Chapter 92 - The Void

"99 percent chance, huh? Are you sure that's the probability of our forces winning the 'anticipated' battle against the demons?" the king of Arandel asked a young woman who's standing right behind him while he's looking at a huge map on the wall in one of the Barchen palace's rooms. On how table an ancient map is spread flat, revealing the locations of the past battles they've had in the past few months as well as future battles.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the young woman, whose ability is to have a glimpse of the future, replied with conviction. "That is, if everything remain as it is right now."

"Hmm..." brushing his beard, the king pondered at her words. "Then, what would be the odds of our victory if that condition wasn't satisfied, even for a small change?"

Asking that question, the king couldn't help but to worry. Realistically speaking, the concept of ceteris paribus only exists in theory: certain things are bound to change and become unpredictable whether one likes it or not. Now that there's a great battle unfolding anytime soon, would there be enough time for them to account all of those changing parameters?

The young woman on the other hand, remained calm as she expected the king to show doubts about her too-good-to-be-true forecast. While fixing her glasses, she said:

"The odds will...go down to 98 percent."

'98 percent!' the king almost collapsed to the ground upon hearing her answer. A mere one percent difference! Considering such thing to be true he realized that all this time, he's just worrying over nothing.

Just as when he's about to celebrate--

"However..."

"Hmm?"

"That doesn't mean we should ignore the remaining two percent and let our guard down. If we become careless, that two percent would become the end of humanity," she said to him in a straightforward way.

Hearing that, the king laughed as she replied: "Of course, of course! We've already learned our lessons both in Arteim and here in Barchen. We can't let ourselves suffer again for the third time."

In fact, after the attack on two of Arandel's most important cities, all the other towns and cities in the country began to follow measures to protect themselves in case of a demon attack--which would be impossible without the young woman's forewarning. With that in mind, the king considers the [Diviner] as one of the most valuable asset he has in hand, perhaps even more valuable than the so-called [Hero] himself.

"Well then--I guess it's all up to you now, our prized [Promised Ones]," he said as he looked at her over his shoulder.

"Yes. We'll continue to do our part," the young woman bowed her head in response.

The young woman then left the room immediately after that, saying that there are things she must do at the moment. With the king the only person left in the room, he took a deep breath and--

"Tch, that woman! How impudent of her to think of me as a fool?!"

Furious, he slammed his fist down the table, leaving a small dent on its surface. For a man with a great ego like him, one of the things he really hated the most is being told what he should do. Unless he himself is asking for advice, what the young woman did was a offense to his fragile self-importance.

"Just because she can see the future, already has a right to remind me about trivial things? Hah, I can't believe she's starting to think highly of herself!"

"Oh, Your Majesty...you shouldn't get mad over such thing," a man covered in a black cloak suddenly appeared from the shadows and bent his knee to him.

"Ah, you're here," the king said while looking displeased. "Did you come here to seek money again?"

"Maybe, but I have other reasons for coming here."

"Hoh..." the king raised his eyebrows at the mysterious man's words.

The cloaked man took out a scroll from his pocket and placed it on the table. The king opened it, then--

"This?! This thing is..."

"Yes," the cloaked man nodded. "The ancient power that has been forgotten for thousands of years, the symbol of gods themselves--the Arcana. "

"A-Arcana..."

Swallowing his saliva, the king looked again at the scroll--and for the first time in his life, his whole body trembled before a power even higher than any mortal could achieve.

"The [Emperor]..."

"Quite fitting for a king, right? Well, if you have this Arcana, your two most hated rivals will easily crumble upon meeting your gaze. If you have this power, you don't need to use those children anymore," the cloaked man chuckled maliciously at him.

'That's right. Why would I continue using those brats if I can do things on my own with this power?' the king thought to himself. Not only he'll save on expenses, he doesn't need to feel threatened by their ever-growing power, perhaps he could finally dispose them once and for all.

Whatever happens, he must get it from this man!

"Y-You're asking for money, right? Say your price, and I'll give it to you!" the king said to the cloaked man, his hands trembling with excitement.

Shaking his head, the man said, "What I need right now isn't actually money."

"Then, what?"

Hearing that, the man removed his cloak and revealed to the king his face, covered with a mask that resembled a dragon.

"The [Fool], give it to me."

-----

With the reconstruction of the Barchen castle still not finished, Mari and her classmates decided to camp near the lake, where the resources are abundant. Though at first some of them, especially the girls, complained of insects at night, everyone quickly adjusted in that kind of lifestyle.

"Come on man, are you still not done fixing my sword? You've been staring at it for an hour now," Rin grumbled as she watched over her classmate Ivan, who just finished using his ability to enchant her sword.

"I'm almost done. I'm just checking whether the blade is straight or not," he replied as he pointed the blade up towards Rin.

Actually, the reason why he's taking so much time looking at her sword is because he's trying to have a good look of her chest. Each time he fixes her sword, he makes sure that the blade is smooth enough as to clearly see Rin's twin peaks through its reflection.

Raising her eyebrows, Rin said, "You know what? There's an easier way to see if it's straight or not."

Intrigued, Ivan looked at her and asked, "How?"

All of a sudden, Rin kicked the sword with her steel-tipped boots, launching it up in the air. Startled, Ivan tried to stand up but Rin landed a round kick into his face, also knocking him back. She then caught her sword and pointed the blade towards his neck, the tip only an inch away from him.

"This blade will go straight into your throat if you keep on doing that," Rin threatened him with a clear-cut tone, ready to thrust the blade if he makes a wrong move.

"A-Aghk--"

"Rin, stop that."

"--?!"

She glanced to her side, and saw Mari as she just arrived from the castle. Even at a distance she could easily see her deadpan stare, a sign that she's exhausted after a day of using her divination powers.

"How many times do I have to remind you about it, Rin? Do not point your sword at our classmates."

"B-But this punk started it, Prez! I'm just teaching him a lesson!" she protested.

"Still, that's not a valid reason for you to do it."

Hearing that, Rin took a step back as she returned her sword to its sheath, and walked away with heavy steps, her ponytail swaying against the wind.

Being spared from utter destruction by Mari, Ivan kneeled at her and said: "Thank you for saving me, Mama Mari! If not for you, I would be dead meat already!"

"Who said that I saved you?" she looked down at him with a cold gaze. "You stared at a woman's b.r.e.a.s.ts. Do you think I'll forgive you for that?"

"E-Eh?!"

*crack*

Mari then started to crack her knuckles in front of him. Realizing that the real danger is the class president herself, Ivan's body trembled with fear as he pleaded:

"Please, Mama Mari--NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

-----

"Haaah. Every day, every night...it feels like there isn't a day where I'm not being ogled by someone," Rin sighed as she slumped down to her sleeping bag, feeling annoyed with her classmate's actions.

"That's kind of worrisome for me. Do you want me to talk to our classmates about it?" Karen asked while pouring a cup of tea for Rin to drink.

"Ah, no need! It's my problem after all, you don't have to stress yourself out of it."

Karen shook her head and replied, "That won't do! I won't just sit here and do nothing, while my friend is being harassed by other people!"

"Karen..."

"That's why the next time you go outside, I'll go with you so that no one will try to ogle on you again," she said as she grabbed Rin's hands and look at her with a resolute gaze.

'Woah...' Rin couldn't believe her senses. This girl in front of her just said something that's out of her character.

They're both girls and yet, she still felt her heartstrings tugged a bit by her words.

Rin collected her composure, and said: "You know--it might sound strange, but I think I already heard that exact line from someone before."

"Hmm?" Karen tilted her head in confusion. "Who could that be?"

"I think you know who that person is."

'That...guy...'

Sitting cross-legged on her sleeping bag, Rin continued: "There's this one time when I went to a mall by myself because the internet in our house was down. While walking around, my intuition told me that I'm being stared down by so many people, especially men. Even though I was wearing a hoodie and jogging pants at that time, those guys still..."

Karen couldn't help but to grip the helm of her dress while listening. Because of her weird genetics and charisma, Rin had to endure the unnecessary attention she gets from other people every single day. The 'burden' she's carrying, isn't a blessing, but a curse passed down through their family's mother side.

Despite all of it, Rin remained to be the strongest girl in their class, both physically and mentally--something that she looked up to her.

"But all of a sudden my hand was pulled by someone, and both of us ran towards the nearest fire exit. That guy, I never expected him to also come at that time! I was so embarrassed, but when that guy said those words to me I felt like every cell in my body calmed down, that everything will be fine now that guy's here. That guy, what he said was peak cheesiness, but for me it's quite endearing as well."

Seeing her blush for the first time, Karen's lips tightly pursed as she imagined what happened that time.

'If I was in her position, what would I do if he said those words to me...'

Rin then patted her shoulder, and said: "I feel a lot better now. Thanks."

"No need to thank me. Aren't we friends?" Karen chuckled.

Gugugugugugugugugugugugugu!!!!!

"W-What in the--"

"E-Earthquake?!!"

With the grounds shaking underneath them, the two girls hurried out of the tent and ran to the nearest open area far from both the lake and the woods.

"M-Mari, what's going on?!" Karen asked her friend and class president, who immediately ordered everyone in the area to evacuate.

"I'm not sure. This phenomenon, I never detected it in any of my visions," Mari replied.

'Unforeseen circ.u.mstances?' Karen thought. Mari's rate of correctly predicting a natural event is almost 100 percent, and she always make sure that everything she sees in her visions are accounted for, not one tiny detail left behind.

But, how come she overlooked such a life-threatening scenario? Was there a lapse in her end? Are everyone overestimating her abilities? Or maybe...

"Mama Mari, look! Over there!" Iza frantically pointed her finger towards the lake.

Everyone then turned their gazes to the lake and saw its waters rippling in frequencies far different from the earthquake itself. Unlike the violent tremors they were experiencing, the ripples forming on the surface were slow and steady, like a metronome's beat.

Karen muttered, "The lake...is acting strange..."

"It's as if it's out of phase with this world..." Rin also commented.

"More like, it's alive," Kai said.

The shaking settled immediately after that, but the ripples hasn't stopped. Tightly gripping on their weapons, Rin and Kai told the rest to stay back as far from the lake.

"T-There's something rising in the middle of the lake!" James shouted.

Kai squinted his eyes and said: "What's that, a magical creature? An ancient ship? No, it's...a ball?"

Rising slowly from the surface of the lake, a pitch black sphere about the size of a basketball appeared for no apparent reason. It floated quietly above the lake, looking harmless to their eyes but suspicious nonetheless.

"What is that ball doing there?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's a magic tool that has been dropped on the lake a long time ago--"

"--or an ancient egg that is about to hatch--"

"--or maybe a demon," Rin hypothesized.

Whatever that sphere of darkness might actually be, one thing is sure for all of them: no one should go near it and try touching it with their hands.

"What shall we do with that ball, should we tell them about it?" Karen asked Mari, with 'them' referring to the authorities.

"I think we shouldn't involve them with this for now," Mari replied. "I'm worried that if they come here and that ball is actually a bomb, many people will be put to harm."

'Also, or might cause the residents to panic again,' she thought. 'Barchen right now is still on the process of healing, we should deal with this as discreet as we can.'

Though some of them have opinions different from hers, everyone still agreed with her suggestion as it somehow made sense. Moreover, they are the frontline forces of the country, and thus it's their duty to deal with it themselves as much as possible.

"Uhh...guys? Is it just me, or that ball is getting nearer to us?" Rin asked.

"Indeed, it's moving slowly towards us," Mari said.

"Geez, give me a break!" Iza grumbled as she approached the moving ball. "Rin, Kai, move back--this one looks like a job for me."

Standing at the edge of the lake, the shortest one among them stretched her arm forward, and activated her [Barrier] ability, big enough to serve as a wall between them and the mysterious flying object.

"Come on... let's see what you're made of..."

She estimated that the ball moves at about half a meter per second. At that speed she's confident that the ball won't break her barrier, even denting it, but the uneasy feeling in her heart still won't go away.

A few seconds later, the ball came into contact with the barrier creating a faint *plink*. At first they felt relieved that the barrier managed to stop the ball but to everyone's surprise, it started 'eating' through Iza's magic barrier like a hot knife cutting through butter.

"M-My barrier--"

"Iza, watch out!" Rin yelled as she pushed her away as she stood petrified facing the approaching ball.

*plink*

'D-Damn it--'

When the tip of her blade accidentally touched the ball, the orb of darkness started to grow, swallowing Rin in the process.

"No--Rin!!!" Karen shrieked.

"Iza, get back!!!" James also yelled at his classmate.

Panicking, Iza tried to run away but she also got swallowed by the ever-growing void. Screaming in fury, James charged towards the ball in an attempt to save her, but he too disappeared as soon as he grabbed her hand.

"Karen, Mari--let's get out of here!" Kai said to his remaining classmates.

"B-But, our friends--"

"We have to save ourselves first!" he raised his voice at her. "The black hole's approaching fast--we have no time left to think!"

Dissatisfied with his words, Karen--

"I'll go in."

"W-Wha--Karen?!"

He tried to stop her, but Karen already ran towards the void with unexpected speed and dived right into it, causing the black hole to grow at an even more alarming rate.

"We have no choice but to also go in," Mari said.

"M-Mari?!"

"If not all of us can get out of here safe, no one will," she replied with a firm resolve.

With the black hole already more than 50 meters in diameter and still growing, Mari closed her eyes and waited for them to be swallowed by it. Kai, though still hesitant, also stood in waiting.

"Sacre Realis, grant me the light to banish this darkness," he muttered softly to his sword, before the whole world around him instantly went dark.