Manifest War: The Weapons Within

The sky sparkled a bright purple as the sword summoning ceased and moments later, the various blades began raining down with incredible force and velocity. Lovi, Trion, and Karris tried to block and fight back but the onslaught was just too much.

There was no cover to hide behind and the speed of the torrential downpour made it impossible to dodge. Lovi tried to run away, but a sword caught his leg and before he could even react, his body was skewered in every angle imaginable.

Trion and Karris tried their best to stay alive, but their efforts were pointless as well. Trion was sliced cleanly in multiple areas and perished instantly. Karris slowly backed away before taking multiple blades to the stomach and bleeding out, leaving a massive pool of scarlet.

Briddle blocked and dodged as many blades as he could, using his material manipulation skillfully to protect his back. Eventually though, he was pinned to the ground by the relentless assault. His left arm and right leg had massive swords through them, sticking him firmly to the floor. He could do nothing but await his fate. However, to his surprise, the rain of swords subsided.

He was perplexed as Azhane slowly floated down to him, looking like a wingless angel coming to take him to the other side. She landed in front of his badly bruised and cut body, shooting him a dangerous glare. Unable to get up from the ground, he began to squirm and panic.

Just as she landed, the empty plain around them dissipated and they found themselves back in the Boundless palace’s throne room. Briddle turned his attention to Azhane and quickly started to plead for his life.

“P-Please, spare me! I-I’m sorry for everything! I’ve learned my lesson, I swear!” He exclaimed, trying his best to convince her. Azhane simply responded by placing her hand on the hilt of the blade that pierced his leg. Her weight forced it down further and Briddle let out a loud cry, feeling the sword cut deeper into the bone.

“Please, show me mercy! For as long as I live, I will serve you! Please, let me be your humble servant!! Tell me what I must do!” He continued to yell out, not wanting to perish like this.

“Why should I show you mercy? Someone like you wouldn’t know mercy if it hit you in the face.. Stop being so pathetic…” Azhane softly replied, staring deep into his soul with her smoldering red eyes. Briddle was stunned by her words and he quickly became angered again, yelling obscenities at the Queen.

“You will regret this! I swear you’ll regret it!!” He exclaimed with a final, rage filled breath. Azhane crouched over him as she placed her hand on his chest, continuing her deep stare. She leaned into his ear and whispered three simple words, “I doubt it...”

Then in an instant, Briddle’s heart teleported into the air and flopped to the ground, still pulsing and beating. Briddle gasped for oxygen as he struggled to breathe, squirming his body around in multiple directions. In his last moments, he slowly raised his free arm. A small wand materialized and Briddle pointed it towards the sky, blasting out a yellow beam of light.

The light from his Manifest bursted through the ceiling and once it reached high into the night sky, it broke off in five different directions.

“The.. o-other…nations.. h-have.. everything.. I… hope… v-volaire… burns…” Briddle gave Azhane one last devious smile before passing on, dropping his arm and laying completely still.

The Boundless reign of terror was officially over with Briddle’s death and Azhane was victorious, single-handedly dealing with the threat that had tormented Resotera for many long months. Despite the overwhelming victory, she was grossly unaware of the impending consequences for her actions.

As she stood from her crouched position, Azhane sighed heavily, feeling like a massive weight was just removed from her shoulders. She had fully come back to her senses and no longer felt the need to be so cold and angry.

“Now, time to find Carmen and her friends...” She thought to herself while looking around the empty throne room. As she shifted her attention toward the left hand side of the room, she noticed a little girl with purple hair leaned against a pillar. Azhane slowly walked over and began to recognize the girl.

“Isn’t she the one that was with Briddle at the All-Nations Summit?” She quietly asked, recalling the events of that day. The closer she got, Azhane started to notice that the girl was terribly beaten and clearly injured.

Priscilla opened her eyes and saw Azhane approaching her, just barely making out a woman’s shape through her blurred vision. She started to panic and feel frightened, wondering if this woman was going to do to her like she did everyone else. Azhane stood over her and looked down, red eyes glowing and on full display. Priscilla flinched and braced herself, thinking this was the end for her.

“Did these people do this to you?” Azhane asked with the warmest tone possible and a gentle smile. Surprised by her kindness, Priscilla relaxed and slowly nodded her head.

“I see. Well, they can’t hurt you anymore. I promise.” Azhane replied as she crouched down to the girls level. She noticed that the girl was still reluctant to trust her and so, Azhane tried to make some small talk.

“So... What is your name? I’m Azhane.” She said with a motherly smile. The girl didn’t answer at first, instead she looked down to the ground and back to Azhane.

“P-Priscilla..” She replied after a few careful moments.

“Oh my, what a pretty name you have. Who gave it to you?” Priscilla thought the question over for a few seconds before responding.

“I.. I don’t know.. It’s j-just my name..” Azhane chuckled at the cute reply and gently pat the girl on the head.

“I see. Well Priscilla, do you think you could help me with something? Something reeeeally important?” Priscilla looked up and slowly nodded her head yes, responding well to Azhane’s incredibly playful tone.

“Great! I really appreciate it.” Azhane stood up and held out her hand to help Priscilla up. She glanced at the hand and then back to Azhane’s motherly smile, wondering if she could trust her. Despite her prior hesitation, Priscilla slowly reached her hand out and took hold of Azhane’s.

To Azhane’s surprise, she immediately felt a jolt of immense power coming from the girl, sensing Priscilla’s Void affinity. The power was even greater than Briddle’s after his transformation and this realization caught Azhane completely off guard.

“What? Is she a Calamity Class Vesta? Her pool of Core Energy is expansive.” She thought to herself as she looked impressed by this girl’s great potential. Azhane helped Priscilla stand and brushed some dirt off of her face. She smiled at the little girl and quickly posed a new question to her.

“Okay. Have you seen a young girl with silver hair around here? And if so, where would she be? Also, what about a siestian boy with blue hair and a redhead? Any ideas?” She asked with a worried expression, hoping this girl knew the answers to her questions. Priscilla’s face shifted from scared to determined as she gave Azhane a hearty nod, insinuating that she knew where they were.

“Yes! I-I’ll show you the way.” Priscilla quickly hobbled towards the door and rushed to the dungeons down below. Azhane followed closely as they navigated the labyrinth of prison cells. Moments later, they arrived at the cell where Sarah, Rivell, and Caleb were staying.

Azhane commanded her ethereal blades to slice through the rusty prison bars. They did so with very little effort and the sound woke the prisoners from their rest, causing them to quickly stand up.

“Your Majesty!? Is that you?” Caleb asked with a confused expression, not expecting to see Queen Azhane standing before them. Azhane stepped inside the dimly lit cell and looked around, also surprised to see Caleb in there with them.

“Caleb Ravenfell? Why are you here?” She asked with slight shock.

“Um.. It’s a long story, Your Grace.” He replied while bowing his head to her, not wanting to go over the details.

She shrugged before aiming her palm at their chains, sending small black orbs towards their feet. They hit the base of the chains and expanded just enough to not touch their bodies. Once the chain was separated, the shackle around their ankles popped open and set them free.

“Awesome!! Thank you so much, Your Majesty!!” Rivell exclaimed while gingerly rubbing his ankle.

“You’re welcome. Now, where is Carmen? Why is she not with you all?” Azhane quickly asked, beginning to feel more worried by the second.

“The soldiers took her to a different floor. They wouldn’t tell us exactly where though.” Caleb quickly chimed in, eager to locate her as well. Azhane seemed annoyed by the answer as she quickly turned to Priscilla.

“Do you know where she is? What floor?” Priscilla nodded to the question and the group started to follow her, but Sarah was a bit slow to get going.

“Wait... We need to find my family first. They should be down here somewhere.” She said with a concerned tone, struggling to stay on her feet.

Rivell noticed Sarah’s still weakened state from her run in with Briddle and he immediately summoned forth his Manifest. He forced his Core Energy into the book and a large green circle formed on the ground, surrounding the entire group.

Sarah was quickly enveloped by a green aura and floating petals. Her weak and injured body was healed completely and she no longer felt any pain, good as new. Priscilla was also surrounded by petals and her injuries were healed. She looked surprised by this random act of healing and before she could say thank you, Azhane gave a quick reply to Sarah’s prior request.

“Your family is down here? Are you sure? Because, I don’t sense anyone...” Azhane remarked as she scanned the area, trying to pick up anyone’s energy pattern.

“Yes, I’m sure of it! They said my family was captured and taken here.” Sarah responded, eager to go look for them. Azhane was quite perplexed and wondered what Sarah was talking about.

“Who is ‘they’?” Before Sarah could respond, Priscilla chimed in with her soft voice.

“N-No one else was brought here... Y-You guys w-we’re the first ones they captured.. Briddle didn’t w-want any humans in the palace..” She said with her low self esteemed filled stutter. Sarah was surprised to hear this news and didn’t know what to make of it, now feeling as though she was being lied to.

“Are you serious? Then why..” Sarah’s reply was interrupted by a sudden earthquake, causing her to slightly stumble.

“We need to find Carmen before this building collapses! Let’s go!” Azhane commanded with great authority and they quickly rushed out of the dungeons. They bolted to the upper floors of the Boundless palace and located the room Carmen was staying in. The large oak door was locked shut, so with a single glance, Azhane’s blades cut down the door. The group forced their way inside and noticed Carmen laying on her bed.

Carmen quickly sat up and smiled real big, feeling happy to see everyone there. “You guys!!!” She yelled out while standing up from the bed. She saw Azhane step into the fairly dark room and her face lit up even more.

“Azhane! So glad to see you!” She rushed over to her older sister, and was quickly met with a not so warm welcome. Azhane forcefully slapped Carmen clean across the face, not holding back an inch of strength. Carmen was shocked by the hit as she slowly rubbed her beet red cheek.

“Just how many times will you continue to not think before you act!? You and your friends could have gotten killed out here! Do you realize that!? When are you going to grow up, Carmen!?” Azhane yelled with rare, justified anger.

“We were worried sick when you disappeared and you have no idea what I had to do to get you out of this mess! Did you even stop to think about how we might feel? Huh!?” Azhane’s words were from a good place, but hearing them was absolutely scathing to Carmen’s soul. Everyone was silent as they watched Azhane discipline her little sister, not even attempting to get between a family dispute.

“I’m sorry... I should’ve come to you all for help, but I acted on my own again.. I’m so sorry..” Carmen replied, trying to hold back tears. Azhane saw Carmen sulking pitifully and after a brief moment, she calmed down.

“Haah, don’t ever do something like this again. Okay?” She embraced her little sister, giving Carmen a tight and warm hug. Carmen silently nodded her head as she looked at the ground, feeling terrible about her decision to sneak out. However, the moment was short lived as another quake happened. The ground deeply rumbled and it felt as though the Palace was about to drop at any moment.

“We need to leave this place. It’s becoming unstable.” Azhane said while her swords protected everyone from a volley of falling debris. The group nodded as she aimed her palm at them, teleporting everyone out of the building and onto a field outside of the city.