Return of the Fallen Volume 7 Chapter 27
Tsahmen was perplexed. Everyone should know of the summoned heroes yet Kazuki looked as if he hadn’t a clue. Kazuki of course knew about the summoning, seeing as how he was a part of it. What he didn’t understand is the part about heroes being at the front lines.
(Asuna and the rest should still be safely inside Glacious’s tiny world. They would have no need to risk their lives and leave his world to fight anymore. Could Tsahmen be mistaken?)
“A while ago, Garn had secretly
Kazuki held up a hand and stopped Tsahmen.
“I know of the heroes being summoned. The war, you say they are involved. How, why, and which heroes, I want the names.”
Tsahmen shared a look with some of his followers before skipping a bunch of stuff and getting straight into it.
“As to how, well it seems when Garn stirred the bees nest and caused the Miasma to grow rapidly, all of the kingdoms came together with the three great kingdoms at the helm. A conference was called and everyone joined together. The remaining heroes had all been trained to a decent level it seems, not as strong as you but at least half of them have strength similar to mine. Of course, such power is needed on the battlefield, especially in these desperate times. The 10 heroes came to a decision and went to the front lines to fight. As to why this place is their home now. If it is lost to the Miasma and the Azirian’s then their home is no more. As for the names, I only know a few of them, sorry my memory isn’t the best. There was someone called phantom ghost and another called, um…the crimson dagger and…”
Tsahmen went on but none of the names sounded familiar to him. One thing really stood out to him though.
“You mentioned there were 10 heroes. From what I know there were 24 heroes originally summoned to our world, what happened to the rest of them?”
Tsahmen seemed saddened as he spoke.
“Before the war started, there were scuffs between a few kingdoms and a few heroes had lost their lives due to the dumb struggle between us humans. After the war started, a few more were lost when Garn divided the continent with his floating palace. They were doing exactly what they were brought to this world to do. They were being heroes, saving people, trying to help fight off the Azirian horde as well as help the millions who were trying to flee but Garn fired his weapon and they were stuck with millions of people on the other side of the trench. They as well as the millions of people trying to flee to safety are lost to us now. The rest of the heroes are now reduced to the 10 I mentioned and they fight every day with the rest of our armies.”
Tsahmen seemed truly upset when he spoke about the lost heroes.
“So Garn just let all those people die. He abandoned them on the other side of the trench and sentenced them to death.”
Kazuki didn’t mince words. He had learned long ago what Garn was capable of. Him leaving all of those people behind, cutting off their only retreat, this was Garn to a T. To Kazuki’s accusations though, Tsahmen slammed a fist down on his arm rest.
*Bang*
Shaking his head, he gnashed his teeth.
“He had no choice. What else could he do? Monsters flooding into our lands, killing, eating, destroying everything in their path. What could he have done differently? I keep asking myself this same question again and again. Was it the right decision…Yes. I hate that I keep coming to the same conclusion. Garn’s decision was terrible. It was absolutely disgusting but it was not wrong.”
Tsahmen squeezed his hand so hard that his nails dug into his palm and he started to bleed.
Not just him, all of the followers that were in the room, each one of them held a gut-wrenching mix of emotions. They both held anger in their hearts and understanding in their minds. A battle of feelings and logic stormed inside them all. To know that millions had to be sacrificed in order for the rest to fight on and try to survive. It’s something difficult to think about but even harder to actually live with.
Kazuki could see that this was a sore topic and no longer mentioned Garn or his decisions. Kazuki loathed Garn but even he didn’t know what he would have done differently in Garn’s place. Seeing a seemingly unstoppable horde of monsters headed straight for your people. The choice had to9 be made in a split second. The time was far too little to take in all of the variables and he made a call.
(This man says it was the right decision on Garn’s part. I don’t know if that’s true or not but…Could anything else have been done…I can’t answer that. Even seeing it all play out with this crystal. Watching it happen, I still can’t say for sure whether his choice was right or wrong.)
Tsahmen showed more footage from the crystal. It showed more of the many battles that had played out and the destruction the fights had caused. It showed many battles with Glacious in particular. He had to fight on two fronts. He had to constantly deal with Fera’s fake bodies popping up all over the frontlines while at the same time he had to keep the Miasma in check. He could push it back to a certain extent using the 3rd sword form, severing tempest. With it, he could destroy parts of the Miasma but not all of it as the Miasma constantly absorbed way too much energy and simply replaced the parts Glacious destroyed in no time at all. In this way though, the Miasma could no longer divide or split itself into two and ravage the land in different places at once.
Glacious fought Fera’s fake bodies and held the Miasma back simultaneously, forming a stalemate. At the same time, the Aziiran’s continued to pour out from the trench nonstop. They came from the trench or from the skies but with the barriers the three great kingdoms set up, they were forced to enter them and fight with humanity’s soldiers. As the Miasma absorbed the energy from the barriers, the barriers could only last for around 20 minutes at a time. Once the barriers failed, the Miasma could move in on the people. This forced humanity to retreat, again and again, setting up more barriers to block the Miasma.
Glacious had drawn a stalemate but all of humankind was slowly but surely being pushed back.
(I didn’t recognize any of the names of the heroes Tsahmen mentioned so it shouldn’t be Asuna or the others. They should still be safe inside Glacious’s tiny world. They are at least safe, thankfully. At the same time, Glacious may have recovered but he can’t keep fighting forever. Something has to give, something has to break the tide.)
Kazuki felt his blood starting to boil as he thought about battle, as he thought about his sister who was preventing Glacious from finishing the Miasma off once and for all. With the Miasma out of the picture, the Azirians would have nothing to hide behind and could then be attacked by weapons like Garns. They would be cleaned up in moments once that happened but the whole problem was the Miasma blocked all magical attacks or rather it absorbed them.
(I need to help. Having another 5th stage mage at the front, I can deal a massive blow to the Azirians. At the same time, if Fera knows I’m there, she will aim for me. I fucking hate it but she can still stomp the life out of me with a wave of her hand. I’m still not strong enough to face her.)
Thinking up to here, Kazuki was lost as to what to do.
After a while, Tsahmen had briefed Kazuki and told him everything he needed to know. Kazuki then left the guildhall and went back to Sid’s shop. He headed for Sid’s backroom, hoping to discuss his problem but Sid was still hammering away like a madman. Over on the golden table, a frame of cables made from both flexible metal and flexible crystal alike was laid out in the shape of a skeleton. The insides of the golem were coming together.
Kazuki changed his mind seeing Sid going at it like that. Instead, Kazuki left a plate of food for Sid and headed to the attic to think.
As he sat there, nothing came to mind. He casually used his mind to lift the magic pen and started to write and then draw. As he did this he stopped trying to figure out his problem and became lost in his designs. Like this time slipped by until the sun was no longer out but instead, moonlight fell through the skylight. Only then did he stop and look at the design he had come up with.
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