WIEDERGEBURT Act III: Chapter 49

I only needed one last ingredient to create the Yin-Yang Spiritual Enhancement Pill—the monster core of an S-rank Demon Beast with a lightning element affinity.

It had taken me months to discover where I could find such an S-rank Demon Beast. I had scoured the entire land looking for one, traveling to some of the most dangerous places I could think of, and nearly getting myself killed by running afoul several hordes of A-rank Demon Beasts. To be honest, I had only discovered the S-rank that I was going after by chance.

And that was how I found myself climbing Mount Himmellyn.

I gnashed my teeth together as I climbed up the near vertical ledge, placing one hand above the other and using the strength in my arms to pull myself up. I wasn’t using any climbing gear. I didn’t even have a rope. If I were to let go or slip, I’d fall however many thousands of meters down it was to reach the ground.

The cold wind bit into my skin like thousands of needles piercing me. Biting and fierce, it threatened to knock me out of the sky several times, but I tenaciously clung to the wall of this mountain.

There were no handholds or crevices for me to grab, so I used my strength to make them. I dug my fingers into the rock wall, puncturing the surface and digging out hand and footholds that I could use, then slowly ascending the mountain at what felt like the pace of a slug. Despite how long it felt like this was taking, I continued to climb up, up, and up.

“Hng!”

My eyes widened when one of the footholds I’d dug out cracked. The sediment fell away and my foot slipped, causing me to lose my balance. One of my hands also slipped out of the handhold I’d been using. Teetering back and forth, with only one hand keeping me from falling to a very painful death, I gritted my teeth, refusing to look down, and swung my arm so I could re-grab the handhold.

I found purchase in the smooth rock, which honestly didn’t feel very safe. My fingers kept slipping, causing me to dig into the rock more and more, making me fear the handhold would break. It didn’t, however, and so I continued my journey upward.

Day turned to night. Night turned to day. I didn’t know how much time had passed as I climbed this mountain. At one point, I found myself climbing through a section of the mountain surrounded by clouds. The moisture in the air caused the rocks to become slippery and wet. That made it a lot harder to climb. I had to not only continue carving out hand and footholds with my fingers, but I also had to use my water affinity to remove the moisture clinging to the rocks. The mental strain it put on me left me exhausted.

As the climb continued, I found that the area was getting less completely vertical. There were ledges and overhangs. I ended up climbing onto one of these ledges and using the water element to erode the wall of the cliff, creating a small cave that I slept in. It wasn’t a comfortable sleep by any means. The ground was cold, the air was thin, and I didn’t even have so much as a blanket to keep warm. I spent the entire time shivering.

However, after days of this, I finally managed to reach the summit.

The air was incredibly clear at the top of this mountain. It was far above the clouds, and so I had a perfect view of the vast blue sky. The sun shone brightly above my head, illuminating the massive mountain top, which was covered in rocky outcroppings and what appeared to be a giant nest.

Because of how high up I was, the air had become incredibly thin, to the point where breathing had become difficult. My breath was coming out in ragged puffs.

There was nothing here at the moment. Not a soul in sight. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, exactly, but an empty nest wasn’t it.

I walked further onto the mountain top, away from the cliff edge, and continued peering at the giant nest. It was probably around 40 to 50 meters in diameter. Unlike most nests, which were made from twigs, this one looked like it was made from whole trees. I reached out and touched one of the “twigs,” feeling out the rough texture of the bark.

A loud screech made me retract my hand. I looked up to see a silhouette descending from the sky. Panic spread through me as I realized this must be the Demon Beast I’d been looking for, and I quickly looked around before rushing behind a series of rocky outcroppings.

Seconds after I disappeared, a massive crash shook the mountain. I peered out from behind the rocks to see the creature that had landed.

It was absolutely monstrous.

I couldn’t even begin to guess at how large this creature was, but it towered over me by a fair bit. Bronze-colored feathers covered most of its body. However, its plumage was an electric blue, as were its striped tail feathers. The four talons on its feet were gigantic, each one easily as large as I was and covered in golden scales. A beak made from the same gold color jutted out, at least two or three times larger than me, and a pair of horns emerged from its head. The smaller horn in front sat on its beak, but the larger one was jutting from its forehead.

This was the Demon Beast I had been searching for.

The S-rank Giant Horned Lightning Eagle.

My heart was thudding in my chest as I stared at this creature, which twisted its head this way and that as if searching for me. If my breathing hadn’t already been labored, it would have been at the sight of this Demon Beast, so much larger than I was. Even though I hadn’t engaged it in combat yet, I knew it was incredibly strong, probably even stronger than me.

This battle was not going to be an easy one.

Sitting with my back against the rock, I reached into my pouch and began pulling out my supplies. I already knew what I had, but I wanted to check them again… to calm myself down.

I had one hundred blue pills that glowed with a gentle light. These were Spiritual Recovery Pills, which could recover Spiritual Power. They were the only pills I had brought with me. Since I had an affinity for water, I didn’t need to carry any healing pills.

Taking one more breath to calm myself down, I stood up and walked out from behind the rock.

My hardest battle yet was about to begin.

***

I stood in the brisk morning air, staring at the entrance to the Pteranodon Valley. Behind me, the sounds of people working reached my ears.

I was dressed in my usual outfit. The chest plate fit snugly over my shirt, partially hidden by my vest. My gloves creaked as I clenched my hands. The Dragon’s Tail Ruler, my weapon of choice, sat embedded into the ground before me.

“Eryk?”

At the sound of her voice, I turned around to face Fay. Like me, she was dressed in her normal outfit, which looked like a female version of my own. She also had a chest plate. However, unlike me, she also wore greaves and gauntlets. Her fiery hair was tied into a ponytail. Several bangs framed her porcelain face, highlighting her seductively narrowed eyes.

“What is it?” I asked.

“The crossbows and bolts have arrived,” she said.

“Oh. Thanks for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Care to inspect the equipment with me?”

“I would like that.”

Walking with Fay back into the camp, I soon found several wagons that had not been present the night before. They were typical carts with no tarp covering them. Several large boxes sat on them. I assumed the crossbows and ammunition was located inside.

“There you are,” a familiar man with silver hair said. It was Dante, dressed in his silver Neverian Spiritualist Captain armor. “We got the weapons you wanted. Figured I’d come deliver it personally to see how you and Kari were doing.”

“We’re doing fine,” I said. “Kari is currently directing our reconnaissance forces. She’s over there if you want to talk to her.”

I pointed out Kari, who stood beside Lin and Catalyna. She was talking to Bjark about something, making wide hand gestures, to which the much larger man nodded several times before wandering off. Next she began speaking with Catalyna, who nodded at whatever was being said. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but considering our task here, I imagined it was in regards to our plan.

“Naw. Seeing her doing so well is enough for me,” Dante said. “Anyway, why don’t you inspect the cargo here?”

“Yeah, sure,” I said.

Several of the Neverian Spiritualists who arrived with Dante tried to remove the crates, but Fay and I stopped them and did it ourselves. It took less time since we were physically stronger than them. I pried one crate open after that and looked inside.

Sitting inside the crate were several dozen crossbows. They featured a curved stock to improve the comfort of the design, making it easier to use even with just one hand. The bow was crafted from steel with pieces of leather on each end, which connected to the hemp bowstring. Several Runes were carved into the surface.

I picked one up and held the stock against my shoulder, noting how easy it felt to hold and aim. The front, back sight, and stirrup were all made from burnished metal. I glanced at the pulling mechanism.

“These look good.” I placed the crossbow back in the box.

“I’ve never seen a crossbow before. How are you supposed to use one of these?” asked Fay as she picked one up.

“Let me show you.”

I went up behind Fay and moved in close, until I could feel the warmth of her body. The scent of her hair pervaded my nose. She smelled good. It was a relaxing, calming scent.

Not quite trying to ignore the sensation of Fay pressed against me, but also not letting myself be overcome by it, I grabbed her hands and helped her get into the correct firing position. I directed her right hand toward the trigger, and had her use her left hand to keep the crossbow steady. Fay’s ears were red as I whispered into them.

“Spread her legs a little and bend them… just like that. Good. This will give you more stability when firing. Your left hand is used for stability. A lot of people tend to jerk their crossbows at the last moment for some reason. This will keep your bolts from going askew when you fire. Now that you are in position, what you need to do is look down the crosshairs—that’s the metal circlet. You line up whatever you are targeting into that circlet with the nail sticking out of the wood, and then you just pull the trigger.”

“It… it’s a bit easier to use than I expected,” Fay muttered, her breathing a little heavy.

I smiled. “Crossbows are popular because they are so easy to use. However, just because they are easy to use doesn’t mean they are easy to aim.”

I reluctantly backed away from Fay after showing her how to use the crossbow, wandering over to a crate that three Nevarian Spiritualists had set down. One of them had pried open the top. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of bolts were sitting inside, all of them lined up and stacked on top of each other in neat rows. I took one out. It was very well-made. The grains were smooth, covered in Runes, and the tip was encased in metal—exactly as I had asked.

“It looked like everything is in order,” I said, setting the bolt back down.

“In that case, we’ll begin unloading everything,” Dante said. “After that, we have to head out and get to our posts. We’ll be counting on you to help cull the enemy numbers a little.”

“I’ll certainly do my best,” I said.

“Father!” a voice suddenly shouted seconds before Kari ran up to Dante.

“Hey, Kari.” Dante gave his daughter that lazy grin he was so well-known for. “You look like you’re doing well despite the circumstances. I see you’ve become quite the leader.”

Kari beamed at Dante. “Bet you’re surprised, huh?”

“You bet I am.” Dante laughed.

Leaving Kari to speak with her father, Fay and I began directing people to unload the crates and inspected the cargo. We had to make sure none of the crossbows were broken. It was also important to check the bolts. If one of them had a chip or the Runes were incorrectly written, the bolt would be useless. Best case it wouldn’t work. Worst case it would explode in your face. I wanted to avoid that.

There were only a few bolts that wouldn’t work. Either they were chipped or the Runes had been incorrectly drawn into it. We discarded those and put the rest in quivers.

The total number of crossbows we had were 360, and we had around 4,900 bolts to use, which meant each quiver only came with 13 bolts. That didn’t sound like a lot. However, we were not fighting a battle that was meant to last for long. These weapons had a very specific purpose. I judged 13 bolts to be enough for each person. Technically, they only needed one to get the job done, but that was only if they were a perfect shot.

Lin arrived at some point to begin helping us. Like myself, Kari, and Fay, she was wearing her chest plate and vambraces. Her skin was still notoriously bare. Her flat stomach, slender shoulders, and the small of her back were visible since the chestplate only covered her breasts. Her exotic looks and lack of clothing distracted some of the men—until I decided they weren’t busy and needed to “spar” with me to keep their skills sharp.

They stopped staring after that.

Dante said goodbye to us and left after the crossbows and bolts were unloaded. Then I began the process of teaching people how to use these weapons.

Crossbows were not weapons that most people used. Spiritualists never saw the need to since they could just rely on their Spiritual Power, which granted them long-range elemental attacks. Generally speaking, the only people who used crossbows were hunters.

We were fortunate that the crossbow was so easy to learn; it only took about one hour to teach everyone how to load the crossbow, aim, and fire.

As I walked through the camp, I listened to the myriad of discussions taking place. Most people were talking about the incoming army and our role in it. While some people seemed calm, a few looked like they were just barely keeping their sanity intact. You could tell the people’s emotions apart by what they were doing. Those who had courage were calmly going about their daily routines, while those who were nervous either bragged about what they would accomplish during the fight or sat by one of the campfires and tried not to shiver in fear.

Kari, Fay, and Lin stuck with me. I was very grateful for their presence. They didn’t just help me keep calm; they also made everything easier for me by performing some of the tasks I had set for myself like helping settle disputes between Spiritualists. Sadly, even in a situation like this—no, especially in a situation like this where tension was running high—arguments were bound to break out.

Of course, their way of solving the situation was to meet violence with violence.

“What’s going on here?” asked Kari with a frown as she stepped between a scuffle that was about to break out.

The two people fighting were a man and woman respectively. The man had the standard blonde hair of Nevarian people, but the woman’s hair was more brunette. It was clear from his armor that the man was of high-standing. His custom-made breastplate gleamed silver in the light. Meanwhile, the woman’s chest plate, greaves, and gauntlets were dinged and scratched, clearly far older and not made to fit her exact body measurements.  

“This asshole tried to cut in line for food!” the woman shouted.

“This bitch thinks she can go before me!” the man shouted as well. “Do you not realize who I am?! I am the heir to the prestigious Adevelt Family! Our noble lineage goes back several generations!”

“Why the hell would I care about something like that?!”

“You should care!”

As the two began arguing again, Kari sighed and glanced at Fay, who nodded in response to the look. Lin and I stood back as the two stepped forward. Before the man and woman even had time to utter another word, the pair were sent flying from a powerful punch to the face. They became sprawled on the ground, blinking several times, and then slowly sat up and gawked at Kari and Fay.

“I know everyone is feeling tense right now, but I’m gonna have to ask that you cease your pointless squabbling,” Kari said with a smile so brilliant it made the faces of the man and woman on the ground pale. She pointed at the man. “You might be from a noble family, but that does not give you the excuse to cut in line for food. Everyone is equal in our sect. And you—” she pointed at the woman “—need to relax. Yes, he cut in line, but was it really that big of a deal? There is plenty of food to go around. You are making Demon Beasts out of rodents.”

“We… we understand,” the man and woman said at the same time. They couldn’t even look Kari and Fay in the face. I wondered if it was because of shame or fear?

“Good,” Kari said with a pleased smile and a nod.

“Big Sister is scary when she’s settling disputes,” Lin said.

I could do nothing but nod.

Some time after the argument was settled, Siv came flying down from the sky. She landed next to me. Her face was a little pale, though it didn’t look like she had exerted herself much. I suspected something else had caused her to look this way.

“The army… entering is—is entering the valley,” Siv said.

“Right now?” I asked.

She nodded. “Right now.”

“I guess it’s a good thing we got that shipment in this morning.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “What do their forces look like? Where are the flying Demon Beasts?”

“Flying ones… left already. They… split up?” Siv paused, tilted her head, then nodded. “They split up from main force. I saw them traveling… west.”

“Which means they are probably going around the mountain range to attack Nevaria from the west or south-west side,” I determined before making a decision. “Siv, please travel west of here and locate Dante’s battalion. They should be stationed several kilometers away. Let him know what you just told me and ask them to hide, then head into Nevaria and tell Rainer to prepare the ballistae to intercept flying enemies.”

“I do that—no, I will do that,” Siv said with a nod before taking off.

I felt a little bad for making her work so hard, especially since I knew she didn’t do well around people, but I also couldn’t do anything else. She was the fastest person here thanks to her wings and wind affinity.

“Everyone! The enemy is coming! Grab your weapons and prepare to move out!” I shouted so loudly no one could have not heard me. “Join up with your squad leader and head to your designated locations. Do not, I repeat, do not engage the enemy under any circumstances! We are only here to whittle away at their forces! Not fight a prolonged battle!”

My words caused everyone to quickly move out. Spiritualists grabbed the crossbows we had set up, a quiver full of bolts, and then met up with their squad leaders.

I had divided everyone into squadrons led by one of the B-rank Spiritualists—Catalyna, Kari, Fay, Lin, Bjark, Geirolf, Marko, Mykkel, Earland, Hansel, and Ingrid. Each B-rank Spiritualist was in charge of 30 people.

Under the directions of the B-rank Spiritualists and myself, our squad of 30 each spread out. Kari, Fay, Catalyna, and Hansel went left, climbing up a mountain side and hiding themselves behind a series of massive rocks. Bjark, Geirolf, Marko, and Earland went the opposite way, traveling into a line of trees on the side furthest from the entrance. The remainder of us—myself, Ingrid, Mykkel, and Lin—remained at the entrance. Our forces of 30 each were spread several meters apart from each other. Once everyone was in position, we did the only thing we could do.

We waited.

***

Deep within the Drage Family’s mansion, a thick door made of stone suddenly shifted. Loud groaning echoed through the room as the door opened, first a crack, and then even further. This door, which weighed several tons, finally opened fully, allowing a person to step through them. A pair of guards who stood on either side of the door suddenly knelt on the ground and bowed their heads in reverence.

“Princess, it is good to finally see you come out of conclusion,” they said.

The one they called princess looked at them, snorted, then said, “inform the elders that I have returned and request a meeting with them.”

“At once, Princess.”

One of the guards hurriedly stood up and dashed toward a set of stairs. She watched him disappear, crossing her arms and tapping her left index finger against her elbow.

The wait wasn’t long, but it felt like hours. She spent most of her time watching the other guard, who appeared to have broken out into a cold sweat, in amusement. Seeing weaklings act so nervously around her was always amusing. By the time the other guard arrived, the one left with her was sweating buckets.

“T-the elders said they would see you now. They are waiting in the council chamber,” the guard said.

She didn’t spend anymore time on these guards, instead walking up the stairs, leaving the basement behind. Wandering the mansion, she looked at everything to see if any changes had been made while she’d been in seclusion. It didn’t look like it. Everything seemed exactly the same as it always had been.

After passing through a pair of double-doors that two nervous guards held open for her, she entered the council chamber, lit only by several monster core lamps, and knelt before the elders. The stale air in this place made her wish she could wrinkle her nose. She could smell the ancient scent of the people she was greeting, which reminded her of old parchment mixed with something acidic. It was not pleasant.

“I have returned from my seclusion, Lord Elders,” she said.

“It is good that you have returned to us, Sigrid,” one of the elders said. “I see you have reached the Third State of Spiritualism.”

“That is correct.”

She had no idea what method these elders used to divine that she had reached the Third State of Spiritualism. Of course, she would not have come out of seclusion unless she had reached it, but the way they spoke made it sound like they could actually sense that she had reached it rather than making a mere educated guess.

“Much has happened since you went into seclusion,” another elder said. “Several problems have arisen that will require your attention.”

“Please tell me about these problems,” she requested.

The elders soon began speaking of a man known as Eryk Veiger—a person of unknown origins who had appeared within Nevaria and rocked the entire city with his awe-inspiring performance during the Spiritualist Grand Tournament. She found herself intrigued as she continued to listen. She was especially intrigued by him when she heard that he had a dual-natured affinity for lightning and water, and that he had reached the Third State of Spiritualism with both of them. This man sounded interesting.

“At present, an army of Demon Beasts and Sekbeist are coming to Nevaria, so we cannot afford to move against Empress Hilda and her family,” the head elder said. “We will have to wait until after the threat of this army has passed.”

“I understand,” Sigrid said.

“Go and get some rest. I am sure you are tired after remaining in seclusion for an entire year.”

“Yes, Head Elder.”

Sigrid stood up, headed out of the room, and wandered down the hall until she flagged down a passing maidservant.

“Prepare a bath for me,” she ordered.

“At once, Princess,” the maidservant said with a shiver.

The maidservant led Sigrid to her bedroom, which was large and relatively empty. It only had a few basic necessities like the bed, a desk, a dresser, and a large copper tub.

The maidservant was quick to prepare a bath, gathering water into the copper tub and using a C-rank monster core with a fire affinity to heat it up. She bowed to Sigrid before offering to help her take off her clothes. As her body was bared, goosebumps broke out on her skin and her nipples grew stiff from the cool air. However, that changed when she stepped into the hot water and leaned back in the tub. A sigh escaped her lips as the warm water washed away the grease and sweat she had accumulated while inside of the isolation chamber.

“Eryk Veiger, huh?” she murmured as she lifted one leg and massaged her thigh. The smile on her face grew wider. “I am very interested in seeing what kind of man he is.”