Chapter 622: War Between Worlds
The sirens went off as Runera realized that s.p.a.ce had been unlocked. It was a shock to many that one of the most significant arrays in Runera was disabled. However, the blame went toward the man who escaped from the ruins.
"You are a wanted man now," said Julia as she looked from atop the walls of Runera, which also bordered the portals. "Are we going to leave this through the station?"
"It would be the fastest method," said Alexie with a nod. "The distance from here to Kira is almost three thousand kilometers. It would take me hours, if not a day, to get there on my own since I have yet to recover."
"I will operate the portals for you, Alexie," said Julia while patting his shoulder. "Although that is not your real name, is it?" she asked since the truth had turned obvious.
"The genius runemaster will pick on the hints without doubts," smiled Alexie as he turned toward her. "This is also the reason I brought you here. After that, you have a choice of either following me and leaving Runera or letting me erase what you saw."
"Erasing my memories might destroy our friendship and my standing in Runera. Are you willing to lose an ally?"
"You are a smart woman and will get around many of the hardships ahead," nodded Arthur at her. "However, I will never force you to forget my ident.i.ty, but please let me give them another layer since mind-reading seems to be a forte of the enemy."
"Another layer?"
"I will create fake memories in your mind that you will be aware of," said Arthur as he raised his hand. "This way, all you have to do when they interrogate you is look through them. It will also trigger if someone tries to read them forcibly."
"Tell me, Arthur Silvera. Is there something that you cannot do?"
"Only thinking of an answer for that," smiled Arthur, and the runemaster laughed. "Then, please don"t flinch," after he warned her, Arthur placed his hand on her head.
Julia began to see a different set of memories that she saw, where it changed into something that didn"t reveal Arthur"s ident.i.ty or powers. However, Mistletoe kidnapped her remained a fact, and Oriole was the one to save her.
"There are more memories," muttered Julia. "Ones where you took me a hostage to operate the station for your sake. Is that the excuse we will be working on? This ident.i.ty will be the enemy of Runera from now on."
"You can testify that I was against Mistletoe, proving I wasn"t one of the attackers. It has been hectic with the lockdown, but I"m sure that Kera is already in danger."
"This will give you a reason to leave Runera," nodded Julia. "I hope this works out... Arthur. And," she bit on her lips, "I"m sorry for what I did long ago. I shouldn"t have chosen to side with that pig for the sake of a few resources."
"I can accept a selfish person who risks their lives for others," smiled Arthur. "I know you would have done a different thing if you knew that pig would harm me in a way. Emma was the reason that nothing happened, but if you took my side, that pig would have attacked me from the shadows later on."
"Young Miss Emma saved me," smiled Julia. "Are you friends with her as Alexie?"
"..."
"How exciting it is to be young," laughed Julia before she started walking toward the edge of the wall. "Teleport me there, kiddo. I will activate the station using my authority. You should take that girl and leave this place."
"Isn"t that kidnapping?"
"She always wanted to leave Runera anyway because it was too political. Yet now, I envy her for the chance to take an adventure with you."
"This will be a pain," sighed Arthur as he picked her up and walked toward Julia. "Does that mean you are staying here?"
"I need to testify for you, right?" grinned Julia. "I will make sure that the damage to your reputation is not as severe. My father is on my side, too, so don"t worry."
"Come and visit me when everything ends. I hope it ends well."
After that, Arthur teleported her into the station. Julia stood in front of giant double doors that led to the control room, which she accessed using her runic ring. The doors opened to reveal an empty control room, abandoned by the staff after the lockdown.
From the cameras, Julia can see the runic guard guarding the outside of the station. They had no idea that she managed to get inside, but they would hear soon that the s.p.a.ce arrays had been disabled. It would only be natural for them to rush in at that time.
The words Arthur left her with kept ringing in her mind. Nothing told her that things would end well for Arthur because she witnessed the fight and why he was desperate to leave. It might be possible that the next time the two of them meet, Arthur will be different.
"I still cannot believe that you are alive, Arthur Silvera," frowned Julia as she took a seat in front of the control. She managed to see Arthur and Maryam teleport into one of the portal sites on the monitors. Then, he waved at her. "What exactly pushed you to fake your death?"
Julia began to activate the array, even though she was no specialist. However, it was easy to choose the closest destination to Kera, the Yalen Capital, Yalenia. The teleportation began, and Julia watched Arthur stare at the camera before disappearing.
"See you later, friend."
***
Teleporting such a distance meant going through highly compressed s.p.a.ce layers in a short amount of time. Therefore, it gave people nausea, dizziness, and disorientation afterward. However, this time, Arthur"s body managed to resist those symptoms.
When the two of them suddenly appeared in the Yalenia Station, they didn"t draw much attention except for Maryam being carried on Arthur"s shoulder. However, it was still common for adventures to bring back their fallen comrades, so Arthur managed to blend in with the crowd when he left the portal station.
The place was chaotic, and Arthur couldn"t walk out of the station without having to swim through a sea of pedestrians. What drew Arthur"s attention was the state of the arrivals, who held dark expressions and bags filled with luggage.
"Excuse me," asked Arthur as he tapped another man"s shoulder. The man turned toward him with fright, and Arthur was shocked to see it was Juan Keizer. This was one of his party members when Arthur met Jizo, the Scholar Guardian.
"What... is it?" asked Juan with nervousness. His past arrogance and weight were gone, replaced with a lanky and bony scared man.
Arthur hadn"t realized how much his body had grown over the past year until he met Juan again. He was shocked because, as he remembered it, Juan was a lot taller. Now, he was even shorter than Arthur.
This man was turned into a zombie in the previous timeline by none other than Ellen. His life was spared in this timeline since Ellen never fell into the darkness. This, among other things, disoriented and alienated Arthur.
"What is happening? Where are all these people coming from?"
"Have... you been living under a rock?" asked Juan, not in an attempt to insult him but with evident shock. Then, his bony hand pointed toward a screen mounted on the wall. "These are the refugees coming from Kera!"
Arthur followed his gaze to find a screen at the end of the giant sidewalk. The scene from Kera was being played there, swamped with monsters and soldiers. In one of the scenes, Arthur managed to see a demihuman among them.
"This is the beginning..." muttered Juan beside him. "This is the beginning of the war between worlds!"
Arthur stared silently at the news while pressing his lips together. His heart was pounding in his chest as his mouth turned dry. His imagination was expecting the next scene to show the corpses of his family, but it never turned true.
"I didn"t even meet them in this world yet," muttered Arthur as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Juan turned toward him with confusion. "But, am I going to lose them again?"
"Do you have family in Kera?" asked Juan with confusion. "If so, then all you can do is pray they would come out of these portals at one point. There is a registry that you can check for the refugees, as we signed our names when we arrived.
"I need to go there myself," snapped Arthur out of his fear before turning in the other direction. "Whatever it takes...!"
"There is no use!" shouted Juan as he pulled on his shoulder. "The portals of Kera have been closed because of the attack. It is only taking refugees out of the city and would never waste time for other teleoperations!"