Encountering death

Mathis fell silent after listening to Dreigh. He had heard of remnants who are on a different level but records about them a very limited. All information they had are only from word of mouth or a piece of small paper. Nothing was certain about this information, it was purely speculation but what Dreigh had described conforms to one of the information given to them. There were certain remnants who can communicate with the spirits around them and can use these spirits to enhance their control on their abilities, though only a little was known about them, people came to call them Singular.

It was hard to believe but he could always give Dreigh the benefit of the doubt. "I've heard of remnants who can destroy a city within a day and that they are extremely powerful but all of these are all without proof and no one had seen anyone with this kind of ability."

Hearing Captain Mathis's words, Dreigh knew that he didn't believe him and could only return to staring in front of him. It doesn't matter if nobody believes him, he had already become accustomed to it. In this place where remnants are not welcome, not even one would listen to a remnant's words.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt just this time, if what you have said was true then you're punishment will be rescinded after all of this is over," Mathis added after he saw that Dreigh averted his gaze and didn't bother to answer him.

Mathis was about to talk once again when screams suddenly echoed from their camp. Both of them ran towards the camp and found that most soldiers were already dead and their enemies were attacking from all sides. Dreigh saw that among these men, the man who attacked them earlier was standing in front. He saw the man wave his hands and wind blades attacked the remaining soldiers.

Dreigh immediately looked for the other remnants and saw them on the side fending off the attack of the enemy while the commanding officer and others more were making their escape. He ran to them and helped in defeating enemies. Using his hands to channel his internal energy, several trees were uprooted and hurled towards the enemies burying them.

"Retreat," he commanded. "We defend and attack at the same time while retreating! Move, now!" The group of remnants didn't think about it and followed Dreigh's commands. They slowly retreated while some of them focused on attacking while the others were continuously making walls to defend them. Dreigh didn't stop his attacks and continued to hurl anything that he can get his hands on. They were not able to go far when they heard more screams coming from behind, they all looked back and saw the mysterious man killing the escaping the soldiers even the arrogant commanding officer was not able to survive. They were surrounded and all they could do was defend and stay alive.

They gritted their teeth and squeezed out more internal energy in hopes of making a path for them but it was proving to be futile. A battle cry sounded not nearby and a barrage of attacks rained down on the enemies, destroying their weapons and even their armors. Dreigh took this chance to move the dead bodies and make a path for their escape. All of them retreated towards where the attacks that saved them came from and saw their comrades busy attacking the mysterious man with Captain Mathis leading them.

"Dreigh are you alright?" Endo asked after he saw Dreigh among the survivors.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he nodded in his direction. He looked around and saw wounded soldiers being supported by the remnants. Their camp was thoroughly destroyed and they were reduced to a sorry state. They expected an attack but didn't take into account the mysterious man they encountered. If only they listened to what the remnants had to say they might be able to prepare a countermeasure against such force.

"Remnants create a wall! Make it as thick as possible, we need more time in order to retreat!" Captain Mathis ordered to which the remnants immediately obeyed. They didn't want to die so they did as the captain had ordered.

After the temporary wall was erected, they hastened and left the area. they could still feel the tremors coming from the collision of an attack on the wall they erected but no one looked back. All of them focused on moving as far away as possible from their now unrecognizable base.

Captain Mathis leads the way with those who can still fight stationed on each side and the back of the group. They have been walking for a long time now and were weary, the atmosphere was solemn and heavy with grief. No one had the heart to utter a single word.

"Was that the man you encountered yesterday?" Mathis asked.

"Yes," Dreigh simply answered there was no need to explain to you any longer. The captain saw already what the man can do. It was a complete destruction and defeat on their side. They were not able to fight back and do anything about it all they could do was run.

"I have already sent a message about this turn of events to Commander General Rozen using the fastest crow I have. It should have reached the military institute by now and I hope that the reinforcement I have requested will arrive before the enemy's pursuit squad can reach us." Mathis was now regretting that he didn't bring his squad, he didn't think that a true monster would appear on the enemy's side. If only the commanding officer had written all the details of yesterday's battle to them, he might have considered bringing his whole squad on his trip.

--

Commander General Rozen was resting in his room at the military institute when he heard a series of frantic knocks on his door. Annoyed by the sudden disturbance, he grumpily opened the door and saw a flustered captain from his battalion.

"What happened?" he asked in an annoyed voice.

"I'm sorry to disturb your rest but urgent news from Captain Mathis arrived, the camp had been destroyed," he exclaimed with a hint of panic. Rozen became serious after hearing the news without further questions, he walked with haste towards the meeting room where other captains were already gathered.

He sat down and one of the captains handed him the letter. Rozen browsed through the letter and his eyebrows furrowed as he continued to read his face darkened. "Sent for the Vice-Captain of Mathis's squad here now," he ordered to the soldier who was waiting on the side.

Not a moment later, the Vice-Captain came and gave them a salute. "We received a message from your captain, you will immediately rendezvous with them at the Sinking Canyon. I will also send some of my men as your reinforcement. According to the report, a pursuit squad might be on their tail so make haste and be vigilant because the enemy had an unknown remnant with them. This remnant may be one of those hermits who had stronger abilities than the remnants we had recruited," he instructed.

The preparation was already done in the blink of an eye and they set off riding horses like the wind. "If a remnant with an ability to slaughter an entire platoon or even an entire company, then we need to strengthen our defenses and our fighting power." One of the captains spoke and broke the silence.

"I don't know how Luelia got their hands on this kind of power but we don't need to be afraid. We were just caught off guard by that remnant's sudden appearance. Now that we know they had that kind of weapon we can prepare the next time we face them," Rozen consoled them. After nothing more was said, Rozen dismissed them and went to his private study to write a letter. He needed to report this to the Supreme Commander.

Their world is already changing, monsters and everything they thought was all myths or just plain old stories were now one by one coming to life. In this time of uncertainty, they indeed need more power. Gone were the days where they were sure they can win and every kingdom around them was intimidated and scared by the might of their military forces but now things are not the same.

As the remnants, one by one appeared in every kingdom, and creatures from stories suddenly show themselves the Prism continent was thrown into chaos. The dispute of territories never ended and now even fairies and other creatures were fighting for their homes. Commander General Rozen also realized this change and he can't do anything about it. Now that new enemies were popping around they didn't want to act carelessly. Even the struggles of power within the Supreme Commander's generals are heating up.

They were currently trapped in an unprecedented circumstance all because of what happened fifteen years ago. It was like they were living in a whole new world once again. Rozen shook his head to dispel these unpleasant thoughts and continued to write the letter. He hoped that Captain Mathis and the others can survive this ordeal.

--

While the military institute was in a state of standstill, Mathis's group encountered something that might eventually cost them their lives. Currently standing in front of them was the mysterious man who leads the Luelia soldiers to their camp.