July 14th, 626

“I call them Serums.”

“Why that name specifically?”

“Aki inspired me with the name, so I went with it. Anyway, you could say that they’re a kind of temporary Crown.”

Katta flourished a vial of green liquid, the end of it sporting a menacing needle. 

We had finally taken some time to go through her cargo and explain things. These Serums, the basis of her combat power, were a precious resource to her and if she wanted to be a part of the team, both of us needed to be on the same page. 

I could already guess what she would need from me though. 

“How do they work?”

“Honestly, I’m not exactly sure of the science behind it. All I know is that they work.”

“If you really did invent this, then you know more than that.”

“I mean, I guess.”

She sighed and eyed the injector before swapping it for another in her spatial storage. Then she drove it into her thigh, the liquid diffusing into her muscles and bloodstream. 

Some seconds later, she smiled, looking rejuvenated. I just watched, my vision picking up the magical signature of the serum flowing through her body, empowering her with Psyka and Vigor. 

Custom mixtures for a variety of different purposes. It looked useful, but I wondered what the limits were. It wasn’t like she could just inject the most powerful solutions and expect to attain Sovereign power. 

Looking like she had energy, she explained, her words sharper. 

“You could say that these serums are a kind of ingestable, temporary White Crystal. Like how Scourge monsters draw their power from them, I draw my power from what’s in my body. But you couldn’t expect just anybody to be able to do as I do.”

“They’re limited by Aura, the only thing that would let someone without magic like you control it.”

“Correct.”

“So Aura can universally control all forms of Magika. My question is, can you exercise the same level of specialties as say a Warlock could with their Mana?”

“No, I can’t. If I want to use Mana I’m limited to brutish elemental manipulation. I can’t spellcast because that requires affinities. I also can’t perform Emission like Knights can, nor can I summon creatures and weapons like Summoners can. All of their powers are still beyond me, but so long as I have equipment, I can still use the power in combat.”

She suddenly took out a greatsword, almost as long as she was tall. It was filled with enchantments, all of them coalescing at the hilt where her hand gripped the sword. 

“My body can only use the most basic enhancements that the magics afford me, but with enchantments I can draw them in ways that afford me attack power equal to what’s flowing through my blood.”

“But then you’re limited by your own skill.”

“Aren’t we all?”

I hummed. That wasn’t entirely true. People definitely compensated with their powers, but she didn’t have that option and I was willing to bet that she honed herself to an incredible degree. Beyond that, if anybody wanted to get powerful, they all had to have skill. Otherwise they would get taken advantage of and killed. 

She put the sword away, suddenly slipping her shirt up to show tight abs and the Invocations across them. 

They were across her entire body, in fact. 

“I will admit that after the invocation technology was brought to the Church, I managed to raise my power significantly. I can use both of them in parallel, the invocations giving me power all the time unlike the temporary power of the serums. Aki trained me for a long time. But the serums are a booster, as she calls them. I can hop Authorities with their help, and turns out, handling the serums was training in and of itself, applying as it does to Invocations.”

“What kind of Invocations do you have?”

“All of the best ones, including what those from the Pillars liked to call ‘Forbidden’ ones. Those are the ones that get inscribed into your bones.”

Katta put her shirt down and removed a bandage, showing a nasty scar going from her shoulder to her elbow, a surgical scar that apparently couldn’t be removed even with a healer. It subtly glowed with the power of Magika. 

“I have a total of 14 Invocations, 8 internal, 6 external. I draw in the magic of Vigor, Mana, and Psyka, as well as the pure power of Magika. I can fight like a knight, think like a summoner, and move the elements like a warlock. The only thing that limits me nowadays is my own Aura’s ability to handle everything and sharpen it up. I’m still nowhere near Aki’s level.”

“Right…”

I pondered for a second, glancing at the cargo behind us as Katta wrapped the bandage back up. 

“So, you need equipment and the facilities to manufacture more serums.”

“I have a few good weapons, including a Foci. I pride myself on being adaptable, capable of ranged fighting as well as melee combat.”

“Are you better at melee combat?”

“I would say so, yes.”

“Good. Because that’s where you’re going to be. I already have ranged firepower on lockdown.”

“Right, you and those summons. I’ve heard about how loud they are.”

“Mm. What does your resilience look like? Can you take hits?”

I asked while tapping my Aerial, making arrangements for Wonderland. 

She nodded. 

“Yeah, with my Invocations. I’m not as tough as some of those from the Order, though.”

“I don’t expect you to be. What about explosive power? Can you kill an Authority 9 in one go?”

“Probably not. Depends on the situation.”

“And evasion. Can you hide?”

“Yup. One of the Forbidden Invocations is for just that.”

“Can you demonstrate for me?”

“Sure.”

She stepped back, my eyes finding her as I saw all of the power flowing through her body suddenly get sucked in under her skin, deep into her flesh and bones. 

Then it solidified before fading, her figure distorting as her magical signature was completely erased. Some other power made the air around her sparkle like an optical refractor, and after a few seconds, her body vanished. 

I narrowed my eyes, walking around her, checking out the angles and noticing the slightest distortion when she decided to move. 

My eyes tracked her as I stood still, her figure circling me. More importantly, I could still smell her, could hear her feet on the floor. It seemed like the Invocation compensated for the sound though, as well as her effect on the air with her movement. It wasn’t perfect though. I could pick it all out. 

Then there was her Aura. She was good at drawing it in, but I could still sense her mind, her intelligence. She couldn’t hide from me. 

Eventually, I nodded. 

“It’s good, but not great. I’ll be getting you some of our custom armor. It should shore up some of those weaknesses.”

“I’ve gotten nothing but high praises from people at the Order. How is this not great?”

She asked as the distortion faded, pouting. I just input some dimensions for her body into my Aerial and sent it to our fabrication plant. 

“Because if I can see you, King Bloods can. I didn’t survive this long because I could fight all my enemies, but escape what I couldn’t kill. Everyone in my team needs some form of evasive ability. You have it, and it’s better than most, but there are still weaknesses. Don’t worry though. Our tech will compensate and make it nearly perfect.”

“Are you sure it’s as good as what the Order gave me?”

“Pretty sure.”

I smiled. I wasn’t going to tell her that my Adaptive Camouflage was created from a fusion of both the Third Claw’s Aura Shield as well as the Order’s Aura Scrambler, and then improved with my own personal touch derived from my ability to become imperceptible. Of course it was better, and that wasn’t even mentioning the armor itself and all its life preserving functions and designs. 

“Unless yours was made with the best Authority 11 materials, I’ll have a set custom built for you.”

“It is, actually. It was bought by my father when I started working with the Order. He couldn’t have his little girl with no Crest go into battle without good protection.”

“Then I’ll get specs on it and supplement it with my Adaptive Camouflage. If it doesn’t have a full environmental seal then I’ll make one for you.”

“Seems a bit overkill. There aren’t many toxins that can kill someone like me.”

“I don’t take risks I don’t need to and certainly don’t ask my troops to take risks I wouldn’t myself. You’ll enter battle with no less than the best I can offer. That’s doctrine.”

“Fine, fine.”

She smiled at my insistence, walking over to a table and taking out a suit of armor. 

My armor was far more modern by my standards than anything else in this world, but the Church’s armor, especially that for the Order, was still impressive. It was covered in enchantments designed specifically around Katta herself, not to mention that it was built with Authority 11 materials, something usually owned by Marshals. But since Valdemar was a renowned war general, it was obvious that his wildcard daughter would have good protection. He clearly cared for her. 

It was full plate armor with a layer of thick leather underneath and an Authority 11 White Crystal implanted into the back plate. Thankfully it had its own full environmental seal, so I wouldn’t have to engineer that. 

But she still needed the Adaptive Camouflage and a helmet implant that would allow her to sync with my TACNET. With it, she’d be able to communicate and utilize an Aerial with nothing but her mind and Aura. 

With that information I slated everything to be either created or processed at Wonderland. The cargo was also set to be moved into a room within the Desert Eagle’s building so she could easily access it. 

For now, I had the information I needed. I just needed Katta to hand over the tech for her Serums so I could have our alchemy teams start working on them and get production going. 

She easily agreed to it, and I was quickly handed an Orb containing the recipes. It seemed she had come prepared to give up the tech. I was quite happy about that, because it could lead to a new combat booster being implemented into doctrine. I would need to learn more about alchemy in general though. 

After all arrangements were made, the two of us went back to our building where the other Desert Eagles were. Education never stopped and I intended to get everyone up to speed as quickly as possible. The image of that island remained in the back of my mind all hours of the day, and if I was sitting here educating or training the team, then I wasn’t developing countermeasures and preparing for the trip.  

Unfortunately I couldn’t just hand off the tasks to Umara. I needed to teach about things like urban warfare and develop new doctrine for what we were going to do. There were a lot of unknowns and I wanted my teams to be careful. I wouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating the danger of a civilization that could build autonomous robots. 

There would be unliving things there that couldn’t be sensed by Aura yet could flip a situation on its head and put more than one person in extreme danger. Everyone had good reactions and a capable head on their shoulders. But there were certain things about technology that could quickly relieve them of that. 

I was racking my own brain for all possible preparations on all possible fronts. I wanted to not just make sure my team could keep themselves safe, but also develop countermeasures to help that goal and then build tools to extract data from those ruins. 

It was all new territory even for me. Thankfully I had time. The Glass Desert was holding its own with and without me, so we no longer had to worry about the Scourge’s advance. We were slaughtering them by the ten thousand, not to mention the next phase of the Operation that was underway. 

……

…

“How would you feel about us denying this request?”

Vetsmon stared at his commanding officer, conflicted emotions stirring within his chest, yet nothing showing on his hardened face. 

Between them lay a few sheets of paper detailing a transfer request to a ‘transnational special operations group’ stationed at the Glass Desert. Next to that was a letter, another request from none other than John Cooper himself. 

He was asking for Vetsmon to be sent to him. The letter was penned by John’s own hand, ink on parchment, those perfect letters appealing to the gaze with the slightly flourished forms of an expert calligrapher. 

However, the letter had also come through official channels. Vetsmon was surprised to see it. He had expected John to simply ask one of the Paladins. If he had done that, using a favor, then this wouldn’t be a question. He’d be on the first plane to the Glass Desert, whether he wanted to be or not. 

But John wasn’t demanding. He was asking. Officially he was asking the Order. In reality, he was asking Vetsmon, opening the door for him. 

Vetsmon picked up and read the letter.

If this had been just half a year ago, he would have accepted in a heartbeat. The desire to get back to his friends was vast. He wanted to see them, see John, see Tana. He wanted to impress them with his new strength, as he had been able to do at the Treehouse. He wanted to bask in the loving smile of the only woman that had ever made him feel butterflies. 

But he had gotten older. He knew more things now, wasn’t so naive. Having been inducted into the Order’s Tier One squadrons, he was now trusted with more than he could’ve ever fathomed before. He could barely comprehend how blind he had been, looking back on how he used to be. 

The sheer scale of the war with the scourge was baffling, and the programs and operations being conducted within the Order were enough to scare him with their intensity and extremity. He had seen things that would make the civilian populace call for revolution, had met people who had so wholly devoted their lives and souls to the fight that he felt his own convictions were childish. 

Yet he was a part of them now, and that would cease to be if he left. 

He thought long and hard, eventually opening his mouth, a roughened voice escaping, rumbling the air like a beast. 

“Deny it.”

“…We know how much you’ve wanted to go over there. Hell, even Valdemar’s daughter just recently begged to be sent. Updates say that she’s having the time of her life. But we want you here. Still, the choice is yours. If you tell us to approve it, we will. You’ll ship out tonight.”

“No.”

Vetsmon continued staring at the paper, at John’s handwriting.

“Deny it.”

“…Very well.”

The commanding officer took out a pen and scribbled across some of the blank lines, denying all requests for transfer and stashing the request and letter in a file. Vetsmon knew that they would be holding onto the letter from John, even if just to have a sample of his handwriting. Any amount of intelligence on him was considered high priority. 

Though John probably wrote the letter knowing that. Who knew if that was even his actual handwriting?

Vetsmon smiled a bit, the file disappearing into the commander’s spatial storage. 

There was some silence, the commander taking out another file and handing it to Vetsmon.

Vetsmon reached out and grabbed it, but the commander held his grip, looking him in the eye. 

“You’ve decided to stay. High Command has told me to give you this in the event you made such a decision. But I’m warning you now. If you look at this, there’s no turning back. You’ll be a part of this Operation whether you like it or not, one that will take you away from the comparatively relaxed lifestyle of the Order’s headquarters.”

Vetsmon paused, looking down at the file. The file itself was shielded from Aura. This was one of those documents that didn’t exist. 

It would change his life, and the decision now wasn’t about the Operation itself, but whether or not he was okay with uprooting himself for the sake of the Church. 

Vetsmon pulled, the file slipping out of the commander’s grip. He opened the file, taking out an Orb. 

Once it was in his hand he tapped it, and the data was suddenly infused into his mind. As it did so, the Orb disintegrated in his hand. 

His hand closed around the dissipating particles of pure Magika and glass, standing stunned for a time before looking down at the Commander, new words in his mind. 

Operation Forsaken Embrace. 

A covert attempt to retake the Island of Retribution, establish a beachhead on the continent of the Pillars, and strike at the heart of the Scourge.

Vetsmon’s eyes gradually widened. The Church wanted to strike at the breeding nests, the cities of Royals where the Kingly Bloodlines propagated. Utilizing the new technology developed by John Cooper, as well as what was generated by the Church’s top minds fusing his tech with theirs, on top of that which was given by the refugees from the Pillars of Creation, they wanted to deliver devastating blows that would buy time for the development of both the Glass Desert and the Church’s forces as a whole. 

Vetsmon knew that the Church was expanding its industry massively. He hardly understood John’s technology, but if he could accomplish what he did at the Glass Desert in a short 6 months using that tech, then given years, all of them would be far more powerful. 

Issue was, the Scourge was multiplying their efforts. John’s achievements in the past half year did not go unnoticed by the Scourge, and if they were getting scared, then there was a good chance that there would be a massive influx of high combatants in the coming year. The Church wanted to mitigate that, ensuring that the continent wasn’t flooded with more than they could handle. 

Vetsmon took a breath, comprehending everything that was forced into his brain. When he looked at the commander once more, the man shook his head. 

“Don’t say anything. As of now, you’re no longer under my command. You’re to report straight to Anderson, personally. He’s waiting for you at the top.”

“…Alright.”

“Good luck, Vetsmon.”

The two shook hands, Vetsmon still a little dazed. 

From there he walked out and headed to ‘the top’ that the commander spoke of. It was simply the top of the headquarters building for the Order, but that room was not a command center or anything of the sort. 

It was Anderson’s office. The man insisted on having the best view in the base, despite seldomly being present within it. His superiority and pettiness came to the chagrin of many intelligence agents and generals, who always liked taking the top floor for their fancy command centers. 

Vetsmon went up the stairs, few people looking at him as he ascended. Then, when he knocked on that single door, he heard the voice. 

“It’s open.”

He turned the handle and stepped through, finding the lavish study that Anderson had bought for himself. This was not his first time being in here. It was his second, and it was just as nerve wracking as the first. 

He saw Anderson sitting behind his desk, watching a video of the most recent overwhelming victory at the Glass Desert. Vetsmon had seen the video himself. He had thought that normal large scale battles were chaotic before, thousands of people fighting against thousands of monsters, all kinds of magic being slung around with no rhyme or reason. 

That, though, was a different kind of chaos. It was supposed to be similar in principle, with battle lines and the push and pull of a normally fluctuating battlefield. 

But then one of the summoners showed him an enhanced view, one that highlighted all the avenues of attack that had been utilized, from air support to indirect artillery fire. Asymmetrical warfare, they called it. 

That’s when he realized that he had no idea what he was talking about. 

“Come, sit.”

Anderson turned to him and smiled, that menacing grin full of white teeth making his spine tingle. 

This man was easily the most powerful singular man in the entire world. There was no other his equal, no other who could boast that he delivered the killing blow to a dreaded King. 

The Kingslayer, God’s Assassin, the Angel of Death. Vetsmon knew of too many of his monikers. 

He attempted to keep himself composed as he sat in a large seat in front of the desk Anderson was behind.

“Didn’t want to go see that sneaky girlfriend of yours?”

“…I’m sure that we’ll see each other again, eventually. For now, I feel that I need to follow my higher calling.”

“Higher calling? Boy, you’ve just signed yourself onto an express trip into Hell.”

Vetsmon remained silent. He knew that, but everything they did in the Order demanded that they dive head first into hell. This would be no different, even though it was certainly on another level of treachery. 

But that was exactly why he wanted to go. John had his calling, as did the others. Vetsmon knew he would be an invaluable ally to John if he were to go to the Glass Desert, an unbreakable bulwark John could trust. 

But he could accomplish the same thing elsewhere. He could be an ally, a vital foundation for his friend, just in another place. Perhaps, when the time came for John to expand his range of influence, to push his war efforts against the Scourge into new hellish lands, he could provide a trodden path. 

He knew that John was working extensively with the Church. He knew about the efforts to industrialize with his technology. John was working for the survival of all humanity, not just for himself. 

Vetsmon would use his unique position to aid in that effort in a way that nobody else could. 

After a bout of silence, Anderson chuckled, smiling wider. 

“Well, you’re nothing if not a masochist, Vetsmon the Undying. The knowledge now in your head means that you’re now a part of the Order’s Asymmetrical Warfare Division, a newly formed sector of people dedicated to fighting the Scourge in every way but head on. You will go beyond merely assassinating Royals and King Bloods. You will now strike at the heart of the Scourge’s efforts to wipe out humanity, a task only made possible using John Cooper’s new technology and industry. Previously, reaching the continent of the Pillars was not impossible, but expensive, difficult, and time consuming. Simply not feasible, not worth the cost. Not even teleporters work due to the corrupted mana across that forsaken continent. Now, it’s almost too easy.”

Vetsmon nodded, figuring as much. John’s planes alone afforded them the ability to traverse previously unfathomable distances in minimal time frames and at comparatively zero cost. The sky was now in the hands of humanity and the Church was taking full advantage of it. 

“But there’s something you need to know about all of this. You are inextricably linked to it and we’ve deemed you worthy enough to expose this truth of the world to you. The only reason you will know, however, is precisely because you’ll be leaving this place in an hour, not to return for some time.”

Anderson’s grin faded, Vetsmon’s heart running cold. 

“Have you ever wondered about the origin of spirits that summoners call upon?”

“…I believe that legends speak of them coming from other dimensions, other worlds. I couldn’t know how true it is, though.”

“Well they’re true. Just a handful of years ago those legends were indeed just that. Mere speculation, unable to be confirmed because no summoner has yet been capable of breaking the Great Barrier and scouring the depths of that power. But now it’s been confirmed. Do you know how?”

“…Was it John?”

Vetsmon guessed, refusing to believe that it had nothing to do with his friend. There was only one person, one circumstance, one fateful nexus that he was linked to. That was John. 

Anderson grinned again. 

“Precisely. He confirmed it. Not because he somehow decoded a language, not because he managed to summon something powerful, not because he was able to trace the origin point of a spirit. He confirmed it with his very existence.”

“You mean…”

“Your friend is not of this world, Vetsmon.”

Vetsmon’s eyes widened, his heart pounding. 

“John Cooper comes from whatever place his spirits do. He is what’s known as a Versal, a being that has traversed space and time to arrive in this world. We don’t know why or how they have come. But we do know when and where they come. Their angels are always so pronounced with their arrivals, so brilliantly obvious. We usually make sure to get our hands on them, in some way.”

“Their guardian angels?”

“Indeed. They all have one. Well, I shouldn’t say that. Most of them have one. We believe it’s how they traverse. Their guardian angels protect them, guide them in ways we cannot understand. That’s probably why they’re all monstrously talented, why they can survive situations normally hopeless. And that protection extends, to some extent, to those they latch onto.”

Vetsmon went silent, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He knew that there were certain powers beyond their understanding that had gotten them through the attack on Purple Sky. There was no other way to explain how they were able to gaze upon Anarchy itself and survive. For as young and powerless as they were, they should’ve murdered each other in a bloodlusting frenzy just like all the others. 

They had tried, in fact. They had been consumed by Anarchy, had fallen to it, but were pulled out of that hellish mind and protected. 

All because of John, it seemed. 

He had so many questions, but one pressed his mind. 

“So there are more like him?”

“Yes, several. No more than two dozen. There are a few within the Order, a few within the Kingdom. Some came from the Pillars and some came from a civilization unknown.”

“But not all of them have guardian angels?”

“No. Some of them come with demons.”

Vetsmon’s heart trembled again, some of Anderson’s seriousness returning. 

“There are some within the Scourge. The only reason we know they exist, despite demons being far less pronounced with their arrival, is because the Versals themselves are more obsessed with announcing their unique origins and indulging in the pride that comes with it. Versals come from a world with a level of technology that we cannot fathom, but that makes them easy to spot when they start preaching. Unfortunately, there are some with the talent and knowledge of that world that work against us just as someone like John Cooper works for us.”

“…That they would work with inhuman monsters, despite being human just like us…”

“There are all kinds of heathens across our humanity and theirs. Unfortunately, those who now indulge in the demonic power of the Scourge are also too cowardly to find easily. Yet their impact on the war will be devastating if not kept in check. That’s where someone like you comes in.”

Anderson pointed at Vetsmon with a long finger, as if scrutinizing him. 

“You’ve been blessed, boy. Now we’re going to send you to kill the Versals that have abandoned their humanity, before they can destroy ours. Prepare yourself, because it will only be slightly easier than attempting to kill John Cooper.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep