Chapter 237: Warp

Thank you to my beta reader and editor, GlassThreads!

Arthur Leywin

I opened my eyes slowly. The passing clouds were less than a blur, but as the white wisps streaked past, I couldn't help but see darkness pulled from my past. The gray murk of a roiling storm overlaid my vision whenever I closed my eyes.

I was on my back in an endless expanse of sky, the great black bulk of my bond a comforting warmth beneath me. Sylvie's scales glinted darkly as her long tail trailed behind us.

I didn't know when I'd fallen asleep, but I wished I hadn't. I lay limply, one of my arms hanging weakly off the side of Sylvie's neck. My azure pupils watched the moving clouds as Sylvie beat her powerful wings.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sylvie pressed over our telepathic link, my soul-bound dragon doing her best to provide some measure of support as we traversed the skies over Sapin.

I was silent for a moment, feeling the wind as it brushed past my cheek. The sun as it provided warmth.

No, I finally thought back. No. Not right now.

This last memory was particularly bad. Not in the way many of my memories of Nico and Cecilia were, but because that was where the changes that had already accumulated in my life reached a point of no return. Where the world itself began to bleed because of my pain.

It didn't take long for the figurehead position of King I'd won to become a monarchy in truth. After the war began, it wasn't difficult to force the oligarchy of the Council to become a dictatorship with me at the head. The title of King was no longer an empty, ceremonial thing meant to be thrown at enemies like upjumped gladiators.

No, I became something more. Something worse.

Because Holden Drutha was right. Millions died because of my warmongering–both directly and indirectly. I allowed nothing to stand in my way as I cut a bloody swath through Trayden and any others who stood in my path, all to wreak my vengeance. And as the other regional powers tried to band together to stomp out the burning flame of Etharia, they simply became more broken matchsticks.

"What makes you think you deserve this happiness?" that phantom image of Grey asked me again, half-remembered from a lucid dream so long ago. "After what you've done?"

Indeed, that was the question, wasn't it? I had my second chance. My opportunity to truly have a life worth living.

But could I honestly say that I deserved this chance? How many innocents paid the price of my pain? How many of them were denied a second life?

"Arthur," Sylvie said aloud, audible even over the wind as she interrupted the downward spiral of my thoughts, "you didn't tell me how your conversation with Reynolds and Alice went after I left with Ellie. What did they say? I know it was over long-distance communication scrolls, but still."

I exhaled, sensing my bond's intentions with this question. To distract me from the gnawing pit of Grey.

I took the lifeline gratefully.

"They're doing well," I said, shifting so I was in a normal position as I straddled my dragon's thick neck. I narrowed my eyes against the wind as I stared into the distance. "Dad was happy as ever, and excited to be of use. The troops in Blackbend are in desperate need of good fighters like him, and Mom is constantly healing people." I shifted uncomfortably, remembering the last time I'd seen my parents and the fight we'd had.

I hadn't wanted them to participate in this war. I knew what war did to people, the toll it wrought on all involved. And that sense had increased even more as Agrona's threat replayed in my mind.

But thoughts of my family made me reminisce on other things. Sylvie had been the most surprised of us all to suddenly have the body of a teenage girl, and I'd bet she was more surprised than most teenage girls were, too. Ellie had leapt at the opportunity to help my bond adjust to her new bipedal form.

And afterward, we'd worked together to flesh out her new abilities.

She was powerful. Great beyond measure. With all the despair that clouded much of my lives, the development of my bond's new strength gave me a feeling of hope despite the threats that faced us. With the emergence of her latent basilisk heritage as it mixed with the draconian, there were very few things she could not triumph over.

My hands clenched around one of Sylvie's dark spines. While her abilities had progressed, mine…

"Just… feel the wind, Arthur," Sylvie asked pleadingly over our mental tether. "Please. You've been locked up in that flying castle far too long. Let yourself feel some happy thoughts for a time. You deserve it."

A mirthful smile stretched over my face as Sylvie twisted in the air, banking slightly to the side. We'd been tasked with patrolling the northern countryside of Sapin for signs of the Alacryans, but Sylvie was more happy to get me out of the claustrophobic castle.

Thank you, Sylv, I thought back. I'm sorry I'm such a downer nowadays. It's just hard sometimes, with the war. Hard not to think of all I have. And all I stand to lose.

"I know," Sylvie replied with understanding. "But you can't lose yourself to it. We're all here for you when you need it, you know that?"

My eyes wandered the sky as I allowed myself to relax slightly. Sylvie was right. I had people I wanted to protect in this life, but I also needed to protect myself. Grey was right in one thing: a dull sword had no use. I couldn't let myself become overwhelmed, lest I lose focus of my goals.

Sapin's northern countryside was a vast expanse of forests and hills. Far to the east, I could just make out the peaks of the Grand Mountains, and we'd flown by Ekshire City a couple hours ago.

I allowed my thoughts to wander for a while as we flew, just taking in the air. It was something I desperately needed, just time to myself. Time to relax and–

My eyes squinted as they caught something in the distance. A thin, gray line rose into the sky many miles away, but it was a stark contrast against the expansive blue of the atmosphere.

"Sylvie," I said, directing her attention over my mental link, "do you see that?"

My bond's sinuous neck twisted as she noticed what I did. As she inspected that gray line with increasing worry, I funneled mana toward my eyes.

The energy moved with exceptional speed, far faster than I ever thought possible. My body–enhanced and strengthened by the acclorite that had bonded my very cells–facilitated the mana like the greatest conductor.

And I could see. As my eyesight was sharpened a hundredfold by this simple application of mana, I felt my hands clench around Sylvie's neck as my suspicions were confirmed.

"That's smoke over there, Sylv!" I yelled, tensing as my bright white Lance uniform whipped in the wind. "We need to move!"

My bond's thoughts immediately shifted to those of concentration and understanding as I sent what I saw over our link. She beat her powerful black wings, denying gravity, before we rocketed forward.

With a twist of effort, I called on the wind mana all around us. I stripped the air resistance from my bond with a touch of formless casting, and we accelerated even more as we surged toward the pillar of smoke.

As we approached at record pace, I could smell it. The acrid stench of burning wood and widespread fire was unnaturally stark in my nose. But more than that, I could smell the coppery tinge of freshly spilled blood as it wafted through the skies.

As we got closer, it was clear what we were seeing. A large town was on fire, many of their houses going up like tinderboxes as they belched black smoke into the sky. Far below, nondescript dots I knew were people ran about like ants.

Because they were being hunted. My eyes widened in surprise and horror as I recognized the mana signatures of dozens of mana beasts as they prowled through the streets, tearing and ripping at every dot they could. It was a scene of chaos and destruction I'd rarely witnessed.

Adrenaline flowed through my veins as I recognized the crisis before me. "Sylvie, surge down! We're going to kill every mana beast here!" I yelled.

Without a beat of hesitation, my bond followed my instructions. Her wings–each several stories long–tucked toward her sides as she made herself more streamlined. She dove, dark fire roiling around her massive fangs as her amber eyes squinted in concentration.

The wind whipped past as we flew downward at absurd speed. The closer we got to the ransacked town, the more I could make out of what was happening. My blood boiled as mana flowed across my limbs, my heart pumping as I watched a large creature bounding toward a fleeing family.

Five hundred feet. Four hundred feet.

All around the ambient mana twisted and churned with sorrow and rage. Motes of fire mana burned themselves into my retinas as they attacked these innocent people.

Three hundred feet.

That mana beast—one I thought I recognized, with its dark fur and shadow-coated claws—strode toward the fleeing woman and her children without fear as they wept and cried. The stench of smoke and blood tore at my nostrils.

Sylvie snarled in anger, the deep rumble reverberating through her bulk like an earthquake. A shadow was cast over the town as we approached like a dark comet. I held out my hand to the side, calling on Dawn's Ballad. In a burst of purple particles, it appeared in my hand.

Two hundred feet.

I maneuvered myself to Sylvie's side, internally creating a plan of action with her even as my laser-focused intent locked on what I recognized was a shadow panther as it hunted an innocent family. My legs tensed as mana built along my limbs, my body a bowstring as I calculated the exact trajectory and burst of power needed for my planned maneuver.

One hundred feet.

People were staring up at us now in fear and horror even as they were torn at by mana beasts and their homes were burnt to a crisp. We blotted out the sun as we approached like an angry tide.

I engaged Burst Step, mana firing across my calves and thighs in precise bursts just in time. Simultaneously, I commanded the wind mana around me to warp, removing any and all air resistance in my path. The green particles swerved and parted around me as I demanded their subservience.

The world blurred, and my blade sung.

I phased into existence just past the family, Dawn's Ballad flashing as I carved a furrow into the dirt with my simple shoes.

Behind me, the shadow panther that had been about to leap toward the cornered family came apart in a spray of blood as I cleanly severed its head. I spared their shocked and terrified expressions little attention as the mana beast died, already looking for my next target.

A twist of earth magic halted my forward momentum, and I immediately focused on another beast as it leapt out of a window. It looked like a mix between a rat and a porcupine as its dark fur rejected the sunlight, smoke trailing in its wake.

I barely spared it a glance as I summoned shards of ice the size of my arm around me. I allowed them to fly with a surge of accelerating wind magic as the beast leapt for me with unnatural silence.

The ice punched through the creature with ease, causing it to erupt in a spray of blood as it fell in meaty chunks to the ground. The large icicles I'd conjured impacted the burning building in front of me, sticking into the weakened wood.

I turned around, flicking Dawn's Ballad free of blood. I scanned the town, noting the many mana signatures of mana beasts and bloodlust that permeated the air like a stench.

Making a split-second decision, I slammed my foot into the ground, calling on my core. Earth erupted around me as the yellow mana bent to my command, a large walled box gradually forming as I twisted the ambient energy.

I exhaled slightly when I was done, barely feeling the strain. The mana itself leapt at my command, the power of a white-core mage indomitable and undeniable.

My eyes flicked toward the woman I'd just saved. Her two children clung to her dress, each staring with wide eyes at the dead AA-class mana beast I'd slain. Their mother, however, focused on me with tears in her eyes.

"Lance Godspell," she whispered gratefully. "We're saved, we're–"

"You have no time," I interrupted the woman sharply, but not unkindly. "I need you to hide inside that box, alright? I'm going to send people here in waves. You'll be safe."

I didn't give the woman a chance to reply before I surged past her, already honing in on the nearest mana beast as it tried to kill another man.

Sylv, I thought to my dragon above as she breathed dark fire down on the mana beasts around the outskirts, shadow-tinged particles of mana flowing all through her spell, I need you to guard these people. I'll handle all the mana beasts in the town. Make sure they aren't assaulted as they hide. Heal any that you can, and try and organize them.

The massive dragon wheeled in the sky as she swerved back toward my location. "Understood, Arthur," she responded mentally. "Be careful. There's something horribly wrong with these mana beasts."

I know, I responded with gritted teeth as I easily bisected a charging skitter, noting how it ignored the difference in power between us. They don't care for their lives, and they seem unnaturally focused on killing anyone they can. Like they're drones.

My eyes roamed over the corpse of the skitter at my feet. Normally, the draft animals bore greenish coloring, but for some reason, these were of a more smokey tinge.

The realization came to me far too late. Corrupted beasts. In the middle of Sapin.

A cry of fear ripped my attention from the dead skitter, my attention focusing on the cries of terror and blood a few streets away. I snarled, feeling far too slow, before I shot into the sky.

I took in the state of the town in a single instant, noting as best I could where the people were fleeing. Despite being faster than ever before, I felt slow as I noticed a dozen different attacks happening at once. There were precious few mages actually fighting, and I wondered how many had already been slain.

Too weak, I chastised myself, my bloodlust swelling as my eyes honed in on a pack of corrupted thunder wolves. These, at least, displayed a predator's intelligence as they herded a large group of villagers toward a dead-end of burning buildings.

It only took me an instant to decide. Save this large group, or save the dozen or so others that were being attacked as we spoke.

I shot downward, Dawn's Ballad flashing purple as it hummed in my hand. I could swear the sword itself led me forward as I appeared between the thunder wolves and the helpless non-mages.

Where before most of the mana beasts threw themselves at me with reckless abandon, uncaring for their lives or even thinking of their wellbeing, the electrically charged wolf pack actually halted as I pinned them with my stare.

Behind me, the people cried out in relief as a savior blocked the approach of their doom. Those stares weighed heavily on my shoulders as I flourished Dawn's Ballad, my long auburn hair settling. "Come on, beasts," I taunted. "Pick on someone who can actually fight back."

The wolves, covered in dark lightning that electrified their metallic fur, fanned out in an attempt to surround me. Maybe I would have allowed that normally, but I had people to protect. A town to save.

I stomped my foot, watching as the yellow particles of rolling earth mana obeyed my command. A crevice opened beneath one of the thunder wolves as it tried to prowl around me. It actually managed to escape in time, jumping backward, but that didn't save it from the spear of ice that pinned it to the ground.

The battle began, but it was barely a fight. With my body enhanced by the acclorite in my blood and the hum of Dawn's Ballad as it demanded the death of the foes that would dare threaten the people, what might have been a fun challenge became a ritualistic slaughter.

I conjured a gale of wind that blew two of the thunderwolves into each other, causing them to go down in a pile of tangled limbs and irritated snarls. Not wasting a single breath, I funneled fire and wind mana along Dawn's Ballad, before swiping the sword.

A torrent of wind and flame ripped the beasts apart, but my attention was already shifting. I caught the throat of one of the larger wolves, my eyes narrowing in disgust as it tried to snap at me with electrified jaws. Lightning skittered across the mana shrouding my skin, but it failed to even dent my protections. I held the mana beast aloft with a single hand, several hundred pounds not even worth a mention as my fingers closed around its metallic fur.

I whirled, throwing the lupine mana beast toward one of its companions as it tried to leap on me in much the same way. The creature whimpered in pain. Before they could collide, I called on my mana, channeling electricity along my veins and through my sword.

With a clap of thunder, a bolt of yellow lightning shot from the point of Dawn's Ballad, the beam of surging power piercing both wolves and utterly ignoring their electric and metallic defenses. I stepped to the side as their corpses hit the ground with a wet squelch.

I could hear the gasps of relief and awe in the group behind me, but I paid it no mind as my eyes flicked toward the final thunder wolf. The largest of them all, no doubt the alpha.

I took a step forward. It took a step back cautiously, its hackles raised as it snarled.

I felt the urge to snarl back, but I kept my face an impassive mask as I slowly loped forward, ready to finish this.

And as I finally neared, it leapt forward, its teeth frothing. I sidestepped, then rammed Dawn's Ballad through its chest. Dark blood erupted from the other side, but I was surprised as the mana beast twisted, trying to bite at my fingers with steel-glinted jaws.

Frowning, I released my weapon, allowing it to remain inside the mana beast. I easily avoided the snap of the thing's jaws, lightning skittering harmlessly across my mana barrier, before my hands wrapped around its muzzle. The lupine beast's eyes widened in surprise, and I thought I could see a bit of lucidity there for the first time as it realized what was about to happen.

And then my fists clenched with the force to crush boulders.

Teeth flew everywhere as the alpha thunder wolf screamed in pain, its muzzle broken into thin paste. A simple flex of fire mana engulfed it in a torrent of orange flames that burned hot enough to melt steel.

I watched impassively as the creature's whimpers went out, the world silent for a moment. Then I grasped Dawn's Ballad by its matte-black hilt, preparing to rip it from the corpse.

And I sensed it. Something I'd missed in my utter focus on the last thunder wolf. My eyes widened as I engaged Thunderclap Impulse on instinct, the flare of mana and killing intent making panic surge through my veins.

The world around me slowed further as electricity ran along my nerves, heightening my reflexes and enhancing my perception far beyond what was possible before. I turned in what felt like slow motion as I stared at the back of the group I'd been trying to protect.

Something was emerging from one of the burning buildings, moving at a crawl even with Thunderclap Impulse engaged. But that meant it was absurdly fast.

My eyes traced over the quick-moving mana beast as it closed in on those I was trying to protect, long claws outstretched as a feline face snarled with contempt and fury. A dozen plans ran through my head as I tried to find a way to kill it before it could tear everyone apart.

I couldn't use Burst Step, lest I risk tearing everyone between me and the beast apart as well. And any mana I used could turn those people to less than a crisp.

My enhanced eyes locked on a single young girl, barely a teenager. Her nut-brown eyes were wide in awe and adoration, her mouth open with relief as she watched me. She trusted me. Her body was caked in mud and blood, but she still stood.

She looked so, so much like Ellie, even as the feline mana beast's claws reached for the back of her neck with a horrid glint.

No, I thought, my perceptions burning. No. You will not have her.

The ambient aether around me–particles of formless purple that cared not for the pain of lessers–stuttered as my hands cinched tight around Dawn's Ballad. I felt a strange warmth across my blood as my resolve ironed into a demand.

I commanded the World itself. And the World bowed.

I stepped forward, and I was somewhere else. With an exhale, I swung Dawn's Ballad–which glowed purple in my hands–across the mana beast's arms.

Time resumed once more as blood sprayed from the severed stumps of the wind-quick mana beast's arms, which I now recognized was a razor grimalkin. Its clawed hands fell to the ground with thunks as the people behind me surged away in renewed surprise and fear.

The S-class mana beast, known for its absurd speed that would appear as a blur to most mages, yowled in pain and fury. I didn't let it make another sound.

I reared up a foot as it tried to move, but it was slow. I called my mana to me, imbuing my foot with a shell of earth, before I kicked the mana beast in its chest, cratering its ribcage with the force behind it. The oversized cat shot backward with a crackling boom, splintering the already weakened wood of the burning building as it flew through the smoke.

I turned back to the group I'd just barely saved from the thresher, my eyes softening as they focused on the young girl once more. "There's a shelter for you at the center of the town," I said solemnly. "Go."

A few people opened their mouths to speak, but I ignored them. I hefted Dawn's Ballad, feeling that strange warmth once more. So similar to my bond with Sylvie. I could almost feel her thoughts as well as I watched the ambient aether around me.

Take me, I enforced, my palms slick with sweat, to my foe.

The space before me bent, and I stepped forward once more. My perspective shifted as the world flashed by, my body aching slightly from the use of this aether art that I didn't yet understand.

The razor grimalkin struggled to get itself back to its feet, electricity arcing along its nerves and synapses from where I'd cratered its chest. The stumps of its arms bled corrupted blood as it yowled in pain. Ignoring the fatigue I felt from my strange new power, I marched forward with gritted teeth.

I didn't even spare the S-class beast a second glance. Dawn's Ballad relieved it of its head, parting flesh and mana-enhanced bone with ease. I watched the corpse as it toppled backward.

Thank you, I thought to the sword in my hand, though I didn't know why.

I could swear it hummed in response.

For the next half hour, I worked my way methodically through the large town, exterminating beast after beast. Most were far weaker than the S-class razor grimalkin I'd slain–in fact, the majority were simple D- and E-class. A threat to normal people, certainly, but barely a footnote to a Lance.

Through it all, my head was awhirl with thoughts and worries. Why was this town attacked? What happened here? And how did these mana beasts get here?

I clenched my hands as I slowly marched back toward the center of the town, where I knew Sylvie waited for me.

The first thing I noticed was the utter swath of destruction around the central bunker I'd created to protect the citizens of the town. Internally, I reaffirmed my decision to ask Sylvie to protect these people.

The powers she had awakened after breaking through the seal her mother had placed on her were dark and inordinately powerful, but they were indiscriminate. My eyes lingered on the dark-stained ground where an entire house used to be.

She didn't yet have the control she desired, but my bond and I both had places we needed to improve.

Sylvie herself was in her human form, appearing like a girl in her late teens as she moved among the citizens. I watched as aether traveled across her fingertips and body as she worked to heal everyone that was injured the best she could, her dark dress flaring in the wind. Twin horns jutted down from the sides of her head.

My bond turned as I approached, her choppy, wheat-blonde hair waving as she stared at me with sorrowful intensity. Though many of the townsfolk cheered at my name–calling for Lance Godspell and praising the Council–too many simply wept or stared at the ash of their homes with broken stares.

I plastered a reassuring smile on my face as I greeted a few of the survivors, doing what I could to ease their pains and ensure that they were seen to.

I extracted myself from a grateful woman who hugged me with tears in her eyes, giving her a reassuring nod and a helpful pat. These people had lost so, so much, and we didn't even know why.

I locked eyes with Sylvie, then started to lift into the sky. She followed after, her gaze focused as we brushed close, our minds conveying silent support and surety. I stared down at the burning town from far above, feeling a clench in my gut as smoke wafted into the sky. Beside me, Sylvie's amber gaze was equally mournful as she took in the devastation.

"I spoke with the townsfolk," Sylvie said solemnly, her eyes lingering on the people we'd saved. There were almost as many corpses strewn through the streets as there were survivors. "The attack hadn't been going on for long when we arrived. But the horde came from the south, Arthur, all as one unit."

I nodded slowly. I could see the lingering traces of the monsters' passing in the ambient mana. I could almost feel the unerringly straight path the corrupted mana beasts took as they arrived at this town.

We needed to investigate. Needed to ensure that whatever the Alacryans had done to bring these beasts here wasn't happening elsewhere.

A new Scythe arrives on Darv's shores, I thought angrily, recalling the recent intel, and suddenly, civilians are attacked. There's nothing to be gained by murdering these people. They aren't mages, aren't part of our warforce. These villages aren't even important resource centers for our supply lines.

Nothing to be gained except fear. Was that what Agrona meant when he said blood would flow? That he would target the common civilians of Dicathen?

I ground my teeth as Sylvie placed a comforting palm on my shoulder. My eyes smoldered as I stared down at the fires. If Agrona wanted to instill terror, I wouldn't let him.

I called on my mana, feeling the warmth as it traveled at absurd speeds toward Dawn's Ballad. The sword hummed in my grip as it glowed with blue and green light, gradually shining brighter and brighter.

I felt the strain on my mind as I stared out at the roving particles of water and wind mana lingering in the atmosphere. I could see how they dipped and weaved together through the late afternoon sun in their uncaring way.

My teeth ground audibly as I leveraged my will. The world began to warp as the mana streamed toward me in visible waves, Dawn's Ballad shining ever brighter.

The people far below looked up in surprise and awe as clouds began to form out of nowhere. The victims of this horrible massacre shuddered and cried out in alarm as I swung my soul-bound blade in an arc around me like the conductor of an orchestra. In the world's greatest play, the winds began to twist and surge under my command as the clouds I'd been summoning darkened.

And I imposed my command. Dawn's Ballad flashed as it hummed with purple light, now the scepter of a monarch. Sylvie gasped at my side, both of us able to feel as I was pulled from our connection. Like a man drank from the purest river, I could sense as my call reverberated through steel and into the world, using our bond as an anchoring point.

The aether in the air twisted slightly, much in the same way as an interested child, before it gravitated toward the growing stormcloud above me. Little flashes of purple darkened the effervescent gray as the purple energy danced leisurely with the blues and greens of wind and water mana.

I felt the fatigue that had been building over the past half hour redouble as I fought the urge to slump, that simple action draining me of energy. My brilliant white core ached from the act, but the violet-brushed clouds that covered the vast expanse of the burning city rumbled as mana particles smashed together.

But I would not allow myself to appear even the slightest bit weak. Not now. "Dicathians!" I boomed, my voice reverberating with thunder overhead. "Hear my call!"

The people looked up with fear and awe wrought across their gazes as my burning azure eyes glinted against the storm I'd conjured. Sylvie's hand was warm and comforting on my back as she stared down from my side.

"The Alacryans have orchestrated this!" my voice echoed, my hands clenched around the matte-black handle of Dawn's Ballad. "They wish to hurt you. To cast you into despair. But I will not let them."

I didn't have a connection to Dicathen like all these people did. I did not innately care for this continent as everyone else, simply because I had the outside experience of two separate lives. I fought for my family to live a better life, one of joy and fulfillment. So they might have the life I never had on Earth.

But Agrona? Agrona had taken that dream from so many of these poor souls. I could not promise them that it would be better, but I could promise that I would do all in my power to ensure that justice would be done. King Grey's haunting promise echoed through my mind–the last words he said to Holden Drutha.

"All crimes will be answered soon."

Dawn's Ballad glinted in a light none could see, before I brought it down, a grim executioner's axe.

And rain, tinted purple by aether, began to fall. It fell in a cool cascade as it brushed against the burning buildings, dousing the fire in a refreshing spring kiss. Water streamed off my Lance uniform as I watched my conjured raincloud wash away the burning fires.

It might wash away the stench of blood. It might smother the flames. But the scars these people bore would last for many years to come.