The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Putting on his helmet, Oscar watched the flames burning behind him, slowly but surely reducing any traces of the foul beings that lurked within into nothing more, forever to stay as a memory. Seeing his work done, he flew up the shaft and destroyed the cellar door, returning to the basement. For good measure, his Shattering Wave destroyed the entrance and sent down a rush of rubble to fill in the shaft. It was done. Now, his attention turned to the outside world.

What had become of the beasts? He did not trust Sirsi's words, all laced with her own strange motives, and went outside, beholding the faintest glimmer of hope ever since the beasts first arrived. The dark storms that rumbled with crackles of lightning and roars of beasts parted slowly, beams of light seeping through the cracks, rays of brilliant warmth touching the cold ground. The ravenous hordes that soared overhead had vanished, not a single one lingering in the clouds, nothing but a silent sky greeting him.

Still, no beat of victory pounded in his heart, no liveliness in his eyes as they gazed upon the wasteland. The bothersome sun merely revealed more of the terrible result, and he faced the true terror of all that had been lost. Each brick tossed to the side was a home lost, and each body seen in the distance was a life lost. And there were so many, countless numbers now known to him as the two suns gained in presence, more light suffusing the ground, taunting him with a new reveal of a body in a crevice.

'We lost.' Oscar thought. He rubbed his face, gripping over his eyelids, tired of it all. Gruning loudly, he exhaled and let go. Staying here was not good. He had to keep on moving. But where? Currently, he stood in the center of the ruined Orbis. If anyone survived this ordeal, it made sense they would head north to retreat to the safer cities deeper in the Empire. Without the beasts at every corner, the survivors should easily cross the ruins and reach north.

"Oscar, look over here," Erden called out, losing his breath.

Oscar could use their shared vision, but he walked over to Erden to see with his own eyes. Slowly, his gaze widened at the titanic corpse of an insect creature, egg-shaped with six legs and purple pupils that resembled fine glasswork. Its large mandibles limped down on its maw of sharp teeth. Velfen, the creature born from unnatural experiments on human and beast blood, met its end in the city it devastated. Green blood streamed from the top where cracks spread as if someone tried to crack it like an egg, oddly fitting for its shape.

Moving over, Oscar touched the creature and studied it. A piece of its carapace stuck out, and he grasped it, tugging strongly until the crack along the base extended farther, splitting it off from the rest of the body. His eyes and hands did not deceive him. This carapace held strong toughness, well-suited for a shield. It would have to wait until he became a Marshal Exalt, but at least the material was prepared in advance.

Exposed, the insides of green fleshy veins oozed out white brain matter and green blood. Oscar and Erden forced their flames into the opening, intent on burning away everything inside. Its body jolted, its legs skittering in the air while its teeth clicked eerily. Green smoke hissed and steamed out of the gaps as the veins popped, squirting fiery blood everywhere. Bubbles started to foam on the surface in a repeated struggle against his flames until every last bit of flesh and blood turned to ash.

"Do we just leave the shell?" Erden asked, tapping his crystal hoof against the charred carapace, clear sounds indicating it remained as sturdy as before the flames. Oscar cracked off what few pieces seemed easy to pick: a few fangs, a piece of the mandible, and more fragments of its egg-like shell.

Something stirred nearby. A quick breathing sound reached his ears, seemingly a disturbed gasp of worry. Now that the beasts were gone and the skies no longer quaked, he could hear more intricate noises hidden deep in the earth. Oscar didn't know who it was, but if it was a survivor, he had to save them. The noise came from below, one of the wrecked buildings to the east. The breathing quickly hushed and stopped when he stepped nearby, a cautious response to his arrival.

'Someone's here!' Not wanting to alarm the survivors, he held in his cheers and wandered through the building, letting his steps become more audible and clear to reach everywhere in the ruined halls. Passing by multiple rooms, he halted near a partly fallen door that leaned on the side. Gently, he lifted it off and went inside, eager to see the survivors. Faint sounds of shuffling and muffled groans filled the quiet, sunlit room, the ceiling surprisingly intact. However, the state of the room was not important. What was important was that the voice was quite young, perhaps a child.

"Excuse me. Are you there?" Oscar spoke toward the small dresser that walled off a corner of the room. He could feel two breathing humans behind it. They stirred slightly at his voice, noticing a small hole through which an eye peeped at him, fright clear as day in those shaky, blue pupils. He had never been in a standoff like this one, quite an awkward encounter, and he realized the helmet might have been too frightening for children.

Slowly, he removed his helmet and knelt, lowering himself to their level. He spoke in the gentlest voice, one he used to soothe Avril during her outbursts from time to time, "Be not afraid, children. I am Oscar Terr. They call me a hero. And I have come to save you. Can you tell me yours?"

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Two small heads poked out from behind the dresser; one seemed quite close to the other as if they were being held, and indeed they were. A small boy climbed up and down from the dresser onto Oscar's side, carrying a small girl in his arms. The boy hugged the girl and brought her close to his chest, an admirable act of protection. He sniffled and said in a near-trembling voice, "I'm Renn. She is my sister, Gloria."

"Renn and Gloria. It's nice to meet you. How old are you?" Oscar asked.

"I'm five, and she's three," Renn answered quickly before asking, Are you really him? Are you really the hero?"

Oscar smiled bitterly at both the ages and the boy's question. They should never have suffered so much at such tender young ages, and he should not be called a hero. "According to the emperor, I am a hero."

"Are you here to save us?" The boy asked.

"I am."

"Then, why didn't you save our parents? Why didn't you save our home?" For such a young age, Renn scowled, turning red and sobbing, plopping to his knees as his sister also cried loudly. "Aren't you a hero?!"

No words existed that could satisfy them. They suffered the most out of all others in the war, too young and weak to fight, only able to stay inside and hope for the best. War was often a horrible affair, the main reason why he sought to end his conquest of the Burning Valley quickly and left the grim affairs of the deceased and survivors on both sides to Fenu. Now, he had to face these children and their grievances, their dashed hopes, by himself.

Lifting the two children, he placed them in his arms, cradling the tiny ones. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He carried the sobbing children with him outside, Erden waiting from above. While Oscar canvased the building for these two, Erden roamed further to sense other survivors, but the bitter shake of his head meant he found none. Mounting Erden, Oscar settled the children in the front, wrapping his arm around them as they took off.

Renn held back his tears, sniffling his snotty nose. "Where are we going?"

"Safety. I will protect you." Oscar patted their heads. He took out a communication bead from his space pocket and placed it in his ear, unable to use it before due to the strange interferences all over the ruins. It didn't work, still a static noise droning in his ears. Frustrated, Oscar threw it back inside and flew slowly over the ruins, heading north.

"I can't see!" Renn shouted, his sister oddly quiet in comparison to her brother.

"You don't need to see below. Trust me." Oscar kept his hands over the siblings' eyes. Nothing remained for them to see below other than the sea of corpses strung along the bricks. He quickened his pace, worried others might be waiting for him and lingering in these blasted wastelands for too long. His Ein formed a protective barrier around the children, shielding them from the rushing winds.

Then, his eyes sharpened, focusing on faint figures in the sky, more propping into view the closer he went. Seeing the cloaks of black and blue uniforms, he knew they were his troops. His gaze turned heated as a relieved warmth threatened to expel hot tears to obscure his sight. Shouting to the top of his lungs, he called out to the two, one of orange hair and the other of green, "Fred, Emily! You're alive!"

The two turned, and everyone else followed after, all attention on him. Fred surged the wind from his feet, propelling his flight into a bolting charge, and hugged Oscar. "You damned bastard! When the storm blasted you away from the rest of us, I couldn't get a wink of sleep."

"You're telling me? What do you think I've been through for the past few days? Every time I found a mangled corpse, I worried, thinking the worst." Oscar shook Fred and laughed. Emily joined in the struggle, hugging the two, and shouted out her relief, her face sunken in and hair lacking its luster. Remembering the two children who probably felt uncomfortable in the middle, Oscar separated from his friends, smiling slightly.

"Where did you pick these two up? We tried to look for any civilians, but they were all–" Before Fred could finish, Emily punched him in the side, forcing him to stagger and groan, cutting off his words. She smiled sweetly to Renn and Gloria before giving them some sweet cookies in his space pocket, her emergency rations that she refused to share in the past.

"It's a blessing to have these two with us." Emily stoked their heads.

"I'll tell you about it on the way. For now, how many of us have gathered?" Oscar looked around at the mixed group of survivors.

"It's good to see you, captain. I can answer that." From a small group of Black Aegis Order in which he saw Susan and Uren, Alec coughed; a part of his scalp caved in from a presumably heavy blow. Still, he maintained his usual warm smile and gave his usual report. "So far, we have 15 Black Aegis Order soldiers, 20 Drakiri, and a mix of 30 soldiers from other divisions. We fought a ragged group of Undying Flame Sect members who were desperately charging south. A battle might start in the line between north and south. Our stragglers will attempt to go north while theirs go south."

"What do you recommend?" Oscar trusted Alec's insight.

"Since the sky is now clear, and the beasts are gone, the enemy has a clear path through Orbis. But they may have already sent forces to the roundabout routes we were supposed to hold. If we don't act fast, we may be cut off from the next safe city in Greenwich. We have to retreat."

"And what of the others who may be rushing north right now?"

"We can wait for no more than a day. That should be enough for anyone to reach the northern edges." Alec's smile deepened, and he shook his head in resignation.

"Then set up camp at the northern edges. I want patrols and scouts out to receive any of our allies. Alec, you take inventory of all of our resources. I want everyone to be well-fed for the next few days. At the break of dawn, we set out for Greenwich City!" Oscar ordered, and everyone gave a rousing shout in response. He gritted his teeth, cursing that the battle would be moved to Greenwich City. His old farm was in a village nearby, his parents' graves rested in the dirt nearby, and, more importantly, Uncle Carlson lived nearby. He wanted nothing more than to rush immediately and take his close uncle to safety, but he had one last duty here.

'Please stay alive, Uncle Carlson. I'll come pick you up right after we're done here.' Oscar promised in his heart.

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