Two rewrites and one revision for this chapter.

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"Gulfried, what the hell!?" Cavaron yelled as he rushed towards the giant human. Gulfried got up and realized that Cavaron nearly killed him, and was about to say his name, "Cava-buh!" only to have his face receive Cavaron's fist sending him flying more than ten meters. The soldiers with Gulfried were baffled at Cavaron's strength as Gulfried's large body flew from a punch even while wearing heavy armor. However, even with such a powerful punch, Gulfried's face only bled, nothing on his face was broken aside from a bleeding nose.

Cavaron leapt and landed on Gulfried, grabbed the collar area of his armor, and lifted him like a weightless feather, "How the hell did 30 thousand get past your borders!?" A furious Cavaron yelled, "Even your great grandfather wouldn't allow such carelessness!" Bloodshot eyes stared at the human emperor.

Gulfried could only stare stupidly at the man who easily lifted his body. Over the horizon towards the northeast, a group was approaching. It held the colors of the coalition army as it flew. Sky Knights, and demons with flying mounts. Cavaron dropped Gulfried to the ground and welcomed the incoming reinforcements.

Although the word "welcomed" was used, the moment a Sky Knight landed, Cavaron grabbed hold of the poor soul by the neck, "Ethra! Where is she!?" and demanded an answer. The Sky Knight could only shiver from the strength Cavaron used. The other soldiers were alarmed from his actions and unsheathed their weapons only to be hindered as the earth formed a barricade barring their path. Avani, who was nearby, immediately used her magic. Gulfried also panicked, "All forces, stand down!" and issued an order. The coalition forces were hesitant but seeing the human emperor with unusual pleading eyes, they eventually followed the order.

"WHERE. IS. ETHRA!?" Cavaron bellowed, a volume higher. His voice shook the Sky Knight in his hands and struggled to speak, "Her... Her Majesty... is in... the Sky Tower." and was released after giving an answer. Cavaron faced the two elementals at the forest's edge, "Avani, Tirta. > then bring the others over." and gave orders, "We'll be having a state visit. Oh, bring the Byblos as well. That thing won't enter my inventory being a god level artifact." The two elementals reverted to their original forms, and headed back to the mana well.

Gulfried raised a brow when Cavaron mentioned the Byblos, "How did you get that? Did Ethra give it to you?" and asked a question. It seems that Ethra didn't mention to the other two her intention of lending Cavaron the Byblos. Cavaron faced Gulfried and, without answering the question, said, "I hope you have enough mounts to bring us to the Sky Tower." with a still furious expression. Gulfried unconsciously swallowed his saliva upon locking eyes with Cavaron, and nodded as he faced a squadron of wyvern riders.

"Attend to Cavaron and his companions. Escort them to the Sky Tower." The chosen squadron could only accept the order out of fear from being potentially killed by either Cavaron or Gulfried. Immediately after the elementals have fetched the others, Cavaron dismissed Avani and Tirta, leaving only Burkhard for Aimi's protection. The Azursa, Aomi, was clutching onto Aimi's shoulders, and the Byblos was put in a bag that Cavaron produced and gave to Aimi.

After that, Cavaron and Aimi rode a wyvern, and headed towards the Sky Tower on the floating continent of Palu'Angit that floats above Edeortha at an altitude of 3~4 kilometers. If it were on lower altitudes, the wyverns are likely to arrive at their destination in less than an hour. However, since they will be climbing altitude, the wyverns have to take in factors such as gravity and thinness of air as they go higher making the usual time for such a distance double or triple.

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Flashback.

It has been five weeks since Aisha found me and took care of me. The past few days have been peaceful. The black thing on my chest, only a small dot remained, yet I still can't use my mana. I asked Aisha about it but she couldn't give an answer. Being unable to do anything, I just accepted fate. On the plus side, although I can't use my mana, my stamina's back, and I decided to help Aisha with her chores.

Right now, I'm chopping some firewood from a felled tree at the edge of the forest. By the way, now that I'm able to move on my own, I tried to leave the place but, as though powerful magic had been placed in this area, I always arrive back to the meadow where Aisha lived. I mentioned this to Aisha, and she decided to come with me. Trying to go through the forest with her ended with the same result, we ended up at the meadow.

Aisha's face was filled with wonder, while I had a face filled with frustration. "I've been here with mother since my birth. I'm sorry I can't feel what you feel." She told me with a frown. Realizing she noticed my expression, I just smiled and patted her head. Head patting became a habit for me, for some reason. Aisha just embraced me. Well, at the very least, the forest also had its own inhabitants, big and ferocious, and small and fluffy.

This past five weeks, my bewilderment turned to gratitude. Then, from gratitude, it turned to affection. It made me realize the goodness of one's purity, with the absence of ideals, and being isolated from society. In these few weeks, I became part of her world. Although she had books, most were blank making me wonder about them while some were her and her mother's journals about the surroundings. I asked her about the blank books, and she apologized a lot. Apparently, the books needed to be fed with mana to display the information stored within. The method piqued my curiosity, and I asked how to create them. She couldn't answer since she had no idea how to do so. Since I can't use my mana, Aisha offered to feed the books using her own mana. I accepted, of course.

The books were filled with information from different fields, how she got them was a question I wanted to ask but didn't bother since I might receive the same answer as before, "Mother only provided them to me." As for the books themselves, one had information on how to have agriculture using what can be found in the forest, another had information regarding the nearby bodies of water and what can be found in them. There was also a cookbook mixed in that had recipes that used the surroundings for ingredients. With Aisha's mana, I read the books with her, and we were somehow able to bond through it.

It even came to the point where she would be with me aside from reading a book. Sometimes, she would spend time with me in silence, just being with each other's presence as time goes on by. These past weeks have been good, have been peaceful. The only time when I felt peace outside of the chaos that the gods of fate put me through. That said, I wondered why and how I haven't been resummoned once since then. I thought it could be interference by the "barrier" in the forest or this black thing on my chest is doing something about it. Either way, a break this long is a welcomed occasion for me.

Anyway, after chopping some firewood, I brought the logs to the log stack next to the house, and headed for the bath. Looking at the sky, it's almost noon, and by this time, Aisha had already prepared the bath for me. Entering the house, I noticed that the kitchen door was open and was able to take in the aroma of food. As usual, I couldn't find the scent of red meat, and found the scents of fruit and fish. Passing by the door, "I'm done with the firewood!" I told her. Without turning away from the stove, she replied, "Thanks! If you want to bathe, it's ready!" Thanking her for her effort, I went to the bath.

When I was crippled, Aisha took care of my hygiene by washing my body with a wet cloth. Now that I am able to move on my own, she let me use the bath for bathing. There were also times when she entered while I was bathing. It surprised me yet she didn't even feel the least bit of embarrassment and even came to join me. The bath, by the way, is a large tub made from stone. She or her mother must have made it with magic since it was made so smoothly that one cannot find a crack. It was also cylindrical with a diameter of 1.5 meters and had a depth of 6 decimeters making it big for me alone. Yes, there were times when we bathed together. No sexual advances, though it became hard, I overcame it through sheer force of will. This repeated for a few days until I got used to it to the point that she even invites me.

However, since it's noon right now, I'm bathing alone. After washing my body for ten minutes, I decided to soak in the tub until Aisha calls for lunch. Half an hour later, the door opens, "Cavaron, lunch is ready." and Aisha calls me over. I get out of the tub, dry myself, and put on a new set of clean clothes that was in a basket. Afterwards, I let the tub drain through a hole in a wall, and I left for the kitchen.

Arriving at the kitchen, I sat down on the seat nearest to the door. Today's lunch wasn't any different from usual. A bowl of salad, two apples, a bunch of berries, and a piece of grilled fish for both of us. The fish, by the way, looked like sea fish that were lost in a river. One was as big as both my arms! It was called a Boa Fish. The first time I encountered this fish, I asked Aisha how she caught it, "I used my magic to trap and bind them." she replied. Seeing its size, one could imagine its muscle strength, and the burden of catching it without aid.

Even though the menu wasn't different, I can taste subtle differences in the food today from the food yesterday. Yesterday, the salad had apple juice in it, giving off a sweet aroma. Now, it had some lightly grilled pieces of fish. Right before we took a bite, Aisha had a habit of giving thanks, "Gratitude be given to these who were once living so we may continue to live. Gratitude be given to Edeortha for this harvest before us." and said with clasped hands. I don't usually give thanks during meals but Aisha forced me to join her in doing so when I ate my fill after receiving it saying, "Food should not be taken for granted. To eat may be human, but to prepare the food, there lies divinity."

These days continued on for a long time and, quite frankly, I enjoyed it.

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Sun Empire capital, Regasol.

Aldric Asonar was together with a group of magi performing another summoning of a champion. However, this time they added a supplement for the mana crystals to aid in the summoning. Prisoners of war. Lying atop the 9 pointed star formation, surrounded by 9 tall mana crystals, were a group of five captured angels with their wings torn off, and four captured demons with their scales, claws, horns, and other defining features removed. All of them were alive but unconscious.

Looking at the eyes of the humans around them, one would think that these humans were monsters themselves. However, such are the atrocities of war. With a wave of Aldric's arm, the magi began the ritual. However, instead of a flashy and crackling atmosphere, it was dark and bloodcurdling. The sacrifices that were unconscious tore open their eyes and their mouths as red lightning penetrated into every orifice of their body. Bloodcurdling screams rang out from the summoning circle as each sacrifice disintegrated and produced a blood red crystal that shot towards each of the mana crystals. The scene was so brutal that there were some of the magi that vomited at the sight, wondering what in the world they have done. If the other angels and demons saw this, the two would most likely enact retribution more brutal than what was done.

With the final sacrifice that has been disintegrated, and whatever those blood red crystals were having been absorbed by the mana crystals, the mana crystals themselves turned red as well and redirected all power to the center of the circle. When the power of all nine crystals met at the center, red light exploded, and the crystals shattered sending their shrapnel to the surrounding magi who eventually died as well. Afterwards, the light and crystals imploded back to the center and created a gate. From this gate, a person stepped through.

"That was delicious. Who do you want me to kill?"