Novel Full Chapter 267: Honest Men
Chapter 267: Honest Men
“Alright then, Elion, let’s get straight to the point,” Aeron said, his voice turning a tad bit more serious, “since you’re here now, you should understand what we’ve figured out so far about this trial.”
Maya nodded slightly as she stepped closer to the table. Her staff rested against her shoulder while her free hand pointed toward various markings across the map.
“All four of us arrived in this war at different points in time,” she began explaining, “not too far apart, though, the longest gap between arrivals was about a month.”
Zenovia gave a small nod as well, her cat ears fluttering lightly and her tail flicking once behind her.
“We didn’t arrive in the same place either,” she added, “each of us was dropped into the battlefield at random locations, different battles, and different moments.”
Aeron continued where she left off.
“But somehow, every time a new one of us arrived, we eventually ran into each other on the battlefield,” he said, tapping the table lightly with a finger, “It wasn’t planned or coordinated on our end, it just… happened.”
Elion listened quietly.
Maya looked at him again. “There are seven of us in total,” she said.
Elion raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Trial takers, she means,” Aeron clarified, “Or seven summoned individuals as the people here call us.”
“Yes…” Zenovia sighed slightly and leaned against the side of the table. “Unfortunately,” she said flatly, “the other three are fighting for the demons.”
Elion’s gaze sharpened slightly at that.
Aeron nodded.
“We had the same reaction. That’s the trial’s doing,” he explained, “must be some twisted balancing mechanic or something, we only found out recently about the others when we ran into them on the battlefield.”
Maya spoke again. “They are trial takers just like us,” she said, “but the trial placed them on the opposite side of the war. Makes you think what the trial is playing at here. And, for their final objective, naturally, they probably have a similar one to ours, but directly opposing ours.”
Zenovia let out a small scoff.
“So yes,” she added, “half of the people we’re supposed to compete with are actively trying to kill us.”
Elion folded his arms slightly as he absorbed the information. “And what made you think that I am on your side? What if I am with the other three?”
Aeron got thinking for a few seconds, “Well, you would have been killing the coalition forces instead of the demons when we found you.”
Elion simply smiled lightly at that, “And what if that was all a plan we made to infiltrate your base?” He grinned.
Maya, Aeron, and Zenovia’s expressions all sharpened at that.
’Why didn’t we think of that?’ They all thought at once.
They had been so absorbed in everything and trying to get back to camp and speak with him that they had failed to account for that possibility.
Their expression darkened, and they all became tense very quickly.
Even if he was only saying that to put them on edge, it was still enough to show how inexperienced and foolish they were in this game.
Elion laughed heartily as he brushed an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye, “Relax, of course, that was only hypothetical. Please don’t get the wrong idea and try to kill me.”
Pah!
He pressed his hands together in a pleading gesture.
Only, this felt so unlike him.
He would never usually crack jokes like that, even with Mira or Aria, and he definitely wouldn’t be having so much fun, but for some reason, he had been doing so much of that since that time in the forest.
If he gave it a thought, he would know why he was doing so.
After enhanced cognition wore off, he needed an escape to keep his mind from wandering toward the train of thought about questioning his moral compass and so on.
The first escape had been leering at Zenovia’s sexy figure. And now, a personality so far apart from his usual self had popped up as a coping mechanism that his mind had put up to block that particular line of thought.
And it was working wonders, for the moment at least. For how long, though, only time would tell.
“And the objectives?” he asked once he noticed that the others were not so tense anymore.
Aeron sighed lightly, deciding that there was no use dwelling on regrets, and nodded toward him.
“Each of us gets plenty of individual objectives now and again,” he explained, “unique ones tied to our abilities or roles, but the main objective seems to be shared between all trial takers, on this side at least.”
Maya gave a small confirming nod.
“You should receive yours soon if you haven’t already.”
Zenovia leaned slightly forward. “The main objective is simple,” she said.
Aeron finished the sentence. “Win the war for humanity.”
Elion frowned slightly. “That’s it?”
Aeron barked out a dry laugh. “You say that like it’s simple.”
“Elion,” Maya said gently, “this war has been going on for four years. You may be strong, but we are only a very small part of it.”
“And yet somehow,” Zenovia muttered, “everyone expects us to be the ones to change everything.”
Elion glanced briefly at the large map on the table, though the layout meant little to him since he had never really learned how to read maps properly. With the use of a skill, though, maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult.
“And this trial…” he said slowly, “…what exactly is it?”
The three exchanged brief looks.
Maya spoke first. “We’re not entirely sure ourselves,” she admitted honestly.
Zenovia crossed her arms again.
“At first we thought this was some kind of large-scale illusion,” she said.
Aeron shook his head slightly. “But that theory doesn’t hold up anymore,” he added.
Maya continued calmly.
“These people are too real,” she said, her eyes drifting briefly toward the tent wall as if thinking of something beyond it, “they bleed, they cry, they laugh, they fear death, they mourn their losses.”
Zenovia’s expression hardened slightly.
“They die,” she said bluntly. Elion flinched a bit, but no one noticed.
Aeron tapped the table once more.
“It almost feels like we were sent back in time,” he said slowly, “like we were thrown into an actual historical war.”
“Back in time?” Elion repeated. He had the same thought, but he wanted these guys to confirm it for him, since they had been here longer.
“We don’t know,” Aeron said with frustration, “but the records, histories, names, places. Everything here feels like home.”
Elion nodded slightly, “So that confirms we are for the same place then?”
Maya chimed in, “Yes, but we all agreed to keep our personal lives private, for obvious reasons. Unless two parties agree to divulge such information to each other, that’s your choice.”
He nodded in understanding.
“Apart from that, for some reason, the people here see us as… special,” she explained, “We… are not exactly worshipped, but they consider us important enough that they expect us to shift the tide of battle when things become awry.”
“And unfortunately,” Zenovia shrugged, “they are usually right, ” She added, “They call us summoned heroes.”
Elion nodded slowly. “I see.”
That put a lot of matters into perspective for him.
’So this is the war that happened centuries ago against the demon race.’
Honestly, he didn’t know how to feel about it. What had started this war?
He didn’t really feel like the history they were all taught growing up was as valid as it used to seem anymore.
If the reasons were drawn in greys and whites instead of blacks or vivid colours, where did you draw the line?
And who had drawn these lines all those years ago?
If he was part incubus now, did that make him part demon?
If so, where did he stand in all this?
Elion shook his head. He really didn’t want to drown in those depressing thoughts right now. It felt like an endless loop of ideologies for the current him.
He looked around the tent with a melancholic look on his face.
The sun outside had begun dipping lower now, faint orange light filtering through the canvas walls of the tent as the shadows across the large forest map grew longer along its fabric.
Maya tapped the map again.
“This encampment is one of the coalition’s main checkpoints within the forest,” she explained, “the three of us are currently acting as second in the chain of command here.”
Elion raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Second?”
Just then, the tent flaps opened.
A tall, towering man stepped inside, his presence immediately noticeable as he carried a large shield on one arm and a broad sword resting against his shoulder.
His armor was a bit worn and marked from repeated battles, yet still imposing, and the moment Elion laid eyes on him, he could tell immediately.
’An Archmage.’
Aeron straightened slightly. “Commander.”
The man approached the table with steady steps.
“This is him?” the man asked calmly.
Maya nodded.
“Yes.”
Aeron gestured toward Elion.
“This is Elion,” he said, “he’s the last summoned hero on our side.”
The large man studied Elion carefully for a moment before extending his hand.
“Tristan,” he said in a firm voice, “commanding officer of the coalition forces in this sector.”
Elion accepted the handshake.
“I’ve already heard about your exploits from some of my mages outside.” Their grips tightened around each other.
“I wanted to see if their claims were overstated.” Tristan’s eyebrow rose slightly. “Apparently not.”
“You are strong,” the older man said approvingly as he released the handshake, “I will feel safer with you on the battlefield.”
Elion gave the man a small, appreciative smile. “Likewise.”
’More people can do with a little more honesty like him and Igor.’ He thought, as he remembered the big wolfkin guy from the academy.
It was odd that men like them felt the need to tense their hands when shaking hands. Maybe it was a virtue among honest men. He really didn’t get the sentiment, even though he always returned the gesture, which they seemed to like for some reason.
Before the conversation could continue any further than that, the tent flap opened again. This time, several people entered all at once.
Eight of them, to be exact.
They were all dressed in various forms of battle-worn, bloodied armor and robes, their movements tired and their expressions weary as if they had just returned from separate clashes across the forest.
One of them spoke as they stepped inside.
“Commander, the eastern flank is stabilizing, but we took heavy losses—”
His voice stopped mid-sentence as the group noticed Elion standing beside the command table.
The atmosphere inside the tent shifted immediately as the new group began to wonder who the outsider was and what he was doing here.