Elegy For An Epilogue

As Derrick walked through the forest, his eyes raised as he saw the rest of the squadron rushing towards him. Cyrus was at the lead, cloak fluttering in the wind as bright patches of crimson reflected off his blades. Raising an arm, Derrick signaled to the group and made his presence known.

“Yo Old Man Derrick!” Cyrus called out as he came to a stop before the man. A smile appeared on his face as the squadron settled down around them. “You should’ve came with us, man. Took down one of those weird ass aberrations that we’ve been seeing lately. Motherfucker almost killed Claudia.”

Derrick raised a brow and he scanned the group, quickly finding the woman in question. She nodded at his gaze, hunching slightly while clutching her shoulder. A man stood next to her, and gave Derrick a salute. Claudia would be alright.

“Is that so?” Derrick mused. “What level was it then? Don’t tell me the 63rd Crimson Squadron couldn’t easily kill a single monster.”

“Nah, man. It was level hundred seventy, but we fucked that shit up. The only problem was the hundreds of weaker level fifty monsters it controlled.” Cyrus said with a large grin as he slicked his wild hair back. “All of us leveled up at least once. Even Jack, he’s almost level 140. Isn’t that close to the lieutenant’s level?” He laughed, clapping his hands. “Fuck bro, you really missed out.”

“Don’t kid around boy, You’ve still got a long ways to go,” Derrick snorted, although his eyes were darkened. “And you’re sure that it was level 170?”

Cyrus scoffed. “Of course, why would I be lying. You don’t think we killed something with that high of a level?”

“No I trust you,” Derrick replied solemnly. “But something with that kind of level isn’t supposed to be here. Same with the weaker ones.”

“Eh? Why not? This forest seems like the perfect place for monsters,” Cyrus said, his brows furrowing in confusion. “I mean, it’s dark, thick and spooky as shit. With no one living here, why wouldn’t there be high-leveled monsters fucking the hell outta each other.”

Derrick shook his head. “That doesn’t dictate anything. The monsters from Nareth don’t come into this forest for no reason.”

“Really? Then why would they come to this shithole—” Cyrus’s eyes widened. “You don’t think it’s because…”

“It probably is. Whatever was powerful enough to cause that might’ve inadvertently drawn the monsters to the release of energy. Maybe…” Derrick started before he spun around.

A moment later, a surge of magic was drawn from their surroundings and the temperature around them suddenly dipped. In the distance, a booming explosion rang out as the trees shook. Birds took to the skies, cawing as a pillar of flames incinerated into the heavens.

“The Lieutenant!” someone shouted.

Derrick narrowed his eyes, his expression hardening and an invisible energy surrounded his being. Whatever happened to Naira wouldn’t be good. The state that he had left her in was completely different.

Turning tail, Derrick rushed towards them as fast as he could. Cyrus quickly caught up, and the rest of the squadron was not too far behind.

“What the hell did you guys do with that bitch,” Cyrus snarled. “I thought she said there wasn’t going to be any killing. What the fuck is that.”

Both of their eyes were locked on the swirling pillar of flames. Something had gone terribly wrong.

“I don’t know,” Derrick replied grimly. “We’ll know when we get there.”

As they neared, the blazing inferno had died down substantially. But the heat from the magic didn’t subside. The trees had been lit aflame, quickly spreading to the next piece of forestry that stood in its way. Sweat rolled down Derrick’s shirt and his eyes started to burn from the acrid smoke.

However, he was able to see two distinct figures within the core of the flames. And as they approached, his eyes widened while the soldier’s were filled with admiration.

“Lieutenant…” Cyrus muttered.

[Scarlet Knight - (Level 179)]

The woman turned to face her subordinates, a flickering light shining within the center of her irises. Infernal fires raging around her in the outline of a flower’s bloom.

“Everyone!” Naira laughed. “What took you so long?!”

Replies were shot back at the woman, and the grin on her face spread further. The fires raging around her diminished, and the only sounds left that filled the forest were the crackling of embers. The lieutenant raised her head high and a glorious roar reverberated from her throat.

“Soldiers! I know you all have suffered. Our families that were slain, witnessed by our own very eyes. Shall we continue to run away?” Her gaze swept the clearing. “No! The strength that we lack shall be ours. They will remember the name of the Crimson Squadron once more.

The woman standing before him was someone different than the one he had known for the last twenty-five years. The sight brought him back to the past and he glanced at Cassandra for anything, but she only shook her head with a smile that was unlike her.

Cheers rang out from the 63rd Squadron, and the tarnished soldiers had finally regained their meaning. Like a phoenix’s rebirth, the Scarlet Rose had returned in its entire beauty.

‘Doran you bastard, just what kind of girl did you find…’

***

The wolf bolted into a blur as the bombardment of flames rained down on her back. Cecillia gritted her teeth as the wards granted to her from Cassandra shattered brilliantly. Sweat started forming on her brow to only be instantly evaporated a moment later. She heard the woman’s cackling laughter, echoing across the forest as a shiver ran down her spine.

Cecillia’s heels dug into Blackie’s sides and their speed exploded. Through the fire and the flames a shadow stretched across hell. The wolf zipped through falling trees and burning branches, each crackling ferociously. Until finally they emerged into safety and the girl released a cough.

She had inhaled a large amount of smoke, and her eyes were watery. Blackie was panting, its body slowing to a trot while Bluey seemed just slightly smaller. Cecillia opened her mouth to say something until a chime ran through her head.

[You have gained Heat Resistance - (Level 1)]

You have been inflicted with the flames of a powerful foe. As a reward for surviving, your body will lessen the effects of fire. While still susceptible to intense heat, you now are less likely to suffer a burn from a cooking flame.

Cecillia closed her mouth as the notification appeared before her eyes. It was interesting to see that there was such a thing as resistances. But with the nature of how she had just received the heat resistance, it wasn’t likely that she would be able to gain anymore, or even level this one up. Not unless she could heal herself as Cassandra had, anything lesser like Layla’s level of strength wouldn’t make the cut. For now, the idea of gaining resistances was immediately shot down.

Closing the screen, Cecillia glanced down at herself. Gray ashes covered her clothing and a faint remnant of steam lifted to the clouds. She felt a stinging sensation at the back of her neck, but thanks to the healer, she hadn’t received any other injuries worth mentioning.

“You guys alright?” she asked while patting herself down.

Bluey bounced into her arms, nodding its head while Blackie growled. The wolf turned its massive head towards its tail as Cecillia’s gaze followed. The smell of burnt flesh entered her nose and she ran a hand through its scruff tenderly. It had only been two days, but the wolf had really done quite a lot for her.

“Thanks Blackie,” she murmured as the wolf nuzzled into her touch. Although she certainly didn’t expect to hear another chime ringing through her skull.

[Congratulations! Your taming job has leveled up once!]

[Job: Tamer is now level 2!]

[Domesticated animals will now be more likely to trust you. Approximate value 1.5%]

‘So it isn’t just making new contracts,’ she noted and dismissed the notifications. There were two ways she assumed that the job could work. The first was in the case of a shepherd, or someone that managed a large group of animals like one of the people she saw tending to the horses. That would make the perk with the domesticated animals make sense. While the second was in the situation where there was a combatant like her who had the tamer job. She assumed that the level of the job would grow as the bond grew, otherwise, she couldn’t think of a reason for the notification.

With her mind off of the system, she inspected Blackie’s wounds. The fur on its tail had been seared off and its flesh scorched and raw. Although the injury was already starting to regenerate, and Cecillia estimated at the current rate of healing the wolf would be perfectly fine in a few hours. It was truly an envious ability to have.

Fifteen minutes passed before they once again leapt past the river. The air settled on Cecillia’s skin like a thin blanket of coolness and the orange hues from the sunset trickled in through the canopy gaps.

‘Almost there,’ Cecillia thought.

However, as they started to near the cliff, a faint rumbling could be heard from the valley’s direction. Cecillia’s eyes narrowed and she spurred the wolf on. The noises grew louder, and they were reminiscent to the booming sounds of cannon fire. Small vibrations shook the forest floor, and the wolf beneath her tensed.

As they neared the cliff’s edge, Cecillia caught sight of several consecutive bright flashes of light followed by the sharp, heavy roars of multiple explosions. Massive clouds of murky red dust rose into the skies above as Blackie approached to a stop. Cecillia strained her eyes, squinting as she looked through for the camp. She quickly found it, but as another bright flash of light rippled out, her gaze was drawn towards it like a beacon.

“Doran…?” she mumbled.

At the forefront of the camp’s entrance, the lone silhouette of a man stood with his bow. From the distance, Cecillia could see three arrows notched against the string. And as his fingers released the tension, the arrows shot forward, creating streaking rifts as they sliced through the cloud.

In an instant, shimmering lights began to coalesce around the projectiles, enveloping them in a multitude of radiant colours. Cones of wind formed, twisting and spiraling to accelerate the arrows nearly to the speed of sound. Thunder rang out as rings of a sonic boom simultaneously crackled.

Cecillia was barely able to track the projectiles with her eyes as a tight feeling emerged in her chest. Tens of dozens of unrecognizable monster corpses lay motionless on the west side of the valley and as the arrows soared over, her expression hardened.

It was one of the monsters she had fought earlier in the day, trolls; and they numbered nearly fifty. Their eyes burned with an ominous red light as they marched onwards to the camp. However, as the arrows landed, the source of the cannonfire was made known.

Dirt kicked up into the air, adding to the murky dust which darkened as particles of blood seeped into the skies. Roars echoed through the chaos as flesh was blown apart, heads decimated after Doran’s merciless onslaught.

Cecillia watched with fascination, leaning forward as her eyes squinted to witness the carnage and destruction. It wasn’t until long that the largest layer of dust cleared, and when the scene was revealed, a thin smile came to her lips.

There were only four trolls left standing, and even then, they looked worse for wear. One was missing an arm entirely, while another had a massive gaping hole alike a bite of an apple within its torso. The other two had luckily managed to escape unharmed, and as Doran raised his bow once more, they were already running, fearing for their lives.

It was then that the man’s head snapped onto her position and Cecillia froze, paralyzed under his gaze. The furious aura draping his body died down and she instinctively knew why he was named the Captain of the Crimson Squadron. Not one of those people, not even Naira’s scarlet flames could compare to this man.

Doran’s line of sight rested on her frame for a suffocating second, Cecillia was unable to read his face from the distance before he turned away. She stared at his fading back and when he disappeared, she gave one last look to the annihilation he had left behind.

“...Let’s go,” Cecillia muttered. Perhaps one day, she would be able to do the same.

The girl tapped the wolf and skirted around the cliff’s edge. They made their way down the trail and took a wide arcing path to avoid the sea of blood. As they passed, the soulless trolls stared eerily with their unclosed eyes. Their lifeless corpses released a pungent stench of death but Cecillia didn’t react. It could be worse after all.

As they began to enter the camp, a man standing by the sides of the entrance raised his head and looked up at her. His eyes were wide and his body appeared rigid. Arthur… she remembered his name to be.

[Warrior]

“C-Cecillia,” The young man stammered, straightening himself. “When did you go out? A-are you alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine,” she replied simply.

Blackie came to a stop before him and one of its massive pupils leered at the warrior. Arthur took a tentative step backwards and took a quick glance out towards the carnage as if expecting something was going to jump out at him. Cecillia noticed that the hand on the pommel of his blade was shaking considerably.

“But weren’t you out there by yourself?” Arthur asked quietly. “How are you not scared?”

Cecillia tilted her head as she thought about the man’s words. The image of the dead corpses was still fresh in her mind. Other than their numbers, there wasn’t anything really intimidating about them. She didn’t give it any much further thought and gave a small smile.

“There’s nothing scary.”

Her answer left Arthur utterly stunned, and as she passed with her wolf and slime, the man could only stare at her tiny back. After a moment, he shook his head and released a heavy sigh.