Rise of The Holy-Realm Rebel

Thankfully, our worries turned out to be baseless, and when we arrived at the tunnel's end, we seamlessly gained access to Yarub. However, her pendant also needed to open.

The exit unfolded into a desolate building, and from what we saw that place had been thoroughly searched, but it was nigh impossible to detect the tunnel due to how thick the partition that served as its entrance was.

According to Eiko, she had been told that the craft used to seal the tunnel caused the earth to act as though it did not exist.

I didn't need further explanation to know that was a high-tier Earth-Craft.

'This is even less spectacular than I envisioned,' I thought, when the sight of a nearly shattered structure expanded before me… us. Dusty and damp from the passage of time.

This place was old, and after Eiko scouted and confirmed that there was no one around, we found that it stood within an abandoned portion of the town.

A set of no less than twenty crumbling structures formed a semicircle around it, leaving a wide space at the center of that place.

The buildings around it were just as degraded as it—Maybe even more. As a consequence, the air of age could be clearly discerned.

A ruin of sorts.

I wondered if it had been filled with life during my era. That was if it even existed then.

The whole of Yukov had not even existed during my time. Maybe smaller nations had come together to form it later on, but Yukov had not been a thing.

"Let's get out of here before the Ragi find us," Eiko ushered us forward since I and Nura had taken a bit to survey the place. It looked like it used to have a lot of memories, and the completely withered tree at its center further accentuated that feeling.

"This place is even sadder than the whole town," I shook my head. Nura agreed, and so did her sister. I could almost smell those memories.

"They aren't much, but I can sense a couple of Ragi's less than two kilometers from our location," Eiko explained as we moved on; approaching the rusted iron gate that used to be attached to a semicircle fence of the same material.

'Ragi' was The title my descendants had decided to give the knight equivalent to their top-ranking soldiers. It was a horrible-sounding title—At least to me, it was. I wondered how bad at naming a person had to be to mess that up.

'Could they not have chosen something much regal?' I clicked my tongue.

It was one of the things I would change if I ever gained control over them again. It seemed the bad governance started from its naming system.

Then again, maybe I was being biased due to my displeasure towards the current ruling family, or force, or whoever. Then, my close friends; who had together with me created Ushan, did not consider the possibility of such occurring.

After all, I had already been at the door of immense might—Death had not been a consideration.

Had I returned with my breakthrough successful I would simply return to power.

It is what it is.

Walking past several turns and experiencing a bit of the town layout, we finally reached what could be considered the real beginning of that settlement.

A general market of sorts,

However, before our gazes could settle, something caught hold of our attention and people gathered.

"A commotion?" I asked, and both sisters shrugged whilst we drew closer. Our figures blended in thanks to the change of clothes Eiko had prepared with the horses. Though the one I wore had been meant for her brother.. I still didn't know his name too. Thankfully they were nice enough to not leave me in rags.

Interested in what was going on, people gathered around the group that started that ruckus.

A group of nine masked men dressed in black and red stood at the center of the forming crowd, but it was only when many had gathered that one stepped forward.

"We have interesting news for the folks of Yarub. It's an idea the Empire has sided with, and we the Crimson Ravens have brought it to your doorstep," the masked man started, his loud voice gathering more attention. He sounded confident too.

Before his speaking, not many had noticed the strange sack that three of those men held onto, but as he continued he finally reached the reason for his gathering us.

"We all know how difficult it is to find even the basic needs of man during this time of war. The gates are shut to us, and gaining exit is strict and harsh. As such, we suggested this and I know that you will like it," he explained, stretching his hand towards the three men holding the sacked object.

Our eyes shot in the direction of his gesture, and at the wave of his hands, the three men unveiled the object.

A wave of shock and even collective gasps resounded from the crowd as many took a step back mentally… confused like I was.

'What is… this?" I muttered wide-eyed, greatly troubled by the sight before me. My features expressed my shock and growing horror.

Now unveiled, we could see that the supposed object was no object at all, but a person!

A young lady no older than Nura herself stood before the crowd of over a hundred persons.

This simple revelation would not have been as shocking as it was, except that not only was this lady bound with chains on her arms and feet, but those men had not bothered to lay a single piece of clothing on her figure!

In short, she stood completely naked before that crowd, and her efforts to cover herself were met with a smack that caused her to visibly start shaking.

"Explain yourselves!"

"What is the meaning of this?!" Many men stepped forward, furious—unbelief stretching across their tones. My gaze snapped towards Eiko and I beheld the dark countenance she carried now. She did her best to conceal the weight of her existence. Yet, many of us within her range found gooseflesh crawling into our skin and causing the hair on our necks to stand.

She was livid.