Manifest War: The Weapons Within

“What is the meaning of this nonsense!!?!?” He yelled as he stood from his chair. His white and gold robes shined in the brightly lit room as he awaited an answer.

“This man has committed a crime against the Nation of Volaire. You should see to it that he is punished, before I do it for you.” Azhane calmly and coldly responded, losing her patience by the second.

“What are you on about? What crimes??”

Leo was taken aback by the sudden request, not sure of what she was talking about.

Azhane told the story of the ambush, Carmen’s physical state, the two mercenaries, and the jobs put out by Richard Allmark. Unconvinced and irritated by these claims, the High Priest sat back down and glared at Azhane.

“That is hardly a crime worth punishment, especially with little to no proof at all. Furthermore, why should I believe the words of someone that carries out their grievances in such a childish manner? This isn’t my problem, now please, leave this church or else I’ll have you thrown o-.”

Before he finished his remarks, Azhane, in an impossible instant, appeared directly in front of him.

Her right index finger pointed close to his face while she stood over him. Suddenly, a little black orb formed in front of her finger, pulsing and glowing intensely. Azhane stared directly into his eyes with the most fiery red gaze he had ever seen. The stare could kill a man with the amount of haunting bloodlust behind them.

“Childish manner?? You dare call my pain and anger childish? Leo Vaux’Hallah, have you forgotten who you are speaking to?”

The High Priest looked upward with horror in his face, finding it hard to catch his breath as he sweated profusely.

“Know your place..” Azhane said with stone cold delivery, pouring more energy into her ability.

The orb shook violently as it slowly increased in size, violently sucking up the air around it. Nearby objects began to be drawn to the instability of her skill, lifting and breaking apart from the pressure. At that same moment, a man shouted from the other side of the room.

“Please, Your Majesty! Do not harm the High Priest! He meant you no ill will with his words. Step aside, I beg of you!”

Azhane shifted her attention and saw the face of Von Melrose, commander of the Holy Core Saints. His long blonde hair sparkled in the light and his chiseled jawline was tight as he clenched his teeth, pleading to the Queen.

Von Melrose, like Azhane Belouis, was another one of the seven Calamity Class Vestas in Alaira. Even though he was the last to join their ranks, his words still demanded her respect.

She glared at him menacingly with her red eyes, not saying a word. Azhane then fixed her gaze back to the High Priest, before closing her eyes and sighing. As her eyes remained closed, Azhane slightly smiled. Then, just as fast as she appeared before him, she was back at the front of the room; many meters traveled in an instant. Azhane turned around, facing the door before finally speaking.

“I trust that you’ll deal with this man accordingly... Otherwise, there may be consequences.” She glanced over her shoulder and gave the High Priest one last evil glare.

Graymoor touched her arm and the two vanished in thin air. The room became still and quiet as everyone present was at a loss for words, not believing what had just happened. Leo Vaux’Hallah cleared his throat and collected himself, brushing his pristine robes and straightening his tall head cap.

“Guards, take this man to the cells. We will hold a trial for his crimes later this week.” He said, wanting to wash his hands of this issue.

The guards collected Richard and swiftly exited the room. Von Melrose walked up to the High Priest, showing great concern.

“Are you alright, Your Holiness? That must have been incredibly frightening.” He asked, bowing his head to him.

“I’m fine… Curse that darn Belouis. No idea why they let that unstable girl be queen of a nation. She’s far too dangerous to deal with in any reasonable way.”

“I agree. Even as a Calamity class Vesta myself, fighting Azhane Belouis would be quite difficult. I can’t confidently say I could beat her, especially if she uses her Manifest.” Von remarked, hoping he never saw the day they would cross each other in combat.

“Yeah, The Grasp of Nihility. Such a dangerous Manifest to be unleashed into this world. The disparity in energy deliverance from the Core of Alaira is truly a terrifying thing. Some people should never hold that much power... I pray to the Core that we never have to witness it first hand.”

Leo sighed and looked up at the colorful, stained glass windows, admiring the details of a large crystal being worshiped. After collecting himself, Leo Vaux’Hallah stood from his chair and began to step forward.

“Put the Holy Core Saints on alert, just in case more situations like this happen over the next few days. I’m going to speak with Deacon Allmark and see what is truly going on.” He said to Von before leaving the room.

"Right away, Sir." Von replied, bowing his head as The High Priest walked by.

Once Leo got outside, he began to ponder quite a few thoughts.

'What is this about a key that she mentioned? Sounds quite interesting.'

Leo couldn't help but highly curious about the full details. Leo entered and headed down to the cell holding Richard Allmark, walking through the prison doors as a guard opened them. He looked at Richard’s saddened face while crossing his arms in slight disappointment.

“Alright... Explain yourself and explain well. Don’t leave out a single detail.”

The two started to have a long conversation and everything was fully revealed to the High Priest.

Deep underneath Castle de Belouis, in the dimly lit and cavernous dungeons, sat Don and Kat. Both were still chained up and confined to the wall, completely unable to move about the cell freely. Kat continuously moaned in pain, still intensely feeling the removal of her leg.

“Hey, Kat. It’ll be alright, okay? I know it hurts, but just hold on for a bit longer. Surely they’ll let us go after all the information I gave them.” Don softly reassured, trying to calm his long time partner’s worries.

Suddenly, the two heard a soft voice entering the room from the dark shadows.

“Your information proved very fruitful for me. I thank you for that.”

Don looked up and frantically scanned the room, trying to figure out where the voice came from. Azhane Belouis stepped forth from the deep black, her face partially lit by a single lantern.

“W-What do you want?!? Are you going to set us free now?? We did what you asked!” Don pleaded, ready for this nightmare to be over.

She didn’t respond, only giving cold stares back with her red eyes. She then fixed her gaze over to Kat, who was sweating profusely and clearly struggling to get through her pain. Azhane walked towards her and tightly grabbed her chin, lifting up her head so they could see face to face.

“Ahg!” Kat groaned as she slowly opened her eyes.

“Sure.. I’ll set you two free…” Azhane said, but her tone seemed a bit off for some reason.

“G-Great! You hear that Kat? We can leave! H-How soon?” Don exclaimed with pain filled excitement.

To his surprise, Azhane gently placed her hand on Kat’s chest.

With a small push, Azhane forced her Core Energy into Kat, causing something wet and fleshy to drop from the ceiling onto the ground. Kat began gasping for air, now completely unable to breathe. Azhane leaned into her ear and whispered.

“You’ll be free very soon…”

“HEY!!! What did you do to her!?!?!?? KAT!!!!”

Seconds later Kat’s head dropped as she perished from her lack of oxygen. Azhane approached Don and did the same to him. He squirmed and tried his best to keep her off of him, screaming loudly until he felt something leave his chest.

As he struggled for air, he glanced over and saw a pair of wet lungs laying on the cold, dusty floor. Azhane glared into Don’s eyes silently as he took his last breath, staring deeply at the two lifeless mercenaries dangling from their chains. She aimed her palm at the pair of lungs laying on the floor and consumed them with one of her pocket dimensions, erasing all evidence. She then teleported out of the cell, leaving the dungeons in an eerie fashion.

The following morning, Azhane was making her way to her office accompanied by Zalthia and Nadine. Just as they got to the end of the hall, a few guards rushed up to the Queen in a panic.

“What’s the problem?” Zalthia asked, surprised by their disturbed state.

“Ah, Lady Zalthia, the two prisoners we brought here the other day are dead! We went to give them their meal for the day and noticed their unresponsiveness. What should we do?” One of the guards loudly stated.

“What? How did they die??”

“We aren’t sure. There were no signs of foul play or any injuries on their bodies.”

His reply caused Zalthia to shake her head in disbelief, not understanding how this could have happened.

“Goodness.. Well, take them to the infirmary and I’ll have the examiner take a look at them. You are dismissed.”

The guards bowed and quickly left to carry out her orders.

“Well that’s unfortunate. Could’ve gotten more information from them, maybe even used them as informants.” Zalthia said, disappointed by the news and missed opportunity.

“Yes. Quite unfortunate indeed…” Azhane replied with a slight smile, beginning to walk forward again.

Zalthia looked at her sister’s back with wide eyes, now starting to suspect that Azhane had a hand in this. She shook her head again as she silently followed, not wanting to go down that road with the Queen.