Chapter 34: Just like the Sun

After healing her skull, her face now had the correct shape of a face, except for the features that are still flattened.

Insig was about to move on to another part when he suddenly stopped.

"Estimated time until fight begins?"

Insig suddenly asks in a broken sentence. Jessie was confused but Phillip understood.

"5–10 minutes."

'He must have accidentally spoken in broken sentences because his emotions disturbed him. Actually, we only have about 3 minutes left, but if I said that, he might just panic and create mistakes just like in his speech. Some things just never change huh. Geez, how troublesome.'

Phillip analyzed in his mind. As an older brother, he has learned to read emotions and the perceptions of others, so he understood Insig quite well.

Insig didn't answer but he looked more relaxed and continued.

He cut her chest and exposed her ribs. Some of them are cracked by the pressure, but most of them are bent or crooked.

One by one, segment by segment, Insig cut off the bones and absorbed them after they were removed, and with his spare energy, he healed the cut bones one by one.

At the same time, he looked at the heart to see if there was any damage. Luckily, the heart was in the correct shape.... maybe.

Insig hasn't checked her body yet, and even if he did, he might miss some, so he doesn't know if something was perfect or not, after all, he doesn't have the technology to know.

Insig only did the surgery on her important bones, namely, the skull, ribs, and spine.

"Turn her around."

Insig commanded and using earth magic, Jessie turned her around. Although the scene was horrifying, Jessie quickly got the hang of it... well, only a little bit.

I mean, who the fuck would get used to seeing organs and cutting bones in just a minute? Well, at least not Jessie.

Insig only scraped the spine, because he doesn't want to damage the spinal cord. Luckily, the spine was naturally horizontal, so it was not bent out of shape that much. So Insig only had to scrape the damaged parts and heal them.

After 2 minutes, Insig healed the tissues, nerves, vessels, organs, and skin. He didn't do a full body procedure because it was too time-consuming.

He healed the girl and relaxed.

*Huff* *Thud*

Suddenly, Insig dropped on his butt and panted. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead unto his neck. It slightly made the gravel and dirt on his body spread more.

"Hmm."

Insig heard a hum beside him. He looked up and saw Phillip lending a canteen to him.

"Good job. So, what happened to her?"

Insig received the canteen and drank heavily.

He was depressed because he can only do this much, but he was quite happy because of Phillip's praise. It was only for a bit though, don't get ahead of yourself.

"Well, basically, her life is safe now. But I don't know when she will wake up."

Insig explained.

"Hmm."

Phillip nodded nonchalantly, but he was actually amazed.

'That girl was about to die any moment just now, but her life was quickly saved. Incredible. At injuries like this, mostly, it needs tens of healers to stabilize her life line, but he did it single handedly. Amazing.'

"Insig! Don't you respect me anymore!?"

Jessie suddenly said. She was ignored all this time, so she got upset.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry, sister. Please forgive me."

Insig apologized and he looked at her with puppy eyes. However what was inside his mind was...

'I know I look like a sad boy, but I'm too cute for you to refuse. Muhahahaha!'

Jessie frowned in disgust.

"Look at your face, you look so ugly. And look at your eyes, you look like you haven't slept in a week. And now you give me those puppy eyes?"

Insig froze from embarrassment.

'No way! I looked so handsome just an hour ago! I even checked myself in the mirror! It's all because of this damned war!'

At this moment, the sound of approaching footsteps was heard.

Jeor appeared and looked. His eyebrow slightly flinched when he observed that the patient was breathing in a stable way.

'How could he pull that off!? Is he actually a talent?'

However, Jeor looked nonchalant and he warned them. He didn't want to embarrass himself.

"We need to get out of here. The fight is about to happen any minute. If we're late, we might miss the opportunity to escape."

Everyone agreed. They didn't want to stay here for another minute. They packed all the things they needed and Insig checked his pouch.

The pouch was full of life element mana crystal. He harvested them from his coworkers and such.

Insig was thinking of using them in a formation, and also, mana crystal was the international currency here. You can buy almost anything in this world with mana crystal.

They were about to go when one of them suddenly asks.

"Who will carry the girl?"

They were about to be rejected when Insig accepted the job.

"I healed her, I saved her so, she's my responsibility. Also, I can't fight at all, so I'll just take care of her."

Insig carried the girl and when Insig was close to her, he suddenly found her a bit familiar.....

'Whatever, this is not the time for figuring out mysteries.'

Everyone hurriedly went to the rendezvous point. They walked through the camp and they saw thousands of crushed bodies here and there.

The road was muddy from the rain, and none of the buildings was untouched from the destruction.

They were walking through the steep mud with little difficulty, when suddenly, the earth rumbled and a flock of thousands of birds were seen up in the sky. They looked overbearing and scary.

Insig's heartbeat throbbed in nervousness, his legs were also shivering in fear. He knows that he was alone in this fight and he knows that he's quite weak, so he'll have to be really careful.

"Let's go! The last struggle has already started!"

Everyone bolted towards the place where the earthquake came from.

Before even reaching the place, they already heard the sounds of war.

*Clang!* *Boom!* *Growl!* *Flap* *Swoosh!* *Splash!* *Crackle!* *Rumble!* *Squawk!*

The sound of metal clashing, the scent of explosion, the growl of humans and beasts, the flap of birds, the sound of the wind, water, and fire, the trembling of the earth, and the yell of a bird.

The sound was chaotic and mixed. Bloodlust was flowing all over the field, blood spilled and cries spread. Everyone tried to fight for their lives, they tried to grasp their fate, to own their freedom.

"Attack!"

Tens of thousands of Fenixians were flying high up in the sky, with their quantity, they're more of a 'cloud' of birds, than a flock.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Ershnirians were in the ground, forming a formation. Their eyes were bloodshot and they grind their teeth in fear, courage, nervousness, and anger.

Although some of them were leaving the line from fear, the faint structure of the formation was still intact.

"Fire!"

The Commander signaled.

*Swish* *Crackle* *Sizzle*

Thousands of wind users and fire users of all levels were in the center of the formation, throwing magics at the enemy unrelentlessly.

Just like firecrackers, beautiful light bloomed in the sky, aiming for the birds above.

Turbulent blades of wind flew towards the enemies and sliced them. Some reached the enemy while other weak attacks just kept them at bay.

"Attack!"

*Swish* *Flap* *Boom!*

However, with their superior speed and distance, the Fenixians took advantage of the high ground and tried to kill them with bombs or magic while maintaining safe distance.

"Shield!"

*Zing* *Rumble* *Splash*

Fortunately, the water and earth users defended the formation. They raised elemental barriers and resisted the attacks. The earth rumbled as the earth users made walls of earth.

The earth seemed to be screaming in pain and smoke pierced towards heaven. The bomb was successfully resisted, albeit with difficulty.

"Go!"

The earth shook from the marching of the soldiers. They were marching at the same pace and they headed towards the walls— the gate.

Knowing that attacking them was useless, the Fenixians tried to help them off.

'If we can keep them here, then the cannons would take care of them. But... this would cost thousands of men and would destroy the land even further.... Damn it!'

Melajaine clenched her fist and made a decision.

However, at this time, a different bird was flying towards her. The person above it whispered something to Melajaine and she involuntarily smiled.

"Block their exit!"

Melajaine commanded.

*Swoosh* *Crackle* *Boom!*

The Fenixians rushed towards the wall and made traps and attacked the soldiers. Fire and turbulent wind blades catapulted. Bombs were thrown and the ground caved in.

In retaliation, the Ershnirians only blocked their attacks and kept moving on. Different levels of earth walls rose up from the ground.

There are some casualties because they are not of the same level, but the formation was still intact as a whole.

Wounded soldiers screamed, and blood rained down upon this land.

Thousands of people were fighting to remove the shackles in their hands.

The heavy smoke of fire, and the drums of war were loud.

But this only ignited their hearts: "to be buried here, or get home safe and sound".

Dark clouds above, high beyond all.

Inside holds power, rain's about to fall.

Insig finds his heart, to the bottom, it falls.

His blood froze. The coldness, deeply, he felt.

The despairing soldiers, beside him, wailed.

The Tempest was scary, like the earlier rain.

It blew their minds, and split their hearts.

Their swords and shields, it all broke apart.

Atop the wall, was a lofty man.

His gaze is arrogant, like no other one.

Lofty like the clouds, but just like a river.

Hiding deep inside, a turbulent flow full of power.

In his hands was, a deep blue sword

The rain all around, he was their lord.

With a single swing, he let the rain fall.

And it fell upon all, all of these miserables.

"Seething Tempest!"

Seeing the rain, all the soldiers despaired.

But a sudden light pierced, and the clouds dispersed.

Everyone looked, saw a silhouette of a man.

He looked so blinding, just like the Sun.

"Everyone, I'll take care of him. You go do your thing."

Zowie assured the army. Currently, he was floating in the air and bright runes of light surrounded his body. The runes were like puzzles that formed the faint image of the sun.

The clouds around him evaporated even more, as if he was an abomination, none of the clouds wanted to get close to him.

Hearing this, the soldiers continued moving, not because they trust Zowie, but because they don't want to be here anymore.

"Jessie, let's go!"

Jeor said and he ran towards the front of the formation. Jessie and Phillip also ran forward, but they didn't see Insig running with them.

Jessie looked back but Insig was already gone. Her heartbeat sped up and she panicked.

"Where's Insig!?"

Phillip just kept running and assured her.

"Don't worry about him! You can sense him anyway right?"

Jessie remembered and she immediately tried to contact her leftover energy on the ring that Insig wore.

However, after a while, she hasn't reached Insig.

"H—He's gone!"

Hearing this, Phillip slightly flinched, but he still persuaded Jessie.

"This is not the time to bother him, let's go and escape first."

Jessie eventually followed but she still looks back.

'Insig, please be okay.'

Currently, above the air, Zowie and Duke Elamine were facing each other.

Duke Elamine looked lofty, but he was actually quite cautious. He is a proud person, but he knows where he belongs.

Since the first time he knew that there were 3 stages of Integration, his prideful self was completely obliterated.

"I see. So you were the one who reinforced the barrier and forced my hand. And now, you even blocked my attack. If you were not the one who did that, I would have immediately killed someone who says: "I'll take care of him."."

The Duke amusingly said.

Zowie immediately got cautious by his relaxed behavior, but he knows that he can't show weakness.

"Hahaha. Just because we're in different states doesn't make me weaker than you."

"We'll see about that."

The Duke said and the gem on his sword released a dazzling light. He swung his sword and an inconspicuous blade of water was released. It looked slow, but actually, inside it was a turbulent whirlpool that strengthened as time went on.

As a person of high-standing, Zowie has learned how to fight since young. He closed his eyes and focused. He remembered the saying that his brother taught him.

[Don't trust your eyes, trust nature instead.]

He can't sense the aura that the enemy threw, but he sensed that everywhere it went, the wind aura was scary.

This meant that even though it was inconspicuous, the blade of water was hiding enormous power.

He immediately made a decision and dodge the attack. By imbuing his body with the nature of light, he can be fast as light.

The runes on his body changed and he seemed to have become a laser, fast and concentrated.

Seeing this, the Duke got an ominous premonition and he immediately prepared himself.

"[Solar Arts: Light Incarnation]!"

His body Integrated with the light particles, making his body possess the rules of light. His hair became unblemished white, however, like light, it also became illusory.

His speed was so fast that you can't even see him. However, even though this has benefits, this also has demerits.

1 is, you can't see. You need light to see, if you are as fast as light, then you can't see. However, this can be neutralized by sensing aura instead.

2 is energy consuming. This technique needs too much energy. Like, in just 20 seconds in this state, he'll be unconscious already.

3 is, lightness. Light almost has no body, and so is this technique. That means, you can't punch while in this state, or you'll be pulverized. But if you're used to this technique enough, you can switch between 'human' state and 'light' state at will.

Zowie closes his eyes and senses the cool aura of the Duke. He slowly walked towards the Duke but in other's vision, they didn't even see him.

After getting close, Zowie opened his eyes and only saw the sunset, and the Duke. He immediately conjured a sword made of light.

"[Light technique: Piercing light]."

It was so bright that it blinded people, but it was also beautiful. Runes of light were shining around it, making it more hotter and brighter.

*Zing*

Because Zowie was too fast, the sound was also slowed down considerably. Zowie ignored the sound and pierced the Duke with the rod made of light.

The hot rod of light ignored the Duke's hard armor, rendering them useless. The rod of light pierced through the Duke's heart, burning his insides and body.

After that, Zowie immediately released his state and fell down on the ground. He felt light-headed and exhausted. His energy reserve was almost emptied but he still persevered.

'I... did it.... however, I still need to... live...'

With his last bit of energy, he entered a state of recharge. Dim runes surrounded his body and they seemed to be absorbing the light.

He absorbed the light from the sunset, the stars, and the moon, and the more it absorbs, the more the runes shine.

After recharging for a bit, he smiled brightly and opened his eyes, however.....