"We are no foreign persons"
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Behind the dark pool of the foreigner's dark eyes, the sight of a younger generation of his people's enemies suddenly sparked his faded memories from a time way back then.
Right around the time where supreme general Kahal unleashed a malediction, many of the foreigners who've concealed themselves from the public took refuge in the old earth Which was an uninhabited section of the world.
On the day they made the old earth their home, the flowers that bloomed in all directions across the world filled the earth's soil with demon arts, which were poisonous once in contact with humans and sorcerers, and released a deadly poison that would be the cause of the deaths of many foreigners.
Once the number of deaths reached a few hundred, the eldest foreigner gathered the remaining thousands in an uninhabited biome which was hidden just below one of the earth's layers.
Among the crowded white space, many ill foreigners murmured whispers, shouted for others with harsher symptoms to keep their distance, as well as women holding coughing infants sat in the crowd.
The eldest foreigner took stand atop a stage in front of the crowd, and somberly looked down at his people who all looked as if they'd lost all hope of any chances of survival.
Before he could speak, one man who had waterfalls of tears streaming down his face shouted desperately in old English.
"Priest kael! This pain is unbearable! Is there nothing we can do to stop this plague from spreading, or develop medicine?!"
Elder kael shook his head solemnly, and said in a ruff voice:
"I am afraid that is not possible. As we have depleted our resources in our travel to this land."
Just like that, the room was filled with desperate and hopeless cries, and many of the younger foreigners were outraged by this.
The elder's attempts at calming them were left unheard until one young man smacked his bone made axe against the pristine stone wall, and said:
"I suggest we launch an assault onto the sorcerers. Steal their supplies, and treat our bedridden people."
Hearing this, another young man dressed in black robes and prayer beads abruptly stood up. Sitting next to him was his ill wife, who took his hand in hers as he spoke.
"Have you gone mad?! I understand what you are proposing, but you don't honestly think we have the power to oppose the supreme generals and those bloodthirsty sorcerers, do you?!"
The young man looked over to the man. Glancing at his wife and then back at him as he responded and said:
"What I am suggesting, Benjiro, is that we don't sit around and wait for slow and unjust deaths. I would think that you of all people would agree, considering that your wife is with child, and is already showing symptoms of the malediction released by supreme general Kahal."
Elder kael looked down at his son and daughter in law. His already solemn expression growing more worried as he asked his son:
"Lady Atsuki has been experiencing symptoms? For how long?"
Atsuki looked down at her wrist, which had a red rash on it and told her father in law:
"Since we traveled through the war ravaged nations… I, I must've contracted it when I inhaled the miasma those accursed flowers released."
Elder kael covered his mouth as his eyes shook. The thought of his daughter in law suffering a slow death, while with child made his desperation reach a breaking point.
He even contemplated the young man's words of launching an assault on the sorcerers, but knew all too well that it would only end in a one sided slaughter.
After a moment of thinking to himself, he spoke once more.
"We will try to plea with the sorcerers directly. That way, if we try this peacefully, they may show mercy and share their resources."
Suddenly, a small spark of hope appeared in a few peoples eyes. Some shook their heads, while others shouted in disagreement.
The young man from earlier gritted his teeth, but remained silent. Only shooting the old man an opposing gaze.
***
Somewhere in the old earth, there was a church that the young man discovered.
After the earlier gathering, the young man entered the church and narrowed his eyes at what was inside.
Along the walls, there were long scrolls which had inked illustrations of hundreds of spirits believed to have been long dead. And at the front of the church, there was a thick book that caught the young man's eye.
Slowly approaching the opened book, there were illustrations of the human body and lines going throughout the illustrated body, and words that had mention of a method of "killing one's soul".
The young man approached the thick book and brushed the cobwebs off its opened pages. The first of the contents piqued his interests as it spoke about a species of humans referred to as "children of the highest spirits" in old English.
The young man's eyes narrowed in curiosity, as he read the book's contents in his people's native language. Not to mention where he found the book, which is also where his people were currently taking refuge during the ongoing conflict between the sorcerers and the demons.
'Could this book have been written by our ancestors?'
The young man turned the page, and immediately his question had been answered.
The next page contained information about his people specifically. What he could make out from the crumbled page was something about the children of the highest spirits having a natural connection to spirits who were long dead and forgotten to most of the world.
And that by performing a meditation ritual beneath the broken statues of any one of the dead spirits, the meditator would have the means to kill their own soul and act as a vessel containing the whichever dead spirit chooses them directly.
The young man's hunger for more knowledge grew with each turn of the crumbled pages. On the third page, there were illustrations of previous vessels which started out with their normal appearance after completing the ritual, but overtime their physical bodies deteriorated and black cracks began to branch out through their pale skin.
And the words left next to it were what also caught the young man's eye. Seemingly written by the author of this book's contents.
"I fear I have no time left in this realm. For whoever may find this book, heed my next words with extreme caution."
"If you ever choose to take part in the soul killing ritual, know that your time in this realm will fall short. As the bond you have with your spirit increases, so too will your ability to transcend beyond the realm of humanity and sorcery. And eventually, you too shall become a spirit for your later descendants."
Reading these words left by the writer of this book, the young man closed the book and placed it back on the altar.
He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Contemplating the world's current situation, and the impending demise of his people.
His mind even began to remember the words of elder kael.
'We will try to plea with the sorcerers directly. That way, if we try this peacefully, they may show mercy and share their resources'
And then Benjiro's words.
'Have you gone mad?! I understand what you are proposing, but you don't honestly think we have the power to oppose the supreme generals and those bloodthirsty sorcerers, do you?!'
Both mens words stroke a deep rooted feeling of wrath in his heart. But Benjiro's words especially affected him, with the thought of not having the manpower to oppose the ones responsible for the deaths of their people, the young man gritted his teeth and slammed his fist down onto the alter.
And as he did, a small statue fell to the side of his foot. It resembled a four armed man holding a small dagger up in the air, and his face looked like a mask of a smiling phantom.
The young man picked it up, and read the wording on the back of it.
"Spirit of death"
Once those words left his mouth, a gust of wind blew out the lit candles at the alter. And flew in the direction of a section of the church where there was a circle drawn into the ground, with candles lit around it.
'So that's where the ritual is performed'
Taking one more look at the small statue, and another thought of elder kael and Benjiro's words, the young man's eyes sharpened.
"This will be a requiem for the fallen."
He then sat down in the circle after placing the statue on the wall in front of him. And began the ritual with a few words.
"My name is Airu."
***
A few days passed as the battle between Kahal, Kesean and Malum had came to an end.
While the remaining thousands of foreigners remained in hiding below the earth's surface, Elder kael along with his son Benjiro and daughter in law Atsuki made their way to an island out in the ocean between the mainland and the old earth.
Sitting at a long table, elder kael felt every muscle in his fragile body uncomfortably tighten.
He whispered to his son and daughter in law:
"The sorcerers grand elder responded to our plea for peace and request for a meeting. They'll be here any second."
Lady Atsuki, who's skin was covered in red rashes which made her feel uncomfortable in her own skin, turned to face him and asked:
"Shouldn't we have brought along a few capable combatants, incase the supreme generals become hostile?"
Benjiro shook his head, and whispered as he held her hand.
"If we did so, they may assume that we have ill intentions, and attack us. Besides, no one is in any condition to face supreme generals, so we wouldn't win anyway."
"Not to mention, the sorcerers were hit hard in the war, so they need time to recover as well before they raise their hands to fight so soon."
Suddenly, elder kael shushed them both.
"Hush now. They've arrived."
From beyond the fog of the water, a large metal boat came into view.
Leaning on its rails were the six supreme generals, who all locked eyes with these three foreigners.
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Continued in chapter 123: Plea For Peace
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