Part 4 - Attila

The spirit whom Har-Meggido guarded and Reginn freed was named Cupio, the 31st, 27th and 22nd hero. It was a peculiar spirit, spherical in shape. The strange pattern of its face made it look like a large floating eyeball, though he could hide his presence from those he did not allow.

It had been around a whole day since he began his journey towards Cadra, the second sunset beginning as he finally entered over the wall. Now it was time to begin looking for his newest candidate. The marking for its face expanded and he observed all the mana signatures in the city. What he needed was not simply a great mana supply, but a person with the most potential, untainted by evil. To the spirit's surprise, he saw the spirits of many heroes, some with unparalleled power he had never seen before. However, those were bad candidates as he needed someone who gained a significant boost from his presence. Finally, after spending over an hour overlooking the city, he locked in on a candidate.

...

The sun had set when Attila was returning home from another day of harsh training from Reginn. To her surprise, the training became easier for her to complete as the days passed, and now she was the only one to keep up in the whole special class other than Brun. However, she was sure that she would emerge victorious if they were ever to spar as she learned a lot from Reginn.

She got off the tram nearby her house in front of a small store. Since she forgot about dinner, she would refill for a short while in the family restaurant. She waited for her order by writing down what training she did on her note.

When she looked up from the book, she was surprised to see what looked like a giant floating eyeball. She jumped back and looked around, but no one else seemed to have noticed the large floating eyeball.

"Hello, Attila!"

Now it was a giant speaking floating eyeball, much to Attila's dismay.

"Wh-what are you?"

"Oh, I'm just a harmless little spirit"

Just to confirm, she waved his hand around on the spirit, and it was indeed true, her hand passing through with no resistance.

"What do you want from me?!"

"Well, allow me to introduce myself first. I am Cupio, the 31st, 27th and 22nd hero"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Ehem. It seems that I have not made myself clear enough. I AM CUPIO, THE 31ST-"

"Alright, I get it, Kind of. So you're telling me, that you're the 31st, 26th and 22nd hero?"

"27th not 26th but yes"

"Then why would you be here? Those heroes are from a millennia ago"

"I was sealed away in a World Beast's lair by a... demon lord"

"A demon lord?"

"Yes, a very powerful demon lord"

"...I'm still not sure if I trust you"

"Then let me explain. I am a spirit that does not possess others but simply grants them immense strength as well as other abilities. Think of me as a talent and stats personified. That is how I became so many heroes, by assisting them in battle"

"So you're not really those heroes. You're more like their armour"

"...Look I was the 31st, 27th-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. But then what are you doing here? How do you know my name?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to make you a hero"

Attila was somewhat anticipating a similar response, but it still excited her to her core. Perhaps this was her big breakthrough. Maybe becoming the hero wasn't such a pipe dream after all.

"Re-really?!"

"Well, I can't guarantee it. You'll definitely be at least a teammate of the hero though"

"Oh..."

"Don't be so disappointed! I didn't choose you just for you to become a sidekick either. I chose you because I saw a great potential something spe-"

Suddenly, the sound of a massive explosion rang out from the outside and soon enough, loud screams could be heard as the people panicked. The people within the restaurant quickly packed up their belongings to also make to the emergency exit, though no one was sure exactly what was happening outside. Attila too picked up her stuff and swiftly left the building as Cupio followed her.

"What's going on?!"

Attila looked all around, though it was hard for her to see with all the buildings around blocking her view. However, she could clearly see a pillar of smoke, coming from the general direction of her family home.

"No, no, no-"

Attila braced for the worst as she ran her house. She knew it was wrong, but she prayed that it was perhaps a house next to them, but she would quickly be proven wrong.

She stood frozen in front of her house as flame enveloped the structure. Flares spewed from the windows as well as the doors and a part of the roof was missing.

After looking around and asking witnesses to confirm that her parents were still inside the home, her arms and feet began to feel heavy. However, she began to walk towards the flaming entrance as if possessed.

"Wait! It's dangerous for you to go in alone!" shouted Cupio

In this dilemma, he was forced to forcefully enter Sivrit's spirit in order to protect her from the fire. However, they would still need to leave the building soon if they wanted to leave unscathed.

Attila coughed and the ashes irritated her nose and throat. However, her eyes felt a bit better as she was already barely seeing through her tears.

She quickly checked the living room, where she immediately found the charred corpses of her parents.

It was a horrific site, a sudden tragedy. Attila froze once again, unable to process what was before her eyes.

Her parents were dead.

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"Atilla... I think I know the source of the fire"

Atilla looked at the top of the table, which lay a package at the centre of the explosion. It had various burned hay in it, as well as fractured shells. It was the egg of a phoenix.

"This wasn't an accident. It was a mail bombing attack"

But who could've done this? Atilla raced through her mind what her family had done wrong, every enemy she remembered but none of them fit the description. Why would anyone send a soon-to-hatch phoenix egg to her house?

"Atilla, you have to get out of here! You were lucky that you didn't die here with them, you have to live, for their sake!"

Atilla stumbled back and fell onto the ground, her eyes still glued to the site of her parents' charred bodies, the broken shells on the floor and the box mailed to her house.

Cupio did not want to do this, but this was a dire situation. He overdrived Attila's spirit, temporarily gaining control of her body. Within seconds, Cupio lept out of the living room window onto the streets, a few seconds before the house collapsed.

After regaining command over the body, Atilla simply set on the curb, exhausted as tears continued to pour out of her eyes. Cupio detached from Attila, leaving her body.

"...Atilla. I know I haven't known you for too long and I won't claim to know what you're going through right now. However, I do know a way to make this right"

"...W-what?" said Atilla through the sniffles

"I lied to you when I said I was just a spirit granting people strength. I actually have the power to lead people to their goals and to make them capable of achieving them. Similar to granting a wish, just based on the user's willpower. Just now I located the phoenix and I know exactly where it is. If we can just apprehend the phoenix, I can help you get what you want... avengence"

"..."

"So Atilla, can you allow me to help you? To avenge your family? To become the 100th hero? To never have to lose anyone again?"

"...I-I'll do it. No matter what it cost me"

"There is no cost," said Cupio "Let me help you"

Cupio reentered her spirit, this time with the blessing of Atilla.

"The first thing that I will do is turn your sorrow into anger. This will help you in battle" said Cupio in her head

Suddenly, the tears slowed down to a halt and her muscles began to flex to the point of pain. She had never felt this angry before and now all she wanted to do was to kill the phoenix and the conspirator who killed her parents, her only family.

"Now you should know where the phoenix is," said Cupio "Tragedies happen, but we can make it right"

...

A girl, half demon and half phoenix blazed through the night sky like a comet. She was surprised to be resurrected in the human kingdom where her archnemesis lived. The last thing she remembered was being slain by an immortal hero, fighting through the pains of her eternal flames.

Suddenly, she was struck down by a giant snake puppeteered by Attila.

"Guh... What was that for?"

She saw a girl. Her jaws clenched, eyes locked and veins visible. It was obvious that she was struck with killing intent.

"Attila, you have been granted the strength of a hero. I believe in you" whispered Cupio in her mind

Atilla controlled the puppet to strike the phoenix, but she easily dodged the strike. She wasn't particularly interested in this battle as she just wanted to return to the demon lord's castle. The phoenix decided to scare away the challenger, still unaware of why she was ambushed,

"I am Asche," announced the demon "the 20th demon lord"

"...and is that supposed to be intimidating or something?"

In this berserk state, Attila became fearless to the point of Cupio's concern. He knew that the demon lords farther past were generally stronger with few exceptions. The 20th must've meant that she was extremely powerful, even stronger than the 22nd demon lord he fought.

"Fine, if you want a battle, I'll give you a fight for your life"

Asche spread her wings once against and blew airs of flame at Attila. With a quick reaction, Attila retracted the snake puppet back into her whip, and with a crack of the tip, the flames dissipated into thin air. However, this was a trick as Asche took advantage of the situation to catch Attila off guard and grabbed her with her clawed feet.

Swiftly ascending, they were now high up in the sky and still rising. It was too late for Attila to jump off, so there were no options other than to fight.

Finding it difficult to use the whip closed range, she dropped the whip onto the streets of the city and began punching the talons to no effect. With no choice, Attila resorted to using her teeth, digging deep into the rough leg of the phoenix.

"What the hell!"

Asche let go of Attila in shock, but she held on for her dear life, now at a mountain's height. She then hopped onto the phoenix's back, now trying to strike her head. Noticing the killing intent, Asche suddenly dove into the ground, making Attila lose balance. She was now once again climbing the talons.

"Get off of me, you maggot!"

Asche flew low, masterfully navigating the streets of Avangarden, dodging all light poles and buildings. She then began dragging Attila against a large house, the brick exterior ripping away. Cupio focused all his efforts on keeping Attila safe, causing her to lose strength in her arms and fall onto the hard pavement.

As Asche flew away in the direction of Sonosis, Attila laboriously stood up, still determined to chase the murderer of her parents. However, her muscled failed her, causing her to collapse onto the streets once again.

"You did all you could. Let's get you patched up quickly before any permanent damage sets in. The nearest clinic seems to be-"

Tears began rolling out of Attila's eyes, dissolving the dirt on her face. The rage had melted away in the face of sorrow, remembering that she was now all alone. Her family was gone.

She knew only one thing to do now.

"Where are you going Attila?"

Without reply, Attila wiped her tears and walked toward a phone booth, entering it as it began to lightly rain with no clouds to be seen in this dark night sky. She checked her pocket for coins but realized that she must've dropped her wallet along the way. However, she was too emotionally tired to feel anything. She left the phone booth and sat on the curb. Her mind empty.

Cupio left her body and looked on with pity. He then flew to a pile of freshly fallen leaves.

"Attila,"

Attila took a second to notice Cupio. She slowly dragged herself to Cupio, who was still directing her toward the leaves. She carefully pushed the leaves away and found a lucky coin, enough to make a single call.

"I know I can't do much for you right now, even though I said I would grant your desires" said Cupio "I don't know about human emotions and such but... please. Tell me if there's anythng you wish"

"...I-I wish I was at Si-Sivrit's house..." said Attila, tears welling up in her eyes once again

"...Very well"

Cupio himself did not have much mana, and every time he cast a spell that was too much for his spirit to endure, he risked his life. He only ever cast spells himself when the host was in grave danger, but he understood that this was an important wish.

Using a simple teleportation spell, Cupio teleported Attila to Sivrit's house, which he found using Attila's memories while he was in her spirit. He felt exhausted and as if his lifespan was reduced in half, but nonetheless slowly floated toward his destination, following his host.

...

Before she knew it, Attila was already in front of the door to Sivrit's house. She looked around to see that the living room lights were still on and rang the bell.

Sivrit's father, Gram answered the door and was shocked to see the state Attila was in, injured and dirty like a drowned rat in the rain.

"Come, come quick, we'll fix you up quick- maids!"

The servants of the household came to the front door and Attila immediately passed out from exhaustion at the realization that she was now safe.

...

When she woke up again a few hours later, it was already midnight.Attila realized that she was in the guest bedroom, Sivrit sleeping next to her bed sitting on a stool. Sher realised that She must've been watching over her while she was passed out.

"...mm... How are you feeling Attila?"

"Heh. Go back to sleep, sleepyhead. I'm fine now so you can go to your room"

"...What happened Attila?"

"..."

"If you don't want to talk about it if you don't want to"

"My... my parents, my home... It's all gone"

"Gone?"

"A demon lord attacked I think, but my memory is hazy-"

Attila began feeling dizzy as she tried to recall what happened during their encounter. She was still sick. Sivrit quickly gave her a paper bag to throw up into just in time.

"Th-thanks," said Attila, coughing

"...You need some rest," said Sivrit, standing up from her stool "I'll see you tomorrow and you can tell me then"

Sivirt was at the door, hesitant whether she should really leave or not, seeing her friend's condition. Attila signalled her to get out of there and got in position to sleep. Sivirt turned the lights off as she entered the hallway.

It had been a terrible, terrible day for Attila, but she was glad to have a friend like Sivrit. She began thinking about why her parents died. Perhaps it was related to their foreign background. Perhaps they had enemies she did not know about. But what was that about the 20th demon lord? There was only one demon lord and she thought it was the 99th. It was too much for her to process and she turned to her side to rest. Attila wondered if Cupio was okay. Without him, she would've been toast.

Right now. She was far too weak. Frustratingly so.

She wondered what Reginn could've done in her place. Perhaps he would've been able to avenger her parents.

However, what-ifs did not matter in this world, only one reality mattered. And in this world, she was too weak.

With that thought in mind, her brain shut down into deep slumber. The worst day of her life finally coming to an end.