Tenil replies to the one and true god of the Fourth World, As a matter of fact, I am, yes.
Can’t wait to see what you have in mind!
If you want to understand me better, stop thinking subjectively and start thinking objectively.
Bah, I’ll just eat the problem and be done with it.
Just make sure you won’t eat your promise.
I told you I’ll keep it.
Good. Don’t cry when you become my pet.
I won’t. I’ll do as you say, if you succeed.
Anything I say?
Anything I can do. That being said, there aren’t many things I can’t do.
In that case, I have one in mind already. Look forward to it.
Mm.
“Sir, something strange is happening,” Staff Sergeant Ireine reports, entering Tenil’s tent.
Tenil is sitting at a table whereon she’s laid strategic maps. Her eyes aren’t wandering away from the maps in front of her. “What is it?”
“Alexiana brought two unknown people to the camp. No, rather, they just appeared out of thin air.”
“Are they harmful?”
“No, it does not seem so.”
“Then as long as they will not cause any harm, leave them be. I will see them later once I can.”
“Understood.”
***
“My circumstances aside, what happened to you?” Emy asks the two familiar people Dracon pulled out of the edge.
“It’s a long story,” a woman in her twenties replies. She is the other person Dracon found.
“A very long one,” a man in a burning black armor of a knight fills in. He isn’t in flames, but rather, his flesh is burning slowly like embers, forever and ever.
“We have time,” Emy urges.
The two are from the First World, people Emy knows. The woman is her mother’s murdered friend, Yessika, and the burning knight is, in fact, Emily’s father, the Ember Knight Susu fought.
“Before anything,” Yessika speaks with a serious tone she couldn’t pull off over 16,000 years ago in the First World, “we know who he is.”
Alexiana’s mind goes blank upon hearing those words.
“Actually, if not for him, we wouldn’t be here. I’m not saying he saved us, but he did make it possible for us to come here, although the trip was... horrible, to say the least.”
“Who is he!?” Alexiana demands.
“That’s... a bit complicated, I’d say,” the Ember Knight says.
“He isn’t our enemy, Emy,” Yessika states. “The real enemy is the one who basically created him, the Dark Old One.”
Alexiana has heard that name before, but until today, she didn’t know who or what the Dark Old One is. Even Dracon, the Supreme God of the First World, is oblivious of the truth.
“This world isn’t the Fourth World, Emy. This is the Fourth Era, a replica of the actual Fourth World. The same applies to every world you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“We are food,” the Ember Knight explains in a nutshell.
“What?”
“That’s a blunt way of saying it, but yeah, we’re food for the Old Ones. Worlds are seeds, and those seeds grow into civilizations, and the final stage is the harvest. We are the crops, the Black Demons are the farmers, and the Old Ones are the ones eating the servings. The Eight Worlds are, in a sense, eight fields of food.”
“And how is he related?”
“He is the unborn Ninth World.”
Alexiana’s heart is racing out of fear of learning the whole truth, but she must know. “The unborn Ninth World?”
“To be more precise, he is an amalgamation of the Seventh and Eighth Worlds. He isn’t just a person; he is a world. That’s why no one can perceive him.”
“And what about the replicated worlds?”
“He created us, an altered reality. We’re living in a parallel reality that is a replica of the Eight Worlds, the Chain of Eras, as he likes to call it.”
“Then why is he destroying the worlds!?”
“Simple; he is experimenting. If he doesn’t find a way to defeat the Old Ones, he will have to create another reality, the second link in the Chain of Eras. He can do it, you know.”
“We’re just food...?” Alexiana trails off, staring at her own hands. “Just food, nothing else? No, we aren’t food. We are... an experiment?”
“That’s right. When I died, I found myself in an empty space. There was a bright light, and I was being sucked in. I didn’t resist it, warm and welcoming as it was, but before I was engulfed, something began pulling me, my soul. Before I even knew it, I’d been taken to a different world, like you were, Emy. At some point, I and Embers ended up locked inside a large colossus, which was, in fact, a massive Shadow Phantom.”
“Wait, you mean...?”
“Correct, we were the Titan’s consciousness,” Yessika says with a serious face, looking Alexiana in the eye. “He explained we had to do it, or else the Dark Old One would’ve had total control over the Titan. It’s thanks to us the thing didn’t rise any sooner.”
“What about Susu!?” Emy wants to know.
“I don’t know. Didn’t you live with her after I died?”
Emy closes her eyes, clenching her fists. “She died.”
Now it’s Yessika’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “She grew old? Or was she killed?”
“She sacrificed herself to save us. You didn’t see her when you were dead?”
“Of course I didn’t! It was a brief moment, so how could I’ve seen her?”
“I don’t know, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry, I bet Susu’s afterlife is warm and nice, filled with those books she loved to read.”
“I hope.”
“But what happened to your looks? You resemble Susu.”
“That’s because I’m her daughter.”
“Eh?” The Ember Knight isn’t so sure about that. “I don’t remember lying with a woman named Susu.”
“You’d have died if you had,” Emy jests. “That aside, do you know what the Bright Old One is?”
“The Dark Old One’s brother. It creates the worlds, whereas the Dark One devours.”
“I see. It was the Bright Old One who made me Susu’s child. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I’m her biological daughter, although she didn’t give birth to me.”
“That’s... strange. I thought the Old Ones didn’t care about us at all—wait, are you a Blade Dancer!?” Yessika exclaims.
“If I weren’t one, then what would I be!?”
“Whoa, that’s amazing.”
“I s’pose I can only be proud, eh? My daughter became the Supreme God of the First Era, and before that, she was a Blade Dancer and a commander of an army,” Embers shares his mind.
“Yeah, right. And how did you gain free will? Aren’t you a servant of the Dark One?”
“I was such. I was artificially made a servant, so my soul wasn’t thoroughly corrupted, and when I died, I actually saw the same light Yessika did, which means I was about to become a White Demon, a servant of the Bright Old One. Long story short, poison was used to negate poison.”
“And how did you two not lose your minds during the time you were in the Titan?”
“We weren’t exactly wholly conscious,” Yessika explains.
“Fair enough.”
Alexiana turns her back to the two. She is looking at the sky, trying to absorb what she has learned. “What should I do? I’m lost, to be honest, even with the knowledge of billions of humans in my head.”
Yessika smiles. “Help him.”
“What!?” Alexiana erupts. “I spent over 16,000 years fighting him, dedicated myself to defeating him, and now you tell me to side with him!?”
“It seems the knowledge you possess is just knowledge, not actual wisdom,” Yessika remarks. “Does that make me, an airhead, the smartest person in the world, if I know better than you?”
“I guess, but...”
“Emily, as
a god, you can read our memories, right? See for yourself, if you can’t trust us.”
“First of all,” Emy retorts, facing them, “I’m Emy. Secondly, I can do it, and I was going to do it anyway.”
Emy steps closer to them, taking their hands. Dracon absorbs the memories in a matter of seconds, but even after witnessing it all like that, they can’t come to agree outright. Accepting it is like denying their reason of existence. What’s more, the truth isn’t just simply more important in objective terms, it’s also so terrifying even Alexiana trembles. An ancient entity lurks in its domain outside of the Eight Worlds, waiting to devour all.
However...
“No matter what we must sacrifice, we cannot back down.” Alexiana resolves to abandon her subjective goal. Determined to not become food, she directs the hatred of over 16,000 years at the Old Ones. “We will not be anyone’s food!”
Thus, he has gained an ally he has longed for, an ally who can shoulder the weight of the world with him.
Chapter Eighteen
Ember Knight & Yessika
Back in the First Era over 16,000 years ago when the Seed hadn’t been destroyed yet, Yessika was murdered by an outlaw, and the Ember Knight was slain by the combined force at the wall of Fourteenth.
Yessika’s experience was surreal, unexpected. Her death was swift, painless, and confusing. For a moment, she didn’t even know she was dead. She was in an empty space with indigo light, some white threads all around her.
She didn’t know at the time, but she was in the edge, her soul was in the edge. Not long after arriving there, a bright, golden light began to suck her. She didn’t fear it, warm and welcoming as it felt, so she let the light engulf her, until he came.
“You’ll become a White Demon, should you accept that light.”
“A what?” Yessika asked the mysterious person.
“You’re dead. Your soul will be corrupted by the Bright Old One if you let that light take you.”
“Oh? Is it bad?” Since Yessika was indeed an airhead, even in death, she didn’t think much of it.
“It is bad. If you promise to help me with something, I’ll bring you back to life.”
“Sounds good to me, heh. Being dead and all that is dull, to be honest.”
“Very well, and thank you. I’ll make sure you’ll live again.”
“But who are you?” Yessika asked.
“I’m... an unborn world.”
“You sound scared.”
“That’s because there’s a predator out there that might eat me, the Dark Old One. I’ve got to find a way to defend myself before I’m born.”
“So you carry the fate of a civilization, huh?”
“I do.”
“How strong is the Dark guy?”
“So strong you’d need power potent enough to erase a world in order to defeat him.”
“Sounds tough. How will you defend yourself?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m scared and alone, fleeing from a beast that wants to devour me. I... please, help me, Yessika. I don’t want to fight this fate alone!”
Yessika smiled in the edge where her soul was adrift. “Don’t cry. I’ll help you out, but I don’t think I’ll be much of use. I’m a bit dumb, you know.”
“Thank you,” his voice was filled with gratitude.
As for the Ember Knight, as soon as he was slain, he was about to be taken by the same light too. However, he came and saved him before the Old One could make him a White Demon. Unlike Yessika, Emily’s father didn’t say a word when he asked for his help. He merely nodded.
“I promise to restore your lost memories if you help me, and also, you’ll live again.” That was what he promised to Emily’s tormented father.
Although neither has any recollection of it, Yessika and the Ember Knight were the cause for the Second Era to disappear. Literally, they invoked the end of the Second Era, though they didn’t do it spontaneously.
After that, they ended up in the Third Era, where he made the Titan. It was an experiment to see if a Seed can be contained, but alas, she came and interrupted his plan, demonstrated how easily the end of the world was released from its prison. He planned on letting the humans in the other dimension of the Third Era destroy the Elementi, which would’ve led to the obliteration of the dimension where the Titan was held. That way, by sacrificing half of the world, he could’ve prevented a Seed from consuming the whole world, just like in the First Era.
However, she proved him that wouldn’t work. Since the long experiment that took over 16,000 years was over, Yessika and the Ember Knight were released. He helped them reach her so that they could reunite after so long.
Chapter Nineteen
The First Attack
Tenil is satisfied with the day’s results. She’s come up with a good foundation for a strong strategy, but it isn’t finished yet. A few more adjustments and it’ll be perfect. She’s calculated it’ll take roughly three weeks for them to conquer the West of Roshia. Once a strong foothold has been founded, they’ll march South to avoid possible conflict with an invading army of Phyr. After all, the Northern border of the federation is shared with Phyr.
Therefore, by aiming to overtake the South and West, they have more time to react to any possible invasion from North, as there will be leagues between the two forces.
As for the federation, their biggest advantage is supply, and that’s what Tenil is aiming to eliminate first. She’ll start with guerilla warfare, raiding small, yet crucial locations, preferably several at a time to even the odds.
Once supplies are cut off, or at least reduced, they’ll siege the closest fortification and begin to overtake nearby locations. Their first attack must be swift and painful, and most importantly, unforeseen. The federation is on an alert, like every other nation on the continent.
With a deep sigh, Tenil lies down on the bed in her tent. It’s past nightfall already. Fireflies are swarming almost everywhere, including inside the tent. For Tenil who hasn’t seen fireflies before, it’s a magical sight.
“Good thing the whole world isn’t as ugly as me.”
Tenil can’t help the ironic smile. Not only does she look cursed, her soul is tainted with the horrors of warfare. It doesn’t matter where she looks in a mirror, she can only see a devil.
The agony is twisting her expression and shaping her voice. The curse Oreon cast upon her hasn’t faltered, but keeps tormenting her. If not for the burden she shoulders, she’d have succumbed to madness by now.
Tenil extinguishes the fire in a lamp in hopes of getting some rest. The pain is making her sleepless, so even if she falls asleep, she’ll wake up soon after, and perhaps fall asleep once more. She hasn’t had proper rest because of it, so there’s the possibility her body might force her to fall asleep.
But the thing that wakes her up after midnight isn’t the pain, but a creature. Tenil opens her eyes as soon as she hears faint steps of something walking in the dark tent. She judges it’s a small creature. It can’t be a child, she reasons, nor is it Alexiana.
Swift as the wind, Tenil draws her dagger and holds it at the thing’s throat.
“Who are you?”
Nonchalantly, the creature answers with the voice of a small creature, “My name is Worthless Imp.”
“...Eh?”
“I am the Lord’s butler.”
The size of the creature is less than a feet in height. Its eyes are gleaming in the dark, round and golden, monochrome.
“Please pull back your weapon. I am here to bear a message to you.”
“Before that, explain what you are.”
“Sigh, I am an imp, a creature of Hell. I am the Lord of Hell’s butler. I was sent from Cerphet to bear a message.”
“And what is the message?”
“Stop killing people, Milady. You are risking overpopulation in Heaven and Hell by killing so many.”
“I can’t stop now. If I do, none of us will survive.”
“Do you know what it means to
have overpopulation in both Heaven and Hell?”
“It can’t mean the end of the world, can it?”
“No, it does not, but it will cause chaos in Cerphet.”
“Then which is it, chaos in Cerphet or the end of the world?”
Worthless Imp tilts its tiny head. “How can a human war lead to the end of the world?”
“Have you heard of Ouroboros?”
“It is an old legend in Cerphet. Why?”
“If I won’t succeed, Ouroboros will devour the world.”
“Ouroboros is not real.”
“Would you like to talk to him?” Tenil asks, holding the small crystal in her other hand. Just by touching it, one can talk to the dragon directly.
“How is that even possible? Quit lying.”
“Then touch this crystal,” Tenil prompts.
The imp nods in the dark. His silhouette is very vague, but Tenil can tell it has two legs and arms, and seemingly a tail too.
Hi.
“Huh? I heard a voice.”
Of course. I’m talking to you, Mister Imp.
“Who are you?”
Ouroboros. Nice to meet you.
“Liar. Where are you?”
At home. Would you like to be my next snack?
“N-no, please, I have work to do.”
Then believe me. If you won’t, I’ll grill you tonight.
“P-please, spare me, Lord Ouroboros.”
“So, which is it,” Tenil asks again, “overpopulation in the afterlife or the end of the world?”
“D-do as you like!”
With a puff, the imp disappears like he hadn’t been there in the first place. Tenil is perplexed, having witnessed something surreal and all. However, soon after, she starts chuckling, knowing that the Lords are troubled by her who is but a mortal.
“Goddess of War? More like the Grim Reaper, heh.”
***
Before long, their respite is over. The Knights of the Red Flag are mobilized once the preparations for the invasion are done. Tenil has requested scouts to study the border defenses while they’ve been preparing, and the results are worth the trouble. They now know there are certain locations that are guarded well.
Only 200 knights are mobilizing. They’ll distribute the men evenly to form ten units for guerilla attacks. Tenil is leading one of them. 150 soldiers of Gunlai are also preparing to set out, but their forces will consist of three units of 50 men since they’ll raid slightly heavier targets.
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