Quies woke up to an air shattering scream.
His eyes fluttered open, taking in the soft moonlight from the night sky. Luckily, the night vision potion hadn't ran out yet, so he would still be able to see despite the darkness. However, his eyes still needed some time to adjust.
'I'm so stupid.'
Quies laid there for a moment, just processing what had happened in Valerie's illusory realm. Really, what was he thinking? Trying to somehow stop an experienced and resonant song user… with what?
In that situation, he couldn't have done anything to save the father.
He had acted sporadically. He had acted without thought, but his actions had intention.
'But mercy has no value in this world…'
Quies thought back to what Valerie had said to him. That statement… it came out of nowhere, but stuck with Quies. The more he thought, the stronger that quote resonated within him.
This world, lumen, was unforgiving. Unforgiving and unequivocally brutal.
And there was no place for mercy where the profane laid.
'I hate it.'
Gathering himself, Quies poised himself upright, noticing that the Zweihander was still held in the scabbard slung across his back. A moment later, he stood.
And just to be safe, he drew the Zweihander from its sheath.
Who knows what that scream might have caught the attention of. Though, with his advancements in the song and swordsmanship, Quies felt that he would, at the very least, be able to stall whatever threat laid in the darkness until Valerie could help.
If she would even help him.
But he felt she would. He was a 'Valuable Asset' after all.
'Speaking of which…'
Quies looked around the small landing of the stone spire and came upon a terrible sight.
The father's head… had exploded. His body laid slanted sideways, knees bent. He was still in his Etrean guard uniform, the metal glinting the soft moonlight.
There was blood everywhere, giving Quies some mixed feelings.
But that wasn't what surprised him the most.
It was Valerie.
She was unconscious. Her body lay limp on the grass, though there seemed to be no physical injuries. A seemingly peerless master of the song was knocked out cold.
'Oh crap…'
Suddenly, the sound of grass rustling from the cliff edge caught his attention. Then, there was the sound of a tremendous impact that broke the soil at the base of the spire.
The scream did, in fact, catch the attention of someone…
something.
'Oh crap.'
Then, a sudden gust of gale nearly toppled Quies over, coming from where the sound originated. Looking back towards that direction…
"What happened here…"
Two men donning the same uniform as the now deceased subject seemed to have heard the scream. They were Etrean guards, though there was a different crest attached onto their armor when compared to the subject. These guards are on patrol.
Taking a quick glance at the scene, the two guards had thoroughly deduced what had happened.
"Kill him."
"Oh crap!"
This time, Quies had said it audibly. Not even one moment later, one of the guards murmured a mantra under his breath, letting forward an arcing blade of pressured gale heading straight towards Quies.
However, he dodged it with ease. His practice with Valerie wasn't for nothing.
Staring the two guards down, he readied his Zweihander.
He closed his eyes and listened. For this, he had to trust his intuition.
Beyond the soft rustle of grass and the gentle breeze, he could hear it.
He could hear their song, though much quieter than Valerie's. He could hear their intention.
***
"Show me who he is! Show me Zi'eer!"
Valerie felt a slight twinge in her soul as she spoke that name. She knew exactly why.
This man, the Lord Regent, Zi'eer, was much more than she anticipated.
Valerie felt the current run through her arms like a rushing river. Unlike before, she wouldn't be able to keep this level consistently.
Despite that, the mental veil showed little signs of weakening, despite her minor breakthrough earlier. Along with that, her alternatives had been exhausted long ago.
One of those alternatives was Quies.
She didn't bring him here in vain. That would simply be a burden
She brought him here because he was a backup. He was a backup subject, and a much better one at that.
Having spent years away from the source of the mental veil and having experienced the machinations of the lord firsthand made him a valuable asset for her to get more information on the lord. If she had just used him as a subject instead of this old hag, then maybe she would already be on her ship and sailing back to the Isles of Vigil.
However, she showed him mercy.
Having listened to his story, how they shared such similar traumas and past experiences. The pain he had to endure… it resonated with something in her soul.
And look where that mercy brought her…
Really, she should have left him back at the Isles of Vigil. That way, she would have had no interruptions or wasted potions.
Exhausted of options and backup plans, Valerie made a daring move.
She breathed in deep and prepared for the consequences that would come from her action. She had been in this situation plenty of times, though it wasn't exactly present. But alas, this was her only option.
Focusing, she dumped all of her ether into her thundercall.
It was similar to a capacitor dumping out all of its stored energy, resulting in overwhelming heat and power. In a sense, Valerie was just a massive human-cat capacitor.
And all that power was being dumped into this subject's brain. It was a gamble.
The subject screamed as if his body was being torn apart at the atomic level. His muscles convulsed, eyes bulging.
The gamble paid off.
However, the jackpot was utterly profane.
As the mental veil broke, the truth of the Lord Regent, the vile truth of Zi'eer, spilled out into the Illusory Realm.
The realm which no longer belonged to Valerie.