A Domain has been established. You face a God, mortal.
Your level has been suppressed, Magic, Skill and Class have been locked.
Seeing the doors open our surroundings also changed, going from the cave we were in to a dark swamp-like cave, we were standing on the edge of one of the many pools of water. Looking at the water, there were ghastly, pale hands in their depths, the mud wasn’t just wet dirt…it looked like it was mixed with some sort of white powder.
The sky had a giant whirlpool of gold, red and black colours, I couldn’t see what was in the centre of the whirlpool but I couldn’t be concerned about that. Looking back at the doors that were still there, I could feel a fear welling up within me, my mind not wanting to know what was coming.
Dracovich, still standing in front of the door, kneeled. The human prisoners in front of him had passed out already and the Hybrids were still all unconscious. The doors finally fully opened with a small thump.
A giant, red transparent being slowly drifted out. As soon as my eyes caught a faint glimpse of the figure, pain shot through my mind, screaming at me to look away. It looked like a mist, with a membrane around it. Every fibre of my being told me not to check its System…somehow I knew if I did I would die.
Looking at Dracovich, he was looking directly at the being. I could only see him trembling, was this what he was after, or is this an unexpected situation for him as well? I couldn’t tell, I have never seen or heard of this man before today, I don’t know his motives.
Trying to move my body, everything refused to move. I could tell the others were the same, the most I could do was feel myself trembling from the presence of whatever this thing was.
The red spirit moved to Dracovich and plunged a part of itself into him. With a soundless scream, he started very quickly withering, like he was ageing extremely quickly. After only a minute, he was incredibly wrinkled, golden hair now white and he had gone limp.
Seeing Dracovich drop to the ground, I felt the pain within me increase once again. I knew it was looking at us now, was it only seeking us out for our levels? It had ignored the chained humans and Hybrids, it was now seeking us out…I knew it was looking at me.
All around us strange creatures were coming out of the water, pale white humanoids, eye sockets were empty and a low groan escaped their lips. They didn’t have any System information and were just staring at us.
The red spirit is still approaching us…me, I was the one in front of everyone. Arriving near us, the pain throughout my body and eyes kept rising, it was far more intense than the time I had my mana veins forcibly built.
Watching in horror, it “reaches” out to me. I tried to motivate my mana, I tried casting Lunar Barrier, Wind Explosion, anything! I couldn’t move, if this thing touched me I would die…
I was suddenly thrown backwards, landing onto my back as I watched Elizabeth step in front of me after pushing me back. What was she doing…Elizabeth!
Seeing her turn to look at me, she smiled. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move to her, all I could do was watch as part of the red spirit plunged into her. Her eyes glazed over, but they never left mine. I could see the life behind them slowly leaving her.
A bright flash of silver hit the red spirit, blowing it away from us. Unable to take my eyes off Elizabeth, I see her close her eyes and collapse. I couldn’t turn my head to look down, I couldn’t see her, I could only move my eyes to see the red spirit turn towards us and begin moving again.
“Well, I believe we can bend the rules for this one, Sister.”
Hearing a voice from somewhere behind me, I try to face it but still can’t move. The red spirit is still moving towards me, somehow I knew it was angry. Once again trying to turn my head, I fail again. Once more I tried and motivated my body to do anything, Elizabeth needed help!
“It’s okay, leave it to us.”
Hearing a soft voice, different from the first one, I wanted to know where these voices were coming from. Frustrated and terrified, I keep facing this red spirit regardless of the pain coursing through my body. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to finally take a step forward towards Elizabeth, feeling the flesh on my leg tear apart as I strained my neck to try and look at her.
Suddenly, in front of the red spirit was a new figure with dark blue wavy hair. She looked elderly, a hardened face that had untold years of experience behind it, they were staring at the red spirit without batting an eyelid. She opened her mouth as she spoke.
“Domain. Nightfall Brilliance.”
Sensing what could only be a bottomless amount of mana explode from the elderly lady in front of me, the scenery around us changed once again, this time I felt my strength returning. The System gave me a new prompt.
A Domain has been established. You are in the presence of a Demigod.
Your level is no longer suppressed as you are not seen as an enemy.
Feeling my mana circulate once again and my body becoming free, I immediately crouch down to check on Elizabeth. I felt Olivia kneel near me while Sally and Gray were still looking at the elderly figure. Elizabeth hadn’t changed, her System still showed but she wasn’t responsive. Looking up, I realised that we were in a completely new area.
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It was like we were in a sphere, surrounded by stars everywhere. Looking down, we were standing in the air…it was strange. There was a moon directly above us in the sky, the strange creatures were dissolving…just melting away.
Leaving Olivia to heal Elizabeth, another figure suddenly appeared in front of us. Moving in front of the group to protect everyone, my mind spun as I tried to see who this newest person was as Sally joined me with her sword drawn.
Looking at the new figure, she smiled at us. Long void black hair, deep blue eyes that seemed to have stars in them, she was staring directly at Elizabeth. Frowning slightly, she looks at me before smiling again as she approaches.
Gritting my teeth, I go to check my System information as I gather Lunar energy into my fists, but before I complete either, the scenery around me changes once again…why is this happening?!
This time I am floating in a black void, the young girl is directly in front me once again. Taking up my stance, I am about to move in on her just as she giggles.
“Young Sister is really eager. It’s okay now, you can relax, we’re here to help.”
Still feeling confused about what was happening, I didn’t let my guard down, instead I kept glaring at her, waiting for her to make a move. She slowly raises her hand up, palm facing up and an orb slowly gathers above it…the energy from it, I knew what it was. Lunar energy, far more profound and refined than what I knew.
Seeing my surprise, the girl once again giggled. Relaxing my guard a little bit, I look at her and finally speak.
“Who are you, what is happening?”
Nodding to my questions, she taps her chin with a finger for a moment before saying “I can’t tell you who I am yet, it’s against the rules.”
“Rules? What rules?”
“Aah, I can’t tell you that yet either. Geez, these rules suck. But I can tell you I’m just like you!”
Raising an eyebrow to her refusal to tell me who she was, I checked for myself.
???
Feeling a sharp pain strike my brain, I felt a trickle of blood run down my nose. The young girl looked panicked.
“Ah! You shouldn’t do that, at least not until you’re at my level!” Feeling her hand on my cheek, she was looking at me in concern. I hadn’t seen her approach me at all.
“Good good, it was only a minor backlash, that’s good.”
Backlash? I could check Ash just fine…with my mind spinning with questions, the young girl giggled once again.
“I can tell you what’s happening though. The doors were a seal for the spiritual remains of a God, it’s severely weakened. I have no clue why it’s here of all places. Its goal was to absorb the lifeforce of everyone around here to try and regenerate itself. That’s all I know, our elder sister and I will take it away from here shortly and deal with it at the Temple.”
More questions sprung to my mind as she talked.
“I know you have questions, but we don’t have the time. I’m not even supposed to be talking to you, it’s against the rules to interfere. Since you’re also a fellow Sister I’m sure my punishment will be lessened…hopefully.”
I wasn’t sure how to react to her, and just as I wondered what to say, she took off a bracelet from her wrist and put it on mine.
“When you leave Crater Hell one day, come and find us. We left something for you in that town of humans. This bracelet will identify you as one of us, though most will not know what it is. It will bind itself to you, don’t lose it okay? Oh, one last gift I suppose.”
Smiling, she holds up a finger that starts glowing. Placing it on my forehead I felt a burst of energy enter my mind. It wasn’t energy she was just giving me or empowering me, I didn’t know what it was.
“You’ll have sweet dreams next time you sleep peacefully. Oh, and make sure you hurry to that human town, they’re under siege from monsters, seems the domain from this thing broke their protection.”
Smiling at me, she pats my head as she turns.
“I hope to see you soon, Sister. We have to leave now. May Mother Goddess bless you.”
Blinking, we were back in that starry field. The elderly lady turned to look at me and smiled as the younger girl joined her. Both of them turned to the red spirit, the so-called spiritual remains of a God, and clapped their hands. The starry sky shrunk quickly, and next thing I knew we were outside of it, a big sphere of darkness hanging in the sky, which then disappeared.
Looking at Sally, Gray and Olivia, I could see they too looked just confused as I felt. Perhaps I was even more confused because of that young girl. Crouching down, I checked on Elizabeth.
“She’s…okay, there is nothing wrong physically with her, but I don’t know why she isn’t waking up. Maybe she’ll be fine in a few hours or days. We should rest now, we have a lot to do.”
Hearing Olivia, I shake my head and say “That girl with black hair told me Crater is under attack by monsters. We should help them until daylight then come back and help everyone else.”
“Why should we help Crater?” Asking this, Gray sounded confused at my words. Or maybe that was because of the situation we just experienced.
“I don’t care about the lives of those that tormented us, but the innocent humans who never harmed us or the children there don’t deserve to be eaten just like that. Plus, I want answers about this entire thing, those councilmen will surely answer us.”
Responding to Gray, I get up and look down at the Hybrids. It might not be the best time to leave them alone, especially with no one here to guide them. The magic circle was no longer glowing either. Looking at the doors, they were cracked and broken, I couldn’t see the room that was there clearly but I had no drive to explore it.
Looking at the human prisoners, they were still alive, bound and chained. They were moving again, I could only hear muffled voices of panic. Finding the one I was looking for, I jumped off the platform and moved towards it.
Kneeling at the figure on the ground, I removed the sack from its head and saw Gerald, my ex-handler. Seeing me, his eyes widened as he tried talking. Removing the gag from his mouth, he started muttering.
“N-n-number 32, s-save me, t-they’re goi-”
Without letting him continue, I grab him by the neck and snap it. Watching his body hit the floor, I turned and left him there. I had thoughts of killing him painfully, but I couldn’t care about him any longer.
Seeing Sally look at me and nod, I felt a bit guilty that I didn’t leave Gerald to her. Well, whatever.
“Gray will stay here and look after Elizabeth and the Hybrids down here.” Sally speaks to me and I look over her shoulder to see Olivia setting Elizabeth down. Looking at the group of Hybrids in the centre of the room, none of them had awoken yet. Checking Dracovich again, he was dead. The System showed nothing for him.
“In that case, let's get moving. I don’t particularly care if the city falls or not, but I’d rather try protecting them than leaving them to just die.”
Seeing Olivia and Sally nod, we turn and start running down the hall again. I was still filled with questions about what had just happened, this time I wanted answers, regardless of how I would get them.