Flaming Rage
Step, step, step, step... step, step, step, step... step.
Heian Ciemnosc walked with his team members. Although they were injured by the Disaster, they recuperated as much during their trip back to the Academy's territory. They followed behind Heian Ciemnosc as he now had 13 other teams under his name and more than 1,000 soldier units being his commands. He could also directly command other team leaders with fewer numbers in their small groups. They looked around, and although Heian Ciemnosc looked pensive, he also looked around as he walked through corpses and destroyed vehicles.
Heian Ciemnosc was engrossed in his memories. Before Cari awoke him, he continued slowly sinking in the sand, his body burying deeper as he saw everywhere around him lose color and meaning. It wasn’t gray, but, indeed, dark and with every single thing around him consumed. Even as he looked at this darkness, he saw everything. Even with nothing around, everything was clear and tremendously obvious.
In the last few milliseconds he was in that state, Heian Ciemnosc felt a tiny, little, wee thing suddenly explode in the size smaller than a baby’s pinky nail. It was a spark, one that seemed familiar and really intimate. But he was awoken before he could investigate any further. Meanwhile, as he recalled this experience, Heian Ciemnosc looked at his current surroundings.
Tanks lay around, not even smoking or set ablaze anymore. It had been several hours since this battle had ended. The pure energy in the Academy’s territory was too much even for a Second Step cultivator’s Arts to remain harming or aiding the surroundings without a constant Neutral Energy supply. Let alone some flames from citizens and cultivators fighting it out.
Heian Ciemnosc had only heard about them from Teacher Puru, his adoptive Uncle, and Auntie Sharina. After finally seeing some of them in person, he felt the incredible material they were made of and noticed any of these could strike down a transporting ship if allowed to shoot into the air without constraint, and if the latter didn’t move in a few seconds. All of this just by looking at their barrels and concurrent state, Heian Ciemnosc deduced it and more.
Their durability surpassed the transporting ships, but these tanks were miniature compared to those vessels and carried at least 2 machine guns at their rear and another one at the front. They weren’t a joke. Even if limited at the First Step, they could kill tens of Heian Ciemnosc if he was surrounded by enemies or in array formations to trap Spirit Rebirth realm cultivators. Of course, if he was before one and it was an enemy’s, his dark Claws Out would stab through it without effort, and his Vocón Link would crush it with a single constriction motion.
If it was a Second Step-limited tank… Let alone it, even a Citizen would be able to kill Heian Ciemnosc with a rifle of those limitations. Of course, no one would dare to hide their schemes through another party acting on their orders. And all citizens’ battles and wars always ignored the cultivators and vice versa. But, in comparison, that was how things worked. It was also the Existential Sixth Step organization’s job to not let such stupidities happen, or the blame will befall them.
Heian Ciemnosc was interested in the tanks, though. As he walked through Academy uniformed corpses and random cultivators’ remains, he caressed their armor and exploded bits, some still adhering to the main structure. Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes were shining, intrigued. But he still delved his mind into that previous state, more mysterious than when Lady Calisneia, his Master, tested him back at the SInvonnia Kingdom.
Step. “...” Heian Ciemnosc walked a few more hundred meters before suddenly stopping and slowly lowering his head. He was just 3 kilometers from the Northern Lights City’s walls. They were still enormous even at this distance, and the noon soon was already helping these walls create a shadow beside them. The shadow was just a tenth of that distance away from them, Heian Ciemnosc and a young girl’s corpse.
Her body was upside down but had become intensely pale, as a young man’s left arm was severed, but his arm was extended towards the young girl’s back waist. After a quick Spirit Sense blink around him, Heian Ciemnosc exited his mind from re-experiencing the same state before and found the severed arm. No weapon on the battlefield held his left hand’s aura, so the young man wasn’t trying to backstab the young girl.
Instead, the young man’s back and chest were penetrated by polearms and arrows. His feet were ground and crushed by scythes, and his waist was pried open by an axe. “...!”
As Heian Ciemnosc continued experiencing the past, its taste made Heian Ciemnosc doubt if he wanted to continue… But that was only a thought as he continued to revise what had occurred. Heian Ciemnosc saw the young girl run, her lower lip, chin, and neck bloody after being dragged out of the enemy’s encirclement, her face breathtakingly beautiful and young. She was once a little girl who ashamedly lowered her head after stealing his seat… now chased by the Academy’s enemies filled with furious eyes and Power Energy attacks following suit.
She had grown to a devastating beauty with a low cultivation base at the Ashes Apperception realm 7th stage. Her eyebrows were furrowed even as the young man helped her, and she leaned against his left arm… warmly.
The young man was no complete stranger, either. He was the other person to take Heian Ciemnosc’s seat back when he took the test’s first part. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t bother the young man back then, but he seemed to have been doing well. He was at the Ashes Apperception realm 5th stage. He was older and had better cultivation than her, but she was superior to him. They weren’t helping each other randomly. It was apparent they hit it on after realizing they both ‘bullied’ the same guy. Not only that, but their romance couldn’t be explained between the two as ‘some’ as Heian Ciemnosc went through their intricate selves. But as he traveled through this state, their corpses as the medium for his intrusion, he saw their demise.
The young man’s left shoulder was severed from behind by a thin blade cleaving down, aiming to harm the young man, helping the young girl escape. That blade was very thing, almost as much as a paper sheet. It was, indeed, a 10,000,000 silver coins Mortal grade weapon. After succeeding in harming them, their opponent, not visible through Heian Ciemnosc’s state, became much more gloating as he directly placed his left palm on the girl’s left shoulder and dragged her back.
But the young man turned around and sent a dagger flying directly into their assailant’s right eye, intending to murder back this imbecile! But their opponent was far beyond their realm, and he felt disdainful to use his pure energy armor. As a result, he simply avoided it by jolting his head upwards but not forgetting to drag the young girl backwards towards him. The daggers cut through his right eye and the side of his forehead, infuriating their assailant.
Their assailant sent a powerful Power Energy wave towards them, forcing them backwards a couple tens of meters before they turned around and resumed their escape again. However, at that moment, their assailant had given their other pursuers enough time to catch up. The rest were images of these two being besieged from all sides as the other student troops could figure out a way to save them. At last, both continued to run… but towards the enemy’s ranks this time. They left the army no choice but to let them die.
The young girl and man actually diverted away a large portion of the enemy’s attention. But it was only for a short span of time before the battle favored the enemy’s side. Heian Ciemnosc’s state ended, and he looked at the back of the young girl. They had used a device to protect themselves at their last breaths, but exterminating anything around them. It wasn’t just any device. It was valued at 250 merit points and drained all of one’s Power Energy. They had to use both Power and Energy in order to use it after being chased all around.
With no Power Energy left in them and those injuries, they could only slowly die together, alone behind the enemy’s frontlines. Heian Ciemnosc looked at the young girl’s back slightly more before bending over and turning her to face the sky. Her face was pale, and her lips would’ve been indiscernible if it wasn’t for her beauty’s features being impossible to deny or hide. He looked at her face and let her body smoothly fall back on the ground.
As he let go of her shoulder, his back bent over. He thought about burying her, cremating her, or something, together with her beloved. But he abstained from acting and limited himself to look at her as she faced the sky. The sunlight didn’t return color to her skin, face, or bloodied clothes. As she looked devastatingly beautifully sad, Heian Ciemnosc looked down at her in silence with a strange posture. His back was straight, but his left elbow was as if supported by something, and his right arm drooped down.
Stolen novel; please report.
“... Team leader,” Violet’s voice resounded from behind, trying to gain his attention after he spent an hour like this. Heian Ciemnosc straightened his neck and face, looked ahead, and turned to face his Concealed Ornament Team. Further behind were the more than a thousand student troops under him. With a soft voice, he looked at Violet with serene eyes and slightly let out, “One moment.”
“...” With that, the rest looked at Heian Ciemnosc in silence as he sent his Spirit Sense to his gray medallion with a yellow and dark glow. He contacted Cari and asked where the place where the meeting with the other armies and a Supervisor would meet. Immediately, although Cari seemed nervous and occupied, he responded to Heian Ciemnosc with doubt and uncertainty. “Are you sure you want to come by? I was sure you didn’t want to become a second-in-command now, and I was right. Do you really want to step up now?”
Heian Ciemnosc didn’t answer at all, and after a couple minutes, Cari sent him the location before cutting communication. He seemed to have attracted the Supervisor’s attention. Heian Ciemnosc nudged towards his CO Team. They walked before him and stood in attention with ease but formality. The other teams under his command did the same and waited for him to talk. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t waste a second after they formed and spoke with a calm tone.
“I’ll attend the meeting nearby. Wait for me in the City, and let the people know the battle here is over. See you,” Heian Ciemnosc glanced at each of his COs and Gloria before departing. This small action only made his Concealed Ornament Team know he was serious. That was something to talk about. But they didn’t say anything about it and nodded, immediately leaving the place after Heian Ciemnosc gave them his back.
The others could only do the same as they entered the Northern Lights City. Upon seeing Heian Ciemnosc leave the way Cari went about an hour ago and the soldier units under him go into the City, the rest of the army followed the latter. They didn’t have to station themselves outside the City. They would be too far away if they did and wouldn’t be able to either defend themselves or the Cities if they were attacked again.
… After Heian Ciemnosc walked for 15 minutes, he came across a tent in the middle of a woods entrance. It led to a small forest with a large lake, but a camp was set before it. Showing only his medallion to the few patrols nearby, Heian Ciemnosc entered the camp and was glared at by tired, defeated glances that slightly sparkled after seeing his face. However, after thinking of something, those defeated expressions turned a tiny bit excited and curious as they looked at his back as he entered the main tent.
Rustle- fwomp, step~ step~.
Inside the main tent, several commanders from all armies around the Blackotia Kingdom, standing around a large, rectangular table, lowly muttering under their breaths towards each other and glancing at the table’s contents, looked at the entrance, brand new opened by not even a mere sub-commander.
As soon as Heian Ciemnosc stepped in, he felt their glares and admonishing sentiments, and some even waited for him to explain himself. He halted and slowly closed the entrance behind him. Afterwards, he looked straight at the commanders and the like. He glanced at Cari but didn’t force him to help him before stepping forwards. His feet sunk into the soft and numb dirt, making Heian Ciemnosc look down as he reminisced about the desert and the mysterious state he was in before coming here.
“Heian Ciemnosc, mhm, come here.” An old voice spoke. It was an old man with white, disarranged medium-long hair length, and wearing an open purple robe showing his belly’s gray shirt. Heian Ciemnosc looked at the man in acknowledgment before nodding and stepping further in. Meeting the commanders’ eyes, Heian Ciemnosc felt some Second Step commanders in the midst and became apprehensive.
“Now, fellows, what were we speaking before you all went into your thoughts?” The supervisor addressed the commanders, First or Second Step, before returning his gaze to Heian Ciemnosc. They were slightly taken aback, feeling lightly offended in a non-malicious way, but still nodded respectfully to the Supervisor before speaking towards Heian Ciemnosc, not shying away from giving the Supervisor face.
“We were speaking about the order in which we’ll march into the enemy’s territory! They’ve taken a Small City in the Second Step Division nearest from here,” a loudly speaking Second Step commander commenced. He looked directly at Heian Ciemnosc, and the latter didn’t dare to ignore the former. However, Heian Ciemnosc couldn’t help himself, and before the commander could finish his sentences, Heian Ciemnosc interjected.
“But I would like to know first why and how, were the Academy’s large Cities easily attacked, first and foremost. Can we start with that?”
Heian Ciemnosc’s words left the commanders suddenly silent. But it also seemed to be what they were most concerned about at these instants. The Supervisor looked upwards and seemed to know what was about to come. Heian Ciemnosc looked left and right a little with his darkest eyes, bottomless pools, and adorable that made one willing to die for after going nuts because of them. With confidence, not showing any vulnerability someone of his cultivation base should show, he spoke to them at once.
“Even if the enemy was hidden and took a long time to get close enough and buried themselves tens or hundreds of kilometers underneath where no one’s Spirit Sense can reach. After a long time and history of the Academy defending against a hidden enemy force every mega annum, such weakness shouldn’t be there, right?” Heian Ciemnosc’s question opened the commanders' and Supervisor’s minds.
It was clear they weren’t actively thinking about this. As for the Supervisor, he looked at Heian Ciemnosc with understanding and seemed to want to hear more from him. Heian Ciemnosc continued after walking to stand before the table and pointed at the surroundings of all 4 large Cities with the Academy’s specific organizational territory in the center.
“These are all the places their burrows were found. Everyone in the army I came from saw they were filled back up. But the large Cities’ underground is reinforced by marvelous array formations. The Academy’s specific organizational territory underground has even better reinforcements. Everyone knows it, even the Spiritual Ligament realm beginner cultivators. How come there weren’t any defenses for the surrounding underworld? There should’ve been at least surveillance array formations!”
“The enemy was indeed far too deep. There were a few thousand kilometers below the surface-” The Supervisor interjected after Heian Ciemnosc’s pause. He looked at Heian Ciemnosc like an elder, slowly explaining to a young one. But Heian Ciemnosc retorted, his voice carrying a few more volume levels than allowed. “The Academy has enough experts in the Second Step who can go tens of kilometers below the surface!”
“They can also go deep enough to activate a surveillance array formation connected to trigger a chain reaction and go even deeper! There’s not even a need to inscribe a grand array formation. Just many will do and can cover well beyond the Academy’s Region. What were the Teachers, other Supervisors, and Vice deans thinking when most of them had already gone through a mega annum’s war in the Blackotia Kingdom?!”
“Was it too much to ask from such experts to not let the Academy’s people down? To force them into wasting their time and cultivation to secure the Academy’s safety?!” Heian Ciemnosc’s face slowly became questioning and constantly raging, but he didn’t give off a sensation of being angered. “How come the Academy from before was a master of the Kingdom, but now lets its lower status members die and suffer just because they can’t form a total rule over their Kingdom?! How is it that an arrangement with our leaders, this Existential Sixth Step organization above us, is the only excuse we have to remain peaceful when others - are - NOT?!?!”
“...” - “...” - “... … …”
The First Step commanders were struck senseless, but they mostly looked at Heian Ciemnosc, with 4 parts admiring his ideals and the remaining 6 parts amused and praising his boldness and balls. The Second Step commanders looked at Heian Ciemnosc with mostly confused but clarified expressions. As for the Supervisor, he was simply left wordless and looked at the empty space after his dumbfounded face left Heian Ciemnosc’s visage.
“...” The silence was detrimental. It powerfully enveloped everyone as they could feel something within Heian Ciemnosc. It was as if they had turned into empaths. They could feel what was inside Heian Ciemnosc’s body, what he was going through and feeling. It was, indeed, some kind of rage. But they were oblivious to what it meant and could only slowly become apprehensive. When they finally sensed their own bodies sharing the sentiment, they looked up at Heian Ciemnosc with slightly burning eyes but still wanting to see more before admitting, deep in their hearts, if they were really astounded silly and inspired by a weak cultivator of the Ashes Soul realm 10th stage.
“Do you… have anything in mind to help us in this last battle?” The Supervisor suddenly said. His heartfelt spoken words directly satisfied what everyone else’s hearts wanted to speak but didn’t dare to and felt too embarrassed to do so. They looked at the Supervisor’s also slightly burning countenance with gratefulness before everyone placed their eyes on Heian Ciemnosc, burning him alive with their explosive expectations.
Heian Ciemnosc lowered his head and raised his right hand. His nose was rubbed off an itch as he looked down before lifting his gaze. He took another step forward, and the table’s contents changed to the images of that enemy’s small City. He took a small, deep, cold breath into his lungs before lifting his face to look at the Supervisor. “I do.”
He said with a calm, soft, and quiet voice.
…