Episode 4

Barakia's gaze was stuck to the left. It was as if he was listening to see if someone was in there with us…

"Everything okay?"

He turned his head to face and with a smile he said… "Yes."

His face then went serious again and his eyes were locked onto mine.

"Are you sure you don't want to become my successor?"

I didn't take Barakia for someone who would ask me that after I refused his proposition already…

"I'm sorry, but no. I have one person in my life who would be devastated if I looked like I disappeared and died." That would be my best friend, Vetel.

The disappointment was obvious on his face. He sighed.

"I see, then. Sorry for pestering you like this." His gaze scanned through all of the books scrambled on the table and stopped on a certain book.

"After reading this, I couldn't help being reminded of you. The hero has ideals that can move his world forward but he is not born with power. As you said, he ends up receiving power and carrying the wishes of the one who gave it to him on his back." He had a small hint of a smile on his face as he said that.

"Why does that remind you of me? I don't have any ideals that I want to enforce on the world. I also don't hope that you plan to do the same thing to me."

I wanted to help Barakia. I know how sincere he was when he was asking and how pathetic he must have felt to ask for help from an outsider when he should be able to do those things himself. If I do get involved and somehow my enemies find out that Vetel is my best friend, they won't stop going after him to get me through him. Would I even be strong enough to protect everyone?

I always admired heroes like that. They always rise and no matter what their enemies throw at them, they come back triumphant. But as a hero, you have to sacrifice the most to keep everyone safe. That's why I also hate them. Heroes always die of overwork.

"This is going to be the last time we can meet up, Ogen." He said as he sipped from a cup of tea.

"Is it because of my adamant refusal to help you?" I felt bad saying that out loud.

"No. I plan to make my move tomorrow, so I won't be able to meet up with you for a while, or hear your voice and bring you into this place." His gaze was stuck on the steaming liquid he was swirling around in the cup.

"I suspect that after I make my move on the first and second lieutenants, all hell will break loose. They are also suspected of working with another clan in trying to bring us down. Their last few trips out of HQ were suspicious, to say the least. I have known this for a while, but…" Barakia said.

"But…?"

"I needed irrefutable proof that they are in cahoots with another clan. Which I heard was delivered to me just now."

"I see then, Barakia. Good luck and godspeed." He got up and bowed in front of me with a smile on his face.

That red mist appeared again and surrounded him like an aura. That mist then moved towards the point in space in front of him as if it was aspirated there and became a door.

"Oh. Let me make one for you as well. I'll drop you off at your house." He pointed his index finger behind me and red mist gathered in the form of a door behind me as well.

I was sad. It was so enjoyable speaking with him every night. These last few days have been the most fun I've ever spent with someone else. And now, I just made it come to an end. Then the words came out of my mouth without my will.

"Barakia… wait!" I shouted as I turned to face him and to my surprise, he remained just outside the door, s if he expected that I was going to do that.

Then a sudden and powerful earthquake occurred, or more precisely, what we felt was the aftermath of a powerful impact. Barakia's eyes opened as wide as I can imagine a humanoid being able to open them.

"What's–" Barakia disappeared from where he stood and appeared in front of me, grabbed me by the hand, and ran through the door he first opened, which led into his castle.

The dark environment we were previously one stretched backward and in front of me infinitely. The trip this time was much shorter and as soon as we got out, my eyeballs were seared by the intense light from inside his castle.

Surprisingly, their level of technology was not far off ours. Light fixtures were located on both walls, with gaps of 50 centimeters in between each one. The carpet under us was red with floral gold accents and the wood floor seemed to be in excellent condition. We disappeared then and reappeared right in front of his daughter's room.

He had knocked hard and with urgency on her door, but no answer was given.

"Damn!" He shouted as he frantically moved so fast, to that looked like we were disappearing and reappearing in different places.

"Who's attacking?" I said as multiple impacts shook the building and cracked the walls little by little.

Barakia looked at me from the corner of his eye. "I think the guys that the first and second lieutenants were cooperating with. I can feel the presence of multiple members from the Sozim clan."

He then closed his eyes and I could feel how deeply focused he was.

"I found her!" He shouted happily and gladly.

"I'll take you to Karia! She can protect you as I repel our invaders!"

Then a loud deep male voice howled from the outside. "You think you can do that?"

Then… nothing happened, or rather I did not perceive that something had happened. Moments later, I could see a cut forming across the wall on the left which traveled up the ceiling and then went down the other wall.

Barakia seemed to be quite shocked as well… His eyes were wide open and I saw the beads of sweat forming on his face as the light reflected off them. I could hear him whisper to himself. "Fuck."

It was safe to say the situation went fubar.

"I'm sorry Ogen." He said as he dropped me on the floor."

The person on the other side bellowed again. "So you're going to kill that human now to get rid of the evidence?"

Evidence?

"What is he talking about, Barakia?"

He remained silent and unmoving.

"Since he's not telling you, I might as well fill you in before you die, human." He said with a cackle. He was thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Bringing a human into Valachia is highly illegal and the punishment for it is death, boy." His tone was now more serious and seemed like he was looking down on me.

Then he spoke again.

"Not that we care about that, though. All we needed was a reason to be able to move and siege your territory, Old Man Barakia." He laughed like your average evil guy who's just finished gloating about his plan, but with a cackle.

The look on Barakia's face did not change. He did not even look my way. I couldn't tell what he was thinking and how he was feeling about this entire thing, but…

"Don't worry, Barakia. I believe in you. You're not going to kill me." I said with as reassuring a smile as I could.

"That's impressive, kid. Not even a bit of fear in you after I told you that he could kill you. The problem you are faced with now is… how is he going to fight us off and protect you at the same time, huh?" He was right.

"Then my path is simple." Barakia said, brimming with confidence. "All I have to do is beat you all as I protect this human." His gaze moved to the left and though I could barely see his face, he had a smug smile on his face.

Red mist enveloped him which turned into a dome that was big enough to fit me and covered me with it. "You should be safe here, Ogen."

Then just with his pressure, the walls around us crumbled to give way to a surreal landscape.

We were indeed in a castle that looked just like those we used to have in medieval times. The sky was a deep shade of crimson combined with a hint of light brown, giving way to a beautiful orange tint covering the land.

On our left was a man with greasy light brown hair and bloodshot eyes of the same color. Above him floated a red sphere from which tendrils would come out and cut and bash the rest of the castle to bits.

"You slimy fuckers. Trash obsessed with status, power and territory. I am surprised your clan hasn't already gone under because of your incompetent rule." This felt like the real Barakia. Not the kind, gentle and understanding person I met a few days ago. His voice was also a lot deeper and coarse when he talked like that.

"You say that, Barakia, but whose clan is about to go under now I wonder, huh?" He laughed with a cackle again.

"Your treacherous first and second lieutenants already did a number on all of your other members, save for your daughter who is probably getting herself killed right now." He added.

Then about 3 dozen tendrils erupted from the orb and rushed toward Barakia. I could feel Barakia's pressure even under the barrier. It dissolved the tendrils as soon as they got within 2 meters of him.

"It's my fault all this happened… I wasn't fast enough. I wasn't smart enough. Someone like you should have been the clan leader in my place, Ogen." He turned to face me and said with a sad smile on his face like always.

"That as it may be… I swear to you, Ogen. I'll get this situation under control!" The resolve in his eyes was obvious and I nodded in encouragement.

Barakia jumped toward the Sozim clan leader with a deafening roar. That red mist appeared around him and took the form of two short blades in his hand. With one swing that couldn't be seen by the eyes of the likes of me, a large cut appeared on the clan leader's body, starting at the head and going down to his lower body.

Instead of reeling back though, he laughed maniacally as the cut was getting healed at blistering speeds.

"Not good enough!" He shouted as he created a shockwave from his palm that sent Barakia back to the ground with no damage done to his body.

The blades in his hand looked like nothing more than blood taking the shape of blades. They trembled and modulated slightly. He would turn his head to look at me occasionally.

Then they both stood still. Sozim's sickly bloodshot eyes were stuck on Barakia's position. Then, countless tendrils barely slow enough for me to spot them erupted from the orb, but they were getting cut seconds after their emergence. Barakia's speed was truly impressive. It looked like he was a character from a manga who could move at super speeds.

The battle raged on like that for a while.