'I was in Ziltris' memories for three months?'
This was the first he was hearing of this.
Besides, he woke up to find himself a Grandmaster and suspended in the air after battling the corruption trying to encroach his mind.
He acted swiftly because he knew his next moves, and that led to the current situation.
'I need to know what happened'
With Severus in the space ring a while ago, he went to those nearby moments before he awoke.
Talking to the squad leaders, he pieced up the process leading up to his awakening.
'An orb of elements sheltered my body, and I absorbed it when I woke up?'
The story was incredulous, but with the reports matching, Ezra could only believe.
For he noticed that his presence was far lower than what normal grandmasters gave off, yet his attack power was not lacking compared to them.
'I've never heard of a grandmaster advancement looking like that before'
He had also never heard of someone reincarnate before, nor had he seen a demonized person able to keep his sanity as he did.
'In many instances, Ezra was a unique case'
But beyond that, three months have passed… 'How much has the war progressed?'
No point in guessing. Ezra went to the hotel owners and pried the information from them.
"What? You want to know about the war?"
"Yes" Ezra nodded.
Having brought in big bucks when he arrived, the staff present had a favourable view of him.
"I don't know too much since we're ways away from the war, but I've heard that things are getting heated up"
"What do you mean?"
"For one, the Empire brought adventurers from other continents to help them win the war, but some of them joined the enemy's side" she said. "Then, those demons are putting up a good fight. I heard their knights jumped in enemy ranks and blew themselves up. They also use poison and whatnot. Anyways, their giving the Empire a hard time"
"Thank you" Ezra said, going back into his room where he contemplated.
'Three months…I need to stop the apocalypse from happening!'
Right from his awakening, his priorities had shifted.
If nothing else, he was now a grandmaster, so he had enough strength to protect his loved one and he'd escaped Arcadia.
There was no more reason to allow the Great calamity to be realized once more.
Plunging the lives of his vassals and mother into chaos just for personal gain wasn't attractive anymore.
So now he had to stop it, and with Kevin's memories in hand, it wouldn't take much.
'I have to act fast'
With three months having passed, there was no telling how much faster the apocalypse would arrive.
Time was of the essence.
As such, Ezra would love to head there right at this moment.
But he had something else to do first.
'Seems I can't delay'
Valentine needed more than the three days allocated to get back to a functioning state, and Ezra did not have the leisure of waiting.
He called in the siblings.
"I'm heading to the capital"
The siblings were surprised.
"I'm going alone" he said. Mana stones appeared in the palm of his hand.
Handed one to each person, he gives a second to Roxanne. "Give that to Valentine"
"You've all grown strong since we first met" he said, addressing them generally. "But my next battle isn't something you can interfere with"
His fist tightened. "Stay here and cultivate until Valentine fully recovers, after which all of you should head to Black Jaws headquarters. Tell them I sent you"
With that he got up and walked out.
Even with his low presence, staying here had his presence concentrated.
If he didn't leave, other grandmasters would pick it up soon.
"Where are you going?" Velora inquired.
"Kingsmere", he answered, shutting the door.
Walking twenty metres from the city, he looks at the hotel and then at the sky, sighing deeply.
*Spark!*
White lightning enveloped his being, destroying the surrounding areas.
Ezra took to the skies, accelerating in the direction of Kingsmere without a care for anyone watching.
Five grandmasters sat at a round table.
Deneris, Raven, Getrahan, Jebas, and the Emperor.
They sat, listening to Bolton read out reports of the situation at the war front.
Unless certain of the enemy's destruction or reacting to an equal's attack, grandmasters didn't move easily.
Right now, master ranks are the highest personnel at the war front.
"That concludes the report, Sire"
"Hmm" Everyone lay quiet, brainstorming.
The nation's attacks became increasingly aggressive and self-destructive by each inch the Empire advanced.
From exploding knights to mass spells hurting both friend and foe. A few had even reported cannibalism.
Tapping his fingers, the Emperor thought, 'It's a good we included mercenaries'
Including mercenaries to buffer their army turned out to be the best they'd had in a long time.
Moreover, under the guise of giving them more opportunities to shine, the mercenaries were used as pawns.
Niton had enough gold, so the aim was to win with as little casualties as possible, and so far, they were doing a splendid job.
Not everyone was stupid enough not to see the trick-most weren't-but seeing others gain a share out of their 'eventual rewards' after performing outstanding merit kept up the morale.
Then a capable commander in charge was capable. At least in the arts of manipulating others.
Week after week had them announcing how much they'd cornered the enemies and were on the cusp of gaining victory, downplaying how much more fighting needed to be done.
In reality they'd barely taken down one third of the opponents.
The situation weakened both sides with mercenaries dying in droves.
Many mercenaries left after losing a limb, very few with all their limbs, and with Nitonian agents telling tales how easily they were winning the war, mercenaries kept coming to volunteer themselves.
Keeping Niton's actual loss to a minimum.
While that was being taken care of, something else was bothering him.
'They still haven't made any moves'
Black Jaws. Niton's biggest and richest guilds steered away from the action entirely.
Few of their members joined the war, a healthy portion of them kept to beast hunting, another portion were the non-combat staff they had opening stalls at multiple places to sell food and other items for daily living.
The largest portion though, became a lot more interested in the sea.
Many of their members were now going overseas.
For what reason? The Emperor did not know.
Fredrick said his members needed time to bereave and rest after partaking in the last war.
When he questioned Fredrick about it, the latter simply answered that they were looking into other types of food but with sea creatures.
Still, the Emperor was uneased, watching their movements closely.
The duration of their buffer zone had long since ended.
But after utterly smashing the combined power of the five guilds below them and then absorbing their remnants, other guilds kept their heads low, and the hierarchy was set in place.
Now, they stood toe to toe with the five great noble families and the royals.
And like them, they were preserving their forces.
Recklessly trying to order them about would lead to war, and that was just not the priority.
All five grandmasters suddenly stopped talking.
They felt a presence matching theirs headed their way.
They could feel's Fredrick's presence, so no, it wasn't him.
Moreover, the presence felt weaker than normal.
The grandmasters glanced at one another.
"It might be coming here to self-destruct"
They blew through the building, heading to meet whatever was approaching.
While they didn't think it possible, if a grandmaster truly came to self-destruct, its effects would be catastrophic!
With possibilities like that, they'd dare not sit around and contemplate their options.
Streaking through the clouds, Ezra felt grandmasters approaching.
Seven of them.
But rather deter his fighting spirit…
'Good' Ezra put more in speed to meet them as fast as possible.
Two hours in, both sides met.
Ezra came face to face with Raven, Deneris, Getrahan and the Emperor.
They were naturally shocked.
"What?" Getrahan particularly so. "Ezra?"
How was the boy supposedly locked up in Arcadia, here?! And why was he radiating a presence matching theirs?
Not bothering to answer, Skyfall appeared in Ezra's palm as he found his target. "Hello Father. How've you been?"
The Emperor grew cold, but he kept his cool. "How are you here? What happened to Arcadia?"
"I destroyed it"
"Impossible" Raven interjected.
"Impossible is but an opinion" Ezra replied, without looking away. "Besides, it wasn't built to hold grandmasters"
"So, this is their plan?" the Emperor asked.
"Whose plan?" Ezra intoned, confused.
"Those demons helped you escape, thinking I wouldn't dare kill you, is that it?"
After a short silence, Ezra burst out laughing, covering his right eye.
"Hahaha…ha" his laughter expired. "I don't mind being looked down on-but aren't you taking this too far?"
Ezra brandished Skyfall, his eyes glowing. "I'm only here for one thing. To take mother"
Fredrick arrived at this time.
He was the most surprised, having not gotten a reply from Ezra over the past three months only to see him now.
Upon seeing Ezra, he nodded to him and proceeded to stand beside him.
The Emperor's eyes stretched.
"Fredrick!" Getrahan voiced. "How dare you collude with demons!"
"He is not a demon" Fredrick answered calmly.
"Don't make me laugh. Can you not see his eyes?"
"So having red eyes makes me a demon?"
"Shut up boy. We saw you eat that demon's heart. Nothing you say can convince me otherwise"
"Then I guess there's nothing left to say"
With that said, Ezra gave up talking.
"Do you believe the same?" He asked his father. "Well, it doesn't matter. All I have come for, is my mother"
