Wearing some expensive clothes with my sword strapped on my back i looked slightly ridiculous but i thought it was cool reminding me of various adventurers from the fairytales.
- Hey kid, how do you feel about the arrival of your parents? Try not to embarass me here.
Standing at the front of all the knights next to the commanders i waited patiently for the return of my parents team from the section 7 expedition as my uncle kept pestering me for atleast some reaction.
- Just bored.
-Hah.
Amused by my reaction he turned away from me looking toward the entrance gates and lit up a cigarette taking a big puff out of it and making me wince in disgust from the smell, i didn't really like him but he was my uncle and my mothers brother so i had to tolerate him to some extent.
People were gathering away from us to congratulate everyone from achieving yet another great feat counting up to thousands even dozen.
'I wonder what kind of place section 7 was for them'
Id need to ask them later for some information but it would be less likely due to them stopping telling tales to me after i went into the knight covenant.
- The gates are opening!
Someone from the crowd shouted all of a sudden and not a second later the doors started to slowly part inwards making big coulds of dust and barely being visible to everyone.
Covering my eyes i looked toward the smoke to notice a few figures but it was way more than the team consisted of being about 20 of them.
*Pluck*
The sound of something falling on the ground took my attention as i looked down and saw a half burnt cigarette that could still be used and looked toward my uncle whos face seemed unreadable.
'Hm?'
Instead of expected cheers there was a dead silence with only the footsteps from the group in front of us being the source of noise, after a few moments the dust parted and multiple people wearing pristine white armor were accompanying a few haggard looking people whom i recognized well as the strongest people in the world but..
Something was definetly wrong.
As everyone stood still, the group went past us straight towards the main department buildings leaving behind a single burly man adorned in white garbs who looked like his soul was sucked out of his body, noticing my uncle he seemed to hesitate for a bit before walking towards him and placing his hands on his shoulders.
- Eric-
- Stop.
Cutting him off he shook off his hands and seemed to fall into deep thought as his facial expression contorted from anger to disbelief and finally sadness, he put one hand up to his eyes and raised his head as if trying to hide something which proved to be useless as a tear streamed down his cheek.
The man turned to me kneeling down slightly due to our size difference looking me straight in the eyes and spoke like he was delivering his last words.
- The Blade Empress, has fallen.
These words were delivered like a hammer to me seeming to break something inside me as i asked him for confirmation.
- What... Do you mean by that?
He looked like he suddenly understood something and patted me on the shoulder slightly before taking my uncle with him towards my parents department headquarters leaving me standing here with the knight order completely stunned.
'What could he mean by that?'
Countless various thoughts ran across my mind as i tried to find any reasonable explanation but it was futile as nothing seemed to make any sense.
- it cant be.
Some knights were denying any possibilty of the worst outcome but they seemed to know something and feeling the seriousness of the situation.
'What are they thinking'
People were now instead of going away started to stare towards us waiting for something, anything to happen until one knight started to head back, then another followed right behind him.
It continued for a couple of minutes as everyone aswell as the commaders whi left looking slightly back at me who just stood there silently in the middle of the road.
Everyone seemed to get curious at me looking towards my figure that seemed more lonely than ever.
'Why is everyone staring at me'
Cold sweat dripped down my face as i tried to collect my thoughts repeatedly just to end up at the beggining.
'The Blade Empress has fallen'
That was the title my mother earned by leading the siege of the 6th section but why would he say that she has fallen, did he mean that they lost? If so then why did he need to say it that way, and where was my father if he didn't come alongside the group.
The stares started to get heavy as the countless eyes watched me and slowly started to go away but the weight of them was just too much as i looked towards the opened gate that they came out from.
'They are just waiting there to surprise everyone'
I took a step forward dragging my feet on the ground slowly and moving my feet clumsily swaying my body.
'Its a mistake'
Adding a bit strenght to my steps i walked towards the gates slowly, getting closer and feeling the amounts of Terra Flux increase around me but it didn't bother me as i was already quite used to it.
'Thats just a mistake'
Getting closer to the gates the stares came back to me seeming to weight me down but not stopping my body from moving, i was now halfway towards the gate to the second section.
Some unaudible voices could be heard in the distance as people slowly came back and looked at me who walked towards the gates like a madman going towards his demise.
- Close the gates!
A guards shout in the distance made me flinch slightly but that only fueled me more as i started to run towards the slowly closing gates.
'They have to be there.'
Tripping on a nearby rock i regained my footing quickly and dashed towards the almost closed gates that looked like i could barely squeeze through.
'They.. need to be there!'
Jumping through the opening the gates closed right behind me unable to be opened again until the next day and simply trapping me behind them.
- Nothing.
My voice slightly trembling came out from my mouth as i searched every corner of the tunnel in case someone, anyone hid there but it was simoly empty.
- It.. has to be a lie..
I leaned on the nearest wall sliding down on the ground and staring at the ground like it could fix anything.
- Hahah.
Small laugh escaped from me as i sat there with a cracked smile on my face starting to feel moisture in my eyes.
- Stop it..
My body couldn't listen to me as i tried not to smile or cry just to make it worse and letting out a few tears.
- Stop.. smiling..
Disgusted by myself i hid my face in my palms and cried silently waiting for my parents to come back if they ever could.
*
The guards knocked on the gates trying to do something to help the son of the Light Bringer and Blade Empress but it didn't do anything thanks to the mysterious rules that were imprinted onto the doors.
- Golden Boy wouldn't be happy about this.
One of the guards muttered as they walked back into their control room and called Delver Order letting them know of whatever happened just now.
- This just keeps getting worse for us.
From what they picked up, the Blade Empress most likely died on the last expedition and Light Bringer is nowhere to be seen so they hoped he would be alive, humans couldn't afford to lose more strong people like them, not even if a whole section was sacrificed in the process.