“Gruurrr---!”
Growling through clenched teeth, I arched my body. Muscles unaccustomed to even the smallest movements protested with pain, but I kept crawling. I reached out and barely managed to brush the sphere with my fingertips.
Just a little more! Pour soul energy into the body. Got it!
Clutching the grenade in my hand, I smiled triumphantly and hurled it toward the enemy.
Well, I tried to throw it. The swing was perfect, but something went wrong—maybe the release was off, or perhaps my fingers let go too soon. The grenade landed on the dead hero who tried to kill me’s back and rolled a short distance before stopping on the other side.
The explosion shook the hall, sending decades of dust from the ceiling down to obscure the corridor in a dense cloud. Gunfire raged on without pause, but the defenders had an edge—they knew the palace halls inside and out.
Soon, enemies began to fall one by one.
In short dashes, the defenders advanced toward me, pushing back the remaining attackers. One of the defenders rushed over, slung his rifle behind his back, and hoisted me under my arms, setting me back into the chair.
“We need to retreat to the inner courtyard!” he shouted to the others. “To Her Majesty’s ship, while the path is still open! Follow me!”
Once again, I was reduced to being live cargo, though now I realized just how gentle my mother’s handling had been. This time, I was tossed around so violently that I was nearly thrown off the chair at every turn. Still, I used the time to continue recording memories and working on restoring my body.
To my shame, the brief skirmish had cost me another chunk of memory—a substantial one. Nearly ten years of my life were gone. All that remained were the basics of practices and techniques fine-tuned for energy graining and transformation into... into what?
‘Why couldn’t I remember? An Enlightened One? No, that was the previous stage. A Prophet? A Buddha?’
Exhaling deeply, I closed my eyes, pushing the stray thoughts aside.
It’s fine. I’m calm. I am a stone lying atop a mountain, my edges worn by a celestial stream, my strength drawn from the blazing sun and the free wind... No! It’s not working!
‘How can they grant me strength when my lower chakras(life-cycles) are like bread crumbles, now stricken together with borrowed soul energy?’
Taking another deep breath, I expelled the distractions. It’s fine. My spiritual vision is intact, and my development techniques remain with me.
I can make up for any mistakes if I find a quiet place and some time. Retracing a familiar path is always easier; it will only take five years.
No more.
“The airlock! Quickly!” my escort shouted as two guards ran to the heavy metal door, its ornate decoration barely concealing its true purpose. I realized its significance seconds later when a rumble echoed from the other side and a red light flickered above the gate.
The guard shifted, giving me a view through a small window, and I beheld an incredible sight. A massive ship was ascending into the sky from a launch pad marked with yellow symbols.
Six pairs of turbojet engines roared, spitting streams of violet flame. A bright, winding lizard stretched across the hull, alongside a crest with three hills and the name Mistress of the Wixons. The ship was clearly in full afterburner mode, scorching everything below. Benches at the pad’s edge caught fire, and I soon understood the urgency.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Fireballs struck the ship, but moments before impact, defensive shields detonated, intercepting the blasts. Then the ship’s countermeasures activated—several rapid-fire rotary guns unleashed a storm of bullets, targeting incoming missiles and projectiles.
The rapidly ascending vessel disappeared from view, and as my escort rolled me closer to the window, I barely discerned the tiny dot of the departing ship, pursued by several others.
That’s when I realized I had overestimated its size. Compared to its pursuers, it was minuscule.
Above the fray, holding a steady altitude above the fighters and assault ships, a true titan shone with the exhaust of hundreds of smaller directional engines and a dozen main thrusters.
The roar of its main guns echoed even through the sealed airlock. Blue streaks of projectiles hurtled toward the fleeing ship, but it dove sharply, causing the barrage to strike several pursuing fighters instead. The fugitive plunged lower before vanishing in a brief flash that obliterated half of its pursuers.
But that wasn’t important…the eminent situation is that I or rather we have been abandoned.
“What was that?” the guard behind me muttered in shock. “They couldn’t... they wouldn’t dare.”
“Captain, there’s still a leisure airship at the pier!” one of the guards shouted. “If we can get it airborne and stay close to the ground…”
“Then we’ll do it! What’s the temperature outside?” the captain replied.
“Eighty... seventy-five... sixty,” the guard began counting down.
“No time to wait for it to drop! We’ll endure for a few minutes,” the captain ordered. “Emergency airlock opening! Everyone Brace yourself for the scorching heat!!”
“Understood!” the guard nodded. With a blow from his rifle butt, he shattered the ornamental wall panel, revealing a red lever beneath. He pulled it, and the gate’s mechanism groaned as it began to turn.
Superheated air blasted through the gap, instantly vaporizing any lingering moisture.
The heat scorched my cheeks and forced me to shut my eyes, but the brave soldiers tugged their caps down over their ears and, shielding their faces, dashed toward a small yacht parked just off the passage.
The craft had sustained significant damage from the shuttle’s emergency departure, but its beauty no longer mattered—only its functionality did.
“We’ll have to bear it. Hold on,” the captain said, tilting my wheelchair back onto its large rear wheels and rolling me outside.
What can I say? I held on. There simply was no other choice.
I held my breath as long as I could, exhaling only when there was no air left in my lungs. We were already at the slowly lowering main ramp. As soon as I inhaled, the searing air scorched my nostrils and throat, though I breathed in slowly.
Dancing spots filled my vision when a roar sounded from above.
“It’s the Witch’s Corvette!” a guard yelled, his voice a mix of awe and despair.
“Shit-!”
The captain cursed, grabbed me without ceremony, and slung me over his shoulder before leaping onto the not-yet-lowered ramp. He immediately ordered the ascent.
“Engines to full thrust!” He barked, strapping me into a side seat by the entrance. Our eyes met briefly, and I offered him a faint smile.
That’s when I realized I had made a mistake. The captain recoiled, staring at me in surprise before frowning deeply. His gaze swept over me from head to toe, and he rushed to the cockpit without a word.
"Close it, quickly! Come on!" the guards cried out. The motor responsible for the ramp was likely damaged when another ship took off. In desperation, a soldier pulled a handle from the inside of the airship and began turning it frantically. It worked—the door started closing much faster, and he even managed to seal it before the roaring sound outside became unbearable.
The airship jolted, rising from the ground, but in the next instant, there was the deafening sound of an explosion, and we were thrown to the side. Through the small circle window situated opposite to me, I saw one of the four engines obliterated by a projectile. The ship managed to stabilize somehow, only for two other thrusters to be taken out.
The bow of the airship dangerously tilted, and we crashed to the ground.
Soldiers who hadn’t buckled in fell to the floor. Shouts and curses echoed, followed by several projectiles striking the hull. The explosions came one after another, stripping away the armour layer by layer like peeling an egg. When a brief silence fell, I realized we were defenceless. One more hit and we were finished.
When a loud impact sounded outside, I shut my eyes, expecting an explosion. Instead, the roof was pierced by a bright blue glow, shaped like a long, curved blade.
'The-the hell!'
I couldn’t believe my eyes as it cut a perfect circle, and in the next moment, a piece of the hull fell away, and a black-haired woman in a red jumpsuit and towering boots leapt into the cabin, a triumphant grin on her face.
"Death to the witch!" one of my guards shouted, charging at her with a sword.