning we began to little by little get ready for the road. At this time, Granid was conjuring small metal objects for Boris’s people, that is, shells that their weapons needed so much.
"That's enough for today."
The old wizard sighed wearily, sitting next to a pile of clips.
After the witchcraft, the earthlings began to collect them and do something with their weapons, and every now and then I heard constant clicking noises. Boris helped the old wizard to his feet and thanked him:
"Thanks to you, we still have something to fight for. I think you should rest."
"Promise me you won't kill anyone else."
Boris was silent for a while before answering:
"I can't promise that. This world is too dangerous, and these weapons are our only guarantee of safety."
"It can't protect you."
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“At least from anything weak, it will definitely be able to.”
The earthling grinned.
We were convinced of the lethality of their weapons even at our first meeting. We had no doubt that they could protect us, but they could also harm us, as they did to the people of the Lakuus kingdom.
We used to consider them saviors, but now we are simply afraid of them. Boris promised the princess that he would ask King Lakuus for help for Hippolyta, but none of us believed that this was even possible. Moreover, among us there was already a princess of the kingdom of Lakuus, whose name was Ilifreeta. Her pathetic, immobile state was deplorable, she would never take the throne of the kingdom, and Boris hoped with her help to negotiate something with the local king, but would it work? Will the king have an audience with us? If I knew the future months in advance, it would be much easier than now to constantly think about the essentials.
By morning, the caravan was ready to set off, and while we were all loading the carts with our things, a growing rumble began to be heard, which turned out to be stomping. Someone was marching loudly and moving here, and then a huge army arrived from the south from the direction where we were supposed to go.
"Everyone get ready!"
Boris commanded and his people jumped off the carts and took their places, hiding behind the corners of houses and fences, pointing their weapons towards the uninvited guests.
What’s strange is that I didn’t see any banners, even mercenaries have them, but this army didn’t have them. Or maybe they decided not to raise the flags while they were on the march, but what was more frightening was their number. More and more people appeared behind the trees, dressed in different attire, be it rags or steel plates. Only a few of them were fully clad in steel armor, barely resembling the Antigones, and it is unlikely that their armor was enchanted. All of them were foot soldiers, although at the same time, from a distance, we also saw that convoys were following them, most likely carrying supplies and things for the camp.
When the army reached the outskirts of the village it stopped. The army stood tightly, not allowing passage to the south, and their numbers inspired fear. There were hundreds of people here, maybe even thousands, but none of us knew who this army belonged to and where it was going.
Boris's men, meanwhile, aimed their weapons and waited for the order, and then Camellia, Granid and Incartia came forward. Last day we saw perfectly well what they were capable of, their magical power was incomparable, they were quite capable of dealing with an entire army with three of them. I, in turn, was not so far away and watched how another bloody battle might soon unfold and sincerely did not want to see it.
Boris ground his teeth and complained out loud that they did not have enough ammunition:
“We don’t have enough ammunition to shoot everyone. So our only hope is you.”
He turned to Granid.
“If there is a fight, I will definitely help.”
Granid said with confidence in a hoarse voice.
“For I do not see people, I see the mob before me. The grunting of their souls is disgusting to my ears.”
What would that mean?
I wondered while at this time a lone figure came out of the army, dressed in a black robe or a kind of silk tunic.
Hanging with various decorations, she was somewhat reminiscent of Camellia, but what stood out to her more clearly was her golden-colored short hair that barely fell below her neck. She took slow steps, approaching us closer and closer, and then, having looked carefully, I noticed another feature: her eyes glowing red, as if an unknown and terrible force was emanating from them. A hungry grin was displayed on her face, and one of Boris’s men, looking at this girl, even said out loud:
"Proximirian? What is she doing here?"
"Not this."
Granid said in a gloomy voice, taking a step back in fear.
"Obsessed."
We couldn't believe our ears when we heard this and huddled closer together on the carts. A shiver ran through each of us, even the horses could not stand still, they stamped their hooves and snorted.
"Didn't I hear you?"
Zaden asked, grabbing the spear more tightly.
"He said she was Possessed?"
"Yes."
Princess Niana confirmed, looking at the golden-haired girl while the princess's hands were shaking, holding onto the edge of the cart.
"M-Mom. Aren't they supposed to be freaks?"
It is unlikely that the possessed will differ only in appearance.
This was the first thing I thought of when I heard the princess’s question, but I didn’t voice it out loud.
At this time, a strange girl, who had already been dubbed the Possessed, came closer to a distance of three people and, looking at the trio of magicians in front of her, laughed and said in a ridiculous tone:
“So, so, so interesting people I see here. You have almost no magic, well, except for the three of you, of course, but the rest have five, or even ten souls hanging on them.”
The girl licked her lips like a predator, but then her gaze dimmed slightly as she realized something.
“And my people, did you somehow figure it out with them? Interesting. I want to know who you are. Maybe you could introduce yourself?”
The way she spoke was scary. She didn’t seem to see us as any threat, although she was within shooting distance and could easily be turned into minced meat or ashes, and still she was brave and confident, or maybe she just didn’t understand that the weapons were in the hands of strangers was so dangerous that it could easily have taken her life.
She's too confident. Even if she doesn’t know what earthlings are capable of, she sees magicians before her. Isn't she afraid of them?
Meanwhile, in response to her words, Granid snorted, holding his staff in front of him:
“Why should we introduce ourselves to someone who hasn’t introduced herself? Or are the names of demons so secret that you don’t dare say them out loud?”
The red-eyed girl grinned in response to the words of the old wizard, raising her hands up no higher than her shoulders and putting her palms towards the sky.
"What impudence."
She said sarcastically.
“A mortal like you doesn’t dare do what I demand, ah-yay-yay. Don’t do this. If you don’t introduce yourself in a good way, then I will pull out your names by force. It won’t be difficult for me to do this.”
Is she threatening?
And Boris was about to say something when Granid interrupted him:
"Stop! Don't tell her your names! She's possessed by a demon!"
Boris looked strangely at Granid while holding his weapon in his hands, and then we heard the girl’s laughter.
"Let's start with you."
The girl looked sternly at Granid and at the same moment, from her palms, like a bolt from the blue, a second flash of lightning appeared, after which the charred remains of the old wizard’s ashes fell to the ground.
There weren’t even bones left of him, only dust, and the golden-haired woman pretended to make a frightened expression on her face.
"Oops... overdid it."
"TEACHER! NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!!"
Incartia screamed throughout the entire area, falling to her knees, seeing in front of her only the ashes of her teacher.
"NO! YOU CAN'T! I STILL...*sob*...t-teacher..."
The girl whimpered, barely holding back her tears and looked at the remains of the old wizard with rounded eyes. She muttered something under her breath, and we huddled together in the carts more tightly than ever. We did not immediately realize that a man had now died, whom we had previously considered very, very strong, but now he was gone, he was incinerated in the blink of an eye, as if an ant had simply been crushed before our eyes.
At this moment, Camellia stepped forward and immediately launched a fireball towards the golden-haired sorceress, recreating a fireball above her head. A moment later, a fireball hit her, but the fire that instantly engulfed the golden-haired girl quickly went out as if it had been blown away by the wind, and the flames burned almost nothing on her. The red-eyed one stood safe and sound, as if this fire was nothing more than a simple splash of water for her.
"Pitiful mortal, have you decided to die too?"
What's happening?
With fear on my face, I watched as Camellia was instantly burned by a flash of lightning.
At that moment, the second sorceress also disappeared; together with Granid, she could destroy anyone who could stand in her way. Realizing all this, we were filled with fear and at the same time asked panicky questions:
Who is she?!
"FIRE!"
Boris shouted and many loud bangs were heard throughout the village.
All of Boris’s men fired their weapons at this sorceress, she should have already died, but she still stood motionless, and the bullets hovered at a distance of half an arm from her body. She was somehow able to defend herself from the deadly weapons of earthlings and this was doubly frightening. The red-eyed woman with a frighteningly arrogant look surrounded herself with pieces of metal that hovered in the air and even allowed herself to yawn arrogantly.
"It's not even magic."
She said with contempt.
When the strangers realized that their weapons were useless, they stopped shooting and began to move away from her, continuing to aim in her direction.
"Mshkhan!"
Boris shouted and one of his men threw some iron object to the ground, which, spreading its tentacles, quickly crawled towards the girl.
"Hmm? Is this a summoned beast?"
Goldilocks said and, with a snap of her finger, released lightning from her left palm, after which the entire village was enveloped in a powerful explosion, which overturned the carts with a shock wave.
I felt the blow as I fell back onto the ground while dust and sawdust flew in the air. There was a ringing in my ears, and the dust from the explosion gradually settled to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed how the horses, breaking free from the reins, ran into the forest away from what had happened; some of Boris’s people were even blown off their feet. Rising to my knees, I began to look for the princess, Zaden and Alza. Fortunately, they were nearby and coughing they rose to their feet holding each other.
"Are you all right?"
I asked and, seeing the nods, led them away from here.
"We have to leave."
At this time, looking back at the scene of the explosion, I saw through the settling dust a black figure standing in the same place. Boris and his men rose to their feet at this time, continuing to aim in her direction, but it seemed that even that “summoned beast” could not defeat her. An eerie laugh could be heard behind the cloud of dust, the girl’s eyes shone red, and she herself was safe and sound, except for her clothes, which were torn in some places.
“And this is interesting. No one has amused me for so long. I wonder who you are after all? You have artifacts of the dark ones and you use them as if you are them, but I know that this is not so. Unlike them You can hear singing, that is, you have souls, which means you are nothing more than pathetic little people Hah~... insects."
Pathetic... little people?
Fear, despair and horror were reflected on the face of each of us. This is a monster in human form, possessed by a demon, whatever that means. She again raised her hands up, collecting two shining spheres above her palms that sparkled with small lightning bolts. I realized that right now she was ready to unleash all her magic on us.
“I must admit, you brought me a lot of trouble by finishing off my people. For me, every slave counts, and you buried them all in graves, sent their bodies to the Earth Goddess, and their souls to the lying Soda. But I needed them so much. Well, you will have to find another village, and this one will have to be burned along with you."
"Stop!"
Boris shouted, raising his hands up, notes of fear creeping into his voice.
"Who are you? What do you want from us?"
The girl released part of the lightning and instantly killed Boris, turning him into ashes, after which Boris's remaining people began to shoot at her, but she still did not receive any harm. The pieces of metal launched by the strangers were stopped by some invisible veil surrounding the dark sorceress.
She laughed, seeing the futile and desperate attempts to overcome her. Even Incartia, with a hysterical cry, was going to burn her with her own magic, but the fire she launched simply could not harm her or was not strong enough like Camellia’s.
"You're going to die soon anyway so why don't you tell me."
The red-eyed woman spoke with a malicious grin while the two shining spheres above her palms expanded and became brighter and brighter.
“I am a legend of the world. My name is Swidok. And I serve Verhane, the patriarch of darkness. Well now you know, and now farewell, pathetic and insignificant servants of the shepherd. Your place is in the wastelands of Sayhel, tell the lord of death about the wanderings of his worst enemy... ME. "
A powerful explosion of lightning enveloped the entire village, I didn’t even have time to feel the heat when I instantly stopped feeling my entire body. The light enveloped each of us, the lightning devoured everything it could, and then the next moment I woke up sitting on a cart. I couldn’t believe my eyes, my heart was beating wildly, and a moment later the cart jumped on a bump. Looking to the side, I saw the village we were approaching.
"Everyone was killed."
Boris said in a gloomy voice, looking at the bodies of people scattered on the ground, among which were old people, women and children.
“We need to search everything here, and then continue on our way.”
Disaster!
It was on my mind.