THE END OF AN ERA

One had to hand it over to Lynne when it comes to character; the moment he decided he needed to leave the Palace, he immediately calculated over dozens of means to achieve such results. As he was filtering through them, he grew more and more coincided: I truly am a genius in the realm of shrewdness! Who can withstand my mind?!!

A few days after Lynne finally decided on the plan, strange rumors, alongside even stranger atmosphere, emerged from within the Palace. Whispers ran rampart across the walls, and even if one wished to squash them, it was impossible.

“That creep asked me to sniff my toes!!” one well-dress lady exclaimed, her cheeks red. “Can you believe it?!!”

“You had it good!” the other one said. “He asked me whether he could stick his tongue in my nose!!!”

“He asked me if he could borrow my – my underwear to wear for a few days!!”

“He asked me if he could sleep in my bed tonight, and-- and if I could watch him while he--- while does stuff!!”

“He asked me if I could cut some of my hair so he can use it privately!! What does that even mean?!!”

“At least he asked you for the hair on your head!!”

“No way?!”

“Hm, hm. That guy is a maniac! We need to report him to the King immediately!!”

“Indeed!” all ladies agreed in unison. “It doesn’t matter that he’s from the Skyfire Academy, this is just crossing all barriers!”

“Yes, yes, punish him!”

“Punish him, yes!!”

**

The source of all these rumors and whispers was, naturally, Lynne. He figured he’d incite universal hatred from the fairer sex, which would lead to his farewells to this place. However, he was extremely calculative; even though he asked and requested some obscene things, he had never crossed the line. After all, there was a fine thread between being expelled from the Palace, and being expelled from the living – publicly and permanently.

He had always first tried to understand the ladies he was approaching; after all, there were some obscene women in the world, and if one of them suddenly said ‘Yes’ to one his requests, how could he comply? That’s why he always tried to be as vile as necessary, never less and never more. He figured that if the entire Palace rebels against him, the King will have no other choice but the expel him and ban him from the Palace. However much chaos he had caused, none of what he did truly warranted his head – that he was certain of if nothing else. Naturally, familiar ears weren’t spared from these rumors.

“Ruffian!!!” Princess Ella screamed atop her lungs as she pinned Lynne to the ground with her knee in his courtyard, while Captain Edgar and his first two lieutenants watch from the side; while Samuel had playful expression, as if he had peered deeper into the root of this, Sarah and Captain Edgar were much gloomier. “Have you absolutely no shame?!! I know you are a fool, but even the damnedest of fools ought to have a speck of brain!!”

“Aah!!” Lynne screamed out, pretending to be hurt. “You misunderstand my Maiden!”

“Who is yours, you tackless brat?!!” she pressed even harder.

“I am a man! I have urges!” Lynne fought verbally.

“Urges?! You call those things urges? I’ll beat you till you start pissing snot if you don’t shut up!”

“Every man has his own heart!” Lynne pressed on. “While Captain Edgar and ruffian Samuel wish for fair to befall them, I wish for sins of grand to heap me; wind of --”

“Stop trying to turn vulgarities into philosophy!” Princess Ella screamed; although she had extremely thick skin, and was usually quite reserved and understanding of Lynne, once she learned all the things he had asked of her friends within the Palace, she couldn’t help but redden in her cheeks, while fire of anger burst out in her heart.

“I speak-- wait, has your chest area finally developed?” Lynne suddenly said, causing everyone’s jaws to go agape. “Damn, it was ‘bout time! Now you’re finally worthy of being introduced to my friend!!”

“… get him out.” Princess Ella finally stood up, her expression that of dejection. “I don’t ever want to see his face again.” Oh lord finally… Lynne sighed inwardly. Even I was getting embarrassed with all the things I said recently…

“Yes, Princess!” Captain Edgar stepped forward, his face extremely distorted; he couldn’t believe the Academy would take someone like him under their wing, and even send him to the Palace as the top recommendation. He had in that instant lost all respect for it.

However, just as he picked Lynne up to carry him out, the earth suddenly quaked heavily, causing all five of them to fall down. Ah, too late… why is my fate utter crap?! I didn’t even want to be entangled in this mess! At the moment the earth quaked, Lynne felt extremely fierce spacial tear beneath the Palace – much greater than all others prior combined. He was just one day too late. As four others immediately got up, their faces ashen, they had no time to pay attention to him as they raced out. The quaking, though, hadn’t stopped there. One after another, the ground beneath shook as walls slowly showed signs of cracking. Lynne grew alarmed and immediately stormed out of his courtyard, racing towards the exit of the Palace. However, the moment he reached stairs, his expression sank to beneath the sea.

Night hung on the sky above, showing first signs of the First Moon, while stars illuminated its other portion. It was completely cloudless, a joyous occasion; yet, beneath it, world had changed. Lynne saw hundreds, if not more, black-clad figures strung along the courtyard of the Palace, and then further away throughout the Kingly Ring. Shrill screams echoed off into the night, causing even his heart to stir with emotion. Blood ran rampart through the streets, dyeing peaceful cobblestone in scarlet hue. Several dozen black-clad figures were standing guard at the stairs, killing anyone who left the Palace without exception.

At the same time, he heard rumbles from behind, as sounds of massive battle erupted. Realizing there was no way he can run out front, he turned around and bolted towards the inner parts of the Palace. Now that it has come to this, he decided to seek shelter with the King and his forces. However powerful the newcomers were, this was still the Capital of the entire Kingdom. It couldn’t be occupied so quickly.

However, the scene that welcomed him had completely stunned him beyond belief; dozens upon dozens, if not hundreds, corpses were strewn throughout the massive dining hall. Furniture was broken into countless pieces, and the tiled floor beneath was completely red. The King stood at one side, with three figures next to him, with one being Princess Ella. Lynne had immediately found bodies of Edgar, Samuel and Sarah next to them, doused in the pool of blood. Across from them stood a good hundred of black-clad people – save for the three upfront. Lynne recognized one – Prince Fyire stood to the left of another youthful figure with golden hair and arrogant expression.

“I always knew you were wretched scum,” Princess Ella spoke angrily. “But to betray your own kin… under our own roof… hell is a paradise for you!”

“Shut up midget!!” Prince Fyire suddenly exploded angrily. “What my kin? You are all but bastards that shouldn’t have even lived to this point!”

“Fyire...” the King spoke, clearly heart-broken and much less aggressive than Princess Ella. “I have given you everything…”

“Shut it, old man!” the Prince retaliated. “Your everything isn’t worth a fart! Don’t try to speak your way out of this! If you wish to live, bend over and declare complete surrender to Elvernheimn. Otherwise, not just you, but half the people in this backwater place will be slaughtered!”

“Villainous scum!!!” Princess Ella yelled out, her eyes swelling up red. “If you have balls of a man, face me in a duel! Even if I have to submerge this entire Kingdom in blood, at least you will be part of its flow!”

“Humph,” the Prince scoffed angrily. “Give your filthy tongue some rest. Will you surrender or not?”

“Surrender?” the King suddenly laughed madly. “Today, your Kingdom will be victorious. Host the feast, call upon the banquet of gods and douse yourself in the wine of victory! Underneath the Grand, we are all but ants, but the Grand is just; just as today you shall slaughter me and my legacy, your heads shall one day be spiked in front of your own homes!”

“Empty bluster…” the man who stood next to the Prince spoke in a cold and calm tone, his golden mane fluttering behind lightly. He slowly expanded his arm, pointing at the King and the rest. “If such calamity befalls us, we at least would see the higher skies unlike country bumpkins. Farewell.” a flash of brilliant light emerged from his fingers, forming a beautiful, horizontal arc of light which sped through space in the blink. When Lynne looked again, he could only see the King’s head floating up next to Ella’s, and two others’. Shit, I need to run, now!!

Paying it no heed, Lynne immediately turned around and ran with all his speed. On his way, he had passed through dozens of battlefields, but even the greatest of fools could see that today’s the last day of Highlind. While enemy forces didn’t seem to be overbearing, they were all powerful experts, and they ambushed in the dead of the night – from within the Palace itself no less.

Lynne couldn’t even count how many corpses he had passed as he ran madly towards the entrance to the Palace. He had no other paths – that was the only way he thought possible. Others would definitely underestimate him, and that was his only advantage.

The moment he stepped onto the stairs, ten black figures immediately surrounded him as they cast dazzling spells at him. Paying no heed, he immediately shrouded his feet in blue flames as he cast Fiery Sweeps; he didn’t need profound truths behind it at the moment, he only needed speed. The moment he took his next step, he bolted towards the sky, drawing a beautiful arc as he swept above the black-clad figures who looked at him with cold glint in their eyes. While they weren’t strong as experts that were sent to the Palace itself, they still deemed themselves ten times stronger than some random brat from the backwater Kingdom.

They immediately gave into the pursuit as Lynne landed just short of the entrance to the Palace’s courtyard; some black-clad figures awaited him there as well, but he cast Fiery Sweeps yet again, with no reservations. As he bolted forward, he also cast Elemental Blade; fiery object in the shape of a sharp blade appeared in his right arm. As he was flying just slightly above the ground due to the propelling force of the Fiery Sweeps, he threw the manifested blade backwards in a dragged arc. Although he knew it would barely even surprise his pursuers, he had no other trump cards, and any millisecond was worth a fortune at the moment.

As he expected, the black-clad figures didn’t even pause, but merely flickered their fingers as the fiery blade disappeared into thin air. Tsk, Mana-driven nutcases… Lynne cursed inwardly. I’m a freaking idiot. I should have never taken this task. Shit. They could have at least asked me to submit to them, and I would have happily done so.

As he landed, he cast Fiery Sweeps yet again; he quickly realized that this would be the last time he cast it in a while, as his Mana reserves were nigh depleted, and he had no means of immediate recovery. He ran towards the Upper Ring, but he couldn’t figure out the escape route, no matter how much he racked his brain about it. Ocean!! He screamed inwardly. At this pace, if I can evade them, I should reach the ocean within half an hour. During that time, I will be able to cast ‘Fiery Sweeps’ at least twice. I still have the bracelet in the worst case scenario, and I doubt they think of me as some grand threat. They will probably try to toy with me first, which is my advantage. It’s obvious that they aren’t running full speed and are merely just keeping up with me, looking to see what I’ll do. Blah, even I’m not that arrogant! Don’t underestimate your father, you little runts!

As Lynne cursed inwardly, he ran at his utmost, as if fires of hells were chasing his behind. He had barely reached the Upper Ring when he felt massive amounts of explosive Mana rush at him from behind; as he took a glance, he saw a huge icicle headed his way, its pointy tip seemingly strong enough to penetrate even a mountain. He screeched like a scared cat as he gathered slights of wind around him and pushed himself sideways forcibly, barely evading the icicle. The frozen weapon struck the row of houses beneath, causing at least dozen to collapse completely. Showoff!!

As Lynne fell sideways, he realized he was headed to a small patch of forest, but he hadn’t halted his steps even for a second. Falling through the air, he pushed wind into his back, causing him to fall faster. He grabbed a thick branch on his way down and flung himself around it once before propelling himself forward. He began jumping from tree to tree like a monkey, panting ever so gravely.

He felt his lungs collapsing slightly, and his abdomen ache in protest. His legs were like lead, and his vision grew blurry. Shit, I don’t think I can even last till the ocean. The moment he left the forest, he felt insane insurgence of Mana from behind – much bigger that that of the icicle. Terrified, he cast a glance backwards, his heart immediately shattering. A massive scarlet-dyed flood was headed his way, as wide as a wheat field, waves clashing from within. Blood Magus!! Shit, this is ‘Scarlet Sea’ variant! Looks like I have no other choice…

Although terrified, he could still think calmly. As the blood flood neared him, he didn’t stop or slow down. He could almost feel the gazes of mockery fall atop of his body; he realized that others weren’t even that serious, causing him to be furious. However, he couldn’t change a thing – he was far too weak. Like a pebble in an ocean, he couldn’t change the course of tides, only endure them for a time. He realized there was no way he could evade this flood, as it had practically eclipsed the entire sky above him. Dense stench pervaded his nostrils, and he felt his bones shiver underneath the massive pressure. Thousand cries howled from within the flood, as if the thousand souls tried to escape and welcome him at the same time. Scent of murder clouded the entirety of the air around him, making it nigh impossible to take a full breath. Black-clad figures had long since stopped chasing him, as they truly believed that he had no way of escaping. After all, this was a ‘Grand Spell Art’ cast by a Two Star Heavenly Magus. Even another Heavenly Magus would find it troubling to ignore it, much less an Archmage ant.

Just a sheer second before the impact, Lynne poured the last bit of Mana he had into his bracelet. He had nothing else left, and had put all his hopes and dreams on this small, round object wrapped around his wrist. Whether he lived or died depended wholly on it. Please… please work.

Red dyed the spot he was at, causing the houses and cliffs and rivers around to disappear within a whiff and earth beneath to quake as if invaded by the force it couldn’t withstand. The entirety of the Upper Ring began to collapse, as if a Hand of God had descended from above and pressed atop of it, rendering living an impossibility.