In the middle of a war-torn landscape, a circular veil of glass swayed and waned in the air, slowly increasing the tremors that resulted from its trembling. The great veil couldn't hold on anymore and shattered into a billion pieces. Right next to the destroyed veil, a black dragon snored impatiently, and his breath blew the pieces away. The dragon opened his crimson red, and released a roar like a sentence, "you're finally back!"
Under the billion pieces stood a man and a slime. The two paid no heed to the dragon and instead focused on the skeleton like figure approaching them.
"The others are still not back?" Ed asked even though his eyes and his Map could answer him easily.
"You said we had one hour, but you returned in less time, my lord," said Sieg.
"Yeah I ended up taking far less than I thought, things are much easier when no one is trying to stab you," Ed explained. "Anyways, I'll go over to the others and help them out. We'll depart as soon as we're back."
Just as he finished talking, all traces of Ed disappeared. He was later inside the Poison sect's headquarters. Suddenly, thousands upon thousands of Telekinesis threads emerged out of his body and scanned the entire structure. A couple of them quickly found his companions and let them know it was time to return. The rest continued to find any treasures, especially spiritual treasures which he could feel with his ability. What should have taken hours was done in ten minutes, and Ed was back where the dragon lay.
"We're heading back to Avalon," said Ed.
Ed seemed to be especially short on words, and everyone seemed to notice it. It was as if his mind was focused on something else entirely. The dragon tried to voice his displeasure, as he wanted to head over to blood sect's headquarters immediately, but found that the scenery in front of him had changed. Ed teleported him as well.
"Human brat! I believe our agreement was pretty clear, no?!" The dragon's voice thundered as he hung in the air. Ed made sure to teleport him, and him alone, a couple of meters in the air, since he would have crashed into the castle otherwise. However, due to the dragon's ear breaking shout, and his colossal appearance hovering above the castle, Avalon's citizens broke into a panic rather quickly.
"Merry, we don't have much time to lose, so I need you to talk to one of the guards and tell him to calm the people down," Ed said. "You can head over to the Blood sect headquarters if you want, but how long will that take I wonder?"
He turned around and ignored the dragon. His pace was quite quick, and nobody tried to ask him anything as they went ahead.
Quickly, they found themselves face to face with Asem's party, as well as the injured, but calm, Hayato and the others.
"Ed, you're finally here," Hayato said with a smile, but his eyes never tried to find Ed's. "I heard you were injured badly, are you alright now?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. How about you guys? You look terrible."
"That's how we're feeling at the very least," Hayato said with a snicker. "It's quite shameful, it really is. We defeated the woman, and just as we were about to take it all in, they appeared. Five of them, each one stronger than the next. Two females and three males. It was quite funny, you see there were five of us as well, and you'd think we put up somewhat of a fight. But, it wasn't even close. In fact, only one of them fought us."
Hayato sat down, bent his back and looked at his hands with clutched one another. "He didn't even bother to use his blade, and he simply beat us black and blue. Eric noticed the gravity of the situation and decided on the best course action. He had us prepare teleportation items as he fought the man. He exhausted all of his Qi in order to throw the man hundreds of meters away from, but in the process, he got hit by a Qi attack without any inner protection."
"Do you mind describing them for me?" Ed asked in the calmest voice possible.
"They all looked the same age as us. Not too old not too young. The women had black and crimson red hair. The men, well those that didn't fight looked well built and quite strong. One of them was bald and lacked any emotional features. The other was the shortest of the group and wore a mask. The one who fought us, well he's easier to remember. He looked strikingly similar to you. Golden blond hair, though much shorter than yours, and a well-built body and broad shoulders. There are only two distinct differences between the two of you. He had freckles all over his nose and cheeks, and, his eyes were deep water blue contrary to your black eyes."
As Hayato finished talking, Ed had his eyes closed. A figure appeared immediately in his head, and it was one he encountered in the Tower of Origin. 'Johan...' he thought to himself.
"If this is true, then we need to change our strategy. I'll depart ten minutes from now, and I'll only be taking one person with me. No one is to say a word and no one will ask me anything. All I ask is for you to trust me, as you've always had," Ed said the last sentence with a smile on his face.
However, no one shared his smile. Emilia was busy consoling Ellie, Stephanie, and Alicia, while Hayato's heart tormented him with guilt.
"Cheer up Hayato; we still have a chance, especially after I let Sarin escape. I'll never let Blood sect win, no matter the cost," as spoke the last sentence he secretly contacted the system in his mind.
'How many tickets do I have now?'
[110.]
'I'd hoped for better. Can you lend me some?' Ed asked jokingly.
[Certainly, but I need something as collateral. Your liver, perhaps?]
'Wait, you can really lend me?!'
[No. The tickets are obtained through the ways you know of, nothing else.]
'Well then, I guess I'll have to make do with the things I have at hand. Use up all 110 tickets on Function Gacha. Exchange any cards I have in inventory, as well as any Transformation card I get. Keep only one of them.'
[Understood. Drawing Gacha!]
*Ding*
Enjoy!
Dawn broke through the clouds and illuminated the castle hidden inside the mountains. The eerie and quiet atmosphere made it seem as if it was abandoned; the whistling wind helped no more than to deepen the impression it gave off. The birds flying around the mountain all avoided the top and made sure that not a squeak escaped their beaks. Large predators hunted in total silence, and even the prey dared not make a sound even whilst being killed. Inside of the red mansion, the Blood sect's master kept on scratching the scar that seared and burned on his face.
He seemed out of it, his mind was long lost, and his body lost control of the Qi inside of it, so much that the amount leaking out caused the whole mountain area to become silent from the fear.
Suddenly, a group of youngsters entered the innermost room of the middle mansion, and one of them said, "If you keep at it, you'll end up drawing blood, dear grandfather."
It was Johan, who had just returned from his battle against Hayato and the others.
"Ah, you're back," Erykytos said as he snapped out of his trance. Almost instantly, noise filled the mountain again; it was as if it came back to life. "Did you finish your mission?"
"Unfortunately not, hahaha," Johan said as he scratched his head. "They escaped."
"Did they? Or did you let them escape?"
"Of course not," Johan was quick to deny. "One of them kept holding me off until the others prepared the escape. He was quite strong."
"And where were your friends, when you were fighting?" Erykytos asked.
Johan decided to act as if he heard nothing and instead turned his gaze towards the ceiling.
"Never you mind…You've just come back, however, you'll have to leave again. We're going to regroup with your father."
.
.
.
In another battlefield, a conclusion had yet to be reached. Unlike the first two, this one was the calmest, yet at the same time, the bloodiest. Piles of dead bodies spread all over the green plains, which had turned scarlet long ago. The stench of decay and disease filled the air, but it stopped none of the soldiers. Why? Because they all knew that they were the bulk of the two forces. The first army belonged to Blood sect, while the second army belonged to Avalon's allied forces.
Inside of a tent, all sorts of sect Elders and Masters gathered around, discussing the future moves, when suddenly, an informant entered. Quickly, another followed. They looked at each other and wondered which one should have the right to speak first.
"We don't have the time for you to admire each other, so will either of you hurry up and speak?!" Dean, the general of Scale kingdom was quick to lose his temper with the two of them, who trembled in their places, as the one on the left took the chance to relay his news.
"A group of people joined the army! It was an old man with a scar across his face and a group of young people that accompanied him!"
"That's your information?" one of the Elders said. "We thought it would be a reinforcement of at least a 100000 soldiers!"
"But sir! Every one of those youngsters is Immortal Establishment!" the informant's words shocked the people inside into silence.
"That can't be!" Leonard shouted. "We don't have the power to fight them off if they joined the battle right now!"
"Sir," the second informant started to speak. "Sarin, the Poison sect's master has been spotted as well. He looked injured, but still well enough to join the battle as well."
"Does none of you have any good news?!" Audun took the chance to shout his fill this time.
"No need to scream so hard, you'll hurt your lungs," a voice spoke inside of the tent. Before anyone noticed it, another man had joined in on the conversation. It was Ed.
"Edward?!"
The same thing was shouted again and again inside the tent, as people couldn't hide their pleased faces or voices. Even Arthur, the leader of the allied forces, showed a hint of a smiling face upon seeing his son well.
"We don't have enough time," Ed said. "The war can't go on for long, or we'll lose. All our forces have gathered here, as well as the enemies. Which means that the next couple of days will decide the outcome. For now, however, I need you all to leave. I wish to speak with my father alone."
"Is it one of your wicked strategies again, boy?" Stephanie's grandfather said as he smiled. His old body seemed like it couldn't take another day in this world, but he still chose to stay and fight.
"Something like that, yes."
"Then, I'm not leaving. I look forward to hearing what you have to say, ho ho ho!"
"Fine by me. However, I'll only allow one you. Too many ears in one place is never a good thing," Ed said.
The others left reluctantly.
"Thanks, old man, you helped me with your quick proposition."
"It's no trouble. I could see it in their eyes, they all wanted to stay and listen. You can't blame them; however, we're all itching for some good news."
"I know, and I understand. But, it's just a formality. Most of them won't even have a part in the action, so it's better not to include them from the beginning."
"Well, I better get going then. Don't worry, I'll find a way to sneak out without them noticing me."
"Why would you do that? I was serious when I said I would allow you to stay and listen. After all, you're one of the only people whose face changed when they mentioned a man with a scar on his face. When I met my grandfather, I had him tell me everything about Blood sect's master. One thing that stuck in my mind was the fact that he was slashed across his face during one battle."
"So, it is true then. The Blood sect master is here for us," Arthur broke his silence.
Quality of the chapter isn't the best I hoped for, but please accept what I have to give today :(
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