Chapter 5

Fight for a Righteous cause or not?

Rumble. Rumble. Groan.

The door to the 40th boss level opened slowly, letting out a disgruntled groan while opening. A gush of smoke and wind pushed forward, blowing back hot air. Something about the spiritual side of this world was hot and dreary. The deeper Zero and his group went downwards, the more the environment seemed to change into a hot volcanic level.

Pshhhhhh. Fawoooom!

The gust of wind swirled around them and disappeared quickly. Seconds later, a large empty room with blue flying candles turned on one-by-one. The hot steam that was present disappeared and a cool breeze blew through instead.

Not a speck of sound could be heard in the newly lit room, except the heavy breathing of dragon and their companions. Zero was the first one to wearily take a step in. He knew that something was going to happen, but he didn’t know what.

It wasn’t until everyone stepped in through the door that it closed behind them with a large slam.

“The boss fight is starting,” Zero worded under his breath. Not being able to retreat was a problem, and this meant only one thing. A fight to the death and only one side would be left standing.

In the middle of the room, a sudden flash of light erupted outwards from a magic circle that appeared out of thin air. It was a bubble-like energy effect that whooshed past them. A completely strange setting that Zero never thought was possible was appearing before their eyes.

Dark shadowy silhouettes of humans and monsters appeared by the dozens all around them. Everyone stepped back, wondering what monsters would appear next. They were ready to fight against the swarm of monsters that started to materialize in front of them. As each one started to take form, their expressions and figures began to clear up.

“S-stacy?” Valiant stuttered in shock, breaking the silence.

Before them, the second Drezo Regalia group from the physical realm appeared, flickering in and out like light. She was the leader of the second group that was tasked to raid the Pyramid of Light in the physical realm.

“Valiant?” Stacy was a smaller size black dragon, but growing up steadily into a powerful black dragon. “W-what? I thought you guys are dead.”

“We are?” Valiant was confused as well. He raised his claws and poke her by the cheek and found his finger passing her body like a ghost. Stacy shuddered as hot steam escaped her mouth. Her body was shaking from the drop of cold temperature.

Staring in shock, he glanced down to see that his hands were transparent. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but this is strange.”

The voices on both sides were speaking out in confusion. They thought that this was possibly an enemy attack, but when they realized that they couldn’t harm each other they were all at ease.

“Is this a new game element?”

“Possibly reinforcements?”

“Isn’t this a good thing? I mean both groups are together finally.”

“I’m not so sure. This could be more difficult fight. Not only that, I believe that both realms have converged into one temporarily.” Zero interjected.

“Huh?”

“This happened before,” Zero’s voice became loud for everyone to hear. “Especially during the time when Russ and his army invaded our village. I was out of my physical body, but even still, somehow there were distortions in-between the two realms. We’re not completely in the physical plane, but at the same time we are. Same goes the other way.”

Everyone was listening to Zero’s explanation. Shock and confusion riddled their faces.

“Why? I mean there isn’t any point right?” Valiant asked confused.

“That I don’t know…” Zero was stumped as well. Why was the realm between the physical and the spiritual converging in the boss level? Nothing was making sense right now, but he had a very bad feeling about this as a whole.

A sound of broken chains could be heard, scraping the ground in dark in front of them. Everyone heads turn at the ghastly sound that was coming slowly in a clip clop manner. Chains rustled, and a heavy metallic dragging sound could even be heard from the unusual being that was coming towards them.

Zero was not a fan of horror movies or monsters, but right before them a disfigured humanoid figure stepped out from the dark. His’s legs were oddly bent and twisted, dangling with heavy set of chains on both arms and legs. An ugly, flabby gut was spilling out from his tattered looking egyptian skirt, making anyone feel uncomfortable just by looking at it. His long arms touched the floor, trailing behind him, all the while holding a large, bloody hammer. Pale, cracked lips and face were littered in stitches, making one think that it was done for a reason.

His instincts were telling him that the monster before him was not normal in the slightest. It gave off a deadly, oppressive energy that seems to blossom out from the monster before him. Without even realizing it, the name Salik rung in his head.

Everyone had difficulties thinking that the one before them was a boss character, but even still, they were weary. Its slow, hobble-like walk, the clanking of chains made them wonder what kind of power were infused in its body. Not even a second later, a humanoid frog like figure hunched over on all four hopped out from the shadows. They wasn’t just one or two, but over a dozen as more started to spill out.

“What the heck is that?!” Sekka voice went up an octave higher. Her gold dragons eyes squinted in disgust.

A couple of players screamed in horror as Salik’s twitched its head and stuttered forward with its big bloodied hammer. The crinkling of his chains gave it an even creepier atmosphere. Sometimes, as Salik moved forward, it would flicker like static and change from dull to vibrant in colors.

Agnis face paled at the sight before her. Just like Zero, she was not a fan of horror movie like monsters. It gave her the shivers and sometimes it even gave her dark dreams. She gulped at the sight before her, not wanting to fight the monster that reminded her of a horror movie. “If we kill that thing, we’re not going to cursed right?” She gulped.

“I don’t know, but isn’t it better that we can kill it?” Zeraph replied. “I mean, I’ve always wanted to kill the monsters in the horror movies if they were chasing me down. At least they’re not unkillable monsters.”

“I know….I-it just twitched.” Agnis bite her lips unable to hide her disgust.

“The boss name is Salik.” Zero spoke out loud for everyone to hear, even though he felt a bit uncomfortable fighting the monster ahead. “Get ready for battle!”

Everyone was tensed, wondering what would happen in this unusual boss fight. Valiant’s group of black dragons and their companions were the first ones to blitz towards their enemies. The Frogmen were literally trampled in seconds, but strangely a third of them did not fall under Valiant’s green flames. Instead, it went right past them unharmed.

“What the heck?!” Valiant yelled out in confusion.

The Frogman pass through them like they were not there and battled the second group of dragons in the physical realm. The second group fought viciously, but their fight took a bit longer than Valiant’s group. The level and strength difference was large, but that did not mean they were not incapable of winning

“Pay close attention! There are slight differences!” Zero was watching from the back. “Aim for the ashen colored ones and for the second group the vibrant colored ones!” He quickly caught on that the difference in color made a huge difference in this battle.

The ashen colored Frogman could only be killed by the Zero’s group, while the vibrant colored ones from the second group. Once the vibrant colored ones died, their spiritual body rose up from the dead and attacked once again like a vengeful spirit.

What was completely different from this fight was that the ashen colored Frogman could also deal damage to the second group, but couldn’t be physically harmed by them.

“Den! Keep the dead at bay from the living!” Sekka called out. She was casting an area wide effect of holy light with her gold dragon teammates. A warm protective aura hit every member of the first and the second group, giving a temporarily holy light shield around their body.

Zero was awe at Sekka’s power to even transcend to the other side of the physical barrier, if only at half the strength. Even still, that was enough to protect them from illness, curses, and shield that blocks from dark magic attacks for a duration of time.

“I’m on it!” Den and his group zipped forward with their companions on their back. They struck at the ashen colored Frogman that went after the second party.

With a grunt, Salik summoned more Frogmen doubling the second wave of attack.

Val’s sweet voice sprung forth from her mouth and her songs begin to play, giving temporarily boost in status. All the other bronze dragons and their companions followed pursuit, increasing the power of their song. A harmonious sound of the living and the dead, created an eerie but heart thumping song that revitalized both sides of the group.

Even Zero was itching to fight and test out what he could do. He started to jog towards the enemy. Agnis, Baku and Turnip’s group followed behind Zero, while Sekka, Kai, and Bee’s group stood back to cover the group’s rear doing crowd control. Long distance magic was cast from their side, clearing out the path for Zero, Baku, and Bee to follow through.

They had two factors to worry about, the dead Frogman and the living Frogman that spilled over to the dead when they died. Everyone had to be careful not to ignore the living Frogman for the fear of being stabbed in the back from not paying attention.

Baku and Turnip each respectively shot out fire and water from their mouth, pushing back the Frogmen that came out in droves.

Zero slipped past Baku and Turnip’s group and shot forward. His Kamori beside him, he struck Salik. Not even a second later, his sword slid through Salik as if he wasn’t even there. A blast of black energy erupted out of Salik’s body, throwing Zero back. He flew and landed sliding on the ground.

“What?” Stunned, Zero got up in complete disbelief. Was he not able to even defeat Salik without killing him first in the physical realm? But then, how was it possible for Salik to harm him in the spiritual world?

“Die!” Agnis shouted her arrows shot through, piercing the air. Once again, her arrows completely bypassed Agnis and came out the other-side unharmed. With a thunk, it embedded itself into the wall. Flabbergasted, Agnis was dazed at what just happened.

“Pay attention to its color! It’s phasing in-between the spiritual and physical world!” Zeraph rushed over, his sword swoosh through the air and entered its gut with a jab.

Salik groaned and in matter of seconds, the heavy hammer that was dragging on the ground suddenly swung around, hitting Zeraph on his side. A sickening crack could be heard but luckily for Zeraph, he pulled his sword out just in time to block the attack. Seconds later, he was viciously slammed into the opposite wall from Zero.

Just a moment later, Salik roared and let out a blast of energy that sent out an electric shock wave. The range of the shock wave took out half the room, causing everyone who was near him to be electrocuted. Players were stunned left and right and only those who were casting magic were able to get away, because of their distance.

Frogmen was once again summoned around Zero’s stunned group. Suddenly, multiple magic arrows drew them away. Sekka’s group dashed forward, stopping the Frogmen from taking out the magic casters. They retaliated with fire and claw, making sure that none came close.

“Seka! They’re coming again from the left!” Leaf, Sekka’s partner, shot a magical arrow towards the second wave of Frogmen that died from under the second group. The constant battle from the summoned Frogmen, to the Frogmen that resurrected, and finally the Salik’s phasing from one dimension to the next made it a lot more difficult to fight all at once.

The Second group broke into two groups one taking care of the Frogmen and the second group dove in towards Salik on all sides. Salik was not fast on his feet, but its long arms were like whips that deflected the oncoming hordes of dragons and their companion.

Roars, flames, and even clashing swords against hammer boomed outwards. Salik didn’t falter, and instead kept on pushing forward even though it had large cuts and blood seeping out of its body. As the second group relentlessly attacked, Salik’s color slowly started to turn ashen till finally all of the second group’s attacks did not phase it at all.

“First group get ready to attack! Second group pull back now! Do not get caught up by its attack!” Zero yelled. Throughout the entire fight when the second group was fighting, he was killing Frogmen and watching Salik’s pattern.

Moments later, Salik sent out an electrical stunning attack that blew outwards towards the second group, but not harming the first group.

“Now!” Zero dashed forward, he struck head on. Zeraph followed after from behind, each taking turns to injure Salik as best as they could.

Taking a step backwards, he ducked before the heavy blow of the hammer could crush Zero’s skull. The close encounter made his heart jump up into his throat.

Valiant dove in and blew a blast of green fire. Both of his claws pushed downwards onto the Salik’s heavy hammer, blowing fire into its deformed face. Salik’s face slowly started to melt like wax, but even still he was not backing down. The other hand snaked in around the heavy hammer and smashed into Valiant’s jaw. Following after, Salik wheeled around and smashed the hammer into Valiant’s side.

An heavy impact of the hammer hit his hard black scales, causing him to fly past Sekka and into the magician’s group. With a thud, he crumbled onto the floor, breathing heavily from his injury.

“Valiant!” Reed yelled she rush over to his side.

Valiant coughed up blood and spat it on the ground next to him. “That bastard hits are no joke.”

“You idiot! You’re not some kind of god!” Reed shouted in anger. She placed her hands over Valiant’s injury and started to give him first aid.

“I know, but I made its face uglier.” Valiant spoke with a grin on his face, happy that his fire actually harmed Salik’s body. The other dragons flames did not cause much damage, but Valiant’s did.

“Quit talking, get healed first.”

“We don’t have time.” Valiant shakily got up, but his legs gave out and he fell back to the ground.

“Well. Well. Well. The idiot has finally got badly injured.” Kai walked over with a smirk on his face. “How would you like to get healed? Burnt alive? Drown alive? Suffocated alive? Possibly buried alive?”

“Why does everything sound like you want to kill me?” Valiant frowned when Kai walked over. His gleaming green scales sparkled even under the dim light, giving it a gentle vibrant feel.

“Why not? You and Sekka both need to be killed in my hands to get your head on straight.” Kai roughly pushed Valiant onto his side, not even caring that he was an injured patient.

Valiant groaned and spat a puff of green fire onto Kai’s face. “Careful! I think I broke a couple of ribs!”

“Good.” Kai pressed his hands down near Valiant’s side with a wicked grin. “You need some pain to straighten out that idiot head of yours.” His claw hand became brilliant green and a large soft aura started to heal Valiant’s side.

“You’re a demon.” Valiant hissed.

“I’m not an idiot like you at least.”

Boom!

A shock wave of energy shot outwards, this time bigger than before. Zero, Zeraph, and Agnis was in the middle of the battle with Salik. Each one holding back the monster with everything they got. Zero’s and Zeraph’s swords were like a pair of crane doing their ritualistic dance as they jabbed, strike, and stabbed.

Salik did not phase in-between dimension and instead its fury couldn’t be contained. The giant hammer was swung like a toy from all around him. Not many were able to get a close to Salik and harm him directly. Mostly magic and arrows were able to hit Salik’s body, but it was not strong enough to cause great harm.

All on its body, Salik became littered with broken arrows that snapped off on its deformed body.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The sound of the heavy hammer being hit down onto the ground picked up dust and broke deeply into the ground.

Zero, Zeraph, and Agnis were hopping around, trying not to get hit too badly by its hammer. They knew that a couple of well landed hits could shave a large amount of their health down to floor.

Zero flew in from the right, his sword slash forward into three strikes, and his third strike got caught in-between Salik’s armpit. With a grunt, Zero pushed all his strength into his whole arm and pulled upwards, slicing Salik’s shoulder clean off.

Salik dropped his bloody hammer and flew towards the sword’s blade. With a vicious yank, Salik took Zero’s sword out of his hands and twirled it against Zero. A strange energy encompassed Zero’s sword, causing it to have erratic energy. Usually his sword couldn’t harm him, because of it being made from his own energy, but the one that came flying towards Zero was different. The broken sword was thrown into Zero’s shoulder, pinning him into the ground.

“Augh!” Zero yelled out in pain. He reached over towards the hilt in the hopes to pull it out, but the hilt was too far away for him to grab. Black blood covered the whole blade, and a wild hissing sound could be heard Zero’s shoulder. The black blood was slowly corroding his shoulder, giving him a painful burn.

“Zero!” Agnis fired arrow after arrow into the open gash of Salik’s wound, making Salik stumble backward in pain.

Zeraph dashed forward in front of Zero. “Death Flash!” A flurry of attacks that even a Zero couldn’t see after were shot towards in rapid succession. Several large wounds opened up, gushing out black blood.

Agnis pulled the sword out of Zero’s shoulder, and pulled him away from Salik rampaging hand. A deadly whirling roar fired out from Salik’s mouth. The whirlwind-like attack pushed everyone back, following after was an electric blast. It’s body color turned from ashen to vibrant, moving dimensions.

Zeraph, Zero, and Agnis was caught up in its electric blast, unable to move. Large swarms of Frogmen hopped towards them to kill them in their immobile state.

“Captain!” A blur of black and gold sprung forward, guarding all three of them from the Frogmen’s attack. Their group followed after, pushing back the Frogmen from over running them.

“Are you alright captain?!” Valiant spat out green fire, and smashed a Frogman into the ground. He was completely healed from Kai’s magic.

Sekka swirled around, bashing them with her golden tail. Light magic arrows flew all around her causing devastation, every step she took. To see two large dragons fighting side-by-side was truly an extraordinary sight to see, especially of two opposing dragon forces that even through endless generation would always quarrel against one another.

“Thanks to you.” Zero was was helped up by Agnis. The stunning effect was finally gone, allowing them to get up.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Captain. That was a sweet attack~” Valiant happily squashed a Frogman with his claws. A sickening squish could be heard, but this did not phase Valiant at all.

Instead, Reed who was on his back, twitched and look like she was about to hurl.

“Glad to see you guys here.” Agnis spoke with a sigh. “This idiot forgot that he almost got himself killed.”

“That’s what I say to Valiant all the time!” Reed threw up her hands in the air, completely understanding Agnis point.

“He’ll be fine.” Zeraph rolled his eyes. He flicked his sword free of black blood and put it back into his sheath.

“Fine? That’s a matter of opinion. He would’ve died if we didn’t save him.” Agnis frowned.

“This is battle. You’ll eventually die if you’re not careful.”

“That’s why we have friends backing each other up.” Agnis sighed at Zeraph’s answer.

“No time to dawdle. It seems the second group had forced it to cross over back into our dimension.” Zeraph ran off and once again battled Salik.

“So soon?” Agnis was stumped on how quickly Salik has shifted back into their side.

“The injury might be telling us that its close to death. Let’s get this over and done with.” Zero gritted his teeth and straightened himself. He took a pill out of his pocket and chewed on it. A small burst of energy could be felt as his body started to repair itself.

“Wait, let me heal you.” Agnis raised her hands and gave him a gentle water healing spell for beginners. “It’s not much, but at least it’s something.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Her magic couldn’t heal much like a regular priest or a Green Dragon, but it stopped the bleeding and the corrosion effect on Zero’s body. “It’ll be best if you get it look at by Kai.”

“We don’t have time.” Zero grabbed his sword off the ground. He once again started to walk and then turned into a jog toward Salik.

“Still…” Agnis was a bit worried at Zero’s physical condition. She could see that he couldn’t swing his left shoulder where the blade had struck.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen next when he dies. He hasn’t even shifted into the spiritual world completely, we need to get his life down as soon as possible.”

“I know. I am also worried about that as well.” Agnis raised her bow and fired off holy endowed arrows. Each fire found its mark, not leaving a single miss.

Zero left Agnis behind and ran around Salik. He dove forward, attacking from behind. Even without looking backwards, Salik stopped Zero’s attack as if it was nothing. His head unnaturally cracked and turned towards Zero.

“What?!” Alarmed, Zero jumped backwards in surprise. The creepy ability to turn its head completely around made even Zero’s neck uncomfortable.

With a cackle, Salik rattled his chain, shuffling forward in eerily. If they were alone fighting Salik and his minion, one would think that they had stumbled upon a first grade horror film from the background music, atmosphere, and the monster in front of them.

Salik smashed his hammer into Zero. Zero raised his sword just in time to block the attack. He skid on the ground, feeling a horrible pain in his arm and hand. The power from Salik’s attack was not just for show, he felt frustrated that he couldn’t changed into his dragon form when he needed too.

Zero dashed once again and not even a second later he was blocked again. Anger welled up inside him, making him more reckless. His whole calm demeanor was thrown out the window, but this did not make him more powerful or quicker. Even if it gave him a boost of power, his rationality to think ahead and instinctual use his attacks with precision was lowered.

All his life’s teaching in martial art’s was temporarily thrown out the window. He knew anger would make his attacks more easier to read and to figure out. It didn’t take long for him to be beaten back and a good punch to his stomach woke him up. His whole body was aching, torn, and bloodied. The others were slowly losing their stamina and power from fighting a long battle.

Everywhere he looked, both group were barely hanging on, Salik was continuously spewing out Frogmen and phasing in-between worlds. The fight between two sides with Salik was shortening, making the advancement towards him more difficult, especially every time it would blast out a static shock that would stun everyone.

With a deep breath, he calmed himself down. I can’t be so reckless and angry. He repeated this mantra over and over again. Letting his mind cool down, and allowing his mind to clear up. For a long time, throughout his whole fight inside the Pyramid, he realized that he been too tensed and he was in too much of a hurry to change.

Once he cleared his mind and allow his heart to settle, he could see why he couldn’t change. A powerful energy burst forward in his heart and throughout his body. His chest felt hot and burning with fire. He could feel that he could change into a dragon form and shed his human skin at this moment.

His hands became obsidian black with claws, his body rippled with thick muscles, giving him power. His neck grew long like a whip, from his head a long sleek pair of horns grew with gold feathers decorating his ears and neck. Beautiful gold markings decorated his scales, making him look even more majestic than before.

Just standing in front of Salik, the others couldn’t help but feel in awe at the pressure that Zero’s body gave off. It did not compare to Salik’s and even Salik knew the difference in Zero’s body from before. Zero was tall as a three story building, while the others dragons barely even came up to his knee or chest.

Zero’s tail swished back and forth, creating a heavy push of air. A puff of smoke erupted out of his nose and his closed eyes opened, letting his dazzling golden eyes stare down upon Salik as if he was an insignificant bug.

“S….o…..it’s….true.” For the first time, Salik spoke threw his sewed mouth. It was an eerie combination of fingernails running down a chalkboard and a high pitch sound.

Everyone was startled at Salik who suddenly spoke.

“The…prince…of dragons…..has returned.”

In that moment, a gust of powerful dark energy spread out from Salik and covered half the room. A monstrous large swarm of Frogman appeared from the darkness and started its attack on Zero.

“Pr….ince……die!”

Zero inhaled deeply, his chest glowed lime green as it swelled. Letting out a torrent of green flames, it devoured through the Frogman in one blow. Unholy screams could be heard from the mouth of the Frogmen that would make anyone present shiver.

Everyone was awed at his majestic appearance and power that they couldn’t help but be envious of. Every dragon, both living and the dead, look up to him.

Zero swung forward with his right claw and smashed against Salik’s heavy hammer. Seconds later, Zero blew a fierce green fire from his mouth and onto Salik’s whole body. He was covered head to toe in ghastly flames.

Zeraph jumped onto Zero’s arm and ran along the top. His sword patiently waited to be pulled out from his sheathe. Jumping up from Zero’s hand, he pulled out his sword and aimed directly at Salik’s heart. With every bit of strength he had, he pushed the sword deeply through the back.

An unholy scream of thousands dying voices erupted out from Salik’s mouth. A black and green gust of wind, erupted outwards as souls escaped from its body and disappeared into thin air.

Salik stumbled forward with its body still in flames as it fell onto its knees. “Ha….ha…haha….hahahahaha!” The sewn stitches broke apart, and Salik threw his distorted head backwards. Even burning in green flames, Salik didn’t seem to die but slowly melt.

Everyone was shocked to see such strange event, giving them shivers to anybody that was watching.

Salik abruptly stopped laughing and turned his head directly towards Zero. The sewn mouth was ripped free. “My prince. Welcome home.” With an evil grin, he once again barked out laughing.

Zero couldn’t take it anymore and blew out a torrent of bright green flames at Salik, his claws hands came crashing down, snuffing out the monster’s life in seconds.

The room cleared up from the dreary dark atmosphere and the a soft white light entered. Zero lifted his hand and saw only a black scorching mark on the ground from the fire and the giant bloodied hammer left where Salik’s stood.

Players and dragons alike burst into cheers as the boss monster was dead. The overpowering form of Zero etched in their mind with glamour as they glanced up towards Zero with awe.

#####

Oct. 28, 2054. Wednesday. 7:05 PM.

Kiyro sat in front of the coach, sitting in front of large 80’ TV in the lobby. Next to him was Alex and Eve who was taking a break from the game of Growth and watching a special one hour program that was more like a news mixed with a reality show together. Since the last battle with floor 40’s boss, they had pushed through the floors, making their way quickly through to forty-fifth floor.

They had planned to meet up together at the library to talk about the strategic battle to come inside the game of Growth, and now they decided to spend the last hour in relaxing and watching T.V. Alex had a bag of popcorn in his hands, eating it slowly, while Eve legs were curled up next to her.

“Breaking news. Another murder art has appeared in the local area in Springfield, Illinois happened this morning in a rural area. Inside a small home, Miss Robinson was killed alive and tortured.” A pretty lady with caramel colored hair spoke. Sitting right next to her was an African American man in a suit holding onto a stack of papers, glancing down a bit uncomfortably. “This has been the seventh chain murder case in America.”

The screen changes to an elderly man who was standing in front of the camera talking to the local news cast. “I knew Miss Robinson since she was born. She was a sweet child that did not deserve to die in such a cruel way. I mean, she was known as a brilliant bright child with a beautiful smile. Whenever she spoke, you could feel calm and happy just being around her. Whoever did this to her is a sick bastard that needs to be sent to jail and be given a death sentence!” The old man was fuming in anger.

“Truly a horror story in the making. So far, there have not been many clues of this pretentious attack, but we are certain that they are some similarities in all these murders. We believe that this killer is a religious fanatic that brands the dead with a black cross that is left behind on the person’s skin.” The lady spoke with her hands crossed in front of her. “What do you think Mr. Samuel? You are the famous psychological leading expert who wrote The Demon and I. We heard that you are also taking part in this case. Do you think this is a religious statement against the society?”

“I wouldn’t say this is a religious war at all. Please don’t misunderstand me, before we jump into religion we should first base this case on the ideas of what this killer want to portray to the viewers. This is called the Murder Art case for a reason.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Art is a form of expression, especially of oneself and the person’s surrounding. This killer in a sense has an artistic taste, there is a high possibility he could be a artist. The way that he poses each body reminds you of an activity. The first one was The Mother and Child, the Ballerina, the Yin and Yang, Box-in, Cat and Mouse, Caged Room, and finally moving onto the Kickball. We are not sure if this is just a random act of murder, but each time this have happened, the media had brought these ‘Art’ to life, bringing more attention to them.”

“Then are you saying that Media are the cause of these deaths?” The lady was taken a bit back from Samuel’s statement.

“Yes and no. Yes in a sense that we are fanning the flame of the killer’s ego of bringing his artwork to the spot light. All artists, either it be in the form of a drawing, music, dancing, or any form of ‘entertainment’, wants their ‘Art’ to be known and viewed. It’s a natural creation process that one wants to share to the viewers. One’s art is not just for oneself you know. It’s is a pleasurable experience that one shares in the moment of the finished product.”

“So this is entertainment as a whole?”

“Exactly, A pleasurable experience that he or she wants to show to the world. The media is a powerful tool in bringing his art to the viewers. More and more people who watch this show or search the internet would be able wanting to know why? Why does this person do this horrible thing? What reason? For what purpose? Even still, the humanities curiosity can not be quenched until this answer are answered.”

“So by doing this show, we’re just fuming the flames.”

“Yes, though at the same time we are using the media to catch this culprit that seem to elude us like a ghost. Our investigation is still pending right this moment.”

“Why did you state that this might not be a religious statement?”

“Well for starters, even though this person is possibility of a religious nature, that does not mean that they are being condemned for not believing. It is one of the signatures that is left behind by the killer in every victim. The irony of this whole matter is that this ‘religious’ person is doing the opposite of the religious belief on One shall not murder on the Christian or Catholic aspect.”

“Ah, I see.”

“We’re not completely sure what the killer wants to exactly portray, in any case, we believe that the killer will eventually falter. We are confident in this aspect. One can only go so far in today’s society killing another human being after another without slipping.”

“That’s quite a strong statement.” The lady smiled with a wide grin.

“We are confident in what we do and we wanted to reassure the people that there are people out there working diligently on this case and bring justice to the criminal in hand.”

“Truly, what a heartwarming speech.” With a gentle clap, her eyes were bright with expectation. “Though, there is another interesting story that I wanted to share with you that has been happening recently in South Carolina these past few months.”

“What would that be?”

“Well, in all honesty, I find this creepy even talking about it, but recently there have been sightings in Greenville, South Carolina of a clown appearing near the woods enticing young children to come in and follow them.”

“Ah, I heard about that recently as well. Although, it’s not very often that you hear these types of stories of clowns calling people into the dark woods. This case has been reported since the 1934 and some speculate even further than that. There have been quite a colorful histories of an possible event in the past where a young man had held a house in the woods. Supposedly, he was one of the workers in the circus that usually came by in the past, but died tragically in his home. Since then, there has been reporting of clown cases appearing in the the local woods.”

“Is that house still there?” The lady gulped as she clenched her hands tightly.

“Well no. There is no house there, but these are all just superstitions that have been passed down from mouth-to-mouth. Demons are, in a way, just a figment of one’s imagination, all conjured up in the mind. What we don’t understand, we fear and label as demons or monsters.”

“Not a lot of people would believe what you would have to say.”

“That’s fine. I understand that my opinions and ideas do not fit with everyone else. I am ninety-nine percent confident in refuting such thoughts with scientific knowledge. In all actuality, if someone could disapprove such thoughts I welcome it with open arms.” Sam joyfully stated. “If such a existence was even real, then this world would definitively be put to the test correct?”

“I’m not so sure if I want to know if there are such things as demon in this world. The thought actually terrifies me.”

“That is a normal reaction that any human has. The unknown is frightening, but when revealed, don’t you think that fear would eventually disappear, making it more easy to defeat?”

“I..guess so?”

“Please be more confident.” Sam smiled. “Bringing something under the light, we are able to see the true source of the fear that bogs down our mind and heart. With this, it gives us a fighting chance to turn it into a weapon.”

“Ah, I see. Well, for the viewers who are watching this, it would be best to remind your kids about the dangers of the clowns trying to kidnap them. I wouldn’t want such things to happen to their family any time soon. Anyways let’s get off these spooky topics for now and instead thank you for joining us here today at Solara.” She stick out her hands to shake with Sam.

“No, thank you for bringing me on the show.” He grabbed her hands, and firmly shook it.

The program went into commercial, leaving behind a silent atmosphere between the three. Each one of them were thinking about what they had just watched.

“I heard about the Murder Art.” Eve was the first one to speak up, catching both Alex’s and Kiyro’s attention. “I didn’t think that it would’ve gotten this bad. I mean the last time was during the time….of the ….college.” Her voice became smaller and smaller at the thought of the event.

Even Kiyro could remember that special event clearly in his mind. Even if he wanted to delete it out of his mind, he couldn’t. His amazing memory did not let him. “In total, there are seven. You think that he will continue on with this show?”

“That’s an absolute fact, isn’t it?” Agnis voice trembled. She too knew who it was that killed the two students, making her tremble in fear.

“Let’s not talk about this. It giving me the shivers.” Zero felt like a hundreds of bugs were crawling up under the skin just thinking about Angel. Just being in the same room with him made him feel suffocated and fear. That was a man who would kill without a second thought and was mentally insane. A sociopath to the core.

Eve nodded, and she unconsciously scooted a bit closer towards Kiyro in the hopes of protection and comfort. Kiyro could feel her warm body temperature against a few inches away from his. He suddenly became conscious of her body that he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Looking over Eve’s shoulder, Kiyro noticed Alex seem a bit troubled over something. “Alex?” He called out breaking Alex’s silence.

“Huh?” Alex turned around towards him a bit startled.

“Is everything okay?”

“I….” Alex pulled in a deep breathe to clear his mind. “Yea, thanks. I’ll go on ahead. I got something important I need to do.”

“Alright, don’t forget we’re going to push through the next two level’s tonight.”

“I know. I’ll see you in the next thirty minutes.” Alex got up in a hurry and left the two behind.

“What’s wrong with him?” Eve quizzically watched, Alex back leave in a hurry.

“I don’t know, but it might have to do with what we watched possibly?”

“Yea, I think so too. I never seen him so serious over watching T.V before. Usually he’s uncaring and get’s bored really easily.”

Kiyro thought it over for a moment, but he couldn’t think of anything. Instead, he silently watched T.V with Eve. Without him realizing it, Eve gently leaned on his shoulder.

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