Hunt, Begin

Drop. Drop. Drop. Drop. Drop. Drop

The man on his knees, with blood dripping from his mouth and a sword piercing his chest from front to back, appears to be in a state of defeat or surrender.

The black longsword piercing his chest and complete black attire suggest he might have been a warrior or assassin of some kind on his last breath. The cloud of darkness around his hands hints at possible magical or abilities in play.

Despite his current state, there's an eerie beauty to the way his hair moves in the wind, almost as if it's alive.

This man, was none other than Ryuga Xicor.

Lieutenant Rahlen stood tall before Ryuga with his uniform shredded. He firmly held the hilt of the sword and looked down at Ryuga with a sense of superiority.

He pushed the blade deeper into the chest of his foe and it gave a faint purple glow. "What is the meaning of this? That's impossible!" Rahlen spoke in complete suprise.

"It's a shame, wouldn't you say?" Xicor spoke in a clear voice, startling the man before him. Slowly he moved his hand toward the blade in his chest and wrapped his fingers around the blade right where it stabbed him. He slowly unfolded his knees and got up on his feet.

"I really am sorry to do this to you but...., I think this has gone on long enough". Xicor met the lieutenant's gaze head on. "Can I have your name again before this ends?"

The lieutenant was fazed but he was trying his best to hide it. "My name is Rahlen Dirhoid." He spoke with a firm voice.

"Lieutenant Rahlen. My name is Xicor Ryuga. The former Necromac of the Resemblance. I will start by taking three things from you. First - the blade the fills you with pride." With those words, he pulled out the sword from his chest and tightened his grip on it, destroying the blade as it shatters to debris.

"Second- your sense of victory." Xicor aimed his right hand at Rahlen 's abdomen and his shadow eye glowed.

"<Igneus>", the darkness covering his hands turned to flames, and a flame thrower shot Rahlen a few meters away covered in fire.

"Lastly- I'll crush you completely and take your away your pride." 

The magic circles around his wrists reappeared as he walked to Rahlen. "<Meteor Barrage>", he casted, and in response, the sky turned few shades of dark.

The flames on Rahlen seemed to have been extinguished but when he tried to get up a storm of small meteors like hail rained on him.

When Ryuga got close to Rahlen, the bombardment stopped and Ryuga reached for Rahlen. He raised him up by the neck with his feet dangling in the air. Unlike Bianca, he looked barely alive.

"Noooo..!!!" A woman's scream broke out. "You have to stop, you've done enough. You don't have to kill him!" Bianca begged with tears filling her eyes.

Ryuga 's body froze for no apparent reason. He looked down to find Bianca's hands hugging him tightly from behind. A feeling of deja vu surged through his being as if his body was working to remind him of something.

Noticing a moment of hesitation from Ryuga by the loosening on his neck, Rahlen Who should be on death's door, kicked Ryuga and jumped a distance back, jolting Ryuga back to reality. The simplest meaning of what happened is he just escaped doom.

A smile curved up on Ryuga 's lips. "I'm sorry. I guess I got carried away just a little." He stretched his hand in the direction of the shards of the black longsword and they moved towards him as they started merging together into the original sword they were.

He stabbed the blade in his hand to the ground

"Now I guess I should be the bigger man and clean up this mess." In a mocking voice, Ryuga started charging up his magic.

"I suppose this should do." Ryuga said looking around.

The people who stood around had surprised looks on their faces. But of course not even half of them were following most of the events that happened here, let alone understanding anything.

At his feet, a large magic circle stretched. <Arios> Manifestation spell. The destroyed landscape got restored and manipulated weather subsided back to normal.

The polluted atmosphere was revitalized as the vegetation around the village became livelier. Ryuga 's magic then died down as if being suppressed.

The imperial soldiers who laid on the ground were left unconscious. Their magic reserves almost fully depleted by Ryuga 's spell.

Ryuga walked into the restaurant without a word and the door closed behind him.

[Imperial 3rd Force Grounds]

The gates of the main base.

A man stood supporting himself with the large brown gates as he gasped for air. One could say he just had a very long marathon.

He heard voices from behind him and and turned to find two people standing with expectations as if waiting for him to speak. One of them was of course the female captain, Ryukka Senji.

On seeing her along with her right hand man, he fell on one knee and bowed slightly to show respect to his superior.

"Captain Senji, the assailant has been spotted. And the lieutenant was stuck in battle with him, however..." He said raising his head. "The lieutenant's magic disappeared a while ago. I suspect he could be--"

"Where is Rahlen, Alen?" Ryukka cut him off.

"A village in the outskirts of Tasmania. It's a little distant from here--"

"Whom did you encounter there? And how long to get there?" She interrupted again.

"I don't know captain, and the least amount of time would be 2 hours. And..... his energy, was complete match with the that energy." He said that last part slowly.

Ryukka Stretched out her hand to help Alen get up. Then gave him two crystals - blue for transportation and white to replenish his energy.

"Replenish your stamina and report to his majesty." The she turned to the man by he side, "If I'm right, there are three possible places that man is going to head to."

"Get the men and head to them now. Those places are Arcadia, The Imperial Castle and The Magic Academy."

"But Arcadia is a myth." The man said.

"I'm afraid it is not and if he's going there first, may luck be with us. Because chaos is inevitable." She said turning away.

Arcadia was one of the most prosperous cities in the empire. It had abundance of magic, raw materials and one could say it was very blessed because most talent was acquired and realised there.

But tragedy befell it once at the beginning of the last war and all its beauty vanished without a trace.

Slowly, every trace of it was gone and it was reduced to nothing but a fleeting myth. But the emperor made sure to keep records of and about Arcadia in a secure and secret archives.

To the present, only few beings know about Arcadia. And Captain Senji knew almost all three was to know about it.

In a few moments, three groups were selected and standing in an orderly manner. Ryukka was in the lead, with a hand signal, they moved out promptly. And the squad behind her followed her.

Her squad was to head to the village of the incident, to where Ryuga Xicor is.

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