TBATE | PROVIDENCE

Prologue S1 - PROVIDENCE

ARTHUR LEYWIN

"Finally..." Sylvie's voice whooped from afar. Taking a seat on a nearby rock, my gaze swept across the landscape of the destructed Basilisk Fang Mountains. The desolated battlefield was covered in a blanket of crystal-blue clear sky with patches of ethereal silver clouds shining brightly over the snowy mountains. The surrounding air was quivering with mana and aether from the devastating battle, traces of various decay-attribute magic lingering. I nodded wordlessly, too exhausted to utter a single word. I checked inside my three-layered core, the aether was still busy flushing out the toxins from my body.

'Using Mind Realm as our final trump card was sure taxing if you ask me, next time I'm taking half of the grape juice for my majestic services.' Regis chimed in, his violet mane flickering in the cold winds.

'Still chirpy, aren't we? But, this time the job was done well, so I'll allow the raise.'

'This one's unworthy of your praise, O' Mighty Slayer of Asuras!' Ignoring his exaggerated remarks I looked down below; the absurdly giant obsidian serpent with broken fangs was lying dead at my feet. It's once scarlet red eyes now pale maroon. Even in his mana-shifted form, I was easily able to understand the myriad of emotions the ruler of Vritras was possibly going through during our final battle.

His enchanting eyes, curiously studying the Mind Realm even in the middle of our fight, showed his true Vritra nature. He was disappointed, knowing that I wouldn't tell him anything even if he asked. But, most importantly, it was the damaging blow to his pride, the High Sovereign of Alacrya getting slaughtered at the hands of a mere mortal, someone who was supposed to be merely an anchor for his weapon against the mighty Asuras of Eupheotus.

Even after his death my mind felt conflicted with the flood of emotions that wrecked havoc inside my head. Finally I was able to keep my promise to avenge the lives of the dead, but the price that I had paid for that single revenge, far outweighed any emotions or guilt. I still remember Sylvia's words. She told me that revenge would never be able to satisfy the anger for the loss of my loved one's. Maybe she was right after all.

Taking a long sigh, I looked around. My eyes landed on his antler-like horns broken in several fragments. I bent down to retrieve the fragments and stowed them in my dimension rune before tossing the half of them to Sylvie.

"Use it, Sylv. Though it's broken in fragments it still might contain a ridiculous amount of mana. It would be helpful for your growth." She simply accepted and started absorbing mana from the horns, and looking at her ecstatic expression, I think it was worth the trouble.

'So, what are we gonna do now? His slythering lackies have most likely escaped from Taegrin Caelum,'

"Let's wait for Sylvie first, then we'll search inside the fortress. That was the whole point of leaving it intact in the first place. Everyone is most likely aware of our fight, but I'm sure none of them would've have expected us to end it this soon, and that too, without any casualties. We still have some time left on us until then."

As if to mock my last words, a single figure in navy-blue hair appeared inside the fortress compound, heading straight towards us.

'Still have time left, huh?'

'Shut it, and by everyone I meant the Asuras.'

'Yeah sure, my fairlady Caera is welcome anytime, certainly, but it would be a drag if the horned goddess is lurking around somewhere near her.'

'Just play along for now, it's not like Seris is a threat to us anyway. Currently, she's likely busy trying to control the chaos spreading among the highblood nobles in central dominion.'

Caera made her way through the battlefield, a bit confused to see a ten-year-old girl who clearly looked identical to me, seated blissfully right in the middle of a battlefield. After taking a brief moment to grasp her surroundings, she finally turned her attention to me.

"So, you finally killed him..." Caera said with a solemn look on her face, her ruby eyes inspecting the white runes on Agrona's remains, lying dead at my feet.

"It seems like it." I responded with a cold, emotionless demeanor. I'll have to fight Kezess and his entire army of Asuras in the future, Agrona's death was merely a stepping stone for my vengeance.

I already knew things would only get worse with time, and I couldn't bring myself to drag her into my revenge.

"So grumpy, even after killing one of the most powerful beings... and you're literally acting as if you're the one who lost the battle." Her casual remark struck like thunderbolt, pulling me back into the reality I was not yet ready to face.

She's seriously telling me this of all people?

"I've already lost everything... Caera."
She flinched under my gaze, ambient aether resonating with my leaking intent. Realising she made a mistake, she tried to speak again, albeit this time choosing her words more carefully.

"I'm truly sorry. I heard about your... family and the former Elven King from Scythe Seris." The look of pity on her face, it was really getting on my nerves.

"Al-My mother wasn't able to bear the loss of my father and sister. For her, taking her life was a better way of escape from this accursed reality we're trying to live than putting her false hopes on me-the useless son who was busy playing around with death ever since he was four. He couldn't even save his own family, even though he was clearly capable enough to protect them. So I'm sorry Lady Caera, but your FUCKING APOLOGY MEANS NOTHING TO ME!" I screamed on top of my lungs as tears streamed down my cheeks and blurred my vision. The ambient aether all around me shook and surged at times to match my anger, while at times undulated rhythmically, sympathizing with my despair. It was getting hard for me to keep my emotions in check.

Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself. Concealing my thoughts, I looked over at Sylvie, who was in a meditative state, busy trying to extract mana from the horn's fragment. Clearly unaware of our ongoing conversation. It's alright, I can't show her my pathetic state, I have to remain strong... at least for her.

Regis remained silent, absorbing aether from my core, but his emotions were flowing inside my head. Just like me, the regret and sadness was there, but he had kept it locked up deep inside of him.

"Gr-Arthur," It's the first time ever she's called me by that name since our last encounter at the Victoriad. She had made several attempts to follow me inside the Relictombs, but I had managed to shrug her off my trail, not ready to further involve her into my revenge.

Seems like Seris finally told her everything, but it was supposed to happen someday, isn't it? Does she feel betrayed? Is she angry? Or perhaps expecting an apology?

Damnit, I'm really not good at this kind of stuff.

"What is it?" I asked Caera, looking slightly past her, not quite meeting her gaze.

"Just let it all out..." Her posture remained firm as she approached me cautiously.

"I don't understand what you're-"

"Stop pretending to be okay for once,
and just let it all out, you idiot!" I was cut off by Caera, who pulled me in a tight hug as her warmth slowly spread through my entire body. All the emotions welling up inside of me came out all at once, like a crashing flood breaking down every dam I'd built around myself living as Grey, it was, in a sense... liberating.

"You're not alone," She whispered underneath her breath, her voice sweet melody to my ears.

"I'm sorry, for everything..." It was all I could speak at the moment, crying in her arms like an idiot.

'Took you long enough to realise, idiot. Tsk, even I want to crash into those bosoms.'

"Sshh, it's okay. Me, Regis and your... um, daughter are right here for you."

'Pfft! You seriously forgot to tell her about Sylvie and she clearly looks pissed, hahaha!' Regis gave out a chortle as he leapt out of my core.

"Arthur, the horny trio, always lookout for each other... or is it the 'horny quartet' now?" Caera chuckled lightly at his grumbling as I remained silent in her soft embrace, my arms still wrapped closely around her waist, cherishing the loving warmth for just a little longer.