It was a very long time ago, older than the ancients.
Legend had it this world was formed by the will of divine spirits.
“They” were incarnation of god themselves.
From nothingness,
From total darkness,
“They” came together, and became one.
The world.
Just like that, the world we’re living in came into existence.
How fragile it is, yet full of mystery.
We have tried to catch a glimpse of the creators, but what we’ve known is nothing more than a grain of sand, at the bottom of the ocean.
What kind of will do they hold, when creating “those”?
What do they think of us, when trying to erase us after making us?
We’re far too ignorant.
We know nothing, of our creation, of our destruction.
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Year xxx, 15th generation. April 21st, North division.
The Nohigu of this generation carried spirit of flame, Ignitia. The crash was recorded at the location of a forest, to the west of X city, the world of the powerless.
The Nohigu was classified as a B+ rank, not necessarily to be called a threat, but we still keep our caution and sent out number 7 and number 8: Bernard and Jinx.
Upon arriving at the scene, the numbers had picked up the trace of the Nohigu, and the pursuit took only a few hours. It lead to the prairie to the north of the forest. There they cornered the Nohigu to the foot of a mountain.
The Nohigu Ignitia, in the form of a young woman, aged around her 20s. According to Jinx’s report, her appearance was not much different than any average woman at that age, only her hair was easily recognized: it was glowing red. About her ability, she had enough power to burn down the whole forest in a second, if she wanted to. For a B+ rank, she must be very close to be grouped as an A rank.
The capturing process happened without hindrance, Iginitia didn’t put up much of a fight, which was questionable. Capture time: 23 minutes. Ignitia last word before being extract was what made my head spin:
“It was wrong from the start, to create us.”
What was the meaning behind those lines? Bernard described her voice at that time was “total despair”. But only after that he knew true despair.
The time was 23:12
We received a sudden request for assistance from Number 8, Jinx. She was in a state of total frantic, said that Bernard had been “evaporated” by another Nohigu appeared a few minutes after Ignitia capturing.
No, that thing can't be called a Nohigu. Even at this point I still can’t tell what it is.
The night was dark, but it was darker.
The air was cold, but couldn’t be compared to its coldness.
Its presence was overwhelming, but nothing could be felt from it.
Total emptiness.
A void.
Bernard did his best to stall for time in order to help Jinx to get away and make contact. After hearing about the grave situation, we sent out our 4 best hunters. However, I still went with them myself to make sure no casualty would arise.
My cautiousness was all for naught.
The enemy couldn’t be called strong, but rather, it couldn’t be harmed.
Formless, lifeless. I couldn’t sense any killing intent from it, but from how I see it, it killed every traces of life on its way.
Number 1, 2 and 3 were “evaporated”, just like Jinx said. They dissolved in to the air without any traces as they came into contact with it.
As for number 4, I asked her to remain by my side. In case of emergency, her power would prove useful. At least, it was one time my judgment was right. Knowing that the enemy we were facing was an unknown existence, number 4 had recorded all the incident to her memory. I knew that this was not something we could handle by ourselves, I told number 4 to get to the main branch and show them what happened. All I could bet on was that my power was enough to stop that being from advancing to the civil area.
Space creation, or more like, space manipulation. One of the two mystic codes that I luckily inherited from my ancestors. Even if mine was nothing but a joke compared to them, this power still granted me enough respect among the Society. I never thought it would make use like this someday, when I was on the verge of being annihilated.
All I could do was to temporary relocate ‘It’ to another space that I created. But even in a world that operated by my own law, I couldn’t stand a chance to its supremacy. It was simply chipping off my world, pieces by pieces. It had the ability to overwrite a mystic code, the absolute magic known by human. That thing was none other than the divine. My closed space barrier was nothing more than a sandbox to it. Even though it would be much simpler to get out of this space by killing me first, but it didn’t pay much interest on the small petty human in front of it. This fabricated world suited its taste more.
Thanks to that, I was able to buy enough time.
Year xxx, 15th generation. April 22st, Main Branch.
01:14
They looked at each other, as if waiting for someone to raise their voice first. She knew they were hesitated. The word ‘fear’ was unknown to them, as they were unknown to this event. Number 4 had shown them her memory, what she saw on the field hours ago. With her convincing proof, and the fact that she was at that time the number 1, she had enough reason to have the head of five noble houses gather for an emergency meeting. The request was clear:
“This thing is getting out of hand, the hunters can no longer deal with it. Request for help from noble houses, we may even need to use all mystic codes we have.”
His voice was shaken, but determine. He knew that the message was more important than his life. The strongest fighting force of human were overpowered.
“All mystic codes he said... Is it Armageddon already?”
Said the woman in a thick black coat. On her sleeves was a crest symbolizing her house, the golden shield of Dillion.
“But... consider it, my lords. Does it really need to use all of our codes? I mean looks like Yungen was holding out fine, so not all of us...”
A huge, round man who was still in his sleeping robe spoke. The sudden meeting didn’t give him enough time to change properly, so the only thing he could manage was his gloves. They call him Lord Lazy, or Lord Piggy. He was Strance from the house Maccoq.
“A coward as always, do you the have slightest idea of the situation you damn pig? Look at that thing, look at it. It ate our men just as easy as breathing. And Yungen is still out there fighting it alone, who knows what on earth could happen to him right now. My lords, the more time we spend chit chatting, the bigger the risk becomes. I suggest, no, I require we should go now.”
Regina Dillion was always a hot blooded warrior with a strong sense of responsibility and justice, Number 1 acknowledge her urge to help with a low bow. In fact, there was not many choices for them to make after all.
“I don’t oppose the idea going to help Yungen, but we cannot recklessly approach the enemy without knowing it first. Even from the data Number 1 has shown us, I still don’t know who or what is that thing, and our mystic codes... Even with that I’m not sure we can win.” Said the elder of house Tallius, well-known for their premonition. Bunch of “I can see the future” guys.
“Then what do you suggest we should do? Stay here and wait for that thing to come? Let Yungen die?”
“Please Regina, your impatient will only lead to the path of our doom. At this point, every single one of us is as precious as Yungen. Yes, we cannot afford to lose him, however, a counter measure for this formless enemy is questionable. With Yungen’s world, he can imprisoned it there for a while, but not for long.”
Another voice join the conversation. It belongs to lord Gerahdine, the master craftsman.
“And your point is?”
“That we’re running out of time, and options. Gerahdine was never good with his world. Say, Number 1, Yungen used his mystic codes, right?”
“I believed I had shown you everything I recorded, which included lord Yungen’s mystic code.”
Number 1 was confused, not because of the question, but of the man who asked.
“Not that, I mean the other one. We all know about this space manipulation, but for the other, no one knows. So did he use it? Or did he not? I can’t give my decision without knowing this.”
“You are making this harder than it should be, Blackhart. Now is not the time for personal grudge.”
“What? No, why would you say that old fart? If he didn’t use his second mystic code, then he would probably still be able to control the situation am I right? Then it’s not that grave of a danger. That’s what I thought.”
Blackhart smirked, while old Tallius just gave a sigh.
“So what now my lords, are we going or not?” Again, asked the iron woman.
“Yes, and no.” Said lord Tallius.
“What do you mean?” All the people at the meeting hall were talking non-stop, the whispers, the guessings, all of them were putting more weight into the tense atmosphere of the discussion. It was the meeting of the heads of noble house, but it was held in the main hall of the main branch instead of the citadel, where all personnel gathered for this incident. They were allowed to witness the meeting, but not to raise opinion.
“I mean we will go, but not all of us. It’s too risky to put all the eggs in one basket. Three of us will go, and the others will remain here, so even if we fail to defeat the enemy, the others will carry out the evacuation plan for the citizen.”
When he said evacuation, all sounds went unheard. If the front line battle plan failed to take down the enemy, there would be no hope.
“Fine, then who else want to come with me?”
Dillion claimed her first spot on the vanguard. But once again, lord Tallius turned her down.
“You will remain here Regina, we need your power to protect the people. And Gerahdine, your legendary craftsmanship is too valuable to be lost, not to mention you have the key to revelation. Therefore, you two will be the last hope of mankind if we should fail.”
The man with silver hair showed no sign of resisting the idea, but the golden shield warrior of course couldn’t accept the verdict. She was about to talk back, but when she looked at eyes of the wise man, she reluctantly stood down. With that said, those who would depart would be Blackhart, Maccoq (who was complaining all the time and wished to switch place with Dillion) and lord Tallius himself, with Yungen who was still fighting the enemy, made it four. Wasting no time, the three moved with haste to the inter-branch transport station. It would take roughly half an hour for them to arrive.
Or that’s what Tallius hoped for, that Yungen was still fighting. Had he used his second mystic code? That would untight the knot of this battle. After all, he was the only one who had ever possessed two mystic codes. That man himself was a threat, too.
- End chapter 18 -
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