Unbreakable Algran

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Solo. Events of the thread lead on from Unreasonable Gentlemen vs Paint-a-Wagon in the 2016 LCC.

Prologue

My name is Algran.

For now, just Algran.

Who am I? Well, that’s a question I honestly don’t know the answer to today, but I knew what I used to be and I know what I did. Four years ago I served under the tyrant Shinsou Vaan Osiris in a campaign of terror that almost wiped out my country. My service was an unwilling subjugation; I followed my orders without a choice. We all did, even Shinsou. We were all turned by the Jal Shey and forced to commit genocide on our planet of the likes of which have never been seen before.

Our country, Telgradia, burned. Women, children…entire families decimated. Over a billion people dead and another billion wounded. Fifty percent of our population obliterated just like that.

When the Jal Shey’s grip on our souls was broken, there was no time to explain or beg for mercy. The people that were left wanted justice and the Council of Five duly delivered. I was one of the lucky ones; imprisoned in the sixth level of Kokushi prison as an accessory to millions of murders. Shinsou, however, was taken down to the seventh and final level to have his soul erased.

That was supposed to be an absolute death.

Three years later, the vessel that was once Shinsou was accosted from the seventh level to obtain an artefact that had been stolen from the Council’s secure headquarters, an item of such importance that they sent a whole squadron down to the planet called Althanas to retrieve it. It was Shinsou Vaan Osiris’s soul; stored in a crystal.

Three weeks went by and no-one had heard a thing from the planetside team. Whisperings reached the prison about the return of Shinsou Vaan Osiris. A lot of people were scared that he’d come back as the evil tyrant the Jal Shey forced him to be. The memories of the terrible campaign he led against Telgradia were still too fresh in the minds of the citizens and those amongst us who had served.

None of the people that were sent to Althanas ever returned and the Council assumed the worst. Our leader, Dxun Ra, sent the entire Council of Five to Althanas to kill Shinsou, including his own father Telos Soltair. They haven’t come back yet.

As for me, last week I had a vision. I saw Shinsou, but it wasn’t the tyrant of the Jal Shey Lords that stood before me. It was a man trying to forge an identity, a lost sheep trying to adapt to life away from the herd. He had rejected his past, crafted a new identity entirely and adopted a new life. You know what? In that vision, he called out to me and he was asking for my help.

I weighed it up. What was the reason for this vision? Before we were both turned, I had served under him in the Telgradian military. We were both close. But since then, so much time has passed and too many terrible things had happened.

I decided to escape. I had an overwhelming desire to meet Shinsou again, a burning curiosity to explore my vision further. I couldn't explain it. Something tugged at the recesses of my mind, willing me to go to him. It took a while and cost the lives of friends and prison guards alike, but bloodied and battered I made it to the portal. Once I arrived on Althanas it was just a matter of finding Shinsou.

It didn’t take me long, because I arrived in a city called Radasanth.

A city whose streets had been thrown into turmoil.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

The powerful lightning mage Storm Veritas and his accomplice Rayse Valentino had created bedlam within the sunny city limits of Radasanth. News of several high-profile assassinations had spread across Corone’s largest population centre quickly and in one of the main arteries that carved Radasanth in half, tonnes of twisted metal and jagged debris were crashing about with reckless abandon. The citizens were panicking; scattering from the cobbles like ants in random directions with absolute disregard for each other. Between the murders and the battle that raged in the streets, no-one could be trusted now to protect anyone save for themselves.

Above all this, observing the madness from street level, was another Telgradian; Algran. He had only arrived on Althanas an hour prior and already there was a sickening regret in the pit of his stomach about being here. He felt his heart pound against his chest as the crashing of timber boomed around him. His narrow brow was covered in a thin film of perspiration as a well-dressed lightning mage electrified the air nearby. Nervously, Algran wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his sword Oda under his black haori and hoped he wouldn’t have to use it or any of its powers.

What in the name of the gods have I stepped into here?!

His long black hair flowing behind him in the wind, Algran swerved left and twisted his body as some concrete shrapnel tore towards him. The debris missed him by millimetres and instead punctured a canvas tarpaulin on a nearby shop front.

I need to get off the road before I become collateral damage!

Composing himself once more, Algran quickly dived into the mouth of a corridor leading to the labyrinthine back streets the crowds had dispersed down. The Telgradian nimbly hurdled various back-alley obstacles, bins and cats alike, before neatly landing back on the uneven ground. A nearby iron ladder that scaled the length of a warehouse adjacent to the alleyway’s mouth would serve as transportation to a better vantage point. Grabbing and pulling the rungs with all of his strength, Algran clambered up the black painted ladder quickly and once on top of the roof surveyed the catastrophic scenes below.

The Telgradian’s ocean green eyes followed the actions of a man that the lightning mage had referred to as Rayse. He watched on, dumbstruck, as the contractor threw what appeared to be a flammable cocktail at what appeared to be a gargantuan, sentient skeleton and gaped in awe as the bony behemoth revelled in the resultant inferno. The heat from the blast was so intense that Algran could feel the flames tickles his cheeks and dry up his lips.

What the hell kind of place have I come to? I need to get out of here, none of this is helping me find-

“Screw the stack of bones; we’re not going to be able to hurt him. Let’s get up top and away from him. Who threw the fucking spear?”

…a spear?

The lightning mage Storm Veritas had taken a number of quick strides before defying all known physics and soared away from the battlefield below, landing deftly onto a roof of a tailor’s shop two buildings down from Algran’s position. From there, he immediately set about looking for someone else and didn’t seem to concern himself with either Algran, his apparent accomplice or the absurd, flaming colossus below.

“We can’t hurt Elite Optic with lightning or fire. I don’t know where in the blue fuck Shin came from, but I’m pretty sure he’s not impervious to… well… everything.”

Shin?! Could he mean…Shinsou?

Algran’s eyes followed Storm’s form as the mage once more glanced down to street level, assessing the enemies within fifty feet of him. If it was Shinsou that this man was referring to, he seemed to be on the left of him judging from the concerned glances, whereas that Elite Optic skeleton-thing was to his right.

“Crossfire. It’s our best bet. Try to hit the little one when he steps up to take a crack at me.”

Nothing more was said. The powerful lightning mage sprang into action once more, leaping from the rooftop whilst letting loose with a single electrical blast at the human adversary. It didn’t seem as aggressive or as potent as the other one Algran had just experienced the splash damage of and it seemed the man wanted rather to attract the attention of this other person. Veritas landed on the cobblestone, just still within Algran’s field of vision, and dashed with incredible speed across the path of the burning skeleton.

There was a moment’s pause. It was about two seconds, but it felt like a year. Algran waited.

Then, it came; confirmation in the guise of the unmistakable voice of Shinsou Vaan Osiris.

“Enpera Kurohitsugi!”