Arc 1 Chapter 4: Raid (2)

Subtitle: What it means to be human...

1. Gather information on secret organization. Check.

2. Locate base and somehow enter enemy base. Check.

3. Get one of the guards and use him as a disguise. Checkamundo.

I thought over my checklist again, looking if I missed anything. Nope… everything seems to have been correct. Yeah, everything is flawless…

*swing* *clash*

“GET OVER HERE!!”

“DIE!”

*Crash* *Clang*

“Argh… YOU BITCH!”

… If everything was so flawless… why... WHY AM I GETTING ATTACKED ALREADY!? I quickly dodged to my side as a sword swung past me. I then pivoted my entire body, a spear passing under my arm. I quickly used my elbow and broke the shaft in two. I then followed with a quick kick to his shoulder followed by a kick to his stomach. He couldn’t even react as the wind was knocked out of him.

“Surround him! Make sure he doesn’t have anywhere to go!”

The men formed a loose ring around me. The front lines of the encirclement were swordsmen. Behind them were spearmen. This was a really good formation for pinning people, but I’m sure they’ve never actually experienced true combat. They were sloppy, and most of their strikes lost power instantly. Of course I took advantage of this and quickly got under them. The first man I met tried to stab me. I instantly swatted the blow by redirecting the flow of his strike. I then kneed him in the gut and karate chopped the back of his neck. He was already unconscious by the time he reached the floor.

“Idiots!”

I heard footsteps running from the group. That must be there leader. I really can’t let him get away. I backed away from another guard as I took one of the broken spears on the floor. Without even looking, I threw the spear towards the fleeing man.

“Argh…”

I heard a scream, followed by gurgling noises.

*Thud*

Yep, he was dead. I sighed.

“You guys, I know you want to live… so mind if you just surrender? Otherwise, you might end up like him.”

I pointed towards the corpse that was the leader. Every man looked first at their dead comrade and then to me. They then began discarding their weapon at my feet.

“Good choice.”

Without wasting any time, I activated one of my circuits.

“[Boost].”

I felt my body become lighter as I began tagging every man around me. In seconds, everyone was knocked unconscious. I then took out several ropes as I began the painstaking task of tying them up.

‘You know; you should have killed them.’

‘No.’

‘Alright… just saying though, you might regret this later.’

‘…’

Unable to refute her, I kept working in silence.

‘Fifteen coming your way.’

‘Ugh… I swear your turning me into a babysitter… how the hell do you expect me to take care of seventy eight people if they wake up?’

‘You can always seduce them.’

‘… not funny’

The line instantly went dead. I gathered the unconscious guards, and raising my hand to them, activated another circuit.

“[Teleport].”

I imagined the jailhouse I recently made for the occasion and instantly, the guards disappeared.

‘Hey, I know you’re still there. How far am I from their headquarters?’

‘… Don’t you have the map?’

‘I do, but for some strange reason, their headquarters isn’t showing up.’

‘What do you mean? The map was supposed to be perfect.’

‘Well, it’s not. I don’t see any rooms that was the same size as the one I was brought to. Look can’t you ask May where it is?’

I heard small exchange of words from the connection.

‘She said she doesn’t know…’

Figures. I groaned in irritation.

‘…But she says that the mercenary group should know.’

I felt my ears perk up.

‘Mercenary group?’

‘Yeah. Apparently, they hired a mercenary band to help. As far as she knows, their one of the few that have the highest access to the command center.’

I couldn’t help but feel admiration for the mercenaries. Normally, one wouldn’t put trust in a mercenary group. Their strangers whose ulterior motives could never be learned of. Yet, this group had a high access to the command center, meeting they were highly trusted. I wonder why?

‘Alright. Can you sense where they might be located?’

‘Yeah I can, rather I already did. They should be showing up on your map.’

I looked at the map and sure enough, I saw the group. What was strange though was that they were colored in green…

‘Um… Lily?’

‘Don’t ask me. For some strange reason their green.’

I could only stay quiet as I looked at the group. There were about twenty of them… honestly, they seem like a small group and there was no other groups to be noted. That means that all members were in the same area. That green though… allies? How, and why? Why is the system considering them as allies? Hmm… wait a minute. Purple, there are purple dots on the screen. I looked at one of the far out places. There were different rooms with a certain number of purple dots in each of them. They must have been captured from before. Well, it’s no use thinking about this now. I quickly made my way to the open cavern. Speaking of which.

“[Origin].”

I felt my entire body change once more. The disguise was pretty much useless now. I’m still kind of annoyed that they caught on quickly. Ugh… trying to act out a different person really is hard. My transformation finally finished just as I arrived on a pair of huge doors. I pushed them open and what awaited me was a cavern filled with murderous intent.

“FIRE!”

*twang*

Arrows were loosed, the room seemingly darkened from the amount of arrows.

“[Aegis].”

I was instantly surrounded by an orange force field just as the first arrows arrived. The sound of metal clashing with metals sounded throughout the chamber. It was deafening, like an infinite amount of kitchen utensils falling from a cabinet.

“STOP!”

A clear voice broke through the hailstorm and the arrows began to die down. I also stopped my circuit as the field dissipated into the air.

“Well… at least I didn’t have to kill them just to have them stop.”

I gave a smile as I casually walked up to a girl in the center. She seemed to be the leader of the mercenary group who surrounded her, intent in protecting her. The bandits held their bow ready, pointed at me.

“I have to say, you’re rather unique aren’t ya?”

I shrugged.

“Well, I try not to. Anyway, what’s a mercenary group doing here anyway?”

“None of your concern.”

I study the girl in front of me. She had sharp red eyes. It was… very radiant, as if her eyes had a will of their own. Her orange hair seemed to flow around her. Her equipment was also rather, amazing. She was wearing a paladin style armor, with a combat skirt that had three metal plating extending from three different sides.

“Well, it kind of is. I mean, I am in charge of this kingdoms defense you know.”

The girl had a puzzled look on her face. She then studied my face and upon realizing who I was, began turning pale.

“You’re…”

“Yes I am. Furthermore, I would like to inquire why half the elite guards are here.”

She instantly looked away, her men also looking down on the floor. They were silent, but at least I know why they showed as green. Honestly, I actually thought they may be the mercenary group that I was suppose watch over, but instead… the elite guards. THE ELITE GUARDS. Just how can you bribe the best soldiers in the entire kingdom who have known for their loyalty? I then remembered about the purple dots from before. Don’t tell me.

“Let me guess… they took your families as hostages.”

Each and every soldier looked at me with their eyes open.

“How…”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of this. Now, I want to know? Who is…”

I leaned back as an arrow passed in front of me. I look at the man who shot it. At first he flinched, but then he took another arrow and notched it.

“DON’T FALTER. KILL THEM ALL!”

Shit, I guess even the knights are going to be targeted.

“[Aegis].”

I extended the shield to the group and in no time, arrows were falling everywhere.

“I need to know, who is leading them?”

She looked at me with fear.

“I… I can’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“If I do, they’ll… they’ll…”

She stopped talking, her hands shaking. She then began raising her sword towards me.

“Please, you have to understand. There’s no way we can win. If… if we succeed, then at least…”

I slapped her across the face.

“Listen, I know what’s going on. The empire, the attack, the kingdom. Everything. But right now, I don’t know anything about the person who’s actually leading the entire operation. Also, I know it’s not the King. He isn’t foolish enough to invade Artura’s kingdom. That’s why, for your sake, I would suggest you telling me”

“But… my daughter. They…”

“Jesus…”

I let out a small irritation as I began activating several circuits at once.

‘OYE, OYE, BRIAN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!’

‘I have a job for you. You know the purple dots we saw? Well, they’re prisoners. I want you to get them for me and bring them somewhere safe.’

‘What? Why? Can’t you just…’

‘NO I CAN’T. I only have so much mana. You know my restrictions, that’s why I need you to do this. If you finish this quickly, I swear I’ll make your favorite dish tonight!’

‘… hurry up and teleport me.’

I smiled as I finished the circuit.

“[Astral Plane].”

I felt a surge of energy around me as the circuit activated. It then died down, but my mind was instantly filled with screams of death.

“Ok, the prisoners are being saved. Now, can you tell me what I want?”

She gave me a startled look. I could only face palm as my patience is beginning to run out. The clanging noises were especially not helping. Looking at the irritating flies, I raised my hand at my shield.

“[Shield Mask].”

The colors of my shield instantly turned black, preventing us from seeing outside. With this, the knights won’t have to see anything.

“[Tendrils].”

“What the…”

“ARGH…”

“NO, NO… AHHH”

Screams began filling the room outside of the shield as sounds of bodies being torn could be heard. The knights flinched and soon, the shield could no longer hide the blood that was splattering all over. The sound soon died down, and I deactivated the shield.

________________________________________________________________________

(Sara POV)

“He… is the hero… right?”

I could barely answer as I look at the scene in front of me. Bodies were lying everywhere. Each corpse had a huge hole where there heart used to be, and the surrounding wall was covered in nothing but blood. As an Elite guard, I have always thought about defending the honor of our kingdom, fighting till the bitter end for honor. This… could not be considered a fight. This was a massacre. I look at the man who was the hero. He seemed sad as he stared at the bodies he has killed. That really intrigued me since I’ve never seen someone show pity to their enemies like that.

“Sigh… this completely ruined the mood. I would ask you again on whose leading, but just tell me later on”

He then looked at us, thinking for a few seconds.

“You lot, follow me. It’s probably better if I show you instead of saying airless words”

I stood there with my men as he started walking down one of the hallways. I signaled for them to follow and we all quietly walked behind him. I stared at the hero. He was an interesting fellow. I couldn’t really tell anything about him, and he didn’t seem to radiate any power. As if he could mask his presence. Then, he stopped. I also ordered my men to stop.

*tap* *tap* *tap*

Footsteps could be heard from the distance. I then saw a group of people walking. They were my men’s families. They all look pretty bruised, but no one looked too bad, which made me feel relieved. I then felt an aura beside me. It was the hero. Unlike before, he was covered in a dark aura. This… power… it’s nothing like the others… it’s almost… demonic. Before I knew it, two girls began approaching us. They had a solemn look in their face, as if they were the bearers of bad news.

“We… we managed to save the prisoners.”

She seemed to be talking to me. I wonder why, but I somehow felt afraid.

“I… I see. It’s my gratitude for saving them.”

I bowed. My men also bowed towards them. But my daughter… where is she. I then looked at the group and it was now that it clicked. They didn’t look bad from far away, but now that they were closer… it was horrible. The two girls bandaged them all up, but the wounds could still be seen. Some were bleeding, some had broken limbs. One was even being carried by another as his legs were cut off. The knights only looked in shock but slowly began moving through the group. Tears were spilt, and soon the entire hall was soaked with sadness.

“You had a daughter right?”

“Yes, I have a daughter. Why do you ask?”

I felt my heart tighten. Had? No, that can’t be. One of the girls took my arm and led me to the back. With each step, my legs began shaking as I saw a girl laying on a stretcher. Her eyes no longer held any light. Her arm was missing, and her two legs were broken beyond measure. There were also lines etched on her delicate pale skin. I quickly ran over to her, my tears falling to the ground.

“Emily… Emily…”

“M…m…mum…”

A glimpse of her smiling face surfaced on my memories. She used to have the brightest smile, her red eyes gleaming with happiness. Now it was gone. No longer did I see that once bright full smile.

“hic… I’m… sorry… I’m sorry.”

________________________________________________________________________

(Lily POV)

I watched over the mom as she hugged her daughter tightly. In my mind, I was really glad that the girl survived, but I was shocked… and angry. She only looked to be sixteen yet they dared do this to her. I felt a dark aura surround us. I quickly went over to Bryan.

“Bryan… I need you to calm down for now. Anger won’t help us and will only get in the way… CAN YOU HEAR ME!”

I look into his eyes and saw pure hatred. This was the exact same thing that happened during our old world. His friends suffered for him, and because of that, he has always carried this burden. Seeing as something similar happened to him, it’s not strange that the darkness he harbored is appearing.

“I beseech the spirits to purge thee of thy darkness. Heal”

I felt the mana respond to me as they began gathering around Bryan. A light green color surrounded the entire room as everyone was bathed in its healing rays. I even saw most people heal instantly, thought the mind could never be healed properly with this. Well, not theirs anyway. The spell soon ended and I was once again staring at sorrowful eyes of the one I truly serve.

“Better?”

He nodded slowly, though he now hugged me.

“I’m sorry… it’s…”

I patted his back.

“I know, I know. That’s why it’s alright. Just please… try not to lose yourself ok?”

He nodded as I felt his grip tighten. As his summon, we have a link that most people don’t have. It’s through this link that I can feel the emotion inside him. Shock, anger, sadness. Bryan’s experienced this all in his life, yet he’s never gotten used to it. That’s why I picked him. No one else held a great value of human life than he did. That’s why I never regret being chosen as his partner. To this day, I’m glad that he hasn’t changed… and I’m glad I’m here to comfort him when the need arises.

________________________________________________________

Author Notes:

Hey guys I'm back. So... it's taking me a while to write these, plus my editor takes time to edit because of real life reason. I mean, I have a lot of chaps coming, but considering what life throws at us, we might be slow on updates. DON'T WORRY THOUGH, WE WILL PERSEVERE AND CONTINUE TO WRITE (for my editor, edit). Why? It's because its a hobby now and is the only way I can keep my sanity through a hard day's work. Probably the same for my editor... not really sure lol

So long story short, not dead, not hiatus, slow updates. I hope you still enjoy... oh and chap 5 will come out with this chap..

P.S. Can anyone think of a better sub title for this, or is it good enough?