Chapter 23:

Victors and Losers - Military School (Final Part)

Diary of Void: The Millennium War


When Shizuko said it was fine to restart again, I immediately sent three more DE spears, all locked onto Vula. She tested out if she could destroy the DE spears but she lost her right hand instead. It grew back a couple of seconds later as I had expected, but now, Vula was now being a lot more cautious of the spears. She was actively hunting her positions, observing them as I attack her, and so much more. 
I figure that she was trying to find the nature of the spears, and possibly trying to find a way to destroy them quickly and efficiently. To counter this, I limited the use of the spears so she wouldn't have enough information to use. 

"This is quite problematic isn't it?" she said. She paused for quite a bit before returning to a casual stance. "All right, you win, Void. I surrender." she casually just said. 

I was not expecting that response. 

"Duel over! Victor: Void!" Shizuko announced. 

"Wait, what? Why did you surrender?" I asked Vula. 

"Well, without my weapons, I'm quite weak. Though I do have 138 sextillion LNBs, I prefer not to waste them. Second thing is, I probably won't be able to win against those spears you got since it literally evaporates everything it touches and I don't have enough information to deal with them. Lastly, this is just a friendly duel. Not one mimicking the battlefield. So I would, maybe able to win overall but it would take quite a long time to do so." Vula answered. "So, what did you think of our duel, Shi?" 

"It was splendid. Rather short but it proves how strong Void is right?" 

"Yeah. I can't deny that." 

"And once again, don't call me Shi or any of your weird nicknames." Shizuko said, glaring daggers at Vula, who was backing off.

"Ahem. Anyway, Void... uh... I just wanna announce that I'm glad I just got a family member." 

"Huh? Family member..? Ohhh. You mean me?" I asked. 

"Yep. So come here!" 

Vula hugged me. A little too hard. It was more like a bear hug than anything else. She released me moments later with her being a little flushed. 

I closed my eyes. I smiled. 
"Yeah. I'm also glad I got a family member now."  

It was a touching moment. For over the last 500 years, I only had a few I could call friends, let alone anyone, family. 

"You know, to tell you the truth, I was thrilled when I saw you back at Touimai. I don't know about you but, I still have some memories of our childhood. I can bearly remember anything though, but I could still remember someone that looked exactly like myself." Vula said. 

"Oh really? I didn't have any memories of our childhood." 

"That's fine. I was planning to accept you as my brother no matter what the outcome of this duel. And so, with this over, let me treat you to some food." 

"Eh? You sure?" I asked her.

"It's fine. A moment to celebrate." Vula replied. "And we also have to catch up with each other." 

She slapped me on the back and we walked together towards the exit of the arena. Shizuko giggled behind our backs as she whispered something. 

...

Emperor's Castle, Captial City Blae, Cloud Empire

The lone man stands in the shadows. Another figure stands before him. 

"What are you doing here, Russ?" the figure asks. 

"Well, I could ask you the same, Ruta." Russ replied. 

The figure steps into the light, revealing her light gold hair, at shoulder length. 
"I ask you again, what are you doing here?" 

"I am here to report something to the Emperor. It has been classified as Level 3E. So I hope you can see the urgency." 

"A Level 3E threat? Hmm. I see. Very well then. Go ahead." Ruta steps aside and Russ rushes past her. "A Level 3E threat? Haven't heard one of those in ages. Hm? Unidentified persons?" Ruta draws her gun and readies* it to fire. Suddenly, three figures appear. "There you are." she calmly said. She fires three times. 
Three bodies fall to the ground, all with a hole in their heads. 
"Too easy," she said. "Well, let's take care of the bodies and find where they came from... but first, let's contact Vice-Commander and the others if they got any info." 

...

As Ruta was dealing with the unidentified persons' bodies, Russ made his way to the Emperor's Chamber, where the Emperor is usually at. He poses as a knight to avoid being stopped by the real knights of the Emperor. 
As expected, he does not get stopped and quickly made his way to the Emperor's Chamber.

"Emperor, may I come in?" Russ asks, knocking on the huge doors. 

"Come in." a cold voice replies.

"Thank you." Russ says, entering the Chamber.  

The glamorous room, covered in white marble and other various materials, along with the cold and plain-looking interior did not really scream 'royalty' to most people. But to the former Entanian Empire's culture which influenced the country and various neighbouring countries to the Cloud Empire, this room is considered one of the most prestigious rooms that could ever be built.

And at the very end of the room, three people were present. All three were sitting on gold and red thrones. The centre throne was larger than the other two and that was the throne for the Emperor, the ruling person of the Cloud Empire, one of the superpowers of the world. He got on one knee and lowered his head.

"You may raise your head. Now speak, knight. Or rather, 4th Seat of the Guardians, Russ Kyrie." the leftmost person spoke. 

Russ raised his head and got up. 
"Thank you, sir." 

<Left Throne Seat, "Devil" Klavs Maclver>
"What do you have to report, 4th Seat?" he asks. 

"Right! Our ally, the Rouvil Kingdoms has sent our soldiers near our border with them a report or warning message about a revolution occurring soon." 

<Right Throne Seat, "Angel" Arni Leifur>
"And the threat level?" 

"We have put it as Level 3E with the current information we have. Myself, 5th Seat, and 6th Seat are collecting information on the situation. That is all."

"Uhm. Thanks for the report, 4th Seat. And before you go, Emperor, do you have anything to say?" 

 <Central Throne Seat, "God" Emperor Yuu De La Izumi> 
"Hmm? It is really not much of a concern really. Though keep me updated. That is all. You may leave." the Emperor said in a bored tone. 

"Roger!" Russ replied clearly. 

He looked at the Emperor's unique long white and blue hair, red iris and blue pupil eyes and admired the Emperor as the pinnacle of strength, wisdom and authority. He stayed for a quick moment and left.  

"What do you actually think, Emperor?" asks Arni when she had confirmed that Russ had left.

"Mobilise some troops. Depending on the scale of the revolution, around 20,000 should be enough. But just in case, have another 30,000 on standby near the border. And also, mobilise some classes from the Academy of Warfare. Classes 1, 2 and 3 maybe. I heard we got some talent this time. We should try to have those classes gain some live combat experience for their development. That is all." 

"Right away." she replied. 

"Well, notify me when something happens, I'll be resting. I don't need any guards by the way." 

"Of course, Emperor." Klavs answered. Emperor Yuu De La Izumi suddenly disappeared from the throne as the two remaining people bowed down. 

"Well, you heard the Emperor." Arni said to Klavs. "Let's get to work." 

"Yeah. Let's do this." 

"But first, should we warn about this to the Vice-Commander of the Guardians?" 

"Hmm. Good point," Arni replied. "4th Seat should send the message about the threat of a revolution in the Rouvil Kingdoms to the rest of the Guardians, but just in case he doesn't we should contact her later. 

...

Central Plaza, Captial City Blae, Cloud Empire

Walking down the Central Plaza of Blae, with its lively atmosphere and crowded shops, made me think about how the world lives their lives during the longest war known to man yet. Was I one of the many millions, possibly billions of people having their lives totally changed due to the war? Or was I one of the unlucky few million that was left to die in wartorn cities? That was my question. 

"Hey, Void don't look so down. I know you are probably thinking of your past or something but, don't worry about it. It's all in the past. The things that matter now are the present and the future. Cheer up." Vula comforted. 

"Yeah, yeah, that's right." Shizuko joined.

"Ah... you're right, Vula," I replied. "Maybe I should stop thinking about things of my past and instead, look at the present and the future." 

"That's the spirit, Void!" 

"Oh. We're here." Shizuko said. 

I looked at where Shizuko was staring at. A white and grey building with huge glass windows allowed us to see the interior presented to my eyes. I looked at my palm and just like at the dormitory at the Northern HQ, a blue floating menu appeared. But unlike last time, it wasn't a menu of the lights, but a detailed home page of the restaurant in question. It showed up and I scrolled through the menu and the amount of food and dishes they had, my jaw dropped. 

"Wa... wait... wait a moment!" I exclaimed. 

Vula was already entering and so was Shizuko. They both gave me a face of 'what'. 

"Are you sure?! Looking at the price here, it's waaay too expensive!" 

They burst into laughter. 
"Is that what you are worried about? The price?" Shizuko asked. 

"Exactly! Do you even have enough money?"

Just before Shizuko was about to answer, her phone rang. She took it out and took one glance at it before declining the call. She put it back into her pocket and continued. 
"Yeah, we do have enough. It may look quite expensive to you, but to us, especially in the capital, Blae, this price is quite the norm." she answered. "Right, Vula?" 

"Yeah. It really is. Anyway, Shizuko would be paying for it anyway, with her Gold Card. I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about." 

Hm? Her Gold Card? Oh wait, isn't that the card that she used to pay for the one-sided agreed party that was held in my dorm room back at the Northern HQ? I completely forgot about that.  

"Wait, I'm the one paying for it?! Aren't you paying for it?!" Shizuko yelled at Vula in surprise. Shizuko was about to continue yelling at Vula about her complaints, when her phone rang, cutting her off once again. 
She pulled her phone out again but this time accepted the call. 
"Sorry guys, I'll be right back." she said, walking to a less crowed and private area.   

...

"What is it, Ruta?" Shizuko asked Ruta, the one calling her. 

"Don't 'what is it' me! Why did you decline the first call I gave you?" Ruta fired back. 

"Oh, don't worry about that. So, what's up? Why are you calling me on the Guardian's private line?" 

"Sigh. Well, I need some information. I'm just wondering if you have any on these guys." Ruta sent Shizuko a picture. 
Three men all in black, with gun wounds on their foreheads, could be clearly seen. 

"Did you make those bullet wounds?" Shizuko asked. 

"Indeed," Ruta replied. "But that's not the main point. Those three men were following Russ, 4th Seat, probably with the goal of assassinating him. I- well, they came across me and attacked me so I killed them. I'm currently collecting data about their identities and where they came from."  

With a stern face, Shizuko called back to the time when Void and Heodia were arguing over the invisible plane. 
"Wait a minute..." she whispered. "I somehow recognise that symbol..." 

She zoomed the photo onto the symbol of their bodies and tried to remember anything. 

"Well? Remember anything?" asks Ruta. 

"No, not yet. Send me a couple of more pictures too. Different angles and such. I'll tell Vula, 3rd Seat about this too. I'll go do some of my own digging too. For now, you should raise the defences around the Emperor's Castle. I think they may had came from a cult with a grudge against the Emperor." 

"Roger." 

"And you should contact everyone who's free to help a little bit. We should look at all outcomes of this event. This may turn into a big disaster in the future, and we wouldn't want that." 

"Okay. Russ, Zoltan and Vitalia are working together to gather intel about something, Askr, I think is free, Remana and KK (Kepheus Kallistos) are working together to stop, prevent and eliminate the spread of a new disease in the provinces of Aschellane and Monotan and you and Vula are gonna help me. Hm. 4 Guardians. Should be enough." 

"Alright then, I'll hang up, but I'll call you when I find something." 

"Alright. Good luck to you."

"This is one hell of a mess I just entered," Shizuko sighed. "Well, there's no helping it now. Let me enjoy this lunch with Void and Vula shall we?" she says to herself. 

...

*Is it a word? I don't know.