33 Death after Death

Linneia sighed as she looked at the energy level of their recombinant suits; they were now less than half left. The energy was exhausted after hours of continuous flying.

They have finally lost their pursuers some time ago and now were flying towards the mountain ranges at a higher altitude with increased pace.Linneia was anxious with the abnormal effect of the present environment towards their recombinant suits. Although the suits could be automatically recharged by absorbing sunlight, Linneia noticed that the energy has not recovered at the usual rate.

[It must be this damn sun!] She thought worriedly. She planned to find a secluded area within the mountain ranges to rest and recharge. However, the mountain ranges were still far from view, which puzzled Linneia greatly. [Should I still press forward or make a big detour towards the Ancient Artifact?]

Right now, what she needed to do the most was to report back their findings about the inhabitants of this world. Their situation right now was like being caught in between a rock and a hard place. She needed to bring everyone over to save them from planetary destruction, but the giant race inhabiting this world was extremely savage and wouldn't accommodate any 'guests'. This can be seen from how fierce they tried to eliminate outsiders without questions.

While the gears in her mind were rotating and thinking of solution after solution, they approached a somewhat distorted hazy region midair.

Linneia sent over a soldier to scout the hazy region before proceeding. Hewas horrified to find that the mountain ranges were actually a gargantuan two dimensional projected image! However, he couldn't observe anything from the other side of the projected image.He quickly reported the finding to Linneia and the rest.

After a moment of hesitation and discussion, they decided to take the risk to enter the area. The projected image was so large that they needed an extremely long time to make a detour. The other way around would be to double back from their original destination, which will mean certain annihilation. Without a good choice in hand, they could only hope for a miracle and find a more tolerant 'host' to explain their intention.

Once they flew passed the image, a large metropolitan as far as the eyes could see was in front of them. A loud siren was blaring, most probably they have triggered some sort of alarm by crossing over the image.

From afar, a team of giants were approaching at high speed to inspect the breached region. "Everyone, land now! We need to go into hiding!" The six of them quickly landed into the suburb area to find shelter.

...

"Great Grandmaster, the Hunter team failed to wipe out all of the intruders. According to intel, there are still six remaining. They seem to move towards the outer military base area."

The one being called as the 'Great Grandmaster' paused its movement and asked, "Do you know their origins? What are their characteristics?"

"This humble one isn't too sure. The Hunters said that they looked like us, but much smaller. One of them could even speak our language!"

The hands of the Grandmaster trembled a little. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"However, although they are small, they're extremely strong. A number of deaths had surfaced from their direct confrontation. Right now, the Hunter Teams are in need of blood to avenge the fallen ones." The person bringing the news reported solemnly.

Silence ensued.

The attendant waited and waited until its jittery hands started to sweat. In its mind was a jumble of questions and speculations. At a time when it wasn't able to endure the silence anymore and wanted to ask the glorious being in front of it, it suddenly heard a reply, "Ah... Tell them to apprehend these people first. Don't kill them."

Unsatisfied with the decision, the attendant added, "But, but, Grandmaster, they have killed our people. The hunters would not listen to me and stop."

The Grandmaster raised its hand to stop the attendant from continuing. It sighed deeply and added, "Send over my command in my name then. Before that, their survival will depend on their luck." It shook its bald head in weariness and sympathy.

...

A hand signal to stop was shownto the team of hunters following behind Loncherns at a fast pace. Everyone gathered around it with a knowing expression; it showed that they had gotten a new instruction from the higher-ups.

"New instruction from the top. Apprehend the aliens without killing them." Locherns explained with an ugly face. It had never felt such an unjust wrath since the last invasion war with an alien species which caused the death of its whole family. Everyone similarly showed an uneasy expression.

"Are we really going to follow the instruction, Leader?! One of them has killed the younger one in my family!" Another one in the team spoke with an unwilling anger. It could be understood since its relative was the only one left since the last war.

"It's the command from our Grandmaster. Without it present, we would've been invaded again and again after the last war with the foreign aliens who tried to invade us from the heavens. We need to at least follow its instruction although only on the surface." Loncherns quietly spoke. After a short pause, he continued, "However, if they were accidentally killed while trying to escape, it's not our fault." Loncherns stared at its comrades with a vicious sidelong glance.

Another team member grunted unhappily, "Curse the damn hell's gate! If only we could've just blow it up! These aliens wouldn't come over one after another!I still couldn't understand how these new ones enter since the gate had been sealed."

"Who knows what kind of technology they have with them. Although they're small, never underestimate them. If not, our fate will be the same as Team 9." Another voice added.

"They won't get the chance. I vouch for it." Loncherns placated the rest while gripping its lance tightly with murderous intent swirling in its eyes.

Everyone had gotten the idea unanimously and proceeded with another sinister goal in mind. Too many deaths had numbed these hunters and made them only see revenge and blood. Only a few hundred years had passed since the last invasion war, and it was still fresh in their minds as giants naturally had long lives. They knew, it was only a matter of time before the small group of aliens who crossed over from the hell's gate would be found and apprehended. After all, this area was the military base of the Kohitens. It was built over the remains of their collapsed empire as a watch for outside invasion. Not a single civilian was present here.

...

Melati had been on the move with the team for more than four hours in a row.

She had forcefully put her poker face on; the serene-like expression she used to exude. It was not the time to grief for the death of that person. She knew duty always comes first. However, she couldn't shake off the bitterness she felt in the depth of her heart. It had nearly affected her judgement. Unknowingly, that person had managed to worm his way into her heart and her mind. She had always given him the cold shoulder with a sweet expression. Now, she knew it was too late.

Melati steeled her heart and tried to focus. She was the only notable combatant in this team who could pose a threat to these giants. Their ammunition was not that effective against them. Moreover, they have not yet secured a safe location to regroup and rest.

Observing the faces of the other team members who had gotten paler by the minute, she felt lost for once. Since they have entered the city, they had not managed to find the way out. It felt like they were running in circles inside a formation. Or, maybe, the city grounds were extremely huge beyond compare. If only Madam Helen was here. The Senior Witch would've found the best strategy every single time in a seemingly hopeless situation. She was not as competent as Madam Helen in this aspect. She brushed off this thought and determined to do what she could do best, which was being useful by killing the enemy as much as possible.

Currently, Melati lead everyone ahead as a vanguard. The other two witches in their team were assistant witches at best, especially the extremely pale little Frieda. She knew, the little one wouldn't be able to make it with a frontal confrontation with a group of murderous giants. Without himpresent, the delicate balance had been broken. Now, she understood how precious his presence in the team was; it was as much as how his absence affected her heart. His calm smile and exasperated nagging over the late General kept on replaying in her mind like a continuous loop.

Nevertheless, she knew they were fighting a losing battle. Hence, she tried her best to lead the last of the exploration team to safety by making detour after detour to avoid direct confrontation with the giants with the help of Frieda. The little loli will keep on relaying the whereabouts of the giants' clusters using the internal comms of their suits. Somehow, the giant clusters were moving in a group of five which increased their difficulty. Everyone was taking turns piggybacking the little girl while she did her job so that they could move swifter.

After moving stealthily in between the grid-like arranged dome shaped buildings, the team came upon a large rundown half elliptical building. There were numerous damaged areas on this building, most probably from being bombarded by something, but as a whole, it looked quite intact. Taking the advantage when two groups of giant patrols swapping on the left wing of the building, they slipped inside through one of the small broken areas without making a sound. They have mutually agreed to catch their breath inside Frieda's personal 'Rabbit' in this location before going on the move again. The other two "Rabbits' were left to Professor Rogers' team and the military personnel on the other side of the artifact.

Once Melati and co. entered inside the area, they wade through layers after layers of loose curtain-like cloths with a plastic-like texture only to find that they were inside a humongous weapon cache!

Rows after rows of gigantic lances were neatly arranged systematically while a number of unknown black discs were stacked at one corner. At another side was filled with miniature-sized dark red cauldrons, suspended individually inside a steel frame cube-like structure. A seemingly cold air was emitted from a row of the closed cauldrons but was limited to within the confinement of the steel frame. Another row was filled with fire-like liquid, threatening to spill, but was similarly confined within the steel frame. On another corner of the warehouse-like weapon cache, they found something like a large feathered pen-like item inside three separate ornate boxes made from unfamiliar material. The glow from the boxes was what attracted their attention to have a look inside. There were only three of them as compared to the rest.

Melati gave a questioning look tinged with worry towards the crown princess. Linneia's face was devoid of color as she came into a sudden realization, "This is not a city! This is a military base!" Her legs threatened to turn to jelly. It's like escaping from the jaw of a tiger only to enter the jaw of an alligator.

"What shall we do now, Princess?" Melati asked after a short pause.

With the current revelation, everyone was facing a sense of impending doom. Will they be able to escape?

Linneia's slightly trembling fingers accidentally touched one of the feathered old fashioned 'pen'. The plume was surprisingly sharp as opposed to how it looked!

A tiny prick hurt Linneia's gloved finger as the blood dripped on the pen-like item, staining it a little before she could do anything. It happened so fast before she could even pulled her hand away.The blood stain immediately disappeared, as if being absorbed by the 'pen'.

The princess hurriedly checked her finger after canceling the alarms blaring inside her suit indicating an outside contamination. Once she took off her glove, she noticed a tiny but deep prick was made. Blood kept on flowing, staining the ornate box together with the tiled flooring. She quickly took an antiseptic spray given to her from one of the soldiers. Before she could seal the open puncture wound, she felt a strange tingling on her injured hand.

In front of everyone's unbelievable gaze, the large 'pen' suddenly floated gently towards Linneia, resized to fit her palm, and automatically landed on her left injured hand. Before she could react, the 'pen' sunk inside her skin and totally disappeared from their very eyes. Melati quickly prompted Linneia to initial body scan in case poisonous substance had invaded her body.

While the scanning process took place, she turned to the little girl and asked, "What is going on over here?! Frieda, did you do something?" Frieda was the only person in their team who could make something disappear by teleporting them. Their crown princess, who just absorbed Raksha's powers was still digesting it. Additionally, she still needed to understand the new power to be able to use it. Due to time constraint from being hounded nonstop, Linneia have no chance to try it.

"I didn't do anything! I swear, Big Sister!" Frieda denied with a drained expression.

Linneia patted Frieda's head to calm her down, "It's alright. I'm fine. The recombinant system didn't detect anything strange.."

Frieda suddenly interrupted Linneia's word, "Sister Princess! I can see a lot of them coming this way!" The high number of aura agglomeration made her extremely scared. It started off with tens of them, but rapidly increased to nearing a hundred!

"They're coming to this side!" In her mind, she could see an increasing number of aura congregating on the left side of the building.

They started running to the right side of the building.Since the building was simply too huge, they ran as far as four kilometers to reach the other end. Frieda was so shocked when she saw the auras similarly moved towards the right!

"Oh no! They know where we are! Now everyone was moving our way!"

Melati made a solemn expression, "Are you sure, little one?" She needed to make sure before proceeding any further.

"Yes!" An unmistakable fear was reflected from the sweet little girl's eyes.

Melati closed her eyes before speaking, "Princess, I think, they might have got me. I'm the only person who had made direct contact and killed their people before. There must be some kind of tracking method attached on me. Let's part ways here. I suggest you make your way towards where we originally enter as I distracted them all to this side."

Fear with an unwillingness was finally seen from Linneia's face. Her calm demeanor had totally disappeared and filled with anguish and hopelessness.

"Sis Melati.."

"Don't waste time anymore." Melati grabbed Linneia's gloved hands with both of her own while giving the princess her warmest smile to calm her down.

"Let's just give our all. If we failed, we'll die retaliating." Linneia's eyes started tearing up; she couldn't stop them from flowing. The rest of the soldiers nodded in agreement with conviction in their eyes. Even little Frieda was clinging to Melati's neck while drowning with tears and snot, dirtying the internal compartment of the helmet. Melati was piggybacking her at the moment. Right now, she already disregarded the clusters of auras approaching fast from outside.

"What are you talking about?! Especially you three! It's your responsibility to take care of these ladies after this! And Princess, don't forget. If we die, no one can save our people!"

"But..but.."

Melati slapped the princess' face loudly to give her a wake up call. Although the helmet protected Linneia's head, the impact rattled her.

The princess was so stunned until she stopped moving. "Know your responsibility. Remember those promises from before." She lectured the princess sternly.

She then sighed and held the princess' shoulder firmly, and slowly placed the hands on top of her head after she removed her helmet. "Take my gift now."

...

Linneia, Frieda and the three soldiers moved stealthily under the cover of Melati's suicidal attacks. She had somehow activated a number of random weapons from the weapon cache which resulted in massive explosion. After that, while she was moving around, she traced the gigantic lances with her bare hands to teleport and embed them en masse into the chests of giants encircling her before the giants could use their wizard-like magic sonic wave attacks.

At the end of the day, Linneia adamantly refused absorbing Melati's powers despite her exhortations. She was still human. Taking away a witch's ability will resort in her death, either slower or faster. She believed Melati could survive the encirclement and got away. The princess still hoped that they could regroup again once they manage to escape the military base ground. Due to that, they have agreed to a rendezvous location beforehand.

Frieda led the rest away while being carried by one of the soldiers. They moved cautiously under the cover of buildings and blind spots while staying out from the path of incoming giants, avoiding them with great difficulty due to the sheer numbers. All of them were hurrying to Melati's location which made them somewhat distracted and less guarded. Specific information of their whereabouts was not yet properly disseminated.

Only due to this the group of five were able to safely escape the encirclement.

Meanwhile, as a covert assassin from Sanctuary 3, Melati easily escaped the giants' pursue after she made such a big mess of the weapon cache. However, she kept on being hounded again and again after some time.

[I need to do something to remove whatever that have made them able to detect my location.] She scrunched her brow and clenched the customized 'Rabbit' given to her by little Frieda. Melati looked left and right before she disappeared into the darkness.

A few minutes later, a group of giants rushed over, panting. "The alien escaped again!"

"How about the others?! I can't see the rest with that alien!"

"They have not spilled the blood of our race; hence we can't detect them with this tracking formation. Let's wait. Some of them will surface again soon!"

...

The most troublesome woman was finally away. Right now, the princess was practically vulnerable. Danai hurriedly follow the two witches. She had been in this covert mission since the very beginning of the exploration team initial phase. She had killed off the soldier she'd transformed at the last military base and had stayed very low keyed since then.

A simple observation mission had turned into a nasty one after two years as 'observation' turned to 'assassination'. She got her commands just after the announcement of the Ancient Artifact's function was released to Neverwinter. As an agent who believed in military might, the artifact was a form of escape from the inevitable. Its presence had turned the citizens and witches alike into wimps. She shared the same sentiments on everyone should be working together in preparation of the biggest war the planet had ever faced since the War of Divine Will. This divide will only lead to a weakness in military operations later.

Looking at how murderous the Kohitens were made Danai believed her actions to be right. She needed to end this farce and return to the other side. The corpse of the crown princess will serve as a fuel for every citizen alive to struggle hard in the incoming battle. At least they will die in dignity without shaming their ancestors.

[For the greater good.] She affirmed her conviction. Outwardly, she had her camouflaged masculine solemn look on. No other emotions which could betray her inner thoughts was shown.

..

It has been 28 hours since the five-man team was on the run. Most probably, they were nearing the end of boundary for the military base as a reddish mountainous area was seen not too far ahead. Linneia was glad that the view of the nearest mountain was getting clearer and bigger. It showed that it was real and wasn't just a play on their sight. She estimated that they needed less than five kilometers to reach the mountainous region. However, what worried them the most was the barren landscape in front of them. There was not a single blade of grass present, nor a single boulder, for cover. Strangely, not a single shadow of a giant was present in the vicinity. It made their internal alarm bells rang loudly in their heads. From this point on out, they would've exposed themselves if they just waltzed in without any plans.

Hence, huddling together inside the nearest abandoned wreckage of a building, they agreed to rest for a few hours before making the final push towards the mountainous regions through the barren land with their recombinant suits. Little Frieda looked like she was going to collapse soon. The continuous usage of her ability had drained her physically and mentally. Drafting the last bits of it, she made a last check on hostile auras from the surrounding perimeters for confirmation before dunking her bottom on the dusty floor tiredly. She gave a thumbs up towards the other four and immediately closed her eyes to catch a power nap.

Linneia could only shook her head with a bland smile. She felt bitter inside for being so useless. She had to depend on a small girl to avoid the giants. Her biggest worry was Melati's indirect assistance in attracting most of the pursuing giants to her side. She had not received any response back since then. She pressed a button on her wrist and answered a few conformation questions before the suit automatically dismantled from her body and rearranged itself into a belt. two wrist bands, and outer boots. Looking at the suit only reminded her of her great grandfather's calm face. She needed to be more like him. Taking off the thick boots made from pieces of recombinant suit, she sat crossed legged on a concrete-like flat surface and massaged her own feet tiredly. Seeing their princess took off her own suit with ease, the other three soldiers followed suit.

Linneia could only smile at their actions. She knew, like her, everyone was not accustomed with wearing the suit for extended period of time. Only little Frieda could sleep in the suit as she was too tired to think of anything else. Taking a warm meal from the hands of a soldier, she gingerly ate with a feeling of gratefulness. Since little Frieda was asleep, her warmed meal was left in front of her. Everyone had their own ration in silence.

One soldier took the first watch, while giving the others an hour's worth of rest. With the last 'Rabbit' in the hands of Melati, they have lost the comforts of a base. However, she was unperturbed; Melati needed it more than all of them. Right now, they could only make do and find a suitable position to get some rest in between the wreckage.

...

Frieda opened her weary eyes to the smell of food mixed with rusty iron in the air. Her limbs were still aching here and there as she had fallen asleep without removing her recombinant suit combined with her already fatigued body.

Her first sight fell on the compressed reheated meal in front of her. It was already cold. Her confused eyes glanced over her surroundings to find the source of the strange smell only to noticed two soldiers was slumped in a pool of blood around ten meters away from her. Their throats have been cut deeply and the blood was still gushing out. However, they were not struggling; it's like they were sleeping.

She stopped herself from screaming immediately! They were under attack from an unknown enemy right now!

[Sister Princess! Where is she!] She can't find the princess in her immediate surrounding. She pushed herself up weakly to get a better view. She knew her magic reservoir was severely lacking right now. With what was recovered during her rest just now, she might only observe for incoming hostile aura for three to four times. She could teleport most probably for a single time.

Raising her head up a little higher, she saw the last brother soldier who piggybacked her just now was on the verge of stabbing the sleeping princess at her neck. Without even thinking, she closed her eyes instantly and summoned the last bit of her strength to teleport in front of the soldier in the hopes of stopping him on time.

...

Linneia's deep sleep was interrupted by a splash of warm liquid drenching her face and half of her body. A dead weight fell on top of her which has jolted her wide awake in a split second.

"Frieda! Oh Frieda!" Tears streamed down her face, diluting the red blood gushing out from the little loli's heart.

The assailant was frozen on the spot. It was an accident. Danai wasn't planning to hurt the little girl since she was the only one who could act as a radar to avoid incoming hostile giants. The rest of the soldiers needed to be disposed off to avoid unwanted retaliation. However, the girl had appeared too sudden, she hadn't the time to stop her stab.

Linneia cradled the little girl into her lap. "Sister Princess, it's my turn to leave you. It's all up to you now." She pulled Linneia's hand with trembling tiny fingers and placed it on her head. Both of them knew she was asking the princess to harvest her ability. Linneia's flooded vision suddenly turned white. She lost all of her senses at that moment.

The stress combined with anguish from the death of Frieda had triggered an unknown ability within her which she had never possessed before. Particle of light started to congregate around her and fluctuated with undulation; like a breathing organism. Linneia was currently in a half-conscious state. Tears of blood were leaking from her iris-less eyes. Since Linneia was in a trance due to being in the middle of comprehending an ability, Frieda used her mental power to help initiate the absorption process with her dying breath. Frieda's consciousness faded once the ability absorption process started.

Shit. I need to stop her now! With every new addition of power, Linneia's magic core will mutate into a stronger one. Danai was afraid she couldn't contend the Crown Princess of Graycastle. She already had a surplus of Raksha's power before. The assassin-witch pounced towards Linneia with a bloodied knife in her hand but was stopped by a large energy field generated from the absorption of ability on Linneia's side. Frieda's power was extremely strong and astonishing.

A gigantic pen suddenly appeared midair and penetrated Danai's body making a clean gaping hole followed by a splurge of bloods and innards. In front of Danai's shocked gaze, the pen resized to a smaller shape and re-entered Linneia's hand just like that. It was the missing giant-sized plumed pen they saw inside the weapon's cache! Her body was nearly cut to two pieces as she died with a shocked expression on her face…

…

Linneia stood up after the absorption was over. Frieda has already turned into particles. The dead soldier had turned into an unfamiliar woman with the same shocked gazed.

She knew the woman must be a witch. She whispered sadly, "Why?"

She walked up to the woman's corpse and placed her hands on the woman's head.

"This is compensation." Similarly, the woman's corpse turned to particles. Linneia knew the magic core within a witch dissipated at a different rate for different individual. Her instinct told her that she had managed to salvage half of the woman's dissipating magic core. She was still confused on how the woman had died. In fact, the absorption process was the best opportunity to kill her off.

She could already hear the steps of the giants. She immediately activated her recombinant suit and dashed out through the rubble at full speed!

...

The giants kept on pursuing Linneia as she pushed the suit at full throttle, crossing the five kilometer mark. Surprisingly, a kilometer further in, all the giants suddenly stopped moving. Linneia made a bewildered look and quickly fly forward into the mountain range.

Unknown to Linneia, they have entered the meditation region of the last Kohiten's protector, Grandmaster Olfafas. The Grandmaster have prohibited everyone from entering except for a selected few a long time ago. Normally, all the giant would've followed the unspoken rule of not traversing the Grandmaster's personal ground, but due to all the vigor and bloodlust, they had simply lost their reasoning and trudged forward.

Once being stuck by a gentle barrier, they had finally regained their sensed. One by one, every single giant started to prostrate on the dirt floor and knocked their heads repeatedly without making a sound.

Linneia had missed the prostrating spectacle made by the giants. If not, she would've turned back and risked braving through them.

As she reached at the foot of the mountain, a deep voice resounded in Kohiten, "I've been waiting for you for a long time, little one."