BOOM!
Ezra's eyes snapped open. His chest heaving at the tremendous inhale before deflating as he exhaled.
His eyes now open, but his vision lay blurred, it felt like looking through a dusty hourglass.
Blinking rapidly, his senses returned.
The sudden awareness caused a wave of mana outburst, raising him from his lying posture just a bit, while wiping the dust afar.
His eyes came clear as did his memory.
A full minute passed as he relived the battle with Alvarach all over again, letting out a long sigh as his gaze wandered…
"Father" he muttered.
[You're awake…about time]
'Zydrax'
"He's awake!"
The sudden shout jolted his consciousness as he turned his head to the side.
There sat Ashton, with built muscles and his chiselled chin, no more was he a boy, now a man.
By the way, he found his body wrapped in bandages all over.
"Ezra's awake!"
With quick steps, a group arrived by his side.
"Master!"
"Master!"
"Master!"
There was loud clamour as his Vassals gathered around him.
Theron, Johan, Roxanne, Velora, and Ashton.
Each now exuding strength as their gaits radiated power of mid to peak master rank, no longer fragile beings of yesteryear, these were powerhouses.
Yet at this time, they seem to have become children again as they clamoured Ezra, forcing a smile onto his face as they hugged him.
"All of you" he spoke, the vassals went quiet. "Thank you"
Upon ushering those words, his heart felt drastically lighter.
This was it, what he'd lost sight of.
Here were people who were genuinely worried for him, people who neither wished nor wanted him dead.
Recalling his action until recently, his fist tightened as sadness overwhelmed him more than ever.
But as a warrior, he held the tears within.
It was too late for regrets, Alvarach would be here soon, and then, the apocalypse would truly begin.
He sighed again as rubbed his eyes with bandaged hands.
[Not so]
Ezra's ears pricked up.
'What do you mean?'
[It is not so hopeless] he said. [The Emperor was a peak grandmaster, his sacrifice would've inflicted Alvarach deep injuries]
'So, he's not coming here right away?'
[He's not. Those injuries will take him at least ten days to heal from, before then, the chance he would attack is slim]
Ezra's eyes lit up.
Two weeks.
Neither short nor long, it was more than enough to build a meaningful attack.
'Will I be healed in ten days?'
[Look at your body] Zydrax replied.
'Hmm?' He was perplexed.
"Raise me up" he told his vassals.
"Master, you're not yet-
"Raise me up"
With reluctance, they raised him up with utmost care.
With his back against the bed, Ezra looked over his body.
It was covered in bandages.
His brows creased, but it hit him.
Directing mana to his sclera, the inner networkings of his body became visible to him.
The sight shocked him.
"What is-
[You'll need to do more than just heal to stand a chance at changing the result of the best battle]
In his sight, his veins magnified.
[And what would you know, I have a way]
Filled to the brim with rich mana essence, his blood seemed to shimmer.
It looked so unreal Ezra lost his words, while the fact that he was currently looking at himself made it amazing all the more.
[The mana stones in your ring] Zydrax explained, [That's where the mana is coming from]
No wonder mana outburst from him when he woke up.
That wasn't even the best part.
'Why does it look like that?' Ezra wondered.
Why was his heart glowing?
Looking closer, he deciphered it to be a cluster of mana within his heart, interchanging colours between white, black, red and deep blue.
'Zydrax, what is that?'
[Ah! You haven't examined yourself ever since you became a grandmaster?]
"No"
"Master?"
Velora's voice forced him out of his trance.
"Why do you look like that?"
Watching Ezra stare down at himself made her worry something was wrong.
"There's nothing wrong, I'm just recalling the fight against the demon. Excuse me for a bit"
"Ok"
The vassals promptly walked away.
Back to the topic at hand.
"Hmm?"
With the siblings gone, his sight was exposed to the rest of the room.
Arranged by his side were Raven, Mervida, and Deneris, all bandaged, all unconscious.
'Where is Frederick? And where is mrs. Elisa?'
[Elisa is being tended to in a separate room, Fredrick is resting]
He nodded. 'Why is my heart glowing?'
[That's your element essence]
'Ah'
Come to think of it, upon looking into his body, he couldn't find the element orbs, but he didn't immediately register the difference.
'So those are the element orbs?'
[Yes. They took a new form during your breakthrough to Grandmaster rank, coalescing into that]
'I see'
Upon achieving Grandmaster rank, Ezra had been able to instinctively use his elements.
Escaping Arcadia and destroying it, fleeing with Valentine's help, rushing to Quartez to end the worshippers, and then narrowly escaping.
All these events happened in quick succession. To the point where it was almost dizzying.
Things went from zero to a hundred real quick.
In that time, there was no space for him to examine the changes in himself.
So that was one thing he was going to do in the next few days.
'Wait, how long was I unconscious'
[It's been thirty hours]
'Slightly more than a day' Ezra sighed in relief, his anxiety dying out.
*Bam!*
The door was slammed open, as a short but hulking figure walked in.
"My lord!"
It was Frederick.
With both of his arms bandaged, he still sought to bow.
"Frederick, stop"
Fredrick raised his head in dismay.
"From now on, refer to me by my name"
"I can't-
"You're old enough to be my father, you're also my closest aid and now, we're both Grandmasters" Ezra replied. "From now on, refer to me by name"
After a short pause, Frederick rose from his bow, she replied. "Yes my lord…I mean, Ezra"
"Good"
At 6'9, Ezra looked like a giant by Frederick's side, who was 5'8 now.
But Alvarach's frame towered over even Ezra, staying at a staggering 7 '4.
"Tell me, how is your body holding up?"
"I'll be ready to fight in five days"
Ezra nodded. "Good"
His expression downcast right after.
"The Emperor sacrificed himself so we could escape and also injured the enemy" Ezra said. "It would take him at least ten days to get back to full strength, we need to be ready to strike on the tenth day"
"Demons are existences that feed off chaos, if we fail to stop, Orion will fall"
Frederick was solemn, unable to see any meaningful difference being achieved in just ten days.
"What do you have in mind?"
"I'm currently working on an aspect to boost my fighting power to give us a fighting chance"
Frederick was shocked. Ezra had broken through to grandmaster rank as an obscene age, yet he was still advancing? Even in his current state?!
Too terrifying.
"But I'm unsure if I will be able to achieve it in ten days"
Frederick's emotions cooled.
Even for him, ten days was far too little.
"If the future of Orion is stake, shouldn't we inform the other kingdoms and have all grandmasters unite"
Ezra chuckled lightly.
"Unite? Those cowards? You're severely overestimating them" Ezra said. "Remember, Grandmasters are humans too"
As Kevin, he'd heard too many tales how Grandmasters fled when the apocalypse first arrived, even witnessed one firsthand.
When faced with mortal danger, those higher up were many times the first to flee, because they deemed themselves as having more to lose.
Ezra grinned. "You've given me an idea"
Holding his chin, Ezra went into thinking mode.
"Remind me what happened on your mana mountain expedition"
"Which part of it?"
"How you eliminated the snake and the adventurers, swooping in to take most of the spoils after"
Frederick explained it over a lengthy period of time.
By the time he was done, Ezra's eyes were glinting.
"Hoo" he exhaled. Still calculating a few things.
"Frederick, how many people know of our arrival?"
"Apart from those in this building, none"
That meant, no one knew of the Emperor's demise.
"What about the war? What news is circulating about the war?" He asked hurriedly.
In the past day, no army members have arrived.
Ezra nodded, "That's to be expected, the demon has probably killed them all"
Taking in that information, the blueprint to the objective was being drawn.
"How much of the information in Niton do we control?"
"All of it, we're the number one information force since seven years ago"
Ah!
To think the seeds he sowed would be reaped like this.
"What about our forces, how many can be assembled on the fly?"
"I'll have to tally the numbers to give exact figures, but we have at least three hundred thousand combatants ready for movement"
Ezra nodded.
He created it with the purpose of being able to single handedly crush Vonnamor's imperial army.
Rather, with how much effort and resources had been plunged into it, it would've been a failed endeavour if they couldn't do this much.
"Assemble all capable forces in Avilla ready to match in eight days"
"Of course"
How funny things had become.
Now, with the power successfully cultivated to decimate Vonnamor, Ezra no longer cared for such a cause.
The organization bred for the destruction of an Empire was now spearheading a movement to save the world.
Ironic indeed.
"But Ezra, our chances of winning with only our members are extremely slim"
"Who said we were fighting alone?"
"Then, what do we do?"
"We'll fight with both blades and borrowed ones, just like you did at the expedition"
"For one, immediately contact your subordinates, news of what's going on in quartez must not reach Niton. If the Emperor's demise become know, we'll have a whole new slew of issues to deal it"
"Right" Frederick nodded.
"Ezra?"
Deneris had woken up.
"You're awake" says Ezra.
"How long has it been?" he said, still groggy.
"A day has passed since we fought the demon"
"Oh" his eyes cooled.
"The Emperor is dead"
It was so abrupt it took him a few seconds to comprehend, to which he simply replied…
"I see"
"How long will it take you to heal? We need you for next battle in ten days"
"Ten days" Denris muttered in his dry tone. "I should be up before then"
Nodding, Ezra turned his attention back to Frederick.
"With the Emperor gone, who sits on the throne?"
"The Emperor left Triton in charge"
Ezra stared upwards, his lips stretching into a smile.
"That makes things easier"
He turned to Frederick. "I need you to deliver a message for me to Triton…" his voice trailed off.
"No, a message from the Emperor"
"About what?"
"A manite vein that the Emperor discovered in Quartez and is currently safeguarding"
Frederick held his chin, reasoning the unsaid ploy, before his eyes widened.
"Then, have our members spread the message to every nation"
"Yes" Frederick nodded. His eyes gleamed.
"I will make them into heroes"
Despite his mindset change, not all habits had been replaced.
Which was why Ezra had his mouth forming a devilish grin.
The Emperor's death was a tremendous loss to Niton, but it bought them time they desperately needed.
Ezra and Frederick ironed out the plan for the whole day.
Having headed Black Jaws, ironing out the plan would be Frederick's job.
Ezra told them he wanted to be undisturbed for the remaining eight days, having himself moved into a separate room for seclusion.
While it hurt him that he couldn't see his mother for the time being, this took priority.
If Alvarach went back to full health, it would be the end of everyone he loved.
It was crucial that he increased his strength as much as possible.
From battle power to technique to cultivation level.
He couldn't fix them all in ten days, but the recent battle gave him insights on where improvements could be made.
For one…
"I'm going to need a new weapon"
