"Mirielis?!" Lluvia spurred. The woman twisted and convulsed on the ground, the color gone from her eyes, the inflection in her voice new.
"Contrivance is infinity! Contrivance is infinity!" Mirielis shouted, pulling at her hair and ripping off follicles, pain entirely disregarded.
Alanus grasped and unsheathed his sword. "What do we do?" he asked Lluvia. The female General sighed, exasperated. She tried to console Mirielis but was shoved away. "At this rate, she might even kill herself!"
No one paid attention to the wheezing Emory.
Mirielis jolted up and screamed, "Contrivance is infinity!"
Emory watched the scenario play out with quaked vision. He wobbled to his feet and searched for his father, but Charles was nowhere to be found.
"Pa–pa. . ." His voice was raspy and tired.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three shadows appeared in front of him, thrashing and agitating like crazed beasts. Emory backed away, but a sudden wall stopped him.
One figure arose from the darkness and muttered, "We've found him. Let's go." He reached out to seize Emory.
Shing!
An obsidian claymore cut through the figure's hand, forcing him to step back and hiss. "Don't touch him," Alanus spat. "Why are you here?"
The three figures revealed themselves clearly: their looks were ghastly and pale. They consisted of two women and one man. The females had cement-gray hair and weary eyes, while the man of almost white hair and pale eyes. All three wore grayish robes covered in symbols of the dead.
"The boy belongs to us," the man said. He had poor, droopy features. "Listen, we don't look for trouble. But if you start it, we'll end it. Don't waste our time."
Lluvia stayed with Mirielis, trying to calm the hysterical woman down. Alanus was left to defend Emory from the three cornering them. "Belongs to you? This boy is the son of a Houtis man and woman." He narrowed his eyes. "Which Mandate do you belong to?"
The female snorted, "We're not answering that. Give us the boy." The ground below her darkened, as if it were a shadow, and she dropped instantly.
Right in front of Emory, the sorceress emerged and grabbed his shoulders. "Got you—"
Her body was instantly blown away by Alanus. "An illusion," he noted.
The real attacker came from the side and kicked Alanus many meters away. The other two dashed forward, fighting the General with abilities that easily rivaled his.
In the distance, Emory heard Alanus's voice: "Don't let them grab you—ugh!" He was punched. "Ru. . . Run, Emory Vaughan. . ! Run!"
Sadly, Emory's fatigued body proved helpless. His migraine fuzzed his thinking. I need. . . to. . . run. He thought of his protector, Sylphossia. . . Help me, Sylphossia. . .
"Don't fight it, you're one of us. I smell Abolition oozing out of you," the shadow woman said. "Mourn the Phantom."
She snatched and knocked him unconscious.
. . . .
Alanus glanced amidst the battle to where Emory had been.
Curses! She took him! His will to fight slowly depleted. Lluvia was still preoccupied with Mirielis, unable to help.
The Mandate members used a myriad of moves against him: illusion creation, vile ghost forms, spirit echoes. They even warped Alanus's own memories for battle.
Tiring, it was.
He stood far back, panting. "Justice will be brought down against you. I'll find the boy and bring him back, even if it costs my life." He sent an air current at one of them.
Her body instantly dispersed. Another illusion.
Luckily, it wasn't a total loss. Alanus had managed to badly injure one of them, who now lay working to heal. Death would have found them if Alanus had been fighting only one opponent.
As the second fighter rose and the two grouped together, Alanus lost hope. It was decided: He would die. They launched at him, coordinating their attacks.
One moved his hand in strange patterns and said, "Wake up, my servants." The floor turned black and gassy. Many murky figures—bony, black, and grisly—arose and hunched their backs.
He commands the dead? Alanus thought. He spun his sword and prepared himself. "Obey me—"
Boom!
"Rear yourselves," a pompous voice called, imposing a majestic yet dominating bearing.
Up above, multiple figures soared like herculean eagles. They landed in front of Alanus, cratering the earth. "This land is now under Bersebus authority," the same voice said. His eyes peered at the two remaining illusionists. "Hierarchs..."
The servant shadows of the dead faded away like teardrops.
Alanus steadied his breathing and went rigid.
There was no way this person showed up. To such an event. . . To here!
A man levels above Constance Wales in terms of power. A man who could destroy cities at will. A man they only heard about through rumors. Not even the Commanders had any gall to freely speak about him!
This was Aulus Caesar.
Aulus sidestepped and instantly wiped one of the Hierarchs out of existence. The attacker's partner drained of color. She staggered back, holding her arms up. "Don't hurt me! I was just doing what I needed to do!"
Aulus didn't listen. He severed her head with movement not even Alanus could follow.
". . ."
And just like that, two of the three Hierarchs that came to kidnap Emory were dead.
Aulus's companions came forth. They wore white long jackets with intricate patterns, tall, mighty, and towering.
"We found her," the female said. She stood shorter than the rest, but not by much. "Might have been a little late, though."
Aulus stepped forward, the ground chasming beneath him. "We can handle it from here."
"Alright. . ." Alanus replied, stepping aside.
Aulus and his companions headed toward Lluvia and the hysterical Mirielis, obsidian swords in hand.
Lluvia noticed the enormous folk and scurried back. They're. . . They're here? Aulus Caesar. . . Chalesi Andromedus. . . Vasolos Lysades. . . Is Mirielis's situation this bad? Lluvia shuddered.
"Palatial Vizier, she has been corrupted by Contrivance," one of the companions stated.
Aulus, the tallest of the bunch, nodded. His wavy black hair curled at the edges as his dirt-colored eyes stared at Mirielis. "There's little to no turning back now. Stun her, then we'll take her back."
Aulus faced Lluvia and Alanus. "Thanks for your cooperation. It must have been surprising, your colleague suddenly screaming nonsense. I'd suggest you go to an experienced Apothecary to rid any Contrivance residue. Your colleague here saw something she shouldn't have, and that's why she's acting like this."
Alanus lowered his tone and head. He didn't ask about Emory's situation yet. "If you don't mind, sir, what did she see?"
While the other two white-clad figures worked to still Mirielis, the short-bearded Aulus explained, "She saw a fragment of Emperor Bersebus. And because this was a dream parasitized by Contrivance and his Second Servant, the former had easy control over her."
"Contrivance again. . ." Lluvia mumbled.
"Correct. You don't notice this, but Contrivance controls every aspect of your lives. He forcibly took the reins from Maisedes years ago, and now the two Entities battle for control. It is best not to think of him or his Cult much, for his pseudo name attracts harmful spirits and the Lesser Emperors' attention."
"Lesser Emperors?"
"Usurped, Blest, Lapsed," Aulus replied. "Any Emperor not bearing the 'Almighty' prefix is by default lesser."
A thundering lightning bolt shot across the sky.
He muttered, "Don't share this information with your Commander just yet," then rubbed the symbol of an obsidian claymore piercing a golden crown on his chest. "The military will be informed later."
Lluvia and Alanus nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Palatial Vizier, the woman has been stunned," Chalesi called out. She had red hair and green eyes, features that looked hardened by war. "Let's go quickly."
"Good thinking," Aulus replied. "Long live the Crown."
"Long live the Crown."
"Sir!" Alanus raised his hand. "Mirielis saw the 'Emperor' while she was in a little boy's mind. . . Those Hierarchs took him! We need to get him back."
"I'm aware. We'll handle it," Aulus calmly answered.
Vasolos Lysades spoke this time. "The boy was taken to a Mandate's base, most likely Abolition. We can locate it, but that takes a while. The fastest way is to interrogate an Abolition Chronicle user."
Chalesi corrected him, "Interrogation almost never works, Contrivance has them too deep in his palm. They'd rather kill themselves than out a Tyrant."
Aulus nodded. "She's correct."
He walked forward, speaking without looking back. "There is some bad news for the boy."
"Bad news?"
"When Hierarchs make an appearance, it's almost always for one of two reasons." Aulus turned and held up two fingers. "First, and most common: they're hunting someone. Not just anyone, but people with the Emperor's blood."
Is that who Mirielis was referencing when she said I was cursed with an Emperor's blood? Alanus wondered. "Which Emperor?"
"Conqueror of Aglana and Satiator of all the Land, Emperor Julius Bersebus," Chalesi answered.
Aulus nodded again. "The second reason why a Hierarch would curse you with their presence is quite sad for your case." He lowered his tone. "They came for the boy because he recited a Chronicle, and now he's a part of them."
Alanus and Lluvia clearly had a hard time understanding this, so Aulus simply reiterated:
"The boy is a Hierarch."