After the long-hearted talk with his son, Owari placed Rex on the make-shift mattress and let him rest for the remaining hours. He stared at his son for a few minutes before taking his leave. Soon after, Owari met the general. The two of them conversed with each other, specifically about the appearance of the pirates nearby. Fortunately, the scout had already shared the vital information to the general, so the leader of the army knew most of it. When he had heard the information from Owari himself, the general excused himself and requested if their soldiers could be briefed with a new strategy on hand before proceeding forward.Since Owari’s son, Rex, was still fast asleep, he approved such changes and also went to bed, thinking he would rest for a few hours before continuing his expedition…However, something woke him up. It had been two hours since the time he had rested. And when Owari got up, he was awoken by the presence of a ninja who was already planning to nudge Owari awake.
By the time Owari got out of the tent, his eyes had witnessed something he shouldn’t. The camps and his people were still there, but the creatures were already near the entrance. In fact, these so-called Warlocks revealed themselves to the public, wreaking havoc left and right, fighting against the soldiers armed with firearms in their hands.Owari’s people were fighting against a group of mages that called themselves “Warlocks”. Owari only heard a few stories about them. Truth be told, Warlocks were beings that discovered most existing spells and continued developing abilities beyond one’s imaginations.However, these Warlocks were branded as traitors of the Kingdom as well as the Empire. They were never wanted. Even the adventurer’s guild despised these Warlocks, because they were the ones who had created necromancy and other witchcraft that enabled others to use their spells in evil.Surprisingly, this world lashed their wraths to those overpowered spells. And they didn’t want to u
That was the third time Arata saw a soldier from the Kingdom falling from the sky. The second guy had his hips cut in half, with his fingers raining down the next. At first, Arata thought of it as some sort of stupid prank. But it wasn’t. As it turned out, it wasn’t a joke. It was real.While Arata and his team mates stared at the sky, they noticed something… out of the picture. And when they zoomed in their lenses, what Arata and his group saw… sent dozens of question marks in the area.It was a group of cloaked individuals with the head of a troll. Trolls usually had a humanoid physique that was bigger and brawnier than humans, and had wide heads with a size of three basketballs. Its teeth were massive, and the stench emitted by this monster was horrifying even for a sewer rat. Thankfully, the pirates and Arata’s system were immune to the stench. And they withstood it.Trolls were described as monsters in the deep, usually depicted with fists for weapons or make-shift axes made from
Captain Arata didn’t think twice the moment his eyes fixated themselves at the young boy falling from the sky. He left his team, jumped off, and caught the boy in his hand. A few moments later, Captain Arata fell on the ground and made a heroic landing. “What’s wrong with these Trolls?... And why on Earth… or Kepler is Owari thinking? I thought he wanted the pirates dead… WHY BRING A FUCKING CHILD ON THE BATTLEFIELD!”Then again, Captain Arata blamed himself for it, since he too had a kid of his own. But… he knew Kirameki was his sister and not anything else… This boy could be Owari’s offspring, a little brother, or he was a babysitter. Either way, the only person who could have a child with them in this… horrifying place.After a few seconds, his team finally caught up and appeared behind him. Kirameki had an excited look on her face the moment she had someone that was close to her age, unbeknownst to her this kid came from the Kingdom… Her older brother’s enemy. Nevertheless, Kiram
Rex just shrugged his shoulders and answered, “My father only told me that my mother died from the pirates. Until then, he never talked about it anymore to anyone else besides me… And until then, my father is very angry at the pirates.”“You don’t say… If I’m in his position too, I would be mad about it.” Arata wasn’t lying. He knew that if the same faith had struck him, Arata would even despise those pirates, hunt them down, and let them suffer… before killing them….… If Kirameki died from the hands of the Kingdom or from Captain Blackbeard, Arata would’ve wreaked havoc and killed whoever stood in his way. The only person who was keeping him sane was his sister, Kirameki. And if he lost his sister, Arata had no idea what to do to live.“But isn’t… killing bad?” asked Rex. “Isn’t killing,,, sending people away and leaving that someone sad?”Arata wanted to nod and agree about that. But… the world was broken. People were dying left and right, and they had no regard for it. This world
Owari couldn’t believe that he had lost a few of his people, his arsenals, automobiles, and his son from the Trolls. Those creatures were low rank creatures who could barely even cast mediocre arcane. But they still managed to win the fight… somehow and someway.And he had enough. Owari snatched one Troll, grabbed him by the collar, and placed him near the cliff, and demanded some answers.“How does your spell operate? Tell me the approximate chance where the portals can be seen!”“I WANT ANSWERS RIGHT NOW!” Owari grew bored and threatened the life of the Troll after killing his brothers, sisters, and every Troll that had appeared before him. But this time, Owari gave the beast a chance… a false hope, if anyone could call it.“I… the spell is random… It will hit anywhere… around this map… or even the ocean, as long as it’s… close to the island.”“So you’re telling me… that not a single one of you had thought about this… And you’re just using this spell of yours to intruders such as u
“Nobody wanted this to happen, Captain Arata… Nobody.”“I know,” Arata uttered, and massaged his face. “I know… And Rex is still a young kid. Kirameki too… I feel terrible when these two are brought into battle, alongside other children out there affected by the war.”“When do you think this will be over, Margarette?” Arata asked. Unlike Captain Arata, Margarette had lived here for all her life… So she should know or… Margarette could take a guess for the conclusion of this war. At least, that was what Captain Arata had believed in.And even if Margarette took an intelligent guess and got it right, what else could Arata do besides… focusing on the problem in front of them.Margrette too knew that the question was a rhetorical one, but she still gave Arata an answer, “I believe… this will be over if the two of you work together.”“Who? Owari and me?”“It depends,” Margarette’s eyes rolled towards Kirameki and Rex who were still sleeping soundly like babies. “Regardless, this will end…
A deafening explosion echoed behind Arata and his team, which was then followed by a brief keplerquake. Soon after, Rex and Kirameki panicked, unsure whether they thought of us dealing with monsters… or an immediate fight against the other pirates or… Rex’s father, Owari and the Kingdom. “What was that?” Kirameki asked. “Did that come from my father?” Rex added to Kirameki’s question. But the kid’s query was more of his personal and rhetorical question rather than an actual question. And even if Captain ARata knew the answer, and the explosion was the result of Owari tinkering with the mines, Arata, Margarette, and the other pirates kept their mouths shut and acted ignorant about it. But Arata tried his best to shrug it off as if nothing had happened and answered, “Probably a violent wind. Come, now. Let’s go. That Lunar Herb treasure isn’t going to wait for us all day.” Kirameki didn’t buy my answer… But she knew revealing everything to Rex would soon create problems for the rest