Playing Around with the Darkness

Normally, having one's body get pierced through by a huge blade would warrant a surging mix of emotions for the person on the receiving end. From sheer feelings of pain, to expressions of regret and the fear of impending death, it's understandable that anyone in this situation would have their minds go haywire as their consciousness slowly fade into blackness...

However, I, for one, had my mind thinking of something else.

"Ahhh...although some pathetic worm disrupted the flow of events at the end, we were still able to meet face to face, nano. Could it be that fate warrants us to see each other no matter what, nano? If so, perhaps I should give her a bigger reward instead of finishing her off, nano. Don't you think so too, Ren Mortel?"

Like a snake slowly entangling its body around its prey, the mastermind herself—now having the disguise of the girl I was talking to earlier—slowly walked around me as she examined my pinned self from all angles. Her lips formed a faint but wicked smile, but her now crimson eyes reveal a deep scorn, possibly dissatisfied with my reaction.

I mean, it can't be helped, you know?

In hindsight, this girl, or whoever this person is that's in front of me, has been sincere on both of her statements...or that's what I want to believe.

First, she did say that going here from her origin would take a very long time, even with the power that she got from all the people she defeated. For that reason, it should suffice to say that everything wouldn't be possible if the mastermind herself is still hiding somewhere very far away. She must have arrived here, at least a few days prior.

The second point, though she didn't explicitly guaranteed, proved just how much I have become complacent in my abilities and lowered my guard down around complete strangers. In this world full of magic and other wondrous stuff, magic that could change one's appearance and whatnot isn't some expert-level skill and any learned individual can use it.Using these magics to impersonate a person is impressive, but seeing through the trickery is way more rare and difficult, and it might be too late for the untrained to do so. This lady merely exploited the fact that I don't prefer using the [High Priestess] on other people, and I am to blame for that.

Thankfully, I have the [Death] Arcana in me, or else the way my mind works wouldn't be like this.

"That girl...where is she?"

"Intriguing, very intriguing nano! It is what the reports say—you're far more concerned about other people's safety than that of your own, that you don't give a care about your current situation, nano. Aren't you a very nice person, Ren Mortel?"

"Where...is she?"

"Ohohoho, the way you look at me scares me so much, nano," she said in a monotone voice. "Do you really want to see her so bad, nano? Could it be that you are already infatuated with her, nano?"

"You..."

"But, alas—she's not here anymore. If you want to see her again, you have to pay the price, nano."

Saying that, she stretched her arms forward and then, she took something that looked like a circular mirror from thin air. This mirror in her hands showed the real girl inside a dimly-lit room, encapsulated in some huge glass cylinder full of bright red liquid. She doesn't seem to be in pain as she's sleeping peacefully, but the fact that she's stark naked makes it very hard for me to look at her.

"That worm...despite having most of her powers absorbed by me, was still able to completely negate the effects of my poor, poor Terrorbloom. I want to squeeze everything out of her as a punishment, but that is impossible even with my powers, nano. I'm still hungering for more, don't you know? Not just her ability, I want to have all the special abilities in this world for myself, nano! Thus, I was so happy to learn about your existence, Ren Mortel. All of that power resting inside you is more than everything I've harvested so far, and the way the powers of the gods swirl inside you...makes me feel very hot. Ah, at last, I can finally say it: I...I must have fallen deeply in love with your abilities, nano!"

"W-Wha—?!"

At that instant, a cold shiver came to me upon hearing those words straight out of her mouth. Falling in love, with the Arcanas in me?! That's a real bombshell of a sentence, if I heard that right.

"The potential deep within you...is so intoxicating that every night, I have started to do things I normally wouldn't do while thinking of them...ahh, I can't take it anymore! I...I must have your abilities all at once, nano! Give it to me, nano!!!"

Grabbing me by the collar, she continued expressing her pent-up desires to me. The sheer warmth of her rough breathing, and the crazed look in her eyes, makes it look like I'm being pinned by a pervert more than anything.

"Ah. My apologies, nano, I got a little...carried away," she spoke, sporting a 'shy' laugh.

"Little, huh? I can't imagine seeing you get too carried away if that's the case."

Unamused with my response, she continued speaking, "Well, enough of that kind of talk, nano. Right now, although having a great sword stuck in your viscera wouldn't kill you, the mixture of chemicals and magic spells laced in the blade will prevent you from doing any unnecessary movement and using any of your abilities, which will make it easier for me to bring you to my lair, nano. Think of it as an anaesthesia, nano, but without the drowsy effect."

At that moment, I felt that the blade lodged in me has started to move as if being pulled by her, though that's impossible since she's right in front of me. It didn't hurt, unlike the time I got stabbed by it. Rather, it felt like having a hard object grating against your spine. Forcing myself to look over my shoulder have me a glimpse of the one who's pulling the blade: a disembodied hand, jutting out from within a thick, dark smoke. It's a scary sight, but I've already grown insensitive to those things that I merely sighed in dismay.

The lady, hearing my sighs, furrowed her eyebrows and asked:

"What's with the sighing, nano?"

"Oh, don't mind it. I just expected things to feel a bit more...life-threatening, you get what I mean? My whole body is numb right now, but that's it."

"So you want to experience more pain, nano? I didn't know you were such a masochist, nano."

"Huh? No, silly. Well, you know what, never mind. Just do what you want for now so that both of us can finally get over with it."

Thanks to whatever was in that sword, I'm currently as helpless as a goldfish out of the water. It's funny how I always end up like this, but it is what it is.

Perhaps, there's a chance that I can make use of this situation to help those who were wronged by this lady, especially that girl. This weird optimism at the worst of times...is what keeps me from staying alive.

The lady, seeing me becoming cooperative all of a sudden, drew a faint smile on her face. She must be thinking right now that she finally got me, as I'm incapable of resisting at the moment, hence the confidence in the tone of her voice.

"Oh, no worries, nano. I am in no particular rush; once we're in my place, we will have plenty of time to know more of each other better."

Using her magic, she created a circular-shaped void behind her which acted as a portal to her lair, slowly pulling the incapacitated me along with her. Still, I remained unnaturally calm, as drowsiness have finally started to latch into my senses.

Aoi, Lerish, everyone...I'm sorry. You might be waiting for me down there, but this young lad...will be away for some time, in some place that I'm not too excited about. Don't worry though, I'll find a way back...

...hopefully.

-----

"GUUUHHHAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!"

"...Hmph! Filthy undead, no matter how many times you come back to life, you're still no match to a genuine immortal like me!"

While watching the undead bomber on his final throes as dark flames consume his entire body, Aoi looked around and saw the damage incurred into the neighborhood. Just by this undead person alone, a huge portion of buildings in their block was blown up into piles of debris, and those who were fortunate enough to be spared from the explosions suffered great damages, including the Sandy Fish.

Had it not because of Lerish's efforts to lure the undead away into somewhere that's more open while also providing suppressing fire for Aoi, the damage would've been more severe.

But what if there's more than one of those undead hiding somewhere? Can the two of them deal with the threat without any support from other forces? Although Lerish have already confirmed that there were no more enemies in the area, Aoi is still not convinced 100 percent, hence she chose not to think about it anymore.

"...If only I didn't held back on using my power, maybe, these buildings..."

"That is not it, Miss Aoi. None of this is your fault," standing right behind her, Lerish spoke.

With the help of the [Tower], Lerish was able to create a holographic three-dimensional map of the area where the attacks had occurred. She estimated, that even though the map shows that only a fraction of Plate Town was affected, the reconstruction and rehabilitation of destroyed structures, as well as giving of aid to the affected residents, might take a long time and will require a copious amount of funding—either from the government, or from her personal pockets.

Even so, much like Aoi, her mind is not focused solely on that. After all that's done, the neighborhood is safe once again, and the damages to life were successfully kept as minimal as possible.

"Without you, Miss Aoi, the damages caused by that undead terrorist will be worse than it should be. It pains my heart to see the places we see everyday be reduced into rubble, but these are the things that even us cannot control or foresee. Notwithstanding the collateral damage, I—in my capacity as the princess of this kingdom—hereby absolve you of any blame any person might inflict upon you. I will also take responsibility for the incident, just for good measure."

"...Eh?! No, Nooooo! You don't have to do that for me, Lerish! In the first place, a goddess like me doesn't care at all about what other humans will say to me!"

"Fufu...certainly, I am very well aware of that," Lerish chuckled, "the only reason I said those words is because I saw for a moment that Miss Aoi was feeling down after that fight, and I wanted to cheer you up."

"...Hmph! You and your flowery words really irks me off," Aoi grunted.

Looking up, Lerish said, "Those matters aside, have you noticed already, Miss Aoi? The surroundings have brightened up, and the skies do not have that dreadful red color anymore."

"...Now that you've said it...you're right. I didn't notice it immediately because I was so engrossed in finishing off that guy earlier."

With everything except for the destroyed buildings having went back to normal, Lerish and Aoi instantly thought—

"...Does that mean that big brother have already dealt with the main bad guy?"

"I believe so as well, Miss Aoi. Let us look for his current location just to confirm."

Through the use of smooth hand movements, Lerish expertly manipulated the controls of her Arcana, as if operating a large touch screen. With the trademark search magic now active, she then inputted her query about Ren's whereabouts, and...

"Hm? That is strange..."

"...Lerish? What's the matter?"

Showing an uptight expression, Lerish replied:

"Ren...I cannot find him."

"...HUUUUUUHHHH?!?! What do you mean by that, huh? Aren't that Arcana supposed to be able to find anything and everything?!"

"But it is true, Miss Aoi! Usually, I was always able to find Ren no matter where he go using the [Tower]...this time, however, the Arcana would not respond to any of my queries."

To prove to Aoi that she's saying the truth, Lerish then used the Arcana one more time right beside the little girl, allowing her to see how it works up close. After several minutes and a few dozen search attempts, Aoi was convinced that her big brother was 'missing' from the Arcana's sight.

"...I don't understand...where in the world is big brother, really?"

And then, a flash of memory suddenly came inside Aoi's mind. She remembered the giant egg flower in the sky from earlier, and how seemingly menacing it looked despite its actual harmless nature. She knows exactly what it was, and yet, how come there was no suspicious feeling that sprung within her upon seeing it?

"...Lerish, can you look for his last known position?"

"E-Eh? Um, please give me a moment, Miss Aoi."

After adjusting the parameters in her Arcana, the [Tower] immediately gave a response: the top level of a tall building on the opposite part of the town. The girls surmised that the main perpetrator must've chose this place for it's height, as well as its distance from the ground zero, which is the neighborhood where Sandy Fish is situated.

"...In any case, we must go there as soon as possible. I'm feeling more uneasy by the minute," Aoi said, biting her lip.

"I know a shortcut to that place, Miss Aoi. Please follow me."

Although called a shortcut by Lerish, this path is a known bottleneck inside the town often congested with people, owing to its width gradually narrowing as you continue to pass through it. However due to the situation, virtually all residents are evacuated, and thus they were able to reach the building in no time.

"...Haaah...we're already at the top but still, I can't detect any presence of big brother here. Big brother, where are you..."

"Apart from the marks indicating that a fight had indeed happened here, even I am having a difficult time determining his exact location...hmm?"

While she's looking around for any clues about Ren's whereabouts, Lerish noticed something that's covered in a white tarp and debris, and upon removing the cover—to her surprise—saw an ominous-looking long sword, still with traces of blood on it. Quickly, she reported her findings to Aoi, whose glint of eyes grew dimmer at an instant.

"...Yes, no doubt and it. This blood belongs to big brother."

"Oh no..."

"...This sword too, I'm quite familiar with the symbols etched on it. It's as if they're not trying to hide their identity from us, that they'll be expecting us to go after them. Oh, I can already see their smug faces even from here."

"Miss Aoi..."

"...It's alright, Lerish. Now that I know who's behind all of this, I feel like I can do things now without reservation. Ah, it's been a very long time since I had this kind of feeling..."

While she's saying that, Aoi's lips formed a smile. It's a sweet smile much like that it belongs to a normal child, but for some reason, Lerish felt her heart grew heavy the more she looked at her.

Unlike the usual Aoi whose temper would easily explode at times like this, the little girl in front of her remained calm and collected, as she quietly touched the already dried blood stains with her hands. It's the first time she saw her like that, which made her feel more anxious.

'Beware the quiet man', Lerish remembered having read something along those lines before, when she was still a child. Back then she couldn't understand it fully, but now that she's witnessing such thing happening before her eyes, it has now made sense for her.

Perhaps, for her, such an advice is much, much valuable and warranted.