-Chapter Six-

Never Born

Aelius’ eyes frantically darted from foe to foe as he grimaced.

Shit, I might’ve bit off a bit more than I can chew, he thought with a grunt, observing the remaining Sixth tier and Seventh tier.

Just why the hell is a Seventh tier randomly showing up in the woods? These guys are bandits? Really?

His mind flashed back to when he exchanged moves with Quarren Leos.

Unlike then, this was a fight to the death. One slip up and he could get killed.

Aelius looked down and quickly checked how many bullets he had left in his mag, but was interrupted by a shout cutting across the field.

“I don’t know what little trick you played as a mere Second Tier, but that’s as far as you’re going to get!” The enemy leader raised his blade and dashed at the blood puppet Aelius had formed from the other woman’s corpse.

There’s no way it can take on both of them.

“Blood puppet, go for the Sixth tier!” Aelius called, and the humanoid mist glanced at him, heeding his order before disappearing into nothing and reappearing behind the woman.

It was a common tactic to go for a backstab on a vulnerable enemy, but the other woman was clearly an experienced caster who had already conjured a protective layer over skin.

Aelius cursed as he saw the blood puppet’s flank fail.

She used the Sixth tier spell, Mindful Defence?

The blood puppet was repelled, getting pushed back with a growl.

Before Aelius could observe any further, he saw the enemy captain dash to the side with his bow in hand.

Fuck’s sake! A bandit with a bow, the worst kind of bandit! Aelius growled in frustration as he saw the attack coming, but it was all too late as the captain released a volley of Mana arrows at him.

I can dodge it easily enough but… Aelius glanced over his shoulder at the vulnerable group of people behind him.

They’ll get hit instead. And I can’t use Mana because of my core, so no barrier for us.

“Blood wall!” Aelius raised his hand above his head and the blood littered all over the field moved of its own accord to form a barrier in front of him.

Ah fuck. Arcane Arrows, it’s a Seventh tier attack. Asura’s not fully awakened yet, and there’s barely any blood around to use. We’re gonna get hit, Aelius thought with a grunt as the blood began to crack.

“Fuck. Me.”

The sound of shattering echoed across the trees as the crystalised blood broke apart, and though most of the arrows were stopped, three still came through, striking Aelius in the shoulder, leg and one grazing his cheek.

“Kuh…” Aelius grunted as he went down to the ground, pain flaring up his body as he gasped for breath.

Shit… can I really 1v1 a Seventh Tier as I am right now? His thoughts were starting to fade.

Alert!

Damage taken has exceeded the acceptable threshold.

Calculating solutions…

Aelius’ eyes narrowed as the silhouette of the man strolled up to him.

“Heh, for all that talk, you really amounted to nothing at all but a mere Second tier.”

A foot came stomping down onto Aelius’ wounded shoulder and he gasped in pain.

“Mmm,” the leader twisted his foot back and forth, and Aelius could both feel and hear his bone cracking.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” The young teenager looked up with murky eyes at the twisted scorn on the man’s face.

Past him, Aelius could see a pale-skinned, red hair beauty floating in the air behind the man, gazing at him with eyes of longing.

Ahaha… right… I was never alone.

“I told you I’d kill you and grind you into mince,” the man reached down and whacked Aelius over the temple.

“You killed my men.” There was another whack. “ You killed my woman,” and another whack.

“And lastly, you upset me, you little rat,” and one final whack.

The man backed away, giving a breath of relief as he looked at Aelius, battered and bruised.

“Hmm?” It was at this moment, the man raised an eyebrow and realised Aelius’ hand was empty. “Where was that little weapon you were so proud of, huh?” he asked, kicking Aelius in the chest and forcing him to cough.

“Kugh…!” Aelius keeled over, clutching his broken rib. “Goddess-damn,” he croaked through his cough, looking back at the man. “To be weak truly is a sin… Hurry the fuck up and shoot him!” Aelius shouted, turning his head back to the crowd a few metres away.

He spotted the youngest child among them, who had been doing nothing but watch onward, suddenly dash forward and pick up the revolver Aelius had secretly tossed over earlier, and raise it at the villain’s head.

With no hesitation, the young child who must’ve been only in his tens, pulled the trigger.

The recoil sent the child flying back into the arms of one his uncles, while the bullet from the weapon shot into the man’s skull. Or so Aelius had hoped, but to his despair, the man smiled down at him with a glean, the bullet between his teeth.

“Hehe, so that’s how it works. It’s like a bow, but just faster. No Mana though,” the man mocked as he spat the bullet out.

“Fuck’s sake…” Aelius groaned. “Why the fuck do you know the thought acceleration spell? Just because you’re an archer?”

Aelius ran his hand along his leg, gathering the loose blood into his palm.

“Blood dagger!” He conjured the blood into a small, sharp shiv and sprung to his feet, trying to take the enemy off guard as he plunged the blade into the man’s chest.

But yet again to his shock, the blade didn’t go through.

Instead, a blue wall appeared out of thin air across the villain’s chest and the blood dagger shattered.

“W-what…” A barrier? But he’s an archer. Why does he have a barrier? Don’t tell me…

Aelius looked past the shoulder of his opponent to see the other enemy, the conjurer class woman had cast a barrier for her boss.

“How is that possible?” The blood puppet was made from a Sixth tier corpse… it should’ve been stronger than her…

He gasped as the red mist of his blood puppet dispersed, leaving the conjurer standing with her wand.

Her aura was explosively firing out in all directions. “She… broke through?”

“Kwahahah!” The enemy boss raised his hand and whacked Aelius across the jaw, sending him sprawling. “As expected of my woman, breaking through to the Seventh Tier with me!”

“Rarghh!” Aelius roared as he tried to push himself to his feet. “Why the fuck are there two Seventh tiers in one goddamn place? You fucking dog-shit bandits,” he clutched his shoulder, looking through one eye as the other was smeared in his own blood. “Just who the fuck are you guys, and what the fuck are you doing here!?”

Aelius’ outrage was ignored by the leader, who gave him a cold gaze.

“Kid, for a Second tier you’ve got guts and good skills. It’s almost a pity, but you put down my woman. You should know what they say the best, blood for blood, right?” The enemy leader sneered as the conjurer joined at his side, raising her staff. “No, the kid’s got nothing left in him. I’ll do it.” He turned back and stepped forward.

“Watch well, my men!” the leader called to the remaining thieves, raising his bow. “I will avenge our fallen brothers this moment!” He pulled the string, ready to fire, wearing a smirk.

“The fuck you are!” Aelius shouted back as a blue portal appeared beside him and he pulled out two automatic rifles from it.

User has activated the Passive Title Reawakened One.

The User’s Mana rings will triple.

User has activated Dimensional Storage.

User has retrieved two M16s.

“Suck on these!” There was a momentary click, clack, before holding one in each hand, Aelius let out a volley of rounds into the surrounding men who had yet to escape the field around him.

The chokes, grunts and cries of dozens of men rang out, but could not be heard under the thundering sound of the rifles blasting away, leaving holes in what were now corpses of the evil-doers.

“You bastard!” The enemy leader shouted in fury and let loose a bolt, just as Aelius finished one full turn.

He turned to face the bolt with a confident smile, before side-stepping and dodging it.

“You were at the Sixth ring!? You suppressed your Tier!? What the-”

User has deactivated the effect of Reawakened One.

The poison in your Mana core is only mildly agitated, due to minor usage.

“Blood prison!” Aelius shouted and all the blood in the area shot to his hand, before firing out at the two Seventh rings in front of him, creating a liquid-like cage around them of red.

“You think this can stop us!”

The enemy leader shouted as he tried to raise his bow again, but the silky-like strings of the cage suddenly tightened around his arm, immobilising him.

The conjurer next to him gasped and she quickly tried to cast a spell with her staff when a line of red lashed out and knocked her wand out of her hand and out of the ring of blood. It went rolling onto the grass a few metres away, now completely out of reach.

“Ah…” Aelius gave a tense breath. “Finally… even though I had to kill the rest of your men for this spell,” he raised both M16s at them. “This is what you get for coveting my sister. She’s not even thirteen yet, you sick bastard.”

As his words finished, another round of thunderous blasting took place, echoing through the trees until the mags were empty, and Aelius fell back down onto his rear, breathing deeply.

He took a moment, and then turned his eyes back to the blood prison which was just now dispersing and his breath caught in his throat as his eyes widened.

Holding the hole-ridden corpse of the female conjurer in front of him, the enemy leader had managed to narrowly avoid getting shot fatally.

“You bastard, you killed both of my women,” he growled as he tossed her body to the side and took a step forward.

“Haha… How impressive,” Aelius gave a small laugh. “You fucker, you’re still alive after all that? You fucking serious?”

“I’m serious,” the man answered in a serious tone. Looking down at his bow, he frowned as he found the string had broken.

“Tch,” he tossed it to the ground and instead picked up the staff of the now-dead conjurer. “It wasn’t nice knowing you, kid.”

“That’s my line,” Aelius sighed. “You forced my hand, you undying prick.”

Aelius raised his hand over his head. “Command! Authorise artillery strike on enemy location.”

Everyone froze as the sound of gears began to echo around them, until the ground behind them split open and a robotic voice responded.

“Command acknowledged. Launching artillery strike.”

“Bunkers have defensive measures too, you know.”

The man looked up with wide eyes as the high pitch sounds of missiles shot off into the air and came raining down onto him in a blazing cloud of orange.

The barrage was like summoning hell to Vertex, creating a firestorm out of the grass for what was only a moment, and then it all died away.

“You’re actually dead this time now, right?” Aelius asked as he could feel his consciousness leaving him.

“No! He’s still alive!” he heard the shout from one of the men behind him, and lifted his head back up to see the man still standing, hiding behind a magic barrier.

“You still had enough Mana left to stop that? What the fuck…” Aelius coughed, feeling the pain he had suppressed all give way at once, rushing back up his body.

“I said that I will kill you!” the man roared in rage. He seemed to be unhinged now, maybe a side effect of the excessive Mana consumption.

Only one thing was driving him now.

The man raised his staff again, ready to cast an offensive spell but there was the sudden sharp sound of flesh cutting.

He froze for a moment until all the colour left his face and he slowly fell over to the ground, revealing a red haired beauty with a blade in her hand standing behind him with a cold glare.

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“Haha… Asura…” Aelius laid down, inhaling deeply. “Finally… you took so much blood to manifest. Ugh…” he closed his eyes, taking a moment to rest before he pushed himself awake again.

“Just how the fuck did we kill two Seven Tiers today? Goddess-damn,” he groaned as he rose to his feet amd approached the man’s still corpse.

“You said you’d kill me?” He said aloud aggressively and spat at the man’s corpse “Bitch, you can’t. I was never born.”

Asura quickly ran over to him, placing her hand gently on his wound, her sad eyes gazing at the damage dejectedly as he turned back to her, giving her a warm gaze.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry, Asura,” Aelius smiled and then coughed, but she leaned forward and placed her forehead to his, before her skin began to glow.

“What are you doing?” Aelius asked, bewildered when dozens of red threads left her skin and entered his wounds, causing them to rapidly regenerate and heal.

“Wait, stop. Don’t waste your Blood Essence,” Aelius tried to stop her, pushing her by the shoulder back but she simply gave him a smile, before her body suddenly lifted up, floating back into the air, now reverted back to spiritual form.

“Ugh… what will I ever do with you…” Aelius sighed. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

He looked down at his healed wounds, feeling the function return to him.

Well, at least now I can rush back to the capital. Giving her another quick warm smile, Aelius turned away and approached the group of people he had saved.

“Far out,” he exhaled a deep voice as he sat down next to the two men who were slowly regaining their strength.

“Young man…” the spearmaster placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and a tear in his eye. “Thank you… Thank you so much…”

—-----------------------

Aelius put his hand on his chest, trying to calm his heartbeat before he turned his eyes onto the young boy from earlier.

The child knelt at the side of his sister, clutching her hand tightly with a pained expression across his face.

“P-p-p…” he looked to both of his uncles with desperation in his eyes.

“Leo?” The spearmaster rose to his feet and stumbled over. “What’s… are you trying to say something?”

“P-p-p-p… poison!” the young boy spat the word out of his mouth with monumental effort.

“What?” the spearmaster gasped and joined him, turning the girl onto her front. “Oh god! Lia! Claymore!” The spearmaster called over his shoulder, and the other man quickly scuttled over, joining them with a look of worry in his eyes.

“Poison?” Aelius wondered to himself, slowly pushing himself to his feet as well.

“Oh Goddess, it’s acting up again. You have to hold on, Lia! We’re close!”

Aelius drew closer to see the girl gasping in pain, clutching her chest tightly with her hand.

Black lines ran down her skin instead of green veins, forcing a gasp from Aelius’ mouth as he saw it. There’s no way…

He knelt down beside them, eyes wide in bewilderment.

“I know this poison,” he remarked, clutching his own chest.

“You do? It’s a rare one with no cure,” the swordmaster grimaced.

“It has a cure,” Aelius answered, when the spearmaster grabbed both of his shoulders.

“What!? You’re saying it has a cure!? This Devil’s poison?” the man exclaimed. Aelius blinked in surprise.

“Wait, what did you just call it?” he asked with a frown.

“We only know it’s called the Devil’s poison,” the spearmaster answered. “Do you really know a cure?”

Devil’s poison? Aelius turned his eyes back onto the girl in pain.

“Devil’s Poison? Hold on a second… there’s no way…” he placed his hand onto her stomach.

Consuming Intimacy Points…

Channelling Divine Power.

Aelius’ eyes widened as the golden glow flowed from his hand into her body and the black began to recede.

A moment soon passed and she lay peacefully on the grass.

The other three looked at him bug-eyed, silence ringing as they momentarily exchanged glances, until the two uncles lunged forward and pulled Aelius into a hug.

“Yess!!!” they both cheered with tears forming at the edges of their eyes. “Young man, are you a miracle? Sent by the Goddess?” the swordmaster asked him.

“Aunty, if only you could have seen this,” the spearmaster knelt beside the corpse of the old woman, holding her hand, shaking with emotion. “The poison that has haunted us for so long…” he choked mid sentence, his voice dying away.

Aelius looked down at his hands with wide eyes.

So it really was a “Devil’s” poison… he rose to his feet again. Oh no… oh dear… he looked up at the sky.

I’m such a fool. So that’s the reason why I returned three years early. Of course! he scoffed, and then his quiet cackling turned into laughter. It was so obvious all this time. The first public appearance of a Devil doesn’t mean they weren’t already infiltrating us… I should’ve known they already started moving. And better yet… Aelius looked back down to the girl. It was the Aerianne Archduchy that poisoned me. And if this poison is truly made with help of the Devils, that can only mean the Aerianne family are colluding with the Devils, and not only them. Goddess knows how many more Nobles there are, corrupted.

Aelius looked at his hands, an almost maniacal smile forming at his lips. I’m going to have to uproot everyone one of these bastards, he thought with a snicker. Wait… his smile quickly died away. If it’s Divine Power to counteract the poison, then that must mean…

—-----------------------

One thing Aelius was able to infer from the small details he saw, particularly in his past life, was that he was incomplete.

Though he had been granted the system, there were strong limitations on the Divine Power he could wield.

Divine Power it was, given by the Goddess indeed. However it was not Holy Power. It was Divine Power, slightly different.

Not quite the power of the Goddess, like Holy Power is, no.

Divine Power is the nemesis of dark magic.

In other words, it was merely the highest form of light magic.

Still, the highest form of light magic was not Holy Power.

This doubt was only further reaffirmed after his return.

Some things wouldn’t add up.

For example, why did he have to return after he slaughtered every Devil? He found himself unable to recall his final moments, almost as if he had yet to regain all of his memories.

But he knows for a fact he had saved humanity. At a great cost, albeit, but they were safe.

Why would the Goddess want to re-do everything, when he had already succeeded? Why was Alea so crucial to the fate of the world? Or at least, as the Goddess seemed to imply?

Well, now he finally has his answer. He is the Goddess’ proxy and envoy, wielder of light. She is the Saintness. She is the one with the Holy Power. He was not the only one loved by Stecia.

That explained all the grief the Goddess felt that day when he found Alea’s dying figure. That explained the sadness in her guiding song at that moment.

—-----------------------

It took a moment passing by for him to calm himself down again, reign in his excitement, regain his composure, and turn back to the small group.

He reached into his pocket, taking out the beautiful hairpin he had made, before clutching it tightly again and putting it away.

“I wouldn’t celebrate too early, I haven’t cured her fully.”

“What? Really? Well, at least it’s regressed,” the spearmaster immediately cooled down again, his rationality returning. “It’s something. We bought her time, so thank you. There is no way I can repay this debt to you in this life,” the man fell to his knees in front of Aelius. “From the bottom of my heart. Thank you.”

“Okay, okay,” Aelius waved his hand. “Please get up. I have some questions.”

The man rose to his feet, giving Aelius a firm gaze.

“I shall answer to the best of my ability.”

“Good,” the teenager crossed his arms sternly. “Who poisoned her? And why?”

The uncle swallowed, and Aelius noticed the man’s fists clenching tightly.

“It was… the organisation my brother, our aunt and I defected from. The same organisation who killed her parents. You likely have not heard of them. Black Ghost.”

Aelius blinked for a moment. “Black Ghost? As in the secret order of the Sacred Continent? The one that’s based up north in the Empire?” he covered his mouth, before he began to laugh again.

“You know of them!?” the spearmaster exclaimed in surprise.

“Wow… of course they would!” His mind flashed back to all the atrocities they had committed. “Of course… so many things I never knew… but I should’ve known…” he sighed, facepalming for a moment before turning his eyes back onto the girl, and then the younger brother.

A small smile formed on his lips.

“Basically… there's something special about these two siblings. Come to think of it, she released some sort of odd power, and this kid,” Aelius knelt down beside the young boy. “This kid also has potential. He acted out in battle earlier quite well, especially for his age. Tell me. Who are they?” Aelius asked with a narrowed gaze, reaching out and brushing the girl’s hair out of her face delicately.

“Young man… that’s…”

“Hey, I saved your lives and I can cure her poison. The least you can do is clue me in. I don’t have ill intentions. I am also enemies with the folks over at Black Ghost. Being too cautious can also do more harm than good,” Aelius warily told the two warriors.

The spearmaster’s eyes nervously wandered over to the swordmaster’s, who returned a firm nod.

“Alright. She’s… the… Heir of Mana.” Aelius blinked in surprise, before turning to the unconscious girl.

For a moment, no one knew what was going through his mind, until he began to laugh again like a madman. Goddess, did you plan this? The Heir of Mana just fell into my hands?

“The Heir of the Heavenly Order? Really!? This girl is!?” he exclaimed in fascination, gazing at her unconscious face.

—-----------------------

A great legend was passed down through time. Though it was well-known at first by all, the modern age soon forgot it, as it did with many of its roots.

There was a time Vertex was inhabited by many species, not just humans, elves, dwarves or dragons.

Of them, the humanoids were at the bottom of the food chain, suffering tyranny and injustice every moment at the hands of the rulers above them.

There were countless kingdoms built on the sacrifice and blood of the humanoids, but they were all destroyed one day.

The story passed down describes the people on their knees, bowing down to the sun that opened up in the sky. From it descended a woman with black hair and red eyes, commanding a power no one had known before.

She liberated the people, mercilessly slaughtering the rulers of the other races, and then forcing them out of this world through portals.

Afterward, she left a prophecy and disappeared forever. That she would return for her King, and have him see the light.

—-----------------------

Aelius looked at the girl with eyes of wonder. “Incredible.” He raised his hand.

User has cast the skill Appraisal.

Aelius read the words with keen interest, his eyes almost popping out of his head.

“Wow…” he turned back to the uncles. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Well, since you’ve upheld your end of the deal, I suppose I shall uphold mine?”

He turned back to the young boy and gave him a pat on the head.

“Are you worried? Leo, right? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your sister turns out fine.” Lastly, Aelius approached the swordmaster at the side of the deceased old lady.

“Ha…” he sighed. “Sorry about your loss, by the way. It’s a shame, she could’ve stepped into the Ninth Tier if she had survived today. I came too late, I’m sorry.”

The swordmaster shook his head at Aelius’ words.

“Thank you, but it was enough that you saved us, and even forced Lia’s poison to subside. She can rest in peace, knowing her deepest wish and regret will be fulfilled.”

Aelius gave a grim nod.

“I’ll have a grave made here for her. We should do the burial sooner rather than later, and get moving.” He turned back to the spearmaster. “You know that these guys weren’t trying to rob you from the very beginning, right?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“They weren’t bandits?” the other man answered in surprise.

“Ha,” Aelius scoffed. “Bandits in the Great Southern Forest? On the other side is the ocean, who the hell would they rob? This isn’t a trade route… wait a minute,” Aelius turned his head in confusion. “Where the hell did you guys come from? You were trying to get to Dawnbreak, right? From the ocean?”

“We were teleported here by aunt.”

“None of that makes sense, come on,” Aelius crossed his arms with a narrowed gaze. “If she could teleport, why didn’t she just dump you guys in the middle of the city? Also, looking for Donagon? Hah, that old fumbling fool couldn’t help you for the life of him, who gave you that bright idea? Also, how did the “bandits” know you guys would be here?”

“We were trying to teleport into Dawnbreak, but were getting attacked while she cast the spell. Because of that, we ended up a little bit off point for our destination,” the spearmaster explained.

“Okay, that part makes sense but, these guys aren’t not only bandits, they had a Seventh tier and two Sixth tiers! I know there are a lot of them out there, but they don’t just get whipped out of someone’s arse willy-nilly, okay? Also, how did they know to jump you if you didn’t even know you were going to end up here… oh shit…” Aelius facepalmed. “No way…” he looked around him.

“You’re fucking joking. You guys were being targeted by a Prophet, huh?” He spun back to the spearmaster. “You guys don’t just have Black Ghost hot on your heels, even the Forbidden Order is chasing you! Far out!”

“The Forbidden Order!?” the two uncles exclaimed as Aelius hopped back over the command console of the bunker excitedly.

“Well, she’s mine now, and no one touches what’s fucking mine,” Aelius said under his breath as he unhooked the keyboard on the side and began typing commands into the console.

—-----------------------

A short hour passed and the bunker had completed a small tombstone and polished coffin for the deceased grandmother.

As Aelius watched the two uncles load her in and the stone gradually close, he shook his head in disapproval. Could’ve gotten a Ninth Tier today. Rip.

He looked to Lia, unconscious up against a tree root, and a small smile formed on his face. But I have her.

“She’ll probably be upset she was unconscious during this.” He approached her side, before kneeling down and pulling her up into a piggy back.

“Okay, we’ve spent enough time here. Let’s get going before any other trouble comes up, yeah?” Aelius called to the other three, who after a momentary exchange of glances, nodded and followed him into the trees.

—-----------------------

Alea went to sleep in her allocated room in the Holy Knight’s Palace in peace, ready to get good slumber.

Though she felt a bit of worry that the two weeks were almost up and Aelius was yet to appear, she could only believe in his promise and sleep. And so she did, but as the night drew on, she gradually began to feel a ball form in her chest.

It was like something was trying to burst out in excitement, and as time passed longer, it grew until eventually she was suddenly jolted awake, gasping in surprise with her slender fingers resting on her chest.

What is going on? What is this feeling? What is this excitement?

She pushed herself off the side of her bed, her eyes wandering around the room until they slowly fell onto her chest, where she blinked in surprise.

Shining back at her was a small ball of warmth and yellow, made of pure light, giving her an endless embrace of love.

It shook with excitement, compelling her to take off in a sprint. But where? She wondered as she looked out the window and then gasped.

In the city a small ball of yellow was out there as well, sending her strong affection.

Could that be? Excitedly, she threw on a jacket, kicked her door open and ran down the corridor to the stairs, descending them floor by floor until she arrived at the bottom and bee-lined it to the front door.

The ball was so close now, so empowering. Alea couldn’t hide the smile on her lips as she reached the door and threw it open, ready to throw herself forward into a hug, but immediately stopped dead, a frown on her face.

“Why hello there, dear Holy Knight Alea,” a girl’s voice coy greeted her. Alea hesitantly returned an oddened gaze back.

“Huh… why are you here…? Aria?” she asked the blue-haired, golden-eyed girl opposite her.

The other girl’s golden reptilian eyes glowed brilliantly.

“Oh, you must be surprised it wasn’t who you thought it was at this door. Don’t worry, he’s on his way, he’ll be here soon enough,” the girl smiled with a wink. “So… can I come in?”