WIEDERGEBURT Act VII: Chapter 11

“The situation looks bad,” I said as Siv and I floated down to the ground. My other wives plus all those in charge immediately came over. “Morden is leading this army, and we’re now surrounded on three sides.”

“And we can’t retreat either,” Alexis added. “None of the civilians can move very fast. They’d be picked off before we can leave.”

“What should we do?” asked King Menes.

“THE ENEMY IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF US,” Galdr exclaimed. “I SAY WE STAND AND FIGHT!”

“That’s really our only option,” I agreed. “So here’s what we’re going to do: every Spiritualist with an earth element who has reached the Third State of Spiritualism should created a massive wall between the civilians and the Sekbeist. While they maintain the wall, the other Spiritualists will attack. Alexis and Ashten, I want you to lead a group and attack the Sekbeists on our left flank. Galdr, you and your Lightning Giants will attack the right. Queen Medusa and King Menes, I would like you both to protect our people, while Fay leads a group to attack those in front.”

“I can take care of the front myself,” Fay said.

I paused, then nodded once. “Okay. I’ll leave the front to you. The rest will join Queen Medusa and King Menes in protecting the caravan.”

“This queen approves of your plan,” Queen Medusa said, crossing her arms. “She will defend the people alongside King Menes.”

“I take it you’re going after Morden?” asked Ashten.

“Yes.” I nodded once. “Lin, Siv, Kari, and I will deal with Morden.”

No one disagreed with the plan and everyone understood they had no time to argue even if they didn’t. With their roles given, our group split up and began doing what they were assigned.

The first to bull rush the enemy was Galdr and his Lightning Giants. They had a lot of pent up anger toward the Sekbeist for enslaving them, and they didn’t hesitate to take out their anger on the army coming up to flank our right. Their bodies sparked with lightning. Large arches of pale blue lightning bolts slammed into the ground and demolished hundreds of Sekbeist at a time. Not even the Warlords could withstand a direct blast from one of those attacks, though some did try to defend themselves with the powers of darkness.

But just because the Lightning Giants were an overwhelming force that didn’t mean they were invincible.

Several Sekbeist darted between a Lightning Giant’s feet and used a thick rope to entangle his legs. The man went down with a roar of surprise, crashing into the ground, and the Sekbeists swarmed over him moments later. He cried out in anger and lightning flew from his body. Many Sekbeists were fried, their smoking corpses falling off, but there were simply too many of the enemy. It wasn’t long before the Lightning Giant died like a man being killed by a swarm of scorpions. Several Lightning Giants were quickly killed this way, though all these deaths did was galvanize the remaining members to attack with that much more ferocity.

Left of us was Alexis and Ashten and around five thousand Spiritualists.

While the Lightning Giants were like a storm, sweeping over Sekbeists relentlessly, the humans had to play a more defensive role. Grunts might not be a match for a Spiritualist who had reached the Second State of Spiritualism, but the Elites were, and the Warlords were even stronger. Painful though it was to admit, while there were more Spiritualists who had reached the Third State of Spiritualism, there still weren’t many humans who had surpassed the Second State. Fay simply lacked the resources necessary to bring everyone’s cultivation up that high. Even the five hundred Spiritualists who had reached this state thanks to her pills was nothing compared to the thousands of Elites and Warlords attacking.

Alexis and Ashten were at the front, doing their best to present a shield for their comrades.

Alexis was wielding two swords now. They were jagged blades made of gleaming mythril, wreathed in lightning that flew from her weapons each time she swung. It wasn’t just her weapons that were covered in lightning. Blue arcs of electricity flew from her body to strike any Sekbeist dumb enough to get close. She blasted a hole through one Elite when he attempted to emerge from her shadow. Then she spun around, swinging the sword in her right hand to create an arc of lightning that severed the heads of several more enemies.

Several meters away was Ashten, a grim expression plastered on his face as he fought in silence, wielding his broadsword wreathed in fire like it was an extension of his own body. He didn’t move around like Alexis. He traded blows and overpowered his enemies with his strength. One Elite tried to attack him head on, but the sword in his hand was sliced apart and his body went next when he tried to block Ashten’s swing. The glowing red blade sliced through the enemy’s weapon and flesh like both were made of paper. Ashten didn’t even look at the dying enemy as his two halves fell to the ground with meaty thuds, and instead he turned around to swiftly cut down two more foes.

He was like a farmer threshing wheat.

A shadow suddenly appeared above Alexis, causing her to look up and eye the ugly face of the smirking Warlord standing before her. He looked the same as all the others. His face was an ugly shade of puke green, with massive tasks jutting from his upper and lower lips, drool dripping down his mouth. While not as tall as the Lightning Giants, his easily seven meter frame clad in black armor towered over Alexis’ petite body.

“I cannot believe a little girl like you can wield such power, but your good luck as come to an end. I, the Warlord Basrack, will take great pleasure in—”

Alexis did not let him get any further. In fact, she wasn’t even paying attention.

She was already standing behind him.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as the woman walked away from Basrack, but several seconds after Alexis began fighting against several Elites, the Warlord’s body exploded with lightning. His bloody chunks wreathed in coruscating sparks acted like projectiles as they slammed into dozens of nearby Grunts, killing them as well.

It was an amazing display of Spiritualism.

I was impressed by how far Alexis had come.

While the two battles on our flank took place, a massive wall was erected around the caravan, which had huddled together to present a smaller target. This army didn’t have any flying enemies. They’d be safe from aerial bombardment provided we could keep their forces busy. At the same time, Queen Medusa and King Menes gathered the remaining Spiritualists to defend the walls our caravan now hid behind.

Morden was walking over to us, the remaining Sekbeist army at his back. There was horrendous look on his face. He looked like he’d been force fed poison.

“Kari,” I muttered. “Get ready to put him in a timelock. Siv, the moment Kari places him in a timelock, transport him and us as many kilometers away as you can.”

Kari nodded. “We’re only going to have one shot at this. We need to make it count.”

“This princess is ready to pay that man back for what he did to her in our last battle,” Lin added, pounding her fists together.

“Fay, I’ll leave the army to you,” I said.

“Please do,” Fay said back. While I had a feeling she didn’t like that she couldn’t fight by our side, she seemed comfortable enough with herself that she didn’t mind not being the strongest anymore. That was definitely a good thing. I was just sad her growth had come about because of everything that happened while I was gone.

By this point, Morden had reached us and now stood a few meters away, staring us down with a hard glare. The gray skin around his face had turned red.

“You cannot imagine how much I hate you all,” he grated out. “You have given me far more trouble than any of you are worth, and I’m going to take great pleasure in killing you.”

“I’ll let you keep thinking you can kill us,” I said with a smile. “It will make your death that much sweeter.”

Morden’s patience must have already been drawn taut because he snapped the moment those words left my mouth. Unleashing a violent roar, Morden’s body exploded with death energy as he pushed off the ground and flew toward us. His speed was such that he left violent waves of sand in his wake. He didn’t even seem to care that several hundred of his own forces were killed by the mere backlash of his sudden acceleration.

“NOW KARI!” I shouted.

Kari wasted no time in raising her hands and pointing them at Morden, Spiritual Power surging from her fingertips and transforming into time energy. I couldn’t quite see the fabrics of time as they distorted. I could feel it, however, as the area around Morden suddenly became thick and heavy. There was no better way I could describe it.

Morden’s entire body froze.

It would only last for a second.

“Let’s go!” I shouted.

Myself, Kari, Siv, and Lin raced forward, closed the gap between us and Morden, and Siv quickly activated her own incredible powers. The space around us distorted. White lines of energy flew from Siv’s body and caused undulations in the atmosphere. As the undulating waves closed around us, I felt a single moment of extreme vertigo, like my body was being spun like a top, and then everything reasserted itself and the feeling vanished.

We were no longer standing in the middle of a battlefield.

Sand dunes spread out around us for as far as the eye could see, not a single soul aside from us in sight. The distant rumble of thunder told me we weren’t far from the battle. But I believed we were far enough.

I looked Kari, Siv, and Lin to make sure they were still with me. While Lin looked a little green, the other two appeared fine.

Morden was also fine… sadly.

The timelock that Kari had created around Morden shattered as our enemy exploded with Spiritual Power. Kari, Siv, Lin, and I were all sent flying back when the shockwave from this release of energy slammed into us. I gnashed my teeth together and dug my heels into the ground. I would have used the earth element to lock myself in place, but the desert sands were also being hurled away.

We landed on the ground several meters out, all of us aghast as we stared at Morden.

“I knew he was powerful… but I didn’t think he’d have this much power,” Kari muttered bitterly.

“This is going to be difficult,” Siv said.

“Doesn’t matter how hard it is,” Lin said. “This princess will smash any obstacle standing in our way.”

“I’m glad to hear that because you are about to get your chance,” I said to Lin. “He’s coming.”

Morden hadn’t wasted time. After sending us flying with his spiritual shockwave, he sucked in all the Spiritual Power he’d unleashed. This was different than donning his life and death armor. It was a little like he was using the Second State of Spiritualism for the Concept of Death—a far more advanced and powerful version of it, but still just like that.

“I cannot believe you have forced me to use this,” Morden growled as he suddenly appeared right in front of us. “This ends now. I am going to kill all of you!”

***

Fay narrowed her eyes at the incoming horde. They were like a plague of locusts sweeping over the desert landscape.

While Fay accepted that she could not help Eryk at her current level of strength, this did not mean she was not bothered by it. She was intensely bothered. It upset her that all the training she’d done, the strength she’d gained, was not enough to aid the man she loved in his time of need.

“I hope you all don’t mind if I take my frustration out on you,” she muttered at the horde as they rushed toward her.

Fay stomped on the ground. Spiritual Power was released through her foot, traveling into the earth and causing a massive ripple to spread outward from the impact. It slammed into the frontline of incoming enemies, knocking them into their brethren, creating a massive pileup of bodies as those in back tripped over those in front.

Spreading her legs apart, Fay bent her knees and adopted a horse stance, fists tucked firmly into her sides. Fire wafted from her hands. An intense heat radiated from them as she gathered both the fire wind elements. The wind fed the fire, causing the flames to go from orange to pale blue to white. She took a deep breath. Then she breathed out.

And then she threw a double punch.

The air in front of Fay exploded as two cones of fire flew from her fists. Each cone combined several meters from where she stood, creating a massive cone of fire that was at least six times larger than Fay herself. The flames engulfed the Sekbeists before they could recover, turning them to cinders. Their bodies burnt to ashes. When the flames died down, it revealed a one kilometer trench that was at least six meters wide and several more deep. None of the Sekbeists who had been caught in the blast survived. Even those who hadn’t been in the line of fire had been thoroughly cooked.

An intense pause followed Fay’s actions. The Sekbeists who had been charging at her stopped to stare at the trench, then turned to stare at her. There was fear in their eyes. Fay could see it. She could practically smell the scent wafting off their unwashed bodies.

That was good.

After everything these monsters had done to her people, they deserved to feel fear.

Now they knew what her people had felt when the Sekbeist invaded their homes.

But Fay was not done, not by a long shot, and she once more stomped on the ground. The earth on either side of her rose high into the sky, creating a wide canyon that was several kilometers on either side. There was only one way to reach the caravan through this canyon. That was by going through the single opening.

Which Fay stood in front of.

“Come!” Fay shouted as she stomped on the ground. No Spiritual Power was infused in this attack, but the ground still exploded with energy. “If you wish to take down this caravan, then you will have to go through me. Let’s see if you have what it takes to defeat me!”

Fay glared at the Sekbeists, who no longer looked so sure about what they were doing. The green-skinned monsters glanced at each other as if wondering which among them would be brace enough to accept her challenge.

“All of you are pathetic!”

A voice suddenly spoke up from within the army and a figure stepped forward. He was a massive monstrosity of green skin and bulging muscles. The armor adorning his body was pitch black and seemed to absorb all light. Fay couldn’t judge his height, but he was at least three or four times taller than her. His face was an ugly network of scars, his left tusk had been broken off, and his right eye was covered with an eye patch.

“Have all of your lost your courage just from seeing this woman’s display of power?! Do not forget who are masters are! Our Lords have far more power in their single pinky than this girl has in her entire body! When Lord Morden returns, do you think he will pleased to see that you let a little human girl cow you?! He will kill you, and I will gladly help him!”

It was a surprisingly rousing speech from the enemy, and it served to spur those who had been hesitating on. The one who had spoken must have been a Warlord of some reknown. Fay could not hear what was being said by the enemy, but they were all muttering and nodding as if they agreed with him.

She clicked her tongue.

“That is a high and mighty speech, but actions speak louder than words. Come at me now if you think you have what it takes to defeat me.”

The Warlord roared at her as he charged forward. “Hear this, human! My name is Sakbracht! I am the Warlord who has served under Lord Morden for over a generation! I might not be as powerful as you, but I will not go down without a fight!”

As he charged forward, Sakbracht held out his hand and gathered his Spiritual Power. Darkness coalesced along his palm. He enclosed his fist around the tiny orb that formed. Fay remained still has a massive black sword sprouted from within his hand. It was a vicious-looking blade with jagged edges and a wicked hook at the end. It was also about five meters in length.

“Take this!!!!”

Sakbracht swung the weapon down as though to hack her in half. Fay stared at the blade before raising her left hand, which was covered in darkness. Sword met hand. A powerful shockwave spread through the canyon, knocking several of the nearest Sekbeists flat on their backs. Sakbracht did not fall. The muscles in his arms bulged and veins protruded from his skin as he struggled to bring his blade further down, eyes wide as he gawked.

Fay casually held his sword over her head, keeping it from vivisecting her.

“This is… impossible! How can a human be so strong?!”

“I’m not that strong yet,” Fay confessed with a wry smile. “You’re just weak.”

Sakbracht’s face became a rictus of anger. “Why you—”

Because she had no desire to hear him talk anymore, Fay lifted her other hand and launched a blade of darkness from her palm. It traveled in a straight line and slammed into Sakbracht with enough force to lift him off his feet. She narrowed her eyes. That attack should have impaled him through the heart, but runes on his armor had flared to life seconds before her attack struck.

“I see,” she said at last. “You have a Dwoerg on your side who can enchant armor.”

“Hmph! Like I would tell you.”

Sakbracht grunted as he climbed to his feet, wincing. He placed a hand against his chest. Despite the runes protecting him from her attack, the force of the blow was more than enough to induce serious blunt force trauma. Fay would not be surprised if his ribcage had broken from her attack. However, the fact that he was not outright dead bothered her. His survival could be seen as a sign that she was weak.

Indeed, Sakbracht tried to play up his survival.

“Did you see that?! This woman isn’t nearly as strong as she claims to be! Let us crush her beneath our heels and skull fuck her corpse!”

Fay nearly gagged at his crass use of language, but the man’s fellow Sekbeist all bellowed their agreement. Like that, the army once more began charging toward her.

Clicking her tongue once more, Fay raised her hands above her head. A single ball of fire appeared above her. It looked like nothing more than a simple flickering flame, but then she began channeling her Spiritual Power into it, manipulating the orb to grow in size and strength. The wind picked up as she gathered it all toward the ball, feeding the flame oxygen to help it increase in power.

At the same time, she stomped on the ground. Several geysers of molten lava suddenly erupted from the ground in the middle of the Sekbeist army, melting the flesh off some and sending others flying. Hundreds died with each attack she launched, but they didn’t stop, didn’t pause, and continued rushing toward her with a single-minded desire.

Sakbracht was in the front. He was roaring out his battlecry, which echoed like thunder across Fay’s self-made canyon. He had now created a second sword. Wielding a massive weapon in each hand, he charged forward like he was going to ram into Fay.

Not that Fay had any intention of letting that happen.

The ball of fire had grown by this point, easily reaching several meters in radius. It looked like a miniature sun. Small gouts of flame drifted off the surface. She had been pulling in hydrogen, a colorless gas that consisted of roughly seventy-five percent of all baryonic mass. It was an extremely flamable gas that will combust even when it’s not concentrated in a single area. She was currently keeping the hydrogen and fire separate by manipulating the elemental compounds of each, but that would soon change.

With a soft grunt, Fay brought her hands down like she was throwing something, and the giant mass of fire and hydrogen flew down as well. Sakbracht, who had been running, seemed to realize the danger he was in a second too late. His eyes only had time to widen before the massive ball struck him full on.

Fay didn’t know if the Sekbeist screamed. The moment the fireball struck Sakbracht, the hydrogen she’d kept separate from the fire was released, igniting in a chain reaction that caused a massive explosion. A shockwave of such power that her canyon was reduced to rubble raced across the ground. Fay lifted her hand and gathered the wind element. She did not use it to feed the flames this time, but created a powerful vacuum blade that sucked flames in, stole the oxygen from the fire, and forced it to disperse. This spared the area behind her—in other words, the caravan she was protecting.

The same could not be said for the army traveling down the canyon.

Intense flames spread across the ground, turning the ground in glass and reducing everything it touched to ash. Several Sekbeists were crushed by the powerful bursts of wind that slammed into them before the fire turned their bodies to dust. A massive plume of fire rose into the sky, forming a shape that was akin to a mushroom. Fay stared at what her attack had done without flinching. This was one of her ultimate attacks, something she had created but rarely got the chance to use because it was far too powerful.

With a wave of her hand, Fay forced the fires to disperse. A few flames still flickered here and there as some of the corpses that had been further out burned, but Sakbracht and every enemy that had been within a square kilometer radius had been reduced to nothing. The ground likewise had a massive crater sitting in the center where the explosion occurred, the ground blackened as though charrged.

Fay took a deep breath, held it in for several seconds, then released it.

“It looks like there are no more enemies for me here,” she said to herself, turning toward where Alexis and Ashten’s group was still fighting. “Should I help them now, or should I provide assistance to the Lightning Giants?”

Fay soon made a decision and began walking, leaving behind a completely destroyed desert landscape.

***

“Do you think the fighting is going well?” asked Lilac.

Sana shrugged. “Who knows.”

“Don’t you think we should find out?”

“Not really. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“What kind of attitude is that?! You realize we’re under attack, don’t you?!”

Raul had not joined the battle against the Sekbeist alongside Alexis and Ashten, though he had been tempted. Someone had to remain with the caravan and keep the peace. He also believed it would be better if someone stronger was around in case the Sekbeist managed to infiltrate the caravan like they had done the city. They couldn’t afford to lose anymore earth affinity Spiritualists.

“Mother is fighting on the frontlines,” he said. “You know how strong she is. I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“But what about that Morden guy?” asked Lilac. “He’s super strong, right? Even Eryk said he might not be able to beat him.”

Raul grew silent for a moment. Father had indeed said that Morden was so strong there was a chance they would lose even if he, Lin, Siv, and Kari joined forces.

“I believe in Father’s strength,” Raul said at last. “They will win.”

“I hope you’re right,” Lilac mumbled.

“You doubt Raul’s words?” asked Sana as she wrapped her arms around Raul’s left arm. “Some girlfriend you are.”

“Wha—I never said I doubted his words! I was just worried!”

Lilac quickly copied Sana, hugging Raul’s other arm to her chest. Raul knew the situation was dire right now, that people were fighting and dying, but he couldn’t quite stop himself from becoming aroused by the feeling of two beautiful women pressing themselves against him. He took several deep breaths to calm down. Nothing good would come from getting horny right now.

Maybe Father was right. He should have had sex with them already and gotten used to this feeling so it wouldn’t distract him. Why had he decided to keep his virginity intact again?

As these thoughts washed over him, a chilling scream pierced the air. Raul removed himself from the women’s grip and rushed toward the source. He quickly discovered a woman sitting on her backside, scrambling backward to get away from a Sekbeist Shaman. There was already a corpse lying dead at the creature’s feet. The woman’s husband perhaps?

Raul didn’t waste time. He Flash Stepped over to the Shaman and threw a punch so hard that a loud snapping sound could be heard over the screams. The Shaman’s eyes widened before he was lifted off his feet. He flew several meters, struck the ground, and twitched several times before going still.

Slowly walking over to the Shaman, Raul looked at the creature, whose chest he had caved in. It was just a normal Sekbeist of the slave caste. There didn’t seem to be anything different about it, but that just made him wonder how it had infiltrated so deeply into the Caravan. Even Shadow Walking had its limits.

He turned toward the woman. Sana and Lilac were doing their best to comfort her. Raul walked over and knelt down, heedless of the gathering crowd as he stared into the frightened woman’s eyes.

“Can you tell me what happened here?” he asked.

The woman gulped but nodded. “I-I was talking to one of my friends. Everything seemed normal… but when she asked if I thought we would survive, and I said that she shouldn’t worry because Lady Fay was going to take care of all the Sekbeist, she became angry. She started ranting and raving, and then… and then…”

“What happened after that?” asked Sana, gently prodding the woman to continue.

The woman shuddered but continued. “And then her skin started to split apart, and that… thing emerged from her body. She proceeded to attack me after that, but my husband… he…”

“I understand now,” Raul said with a sigh. “You don’t have to say anymore. Sana, can you please take this woman somewhere safe? Lilac, please inform Queen Medusa and King Menes that there may be several Sekbeists disguised as civilians hidden amongst us.”

“I’ll do that,” Sana said as she pulled the woman to her feet. “Come on. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

“You can count on me!” Lilac added enthusiastically.

While Sana led the shocked woman away, Lilac ran off toward where they had last seen Queen Medusa and King Menes. Raul hoped those two would be okay. They were both strong, but they had no combat experience, so he was worried about what would happen if they ran into trouble.

With a sigh, he shook his head and closed his eyes, spreading out his awareness and letting his Spiritual Power trickle into his surroundings. He was using a technique similar to his father’s Spiritual Perception, which allowed him to sense the Spiritual Power of others. What he was looking for right now were those who had a strong affinity for the darkness element.

He furrowed his brow when he couldn’t sense anything. That couldn’t be right.

Raul had been fighting the Sekbeists for at least two years now, ever since he turned fourteen, and so he was well-versed in how their presence felt. They were like dark spots in his perception. This presence was incredibly distinct and couldn’t be mimicked even by people who had mastered the darkness element like Queen Medusa. Raul assumed this strange presence was a result of the mysterious Concept of Negation. Even the slave caste could use it to come degree, though they could only do so subconsciously. The fact that he felt nothing was worrying.

Just what was going on?

Before Raul had time to worry more, another scream went up. Raul quickly rushed toward the source and found yet another Shaman. This one was kneeling, hands pressed against the ground, and several spikes of darkness jutting from the shadows of the surrounding civilians. Raul’s eyes went wide when he saw how each shadow had pierced someone and lifted them off the ground. A few of those people were still alive. One of them was just a child.

Raul felt sick to his stomach, but that didn’t stop him from acting. He stomped on the ground and appeared before the Sekbeist within a Flash Step. His knee found the creature’s face, not just breaking his nose but caving the entire face in. The dead Sekbeist hurtled through the air.

With his Spiritual Power no longer running through the shadows, the people who had been skewered fell to the ground. Raul rushed over to the child, who was miraculously still alive. Tears spilled from the child’s eyes and blood was welling up inside of his mouth.

“Am I… going to die?” asked the boy.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Raul said.

He summoned several pills from his storage ring. One was light blue, another was deep green, and the last was a bloody crimson.

“Here. Take these one by one,” Raul said as he pressed the light blue pill to the boy’s mouth.

The boy whimpered but let Raul push the pill into his mouth and bit down. He nearly gagged when the medicinal ingredients broke free of the thin film and traveled down his throat. Raul understood. Alchemy pills tasted awful.

An immediate affect took place after the boy swallowed the pill. The whole in his gut began slowly closing, but it was slow and this still wouldn’t be enough to save him since he had lost so much blood.

Raul took the green pill and pressed it against the boy’s mouth, and the boy didn’t hesitate to take the pill and break the outer shell. Even though he grimaced, he swallowed the ingredients, which began healing his internal organs.

The first pill was simply called Healing Pill. What it did was promote and boost the body’s natural ability to heal itself. The second pill was called Nirvana Pill, and while it also healed the body, it worked differently, forcefully gathering Spiritual Power from the nearest element and using it to heal the body. Nirvana Pills were a bit dangerous for non-Spiritualists. Their bodies were not adept at handling Spiritual Power, but Raul knew this boy would die if he didn’t use it.

“Take this one next,” Raul said.

Raul gave the boy one more pill, the red one, which was called a Plasma Pill. This was another one of Mother’s creations. He didn’t know how it worked, but it could be used to somehow replace blood people lost from severe injuries. This particular pill had saved many people from dying of blood loss.

“Someone come over here and take this boy to a wagon! He needs to rest!” Raul ordered.

Several Spiritualists wandered over. One of them scooped the still crying boy into his arms. Raul looked at them for a moment, but then he wondered over to the other four people who had been attacked. He grimaced after studying them for a moment.

All of them were dead.

“It’s not a pretty sight, is it?” asked one of the Spiritualists who had come up to him.

“No, it’s not,” Raul admitted, turning around to study the man before him. He furrowed his brow. “You are… Balder, right?”

The person standing before him was man who looked maybe thirty-ish. He had blond hair, light blue eyes, and the same pale skin as most people from Nevaria. Raul was not well-aquainted with this man, but he knew that Balder had been a member of the Nevarian Braves before the Sekbeist Lords arrived and forced them all to retreat.

“I didn’t realize you knew who I was,” Balder said, surprised.

“How could I forget?” Raul smiled. “After all, you saved my life when we fled from Vahn. I could never forget that.”

“Ha ha. I’m glad you remember all that. It makes saving you worth it,” Balder exclaimed with a laugh.

Raul smiled but said nothing as he ordered several people to bury the bodies of the four who died. Then he began making his rounds. If there were anymore Sekbeist hidden among the civilians, he needed to find them before they could do even more damage.

Balder followed behind him, silent as though acting like Raul’s bodyguard.

Because he was unable to sense the Sekbeist for some reason, Raul could not discover any other intruders, which made him depressed. He was certain there were more hidden amongst them. He didn’t know when they had infiltrated the caravan though. Had they done so within the last few minutes after the battle started, or had they always been here, hiding their presence as the caravan fled west?

Raul seemed to ignore Balder as the young man drew closer to him. Faster than the eye could blink, Balder drew his sword and swung it at Raul, laughing—though that laughter was cut short when his sword hit nothing but air.

“What the—”

Before Balder could finish his exclamation of surprise, Raul appeared like a ghost on the man’s left side. He leaped into the air and spun around. He extended his right leg and struck Balder’s face with a powerful spinning heel kick that snapped the man’s neck like it was a twig. Balder spun around like a top, tumbled to the floor, and twitched several times before going still. Raul stared at the man with a frown before turning him onto his back.

Barely a second passed before runes began glowing on the man’s skin.

The runes soon vanished along with the Balder’s skin, revealing the face of a Sekbeist Shaman hidden underneath.

“Sorry,” Raul apologized to the corpse. “But if you were really Balder, then you would have known that I was the one who saved him.”

Raul did not know how those runes were able to disguise someone’s appearance and mask their presence, but he quickly came up with a plan to discover any other hidden enemies. He ordered everyone he came across to find their friends or family and ask them a personal question that only they could answer. It was soon discovered that among the forty thousand civilians, about one thousand of them had been killed and their personas replaced by a Sekbeist Shaman.

As Raul continued to work on exposing the Sekbeist infiltrators, he prayed that Father would return from his battle soon.