Finally, after a long night, dawn arrived once again. A brand new day for both factions, ready to slit each other's throats at a moment's notice. Jay was resting, but he wanted to be involved today, since in the back of his mind he was still worried sick about her. And Lilia, who had defected here, was treated quite nicely since she was recommended by the person who freed the Slave Island—a connection far too valuable to lose.
Vania had been brought out of the Soundless Room, and it seemed that she was still the same cold and emotionless person, until she collapsed as she couldn't bear it anymore. When she fell, Roy was quick to catch her and carried her to the quarters. The one who suffered the most was Phoenix, since he couldn't participate in either mission; he was stuck making damage and expense reports. Each and every detail of the war was carefully put down both on paper and stored by AI. Phoenix had also spent his energy correcting every single detail that was either incorrect or misunderstood.
Both Roy and the King were making plans and predictions over the events reported by Jay. While they were talking, Jay also dropped by.
Jay : Master, if you need me, I'll be around.
King : You need rest. Despite your perfect physical health, I see you are mentally somewhat depleted, and I can't have that. Also, if the commander is on the field, I shall capture her. Now you can go.
The King had offered him some reassuring words, but still he was concerned about her. All he could still say was:
Jay : I'll be nearby.
Saying that, Jay flew and left the site.
For the second day, once again the Gods had descended from the Heavens into the realm of humans. From their chariot, they pierced the clouds, and a ray of shining intense light came from the skies and hit the lands. From that chariot came the Gods in their majestic forms. And they stood on the ground, looking toward the other side. Both King and Roy were fast enough to reach and meet them with lightning speed.
King : I wish you well for this brand new day, my former comrades. I hope you had great sleep in the night.
The Goddess of Sea was enraged, and she spoke up.
Sea : How dare you enter last night into our territory and cause harm to innocents?
The King calmly replied, as if he was not even serious.
King : Last I remember, I was soundly sleeping in my tent. But I did send someone. I believe it is etiquette to send a return gift after receiving one.
Sea : Your insolence really knows no bounds, mortal.
King : Hmm, insolence is new for me. I've been called a gentleman, military general, prominent researcher, inventor, and many other things. But I'm quite fond of a name you gave me a millennium ago—Immortal.
Sea : You—
The moisture around her started to condense together and form slight mist around her. But Peace cut her off, as she said with pure innocence.
Peace : But we didn't do anything yesterday. We just consulted humans and slept.
The King had known the Goddess of Peace for a long time, and she would never lie, as in her personal philosophy, a lie—no matter how small—forms cracks in peace and eventually breaks the peace. The King sort of agreed with the philosophy, as he had experienced this firsthand himself—large kingdoms collapsing due to colossal lies. Even knowing that Ikaros and Maria were alive, he felt nothing but betrayed. Still, he didn't let them come forth.
Roy : Yesterday, many Branded Elves from your side trespassed into our territory and attempted to cause harm and damage. This is the footage and photo of one such captured elf which was serving your faction.
Roy threw up a hologram in the middle of the day. The brightness was initially low, but the device sensed that and consumed more electricity to compensate. Thus it was fully displayed—the faces of Blake and Akaso, the leader and elder of the Branded.
That's when from the back, the Commander of the Army came forward.
Commander : We take no responsibility for them. As they had deserted us on their own without my orders.
Before him was the red-headed Sara—the one that Jay was worried about. For the King, she seemed to be a decent girl, trying her best to look adequate.
The King thought: Hmm. He did mention that she was a redhead, but now she has a few locks of gold on her head. Maybe it might be the effect of the power of Order.
King : I studied your background, and I was surprised that you were the descendant of Dyne. He was a very prominent researcher in the Foundation.
Commander : My ancestor would never join the likes of you.
King : AI, pull up record of Dyne.
AI : Yes, Master. As requested, here is all the data of Dyne—an immigrant from Raizon, destroyed over four hundred and forty-five years ago.
On the holographic screen, every bit of data and his time was pulled up. His achievements, research, his life, and even his descendants living in the Foundation itself. And a message the AI had pulled up from a website that he had logged onto and left a message.
AI : Playing message from the audio logs of Dyne.
Dyne (recording) : Hello, hello, can you hear me? I am Dyne from Raizon, and this is a message for my descendant Sara, who will be born four hundred and forty-five years from now. Well, I know that this message might not reach her since she will be in Raizon remaking it from the ground up, and I will be long gone. But one can only hope. So, Sara, I have been living in the Foundation for many years now, and I can now say that I was wrong about everything. I hate to admit it, but if that incident had not happened, even your birth might be a mystery. The point is—I forgive the Foundation for everything they have done. And I hope that you too shouldn't be bearing a grudge.
The recording ended.
The King finally remembered who he was and his research—that day, they had somehow managed to get dragon blood and had made a very monumental discovery that dragon and demon blood are antagonistic toward each other.
Commander : How distasteful. How did you even think that I would take it? I know it is faked. My ancestor would have never worked with you.
Before the King could speak up, the AI did, as it felt obligated to respond.
AI : Please refrain from this slander. I am an AI who works absolutely ethically. This data had been pulled up from supposedly before his death ten years ago. His death is recorded in the hospital St. Maria, where the distinguished Maria von Lopez had visited him during his hospitalization.
He displayed a newspaper article supposedly titled: "The Head Visits the Victims of the Destruction of Raizon."
AI : You still have another line of descendants. Their names are—
King : AI, stop. I think there is no further need for semantics. This won't change your mind, would it?
Sara, with the entire revelation, was just left speechless. Her brain was trying very hard to process the information, and thus her entire body had frozen.
Death : It hardly matters now, does it? Relics of history being consumed by me to make way for the future.
The Death used his war scythe to strike the device, and the projection was immediately stopped.
Death : This is hardly time for peaceful talk. This is a Holy War after all. And it will end with you in my embrace, Immortal.
Saying this, he urged everyone to return. Sara was taken back as well, as she wasn't able to confirm if whatever he said was the truth or not.