He could do nothing but only stare. Stare at something that he never even thought could happen. Dust mixed with blood filled the air of the city as a literal moving wall destroyed everything in its path.
Street vendors with their customers, houses with their residents, carriages with their passengers and horses. Some were left with broken bones, missing body parts... Alone. The wall didn't stop. Children cried out to their family members while others cried in pain. The rest ran in terror. All this happened right before his eyes.
He was supposed to be the one who protected the city, keep everyone safe and happy, maintain order. But he failed. He didn't protect them. Many were dead. There was chaos triggered by fear. All of the duties he's been able to do for years as the knight commander. All turned upside down in a flash.
His family, his wife and children. They all died a few years ago. As they travelled in a carriage to meet his wife's family. They were all anticipating the visit as the children had never seen their grandparents. But on the road, they were attacked by bandits. The little jewelry they had, the little money and the gifts they were taking. All were stolen.
As if it wasn't enough. He was beaten and tied up, then forced to watch his children slaughtered. They were two. Both were girls. He watched, as they raped his wife in front of him. He watched as she was cut into pieces and fed monsters in the forest so they could escape with their lives.
But the monsters were too hungry and attacked them. They were instantly overpowered. He listened to their screams. Then he laughed loudly. His eyes were dead and filled with bitter tears. He was ready to be next but the monsters did nothing. They came close and observed him but didn't kill him.
He went to his wife's parents and told them what happened. They cried and cried bitterly. They blamed him for what happened. He didn't defend himself and only looked down shamefully. For months his life had no meaning. He spent his days in the outskirts, fending for himself.
Until the lord of Relvina heard about him, a man strong enough to take down B class monsters on his own. His life was given meaning. To prevent what happened to him to happen to others. To protect others from the pain he went through. To become a knight.
But today, he felt like everything that he worked for was for nothing. He felt the pain of a knight who failed to do his duties because of something that is completely out of his capabilities to stop.
Travelling faster than the speed of sound. From far it looked like a dust comet with a long tail travelling across the ground. Every where it came close too the ground shook vigorously. It makes sense that some people thought it was the end of the world. Others said that the continent was splitting. Which do you think was closest to being right?
Through a forest, a desert, following a river, going through a lake, over a snow capped mountain. All types of different biomes. So long as it was along the border, the end result was the same.
And for thirty hours, the wall travelled to the north eastern part of the continent, right on the beach. All the land behind the wall was part of the kingdom of Haven. My task was complete. Even a few dozens gates were installed. Four for each nation that was along the border. Sixteen for the empire because that's just how big the empire was.
I returned to Lenora, the capital city of Haven, named after the second name of each of the four lords. No one was expecting my return so soon. The sun was up so the streets of Lenora were full. Then Gallyan, the representative of the dwarves noticed me as he walked to his workshop carrying a barrel in his big arms.
"Young master, you're here. Have you come to rest from building the wall?"
"Yes. That distance was way too long. It took a large amount of mana to build such a long wall."
"I would imagine." He said with a light laughter. "How long will you be staying?"
"Hmm? What are you talking about?"
"How long you'll be staying until you go back to continue building it. Why? Have you seen that there's no point? I did think that it was a dumb idea. What would you expect when you bring a goblin to such an important meeting."
"Wait. Your telling me that the plan has been changed? But I just finished it."
"Huh? Finished?"
"Yeah. I sat there for thirty hours straight and build the whole thing but now you say that it was dumb?"
"The whole thing?" He dropped the barrel of whatever contents it had. "WHAAAT!" His voice was heard throughout the entire city.
A few minutes later. I sat together with everyone that was present in the previous meeting. Everyone was looking at me in disbelief. Its been silent for quite a while.
"So, to confirm that there wasn't any ice in my ear," Nirvana started, "Your saying that you built a wall of the height and width we gave you, running across the entire continent, all in thirty hours."
"Your not the only one who's shocked by what I did. But it took like ten times more mana than the amount I used during the fight with the hero. So... It makes sense, I guess."
"How?!" They all asked in unison.
"What? I'm sure by now you've noticed that I can make anything I want almost instantly. Then again, that just brings about more questions. How about we ignore it for now and focus on the next part as I relax."
No one answered my request for a while and just stared at me. Then nirvana spoke up.
"He's right. We need to work on the next part. Lets focus everyone."
"R...Right."
"I have a question." Ilia, the representative of the beast people said shyly. "What's the point of doing this?"
"The point?" Nirvana asked.
"Yeah. I mean, if we wanted to live in peace, we could just let the humans think that we don't exist. That way, we could be ignored and focus on growing our city." After she said this, everyone looked at her.
"Ilia," I began. "Do you not want your people back? The ones that have been enslaved?"
"O...Of course I do."
Then what's the easiest way to get them all back?"
"To get them all back? We can...uh... By..."
"It's by making them afraid of us. They will fear a land of monsters and demi humans that have been able to accomplish great feats. They won't want to make enemies of us. How do you think they plan to do this?"
"To try and make peace with us, they'll... Release the slaves."
"Correct. All nations will work together and try to give us back all that they have caught. And if they don't, that's where the second part comes in."
"But what if there's other ways of getting them back? A way that won't put the people in danger?"
"Ilia." Nirvana spoke. "If we make the humans afraid of us, do you think they'll attack?"
"Well I..."
"Currently, there are no heroes or powerful people amongst the humans that will want to take us on. Even if there are, look at us. Do you see anyone who is weak. Ignore Giselle."
"Hey..." She was not happy.
"And if we all fail, we have our master. The point is, we do this for our own safety and for those who have been captured by humans, unless they are stupid enough to still try and attack us. Do you understand?"
"Yeah. I understand."
"Good. Now then... Over to the next part. This'll only concern Nephilim and I. So the rest of you don't worry.
"What are you going to do?" Grendel asked.
She smiled before answering. "We're gonna introduce Haven to the rest of the world."
Before she continued, a flying monster appeared above us and began to circle around. Then it landed behind Nirvana. It was a Wyvern.
"My lord." It began as it addressed to her.
"What is it?"
Apparently, Nirvana placed multiple Wyverns along the border to keep watch on the activity of the humans. This one was from the region close to Relvina.
"When the wall was being built, it went through the border town. Half of it is in our lands, together with a few hundred humans."
"What?" I asked. That was obviously not part of the plan. "Why didn't you tell me that Relvina was on the border. Why wasn't it drawn on the map? That wasn't supposed to happen." I became angry. "Nirvana. You could have said something." My aura was accidentally released that made those present scared.
"My sincerest apologies. "She had gotten up from her seat and knelt on one knee to apologies. "I didn't think of it myself. The fault is all mine. I shall deal with the humans on our side of the wall immediately." She got up and was about to leave.
"Wait. Why do you think I'm angry?"
"Because some humans ended up on our land."
"I see." Then I calmed down. "Tell me, do I look that much like a monster to all of you?"
"Of course not." Nirvana was quick to answer.
"Why would you ask that?" Giselle asked me.
"I destroyed an entire nation of my kind. I ordered the destruction of the capital of another nation that eventually led to its downfall. Who wouldn't call me a monster after that?"
No one answered.
"Nirvana. I'm not asking you to kill them. I wasn't angry because some of them ended up on our land. I'm angry because they were innocent." She didn't understand what I said.
I turned to face Giselle. "Giselle. the entire time we were there, do you remember seeing any captured demi humans?"
She started thinking. Then her eyes widened in shock. "No. There weren't."
"Remember when they saw that you were an elf, how they treated you? Tell me something, did they look a little weird, like something was off?"
She began remembering and felt pain just trying to remember. Then she saw what I was trying to say. "Yes I remember. The people, their eyes. Their eyes looked lifeless."
"The girl that appeared on that day, she was using control magic. She wanted to make you feel like you were nothing but a disgusting creature that wasn't meant to live. In reality, they probably wouldn't have done anything to you."
What I was saying at that moment couldn't have been believed by anyone.
"Were not like the humans. Have you forgotten? We only seek revenge to those who deserve it. Not to the innocent. Unlike them who try to capture you, you want to live in peace away from them. Have you forgotten?"
No one spoke. They all looked down guilty.
"I will take care of them. Nirvana and Nephilim, continue with the plan. The rest of you, stay here. Giselle."
"Yes."
"Come with me. Don't wear a disguise."
I left together with her and the rest just sat there. They looked down as if they were contemplating. but they didn't speak to each other.
The dust had settled, people focused on trying to figure out what just happened. Something like this was new to them. Of course it was. After all, a giant wall randomly appeared right before their eyes.
Compared to the total population of the city, not a very large amount of people were stuck on our side. Since the city had two gates, to the north and south, the people on the other side already started evacuating.
The ones on our side feared what will happen if they go outside the city. So they stayed. Knights tried to come up with ideas of what to do. The wall was too high to climb. No one on their side had any kind of magic to help in the situation.
Judging by how long it kept moving at that speed, they came to the conclusion that it was impossible to try and go around to the east side. So they began preparing to go around the west side. Even though they didn't know how long they'll be travelling, they had hopes that a way around will appear.
Preparations were made. Knights were to surround the people on all sides and keep them safe. Children were to be at the very center. Everyone who can use a weapon had farm tools and extra weapons from the gate. They began departure.
As soon as they walked out, they noticed a figure approaching them from the forest. They were ready to fight. But the commander recognized me from the incident with the skeletons. Although I looked a little different from that day, he knew he couldn't mistake me.
"What are you doing here?" The commander asked. That's when Giselle appeared from the trees and dropped down beside me.
"I noticed the situation you were in and called for some help." I said then pointed at her. "She'll lead us to way out. you can trust her."
They looked at us suspiciously. Then one knight spoke up. "How can you be so sure that you can help us?"
"Don't you remember," The commander spoke. "He is the one that came to our aid when the army of skeletons were about to attack us. I believe in him and say to follow him if we are to get out of here alive." Then he faced me. "which way do we go?"
Giselle was the one to answer. "The wall has a gate not far from here to the east. About three hours worth of walking. We can just follow it and we'll get there in no time."
"How do you know that there's a gate to the east?" A person asked. I noticed where this would go and was about to speak up. But she beat me to it.
"I'm an elf. Climbing trees is one of my specialties. Basically, I can see pretty far from the tops of the trees."
She saw how the people looked at her. Then she closed her eyes and was ready for insults. But she didn't hear any. Instead, the people were glad of her help. They appreciated her and were ready to follow. It made her really happy.
Together with all the people, we walked for three hours. Giselle seemed to be making friends of the people. Then we came across the gate. There, the knights thanked us and said they could take it from here and were about to depart.
Then the commander asked me, "Aren't you coming with us, sir."
"Not now. There's a reason I'm on this side. I have somethings to take care of."
"Okay. I hope we'll meet again. You can call me Shishak. And you are."
I didn't want to say my name in case they knew what I did and spoil our relationship. "If we do happen to meet again, I'll tell you my name, sir Shishak." It felt weird to say his name.
Then I left and Giselle followed behind as she wished everyone safe travels. Then she ran close to me and looked at my face. She remembered how I told her to come a bit later after I was in front of the humans and to answer any questions that they had. How I told her to try and talk to them more.
"What is it?" I asked her.
She smiled and looked ahead. "Its nothing." She seemed to understand why I asked her to come along. But she didn't bring it up. We continued to walk back together.
Unbeknownst to me, on our side of the wall at an abandoned castle. There were two demons running towards where an empty throne is. There was another who covered his face and entire body in a cloak. He knelt before the empty throne and was saying something in another language.
One of the demons came behind him, bowed his head and spoke. "My lord. A new problem has arisen."
"What is it?"
"A wall. A wall is keeping us away from the humans."
The one with the cloak stood up quickly. "What!"
"The wall's end is far out of sight. We can't go around it."
"That's impossible. Could they have known about us? Go investigate it. Quickly."
"Yes, my lord." They both said in unison and ran off.
"I won't allow it." He said to himself angrily. "I won't allow anyone to prevent us from making way for our lord and master. We must fulfill our part." He started breathing heavily and was consumed by anger.
"I'll deal with them. All of them. Our lord will come back and find everything ready. By any means necessary, I must complete the preparations."