II

Intermission: UFO

『Earth』

Bradley Jensen stumbled across the grassy plains as he walked towards a familiar looking fence line not remembering how he had gotten there. The moon drifted across the night sky lighting his path to return home. As he reached the fence, Bradley struggled as he clambered over the dauntingly tall… four foot tall fence.

The ordeal had lasted twenty minutes before Bradley was able to overcome his very own personal Mount Everest. Laying in the grass as he had fallen from exhaustion, he finally recalled the events which led to this moment. After drinking at a bar with his friends, a competition spurred between the three men. What occurred after was a blur, but he remembered being dropped off at the wrong house ten miles away or maybe it was twenty miles. Bradley then trekked across the farmlands to reach his correct home.

Realizing he had been laying down for far too long, Bradley stood up and began to follow the fence line once more. As he progressed further along, his nose could pick up the strong scent of animals. Finally, he came upon a familiar sight of his favored cow laying on the ground along the fence sleeping. He was curious as to why she was outside instead of sleeping in the barn, but at the moment he did not care as he gleefully hugged his favorite heifer.

“Ah Henrietta, what are you you… er… doing out here?” he drunkenly slurred.

The not-so-young not-heifer stirred slightly before giving a quieted 'moo'.

“Whaa? Wait a gosh darn minute, you ain't Henrietta!” he realized why his favorite heifer was outside. “You are Matilda! Got dangit!”

Once Bradly realized his mistake, he rose once more unsteadily and made for his house. Each step he took crunched the crisp grass growing beneath him. The chill of the night air blew his body heat away. He was tired and wanted to sleep in his warm and comfy bed, but it felt as if he had walked hundreds of miles. 'How much fucking longer' was always on his mind as he staggered closer to his house.

It was nearing 4am, it took Bradley nearly an hour to realize he had been walking in a circle. Each step caused him to grow more and more frustrated. He no longer had any idea where he was as he had managed to stray far away from the fence line. Clouds had obscured the moonlight and the crickets and fireflies were busy slumbering to give any indication of where he could be. He gave up making any further attempts to find his house and simply lay on the dewing grass. It was cold and his clothes were wet, but he was able to drift to sleep.

Lights appeared over Bradley as he slept on the cold damp grass. A bright white light with flashes of gold filled with streaks of two blue and a green swirling over the drunken man. As the lights enveloped the sleeping man, his body suddenly floated upwards.

Jolted awake from the sudden movements and flashing lights, the man began to panic until he heard a voice speaking to him.

“Cham- *screech* *static* sorro- *buzz* world- *garble* *static*”

“Blabble burl guh gree muh dskgha.” vomited the motion sick man.

The lights flickered and wavered while the force pulling Bradley upwards faltered. As the lights dissipated into the darkness the man fall down whilst flailing.

*thud*

“Ahh, my coccyx!”

The man fell back into unconsciousness.

☘ ☘ ☘

*splash*

“What the hell do ya think you are doing sleepin' out on the grass! I done bet you were out drinking with the Harris brothers again while you be leaving your lil sis stuck at home worryin' about yer sorry behind. Pa woulda given you a whoopin' for shirking your chores.”

“Ugh, Hailey? What time is it?”

“Oh heavens he is awake, praise be to our humble lord for allowing mah idiot brother a fun night without a care for the world. Matilda was out of her pen, I found her wanderin' around grazin' near ya. You done said you were gonna lock her pen up before you left, you know it's gonna be winter soon.”

“I think I done got abducted by aliens.”

“I don't care if you went on the got dang moon, you need to take a shower and do your chores. Now git!”

After being scolded by his sister, Bradley went about doing what he was ordered to do. Once he had finished taking a long hot shower, and once again getting scolded for using all the hot water, he spent the rest of the morning doing chores around the family farm.

☘ ☘ ☘

“I'm tellin' y'all, I done got abducted!” Bradley sharply whispered to the Harris brothers.

“Right~ and I bet you done got anally probed.” said the older Harris.

“Oh, so that's why ya came in walkin' all funny.” the younger Harris agreed.

“Wouldna taken you for a queer Brad.” bit the older Harris.

“No way, you know he done got a thing for his lil sis. They acting all like some kinda married folk.” teased the younger Harris.

“This ain't no Alabama. You keep that shit with your sissy PG, got it?” the older Harris warned.

“Speaking of which, she seen these 'alien abducteurs' of yours?” asked the younger Harris.

“Fuck y'all. I know what I done seen. The aliens even did speak ta me with their creepy alienese then dropped me back on earth when they were done with me.” defended Bradley.

Not being believed by others exacerbated Bradley's frustration. He decided the best course of action was to get liquored up and find someone to convince amongst the bar-goers. Each person he told his tale to either humored him or disregarded him due to his ever drunkening state. Eventually, someone had decided that enough was enough and had called his sister.

It was nearly midnight when Hailey had arrived at the bar. She was quite irked as she had been sleeping when she had received the call. She apologized to everyone within the bar for her brother's drunken rantings. Though she calmly and quietly took Bradley to her car, helped by a few of the bars patrons, she did not once yell at him. He would receive an earful once morning comes.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Angerona's Floating Island』

“Ugh! Gods fucking dammit!” roared Angerona as she had failed yet another summoning attempt for a champion.

“Failed another one?” Ira asked calmly as she sat on a couch while reading a book.

“…Yes.”

“How many does that make now?”

*sigh* “Thirteen.”

“Well, fourteenth time's the charm.”

“You have been saying that since the first failure! Ugh, I am going to take a nap. Fuck this shit.”

Exacerbated at her multiple failures at summoning a champion, Angerona decided to relax and recharge her mana. Casting of the summoning spell consumed untold millions of mana points which had drained her to exhaustion at every failed attempt. It was thanks to the Serians below, who offered devotion, that it was possible to commit such a difficult spell.

Once Angerona had left the room, Ira turned to Felicitas.

“It would probably be easier on her if you helped out.” Ira pointed this out to the young girl busily watching a display panel.

“This body is still young, can't risk something going wrong and losing my last incarnation. You're the same as well, Ira.” Felicitas replied, apathetically.

“I still have two descendants.”

“Then you help her. If Angerona wishes to risk herself, that is her choice. Ah, another Rift opened up. This one is in the Harappa region.”

“Oh? Let me see.” Ira was intrigued by the news. “It looks like it formed in a clearing, the locals will most likely weather it.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, definitely. It is quite far from any of their cities and towns. They will be able to rally their military and mount a defense. You should have seen the one which spawned twenty years ago.”

“Twenty years ago? Ah, I was busy then. What had happened?” inquired Felicitas.

“The Rift had spawned directly above their capital. It took less than a night for the ossians to fully subjugate the city. Less than a month to overtake the outer cities and reach the borders. They were then halted by a large fortress. Not sure what had happened after that though, haven't bothered keeping up.”

“I see, what region did this take place?”

“Hm, it's been too long, I have forgotten.”

The two continued to observe the developing situation. Many ossians had emerged from the rift and began to spread like wildfire. The majority race appeared to possess antlers emerging from their head.

“Alcoss, except for their size, they are hardly a threat.” explained Ira.

Days passed as the two continued to watch as the ossians within Harappa fortified their positions. Few villages succumbed to the initial attacks whilst the walled areas repelled the ossian threat. It did not take long before the local human military was able to rout the ossian vanguard.

“Give it two months and the rift ossians will be overwhelmed by the humans.” said Ira.

Felicitas continued to observe the movements of both armies while Ira returned to her spot on the couch and continued reading her book. As she turned to her previous page, Angerona emerged from her bedroom with a disheveled look upon her. Ira immediately noticed her.

“That was a long nap. Will you be trying again?”

“Mmh.”

“Good luck.”

Angerona immediately left the room and proceeded to the kitchen to have something to eat. Once she was sated, she returned to the main room with a much cheerful disposition. She looked at the floor which held the markings of the failed summoning circle and wiped it clean.

Each summoning ritual required a freshly made magic circle with individually enchanted runes as any remaining mana may cause a 'short-circuit'. Three hours were spent on this task under the uninterested eyes of her companions. When the summoning circle was completed, Angerona began her chanting.

The spell was now active. Her vision blurred into darkness as she stared towards the void. As if her consciousness left her world, she traveled upwards into the black sky. She turned her gaze to the neighboring planet of Elysium and saw the white fires of those who could be chosen as a summoning candidate then turned away. Elysium was an Ossian world now. She continued on.

Her mind raced through the blackness of space searching once more for the Anchor World of Earth to find one worthy of being her champion. She came across Mictlan, the second closest Mana World to her own and knew Earth was near. Soon enough, she had found it.

The Anchor World of Earth, which was once a Mana World, functions as a hub connect the neighboring Mana Worlds to each other. Angerona's consciousness reached Earth and, as had happened before, became blinded by the fires of the numerous souls. She began to filter through each one.

A small island in the middle of an ocean was seen to inhabit many suitable potentials. She began to focus her mind onto the different fires until she had found one beyond her understanding.

“Like a beacon in the darkness, it is as if this one calls out to me.”

Angerona noticed a soul burning brighter than any she had seen before. As she drew closer to the soul, a connection was formed.

“Ira, this one… I can feel so much pain emanating from him. So much… sorrow.”

“That's nice.”

“I'm going to speak to him now.”

“Good luck.”

“I have found you my Champion. Your pain has called out to me. I invite you to my world. A world once had been connected to your own. Choose, my Champion, travel to my world and I shall take away your torment or remain in yours.” she had repeated this numerous times until the young man was able to comprehend.

“Hm, no.” replied the young man.

“I see. I am saddened by your rejection. Then, my Champion, farewell and live well.”

A moment of quiet stirred as Angerona turned to Ira.

“Ira~,” whined Angerona, “he said no! After finding the perfect candidate. What am I going to do?”

“Should have just taken him.”

“You know I cannot do such a thing. They must agree freely, otherwise they would resent me or even rebel.”

“Most of the others agreed without being aware.”

“They still agreed.”

As they were bickering, another voice had caught Angerona's attention.

“Beings from another world, by my right, you are ordered to our world. Come forth!” the voice declared.

“What?! What fool dares to interfere?! This one has made his choice, do not dare sully the judgment of a goddess! My Champion, this is not of my doing, resist this fool who takes your peace-”

“Beings from another world, by my right, you are ordered to our world. Come forth!” once more the voice repeated itself.

Angerona watched as a rift opened around the fires of her chosen champion. One by one, each fire was consumed by the rift. She immediately followed along to search for the source of the summoning ritual.

Once found, she had understood what had occurred. The source of the interloper came from Asphodel, her home planet, and it was by the use of 「Altar Stones」 which had forced an

override on her own ritual. Not only did the Altar ritual annex the circle ritual, it stole Angerona's mana to increase the size of the rift.

In her fury, she smote the young summoner for daring to violate a god. Immolating him in front of all those present as well as destroying the altar which had offended her.

Consuming what little remained of her mana, Angerona was now wracked with exhaustion. She left to her chambers to recover.

“Did something happen?” Felicitas asked Ira as Angerona disappeared.

“Hm? Probably.”