The Primordial Darkness, intensified thanks to the Light, expanded across all of Astria. Leiu, who was intrinsically connected to it, was able to sense almost everything.
There was only one place his eyes couldn’t pierce through: The Anomaly in Wilsden. Still, there were more pressing issues than that right now.
Darkness-energy had the power of activity, so, for now at least, the Anomaly was weakened.
As his ‘eyes’ watched over everything, not unlike an omnipotent God, Leiu saw Arthur Bilgart.
He also saw the self-harming and malevolent energy lurking inside of him, hiding from plain sight. It wriggled and tried to mask its presence but the Primordial Darkness sensed it almost immediately.
Naturally, it reacted even without Leiu commanding it.
‘You are so different, Arthur. So very different.’
After a short while, Leiu retracted the Darkness from the Parasite’s body.
It was possible to get rid of the strange energy inside of him, but Leiu chose not to do it, instead, he weakened it and thereafter corrupted it. In a way, it was made more stable but less harmful and potent.
Once that was done, Leiu’s attention was drawn to a place not far away from him.
‘Feylord Lernon. Why did they choose you?’
His curiosity notwithstanding, Leiu soon called back the Darkness, which caused the sky to return to normal.
The inhabitants of Astria were unconscious for less than 5 minutes, though even that was bound to cause severe repercussions.
The Nameless Knight, who was now back to wearing his distinctive jet-black plate of armor, vanished into thin air like a ghost.
In fact, he didn’t teleport away but merely hid himself. There was a bit of time left, therefore, he wanted to try and regain access to his greatsword, Anduril, before the beginning of the inevitable battle.
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Gold City
Top floor of Alpha Tower
“Lord Consul, the connection is back. All Power Cores are back to normal!”
“Lord Consul, we detected a 31,5% thinning in Ambient Mana in the Archwood Region!”
“Lord Consul, there have been no casualties!”
Heads of Security, Health, and Environmental Control all reported their findings as soon as the darkness was removed. The Armans were no different than normal humans, they had all fallen unconscious, including Kirn Sparrow.
This unexpected and wide-scale occurrence, unsurprisingly, frightened everyone, including the Consul.
As he heard their reports, Kirn kept looking at the various monitors, his hands, which were behind his back, trembling ever-so-slightly.
He wasn’t terrified of what might have happened, however, being bathed in complete Darkness made him remember that dreadful day.
The day when the Arman faced its annihilation. An inter-galactic Empire that used highly-advanced technology and had thousands of Warfare Spaceships was reduced to nothingness in a single day.
If such an event happened, no one would have believed it possible. At that time, there was one man at the center of it all: The Nameless Knight.
He was believed to be the one behind the Arman Empire’s fall. The person who single-handedly obliterated the Capital and killed Emperor Vaan Legtus Arman.
“I need to know what’s happening Southward. In Wilsden? Bring me Ferendia!”
“L-Lord Consul, Ferendia is missing.”
“Missing?”
The Head of Security, Allen, was terrified of Kirn’s piercing golden eyes, which were focused on him.
“I-I’ll find her at once!”
As Allen left, Kirn restlessly paced around. Fortunately, Gold City suffered no damage whatsoever, but the fact that everyone was affected was a bad omen.
‘The Nameless Knight wouldn’t just unleash Primordial Darkness for nothing. What pushed him to do something so extreme? Why was he at Wilsden?’
“What is going on, Kirn?”
Duke Terden Sidus, who had been staying in Gold City, was brought to the Control Room. He looked confused and surprised as he watched the Armans run from one place to the other, busy in their task of returning the functionality of all the equipment in the city.
“It was the Nameless Knight.”
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“What?”
“...”
“You’re talking about that God-like being?”
Duke had a look of disbelief as he responded. It was apparent that he didn’t believe Kirn.
“It’s true, though I don't know what He wants to do.”
As the Duke kept staring at the Consul, silently demanding a better answer, the latter shook his head.
“Just so you know, preliminary reports state that all of Astria was affected, not just us. Something bad is going to happe-... no, it’s more like…”
As if realized something, Kirn walked to one of the terminals and pushed some buttons before looking at the largest monitor, which displayed the Greenbell Forest.
Although the image wasn’t perfectly clear, both Terden and Kirn could see a semi-visible dome made of a layer of black-ish energy.
“W-what is that? A Spell?”
Kirn’s expression turned deadly serious. Instead of responding to the Duke, he activated his portable communication device,
“Firan, do you copy?”
“Yes, Sir!”
“I’ll send you the coordinates. Gather all available troops there and make ready for battle!”
“At once, Sir!”
After that, Kirn switched the channel and contacted the Head of Security,
“Solastin, all civilians and personnel are to stay in the Alpha Tower. Make haste!”
The Duke watched this with a deep frown. Although he didn’t know what exactly was going on, the urgency of Kirn’s tone and his grave expression were a clear indication of how dangerous the situation was.
It was his first time seeing Kirn Sparrow act like this. The usually cool and calculative demeanor was nowhere to be seen, now replaced by a mix of fear and worry.
After relaying one order after the other, Kirn turned to look at the Duke and said,
“The city will enter a full lock-down. No one will be allowed to leave, including you.”
“...”
“Something is coming, Terden. Something that pushed the Nameless Knight to construct a powerful isolation barrier.”
“Something? Like what? A God?”
Kirn scoffed at his words, “There’s no living God that could harm the Nameless Knight. No… it’s something much worse.”
Terden understood the gravity of the situation, but due to not knowing the details, he was still perplexed.
“What of the Militant Syndicate? Didn’t you say they were gathering their armies?”
“They do not matter right now!”
“...”
Seeing the Consul raise his voice, the Duke maintained a brief silence.
“You will see for yourself, Duke Terden Sidus. You will see what true horror looks like.”
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Wilsden
The Baron’s Manor
Julie stood in the balcony, dazedly looking at the eerily quiet at the town. Most of the residents had left, thus turning this peaceful settlement into something akin to a ghost town.
The people that stayed were only the stubborn elderly and a handful of families who had nowhere else to go and refused to leave their home. Julie told them that she’d give them enough money to live a good life elsewhere, nevertheless, they refused. In total, 28 people remained in Wilsden.
“My lady.”
“I am fine.”
Her elderly butler, who just regained consciousness, hastily went to check on her. Unlike the rest of the world, the people in Wilsden lost consciousness for a minute, at most. As a consequence, they got to see the darkened sky and the seemingly living Darkness.
“My lady…” the butler bowed his head and paused for a moment, “You are the head of the Lernon Family. You cannot perish.”
“Why would I perish?”
“You cannot stay in Wilsden, My lady. You must leave.”
“This is my home, Razim. I am responsible for the people here, however few they are. They stayed here because they believe in me.”
Razim, who kept his head bowed, didn’t retort. He had been serving the Lernon for a long time, and albeit young, he truly considered Julie as his Master.
“Come what may, we will survive.”
Julie had many reasons to stay. First and foremost, the Anomaly, which couldn’t be left unattended. There was no telling how much it could expand, and as the ruler of this small region, Julie felt that she had to take charge.
Second, the fact that, because of helping Feylord, Julie was now an enemy of the Empire. Not only that, she was a Vampire that had officially joined the Aeternus Family, thus making her a special individual. Unless she went to the Masked Queen’s territory, there wasn’t any good place for her to live, at least not on this continent.
“Wilsden is a husk of what it once was. Still, for every house lost, another can be built, and for every person gone, another could be bred. I’ve just come too far to back down now.”
“I understand, My lady. I shall ever be by your side.”
“I know, Razim. Thank you.”
“Another thing, my Lady. That Holy Knight… you should be careful.”
“Rein wouldn’t harm me. I trust him.”
Razim didn’t repeat his warning, he let out a silent sigh and soon left.
With quickened steps, he went downstairs and met up with Elyna.
“She didn’t listen, did she?”
“No.”
“Alright. I’ll lure him out of Wilsden and take care of him.”
Razim didn’t object, he solemnly stared at Elyna and added,
“Take a couple of Knights with you. It would be best if you could just chase him away. There’s no need for bloodshed.”
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Somewhere in Wilsden
‘It’s not working.’
Rein looked at the communication Device he got from the church, which was utterly devoid of Mana, seemingly broken.
For a brief moment, before falling unconscious, he could feel pure and majestic Holy energy coming from the West. He was overwhelmed by an euphoric sensation that deepened his resolution.
Hearing footsteps, Rein turned his head and looked at an elderly couple.
“Hello.”
“...”
“...”
Although he gave them a friendly wave and softly smiled, the elderly gave him a look of hostility.
The remaining residents knew of Julie’s identity as a Vampire but they didn’t hate her. She was a kind and respected ruler, so when a Holy Knight appeared out of nowhere, it was natural for them to bear suspicions.
After all, it was clear why a knight from the Holy Church would come here. Admittedly, he was friends with Julie, but his time of arrival was almost too perfect.
Wilsden was now empty, the Armans were creeping from the North, and the Baron was, for want of a better word, short-staffed.