426 Item-R, Item-E, and Elizabeth Swann - The Truth!
Red Sun appeared on a mountaintop, his breathing ragged.
He sat down at the cliff's edge and took several minutes to catch his breath. After he had made sure that none had followed him, he let out a sigh.
Then he rubbed the marquise-shaped, black-colored diamond on his forehead.
Another sigh.
There was nothing but dirt and rocks under him. But now, one could see the fingers of his left hand digging into the earth like several worms.
Red Sun's face was expressionless as if he was just waiting for the Inheritance Land's dome to vanish, his gaze full of solitude.
The fingers went several inches deeper and dug out a red-colored capsule.
An HP capsule!
It didn't seem it was a premium one, which he had mentioned to Kai a few moments before. Still, it was a 3rd-Set's HP capsule.
This was a routine procedure he had learned during his time playing the Systems' game. He always hid at least 1 HP, 1 MP, and 1 SP capsule in the nearby area. So, it wasn't like he had lied to Kai, either.
He just… didn't tell him.
Red Sun threw the capsule in his mouth so fast that even the trained eyes couldn't have found anything wrong with his posture.
The moment it went down his throat, it melted, an ethereal red glow taking over his body. In no time, the bleeding stump on his right shoulder healed, and there was even a sign of flesh regenerating.
"Blood Demon…" Red Sun mumbled, his eyes gaining vigor. "I will serve you. Conqueror Haki… Observation Haki… Reality Marble… And then there was that Zanpakuto… Sigh! What kind of monster has resurrected in the Primordial Tower? Ah, well! All I do, I do for him… for him."
As Item-R worded "him", an incredibly gentle expression appeared on his face.
If those who knew Robin the Swindler could see this expression, it would have shocked the living breath out of them. He was a swindler and lickspittle.
Who would have known that there was such a side to him?
A secret; buried in the very depths of his heart and soul.
*
*
Huff! Huff!
Moraine huffed and puffed, her full breasts jiggling up and down, her thoughts in chaos.
When she couldn't run more, Item-E leaned against a broken wall and slid down, her eyes falling on the darkened dome of the Inheritance Land.
Memories of the last three days flashed through her mind, but it was Kai who occupied the most prominent position. And his Promise. A Promise from…
"Emperor's descendant…" Moraine worded out her guess for the first time, her entire body shivering in cold and absolute fear; in dreadful horror.
It was then Moraine lifted her hand and rubbed her throat, where the impressions of ten fingers had already gained a purplish hue.
A rare, rueful smile lifted the corner of her lips, making her more enchanting than ever.
When she had put demands to Kai, it hadn't meant that she had taken Kai's generosity for granted. Nor had she taken him for a saint.
It was because Moraine the Elegant wanted Kai to punish her, showing her absolute submission toward him in return.
She took no pleasure in such torments. No. She had done that for one reason. Because Blood Demon wanted her to make demands. So she did.
Yes, she was elegant. Yes, she wasn't as powerful as Red Sun. Not yet, at least.
But Moraine was no fool.
Couldn't she see why Red Sun had taken an immediate liking to Blood Demon, agreeing to become his servant on the spot? Humph!
"Blood Demon…" Moraine whispered, almost laughing. "… You are… my greatest serendipity."
*
*
This Inheritance Land had originated because the Anomalies garnered special attention from the Systems.
It wasn't the presence of such an Inheritance Land that was important to them, but the timing of their coming into being. One could even say… that such Inheritances, which weren't initiated by the Systems, served the purpose of a Save Point.
How could the Systems and the Timeline suffer the consequences of the disaster caused by the Anomalies doing nothing about it?
These Save Points served the purpose of limiting the catastrophe, hoping to continue the storyline in line with the main storyline as much as possible.
Of course, not everything was salvageable.
Major Characters were turning points in a Timeline. To restore them to a specific time consumed an impossible level of power. That's why the Systems had assigned a task to the Contestants to escort these Characters out of the Inheritance Land.
Interceptor had already taken Jack Sparrow, with two Philosopher's Stones, and William Turner deep into the sea. They wouldn't and couldn't return to the situation before the Save Point.
Red Sun had put Governor Swann and Commodore Norrington on Governor's ship, Dauntless, and had sent them out of the Inheritance Land. So, they were out of the Systems' purview as well.
Captain Barbossa and his crew had already been captured by the top-level 7th-floor Contestant, their fate unknown.
Rumble!!!
Suddenly, the entire Inheritance Land trembled, rumbling sounds echoing far and wide.
Then, with a noiseless boom, the black dome imploded before exploding with a resounding boom.
BOOM!!!
Everything paused, then. Even time seemed to have gone still.
Just as it felt that this couldn't go any longer, the entire Port Royal blurred. People began appearing on the island; indulged in their regular work.
Sunlight fell upon the seawater, docks, and on the people's tired faces. Marines marched here and there, taking notes of the damages and the dead. The entire island had been plundered on the night, and now came the process of restoration; of both town and minds.
Yes. The Systems had restored everything as if Black Pearl's pirates had come and gone exactly according to the main storyline.
Yet, the ships, Interceptor and Dauntless, were missing, and so were 5 major characters.
Wait! Not 5. There was one more.
In the sewers under the Governor's mansion, there was a figure, nailed to the arching, filthy wall.
Nails were running through her palms, embedded into the grime-covered wall, and her feet were dangling, filth reaching up to her waist.
These sewers weren't well-developed, to begin with. Their size dwindled between 4 ft height, max, to 2 ft minimum.
In such a cramped place, naked and alone, was Elizabeth Swann.
Kai had placed her in the sewers, just by the manhole cover over the sewer's entrance on the mansion's backside. This way, though there would be difficulty in finding her, she would get found eventually before breathing her last breath.
Or so Kai had reasoned.
Even he hadn't imagined how horrendous the changes were going to happen to him, then.
After spending an entire night in sewers, breathing the wretched smell of filth, and the booms overhead rocking her figure, Elizabeth had survived.
But, if one were to hold their breath to keep the putrid smell out of their noses, they could hear a whisper. A form of jumbled words as if someone was chanting or praying something.
Only when one neared Elizabeth's mouth did these words gain a discernible form.
"Truth…" she was saying, drooling. "… I… must know… the Truth."
Some 30 minutes had gone by since the Shadow Lord's death and even less since the disappearance of the Inheritance Land.
Even if people were to look for her now, it would be too late for her. She was fated… She was fated to die here, mumbling like a maniac.
It was then something stirred within the filth, like a fish in the water. It bobbed up and down as if it was trying to come out, but lacked strength.
Elizabeth gave it no attention.
Then, with a soft bang, a hand protruded out of the grime.
It was a bony hand, only half a foot. And black. So black, in fact, that one could call it a shadow.
The tiny hand clawed at the wall and pulled its body out.
It was a frail and stick-like body, completely black from head to feet. From all over the body, a black fog was emanating, along with drops of black liquid, melting into the filth underneath it.
The black shadow had no comprehensible face, but the subtle curves and its eyes did match a certain existence.
The Shadow Lord!!!
Pirate Lord Henry Morgan, the mightiest Alchemist of the Pirates of the Caribbean Random Worlds, was still alive!
No. He wasn't "still" alive. Better would be to say he had resurrected within one of his shadow creatures.
Shadow Lord had indeed died. Otherwise, the Systems wouldn't have announced the Inheritance Land's completion notification to the Contestants.
But it wasn't the first time Shadow Lord had died, either.
In the past, the Pirates Lord, with the help of Captain Jack Sparrow, had already disposed of him once using the shadow gold; the substance that gave him powers. However, it was this substance that had allowed him to gain a further understanding of his arts, enhancing his knowledge.
That's why, since his resurrection, Shadow Lord had been biding his time, waiting for the right opportunity.
Yet, even he failed to fathom the mystery of the being who called himself Blood Demon, and his powers.
"Cough!" Shadow Lord coughed, tumbling to gain his footing. "… What… is this power?"
On the shadow creature's forehead, 9 stars were shining, and the star at the top was pale yellow.
A yellow stroke was slithering up from the lowest start to the topmost as if a flaming serpent was ascending to heaven.
Qliphoth Genesis… was a seal on Shadow Lord's existence. Even resurrection did not seem to be out of its reach.
It was then that Shadow Lord faced Elizabeth, eying her state.
Coincidence? What kind of absurdity was it for a shadow creature to get thrown and fall into the sewers because of the explosions? What kind of stupendous luck or misfortune was it for Shadow Lord to resurrect here, by her side?
Or was there something more involved in it? Something transcending mere instances of coincidences?
"Cough! Cough!" Shadow Lord's cough intensified, and his left arm fell off, becoming black fog. "I… can't survive."
Once more he looked at the young lady; if there was anything about her that could be said living. "Who… are you?" he asked, his voice breaking. "What are you doing here? Let me have a look."
Some said that if the notorious pirate Edward Teach, commonly known as Blackbeard, was a demon, then Henry Morgan was a downright devil.
He had no sympathy or mercy for anyone. For his benefit, he could do anything.
In these things, Shadow Lord was exactly like Blood Demon.
But… there was one thing more that they shared, a soft spot; if one dared to give it a name.
Family!
Shadow Lord touched Elizabeth Swann's head and her memories flashed in his mind. After a few seconds, he let his hand fall, strength abandoning him because of the Seal.
"Elizabeth…" he whispered, an ancient presence filling his voice. His own memories went to the past, searching for a face he seemed to have long forgotten. "… Mary… Oh, Mary! Would things… be different if you were at my side? Would they?"
Few remember, but Sir Pirate Morgan wasn't a loveless man.
There was one woman he loved the most, to whom he had given his everything.
Mary Elizabeth, his wife!
Elizabeth Swann's name had resurrected an old memory, bringing Shadow Lord's mind to a point in the past he had never imagined he would visit.
Endless emotions found him, embracing him like a lost friend. "Sigh!" Sir Henry Morgan sighed, a touch of serenity lingering in his breath as if a tremendous weight had lifted off his shoulders. "Perhaps… Perhaps it's time for me to move on."
Shadow Lord gave Elizabeth a decisive look and put the tip of his index finger on her forehead. "Live, Elizabeth," he mumbled, endless black fog seeping into the young lady's naked body. "Live for revenge. Kill the one who brought you suffering, the pirates who forced you to go through everything, and the marines who couldn't save you. Kill all and everything. Let the Day of the Shadows descend on this world once more. Take my legacy and become… the Shadow Queen!"
Elizabeth, for the first time, lifted her head, her eyes darker than dark, deader than dead. "I…" she whispered, shadows rippling in her mouth. "… I will know the Truth."
The tiny shadow creature crumbled, his head falling off.
Dying, once again and for the last time, Shadow Lord's gaze seemed to pierce through the sewers' walls, eying a smiling face. He smiled at that smile. "Mary… I have finally come."
Bang!
A shadowy bang rang within the sewers, the filth surging like waves.
A cloak of shadows covered Elizabeth's figure. Her hair gained a shade of the blackest color, and when she breathed, black, evil fog escaped her mouth. In her eyes, there was a distinct hint of knowledge, as if she had just come to know some deeper mysteries of the universe.
None could stop her now.
None could stop the legend of Elizabeth Swann and her rise as the Shadow Queen…
… courtesy of a certain someone named Kai of House Stormborn.
