Chapter 94 - Building of Ruses
Coming out of the red membrane warp gate was a dark tanned woman. Sporting a off white toga and sandals, a sense of ancient Rome style clothing came to onlookers. Looking at the two glowing figures ahead that had immense magical powers, one of them had a familiar signature. Unable to see clearly from the wizard's outward aura of blue, she assumed the green glow from the other was who she was looking for. Ignoring the gut feeling of putting up a defense, she smiled and gave an enticing wave while leaning forward. Spectators noticed she did not wear undergarments.
"Yooo-whooo. Breaker darling," Haurette called out in a sweet voice. It caused the nearby men to blink and become surprised from feeling charmed.
"...?" the mage stated only glancing at the gunslinger for a second. Looking back at the demon with a fire aura, the face on the female teen seemed to indicate that they knew each other.
"Haurette," Selbith called out.
"...!?" the hell being reacted with surprise. Hearing a female voice, it threw her off and made her look closer at the one that spoke.
"What are you doing here?"
"...how do you know my name mortal?" Haurette asked then pointed at her.
"If you are looking for the Breaker, I do not know where he is. He is not here."
"You know him?!" the fire demon remarked surprised again; however, she kept where she was. Both the gunslinger and the mage were still holding onto their magic casting.
"Lamia and Eve are searching for the Breaker individually...why are you seeking him?" Selbith demanded.
"I have...personal business I need to discuss with that individual," she answered then narrowed her eyes. Seeing the shooter better, the appearance and clothing of the individual did not look familiar. It was flattering that a mortal knew who she was. On the other hand, knowing nothing of this particular female gunslinger was a little unsettling. Especially since she named other female demons who were doing the same task as her.
"Tell me mortal...who are you?"
"What!?" Selbith yelled in surprise and irritation. Her grip on the charged large pistol increased.
"You jest you sun-burnt bimbo."
"...you will tell me now...or I will burn your flesh," Haurette threatened with an unpleased face. The few men that were nearby saw a candle flame ignite in the woman's irises.
"I'm Selbith."
"...?" the fire demon veered back with a look of pity. "I pity you mortal. A name of a defect reaper is a severe error of your parents' judgement."
"GGGRRRRR!" Ami growled angrily and looked at the woman with scorn.
"I would be royally angry too if I was named after a-" Haurette began to explain when the gunslinger vanished in thin air. Only blinking once, the female teen appeared in front of her. Seeing hatred on the shooter's face, a fist impacted in the demon's stomach. Though it wasn't hard, it did surprise her and made her take a step back.
"Go back to your fire den of vice you degenerate worm!" Selbith raged pointing the muzzle at the woman's face.
Pulling the trigger, a recollection crossed her mind quickly. The "charge shot" that Jin did produced a ball of energy that appeared in front of the gun's barrel. Focusing back, something vastly different happen. Sounding like a heavy shotgun firing a cannon ball, the blast out of the muzzle looked like an explosion. Impacting and launching the fire demon backwards, she flew back through the red membrane.
At the same time, the massive recoil and blast launched Ami backwards. Keeping her grip on the handle, she hit the ground and slid back a few yards. While the surrounding townspeople looked out their windows from the loud and echoing boom, those outside and nearby covered their ears wincing. Seeing this as his opening, the wizard released his spell. Pointing his staff at the warp gate, tree roots began to grow out of the ground.
Surrounding the portal, some of the fast growing branches were piercing it from underneath. In a matter of 30 seconds, the Charon's Gate was being pushed and pulled apart and out of alignment. By the time the leg width roots and branches reached the top of the massive ring, it had powered down. All the lights and mechanical sounds it produced went quiet. Lowering his staff to the ground, he breathed out a sigh of relief.
'I had high hopes that it was just a warp gate,' the mage thought. Looking at the destroyed portal that was now part of the massively thick tree, he just shook his head.
'I should have guessed it was a Hell portal if Hell amulets were what powered it.'
'Not that is the only oddity here,' he stated mentally. Turning to his right a little, the female gunslinger had slowly stood up. Holstering her weapon, annoyance was still on her face looking at the Charon's Gate. Seeing her eyes shift toward him, he did not stuttered when speaking.
"I must thank you for aiding in the protection of this town."
"...threaten for being a demon...gratitude from fighting off another..." Selbith stated looking at him. "No wonder your feeble minds turn so easily."
"Courtesy for saving...is more of what the thanks is," the wizard corrected with a neutral face.
"What happened!?" one of the townspeople running toward the destroyed warp gate.
"Demons were coming out of it!"
"I told you it was witchcraft," an older lady stated with her crane. "Retrieving it from that dead souls place put a stigma on us all."
"Nonsense you old coot. Part of our town's survival is scavenging the surrounding parts," one of the merchants stated in defiance. About to continue, he felt an off-putting presence near him. Turning his head a little bit, he froze from seeing the female teenager.
"Tell me more...about this dead souls place," the gunslinger stated with a stern expression.
In one of the domains of Hell that was the most hostile in heat and fire, a Charon's Gate opened. When the red membrane filled the inner ring, a massive forward explosion shot out of it. A lone figure launched through and slammed into a bedrock pillar. Cratering into it, the fire demon let out a gasp of pain as her skin surface was skinned off partially. Other small portions of her upper body were blasted off from the massive energy shot.
"...GRRRRNNNN..." Haurette groaned and growled. Looking down at herself, she became angry at the condition her toga was in. Ripped, burnt, and torn made her blood boil. Clenching her fists together, all the damaged skin regenerated itself. The baseball size holes in her body filled up relatively quickly.
"THAT IMPERSONATOR!" she roared. Pushing herself off the pillar, columns of fire blasted out of her palms. Flying forward toward the warp gate, the membrane faded away. Passing through it, she was still in the Hell domain. Turning around and hovering in the air, she barred her teeth at the Charon's Gate.
"WILL DIE FOR THIS INSULT!" the fire demon declared.
Putting hands together and aiming towards the portal, a black and white blaze shot out quickly. Reaching it and engulfing it, the magical structure began to melt. After a few seconds, she pulled her hands back. Looking at the gate, it and the surrounding area of 10 feet was incinerated to char. Only feeling mild relief from destroying the portal, she scanned around the area she was in. Sparks of fire were shooting off around her in random.
"BETTER YET...YOUR HEAD WILL MAKE A NICE MONUMENT...ONCE IT IS ROASTED TO THE COLOR OF COAL," Haurette declared then flew off in a direction.
"Gunslinger spotted in Darcol!" Bill reported seeing the tracker signal activate suddenly. He had to magnify several times from having his monitor on the world map setting. Hearing brisk walking and closing on his position, Rodger leaned in.
"Live feed in...3...2...1..." he stated. His monitor popped up a new window that showed a surveillance camera view of the town. Seeing the gunslinger walk away from a transport gate, the oddity of the membrane being red caused confusion.
"That is strange...it is red when all on the world map are supposed to be blue," the lead programmer commented in contemplation.
Watching the interaction with the townspeople, they saw the establishment's mage confront the female shooter. Seeing the beginnings of a standoff, they saw the warp gate activate. The same red membrane filled the inner space of the ring. Both the teen and wizard stood side by side charging to do a magic attack. When an individual stepped out of the portal, the system indicated what the woman was.
"...a fire demon...?" Bill stated then saw the other information and blinked in confusion. "...she's a virus?"
'...Adam didn't really explain much about the first visual encounter with the virus...then he stated that one was loose...and now we are seeing one that looks like a normal CPU character,' the lead programmer mused while watching.
Seeing the interaction initially, it then turned destructive. Their eyebrows raised up witnessing the massive shot blast from the gunslinger. Doing it at point blank to the fire demon, both flew backwards for different reasons. The mage then used an earth based spell to decommission the portal. Though the live feed had action, it left both more puzzled.
"Rodger...can I speak frankly?" Bill asked quietly focusing on the monitor.
"...go ahead..."
"What the hell are we trying to fix? I was lead to believe that computer viruses of severe magnitude was causing all this complication, issues, and stress. But if the actual viruses are just the enemy A.I. run amok...then that would mean...the higher ups are pulling the strings."
"...you mean...Bennette...Adam...and the creator programmers?" Rodger asked in a low tone.
"Yeah...isn't strange that none of our codes work? Adam gave us a code that is not one that we use from the data sheets were given. Everyone here went along...but you can't include all players on a code that only is setup up for one individual extraction," the monitor tech commented.
"...that is true..." he replied in agreement then stood up. "...keep monitoring that player like before."
"Copy that."
'...' Rodger thought while walking back to his desk. '...now I am starting to doubt what is going on here as well...'
Reaching the lake on the second floating island, the thief was trying to figure out where to start looking for Jin. Thinking back to the search messaging she did, the thought that he was under a different character type came.
'It wouldn't hurt to try...at least that will confirm if he is here or not,' she thought.
Looking around for a secure place to open her messaging, out in the open was not wise. Before, getting a room and being able to lock the door was the safest place to be while playing. Others have used the intermission spaces between stages and levels as an alternative. Remembering that at the other end of the island was the way to go to the next stages, Rogue tried to remember the reading of a small rest stop along the way. Thinking harder about, she was also curious if the small floating platform was what people on the forum considered a wonderous view.
Deciding to go there, she went around the lake to the other side. Reaching there, she passed through the vegetation and trees. Finding the markers that would lead to the edge of the island, she continued. Seeing where the flat part of the floating island ends, beyond it was a straight drop to the ocean below. Being several stories up, a majority of players that don't have some flight or glide skill would fall to their death.
Looking around for a sign of some sorts, she did find a boulder that was against some thick trees. Seeing writing on it, the language was something from the ancients of this world. Blinking from seeing her "Stalker" skill window popping up, it stated something to her.
[Those that trust their instincts, will find the pathway to the places beyond]
"..." Renee spoke then narrowed her eyes. Having a suspicion, she walked around the large rock. Not seeing anything on its sides, she climbed to the top. Seeing faint markings, she bent down and brushed at it with her hand. Seeing dust and dirt come off, there was crude writing.
[Invisible Bridge. Reflect light and it will show]
"...huh..." she said climbing down.
Going back to where she stood, she looked for an item she had that could reflect light. Finding a couple of things, she tried them against the sun. Only getting a small beam off of them, there were faint traces of something being there. Putting the items away, she pondered on what else she could use. Her holy long knife came to mind.
'Worth a shot,' the thief commented in her head.
Taking it out and pointing it at the sun, the blade seemed to grow. As if acting like a lantern in the dark woods, the invisible bridge revealed itself to a certain distance. Only able to see a yard or two of it, it was enough to see if something occurred. Putting a tentative foot on it and tapping it, the front part of the bridge felt solid. Putting her weight down on the foot and bringing her other toward, she didn't fall through.
'...' Rogue thought putting her blade behind her back. As if putting out the light, the illumination on the bridge vanished. It made her look like she was walking on air with a severe drop below.
'...that's trippy...' she mentioned in her mind and brought her long knife back out quickly. Shining it back at the sun and seeing the bridge again, she walked forward. Going at a brisk pace, she kept observing her surroundings in case anything showed up.
After walking for what felt like 10 minutes, she started to see something up ahead. More towards her right, she continued while watching it get closer to being perpendicular. Stopping and turning to her right 90 degrees, there was a small floating platform. Walking closer to side edge of the bridge that had no hand rails, she saw how difficult it would be to get there. Instead of an invisible pathway, there were gorilla size rocks that were hovering. Looking at where they went, they lead toward the platform.
Observing how far the hovering rocks seem to be from each other, the thought of "Fast Reactions" came to mind. Deciding against that, she wanted to see the entirety of her leaping to each one. Taking a couple steps back and preparing herself, Rogue rushed forward. Jumping before the bridge edge, the thief landed on the first one. Rebounding toward the second one and reaching it, she took one step and leaped to the next.
After reaching the 20th and final rock, she did a suicide dive toward the now larger platform. Making the jump and rolling to not belly flop to the ground, she just lied on the ground. Breathing hard and feeling her legs being sore, she felt adrenaline still pumping in her system. When she was leaping from one to the other, it gave her a flashback of the secret dungeons. Remembering the floating rocks when she was with Jin, those ones were smaller than the ones here.
'...and the fear factor here is not even close to what it was in those horror themed stages,' Renee thought with a shiver.
Slowly getting to her feet, she dusted herself. Standing up fully and holstering her knife, she surveyed the area. The entire floating island was about the size of a school cafeteria or gymnasium. On the surface, it gave an image of being in a tropical paradise: small house, variant palm trees, a small pond with clean sand around it, and a couple of hammocks between a trees. The whole aspect made her mind start to wonder on who to show this to and spend time with.
"No," Rogue stated to herself and shook her head. "Not now."
"On the other hand...this seems almost to good to be true," she continued turning around.
"Why wouldn't everybody get here..." the thief said out loud then stopped. Looking at the way she came, the floating rocks were gone. The impression that it gave was being on a deserted island. Thinking that they were just invisible like the bridge, she took her knife out. Even with the shine of sunlight, nothing appeared.
"...I guess that's why...great," Renee remarked. Sighing, she put her knife away again.
Deciding to look the island over, she walked around the perimeter. Not finding anything out of the ordinary or concerning, she explored the small house. Assessing that everything inside was what a bland furnished home would be, it only took her a few minutes going through the rooms. Coming back to the front door, there was a clipboard hanging on the backside of it. Closing the door and picking up the document, it appeared to be a log in sheet.
'...congratulations...you have reached the acclaimed hotspot...put your name on the list of rare warriors to reach this island off the invisible bridge,' she read in her mind then gave a questionable look.
'Only people with an ego would put their name down...' the thief thought reading through the names. Finding one she recognized, a deadpan expression came to her.
"...of course..." she said seeing DK's name. Putting the clipboard back, she thought about what to do next. Thinking of how to leave the island, she remembered that she came here to do messaging and a player searching. Deciding to sit outside under a tree, she reached for the door handle.
"..." Rogue commented stopping herself.
'There has to be something else on this flying rock,' she pondered staring at the list again. Retracting her hand and turning around, she scanned around from her spot.
'...a hidden door or something...why would a random resort platform be placed here just for relaxing purposes...and have no way out?'
'The second area of Aero-Island had a hidden dungeon sort of plain sight...why wouldn't the creators do so for here?'
'Hopefully it isn't one of those where only a gunslinger character can-' she continued then heard movement outside.
Enabling her "Sneak" skill and turning transparent, the thief silently moved to a room while peering from a wall. Seeing the doorknob quietly turn, it opened without a sound. At the entrance, there was a dark silhouette. Slowly walking in, it morphed into a woman. Rogue watched with surprise as every detail was adjusted independent from one another while the body acted like a statue.
"..." the individual spoke as her eyes formed. Naked and scanning around living room, it seemed to be looking for something or someone.
"Holy thief...are you here?" she asked out loud.
"...!?" Renee responded with holding her breath.
Turning toward the opposite direction of where Renee stood, it walked slowly to the next room. While doing so, it began to change again. Meta-morphing into a grotesque being, it slowly began to reshape itself. Now standing in the hallway and looking into the dining area, the individual started to look like a teenage male. Recognizing not only the person it was mimicking, but it was wearing the same armor a gunslinger wore.
"It's me...the Breaker..." the person said in Jin's voice. "I have something...to talk to you about."
'...that's a shape-shifter...it has to be that one female demon...what was her name?' the female teen thought not moving from her spot.
Seeing the demon turn around, it started heading toward where she was. Silently moving away from the room and down a short hallway, she was at a corner. It continued left and had a small distance before it turned left again. Stopping at that corner and looking where it lead, it went into the kitchen. Listening to the individual's footsteps, all the sudden there were none. Feeling the hairs on her skin stand on end, she moved quietly into the kitchen.
Seeing that there was a window that pointed toward the side of the house, it was open. About to go to it, she heard more movement and lowered quickly to the ground. Listening, the sound was coming from outside. From how the noise was occurring, there seemed to be two people walking. Feeling trapped, she tried to find a temporary hiding place.
"I know you were here...Rogue...I can sense that you were," the demon's voice continued as the male teen's. Based on where it was coming from, the being was on the other side of the house.
'God damn Stalker skill! Why won't you work in a dire situation!?' Renee shouted in her mind.
Clenching her teeth, she moved to and pressed herself against the wall next to the open window. Feeling a bit covered with the counter and cabinets on her left side, she didn't feel able to keep hidden for long. Looking through the window to see who it was, it was the two swordsmen again. Darting her head at the hallway, she could feel an unnerving presence slowly getting closer. Feeling her lips curling inward, she bit down and glanced back at the window.
When the two warriors passed the side of the house to go toward the front door, she climbed out. Getting onto the ground, she enabled "Fast Reactions" to get to the back of the house. Reaching it, she saw that there was another open window at the corner. Feeling something dark and disturbing rushing to it, Renee zipped around the corner of the corner.
"There you...are?" it said with a morbid tone.
"..." the thief responded with holding her breath and pressing herself hard against the wall. Confused and about to look out the window, the demon heard footsteps and felt two mortal presences.
"...hmm...possibly that thief's associates..." the monster stated and made bone and cartilage cracking and breaking sounds. As it got further away, it's deep tone chuckle started to sound lighter and more feminine. Hearing the door open slowly open, it used Rogue's voice in addressing the two swordsman.
'...Empusa...that was her name,' the female teen thought feeling sweat being on her forehead.
Enabling "Sneak" again, she crouched and headed toward the edge of the island away from the house. Looking over, the vast fall to the ocean below was wonderous and nerve racking. Turning her head a little, something caught her eye floating in the air. Laying flat on the ground and crawling to have her head looking straight down, there were floating rocks. They were the same size as the ones she and Jin jumped on in the hidden dungeons.
'...so there is something here...' Rogue thought feeling it was a way to escape.
Taking a quick look back while getting up, no one was coming. Standing and getting into a leap stance, she looked at where the first one was. She almost faltered when she heard three voices getting near her from the right. Ignoring the jarring things that the demon said while mimicking her tone and body, she jumped down to the first rock. Landing solidly, the hovering segment shook a little.
Not waiting, the thief jumped down to the next one. In doing so, she saw that there were only several left and all of them were at steep lower points. The last one just hovered in the middle of the air with no other way of going anywhere. Thinking that she reached a real dead end, it would mean she would probably fall to her death. Jumping off to the last floating rock, her mind started to race.
'I'll just die and re-spawn probably back at Aero-Island.'
'I'm not going to die for real.'
'It will be just scary...that is all...' she thought landing the last platform. Immediately, it shook itself. Feeling her nerves on fire and feeling the rock beginning to fall, the thought of never finding who she was looking for came to mine.
"DAMN IT JIN! WHERE THE HELL ARE-" she yelled loudly while closing her eyes. Feeling the free fall occurring, something suddenly felt strangely familiar. Opening her eyes, she was in a warp tunnel and going down.