Your group has slain [Crodilion – Paragon Level 2]

‘Vanguard has reached Forging Level 15’

…

‘Vanguard has reached Forging Level 24’

By the time Kai’s vision returned to him, the Crodilion was gone. Judging by the horrific roar a few moments ago, it hadn’t been a peacefully passing.

Sitting on the floor, Akane puffed up her furry chest like a child seeking approval.

Kai gave her a brief glance before staring all around. A few thousand shields were erected around survivors of Akane’s battle with the Crodilion. All that remained inside the partially destroyed walls were the ruins of buildings on the distant side of the city. It was practically a wasteland.

His first thought was there that were too few shields inside the city. There had only been a total of 15 minutes from the time the alarms rang until the time the Crodilion had begun rampaging throughout the city. There was no way everyone had been able to escape safely. It was likely tens of thousands had died, but between Akane’s fire and the Crodilion’s lava, nothing remained of the corpses, not even ashes.

Kai turned his furious gaze on the fox. “Akane why didn’t you save everyone? With your power you could have stopped and killed the monster long before it ever reached the city,” he commanded an answer. He knew his anger was clouding his judgment because he was yelling at someone akin to a demigod, but he couldn’t help himself.

She waited a few moments to respond. “I could have. But why would I? These people mean nothing to me. I am under no obligation to save them. I only prevented the ones remaining from dying by my own attack.”

“But… it was so unnecessary. So many innocent people died that didn’t have to. People that you may have interacted with. That cooked and fed you,” Kai seethed.

“Your right, the loss of tens of thousands is indeed a tragedy. But someday, someone might rise from the ashes of this capital, someone that may not have strived for the pinnacle of magic before. That person may one day save millions, at the cost of tens of thousands.”

“You talk as if that is a sure thing. It isn’t. All that may happen is the collapse of this kingdom now that half of its defenders are dead.”

“If that is what fate decrees, then that is what will happen. You are young to the Myriad of Worlds. But one day you will realize, to never rely on others. In the end, your life is in your hand.”

Kai stopped arguing. It was pointless. Akane was likely older than any human that was alive today. She would have without a doubt seen more during her time than him. He wouldn’t be able to change her mind right now.

Around them, the shields covering the survivors had vanished. Kai assumed Akane had been the one to save them. What kind of magical power must she have to both shield every survivor in the city and kill the Crodilion at the same time. It was beyond his comprehension.

Kai wondered if the survivors could see them right now or if Akane had wrapped the area in an illusion.

Shrinking back to her previous size, she padded up to Kai. “Don’t take too long… I’m hungry,” she said as she jumped into his arms the next moment.

If he was being honest with himself, it was a comfort having Akane in his arms once again. Now that he knew her true form and strength, there was even more comfort to be had as she snuggled in.

“What now?” Kai asked his massive companion.

“Now, you need to settle your affairs here and say your goodbyes. We will be returning home shortly.”

Ka turned his gaze around. The academy was gone, along with the palace. They had been destroyed and melted in the brief fight. He had no idea what the future held now. All of his plans had been… liquefied. The first thing he had to do was find his friends. Nicolas should have been safe, after being flown away by one of the royal guards. Hector was an unknown. Kai had no idea if he had managed to escape the city.

“Where are my friends?” he asked.

“Both are by the western exit.”

Kai started walking towards the city’s western exit. “Was any of my family inside the city when this happened?”

“Just Garren. He is fine if that is what you were going to ask next,” she said predicting his next question. “Also, we have an established mind link. It would be more discrete if you can communicate telepathically with me, especially as we approach the survivors.”

“So, we could have talked this entire year?” Kai tried thinking what he was going to say, only there was no response. Trying again, he directed his thoughts at Akane this time.

“We could have, but I would have missed out on so much fun,” somehow, she sent over pure emotions of laughing to him.

Kai couldn’t help but chuckle himself. After all the shenanigans he had delt with during the year, Akane probably had a good time listening to him talk to her even when he didn’t expect an answer.

Hundreds of people were coming back into the near-empty city again, likely it had spread around that the monster had been defeated and it was once again safe to enter.

What would befall this kingdom now that most of its high realm individuals had been killed?

Kai followed Akane’s directions until he found himself face to face with his friends. Swarmed by hugs, both Andre and Nicolas were ecstatic to see him.

“You’re alive!”

“Where were you? We’ve been trying to find you.”

Kai was bombarded with questions before he had a chance to breathe. “I was inside the walls, hunkering down. I couldn’t manage to escape,” Kai told a half lie. He really hadn’t been able to escape between the Crodilion and the headmistress both impeding his way.

Mentioning the fact that he had been inside the walls until just now he was barraged with new questions. People around them had begun paying attention when he had said such things.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see what happened. All I remember is heat and I think I passed out,” Kai lied effortlessly.

“Akane did the survivors see you?”

“Only those who could pierce my illusions were able.”

So, it’s possible that rumors of a nine-tailed fox might be going around. I better make myself scarce before someone connects those rumors to a certain fox hanging around my neck.

“Guys, I have to leave soon and return home. I wanted you both to know that before I vanished.”

This had obviously shocked them as both pairs of eyes focused on Kai.

“I didn’t tell either of you… but there was a good chance I wasn’t going to be attending the second year at the academy here. I might be attending Prime Academy.” Assuming my father accepts being a finalist in an uncompleted tournament as valid to our deal. “I’m sorry if it seems like I’m ditching you guys after such a disaster, but I was told I was going home soon.”

“What does this mean for us?”

Kai took a moment before answering. “We will always be friends. I just don’t know what my plans are for the immediate future. If I am staying in the kingdom or moving on. I will only know after I talk to my family. Depending on the choices made you may see me sooner rather than later.”

“Well, you know where to find us,” Nicolas responded with misty eyes.

There was a solemnness to not knowing if you were ever going to see someone you were close with again. Even though he had only known them for ten months they had become great friends to him. Something he wasn’t sure if he could ever have again.

“Akane did any of Nicolas’ family survive?”

She responded with an affirmative. Nearly half of his siblings had passed away including his third brother. The king had also apparently survived and was already leading the others to salvage the situation.

Kai lied, saying he had seen Nicolas’ father, still alive and already organizing relief efforts inside the walls before he exited.

They spent the next five minutes talking before Akane nudged his mind with a reminder. He didn’t know why she was in such a rush, but he didn’t argue. Saying his goodbyes, he started walking around the walls to the southern road. He was no longer afraid of bandits or wayward adventurers with Akane guarding him. He wished he had known of her prowess beforehand. He could have ventured out into the wild and trained and leveled faster.

After traveling for a few hours, Akane announced that he was going to ride her. Transforming into a massive fox again, she lowered herself and allowed Kai to climb onto her back. Somehow the fur felt like both solid metal and the softest illustrious material he had ever felt. Gripping on for dear life, Akane began running off the main path.

“Why didn’t we do this earlier?”

“There were too many people around. My illusions are not invincible, as there are many ways to break through them, and it wasn’t worth the risk.”

The wind stung as it blew into Kai’s face. He was forced to squint as they traveled in his attempts to keep them open. The background passed by so quickly, that he wasn’t able to see anything with any clarity. In a matter of minutes, they had already entered the mists of the Illusionary Misty Region. A three-day trip by caravan had turned into fifteen minutes.

Akane didn’t bother taking the main path the humans used in and out of the Illusionary Misty Region. 30 seconds later, they stopped in an area that he had never been to before.

The mists covered the area but didn’t penetrate the invisible dome blocking it. It was the same as the village where the mist surrounded but never entered, but this obviously wasn’t the village. It wasn’t actually completely shrouded by the mists. Above him, the mists were lacking as if a hole had been blown through them. Despite being daytime, Kai could see a few other planets that were completely visible to his eyes. It had been especially cloudy before they had entered the Illusionary Misty Region, but the hole above him showed no clouds. Despite seeing the bright sky above, them, the sun didn’t reach them.

“What is this place?” he asked aloud.

Stone pillars were erected in a massive flat circle. The circumference was larger than even the colosseum. The ground was entirely made of stone and rock with depictions carved into them. Akane remained silent as she stepped onto the ground causing the illustrations to begin glowing crimson.

Drawing of kitsune dominated the area. Most of the illustrations showed different kitsune doing all kinds of activities, but most of the images portrayed hunting or battles. There were battles against monsters he didn’t recognize and some about whom he could guess but had never seen in person. There weren’t any weak boars in these images, only monsters of power that might pose challenges.

A large area had been dedicated to designs of the kitsunes fighting dragons. He only knew that they were dragons because they fit the description his mother had told him about to the exact detail. It showed many dragons and kitsune battling in a massive battle or perhaps even a war. It showed hundreds of kitsune and dragons falling in battle. Runes he could not read were written over many of the kitsunes in the battle. Perhaps names of the fallen?

There was no order to the pictures that Kai could see. But at the center of the circle of illustrations was a picture that he could only guess was the first one. It was the simplest of all the images, showing a single nine-tailed kitsune and nothing else.

“My mother,” Akane’s voice answered his thoughts. “This mural depicts the history of the Kitsune clan.”

“Who exactly are you, Akane?”

“My name is Andromeda,” the mere mention of her name caused Kai’s head pain that vanished as quickly as it appeared. “You have known me as the matriarch of the kitsune clan, but I don’t think you’ve truly understood the ramifications of that until now.”

“Andromeda? Then where did Akane come from?”

“Your ancestor… the one I originally made the pact with regarding the village, named me Akane. Apparently, it meant crimson from his homeland. It was meant to be a disguise that wouldn’t draw attention to those who know my name.”

“Andromeda… it’s a nice name,” Kai repeated it.

“Never say my name aloud. You do not want the attention that it may bring,” Akane’s voice projected seriousness.

Kai tore his gaze away from the mural. “Tell me, why did you show me all this?” Kai wasn’t stupid enough to believe this wasn’t shown to him without a good reason.

“I’ve brought you here so you can make a choice.”