Chapter 11
Schemes Proceed
Ruined World (Day 16)
Volcanoes constantly spewed lava, rocks and smog. Horrifying, deafening screams of wailing trees was the only sound heard. Running across the burning, molten land, a demon soldier held a clipboard between his arms. Out in the distance, he gazed upon the only architecture present in this destroyed land. By the edge of a cliff, stood a rusty, thorny castle. Large in size, it pillars nested a deadly demonic lizard, the size of a royal cruise ship. The place held an air of eeriness, and smelt of sweat, vomit, blood, guts and everything icky
Running in and quickly locating his superior, the demon soldier kneeled down to a pale demoness with long, black nails, "Lord Envy's wish to set up a veil over the entire Gilbert territory is being handled with upmost importance"
"The veil only lets weaklings B-rank or lower stay within it?", she took the clipboard from the soldier and examined it
"Yes, my lady"
"How long will the it last?", she asked
"Twelve days"
"Is it durable enough to withstand the attacks of multiple S-rankers?", she stared at the soldier
"Yes, my lady. A sacrifice totaling nine thousand humans, collected over the course of six years is being used for its creation. The medium dolls which will keep the veil erect, are fifty in total, and will be carefully hidden all over Gilbert territory"
"The men for battle?"
"Six hundred demon soldiers of rank D, two hundred of rank C, eleven B-rankers and two teams of B-rank human mercenaries, paid in advance, at your command"
'Good, if the object is successfully stolen, it will be a tremendous achievement', she smiled
"You may leave", she commanded. The soldier respectfully bowed before doing as instructed
Taking out a small bottle filled with a foul, thick, purple fluid, she popped it open
"Demons are finally united under one banner, war. Maybe human idiocy was a good thing after all", she let out an exhausted sigh
---Herbst---
The festival of Dafsta was approaching. It was a celebration of the end of the Vratis civil war, that took place six hundred years ago. The commercial town was busy, as buyers shuffled against each other the cobbled roads, merchants screamed the benefits of the products they sold, customers haggled prices, and kids pulled their parents around: all together creating a chaotic scene.
Pushing through the crowd, Sarah walked into a weapons shop.
She stopped to stare at the silver pocket watch in her hand, "10:45 A.M., great I'm on time"
The weapon shop was small and empty. No one was present behind the counter, but Sarah didn't mind. She was more interested in the spears hanging on the wall. Admiring the designs on the handle, she moved away after seeing the price
The door bell chimed as an elf walked in. She was tall, slender and had long silver hair. She walked up to Sarah and raised her had for a handshake. Sarah complied
"Hi, I'm Corrie", the elf said with a warm smile
"I know. AJ told me I'll meet you today, at this weapon shop, at exactly this time", Sarah smiled back
"AJ?", Corrie asked on guard. Slightly unsheathing the dagger on her waist
"Yes Ajax Maxwell. I'm a maid at the Maxwell Residence. AJ said you were looking for the Children of Destiny, and that I'm one of em. He also told me you have a brooch that guides you to em, if they are in 500-meter radius"
Upon hearing who AJ was, the elf relaxed before squinting her eyes in confusion, "How does he know that?"
"AJ has prophetic dreams from time to time. He asked me to trust you and to give you this letter", Sarah took out a letter from her pants back pocket
Taking the sealed letter from the young girl, Corrie carefully opened to read it
Dear Aunt Corrie,
I hope you're doing well. I know you've been busy searching for the Children of Destiny. I know it because some nights I dream of things happening or those that have yet to come. It's a secret I've kept mostly to myself, only letting Sarah know. I dreamt of the Children of Destiny, six of them to be exact, a few nights ago. Expect Sarah, my only friend, there are five others. I aware of your relationship with a Child of Destiny, already. Paul Storm, a strong boy with the divinity 'lightning manipulation', is your student. I hope you take a liking to Sarah too. She is an enthusiastic learner. In this letter I've listed the names of all the Children of Destiny that have appeared in my dreams.
Unfortunately, before I list them, I would like to tell you of a prophecy, a nightmare. In thirty-four days' time, demons will attack Gilbert Territory. A veil will drop over the place, transporting anyone with a rank higher than B-rank. This veil will stay erect for twelve days in total. No S-ranker will be capable of breaking it, which will be quite unfortunate
The reason I tell you of this terrible event, is not for you to set precaution against it. This veil is merely a distraction, from what the demons truly want. Using the veil's abrupt appearance, they plan to steal a mythical artifact in possession of us humans, the Negative Prison. They need it to progress their schemes at the Northern Border
Below I've listed the Children of Destiny
1) Sarah Arot: My friend. Works at the Maxwell Residence
2) Paul Storm: Count Storm's son. With you, presently
3) Brandon Hozart: The third prince of the Kingdom of Hozart
4) Isabelle Edorsa: Duke Endorsa's daughter
5) Audrey Slydan: Orphan of the only banished family of high elf. Lives in Iron City
6) Robert Dimidicus: Son of an inn-owner in Black Town, United Federation Of Ziberia. A vampire
Not a Child of Destiny myself
Yours truly,
AJ
---Twenty miles away from Llyn village---
A narrow, road cut through the farm fields and starched endlessly. The road was under developed, but the air was fresh, the weather was pleasant, and the pastures were low and green. Eighteen D-rankers and two, middle aged, C-rankers stood in front of the carriage, weapons in hand. Their leader Tuko screamed, "GET OUT AND HAND OVER YOUR THINGS"
The door to the boxy, brown carriage opened, and out walked an effeminate boy
"Can we not do this?", AJ said pointing at the transport behind him, "you see, my mom's peacefully sleeping, and she really needs this. If I start chopping limbs off, your screams will wake her up"
At his words the place got quiet, even the coachman was surprised by AJ's arrogance
The bandits started to laugh
"Funny boy, here think he can scare us?"
"That was rich"
"Should be keep him alive. Torture him, for a while"
"You're right he needs to be taught manners"
"SHUP UP!", Tuko ordered. Pointing his spear, he mocked, "maybe I'll not kill ya. But I sure as hell, will make ya watch, as I play with your mother"
It became silent again, AJ stood still. Then a palpable, and creepy killing intent filled the place. AJ glared, "watch your tone, dead man"
Like a wild beast let out of his cage, he sprung out. Before anyone could react, he drew out his sword and sliced Tuko in half. His blade wasn't even covered in aura
Watching Tuko's body split in exact halves, the men jumped back, and took a defensive formation
"Tuko was a C-ranker, and he killed him in a single swing", the only other C-ranker, Lota, commented. He wore a black cloak and held a staff
"Death ray", he said, before shooting out a beam of black energy. AJ dashed to the right, dodging it. Then in a fluid motion, turned and accelerated towards Lota. He covered his sword in pastel-red aura. Unlike others, AJ's aura changed colors, based on his emotions. Thrusting his sword forward, he cut Lota, but it was shallow. Lota escaped to a safe distance
'Still too many wasted movements', AJ thought, pouncing onto three D-rankers and cutting them with a free-flowing sword dance. A small ball of fire, hit the ground, and AJ distanced himself. A wall of fire stood between him and the bandits, as they tried to run away. To their surprise, AJ casually walked through
What took place next was a slaughter. Even the coachman closed his eyes and started to pray
When it was all said and done, AJ looked at the corpses beneath him, and then stared at the blue sky above, "I've dug too many graves, and with each I lose a part of my fear. Gods, is this a blessing or a curse?", he laughed, "pay no mind to such useless thoughts, dummy. This is the path you picked"
Shaking his head, AJ stepped back into the carriage. His mother was soundly sleeping, miraculously undisturbed