Scarlet

A seemingly endless amount of time passes and throughout it I can’t help but feel my mind slipping a few times, almost losing to the whispers and memories – memories that had begun to repeat themselves at some point. But I always manage to pull myself back out. And over time, as I focus all of my attention on fixing the issues in my DNA that I have no idea how to fix, the pain does slowly fade a bit, and the memories and voices quiet a little as well.

Ever since I figured out a little about what I need to do by accident. When I accidentally broke the fractured areas, separating my DNA further.

An action that showed me how wrong my original prospective solution was. That I should somehow bring my DNA back together.

What I really need to do is separate the fractured areas and finish the process I had likely started.

So over who knows how long, ever since doing that and continuing doing that, splitting DNA strand after DNA strand, my pain has relieved a bit and the voices quieted.

But the process is not short, leading me into an endless pattern of look at fractured DNA strand, lightly poke at the fractured part with whatever mental magic or whatever I’m using to poke at it with, and eventually cleanly break the DNA from each other. Then I move onto the next strand and repeat the process.

With who knows how many strands, even if it’s only a small minority of them that need fixing.

Eventually I completely lose track of time. To the point that I can’t tell if I’ve been doing this for months or if I’ve been doing it for years.

What I do know is that I’ve been doing this for a long time.

Find fracture, poke at fracture, break fracture, find new fracture. The process just repeats endlessly.

The Headquarters on EarthThree months after she entered the coma

James McCall, the General of Humanity’s Military, grimaces once more as he looks at the map in front of him. One of the current battle zones with the demons.

The map itself is absolutely covered in red areas designating battle zones controlled mostly by the demons, with very few green areas all across the Eastern continents. To the point that the frontlines of the war have been driven back closer and closer to the West end of the Eastern continent.

That girl… she really was holding up a lot of the war, even as just a Class IV…

James shakes his head at that, finding the very idea that a twenty-year-old girl could affect the war so heavily, Princess or not, ridiculous. A girl that he himself finds infuriating because of the pride she has and holds herself to, even if he knows that it’s partially due to her Sin of Pride.

Also a girl he never expected he would miss until now.

“You’re sure about this?” James asks his closest aide, Michelle Hardlight, a Guardian at Class IV with corruption magic.

The woman nods her head without saying a word, her dark green hair falling over her shoulders a little in the process before she straightens up again.

James sighs, turning away from the smaller woman as he tries hard not to put his head in his hands.

News that the demons aren’t sending the quota of Class V demons they were allowed by the Princess’s bet and are instead sending fewer than the quota… the only reason I can think of for that is that they’re saving reality energy for a stronger demon to pass through. And if that’s the case…

“Tell every general to prepare their defenses over the next years,” James declares, tightening his hand into a fist while raising his head to look at his aide again. “We must prepare for a possible Demon Lord Crossing.”

Her green eyes widen slightly at that before she nods her head again and turns around to leave the room. But right before she reaches the door, James adds, “And please check in with the White Knight on how her daughter is doing. As much as I hate to say it, we need her.”

The woman turns, nods her head once, and continues out of the room.

James focuses on the map again as he sits down on the chair at the long table.

Satan is becoming more active as well, and Damien is watching over the Arctic Gate the White Knight used to pass through to Tartarus. Presumably to protect it while he is lower on forces.

The General of Humanity’s Military grits his teeth slightly as he thinks about the White Knight’s frequent trips she was taking at the start of all of this, just vanishing from Earth without a word. At least until she stopped at random once, probably due to the Demon King not wanting her to drain the Gate dry and no longer being able to tolerate it.

During her trips, each and every one of them, the demons managed to push further and further across the battlelines under Satan’s guidance. Since she wasn’t there to deal with the Nobles, leaving the already stretched number of Class Vs amongst the humans to deal with each one of the attacks on their own, with only Blue and Red able to fight on a battlefield like that.

At least Black’s been able to infiltrate Demon Isle and start assassinating a good number of their Nobles.

Silence fills the general’s office for several minutes before he leans back in the chair and looks up at the ceiling, feeling utterly defeated in how this war has progressed. But what hurts him the most is that he knows the best way to start turning things around is to get the Apex Predator back.

He didn’t realize just how much her plagues helped the warfront until she had left it.

Why wouldn’t they help… I was just too biased against her to let myself realize it…

James clenches his fists so hard his nails drill into his hands, but he doesn’t pay attention to that.

Because now all he can do is whatever he can while he waits for the Princess to return to Earth.