Shadowbane

~Deep Underneath Telebron~

~Hyun's POV~

Hyun watched as the creature tore another chunk out of the Neilah's God. It had gone silent not long ago, albeit, not by choice. It had attempted to defend itself the best it could, but the Nei'lah God was one of the few Eldritch beings who could fly. It wasn't designed to fight underground in confined spaces, especially not when it was stuck to the wellspring and unable to move its torso more than ten meters away from it.

And there was no one left who could assist it, as they had all been devoured long ago. Whatever remained of the Crotians was being picked apart by the hundreds of Xerath scurrying around the cavern. And unfortunately for him, Hyun was completely paralyzed, so all he could do was wait for them to decide it was his turn.

Less than an hour ago he had been back at his office pouring over the phone records he took from the local information hub. He went through a variety of emotions as he began to read them alongside his own internal records that showed all the assignments given to the squads. He found an endless amount of assignments that were given from seemingly nobody. The calls clearly existed, but the phone records showed that there were no numbers associated with whoever was making the calls.

There were ways to trick the system into giving fake or anonymous numbers, but the techs at the information hub were adamant that this was not what had happened here. There was a record of the phone being used and nothing more. Just a date and no time stamps, which suggested magic of some sort had been used, but Hyun had never once heard of such magic before now.

And as much as he wanted to look into it, he was more concerned with the amount of assignments that either had little to no meaning. It was as if someone was using the squads just for the fun of it. He had told that white-haired girl that he gave the orders to Rodger's squad to save face, but if he had known that there were hundreds of frivolous assignments like hers given out, he never would have said something like that. If anything, he was starting to freak out after his last communication with Master Rai'ga.

He told his Master about what he had found, and surprisingly, Rai'ga's first question was 'When did this begin?' It took a bit but Hyun eventually found the first fake assignment, and the date was around three years ago. Immediately Hyun remembered all of the other issues that popped up three years ago. The drug epidemic that sprung up out of nowhere being the main one. Some people would overdose and die, but generally speaking most people would either continue to use them recreationally, or wean off of them all by themselves with no withdrawals whatsoever. And the only sign that people had been using the drugs was a slight alteration on the user's souls. But no one had been able to pinpoint exactly what the drugs were doing to people's souls, and that was a major reason they had outlawed.

And Hyun knew firsthand that they altered people's souls, because he too had the mark of the drug implanted on his own soul. It wasn't by choice though. One of the servants had spiked his drink and he'd only discovered it later after one of his colleagues had the police drag off that very same servant for spiking his drink as well. They had a soul specialist remove the marks from their souls, but during a routine monthly scan they both found out that the marks were back. Time and again they had them removed, only for them to re-appear weeks later. He also learned through this that the only way to keep the mark away was by having one of Lunaria's fairies inside of you, but that was obviously not an option for him.

There were also a bunch of other strange occurrences that Hyun had paid little attention to three years ago, like how Victoria had changed from this shy recluse to a weird freak who was actively contributing toward the Initiative. She was originally only part of it in name because her parents had been members of the board just like Hyun. And the only reason he had taken her on was because Rai'ga said that she was on their side.

But Hyun knew that Rai'ga was suspicious of her even now. He only kept her around for her ability to set up warp points and so he could keep an eye on her. And according to Rai'ga she never did anything suspicious with her soul or mirrors. She just rested in her home every day after work and did nothing else that stood out.

After discovering the three-year duration of his Initiative being used like pawns without his knowledge, Hyun had then sat there in his chair, wondering how it was even possible. There were several measures put in place that should have flagged such flagrant use of the squads, and yet, they didn't. He would obviously look into this when he had time, but for now he needed to figure out what to do next.

Surprisingly, he had begun to wonder if he should reach out to Aresa and Lunaria. Master wouldn't disapprove, so long as Hyun didn't flip his allegiances. And after speaking to Aresa, he would then reach out to the Supreme Leader. If the Initiative had been unknowingly used to this level, then Hyun needed the others to hear about it, because he also saw non-frivolous missions in the logs as well.

There were several missions for gathering information relating to multiple places and people, including the wellspring and Aresa. And even more worrying was the disappearing of a few individuals. Niro took care of those according to the logs, but it was obviously too late to ask him about them.

Just as Hyun had decided to call the chapel, his entire body locked up. Immediately he knew it was something inside of his soul, and Rai'ga had noticed it as well. Unfortunately, Rai'ga's connection to Hyun was not one that allowed him to meddle with soul, as this was one made of trust. It was merely used for communication and to actively monitor the well-being of his followers. And Hyun was far too distant from his Master's location, so Rai'ga was unable to directly assist him.

Rai'ga told Hyun that another group of followers of his was moving to aid him, but they were currently ten miles outside of the city, so it was going to take a little bit of time.

While that had calmed Hyun down a little, his nerves quickly frayed as his body began to move on its own. He stood up and power walked out of his office, ignoring the guard's question as he passed by him toward the stairs. He then began to descend down the stairs, one level at a time until he reached the bottom. Once he had arrived on the ground floor, he headed straight out the main doors of the Initiative and turned left. That was when he began to run. He passed one building after another until he finally found himself in the warehouse district.

All the while Hyun was doing his best to fight off the black spot on his soul that had metastasized into a cursed mark. Lots of individuals had wondered if the mark left on people's souls from the drugs was a cursed mark, but everyone from the untalented to the best soul magic wielders on Aetheria had all said the same thing. 'It's not a cursed mark.'

And yet, here he was, being remotely controlled through a cursed mark. And not just any mark; one that everyone believed only existed in fictional tales. Having the ability to control people like this was something most Humanoid creatures dreamed of doing. After all, anything you desired, regardless of how fantastical it sounded, would easily become attainable if you could control other people as if they were puppets.

When he turned toward his warehouse, he had an idea as to where his manipulator was taking him. There was a mirror he had placed here for the Crotians to access Telebron when the summit ended. He had considered using it to figure out why he couldn't contact them or the Neilah's God, but that was way too risky, especially since the two men he sent into it an hour prior had never returned. He only had a few men he trusted enough to risk letting them know about the Crotians underground, and now he had just lost two of them.

Also, for weeks now he had two squads watching the warehouse at all times. And there were multiple cameras aimed at the mirror that was hidden behind several well-placed mountains of boxes. So when he approached the warehouse, he could see one of his squads jumping down from a rooftop out of the corner of his eye. They were rushing over to him as he walked through the warehouse's entrance. And they were moving very fast, so they must have realized something was wrong with him. Whatever was manipulating Hyun was unable to enhance him, so he was running at a regular pace toward the left side of the warehouse where the mirror was hidden. Unfortunately for him, even with his slower speed, the squad wasn't able to reach him in time.

Hyun ran through the mirror and no more than a second later he felt his spine tingle as the gnashing of teeth echoed out around him. His eyes were still adjusting to the dim lighting, so all he could make out was the Nei'lah God battling a Xerath that was much bigger than any Xerath he had ever seen before. Some Xerath evolve into nesters who create much stronger units, but they have trouble moving thanks to their bulky frames and lack of legs. It's a known fact that they are the biggest Xerathian Gods in existence.

However, the one he was looking at right now, was clearly not a nester. And yet it was much bigger than any nester God that had been recorded up until now.

This one was over fifty meters tall, covered in carapace, and hitting the Nei'lah God with enough force that Hyun could feel the shockwaves from where he was standing, hundreds of meters away.

Hyun wasn't sure of how long it took, but eventually the Nei'lah God stopped moving after one of the earth-shattering punches slammed right into its chest. The Xerath immediately began to rip chunks off of the God and shove them into its mouth. All Hyun could do was watch in horror, waiting for his turn, which seemed to be coming up soon.

A pair of Xerath spawn had finally noticed him and made their way over to him before suddenly stopping. The two Xerath looked at the mirror and tilted their heads in confusion. For the moment they lost interest in Hyun and began to investigate the mirror. They slowly reached out and touched it, only to jump back in surprise as they felt the remnants of Victoria's aura.

Normally Hyun would have been contemplating the fact that something had guided him here to these Xerath, except those very same Xerath were clearly confused by the warp point he just came in through.

But such thoughts were beyond him now. All he felt at this point was a mix of fear and acceptance. He had lost his family years ago to Viktor during a raid on a city far to the south of Telebron. His wife and children were staying at one of his villas waiting for him to join them, but he needed to finish up some work before he could head their way. He already didn't like the Xerath worshiper, but from there on out he was hellbent on ending that Elf and his vile nation.

Hyun was scared of being eaten alive, which was clearly the fate waiting for him here, but he was also ready to let go and join his family, wherever they may be.

"So how long do I have?" I asked as I climbed into bed.

"Four and a half days. Will that be enough?" Kai said.

"It should be more than enough---Oh?" That was when I noticed the TV on a table next to the door. "When did you guys get that for me? Actually, never mind, it doesn't matter when. I'm just happy you got it for me. Turn it on! I'll be able to watch it in my soul realm after I begin to meditate."

"It was Xi's idea, and I was opposed to it at the time because I thought you wanted to get one yourself, but it looks like she was in the right this time." Kai turned the TV on and adjusted the volume to a reasonable level. After that he headed for the door and opened it up before looking back at me, "I'll be fishing out here with your pet. Just have him motion toward the door when you're done."

"I will. See you later, Kai. And thanks again!"

As he left I closed my eyes and entered my soul realm. Once inside I immediately told my body to begin absorbing all of the souls sitting there in limbo. I could feel my body shutting down as the absorption process began.

{Rei, Aresa says she wants to tell you about the conference.}

'The conference', as in the meeting during the summit?

{Yes! There is seven of them in total. Or supposed to be, but the plan is to try and kill Viktor on the third day.} Luna continued, {Oh, Aresa wants to know if people can come into your soul realm while you're like this.}

They can, but she'll need to come here, and it might feel a little weird for her inside my realm. My soul is going through a process that messes with my control of it, which is why I usually just shut my mind down entirely or watch TV in here until it's over.

A few minutes later Luna said, {Okay, she's coming over tonight. She wants to show you the plan going forward, and about a new potential issue that popped up. Mom is worried about that too, but I'll let Aresa be the one to tell you.}

{Rei, she's here. Kai is letting her into the room right now.}

Alright, I'm ready whenever.

I had been relaxing on the sofa watching the Supreme Leader explain the war effort against the Xerath in extreme detail. I was honestly impressed by how well he was covering it. Based on where I woke up I knew the soldiers were concentrated on the east and southern sides of Termia, but seeing it like this, it's honestly shocking that I never saw anyone out there while I was running around. They have tens of thousands of troops stationed at multiple outposts on that side. The west side only has a few outposts though, which is what he was about to explain when Luna said Aresa was here.

I felt Aresa's soul touch mine, and I immediately pulled her into my soul realm.

"Ugh..." She said right away, "You weren't kidding. Your veil does a good job of suppressing your aura, but right now I'm being hit by it directly and it's gross in a scary kind of way."

"... Sorry."

Aresa sat down next to me, "Oh stop it, don't pretend to look like a little hurt puppy. I know you actually like what you are."

"You got me. I'm honestly looking forward to seeing what my Uncle thinks of me. It'd be nice to show off my skills to family for a change."

"You really think he's still alive? You haven't been back there in eighty or ninety years."

"I'm eighty percent positive he's still alive. Mostly because he only ventures outside when he's hired to look into ruins that have been cleared of enemies. It helps to have experts like him around at that point. And while you can still be attacked at that point, it's very rare that groups are wiped out at the relic extraction part of ruin diving."

I began laughing after I saw just how excited Aresa looked as she listened to me speak about delves. "See? You're still the same little girl who is dying to go to the Elven continent. Although ruin diving would be way too dangerous for you..."

"I never said I lost interest in the Elves continent! I'd love to spend a few months there in Arcadia, but I can't do that until I've finalized my connection to the wellspring, which is ages away from being completed. Oh, speaking of which, something killed the Nei'lah's God underground."

"... That's one hell of a bomb you just dropped. And what do you mean by 'something'? I know you guys said that the path they used to get there was unmonitored, but I thought the room itself was being watched?"

"It's not. Anything magical is extremely difficult to maintain so close to the wellspring, which leaves us with mechanical tools like cameras. But what would the point of that be? It's in an area that's faaaaar underground. We have a specific area that we guard and monitor closely. You can't spread yourself out too far down there. It's best if we just have some outposts at certain chokepoints that keep an eye on anything moving around underground. Keeping cameras working four times deeper underground than even our deepest outpost would be really stupid. But we do need to find out what is going on down there, so Lunaria is sending a regiment with fairies for support as we speak."

"And you know the God died because he was stuck to the wellspring?"

Aresa nodded, "Yes, but enough about that. I have no more information right now anyway. For now I want to tell you a few things, like what the Supreme Leader really is."

"That was some strange wording... 'Really is?'."

"Hehe, I'm sure you'll be surprised! She learned the ability about ten years back." Aresa smiled widely, "The Supreme Leader is someone Euphemia is creating with that very same ability. He doesn't actually exist. But if people scan his soul they'll only sense Euphemia's soul, so lucky for us, the people who do the scanning, really love having nice homes and expensive wine."

"Whoa... He's actually a puppet created through an ability?"

I looked at the TV. The Supreme Leader was still explaining the western outposts and what the men there do.

Aresa pointed at the TV, "That's Euphemia talking through him. Pretty cool, right? We only came up with the idea to use her puppet to bait Viktor back to Telebron a few years back. It was clear he wasn't planning on attending the upcoming summit, but once we had a new leader who was clearly a fan of his and wanted to join the Xel'nethra, Viktor was suddenly interested in coming to the summit again. Say it's cool!! I'm so proud of what Euphie has done, she's honestly amazing. It's so perfect having her be the one with this ability too, because she knows all about ruling people thanks to her upbringing in Kellog."

"Wasn't she just a naive princess back then?"

"Well yeah, but she still grew up as a royal. And don't you remember the way she was handling people when uh, when was it... Ugh, never mind. The point is that she learned a lot from watching her Father and Brother." Aresa said.

"Speaking of which, are those two here helping her?"

Aresa actually looked stunned for a moment after I asked that.

"... What? Her Brother and Father? Jeez, what a weird thing to say. They died back in Kellog, silly."

"Huh? But Tyrell... Hang on."

It was difficult considering the state of my soul, but I managed to bring up the memories of the Kellog invasion and played the memory of me talking to Tyrell.

"Now then..." Tyrell glanced around before whispering, "Did your ally warp the princess to Viseux before the invasion began?"

"You knew about that? ...Seifer? And yes, she got away."

Tyrell smiled and nodded, "Yes, Seifer told me through a communication crystal. And now that I know for certain all of the royals have successfully fled, it's time for me to save as many civilians as I can."

I closed the memory and looked at Aresa, "Now that I think about it, I never did see the King or Prince at your chateau... But at the time I figured Euphie was visiting them at some noble's mansion or something. She left the chateau quite often after all. Although I'm not sure why I thought they had safely arrived in Termia with all of you if they weren't at the chateau during the invasion."

Aresa closed her eyes in thought for a bit before looking at me and sighing, "I'm not sure what to make of this, Rei... Euphie said they both died in Kellog. And Tyrell died during the invasion so we can't ask him why he said that. So for now all I know is that you shouldn't bring this up to Euphie. I'll tell her one day, but not now. We need her at the top of her game for the summit, and this would only add unnecessary stress to her life."

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll let you take care of that. So let's put that aside for now, as I really want to hear about how you plan to prevent Viktor from warping to his airship."

Aresa grinned, "Now that you're going to love..."