DAE-HYUN
“What do you think we should do then, huh?!” Hwan shouted as he slammed and broke a vase near the chambers living room. The room stayed silent, and Grey looked at Crane who stared with anger at Hwan.
“You may be a Hero Hwan, but I will not permit you to try harm Iseul.” She said as her hand rose; a beautiful blade made of glass pointing its tip towards his neck. Hwan snickered, but Crane’s anger could be felt from where I stood. Iseul, her lip dripping blood, was held by Seo-Ji.
Right before he could make a move, Tae-Soo put himself between the two. “Master Crane, he is just drunk.”
“Drunk?” Her icy word was enough to even make him clench his jaw tight. Her empty eyes stared at him and then at Hwan.
“You dare raise your hand at an unarmed woman and still excuse it with being drunk?” Crane has never been this angry, her eyes gleamed with the desire to strike, but reasoning enough to know that her sword won’t hurt Hwan.
“That is enough, Master Crane, Hero Hwan.” A calm and very hypnotic voice said. We all turned to see, the Virtue whose eyes were covered as always.
The sway of her robes was eerie, no feet underneath them and she floated an inch above the floor. “We shouldn’t fight against each other; the kingdom won’t last with this behavior.”
Her hand lifted, gesturing us to sit down. Crane was the first to sheath her blade and sit. I sat next to Tae-Soo and Seo-Ji, where Hwan wanted to storm out, but his friend stopped him. The young girl sat down on the floor; her hood being lifted off her small head.
“As you can tell, I have come to speak on behalf of the court of what is to come. Losing one of yours in the first mission was not expected, and to have met a Hero no less. Juno was just one of the lower leveled Heroes.”
We stayed quiet, her face turning as if looking at each of us. “Hero Bon-Bon is unknown of her status, even I can’t read her mana signature but as well can’t detect it near the heavens.” Her words were a mixture of sadness and doubt.
She took a small breath and turned to us again. “As this is known, there is a probability that she was captured. However, this can’t be.” Her pause made us turn to stare her.
“Juno, the Berserker, has been killed.” Seo-Jo cracked her seat handle; I held the air in my throat. Iseul stuttered. “He died? How? Who—who killed that monster?!” Iseul staggered towards the Virtue, her eyes popping out.
“Juno was killed by an unknown Hero, one who’s aura I can’t read or find in the index. This Hero as well seems to have left with no trace.”
Everyone took some time to imagine who could it be. “Could it be an Ancient Hero?” Crane asked the Virtue.
The Virtue simply shook her head, her lips turning into a tight frown. “No Ancient Hero has been seen in almost 500 years. The last recording was…”
“Back when the last Behemoth was killed.” We turned to see Gram. His cheery smile was nowhere to be seen; his age showed as he looked gloomy. Aegis and Diane were right behind him, Diane with red bags under her eyes. Diane was holding Aegis’s hand, which was unexpected.
“The last Ancient Hero was last seen facing a Behemoth. That was half a century ago. She was the last Hero to be able to kill a Behemoth.”
Behemoth? I turned to face Grey and Crane, both who seemed to get a chill from hearing the word. “Master Gram, Diane, Aegis. A pleasure to have you join us.” The Virtue gestured for them to enter, in which Gram sat on a small chair. He was too big for the chair.
“I know it’s only been a day since we have lost Miss Bon-Bon, that doesn’t give any of you the right to lash out at anyone. We can’t prevent every casualty that happens, especially against a Hero such as Juno.”
His voice was hoarse, weak and dry. Seeing as he lifted his gaze, I could tell he didn’t sleep. Unlike us, Masters still needed sleep in order to rest, his face showed enough of how he felt for what happened yesterday.
“That’s easy for you to say!” Hwan shouted. “You don’t know what it means to lose people you old cunt!” Before any of us could react, Hyun-Ha slapped him hard enough to rip off the skin off his cheek. The blood ran between his fingers as she cried, and her eyes burned as flames.
Her hand tightened into a fist, and her shoulders began to tremble. “You have no right to get angry. You have no right to speak on behalf of us who truly care for her. Hide your balls like you usually do and leave us to hear the meeting.”
Hwan didn’t need to hear it twice; he stumbled and slammed the door as he left. Bing-Bing and Ji-Hye held Hyun-Ha.
“Gram, is it possible that she survived?” Iseul asked with a whimper leaving her throat. Gram held a grim expression and lowered his head. “I’m sorry little one, I don’t really know. I’m sorry if I’m unable to console your worries. But all we can do is trust in the words of the Virtue.”
Hyun-Ha didn’t hold her sobs any longer, falling to the floor. Iseul lifted her gaze and sat down. Seo-Jo and Si-Young closed their eyes, trying their best to not cry. I felt my stomach turn.
I have already lost my father, his death being like my heart being drain of its blood and my stomach rising up as if I was diving from a high tower. Bon-Bon was barely just in her 20s to die. But if what the Virtue was true, it was possible she was still out there.
“You mentioned that Juno was killed, but how can we be sure he is dead?” I asked with my voice deep and empty. “Each Hero has an aura that shines brighter than a star, each one capable of being read by those who are extremely sensible to mana.”
The Virtue held her hand next to one of her eyes. Through the blindfold of silk black, her eye began to glow so bright, the fabric wasn’t enough to stop it from escaping. “As you already know, his and almost all of the Tokyo Faction hold a crimson blood dark color on their aura, one that stands for ambition and tenacity.” I thought it was a feeling, but I could tell by her aura that she was beginning to get angry.
“Such color, meant corruption, such corruption, meant that they are a lost cause, and such lost cause, meant that they couldn’t hide their auras. A Hero can manipulate their auras and hide their presence. But when corruption takes over, this is quite difficult and mostly just left alone.”
Her eyes dimmed and lost the light, and suddenly she turned to look at me. “So, to answer your question Hero Dae-Hyun, yes I’m certain he has died.” Everyone couldn’t believe her words. Hyun-Ha stopped crying, her hiccups of sorrow still shaking her shoulders, along Tae-Soo looking down on the marble floor.
“If it’s true, what monster is capable of killing him so quickly. We barely survived all of us, yet one single Hero was enough to kill him by the time we left.” The Virtue stayed quiet for a long minute, then spoke.
“There are a few Heroes, ones who we even don’t know where they may be, swallowed from existence, wandering unknown and mysterious lands, these Heroes are equal to even my creators.”
Everyone stayed quiet, some blinked quickly, almost as if they were seeing things, while some even scoffed at the revelation. “Heroes are capable of such thing?” Eun-Ji asked softly.
The Virtue only nodded slightly, her deadpan expression not showing a hint of emotion. “Why do you think we need Heroes to face others as equal to my creators. Such beings could never be injured or even scratched by mortals or what your world uses, nuclear energy.”
How did the Virtue know all this? How does she know of nuclear weapons? My head span with questions, her small frame making it so difficult to believe she knows much of what other worlds can do.
“That being said, it’s not even a challenge for such Heroes to kill Juno. As well this is the second Hero of the Hero Empire who has fallen in the past fifty years.” Grey slightly looked at her with an unreadable expression.
“You mean to say that two have fallen? Who killed the first one?” Her face lost the deadpan expression, the corners of her mouth rising into what I could feel was someway a proud smile, she said, “the same Hero who killed Juno.”
Everyone stayed quiet, the expression of every classmate turned into grim and sickly. The pale faces stared at the ground. “How are you sure?” The Virtue lifted herself from where she sat, floating towards us in a circle. “Because each of you is unique. Each has their own aura, their own existence. And the existence of the one who killed Juno, was the same one I felt back then when monitoring the Tokyo Heroes.”
She stood in front of Gram, her face staring at us. “Bon-Bon’s mana signature was faint, while the other was strong enough to push me away from feeling any further.”
“So, you’re saying this person is too powerful even for you to read them?” Tae-Soo asked hesitantly. She shook her head. “It’s not that I couldn’t read it, it’s that I grew afraid on how powerful it became in the few fifty years. Back then it was similar to that of a Phase 7 Hero, now it seems I was staring at an abyss that wanted to swallow me.”
She shivered at the memory, her face turning pale. “We don’t know the intentions of said Hero as well.” Crane spoke as her heels resounded on the marble floor. “Though we may confirm that their intentions are not friendly with the Tokyo Faction.”
We turned to look at Master Grey, thinking she would say something. “You all must rest in order to train more, to prevent something like this to repeat, I shall inform the rest of the former Masters of what is to come.” Master Gram said as he lifted himself. Bowing deeply to the Virtue, he left, his frame being smaller as he walked away.
“You wish for us to rest and train; we won’t mourn our classmate?” Iseul asked in a venomous tone. The Virtue lifted a hand, stopping Iseul from speaking any further. “We can’t mourn a Hero without confirming they are dead. As I told you, we must be patient and get ready. The war has just begun.”
We only stayed silent to her words. I on the other hand, began to wonder if how she said it was rude, or rather she was broken as well by the news. Not much is known on how they handle grief in this world.
“Can we at least have a small pray to her?” Iseul asked as she looked at Hyun-Ha who was still sobbing. The Virtue nodded and left the room.
II
A few days past after the terrible incident with Bon-Bon. I stayed in my room to meditate. My Cosmo began to show the golden, silver and white colors with the nebula expanding millions of miles of my sight. I felt so big yet so little to the power that was inside me.
The stars blazed like suns; the nebula roared with energy; my fragments turned around as if dancing inside the galaxy. I turned to find my other side; a shadow filled with golden sparks in his eyes.
“Why are you here?” I asked it.
It floated a few inches closer, the dark spirals it had for pupils stared daggers at me, then it said, “that is the question you should ask yourself.”
This shadow was what Grey called, our alter ego or something similar. But this shadow was the future me, someone who had already seen the horrors that await me.
“Then why am I present towards you; you are the me who went through the whole process.” Its eyes narrowed, and as he walked, the steps began to leave golden stars like a current in the sea.
“You have the responsibility of being the one to lead your comrades, never bend your will. As you can already tell, losing a comrade will cause more to fall instead to grow stronger.” I felt a shiver as it said this.
“Why tell me this?” I asked it. “Because, unlike the others, you will be the one to receive them after all this is over, the burdens, the hardships, the lost of what they once were, it is all what will make them into the most powerful to exist in the existence.”
It was standing a few inches from me, the golden eyes with a set of eclipsed pupils. My cold shiver became sickly, my heart failing to beat a normal rhythm. “You shall carry the burden of your generation, such as the same will you share it with him.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
I shook my head, his last words enough to bring me back from my fear. “Him?” He smiled, although it couldn’t see it, I felt it. “You have much to live, I’ll see you again once you reach the checkpoint.”
“W-wait!” Before I could get an answer, it left and returned to the nebula. I stared at it for a minute, my head already feeling heavy from hearing so much.
“Him? Who is him?” That was what I thought as I turned and floated like a ball spinning. Then.
No way! Am I into guys?! I slapped my cheeks before I could lose into such an outrageous idea. Then I began to imagine girls. Beautiful, silver hair and— wait! What was I losing myself into again. Eyes of a certain friend of mine came to mind, her bronze-beige eyes came to mind.
Turning to view the nebula, I drifted inside the fragments. There, the thousands of pieces that made my sword were dispersed like stars.
Clapping my hands, it came rushing to place in front of me. The sword was blacker than the space that surrounded me. It’s edge sparkling like millions of stars and the hilt looked like glass that swallowed the blackness. I held it in my hands, the weight barely felt, its edge sharp enough to even cause to open my flesh from just touching it.
Taking the sword, I began to imagine inside my Cosmo how to wield it. All the knowledge I read from the books of the palace came to mind.
I didn’t know how long I was inside my meditating state. Waking up with my head on the floor and my body dangling from the bed, I lifted myself. Checking the window that was next to the bed, it was already the afternoon.
Taking a few minutes to stretch, I left my room and found Seo-Ji in the lounge staring at her hands. Before I could speak, she turned, her eyes all red.
Her bronze eyes stared with grief, her shivering lip not stopping. “Hey Seo-Ji, are you alright?” I asked in a quiet tone.
She shook her head. “I’m alright. Just trying to release what I have left.” I stared uncomfortably for a while, then I sat behind her, taking the opposite direction, our backs touching slightly.
“You can tell me, y’know?” She stayed quiet for a few seconds. Taking a deep breath, her hoarse voice began to say, “I just still can’t believe she isn’t here no more. I was just getting to know BB. I just can’t believe this is happening.”
The silence ate my thoughts. I understood truly what she felt. However, I was never good in expressing said feelings. Tapping the carpet floor, I took a breath.
“I understand it very well, the reality of not seeing them no longer, the emptiness inside, almost as if all your insides left with that feeling of grief. But one thing is for sure. You can’t blame yourself.”
Seo-Ji turned to me. “How can you be so sure?” Her eyes gave me a hard glare, something to the point of getting angry and to cry. “Because it wasn’t you who took her, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. None of us could have foreseen what would happen to her.”
Seo-Ji waited a breath, then two. “You really suck at consoling, y’know that.” She lifted her face, placing it on my back.
“Umm, Seo-Ji?” She pinched my rib, that being the cue for me to shut up.
Ow.
We stayed there as long as the afternoon took. When she managed to calm down, we walked around a bit by the palace. In the garden, we saw a familiar face, along with Crane.
“General Bryhne.” I said as she turned to face us. Just like Crane, she had empty eyes, the only difference being that Bryhne’s eyes were a dark indigo.
She smiled faintly, taking a small bow to greet us. “Hero Dae-Hyun, Hero Seo-Ji, quite the pleasant surprise.”
Unlike before, Bryhne was using robes the showed to be with a different emblem. Unlike of Joyce being a normal “J” with two triangles of blue royal and a white background on it.
The emblem was a knight with a rose as its background, and it holds two swords crossing as an “X” in front of him. General Bryhne bowed to us and touched her left side of her chest and extended her arm with her palm facing up. “I’m sorry for what happened to your friend. I wish for all of you to have strength for what you're going through.”
Her words were quite soothing. Her traditions however were quite different from Joyce. “General Bryhne and I were speaking just now about the plans of how the war will go in Gran’Diosa.”
Gran’Diosa, the military kingdom? I heard much of their military and how most are women.
“Yes, I came to discuss with the other Masters and his majesty.” Crane gestured us to sit near the benches that were layered around the garden.
Taking a seat, both Seo-Ji and I waited for what Bryhne needed to say. “We have found ships circling near the shores of the ice wall, as if they were trying to find where to enter. So, Ethel went to scope out the area. But we found out something.”
Bryhne looked at each of us. “We have moles in the kingdom.”
I stared at her with my jaw tight, feeling my teeth grind, and my eyes burning gold. “What?” I said in a very harsh tone. “It seems that there are soldiers who are influenced by what the Hero Empire offers. But that’s just a theory. I believe they are doing this because of what happened in the kingdoms on the other side of the wall.”
As I heard this, I could only think of one thing. They were being used with some kind of hostage or blackmail. “Back twenty years ago, the Heroes began to take over the kingdom from the top to reach the ice wall. Many families were separated back then.”
So, there were people being held hostage or even as prisoners by the Hero Empire. “We began to interrogate every weekend by groups, almost like a check up, in which we have managed to distinguish who the moles are.”
We heard everything that was allowed to be told to people of our rank, how Ethel discovered that there are people who were being used to know how to break through the wall, or even how to infiltrate the ocean.
Gran’Diosa was shown to be in alert after realizing the moles, most of them locked up and put to think of their mistake. Unlike in our world, these people do feel guilt more over what their intentions meant.
Sadly, I couldn’t say anything about them as I never would understand what I would do in their shoes. Bryhne showed to hold in her anger, her eyes blazing with said feeling.
“How will we respond to such thing?” Seo-Ji asked. For a minute, Bryhne didn’t say a thing, then while releasing a sigh. “We plan to attack the ships and take down the troops near the coast.”
That wasn’t a bad idea, but the result will only cause the Heroes to realize that they have been caught. “As I may think it’s quite possible to attack them, don’t you think the Heroes will know that you have discovered the moles? Plus, they would begin attacking further?”
My words kept Bryhne quiet. She nodded. “You may be right, and that’s what I would as well think, but the idea was made by the Princess of Joyce.”
“The princess just wants war it appears.” Seo-Jo said softly. “Yes, even my lady told me to convince the princess to think over what should be done.”
I nodded slightly, then turned to Crane. “What do you think we should do Master?” She turned to see us, her hollow eyes widening in surprise. “I believe it’s best to use the soldiers who leaked information and to give false and tell us how many troops are needed to strike.”
We all stayed quiet. “Wow, that’s actually quite well planned.” Seo-Ji said. “Well, that’s the basic, because most of what would come is certain war.”
“That is true, but the longer we make the Heroes of Tokyo think they have the upper hand, the better for us to begin to prepare against their attacks and probably beat them to it.”
Bryhne smiled and nodded to Crane. The two ladies grinned and gave me chills as they looked back at me. They do get along don’t they.
Seo-Ji turned to Bryhne, “When will the meeting begin?” Bryhne turned and tapped her finger on one of the chains on her hip. “Tomorrow, first thing in the morning.”
III
I sat in the total darkness of the pyramid room. The threads of my Cosmo were still filled with the unknown areas I can’t access without achieving the phases.
Meditation helped a lot in growing my power and achieve next level. Unlike combat, I could stay like this but needed concentration in me taking the Cosmo into expanding. I thought emptying my mind was something normal as I used to do back then in my home, yet I have a tough time trying to connect the dots inside the Cosmo.
Such power was destructive, capable of even more chaotic destruction than the energy back in our world, I felt like an atomic bomb with such power. Each Phase made me even stronger, multiplying the times I had made a new supernova. Through this, I understood one thing, I could begin using other abilities than destroying or even causing death.
Through one of my new abilities, the System began to give me a secret affinity, similar to Bon-Bon with her affinity to ice. Mine was light, not fire or even blinding light, light as one energy to create immeasurable heat or even capable of causing healing. Such light was strange as it was colorless at first, but I could understand it was rather gentle.
The lights in my Cosmo beamed golden and white, the stars all distinct colors and what I could tell that changed was the massive nebula had become less gas and had begun to form a swirl into a structure similar to a galaxy.
Was I already forming myself for a new supernova? I had only reached Phase 4, now I was going to be ready to obtain Phase 5, what was this.
Checking my stats, I began to read every skill, then there one popped up that was new.
The scripture was read by the System, in which I began to hear the description.
“What the?” I was dumbstruck, a skill that could make me get ahead of everyone and even helps me reach a supernova faster. But that meant I couldn’t use Overload at all. That meant that I won’t only not have a trump card, I will as well be useless if I run out of mana or can’t fight anymore.
Scratching my temple, I began to look for any more skills or abilities, but all I saw was those two. Sighing I left the System and continued to meditate. The hours passed, and suddenly I heard someone’s voice outside. I couldn’t leave my Cosmo slowly and returned quickly, causing me to lose my concentration, which cause me to fall to the stony flat ground and leave a dent in the shape of my face. Aegis looked at me concerned, but Diane was barking with laughter that I thought her throat was making throat chants. Aegis and I looked at her with worry and creepiness, she didn’t stop at all.
Taking a while before she calms down, I looked at Aegis who was in his uniform. They came back from the meeting. Diane took a deep breath and looked up at the peak of the pyramid interior. “Whew, man, though you might not get hurt, that was one way of getting down.” She held her stomach, along Aegis just shaking his head with disappointment.
“I can’t believe we’re siblings.” Diane stopped and turned her face into one of an ogre. “What was that, you little princess.” Both had a stare down. Watching them I kinda miss my sister.
“Well, you two came to tell me something, right?” I asked with my arms crossing. “Aegis and I came to tell you to come with us. We need to speak to your team and along the others about what is going to happen for the next month.”
The tension grew in my heart as those words left Diane’s mouth. “Is it about the moles of the wall?” She shook her head. “Bryhne will be deployed to the wall as she is the most capable of investigating alongside Ethel and Master Grey.
“I see. Have they left already?” She nodded. “Grey said she would have wine ready when you reach the wall.” I chuckled. “I’m glad to hear that.” I said as Aegis began to open the pyramid entrance door. “We should head to the HQ; the other Generals are awaiting us.”
Reaching the HQ, I noticed that there were soldiers in different uniforms, some in black and grey, in which I noticed them having horns and even tails and most with some sort of long swords on their backs. Other wore the Joyce military uniform, blue royal with black. A few had shown to march with dark green and golden, along having pointy ears.
“Elves?” I asked to no one in particular. “Yes, the elves of Prynia, Gran’Dal and other kingdoms have come to help. Along Lord Tenebra’s forces as well.”
“Crescents are well known for their great strategy tactics along having the capacity to use destructive elements.” That made sense. We were at war after all. Joyce and all the kingdoms that are allied to them had joined together to face the Hero Empire, along Altior joined with their neighbor kingdoms to stop them. Cypher for the first time in a long time had joined together for the purpose to stop demigod brats from destroying their world.
“Hey, that guy seems familiar.”
“Didn’t you hear, he’s the new divine Hero, Kim Dae-Hyun.” The whispers grew louder as I passed, each soldier watching me with awe and hope. I felt grand, but the doubt invaded my mind as well. Hope is strong, but I don’t know if I can give them that.
As the thousands of soldiers took their places and began to check their equipment, I stood as the light in their darkness. Diane and Aegis saluted two guards that were shown to wear quite advanced knight armor, both having glowing visors and even swords on their hips and one rifle. They bowed, both turning to open the doors.
As we entered, we found four Generals and three other people. Along my team and the rest of the classmates. They all were sitting in front of an orb that seemed to float in the center. Gram and Crane were both already there with their uniforms.
My classmates were all in their casual training clothes, the simple tight tank top and baggy military pants and boots. The three individuals with uniforms all stared at me with astonishment.
“Hero Dae-Hyun, it’s a pleasure to see you alive and well.” General Jeremy said with a calm tone. His calm but honest smile told me he was really relieved.
“Now that everyone is here,” General Bart said as he tapped a small orb in his chair arm, “the process of what is to happen will commence.”
A dozen pictures along videos were displayed up around the orb, the sudden reports and even number of casualties began to be shown. “As you can see, the war has left a few soldiers in a pinch, along others capable of throwing back the enemies, Gray Scales as well have tried to go through the Abyss.”
Analyzing all the stats, I could tell that most of Joyce was alright, that was in exception of the wall and the frontier near it where a line is shown to be the main front where the battle is going on. From what I remember, a Calamity and a Hero are guarding it.
“The shore have had a few casualties, but nothing the Joyce corp can’t handle. The elites of the Flower Bloom maidens have managed to sink over 43 ships and take down 1,322 Gray Scales down.”
The images show a couple of knights in indigo armor that have crimson visors and swords taking down Gray Scales like nothing and blowing up the ship as they use strange kites to fly away. Though I could tell they were not men, but women as they reach and open their visors, revealing stunning petite women.
“Also, one of the shore patrols have found corpses near the ruins of the villages. It seems they were Gray Scales, or what remains of them.” I turned to the image in where everyone held their breaths. An image of corpses shows men who were killed. No, these men weren’t just killed, they were butchered.
One was bent as his spine broke and fell from behind, his rib cage and all his insides displayed, along another just shown with a shocked expression, his throat open in a clean cut. The rest seemed as if a beast ripped them apart, leaving them unrecognizable. Hwan wanted to throw up, Seo-Ji showed a grim expression, Hyun-Ha covering her mouth with her hands, along Iseul holding the head of Bing-Bing who buried her face on her chest.
“Who killed them in such a way?” General Jeremy asked as he gulped down the vile. “It seems a monster came down to kill them. But how?” General Kasleya stared at the images and chuckled. “It seems they had found a Hero.” Everyone turned to look at her.
“How can you tell?” General Jeremy asked. Aegis expanded the images and pointed at the shattered swords all around them. “The way the swords broke, even how the clean slashes left in them, there’s no doubt.”
General Kasleya looked at the armor of the Gray Scales. “They are from the units that attacked one of the Arch-Demon kingdoms.”
She gritted her teeth, her fangs biting into her lip. “Well, all I know is that they didn’t die fast or peacefully.” She smirked; her eyes filled with nothing but hate. I stared down at the ground, not being able to understand such complicating emotions that would drive me to hate so deeply.
“Well, that’s one of the encounters with unknown Heroes.” General Bart said as he swiped to the next images. There, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A slash opened the ground that was deep enough to burn and even leave flames of a pure lilac color. The only thing that was giving us an idea of humans who fought were the pieces of clothes and broken weapons that lied on the shattered ground.
Another image showed of a hole that was in the ocean. There, a blue plasma color glowed and nothing but hollow darkness stared up at the ocean. Many ships were taken out by the pieces of metal and people that lied around. As the image expanded, the hole was enough to swallow an island.
We were shocked, unlike the previous two, this one was terrifying as it didn’t even leave any marks or what was the actual target. The corpses floated all around, the scraps didn’t even show much.
“It was a battleship, a creation of one of the French Heroes that came back in the fourth generation. It’s strange as it was enough to carry over 100,000 Gray Scales and even weaponry capable of mass destruction.”
The Hero who finished them off was capable of that much?!
“How could that Hero be capable of such power?” I asked, General Jeannette answered my question. “I know her. She is what we call an Ancient Hero.” Ancient Hero?
As if she could read my mind, she began to say. “Ancient Heroes are Heroes who have reached the peak of power, she is one of the two we have that have stayed to help us only when Heroes are involved.”
“If that’s the case, why did you summon us?” Hwan asked in his snarky tone. “Because she was the one who told us that none of the Ancients would be capable of killing the Tokyo Heroes or even their allies.”
“Unlike us who have cores that have a limit to using mana, Heroes have limitless power and potential.” Jeannette said as she pointed to her chest. “Plus, she is probably close to the power of the Virtue.”
Iseul gasped, quiet but I heard it. “This Hero you speak, since when has she been in this world?” Iseul asked as she looked at the photo. “She is from the 2nd Generation.”
I stood with no expression, my heart stopped as well, time stopped. “How can that be?” Iseul asked. “Heroes are immortal, if another Hero hasn’t slayed them, then obviously she won’t pass away naturally.”
General Jeremy changed the photos, a video coming of a strange shadow driving through the skies. Then it descended, the knight, no, the Hero was standing above a burning kingdom, the cold gaze stared down at the captured soldiers.
The Hero, a young man in ashy robes and a masked twisted as if being painted repeatedly by black ink, his knife curved as a unicorn horn. His face hidden, but I felt how much joy he felt. It angered me.
“One of the rebel kingdoms of Altior has fallen. They have lost 7 for the past year. At this rate we will begin to have more people become slaves to them.”
I stood unaware of what can be done, yet seeing the images began to cause me to question my part in all of this. If I can begin to see how to make comebacks, then how will I ever beat the Tokyo faction?
The map began to show with blue light and red dots and even some kingdoms already taken. Up at the wall there was a land fully red, the Hero Empire. The Hero Empire was made of the 20 kingdoms that were taken by the Tokyo Faction.
Through this, I could tell that many of these kingdoms held most of the tactical and powerful items in the kingdoms. Yet it’s strange how they haven’t used any of them by now. That means they're barely trying now. Or perhaps…
“It’s strange that they haven’t used the weaponry of Joyce or even used any of their better tactics.”
Seo-Ji looked at me. “What do you mean?” She turned to look back, her eyes staring at each kingdom file and their resources. “The three kingdoms that are near the wall all have relics.”
“Yes, a sacred waterfall and even a classified building that was only used by royals and the Virtue.” Staring at the last one, I began to wonder why these Heroes were not using it. Or perhaps….
“We will need to send forces to the shores and the border of the abyss. It can’t be left without defense.” Jeannette said as she began to look at the file. “There are as well shortages of food and supplies for the nearby towns and villages who have been attacked.”
They discussed more and more, but the results were bringing something else than losing the war. They were beginning to understand that the Heroes of Tokyo were never trying to win the battles, they were trying to cut their resources.
They weren’t trying to win the battle; they were just weakening their opponent. They were a step ahead of us. “They were just starving the kingdoms.”
Hwan just chuckled. “Well, what did you expect from traitors.” For the first time, I agree with him. Expecting them to fight the war straight on isn’t what our ‘kind’ would do.
If that’s the case, I guess we will need to begin using the same tactics. “I think it’s time to use Earthling tactics.” I said as I smirked at Seo-Ji
“Generals, I believe we will need to use methods of our world here, I only wish for you to trust me.” I said. General Jeremy looked at me with deep thought. “Will this cause us to lose more lands?” I shook my head.
“No, but I can’t be sure if they will take the bait. If it works, then I can assure that the only ones who will need to fight will be themselves and that’s where we will take them head on.”
Jeannette looked at Jeremy and Bart. Sighing, Jeremy nodded and looked at me. “Alright. Tell us what we need to do.”