WIEDERGEBURT Act V: Chapter 43

Gudmund could not keep the grimace off his face as he realized they had been duped. The light from before had vanished, making it clear to him that Hilda had been the one controlling it. He’d heard a rumor that she had the ability to create lights wherever and whenever she wanted without regard for where she was. He hadn’t put much stock into it, but it looked like it was true.

And now he didn’t know where they were.

“Lord Gudmund… this place doesn’t look like it’s anywhere on the map,” one of his men said.

“I know that! I don’t need you to tell me!” he snapped.

The area they found themselves in was a wide passage with a curved ceiling, stone walls, and no sewer. The running water and moss they had been dealing with was gone. It had been a gradual shift, so Gudmund had not noticed until this moment, but the area around them now looked less like a sewer and more like the ruins of an abandoned temple.

“This place is creepy,” another man said.

“Creepy is right. Check out these motifs on the wall. What is this?” another asked.

Carved into the wall were motifs that depicted bizarre monsters battling against humans. His own men did not recognize these monsters because they had never dealt with them, but Gudmund remembered Sigrid’s description of the so-called Sekbeist. These things looked a lot like those creatures.

One thing Gudmund noticed about the Sekbeists in the carving was they were being led by someone who looked like a human with horns on his head. It was hard to tell anything from a carving, but for whatever reason, this image sent shivers down his spine.

Their group of seventy-two rounded a corner, but the moment they did, Gudmund sensed an eruption of Spiritual Power from his left. He stared at the wall. There was nothing there, and yet…

“Ambush!” Gudmund suddenly shouted as he leapt back. “Get away from the wall!”

Just as Gudmund shouted his warning, the wall erupted with an explosion of intense power and fire. Several large chunks slammed into his soldiers, crushing their heads, killing them instantly. Not only did the attack kill several of his men, but it also caused the ceiling above them to collapse. Screams echoed as nearly a dozen of his Spiritualists were buried. Meanwhile, the rest were cut off from him.

Gudmund stared in anger at the massive pile of rubble that was now blocking him from the others. However, he didn’t have time to focus on his bad luck. At that moment, the light tap, tap, tap of footsteps echoed from behind him.

He turned around to find a single figure walking toward him. Blonde hair drawn into a tight bun, exceptionally stunning blue eyes set upon a fair face. Her skin was a flawless white. Her figure was stunning. Slender and elegant, she walked forward with a gentle but deadly sway to her hips. It didn’t seem like she was doing it on purpose. Despite knowing this woman was in her fifties, Gudmund could not help but feel his nostrils flare as he stared at her elegant and gorgeous figure.

Her clothing was simple—a long-sleeved shirt, leather pants, boots, and a chestplate. However, she wore her clothing well. The fabric was completely unruffled. There was not a single smudge on her clothes.

“Hilda Astralia,” Gudmund said.

“Gudmund Drage.” Hilda’s eyes were cold. “Today is not your lucky day.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Gudmund’s eyes were bright as he began channeling Spiritual Power through his body. “I’ve been searching for you for such a long time, and now I have finally found you. Once I bring them your head, my position within the family will finally be elevated above my sister’s.”

Gudmund had never liked how his sister seemed to have a greater degree of authority than him. Their father doted on her, the elders assigned her more tasks, and she was known as the family’s princess. Meanwhile, he was just Gudmund. He didn’t hate his sister, but it rankled on his nerves to be seen as beneath her.

“Jealousy is an ugly thing,” Hilda murmured as she held out her hand. Light gathered in her palm, elongating as it transformed into the shape of a sword, which she grabbed firmly by the hilt. Swinging the light sword, the woman set herself in a basic stance with her dominant foot forward, knees slightly bent, sword pointed toward the floor. “Come, child. You were so intent on finding me, but let us see if you have what it takes to defeat me.”

Gudmund narrowed his eyes as he raised his hand and, just like Hilda had summoned her light sword, flames gathered around his hand, swirling like a whirlpool as they coalesced to form a shape. Long and thick, spewing fire like it was out of control, the sword Gudmund summoned contained none of the elegance Hilda’s sword did. If her weapon was refined, then his was wild.

“This time for sure… I will prove that I am better than Sigrid!”

With a roar, Gudmund shot forward, the ground cracking under his feet. He reached Hilda within seconds, raised his sword, and swung it down, releasing a roar that sounded as if it had come from a dragon.

Hilda was not moved. She stood in the same place as she bent her knees and thrust her sword forward. The point of her light sword struck to center of Gudmund’s fire sword, but then she flicked her wrist and forced his sword to fly past her. A perfect parry. It crashed into the ground and erupted with flames.

She normally would have used this opportunity to attack. His sword was grounded and the Spiritual Power seemed to have dispersed, but Gudmund raised his left hand and shot a fireball from his palm, forcing Hilda to leap away. The fireball slammed into the wall and left a scorch mark. Gudmund lifted his sword, grabbed it firmly with both hands, and charged at her again.

Fire and light erupted between them as the two began battling in earnest. Waves of heat spread through the once cool underground. Their shadows danced along the floor and walls, flickering in and out in time to their swords striking the other.

Neither of them used the Third State of Spiritualism, which granted them incredible strength but expended too much Spiritual Power to maintain.

Hilda leapt backward to avoid Gudmund’s brutal swing, then thrust out her sword, which suddenly extended to over three meters in a split second. Her attack was aimed right at his chest. At that moment, the runes on Gudmund’s chest activated and Hilda found her sword could move no further. Gudmund grinned as he swung his blade, striking her light sword to knock it off course before moving in for the kill.

His attack hit nothing. It went through Hilda’s body as if she wasn’t there. Gudmund grimaced as he raised his head to find Hilda standing five meters from her previous position.

“I forgot that you could move faster than light,” he muttered.

“And I forgot that you and your ilk stole the armor that had been made for my Imperial Royal Guard,” Hilda said coldly.

Gudmund smiled. “They aren’t your Imperial Royal Guard anymore. Them and the Nevarian Spiritualists now belong to my Drage Family.”

Hilda snorted. “You might have been able to buy off a few of the greedier ones, but if you think the Nevarian Spiritualists and Imperial Royal Guard will listen to a treacherous family like yours, then you are going to be sorely disappointed.”

“Anyone who doesn’t want to follow my Drage Family is free to. It will just mean their death!”

With another shout, Gudmund launched himself at Hilda, who met his attack head on, elegantly swinging her light sword to redirect the power in his attacks. Gudmund was prepared this time, however. When Hilda flicked her wrist to force his sword away, he let his weapon disperse, then remade it and swung again. This happened within a split second. Hilda had no way to bring her sword up to block.

So she didn’t.

Holding out her left hand, Hilda created a barrier of light. Gudmund’s fire sword slammed into the light barrier, flames exploding everywhere, an overbearing wave of heat sweeping through the hall. Her light shield flickered and sizzled, but it still held. Gudmand’s attack was blocked.

This time, he was the one who was forced to retreat.

“Tch! You really are strong. I see now why my father constantly warned me not to underestimate you,” Gudmund growled.

Hilda’s smile was cold and proud, like a queen looking down her nose at an unruly member of her court. “Many decades ago, your father challenged me for the right to rule Nevaria. He lost badly. It wasn’t even a challenge. And now his son has come to claim my head. You might be stronger than Gudbrand was at your age, but my own powers have increased substantially since the time your father challenged me.”

Gudmund gritted his teeth as he realized this battle would not be anywhere near as easy as he assumed it would be. He’d been arrogant to think he could defeat Hilda just because he was at the Third State of Spiritualism. Who was this woman? She was the former Empress of Nevaria, a woman who had defeated the former emperor in single combat when she was in her twenties. It would be strange if he could defeat her so easily.

“It doesn’t matter,” Gudmund said, shaking his head. “Even if I cannot defeat you, the rest of your group will die. I brought seventy-two Spiritualists with me. Your group might be strong, but strength means nothing in the face of numbers, and you cannot bring your strength to bear in this tunnel.”

That was right. In a tunnel such as this, which could easily collapse as this ambush proved, every Spiritualist had to be careful not to use any powerful Spiritual Techniques. A stray Spiritual Technique striking the wall could bury them all alive, crushing them beneath who knew how many tons of rock. This meant everyone was forced to rely on melee combat instead. Even Gudmand and Hilda were being careful about the techniques they used.

“Hmph! My husbands have all reached the Third State of Spiritualism,” Hilda said. “They might not be able to bring their full power to bear, but they will not lose to a couple of traitorous wretches.”

“The only wretch here is you,” Gudmund said with a cold snarl.

Leaping forward, he once again resumed attacking Hilda.

***

Immediately after collapsing the ceiling to separate Gudmund from his soldiers, Geirolf, Catalyna, Catherina, Reiner, and Valence raced out of the hole Valence had created in the wall and attacked the now sixty or so Spiritualists who had not been crushed by falling debris.

Reiner and Valence stood side by side as they fought with their respective weapons. Reiner wielded a pair of glaives that were glowing with green energy. The sharp winds surrounding his weapons were normally enough to cut through even steel with ease. He moved with grace, attacking, defending, and counter attacking in equal measure. On the other hand, Valence erupted with pure power as he swung the battle axe around, directly knocking away any enemy who came too close. Several Spiritualists found themselves being thrown against the wall under his brutal assault.

Darting between the attacking Spiritualists was a yellow streak. That streak was actually a woman. Catherina channeled the lightning element into her feet so she could skate along the ground, moving between the soldiers and attacking their joints and other weak points with pinpoint strikes. The two broadswords in her hand were no more than streaks of light.

Like Reiner and Valence, Catalyna and Geirolf were fighting together, though they fought as a husband and wife duo. Standing back to back, they let their Spiritual Powers merge.

Catalyna swung her lightning-coated sword. Her weapon was easily the largest among the group, but she swung it with complete ease, like it weighed less than a feather. Lightning swept over her opponents and several were lifted off their feet. While her elemental was wild and unrestrained, the woman herself was steady like a rock as she attacked the forces arrayed against them.

Meanwhile, Geirolf’s gauntlets were encased in green wind as he threw several punches. Each punch caused compressed bursts of wind to erupt from his fists, extending his range. They slammed into the soldiers attacking them, sending them flying back. However, none of his attacks seemed to do anything. The Spiritualists he sent flying climbed back to their feet and attacked again.

“They’re armor has runes on them!” he shouted as he noticed the runes flaring to life on their armor every time one of his enemies was struck. “These bastards are using the rune-enchanted armor meant for the Imperial Royal Guard!”

Rune-enchanted weapons and armor was something that had been introduced by the dweorg. They could be used to create a myriad of effects. The Rune Arrays covering the armor these Spiritualists were using, for example, created a powerful barrier that could block any Spiritual Technique that was weaker than the Spiritualist wearing the armor.

In other words, unless they used their more powerful Spiritual Techniques to overpower that armor, they would not be able to defeat these people.

While the group of five was more powerful than any of these Spiritualists, they were limited by the circumstances. Within this hallway deep underneath the ground, they were unable to bring out their more powerful techniques for fear of causing the roof to collapse, which also meant they couldn’t use the Spiritual Techniques that would overwhelm the runes on their enemies’ armor. This left them in a stalemate. The attacking Spiritualists could not defeat these powerful opponents, but neither could their side win against the superior weaponry of their opponents.

This battle had become one of attrition.

And unfortunately, the enemy had the advantage.

In a war of attrition, the most defining key factor required for victory was being able to outlast your opponent. It was a belligerent attempt at defeating the enemy by wearing them down to the point where they collapsed from exhaustion, loss of personnel, and resources. Right now, their enemies had the advantage. They had the numbers and equipment to outlast them.

What made the situation worse was that, as the battle continued, the attacking Spiritualists took out Spiritual Recovery Pills to restore the Spiritual Power they had used up. Of course, their side had pills too. But that hardly mattered when they were up against sixty Spiritualists who they couldn’t harm.

Despite facing an overwhelming situation, Geirolf, Catalyna, Catherina, Reiner, and Valence did not give up. They gathered together and used the narrow passageway to their advantage. The enemy forces couldn’t all attack at the same time. This hallway was only wide enough for four people to stand shoulder to shoulder. Three of them would stand at the ready and defend, while two people would stand back and consume a Spiritual Recovery Pill to restore their lost Spiritual Power. When one person was exhausted, they traded places.

This was the same strategy they had used during the Sekbeist-Demon Beast Invasion over three years ago. It worked just as well here.

However…

“We’re not making any headway,” Geirolf said with a grimace. “That armor makes it impossible for us to even kill them.”

Catalyna sighed. “It is a difficult situation. If only Lord Reiner and Lord Valence could bring their full power to bear, maybe the situation would turn around.”

Valence and Reiner had already reached the Third State of Spiritualism, which was considered the pinnacle by many. It allowed Spiritualists to transform their entire bodies into an element and control the element like it was an extension of their own bodies. If they were not underground, surrounded by old stone walls that might break if they used too much power, Reiner and Valence could have unleashed their most powerful attacks and demolished this group with ease.

Time passed and the situation became more and more hopeless. Their group began running low on Spiritual Recovery Pills. However, their enemies, which consisted of over sixty Spiritualists, still had plenty of pills and even more personal. It was more than just that, however. Their group was becoming physically exhausted. While they had some pills that could recover stamina, alchemy pills were still a poor substitute for rest.

Wounds soon began appearing on the group as they battled. Geirolf received a fierce cut on his forehead that caused blood to run down his face. Catalyna’s left arm broke when a Spiritualist wielding a hammer slammed his weapon into her. Reiner and Valence both received cuts along their arms and chests. Even Catherina became the victim of numerous cuts on her torso, blood running freely visible between her torn shirt.

Just as the situation was looking hopeless, screams erupted from somewhere behind the group of attacking Spiritualists. They were screams of agony and terror. Each sound drove stakes into the hearts of the attacking Spiritualists, causing a lull within the battle.

“What was that?!”

“What’s going on?!”

“Behind us! There’s an enemy behind us!”

The screams from the attacking Spiritualists caused Geirolf and the others to look up. They couldn’t see anything except the near endless group of enemies at first, but very soon, they were able to make out a flash of light in the distance. It was traveling closer and closer. With a jolt, everyone present realized what this light was.

It was a human figure, but their entire body was composed of electric blue lightning.

***

After finding the remaining Spiritualists who had been stationed at the camp and disposing of them, I raced into the underground network and began searching for Empress Hilda and her group. I didn’t know exactly where they were. However, if I was Empress Hilda, I would want to hide as far underground as possible, where no one would find me.

There was only one place I could think of.

Deep underneath the sewer system was an even older underground network that looked like it had once been a bunker of some sort. It had many interconnecting passageways. At the end of the passage was a room that had once been used by a Sekbeist Shaman to experiment on methods to control Demon Beasts. If Empress Hilda was going to be anywhere, I believed it would be there.

After racing down several floors, I eventually reached the hall where that room was, but when I got closer, I heard the sounds of battle. The clashing of steel rang in my ears. Shouts and screams reverberated down the hall. I narrowed my eyes and picked up the pace, rounding a corner where I found a group of several dozen Spiritualists attacking five people in the distance.

I recognized all of those people. They were Catalyna and Catherina, Geirolf, and Reiner and Valence. Two of them were Kari’s fathers, while one was her brother, and the other two were her brother’s wife and his wife’s mother. All of them were struggling against the overwhelming number of Spiritualists and their rune-enchanted armor.

A scowl appeared on my face as I compressed the Spiritual Power into my body, transformed into a human shaped bolt of lightning, and attacked. While the group ahead was unable to release their Spiritual Techniques for fear of causing the ceiling to collapse, I had no such worries. While in the Fourth State of Spiritualism, even an action as simple as swinging my arms was enough to cleave straight through that armor, runes or not.

This passageway was narrow. Only three Spiritualists could stand shoulder to shoulder and attack. I swept out my arm, slicing through the armor and bodies of the Spiritualists in front of me. Their screams of pain and shock alerted the others to my presence, but it didn’t matter.

“W-what is that thing?!”

“Is this some kind of monster?!”

“S-someone is attacking us from behind!”

The Spiritualists closest to me tried to attack with their weapons. Runes glowed on the surface of each weapon, creating an intense cutting power that could cleave through a human body with ease. But my body was currently not human. I was not made of flesh, blood, muscle, and bone. Their weapons struck my body, but they were the ones who got injured.

Arcs of lightning traveled up their weapons and shocked their hands, forcing them to drop their weapons. I took a step forward. Swinging my arm again, I extended the lightning covering my arm, turning it into a lightning version of the Dragon Tail Ruler. Agonized screams erupted from the mouths of dying Spiritualists as I cut them in half. Their bodies fell to the floor with dull thuds. There wasn’t any blood, but that was because my lightning had cauterized their wounds.

There was no scent of blood, but the smell of burnt flesh hung heavily in the air, thick and rancid. I was lucky that my body had transformed into lightning. If not for that, the smell would have been much stronger. Being composed purely of an element meant my human senses were muted.

Because I couldn’t release too much power, I walked slowly through the group of Spiritualists, using just enough power to overload their runes and cut through their bodies. One meter. Two meters. It was not long before I could see Catalyna, Catherina, Geirolf, Reiner, and Valence staring at me. They did not do anything as I killed the last of their enemies and stood before them.

“Is that you… Eryk?” asked a shocked Geirolf.

I dispersed my Spiritual Power and turned back into a human. Relief flooded through their eyes and made their bodies relax when they saw my appearance.

“It’s been awhile,” I said. Then I frowned. “Where is Mother?”

“She’s currently battling against Gudmund,” Valence said, turning his head to look at the rubble behind him.

“I see.” I looked at the rubble. Now that I was focusing, I could hear the sounds of battle from the other side. “In that case, I will help her now. Stand back please.”

The group moved away from the rubble as I once more transformed into lightning. I charged at the rubble, but I didn’t try to destroy it with power. My body split into multiple streaks that disappeared through the cracks and re emerged from the other side, reforming into a human shape.

Just like Valence said, my mother-in-law was battling against Gudmund, the two locked in a struggle of power versus skill. Neither of them seemed to have the upperhand. Empress Hilda had more skill than Gudmund, but he possessed more raw power than she did and was also wearing powerful rune-enchanted armor.

Because I was so bright, a luminous being of crackling lightning, Empress Hilda and Gudmund both noticed the light I produced and looked in my direction at the same time. While Gudmund’s eyes widened at seeing a human-shaped bolt of lightning, recognition flashed through Empress Hilda’s eyes. She seemed to recognize who I was despite my features being indistinct.

“W-what the hell?! What are you?!” Gudmund asked.

I did not answer him. Pointing a single finger, I fired a bolt of lightning at Gudmund, who reacted quickly by interposing his sword between himself and my attack. I was sure he thought he could defend against my attack with his compressed fire sword. That wasn’t what happened, however. My single bolt of lightning pierced the sword like it was made of butter, slammed into his chestplate, and pierced that as well. It went straight through his armor and struck his heart.

Gudmund watched, astonished, as his fire sword dispersed into particles. Then he looked down at the hole in his chestplate. Blood was welling up around the hole, but it wasn’t much since the wound had been cauterized. After blinking several times, he looked back at me, his mouth moving but no sounds coming out.

Then he fell onto his back.

With a sigh, I released the Spiritual Power I was compressing inside of myself and turned back into a human. Empress Hilda remained silent as she strode over to me, stepping around the corpse of Gudmund Drage to stand before me. She stared at me for several seconds, studying my face as though this was her first time seeing it, then opened her arms and closed the distance to wrap me in a hug.

I was so startled that all I could do was stand there.

“It is good that you have returned,” she said.

“Yeah… seems that way,” I muttered, not quite sure what to do or say.

“Silly boy, are you not going to give your mother a hug?”

At her mild reprimand, I flushed and raised my arms to hug the woman who could have passed for Kari’s older sister.

“When did you return?” asked Empress Hilda after releasing me. She stepped back and looked at me again, her face calm and composed once more.

“Just a few hours ago,” I replied. “I discovered what happened shortly after I returned and came here to find you.”

“A few hours,” Empress Hilda muttered. “You work fast. Where are Kari and the others?”

“Still in Midgard. I came alone because it was faster. I’m here to set up the Warp Gate that will connect Nevaria and Midgard together.”

Because I felt we were pressed for time, I did my best to explain what happened in as few words as possible. Empress Hilda listened to me and nodded slowly when I finished.

“I understand now. It seems I won’t be able to see my daughter until this situation has been taken care of.” Empress Hilda frowned for a moment, then shook her head. “It is good that you are here. Let us rejoin the others. There is a lot that we must discuss.”

With my help, we were able to remove the rubble blocking off the hallway without collapsing the rest of the ceiling. Geirolf, Reiner, and Valence came over to Empress Hilda immediately and questioned whether she was all right. Empress Hilda informed them she was fine and ordered the group to leave immediately. I soon learned that the rest of their group had used a secret passage to leave Bucharest, so that was where we were heading.

As we moved off, I withheld the emotions in my heart. I had returned simply to connect Nevaria and Midgard together, but what I returned to was my sect destroyed, my mother-in-law’s position usurped, and the Drage Family ruling over everything. Needless to say, I was not happy.