Shadowbane

Aresa looked to her left, where Viktor and I were conversing nearby, "I see you're still alive... How unfortunate. I hoped that your pets would have eaten you by now."

Viktor smirked, "Now now Lady Aresa, there's no need for you to worry about me like that. I can guarantee you that my 'pets' will never turn on me."

"Wait... I finally realized what was missing the last time I saw you. And I see that he's still not here with you." I motioned behind him, "Where the hell is Ash? I guess it makes sense that he wasn't with you before, since you were rushing to meet your daughter, but there's no way that little brown noser wouldn't be here at your side at such an important meeting."

"......."

The disgust on Viktor's face couldn't possibly be more evident as he stared at me. Eventually though, his face morphed into one that almost looked sad.

"Outside of my close confidants you're the only person left in the world who would even know that name... I didn't think anyone would ever ask me about him." Viktor sighed and continued, "I shouldn't say anything, but on some level it almost feels refreshing to tell you. To put it bluntly, the little shit turned on me. Everything was fine one moment, and the next thing I knew he was trying to kill me. I never saw it coming. Me! Me of all people didn't see it coming! And even now I still can't get my head wrapped around it..."

The first thing that came to my mind was the Abyss monster burrowed into Victoria's head.

"This may seem like a random follow up, but how much have you learned about the Abyss?"

"I know why you're suddenly asking about them, but they aren't the reason he suddenly changed. I have much better soul scanners than any of you do, and I'm sure you understand what I mean by that?" Viktor said.

The Xerath. Having a God attuned to him would make it child's play to scan people's souls. But Aresa might even match a Xerathian God when it comes to soul magic, and she only picked up on something weird inside of Victoria one time. Viktor really needed to check the inside of Ash's head to know for certain, but I'm not going to tell him that.

For starters, I relish the idea that Ash is a puppet to some monstrosity(assuming this is even true). And two, I don't want Viktor to know that we have the same issue here. Would there be ramifications to him knowing that? I don't know, but I'd prefer to convene with the others before dropping information bombs like that. Plus, if Viktor was able to fully examine Ash, he would have. So there must have been something that stopped him after Ash turned 'traitor'. But again, that depends on whether he really is being controlled by the Abyss.

Honestly, it's really strange that they didn't examine Victoria from head to toe the second she changed. At the very least Lunaria should have done more than shrug it off... People being overly lazy is already a problem in itself, but seeing an Eldritch God be just as lazy and uncaring as Humans is... Well, I'm not sure what it is. Annoying? Ridiculous? Either way, it shouldn't have happened.

"Oh, that's right. We should probably talk about that, Lady Aresa." Viktor looked back at Aresa, "I'm sure you've heard about the purge? If you were planning on hiding it during the meeting, don't bother. I plan on telling everyone about it."

Aresa narrowed her eyes at Viktor, "I wasn't planning on hiding anything regarding the purge, because it doesn't matter. I own the wellspring, and I don't plan on listening to Mother. So as a result the only thing that will happen is the Eldritch on Mother coming here to kill all of the Xerath and any Demons hiding on Aetheria." She continued, "Are they really going to leave you alone? You reduced Urza to nothing! Rei said it's completely empty aside from that 'Jericho' place."

"Oh they definitely reprimanded me for that. On top of Urza, I have two other moons that I've purely been using for material gains. Fuel, crystals, ores of all kinds... It's amazing when I think about how difficult it was to obtain everything back in Xelba, but now that the very sky itself is on my side, well... Let's just say I'm going to sorely miss owning those moons. They are a mountain of wealth that never stops giving. But Mother, who barely said anything according to the Eldritch who reached out to me, made it a point to tell me that I need to allow them to repopulate those moons. It's a shame, but I'm not about to turn all of the abominations slumbering on Mother against me. Even I am not that brazen." Viktor said.

"Viktor, did you know about this beforehand? Hearing about the purge was honestly shocking for me, because suddenly everything on Caedrus began to make much more sense. It always seemed so weird that the entire continent is filled with ruins but there isn't any information as to who lived there or where they went. Aside from whatever they get from dives of course."

"I didn't know about the purge until two days ago, but does it really tell us anything? You're right about it revealing why everyone suddenly disappeared, but that's about it. And you're also wrong about one other thing. They do have information regarding the previous residents of Caedrus and Arcadia, they just can't access it. They know exactly where the access keys and codes are for the information, it literally says where they are on the network, but they can't get to them."

Viktor chuckled, "Heh, I never thought about it until now, but you'd actually be the perfect person to go get them. I lose nothing by telling you this, because again, even if you do go to the Western side of Caedrus and pilfer the keys from those lands teeming with powerful machines that could easily wipe out my entire nation if they came for me, the Elves will still not assist you. They will however bury you in wealth and fame, enough to outfit a small army with high grade power armor, but it still won't be enough to kill me. Actually, I'd love for you to go retrieve those keys for them. As much as I hate those people, I can't deny the part of my soul that is dying to know the secrets of Caedrus. The machines and of our origins, Earth."

"Earth..." I heard Aresa whisper. Looking over at her, I saw her eyes brimming with excitement, just like they were back on the wagon to Thule all those years ago.

Several bells rang throughout the city, which indicated that it was time. Everyone in the room headed for their designated chairs around the table, Viktor included. Vi took one last glance at me before taking her place behind her Father, while I walked to the wall behind Aresa and leaned against it next to Alicia. That's when the doors opened again, revealing Euphemia and her 'husband', the Supreme Leader. At least seventy percent of the room began to clap for him as the two of them walked to their seats which just so happened to be next to Viktor. Behind her there was a maid who looked familiar. Oh! That's the maid from back in Kellog. Her brother is the one who deciphered Fin's diary. So she's still serving Euphie huh... Good thing Shana and I brought her to the manor back then.

After that a long drawn out boring discussion took place. One that was important, I wasn't denying that, it's just that I was used to noble speak, also known as 'politics'. A lot of words were exchanged but they didn't actually have any substance behind them. It felt like they were trying to hit a word limit on a novel but they ran out of ideas, so they just began to re-iterate the same thing with different phrases over and over to pad the word count.

Plus, it's not like any of this mattered. Either the assassination succeeds and Termia is given plenty of time to take out the dissidents surrounding them before Viktor's nation heals from the Xerath under his control that are bound to attack everything and anything after he dies, or it fails and Viktor will undoubtedly be openly backed by everyone after he was attacked at a supposedly 'safe' meeting.

And I personally have a hard time believing that the Xerath really will turn openly hostile after their master is slain. I know it's Viktor's ability keeping them under his control, but will it really be that easy? People can teach other's their own abilities after all. They just choose not to, since it could take forever and why would you spread around the one thing that makes you unique? But I'd bet anything he taught it to Vi or his wife... Which means the Xerath will follow them next if he dies.

The bells began to ring again, this time signifying the end of the meeting. One by one everyone stood up and began to head for the exit while continuing to talk to one another.

Alicia stretched and looked over at me, "I really prefer being with the Lizardmen or Crotians... They're so straightforward and easy to follow. You always know what they're thinking and what they're going to do. None of... Whatever this was."

"A couple of more days and you'll be back home. Do you even have anything to do back there though? If this 'purge' is happening, then Zhegu is about to fix itself, right?"

Alicia sighed, "That's what Lord Terra'ka said, so all of his forces have been pulled back to his realm. The Xerath and Demons are battling each other everywhere now as they both vie for control of Zhegu. But even with my Lord saying the purge going to happen, I have a hard time believing it until I see it. After battling hordes of monsters for years on end, it's really difficult to accept someone showing up and saying 'You know those monsters you've been fighting for half your life? Don't worry about them anymore, they're all about to die anyway'."

That would put me in a weird mindset as well, so I don't blame her for being dubious or annoyed.

Aresa poked my stomach, "You going home? I'm gonna go straight back to the chapel so I can eat and pass out... While channeling into the wellspring of course."

"That's the plan. This is all so dull for me---Oh, how is uh... Your friend?"

Aresa gave me a thumbs up, "She's good! Xi destroyed her ailment. So we don't have to worry about that anymore. But for now we left her as she is. After the summit Xi will release her ability and then I'll pray she can mentally come back from uh..."

There's still people around so he had to be vague, but I understood what she was saying. I put my hand on her head and ruffled her hair. This time however, she didn't get upset.

Once everyone was out of the room, Benny appeared. The second he walked through the door Aresa ran out of the room, causing Benny to sigh as he ran to catch up to her.

"Where are you staying?"

"Euphie's mansion, but honestly I don't like it there. It reminds me too much of the past but not in a good way, you know? Don't get me wrong, I love Euphie, but that place..." Alicia trailed off.

"Heh, I get it. I did feel odd in there as well. So do you want to stay at my place then? There's only one bed but it's really big."

"I'd love that! I don't need to grab anything from Euphie's, I can just go there in the morning to shower before attending another one of these boring meetings."

"Perfect then, so let's go. I've long since grown tired of this room."

We proceeded to leave the building and head back the way we originally came. Unlike before, the northern district was now completely packed. The stands had people lined up everywhere with people yelling back and forth. Apparently people haggle for goods here, but from what I could see you're not only fighting with the stand owner. The people waiting for you are yelling at you as well. The whole spectacle was making me laugh more than it should have.

"Oh, just in case, I wanted to tell you that you made the right decision. I mean when you stopped teleporting to Aresa's chateau to check for me."

Alicia smiled, "You thought I may have been hurt by that decision huh? Well, you're not wrong, it wasn't an easy decision to make, and Aresa hated me for years because of it, but it had to be done." She continued, "Out of curiosity... How many years did I miss you by?"

"Just one year... I think? Or was it two? I'd have to look through my memories again to know for certain, but it was pretty close. However, even if you were still going to the chateau every year, I still would have left, making your ensuing trip pointless. I needed to find Ishar, Shana, and Nisha after all. Just sitting there in the chateau waiting for you wasn't an option."

We continued walking through the the city until we finally came upon the bridge leading to my home. Halfway over the bridge I pointed at Petey and said, "That's my summon. Pretty neat, right? He's a powerhouse with that sword on the ground next to him."

"More like scary as hell... So this is what your summons look like? I didn't get to see them last time, and I've only heard about that attack you did on Viktor's town. I couldn't bring myself to watch the footage of it."

"Oh right, I forgot you had to warp away as I joined the Tengu battle. I remember seeing your hair burst into flames, it was pretty wild looking..."

"That hurt like hell!! The second I appeared in Euphie's manor I ran into the nearest bathroom and jumped into the tub. Then I just laid there running cold water over my head for an hour while healing myself. I was praying you guys were okay, but I couldn't move because of all the damned pain."

We walked past Petey and into my home. I immediately turned the TV on and jumped into the bed. "Normally I bathe at night, but I don't feel like doing it right now. I'll do it in the morning as well. Not that I really need to bathe all that often, it just feels good to do."

Alicia took her shoes off and laid down on the bed to my right, "I'm exhausted despite doing nothing all day long. It's not even night yet, but I think I'm going to go to sleep. That okay with you?"

"That's fine. I'm just going to train in my soul realm then. I found something in the memories of the thing that created me, a large humanoid creature with a red and black halo and a set of wings behind him that had the same colors. I've been trying to unlock the wings, but nothing so far."

"I heard about your halo but I haven't seen it yet. Wings huh... If you do get them, I'd be careful using them if you can't turn invisible while they're out. There's a reason anything that can fly usually only does it in large packs."

Because you're a sitting duck up there, that's also been worrying me. If the wings also use my veil then I don't know how often I'll even be able to use them. There's too many people and monsters with ranged abilities in our world. Which is why I'm worried about the upcoming plan to kill Viktor. It hinges on the ability to hit those airships. The ones in Xethra were so high up it almost looked like they were about to exit the atmosphere. But the ones in Telebron are low enough that I might be able to jump on them. For Viktor to be that brazen he must be positive that they can't be destroyed.

Alicia closed her eyes, and soon after that I did the same as well. Once I was inside my soul realm I began yet another day of training, trying to imagine the same colored wings behind me that the man had.

While I was training I could see Alicia suddenly sit up on the monitor, and not only that, but everything was shaking as if there were an earthquake. What the hell?

I immediately exited my soul realm and Alicia yelled at me, "Is this normal?! I don't remember hearing about earthquakes in Termia before! Zhegu has them all over, but not here I thought!"

"I don't know! Nobody told me to look out for earthquakes either!"

I grabbed the scythe and jumped out of the bed before running outside with Alicia in tow. The men fishing by the river had all backed up and were trying to steady themselves against the wall my home was connected to. Alicia ran up to the two brothers who I always saw fishing outside my door. They had long since become used to seeing Petey around.

"Does this happen often here?!" Alicia asked them.

"N-No! We've never had an earthquake here before!" One of the brothers yelled.

And that's when I began to hear the cracking. I could feel the dread seeping into my thoughts as a dormant memory resurfaced. This was the very same sound I heard while I was chasing Viktor underneath Xelba.

Petey, let's go! We're running to Aresa's side!

"Alicia, we're going to the chapel!"

Without waiting to hear if she had anything to say, Petey and I bounded up the steps to the bridge and turned left before running full speed ahead to the chapel. The shaking slowly subsided the closer we got to the chapel, telling me that whatever was happening, was happening over by the central district.

The knights were out at the front gate but this time they didn't erect a barrier as I arrived. I stopped near the knights just in time to see Kai come running out of the chapel.

"Rei!! What the hell is happening?!" Kai yelled as he ran over to me and the knights.

Alicia lost her footing and nearly fell down but Kai caught her just in time.

"T-Thank you..."

{Ah! R-Rei, this is bad! Mom and all of the fairies have just woken up, including me. S-Something knocked us out but Belfos managed to wake us up!}

"We have more problems. The fairy inside of me says that all of the fairies, Lunaria included, had been knocked out until just now. Belfos had to wake them up."

Kai's face almost turned white after I finished speaking. But he quickly slapped himself and told us to quickly follow him.

As we began to run behind him, I immediately understood what I was going to find. Lunaria was tied to the wellspring and had been knocked out, so that meant the current owner of the wellspring was probably...

We ran through multiple hallways until we reached a large door that Benny was standing outside of. His usual lazy attitude was completely gone. He stood at the ready looking back and forth, making sure no enemies were approaching.

He merely nodded at us as we ran through the door. Xi heard us approach the bed and turned to look at us with tears in her eyes.

"R-Rei, she won't wake up! Her soul is still there but it feels like it's slowly disappearing!"

Oh god no, this is even worse than I expected...

"Xi, can you put her in one of your stasis crystals?"

"I can, but that will only delay whatever is happening to her..."

Kai looked at me, "Are you merely seeking a delay to figure things out, or do you have a plan of some sort? I assume the former."

"No, it's the latter. This earthquake is obviously related to whatever just happened with the wellspring, and if her soul is disappearing, then she's probably.... She's probably dying. I don't know what happened yet, but we need you to put her in stasis Xi. At this point there's only one thing we can do. We need to take her to Gaia."

"Gaia... Oh!" Color returned to Kai's face, as he quickly realized what I had planned. And Xi must have as well because she immediately began to channel onto Aresa.

That was when we heard something crashing behind us, and it was loud. Everyone was covering their ears, me included, but it barely blocked out whatever the hell was happening in the city.

Around thirty seconds later the sound eventually died down. Alicia was the first to move, as she quickly ran up to the window before wrapping herself in an electrified barrier. "I'll keep an eye on the windows to make sure nothing approaches her. Rei, can you find out what is happening on the other side of the city? And try to see if Euphie is safe. Oh, and also check on Cera and her son, since they were preparing to take down Viktor's airships, but that plan is obviously canceled."

Shit, that's right. Artorus and his Father were going to mask Cera's aura while she slowly charged her gun on the third day. With Lunaria's help and the wellspring added on, everyone was positive that they could break through the airships defenses and destroy them one by one.

The plan wasn't about preventing Viktor for warping to his airships, it was about downright destroying them. Apparently Viktor's ships have sensors designed to keep watch for such attacks by sounding the alarm for any spikes in aura, but Cera's husband and son both have the same ability that would hide her as she channeled her mana. She just needed to do it slowly. The plan was still a little iffy since his airship made mana attacks miss, it didn't block them with a barrier unless it had to. Even so, Cera was certain his ships couldn't deflect a blast as big as hers, but there was no way of knowing until she actually fired on the ships. They had a few backup plans in place as well, but like she just said, they're now useless.

"I'll go with you. Benny, Alicia, and Xi can handle anything that comes this way." Kai said.

Unsure of whether he should stay or not, I didn't bother voicing any opposition to him coming. I turned around and ran back the way we had entered. Once we were outside of the chapel it wasn't hard to figure out what had made that loud noise. A large portion of the central district and some of the northern district had completely collapsed underground. From where we were, I couldn't see if the western district had collapsed as well, but Kai must have feared the worse, because he immediately enhanced himself and sprinted toward what little remained of the central district.

"How is this possible?!" He yelled out as I ran behind him, "I've always been told that they only build cities on top of ground that can't be destroyed!"

Not always, but I assume Telebron was definitely one of those cities. Especially since the wellspring was here. I swear I was told that the ground beneath Xelba was invincible too, but the city still collapsed anyway. And I never did figure out what caused it...

While we were running multiple different events happened at once. The first was Viktor's airships all falling to the ground lifelessly as if they had suddenly lost power all at once. Next, was all of the Xerath climbing out of the collapsed portion of the ground. The city was already filled with screaming as it was, but as the Xerath flooded the streets screaming had now become the only thing I could hear.

And lastly, there was a massive black claw digging into the eastern district as something pulled itself above ground. The claw was surrounded in a golden flame, the same flame I saw inside Victoria's mirror.