Stray Elf: Lost in the System

XVII.

“I apologize for being so late,” I started. The veiled faces of the Inquisitors and armored visors of massive Generals I’ve never spoken to in my life watched me silently. I sulked. I was in the presence of the most imposing higher ups I have ever laid eyes on. Public speaking was not my strong suit! That is what they get for making a soldier give reports anyways. I breathed in and decided to go with an honest approach.

“Out of the hundred men, only thirty of us made it through the mountains. We secured the village with the Hellcarver Core, but unfortunately got attacked by a dragon—“

“Did you defeat the dragon?” The General sitting in the biggest chair interrupted me. Oh no. I was in big trouble now.

“Yes,” I stuffed my stammering down my throat, but could not stop my bad habit of trying to sound cool. “Its remains now fall upon the city.”

“Hells,” an Inquisitor gasped. Its veiled face leaned in closer to another beside it. “She destroyed it.”

“Hot damn, shit!” A Hatred Demon grinned. Unlike his peers, he simply wore trousers and let his red muscles show. He simply nodded in approval. “A dragon.”

I nodded. The number of souls defeated were in the thousands now, still rapidly rising.

“We came through a Tower, with—“

“Enough,” the main General paused me. I'm definitely dead, but before I could utter an excuse a low chuckle came through his helmet. “Your mission is beginning to sound like bragging, Captain.”

“Bragging?” I muttered, but was drowned out by the triumphant laughter of the higher ups. I knew how corporation politics went, I think, so I simply bowed apologetically. “I apologize, I was getting too carried away.”

“It is amazing,” the Inquisitor remarked. “The power of the Nameless is giving the Ack’Sa.”

What power? The journey was immense and full of personnel losses, I thought. I had originally intended to kneel and even beg for forgiveness for my incompetence, but it seemed like these laughing fools did not care for such things. I guess since Demons were easily replaced, being remade in Hell and spat out the Pits’ various orifices. There was something that I wanted answers about, though deep down inside I knew they would not have knowledge on that Tower’s farms.

“Generals, if I may,” I stammered. “The White Tower had farms that could prove useful for the armies.”

The Generals and Inquisitors ceased their celebrations, eyeing me as if I said something outlandish. The Hatred General laughed. His sheath strapped around his big chest clanked on the ground as he smacked his knee.

“Food? Bah!” He gave me a wink. “The only food the army needs is out there.”

He pointed a talon at the distant city’s walls. The third General shrugged and raised a glove to stop his chatter. To my surprise, a feminine voice came through her cover.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself there, Kume,” she chastised him, but there was an odd playfulness burrowed beneath her stern tone. A Soul Army insignia was emblazoned on her armor. As long as they were happy, I had my head above water. “Let the Nameless rest, you have earned it, no?”

“I’d rather get back out there,” I shook my head. The others looked at me in awe, but I swore if I was held under the gaze of these people any longer I would crack. The Generals stared at me, but I said it offhandedly. “I don’t sit still well.”

“Such an overachiever!” Kume laughed. “One of the Generals is looking for you at the center gate. I am sure you will be happy to see him.”

General? I nodded. The female Demon made a grunt, prompting me to stop.

“You’ll do well to visit the armory we have, Nameless,” she pointed at my torn up attire. “We don’t have Hellforged armor, but it should suffice. We want you to succeed and you can’t go out looking like that.”

It was at this point that I realized why the higher ups looked uncomfortable with me to begin with. My clothes were shredded by the elements and my magic, making things quite unprofessional in this meeting. Let them gawk, I scoffed. It was time to get ready for one final fight, according to those higher ups. If the Golden Land’s Holy Capital falls, then humanity will be crippled.

I found myself thinking too hard as I fit on whatever I could find in the shoddy armory. I have heard of several vain Captains and Commanders alike wasting time on the looks of their armor, but I was no such fool and my Unique Skill helped. Unfortunately, my Status did not alert me of any precious armor, but I still wondered about the chaos happening just a field away from our raided city outskirts that served as the main invasion base. If there were more Skull Entities inside that shiny palace, we as an invading force would certainly fail.

Humans had all the luck, I scoffed. If I upgraded that stat, would I have the same things they have? I have come across many who had multiple Skills, deadly weapons and divine blessings. Talk about unfair! Even the far out ones serving as Royal Guards were Elites, complete with powerful Skills of their own. My Black Blade and my small bag were the only things that survived the Dragon attack, but I was lucky enough to grab a halberd. The city ahead had wide streets, but also sprawling alleyways, both requiring different weapons for the job. I must also have several hundreds of defeated souls in case I needed to use that powerful Skill by now. The name “Planet Breaker” infused into my Death Spear made me shudder. Could it really destroy this entire world? The Dragon's Unique Skill, Death Ray, was enough to carve the mountains in two. Was such a Skill used to destroy those two moons above?

I gulped. What if they destroyed the suns with Skills like that? There was still time, so I checked the kill tracker.

Number of souls defeated: 9705

Hells, I stared at the window in awe. It was getting worse for the city, even catching up to the amount of souls I had gotten before spending them all. I watched the number rapidly climb by the hundreds. Have I unlocked a cheat code?

Number of souls defeated: 10000

Finally, I got excited. This number was it! I opened my Stats window and was immediately left dejected again.

Notice: Level up requirements not met. Slay a Skull enemy to unlock Stat Prestige.

I swore. Of course, the stingy Skill would not allow me to have any additional advantage before a battle. I put on my final piece of armor and refrained from thinking about it anymore. There was a city to burn. Exiting the barracks meant seeing a world of chaos. The starry branches of the Tree covered the view of the sky, but a thick layer of smoke and darkness lay between it now. I still had trouble fathoming just how maddeningly large that dragon was, even under the even bigger tree. I caused that thing to die and now many souls could be reaped. The explosions and falling dragon debris were all because of my Planet Breaker. That dragon must have been planet sized, I guessed. Someone called out to me, interrupting my thoughts.

“It’s been some time, Light Voice,” it hissed. Light Voice? Out of all the ones who called me that, most were dead. That meant…

“Commander?” I asked. I watched the massive form of a Snakeman slither from a tent.

“General, to you,” Ake flicked his tongue seriously, but grinned and smacked my shoulder. “I’ve heard nothing but good news from your missions over the years, Nameless.”

“I wouldn’t call them good,” I recalled every battle I committed to, but despite the good performance review I was not proud of any of it.

“Of course they are,” Ake attempted to assure me. “The Ack’Sa itself has told me.”

“Is that what Generals get to do, Commander?” I asked him. Even though he was technically a higher up, I could not shake that habit. Luckily, the Snakeman did not mind.

“That and more, Nameless,” he chuckled. “You’ll see one day, huh?”

“I hope so,” I guessed. Something formed a pit in my stomach. I had no idea what I was getting into, and it has been awhile since I have felt this way.

“You move out in an hour, Nameless,” Ake rattled. “Get ready. You, however, can move wherever you like. I will give you that much, considering you sent that dragon screaming to hell. You could have been sent home and well compensated.”

“After this, I might consider it,” I grinned, but he could not see it beneath my helmet.

“It’s been decades,” he sighed. Decades? I guessed he was speaking for himself, but I doubted myself. Eh? Has decades gone by without me noticing it? “You’ll get your answers soon, Captain. We will go now and meet up with the Hatred soldiers down there.”

The armies were packed, with most of the siege weapons rendered unusable from debris from the dragon’s corpse and magic. Despite this, the city posed another problem for me. It was even larger than the dragon. It made any of the most sprawling metropolises in my old world look like small villages by comparison. The view of it burning down under the ominous Anheim Tree did not sit well with me. There were millions of enemies in there, and we were going straight into the bee’s nest.

Ake’s hand guided me to face battlements down closer to the walls. The plains were still covered in diaphanous leaves despite the air being full of sweltering flames and auric swirls of lost magic. I heard a chuckle and scales rattled behind me.

“Just like old times, eh?” He sighed. More people were coming to join us. “Only you get the action. Not me.”

“Commander, that sounds—” I was about to say I was jealous, but the boots of the approaching soldiers caught up to us.

“Captain!” A familiar voice arrived. It was Lee and the others. Ake towered over Lee, inspecting the band of soldiers while flicking his tongue, but pat me on the back and went back to his station. “You were speaking to a-a G-General?!”

“They ordered you into this mess, too?” I turned, ignoring the shocked look on his face.

“Yes, Captain,” he addressed me properly after shaking himself back to normal. “It’s what we do.”

Two other familiar figures marched up to me. I tried to ignore my telepathic connection with them, but sure enough, I could see myself in their eyes. Both the Doctor and the insect demon looked a lot tougher due to my level up. Well, damn, I thought. Murmurs spread across the soldiers. They were speaking about me in awe.

“Red eyes, dangerous look, it’s that… It’s the Nameless!” One such rumor spread quickly through the rows of soldiers as I strolled by. I nodded at the soldier, which only spread more gasps in awe and the stiff folding of arms breaking into salutes. My ego was building up, so I walked briskly away signaling the Doctor and the Insect Demon to follow. The officer in charge was viewing the golden fields and the chaos happening on the city walls ahead. He nearly hit the tent’s folded-out roof as he noticed us approaching.

“C-Captain,” he started, but sped up as I drew closer. What was with the fear? “The situation’s not going great. Battlefield’s a mess. Reaver mages can’t get a good dent in their defenses, what, with their mages and the falling dragon bits from the sky.”

“I see,” I tried to sound like I cared. The wall was made of beautiful red stone, and had ancient carvings and magic placed on it. Those triangular frames with dragon patterns and tree insignias engraved upon them gave it order and a powerful accent. In between, however, the no man’s land was the opposite. Thousands of our troops were wasted trying to break in. So, I cracked my knuckles, it was either wait until a lucky piece of that corpse breaks the wall for us or I could try my S Rank INT Stat once again. “I have an idea.”

“Where are you going?” The officer squawked, but we moved by him. Lee and the others reassured him by calling me crazy.

I stood tall and moved closer to another foothold in the earth. Broken towers and shattered siege walls were enough to block their arrows as I made my way through. If I could draw inspiration from what Emma did when she combined Power Breakers with her Spirit Skill, I could possibly achieve a much greater effect using my magic. I grunted and the alerts started to pour in. The insect demon flew off somewhere while the Doctor stood guard, shielding me with his improved Folly magic. This was good.

“Land Breaker,” I muttered. If Magic Operator worked by simply visualizing, then my Skill should improve on what that cat woman started. An alert popped up in my eyes.

Once again, I felt that familiar jolt of energy surge through my body. It was addicting and made me feel powerful, but it was not enough. More, I commanded my Status Skill with my mind to overload me with magic. I wanted to feel the magical energy crash throughout my body as it manifested. More! My body quaked, rattling as it released and pain rushed through. I smirked at the uncomfortable sensation, then realized I have not felt pain in years. The window burst behind me launching a Land Breaker Skill which split into hundreds of projectiles. The salvo of huge explosive magic projectiles screamed into the city section’s walls and the souls grew rapidly. Their magic and stone stood no chance. It crumbled and burst apart into a blinding light, illuminating the Tree. I noticed its branches covered the whole sky above the city through the smoke clouds above, and the dragon also intertwined within the canopy. It never was flying, merely watching the hillsides for intruders — us.

Men behind the Doctor’s Folly shield gasped in awe of the spectacle. The red wall’s shields shattered into brilliant sparks of Folly whites and showered into golden flames upon the barren fields, leaving nothing but smoke. My magic sure did work as a veritable bunker buster, I wiped sweat off my brow and suddenly heard the war cries of fellow soldiers charging straight to the gaping crater my spell left in its wake.

The numbers of souls defeated rose even higher. This was it, I gripped my sword and sprinted off into the city after them. It was not long before I reached the front lines. The city was made of red and golden bricks, with intricate mosaics tracing whatever was left of the wreckage. Giant metal spears stabbed into the ground, with many demon corpses and shattered houses left in their wake. Ballistae? Aimed at their own people? I must have hit a living district, since defense was low and whoever was manning those defense weapons must have been busy elsewhere. Distant fighting broke out in a flash of magic and smoke above the city skyline, leaving me enough time to stroll alone through an alleyway that was mostly intact.

From this view, I saw just how massive the trunk of the tree was. It swallowed the entire horizon. The Palace loomed over the city latched to its side, but the Tree must have encompassed the entirety of this side of the world. Constellations of starry veins and golden phosphorus lit the branches, making it seem like the night sky. The Anheim, I thought to myself. My home. I saw the alleyway was opening up into a tiered courtyard split by beautiful pathways and stairs, with scared eyes peering at me through ornate windows. I have almost forgotten that real people lived here. I glared at a youth's watchful eyes, who quickly snapped the blinds shut. I was left staring at my reflection in the window. My own red eyes must have terrified them to death. What if I was here when it was peaceful? Onward. I told myself. A sense of longing was pulling me from my thoughts and alerts from Mother were gathering at the corners of my vision.

Shattered market stalls and burning wagons stood before me in this open space. Battlements thrummed, men screamed, but I moved softly and quicker up beautiful stairs to the upper tiers. Alerts stopped me in my tracks. Crowned entities were ahead. No doubt it was the city guard, I drew my sword. I had no time to get held up by small fry, the Palace held the key to that Mother’s call resonating within me.

Three Crowned enemies escorted a trio of even more deadlier Crowned knights from the highest floor of the courtyard, in front of a large gaudy gate. Six Golden Crowned enemies, I frowned. A side before the main dish, my insect demon was already seeing even more Golden Knights headed down the streets towards us. A Folly shield bubbled around me, from the Doctor who followed me in the shadows. A battle was on!

“Prah! Sa! Usalah!” The largest Knight stepped forward. “You demons who unleash terror upon this sacred City.”

“Your city is bathing under the magma tears of your dead dragon,” I yelled back at them. “And the lands north have been turned blood red while you bathe in Gold. What good has your Goddess done for humanity now?”

That seemed to upset the Knight. He began to chant something I could not understand, but the air warped as debris gathered in a sphere levitating before his spear and shield. Reaver magic, but it was not fire or ice. Rather, it was the metal element!

Alert: Hostile magic attack incoming.

They would destroy the civilians behind me with that attack? Cowards! An echoing thrum rang out as the sphere of swirling dust crunched and launched out at me in the form of a long metal javelin. That spell was what hurled the gargantuan spears I saw earlier when I entered the city! I rolled and avoided the towering object. Thankfully, a large object like that was cumbersome and easy to dodge. After I dodged, a massive explosion broke out from the homes of those humans in the alleyway. It was not like I was worried about saving them, but it was quite savage of those knights to simply commit to friendly fire like that. They were all charging up their attacks. I grit my teeth. Things were about to get annoying with their metal magic attack. These enemies’ strengths reminded me that I was certainly in the late parts of this game.

“You don’t even care about the citizens, do you? Like everyone else involved with those golden Royal freaks.” I called out to him, reaping all of the dead souls around me through my Status Skill’s alerts. Metal javelins launched all around me, and some into the Doctor’s shields. I grinned as I began summoning windows behind me. “Well, nor do I.”

The moment they realized I was preparing a magical counterattack, it was too late. While I did use a lot of magical energy destroying the city walls, I found that my INT Stat had regenerated most of it back. The Stat was officially the most powerful one in my arsenal, I thought. With the Unique Skill, it was better than STR now. I breathed in and set up more windows of magic. I ducked as they let out a concentrated array of magical ice beams which intercepted their metal beams and split them apart. Ice Spears. The missiles crushed everything in front of me until there was no longer any beautiful walkway or army ahead of me, save for the first Crowned Knight, who looked like a pincushion from my many spears piercing him.

I walked up to him and looked him in the eyes as my magical ice spell slowly consumed him like Nanalos. He grunted.

“Well?” I asked him.

“You can’t win the war with all that power, Demon scum,” he spat out blood. “None of us can stop this hell.”

“You got that right,” I sighed, sitting on my knees and wiping the dust off of myself. We were but pawns in a long game of chess. The Knight chuckled bitterly and let me sit with him in his final moments. “Maybe we’ll see each other again in another life.”

“Prah… Sah…” He uttered before the ice crushed him as I walked away. The more I heard that religious human phrase, the more I got sick of it.

Past his body, the gate and buildings between were covered in spires of ice, left over by my magical spear’s explosions. I touched a frozen pillar and shivered, but continued on through the opening. Up the road, the shattered statues of Usalah lay over blood stricken streets and ashen market stalls. Several blocks of buildings were split into pieces from stray Ice Spears, where others in the way were reduced to cold powdered shards. These wooden rooftops reminded me of feudal architecture of my world, save from all the broken rocky walls and body parts mingling with fallen dragon pillars. Did they worship the dragon too? I trudged over all of it, not caring whose bodies were with which side. The path widened into a wide open space, with beautiful cement walls hung with gardens on either sides. Beyond it, the trunk of the Anheim Tree and the Holy Empire’s Golden Palace loomed over all of us. That massive thing had spires stretching into the tree’s bark and tiered roofs as well. A Warlord Emperor’s abode, huh. I scraped my boot on some debris nervously.

There was nowhere else to go but there.

I stepped over a limb, sloshed through a puddle of blood and watched the sky leak tears of orange flames. More Knights and demons were fighting ahead. We’re reducing the garden of Eden to Hells, I think grimly, and rush to join the fray. Elites and Crowned enemies flooded out the gates, yet our armies were larger and began to overwhelm them with numbers. I dodged a swing from a Spirit Skill and the Doctor cursed him with a Folly’s magic trick. The Insect Demon joined the battle and swooped up many kills on its own. We made a formidable team on our own, owing thanks to them sharing my Unique Status Skill’s abilities.

I saw a familiar face getting cornered by several soldiers. It was Lee! I dashed to intercept his attackers. The Black Blade clashed against several men, and I felt no resistance as it cleaved through armor, flesh and weapons alike. More were charging at me. I so don’t have time for this, I growled furiously. The Palace was just beyond this massive square.

“Power Sword,” I let the Skill rip through my hand, causing the malevolent blade to release a wave of white flames through a swath of the opposition.

“C-Captain,” I heard a voice below me. Lee was on the ground. “T-Thanks.”

“You good?” I pulled him up to his feet. Together, we watched something emit light from the Palace’s many spires. “You have to be, because it seems like things are about to get much worse.”

“I-I’m good, Captain,” Lee shook himself off. I liked that he made no excuse for his poor positioning and I slammed a sword in his hands.

“Good as new, we’re close to the Palace walls,” I started to say, but a wave of magical energy boomed in my ears.

I see you, Stray Elf. Come closer. We shall make you whole again.

Sorry, Mother, I thought defiantly and shook my head. We’re kind of here to conquer you.

“Captain?” Lee asked. “The A-Anheim Tree, it’s doing something.”

“It’s… Calling for me,” I stared at the lower branches. The sweltering magical energy made me pant as my pulse quickened. I scanned my Status, but it was full of error messages. Great.

“What?” Lee asked, but suddenly the Palace let out another blast of energy. Out of the chaos and flames, the Palace rumbled beneath all of it. His eyes reflected a golden gust of an explosion blooming from one of the towers. Worry filled them shortly afterwards. “That is not good.”

“What is it?” I turned to look at the Palace once again, but over the flames and smog I could not see what was happening inside its spires.

Alert: Skull entity in the area. Slay it to reach the experience threshold for level up.

I knew immediately what to decide next. I turned to Lee, who stood at the ready for my orders.

“Another dragon’s nearby. We run,” I tell him. Yeah, I know what pain is in store when fighting a Skull Enemy. A level up is not worth it! When I signaled for the Doctor and the insect demon to retreat, I heard no response. This was not good at all. “Get as far as we can away from the blast radius.”

“Captain,” Lee looked worried after seeing my face. Was it because he was a Demon who wanted to fight, or was it because I just ordered him to run for his life?

The Tree or Palace pulsed again with terrible energy, clogging my thoughts and Status Skill with alerts, deciding for us both. I sheathed my sword and we rushed back to where we came from. Surging magical headache or not, I knew that whatever was inside that Tree knew where I was at all times, because ever since Level 5 it has been calling to me. Like a siren’s song, a part of my boots slowed to a halt. Lee took off. The tree’s branches above us shook violently. Something, or somebody was falling directly on my location. So I made myself move, joining another battalion who had the same idea of retreating from whatever ominous attack the Palace was sending.

Alert: Enemy bombardment incoming.

Not helping! It was too late, I jumped away from the falling object. The plaza cratered, instantly vaporizing the army, buildings and steps all around it. I must have gotten swept up in the explosion, because my world returned a moment later in white smoke. I swatted off flaming debris and coughed out smog. Was there anyone else left in the blast? I looked around and found Lee collapsed under a fallen rock.

“Lee!” I hobbled over to him. His eyes looked lifeless, but he grabbed my shoulder as I was about to turn.

“Get out of here, Captain,” his broken arm pointed towards something in the smog. “You see her, you run.”

“Who?” I asked, but I knew by his arm going limp I was definitely not going to like the answer.

“So it was you that defeated Aucondentis,” a voice called out to me. A figure was rising from the crater. Female, strong enough to make me seize up. Have I ever felt this way facing an opponent? Not since I first got here, not even the dragon rooted me in place. As the smog cleared, I noticed a cracked open black sphere embedded in the center of the shattered terrain. A cryochamber? A woman was slowly walking towards me with the confidence of a thousand warriors. I shrunk as a new alert appeared.

Warning: Heavily armed Skull entity in the vicinity. Defeat Skull Entity Ella, Ruler of Life, for level up.

Well, that was easier said than done, I groaned. Ruler of Life? That Title and jet black sphere could only mean one thing. I tried to hide that feeling of familiarity, the truth that I came from one of these. The Tree must have dropped me early, or this chamber was let down when it was not supposed to. Was it the General’s fault? There was no time to worry about it now.

My eyes widened at the sickening realization that the woman in front of me was an Elf just like me. Her eyes glowed blue, instead of my own, and she drew an impressive glowing great sword effortlessly from thin air. I attempted to draw mine from my hip, but realized I lost the sword in the middle of the calamity that sphere caused. Of course, I knew even as a level one elf that my non-existent luck was always going to drag me to my doom.

“You have the smell of the Ack’Sa on you, Stray Elf,” Ella spoke softly, but the thunder beneath her tone paralyzed me.

“And you smell like a human,” I growled defiantly. Did we have to fight? There was no way I was going to survive this, but her intent was clear. I was still gaining souls all around me. If I were to die here, I would die fighting. Perhaps if I tried the Death Spear I could at least put a dent in this all powerful Skull enemy and get away, but whatever aura she had unleashed was restricting my movements! Her slender body glowed with magic and Skills my alerts could not pick up.

“I shall free you,” she calmly told me and her massive blade blazed to life in blue flames. “And avenge my fallen Sister.”

Am I not your sister, too? I wondered. We were a part of the same race and she did not seem free herself. The only difference that we had were our two different Masters.

“Mother,” I called for her. “I guess I’m not coming home after all.”

Before the burning tree and the golden Palace, I allowed the Death Spear to pierce through my palm once more. Ella stood there, patiently, but I felt impossibly small compared to her strength. What other choice did I have? I summoned all my power and used all of my Souls to empower the Land Breaker Skill, watching the numbers shrink down to zero yet again. My own aura brightened against hers as my crimson runes burned to life. Something was watching me beneath my own melting skin. Was it the Ack'Sa? Was this dark aura embracing me his own power? It clashed against Ella's pure white aura. Death versus Life. As soon as the fleshy Death Spear manifested, I rushed straight to her, feeling my legs and feet shatter to pieces. Still! I had to fight.

“Planet breaker,” I muttered in the white silence. A hand seized my neck and I suddenly lost all my momentum. The Spear shattered to pieces, making my arm erupt into a bloody red stump. Heh, I could not even chuckle. This is where it all ends, huh? I stood no chance. I could sense the Death Spear was turning against me, as tendrils of flesh were pulling my wounds apart. So this was what happened when one overexerted themselves.

A pair of glowing eyes gazed at me as I dangled in her grasp. I could not sense any emotion from her at all. Put me out of my misery, I pleaded with her. It has been too long here.

“That was impressive, warrior,” she whispered in my ears. “But I am Level 30.”

Before my head could process what I heard, my energy burst apart and my world went white.

Of course, I let the damage tear me apart. This was a soldier’s fate all along.