"Guys, I know we're exhausted as fuck, but we have to get the heck outta here soon."
"Five more minutes."
"This isn't your bed at ho, Beatrix."
Evan, Beatrix and Artemisia spoke respectively.
They lay sprawled on the cold ground around Rezaemon's lifeless form, their voices barely a murmur above the silence.
Every limb felt weighted down like lead, muscles screaming for respite after the battle. Even their magic powers and divinities were tapped dry, leaving them barely able to move.
Evan did manage to get a potion into his mouth, so he expected to be able to recover so magic power in a few minutes.
Then, he'd use the magic power to lift his body up.
"Beatrix, use your skill on us. That Restoration one…"
"I would…if I had the magic power to spare for 3 uses of a Unique Skill…."
The girl responded to Evan as she forced herself to sit up, wincing as she examined the cuts and bruises covering her arms.
With a sigh, she reached into the air, her fingers slipping into her Inventory, and withdrew a small black accessory which she tossed towards Evan and spoke with a wry smile.
"Y'know, you're not my type, but I have to admit, you're quite the looker."
"Huh?"
For a mont, Evan was confused. He was blinking in confusion until he saw what she'd thrown.
It was his mask—the one he'd bought with Eliza in Zlunard, and that he'd been wearing since he set foot on Aramis.
The heat of the battle had torn it from him, and in the chaos, he hadn't noticed. There were more pressing matters, like killing Rezaemon and surviving, after all.
Beatrix had spotted it and used her Ti Magic on it. Now, the mask looked as it had hours ago, before they'd crossed paths with Rezaemon.
"…"
Evan stared silently at the mask, then shrugged and let his head fall back onto the cold stone floor. His reaction was one that made Beatrix chuckle.
"That's the face of soone with zero fucks left to give."
Truly, Evan didn't have any more fucks to give regarding the whole identity-hiding ga. It was already a lost cause from day one, after all.
He'd already told Artemisia and Beatrix about his Mystic Eyes, so he didn't see any need to keep it up. But then, nas like Arthur, Alvey, and McEnda ca to mind, and another, more distant, conversation resurfaced.
"Hey, guys. Is there any Celestial King called Faulin?"
"Hmm? Yeah. That guy isn't dead in the future? Bumr."
Such was Beatrix's reply to Evan's question and though he was curious why Beatrix responded in such a manner, Evan asked the second question in his mind.
"What about his son?"
"His son…who was his son again?"
Beatrix didn't seem to rember this part, but Artemisia was the one who responded.
"His son is the 'Sun Celestial Lord', Conroe Tragthan."
Hearing Artemisia's words, Evan sighed, dragging himself up into a sitting position as he put the mask back on.
"Guess I'm not losing the mask then."
The two girls didn't understand how he ca to this conclusion and Evan offered no explanation, instead speaking on a different topic.
"We should really get out of here before any of those Forsaken Divines co over."
Their battle earlier had destroyed a huge portion of the labyrinthine facility, with aftershocks killing off so of them.
But not all were dead, and there was no telling how long they'd have before one of those creatures showed up.
Hearing his words, Beatrix, who was already sitting up, held out her spear and poked his chest with it. She used her Light attributed Skill to give Evan and Artemisia a 'Basic' Restoration.
Finally, the three got to their feet, picked up their weapons and headed back to the area where the battle began.
Then, finding nothing left to retrieve, they moved to the gaping hole in the facility's ceiling—the sa one Evan had torn open during the fight—and ascended back to the surface.
Once above ground, they were t with a stark contrast to the lush forest that had greeted them earlier. The greenery had been completely replaced by a desolate, ashen wasteland, with scorched earth and charred remains stretching out in all directions.
◇ ◇ ◇
The three teenagers dragged themselves back into Resgar, weary and bruised, their clothes caked with dirt, blood, and ash from their gruelling battle.
They made their way back to the familiar bar shop where they'd rented their monstrous horses before setting out earlier in the day. Once inside, they slumped onto the bar counter, each one letting out a deep sigh as they practically collapsed onto the worn wood.
The barmaster's gaze drifted over the trio, eyebrows climbing in surprise as he took in their bedraggled appearance.
But his shock turned to sothing else entirely when he noticed the colour of the blood splattered on Beatrix and Artemisia's clothes—gold.
His eyes went wide.
The barmaster and the patrons may be from a city on the outskirts but they were not illiterate, they knew about the only race of beings on Aramis who bled gold.
The gods.
The gold they saw spilling from the cuts on Beatrix and Artemisia's skin confird that the two were goddesses.
It didn't matter what rank of god they were. On Aramis, a planet that was ruled by divines, the gods were supre.
And here were two of them, sitting right in their midst, looking utterly spent.
But neither Beatrix nor Artemisia cared for the gawking, nor the murmured astonishnt that filled the room.
Their exhaustion was so great that they couldn't be bothered with the stares.
Evan, resting his head on his arms, looked up blearily at the barmaster, speaking in a hoarse voice.
"Hey, do you mind if we buy out all the food and drink you have?"
The barmaster snapped out of his daze, staring at Evan, who continued.
"If you don't mind, we'd really like to just buy out everything you've got."
With that, Evan's head hit the counter with a thud, and within seconds, he was fast asleep, his gentle snoring breaking the stunned silence.
The barmaster stared for a beat longer, then let out a booming laugh that filled the room. A few patrons joined in, the tension breaking as the worn-out teenagers found their strange, exhausted peace.
◇ ◇ ◇
The days went by.
The tensions between Gozon and Aramis grew sharper by the day, like a storm gathering strength before the inevitable deluge.
The Gozonians were making stealthy moves, sending battleships through the cover of many archipelagos, keeping themselves hidden from Aramisian eyes.
Their preparations spoke of sothing monuntal—a grand assault that would change the shape of the war.
anwhile, the Aramisians were equally vigilant, their focus split between defending their territories and eliminating any threats to their world.
Assassins were sent to the continent of Zefesh where the Silver Summoner was last spotted, but unbeknownst to them, he lay in Gledea, his consciousness deep into the law of ti itself.
A new Aramisian Hero quietly ca into being, their existence cloaked in secrecy, kept under wraps for a coming ti of need.
On the continent of Gledea, skirmishes broke out, each clash more ferocious than the last.
Minor battles lit up the landscape as both sides tested the other, probing defences and engaging in brutal combat.
On the Umhiz Ocean, the two powerful navies t in a clash that sent battleships to the deepest points of the waters.
The waters churned as thousands of casualties followed the wreckages.
In these restless days, the consciousness of the Pri World braced 'himself', 'his' gaze searching earnestly for the two 'Foreign Singularity' entities, whose re presence on 'his' surface distorted the planet's records.
Finally, Arthur awakened.
The storm of Ti Law energy around Militopolis cald, and imdiately, the boy set out for Sloklens in Northern Gledea.
On his journey, he stopped briefly, closing his eyes as his thoughts went to the new discoveries he made during his law comprehension session.
The teenage Progenitor godslayer was the first to realise it.
The intricate threads of fate linked specific individuals and created a series of circumstances that ended up with them all appearing on Planet Aramis at the sa ti and space.
The threads of fate intertwining with ti and causality that connected them all.
Their possible futures narrowing into one inevitable path.
The nas echoed in his mind like a litany.
Alvey Sargon.
Jack McEnda III.
Artemisia Delgasso.
Beatrix Xagna.
Arthur Vaughn.
Evan… Bourne.
And finally, the last key—the missing piece essential to the upcoming inevitable Nexus that the boy loved by ti had sensed stirring since long before.
Arthur turned his gaze towards the distant Rhigor Continent, eyes fixed in the direction of the Dinsional Rift.
The final key for the Nexus Event was there, not in this world, but beyond it.
Beyond the Dinsional Rift.
On Pri World Gozon.
◇ ◇ ◇
The wheel of ti moved ever so steadily.
Soon, it was ti for the long-awaited Nautical Crusade upon the continent of Plomux to begin.
The Gozonian Armada, a staggering fleet of thousands, set sail while shrouded beneath a veil.
At the centre was the 'Triton's Ark', the ga Island Fortress seized from the Aramisians earlier in the year and now, holding the soldiers who would wreak havoc on its creators.
Their destination: The Continent of Plomux. Their mission: Total Conquest.
Hundreds of Level 900 Transcendents. High-Rank Demons, Dragons and Dark Elves.
All moved across the Chatane Ocean where 'The Leviathan' Yedrist ruled.
The Date was May 4th.
Evan was Level 605.
◇ ◇ ◇
Blast from the Future Outline:
Crashlanding. ✅
Avengeance. ✅
Labyrinth of Forsaken Divines. ✅
The Nautical Crusade. ➖
Neses Reborn. ➖
The Annual Gozonian Interstellar Summit. ➖
Substantiation Training (SCRAPPED). ❌
The Infernal Dinsion. ➖
and finally,
Cruotis Pri's Apocalypse. ➖
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