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image [https://i.imgur.com/LoYByv0.png]
Without warning, I was beset by a cascade of glowing silver particles. My companions reeled back in surprise as they swirled around me, and I let loose an undignified yelp.
To add to my confusion, vision in my left eye was immediately impaired as a series of notifications sprang to life.
» YOU HAVE GAINED [1000] DEVOUT FOLLOWERS AND ASCENDED IN YOUR RANK OF RULER:
» SECOND TIER: LESSER DEITY
» REQUESTING RULER SYSTEM UPDATE
» SENDING REQUEST TO LOCAL RULER ARCHIVAL FRAME
» IDENTITY AUTHENTICATED
» INITIALIZING UPDATE:
» INITIALIZING – STANDBY
» INITIALIZING – STANDBY
» INITIALIZING – STANDBY
» PROCESS SUCCESSFUL: RULER SYSTEM UPDATED
» YOUR TITLE HAS BEEN UPGRADED:
» GODDESS OF VANIXIA {RULER} [UNNAMED FAITH]
» YOU HAVE GAINED PALADIN SLOTS [2 / 7] FILLED
» PALADIN: JULIUS ADAEMUS — OATH INTACT
» PALADIN: AEKO MONROE — OATH INTACT
» YOU HAVE GAINED A SAINT SLOT [1 / 1] FILLED
» SAINTESS: KARINA IVES
» YOU HAVE LEARNED NEW ABILITIES:
» NEW PASSIVE SKILL, LESSER MAGICK IMMUNITY
» REFRESHING DOMAIN AUTHORITIES
» SENDING REQUEST TO LOCAL RULER ARCHIVAL FRAME
» REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED
» REFRESH SUCCESSFUL: DOMAIN AUTHORITY REMAINS
» YOU REMAIN ASSIGNED AN ARCHDEITY DOMAIN:
» GODDESS OF ST■■F■ AND D■■C■■■
» NOTICE: YOUR RULER RANK IS NOT QUALIFIED TO MANIFEST THIS DOMAIN. CONTACT ORIGINATOR.
» NOTICE: RULER IS ADVISED TO RAISE TIER IMMEDIATELY AND ASSUME DUTIES. RULER ARCHIVAL FRAME IS IN STATE OF EXTREME DISREPAIR. CONTACT ORIGINATOR.
Hailey rushed towards me, “Airis! What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m all good.” I said, waving her back with my hand. I willed the text away and cleared my vision, “You know how when your ear itches, people say it means someone’s been talking about you?”
“Uhm, sure?” she replied, “But what’s that got to do with anything?”
“Pretty sure I experienced the divine version of that. Karina must have been up to something just now. That burst of light came with a stream of notifications saying I’ve been promoted to a higher ruler rank.”
I turned to the rest of our companions, who were still collecting themselves, and eyed Julius and Aeko, “You two have got a new colleague. Karina is now registered as a Saintess.”
Aside from the updated follower count and nearly identical readout about domain authorities, it seemed I received another passive ability tied to my divine connection.
I pulled up an inspection window for all to see and frowned shortly after.
INSPECTION
SPELL
SCHOOL
CLASS
DETAILS
LESSER MAGICK IMMUNITY
Divine
Passive
All magick-based damage received is reduced by half.
It’s not that I was unhappy with the dividends this Iteria path was giving back, though the process could use some adjustments—any kind of warning before I flashed like one of Rias’ tinker-toys couldn’t hurt for my peace of mind.
I was frowning because of a certain commander of mine looking at me with pleading eyes.
“Hey, Airis, you think that’s an ability you can, I dunno, share to your paladins? Even if it’s a small fraction, it would still be—”
My hand shot up to quiet him, “Stop! I don’t know, Julius. I’m still coming to terms about Karina somehow being my Saintess. I’ll ask Capricorn about it later, okay?”
He nodded eagerly, the light in his eyes not fading even in the slightest.
Thankfully, his senses seemed to return to him and he got our troops moving again.
There was nobody to blame for the distraction other than myself… Well, no, that’s not quite true. This is one-hundred percent Karina’s fault.
When I’d achieved the first rank of this ruler-system I’d gained a passive ability called SENSE FOLLOWER, which gave me an eerie feeling when close to a few people, like Julius, who were considered my ‘followers’.
Though there was no notification about it, I was sure the ability had gained in strength.
I felt the presence of a whole lot of people gathered tightly together south of us, past the Renaultian district walls.
There was one of those presences that stood out mingling amongst the rest. It gave off a warm and reassuring feeling, and I knew instinctively that was Karina.
I shook off the weird senses and refocused on what was ahead of us.
The massive purple crystals that had loomed over us before were now dwarfed by the enormous storm of dark magick whirling around them.
Our army came to a stop at Julius’ command.
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I turned to Hikita, who was walking alongside my guard knights, “Still think you can disable that thing? It looks pretty volatile.”
“…”
“Uhm, Hikita? Hey! Hikita!” her gaze seemed distant, so I called out her name, trying to snap her attention back.
“A reaver is coming. We should hurry.”
The blonde-haired girl took off running without any warning, and I gave chase. Flik was in-step on my right, Akari on my left, and my other knights were a step behind.
“Julius!” I called over my shoulder, “Keep the army back, send two squads of your elites up to follow.”
My stomach churned as we got closer.
The void energy was thick in the air, dyeing everything in an empurpled hue. It had a terrible stench, like rotten eggs mixed with burnt hair.
Shadows seemed to move on their own as we approached the plaza center.
Hikita had finally stopped just before the center crystal. Magickal lightning raced up the jagged edges, arcing into the air. My eyes were drawn to the raw energy—and then I saw it: the great tear in the space between the crystalline structures.
A grotesque face stared at us from beyond the veil.
TARGET
STATISTICS
VALUES
VOID-REAVER
HEALTH
STAMINA
MAGICKA
6666 / 6666
6666 / 6666
6666 / 6666
Rapid-fire pings were set off in my mind as my DANGER SENSE warned me something was off.
“Evade!” I shouted, shoving Flik off to the right with one hand. I wrapped my other arm around Akari and dove to the left just as a beam of void energy blasted the ground where we’d just been standing.
A cloud of dust and debris filled the surrounding air.
“Your Eminence!” Flik shouted, her voice choked by dust, “Are you injured?”
“I’m fine,” I called out, struggling to my feet.
I checked over Akari. When I was certain she hadn’t been injured, I stumbled towards where I last saw Hikita.
My guard knights were on alert, with weapons drawn.
Flik navigated around the smoldering hole left in the street where the reaver’s attack had impacted.
I spotted Hikita’s small silhouette through the dusty air, running toward the void crystals.
“We’re moving in!” I shouted my orders and set off, taking Akari’s hand. I turned my head slightly towards her, “Kiddo, think you can keep your barrier magick up while we move?”
“Yep! Count on me.” she said cheerfully, seemingly unbothered by the chaos going on.
Flames coalesced around us, forming a spherical barrier anchored around Akari.
A series of warning pings alerted me that another attack was incoming. I tightened my grip I had on Akari’s hand and pulled her up towards me into a carry.
“Follow my pathing!” I yelled out a warning to those behind me.
I sidestepped to the left, avoiding both debris in the road and direct impact from the void-reaver’s blast.
The spell tore through the stone streets, sending even more debris flying at us. For the two of us, it was deflected by Akari’s barrier magick. I glanced back to see my guard knights weren’t as lucky, the path now filled with obstructions. Though they didn’t appear to have taken any life-threatening injuries.
Ahead of us, Hikita had reached the base of the purple crystals. Both her hands were placed on the structure itself, and she looked to be channeling some kind of magick.
A runic sigil manifested above her, then disappeared after a pulse of bluish light . Hikita collapsed onto her knees.
The tower of jagged crystals began to vibrate and shake. A high-pitched ringing started—then stopped—just as suddenly.
A terrible shriek sounded from above us, its pressure felt as if it would shatter my eardrums any moment.
I practically dropped Akari as I crumbled to my knees and slapped both hands over my ears as fast as I could to stop the noise. I looked up at the magickal tear in space that threatened to release the void-reaver.
A small amount of relief washed over me.
It appeared to be closing.
As both the noise and visage of the reaver faded away, I continued quickly toward Hikita.
My breathing was heavy—my whole body was exhausted from sprinting down the roadway while carrying Akari.
When we reached Hikita, I plopped down next to her to check how she was doing.
I know she was fine physically, as I’d checked her status details in the corner of my eye, but just because someone’s STAMINA, MAGICKA, or HEALTH were fine didn’t mean they were also well mentally.
Your status could be high even while afflicted with many forms of exhaustion or magickal feedback ailments.
“You alright?” I asked.
“Yeah... all good.” she said with a wince.
“Cool,” I replied flatly, “I know you’re new to the whole, being on a team, thing. But try not to run off on your own next time.”
“Oh, yeah, will do.”
I let my hands slide and leaned back, looking up at the massive crystals. “Do I have to worry about it coming back?”
Hikita slowly rolled her head side-to-side, answering in a negative.
“Would it be safe if we blew these up with our ballistae—not that I’m obsessed with that thought like Julius! I’d just prefer to cross it off the list of things to worry about.”
“Probably?”
Hikita’s response did little to reassure me and I hung my head in defeat.
“I’ll wait till the Seekers investigate before I make the call then.”
After a brief moment of rest, my retinue of knights caught up with us alongside Hailey and her party.
Once we confirmed that everyone was fine, I called Julius.
“Regal-One to Assault-One.”
“Go for Assault-One.” he replied with his usual.
“Crystal towers are down. Continue the march towards the palace. We’ll rendezvous along the way after we’ve caught our breath.”
“Copy that, Regal-One. I’ll have Seeker-Two update the tally to show another imperial victory over the lousy kingdom-wannabes. Assault teams Twelve and Thirteen are en-route to your position still, take them along with you on your way to us.”
“Will do, Assault-One. Regal-One out.” I signed off the call with Julius and immediately opened another channel.
“Regal-One to Seeker-One.”
“Seeker-Three answering for Seeker-One, please go ahead, Regal-One.”
Our command channel was set to be open for ease of communication in case the person you were calling wasn’t available, and it seemed Hanna was busy elsewhere.
I continued on unfazed, “Send a magick-focused Seeker team to the crystalline structure in the center of District-R. Investigate the risks of dismantlement, for any means we have available. Upon review, coordinate with Assault-One and take safest action to remove the offending structure.”
“Wilco, Regal-One. We’ll have a team out right away.”
I disconnected the channel and began to loosen the straps of my boots.
“Whatcha doing?”
Hailey loomed over me, her brow was raised in concern.
“Oh, me? Just gonna dry off my sweaty feet is all.” I smiled at her, waving away her worries.
A blinking icon and a few strings of text in the lower corner of my vision betrayed my words.
» YOU ARE AFFLICTED WITH MINOR EXHAUSTION RANK II.
» YOU ARE SUFFERING FROM A SPRAINED ANKLE.
» DAMAGED TISSUES DETECTED
» REGENERATING WOUND – [■□□□□□□□□□]
» YOU HAVE GAINED IN POWER, YOUR ATTRIBUTES HAVE INCREASED:
» STAMINA HAS INCREASED TO 65
» PERCEPTION HAS INCREASED TO 42
» REFLEX HAS INCREASED TO 48
My foot was pretty swollen, but hadn’t yet bruised noticeably. The passive regeneration effect from my BLESSED RECOVERY Iteria power was already working, but Julius’ Scarlet Wing elites would arrive in no time, and I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to my injury.
But hey, it’s just a sprain. Not like I broke a leg or something serious.
I silently cast a minor healing spell and watched the damage notification blink out of existence.
Aeko appeared with a strip of cloth and I awkwardly let her wipe my feet. To be more clear—it was just awkward for me. She seemed unfazed and did a great job, even going so far as to strap my boots back on for me.
Hails helped me to my feet, and I dusted myself off, just as the knights Julius sent over arrived.
I rallied everyone together, “We’ll depart in ten. Everyone, make sure you’re ready for whatever comes at us.”