THE RISE OF EXILE

GARDEN OF GUERRIER

8 years ago

A small village far away from the city filled with forlorn and misery, a place of fallen dreams. A song of hopelessness left in the streets, voices of the broken can be heard. The houses were solitary and melancholy old, there was a young boy, sky full of stars in his eyes dreaming to become a top hunter sorcerer to save the humankind of his hometown. He wants to protect their village that faces the boundary between Sodome and Exile. The surveyors from the Exile was rarely come by to do some survey since it is a forgotten village. Help is impossible and may out of reach. The young boy wanted to be placed at the top famous sorcerers so that he can tell the situation of their place which is often infiltrated by unknown bandits.

But one day, the young fella trains himself in the middle of the forest far from his home. As he focused on training, he heard people crying from afar. He stopped. By then, he decided to search, follow the trails of cries. When he had determined its exact location, he immediately went to it. He ended up in a dilapidated house, before he could get inside, he was greeted by a scenario he would never forget.

PRESENT

The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky. Dawn had come. Sumire and his troops began to take their journey without Narco's presence since he was not able to show up at the right time and place.

"Captain, are you sure we will not wait for Narco even a little bit?". Zake said. Sumire's trusted cohort.

Sumire just stared at Zake for a long time, not bothered to say a word, and then she climbed up to her white pegasus and began to fly. Zake and the others followed her riding their pegasus.

Meanwhile, crossing across the vast sky...

"Preston, could you tell me the result in detailed, regarding the task I assigned to you.". Sumire said while her cold gaze fixed on the horizon.

Preston gulped as he faced her. He let out a small amount of breathing and start discussing it with her.

"The place that we are about to investigate now is an isolated area and was rarely surveyed by our hunters since it is a forgotten village. Bandits often infiltrated this place and stole their goods and other valuable things, to cause havoc and humiliation but they never harmed or killed someone from this village. This is the very first time that people in this village were almost annihilated at once..". Preston said pity was visible on his ocean-green eyes.

Zake, Preston, and the others felt bad for the villagers after hearing the situation as they continue heading to their destination. Suddenly, the temperature and the wind behaving strangely, giving them a chilling vibe. As they getting nearer, bizarre voices were heard. The troops become even warier when a misty fog comes out of nowhere from below, piercing winds whispered, tells them to go back. The flying horses they were riding stopped from up above.

"Eerie...", a gorgeous white-haired Finn said.

"Even the horses were afraid..", a handsome dark-haired young man named Grant said.

"Is this mission really that dangerous?..", Rowan said, a small but terrible one from the group and has a scratch on his left eyebrow.

"Shall we continue to--"

Before Preston could even finish what he was going to say, Sumire glared at him. The cold blow of wind earlier was, even more, colder than the strange mist surrounds them. Sumire controls the temperature and the wind speed this time.

" Tell me what is on your mind. Backing out is not your option. The troop did not recruit someone to raise a coward. Tell me, are you afraid of death? If not, I will let you feel it". Sumire's cold tone freezing them.

The troops began to tremble as they feel the icy rage of their Captain, her blank stare seems cold yet filled with fire, the thing they never felt before. Thinking that Sumire will be the cause of their early deaths.

"Pardon me, Captain.."

Preston apologetically said, humbly lowered his head down to give her respect. Sumire just ignores it and commands them to follow her.

"I will lead you straight to hell."

Sumire and his troops continue their voyage to the forgotten village named Morye. Before they could get in there, they will pass through first the Garden of Guerrier.

"Captain, horses are not allowed to pass here, we need to walk it in..", Zake said while standing beside his black stallion and looking around.

The group nodded, Preston and the others find a haven for their horses. As they step into the Garden of Guerrier, they have greeted by the difference between reality and this place in just a glance.

Outside the Garden of Guerrier, a celestial fireball in the sky brightens up the entire place meanwhile inside the Garden, it is night time and its crescent crimson moon glimmers in the dark gloomy sky. There seems to be a world within the world. Sumire was alerted when she senses something unusual presence lurking around the place which doesn't seem to have a heartbeat.

(Note: Before Sumire and her troop enter the place, Sumire activated her TROUVER, an ability to locate her opponents 15 kilometers away from her. This ability specifies what type of enemy she will about to encounter)

Sumire stopped. Her comrades looked at her with a bewildered expression.

" There is a beast going on a rampage, heading in our way....". Sumire paused detecting the exact location of the enemy. "...5 kilometers from here...".

Before her group could even react, a 13 headed with 21 horns golden beast appeared in their sight looking at them intently. The First Beast welcomed them.

The FIRST BEAST is one of those dominant primordial legendary beasts, ferocious and untamed. This beast lives thousands of years.  No one can summon them easily and rarely was seen. There's no one from Exile empire who can summon this kind of magical creature. Sumire wondered why this beast dwells in this place. By then, she remembered that the Garden of Guerrier is the graveyard of one of the Seven Princes of Underworld, which Guerrier is one of them was buried here after he was defeated by his archenemy.

Finn and Grant unconsciously created a barrier to protect them, while Sumire was left standing outside ready to confront the beast in front of them.

"Who wakes me up..." a loud, thunderous voice roaring across the vast darkness. The beast asked.

No one answered from the troop. All their eyes were fixed on Sumire who was looking at the west side.

"Him...". Sumire answered, pointed her hand out.

They all looked in the direction she was pointing out yet there is no one seems to be there. The First Beast releases a huge cannonball of fire towards them, setting the place into a hell of fire. Sumire immediately bending the earth beneath them, creating a huge thick wall made out of mud and stone to protect themselves from the anguish of the beast.

"I never lied. It is him..". Sumire said in a serious tone and pointing out again the same direction, and still, no one stood there. "..Ah, he is on his way, you have not seen him yet..". Sumire continuously said.

The First Beast calmed down after hearing what she said, but suddenly the earth's crust upheaving, shaking the ground by odd force causing them to lose their balance, Sumire was aware it was not her power.

" Who scoundrels dared to enter the Garden of Guerrier..", a frightening voice echoed around.

Just a few minutes later a Royal White Demon appeared, dressed in regal. He had a unicorn horn on his forehead and three poisonous tails wagging voluntarily behind his back. His looks demand authority, his crimson eyes that arose pure malevolence, mocking down on them.

Sumire's comrades and the giant beast were pulled from the ground due to extreme pressure carried by the Royal White Demon, who wants them to kneel after him.

Sumire remains standing still, resisting the pressure the Demon brought to them. Sumire never thinks of giving up even she is already exhausted, she is one hella stubborn and has a strong will, she will never kneel on someone weaker than Damon whom she admired the most.

"You really are strong, Sumire..", the Demon step closer to her.

Sumire just smiled. She totally agreed with what he said. "..and that arrogance of yours will kill you today or...someday...", he holds her chin upward, leaning towards her, touching the tip of their noses.

In just a matter of seconds, the Demon vanished into the thin air, faster than the speed of light. He touched the barrier that Finn and Grant have made and was like brittle glass, it was destroyed into pieces. Rowan and Zake tried to attack him yet they cannot hold or grasp him even a single strand of his hair. He was too fast. Faster than the blink of their eyes. Sumire just observes them, silently reading the situation.

"By the way, Blanc is my name."

The demon approached her, he stretched out his hand to her, Sumire accepted it without knowing his true intention.

"I want your soul." Blanc said unemotionally. Before Sumire could grab her hand back it was already cut off.

"Ah...you made my right hand cut off so cleanly..", Sumire said lifelessly as she lifted, waving her broken hand, watching the abundant metallic smell of maroon fluid glistened in the dark and is now painted the ground.

Preston and the others gasped from afar, taken by surprise. They approached immediately to their Captain to lend help yet Sumire raised her left hand, restraining them from coming to her.

"This is no longer your job, leave it to me..". Sumire calmly said, making sure they will not worry her. They immediately back off, take a few more steps away from her.

"You'd better create a stronger barrier to protect yourselves. Do not waste your energy and blood in this place. This is not even part of our mission." Sumire added without glancing at them.

They followed what she said. Grant and Finn combining their magic ability, created an eminent domain to protect them from the possible severe outcome of the battle, an air of serene transparent silver ball made out of the water and a flash of green light enswathe around them, gradually healing their bruises and wounds.

"Captain, we are just right here if you need help.", Preston said, his eyes were full of concern and trust at the same time, hoping that she will ask for their help. Sumire turned around and give them a comfortable smile before facing the baleful soulless demon who was now smirking at her.

"Oh, are you sure to fight me all by yourself, hmm?", the Demon hummed while looking at her sweetly.

Sumire just stared at him coldly. In just a few seconds Sumire vanished from his sight. There is no trace of her was found, even her scent just like the vapor it was gone into the thin air. She completely disappeared right before he could blink his eyes.

The demon was amused. He calmly waited for her to reappeared again while his eyes were closed but her presence still nowhere to found. The demon grinned, this time he activated his hidden ability.

"Farmer's sphere.." the Demon said wearing his nasty smile.

A medium silver sphere appeared above him. It is not the kind of sphere that covers the whole area.  It was like a map, pointing out someone's location. It has mainly two dots: black and red, used to determine the heartbeat of someone, mortal or immortal being in its exact location. He was grinning from ear to ear when he finally spotted her. He immediately went to the point of the dots locating Sumire in the sphere, when he was about to catch Sumire another dot of her showing in his sphere.

"I don't care how many more of her clone will show up in the sphere, I will kill all of them..", the demon murmured himself.

By then, he began to chase after her, following every dot of her showing up in the sphere. He was like catching after her shadows.

"Oh Sumire, I didn't know you love playing hide and seek. What are you playing at?". The demon shouted as he keeps tracing her clones one by one he sees inside the sphere.

"Hide and Seek, isn't it obvious..", Sumire replied in the middle of nowhere. Her voice seems to be hidden in emptiness.

"Huh, I see...'kay then, I'll play along with you..". The demon smirked. "This is getting more exciting...".

Minutes have passed, as he was following the location of Sumire showing up in the sphere, he wasn't aware that Sumire secretly creating a trap in the sphere he made of, only then did he realize that game he was in when Sumire suddenly stopped appearing. Sumire's locations showing the sphere from the demon's trap and the golem she made connects it. And before Blanc could step out, every line was connected. Sumire suddenly appeared and pushed him to the center of what appeared  Demon's trap.

The Sumire he followed earlier formed a Demon's trap, a remarkable 5 pointed triangular versatile star symbol that absorbs dark energy and imprisoned any kind of demons.  Sumire cautiously made a trap. To lure the White demon, she created a Golem. As he keeps on chasing her, the Golem keeps following him creating invisible lines, with Sumire's faint magic it can easily connecting each line where it stops to create an infamous Demon's trap.

"You're IT, Blanc..", Sumire said. The Demon just grinned while being trap inside with no chance of getting out.

"I am deeply impressed by your small trick but this is boring, I was expecting something...beyond thrill.. ". The White Demon arrogantly said.

Sumire smiled at him like some sort of lunatic. "This is the easy way for me to finish this pointless battle right away...and you are not even part of our mission..", she said. " I already told you, we won't waste our time and blood on you...you're not even special. ", Sumire added.

The demon was even more surprised when Sumire raised her severed hand which suddenly healed as if nothing had happened.

"What the--oh..."

Sumire disappointedly looks at the demon. "It wasn't even cut by half in the first place..". Sumire looking at her hand that was back in normal. "The one you saw earlier was just an illusion", she added while mockingly looked at him. "I meant to do that to let your guard down and when that happens you will not notice the golem I made that tails you all along..". Sumire continuously said while approaching him and whispered to him. "I am always 3 steps ahead, Cain.." The demon's eyes widened as he looked at her.

"It is taboo for the demons to reveal their names. They will never reveal their real name outside their world. When you used the farmer's sphere, only one demon I knew could activate it, and that was Cain..", Sumire looked at the astonished demon in front of her. "And even confirmed when I said your name Blanc, I did not even feel the curse magic attached to your name, it only means one thing, your name is not Blanc but Cain. Your expression confirmed it all...". Sumire added, boredom was visible in her eyes.

The demon looked at her, and was now in reverie,  the face of defeat painted on him. Sumire's colleagues approached them.

"If he is Cain he is likely to come here.". Preston said.

"In this Garden, the historic battle between the demon twins, Guerrier and Krieger took place. Guerrier who soon became the third God was defeated by Krieger and this became the third God and was crowned as God of war. This is also the place where Krieger buried Guerrier ". Preston added.

"And as far as I know, Cain murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy.." Finn said looking at the demon intently.

"So what are you planning to do in here? What's your plan?." Rowan said, who was now standing next to him.

Instead of answering them, Cain looked at them with a sardonic laugh, almost hiding the cold glint in his eyes, it was creepy, mocking, and unsettling. Sumire stared at him in disgust.

"First Beast I think he wants to claim your Master's grave, if I were you I would eat him."

The First Beast did not like what he heard from Sumire, since Cain could no longer use his power because he was in Demon's trap, the First beast swallowed him effortlessly and disappeared immediately.

After the incident in the garden of Guerrier, Sumire and his comrades continued their journey to Morye Village, unaware that someone had secretly followed them.

TBC