Just as everyone seemed to be doing their part to prepare for the upcoming war, Rosa found herself all alone, being surrounded by nothing but trees and silence. She held onto the contraptions Gloin made for her to assist her in using her power.
It’s been years now, but Rosa still felt afraid of the fact that somewhere out there is Dylan, and he could still kill her. And when that time comes, she will not have her powers to rely upon to defend herself. It’s the only thing that has saved her before.
But because of it, as a consequence, her chi has been blocked ever since. She cannot conjure her magic like before to its full potential.
Rosa thought that it is a little too ironic. She had such great powers growing up that she has been terrified of using them, and now, she has too little that she’s terrified of using it because she can’t accept the fact that she’s become useless.
It frustrated her by not being able to do something,
Rosa sighed deep
Rosa and Arwin prepared themselves into their own stances. Arwin instructed, “Being alone in the forest with no one to depend on and being afraid that the king might find me taught me how to stay alive.” Arwin closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, “To go back to your core. The root of one’s power resides in one’s emotion. It can be hatred, love, anger, or pain. The more powerful that emotion is, the more powerful you are but magic- if it becomes too powerful for the user to control, it will devour its user.” Rosa felt a shiver down her spine as she gulped, listening to Arwin. She also closed her eyes as Arwin continued, “Now fear is what hinders you. What do you think is the human’s strongest emotion?” “Love?” Rosa replied, “Or the opposite of it. Hatred.” Arwin said, “Hatred is not the opposite of love. Indifference is.” “Then what is the human’s strongest emotion that will be enough for me to draw out my power?” A
The days passed by so quickly. Everyone resumed with their stations, building and training endlessly. Arwin met Dylan and Sinas in secret, along with Timothy, back in their meeting place. Arwin being more cautious, placed a force field around them upon meeting. Arwin protested, “This is uncalled for. Why did you call us out here? The blood moon is in a few days, and you know this is a risky move. King Damon might get suspicious of you, and all that we worked for will be tossed out the drain.” “I agree. Why would you ask to meet us? Mark just left; what if he saw the two of you. Mark, despite being our ally, still has some traces of the king.” Timothy added. Sinas cleared his throat and explained, “Look, I know we agreed that there shouldn’t be any more meetings, but there has been a change of plans.” “Change of plans? There are only a few days left. What change of plans, Sinas?” Arwin asked out. “Before you go crazy on me, just hear me out.” S
Arwin and Timothy returned back to the village cautiously and still under Arwin’s force field magic made from her black raven aura. There is deafening silence between the two of them. It has been days after Atlas's death, but Timothy did as he said back then. Arwin, to him, is no more than a means to get out of the forest now. In fact, it’s not only them; the rest of the crew is growing distant from one another as the days pass by. It’s as if seeing each other reminded everyone of how they ended up there. After all, isn’t blaming someone else for everything better than facing the truth and blaming yourself? “Do you think they’ll be able to recruit the creatures from the dark part of the forest? I have encountered them, and they will not yield to anyone’s rule, which is why they chose to isolate themselves.” Arwin asked out. Timothy replied without looking back at Arwin, “If it’s Dylan and Sinas, then it’s possible. Let them worry about their endeavors
Meanwhile, from far across the village, Sinas and Dylan were still in the dark part of the forest. Dylan had already faced off a lot of dark engkantos with black blood splattered all over his face from all that he had killed. Exactly after three minutes, just as Dylan had said, Sinas stopped Dylan. Dylan obediently backed off and wiped the blood off from his face. Sinas proudly said, “Outstanding, isn’t he?” The dark engkantos hissed at Sinas, “How dare you come to our home and attack our kind? Have you got no shame? Go back to your castle.” “Now, now, we don’t intend to harm you,” Sinas smirked. “A bit late for that, don’t you think?” They remarked as they pointed out the corpses of their kind lying around after Dylan brutally murdered them. Sinas explained, “This is merely a little show. A little example if you can call it that to showcase how you’ll be wiped out in an instance by the king.” “You can’t scare us. The king has never se
King Damon spotted Sinas from a distance and smirked; he walked towards them with his long white hair. Age is catching up to King Damon with his wrinkly face and weakening body. King Damon said, “Mark and Dylan, leave us. We have matters to attend to.” Mark and Dylan looked at each other as they hesitantly left, taking opposite directions from each other. As they left, Sinas got straight to the point and asked, “Give me a couple more days; I’ll definitely give you my move then.” “I am a lot of things, but patience is not one of them.” King Damon remarked, “Give me your answer by then. Give me a reason not to kill your son, Dylan?” Sinas shook from fear- or at least that’s what he showed King Damon; he stammered, “Please. Give me more time.” “That is exactly why you should not bargain with me if you’re not sure if you’re going to win.” King Damon arrogantly stated as he walked back to his throne. Sinas smirked as he turned his bac
John sympathized with Mosse. He remembered how fascinated he was back then about discovering the creatures the forest shelters, but that is before Sinas tortured the crap out of him, that is before all of this mess. Now, his soul is dead, and he just wants to get out of this forest to start over- if he deserves it. To this day, John still carried the guilt that the reason why Mark came back to this forest that he so desperately wanted to get out is because John asked him to come. The fact that Mark faced untimely death or will become that tyrannical king’s vessel is all John’s fault, and he could not do anything to save Mark. So instead, he drowned himself with all the alcohol he could find, hoping that the alcohol would make him forget everything. John’s worthless revenge brought them here. He just wanted to get even at Sinas and explore the outside world. Is that so wrong of that God- or whoever’s up there to punish him so cruelly?
Fear was like a parasite that crept through Arwin, infesting her mind and making her paralyzed. But she has been living in fear for a while now; it almost felt like an old friend of hers now. She looked around, seeing the villagers and the rest of her friends, she found herself smiling. She is willing to die for all this. One day. There is only one day left, and Arwin decided to cherish it, looking for her closest friends. First, she paid Rosa and Timothy a visit. She barged through their front door as the couple ate their breakfast. Rosa asked as she yawned, “Arwin? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” “What? Are there any changes in our plans?” Timothy worriedly asked. Arwin smirked and said, “I just got hungry. That’s why I’m here.” Rosa offered her some meat and a hot cup of coffee, and Arwin sat there with them. It was not eventful, but Arwin’s trying to engrave it in her memory that there was a day where everything is ok
Arwin kept her distance as she observed the tough-looking guards outside the castle with her binoculars. There were about ten, five on each side, so Arwin shot Timothy a look and gestured at him to move to the other side. She also gestured to him that there are five guards on his side. Timothy nodded as he split the group into half. The other half with Arwin, and they quietly and cautiously walked towards the guards closer, concealing themselves with the dark blankets Rosa made that they blend perfectly with the night sky. Timothy went in first to avoid suspicion. If anything, they would not want to inform the other guards of the assault. Timothy shot a look at the kid from their village; he said, “Remember what I told you?” The young boy nodded nervously. Timothy patted his head gently and said, “Good boy. Trust me; I’ll bring you out here alive, Kite.” Kite then proceeded with the plan as he walked toward the guards pretending that he’s lost. The gu
Arwin walked calmly. Wendy saw her when the young woman said, “Yes, everything turned out for the best, they gave everyone immunity, and they decided to unsubscribe. The army’s way of doing things is not the best!”Wendy, with a smile, said, “It’s true. It is not! But it’s good that the republic doesn’t follow them anymore. They’ve been close to me for a long time, so you don’t have to worry!”Smiling, Arwin thanked him and said, “I know! The mafia has done a lot for us, and we are available. We will open a special commission agency, and we can take on any job. Any…!”Wendy, with a smile, said, “I’ll keep them in mind then… Tell me! On the hand, how does it work?Smiling, Arwin nodded, saying, “The hand works great! Just like Strickland’s arm, though, he only knows how to complain….!”Wendy nodded and, seeing Arwin said, “That’s great, but if you don’t need anything, what did you come to do? Just to say hello?”Arwin nodded and said, “I wanted to know how you were, but more than anyth
Arwin was unconscious and the warm hand of a person she knew brought her back to reality. Everything was collapsing, and a one-armed man was pushing hard to remove part of the railing that was above it.“Luca.”She whispered when she saw the effort that the man-made toward her. She placed both hands on the railing and, helping him between the two of them, managed to lift her, she looked at him, and he said, offering her a hand, “I was worried, and I came to see how you were!”She, smiling, took his hand and, standing up, said, “It was difficult, but I did it! Is dead!”Luca smiling, began to run to the side of Arwin. Both were injured but kept a steady pace walking to get out of that place. Arwin seeing him, looked at his bandaged leg and said, “You managed to beat Skyler!”The smiling young man looked at him and said, “Nine times out of ten, she would have lost… I was very lucky!”She looked at him and was sure that he was speaking sincerely. However, she also knew how efficient he w
Arwin looked at the man walking towards her. Her shirt fell to the ground and showed a torso full of scars. The man raised his hands, looked at the pirate, and said, “It is said that you were the captain of a pirate ship. Is that true?”Arwin tightened his muscles, and the smiling man said, “I also!”With speed, she approached. For Arwin, it was strange to see a person of that size move at such speed, the man launched two direct blows to Arwin’s face, and the young woman, moving her head from side to side, managed to avoid them.He prepared a strong uppercut and threw it at the girl’s face. She tilted her face back to avoid the blow, but she could only feel the impact and see the entire room move around her. She didn’t understand what was happening.She was sure she had dodged it, but now the whistle that deafened her ears was in accordance with the erratic movement of the lights when the next blow caught her in the stomach.She felt a powerful hollow in her stomach as her legs failed
Arwin looked straight ahead at the swordsman of the black knights, the corpses of his companions adorned the entire anteroom, and he said, smiling, “After killing you. I’ll go find that Skyler guy and finish him off!”She, smiling, calmly breathed as she squeezed the handle of her gun. In that place, the smell of blood began to permeate everything, and the man in front of her said, “This is it. It’s the end!”Taking a step forward, he pressed the handle of his sword. That action generated a reaction from Arwin, who, with full power, advanced. Their steps were synchronized, and in a fraction of a second, the blood on the ground splashed from their strong steps until they crossed each other and stayed behind their enemy.They both calmly smiled, and it was one of Arwin’s daggers that broke at that moment. She looked at it and straightened up, and looked back when she said, “The weapons of the black knights are unmatched!”Seeing the man, he fell to his knees, and slowly, his hands went
Luca watched Skyler. Every move in his mind ended with the man stabbing him somewhere in the body, and even though the sword was severed and its reach reduced, Skyler didn’t look fazed in the least.In a normal fight with a normal person, Luca would have the advantage because of his armory on his arm, but against Skyler, all those weapons were useless. Something about that person was extraordinary, and his ability to fight was beyond everyone’s expectations, including Luca’s.Skyler bending her knees forward, jumped towards him, Luca raised his arm, trying to anticipate the blow, but the union member did not reveal his attack until the last minute.With a precise sword strike to the abdomen, Skyler made Luca step back, activating the barrel of his weapon. He opened his palm so that it pointed at Skyler, and the young man, only leaning forward a little, managed to dodge the shot.Swinging his sword hard, he hit Luca’s arm with the edge making his hand do a huge flip, and with his bare
Arwin and his men arrived at the antechamber of the emperor’s room. They all looked at the door ornamented with the symbol that was the shield of the empire on the doorknobs while they breathed deeply. Arwin said, “Once we go in, probably if we find opposition, they have to be careful and attack firmly. We don’t know what’s in store for us!”But that was not entirely true, and she had a clear notion of what was waiting for her behind that door. Seeing her companions before entering, she said, “Listen, if there are any black knights entering behind this door, I want you to retreat immediately… if you stay, you will die!”One of the soldiers saw her and said, “We will not retreat. If we even die, we have to make sure to make your mission easier, and if the black knights are behind this door, then we will have to face them, that’s all!”She smiled, the support of her men always lovely, and kicking the door hard, she had a split second to see the formation in front of her.Four soldiers a
Holly looked back and could see Loid storming in, firing her gun and sliding on her knees to get behind the wall her grenade had built. Seeing Holly, she asked, “Are you okay?”She was happy to see him and smiling. She nodded, breathing deeply. Loid saw how a fragment of the wall deteriorated and, looking to the side, said, “First, we must move. This won’t last long!”Coming out of the side of the wall, he raised his rifle and, firing several times, managed to hit Ben in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Looking at Holly, they both began to run at full speed towards another iron container.From the ground, Ben threw his nails, trying to kill them, but they moved quickly and managed to take cover.Loid was surprised, and seeing Ben stand up, he asked, “I gave him six shots. How the hell is he intact?”Holly, with a hint of frustration in her voice, said, “He’s reborn. I shot him in the head, an explosion with a grenade, I even hit him with a forklift, and he’s still whole. It won’
Luca was right in front of his enemy. The man in the white suit was smiling despite the wound on his shoulder. The man was looking at Luca carefully when he said, “Do you think you can survive this time? This injury was because you took me by surprise!”With those words, the man threw himself on Luca. He threw a hook hoping that Luca would protect himself but instead, the soldier moved his head from the place of the impact avoiding the blow with ease.The man looked at that, but, far from being discouraged, he launched a strong kick to the abdomen, but Luca, moving with his legs, got out of the reach of the blow. The man started throwing combination after combination, but Luca moved his body kept away from him.The frustrated man felt the pain in his shoulder when Luca smilingly said, “It’s not space mechanics. If I can’t cover myself, then I’m going to dodge everything you throw… your physical condition isn’t very good!”The smiling man shook his head and said, “As if they hadn’t tri
Arwin was running at full speed. The corridors turned into different paths but they had their path well established. They exactly knew which direction to go thanks to Holly’s help. However, the girl had stopped responding, and that puzzled Arwin a bit as he advanced with a glance. A quick glance at the troops that were with her, the girl stopped.She was looking at her men curiously when one of the Mafia soldiers asked, “What’s wrong, Arwin?”She is a quick movement, took out her dagger and, throwing it at full speed, stabbed one of the mafia soldiers directly in the chest, and all the soldiers raised their rifles to point at her. They were terrified when she, without paying any attention to them, saw how the man stabbed in the ground became another person.The guards looked at each other and saw Arwin, and the girl said, “Apparently, he can change his appearance and clothes at will... I don’t know when he replaced one of you, but he did!”One of the mafia soldiers looked at her in su