Dice vs. Umbrella

The people inside the kingdom were staring at the large gray dome that appeared a few moments ago. It was their first time witnessing a phenomenon like this.

Curiosity got into the minds of those who had powers, while anxiety enveloped the civilians' hearts.

Some of the mercenaries gathered their courage and tried to enter, but they were pushed back by a forcefield, hindering their entry. 

Those who had the ability to fly went up in the air to check the inside of the dome. However, it was not transparent, and they couldn't tell what was happening inside the place.

"Move faster! Hurry!" the knights yelled while guiding the civilians to evacuate them from the area.

Then, mercenaries readied their weapons and prepared themselves for what was to come, realizing that the only thing they could do was wait for things to unravel.

. . . . .

Somewhere in the city, Aichelle was preparing food for her mistress when she spotted Lux staring outside the small window. It was her first time seeing Lux in that state of seriousness, so she decided to approach the man. 

"What are you looking at?" She said this while walking towards the window, but the butler didn't reply to her, and she was astonished as she saw the gray dome not too far from their place.

"What is that thing?" She asked, hoping that the man beside him would satisfy her curiosity, but Lux's reply didn't give her the answer she wanted.

"Prepare to leave this place with the mistress if things go wrong," Lux said with a straight face, then he left to go into his room. 

Aichelle was left puzzled by Lux's actions. She knew him for several decades, and he was always positive that no matter what happened, he could protect their master.

"Is that made by someone powerful enough that even he was bothered by it?" she uttered, her eyes still observing the dome.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, on the balcony of the king's castle, three individuals were looking at the thing that appeared inside the kingdom's capital.

It was far away from the castle grounds, but the dome's radius was almost a kilometer wide, which made it visible even from afar.

"It's a domain-type Legacy, isn't it, Father?" A man asked; his eyes remained focused on the dome.

He was the Herish Kingdom's second prince and the heir to the throne. He was chosen as the crown prince because of his matchless talent in the field of crafting, unlike his older brother, who was considered the black sheep of the family.

He had shown a lack of interest in weapons since the time he was born; he didn't want to create them or even think about wielding them. And when he was asked what he wanted to do, he answered his parents that he desired to study magic.

From that day on, the king ignored his firstborn and focused all of his attention on raising his second child, who was a genius at creating weapons.

Years later, his son bid them farewell to learn magic in the Bluelion Kingdom and he had never returned until now. But the king didn't bother himself to search for him. He was like a scrap without any value left in the eyes of his father.

"Hmmnn, it is," the king replied, then he looked into the eyes of his confidant beside him and asked. "Do you know who's the owner of that domain?"

His confidant thought for a second before he answered the king's question.

"I'm not sure, your Highness, but that thing resembled the domain that appeared a few years ago in the empire's capital," he said.

The king couldn't hide his shock as soon as he heard the words of his head butler.

"Are you referring to that incident?" He asked, and the surprised look on his face was replaced by worry. 

"Yes, it is, she is here, your Highness, the Enchantress of Time, Celestine Madisson," the confidant said, which confirmed the king's concern.

. . . . .

 "Answer me!" Celestine yelled.

Then, the umbrella above the sky was hurled in the man's direction. It was spinning while moving at an unimaginable speed, and it was going to hit Zeno when a huge jet-black shield appeared and protected him.

She was upset about getting ignored by the man, and now his smile was making her sick. Then the umbrella returned to her as soon as she lifted her hand.

The shield protecting Zeno vanished, and he dashed to Celestine. He tossed the black dice in the air and slashed down as if he were holding something.

Celestine was knitting her brows; she couldn't guess what Zeno was trying to do by doing that without a weapon, but she nodded upon seeing a jet-black scythe materialize in the man's hands.

She raised her umbrella with the intention to block the scythe's blade with its canopy; however, Zeno disappeared in front of her, and she felt a presence behind her.

So she turned around, surprised by the man's action. Despite being late to respond by a few seconds, she still managed to block Zeno's attack.

'A dagger? But I definitely see a scythe,' she thought, questioning the man's weapon.

Then Celestine tried to hold Zeno's arm by extending her hand; however, Zeno saw her desperate action, and he chose to distance himself from the woman.

"You should try to smile; I'm pretty sure you'll be more beautiful," he said after leaping a few times backward.

'She's definitely into something earlier,' he thought, then he looked at his arm and remembered Ingrid's Legacy that it got activated upon contact.

'Is it something like that?' He asked inside his mind. 'No, her Legacy is this domain.'

Celestine didn't pay attention to his words; instead, she let go of her umbrella and made it float in the air again, then it moved in Zeno's direction. All the humans on its path were cut off by it. Their limbs and bodies fell to the ground without any blood dripping from any of them.

The silver-haired demon jumped to dodge the weapon, but it chased him up in the air. The dice hanging in his dagger spun, and it changed into a scythe. Zeno blocked the spinning umbrella by its shaft. then ran towards Celestine.

But the umbrella kept on chasing him, and it even doubled its speed. Celestine smiled as soon as she saw her weapon was just inches away from cutting Zeno's nape; however, the upward curve on her lips disappeared, and her eyes rolled sideways upon hearing the man's shout.

"See? You're more attractive when smiling," Zeno continued to tease Celestine through his words.

Then he rotated his scythe and grinned after he successfully deflected the umbrella behind his back without even looking at it. When he was just a few meters away from Celestine, he slashed his scythe sideways from the left, aiming for her head.

But the umbrella that should have been somewhere far from them suddenly appeared in front of Celestine and protected her.

Zeno's attack didn't leave any scratches on the umbrella, then he struck his scythe again and again, but the umbrella was like it had a life of its own, protecting Celestine from any direction. 

"It's durable, isn't it? It was made from the scales of a dragon, ground them to the smallest particles possible, and then wove them into a fabric to be its canopy," Celestine smiled and said upon seeing Zeno lose the arrogant grin on his face.

"Oh, one more thing. I don't know the exact name, but its shaft was made from wood from a mysterious tree," she added while crossing her arms and watching the silver-haired man get blocked by her umbrella. 

Zeno glanced for a second at Celestine upon hearing what she said, then made the dice spin and changed his weapon to a gauntlet.

'Jack,' he thought, and gave the umbrella a punch. He didn't bother himself to look for an opening to strike Celestine. He knew that he couldn't hurt her without first breaking her weapon.

Celestine knitted her brows as she saw that Zeno's weapon had changed again.

'Now, it's a gauntlet, huh. Whatever, that won't even do a thing.' she thought, but the next seconds, she was sent flying by Zeno's punch, together with her umbrella.

She got slammed, broke into several houses, and stopped until she flew almost a hundred meters away from Zeno. Her braided hair disheveled due to the impact, and her clothes got damaged. Her back was bleeding from scratches after hitting the walls.

Then she moved her head to dodge an arrow going straight at her. After that, she coughed up blood when she tried to stand; her umbrella was not destroyed, but a dent was formed on its canopy. 

"Overconfidence can send you to your grave, just a little reminder," Zeno said, smirking after he saw Celestine struggling to stand up.

'That power, even my left arm was broken,' Celestine thought, astonished by what had happened.

Then she closed her eyes, and Zeno dropped his jaw. He even blinked a few times upon seeing Celestine get back from the place where she was standing without any damage before he punched her.

Her skin got no scratches; her hair and clothes, even the umbrella, were not damaged at all. 

"What the?" Zeno exclaimed.

Celestine's laughter echoed in the grayscale world; she was surprised by Zeno's feat, but the man was more shocked seeing what she was capable of.

"I won't die; even if you cut my neck or burn me alive, I will always return from death," Celestine said, provoking Zeno. 

"There is," Zeno uttered.

"What?" She replied, puzzled by his words.

"There is a way to kill you," he said, and his smirk returned to his face.

Celestine got goosebumps seeing the creepy smile from the man. Then Zeno stepped closer to her; the bow that he was holding changed into a pair of daggers. Celestine stepped back to keep her distance from Zeno. She was confident in her ability, but Zeno's smile sent fear through her body.

"Don't come near me!" She yelled, then her umbrella spun and flew to Zeno, but he vanished and appeared at Celestine's side. He was about to stab his dagger into her head when Celestine caught his hand, and he felt a burning sensation, but it was not enough to stop his strength, enhanced by Jack's Legacy.

The dagger struck Celestine, and her blood splashed on Zeno's clothes. He then slammed her on the ground; however, seconds later, her body vanished into thin air, and she appeared standing beside Zeno with her umbrella.

"I was scared for a second there; I thought you really had a way to kill me," she said, then she looked at Zeno and smiled as she saw him looking at his hand.

Zeno's brows furrowed upon seeing the state of his right hand. It became thin and old, as if its time had been taken away as soon as Celestine held him. Then he tried to close and open it.

'Still usable,' he thought.

"So that's what it was, I congratulate you! You didn't fail to amuse me!" Zeno said, before he looked at the woman smiling at him. 

Then he took off his coat and folded his sleeves below his elbows. His wrists were revealed, and three names were written on each of them.

. . . . .