Morning of 15th September, 2027,

The Corps of Seven and Delta Force witnessed a ritual performed by Lady 4th. She peered in a bowl of water to foresee the future before her lips curled up in a smile.

"I foresee Victory." Alice declared, but Elaira knew the truth as Lady 4th had told her that she was unable to foresee future related to Techonia. Because it was either a future that had not been decided or it was a future where everyone died.

After the ritual, Alice formally greeted the rest of the Corps of Seven and the Delta Forces, but their exchange was cut short when Sniver and Gamma passed out as soon they saw her up close, and had to be taken to the infirmary.

Meanwhile, Elaira and Iliana were sitting on a bench in a corner, talking and saying their farewells.

"Last night, Abel came by to bid his farewell," Iliana spoke with a tremor in her voice. By now, she knew that it could've been their last goodbye, since he might not survive.

"Did you try to stop him?" Elaira asked, squeezing Iliana's hand to calm her tremors.

"I.. didn't. It would not be fair to hold him back when he dedicated himself for this," Iliana said calmly but there were feelings of guilt and fear inside her and seeing that even Eluya would be leaving now, filled her eyes with tears as the sorrow and the pain of separation with the possibility of this being the last time they talk, weakened her resolve even more.

"And I know.. it would be selfish to hold you back just to console me.. Abel needs you more," Iliana spoke, barely holding back, determined not to shed a tear.

"Iliana... No, Alisa.. I swear on my blood, I will make sure we come back alive," Elaira spoke, squeezing Iliana's hand to comfort her. Her Divine Blood Art absorbed the sentiments that were overflowing in Iliana's heart.

Just then, 8th came up to Elaira and whispered calmly in her ear, but deep inside 8th was scared too. "Lady 6th, it's time."

"I'll be there in a minute. Make sure everything is prepared," Elaira said calmly, her expression did not change despite the fear of death and separation from Abraxas and Iliana.

8th nodded before she quickly went back to the rest of the group.

"Iliana.. I'll get going now. Stay strong.. for me.. for Abel." Elaira spoke as she stood up and looked back at Iliana. The sunlight was outlining her and her leather Armor with a hint of Holy Energy filling up the spaces in the armor.

"See you soon... Iliana." Elaira said before she disappeared in thin air.

Iliana didn't get up to leave, choosing to stay in that corner and listening to the sound of soldiers and a truck. And once those sounds died out in the distance, she couldn't hold back her tears and began crying.

Tears streamed down her face as she wailed loudly, unable to hold back her tears.

"I'm.. useless.. Why so useless?! Am I?! WHYYY?!" She screamed but her words came out as a jumbled mess.

Then Alice sat down beside her and caressed her head. "Child.. You are not useless. Do you really wish to badmouth yourself over something you can't control?" Alice spoke with a look of concern, not just for the soldiers but also for Iliana.

Iliana watching someone she loved going to a place that could lead to their death while being powerless and unable to help, which was was heartbreaking. What Iliana was expressing now was guilt. Guilt over a scenario she couldn't help in.

She possessed neither a blessing nor the physical strength to fight or help. She wanted to help but there was nothing she could do.

"There is nothing I can do.." Iliana whispered before the last of her tears dried up, leaving behind her sorrowful, hopeless expression. She could only pray to the gods that the ones she loved return safely.

And seeing this affected Alice, she wasn't worried about her disciple as much as she was worried about Iliana. For her disciple was strong but Iliana was too strong for her own good.

'Suppressing one's emotions never leads to anything good.' Alice thought to herself, hearing the sound of the truck and the soldiers marching away. The sound was faint enough that Iliana could no longer hear it.

__________

"Are you alright, Lady 6th?" 8th asked, concerned about the expression that Elaira had.

Elaira nodded, before she looked back at 14 and issued an order. "Lead Ole's truck to Techonia. I'll go ahead with 8 and 9.. To set up a camp with Abraxas."

Then the three of them left, leaving behind the rest of the soldiers, guiding the truck, leaving 14 to guide them.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Everyone! IN A SPEARHEAD POSITION! BE WARY OF CHANGES IN THE SURROUNDING." 14 shouted at the top of his lungs and the vampire soldiers got into position.

All of them were running at the speed of the truck, protecting all the supplies loaded in it. The truck was being driven by Ole with Austin and Rina sitting in the cabin with her. Meanwhile the rest of the Corps and Delta Force were being carried by soldiers. This was done to carry the most they could in the truck.

"Will we be alright?" Morel asked the vampire who was carrying him.

"Trust Lord 5th and Lady 6th. We have never been defeated when standing by them." 11 replied, who was carrying Morel on his shoulder with 12th nearby, carrying Shu on hers.

"Elaira must be the 6th.. At least that's what you all call her.. But who is the 5th?" Morel asked.

"Wait.. Have you not met lord 5th? The commander of this battle and the Proxy of Justifia?" 12th asked, with a look of surprise on her face.

"No.. I never saw his face even from afar," Morel spoke with Shu nodding in support.

"Yes, we never got to meet him." Shu added.

"That's weird.. We saw you talking to him yesterday. It seemed like you were great friends too." 11th said to Morel, with a disappointed sigh.

Though 14th was glaring at the two of them, 11th and 12th couldn't help but give the two they were carrying a hint. A hint to figure out, who the Proxy was.

The only problem being, Morel talked friendly to everyone so it didn't narrow down the suspects much, if any at all.

"Is that so.. Well, I'll figure it out eventually." Morel stated with a confident smile.

"Of course you will, World's Best Detective." 11th and 12th spoke in unison, surprising both Morel and Shu.

Though they two were partners in work and had a functional relationship outside of it, their bond was significantly simpler than the two vampires who were carrying them.

It's now that Morel and Shu noticed that 11 and 12 have been moving their foot in sync and despite the very obvious call to move in the Spearhead position, they weren't. Yet they never felt like an ambush would hit them.

'You are in good hands.' 14 thought to himself while looking at the four of them from a distance. He has seen Shu and Morel's teamwork on a few occasions, when he visited the Republic in the past but he has witnessed miracles performed by 11th and 12th together. So leaving Morel and Shu with them was the best thing for them.

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Borders of Techonia,

They were sitting on top of the Research Centre and eyeing down the entire city. Their plan was already in motion and it won't take long before every piece falls into place and the great calamity starts yet once again.

"Oh? What do we have here?" They smiled as their eyes met his.

"The Proxy of Justifia is here in flesh. I'm honoured." They remarked sarcastically as Abraxas was looking at them from a distance.

Abraxas was still in the Northern Forests a dozen kilometres away from Techonia's borders, but he had a clear sight of 10's body.

"Didn't expect to see your face the first thing today." Abraxas commented with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh please~. We both know why you are here.. So come on, start it." They smiled at Abraxas when suddenly, a cannon sprouted upright at the border and aimed at Abraxas. "But if you won't come for me, I will come to you.. Bye-bye~"

Abraxas smiled as the cannon fired at him. An energized beam was coming straight at him from SCAN Cannon, that was Techonia's last line of defense, something that hasn't been fired for a century now.

SCAN's appearance is a historical marvel. It was the first non-nuclear weaponry to surpass the output of a nuclear warhead, developed by Techonia in the last decade. And a beam from a weapon of that caliber was about to hit him straight in the face.

Yet he smiled.

The energized beam coming at him was a Super excited Proton beam that was calibrated to be 10 metres wide and the air superheated almost instantly and a shockwave was about to destroy a good portion of the forest alongside him.

But just as the beam was about to hit Abraxas, it vanished along with the shockwave and the plasma explosions.

"If only I didn't have Divine Transcendental Art, it would've worked." Abraxas mocked their attempt at killing him.

"Revenge: Retaliate" As soon as Abraxas uttered these words, tentacles made of darkness appeared on the base of the cannon and tore the internal wiring in a very methodical way.

"Breaking my toys while leaving them up for use in the future.. Very wise." They commended Abraxas's decisions before an alarm rang in their head, causing them to look around and to their surprise, there were not one, not two, but four of Abraxas, surrounding the city.

"There was no mention of this ability in the heads of your subordinates.." They spoke, gritting their teeth. Though dealing with someone proficient in their Divine Transcendental Art is hard, they never thought that they'd have to deal with someone who specialized in situations like these while there was little to no information about his abilities.

'I did plan for this.. But I'll have to prepare for measures. It doesn't look like he'll come to me right now.' They thought before they were interrupted by one of the Abraxas speaking.

"I will not come now.. But I won't let you leave either.. Barrier: Borders of Hell" Abraxas spoke and a sheet of darkness separated Techonia from the outside world, yet it didn't drown the city into Darkness, letting light pass through it, defying all logic known to man. The wall seemingly stretched to infinity and the culprit in 10's body also knew that this barrier was going as much down as it was going up.

"You are the prisoner now." Abraxas said with a smile before he cleared his throat and a voice echoed in the city of Techonia.

"Residents of Techonia, Do not be alarmed by the Wall of Darkness as it was made by I, Proxy of Justifia. All of you are under my protection now." Abraxas announced with a calm voice and through the darkness, he could see the citizens sighing in relief, some praying to their gods while some were skeptical about all of it. It was clear that they were skeptical about everything after they had been imprisoned in the city without any explanation and a lot of them were still scared.

"No harm will come to anyone. That is my promise to all of you in the name of Lord Justifia." Abraxas promised the people before he added a few words in the end, no longer addressing the people of Techonia. "And I am here for you, my dear juniors."

Abraxas's words made 7th, who was still chained in the Research Centre, chuckle.

'Show off all you want.. I will not lose to you.' They repeated internally before they went back inside to prepare more, after all they still had the upper hand in many ways and Abraxas wasn't dumb enough to fall for such cheap provocation.

Their brief conversation was more than just the exchange of words. It was both of them gauging each other with neither one going over the board yet.