Skarlet sat up, a disgruntled annoyance passed her face as her mind awoke from the groggy sleep that caked the edges of her eyes. Something had woken her, her eyes turned to the light drifting lazily through the window. It's attitude mirrored her own as a smell hit her nostrils, it was alcohol. A memory washed over her, from the night she'd been drunk, the night she spent talking to that dragon. The dragon had told her something, as she drank and ate away her consciousness. She realized that she must have spilled alcohol on herself at that time, her clothes which Hung from the chair left a lingering scent in the air.
"I didn't very much saveth thee f'r the food, I did save thee because thee gaveth me feareth. . .I've nev'r seen someone fight liketh thee. So reckless, without careth. Thee repeatedly reciev'd injury and yet nev'r did heal. Thee didn't backeth down, n're didst thee ev'r falt'r. And in the endeth as i did see thee laying th're barely conscious, dying. Thee did point yond dagger at me and did look at me with eyes full of longing, misprise, regreteth, and deep det'rmination. Thee hath believed in yond moment yond thee couldst killeth me, and yond scared me" She paused, "Nay, Skarlet, something's coming. Thee can't fight this beast liketh thee combated me, it won't taketh pity on thee, Skarlet prithee. Fight liketh thy life matt'rs f'r once, and at which hour thee survive. Cometh seeth me once m're." Skarlet sighed as she leaned against her desk her fingers digging into the rough wood, You seem to believe I can survive this, I'll try to live up to those expectations. Skarlet thought as the lazy tired feelings evaporated, she lifted her hand from the desk and winced as it brushed the sill. It was cold, she gripped the bottom of the window and pulled it open, the light poured in aggressively as she slapped her cheeks relishing in the sharp pain and frigid breeze. A little determination welled up. Screw him, I'll beat this thing and prove myself a hero. This is my chance, I can atone a little with this.
she turned away from the mirror and snatched her clothes, quickly, she threw on her gear, before sheathing her sword and knife, she wrapped the cloak around her shoulder and dashed out the door, it was at that time that screams began to rise in the town. A bell tolled, shouts and authoritative voices called for order as she pushed through the crowd. She heard steps behind her as a hand gripped her arm. Skarlet sighed as the nails dug into her arm, there was a light shake to the grip.
"Skarlet please, Cody won't be back till tonight, they will keep him. He can't disobey them. Please evacuate with us." Maria pleaded, Skarlet glanced at the girl. She was small and fragile. She couldn't help but sigh as she pulled her arm from the girls grip and turned away, she didn't run off just yet though. She had to break this before she got someone else killed, afterall Maria wasn't anything like Cody. She was just a little girl, and people without power. . . People without strength couldn't withstand her curse.
"I'm sorry, but I can't have a child follow me into this. So go, I can't be responsible for you." Skarlet spoke, Maria froze and a look of hurt spread onto her face, even a bit of anger was there but Skarlet ignored it even as defiance blossomed. Skarlet resumed her dash towards the main gate, a silent solitary tear dripped from her cheek, though it was met with confusion. What am I sad about? She wondered as she wiped her wet cheek with her sleeve. But she shrugged it off, her focus trained on the monster before her. Even with that man's evaluation of her skill she was hopeful that she had a chance. Skarlet broke into a run as the crowd thinned out, as she passed the marketplace she leaped onto the cloth stitched roof of a side shop. The awning buckled under her weight, though she managed to gain enough upward momentum to grab the edge of the roof of the building behind the market stall.
Skarlet pulled herself up and with that momentum, landed in a crouch on the very edge. Rising to a standing posture, she brought her gaze to the horizon where the oncoming storm could be seen. A massive beast, it was bipedal with silvery fur. It had a body shape reminiscent of a mix between a goat and a human. The posture was odd with it's legs still bent in the reverse direction to humans, on its head was the curled gray horns of a ram. It was moving towards Aguris with a certain degree of speed that didn't do a discredit to it's size or apparent species. Skarlet frowned as she began running along the rooftops, pushing mana into her feet she chanted the incantation of her wind spell, it didn't take her long to reach the edge of town. Upon nearing the roof's edge she cast her spell combined with a leap, she soared over the gap and landed on the wall surrounding the city.
Skarlet drew her sword, it felt alive in her hand, filling her with confidence. Though those emotions slipped a little as the creature neared, only seeming to grow in size. She frowned deeper, realizing that she wouldn't get to engage unless she stopped it's sprint, Skarlet began chanting a spell.
The beast known as Ares, the God beast of Kozak let out a roar as it sensed a challenge in the fluctuation of mana, that tiny ant perched atop that line of pebbles was taunting him. A bit of aggravation welled up and he put on a burst of speed, lifting his hand he went for a classic smash attack. The insect didn't move, it seemed to stare at him defiantly and this only increased his anger. Ares was already in a bad mood due to the presence that had dragged him from his slumber and sent him on this aggressive dash to attack this anthill. But that wasn't really too big a problem, crushing an anthill and the source is his anger would be quick and easy then his cave and sleep awaited. A growl of satisfaction slipped from his lips as he watched his hand connect with the wall, a satisfying eruption of dust encased his hand as the fragile pile of pebbles collapsed. That satisfaction didn't last long though as pain erupted through his hand, he tried to pull it back, but there was resistance and more pain.
Skarlet finished her spell as the beast skidded up to the wall, immediately transitioning to a position and stance that followed through with the slamming of his fist through the wall. Skarlet rolled out of the way last minute before activating her spell as the wind current created by beast's smash tossed her into the air like a ragdoll.
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A roar erupted from it's lips as the dust cleared to reveal spikes of stone piercing it's hand. Skarlet activated a burst of wind magic to stabilize herself before catapulting herself at it's face, she drew her sword and dug into his cheek. She then used a burst of fire magic to attempt a large, high damage attack. She was rewarded with another loud roar, but before she could celebrate, a shadow befell her as a hand came to crush her.
Ares felt immense annoyance as he ripped his hand from the spikes and began holding it like an injured dog, then out of nowhere a little fly had stung his cheek. He brought his hand up to smack it, he realized that it wasn't really a flea and that this thing had gotten away from him so he swung faster and harder this time trying to catch it off guard. As his hand smacked down he felt the pain subside, and a feeling of satisfaction overcame him. Ares pressed forward after that, his hooves smashed through the remains of the gate, the crumbling rocks and splintering wood delighted him. though as he proceeded to smash buildings and crush carriages and carts beneath his feet there was something missing, and it caused his annoyance to grow. Where is their fear, why are there no screams. Did they flee, how disappointing. He paused in the center of the city, his gaze landed on a rather fancy looking building. He felt delight as he took a step towards it, however before he could react a light smashed through the wall and through a cloud of dust a large arrow covered in roaring mana came flying at him. Due to the smoke and surprise, Ares didn't block, no he took the hit head on.
A roar escaped his lips as the attack smashed into his leg and exploded with fire, a throbbing pain spread out as the large arrow seemed to break apart in his flesh and the fire magic seared the fur and skin around it. With anger, the beast moved to smash the bug who'd done actual damage, only his leg buckled from the previous attack. Ares hit the ground hard, his face came eye level with the hole that had broken out and he could see inside an ant's home. There was some makeshift device and a large amount of massive arrows, Cody would have called it a crude balista, though his focus would have been more on the fact that Maria stood there aiming it. Beside her was the guild Master, "I may be old but at my prime I was an A rank elemental master. But even with that, we're not gonna kill this thing, Maria I understand your desire to help Skarlet. I agreed because I feel the same, but this is hopeless." The Guild Master spoke warily.
"Sir, I respect your opinion, but we're not here to defeat it. We're here to stall, Aiko is working with her team to locate Skarlet. We'll get her out of here by force if we must." Maria was determined, she faced the creature even as it glared at her with enough killing intent to make the guild master flinch. "Do you mind?" Maria asked as the beast reached for them. The hand was fast and for a moment she was worried.
"Ahh, yes I got it." The Guild Master leaped forward, a quick chant and a large amount of mana began to move.
Cody stepped out of the tent, he felt the anxiety rising and he pushed it down, but he couldn't stop his foot from tapping.
"Worried, hero. Just go save her, or is something stopping you?" A voice spoke up, it was calm, but young. He turned to see the blind prophet, she was looking at him, he could tell. The blindfold was still there, just it wasn't wet, the demon's eyes were open.
"You're talking like you know something, You're a de-." She stepped forward and put her hand over his mouth, her blindfold slipped slightly and an eye glared at him.
"Hero, please continue saving the world. Geez with the way you throw around the d word one might think you're trying to destroy the world instead." She spoke quickly and quietly as she pushed him away from the group. "Cody, I'm a Prophet of the Church but also I'm the Prophet of the demon king. I'm both but one and the same, I'm a being created through an accident. A mismanagement of spirits and the carelessness of my own. But don't forget who owns this body, it's not the demon king's Prophet but instead an Innocent little girl with a desire to be something good something more than just a little nun- hey! You're embarrassing me- shush child I'm trying to reprimand the hero for being an idiot."
Cody frowned as he turned to look beyond the trees, his mind was thinking rapidly as he digested what she had to say. An accident huh?
The prophet of demons sighed in frustration as her cheek grew hot with blush. "what I'm trying to say is, do you think the hero of the goddess herself needs to obey an old man who's never even heard her voice. The Pope uses people like you and me to hold power even when he himself is incapable of hearing the voices of the gods. Even more so you have no desire to protect this world, or help you. You just want to go home. In the near future I think you'll find that your path will quickly leave Kozak so why stay loyal to an old man who only holds power on a single continent."
Cody spun to look at her again, "There you did it again. You can see the future you know what's gonna happen, why won't you tell me?" He asked, no he pleaded, "it would be so much easier if I just knew what I needed to do."
"Most definitely, you're right, knowing the path to walk does make it easier however. . . Knowing the path may also change that path, Cody as of this moment the rivers of fate are moving in a favorable direction for you. Telling you where exactly they are headed would only muddy the water." She sighed as she pulled her blindfold and it fluttered to the ground. He could see both of her eyes for once, her eyes were two different colors. One was a pretty blue floating in white while the other was a bloody red existing in a void. "This is the last time we will speak for a while. However the good news is that your future is already changing. I could firmly see your death before, but now the future keeps changing between several outcomes. More deaths, however among the many different deaths that you now have ahead of you, there is one just barely visible where you survive. Good luck hero." Cody sighed as he finished digesting the information, she was right, there was nothing keeping him here and he had every reason to return. If I let Skarlet die here I may never reach my goal.
"Amelia, thank you for all you've done for me. I wish you well, and if your visions are to be believed this is farewell for a good amount of time." Cody finally spoke up as he gave her a hug, she smiled and returned it before seeing him off.
As Cody disappeared into the woods Amelia turned towards the tent, she reached down and ripped at her gown, tearing her long robe into a much shorter garment. Blood dripped down from her hair and the back of her white robe began to turn red. She began to limp, her face contorted in a pained expression. "I'm Sorry Amelia, this is gonna hurt. -don't worry, I'm prepared this is for the good of the Kozak Empire." Two fragmented sentences broke free from her lips as her chin fell and her eyes stared at the ground. Blood began to deili down her temples at a more alarming rate as she grabbed her head in pain. "Yeah, it's for the greater good huh. Alright the hard parts about to begin. Brace yourself."