The Cast Die

He was ready now. He had a decent grasp of magic in general, although there were some specific aspects of each magic that could only be taught by practitioners. His grandma had brought up teaching him about the process for Jupiter's magic, but he'd rejected it. He felt like slapping his past self for that. It was strange, he'd felt like he ‘had’ to ignore and avoid magic at all costs, but now that he was learning it, he realized that he had been pointlessly obstinate.

He brushed those thoughts from his mind and focused on his plan. With the current level of power he possessed, he could aim for bigger fish than airships. They would probably be on high alert there anyway. When fighting a monster, it's best to go for the head. He would steal from the black towers themselves.

But there was something else he had to do first. He quickly prepped all his main tools, and headed off to the Junkyard. The followers of Minerva had not only set up those pitch black towers that released a toxic gas, but had also chosen to dump all their garbage on the island in a poorly segregated area known only as the “Junkyard”. While most of it was just disgusting waste, there were a few things that were salvageable.

As a result, a certain gang called Populares had taken over. They were of the view that the best retaliation against the followers of Minerva was to repeatedly attack their base head on. He assumed the idea was that they'd eventually get irritated and leave or something. Personally he believed in the phrase, “There is no great genius without a touch of madness,” said by some old dude long ago, which was why he engaged in acts that could be described as reckless. But even he wasn't that crazy.

Why was he heading to their main spot? Well, Nero had friends there who he regularly hung out with. Plus, they did have the right idea when it came to the Junkyard, it was full of useful stuff if one ignored the nauseating smell. As he reached the entrance, he carefully looked down to see – Nobody?

‘Huh, that's strange.’ Normally, they had at least a few guards posted outside. Their absence meant that either they'd gathered for some job, or… As he heard a familiar voice, his suspicions became confirmed. As he entered the Junkyard with its massive heaps of garbage stacked over each other, he climbed the tallest one to gain a good view of the battle.

It was intense. The Vigiles were in their usual powered armor, which he suspected was powered by pure mana, though he couldn't understand how such a thing would even work. The more terrifying part was the guns they wielded. They fired balls of steel faster than the eye could see, and a single hit could kill if on the right spot, as he realized. A few strong members of the Populares stood in front and summoned winds powerful enough to deflect the bullets, but they clearly couldn't last very long.

Even now, stray bullets got through and injured, even killed, some members of the gang. He considered interfering, but was this really the right place? His goals went beyond this fight. While he respected the members of Populares for their struggles, he disagreed with their methods, and had had more than one conflict with them in the past.

As he deliberated, the gang members made their move. The one weakness of the guns was that they took time to reload, and by his count had about six bullets. So in that instant, brave fighters used the backs of those defending up front as a jumping off point, and forced themselves into close combat. They then summoned powerful whirlwinds that at best knocked out several members of the Vigiles, and at worst knocked the guns from their hands.

He recognized several of the gang members who fought up front. There was the gang leader Milo, and… Nero. His breath hitched as he saw Nero, who had burn marks all over. It was especially severe on Nero’s face, where the area around the right eye was red with blisters. As bravely as Nero fought, the burns clearly inhibited his movements.

‘YOU DID THIS. No! I just wanted…’ What had he wanted again? A break from the hell his life felt like? A chance to wield the power he'd sought so desperately? Or had it just been a vindictive attack to feel better about himself? He shook himself out of his reverie and focused back on the fight. While it had seemed like the gang had a chance for a bit, that brief hope was quickly squashed. The Vigiles had drawn out their batons and were fighting back with ease. Their powered armor meant that they could fight effectively even against the winds blowing at them.

Moreover, some of the members of the Vigiles had retrieved their guns. They clearly outnumbered the members of the Populares, whose chances were dwindling as the fight went on. Just then, Nero faltered for just a moment, and was struck by a baton. As a member of the Vigiles drew his gun at Nero, Vac instinctively picked up a rock that he launched rapidly to strike the man who'd pointed a gun at Nero. As everyone there turned to look at the newcomer, he quickly threw a smoke bomb down at the Vigiles.

It wouldn't last long with all the wind blowing, but it was enough for Vac to reach Nero and help him up. Nero turned in surprise and said, “Vac? The hell are you doing here, you stultus?”

He tried for a smile and replied, “I guess I decided to give being a good person a try. Why are you being attacked here?”

While yes, the gang regularly performed guerrilla attacks against the followers of Minerva, they never really had much success, and as such the followers of Minerva in turn largely ignored them aside from arresting those they caught. As the smoke faded away, Nero answered, “I'm not sure. They said something about a stolen artifact, but we sure as hell didn't do that.”

The world seemed to fade away as he realized the implications. He'd set off a smoke bomb in their colors as a distraction. He'd pointed the Vigiles in their direction. ‘YOU FOOL, WHY DID YOU DO IT? Dammit! I didn't want this, I just wanted to steal from the followers of Minerva. I just wanted the power to fight back! NO, YOU DIDN'T CARE, BECAUSE YOU'RE A SHORTSIGHTED BRAT. YOU SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOURSELF, AND YOU TOOK IT WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT!’

He was knocked out of his thoughts by Nero tackling him to the ground as a baton was swung at him. Nero shook him and hissed, “Dammit you loser, focus! We need to get out of here.”

He could only mutter, “I did this.”

Nero seemed to realize the implications, but to Vac’s surprise, didn't hit him. Nero simply said, “Yeah, well boohoo. Now get up or we all die because of you.”

As he slowly got up, he remembered his grandma's words. “What's just as important as fighting for what's right is understanding the consequences of your actions, and knowing the best path to achieving true justice. Our freedom to act is something we must use carefully.”

‘I understand now, grandma. I'm sorry.’ He couldn't stop here, or this would simply be the story of him ruining everything. It was time to flip the script. He used his own energy to create a wind blow back the members of the gang who'd been stuck up front, and then sacrificed a crumpled metal vase he'd picked up to summon up a wall of earth. He couldn't tell how long it'd last, so they had to move quickly.

“Nero, call for a retreat!”

A flash of conflict appeared on Nero’s face before it was gone in an instant. “RETREAT!” he yelled.

The remaining Populares members scrambled, some of them attempting to drag away their dead as they retreated. Milo, the gang leader, who had also ducked behind the same garbage heap Vac did for refuge, looked to Vac and asked, “Thanks for the assist, but what's the plan?”

Milo didn’t question him about anything, but Vac supposed they all had bigger priorities right now. He studied his surroundings for a moment and then pointed to the largest garbage heap near the wall, and then said, “We could knock that down on the Vigiles.”

Milo narrowed his eyes. Problem was, none of them had much energy left. Moreover, there were only ten of them left. “I can take down the heap, but I don’t have enough energy to do it alone.”

One of the more injured but still conscious members volunteered to help, as did another one Vac didn’t even know the name of. The other members of the gang protested, but Milo shut that down as he said, “What's important is that the gang survives. I want all of you to continue fighting. Nero, you can lead the group now.”

“Nero, Vac, Zethes, Calais, Astrid, and Atticus, you guys go,” Milo continued, “The rest can come with me. We’ll take down that trash heap and give them time to retreat.”

Nero froze.

“Now!” Milo shouted, turning back to the trash heap to push wind into its side to topple it, the volunteering Populares members following his lead.

Nero gathered himself and grabbed his injured comrades. He, on the other hand, didn’t need to be told twice to retreat. The wall broke down almost immediately, with a loud explosion that sent pieces of the wall flying at them. He dared a glance back and saw that the Vigiles had dragged a massive cylindrical shaped weapon with smoke blowing from where it'd launched a powerful iron ball, collapsing the earth wall he had made. He'd heard of this weapon, the “cannon”, but only in stories. They couldn't risk getting hit by something like that. But the retreat plan worked.

As the Vigiles crossed the remains of the wall, Milo and the others who'd gone to the side sacrificed all their energy to force the garbage heap down. But Vac noticed that it wasn't going to fall down all the way. ‘No! I can't let their sacrifice be in vain.’ In a split-second decision, he sacrificed all of his own remaining energy to finish the job, and as he fell unconscious, saw the glorious sight of the Vigiles being buried by the very garbage they'd dumped.