Opia [2]

"Aghh!" Encender groaned in agony as she narrowly dodged the carving knife, inadvertently allowing it to stab her shoulder. 

It was immensely painful, however, this was also a blessing in disguise. Encender managed to notice the blade that dripped blood to the ground.

Bam—! 

She performed a side whip kick, and pressed the poor prison guard's head to the ground. A pond of blood was made that streamed to all the four points of the world. Nonetheless, she did not have time to ponder about that.

Pew—! 

A bullet was shot towards her forehead. Thanks to the fact that it increased in size, destructiveness, and speed, the guard was positive it was going to be a clean hit.

Swish—! 

Engaging in a rapid manner, Encender deftly slices the bullet, now resembling the size of two lion heads, into two equal parts. Nevertheless, she does not cease her actions at this point.

Crack—! 

Enraged, Encender flung her trusty metal rod at the insolent guard brandishing the expansion gun. The projectile struck its mark with precision, leaving a minuscule hole in his forehead like a bulls-eye.

Pew, Pew, Pew—! 

Clang, Clang, Clang—! 

Encender blocked the barrage of bullets coming at her, allowing some to pass beside her. However, she soon thought of a way to counter them.

'It is just like that time when I played baseball.'

Slowly crouching to the ground until she was only tall to the size of her waist, Encender imitated the time she played baseball with her elder brother.

Bam, bam, bam—!

She managed to hit eleven bullets, with each bullet directed at one of her invisible adversaries. A small stream of blood was made from the bodies of the weakest prison guards. Even so, something Encender had forgotten took place.

BZZZZZTT!

It was near time for all the cells to close, and the light brown-haired girl wasn't sure she could make it.

Thud—!

Encender fell to the ground. Even a blind man could tell that she is tired from how heavily she is panting. However, she didn't have the time to do so.

'I have to go back to the cell while there is still time.'

The buzzer had rung a few minutes ago, and all the cell rooms would be closed soon. She didn't know what would happen, but really needed to put something in her stomach.

With a stiff expression on her face, Encender got up from the ground using her two great stone bars as her support.

She slowly staggered towards the nearest cube, which is the book cube. However, she couldn't make more than thirty steps.

Bam—!

A loud sound echoed through the air. All the iron bars blocking the cell blocks covered. Each bar has a curved surface area of thirty centimeters each, unlike the five-centimeter ones they use in the cells.

"No!!!"Encender screamed in agony, "I am so hungry!!"

Her bottomless stomach has been sending signals since a few minutes ago, and she really had to feed herself. Even so, hunger should be the last thing to worry about.

It felt more like the sound of a grinding mill, yet it was the sound of the ground shaking violently.

"Is it an earthquake?" Encender questioned, as she tried hard to maintain her footing, her light brown long locks hitting her face.

Nonetheless, it didn't take a second for the young girl to wide open her golden eyes.

She exclaimed, "What the hell!?"

The ground was slowly drifting like waves in the ocean, while the cubes slowly submerged into the ground. The same was true for the young girl's feet.

A thought quickly came to her mind, 'Is this the way to get out of this prison?'

As she looked at it, the food the inmates eat is always restocked, and everything is always clean. Not to mention that the Suicidal cube doesn't smell at all, despite the number of people who kill themselves every day.

'I won't leave my friend alone!' 

She vowed in her heart. Tsuyoi would be worried sick if she suddenly disappeared. The youngest inmate might handle it, but that wouldn't make Encender a good friend. 

"Also, something tells me not to go there," she stated as she jumped over to the book cube. 

Science cube, textile cube, Mechanical cube, music cube, and Art cube. 

Encender jumped over all the above buildings in a straight line, trying hard to find a place to land that wasn't sinking, yet that was all in vain. 

'Tito wouldn't have a problem with this.'

Although she didn't want to bring him into her own problems, Encender was one hundred percent right. Tito could just float in the air and avoid sinking with the building. 

Grrr—! 

While Encender was still marking her next destination on the Art Cube, the ground stopped sucking in the building, as it turned rock solid hard.

"Hmm—"

Nonetheless, she did not have time to take a sigh of relief as the already dark ceiling slowly started to ripple apart.

Crack—!

Encender's golden eyes danced around as she glared at each ripple forming a string that slowly descended to the ground.

"No, those aren't strings," she mutters before she suddenly raised her voice. "Those are giant black tentacles."

Swish—!

Clang—!

A loud metallic sound vibrated through the air as Encender blocked the blank tentacle that rushed to crush her.

"Tsk. I am so tired," she complains as she maintains her calm face.

Swish—!

A tentacle rushes at her while making a hook with its end. Even so, Encender didn't even think about acting like last time.

She swiftly jumps over the tentacle and rushes over to where the tentacles were coming from.

Acting like a worm, the one she is standing on starts to wiggle around while the other black tentacles fiercely charge at her in an attempt to break her apart.

Be it as it may, that only made it easy for Red Panda to charge towards the sky, as she leaped from tentacle to tentacle, like a monkey shifting between trees. 

It is not as if the roof will save her life. In truth, it is actually the opposite. The reason Encender is going there is because of Tito's unexpected mutter the day Kontrolu decided to kill himself.

"The last six floors are hidden deep underneath the ground, and the first six floors are above ground. Got it."

In all honesty, Tito sounded like he was talking to someone, so she just shrugged him off. However...

'What if his words are true.'

The curiosity of an Adventurer quickly got to her.

"I am only going to scout," she says to herself.

It was her own way of doing things without needing someone's help. She might have relied on her brother to help her, but now she had risen from the nest.

She closes her eyes again, and this time, she saw something different.

_

The air twisted around, showcasing the intense heat of the place. The sun hung high in the sky, casting its scorching rays down on the deserted land that stretched endlessly in all directions, leaving no indication of its boundaries.

A small pathway shrouded by barrel cactus, which were the only things that remained unaffected by the scorching heat, twisted like a flag, making it hard to navigate. 

Despite its endless nature, there were no signs indicating its end.

In between the barrel cactus shrubs, mechanical body parts are scattered around like sand as they slowly molt down. 

The moment the mechanical body parts finish melting down, they all wash away down the path and a new batch falls to the ground, like raindrops. 

However, a notable distinction was observed as human corpses, including some with broken limbs, were intermingled in the scene. Nevertheless, it took only an instant for all of them to succumb to the blazing fire. 

The continuous repetition of the process created the illusion of an infinite time loop. After several years of this repetition, time abruptly stopped when the pathway required replenishment. 

The mist spiraled around as a golden-cloaked silhouette emerged from the ground. The only visible features were his striking purple eyes.

Its hands slowly moved to the front, still hidden behind the ends of the golden cloak.

It spoke with a hoarse voice, "Sun or Moon?"