Side Chapter 12: The Paths of The Rejects And Heroes Part 1: We Are All Becoming Stronger To Settle A Score
The new age of magic had begun after the tournament that occurred at the Academy City of Vivicetto, the resurgence into the research of summoning magic. Entirely new divisions of magic had been created in pursuit of this art, the art that could summon a god. It wasn’t as if summoning magic was dead before, the art was simply discarded as art for summoning heroes and small familiars. This development was built on a summoned hero’s defeat, Tadashi’s humiliating defeat. The months hadn’t been good on him, his true personality revealed for the world to see he was unable to stay for long in the spotlight, the same could go for Nagi. The people’s bright and clear eyes on him were either of clear disgust or pity or a mix of both with a side of hatred.
Tadashi stared at Nagi who checking his back every 5 minutes or so. The mental damage Minami had done on him still showed its ugly scars, ruffled hair, bags under his eyes and unhealthy obsession with being clean at all times. Tadashi only suffered a blow to his reputation but Nagi suffered one on his mind as well. They were both training inside of this Forest Demon Lord’s dungeon, just the two of them.
“Ichinose-kun we have to set up camp now”
“W-who spoke?!Where are you blasted demon?!”
Tadashi sighed as he touched his forehead and moved in closer to grab his shoulder, the response was a quick slash that was unleashed by Nagi’s unstable mind. He had managed to dodge it at point blank and swiftly kicked Nagi’s legs sending him crashing to the ground.
“H-Hey!”
“Once you’re done being an idiot help me set up camp”
“W-Why should I the G-Great Nagi help you?”
“Cause you got no one else dude”
“Y-You have a point”
“C’mon we better find that Great Fairy or whatever to heal you otherwise we will have a dilemma on our hands”
To make matters worse was that those guys were certainly getting stronger, whilst Tadashi was under incognito in adventuring he heard the type of quests the Rejects were taking. Hunting down Elder Dragons and Giants in far places coming back a couple days later, they were being backed by what could be assumed to be a supernation. It was honestly depressing when he thought about it. The clouds of war were looming and they, the heroes could feel that they were fast approaching hence the need to release the chains of the heroes and letting them grow stronger on their own by risking their lives in this way. The more concerning part was their teacher, the dark elf who went by the name Sinoharl Yukiyo.
The footage of that woman was so terrifying most of the heroes who saw it quit on the spot, no one wanted to deal with that thing. They all knew that she was abnormal in the greatest sense of the word, there was a quality of unrivaled power about her that made them sure that they would lose the moment they tried to fight against her. The lack of openings, the experience in terms of battle, as well as an invisible aura of authority one could tell that if they were not within the realm of superhuman heroes they would die without so much making her serious. From the information shared to him by the top brass there was a group of hero assassins that were sent to her nation right at this moment, he believed that they were all going to die or worse. Only a handful of them were left to defend the Cornelia Empire and its surrounding nations.
“Say Nagi”
“W-What is it?”
“Do you think you fight Funamori-chan the way you are right now?”
“Slightly.”
“What about their teacher?”
“No.”
“Thought as much. I just want to get back at Toshit because I am super pissed at him”
“F-Fair enough”
“Our levels have grown enough to almost match them though”
“A-At least that’s what I want to believe as well. I am just here to heal myself honestly”
“……….”
His shift in personality was honestly sad, the previous Nagi would rally the others and himself to push forward but the Nagi of right now was rather defeatist which made him pretty scared of what kind of unspeakable horrors he saw within Minami’s mind. He remained silent so as to give a moment for Nagi’s previous personality dying slowly but surely. It didn’t take long before they had to take turns and sleep, Tadashi put a familiar in case Nagi dozed off from the paranoia something was watching him.
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Summoning had become rather popular because of Toshiro’s actions, he had become something like a well known celebrity when it came to that department. It wasn’t uncommon for summoners of all ages and different kinds of people wishing to become like him. Susanoo waved them away and Sylvie was on watch duty for anyone who tried to pull some seductive moves on him.
“I swear you guys are overprotective at times”
“We have to be, Toshiro. You do not know who is your foe and who is your ally. I thought you learnt that in this world”
“I did but I didn’t want the full on celebrity with bodyguards treatment besides I can handle myself pretty well in a fight.”
“That is true”
“What Susa-kun is trying to say is we don’t want you to be harmed and we are like parents who is watching over their growing child”
“Bruh”
Toshiro says with a sigh in his breath as he watches over these two who are currently inside of suits and sunglasses guide him into the guild hall, Chloe is right behind him shaking her head at the sheer idiocy of Toshiro’s demons.
“By the way just how far has Sensei come with the technology project? Chloe you there? Bitch stop listening to music and-”
Toshiro dodged a kick coming from Chloe who had been listening the whole time which made things even more awkward. She then resumes listening to the music that the Dark Matter had managed to recreate, albeit in a lower volume answering Toshiro who had been left hanging for a while.
“If I were to be honest I can roughly say all of the allied nations are about two or three hundred years into the future.”
“That fast?! It is obvious that Sensei is going to win but….”
“You’re interested in those heroes of theirs am I right?”
Toshiro wanted to have a proper rematch with Tadashi and that showed, she had similar intentions. They wanted to truly beat them down with their full strength and show them their place. That is why they showed the difference in strength at that time, to encourage them to grow stronger. A desire that was common amongst all of them.
“I know how it feels but be patient. We are growing stronger just to show them that they are capable of change as much as we are.”
“Sounds corny but I guess that is the truth”
“Shut up you bitch that was very genuine and you had to ruin it”
“You’re welcome”
“What quest are we taking?”
“I want to hunt a rare species of yokai again”
“I want to see more fairy type monsters”
Susanoo and Sylvie answered at the same time, which made Chloe and Toshiro look at each other for a brief moment.
“Alright we’re picking some kind of giant variant again right?”
“Yup”
“Great we are going to have fun”
“WHAT ABOUT MY RARE SPECIES YOKAI?!”
“WHAT ABOUT MY FAIRY TYPE MONSTERS?!”
They screamed as the pair went off to take another giant killing quest, it was obvious they did this out of spite. No one could quite understand their anger since it was all powerful monsters who could send them all to their graves howling in pain and agony. It was obvious that they were way out of their league in this conversation, that is why the guild continued to stare at them. To the pair this was a break compared to their real training which was in the Dark Matter Universe. The things they fought there was far much more threatening and intense than killing a giant with three heads. It was a struggle to survive in that place and it was only getting worse the more Yukiyo grew stronger.
“So how are the others keeping up then?”
“Different worlds, different problems.”
“Makes sense”
They were all inside of pairs which made their teamwork even better with their personalities, Susanoo and Sylvie drooped behind after being rejected their goals. But that was for the better, Koga the Oni wanted to battle something and soon. He didn’t want to see something he had already seen, it didn’t matter if it was a hundred eyed and armed giant he wanted to fight it. Pleasing only but one of the demons Toshiro made a contract with, the pair disappeared in the distance as they walked together to the next location of the monster they were going to slaughter.
🗡
The noble clans of Vaikal, Milren, Zilvan, Talovonska, and Walshgrav had lost entire head families within a single moment, their knight orders were in complete shambles as well but that was quickly resolved as soon as the heroes stepped in to aid them as new heads of these families. They took the position and gave the branch families, which were meant to serve, the purpose of becoming the new head families of their respective clans. The King did not think much on this as it had already gone through, the heroes who were selected were not a part of the heroes who were sent to the Academy City of Vivicetto. They had undergone intense training and body modification, it was safe to say that with their aptitude as heroes the Empire of Cornelia had created what was essentially a super assassin. Their names being stripped from them they could only refer to each other by the first letter of their clans. The empty room which smelled of roses and wine had only a table and five chairs, nothing else. A single orb of glass sat right at the center of the table, the chairs now moved backwards as shadowy figures sat in them.
“We the Five Shadows of The King have gathered around because we have been given an assignment. To Assassinate The Dark Elven Queen Shinoharl Yukiyo. That is all.”
“W I know you come from an unusual combo of assassin and knight family but dude give us the ins and outs of this job. It is not as simple as that is it?”
“So you saw right through me Z, I was afraid that if I exposed the circumstances of our little assignment we might-“
“Refuse it? What insolent bullshit are you spouting at this moment. We have killed countless of monster kings and queens, the head of some dark elf is way too easy”
“V, pride is the collapse of many a nation and many a great leader do remember that”
The five members were all divided up into three boys and two girls, V and T being the girls whilst in descending order W, M and Z being the boys. T remained silent as she did not need to say anything, her opinion was the majority vote hence her words were unnecessary.
“I know that. But boldness in your ability has led us in many a successful mission”
“I wonder if you will remain in that stance with what I am about to show you”
The footage was taken right after the match between Ryouta and Ayato, it had shown the Dark Elven Queen entering via an undiscovered magic into the arena. What happened after is what sent shockwaves inside of them all, she was strong and it made them very uncomfortable. Was it her magic? Her aura? Or something beyond even that.
“Now then do you still have confidence in your abilities V?”
“Yes. I will not falter in front of this witch W”
“The girls in our group are stubborn as fuck”
“You got that right M”
M and Z answered in tandem to each other, V didn’t care what they thought. They had to do what was right and that was the end of the story. No discussions were to be had about this.
“How about a game of cards, loser gets to buy the winner small wyvern when we get back”
“Z you motherfucker we cannot be seen spending the people’s taxes on frivolous luxuries like pets!”
“Calm down V it is just a joke!”
“No it is not! You clearly did that the last time! W ended up buying a dog sized earth dragon!”
“Uhhhh”
“No spending the people’s taxes on stupid shit okay?!”
“Alright, alright sheeeesh. Don’t need to act like my mom”
“It is already decided we are leaving for the Elven Federation by tomorrow so let us keep this game very brief”
W says with a stern voice but obviously enjoying their shenanigans, T stared at them taking this rather too easily. This dark elf was well known and they all knew this from their information gathering, she was absurdly strong and if she truly wanted to could topple the power balance of the nations. After all she was the one who made the rejected students stronger than the heroes who stood in the light. She easily disposed of the empire’s elite in a matter of seconds, her strength was to not be underestimated. Unlike the others T hadn’t bowed down to her masters like the dogs they were, she only kept appearances of doing so, her betrayal to the other side was imminent. If the time called for it she would rope in that bickering idiot V, they were forced inside of this situation by a childish and playful god and now they were going to be forced to gauge just how strong the dark elven queen was.
The main particular reason she did this was because of her unique skill Intuition ringing out that they would all die from facing this woman. The other reason was that she wanted V whom she had feelings for to stay out of that death trap the Empire was setting them up for. She picked up her cards and they were in her favor, she would give the vote to V as usual and keep quiet until they arrived at the palace of the dark elven queen.
“We bring some of our own knights via teleportation just in case!”
V said foolishly making T touch her own forehead from the sheer stupidity this woman had. The purpose of being an assassin was to do things alone but then again five assassins going for one person meant whoever they were going to assassinate was more than ordinary.
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The shadows danced in the darkness becoming ever so stronger, it seemed like they had no limit. To the Dark Matter who had just acquired a realm of their own within Yukiyo’s universe they had only started to acquire even more knowledge about it. The more these immortal beings of infinite dark understood the more their power grew. Yukiyo’s ascension to godhood was an eventuality. An ecosystem of festering dark hordes growing stronger by each day was an event that not even Yog-Sothoth would anticipate, their belief in Yukiyo would create gods both around her and within the Dark Matter universe. The unknown planets in their worship of their unknown god created versions upon versions of what they believed to be Yukiyo, some more faithful than others and some were so strange and uncanny it would make Yukiyo herself question why they created them at all. Without her knowledge their subconscious prayer granted her strength and power in other areas such as levels and status bonuses to those near her.
Just as there was a war on the horizon for the humans, the Unknown Gods were reaching a breaking point within the Dark Matter. Tensions between them grew, tensions that would lead to the birth of a great spiral of chaos. The Seed of Yggdrasil did more than birth a new god into the world, it branched out into the deeper reaches of Dark Matter Universe and influenced it, just as Yukiyo’s strength grew so would the manipulation of the branches grow across this newborn universe. Just as Yukiyo was on the verge of becoming a god the more levels she got, the grand awakening of gods who stood above evil gods was within reach. Culminating power to become unique skills that not even Sophia would anticipate. The Dark Matter Universe was going to create layers and each layer would be worse than the last, not even its residents knew of this neither did Yukiyo or the gods who were yet to be born. Yukiyo none the wiser did not know the full extent of what was going on, the title of Chaos had stuck closer than what she would have ever imagined.
Hope your doing fine in irl author-san