What They Have Done

Rain didn't know if it was a coincidence or fate toying with him.

A sheet of paper smacked him squarely on the face when he was walking back to the manor. To his shock and bewilderment, it was yet another entry from the same man whose diary he had read twice before. Curious about how the man's story continued, Rain read it while they were waiting for the last phase's preparations to be completed.

"A bumper harvest!

Well, not really. A couple of months ago, we were already shocked by the number of sprouts covering the fields. At first, we thought most would wilt in the end, just like in the past.

But! All of them survived!

It's been several months since the Solycis army conquered the territory. Even though we were drafted to fight, the enemy forces went through the land so fast that we were sent back before we were even trained. That was why we could tend to the fields before planting season ended.

Who would have known that Solycis would invade the same day they sent a declaration of war?

What a bunch of barbarians."

"That's it."

"Now that I think about it, when was the last time we saw a village with stone houses?"

"... Never?"

That village was developed enough that Rain mistook it for a small town… and that the "Village" part of "Telerne Village" was just a part of its name. It was strange. As far as Rain could tell, the country he came from didn't have such a place.

He dwelled on that idea for a second. Most villages don't even have walls. Some came close, but none really stood out.

"We're ready, you two."

Rex called out to them from inside a room. Rain and Snow had been idling in the hallway, cramped with every villager and refugee they had taken in. But though they were already wallowing in despair at what would happen, they still cowered, and some even shrieked in fear when they saw Rex.

It reminded him of the day before. The fact that her mere identity could strike terror into others was an impressive feat.

They entered the room, relieved that they could finally breathe easy again. Rex lingered on the door with a complicated expression before she shut it gently. She then gestured toward the center of the room where Stain stood while holding two coins.

"Where's Hornet?" Rain asked.

"Above the roof. She'll start when the shield's up."

What? "Above the roof?" That's a strange way to describe it.

After nodding to each other, all of them stood by the window while Stain worked on his magic. He once again used his sword to destroy the coins. The act was more complicated than it looked. Because Rain was close enough to hear it, he realized that the sound of breaking metal did not come from the coin but from his weapon.

"It's ruined…."

Despite only breaking two small coins, the blade of his sword looked like it had been through several wars with no maintenance. It had been ruined extensively, with cracks and chips throughout its surface. And when Stain pressed a switch on the handle, the blade fell onto the floor and shattered like glass.

"How–"

"Talk later. We need to move now."

He lowered his head and went silent. Rain and Snow looked back through the window. They saw the village's residential area, devoid of even a single soul. There were fields to their left and right and far beyond the walls, all ruined from the rustfall. The charred soil created a messy network of ashes and burnt remains around them, strikingly contrasting the unharmed houses that lined the streets.

And then, right when they heard Stain's rhythmic mutterings, the view started to dim. A dome of transparent black film flowed like ink from the sky to encompass the entire manor. Once it hit the ground, it spilled briefly around the point of contact as if to create a base.

"Wow…" Rain heard Snow mutter.

That was incredibly impressive. As far as Rain knew, protective magic by a proficient magician or priest could only protect up to several people at once or could be spread around an area far less than Stain was able to do. The ward against the cold Snow could cast was an example. She could only endow it to one person every time she cast it.

The barrier turned the day into night for everybody inside the manor. From the other side of the door, Rain heard the frightened shrieks from the villagers, who had no idea what was happening. Perhaps they thought somebody had stolen the sun. He probably would have joined them in their screams if he didn't know what would happen in the first place.

"By the way, where's the lord?" Rex asked.

"At the lobby, trying to calm the crowd."

"I see--"

"The barrier will muffle the sound to some extent. But Hornet's attack will still cause a lot of noise. Better to cover your ears."

Stain's announcement came out of nowhere. How he was able to finish such a massive spell in such a short amount of time was impressive by itself. But before Rain and Snow could react, the manor trembled violently. The screams from the other side of the door increased in intensity simultaneously. But what was interesting was that the quakes didn't seem to originate from the ground but rather from… above them.

"I said, cover your ears."

"What about the people outside?"

"Don't care. Do it now."

The moment Stain finished his sentence, the air abruptly started heating up. It only lasted for a moment until it returned to normal. However, right after that, the sight beyond the barrier changed. It gradually became brighter. Sensing that it was a sign, the two hurriedly followed Stain's instructions and covered their ears as well as they could while keeping their eyes locked on the window. Eventually, their view became similar to daytime.

The sky continued to brighten. Then, the sound of something tearing reached their ears. It started as a muffled noise but slowly became louder and louder until both of them felt their head throb from pain despite having covered their ears. Without any idea of what was happening above them, Rain and Snow could only rely on their imaginations. But it was when the barrier could no longer hold back the pure white that it finally happened.

In an instant, the light was sucked up by a radiant glow that continued to shine above their heads. Everything aside from what was above them became covered in darkness.

Rain felt Snow push herself onto his side.

The flash that followed started with the barrier's visual protection failing completely. Brighter than even the sun, two massive pillars of light engulfed their entire field of vision. It tore through the skies and into the horizon, razing everything in its path, and then it swept across the land in opposite directions to spread its destruction. The intensity was such that Rain, despite having trained himself to fight against a magician's trick like that, could only resist momentarily before having to stoop down to protect Snow and himself.

It was soon followed by the most horrendous explosion of noises that Rain had ever heard. The sound was like listening to a beast's cry through a broken wood instrument; as if the air itself was screaming in pain. It was strong enough to shatter the delicate glass of all the windows in the room and even caused the floor to crack and the walls to crumble.

The noise and lights continued for only a few seconds. But the shock? Over a minute, probably. By the time Rain recovered, Rex and Stain were already analyzing the results through a hole in the wall where the window used to be.

"Ruin." According to Stain, that was the name of Hornet's attack.

… Apparently, it was called a different name before, but Stain refused to tell him because it was "horribly inappropriate."

Still shaken by the ordeal, he slowly stood up with Snow buried in his chest and looked out the window. He already expected that Hornet had devastated the entire landscape, so he thought the sight wouldn't shock him much. It still did.

The first thing he saw was Stain's barrier. It had been shattered like glass. Large fractures snaked from the fissures on its surface onto the ground, where scorch marks could be seen from the small openings it created. Fortunately, the barrier seemed weightless, and as it was magical in nature, the fragments that fell off the dome harmlessly evaporated.

It still amazed him that such a wafer-thin film protected them from annihilation. Because if it couldn't, Rain shuddered to imagine what would become of them if they had to suffer through the same thing as all land around them…

"Damn…"

While he was speechless about the result, Snow could at least mutter her awe.

The land beyond the village walls had been reduced to an expanse of upturned soil several meters deep, following a winding pattern that swept across the landscape carelessly. The few boulders spared from being pulverized had melted into puddles of bright red molten rock scattered around the remains of what used to be grass and farmlands. With the black and gray smoke and the sun they hid serving as the background, it looked like a scene out of a myth.

Unfortunately, Telerne Village itself, outside of the barrier's effects, had also been severely affected merely because it was "along the way." The ramparts and the houses at the border had been pulverized thoroughly, while those nearer the manor had been razed to the ground, with their wooden effects having caught fire. There was not a single house or facility that had been spared from becoming a half-burnt ruin.

"That should do it," Stain muttered. His gaze fell on Rex, who had a complicated expression on her face. "I'll call Hornet. Someone should tell the lord that the threat's been dealt with."

The latter didn't respond. Rex simply maintained her downcast stare at the village ruins, smoking around them. Was she… feeling sorry for what had to be done? It couldn't be helped, right?

After not hearing her response, Stain sighed and gave up. He gestured toward Rain and Snow to tell them they should do it themselves. Since they didn't have a choice, they just nodded in acknowledgment.

Everything had been destroyed, but at least everybody made it out alive. That was more than enough.