5 I : Winds of Fate

Rain quickly turned around to face the the owner of the serene voice that spoke behind him,and was faced with an unexpected sight...

That voice belonged to a woman that could only be described as absolutely

stunning,she was a slender,well-endowed woman and was slightly taller than Rain.

She was beautiful.There is a saying that goes : ' No one is born perfect. ' But

upon setting sights on her,Rain can say,with zero hesitation,the person who

said that was very,very wrong.Her beautiful black hair was about waist-length,and was kept in a ponytail that seem to flow in the wind with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face.This,

coupled with her beautiful dark skin,made her look exotic.She wore a black,backless

and sleeveless skin-tight suit that complemented her figure by showing off her curvaceous

figure,Rain could not help but stare at her,finding her beauty simply too arresting.

The way her suit displayed her alluring hips,it was captivating.Even Scarlet would not

hold a candle to her.He previously thought that Scarlet was attractive,but meeting this women now,it easily dwarfed Scarlet's beauty and made her look average in comparison.However,what Rain found striking about her was her golden irises,it seemed to pierce right through him,he could also feel the power radiating off of her.The sultry look she gave him made him drool unconsciously,which caught him by surprise as he did not think that there would be a day that he would be the one falling for

another.But behind the beauty of this goddess,Rain could tell that she was on a completely

different level,she was equal,if not,stronger than him in terms of their skills.'Who is she..' was the only thought that filled Rain's mind as he continued to stare at the goddess in front of him,finding himself unable to resist nor look away from her captivating eyes...

However,he was distracted from her beauty due to his realization that she might be an enemy.He quickly rid himself of his lust and instead,he focused his attention on the danger that he currently faced.Not expecting to be sneaked up on like that,he unconsciously took a step back.In the face of such skill,he was speechless.If this woman had even an ounce of intent to kill him,he would have already been dead without even realizing it.The woman's face remained passive,but Rain could tell that she enjoyed his reaction. He was about to pounce on her in order to subdue her in case she was an enemy when she seemed to have realized what he was thinking,thus,she assured him : ' Calm down,I am not an enemy. ' He was skeptical,and in order to verify if she was being truthful,he examined her stance : ' Her body is completely relaxed,there seems to be no sign of any tension in her body,is she not worried about me attacking her instead? Her breathing is normal,her heartrate is as well. Her posture is calm and steady too, there seems to be no signs of any hostility... ' He deciphered. He let out a breath that he did not realize he had been holding,and lowered his guard.

Upon seeing Rain calm down,she raised an eyebrow at him. ' Aren't you afraid that little old me will strike you while your guard is lowered ? ' she teased. Rain just sighed in exasperation,he did not enjoy being teased like that. ' Anyone would react the same way if they were sneaked up on like

that. ' He told her. She giggled sheepishly at that.

' So,who are you? ' He addressed her.

The woman smiled at him. ' You are going to gather members to qualify for the 'Crash Magica' competition,right? '

His eyes widened when he heard that.How did she know that? However,he did not let his surprise show in his demeanor as he simply added : ' Identify yourself first . '

She pouted at his response before saying : ' I am Raven, Raven Shihoin. Nice to meet you !'

That surprised him.Raven Shihoin,this name rang a bell. But where had he heard about it before?

That was when he remembered. He felt his thoughts forcibly leaving his mouth in the form of words

: ' Black Cat Raven... ' which she seemed to be amused by,clearly not expecting him to know about her title.

' You know about little old me? ' she teased him.

He hardened his gaze at her. ' 'Black Cat' Raven,a female Saint-ranked Hunter that no one knows the appearance of.Known to be a master of stealth,she is a notorious bounty hunter that has been rumored to have never failed even a single hunt.

' Hmmm? I have to say,you are pretty informed ! ' she chuckled mischievously.

He was impressed by her fame,slightly shocked as well.He had no reason to doubt her words.The aura that she emitted was a clear demonstration of her power.Most importantly,the stealth that she had displayed by sneaking up on him is evident that she is skilled. The power he could sense from within her further proves that she is the REAL 'Black Cat'.However,he had no time to be concerned about such things,and instead,was more curious about the motive behind her visit.

' What do you need from me, Black Cat ? ' He asked out of pure curiosity.

The woman now identified as Raven simply turned her gaze to sky,she simply stared off into the emptiness before saying : ' Say,Rain.Do you know of a person called the ' Uncrowned Emperor? '

The 'Uncrowned Emperor' ... He did not recognize a name like that.Raven seemed to have read his thoughts,as she lectured him : ' The Uncrowned Emperor was someone who lived many years ago...They were invincible,those who had challenged them was,simply put,obliterated.Many were killed,and there were lesser and lesser people who were willing to become a knight or any of the other jobs at that period of time due to their fear of the Emperor.However,the Uncrowned Emperor just...disappeared one day.No one knows where they had gone,they just vanished into thin air.However,their reign and power left a huge impact on the world,their merciless and relentless attacks on mankind led to that period of time being called the 'Requiem'. Th- '

Raven was interrupted by Rain when he chimed in : ' Why are you telling me all of this ? '

She huffed cheekily and exclaimed : ' I was getting to it ! Anyways,the Uncrowned Emperor was a mysterious figure that no one knew the gender of,or even how they looked like as there were no instances of any person that had witnessed their power walking away to see the light of day afterwards.However,what some people knew was that the Uncrowned Emperor was a master of close-combat,their trademark weapon was a scythe that was blood-red in color at its edges,but charcoal-black in general. Its shaft was ghost-white in color with a small skull at its end.It was a weapon that had shed the blood of many,but what made it so impressive was its godly durability.The scythe was able to prevail against saint-level spells that some of the best sorcerers who they had fought against threw at them,it also had the power to cleave weapons that were made by master craftsmen in half with one strike.No matter what anyone threw at it,it was simply unbreakable.The trademark scythe of the Emperor was so powerful that it was dubbed the 'True God's Slayer ' due to the remarkable power it held.It had the ability to cut through the air and slice through the earth effortlessly,which was a feat that no other weapons even until now were able to achieve.It was a weapon shrouded in mystery,that no one knew the origins of. ' Raven paused,glancing at Rain to see if he was paying attention to what she was telling him. She smiled at the look on his face.he was clearly in awe of what she had told him.

Rain was immersed in his thoughts,obviously impressed by the scythe that this 'Uncrowned Emperor' used. But,even though this was cool and all,this still begs the question : If the event she talked about happened in the past,why is she mentioning to him now? From what he had deduced from her lecture, it must have been at least a few decades ago, so why would all of this affect the present?

Raven seemed to have had read his mind,as she said : ' To hold this scythe,a being would require demonic blood inside of him,or else he would have been consumed by the darkness sealed in this weapon,at least,this was what I heard. '

She could tell that Rain was still not convinced that this was of any importance,as shown by the blank look etched on his face,followed by the tilting of his head which showed his confusion. She smiled at that , ' he's pretty cute .' she thought.Realizing what had went through her mind,she shook her head in an effort to rid her mind of such atrocious thoughts,before continuing : ' The magic that the Emperor used when fighting with the scythe was something called Chaos Magic, does that sound familiar to you? '

Time seemed to have stopped for Rain the moment those words left Raven's mouth.Ignoring the fact that she seems to know about his magic.He couldn't believe what he had just heard. It couldn't be,right? Rain is a user of Chaos Magic. This meant that he might be related to the Uncrowned Emperor...That was the only possible answer he could think of as it is IMPOSSIBLE for someone to have the exact same magic as another person.Even their descendants would have similar magic,but not the exact same. Sure,there were instances of magic being replicated and integrated into an individual,there were also examples of spells being mirrored and copied.But he did not experience such things.These revelations shocked Rain,this insinuated that there is a slight chance that he is somehow related to this 'Uncrowned Emperor' person.A small chance,but a chance nonetheless.

' Sigh,I was hoping that telling you all of would trigger some hidden memories that was dormant in you,guess i was wrong.' She sighed.

She immediately continued.

' Do you really think that your prodigious talents is God's gift to you? No,you ARE related to the 'Uncrowned Emperor'.Rain woke up from his trance when he heard that.He sputtered ' W-What do you m - ' But he was cut off by Raven putting up her hand. ' You aren't just related to them,you might even be them. ' This fact was too hard for Rain to bear. He was confused.

It wasn't that he was afraid of the Emperor or anything.But it was because of the crimes he had committed.He did not want to be a murderer like him.However,he honestly believed that there was a chance he might even be the Uncrowned Emperor,his missing memories might be proof of that. It is also not impossible to resurrect oneself and maintain their abilities at the cost of their memories. He had heard rumors about that happening throughout the world. However,as he had just said,he did NOT want to accept that he was a murderer.

' I won't accept it. '

Raven's eye shot open when she heard that.

' I won't accept that I might be the Uncrowned Emperor.I am not a mindless killing-machine like them. Besides,what does this have to do with you ? ' He grunted.

She sighed,as if she had expected that sort of reaction. ' To be honest with you, I do not know much about this as well. But what I do know is that my past is closely related to the Uncrowned Emperor. And for reasons I do not know of,there is some sort of unknown force pulling me towards you,which was why I believed you to be the Uncrowned Emperor in the first place.Anyways,I am on a journey to recover my missing memories , and if I'm not wrong, you are likely doing the same as well,hence your interest in the Crash Magica competition,possibly to look for a type of magic that can accomplish that,am I right? '

Does this mean that their fates are entwined with one another? That was all Rain could think about. There has to be another reason for this. Forget about the Chaos Magic,forget about their missing memories , why would the Uncrowned Emperor choose to be reborn this way and vanish when he could have continued his reign? How is Raven related to this Uncrowned Emperor as well?

Seeing the look on his face,which seemed to spell out Rain's thoughts to her,Raven told him : ' Like I said, I do not know much as well. However, the only thing I know is that we have to work together to solve the mystery behind our memories, which I believe is somewhat related to the Uncrowned Emperor too. Since your identity is not really confirmed,let us just leave it as a 'possibility' and put aside this conversation,but instead work together to compete in the Crash Magica competition,how about it ? '

He nodded his head hesitantly,still trying to wrap his head around all that she had told him. He didn't mind her final decision. Let's just leave that mystery as it is for now. Someone like her is a great addition to his team for the competition. ' I agree with you,for now,let us work together to win this competition before we continue with our earlier conversation. '

She nodded her head in agreement.

For now,he have gotten his second member.He was satisfied with just that.Their earlier conversation resurfaced in his mind,which he quickly shook aside.He would pretend that the earlier events did NOT happen,instead only thinking about Raven's choice to join him. From what she had told him,he understood that the conversation earlier was probably the reason behind her decision to join him,but that didn't matter to him.If he has the chance,he would try to get her to clarify more about her sudden decision to join him as it was of little importance to him for now.However,as he had just said,he would deal with the matters discussed in the conversation earlier at a later date.

' So,who else do you have in mind for ou- ' was all he managed to say before he was interrupted by Raven's sudden question.

' Say,have you ever felt as if the world we know about is somewhat fake? '