"Hah...Hah...", A hurried voice said, quickly running through the trees beyond the Osborne Villa, away from all the gunfire and blazing inferno. It belonged to a man, currently running for his life with a small black-haired boy in his grasp. It was as if he was running from something.
"Ah...", The voice said, belonging to a man. He suddenly tripped over, but as he fell, he made sure to keep the unconscious boy in his arms. He scraped his knees. Letting out a groan, he checked his surroundings, and saw no one was following him. Only then, did the man sigh in relief.
But worry quickly took over the man again. The boy beside him wasn't fully unconscious. He was letting out erratic breaths, barely holding onto it. The loss of blood from what appeared to be a large wound draped over his heart continued to bleed. His hair was covered in ash from pulling the boy out of the home that was set ablaze. To the man, he felt like he was at his wits' end. Of course, he was Giliath Osborne. And the boy in his grasp is Rean.
Giliath let out a woeful cry.
"Oh Aidios, please! Someone answer me! Goddess or fiend, I don't care!", Giliath yelled out in sorrow. Even tears started forming in his eyes. "I will do anything. You can take my life instead, if you must! Just please...spare my second son's life!", Giliath exclaimed, as if he cried out to the skies above.
All Giliath got was silence for a good moment. He had left his firstborn son behind who was still fending off the enemy. He did not know why Jaegers targeted his villa. By the time he arrived, he had lost Kasia. But Rean was still alive. Barely. But still alive. What other method did Giliath have to save Rean? To Giliath's surprise, that dreadful silence was soon interrupted by a deep and imposing voice, as if it spoke directly into his soul. His body shook.
"Oh how long have I waited to hear those words...", The imposing voice said, speaking directly into Giliath's mind. Giliath just stayed quiet. He didn't actually expect someone to respond to him. The voice felt...powerful. Before Giliath could respond, the voice continued to speak.
"Waited. Waited. Waited. And waited. I have waited so, so long to hear you say these words. Dreichels. For two hundred long years.", The voice continued. Reacting to the voice, a gigantic shadow suddenly formed not far away, which drew Giliath's attention. It appeared to be in the shape of a large knight of sorts.
"This time. There will be no other time. You shall be my Awakener. MINE. Not the Ashen Knight's.", The voice said, carrying a hint of scorn.
"Agree, and I shall deliver your second son from death. That, I promise you. For I can no longer interfere with your firstborn.", The voice continued.
It was then it dawned on Giliath.
"...It was you, wasn't it? You're the one who caused this. All of it!", Giliath retorted in anger. What he didn't know was that because of Naoto's existence, this only played a part of the larger picture. It was still unknown as to why the Red Constellation and the High Priest made their appearance. But Giliath wasn't around to see that part. He assumed this massive shadow before him was the cause of it all, just like in the games.
"But I don't care! Take my body. Take my soul. Do what you will! As long as you can save Rean, and keep your promise to not interfere with my first son, it doesn't matter what happens to me!", Giliath yelled out to the shadow.
It was as if the shadow grinned back at him. It then issued a command, which shook Giliath's soul itself.
"Speak thy words."
"Come to me the Ebon Knight, Ishmelga!", Giliath responded, answering the covenant that formed before him. A more mechanical voice spoke out this time. One that was different from the shadow.
[Acknowledged. Potential Awakener has been detected. Now commencing Mana Synchronization...]
Hearing a different voice speak out to him, it boomed from the giant shadow before Giliath. It swallowed Giliath entirely, and entered his body directly. Shortly after, Rean's wound began to heal at a visible rate, only to leave behind a rather nasty scar on his chest. At the same time, Giliath felt his own heart get hollowed out, almost as if it was being carved away from his body...
Giliath soon stepped foot on his own path, only to retreat further beyond into the Eisengard Mountain Range...
Shortly after, back at the burning villa...
I could still be seen within the inferno of what used to be my home. Most of it was now crumbled away, revealing large piles of rubble no matter where I looked. But I couldn't care less about that. I was locked in combat against Randolph Orlando of all people. We swiftly moved around the first floor one after another. Or to say, I did. I was much faster than Randy. Sounds of smoldering steel struck our ears as the night passed on.
This was my first real life-and-death battle. I do not know if Randy is going to make it out of this alive. Honestly, I do not want to kill him. That would be way too heavy on my conscience. The gunfire that attracted our guards away started to die down. They likely didn't make it out alive of this mess.
Nearby, Tamamo was releasing a dense blue aura around her body, pure Mana. Both of us ignored her. Tamamo was currently in her own world who was focused on the incantation she was taught. As I continued fighting Randy, Tamamo's aura finished condensing. Her eyes suddenly opened, showing a deep glow. She opened her mouth, and an ancient-sounding voice escaped from it. The voice felt familiar, almost as if it came from Roselia herself!
"O Vagus Anima, Vienet Luceat Aeternum!", Tamamo exclaimed, sharing Roselia's voice. The two were actually linked to each other thanks to the incantation!
Tamamo successfully managed to connect with Roselia while she remained in Eryn Village, and her incantation went off without a hitch. As much as I'd love to watch over Kasia during this moment, I had to keep myself occupied with Randy.
"Piercing Light!", I yelled out. My blade engulfed in light once more, and I rushed forward, swinging away. TINK! I managed to land another blow on Randy's body. By this point, several marks appeared on it. Blood splattered, which landed on my face. I saw Randy's HP continue to decrease. I did not check how much he had to begin with, but I did not care. Around this time, he had around 30-40% HP left. If I want to analyze this battle at a later time, I'll go through the Gamer Notifications then.
I wasn't without any damage myself for that matter either. Randy got in several slashes on my body. That weapon of his is no joke, even if it wasn't his Berserker. Still a powerful weapon in its own regard.
It was then I heard Roselia's voice speak out to me.
"Boy, the incantation is complete. I leave everything else to you now.", Roselia's voice said, which came through Tamamo's mouth not too far away. I had some distance with Randy, and I saw Tamamo actually chomp down on Kasia's body, swallowing both her body and her soul whole. It was now gone, and I felt relieved.
"Kyuu!", Tamamo happily replied, swinging her tail around as she jumped on a crate nearby. Despite being happy, sadness could also be seen in her eyes. Did she know what was going to come next? Either way, she hopped down after reporting to me, and scurried off in a similar direction Giliath vanished into not too long ago.
That's right, doing this incantation was only one part of the mission I assigned to Tamamo. Securing Kasia was the first step. She was now well on her way to find Giliath, making sure his part of the story still plays out like it does in the games. Unfortunately, I'm locked in combat right now. I cannot be there in person to see it happen. Her Stat Preview only displayed information that is helpful in battle. She has other helpful Skills outside of that, and that includes a skill called Sight Link.
I can link my sight with my Familiar, sharing our two senses. I can see from her point of view!
How cool is that?
Sadly, I can't really use that right now. I have something to take care of first. Meaning, the boy in front of me. Even my HP was approaching the halfway point. I'll need to look at acquiring regeneration-like Skills later so I can constantly heal during the battle itself. I knew that was a thing with The Gamer's story. I might be Level 23 right now, but Randy's Level was still displaying ???, meaning it was higher than mine by a good chunk. My Analyze Skill hasn't improved that much. Another Skill I'll need to work on.
But this did confirm one thing. Randy's already taking jobs with the Red Constellation's Jaeger corp. I've only battled against Teacher and a couple Magic Knights. This is my first time actually fighting against another human on the battlefield like this. Randy struck out, aiming for my chest again. I parried it, and knocked his sword away. Using the momentum, I pierced Randy's shoulder, splattering more blood onto the ground.
"Ugh...", Randy said, letting out a painful groan. With my Glistening Moonlight still lodged in his shoulder, he went for a daring counterattack. Shifting his sword into his spare hand, he slashed once more at me, and managed to knock me back. This swing was heavy, which made my hands somewhat numb. I felt heat strike against my body as my own blood splattered onto his face. We exchanged blows there, both of our HP decreased yet again.
Despite that, for some reason, I felt alive. I cracked a smile at him.
"You really are no pushover, are you, Randolph?", I said, praising his strength. He's only a few years older than me, but he's already so powerful, managing to keep up with me and all.
"...I could say the same to you.", Randy said, finally speaking for the first time throughout this entire night. Hearing that, I raised my eyebrows.
"Oh? So you aren't a lifeless puppet after all.", I responded. In response to that, I struck out again.
"Piercing Light!", I exclaimed, aiming straight for his chest this time. He brought his sword to it, barely making it in the nick of time. Our two weapons clashed, which made my Glistening Moonlight pierce right into it. TINK!
I had done so many of these pierces that cracks began to form on his weapon. It was steadily breaking apart. A few more jabs, and it will likely crumble to bits. I didn't stop there. I did a follow-up craft right away.
"Piercing Light!", I exclaimed again. My rapier cloaked in light once again. Randy felt a large impact strike against his body as he still was blocking it with his sword. His eyes turned wide, seeing me strike the same spot again. Shatter!
Randy's weapon suddenly collapsed onto the ground, crumbling away into several metal chunks. His blade was now rendered useless. Seeing this, I smiled.
I approached Randy, and went in for one final strike. "Piercing Light!"
I upped my tempo and went in for a dash. I swung my blade forward, and Randy let out a loud yell, feeling an intense pain strike against his right eye. Splash!
More blood splattered onto my blade as Randy's right eye stung with intense pain. He raised his hand, and clutched it. Blood started to seep through it, making it rather grotesque. Once I had finished my attack, I arrived behind Randy's back. Randy's HP was now under 10%, with me still around 30%.
I didn't remain idle, and used this time to use Piercing Light once more, thinking the last one was the last attack, but it wasn't. I struck Randy's neck, piercing it straight through like butter. Kusha!
With his spare eye, Randy saw his own neck pierced through, seeing a blade on the other side. My blade.
Randy couldn't even speak properly, and only managed to utter a few words.
"Package retrieval unsuccessful...", Randy uttered, mustering his remaining strength to say that. Blood splattered from his mouth. His health was dropping to critical levels thanks to that. His arms went limp.
It was then the battle was decided.
But...
Do I have what it takes to finish off one of the future members of the SSS?
Even if he is a Jaeger right now, I know what Randy will become in the future. I couldn't exactly kill him. But I couldn't let him walk away scot-free either. I dealt a lot of damage to his body, but that isn't enough...
There's a third option, isn't there?
Thinking that, I smiled. I opted to use the Gamer System the first time this entire battle, ignoring all of the previous Gamer Notifications.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has equipped Occupation: True Dhampir.]
Hearing that inside my mind, I felt my body start to change. My pupils constricted. It changed from its normal golden hue to that of a dark crimson. As I contemplated the third option to use while Randy remained like this, I heard several footsteps reach us. One of them belonged to a giant ogre-like man with a red mane for hair. I even heard him clap his hands as he arrived on the scene, seeing the result of the battle.
This ogre simply asked one question, which drew my gaze to him.
"Well. Now this isn't what I was expecting to see. So. Aren't you going to finish him? It's your win.", The ogre said, revealing a wild grin on his face as he asked...