Stage 7: Heartbreak

When the morning arrived, a series of mixed feelings drilled my heart in an incipient way. Like a bad omen, the hay cup I was holding at breakfast broke at the handle, spilling all the drink all over my lap. When I was changing in the room, the murmurs on the other side of the door seemed to show dismay and great concern.

Mauricio debated energetically with Elipo , his second in command in the hierarchy of the tribe. The dwarves knew they could put up a fight against the Imperial troops as they were skilled warriors proud of their long lineage of smiths. Any edged weapon that was used in the village came from their skilled hands.

But the existence of the regiment of imperial magicians was something for which they were not prepared, that eventuality meant a great calamity for their tribe due to the casualties that would occur in battle. But the sworn commitment to the royal family of fairies was something that could not be overlooked, even more so when the last of the descendants of the royal house was a prisoner.

If anything happened to Queen Callisto, the vitality of the forest would die with her without remedy. It didn't matter if the fairies put their best effort into preserving the vital energy of nature, the efforts would be useless because of the large amount of mana that was required to achieve such a charge.

Feeling that pressure on my shoulders, I sat on the bed to try to breathe calmly in order to return to the room where they were arguing. "Good morning Hitomi " – Even rubbing her eyes from sleep, Edith sat next to me snuggling her head to my side. Looking at her calmly after the long night of our escape, I felt slightly relieved to have her by my side.

Since I had arrived in this world, the feeling of alienation that sprouted in my being surrounded by the unknown, had not been able to be mitigated even with the company of the teacher Sara and the kindness of Calisto. But for some reason, when I was with Edith that feeling disappeared completely, as if she were a part of me that had been lost for a long time.

"Miss Hitomi , may I come in?" – Gently knocking on the door, Mauricio entered the room with an object covered by a dark wool cloak. In his hands you could see the wounds resulting from his hard work with the hammer and the anvil. Throughout the night without any rest, I forge and bend the materials for my cane until I can achieve the desired result in less time than expected.

"Wait a minute! Is this a sword? I'm supposed to be a magic user" – Finally holding him in my hands, made with an alloy of mithril and silver, his blade seemed to glow in sparkles when the rays of light reflected on it. The hilt made with black dragon scale, had in its center the gem of the pact firmly set.

I had no doubt, it was an excellent work of forging completely light and resistant. But the fact that it was a sword surprised me greatly, even more so given the ear-to-ear smile Mauricio had while grooming his beard.

"Try to imagine a cane right now, young lady" – As he suggested, I thought deeply about the image of a cane similar to the one my valued teacher used in life. The image of his gallantry in combat was something I couldn't get out of my thoughts.

As if it were liquid metal, the sword gradually deformed until it became solid again. But this time, before my incredulous gaze, what he was holding was not a sword, but a cane identical to Sara's.

Mauricio couldn't stop laughing out loud when he looked at my stupefied face, honestly everything that happened in this world was something that captivated me and made me shudder just by seeing him. Outside of fantasy novels or video games, seeing it with my own eyes and feeling it with my own hands was an experience I never thought I would have.

"I was thinking of a way to compensate for your excess power and the best way to get a proper balance without destroying your weapon, was one that could change shape at will" – Similar to the effect of the shapeshifting pearl, the enchantment that had been placed on my weapon allowed it to take any shape I wanted just by thinking about it. Given the nature of its composition, the mana consumption was demanding and from time to time it had to return to its original form. But with the latent problem of the ouroboros curse , that would not be a restriction.

Waving it a bit in the air, she was completely satisfied with the marvelous creation of such a prodigious craftsman. Keeping it in its scabbard, I decided to start our plan to counter attack the enemy army. Before leaving, I asked Elipo to take good care of Edith until I return.

Taking her to the battlefield was something I couldn't afford, even knowing the enchantments by heart, the fact that she couldn't use mana was something that would put her at a complete disadvantage, preventing her from defending herself. All the warriors who stepped on that battlefield had to watch their backs, protecting another against a numerical disadvantage of 3 to 1 was suicide.

Edith clung to my skirt tightly begging me not to leave her, the fear that lay within her for the loss of her family making her act almost selfish. He couldn't blame her, but giving in now would put her and the entire regiment in great danger. Dropping to my knees at her height, I looked her square in the eye while holding her shoulders at the same time. "I promise I'll come back for you and we'll travel the world together. Wait patiently here for me" – The trembling of my hands due to the nerves before the imminent battle was felt by Edith, who even in her affliction comforted me with a hug promising that she would stay waiting for me.

Mauricio and his men took the lead towards Medea's underground caves, the plan was to use a combination of attacks from below the enemy, very similar to the guerrilla strategy that was used on my world during the Vietnam War.

Our goal was to decimate the infantry troops as soon as possible without being detected by the mages, thus allowing me to have a more relaxed position on my magical attacks when facing the rest of the imperial army. Despite all the information we had collected thanks to the efforts of Mauricio's spies, some of his men lost their lives in the enemy ranks in order to get us data for the strategy.

Morally our regiment was hurt, but at the same time the thirst for revenge for their fallen brothers prompted the proud dwarves to give their lives if necessary in order to defeat our enemies.

The path we traveled underground through the caverns was a series of tunnels known as mineral veins. The subsoil of the forest provided a great number of materials to the master craftsmen of the tribe of dwarves, for this reason the walls glowed as we passed by the light of the torches.

As we got closer to the surrounding land of the lake, the subsoil began to turn clayey and we had to slow our walking in order not to get bogged down by the weight of the weapons. With the help of an ox horn that served as our diaphragm, our men could hear the sounds that the soldiers made on the surface, allowing us to know their locations and numbers to launch an attack.

When we believed that the numbers favored us, we would stealthily emerge from the ground thanks to my control of the earth element. And with wind magic, he ripped the air from the soldiers' lungs so they couldn't alert their comrades.

The dwarves had no mercy on any of the enemies, the edge of the axes hit forcefully on the chain mail that protected the combatants' necks. Making heads roll and with it the bloodbath blooming like morning dew. Anyone who saw that scene would immediately know why the tribe of dwarves was considered to be the cradle of the best melee warriors in the forest.

"It's an ambush, call the wizards" – Completely focused on keeping the dwarves vital with my mana projection spells for strengthening, I lost sight of a guard who had gone to the bathroom before we emerged from the ground.

In a matter of minutes we went from facing 5 soldiers to 300 with a single blow. Even if my mana was abundant, the strengthening of the body has a limit from the target's muscle regeneration ability. The dwarves were in good physical condition due to their metal work, but dealing with 3 opponents at the same time was a huge waste of energy.

Golem _ facere Ignus " – Within the elemental spells that Sara taught me by combining two types of elemental magic, the most powerful for a battle of attrition was without a doubt that of the golems . An earth golem was capable of withstanding long-range attacks and withstood lightning-type attacks perfectly, but in close combat they were weak to master level sword techniques.

To compensate for that weakness, it occurred to me that it was possible to combine the element of earth and fire at the same time. With what I learned as a mentor, after a few days I was able to create my first lava golem , an elemental beast that as a plus had the ability to melt the metal of swords. Only high speed attacks could hurt him, but in the process the swordsman would lose his sword. Which is why a solo attack would inevitably lead to his death.

The particular weak point of a lava-type golem was its combined counter element: wind and water. If the magician troop arrived in the middle of our battle, the tables would quickly turn and we would be annihilated in a matter of seconds.

"Divide into groups of five and make a diamond formation" - Mauricio was gasping for breath, the sweat on his face at times made him close his eyelids due to burning and his face looked increasingly exhausted. It was a fact that we had resisted stoically up to now, but living beings have their limits and we were about to reach ours.

"Mauricio, at my signal take cover with your shields looking at the sky" – Nodding his head, the brave warrior followed my orders and his men with him. Raising my cane, I recited a chant that altered the ionization of the surrounding air by extracting static energy.

Little by little the sphere in the sky was getting bigger until finally with a twist of my wrist, it exploded in the firmament. Like a flashbang grenade, my attack was efficient enough to blind the enemies long enough for our troops and golems to brutally charge at them.

The screams of the soldiers choking on their own blood, was a victorious requiem for the gallant members of the dwarven tribe. Even with fatigue on our shoulders, the feeling of victory with everything against us was like a drug that made us feel euphoric at that moment; but winning a battle is not the same as winning the war. A little in the distance the sound of galloping horses was felt on the ground, for which I saw the need to return all of us to the depths of the earth.

The minutes passed and the vibrations of the horses' hooves galloping leisurely above us seemed to make the sound of a metronome. To avoid detection by the Imperial Wizard Squad, I gave the order to extinguish the torches so as not to leave a single trace of heat for them to follow.

Usias , our head of intelligence, seemed overly concerned, as if something was wrong with the calm with which the members of the infantry were proceeding. It was then that the calm within the caverns was completely broken by the roar of a surprising stream of water.

Completely in the dark and wrapped in the cold of that unexpected attack, the exhausted men began to fall prey to panic and one by one they lost their air. The force of the current dragged the inert bodies of many of the dwarves, who in their path hit those who still clung to the rocks so as not to be carried away by the underground current.

If we went up, the chances of surviving a direct attack were minimal, but staying in that place meant certain death. Without thinking about it any longer, I used what was left of my energy to make us emerge to the surface.

As soon as we got there, I collapsed while spitting out the water that had entered my lungs with great difficulty. Due to the darkness of the caves, my eyes were taking time to get used to the light again and I felt pangs over them. Between blurry images, I saw the bodies of some dwarfs already lifeless and others pitifully trying to get up in front of the enemy. Being shot down the instant they held their weapons from the ground.

"It seems that the goddess has not looked at our forces with eyes of fortune, my young lady" - Clenching his fists, Mauricio put his hand to his mouth to wipe the remains of water from his beard. His eyes no longer had the brilliance and strong determination of the seasoned combatant; instead, the sheer essence of doom was what he could see on his countenance.

" Hitomi , I put an instant escape charm on your weapon. I figured if things got bad, you'd be the only one who could deal with them if all else failed. Please protect our women and children. Tell them that their men fought with honor until the end" – Smiling at me with incomparable frankness, Mauricio launched himself fully against the enemy troops, invoking an enchantment on his axe.

"Blood gluttony!" – The body of the chief of the dwarf tribe began to smoke as if his blood was boiling, his skin color had a scarlet tone and his eyes had turned completely white. Similar to the berserker attack from the last game I played, with the difference that there were no bonuses, there was no druid to do his support. It was real life, a man was dying before me and I, just a useless person who could only observe his great value from a distance.

Foot knights rushed at him, but metal armor shredded like shreds of paper on the edge of a pair of scissors. The blood of his adversaries bathed his abundant beard and while some fell, others came striking accurate blows against his body.

"User Do you wish to cast the jump spell? The weapon's enchantment is for one use only, so canceling it can't be used again." – The oracle of the world warned me of the risk of committing a reckless act, my desire was to stay fighting by Mauricio's side. But as soon as I remembered the promise I made with Edith, I didn't hesitate another second and activated the jump just as a spear flew in my direction.

Due to the enchantment, the spatiotemporal displacement affected the user's body abruptly. The principles of elementary physics of the earth did not apply to the terms of this world, so moving a mass at such a speed in the form of energy implied great stress that made the users feel discomfort.

Are you traveling at the speed of light? I barely wanted to stand up when I reached the jump point and felt my legs give way. My stomach convulsed and I ended up vomiting completely. An incredible headache shook my head to the point that I couldn't open my eyes because the light bothered me.

It took at least 15 minutes for the effects of the jump to lessen, allowing me to get up and walk slowly to the door of Mauricio's shack room. When I finally realized it, I looked inside the house but neither Edith nor Mauricio's wife and children were there. Everything was submerged in silence.

A great fear overwhelmed me completely, my heart was beating as if it were going to jump out of my mouth. Each hesitant step I took to the door of the house that led me outside was as if I were stepping on glass with my bare feet. My hands were shaking, something inside me knew better than to open the door. That as long as he didn't see the outside everything would be fine, but another part wanted to see the truth no matter how strong it was. "Perhaps Elipo had a contingency plan for them to escape" – This is what I repeated inside myself with faith in the face of the unknown, the only thing I had left was hope. But soon hope would turn to despair.

Looking outside, pieces of wagons still smoking were scattered in all directions. The belongings of the inhabitants of the tribe were destroyed among the blankets and ropes that held them. As if something had suddenly attacked when they were trying to escape.

Walking through the rubble, children's toys were scattered in all directions. Full of dust and boot prints, some with bloodstains.

My lips began to tremble and the tears that I did not want to flow, no matter how much I fought, they could not be contained. Picking up a doll from the ground and hugging it to my chest, I kept walking a little more hoping to run into Edith. But it was all useless, the truth hit me in the face and I couldn't do anything about it.

Like a sinner who falls to his knees pleading with an indolent god, I collapse and weep bitterly at the harsh reality. Hanging from the frame of the tribe's main entrance, the bodies of the children hung limp. The expressions on their faces showed the harrowing ordeal that must have passed at the hands of their pursuers.

The mothers were found thrown to the side of the road, with their heads severed and signs of abuse by the soldiers of the empire. All my eyes saw was the horror of the crimes committed by beasts that called themselves men.

I no longer wanted to continue walking, the forces left me. I wished that this was a nightmare from which I could wake up, that when I opened my eyes again everything would be fine. That Mauricio would be in his smithy working in the oven with zeal while his wife cooked food for him at home. That the children would be running happily through the streets and Elipo would be scolding them for throwing the boxes of materials. And Edith next to me, walking to the shade of one of the trees near the lake.

But my tears, which I was struggling to contain, couldn't take it anymore and they gushed like mighty rivers before her. So peaceful, innocent, as if her face reflected a deep sleep. Edith was nailed to a tree and with her ears cut off. I screamed and cursed the goddess Artemis, I kept hitting the ground with my fists.

Just as the mother died, why did the goddess get merciless with a poor girl? Our promise to see each other again had been completely broken, I tried to comfort myself with the idea that she would finally rest with her loved ones, but the rage and impotence of not being able to protect her were greater.

The fatigue in my body began to take its toll after the battle, my arms, no matter how much I tried to move them, did not respond to me and the secondary effects of the jump returned suddenly, making me lose consciousness until night covered everything again.

Trapped between the nightmares that were repeated with the scenes that I had witnessed in the town, inside my mind only an incipient phrase was repeated like the galloping of steeds in battle: "Kill them all"

"User Do you want to activate shadow apostle mode? When doing so, the oracle interface of the end will come into function. The mana consumption in this mode has a great impact on the user's body and the healing capacity will be reduced by half" – Yes, yes dammit. To hell with my life, with my health, with everything. He only had the desire to finish off those bastards. It was what was going through my mind at that moment, there was no room for regrets. Only revenge and the end for all the men of the Alberon empire .

The thirst for blood seized me, like a need almost impossible to control. The instinct of a beast that has lost its sanity was what defined me at that moment. My skin took on a grayish appearance full of red veins that glowed like lava, my eyes had a yellow hue like the glowing fire in the crucible. My hair had gone completely gray and my hands looked like the claws of a harpy and the ouroboros tattoo burned like it was written in fire on my skin.

"Master, do you want to activate flying ability?" – The oracle of the end began to call me as its master instead of user, apparently the difference between the two oracles was the source from which they came. While Artemis viewed me as a tool, the awkward sister treated me as an equal, willing to lend me her strength to fulfill my ambition.

What did it matter if I sold my soul to the devil if by doing so I was getting revenge on those who had humiliated me and taken everything from me once more? Fallen or full of light, a goddess is worth what she does for her creation.

At the moment of confirming my decision, a pair of wings like bones came out of my back tearing my skin, causing me great pain, the blood that drained from them formed a membrane similar to the wings of a bat and when beating them, strong gusts of wind they began to blow, raising the dust from the earth.

I felt completely intoxicated by that magnificent power, I kept feeling revitalized despite the pain in my body. But as soon as I turned to see Edith's fragile body again, I completely destroyed the tree to which she was imprisoned.

Gently I took his body and with the sweetness of a mother I kissed his forehead, while I opened a hole in the earth to deposit him in peace. The memories of my time with her mixed with the memories I had of my sister Akemi, her laughter and pouting, the warmth of her embrace, everything I had lost made me burst into a scream of rage that echoed throughout the forest. of Medea.

After covering his body with the earth, he invoked nature so that from the roots of the tree that was destroyed, a dome with branches would grow to serve as a funeral monument. "Goodbye my dear friend, I'll follow you soon" – The power that beat in me was something I couldn't control at all, barely a month of magical training had passed and it wouldn't make much difference in a fight where my enemies had years of experience. If fortune smiled on me, my enemies would be completely slaughtered, but my body would be broken by the enormous power.

Flapping my wings to the wind, I soared into the night sky bathed in the light of Pandora's moons. With my right hand, I firmly held my staff, wielding it in the shape of a bloodthirsty sword. There was no going back, that night would be the bet for all or nothing, playing with the hand that was dispatched to me. But one thing was for sure, I wouldn't be the only one who would lose something in this game.