Vol 2 Chapter 8: The Onslaught
...
Deep farther into the forest, further from the Sol Empire, lies a small village, to which many residents can be seen working early in the morning until late at night
Although its considered to be a "village" in a context, it barely functions as one
undeveloped houses, no clear paths, unstable economy, and such. There's so much that it lacks that even this village has no name to it
Why's that the case? Well...
...its because this "Village", was recently formed by the outcasts, the outcasts of the Sol Empire...
Within the ends of the vicinity of this place, a prominent figure can be seen, remaining vigilant of his surroundings. He tightly grips his sword as he do so, when someone called out to him
"Are there any unusual signs Hikari?"
"...Nowhere in my area"
"That's reassuring"
"..."
Unable to break the awkward silence on the first try, Ignis tried again
"So...got any news from her highness?"
"I have not. Casa and Aeris have not come back either for their report"
"*Sigh*...First off, his Majesty was nowhere to be found, her highness haven't came back at all, Casa and Aeris gone for a few days, and even the Empire got taken by the Altan Empire. Seriously, just how much does our Empire have to suffer?!"
"..."
"Not only that we had to flee from the Empire, but also need to take care of the citizens. Its been a few months since we're able to deal with the common problems and necessities, but if this keeps going on and on, I don't think even you can do something about it!"
Hikari stayed silent from Ignis' ramblings. It wasn't because he was tired of arguing with him or anything, but because what each word that Ignis said, was about to come true...
...It only had gotten deeper the more he thought of the past, especially the part where if he had fought back that day...
He thought to himself "Would we succeed?"
...
...
...
Right after the Rare Crimson Moon ended, it was no surprise that the Altan Empire, alongside with the Euna Empire started attacking that night
With their banners, soldiers, and multiple commanders, A single sound of the horn was the only thing that they waited for, right after it was heard, they started to head towards all borders of the Sol Empire
"Hikari! The Altan and Euna Empire, they're attacking tonight!"
"?!"
It wasn't completely out of thought from the possible outcomes he had, but he was hoping that the worst wasn't the viable option
...But what Hikari had oversighted, was that Altan Empire's actions are unpredictable
"Order all the knights to be in formation! Secure all borders!"
Once he delegated it to one of the commanders, he turned his attention to Ignis
"Ignis, tell the other pillars to station themselves in each border. Prioritize the citizens first before anything!"
"On it!"
Without any hesitation, Ignis left the scene
"Of all the times that you had the opportunity, you just had to pick what's worst for us..."
He said, while trying to maintain his composure
He then stormed around the place as he hurriedly gathered the necessary materials and equipment before going to the border
...
...
...
In the border where Hikari was supposed to be at, can be seen hundreds of their knights getting slaughtered from the hands of the soldiers of the Altan Empire
"Achk!"
One of their commanders even vomited a lot of blood from the blow they took
"Seriously? This is what one of the commanders of this Empire can do? This is hardly a threat"
"Y-You..."
"Hm? Can't quite hear you maggot! Speak louder!"
The Altan Commander says, repeatedly kicking down the commander
"How does someone like you a high ranking official? You're already too old for that! How about I'll take you to somewhere you can take a rest eternally!"
The Commander, although was gravely wounded, still wanted to stand up, slowly reaching for his sword, when the Altan's Commander, stomped on his hands
"Agh!!!!"
"Wriggling your hands like a worm, just give in and die already!"
As the enemy was about to strike his sword towards the vital point of the Sol's Commander, A vibrant light pierces through his arm
"?!"
Right after he saw his arm getting cut off, he let out a screem
"EEEK?! AGGGHHH! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!"
"Ironic. You were also doing it to our valuable commander just now"
"YOU!"
Hikari showed up, dragging along his unsheathed sword, with an aura that had the intention to kill
"YOU WILL PAY FOR-"
Before he was able to finish his sentence, his head was cleanly cut off from speaking any further
"I have no time listening to such nonsense"
Hikari then walks up to their commander, healing his wounds
"Soothing Light"
As if it was the symbolism for miracle, the commander's wounds slowly disappeared. From top to bottom, his body was healed like he had never had gone to battle just now
"I can't thank you enough, Hikari"
"Its only natural for me to save you, Sir Gideon"
Right after Hikari gave him a helping hand to raise himself up, he looked around at the situation
"As you can see, they're struggling to get inside. Our knights are exhausted due to Rare Crimson Moon, but they still have the strength to fight"
"I'm partly to blame for making them work this hard"
"Don't be. They wanted to do this! They're not only fighting for the empire, but also for their families as well"
Right after Gideon said that, Hikari looked at the knights who was taking multiple blows from the enemies
"I see...the least I could do is to make sure their families are safe"
Though Hikari's expression hasn't changed, Gideon can feel that Hikari was grateful having them around. Hikari doesn't see the knights just as soldiers, he sees them as knights who are a part of the Empire, a part of a family of some sort. Gideon couldn't help but smile at that thought
"About that, All citizens had already been evacuated from the Empire. I already made some arrangements while all of you knights and pillars were protecting the Empire during the Rare Crimson Moon"
"...I see"
"They already left right after signs of Rare Crimson Moon ending was evident. The knights and other commanders are fighting knowing that their families are safe and sound"
"Thanks, Sir Gideon"
Again, Hikari wasn't expressive on his emotions, but Gideon knows that every word Hikari said, is genuine
"Speaking of them..."
"..."
Another set of the Altan Empire's units can be seen charging towards them, with another commander in place
"They're not that exactly smart, but they're for sure a war maniacs"
"What's more of a problem is those two"
"...?"
Before Altan's units could even get closer, the two individuals in a black robe killed them, losing their lives before they could even start
"What the...they killed their own units...?"
"..."
The two individuals in a black robe started to descend themselves, making an insulting first impression
"We don't like those pesky weaklings ruining our battle, so we removed them for ya!"
"So smart of you to show one of your moves to the enemy"
"I know! I know! I surprise myself sometimes"
Hikari suddenly intervened to their conversation
"You are?"
"Oh you're no fun! You didn't even shed a confusion like that gramps over there!"
"You still haven't answered my question"
It was then that the other individual stopped fooling around
"You do know us right? I would be disappointed if you don't!"
"...The magus..."
He clapped as if Hikari got the right answer
"Bravo! You're not completely clueless then!"
The other Magus just sighed, wanting to get it over with
"No need to share my name to peasants such as you, but I am one of the Six Magus, the Light Magus"
"I'm also one of the Six Magus, the Dark Magus"
"Not stating your name as well eh?"
"If you aren't, then its natural for me not to, right?"
"Fair point, comrade!"
It was hard to distinguish which was which since what only Hikari can see are their eyes, but their robes does indicate some sort of symbolism...
...To Hikari's left, the robe's linings have a yellow lining, which he deducted to be a symbolism of light, as for his right side, its lining wasn't completely visible, but since the magus stated he was the Dark Magus, Hikari deducted that his robe's lining was black
"But this is too boring! This guy's so monotonous! At this rate, its not even worth killing him!"
"You know he's the leader of all Pillars right?"
"You know I don't give a shit, right? So what if he's the leader of some Pillar? He's too weak! TOO. WEAK!"
Unfortunately for the Light Magus, Hikari wasn't dumb enough to get taunted from his mockery
"Enough of this, you're not fun to talk with. Might as well kill you quick to get to the other Pillars quickly"
Without a hint of fear from Hikari, he switches to his battle stance, with his sword pointing at the two Magus
"Let me give you a helping hand, Hikari"
With just a nod from Hikari, the two of them was ready for which side will do the first move
"Grandpa and his grandson collaborating for their death! How wonderful!"
"I swear, you gotta stop with your childish acts!"
"Its not an act comrade, its me, its who I am!"
The Dark Magus sighed more, not wanting to argue any further
...
As the tension between them increased, each waited for the other to make the first move, like two storms that are about to collide, each knowing that the first strike could determine the fate of the battle...
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