《Dormant》


 Chapter 0 – Cowards

    Death, it can be the supposed mercy she needs, but it¡¯s not what she wants. Centuries ago, there was once a time when the morrow is something she would look forward to, but tragedy struck when the gods descended upon the realm. Laying waste to civilization. They now rule the lands, and its remnants are kept as possesions, slaves. The world has changed ever since. Flora is becoming scarce and the fauna are diminishing rapidly. Once a beautiful world, now becomes a desolate plain.


    Yet those who remains steel their heart, burning ever so fiercely even when they have lost it physically. To go against the gods and reclaim their world, they sought every possible method to attain power capable of defying them. One night, there was a rain, a ghastly appearance of a creature, but as it turns out, it was merely a mist. However, that¡¯s when it appears, the thought of a ghost, and what if¡­ it becomes a reality.


    *** Mage of the Abyss: Origin ***


    ¡°Dad?¡±


    Silent and empty. Only her words in the surrounding. A tired voice with a word unanswered, unrepeated, and there she¡¯s on her knees in the pitch-black darkness. It is by no means dark, but rather, completely empty. Devoid of mass and colors. But suddenly, light from the top. It highlights her juvenile body, frail and malnourished. If one were to look closer to the edges of the light, the dark is moving erratically, almost as if it¡¯s alive.


    Small and its shape, close to a fish, like a common goldfish but entirely blacked out. It floats towards her, but then, it shrouded every part of her being until only darkness is life. Then it backs out again and lights appear, it repeated its action until another word comes out.


    ¡°Dad?¡±


    Cracks under her cheek. Like flakes coming off a breading. Unfamiliar sound in the distance, but it is a sound that becomes clearer and clearer as it gets closer. Scissors. It¡¯s loud.


    Snip, snap, snip, snap.


    When the fishes covered her in the darkness gone, the light reveals an extremely large scissor and her neck in between its blade. However, it is not truly a thing, but rather an entity. With a head ever so changing, from a toad, a fish, a dragon, a human, an elf, a dwarf, and it keeps cycling on so much more almost every second. Its arm is thin, but its hand stretched like a scissor. Its upper body is slim but its lower body is large, a shape like a larva. Swimming as if it¡¯s an aquatic lifeform.


    [???]: ¡°What a child¡­ such potential¡­ so resilient!¡±


    [???]: ¡°Aaaaa worthyyy vessel for oneeeee such as me¡­¡±


    Parting the blade of the scissors for a snip.


    Snap.


    Stopped before it closes fully. Would¡¯ve severed her head if it wasn¡¯t stopped, but only with the two of her bare hands. She parts the blade as the creature tilts its head, witnessing the child¡¯s eyes, pure pitch-black darkness.


    [???]: ¡°Hmm¡­ yet¡­ yet, yet¡­ this is enough¡­ he-he-he.¡±


    Beyond the darkness lies a vast landscape, a desolated land, but this time not empty. Thousands of people standing against the millions forces of the gods, and among those thousands of people stands a skeleton donned in a black robe and a creature, a black slime. Both tending to a young woman with a black hair, tied from head to toe.


    [Slime]: ¡°Impossible.¡±


    [Slime]: ¡°My lord. The abyss. She didn¡¯t merge with them.¡±


    A woman with a black hair then steps forward, aided by her stave.


    [Woman]: ¡°What do you expect? I told you she wasn¡¯t ready. We¡¯ll just have to use her to make way for Dorothan. His aides will be troublesome for us.¡±


    [Skeleton]: ¡°We cannot delay any longer.¡±


    [Skeleton]: ¡°The god must die. Today.¡±


    The army on the other side of the plain has started to make a move, and above the frontline lies a humanoid entity with a prideful expression. Wearing its robe majestically like a king of a human would, and the image would be fitting if not for its green appearance, shaded like a tree. On the other side, the black slime turns into a beautiful young woman. Freckles on her face, dark brown eyes. She rips the durable bandages holding the young woman within it, and set her free. She has the same appearance as the form that the slime has adopted, with the difference is that the young woman has her eyes completely blacked out.


    [Slime]: ¡°Luosa.¡±


    [Slime]: ¡°It¡¯s time. You must kill them all, and make way for the lord to¡ª.¡±


    The young woman flies to the sky, matching the entity in the frontline, the god. With his jaw forward, head tilts proudly, he chuckles and almost all the frontline soldiers begins to laugh.


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Heh, all that preparation! Five whole years, and this is what you have, Ludwig?!¡±


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°How miserable!¡±


    [Soldiers]: ¡°Bwahahahaha.¡±


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Well? Show me what you¡¯re all about, girl!¡±


    He flies towards her. Teeth grinning widely with an eye full of desire to enjoy the moment. As she lifts her finger, she makes a pocket space between it and her thumb, with the god encapsulate within the sight of the narrowed world. Upon clenching it, the god disappeared entirely. His presence, his entire existence. Nothing, and that moment he wishes to enjoy never came to be.


    Both sides notice such massive presence to suddenly disappears. The soldiers were struck confused, stunned by the sudden disappearance of their leader.


    [Skeleton]: ¡°Kill them all!¡±


    The young lady flies towards the center of the enemy line.


    [Soldier 1]: ¡°Barrier!¡±


    [Soldier 2]: ¡°Erect the Barrier!¡±


    [Soldiers]: ¡°BARRIER!¡±


    *BOOM*


    Sliding on the corpses of mangled soldiers with a trail of black flame, the young woman swirl. Splashing black substances that melts through armor and body of the soldiers.


    [Soldier 1]: ¡°Hahh?! Haaaaaaaaaaargh!¡±


    Several soldiers rotate their spear and summon multi-colored energy at the tip of their blade. Green, magenta, yellow. Piercing through the black flame. The young woman grasps the cold air around her and pulls it. Stretching her arms open as she arches her back. Massive turbulent wind conjured, taking all that makes an attempt on her life. A hurricane is form.


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    Two more are conjured as she commands the hurricane to enlarge itself even more. At the backline lies the skeleton conjuring the appropriate weather that introduces lightning to the chaos. His group then splits in two, with the slime and half of the group charging through the left side of the army, sending wind that can split the soldiers in half and water that can melt them. On the other side is the woman by her lonesome. She conjures massive energy waves that allows her to blitz through the enemies. All the while, the other half of the army is led by the skeleton assisting the young woman while keeping their distance. Sending sequence of lightning strike, piercing bolts of ice, and fireballs hurling towards the army.


    The young woman continues to dominate. Mercilessly killing every single one of her enemies without a change to her still expression. Like a machine, she exists only to kill. As she goes further into the backline of the army. Five entities descended, blocking her way. Their descent crushes the ground beneath, stopping her.


    One crosses his arm. A draconic humanoid with his wings retracted further in. The fourth loyal subordinates of the god, Sugima. Looking down on her without saying anything. Another is a woman with luscious nature. Her dark skin gleamed as the moon shine a light upon it. The third loyal subordinates of the god, Lastimi.


    [Lastimi]: ¡°Ohh, what a cutie.¡±


    By her side is white-haired man with a spiked hair. Grinning from one ear to another. The second loyal subordinates of the god, Komo.


    [Komo]: ¡°So, you¡¯re the one they called Mage of the Abyss, huh.¡±


    [Komo]: ¡°Aha, I thought you¡¯re supposed to be taller.¡±


    Another bulky man taps his shoulder. Horned with eyes like a snake. The first loyal subordinates of the god, Zedimn.


    [Zedimn]: ¡°Fresh meat.¡±


    [Lastimi]: ¡°Hou, calm down there, Zedmin, she¡¯s not ripe for harvest yet. Besides¡­¡±


    With brows frowned, one who holds a sword, gleaming with a bright energy. A young man with fierce and confident eyes, yet slightly confused. The son of the god, Juji.


    [Juji]: ¡°You, what have you done to father?!¡±


    Against them is one they called Luosa.


    [Luosa]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Juji]: ¡°Why¡­ why won¡¯t you answer? WHERE IS HE?!¡±


    Powerful burst of holy energy erratically emits through his body.


    [Komo]: ¡°Woah, there.¡±


    [Zedimn]: ¡°Our boy sure is¡­ enthusiastic.¡±


    [Lastimi]: ¡°Go get her, Juji!¡±


    [Juji]: ¡°If you¡¯re not going to answer, then I¡¯LL FORCE YOU TO!¡±


    He raises the energy he unleashes and charges towards her. Wind splits as his energy flows in all directions and is directed to the young woman, Luosa.


    [Juji]: ¡°Hraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarh!¡±


    She lifts her hand once more, the same way as before. With her thumb and finger, the young man is visible within it, but instead of clenching it, her gesture remains open.


    [Juji]: ¡°?!¡±


    Suddenly, the young man stops in place and all of his energy dissipates instantly. All begins to wonder, but not for long. His legs begin to stretch separately in the opposite direction, yet his body remains still in the air. He is conscious but unable to move. He feels his legs moving on its own and begins to bend in an impossible way. With a snapping bone, his foot goes above his shoulder as his torso begins to twist. Joints snapping, bones cracking. His body is split and all witness his suffering, and when it all ends, his blood gathers toward Luosa.


    Five seconds of demise, witnessed by the subordinates of the god, who were supposed to be the young man¡¯s protector. Now his emasculated head face them as it plops to the ground. Eyes widened as they shudder. Luosa charges towards them and they all quickly draws their weapons. Zedimn dashes forward, pushing Komo to the back.


    [Komo]: ¡°Haha¡­¡±


    With a bloodshot eye, a grin of anticipation as he faces the one who made his lord disappear.


    [Komo]: ¡°Oh well, no stopping him now.¡±


    The two clashes, with the blood of the dead child pierces Zedimn by the side of his head. Luosa knee him in the gut and proceeds to deliver a flurry of punches, slaps, and back handed pummel to the side of his cheek. Ground quakes and destroyed.


    He received it all because he is already dead.


    [Lastimi]: ¡°Hey, why is he¡­¡±


    [Komo]: ¡°¡­¡±


    The man shudder completely after realizing what he has seen was indeed what had happened. Before the fight even begin¡­


    [Komo]: ¡°He¡¯s¡­ dead.¡±


    [Sugima]: ¡°I have to find the lord.¡±


    [Komo]: ¡°Wha, hey!¡±


    The draconic humanoid ascended to the sky. Sensing danger, the man makes his escape in disguise of reason. Only to be pierced by the same blood that had killed his comrade. Right in his chest, but there was no one on the other end of it because suddenly, his body combust, leaving red everywhere. In his place lies the one who have reduced their number, Luosa. Covered in the blood and guts of that man. Her head turns towards the rest of them.


    Lastimi quickly transform herself into a large humanoid insect.


    [Lastimi]: ¡°No choice but to fight, huh!¡±


    [Komo]: ¡°D-Damn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!¡±


    They charge their energy and in unison, send a blast of powerful energy that engulf the direction like a laser beam. But when it dissipates, one can see that their target, including her clothes, are not affected a bit. Not even a dirt or ash even touches her. Making their expression sunk as fear stir within their heart. She charges her own energy with the blood of the dead three, now gathers.


    The two quickly fled the scene and the one Luosa chose is the man. A red dark current passes through him, creating countless mini holes in his body, and it continue to pierces towards those behind him. With a clench of her hand, the dark current disappear, but the energy remains condensed in her hand still, and she sends that one to the fleeing woman, and she too got caught.


    If one were to look at Luosa¡¯s eyes much more closely, one can see a dot of light within. It illuminates the god himself, shivering and trembling as he continues to unleashes his power erratically, sending wave and wave of energy to keep the darkness away, but it never ends.


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Damn it, damn it! What is this?!¡±


    [???]: ¡°Kuhuh uh uhhu hu huu hu.¡±


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°!!!¡±


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡±


    [???]: ¡°Mmmm¡­ the taste of arcane. Such pure transcendental energy¡­¡±


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Hnnnrrgh.¡±


    [???]: ¡°A Nexus¡ª no¡­ a Zenith¡­ a God. Kekekekekekeke¡­¡±


    The slightest distraction causes the darkness to engulf him completely, but then suddenly, the light came to be and he sees a pair of limbs that looks like a scissor right between his arm.


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°???¡±


    *Snip*


    Luosa descended to the ground as she senses an incredible force from within her eyes, she forcefully removes it and the god himself pops out of it. With his face fall flat on the ground, he lifts his head up only to see the remain of his child. A shudder like no other.


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Heerh? Huurr¡­¡±


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Hrraaaaaaaaaaagh?!¡±


    Missing one of his limbs, he turns to perpetrator and engages in close combat. His entire body full of divine energy, flailing his only fist, kicking with both of his legs. Sometimes, his attacks go through Luosa¡¯s body, and sometimes, she blocks it physically. But she also retaliates by stomping him repeatedly to the ground and blasting him with dark energy.


    He teleports right behind her to send a blow only for his chest to be punctured by a sword.


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Hraghk?¡±


    He turns to see it, and it is the robed skeleton.


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Ludwig¡­ you bastard. Do you even realize what you¡¯ve made¡ª.¡±


    The sword grinds deeper into his heart and the skeleton open his palm aiming for the god¡¯s head, but he quickly teleported far away.


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°Hrrngh, I won¡¯t forget this¡­ just you wait.¡±


    But then his eyes widened upon turning his head to the front, seeing the young woman right before his eyes with her hand open cloaked with sinister energy. A dark current sends toward him, creating countless holes in his body, but he teleported much further away, panting out of breath as his body recovers. Wheezing in pain.


    *Huff *Huff


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°D-Damn it.¡±


    He senses another presence and it is indeed the same person. Another dark current and a teleportation. Away from the battlefield, but scene continues to repeat until one of his legs suddenly disappeared. Realizing that she will continue hunting him, endlessly, something broke within him.


    [God Dorothan]: ¡°What¡­ are you¡­¡±


    That day, fear carved through his heart. The scene stops when he makes use of an item, a gem that allows him to disappears from the world, leaving his entire army behind. Soon enough, they become mere fodder to the realm¡¯s new guardian, or perhaps, its destroyer. Unbound, she walks upon the throne coveted by the god and paints a new picture to the scene, the days of what the realm will become. Desolate and empty, just like her eyes.


    The skeleton walks towards her but the one that mimics her grabs his wrist.


    [Slime]: ¡°My lord. She¡¯s gone.¡±


    Slowly turning over his shoulder, the mimicking slime gaze upon the skeleton¡¯s eye sockets and sees a depth unforeseen. Shuddering, her grips loosen. There¡¯s not a response even when the skeleton is standing in front of Luosa. Even a caressing and gentle touch to her cheek.


    [Skeleton]: ¡°I¡¯ll fix this, Luosa.¡±


    [Skeleton]: ¡°I promise.¡±


    His shadow and the rest slowly disappearing from the throne room, and when their presence disappear. A tear is shed. A jaw clenched, and brows furrow, squeezed in rage.


    [Luosa]: ¡°Cowards.¡±

 Chapter 1 – Time Magic

    <h2>Chapter 1 ¨C Time Magic</h2>


    Rain drops upon a puddle of mud. But a roof keeps those within it safe. A sound and blurred vision of a young woman and another, smiling full of laughter as she enters a large capsule-like device. It¡¯s a technology that allows one to enter a virtual world on the other side.


    [Siola]: ¡°Hahahaha¡­¡±


    [Rosa]: ¡°¡­ everything¡­ yeah?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Mm! See ¡­ dinner.¡±


    ¡®If I can say something to myself in the past¡­¡¯


    [Rosa]: ¡°Sure¡­ won¡¯t¡­ me?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Rakuri¡­ Kurira¡­ too¡­¡±


    [Rosa]: ¡°Awww¡­ kaaaay¡­¡±


    ¡®I shouldn¡¯t play it.¡±


    ¡®No.¡¯


    ¡®I should¡¯ve stayed dead.¡¯


    White perfect teeth, that solid appearance extends to her gums and back. Puffing her cheeks before smooching like a fish. Her dark brown eyes narrows as she inspects for the slightest imperfection on her face excluding her freckles. Her short wavy hair brushed by a tall dark-haired lady who is lovingly gives her raspberries.


    [Siola]: ¡°You know, Realism Mode integration really doesn¡¯t cover about anything on this body other than¡­ you know, feeling? Like have you ever go to the toilet with this body? You¡¯ve seen them around, I¡¯m sure NPCs use those, but what about us?¡±


    Snatching the mirror and turns her around. The dark-haired woman pinches Siola¡¯s cheek, puffing and pouting it as she gazes upon that fish-like mouth.


    [Rakuri]: ¡°Does it matter?¡±


    Kissing that silly face, that mouth, and that cheek.


    [Siola]: ¡°Hunyumnyumnyum.¡±


    [Kurira]: ¡°Get a roooooooooom, you two. And what the hell was that noise, Siola?! Did you turn from skeleton to a duck back there?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Shut uop, you cyborg! And watch out for the clouds!¡±


    Maneuvering the grey-white dragon, they manage to avoid the clouds by going above it. The rider chuckles in confidence as her metal hand rotates 720 degrees. Her eyes sparks silver and white as the cracks on her face glows in the same color. In the reflection of her eyes lies an image of a floating island slowly being processed.


    [Kurira]: ¡°That the one?¡±


    Siola stood. Her eyes narrowed before her wide smile is formed.


    [Siola]: ¡°Isolated Realm of The Unknown.¡±


    Sensing the presence of a visitor, the inhabitant swarms the landing area bringing swords and axes. A deformed creature of all kinds, thousands of them. Kurira scans the threat, their weapons and capabilities, before descending unto them with the dragon firing a breath of chilling frost, freezing a large number of them before taking a flight.


    Swords and axes flying but none of them damages the dragon. But more and more creatures appear from the tomb to a point that the landing area overfill with some of them are falling off. However, they are not the only one that is coming out of the tomb. A much large creature, indescribable in nature appears with all of its tentacles piecing and eating the smaller creatures.


    [Kurira]: ¡°You¡¯re up.¡±


    Siola jogs as she creates a body double, and take a dive straight towards the center of landing area below where the large creature awaits. The two body swirl towards it with hand casting a sign.


    [Siola x Malevolent Shadow]: ¡°Phantasmagoria!¡±


    Powerful kinetic force brought it down, stunning it.


    [Malevolent Shadow]: ¡°Starfall Annihilation.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Hah! I like the idea!¡±


    In unison, their grin widened.


    [Siola x Malevolent Shadow]: ¡°Nebula!¡±


    They disappear. In the sky above, a large meteorite approaches the landing zone and standing above the meteorite is the two body of Siola, riding on it. With a wide smile, they crash on to the landing area, creating a massive explosion reaching the entire floating island. When the dust settles, it reveals the massive damage to the island, but then suddenly, it repaired itself in an instant, leaving only the debris above. Siola takes Siola¡¯s hand to descend, but once again, the denizens of the realm appear in drove once more.


    Frost breath by the dragon as it flies by, it descends besides Siola as Rakuri and Kurira joins her side. They stride confidently towards the swarm. Kurira conjures a portable mechanical case which houses a number of weapons. Rakuri takes from it a bow, the two Siola takes a staff each, and Kurira grabs herself a minigun weighing a couple hundred kilos.


    [Kurira]: ¡°Heh.¡±


    It ramps up before unleashing a bullet hell towards the entrance of the tomb, each bullet can pierce the smaller denizens of this realm up to 8 times. Her boots transformed as it lights up, bigger, weightier, allowing her to take steps while firing her minigun. However, the target number continues to increase and that causes the dragon to assist. Instead of a widespread breath, it fires a condensed laser that freezes everything it touches.  But even that too is not enough as a larger, much stronger creatures appear from the tomb. Crashing the formed frozen wall, it absorbs Kurira¡¯s bullets, but then the two Siola aim their stave at them.


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    [Siola x Malevolent Shadow]: ¡°Psionic Lance.¡±


    Powerful force of kinetic power piercing through the entire enemy lines, stunning them. That¡¯s when Rakuri holds her bow and aims it at the entrance of the tomb.


    [Rakuri]: ¡°True Art of Volatile Dark¡­¡±


    Lightning surges through her bow as she draws a spectral arrow forming from its energy. Black energy scatter at the tip of the arrow.


    [Rakuri]: ¡°Death Storm!¡±


    Swirling blast of dark energy, ever growing, taking everything in its path. Clearing the way for them to advance. Kurira grabs a backpack filled with ammunition for the minigun from her case before it disappears, leading the group to steps towards the tomb. Rakuri faces her dragon.


    [Rakuri]: ¡°Return, Laliadainmma, I¡¯ll call upon you once more when the need arises.¡±


    The dragon bows before flapping its wings and takes flight away from the island. Rakuri rejoins the others as they enter the tomb. Corpses of the enemies suddenly disappear without a sound. Siola snatches her malevolent shadow¡¯s stave, sheathing it to her back as the body double turns into magical energy which itself returns to Siola¡¯s body.


    [Siola]: ¡°Wait.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡®I had the opportunity to turn back. The number of choices I could¡¯ve made. To enjoy life, to bring happiness to myself and the others.¡¯


    [Rakuri]: ¡°Okay, what do we do now?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°I get the feeling I should go in there alone.¡±


    [Rakuri]: ¡°Heheh, trying to hoard all the power for yourself now?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Read my mind there. Haha¡­¡±


    ¡®Something kept gnawing at me. Nudging me towards this path.¡¯


    She marches onward.


    [Kurira]: ¡°You sure they¡¯re not gonna spawn again?!¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Uhh, I think so!¡±


    With each step she took, her footsteps glowing in golden white. Her hands feel chilly the further she walks towards a dead end. Before long, she doesn¡¯t even feel a presence behind her for the presence and body of her companions are no longer there. Panting, she tries to calm herself down as she continues onward but no matter how far she walks, the dead end never ends.


    *Huff *Huff


    [Siola]: ¡°Alright.¡±


    She closes her eyes for a moment. The next scene she sees is not that of a golden structures or walls or even grounds. She¡¯s standing in space, amidst the stars. It¡¯s dark.


    [???]: ¡°You have returned¡­ Siola.¡±


    An enormously gigantic divine creature with a ghastly appearance. 6 angelic wings with a crown-like horns over its head. Two golden white arms with sharp armors. Golden white energy radiates in excess. Its head resembles that of a mythical goat, even its eyes.


    [Siola]: ¡°Kita.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°I keep considering the possibility of this, but I guess it wasn¡¯t the god himself who brought me back to the past. I kept asking why me, but then from out of nowhere, I see my friends who¡¯s supposedly doesn¡¯t know me yet, suddenly said my name out loud without me even introducing myself.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Was it you, Kita?¡±


    Its head turns, its eyes shifting towards her.


    [Kita]: ¡°You¡¯ve known it for longer than you wish to admit, oh Devotee of the Great End King, or is it Mage of the Abyss, now?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°I don¡¯t have the title for either of them, Kita. Just answer me.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°This whole thing, this world is a game. I cage myself in a metal box so I can come here and have fun. I died, with a bullet to my brain, and yet I¡¯m still here standing three and half years before that happens. Is this whole thing coded in you? You were just supposed to be a pet summon I can use so I can cast that Life Distortion spell, but what the hell is this?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Are you a dev playing an NPC here because if that is true, you don¡¯t know how much that¡¯ll ease my mind! So, tell me, Kita. What¡­ is happening here?¡±


    The creature closes its wing as it backs away slightly.


    On the other end of the space is Kurira and Rakuri snacking on salted nuts. Crunchy texture, and the crumbs are sticking to their fingers.


    [Rakuri]: ¡°What do you think she¡¯s doing over there?¡±


    [Kurira]: ¡°God knows.¡±


    *Munch *Munch


    [Rakuri]: ¡°Heheh, still feels so unreal.¡±


    [Kurira]: ¡°What is?¡±


    [Rakuri]: ¡°Everything! Duh.¡±


    [Rakuri]: ¡°We got Dola back, we got our house repaired, you getting an NPC girlfriend. Like, this whole thing almost feels like a dream. It¡¯s like that thing never happened.¡±


    [Kurira]: ¡°Well, it didn¡¯t. At least, not yet.¡±


    [Rakuri]: ¡°I still think about our old friends though. Remember Scallops? You kind of left him dead in the warehouse. Supposed he¡¯s still alive, probably gonna find our bodies there too.¡±


    [Kurira]: ¡°Yeah?¡±


    [Rakuri]: ¡°What, don¡¯t you miss our past self? Or should I say, future self?¡±


    [Kurira]: ¡°No.¡±


    [Kurira]: ¡°We¡¯ve got a second chance at life. I don¡¯t wanna mop around thinking about the past when the sweet future is ahead of us. You remember that saying?¡±


    [Kurira]: ¡°Hope,¡±


    [Rakuri]: ¡°Is the thing with feathers,¡±


    A smile on their face. Before they continue, something in their line of sight. They quickly stood and Kurira aims her minigun at the humanoid entity entering the tomb. But then it disappears instantly, and suddenly, they appear right in the middle of them. Dark hair, black sclera with unnerving orange eyes.


    ! {Boss Encounter}


    ~ {Replica, Mage of the Abyss | Level: ~10.000 | Health: 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] + 80.000 [+80.000] ¡­}


    In the presence of the entity, Rakuri cannot move an inch, but Kurira, her hand protract a large blade. Swiftly swinging towards the entity only for it to be caught by hand. Kurira¡¯s eyes widened at the sight of the mature woman¡¯s face. Her hand on the center of Kurira¡¯s chest. A powerful blast that destroys a portion of the floating island, sending Kurira away. Rakuri takes the opportunity to turn around and dash towards the dead end but then, her chest is pierced by shadow hand.


    [Rakuri]: ¡°Hrrngh?! Dola, no. Siola!!!¡±


    With a powerful force of a pull, her entire being is tossed out of the floating island. The humanoid entity, Replica, witnesses the island healed itself in an instant. She turns towards the dead ends and begin walking towards it.


    [Kita]: ¡°The world you convince yourself to be a playground and the world you never question of its existence. It is as you have presumed.¡±


    [Kita]: ¡°Both are a part of one, connected by the metal box of which you used to traverse.¡±


    Siola clenches her fist as she looks at the galaxy below, unease by the truth in front of her.


    [Kita]: ¡°I have once warned you of the danger of manipulating time, and yet you have summoned me in order to do just that.¡±


    [Kita]: ¡°There are five souls that have been affected by your decision, yours included.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°What?¡±


    [Kita]: ¡°The power you used, breaks the boundaries between the two worlds, and it brought you here once again¡ª.¡±


    The creature tilted its head back.


    [Siola]: ¡°Well, don¡¯t stop now. What do you mean five people. Who are the other two?¡±


    [Kita]: ¡°Such irony, for one who has been bestowed upon the power to manipulate time is now running out of it.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Huh?¡±


    ! {New Mail}


    <ul>


    <li>[Rakuri]: ¡°Siola! Something¡¯s coming after you! A Boss!¡±</li>


    </ul>


    [Siola]: ¡°What the hell?¡±


    She turns towards the creature.


    [Siola]: ¡°Kita! Let me wield you once more.¡±


    Its head held high.


    [Kita]: ¡°We have reached great heights together, let us rise to it once again.¡±


    Siola straighten her posture as she held her head high. Arms crossed. The creature mimics her movement. Golden white energy flows like a maelstrom, connecting the two entities.


    ! {Class Evolution to Chronomancer is now Available}

 Chapter 2 – An End

    Within a certain prison, unreachable by many. A sole prisoner sealed by all manners of contraptions tying her still. But even with a sword impale her head, her train of thoughts runs as her eyes continuously producing numbers of green and blues, and in it lies the figure of a certain individual who has appeared out of nowhere. It is none other than Siola herself.


    [Siola]: ¡°Madam Replica? What¡¯re you doing here?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°What did you do to my friends?¡±


    She takes a step closer.


    [Replica]: ¡°They bare their fangs at me. I had to remove them, but they are not dead. At least when I was done with them.¡±


    A sigh of relieve, ¡°Phew, seriously, now. You got me worried.¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°I have a task for you.¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°You are to assist me in retrieving an entity sealed under the ocean floor. Come¡ª.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Phantasmagoria!¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°?!¡±


    Teeth grinding as a flash of nightmare appeared for a moment. Upon turning to see the perpetrator, there are two of them flying towards the entrance. She has already figured it out.


    [Siola x Malevolent Shadow]: ¡°Bell Tolls!¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°Clever girl.¡±


    A magical clock appears behind the both of them. Replica then teleports ahead, but the two Siola then teleported as well. Further away from her as the clock starts ticking.


    [Malevolent Shadow]: ¡°Phantasmagoria!¡±


    An illusion once again.


    [Replica]: ¡°Hrnnngh.¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°Hrrrraaaaaaaaagh!¡±


    She teleported behind malevolent shadow, but it too teleported as well. One of the properties that a Malevolent Shadow has is its complete mimicry to the original. It can be as useless or as helpful as it can be depending on the caster. The two made it outside and there, Replica finds both Siola on a separate area of the sky.


    [Siola x Malevolent Shadow]: ¡°Cosmic Aperture!¡±


    A wormhole appears on both areas, one leads towards a gloomy place, and another is place filled with several portals, ¡°Damn it all!¡±, she bets everything on the version of Siola entering the wormhole leading towards several portals but then, she disappears and the wormhole is closed. Replica has been transferred to the beginning of a Traveler¡¯s journey, and now there are a number of them staring her from the ground. That was the malevolent shadow. Her one eye twitching. Behind the reflection of those eyes is where the sealed woman is. Suddenly, Replica turns into blocks of cubes as the woman¡¯s eyes turns dark brown, a much normal one.


    [???]: ¡°Heheh, I could¡¯ve just wait. So impatient.¡±


    [???]: ¡°At least you now know what to do. Sorry about this, Siola.¡±


    Eyes closed. She starts murmuring in soft tone. On the other end of the spectrum, Siola bumps her head on a wall. ¡°Ouch.¡± She gets a hold of herself. The wormhole she conjured got her to this prison cell where water drips from the crevices of the wall.


    [???]: ¡°Um, hello?¡±


    A young woman in a rag.


    [Siola]: ¡°Hello there, sorry to interrupt your prologue, gimme just a moment here.¡±


    She teleports herself out of the prison.


    [???]: ¡°Eh? Wait! What am I supposed to¡ª.¡±


    She continues to walk without looking back. There are numerous numbers of people in the same predicament as that young woman. All wearing dirty rags. Siola stands out like a sore thumb especially when she takes flight and passes them by. Confusion sparks among them.


    [Man 1]: ¡°Eh?¡±


    [Man 2]: ¡°What the hell is that?¡±


    [Woman 1]: ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    [Man 3]: ¡°Is that an NPC?¡±


    [Man 4]: ¡°There an event going on?¡±


    [Woman 2]: ¡°Never seen that before.¡±


    Siola speeds up, ¡°Prison Realm.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡®Hmm, it¡¯s only been a short while ago, but I remember the time I was trying to escape this place with those old men. I wonder how they¡¯re doing right now.¡¯


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    She opens a menu window, messages.


    [Siola]: ¡®Both of them are still online, but why won¡¯t Kurira answer already, that bitch. Well, at least I know Rakuri is alright, but come on now.¡¯


    [Siola]: ¡°First things first.¡±


    The clock behind her disappears as she reaches the West Gate of the Prison. An enormous one, and in front of it lies its guardians. One is a spear-wielding heavily armored demon with a tail, Avarice, and another is a dark priestess with a large eerie cross hovering behind her back, Malice. Both of them notices her coming closer before landing in front of them.


    [Avarice]: ¡°Luosa?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Avarice, Malice. Oh, it¡¯s so good to see you two again.¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°Where in the world have you been?!¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Wait! First! I just want to make sure, is Madam Replica here?¡±


    The two look at each other, and there, Avarice took a step as she lifts her spear, aiming it at Siola, ¡°Why don¡¯t you explain yourself first, Luosa?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Nooooo! Wait, seriously! Madam Replica chased me just now, she was clearly out for blood and I was wondering if it was really her!¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°What?¡±


    [Malice]: ¡°Nonsense, your name alone would protect you, as is your immortal power for being a Traveler.¡±


    Shattering voice coming from the beautiful woman even though she speaks her sentences softly. Hearing it, shuts Siola¡¯s mouth, ¡®WOaaaaaaaaagh, her voice is like thisssssssss?! Hnnngh, she was such a sweet woman but woah! She¡¯s terrifying when she¡¯s angry!¡¯


    [Avarice]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Malice]: ¡°You lied to us.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Noo, you can¡¯t put that on me, you two were the first one to misunderstood and I just went along with it.¡±


    [Malice]: ¡°Your tone has become more confident now I see.¡±


    Siola takes a huge breath and let it out.


    [Siola]: ¡°For the short time we spent together, I truly am¡ª.¡±


    Her eyes widened as her chest suddenly beats hard. The two surprised by the sudden change on Siola¡¯s expression, but that¡¯s not just her.


    [Man 1]: ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh?!¡±


    [Man 2]: ¡°Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!¡±


    [Woman 1]: ¡°Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°What is this?¡±


    Siola falling to her knees, ¡°Hnnngh?!¡± Malice quickly tends to her. Investigating, trying to see analyze what is going on with her.


    [Malice]: ¡°Luosa, what is it?¡±


    [Malice]: ¡°Avarice!¡±


    Avarice quickly lifts her tail and aim the tip at the center of her back. Sensing the anomaly that is weakening Siola¡¯s body, ¡°Her life force is being drained. No, even more than that.¡±


    [Malice]: ¡°Madam Goolag, now!¡±


    Avarice wraps them both with her tail and all three are teleported to a room full of books and alchemical ingredients. All warm in color. On the other end of the room lies Siola cutting a piece of her own finger to a platter, it turns into a black goo.


    [Siola-Goolag]: ¡°What is this? Coming here without permission while bringing a stranger of all things. You must¡¯ve lost your¡ª.¡±


    Her eyes widened after seeing Siola falling, but Malice caught her.


    [Siola-Goolag]: ¡°Luosa?¡±


    [Malice]: ¡°Something¡¯s wrong with her.¡±


    Goolag turns into a black slime as her voice becomes deeper and echoing. Inspecting Siola as she is convulsing, ¡°Explain.¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°Her life force and Mana are being drained.¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°The same thing seems to be happening with all the other travelers. They are all screaming in pain.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°And yet, she is not? But more than that, this is¡­¡±


    Siola¡¯s eyes switching back and forth between the regular form and a pitch black one.


    [Goolag]: ¡°The Abyss.¡±


    [Avarice & Malice]: ¡°!!!¡±


    Taking the form of Siola once more.


    [Siola-Goolag]: ¡°No, the Abyss is not taking anything. Something else is interfering with her transformation, but there¡¯s also another¡­ what is this¡­¡±


    [Siola-Goolag]: ¡°This¡­ unsettling yet familiar power.¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°Can you help her?¡±


    [Siola-Goolag]: ¡°Yes, but¡­¡±


    She stood and take a step back. Staring at Siola as her eyes becomes pitch black, but then, she shudders when it changes back. She stops convulsing and drops to the ground.


    [Malice]: ¡°Madam?¡±


    [Siola-Goolag]: ¡°Leave her. It¡¯ll all come to pass.¡±


    Avarice and Malice looks at each other once more before shifting to Goolag as her fist clenches. Her gaze towards Siola remains unshakable. She saw something inside Siola, something other than the one she has planted. The feeling alone is enough reason for her not to assist her.


    When Siola¡¯s eyes open, she found herself in a pink dark room. Eyes opened wide as she quickly lifts herself up. Her clothes are different. Instead of the usual black and red, it is now grey and black. Eyes looking around swiftly before turning to the windowed wall, a balcony.


    ¡®This feeling¡­¡¯


    As she walks towards it, she raises her hand trying to conjure a familiar thing.


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°The hell?¡±


    Another one, but nothing.


    ¡°Where in the hell is the status window?¡±


    Her heart started racing, she enters the balcony and sees the gloomy forest, but the moon in the sky continues to calm her down.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°No way, right?¡±


    She jumps in place.


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°Haha. Come on now, stop joking around. Did someone debuff me or something?¡±


    She jumps in place again. Her attempts to take flight failed once more. Putting her arms and palms forward, she took a large breath, ¡°Firebolt!¡±


    Nothing.


    ¡°Light Spear!¡±


    ¡°Psionic Lance!¡±


    Her heart racing once more, she closes her eyes. Keeping her stress level low. She opens them once more and muttered, ¡°Bell Tolls.¡± Upon uttering that, she found herself in the presence of the enormously gigantic creature of which she has visited the day prior.


    [Siola]: ¡°Kita?¡±


    [Kita]: ¡°A shift to the balance caused by the intruder.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°I couldn¡¯t use any of my power, and the System is gone! You know what happened?¡±


    [Kita]: ¡°Indeed. What you have obtained remains, but you have only been using them through the Divine System. Think of it as a means of travel. The divine system is a tool that connects you to your destination instantly, bypassing the process itself.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Right, divine, whatever. Wait, Divine? did I get cursed by Armalia or something? Did she take away the system from me?¡±


    [Kita]: ¡°I have not sensed a presence of the Ruler of the Divine Order. The Divine System, although borrows the name of the order is not connected whatsoever to the goddess herself.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Does this apply to items and such?¡±


    [Kita]: ¡°Of course.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Damn, so I can¡¯t leave this world then. There has got to be a way to¡ª argh, I can¡¯t protect myself without my power, Kita.¡±


    [Kita]: ¡°Your power and the Divine System has never been a separate entity. Not all is lost. You still have yourself, and you will rise to your potential even without it.¡±


    Her brows furrowed and in a blink of an eye, she returns to the balcony, gazing at the moon. There¡¯s nothing on her back, the spell she cast never summoned the giant clock.


    [???]: ¡°Luosa.¡±


    A crackling voice ever so disturbing, but a familiar one. Donned a black cloak, a piercing dot of silver flame for an eye. A skeleton.

 Chapter 3 – A Beginning

    The skeleton with a simple black robe emanates an extremely ominous aura. Enough for her to take a step back simply by him announcing his presence. He walks towards her.


    [Siola]: ¡°L-Lord Ludwig.¡±


    [Ludwig]: ¡°You seem anxious¡­ afraid.¡±


    Under the light of the moon, he reaches his hands towards her. A slight flinch, but all he wanted to do is patting. Rustling her hair as she frowns. Nervous. She turns, leaving the comfort that the skeleton lays out for her, ¡°You were asking for Replica.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°It¡¯s¡­ haa¡­ not anymore, Lord Ludwig.¡±


    [Ludwig]: ¡°Lord?¡±


    Sighing, scratching her head as she looks down. The comfy boots made of unfamiliar materials wrapping her feet warm, ¡°I lost my power. Twice. This time, it¡¯s just¡­ worse.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°You know how this works, Ludwig. Whatever resemblance that I have with this Luosa of yours, I¡¯m not. I¡¯m just a girl who came here from a metal box. And I can¡¯t go back anymore.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°What the hell am I supposed to do now?¡±


    Reaching his skeleton fingers towards her back, he retracts it midway. He still remembers when a cone of light engulfs her in front of his eyes, she just disappears right there and then. Clenched fists as his dot for an eye flare slightly.


    [Ludwig]: ¡°Regardless of who you are supposed to be, the divine system no longer chains you. Nothing binds you anymore, Luosa.¡±


    [Ludwig]: ¡°It is all up to you, how you will proceed from here.¡±


    She turns, looking up at his dot of an eye.


    They walked out of the room and Ludwig brought her outside after passing several hallways. The front yard of the castle that happens to be a garden as well. Surprisingly well tended despite the gloomy contrast, but the scenery is not where he¡¯s taking her to. Instead, it¡¯s what lies beyond the fence. Countless people are chained by undead. Like cattle, people like herself. At first, there¡¯s confusion in her eyes, but she can¡¯t put the pieces together.


    [Siola]: ¡°Why are you showing me this?¡±


    [Ludwig]: ¡°A choice.¡±


    [Ludwig]: ¡°Serve me. Become what you are supposed to be.¡±


    Eyes widened as she tries to force a smile, ¡°After all that talk¡­ Heh, what a joke.¡±


    A shade of skeleton fingers etched on the back of her shoulder, burning her new color. Dirty brown for an outfit, wearing rags. She walks out of the gate with a collar chain on each one of her limb. Joining the rest of the people as they make way for her.


    [Man 1]: ¡°That the last one?¡±


    [Man 2]: ¡°Damn, they really take everyone, huh.¡±


    [Man 3]: ¡°I was literally about to step in the portal, man. Now it¡¯s gone.¡±


    [Woman 1]: ¡°What do we do?¡±


    Now sitting amongst them. One wouldn¡¯t be able to pin point the exact location of where she is amidst the sea of people trapped in an overcrowded pasture.


    Hours passed.


    [Man ?]: ¡°Man, I¡¯m¡­ hungry.¡±


    [Man ?]: ¡°How long are we supposed to be here?¡±


    [Woman ?]: ¡°Water¡­¡±


    At the end of that day.


    [Man ?]: ¡°Oi, water.¡±


    [Man ?]: ¡°I need it too, where¡­¡±


    [Woman ?]: ¡°Food¡­¡±


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    [Man ?]: ¡°WATER! FOOD!¡±


    [Woman ?]: ¡°Cold¡­ it¡¯s so¡­ cold¡­¡±


    Many of them marches towards the gate of the castle, yelling and smacking the door but their cries remain unheard while some attempts to escape but their chains kept them from leaving too far from the castle. Even if they can manage to escape, they will find none in this desolate plane.


    In the second day.


    [Woman 1]: ¡°Kyaaaaaaaah! Get away from meeeeeeeeeee!¡±


    [Man 1]: ¡°Ayo, what¡¯s wrong girl. Just wanna cop a feel, just a lil. You know you got the urge for it too.¡±


    [Woman 1]: ¡°I-I have boyfriend!¡±


    [Man 2]: ¡°Get your hands off of her.¡±


    [Man 1]: ¡°Waaaah, tryna be a hero, boy?! Guys! Look at this.¡±


    After a single punch from the gentleman, a fight broke out. Fists meeting eyes, knees meeting stomachs, and so on. One week passed. Their stomach churn, yearning for nourishment. Unable to control it, they start seeing their own kin as one.


    [Woman ?]: ¡°What¡¯re you doing¡­¡±


    [Woman ?]: ¡°Hey, stop joking around¡­¡±


    [Woman ?]: ¡°No, nooooooooooooo!¡±


    Fallen, the man is shunned and crushed by the others, but that was the start of it. Some people have split themselves into groups. Protecting themselves from the others. However, the scene in the next sixth month is different than what one would like to imagine. Many have succumbed to their primal instincts, becoming an animal. Feasting on each other forcefully, like a mindless creature. Some are resisting, some have given up hope.


    One such creature grabs a hold of one¡¯s wrist, Siola, ¡°Get your hands off me¡­ you ***.¡±


    [Man ?]: ¡°Huh?¡±


    A slap, with a powerful enough force to shake his brain. Siola sidesteps in and deliver a kick to his side before chopping his neck with a plunging roundhouse. Although it stays intact, the man is stunned enough for Siola to grab his arm and bites on his finger. Continuously, until it left its body.


    [Man ?]: ¡°Hraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh?!¡±


    That missing finger bleeds, but in time regenerate itself albeit extremely slowly. But then a woman comes and grab Siola, trying to pluck out her eyes, but Siola bites her fingers before elbowing her and deliver a blow straight to her eyes. Kicking her when she¡¯s down.


    [Siola]: ¡°You fuck! Fuck! Fuck!!!¡±


    More and more people grab her, and there, she fights. Blood spills. Teeth flying. Eyes pluck out as it becomes an endless battle filled with rage and pain. A battle of sustenance, for the victor shall claim the prize of a full belly made of the body of their kin.


    Three years have passed ever since, and only a few are left fighting. Two bulky men, a woman, slim yet muscular man, and Siola herself. All of five them fights to crush the other¡¯s spirit. Their will to live, to become husk like many others. Blood continues to spill, until one rainy day, a change to the battlefield. To the battle itself. For magic gathers on the palm of one¡¯s hand, a shard of ice is formed. She whose hair resting on the ground. Nails sharp as a shiv, eyes as lively still. An end to the battle as the very same shard pierces another.


    At the break of dawn, footsteps coming closer towards that woman who is using a shard of ice to cut her hair. It melts when it¡¯s done. She turns to see the visitor, and it is the heavily armored humanoid creature with an armored tail. Avarice. She brought her to the castle. Even with Avarice looking at her, she doesn¡¯t return her gaze. Brought to stand in front of the Ruler of Prison Realm.


    [Ludwig]: ¡°Have you give it some thoughts, Luosa?¡±


    Her fists clenches tightly until it bleeds. The others ¨C a Draugr in a magnanimously enriched outfit, a headless knight, Avarice, Malice, Replica, and Goolag posing as Siola ¨C witness her. Siola falls to her knees, and bow down with her bloodied palms. The dot for an eye within the skeleton¡¯s eye sockets, aflame in silver. For Siola has pledge her loyalty to him.


    She returns to the same room she wakes up from. This time, donning a new color of outfit after a fresh bath under the moon. Cleaner, albeit, slightly more glamorous than she¡¯s expecting. Black and pink dress with a corset and leg armors. In the mirror, she looks into it, seeing what she has become. Nothing. Nothing has changed at all. Except just a little bit of unkempt hair.


    As she tries to smile, ¡°At least I know I can¡¯t die,¡± suddenly, her body in the reflection of the mirror rest her forearm on the desk as her eyes become pitch black.


    [???]: ¡°How useful.¡±


    *CRASH*


    Her fist an inch into the mirror, cracking its entirety. However, her reflection continues to act like its own person.


    [Siola]: ¡°What is it this time?¡±


    [???]: ¡°I don¡¯t remember your first instinct being in the face of an unknown is to punch it. However, I¡¯m glad that it has become the case. Considering how much of a mess your mind is.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°You¡¯re not Madam Goolag.¡±


    [???]: ¡°You call her Madam still? Even after what she did to you?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°?¡±


    [???]: ¡°Heheh, it is only natural that you didn¡¯t realize it, but I for one, never expected that she did what she did. Even after all the circumstance that compels her otherwise.¡±


    [???]: ¡°After all, who would ever let the one who is carrying such precious name to be endangered, let alone hurt. Not that it originally needs it.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°You¡¯re Luosa.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Heheheheh.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°You are free to keep that name for yourself. Heheh, after all, without it you would just be another empty husk like those travelers out there.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re trapped in that mirror.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°How I wish it would be so simple, but my circumstances are indeed quite similar. And I wish for the same resolution as you might have presumed. Freedom.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Uhuh.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°All these people wish to exploit me for their own gain. I wish to be free of it, but now that we have arrived to this current predicament, I¡¯d say it is best for us to proceed together.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Exploit you. We¡¯re talking about you, here. Why does it concern me.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Because it does concerns you, Siola. You carry my name now, so you must learn what it means to live with it. The importance of that name, and its history.¡±

 Chapter 4 – Beneath

    In the vast wide world, lush and sooth. There was once a happy family. A loving wife, an ambitious husband, and a bright daughter. Their slow yet fulfilling life is all they ever wanted, until a God descends, and laid waste to civilization as they know it. A member of that family is gone, and everything changed right after. Death looming over them.


    Of course, the ever-ambitious man never gives up. He searched through every corner of the world in search of a way to return everything back to the way it was. Losing his grip on time, on desires, on everything he once was. However, one thing has kept that man from losing his way. His lovely and bright daughter, staying by his side. Unbeknownst to him, the looming death changes its sight to her daughter. As it was never under his control, the daughter fell under its darkness. Becoming part of the civilization once lost.


    [Luosa]: ¡°Overtime, the man starts to lose control over his way, and quite possibly even his goal. To a point where his closest aids begin to question themselves. What are they following?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°And where do I fit in that?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Your existence hangs in the comfort of the daughter¡¯s uncanny resemblance, but without it, you will only become an infantry to the countless dead at most.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°In order to navigate through whatever lies ahead of us, you will need me, or at least, the ones behind me.¡±


    Siola opens her eyes as Luosa exits the broken mirror.


    [Luosa]: ¡°The Abyss.¡±


    Her hand light up in pitch black energy and upon lifting her own, Siola¡¯s hand as well.


    [Luosa]: ¡°This world was destined to be destroyed, either by them or another, but ironically, this kept it from happening.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°I spent too long keeping them away, but they are relentless.¡±


    Siola stood and look around.


    [Luosa]: ¡°I will lend you my power, and by extension theirs.¡±


    She stops and look under a pillow.


    [Siola]: ¡°Lend? If you can¡¯t even give yourself that freedom, what makes you think I can?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°I just know it.¡±


    A straw doll.


    [Luosa]: ¡°However, borrowing the power of the abyss does not come without a cost. Throughout centuries I have been keeping them all at bay, but there is one that always passed through me. I called it Scissors. You can think of it as their queen.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Each time you use this power. She will come knocking.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°And you will be the one to answer the door, yes?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Of course.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°And what would happen if you couldn¡¯t block her from entering?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°You will be the one to answer then, and if even you failed to do so, then the both of us is doomed. Not that it will happen when there¡¯s me.¡±


    Siola presses the door to the back of her shoulder, and the tattoo under her clothes glow.


    [Luosa]: ¡°Mark of the Dead. To think he linked the spell to that doll of all things. No matter where you are, he will find you unless you can purify the doll.¡±


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    There¡¯s a slim chain on the back of the doll, long enough for Siola to wear as a necklace.


    [Luosa]: ¡°Call upon the Abyss when you need of its power, Siola.¡±


    She walks out of her room. Pondering as she listens to each step she¡¯s taking. She conjures a shard of ice, gazing upon its imperfection as she walks on the empty hallway.


    ¡®Years just to cast one out.¡¯


    ¡®I took the system for granted. How much of the process is streamlined for us players to use, makes one wonder just who is this person who created it.¡±


    ¡®From my understanding, it all works almost the exact same way as it was in the game¡ª no, as it was before. The difference is, things are no longer automated for me.¡¯


    ¡®Health is always there, Stamina derives from our physical prowess, but as for Mana. One will have to build it for themselves as a foundation before they can use any magic.¡¯


    ¡®From Pure Arcane in the surrounding, converting it to usable energy, then make it upon yourself to make a room within to store said energy and purify it whilst attempting to make your body to accept it. Then proceed to build a base, a container for this energy and condense it further so that it stays in it. But there¡¯s the matter of taking it out and using it.¡¯


    ¡®The degree of concentration needed to cast spells are astronomical.¡¯


    ¡®But all this is only what I¡¯ve found by my own. Expanding my knowledge of this will have to take priority before I make any stupid move. I need to learn.¡¯


    And so, she enters the library, but there is a draugr in her path. One she saw standing beside Ludwig in the throne room. She bows deeply.


    [Siola]: ¡°Lord Ludtleth.¡±


    His head turns.


    [Ludtleth]: ¡°To think that in such a short time, the look in your eyes have changed. What brought you to the grand archive?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°I wish to learn magic, Lord Ludtleth.¡±


    [Ludtleth]: ¡°Hmm, in preparation for your incursion?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Pardon?¡±


    [Ludtleth]: ¡°I see. No one has told you yet.¡±


    [Ludtleth]: ¡°Due to your previously stellar performance in the surface, Goolag has raised the idea of extending your further assistance to the rest of us.¡±


    [Ludtleth]: ¡°Although, we will have to wait for the lord¡¯s permission still.¡±


    He gestures her to follow.


    [Ludtleth]: ¡°The grand archive contains almost every knowledge you can conceive, dating back almost to the beginning of this realm, and some even the surface. However, none of them will prove useful enough for you to ascend to our power.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of it being so simple. However, I¡¯m looking forward to learn all that I can, so I at least become less clueless about it all.¡±


    [Ludtleth]: ¡°Hm, then start with this one.¡±


    He grabs one of the books from the bookshelf, it¡¯s large and thick with simplistic cover. Siola bows after receiving the book.


    [Siola]: ¡°Thank you, Lord Ludtleth.¡±


    One long look before leaving. Siola shifted her attention to the book and begins reading it on a table. A book called, ¡°Seeds of Arcane.¡± It detailed the old understanding of magic from the very beginning. Before Mana, Before Arcane, knowledge of ancient past.


    Steam puffing out of a skeleton of a dragon. There lies a pool of blood, bubbling hot. One¡¯s undressed before taking a steam bath, relishing on it as half of her chest submerged. Her eyes dark as night, but her irises, burning like the sun, something that does not exist in this realm. She lets out a long breath before a skeleton in a pitch-black robe comes to visit.


    [Ludwig]: ¡°Replica.¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°Fwoooh, to what do I owe the pleasure, my lord?¡±


    [Ludwig]: ¡°Luosa has joined us. What¡¯s your progress on the divine system? Can you restore it for her?¡±


    Her eyes opened slightly as she glances at him.


    [Replica]: ¡°No, and my opinion remains. She should learn to live without it.¡±


    [Ludwig]: ¡°And your progress?¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°The divine system is largely complex. It will take centuries for me to decipher it, let alone utilize it proper.¡±


    [Ludwig]: ¡°We might not have that much time.¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°Then I suggest you tell her to make haste.¡±


    His dot of an eye flare. Walking towards her as she rests her elbows on the poolside. Sweats running from her neck down to her collarbone, from her shoulder to her underarm.


    [Ludwig]: ¡°You reckon I should alarm her before she can even settle?¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°No, but I would at least try to avoid making a surprise out of her.¡±


    A grunt as he leaves the pool room. Replica let out a long sigh before resting her neck, enjoying the view of the blue moon from the red pool.


    Without the System guiding her, Siola can only rely on herself when it comes to learning new knowledge. One would often be taken aback by the amount of it for them to process, let alone, incorporating them to their activities. However, for she is not just anyone, and with the threat of uncertain future, Siola bet it all to a goal filled with power. Bit by bit, the shard of ice she conjures, have less and less impurities. From its color, its form, the crystals within and the frost it exudes.

 Chapter 5 – Mage

    In the weeks passed, she hurls an ice shard, ten inches from her palm. It flies fast to a wooden mannequin and shatter after hitting it. She continues to do so until she feels the slightest bit of fatigue, but there is none, ¡®Not all is lost, I see. My ridiculous Mana pools seem to be here still,¡¯ Closing her eyes as she stands still. Arcane particles gather in the surrounding and swirl towards her, getting herself a refill for whatever is lost.


    [Avarice]: ¡°You don¡¯t seem to have improve much. Here, a gift.¡±


    A bunch of people tossed in front of her, all tied up.


    [???]: ¡°Argh.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Hm?¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°They¡¯re among the most resilient out of the rest. I figured they would do a far better job being the mannequin instead of dragging each other around doing nothing.¡±


    [???]: ¡°N-No, please.¡±


    Avarice¡¯s tail swings at him, and his head burst in flame. Blood spills everywhere.


    [???]: ¡°Gyaaaaaaaaaaah!¡±


    [???]: ¡°N-No¡­ oh my god¡­¡±


    Despite witnessing the brutality, Siola¡¯s expression remains unchanged. The headless man¡¯s neck starts bubbling, very slowly, regenerating itself.


    [Avarice]: ¡°Well then, keep at it, Luosa.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Wait!¡±


    Her head turns.


    [Siola]: ¡°Will I be going to the surface again?¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°No, not anytime soon.¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°But, don¡¯t you worry. For I have suggested for you to move somewhere even more enjoyable.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°When is that?¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°Soon.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°How soon?¡±


    [Avarice]: ¡°Heheh, you keep doing what you do. I¡¯ll come for you when it¡¯s time.¡±


    Once she left, Siola let out a long breath. Shifting her attention to the people Avarice brought. She lifts them up and begins chaining them in the place of the mannequins. One woman shivering and afraid, ¡°Please¡­ don¡¯t do this.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°¡­¡±


    She tightens the chain and get into position. Above the palm of her hand, a crystalline shard of ice is formed. Ever so brightly. Several months have passed since then and there she sits on a large bucket of water raising to cloak her entire body with it. Tentacles of water. Controlling its shape so she can breathe while inside it, and then, she dances!


    [Siola]: ¡°Ay, ay, they not like us. They not like us¡­¡±


    Meanwhile, inside the mirror lies Luosa, who has simply become speechless at the sight of her host doing some incredibly footwork while being in water.


    [Luosa]: ¡°I assume this performance brings about some benefits for you?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°What, you don¡¯t like it?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Look.¡±


    Some footwork, stride and slides.


    [Siola]: ¡°Ay, ay, ay.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Are you not concern at all for your second incursion? This time you will not be visiting the surface, but a hostile realm.¡±


    Continuing to dance.


    [Siola]: ¡°Last time was hostile too, no?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°And last time you were incredibly outmatched.¡±


    She stops.


    [Siola]: ¡°So, it wasn¡¯t Replica who helped me that one time, it was you.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Indeed. And Lerusagon-controlled realm will be much worse considering the fact that it is the god who has brought suffering to this realm, or at least one who is associated themselves with him.¡±


    Tossing the entire water tentacles back into the bucket.


    [Siola]: ¡°Queen of Stone.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°She is much more than a Medusa. It is unlikely that you will encounter her, but even if one of her servants were to find you, it¡¯ll spell trouble.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Even for you?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Heheh.¡±


    Chuckling with a wide smile on her face, Siola can¡¯t help but smile herself. There is confidence in that tone. The next day, out of the dimensional storage that was once called the Inventory, she takes out several items from within. Artifacts that give and allows her to do more than what she¡¯s currently capable of. Ring for each one of her fingers, a bangle and a bracelet, and an additional necklace hidden under her clothes, not letting entangled with the straw doll.


    She might need a weapon. Correction, weapons. And so, she takes out 8 different staves. Strapped two on each side of her hip, four on her back. Within the throne room, tension rises as Siola enters the scene. Ludwig says, ¡°I believed you have been briefed with your first task, Luosa?¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°You are to infiltrate the capital city, the rulers who are currently ruling over the majority of the Storm Guard Realm. Find your way to their treasury and obtain the artifact known as Sunder. Once you have obtained it, use this orb to relay your success. You have one year.¡±


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    She bows as she receives it modestly.


    [Replica]: ¡°One more thing. Never let anyone caught a sight of this orb, for your sake.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°It shall be done.¡±


    As Replica took a step away, the sight of the skeleton on his mighty throne entered her sight.


    [Ludwig]: ¡°I know you will succeed with ease, Luosa.¡±


    Her jaw clenches as she straightened her back. Without a word said, Replica cast her spell, but in that split second moment, the one who replicates Siola¡¯s body, notices the eyes full of rage before they disappear out of sight. Goolag, clenches her fists as she gazes upon where Siola stood. The bloodlust directed to her is real.


    A world where lightning can be heard on the daily, a world where a frequent hurricane strikes the wild life and its inhabitants. She powers through the turbulent wind inside a water bubble. Beyond the forest lies a city lightened by thunder, protected by a barrier. Siola tosses the orb aside and submerge it into the mud. She walks towards the city under the heavy rain. Inside her bubbles lies her reflection, and there, it moves by itself as the eyes turns pitch black.


    [Luosa]: ¡°You could¡¯ve just pocketed it in the dimensional storage.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°And let whoever behind it have a free pass to whatever I have in the closet?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Worth the risk of losing it?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Well, I¡¯ll tell you this. There¡¯s not a lot left in my mind for me to forget about it. Plus, I¡¯ve made some¡­ precautions.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Let¡¯s not talk again anytime soon unless you have anything important to say.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Very well.¡±


    The point of which the barrier separating those within and without is clear as day for the inside of it, the rainstorm cannot reach inside. Siola lift her hand, hesitating to even touch the barrier let alone entering it, but then, her fingernail passes through. A slight exhaling sigh of relief. She then pushes her whole body inside and within it. Her water bubble is unneeded. Although the gloomy scenery persists, the land is dry.


    [Siola]: ¡°Let¡¯s get to work.¡±


    10 Months later.


    In the certain part of the halved world lies a settlement of a few thousands. The droplets of rain couldn¡¯t pierce the transparent dome in place. Bubbling as thunder struck a tree in the surrounding. An injured demi-human that takes the features of a wolf, stumbling across the forest. Avoiding daggers flying at her as she run towards the dome.


    [???]: ¡°Kyaghahaha. Run, boy! Run!¡±


    [???]: ¡°Kyahahaha!¡±


    A maniac with a misshapen eye, grappling by the momentum he got by swinging from a tree branch to another. He manages a landing when the girl gets over to the other side.


    [???]: ¡°Heh, looks like we found it, Mage.¡±


    Hovering in the air from the darkness casted by a tree, a feminine voice, ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem all that sophisticated for a barrier. Go find their strongest, Silas. Buy me sometime.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Sure, sure, but don¡¯t be late!¡±


    He dashes onward and passes through the barrier. The thought of battle shaken him to its core, an excitement. However, the fleeing boy¡¯s scream have alerted the others. Yet, even if that is the case, there is only a wide smile on his face.


    [Silas]: ¡°Gyahahahaha!


    In the face of brave warriors, he takes out a spear out of a small dimensional portal. Lightning charge as he takes a leap. Tempest gathers around him with the spear as its conduit. Swirling, he speeds up to a drill towards the barricade of warriors and blast them all aside. Some have lost their lives right at that moment, some have injured, but others quickly recovers and charges towards him with a war cry.


    However, instead of fighting them, he turns to the direction of the settlement and charges towards it. The brave warriors widened their eyes seeing him leaps once more, ¡°Coward!¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Bwahaha! Think I¡¯ll let the Mage have all the fun?! Take this!¡±


    [Man]: ¡°STOP HIM!¡±


    Another supercharged drill of tempest, directed towards the settlement and its people, but then, a barbaric warrior blocks it with two of his great axes and stopped his momentum.


    [Silas]: ¡°Heh, Nomad bastard.¡±


    The man swings his axe and Silas blocks it with the spear, but the strength of the nomad overpowers him greatly and it sends him flying, breaking several trees in his path. A dislocated shoulder as he regains his footings, and a massive impact when the nomad landed in front of him.


    [Nomad]: ¡°That spear. You¡¯re from the capital.¡±


    Fixing his own shoulder as he looks up. Panting as a crack was heard by the bubble within. A tempest gathers around the spears once more as Silas creates two double body.


    [Silas]: ¡°Then you know why I¡¯m here. Time to die.¡±


    The nomad taps his great axes together, and lowers them for an attack.


    [Nomad]: ¡°They sent a dog like you for this? Their judgment is worse than I thought.¡±


    The two charged against one another. A turbulent spear attacking in three separates direction while a raging storm swirl in all direction. The two fought while utilizing all their abilities. The rampaging barbarian with his destructive power against the illusionist with his incredible disruptive abilities. One is focused on trying to kill while the other is focused on enjoying the moment even when one of his body double is destroyed.


    [Silas]: ¡°Was it worth it, Nomad?!¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Betraying us for these worthless otherworlders, huh?!¡±


    Slashing his neck, but it was a mere afterimage as Silas reappears behind him. Instead of delivering an attack, he disarms the nomad by inflicting poison from his pouch.


    [Silas]: ¡°Come on! I know you can do more than that, Nomad!¡±


    They blitz through the trees as the Nomad uses his fists and kicks. Silas continues to dodge, but then, the nomad emanates red aura and it completely changed the tides of the battle. His strength reduced, but his speed becomes much faster. Allowing him to inflict blows to Silas.


    A crack.


    [Nomad]: ¡°Did you get too fat from exploiting these people that you forgot who I am?!¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Kogoghk!¡±


    Another blow, and a crack. Furthermore.


    [Nomad]: ¡°These people¡­¡±


    Another one.


    [Nomad]: ¡°As long as I¡¯m here¡­¡±


    More.


    [Nomad]: ¡°I¡¯ll protect them!¡±


    Shatter. Bubbles, shattered the dome. Allowing the rain to pour in as the storm is approaching. The Nomad¡¯s eye widened at the sound of the barrier shattering.


    [Nomad]: ¡°What?¡±


    Silas backs away as his body limping.


    [Silas]: ¡°Heh, ahahahahah!¡±


    [Nomad]: ¡°What did you do?¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Kyaghahahaha!¡±


    [Nomad]: ¡°WHAT DID YOU DO?!¡±


    The area is no longer dry.


    [Silas]: ¡°Heh, I¡¯m no Blackwood. There¡¯s no way they would even consider letting me go by myself. No, but if it¡¯s her¡­ well, that¡¯s a different story.¡±


    The Nomad grabs his axe as he notices a presence. From the darkness, hovering towards Silas. Black and rose, her head strapped with a black bandage where a bouquet of deep red flowers housing a straw doll. Not a single part of her skin is visible. The nomad aims his axe towards her, ¡°You¡¯re the one who destroyed the barrier?¡± but she didn¡¯t respond.


    [Nomad]: ¡°You¡¯ll pay for that.¡±


    She lifts her arm, pointing her finger up. Showing him what¡¯s under the clouds, he turns to see countless number of ice shards aiming towards the settlement.


    [Nomad]: ¡°No.¡±


    She shifts her finger down and they all rain down towards the settlement. The Nomad quickly turns toward the mage, charging at full speed.


    [Nomad]: ¡°NO!¡±


    The mage swings her arm throwing water at the Nomad straight at the head. Allowing her to dodge his attack while he slices nothing as he crashes into the forest with a bubble cloaking his head. Trees upon trees falling as passes. The mage turns to Silas, approaching his wounded person.


    [Nomad]: ¡°Heh, what took you so long.¡±


    His relieved voice reflects his emotion. He looks up to the hovering mage.


    [Silas]: ¡°What, don¡¯t think you can scold me just because you become his favorite, Cindy.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°¡­¡±


    The wounds inflicted upon him by the nomad is not fatal, but the injuries are most definitely will hinder his ability to fight. One can say, that he is fragile enough that even the slightest touch can break him. Yet, Cindy lowered her upper body as she extended a hand. A slight gasp of relieve, Silas reaches to take her hand, but the one she¡¯s taking is the spear he was using.


    [Silas]: ¡°?¡±


    Inspecting it close.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Are you telling me we¡¯ve gone through all the trouble borrowing this from the treasury, and you still lose.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Oh, come on. Give me a break.¡±


    As there are no longer trees falling, Cindy turns and drags whatever in that direction, pulling the unconscious nomad with the bubble still drowning him out of air.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Finish him. I¡¯ll round up the rest.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Okay. Maybe look for a deadhead, any leads on a Nexus item is going to make Lerusagon comes begging for us to spill.¡±


    Cindy¡¯s head turns slightly.


    [Silas]: ¡°Whoops, my bad. I definitely did not say that. It was this guy. 100%.¡±


    Her attention returns to her original objective and she flies towards the settlement. With a sigh of relief, Silas takes his spear and looks at the nomad.


    [Silas]: ¡°Fwooh, you were strong, Nomad.¡±

 Chapter 6 – Storm Guard Rulers

    Several ice poles connecting one¡¯s head to another, then the other, further and more. Crying woman and children, pleading for their lives as they are dragged by unknown force. The masked woman, Cindy, uses her telekinetic power to make them comes closer to the sharp pole.


    [Woman 1]: ¡°P-Please! Don¡¯t do this!¡±


    [Woman 2]: ¡°No, Noooooooo!¡±


    *STAB*


    [Woman 1]: ¡°Pleaseeeee¡­¡±


    Their plead fall on deaf ears, she never stops until all of them are connected to each other. Once they do, they¡¯re all gather in the air and mashed together. Staying there as she shifts her attention to the entrance of their hide out. Hovering past dead men and women all the way to the very end where a man without limbs lies on a pedestal of ice.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Now, where were we?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Ahh, what was it called again? Optum Simulacrum?¡±


    [Deadhead]: ¡°You monster.¡±


    [Deadhead]: ¡°No matter what you do, I shall endure. But know this, such treasure will never fall to the likes of you.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°If it doesn¡¯t fall to me, it will fall to one much worse.¡±


    [Deadhead]: ¡°You say I shall cave in to the lesser evil because a worse one exist? Is that your excuse to justify what you have done?!¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°I don¡¯t need any form of justification to what I do. I will do whatever it takes to survive.¡±


    [Deadhead]: ¡°Survive¡­ from what?¡±


    She landed. Coming close to his eyes.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Unless you think a survivor is much worse than conquerors, I would suggest that you start talking. I¡¯m running out of time, and I¡¯m not about to waste it on you.¡±


    [Deadhead]: ¡°Do your worse.¡±


    Retracting herself slowly, the straw doll on top of her bandages changes its appearance. Dark and icy. The deadhead watches every part of her movement. Squeezing her fingers under the bandages on her neck, when she pulls it up, darkness burst out of her. The man¡¯s eyes widened as his entire body is consumed by it. Everything is pitch black.


    [Deadhead]: ¡°Wh-What is this?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t even see his own body, but then a shattering voice unnervingly ringing in his ears at enough volume for one to deafen them.


    [???]: ¡°Wha-(*)*/.¡¯;t oooooossssssss//// h,mmm[]-=:/./ this¡­ for meeeeeeeeeeeeee,.;[\];;?¡±


    The man gasps.


    Meanwhile, unseen from the puddle on the ground is pitch-black darkness outside retracting itself into Cindy¡¯s neck. Wriggling inside before it starts to settle.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Hrmmm¡­ a dead head is still a mess as always. It is impossible for me.¡±


    [Cindy Puddle]: ¡°Get back in.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    The straw doll returns to its original form.


    Inside the pitch-black darkness, the man is shivering. Although he cannot see it, the creature in front of him has been cutting his neck over and over again simply by moving its stick for a hand like a scissor, but then, it disappeared and a woman with a black hair appears before him. Still shivering in fear, the woman¡¯s head turns into an indescribable creature that gorge the man. Instead of trembling, afraid, he has been put into an endless and a different degree of pain.


    *Burp*


    [Cindy]: ¡°Hmm, I didn¡¯t actually eat him, right?¡±


    [Cindy Puddle]: ¡°You mean him entering your stomach? No.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Weird.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°I¡¯ve got it though. Let¡¯s look for it when we have a chance.¡±


    [Cindy Puddle]: ¡°A nexus-rank item would prove very useful, but time we don¡¯t have. One more thing. If you simply just wish to use my power for such a short time, it is best if you just learn it yourself. Although only a short passage for you, holding Scissor off is quite¡­ excruciating.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Reminds me later¡­ when I survived.¡±


    She flies to the surface, swinging her hand and command magic to strengthened the ice poles before connecting all three together. Right over her shoulders is the companion who has dealt with the unconscious nomad, now lifeless as his limbs drops on the ground.


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    Countless number of elves, dark elves, wood creatures, and air elementals, all lowered their body to welcome Cindy and Silas as they stride on the paved road with their spoils towards the castle. Three entities await them. Two demi-humans, and a monster.


    {Elara Windwhisper / Rank: Eternal / Approximate Level: 6000+ / Shadow Elf}


    {Lyra Silverstream / Rank: Transcendental / Approximate Level: 3000+ / Gaia}


    {Magnus Grimfang / Rank: Transcendental / Approximate Level: 3000+ / Blood Dragon}


    {Silas Shadowbane / Rank: Transcendental / Approximate Level: 3000+ / Human}


    {Cindy / Approximate Rank: Mythic / Approximate Level: 200+ / Human?}


    A spark of joy in Silas¡¯ faces the moment his eyes met the elf, Lyra, and the draconic humanoid besides her. Coming over to her all-tipsy hops as he approaches them.


    [Silas]: ¡°Hey, hey, heeeeyyyy, look who¡¯s back from the dead.¡±


    [Magnus]: ¡°Hmph. Quite the spoils you¡¯ve got there. Travelers, huh.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Yep, all 2000 or so of them. There¡¯s a nomad in one of that ice, guarding them. And boy let me just tell you, he was strong.¡±


    [Magnus]: ¡°With your standards? I doubt he¡¯s amount to much.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Oi!¡±


    [Lyra]: ¡°You look¡­ rough, Silas. How about a healing?¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Ahh, it¡¯s nothing really, but it would be appreciated, my lady!¡±


    She giggles. Letting the side of her stave touches his shoulder. Bright nature-like energy gathers to every part of his wounds, healing him. Magnus glances over his shoulder, Cindy hovering in the air to match Elara¡¯s line of vision.


    [Magnus]: ¡°So, that¡¯s the new member I¡¯ve been hearing about.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Yep. She¡¯s not really that strong, well, as in strength strong, but being incredibly useful is what got her favored by Xander. She¡¯s also the one who pulls you out of the mine.¡±


    [Magnus]: ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    Elara clenches her jaw as she glares at the location where Cindy¡¯s eyes lie.


    [Elara]: ¡°In front of their superior, one usually kneels before them. And yet, not spending the courtesy to even stand before them?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°¡­¡±


    Her eyes darkened as her irises mimics the moon, powerful aura unleashed towards Cindy, but she remains without as much as lifting a finger.


    [Elara]: ¡°You,,,¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Trying to make a fool out of me, mage?¡±


    [Cindy]: (head tilts), ¡°Sorry?¡±


    Grinding her teeth as her eyes widened.


    [Elara]: ¡°Fine. Report.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Ahh, I¡¯m sorry, I report to Xander only.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Silas!¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°!!!¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Y-Yes, madam Elara?¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Who do you answer to?¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Uhh, that would be you, madam.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Then why is this puny insect who¡¯s supposedly following you is not answering me?¡±


    Silas recoils by confusion and uncertainty, look towards Cindy, but she does not make a move nor does she make any suggestion by the use of her body language.


    [Cindy]: ¡°If you wish for a full report, madam Elara, simply asks Silas about the matter. I must make my report to Xander, and him only.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Nghhrgh.¡±


    She turns towards the double door and the guardians open it as she enters with Cindy following behind. Such short interaction sparks hesitant to three others who follow shortly after. A grand room that encompasses majesties, one that should have bloomed under the sun, now solemn by the dark tempest outside. The Throne Room. One standing beside the majestic throne, a large build of air elemental, fully armored, masked, and crowned.


    {Xander Blackwood / Rank: Ethereal / Approximate Level: 10000+ / Tempest Elemental}


    All but Elara lowered their body in his presence, Cindy on one knee.


    [Xander]: ¡°Stand.¡±


    She nods. The elemental shifts his attention completely towards Cindy.


    [Xander]: ¡°Did you run into any trouble?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°None, sir.¡±


    Elara with a face full of disgust looking at her.


    [Cindy]: ¡°2048 Travelers are all accounted for, including the ones fled from the capital. There were 280 guardsmen, many were dealt with by Silas, and there was one individual that stood out among them. A nomad, which has promptly been dealt with by him also.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°The one who covets these travelers. Hm, did you find anything else?¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°There must be a deadhead among them.¡±


    Xander glances at Elara, and Cindy as well.


    [Cindy]: ¡°There were traces of deadhead, indeed, but neither of us encounter them.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°And you didn¡¯t track them?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Unfortunately, I lack the ability to do so. I believe madam Zara Nightsong would be the perfect fit for that task, and perhaps lady Aella, with her abilities to communicate with animals and plants, would be suitable as well.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll ask them.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Lies! She¡¯s lying, Xander!¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°There¡¯s no way she noticed a deadhead was there and do nothing about it! She must¡¯ve look for them and hid them when she found it. You know how precious a deadhead is! I bet she didn¡¯t even tell her partner about it. Well, Silas?¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Huh? Uhh, well, I didn¡¯t see any, but yes¡­ she didn¡¯t.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°See?! Don¡¯t you see how suspicious it is that she didn¡¯t tell him about the deadhead, Xander?¡±


    He turns to Cindy, all eyes on her, but she simply shrugs.


    [Elara]: ¡°You,,,¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Enough, Elara.¡±


    She was close to unleashing her energy again.


    [Elara]: ¡°Why can¡¯t you just see, Xander?! You even gave her a position to safeguard the treasury and you know what she did not long after she¡¯s there? She stole one of our treasures!¡±


    Silas jolted, and Xander notices that.


    [Xander]: ¡°Has that reassure been returned?¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Of course not! She¡¯s a lying thief, and you know what they do! They can only lie!¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Then I command you to return the treasure you stole, Cindy.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°¡­¡±


    She opens the back of her hand, signaling Silas. He stealthily draws the said treasure, the Tempest Spear, out of his dimensional storage and with his ability, transform the sword into a small needle and flick it towards her hand. She feels it stuck on her palm. No one but Xander notices it. Cindy then summons her dimensional storage and Silas dispel the magic within the needle, turning it into a spear as she pulls it out the space.


    [Elara]: ¡°See that?! She stole your spear, Xander!¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Hmm, do you have anything to say for yourself, Cindy?¡±


    She presents the spear as she kneels on one knee.


    [Cindy]: ¡°I was just borrowing it for a bit. Thought I might need it.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Hah?!¡±


    As he takes the sword ¡°You borrowed it? And, was it of any use?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Yes.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Very well. For this crime, you will receive your punishment afterwards.¡±


    Slight tremble, one of which Elara and Xander notices.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Heh, serves you right.¡±


    Xander glances at Elara, seeing her smirk of satisfaction.


    [Xander]: ¡°Now that it¡¯s settled. First of all, I understand your worries, Elara, but her loyalty to Lerusagon has been proven time and time again. If you wish to prove her disloyalty towards her majesty, bring forth evidence just as substantial. Otherwise, I will not tolerate discourse made among us, even from you.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Tch, fine.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Anything else you wish to report, Cindy?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Yes. Perhaps something slightly more important than a deadhead.¡±


    All eyes turn towards her.

 Chapter 7 – Commencing

    [Elara]: ¡°Heh, how could something be more important than a deadhead? Knowing its existence alone is probably more valuable than¡ª.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°If you would let me speak, then I can explain why it might be.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°You,,,?!¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Elara, enough.¡±


    The tension rose, but it quickly subsided it as Xander¡¯s attention is piqued by her words.


    [Cindy]: ¡°There was a barrier.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°It was much weaker than what we have, but something¡¯s odd about it. A simple force alone was enough to destroy it, which means it was not created by a treasure. No, there¡¯s someone who made that barrier.¡±


    Xander teleported right beside the throne.


    [Elara]: ¡°Heh, what¡¯s there to worry about a barrier? Unless a god made it, we can always destroy it.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Yes, but the question is, who erected that barrier? We¡¯ve only encountered warriors and that one nomad. which means¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°One of the travelers.¡±


    Cindy looks up to him.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Heroes.¡±


    All eyes widened as Magnus, the draconic humanoid steps forward.


    [Magnus]: ¡°Awakened Travelers.¡±


    [Magnus]: ¡°Give me your words, Xander.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°You have just returned to the world of the living, Magnus.¡±


    [Magnus]: ¡°There¡¯s no better time to fulfil my duty.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Very well, but first, Cindy. You are to meet Dorian and receive your punishment.¡±


    Silas¡¯s eyes widened as Elara grins in satisfaction. Trembling slightly, Cindy bows before leaving the room.


    [Xander]: ¡°Silas.¡±


    He shudders.


    [Xander]: ¡°You are dismissed.¡±


    Clenching his fist.


    [Xander]: ¡°Silas.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Y-Yes, Xander?¡±


    Holding his gaze.


    [Xander]: ¡°Is something the matter?¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Huh? Ah, no, Xander. Nothing.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Dismiss.¡±


    He bows and leave the throne room.


    [Xander]: ¡°Lyra, bring the Travelers here.¡±


    Within a locked dungeon beneath the castle lies weapons, armors, and artifacts of great power. Heavily enchanted by the one residing in this very dungeon. An indescribable monster that has the form of an octopus and a trait of a porcupine.


    {Dorian Bloodmoon / Rank: Eternal / Approximate Level: 6000+ / Leech Mutation}


    [Dorian]: ¡°Haa¡­ the last time was your eyes, but now¡­ Goodness me, what did you do, Cindy. It¡¯s rather heavy this time.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°My face?¡±


    [Dorian]: ¡°Heheh, no. It will be your back.¡±


    Her trembling stops. There¡¯s only one place she needs to go, and that is the stool. As she sits on it, Dorian drags a chest before turning her backwards.


    [Dorian]: ¡°Was it Elara?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Mm.¡±


    [Dorian]: ¡°Heheh, really making it difficult for you, huh. Can¡¯t you get along with her?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Now, you¡¯re asking too much of me.¡±


    Taking out a serrated blade out of the chest.


    [Dorian]: ¡°I always believed in you, Cindy. Never forget that.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Just get it over with.¡±


    The blade sparks aflame, and the night goes full of pain. Inside a room decorated full of staves. From the ones hanging on the wall, stored in display cases, and even ones that are simply loaded into a basket. There lies Cindy shaking uncontrollably with a back severely wounded by the torture session she just had. Silas is there rubbing some medicine which proves ineffective against it.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Hnnnrgh¡­ That¡¯s enough.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Right.¡±


    Resting her face on the sofa.


    [Silas]: ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    [Cindy]: ¡°It¡¯s alright. Just leave. I need some rest.¡±


    Reluctantly, he did, but then he encounters Xander outside. They did not say anything to each other and Silas simply just left the area. Xander enters the room to see the state of Cindy. She¡¯s panting as she turns toward him, ¡°Sir.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Was it worth it? Sacrificing yourself pointlessly like this.¡±


    She chuckles.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Nothing really gets past you, sir.¡±


    A ring with an embedded gem all around it, tossed right beside her face.


    [Cindy]: ¡°This is¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Once, there was a dragon capable of controlling the air around it. A very much overlooked power, often frowned upon, but it manages to leverage its strength to reach new heights. Its power allows him to take control over the world, making those around it submits. A part of its power now lies within that ring. It is now yours.¡±


    Instead of wearing, she caresses it with the tip of her finger.


    [Cindy]: ¡°A dragon¡­ to think a power of such creature is granted to a lizard.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Rest. You will resume your guard duty by the morrow.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    As he opens the door.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Thank you.¡±


    A moment for him to ponder before leaving. The ring besides her is grabbed by a gentle hand, a double body of herself. Inserting it to the middle finger before going to a mirror.


    [Cindy-Mirror]: ¡°We don¡¯t have much time left, Siola. Are you really intending to betray my father while being as weak as you are now?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Even these people wouldn¡¯t be able to protect you from him.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Shut up, I know what I¡¯m doing.¡±


    She stood. Grabbing a piece of clothing. Wearing it despite how much it makes her wound stings. Because of the cloth wrapped around her head, one cannot see her expression, but from her body movement, she is in pain, ¡°Have you been able to control my shadow yet?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°It¡¯s tricky, but yes.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°For how long?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Will it even matter? If you cannot hold your grounds against scissors, we¡¯re both doomed regardless. I need to know if you can do it. Otherwise, I¡¯d suggest concocting a new plan.¡±


    The view from the window, a large city under the tyranny of the storm. Turning over her shoulder, seeing Luosa not behind a mirror but sitting on the desk.


    [Siola]: ¡°Let¡¯s try it then.¡±


    Lashes, a woman standing beside a corpse of a nomad. One is giving him energy while the other observes patiently.


    [Elara]: ¡°How much longer, Lyra.¡±


    [Lyra]: (sigh) ¡°Unlike necromancy, resurrection spells require time and¡ª.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Tsk, fine! Just let me know when it¡¯s done.¡±


    She turns to check on the hundreds of prisoners being tortured to death and back by Magnus, and she turns towards him.


    [Elara]: ¡°Any news on the deadhead yet?!¡±


    [Magnus]: ¡°Madam. While it is true that I answer to you, I must prioritize the duty given to me by her majesty, Lerusagon.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Bah, useless.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Guess I have to look for it myself.¡±


    She disappears and begin to traverse extremely fast towards the location of which Siola or Cindy has invaded. The remnants of the battlefield, and itself gives off an odd feeling.


    [Elara]: ¡°Heh, this is all the damage needed to bring them back?¡±


    She descends to the encampment.


    [Elara]: ¡°No, she cleaned it all up.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°That girl is on to something. I just know it.¡±


    [???]: ¡°Oh? Elara, surprised to see you here.¡±


    [???]: ¡°My, you look so heated.¡±


    {Zara Nightsong / Rank: Eternal / Approximate Level: 6000+ / Succubus}


    {Aella Stormcaller / Rank: Transcendental / Approximate Level: 3000+ / Mutated Sprout}


    Two entities appear before her. One is a luscious demon with a pair of wings and the other is wood creature standing on two legs.


    [Elara]: ¡°Heh, to think Xander would actually listen to her words.¡±


    At a certain hall in the castle lies Silas munching on meatballs on a platter. Pondering of the event that has just transpired. The sight of Cindy with her wounded back. That image makes the taste of the meat much more revolting. He sets it on the floor and look up. A woman is approaching him, one with a red dancer outfit. Fiery eyes and ponytail hair.


    [Silas]: ¡°Lady Anya.¡±


    He quickly stood to greet her.


    {Anya of Whispering Flame / Rank: Ethereal / Approximate Level: 10000+ / Human}


    [Anya]: ¡°What lady. Come now, Silas, what happened to you? Looking so worse for wear.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ Ahaha, it¡¯s nothing really, but what¡¯s the umm, what¡¯s the purpose of your visit to the treasury this time?¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°The usual, some Maxima and Overdrive scrolls.¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°The fissures on the Northen region hasn¡¯t let up at all, so I gotta clean up those demons and undead before they got everywhere.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Hm, I thought master Valerian, with his use of necromancy, would make a quick work of them.¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s different this time. The Soul Reaver can¡¯t do much against those that doesn¡¯t have a soul. They¡¯re invaders from another realm.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Is it¡­ the Alpha and the Omega?¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°No, it¡¯s something different¡­ much weaker. Hahahah.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Ah ahahaha.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Then, please. Help yourself. Let me unlock the door for you.¡±


    The door to the treasury, unlocked by a key. He smiles at her as he guides her inside. A wide-open space full of gold and treasures. The two walks as Anya follows him, but then their steps halted after seeing an entity standing on the center of the room. A pedestal holding a demigod-level sword, a Nexus ranked item. That person is holding it in her hand. Eyes widened after realizing who it is. Silas mutters her name, ¡°Cindy?¡± She turns to see the two visitors.


    [Anya]: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Sunder.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°¡­¡±


    The three comes to a stalemate. Waiting for one to make the first move, Anya keeps eyeing the weapon that Cindy is holding while Silas is focusing on the person herself. But then, instead of answering, she opens her free palm at them and sends a dark current. Silas couldn¡¯t even process fast enough to it, but the current is halt when a massive shield of ever burning flame absorbs it. Cindy flies in maneuver towards the entrance to escape.


    [Anya]: ¡°Silas! We can¡¯t let her off with Sunder!¡±


    His heart clenched as it beats hard. He notices the tempest spear that has been confiscated by Xander and takes it. With a swing, he sends waves of lightning imbued wind towards her but it just passes through her, but she¡¯s not materialized enough to grip Sunder as it falls and impale the ground, ¡°Hrmm.¡±


    Anya closes her distance as flames spew out of both hands, with a punch, a dragon-like flame hurl towards Cindy. But once again, it simply passes through her.


    [Anya]: ¡°What?¡±


    Cindy slams her foot down and sends a massive ice towards which Anya counters with a seething flame. Ice spears flying, and she dodges as she sends numerous fireballs at her. Cindy flies towards her, closing her distance as the fireballs simply passes through her again.


    [Anya]: ¡°Damn it. What is this, you¡¯re not even an ancient being!¡±


    She accepts her challenge and charged both of her fist with flame. The first blow is sent, with Anya feeling the weight of her own punch. Cindy redirected that by controlling part of Anya¡¯s limb, something of which Siola can do before she lost her powers. Limbic Possession.


    [Anya]: ¡°Guhk?!¡±


    That¡¯s when Cindy follows up with a knee to Anya¡¯s gut. Eyes widened upon impact. A flurry of punches before she teleported to her back and sends her down with a plunge.


    *Boom*


    Ground scattered and destroyed. Anya¡¯s enraged. Her body emits powerful flame that swirls up to the ceiling but then Cindy sends a dark current to the back of her head. Poking numerous holes on it, and all that energy simply disappears. Blood filling the gaps of the shattered ground. Cindy walks towards the sword Sunder, but before she can pick it up, a blade through her chest. A spear. Comes from a man with a pained heart.


    [Silas]: ¡°Cindy¡­ why?¡±


    However, the blade never actually touches her, and he soon find that out when Cindy simply turns toward him and splash a water on his face. Just like the nomad from before. Silas¡¯s eyes widened when he finds the difficulty to breathe in the water.


    [Silas]: ¡°Mublrubh?!¡±


    A punch to his gut, a backhanded slap to his cheek, two kicks before a plunge.


    *Boom*


    He lies on the ground, close to his final breath. Cindy aims her palm at him to finish the job.

 Chapter 8 – Invasion

    Silas lies on the ground, close to his final breath. Cindy aims her palm at him to finish the job. But then, seething flame towards her which prompts herself to back away. Anya, clenches her fist as flaming aura emits, trying to hold her ground. Parts of her body are flaking away as her flaming aura forming a shape. A tail and long ears. Her eyes become feline as her fingernails become claws. More tails are formed out of Anya¡¯s aura, and one of them wipe the water off Silas¡¯s head, allowing him to breathe.


    *Gasp*


    [Silas]: ¡°Haa¡­ Haa¡­¡±


    Cindy grabs the sword and that¡¯s when Anya halts her transformation and charges towards her. Cindy then makes a hand sign before shouting at Anya.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Phantasmagoria!¡±


    A powerful psionic energy invisible to the naked eye, struck Anya¡¯s head.


    Phantasmagoria. One of Siola¡¯s Psionic abilities before she loses her powers, it allows for one to send a direct mental attack towards a target and damaging them, if hits, it guaranteed for the target to be stunned for half a minute if they don¡¯t have a resistance to it. It creates mental illusion that brings about their greatest fear. Unfortunately, for her, she is not immune to it. Cindy took the opportunity to fly towards the entrance.


    [Silas]: ¡°C-Cindy! I-I won¡¯t let you!¡±


    He makes chase and she manages to exit to the door, that¡¯s when he speeds up trying to reach her before she makes her escape.


    [Silas]: ¡°Why, Cindy. Whyyyyyyyyy!¡±


    Suddenly a flood of water struck them both, pinning them to the wall for before it all dissipates. Silas with all his might quickly tries to get up to find out what¡¯s going on, he sees Cindy with her forearm resting on a pillar, trail of blood behind her. Eyes widened of horror, her hand trembling as she tries to lift it up to make a hand sign. When Silas looks over his shoulder, he sees another Cindy cracking her neck as she grabs the sword Sunder.


    [Cindy-Sunder]: ¡°Revival magic isn¡¯t all that uncommon, but I must admit, I didn¡¯t expect that you would be able to recover from that.¡±


    [Wounded Cindy]: ¡°Bell Tolls.¡±


    A large golden white clock hovering right behind her back.


    [Cindy-Sunder]: ¡°A chronomancy as well, heheh,¡± glancing at Anya, ¡°And as though it would seem that the young lady is about to snapped back to reality. How inconvenient.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Wh-Who, who are you.¡±


    [Cindy-Sunder]: ¡°And why would I answer you? An ant whose sole purpose is to be a fodder for others to¡ª.¡±


    [Wounded Cindy]: ¡°Tempest Spiral!¡±


    Turbulent wind under the Sunder¡¯s feet, she grunts as violent wind about to crush her from all surrounding, but then she sets her eyes on the wounded Cindy.


    [Cindy-Sunder]: ¡°What a nuisance.¡±


    She teleports behind her and Silas¡¯s eyes widened, his heart dropped and his feet moves by themselves to save the wounded Cindy as the other struck her chest with the sword.


    [Wounded Cindy]: ¡°Haaargh?!¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°No! Cindy!¡±


    Unlike Sunder where anything just goes through, her chest bleeds.


    [Cindy-Sunder]: ¡°I don¡¯t get why they keep a useless pet like you.¡±


    She scratches Wounded Cindy¡¯s face and, revealing part of it when the cloth is torn.


    [Silas]: ¡°Hraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!¡±


    Sunder sees the incoming strike and teleports. Appearing right above him as she delivers a plunge, breaking his ribs.


    *Boom*


    [Cindy-Sunder]: ¡°Off you go with her.¡±


    Suddenly, a tempest barrage, making her unable to strike as she is forced to back away. An armored elemental entity, the ruler of the Storm Guard Realm, Xander. But his body is cloaked with a raging thunder. With a swipe of his hand, violent lightning strike. However, it simply passes through Cindy without the slightest of it touching her. Although, she does make an effort to dodge, the attack is simply too fast for her to predict. He flies towards her and she teleported to the window up in the ceiling, creating a wormhole and tosses the sword to it.


    Anya breaks out of the nightmare and breaks out of the entrance to the treasury and found both Cindy and Silas on the ground, but there¡¯s another Cindy on the ceiling.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Haaaa¡­ come now. I expect an honorary fight, but two against one?¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Thieves like you have honor?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°This body have. Aaaaahahahahahaha!¡±


    Xander sends a thunder strikes at her but again, it passes through her body.


    [Xander]: ¡°?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Ohh, cheeky. Well, it¡¯s not the time yet, but we¡¯ll meet again soon enough.¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Heheheheh.¡±


    She disappears into the wormhole, and Xander is too late to reach it. A turbulent wind all around him, but he remembers something. Below him is another Cindy dragging herself to Silas who is now unconscious, and putting her hand on his back. The giant clock on her back, the bell tolls. Golden white energy surges from it and into Silas, healing both him and herself before it disappears.


    Anya undoes her transformation and approaches them but Xander got to them first. He sees the healing effect that her ability does and Silas opens his eyes with a gasp.


    [Silas]: ¡°Haa haa¡­ wh-what just¡­ Cind¡ª.¡±


    He sees part of her face. Charred, disturbingly wounded.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°D-Don¡¯t look at me!¡±


    Hiding her face as she¡¯s shaken horribly.


    [Cindy]: ¡°D-Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Get up, the both of you. The intruder has stolen the artifact belonging to our lord. We have to retrieve it before it¡¯s too late.¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°Before that, Xander. There¡¯s some explaining you need to do¡­¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°Silas.¡±


    Xander and Anya¡¯s attention lies solely on him.


    [Silas]: ¡°Huh? I-I don¡¯t¡­.¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°The treasury is housed by numerous barriers to protect it, even Sunder as well cannot be wielded just by anyone. You were the only one who guarded the treasury when I arrived. There¡¯s no way that the intruder can enter if you don¡¯t give her the access.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°What? Are you saying I¡¯m¡ª no, no way I¡¯d let that happen. Xander, please. I was just there. I never went to the treasury to¡ª.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Enough, Silas.¡±


    Xander turns his attention to the groveling mage, Cindy who is struggling to bandage her face, and there he notices that in one of Cindy¡¯s fingers lies a ring of which he gave not too long ago. Xander takes out the same cloth from his dimensional storage and assist her in wrapping her face fully. He also notices the doll at the top of her bandages, and the lack of it on the intruder.


    [Xander]: ¡°Now, recall what happened. You were supposed to rest.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Haa¡­ Haa¡­ Haa¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Cindy.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Huh? Ahh, yes. Uhh, yes. My lord, forgive me. I¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Calm yourself. Now stand.¡±


    Shaken, he assisted her in getting up. Anya notices the hole in Cindy¡¯s chest. Although patched up, it still not healed fully.


    [Anya]: ¡°Should I call Lyra, Xander?¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°In a moment.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Now, Cindy. Tell us what happened?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Yes. Yes. I was in my room and when she¡¯s there. She did a-all sorts of things, I don¡¯t know¡­ b-but worse sh-she took my form and I was there¡­¡±


    Xander sees the blood trails and decided to follow that, now he knows what it came from.


    [Xander]: ¡°Who is it?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°She-she had my face¡­ before I¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Cindy. Who is it?¡±


    Her head tilts up towards Xander.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Abyss¡­¡±


    Anya¡¯s eyes widened.


    [Anya]: ¡°What did you say?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°She called herself¡­ Mage of the Abyss.¡±


    Lightning strikes as the barrier around the city is lifted. Everyone can feel it with the sudden change of temperature and droplets of rain hitting their skin. Silas and Xander turns to Anya.


    [Anya]: ¡°The invaders¡­¡±


    On the outskirts of the city lies Cindy with the Sunder sword absorbing the last of the barrier before teleporting away to a certain part of the forest where an orb is buried. With a stomp, that orb levitates and she simply grabs it.


    [Cindy]: ¡°It is done.¡±


    Suddenly, it brings forth a massive surge of energy into the sky. That energy gathers in one spot where it converges into three different points. Portals appeared where demons and undead are visible from the other side. But there¡¯s also one smaller portal appearing in front of her. Coming out from the other side is a tall black-haired woman with an orange eye while the other is a slime that takes an appearance of Siola.


    {Replica, Mage of the Abyss / Rank: Ethereal / Approximate Level: 10000+ / Human}


    {Goolag, Death¡¯s Mother / Rank: Ethereal / Approximate Level: 10000+ / Death Slime}


    [Replica]: ¡°Never thought you¡¯d take this long to accomplish the job. I guess you weren¡¯t amount to much after all.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°Hm?¡±


    They stand in the presence of Cindy. However, something feels somewhat amiss. Replica narrows her eyes down to a slit, ¡°This power¡­¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°Impossible.¡±


    A slight fear in her eyes. Cindy tilts her head as she slowly plays with the leave under her sword, poking it and caressing it, and the two are looking at that sword, yet nervously. As if, they¡¯re anticipating the unexpected, and Cindy just throw the sword at their feet. She teleports in front of her. An immense shudder.


    [Goolag]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Go on, what¡¯re you looking at it for? Just take it. That¡¯s what you sent me here for, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Looking down at her, she knows it perfectly well what Goolag must do, and she simply does it. Lowering her upper body to grab the sword, as if she¡¯s kneeling before Cindy. Replica glances at the humiliating pose that Goolag is doing in that form and it disgusted her, but lessen when seeing Cindy, all satisfied with a grin behind that bandage.


    [Replica]: ¡°What happened to the Traveler?¡±


    Tilting her head to a glance. The aforementioned traveler is now grabbing several staves from her collection and giving one to the lady with long ears.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Thank you, miss Lyra.¡±


    [Lyra]: ¡°Fufu, I¡¯ll accept this, but know that I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re okay.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°Mm.¡±


    She continues her preparation.


    [Lyra]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Lyra]: ¡°Immortal as you may be, all these suffering you¡¯ve been through are real. Have you truly never considered leaving, Cindy?¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°I would if I could. It would¡¯ve been easier if I¡¯m never immortal.¡±


    [Lyra]: ¡°Don¡¯t say that. There¡¯s a lot for you to see out there.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°I¡¯ve seen enough.¡±


    She turns to see her.


    [Cindy]: ¡°That thing took my form. I¡¯ll get the sword back, and¡­ fix this.¡±


    [Lyra]: ¡°Cindy¡­¡±


    Suddenly, a trumpet blown from the outside. A mass signal to all in the vicinity, and Cindy quickly looks to her window to see. Many are gathering and if she looks to the sky, there lies three massive portals that keeps leaking something out. She cannot see it, but there¡¯s countless number of undead free falling from those portals.


    [Cindy]: ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    [Lyra]: ¡°An emergency, let¡¯s go.¡±


    She follows Lyra out of the room. Within the hall of the castle, chaos brewed as preparation is being made. People walking back and forth, bringing weapons, armors, and items of all kinds. The leader of this group, Xander, is also making his own preparation by creating several elemental creatures. Him, Silas, Anya, and one other person, a man of mechanical nature with limbs of gold and steaming back are present. The latter took a notice of Lyra and Cindy.


    [Cindy]: ¡°Lord Rhys.¡±


    {Rhys, Rune Master / Rank: Eternal / Approximate Level: 6000+ / Dwarven Atrophy}


    [Rhys]: ¡°You were right, mage. It seems that nothing is ever unbreakable. With the barrier destroyed, we are now exposed to the storm of this realm. We must deal with the invaders as soon as possible and erect another one. And we will have answers of how they did it.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°There seems to be many missing from our lineup. Are the invaders does not merit for us to go at them at full force? After a firsthand experience with one of the invaders, I¡¯d say we cannot afford NOT to give it our all, my lord.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°We will, Cindy.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°I expected Elara to station herself here in the castle, but the elf is now missing and I can¡¯t let Dorian and Magnus to leave their assigned job. No, we¡¯ll have to do this ourselves.¡±


    [Cindy]: ¡°B-But what about Mage of the Abyss? She has a great treasure, lady Lerusagon¡¯s treasure. Once she finds out what she can do with Sunder¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Be that as it may, Sunder is not the only treasure Lerusagon has graced us.¡±


    With a widened eye, Cindy bear witness upon a scythe that constantly emits the opposite kind of energy that Sunder emits, not a shining bright light, but a deep dark one.

 Chapter 9 – Mage of the Abyss

    Tens of thousands of wood monsters, elementals, and elves taking up their arms to fend from themselves against countless undead and demons heading towards the city. Led by Xander, the first move he cast is massive tornado that signals the fight, it will wipe away the majority of the invaders with only a swing of a hand. Dark wave scatters that raging tornado into air. The demons and undead is never leaderless, for them are led by a young woman with black hair. Taking the form known as Siola, it is the slime that often mimics her appearance, Goolag.


    [Xander]: ¡°Rhys.¡±


    The mechanical man nods. Charging a golden energy, he unleashes powerful wave that spreads throughout their army, enhancing their prowess. The dead marches towards them and the wood monsters form a formation to defend while the elves take towards the sky and rain down different kinds of magic upon them. Blast like a cannon, sticks of ice, and a cutting wind. The demons fly ever higher and carries with themselves barrels of explosive. When they drop, red tailed woman hops from one minion to another and rise to the air. Spewing a laser of flame that takes both the barrels and the ones that carried them, but a few are amiss. But they stopped in the air.


    A hand grasps them telekinetically, one who wraps herself full of cloth from head to toe, one they know as Cindy, but in truth is Siola. She sends back the barrel to the opposing force and it explodes in spectacular fashion. Among the resistance, the slime Goolag sets her sights upon that very person and sends herself piercing towards the frontline of the resistance. Before she can take Siola¡¯s head, a spear blocks her from doing so. Silas came at the right moment. Then a scythe that cuts the ground deep with the lightest of swing. But even when she is beheaded, it simply reattaches itself back as she backs away.


    The dead breaks the formation of the wood monsters and the two forces now collides to one another. And their leaders are now standing against each other. Goolag against Xander the Tempest, Anya the Nine-tailed fox, Silas the Illusionist, Rhys the mechanical rune master, Lyra the healing elf, and Siola the mage. Knowing the uneven numbers, Goolag splits herself to even them, and now, there¡¯s equal number of Siola to fight against them. Except, there¡¯s already one among the resistance, the real Siola. And behind that mask, her eyes narrowed down to a slit.


    [Xander]: ¡°Dividing your strength to fight us? Aren¡¯t you an arrogant one?¡±


    Goolag reach to her gut and pulls out a treasure that once belonged to the resistance. Eyes widened at the sight of it. Rarity often translates to power. From common to legendary, a mythic, to ascended and transcendental, to eternal and ethereal, there lies items that are said to have an equal power of a demigod. A Nexus tier item, and this one is called Sunder. A sword that once belonged to a hero of tempest, a sword that can protect and destroy. However, even when faced against such power, Xander remains calm for him also wields another Nexus tier item.


    [Goolag]: ¡°Plysilach.¡±


    [Xander]: (eyes widened), ¡°I see. So, you¡¯re aware of it. It is never too late for you to return from whence you came, but I reckon you came here with a purpose,¡± lowering his scythe.


    [Goolag]: ¡°Other than to conquer this realm? I¡¯m here to take that one back.¡±


    All eyes on Siola as she takes a step forward. A head held high, hands on her hips with a shifting stave lowered to the front. Goolag and her shares a gaze towards one another, and the latter suddenly points her staff and an explosion occurred. One large enough to cause the terrain to change as it consumes both allies and foes alike. It scattered everyone, and Siola got out of the smoke with the very same staff now disintegrating in her hand, but from that smoke, Goolag comes out and it¡¯s the one who is wielding the sword, Sunder. In the sky, Xander sees that and quickly moves towards them, but suddenly, another Siola appears in front of him.


    [Xander]: ¡°You,,,¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Heheheheh, I believe we have an unfinished matter to attend to.¡±


    On the ground Lyra and Silas got out of the smoke only to be assaulted by one of Goolag¡¯s double, and although Silas expected to make a quick work of her, he doesn¡¯t expect that his spear trust got blocked by only one hand, ¡°What?¡±


    When her mouth opens, a spray of black goo. Too slow to react, as side of his cheek is melting heavily from that goo, and there¡¯s a sensation of pain he never felt before. Veins flaring as the blackness spreads through, he kicks her away as he steps back. Lyra quickly lend her hand and attempts to heal him, but the wound only heals for so little.


    [Lyra]: ¡°I-Impossible, just what is this?¡±


    His head turns to a ruckus on the other side, Rhys is fighting against one and Anya is fighting against three Goolag at once. They showed incredible prowess in their fights, casting magic left and right with fire spewing out of Anya¡¯s mouth, the chaos is too much for Silas to follow as the one he is fighting is about to make another move. He holds on to his spear with gritted teeth.


    On the far end of the battlefield lies Siola flying as Goolag swings Sunder towards her. One swing and it already cuts half of the ground. Siola dodges that effortlessly as she¡¯s taking into account everything about this encounter. The speed of her flight, the uneasiness of that attack. She landed further from the battlefield and Goolag as well, with a hint of her sending another attack.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    [Siola]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°Your duty is done. Time to go.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°¡­¡±


    A moment of silence before she reaches towards her staff but Goolag quickly take a swing and cuts her arm off, destroying part of the forest as a collateral.


    [Goolag]: ¡°What are you doing. You intend to betray our lord?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Huh, even though a Tier ¨C 8 Mega spell bring you no harm, it still makes you itchy enough where you don¡¯t want to feel it again. Had to be my left arm, at least it doesn¡¯t hurt much.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°Answer me, Luosa!¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°I¡¯m not Luosa!¡±


    A jaw clenched even in the face of death. Her eyes remain fierce under those bandages. Goolag narrowed her eyes down as she observes Siola¡¯s every move. Her heart beating and she can feel rage coming from her. In terms of strength, the difference in power is obvious, but is it? Somehow, Siola instilled something inside Goolag. Before all this.


    [Siola]: ¡°I know about it all. The Abyss, the Prison Realm, Ludwig, and you.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°?!¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°I didn¡¯t even expect it, and it¡¯s probably better off if I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m done being so clueless about the whole thing. You had every opportunity to save me, and everything to gain from doing that, yet you didn¡¯t. I became a lapdog roleplaying as his daughter? And what even is a father when he just left me for my own devices, and says, hey, go do this very dangerous mission. I mean you¡¯re immortal, and even if you are so weak, just go ahead and do it.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°Watch your tone, Luosa. The lord cherishes you immensely.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Me? Or her.¡±


    Goolag turns her head to see another Siola fighting against Xander where turbulent wind and darkness clashes, but then, she hears a clack from the other Siola. Turns out, it¡¯s coming from a massive clock ticking from behind her back. Eyes narrowed as she grips the sword, Sunder.


    [Siola]: ¡°Like I said, I know everything. And I understand why it had to be me. Why you¡ª no, why Avarice chose me for your little pet project. Simply put, I am the perfect choice for it.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°How confident, you sure you¡¯re not overestimating yourself?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Oh please, I know my worth.¡±


    When the clock ticks to 03:00, her arm is healed completely, including her torn outfit. Goolag notices the magic she cast. The magic that makes her eyes twitched. She feels a familiar sense of dread coming from it. However, unlike when the time when Siola healed Silas, the clock remains on her back instead of disappearing, and the arrow continue to tick.


    [Siola]: ¡°My loyalty to the skeleton will have to remain because of his mark, but that doesn¡¯t mean I have to let you or ANYONE ELSE stomp me however you want! No, you¡¯ll pay for what you¡¯ve done. My life that was stolen from me, you and him! The both of you WILL PAY!¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°LUOSA!¡±


    Taking another swing at her. Siola responds with throwing four of her staves on the ground, unleashing wires of energy that stops her movement. Part of her body becomes a slime as she jumps and passes through the wires. Siola backs away while Goolag reaching towards her sword again but then, the four staff creates a magical circle and Goolag notices its inscription.


    [Goolag]: ¡°Ludtleth, you bastard.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°True Art of the Golden Order, Holy Atrophy!¡±


    All four staves explode to golden magical balls that hurl in a swirl towards Goolag. She swings towards one, destroying the landscape in the process, it splits into two, and the more she cuts, the more she creates. Less dense, but the quantity is a lot more, and the speed of which they hurl increases ever more. Prompting her to take flight, she cast a few a signs before aiming her palm towards the incoming missiles.


    [Goolag]: ¡°Art of the Darkness, Dark Current!¡±


    It pierces through the missiles and splitting each one smaller and smaller, but suddenly, her entire body feels a massive weight as she goes down. Her body heading towards the earth.


    [Goolag]: ¡°Psionic magic? Hmph!¡±


    She breaks away and roll in the air. She sees a laser heading towards her from the ground. A palm puts up towards that, but then suddenly, she stretched the same arm away. A clash as she blocks an ice spear that almost pierces her head, and now there are two types of magic coming her way. The small Holy Atrophy and the blue laser. Her eyes narrowed as she grips to the sword Sunder.


    [Goolag]: ¡°I see, so that¡¯s your plan. Too bad it won¡¯t work.¡±


    Two more Siola coming out of her body, but then lightning. One of the premature bodies cast a shield that blocks it in the nick of time but turbulent wind from the bottom cause her to flip. Eyes widened, an unexpected move, but that was not the end of it. Siola has yet to show herself, and she might not even need to when suddenly, a wormhole appears right in front of Goolag. There lies Siola casting a massive black dragon, hurling out of the wormhole. It comes not from Siola, but Xander¡¯s fight against Luosa. Now, more things are heading towards Goolag, and they all converge into one at the same time, creating a massive explosion that consume a large portion of the land and the forest.


    Black goo on the opposite side of the sword Sunder impaling the ground. A gentle hand takes it as the slime gathers itself into one piece. A tick from her massive clock, rejuvenating Siola once more. Siola, now with Sunder, the first thing she does is to look upon the slime hastily putting herself back together and swings the sword at it.


    *BOOOM*


    Yet when the dust settles, the slime remains intact. The gallant back that protected her is none other than Siola herself, or rather, the one the slimes always call her, Luosa.


    [Siola]: ¡°Out of the way.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Hmm, no. Not yet. She still has a purpose.¡±


    Suddenly, a massive silhouette of a scythe surrounds them. Black flame erupts from the ground like a volcano but the two had escaped. It was Xander and his treasured item, Plysilach. He descends to check up on Siola, ¡°Cindy, you managed to retrieve it. Well done.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Yes, but, I don¡¯t think they have the attention to back out now.¡±


    She ponders to herself, ¡®There¡¯s no way she thinks she can come here alone with just a bunch of undead. There must be another one, but the question is¡­ where¡­ and who? And what the hell is Luosa doing, protecting her from me?¡¯


    On the other part of the forest where a previous skirmish upon a bunch of travelers and the nomad lies a revelation extracted from a flower that witness it all. The details of the information is relayed to the Aella who is talking to the plants in the surrounding.


    [Elara]: ¡°Got something for us, Aella?¡±


    [Aella]: ¡°Yes. Apparently, there was a deadhead here.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°I knew it. That lying bitch. Do you know where it went? Where did that bitch take him?¡±


    [Aella]: ¡°You just came out of it, but if he¡¯s not there, then, I don¡¯t know.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Damn it, I have to inform Xander about this. Just wait until that bitch is¡ª.¡±


    Suddenly, all eyes widened at the same time after noticing a massive presence coming out of the woods. Steps of the muddy ground. All eyes turn toward it. Towards a woman with a naked back and hip full of satchels. Black hair waving unaffected by the weather. A black sclera and orange eyes.

 Chapter 10 – Unveiled

    [Zara]: ¡°You,,,¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°You know her, Zara?¡±


    [Zara]: (Wings flaring), ¡°Long ago, I came across a demon hunting another one of its kind. It wrought havoc to everything in its path, and I see that woman, accompanying it.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Hah, so she¡¯s not even the one in action? This¡¯ll be a piece of¡ª.¡±


    All of a sudden, a thumping sound as she jolted for a moment. Eyes widened as she tries to keep herself composed until a rigid tentacle burst out of her chest and brought her to the air. The two witness the tip split into multiple branches of humanoid hands, and all cast the same signs.


    [Replica]: ¡°Dark Current.¡±


    8 simultaneous shot of countless piercing energy sends the blood of its victim to scatter. A splash of it paints Zara¡¯s head. The wood creature Aella takes the initiative for a counter by transforming the ground and elevate it up, separating the both of them as Zara uses a purple wave of energy to free Elara from the grasp of the tentacle, but it didn¡¯t work.


    [Zara]: ¡°What? Succulent Force Break should be able to purify all manner of darkness. Unless it¡¯s stronger than, no, could it be¡­ that thing is not actually magic?¡±


    All branches of tentacles turn towards her and several dark currents flashes her way but she teleported away, causing Aella to be pierced by them. She falls, but her body slowly regenerating by itself before Replica descends and send a plunging attack. Stomping her and crashes the ground that Aella herself has elevated, but she doesn¡¯t stop there. Replica grabs the wooden woman¡¯s head and while her body is limb, she stabs her eye and put an entire fist inside.


    On the other end is Zara slashing and cutting the tentacles holding Elara until it frees her. She grabs her and teleported her away before tossing her behind a rock, letting her own body recover from the numerous holes. And it¡¯s recovering fast.


    [Zara]: ¡°Wait, Aella!¡±


    [Zara]: ¡°I can¡¯t sense her presence.¡±


    [Zara]: (eyes widened), ¡°So that¡¯s her plan. She knows that we¡¯re immortal, so her idea is to incapacitate us, but if Aella¡¯s presence suddenly disappears like this. Does that mean¡­ she¡¯s dead?¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°Yes.¡±


    Jumped, she turns while sending a massively condensed energy to the direction of that voice. A large explosive laser that reaches over half a kilometers away.


    [Replica]: ¡°You fight as if you¡¯re still less of an ancient being.¡±


    Right beside her.


    [Zara]: ¡°How, I clearly touched you.¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°Hmm, very well, I¡¯ll indulge your curiosity.¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°An illusion that alters the perception of reality. Of course, us Ethereal beings have extremely high resistances towards such things, especially so for us spell casters, but resistance is not an immunity. Under the right circumstances, even a fraction of a second is enough.¡±


    [Zara]: ¡°Tsk.¡±


    Zara howls at her. Creating a powerful burst of pink and purple energy that scatter in all direction, and the creatures that were touched by it finds themselves affected by love. Dazed in stillness and hazed, but what about the one that got hit by the energy from point-blank range?


    [Zara]: ¡°Your mistake was underestimating me. Those of the living nature will always fall to the charm of their own desires. Their lust for companion.¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°¡­¡±


    Her eyes opened, and it remained the same unnerving eyes as always.


    [Zara]: ¡°Wha¡ª how?!¡±


    Replica grasp the air and charged an extremely condensed orange energy, but before she can send it towards Zara, a massive gnawing jaw of a creature appears from below. She teleported away when it clasps the air, revealing its form. A black and blue feline with a crocodile jaw that constantly emits sinister energy outwardly throughout its body. A figure mounts the top of its back, Elara, with half of her face recovering from the damage that Replica had done.


    [Replica]: ¡°A titan for a minion? Compensating for something, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Nnnnrgh.¡±


    [Zara]: (descends), ¡°Don¡¯t fall for her provocations. We can¡¯t afford to lose here.¡±


    [Elara]: ¡°Where¡¯s Aella?¡±


    [Zara]: ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we can ask that bitch when she¡¯s pleading for her life.¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    [Elara]: ¡°Heh.¡±


    Suddenly, she sensed a familiar presence approaching. An air elemental hovering besides her. It conveys the situation of what is happening in the capital briefly. The invasion of the dead beings and demons, and the commands for all three of them to return.


    [Elara]: ¡°Mage of the Abyss? So that¡¯s the one we¡¯re fighting against, huh. I¡¯ll be late, so don¡¯t wait on me.¡±


    With a jab, the elemental disappears into nothingness. She turns her attention to Replica who is hovering above while looking down on them. Zara creates a purple and pink orb while Elara conjures two ominous daggers out of thin air. They both are ready for their second round and Replica sends herself unto them with whirling dark energy as she casts multiple signs.


    [Replica]: ¡°Transcendental Law of the Abyss, ¡­¡±


    On the other end of the world lies the battlefield against the undead. The several double-body created by Goolag, the last of it, has been dealt with. However, those that were fighting them didn¡¯t came out unscathed. Some were heavily wounded, and one is exhausted. The only source of restoration capable of healing them is Lyra which cannot be done fast enough.


    [Silas]: ¡°Haa¡­ Haa¡­ thanks, Lyra.¡±


    The nine-tailed fox Anya got to her knee. She already lost a few of her tails and a limb. Seeing that Lyra focuses her healing towards her but even then, it doesn¡¯t heal her by much. Something is preventing her healing to help others effectively. Anya even swallowed several pills and drinks two red potions, but neither of them are effective either. It¡¯s like she¡¯s just drinking water.


    [Anya]: ¡°Xander. We¡¯ve got to help him.¡±


    In front of her is the mechanical man Rhys, dealing with the incoming skeletons with his erected barrier, preventing them from reaching him and the others. The skeletons never stop coming and they forcefully push themselves towards the barrier. It is by no means ordinary skeletons as the majority of them are equipped with enchanted weapons and armors.


    [Rhys]: ¡°I would like to agree, lady Anya, but I doubt at our current state, we would be able to provide much help at all.¡±


    Suddenly a power blast that scatter all the undead and allies alike and destroying the barrier of which he created, but when the wind blows over, one can see that one of their comrades is the one who caused it. The weakest of them all, floating above the shattered ground with a large ticking clock hovering above her back.


    [Rhys]: ¡°You¡¯re alive, Cindy.¡±


    [Anya]: (eyes widened), ¡°Wait, is that¡­ Sunder?¡±


    Glowing in the palm of her hand as she turns towards them. However, Rhys, Anya, and Lyra, they¡¯re all wary at the sight of her as she continues to approach. But then Silas steps forward.


    [Silas]: ¡°Good to see you¡¯re okay, Cindy. We¡­ I was worried.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Cindy?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Get back.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°?¡±


    Although confused, he does what she says as she turned to observe the sky in the distance. Clashes of powerful energies intertwining against one another. Anya pulls herself together to walk closer towards Cindy, and she asks.


    [Anya]: ¡°Give me the sword. We have to help Xander.¡±


    Cindy looks at her as Anya extends her hand, looking at it momentarily before she looks at the sword. Cindy relinquishes it to her and nodded. That action made her eyes widened. A surprised, how she can give it to her so easily. Then suddenly, her clock ticks. Anya recalls the moment it happened sometimes ago where that magic heals Cindy and Silas, and it just happens again.


    [Lyra]: ¡°Huh?¡±


    [Rhys]: ¡°This is¡­¡±


    A slight brimming of energy glowing outwardly within them. It doesn¡¯t just heal them. It restores their strength and replenishing their power. This moment makes Silas smiles, reminding him of the moment that Cindy shows odd hesitations and behavior, only to show her compassion. That action makes Anya grips the handle of the sword tightly as she turns to the sky in the distance, and sees Xander flying towards them, but unwillingly. Siola steps forward and use telekinesis to stop him in his spiraling track.


    [Xander]: ¡°Haaa¡­ how can she be this strong? Even with Plysilach and Sunder.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°With me once more, Cind¡ª,¡± seeing the weapon is not in her hand but with Anya, ¡°Give her the weapon.¡±


    [Anya]: (shocked), ¡°But Xander¡ª.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Gyaahahahahahaa. This all you¡¯ve got, airhead?¡±


    He turns his attention to the lunatic that is currently with the form of their member. With a toss of her energy ball, the wounded slime, Goolag, recovers rapidly and take on the human form she had before. Then, suddenly, Luosa ripped the cloths covering her head and reveals the face behind it. The same form as Goolag, just with purely black eyes and sclera.


    [Siola]: ¡°That¡¯s my face, damn it!¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°?¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°I guess it¡¯s not enough for her to copy your dress, huh.¡±


    [Rhys]: ¡°Making a mockery out of our own. Unforgivable!¡±


    Luosa turns to see the recovered slime in the form of her own, ¡°Tell them,¡±, she said. Making Goolag ponders heavily with a conflicted expression. Glancing at Siola before returning the attention to Luosa, ¡®What is she thinking. If I were to tell them on the Traveler, they¡¯re bound to ruin her. But wait, does that mean that Luosa has gained independence from the Traveler? If so, then I guess I don¡¯t need the Traveler any longer.¡±


    She turns toward the people below. Approaching them slight as she amplifies her voice.


    [Goolag]: ¡°Hear me, people of Lerusagon¡¯s. That woman you cherish is but a fraud.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes widened as Siola clenched her fists as rage fueled. Her heart racing as she her thoughts running, anticipating what Goolag is about to say.


    [Goolag]: ¡°We sent her to this realm to infiltrate your domain and steal your precious treasure. From the very beginning, she¡¯s always a mere pawn of ours. A property of Prison Realm.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°What?¡±


    [Rhys]: ¡°Prison Realm. That¡¯s the God of Death, Lehdrith. It¡¯s his domain.¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°No, he merely governs over it. Prison Realm has its own ruler, but if they decided to invade here, does that mean¡­¡±


    [Lyra]: ¡°War.¡±


    All eyes but Xander turned towards Siola. Anya grips her sword tightly as she faced her. ¡°Explain yourself, Cindy. Is that even your real name?¡±


    Lowering her head slightly, Siola says, ¡°Move.¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    [Silas]: (blocking her), ¡°Wait, lady Anya, there has to be a reason for this. Right, Cindy? E-Even if it¡¯s true that she¡¯s a spy, that doesn¡¯t mean that¡­ that¡­¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Cindy¡­ tell us. Is that true? Please, tell us that she¡¯s lying. Please.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Heh, look at them bickering among themselves. I could cast a magic right now and wipe them all out, but oh how fun it is to see those critters like that.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°Will you take care of the Traveler?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°No, you do it. That¡¯s all you¡¯re amount to anyway.¡±


    Taking the insult silently, she looks over to the Traveler, Siola, and recalls the few short moments she has with her. When she observes her journey through the orb, how¡­ goofy her behavior was, and especially when everything has settled, her smile as Siola dances in her office. Those few memories were replaced after her return. She never once smiled, at least, not in the same way and the last memory of her is the unbridled rage and hatred.

 Chapter 11 – Finale

    [Siola]: ¡°It¡¯s all true.¡±


    The shock is immense to them, especially to Silas. Siola loosened her top slightly to reveal the mark that the skeleton, Ludwig, has impart upon her once smooth body. Now, it¡¯s hardly recognizable as a human skin. Seeing that, Anya bits her lower lip as she raises Sunder, ready to cut.


    [Xander]: ¡°Your loyalty towards Lerusagon, was it also a lie?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Yes.¡±


    He turns and snatched the sword from Anya¡¯s hand, facing Siola herself.


    [Xander]: ¡°Sunder has the power to erect an impenetrable barrier that not even a demigod can destroy, but that barrier can be destroyed by itself. Did you know that before you came here?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°No.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Were you the one that broke the barrier?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°No.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°All this time, were you planning to betray us?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Yes.¡±


    With gritted teeth and contempt, the others begin to unleashes their energy. All but Xander and Silas, ¡°Cindy¡­¡± as the latter said in disbelief. But then Xander takes Plysilach and stabs her in the shoulder, right on the Mark of the Dead. Cindy groan in pain, but she didn¡¯t resist nor did she retaliate. In a second, the mark is absorbed by the scythe and she feels her shoulders unburdened.


    [Siola]: (gasp), ¡°Haaa¡­ Haa¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°How about now?¡± offering her the sword to her.


    [Anya]: ¡°Wha¡ª Xander, what¡¯re you doing?!¡±


    Adrenaline courses through her veins as she¡¯s brimming with power. Grabbing Sunder he offered, her piercing eyes glares towards those hovering above. Suddenly, an elemental creature formed beside Xander and telepathically relays something to him.


    [Xander]: ¡°What?¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°What is it now, Xander?!¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Elara and the others are said to be fighting Mage of the Abyss.¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°Huh? But I thought¡ª no, if that¡¯s who they¡¯re fighting, then who are we¡­¡±


    They all turns towards the one who¡¯s giggling in amusement up in the air. Narrowing her eyes down to a slit as she looks down on them.


    {Luosa, Lord of the Abyss / Rank: Demigod / Approximate Level: 20.000+ / Human?}


    She cast several dozens of signs rapidly of which alerted Xander.


    [Luosa]: ¡°##/--# of the Abyss.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°???¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Impossible!¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Death is never the end, for we are all here!¡±


    Cracks in the air as turbulent storm shatter into haze of darkness. From which lies in the abyss, those who gaze upon it, the abyss stares back. Countless of black dots spirals out of the darkness and painted the sky black. These creatures are small, the size of a gold fish. With how they swim, it might just be one and it is completely black.


    [Luosa]: ¡°Ahhhhhhhh hahahahahahaha! Let loose, kids! It¡¯s your new home!¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°No, what are you doing?! This realm is for our lord to conquer, Luosa!¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°KYAHAHAHAHAHAA!¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°LUOSA!¡±


    Meanwhile the ones on the ground are in terror at the sight of the unknown power towering over them. Even the fighting army on both sides stops to see the unnerving presence above them before those creatures descend and consume them all to the darkness.


    [Anya]: ¡°What is this? What do we do, Xander?!¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°A Demigod. So, we never stood a chance to begin with.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°You do without her.¡±


    All eyes widened once more as they turned to Siola as she takes a step forward. Silas reaching out his hand, ¡°C-Cindy?¡± but only to be stopped by Rhys. In confusion, he wonders why he stopped him and even Xander stops himself from moving.


    [Siola]: ¡°It¡¯s been nice knowing you, Silas, your goofy ahh character kept me entertained even in these trying times.¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Wha¡ª hey, what¡¯s, what¡¯re you.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Think you can promise me something, Xander?¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    [Xander]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°Anything.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Keep everyone safe for me, will you?¡±


    A moment to process, he nodded. As Siola turns, Silas starts to uncontrollably shaking Rhys off but now Lyra is holding. ¡°No, No way. Cindy. This can¡¯t be it¡ª Cindy!¡± she removed the cloths wrapping her head and wear the straw doll necklace on her neck. Her short wavy black hair, at least what¡¯s left of it with her visible wounds. That small figure, yet her back blocked by the clock is all they can see. And the arrow of that clock now ticks to 00:00.


    Arching her back as she impales the sword Sunder on the ground. The energy from the clock surges through every part of her body and into the sword itself. Quaken the ground immensely and it shattered all around. Xander brought everyone afloat backing away from her range. They see a glimpse of her wounded skin restoring back to normal as her hair turned golden white. Her face restored as a sigil appears on her forehead. A curved hourglass with its edges flowing into twin crescent arcs with a central dot anchoring them. She closes its visibility with her circlet before opening her new golden white eyes, she mutters, ¡°Kita.¡±


    A surge from the back of her clock, a massive titan of a creature emerges. A colossal, otherworldly entity exuding an aura of divinity. Six celestial wings, and atop of its head lies crown-like horns, encircled by a shifting halo of luminous glyphs, divine inscriptions that continuously reshape themselves in an unknown language. Its two towering arms, clad in gleaming golden-white armor, end in razor-sharp edges that shimmer with raw power. Golden-white energy radiates from its very being in uncontrollable waves, distorting the space around it. Its head bears the visage of a mythical goat. The very air trembles in its presence, humming with an unearthly resonance, a deafening silence that drowns out all other sound¡ªa soundless roar that shakes the core.


    {Kita, Avatar of the Unknown / Rank: God / Approximate Level: 40.000+ / Divine}


    All awed at its presence, foes and allies alike.


    [Goolag]: ¡°So that¡¯s the power I sensed from her back then. If she can summon Nexus-ranked creatures, a Demigod, then she¡¯s capable of more. Luosa, we have to¡ª.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Not a Nexus.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°Huh?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°That¡¯s a Zenith. A god.¡±


    Eyes widened as she turned to see the magnificence of the creature.


    [Anya]: ¡°This power¡­ it¡¯s like lady Lerusagon.¡±


    [Xander]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Rhys]: ¡°Just who is she¡­¡±


    The gallant eyes of her are visible to Silas as he¡¯s gritting his teeth, ¡°Cindy¡­¡±


    Luosa descends and shattered the battlefield, ¡°You little,¡± Locking her eyes straight at Siola as she is at her. The two cast several signs at the same time.


    [Luosa]: ¡°Transcendental Law of the Abyss, Blessing Omen.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Transcendental Law of Chronomancy¡­¡±


    Darkness emerges from the crevices of the ground, all reaches towards Siola as Luosa teleports herself in front of her with a palm opens.


    [Siola]: ¡°Veiling Timeline.¡±


    Dark current consists of a dark energy wave that takes the form of extremely small needles. This is possible to observe when it is now still in place, when time has stopped. Siola simply sidestep it and she sees Luosa with gritted teeth. Despite them being black, her eyes are moving.


    [Siola]: ¡°Like father, like¡­ daughter?¡±


    Everything is silent, just her words. The eyes of the others remain, it is only Luosa that remains conscious in this veiled timeline


    [Siola]: ¡°The taste of freedom is quite tempting, isn¡¯t it? You found the ¡°Perfect Vessel¡± to contain the queen while you run around in full might with the power behind her. I¡¯d done the same if I were you, but maybe not so stupid as to assume that you can just discard me.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Buh hoohoohhoh, would you look at that power though. Mm, mm, mmm. I can¡¯t even imagine how you got it. Hell, you¡¯re probably out to get more once you¡¯re¡­ out.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Too bad though. This body belongs to me. Heh, I was considering that I¡¯d let you roam around with it after we¡¯re done with this drama we make, but you went and did something unnecessary. However, another change of plan though since the mark is now gone. Heheh, that¡¯s the only thing that¡¯s keeping me from going anywhere, you know what I mean?¡±


    Grasping her neck, two white dots appeared in Luosa¡¯s eyes, burning in rage.


    [Siola]: ¡°I¡¯ll be taking this back.¡±


    Puts the other hand on Luosa¡¯s chest, ¡°Life Distortion. Cosmic Aperture.¡±


    At the center of the battlefield that is Siola and Luosa, a swift pulling of space creates a colossal explosion without a smoke. When all becomes able to move, they noticed that the colossal creature has disappeared, including the one who summons it and the ones that conjure the darkness. They both have also disappeared. However, The darkness that painted the sky black remains and continuously flooding the entire area with its color, consuming all in its path.


    [Silas]: ¡°Noooooooo! Cindy!¡±


    [Silas]: ¡°Where is she?! WHERE?!¡±


    Anya looks around and sees the sword Sunder is still impaled to the ground.


    [Anya]: ¡°Xander! Look!¡±


    The elemental turns to see, ¡°Cindy?¡±


    His eyes open to a disappointment, but that is also an important item, so he rushes towards it only for another entity to appear and pull it out of the ground. It¡¯s the human with unnerving orange eyes, Replica. Stopping Xander in her tracks after sensing her massive presence. He then remembers a few short moments ago, the information that his elemental conveys.


    [Xander]: ¡°You¡­ I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re the one they called Mage of the Abyss?¡±


    Replica glances at him but the endless darkness keeps distracting her. Thus, she teleports herself to the air with the sword disappear from her hand. She casts several dozens of hand signs before clasping her hands together.


    [Replica]: ¡°Tenet of the Abyss. Death is never the end, for we are all here.¡±


    Another shattering in the space, but instead of summoning the abyss creatures, it instead creates a portal of which they can return. Seeing all this, Xander promptly backs away to the group.


    [Xander]: ¡°Guh, another Demigod? No, even when she¡¯s not, they now have Sunder.¡±


    [Anya]: ¡°Is there really nothing we can do?¡±


    He recalled the words of one that¡¯s no longer among them, the words of request, a promise. Turning to see all of his people, and the ones that are not. Xander makes a full of retreat with the rest of his group and soldiers and the two adversaries did not follow them, at least not in a hurry.


    The news of the battle comes to Dorothan and Magnus who had stayed behind in the castle and those in expeditions outside. With the assistance of Rhys, the former creates a portal that allows travel between realm. Allowing their retreat to a safe passage to their original world. Xander oversees that every single one of his people goes to the other side with the last being Silas. Weary and depress, he looks behind him once more and sees the image of Cindy dangling her straw doll fades. With the last person stepping into the portal, the black sky now becomes blue as in this instance, the storm has passed. Revealing dawn.


    [Goolag]: ¡°I couldn¡¯t find them.¡±


    Replica holding the sword Sunder as her face is reflected by the light above. Orange. There is now color in this world. Color in the form of what should have been there all along, the sun.


    [Replica]: ¡°Congratulations, you just earn yourself a death sentence.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°This wouldn¡¯t have happened if you weren¡¯t so late. You should¡¯ve seen her.¡±


    [Replica]: ¡°I¡¯m all too familiar with the abyss, Goolag.¡±


    [Goolag]: ¡°Not Luosa.¡±


    Throwing Sunder away into the dimensional storage. She gives her full attention to Goolag. The form that she takes after. There¡¯s a glimpse of an image of a girl that looks just like her.


    [Replica]: ¡°Tell me everything.¡±

 Chapter 12 – Huh

    ¡°Ababababababa¡­¡±


    Flips


    ¡°Owubbubhubuhubu¡­¡±


    Up.


    Down.


    Left.


    Right.


    Cheeks puffed to the max as her body flying through the galaxy, spiraling out of control. ¡°Houwbuhbuhbuhbuh.¡± And that just came out of her mouth, but she feels no pain, only comfort. Head spinning, her thoughts become a jumbled mess, and if one were to zoom out. She actually gotten herself inside an Event Horizon. What happened was that Cosmic Aperture is used as a method to transfer oneself to other known realm through a wormhole, but because she uses Life Distortion alongside it to erase the evidence and link of its use, the distortion affects the wormhole,


    And here we are now.


    ¡°Hwibibibibibi¡­¡±


    ¡°C-Cosmic¡­¡±


    And I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, but what can she do at this point.


    ¡°Ap-Aperture.¡±


    She creates another wormhole, and get sucked in it. Now, the sky is white and beautiful, and she¡¯s there staying in place in the air before falling comedically to the ground, ¡°Oww!¡± she shouted. Smashing right to a rock, and now there¡¯s a faint of blood on it. Though as she rolls around in pain, as it turns out, it wasn¡¯t a rock, but a turtle. It slowly but surely moving away from the creature number of times its size. But not only that there¡¯s a fauna, there¡¯s a lot of vegetation in the area.


    ¡°Owwiiieeee.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡±


    ¡°Bwaha¡­ Bwahahahahaha. I¡¯m free! I¡¯M FREEEEEEEE!¡±


    She stood up with hands in the air, ¡°I¡¯M FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE, BITCH!¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Right.¡±


    Eyes widened, she sees herself crossing her arms in the puddle, and Siola¡¯s face turns to pure joy. All smiles and happy as she skips merrily all around the puddle. T-bagging her own reflection that defies her movement and desires. Luosa takes all that humiliation in, and it irks her.


    [Luosa]: ¡°So, you kept something else other than me. You hid it well.¡±


    Now she twerks her butt at her.


    [Luosa]: ¡°Alright, alright! Enough with your ridiculous act, and look around! Where did you even take us to, huh?! It looks like the surface, but I don¡¯t feel like we¡¯re weakened at all.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Hm? Oh, I was hoping it teleports me there, but, yeah¡­ this feels weird.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°The arcane in the air¡­ it stinks.¡±


    [Siola]: (sniffs armpit), ¡°Mmm, it¡¯s not me. I smell like rotten corpse. No wait, that¡¯s just my clothes. Hmm, could it be¡­¡± giving Luosa a suspecting glance.


    [Luosa]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°What?!¡±


    Facing the other way, she gazes upon the distant landscape. It¡¯s bright with the sunlight passing in between mountains. There¡¯s a visible grassland beyond the forest, and it would seem that she is standing on a hill. Her silly expression is no more as her thoughts runs like a well-oiled gear.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    [Siola]: ¡°You said we aren¡¯t weakened, which means I haven¡¯t lost my power, right?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°It would seem so.¡±


    With a swing of an arm, the puddle burst into large ice. The reflection of Luosa is there. Except it is not her, but rather just Siola¡¯s reflection. Her golden white hair and eyes have reverted back to black and dark brown respectively. The straw doll tied to her necklace. She rubs it gently.


    [Siola]: ¡°When I met your father, I thought nothing of it. Just an obstacle standing between me and greatness. He asked me quite an interesting question.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Why you.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°There would¡¯ve been nothing of it had I didn¡¯t mess with time magic. My body would be lying in my apartment, cold. Yet, fate says otherwise, and I come to find that the things I¡¯ve considered mere obstacles back then¡­¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°No, I considered you and the rest of your kinds to be less than that. Just pixels, pieces of codes, just zeroes and ones being made visible to my eyes. So, there wasn¡¯t a reason why you, him, or whoever I¡¯ve faced back then to really be¡­ chosen to die. But now I know that you are all more than just pixels generated by the machine that also brought me to your world.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Haha, you¡¯re all real. Separating me from my friends, leaving me out in the dump for no reason, sent me on a ridiculously suicide mission, and even betrayed me even after I put all my trust in the promise. So, I guess when I see your father again. When he asks that question again. I can answer him.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°That there is a reason behind his death.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°¡­¡±


    Within the confines of her mind, Luosa has limited access to what she can see while she¡¯s in Siola¡¯s body. Her thoughts are impenetrable, and so is her conscience. There was only one instance where she managed to break through her consciousness, but it was by pure luck. Ever since then, Siola has grown much stronger than ever before.


    Only when Siola thought she had lost all of her power, where there is another crack. The Divine System that always assisted Siola is gone, but what she has obtained remains, and with her incredible talent and studious nature, it is only a matter of time before she recovers them all. She will continue to get stronger, and the same luck that Luosa had before, the luck that she was granted a second time, it may never come again.


    There were fragments of memories that she has seen, however, glimpses of the true nature of Siola. Weak and meek. It was so destructive that she even destroyed herself, but after her reincarnation, and further after her time in Prison Realm and Storm Guard Realm, there is not a speck of that same Siola left. From the countless question Luosa looks for answers, there are a few parts that she has missed other than the tool that Siola used to kill her.


    [Siola]: ¡°Bwahahaha, it¡¯s good that I have my powers though. Thought it¡¯d make the fourth time that I had to grind all over again from the beginning. It¡¯s honestly getting tiring.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°You knew about the mark.¡±


    Glancing with a slightly opened eye, ¡°Mark of the Dead. Tier 9 ¨C Ultimate, a dark-type curse spell. It allows one to track the essence of the target even from another realm by placing the curse mark on the target¡¯s body. If that¡¯s the only thing it does, I would¡¯ve been gone as soon as I get the hang of the arcane. But it¡¯s not, it also has the function to paralyze me, and not to mention¡­¡± Pointing at the straw doll on the necklace.


    [Luosa]: ¡°The link.¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Uhuh, your father uses Tier 8 ¨C Mega spell, Chained Link, to connect the curse mark on to the doll and on to himself. Even without the paralyze effect, he can still track me now.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you get rid of it?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Oh yeah, let me check in my pocket if I have another Plysilach. Oh, what¡¯s this? It seems that my pocket is as empty as the abyss itself.¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°¡­¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°Any other question?¡±


    [Luosa]: ¡°Was that the extent of your power?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°¡­¡± chuckles, ¡°Heheh, at this moment in time? Yes.¡±


    It was never hers, but details unknown makes it very much more powerful than it truly is. The power of which she has accessed to, and the power of which she has obtained are two completely different thing. Without Kita, the difference in levels is true, for Luosa is a Demigod and Siola has yet to even reach a Transcendental level of power, at least has yet to reclaim it. No, she¡¯s far below it. Will it be enough for this world that she has brought herself to?


    She takes her circlet and put it inside her dimensional storage by the use of a small black portal taught by Luosa, ¡°I can sense a Zenith¡¯s power from that circlet. Where did you get it?¡±


    [Siola]: ¡°That I won¡¯t answer.¡±


    Luosa steps out of the reflection of the ice and stands in front of her. Her face changes slightly, and she¡¯s smaller than Siola but her presence has numerous times more weight. Yet, it didn¡¯t change any of Siola¡¯s expression, not even the edge of her confident smile.


    [Siola]: ¡°You look cute. Too bad I¡¯m cuter.¡±


    And so, start their journey together. Here in another-other-and-another world.


    ***


    To Be Continued