“My farm!” Nolan exclaimed as he clasped the back of his head. “What happened?”
“Oops,” I said, looking at the half-burned down field. A thin trail of smoke rose to the sky as the sun began to set in the horizon.
So, apparently, by forgetting about the torches while fighting Ray and the Miststorm Riders around Wolfwater, I had caused a rather large fire. And when I leapt for Whiteridge, I left the fire burning right next to Nolan’s farm, which ended up spreading to some of his crops.
I scratched the back of my head. “I, uh, will pay you back?”
Nolan sighed. “Thank you, but there’s no need. It’s not your fault that this happened.”
“Well, I still feel bad.” I pursed my lips. He was really one of the most helpful people I had met ever since arriving in Vacuos— he was actually helping me get a Class, when most others turned me down.
Honestly, I had been worried that something could have happened to him, so I left Whiteridge once I had brought Noele back to Nicole and Garron, and quickly returned to Wolfwater. Much to my relief, I found that the [Farmer] had been in Wolfwater when the Miststorm Riders arrived, and even though he wanted to warn me about the impending attack, he couldn’t leave the village to get to me.
It was only when the mist cleared, and it was evident that the [Bandits] had been defeated, could he actually return to his farm.
“Is there really nothing I can do to help?” I offered.
“You saved my wife and my daughter,” Nolan said, turning to me. He smiled and gave me a grateful look. “That is a greater gift than anything else in the world.”
I blinked, then I slowly nodded. “I see.”
—--
Over the next few days, Whiteridge, Wolfwater, and the surrounding villages spent most of their time rebuilding. Some grieved too, while others breathed a sigh of relief. All things considered, the siege didn’t last long, thanks to my help.
If I hadn’t wiped out all of the Miststorm Riders when I did, Noele said that there was a high likelihood that there were going to be tens of thousands of casualties— maybe even more. It was entirely possible that all of Whiteridge would have been razed to the ground, despite the plethora of A-ranks guarding the city.
Those [Bandits] had been just that dangerous.
But the aftermath mattered just as much as the event itself. Noele, Nicole, and Garron didn’t return to Wolfwater until three days later. They had stayed behind to help out where they could, only leaving when they were certain their aid wasn’t needed anymore. Nolan was more than happy to see them once again.
“I’m glad to see you and your mother are safe,” the [Farmer] said to his daughter.
Noele just smiled in response, and Nicole— despite her old age— threw her arms over her husband. The blonde girl flushed in embarrassment as her parents held no reservations in their loving embrace.
“Mama… Papa…” Noele murmured, covering her face.
I just chuckled and shook my head.
Whiteridge itself had taken quite the toll, with plenty of buildings needing to be repaired, and an entire section of the wall requiring reconstruction. But Wolfwater itself had suffered far less damage to its farmlands compared to the surrounding villages. Comparatively, there was much less work for us to do.
But I still helped out where I could. The first thing I needed to do was clear up the charred crops from the field and sweep away the ashes. Nolan was fortunate in that only a single field had been burned down, and most of it had already been harvested. I didn’t want to damage the farmland further, so I took my time cleaning up the barren field.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t clear out all the ash. That had to be washed away by the rain or weather. And when that happened, the soil still couldn’t be tilled just yet, because it might not even be arable land by the end of it.
Nolan knew a [Druid] from a neighboring village who could help out in that regard. But she was mostly busy for now, and he wasn’t in any rush to recultivate the land. Instead, he focused most of his efforts into helping the surrounding communities by redistributing his stored food to those in need.
Noele, Nicole, and Garron helped out in that regard too. I just mostly did what I could at the farm. The Miststorm Riders, despite their short-lived attack, had actually inflicted a lot of damage and affected a lot of lives. Cleaning up after this mess wasn’t going to take a single day. It would take weeks— maybe months— for Whiteridge and the surrounding villages to fully recover from the devastation.
And that was just the immediate aftermath of this attack.
I managed to keep my involvement in defeating the Miststorm Riders on the downlow. Very few people knew who defeated the [Bandits] in that quick instant. But despite that, there was still going to be a ripple effect that spread throughout Laxo.
There would be those drawn by the peculiarity of the situation leading to the Miststorm Riders defeat— they’d wonder what exactly it was that led to the thousands of [Bandits] dying all at once. They’d want to investigate further into the matter, and if they found the right trail, they were going to be led right back to me. But that was not all.
Because there was the fact that the Miststorm Riders were affiliated with the Sect of Abyssal Thorns. They were worshippers of the Void— or so Grat’ra-zun had said. I had fought three of them at this point. Ray, Emory, and Odell. Each of them had used a depraved power. The magic of the Void.
But Ray had hardly even used the abilities beyond what a voidling was capable of. Certainly, he was way stronger than the average voidling— voidlings tended to be incredibly weak. Some of them were weaker than a child, although others could be quite dangerous. But they weren’t capable of much variety in terms of attacks.
Meanwhile, both Emory and Odell had used the magicks of a voidbeast. Everything from regeneration to weapon creation, I recalled facing them in the Fractured Realm. The only difference was that they were much weaker than the voidbeasts I had faced. Yet, it still didn’t change the fact that they somehow tapped so deeply into the Void’s power, they were capable of such dangerous abilities.
And it was all due to the Voidgod.
I sighed. Considering the fact that the Sect of Abyssal Thorns weren’t going to be happy knowing that the Miststorm Riders were wiped out, and they all likely had access to the depraved power of the Void…
Well, I just knew that whatever that would come from the aftermath was going to be a massive pain.
—--
Everton had fallen. Another city had been taken by the Kingdom of Kal. This time, it had barely put up any resistance. While the other cities of the Astrad Kingdom had fought long and hard till the bloody end to fend off the invasion, Everton had immediately surrendered when they saw him take the battlefield.
Kallistus Kal himself won the battle with just his presence alone. He had simply strode towards the gates of the city, deflecting a powerful salvo of magical blasts, before Everton finally realized it was utterly futile.
He marched up to the gates of the city, and it opened for him. His army poured into Everton as he drew back. They occupied the city, simply taking the soldiers and guards lining the walls as prisoners. There was no need for any senseless destruction or death.
The [Hero King] tired of it. He paused at the foot of a hill overlooking Everton. For ten long years, he had fought. He had carried out his duty— he had done what he had to do. But he was still trapped here in Vacuos.
He closed his eyes, remembering a woman’s face. A child’s laughter. It seemed so distant. And yet, he could remember it all like it was yesterday. The warmth of her touch. The joy of the child’s smile. They were the reason why Kallistus fought.
Now, he no longer cared for the System’s decree. He only pursued one thing— he only sought out a single destination. And that was a way back to them.
To return to his family.
Kallistus took in a deep breath, and he heard the Void’s call.
“I am… your… des… ti… ny…”
It sounded like it was echoing around him. But even as he swept his gaze over his army, he knew they didn’t hear the distorted voice. Only the [Hero King] could parse the words. Because he had been chosen. He had been shown that there was only one path going forward.
And Kallistus Kal didn’t care what he had to do. He would like to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, but if there was no other alternative, he was willing to commit any atrocity or war crime just so he could see his family again.
He strode up the hill as his army roared, celebrating the capture of Everton without losing a single soldier. Not all battles were going to be like this. Especially since the [Hero King] had his own personal matters to attend to now.
He returned to his steed, and a waiting figure at its side. Melissa raised her head, speaking softly as she addressed him.
“Congratulations on the resounding victory, my liege.”
“Thank you, Melissa,” he said simply in response as he mounted his horse. “Do you bring me any news of import?”
“I do, my liege.” She closed her eyes and bowed low. “I bring you news of the Miststorm Riders.”
He nodded at her. “I take it they have extricated themselves from the Astrad Kingdom?”
While Kallistus himself disapproved of those [Bandits] and their atrocities, he had no choice but to work alongside them with the Sect of Abyssal Thorns. They were supposed to provide a distraction. Divert some of the forces of the Astrad Kingdom away from the front lines. They had been rather effective thus far, but since they were so few in numbers, they couldn’t maintain their presence for long. They would return eventually in the future, but for now, the plan was that they would vanish and ‘attack’ the Kingdom of Kal.
So he expected that answer. He anticipated Melissa to inform him of the Miststorm Riders attacking his own nation. But she shook her head, smiling back at him.
“The Miststorm Riders have been wiped out, my liege. Before they could escape into the Kingdom of Kal, they were defeated at Whiteridge. Now we do not have to worry about an attack on our eastern borders.” She spoke excitedly as Kallistus stared in shock.
“What…?” He looked down at her, wide-eyed. “The Miststorm Riders were defeated? But that’s—” He bit his lower lip and cut himself off.
Melissa nodded with a wide smile. “Perhaps we could even ready a few [Architects] to build a bridge to cross over the Sofron River.”
Kallistus didn’t respond. The Archmage paused, taking notice of the [Hero King]’s odd demeanor.
“Is something the matter, my liege?” she asked.
He closed his eyes. He had planned to excuse himself from the battlefield upon hearing about the Miststorm Riders’ raid on the Kingdom of Kal. But now he had no excuse. He couldn’t just leave his army behind.
“No,” he said, opening his eyes. “The plan remains the same.”
“My liege?” Melissa peered into him, concerned.
He pulled the reins of his horse, turning away from Everton. He started down the dirt path back towards his country as he spoke simply. “I have my own matters to attend to, Melissa. You shall oversee the continued conquest of the Astrad Kingdom while I am gone.”
“But my liege—” she started to protest.
“I shall return, Melissa,” he said, nodding at her reassuringly. “There is no one I can trust but you to handle this for me.”
She blinked a few times, then flushed. The Archmage swept into a deep bow. “As you wish, my liege.”
And with that, the [Hero King] left the battlefield.
MelasD
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“My farm!” Nolan exclaimed as he clasped the back of his head. “What happened?”
“Oops,” I said, looking at the half-burned down field. A thin trail of smoke rose to the sky as the sun began to set in the horizon.
So, apparently, by forgetting about the torches while fighting Ray and the Miststorm Riders around Wolfwater, I had caused a rather large fire. And when I leapt for Whiteridge, I left the fire burning right next to Nolan’s farm, which ended up spreading to some of his crops.
I scratched the back of my head. “I, uh, will pay you back?”
Nolan sighed. “Thank you, but there’s no need. It’s not your fault that this happened.”
“Well, I still feel bad.” I pursed my lips. He was really one of the most helpful people I had met ever since arriving in Vacuos— he was actually helping me get a Class, when most others turned me down.
Honestly, I had been worried that something could have happened to him, so I left Whiteridge once I had brought Noele back to Nicole and Garron, and quickly returned to Wolfwater. Much to my relief, I found that the [Farmer] had been in Wolfwater when the Miststorm Riders arrived, and even though he wanted to warn me about the impending attack, he couldn’t leave the village to get to me.
It was only when the mist cleared, and it was evident that the [Bandits] had been defeated, could he actually return to his farm.
“Is there really nothing I can do to help?” I offered.
“You saved my wife and my daughter,” Nolan said, turning to me. He smiled and gave me a grateful look. “That is a greater gift than anything else in the world.”
I blinked, then I slowly nodded. “I see.”
—--
Over the next few days, Whiteridge, Wolfwater, and the surrounding villages spent most of their time rebuilding. Some grieved too, while others breathed a sigh of relief. All things considered, the siege didn’t last long, thanks to my help.
If I hadn’t wiped out all of the Miststorm Riders when I did, Noele said that there was a high likelihood that there were going to be tens of thousands of casualties— maybe even more. It was entirely possible that all of Whiteridge would have been razed to the ground, despite the plethora of A-ranks guarding the city.
Those [Bandits] had been just that dangerous.
But the aftermath mattered just as much as the event itself. Noele, Nicole, and Garron didn’t return to Wolfwater until three days later. They had stayed behind to help out where they could, only leaving when they were certain their aid wasn’t needed anymore. Nolan was more than happy to see them once again.
“I’m glad to see you and your mother are safe,” the [Farmer] said to his daughter.
Noele just smiled in response, and Nicole— despite her old age— threw her arms over her husband. The blonde girl flushed in embarrassment as her parents held no reservations in their loving embrace.
“Mama… Papa…” Noele murmured, covering her face.
I just chuckled and shook my head.
Whiteridge itself had taken quite the toll, with plenty of buildings needing to be repaired, and an entire section of the wall requiring reconstruction. But Wolfwater itself had suffered far less damage to its farmlands compared to the surrounding villages. Comparatively, there was much less work for us to do.
But I still helped out where I could. The first thing I needed to do was clear up the charred crops from the field and sweep away the ashes. Nolan was fortunate in that only a single field had been burned down, and most of it had already been harvested. I didn’t want to damage the farmland further, so I took my time cleaning up the barren field.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t clear out all the ash. That had to be washed away by the rain or weather. And when that happened, the soil still couldn’t be tilled just yet, because it might not even be arable land by the end of it.
Nolan knew a [Druid] from a neighboring village who could help out in that regard. But she was mostly busy for now, and he wasn’t in any rush to recultivate the land. Instead, he focused most of his efforts into helping the surrounding communities by redistributing his stored food to those in need.
Noele, Nicole, and Garron helped out in that regard too. I just mostly did what I could at the farm. The Miststorm Riders, despite their short-lived attack, had actually inflicted a lot of damage and affected a lot of lives. Cleaning up after this mess wasn’t going to take a single day. It would take weeks— maybe months— for Whiteridge and the surrounding villages to fully recover from the devastation.
And that was just the immediate aftermath of this attack.
I managed to keep my involvement in defeating the Miststorm Riders on the downlow. Very few people knew who defeated the [Bandits] in that quick instant. But despite that, there was still going to be a ripple effect that spread throughout Laxo.
There would be those drawn by the peculiarity of the situation leading to the Miststorm Riders defeat— they’d wonder what exactly it was that led to the thousands of [Bandits] dying all at once. They’d want to investigate further into the matter, and if they found the right trail, they were going to be led right back to me. But that was not all.
Because there was the fact that the Miststorm Riders were affiliated with the Sect of Abyssal Thorns. They were worshippers of the Void— or so Grat’ra-zun had said. I had fought three of them at this point. Ray, Emory, and Odell. Each of them had used a depraved power. The magic of the Void.
But Ray had hardly even used the abilities beyond what a voidling was capable of. Certainly, he was way stronger than the average voidling— voidlings tended to be incredibly weak. Some of them were weaker than a child, although others could be quite dangerous. But they weren’t capable of much variety in terms of attacks.
Meanwhile, both Emory and Odell had used the magicks of a voidbeast. Everything from regeneration to weapon creation, I recalled facing them in the Fractured Realm. The only difference was that they were much weaker than the voidbeasts I had faced. Yet, it still didn’t change the fact that they somehow tapped so deeply into the Void’s power, they were capable of such dangerous abilities.
And it was all due to the Voidgod.
I sighed. Considering the fact that the Sect of Abyssal Thorns weren’t going to be happy knowing that the Miststorm Riders were wiped out, and they all likely had access to the depraved power of the Void…
Well, I just knew that whatever that would come from the aftermath was going to be a massive pain.
—--
Everton had fallen. Another city had been taken by the Kingdom of Kal. This time, it had barely put up any resistance. While the other cities of the Astrad Kingdom had fought long and hard till the bloody end to fend off the invasion, Everton had immediately surrendered when they saw him take the battlefield.
Kallistus Kal himself won the battle with just his presence alone. He had simply strode towards the gates of the city, deflecting a powerful salvo of magical blasts, before Everton finally realized it was utterly futile.
He marched up to the gates of the city, and it opened for him. His army poured into Everton as he drew back. They occupied the city, simply taking the soldiers and guards lining the walls as prisoners. There was no need for any senseless destruction or death.
The [Hero King] tired of it. He paused at the foot of a hill overlooking Everton. For ten long years, he had fought. He had carried out his duty— he had done what he had to do. But he was still trapped here in Vacuos.
He closed his eyes, remembering a woman’s face. A child’s laughter. It seemed so distant. And yet, he could remember it all like it was yesterday. The warmth of her touch. The joy of the child’s smile. They were the reason why Kallistus fought.
Now, he no longer cared for the System’s decree. He only pursued one thing— he only sought out a single destination. And that was a way back to them.
To return to his family.
Kallistus took in a deep breath, and he heard the Void’s call.
“I am… your… des… ti… ny…”
It sounded like it was echoing around him. But even as he swept his gaze over his army, he knew they didn’t hear the distorted voice. Only the [Hero King] could parse the words. Because he had been chosen. He had been shown that there was only one path going forward.
And Kallistus Kal didn’t care what he had to do. He would like to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, but if there was no other alternative, he was willing to commit any atrocity or war crime just so he could see his family again.
He strode up the hill as his army roared, celebrating the capture of Everton without losing a single soldier. Not all battles were going to be like this. Especially since the [Hero King] had his own personal matters to attend to now.
He returned to his steed, and a waiting figure at its side. Melissa raised her head, speaking softly as she addressed him.
“Congratulations on the resounding victory, my liege.”
“Thank you, Melissa,” he said simply in response as he mounted his horse. “Do you bring me any news of import?”
“I do, my liege.” She closed her eyes and bowed low. “I bring you news of the Miststorm Riders.”
He nodded at her. “I take it they have extricated themselves from the Astrad Kingdom?”
While Kallistus himself disapproved of those [Bandits] and their atrocities, he had no choice but to work alongside them with the Sect of Abyssal Thorns. They were supposed to provide a distraction. Divert some of the forces of the Astrad Kingdom away from the front lines. They had been rather effective thus far, but since they were so few in numbers, they couldn’t maintain their presence for long. They would return eventually in the future, but for now, the plan was that they would vanish and ‘attack’ the Kingdom of Kal.
So he expected that answer. He anticipated Melissa to inform him of the Miststorm Riders attacking his own nation. But she shook her head, smiling back at him.
“The Miststorm Riders have been wiped out, my liege. Before they could escape into the Kingdom of Kal, they were defeated at Whiteridge. Now we do not have to worry about an attack on our eastern borders.” She spoke excitedly as Kallistus stared in shock.
“What…?” He looked down at her, wide-eyed. “The Miststorm Riders were defeated? But that’s—” He bit his lower lip and cut himself off.
Melissa nodded with a wide smile. “Perhaps we could even ready a few [Architects] to build a bridge to cross over the Sofron River.”
Kallistus didn’t respond. The Archmage paused, taking notice of the [Hero King]’s odd demeanor.
“Is something the matter, my liege?” she asked.
He closed his eyes. He had planned to excuse himself from the battlefield upon hearing about the Miststorm Riders’ raid on the Kingdom of Kal. But now he had no excuse. He couldn’t just leave his army behind.
“No,” he said, opening his eyes. “The plan remains the same.”
“My liege?” Melissa peered into him, concerned.
He pulled the reins of his horse, turning away from Everton. He started down the dirt path back towards his country as he spoke simply. “I have my own matters to attend to, Melissa. You shall oversee the continued conquest of the Astrad Kingdom while I am gone.”
“But my liege—” she started to protest.
“I shall return, Melissa,” he said, nodding at her reassuringly. “There is no one I can trust but you to handle this for me.”
She blinked a few times, then flushed. The Archmage swept into a deep bow. “As you wish, my liege.”
And with that, the [Hero King] left the battlefield.
MelasD
Remember, I have a subreddit
And here's my weekly discussion thread! Be sure to vote on the poll there!
It's the start of the new month! That means it's the best time to subscribe to my patreon!
You can now read up to 15 chapters ahead on my patreon now!
Join my discord and subscribe to my subreddit!
Or follow me on twitter
