Déjà vu.
A feeling that something you are experiencing has already happened before, but you can not exactly recall the event.
That was how Shin was feeling in this moment, sitting beside Eldrain in an office chair in front of an office table, inside the owner's office in the Alpha Mines headquarters.
Behind the table sat Markus, the founder and owner of Alpha Mines, his intertwined fingers supporting his nose as Eldrain leaned forward in the chair.
"Mr. Markus, we appreciate your offer yesterday; it takes courage to do something like that; that is why we refuse your offer. However, you can rest assured. Raghav and the rest of our party members are handling it right now."
This would have made any normal person breathe out a sigh of relief, knowing that the people after him were being taken care of, but not Markus.
He remained still like a stone statue, just looking at Eldrain, with an intensity to make the Grand Master frown.
"Mr. Markus? Are you alright?"
Shin asked as Markus moved his eyes towards him, lowering his hands and reaching for the drawer to his left.
From there, he pulled out a small envelope and handed it to Shin.
"You tell me, Mr. Furukawa. Should I be alright when I am receiving these letters?"
Tearing the envelope open, Shin began reading out loud.
"Greetings, Mr. Markus,
I have heard a great deal about you as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Mines.
You are quite popular among the members of the underworld, who operate in Plied.
Rightfully so, I must admit, quite the resume you have, after all, you spent two decades of your life. Which, for you, is more than half of your life spent building it all up.
So just imagine my surprise when I learned that a man of your standing decided to meddle in our world, the underworld.
Why would you do this?
Some form of patriotism, or perhaps an opportunity? To get in the good graces of the Hero and the Princess?
Who am I to judge?
All I say is that you return to your work, like a normal person, paying no mind to what happens under this city.
Like you did before, like everyone else does.
Everyone knows it is there, everyone smells the filth, sometimes they see it, yet they tell themselves that it does not exist, because they do not have the strength to clean it themselves.
So take my advice, and until you are ready to face this world yourself, keep your head low and walk by.
That is, if you wish to live to see tomorrow.
I hope you do, because I need you alive and well on Sunday.
Sincerely, one of your most loyal customers and beneficiaries.
Mark- The Sorcerer of Science."
Dropping his hand to his thighs, Shin bit his lips, turning to Eldrain. "So, he is indeed in this city; that is a big lead. Whatever he is planning has something to do with you."
"I wouldn't place myself in such high regard. Mark is currently hailed as the most unpredictable man in the underworld; no one has seen him, but his men arrive to deliver his orders, and he gets what he wants. Rumours have it that he was the outsider working with the Prime Minister."
"You know a lot about the underworld for a businessman," Shin questioned Markus, getting a slight tilt of the head from the man.
"I am a businessman; my life revolves around competition. Just like a great general once said, 'If you know your opponent and you know yourself, even in a hundred battles, you will not fall.' I was not going to go against the underworld without proper knowledge."
"What other things do you know, Mr. Markus, that are not known to the common man?" Eldrain enquired as he leaned on the right arm of the chair.
"You mean about your party." Markus corrected Eldrain, to which Eldrain nodded.
"You are a 498 year old half breed Grand Master, courtesy of the records from the Adventure Guild. Shin is from Earth, arriving here two years ago. He was also with Kanah the Born Hero, at least that is what the people of Marne are calling him. Not much to say about your wife or Princess Aurelia. As for your Captain, Raghav, he is also a Grand Master. Lastly, you are on the search for some artefacts. The underworld is a vast network that is the shadow of the normal world, yet it is much, much deeper. Nowhere are you safe from its influence, because it knows no borders, no authority other than power. It has caused civil wars that have broken apart entire nations. It has pitted two nations against each other."
Huh
Eldrain chuckled as he took the letter from Shin. "Do you mind if we hold onto it?"
Knock
Markus stood from his chair, as did the other two. "It appears I am running late for a meeting, and yes, it is yours to keep. Farewell, gentlemen."
Following that, Markus left the office, and the two were escorted out of the office by the assistant, and they found themselves out on the street in no time.
"That was helpful."
Shin remarked as Eldrain sucking in his cheeks, then let them go with a popping sound. "It was. Let's move, we should get together with the rest."
That was when they looked up at the sky as the sound of a fleet of wyverns flew overhead. "Looks like the cavalry's here."
Twenty Five kilometres north of their location.
The Duke of the West, Galreid, walked into the Council Chambers, where he would see Raghav.
Instantly, his frown turned upside down, and a joyful smile appeared on his face.
"Raghav." "Galreid."
They greeted each other, shaking their hands. "I was looking forward to meeting you when I read about your actions in Green Village. Since then, I followed all your sightings in the newspapers."
"The feelings mutual, I knew we'd arrive at your doorstep sooner or later, the way we were heading. Now that you are here, shall we?"
Raghav held out the binder in his hand for Galreid.
Galreid laughed, nodding towards Raghav before turning towards the soldiers with a cold expression. "The weed of this city has grown out too much. I want this city cleaned to the bone in two days."
His commanding voice echoed through the entire building, and the soldiers began to march out.
"I will be leaving it all in your capable hands. While I go and check up on my team."
"Let me accompany you; it would be pleasant to see Aurelia again."
.
.
.
.
The doors opened to a balcony, where the leader sat under the monsoon clouds, drinking tea, overlooking a vast garden.
A servant stepped through, bowing to the man, gesturing to his right. "My lord, the Princess and her companion have arrived."
The man looked over his right shoulder and nodded, as he saw Aurelia and An standing there.
"So, have you arrived at an answer? Or are you here to ask for more time, because you won't get any, so make up an answer if you do not have one already."
Aurelia's narrow eyes were set on the back of the man's head as her lips parted. "That would be unnecessary; we have the answer, and it is no. Have a good day."
Declaring her answer, she and An turned around, ready to leave, when the man moved the cup away from his lips.
Ah
He placed the cup on the table beside his chair and hit it on the side with the teaspoon.
Immediately, the door burst open as a tall and bulky behemoth of a man rushed out, striking both Aurelia and An in the stomach, but she had already put her right hand between the fist and her stomach, as well as extending her left hand to block the other fist, guarding An.
However, that did not stop them from being launched backwards as Aurelia broke through the table, just milliseconds after the man picked up his cup again.
The two women crashed through the brick railing of the balcony and into the garden below, landing on their feet.
Slurp
The man took one last sip, placing the cup on the railing that was still left standing in front of him despite there being two holes on either side of it.
He then silently walked away as the giant man jumped off the balcony and in front of them, where dozens of more men joined him.
Gold spread across Aurelia's body as she clenched her fists.
While An just stood in a wide stance, her eyes studying their targets.
"I go left, you go right."
Hmmm
Not delaying the inevitable, Aurelia punched the air, shooting out a Mana blast from her fist, which hit the giant man in the chest and exploded on contact, blowing him back into the estate as well as sending the men in front of him flying directly into her left fist.
On the other hand, An tapped her foot on the ground and launched rocks into the air, before she flicked them forward, striking the men.
Following it up with a gravitational well that pulled them all together before repelling them apart, marking each of them with a rune, before clapping her hands together and unleashing a storm of lightning.
Around ten of them were able to counter the lightning and retaliate by sending fire, Mana daggers at her.
All of which she swiftly stopped midair before turning them around and launching them back at the men, while Aurelia rushed in, punching a man in the face and kicking another in the stomach before she turned to her left, letting the fireball fly past her face, blowing her hair in the wind.
The fire spread from the ball, hitting the remaining men. An had toned down the fire to the point where it only felt hot, without actually burning the men.
Soon they were all knocked out as Aurelia pushed them all away with telekinesis as An held both of her hands forward, ready for the arrival of their next enemy.
The giant man reemerged from the estate, knocking down a pillar, as he grew in size, his skin hardening and his body transforming to match the appearance of a Rhinoceros.
Before, he was around the same height as General Temis; now, he was almost as tall as the two floor estate.
"A Demi Human, I never fought one of these, you know of them, Aurelia."
Aurelia retreated, putting some distance between herself and the man, looking back at An. "Of course, I know, these are the offspring of a human and a beast-man, born with the ability to transform into one."
"My name is Prod and I shall end you two."
Although her head was still turned, Aurelia's eyes darted forward, her mind sped up, slowing things down from her perspective, and she caught the fist headed for her face.
Unlike last time, this time her body was enhanced and stopped the fist, then she reached forward with her left hand and pushed the fist to her right.
Prod stumbled forward as Aurelia intertwined her fingers and hit him in the face with both hands.
As he stumbled back, he was hit in the chest by a boulder, causing him to stumble backwards.
But he caught himself and swung his upper body towards Aurelia, attempting to hit her with his horn.
She was prepared and caught onto his horn, stopping it a few centimetres away from her stomach.
Prod reached for her legs, grabbed them and pulled her down on the ground,
Her grip was too strong, and she pulled his head down with her, causing him to roll with her, before getting back on his feet and slamming Aurelia down into the ground.
Creating a giant crater in the ground, covering half the garden, throwing up dirt and smoke everywhere.
An created a gust of wind, blowing the dust away from them and was met with a punch headed for her face, but she created a barrier in front of herself, which stopped the punch and pushed Prod back, binding his legs with Mana ropes, throwing him off balance.
Aurelia got up from the crater and ran at his legs, swiping them off the ground, before turning around and holding onto them and spinning him, before throwing him several kilometres up in the air.
From where two spears of Mana fell beside her, attached to Mana ropes that reached up in the sky, being used by Prod to sling himself back to the ground.
Aurelia drew her sword and held it back to her right side, twisting her body to hold it with both hands.
Samarpan was coated in her golden Mana until it began pulsating. An covered herself and the unconscious men with Mana barriers.
The moment Prod was slung forward, he came down like a missile, his horn covered in blue Mana, pulsating just like Aurelia's sword.
The friction in the air caused fire to erupt around Prod, just like an asteroid entering the planet.
He then cocked both of his fists back before punching forward, speeding himself up.
At the last moment before the collision, he pulled his arms back, going headfirst at Aurelia, who swung her sword upwards in a horizontal arc, meeting his horn midair.
Their clash released shockwaves that tore apart the ground, creating a crater five hundred meters in radius, blowing away everything and everyone in the estate's ground.
Beyond the crater, the shockwaves travelled for another three kilometres, shattering windows, knocking over the fences and breaking the walls of the other estates and uprooting their trees.
Tremors spread across the entire Lord's District and even further beyond into Old Plied, although it was barely felt by the time it reached the bridges.
An emerged from under the rubble, as she expanded her barriers, throwing all the dirt away from her and the other unconscious men.
"Aurelia!"
She yelled out, her voice enhanced as it went through the barrier.
Tang
Tang
TANG
The sound of metal clanking echoed through the dust that blocked her view and entered her ear.
She immediately created a tornado, sucking all the dirt up in the air.
That was when she saw Aurelia's sword clashing with Prod's fists, blood trickling down her hands.
But it was not hers; it belonged to Prod, emerging from his shattered horn and nose.
Still, he refused to stay down and kept fighting.
When his fist moved again, he grabbed Aurelia's sword and tried to pull it away, but her strength was far greater than his own, as she swung the sword, throwing Prod into the ground.
He dug his fist into the ground, stopping himself. He looked ahead to find Aurelia in the air, ready to cut him down.
Stepping back, he avoided the slash that tore through the ground and reached for her throat, but he was stopped a foot away from her.
A battle of control was fought between Prod's strength and Aurelia's telekinesis, giving her just enough time to back away from his reach.
"COME BACK."
This time, he reached for her with his own telekinesis.
Pulling her towards him, she let go of her sword, slamming her feet on the ground.
They both threw a punch at the other, and their fists clashed, creating a burst of light and releasing another shockwave.
In that moment, both of their feet lifted off the ground as a violent storm of wind picked them up.
Aurelia looked back at the ground and saw An creating this giant tornado; the two of them gave each other a nod.
"Surrender, Prod, you can't win. There are two of us and one of you."
"I have never been defeated, that won't change today, not to a woman."
He threw a spear of Mana at An, followed by a barrage of Mana blasts from his body in all directions.
The spear collided with An's barrier, and instead of either of them shattering, it began to syphon the Mana from An's barrier, replenishing Prod.
Then a Mana blast hit the ground beside her, and the first crack in her barrier appeared.
She reinforced it with more Mana, yet it was also getting syphoned.
"AURELIA! I WON'T BE ABLE TO HOLD IT FOR LONG, YOU HAVE TO FINISH IT NOW!"
Aurelia looked down and saw rocks floating in the air, giving her footing as she leapt from one rock to another, dodging his wild barrage of Mana blasts as she closed the distance, punching him in the face with full force.
Yet it did nothing, so she kicked him in the chest, pushing herself back as she looked down and saw the blasts reaching in other parts of the city, yet they exploded in the air away from the buildings.
When she looked back ahead, she saw Prod charging up a gigantic Mana blast with a grin on his face.
She opened her palm as she began running further up in the tornado.
Prod followed her with his gaze as an object flew past him towards Aurelia.
Flipping in the air to land upside down on a rock, she grasped the handle of her sword and pointed it towards the sky, sending out a continuous bolt of lightning into the monsoon clouds.
Then she leapt towards him, gripping her sword with both hands, as it began to glow once more.
Prod raised his hands towards her, firing the Mana blast at her, but he had miscalculated as the Mana blast went past her face, painting her face in blue light.
The price for this would be too much for him.
Followed by a gigantic bolt of lightning that fell from the dark clouds, striking her sword, accelerating her descent to the speed of lightning.
On instinct, she swung the sword, cutting through Prod's body.
Splitting him diagonally in half from his left shoulder down to the right side of his hip.
The Lightning was redirected from the tip of her sword and down towards the ground.
Where it struck the crater and exploded violently due to the Mana mixed into it.
This would deepen the crater and extend its reach to nearby estates.
As for Aurelia, she landed on her feet, following the lightning strike, with Prod's body landing behind her.
She looked back and saw the body, letting go of the sword as tears filled her eyes and her breathing became jagged.
Boom
Her legs gave in as she fell backward, but she was caught by Raghav, as a gust of wind blew the soil away.
Aurelia looked up at him as tears ran down her face. "Raghav, I...I...took a life."
Silently, he hugged her as she buried her face in his chest, and he cradled her.
With An standing in the back, looking at them, turning her head towards the approaching footsteps as Eldrain and Shin came towards them.