SEVEN GATES: WAR OF CHAOS
Chapter 1.5: The Story of Ariana
The night had arrived, the sky was filled with low-hanging black clouds. The moon and the stars were hidden behind the clouds, leaving behind a darkness that enveloped everything around it. A faint light from a distant star illuminated the forest.
The night wind blew slowly, bringing the cold that pierced to the bone. The dried leaves and branches of the trees moved and swayed under the gentle night breeze, producing a soothing rustling sound. Night insects came out of hiding, flying and moving agilely through the air, producing small, earthy noises.
In desolate places, like this forest, the sounds of the night increasingly sounded clear and soothing. Sometimes, there is also the sound of night animals such as owls or large insects buzzing in the air. However, everything became quieter and quieter as the night wore on.
Although it felt lonely and scary, but the softness of the wind, and the darkness that enveloped all gave off a peaceful and calm atmosphere.
"Let's just rest here, the day is getting dark" said Ariana
"Okay, I'll light a fire" Raven replied
For now we will rest here, the location that was addressed on the report is quite far away also from the capital but that is not what I am worried about, either, actually if we walk until midnight then we will get to the destination. But I'm worried about Raven she might be exhausted from casting a lot of magic mana during the day.
The bonfire that Raven lit had a fiery red flame and was quite large, scattering light all over the surrounding area and giving off a warm feeling in the cold air that night. The fire exhaust sounded from the burning wood, while pitch-black smoke continued to rise into the air and dissipated in the dim light of the flames. The two of them sat comfortably around the fire, feeling calm and safe with the fire giving a sense of protection and comfort in the dark middle of the night
Raven and Ariana sat facing each other staring and chatting casually about their childhood, school-age stories and many other things
"Raven the more your day gets bigger huh, how's your education? your school?" ask Ariana
"School?, I graduated 3 years ago from the academy. School is boring because there is no you, all very fun when with you" said Raven innocently
Ravens... Your childish nature has not changed, yes, since the age of 12 I underwent knight training/education for 5 years, after graduation maybe I will not meet again with my beloved sister, I will not meet again, but he's waiting for my graduation and taking me to Gate Hunter.
"It's great that you can graduate the academy so quickly" Ariana added a little surprised
"Not really, it's just that I want to quickly graduate and take you on an adventure again, for the past few years I've been training my physique and using my magic to become a Gate Hunter" Raven said
"On our first mission against a powerful monster, I was very impatient" Raven smiled "maybe that unknown monster is a legendary dragon from the gate, or maybe a mythical creature, or a demon!" raven murmur
"That's impossible, you just exist" Ariana replied
Raven and Ariana lay on the leaves that were chuckled on the ground, they stared at the stars then closed their eyes slowly and slept.
What'sthis?! Suddenly my head felt pierced by a very sharp thorn, I could not move! could it be that this was the poison or curse effect of that Flame Wolf attack! but the Flame Wolf was not that smart, this poison effect was extremely dangerous!
"Ariana? wake up in the morning" said Raven who was sitting staring at him
Ariana woke up breathless, sweat pouring down from her forehead. It was like being trapped in a dream world filled with fear and darkness. He palpated his chest that was pounding hard and stared around with fear. The campfire that was once warm and cozy, now looks like a wild fire that threatens to devour everything around it.
Ariana felt like her dream was very real .In fact, when his eyes opened, strange shadows still haunted his mind. He felt his heart pounding more and more and was unable to control his feelings.
Instantly, Ariana recalled what had happened in her dream. He was exposed to a very dangerous poison attack and felt a thorn piercing his skin very deeply. Under normal circumstances, Ariana was never afraid of any threat that came before her.
However, the effect of the nightmare was so strong that it made it difficult to distinguish between reality and dreams. It all feels so real and scary.
"Dreams?" said Ariana
"What's wrong? Are you having a nightmare" Raven replied in confusion
"It's nothing" Ariana said
"Wait a minute isn't the sun yet up? why are you awake?" said Ariana
"Because I wanted to catch our breakfast, I managed to catch a Night Rabbit" Raven said
Is poison just a dream? Now my body is fine, but what is the meaning behind the dream?
Night Rabbit was a natural monster in this world, the physique of this monster was similar to that of a rabbit, their eyes are bright red and their teeth are very large and on their legs there are fine fur bristles that are enough to tear the skin.
Night Rabbits usually sleep at night and only move during the day which is why they are in a "Night Rabbit" rabbits will not usually sleep at night because they will be wary of predators, while Night Rabbits have such a toxic substance.
"Wait a minute, isn't that Night Rabbit?, isn't that monster meat poisonous?" ask Ariana seriously
"Just relax, as long as the meat is roasted very hot then the poison will evaporate, I learned it while in the academy" Raven replied
"That's it, I just found out" Ariana replied
"I've tried the meat several times, the texture is like chicken!" said Raven
"That's it, I can't wait to try" Ariana replied
Ariana and Raven eat Night Rabbit grilled meat for breakfast, Ariana daydreams about her dream that feels very real, she's in a dilemma between telling Raven about her worries or not
"Ariana?? What was? You seem to be thinking of something, is it possible that the Night Rabbit's meat doesn't match your taste?" asked Raven to look at Ariana, Ariana looked at Raven, her face was so innocent and so jolly, she did not have the heart to tell about her uncertain worries.
"No, it's not like that, the meat's really good!" ariana smiled
It's best that I don't tell Raven about the dream, it could be that it's just a dream, after all there's no way the Flame Wolf can put poison on that thorn, they are monsters that live by instinct, I should focus on this mission and not think of anything trivial like this, my only duty is to protect Raven!
The sun starts to get overhead making the shadows invisible, the sunburn is enough to make Ariana and Raven sweat. The two of them finally got to the location of the village settlement listed on the report, but a very unexpected thing happened there!
“This is a village settlement right?” ariana was surprised
“Not wrong anymore, this is the location!” reply Raven who was also surprised
“This place is flat with the ground! There are no more buildings left! It's impossible!” ariana looked around
“How big is the monster to be able to make a footprint this big!” said Raven saw an enormous human footprint that imprinted in the middle of the village, the length of the footprint was 2 meters more!
“Could that unknown monster be Titan?” ask Ariana
“That's why I'm not sure, but the Titan monster has been exterminated in recent years!” reply Raven
What am I supposed to do? Monster Titan is so hard to beat, if he's really there maybe we won't survive, do I have to take Raven away from here? But if we leave here it is very likely that the titan monster will attack the nearest village.
“Raven!” said Ariana
“I know Ariana! We're gonna beat that titan monster right! If we escape now then the titan will attack the nearest village, it is very stressful!” said Raven
Whaaat! Basic Raven, even though I want to invite you to run away, but if it's okay for you to have made such a determination then as a brother I will help you and protect you. Maybe we only had a slight chance of winning against that titan, it was fortunate that the fire element was an effective element when fighting against the titan.
Suddenly the ground trembled, the tremors were because the titan was walking towards the village.
“Titan! It seems like they are not extinct, I would not expect to fight this collarbone monster” said Raven trembling, he felt very nervous because of fear and enthusiasm
“A big one, height maybe 10 meters more, I saw someone on his right shoulder!” said Ariana
The Titan only stepped a few steps until it was close enough to Raven and Ariana
“Man! I smell human!” tell that titan
“Hah! Any humans?! Where?” ask the person who is above the titan's right imposter
“That they” replied titan
“What are they Gate Hunter sent here? They're faster than I thought, but it's okay” muttered that guy “Human!” yells
“Who are you! Did you destroy this village? Where are the villagers!” shouted Raven
“Hahaha the scientist said you? If that's true why you're here now, a scientist should be in his lab!” raven shouted out Shadow Blaze magic
“You're a big boy too, Guliat! Destroy them!” the demon scientist told the titan
With extremely large legs, the titan instantly jumped up high. Ariana and Raven dodged then they ran into the forest
“If fight in the wide field we benefitted, we will lure them to the mountainous area!” ariana said while running
“Understanding!” reply Raven run faster
JUKES
Ariana fell while running, Raven who heard the sound immediately stopped and looked back.
“Ariana! What was? Are you good – okay?” ask Raven worriedly
This feeling is the same as in my dream, is it really poison and not a dream.I feel very unwell, I can not breathe, I can not breathe, it felt like my head was pierced by a very sharp thorn, I couldn't feel my legs and hands, it hurt so much
“I'll carry you Ariana!” she said to me, she carried me with her hands, I was like the princess the prince was saving
“Tornado wings!” said Raven, a magic circle made under her feet and let out a strong gust of wind to make herself fly upwards, then a wing made of wind from appearing between Raven's back
“Let's rest Ariana we'll get to the nearest mountain area” said Raven looking at me with trembling, maybe she was very scared with the titan, I should have forced her to run away earlier, he said, it was my fault for making my sister hurt
After arriving near the mountainous area, Raven's wind wings were gone, she ran out of mana, they both fell down. Ariana who was still unable to move finally decided to use her power so that they would not die from falling from a height.
“Physical reinforcement stage one, enchant strongt!” ariana said, immediately Ariana's body released a red aura which means stage one physical strengthening magic has been activated. Ariana can now withstand the poison more slowly spreading throughout her body
Ariana is now riding Raven then, they both fall, Raven who runs out of mana is fainting from tiredness. Raven was carried on Ariana's back so she could run easier.
After descending to the mainland, Ariana immediately ran towards the top of the mountain, she passed through a large tree tree tree and swamp, as she was running some monsters aware of its existence, making them interested.
“Physical reinforcement stage two, Rapid Step!” shouted Ariana, now that the magic aura coming out of her body was turning purple, her footsteps were getting faster
I have to get to the top! I'm sure the titan wouldn't dare to catch up with us if I was already there, “Physical reinforcement stage three, Powerful!” shouted Ariana, her footsteps were getting faster and the magic aura on her body was getting more and more concentrated.
When he reached the top Ariana lowered Raven slowly and she took a breath of gasps, her heart pounding, sweat pouring on her face and hands.
I'm sorry Raven has put you in danger, I failed as your brother...
A strong gust of wind witnesses Ariana crying over her sister, hugging her and hoping they don't take on this very dangerous mission. But, the gust was getting louder, the sound of wings flapping from above was heard.
“Dragon!” said Ariana surprised his eyes wide open, it seems that Ariana has been desperate with this situation, his expression shows it. His face paled, his tears streaming down his clothes.
The dragon landed near Ariana, he seemed to look at Ariana with confusion because there should be no human who can get to this peak, Ariana closed her eyes.
The skin of the dragon was a bright blue, on the wings there was a block of ice that did not seem to melt, and on the head there was a dark blue horn, the size of this dragon is not too big only about 4 meters.
“Man! Why are you stripping? I haven't even done anything to you” said the dragon, as he spoke out the cold from his mouth
“I'm not taking off because of taku to you, I've endangered my own sister, maybe the two of us won't survive, it's all because of me! Because I'm not strict with him! Hiks hiks” shouted Ariana hysterical
I don't know what happened I told the dragon about our situation, maybe because I was so desperate, maybe in my little heart I hope for help on this dragon.
“Interesting once, human I am interested in your story, if you beg me then I will help you” said the dragon arrogantly
“Really!” ariana looked at the dragon with great hope
Quickly Ariana prostrated herself to the dragon and asked for her help the great “naga please help us!”
“Alright, but my help is not free” said the dragon
“I'll pay for everything I have! Provided my sister survives the titan!” ariana looked at the dragon seriously
I woke up and saw that I had reached the top of the mountain, where was Ariana? Is he safe? I need to get up and look for him!
As I looked ahead, there was a fight between the titan and the ice dragon, Raven took out her wind wings again and flew over, she saw Ariana over the head of the dragon was waiting for an opportunity to attack, Raven said, meanwhile the ice dragon advanced and retreated while spitting out its ice breath
“Hahaha I guess you guys escaped to the capital turned out to be here instead, you guys are not very lucky because this place is the lair of the Flame Wolf that I have mastered!” the devil's scientist laughed wickedly
The moment I landed, I looked around there were already dozens of Flame Wolfs that had surrounded me from various directions. I can't use those wings anymore, where my magic isn't enough. How'this?
“Raven!” ariana shouted that jumped from the head of the ice dragon, a very loud bang between Ariana's body and the ground made a slight crack on the ground, Ariana's body still gave off a deep purple aura, “Why are you here! Go don't mind me” said Ariana angrily
“Hah! What are you talking about! I can't possibly leave you alone against that titan!” reply Raven
The Titan had launched a punch from his right hand and had almost hit them both.
“Don't ignore me!” that scientist is blood-rising because he feels that it is not considered “You will feel the Flame Wolf that I have mutated! They are poisonous to monsters! Flame Wolf attack them!”
The Flame Wolf wagged their tails, and gave off an enormous rain of poisonous thorns, but the two of them were able to dodge easily, instead, Raven followed Ariana along with running on the titan's hand towards the demon scientist, Ariana swung her sword towards the scientist, making him forced to fly using his wings.
“Shadow Blaze, Shadow Blaze help Ariana!” said Raven
“Shadow Blaze belongs to me I set to blow myself up in a few minutes, let's get out of here Ariana! They'll distract!”
Both of Raven's fire shadows rushed to help Ariana, while the titan attempted to attack Raven with his left hand. I really did not expect the direction of the attack so I did not have time to think about dodging, but again Ariana saved me, she pointed her greatsword towards the titan's hand making her hand scratched.
“Ice Dragon!” yell Ariana
When the dragon took me away, he took me with his claws. I couldn't escape because the grip was so strong. From above I saw Ariana fighting to the death to fight the titan itself.
“Let me down! Release him! Ariana is in danger there!” I screamed while trying to move
I saw with my own eyes Ariana stab her greatsword into the eyes of the titan, the titan cried out in pain.
“Ariana go from there, shadow blaze will explode soon!” shouted Raven
Ariana smiled at me, her expression showing that she was not going to leave from there, she entered into the titan's mouth by hugging the shadow blaze. Ariana tried not to cry in front of her sister, she endured her grief and gave her final smile.
“ARIANA!!” raven shouted as loudly as possible
The shadow blaze exploded inside the titan's stomach with a very loud sound, the titan's mouth until it let out smoke.
“Hahaha do you think such a small explosion can destroy my master!” the scientist said, but his expression changed when he saw the titan stop moving and slowly fall to the ground, the titan lay limp and eventually died
“Cannot be! No way! What happened!” shouted the scientist hysterically, he was so shocked to see the titan named Guliat was the only titan he managed to revive, he managed to revive, if he were to die then it was likely that the titan race would truly become extinct.
Raven let out a red aura on her body, without her noticing her eyes shed tears, her eyes still glaring frozen looking at Ariana who had entered into the titan's stomach, who was still looking at her, his black hair turned red with the stall-like state of being in the water, this was because the magic coming out of Raven's body was so much that it changed the density of the surrounding air.
“Aaaaaaakkkk!”
I don't know what happened to my body, but suddenly I feel something is coming out of me. I feel like I'm not myself anymore, I reflect on my mistakes with Ariana, inside me there are whispering whispers ‘this is all your fault’ and other voices ‘you have killed Ariana’ and ‘ya right you have killed him, you have killed him, though he cares so much for you’ I can't bear to hear that voice because they are right...
Raven's magic energy peaked to the point of making her body extremely heavy, the ice dragon couldn't hold Raven's body and was forced to let go, instead, but Raven flew an enormous amount of magic mana out from above and towards the sky making a red cloud.
I don't know what happens after this.