Dark By Default

-Robert Buettner

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As if we were watching a cinematic movie through the said "Looking Gla.s.s of Clairvoyance" that Amadea Mozart summoned for us to see what"s going on with the other group, we got ourselves a live stream and geat angles of live horror and now... live-action. From the sonatas of Mozart"s Don Giovanni, to now some dubstep of an epic anime fight.

Celes, the Herrscher of the Phantom Deity-Deus Ex Machina, faced off against the unfathomable cannibal with a h.e.l.lish dancefloor as the main battlefield, as she saved countless others in the process. Her sword as though named "Trancy", a holy relic of legendary origin fitted her finesse as a swordsman. It was as if the blade was a part of her flesh and every slash was voluntarily inevitable. It"s as if mere talent was present beyond doubt and that the sword was created solely for her use.

In all of the action, while it"s clear that it was her, there were some changes that I can"t help but define. Her once jet-black hair turned blonde. She was not wearing the same uniform the last time I saw her, it"s now a rather ancient black dress with metallic breastplate with a Crossmark at the center, skirt as white as wool with golden ends, leg equipment of black color and unblemished boots and to top it all off, a black robe with a lotus symbol. The same as the insignia in her neck which is the symbol for her agreement with Deus. It"s Celes but in a more sophisticated version.

Celes then evacuated everyone who was in deterioration in a higher alt.i.tude, clearing the way for a major conflict, leaving the ugly creatures present on the battlefield which I think is still a lot more than the hundred thousand left of them... Yet, the cannibals stood paralyzed by how their numbers are decreasing at a much higher rate than what they attacked with the appearance of just one.

The Prima Donna, now with an arena where she can fight without holding back, then took hold of her sword, tightly grip and is becoming ready to advance once again.

"Don"t hold back if you want a few of you to leave alive" she bargained, which was pretty unfair on her part.

The unintelligible maniacal beasts, knowing that they don"t have much of a choice and that the warrior in front of them will not take no for an answer, prepared to go all out without partiality, bringing in more back up armed with weapons alike from the stone age. It"s now, one against a million, so to say...

Dust in the dry air. Dead bodies of both humans and cannibals piling up on the battlefield. In a humid environment. She began to drive a little back to gain momentum with the same calm and undaunted look as ever. The monsters, including those that she saved started to gulp their nervousness out from their necks with sweat running down their faces as they fought hard for dear survival.

And then came Celes, flashing through the battlefield with enormous speed without warning, cutting the defenseless throats of thousands in a split second making their freshly amputated heads drift on-air as the other cannibals step back of fear.

"Don"t you dare run.", she said with a merciless expression written all over her face, pointing the edge of her sword to the ma.s.s and chanceless monsters in front.

Yet, the brainless cannibals did not take heed of the threat and now the first publicized Herrscher must meet all ends to make sure that these escaping inferior and brainless maniacs will never once again bother them.

"From the void you are, and to the void, you shall return. ETHEREAL LUMINA!" And then, great purple light emanated from the sword wich specifically reached the fast-escaping fodders. The same light that engulfed me whole the moment she found out that I"m a Herrshcher and made me ask if I"m about to die.

I never have had any idea of how potent this "ethereal lumina" really is as Lacrimosa defended me in that time without breaking a sweat. But now, its clear to me, why that weapon has been entrusted to her and how deserving it is of its standing as a "Holy Relic". In a single hack, it can cut thousands like its straw... and in a single ray of that unearthly light that penetrated their neanderthal outfits and flesh, the grotesque cannibals that were left began to found themselves dissolving into dust from mere contact with the sword"s glorious light, while the other half were able to take cover by several means, by sheer luck. Then, the lights ceased making the plain battlefield saturated with the remains of the dead as though incriminated by a different and more uncanny method. Yet, it looked painless at least.

Celes, seeing the a.s.sured victory of mankind which is newly foreign to this realm, paused a little while and started taking deep breaths, as if she just finished a morning exercise.

"Bravo Miss! That was a nice stretching there...Mind if I take on the last few?" A familiar old man confidently spoke to Celes. It was the same convenient store owner, that gave me all of this free stuff that I have with me. The same one who compelled that we should meet each other again the moment we venture into this land. So he has chosen the Mirage Armada...Yet, take on the last few? That definitely is not something that a normal human being in his sixties can be capable of confidently saying... Is he perhaps?

"Have it your way." Celes, drawing back from the battlefield without looking back, with her appearance transforming to how it looked like the last time we saw and as she trusted her sword to a magical circle began to entrust the remaining enemies to the old man who showed endeavor.

The old man then cracked his knuckles and looked back at where the sentient members of the Armada were relocated... "I would appreciate it if all of you would go further away, young ones.", he shouted.

"There"s no need for that." Someone from the crowd got himself to the front lines...A boy, probably the same age as me in a tracksuit.

"Heee? Are you sure?" the old man asked...

"Yes. Just do what you want to do... I"ll protect them." track-suit boy plainly answered, as if he also has a hidden ability that he alone can withhold.

"Ok then...Don"t say to me later that I did not warn you " the old man said and found himself once again, focusing on the battlefield. And meditatively took a deep breath as though preparing for something big. Weaponless. Bare-handed Baby boomer.

And then, as he began to raise his hand upon the air, thunders came roaring from all kinds of direction and dark clouds began to cover the soon to disintegrate starry sky. We are even experiencing it ourselves even in this distance.

The old man, as though jesting made a thumbs up with a very confident face. Yet, knowing the predicament that they are in, the attackers boldly ran as fast as they could, further away from him and the plausible point of impact of whatever is to occur without turning back...but that was impossible.

And then, as the thunders continued to endlessly roar at the clouds, there shook an earthquake! The strongest that we have had ever experienced, as though the whole realm"s grid has been tilted by 60 degrees and in the cloudy and thundery sky, appeared not a red flaming asteroid, not a nuclear missile but a shining blue hand of unknown origin covered in abominable lightning. It was a visage of heaven concealed with blue and black...Lightning and a stormy firmament.

"HAND OF ZEUS!" he shouted.

The Thunders become even more horribly aggressive as it makes our ears ring as it roars, and the ground continued to shook more intensely as the hand drew closer to the ground then, the hand hit the ground, and the mirror of clairvoyance broke in front of us, cutting our mainstream media, but... It never did occur to me, that the impact was so big, that it reached us. I guess, there"s no need for that looking gla.s.s anymore. We could clearly see it with our own two eyes.

First was the thunders, second came an earthquake, third appeared the giant lightning hand of monstrous size. And then, an explosion. So much light came out of it that even though we covered our eyes, we could clearly see through our flesh"s every bone and our veins.

Then, next was a wave of impact coming out from the same direction, the sea in front of us began to be vehement and waves rose by meters and beyond. I hastily got Shiro out of the tent as she slept as though nothing is happening and all of us got to higher grounds.

This was the hand of Zeus... So the man named. The oldest Herrscher so far.

Celes, I wonder how the h.e.l.l is she so acquainted with a battle as one-sided as that and remained unscathed and untouched.

It was as if they, her, the old man and the tracksuit boy, have the same life on earth...A life of b.l.o.o.d.y battle and life of rampage and that, being constantly environed with dead empty vessels which once carried a life, was an everyday mundane visage. At least, if that is true, I now know that I"m not the only one.

And how dare Lacrimosa called these thunderbolts cute? Wait... Zeus is inferior to Lacrimosa in the divine hierarchy... Just how powerful is that G.o.ddess really?

We"re only here for a few minutes, and now, we are demonstrating who is the real prevalent creation to these creatures which probably already existed here a long time ago. "Aliens stripped off of their motherlands for humans to cultivate", should probably be the best t.i.tle for this cinematic set.

Everyone, including me who is summoned in a safer part, of Herrschers and normal partic.i.p.ants alike, asked ourselves...Are we supposed to fight them? Those that predominated the battleground in the first few minutes like it was a mere walk through the park, a mere Child"s play.

Seeing them like this, made the Chaos Armada react in different manners, it would be a waste of time to state all of the 690, and I"m still unconfident of that judgment...What I"m sure, is that I can"t waste another second doing irrelevant activities in this warfare if I want to continue to thrive, needless of the armada that I joined.