COI C275

  “What in the world? How was it turned into a nightmare here?”

  “Miss, this is our last chance to get that monster out from this realm”

  “I know that! months of learning about runes brought me here, again. I can’t believe the boss actually capture some demons at Fuku City . . .”

  “Ma’am, there is no rush on things but the two of those big guys just ran back to the gate”

  “Are you for real?! And I thought we can’t tire them out”

  “What about the rat men?”

  “I care less, all of you stay here. I think those guys who are on ahead will be enough for me. So, give those gears to me and you guys will see how we can get out of here”

  They hide from the rat men horde, leaving Miss to do her job. The Fuku City adventurers are here in the East Coast. At the time of the realm’s critical moments. They look hardened and seasoned from having their lives go through the region and even during the siege. At this moment, it is harder than they have thought. Still, they feel the suffering of this place. Not even the veterans declared this journey easy. However, they have witness so much to the point of relief as others were here before.

  Miss channels her spell bringing along with her runewords objects. Just rocks engraved with magic writings. Alone, this painful feeling that she never thought experiencing fear like this. The moment she left them, the terror creeps in. There is also a faint of magic. An influence crawling on her ears as if magic is bad enough. Something out there really is strong, but she herself knows that before. She brings out the replica of Wilson’s note, engrave in runes. The indication shows there are only two left. The smirk on her face she knew who they are.

  When she reaches the gate, she sees a lone robe rat man with the spear. Dripping down melting metal on his spear tip. The flames on the wooden pole shows it reaches its weapon’s limit. The robe rat man moves passed her in sudden moment. Miss was shock as she hears it speaks to her

  “We know what you came for. You’ll have it, but we keep the domain”

  The mass shrieks of the thousands rat men began to dig down beneath the gate. Miss has little time left if everything blows over.

  She headed to the gate and sees something went wrong. A powerful magic, no source that she can sense from. The use of her runes tried to breach in what spell she is sensing. It was her first time to sense a magic without a user. Compared to the runes she learned by herself. There is a link of ownership, but this magic though as if it was separated and can be uses by anyone. More likely, it shielded itself from being identified. From what she and her group saw before. This must be the same magic that passed them at the end of the ruin.

  The door breaks and collapse in front of her. The spell she senses are gone. This is her opportunity to check what lies inside. One of the avatars is sealed into stone, she observes the core as it sealed away protecting itself from the strong content of the fluid.

  “This is the same thing that happened to the other two. Dexter Guild is no joke to deal with it . . .!? What the?”

  There she sees they are in trouble. Two more avatars protecting this place, and she sees Tabitha is in trouble. She witnesses the avatar is using the drill. That moment she realizes what’s going on.

  “Youta!!!”

  The avatar stops, Youta heard his name from a familiar voice. The sense of wrath as he overexaggerate his strength and miss his attack. He turns around and sees Miss.

  “YOU!”

  Her hand rubs on her face out of disappointment. “You idiot! I said your dead as soon as you just can’t getaway for being useless. Now look at you now, depending on the trashes, AH!”

  Miss casts her runes and the drill is trying to pierce through. The sight of shock how Youta can’t pierce her magic. Miss disappointedly smacks him at his core aside.

  Silfa and many others see another citizen entering this place. She senses Fae-chan’s ritual as it searches through Miss’s power. It said to her

  “Silfa, that woman possessed knowledge about the demon. It’s her runes”

  Silfa uses her magic item, she identifies Miss from what she is using against the avatar. An object is found, she carries an item made from Isekai city and made out from dangerous neutral mana materials.

  “Why there is a Fuku adventurer here?”

  Thoughtlessly thinking about a Fuku City adventurer, Silfa didn’t realized that Miss finished Youta without a problem. Miss immediately grabs the core and she is about to break it. Youta’s quickly start to meltdown by her grip. “No!” The shocks of the thousand voices coming from out of the avatar’s voice. She didn’t hesitate and she is about to break it. The core begins to cracks as the essence inside of the living steel bring out the molten heat at her hands. Hardened since the beginning, Miss didn’t care the harm will done to her as with her potions will negate the damage.

  “Please, stop . . .”

  A soft tone coming out from the thousand voices, a soul calls out that brings Miss sickening from the voice she heard. Recklessly threw the core away before she almost destroys it. A wild tendency of regret calls out from her own words.

  “Just die already!”

  “You already know!”

  “AAH!”

  Miss lost her opportunity to stop the core and quickly pushes it away further disappeared from their sights. Tabitha looks at Miss, and Miss looks at her. Miss picks up her device and shows it to her.

  “Fuku City adventurer at your service. Rather, you lucky bitch”

  Tabitha was confused as Miss looks at her as she was in a bad mood when fighting an avatar. They are having trouble fight against it, and this woman out of nowhere comes and saved them without a hassle. R-cord and McS4 lost their power armor and quickly re-equip from their stash while fighting the last avatar remaining. Miss turns and see there is still one more. Holding runes on her hands, writing by her language. One word at the time to form a sentence. She prints it on the paper, ready to be unleash her spell.

  “These avatars do not understand I am a threat to them. Hmph”

  Miss acts overconfidently while acting seriously on the fight. Those avatars are being taking care of without using her own strength. But she understands this is their weakest moments. This sign of recklessness helps her to act more of herself than she had to. She jumbles more of her runewords and creates a spell strong enough to deal with the avatar. She grabs nothing on the air, she raises up into the void and forms an orb, then she throws it at the avatar.

  The last standing avatar tries to deflect the rune spell. The rune spread everywhere then faded into the darkness. Miss sees her spell broke apart as she nods of its impressive strength.

  “Predictable”

  The avatar’s become a vortex pulling something out from the void. A soul comes out hiding almost prepared to use their secret weapon. A mechanical spider, large and intimidating, and its presence revealed but sadly taken away without a chance. Tabitha and the others see the massive machines appeared out of nowhere then disappeared as the soul suck out from it.

  Miss casts her rune spells. She was able to beat it. The last standing avatar rusted over through the runewords as its dust tried to sink inside the molten body. The runes trapped it from moving and remained still. The helmet shifted its molten visors to only move about by what it can see. Dented and molded abnormally, its eyes stared at Miss who miraculously defeated them. On her hands, the runes and she focused her eyes on her personal device, showing no fear nor respect.

  Silfa says to Miss “How in the world that you got here?”

  “Business related”

  “…”

  Juela thanked her “Thank you for saving Tabitha, I’m Juela and these two are”

  “. . . Silfa and Tabitha. They have social media accounts. I can see their profiles there”

  Juela doesn’t believed her when Miss said about social media. It is true that they can look at their profiles easier. But Juela’s perspective is more of the line of gossip thanks to Kiege.

  Tabitha breaks the awkward moment “There is no time, we have to deal with the demon and escape”

  Miss watches both Silfa and Juela who are not done asking her questions. To make this faster for her, she uses her runes again and searched the demon. The ground begins to shatter as all of them feel the quake. Both R-cord and McS4 helped her by hitting the right places to descend downward. The ground collapse and slowly descends.

  When they reached the bottom, they feel rough rocks. All dead reefs and ancient aquatic creatures. There they can see the demon along with gadgets helped monitoring the realm. R-cord observes the tech

  “Magic or not, or how a demon is using tech. This explains so well. No wonder they are still able to reach outward while the influence as its weakest state”

  McS4 points out at the demon “And there it is, trapped by its own tools”

  The demon lies trapped by a crystal. The same materials used on the crystal wall. The missing cracks that broke out some of the mechanical spiders are here. In case and clear than the actual thing. The bubbling inside shows that it is not fully crystallized and it shows that it locked itself into cylindrical chamber. The demon opens its eyes, disguised as a human. It didn’t speak but stares at them relentlessly. Fae-chan confronts it as it walks closer.

  The aura shows memories of the doll past, but it quickly brushes out into the wind. It casts its ritual and Sarah Mae appeared before it. The two looks at each other both eagerly on their throats. The magic around them filled in with water. They both enclosed themselves in together as magic filled to their last strength fighting each other. Fae-chan steps aside and look at Miss. They didn’t notice the doll and keeps their eye on the crystal and the tech.

  R-cord and McS4 retrieved the tech, and cut off the connection around this realm. Finally sealing the powers of the demonic influence, for now. The demon and Sarah Mae begin to fight out inside the crystal. The mana reverts back into the water and filled the seabed with actual seawater. This moment between them is wasting their time. However, they allow her because of her help against the mechanical spiders.

  The massive water disappears, and Sarah Mae comes out from the fight. She looks beaten and holds a head that is nothing like the demon disguised as a human. The head disappears the moment the mana drained out of its existence. Sarah Mae says to them

  “It’s done, the demon has no power left to fight back. I also removed some cowardly tactics it prepared. Remember I want Aoi to do, if you still not complete it by the time of your escape. Then I have no help in your mortal struggles”

  She disappeared.

  McS4 quickly rushes in to deal with the demon. When he is about to eliminate the target, he sees the demon reveals nothing but fragment of memories. It reached its most vulnerable state. He moves closer and uses his visor to look around the remains of the battle. No doubt, the hyper speed was used. This fight is indeed impossible if they confront it like that. However, if they didn’t come here. Those avatars are more of the same threat than they will ever be.

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  Because of there is no void of danger coming from the demon. Tabitha and the rest of the citizens go in, leaving Juela to prepare their escape. It is the first time for them to see the demon who trapped their people for so long. Leaving nothing but a fragment of memories in a form of a frame. There they see Wilson who successfully rescued two people, and the rest. His torment from his afterlife. Silfa, Tabitha, and Miss read the chronological story happened to Wilson before the people sink into the shore.

  Wilson was the first to meet the demon. The first who sees the dead, who faced the souls, who escaped death from the avatars, and lastly who rediscovered runes against the demons. His death ends after the betrayal, and his souls being ripped apart to those who betrayed him. Those traitors, including Youta himself took a piece of his soul one by one. Feasting him to fill the gap of theirs from offering their soul piece to the demon. To make them whole enough to feel free. If they have a small piece missing of themselves, those missing piece will hindered their humanity.

  Wilson’s note was made after his death. Someone is writing the note, and the piece of the memories from the demon shows it was Sarah Mae, Delilah, and who helped the lost broken soul to bring Wilson back as whole. The last page of the note is the list who betray and feast on his soul. This discovery shocks them. Tabitha didn’t understand why it happened like this. For Delilah to keeping a secret from them, or was it because of the tapping that stop them from finding out. Only they could understand from the memories were the likeness of demonic rituals.

  Miss pushes the memories aside “I’ve read enough. Let’s end this”

  Silfa raises weapon “Tabitha, play the card”

  Tabitha plays the card and the spell begins to circulate. Hidden inside the stash were added with the Benedictus’ own magic tool. Forge in one secretly as the weighing demon recognized this power. Weakened and battered, to the last moment. It was its defeat. It collected enough memory as it is. The moment as it about to be finished. It took one last peeks from its sight soon faded into a blur.

  “NOO!”

  A loud roar coming out. Silfa gives a final blow. The demon sealed itself and the mana surrounding it began to crumble. Juela casts her spell and brings Miss with them. They teleported away only reached outside of the gate. Juela can’t reach far enough.

  “My magic only takes us this far. R-cord used the gem”

  R-cord picks up the gem and tries to teleport them away. A disturbance appeared, a rat men’s magic come out and tries to trick them in different direction

  “Figures, the mana is under the rat men control. We cannot do anything about it”

  Tabitha thought “What happened if the rat men controlled the realm?”

  McS4 replied “Don’t try to think a full control by another demon”

  “What about Sarah Mae?”

  “She is weak to do anything about it. The horde were recently infesting the entire realm. There is no other way but the blood pavement”

  Miss points out her group “There! There’s my group. We should . . .”

  Her group accidentally fell off from the platform. “. . . You’ve got to be kidding me?”

  Tabitha points at the blood pavement. “The red road, that’s the only way to get of here”

  “You mean that creepy road. Are we really going to walk on it?”

  Silfa pulls her in “Let’s go!”

  Fuku adventurers see Miss is with them. The reluctance for them to join along with the City Guild had them move slowly. Until one of the collapsing debris falls at them as they decided to join quickly. They set foot on the blood pavement as thousands of horrors coming out. They run their way up as their magic nulled when walking on it. Little by little, the blood pavement is slowly losing its horrors. The dried road begins to flow downward as the blood ink begins melted off the road.

  Mana is draining out. No influence magic helps it sustained its structure and begin dripping down like a river. They run as fast as they could only reaching closely to the ruin. They made it out from the depths and soon look up as the crystal wall begin to collapse. Falling debris coming from the cracked walls, remaining corrupted citizens falling down and face them. The maddened eyes as the last words continue to echo from the demon.

  “NOO!”

  dropped dead with no magic left to control.

  The blood pavement is in critical condition. R-cord and McS4 still have the guts to go through but Tabitha and the others are having trouble to go up from the flowing blood. The moment the two realize it. One of them where slightly hesitant to come back to them. Darkness consumed into poisonous fumes as the remaining of grotesque air still lurking around. Their sensors found it, and they have to come back. McS4 calls out to them

  “We’re almost there!”

  Miss shouts back “The road is too much”

  Collapsing shards of crystal falling from the top, freed mechanical spiders fell to the ground leaving itself intact. All of them back away as they prepared to fight. As they shed light on the piece of metal, they were relief and saw the husk as the head is empty. The Fuku adventurers are checking on it

  “What’s that thing?”

  Silfa pulled them away with her forcefield “Stay away from it, we need to get back up”

  “They seem to know better than us, Miss”

  “Like fuck I would love to face an enemy in this situation. Just shut up and get a move on”

  A loud mad laughter comes out somewhere from the crystal wall. Abnormal amount of mana flows out with countless shape of form mana flows scattered like gushing water. Colors in different forms show overwhelming presence. It loses its integrity to give only dangers and hostility. The sense of speed rushing forward as the doll quickly reacts. Rituals opened on the ground and rose up before it even reaches them. It captures a mechanical spider froze in place. A recognizable face, Aoi’s brother returns to take revenge.

  Tabitha: “It’s impossible! He came back? I thought Haw’s potion took care of him”

  Silfa: “That would be unbelievably divine for Haw to make such a potion, Tabitha”

  Miss: “This is not good, one of us have to distract that thing before we could . . .”

  The ritual breaks, the mechanical spider unleashed its wrath. All of the citizens took a hit from its needle legs and pierced through their legs. The moment it reaches McS4. He was able to grab it without a problem. R-cord quickly shoots it, but it was too fast.

  Aoi’s brother managed to break free. He continues attacking them using old magic without hesitation. The spell around spread damaging their armor from the exposure. They are fighting back. The mechanical spider is too swift as it moves around before they could land a hit. The gust of old magic spreads and continues to damage their armor. Thickening all around to weaken them by its unknown magic. Its mouth raised trying to bite on R-cord’s head. It swings around like a dog and throws R-cord to the side. McS4 uses his heavy weapon and shoots at it. It quickly evades it and hits his back under seconds.

  Old magic is spreading to the point it only gives the mechanical spider stronger. It is too much. The citizens try to heal themselves, including potions and other special remedy items, but the tendencies of old magic prevent them such advantage. Juela remembers the note

  “Wilson’s note! I think I understand why Delilah wanted us to complete it. She wanted to stop it with it”

  Miss is preparing her runes while lying on the ground “We can’t beat it like this. How will a note could’ve saved us?”

  The face of the dead head appeared to them in a blink of an eye. One by one, all defenses they have and the abilities they surrounding themselves with are useless. Shields, spell cards, and runes can’t affect this machinery. Its starting becoming playful as its mouth flickered as it is too fast to talk. Enrage of its return and behaves like most citizens are, slowly enjoying the moment of their victory. Aoi’s brothe talked around and remembering each of them.

  Then the mechanical spider stops at Miss’s face. It recognizes her, more likely it finally remembered.

  “You! You came back, and I smell your magic beat Youta. No, he has the avatar’s body. Impossible, the most powerful body given by the master and he fucking dies. How could . . .”

  He disappears then suddenly went back up

  “. . .They are all being ripped off from their souls. No wonder they lose all sanity because of it. After all this time. After all they have done to escape, I can’t believe a bitch like you will return in a place like this”

  “Even you can’t recognize me because of this body. You will find out when I’ going to rip your soul out . . . What the?”

  The hyperspeed disappears as he mistakenly heard a voice. His rage bolden as he hears it again.

  “HEY IDIOT!”

  The mechanical spider hears it from the blood pavement. Its eyes grew angrier as his soul is reviving his head. The head turned fresh. The metallic body changes according to his will. The sight to see that no one should ever know. R-cord quietly not saying anything as Tabitha’s telepathy reaches him.

  “R-cord, the mechanical spider is transforming”

  “Yes, the old magic harmonized with him. The man is now controlling it with his free will”

  It lunges in sonic boom speed, Aoi’s brother reaches to the voice who insulted him. A splash through the blood pavement as he reaches his destination. Covered in blood like ink, there he faces his younger sister again.

  “AOI!”

  Aoi looks at him scared and couldn’t move where the blood pavement sticks to her feet. She stands tall taking a bold move to stand up with her brother again, but left herself trap from the blood flowing road.

  He tries to reach down her neck but suddenly fall into the sinking road. Into the blood road, submerged where he feels the countless souls trapped inside. His immense power was too great either he manages to break free from the trapped souls solidifying it or sinking down into the pool of blood from his overwhelming power. His intense speed swim underneath creating whirlpools after whirlpools only to sink him again and solidify it after. Aoi looks at the others and shouted.

  “Get back to the road, this is the only way you can get back up to the surface”

  Mina’s team rushes down and rescue the others. Miss sees one of Mina’s team come and aid them. Her silent in expression as she meets the girls, she soon breaks off the silence as she asks one of them

  “Where’s Kenta?”

  They flat out ignored her. The obvious look of Miss’s face as this is not the right time to talk like this. As she directs her eyes down from the depths, she sees why. The demon is being revived. The collapse of the realm begins to restore again.

  Carried out to safety, they moved pass from the blood pool. Aoi stays a bit longer as she sees Juela holding Wilson’s note. She picks it up the moment they moved passed her. Mina yells out to Haw.

  “You son of a bitch! Get Aoi out! She is so close with her stupid brother!”

  Toga moves away from her shouts “Agh! There’s blood stain on my face”

  With more still need to carry. Sakura goes to Miss and shows her the absorb scroll.

  “Please change it that I can absorb bring you all out”

  Miss looks at her as she never forgotten about her.

  “You can’t ignore someone useful, can you?”

  “Shut the fuck up, and do it”

  The blood pool bursts like a geyser and Aoi’s brother comes out with its new profound powers. He looks at his younger sister, and without hesitation, as everyone is already gone. He dives down. Grabbing her throat as he tries to squeeze her dear life. Aoi’s body reacted and emitting light to resist the damage. Elven magic flows inside her, preventing any old magic to overwhelm her. Her brother becomes desperate, Aoi finally sees the uselessness of his face and finally give a deliberating blow. She uses Wilson’s note and smack on his face.

  The last soul on the list has been met. Large mass of mana is gushing into Aoi’s body. Wilson’s note is complete and his soul returns whole once again. Aoi’s soul and Wilson turned on each other for the control of the body. Forces his mechanical body sink again, with Wilson’s soul able to control the mouth. He said to her

  “I stray away, and now I was found”

  He laughs for the very first time as lost soul. Then said to her again

  “Tell the man catcher, thank you for everything”

  Submerged into the blood like ink, Aoi stands alone where her feet free from the blood. The horror aspects of the blood pavement disappeared leaving nothing but a hallowed path, no wailings nor accursed nightmares around. Wilson have left them what they should’ve done since the beginning. Haw taps Aoi’s shoulder and said

  “It’s time to go”

  She replies “It’s like in Luke 15”

  “What?” “Never mind, it is hard to believe that there are people like Benedictus willing to save us, and not a single one left behind. Then you guys came and finished it”

  The two head back leaving behind the horror.

  Made it to the surface, Tabitha’s team sees the realm opened. The realm is slowly closing in as the Benedictus are holding it still. They wave at them as the realm is closing in. They follow through.

  “Get out now, the realm is restoring”

  The realm’s border pushes the Benedictus out from the realm. None could hold it as it continues to shrink. Everyone got out and checks each other for anyone left behind. Tabitha notices

  “Where’s Aoi?”

  “There!” Toba points out inside the realm.

  They see Haw carries Aoi as fast as he could. Drinking each unfinished potions at the same time. The realm’s influence becomes stronger as before. They see the outside where Alga’s light is at sea.

  They are still more distance to cover, each track becomes heavier and heavier as the echoes reach them as demon shouted to its last breath.

  “You’ll never escape from here. NEVER!”

  Haw jumps as far as her could. He falls down and throws Aoi into the air. McS4 and R-cord went back in. McS4 jumps boost further to catch her. He picks up his heavy weapon and using her as a bullet.

  “Raised your endurance, I’ll shoot you out from her here”

  “OK!”

  One shot and she went flying as the influence caught her speed and slows down as she falls to the ground.

  R-cord caught her and brings her the realm border. They watch them run as they pray and shouting at them for encouragement. The realm quickly sealed off as the others tried to hold it. It was too late. Mina and her friends try to break the realm’s border, but it was too strong. Tabitha and Silfa tries to help as they use all of their magic to get in. All of them help including the Fuku Adventurers. Miss picks out a rune. Her companions were relucted, but she sees their sufferable faces and said

  “FUCK IT!”

  The rune breaks through and rift opens the realm. It was small, but it is enough to breach in. Then suddenly something drilled out from the realm border as two tools appeared out of nowhere. It was R-cord’s drill and McS4 heavy tool. Breaching it open and breaking their own tools during the process. Aoi was pushes out from the realm as the mass mana flows out sealing it back in. Tabitha and the others watch R-cord and the other two being sealed back in as the last moment of them seeing each other.

  Tabitha uses her telepathy. She was about to call them in but only heard a message from R-cord’s monocle.

  R-cord: “Such a waste of opportunity. It’s hard to command when your mind is exploited by such tapping your telepathy. But we sure did great individually”

  McS4: “Don’t bother rescuing us. We know something bad will happen and will always be prepared. Tell those Not Worthy bastards bring you home”

  Haw: “Tell Silfa about the guys I know at the city, that I’ll be better off resting here. I don’t want others to worry”

  All of them said to her at the end “Mission complete”

  Tabitha broke into tears as Juela comforted her. The realm sealed leaving her own group to the mercy of the East Coast. Her tears were suddenly stopped and sees the young child. The same girl who was with her before. The young girl was about to cry too, but she hugs here and said to her calmly

  “It’s ok, it is over”

  “What about your friends?”

  “They will be back, and they will see you if anything bad happened to you”

  “Sniff, ok”

  Everyone takes their first fresh air after a long time. The sight of the surface brings them back into the real world.

  But it didn’t last long as everyone hears a call for help from one of the survivors.

  “Hey! Come quick! We have trouble”

  Silfa responds “I thought the Benedictus will take care all of you”

  “They did, but someone is using some magic and made them disappeared”

  Other Benedictus were troubled. They headed first as the others follow suite. When they made it. They see large forces of Fuku City adventurers and their leader, the cult leader. Bokushi Hidari.

  Where the last numbers of Benedictus stand, they see the elven magic courses through them. They look at the cult leader and said

  “Not even our captains can fight against it”

  The cult leader laughs at their obviousness. “Indeed”

  He then turns to the people who rescued the survivors and with the huge smile at his face. He said to them

  “Thank you for saving my people. I’ll be taking care of them for now on”

  Silfa refused “Taking care of them? We’re the one who . . .”

  Elven magic passes through like the wind and the Benedictus disappeared like they said before. Drained and out of resources, they are now facing an army of the organization.