Rise of The Holy-Realm Rebel

Deep within an underground cave, my eyelids parted and I grunted into being. My consciousness immediately wandered around as it searched for the success of the reason I had come down there.

Confusion crept into my mind as I became aware of my powerlessness… What? I grunted again, this time around, gaining full control of my body.

I sat up, finally focusing my gaze on the space around me. It was mostly dark, but a soft light born from the luminous flowers I had been laying on, illuminated my environment. Their azure glow had dulled compared to when I had come down here.

"Did it fail?" I asked myself, trying to inspect my power. A wall appeared before my investigative consciousness and I was locked out of my own body.

Needless to say, my shock deepened. I felt weak. Too weak.

"Something's wrong," I announced the obvious, even if the world seemed to give a different interpretation to my words.

The earthen ceiling above me creaked, shaking bits of rocks and dust into that underground area. I frowned and decided to stand, even if the ceiling burst open before I could complete that action.

For the first time since I awoke, roars gushed into my ears, as whatever had landed on the surface of the cave had been powerful enough to blow up that enclosed area.

I grunted, struggling a bit to free myself of the heap of debris that buried my figure.

'What is this!' Words could not explain my surprise when a figure slammed into the ground before me, blood splattering everywhere as I immediately confirmed the fellow to be dead.

I sprung up. The underground cave had quickly become a hole rather than a cave, it seemed less deep than I remembered, and I could jump out of it to understand what was going on.

My heart sank.

"What is going on?" I muttered, taking in the chaotic scene around me.

The skies were cloudy and dark, too dark to be natural. 'Sky-craft?' I thought, focusing on the other details.

Scores of men sprinted past me, everyone dashing in one direction. I turned to look in that direction still in a bit of daze.

The air was bad, if what surrounded me could even be considered air. All I breathed in was dust. I stood on the damp, bloodied sand, and could see limbs sticking out of certain portions before me.

"GET DOWN!" Someone roared from behind me and I felt his hand grab onto the back of my head to push me face-first into the ground.

An instant later the sound of objects crashing into what I now believed was a battlefield, shook the grounds, and shock waves caused by detonations swept the field, ravaging it with charred craters and further dead bodies.

Wails of anguish carried by the chaotic winds reached my ears not a moment later. I cringed.

Safe from the threat, the man stopped pressing my face into the sand and stood.

I turned to get up when a smaller object abruptly smashed into his figure, crushing him in the process. A flying chunk of stone.

!!!

"What in Sol's name is going on!" I cursed, getting up even if I bent my knees. I couldn't feel my passive barrier.

Someone burst out of the cloud of dust stirred up by the explosions--a soldier, to grab my arm and we both began to run. My clothes weren't helping.

"We have to get out of the field! The Ragi's are here! This is only the first wave!" The man explained at the top of his voice. I could only nod in agreement even if his explanation lacked meaning to me.

The roars of men who braved the field raged on all around us, and of course, the sounds of those projectiles raining onto the field wreaked havoc on the battlefield. Pure chaos surrounded us, and in truth overwhelmed me.

There was simply too much going on.

We reached the line that served as a demarcation between the battlefield and their base. A short wall that had more space underground reached our eyes and the sight of certain men ushering the survivors into it.

Our turn quickly arrived and no one batted an eye at the fact that my dressing looked too different from theirs. I was ushered in with equal vigor.

A certain amount of calm reached my mind at that point. But something worse became evident to me the moment the damp air of that underground safe line reached my nostrils.

Doom.

Injured men wailed as several individuals rushed to stabilize those they could, and those who would not survive were thrown out into the field to give space for the more able-bodied survivors.

Those who had escaped in one piece sat on the floor, their heads bowed as the gloom of their situation tried to suffocate them.

"Why is there war?" I asked myself again. Someone bumped into me from behind only to turn and glare. He noticed my features.

His eyes grew wary when it fell on my attire. Compared to them my outfit looked too refined for war. And truly it was.

I didn't know how much time had passed but my silver robe had remained in one piece, even if stains from my time on the battlefield existed on it.

My crimson hair also stood in great contrast to the mostly black that everyone around me sported.

The man eventually left, continuing about his business.

I picked a spot and sat down to collect my thoughts.

At least I tried to. There remained too much going on around me. Plus, the impact of the cannonballs was getting louder and more intense. The inflow of survivors quickly began to dwindle.

'It seems my breakthrough failed. And something terrible has happened to my power,' I thought, clenching and opening my palms. The vibrancy of the Sky-realm failed to exist within my bones, and I couldn't look deeper.

I heaved a deep sigh.

'This is bad.'

"We need people who can carry the injured to the base! There should be more help there," A man dirtied by the sands of the field came to address us with urgency in his tone. Some stood as volunteers. I did too.

Anything to get out of that place. Whoever was attacking them knew what they were doing.

'After they've eradicated them from the field their forces would advance to sweep this whole place,' I played out the coming events inwardly.

'At this rate, it'll be a massacre.'

Besides, there remained another detail that would lead to the extermination of that force. It was something I had noticed the moment I arrived there. It bothered me so much that I preferred not to address it. Unfortunately, it caught hold of my mind and I began to ponder.

"What happened to them? Why are they empty of power?"

Explosions continued to shake the ground beneath us, and at some point, survivors ceased to arrive. I and a group of three others had been tasked with carrying one person each. There were five groups totaling fifteen volunteers.

We'd be leaving that safe spot but would be continuing behind the line to the said base. The others knew it so I'd simply be following.

Those who had not volunteered were made to wait. Apparently, they could not leave that line of defense, as it was their last.

I honestly wondered why anyone would choose to stay behind. It was clear that only pure bloodshed would ensue when the enemy unleashed their forces, so that decision remained strange.

'Maybe they're ready to die,' I thought, lifting the man assigned to me. He looked young. No more than twenty. Sported short deep brown hair and wasn't too tall. Unfortunately, his left leg had been blown off, up to his knee.

The one who had carried him there had gone back to get more survivors but never returned. By some miracle, they had managed to stabilize him. He was strong since they confirmed he would leave to get better help.

At least they had done well in covering up his wound and had momentarily stopped the bleeding. He was unconscious.

"It would have been better to discard him," I muttered when he was secured on my back with a piece of brown cloth.

By the time the others were ready, we were led out, and once again; began to run.

The impact of the projectiles carried more weight now that a concrete wall didn't separate us from the outside world.

We all spread out to make ourselves less easy to take out. Fortunately, our enemies weren't targeting that far so we were safe.

Or so we thought.

The ground rumbled beneath my feet about halfway towards the cluster of buildings that I quickly identified as the base.

My stomach turned. Something was wrong.

For an instant, I glanced at the world behind me, and my eyes widened in horror.

"No! No! No!" I cried in panic, picking up pace. The others noticed, and similar expressions crossed their features when they turned to look.

"Run!" Someone finally announced and all hell broke loose. Some individuals stopped to discard their injured comrades. It didn't matter anymore.

The enemy had unleashed something. It was huge, so much so that we could make out its outline from that distance.

Before we knew it a shock-wave of a scale we had all anticipated; yet feared, swept our figures. And that wave of force ended up knocking me off my feet till I found my face buried in the sand.

!!!

It didn't take much to understand that the safe line had been destroyed. What remained in its place was a singular black crater!

I reckoned no one had survived. How could they?

I managed to quickly get on my feet, and by this point even I considered discarding the injured man strapped to my back.

Cold logic unfolded in my head, and I made the decision.

We'd both be dead if I continued to run with him.

"Sorry," I whispered, letting the young man lay on the sand. He had remained unconscious despite the loud bang that had swept the area.

I stood to begin my sprint when something flickered into the edge of my gaze.

!!!

I turned to look at what had landed less than 6m from me. It was a simple black orb the size of a human head, it glowed with deep-red patterns and emitted a low buzz.

I muttered a curse beneath my breath knowing I could not make it. An explosion of orange light blinded my gaze barely a second later, an unbearable heat washing over me as the ground beneath my feet cracked, vibrating with the force of the blast. I felt a powerful force fling my figure, then everything went black.