City of Sin

The Scent Of Destiny

“How many people are still alive?” Richard suddenly asked, staring down at the ruined city from his vantage point.

“Huh? Uhh… We aren’t sure. But there were eight million when the first wave attacked, and from the looks of it… Maybe two million are left,” Salwyn said after a few moments of surprise.

“Mm… This thing is pretty useful, it might help defend against the next wave too,” Richard said while playing around with the exploding orb, reminding the Emperor that even reinforcements would only help with one more assault. He continued, “I can trust you once more, for the sake of your citizens. You’ll get 2,000 humanoids and 300 night elves the day after tomorrow, prepare these things to be tied onto arrows for the elves, but you can use the humanoids however you want.”

Salwyn’s eyes brightened and he grasped Richard’s hand tightly, so moved that he didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t a large number of soldiers, but he knew just how important the drones were.

Richard patted the hand holding his, “But I have a condition. No matter how many people are left alive here, you’re retreating after the next battle. It’s impossible for you to survive the fourth; just pray that your citizens make it to my lands.”

“I understand, I will personally lead my people to you.”

“No. You, and anyone you think is important, will be moved on wasps.”

“But—”

“This isn’t a suggestion, it’s an order. Choose to disobey, and there will be no reinforcements.”

“But there are two million people here!” Salwyn growled, pointing at the people bustling around the city.

“There are fifty around Bluewater right now, and hundreds more in the south. Those drones can save far more than two million if I use them myself.”

“But… I’m…”

“You’re the Emperor of the Iron Triangle, and I’m the ruler of this plane. Your two million citizens are only a small fraction of the near-billion that were under my command.” Richard saw Salwyn cringe at this fact, but he continued, “I’m sending reinforcements because I value you. We’ll defeat the reapers eventually, and I won’t let Faelor be destroyed. But I can’t win a war with my forces stretched so thin.”

Salwyn sighed, “I believe in you as well. But… By that time… How much of this plane will be left standing?”

Richard patted his shoulder, “A glimmer of hope is all we need. Even if Faelor itself is destroyed, our people will continue their lives on other planes. Your legacy will not end unless you let it.”

……

Boarding his messenger to return to the primary battlefield, Richard sent out a slew of commands for his soldiers to retreat to the second line of defence. The third battlefield would be abandoned as well, with all troops concentrating on the primary and secondary locations near the Land of Turmoil and Bluewater.

As he finished his orders, Nasia suddenly tapped him on the shoulder, “Do you want to go after the reapers?”

“Just us?”

“Just us, but that doesn’t include you. You should go back to Norland and make more sacrifices. You haven’t been crafting runes recently and the reward point system is starting to run dry.”

“Does that matter right now?” he frowned.

“It’s the source of funds for this suicide campaign. Do you have any other way to finance the war?”

“Ugh… Alright,” he admitted. If not for the wealth he had amassed from the reward point system, he wouldn’t have decided to battle the reapers. This system gave him both the finances and the legendary subordinates to take on such an impossible enemy, and its collapse would be his doom. However, he was still a little worried, “But how are you going to manage things if I’m not here?”

“You can’t always be here, but we’ll still have to fight, won’t we? Besides, you can’t even take me on, can you?”

He had no response.

In the end, Richard transferred control over all of his followers and troops to Nasia, returning to Bluewater while she flew west with Mountainsea. At the same time, Zangru, Waterflower, Phaser, and even Ironshield and Shaun flew out to meet up with her.

…

Once Richard was gone, Mountainsea fell deep into thought. Sitting next to her, Nasia asked casually, “Something on your mind?”

The girl looked up at the mysterious paladin whom she had never really liked, finding a sense of security for the first time ever. Leaning over, she took a whiff, “I like your smell.”

“My… smell, huh… You can smell the scent of destiny?”

The barbarian girl grew serious, but a smile slowly appeared on her face, “Your smell is nice, so… Yes, I can smell destiny. I got it from the Beast God.”

“An interesting ability. Does it have any restrictions?”

“Mm. I can only smell fates that are related to me.”

“Still, not bad at all. Seems like the other descendants of the Beast God are destined for death.”

“What? Why?”

“The power of destiny is invisible, but it is stronger than anything else. If I had to give you an explanation, destiny is the combined law of everything in existence. It isn’t deterministic, but controlling it is very difficult. Few people can understand all the laws in existence, but you come close.”

Mountainsea was stunned by this explanation. She had never expected this one ability of hers to have such a profound effect.

Nasia continued, “You’re gifted, and your mere presence will ensure that destiny abandons the other descendants of the Beast God. They will meet with various obstacles until one eventually removes them from existence.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know either. I have only seen this happen before in the past; when someone with a powerful destiny appears in an ancient bloodline, the other descendants of that bloodline go extinct.”

“Hmm… Have I seen anyone like that before?”

“Perhaps. Who knows?” Nasia shrugged it off.

Mountainsea furrowed her brows, but she couldn’t figure out who this other descendant could be. She eventually just stopped thinking about it and shook her head vigorously, flinging those thoughts away.

Nasia looked at the flustered princess and asked, “Did you like Richard because of his scent, too?”

“Oh? Mmm…” Mountainsea smiled as she recalled the past, “Yeah, he had a really nice scent. Of everyone I met in Norland, he was the one that didn’t seem to care about my money at all.”

The young girl than started describing her childhood in detail, with Nasia listening patiently as she talked about events in the Deepblue. The problems of that time were minute given her current perspective, but she seemed to be able to remember the tiniest of details when it came to Richard.

“I heard he came searching for you in Klandor?” Nasia eventually asked.

Mountainsea fell silent for a moment before replying softly, “Yes, but I regret it now.”

“Why? Didn’t he bring you away successfully?”

The barbarian girl looked forward, staring at an unknown spot in the distance, “It changed our destinies. I don’t know how, but when I gave up on my totems and came to Norland, I realised I was useless to him. I had no power, no money, and I didn’t know how to do anything to help.”

“And so you slept. Slept hard, hoping you could awaken your bloodline quickly.”

“Mm. Thankfully, I seem to have made it just in time.”

“You know, if you really want to help Richard, this isn’t the way.”

“But what should I do?”

“When the time comes, seek help from the Azuresnow Shrine. Richard is currently a soldier with no reinforcements, he has no chance to rest at all. If this goes on, he’ll die sooner or later. The reward point system isn’t a binding force; if things go downhill, no amount of virtual points will lure powerhouses to Faelor.”

Nasia smiled bitterly before continuing, “When the casualties at the high end reach a certain level, you’ll suddenly find all our friends gone.”

“So I should go ask the shrine for warriors?”

“No, that isn’t it. Just keep your shrine in mind; I feel like we’ll be encountering a difficult enemy soon, we might require all the help we can get.”

“What enemy?”

“If I mastered destiny to that extent, I wouldn’t have a need to wear this mask.”

The two of them fell quiet, their mount silently flying across the sky to the end of the world.