Everything went... perfectly.
My preparations for the spirits, I an.
I still haven’t spoken to Sue, nor have I asked Clara how she found out Paul was dead. I haven’t spoken to either of them for a while, actually.
I haven’t even communicated with Celine, even though Ronald asked to. I’ve completely... isolated myself.
Because all my focus was on this mont.
The day when the barrier would break, when the spirits would descend on Lunerra.
And... that day had finally arrived.
The morning was quite normal. People woke up and started their day in a normal way. And they carried on in the sa way.
And now... it was about four o’clock in the afternoon. The sumr sun was high in the sky. The temperatures were pushing the limits and were quite uncomfortable.
There was no global warming here, though... so the temperatures were not as high as on Earth. Still, sotis, they could be uncomfortable.
’Oh, it’s starting.’
All I did was to take my cane between my hands, smile, and look up at the sky.
And... that’s when the sumr heat, which I could feel in my bones, suddenly stopped.
I was in the middle of a square with a constant flow of people, so it was easy to see other people’s reactions.
Every single one of them felt the instant temperature change along with .
"Huh? Is it cold?"
I widened my smile involuntarily.
No, it hadn’t actually gotten colder.
The cooling was just a side effect. The side effect of the atmosphere suddenly overfilling with mana from the world of the spirits, every particle of which was filled with mana, as the barrier preventing that was started to break...
~cr- crack!
An ear-shattering sound like glass being smashed suddenly echoed everywhere. It was so loud and disturbing that almost every single person in the square had to cover their ears.
But there were so who were able to protect themselves without having to do so. And the first thing most of them did... was to look toward the source of the sound.
The sky.
Or rather... a certain point in the sky.
"W- what’s that...?"
"T- there’s a crack in the sky!"
Yes. A crack.
~crack!
~crack!
And... imdiately followed by many more cracks.
Soon, screams filled the square. People ran around in fear, not understanding what was happening. So kept looking up at the sky, wondering what was going to happen. But the majority were on the side of those fleeing.
~crack!
And the cracking sounds suddenly stopped. Although people were still in chaos, so of them realized that the sounds had stopped and cald down a little. All eyes turned back to the sky, which was full of cracks.
And then...
A sound far more ear-splitting than the sound of cracking echoed everywhere, literally across the whole planet.
Each of the cracks that appeared in the sky turned to dust before they touched the ground as they rained down on the earth, like shards of glass. But no one, except those who were specifically protecting themselves, was able to witness this beautiful sight because of the noise that threatened their eardrums.
As shards of glass, or rather... pieces of the broken barrier, continued to rain down on Lunerra, different lights appeared behind the clouds. And then... each one of these lights slowly began to fall down, just like the broken pieces of the barrier.
But... there was one turquoise light that stood in front of each of them that was very different from the others.
It was much bigger.
Much brighter.
Much more... noble and powerful.
And this turquoise glow went down, down... and down.
Finally, it stopped right in front of , much earlier than the others.
For just a brief mont, the glow emitted a much brighter radiance than the one it was already emitting. But imdiately afterward, it disappeared.
And... where it had been, there was sothing else.
A tiny human-like living being who looked almost twice the size of Sith.
A large spirit with eight wings, wearing a golden crown and a robe very similar to the one Sith always wore.
"Human…"
King of the Wind Spirits.
"I pay my respects to you."
The most powerful spirit that ever lived.
"But... please excuse my disrespect."
And at the sa ti...
"I need to have an urgent eting with my son."
The flesh and blood father of Sith.
*******
Sith’s father... was an exact copy of him. Only a more adult-looking version.
And yet he had an aura all his own. He was much more... ’king’ than Sith.
So much so... that even though he was acting with respect, he completely ignored in reality.
As if... I wasn’t worthy of consideration.
I put a big smile on my face.
"I’m sorry, Your Royal Highness. But... if you want to et with Sith, you need to et with ."
The King of the Winds’ eyes were suddenly fixed on mine.
That look alone caused to shiver involuntarily. The mana in the atmosphere suddenly rippled, the winds suddenly stilled.
But I held myself together.
"You made a contract with my son. Even if I have no idea how you convinced him to do so... this is none of your business, human. Now... stop hiding my son in your soul."
I widened my smile and spoke calmly, almost in a mumbling tone.
"Do you... really think it is none of my... business... King of the Winds, Galad?"
I tilted my head slightly to the side, narrowing my eyes.
"Why do you think I’m here, when I could be sitting at ho, or doing sothing else?"
"Sith has given you so useless information, it seems."
"Oh, no... Sith has never told a single thing about his family. He hates you more than anything, really. But... I see it differently, because I know your true goal. Your goal in breaking the barrier, that is."
I lowered my smile, smoothed my lips, and continued coldly.
"Your dinsion... is destroyed, isn’t it? You lost the war. And so did your ho. And now... you are looking for a new one. Just like the elves, dwarves, hannyas, and faes did when they first ca here."
Galad’s green eyes suddenly sparkled with a turquoise glow. Then, he paused montarily. His left eyebrow raised slightly as he looked at with curiosity and interest.
"I take it back, puppet."
Huh?
"You are certainly not as simple a person as I thought you were. For the first ti in my life I see a human with divine lineage, chosen by chaos and order at the sa ti, and a puppet of the Knowledge."
"Hey... I don’t like being called a puppet, just so you know."
Galad ran his eyes over my whole body. Finally he paused on my eyes again.
"So you do know that. It doesn’t make much difference... but so be it. You’ve piqued my interest. So... tell , what do you want?"
I was a little... annoyed that he ntioned the puppet thing. But I cald myself down, which was not difficult thanks to the Absolute Mind, and continued.
"First of all... can we go sowhere where not so many people can hear us?"
From the very beginning of our conversation there are people around us... and they listen to everything I say.
So of them can’t, though. They’re still under the effects of the barrier breaking.
But that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to be listened to.
"An acceptable request."
Galad raised his tiny hand, then simply snapped his fingers.
All the clouds around us suddenly stirred. The winds began to whirl around us. They were so intense... after a while, they beca so tangible that they even blocked out the light. A tornado ford around us. And right after that, I was swept off my feet.
I just opened and closed my eyes... but the next mont, I found my feet back on the ground and that’s when the whirlwind around dissipated. Then, I realized where I was.
And... where I was now was on top of a hill not far from the city we had just been in.
I took a quick glance toward the city before turning back to Galad.
More lights of different colors were still falling from the sky. So bright, so dim, so huge, so tiny.
All of them were... a spirit.
"Go on."
At Galad’s words, I took my eyes off the city and turned them to him.
"I will find you a place to settle, there is a perfect location for you on this planet. And... I will be a representative for your race to the other authorities of Lunerra. I think it helps that I have a contract with your son. In short... I will be your guide in this world."
"And...? Why should I accept your request when I can do the sa myself?"
"Because... I want nothing in return. And I know more about this world and its rules than you do right now."
Galad narrowed his eyes. His gaze on suddenly turned hostile as he spoke his next words coldly.
"There is nothing to gain from this for you, human. What is your purpose?"
"I ask for nothing in return, for my actions will ensure that you are already in my debt. And... if I ask for sothing, you will not accept my offer. Because, as you said, you can do what I want to do, even if it will take a little more ti and be a little more difficult, working with the other kings."
I took my cane in my hands, as I always did, then took my eyes off him and turned them toward the city.
"What I want is... an extra position in this world as your representative. As a human, I am already rising fast on my own side, my relationship with the dwarves is as good as it can be. What if it turns out, or people think, that I have the support of a third race on top of that, ’spirits’ who are quite different from the other races?"
The hostile expression on Galad’s face slowly receded. His eyes quickly filled with understanding.
"I understand what you want."
He looked at this ti with a different expression than before. A little more... respectful, I think?
"I find your request acceptable. After my eting with the other kings, the outco will be finalized and we will decide what to do about you. But... there is sothing else I would like to discuss."
His eyes, looking at , slid to my chest, stopped right above my heart.
For a mont, I didn’t understand what he was doing, but I figured it out pretty quickly.
He wasn’t looking at my heart.
He was looking deeper...
"I still want to see my son."
He was looking into my soul, where Sith was residing.
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