Chapter 28: Successor of the Dark Lord (2)

The fight seemed to be getting nowhere. At least, that was what looked like. However, any veteran would have notice by now of how much the fight has changed from the beginning. On one side, Karuma and the grand master were already breathing heavily. Soon, the two would reach their stamina limit. On the other side, Cornelia still looked cocky the same as before. And she had all the reasons to. While her enemies were being exhausted, Cornelia herself was pretty much in the same shape. Her injuries either did not bother her or they were already regenerated. Either way, she deliberately tried to extend the fight so her enemies would collapse from exhaustion. It was at that moment she would strike, to see them cornered with no escape, to see that despair, that agony…..just like she once did. Suddenly, a figure stepped up and broke out the fight. Holding a ridiculously looking long spoon in her hands, the white hair girl decided it was her turn.

“Finally tired of hiding behind people?” Cornelia mocked.

“I don’t like fighting. But clearly, you are over the lines. What has any of these innocent people ever done to you to deserve this?” Astora spoke loudly.

“These people? Nothing. But you are a different story.” Cornelia changed her tone. She looked at Astora with great animosity.

“Why? What have I ever done to you?” asked Astora.

“Your mere existence is offensive enough to make me want to kill you!!!” Cornelia released her dark aura, pushing both the old hamster and Karuma back. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the demon charged at Astora. The white hair girl intended to use her spoon to defend herself but as expected, it was not strong enough to sustain the power of Cornelia’s claw. Blown back violently to the ground by the monstrous dark claw, Astora lifted her head up and shouted out.

“GRIMORA SMASH!”

A great shadow fell from the sky, covering the entire ground. In the form of a grimoire, the thing took Cornelia by surprise and crushed her down to the ground. Despite its extremely heavy weight, Grimora could feel being lifted from below. The attack was not as effective as expected. But it was never Astora’s plan to crush her foe with just a book. The plan had yet to begin.

As Cornelia pushed over the giant book out of her way, a light emitted from Astora’s hand while she was casting a spell upon her spoon. “”. Glowing brightly like a shiny holy weapon from the legends, if only it did not have the appearance of a spoon, the thing would be considered a legendary weapon. Then the girl charged forward.

Unfazed by the light, Cornelia arrogantly challenged the girl. “Is that all you got you pathetic little shit? Can you even hurt anything with that ridiculous thing? Try to break this!” Cornelia lunged her claw forward. And then, they clashed.

It was unthinkable to even consider that the spoon would work against anything. As demonstrated before, a single tap from the claw has blown Astora away while she was using that same spoon. Even with that light engulfing it, what could the spoon possibly do against her? Cornelia thought. Little did she know how seriously mistaken she was. Upon impact, Cornelia felt a trembling across her whole body. It came from the claw. Her demonic hand holding all those powers was shaking. It feared the puny thing in front of it. No, it did not fear the spoon itself but the light. The holy light around that spoon was repelling the dark aura around Cornelia, banishing it.

“What is this?” Cornelia wondered. Her body suddenly felt weak. Her legs were shaking, barely able to stand correctly. Even moving her fingers took a great deal of force. “What did you do?”

“Your claw, it is using the power of the Abyss to strengthen itself. That is why there is that dark aura around you, just like the miasma inside the Blighted Woods. Fortunately, I have just the thing to counter that.” Astora said, holding her spoon.

“How can that stupid thing does this?” Cornelia grumbled.

“It is not the spoon but the light. The light is the thing that eliminates your abyssal power. As for the spoon…you are already feeling its effect right now, aren’t you?”

“What…” a thought came to Cornelia’s mind. “Don’t tell me…that spoon was poisoned?”

“Just a paralysis poison, nothing lethal so don’t worry! Although, it is enough for you I think.” Astora smiled confidently.

“You..wen..ch….co…ward…You fight dirty.” Cornelia started to feel the poison reaching her face. She could barely move her mouth to speak.

“I am sorry but after what you have done, I don’t believe I can take you head on. Got to use this to compensate.” Astora tapped her head. “Just give up now!”

“YOU STAINED HIS NAME!!!” Using her last bit of strength, Cornelia swung her claw at Astora. But before she could reach the girl, Valanor lunged his brush like a blade and severed the giant claw from Cornelia. “ARGGGG! It hurts! It hurts!”

Cornelia screamed in agony. Her arm has been cut off, making her bleed intensively. The strange black fluid stained the ground and created a pool of black blood where she quivered violently, where she cried, where she cursed the ones that did this to her. To Cornelia, this was the first in many years since she felt pain, this horrible distressing feeling. It reminded her of that dark place, of the pit where she came from. The mountain of trashes and bodies were mixed together. The foul smell occupied the entire place. A place where the unneeded, the undesirable were thrown in, a place to be forgotten. Such was the home of the Beast.

“What on earth are you doing, Valanor?” Astora asked in shock.

“She tried to kill you. I just...”

“Still, that was uncalled for!” the girl scolded. “I could have handled it.”

“No you couldn’t. Even if you could, it is too risky. She is a killer.”

“Either way, we must heal her.” Astora tried to approach the groaning Cornelia but the fox stopped her from doing so.

“We should just let her die. Look at what she did!” said the painter. He then turned to the grand master and Karuma. “Don’t you two agree?”

“…..” Karuma stayed silent, looking at his master for an answer. However, inside, his mind was already resolute. Blood for blood. Cornelia killed so many of his friends, his comrades so she must die. But his master thought otherwise.

“We will save her.” The old hamster spoke.

“What? Why?”

“Aren’t you curious why she chased Mrs. Astora all the way here in the first place?” said the grand master to Valanor. “From the way she talked, this girl knows about the young miss. If there is someone else behind her, we must find out. But if she dies, that leads us to nowhere.”

“…I…I can’t argue with that.” Valanor turned back to Astora. “I have some healing potions. But first, we must stop the bleeding before….!!!”

All of the sudden, out of nowhere, two figures in black robes and hoods appeared: one was tall and imposing, almost too tight for the robe while the other one was slender with feminine lines. Their faces were hard to see due to the hoods but one was clearly a man and the slender one was a woman. Something felt odd about them. The way they moved were unnatural, not that of a living person but more like a broken doll. While the group was trying to ascertain the nature of the new couple, the large figure brought out from his sleeves a mechanical device. Long shape with rotary barreled part attached to some sort of yellow pellets, the heavy machine began to rotate loudly. Immediately, Astora, who has been reading many books back in her cell, recognized the machine and its deadly capacity.

“It’s a machine gun!!! DODGE!” the girl yelled. Reacting to his mistress’s call, Grimora turned into a book wall in front of her and Valanor, covering them.

The machine started firing countless rounds of bullets at the group. Each bullet was small but had incredible piercing capacity, making iron armors and shields useless against this kind of attack. The empty ammos continued to fall down to the ground in an endless array of projectiles. The seemingly endless rain of bullets finally stopped. The man seemed to have run out of ammos.

“He got no ammos left! Now is our chance!” Astora yelled, lowering her wall and channeled with her attack. “”. The bolt of lightning shined brightly like the sun. Holding the light, Astora threw it at the bulky figure. Receiving the attack face on, the large figure toughened himself up and took the fierce lightning. Despite the loud spark it created, the large figure remained unfazed. The only thing that was destroyed was some part of his cloth which was burned off a bit.

“What a monster!” Valanor sweated.

Taking advantage of the group stuck in place, the slender figure rushed away and recovered Cornelia in her arms. The girl has lost too much blood and her senses were already numbed by the paralysis. Put her hand on the wound, the slender woman tried to stop the bleeding. But before she had her chance, she was intercepted by Karuma with his throwing stars.

“This one won’t let you get away.” Karuma shouted.

Suddenly, a red dot appeared on Karuma’s chest, aiming at his heart. But there was no sound, no change in the mana flow for Karuma to detect. As blind as he was, he was not even aware of the red dot on his chest. That red dot actually came from under the hood of the slender figure, showing a faint straight line of red light all the way to Karuma. But Astora, once again, was the one who saw it.

“Karuma, get away!”

A small red beam fired at incredible at its target. What the woman did not see however was the old hamster who has followed the situation and realized the danger the red dot imposed. Reacting to his instinct, the grand master pushed Karuma out of the way of the laser and took the attack right through him.

“Old man!” Valanor shouted.

“Master? Master!!!!” Karuma felt the beating heart of his master slowly fading.

Everyone was distracted by the sudden turn of events. They all rushed to the old hamster now lying immobile on the ground, bleeding in his chest. Yet, the threat was still there, currently having just finished reloading his ammunition and preparing to fire a second round. At this distance, it would be certain death.

“No…” Cornelia panting heavily in the woman’s arms rose her hand and grabbed a piece of clothing of the big figure. “She…is…mine.”

The two figures in hood looked at each other, nodding in agreement and decided to retreat. They have accomplished their objective in coming here. There was no further need to do anything unnecessary that might provoke the wrath of others anymore. Together, they vanished into a dimensional crack behind them, leaving only destruction and death behind along the grief they created.

“Master! Master!” Karuma called out to the old hamster desperately.

“Karuma…you…are being too loud *cough cough* ” The old hamster tried to make a smile but only blood came out.

“Please drink this! It’s a healing potion. It should help to…” Valanor brought out his potions.

“Don’t…the wound is too deep…You will only waste it *groan* Miss Astora…” the grand master called out to the girl with tears in her eyes. “This..is not your fault. You…must not blame yourself…”

“But I cause this! It is because I came here that…”

“No, it is…destiny that brought you here. And it is destiny that will take me away…My only regret is that…the disciples have to go with me… *cough cough* You will face much more challenges in your journey, facing with tough decision…You may regret some but never doubt yourself!

In my hut, there is a scroll…it will teach you how to use your Ki….You may not become a martial artist but some basics of the art will surely benefit you….” The old hamster turned to Karuma. “Karuma…I want you to go with her.”

“What? Why master?” asked the young man.

“Only by going with her will you be lifted of that burden you have been carrying all these years. I was not able to help you…but she will…I think…No…I am sure of it. Promise me, Karuma, that you will accompany miss Astora until the end of her journey!”

“Yes, this one swears!” two lines of tears flowed out his blind eyes as he kneeled on the ground.

“Good…” the old master smiled, patting his disciple’s head. “You have grown so much, my son. Please, don’t let the flames of vengeance cloud your judgement! You must not let yourself be consumed it. Remember my words!”

“Yes, this one will!” Karuma sobbed.

“Now…I am at peace!” The grand master spoke.

“Wait, you didn’t tell me who told you about me.” Astora shouted. “Please tell me!”

“You will see that person…eventually…when the time comes.” The grand master looked up toward the sky and closed his eyes. He gave off a final gentle smile and departed from the world of the living.

Thus, the tragedy of the temple spread quickly. And with its, the rumors of a new Dark Lord that threatened the peace.

* * *

Location: Empire of Scyentia, Ministry of Science

The large door opened loudly with two figures in black robes charging in. In their hands was a blue hair young girl covered in blood, barely hanging on that single thread of life she had left. The man in charge of the place, wearing white robe and a piece of clothing to hide his face, was shocked to see the state of the girl.

“What happened to her arm?” asked the man.

“…..” but the silence of the two and the pain shown on the girl’s face were more than enough as a reply.

“Put her down on the bench! Prepare the surgical room! I will go down in….”

“What is with all these commotions?”

From the door, a figure walked in. With their imposing presence, the blue majestic attire which was the perfect combination of royal clothing adorned with golden lines and light armor suitable for immediate combat, if that was not enough, the person had a distinct helmet on their head. Covering their entire head, even the backside hiding all their hair, the helmet shared a similar appearance to that of a royal knight but with much more intricate imprint and royal emblems across its surface. Two tiny gaps were at the level of the eyes for sight purpose. A blue cape was attached to the armor with a golden crest. Without a doubt, the only person who could wear this kind of clothing was the person with the highest authority in the entire country: the Regent of Scyentia.

“Your Majesty! Why have you come?” the man in white asked.

“Is there any reason why I can’t?” the Regent spoke with an imposing voice. The voice however suggested a woman behind that iron helmet. Noticing the presence of the two in black robes and someone else on the bench, the Regent approached and saw a dying Cornelia.

Upon seeing the Regent, Cornelia used all of her willpower to ignore the pain and smirked. “Hello!”

The Regent ignored the agonizing girl who did her best to smile to her and turned to the man in white. “Why is she like this? What happened to her arm?”

“Well…” the man hesitated.

“It is just a scratch.” Cornelia said while smiling brightly. “I just played too hard with a monster and it got me. It is nothing worthy worrying about.” The girl held her dismembered arm tightly to hold back the blood, biting her lips to stop the pain.

“I suggest you don’t waste your resources on useless thing. We don’t want to attract the attention of the Pillars.” The Regent, continuing to ignore the girl, turned her back to her and went back outside. “I expect a report on the advancement state of the experiment by morning.”

With the Regent gone, the man exhaled heavily in relief. “Man, it has been years since I worked with her but she almost scares the shit out of me.” The man wiped off his sweat and turned to Cornelia. The girl sat silently, enduring the pain. But the expression shown on her face was not of a person in physical pain but someone in anguish “Hey….”

“ *sniff* it is alright. I know what I am to her. You don’t have to tell me anything else.” Cornelia surprisingly broke out in tears but still did her best to hold back. Her small voice sounded shaken, unable to speak properly. The once fearful aura she had was gone within just a short moment of meeting the Regent. In these rare moments, Cornelia was no less of a young normal girl than anybody else. Meanwhile, the two figures in black could only watch as the girl swiped her tears again and again.

Patting her head, the man in white spoke. “You did good by not telling her about Astora.”

“Don’t speak of her name!!!” Cornelia rose her tone.

“Calm down calm down! We don’t want Her Majesty to hear this, don’t we? Let’s just take care of your wound first!”

“….Make me stronger! I will endure all your experiments. Just give me something!”

“…Are you sure? You do remember how painful last time it was, don’t you?”

“I am.” Cornelia spoke with resolution.

“If you are so willing then I will abide.” The man turned to the two figures in robes. “Franken, Stein, bring some of the prototypes to the clinic. I will see what I can do.”

As the couple left the room and the man performed some first aid on Cornelia’s wounds, a flame of vengeance burned in the girl’s eyes. “I won’t forget this humiliation, Astora. We will see who is worthy of Alastor’s legacy.”

* * *

The real world was filled with uncertainty. Events that took place in a single night could potentially change the fate of many. No one could predict all these changes and the only way to live with it was to accept it. However, a certain realm remained unaffected, devoid of all uncertainty. In its place, it was a boring stillness in which nothing ever happened. Perhaps some might find the place quite fitting if one was afraid of the chaos outside. To live in a perfect shell where tomorrow would be the same as today, as yesterday and the day before it.

It was a realm of dream, built upon the foundations of the mind of a young girl. Impossible to access by all, it was thought to be impenetrable. So thought the girl but also the residents of this dark realm. But that belief ended today, when the once thought to be impenetrable fortress was infiltrated by a being no one ever expected. How would they react to this sudden turn of event when their peace was at stake?

Inside the mysterious shop, the shopkeeper was doing her usual business, which was nothing. The old blacksmith was caring for the storage, organizing the seemingly infinite number of items in order. Meanwhile, the old woman in red scarf sat near the fireplace, staring at her charcoaled cauldron. Always doing the same thing they have been doing for as long as one could remember. The cycle has always and shall always remain the same...Or so they thought.

*BREAK*

The sound of glass cracking echoed across the realm, followed by a loud broken noise. Then silence. A total blackout creeping from within the darkness, lurking around the only source of warmth in this world. Shades of abdominal forms circled the shop, sometimes watching the inside. The shop itself was trembling from the eerie sounds outside.

“We have an unwelcomed guest!” the Red Hag uttered to herself. “The ancient Nightmare has come to play.”

Realizing the true nature of this event, Durin stormed out of the shop. Outside, it was as if a storm was right there in their front door. The dark wind blew violently, encircling the shop. Lightning arcs sparked within the darkness, occasionally hitting the ground around the shop. Then, from the darkness, a shadow emerged. Its body was pitch black, sucking and distorting all the lights around it. It had no apparent leg but was still able to move like gliding across the soil. The two arms were excessively branchy and long, reaching to more than half of its body length. Instead of a fleshy head, an elongated skull was in its place with two extensions growing in thorny patterns, almost like two creepy horns. A pair of red eyes glowed brightly from the eyeholes of the skull. The creature came out of the dark whirlwind and stopped in its track, staring at the old bald man at the entrance while keeping a distance between them. A trail of black sludge was left by the creature’s movement.

“You! It’s you.” Durin uttered in shock.

“Greetings to you too, Durin! It has been a while.” The creature spoke eerily.