Southern Region, Llynun.
Arthur stood upon the battlefield of blood and magic. Behind him rose the city wall of Llynun, and before him towered the Ice Titan, its every footstep shaking the earth.
Arthur's eyes glowed gold, deducing the many outcomes of this battle.
He saw scenes of survival and annihilation. He saw the fall of the titan and the fall of the city. His Future Sight was chaotic and unforgiving. If he were to miss anything, he could not look back. With every blink, a fragment of possibility would disappear. That was how his ability worked.
He saw many things, many ways to win.
He saw the Sun God descend and destroy the Ice Titan, taking the city with it.
He saw a black-haired woman raise her hand and remove half the southern continent.
He saw a white serpent cover the sky and swallow the continent in one gulp.
He saw the Ice Castle shattering without intervention.
And…
He saw Petra, the green haired girl who silently haunted his dreams. With a flick of her sleeve, the world ended, engulfed by a black shadow that consumed everything.
Ever since Arthur saw Petra's image for the first time, he knew she was special, that she didn't belong. From his perspective, she could freely control and manipulate the calamities. Not in the sense that she could make them obey, instead, it was more like the calamities would avoid her. She was the key needed to protect the world.
That was what he thought at first.
Unfortunately, no matter what future he sought out, this green haired little lolita refused to participate. He wanted to find her, he wanted her help, the world needed her. But he slowly discovered that this girl was not a simple piece in the grand game. She was herself, static, like an entity existing outside the board. If she were pushed too far, she would just flip the board.
He wanted to use the Hellion Family's power to find her and get her to help, but fate wouldn't allow it.
Part of his ability was cursed, leaving him unable to speak of what he saw.
He could not share what he saw in the future.
Arthurs eyes turned resolute.
He looked into the distance.
His Future Sight could pick apart the futures where they defeated the Ice Castle, but most of these were futures where a third party intervened. From these futures, he could understand a lot about the hidden threats sleeping within the world of Pillomal. He could also determine exactly what the Hellion Empire needed to do to gain victory.
The only thing he couldn't see, was the way to defeat the High Elf hiding in the castle…
He knew that the high elves were behind the Ice calamity, but he couldn't find a way to defeat them.
Breaking open the Ice Titan and invading the Ice castle were both possible, but killing the ice elf was never a possibility in his eyes. He could not find a future where they could win, he could not find a future where life existed after they entered the castle.
At least, not until now...
Arthur's eyes glowed with a divine light.
He foresaw a future where they could 'win'.
His hand tightened around the object in his pocket that he had found when searching through the Royal Treasury. This small item was the 'only' thing that saw an end to the first calamity.
With a grin, Arthur looked towards the titan.
Everything was ready.
Following his grin, the world turned so white that only darkness remained.
The Sun Spear had fired.
This world breaking weapon was a simplified replica of the original thing. With limited technology and inadequate materials, the empire could only make a small version, but this was still far from what they could handle.
Because they were unable to move it, the Sun Spear had to be fired from wherever it was built. Because of its extremely advanced rune work, it had to be built within the city, deep inside the sealed walls of their largest laboratory.
This was a sacrifice that the Empire was willing to make.
Following the roar of a cannon, a beam of light blotted out the sun, blinding everything.
Perhaps only Arthur was blessed with eyes that could see this divine light.
Its temperature rose uncontrollably, melting its restrains and turning the laboratory into a small sun. Molten metal flowed like water, and stone evaporated into dust. The magical restraints that suppressed the environmental impact shook with violent tremors, and the magic suppression field that the empire had built around the Sun Spear fought for its life, restricting the damage to a minimum, and preventing it from leaking too far outside the facility and into the city.
The world was illuminated by a bright light, followed by a deafening sound.
SHROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Everything shook.
The light was so fast that it seemed to be instant. The might this incorporeal thing carried was unfathomable, like a strike directly from the sun.
The Curse of Winter was pushed back and purified.
The Ice Titan was split in half, the ray of sunlight vaporising a large portion of its body.
The unimaginable temperature penetrated into the Ice Titan in a display of elemental bonding, causing cracking, hissing, exploding, and fracturing all over its body. Shards of mountain sized ice fell to the ground, rolling out and reshaping the landscape. The earth shook with each piece that fell, rippling like an apocalyptic earthquake that swept through the city of Llynun, causing massive damage.
Resounding explosions filled the air, syncing into a quire of destruction.
Those who were not affected by the earthquake's destruction, or the sun-like temperatures that were escaping from the Sun Spear, had suffered from blindness or deafness, creating a permanent scar on the people of Llynun regardless of the impending outcome.
Arthur looked on with a mixture of resolution and fascination. A metallic taste stuck to his tongue, and a deep stinging pain penetrated his eyes.
The ice Castle, untouched by the sun, descended slowly from where the ice titans head once was.
Like a crown atop its new kingdom, it landed on top of the newly created ice mountains, stretching its cursed claws through the ice and snow, freezing and transforming it into a more complete mountain range.
The castle sat there, rooting itself back into the 'earth'.
From afar, the massive crystal gates slowly opened, almost welcoming challengers. Surrounded by butterflies of Ice, streams of white light, and indefinable blue wisps, the Ice Castle almost looked like a fairyland.
* * *
Northern Region, Sevensen.
Dorthy stood on the city wall, watching hundreds of thousands of ice demons emerge from the forest, flooding forward like a wave of glowing bestial skeletons and frostbitten mounds of flesh.
Their blue eyes pierced through the snowstorm, growling with a ferocity like a wild beast. Their bones reverberated with their growls, resonating, transforming, and producing a high-pitched hum that sent chills through the soul.
The wall fell into chaos instantly, clearly not prepared.
Dorthy knew, she knew that she stood between the wave of carnage and a massacre of the city.
She readied herself, summoning her bag.
Dorthy's paranoia around the Heavens Chosen and the roles they played didn't come from nowhere. Her suspicion, her doubt, her distrust, it all came from something deeper, an inexplicable feeling that scratched at her from the back of her mind.
She was born with a special trait, but this power was later proclaimed to be a Divine Blessing. She had never wanted to reveal this power, but it somehow came to light, marking her as the eastern heavens chosen. This was also the difference between Dorthy in this life and the Dorthys in Elena's past lives. It all came down to this secret and whether it could be kept secret.
She waved her hand, retrieving ten large tomes from the bag. They floated behind her back, like ten silent sentries.
Dorthy knew that her secret was not a divine gift. She didn't know why someone was trying to make it seem like one, but she felt like she was a target, a prisoner, a slave to some unknown power.
This drove her crazy!
She held her staff forward, chanting a series of spells.
The magic circle engraved on the face of each of the ten tomes lit up with a green light. The books flipped open, finding a specific page each. Magic circles formed around them, like orbital rings.
The ten books produced ten spell matrices.
Dorthy's hand held the staff and cast a spell, while her free hand flicked sideways and cast another. Her unspoken words silently cast a third, while her subtle movements cast a fourth.
A series of complex magical manipulations unfolded in an instant.
Multi Casting!
Magic Empowering!
Magic Compression!
Magic Mirroring!
Spell Evolution!
Spell Sanctification!
A series of buffs followed the magic circles.
"Ha!" Dorthy cried, her soft voice surprisingly loud.
Mana exploded from her body like an uncontrollable eruption. It bloomed from her body, seemingly sprouting from no source. It flowed so dense that it turned into a precipitous cloud, drenching her robes with liquid mana.
Following the enormous amount of mana…
A one-man artillery suddenly exploded alive from the top of the wall, sending waves of arcane wind and violent magic tremors rippling through the city.
The spiritual energy in the air became oppressive. The temperature rose, and the air heated up. Sound was drowned out, leaving only the ringing of magic circles as they turned like gears.
Countless spells tore through the air and bombarded the oncoming horde.
Fireball, Fire Bolts, Meteorite, Explosion, Fire Storm.
Water Bolt, Ice Blade, River Cleave, Hydro Cannon, Boil!
Earth Spear, Collapse, Stone Rain, Rock Fall, Meteorite!
Wind Blade, Hurricane, Compression Fissure, Green Sphere, Slice!
Light Beam, Purify, Sunshine, Holy Ray, Lightless Cut!
Dark Hand, Shadow Blade, Moonlight Cut, Corrode, Devouring!
Dorthy sent out these spells one after another, in an endless loop of magic. She seemed to have an endless supply of mana as she continuously cast the spells of a thousand people.
Her glasses cracked and blood flowed from her nose.
Dorthy was born with an 'Infinite Mana Pool', and it was this endless mana pool that brought her endless unease. She was terrified that she had become the target of some greedy power, something that wanted to turn her into a human battery. Unfortunately, this was far from a guess…
In her mind, she understood that this was the only opportunity to control the flow of the fight.
Although it would turn some greedy eyes towards her, she didn't have a choice.
Dorthy honestly felt helpless.
-
Below the wall, countless eyes were watching this unbelievable display of magical might from the darkness. For one person to cast so many spells, this was nothing short of a miracle. One must remember that Dorthy, like the other Heroes, was only at the second realm.
The city lord watched from the darkness.
He rubbed his chin, thinking about how he could use this girl.
-
From another place, Wana of the Black Chain watched in amazement as this young mage performed her symphony of magic.
-
The two guards from the Lonton Castle looked at Dorthy with greed in their eyes.
-
Albert and Teacher Fell stood side by side, looking at Dorthy with worry. Sometimes, showing off too much wasn't a good thing.
Albert clenched his fist, an unknown emotion swimming in his eyes.
-
Bouer Blacklion looked at the young mage with ice-cold eyes.
He thought, was this the strength of the heavens chosen?
Did he have to kill a monster like this?
Could he still avenge his son?
A silent wrath slowly boiled in his heart.
-
In the darkness, a man wearing a black robe with a white interlining watched quietly. On his glabella, the symbol of a snake eating its own tail slowly turned, almost seeming alive.
'Odd, how odd, why is she here?'
In response, there were a series of strange hisses that seemed to escape from the void. A moment later, the man tilted his head, seemingly having heard something from these sourceless whispers.
'Hmm? Could it be? Is she trying to jump out of the game?'
The whispers became louder, more emotional, causing the 'world' to twist slightly.
The man remained silent, leaving only the whispers to echo throughout the darkness.
-
Standing atop a nearby building, a lively and energetic girl grinned widely.
"Hahaha! As expected, as expected! The Little Master has an eye for subordinates! Amazing! Hahaha!"
This woman had a white blouse tucked into tight black pants. She wore a shortened black jacket and a long black robe split down the middle. She had a purple ribbon around her neck and a long stick in her hand. Three belts wrapped her waist, and a large satchel hung to her side. Her bright amethyst eyes shone like gems, and her short purple hair danced in the wind.
She stood there, basking in the waves of mystic wind.
"I can't wait to find the little master! I wonder if she'll be surprised to see me again! Hahaha!"
This woman flashed down from the building with a single step.
-
Dorthy continued her bombardment, her flurry of spells lasted for over ten minutes.
When it finally ended, she collapsed, completely exhausted.
Something flashed from behind and held her up.
Dorthy looked over, panting.
This unknown purple haired girl smiled, whispering to Dorthy. 'Don't fall yet, smile to the crowd.'
Dorthy jumped, then nodded, turning around.
She faced the crowd, forcing a grin.
She raised a fist and the crowd roared, there voices reverberating throughout the city! When the city gates opened, the army ran out. They carried Dorthys momentum, crashing into the Ice Demons and beginning a slaughter.
The damage from the bombardment was devastating.
Dorthy had single handedly pushed back the forest's border.
After a moment to catch her breath, Dorthy thanked the mysterious girl.
"Thank you."
The girl grinned. "Hahahha! It's no problem! My name's Levy, nice to meet you!"
Dorthy paused. "Eh?" Her mind rang back to the name that came up in her divination. That woman who the 'little master' of the 'person with her face' seemed to be scared of. "You, uh, wouldn't happen to be a teacher, would you?"
Levy raised an eyebrow. "You know me? No, that's impossible."
"Uh, Not yet..." Dorthy's face reddened.
Levy narrowed her eyes. Her face cracked into a sly smile. "Hmm, so its like that. You're hitting on me?" She chuckled. Dorthy didn't hear her mumble. 'Should I say, as expected of the Witch of Knowledge?' This mysterious girl suddenly burst out laughing.
Dorthy was confused, her little face was red, and her mind was dizzy.
Levy grinned. "Haha, don't worry! My master sent me to find her daughter and make sure that she wasn't slacking off. If we meet again, then I can only say it's fate! I look forward to it!"
Swoosh!
The mysterious girl disappeared as quickly as she appeared.
Dorthy fell back, falling on her butt.
She was a little stunned.
A moment later, Albert and Teacher Fell ran over to her.
* * *
Western Region, Ice Demon Dragon Battlefield.
Kilemin walked towards the Ice Demon with large strides.
An unseen momentum slowly rose from within.
The towering beast had collapsed onto the skeletal deer and started the assimilation process. It was a towering mountain of frostbitten flesh, crystal bones, and black fog.
Kilemin marched forward, not wavering in the slightest as he approached, passing through the repelling field like it was no different than the clouds in the sky.
The beast seemed to sense something and raised its 'head'. A half-decomposed mess of a face opened what was left of its eyes and screeched at the approaching human.
Kilemin snorted, deflecting the sonic attack.
Kilemin walked faster, his momentum continuing to build. "You can imagine my surprise when I left seclusion and discovered that the calamity was already underway!"
His face was stoic, showing little emotion in his gaze.
"I was looking forward to testing my strength, and look at this!"
He quickened to a jog, and clear moats of wind formed around him.
"An abomination, ugly as the abyss, ready and willing!"
HE grinned, his aura becoming heavier.
"Now! BEAST! Time to fall!"
He moved into a run, his small body radiating the momentum of a living mountain.
"Allow me to show you, the wrath of the Hero!" He roared, exploding forward.
Boom!
Kilemin flew forward, leaping off the ground and launching himself into the air.
The onlookers couldn't feel it, but the Ice Demon Dragon could!
This man was dangerous!
Very dangerous!
In the eyes of the Ice Demon, he was not a human. To it, Kilemin was more like a massive golden silhouette stuffed into a small shell.
The power he radiated was more than just his visible aura.
Although small, the beast would not underestimate him.
For some reason, it suspected that this tiny human was not weak.
And it was right.
As Kilemin came crashing down, the momentum he carried was no less than the collapsing Ice titan in the south. The mass condensed into his tiny body was unscientific.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
He crashed into the ice demon, shattering the earth in a web-like shockwave that stretched out into the distance. Ice and snow were blasted away, and the earth was raised into an open crater, sending shockwaves far more destructive than the ice demons through the earth.
The ground was shattered.
Then, the heat came. A volcanic-like explosion radiated out from where Kilemin had landed. Kilemin's body was not only extremely durable and heavy, but it was also incredibly hot, just like a simmering volcano.
"Know Fear, Demon!"
Within the maelstrom of collapsing earth and volcanic geysers, the bestial man's roar resounded.
One had to wonder who the real monster was after witnessing this sight.
Another shockwave, this time carving a deep crater within the earth.
His fists reshaped mountains, and his stomps carved through the earth. His presence burnt all things, leaving no doubt that this man was the chosen hero of the God of Earth. This man was almost a walking natural disaster.
Regardless of who it was, everyone looked at this man in aw.
This was the Hero, this was a Heaven's Chosen!
No, this was their Heavens Chosen!
Boom!
Another earthquake.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeech!
A high-pitched screech sounded, like fingernails dragging through paper.
Kilemin blasted the beast upwards, shooting it out of the earth and into the sky.
The man braced, waiting patiently for the monster's unwilling descent.
When the Ice Demon Dragon fell back to the earth, he struck forward with a deafening boom!
The sky cracked.
The earth cried.
The world was bathed in an explosion of light.
When the light retracted, Kilemin stood on top of what was left of the Ice Demons obliterated body, like a god. His body released steam and fire, distorting the air. The curse of winter was slowly repelled. It was melted away by a higher power, radiating with Kilemin in the center.
For the western region, winter was over.
* * *