Anino 2

"Did you just say one of them turned into Anino?"

Confusion and unsettling anxiety of the unknown suddenly began creeping Lyrica out. If they are talking rationally, no if they are discussing it in her former world—Earth, then the word "Anino" would mean a "shadow" or perhaps a human shadow for example. But of course, this is Alteria, so there's no way the Anino they mentioned is something that she had in mind currently.

"C-Can you tell me more about this Anino?" Said Lyrica towards the woman. "How did one of the four heroes become an Anino like you just said? What is it exactly?"

"Anino is an entity born out of one's negative emotion."

"Negative emotions, you say?"

"Yes, they also grow and become stronger by feeding on their host's negative emotions until they eventually take over."

Right then, Lyrica recalled what the voice or Mousai told her a few days ago.

"Well, negative emotion isn't the direct source of dark magic. Instead, it creates an ENTITY which is the real source of one's dark magic."

'So they're called Anino, huh... It finally makes sense now.'

"It seemed that the hero had been harboring negative emotions even before they came here in our world," One of the people interjected. "Which is why the Anino is powerful."

"But although it took the whole town to be destroyed, king Uruk was able to defeat it alone." The mother of the three girls added.

'What? The Hari was able to defeat an Anino alone? This is contrary to what Mousai told me before.'

At the time Mousai was informing Lyrica about dark magic and negative emotions, the goddess emphasized how strong and powerful Anino was that even a demon would have a hard time dealing with it. This statement of Mousai brought a question to Lyrica's mind:

'I've never met a demon before so I can't say for sure how powerful they are... But can a single human defeat something that even a demon might struggle against?'

Obviously, it's not an easy fight, is what Lyrica thought, considering what became of Kabba seemingly after the fight. Knowing how it all happened might be useful, luckily, the woman who seemed to be the target of the high commander is right in front of Lyrica.

"You, you're not like everyone else, even your family."

"What are you talking about?" The mother asked Lyrica curiously.

"Apart from the two high commanders I encountered, you're the only civilian who seemed genuine, basically you can voice your real thoughts and express what you truly feel, unlike them." Replied Lyrica. "I'd appreciate it if you could tell me everything you know."

"I don't know much since I've been into hiding from the high commander and the kingdom until now, but I can tell you how the Hari defeated the Anino."

***

It happened more than a week ago, I was into hiding from the high commander who had his eyes on me even before this all happened, although that's not important right now. I was into hiding for three years, until a devastating battle took place and left our town in ruins.

It was a quiet morning. While I'm inside our residence, secretly making food for my family and my husband was out working, I heard thunderous footfalls of horses marching around the streets, and so I had to hide again, but my elder daughter was able to witness the march. It was the Hari—Uruk—along with a large crowd of soldiers including a few high commanders, filling the streets of Kabba.

They seemed to be in a hurry as if desperately searching for something. I found out later that they were indeed looking for people, four exactly. And that four were the four heroes.

***

"Three of them were wearing clothes similar to yours, though their colors are different." Said the woman to Lyrica.

'So three of them are high schoolers, huh.'

"The other one who turned into an Anino seemed mature but everything about him is giving an ominous vibe."

'So the person of interest is an edgy guy... Why am I not surprised? Though I guess I'm not one to talk when I look kinda edgy myself.' Lyrica muttered in her thoughts while making a blank face. "So what happened after that?"

"They spent two days here, although I don't know the reason why, but the conflict started when one of Uruk's servants exposed the truth about the kingdom to the heroes."

***

Yes, the Hari along with the four heroes spent two days in our town. I know this because Uruk himself sent some knights from houses to houses to tell the people not to act in a way that would make the four heroes suspicious about the kingdom. However, one of Uruk's servants, a woman, as old as I am that was taken away from her family and was forced to serve the Hari gathered the courage to speak the truth about the kingdom and expose Uruk.

"Uruk is not who you think he is! The kingdom's been living in terror under his rule for three years now! You need to get out of here before it's too late, or else you'll fall into his hands as well!"

They did not believe her straight away, all they see is a woman who seemed restless as if she's giving her final message to the people before her passing. But shortly after that, the woman started screaming in excruciating pain from within her body, getting the crowd's attention who tried their best not to get the four heroes from getting their suspicions up.

"Mahal na Hari!" One of the four heroes uttered.

"Y-You!"

***

"I was there when Uruk arrived on the scene just as the woman was slowly being swallowed up by the Hari's dark flames from inside out."

Lyrica's eyes shot up, following what the woman just spouted.

"Dark flames... Did you mean dark magic?" A drop of sweat ran down Lyrica's cheek while making a nervous expression on her face. "If the Hari can use dark magic, doesn't that mean he's also an Anino?"