BXBX NOVEL Chapter 86 Lila's Tragedy
The reconnection of space alerted the beasts that were searching in the sky, on the ground, or beneath it. Those who were too close to the spatial warp were pushed by a powerful force, killing the weaker ones.
Meanwhile, a group of glacial scorpions burrowed under noticed a weak cry above their current positions.
"Do you hear that?!", said one of the patrols.
"It\'s too weak. This is like… a small child crying!"
"Should we…"
"No, don\'t do it!"
They didn\'t dare to resurface until they were clear of their current situation. The warriors remained unaware of the changes in the minds of the magical beasts so the glacial scorpions raced in the direction of their lord, Harrtugg Naaw.
"Go, go, go! Tell our lord about this discovery. Something might have happened when the ground above us trembled fiercely earlier!"
And right they were.
At the center of a huge campfire were bodies of both warriors and the members of a particular merchant caravan. The red blood that splattered all over ascertained one thing.
These people were no longer alive.
"Papa… papa…"
A small girl mindlessly nudged the corpse of a man whose throat was slit by a sharp weapon. She was the only one alive in the middle of this nightmare.
Apart from that, the man\'s eye was poked with something, leaving it hollow and horrifying to look at.
It was no other than Lila and her father, Aurpiel.
"Wake up, papa… wake up, please! You\'re not dead, right?"
Her father\'s corpse didn\'t respond but the little elf didn\'t give up. Aurpiel still promised to her that he would bring her to meet Jinmu and Emi again.
With a face drenched in blood, Lila continuously nudged him. She didn\'t think Aurpiel would keep lying down there despite her constant nudging.
"Papa… papa… no, it can\'t be..."
Lila was distracted. They were only a few minutes ago, alive and well, happily conversing with the warriors until the latter suddenly pointed their weapons at them and began a massacre.
She turned to the sides and nudged a woman dressed in tattered wizard robes, "Auntie Meyera... please wake up... you said that everything would be alright, right?"
Lila recalled the mage grabbing her and pushing her into the carriage. After that, there was nothing but roars of warriors and guards fighting each other, clashing their metal blades as they hacked their weapons in front of their enemies.
Before she could look up what happened outside, a deafening roar knocked her out but not for long. When she left the carriage, she was met with a maddening sight and found that everyone else but her was dead.
"Please wake up... please, please, please..."
"Uncle Greywolf... Uncle Orlorn, can somebody wake up?!"
Her voice cracked and she was shivering all over.
Lila persuaded herself that everything was just a dream. As she crawled to find someone who was still alive, her head stumbled and raised her head.
She saw a draconic figure dressed in thick white robes, staring at her with complicated feelings.
"Sir... are you here to rescue us? Please help me... My papa isn\'t waking up. Uncle Greywolf, uncle Orlorn, and auntie Meyera aren\'t waking up either... They must be asleep, maybe you could wake them up..."
Lila clutched at his glistening and smooth icy dragon scales, hoping that Harrtugg Naaw could \'revive\' the dead merchant caravan.
She was losing hope and she couldn\'t bring herself to imagine that Aurpiel and the rest has already passed away.
\'Lila already lost mama when I was small, I don\'t want to lose papa and everyone else again!\'
Harrtugg Naaw alongside Arahon, Elder Flock, Emilia, and his minions, emotionally looked at the devastated and whimpering little elf.
Despite having witnessed similar gruesome scenes their entire lives, the four of them were disgusted by the sight. On their way here, they took care of the remaining demonic creatures who were slowly regaining control of their destroyed bodies.
Arahon\'s face was as dark as it could be. He regretted not dealing with the disguised demonic creatures and felt he had indeed messed up. Even though taking care of Lila and the merchant caravan wasn\'t his responsibility, letting such an incident happen shook his conscience and pride.
"Little girl, you must be tired. Let this big uncle give you a moment of respite."
Harrtugg Naaw raised his hands and injected a large wave of ice element inside Lila\'s head.
\'Winter\'s Embrace.\'
The elf felt her head lighten up and lost consciousness right after. Emilia opened a small portal and let Lila\'s figure fall into her arms.
"Master, what do you think happened here for this tragedy to occur?", she was equally infuriated and wanted to blast the demonic creatures back into their world.
"I think High King Garron in the distance may have known what happened here. Let\'s go."
High King Garron became alert and drew out his sword when they arrived. He was surprised to see Arahon and an elder of the League group up with what he thought was the transfiguration of Harrtugg Naaw.
"Arahon, elder, what do the likes of you have to do with this vile beast?!"
"Relax, young lad. Harrtugg Naaw is not here to fight with you.", Arahon corrected, "The demonic creatures corrupted his mind and the rest of the magical beasts as well. Fret not, I have purified them of such ailments."
High King Garron was still skeptical. He was not going to believe the words of a beast who was now colluding with the one who had slaughtered thousands of his brethren.
"Why didn\'t you come over here and tell us earlier?!"
Emilia stepped up, "It\'s not like they didn\'t want to, High King. You were trapped here inside a spatial isolation technique."
Jinmu, who was kneeling on two and overseeing his unconscious classmates, was dumbfounded by Emilia\'s words.
\'She knows that we were isolated all this time?\'
When the skies turned crimson red and his classmates collapsed to the ground, a system prompt informed him that they were trapped inside a spatial isolation technique. It baffled him since the demonic creature wasn\'t able to set up the scroll before.
Intrigued, Jinmu used the system to analyze Emilia\'s information.
[ Name: Emilia Kayle ]
[ Age: 40 years old ]
[ Race: Human ]
[ Status: Alive ]
[ Affiliation: Morning Star Academy (Academy Master), League of Wizardry ]
[ Magic Power: Grandmaster Magus (Median Ring) ]
[ Magic Root: Spatial Magic Root (Mythical) ]
[ Magic Aptitude: 9.6/10 (Grandmaster Magus) ]
[ Magic Affinity: Space ]
\'I-isn\'t she the academy master of the Morning Star Academy?!\', Jinmu was surprised, \'So she has an innate affinity to space, huh?\'
No wonder she was able to detect the spatial isolation technique.
"High King, it\'s best if we listen to them right now."
Haera and Solordo also looked at the high king and seconded Jinmu\'s advice.
Left with no choice, High King Garron swung his sword and pointed it at Harrtugg Naaw, "Don\'t blame me if I\'m going to behead you the moment I sense that you are up to no good."
He sheathed his sword and chose to cooperate.
"So what\'s the plan? These warriors aren\'t in the best condition as you can see and it will take them some time to get back up."
"If not for those damn demonic creatures enchanting my men, I would\'ve slaughtered them before they were able to spout such nonsense inside their heads."
Elder Flock nodded in understanding, "The demonic creatures did something like that, huh?"
He glanced at Lila who was being carried by Emilia, "No wonder her father died."
The old man mused that the demonic creatures, with all the chaos going around, enchanted some warriors near the caravan and persuaded the rest that Aurpiel\'s men were here for a not-so-good reason.
High King Garron heard Elder Flock\'s words, "Her?"
"We saw a pile of bodies on our way here littered around some carriages. Do you know those people?", Arahon explained.
"Lila!", Haera was aghast, "What do you mean her father died?!"
They\'ve completely forgotten about the merchant caravan.
Arahon saw through Haera and sighed, "It\'s no use regretting now. Firstly, we must…"
The sky flashed again, dimming the already crimson red background.
Roar!
The earth shook as the howls of the demonic beasts echoed in the entire area.
A group of dire swirl eagles descended and hovered right above High King Garron and the rest.
"My lord, the demonic creatures are now spawning from the cracks! What do we do?!"
"Damn it, my warriors are still unconscious! We can\'t just leave them behind!", High King Garron argued.
"No worries, I can bring them all into a place quickly.", Emilia handed Lila over to her master and glanced at Harrtugg Naaw, "Tell me where are we going to hole up."
The ice dragon roared in a certain direction and a moment later, another roar could be heard. Emilia closed her eyes and tracked the source.
She then raised her hands and crossed them diagonally. Eight transparent magic circles appeared around her.
Before they knew it, everyone was covered in light. They started floating in place as she channeled her entire mana into the execution of her spell.
Emilia gritted her teeth and shouted, "Greater Spatial Translocation!"