Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in another world
Chapter 65. Welcome to Eclis, or Hell, either/or.
Somewhere within a seemingly infinite space that has existed for all of time, Gray, Rosemary, Soku, Edward, Julius, Greta, Smolder, Ganga, and Your bodies dematerialize. The sky is blood red with black clouds and lit up by an eternal eclipse. On a castle made of black stone, there’s a flat circular area outside, and that’s exactly where they have landed. It’s hundreds of feet in the air, seemingly halfway up such a Gothic fortress, Gray stares at Julius. He’s a bit further away, with an unconscious Smolder and Ganga beside him. Then, also beside him, is Yoru, still in her ball of flesh. She finally emerges from within it, falling on the ground while coughing.
Yoru: “YOU FOOL! WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG!”
Julius: “Well, because the sun had not risen yet.”
Gray and the rest of his friends stand back, with Gray right in front. They are all more confused than angry, but they are also all speechless, just looking around in horror at their current location.
Gray: “What…THE HELL JULIUS!? WHY DID YOU DO THIS!? WHY ARE WE HERE DAMMIT!”
Edward: “I’m sure he has a reason. Don’t you?”
With distrust already in Edwards' heart, he tries his best to hold out hope of his friend not having betrayed them. Though with all of the evidence pointing against him, it’s hard to do. Rosemary tries to do the same, but without all of the reasons Edward has to distrust him, so her pleas are from an area of complete confusion.
Rosemary: “Julius! Please, just come back with us! If that’s possible.”
Soku: “DAMMIT! Can’t believe we let this idiot trick us. YOU’RE WORKING WITH THE SECT AREN'T YOU? Most of the things we’ve been doing for weeks have been because you told us to! UGH, IT’S SO OBVIOUS!”
Rosemary: “Soku! We should at least hear him out first…I think”
Julius walks past Smolder and the others, letting them stand up. He spreads his arms, opens his eyes, and begins talking with an energetic and raspy tone in his voice as if he’s accomplished a lifelong dream.
Julius: “Calm down Miss Rosemary. Soku is correct, though she is missing a few key details. But my intentions are not worth explaining to you.”
Greta pushes past everyone and quickly walks up to Julius while she unsheaths her sword. She stomps her feet with each step while breathing heavily, and due to how cold it is, that breath is visible. This makes her look like a raging pull as her breath pours out of her nose.
Greta: “YOU HAVE EMBARRASSED NOT ONLY ME BUT MY GLORIOUS CITY! YOU’VE ENDANGERED MY PEOPLE, AND DESTROYED MY GLORIOUS INFRASTRUCTURE! HURT MY DAUGHTER! AND TAKE ME TO…WHEREVER THIS IS!”
Julius says nothing, just staring at her. His monocle shines only slightly, then right before Greta even begins to swing her broadsword, he takes his rapier out of its hilt. Then, when she goes to strike him, he seamlessly blocks the attack, throwing Greta off balance. Then, in an extremely precise manner, he spins around her, slices her Achilles tendons, and hits her in the face with the hilt of his blade. She instantly falls over, but he catches her by her ponytail, holding her up with it. Gray tries to run forward, but Rosemary stops him
Gray: “JULIUS! DON’T DO IT!”
Julius: “I see you are smart enough to not attack. You want to wait and see what I will do, so I applaud you for it, especially you Kyojin. I expect this from somebody like Edward, or at least a bit of hesitation from him, but you? You truly have grown, so I feel a bit awkward about what is going to happen to you.”
Greta: “Let…me...GO! YAH DAMN FREAK!”
Julius: “So rude.”
Great squirms, trying to get free, but she was utterly defeated. In only a few seconds, Julius incapacitated her without a second thought, completely embarrassing her. As she tries to grab her sword, her blood pools out of her body, coating her black clothes and gray armor in it. Tears from the pain and the rage in her heart. Ganga begins to stand up, alongside an unmasked Smolder and walks beside Julius.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Smolder: “The cold air burns my skin…but to be drowned in this blood-red sky…it’s nice to be home.”
Gray: “WHO THE HELL ARE YOU! AND LET GRETA GO!”
Julius: “She will not be released. Sadly, Greta, the leader and mayor of Coastal, the soul city-state of Valatrocitus, died in battle. She couldn’t leave it to her daughter, since she isn’t of age, so it had to go to Ganga, her assistant and close friend of the King himself.”
Greta: “SHUT UP! SHE IS A WORTHLESS TRAITOR!”
Ganga slaps Greta and begins to choke her, attempting to snatch her away from Julius as she grabs her face. Gray, understanding that they have to go forward, pushed away from Rosemary and begins walking forward with the intent to fight, but this time Edward stops him.
Edward: “Gray, we don’t know what this is. I agree with your notion that we must stand together, if Julius is with the Sect, then what else can he do that we don’t know about?”
Gray bites his lip, causing it to bleed, but he remains still, fearing for Gretas' life. Julius stops Ganga, letting Greta breathe, though she holds her breath in fear while Julius holds the razor-sharp blade of his rapier to her neck.
Julius: “Since the assistant knew what Mrs. Crossfeild was planning on doing, she continued her legacy by allowing her final wish for the country to come true. For Constal, the holy city, to become the country of Valatrositce.”
In a flash, Julius slits Greta’s throat, dropping her, and leaving her panting and crying on the floor. As she chokes on her blood, all Gray and the others can do is watch.
Yoru: “JULIUS YOU DAMN FOOL! You should have let me turn her into one of my babies!”
Behind Julius are large wooden doors, being so old they’ve withered down and begun to splinter and fade.
Rosemary stumbles back, Gray tightens his fist, causing his cloak to stand on the edge. Soku keeps her hand behind her, grasping onto the hilt of her blade. Then there’s Edward, who’s standing completely still, clenching his teeth together. His eye begins to twitch as he begins to slowly approach Julius.
Then, up in the sky, they see a black bird-like figure. Then, it smashes to the ground, staring at the group while humming a soft lullaby. It stands up straight while all of its monstrous features begin to dwindle. Its two-toed sabaton closes, its long-fingered gauntlet shrinks down, its wings flow back into the armor, and the front of the helmet, which closely resembles a bird’s face, closes and pulls back.
Gray: “Rosine. Or Pandora. Which is it?”
Rosine Voria, daughter of Elizabeth Voria, the queen of Ravoria stands before them. From the nineteen-year-old woman who fought with and against them in the knight exam, who happened to be the monstrous Pandora of the Sect of Anarchy. With the ability to push the worst of one's self on them, as well as the power to force all types of mana into one's OD.
She is a muscular woman with short black hair that slowly fades to brown, and at the same time, her eyes fade from fully black with white pupils, to normal green eyes.
Rosine: “Pandora is always with me, her god-like powers run through my body for as long as I have her egg. Sadly, her will is not imposed on my body.”
Gray: “Then what the hell are we doing here!?”
Rosine turns to Julius, getting right up to his face.
Rosine: “I can feel the sin running through their bodies, and which ones they embody the most. But you, you are confusing. Somehow, you are completely sinless, and the most sinful one here. I hate your existence.”
Julius: “Thank you, I am glad to hear your opinion on my character. However, that is not why I am here. Smolder, Ganga, Yoru, and now past Donte lead their attack, while Gray, Soku, and Rosemary are able to free Constal from their wrath. While Edward was able to stop Chester Humphreys’ plot to assist.”
While they talk, Soku looks behind them to see Jongs' body lying lifeless on the ground. His senseless shoutings, before he died, reminded her of Severus, the snake-like man who is another high-ranking member of the Sect. With a somber look on her face, she feels immense sorrow for her fallen friend and ally. She bends over to his body, which is lying face down, to feel his cold hand. His nails are black, his eyes are black, his veins are black, his normally gray hair is black, and even his blood is black. All symptoms of mana sickness, but it’s a rare disease that only affects those who overwork their OD, and their OD gets infected and is unable to properly heal itself, leading to it healing incorrectly. It essentially creates the opposite of an antibody, further poisoning the body, until it either ruptures and explodes in a graphic scene filled with dark blood, or simply falls over while drowning in its blood.
Then, while touching his cold hand, its fingers move, scaring her. She backs into Rosemary, getting her attention. Rosemary is going to tell Soku to stay focused, but they both watch as Jong, who was once thought dead, begins to move. His bones snap as his body folds into place, but unlike before where something was fighting from within, whatever that was is dead. The hole in his heart that Julius had opened up with his rapier continues to leak blood until it’s promptly healed with faded green scales.
Once this body begins laughing, it gets everyone's attention, causing everyone to act defensively. Though Julius stands confident, watching as Jongs' skin begins to harden, his teeth begin to grow, his pupil shines white within the black of the rest of his eye, and his long arms are made of scales ripe out of his Walgonian armor.
Gray: “IT’S SEVERUS!”
Severus: “MY SOUL ACHES! THIS BODY IS OLD! DEAD! I DON’T! MY SOUL WANTS TO BECOME FREE FROM THIS PRISON! IT MUST! IT ACHES, IT ACHES, IT ACHES!”
Rosine's hair turns black, her eyes turn black, her fingernails turn black, and her skin turns pale once the armor has returned to its more monstrous form.
Julius: “Pandora, focus on Edward.”
Pandora’s voice echoes over Julius, holding a sense of pride, hating the fact Julius gave her orders she disagrees with and hates the fact he gave her orders at all even more.
Pandora: “You will not tell me what to do. I will stay here and make sure they will not win. Even if I did fight the Helsing, he has no mana-related abilities, it would be useless.”
Julius: “I know, but do you think that’s useless? Or do you feel that he’d win?”
Pandora is so aggravated by Julius’ words that she flies straight toward Edward, knocking him off the edge of the platform, and blasting right past Severus and the others. Severus takes a page out of her book and grabs onto Rosemary, snatching her up by her leg before she can react and dives off of the edge as well. Soku jumps off to follow them, leaving Gray alone with Julius.
Julius: “Would it be correct to assume that you will follow your friends?”
Gray: “If they can’t beat their foes then my help won’t change that fact. If it’s an even fight they prevail, and if it’s a slam then I’ll just get taken along as well. Then there’s the fact that what type of knight would I be if I let you walk free?”
Julius: “Hmp, well I guess I assumed it was correct. Though to be honest, I am glad you chose to stay. I want to put you in your place. Before my leaders do that is.”
Gray wipes any sense of fear from himself, replacing it with content and a smirk that goes across his whole face. There is not a feeling that he’s better than Julius, nor does he think he’s better than his friends, he is just glad he gets to be the one to fight Julius. With all of this joy amidst the terrible situation, he feels fully realized. This isn’t the cursed charms doing, or anything else for that matter. Finally, he feels like the Gray Kyojin that stood before Azelia all the way back when he got his third chance in another world, a Gray Kyojin that cannot lose.
End of Chapter sixty-five