Arc 1 - Ch 15: "Void Stars"

CHAPTER 15: "Void Stars"

This web novel is a draft of the story. Please expect frequent changes and updates as I see fit. Enjoy! -Cloki

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-Rigel is waiting outside of the entrance to Oakheart with ten dark mages as reinforcements. He is awaiting the arrival of Siegfried and Azure, to try and convince them one final time to join his agenda. If they decline, he will not waste any time trying to end their existence. Meanwhile, in the province of Eldra, something else is taking place...

~~IN HASHER'S CASTLE~~

Vega: "Yo, Guri-kun! How's the healing going?"

Gurix: "Vega, I've told you many times now, stop calling me Guri-kun! It's annoying..."

Vega: "Hah, in your dreams Guri-kun. Anyway, can I take a look at that stab wound of yours? I want to get an idea of the kind of weapon that girl might have used against you."

Gurix: "Analyze away, Vega-sama."

-Vega walked behind Gurix, with a magnifying glass, and inspected the stab wound. It looked like your casual stab wound, except something was off. As Vega took a closer look, she began to notice small shards of mana inside of Gurix's stab wound.

Vega: "Gurix? Did you know there was a shit ton of mana lodged inside of where she gotcha? Think she pierced your mana vat?"

Gurix: "Eh? Mana? Nah, I had no idea. Although, now that I think about it, it felt slightly different than I expected it to. It felt, warmer than usual. Warmer than regular blood is supposed to feel."

Vega: "She probably poked a hole in your mana vat, causing mana to spill out and mix with your blood. Do you know what type of mage she is? Perhaps she tried infusing her dagger with a spell."

Gurix: "She never mentioned it, so I have no clue. However, she was wearing a lot of blue, so she might have been a water mage."

Vega: "Interesting. If that's the case, she could have tried injecting you with poison perhaps, if she knew how to handle it correctly. Despite you being a poison mage yourself, poison is still deadly if it gets into your organs, especially your heart. However, you aren't dead, so I doubt it was poison."

Gurix: "I see... well, I'm sure glad I haven't met the angels yet. If I had died, I wonder how everyone would have reacted, ya know?"

Vega: "I'm sure we would all be mourning your death, Gurix."

Vega to herself: "Gurix is exactly how he's always been. He cares only about himself!"

Gurix: "Well, Vega, I'd like to take a nap, so I'm going to request for now that you leave. I apologize if this sounds rude, but I just need a sense of quiet for me to rest."

Vega: "No worries, Gurix. I understand. Take all the time you need. Here, I'm leaving a plate of food and some water here for you, replenish yourself.

Gurix: "Thanks Vega, you're as nice as ever."

-Gurix smiled at Vega and she smiled back. Vega then stood up, and turned around to leave the room. But then-

INTERCOM: "Attention, Void Stars, please meet me in the meeting room in 5 minutes. I have a very important announcement for all of you.

Vega: "Huh? Hasher is summoning us to his meeting room? I wonder what it could be about..."

Gurix: "Maybe he's gonna share his clairvoyance with you all so you can see Rigel's epic battle that's about to take place in its full glory, heh heh."

Vega: "Don't be ridiculous Gurix, there's not enough mana for all of us to share. If anything, all we'd be seeing are blurry movements."

Gurix: "I was kiddin' Vega! You don't wanna be late to this meeting, I'd go if I were you!"

Vega: "Cya, Guri-kun!"

Gurix: "eugh...z z z"

-Hasher called an emergency meeting to speak with the high-ranking officers of the Dark Mage's Cult. He has yet to warn them of Siegfried's arrival to Provincia, but all of that is about to change.

~~IN THE MEETING ROOM~~

Hasher: "Thank you all for attending this emergency meeting. As I'm sure you're aware, there's been a slight change of atmosphere around the castle, inside and out. There is a reason for this. I have called you all here today to bring "that news" to everyone's attention."

Vega: "You literally just had me in here a second ago, Hasher, and said you doubted you would be needing me anytime soon, yet here you are a less than an hour later calling the entire branch into your meeting room."

Hasher: "Vega, I'm glad you decided to show up! I didn't actually need you at this meeting, because I have already informed you of the news, so in that aspect, I was not lying to you. But now that you're here, please stay."

-Vega gave an annoyed look to Hasher, and sighed-

Vega: "Yes, m'lord."

???: "What have you summoned the six of us here for, my lord?"

-The man who had just spoken was of very large stature. He was a tall, muscular man, easily exceeding 6'4. He wore the classic black and gold robes, yet also sported a silver headband. He had black eyes and spiky hair. He was one of the dark mage brutes, and his name was Pollux.

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-[[Hasher has seven high-ranking officers in his Dark Mage's Cult, known as the "Void Stars". They each are named after a specific star, and each member specializes in a specific type of magic. Here are their names in order, from the lowest to highest-ranking officer of the Dark Mage's Cult]]-

[[Deneb - The lowest ranking officer of the seven. He specializes in air magic and leads the air and wind division of the Dark Mage's Cult.]]

[[Betel - The second-lowest ranking officer of the seven. He specializes in fire magic and leads the fire division of the Dark Mage's Cult.]]

[[Pistol - The third-lowest ranking member of the seven. He specializes in electro magic and leads the static division of the Dark Mage's Cult.]]

[[Rigel - The middle-ranked member of the seven. He specializes in shaman magic and leads the dark and shaman division of the Dark Mage's Cult.]]

[[Pollux - The third-highest ranking member of the seven. He specializes in nature magic and leads the nature and life division of the Dark Mage's Cult.]]

[[Sirius - The second-highest ranking member of the seven. He specializes in water magic and leads the water and ice division of the Dark Mage's Cult.]]

[[Vega - The highest-ranking member of the seven, second to Hasher himself. She specializes in all fields of magic, and oversees all divisions of the Dark Mage's Cult.]]

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Hasher: "Pollux, you seem to have answered your own question. Please repeat the fourth word that you spoke to me just now, and the answer will become clear."

-Pollux looked confused for a second and recounted his words. He then repeated the fourth word that he had just spoken-

Pollux: "...summoned?"

Hasher: "Precisely. I have summoned all of you here today to inform you that a very special someone has been seen in Provincia and that you all need to be on high alert, and train your divisions extra hard, as the real battle is once again about to begin."

-The seven Void Stars looked at each other, and general chatter began to echo throughout the meeting room. Hasher allowed this to continue for another 30 seconds before he silenced them.

Pistol: "This "special someone" you were referring to. Could it be another one of "those people" which you had warned us of initially 200 years ago?"

-The Void Stars were hired 200 years ago by Hasher himself to help aid him in his plans for spreading his agenda. They each share some of his anti-aging magic and have remained young and healthy for the previous 180-ish years. Hasher's Dark Mage's Cult has had to deal with 17 of "those people" in the past 200 years.

Deneb: "Wow, has it really been 200 years? Man, time really does fly, doesn't it? It feels like just yesterday I almost took your head off with that crystal shard, Vega! Ah ha ha!"

Vega: "I will never forget the horrific series of events that took place that day, Deneb. You are as annoying as you've always been."

Hasher: "Yes, Pistol. This is one of "those people" which I informed you guys of nearly 200 years ago. My clairvoyance is showing me that he has arrived, in hopes of "saving" the world. I know this situation might seem typical for those of you who are not Rigel or Vega, but this is more than that, so please let me explain."

-Vega looked at Hasher, and seemed a bit confused. Even she didn't know what was truly going on. Hasher looked at Vega and said-

Hasher: "Vega, meet me in my throne room after the meeting, I need to have a private discussion with you."

Vega: "Yes, my lord."

Hasher: "Anyway, his name is Siegfried. He is an adventurer from the province of Durma, whose goal is to kill me, and put a stop to our agenda, the agenda of the Dark Mages. By doing this, he would essentially be preventing us from reaching true world salvation."

Hasher: "I need you six and your divisions to be ready to stop him, were he to show his face around here. He is stronger than he seems, and I will not be taking any risks."

Sirius: "How concerned should we be for his arrival?"

Betel: "What kind of magic does he specialize in? If we can pinpoint his weaknesses, we can destroy him more efficiently."

Hasher: "He does not specialize in any specific type of magic, however, be prepared for him to be proficient in all types of magic. Although he shows no threatening signs as of right now, that doesn't mean he won't be a threat in the future."

Pollux: "How do you know that he is the Dark Mage Cult's biggest threat? What evidence do you have?"

Hasher: "You may have noticed the absence of Rigel in this room. That is no coincidence. I sent Rigel and Gurix together to take down Siegfried, and Gurix returned, gravely wounded with a pierced heart. Rigel is still in Durma, preparing to take on Siegfried."

-Although it was Azure who had defeated Gurix, Hasher pinned the blame on Siegfried, to convince the Void Stars that he was a formidable threat, and to lower suspicions of Hasher hiding the truth about Siegfried. In a sense, Gurix's defeat helped Hasher convince his men.

Pollux: "I see. I'm sorry, Gurix... I hope he recovers soon, it would be a shame if we lost him."

Hasher: "It would indeed. It would also be a shame if I lost any of you seven, so please, train your divisions even harder from this day forward, and I will track Siegfried's progress. If I call upon any of you seven, be ready to battle Siegfried, I have already called upon Rigel, however, I don't expect him to survive, to put it bluntly..."

Pistol and Deneb: "Is Siegfried really that powerful?"

Hasher: "Yes... He possesses an ability that I, unfortunately, do not possess."

-Hasher was, of course, referring to Siegfried's ability to fuse with Camriel's soul given his life is in peril. Hasher does not have this ability, of course, so the battle will be slightly favored toward Siegfried were they to initiate in combat. This has caused Hasher to panic a little bit.

Sirius: "Well, I trust my lord's word. I will continue to train my division until they are above and beyond battle-ready, Hasher-sama."

Hasher: "Thank you, Sirius. Can I count on the rest of you to train your divisions?"

Pollux: "Yes, my lord. I will build my division up to be a brute force ground-shaking powerhouse, Siegfried will stand no chance against us!"

Betel and Pistol: "As fire mages, we will work together to oversee our divisions and train them up to be experts in the usage of both fire and electro-magic, my lord."

Deneb: "I will continue to train my division in the arts of air magic, my lord."

Vega: "-- --"

Hasher: "Why the long face, Vega?"

Vega: "It's nothing, my lord. I will continue to oversee these 5 throughout their training."

Hasher: "Thank you. EVERYONE *except vega*, DISMISSED!"

-The Void Stars stood up, gave a unison salute to Hasher, and exited the room. Vega followed Hasher to his quarters, however.

~~IN HASHER'S QUARTERS~~

Vega: "Why have you called me here, my lord?"

Hasher: "Vega, you're my highest-ranking officer for a reason. Your skills greatly outclass any of the other mages in the entire cult, and you almost match me in terms of overall ability."

Vega: "I wouldn't say that I match you, my lord. However, I do find myself quite good at my job. But what does this have to do with your summoning of me to your quarters, my lord?"

Hasher: "Vega, I need to have a discussion with you... you see, Siegfried is different than the others we've had to deal with in the past..."

-Vega looked confused, yet intrigued. What did Hasher mean? "He is different?"

Vega: "What are you talking about Hasher? Was he summoned with the spiritual affinity or something?"

Hasher: "Vega, I'm going to ask you a very important question in a second, and I need you to really think about your answer... okay?"

-Vega looked scared, but agreed-

Vega: "...okay, my lord."

Hasher: "Vega... do you believe in the goddess? Truly?"

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