The horizon of white and blue spilled across the new world, and sunlight breathed upon it with a soft yellow hush, almost quiet, causing Delia’s veil to grow translucent, revealing her face and especially her eyes…they glinted with eagerness, but still something held her back.
The [Undead Witch] pursed her lips, then closed her eyes. “I can give you an item which will undoubtedly be useful, located on a certain island. But be warned, it’s dangerous. Undead Guards will attack you.”
“You’d be willing to give them to me? What about the [Necromancer]?”
“My Lord, allow me to do what it takes to proceed with our deal. This is something I’m willing to give for my own progression.” Delia gazed at the floating double castle, hanging upside down, with a grand floating disc between them. A distant figure of what might be an angel flew around them, ascending and descending inside.
They were almost dreamlike, with the glass-like figure that reflected the flicker of the sun even to Suna, who was so far away and could only see their distant bodies with his Eagle Eyes.
Delia reached inside her dress and brought out some kind of pocket watch with a light golden color that looked like fake gold to Suna. She opened it and began writing with her finger. When she finished, she handed it to Suna.
A dark flame nestled atop the watch, bristling around like an eager child.
“When you get back, this flame will form into a direction; you will need to sail to reach it.”
Suna clasped the pocket watch shut and tucked it into his pouch.
“Now, shall we finalize it?”
[Pact offered]
[Life and Flourishes]—Delia the [Undead Witch] has offered you her weapon stash and a chance to unlock Drowfication, along with safe passage to the Second Stage guaranteed by the [Necromancer] for you and other humans. In exchange, you shall seek them and protect them until they’re strong enough to fend for themselves and integrate them into human society. Additionally, half of whatever wealth Delia shall have gathered when you finally meet her, in exchange for letting her keep her rune. Failure to comply will result in the doom of your next reincarnation cycle.
Accept/Decline.
Suna read it over, made sure there was no hidden trap in these words. This seemed simple enough, and he did not detect any malicious wording or attempt to lead him astray. But this punishment was quite severe. Suna, even knowing about these reincarnations, still treated his life as only one. After all, you will lose your memory in the next life.
“That’s quite a punishment,” Suna said, almost chuckling at how serious it was.
“You think so?” Delia tilted her head, and through her now clear face, thanks to the sunlight, her hair spilled around her face, seeping with the color of orange. “I think this is fairly normal. There’s no point in forming pacts like these if they can be broken and nothing of significant cost is delivered to those who broke them.”
Suna found himself nodding, as insane as that sounded, he quite liked it.
“So, you’re sure about this. Half of everything you find…”
“Yes, I wouldn’t have offered you the pact if I weren’t. I appreciate your trust in me, human. But it will still be difficult,” her eyes shone, once again staring long into the double castle. “But, well, who knows what might have happened?”
That hunger behind her eyes made Suna think he had made the right choice. “I accept.”
[Pact Formed] [Life And Flourishes]
[Feat Earned][Promise of the Future]—You have made a pact for the future. A sign of confidence that lets you reach forward and earn much more glory and wealth for your name. Such confidence is worth an Adventurer. All Stat + 5.
Name: Suna Amor
Level: 41
Class: [Flintwind Archer]
Rune: 126
Feat: 22 → 23
Mana: 9216/20500
Pyre Flame: 92287.
Pact: 1 → 2
Class Skill (13/35)
- Archer Instinct [Uncommon]
- Gale Backstep [Uncommon]
- Moving Shot [Uncommon]
- Flint Draw [Uncommon]
- Arcane String [Uncommon]
- Gale Bow [Rare]
- Spell String Mastery [Rare]
- Hissing Volley [Rare]
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
- Drill Arrow [Uncommon]
- Still Form [Uncommon]
- Saproot Arrow [Rare]
- Emberwind Arrow [Rare]
- Ashen Brand [Uncommon]
General Skill (12/35)
- Swift Draw [Uncommon]
- Drowfication [Rare]
- Rune Seeker [Uncommon]
- Gale Step [Uncommon]
- Wind Veil [Uncommon]
- Thermal instinct [Uncommon]
- Enchanced Sense [Uncommon]
- Enduring Body [Uncommon]
- Battle Focus [Common]
- Eagle Eyes [Uncommon]
- Pyre Shield [Rare]
- Pyre Flame Starter [Uncommon]
Strength: 2005 → 2010
Dexterity: 1382 → 1387
Vitality: 1203 → 1208
Arcanery: 2050 →2555
Sense: 860 → 865
“It's formed,” Delia breathed. Relief was so obvious, Suna saw the [Undead Witch]’s knees buckle.
She walked forward, gliding her dress, pushing away rumpled grass in her wake. She stood on the edge of the island, staring at the double castle.
Suna approached her, not saying anything.
“I wouldn’t have much time before I had to use my skill; this scale will take my life soon. Are you ready to go into your dream, Suna?”
“Yes, I should have enough mana. But I wouldn’t mind if you want to stay here a bit longer.”
Delia smiled at him, and the two of them, silent as drifting clouds, just stared at the wonder ahead of them for some time.
--
The world turned in Suna's vision; the familiar battlefield was a stark contrast to the serene floating island.
Molten smoldering beam split a body into two despite their armor. A Drow was blasted apart by blue shimmering shrapnel that was shot out by the spear of the white soldier, who was part of a grand marching army approaching the dark-armored Drows who used bows.
Mangled corpses stuck to each other, their disintegrated parts fused under the heat of these futuristic weapons.
“Fire!” A Drow Commander screamed; he could understand their words. Suna immediately tried to run into the dug trench after crouching in reflex as a Drow just beside him had his head blown open in a loud clap of explosion that still rang in his ears. A bristle of electricity rushed as his body armor groaned with a beeping noise, which added to the confusion among the screaming Drows.
A hand shot out and grasped Suna’s shoulder. There stood Delia, in her usual garment, unlike Suna, who wore futuristic body armor. In Suna's hand was a stringless bow, which would form one when he activated it with electricity.
“Ah, Battle of Long Ears…” Delia muttered, her eyes scanning around.
By now, the Drow had noticed her; most ignored her, and continued to retreat while some nocked their bows in apprehension, but ultimately decided to shoot at the encroaching army instead.
A group of five walked toward them, bows ready in their hands.
“Well? What are we doing now?”
“Since you’re on the Drow side… the key to winning is to destroy the Elves’ cloaked spear ship.” Delia tapped her foot down, and Suna yelped as he lost his balance before Delia pulled him toward her.
She looked down on the screaming Drow--now too late to do anything--Suna and Delia already rushed upward as a tree trunk shot up around their feet.
Air rushed around Suna, threatening to flatten him like a pancake as they shot toward the sky.
Dark flame formed on Delia’s hand, and she split them into small stars and shot them downward. They rushed to meet five lightning arrows, colliding and dissolving into a plume of dust.
“It's quite impressive,” Delia commented. “It's a shame their greed had caused them to lose all of this.”
The Tree lurched and grew farther. The sky filled with churned smoke, and vessels fighting all around, like a massive drone battle.
Suna’s helmet showed him an option for his futuristic arrow, but he shrugged it off and summoned his Gale Bow, drawing an Emberwind Arrow.
One Y-shaped ship, with a white color, was noticeable. It hovered, and from its mouth a beam of red light gathered.
“Take care of that one! I still need to get us up higher.” Delia crouched and pushed both of her hands inside the trunk.
Suna got on one knee, unable to stand but forcing his body up despite the gravity pressing him down.
The beam materialized in a thick, smoldering red burst.
Suna fired his arrow, letting it soar through the sky and meet the beam. The Emberwind split the beam and surged straight into the small ship, cleaving it into two parts. An explosion flared in the sky, looking no different from others.
He let go of his Gale Bow, as gravity now smeared his armored cheek against the wooden surface of the tree’s trunk top.
[Warning: Danger Altitud--]
“Delia!”
“Just a bit more! A bit more for their flagship. Only their bottom part is cloaked,” the witch shouted out.
Suna's body armor beeped with an annoying series of warnings and an urgent command to return to his platoon.
He gritted his teeth, trusting in the [Undead Witch] for now.
The tree came to a stop suddenly, almost throwing Suna off. He forced open his eyes and took in a short, sharp breath. Below them, a sleek, almost prism-like steel structure appeared, with its bottom half invisible—but the top half remained bare for Suna and Delia to see.
The Lucid white ship’s size was enormous, larger than he remembered, and perhaps what was most impressive was that it still appeared slender due to its spear-like shape. Suna's eyes settled on the two enormous double-cannons that rested across the metallic deck. One was on its hull, and the other stood slightly higher behind it.
“To tip this battle to the Drow side, all you needed to do was take down that,” Delia said, pointing down at the ship.
The cannon moved, aiming straight toward them. One targeted Delia and Suna, and the other prepared to blow away the Tree Delia had raised.
Suna drew an Emberwind Arrow, unsure of which one to aim at.
“Little help?” Suna asked.
“I’m afraid it's not going to be that simple.” Delia formed a dozen black shooting stars above her palms and launched them at the ship. A shimmering shield appeared, blocking the stars from entering. Delia’s spell fizzled out, and Suna could make out a veil of energy surrounding it.
“It was cloaked,” Suna muttered. He released his Emberwind Arrow, sending it surging forward. It slammed against the veil of energy, a rainbow veil coalescing where his arrow had struck—holding it back and cracking the arrow apart.
Suna clicked his tongue. Now he had to destroy yet another absolute defense, this time for a futuristic ship.
“I get it, Delia, we should get down for now,” Suna said, noticing the cannon heating up beneath them, about to fire.
“Going down? No, we’re not going to do that. That shield does not extend to physical matter; hence why I brought us here.”
Suna took a moment to process what Delia said. He looked at the [Undead Witch], almost questioning if she had lost her mind. An explosion burst in the sky nearby, and Suna had to shake his head at the sight.
This was the past.
And he was sure glad not to live in it. Well, considering an out-of-control intelligence now held a robot army in space, that might not have been so lucky for him. This war, whatever it was, would lead to such an event. Suna wondered if the Drowfication would lead him to view it.
Delia stepped close to him and wrapped her arm around Suna’s hip.
“Shall we then?” Delia asked, a flash of excitement flickering on her face as she gazed upon the alien ship, just like she had with the double castle.
“We shall,” Suna said, still unsure about this. He wrapped his arm across her, too, and tapped his foot. A burst of wind rushed down and blasted Suna and Delia up, destroying the treetop into a mess of splintered debris.
A huge twin beam of red blasted through the air, one missing and the other seared through the tree with a scarlet hue. Suna tightened his hand around the [Undead Witch], glancing at the tall tree now split into two and slowly falling through a puff of cloud toward the battlefield below.
“Faster!” Delia commanded, and she formed a sphere of dark flames around them. Almost immediately, a rattle of blue energy—each bolt no larger than a bullet—rained up from the ship's smaller guns.
Suna kicked off the air, bursting out of Delia’s flame. Both he and the [Undead Witch] pierced through the ship’s veil. He spotted a figure wearing ornate white armor, pointing a spear that glowed with red light right in the middle, not a spear—a trident.
The [Flintwind Archer] smiled, and he propelled faster along with the [Undead Witch].
