Volume 5 – Chapter 2 (in editing-v4)

Volume 5 – Chapter 2 ‘Who?’ It was an ambush. A targeted attack sent backwards in time to murder Micheal and Shin within minutes of their ar

Volume 5 – Chapter 2

‘Who?’

It was an ambush. A targeted attack sent backwards in time to murder Micheal and Shin within minutes of their arrival on the 3rd Layer.

Micheal’s mind went into overdrive as he processed the attack, and the implications behind it, in a split second.

‘Allmaster? Eon? Jay sol Arget?’  Three names came to mind as he considered beings on the 3rd Layer that might be capable of sending an attack backwards in time.

‘Focus.’ Micheal discarded those stray thoughts for later, focusing on the immediate present.

He saw the streaks of energy forming above not just them, but every other island within eyesight.

‘Can I block it? No. Cut it? Not without risk to Shin.’

After obtaining a second chance in life, Micheal tried to plan for every eventuality he might face. He knew many of the foes mankind would face, tragedies before they happened, history itself playing out before his very eyes.

However, even in his first life, there was a hard lesson Micheal had learned long ago.

Anything can happen in the 7 Layers.

You can prepare for many things, perhaps even most, but never for everything.

“Shin! Can you teleport again?!” Micheal asked, his voice speaking out rapid-fire, his eyes scanning in every direction.

“Yes- maybe once, but that’s it, chief. I’m not doing so hot.” Shin slurred, his voice and eyes unsteady. Micheal leaned over and grabbed ahold of his left shoulder, clamping down on his best friend to keep him steady.

‘No time to think.’ As the radiant beams of energy began to descend towards them, Micheal yelled out one last sentence.

“Take us up!”

Micheal and Shin vanished once again as, just a few seconds later, every floating island within roughly 4200 meters was annihilated in an enormous series of yellow and white explosions.

.. .. .. .. .. ..

As Micheal would later find out, they were not the only ones to be targeted in an ambush sent backwards in time.

In the exact same moment that Micheal and Shin were being attacked, two other simultaneous ambushes were launched.

.. .. .. .. .. ..

Deep within the territory of the Atlas Duchy, bordering the Empty Sea, lay a cluster of small sized floating islands, filled with sparse trees and rocky terrain.

On one particular, unassuming island, around 230 meters across, a pale middle-aged human with half-gray, half -brown hair sat in pensive meditation. The man was thin and wiry, with a sharp, angular face, piercing brown eyes, and thin lips drawn up in a frown. He sat inside a small wooden hut, resting upon a woolen rug, dressed in long black pants, and a plain black shirt.

The man’s frown faded slightly as he heard the sounds of blades clashing and humans laughing. He shook his head ruefully, reminiscing as he listened to his disciples spar.

The only warning he got was a harsh flare of yellow light.

Abruptly, the world began to slow down as Bastien Amiot, the Sundering Swordmaster and one of the future leaders of Humanity’s Final Army, instinctively activated his Molded Time Ability, greatly enhancing his perception of time.

By the time he fully registered the beams of light shooting down from the sky, Bastien was already up and out the door, dashing forward with enough force to shatter the hut’s wooden floor and rip apart the rug.

As he practically flew outside, the situation rapidly became apparent to him.

His two disciples, Grant and Aiden, stood frozen, staring up at the sky in horror. The teenagers had followed Bastien up from the First Layer, learning the art of the Sword from him. Even now, Bastien’s heart ached as he looked at them, reminded almost daily of the 4 other disciples he had taken on and failed.

There was no time for hesitation.

Bastien’s body seemed to flash out of existence briefly as he rapidly moved forward, drawing on his Ki to accelerate himself. As he moved, the Swordmaster drew his blade, pulling out the single-edged slightly curved silver sword in one smooth motion.

And then the attack was upon them.

Bastien’s right hand moved almost on autopilot as Grandmaster Sword Energy burst forth, slashing upward over and over and over again. His Limited Sword God Type Ability immediately began to show its worth as his Sword Energy grew stronger, deeper, and more powerful with each slash. As he struck, his focus split as he entered into the Realm of Intent, gaining precognitive awareness of the world around him.

The light was blinding, but Bastien’s aim remained steady as explosions rocked the world around them. Beams of light collided with the dark slices of Sword Energy, shattering in immense explosions.

The shockwaves were enough to shatter any Defensive Artifacts Bastien might have had on him, but Bastien’s efforts were enough to divert the attacks immediately above himself and his two disciples.

Still, the world around him seemed to reel as Bastien lost his sense of hearing, deafened by the sheer scale of the shockwaves hitting them.

‘I will not fail them.’

Bastien’s eyes began to glow with rage as he began to cut at the world around them, combatting incoming shockwaves and blasts of energy alike.

‘Not again.’

.. .. .. .. .. ..

On an unknown floating island somewhere in the southern half of the Empty Sea, a tanned man with dark red hair slowly opened his eyes.

This man, a lean, muscular human, wearing a large white dress shirt that was open at the chest and a set of dark grey leather pants, was resting his back against a large, decidedly dead tree. He wore a pair of thin brown sandals on his feet and possessed no obvious form of weaponry or armor. His eyes were clear blue, like the color of the sky back on Earth.

“An attack?” Aaron Bartram, the White Knight, Founder of the Knights of the Round Table, and Strongest Human that never was, frowned as he looked skyward, his voice calm and assured.

Tens of hundreds of brilliant beams of yellow light had gathered above not just the island he was resting upon, but everything within at least a few miles of his location. Even from here on the ground, Aaron could feel the blistering energy gather itself together in a split second and begin to rocket downward.

“A powerful attack.”

Aaron’s blue eyes were cold and hard as he watched the incandescent cloud of energy vaporize the air above him, obliterating everything it came into contact with.

“But…” Aaron slowly reached out with his right hand.

“I am beyond power.”

Thousands of beams of pure light energy slammed into Aaron and…

They stopped.

Frozen, unmoving, pure yellow and white bolts of incandescent energy given physical form, still in the air.

“Vector.” Aaron spoke, his voice a quiet whisper.

“Return.”

And just like that, the attack was gone, vanishing upward and then immediately disappearing.

As he watched the beams of energy vanish from sight, a frown found its way onto Aaron’s face.

To attack him so openly, even here in the Empty Sea, was to discredit his Knights as a whole. His organization represented the best of humanity on the 3rd Layer, and absolutely could not take an attack like this lying down. Humanity was already in shaky waters thanks to the actions of the Revolutionaries.

Aaron slowly stepped away from the tree, his hand going to the Spatial Ring on his finger.

His eyes gleamed as he pulled out a large, floating Void Boat, and prepared to set course.

The Apexes could wait - he had a new target to hunt.

.