Chapter 161: Cinders

Giliath demands your power stones!

*

As Naoto and his group quickly changed the direction of the battlefield from the Reinford's Building rooftop down to the side of its building by flinging Ace off the roof, somewhere an unknown amount of distance further into the skies to the west...

The darkness of the night sky spread throughout Zemuria as it was well into the skies. In the distance, the Reinford Building could be seen up in smoke in a couple of places, but by now, everyone was safely evacuated by the RMP and the reluctant Provincial Army. They moved quickly, and if Naoto had a look on his minimap, he could see a bunch of yellow dots now in the middle floors of the building, quickly securing their routes toward the top.

Ines stayed back with her protective shield, as Naoto gave her the sole mission of protecting Alisa while Sharon made the decision to bring the battlefield back down to the ground in the nearby forests with the vast Eisengard Mountains in the close vicinity. To the north was Sachsen Iron Mine, but Sharon brought Ace toward Roer's east in the large trees and shrubs. Further eastward here led to the mountains, and way further into the distance, the Nord Highlands.

To say the least, aside from the dense thickets of trees right outside of Roer, most of this area was the wilderness, mostly rampant with monsters. The only sign of life here was the sole train line that allowed passengers to travel all the way to Nord.

It was a great place to conclude this battle, and Sharon was quick-witted to make such a decision. Yet as they could be seen flying down at a fast pace on the side of the building with Ace racking up damage count after damage count, further westward in the night skies, if one had a close look, one or two figures could actually be seen floating in the air. One seemed to be a man while the other appeared to be a small girl of sorts.

There weren't any aircrafts or the like assisting these figures floating in the air. They were using their own abilities to fly. Not many people could actively fly in Zemuria, so seeing the two here up in the air like this alone proved how powerful these two figures were. They could be seen observing the ongoing battle that just happened on the rooftop further in the distance. They kept a certain distance away though. The smaller girl smiled seeing the battle continue its descent beyond Roer.

"See? I told you he didn't require help. This is proving to be a good trial for him to overcome.", The smaller girl said, only to see Naoto and Ennea pierce Ace with two arrows as he got flung off the building. More blood sprayed in the process, but the two figures in the air acted nonchalant to the sight of more blood being drawn. It didn't take long for them to join Sharon and Ace, leaving behind Ines on the rooftop.

"Yeah, yeah. That insight of yours is quite scary.", The man said beside him, only to let out a yawn, acting a bit tired seeing that this matter seemed to be wrapping up quite well without the need of this man's assistance.

"Well, I was looking to repay my favor, but this should at least be a good alternative, right?", The man said, only to turn around with the Reinford Building now facing his back. As he did, the smaller girl also turned around.

It was at this time they heard a third voice yell out to them in anger who wasn't theirs.

"You insolent curs! I demand you release me from this infernal prison!", A third voice yelled in anger. The man and the small girl only looked at him with pity in their eyes. A dense blue fiery cage of sorts could be seen in front of them now. The heat this cage was releasing was intense, but it seemed the smaller girl didn't even bat an eye to hearing this person yell that out while being side of this fiery blue cage.

Upon a closer look, this man was wearing dark colored trousers and a long shirt. A tattered robe could be seen over his body, with a very large upturned collar. Areas like his wrists and ankles were covered and flashy golden armor. A purple orb could be seen in his left hand while a pure golden staff could be seen in his right, yet no matter how much the person struggled to activate the powers of what he was equipped with, the blue fiery prison cage still locked him in. The man seemed unfazed seeing the person's struggles inside the cage.

"You sure do like to yell a lot. Can it, will you?", The man said with a bit of a deadpan look.

"Hmph, do I need to tell you what I can or can't do? I solely exist to rule over all of you puny insects. Now release me at once!", The figure said, still annoyed.

"Your role has ended since you were able to bring Swin and Nadia together in that place. Still, even I'm surprised to see that your flames are able to prevent the powers of Artifacts. No more space-bending for you.", The smaller girl said, revealing a playful grin.

"All thanks to His Highness no less. I am not sure how powerful my flames have gotten, but they do seem to prevent at least some Artifacts at least, but probably not like the ones on your level yet, kiddo.", The man said, looking down at the girl beside him, who sported very wavy and long green hair.

"True. Still, I can't help but pity this guy a bit. In the grand picture of things, you now have absolutely zero value considering that Swin and Nadia are in the Factory now.", The green haired girl said, even going as far as to frown a bit.

"Y-You dare say that I am of little importance!? I am the Emperor!", The third figure said, still yelling inside of the fiery cage.

"Geez, the Oathbreaker really picked poorly on the way he runs things in the Garden, didn't he?", The man retorted as he was still unfazed.

"You can say that again. It's not like the Garden is solely managed by the Oathbreaker though, seeing as it's mostly autonomous. You just stretched your boundaries a little too much, foolish Emperor.", The small girl said, shaking her head a bit.

"If it weren't for this blasted cage, I would have imploded both of your bodies into tiny particles of dust by now.", The figure said, who the small girl called the Emperor, retorted.

"Oh really? Maybe I ought to spell it out for you, seeing that you haven't come to terms with your reality yet.", The small girl said, revealing a playful grin. "But how did that saying go again?", The small girl continued to ask, tilting her head a bit.

"What saying are you trying to think of, kiddo?", The man said, looking down at the green haired girl with a look of interest in his eyes. If one looked closely, this man sported very flashy hair, mostly of blue and red tones, very similar to flames itself. It was quite long and unruly as well.

"Oh right. It's off with your head!", The green haired girl said, clapping her hands a bit. Yet, apart from appearing happy, the Emperor's gaze turned serious right after the small girl said that to him.

"You wouldn't dare to lob my head off.", The Emperor said, turning his eyes serious. He reached out with his hand, temporarily forgetting that the cage he was made of was made out of pure blue flames. The moment the Emperor reached out to grab the cage, he felt a really intense burn streak across his entire hand. It only took a second to realize that his hand was burnt to a crisp.

"Ahhh!", The Emperor immediately yelled out in pain, the flames continued to remain on his hand as he felt it start to go numb from the intense pain. He quickly pulled his hand back, trying to shake the flames off that would not vanish.

"The kiddo wasn't asking, buddy. My flames are quite hard to extinguish. They won't stop until they've quenched their thirst.", The man said, revealing a grin himself, causing the Emperor to blink at him. No matter how hard the Emperor tried to shake the blue flames off, it wouldn't go away, causing his eyes to turn wide in surprise.

"Hmph, any one person can replace you back at the Factory. This is your own grave you dug. You know we don't operate out here in Erebonia.", A fourth voice suddenly said before a shadowy cloud appeared before the three. He wore some white trousers with a plum shirt, but aside from his unkempt hair, he was actually holding a lit cigar in his mouth. It wasn't just that either, he wore a rather flamboyant long blue coat over his body.

"It's you...", The Emperor tried to utter, only to see the blue flames start stretching toward his arm. These flames were far from being extinguished.

"So you did decide to come, Oathbreaker.", The small green haired girl said revealing a smile seeing the Oathbreaker arrive in the air beside them.

"Just to see the end of it.", The Oathbreaker said, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

"Is that so? Well I was thinking of having him play with Naoto, but after having a bigger look at things myself, this Emperor's life truly has little meaning. The lives that are being impacted by his actions are already set in stone. It doesn't matter if he decides to save Ace or not.", The green haired girl said, explaining the situation a bit.

"Stop saying my life has little meaning you insolent curs!", The Emperor yelled out, disregarding that a portion of his arm was now up in flames. Seeing him yell that out, the blue-red haired man could only twist his ear a bit with his finger. As he did that, the green haired girl turned toward the Oathbreaker.

"So what do you want to do with him? He did mention implosion, but McBurn here already set off his flames. It's only a matter of time until the Emperor reaches his last strand of life.", The green haired girl said, ignoring the Emperor as she spoke to the Oathbreaker.

"It don't matter to me. Still, you mentioned that His Highness only treads along this singular line of causality?", The Oathbreaker said, only to completely disregard the Emperor's fading life at hand.

Hearing that, the green haired smiled, only to turn back toward the city of Roer, and saw that the figures over on the rooftop were now gone, minus several figures from the RMP who could now be seen on the rooftop, trying to secure the area. The green haired girl could already see an icy blue haired woman next to Ines and an unconscious Alisa. He had her signature orbal pistol currently drawn, having her subordinates check the surroundings to ensure no harm was done.

"It's pretty astounding, isn't it? It only makes me more curious to see where all of this leads to.", The green haired girl answered as she continued to smile, only to turn back toward the two. Her eyes then moved down a bit, and saw the Emperor's body was now covered more than half in flames now. "Still, you serve no use no matter who is involved now. Maybe you need a better selection process, Oathbreaker.", The green haired girl said.

"Haha, duly noted, Lady KeA.", The Oathbreaker answered, but he didn't seem to mind the green haired girl's remark. He only took out a big puff of his cigar.

"This won't be the last that you've heard of me, damn it! I don't care if you are related to Master, I'll send you all to the pits of Gehenna--!?", The Emperor cursed out, only to see the rest of his body burst out into blue flames. It didn't take long for McBurn to finish killing him off, only to have the Monarch's Regalia Artifact slowly fall down onto the bottom of the cage as the Emperor's body turned into a crisp...