女神归来的夏天

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~~~(POV: Cera Adamo)~~~

~~~(Location: The Land Amelia Zern is developing, The Kingdom of Zenith)~~~

~~~(Time: 11:36 AM)~~~

We\'ve both been resting under this lonesome tree for a few hours now... Amelia has been snoring here and there during that time... Showing me that she\'s really asleep. All the work she does must mean she doesn\'t get enough sleep.

My eyes are focused on the developing city below the hill we\'re on.

"There are times when I wish every day can be like this..."

Days where I don\'t have to do anything important... But my quest to find Kris Martim is still on my mind. He\'s somewhere near the Capital of Zenith, and that\'s all I really have to go on.

Amelia\'s head moves a bit as it rests on my shoulder. And that\'s when I stop thinking about my Tier-up quest. Today is one of those days when I shouldn\'t be worrying about my problems and priorities.

Everyone needs a day where they can let go.

There is something else on my mind, though... It\'s what Amelia knows about me... I\'ve come to the conclusion she knows way more about me than she\'s letting on. And I don\'t know the extent of what she knows.

If it were something that changed our Mother-Son relationship, she\'d bring it up... Maybe it\'s something to do with what I\'ve said in the past... Maybe she\'s put some of the things I\'ve said together.

I could be overthinking all this, but my instincts aren\'t usually wrong... What she\'s not telling me is important.

It\'s not like I have any room to talk...

I lie to her face every time I look at her. And while I\'m really good at lying, I don\'t like doing it to the people I care about. Lying to Amelia makes my insides turn.

But it\'s for the best. There are things she can\'t know about me... Who knows, maybe she\'s thinking the same thing I am when I\'m not around... The Ancients World was far more than anyone could\'ve imagined.

There are millions of things I don\'t know for sure.

"Angelus might know something..."

The AI that gained freedom and independence... The same AI that helped cause The Collision and is now a God here in Gaia.

Anyone can send messages to Angelus using the system to message the administrator, which is Angelus. If I asked her if she knew anything, would she? From what I hear, she never replies to anyone, so it might be a lost cause.

But I\'ve had run-ins with Angelus in the past, and she said that she\'s been watching me for a long time... There are beings aware of my actions that exist outside time and space. Like the Gods of The Ancients World.

"What time is it..."

The waking of my Mother pulls me from my thoughts, and I look at my HUD to see the time. We\'re getting pretty close to the afternoon.

"It\'s almost Noon... You slept for a few hours. Didn\'t want to wake you, so I just sat here with you..."

She notices she\'s clutching onto my wings like they\'re blankets. She got a little chilly from the wind and used them while still asleep. Her attention turns to the town as she lets go of my wing.

"I don\'t want this day to end... You don\'t know how hard it\'ll be to see you leave tomorrow to finish what you\'re doing..."

The conversation right after waking up shouldn\'t be such a bummer.

Before I can respond, the hill opposite ours on the otherside of the town is having small shadows appearing. There are soldiers lining the hill, and they\'re not from any house or military branch in Zenith...

"What is that?"

Amelia sees them as she points out, and realization falls on her.

"My best guess, soldiers from Bellvia wanting their land back."

That\'s the only explanation I can come up with. I heard some of the soldiers deserted the army when the war was lost, and they created their own private militia with the intent of getting back what was taken by Zenith.

I haven\'t heard of them doing anything at this point... But they\'ve picked a helluva day to do this... As the seconds slowly pass, more soldiers are appearing on the hill. There have to be at least 3,000, from what I can see.

And even more on the backside of the hill we can\'t see from here. Amelia grabs the hem of my armor and steps a bit closer. She\'s strong, but she can\'t fight off a force like that.

But I can...

"There are too many unarmed citizens and civilians in the city... And there aren\'t enough guards to take a force like that... What\'re we going to do..."

There is genuine fear and concern in her voice. The people in that city mean something to her, and I doubt most of them are NPCs Turn Players like Amelia. Which means when they\'re killed, they\'ll stay dead.

Without saying a word, I spread my wings open, and I\'m about to launch off the ground. But Amelia grabs my arm and stops me. Looking at me like I\'m insane.

"What? I\'m going to handle it."

There is a loud smack as she wacks the side of my head, but she recoils and holds her hand in comical pain. It\'d be like hitting steel. She looks at me again while holding her hand.

"I forbid you from taking on that many enemies by yourself, Cera! There is no way in Overworld or Underworld I\'m letting you do that!"

Her concern isn\'t unwarranted, but this isn\'t unfamiliar territory for me. I\'ve fought large numbers like this before and done so with success. The monster attack I faced when I first got my wings was a larger group than this.

My hand lifts from my side, and I rest it on top of Amelia\'s head. And she looks at me with tears forming in her eyes as they get bigger. Already fearing what I\'m going to say.

"I\'ve done this before."

However, my words have a much more devastating effect on her than I originally thought. Maybe what I\'ve just said is worse than what she was expecting. She grabs onto my arm tighter, and I take my hand off her head.

As the seconds pass, I feel her grip loosen and finally free me. And I see that she\'s heartbroken from what I\'m about to do. I get it. No Mother wants to see her Son leave for battle... Fearing the worst every time.

My wings spread out again, and I launch off the ground, and what I hear from below me makes my heart ache a little.

"CEEERRAA!!"

She falls to her knees and covers her eyes. And I land in front of the army that\'s approaching the developing city. They all freeze, and I can see the fear spreading among them.

My mind is on Amelia. She\'s acting like this not out of fear that I might die but out of fear that such burdens are placed on me. That I have to do such things in the place of others. In her mind, it\'s a sacrifice that shouldn\'t be placed on me.

The Golden Glow of my wings is apparent, and the army parts as a horse carrying a man make its way through. What I see is a distinguished man that carries himself with pride and discipline. Likely a General or powerful warrior.

He hops off his steed and approaches me with caution, and yet with an air of dignity.

"Seems like today was the worst day that I could\'ve moved my forces on the land that was once ours... Is there a possibility for an accord?"

I don\'t know why this is happening, but it\'s certainly developed into an interesting situation. But I\'m not going to show mercy. This is my Mother\'s land.

"You know this land belongs to my Mother. You knew what you were getting into the first moment you came marching this way. What was at stake."

He takes a single breath, and a tired air fills him. But he doesn\'t draw his sword.

"My life in exchange for the lives of my men."

That\'s not something I hear every day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Below this line, I\'ll be keeping Cera\'s player information. That way, I won\'t have to place it into the story above anymore. It takes about 180 words up.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.228][Tier-3]

[Exp: 42/100%]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden)]

[Stats] [Strength - 7095][Endurance - 7045][Dexterity - 7215][Speed - 8240][Focus - 19,660]

[Mana aura control: 6/100%]

[Health: 76,560,000,000/76,560,000,000] [Mana: 216,600,000,000/216,600,000,000]

[Stat Points: 350] [Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory] [Dice of Wayland (Divine)] [Hardened Tree sap Armor (Very Rare)] [The Witness (Legendary Sword)] [Fenrir\'s Whistle (Divine)] [Camping gear] [Food Rations 3x] [Dried meat 3x] [Fishing poles 2x] [Fish 8x] [Festival Garbs 2x] [4x EXP Boosts]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]

[Active Skills]

[Heavens light Lvl.74 325/7400] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.74 225/7400] [Slash Lvl.92 4600/21000] [Parry Lvl.68 85/6800] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controlled Fun]