Leo thought of several things as he walked back to his apartment. Where exactly would he bring Maria tomorrow? The library was already on the list, but what about food?
' Maybe some sort of high-end cuisine? No, she's not the type. She's quite insecure about the wheelchair, so maybe somewhere less populated? '
As he brainstormed as to where exactly he'd take her, his thoughts were interrupted by the sight of an elderly woman being knocked over.
A group of wild kids had run through for whatever reason, colliding into her and running off without apologizing.
The woman felt the ground around her, searching for her cane.
Leo walked over and got on a knee, handing the woman her cane and helping her up with a hand.
Her aged face gave a wrinkled, sweet smile.
"Thank you very much dear."
He was surprised that she didn't react like how others usually did to the sight of him, especially in uniform.
Something clicked in Leo's mind as he had examined her eyes closer, finding them to be severely cloudy. The woman was likely blind.
He was almost grateful she was. It felt a lot better getting a simple 'thank you' than it was to have someone scramble for the proper respects due to your position.
"No need to thank me. Be careful."
Leo walked away after this. As he left though, he heard the familiar words from her. Words he and everyone else had always heard from their peers.
"May the Empress bless you."
He looked back for a moment, seeing the grey-haired woman limping away against her cane.
After a moment, he looked back and continued walking.
The thought of the Empress was perplexing.
An unknown woman who worked independently from any country or kingdom alike.
A being between man and god. Obviously mortal, yet considered to be a Celestial by many.
Of course this idea of her being a Celestial was largely symbolic, rather than literal. Although, this didn't stop people from treating her as such.
This was likely due to her elite group of Reveurs…
The Seraphim.
Just like their Empress, not much was known about the Seraphim other than the fact that they worked for her and were sent out to defend smaller, underfunded cities from Cryptid attacks.
Most modern day knowledge on said Cryptids actually came from the Seraphim's extensive field reports on them.
These reports held extensive knowledge such as a Cryptid's rank, type, Art, weakness, or even origin of creation; whether it was formed by accumulation of cultural beliefs and urban myths like most, or the chilling few that were born from Reveurs who corrupted into such.
Ultimately, the Seraphim were seen as defenders of mankind, regardless of nationality or race. This made the people see the Empress as some sort of all-benevolent figure worthy of praise and worship.
Draped in white uniforms, each of the eight members of the Seraphim were recognized by a unique symbol engraved into the gold plate of armor that lay in the center of their chest.
The people of Augustine and many other cities had given them names or titles according to their symbols and supposed Somnia Arts.
Leo himself could only remember one, that being the strongest of the Seraphim…
The Abomination.
He whose symbol holds an amalgamation of beasts.
The Arts of the other Seraphim weren't hard to guess if you were one the few to see them battle in person, but the Abomination's abilities were mysterious to all.
Capable of transforming himself or specific limbs into that of Cryptids, the name definitely fits.
Some reports even stated he could use the Arts of the Cryptids.
The idea of a man who could use several Arts and potentially transform his skin into that of an unbreakable Gargoyle was… disturbing, to say the least.
Suddenly, as if the thought of Cryptids alone had summoned them, he could feel the vibrations of distant rumbling in his boots.
Almost by instinct, Leo reached for the hilt of his blade.
He halted as he registered the lack of any alarms. Usually under Cryptid attack they would've sounded the city's siren system, but the only noise reaching his ears was the distant sounds of catastrophe far beyond section three.
He realized that the attack was likely within section one, therefore no Reveur units would be expended for it. Not unless the threat spilled over the walls and into areas deemed "worth saving".
He thought of continuing back to his apartment and ignoring the event altogether, but something held him back.
That was the promise he made to himself, wasn't it? No more than necessary. No more than what paid for Maria's treatment.
He had long abandoned Charlotte—justifying the betrayal by telling himself it was for their daughter. But somewhere along that excuse, the promise twisted.
"For Maria," he always told himself.
Leo had been standing in the darkness of an empty street for many moments now, asking himself several questions.
If he refused to save others, then why had he become a Reveur in the first place?
Why was he fighting before he met the woman who gave him a reason to do so?
Did he stop caring somewhere along the way, or was this who he'd always been behind that purpose?
Or… was he just too scared to care again?
Without intending to, he had channeled some Somnia into the inner parts of his ears.
The heightened sense of hearing had enabled him to hear the screams of hundreds.
Men, women, and children.
His eyes went up for a moment. A dark, all-consuming storm of clouds was making its way towards the city once more.
It had been a particularly rainy season.
He put a hand out, fingers spread.
Moments later he could feel the soft taps of rain against his leather gloves.
If he was fighting for someone else, he could run from the rain.
That's how he could escape the pressure.
Pivoting on a heel, he turned and began walking towards the wall.
The walk slowly turned into a run, which turned into a full sprint before he blasted off the ground and soared up.
Tightness in his chest absolved as Somnia filled every strand of his muscles.
Planting a foot against the edge of the towering wall, he shot himself up.
Step after step brought him higher as he had finally reached the top.
He stood for some moments, taking in the view. The dots of lights from the various factories and construction mirrored the stars in the sky.
Wind blew against his face, his hair waving back and out of his face.
He had nearly forgotten how euphoric the feeling of Somnia was.
It had been years since he channeled this much through himself.
Even though he felt incredible at the moment, he had to remind himself to be careful. It wouldn't be great if all the windows started shattering from his speed.
Kneeling for a moment and lifting his heel up, he tapped the soles with a hand.
Leo was one of the very few Reveurs on current Terra soil who wielded several Arts.
His primary Art, "Engulf", allows him to combust anything he touches—be it his blade or his fists—into flames.
The second, "Burst", which he was now activating, lets him mark a point on an object from which fire can erupt from on will, creating a powerful propulsion effect.
Lastly, by channeling Somnia into his eyes, he can activate his third art: an advanced form of thermal vision capable of detecting heat signatures through several feet of material.
Feeling the sensation of Somnia filling the engraving within his Eidcore, he activated Burst.
Flames blasted from the bottom of his boots as he pushed off the top of the wall.
Wind blasted his face as he reached high altitudes, soaring above section two like a shooting star.
At this time he could finally make out the threat in section one.
Massive, green tendrils lashed out from within the section.
Leo couldn't help but feel a bit shocked at the sight.
He was confident in his ability to take down a Druid, for he had taken on stronger before, but nonetheless two Rhan-ranks within a month was worrying.
Having almost cleared the 60 miles between the two walls, he deactivated his Burst Art and let himself soar back down and towards section one.
As he flew down towards the Cryptid, he gripped the hilt of his blade. Embers and sparks erupted from the iron as he unsheathed it.
Pulling the sword out and swiping across the air, a brilliant flame bloomed into existence across its surface.
The blade now fully revealed, Leo shot down and passed the Druid.
Massive, consuming flames erupted from the creatures' countless tentacles as they suddenly fell apart.
Sparks and embers alike made a large flurry in the air between the two, leaving the ends of the tentacles charred.
Landing on the ground below, Leo generated an exceptionally large impact crater.
He turned, taking a stance with his sword as many hopeless eyes turned to him.
The familiarity of the blade in his hand felt almost nostalgic, his finesse and skill with the tool entirely unparalleled within even the most experienced of Augustine.
He wasn't entirely sure why the instrument had felt so familiar within his grasp, not having any real training with it.
Charlotte's outlandish theory was that, before the amnesia, he was some sort of great leader of a rebellion.
Her comically dramatic assumptions had always found a way to reappear in his head, even now when such a distraction perhaps wasn't the best to have.
This proved true as a large, putrid mass of dark-green shot towards him at immense speeds.
Hardly jumping back in time, the collision of the tendril against the ground had caused him to lose his footing as the very brick and stone beneath him shattered.
Before sending anything in retaliation, Leo had quickly scanned around himself, darting his eyes between the bystanders.
From the short scan of the area he could tell two things.
First, there were too many people present for him to go all out without likely harming someone from the collateral damage.
Second, the lack of any light sources other than ambient rays from the section over didn't give him much of a grasp as to where exactly this thing's main torso was.
Having fought Druids plenty a time before, he knew the beast would just regenerate whatever was cut off.
Or at least, that's usually how it would go if it weren't for his flames.
The beast reeled back in what seemed to be confusion and almost fear, the burned ends of its limbs refusing to grow back.
Far above where Leo could see, the Druid let out a guttural screech as more tree-like tendrils shot from the darkness of the sky.
It was much easier seeing the Cryptid from above, being high beyond the thick blanket of smog within section 1.
This disadvantage only made itself more clear as Leo was forced to dodge within milliseconds of the Druid's strikes.
He tried to push a bit of Som into his eyes, hoping to gain a heat signature of this horror.
This attempt was met with a static mesh of grey as the smog seemed to disperse the heat of the already cold creature.
This static buzz quickly gave Leo a mind-splitting headache as he winced and tried his best to prepare for the next attack.
' Damn it! I don't usually have this much trouble with Druids. Is it the fog? Am I rusty? No… It's definitely stronger than usual. '
As he tried to ignore the pain, the beast shot another attack past Leo and towards a civilian behind him.
As stupid as the man was to be so close to the battle, Leo still tried his best to lunge towards him.
Transferring the Som from his sword into his legs, he raced against the tentacle.
Having made it just in time, Leo clutched the young man with an arm and used his body as a shield for him.
With only a moment to spare, Leo pushed the Som from his legs and into his back to reinforce himself.
Leo felt a shockwave ring throughout his body as the attack collided against him. He felt himself momentarily lose consciousness as his brain rattled.
Gasping for air, he scanned his surroundings before leaping out of the way of another attack and roughly tossing the man behind a building.
Luckily the attack hadn't broken skin, but it definitely took a toll on him. Both from the sheer force and the amount of Som he had already used.
Usually he didn't have to watch his usage too closely, seeing as he would just end the encounter within a minute.
But having to protect bystanders, hold back on the area of his flames, and inability to find the Druid's main body…
Things weren't looking good.
It had started to make more sense why many deemed this section unreasonable to protect.
The lack of lights alone had already made this much more difficult, on top of the density of population.
Doubt began to fill Leo's mind.
He could defeat the Druid with no casualties if needed, but was it really worth it?
That much effort would leave himself incapable of fending off any unexpected attacks for days or even weeks.
Debating with himself for moments, Leo caught a glimpse of a younger girl hiding behind rubble.
Her head hardly stuck out from behind a fallen wall, her eyes lingering on him.
Leo's logical thinking faltered for a moment.
Didn't he just remind himself of what it meant to continue as a Reveur? To truly leave Charlotte behind?
If he was going to do that, he had to at least do it properly.