I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

Like a beacon, the Sun rose, and with it, came peace.

Its crimson tendrils stretched across the heavy, blue clouds.

An anchor of something warm suffusing through the air, and wrapping around the students who littered the streets of Lumbrica.

Its pristine walls of marble and stone, and the neat roads that lay ahead of them were quickly bathed in the radiance blessed upon it.

The buildings stood tall.

Long shadows cast over their heads while they stood in silence.

Observing the world continues like nothing ever happened.

A few moments ago, chaos had played a heavy hand on them.

Ripping them from a reality that was once thought safe.

Homeric Academy had stood for more than just a learning institute. For some, it had been their home.

A Home that was now gone.

It was an undeniable fact. One that had been thrown at them without warning.

Some students sat on the ground in either groups or by themselves.

While a lot more stood. They rested their backs on the walls of the buildings and even stood atop the rooftops.

The air was solemn.

A stifled silence was pierced by the conversations of a few who retailed their experience from the event which unfolded.

Their thoughts were in disarray, and their hearts sank over time.

Each recall of the time spent within the Night of the Raid either caused them to shiver in their wet clothes, or push them to the future ahead.

A preparation for what truly lay for them.

The raid had proven how easy it was for the weak to be trampled…and the strong to survive just as easily.

It taught some to be sharp. It was human nature to be curious, but one had to always be on guard. To be suspicious of everything.

If not, your once closest friend could come to stab you in the back.

Betrayal and Blood.

The essence of the last night spent in the Academy.

It would forever haunt them or build them.

While the fight had truly been tough, a close call to death for some, especially in the younger years, for a few, it meant nothing.

Only the result of their ignorance of the threat they let foster for so long.

The fifth year would forever carve this day. This moment in their hearts.

For the mistake they made– the lives lost. The change their actions could have made.

It would be etched in blood in their vessels.

A silent reminder.

Amongst these final years, standing behind the entire population of students, were Rebecca and Phestus, who held this moment more than anyone.

After all, they witnessed the threat in person.

The Crimson Lord.

***

When Rebecca had phased through the portal, her appearance had reverted back to its usual form.

She landed with a subtle grace just before Phestus joined in.

On the now distinctive road laid before them.

One she recognised easily, with the former council president.

Her arms were folded, eyes staring straight at the sun, while her thoughts lined up in order.

'This is the main road.'

It was one of the few crossroads within the Capital.

A concreted ground, adorned with the finest marble. It has remained untouched for many years due to constant maintenance.

From this road, many others are linked to it.

All ascending upwards until they reached this point as if climbing up a small hill.

Its size was taken for and it easily accommodated the movement of large land animals and carriages.

Thus, the students, though reaching over a hundred, couldn't fill the entire area.

And surrounding these roads, were buildings. Bricks and cements stacked in an architecture of artistry.

The buildings. The statues that lingered across the Capital…these were what made the City of Lumbrica hum with beauty and artistry.

It was truly a work of art.

Knowing this, she had a fair conclusion of why Kira had set the coordinates to this point, though she had not said anything about it.

She sighed. Easing the fog that had nearly suffocated her, she glanced at Phestus.

His expression was calm as ever and in that moment, he blinked slightly and turned to face her as well.

His lips curled into a smile, instantly.

"We made it." He said with a grin.

Rebecca's own smile formed soon after. She turned away instantly, avoiding her expression from getting exposed as a subtle chuckle escaped her lips.

Yes! They had made it out.

At the cost of the Academy, but with that foe that descended like an inevitable wave of destruction, it would have been a fool's hope to walk away alive.

'All thanks to that woman…' she thought, feeling a pang of warmth.

At that moment, a shimmering light formed behind them, and a thud echoed.

Rebecca flinched as she turned.

Then Phestus and Thalia, who had been standing in front of them quietly did the same.

Their eyes narrowed.

Below them, on her knees with sweat and blood was none other than Kira Merlin.

The woman gasped, and when she did, a chunk of blood plastered against the earth like spray paint.

"Mother?"

The words came out like silky milk as a girl dashed past the trio who had simply watched in silence.

Chest heavy, and tightening with the ever-stretching void of time.

They watched in silence.

Kira sat up. A pang of visible pain erupted in her body, and she groaned and held her side.

Immediately, Ciara knelt by her side.

"Wha– What is the meaning of this?" She asked. "What happened, mother? Who did this to you?"

Ciara's voice boomed in the air, and like any other loud sound in a sea of silence, it grabbed the students' attention.

One by one.

They turned their heads slowly.

Some stood to their feet.

A lot more staggering to get a better look at the woman.

They had seen Ciara rush towards her, and they had heard the word she used to refer to her.

"Mother?"

"Kira Merlin?"

"The Witch of the West?"

Whispers. Questions.

It hummed in the crowd silently, but no one approached.

Not when they knew nothing…and yet, saw blood.

She was injured.

And from her groans? Terribly so.

The woman had sat up now.

Her face was dishevelled. Her skin was pale…her arms riddled with dried blood and open wounds.

Those who stood closest…the last set of people to step through the Portal, they had seen it all.

Witnessed the bafflement before them.

And their hearts sank.

Because as they turned their heads, something–something was missing.

Yet, they stood silent…except one.

Thalia stumbled forward.

"Where's Raph?"

Her eyes were wide. Her thoughts swirling in a mix of torrents. Her heart was thumping. Blooding surging.

Panic…rising.

Thalia was an observant one. Someone who stood in silence and watched first, but stormed the moment her emotions spiralled.

And right now? It had only just begun.

Her pupils dilated and darted from side to side as it landed on Kira.

Kira's sunken, tired-filled eyes peered into hers.

"He…" She began. Throat dry. Lips charged. "...No–"

Then she stopped.

Further escalating the question at hand.

Now, everyone's eyes landed on her.

Watching. Waiting.

Their bodies tensed, their hearts thumped.

And the silence stretched.

Rebecca, sensing the negativity walked forward and clasped a firm hand on her sister.

She glanced at her first. Watching as her skin began to grow hot.

'Thalia, please control yourself.'

Then, she turned to Kira who now stared at her with Ciara listening silently while she healed her mother's wounds.

Rebecca cleared her throat, then she opened her mouth to speak…but closed it.

Then as if mustering courage from the depths of her guts…forcing the very word to come out…she spoke.

"Kira…"

At this point, none of them cared for status…they didn't care she was wounded. No, none of that mattered to the sisters…

What did, lay in Kira's response.

"...Please…" She continued with her head bowed low, then with a grip of her fist and a nudge of her head, she completed her question.

"Where is our brother…where is Raph?"

The silence stretched for a moment too long, but Kira's crimson eyes sparked with something too hard to miss.

Sadness.

She lowered her head and gripped her worn-out arms, but finally, words came.

"That man…" She began. "The Crimson Lord…"

Few– Extremely few around her froze at the name, but many more glanced at each other with puzzled looks.

"I'm sorry…" she cut through her own statement before she turned her gaze away.

"It was too late by the time I turned…the Crimson Lord…got him."

Silence…

Then chaos.

"Got him?!" Thalia stumbled forward, tears streaming down her face as her lips broke into a blank smile.

Her face shifted entirely.

Brows arched in strange ways. Creases that had never before been there appeared like they had slept too long and were finally awake.

Her hands gripped tightly as mana threatened to release, and her voice broke into a mad stutter.

"Go– Go– Got him?! Got him when?! You must mean ca–p— captured right! MY BROTHER WAS CAPTURED RIGHT?!"

Her voice shattered the silence like it were glass and many had begun to walk back from the frenzied mana that erupted into the air.

A gust of wind rose as it blasted around them.

Kira sat still. Unmoved. Unbothered. An expression as still as stone, and her daughter? The carbon copy of her Mother.

Both simply stared away from the scene before them as Rebecca held her sister strongly from doing what could never be undone.

"Thalia" Rebecca called.

"My brother! Where's my brother–

"Thalia"

"Let go of me, sister! Let her send me back! I must find my brother!"

"Thalia–"

"Do not mention my name! LET ME GO!"

"Calm yourself."

They struggled. Thalia mostly, but Rebecca was a statue.

She held her sister down.

Thalia had always been someone who suppressed emotions.

Choosing to be calculative instead of choosing feelings or guts to lead the way.

She simply deducted and chose, but those emotions…those walls she used to shield them.

They could always be broken.

Now, the water works began.

The sisters wept as they struggled with each other.

Muttering nonsense that only spilt more mana, which had begun to cause cracks across the once pristine ground.

Things were escalating…until it wasn't.

"He died."

Silence.

The Jun sisters turned to her in unison.

Eyes widened and mouth agape.

Their bodies froze like solid ice as their heart, their world, sank.

At that moment…a far distance away, yet not so much that its frenzy wouldn't go unnoticed.

Loud footsteps echoed.

The clattering of hooves…and then a voice screamed.

"The Imperial Army is here!"

________________________________

Hello Dear Reader,

They say time waits for no one, but it makes room for change.

With the ending of Volume 3- Festival of Fun and Gore, and the beginning of Volume 4- Genesis of Rule and Ruin, I have come to terms with my mistakes made along the way.

Starting as the Newbie Author who had begun on mere instincts and drove through, to the Author who stands before you, ready and prepared to craft a Masterpiece, a load of difference exists.

A change I find myself welcoming.

Mistakes, those I did blindly, and those I chose to ignore, have become a part of me that I can never erase, but ones I would learn from.

Volume 4, the Genesis of what is to come represents that change. The Maturity in me that has come to be, and the development in my writing skills along the way.

This Volume will show what I had missed and ignored. The changes. The true nature of the Great Families. The hunger lords are hidden in sheep's clothing and are the foundation of a future catastrophe.

I can not reveal what is to come, but what lies ahead of this book…will be a journey you would want to read.

I am prepared to deliver it all, and I will do so as I have.

Improvements will still be welcomed, and as such, I will continue to improve in every form. In every way…this Mediocre Author will no longer be Mediocre.

And as such, the first Volume- The Jun will be thoroughly re-written in the next week, while the updates on Volume 4- Genesis of Rule and Ruin will continue.

For all those who have read till the latest chapter, I have nothing but thanks for your loyalty and patience.

I will continue to improve and work on not just my writing style, but the flow of my book.

I only hope that you continue to support this book.

I Regressed and became the Sword Ice King, I still have one last fight, and so I wish to see you. All of YOU on that last chapter.

Thank you, all.

(P.S. Mass Releases will now spam during the weekends. Stay Sharp!(^-^)/ )