To Go (3—Last Part)

"Heian Ciemnosc?!" Elena's surprised voice sounded. Everyone began waking up from their state and looked around. Immediately, besides knowing the Golden Array Snakes had been activated, which could only mean one thing, they looked around to see the tens of thousands of corpses outside the palace's gates. When the barrier was removed, they noticed their leader hovering in the air, waiting for them to sober up as they went into guard. Elena saw Heian Ciemnosc's state, but she wasn't worried, only surprised he was wounded to this extent.

She didn’t fly up but waited for her husband to come down. He was with another young man on his side, Riquel. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t put on any airs, landing before the 2,000+ small group and making their medallions heat up. When the students saw their leader, they slightly relaxed but still felt alarmed, seeing more than a hundred thousand living beings around them. They were from all Races.

Only when Heian Ciemnosc spoke to them through his medallion did they tranquilize. He summarized everything that happened as he stepped towards Elena and placed his hands on her waist before looking down at her and embracing her. Elena didn’t know what was up, and she felt new to this public display but enjoyed it. Elena, of course, hugged him back in front of their people.

“Your body, will you be alright?” Elena asked Heian Ciemnosc after their little hug moment, with Riquel waiting at the side, not letting his people barge in and search for opportunities. Elena had sparred many times with Heian Ciemnosc. And when they were more or less at the same level, the ghastly injuries she accidentally inflicted on him were rapidly healed. However, this injury wasn’t just potent. It also contained a tremendously ridiculous, devastating effect on his body. It wasn’t just because of a Secon Step’s Neutral Energy.

“Mn, I just need some time… and even more cultivation.” Heian Ciemnosc smiled after his words, tilting his head to the right, charming her entirely. Elena didn’t care about anything else, not even with her cultivation base improving by stages. She was enchanted with Heian Ciemnosc’s manliness at this moment, even if it was tiny. She put her hands on his shoulders and lightly knocked her forehead against his.

“...” - “...” After a few silent seconds, Elena’s eyes opened and looked upturned at him. Heian Ciemnosc nodded, and she moved to the side to stand on his right, looking at the students with an indifferent expression. She looked charming as fuck. Heian Ciemnosc held her left hand with his right one as she reciprocated before directing his words to his small group. “We’re being targeted. It isn’t a problem, except for their numbers. Virtually every other person in this mist’s territory is trying to hunt us.”

“Now, there’s no need for getting back at them. I’ve already done that myself, and it is enough. We must leave, escape from this place, and we will, with Riquel’s group helping us.” Heian Ciemnosc placated every spirit to fight the enemy. They weren’t simple as well and had been cruelly hardened through war. However, they could also see his abdomen wound. Hearing his words, they didn’t complain and started taking their Fighters.

Heian Ciemnosc didn’t stop them. Although it could be more dangerous with this mist’s territory nature, using these instruments, time pressed harshly on them. They couldn’t care about such risk when their lives were already on the line. Everyone took their sweet babies out. Heian Ciemnosc took his Ornament out only when everyone was ready and standing outside their Fighter. Elena looked at him with her brown eyes as he nodded at her, gently smiling.

“You’ll follow your vice team leader and the assassin team leader. I will be in the middle and secure everyone’s safety until we reach the end of the mist. Afterwards, rush to the Medium City as fast as you can, but do not dare even hesitate on my commands when I speak or order you to do anything.” Heian Ciemnosc saw the students nod, including his Concealed Ornament Team and Elena, causing him to slightly nod in return as he gestured for them to get inside their Fighters.

“I haven’t asked, but how come they allowed you to have these many Fighters out of the base?” Riquel asked as Heian Ciemnosc waited for his students to board their Fighters before entering his. He looked at Riquel and answered simply, “Isn’t it normal? It’s just a small force, and we are only coming here after our trip’s goal was over. The City took this into consideration.”

“Um, no. I was only allowed to rent a large vessel. Otherwise, I would’ve taken 20 days to bring everyone near the mist’s territory. I took less than 10 days thanks to that vessel and a few Fighters.” Riquel responded as it was Heian Ciemnosc’s turn to become silent. Amidst the quietness, Riquel clicked his tongue and commented with his arms crossing before his chest. “It seems like you might not be alone after all when you come out. Good luck. We’ve spread the devices. They’ll keep your people away from detection for a few minutes. You guys must hurry.”

“Mn,” Heian Ciemnosc nodded, and then, without looking back, he extended his right arm and grabbed a delicate, cinnamon-colored wrist. Fera looked at Heian Ciemnosc with a pout and then at Riquel, her leader for this trip. “Big Brother, why are you throwing me away? I can take a vacation, you know? I haven’t taken any in 4 years. The sect will let me. Besides, many other organizations let their low-status members visit the Wrath Nihility Academy whenever they want.”

Heian Ciemnosc narrowed his eyes and gave her a side-eye. She was wholeheartedly going all out to make it seem like her following them back to the Academy was the most reasonable action. Her puppy, puffy, and wet eyes were just eyeballs in Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes. He slightly turned his body to face her and placed his right hand behind her head, “You little girl, what is it you don’t want to return?”

“Heian Ciemnosc, actually, this is fi-” Riquel brought his hands up and shook them in the space in front of him but was interrupted by his subordinate, who scrunched up her face like a feral little animal. “I am not litt– luu?”

“Hm?” Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes turned stern as they looked down at Fera, whose neck shrunk, and she retracted her body backwards. But with her clever little mind, she rapidly changed her mindset, acting coy, grabbing the middle of Heian Ciemnosc’s Academy uniform, newly restored after changing them from his battle-used ones. “I’m a little girl, I all little. Your little sister, okay?”

“...” The big bro might have said nothing, but his grin was impossible to hide as he looked at the little sister. His right hand passed over her shoulder and hugged them with his arm. Pulling her up against him, he turned to face Riquel and said, “I’m bringing this little guest to the Academy. I hope it won’t trouble you too much when your Sect knows about it.”

“It’s alright, Heian Ciemnosc,” Riquel said with a semi-forced smile. “Besides, with the incoming Overlord’s banquet, we can just offer your Academy’s participants a ride to this time’s place. We’ll just pick her up then, don’t fret.”

“You’re going too?” Heian Ciemnosc asked, clearly knowing nothing about this special event. At least not much about how it would proceed for the lower-status members and who would go there specifically. Riquel looked at him weirdly and said, understanding Heian Ciemnosc’s ignorance. “Of curse~. The Obsure Orb Sect is one of its hosts!”

“... We’ll leave it here, I must go now.” Heian Ciemnosc said, throwing Fera back into the Ornament as she gawked and made a cute noise before muffling as she went in. Heian Ciemnosc nodded at Riquel, and the latter did the same back at the former with thankful eyes. Heian Ciemnosc’s small group was the one being followed, while Riquel was still searching for treasures and opportunities to grow.

Heian Ciemnosc’s group was too small. While Riquel’s disciples could contend against anyone else in this Upper Kingdom within the mist. He could even fight head-on against other Second Step cultivators with higher realms than him due to everyone’s cultivation base restrictions. Naturally, he had his Earth grade weapon, but many others from his group also had one. There was nothing that could threaten them unless everyone united to exterminate them.

However, this place was too damn large. Even if they could communicate globally as if this was the outside, why would they waste time possibly dying before an enemy just for ‘having better chances’? They would be fine, and since they couldn’t escort Heian Ciemnosc’s small group for long, those few who could bring their Fighters would return after a while. Riquel would have to stay to supervise his people’s safety.

Fwvium, fwvium, fwvium, fwvium…

Heian Ciemnosc offered no more words as he hopped into his Ornament, inclined it so it would point to the ground, and hit its smallish engines together with the rest of the Fighters. Altogether, a few hundred Figher from the Wrath Nihility Academy rose up into the air and shot into the distance, leaving behind the palace, not even in their radars, in less than a few seconds. In addition, 1,5000 Fighters from the Obscure Orb Sect followed after, with equal speed.

“...” As he watched them go, Riquel bid farewell to them without words before turning towards his disciples, now smoothly entering the palace. He shouted at them with a severe tone, “Anyone who dares disrespect this place will see things out with me! And those who feel rebellious as those others have done, just try me and the loyal disciples from the Sect!!”

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“...” The disciples weren’t used to being yelled at like this, even less by someone who was always easy going, even if not to take advantage of. However, they felt insulted rather than offended. “Leader, we aren’t cowards nor idiots!” - “We’ve seen how others die for their stupidity, but who do you think we are?!” - “Leader, we are all disciples from the same Sect. Naturally, we are all loyal. Not like those scum!” - “Yeah, besides, leader’s friend is actually very powerful…”

“... Go ahead then,” Riquel felt tranquilized and nodded at them before saying, sighing in relief in his mind. Then, he returned his eyes to the horizon, where the Fighters had long disappeared, before turning to where a 10,000-big group was marching towards them. His eyes were fully open and became damn serious.

… Back to the Wrath Nihility Academy’s group, Heian Ciemnosc led his people at maximum speed. Although his Ornament had to slow down a level. At this moment, a few Fighters could be seen trying to tail them or intercept their group. But Heian Ciemnosc’s quick missiles dispatched them off, not allowing any other Figther in his group to slow down in order to deal with the enemy. His Ornament Fighter was specialized for nimble reactions as even the Sweet Carolina would slow down when firing its machine guns, let alone ejecting missiles.

Poom, poom… poom, whoooooooshh~... tarara- BOOM, BOOM, BOOM…

Even those suicidal Fighters who were probably enslaved or paid well in return for their deaths were useless with Heian Ciemnosc around. He could catch a person looking at them, let alone a Fighter whose noise was much louder in this mist’s territory. But soon, Heian Ciemnosc found a hut. It wasn’t the same they passed through here, but it was one nonetheless. After securing the area with no other enemy Fighter or someone that could pose a threat to his small group, Heian Ciemnosc led them to the ground.

They could pass over it. The mist only began a few tens of meters before the hut’s front entrance. Everyone stored their Fighters and kept silent. But instead of forming up and passing through the hut’s exit to its front entrance, Heian Ciemnosc led everyone immediately inside. They ignored the little ghost hiding in the pitch-black spot outside and entered. Heian Ciemnosc bit his palm’s center and slapped it onto the candle. Dark blood covered the whole candle and part of the small table.

The ghost outside seemed to become a little startled, as even the entire hut became awfully silent, as if afraid that they would provoke a fearsome Heian Ciemnosc. An angry one. On the other hand, Heian Ciemnosc continued walking forward, not even caring about the candle’s flame appearing slightly more orange and ordinary than when they entered. He exited the hut and turned around, waiting for his people to cross over. Elena, Cari, and his COs didn’t waste time and walked to the exit, not caring about the hut’s hauntedness.

Step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step. The rest of the students didn’t hesitate and passed through the hut. The ghost was awfully silent, seemingly gone, but they could still feel its hungry stare. The students proceeded to ignore it as they could tell how much they were being hunted by living beings with the constant harassment from random people along the way. Finally, after crossing through, even without their medallion heating, the students took their Fighters out again.

Fwvium, fwvium, fwvium, fwvium… Heian Ciemnosc and the rest returned to their journey to where they came from, the sound from their Fighters immediately starting at full speed ignored by the mist. On the other hand, more ‘fwvium’ noises spread from the other side as the Obscure Orb Sect’s Fighter departed after ensuring the Wrath Nihility Academy’s Fighters were successfully escorted beyond the haunted huts’ perimeter.

They were in for a slightly heated afternoon where their Sect would take the palace as their temporary headquarters. At least until they chose to move out. Meanwhile, Heian Ciemnosc and his small group made their way out, rapidly crossing the mist, but they couldn’t see anything. Only Heian Ciemnosc could tell what, when, and how. Even their Fighters’ radars, including the Ornament’s, were as valuable as when turned off within the mist.

Only with Heian Ciemnosc’s strange Spirit Sense latching onto each of the students could he ‘see’ through their formation. He would send messages to those who started losing track of their position, rearranging them until they were in perfect placement. After a few reminders, everyone could keep up, becoming used to traveling amidst the mist. This time, however, they took 13 minutes before sensing their Spirit Sense and the stares of death leave them.

“Prepare to rush back to the City! Use your radars as soon as they are on!” Heian Ciemnosc sent a message through their medallions, tensing everyone up as they constricted their pupils and awaited the moment they had longed for in the past hour.

Rumble~... rumble rumble rumble. They started feeling their world-shaking as their Fighters found some kind of turbulence, it wasn’t real, but it affected their Fighters as they struggled through the mist. They held their commanding wheels with tight grips and gritted their teeth. But in the end, they saw the light of the world! The sun was setting!

Vium vium vium vium~, vium vium vium vium~...

At once, a few hundred Fighters escaped the mist, like crossing through clouds, and soared into the sky. Even those who faced the ground jerked upwards. Their radars instantly picked up their direction, and they rushed in the City’s direction without wasting a second. They went each on their own but weren’t stupid or heartless so as to leave those beside him. They formed little groups of Fighters while advancing, and even those lonely wolves rapidly found a little group to protect each other.

It was getting dark. Stars could be seen everywhere in the sky, but no moon accompanied them, nor did the Fighters flee for their lives. Heian Ciemnosc watched in his Ornament as everyone ran for their lives and didn’t stop to contemplate their return to the ‘ordinary’ world. Their Fighters’ smallish engine beam streaked across the sky, covering dozens of kilometers every few seconds. They had just begun.

“Enemies to our east, leader!” - “Enemies on our south, on our south… there are thousands!!” - “How could they be waiting? We haven’t exited this place at all. Nobody must have, so why is this happening?!”

Heian Ciemnosc received messages left and right as he finally spread his 80 km long Spirit Sense. He breathed deeply in and sent a safe voice message through their medallion connected to everyone’s Fighter. “Keep rushing towards the City. Concealed Ornament Team, stay with me and dispatch the enemy!!”

The secured communication channel wasn’t followed with silence. His team members fearlessly roared. “Yes, team leader!!” - “We are on it!” - “Finally!” - “AAAGGH, dieeeeeee!”

TARARARARARARARARARARARARARA~, POOM POOM POOM POOM PUM PUM, whiiiiiiiiiiiistleeeeeeeeeeee- BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM…

Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t idle as around 15 Fighters remained behind, forming a weak line formation in the air. They had turned around to face the thousands of enemy Fighters approaching. Most were top-notch, and only a few were secondhand. They each had all machine guns installed, but they were instantly at a disadvantage as they had no missiles, which would be seen by how they were helplessly zigzagging and maneuvering nonstop in order to dodge without responding.

The sky was suddenly illuminated with the flashes of bullets raining from one side to the other. The Concealed Ornament Team and a couple other Fighters remained in that weak line formation for a few seconds before springing into action, receiving the barrage of many bullets with their shields active, another thing most of the enemy Fighters lacked. A light blue shield protected the Wrath Nihility Academy’s Fighters as they danced among the enemy.

Metal clashing with metal was often heard as the enemy wasn’t used to cooperating. Most of them had to be from multiple organizations that never met with each other before and were recently gathered. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t need to use his Spirit Sense to know this. It was pretty obvious, but he kept quiet as the battle continued.

“Stop doing pincer attacks. They might go after our people! Fight them head-on! You have weapons and armor for a reason!!” Heian Ciemnosc fiercely shouted after a few minutes, seeing a couple enemies who managed to sneak away after remaining stagnant amidst their allies. Heian Ciemnosc thus ordered the massacre of the enemy’s pilots to begin, and the Concealed Ornament, once again, didn’t let the communications channel grow silent!

“Yes, team leader!” - “AAAAHH! No mercy, fuck them all up! AAHH!” - “One of my pilots was shot, but even she is still fighting. Don’t you dare cower now! Fight!!!”

Many flashes went by, continuing and never stopping. And even when a small section of the battlefield became silent and not as illuminated by the lack of fighting, a Concealed Ornament Team’s Fighter went over to light the party up, destroying enemy Fighters left and right. There was no center, up and down, or sides in this battlefield, only the space where they fought, destroying the enemy. There was no gravity but battle zones or secured zones!

“Team leader, ah fuck… Name the next Fighter after me. That way, I will become the Team’s history… haaaaaaaah!!” A voice sounded in the silent communications channel, giving rise to many goosebumps as they suddenly saw a Fighter head to a large cluster of enemies approaching from the mist, their Fighters already firing their machine guns at them. The Fighter effortlessly infiltrated the enemy head-on, slowly spinning in the air as they avoided it but didn’t care enough to shoot at it. At last, the Fighter self-imploded when it was still at the enemy Fighter’s vanguard.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!! … … … BOOM… BOOM… BOOOM…. BOOOOOOOOOM…

The Fighter turned into white-blue light, engulfing hundreds of enemy Fighters as Heian Ciemnosc watched with widened, his heart and mind unwilling, but this was a sudden choice from his team members. Even if he expected it, was at his peak, and noticed it earlier, can he simply deny them this action when they are in a precarious situation?

The explosion extended, creating a chain reaction as energy searched for any Fighter nearby, connecting to it before shredding it into another explosion covering an area of effect larger than a Bulldog Fighter. Everyone from the Concealed Ornament Team watched as the light receded only after a few minutes. But a few pieces of debris and remains from Fighters still fell to the ground. They were truly small and helplessly fell dozens of kilometers.

“We’re staying until the last enemy. We’ll search for survivors after exterminating them!” Heian Ciemnosc announced in the communications channel, his darkest eyes blazing with pure blackness. From the communications channel, many voices, including Elena’s and Cari’s, shouted back in unison. “HELL YEAH!” - “This is not over, ah fuck!” - “More on the east! Leave them to me…”

… The battle continued, and slowly, Heian Ciemnosc fought with his Ornament, exhausting more of its ammunition as another Concealed Ornament Fighter, this time a Sweet Carolina, voiced their last words before starting to fall towards the ground.

“Come pick us up after… you’re done…”

…