ECHOES OF HEARTS

Elynal felt earth beneath him thump in faint echoes, quaking as though something was trying to break through to the surface. However, reality was much different. He stood atop a fortified wall, adorned in diamond-laden full plate armor, two massive gauntlets holding onto the simple ballista. He wasn’t supposed to be here, yet, here he was. Two weeks ago, he had finally managed to break through into the Grand Realm, yet what awaited him wasn’t celebration, but invitation to participate in the Great War.

Alongside hundreds of others scattered either atop the wall, in front of the gates, or back in the stronghold, he stared at the black swarm approaching in the distance. Some were ordinary Mages, some slightly mutated beasts, and some creatures pulled out of one’s nightmare. In the center was a massive, featureless giant, its entire body seemingly aflame. He towered over two hundred meters, looking down at everything and everyone beneath him. How are we supposed to fight that? Elynal sighed faintly, cursing his fate. Back home, he had a Kingdom he resurrected from ashes, had a wife and twin daughters, and had a nation of people who revered him.

Here? He had nothing but uncertainty. The quakes and thumping grew louder and fiercer, causing many to take a step back. In front of the stronghold’s walls was an army of roughly 20,000. Elynal was first knocked into shocked state when he realized that his advancement to a Grand Magus – which he believed to be a rarity among rarities – meant absolutely nothing. Everyone here was at least a Grand Magus and, above them, in the sky, were two Divine Mages – a man and a woman pair. Just once glance at them cause Elynal’s heart to shake; figures from legends and myths were actually standing in front of him, and will be battling in the same war, against same foes.

“Fear not,” a gentle and warm whisper suddenly entered his ears, causing his entire body to freeze. He turned his eyes slowly toward the sky and saw the woman looking down at him, smiling lightly. “Just fight. That is all any of us can do.”

Elynal faintly nodded before shaking his head as his eyes filled to brim with determination. No! Tanya and the girls are waiting for me!! I have to come back, even if I have to crawl out of hell to do it! Seeing the enemies grow ever so closer, he wiped a few drops of sweat from his forehead and pulled back the string on the ballista, as did nearly hundred others stationed in a firm line on both his sides. The battle drew ever so closer, and nobody said anything anymore. Chatter died down, and the only sounds were the quakes and thumps of the earth being trampled over.

“FIRE!!!!” a deep voice suddenly exploded into the sky; as soon as it echoed out into the world, hundreds of ballista-charged bolts burst out like cannons, followed shortly after by thousands of arrows and arrays of light and magical bombardments, directly aimed at the approaching army. “VANGUARD, PUSH!! REAR, RELOAD!! CHARGE!!!”

As was previously discussed, Elynal and others abandoned their weapons and leapt of the walls, with someone else taking their positions. Due to all of them being proficient in the physical strength, they were charge with unloading the first bolt which was to be sent at the massive giant. Afterwards, they were to jump and join the charging vanguard.

Without hesitation, the moment his feet touched the earth, Elynal erupted as Mana burst from his feet, causing small pillars of earth to erect from the earth, cannonballing him forth through the air in the beautiful arc. The battle commenced immediately, as thousands of roars and shouts belittled the sky. Opposing vanguard forces charged forth as well, breaking away from their forces. Both sides’ rears were suddenly enveloped with faint blue shimmers, as magic spells aimed at them collapsed into it.

Hundreds of bolts pierced through the massive giant, but the creature merely roared angrily as the fist-sized holes healed up immediately. However, none of them paid the giant any heed: it was not theirs to fight. The two Divine Mages, seeing the bolts having absolutely no effect, sighed lightly as they took out their weapons. Both wielded short swords, woman in her left hand and man in his right. Woman’s was silver-laden, while man’s was completely black. They suddenly disappeared from their spot in the sky as the space around them tore apart, reappearing on each of giant’s sides, immediately begin to besiege the creature.

Elynal was currently in a freefall, gaining massive momentum, as he charged past the shimmering shield of the enemy alongside hundreds of others. He crashed directly into the mass of black wolves the size of a doorframe, blasting them all apart as their wails mixed in with endless explosions. Without taking a time to catch a breath, he clashed both his gauntlets together, causing his entire body to obtain light, brownish sheen. He then catapulted forward, spinning as means to gain momentum yet again, and landed with his one of his gauntlets pointed downwards; what ensued was a massive explosion, creating a nearly one hundred meters wide crater, from which spike-shaped pillars emerged in droves at speeds beyond what others could dodge.

The pillars pierced through the beats and people alike, causing shrilling screams to echo out. However, they were quickly drowned in the sea of infinity of other sounds. Elynal found himself in the enemy’s backline and began wreaking havoc to the best of his ability. However, he quickly realized he was among the weakest here. To his right, he saw a woman wielding a thin, one-meter-long short sword, and moving at speeds he couldn’t even begin to fathom. By the time he’d catch a glimpse of her, he’d only see dozens of bodies pierced right through, with her already hundreds of meters away, battling someone or something else.

No matter how much he struggled, it didn’t take him long to realize that he didn’t matter: he was just a fodder. A number in the sea of ‘experts’. If he killed ten, someone else killed a hundred, and someone a thousand. To say nothing of those two Divine Mages who were battling that massive giant to a standstill. He was a speck of dust in an infinite desert, brazenly looking at the sky, wishing for more where there was none. To him, though, it didn’t matter; he didn’t want to be a hero, the figure to herald this force into a march of victory, the one to hold the fluttering banner atop the mountains of corpses. He just wanted to survive.

While his battlefield had begun heating up, across the realms, two sides were currently merely staring at each other. Y’se was up front, donned in beautiful, silver armor. Next to her were a man and a woman pair, Oy’oh and Ly’el. Behind them was a massive army numbering in millions. Opposite of them was even greater army, led by three figures who were very familiar to Y’se: Eeala, False God of Wind, Ijoni, False God of War and Sa Rai, False God of Hope. She already figured Ryon had gone to the realm her grandfather was guarding, so she wasn’t surprised not to see him.

Suddenly, Sa Rai stepped forward and signaled with his chin to Y’se. Furrowing her brows slightly, she held back Oy’oh and Ly’el who insisted on joining her, and appeared midway between the two forces alongside Sa Rai. The two stared at each other for a moment; the scar running across his face was inflicted by her grandfather of all people. However, she saw no hatred or animosity in his eyes, causing her to lower her guard slightly.

“Long time no see.” Sa Rai said, smiling faintly.

“Long time no see.” Y’se replied in kind, returning the smile.

“How are you?”

“Been better,” Y’se said. “You?”

“Been better.” Sa Rai replied.

“Why did you want to chat? I didn’t take you for the ‘pleasantries’ type of a God.”

“… once we start fighting,” Sa Rai said. “I figured there’d be no pause for a casual chit-chat. I just wanted to say hi to an old friend.”

“… I can tell you don’t love him anymore,” Sa Rai said lightly, causing Y’se to arch her brows slightly. “But, whatever you may be feeling right now, back then, you were good to us. To him. Without you, we’d never get to see the beauty of a simple life. What happened… none of us ever blamed you, Y’se.”

“I didn’t think you did.” Y’se said simply.

“We didn’t blame your grandfather either,” Sa Rai said, chuckling faintly as he saw Y’se’s disbelieving expression. “We needed something tangible to focus our hatred on. But, truth be told, deep down we always knew he had no other choice. Ah, how lamentable it is, no? I hope that, if there ever is another world, another me and another you, and another Ryon, we can be friends again, and share laughter and tears as we once used to.”

“That sounds lovely.” Y’se said, smiling lightly.

“… for old time’s sake, I’ll tell you one thing: that boy,” Sa Rai said. “Lynne… he’ll probably be fighting Father Ignis.” Y’se’s heart froze for a moment as her eyes widened. She only ever once heard of that name – a very, very long time ago, when her grandfather was telling her the stories of brave heroes and their battle against gods. “You probably don’t know much about it, but, if I were you, I wouldn’t be hopeful. No matter how strong that boy is, he’ll be going up against the oldest Primordial God alive. I’ve said what I had to say. Good luck Y’se.”

“…” Y’se said nothing, merely flashed back to Oy’oh and Ly’el. Her thoughts spun at speeds she couldn’t keep up with. If the name Ignis didn’t lit up her heart, then the title of a Primordial God did. That’s who they’ll be fighting? She thought as she looked up the sky. Lynne… Alas, there was no time for her empty, wishful thoughts. The battle drum sounded out, and both sides suddenly spread widely as each began employing their preset strategies. It was time to go to war.