W

C445 - Same Feeling

Leonel was instantly at a loss.

If he continued saving those buried beneath the rubble, many of whom were unconscious, he would be allowing this attack to continue on smoothly. But, if he moved to stop them now, it was very likely that many of those he could save would die.

'Dammit!' Leonel roared in his mind.

"Leonel."

"Huh?" Leonel snapped out of his own thoughts.

"Just point out where they are to me and I'll dig them out. I can't battle in the skies like you can."

Leonel opened his mouth to reply but wasn't exactly sure what to say.

It would definitely be more efficient for them to be saved by him. He could use his Earth Elemental affinity to simply carry them out. But, Aina would have to physically dig them out.

"Just leave it to me." Aina insisted. "More people will die than those buried down if they're allowed to go."

Leonel's hesitation was broken when he heard these words. She was right. If they managed to make it to one of the Baronies, hundreds would die.

"I…"

Aina pushed off, breaking out of Leonel's embrace and landing on the ground.

"They can't see me on the ground through all the dirt clouds. Stop worrying about me."

Leonel blinked and nodded.

"The first is 57 meters in that direction and 13 meters underground."

With that, Leonel shot into the skies.

…

The formation of predatory birds soared through the skies in perfect formation. They were split into groups of eleven. Each group of eleven was split into three groups.

The first group formed the outer structure of the formation. At the helm, there was one bird and following its wings there were three birds to each side for a total of seven forming this outer structure.

This first group formed an inverted 'V' structure.

The second group was likewise in a 'V' structure, but they were tucked within the larger outer structure. This inner structure was formed of smaller, swifter birds and there were just three of them.

The final 'group' was actually just a single bird. This bird protected the commander to the back of this double inverted 'V' structure.

In the end, from afar, it looked as though numerous triangular formations were flying through the air. They looked no different from jets shooting through the skies, all of them exuding a Fourth Dimensional aura.

This sort of formation should have been far beyond Leonel's means to deal with. The only reason Aina didn't stop him wasn't because she wasn't worried, but rather because she knew that trying to stop Leonel would have been useless. He was simply too fond of doing stupid things to save people he didn't even know, let alone the fact he was now doing so to protect those he thought of as his friends.

In Leonel's mind, Mordred was now a close friend of his. If Camelot fell, it would be Mordred's family that suffered the most. How could he allow such a thing to happen?

At the center of these numerous smaller formations, a man wearing black robes accented by white flexible armor stood atop a predator bird of his own. Unlike the others, he was the only one on the back of this bird.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his hair shaved down until only the smallest bristles remained.

The rushing winds whipped against his face, but it was as though his skin was tightly stapled to his skeleton. His stern expression never distorted, nor did his eyes ever blink.

He was one of City Lord White's White Knights, Khaled Diore.

…

Leonel stood in the skies, a simple [Light Refraction] array centered around him. The more he observed the coming tide of predatory birds, the more he realized he didn't stand a chance.

Even ignoring the warriors and assault weapons on their backs, just the beasts alone were beyond anything Leonel had ever seen before.

They had beaks that glistened like the blades of a polished spear. Their black feathers caused the light of the setting sun to rebound as though they were metal plates. Their eyes were a bright shade of crimson that exuded a bloodthirsty light as though all they knew was slaughter.

As though this wasn't enough, Leonel felt that the large crossbows fitted to their backs contained much more power than 23rd century canons. By his estimations, they were weaker than 25th century technology, but marginally stronger than 24th. And, unlike Earth's technology, they weren't negatively influenced by Force in the slightest.

None of this even began to touch upon the humans that managed to command these beasts and control these machines. Leonel was simply in over his head.

He was still within the Third Dimension and he was just a single person facing almost 500. Any smart person would turn tail and run.

Leonel took several deep breaths, trying to calm his beating heart.

For a moment, he closed off his senses. He heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing.

Earth was probably in chaos at this moment. Leonel could almost feel it.

Everyone's lives had already been turned upside down once, but here it was again.

But, he was lucky. He had talent. If he wanted to and had the time, he could gain the strength to protect himself, but not everyone could claim this.

Did Leonel feel some sort of responsibility because of this?

He would be lying if he said no. But, somewhere inside, he felt it was more than this.

It was the same feeling he got on the football field, the same feeling he felt when he sat down at an exam, the same feeling he had when he stepped onto his first battlefield.

Leonel opened his eyes, a mad grin spreading across his face as his irises flickered a wild violet-red.

Leonel flipped his palm, causing a familiar black rhino's horn to appear.

He brought it slowly to his lips, his blood boiling and his skin flushing crimson as bronze runes danced across it.

'That's a nice formation you have there, would be a shame if someone ruined it.'

These birds might seem mighty and menacing, but these were exactly the kind of beasts most susceptible to outside influences.

Seeing such odds before him only made Leonel want to win even more.

It was exactly then Leonel blew on the horn with all his might, pouring his Spirit Pressure into it.

The people of Terrain had pissed him off many times already. Leonel even believed that the so-called 'fugitives' they had bribed Shield Cross Stars into looking for were those who wanted to blow the whistle on this maddening plan of theirs.

Unfortunately, before those fugitives could do much of anything, Earth's evolution was accelerated, causing them to enter the Fourth Dimension before anyone predicted.

Leonel remembered how he had been treated just because he was weak. He remembered how Jerach refused to tell him what they were hiding even after he spared his life. He saw the way they tried to humiliate Aina -- his Aina.

Since they wanted war, he would give it to them.

To be continued