A Storm Is Brewing

"Did I take too long"

The bathroom door opened to reveal Heather now wearing entirely new clothes

If you could call them clothes at all for it was a nightgown that she changed into, one which was see through to a certain extent barely revealing the unclothed two mountains underneath, only her lower body had a layer of underwear in the manner of a laced black panty that seemed very easy to unhook

This feast for the eyes sadly had no viewer as the silent room was empty, fret of any sound other than the wind coming through the opened window

"? Zombie-chan?"

She called out in confusion and went to the window but found no one there, this made her stare at her room in confusion, where could her partner in crime possibly go?

'Did I really take too long? He looked like he was in a good mood when he came in so I don't understand why he would leave without a word, perhaps he left me a note to explain?'

She looked around and found the food to be untouched, only a plate of braised meat was laying on the ground for some reason

'There'

Suddenly she found a white paper on her bed so she picked it up ad read through it

'Let's see here, Dear family....'

Just those words were enough to send her mind into chaos, she needn't read the rest to know it wasn't a letter from him to her but her own emergency message she left in case he killed her during the attack, it was her way of keeping the family out of trouble in case he tried to frame them someway as well as her revenge by announcing his Alias

The gears in her brain started to turn at high speed taking in one idea after the other, ideas on how to bring him back and how to apologies, how to find him on order to that, but all these thoughts dwindled quickly as it soon dawned to her that there was no way to actually find him with nothing but an Alias, the Mercenary Union would never reveal any information about their people

".....Haaah"

Disappointment, not at herself for writing it, that was a necessary precaution, but at her own carelessness for not burning it once it turned out that he wasn't tricking her, she had two days to do so yet forgot about it, and now...and now she lost the great backer that could have very well lifted her family's status from normal nobility into much greater ranks

.....

'If I travel west from here I should come across the scattered villages located on the map, I believe I could get in without an identification in underdeveloped areas like those, I need to find a merchant there to sell my excess stuff before starting the journey through the Whimsical Wilds'

Away from the main roads, Yu was quickly making his way through the forests with Lyra who was scaring any potential bother with her flames, the big wolf, however, was nowhere in sight as they left it back there since it could easily be traced with both energy and the blood it left after its injury

'I should ask if there are any Gold-ranked beasts in those wilds, if there are I must plan my route around them'

His thoughts were constantly filled with plans for the future, as for the past...

'She was using me and I was using her, it turns out she won that exchange, truly a crafty mind'

Thinking that she wanted to pin everything on him while trying to take all the gold to herself he laughed at his own naive mind

'I can't believe that I thought we formed a team, a connection, I'm really so gullible'

His outlook on the world needed to change, he was treating the people in it like he would the ones in his own world, but it appears that was a major mistake, people here weren't weak, they could tame great beasts and strengthen themselves to inhuman levels, laws could be put aside for the strong without even masking it, feeble things like feelings and trust were only there when there was benefit

His mind started to plunge further and further into this pessimistic view which brought Lyra to call out for him, concerned about his well being

"Wu wuu"

"I'm fine Lyra"

"Wuu wuuu wu..."

"Don't worry, I really am fine, I still have you after all"

It was times like these when he started to appreciate his beasts more, tied to his very soul they would never betray him, they were the only ones he could put his trust in fully

"Thank you for being there for me, I really need it"

"Wu!"

She replied happily, she would have nudged her head against him if they weren't running right now

"I really hope a warrant for my arrest doesn't reach the cities beyond the Whimsical Wilds, if it does my life will become very difficult"

His Alias was the only form of identification he could use in here and since Heather will probably alert the prince about it then he could only scurry around the backwater areas until he found somewhere his warrant couldn't reach

There was another much easier solution though, and that was to kill Heather and be done with it, the only problem was his inability to bring himself to do it, it didn't make sense for him to kill so many people and actually spare the one that betrayed him, but so were the whims of the heart, illogical and led one into hurting themselves

****************************

Inside the woods where only white trees grew, the silence which used to dominate was nowhere to be found as roars and shouts intertwined in one massive battle stretching across the entire land

Fierce and fearless beasts were attacking without any care for their lives, they bit and clawed at the humans trying to kill as many as they possibly could, there was not the smallest semblance of intelligence coming from any of them at this moment

The men and women who were on the receiving end of this onslaught barely kept their grounds, they deployed tactic after tactic burning through traps and resources like there was no tomorrow, all this struggle just to keep the beasts at bay

"We need more men here they are about to breach!"

"Handle it yourself until orders for retreat come, no point can spare any fighters now"

"To hell with this, I'm not dying for money!!"

The guards and mercenaries risked their lives to keep these beasts contained within the woods but deserters were emerging more and more, anyone with a brain could tell they were fighting a losing battle what with the Silver ranked beasts smashing through their ranks like no tomorrow

Slice!

"Hold your position, if I see a single one of you trying to turn their backs to the enemy before orders come I will personally cut them down"

The executioners at the back threatened after sending the newest deserter's head rolling, this didn't bring discipline to the fighters though as it only made them plunge deeper into despair

The only thing they could do now was pray, pray for orders of retreat to come as soon as possible, since before the citizens evacuated the city they couldn't bring the fight to the walls else any beast who breached it could easily cause a massacre among civilians

"Screee!"

Suddenly a loud screech rang through the woods, this horrible screech dumped a bucket of cold water on everyone's hopeful minds, just by the energy-filled sound they could tell this new arrival was nothing they could contend against, it must be within the high stage of Silver or even...

Wooooshh~

A great gust of wind rattled the tough white trees and sent some of the weaker beasts and humans flying, bodies previously strewn across the ground were now being thrown deeper into the woods, away from sight

Anyone who could afford to look up amid the horrid weather was shocked to see a ten-meter long bird flapping its huge wings at the battlefield, there was no doubt in their hearts this power belonged to a Gold-rank anymore

Dread filled them as they acknowledged their imminent deaths, but what could they do other than sprawl on the ground helpless as the giant bird descended, bringing with it a huge storm that would slice whatever it found in its way

Roars and cries of beasts then followed as the storm sliced through the mad beings like no tomorrow, quickly ending any below Silver while injuring the ones that could barely withstand this attack

The dread in the men's heart turned to shock at the unexpected turn of events of which then turned to joy following one of the men's shout

"Its the prince! Its the prince's contracted Beast!"

Apparently, it was their prince who came to the rescue, and with one attack he rid most of the battlefield of the persistent beast

"Long live the prince! Long Live the prince!"

Cheers and laughs now filled the previously despairing woods, happy that they got to live the men praised the man who saved them from demise

"Long live the-" "GRAAAWR"

If the screech of the flying beast was fear-inducing then this roar was world ending for these powerless men, it turned them still and silent as the ground beneath their feet rumbled and quaked at every step of the emerging behemoth

Where this beast came out from no one could guess, it should have been pretty obvious with its towering size and cart sized limbs, no way a giant of its size could have gone noticed all this time

"Another weird thing popped up, it seemed someone is brewing a storm for our kingdom"

The young man riding the flying beast's back muttered with a grim expression

"Baria, let's make quick work of this fellow"

He commanded the bird before jumping off it and diving at the angry guy, the wind supporting his descent as another gruesome battle commenced within the white woods