Chapter 386: Pursuit of the Wind Sage(4)

Point-of-View: Sylvar Miirphys

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I let out a sigh of relief as I reverted to my base form, before descending a bit lower...the fortress is completely burning down, with no Fairies left around to use Water Magic, they couldn't put out the flames fast enough. All they could do, was watch it burn. 

There's about twenty or thirty of them left from what I can see, a few of them had weapons pointed at me, but with no real conviction. It looks like most of them are conflicted over what to think anymore...just what I wanted. 

Sant accused me of spreading dissent and unease, which I hadn't done, effectively sentencing me to death without a shred of real proof. But now, as retaliation for trying to kill me, I'm doing exactly what he accused me of, pretty ironic...

"So, does anyone else want to try to stop me? Because I can guarantee that you'll die if you do," I warned them, putting away my weapon, "I don't want to kill any more than I have to, or rather, am forced to...so don't force me to kill you."

"But we...we would be disobeying Lord Laus and-." 

"And? He was a good ruler at one point, but can you honestly say that you like things the way they are right now? Well, I'm just repeating myself at this point, so I won't say anything more. I do have a message for Sant though...from this point on, there will be no more warnings, I will kill any and all pursuers sent after me with no mercy. But I highly doubt that'll be enough to make him stop, so tell him this...at the very least, have the decency to tell them that you're pointlessly sending them to their deaths, they deserve that much," I relayed grimly, before flying away as the survivors lost their will to fight, many of them dropping their weapons. 

There's no doubt that Sant will continue to come after me...and I'll kill every last pursuer he sends, I'll be a villain to the Laus Domain. A necessary evil to make them see what Sant is doing to them...the more of them that die in futility, the weaker their faith in Sant will become, until they lose all faith in him. And when that happens, he'll have brought it all upon himself... 

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Point-of-View: Bell Fairbairn

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"Unacceptable...the sheer incompetence!" Exclaimed Lord Laus furiously. 

"What is the matter, my lord?" Inquired Vokkeg cautiously. 

We had just been summoned by Lord Laus, he seemed confident that Sylvar would soon be killed, but in a matter of seconds, his expression soured, growing more and more agitated with each passing moment. 

He then went quiet, presumably communicating telepathically with Evie, but before too long, his expression went back to being agitated, until he eventually snapped. 

"I was right all along...Sylvar truly was spreading dissent and corrupting the minds of my subjects, he has tricked the survivors of the pursuit team into standing down!" He yelled, his face turning red with anger. 

"What do you mean 'the survivors', my lord?" I asked him with a frown. 

"Tch...the Fire Sage failed in her task and died, useless...the rest of the Fairies in the pursuit team were also killed, along with several others...twenty-seven of the ninety-six remain, but they are refusing to fight! How dare they refuse to obey my commands!?" He snapped furiously. 

"My lord, perhaps you ought to lower your voice, someone may overhear you-," Began Vokkeg with a grimace. 

"I fail to see your point. And I do not approve of your tone, Vokkeg," Growled Lord Laus threateningly. 

"If I may, Lord Laus, refusing to fight is the right choice...if Sylvar was able to defeat Evie and nearly seventy others in such short a time, then it would be unreasonable to expect less than thirty of them to stand a chance against him. They would have all died unnecessarily and-," I started to reason with him. 

"I care not, it does not matter. What does matter, is the fact that they disobeyed me. When they return, they shall be branded as traitors and executed immediately, is that understood?" He stated coldly. 

I could not believe what I was hearing...is this truly how he feels?

"But, my lord-!" Vokkeg and I both behan to protest in shock. 

"Enough! Lest the two of you wish to be considered traitors as well, do not speak on this matter any further. You in particular, Bell...you almost sound like Sylvar, he has clearly negatively influenced you, keep that up and I will have no further use for you," He threatened me spitefully. 

"My lord...do you truly wish to maintain this? The more of us that die in pursuit of Sylvar, the more unrest will spread-!" Vokkeg began, as I felt silent. 

"I said enough! This is your last warning. The spread of unrest is irrelevant, none will betray me...after all, that would make them no better than humans. Now, then, I shall recall the failures, the two of you will put together a new pursuit team! Hm, we will also need a new Fire Sage...very well, I suppose that there is no choice...until Sylvar is dead, we will delay our attack on Abyss indefinitely," Declared Lord Laus coldly... 

... 

... 

"You have returned...Lord Laus wishes to speak with you all, go meet with him immediately," I remarked as I greeted the survivors of the pursuit team. 

None of them said a word, simply nodding silently and heading for Lord Laus...I decided to follow after them, casting an invisibility spell over myself once they were out of sight, before silently following after them. 

Lord Laus declared that they were traitors to be executed, but I cannot bring myself to believe that he would truly do something so cruel...I must witness the outcome with my own eyes, otherwise, my confusion will only be compounded. 

I do not know what to believe anymore...Lord Laus has undeniably changed, but all I want to see where would he draw the line. In the past, he would occasionally reprimand those who would make mistakes, but even then, he was never harsh...back then, even imagining that he would execute one of us was unthinkable. 

Now, then...it looks like they have just arrived, the guards are letting them in. I quietly and quickly zipped around to the back of the fence surrounding Lord Laus's area, before silently scaling the fence and peering over the top. 

I could not hear a thing, Lord Laus had cast a sound-blocking barrier over the area, therefore anyone outside would not be able to overhear anything or eavesdrop. 

But I did not need to hear what was being said to surmise the situation...the survivors of the pursuit team were on their knees, pleading with Lord Laus, while he was acting cold and disdainful. 

Please...just show me a glimpse of the old Lord Laus, just for a moment-...my hopes were then shattered, as I watched in horror as he fired out a Destruction Magic blast at them, killing them all in a single, merciless blow. 

Before I knew what I was doing, I was running away at full speed, not caring that my invisibility would wear off as a result. Conflicting emotions were overwhelming me, as I struggled to accept what I had just witnessed...and all I felt was a sense of dread, that things were only going to get much worse from here... 

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Point-of-View: Sylvar Miirphys

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"I-I have nothing to say to you!" 

"Oh, come on, don't be like that," I responded in a blank tone, "All I want to know is what today's date is...tell me that and I'll spare you, 'kay? That's a great deal, you'd be foolish to turn it down." 

"V-very well, t-today is the 10th of December!" Came the desperate reply. 

"Is that so...huh, wow, so it's been five months already," I let out a hollow chuckle. 

"Y-you will spare me now, as you promised!" 

"Hm? Oh, right, I did say that...tell me, do you know what 'sike' means?" I asked him blankly. 

"What?" 

"Sike," I remarked, slashing his head off with my spear, as I let out a weary sigh. 

Unbelievable...it's seriously been nearly half a year? It's felt way longer than that...I don't even know where exactly I am anymore. I wonder, just how much of this planet have I explored over the past several months? 

Sant never stopped sending pursuers after me, though he never sent another Elemental Sage after I killed the last Fire Sage. With all the fortresses they've built, the Laus Domain's reach extends pretty wide, and as a result, I ran into pursuers about twice a week at least, on average. 

I lost count of how many I've killed a while ago, because after a certain point, I stopped feeling anything when killing them. I tried looking for hiding places, but no area was good enough to stay hidden in...they'd find me again eventually. 

Even maze-like caves weren't good enough, they simply destroyed any such places...I was nearly crushed by a cave-in once, and that was when I realized that hiding isn't an option, all Sant needs is a general idea of where I am, and then send a couple hundred of his minions to comb the area. 

Protective and detection barriers had been cast around the fortresses too, making it all the more difficult to sneak past them. I'd just finished killing a group of about twenty or so pursuers, feeling pretty much no emotion whatsoever as I slaughtered them. 

I made it clear to Sant that I won't be sparing a single one of them, and that's exactly what I've done, but even so, he continues to send more after me. Of course, that's exactly what I expected him to do, but even so, I've probably killed a couple thousand of them at this point, at the very least. So all he's really doing is weakening his forces. 

But more importantly, each group of pursuers I encounter are more half-hearted and conflicted than the last. The longer this carries on, the weaker Sant's command over the Laus Domain will be...it shouldn't be too long now... 

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