Chapter 87 - Downfall

[Alea Triscan POV]

I saw myself inside a bubble made with some dark liquid, I could see the surface, but I couldn't swim there. The outside of that bubble was dark, as if nothing existed outside. My body didn't seem to respond to my commands, that's when I looked at myself and tried to scream, but my voice wouldn't come out.

I only had one arm and my torso, the rest was not there. Looking at my grotesque state, that's when the memories returned to my mind.

I had lost a battle, a battle that would cost my life, but I had been saved... But by whom?

Images of the massacre I was in, kept repeating in my head at all times, the memory of the pain and my screams didn't stop, it was definitely some crazy and sick torture. But why was I suffering this endlessly? Suffering once wasn't enough?

I tried to focus my attention elsewhere so I could feel better, but as I did, I finally noticed something else that was right there with me...

Out of that liquid where I was, I saw something that looked like a giant head approaching. There were no features on that huge face, it was like a silhouette that I could identify where each part of the face was. It was dark enough that it blended into the void around me, but the closer it got, the more it became visible.

A giant, dark hand appeared beside the floating head, it appeared to have sharp claws instead of fingers. When it tried to touch the bubble my body was in, I could feel and hear a "tuc"... This meant that that bubble was surrounded by something that could resemble glass.

Slowly using those strange claws, the giant being in the middle of that darkness, began to draw something on the surface of the bubble. I couldn't understand what the design was, it didn't make any sense, but it looked like some kind of magical rune.

The rune started to glow green and slowly the color of the bubble liquid was changing from black to moss green.

And with that, a new kind of pain began to hit me...

I screamed again, but my voice didn't come out, the pain was being much worse than the others I'd felt until then, to the point that it seemed to reach my mind and corrode it little by little. I noticed a bright glow next to me and looked in the direction, if I wasn't feeling so much pain, I would be grateful and amazed at what I was seeing.

Limbs were sprouting from the severed parts of my torso, but they weren't made of organic matter, they seemed to be made of powerful energy, more powerful than mana itself.

After the luminous limbs were complete, the pain finally seemed to disappear, causing me to breathe(?) into that situation... Or so I thought... Until the luminous limbs slowly turned into threads and went hard against my sternum, causing a more bearable pain than the previous one, but still, it was very intense.

After what felt like hours of constant pain, I was again without those limbs I lost in battle, and all that strange light had entered the hole where my mana core would have been. I closed my eyes a bit because of the extreme fatigue I felt, but when I opened my eyes after that, I ended up looking at a kind of starry sky.

Not only that, I was able to hear the sound of wind, feel the wind itself touching my body, my hair swaying... I finally felt something other than pain again. But I could also hear a voice.

"A-Alea?!... G-guys! She woke up!" It was a female voice that was out of my field of vision, I was so tired after all that, I didn't want to move my head.

But luckily I didn't have to, because I ended up seeing 2 familiar faces, a boy with dark hair and bright yellow eyes, and a girl with silver hair and eyes with the color that represents pure nature. The girl tightly hugged my head, crying happily as the boy pulled her away from me.

"Careful, Tess. She may still be in a lot of pain, don't touch her body too much unnecessarily." I hear the voice of my savior, Luz.

"S-sorry! I was so freaked out by that whole scene... I-I was scared she'd never wake up..." Princess Tessia spoke, in her trademark tearful voice.

"Did you forget we confirmed her heart was beating Tess?" Another voice came up, not in my field of vision, but I recognized it as that of the other Leywin boy, Arthur.

"Where I am...?" My voice came out quite dry, with my throat hurting.

Slowly, they let me sit and the princess was carefully giving me some water from a canteen. Now I noticed that we were on some kind of ice plataform and... We were... Flying?!

My eyes widened, with a small panic of surprise, but Luz ended up holding me tight, while saying "Calm down, it wouldn't be good for you to fall."

"Wh-what is this?!..." I looked at my surroundings, the ice plataform seemed to have small bars so we wouldn't fall for silly mistakes and looking in the direction we were going, I saw something that shocked me and made me scared more, but I still continued to be held.

That ice plataform was attached by some mechanisms to a large, dark being, with huge wings and...

"H-horns?!?" I exclaimed, scared and having some memories of the battle I almost died in, making me gasp a lot.

Luz stood in front of me to prevent me from looking at it any further. "Calm down... Alea... She won't hurt you. It's Sylvie."

I heard that and paralyzed a little to think. That name was from Arthur's bond, so it meant that little mana beast turned into that?!?

"Heh, she may look scary, but I treat her like my beautiful daughter. So I don't want complaints, after all if it wasn''t for her, it would be difficult to carry you and take you to Xyrus." Arthur's voice came up again.

Taking a deep breath and having the courage to look again at the monster that was carrying us, I saw that Arthur was sitting on the creature's back, he was smiling a little silly and was caressing the big beast's neck. The monster, or Sylvie as they called her, made an irritated noise and seemed to huff the air out of her mouth, as if she was disappointed, but Arthur continued to rub her back to cheer her up.

"Wh-what is she?..." I asked as I tried to regain my composure, but failed miserably.

"A dragon." The three responded in unison and I slowly put my remaining hand to my face, taking a deep breath.

"So... This whole time... It was a dragon... I see." I spoke slowly and managed to realize that I was still in a deplorable situation, with only one of my arms, but at least I didn't feel any pain there.

"We're going to Xyrus… aren't we?" I asked and Princess Tessia nodded.

"It's much better that no one sees your state... We were thinking of taking you either to Xyrus Academy or to the house where Arthur and I live, so that we can call Virion and the others to get you." Luz commented while looking at the landscape and I just had to agree with that. If people saw me in this state, they would start to get scared, after all I should be one of the 6 strongest mages...

It took a while for us to finally see the flying city, Xyrus, on the horizon. Then the boy who had saved me activated an illusion spell, thus making us all invisible, so that no one would know of our presence. Slowly the dragon landed on a considerably empty street, and in front of us, there was a large mansion.

"Let's go..." Princess Tessia said, gently helping me off the dragon, Arthur soon approached me and they both started to carry me.

I looked back, seeing Luz undoing that ice platform we were on, while he caressed the dragon's neck and it turned into a small white fox, which stayed on top of his shoulder. That way, we all got closer to that mansion, until Luz, the only one who wasn't busy carrying me, went a little ahead of us to knock on the door.

"So... I can finally come visit your family, Art... I wish it wasn't in such a bad situation..." Princess Tessia spoke sadly to her mate.

"Don't worry, Tess. There will be happy times... I hope..." Arthur's voice sounded a little darker than usual.

After a few minutes, the door opened, but the person who opened the door was someone I didn't expect to see here. I saw these dark hair, tall, thin body and a white uniform. She just stood there, watching the four of us, her face petrified as she looked at me.

"Hello, Aya... Apparently the Eraliths are already here... Can you call them?" Luz asked quietly, but Aya didn't answer.

Instead, my companion was giving way as she walked towards me with a terrified look on her face and tears starting to run down her cheeks. I could see Arthur and Tessia's confused expressions at that moment, even I didn't expect someone like Aya to be here... So the royal family was already in this place? What a lucky and incredible coincidence...

"A-Alea..." Aya stammered as she touched my face and observed the places where I should have some limbs.

"Let's go inside... We'll explain better in a more private place..." Luz said as he entered the mansion.

"Wh-what..." Aya tried to say something, but swallowed and went to help Arthur and Tessia to take me inside that house.

I couldn't see things well from the position I was in, but soon I heard the terrified scream of a woman who was there, possibly having seen my current state. But not only that, I could see someone approaching me and hugging me tight. It took a few seconds for me to realize that this was my king, the one I swore allegiance to and would protect.

He started hugging me tight, whispering several times that he was sorry and that he shouldn't have sent me on a mission alone. His words were hitting my heart like multiple arrows, he said that while I was the person who should protect him, it made tears run down my cheeks and I started to cry. I had failed as a Lance, and made people who trusted me cry.

My vision became a complete blur due to my tears, but soon, I could feel my body being carried away and the voices of everyone there becoming muffled.

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[Arthur Leywin POV]

Why were they there?...

I couldn't understand, but the Eralith family was already waiting for us...

"Did Professor Glory inform Director Goodsky about the accident? Even so, they would be expected to go to Xyrus Academy...but why did they come directly here?" I thought for a while, but then looked at my surroundings.

At the moment I was sitting on a couch in the main room, next to me was Luz with those strange yellow eyes... what happened to him to be like this?...

Anyway, sitting in the armchairs in front of the couch were my dad, Virion, and Aya, all with tense looks on their faces from what they saw. Alea was taken to one of the rooms to be "healed" by my mother, Merial and Alduin decided to go along with her. The Helsteas didn't want to be there, so they decided to go somewhere else so that the conversation wouldn't be disturbed... and while Ellie? Elijah took her and Tess to a room, so they could talk and maybe forget about what they had seen.

I still remember the look my sister had when she ended up running into the living room in the moment our mother screamed, the sparkle in her eyes disappeared instantly when she saw me covered in blood, I'm lucky that Elijah was with her to get her out of there...

"So, tell us what happened... I mean, I have to thank you that... You did your promise... making Tessia return without any major injuries, but still... the whole situation must have been traumatic..." Virion snapped me out of my thoughts, making me look directly at him.

"What do you already know, Virion?... Since this is a serious matter, we don't want to give repeated information..." Luz commented, sitting next to me with his feet on the floor and elbows resting on his thighs, with his back slightly curved forward.

"We heard that you two suffered accidents on your respective school trips, both related to crazy mana beasts and earthquakes." My dad commented as calmly as he could, I couldn't help but agree with the information.

"But... what happened to Alea?" Aya asked in a shaky voice.

"I… I don't know, I wasn't there at the time." I was honest.

"It all happened at a point that united the three dungeons. As far as I know, Alea was the first to get there, I was the second, I ended up seeing her fight and did my best to save her... rescuing, preventing the enemy from killing... sometime after that, that's when Arthur showed up with Tessia." Luz said that without looking anyone in the eye, just staring at the floor.

"An enemy...?" Aya spoke in shock.

"Could you tell me who that enemy was, to have done this to a Lance?... We must find out who he is to make him understand what happens when you do something of this magnitude... and by the way... where were the guards? We sent Alea on a mission with a minimum of 15 guards." Virion looked quite shaken, but the moment he mentioned possible revenge, his voice became more powerful.

"The enemy... was a hybrid... He appeared to be a hybrid between a powerful mana beast and a human." Luz replied Aya, giving everyone a shocked look and then he looked at Virion. "As for the guards, I only found 6 with her. Apparently the others died before my appearance... and as for finding out who that enemy was... you don't need to worry... I killed him myself."

The 3 people who were listening were wide-eyed, Virion was the only one who managed to ask anything else. "Wait... You killed?... You killed a... hybrid... that managed to seriously injure a white core mage? No wait... a hybrid?! There are hybrids?!?!"

Luz was silent for a few seconds and then looked deep into Virion's eyes. I don't know what was going through their minds, but after a few seconds of staring at each other, Virion seemed to give up asking more questions, at least for now.

"Let's talk about this later... this is an extreme situation that I could say is of interest to the entire Council... We're talking about something intense that will put everyone in danger... we're talking about Asuras, Virion. " Luz said that with his eyes glowing more yellow, but after that he seemed to blink a little, his eyes returned to his normal cyan and he seemed to fall lying on the sofa, as if he had passed out.

"M-my god! L-Luz?!" My dad exclaimed, getting up and making sure my brother was okay, while I caught Virion's gaze.

Virion appeared to have gone paler than most of his race, his eyes quite wide. He slowly looked at me, and his expression changed, he seemed to feel guilt, anger, panic, but he still managed to keep himself firm so other people wouldn't notice it.

"I'll go... get some sleep... I think it's best we don't talk about this subject so much for now, I'll schedule a meeting for a week from now, at the most." Virion said getting up and looked deep into my eyes again, asking. "Do you have any idea what your brother was talking about?"

I just shook my head, and when I did Virion looked more relieved... but why? Was there something more insane behind it all? And what was that word? Asura? What does that mean?

"That sounds familiar, but I don't know where I heard that word… no… that seems like a word I heard in my old world, not this one… but what the hell did it even mean?" I thought a lot, but then I came back to reality when I saw my father touching my shoulder, that's when I noticed, I'd been so deep in my thoughts, that Aya and Luz weren't there anymore.

"You better go to bed, Art..." My dad said with teary eyes and slowly hugged me tight. I returned the hug, it was the first time we were alone since I got home.

"I... I was very scared after we heard what happened to you... Your mother was in a panic, but... she was very strong not to show it while other people saw her... She cried and prayed so much for you in the room.." My father spoke calmly as he hugged me more firmly, but soon he released me and looked into my eyes. "Don't scare us like that again…okay?"

I was silent watching his face and how devastated he was by the news. I sighed, trying to give him a smile as I got up from the couch. "You know I don't do this on purpose... I love you guys."

"We know... Anyway... I'm glad you're here... and also happy to know that you really protected that girl... you and your brother are really fantastic." He also spoke trying to give a smile of pride.

"I'm going to go see Mom." I spoke, but soon my father stopped me speaking. "Better not, it took her a long time to fall asleep, talk to her tomorrow... go to your room instead... Your brother and that girl are waiting for you there."

I got a very confused look at what he said at the end, but my confusion made him give a low chuckle as he slowly shook his head. "That girl... Tessia. She kept begging to sleep in your room... she looked really scared and said she could only sleep if she was next to you... You're lucky her parents accepted that."

"I see... See you in the morning." I said, patting him lightly on the shoulder and heading upstairs.

Arriving in my room, I saw that Luz was sleeping sitting on one of the chairs, with his head resting on the table, while Tess was lying on one of the two beds there. She was dressed in what looked like Lilia's pajamas, while Luz was wearing simple shorts and a white shirt.

I approached the bed that was left and soon realized that Tess was hugging Sylvie like a plush, a thought came into my mind and I did it on pure instinct. I ended up giving Sylvie and Tess a kiss on their foreheads, smiling that they were okay. So I slowly went to the bathroom to get all the dirt off my body.

After the shower, I went back to my bed, now wearing ordinary pajamas that I had in the closet, when I lay down, I noticed Tess with open eyes, watching me, with a sad smile on her face as she stretched out one of her hands for me. I accepted this and took her hand, only to notice that she was wearing the bracelet I gave her as a gift before the incident...

"She must have opened the present when things got quieter." I thought as I held her hand.

We didn't need to talk or express anything more than that, and slowly I felt the urge to rest taking over me, with everything going dark and the only thing I felt was Tess's grip...

Even though I'm glad it's all over... inside I feel... things are going to get worse... This was just the beginning... after a terrible ending...

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[3rd Person POV]

In the middle of some alleys in Xyrus City, two people were talking and they also seemed to be waiting for someone. Both were wearing brown hoods, with the only thing exposed being their arms, with both of their left hands bearing 4 strange rings.

"Are you sure he'll come?... We need a lot of help since the accident happened, and until now we don't know where Retainer Uto is..." Said one of the hooded men.

"Yes... he must be near here and don't worry about the honorable Retainer Uto... knowing him, he must be laughing and killing mana beasts that were close to the dungeon... but I'm still amazed how tremors like that happened, looked so unnatural..." Said the other hooded one, as he watched the street next to the alley.

"Our infiltrator said that it was either something natural, or it was caused by the mana beasts that were in one of the dungeons... either way, I don't think it was some hidden person, as other members claim." replied the first hooded one as he noticed someone approaching.

The person who was walking by had very light hair, with bright yellow eyes, and a slim but malevolent figure. Upon realizing he was being watched, he headed toward the alley where the other hooded men were.

"Finally you showed up... I've been looking for you all afternoon." Said the person.

"Don't worry, Lukiyah. Now is the first time we've had the chance to be here... so what do you have to tell us?"

"What do you mean? Didn't they tell you about that incredible incident?" Lukiyah asked irritably.

"We were only aware that the accident occurred, not exactly the consequences." One of the hooded ones commented.

"Good...so I'll say it...those two communners are gone, along with that stupid princess."

"Are you sure about that? You know information in our group has to be accurate, especially when you're a rookie and haven't even received your rune yet."

The person known as Lukiyah didn't seem to like how he was called and soon held the hooded man by the neck, while the other was just looking at the situation. "I'm more powerful even though I'm new to this group... I've already shown my worth before, I'm only doing these stupid tests because it's the norm, and only for that... So, know your place, weakling."

"Anyway... nice to know those two communners won't be around... is it likely they died?" The other hooded man tried to return to the subject.

"The way things turned out, I bet if any of them survived, If so... they must be pretty weak or debilitated." Lukiyah replied, releasing the other.

"Fine, let's talk to the boss... and take this." One of the hooded men handed the light-haired person some kind of paper. "It's the address of our base. We'll be waiting for you tomorrow afternoon to place your rune."

Lukiyah grinned from ear to ear, one eye having a kind of tic. "Certainly..."

"But remember... As a Wykes... use and abuse your brother's power to our advantage... maybe you'll rise a lot higher in the hierarchy that way."

Lukiyah kept smiling and replied. "My brother's power will be nothing when I get what I want... Come on... I want to destroy these fake nobles from inferior races as soon as possible..."

With that done, all three of them split up and went on their individual ways.