CHAPTER 84: PREPARATIONS

A shadow was cast over Hermes' face as he stared directly at Nicholas. Silence prevailed across the rooftop—Merlin's accusation ringing in all of their ears. Nicholas, on the other hand was busy trying to unravel himself from the tendrils of darkness that he didn't even notice their stares of disgust.

After a few seconds, Hermes sighed. He turned back to face Mason. "Alright, I guess we should start planning what to do before Merlin's spell dissipates."

Mason nodded. "First, a head count." He glanced down at his wristwatch, which displayed a small hologram that Hermes couldn't fully grasp from where he was standing. After a few minutes of analyzing the information, Mason pulled away from the screen and looked back at Merlin and Hermes.

"We still have about 35 officers left, 12 of which are with me here. The others are scattered around. I will inform them of the plan using [Cyber-Telepathy]. As for the inquisition knights, about a hundred or so remain neutralized, which we can use as decoys."

Merlin nodded back, "Alright. You might also want to tell them to change their uniforms to that of the Inquisition Knights. This plan won't work if you all don't disguise yourselves."

Mason looked over the piles of corpses lying around the battlefield and nodded. He glanced over at Hermes and Frederick, who was still tending to Lance. "Get ready. This operation is just starting. Our goal is to create as much chaos as possible while searching for the teleportation pad."

The mercenaries nodded at him and got to work. From readying their weapons to finding the perfect uniforms to don over, there was much to prepare before the coming battle. Hermes was just about to join them when Merlin grabbed his shoulder. He looked back at her in confusion.

"Hermes, you are still a stage 1 Celestial, right?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" His brows furrowed slightly.

Hearing his answer, she held her chin while pondering. "Yes, I can sense your dimensionality... Its 1.0. Why have you not taken the Elysium Monolith test? That option is currently available for you."

Hermes smiled slightly while scratching his hair. "I just never had the opportunity yet, that's all."

"I see," she nodded. "Well, once you reach Stage 3 and you are ready to contract a spirit, take this with you." She handed him a small circular pin.

Hermes squinted his eyes; the 'pin' was shaped like any normal Royale coin, and yet there was immense power emanating from within its tiny form. Darkness encircled it, which Hermes attributed to be some form of cosmic force signature.

He looked back up at her with a slight frown. "What is this?"

Merlin simply smiled and turned around, facing the edge of the rooftop. "That pin will be useful to you when you get the chance to visit the Spirit World. You'll find out what it's for when you get there."

That's counting on the fact that the system managing this trial will send the item back with me... He decided not to argue or mention that fact, however. Hermes looked at her and smiled slightly. "Thank you. Ill be sure to use it when the time is right."

Merlin glanced back at him and nodded. "Alright, I have done my part. Ill be leaving now. I am not sure how long my visit to the Tangential Void will take, but I hope to be back to assist with the operation at the very end, at least."

Just as she was about to fly away, Hermes yelled, "Stop!"

Merlin's body jerked slightly as she looked back down at the young man. "Yes?"

The smile he held earlier slowly dissipated. "Merlin... You said that this spell will be transporting everyone to the Imperial Court, right? Does this include the civilians as well?..."

She stood there silently for a few seconds before responding. "Of course, everyone is going to be teleported there. The civilians are not an exception."

"But-" As if sensing his response, Merlin interrupted him: "However, you don't need to worry. I have already cast a barrier on all of them. They shouldn't come into harm's way for at least a few hours..."

Hermes' lips twitched. He bowed his head down slightly, "Thank you..."

"I have never seen someone so selfish yet so selfless at the same time..." She giggled. "The civilians will prove to be another hurdle for our enemy during this operation. I do feel slightly bad for implicating them, but winning a war usually means sacrifices. You must understand that someday, Hermes."

Hermes looked down at the floor and nodded. "Understood..."

Seeing his reaction, she smiled. "No need to rush things. You're still young, after all."

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Suddenly, a slight quiver occurred within her Domain Singularity. She grit her teeth. "Ugh, it seems the problem is growing... I can't wait any longer."

Without giving time for Hermes to say anything back, a large tear in space occurred. Hermes watched in utter disbelief as absolute darkness formed a large wall in the air. Merlin swiftly jumped into the rift, but not before saying one final good bye:

"Farewell Hermes. The next time I meet you, you better be strong enough to not need to resort to these methods you hate so much..."

...

Darkness. Pure and utter darkness had descended upon the battlefield. That was the only way Old Man Luther could describe it. It had only been an hour or so since he had returned from his shift at the garbage disposal plant, and that was all it took for chaos to rain down from the sky... Literally.

The adrenaline slowly moving across his body had yet to dissipate. He could remember every gunshot that was heard. Even after the serenity of darkness descended upon this unknown battlefield, the sound of his heartbeat still managed to remind him of the fear he felt just moments ago. There was no way he could forget it...

With his hands still shaking, he lifted up the small candle he had lit toward the now broken window of his one-bedroom apartment. His eyes hesitantly shifted across the dilapidated street just outside his window. Across from him was a large, abandoned warehouse that was said to be the hideout of some famous mercenaries. He was always the type to stay away from other people's business, so he had no clue who was really living there. A single glance at the bullet-ridden exterior of the building revealed everything he needed to know, however.

"Was this the result of some gang war?" He whispered to himself. It was a miracle he and his son hadn't been killed by stray bullets.

Suddenly, a tug was felt from the bottom of his linen shirt. He shifted his neck slowly, only to find his only family shivering with tears in his eyes. "Father... Will we be okay?"

Luther's lips twitched slightly. "Of course..." He placed his hand above his head. "Don't worry, it had nothing to do with us. Besides, you have me to protect you, don't you?"

"Mhm..." Beneath the sniffles, Luther could tell his son wasn't fully believing his words. He sighed to himself, Maybe I shouldn't have come to the capital... If it hadn't been for the drought that had consumed his farm, he would never have left his hometown. Worst yet, the king refused to send aid or any relief funds to help resolve the crisis...

Just as he was about to lament the current politics of the empire, a sound drew his attention from outside his broken window. He shifted his eyes back onto the smog-ridden street. Other than the smell of gunpowder and explosives, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Have I started hallucinating out of fear?

He let out a sigh and clasped his hands together in prayer to the monarch.

Suddenly, he spotted something from the corner of his eye; a crimson red blob slowly inching across the windowsill. In its path, a trail of blood was left behind—blood that had begun to clot rapidly.

"What in the Monar—"

He had no time to react. The blob of flesh lunged out at him with the precision of a predator. It splattered its flesh and pus across his chest. Luther's eyes widened in pain as his mouth widened to scream, but even that was stolen from him. The blob swiftly expanded and inched toward his neck, entering through his mouth and other orifices.

Pain. That was the only thing he could feel. Unimaginable pain that he could never have even dared to think could be possible. Not even the worst of his workplace injuries could rival this horrid sensation. Worst yet, he had no way of expressing it. The flesh invading his body had blocked out even his tears.

His son stared at the scene blankly. It hadn't even been 30 seconds since it had begun; he had no time to process it. His eyes were wide open, observing his one and only father slowly being devoured from the inside.

Luther robotically turned his neck toward his now frozen son. The look in his eyes was easy enough for the child to understand: "Run and don't look back!" And yet there was something about the situation that made it impossible for him to move. It was as if he was staring directly at the face of an unescapable predator. His body was screaming to move... To run... But his mind had become overloaded with fear.

In a matter of seconds, the flesh that entered Luther burst out of him and engulfed him entirely. The humanoid form that he was so used to seeing had started to melt into liquid. Almost instantly, his knees gave out, and yet his eyes continued to stare at the scene. He was no longer sure if whether it was interest or fear.

The liquified flesh slowly transmogrified into a different form before solidifying again. The child watched in utter disbelief as his once old, tired father had now become a handsome young man with bright blonde hair. A smirk was covering his face as he stared back at him.

"Oh, you must be his child... Poor you. What is your name?"

"Alex..." He had no idea why he complied. It was as if his mouth had moved on its own.

The blonde, handsome man nodded his head and slowly approached the child. "Alex... I see, I see. Alright, would you like to meet your father?"

Alex thought about it for a moment. At this point, something had finally clicked in his head. He was about to die. There was nothing he could do about it, either. He felt like he was a cornered little rabbit hanging from the maw of a beast that was ready to gulp him down in one go. "Yes, I would like to meet him again," he said with a bright smile.

The blonde young man frowned. Almost instantly, he swung his hand horizontally, decapitating the child with a single swift motion. The head rolled on the floor next to his kneeling body; the smile on his face still lingering, even with the large pool of blood forming around his neck.

Brandon clicked his tongue. "Fuck, so even a damn child defies me now. That look on his face.... That fucking look on his face!" Tendrils of flesh blew out from within his form. They spazzed out across the disheveled bedroom.

He placed his hand over his forehead. Slowly, memories of what he had done to John's daughter and her fiancee returned to him. The way that man smiled at him at his last moment infuriated him. "Don't worry, your time will come as well, Brandon." If his arms weren't tied, he could almost imagine him throwing up the middle finger as well.

"Ugh, so damn unsatisfying... I can't believe I lost to that old codger, Mason..." He flicked his hair back, "No matter. I can sense it... Merlin's cosmic force is gone. She left the battlefield... I can't believe that the Twilight Witch ascended... Good thing I stayed down until she left..."

A smile slowly inched its way across his face. "Hubert... The words you said to me in your last moments... I wonder if your brother Lance will also say the same thing when I kill everyone he has ever cared about, hehe.... I cannot wait..."

Suddenly, his skin began to bubble. The flesh keeping his face together slowly melted, morphing into a different form. The hue of his hair shifted into a darker complexion, along with his skin. The color of his irises became hazel brown. Wrinkles formed around his cheekbones and under his eyes and a small mustache was growing above his lips. He had now become Old Man Luther himself.

Old Man Luther slowly stroked his beard as the smirk on his face slowly grew. He turned to face Alex's corpse, "I truly cannot wait..."

End of Chapter