Chapter 44 – Inside Shiromori

The story so far...

Daisuke and his friends were successful in helping the Arcanas Kingdom reclaim the stolen Star of Arianna and learn about more about the artificial power, both having a common ground --- the Eclipse Hunters.

Mirana Yue, the sister of Lanaya Yue, decided to travel with Daisuke’s group in the hope to strengthen herself and getting accepted into the academy of Merlin for magic users.

And while all of that happened in the Arcanas Kingdom, a separate incident happened at the wasteland known as the Pit Valley where Melody and his friends teamed up with the Pit Valley Bandits in hopes to take down Nobunaga.

After all of these events, it ended with Daisuke finally reuniting with Cobalt, fulfilling their promise to meet each other outside Maria Island. And although their reunion was short, they made a promise to meet again and spend a longer time, this time with Cobalt's friends who are already at the Aeternas Kingdom.

* * * * *

USING AN ORB THAT COULD RECORD events that the user sees, Jack was able to catch Daisuke in action, the very evidence that the United Alliance needed to confirm that Daisuke was indeed an avatar.

And Jack was able to relay a message to the United Alliance – Aria Division that he now have the evidence they wanted.

Back during the battle inside the kingdom’s magic vault, Jack managed to record the events using a small magical orb that could be re-watched using a simple magic spell or through any device capable of reading the contents of the orb. Jack recorded the events about Daisuke’s avatar power that could be used as evidence.

The United Alliance was an organization started by a few nations to stand together against treasure hunters that steals their treasures. With the rise of more organized treasure hunters that uses magic, powers, and strong weapons, many nations joined the United Alliance for protection and allies. And in Aria, many countries were becoming members of the United Alliance.

And the United Alliance would use any means, including weaponizing the avatars if that could help them erase every treasure hunters that stand in their way.

Each continent in Laniagaea has a division of the United Alliance, and in the Aria continent, the United Alliance was located at an island called Union Gates.

* * * * *

One day before the departure of Daisuke and his friends from the Arcanas Kingdom.

“Division Commander!” a low-ranking officer entered the room, saluting at the man who almost accidentally cut his bonsai.

The division commander glared at the officer. “Do I need to remind every day that I do not want noise whenever I am in my office?”

The officer gulped. “N-No, sir. My sincerest apologies.”

The division commander returned his bonsai to his table before returning to his seat. “Your interruption on my meditation be better worth it or gods forbid, I will tear you from inside out.”

“A m-member from the elite group Chasers called us earlier. Said his name was Jack. H-He wanted to inform us about a Code Six.”

The anger on the face of the division commander was replaced with disbelief. “Is this Chaser still on the line?”

“No, sir. H-He’s already hung up.”

“Where was the call from? Did he say?”

“Yes, sir. He said that they are at the kingdom of Arcanas and they are currently going to the Elysian Republic.”

“How sure are we that this information is accurate?”

“He said that he will send a recording of the battle once he finds a telesponder machine. According to him, the avatar fought a Diabolia.”

“A Diabolia…Did he give the name of this avatar?”

“He didn’t—”

“An elf named Daisuke.”

The officer flinched when he heard someone answer. As he looked back, the man who answered was Rear Admiral Bolton.

“Sorry for interrupting, Garou. I heard your conversation as I get here.”

“Bolton. I didn’t hear about your arrival today,” said the division commander named Garou.

“My crew and I caught some newbie hunters back at the Eastern Shores. They call themselves the Dawn Hunters. But later about them, you guys are talking about an avatar?”

“Y-Yes sir,” answered the officer.

“And it seems you already know who this Daisuke is.”

“Officer, you may leave now.”

The officer saluted Bolton and Garou as he left the office.

As soon as the officer’s gone, Bolton told about the report he received back at Port Royale. Torai, the captain of Port Royale’s U.A. Navy, has reported on the information given by Jack. But since no evidence was presented, Bolton decided to not give the information any importance for now.

“Still, you should have told me about him when you came here with the Fishbone Hunters and the Great White Sharks. Anyway, do you know which Ishvara this avatar carries?”

“Ahh. Right. Torai said it is the Ishvara of Wood, Ariyani.”

“We cannot wait for that recording. I will gather some of the available U.A. officers here and send them to nations closest to the Arcanas Kingdom.”

“Are you sure we should allocate our men when there’s a whole bunch of people dedicated to handling Code Six?” Bolton reminded.

“Regardless, the presence of an avatar alone could lead to all kinds of disaster. I will not have him here in Aria.” Garou sternly replied.

* * * * *

Back to the present day at Hills Patch.

Daisuke and his friends continued on their journey toward the Elysian Republic. It has been a few hours since they separated from Melody and her friends and they haven’t made much progress in their journey as they were still inside the Hills Patch.

“I’m sorry. It’s because of this stupid motion sickness that we’re slowing down.”

To avoid Jack from getting too sick from riding Brunnhilde’s wolves, they decided to make the wolves walk instead.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll get there when we get there,” said Riku.

“By the way, it’s almost noon,” Mirana reminded. “Should we hunt for a deer or boar inside Shiromori?”

Everyone agreed.

Mirana volunteered to do the hunting. Daisuke, Raijin, and Siegfried were asked by Riku to join her hunt.

“This forest is so eerie,” said Raijin. “I’ve heard stories about this place, but I never knew it is this creepy.”

The forest was filled with giant trees with white leaves. There was also no track of any deer or boar. It was as if they were small people inside a forest made for giants.

They decided to go deeper into the forest. And when they did, that was when they noticed something—the deeper they get inside the forest, the darker it got. Less and less sunlight reached the forest floor.

“I-I think we should head back,” Raijin suggested.

Siegfried, who was leading the group, gestured to everyone to stay still and quiet.

He then unsheathed his sword. “Behind us!”

As they all turned around, a large, almost gigantic snake was at a striking distance. The giant snake lunged forward with its mouth wide open, aiming at Daisuke.

Daisuke activated his power, but as soon as he did, pain resonated all over his body making him stagger and drop to his knees.

“Daisuke!” Raijin shouted.

Before the giant snake could reach Daisuke, Mirana used her magic that instantly froze the snake. Siegfried followed up by slashing the frozen snake, cutting it into large portions.

“Daisuke! Are you okay?!” Mirana asked as she went towards him.

Siegfried quickly followed. But as he arrived near Daisuke, he saw that Daisuke was already unconscious.

Daisuke’s arms and legs were smoking and were almost purplish. Mirana used her magic to cool Daisuke down which seemed to work as the discoloration slowly subsided.

“What happened?” she asked Raijin and Siegfried who were both equally clueless.

“I have no idea,” Siegfried replied.

* * * * *

In Aria, some people live inside the forest where they built treehouses on tall trees whose leaves were white as snow. This forest was called Shiromori.

The people of Shiromori were once slum people from the Emergent Kingdom. They decided to leave the kingdom and live in treehouses rather than stay in the kingdom proper, only to be oppressed by the nobles.

But that didn’t stop the Emergent Kingdom’s nobles and the first prince, Prince Rafflesia, to hunt down the previous slum people and turning them into slaves without the king’s knowledge. Luckily, the people of Shiromori have protectors: The Rogue Archers.

Shiromori was a dense forest and there were only a few pathways enough for travelers on foot and the main dirt road was used mainly by stagecoaches and royal carriages. There were also safe zones where they could rest, but those areas were not always safe though.

The Rogue Archers used the forest to their advantage. They have managed to condition a certain species of fireflies whose light depends on the scent they react to.

And they were able to use this to their advantage.

Whenever Emergent soldiers or kingdom-paid bandits would go to the forest to hunt down people, the Rogue Archers would be alerted by the lights from the fireflies, and they would shoot invaders down, mostly to scare them. Sometimes, there will be wounded and on rare occasions, fatalities.

The Rogue Archers could also use the fireflies to communicate discreetly, whenever it is safe to go down or when someone needs help.

On the same day when Daisuke and his friends entered the Shiromori to hunt, a royal carriage carrying the princess of Emergent Kingdom, Princess Cattleya, was going through Shiromori as well.

The princess came from another kingdom for a diplomatic visit and was escorted by almost one hundred soldiers and a couple of royal knights.

“This place is really scary, don’t you think, princess?” asked the princess’s aide.

The princess was looking outside, watching the tall trees as they pass.

“Princess?”

“Oh. Ah, sorry, what was it again, Kiana?”

“Nevermind, princess. It seems you are perfectly fine.”

The princess giggled. “I am so sorry, Kiana. Just lost in my train of thought is all. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

“It is fine, princess. Besides, we are guarded by tons of soldiers and another hundred are guarding the main road of Shiromori. What could go wrong?”

Something wrong happened.

The convoy made a few fireflies light up, and cause a chain reaction, ultimately leading to a small group of Rogue Archers that they have company.

Traps were already laid on a certain part of the road that managed to catch the carriage. A net made of thick ropes caught the carriage and sent it up to the canopy layer.

“Rogue Archers!! Get them!!” shouted a soldier.

Three masked people opened the carriage door and asked the princess for bags of gold and money.

Arrows suddenly flew past them.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!” Kiana screamed out of fear.

“Hold your fire! You might hit the princess!” shouted another.

“Toucan, take the aide. Pecker, take the bag of gold and money,” Sparrow ordered.

Sparrow then took the princess and they all left.

The soldiers assumed a defensive position for any enemies on the forest floor. But the noise and fear from the soldiers only attracted something even dangerous than the Rogue Archers—giant insects, amphibians, and even reptiles.

Due to the uniqueness of Shiromori, giant cold-blooded animals managed to thrive inside. And unlucky people often become their prey.

Two knights from the front came back when he heard the commotion.

“Sir Thoras! Sir Lancea! The royal carriage has been trapped and was taken up to the canopy. And giant insects are attacking our men!”

“And the princess?” asked Lancea.

“It seems the princess and her aide has been taken by the Rogue Archers. They’re taking them northwest!”

“We’ll follow them,” said Thoras. “Lancea, take care of the beasts and tell those footmen to stand their ground or they’ll risk attracting more than we could chew. Those damned beasts can smell fear.”

Lancea agreed. She took out her sacred weapon, a pole arm called Dragonspear, and ordered the soldiers to organize into a defensive formation.

Once the soldiers have managed to organize themselves, Lancea proceed to kill the giant insects that appeared. She taunted the insects which promptly reacted. And once they were at her striking distance, Lancea activated the Dragonspear, causing it to elongate directly at her target, instantly killing it.

Lancea did it several times until no giant insects were left.

The soldiers cheered, but was scolded by Lancea instead. “Shut up! Those insects wouldn’t be here in the first place if you all kept your mouths shut! And stay in defensive formation!”

Meanwhile, Thoras took twenty men with him and followed the direction of the Rogue Archers. The forest floor was too dense though so the group was slowed down and has to cut the smaller plant to get through. On top of that, giant insects has decided to surround them.

Thoras used his sacred weapon, a claymore called Liontooth. The Liontooth’s blade turned into tiny dandelion-like flowers that shredded the vegetation and the insects along the way, clearing up their path in a blink of an eye.

* * * * *

“Where are you taking us?! Let go of us!!” Kiana struggled.

The Rogue Archers jumped from tree branch to tree branch, occasionally swinging using a special hooked rope on their sides.

“I think we’re far enough. We can now go down,” said Pecker.

The archers went down and gently dropped the princess and the aide.

“If you want money, then just take it! You do not have to hurt us,” said Kiana.

“Do not worry. We only need money.”

The archers took the bags of gold and lanias from the princess and her aide. They also took some of the princess’s jewelry.

“Please! Not the locket! It contains the picture of the princess’s late mother!” Kiana begged.

The archer held the locket and saw the picture of the late queen of Emergent Kingdom, Queen Mellia.

“Ro---Sparrow. We’ve got to go. Soldiers are coming.” said one of the archers as he noticed the fireflies lighting up in a specific light and sequence.

“We’ve taken enough, Sparrow. Let’s go,” said another.

Sparrow closed the locket.

“Take care of that locker, princess.”

The Rogue Archers then hurriedly left the princess and her aide. They jumped to the trees and disappeared into the canopy.

The soldiers led by Thoras soon arrived.

“Surround the princess!” Thoras ordered as he went to secure the princess. “Are you alright, princess? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. We’re fine, Sir Thoras. The Rogue Archers just took the bags of gold and lanias.”

The knight clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Those cowards. We have to deal with them sooner or later.”

“But not today, Sir Thoras. Let’s just go back to the castle for now. I’m tired and Kiana needs to rest as well. She’s terrified.”

The knight and the soldiers escorted the princess back to safety and the security became tighter as they reached the Emergent Kingdom.