Capítulo 3: Story 1 Part 3
Sylvie POV
I couldn't take it anymore as I saw him push everyone away from him doing whatever he had to do to push them away even if it includes him hurting them. I fear what might happen if Ellie tries and confront him. As I saw him insult Tess I felt that he'd taken it too far.
"Enough Arthur," I said with anger as I held Tess in the shoulder
"You wanted to talk to me when you know how weak you are to insults and how easy you are to be provoked next time maybe have a plan at least if you're going to try and comfort someone else," He said as he left his chair and left his room. Tess burst into tears in my embrace.
The Arthur we knew was now buried and sealed somewhere and now Grey was taking control. But how do I wake him up I found myself asking this question again and again ever since Arthur changed. I got up when Tess felt better and wanted her to rest in her room.
"I need to try again," She said
"No" I simply answered
I led Tess back to her room to rest as I went looking for Arthur. When I found him he was in the training room training to kill to torture to fight. I realized He had dropped his sword to protect when he changed. I coated myself in mana as I got closer towards him, his slashes solely focusing on vital organs, muscles, and mana core. As he swung his sword on a stone dummy I let out a mana blast towards him to get his attention.
I didn't care anymore if he's not going to change I'll have to beat it to him through his skull. He dodged it and turned towards me Dawns Ballad was ready as he took a stance. I returned to my dragon form and shot another mana blast which he slashed it in half and dashed towards me. He slashed me without hesitation as I felt pain on my side, I was bleeding.
"He is serious," I thought.
He dashed back as I tried to hit him with my tail his movements were complex and confusing as he was using wind and lightning to enhance his speed. He hit me again with his sword as I felt pain on one of my feet nearly making me fall. I let out a mana wave around me hoping to get him but it was fruitless as he dashed again hitting all of my legs making me fall. He didn't bother to continue as he simply left the room.
I used vivium to hasten my healing as I needed to catch up to him. I needed him to wake up. I want the Arthur I knew the Arthur I grew up with. As emotions and memories of us flooded inside my head I could feel tears begin to form as I eventually found myself crying in my human form. I'm useless, I couldn't even be there for him, I couldn't help him, I couldn't even change him now. I cried and cried until I felt a pat on my shoulder it was Tess.
Tess led me back to her room because I didn't want to see Arthur for now. On our way back we saw guards running around the castle. I asked one what was going on and said
"General Arthur went out again" The last thing I wanted to hear right now
I groaned as I still felt some pain from the wound Arthur left me.
"Where?" I asked
"We do not know he didn't use the teleportation gate but instead just flew that's why we're all running around we're going around delivering the message to different cities to ask for a report if they spotted General Arthur" He replied
Days passed as we've received no news of Arthur's sightings other than the artworks he left as every day we would come across little battlefields filled with dismantled corpses and pools of blood. A week had passed as the Alacryans once again continued on the war as we have yet to gain any news from Arthur minus his artworks other than that no one had seen him.
Three days later we found an Alacryan badly wounded but alive as he sobbed the words
"Please just kill me I don't know anything anymore I swear to Vritra"
"I beg you," He said with sobs
"This is definitely Arthur's handiwork," I said
"Yeah" Virion sighed
"He must be staying somewhere at least he can't go on forever," He said as he slammed a map on the table
"I know he's helping us a lot but I still think that he will change forever if he keeps on" He continued
"The Twin Horns has been looking around for Arthur" I replied
"Any news?" He asked
"None it's like he never appears on the day" I replied
"Have we ever tried looking for him at night?" He asked
"Yes but not on the same scale" I replied
"Switch the schedule we'll look at him at night," Virion said
We didn't think it would actually work as we began to search Arthur really did only go out at night. As explosions resonated in Elshair forest, we managed to see Art wrapping up the Alacryan as soon as he finished we charged in and caught him. The commander didn't say anything else other than
"Lock him up for now" and left to inspect the aftermath
Arthur was cuffed with mana restrainers as he was escorted to a room with no windows. I sighed at his look which had changed too much as his eyes had no life anymore.
Tessia POV
Seeing Arthur come back I had a feeling of relief but seeing his dead gaze and his same expressionless face made me wonder if he was really gone for good. I wanted to comfort him but I stopped myself as I remembered the last time I did that. I needed to be stronger mentally and not cry this time I thought.
(A/N: Honestly I could see this story turning into Tess's pain train rather than a what-if)
I steeled myself as I prepared for the worst when I entered Art's room. The guards stationed outside were worried at first so they opened the door another guard in front and went in first. The first guard talked to Art then returned shaking his head.
"He does not wish to meet anyone at the moment," He said
I didn't want to leave but seeing how Art hurt Sylvie without hesitation stopped myself as he is serious and he didn't care anymore for the people around him. I nodded and walked away, my heart ached at my situation where I couldn't even help my childhood friend, the man I liked. As thoughts passed by my head no good idea came to mind as I was feeling desperate Sylvie went into my room with food.
We both ate in silence and when we finished I asked Sylvie
"What happened to the Alacryan mages who were alive?" I asked
"None of them had their mana core intact and some even had their mental state completely ruined by Arthur" She replied
"Some kept screaming to die to just kill them as some kept sobbing uncontrollably as they kept crying and screaming to the point we had to assign wind magicians for a sound barrier while we waited for the sound artifact" She continued
"Were there any normal ones?" I asked
Sylvie nodded "If you could count the ones that looked like they were dead and wouldn't talk at all since arriving even after they were tortured normal, then there's a dozen or so of people like that," She said
"He really broke them" I sighed
"Thank God he's not an enemy I couldn't imagine the fear he would strike to our forces" I continued
"Because of his actions he earned a new title more fitting for him," Sylvie said
"The Reaper" Sylvie continued her voice filled with sadness
I also wanted to hit the people who called him that but Art did change so I just sighed as that name rang constantly in my head. I walked again towards his room and the guards did the same thing with the same answer.
"Grandpa can you possibly talk to him?" I asked
"I've tried his mother tried the twin horns tried even he rejected his little sister" He replied
Suddenly a burst of knock was heard and a guard walked in panting
"It better not be about Arthur" Grandpa sighed
"Commander General Arthur has left the room his cuffs were on the floor when the guards were going to deliver his meal," He said
Grandpa threw some scrolls and let out a string of curses. We walked with the guard to where Arthur was supposed to be kept and there it was the room empty no signs of Arthur and his cuffs were on the floor.
"Find him" Grandpa shouted
"He really is starting to get on my nerves" He sighed as he walked down the hallway towards the communication room
"Commander someone been to the information room" A guard said
We walked towards the room to see the workers knocked out and information scrolls and reports scattered on the table and all of those scrolls and reports were labeled Enemy sightings and Retainer or Scythe sightings
"He got caught on purpose" I said as grandpa came and took a look the reports
"It seems so" He sighed
Arthur POV
As I waited for the right moment I dislocated my thumb and slipped through the cuffs. As I activated mirage walk I cast an illusion barrier on the door small enough so it won't touch the guards but big enough to cover the door so it looked like it was still closed.
I got out and snuck past the two guards then navigated myself towards the information room where I knocked out the workers and closed the doors. I looked and read all the reports about Alacryan mages camps. sightings, Retainers, or even Scythes. I needed to kill more and to get stronger. As I read through the reports I heard an alarm.
"So they've found out, that's sooner than expected," I said as I left the reports and went out through the window.
I went back on my usual killing spree trying to attract a Retainer but it was still fruitless as I only kept interrogating the mages about Retainers but they know nothing about it.
Nearly a week had passed after my escape from the castle I was finishing up my mess from my raid still with no result, but suddenly the air around me changed as I felt a dangerous presence. I turned back to see an entity or a man well over two meters with a hunched posture. He has long, thin arms that dangle by his sides as though his arms had popped out of their sockets. He wears thick dark bandages underneath a shabby black mantle that perches on his shoulders and a tattered hood with his messy bangs peeking out from it. Underneath his hood are two obsidian horns with the left one having a chip in it.
"The one who fought Lance Alea," I remembered
"Finally something," I thought as I withdrew Dawns Ballad
"You could've come earlier to help your allies," I said
"They're expendable" He replied
"Well it's nice to see you uh," I said
"Boy I'll give you the honor of knowing my name before I kill you, my name is Uto or Retainer Uto," He said with a psychotic laugh
I just sighed as I took a stance waiting for him, from my memories that Alea showed me he attacked using black spikes that appeared out of nowhere, but that's when I analyzed that most of his attacks came out from the shadows of the troops. So I kept track of being wary of my own shadow and kept my eyes on him staring directly at his eyes. I felt mana come from my shadow and I dodge the attack without breaking my gaze from him.
I charged a lightning spear from my left hand and threw it at him. After throwing it I charged up towards him with wind boosting my speed. When I got closer He deflected the spear with ease I appeared in front of him my sword near his neck but he jumped back.
"It seems like even you can sense when you're in danger and not just a mindless weapon" I provoked him which worked as I saw his face form a frown
I conjured a few more lighting spears and a few ice spikes and fired the spears towards him while I maintained the spikes around me as I charged once again towards him. He didn't have trouble against my spears but I boosted my speed once again with wind as I appeared in front of him my sword once again near his neck, he jumped back again but as he jumped back I charged my ice spikes with lightning and wind then aimed them towards him. Three out of six spikes managed to penetrate him.
"Damn you lesser I swear to Vritra if I get you you'll die a painful and slow death" He shouted
"I could do that all day if he still underestimates me," I thought
I got ready again with Dawns Ballad but this time he was also ready. I threw an ice spear filled with water and threw a fireball behind it, when Uto hit the spear water came out and the fire hit the water creating a smokescreen. I activated mirage walk and tracked him using sound magic.
When I got to his location I sneaked towards him and stabbed something. I felt my sword stab something and soon it was accompanied by a horrible scream. I pulled back my sword before I got hit by Uto's rage swinging which dispersed the steam revealing his wounded waist.
"If I attacked more to the right then I would've gotten his mana core," I thought disappointed
I took yet another stance as Uto kept on shouting in pain, as I was ready Uto charged towards me. I fired a few spears which he deflected without stopping as he kept charging towards me, I started to form a spell on my other hand as I kept firing spells at him. When he was in front of him I changed to my sword my other hand still preparing. When he was in the middle of charging me I faced my left palm towards him and fired blue fire coated with lightning and wind which lasted for a few minutes tearing his body slowly.
I activated Mirage Step once again and repositioned myself. I aimed at him as I conjured an ice spear coated in lighting and wind with denser ice and stronger flames and lighting and before my previous spell finished I fired the spear only leaving him less than a second to dodge.
The spear hit revealing a hole in his stomach where his mana core was. Uto fell down and I caught him making sure he was still alive I healed him and prepared to interrogate him. while he was still unconscious so I froze his body with dense Ice and made sure he didn't freeze to death as I was about to wake him up a more dangerous presence came towards me and I turned back to get ready as I took out Dawns Ballad to see ..........
(A/N: See you next chap)
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder