[The Infiltrated Ship]
"Wow. It’s so sad that you came across those damned Granians..."
Inside the infiltrated ship, Enoris and an Ethisian pilot made small talk as they flew to the Bastion. Even though she didn’t want to, Enoris forced herself to make small talk with the Ethisian to keep her story believable, otherwise she could have risked blowing her Crimson Lord’s cover.
"...and you’re telling me you killed them on your own?"
"No," Enoris, who was told what to say, continued acting and engaged in conversation with the pilot, "I killed a few but I managed to escape when beasts came from nowhere."
"What kind of beasts?"
"It happened so fast," Enoris stuttered for a while as Ace began to struggle with keeping up his lie, "all I saw were their ravenous bodies trampling over me, followed by the screams of the Granians who were eaten up."
"Oh!," the pilot exclaimed, "so there are more Granians out there?"
"Ace, what are you doing?" Grim whispered, "You’re going to blow our cover."
"There were more Granians out there, but not anymore." Enoris answered with her hand waiting to summon her sword in case she needed to "deal" with the pilot.
"That’s odd." The pilot side-eyed the Ethisian.
"Our scouts usually have distinct pieces of armor, especially when they move out in the bog."
The pilot frowned a little while keeping an eye on Enoris, "You came back with no armor, not even a simple brace. That stuff’s really strong and too tough to be taken off by any beast. Since you said you escaped...I expect you to still have yours on."
The atmosphere intensified. Those in the back started to panic. They feared that their cover was blown and if that was the case, the pilot could report them and ultimately throw away their element of surprise.
They needed to do something fast. No matter what, they couldn’t get discovered, not just yet.
"I’m putting a stop to this," Grim said but just as he was about to move, the communicator in the ship rang with an announcement coming from the Bastion. Get full chapters from 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝙣𝙚𝙩
"!!ATTENTION ALL SOLDIERS. OUR PLANET HAS BEEN INFILTRATED. GRANIANS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED AND WE ANTICIPATE MORE TO APPEAR. LORD GRIM HAS ACCOMPANIED THEM SO WE SUSPECT A BLOOD MUTANT TO BE WITH HIM. ALL OF YOU ARE TO REPORT TO THE BASTION IMMEDIATELY, I REPEAT. ALL OF YOU ARE TO REPORT TO THE BASTION IMMEDIATELY."
"Granians!!" The pilot sucked his teeth and just then, Enoris grabbed his head and placed it at knife-point with her sword resting on his throat. At that point, Grim, Skyler, Ace, and Cion came out from the back and faced the Ethisian.
"Grim!!" the pilot frowned and then steered the ship toward the ground. They were only a few miles away from the Bastion but this pilot, because of his hatred towards Granians, was willing to crash his own ship to kill Grim.
"That won’t be necessary," Enoris spoke as she lifted the pilot from his seat. Grim took over and then began tinkering with the communicators he collected earlier. Using components from the communicator in the ship, Grim finally got the other two working and immediately made communication with his fleet.
"!!FOLLOW THESE COORDINATES AND ATTACK NOW. THE ETHISIANS HAVE ALREADY DISCOVERED US SO HURRY UP AND ATTACK!!"
[Meanwhile, at the Bastion
"!!FOLLOW THESE COORDINATES AND ATTACK NOW. THE ETHISIANS HAVE ALREADY DISCOVERED US SO HURRY UP AND ATTACK!!"
"That sounded like Grim, High Grade. He must have linked one of our ship’s communicators and wired it to his ’fleet’."
"It doesn’t matter..." the High Grade, standing on the walls of the Bastion with her hands on her back, smirked while her own fleet of Upper Legendary and Legendary Ethisians prepared themselves for attack. Attack ships, rocket-like projectiles, and soldiers armed with blasters and traditional weapons waited for Grim’s ’fleet’ to approach them. "...we’re ready for them."
In a few minutes, a rogue ship was seen approaching the Bastion. Even though others came along with soldiers onboard, this one stood out because it was the one Grim was in.
Shots were fired and upon impact, the ship was blown up. The Ethisians celebrated but the High Grade knew it wasn’t over. A simple ship exploding wasn’t enough to take out the black-scaled Granian.
"Don’t celebrate too early." the High Grade silenced everyone, making all of them revert their attention to the blown-up ship. "This is far from over."
The smoke from the explosion cleared out and the Ethisians witnessed a large, dragon-like beast flapping its wings. At the last moment, Ace summoned his Emberwyrms which shielded them from the explosion while keeping them elevated.
The horror encamped on the Ethisian’s faces as they locked eyes with two people of interest. The first was the legendary Grim, warrior of the Granian race, conqueror of planets, and enslaver of many. This one Granian, whose name was known and feared by many, was riding a dragon-like beast seated next to another formidable foe.
The male Blood Mutant with orange-red hair, the same one who killed the High-Grade Enoris. By now, over seventy-five percent of the Ethisian race were well informed of Ace’s existence. Not many knew his face but they knew his distinct features.
Orange-red hair, blood-red eyes, and an unnaturally calm demeanor with undocumented strength.
"They brought the male Blood Mutant." The High Grade grinned from ear to ear as her body erupted with energy. Her Eneraflux output was so powerful that even Grim couldn’t fail to recognize its might.
The others couldn’t begin to imagine how one single entity was able to produce so much aura with a body so small; a phenomenon that was as surprising as it was terrifying.
"What do you think my chances will be if I challenge her?" Ace asked Grim but the Granian didn’t respond. Instead, he shook his head while keeping his gaze fixated on the Ethisian for some reason.
[Quest: A chance to test your strength has arrived. Gauge how long you’ll last against the High-Grade Ethisian]
[No rewards shall be given]