Location:Outside the headquarters of the Fourth Branch
A young guard was fighting to buy time for a family of four trying to make it to the Fourth Branch's tower, his sword crackling with electricity as it clashed with the flaming war hammer wielded by the cultist in white robes in front of him. Eventually, his sword's blade is shattered by the force of the hammer, and he is thrown to the ground. The cultist walks to him and raises his hammer to deliver the final blow. However, a purple streak bolts through his line of sight, and the next second the severed hands of the cultist are lying on the ground, still holding their hammer. The cultist falls forward, an inexplicable bloody gash in his chest having suddenly opened. The guard looks up as the boy wearing the purple cape extends his hand to him. His white hair had been partially cleaned from the blood that had accumulated on it over the past hour.
- "Come on, get up and go get a new sword." Julian says before turning to a small group of guards in the distance. "Hey I'm gonna need backup from anyone who can use Lightning magic to defend area E! They've got a few water mages wreaking havoc! If you're good at Fire or Frost magic, that works too!"
- "But Miss Agnes told us to hold our ground here!" One of them protests.
- "To hell with that, we're too understaffed! She'll figure something out!"
- "...Alright! I know a few Lightning spells!"
- "Alright then let's move out!"
Julian runs off to the eastern side of the tower, followed by two guards. He notices that the second one was the one he just rescued.
- "Didn't I tell you to go get a new sword?" Julian frowns.
- "I'm pretty good at Aquatic magic, I think I could counter them!" The guard replies with determination.
- "That's too risky. You're way too young to be going up against confirmed mages."
- "With all due respect sir, even if I'm a trainee I have to do my best to help where I can!" He takes out his badge from his pocket, with the name Leo spelled in light purple letters on it.
- "...Ugh. I'm not your superior, you don't have to address me like that. Just don't get yourself killed."
Julian gives a worried look to a violent storm he could see on the horizon. It was raging above what he knew was his family's home, and was occasionally illuminated by giant lightning bolts spreading devastation on the ground under it.
- "(Hang in there, Nicolas…)" He thinks to himself.
Eventually, they arrive at their destination, while Julian single-handedly tore every cultist in his way to shreds. Giant waves were swiping back and forth through the flooded battlefield, ripping off the streets' pavement and violently crashing on whoever was unfortunate to stand in their way. Julian stops for a second, noticing a few guard uniforms among the bloated dead bodies on the ground.
- "So you guys couldn't hold the line after all… May Lord Solomon grant you peace in his underworld." He whispers.
He then quickly scans the area, searching for the cultists that were controlling the waves. He finds them after a few seconds, standing on the rooftops of two residential buildings.
- "That's weird, I'm sure I saw a third one earlier…" Julian looks around, only to find the body of a cultist floating in a crater filled with water, forming some kind of shallow pond. Next to it, the body of a guard wielding a spear was also silently drifting, hand still firmly grasping his weapon. Julian could see his chest slowly rising, but he could tell his magical energy was so low it was basically a miracle he could still draw breath. "Holy… you actually did it. Great job man."
He points his finger at the guard, and a protective sphere of air forms around him.
- "Alright, that should last a few minutes…" He turns his attention back to the cultists on the rooftops, and glances at the guards with him. "I'll take them down, back me up."
- "Roger!" Leo replies, and the other one nods.
Julian immediately rushes towards the closest building, and one of the two cultists notices him. They raise their hand towards him, and the water gathers into a ten meter tall wave that begins crashing down in their direction. Julian clasps his hands together before swinging both his arms to the side, and the wave is parted down the middle. The water violently flows to the side, washing away all the bodies and debris drifting around the battlefield. The cultist was looking left and right, trying to locate Julian who had used the chaos to disappear.
- "(I got you.)" Julian thinks as he suddenly surges from the other side of the rooftop, and dives towards the cultist with his blade pointed at the back of their neck.
The cultist whips around before he can even reach them, taking out two daggers from under their robes. They clash with Julian's air sword, and the latter quickly jumps back as his weapon breaks. The cultist immediately follows up by dashing into him, their speed causing their hood to come off. It was a young boy not older than twelve, with pale skin, wild black hair and a murderous look in his ocean blue eyes. He had spiky fish fins coming out from behind his ears. He attempts to plunge his daggers into Julian's neck, but they are blocked by an invisible wall. A veil of water then flows from his hands and over the daggers' blades before exploding outwards, almost shattering Julian's barrier.
- "Wait a second…" Julian mutters, taking a step back. "(This fighting style…)"
- "You…" The boy hisses. "Elf…White hair… Invisible magic…"
- "I knew it, you're an assassin from the Fifth Branch."
- "You're the Touch of Death…" The boy grins, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. "Your blade is duller than I thought."
He tosses both his daggers to Julian, and the latter catches them with a confused look on his face.
- "Huh? Are you surrendering?..." Julian asks. "That's great, I really didn't feel like killing some kid today."
- "Wrong." The boy pulls two new daggers from his cloak. "I want a good test."
He then immediately lunges at Julian, who reflexively parries his attack with the daggers. They then begin exchanging blows at lightning speed, darting around the rooftop. Sparks fly in all directions as metal clashes, and the flurry of attacks lasts for about ten intense seconds. Then, Julian suddenly tosses the dagger in his left hand at the boy. The latter parries, but then finds himself completely paralyzed. Julian had his hand outstretched towards him, closed into a fist.
- "I solidified all the air around you." Julian says after deeply exhaling. "Don't struggle too much or you'll just suffocate to death."
- "..." The boy stays silent, but water starts pouring from his hands and covering his entire body. Julian's fist begins trembling as he feels an intense pressure under his spell.
The solidified air shatters to pieces as a wave of high-pressure water bursts through it, freeing him. The water then returns to him, forming a small protective sphere around him.
- "That's not gonna work on me." The boy says.
- "Yeah? Guess you're just not getting the easy way out then." Julian frowns. "Lightning!"
- "Lightning?" He tenses up, his eyes darting around the rooftop.
He is too late to notice the light behind him, and a volley of spears made of pure electricity flies through his bubble. He screams in pain before falling to the ground, his cloak emitting a white smoke as the water on it turned to vapor.
- "Hm." Julian walks over to him to take his pulse. "...Good, he's still alive." He walks over to the edge of the rooftop and gives a thumbs up to the second guard who accompanied him. "Good work out there!"
- "Of course!" The guard returns the gesture.
- "Land on this!" Leo shouts before snapping his fingers. A large bubble of water forms at the base of the building, like a giant mattress.
- "Thanks." Julian lifts up the unconscious boy, throws him over his shoulder and jumps off from the building.
When he lands on it, the bubble swallows him before turning into a cloud of water droplets, safely dropping him in the ankle deep water of the battlefield.
- "I didn't do anything in the end, all I ever do is catch people falling…" Leo complains.
- "Hey, that's still great." Julian answers. "Would you rather the only thing you did was kill people?"
- "Uh… no sir!"
- "That's what I thought. Alright you two, let's go take down the second one."
Before they can even get close to the building the cultist was standing on, said cultist suddenly stops creating the giant waves sweeping through the battlefield. A black and neon blue energy rises around them, swallowing them into the ground under them as they desperately attempt to resist. The same happens to all the dead cultists in the water, and the strange energy begins creeping up Julian's body to reach the boy. Julian immediately jumps away before it can touch him, and the energy slowly retracts into the earth.
- "What the…" Julian starts.
- "The Disaster-rank crisis has been averted." A disembodied voice declares, resonating throughout the entire city. "All citizens, please await further instructions from the Church."
- "Julian Leventis, is it?" A high pitched female voice asks right in front of him.
A large, perfectly circular pool of that strange energy had formed at his feet while he was distracted. From it rises a short woman, lazily floating above the ground. She had long, black hair with its inner side coated with a neon blue glow. On the top of her head, he could see a black, crown-like metal halo, and her expression looked completely detached. Her irises were completely neon blue, and featured no pupils to speak of. She was wearing a black and neon blue flowing, intricate gothic dress with giant black frills outlining its sleeves and edges. Julian could tell she was a spirit, and a very high ranking one at that. With this, he knew exactly who he was speaking to.
- "Grand Archmage Calliope." Julian greets her, kneeling as the two other guards do the same.
- "The Wanderer…" Leo whispers, in awe.
- "Firstly, allow me to apologize." Calliope replies, her soft voice echoing around them.
- "...Huh?" Julian raises his head, frowning in confusion.
- "It took me quite some time to analyze the teleportation spell and revert it. Countless lives were lost, and I cannot hope to ask the dead for their forgiveness."
- "...Well, more would've been lost if you didn't intervene."
- "Maybe so." She shifts her attention to the tower behind him. "I relied on your grandfather for many things, so I hope I can rely on you for this."
- "Ask away, I guess?... I don't see how I could refuse a request from you."
- "Do you know where I could find the entity named Nyx? I was informed that they are the cause for all of this." Calliope's deadpan expression shifts slightly, forming a very faint frown. "Schools were destroyed. Libraries were burned. Scholars were assassinated. And I am here to ensure rightful retribution is enacted."
- "..." Julian's face immediately loses all color as he lowers his head again. "...Please wait, can we talk about this?..."
- "So you do know where they are." Calliope's portal on the ground closes, and she begins slowly hovering towards the tower. "Lead me to them."