A thousand men and women ran and slide down the white sand dunes, toward Kaios.


    At the forefront, two women were rushing in. They were Amelia and Karteira.


    With the task to protect the guards of Hocride, they proudly led them.


    In the back, Kamala and Orion stayed watching over them.


    "Don''t we have to move too?"


    Orion asked, curious as to why Kamala stayed still.


    "No, We''ll move only when Ivan comes out. I don''t want you or me to lose our strength."


    He looked at the back of his two close friends.


    "You trust them a lot, to give them control over your army."


    Kamala nodded.


    "I do. I had plenty of time to understand how these two thought and felt."


    "I see. But if anything strange happen, I''ll move anyway. Are we clear on that?"


    His expression was dead serious.


    "I know. Do you trust them?"


    His face lightened, and he smiled.


    "I do too. If not I wouldn''t have taken them with me during this mission to kill Ivan."


    Kamala smiled too. She somehow felt jealous of their relationship.


    "Wait a second."


    Orion opened another portal and entered it. He instantly came out of it before Kamala could understand where he went.


    "It''s going to be quite hot, staying in the sun. Have some water while we wait for movement."


    He handed her a glass of water he took from the house inside ''Horizon''.


    "Thank you."


    She gratefully took the glass of water and sipped some of it.


    "Well, I want you to do something else, if that''s possible."


    The next order was one that he wasn''t expecting.


    ~


    Amelia and Karteira stopped in front of Kaios'' gate.


    "What do we do? Orion broke the lightning shield, right?"


    Karteira asked with a wondering tone, looking at the metal doors blocking everyone''s advances inside the city.


    "Whatever."


    Amelia shrugged, before positioning herself.


    She placed her right leg in front of her, and crouched slightly. Her left hand, placed at the opposite side at her waist as if she was going to unsheathe a sword, began to emit fire.


    "Vesta."


    Her fire dagger, who was the more appropriate in this situation, slashed the metal door with a clean cut.


    The doors now opened, everyone rushed inside to save as many people as they could.


    "Well, that was clean."


    Karteira smiled. Amelia was now able to do many things people could only dream about.


    "Thank you."


    Amelia made a fist and moved it next to Karteira.


    Karteira made a fist too, and bumped Amelia''s fist.


    "The one who kills the most?"


    Amelia asked, knowing there was going to be another competition between them.


    "The one who saves the most."


    The surprised face of Amelia forced a little chuckle out of Karteira''s mouth.


    "For Kamala."


    She understood what she meant, and agreed.


    "For Kamala. Let''s go in."


    "Yes!"


    Both of them ran past the cut doors, and already encountered the first problem.


    "That''s a lot of corpses..."


    As they ran past the various bodies of civilians and soldiers alike, Amelia saw how bad it really was.


    "The streets are full of bodies. Everywhere we look at there''s a dead body."


    Karteira observed every nook and cranny of the streets in instants. At one point, she stopped running.


    "I''m going this way. If you don''t find anyone, help the guards. That''s also one of our many tasks."


    Amelia nodded, remembering all that was asked of them.


    "Don''t overdo it, protect the guards, save as many civilians as you can, and don''t get hurt."


    "That''s a lot alright."


    The two laughed together, before splitting in two directions.


    Karteira went into the alleys, while Amelia went where all Kaios soldiers would be. If there was a good place to find captives, it would be where the enemies were.


    The first one to find survivors was Karteira. She saw someone running away and hide in the shadows earlier and followed her rational thinking.


    ''The only one that hides are the oppressed. I know it, we are the same.''


    With hasten steps, she arrived where the shadow she saw stopped.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "I am part of a rescue army coming from Hocride. Would you be willing to come out?"


    With a soft voice, she asked whoever was hiding.


    "P-Please, we''ve had enough."


    A sobbing, heartbreaking voice was all the answer she needed.


    "I will not hurt you. Lord Kamala came personally to save as many of Kaios'' civilians after hearing after what had happened here."


    "I understand if you refuse to trust me."


    She made it clear that she wasn''t a threat to them.


    The shadow slowly moved toward her.


    A young boy, maybe fifteen, holding a baby in his hands.


    "Could you... help us?"


    The young boy was a mess, his clothes were ripped apart, and he had lost of cuts on his body.


    Sadly, the baby he was holding in his hands was... already lost.


    Seeing the lifeless newborn, intense anger and distress took over Karteira.


    *Grit*


    Her teeth made a loud sound as her face hid under a layer of darkness.


    "I am sorry for you loss."


    "Me also."


    The sudden voice of Orion surprised Karteira and made her recover from her violent emotions.


    He walked outside of the portal and placed a hand on her head.


    Orion looked at the baby.


    "!"


    "Follow me, quickly."


    Orion turned around and forced them to follow.


    "Orion, why are you here?"


    He ignored Karteira and walked toward the boy.


    "Can I hold them?"


    The young boy was extremely cautious of Orion, and his abilities. But in the end, he was still troubled, and there was nothing he could do for the life in his hands.


    He eventually gave up his resistance, and handed the baby to him.


    "Thank you."


    Orion immediately turned around and began his magic.


    ''I knew it, this child is still alive!''


    The small thread of life was still holding on.


    ''What is it with these individuals with strong will to live? Why does this baby still breathe?''


    He kept questioning, but still applied his healing to them.


    Similar to when he healed the beastwoman Crystal, he did the same for the human baby.


    It took only a second to heal such a small body.


    He tapped softly on the baby''s back, and in front of the bewildered Karteira, the baby began to cough, before crying.


    Orion was proud of himself. He was proud of being able to save lives, as much as he was proud of hunting down the corrupted.


    "You... saved him?"


    The young boy fell on the sand, his knees having given up. He placed his hands to his face and began to cry.


    "Thank you! Thank you very much!"


    "Here."


    Orion crouched in front of him and handed the baby over to the young boy.


    "Do your best to live on. Always remember what happened in that city, so it never happens again."


    He stood back up and left the boy alone.


    "Orion."


    "Sorry for ignoring you. His life had higher priority."


    "I don''t resent you for that."


    On the contrary. He eased her emotions, and saved a life, again. These displays of kindness made huge impacts on her.


    "To answer you, Kamala gave me another job. An exhausting one, but what can I do?"


    "Is it to rescue the citizens when me or Amelia find them?"


    He nodded.


    "To be precise-"


    Another portal opened, making a soldier holding the hand of a woman come through.


    "I need to see the state of the city from here, and open a portal when you two, or a guard find a civilian."


    "There are many blind spot I can''t really see, so I''m using many sub-portal that I opened on everyone''s back."


    "Like that, I can hear what everyone is doing."


    She was shocked, but also worried.


    "Are you alright? Isn''t it causing you a lot of pain?"


    "Honestly, it does. I have a growing headache from listening to so many things, and my magic is depleting at an alarming rate. I might have to depend on Tiohr-nam for this one."


    "The magic storage replenishment?"


    He nodded.


    The moment he would intently call for her, she would share a good amount of her own stored magic energy to him.


    This was the deal they made. In exchange for Tiohr-nam being alive, she had to sometimes share her own energy to him.


    "And she said that I need to conserve my strength. What a woman, she''s really making me work."


    He laughed, while also holding his head.


    The portal weren''t the exhausting part, it was the sub-portals that were problematic. They were the same as his ''Space Shift'' ability, except only sound was coming out.


    "Amelia''s found something. You should go back to it, no?"


    He opened another portal to her previous location.


    She agreed with him and walked through the portal.


    "Thank you."


    ''You don''t have to.''


    ~


    Amelia was hiding behind a building, watching multiple soldiers dragging women by their hair.


    ''What the actual fuck is going on in here? Who in their right mind could accept something like this?''


    Cries, pleading, and sudden shouts of pain were heard in the building.


    ''There''s at least twenty soldiers in there.''


    ''What should I do?''


    "Stop! Let me go!"


    Another soldier came dragging a woman on the pavement.


    The moment Amelia saw her, she saw herself in the woman.


    ''That''s it, I don''t care anymore!''


    She moved out of her hiding spot and rushed toward the soldier.


    ''Aura.''


    Her wind dagger appeared in her right hand, a dagger she haven''t used since it''s intermediate level awakening.


    It''s shape was slightly different than before. It looked sharper than before, with a wing decorated on the handle.


    It''s blade was also slightly curved. Not as much as Vesta though.


    "Hey! There''s one other here running toward me! Guys, capture her and add her to the pile!"


    ''You wish!''


    Amelia was still ten meters away from the soldier, but she slashed at him anyway with Aura.


    The dagger leave a trail behind her movement, and that trail continued straight ahead, and cut the man''s arm.


    ''I''m sorry.''


    She apologize toward the blonde woman that got covered in blood and not the soldier.


    The man cried in pain while holding his arm.


    "Move! Now!"


    Amelia shouted to the blonde girl. Without waiting a second, she ran behind Amelia.


    "Fuck! Everyone, stop her!"


    ''Like I said, you wish! Dana.''


    The other dagger she haven''t used in a while was her water dagger, Dana. It''s shape was completely different too.


    Another component was added to the dagger, something that came straight from her link with Monolavir.


    The handle was now made of transparent, glassy, smoothed ice. There was small imperfections on it, but it was beautiful nonetheless.


    It''s blade was made of water that could morph into various shape and change how sharp it was. It had also various properties that it didn''t have before.


    ''Freeze!''


    She slide on the ground using the ''Water Coat'' ability she created before moving out of Auro, and splashed water toward the soldiers coming out of the building.


    The water solidified instantly, solidifying their legs on the spot.


    "I can''t move! Hey, do something!"


    One of the soldier asked the other next to him to hit his legs to break the ice. The other soldier tried, but to everyone''s surprise, it didn''t end well.


    Indeed, the man broke the ice. But he also broke his friend''s legs to pieces. Not only that, he also died painfully as his upper body burst open from the sudden removal of his legs.


    To say that terror took over them all was an understatement. The look they gave to Amelia was pitiful.


    ''They are sickening. How can they do that to these women and think they would still live?''


    No mercy was given to them. To avoid any reinforcement, she froze the soldiers face too. With no way to scream, or breathe, they died a slow, painful death.


    "We are not your toys. Remember that. Or don''t, you will die anyway."


    She moved past all of the frozen soldiers, and opened the door to the building.


    *GRIT*


    "Forget it. Vesta."


    Her anger took over and she unleashed an inferno on the soldiers. They all became ashes in seconds.


    "What is this madness? What is happening to our world?!"


    Amelia gazed inside the building.


    To say that this was horrible would bring shame to the word.


    Inside the large room, many bathtubs were placed all around. Inside of them, the bodies of various women were floating in what could be called ''an absurd amount of blood''.


    "I have to burn this place down! There''s no way I can let anyone see this!"


    "Too late."


    Orion appeared like he did with Karteira.


    "I know everything. You did well dealing with them."


    He caressed her hair, looking inside the sickening display in front of him.


    ''No survivor this time.''


    Amelia managed to save only one woman, the other twelve women died before she could do anything.


    "Orion."


    "Hmm?"


    "Why?"


    "Because of the corruption, most likely. There seems to be a pattern where the ones corrupted seeks to either damage the ones around them, or straight murder others."


    He continued.


    "But this kind of atrocities. This is on another level. What is the point in all of this is all I can wonder currently."


    Amelia nodded, her face hidden in darkness.


    "The girl over there. Follow us, we will lead you to safety."


    The blonde woman poke her head from the corner of a building further away.


    She shyly came out and approached the duo.


    "I''ll lead her to Kamala first, destroy this place. Leave nothing behind. Purge it from your head too."


    "You know I can''t!"


    "Amelia, don''t linger on what''s here. Weren''t you prepared for these situations? If your mind his weak, it''s straight back to Auro."


    At that moment, she realized the mistake she made. Of course she would feel wrong seeing this, she was a fellow human.


    ''What am I doing? I did not follow Orion to side with the humans!''


    Her emotions calmed down, and she was finally able to rationalize everything again.


    "Sorry. I''ve lost sight of why we are here."


    "It''s fine. I understand. I also can lose track of our objectives."


    He walked toward the girl that was walking toward them, and led her through the portal without adding anything.


    ''Sorry I couldn''t be faster.''


    "Vesta, burn everything."


    She let the fire eat the building, as she retreated inside the portal.