-Chapter Forty-Three-
First Found Key - Part Two
“Runnn!”
Saki’s normally ethereal, calming and soothing voice was screeching at the top of her lungs, to the point her cry was breaking.
Lia heard the monstrous wail of the beast and froze in place as the red eyes locked onto her.
“Oh Goddess…” she breathed, like a deer caught in headlights in its gaze.
The spectral beast let out a thundering roar, pounded its chest like an apex predator, the king of a jungle, and pounced forward with lightning speed.
Lia braced herself for what was to come, tightening up.
Her thoughts didn’t even register as she panicked and shut her eyes, but yet again, what she expected did not come.
Instead, to her surprise, the beast jumped to the splattered remains of the Village Chief’s grandson’s underling.
In horror, Lia watched as the beast raised its head, its neck twitching, and some sort of ominous black energy rising out of the human mush.
Thankfully, it had not moved onto her yet.
She still could not give a breath of relief when she heard shuffling behind her.
Looking over her shoulder, she found Saki springing to her feet, her robe-like dress covered in dirt.
“Ahhh!” Saki let out a battle cry as she charged forward and knocked into the standing but also fear-frozen grandson.
“Y-you wench!” the grandson cried as he didn’t see the blow coming.
The force sent him sprawling across the ground, straight into the sights of the spectral beast.
“Lia!” Saki shouted and Lia whipped her head to her companion, only to find her urgently pointing at something.
She turned back to find Raphie unharmed, her unconscious body laid off to the side.
“Grab her and run!” Saki shouted.
As if something clicked in her mind, Lia’s thoughts did not return to her but her instincts kicked into gear.
Taking a sudden deep breath, she raised a hand at Raphie and her dark blue ribbon flung out like it had a mind of its own.
In her deep focus, she didn’t register the gruesome scream of the grandson, nor the thundering bang as he was crushed into a pile of flesh.
Grabbing onto Raphie’s ankle, Lia’s ribbon lifted the unconscious warrioress into the air with supernatural strength and she spun around, boosting off.
Propelling herself with Mana, she was far faster than if she were normally running on foot. As she passed by Saki who watched momentarily in awe, Lia latched onto her with a second ribbon.
Behind them, the beast had just finished feeding on the grandson and as Lia shot into the exiting tunnel, she stole a glance over her shoulder.
The beast charged forward with frightening speed, and unfortunately, the tunnel was large enough to accommodate it.
“Go go goooo!” Saki urged and Lia tried to speed up, no longer daring to look behind her.
Her sole focus rested now only on speeding up, flying through the cave at high speeds.
As she progressed, she could hear behind her the thundering footsteps of the beast drawing closer and closer, louder and louder.
And she realised she had never felt fear like this before.
Oh Goddess… oh Goddess!
Her rigid breathing began to spiral out of control, and a tear formed at her eye.
Please… please save us, Aelius. Please save us!
The anxiety too much for a mere fifteen year old teenager to handle, she pushed on regardless, and soon she saw the moonlight at the end of the tunnel.
They soon reached it, but the beast was hot on their heels.
“The magic tower!” Saki called out and Lia’s frantically darting eyes locked onto the tower.
Suddenly changing direction, she veered off to the side and began beaming straight to the magic tower, but behind her, the monster was not thrown off at all.
Instead, it had closed the distance ever so much yet again.
“Go Lia!” She heard Saki’s voice call out again and didn’t dare look behind.
Please…
In her desperate wish, she noticed the magic tower was slightly odd.
Mainly in that glowing white cracks were forming at the upper floor.
…Huh?
Suddenly, before her, the top floor of the tower erupted into white light, blinding her.
It was only a split second before her vision was returning to her, and she came skidding to a stop, looking at the tower in both fear and awe.
“Finally, hah!”
Behind her, Saki was immediately swinging into action.
With whatever supernatural powers she had that returned, she had flown back into the sky and Lia felt a fearsome amount of wind pick up.
The younger girl watched onward in disbelief as Saki picked up the beast entirely with an invisible hand and threw it up into the sky.
The sheer force sent an entire shockwave throughout the village, and for a moment, Lia looked up to see the silhouette of the beast shrink into a small spec in the overhead sky.
“Ahhhh!”
She suddenly heard from behind her, her attention being stolen and she whipped her head around to see a familiar body being flung out from the top floor of the magic tower.
“Shitttt!”
The shadow proved to be Aelius as he came into view, his hand holding tightly onto a red haired girl whom Lia did not recognise.
In mid air, Aelius and the new girl oriented their bodies as they came crashing down onto the ground, and briefly, dust was kicked up all around them.
Hearing coughing from the lifting cloud, finally Lia locked eyes with Aelius and his face lit up upon seeing her.
“Lia!” he called out.
“Aelius-”
Behind them, there was a thundering boom as the beast came crashing down again like a meteor from the sky.
“Hu…”
Saki returned to the ground beside her, her face flushed and her breathing rigid.
“Saki!” Aelius called to her and she turned to notice him.
They all watched as the tension left her face and she dropped down to her knees, breathing harshly with her hand resting on her chest.
“You did it…”
“S-Saki!” Lia called, interrupting their reunion, pointing to the dust cloud kicked up by the beast’s landing.
As it gradually settled, they grimaced to find the beast slowly pulling itself back up to its feet with no visible wounds.
“Curses,” Saki spat, gathering her strength and pushing herself back to her feet again.
“That thing is…” Aelius took a step forward, looking at the beast in bewilderment.
“You know of it?” Saki asked and Aelius nodded after a moment of grimly gazing at it.
“I finally understand what’s happened.”
“Can you kill it?” Saki asked, but Aelius was silent.
Instead, he stood with his back turned to her, standing between her and the beast.
“Aelius?” she asked in concern, and he took a deep breath.
“I don’t think I can.”
—-----------------------
That’s… the Spectre, Aelius identified it at a glance, and suddenly, horrible memories flooded into his mind.
Year 929 of the Imperial Calendar was the tragic year of the Holy Empire Spectral Border Crisis Incident - at this time, Aelius had freshly separated with the Mercenary Group that Director Polia had recommended him to.
He found out only two months later after they went their different ways that the Holy Empire had just barely overcome a severe tragedy.
During the defence of the Empire’s borders, thousands of lives were lost.
Among them were his… old Mercenary troupe.
Due to grief, Aelius remembers he thoroughly researched the Spectral Border Crisis Incident, looking for books or the statements of any survivors he could find.
In theory, he knew all about the beast that stood before him.
But why was it here?
It was currently only the Year 927.
Why has it appeared two years earlier than in his past life?
Aelius suddenly looked over his shoulder to the barrier he had destroyed and a thought of realisation flashed across his mind.
Just moments ago, he recalled Asura’s words that there was a pre-existing vulnerability in the Origin energy device.
In his past life, many people described the Spectre as a monster that came from a different world or a different dimension.
He did not know whether that was from hysteria, or if it was true.
But it all made sense now.
The oppressive barrier that Grayalla had somehow conjured was also suppressing the Spectre.
However, in his first life, the barrier eventually wore out. That resulted in the Spectre being set free, and destroying this village entirely.
That’s why he was surprised at first to find a village so close to the Southern Border of Sepha.
However, instead of going South, the Spectre went North after destroying Grayalla’s village.
Aelius grimly observed everyone around him, from the villages to his companions.
Every life that was present here currently, were lives that were lost in his first life.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Exhaling sharply, Aelius raised the blade of blood Asura had conjured for him earlier.
“Are we fighting?” Saki asked, clutching her arm in tiredness.
“No. You guys need to leave. I’m going to stay here with ‘Sura and fend it off. I need you to launch a beacon at the top of the valley,” Aelius said as he pointed to one of the highest points at the edge of the village.
“A beacon?” Saki asked.
“Get Lia to do it. A Mana beacon. Just something to attract attention. In the meantime, I’ll fight it off-”
Before he could finish his words, the beast lunged forward and swung its lanky arms, sweeping up the ground and everything in its radius.
Aelius reacted instantly, flinging Saki and Lia away before cushioning their fall with Anemo magic and dodging the swing himself.
Blasting back forwards with wind shooting out his heels, he instantly zipped into its exposed head and slashed cleanly across its neck.
The recoil was intense and his blade was practically repelled as he came flipping back down to the ground, grimacing at the shallow wound.
The reason why the Spectre was the cause of that tragedy was because it was similar to the Devils in that Mana had no effect against it.
At least, half of its form was corporeal and undamageable.
The other half was already incredibly resistant.
It took the efforts and heavy losses of hundreds of unprepared Mercenary parties to finally fell the beast.
“Tch.”
Behind the beast, Asura flashed by its legs with a pair of twin blood blades, opening up a wound but it was nowhere near enough to collapse it.
“Disgusting abomination,” Aelius spat as he blasted a ball of fire into its face but it came swinging down through the smoke.
With instant response, Aelius raised his blade to block but it was like getting hit by a semi truck.
The blow crunched his arm and he was sent through three buildings behind him, coughing as he felt his cracked ribs and bent arm burn up half his body.
“Fuck…”
Even so, he did not falter. Using his sword as a stand, he pushed himself to his feet again and wiped the dust off his brow, coughing through the cloud until it settled.
A dozen metres away, Asura stole the attention of the beast, calmly leading it away from the edge of the village and buying time for Aelius.
Wasting no seconds, he began to limp back toward the beast to help Asura, and as he returned to the village outskirts, he heard a high shrill echo throughout the village.
“Ah…” With a relieved smile, he looked up at the sky to find a flare made out of blue flames shooting off into the night sky.
“Good…”
Gathering his focus, Aelius took a calm, deep breath.
When his eyes reopened, they were entirely locked on his target.
Asura was having a difficult time fending it off her, as none of her blows caused the beast to flinch and its wide swings were difficult to dodge.
Eventually, it caught her in an opening, forcing her to jump over one attack. But before she could land, it went to attack her again as she fell through the air.
Just as she thought she was done for, she felt a sudden foreign force pull her to the side.
With Mind’s Eye active, Aelius yanked on the tether between him and Asura, immediately bringing her back to him and away from danger.
“Aelius…” She landed beside him and inspected his wounds, giving him a look of sympathy.
Softly, as the beast turned back to face them, Asura placed a hand on his shoulder and channelled her stocked up Blood Essence into him.
Even if only temporarily, Aelius' wounds began to stitch themselves back together with energies of red threads and in a matter of seconds, he could fight again.
“This is rough,” Aelius muttered as he stretched his shoulder. “Let’s take it further into the desert and away from the village. The open space will make it easier for us to dodge as well,” he told Asura from over his shoulder.
“How are we going to kill it? We can’t damage it at all,” Asura asked with a glare at the beast.
“We’re just going to buy time until help arrives.”
“...Sure. Rely on outside help, huh? Oh, how we’ve fallen.”
—-----------------------
Saki and Lia watched from atop the nearest vantage as Aelius and Asura engaged the beast and Saki nervously bit her nail.
Will they be okay? There was no way for Aelius to damage it.
Even using all of her power to lift it up into the atmosphere and dropping it down from hundreds of feet in the air did zero damage to it.
“Darn it…” Saki bit the end of her nail as she watched. “We need to go help him.”
“What?” Lia beside her whipped her head to her colleague.
“They’re in trouble,” Saki lowly answered.
“He told us to leave because it’s dangerous for us! If we go, we’d just be in the way,” Lia responded, shaking her head.
“Still…” Saki grit her teeth. “The power of Law in Aelius’ powers cannot deal with its corporeal form.”
“Power of Law?” Lia asked in wonder, but Saki explained no further.
“Saki!” the girl exclaimed, capturing the young woman’s attention. “He didn’t ask us to send a beacon for no reason. He’s got to be expecting help from someone.”
Saki gave Lia a look of empathy in response.
“Look around us, Lia. It’s a barren desert. Whatever help Aelius is betting on, we don’t know if it’s coming. And even if it arrives, we don’t know if it’s enough to defeat that beast.”
Saki clenched her fists into balls.
“Instead of sitting here and doing nothing… I swore and vowed I’d be of help to him.”
Lia fell quiet as Saki looked back away, scanning the village urgently.
Then, suddenly, her eyes landed on the top floor of the magic tower, and she noticed something shining back at her amongst the rubble.
“...What is that?”
Squinting her eyes, she leaned forward over the edge of the railing.
The light harmoniously fluctuated between a red and a golden, and suddenly, her Mind’s Eye felt a familiar presence from the rubble.
Spiritual energy? Saki realised in shock and climbed onto the railing.
“Saki! Are you really going?” Lia called out, clutching onto the edge of her skirt.
“Stay here! I have a plan! Don’t worry, Lia. Stay here and keep yourself safe.”
Exercising her Awakening Arts, Saki propelled herself to the sky and flashed across the village, straight to the magic tower’s barely remaining top floor.
As she drew closer and landed, she found the roofless blown-off top of the tower covered in pebbles, wood splinters and an odd amount of shattered glass.
As her feet gently touched down, she was surprised to find a familiar figure among the rubble.
With her long, messy dark hair covered in ashe, the figure knelt on her knees in despair at the sight before her.
Saki approached the crestfallen Grayalla with intrigue, reaching her side and gazing to where she was facing, finding a small, colourfully glowing orb on the ground in front of her.
Grayalla didn’t move, and for a moment, Saki remained still as well, observing the woman.
Finally, her croaking voice came out.
“It’s all done for…” she suddenly sobbed, and Saki stayed quiet, listening.
“My master’s life’s work. And her master’s life work. The Accelerator… it’s destroyed…”
She reached up to cover her face with her hands, breaking down into a weep.
Saki only gazed at the woman with pity as she stepped forward, approaching the orb.
“Lord Nos has been released before we could tighten his leash. It’s all over for us. It’s all over! If only not for Raphie! Why!? Why!?” Grayalla punched the ground but Saki ignored her, her eyes only focused on the orb.
“I can’t believe… I’d find something like this in a place like this,” Saki breathed as she approached it.
It seemed to respond to her presence, lighting up white every step she drew closer.
Behind her, Grayalla looked up in fascination and awe, until finally, Saki raised her hand and the orb willingly came into her grasp.
Rising up from the ground, it quickly shrunk into the size small enough to fit in her palm and rested on her skin.
“W-what? How are you touching that? No one should be able to touch it!”
Grayalla sprung to her feet, an obsessive madness hidden in her undertone.
“Anyone who touches it is expelled into nothingness by its fearsome power! How are you touching it!” she demanded.
Saki turned to look at the woman behind her, and as she did so, the orb slowly crumbled into dust and sank into Saki’s skin.
She felt energy overwhelm her.
A familiar energy. The energy of her realm.
But it was incredibly incomplete, and as Saki felt her eyes begin to glow brilliantly white, she looked off to the sky and found four other pillars of light off in the distance.
Goddess knows how far away they were.
One light blue and green, another pink and purple.
The other two, equally intriguing shades of colour.
And as the power in her eyes returned to normal, the distant pillars of light faded away.
Those were… markers? She wondered as they disappeared. What awaits in those locations?
Grimacing, she looked down back at her hands, and suddenly, felt the oppressive world principles restricting her cultivation Realm loosen.
It’s not as suppressive anymore. This must be… This must be the gateway to get out of this lower Realm!
The reality-breaching gateway leading to the dimensional bridge connecting the lower realm and her Origin realm was sealed after Saki died here, but what if she can undo the seal?
All she would have to do is find the objects - the lumps of her Realm’s energy in this Realm that sustain the seal, and one by one, disable them.
Then, there should be no dimensional wall blocking her return to her Realm. \
What she just found was… the first key!
Saki’s face lit up with excitement but she was interrupted by Grayalla who stomped up to her and slammed two hands on her shoulders.
“Tell me! What did you do? What did you do with it!?”
Her voice was less angry now. If anything, it was more woeful.
Saki looked down at the woman with pity yet again.
“Where did you find that orb of power?” she asked and Grayalla fell silent, recalling her memories.
A long moment of reflection passed, until she finally began to softly answer.
“Six generations ago, our village was founded when our ancestors stumbled upon it in this desert. We began working on a way to… harness its power.”
“For what? What were you going to try to do with its power?”
At her questions, Grayalla stumbled back and slumped down against a nearby, standing wall.
“To control the beast. The beast that has now been let loose.”
“Where did you find that beast from?” Saki asked.
“We- we… found it imprisoned in the Palace of Pixies. Pixies captured it a millenia ago and were guarding it. We stole it from them by chance but… my ancestors did not know the true, horrific nature of what they had become involved in. Ah… how did things end up like this…” Grayalla began to cry.
“Pixies? What? Do these Pixies have the power to kill the beast? Or at least seal the beast?” Saki asked, leaning down.
Grayalla didn’t answer, instead sobbing to herself, and Saki felt a tinge of frustration stab at her.
“Answer me! Can these Pixies save us!?” she demanded, shouting and causing Grayalla to jump in fright.
“They naturally oppress the beast, because of their constitution. They have the power to resist supernatural and foreign powers, like that monster. But… they’re all gone. We- we killed them all. There’s no Pixies left…”
“What!? How could you kill them if they were the only ones who could save you!?” Saki asked, flabbergasted.
“W-we still had Raphie. But… oh, my dear sister. We had to kill her too.”
“How could Raphie fight that beast? Isn’t she a spearswoman?” Saki asked in confusement and impatience.
“Raphie betrayed our village when she was a child.”
Grayalla began to chuckle.
“So everyone has had a grudge against her since then. That’s why we tried to kill her. Because we don’t want to be saved by her power, that she gained by betraying us. When she discovered we were harvesting Pixie wings, that stupid sister of mine sold us out to the remaining Pixies. In the end, they attacked our village and my master sacrificed her life to fend them off. Before they left, they granted their rite of approval to Raphie. She’s the only one who can harness their power to defeat the beast but… I had her attacked, poisoned and fed to the beast. Oh, if only we had two or three more meals to give to the beast, we could’ve taken control of it.”
“I can’t believe you…” Saki rose to her feet, backing away. “Putting aside how you tried to kill your own sister and framed us for it… did you even consider that she is the only person who could save you if something like this happens?”
“The barrier was supposed to keep it in slumber. With Raphie gone, I could have started sacrificing the villagers to it openly. She was the only one unaware of its existence, but she’s the strongest out of all of us. If she started investigating why villagers were going missing, it would’ve been the end. Only after killing her, I could’ve completed the taming ritual. But alas… the barrier has been destroyed. My plans are… thwarted. Hahaha! And the orb of power has been taken by you! Everything is over.”
Saki had no words to speak.
Instead, she only looked at the woman opposite to her in disgust.
So she was the mastermind behind everything…
Before Saki could react, Grayalla quickly swiped a sharp, fallen stone of debris from on the ground and ran it through her neck.
Saki’s eyes widened as the woman opened up her throat and blood began to spew out from the opened skin.
“H-haha…” Grayalla’s broken laugh turned into a choke. “It’s all… over…”
With those last words, Saki watched as she fell limp and her head dropped.
The young woman was dead silent for a moment, looking at the entire scene with disgust.
No longer did she feel pity for the pitiful woman. Pitiful though she was, Saki’s disgust toward her was more overwhelming.
“You idiot… Raphie is still alive.”
Turning away, Saki looked over the edge for Aelius and Asura, finding them still fighting the beast further and further away from the village.
“Aelius… I’m coming now. Please just hold on, my precious. Just hold on for a little longer.”