'Mister Rigel! I can see why everyone likes you! You're awesome! Please teach me how to be strong some day!'
The kid said strongly undeterred, putting a vivid smile on Rigel's face but this time he did not hide it.
Just make sure there is a tomorrow.
It's been a week since I've arrived here, it's really so lively. We've fixed certain stuff in the system, and even started implementing education. All of this makes me so happy, it's fun and all that but... I wish Aira was here...
I've been sputtering around trying to piece things together, tinkering and adapting to the new environment. I still haven't given up the foundation of hope that I still may leave this place.
But honestly... It's peaceful in here... And nothing can really change that...
But with peace comes the cataclysm.
As it approached night, people were making preparations for the upcoming Winter night festival, wherein the 4th month and 3rd week of winter. They celebrate a festival, dedicating it to another tomorrow.
Amidst the calmness, there was terror looming in the forest. It wasn't the dark owl, no, it doesn't come out of the forest at night as it guards the maze... It wasn't anything people ever saw there, it had no name. But in dream world terms dreamers would call it...
a [False hope]
From afar they look like a gleaming beam of light, a symbol of hope, a miniature sun. And they can steal the gazes of thousands... But as they approach closer the air turns sanguine, it is now in its hunting phase.
They turn into a giant crack in reality, for the naked eye, they look like an eye. But to dreamers, they appear humanoid, as harbingers of doom, catalysts of chaos, and a pillar of death.
But they don't hunt to eat, they don't hunt like how other monsters do. They hunt by controlling an evil species, and controlling them. Only once they run out of evil magic vessels do they dissipate, you can't kill them directly without possessing magic.
And conveniently enough, no one in this kingdom has any magic. Not even Auto.
In hindsight this might not be very bad, there couldn't be that many creatures right? There shouldn't even be magic in this dimension, this phenomenon is abnormal but there's no stopping it.
There is going to be an all-out brawl coming by midnight... And no one has yet to be prepared.
Auto was crafting some potions inside the brewery room of the bar, but he could not avoid being flashed by the dazzling light. Indeed it was like a miniature sun, but Auto knew better.
He rushed outside hurriedly pushed away the townsfolk and to them it seemed he was spouting nonsense, he spoke too fast to understand and it caused a lot of commotion. He arrived at the gates and told everyone to close the gate immediately, he knows something was off, that something is behind that dazzling light.
He told everyone to MOVE! GET AWAY FROM THERE, HURRY! The kingdom broke in panic, Victor presumed he had gone crazy and insisted on everything being fine.
'Auto that light isn't real it will go away soon.'
No it won't, you've never seen something like before right? Just run. We can't beat it, or at least not without being ready. Get every platoon, we're taking out some blood hounds.
Although Victor did not know what blood hounds are, or anything that was happening for that matter, he complied. Why? Because he recognized Auto's talent, he thought of Auto as a miracle sent by god and he may be worthy of so he allocated all his faith in him.
He ordered every platoon to gear up, the enemy that was previously making slow advancements started rushing faster, as they got closer it became clear. An eye-shaped tear in reality, Although the false hope could not harm them, its minions can. A false hope cannot interact with things without spiritual capability, it is their one and only restriction.
And unravelling the coat of bright light, there were blood hounds indeed. They pounced on bystanders, and they had grouped up in large numbers. Auto estimated them to be about a thousand, he threw a molotov at the front gate, although this will not completely stop their attacks, it will hinder them and acts as a temporary blockade for the swarm.
Auto ran desperately, he had not evacuated knowing he could use himself as bait. 'God damn it, I don't have much stamina. If only this place had classes things would be a lot easier.'
He ducked under a stack of barrels, narrowly avoiding getting pounced by a blood hound. 'Alright, I have an advance in close distance... These guys are speed demons, so this should be no problem.'
He grabbed his dagger and saber as he awaited for the incoming attack, the two had been in a stand off for 5 minutes. None daring to make a single move.
Growing impatient, the hound pounced Auto. But seeing an attack of opportunity and dodged and slashed a gashing chest wound on the canine. But it wasn't over, there were still more of them terrorizing the kingdom. Their numbers were rapidly decreasing, 'Guess I got no shot.'
He drank a makeshift speed potion, although it wasn't as effective as a regular speed potion, it did give a 50% instead of the gold tier's 6000% boost that stacks up to 5 times exponentially.
He dashed across the kingdom blitzing through 3 hounds in 3 minutes to save a street full of villagers until he regrouped with Victor and the others in the middle fortress of the kingdom.
They felt a sense of comfort and relief that they had someone reliable on their side, 'Auto stay back and heal the wounded.' Victor commanded. No, the others can handle the potions. I'll go into the front lines, I know how to deal with fighting the best.
Auto stated to the other's disagreement 'But how about crafting more potions?' Victor offered as a position. 'That's right we can't lose our healer.' Xavier added on.
I will never die.
Auto said with confidence. Rigel glared at him from far away, standing as the leader of the 6th platoon.
I will lead the army.A quote that pulsated through the entire battle field.
'A healer in the battlefield? That preposterous!' Ignoring the reluctant reactions, Auto stood firmly.
I dare anyone who refuses my command to come fight and beat me.
No one dared to raise a hand, not even Victor. Victor did not want to fight someone see saw as a son, Victor couldn't look, Sherley didn't bother, and the soldiers just bowed down in respect.
But out of the five-thousand platoons only one remained to oppose him. It was Rigel.
'I challenge you to a duel.'
Okay, drop your weapons. We're not fighting to the death here are we?
Cracking his shoulders Rigel replied 'Sure, why not? I'm not letting a healer who has no experience in combat win. Sure you're talented, but your on the wrong place.'
The crowd just stood and watched as the two disarmed themselves.
Without saying a word they started a fist fight. It seemed like a close match, a toss-up even.
Auto threw two jabs, five crosses, and a round house kick. Rigel dodged all of them, but he didn't want to stay in the defensive for to long. He countered, throw a cross, uppercut left hook and a 1-2 combo.
Again none of the hits connected, Auto began taunting him, tapping his hand mid-fight to bait him into attacking. Rigel threw a powerful and fast, perfectly motioned front kick. But it went just as Auto had expected, he held on to the leg pushing Rigel forwards into a mount.
In a battle of equal strength it's not strength and confidence that prevailed but pure instinct, and brains that decides a winner. The battle lasted for 15 seconds, quite long for a toss-up fight.
Landing his fist on the ground Auto calmly stated with excitement 'I win.'
Rigel felt humiliated in utter defeat, and the crowd cheered on Auto as the winner. He felt as if something felt it was getting further but his momentary disillusionment went awash.
Auto offered him his hand and they decided to join forces to save the kingdom.
'I have underestimated you, may you lead us to victory.' Rigel discerningly looked polite as he accepted Auto's hand.
'Soldiers, stand firmly. Auto will lead us to victory.' Rigel shouted and the soldiers responded with applause.
Rigel was crestfallen, but that isn't important in a dire situation such as now that doesn't matter.
Together they advanced, with new found determination and Rigel's leadership they roared for battle.
But they had one important question;
'What is the plan sir Auto?' They asked
I don't have a plan.
They looked at him dead in the eye with clear disappointment, baffle, and some even with malice.
Undeterred, Auto continued speaking.
But I do have a plan.
Lure the blood hounds into tight areas, they are speed demons. But they are only in their fastest when they're in an open area, they can't accelerate fast enough when they don't have enough space.
Shields are a must-have in this battle, the archers should stay in the central of the city. The hounds would be too fast outside the barriers for archers to even shoot, so it's better to keep archers here for the ones that do leak.
After all, archers are the most physically gifted people we have.
Other people can use my potions to aid the wounded, come on everyone! I'm going with Rigel's team, let's go!
Kudos!
'I know this place more than anyone and I can say that with full confidence.' Rigel asserted with confidence as he led the platoons along with Auto to the left lane of the city.
They began their advancements to reclaim what was once theirs and thwart those who dare intrude, Victor's platoon decided to go for the middle lane of the city, the one that leads straight to the central capital.
It was the widest gate there was but the higher rank platoons (1-5) had the greatest team work and synergy out of all the platoons. They made quick work in dispatching the hounds, it would've been hard to do. But thanks to their excellent communication, they could box in the hounds in quick succession, and the higher ranking squads had already killed 104 blood hounds in the first 10 minutes of battle.
Auto and Rigel were not falling behind, although the team work was lackluster. Rigel had excellent leadership and perfect instincts for battle, Auto too wasn't lacking. Auto already had excellent instincts and wits prior to his journey to this land, and he was incredibly gifted with fighting prowess.
With each squad branched efficiently with the outspread victory didn't seem far out of sight.
Rigel and Auto's group alone took out 44 blood hounds in the first 15 minutes.
The plan was simple, divide the higher ranks and lower ranks. The higher rank groups (1-5) were holding the stampede for the middle lane, the lower ranked groups (6-17) covered the left and right lanes or the furthermost desolate areas in the city.
The archers were struggling, having been forced into close combat to fend off blood hounds. The archers mainly relied on their physical strength because they didn't specialize is close-quarter combat.
Sherley and Xavier were single-handedly (pun intended) fending off all the bloodhounds in the bar, the blood hounds didn't have much room to accelerate. But they were in the perfect range to bite someone's arm off.
Luckily for Sherley and Xavier, they only had one hand and a prosthetic. So they often baited the hounds with their prosthetic hands instead of their one arm.
As the narrator personally I am enjoying making puns out of this bundle of chaos.
By the 2 hour mark, the fighters grew exhausted. 2000 soldiers confirmed to be dead, 1400 injured and 600 still capable of fighting in the battlefield. Frontline medics became a high demand amongst the people in the battlefield, gaining Auto more traction and becoming yet again the most important person of the moment.
Auto could fight, rescue, and aid. he was far superior than any average soldier in combat and having already killed over a hundred hounds. Rigel on the other hand wasn't gonna let that slide, he too wanted to show his prowess in battle. But the longer the fight lasted the more he was exhausted, Rigel let his guard down and the hound came to lunge at him.
Auto bolted without hesitation, although tired, there were only about 200 more hounds remaining. With each one they're taking leaps in winning, some hounds leaked to the backline and the archers were forced to use their side arms and headed into melee combat. The archers weren't exactly good with finesse but they were physically capable, and most of them wrestled with the hounds to fend them off because they weren't very good with weapons that require finesse. (They are archers after all, and bows are strength-based weapons.)
Victor was teetering in the middle of the battlefield, one of his men caught him before he kissed the mud. And without a word, knew the signal, it was time to go.
Rigel will take over from here.
Seeing his "father" evacuating, Rigel couldn't help but smirk. He was ecstatic, on the top of the world, he felt as if at that moment that he was king. He's in charge, and he's commanding the army double a thousand.
'I am the tide of battle...
Squad 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15 come with me! The other squads can fall back, more people from the squads whose names I have not mentioned are already too low in man power. Too many injured, too many incapable of fighting, we're the last lines of defense...
I say we box in 3 hounds into a corner at once, and kill them with quick succession, just follow me we can wrap this up right here right now!'
In the heat of the battle, the army lead by Rigel went with his delicate plan, although it might've seemed dangerous. Rigel wouldn't take a risk if he could not back his words, Rigel knew that someone could help, no, could be a pawn in this battle.
His own rival, Auto, Rigel and Auto did not speak or look at each other at all but they felt it.
The perfect synergy.
'Auto wouldn't let anybody die... He's gonna help every squad and having 3 at a time boxed in for him is the easiest way... The easiest way to win.'
Within 5 minutes they had killed 50, 10 minutes they had already beaten 120, 15 minutes although exhausted managed to pull it off. They killed 160, with 18 minutes, they had already cleared 180 hounds. 23 soldiers had vanished, 40 confirmed to be dead. But those bodies, none of them were from Rigel's circle of responsibility. The deaths came from civilians that came running to the gates out of madness, they could not stop them.
Auto was eyeing directly at Rigel, slowly he confronted him, there was a shrouded intent in his gaze that Rigel was unable to perceive.
To him, Auto seemed distant, as Auto stared daggers into his eyes Rigel was obscured by the vision, the vision the fire, a burning village that reflected the city's current state. He upholded the itch to ask 'Auto, what are you.'
The boiling haze quickly simmered down, but to his inundated fear, as the fog cleared up, as the smoke fades, the steam simmers down. A vivid smirk awash, he understood how phantom his dream was.
'You're a good leader Rigel.'
This person...
This person is different.
A dark mist blitzed out of the blue, breaking the moment they were about to share. In the strike of luck however, they dodged. They inspected the object, but as the got closer the mist vanished from sight leaving behind only one trace.
'A rock?'
Rigel looked at Auto with child-like inquisition.
Auto side eyes him.
'It's a letter of the false hope.'
Rigel looks at him with curiosity and beady eyes.
'Really what does it say?' he asked.
'It says nothing, it's just dead so it threw its last remain out of pure resentment.'
Rigel wanted to ask for more inquiry, but he jumped back pinching his face and was in disbelief by the fact that he was smiling so widely.
This quickly got him distracted from asking what a false hope even is.
'Hey what is a false hope?'
Narrator: STICK TO THE SCRIPT GODDAMN IT!
The lie was laid there planted like a duck in the minefield, the real reason Auto refused to disclose why the letter was blank is because he didn't want Rigel nor anyone for that matter, or at least not in this world, to learn about magic.
It had been 3 days since then, Rigel was eager to learn more and interrogated him for at least 30 minutes everyday. Sometimes these sessions would just go into nonsensical rambling, and Auto even thought of this as being pals. Rigel would often get embarrassed trying to keep a straight face but ending up unable to.
Auto was gaining even more praise from the city, he had been awarded for being the MVP of the defense.
Rigel smiled every time he bumped into Auto and congratulated him, but despite his happy exterior he'd often fade away in the crowd and would be found with eye bags by evening.
Auto also noticed his unusual behavior, at first he thought Rigel was nocturnal because he only operates at night. But this is only half-true, Rigel's routine actually changes depending on the day.
Monday to Thursday being night time days and Friday to Sunday being afternoon and midnight days.
Whenever I ask Rigel about something in town he always knows, he seems to be really good at hearing gossip and know the people in the city very much.
Rigel is charismatic and carries a strong aura that pulls others towards him.
Oh how I wish I was like him.
Suddenly something came to break the peace, 'This sensation... I've felt it before.' Auto denoted as he hid amongst the crowd.
'I gotta know where this is coming from.' He looked around and focused, it's a string! No a chord. It's something chord-like 'It's magic.'
'This sensation is magic... But who could have it?'