COI C161
Lady Constantine is furious. The calls of the light speak through the voices of their relics. She is with the old man holding a man catcher in Enders Bridge. It was so long for him to return as the other Enders are gone to the east. The bead brightens so frightenedly, this is her first time to see such comparable shines to blind themselves just to hear the message from Azin. The man catcher able to resist the light, he was underground for so long.
“Lady Constantine, I see those otherworlders are truly from the people of the forsaken”
“Elder, you already knew about it. Where’s the ancient relic given by the church?”
“Church . . . We never hear that name, even before the past eras”
“But sir . . .”
The message comes through as a form of a vision. The persecution is already taken place, and it is far different than he imagined. “My, a little clever to respond such retaliation. It looks the same as usual”
“Usual? There are so many of them going after him”
“That’s his responsibility. Azin can’t able to reach them out with little experience he had with those foreigners”
“I’m sorry elder, even the people he tried to save turned out differently”
“I can’t say he succeed, but people don’t trust so easily. I was worried for a bit that you brought one and only guild missionary to do the job, but it was Azin. He’s going to be fine”
The visions were nonstop, Lady Constantine focuses on Tabitha while the man catcher watches the direction that he brought out. Judgement days, the word of the people calling out as Azin spoke out about it. No one believed him, after a few days, it brought so much impressions and bring the eyes of the authorities. The irony of all this, Azin didn’t notice that the government is trying to dissuade him off from his preaching. The people are ignoring him so far, but the people who are in need didn’t. It won’t last long as he is not prepared. The man catcher says to her
“Does his uses still valuable for them?”
“I don’t know, elder. It was all started to see how’s going on in the city. The suspicion of the breached will always be the demons”
The man catcher, sends his message back through the light. During that time, Azin meets with the two, as if there is nothing happened since the first place. He receives a message from his guild
“Fellow faithful brother, this is the elder serving under the banner of Benedictus. Sends your beads to her and martyred for your incoming doom. You’ve done so much and none of them recognized your effort. They already planned your fallen revenge”
Azin spokes out in front of the two “A fallen revenge”
The Perb reacts “Fallen revenge? Where do you get that idea?”
“It’s nothing, I am just amazed that I was able to contact my guild in this protective place”
“Really?! Wait, are you serious?!”
The Perb backs a bit as he speaks out his monologue “Then those three weren’t kidding they are planning to get rid of him. Fuku City has the best end of defense updated recently, and now this man is already breaking through. This version is meant to blocked the all three, but which man did he used?”
Ironno and the Perb were let out before Azin taken notice. He was distracted all this time and still never find out where they were. It is still late at night, and the woman, from the gang, gives them proof with a dark green dot torn cloth, only to the Perb. So, it is true, he was back down by her own gang. They remembered what she said
“It is agreed, we are going to win this inferior internet debate between Judgement and the hitmen”
“This is not acceptable. You were gathered them just for business?” The head of security was against it, and police chief couldn’t say much but told them what she had in mind.
“I am not here to convince you both. Why not follow your leader a bit and decide then?”
Azin is able to find those potential victims, but the two sees the person they rescued is not justified to be protected. Ironno whispers to the Perb while they walking to the next target.
“The woman was a con artist. That man attacked her is because of a fake relationship. Neither side couldn’t even explain their side of the story. Not even the dead could help this man judge”
“Even the dead, even the people who died. Can he able to contact them?”
“Their guild has mediums, very dangerous powers when contact the lone dead. They can also attract demons if they are walking around with the souls that are not spirits”
The time when the woman walks out from the facility, she never left herself being traumatized, but rather happy that it was over. Ironno sees it was planned to clean off the mistakes she made, while the Perb sees it both sides have the power to do it. As long as they won’t be getting caught. Azin is the person making himself the scapegoat. The Perb sighs and said to Ironno.
“The first one I’ll her with side, but if he still can’t give me the reason to show pity on the ‘victim’. I would rather torture them as I pleased”
“Then next time”
The Perb shuts him up with his magic. He sees Ironno letting him being silent, it was sudden reaction and the Perb made a mistake.
“Well, I, let’s talk about it later”
Ironno raises his mind for the Perb’s hesitance. They hear Azin calling out to them.
“Where here”
They look at the map as they are on the west part of the Fuku City. The Perb shook his head up high and see the extravagance of the building. This is not made anything sense. They are in the stronghold of the rich community, and the night is here where the defectors are coming back. He looks around for anyone guarding here. A plenty, but not defectors. The guards around here are in disguised, where they stood is near the fancy fountain showing the great statue of a historical figure. A historical figure of the old rich conglomerate group.
Azin tells them “I apologized why we are here. This is more of a children’s matter”
He looks up to the building as it already starts to shine fireworks over there.
“Something we need to stop” Ironno readies his magic scrolls as the connection of the hitlist matched. A different target other than a child. He asks him beyond their beliefs.
“A child? Perb, do you know anything about the problems regarding children”
“Sigh* I don’t know, I don’t have kids nor kids with magic powers. I only know rich kids are intend to be spoiled”
Ironno sighs and they were forced to get inside with Azin’s spells. The traced of magic triggered the guards as they teleported to where they were.
“Warning, be on a look out for three suspects using magic. We are detecting no sign of traces as they used their spell, over”
They went inside the room, fully invisible and phasing through any living being in their way. It didn’t take long for them to look around as Azin’s floating object is acting up. The fade winds of magic are flowing out from the room to the hallway. No hesitation as it is projecting its aura of judgement.
They follow the flow of magic, as they hear the sounds of children playing in the other room. They entered the room and sees the guest room filled nothing but a playground. It was nothing but ordinary as they play videogames, toys, and the likes. The judgement continues to flow through where there is a child size toy house. Invisible, and the guards still eyeing on the room. They continue to go there and they feel something off. The Perb gets this weird feeling as the small door is being sealed off.
“What the fuck am I feeling here?”
Azin and the Perb waits for Ironno to set up an invasion to enter the secret realm. Once it opens, they quickly charged in. They go inside the realm and found something odd around here. It connects to some network throughout the building. More than just a children’s playground, there are private rooms and other public places that are close to other private facilities. Azin finds traces of unforeseen tales of his connection with the child.
“He was here”
The Perb smell of the scent, with his magic detect any man around him besides them two. He is right, but this is no child. His magic scent is meant for adults. He steps forward and lead them to who made this realm.
Somewhere deep in this labyrinth like network, it is simplistic one single hallway with multiple doors in one direction. This target is been here for a long time, and the scent spread throughout every door. They entered each room unseen, and the realm didn’t detect their location. The child was here, yet Azin didn’t feel the light of the bead for the child calling for help. The rest of the beads able to hold and protect the users, this one went silent. Ironno stops after searching in this endless path, a random door, and precise chance for him to open. They called out them.
“This is the one”
They stopped and follow him there. He opens the door and found a still underdeveloped realm. The judgement brightens to the dimmest of night, Azin knows the message is blocked. The child is here, silencing the bead for help. The Perb jumps above them and split the traps falling to them. The traps persist and Azin quickly engulfed this room in flames. Ironno founds the trace of the magic used. He uses his scroll to forced summon the one who made this realm. The magic has casted and the man appeared before them unprepared.
“Cough* That damn kid, who are you?!”
He recognized the face of the criminal, he crawls back. The Perb tries to reach out to him, but Ironno stops him. The Perb’s UI shows a matching description on the hit list. While the man was pulled up to Ironno’s side, the Perb said to him
“That’s one of our targets”
“Don’t do it yet, let judgement to deal with him. Azin! He’s here”
The floating object surrounds the man and the magic flow around him. The judgement been told and the man is unharmed. Ironno is confused why it didn’t destroy him. The Perb said to the man
“Are you not one of those people involved with Judgement days?”
“Judgement days, you mean he will place judgement on a kid?”
Azin confronts the man “Yet, why I feel that this is your magic controlling this realm?”
“It is because I confiscated it. The boy is making this network way before I knew”
The Perb didn’t buy it and responds “Then why wouldn’t you report it. This is a private building and you’re able to walk here get inside uninvited”
“Would you write a report when a teenage boy making all of this complex network? If you search deep in here, you will clearly think it was some creeps. No, this boy is dangerous than you think”
“I’m not convinced, I still think you’re a pedophile acting alone in this place”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“. . .”
Ironno gives the Perb a stamina potion. The Perb sees it with his eyes beaming with light as he stares at the man. The man quickly reacts
“I told you the truth . . .”
Ironno cuts him off “Shush* If you are telling the truth, let’s make a few mistakes to get something right”
“Don’t! If you do that, the boy will break free from his room”
Azin sees the man horrified, either be the Perb or this realm, this is not wrong to take it back, but the kid never uses the bead for protection. This makes no sense of how a young boy able to do this. However, this realm is made by that boy. The doors are where the places he knows he is been to.
“Ironno, let the Perb stay and watch. While we search the child. Do you know where he is, Sir”
“You shouldn’t be letting him watching me. What if . . .”
“I have no skills on interrogation, I only preached. If you think the moment of your life won’t be experiencing for the worse. Then be a little more honest and help us”
The Perb was speechless and laughs at his pathetic threat. His hesitant tone and wordings are a bit too friendly without any of the curse nor being direct to the point. Only threat will be easy to convince the man by touching the man’s face closer to his groin, softly.
“ALRIGHT! There’s a room I am trying to blocked. There are people who were abducted. I can’t remember after that, I only remember when the kid confronted us”
Ironno taps off the Perb’s hand with his pickaxe. The man was relief “Phew* I was saying before, I have my own enemies. That kid surprises me when he confronted us then brought us here. His powers, it was too sudden. It is not anything from runes nor spirits. He lost his mind, such a young kid. This realm, there is nothing so safe about this place. As if, the doors to another place were once his home. It is better to see the jail room. That’s the only place I can’t confiscated. I feel that there is a shrine to protect him. The door appeared out of nowhere. Azin comes close to it as the judgement is calling over there. Still there is no sign of the child.
Ironno whispers to the Perb “Do you identify the room?”
The Perb says to the man “That room, why can’t you explain about it”
“I can’t remember, all I can remember is that door behind me. I feel that I don’t want to go there, even my UI was blocked to identify it”
The Perb thought so, he feels hesitant. This is one of many moments he can’t get hard during like this. Yet, he smiles anyway and said to Ironno
“I will take good care of him. You two will check it out”
His face was shocked and said to them so loud as his magic uncontrollably went lose. Ironno uses his pickaxe and breaks his mana flow just to shut him up.
The realm is returning back to its owner, and the truth revealed. The man is telling the truth, leaving Ironno to question about the hit list. “Who was the person wanted you dead?”
“I don’t know, someone wanted me dead? Augh! Are you the one who is going to kill me?”
“Kill you . . .? This man is acting a bit different”
The Perb added as he whispers to Ironno “A little too suspicious. No one is be that dumb. The realm however, is actually strong, and I’m not going to lie about that. Making me wonder who is a liar here”
“If you’re getting weak at trusting people. Do you still trust us?”
“Why would I trust you? You said it yourself, it’s business. I’ll still provide you guys the best of my abilities”
Azin calls out to Ironno “Let’s go, we shouldn’t be taken this long. This realm is hiding from us”
They went through the door and the door sinks down as if it was set up. The Perb is alone with the man, such opportunity to enjoy the delicacy in front of him. The word of Ironno kicks in to his mind as he resisting his urge. The man looks at him terrified and locked in place with Ironno’s magic scrolls. The Perb reads the scroll before, this is not made from the citizens but their own. He is suspecting this man is more than just human.
Azin’s floating object starts to waver, the judgement is strong but his mana is weakening faster than he had never depicted it before. Ironno saves his powers as lashes out with his pickaxe. Swung through the ground as the mana flow breaks into a massive geyser rising up where he pierced. Azin knows about this kind of magic storage. Incredibly unstable and the place this called jail cell opens up its true form. Hellish kind of jail as it still represents the imagery of any mortal prison. The design is old
“Demon presence, a familiar one”
“It’s been a while to enter this realm”
“Have you known about this, Ironno?”
“Not in this location, but the design matches the identity from Norvait. The city of the demons”
“That’s different from me, I have met the demon not long ago. Now I understand why the child never contact me since”
“When did you last contact him?”
“Few weeks, far too long. It is hard to meet with him, because he barely gets out. We met when he ran away from home. In the end, he got caught by the security and forced to go back. I gave him the bead and all the rest are history”
Ironno and Azin conceals their neutral mana and used their other methods of magic. Ironno brings out Rusic’s weapons and gives his extra ones to Azin. Dwarven weapons on hand, strong, heavy, and almost finished carved runes, this weapon is almost complete. One carved writing on the runes with his pickaxe will awaken the rune writings.
Azin recognizes the artistry “These are enchantment runes. Our Enders brethren brought a rusic to this city”
“A free agent, still an Enders in practice. The guild he was from, we are wielding it”
“!!!”
The room starts to compressed, enclosing them as they quickly carved their rune weapons. One tap of each other weapon with his pickaxe. The rune magic unleashed and the chipped metal pieces flew off. Ironno combines the rune weapon to his pickaxe as the floating rune stones moved around him, and his pickaxe forge together in runic stones. Azin weapon breaks as the rune writings unleashed its rune magic. Nothing but a light weapon, a dagger, alongside with a floating thunderous light going away from him. The two is ready as the mystery of these weapons that Rusic tries to hide.
Golems, sentinels and moving traps coming their way. The room release harmful magic as the mist appears sizzling like steam, their bodies are starting to melt. Losing all logic as it is purely attacked by demonic magic. Ironno says to him
“Ignore all interaction with the enemy’s magic. Everything is not real”
He swings his runed pickaxe and broke through the enemies’ front, the runes flying around him followed as shooting projectiles. The rain of powerful forced pierce through the golems and the traps. The sentinels backed and merged together to the walls as they throw its javelins.
Azin was got caught, impaling him. His blood spilled and absorbed to the javelin. The javelin forms a chain link with his blood and pulled him closer to the movable walls. He uses his dagger and break the javelin and the blood chain link disappears. He heals himself and keep moving forward. The magic runes broke through as the enemies are falling apart. The room is closing in and sees the doors moving along. Azin stabs the ground and the runes cleanse off the tainted floors, giving a clear view to use his magic and uses it as opportunity to find the owner.
“Ironno, over there! Smash it through”
Ironno swings his runed pickaxe to the ground drag the ground as it is being carried off. The floor crumbles and picks up by his pickaxe thrown to the wall. The runes smash the wall where it concealed hidden behind it. Azin pushes forward to quickly end this trickery. He stabs it and the hidden magic mechanism breaks. The room stops, and the defenders vanished to nothing. Ironno sees something different about this realm.
“It’s over, that fast”
“Yeah, why are you disappointed about it?”
The room relink again with the door as their runes protect them from the sizzling mist. The harmful air disappears and left in this realm is the emptiness of magic. Such a realm fully drained should be destroyed without any mana. Ironno is skeptical to why it persists, and he said,
“Easy to defeat creatures, the defenses are momentarily effective but was over when finding its weakness. Uh huh, this is low effort for the maker of this realm. Azin, no wonder that man able to control it. He might tell the truth”
“To be this strong? I doubted if he even knew how to deal a demon’s work. Let’s go, I don’t think this realm belonged to the demon”
The realm is indeed in its rough conditions, already in a poor state. The realm is weakening its power and the mysterious owner releasing more than it should, yet this realm is breached too deep as if there is no care for this. They open the door and sees the realm is far gone corrupted. Ironno sees furniture and other appliances were displayed to melt to distorted figure. No signs of struggle but many forms of mana, tainted. Azin knows this fainted mana flow. He stops Ironno and pin pointed him to where the boy might be.
“I think we can find him”
The room starts to move around as the appliances are being moved like molded clay. Disappearing and never reappear, the magic returns into a full corrupted mana. Influence by the demon, they are sure be ready for the fight. For some time though, it never happened. Azin feels something on the other room, the rune weapons he has were sheathed and gave it back to Ironno, Ironno asked
“What are you doing? You’ll need this to protect yourself against the demon’s magic”
“You two won’t need to”
A voice coming from the room where the noise starts to whisper, a language spoken by the haunting citizens’ voices. Their runes to understand this language were not translating it. The room was prepared against the citizens, and not Horsin. The lack of use of mana deplete itself, it needs the mana of the citizens in order to continue to defend itself. The demon appeared from the dark as the shrine behind her glows under the candle light.
It is the demon that Azin faced before. Neither owned this realm nor even using it. She shows to them the victim fell on the table beside the shrine. It was the boy, Azin who never thought he could see him again. He comes to the table, grips down through the boy’s flesh and tries to pull out something in his stomach. She let him do it, and watched Ironno confused from all this.
“Luck had given the boy mercy. I should’ve known it was you’re doing, nonetheless, you got only one of many of my . . . subordinates”
Azin walks back down from the table and not saying a word, he never knew his name. The boy’s body is corrupted and the judgement casts down on him as his dead body begins to fade. The demon doesn’t want this silent to fester in this noisy wailing foreign tongues. She spread the noise out and said to him
“Let’s just say, you save him. But I don’t know how long will his soul trapped inside in his stomach. Why not let’s get this over with and called it a night?”
Ironno steps away and sheathed his other rune weapons, the demon is glad they are cooperating.
“I’m glad we are doing my way. This fight here has no value for the both of us. I have failed my catch, and you have to clean this realm”
Azin touches his hand where he pulled out the boy’s stomach, a bead. The demon gleefully touches the boy’s body and flow her magic to it. The realm shifted to her controls. Removing so many unnecessary things inside. The realm breaks down and the things hid in this realm was the boy’s personal belongings. Ruined in the messiest way, it is clear to that he made an effort of making this realm. Now gone to the mystical ways, the bead finally calls out to him and hear the young teenage voice
“I’m sorry”
The other rooms began shifting into a new realm. The man who is with the Perb, begins to change form. The Perb knows something was up, as he readies himself. The man’s fell to nothing to an empty husk, an illusion hidden to the complexion for being alive and turned it back to its lifeless doll. All of them reunite under the same realm as it become the void. The demon regathers the both of the empty husk body and turned them into ashes. Her illusion was hardly separate itself from real to fantasy.
It was over, it was over since the very beginning. All of the networks made in the realm will only be a mystery. They only look at each other in silence as the realm is slowly destroying itself. Azin held the bead where there are more souls inside. The boy had done something with it, and the apology where he only understood one thing. The demon won. The Perb says to them
“What’s going on here? The realm is breaking apart”
The demon responds to him “There is no need to explain, I have finished my business here. A long story from me won’t suit your trust in it”
She disappears like the wind, given off the smokey texture as she fades as she is burned to ashes. The realm fell apart, leaving them questions of their confusing adventure. They returned back to base, no clue what’s going on and Azin is left behind too many people into danger. He searches through all the remaining beads contacted one another entrusted by many he had given. They are all safe and sound. These previous two were the beads calling out for help. These lost souls won’t be speaking out what happened to them, and these two, Ironno and the Perb need to know.
“I guess you are wondering about that realm”
The Perb was dumbfounded since they entered the door while he keeps an eye on the man. Ironno too wants to know, and the important thing the Perb needs to know is the hit list. Ironno first checks the Perb.
“But first, I need some questions for him”
“Me? How about the realm first?”
“About the man, does he say anything other than being trapped in the realm?”
“Yeah, same guy that was described as. A womanizer, and people wants to kill him out of jealousy. Other than being a crook, those are the things I have in my UI. Yet, in person. He had nothing of that”
“That’s what I am assume of”
“???”
“Demons have special powers can replicate whomever have known of the person. Do you have anything about his private business?”
“I didn’t ask, but he kept saying about before he got caught. Something about a meeting”
“Meeting? Any details about it”
“That’s it, he won’t tell me anything besides the meeting other important groups”
Ironno checks the device, and search for the same man who is with on the meeting. They have customs to picture themselves after the meeting. He searches through the connections of the people who want him on the hit list. There, he found it.
“I guess we found him”
“That’s him, but . . .”
“This is recent, even after the meeting. The person we met before is one of the demon’s tricks. A replica, we don’t how the demon possess a replica of him. I am wondering you might know of this, Azin”
Azin keeps hearing more questions than answer. First, he needs to explain about the realm they have been. “The realm we entered is not belong to the demon, but someone else. I presume it belongs to the young boy. From what it is uses for is a mystery. The designs already tainted leaving no signs of a maker of a young boy . . .”
“. . . Furthermore, we have been going around saving the dying. I can’t say much of how we did is actually have no benefits at all”
Now he tells him, the Perb is still not convinced. They have to go back from the beginning. They are going circles without even trying to succeed. Azin continues on with the question about the demon.
“Lastly, about the demon. You all know that the day it started the siege. Perb, you might not know this. Most attacks like this mostly happened are from the demons of Norvait, the city of demons. Their city is way far to the west at the border of Circoston”
“Why would they want to attack us?”
“Historically, you and your people matched the same origin of their enemies. Somehow or what they called it, coincidence, that brought the same culture”
“You mean to tell me that there are people got transferred here too”
“A long time ago, yes, there was. The demon we met though. She didn’t show any harm. It is more like interested, which is worse since they will always treat us as pets. No signs wanting to destroy your city. They seem to don’t care, and want to control the city as same goes that happened in Agatheus City”
Azin had brought them no information about these events, two places were the ending of such tragedy. This is no laughing matter that Azin had given people that kind of protection. In Fuku City, it is highly dependent. He didn’t know much about the people’s true intentions. Ironno figures it out
“So, you brought us here to clear out the forsaken. I heard about this among the guilds. Those people we are trying to protect, those were the taken advantage of you. Are you saying you want to show us how to deal the ignorant?”
The Perb is in the middle of things, he doesn’t know anything about Azin or anything at the matter. All he wanted is to collect the materials he needed to able to use his powers without being detected by the police in Mihayara district. He is trapped in the middle as he only listens. Azin knows why he done it. The truth is that he can’t save them in a limited amount of time, they are too many and highly ignorant to put their trust on him. He let Tabitha prepared for their willing escape, while his plan to keep further himself down and bringing them along to see the tragic ends. One last thing as he will become the failure that Fuku City thinks of him.