Chapter 107 - Crisis
A few dozen kilometers away from the Capital, a group of people could be seen standing on the top of a hill and gazing over at the burning Capital. They were the four great families; Grey, Esmond, Weld and Acker. Before them stood another figure cloaked in black, making the figure's countenance unrecognizable.
The group looked at the burning capital with mixed feelings; some looked on with keen interest and anticipation, while some seemed guilty.
"Haih… we are all sinners. To burn the guardian kingdom defending humanity and straining it's already dwindling population. I don't know how I feel about this." Lord Esmond sighed with mixed feelings, but his plain expression contradicted his sentiments.
When Lord Weld heard this; he smirked, "Don't start pretending be some good person now, Lord Esmond. You know full well as I do; how many lives we have reaped to live as long as we did. The moment we decided to practice that technique, we already stopped being humans."
His dark and fiendish aura fluctuated when he said this. His aura was also the densest and heaviest of the four family lords. One would find it hard to associate him with being human. He was more becoming of a blood demon that wantonly feasted on human blood.
Since the death of his son, he had been sinking deeper into depravity. The only thing keeping him from fully submerging was his grandson, Cayden.
"When you replace the Crawford royalties and become the new guardian families and protectors of mankind; you will become heroes, not sinners. The victor is king, and the laws are theirs to make. A hundred years later, who would remember the truth when history had been rewritten? The Crawford family weren't the first to rewrite history and they certainly won't be the last."
The black cloaked figure spoke to the four lords, but his eyes never left the scene of the burning capital. The black cloaked figure was the one Lord Weld had went to request help from, Sir Zagan.
Edric Grey was standing behind his father at the back when he heard the black cloaked figure spoke. He widened his eyes and blurted, "History was rewritten?"
The sudden interruption made his father, Albert Grey turn pale with anger. He was slapped without mercy and harshly reprimanded, "Where are your manners!? Don't interrupt the lords when they are speaking!"
"This one apologizes for not disciplining his son properly and hope the lords forgive his rudeness." Albert apologized humbly, while forcing his son to bow. The people in front of him was akin to monsters that drink human blood. He never spoke about it, but he was quite fearful in his mind of these lords; his own father, Lord Grey included.
"Forget it. I might as well enlighten the ignorant." Sir Zagan waved. If anything, the father was more uncouth than the son with his loudness, but he didn't mind.
His words caused the displeasure of lords. No one liked to be called ignorant, but it was also true that they didn't know history was rewritten by the Crawford royal family either. While they were displeased, they dared not show it on their faces and just let it die in their stomach. Sir Zagan's strength was unfathomable and couldn't be disrespected nor offended.
Sir Zagan wasn't wrong in calling people ignorant. Anyone with half a brain would at least know that the history everyone was taught, which sang praises of the Hero King's feats and the glory of humanity was in fact; full of dubious points.
"The human domain is very small in comparison to the continent at large. How many people had once spanned the entire continent before the cataclysm? How many kings? How many kingdoms once existed? ...No one knows, but the numbers should have been far greater than what we have now."
"The history of the Hero King was too clean. With the existence of so many royal families in the past, the rise of a commoner would not be smooth and without oppositions. The current kingdoms in the human domain all belonged to the royal families that supported the Hero King back then. You can guess what happened to the rest that didn't."
Sir Zagan ended his speech there and allowed the group to draw their own conclusions for the fate of the opposing royalties. His eyes suddenly grew sharp.
"The main event is starting soon."
…
Outer Palace, atop the palace walls,
"Why is no one from the Upper District stepping forward to help the commoners? They even shut the gates!" Rachel frowned at the actions of the upper class.
Is this how nobles and aristocrats are supposed to behave? They don't seem to care for the commoners at all! She would have rushed to help if her parents weren't stopping her.
"They don't want the commoners flooding the Upper District with their filth." Duke Ignis mused before realizing his own insensitiveness. "Cough* I didn't mean you guys…"
Mia had looked at him coldly in Helen's arms when he said this.
"Hahaha..." Duke Ignis chuckled awkwardly and pinched her cheeks but she wasn't impressed.
"..."
"Anyway… the nobles and aristocrats are afraid to help."
"What are they afraid of?" Rachel asked.
"They are afraid of the unknown. the city wall was blown up, but that can't be the only aim of the enemy. There must be a second part to their plan... and without figuring out their plan or aim, the nobles and aristocrats don't dare to step forward to help."
…
Lower South District, outer perimeters,
The area was filled with black smoke and heavily impeded one's vision. Kasif arrived at the edges of the dense black smoke and advanced no further. Even if he was a five-star awakener, breathing in toxic black smoke was harmful for his body and extended periods could even lead to death.
"There is too much black smoke… this is too unnatural to be the result of gunpowder alone. A lot of firewood is needed to create this much black smoke." Kasif frowned.
His Earth Pulse was picking a lot of vibrations, too many to count and too hard to get an accurate read. The black smoke was also billowing out endlessly. He didn't dare go underground because the black smoke would suffocate him.
He had a sense of foreboding coming from the below. If it was what he thinks it is then the Capital was in deep shit.
"Better close up this rift quickly."
…
Lower West District, market square,
"Thank you, Saintess." An elderly woman expressed her gratitude.
Aria retained a cool expression, but inside she was dying from embarrassment. Such a title… How did the situation led to this? Few hours earlier, her plan was to take her parents to the Golden Lion Gang headquarters where she believes was the safest place in the lower district.
Her parents were originally concerned about their safety, but the moment they saw other people suffering, they were the first to express their wish to help! She was just carrying out their wishes. They were the true saints!
"Wow, look! someone is coming from the skies!" A little boy suddenly uttered and pointed to the skies.
Everyone turned to look where the boy pointed and saw a young man in royal garment descending. Aria was no exception, but the moment she did, happiness was written over her concealed face.
Aria dived into Leon's chest as he descended. He smiled when he found her, "Are you the Saintess?"
He already knew the answer, but he still asked. They had been working on two fronts to quell the chaos and save the people. Aria received a lot of help from the gang members to set up the medical tents, while likeminded and able individuals joined in later.
The gang members fed the information back to him and after he learnt how powerful Aria became, he placed down his worries and focused on saving the people that needed saving.
One used miraculous healing pills to treat the dying, while the other soothed injured's pain with her angelic voice.. One was a divine doctor and the other was a Saintess. They truly sounded like a match made in heaven.
"You are teasing me." Aria pouted with shyness and buried her face in his chest.
Crowd was surprised by their Saintess's reaction. It's seems their Saintess already has a sweetheart!
Some boys and young men were broken hearted at this revelation. Though they haven't caught a glimpse of her face, they imagined her beauty was heavenly like her voice.
The females on the other hand, thought differently.
"Ahh… He is like a prince descending from the heavens… So handsome!"
"They look like a match made in heaven."
Some young ladies were dreamy, seeing the way Leon descended.
Before Leon began divine cultivation, he was not handsome by any means. But after he started, his skin has become a little fairer and his body more toned. He was not ugly at the very least... coupled with his royal garment and aura, people's impression of him change greatly. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder.
But it could also be said another way; even if it is a pig, if it was dressed in gold, the people will sing praises.
Whatever their thoughts were, Leon didn't care.
"Ahhh!! Run!!!!"
Suddenly, there were screams and shouts coming from the direction of the outer edges.
"What's going on?" The person grabbed and questioned.
"M-Monsters… Bugs… I don't know! Run if you don't want to die!" The person broke free and ran in the direction of the Upper District.
Rumble….
Everyone was soon able to see what was coming in the distance. Leon recognized them at first glance and his expression turned grave.
"Deadeye Spiders!"