COI C262
“And yet . . . I wouldn’t bother if this ruins still holds their trials from an immortal being”
“More of a mortal but less than a god, I know you understand this kind of philosophy. Even you have prepared for it, what you people called, a nuisance?”
“Back to arguing, aren’t we?”
“Ahem* I told him what I just said? There should be flawed with each greater being. He had his immortal machines while we embrace the life’s end”
McS4 is being piled up from their own arguments
“. . .”
And he didn’t even say once they started it
“Staying silent won’t be any good for you”
It was not long when Tabitha’s team managed to get one of the girls out from the curse. Her telepathy has provided the info they need to understood what the Benedictus are trying to tell him. Steadily trying to find an indirect meaning of their conversation. It always dragged him into a waste of time summarizing the information to R-cord
“. . . You get all of that?”
R-cord wasn’t listening. A matter of fact, he is trying to do with someone tapping their conversation with Tabitha. His one side of his visor remained still warning out the breach in their transmission. Both telepathy and the signal are both being tapped. During the hyper speed magic, he thought it would be easy for them to track this someone while time slowed. Yet, he never would’ve suspect for him to go deeper and the source lies below them. This someone had already joined them. The stranger is at the safe distance neither him nor anyone alive will ever dared to search for them, and they vitally gathered information between them and Tabitha.
This question made him wonder. Would it better to reveal the secret just to get that tapper out from the communication line? Them three alone won’t be any good as their objectives are only a third than what Tabitha usually thought. Dexter Guild has many plans after this breakout for what Tabitha and Silfa thought to be a rescue mission. In truth, it is one part needed to be solved and the next. R-cord admittedly asks McS4
“Try to ask who is tapping us?”
“What? If they know, the source. Archscience’s cerebrum!”
“It’s too late now, it’s a good thing Tabitha wouldn’t be able to hear this”
Tabitha, since she was advised about not wanting them to know she is using her telepathy. The randomness of their conversation flew over her head. McS4 is giving her the chance to listen their conversation. But it grew less and less the time everyone starts butting into no apparent reason but to question how the trial is meant to be. Sadly, she admitted to relate to their conversation. Not knowing what to do with this trial except a way to get rid of the influence. The more she listens the more she too questions about it. She was surprised honestly, that some of them give a very intellectual flaws about not completing the requirements of the trials. The first one is maturity.
The Benedictus’ conversation continues
“. . . Again, if he said that the women who are in the trial are not at the right age. This leads to other method of making excuses, right?”
“If you treated a powerful being to be flawed, I say so. Although it still benefits a temporary resolved than nothing at all”
“An age who are less mature? I am sure there are people who quickly fell into the influence so easily. Children are the most vulnerable, but thanks to the citizens’ help. We are able to shield the children”
“But not all, those who are left are what they called teenagers”
“The juveniles? You’re right. This troubles me. What will the immortal one done with the unprepared?”
“There is one, letting the Juveniles having their own way. It is to decide on their own”
“That’s freedom, the better choice is the truth”
“A sinner picks the truth? They didn’t try to call out who are the perpetrators who had caused the sabotage of their entire people here”
“Focus on the trial, men. We are here to discuss, there is nothing else we could do to end this spell”
“But, sir. We already drained out all the details we could speculate under one of our companions”
“There is one”
“You mean?”
“That’s”
“Blasphemy in great degree. There is a need to preach about it”
“Our rival had spoken about it in great interest. The better we can explain to those who had failed”
“You mean the citizens who failed the trials. They are all . . .”
“Dead. There is nothing to discuss about. Only their last mourns”
“It is needed to be said. Their souls lie forever here. You can listen to them as they failed their trials. The lies have brought them into the madness. And. The demon had successfully taken them over down to the depths. If you try to desecrated them. We have warned you those souls belong to the citizens . . . We never forgotten the atrocities had done from your guild’s experiments”
Tabitha silently cuts off her telepathy. The story grows darker as she can’t believe what she heard. She turns to Toba who is finally free from the influence. Motivation to go all in as she talks with Aoi. The two is deciding which of them will be taking the trials.
“. . . It has to be her. Mina should be the last to pick”
“But both of us don’t know Mina really is. She said it on her UI before it all gone”
“Trust me, Aoi. You better try the people who you really trust”
“But, you’re the only one I can understand your situation is real”
“Are you sure about that? Sakura is the kindest girl in out group who always looks up to you”
“That’s the point, I don’t trust goody two shoes who is joining outside of the city”
“Eh?”
Sakura, who has the same vibe as Aoi. Their last time they remembered she just joins along after everyone scattered after many people got possessed. She comes out of nowhere and the first person who knew her is Aoi. Aoi didn’t bother to know about her since the time they group each other because of the chaos. She never dared to say anything to Sakura as she thinks she is hiding something. The group grows when Toba joins, Mina, then finally Kenta. Toba has the feeling those two are a quiet bunch who looks after each other. Sakura is always taking the first conversation between them.
But Aoi side is pretty cautious about her. Not only that, Sakura is always supportive of her. Helping her from tough time and giving her time to talk about it and deal with it. That’s the problem, this makes Aoi feel being belittled by her. It was too obvious as this is the same tactic that her older brother did when they are younger. The same trick fades quickly as her parents figured out what he was doing to her.
Aoi whispers to Toba
“Do you know anything about emotional manipulation?”
“I thought you only know being abused manipulation”
“That’s abusive relationship. No, it is more than that. She is hiding from us. The hard part is whether she is telling the truth”
“It doesn’t matter, the trial should show us her memory”
“That’s right! Wait a minute. Yours looks random”
“If we get to pick the right segment with every interaction Sakura can make. I am sure just like mine, it would be easier that liar couldn’t find a single secret while being shown at our face”
Toba is acting cheeky as her eyes gleaming with curiosity. The trial had shown her true self, with her own memories backing it up, and her bad self is one big misunderstanding.
Who else wants to know about them for real? Both of them were not as bad as they thought they were. But those three; Sakura, Mina, and Kenta they barely remembered because of the influence. Either they are brave or confident that the part of their memories is lost enough to make them feel better, they don’t know. Sakura is their best bet. Mina and Kenta are true fighters among the team. Elusive or downright brutes among the two. Especially Mina, they remembered that Tabitha’s team never seen Mina in action. This makes them why she is acting this way.
Sakura breaks free from the sphere
“What? What just happened? Did the sphere only stun us for a second?”
The look of her expression after regaining her memory a bit. Not realizing her eyes went blood vein red neither tears nor strain. Her eyes return back to normal after a few minutes. Silfa asks the girls
“That’s not normal for her eyes to recover like that”
“You could say she is a healer”
“I say it is a healer. What role is she?”
Sakura hears her and answers “Oh yeah, because of the curse. I have trait that is self-healing”
“Self-healing, yeah?” Toba whispers to Silfa as she warns her
“. . . Better take it with a grain of salt. That power is new, and new powers were never stay long when the influence hits everyone. Mina should’ve gain really nice perks until she forgets it. Those skills we learned were taught by the dwarf guy himself”
“Then that’s mean it is her ultimate”
“An ulti-wha?”
“Say Sakura, can we do it again with the sphere thing”
“Really, it only just stuns us. Hey, Mina and Kenta also”
Sakura feels her head merging inside. Silfa takes the initiative to force into another trial. When Sakura regains her memories. Silfa quickly slices off the influence around her.
Thanks to Toba showing the essence of the influence. Silfa gives an accurate description about it. With Tabitha plays her card to boost Silfa’s attack against a mana type. It was a great idea to use it against a demonic curse, when the demon’s power only leached around the host. It would be enough to break it before it recovers back into her. In this short time, they need to get her willingly remember everything that happens around her. Sakura’s expression went bewildered.
Her eyes turned red, but it wasn’t a memory that caused it. Something inside her eyes envelope a magic to resist the trial to ever release out from her memories. Both Aoi and Toba were shocked
“Did you see her acting nervous for the first time, Aoi?”
“Yeah, I did. All of you were having the same expression”
“I know Sakura is keeping secrets. I’ve never known to see her able to shield it before regain her memory”
Silfa heard them and didn’t give up just that.
“Sakura, I’m seeing you are refusing the trial”
“Ah? Uh?”
“Figures, that’s what I get when someone regaining their memories”
Or was Sakura lying, Silfa stops for a short moment as Tabitha’s telepathy linked with her and Juela
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“I tell you she is lying”
“Her memories are not letting out. Is she keeping something dangerous?”
“We are having a hard time getting to understand the trial. Juela, it is better to use our resources on her”
“I’ll glad to”
“Really? I thought”
“When you see a young with magic she didn’t even remember, will you take a risk?”
“Whoa, whoa there! Silfa! Juela! We shouldn’t be hasty”
“Then what are we supposed to do with nothing else to break her from the curse”
Silfa casts a forcefield at the right moment when the influence returned to engulf her. Juela gives her a talisman and Silfa slams it down by the palm of her hand with a clean hit on Sakura’s forehead. A loud smack on the head, Sakura backs away and steady herself before she falls back down on her back.
“Ugh! What the?! My head! AAH!”
Sakura is trying to held herself down to her knees, her hands holding her head trying to endure the headache, then she touches the talisman and begins to breathe properly.
The forcefield is shielding her from the influence. While the talisman helps her head to recover. Her eyes, beaming with red light as the veins of her eyes are flowing normally as the light keeps shining. She calmly says to Aoi and Toba
“Hey, you two is looking at me strange. Is something on my face?”
The two nods, Toba said to her “Your eyes are glowing. I mean beaming like your throwing lasers at us”
“Oh yeah, that. That means it still failed”
“Failed? Sakura, you didn’t even mention about it”
“Aoi, this is the side of me I don’t want to show you. Few months before we met is a lot if you know what I’ve been though”
Sakura feels the metal tapping on her cheek. Silfa points her shield at her
“If this eyes of yours prevent the cure from the curse. We’ll never know what will going to happen to you”
“Wait, wait! Why can’t you let explain myself? I am certain this spell belongs from the Enders, right? Ugh!”
Sakura is churning into the pain bulking up with every pulse she tries to endure. She sees Juela comes closer and said
“Please, check my eyes. I knew it was coming from your magic. It was the hunter who gave it to me”
“A hunter? A hunter that can use magic is hard to believe. Nonetheless, a failed spell is always assumed is us”
“Oh, thank you. You won’t regret” Juela slaps Sakura’s neck, the spell circulating only her head shows the symptoms of a bad spell.
Juela felt disgusted from her hand touching Sakura’s neck. She turns to Aoi and Toba
“Is there something we need to know about this girl?”
“That’s the thing, we think”
“Think? This girl is crafty of making secrets”
“You too?”
Aoi gazed at her serious expression only by the touch Sakura’s neck. She too believed something suspicious about her. Juela says to her very carefully.
“If there is nothing for her memory recontract from her past, then this marked of her eye will be the trial for her”
“Marked of her eye?” Silfa stares at Sakura begins to recover after that hit.
Sakura rubs her head and noticed Silfa is giving the same stare as Juela.
Tabitha is looking at the matter as this is not what she had in mind. The Benedictus is giving a warning that they don’t know about young girl taking the trial without the coming of age.
“Juela, do you have any idea how to bring the trial for her?”
“Is there any rule when a captive won’t show unless their abductor can do anything about it?”
“You mean?”
“This is more than I should carefully read. Someone is sending a message using her like an envelope. Her eyes are the seal to proof of the sender”
Silfa “You’ve got to be kidding? Then we can’t get her to resolve”
“There is one, Silfa. Freedom”
Silfa listens to the instruction. Toba is looking at them idling while both her and Aoi goes to Sakura. Aoi confronts Sakura
“I’m wondering, since the day we met. I want to tell you that you were awfully being nice to me. I’m sorry”
Toba looks at Aoi as she quickly changes attitude all of a sudden. Honestly, she was really good at bad mouthing her older brother. Sakura? A girl she barely met, and let alone giving bad vibes, had shown no ounce of doubts. Toba is forced to join in
“Well, you know people who are trying to be nice and . . .”
“. . . and planning to take advantage of them after? Yeah, I admit”
Sakura blatantly answers them.
Aoi wasn’t surprised. Toba is a bit of a surprised and said “That was too easy for a confession, Sakura”
“I get it, I’m not going to lie to you guys. After remembering some awful things had happened, I’m surprised being a liar is useless when your memory keeps thrown out when you wake up”
“Wow, just wow. I don’t mind asking for more if we continue like this, but at least you should answer Aoi’s question”
Aoi acts nervous. After all the suspicions, she goes back to a lowly girl again.
“You see, I want to know why did you join leaving the city. I was forced, and Toba just hates the old man”
“Hey!”
“You, what convinced you to leave after all that happened?”
Sakura felt guilty at first then mood swings as she remembers the reasons why.
“I-I, even if I tell you about myself. I am not confident whether I’ll live long”
Toba feels the aching annoyance of Sakura dodging the question. It is risky to know that this woman is dangerous than they thought. But not saying anything made them more suspicious than ever before. Because of those people hiding their true motives to take advantage anyone that tried to escape. Sakura is probably one of them. Yet, they remember their time together with her. She really is as normal as she can be in the team. Always talking with Aoi.
Aoi changes her question “How about this, why you want to be with me?”
“It’s because you’re the type of girl I think you won’t hurt me”
“!!!”
“Alright, stand back. We have to deal with this the hard way”
Silfa warns them as the forcefield pushes them aside. Toba trying to stop her
“No wait, we want to talk to her for a bit”
“There is no time when the influence ingulfs her again”
Sakura feels a leak on top of her head. The influence is back and drilling into the forcefield. Silfa warns them again
“Sakura has no chance if she becomes evil. The three of us able to get here and for just one girl is not going to stop us. The hyper speed must end quick!”
Silfa rushes forward and places a glass at the front of Sakura’s glowing eyes. The muddled red light refracts and focus in a ray of light, revealing the magic pattern to unleash.
The trial begins. The waters come out of nowhere swirling around and pushes all magic they have around them. All magic types wash down, and all of them except for Juela feel their normal body again. Memories manifested, not from Sakura’s past. The time she remembered with the hunter. The hunter reveals, and it was U’ecin surrounded by dead bodies. Bodies gathered, collected, and ready to throw it out at the surface. He said to Sakura
“The land is moving down to the sea. The influence you speak of is the source you’re all heading”
Last scene of one man begging for his life as U’ecin quickly ends him, disappearing out of memory.
Then the manifestation reappears at that same moment. Trial U’ecin appeared in front of them. The mark of the eye channels out from her sending it into the trial being. The manifestation begins to look around wielding his weapon, a polearm. Juela sees can’t use their magic. Tabitha uses her wand and pulls everyone behind her.
“Are you guys alright?”
“We have a problem, Tabitha. I can’t use my magic”
“Me neither, but the trials shouldn’t make you fight, right? Juela?”
“This is Sakura’s trial, but was sealed because of U’ecin? I just don’t get it. Sakura! What did he say to you at that time?”
Sakura watches U’ecin holding his polearm firmly. The sight of his devastating stance moved her with awe. Toba is checking her face as she is idolizing him. She hits her
“Knock it off!”
“Ouch! What trial I’m supposed to do?”
Silfa can’t think of anything at this scenario. A pile of dead citizens, and him murdering everyone. The sight of so much dead bodies made her want to hurl. U’ecin was able to take them down. This final scene had shown them what he is capable of. It is hard to imagine how he can pull through.
“This is Sakura’s trial, she had to face him”
They push her. Sakura tries to step away but they insist with force. She was pushed right in front of him and the water covers them from view. U’ecin lays his weapon close to her head. The polearm with hidden powers possessing a powerful blow to kill the citizen with terror. The trial is combining with both magic. All together harmonize into one, yet this presence brought Sakura with immense pain in her head. Her eyes flooded with tears uncontrollably leaving her in constant pain.
Then it suddenly stops. Sakura looks up and everything around her turned water. All around her filled with water as if she is in under the ocean. Within this vast ocean, Delilah appeared before her. She shows nothing but anger to what she had seen within her thoughts. The memories she is trying to hide and the past that shielded her from ever showing at the trial. Delilah can’t stand her and wouldn’t dare to speak a child who had done more what any young adults had done to this realm. Slowly turning to the man who gives Sakura the mark of the eye.
“There is no mistaken, you have brought me the reason to kill them”
Sakura couldn’t see her face. Delilah is too disappointed and a shame to dare to look at the young girl. She only gives her a wrathful warning.
“I finally understand. Leave this place before Alga’s light returns to this very continent. What life remains here will be the monsters feasting your filthy flesh. Your sanctuary is lost, your saviors are here, and your redemption must be fulfilled. If you die in this world, I’ll twist your soul to the very moment because of your sin . . . whore . . .”
The underwater ocean turned dark. The consequences for Sakura of her past have drove to danger into her mind, carving it as she will never forget. The resemblance of hell only through the sense of her mind. The secret of her past being an opportunist, less and less as her actions grew filthy as she doesn’t care, the drop of the papers all around as she receives it, and all else around her is nothing but pitiful people wanting a good time. She was a gold digger, such a young age, and never would expect her to be one except acting as victimize sex worker. The lies she had done until she entered this world.
It got worse here in this world. The demons have already whisper into her ears. She can’t believe how many attempts had happened to her after she left the city. All she had seen, everything she had pulled through to survive. Many of them wouldn’t believe how many times she is been with the wrong group. Especially, the people she had not heard about them after their escape. A glimpse of her memory passed all the darkest secrets she had and all directly to one group of people. The thought of them left her behind because of her child like appearance. The same words she heard recently flickering
“. . . whore . . .”
Her face begins to turn red like a fever, as her eyes shed a tear coming from the mark of the eye. Dripping down to her cheeks, the right cheek fades away, but the left cheek starts burning into her skin. The red light dims down and turned into a tattoo, a mark that much the broken appearance without the glass shows its clear magic patterns. The trial U’ecin goes to her while Delilah left. When the under the ocean environment begin to spread apart, he said to her
“Tell them, you have succeeded. Your resolve is . . .”
Sakura falls to the ground leaving little strength left for her to speak. The spell that nulled their magic disappeared. Silfa picks her up on her arms
“Hey! Don’t fall asleep just yet. If you are going to forget what happened here, we will leave you behind, got that?”
Sakura nods as her eyes closed and fell into a deep sleep. They tried to wake her up, but it was impossible. Juela examines her
“It’s no use. The mark on her face is feeding inside her head. We don’t know whether she is fine or lost consciousness”
Toba agrees as she keeps shaking Sakura up “She blacks out cold, we don’t know if she is free or not”
Silfa calls out to Tabitha to use that card again. After a few attempts, it is confirmed she is free from the curse.
“All those secrets on her, she gets to sleep on our suspensions”
Tabitha grabs Silfa’s shoulder “There is nothing we can do. Aoi says everything we need to know. A girl like that being dangerous is hardly enough for us to get a pain in our backs. Also . . .”
She turns to the remaining two teens “I bet those big shots might have darker side of the stories than the last one”
Both Mina and Kenta froze into the sphere. Only the two of them left until the hyper speed will finally stop. Aoi is talking with Toba who would be next. Meanwhile Tabitha channels her telepathy again all while talking with the three
“I think we should be better talking a for a bit”
Juela pulls Sakura to her as she places her far away from the trial “Are you going to contact them? Would it be better for all of us hear each other out?”
“That will become a headache for me. I tried linking multiple people before. I need a good circle of conversation without the other asking too much questions”
Silfa nods “That’s true, a train of thoughts when you don’t even understand what the others are thinking. But Tabitha, you should have gained experience to use it, right?”
“I have, while becoming a median between others is a different topic”
Juela cuts them off “Anyway, now this is what I have been waiting to hear both from Voldemyr and Lady Constantine’s reports”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Juela, you are one of the groups who always read the reports before our guild master”
“I said heard! Not read! Don’t mix with me with those mischievous eyes”
Silfa watches them argue “What are you guys on about?”
Juela looks away out of spite, holding her arms not wanting to talk about it. Tabitha grins as she didn’t expect this to happen. These trials are getting darker; first, it was easy, then it gets worse really fast. Then she sighs sadly
“Do you think we can save everyone?”
Silfa slams her fist to the ground “What are you saying? People over here are just idiots and don’t know how the world works. Others treated some kind of fantasy world while others treated it as a game. I can’t believe you started to doubt those people who are caught by their sleazy tricks”
“I know that, but after what the Benedictus have been through to save those people from the very beginning. I’m starting to believe that our people have already been influenced. Even if they are free from it. They will come back again like it was a drug”
“What are you saying?”
Juela was a bit surprised “Tabitha? You are sounding like the Benedictus themselves. Where did you get those quotas? Lady Constantine would’ve a daily sermon for you if you wanted”
“Oh that?”
Tabitha heard more than she should, but she couldn’t ignore it.
McS4 have already called out the stops pretending as if he was talking to R-cord. Tabitha didn’t, she continues to listen to the tales of those men trying to get her people out of this realm.
“. . . People can’t change easily. Not even after trying to find their way out of here. They are afraid, of course. You have to admit their bravery on their own personal means are plenty to question that would save them from this place. The demon who is trying to control them is weakening. But not those who are already joined them”
“How many of them are still alive down there?”
“I lost count. I don’t know when I lost count. A one or two moon cycles maybe. Maybe I was counting the number of times I got hit another mad man who was with our fellow Enders. The name really confuses me, but this name held a grudge for me. He was called Youta”
“Heh, the word ‘you’ and the simple ‘ta’ finally get you to remember”
“There’s those girls called Mina, Toba, with two girls can’t pronounce right, and that man’s name sounds like a girl. Kenta was her name”
“His name, laugh* That Youta bastard has the same pronouncing name at the end”
“The coward is still on the loose. Our friend Sir Uld never failed on the rescue. He even spoke out their faith about a shit god”
“Bah! That name didn’t even give a good title. Only its name keeps calling out when everything goes wrong”
“It must be praise of sanctuary”
“The god of danger callings, sounds like a doomsayer to me”
“Even him, failed to save the people we have proven innocent”
“Because of the curse to limits their mind, our suspicions can’t go through people’s head. The curse is too great to break free”
“Even if they remember everything. Their guilts and regrets in one spike. They must accept the truth and move on”
The topic about the trial is long gone. They talked about the people going through all lengths to get out of this place. The curse, the influence, had given them hopelessness to find ways to leave this place. Time is limited, every sleep is when a memory fades away when the eyes open after staring at the dark providing them energy for the day. Tabitha is doubting as well to whom she is going to save because one of them had already join the demon’s side. Aoi’s older brother is not the only one siding with the demon. Tabitha remembers the girl with them. It still her wish to rescue all of her deceased friend’s kids.
Tabitha stood up and said to Silfa “You’re right, we need to succeed. Now who’s the next person for the trial”
. . .
“Yes, Ma’am” Both Toba and Aoi decided
Mina begins to break open the sphere as her head screams out from the top of her lungs. An apparition wildly attacks her trying to kill her. The ghostly wails reach to their ears as the pain goes within their bodies. All of them were shocked
“What’s going on?!”