Battlefield always had the same view no matter where it happened. Forests burned to the ground, water springs parched, buildings turned into rubble, people got killed, animals died, more and more.
Today was no different.
Through his hands, he created a similar tragedy. Despite fulfilling his duty, he did so without consideration. Came to threaten, then killed someone with a lethal blow that was considered legal by Outer Plane regulation.
No punishment upon him.
No scorn.
No one could stand against the law.
That’s how the system works.
[Congratulations!]
[Duel Winner: AO2]
['Dragun0va Deck' received]
[Win: 124 | Lose: 18 | Draw: 1–
He closed them all, ignoring formal notifications from the system. This victory was nothing but hollow. Against someone who was powerless, despite having an equal deck, surely anyone could see the results from a distance.
It wasn't something worth remembering.
He rested his mind for a second and watched the sea of flames on the ground from the top of the last standing tree. His eyes didn't blink, to make sure not a single second was missed. Like a devil savoring destruction as his last dessert.
However, It wasn't the case. He was neither a nihilist nor a satanist. Destruction and death weren’t his objectives.
He came down here with two purposes, besides Dragun0va, he wanted to see a difference.
He waited until the sea of fire died out, just to find his second goal unfulfilled.
"Not here either." The masked man turned around and took his wings out. "I shouldn't have–"
Before he took flight, an explosion shook the space, ruffling all the air into an uncontrollable storm. His wings automatically formed a shield, protecting him against the raging chaos.
"What the hell is going on?" AO2's question was directed at the pillar of light that appeared suddenly from his opponent's corpse. "Could it be... one of them is here?"
He couldn’t get any closer as the energy waves continued to rage on in an irregular frequency. Creating a system error, preventing the scanner from peeling back the secrets within the light.
Legs unable to take a single step, he was glued into the ground despite his superior level. He couldn't do anything, he didn't want to dive into the risks yet. Putting patience and caution ahead, he prepared for the worst.
The pillar of light dimmed, thinned and finally vanished. As soon as that happened, he bolted and arrived in front of the corpse, set his wings at alert, forming a claw shape.
"Step out. Stop hiding."
His opponent's body should have been left with charred flesh and brittle bones, like a few minutes ago. Yet, those were nowhere to be found. It was still intact, complete with hair and healthy skin, perfectly unhurt. No burn mark either.
That bizarre occurrence didn’t surprise him a bit. On the higher floor, it was a common sight to see. His mouth didn’t spit any comment, but a threat directed at someone else inside.
However, his expected reply was empty.
"Get out or I'll burn you and your host to ash."
"Cruel cruel. So cruel, Inspector."
Rei's lips didn’t move, indeed it wasn't him speaking. From the shrillness of the voice, it was clearly a woman's voice giggling incoherently.
That voice came from bubbles blowing out of the ear, which quickly coagulated into thousands–perhaps millions of bubbles that took on an enormous size like a giant slime. It also released a foul stench, burning the nasal cavity of anyone who smelled it.
The masked man jumped three steps back, setting up a stance with his hands preparing to fold--in order to trigger his Armament Spell to strike.
"Fufufufu! You ran away after finding me, Inspector? Cruel. Absolutely cruel."
"I was wondering why his Sigil didn't have a common shape... it turned out you're the cause. Parasitic creature, Unrecorded 04."
"Cruel! You’re cruel! No wonder you're not popular with us!"
"Cut your crap. Die." AO2 folded his ring finger and the sky became cloudy. A portal was created, spewing out a giant spear that shot out like lightning to the target.
It wouldn't make sense. A spear of that size should move slower due to its large mass. However, AO2 provided acceleration as well as light lanes to overcome that.
The great impact further destroyed the scorched ground, leaving nothing but smog and a wider, deeper crater before his eyes.
Once the smoke cleared, he saw the massive spear pierced through her bubble body. Instead of it killing her, the spear began to disintegrate. The monster's bodily fluids corroded the spear to shreds like crunchy bread, in the shortest amount of time.
AO2 could hear her disgusting belching.
"Cruel! You're so cruel, Inspector! Why do you give me a failed dish like this?" The millions of bubbles writhed. "I'm in pain! Fufufu!"
"Stop your disgusting charade, monster." He always remembered the existence of these unrecorded beings, those who couldn’t feel pain. They said whatever they wanted, stole other creatures' personalities, and made fun of them.
"How cruel! You'll be single for the rest of your life–"
He folded his middle finger, creating a gigantic sphere of energy about twenty times the size of himself. The sphere then compressed until it was small enough to float above his hand. That caused its density to increase significantly.
The extreme pressure on the sphere eventually gave birth a gravity to peel off the skin of his hand. It eroded the flesh to the extent of exposing his bones.
He had no time to waste or he would be naked.
He touched it and got instantly teleported to the point blank–right in front of the monster–and nuked her out.
The surface of the region immediately turned to dust, the plates peeling away layer by layer in a matter of seconds until the new fossilized terrain was revealed.
The violent storm blew everything apart, releasing a disturbance of energy about three hundred meters from the center of the explosion. It decomposed soil molecules, grasses, and air. Almost creating a complete vacuum.
AO2 was fast enough to get out of the blast range. Although some feathers on his wings had to be sacrificed. A cheap price to pay, he thought.
As the storm subsided and the dust cloud thinned, the bubble-shaped monster down there seemed unharmed. She paused for a moment and then writhed again. Her body transformed suddenly into an orthodox-shaped mushroom, which then had human facial features.
"Cruel. Cruel," the creature spoke with her new-added mouth. "You think you can eliminate me with a cute level six Armament and Material Spell like that, Inspector? Ohhhh, stop teasing me~ You are so cute!"
The disgusting creature's laughter suddenly stopped as a rattling sound filled the air. It wasn't the ground, it was coming from the monster's body. Bubbles started to harden and then crumbled.
AO2 came to the edge of the crater, and looked her down. "If you think I don't know anything about you, then you seem even more foolish than I thought."
“Tch! Cruel. How cruel you are, Inspector!” She inflated her body until her face was in line with AO2's. “How unfortunate. How unfortunate I am! Shortly after I captured a new host with such great potential to have... Ah~ how unfortunate. Well, rather than revealing my body's coordinate to you, Inspector, I would rather excuse myself right now.”
The hardening continued to spread until it almost reached the top of her mouth. “In any case, you also have potential as a vessel too. Fufufufu! I look forward to your future. Cya, Inspector!"
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
All the pink bubbles hardened, crumbled and became sand. Some were carried away by the wind, and some accumulated in the crater.
"Even with two Armaments of such a high level, the original body connection of her consciousness remains untraceable." He clicked his tongue, then descended into the crater. "I should have used my index finger... even if she needs to be sacrificed."
Upon reaching the bottom, his head suddenly buzzed, like a bee stung his brain cells. His left hand fumbled in the back pocket, searching among the small tubes lined up, the pink color was chosen.
With an injector, he injected the contents of the tube into his head. The sharp pain was intense, but it subsided in an instant.
"Stop chasing the past, will you? You swore to find a way to open the 8th floor, didn't you? Are you going to betray his sacrifice?"
Wondering who he was talking to, the silence was reluctant to answer.
Beneath his feet was his dueling opponent from a while ago. His name was Rei Dixon. He was lying unscathed above the sand and now breathing again. If the rules of the duel were followed correctly, then this man should be dead.
Then why?
That question had no definitive conclusion, but it was clear that someone had died.
AO2's guess was that one of the Main Sphere nodes in Dixon's Orbital Plate had been destroyed in exchange for his life. In fact, a main node was part of the blueprint for everything. In a theory, it also counted as a life source. Perhaps, the Unrecorded actually disguised herself as a Sphere Core and resided there. Then something inexplicably happened, she was forced out without being able to take over her host body.
At the same time, the destroyed node became unusable permanently. No one in history was able to fix or restore it back. Molecularly, Rei Dixon became handicapped.
AO2 was still watching his opponent. Strangely, he shouldn't be able to feel any emotions because of the sacrifice he had made. Yet within him was a new ripple trying to make a sound.
Perhaps, it was just his delusion.
For the first time, he let out a long-suffering sigh.
He turned his back and asked at the horizon. “Could it be that fate will follow the same route all over again, Dixon?”
As the wind brought the sand dancing through the air, he was gone and left something behind.
----------------------------------------
~0~
It was a nightmare.
Being burned alive, anyone wouldn't be able to bear the pain. If the origin of life came from water, surely the flames of hell would soon obliterate it without a trace.
However, he did open his eyes. He was breathing hard, his body was sweating, and his heartbeat had an irregular rhythm.
His head throbbed, all his nerves tugging at each other. It was the worst condition he had ever experienced upon waking from sleep.
Facing the endless expanse of sky, he was lying on a pile of sand. Still unable to move a finger, but his eyes could already glance in all directions. He counted the clouds that moved until they hid behind the high cliffs.
Since when are there cliffs here, he asked. As far as he remembered, this area should be a vast grassland.
A headache struck, bringing with it an overwhelming drowsiness that forced him to lose consciousness.
Again, he woke up but the sky had become cloudy.
He seated his butt, moving his fingers, arms and legs in turn. Everything felt fine. However, not a single wound on the skin caused his forehead to wrinkle.
He lost the duel. He received Overkill Damage that should have cost him his life. And now he woke up unharmed... and naked.
This inexplicable situation was too dizzying to think about. He tried to stand up even though he was slightly unsteady. Soon he opened the system and found that he was still in the same place.
In the Deck and Library menus, he couldn't find his Dragun0va. Surprisingly, Dummy Spell and the other magic cards were still there. The rest were gone.
“That duel did happen. Then how am I still alive? Or does that mean I'm still in the tutorial phase, so it doesn't apply to me? Or is this a bug? Isn't the system absolute?” Similar questions flooded his head, but none of them could be answered.
He still didn't know what exactly happened after the sword of the inferno slashed through him.
The wind picked up again and brought a chill to his crotch. His bird was trembling. He tried to shield it with his hand, but realized that it wouldn't warm anything.
He was seeking and saw a folded garment beside his feet.
What a great luck or he left this for me, he wondered. He didn't know whether to think of the masked man as a cold-blooded duelist or a kind-hearted man.
Without caring about the outcome of his dilemma, Rei quickly put on the clothes and found himself in a t-shirt and pants.
What should I do now? That question was asked in his first step.
He kept climbing the sloping cliff that surrounded him. Although his feet slipped occasionally, he managed to reach the surface. And sure enough, he found a large meadow, but it was all burnt.
The duel had indeed taken place. Now he was even more convinced.
Then... this was not a cliff ... a crater? His eyes scanned the surface conditions that had changed 180 degrees. From a fertile land to an incredible barrenness.
A sense of dread crossed his mind, but he quickly set it aside. The first thing he needed to do was to reach a safe place. The smoke produced by the scorched earth was bad for breathing. The more he breathed, the worse.
Gladly, his destination was still the same. To re-enter the giant black building. He could get away from this burnt land, at least. However, he wouldn’t return to the last floor, instead he chose to climb the stairs to the upper level.
He didn't know if he would see the little robot again, but he hoped so. The iron dwarf had many questions to answer.
Somehow, he became more convinced by the robot's words. About everything. For better or worse.
After he climbed a long flight of stairs, a large wall stood before him. Looking down, he found thick fog below him. He doubted if it was clouds, because from the first step to the last step, it only took 15 minutes. It couldn't possibly reach the height where the clouds are.
The weirdness would become a burden if he thought about it for too long. So he touched the wall hoping to find the trigger to open the door. Instead of opening, he sank into it.
His body passed through a black cloud that blocked his vision and hearing at the same time. He wanted to stop, but couldn't control his legs from moving.
By the time he could catch his breath, he was illuminated by light. From the heat, he was sure it was the sun, not just a room lamp. But, how did that happen? If he entered the building, shouldn't he be in a room? Or at least, he should find himself in another great hall like before?
His expectations were way off to the ground. He barely understood anything.
Rei massaged his forehead, and tried to steady his breathing again. He decided to walk, looking for someone or a robot to talk to. He stepped forward a little to the edge of the road, and was surprised at what he found.
There was a village–no, it was a town.
From where he stood, he saw many roofs lined up neatly. A lot of buildings. He also found some giant pillars in the center. Sadly, he couldn’t actually see if people were there. Too far for him to identify them.
On each edge of the small town, a stone wall spread around it. It was higher than any building he could see there. To be honest, he didn’t find the top of it. Thick clouds hid them.
Rei turned around and saw that indeed, he was close to the so-called wall. From here, he also couldn’t see the end of it.
How long and big this fucking building is?
Again, his mind wandered. Above the previous floor–where he had duel with Morgan, lay a small town inside? A fucking town inside a giant building? How was that possible?
For the umpteenth time, he ignored that and hurried to figure out how to get there instead. Of course, to meet people. To let him understand where he actually was.
He strode with a pace. Following a path composed of solid and neat stones. It felt like walking on old European infrastructure.
Fifteen minutes passed and Rei finally saw downstairs. He took it down and turned right to meet another passage. Another dusty wooden gate at the end of it.
He opened the lock and took it out. After he pushed the wooden door, he found two people dressed like medieval soldiers talking to each other in their own chairs. They wore iron pauldrons on the right, dull clothes, and greaves on their feet.
Rei was close enough to see the reddish cheek on their face while they were fooling each other. Two big wooden cups on their table. Clearly, they were drunk. In the middle of the day.
Great. At least, they seemed real enough as real people.
“Um … hello?” Rei greeted both of them, in a very polite tone.
They heard his call and turned their backs. One of them hiccupped and let out a small giggle. His partner hiccupped too.
"Look... a person," one of the drunken men said.
His friend nodded then reached for the cup to gulp down the liquid inside. "Riiiiiight. I see one persawn." Both of them looked at each other and laughed loudly.
Urgh. What the hell with these people. They're too drunk.
Rei waited, long enough to make him smack the table.
What he did startled them a bit to make their red faces frown.
“Hey kiddo! Can you have a little manners here? Also, stop playing around, can you? We are still working here! Go away and enjoy this gross city.”
His friend slapped his cheeks. “Liiiiiarrrr. Working for what? No one ever passed here for 50 years! Bahahahaha!”
Instead of getting angry at the slap, he joined the comedy.
“You riiiight! No one ever comes here ever. So what do we do?”
“Drinking!”
Both drunken guards kept sending their stupid jokes to each other. Rei didn’t find that as a comedy. Not even enough to make him smile.
“I’m not playing around, old man. Can you show me how to get out of this place?”
“Huh?” The other man put his cup down. “Leeeeave this place? You drunk, kiddo?”
“BAHAHAHAHAHA! You are drunk! Not the kid!” Both of them laughed again. Perhaps, they broke their laugh-box meter.
Urgh! I should never ask them to begin with!
Rei passed through them and didn't care for any bullshit they said.
“Oi! Never seeeeeee you around here, where are you from?”
“From the gate behind you!” Rei shouted and kept his feet marching forward.
They kept enjoying their own comedy chow, until they realized something important.
“Hei, how did that guy pass through the wall?”
They looked at each other for a while and decided to see what was behind them.
It was clear no gates, door, window, or anything to make a person able to pass through.
“Perhaps, we drank too much?”
His friend's face stiffened. “Right.”
And they were laughing again.
Rei was able to hear their laugh, and decided to ignore their annoying existence.