Tilting Everyone's Situation
Vwoom—!
Almost.
But it was never enough.
Vwoom—!
Almost reaching the neck of the Fiend, Cayenne felt the heaviness at her top, domineering all over her body.
The ground she was stepping on cracked into webs while the invisible power was weighing her down to the earth's surface.
Clang—!
Feeling the pressure from the Fiend lowering on his side, Heralton stood up and attacked the monster with a swift movement and precision.
Yet the senses of the Fiend were much faster as with one glance, it stretched its hands and made Heralton drop on the ground once more.
Whoosh—!
But the other three also moved, conjuring their powers. Vordy sends out cloudy oddballs toward the Fiend as Sezter throws a bunch of rods, incorporeal, light in the same direction.
"…"
The Fiend didn't even move to dodge the incoming attacks. With a little sway of its hand, all those attacks have been repelled and bounced back.
Vwoom—!
Maria clasped her hands together as she pointed them at the Fiend, who only made a slight reaction, feeling suppressed by the same invisible power.
"Weak."
With a knitted brow, the Fiend brought Maria down on the ground once more, along with Vodry and Sezter. This time, twice the same pressure was applied and there was no more way to escape.
Everyone was struggling.
All of them were feeling something invisible and heavy weighing them down.
It was becoming harder to breathe.
Suddenly, the Fiend frowned.
He felt the rumbling on the ground and the aura of the person he was restraining changing but there was something else that made him react like that.
It was a strange occurrence.
'One, two, three, four, five… Weren't there six people in total here?'
Rumble—!
The Fiend then looked at his front, seeing the struggling Cayenne with her blood and sweat and once he blinked, she disappeared without a trace.
"Huh?"
Slash—!
Feeling a graze from his shoulder, the Fiend growled as he looked around to find Cayenne. Knowing what it meant, the Fiend halted using its powers and began attacking the fast apparition that interspersed along with the wind.
Whoosh—!
The ghostly rapier continued inflicting minor damage to the Fiend, small black blood oozing from those attacks.
"A mere, unknown grade 3 Fiend like you can't wish to hurt me. I've fought much worse."
Thrusting her rapier at the Fiend's back, touching the pristine, black, skin, Cayenne slashed it upward up to its back neck.
Vwoom—!
Yet, it didn't even reach that point as Cayenne felt a pulsating pressure from above that brought her down to her knees. She was about to escape but the monarch continued pressing her down.
"You don't know anything."
The monarch of the under spoke solemnly as he resumed, his voice rising with a hideous smile attaching to his lips.
"You thought that was hard work!? You really thought that was just it?! The Fiend you fought is just a rebel of our kind! We didn't lose anything and made you feel that you got everything under control! Hahahahah!"
Cayenne frozed for a moment while she knitted her brows, blood sliding from her eyes as she questioned, "What the… hell are you saying?"
Clank—!
Instead of answering Cayenne with glee, his hand raised also stopped to give her a torturous experience, the Fiend looked under its belt on the right, horror-struck on its face, seeing something was missing.
"Now this is mine."
The Fiend glanced sideways, seeing the lock and key for a specific gate floating, and soon, a man with a thick skin mask appeared, his cold-looking eyes were looking back at the Fiend.
Silence envelops inside.
Only screams from the pillar of fog were the only disturbance as the Fiends outside tried to get in but to no avail, Maria and Vodry were keeping them busy while in that state.
"You…"
Duke looked at the involuted, golden, padlock on his hand.
The keyhole, which was supposed to be in the bottom, was on the middle part of the intricate lock. The key with a twisted and distinctive design is emanating a weird aura, looking like it wasn't just any other key.
"Don't—"
The Fiend started to dash forward, forgetting the pressure he was applying to everyone else as he tried to stop the only person who was now the greater threat than Cayenne.
But it was already too late.
Clank—!
Duke inserted the key on the lock, not minding the strange look the Fiend was giving.
He twisted the key and threw it as far from their position, as before feeling the same pressure once again, thrice the normal heaviness was applied once the Fiend managed to use its power once it closed the distance
Duke knelt down but the Fiend's attention wasn't his.
The events transpired so fast with little room to breathe. For a moment, and only for a moment, they managed to get a rest as all of them inside had all their attention looking at one place.
"NO!"
Rumble—!
The lock had fallen, convoluted on its own as a tear of reality was forming right above. At the start, a small rift was forming, and debris from the borders of the veil started going down but soon transversing towards the hole.
Then, it got bigger and bigger still.
Vwoom—!
"Urgh!"
After the Fiend grabbed the lock and the key, it punched its hands to the ground to remain still as the warped hole that was open was pulling everything like a vacuum cleaner.
It sucked everything on its way.
"Hold tight!"
The pillars of fog, corpses of humans, the devastated debris that had fallen, and Fiends no matter what Grade they were, dead or alive, are all being pulled towards the rift.
Vwoom—!
Duke warned everyone as he struck his dagger on the ground the same as Heralton. Vodry used his pointed hat on the ground to do the job, while Sezter used a tangible light – the last remaining reserve she had – to do the same thing.
Maria, on the other hand, was able to suppress herself but she was slowly being taken away along with others. After a few seconds of resisting, a small stone rubble hit her head, making her unconscious.
"Maria!"
Heralton shouted, rummaging through his pocket with his available hand to find an item to catch her even though everything was broken.
His friend was being taken away and he had nothing else he had.
Hopelessly looking at the scene, suddenly, a green, vine-like rope was stretched towards her direction, wrapping it around her hands.
Tracing the rope to where it came from, Heralton saw Cayenne, with her rapier dug into the earth, clenching her hands as tightly as possible.
Vwooom—!
"AHHHHH!"
"H-help!"
"Sir Under!"
Duke glanced at his back, looking at the gigantic gravitational hole which didn't stop sucking every being it pulled to its demise and growing still, almost had the same size as a normal house.
'Damn it...'
This was the only thing he had thought for the situation to tilt on anybody's side, knowing for a fact they can't face the Fiend head-on, clearly exhausted and unprepared.
The idea was to blow the gravitational hole using Maria and Vodry's power but due to circumstances, Duke had no choice but to use it.
And now, neither was winning. Only the third party that joined was gaining which Duke had invited himself.
Crack—!
Abruptly, Duke looked at his weapon as the sound of something breaking was becoming more apparent.
Looking at his dagger with a straight face that miraculously holding on, was now on the verge of shattering. He looked at his men, only to see they were struggling to keep themselves intact as their attention was trying to avoid being pulled.
Vwoom—!
He looked at Cayenne just slightly away from them, on the edge of breaking apart. He had no one to ask for help.
Clicking his tongue, Duke rummaged through his pocket at a steady pace to avoid putting too much weight that could cause the blade to instantly break. There was nothing that could help him.
There was only a pocket watch, a handkerchief, a pair of gloves, and a small, miniature door which was given to him by the Innkeeper.
Grabbing the miniature door with a sense of regret, Duke clenched his fist and punched the ground furiously.
"Fuck!"
He had nothing.
'Is this it?'
The only thing he had to do was to wish the dagger didn't break.
'Is this the end?'
And though as it happens, luck didn't even give him that.
The dagger shattered.
"Boss!"
Duke was thrown towards the warped hole, unable to do anything while facing the sky. His eyes lose the meaning of life for a slight moment.
Crack—!
At the same time, his eyes widen seeing the transparent veil that covers the whole vicinity… destroyed.
Bang—!
In a split second, grabbing any ounce of strength he had, Duke used his fingers to tap the miniature door with his finger and shouted.
"Brought it down here, Innkeeper!"
Duke let go of the miniature door before, grabbing a Fiend that was just slightly in the very entrance, its hands struck on the land surface.
"You again!"
Monarch of the Under irritatingly shouted at Duke, who was holding its bare leg to stop himself from being pulled.
"You… annoying pest!"
The Fiend, Under, angrily swayed its legs to remove the added weight, its expression turning to worry but to no avail, Duke was persistent, only leaving a curt reply.
"You are coming with me."
Crack—!
The support, Under, was using which was its hands was slowly losing momentum.
"Why!?"
For a moment, the ground cracked before Under, along with Duke, was dragged inside the gravitational hole.
'Cursed Mark Manipulation: Cursed Subsuming.'
Vwoom—!
"Why—"
And the trail of its voice was gone as it was undergoing a transformation, turning into a core as Duke immediately grabbed it.
"Bluergh—!"
Duke vomited a bunch of blood from his mouth as he entered the gravitational hole, viewing a sensational thing as if his death wasn't doomed yet.
As Duke was freefalling and being dragged, a large expanse of purple darkness viewed a few kilometers, forming an endless crate with the red crimson moon illuminating the whole humungous area.
And just a second later, someone grabbed the back of his collar.
He glanced sideways and met an open door with the confused Innkeeper tip-toeing the very edge of it, its cat sitting at the top of his head, surveying him with relief.
"Boss!"
The Innkeeper called out worriedly as his cat meowed.
With a slight smile, I curtly nodded.
"Good work."