Chapter 129: Surfacing
Morning was here.
As an Anomaly, Dorian didn’t actually need much rest. He wasn’t quite sure how it worked, but he only needed to sleep if he was physically exhausted of energy, or if he needed to relax and refresh his mind from stress.
This allowed him to focus purely on trying to understand more about the Law of Wrath, to absorb as much energy into his soul as possible.
His understanding of how Laws work was rather incomplete as of right now. All he knew was that he could, in his Wrath Vampire form, feel this type of energy surrounding him in the air, and that by focusing on that energy, part of it was absorbed into his soul, making him stronger.
‘I need to learn more about the Laws.’ Dorian thought, rubbing his chin. He simply didn’t have enough knowledge.
He made a mental note to get on that as soon as possible. He’d focus on it after he finally reached the Ascension Ruins, and rescued Will.
“Hup!” He took a deep breath as he stood up, getting off his bed and heading to the door.
He was just about to open it when a voice rang out.
“..wa…wait!” A bedraggled voice, full of exhaustion echoed in Dorian’s ears. He turned around, looking at the Anomaly known as Aron in mild surprise. He’d thought the Anomaly had been unconscious.
“Hey! Are you alright?” When he’d checked over the Anomaly, or at least tried to, he hadn’t found any obvious injuries. He also didn’t have any real way to do anything for it, beyond slipping a basic healing Light Pill into its mouth.
He had a variety of Pills and Artifacts, won from that casino back on Paxital, but most of them were utility ones or other, more unique ones. Few of them had anything to do with healing.
Neither Mira nor Aiden had made any comment as to him capturing the Anomaly, and Leader had followed along without question.
“Yes…No…” Aron tried to stand up and failed, the metallic armor that covered his body trembling. He turned to speak,
“Where is Xaphan? Where is Mello?”
The slight, connected sensation Dorian felt when he looked at other Anomalies was present in his mind as he responded,
“I don’t know. I just managed to rescue you outside Tomo City, and we’re currently in a small inn inside.” He said carefully, his words measured.
“Damn.” Aron’s voice was quiet as he took a moment, breathing heavily.
“Thank you for saving me. Did you see any of the Vampires or Shades? The Borrelians?” Aron said, after a moment.
“No, we—well, actually.” Dorian paused, cutting himself off.
“Are you talking about a human that was half made of diamond? Named Taemin?” He responded.
“Yes! The Vice-Head of the Diamond Department! But there were no Shades?” Aron broke in, his voice full of eager excitement.
“No, no Shades.” Dorian shook his head. The sadness in Aron’s voice as he sighed at Dorian’s response was almost palpable.
“Hey, it’s not too late. Xaphan is another Anomaly like us, right?” Dorian had surmised, walking up next to Aron’s bed.
Aron simply nodded.
“Our souls twist Fate. I’m sure your friend won’t die that easily and will probably be drawn to you, in one way or another.” He thought about laying his hand on the Anomaly’s shoulder to comfort him, but decided against it. He didn’t really know how Aron’s body worked, with all the armor and whatnot.
‘I should look out for my fellow Anomalies. We are all in this together, in one way or another.’ He thought, nodding his head mentally. None of them chose to be reborn into this world, after all.
“Hey, Aron. You’re the first other Anomaly that I’ve really sat down and met. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions about our kind?” A quiet pause had ensued after Dorian’s encouraging words.
Aron looked up at him and sighed,
“I know little about our kind, but I’ll answer what I can. My body will need several hours to recover, I can’t really do much else.”
When the Flame Empyrean Turtle was about to arrive, it would be incredibly obvious. A literal earthquake would shake the nearby area for a few minutes prior to the beast surfacing. It was supposed to arrive sometime soon, but Dorian still had time.
Dorian nodded his head, his determination renewing.
“Excellent. My first question for you is about you. Specifically, about your memories…”
“…”
.. .. .. .. .. .. ..
The Blazing King Pavlo stood on the city wall, his eyes cool. Not a single spot of ash fell from the unusually clear sky today, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Awaiting the arrival of something momentous.
“Henry.” His voice thundered out, full of authority as he motioned behind him.
A large entourage of men and women could be seen, spread out on the wall near him. Most were human, but there were a few Aethmen and beings of other races mixed in. All of them were, at the minimum, at the Lord Class.
As a whole, Pavlo’s team was an extremely powerful fighting force comparable to some of the strongest elite teams of the Major Powers.
From this crowd, a red haired figure moved forward, clad in a nearly full suit of dark red armor. A large, metal scythe rested on the man’s back, gleaming sharply in the morning light.
“Your Highness.” Henry brought his arm to his chest, a powerful, Kingly Aura rising around him as he spoke.
“I can feel it. It’s about to arrive.” Pavlo’s voice was calm. After living here for so long, the Blazing King had gained a special awareness for the Flame Empyrean Turtle. The Magma Magic he studied was closely tied to his own experience in watching the Divine beast move or attack.
“Tell me again. The new arrivals here to explore the Ruins. Your men have planted spies in all the notable groups, correct?” His eyes flashed lightly as he turned to look at Henry.
“Yes, Your Highness. A large number of Lord Class teams have arrived, including several high ranking Mercenary Teams. The A- Ranked Team Black Chess, with the two Early King Class Bold Brothers leading it. The A- Ranked Team Cold Steel, led by the Middle King Class Fanged Sharkman. And the A Ranked Team Willow, led by the Late King Class White Snow.” Henry’s voice was almost rote as he repeated the information he had given to his leader before,
“Apart from them, the Holy Prince of the Shade Commune is on planet, as is the Vice-Head of the Diamond Department, and those members of the Aurelius Reapers that were fighting before. They appear to be embroiled in some type of battle of their own, so we are unsure if they will make any moves on the Ruins.”
“Hmm… Their presence here is probably no coincidence. Even if only one of their group is here for the Ruins, we will need to account for all of them.” Pavlo said, rubbing his chin.
“How about that weird monk?” Pavlo continued.
“Ah, the Late King Class Nameless Monk from the Free School of Thunder? He is still within the city, and likely to take part in the hunt for the Ruins.” Henry nodded his head sharply.
Pavlo shook his head, a small smile on his face,
“At least that school lives up to its founding father’s reputation. The Thunder Saint Kaladin was quite the odd fellow, and the members of his school are just as odd.” Pavlo shrugged. He then looked out at the distant boiling Magma Sea, just barely visible from the city wall.
“Have the men move out. It’s time to go.” Pavlo gave the command.
Instantly, Henry turned around and began to bark commands to the large group of fighters and Wizards. Those present began to split off into groups of five, diving into their own teams quickly.
Just seconds after giving the command, six separate teams of five jump off the city walls and began to head towards the Magma Sea.
Pavlo watched them go, his eyes calm.
“I can feel it. This is it. Destiny will arrive today. I will seize it.” Pavlo muttered, clenching his scepter tightly.
As the groups shot off towards the Magma Sea, a single robed figure in one of the groups of five turned around for a brief moment.
Mello took one look at the Blazing King and then looked around at the various teams and team members the powerful King Class Wizard had put together after countless years of effort and work.
He smiled and tugged his hood over, making sure it covered him completely.
“This should be just enough.” His words were a quiet whisper,
“I am coming for what you left behind…”
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Dorian talked with Aron for the better part of an hour. He learned a great deal from the Anomaly, including several important details he hadn’t known or wasn’t sure about before.
Only he had Ausra. All other Anomalies were left on their own, without anything resembling the special Soul Spell Matrix Genie he held.
All Anomalies had the same store of information in their Soul Spell Matrix, however, even if they lacked an Ausra.
All Anomalies had the ability to absorb other bloodlines and transform into that creature. However, if they wanted to combine bloodlines, they needed to absorb new bloodlines into their main bloodline in a slow, assimilating process.
They didn’t have access to the mystical, miraculous Genie that was Ausra, able to magically calculate how to combine forms and Evolve.
“…and that is all I can recall. I have no memory of any point of life beyond my appearance in a swordsmanship school, where I was first introduced to the mystery that is the way of the sword.” Aron’s voice was final as he finished speaking, settling back down on the bed.
“Wow, that is quite the place to have landed. I landed in a random forest.” Dorian nodded his head, responding.
It seemed he was the only that had kept his memories of his previous life as well. Neither Aron nor Xaphan, the fellow Anomaly that Aron was looking for, had had any other memories.
A few more minutes passed as Dorian asked a few other questions, not gaining any additional information.
Finally, he was out of queries.
“Nothing else?” Aron’s voice was inquisitive but tinged with exhaustion.
“No, that’s about it. I’ll let you rest. I should be back later, but you’re more than welcome to go whatever way you choose.” He’d found that he got along rather well with this Anomaly.
“Then rest I shall. However, would you mind doing me a favor?” Aron’s voice wavered as he spoke.
“Sure, if it is within my power.” Dorian nodded. The Anomaly before him had proven extremely useful and informative, the least he could do was repay that.
“We were traveling with a team of Vampires, intent on making contact with another Anomaly, one that was working with the Shade Commune.” Aron began, nodding his head.
‘Vampires? Oh? And the Shades too? It must be related to the Aurelius Family.’ Dorian instantly thought.
He was well aware that the Shade Commune and the Aurelius Family were currently at war with each other. It seemed that Aron’s presence here was related to that.
“Aurelius Vampires?” He decided to check.
“Yes, they were members of the Aurelius Family.”
‘Just like Helena.’ Dorian nodded.
“If you see them, please tell them that I am here, and that the Shades have Xaphan. I will try to meet up with them again, as per our planned agreement, here in Tomo City after I recover.”
“Sure, I can do that.” Dorian nodded his head a second time.
“But who exactly should I tell this to?” He didn’t know any specifics.
“Tell the one named He-”
Just as Aron was about to continue, an incredibly unsettling sensation rose over Dorian. The world itself abruptly felt eerie, as if everything around him was wrong.
“Huh?!”
A moment later, a loud, rumbling noise shook the air.
MMMMMMMMMMMMM
It was incredibly deep-toned and powerful, shaking Dorian to his very bones. This rumbling murmur was potent, echoes of ancient power rippling outward through the entirety of Tomo City.
“Great Lord! The Turtle is arriving!” From outside of the room Dorian had rented, Leader’s voice echoed, full of urgency.
Dorian’s eyes flashed as he went on full alert, blood pumping through his veins. His Wrath Vampire form’s senses were incredibly in tune, allowing him to sense the ancient power that was in that rumbling roar.
He turned towards the door, ready to leave. He stopped himself halfway, however, turning to look back at Aron.
“Who am I supposed to tell about your status?” He paused, motioning slowly despite the excitement boiling in his heart.
Aron’s face wasn’t visible behind his wolf-life metal armor, but his voice carried a tone of surprise.
“Oh, I thought you were going to race out before hearing.”
Dorian shrugged,
“No, of course not. It sounded like you were about to share vital information. It would be incredibly foolish of me to not take a few seconds just to hear it, so no misunderstandings or errors happen.”
Aron’s plated armor half seemed to shrug back as he responded to Dorian,
“The one you need to tell is an Aurelius Vampire Reaver of great power, one that goes by the name Helena.”
Dorian’s eyes widened as he heard Aron finish speaking, his heart dropping.
“Helena? Helena is here?”
“Great Lord! We must hurry! The Dragons have already set off! Most of the powerful presences in the City have set off as well!”
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
“Huff-huff.” Helena ran forward, jumping from rock to rock as she looked out at the Magma Sea before her. She was several miles from the city, near where the Flame Empyrean Turtle was predicted to appear.
She had followed one of the stone paths down to sea level. Around her, tens of thousands of boulders jutted up randomly from the Magma Sea, with huge gaps of lava and magma everywhere. The more stable stone paths were hundreds of meters behind her.
She turned around, looking at her sole companion.
Arial’s petite figure was wearing a plain brown dress and coat. Her hair was wrapped up and she hardly looked like herself, almost entirely disguised. Her face was expressionless for the most part, save for a glare she would occasionally send Helena’s way. Her Soul Spell Matrix and the energy within it allowed her to ignore the stifling heat.
Around her neck was a pale, silver collar. An enchanted Artifact known as a Sedai Necklace. It was connected to a bracelet Helena wore on her arm.
The Artifact was old and expensive, as well as nearly indestructible, something even most King Class Wizards most likely wouldn’t own. It was part of the treasures that had been prepared for Helena by the Aurelius Family prior to this mission.
The bracelet she wore gave her absolute control over that necklace. If she commanded it, the necklace would send out a searing and incredibly concentrated slice of energy at point blank range, right into Arial’s neck, killing her. Once the necklace was set up around someone, with preparation taking several minutes, it was nearly impossible to get off as long as Helena kept an eye on her.
It was brutal and it was cruel, but the trust Helena had for Arial was long since gone.
“Trajan… Where are you…” Helena muttered as she looked out over the vast expanse of magma and rock, the steam and ash rising off of it, clouding the air.
Several thousands of meters away from her, the flowing Magma Sea seemed to come to a standstill for an instant.
A moment later… the Sea began to quake. Small bubbles of air shot into the sky, forming small clumps and pillars of lava.
The Flame Empyrean Turtle was surfacing.