*crr... crr... CRACK!!!*

  The night sky cracked open, and a massive ray of light descended upon the chaotic hellscape that was Tragula. With it, all that was in its way was swept through, incinerated before minds could even perceive it.

  Moments ago, on the ground, soldiers from the United Federations of Tachyon, armed with their superior high-tech equipment and the Arcane Order of Seirion, braced with their blessed magical weapons, were fighting against one another amidst the poor villagers' houses. These people did nothing against the two empires, yet, seemingly without reason, the soldiers began marching in with no warning.

  The Seirionians were the first to enter the village ground. They barged into villagers' houses, aggressively pulled them and their families out, and gathered them up out in the cold autumn night. Women and children were crying and pleading for mercy, yet these heartless soldiers were not responding to their pleas. Instead, they stood guard around the captured villagers and were on the lookout for their archnemesis's manoeuvres.

  Then came the Tachyonians, who were pushing aggressively into the village from the opposite side, performing the same heinous act as their sworn enemy. It didn't take long before the two sides made contact, and shots were fired. Plasma blasts and magic bolts flew amidst the houses, heavy bombardments were dropped in, and the serene village turned into a living nightmare in less than half an hour.

  As hell was unleashed, some villagers began running outside in panic after seeing their neighbour's houses bombed into oblivion, concealing the fate of the ones inside them along with it. These frantically running villagers were shot down not because they were the primary targets, but because they were in the way of the soldiers trying to take aim. The fight was intense, and the safety of the innocent villagers was not their top concern. After all, this was a war between the two great empires of Equilibria, and the lives of the backwards people of Everbloom were not valued as individuals, but as numbers to be counted later.

  High above the ground, higher than even the fighters and war birds that were flying and fighting above Tragula, an enigmatic man was levitating in the air. His white coat and grey hair wavered smoothly against the wind, and he kept his bionic right arm and amulet-stacked left arm in his pocket. Through his eyeglasses, he witnessed the chaos unfold in slow motion, unemotionally, as he muttered his disillusionment:

  "This war... has brought nothing but suffering to this world..."

  "The deliberation... of pitting equally powerful and innovative humans against one another was seen as a means to keep humanity from falling into decadence..."

  "Yet... isn't this in itself a form of decadence? The inhumanity, the viciousness, and symmetrical prejudice... they were all a form of evil that ruined what makes humans... human..."

  "In the end, this insanity only led to this... the suffering of those who refused to take sides, yet received twice the pain. They are the worst victim of all, and yet people of the two empires never looked at them seriously".

  The man sighed, reminiscing on old, bitter memories. There was a time when he was just like those villagers below him, hopeless and powerless, who looked at the imperial soldiers as terrifying forces. But now, he was above all of that, both metaphorically and literally, as he had acquired knowledge and powers beyond what the empire had to offer.

  He continued: "Matina and I agreed on this, but her approach to end this was unrealistic; ironic, considering she came from a more advanced civilisation than I am".

  "Tsk... a Concordian... what a na?ve thinking..."

  "Well, there's no use in loathing any further. It has been so long since I last talked to that 'big snake', anyway".

  "Now, it's time for me to bring them 'home', to bring upon retribution to the perpetrators, to bring mercy to the victims, and to end this war..."

  "For the only form of justice, capable of curing the arrogance found in their heart...".

  "...is absolute power".

  *KA-BOOOOM!!!*

  Thunderous roar swept across the forest, and the flash from the heavenly ray brightened up the night sky into azure blue for a few seconds. Then, silence; all fighting near Tragula was abruptly halted, with no flashes seen nor explosions heard afterwards from in between the trees.

  When this happened, Yuna was still running into the dark forest. Lost and afraid, she had no idea where she was heading or what might happen to her next. The uncertainty, with all the chaos happening around her, led to her continuously running without looking back.

  A while ago, she and her other two friends were chasing down a suspicious individual in the forest. A motor-riding messenger from Rustbed, seemingly neutral in the beginning, decided to take the opportunity to swipe someone else's hard work on unearthing broken warmechs and battle golems to be sold as scraps. What began as a simple thief-chasing session ended up being a life-altering event for the teenage girl from Tragula.

  Despite having to leave behind her friend for her own life, deeply, she greatly worried about them:

  "Hadrick... Lorian..."

  "Are they safe? What if they're still there?"

  Lorian went missing, and while she had been holding on to Hadrick tightly, the intense fighting around them and the unfortunate fact that Hadrick had lost his consciousness led her to leave him behind.

  "Hadrick! Wake up!", she shook his chubby body, with no response coming from him.

  "No... Hadrick... *sob*...*

  That memory flashed upon her as she was still running. She remembered that Hadrick was still weakly breathing in her hands, but she wouldn't be able to carry him with her. The guilt of leaving a surviving friend behind haunted her over and over as she continued to run.

  When the thunderous roar with the bright flash occurred behind her, she stopped to look back. The shockwave pushed up the leaves and swayed the trees, and looking up, she witnessed the tall white pillar stretching all the way up to the skies right as it was about to fade.

  "Wha... what was that...?!", she expressed, taken aback by the bizarre phenomenon.

  After it disappeared, she began to notice the eerie silence that suddenly enveloped the entire forest. Screeching noise from fighter jets and war birds stopped being heard, and the flashes that were zooming in between the trees before ceased completely.

  Apocalypse had been paused, yet it ironically left Yuna stumped. While the forest seemingly appeared peaceful now, the abruptness of it left an uneasy feeling in Yuna's heart.

  "What happened to all the fighting? Why do they stop?", she pondered.

  With nothing to flee from, plus the exhaustion she got from all the running, she decided it was best for her to walk cautiously onward. As she did so, she keenly observed her surroundings, keeping both her eyes and ears alert for any suspicious movement in between the trees.

  She anticipated that surprises might come and greet her unexpectedly, but after half an hour of wandering aimlessly in a straight direction, nothing came out whatsoever. Suspicion heightened, and she became more anxious than ever before.

  Eventually, she heard a group of people bickering from over a mound to her right. Curious, she carefully climbed up to check, and what she saw was terrifying and yet greatly confusing.

  A Tachyonian fireteam, consisting of around five soldiers, was seen bickering among each other as they scratched their heads trying to fix their small portable missile battery that had completely bricked itself.

  "The hell is wrong with this thing?!", one of them cursed as he kicked it on its side.

  "Hey, hey! Could you not kick the stupid thing? Can't you see I'm working on the panel right now?!", the other scolded, as he held a screwdriver in his hand.

  "Ugh... fine! Just get this thing running back soon. We can't afford to have the mystics firing back on us first", the impatient soldier crossed his arms.

  Yuna kept her head low as she saw that one soldier started to turn in her direction. Fortunately, he hadn't noticed anything, and Yuna continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.

  "Just... ugh, what was that thing, man?", another of them wondered. "It came down, and suddenly everything we had just died! Luckily, this power suit we had on us still allows us to move without power, else we'd be standing here like statues".

  "I don't know, man", the fixer replied. "All I know is that it gave me all the headaches having to restart each and every equipment in our fireteam. Never in my entire career have I needed to cold-start sidearms in the middle of a fight, you know?! We look stupid out here..."

  "What's weirder is that even the mystics stopped firing on us... could it be that they're also facing the same issue as us?", the one on lookout duty added.

  "Hey, don't jinx it! We don't want to find out what their status is the hard way", the other soldier on lookout cut him off.

  He continued: "Ugh... putting that aside, have any of you received any signal from field command so far?"

  "No", everyone answered one by one.

  As much as it was nerve-racking to be eavesdropping on imperial soldiers this close, Yuna felt rather amused by just how humbled the Tachyonians had become after their advanced gadgets and weapons all broke down at the same time. It was surreal to her, personally witnessing Tachyonians, which the village elders commonly said were 'soulless and unemotional', being full of emotions in the moment of hardship.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Hehe... not so advanced now, are we?", Yuna silently mocked them. "Still, listening to them like this made me feel... sorry for them".

  "Wait a minute, why am I being sympathetic to them? Besides, if they saw me, who knows what those imperial dogs will do to me?!" she reminded herself of who they really were as she carefully made her way down the mound.

  Having known the Tachyonian fireteam position, she carefully treaded away from them and continued walking through the forest, in the hope that she would at least find somewhere safe.

  However, regardless of where she changed her direction, she kept finding herself crossing paths with the Tachyonians. Sometimes, it was an artillery fireteam like before. Other times, she found supply nodes or resting camps manned by multiple soldiers. She also almost had an encounter with moving units, running on foot between places while carrying crates in their hands. Had it not been for the trees' canopy covering the moonlight and the trees' bark providing cover, she would've long been spotted by them.

  "Uh oh... am I deep inside a Tachyon-occupied area?", she started to worry while she hid behind a bark.

  Although the people of Tragula were not involved in the war, they knew it was best for them not to cross into occupied areas, especially if there were active battles ongoing. Now that she had realised that she might be in one, she anxiously fixated her mind on finding a way out quickly before anything went south.

  "Okay, okay... calm down. You got this, Yuna", she soothed herself while taking deep breaths.

  "Just remember: don't approach any Tachyonian Soldiers directly and don't attract their attention".

  With one last deep breath, she moved out of her hiding spot and nimbly ran in a single direction, intuitively hoping that this would get her out of here. She managed to avoid detection completely throughout the way, and after about 15 minutes, she started to see less and less Tachyonian presence.

  "Ahaha, yes! I did it! I safely made it out!", she complimented herself.

  "Hah... now that I'm out of there, let's slowly find my way back to Tragula. Hopefully, things should be less stressful from now on with the fighting stopped", she optimistically said as she walked toward what seemed to be an open plain beyond the forest.

  She thought that this might've been an empty, open grassland where she should be able to see the stars and moon above clearly, which would've been helpful for her to find her way back home. While she did find a flat grassland, she also ended up finding a large Tachyonian military camp right in the middle of it.

  "Argh, damn it! This is exactly where I shouldn't be!", she blurted out as she faced towards those blocky metallic 'tents' at the camp.

  Her accidental yelling attracted the attention of a patrol drone, which immediately approached her as it shone its spotlight on her while sounding its alarm for everyone in the camp to hear.

  Yuna froze on the spot, unsure of what she should do. Then, seconds later, a group of patrolling soldiers ran up to her and pointed their plasma rifles at her.

  "FREEZE RIGHT THERE!", the squad sternly ordered.

  "Ah! Please, don't shoot!", Yuna begged, hands raised above her head.

  "What are you doing here?!", the soldier questioned.

  She stuttered: "I—um... I'm lost..."

  "Answer properly! What are you doing here?!", the soldier pressed.

  "I'm serious! I'm actually lost! Please... could you let me go back to where I live?", she sobbed.

  He inquired: "Where are you from?"

  "T—Tragula..."

  A puzzled look appeared on the soldier's face upon hearing that, as did his comrades by his side. Whispers broke out among them as they were figuring out what should they do while Yuna anxiously stood in the spotlight.

  "Tragula? Is this girl serious right now?", one of them asked.

  "Isn't that where that 'thing' struck and annihilated our offensives?", the other added.

  "How could she be all the way here? Isn't it like 10km away from where that village is?", yet another asked.

  Suddenly, one of them said: "Could she be an illusion trap sent by the mystics?".

  "What makes you think like that?", the squad leader asked.

  "It's just too coincidental, isn't it? That village got destroyed, and suddenly, we have a 'survivor' this far out".

  "I think it's better if we neutralise her first before taking her in for interrogation. We don't want 'that' to happen again, do we?".

  The soldiers collectively agreed on that callous decision and focused their attention back on Yuna. With their plasma rifles locked on her, Yuna's heart raced as she pleaded for one last time:

  "Wait, wait, NO! Please, I promise you... I pose no harm!"

  "Sorry, missy. This is how things must go. If you want to live, you'd better stay put", the squad leader told her.

  "Huh? So does that mean you won't shoot me if I do so?", Yuna asked.

  "No, we're still going to put you down. Just so that our shots don't hit your vitals and kill you instantly".

  "HUH?! Is there no other way to do this?", Yuna started to shiver as she backed off slightly.

  "Like I said, this is how things must go. Blame those mystics for having us do this to you", he said as he gripped his finger on the trigger.

  In the moment before the plasma blasts were fired, her mind reflected on that last word spoken by that soldier:

  "Blame the mystics (a.k.a. Seirionians), for what they (Tachyonians) are going to do to me?"

  "These people... they're lunatics!"

  *PEW* *PEW* *PEW*

  "AHHHH!!!"

  Yuna instinctively shut her eyes and covered her upper body with her arms, fearing for her own life. Within a millisecond, surges of superheated plasma exited the rifles' barrels and zipped through the air before closing in on her faster than the eye could see. However, in that moment too, suddenly—

  *sling* *slash* *sling*

  "Huh...?"

  When she opened her eyes, she saw that there was a crystalline sword gleaming in bright white light in her grip as she masterfully held it forward, blocking those plasma blasts from hitting her. Flabbergasted, she froze with her eyes widened, and her mind flooded with emotions.

  "Huh...? What's this?", she said in her mind.

  She felt a strange connection to the sword, both eerie and soothing, as if she had gotten accustomed to wielding it. Lifting it closely to her face, she became enamoured by its flawless surface, while seeing the reflection of her own face projected upon it.

  Her speechless fascination over the strange sword made her temporarily forget what situation she was in, as the Tachyonian soldiers continued to watch her moves. They stopped firing after a short burst, and upon realising that they had just witnessed a resolutor's ascension right before their eyes, they immediately jumped into a specified protocol for an occasion like this.

  "Gap out! Gap out! Resolutor in sight!", the squad leader told the others.

  These soldiers had already been trained not to be fazed by a sudden resolutor appearance, especially if they were unaligned. Following the order, they quickly made wide gaps among themselves while simultaneously forming a double circle formation around her with alternating positions.

  Yuna, now surrounded by Tachyonian soldiers on all sides, firmly held her sword forward. She had no idea what she was doing, but it intuitively felt correct to her. Then, with confidence, she sharply gazed upon the soldiers as she slowly spun around where she was standing. The soldiers showed no visible emotion from her intimidation, and gave her the same stone-cold face as their faces sat behind the scope.

  "Why... am I suddenly acting so courageous? It's like, this sword is giving me the strength to fight them off, and my body wants to follow", she monologued.

  The anxiety was still there; it was just buried by her sudden burst of courage and bravery. Eventually, she stopped reflecting on it and decided to strike first.

  She sprinted and slashed at the first soldier with ease. His armour cracked open, and her blade sliced through his flesh. Downed, she then locked onto the next one. As she moved to her next target, the soldiers were all firing at her, but she was seemingly able to dodge and parry them all. Closing in on the second soldier, she sliced forward. But unlike the last soldier, this one was able to move back before the blade hit him.

  In quick response, the soldier stepped forth and grabbed her hands before she could perform a counter slash. He gripped one of her forearms and slapped her to the ground, producing a loud *thump* as her body impacted on the grass.

  It was painful and concussive, but through the new strength she had now, she was able to overcome the soldier's immense strength as he was pinning her to the ground. With all the rage, she pushed her upper body up until the soldier on her back got lifted with her, and grabbed him by his outfit before throwing him to the side.

  She quickly knelt over next to him and lifted her sword high, ready to stab the soldier in his chest. However, in her raging state, she failed to take notice of her environment and was ultimately shot in her back before dropping to the ground.

  The pain from receiving a plasma blast to the body was so unbearable, her body immediately shut down from the trauma shock. What happened next to her was unknown, and she wouldn't be finding that out until much later.

  "This is patrol team omega: we successfully neutralised a resolutor at the perimeter. I repeat, we successfully neutralised a resolutor, over".

  .

  .

  .

  Location: Netrino City, Central Administrative Region, United Federations of Tachyon.

  Time: 2.00 P.M., Tuesday, 24 March 2570 AY.

  *Ringggg!!!!*

  The students of Leeman High School packed their bags and exited their class when the bell rang to end today's session. Students' chattering and laughter filled the hallway as they joyfully reached for the main entrance with their friends by their side. Beyond the main entrance, some students waited at the front yard for their parents to come and fetch them, while others boarded the bus or simply walked.

  Catarina and her close friends would usually have to walk a short distance to the tram station before taking the line back to the district where they live. Today's no different, and while they leisurely walked through the street, the girls chatted about a recent hot topic instead of the usual gossip they normally indulged in.

  "Do any of you think that the Enigma man was behind the mysterious incident that occurred on the frontline in Everbloom recently?", Lyulika started the topic.

  "Oh, come on, Lyulika! Why would an urban legend be involved in the war all of a sudden? Besides, the news of the incident was still unconfirmed, and that it may have been spread by some mystics hiding in our land to stir chaos", Aniena replied.

  "Ugh... Annie, you're always so boring. Why can't we indulge in our imagination a little? After all, it's not often that we talk about this", Miranda took offence.

  "Hey! I'm not saying we can't talk about this. I'm just doing my part to ensure that no misinformation ever slips into our beloved nation", Aniena proudly explained.

  "Okay... Miss Citizen Role Model, you're always right...", Miranda commented.

  "Anyway...", Lyulika excitedly continued, "let's say the news is true, and that it really is of unknown origin, then what is the possibility that it is the Enigma Man's working?".

  "I don't know...", answered Aniena reluctantly. "You're the kind to read into this kind of stuff, so how about you tell us?".

  "Oh, come on! Don't give up too soon!", Lyulika was disappointed.

  While waiting for either Aniena or Miranda to continue, Lyulika suddenly took notice of Catarina, who had been a little absent-minded today and had walked silently alongside them.

  "Hey, Caty, what's wrong? Why are you so silent today? This is not the usual you, y'know", Lyulika said.

  Catarina snapped out of her thoughts and replied: "Oh! Um... it's nothing..."

  "It's just..."

  "If the details of the news are indeed as we've heard, then that means there are chances that it might've happened at my old village"

  Lyulika continued: "Yeah... the place was said to be in Goldilocks valley, and that it had annihilated a settlement there. But... there are also chances that it didn't hit Tra—Talu... Um, what's the name of your old village again?".

  "It's Tragula", said Catarina solemnly.

  She continued: "To be honest, I'm mostly worried about my old friends there. I wonder how they are doing with the war happening all around them".

  "Well, let's hope for the best for them, shall we?", Miranda optimistically said.

  The four girls continued to the tram station and boarded together. One by one, they bid farewell and drop off at their station, with Catarina being the last among them.

  After an uneventful journey through the street, she finally arrived at her home, located on the 20th floor of the condominium. Scanning her access card at the door, she entered her house to find her father sitting at the dining table while working on his work tablet.

  "Hey, Dad, I'm back!", she warmly greeted her father.

  "Oh, my dear Catarina! Welcome back! How's school?", her father replied.

  "It's good. Everything went on as usual", she answered.

  Right as Catarina was about to return to her room, her father stopped her: "Catarina, could you come here for a moment?"

  "Oh? Sure, Dad".

  She sat on the chair next to her father and asked: "What's the matter, Dad?"

  "Here. Come closer. Take a look at this image my colleagues sent to me", her father tilted his tablet to her.

  "Does this... not look like one of your old friends?"

  When she laid her eyes on the image projected, her heart stopped upon seeing someone she would never expect to see again from the day she and her family moved out of Tragula.

  "Y—Yuna?!"