ACT IVTHE CIVIL WAR

  CHAPTER 72WE ARE THE PARVIANSStartling, Hans woke up in the middle of the night. “Something’s different,” he whispered, clenching and rexing his fist. He felt a strong connection coming to him. “This link… my magic stones are talking to each other.”

  It was like strands of magic kept attaching to him one by one, giving him control over every magic stone in the rebuilt defences—from the walls to the back alleys.

  “Something changed! Mage assassins? What a joke. I'll show you what happens when you break our taboos. We didn’t even spare our own family members, you…. you are nothing compared to that.”

  Hans could feel several wills acting within him. “Hmm… So this is the power of inheritance.”

  He figured out that his consciousness was divided into several independent thoughts, resulting in a little to no strain in his mind. He merely thought of targeting a specific spot, and his thoughts created a bunch of magical paths for him to follow.

  “What did Ancestor called this— Unfied state, yes. This is what he was talking about”

  He knew this control wouldn't st forever, and he had no idea how he activated it. So, before he could lose the grasp, he jumped out the window. And as he flew, several warnings rang in his head, sending his senses on high alert. He spotted several patrolling mages and magical artefacts.

  “Wow, that’s a long way away.” Luckily, the mages carrying the artefacts were on his side, but they were way beyond the scope of his senses. Barely believing himself, he muttered, “I really need to learn how to activate this willingly.”

  Focussing, his ears picked up multiple sounds, all clear and distinct, while his eyes searched and transferred information, allowing his mind to process it quickly. His brain was operating at full capacity, his consciousness in several parts, each doing different tasks.

  He nded softly on the ground and, heaving a long breath, he merged with the ground, becoming one with nature.

  As the first rays of dawn broke through the clouds, the remaining forces of Stormad grew extremely cautious. This had been their routine for several days; even at full strength, they couldn't stop the mage assassins. Nervously, they patrolled the city, searching for Hans, who had vanished without a trace since morning.

  “Where is that brat?” Rudolf muttered, searching in Hans's room.

  “Single day… just a single day I leave him be, and he's gone,” Sierra added, sharing Rudolf's frustration.

  Meanwhile, a dense mist began to spread throughout the city. “Rudolf, it's starting,” Reinhardt called, running outside.

  “Stick to me kids,” Rudolf motioned Delimira and Chris to follow him. “Wherever that brat is, he'll be fine.” He assured them as they exited the lord's castle and took in the cloudy scene. The entire city was shrouded in a heavy mist.

  “So, that's how they do it,” Sierra muttered, unable to sense anything beneath the mist.

  “Kids, I’m repeating, don’t loose my sight— ThunderCp.” Rudolf summoned his sword from the sky. It nded with a thunderous cp. But the sound of thunder was quickly drowned by another roaring voice. “Not on our watch.” A chorus of voices echoed from the sky.

  Rudolf and others quickly raised their heads. A white robe fluttered and sharp eyes stared down as if looking at something insignificant. His whole body was illuminating golden.

  “Hans?” Rudolf mumbled but before he could ask anything, a powerful tremor struck the city of Stormad. The ground quaked violently, and the tremor persisted, shaking the city to its core.

  Dust rose from the earth as the aftermath of quakes and joined the mist that had enveloped the city. The once white mist turned thick, dull brown.

  “Mage assassins—Feel the retribution,” Hans decred, judging them from above.

  Meanwhile, the elite assassins of Aerandir, targeting the homes of civilians, unleashed deadly wind magic and poison at close range, intending to kill swiftly. But as their magic touched the people, the bodies transformed into husks, strange creatures that turned and attacked the assassins instead.

  These husks, driven by an uncanny force, quickly overwhelmed their would-be killers, swallowing them whole and taking their forms. However, it was just a parasitic transformation of his VeganBind, modified with day seed, giving them a bit of consciousness.

  Like undead puppets, they staggered and limped out of the houses, their movements jerky and uncontrolled.

  The mist was something that the two mysterious existences lent it to Lord Aerandir, so he also cked the ability to look through it. He didn’t know what was going inside of the Stormad.

  Despite his confidence in his elite soldiers, they had not returned, leaving Aerandir uneasy. Rudolf and his companions also waited around the lord's castle, for enemies to reach them as they were doing for several days.

  However, when they didn’t come, their gaze, once again, turned upwards. High above the shining judgement befalling from the heavens. A torrential rain of seedBullets, all charged and photonised, each searching for their designated targets.

  Every pallet homed in, changing the trajectory in mid. Rudolf and others saw the scene with their mouths open. It was true that they were used to the surprising things Hans pulled occasionally, but this was on a different scale.

  Hans hardly could do six simultaneous SeedBullets, and it was with the power of Elderwood. But now the very same SeedBullets were raining nonstop.

  The assassins, trapped by the green husks, struggled futilely. Their spells fizzled out as if something was draining the magic from them. The torrent of seedBullets rained down, like the arrows of the Golden Griffin’s commander, Homar. Each bullet found its mark, piercing the assassins' heads and then rising the heads to orbit around Hans.

  “One, two…four…six…” Chris counted and give up as endless head rose in pikes “He is really different.” Chris could feel the gap between him and Hans growing exponentially apart, and Delimira was on the same boat.

  The mist somehow settled, revealing few mage assassins with a hole in their heads.

  But Hans wasn’t satisfied; he could feel many had cleverly survived his initial attack. Determined to finish the job, he called upon his most controlled ability. His hand stretched out, and he summoned:

  ~VoidZone~

  At that moment, the entire expanse of Stormad answered to him. Not a single leaf could flutter without his permission. Even the living were not exempt; every individual, ally or foe, was frozen in a suspension of static mana particles. The powerful assassins who had managed to dodge or block the seedBullets felt their hearts stop as mixed mana invaded their bodies, causing instant death by mana poisoning.

  Hans’s control over the territory was unmatched and otherworldly. With a mere flick of his wrist, he dispelled the mist, revealing himself to the citizens of Stormad.

  However, what people saw was a deity, a god-like existence in the sky, and their tormentors heads on pike above the blood pool of their own body.

  Since yesterday, two feelings had settled in their minds: fear from the young Parvian and a sense of assurance that they would be protected.

  Aerandir was furious at the sight of his thousands of elite mage assassins dying helplessly. He was also puzzled. “Who is he… no, what is he? This is impossible for a single person to do,” he muttered, bewildered.

  Beside him, the two mysterious figures finally turned serious, or rather, excited. “Guess there is fun in coming all the way here,” said the man with the strange fetish, licking his lips as he gazed at the illuminated Hans in the distant sky.

  On the other side, Hans was still in the air, scanning the scene below. Each life he had saved gazed up at him with reverence, but he acted as if it was nothing new. He nodded, acknowledging their silent gratitude.

  Stretching out his hand, he pointed a finger further down the south, where Aerandir and his hidden army y in wait. “The enemy is there,” he decred, then shot forward with incredible speed.

  “Wait, you brat—what are you doing?” Rudolf shouted, leaping into action and commanded, “Reinhardt, follow him!”

  Quickly, the entire force followed Hans’s trail. Meanwhile, at Aerandir’s hidden location, the lord of the mage assassins was growing anxious. “He’s coming here. Will you two help me?” he asked the two mysterious figures with him.

  “You are a warlock for fuck sake, have some dignity Aerandir,” the greedy figure responded.

  But the Ghost, lurking among them, warned, “He is mine. None shall touch him.” His ethereal form began to solidify. “If you two want the Ring of Chaos, the object of your humiliation,” the ghost warned again, “then do not get involved—”

  “We are no fools, Caesar,” said the one with many wives. “Even though it’s nothing, I don’t want to be the reason to restart the war from a thousand years ago. If we act up, Dietrich will know. But it’s fine if others kill him. So, get your revenge. After all, that Parvian king turned you into this. Wasn’t that humiliating too?”

  As they conversed, Aerandir, growing irritated, asked again, “So, will I get help from you two or not?”

  “NO,” the man with the strange fetish replied, amused. “Are you that scared just because of a child—”

  “A child? Which part of him looks like a child to you? He killed thousands of my assassins like a god,” Aerandir mented.

  “A god, you say? You have no idea what a god is, fool,” the man with many wives retorted, clearly irritated. “Whatever he’s using isn’t a godly power but a wicked bloodline power called Inheritance. It won’t st long; his synchronisation will end soon. So don’t worry. But I suggest you forget your orders of harassment and aim to kill, or you’ll be the one who’d get killed,” he warned.

  “Sizzle! Sizzle!” The torrential rain of metallic pallets hailed at the hidden army in formation. Aerandir’s stealth barrier shook.

  “Shatter!” A crack turned to two and then to three, before the Aerandir’s army could prepare. The stealth was undone and an army of several thousand greeted Hans.

  “Downright pathetic! You call these honourless cowards an army?” Hans ridiculed, looking at the strong force who hid behind and let the weaklings die in their pces.

  “Who the hell are you?” Aerandir demanded.

  “We, we are the Parvians,” several voices mixed in one answered through Hans as the ground beneath the hidden army split in two.