Chapter 559 - Mission Complete

While Viers was busy with his own thing, Paina was holding the key of this entire battle. As per Viers’ wishes, and her own, she was carrying Ciel to safety, to Viridis, their Biome home.

Dia’s Space affinity and mastery had grown. She was the infrastructure which allowed the teleportation across the continent possible for Viers and his allies. One could not stress enough how useful that was. However, even though Viers had invested greatly on her, she wasn't capable of teleporting things at will. Her teleportation remained plant based, only around grown Gate Plant.

So Paina was making her way back to the portals, the starting point of their invasion.

Incidentally, Paina wasn't a robust woman. Ciel was taller than her but Paina had no problem carry her in her arms. Nothing a little magic power couldn't fix.

Paina thought her ability to fly with her Fae wings would make the task a breeze. She was wrong.

“Aaaaaahhh!!!”

The Level 4 human in Fae body was threading through a needle as the cultists of Warbringers aimed for her. She was harassed by explosions and projectiles. It was fortunate that her water barrier was strong and the fragile cargo wasn't hurt, but it was bad for her heart.

Level 5s were able to fly naturally. Those below could fly using Artes or special abilities, however, those that were able to do so were rare and stood out. A big miscalculation on her part.

“Waaaahhh!” Paina screamed as she experienced the equivalent of a deadly roller coaster without any safety guarantee.

Paina wasn't a like the others in the club. She wasn't a warrior like Farley or Clarissa -or Goddess forbid- Viers. Yes, she had been through fights and escaped the jaws of death time and time again. She grew and possessed strength that was unattainable by most. Still, she never enjoyed battle. She just didn't have the mental mindset for it. She would fight when she had to or stood up for her beliefs, but that didn't mean she liked it. Paina had no taste of violence and wished to mend or build instead. It was telling that her Arte variety was leaning on defense, enemy control, buffing others, and healing.

Paina startled when a Level 4 cultist appeared in front of her and was about to trap her in a Domain.

Crap, crap, crap!

Paina was about to counter with a Domain of her own, but a helper came just in time.

Boram, in his fifteen meters tall Gigantes battle form, struck down the little cultist with his similarly gigantic hammer. The earth groaned from the blow and dust was everywhere. The cultists, surprisingly didn't become a stain on the ground. It was holding the hammer with both hands, suffering only minimal injury.

Paina observed Boram had surprisingly little injury at this stage of the battle. It had gone for some time and Boram fought in the thick of it. One would think becoming a giant meant taking more damage since he became a bigger target. However, it seemed Boram’s toughness increased too. The other Gigantes that Boram brought with him were wrecking havoc on the battlefield.

“Go,” Boram said to Paina before he and the cultist battled inside an emerging Domain, out of sight.

Paina trusted him. The young boy had become a dependable Pathseeker through and through. He had also become a Level 4. He could take on his enemy.

Out of the frying pan, the fire awaited her next. Flying demons besieged her next. But, before her water barrier broke, a covering fire game from the ground and shot the demons from the air.

“They are...”

Seeing those who came to her aid, Paina landed near them. The airspace was too dangerous anyway.

“Ciel!”

Damon, Bryan, Rachel, Wendy.

These four were Ciel’s teammates and friends. Paina met them in Valkut. Although, back then she was just a bodiless soul tethered to Viers just to survive.

They were about to swarm Ciel, worry written on their faces.

“Stay back!” Paina clutched Ciel tighter, fortifying her spherical water barrier. Her point came across and they stopped approaching.

“Thank you for the assist earlier,” Paina started. “So the Silver Legion has come. Are the rest of your army surrounding us as we speak? Do I have to expect to fight you all too?”

Viers already conveyed the possibility of the Silver Legion coming in later to sweep both the cultists and them in one fell swoop. Paina doubted it and said as much. Viers agreed, but the possibility exist, depending how much the hardliners control the upper echelon of the Church. After the Popess had gone missing, the internal power dynamic of the Church definetly change.

If the Church was wipe her friends and herself along with the cultist, Paina was going to fight the Church without hesitation.

Paina wanted to do the right thing, but she wasn't such a saint that she was going to accept her death.

“Hells and damnations! Girl, what are you on about?” Bryan looked annoyed.

“It's just us,” Damon the team leader clarified.

“Paina, right? We met at Valkut,” Wendy the team’s big sister said.

“Is it really you? We thought you’re dead during the chaos back then,” Rachel eyed her warrily. “Look, I think I kno what you’re worried about but we don't have to be enemies. We’re here to save Ciel.”

“Strange of you to be here right here and now. Unless, Freya told you?” Paina asked.

“She did,” Domain nodded. “She also told us Viers’ true identity: Tanael.”

“I knew that guy is a shady sod from the start. I always knew,” Bryan growled.

Viers IS the true identity, actually. These guys have it backwards.

“...Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but now’s not a good time. Let me through.”

“And letting you take Ciel to Tanael’s side? No!” Rachel protested.

“Ciel’s place is with us. We’ll look after her,” Damon said.

“Uhh, personally I don't have a problem with that but Viers might. You’ll have to take this matter to him. Meanwhile, I’m entrusted with Ciel’s care, and I’m not letting her out of my hands.”

Stolen from NovelPhoenix, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Out of the question! She's not going to be in another villain’s captivity!”

Bryan reached out for his sword. Paina readied herself for battle.

“Bryan, stop!” Wendy grabbed his shoulder. “We’re not here to fight them.”

“I’ll not fail her, Wendy.” Bryan grimaced. “Never again.”

A spear landed between Paina and the four legionaries, thrown from above.

“The moment Viers saved her, you already did,” Farley landed next to the spear. She was fully armored, face covered. They didn't reckoned her until she removed her helmet.

“Farley!” Paina let out a sigh of relief.

Farley and the others had defeated the cultists around here and secured the perimeter.

The legionaries just realized they were surrounded by Viers’ forces. They were not hostile, but depending on their actions, it would change in a heartbeat.

“Ah, the former cultist arrived,” Bryan’s emotion still high. “What do you plan to do with her?”

“Me? Nothing. Viers sounded the horn of war, and we answered,” Farley said, with some pride. “What about the Silver Legion? Viers contacted Freya, but the Church sent just the four of you?”

Bryan and Rachel took some offense in that.

“You’d take custody of Ciel against her will?” Damon asked, still trying to find a way out of this without resorting to blows.

“Then the Silver Legion should have the one to save her from the start!” Paina hissed.

The situation was a flimsy string stretched tout. A single wrong move and it would snap. Both sides refused to back off. Especially Farley and Bryan who refused to take their eyes of each other.

Viers arrived like a ghost. He was drenched in a fresh stench of battle. His execution of Red Eyes left a profound impact on the battlefield but it didn't reach this far back. The cultists were still trying to fight, and Viers’ forces was retreating. The Silver Legion was hampering the retreat, Viers went to take a look.

“Hm. Freya sent you. So that’s her play. No matter.”

“Viers, Tanael, one of the rising stars of villainy. Killing you here will be a blessing for the world at large,” Bryan squinted his eyes, fist clenched to the hilt of his sword. “I won't let you take Ciel.”

“You should have done a better job of saving her then, lover boy,” Viers scoffed.

The only thing noteworthy he remembered about Bryan was that he love Ciel. He wondered how Bryan would felt if he knew Ciel and himself was already married.

The guy had been friend-zoned and doomed from back then.

Rachel and Damon stopped Bryan from lasing out while Wendy steeped forward. “Viers, the Estellian Church formally request you turn over the custody of our fellow sister. She will be taken care of.”

Viers appeared in front of them using his real face, the same one from Valkut. From the start of this battle, he didn't bother of disguising himself. He knew at this point the Church already knew Viers and Tanael was the same person.

As he grew in strength and his acts creating bigger and bigger impacts, he couldn't remain anonymous. Not with the current identities, at least.

“In case you don't realize, I don't trust the Church. All organizations are corrupt and the Estellian Church is an organization. Also, no one become powerful without having done some dark deeds or morally questionable acts. That included your top leaders and saints. I just do my dark deeds more open than most.”

Viers closed his eyes, then opened them.

“Now stop barring my path or be made to. Ciel needs attending, and my patience is fraying thin.”

“I’d sooner die rather than letting Ciel rotting in a cultist’s dark hellhole.”

Viers saw the other three shared Bryan’s sentiment.

Viers then had a realization. They thought he was capturing Ciel, instead of rescuing a fellow member of the Arcanum Club, and that he was a cultist.

“First of, I’m not a cultist. I neither worship nor serve any of the Seven Devil Gods, or any demon. Second, I’ll nurse Ciel back to health. After that, if she wanted to go back, she would be free to do so. But I’m not giving her to a Church who let her home city burn, or left her in a dark dungeon for eight days until I found her. Whatever excuses you have, I care not.”

Two meteors crashed near them.

Viers moved in front of Paina and Ciel before the fall protectively. Farley stood by him slightly behind, with her spear ready.

The first meteor was Clarissa.

She looked like she had been to Hell and back. She was bloody and injured all over. She remained on the ground, but Viers saw her still breathing and moving a bit.

The second meteor was Tequila Dragon. The cultist Grandmaster. He looked pristine. Not a single ruffle on his clothes, not a single hair out of line.

The young-looking man walked towards Viers.

“You killed my precious apprentice,” his face was full of sadness and intensity.

Viers and the others prepared for a fight of their lives.

“WELL DONE! A magnificent battle, lad!”

Tequila’s face become all-smiles in a heartbeat. He reached out under his robe and pulled a bottle of liquor. What kind, Viers didn't have to guess. He removed the cork with his teeth, and poured half of it to the ground.

“Ahhh, Kito. Such a shame you left me so soon. I’ll miss you, you silly murderous boy.”

After grieving, he chugged the rest of the bottle and toss it away.

“Hmm. Hmmmm.”

He looked at Viers with great scrutiny. Then he reached out his hand. A golden coin on his palm. It had the picture of a dragon.

“For you,” Tequila said.

“What’s that?” Viers said.

“My token. You’re now basically the crown prince of the Warbringers, with authority second only to me.”

Viers could hear gasps but he only said two words. “I refuse.”

“Your refusal doesn't matter. I’ve decided. Since you killed my apprentice, you’ll now take his place. Make sense, doesn't it? Also, I ain't billing you for dicing up my Wonder. Be grateful.”

The Grandmaster flipped the coin to Viers with his thumb. Viers stepped to the side. He didn't catch the coin, as if it was a plague, and let it fall to the ground.

If Tequila Dragon was offended by that, he showed no sign of it.

“Oookay. I’m gonna go now. Lots of work to be done after this. Busy, busy.”

The Level 5 peak cultist flew and left without looking back. The rest of the cultists ceased fighting totally and began to retreat.

Viers walked to Clarissa, looking down.

“You alright?”

“I... haven't... lose... yet...” Her eyes were lacking any thought of giving up.

“What did I do to deserve you?” Viers looked at her compassionately and carried in a princess carry.

“Oi, Silver Legion guys, witness this and report to your higher ups.”

Viers kicked the coin to a far away sky with a soccer kick.

“What’s the name of their god again? Something with a C... Right! Calculator! Fuck him.”

Viers and his army went through the portals back home, and the four Silver Legionary didn't do anything to stop them.

***

Bresnavi Valley, Harkelan Empire.

In a camp, among her teammates, Freya read a letter carried by a white eagle for her.

It said that a few days ago, Ciel had been ‘saved’ by Viers AKA Tanael.

It was as she had seen in the Aurora Scroll.

Because she didn't go, she was able to rescue Cardinal Josephine. The snow leopard beastfolk was not ten away from her now. The Church was able to avert crises and mitigated disasters elsewhere.

They did so much good. As a whole, it was a plus for the world order and peace.

...So why is my heart aches so much?

Freya passed out.

When she didn't wake up in the morning, her friends got really worried.

“...Her psyche is damaged,” the Level 5 Cardinal diagnosed. “It is very serious. There are cracks on her Intio.”

“W-what do we do?” Cedric asked.

“...We need to seek the Phoenix. This is a problem of the heart and is beyond me. Make preparations. Our time is short,” Josephine said.

***

After the Battle Under the Three Suns, Viers and the others returned to Viridis and recuperated.

Viers spared no expenses to give Ciel and Clarissa the best treatment available.

After five days, Ciel finally awake.

“Who are you? Who... am I?”

“Huh. Well... So that’s how it’s gonna be.”

Viers took the new development in stride.