My body is feeling heavy...
Well, my wounds aren't that bad... wait, what?
Something is fishy here...
I remember that several of my bones were broken.
But now, it feels like I don't have that much damage.
I open my eyes...
I can't hear anything...
Looks like I lost my hearing ability for some time.
My eyes widen as I look at the surroundings...
This was not Dragon Empire... it wasn't even Earth...
I don't know about this place.
This is war.
I can see thousands, maybe a few million sorcerers fighting.
I am lying on the ground.
[Pratik]: What is happening? Where am I?
I got a glimpse of the enemies. We are fighting Asuras.
My body... I feel slightly taller. What is this?
I could see many dying and screaming, though I can't hear them.
Suddenly, I felt someone pull my shirt from behind.
It was Mala.
She was hurt badly. She looks slightly different too.
She was saying something to me, but I can't hear her.
[Mala]: Wh... do... you...
I can barely hear those particular words.
I felt a chill run through my body.
These were my senses screaming at me to run away.
Without giving it a thought, I embraced Mala tightly and took flight far away.
Even then, my senses weren't calming down.
I started running away with her as far as I could, as fast as I could. I felt... I was running way faster than I ever could.
It was like I was running at least 50 times faster than my real speed.
Then it happened.
The whole region where we once were was destroyed.
It felt like a meteor wiped everything out. However, I doubt any meteor was even summoned.
Mala was shouting something again, but I couldn't understand her.
[Pratik]: Where are Grimori, Kel, and Lila?! Where are we?!
Mala went silent.
After some time, I saw it.
The bodies of Kel and Lila, embracing each other tightly on the battlefield.
They weren't moving at all.
I realised... they are dead.
Finally, my eardrums recovered.
Mala, realising it, spoke.
[Mala]: Everything happened so suddenly after the death of Sir Krishna and the defeat of Sir Arun. We are losing this war. Even Sir Tego died. My sister... Sunita too...
She started crying...
What?
Is this even possible?
This can't be true.
It must be a dream.
A nightmare, to be specific.
Master Krishna dying?
I can't even think that it's possible.
Sir Arun defeated? How can two of the Big Three get annihilated?
Sir Tego? He is the physically strongest member of Team GATTSKALT. This makes no sense.
[Pratik]: What about the other sorcerers?!
I can see sorcerers from other societies too.
This makes me think that even the Leaders of other societies arrived here.
There might be a chance if all Leaders, with their transformations, unite aga—
[Mala]: They are all either defeated or dead. As per the latest report, 150 Leaders and 175 Generals are already dead. Sir Nayaka has gone missing. Even Great Gomo, with his real power locked, was defeated.
...
Sir Nayaka gone missing?
Great Gomo defeated?
You mean Gomo Taka? He is the backbone of the entire Immortalus Society.
I have never seen him, but he is the third member of the Big Three of Immortalus Society.
He is defeated?
[Mala]: Almost everyone from Team GATTSKALT is dead too. Even from our team, we are the only ones alive. Grimori is injured so badly that he won't be able to use Sorcery again. Kel and Lila are dead. Everything is destroyed.
...
She couldn't stop her tears and started crying again.
[Pratik]: B... but we were in the Dragon Empire... why are we here?
Hearing my words, she looked at me with dumbfounded eyes.
[Mala]: Looks like you even lost some of your memories. We are here! In the Pikra War! The Dragon Empire mission was five years ago! This can't get any worse...
Five years passed?
[Pratik]: Who are our enemies?
[Mala]: The Asura Community.
However, only one Asura Community Ruler named Kae is left alive, and he alone caused this damage.
Others were killed while fighting Sir Krishna, and even he died himself.
Now we realise the depth of the situation.
My head hurt a lot, and before I could realise anything, I teleported away.
I felt like my soul was being separated from my body.
After that moment, there was just darkness. But I heard words that were too hard to understand.
"Looks like I am the one with the cleaning duty here. This caused a lot of mess. All because of those End Trio. Only if they had submitted to the greatness of the real Lords. The effects of their battle even affected the Pikra War and the main timeline. I should fix this soon."
Those were the words I heard.
Suddenly, I felt heaviness again.
I am back in my body.
My real body.
I could see Mala and Girishika beside me.
This is Dragon Empire.
As soon as I saw Mala, I tried to hug her, but before I could do so, she punched me in the face.
That hurts even more.
[Mala]: What are you doing?!
[Pratik]: I thought you were dead for sure.
[Mala]: Hah... someone like Wedgermio can never kill me.
Wedgermio? Yeah, Mala was stabbed by Wedgermio. This is definitely Dragon Empire and the real timeline.
But in that case, what was the event I visited?
What is this Pikra War?
What's going to happen to us?
Casting my thoughts aside, I stood up and realised again that my bones are broken.
This sucks.
[Girishika]: Do not worry, brat. I brought both of you near the palace. We may soon get to meet Germio.
[Pratik]: What kind of power did you even use? Didn't you say something about having low Dark Energy Reserves?
[Girishika]: But you already filled enough Dark Energy Reserves inside me through your Range Shiftling, dummy.
She said, smiling.
Whatever.
What I witnessed must be a dream.
There's no way it could be true.
Even if it is true... then I will change it.
---
EXTRAS:-
Bounties for sorcerers are actually issued by the Asura Community. There are many Sorcerer Hunters, almost on every planet, with a few exceptions.
The bounties are divided into three parts.
Part 1: Normal Bounties
Those with these bounties can be taken down by normal Sorcerer Hunters, Commanders, Generals, or Calamity-Class monsters.
Part 2: Deluxe Bounties
These bounties are given to those sorcerers who have unlocked transformations (generally Leaders or Generals of their respective societies). Those with these bounties can't be taken down by normal Sorcerer Hunters or anyone from the Normal Bounty category.
Only Asura Community Generals or Marshals can match them.
Part 3: Super Deluxe Bounties
These bounties are extremely rare. Those under this category have the potential to defeat an Asura Community Ruler-level being.
There are only two sorcerers with this bounty: Nayaka, Leader of the Indian Sorcery Society, and Gomo Taka from the Immortalus Society.
Gomo Taka has had this bounty for many centuries. He has the highest bounty on his head.
Where do Pratik and the team fall?
They fall under the lower tier of Normal Bounties.
Where do Krishna and Arun fall?
They fall under Normal Bounties, but at the uppermost level. Even in their student days, they had bounties comparable to that of the Semi-General Class (no transformation version).
The moment they awaken their transformations, they have the potential to reach Super Deluxe Bounties.