Chapter 11: A Brutal Necessity

Bishop Rank Retribution Member's Perspective

I barged through the doors, skipping the process of going through security at the front of the base. This was the Mars Base, one of the single most important bases in Retribution's entire arsenal. One of the Cardinals was bound to be here. I had never visited this base before, so I had only rumors to base my image of it on. From the rumors, it was supposed to be a small cave system, but this was not that at all. Instead, it was one gigantic opening - curved rock walls stretched up in a circle on all sides, different Retribution facilities were placed on segmented pieces of land, and rocky paths just about wide enough for one carriage to fit connected each of the pieces of land. Any area that wasn't a facility or a path leading to a facility was taken up by a dark drop that led to a seemingly endless void. If it was a normal day, I would've been astounded at the architecture and creativity of the location, but this was no normal day. I had to find a Cardinal.

I was confronted with three paths. Not knowing which would lead to a Cardinal, I decided to take a second and think. I came to a conclusion. The security guards I had barged past finally caught up to me, and I shouted into their faces, "I NEED TO SEE ONE OF THE CARDINALS! NOW!"

They had very obviously never encountered a situation like this before, and after a second of whispering between each other, one of them replied, "Alright, we'll take you to a Cardinal. You can tell them what you want, and then they'll decide your punishment for ignoring the security measures,"

"Good. This is extremely important!"

One man held my arms behind my back, while the other two led me down the path to my left. After walking in silence for around one minute, we were finally confronted with the facility. It was a pristine white color, stretching up around 10 stories. They blindfolded me, before leading me inside. I assumed this was so that I wouldn't know the exact location of whichever Cardinal was residing here. Finally, I heard a door close behind me, before I was practically thrown into a seat.

The blindfold was removed, and I was met with the sight of a woman - an unbelievably beautiful woman. Pinkish red hair fell gracefully down her back, perfectly framing her pale face, with sharp pink eyes that gleamed with an otherworldly entrancement, yet also a slight malice, plump bright red lips, and a sharp, small nose. However, her most defining feature was something I wasn't expecting - dark black horns, with a slight red undertone, twisted from the sides of her head.

She scanned me over, before her lips twisted into a small disguised smirk. Her voice rang out, smooth and sultry, "Hello there. My name is Helena, but you most likely know me as the Cardinal of Lust,"

Ah... She was one of the Cardinals, that explained the horns. Still, this was my first time seeing a demon in person, so I was a bit star-struck, I suppose. After around 10 straight seconds of staring, I managed to pull myself back together. I had to tell her this instant. Those brats were only at most 5 years old, yet they were so strong. If we allow them to continue growing, they may truly one day be able to rival the entirety of Retribution. Especially that boy who only had one eye on his hood. His power was practically equal to that of a Noble's already. If he continues to improve, there's a high chance that he'll be able to beat the Royal.

"Ma'am, I apologize for the intrusion. However, I have something grave to report," I started.

"Something grave enough to call me for?"

"Y- Yes, I believe so, ma'am,"

Why was I so nervous? I never stutter, I'm always confident, yet her mere aura... Is her aura alone enough to scare me so?

"Hmm..." She considered something, before her smirk grew, although it was only slight. "Alright, then. What is this oh-so grave situation?"

"Well, when my legion and I were performing our nightly survey of the Blacklight District, we encountered a group,"

"Ah, could this be the group that has been snapping at our lower ranks recently?"

Oh, yeah. I forgot that Retribution is aware of them already. But despite the higher ranks knowing of them, I doubt they know just how much of a threat they pose. I bet they don't know how old they are. They most likely assume that they're just a group of adult vigilantes, but no. They're much, much worse.

"P- Probably, ma'am. However, I would like to report that I believe them to be a much higher threat than we initially suspected,"

"How so?"

"They're all at least powerful enough to be a Bishop, and I believe one may even be as strong as a Noble. However, that is not the worst of it. The group consists of children,"

Her face contorted slightly, shock making itself just barely present. "What?!"

"I- I apologize to have to be the one to deliver this news, ma'am. However, I believe that we cannot allow their group to persist. We have to put an end to them now, or else they may just rival Retribution,"

She put her petite hand to her chin, as I assumed she assessed the situation. "You're right. We will handle them, do not worry,"

I released a sigh of relief. They may be good, but at the end of the day, they're not the strongest yet. Retribution can still beat them quite easily. Then, I was reminded of something. The message that the boy had told me to send.

"If you don't mind, I believe that I have a little bit more information that could prove useful,"

"Yes? Please, do tell,"

"Before they left, they gave me two messages. From these messages, I managed to derive two key facts; their organization's name is Shattered Veil, and they currently have two ranks. Those two ranks are the Virtues, and their leader, the Observer,"

"Hmm... Yes, that could be slightly useful. Thank you,"

"Oh, it's really nothing, ma'am. Just doing my duty,"

After a nod of approval from the security guards, I got up to leave. I had no idea why they weren't escorting me out, but oh, well. I'm not one to question Retribution's methods. I was quite eager to escape that room. Yes, the woman was definitely an unparalleled beauty, but there was something about her - a darkness that uncontained I felt would burn the entire universe to the ground. Is this the natural aura of demons? It's so overpowering.

As I gripped the door handle, something dispersed through my body, like a ripple in water.

Pain - a cold, unbearable pain. I collapsed to my knees, before falling onto my front. I was dying. How? Why?

"Wh- Why'd you do that, ma'am?!"

It was the voice of one of the security guards who had escorted me.

"Simple. He gave up information about Retribution to Shattered Veil. That's the only way they would've spared him. And we don't have any use for a backstabbing rat,"

Oh. So, she figured it out. I guess that was to be expected. My blood soaked the floor. So much was pouring out of the wound that it began pooling up so much I could see it without even twisted my head. The pain was completely unlike anything I'd ever felt, but for whatever reason, I was calm. I guess that's what death is like, huh? Well, goodbye... to this life.

Kane's Perspective - February 10th 1505

It was morning. The sun broke through every crack in the wall, window, and door, yet I remained completely uncheerful. If Retribution's goal truly was to revive the demon race, then it's best if Shattered Veil switches our main objective for now. Our goal is supposed to be to restore the Sword-Spell crest to it's rightful position at the top, but now it'd be best for the human race if we focused our efforts on destroying Retribution first. Or else, there may not be a world for the Sword-Spell crest to reign supreme in. Goddamn. This is way more stressful than it was before. Sure, I'd have to become unbelievably powerful to beat Retribution, but this pretty much put a timer on the amount of time we have to become powerful. I was hoping to be able to take things a bit slower, but it seems I don't really have that privilege anymore.

Right now, if you looked at just my power as a mage, I'd be considered 7 Star, and if you looked at just my power with the sword, I'd probably be considered around 4 Star. It's nowhere near good enough, especially my sword skills. I've been trying to teach myself, but it's much more difficult than teaching myself magic, as I'm not as accustomed to it. Sure, I've never been a bad swordsman, but it just doesn't feel as natural to me as magic does. It's most likely an aftereffect of being a Mage crest in a Sword-Spell crest's body. In fact, without my natural talent gifted to me by the crest, I'd probably be closer to 2 Star than 4 Star.

I need to try harder.

I looked over to find that my sister was studying again (she just recently formed her first mana pool, and is obsessed with getting stronger), while my mother was asleep. I walked over to my sister, needing a favor.

"Hey, sis?"

She looked up from the book. "Yeah?"

"I'm gonna go somewhere for a bit. If mum wakes up, can you tell her that I'm just visiting friends?"

"...Sure... I guess,"

"Thanks. I'll be back soon,"

I waved to her, before opting to climb out the window, as it's quieter. Once outside, I went over to a specific pile of rocks and dirt in the corner, before wiping all of them away, revealing a sword. It wasn't the same one I had gotten from the first knight I killed, as that one had long since broke. But it was extremely similar, as it was just from a different knight. I picked it up, wiping down the blade, before speeding off. After a little bit of walking, I came across what I thought to be a suitable alleyway.

I cast a 6 Star illusion spell, making anyone who walked by just view it as a normal alley. Then, I wielded the blade. I had grown immensely stronger over the years, mainly due to my daily training routine. Now, however, my routine was gonna look a lot different, would be a lot more effective, and a lot more tiring. But I had to be prepared. I would put my body and mana pool through hell and back, but by the end of it, I'd have enough power to make hell freeze over. One undeniable fact is that if you try harder, things will change. Whether that's for the best or not, things will change. So, that's what I'd do.

I'd just try harder. And I'd keep trying harder.

My training would now take up 20 of the 24 hours in the day. Straight in the morning, before the sun's risen, I would sneak to this alley and train in both sword and magic, by creating fake enemies with magic, and fighting them with sword. Then, I'd come back after 8 hours, to make sure that my mother never caught me sneaking out. Then, once she falls back asleep, I'd sneak out again. I'd come back over to the alley, and I'd continue with the aforementioned way of training both magic and sword. Then, once my mana runs out, I'd train [Mana Master] and [Crest Control], until my mana fully regenerates. Then, I'd keep training. Finally, once the sun begins setting, I'd sneak back home, and go to sleep for 4 hours, before waking up to repeat.

It was brutal, but necessary. And only by doing it could I begin to say that I was trying my hardest. For the next few years, my life will consist nearly 100% of training. If any of the others from Shattered Veil want to join me in this training, they're welcome to. But it's not necessary. Plus, they can't be training with me all the time, as I'm counting on them to recruit more people and expand our organization's reaches. Retribution doesn't know what's coming to them.

Shattered Veil will not go down without a fight. Kane Limitia will not go down without a fight.