The Guardian

Chapter 228: It’s Up to You

Aurora looked at Liam, who was half-drunk, and then watched Alice stepping out of the man’s shadow.

She had hidden in the shadow and the level of concealment was good enough that an S-Rank wouldn’t sense it... No; it was possible that, depending on the circumstances, more powerful individuals might not be able to discover her.

“Give me a minute. Being a parasite is always costly,” Liam muttered, plopping down on the couch.

“Yeah, take your time. Your performance was quite excellent.” Aurora said with a smile.

Approaching Arminio Petra was a dangerous move, but within everything was acceptable and it was better than she had expected.

Not only had Liam, with the closeness, been able to steal information quietly, but he also accomplished something they hadn’t expected.

“That idiot handed me his holographic watch to use... Ha, now we have him completely dialed in,” Liam said with an amused chuckle.

Stealing information was one thing, and infiltrating holographic clocks to maintain a direct connection was another.

The difference was greater when dealing with individuals like these who were powerful and had quite a bit of authority.

It was clear that the holographic clock was not only of the highest quality, but they could usually always go to a mechanic to beef up security by installing artificial intelligence to safeguard the information.

Even she had Liam, who supported her in securing her information, even if someone wanted to infiltrate her holographic watch.

In this case, it was the same, so Liam had to reach out to try to get information, but the result was better than expected.

“I’ll check everything and keep an eye on him. Since I’m connected, I can see his call history, messages, bank accounts, and everything he does with his holographic watch,” Liam detailed with a smile.

He had taken a risk by approaching, but even if the worst situation happened, Alice had been in the shadows to support him instantly.

Of course, she’d also been close by in waiting.

The investigation into the demonic attack was still continuing with the Church of Order at the lead, and unfortunately, they were running into snags.

The cameras in the tunnels and inside the entertainment area had ‘mysteriously’ stopped recording a day earlier.

That meant that no one knew who had entered the entertainment area and set up the ritual or the bombs.

Those who attacked could have entered directly in disguise or through a magic circle, the possibilities were multiple.

As for the outside, the cameras suffered interference and stopped recording for several minutes, which is believed to have been the period to set up the bombs.

Of course, they were not completely tied up, it just meant that there were no recordings.

Now it was time for the Church of Order to move in bringing in forensic specialists.

The ritual was not completely performed and undisturbed, so it was even possible to pray to the God of Time and Space to see what happened.

Although such a move might also bring no result.

After all, if the perpetrators disguised themselves when performing the ritual, the past that would be revealed to them would be just that... Perpetrators in disguise performing the ritual.

It was the same for psionics with rare abilities, such as those seen at the international tournament.

However, one thing was clear in all of this and...

“That bastard is related to this. It’s not only about his way of acting, for which he was suspected, but he has a very shady background,” Liam said in a serious tone.

That man had tried to destroy the ritual with a punch and even though she had avoided him and he had excused himself before leaving, he was too suspicious.

She didn’t know what the reason or aim was, but he was so suspicious that it made it obvious and if his background was added to it, then the possibility that he was up to something shady was also high.

The list was quite long, from rumors of assault, rape, murder in a fight, drug-related intimidation, and bribery.

In the Victrix Guild, Arminio was the black sheep and the only reason the previous leader accepted him and covered up everything he did was because having another S rank under his command was excellent for the guild.

When the previous leaders entered the portal and did not return, the one who took command by force was Arminio and now he seemed to believe that everything was in his hands.

The entertainment area where everything happened was part of the Victrix Guild and he was present, but he did nothing to stop it, trying to delay them from entering... The suspicions were already too much.

“Anyway, I’ve already informed Urfin... Well, Theodore, who is in charge of this,” Aurora commented with a sigh.

This event was shocking and stupefying, even for her.

She had reported it to Urfin, but he was part of the allied forces, and this job was not in his jurisdiction, so she ended up reporting to Theodore, who was put in charge of resolving this.

“We got carried away too quickly,” Aurora muttered, leaning back on her couch.

Her goal was only to tip the scales, but seeing this happen, she couldn’t sit still and investigated on her own, moving without hesitation as she always did.

“It’s okay. Demons take priority... Their heinous acts must be stopped,” Liam specified earnestly.

It wasn’t words to encourage her; he thought so too.

A demon-worshipping Larzura came the other day, and they were stopped, but now a ritual suddenly happened and it was directed at that evil goddess.

The coincidences were too much.

She was not the only one who had such thoughts, but the other members of the authorities also had it in mind.

That was why they activated the machines to stop the space movement in and around Constance City.

In this city, it was the same, and that effect extended for several kilometers around, which meant that no one could leave using magic.

Whether using magic circles, portals, a spell, or scroll... Everything was stopped, and the borders guarded and highly guarded.

As far as he knew, those ‘space disruptors’ stirred up the magical energy in such a way as to make spatial movements impossible or highly dangerous.

Perhaps there were ways to avoid it or try to evade it, methods she didn’t know about, but thinking about that subject was already too stressful.

And it was impossible for her not to be when, if she followed that line of thinking, the perpetrators could be far away.

“Thinking about the subject is useless,” Alice said, and opening a bag of chips, she pointed. “There’s too much going on that we don’t know about.”

Aurora and Liam nodded at that comment.

They had work to do, the destabilizing machines dwindled in priority because of recent events, but they were still active.

Theodore left such a matter to the Romanian authorities to move on, but their presence was something to be reckoned with.

Many died in the demonic attack and while quite a few were injured, all were already professionally cared for by healing mages.

Now, aside from keeping an eye on that man, the only thing that remained was a matter.

“Is there any news on the issue I asked you about?” Aurora asked after activating several barriers.

Liam’s expression improved, and he passed a report to the two.

“Just as I had thought, a guild captured goblins and sold them. The Derzis Guild got carried away when they entered the allied forces and despite the surveillance, they profited,” Liam reported carefully.

Aurora read the report and frowned.

“That’s the problem with having three forces together. They call it the ‘allied forces’, but all three have their ways of thinking, their goals, and their ideas. In the end, there’s no one dominant one to organize them,” Alice pointed out, shaking her head.

It was just as Alice had said.

The allied forces were not the force of ‘humanity’ and while it was true that mercenaries, adventurers, and heroes were enlisted into the forces, at the general level, they were not united.

They carried out the same operations, but that was about it.

Everyone ran their own affairs in their own way and with their own ideals, in the end, no one managed to determine who was the overall boss of it all.

That would not change even if the European Union or Russia, who were close by, joined in, it was quite the opposite.

If large countries formally came, not only would it cause diplomatic tensions over sovereignty and military intervention, but there would be another ‘boss’ wanting to run everything as they pleased.

It was even possible that an SSS Rank would not change the situation, it would only make it more tense because there was a more powerful ‘boss’.

That was why it was so easy for a guild to catch goblins and sell them.

There was a chance that other guilds would do the same, only more secretly and professionally... Erasing their traces.

The Falion Empire was strict in the southern area where they controlled and it was likely that the Church of Order was the same in the north, but in the west, where Romania was, it was all chaos.

If the allied forces had three ‘bosses’ who ran everything, in the Romanian forces everything was a mess where the representative went from the guild ‘The Custodians’ to the army or politicians.

Basically, there was another battlefield of interests where they beat each other to designate who would be the representative and get the most profit.

Focusing on profits made them ignore the work.

Aurora, looking at that, took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

“At least with this, we can tip the balance,” Aurora muttered with a hard expression.

She was in the middle of all this mess, worried about the abyssal portals, the goblins, and now demons, but somewhere else they were just making a sale to profit from everything.

The worst thing was that she didn’t even have a chance to realize that it was happening, it just happened... As if it wanted to make it clear that at the moment she was insignificant in the face of the sea of events.

“Exactly. I’ve also checked the Romanian army and they too, have captured goblins. While it was research, it was live and dead individuals, so that may also be useful in tipping the scales,” Liam commented.

“They talk about the research, but no one talks about the process... No, it would be better to say that everyone is ignorant of that happening,” Alice interjected and giving an amused smile, commented. “It would be interesting if concrete evidence is given... Like some recording from a lab.”

Liam’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Goblins had no legal status and were treated as monsters that could be cut open and investigated without any problems, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t shocking.

In that sense, even people who defended the existence of goblins refrained from commenting on the subject of research.

It was the double standard and human superiority in the face of a sentient creature like a goblin was.

“I’ll see if I can find anything,” Liam said, and looking at Aurora, he pointed. “I think if we want to tip the scales completely, we should investigate the Church of Order... They must have something. It will be risky and dangerous, but I think it’s possible for me.”

He was showing his confidence and assurance by pointing out that possibility.

Did the Church of Order have something? Surely, the Falion Empire was also in on the distribution of research material.

Urfin had told Aurora from day one, and they didn’t deny it.

Of course, in this case, they were ruled out of Liam’s investigation, for the simple fact that they were not impartial when it came to investigating.

They would not cause trouble for an ally, at least not with such direct hits.

They weren’t doing the right thing; they were just doing what they wanted... Trying to accomplish their goal, it was that simple, as hypocritical as it sounded.

Still, the investigation of the Church of Order was a heavy and dangerous business.

“You might be confident, but they might be confident in finding you... And if they find you, you’ll be in trouble, the Church of Order is powerful and like every church, it must have its bad and good things,” Aurora replied, and giving a sigh, she stated. “But mostly I don’t want to antagonize them.”

The Church of Order had its faults and its virtues, like the Church of Time and Space or any other great church.

The Church of Time and Space had been silent, although their paladins were present with an S Rank, they were still silent without giving comment or participating in this important event.

That was a major flaw in that organization that placed importance on ‘neutrality’.

Regarding the Church of Order, it was the same.

Aurora did not agree with that faction that wished to eliminate all demons, believing they were all evil, but that did not mean they could not cooperate as now.

Fight together to take the portal or try to see ways to support them in finding the perpetrators.

No one was completely good, and she fit among that group with their sins and dark side.

It was why she now had no cause to feud with the Church of Order, just different views, though nothing extreme.

“I understand. Anyway, I’m confident to finish the job,” Liam replied with complete assurance.

He was revealing his confidence completely, and it probably wasn’t arrogance, but ability.

There were powerful individuals in the field of the virtual, and in that sense, some of them were terrifying before magic or psionic came along.

“I’ll leave you in charge of that issue. Organize when to release the information to generate more impact,” Aurora said after looking at the time and then she specified. “Also remember that tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we’re meeting for dinner.”

“Right... I had forgotten...” Liam muttered and seeing them looking at him, he laughed and commented. “Work makes you lose track of days. Anyway, I’ll attend. I want to relax for a moment.”

Aurora agreed with all his words.

Christmas was a big celebration that was spread all over the world and ‘Christmas Eve’ was an event that quite a few people celebrated.

Gods were known to exist in this world and they were born out of mankind’s beliefs.

Some of these events were related to the gods of the earth or specifically to the ‘beliefs’ that gave it life, but while many of these religious festivals lost strength after the Great Cataclysm, others acquired another connotation.

Welfare, family, respect, or simply the wish for everything to change for the better.

The churches of the past, their dogmas, and doctrines along with those who called themselves the ‘voice of god’ on earth or were the heads of churches lost strength when the same gods they worshipped repudiated them.

Now the powers of the gods could be felt and showed when the prayers of the believers were answered, moreover, one could interact with those entities and the gods of the earth were no different.

However, the festivities began as something mundane that was adapted as a culture and lost its religious character over time.

Now it was simply that, a holiday to enjoy with family or, in this case, friends.

“I want to relax for a while too,” Aurora said with a smile.

Work was always heavy, but with what happened... It was even heavier.

Saying goodbye to her classmates and giving notice that she would go to training, she went to her room and when she lifted the barriers, her vision changed to boundless space.

Her old master was waiting with his sword in his hand, and his expression showed that he looked annoyed.

Since the demonic attack had happened last night, she had not seen him, but it was certain that he had been watching her performance.

“Your sword aura was weak,” her elder master said earnestly.

He was in such a serious mode that it made Aurora put aside all her other problems and look just as seriously at her old master.

Unable to deny his words.

Her light blue sword aura was weaker than she had used before.

Light blue was the color of barriers and that was embodied when she used her sword, a barrier that served to protect, but in this case, it was not as resilient as at her best.

“You are skilled in your art and we train that. Raising your sword again to complete your objective, but you have seen it, that won’t be enough,” her old master precised.

He was pointing out her combat with the goblins in the first operation that was performed.

At that moment, she used her sword without trembling and without question, doing what she had to do to finish her mission.

When she faced the S-Rank, she showed prowess with the sword, but not her sword aura, nor the ‘concept’ that had taken shape.

Basically, demonstrating her dexterity was not enough to defeat enemies of that level.

The sword’s aura was the culmination of a swordsman, the manifestation of their experience, of their art, and of their life... That was achieved when they reached A-Rank but acquired greater strength when they reached S Rank.

It was at S-Rank where one ‘quality’ was shown to be superior to another, it was a distinctive color that gave a peculiar effect, an ‘element’ and even something more abstract, like a ‘concept’.

She achieved the latter.

“I taught you to enjoy your sword art, and that you did. You learned, improved, and reached new limits, but in a moment you lost your aim,” said her elderly master suddenly, and coming up to the front of her, he declared. “Aurora, you are an artist.”

Aurora felt the weight of those words and the seriousness of her master.

He had been worried about her with the recent events and so this time he was talkative, something that didn’t agree with him, that he liked her to figure out on her own.

Was she an artist?

Yes, she was an artist, a painter who captured her emotions in reality, using her sword as a brush, and that was her concept.

Her light blue aura was proof of her desire to protect people, she related it to a mage’s barrier, and every time she swung her sword tinged by that light blue aura, she sought to protect someone.

“But you must feel your emotions deeply. You must believe in them to give them the strength you once had... No, to attain a greater strength,” said her old master.

Like an artist rendering their emotions into reality, her emotions needed to be strong in order for her aura to have greater strength.

But in the face of all those words, there was a problem...

“If I am an artist, why do I feel like I pick up a weapon every time I grab my sword?” She asked her master and, as if to undo her emotions, she pulled out her sword.

Her sword felt light in her hands, it was very light, but it was hard to call it a ‘brush’.

Her light blue, green, and red aura, which represented three different concepts in her mind, was extinguished and a colorless aura appeared, then became translucent.

“HA!”

She waved her sword forcefully at the boundless void, wishing to draw out all her emotions.

The pain of those who died, of the wounded, of the screams and chaos that happened in that demonic attack... That pain that brought back bitter memories of her past.

And with just one swing, a deep gash spread out in front of her.

It was like a painting broken in half and that was not done by a ‘paintbrush’ but was done by her sword.

Destructive and unstable, her cut had force, but it was hard to say that she was capturing emotions like an artist or that she was letting off steam.

What’s more, it gave the feeling that she didn’t wish to feel... And that was it.

A cut of someone who was moving forward, not feeling, not remembering, and not wanting to fall into darkness.

The old man sighed at the sight of her, it was as if he didn’t like the way she looked at her own art.

“An artist captures their emotions in their painting. Your painting is everything in front of you. However, also an artist can get frustrated and want to break everything,” said the old woman, laughing, amused and approaching with a smile, she pointed. “Your sword is not a weapon. You are.”

Aurora’s expression trembled as she heard those words that struck her deeply.

The old man glared at the old woman in anger, but the old woman gave a vigorous smile.

“Your sword or your fists are means to an end. It is up to you to choose that end,” said the old woman, and shaking her body, she declared. “Now let’s train. This time it will be late.”

Without waiting for an answer, that fierce fighter charged at her like a giant wanting to crush an ant.

******

“So, you don’t have any problems?” Aurora asked, looking at the beautiful princess projected in front of her.

“You’re complicated, but I’ll say it for the third time. I have no problem with you revealing things that put the Falion Empire in an uncomfortable situation,” Cithrel said and, looking at Aurora seriously, remarked. “This decision I make as the Crown Princess, it’s not just about being your friend.”

After leaving training with her masters after several hours, she spoke with her group to prepare for tomorrow’s party.

Where it was going to be held, what they were going to eat, what they were going to drink, who was going, and all those little details.

In the end, when they were left, she just asked Cithrel about whether revealing what they had researched was okay with her.

Maybe it was overthinking it, but sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between her goals and their friendship.

It was one thing for Alice to follow and obey her, but quite another for Cithrel to accept... The latter had an empire on her shoulders.

Aurora knew that the responsibilities and burdens were heavier than she imagined, that was why she didn’t want to make trouble.

“First of all, we have come by the design of the God of Time and Space to support humanity. It is a task not only for the Falion Empire but for all Terranovians. We organize everyone, but many others are also present and they are from different places with different nationalities,” Cithrel said and, seeing that she nodded, she commented. “But we agree on one thing... The God of Time and Space can see the future.”

Aurora was stunned at that comment, and Cithrel laughed.

“Just think about it, if the God of Time and Space can see the future as they say, then everything we do was seen. In that sense, it’s best to try to make things right,” Cithrel said with a smile.

She wasn’t a believer in that god, but it didn’t mean she didn’t respect it.

On Terra nova, the known movements of that Primordial God could be counted on one’s fingers... That was what everyone said.

Unlike other primordial gods, he was a neutral existence; he was time and space.

He was present everywhere, but at the same time, he was indifferent, as time affected everyone equally.

Aurora was silent, in truth, she did not wish to think of such all-powerful existences, but she understood Cithrel’s point.

“Besides, I’m on your side. I don’t want him to throw a tantrum and get me stuck here just because we did something wrong. While it’s nice the vacations and my frustrating quest, I have an empire to lead,” Cithrel joked with an amused smile.

Aurora chuckled at those words.

Doing ‘things right’ was just that, making decisions that were acceptable, all to avoid failing at her task.

That was why that joke made sense, if they failed and that existence didn’t let her know to come back, it was possible they would be stranded.

“Yes, you’re cute when you’re serious, but you become quite the beauty when you smile,” Cithrel indicated giving her a flirtatious wink.

She was tired for much of the video call because the old woman gave her such a beating, which strangely made her mood improve.

Now she looked strangely at Cithrel, who wasted no moment to flirt, but she didn’t deny that she felt shy.

She was good... Maybe too good.

“Boss, the target has started to move,” Liam reported from the other side of the door.

Aurora’s expression immediately turned serious, and she asked. “That fast?”

“Yes, normally I’d be alert, but... Maybe it’s someone too arrogant or he’s overconfident,” Liam replied, immediately puzzled.

Their target was Arminio, but for him to move now was surprising.

Last night, the demonic attack had just happened!

Finally, Aurora sighed, and looking at Cithrel, commented. “I have work to do.”

Cithrel gave a smile and took her leave, leaving Aurora to prepare for her work.