COI C269
Delilah, Sarah Mae, E’asta Ankra Delikor . . . 1st head. Her names throughout the millennia or so what the mortals thought. Angered from everything had happened on this world and worried of her descendants because of the twisted fates. Her husband and sons will be seen again at the afterlife. Only her generations are free and leave this place back to her original world. The sight to see lights gazing somewhere around the world. Twinkling little fires ascended up to the heavens. Outside from this world is to her home world.
Her children’s generations live their lives on the fate they don’t know anymore. A few eras left into ruins. So many years, she persisted to stay. Guiding all the deaths of her children safely where they truly belong. Those souls were prevented to become a feasting pile of hell. A realm will be forever in servitude to the beings who truly born in Horsin. This Era is the time to conclude these horrible atrocities from what the outsiders, otherworlders, travelers, or worse, the summoned had done.
Delilah can’t stretch any further. The dead, her ruined city, against the trespasser, and the help of guidance for her children. She is at her limits for a long time. Yet, there is still hope. The heirloom doll made its way to her showing its serious look and surrounded with auras that is older and closer to the generations from the Ankr family. Fae-chan didn’t look at her. It furiously looking for the keeper. Silfa didn’t resummon it after the hyper speed spell. It senses her slumber and must go and watches over her.
“Stay calm”
Then Delilah speaks its true name.
The doll responds “1st head, I’ve served your second daughter’s bloodline. They’ve put to where the bloodline is near and bonded to”
“Letting someone at your service is a brink of strain of your memories, wasn’t it?”
“I am your children’s creation. They engraved me well at the highest peaks at Del’Montra Esteval”
“As you are anyway. Who are you being carried by?”
“By name and blood, Fay’mae Thulz’Yulfrit”
Now, Fae-chan is at the very presence of Tabitha’s team. Standing by its little self on top of the blood pavement. The souls that always to phase on the floor haunting who step on it are backing away. Laying on the tremendous fear among the dead. Vibration starts to heard where the trapped souls are fleeing at the surrounding path. So condense that they could see it trying to manifest itself. Fae-chan walks toward them giving them one of the missing notes from Wilson.
R-cord picks it up and reads it. His eyes couldn’t believe where both writings from the citizens and from their language as well. Drenched in blood and still fresh to this day. He is skilled to know how long it was written and quality of the paper by age is clearly a few cycles ago. This was preserved and the blood is acting like magic to protect itself from the environment.
“Interesting”
Everybody hears him, both Haw and McS4 are waiting for the next plan. R-cord continues
“Interesting, we still have two days left. We know where they hide”
He throws the note at the Not Worthy Guild. Their eyes see through the blood stains. No response, silence spread as others are taking a look. They begin to hide the tools next to the blood pavement. The pavement itself sink it and begin to drift back down at the end of the road by the camp entrance. All of them never said a word. The impact of Wilson’s note had taken them to go further and follow what it says. None of them speak about it, and move on.
Fae-chan stands at the middle of them going through the blood pavement, watch the tools drifting beneath its feet back down, and observed their reaction. Its voice forcefully echoes the souls on the blood pavement. Words carved out in different direction as it says to them.
“Have Fun!”
Back to the ruin, they march down. Determined and willing to take the note seriously. Benedictus passively blessed and their auras opened in a golden sun fire. Their armored angelic ghosts are summoned and the new banner is forged. One of them takes up the summoned sword
“FORWARD MEN!”
Mi’lady and the sister of arms felt a sudden flash on their eyes within the dream. Tabitha and her friends were busy learning from them as they spoof from their sudden flashy lights on their eyes.
“Did your eyes flashes?”
“Flashing light? On our eyes? What magic wastes our vision . . .?”
Mi’lady stops for a moment
“. . . Wait, I remember your people used that ability”
“Now that you mentioned it. The man catcher seen a lot of them used that ability a lot before. For us to have our eyes flashes with light !!!”
They remembered, then they turn to Aoi
“Do you still wanted to find the notes, right?”
Aoi looks surprised and answered
“Yeah, did something happen?”
“We don’t know, but we do remember. This means our men who are out from the camp had sent us a signal they managed to found one of your notes”
Aoi’s friends get excited and quickly huddled around Aoi. Aoi keeps listening as she doesn’t feel right. The sister of arms tries to materialize the note. It appeared, and the note is tainted with blood.
The girls were silent and see the note.
“Is that really Wilson’s note?”
Mina pointed at out and turns to Tabitha for any reaction of it. Silfa picks up the note and read it for them. Mumbling at the words as she carefully reads it out without saying what it actually says. She bluntly says it a more appropriate way.
“This is a revenge letter. He is dying and leave this message to anyone who could find it. And there’s more . . .”
Everybody is terrified and dared to come closer to listen what it was.
“. . . They can’t die”
The Benedictus and Tabitha’s team ventured back to the ruin. Running falling and rising water are now under the control the influence. The heavily dense mana is collecting up where the small light from the surface filled with concentrated mana contaminating its surroundings. Sarah Mae is stopping herself to preserve the ruins of her tidal city. Wilson’s note is already convinced them, and finding them will be easy for this vertical structure. They found the crack of the crystal wall. Blend together as it was sealed again by new magic.
They ready themselves to break inside the cracked crystal wall. But R-cord and his team go in first as they stealth their way climbing the walls with only citizens’ clothes and left-over materials. One of the Benedictus tries to stop them. The other one stops him from reaching them out.
“It’s fine, they are not the same Dexters today. The over reliance bottom dwellers are nothing to compare the guild members who walk under the sun”
“Jeez! Lord preserve us, it’s better for all of us to coordinate”
“To coordinate, we have reach judgement because of that paper. It’s better be them than us”
The armored angelic beings are at their side as the new banner is rallying the divine of their guild. Mercy has been stepped aside as Judgement is final. The Benedictus have tried to save them for so long as their commitment grow so pure to the moment of no escape. The man catcher had summoned them before as their protection. Now, today. It is far worse when they meet their enemies again. To whoever tried to fight the Benedictus one more time. The existence of their flesh will become ashes. 3 cycles have passed. Their very presence touched the citizens’ souls. Like it or not, they will cast judgement on the corrupted citizens.
Unconscious, disguised as if they are one of them. Next to the mechanical spiders, it is easy to believe where their heads being part of the mechanical body. If the observation only by glances at the right angle, they could see if their heads are attached to it. Then there’s light shines upon them. The mechanical spiders move like ghost swimming through the crystal wall like it was water. The flickering of themselves moving at the sudden distance is truly terrifying to see. Head moving fast showing less of their expression with their rip off jaw. The nightmare spread with more of the mechanical essences waking up. Hording themselves at the wall.
From the other side of the crystal wall, there is Tabitha’s team. Unfazed by the monstrous advance. Their nightmares have no effect among these men. No fear, but with great interest. Like they are researchers finally see the behavior of their specimens. Carefully, gently, and believingly that they could understand these creatures. By a reach of R-cord’s hand pressed deep into the crystal wall. It breaks through like glass and he is able to grab the neck of the supposed mechanical spider’s head. He reels the head in, only to bump on the wall showing shoulders still attached to its head.
This moment the corrupted citizens quickly take action. They quickly break through the crystal wall releasing one of the mechanical spiders. It jumps out in a flash then quickly washed by the blood like ink. Crazed into madness by the sample of mana on its body. Many other trapped machines suddenly caught it and pulled back into the crystal wall cleaning off the mana it deserved to feast. However, the head was pulled out. Taking another one out attached with a body. Two men on the ground. They look up and sees the men who able to take them out from the crystal wall so easily.
“How?!”
The man asks him with a surprise look at his face. McS4 smacks him to the ground with his foot. Overflowed with mana, the secret of them able to sabotage the crystal wall become clear. Through looking at them, and how the crystal wall was able to break open itself. These citizens have probably baited out to let the mechanical spiders have little of its strength to get out. This explains why those were weaker version of the mechanical spider. If it was the same but older version of the mechanical spider from the city sphere. The potential of them using ancient war magic will be the death of the city states.
Lady Coheld mentioned about this. War machines such as these are dangerous to anyone with possessed energy or mana for them to replenish. This will cause a tremendous disaster for the Kinteinnou region. If only the specific requirements are met. The previous Archscientists know better the demon who parasite itself to the ruin. Destroying its own region base of operation is dumb after all that era to build such top-secret weapons. Even they are only a handful, it is the ultimate weapon to go against their rival faction. The Demons’ Faction. It is ironic for the traitors who joined the Heroes’ Faction.
After a few more beatings, the two of them had enough of playing games. Their shock soon faded, bruises and pain build up their reason to retaliate. They look at the others are still hiding deep inside. It’s time to fight back. When they begin to strike, Haw quickly doused them with the fluids of the reefs. Its foul effects rotten their mana and strength leaving them succumb to the abnormal plague. No time to react, they fell into a near faint state. Both awake and frail at the same time. Oozing down their sweat releasing a bit of mana leaking the piece of their own flesh.
Pores keep releasing their bodily fluids. Biological reaction causes their flesh to excreting mixture of mana and sweat, recreating the same substance what the reefs are reproducing. The men reach out to R-cord begging it to stop. He ignores them and giving the signal to McS4 and Haw. Moving his fingers pointing each place they have to push through the crystal wall where the others are hiding. Both of them follows his orders effectively and pushes their arms inside the crystal wall. All of the soft surface being pressed in forcing the corrupted the citizens to react.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Men comes out from the wall, ambushing them by few men. The gaseous release from the two corrupted men caused the others vomiting the moment they surprised them. Grotesque vomit comes flying out as more of them being kicked out from the crystal wall. One by one, pulling out like barnacles from the hard surface. Chipping away as much as they can as they release unbearable smell. One of them casts a spell, McS4 throws it away the moment where the man’s hand aiming at him, misdirecting elsewhere.
Haw takes actions, his potions spread all around weakening them. Their spells fell unease and controlling it loses its shape. Smothered down to the texture of gel and other forms of soft concentrated slime. By only use of their hands they keep pulling them out more than Haw have anticipated the numbers. By memory where the Wilson’s says on the list. Understanding the instructions but the names of the targets. Those foreign names thought to be small, but if he could see the burns of the names crossed out. He won’t guessed because was written to fit the small spaces of the note.
The corrupted citizens see they are being pulled as others can’t get out without breathing the horrible stench outside. They quickly took a desperate approached and used what they are keeping inside the crystal wall. Covered by the countless souls and steel inside the clear crystal wall, there is a creature they hold to be promising to be part of their side. The head is human, but larger than they could ever seen before. A giant head? No, it is indeed larger but it shifts and turn changing the head with every moment. This mechanical spider is different. They believe it possessed magic.
Comparing the other mechanical spiders release so far, based on speed and combat abilities, they never seen one of them using magic except their own controlling them. This was their chance to test it. The soft surface begins to expand reaching the sealed structure where the giant mechanical spider. Twitching where freedom is close, more while the rest of the corrupted citizens are being pulled out to the last man. They get desperate and keeps digging out the surrounding of the mechanical spider. One of them accidentally hits its mechanical limbs and quickly being pierced through its needle like legs and thrown him out from the crystal wall.
A man is thrown, caught by R-cord almost fell off to the ground. He sees a needle hole on his body then he quickly throws him harder like the machine did. Using the powers of the citizens’ clothes on his back throwing the man down to the ground. Then quickly brands the hole on the man’s body keeping the injury about the needle hole.
“Retreat! Let our rivals deal with it. Our archscientist is expecting this”
McS4’s augmentation activated his adrenaline rush. The moment of retaliation is here. The legs of the mechanical spider are out, drench only of if its leg with blood. As time slowed only for him, he takes action and pulls out the cube. U’ecin and Voldemyr brought it to them. This same cube holds powerful disruption anything related for both robotics and supernatural automatons. Able to control his power armor, and to use it on the ancient machine will show its incredible uses.
A head pulls out deformed and merged by other faces, the head is larger than normal, and the abomination of its presence has no aura releasing intimidation. A machine to be able to act accordingly instead of its wild animalistic like behavior. The face is formed and sees the determination. The observation through its keen eyes as the mouth its about to form as well. Using magic to shell itself what it sees. McS4 sees it is staring at the cube. It knows. He must act quick.
The sounds of loud bell heard from the Benedictus from below. They look up and sees the fumes release as the pressure inside the crystal wall is breaking. One of them looks at Wilson’s note. The people they target this place is being wipe out. They succeed somehow, but
“I don’t think it is over”
“I think it is. Look!”
One of their men casts a spell before the explosion. Numerous of the corrupted citizens flew out as their bodies are being restored in mid-air. This same people were caught from grotesque are being recovered.
“What plague masteries did the Dexter Guild do this time?”
The spell breaks and the explosion scattered the people at the crystal wall around it raining down bodies covered in grotesque. They see one large silhouette falling with three people hovered over it down to the depths of the ruins. They watch it fall as others are quickly take action from the scattered enemies
“Where are those three?!”
“That’s not important right now. Take care of them, our judgements must take place here”
The newly forge banner spreads around them creating a battlefield. The corrupted citizens fully restored and sealed inside with it. They look at the Benedictus ready with their weapons. Pointing at them as the citizens’ inventory opens showing the Benedictus stolen goods.
The echoes of the ruin reach terrible spite of screams. Magic brokenly spread around the aura causing malfunctions, corruptions, and unstable results. The cube locked inside the mechanical spider, multiple expression loses its control on its mental stability and other forms of brain functions. To put it simply, it got itself broken to the point of no reasons like the previous mechanical spiders. Its armored casing glowing green hacking through the inside of its body preventing any ancient spells.
They crash down on the ground where this was Tabitha’s camp should be. R-cord and his teammates received a terrible fall, crippling themselves unable for them to move for a bit. The mechanical spider keeps spreading its magic, always broken the moment the mana is being channeled. They look at each other to anybody know where they are. Haw easily look back and forth at the two as the only one who is not looking directly in the eye is McS4. McS4 is searching around to what happened to the mechanical spider had fought here before.
Because of the hyper speed spell, he can’t get his memory on track because of the fight and the speed here without seeing it in a blur. He remembers the time when there was his team fighting while he is tracking and heading down to the depths. The needle tracks, moving around like it seeks its prey. Carefully placing altogether, he raises his banged-up arm to the edge of the cliff. R-cord and Haw stared at McS4 again, Haw whispers to him
“You mean to tell me. They push it at the cliff?”
“Yes. And it’s probably your potion helps them to take it down”
“It wasn’t supposed to seal weak ones”
R-cord explains to Haw “It is for the best, we weren’t there”
“By Einstein’s ghost!”
All of them look at the mechanical spider miserably casting ancient spells nonstop unsuccessfully. Haw continues
“We can’t let it free. Tabitha’s quest must succeed”
“If it succeeded. Will you Haw join along after?”
“Same goes why our guild enters Isekai City with that train. Make her believe there is no choice”
Haw’s voice was a bit reluctant. The life he had at Isekai City had changed his tone. McS4 grins at that cowardly tune of his
“Don’t worry, we will bring you in one piece. In a bag”
He laughs, R-cord chuckles, and Haw coughs as all of them laugh together. They stand up, giving the strength they have left with the magic of the citizens’ clothes. Another bold move they have to take.
The mechanical spider erratically moves. The cube inside of it made it harder for it to cooperate with its entire body. Multiple voices coming out from its mouth, specters apparitions trying to force itself out but pulled in like a magnet not letting one out, and it all thanks to that cube. It can’t use magic, incapable to sense anything around it, and its memories are jumbled by the cube’s hack. It saves them for a bit, but to shut it down is another. Random body movements by the size of the machine will be devastating when reaches on the blood pavement. They don’t know whether it’s has anti-magic or anything what that steel made of.
The moment it raises its legs beginning to wobble. They charged forward pushing the machine off the cliff. Successfully, they fell. Yet, the mechanical spider pulled them in as its legs pierced all of them. They hit at the crystal wall and there’s a bump. The mechanical catches its balance as it clings to it. R-cord is slammed against the wall and sees the bump caused it. A citizen’s head attached to the mechanical spider. The expression of shock but its grin remains excitedly. Mix feeling from what he sees. Then he realized it looked stoned.
They then swung around as McS4 slips off from the pierced. Almost drop to the depths, he holds on as they struggle to hold on the wild machinery. Haw and R-cord hold still to each of them having its legs pierced theirs. One leg free dangling and wildly, freely moving. Haw pierced on the wall as it supports itself. R-cord somewhere along the wall, moving around searching another mound to help it to climb up. Steadily as their pain moved on the needle’s legs. One drastic move of their entire bodies, weight, and pressure. Their blood slit and the machine fell off and bump to the mound.
The mound shatters as the crystal breaks. A sudden grabbed to pull it inside the crystal wall. It spreads furiously as it merged on the body of the mechanical spider. Its head showing hardening as it petrifies. Cracks appeared but didn’t shatter spreading only to the head, while the body corroded by the cube and the petrification. McS4 pulls R-cord and Haw out from the mess as they fall again, watching its demise pulling back to the crystal wall. Haw sees the effects of the machine turned to stone
“When that machine manages to escape again, it must be destroyed”
McS4 and R-cord barely hears his weak voice. The pierced on their bodies felt more than their ears to listen the issue will come again. Their responds were
“We can’t hear you”
“The wind caught our ears. We can’t hear you”
None of them will hear each other from the fall, and their voices faded by the strong falling wind. Their consciousness soon faded. Their fates left them to their doom. Multiple debris lying at the rising waterfall near missing them as their lives are depending on luck. To the depths, and let Sarah Mae gives them safety.
At the depths, the man catcher and his men have recovered. Ordered to watch over the blood pavement. They seem to be anxious that this structure have been built. What’s terrifying to see, that the heirloom doll is here. Waiting at the hidden camp entrance to continue its purpose to protect the daughters. Mi’lday have already expected for its return to the keeper. But it is best to let it guard outside. Because of the keeper laid rest, the doll will be beneficial at the gate.
“Two days left, and they will wake up. It would be much better to use the old herbs”
“To wake them up now is only best for emergency”
“I’m in for emergencies, but each of us had a full sack of it on each of us. Their long sleeps are not an issue anymore. When it comes to their bodies need the nutrients needed to properly wake them up”
“We should. But what’s the hurry. Another month left or so when Alga’s light finally arrived”
“Then about this ruin, what will happen then?”
“I guess our leader already left”
They turn and see the man catcher had already left as others joined the conversation. One of them shakes their head
“Best for emergency. I hope for the best”
The man catcher replies “Good speed then”
The man catcher climbs up among the platforms bound by the blood pavement. As he wonders across the edges, he hears a gust of wind fluttering on the void. Somewhere up there, something is falling. He readies his man catcher and enhanced with divinity. He sees a new banner is forged next to him out of nowhere. Sending a holy message from the angelic being. The armored angels appeared next to him, only one carries the long scarf ready to lash anyone from afar. It says to him
“Judgement”
By only a short moment, he quickly reacts and pointed his man catcher to the air. Quickly he grabs three people falling, unconscious, unnerved, and ready to face their fate. The trembling body, but their expression as if they were resting. The waterfalls moistened mist trembles their body. Tainted by powerful influenced that will ruin every living flesh. He looks around and sees nothing on the void. The light will not reach to where he needed to see. Only his guesses are good what already happened before. He knows who had saved them, and carries them back to the hidden camp.
He calls out his men “Wake them up, including their leader”
On the next day, the apothecary starts the remedy.
“Is it the right time, Mi’lday?”
“The man catcher says so. But please, I have no authority here. I was provided”
“A man’s chapter left its trust to their subordinates. Like the father who puts trust to their children to take care of his community”
“You speak of the church, correct?”
“The begotten son left his apostle to St. Peter, there is no difference what I’ve said”
“There is, and you should know better”
“And that’s why he chose you or the sister”
The apothecary left beginning the cure for Tabitha and her friends.
He places the remedies inside a thurible, let it burned inside, and waited for the smoke to appear. When it is done, he picks it up and steadily not swaying the chain. Letting it vertical for the entire time. Walking slowly to move passed everyone beside their beds, he carefully waited to each of them begin to move and proceed to go to the next one. It was a long process and time strain him to stay still. After a few hours, some of them wake up and he begins to walk to the next bed.
Silfa and Tabitha wake up, they were in shock throws all of their strength just to sit up. Their bodies recovered and their strength are fix, they stand up the moment they can’t seem to understand what’s going on. The apothecary slowly turned around and said to them
“Mi’lady is waiting for you outside. Don’t disturb the patients”
The two felt odd but at the same time as if they have already known where to go. It’s been days when they are in the dream. Memories mix it together as if they have known about this infirmary. They walk out easily to go where they needed to be.
Tabitha stops for a moment “That’s right, U’ecin and Voldemyr”
Silfa stops her “No time, Haw”
Tabitha has her desperate need to know what’s going on from her guild members but Haw as far as they remember in the dream. He has something they wanted to know first. They found him and the other two, R-cord and McS4 in their power armor. The gasps in their eyes to see a gaping hole on his torso. They can’t hold themselves to ask
“What happened?”
“The realm is causing trouble”
Another attempt from the Benedictus as the hole on the needle left him finally healed.
“Finally, it took ages for it to go away”
The Benedictus grins at the effort that Haw’s wound is gone.
Haw gives them the note
“Is this what you are looking for?”
Tabitha was shock “Is that?”
Silfa recognizes it “Wilson’s note, his revenge letter”
Haw was surprised “You knew!?”
“Yes, I mean in a dream. But how you . . . That’s right those two girlfriends of yours”
“Two girlfriends?”
Tabitha joined in Haw’s confusion. Silfa brushes off and said to him
“By the look of things, you almost destroyed the saboteurs. Is there more of them?”
“They are, but we get rid of them and you won’t be able to face them later. The mechanical spiders”
Silfa nods “Good job, is there anything else you left for us?”
“Not anymore, just clean the rest of them. We have trouble as I need to get back”
Tabitha remembers “That’s right, the East Coast Shore. Did anything happen to it?”
“I don’t know, I was teleported here. Your incident forced me to prepare for the worse. There is also one problem too”
“What is it?”
“The rat men have breached into the realm. Their hordes will infest the exit and my area was not invaded yet. I must get back to it or there is nothing left for you to escape to”
The equipment automatically turned on as the time limit reached. Haw sees the timer as he has only a few minutes left.
“It’s time, I need to explain about the potion I delivered. Don’t try to use it again unless you have to dealt with it. The more it spread and sealed them off, the more it combines into a bigger threat, and it will fuse themselves into one powerful specimen. Don’t go to the ruin unless you dare to destroy it once and for all . . .”
He teleports away leaving R-cord to continue Haw’s explanation
“If you two don’t know what it is, it is the potion that petrify the mechanical spiders. It wasn’t supposed to be the machines”
Silfa asks “What did he really wanted to use it for?”
R-cord points downward “The avatars of the influenced”
Deep within the seabed, the demon had seen enough. The survivors’ escape is prepared and with its avatar legion is ready to stop them. They have stopped the saboteurs and the rest of the corrupted citizens won’t be able to go up because of the blood pavement. To use these avatars will end its influence. Just one more month and it will regain its power again. It senses there is only few left close to the crystal wall. It is better to stall them one more time
“Stop them from escaping”
“As you wish, master”