"Are you the demon lord?"
Wander cleared his throat. One time, two times, three times. He did not dare to look back. He feared the expressions on Fulish's face and his followers' at the moment.
Just a few minutes ago, Elecaimant received a report from Handi: help from the Round Table had arrived, along with a few hunters. Wander was hoping it would be Aria and Hiatus, and was overjoyed when his hope held true. He urged Fulish to return to tower 1, but what awaited him was not a warm reunion, but a cold question.
"Wow, I didn't expect that." Doom Mark said.
Wander took a few steps towards Aria and Hiatus. He felt his surroundings melting, all sounds deafening, the demons aggravating, the heat dissipating. The two pillars of his life were standing in front him, and they were crumbling. He was too happy to see them here, to see them ascend the stairs and walked towards him. He had not expected they would discover the truth themselves.
" What are you talking about?" Wander asked, his eyes blurred." I'm not Samundo. You know me right? I can't be that monster."
Aria closed her eyes. " No, I don't know you."
Wander turned to Hiatus. The boy averted his eyes from him.
"Six years ago, did you frame Jonathan for what he did not do? Did you really hurt yourself, then blamed it on him? To push him away from us?"asked Aria.
If Wander was not devastated by the previous question, he certainly was with these. Color vanished from his face, and he was trembling so hard he could fall at anytime.
"So you did."Aria bit her lips..
Wander reached out to the two. They were close to him, yet he could not find the strength to touch them. All he could feel was the cold invisible wall in front of him. " I must not cry, I must not cry." He told himself.
" The Halcyon is breaking!" The scream of one summoner knocked him back to reality.
Wander looked up. The sky of Fulish's domain had completely vanished, only dark water loomed above.
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" We must reach the reservoir before it's too late." Fulish shouted." Load all the injured on the Aircutters! Quick, we have no time to lose!"
The summoners immediately carried out Fulish's order. Some of them glanced at Wander, shook their heads before vanishing along the stairs.
" This is just stupid. Why did I even decide to put a gate underwater in the first place? So, are you guys going to help me or what?" Fulish said. " I don't know your problems, but this guy is no way Samundo. He's your typical lame nice guy!"
Aria glanced at the legendary familiar. He looked more like a child than a king to her.
" Of course we will help." She answered.
Aria did not want to continue thinking about Wander. She felt like she could go crazy. She was going to head downstairs when a "swoosh" sound made her hair stand on end. " No, Tetrax!" She heard Hiatus yell.
The Singulus Digiti had drawn her sword and swung it at Wander. The boy just stared at her with an expressionless face. Next to him, Fulish pushed Tetrax back with a wave of electrical ray.
" Put your sword away."Fulish glared at her. " I can fry you before you take a step."
" You sure? If it's a matter of speed, I can win." Tetrax replied.
The air smelled like ozone as Fulish's lightning perverted it. He raised his hand. Tetrax charged at him with her sword in the sheath.
Hiatus caught Tetrax's arm, halting her movement. Fulish also stopped his advance, apparently not appreciating the intervention. Everything happened at a speed too fast for Aria's eyes.
" Tetrax, we are not here to fight." Hiatus said.
The Singulus Digiti was obviously taken aback by Hiatus's speed. She stared at him, broke free of his hand then sheathed her sword.
" Touché. Let's help the injured, shall we?" Tetrax said as she walked away.
Fulish frowned at her. He turned to Wander. " You have bad luck with girls."
The familiar transformed. He jumped off the tower, charging at the demons on the ground like a lightning bolt, leaving Aria, Hiatus and Wander with one another.
" Let's go help them." Hiatus said, moving ahead of Wander and Aria.
Aria nodded. She strolled behind Hiatus. She frowned as she heard Wander's footsteps. They sounded so lonely.
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The summoners did not need any help at all. Upon arriving at the medical ward, the three found Tetrax standing idly, her arms folded, watching the summoners effortlessly lift their comrades up and load them on the air cutter.
"In the end, Veritas and his enforcement never comes. Well, it's not like they can do much anyways." Tetrax said.
Hiatus nodded. " Fulish may take care of all the demons by himself. The last thing he needs is another group of hunters in his domain."
Hiatus turned to Wander. " Where is Maria?"
" She is in tower 3." Wander said, eyes down." Looking for her lost stuff."
"Pillars of Light. She must be helping Samundo find it."
" She's not with Samundo." Wander said, clenching his fists.
" She's with you." Aria said.
" I'm not Samun..." Wander raised his voice, but quickly closed his mouth.
" You aren't even sure?" Aria took her turn to raise voice.
" I have no intention of destroying this world! I just want to spend time with you guys!"
" Then why did you turn in the first place? Does being with us mean you have to turn?"
Wander could not answer. He trembled, biting his lips.
" You four over there, are you leaving or not?" A summoner called out to them.
Unintentionally, all the hunters started walking at the same time, at the same pace. They did not look at each other and each chose an Aircutter for themselves.
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Aria could not take even one look back at Wander. She had imagined that when confronted, Wander would put on a smug face and be nonchalant about his atrocious behaviors, but in reality the boy seemed so lost and destroyed. These expressions, could they be another facade?
"Hiatus, please say something."
"What's there to say? He admitted it. He manipulated us. Who knows what else he did, who else he hurt all those years?"
Every insult Jonathan threw at Wander now stood in a new light. Jonathan's grudge towards Wander, Aria sympathized with it now.
"I...I antagonized Jonathan. Damn it, I can't believe I chose Wander over him."
Aria swallowed hard, noticing how tightly her friend clenched his fists. Jonathan was the first person ever to befriend Hiatus when he arrived in New York Halcyon 6 years ago. From what Hiatus told her, Jonathan stood up for him and helped him blend in, the first true friend before he met Wander and her. She could only imagine the amount of pain that boy underwent after Hiatus pushed him away. And Hiatus, the guilt stemming from his act of unintentional betrayal must be torturing him right now.
Aria wanted to hate Wander, but the truth was she could not. The look in his eyes was so earnest she dared not to think about it any longer. She found herself in denial. How could those smiles, those birthday cakes, those strawberries, those pranks be all lies? How could Wander not be tired with such an intricate, well-planned facade? But he did commit those horrendous acts against Jonathan."He wants to monopolize you and Hiatus." Those words echoed within Aria's head. Perhaps, he did love Hiatus and her, but his love took form of a perverse obsession.
Aria decided she would try to forgive Wander, for she felt the truth was far more complex than what was revealed. She glanced at Hiatus, and wonder what decision he had made for himself.
It was night, and night was cold.
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Fulish approached Wander along with Handi, Callus, and Carl. Each of them had their own Aircutters, flying towards the underwater gate. The level 7 familiar informed others. "Elecaimant has failed to close the gate. She cannot even identify where the demons are coming from. "
Handi frowned. " Beyond the gate, it must be..that place."
All of them shivered. The domain of the demons was so close to them, the domain that had never been found. They could cross to it right now and discover the Halcyon equivalent of Atlantis, but for now their lives mattered more.
" This is disastrous. If we just leave and let that gate be, sooner or later the demons will cross the Halcyon into Earth realm." Carl said." There will be hell."
Carl made a point all of them agreed with. Humans would definitely panic once they confronted the demons, and it would be an one-side slaughter.
" Let's destroy the whole domain then." Fulish said.
The three summoners and Wander stared at him with eyes wide open.
" This is your favorite playground." Handi said, raising her eyebrows.
" I know! You guys better think of something fast before I decide to keep it intact and do not give a darn about Earth realm!"
" We'll destroy the Halcyon." Callus said.
This time it was his turned to be stared at. What Callus suggested was worse than deciding to nuke the domain five times over.
" I really don't think we should do that." Carl shook his head.
Not a single being had ever witnessed the destruction of a Halcyon, but something within them, maybe deep-seeded instinct , struck utmost fear into their heart whenever they visualized the destruction. The Halcyons were there before them; they were their suns. No one wanted to mess with the sun.
" We do not have a weapon that can completely destroy the domain fast enough. My king, I do not mean to underestimate you, but look at all those demons, it'll be too late before you kill all of them. To destroy the Halcyon, and everything within it, is the best alternative right now. If we fail to act quickly, the demons will enter Earth, and that is undesirable."
Fulish closed his eyes, grimacing. He shouted in frustration."Contact Elecaimant."
Handi nodded, taking out her walkie-talkie. Moments later, Elecaimant's voice reached them. " My king?"
" Destroy the Halcyon core. The 1st password is 11021345ILMF. The second, 4567ILRAE, the third is my name. Wait for my signal, and right after you destroy it, return to Ethers Realm. You know what to do." Fulish said in a go.
Elecaimant was obviously taken a back, unable to utter a word. Only a while later did she say "Understood." before disconnecting.
" Oh boy, this is not going down well." Carl clutched his hair.
" The girl, she left, right?" Handi asked, gradually lowering her voice.
Wander turned to look at Tower 3. He whispered. "No."
" You are not going back there. You will not make it." Callus said.
" I'm worried, but I have no such intention. I will just be a burden to Maria if I go there now. I've seen what she can do." Wander clenched his fist. " And even though they seem to hate me now, I cannot risk them following me into that hell."
Fulish glanced at Wander. " Can't believe they think you are Samundo."
" Oh boy, look at that. The king likes you. You really are good at this, aren't you?" Doom Mark chuckled."Getting strangers to like you."
Wander glanced at the army of demons. Samundo, him? Those demons did not even notice his existence, let alone acknowledged him as their lord. For a brief moment he wondered how it would feel like to control them.
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" So, you are telling me that an island of that size, disappeared and left no trace behind, just yesterday?"
Veritas replied to Alados in the affirmative.
" Your cerebral function is questionable, Veritas. How many times did you check?"
" Five times, sir."
" Check five more then."
" Sir, it's no use. Fulish's domain is completely gone, and he disappeared shortly after its destruction. His followers would not say a thing."
Alados clicked his tongue. "Casualty?"
"One death, sir."