WIEDERGEBURT Act III: Chapter 33

Demon Beasts were everywhere. I didn’t know if maybe their sense of territory had changed, but there were dozens of times more Demon Beasts within Nevaria now than there had been back when Kari and I first fled the city.

I glanced at the corpses strewn before me, which consisted of numerous types of Demon Beast, from the C-rank Dire Wolves to the B-rank Silverbacks.

They had attacked me moments after walking further into Nevaria. All of them had been just wandering around the farmlands, claiming territory and getting into territorial disputes until I came along. Of course I cut them down without mercy. After gazing at the mostly dismembered corpses for several more seconds, I turned my heel and continued on.

My destination at the moment was not the city, which I planned to visit eventually. It was the small mansion located in the isolated mountain pass that I traveled to first. Marked by the rotting corpse of the Behemoth, which I guess had died because it couldn’t move with its missing leg, the mountain pass mansion that me, Kari, and several others had used as a refuge was nothing but ruined buildings.

The stench of the rotting corpse was nearly overpowering. It hit me the moment I entered the pass, a smell that reminded me of sulfur and raw eggs, but although I wrinkled my nose, I still did my best to ignore the smell.

Walking around the corpse, I stared at the other Demon Beasts who made the now destroyed mansion their home. A large pack of Dire Wolves wandered the grounds. Several dozen Pteranodons had made the cliffs their nest. I couldn’t see any other types of Demon Beasts among them, but the leader of the Dire Wolves was a Greater Dire Wolf, a B-rank Demon Beast that was several times larger than a normal Dire Wolf. It had a horn on its head that could fire off bursts of purple lightning.

A loud screech went up as I continued walking. One of the Pteranodons had noticed me. Clicking my tongue, I pointed at the creature and fired a condensed blast of lightning at it. My attack blew a huge hole straight through the Demon Beast’s chest. The Pteranodon didn’t even let out a death wail as it pitched forward and fell down the cliff.

This alerted the other Demon Beasts to my presence.

Dire Wolves turned their heads as if tracing the lightning blast to its source. Snarls issued from throats as their eyes locked onto me. The Greater Dire Wolf, which stood at a height that was nearly half the Behemoth, let loose a furious howl that caused the other Dire Wolves to race forward. Their target was obviously me.

I reached behind my back and grabbed the Dragon’s Tail Ruler, pulling it from my back and swinging it forward as I channeled lightning through it. The ruler divided into segments and attacked the Dire Wolves like it was a tail.

One Dire Wolf became impaled through the skull, but the Dragon’s Tail Ruler soon tore the creature apart and moved onto the next one. It sliced through another of the Demon Beast, cutting it in half, then continuing to impale one, two, three more before I retracted it.

Despite having killed five Dire Wolves, there were still so many left. I counted at least two dozen.

Of course, that was just the Dire Wolves. There were also the Pteranodons flapping around in the sky. Several of them were swooping down toward me.

Waving my hand in a wide arc, I released a strong wave of lightning from my fingertips that slammed into several of the Pteranodons. These Demon Beasts could not even shriek as my lightning caused their hearts to stop beating. They fell to the ground with dull thuds one after the other.

By this point, the Dire Wolves had arrived and pounced at me, but I made liberal use of the Flash Step to defeat them. I appeared beside one, sliced through it with a strong overhand swing, and then ignored the two halves flying in separate directions as I used the Flash Step to appear above another Dire Wolf. While in midair, I rotated my body like a corkscrew. The Dragon’s Tail Ruler sliced through the sinuous neck of another Dire Wolf, separating the Demon Beast’s head from its shoulders.

Landing on the ground, I did not remain there for long as I leapt into the air using the Flash Step Version 2: Jump Step, which I had mastered during my time in the Endless Desert. Now high in the air, I looked down at the Dire Wolves as they turned their heads to growl up at me.

A shriek made me shift my attention.

Several more Pteranodons were flying toward me, their beaks open wide as though to take a chunk out of me. I could feel my lips twisting into a snarl as I swung the Dragon’s Tail Ruler and channeled lightning through it. The lightning surged. It exploded from the Dragon’s Tail Ruler as I rotated around and around, creating a powerful cyclone of energy that expanded outward.

The Pteranodons didn’t stand a chance. Their bodies were struck by lightning and fried. Muscles seized up. Hearts stopped beating. The Pteranodons quickly fell to the ground in droves, striking the hard earth with enough force to dent it.

While still in midair, I held the Dragon’s Tail Ruler with two hands and swung it at the pack of Dire Wolves, unleashing wave after wave of water blades into them. Howls and whimpers went up as my attacks sliced into them. I could feel the drain on my Spiritual Power as I continued to manipulate the water element in conjunction with using the Flash Step Version 2: Jump Step to stay aloft, but I didn’t let up until most of the Dire Wolves were dead.

Finally, the only one left was the Greater Dire Wolf.

The Greater Dire Wolf had not attacked me with the others, but had watched me instead. It seemed to be more intelligent than the other Demon Beasts. As I landed on the ground, its massive horn crackled with purple lightning, and I was soon forced to move back as it sent a burst of lightning at me. The ground exploded as I used the Flash Step to dodge. Rather than moving back, however, I moved forward, heading straight for the Greater Dire Wolf.

I closed the distance between me and my enemy in a split second. Swinging the Dragon’s Tail Ruler, I sliced the Greater Dire Wolf’s left flank open. Dark red blood spilled from the wound as the creature howled. It tried to leap back, but I channeled lightning through my weapon and swung again, not only cutting deeper into the creature, but also forcing its muscles to seize up. Once it was unable to move, I raised my weapon above my head and brought it down. Flesh and tendons were severed as I cut off its head.

Taking several deep breaths to calm my racing heart, I looked around and saw that all of the Demon Beasts were dead. I turned my gaze to the mansion. The walls that surrounded it were destroyed. Most of the building looked like it had collapsed, but I wondered if a few of the rooms were still useable.

I traveled through the destroyed front door. The inside was a wreck. The floor was cracked, there were claw marks on the ground, and the walls were on the verge of breaking. I tried to find the room me and Kari shared back then, but it looked like that room was one of the destroyed ones.

Since it looked like there was nothing here, I exited the mansion and left.

My small revenge was complete.

***

I was finding myself taking a lot more carriage rides with Fay recently. The first time it was when we traveled to the Valstine Family estate, and now we were on our way to visit Gudmund Drage at his family’s estate.

Nevaria was busy as ever. I glanced outside the carriage to find hundreds of people milling about. This carriage had glass windows—a sign of nobility—so I couldn’t smell the delectable scent of food filling the air, but I could see numerous street vendors selling kebabs, sandwiches, and a variety of other dishes.

After observing the people we passed, many of whom glanced at us thanks to the fancy carriage we were riding, I leaned back in my seat and looked at Fay.

“Are you nervous?” I asked.

“A little.” Fay tried to smile at me, but it was shaky. “The idea of visiting the Drage Family is honestly kind of frightening. We know so little about them… and I don’t really want to see Gudmund again.”

I understood how she felt perfectly. When Gudmund had first introduced himself at the party, I felt like there was something wrong with him. He gave me the feeling of being a Dire Wolf in sheep’s clothing. Remembering his sharp smile, which seemed to hide deadly rows of teeth, made me wary of him.

“Well,” I reached out and grabbed Fay’s hand, “it’s not like I don’t understand how you feel, but just remember that you’re not alone. We’re going to deal with this man together.”

“Right.” Fay took a deep breath, calmed down, and smiled at me. “Thank you, Eryk.”

“Anytime.”

The Drage Family estate was located further in the western quadrant of Nevaria than any other noble family. Our carriage traveled through a gate being guarded by a pair of Spiritualists, both of whom I discovered through Spiritual Perception had reached the Second State of Spiritualism. After passing through the gate, a large plot of land stretched out for several kilometers before us. Most of the land was decorated with flowers. The carriage traveled down the only road available.

“I guess they really are an insular family,” I muttered.

Fay nodded. “They own the largest property in Nevaria. Their mansion is located at the far end of the western district, which is about as far away from everyone else in the city as you can get.”

We reached another gate being guarded by more Spiritualists. Once more, all of them had reached the Second State of Spiritualism, which really made me wonder how powerful these people were, and if they were so powerful, why was I just now hearing about them? Surely I would have heard about this family in my past life.

I didn’t ponder these thoughts for long, knowing that I wouldn’t find an answer and so thinking about it would do no good. Instead, I focused on steadying my breathing. Gudmund had more or less picked a fight with me when he decided to go after Fay. I had no intention of letting something like this go.

As the carriage came to a stop, the driver opened the door and allowed me and Fay to step outside.

For this evening, I had chosen clothing that was refined but functional. The black tunic had gold lining the hem, neckline, and sleeves. A belt was wrapped around my waist. Meanwhile, my black pants contrasted with my brown boots. While it looked simple, the clothing was made from the most expensive Demon Beast silk valis could buy. What’s more, hidden underneath the silk was armor adorned with protective Runes.

Fay was also wearing something different from the norm—a light pink dress that had small straps holding it aloft. Her shoulders and collarbone were completely bare. However, it did have sleeves. They hung off her arms, connected to the body of the dress. The loosely hanging fabric hung off her body but still managed to showcase the elegant swell of her chest and thin waist. White stockings covered her legs and stopped at about mid-thigh. There was a small gap between her dress and stockings, leaving her milky white skin on display. She was wearing white slippers instead of boots.

Because Fay hated dressing up, she had opted not to have her hair done. It hung around her like a fiery veil, red strands scintillating in the light, framing her elegant and beautiful face. With her narrowed eyes and lush ruby lips, Fay had a naturally seductive quality that I had only seen in people like Erica.

I offered Fay my arm. She took it, and together, we walked up to the large mansion that loomed before us.

The mansion was a study in opulence, looking more like a castle than a simple mansion. We were first led through the gatehouse, which was the only means of entering the castle keep. A large wall with several turrets surrounded the castle. Spiritualist guards stood on those turrets and protected the castle from outside intrusion, though I felt they were largely unneeded.

Someone stood on the other side of the gatehouse as we entered the bailey. It was a young woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and wearing the black and white tunic of a maid. Carrying an elegance about her, the woman bowed low upon our arrival.

“We have been expecting you, Master Eryk and Mistress Fay,” she said in a voice that I could hear clearly despite being so soft-spoken. “Please, follow me. I shall lead you to where Lord Gudmund is currently waiting.”

As the woman turned on her heel and began walking, Fay and I glanced at each other. Neither of us had missed how she said they had been expecting both me and Fay. This just proved that Kari was correct. Gudmund knew that I would come with Fay.

While that put me on guard, I didn’t let it show as I walked arm in arm with Fay, following the blonde woman as she led us to the keep. It was a large tower composed of massive stones. The center shape was that of a rectangle, but there were also spires at each edge. One of those spires had another spire that was attached to it via a bridgeway several dozen meters above our heads.

We were led up a set of stairs that ended in a large door. A guard held the door open for us. Inside, we found a simple hall leading to a staircase. The maidservant immediately went to the staircase.

Judging from what I had seen outside, this mansion or castle was about five or six-stories tall. It had several different staircases in each of the four spires connected to the main building. Each floor was massive and served a different function. Some appeared to host numerous bedrooms while another resembled a grand dining hall. I tried my best to memorize the layout as we walked.

There weren’t too many people present, but all the people we did past glanced at us curiously, like they were wondering what a couple of strangers were doing in their home. All of them held similar facial structures to Gudmund and Gudbrand. In fact, they all looked so similar to those two that it caused a chill to run up my spine.

The maidservant led us to one of the spires. I soon realized it was the one connected to the second spire. After traveling up a set of stairs, we walked across a bridge, and entered the standalone spire. The moment we walked through the door, Fay released a soft gasp.

I couldn’t blame her.

What appeared before us was a menagerie of colorful flowers, arrayed in a pleasant aesthetic that resembled a rainbow. There were many different types of blossoms. Some had large petals that were the size of my head, while others had dozens of little petals. There were fronds, vines with unique purple flowers sprouting from them, and a host of other plants that I recognized because they were used in alchemy.

“Wow…” she muttered.

I said nothing as we were led to the center of the spire, but I didn’t disagree with her voiced admiration.

A round table had been set up in the very center of this room, three seats arrayed around it, and one of the three was already taken.

Gudmund Drage, the heir of the Drage Family, sat with his hands in his laps as he admired the flowers. His head turned as we walked closer and a smile lit his face. Standing up, he offered the two of us a bow.

“I am glad you accepted my invitation. Please, sit down.”

I could already see from his movements that he was going to pull out Fay’s seat for her, but I beat him to it. Gudmund frowned at me. However, I feigned ignorance as Fay sat down in the chair, which I helped her scoot closer to the table. The man looked uncertain for a second, but then he seemed to decide that I hadn’t done this to spite him and a smile appeared on his face again as he sat down. Once I had taken my seat, he began speaking once more.

“I hear you have been very busy,” he said while looking at Fay. So he was going to ignore me? Was he doing this on purpose, or was he really just that interested in Fay?

“Not as busy as Eryk,” Fay answered, glancing at me with a smile. “I’ve mostly been attending the Spiritualist Academy. Eryk and Lin have been running the sect while me and Kari are taking classes.”

“Even so, taking classes only to arrive back home and do work for your… sect is quite hard, isn’t it? I imagine you must be doing a lot of work.”

“Maybe, but I enjoy it.”

Like when I had rebuffed Gudmund’s attempt at helping Fay into her seat, he was now focusing entirely on Fay and snubbing my attempt to enter the conversation. I couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose at first. That changed, however, when Fay tried several times to include me into the conversation, only to be forced back into a one-on-one dialogue.

“These are quite the lovely flowers you have here,” I said suddenly, thoroughly disrupting the dialogue between Gudmund and Fay. While the redhead sent me a grateful look, Gudmund was frowning, though it disappeared again. He was quite good at masking his emotions.

“I am glad you like my garden,” he said. “I have spent many years cultivating this garden in my free time.”

“So you made this garden yourself?” I asked.

A small bit of pride entered Gudmund’s eyes. “That is correct.”

I looked at the flowers again and activated Spiritual Perception, narrowing my eyes as the colors faded from existence. The world soon became visible in shades of gray. Then it changed again and small flames of color appeared in my vision.

The three largest flames belonged to the maidservant, Fay, and Gudmund. Fay’s Spiritual Signature was a bright and fiery red so intense it looked like anything that came close to it would be burned to a crisp. By contrast, Gudmund’s Spiritual Signature was… muted. I didn’t show any surprise on my face, but when I saw how Gudmund’s body was covered by a very small blue flame, I could not help but feel shocked. I thought he had a fire affinity. The maidservant seemed to have an even stronger Spiritual Signature than Gudmund, and it was a bright red just like Fay’s.

Something was wrong here, but I didn’t say anything.

“This garden is thick with Spiritual Power,” I said at last.

“So you can sense it.” Gudmund smiled, but it was razor sharp and seemed predatory. “These flowers have been consistently feeding on my Spiritual Power, making them very strong.”

“So I see.”

It was certainly possible to feed plants Spiritual Power to make them hardier than most. Members of the Alchemist Association back in the Northern Plains did that to increase the potency of their alchemy pills, though this was an advanced method of plant cultivation.

If you feed a plant too much Spiritual Power, then it will explode from being unable to contain it. If you feed a plant too little, then nothing will happen. To nourish each plant required knowledge of that particular plant and an incredible amount of control over your own Spiritual Power. This meant only someone who had been studying botany for years and was skilled at manipulating Spiritual Power could create a garden such as this.

“I’m very impressed,” I said honestly. “I had no idea you were a botanist.”

Gudmund shrugged. “I wouldn’t call myself a true botanist. I like to dabble.” He glanced at some of the flowers and smiled. “Did you know that when you continue feeding Spiritual Power to flowers, they become cannibalistic? It used to be common practice among alchemists to segregate flowers and feed them Spiritual Power to make them more potent. The reason they segregated the flowers was because they didn’t want them beginning to feed off each other.”

I wondered how Gudmund knew so much about alchemy practices, which I assumed had been long lost. Perhaps he had found a book that survived the destruction of the previous Alchemist Association. It was certainly possible. I doubted Skygge could have destroyed all evidence on alchemy. A few books must have survived.

“If these plants begin feeding off each other when put together like this, why do you do it?” asked Fay.

“Because I like seeing them struggle.” Admitting this, Gudmund’s already sharp expression became even sharper as he smiled. “Life is all about struggling. The strong eat the weak, and the weak try to become the strong by eating those weaker than themselves. It is a constant and vicious cycle. I love that cycle. I love watching the strong eat the weak, love seeing the struggle between life and death, victory and defeat. These plants I have so carefully cultivated epitomize the natural process known as survival of the fittest.”

“Survival of the fittest, huh?” I muttered as I stopped looking at the plants to look at Gudmund. “I am somehow not surprised to hear you espouse ideologies like that.”

Gudmund leaned back in his chair. “I take it you don’t agree?”

“I do not,” I stated. “In the Demon Beast Mountain Range, it is true that the strong flourish and the weak perish, but that is not true for humans. It is the duty of the strong to protect the weak.”

“Nonsense,” Gudmund stated with a smile. “The strong have no duty to the weak. Those who cannot help themselves do not deserve to be helped. Only people who can offer something of greater or equal value to their own life deserve to be saved.”

I didn’t let it show on my face, but this man’s words irritated me. I felt something black bubbling inside of my body. It simmered just beneath the surface of my skin.

Fay looked back and forth between us. Uncertainty was written on her face. I could tell she was thinking of intervening, but she also understood that it was probably not a good idea. Even so, she took a deep breath.

“I agree with Eryk,” she said. “A community can’t flourish if only the strong exist. By your definition, everyone who is strong will eat those who are weak, but if you do that, then there will be nothing left but you.”

Gudmun shrugged. “The strong already exist on a mountain, a plateau that the weak will never be able to reach no matter how hard they try. They are already alone.”

This argument was one I had heard before, but it had been a long time since I had heard it. The Sekbeists espoused this argument. Some of the Warlords I had fought held similar beliefs. They believed that since humans were weak, they deserved to be eradicated. Of course, many of those same Warlords had been killed by the humans they judged as weak.

“It seems we are not going to agree on this matter,” I said.

“No, it seems not,” Gudmund replied. He looked disappointed.

The maidservant soon arrived again with a light meal made of braised lamb with red wine. It was a delicious meal worthy of nobility. I could hardly taste the meal. It seemed to have no flavor. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I could not help but think something was wrong.

I didn’t realize it until after we were already traveling back home in the carriage, but Gudmund had not mentioned anything about annulling the marriage agreement between m and Fay even once.

***

Gudmund knelt in a large room lit up by monster cores lining the walls and ceiling. His head was bowed low. While he could sense the three overwhelming presences in front of him, he did not dare to look at them.

“So? How was the meeting with Fay Valstine? Do you believe she will serve our purposes?” The stale air seemed to vibrate with power as one of the three figures spoke.

“Not as she is now,” Gudmund admitted honestly. “She has the same belief as the empress of Nevaria, that the strong need to protect the weak.”

A thick tension filled the air suddenly, threatening to make Gudmund look up, if only to see the expressions on the faces of the three people he knelt in front of. Of course, even if he had looked up, all he would have seen was a large screen hanging from the ceiling. These three never revealed themselves to others, not even members of their own family.

“That is most disappointing,” one of them said.

“Our Queen cannot have such a weak mentality,” another added.

“I thought you said she was different,” said the last. Unlike the other two voices, which were male, this one belonged to a woman.

“I thought so too,” Gudmund admitted. “I still think so. While her mentality right now has conformed to the outdated ideals of Nevaria’s royal family, I know she has what it takes to become our Queen. All she needs is some proper guidance.”

Gudmund would never forget the first time he had seen Fay. It had been over a year ago. He remembered catching a glimpse of her training. Her movements had been awkward and clumsy, and she had been suffering from some kind of illness, but she had been so ravishing, so strong. Her iron will and fierce determination had shone through in her actions.

He had been able to tell that, back then, Fay had only sought strength for herself. She hadn’t cared about others. All she wanted was the strength to accomplish her goals.

It had actually been his intention to help her when she became a little more desperate. He would appear before her, a savior in her hour of need, and after he healed her, she would become his. His plan had been to teach her the true ways of the world. When she reached the pinnacle of strength, they would wed and she would become the Queen who stood by his side, the woman who would help their family conquer Nevaria.

His plan had been perfect—should have been perfect, but there was a single flaw that he hadn’t thought about back then. He never could have imagined that someone else would appear before Fay and offer to save her before he could.

He tightened his hands into fists.

Eryk Veiger didn’t know of the hatred that Gudmund felt for him. That boy had appeared on the scene like a bolt of lightning, tearing asunder many of his carefully laid plans. Now he was engaged to the woman who should have become Gudmund’s Queen, and he was brainwashing her with silly ideas like protecting the weak. It was enough to make him nauseous. The strong ruled the weak with an iron fist, and the weak who did not obey the strong were snuffed out like candles. That was the natural order of things.

“Do you think you can give her that proper guidance?” asked one of the figures.

“I do,” Gudmund said.

There was a moment of silence as the three figures conferred with one another.

“Very well,” the woman said. “We shall give you one year to guide Fay Valstine back onto the proper path. If, in one year, she does not conform to our ideals, then she will join the rest of those who shall be destroyed when we finally take our rightful place as the rulers of Nevaria.”

Gudmund bowed his head in gratitude. “Thank you.”

“Hmph. Do not thank us just yet. Whether or not you actually accomplish your goal remains to be seen,” one of the men said. “Also, remember not to draw attention to yourself. Our Drage Family is strong, but we lack the numbers needed to contend with the other noble families. What’s more, I hear Herleif is back. Now that he has returned, there are enough people who have reached the Third State of Spiritualism that they can contend with us on even footing. We cannot act until the princess has also reached the Third State of Spiritualism. Until that happens, be sure to keep your head low.”

“As you command,” Gudmund said in a low, soft voice.