It’s not. That’s just what makes you unique as a person. → Sylvia
Then he heard Sylvia’s voice in his mind together with warm feelings overflowing inside his heart.
“?!”
Shen looked with shock at Sylvia and saw her give him a smile filled with affection for him.
…W-well… If you say so. → Shen
Shen then turned around and tried to focus on what Theo was doing, calming his rushing heart.
“Hehe~” → Sylvia
Amused by his shy reactions, Sylvia did the same and tried to understand the new healing spell. Theo focused and tried to gather his mana around his head, over his head at the crown chakra.
A golden ring slightly appeared above his head, like a ghastly object flying over him. Theo then made it spin faster and faster, which made the ring shine brighter and brighter, turning into a more solid form.
“Isn’t that the ring from your vision, Shen? I remember you used it before to call forth that Prana? How did you teach Theo to use it in such a little time?” → Sylvia
Sylvia was surprised to see Theo recreate a mythological spell Shen made after a vision.
“Theo is a genius when it comes to magic. He can surpass me in the future with no problems. And that spell… after I recreated it from my visions, I wasn’t really aware of its powers. After I became a full spirit I felt like that spell is actually something incredible. I tried to think again about its properties and found out that is an amplifier of mental energy. It can strengthen your thoughts and soul-waves close to two times. What it needs to be formed is a huge amount of mana that, at the moment, I’m missing. But Theo can use it with no problems; having such a ridiculously huge mana-pool, he should be able to use it more than three times per day.” → Shen
If my mana was 160.000 after I reached Saint level, then right now Theo should have more than 200.000 mana even though he’s only a Grandmaster. Being the child of a demon lord really has its benefits. → Shen
Shen thought with some conflicted feelings at this irony. If it wasn’t for his amazing blood-line, the chances of him actually learning this spell so fast would’ve been much lower. However, the worst part was that this only proves how much power the Demon Lord truly had.
Shen knew that Theo will have to beat his own monster of a father or else, a monstrous number of demonic beasts and demons will attack The Kingdom, possibly wiping them out from the map of Sario.
However optimistic we might be now, the idea of resisting the power of three empires is way too ridiculous… Right now I’m being chased by a good part of Nostrung continent so I will try to get the support of Vestria, or at least of some Kingdoms from inside it. As for the Demonic Kingdom… this will be left in Theo’s hands. If he can defeat the Demon Lord in eight years then we’ll have one problem solved in the list. If not, then worst come to worst, an epic war will be our only solution. As for Jian Tian’s revenge… Oh God, now that I think about it, what should I do? Should we just go for a “hit and run” strategy? Surely he won’t find it too pleasing, would he? → Shen
“Come forth!” → Theo
While Shen was stuck in his thoughts, Theo summoned a thick golden string of energy that inserted itself inside Theo’s head.
Theo circulated this energy then sent it inside Melinda through his right hand.
Melinda’s most severe wound was a huge sewed crack on her head from which blood stopped flowing but still looked extremely severe. If Sylvia, Aria, and Freia were too slow on closing the wound, she would have died from blood reaching the brain.
“…”
Theo looked with guilt and pain at Melinda’s wound. He tried his best not to start crying and lose himself from the sorrow.
“Focus, Theo. After you heal her wounds, you’ll be able to ask for forgiveness. Until then, you have to use all your power to save her now.” → Shen
Shen said with a calming voice, trying to make Theo regain his calm and continue to concentrate.
“…Yes, master.” → Theo
Theo focused some more and continued to imbue Prana inside her body full of injuries.
The cuts, bruises and the thorn skin that have been left for later after the bigger wounds were healed, started to heal with incredible speed. The bigger wounds also started to close up while the sewed wound on the head healed itself with incredible speed. The dark demonic energy was leaving her body like smoke, making the injuries heal even faster.
“No way… What is that spell?” → Freia
Freia was stupefied by the incredible speed the wounds healed. She knew very well how hard was to heal such grievous wounds while infested by demonic aura, but Theo healed them as if it was nothing.
“Mmm…” → Melinda
Melinda’s eyelashes started to quiver, slowly waking up from her deep slumber.
“Melinda!” → Theo
Theo shouted out at her while he was still healing some other minor injuries. His eyes teared up and his hands started to shake.
“Theo…?” → Melinda
Melinda opened her eyes and saw Theo’s crying face. She made a sweet smile and grabbed his shirt with her weak hand.
“Are you… feeling… better?” → Melinda
She asked with some worry in her voice.
“Don’t speak yet! I still have to heal you completely. Melinda, please wait a little longer, we will talk right after I’m done!” → Theo
Theo tried to control himself to not hug her and beg for forgiveness. Seeing how she was still worried for him, made Theo almost fall down from sadness.
This dummy! How can she be worried about me?! She almost died because of me and now she’s not even mad! → Theo
“I will wait…” → Melinda
Melinda closed her eyes and with a calm smile, she said.
“Theo… Welcome back…” → Melinda
“…Yeah… thank you.” → Theo
Theo’s tears fell while he healed Melinda in silence.
The others smiled then got up to leave. Seeing how Melinda’s wounds closed up with incredible speed, they felt like they didn’t need to remain there any longer, leaving the two young disciples on their own.
Shen! Can you hear me? → Ryu
Suddenly, Ryu’s voice resounded inside Shen’s mind with a worried tone.
He got up, he explained to Sylvia that he needed to talk with Ryu then he rushed outside.
“Woah!?”
When he got outside he was stunned to see that his ship was flying through the clouds, being dragged by other four flying warships after using four incredibly thick chains to connect them together.
This is ridiculous… → Shen
Shen thought while forgetting he was in a mental connection with Ryu.
What is? Did you forget that I can use telepathic communication without a problem by now? Come on man, I might not be like you to find out everything on my own but I can still learn some stuff pretty fast. → Ryu
Ryu felt pretty wronged at Shen’s amazement.
“Eh?” → Shen
No, not that. Anyway, why did you contact me? → Shen
…The Fire Wing Clan was massacred. → Ryu
Ryu said in a somber voice while Shen was able to feel rage in his tone.
“Woah?!” → Shen
Shen froze. After he calmed down he became serious.
You must know how this happened I presume? → Ryu
Yes. The bastards we exiled from the kingdom, returned to their base faster than Gregor, Lissa, and the Fire Wing leader. They turned the clan against themselves and massacred everyone. In the end, they ambushed our group and severely injured them, especially Gregor. → Ryu
“…”
Are you sure they massacred everyone? Some of them must have run away from the fights, right? → Shen
There is a possibility. Gregor reported how a little mound of corpses was gathered right in the middle of the castle. He estimated around 150 people but the possibility of being some who ran away isn’t that slim. Besides, I also heard that they had another base with more than one thousand players waiting for them to return. Even if we send someone now to bring them the news, there might already be someone who made the first step. Right now, we can only pray for their wellbeing. → Ryu
… There is nothing we can do for the deceased now, but if there are any people who will wish to take shelter inside our Kingdom then accept them, no matter who they are. We will find some kind of use for them, no matter the background. → Shen
I know, I already thought of that. The second piece of news: we got some reports from our spies inside Victoria and Urius Kingdom, they both sent investigating squads as we foretold. → Ryu
How many? → Shen
From Victoria, a scouting groups of 20 heroes while from Urius… an army of 2.000 strong men. → Ryu
What is with this difference in numbers? And what do you mean heroes? → Shen
Shen asked with a frown. He knew that from now on, he had to focus on growing in power as a kingdom and not as an individual anymore. Things like “heroes” might be just some overpowered players who were brainwashed by the kingdoms into believing they were called into this world to save it from the “villains” which were nothing more than the competition of the respective kingdom. Such people were the most dangerous exactly because of their ridiculous abilities that required half a brain to destroy a city.
It’s just as I said… The Victoria Kingdom had some internal fights so they were unable to send out any of their troops. They asked for help from the Empire to scout out these places and see why there are no beast waves coming from these places. In the end, Vestria Empire sent out their so-called Hero-party of ten people while they sent out their own group of elites, the second part of 10 people. → Ryu
They must be pretty wary of these beast waves. → Shen
They are no joke! → Ryu
Ryu had a headache while thinking about all the pain he had to deal with.
The number in thousands at least! We had luck for the bigger waves to take a detour because our place has a not so large road through the mountains, making them go around us… I still pray for the next huge waves to do the same. → Ryu
I will be sure to send one group faster toward your place. Because we took ourselves a detour around the Urius territory, we will get there in around 10 days. → Shen
And this group you’re talking about. How fast will they arrive? → Ryu
At most, five days if nothing happens. I will send our strongest people. → Shen
What are you talking about? You left to send back home the kidnapped elves and other slaves, right? Now you’re bringing back other people? Are they strong enough to help us? → Ryu
Ryu was confused about what kind of reinforcement they could get from an anonymous group.
You will find out in five days. → Shen
Shen said with a wide grin.
…Alright. How about you? Anything new? → Ryu
I’m no more a cripple and I’m growing back fast. Make sure to have something like a flying ship’s port build when I’m there. → Shen
First of all, congrats. And second… what port? → Ryu
Ryu asked dumbfounded.
A flying ship’s port. Just be sure to have a place spacious enough for 11 big ships. I need to go and prepare the reinforcement group that will go toward you. → Shen
Ah, wait! Eleven ships?! What the hell did you buy?! → Ryu
No time, talk to you later. Just be sure to have a free space of around 1-kilometer latitude and around 500 meters longitude. See ya. → Shen
That’s ridiculous! That’s almost half our fortress! Oy bastard! Don’t you close the- → Ryu
The conversation ended and Ryu was left with the connection in the air.
[[[POV CHANGES TO RYU]]]
“…”
“So? What did he say?” → Bonny
Bonny asked curiously
Ryu remained with a frozen look on his face, his temples pulsating from irritation.
That damn brat. I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind later… → Ryu
“…He asked for a free space, spacious enough to shelter… uh… 11 warships… or something like that… Can we build a one km long and 500m wide space for them?” → Ryu
Ryu didn’t know how to explain this so he said exactly as he was told.
“Warships?!”
The leaders and Lissa reacted with shock while starring at Ryu with wide-open eyes.
“Don’t tell me… He actually robbed a kingdom of their warships?!” → Maru
Maru asked completely shocked with a pale face.
“Why would you say that?” → Ryu
“Sire, only a Kingdom’s military units has such ships. They can’t be sold and the crafting style differs from kingdom to kingdom! Nostrung empire is known to have the strongest flying warships from the two continents, their ships are unrivaled.” → Bernard
Bernard explained with a serious face on then he continued:
“If not by robbing, then I can’t imagine how he got himself warships, and 11 of them no less!” → Bernard
“W-well, I don’t know myself. He just told me to create a place big enough for them.” → Ryu
Ryu answered with a complicated face while feeling the sweat appear on his forehead.
God, Shen. What have you done this time…? → Ryu
“Sigh… Alright. I and my men will be sure to change the initial plan for the wall. We will create a place large enough for at most 15 ships. If the space is too large then we’ll just build more homes for the upcoming residents, in case there will be any.” → Bernard
Bernard answered with a helpless face on, feeling his shoulders already hurting for the future work he’ll have to do.
“Thanks… And also, he’ll bring some reinforcement it seems. Bernard, those houses will be occupied faster than anticipated so please do that.” → Ryu
Ryu said with a complicated and apologetic look.
“Reinforcement? Did he make another base somewhere we don’t know?” → Bonny
“No, it’s just a group that will be moving faster than the original one.” → Ryu
“And when is that reinforcement arriving?” → Bonny
“In around 5 days. They might meet the so-called heroes, too.” → Ryu
“That’s for the best. We need more manpower in case those heroes show any hostility against us. Is known from old tales that heroes hunt demons and dragons… and that’s exactly what we’re sheltering in our kingdom.” → Gregor
Gregor said while feeling more tired after thinking about the grim future.
Right now, Gregor was missing one ear and an arm while his body was full in scars. Even one of his eyes looked as if it couldn’t open completely. His face was somber than before while his eye a lot sharper and cautious. In his mission of escorting Shiroko together with Lissa, after arriving at the FireWing clan’s castle, the ones who were kicked from the kingdom immediately ambushed them with the intent to kill. From the group of around 400 people that she left behind after leaving for Ryu’s kingdom, more than 150 were killed because they wished to migrate inside the kingdom and ally together with Ryu. The leader of the ones who opposed Shiroko the most was one of the criminals that got one testicle smashed for trying to rape the Antara’s women.
Right, when they entered through the gate, they got ambushed and surrounded by more than 250 players, with power-ranks from Masters to Grandmasters, a few were even Saints.
Because of the knowledge from Shen and all the techniques learned from Gabriel’s books, the group showed power comparable to Great-Saints. Even so, they still had quite the difficulty in getting out from such an encirclement. Because he tried to protect the two women, Gregor used his body as a shield, sustaining enough damage to kill even an A ranked demonic beast. Even so, he wasn’t able to completely protect Lissa and Shiroko so both of them sustained deadly injuries on their own. In the end, the three of them were able to reach far enough to be spotted by the scouting harpies.
After hearing the rushed report, Ryu sent all the 12 golems with Ken and Isa in front, together with a group of 100 outstanding warriors.
The result was a massacre. The unskilled and inexperienced players had no chance in front of the 100 veterans and the 12 skilled golems who already learned the martial sets from the Trigram created by Shen.
“If they do as such, then I propose to use the offensive array found in Gabriel’s book of magic arrays. With such a strong spell in our hands, we can wipe even a five thousand armies in one go.” → Lissa
Lissa said with sharp eyes, just like Gregor’s.
When she saw Gregor’s hand flying, her eyes turned bloodshot and a sinister red aura emanated from her body. Her spells, from the normal fire arrows and fire pillars, changed to Blood Beams and Hell’s Towers. Every shot was strong enough to make a hole even through a Grandmaster. At that time, on her own, she killed a dozen or so of those players while Gregor continued to guard her. It took a while for him to calm her down then run away.
“…”
Kuroko stood there in silence. She looked downward with lifeless eyes while some guilt rested on her consciousness.
After seeing the mountain of corpses that once were her friends and teammates, together with the sudden betrayal from her party, her heart broke down. While they tried to get away, she couldn’t even lift a finger in front of her enemies that once were part of her group. Gregor had the most problems in protecting her. When she froze from the shock of seeing her clanmates’ bodies piled up together, a destroyer tried to cut her in half with an ax. Gregor reacted in time by pushing her away but getting his arm severed instead. At this moment she felt extremely guilty for Gregor’s injury while Lissa would look at her with scorn for letting such a thing happen.
“…”
Ryu and Bonny felt the tension and couldn’t help but sigh.
This tragedy happened 5 days ago and their injuries were healed by Bonny after using some high-level healing magic Shen taught her. Gregor wished for Bonny to focus more on both Lissa and Shiroko because he was able to heal by using his chi. Even so, he still needed some help at first because of the excessive blood-loss and numerous injuries.
“Let’s not think so pessimistically. We might actually be able to befriend them.” → Fiora
Fiora tried to lighten the mood with her own positiveness. She felt the atmosphere inside Ryu’s office as being too suffocating for her liking.
“Even so, we better prepare. If we’re ready for the worst then we’re ready for anything.” → Lissa
Lissa answered back with a cold voice.
“Uuh…”
Fiora’s ears bent and her tail touched the ground. Lissa’s tone made her feel down and unable to say anything anymore.
“Alright, Lissa. There is no need to lash out at Miss Fiora. Let’s go and eat something, all this talking made me hungry.” → Gregor
Gregor reached out and patted Lissa’s head. His eyes softened while on his scarred face, a small and rare warm smile appeared.
“… As you wish.” → Lissa
Lissa grabbed his hand and accompanied him toward the cafeteria, unable to remain cold after seeing Gregor’s smile.
After the two left, everyone sighed out a breath of relief.
“My condolences, Miss Shiroko. If I knew such a thing might have happened, I would’ve sent spies toward your clan to inform everyone before the criminals reached there.” → Ryu
Ryu said with an apologetic tone.
“… No. It wasn’t your fault sire… I’m simply no good as a clan leader… Besides, Sir Gregor’s injuries are my own fault for faltering in striking the enemy…” → Shiroko
Shiroko said with soulless eyes. She was completely spiritless then she continued with a somber voice.
“Your majesty, if you’ll excuse me, I will return to my patrolling.” → Shiroko
Shiroko bowed her head then left without waiting for an answer.
