COI C211

Emerald and the researcher are in deep trouble. The entire facility is empty and also the demons’ army. All wipe clean like there is nothing for them to find except one special room down below. The researcher is acting so daring to go there, whereas something is really out of the ordinary. Emerald follows him as they headed more sinister than she had personally thought. This secret lab is another research facility, collections of loots gathered by the citizens and thrown here for studies.

All the equipment and loots were in display are reacting. It tries to break free from its containment. The monsters didn’t take it, the demons’ army didn’t take anything except destroying the defenses. The researcher still keeps going. Emerald sees a room as they passed by, still sealed. With a little magic, she is able to access it without trouble. Then she proceeds to follow him again. There at the bottom of the room, stairs were in place instead of the elevator. There they found the notorious city barrier destroyer.

It sees them, already a blaze by one glance. They run back up, where Emerald incidentally trip from the wreckage. Almost falling down the stairs, the researcher casts a spell to lift her up. Into his arms as they rush out. Emerald blushes while being carried like a princess. The researcher barely and safely carried from the stairs. The demonic magic goes to the stair and chases them. It affects the room to twist and turn getting its hands on them.

It reaches them trying to pull them where the freed demon was. Researcher uses all of his ability to run through it with every mobility he had. It managed to pull them in, tearing the fabric of space back to where they are by the stairs. Emerald sees the sealed door was not affected by the demon’s magic. The researcher spotted it and go to where she is pointing. The clash of debris broke from behind. The researcher is running as fast as he can. They made it in before they get pulled again. As they closed the door, near closely where it reaches to shut. A hand appeared and blocking it from closing.

Emerald brings uses her visor. The visor flashes at the demon’s hand fading out its existence.

“Ah, it hurts”

The researcher tries to close the door with all his might including magic. It didn’t work, and the demon’s hand recovered from the flash.

“Yawn”

Yet he kept hold to their dear lives. While they were busy, the demon sees the facility what it remembered being take away. To be able to escape so soon, and makes it pointless because of her.

Emerald starts to calm down. The demon keeps saying sarcastic tone while the researcher ignores every bit of it. She carefully listens.

“. . . You people should already know after what you have seen in the basement. Sigh* Yeah keep trying closing the door. My hand isn’t going anywhere. I just want to talk”

Emerald is a bit skeptic, but the demon wasn’t wrong. This secret facility was easily destroyed. Nothing left to see and data needed time to bypass. Even in this room, where she realizes this is the security room untouched.

This made her think, she looks at her research partner still going full force closing that door where the sarcastic tone of the demon annoys him.

“Why can’t I close the door with all my RAPs reaching high? I have also runes boosting me through”

The demon laughs softly when it hears him grouching the inevitable.

Emerald says to him out of pity “I think it tries to talk to us”

“Like hell, I don’t want to die in the place like this and it wasn’t those bastards keeping a secret in the middle of the city”

“That one I kind of agree” The demon responds to him.

The researcher gets knockback away from the door. The hand moves the door slightly open then closed immediately. They look at the screens seeing it using its magic. The facility forced faded from white to dark. Making it harder to see. The demon looks at the camera. They see it as the robe monster from the siege, then it transforms into a human.

Emerald froze “It tries to look one of us”

“Damn it! Taking another victim . . . wait a minute. Something doesn’t look right. He dressed a little bit off”

The demon introduces himself “I don’t suppose to tell you my identity and neither will yours. I want to make you two fools, who followed them to me is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen”

The researcher tsks himself, and his body trembles when he tries to close the door. Its presence alone causes him to shake. He is genuinely scared. Then he speaks to the demon through the mic.

“We both know who you are. Acurse. And we kind of agree that we won’t tell our real identities”

“Excellent, and what I see in this lab seems have been broken a bit”

“A bit!?” Emerald is terrified as she responds

“The entire facility is a mess. From top to bottom”

The researcher checks on the demon’s form. It is clear that the body it used is identical from the 2000s. He can’t understand how it is able to get those kinds of clothes, and the look of the face is clearly a person from their world. He lost count to remember how many of his people lost to the demons.

Acurse starts to shift its form as it is ready to leave.

Emerald points out to her partner. “The demon is escaping”

“You know we’re are also with it”

“What!? It will destroy the city”

“You see that the both of us are trap here. If we have anything to contain it . . . Fat chance, the facility is in a terrible condition and we only have a computer here”

Emerald goes into the computer. She tries to find any software that could help them. Then something is reacting on the recycle bin. Its icon changes randomly and it was too obvious that she had to open it.

As she opens it, she sees a program’s icon that is recognizable to a certain Enders guild. The black colored frame with green outline flask icon.

“This facility has the Enders virus”

“Ah what!?”

“A computer virus. I have one in my laptop randomly sprung up in the recycle bin. It can’t be permanently deleted or recover it. I’m no IT and this bugs me every time I have to mass delete my file”

Emerald checks on screen and sees the demon already left. She accidentally shifts the keyboard and fell on the floor. Along with the mouse clicking itself when it hits the floor, activating the deleted file.

The icon pops up with a blank window. The two took it for a surprise,

he said to her “Take look at that. I never seen something like this before”

“What’s with that look? It’s just a blank window”

“It is not only a blank window. It must be the virus never been open . . . ouch!”

“There is a demon trying to escape and you’re trying to . . .”

The lights start blinking and the computer starts to flicker, not from the power outage but the screen itself. A short sudden flash coming from it as if there is something looking at them.

The researcher is blindly looking at the screen “This doesn’t look good”

The facility starts shaken and the rooms are being molded my strange magic. Acurse stops for a moment and sees the facility start changing. The looks of his annoyed face as he is waiting for it to arrive.

“Oh great”

Annoyed at the back of his head remembering this kind of phenomenon. The facility shifts into a darker tone, causing fear to anyone who is in it. The demon felt the phenomenon is cursing to kneel down. It feels target at his knees as static energy looming into his body.

The researchers saw it. The demon is sealed. Emerald cheers, but soon gagged by her research partner.

“Muffled*”

“Shush* This is no way . . .”

Lights off* but the computer remained on leaving different images before them to see

“. . . This world is getting worse from months to no end, even the computer is going with it”

The facility is acting up, there they see something moving from the cameras. This phenomenon, it strangely appeared reacting to the demon. Acurse sees the bleeping light into its eyes. Entrapped as it seriously can’t move or act, it is observing him.

Acurse don’t know what he sees, but some souls inside are scorning to tell him. He twitched his eyes. He can’t stop getting what the demoness wants including the fallen ascendants forcing into him.

“This will never stop. And you! What tech are you supposed to be?”

It only flickers, yet he understands and at the same time confused. He looks at the surveillance camera, still functioning and looking at him hidden in the dark. The demon’s magic forced the camera to bent down and crushed by sheer crystallized and his magic altogether. The lights flicker ever more aggressively as before. Giving the message that this phenomenon is now controlling the facility.

Where Emerald and the researcher are acting fine inside the security room as they able to take control. They turned back the lights on as if nothing happened. In reality though, the Acurse understands what situation they are in. Whispering to himself what’s going here.

“Another demon lived inside the facility besides me. I guess her domain is still under their control. Troubling, quite troubling. This is how ‘you’ end up when she is still in control. Look at you, some parasite”

Then Arcurse stares at the two ‘surviving’ duo. “There is nothing else for me better to do, care to see how I can do?”

On screen, Acurse gives a little definition how they are at. A voice with no interest, and still understands important details they have record. The researcher wasn’t buying it and check the computer’s condition while Emerald watches the demon. At this moment, they are here in the facility. Acurse has a lot time, while he sees the facility is invaded by a cyber interference. It starts to control the robots and put the good use of its system to act without its CPUs and other important components. It behaves as it was in this world. Robots upgraded by archscience.

The disturbance of how the cameras keep focusing at the demon trying to show them. The researcher understands this. The facility is being hacked with such sci-fi horror experience. Everything turned alive. The energy forged in writings, lasered by the projection. Changing its light rays from wide area into straight thin focused light beam. The researcher didn’t want to believe it. The law of physics, he ignored it all together. He broke himself when Emerald speaks out.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“This looks like we are in the sci-fi horror . . .”

“AAH! STOP SAYING IT SO CLOSE TO MY EARS LIKE THAT!”

“What!? I was trying to . . .”

“You see what we are seeing here? I don’t want to believe that this demon is trying to tell us that there is more here in the facility than we had imagined”

“Hey! I’m not the one who is yelling here . . .”

Emerald turns to check on the screen. The phenomenon is moving across the camera. The lights revealed a robotic creature comes to the camera and uses its light absorbs the mana momentarily statics, returned, and it is gone. More cameras are returning back from Acurse’s controls. Every time it did that, it looks like its growing in size

“. . . Did you see that!?”

“Yeah, and look what I found”

Emerald looks at the computer screen. The files show an extraterrestrial creature, a creature that accommodates the consumption of mana. An eradicator but leads itself to grow and converted into archscience tech. A voice she remembers who explained it

“. . . A creature created without a life. Separating the souls with a so-called hard drive. I don’t know how to explain it. It was called living machine in my terms but it was actually . . .”

“Artificial Intelligence” She blurted out.

“An alternative creature supposed to fight against demons”

The researcher hears her speaking Myrrkei’s quotes “There is no time to speak your friend. Look!”

They look at the security camera screens. There’s a fight between the demon and the unidentifiable machine. Without even give a single second to prolong the fight, it was over before they could analyze it. Torn through the demon’s body, in his human form, standing by his legs or floating from his upper torso. Levitation or anything that makes the demon able the body from falling apart. The body regenerates, molding and growing to replicate what was damaged. Restored in mere seconds. Acurse shows to them the face of his pain.

The demon starts finding the trails where the archscience trying to escape its bits and pieces. The pieces of junk are persistent like insects. Enraged both annoyance and few words pf grief, Acurse decided. The archscience tech resisted his spells, but couldn’t escape by his footsteps stomping on its parts. Loud dent sparks making large noise going through the halls reaching to the security room. The noise unphased the researcher, while Emerald sees him blocking the noise with his magic.

She said “I’m glad you don’t like noise”

“And this demon doesn’t like that robot too”

On screen, the demon had potentially overcome the new threat coming this way. It was over, it annoys the demon, and the demon’s body is growing more agitated. The expression of the host starts to show the dead host’s real expression. The horrifying tortured face emerged struggling to release the scream of the souls. The face becomes distorted, not from the flesh, and only release the transparent image of many faces trying to get out from the body. The souls can’t do anything. They are trapped. It will never escape. Under both Acurse’s hands.

Emerald watches the demon go deeper where they didn’t search before. While the researcher wasn’t able to find any way to lockdown the facility.

“What are you doing? Is there any way we can stop a demon?”

“I sure do, if this damn computer didn’t have little glitches like this. Rune made computers couldn’t do a damn thing either”

The demon has finished into a true living flesh, a mere human body possessing the power of the demons, his third human hybrid form. There, Acurse tries to use it. Nothing happened. It guesses wrong. Then the demon realizes

“They are not alone . . .”

The secret facility is not the only thing hides the collection of demons’ armies. It has more than anyone of the two races suspected. There are rooms still sealed and able to resist the horde, Yayoi’s horde, and nothing is worse for having a low demon with only interest for him, Acurse. Somewhere deep inside is hiding, keeping powerful machines hidden that forge the materials with archscience tech. This is not what the demon expected to know, neither it was for it how weak the citizens to keep them in check. Therefore, there’s another collector, but what demon collects such defiled mana.

Foremost, the demon checks on the cameras. Already lost control by the machine, and there’s another one. Acurse thinks less likely, the demon keeps going and follows the long scratches path from where the machine came from. A long first stretch, Acurse returns its interest to remember old enemies. It scuffs the name like it is a joke

“Huh, Summoner”

The name releases from his mouth, the facility is reacting to it. Giving a small vibe that it remembered a long time ago. Acurse’s small little things had mocked something. Only that, it pursues this secret facility’s intentions.

The first thing he did, to check his human form. Remain the same appearance since the host had given up the body. The host past experience engulfs into the demon’s power creating what abilities Acurse can do with it. Slowly taken into the realism of a living mortal, human humanity in disguise with a demonic personality. The face of a human forever horrified as he readies to go through many challenges to find the culprit that tries to hunt him down. Using the loots recovered, and the sorcerer’s who is with him in the deepest part of the facility. The Acurse recreates everything he once was and make it possible for this human form to face it.

Later, he finds a console. The complex trickery of providing passwords were obsoletes. This soul Acurse had many years under the demon’s service. If this world wasn’t destroyed, then these otherworlders can’t save themselves of this once advance world. The console opens in front of him, clearly a reminiscence that what he had expected to come here. The purpose of the summoner to bring them is unknown, and yet, he will figure it out in this secret facility. The door opens, cleverly disguised in this tight corridor where it sees him on screen. Away from this console, it awaits him.

The frustration he has to do, after opens a few more consoles. The hidden entrance finally opens. The pathway to get there left into the dark, showing signs of traps will come. Acurse takes his time analyzing his demise. To break through the archscience tech, he must do other ways to get his very existence inside. Now on hand, carry only hand gloves possessing the demon grasp. Both in his hands, readying himself to surrender the first faults. The demon walks in, no armor with only a disguise. Goes down into what he finally searching for.

Into the dark stairs, no requires an elevator inside. Cleverly fits into the tight corridor so no one will know about it. There the stairs start to move like escalator forcing the intruder to go back up. Acurse raises hell with ice to freeze the mechanism in frozen tundra state. Throwing a mist inside and sharply frozen in place, quickly stopping it. The escalator keeps moving where it resisted, yet slow. Acurse keeps going down whereas he finds his first target. The dark stairs down weren’t his hindrance. Its where the first attack fires at him. Acurse parries it and time slowed down when contact. More projectiles appeared after the first explosion.

Slowly returning back in motion, the projectiles explode in a dark light view. Only to hear the sound damaging his hearings. Boom, it pops off. Boom another one, coming after. The pacing keeps coming in by a few seconds. There were numerous more of it coming after the demon. The light footsteps keep his presence alive and at bay. Continue to go down, the explosion grew wilder. It changes from explosion to electrocution, then there is banging on the walls as they are already in melee combat. Then the lights appeared before the demon.

Another slow time, Acurse sees the culprit accurately firing at him with no room for him move. The machine is absorbing the magic light. The magic light on the demon’s hand trying to keep it lit before it goes out to the darkness. The machine stared the remaining projectiles returning aiming at Acurse’s back. Then something pulls out from the machine’s body, the demon’s other hand is slowly pulling out the mechanical parts and components. Racing to both the demon and machine whom to die first.

As time returns again. The voice of the machines spoke out “The heroes of this world will never be your slaves”

Then it went dark. The escalator recovers from the ice and continue to move up. The parts are falling down. It reaches to the floor rolling along with blood taints. Someone walks to it and picks it up. The lights turned on. This someone is not human, an avatar from what it sees itself. Quiet and gripping on the part with tainted blood. It holds it still and sanitized it with the archscience tech. It cleans off the blood and the part start to move again. It went back up to the escalator to retrieve the rest of its mechanical parts.

The avatar walks away and turned off the lights. Then it hears another one part fell to the floor, the avatar turns back. It repeats the same procedure, the moment it tries to go closer, it hears a drop of liquid. A splash coming down, a sound of flesh tumbling down, and no machine parts follow it. The avatar moves back. The demon’s magic is overwhelmed this secret room. The lights flicker that doesn’t match its usual colors. The white bright light turned violet. The floor is drench with blood, walking through like it has a mind of its own.

Puddles are form in separate places. The avatar sees it but didn’t want to check it. The reaction of this machine proves it. Acurse steps off the escalator and clapping away in his human form. The avatar didn’t sense his vitals. It felt an old enemy returned. Until now, the demon that hides its true power within the host. The way it able to go against the odds of fighting the archscience tech with inhumane actions. Yet, it forgets. Acurse responds to it all

“Indeed . . .”

Simple word. The avatar shows eminent fear. Nostalgic sight made Acurse worrisome. This demon won’t be stopping now after many flickering that lies inside of this room. It is cramp to the most part. It didn’t deceive the demon from what he sees thus far. Acurse wants to add a few words what it sees of him. He only smiles arrogantly to see how he finally understands what’s going on. So many questions why this city appeared. This tiny room filled with all the materials needed to reawaken an ancient weapon. Tiny was a lying description, when it reaches to the surface it will surprises the world of its return.

The avatar got caught by its magic. Acurse ignores the law of the mana types into its 3rd form. The defenses rose up come to its rescue were obliterated. It was useless, the avatar knows it. After the machines attack, they fell to the ground. In his 2nd form, revealing undead features merged together both devil and human. Quickly it returns to his 3rd form, the whole human form in the flesh. The irony of human salvation onto the demon’s power. Acurse’s real expression come forth not pleased to see how the avatar had forgotten what it had done. They both know it, and it repeats the scene they had before their time.

The avatar reached to its maximum defenses, tearing itself apart like self-maddening suicide. Acurse held firm and let everything around them fell into the ruins. Deeper within the room where it hid a special magic container, quickly broke it and the mana gushes out like strong currents. It pushes away Acurse back to the stairs. It surprises the demon, the powerful and immense force that is not belong to the archscience tech pushes him like anyone being gusted down a strong wind.

The lights back on revealing what is gushing out. Normal lights sprung that neither is avatar’s archscience nor its pure mana. Acurse witnesses the promise that he should’ve done a long time. Acurse stood up, and felt the emptiness of its presence. The avatar escaped and leaving the other remaining tech clear from this very room. This room restored itself, down to its head, the demon walks back out acting like a fool for once. Returning back to the main facility,

he said this “Even my own failures, I can’t seem to feel my incompetence. Or did I admire too much from years of his, incompetence”

Out to the tight corridor, Acurse sees there are leftovers moved a bit. He hears footsteps that they left the room. Already lost his interest and now playing like a fool, his intention grew grim. The door to the security room shuts and sealed without a single notice. Emerald and her research partner took a different direction. Where they about to turn, a blast scourging air blows to their direction tainted the walls with poisonous air. The two just run away as fast as they could. Acurse emerges from the thick poisonous air in his 2nd form. Awaiting to release it with his deadly touch.

The chase is on. The two was able to evade the undead form with ease by their sheer physique without leaving a single drop of mana. They must have known his forms. He quietly calms down forcing an aura out to weaken the two from running any further. The researcher brings out a scroll and casts it around them. Protected by the demon’s magic, Acurse confirms it. He rips himself apart to remove his human form. Returned again into an empty husk void wearing only a robe. He flashes so sudden in front of them, protected by the scroll’s magic.

“It’s true, you both knew”

The two kept quiet and hide their faces not looking at his face or his very existence.

The demon continues “. . . I should’ve let my curse through your memories. Who have thought trapped in this basement still gives you hope? . . .”

The demon hears something from above, the other demon is calling out to him. This interruption is too much finally losing his temper. All that happened here, he knew and these two knew as well. The knowledge kept secret are yet to reveal. The next thing he can do to these two ignoramuses are to remember what he had done. One slap of the protective barrier and it rings like a tower bell. So loud, the demon disappears.

Emerald and the researcher felt their bodies are being possessed forcing themselves to use their magic to follow it. It reaches to their limbs, both arms and legs, are trying to gesture a spell. When it reaches to their heads, the possession stops when it reaches their visor. The Enders designed visor broke the spell giving their strength back at their own will. Such luck gives them more relieves than they initially thought. They look around for it to come back. It didn’t come back. The place is empty and the demon’s trail is gone. It was finally over, and what data they gathered is enough.

Emerald finally speaks “Oh my god, area 51 laboratory! What is this place?!”

“Quit it, we need to get out of here. This is no place for us to be here. No one in our department ever told us about another room. I can’t believe I’m saying this. I’m just glad we get to see it”

“. . .”

“Laughs*”

They left the laboratory with countless files and documents into their own personal USBs. The events happened here. Emerald took in face value to remember it all. While the researcher takes it in a grain of salt into his head from what have those techs fighting against the demon.

The report said in private. “This is Emerald Diamond. You may know me using my random name in this Horsin World. My partner, anonymously, and rather to be called as the researcher by default. We have found the most dangerous discovery we have ever face. In case of us either fell victim to the demon, naming itself as Acurse, and we were saved by two unknown phenomena. The detail of the other is a strange AI that behaves like it was in the video game. I have forgotten its name because of its weird behavior and overextending phrases”

“After took a risky survey into the ruins of this laboratory. It consists of remnants of battle between the demons’ army and the defenses. No blood was shed and no people we heard after we’re missing. Either we are lucky or almost lost our lives to the escape prisoner. Somehow, we are able to collect what we needed. Sadly, to say, we can’t talk about it to our fellow coworkers. After being saved by the same AI giving us guides how to meet and stay away from the demon. It was proved to be really smart thing to do for my partner to follow”

“As of now, we bring this report to you as an emergency if can’t be solved on our own. I don’t know how long will it take to reach you, Researcher Myrrkei. I’m just worried if this city will never recover from its escape. I hope you will be able to solve it before it all ends here”

Hand written by Emerald. Ink made from Enders pen to only be seen to a specific target. There is proof that the envelope has some scratches proving their worries to be true. Still, it continues to send further to the train station where it must be delivered.

Meanwhile, the researcher had placed all evidence under his hands. Emerald’s and his inside a vault. Prevent anyone to see until Myrrkei arrived. The researcher couldn’t believe how they escape, even what happened to the demon. It changes drastically to its true nature and chase them down. Not even using its magic nor anything else like it did before. It came running like it wasn’t possible for it to catch them. It made him ponder his head, the help was immense and it responds not from the demon’s ego. It is clearly showing as if they knew. His hands slam on the table as if they would know.

“. . . I should’ve let your curse through our memories . . .”

The researcher phrases it a bit. This is one though is truly on the recorded data when adventurers talk a few demons in the island, Stranding Island. He pulls out his device and look for the post. Demonic magic, or what is called as neutral mana. It is definitely clear what’s going on. Where magic can invade other people’s power with the correct will power. Turning nothing else like any spell from what they know in the fantasy settings.

That spell, he assumed to be nightmare. A horror like magic intend to keep the victim remembering that vision as if it going to be real. If they intend to remember that scene with Acurse. It will traumatize them. This is what the AI had said to them. It will occur, and that demon will appear through their minds. Willingly or not, they will appear. The researcher sees another form of magic spell. A mental like state. This will change again the city’s world of view.