Triggered

I always felt alone in the world.

Is it bad to be alone?

Some people say it's alright, but others say people need company.

Otherwise, they won't feel anything. No desire to live, no desire to seek...just days of forcing yourself to walk.

But...what if I feel happy even when I'm lonely?

So lonely...

...

Once upon the time, there once was a little girl, who was all alone in a dim world.

She wakes up on a rock-hard bed in a silent, barely-fixed home.

It was dark...cold...

Lonely.

Even now, the little girl couldn't help but wonder how she got so far.

She should've died a long time ago. She knows that.

When the little girl walked out of her tiny home, she was greeted by a sight of malicious intent.

Their gazes, filled with scorn, disgust and disdain as they saw the little girl.

Sometimes, some grab stones and rocks and throw them at her

It hurt the little girl a lot, especially when it hit her head.

Some others even laugh as she falls onto the ground, trembling and crying.

Even now, the little girl questioned how she was able to live for so long.

One day, many days before her tenth birthday, she ran out of the village at a very young age, and happened to stumble upon...

A ruin.

Still feeling depressed and saddened, the little girl continued wandering about aimlessly.

The child didn't know what to do, and as she dragged herself through the ruins, consumed by her lonesome, she felt a chill.

Rubbing her arms, the little girl noticed her surroundings.

It was dark.

So, so dark.

During the day, although it was gray, people could still see.

This was the exact opposite.

It was very dark, and barely anything could be seen. Even if a human's eyes were to adjust to the darkness they would not be able to make out anything clearly in their vision.

In this foreign place, dilapidated buildings stood tall. Broken windows, doors ajar, leading to a void of space...

The little girl had never seen such a place.

Being alone in a new, scary place made her feel chilled to the bone.

As a feeling of tension arose from within her, the squawking of crows echoed around her, making the little girl whimper in fright.

Crouching on the ground, the little girl wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered.

She sorely wished it was all just a nightmare, and that soon she would wake up...

'Maybe she can wake up in heaven?' the little girl thought, and she relaxed, even if it was only slightly.

Perhaps she can be free now.

As the little girl was praying for respite, she noticed something standing beside her in her peripheral view.

...

"Madam-"

"Please-"

"Lady-"

"You do know this is meaningless-"

"Can you just stop-?"

"You dare interrupt me-!"

Everytime Anna obliterated him, another one came back. From the trees, from the sky, from the bushes-

He would always come forth everytime she made sure to kill him.

Why would she interrupt this man? Because Anna knew it was meaningless to talk the moment she saw him.

It hasn't even been a day since she saw an inhuman being with dangerous, yet unclear intentions approach her.

This man isn't a human.

Lately, her eyes seemed to be changing. It was irritable, but she endured silently, as she watched the changes.

The world around her seemed to have changed, and the little girl...

"..."

Anna shook her head.

At least he wasn't a fairy.

If he was, she would've absolutely blown this whole place up into the sky.

Why? Because-

"..."

Why?

As she pondered, Favians screams and pleads for mercy in the background.

"Wait! Stop! Please! Please hold your hand! Mercy, mercy-!"

The man in question kept coming back, even now.

"Please, madam, let's talk like the civilized people we are, yes? Can we talk now, please?"

"...um, Miss?" Abilene whispered with a worried face.

"Maybe...we should let him...talk?"

"..."

Seeing the little girl's fear were momentarily forgotten, Favian only shook his head with exasperation.

"Finally, we can talk. I'll just get straight to the point. You made a contract with the Fifth, yes?

"..."

'The...Fifth? Who is that?' Abilene wondered as she turned her head towards Anna.

There was still no response.

"However, the contract states that our side wont interfere nor invade your territory. However..."

More heat ushered in, as Favian smirked.

"This is not your territory, is it-wait, don't kill me yet, at least not right now! At least let me do my monologue-!" Favian stopped, coughing in his hand as he straightened out his coat.

"...ahem. We're fine now, yes?"

"..."

Favian exhaled a sigh, and he tipped his hat, leaning his body forward ever so slightly.

"It can be concluded that the contract isn't broken, and now there are no stakes on the table. Now then, isn't it 'bout time to introduce yourself?"

'I knew this would happen,' Anna thought instantly.

Ignoring the second point of Favian's question, the first was precisely what she was afraid of earlier when she broke down.

Even if she were to try to change the deal with the Fifth, there would still be loopholes. Even if she did change it to benefit her side entirely, then a fight most likely would've broken out at her grandpa's house, which was not what she wanted.

Anna decided to respond to him now.

"It seems as if old age has made you more dull. Rather, it seems as if you are a child playing games. You hide yourself like a novice imbecile, Apostle. You should go back to your parents-or rather, 'Your Lord.' If you are old, then you should retire due to memory loss after looking through your memories again. There is no need for idle banter."

The stranger could only shake his head in exasperation

"Not one to converse with, hmm?" Favian said with disappointment, and then switched to a smile.

"Well, I guess I'll introduce myself properly this time."

Just like earlier, he bowed, but stopped midway.

"My apologies, I shall take that back. Since you won't introduce yourself, I guess I'll take the opportunity to hide my identity, hmm?"

A sad face was worn on his face.

"Moving on, I had perchance thought we would have a civilized chat between us like equals. Although you may have a lot of knowledge, that doesn't mean you know it all. Mayhaps I can kindly share with you some of my knowledge, no?"

"..."

"It is a good opportunity to be able to debate with someone as knowledgeable as you..." Favian said, spreading his arms outwards.

"..."

After waiting for a few seconds, he sighed.

"What a pity. I guess we can only do what barbarians do."

Saying that, his eyes flashed with intensity as the winds around them began rampaging once more, it's rage increasing every second.

The grass, the plants, and the trees...everything seemed to be encased in a world of fire around them, trapping both Anna and Abilene in a cage once more.

Smirking, Favian took a step forward, his hands behind his back.

"However, before we begin, I have a question."

"..."

The man shook his head, but didn't seem to mind the woman's silence.

"How come I am able to sense two in your place?"

To be honest, all Favian could see was the gray-veiled woman and little girl in front of him. There were two mana signatures he sensed with his wind when he closed in on the them.

Was it the little girl that exuded such a danger that made even his spine crawl?

'No, I have already concluded the fact that she's just a normal girl...where is this second foe? Is he hiding somewhere? Perhaps it was that girl?'

Although the gray-haired woman does exude danger, there was another still hidden.

That was why Favian didn't bother to ambush them.

'The only one who could give me such a feeling is...no, that's not possible.'

Strongly disagreeing with a thought, Favian mentally shook his head as he tried to look around once more.

Before he had arrived here, he had already been notified of four people who the Fifth had met. Two, although not strong, were off limits.

The other two, however, were the most mysterious.

This gray haired woman...if he was right, then it really is troublesome, but that other girl...

"Is that blonde friend of yours here? That girl with that wooden staff? Is she your apprentice...or successor perhaps?"

As he said so, the wind pressed itself against the barrier with much more force.

Yet it still held, doing absolutely.

Favian sighed as there was no response from the woman as he shifted his hat on his head. Then, with the hand that held the book, he lifted it up, and it began floating in the air.

"It's been many years since I sighed so much. Fine, I guess I must entertain you. You know, all the etiquette and decorum I had put on really was no use after all," Favian said with a downfallen expression, and then smiled once again.

"Don't you agree…'Your Highness?' No, is it…𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺?"

"..."

'𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴? 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺?'

Abilene's eyes widened as she looked up at the figure in front of her. Now that she observed her a bit more, the little girl noticed she had a presence of someone who hails from some noble family

Although the little girl had actually never seen one, or never heard of one, she can imagine!

'She's royalty!? From what kingdom? Actually, is it queendom?'

As Abilene's thoughts wandered here and there, Favian continued, watching the veiled woman closely.

"Now then, for your earlier question. Yes, you are correct. When I asked for your name, I did so out of politeness, so it really was pointless. Furthermore, I had already known 'Islafae' is a pseudonym."

"..."

"The Fifth is too young to know, but I remember. I always have."

"!"

Favian smiled at the slight reaction, and his eyes began glowing an intense yellow glow.

"A thousand years ago, in a kingdom of fa-"

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘔!

The world slightly shook from a tremor radiating from...

Anna.

A shocking amount of bloodthirst exuded from her, even without a hint of body movement.

It was obvious to even a blind person that the veiled woman was triggered.

"It seems as if I finally got you ticked off, ay? Did I touch your...reverse dragon scale, as they say?"

While Favian grinned at the sight, it was a different story for the little girl beside her.

Abilene was shivering behind her. She was already scared, but now feeling the full brunt of something so scary, she trembled twice the amount from before.

The little girl was akin to a small rabbit trapped in the same room with a predator.

"Ugh...ugh-!"

With her nostrils flared, and her eyes dilated, it was the poor little girl was terribly stricken by fear.

Anna only looked at the sight of the trembling girl behind her.

At that exact moment, she unconsciously made a decision.

"...sleep, and dream the happiest of memories."

"Hu-huh-?"

Anna poked the little girl's forehead, and Abilene 's eyes rolled up. In that instant, she fell flat onto the ground, with a 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘥, unconscious.

Seeing this, Favian couldn't help but look at her with an appraising look, his eyebrow raised.

"How merciful. Perhaps I have misjudged you as a merciless cold woman?"

"..."

Spinning her staff, Anna swiftly and skillfully twirled around. With her dress following her twirl, the tip of her staff slightly touching the floor.

From the tip of a staff, a tiny blue glow emerged.

Everywhere it passed, strange, blue letters imprinted into the ground. As soon as the letters completely formed, it began glowing, pulsating with the mana imbued within them.

"So, we're actually fighting now," the man said in a bored tone.

Contrary to his tone of voice, Favian's eyes began intensely glowing, and the pages of the book began flipping even faster. Perhaps his travel here was a better idea than he thought after all.

So many interesting things happened so quickly...hehehehe.

Furthermore, here in this place, they can use their full powers without consequences. The quality and quantity of mana were the same as a thousand years ago.

At that, Favian grinned with abandon.

He stretched both of his arms towards the heavens in delight.

"My apologies, I digress. Now then, ;let us begin-"

"You talk too much."

Anna swiftly spun her spear in an upward slash, and following it, black mud rose from the ground, towering over the trees as it rampaged towards the man.

"You think I'm a magic caster with my book as a relic?" Favian said, smiling as the wave towered over him.

"Spells...𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦!"

Yelling, Favian immediately dashed towards the wave of mud with his fist pulled back, exuding a dull orange glow.

The moment his fist made contact with the mud, it exploded.

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘔!

As the mud parted ways, several spears followed behind it.

Favian grinned as he fell into a stance and dashed forward.

...

'This is not ideal,' Anna thought as she watched her opponent punch through everything.

As the battle continued on, Anna felt a sense of tiredness and weakness.

It was much different than fighting against a weak mindless monster.

Well, it wasn't that much different, as her opponent just punches through everything. No fancy moves, no bait, no tricks.

Just a man punching his way through everything.

Honestly, the reason Anna was still able to fight this long was because of her memories.

Techniques, efficiency, construction...they all came to her mind in a seamless manner, allowing her to adjust her fighting style rapidly.

Anna didn't know what triggered her when he mentioned...𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

Just the mere thought made her more angry, and Anna just decided to permanently allow him to join the fossils in the ground.

With the memories gave her a path forward, and Anna simply walked across it. Becoming more and more familiar with every forming construct of magic, she kept conjuring spells left and right.

On the other side, Favian slowly began frowning as he realized the spells she conjured became much more complex.

Spear, mud, and even being slashed out of nowhere?

What is even happening?

'Why didn't she do it at the start? Why limit herself? Is she a sadist who likes toying with her enemies? Or perhaps there's an entirely different reason...'

Still, it was barely enough for him to keep a constant pace, dodging and parrying each spell.

Things were not too dire yet.

On the other side, as Anna kept constructing spells in her mind, she abruptly felt her body weaken even more.

Breathing hard, she felt her body losing her grip on reality. The world around her seemed to blur as she nearly keeled over.

She felt so, so tired...

The feeling of closing her eyes became more and more apparent as Anna tried to resist the feeling.

After a few moments of resisting, she began to close her eyes.

Just as Anna was about to close them, she barely noticed as a certain being began glowing behind her.

Although it was dim, it was still noticeable.

Her opponent's eyes twitched when he saw the dim glow.

As the blue flash died, Anna realized her fatigue seemed to eb away.

Realizing who helped her and swiftly taking advantage of it, Anna quickly began forming spells faster and firmer than before.

Favian's face became constipated.