It's not often you can see a human in their most purest form. When is it truly that you can see them in their more natural behavior? Is it when their life is at stake, a gun pointing at their head? Or is it when you have given them everything they wanted? Devina fiddled with the buttons on her shirt in bed while staring up at her ceiling. It was such a hassle with spring coming. There is a saying, humans are like cherry blossoms. Once in a while they open up and bloom. They become like a radiant flower, something everyone can enjoy and like. But then the wind blows, the rivers carry, the eyes forget. It's truly an abhorrent system, you are meant to blossom to be forgotten until you bloom again.
For that, humans tend to see each other like treasure chests. Sometimes these chests contain valuable memories, loving relationships, a glow up, or merely the simple act of carrying out carnal desires.
Devina tore off her shirt and threw it onto the heaps of clothes already on the ground. She opened the window to let the cold night air touch her skin. It was still too warm for her liking, so she went back to bed.
Meanwhile in the southern gate
"O Aeon of Conservation, I beseech you to protect this city from these foreign betrayers."
A Königsteuer sat behind barricades made out of rubble and wooden planks, his fingers tightly gripping his rifle. He had barely gotten any sleep before being awoken by the blaring siren. The Umstürzler had broken the southern gate and they had only gotten one military order, to hold the gate until reinforcements arrived no matter what. It was a death sentence, a direct order from high command, not a single step back.
He turned his head and saw his fellow comrades praying to whatever Aeon they could think of, their voices low and desperate. Just from that single order already had 10,000 men died holding this position. Bodies were scattered across the entrance from both sides, but most casualties came from the Königsteuers.
"That crazy bitch of a general with her crystal gun…"
Another soldier held onto a necklace with a picture of his wife and daughter, praying that he would be able to return home.
Finally, the Königsteuers saw from a distance soldiers from the royal division arriving. Relief spread across the defensive line, and for a brief moment morale was restored as reinforcements finally came through.
However, that relief quickly vanished when they noticed someone with blue hair among them. The soldiers immediately raised their rifles and aimed at Lukas, who stood beside Viego.
"Lower your weapons, he is on our side."
Viego stepped forward and positioned himself in front of Lukas, signaling to the soldiers that the Fivindus was not an enemy. Flames ignited from his cheek, and as he unsheathed his sword, loxes flowed from his body and wrapped around the blade, coating it in fire.
Lukas looked around the battlefield, trying to find anyone with blue hair, but found nothing. All he could see were soldiers covered in dirt and blood, with fear and desperation written across their faces.
The soldiers warned Viego not to step too far forward or he would be exposed to enemy fire. They told him about the blue-haired crystal general and how she was a lox user capable of devastating attacks.
Lukas overheard and immediately questioned them further, learning that the crystal general could construct crystalline structures using the conservation affiliation.
Despite all warnings, Viego calmly walked past the gates and stepped directly into the battlefield.
"I said this won't be an issue at all."
The moment he entered the open field, multiple Umstürzlers emerged from behind hills and trenches and opened fire. A barrage of bullets rushed toward him, but a wall of fire surrounded his body, melting every projectile before it could make contact.
He continued walking forward, completely unfazed, as the bullets disintegrated around him. Soon, he stood directly in front of an Umstürzler soldier, who looked up at him in terror.
The soldier quickly raised his rifle and attempted to fire, but nothing happened. For a brief moment, confusion overtook his expression. Then both of his hands fell to the ground. They had been cleanly severed. The intense heat of the blade had cauterized the wounds instantly, but the pain followed immediately, forcing him to collapse to his knees in agony.
At that exact moment, a blue crystal bullet shot through the air and pierced Viego's fire barrier. He reacted instantly, raising his sword to block it, but more bullets followed from different directions.
The one firing was clearly moving. Viego began calculating the angles of each shot, trying to determine her position, but every bullet came from a slightly different direction, making it nearly impossible to track her location.
A grin slowly formed on his face as he realized that his opponent was not only skilled but highly intelligent.
Since locating her directly was proving difficult, he decided to remove her ability to hide.
Viego gathered a massive amount of lox into the tip of his sword and swung it across the battlefield. A wave of fire surged forward, incinerating trenches, barricades, and any cover the Umstürzlers had created. Flames spread rapidly, consuming everything in their path and forcing enemy soldiers out into the open.
Despite this, the barrage of crystal bullets continued without hesitation.
Then Viego noticed something unusual. In the distance, he could see a faint reflection.
He immediately channeled lox into his left hand and hurled it toward the reflection, shattering the surface into countless fragments. However, there was no one behind it.
In that brief moment of miscalculation, a bullet struck him from the side.
It pierced cleanly through his body and exited from the other side.
Viego coughed up blood and staggered slightly, placing his hand over the wound as he forced flames into it to cauterize the injury.
The pain was intense, but instead of anger, something else surfaced within him.
Excitement.
For the first time in a long while, he had encountered someone capable of matching him. Someone who could outmaneuver him, injure him, and continue fighting without hesitation.
And she was human.
That realization only deepened his interest. Whether she was royal or not no longer mattered to him.
He wanted her.