Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Kallistus Kal swept his gaze over Windrip. The streets of the city burned— its guards defeated, and its piecemeal walls felled. Most of its populace was left untouched. They would survive, even as the flames burned. 

Windrip was a fortress city. Its reputation was well-known throughout all of Laxo. Its buildings were reinforced to withstand months-long sieges, and its guards were trained to fend off B-rank threats. So a little bit of fire wouldn’t raze the city to the ground.

The [Hero King] had thought it would be a hard-fought battle. But unfortunately for Windrip, it had nearly been annihilated recently by a Goblin Lord. As a result, its defenses had been weakened, and Kallistus had been able to take the city with ease. 

He hadn’t brought a large force with him. The main bulk of his armies were still fighting at the front lines. However, he had amassed two-thousand elite soldiers to detach from the fighting to take Windrip under his command. It seemed almost like it was such an odd maneuver. Certainly, there was very little tactical advantage for Kallistus to hold Windrip this early on into the war.

But he had acted for his own benefit. The reason the [Hero King] came to Windrip was simple— he was searching for her. 

He didn’t know who she was. He didn’t even know her name. He simply knew that he needed her. And the Elder Dragon had said that she was here in Windrip— in this fortress city. Or at least, she had been here.

Now, she was gone. She had to be gone. Kallistus had searched all of Windrip, even drawing power from the Void to find her. But she was nowhere to be found. So he had interrogated the only person in the city who might have known her last whereabouts. 

The [Hero King]’s eyes flickered. He watched as a figure was taken away— Guildmaster Evan of Windrip’s Adventurer’s Guild. It was against the Adventurer’s Guild’s rules of war to harm any adventurer who wasn’t actively partaking in the conflict. The fact that Kallistus was acting against the Adventurer’s Guild was risky. But he needed to find her more than he cared about the potential consequences of his actions here.

So he shook his head, turning the other cheek from the scene. Even if the Adventurer’s Guild went after the Kingdom of Kal, Kallistus knew he could justify his actions. Evan might have been a guildmaster, but he also worked as an informant, so it could be argued that Evan was actively partaking in the conflict.

Whether or not it was actually true didn’t matter. The Kingdom of Kal was large enough at this point that even the Adventurer’s Guild would think twice about intervening over a single guildmaster. And even if the worst scenario came about, Kallistus knew that, with the power of the Void at his side, he could repel both the Adventurer’s Guild and the Astrad Kingdom at the same time.

Although… it would be wise for him to call in a few favors from the Sect of the Abyssal Thorns. The [Hero King] shook his head, dismissing that thought for later. For now, he had to deal with the aftermath of his victory.

“My liege,” a voice said. A knight knelt before Kallistus, his visor lowered and covering his face. “What shall be done about Windrip?”

“We set up a garrison of two-hundred men,” the [Hero King] replied simply. He cast his gaze over towards the horizon, looking in the vague direction of the next closest city. “We shall take Bacton next. And the rest of the cities will be on high-alert, expecting another attack. They will not be able to retake Windrip if…” he trailed off.

Kallistus Kal’s gaze drifted to the side as the knight waited for him to finish. But he didn’t finish. Instead, he slowly spun around as the knight stared at him, utterly puzzled.

“My liege?”

“Hush,” the [Hero King] said, raising a finger. His brows snapped together as he stared ahead towards the center of Briar Glen. “Do you… hear that?”

“I do not hear anything, my liege,” the knight answered.

“I… see.” Kallistus pursed his lips. He said nothing more. Instead, he started forward. Even as the knight looked on quizzically. The [Hero King] cared not. Because he heard it, and that was enough.

It was soft. Like an echo— no louder than the whispering of rustling leaves. He was drawn by it. Enchanted and in a daze. He strode away from his men, waving a hand dismissively as he looked on.

“I’ll reconvene… later,” he said as he was drawn out of Windrip. “I… have some important matters to attend to.”

And with that, Kallistus Kal left Windrip. 

—--

The [Hero King] was certain of it. He knew what he sensed was true— he knew what he heard as clear as day. His ears weren’t lying to him. His mind couldn’t have been playing tricks on him. That voice… it was just as he remembered it back on Earth.

“Dada!” the voice exclaimed, echoing between the trees.

Kallistus stalked through the forest of Briar Glen. The tall dark trunks rising around him, shielding the sunset. It was dark. And it would be darker soon. But he feared not what monsters could be lurking in the shadows. He would plunge straight into the abyss if it meant reaching that voice.

“Kal, darling, don’t you think…” another voice trailed off.  

His eyes flickered, and his head snapped to the side. He started forward, running faster. He sprinted through the trees as the voices continued to call for him.

“I’m here, Dada!”

“What took you so long, Kal?” 

“Diana! Lily! I’m coming for you!” he shouted as he burst through a thicket of trees. 

He was getting closer. The [Hero King] panted as his feet carried him forward at full speed. He didn’t slow. He didn’t even waver. His thudding footfalls sent the nearby fauna fleeing. His panicked state was more terrifying than any monster in Briar Glen.

Kallistus barreled through a bush, ripping apart branches and trampling the fallen leaves. He heaved as he swept his gaze around the dense thicket, before calling out once more.

“I’m here! I didn’t abandon you! I’m—” And he paused.  

He stepped out into a small clearing in the forest. An open space free from the trees and undergrowth. The [Hero King] blinked a few times, listening for his wife and daughter. But their voices faded with the wind. He panted as he glanced around, searching his surroundings.

“Diana…?” he said as he stumbled forward. “Lily!”

But there was nothing. A pit opened up in his stomach as he swallowed, trying to regain his bearings. Was it all a hallucination? Did he imagine their voices? That couldn’t be right… right?

Kallistus steeled himself as he drew forward slowly. He refused to believe it was his imagination. There was no mistaking it— those voices belonged to his wife and daughter. He would find a way back to them. He had to.

And right as the thought crossed his mind, there was a flicker in the air before him. His brows snapped together as the world peeled back. He watched as a rift tore through space before his very eyes.

“This is…?” 

It was just like the rift he had seen at Mount Arkais three days ago. It had appeared for a brief moment, speaking to him as it always did. He had studied its power, and he tried to reach for the depths of the Void, but the rift had dissipated moments later.

He hadn’t been able to learn anything from that short interaction. But now— Kallistus knew that this moment wouldn’t last long. So he raised a hand, reaching into the rift as its purple surface rippled. 

“Show me,” the [Hero King] breathed. “Show me my salvation.”

The hole in space warped. He looked on, entranced by the distorting scene. The rift grew wider, scarring more of the air around his arms. He pushed forward, but his hands faced some resistance. It was like he was trying to force his arm through some kind of thick jelly.

His forearms submerged to the elbow into the rift, and the purple surface shifted. Kallistus narrowed his eyes as a vague image revealed itself. It was the blurred picture of… a familiar village. A nostalgic sight he recognized even despite the distortion.

Tears streamed down the [Hero King]’s cheeks as his breathing quickened. He pushed his hands further into the rift, crying out as memories flashed in his head. The laughter of a little girl— her gentle exuberance filling his heart. The soothing voice of a kind woman; her warm presence never leaving his side ever since they were both children.

Kallistus cried out as his heart ached. He reached deep into the rift, and the image focused. He heard the echoes of their voices. He screamed in pain.

“Diana! Lily!” 

But they didn’t respond. For a moment, the rift flickered, and his eyes widened in panic. Then a familiar voice spoke to him once more.

“Inherit… what is yours,” it said as a prickling sensation ran down the [Hero King]’s spine. 

Kallistus stared, and a sharp pain spiked through his hands. He reeled back, cursing as he spat at the Void. 

“You promised me a way back!” he snapped. “Where is my reward? Where is my Lily? Where is my Diana?!”

But the rift only continued to spread. An inky stain marred its way up his forearms. Kallistus watched as his hands dripped with the depravity of the Void— a purple liquid that spilled into the earth. A puddle splashed at his feet, and the voice bellowed.

“Behold— the power of creation!”

The [Hero King] froze as the puddle shifted. His eyes widened, and a figure emerged from the purple liquid. It took the shape of an amorphous blob at first, then its distended body shrank, shriveling up into a crooked spine. Finally, veins started to weave over the bone-like figure, creating a six limbed creature.

It looked like an insect, but it was certainly not one Kallistus had ever seen before. It lacked the segmented body of an ant, and neither did it have a carapace. Instead, its body was shaped like a twig, and its limbs were built like small scythes. It stared up at the [Hero King] with a faceless gaze, and he stumbled back.

He stared down at his empurpled arms, before looking up at this creature standing before the rift. 

“What— is this?” he wondered aloud. And a foreign, intrusive thought answered him. 

Voidling detected. Beginning extermination process.

Kallistus paused. He raised his head with a frown. “Extermination…?”

But a lance shot down from the sky, crashing straight into the voidling before he could comprehend what was going on. The creature exploded with a screech and splattered across the ground. The impact from the blast knocked the [Hero King] back. He landed amidst a thicket of trees as a winged figure descended from the sky.

Feathers floated down around him, and a metallic being landed over the purple puddle. It stared at the remains of the voidling with three eyes, while seven more eyes were fixed onto the rift. A final pair of eyes were looking at the [Hero King]’s way, but most of its focus was fixed onto the hole in space.

Closing rift. Repairing spatial fracture. And the being picked up its lance, before stabbing into the air. 

Kallistus just blinked, watching as the hole in space slowly closed. He saw those white feathers— he stared at those twelve eyes. And it finally clicked in his mind as he got back to his feet.

“That’s… an angel?” 

Designation: Guardian Angel Z357, the being replied as the rift was sewn shut. Its words were conveyed to him like an invasion of his mind. It was as though his own thoughts were being overridden whenever it spoke. 

And it made sense a moment later as it turned to face him. It had no mouth. It stared at him with a face composed of eyes alone. He tensed at this sight.

“I have heard about the stories of angels in this world,” Kallistus said as he drew his longsword. He gripped it with both his hands, warily backing up. “But I always thought it was all just a myth.”

My presence on Planet 16B is only a result of these rifts, Guardian Angel Z357 explained. I have been summoned here to purge the Void…

Kallistus shifted, and his sword rippled with a purple aura. The angel raised its lance, pointing it at the [Hero King]. 

…as such, I will be purging you as well.

And Guardian Angel Z357 sped forward as Kallistus swung up with his sword. 

“I will not fall here!” the [Hero King] yelled. He drew the Void’s power. “Slas—” 

But his arms went flying. The angel appeared behind him as a thicket of trees collapsed. Kallistus blinked, looking down at the little nubs of his elbows. 

“What…?” he gasped, even as his arms began to regenerate.

Regeneration, Guardian Angel Z357 said. So the Void’s touch goes further than I surmised.

Kallistus spun around as his arms fully healed. He raised a pair of purple fists— the stain from earlier still marking his skin. He opened his mouth, but the angel moved. It thrust its lance towards him, and he narrowly ducked out of the way.

He watched as the angel regained its footing, twirling around and slashing at him. He leapt back as the force from the attack ripped apart the nearby trees, sending gusts of wind that shook the forest. The [Hero King] gritted his teeth and pointed.

“Blast!”

And an explosion of purple energy engulfed the angel. The blast expanded outwards for a moment, before rapidly shrinking, imploding on its target. 

But Guardian Angel Z357 just sliced up, ripping apart the explosion. It flew up into the air, scanning the area for its target. Kallistus expected as much. He saw the angel’s speed— he saw its power. He knew he couldn’t harm it.

All he could do was escape before it could track him down. He looked down at his empurpled hands, before closing his eyes. 

“The power of creation…” He faced his palm at the ground as he heard the rustling of leaves. 

Target found, the angel started.

And Kallistus snapped his eyes open. “Give it to me— Create!”

Guardian Angel Z357 swung at him, but a voidling pooled up from the [Hero King]’s feet. The creature shrieked, only to be shredded by the lance. Kallistus backed away from the angel’s flurry of strikes as he frantically yelled.

“Create. Create. Create!”

His fingers dripped with a dark fluid, which quickly gave shape to a multitude of voidlings. Guardian Angel Z357 paused, watching as these depraved creatures were breathed with life. Its twelve eyes darted around in a frenzy, and Kallistus backed away into a thicket of trees.

“Scatter! Destroy! Spread your depravity across Vacuos!” he yelled.

He didn’t stop creating these voidlings. They hissed and cried and shrieked and yelled as they took their first steps in this world. And a moment later, they were ripped apart by the angel. 

Exterminating all traces of the Void, Guardian Angel Z357 said as it tore through a dozen voidlings. It paused, looking ahead as dozens more waited before him. They spread out, trying to escape from Briar Glen as its twelve eyes darted in different directions. Preventing the spread of voidlings.

The angel shot between the trees, hunting down the fleeing voidlings one after another. With each one it brought down, there was always another. Kallistus didn’t slack with his usage of Create. He knew that this was his only way to escape. 

He summoned as many voidlings as he possibly could, expending all of his strength, and in turn distracting Guardian Angel Z357. As it culled Briar Glen of voidlings, the [Hero King] escaped. He returned to Windrip, finally forgoing his connection to the Void as he disengaged. 

He waited with bated breath, but the angel didn’t pursue him. It remained in Briar Glen, continuing to purge the forest of the voidlings until none were left. Kallistus sighed in relief as he hid amongst the crowd of the city. 

“It seems the World System is finally retaliating,” the [Hero King] whispered, cloaked in a dark hood. He looked down at the palm of his hand as his purple skin returned to normal. 

This meant that he was going to have to rely less on the Void’s powers— especially if that angel was going to track him down whenever he called for that depraved magic. He balled his hand into a fist. 

“This is going to be… troublesome.”

—--

Guardian Angel Z357 exterminated the last of the voidlings from the forest. He had lost his target amidst the mass of depraved creatures. But it didn't matter. He finally understood the current source of the Void in Planet 16B today.

It was not the rifts that were the problem— the issue was distinct from what it had been over ten thousand years ago. It appeared that the Fal-Deus was now opting for subterfuge, working discreetly amongst individuals instead.

[In Progress: (4/5) Rifts Investigated!]

The words flashed before the angel’s twelve eyes, then the screen froze. It shifted as the World System computed his findings.

[Processing: Change in Objective…

…

Complete: (4/4) Rifts Investigated!

Minor Reward Earned: Lance Duplication Technique obtained!

Minor Objective B: Interrogate at least three Void-touched individuals. (0/3) Void-touched Individuals Interrogated 

Main Objective Incomplete!]

MelasD

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