Hi! Welcome to another chapter of Drakengard Anomaly, before you start reading the chapter, I would like to answer some questions from readers.
ENDDRAGON369: Hope for more chapters. Also did the description that Rose give turn out to be an actual character in the Taroverse?
AWSER: No, the person Rose described is not someone from Taroverse, but I put a little reference in the shape of the red dress.
DUNKLERORT: Nice Chapter please keep it up. I wonder will he see Yonah and Nier again? And will you also write the other Intoners in history?
AWSER: Unfortunately I can't say if Alan will meet Nier and Yonah again, that would end up being a spoiler. Yes I plan to write the other intoners in future chapters.
HALFDEATH93: Nice story. Are you going to introduce some characters from nier or drakengard 1 and 2?
AWSER: Yes, I intend to insert characters from drakengard 1 and 2 in the future, but I will try to stay within the timeline, taking care not to insert a character that hasn't been born yet.
As for inserting more Nier characters, I'm still not sure, I would need to see which character would make sense to appear.
Well thanks for the reviews, enjoy the chapter and a great read to you.
Chapter 10 — Birth of an Angel
Midgard, Cathedral City, Year 994
Alan's POV
SPLASH!
I was woken up by a bucket of icy water being poured on me, I started to shiver from the cold, I tried to move my hands around my body to try to get warm, but I was stopped by the currents that wrapped my arms and legs, looking around I was in some kind of dungeon, it was a square room made of stone, in front of me was a large wooden door with a small opening blocked by bars.
I was chained in front of this door, in the wall where I was chained there was a small opening blocked by bars that let light into the room. I tried to use my strength to break the chains, but I couldn't get rid of the symbols glowing on the chains. Again and again, I felt an agonizing pain coursing through my body, it was like I was being electrocuted.
"AAAHHH!" I screamed in pain.
"Lady Caerula, the prisoner is awake." A man who was with me inside the cell said.
I heard the sound of high heels clicking down the hall, the man opened the cell door, and from the hall came a beautiful woman wearing noble clothes accompanied by heavily armed guards. The woman looked me up and down and said to the men in the room.
"Get out!"
Without question, all the men left the cell, leaving me alone with the woman.
"Hello! I hope those brutes treated you well. I'm sorry for their attitude; it's so hard to find employees with good manners these days." Caerula said as she smiled and approached me.
"Don't worry about it, I love being woken up in dungeons by a bucket of cold water." I said sarcastically.
"I'm glad to hear it, but it's a strange custom, if I may say so," Caerula said as she stopped in front of me.
"Who are you exactly?" I asked.
"Oh! I didn't introduce myself properly, did I? My name is Caerula, Lord of the Land of the Seas, and the person who placed the bounty on your friend and you." Caerula said as she covered a smile with her fan.
My eyes widened at the information, I tried to run forward, my hands reaching for Caerula's neck, with my strength it would have been so easy to crush her neck, but I was held back by the chains, the pain coursing through my body again.
"AAAHHH!"
Caerula's smile widened behind her fan.
"Don't bother trying to break out of these chains; they were made to trap magic users like you, a beautiful piece of art by the mages of Cathedral City. Or you can keep trying; I believe it would be a great source of entertainment." Caerula said as she ran her hands through the chains.
"What you want?" I asked as I lifted me.
"I want many things, the most beautiful dresses, the most valuable jewels, the most impressive mansion, the most powerful army, the most beautiful men and women fulfilling my every desire, but at the moment I want you."
Caerula said as she placed her hand on my chin and lifted my face towards hers.
"What?!"
"HAHAHA! I'll be honest with you, it's hard to find someone competent these days, my men and the other lords' have become arrogant due to our government, they've become drunkards, perverts, and idiots who abuse their position to harass the commoners, loyalty depends on the amount we pay them, and that ends up causing revolts."
"Where are you going with this?"
"Want you to join me; I heard my men report, great magical and physical power, not to mention, of course, owning two magical books. You killed many of my men, I can see it in your eyes, and you are a competent person with a good head over your neck."
"Why should I?"
"Think of what we can do together! We can get whatever we want! You can get whatever you want! What do you want? Women? Men? Money? Political power? Greater magic power? I can get it all for you. All I ask in return is that you swear allegiance to me and become my left arm."
"Why not the right arm?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Sorry, but Bartas already occupies that position." Caerula said with false sadness in her voice.
"What if I decline your proposal?"
"Well, modesty aside, I'm the most competent lord in Midgard, Bass that disgusting pig would rather stay locked up in his castle building his 'dolls' if something doesn't interest him Bass will completely ignore it. Gray that pretentious pervert prefers to spend his time with every woman he sees, and when he's not fornicating with some random whore, Gray wastes his money on parties and fancy clothes I don't know if you noticed, but he's not very smart."
"It looks like…" I couldn't finish as Caerula put her index finger in front of my lips.
"SHHH! I'm not finished yet. Getting back to what I was saying. Finally, we have Shaxor 'son' of Gray if you know what I mean, the spoiled brat would rather spend his day torturing fairies and elves from the Land of Forests than taking care of his lands, the funniest part is he's not even Gray's son. Does he know? I don't blame the poor woman who gave birth to the boy, Gray has slept with several women, and it doesn't surprise me that Shaxor's mother decided to look for someone better, but if Gray found out the truth she would be executed along with her son. So what did she do? She told Gray that Shaxor was his son. And the best part? He believed, even though the two didn't look alike at all."
"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked Caerula.
"I just want to show you that I'm your only chance to get out of here. All the other Lords would let you rot in this cell or torture you for fun. But I can see untapped potential in you, and unlike the other Lords, I have plans. For the future, and would like you to be a part of these plans. So what do you say? Will you join me?"
I'm not stupid, being stubborn and saying I would never join her is only going to make my situation harder, if I want to get out of here and find Noir, Rubrum, and Rose, Caerula is my best option. Although I'm not comfortable with the kind of people I'll have to serve, it's still better than staying locked up here.
"Before I give my answer, could you answer some of my questions?"
Caerula turned away from me and began to think.
"Hmm! All right, ask."
"Where are the magic books and the girl who accompanied me?"
Caerula covered her mouth with a fan and answered. "The books are being kept in a safe here at the Institute of Magic, while the girl is locked in a cell in the Cathedral City prison. If you join me, I promise to return the books and set the girl free."
"Okay, so I …"
"Lady Caerula!"
We were interrupted by a guard knocking on the cell door and calling out to Caerula.
"What's it? Can't you see I'm busy?"
The soldier gulped and continued, "The other Lords have just arrived in Cathedral City, and they wish to see you."
Caerula let out an irritated sigh, "Let them know I'm on my way."
"Yes, Lady Caerula."
Caerula then turned to me, "We'll continue our conversation later. Don't go anywhere." Soon after, she left the cell.
Hmm! Like I have anywhere to go.
Noir's POV
Where am I? I thought as I opened my "eyes" when my vision returned I saw that I was in some kind of laboratory, it was a big square room, shelves full of books were on my right, and on the left side there was another shelf full of potions, vials with strange liquids, and containers with organs dipped in liquids to be preserved.
I was at a wooden and metal table, on the table to my left there were several papers full of notes, and to my right, there were several tools. It doesn't matter at the moment! I need to find Lord Alan! When we find him, we'll go after Miss Rose and Rubrum.
I tried to "get up", but I couldn't. This is weird. I tried to use my magic, but I couldn't either. What's happening? Suddenly a large metal door that was on the other side of the room opened, and a group of men came out. There were five in total.
They wore a white metallic mask, and a large brown shirt that reached down to their knees but split in half at the hip area, over the shirt they wore a long white coat with a black turtleneck; they also wore red pants, and brown boots and gloves.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"He speaks!" One of the men said in surprise.
"A unique specimen!" Another said.
"Allow us to introduce! We are the mages of Cathedral City, we are at the service of the Lords to study you, and for this, we have made available all the resources of the Institute of Magic." A third man said.
"We were also told to use any means necessary."
"But seeing how capable you are of speech and rational thought, why don't you just tell us what we want to know?" A fifth said.
"And what would you like to know?" I asked.
"Everything! What is the source of your power? How do you work? How to use your magic? Think of the progress we could make with your help! The magic we could discover! The weapons we could create!"
These men are crazy! "I refuse to collaborate with your insane goals!"
"Poor book. We're going to get what we want one way or another. And it's no use trying to use your magic, we take precautions against it." One of the mages said as he pointed at something on the table.
Looking better, I saw that I was inside a circle with strange symbols drawn on the table. So that was what kept me from using magic, a magic circle.
"Let's start?" One of the mages said as he approached me.
"You won't be able to take anything from me!" I replied.
"That's what we'll see." The mage replied as his hand glowed red with magic.
TIMESKIP
Alan's POV
Where is Caerula? It's been a long time since we last saw each other, so far I've only been chained in this cell eating moldy bread and drinking dirty water. Right back to what I was doing, counting numbers in my mind. Where was I?
"Nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven."
"Nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-eight."
"Nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine."
"A thousand…"
BOOM!
An explosion shook the entire building. What was happening?
"ALL MEN, ATTACK!"
Through the small window in the door, I could catch glimpses of two groups of people fighting, one of them the guards, the other an unknown group. I also heard fighting noises coming from the cell's small window, the chains were long enough that I could lean on the bars and see the street outside; the cell I was in was underground, so I could only see what was far away and the feet of people nearby.
What was happening in the streets was a massacre, the guards were killing people from all sides, it was extremely one-sided, while the guards were well-equipped and organized the group on the other side of the conflict was using everything they had in their hands, shovels, pickaxes, pitchforks, but no one was spared, men, women, and children were all killed.
Suddenly a man dropped dead directly in front of my cell window, I fell back in fright, and for a moment I saw the look of fear and despair on his face. Was this what he felt before he died?
I sat just below the window and started to think. I would have to be a part of it if I joined Caerula? Killing people who weren't even able to fight? Kill men, women, and children? I don't want to be a part of it. But no matter how hard I focused on my thoughts, I couldn't ignore the screams. This continued throughout the day when dusk the Cathedral City was silent.
TIMESKIP
Alan's POV
I was woken up by the sound of screams coming from the street, leaning on the bars I started to look around, looking for the source of the screams, what I saw made me sick, there was a group of girls being dragged through the streets towards a platform, an of them fell to the ground bleeding from the mouth, another tried to run but was beaten by the guards until she stopped moving, the remaining two were tied to stakes on the platform.
And what followed were hours of torture, the screams of the girls echoing through the city, meanwhile, a group of people was forced to watch.
Suddenly the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall, the cell door opened and Caerula entered.
"Hello, it's been a while." She said as she smiled.
"But not enough time."
Caerula gave a smile with false sadness, "Why the cold attitude, I thought we were getting along?"
"Could you tell me what happened a few weeks ago? What was the fight that happened in the city?"
"That one? That was a revolt. Or at least it would be one, thanks to a traitor within the group we managed to crush the revolt before it happened, in an act of desperation the rebels tried to take over the Magic Institute, but luckily they were crushed by the mages. But that's in the past now. Have you thought about my proposal?"
"What about the girls being tortured? Who are they and why are they there?"
"Why the sudden interest in…"
"Please answer my question."
"The revolt was organized by noble families; these girls are the daughters of each family that decided to revolt, they now serve as an example of what will happen to those who decide to go against us."
"I see… I decline your proposal."
"What?"
"I decline your proposal."
"Could you repeat? I don't think I heard right." Caerula said as she approached.
"I said… AAAHHH!" I couldn't finish as Caerula punched me in the stomach, blood, and spittle poured out of my mouth and onto the floor.
"You bastard, I tried to be nice! But what did you do? You spat at my generosity! What do you think you will get out of this? I'm your best chance to get out of here! So why do you refuse to join me?"
"Because… I don't want to… go down to your level." I replied while trying to catch my breath.
From the murderous look, Caerula was sending me, she must have been furious. Caerula didn't say anything; she just raised her hand and punched me in the face.
CRACK!
"AAAHHH!" My nose just broke.
Another punch.
CRACK!
"AAAHHH!" I think I just lost some teeth.
Caerula raised her fist once more, but the punch never came, Caerula took a deep breath and said.
"If you want to do it the hard way then so be it, after all, you still haven't lost your usefulness, that book of yours hasn't collaborated with us, and the mages are starting to get frustrated, so I want you to tell me how you got the book and how to use it. "
"Never."
"That's what we're going to see." Caerula left the room and a few minutes later returned with a man beside her.
He wore a black hoodie, a long gray shirt with a brown leather apron over it, he wore gloves, and boots, and at his waist was a belt full of tools.
"I want him to talk." Caerula said to the man.
"Is there any limit?" The man asked.
"As long as he's still alive and can talk, then no." Caerula replied.
"As you wish." The man replied.
Caerula then left the room, on the way I could hear her talking to one of the guards.
"This prisoner will not receive food or water until further notice!"
"Yes, Lady Caerula!"
"And don't enter the cell, no matter how much the prisoner screams!"
"Yes, Lady Caerula!"
Then the sound of footsteps faded down the hall.
The man turned to me, "You and I will become best friends." He said with sadistic happiness in his voice.
The tall man approached me as he took a pair of pliers from his belt. I tried to fight back, but he was electrocuted by the chains again.
"AAAHHH!"
"Please save your screams for when I start." The man said, as he put the pliers on my right index fingernail and started pulling.
"AAAHHH!" My nail was ripped off; this is going to be a long day.
Midgard, Cathedral City, Year 995
How long have I been here? I thought as I leaned against the wall of my cell, I didn't have the strength to stand, on the bright side today was one of the days I didn't have to spend time with my "best friend" so to speak.
The moonlight came in through the window of my cell, I was shivering with cold, and not even a rag was given to keep me warm. Amid the cold I started to think about the situation I was in, all my nails were pulled out, some of my fingers were broken, I also had some teeth pulled out, and soon after I was whipped, burned by hot irons, and pierced by metal thorns. It was hell.
When I wasn't being tortured, they let me starve and thirst, I was fed just enough not to die, I looked awful, I was covered in wounds and scars, and I'm pretty sure I have a few broken bones besides my fingers. I looked at my left wrist; there was a particularly large scar there. One day one of the mages came to my cell, for some reason he wanted my blood.
Since Noir doesn't cooperate with their experiments, the mages have come in search of another source of magic. The magic in my body, the MASO, that's what the mages want, they hope to get it with my blood.
It's no use thinking about it now, Alan, let's try to sleep tonight.
Alan's POV
Once again I was woken up by noises coming from the street, I dragged myself to the window with difficulty, looking around what I saw left me devastated, it was Rose, she was tied to a stake on the platform, and she was being whipped furiously.
I tried to use my strength to rip the bars off, but it was no use, the damn chains electrocuted me. All I could do was lie on the floor while I covered my ears, trying to ignore the sound of the whip.
TIMESKIP
Alan's POV
The cell door opened, and Caerula entered accompanied by someone, it was a tall man, he must have been about 40 years old, he had blond hair, and fair skin, wore a black cloak with pieces of armor on his chest and shoulder, his most notable feature was his left arm, was an arm made of metal.
"Hello! How is your stay here in the Cathedral City?" Caerula asked as she smiled.
"Room service is horrible, I ordered a sandwich two hours ago, and it still hasn't arrived, the maid didn't tidy my room and the hot water in the shower ran out. Where's the manager? I would like to have a little chat with him." I replied to Caerula.
She didn't seem to like my joke as I was met with a kick to the side of my head.
"Still resisting. I'm seriously considering killing you soon, the mages seem to have gotten what they wanted with your blood, so you and your books will soon lose their usefulness. I wonder how I should kill you. Burnt alive? Stoned? Let you starve to death?"
"How about the guillotine?" I asked.
"What is it?"
"Forget it; I'd have to give you a history lesson for you to understand." I replied while smiling.
"Let's see how long you go on like this. Let's go Bartas!" Caerula said to the man.
So this is Bartas? Caerula's right-hand man? He was silent during the entire conversation; he was staring at me all this time. Bartas then approached me.
"Bartas!" Caerula screamed.
"You are strong?" Bartas asked me.
"What?"
"You are strong?" He asked again.
"I believe so, but at the moment I am not in better condition, I am hungry, thirsty, injured, and tired, these chains weaken me, and I am without my magical books. So you don't have to worry about me leaving here."
Bartas stared at me for a few more seconds, and then looked at the chains, and then he turned and followed Caerula out of the cell.
What a strange man. What he want?
TIMESKIP
Alan's POV
It's been a few hours since Caerula and Bartas left, the moonlight came in through my cell window, and I heard the sound of footsteps, my cell door opened and Bartas came in, he was staring at me again.
"Do you want to get out of here?" He asked me.
"What?"
"Do you want to get out of here?" Bartas asked again.
"HAHAHA! But of course, I want! I also want a lot of gold! A mountain of food and drink! And the most beautiful woman to serve me! But as you can see, I'm not getting any of that anytime soon."
"I can get you out of here." Bartas said.
"HAHAHA! What's the catch? Did Caerula send you to speak to me? Give me false hope?"
"There's no catch, I'm here of my own free will." Bartas said.
"Serious? So let's suppose that what you say is true. What do you get with it?"
"Fun." Bartas replied in a serious voice, but I could see the corner of his lips lift a little.
"What kind of fun?"
"A fight."
"A fight?"
"Yes a fight, I help you escape, in exchange I want you to fight me the next time we meet. A fight to the death." Bartas said with a small smile.
"Know what? Fuck this shit! I accept! Better to die fighting than die rotting here."
"Very good." Bartas said as he turned and walked out of the cell.
"Where are you going? Weren't you going to set me free?" I asked.
"And I will." Bartas said as he disappeared down the hall.
Will he keep his end of the bargain? All I have left now is to wait.
Noir's POV
"AAAHHH!" I screamed in pain as one of the mages tried to open me up, they'd been trying to discover the contents of my pages, but I'd been holding back with all my might, the mages have tried everything from spells to tools, but I held my ground. Rubrum has also done the same.
I thought while looking to the side, Rubrum was inside a magic circle beside me, one day the mages came with Rubrum in their hands and since then they have been experimenting with us. I need to find a way to get us out of here! But I couldn't succeed; this magic circle cancels all our powers.
I couldn't help but worry. Where is Lord Alan? And Miss Rose? Are they safe? Are they in a safe place?
"AAAHHH!" I was interrupted by another wave of pain; the mages kept trying to open me up with their spells.
"Hmm! I think that's enough for today, tomorrow we will continue our experiments." The group of mages then withdrew from the room.
I wonder how long I can go on.
I heard someone singing, looking to the side saw it was Rubrum, a small relief from the pain.
"Thank you Rubrum."
Rubrum didn't respond, just kept singing.
TIMESKIP
Noir's POV
I heard the sound of footsteps coming towards the room, the big metal doors opened and a man with a metal arm walked in, he walked towards the table where Rubrum and I were. The man then brought his metal arm closer to the magic circle and pressed his thumb against the circle, a small crack formed an imperceptible crack to the untrained eye, and the man did the same with the circle of Rubrum and then walked away.
I could feel it, the circle was broken, and my magic was returning, I could tell that Rubrum felt the same, but it was taking too long, I need to speed up the process.
No! Not just speed up, we need more power! I failed Lord Alan once because I was too weak; one spell was enough to knock me down! I won't repeat that mistake, ever again! We need more power! I need more power!
This place is called the Institute of Magic, isn't it? This place must be full of magic items. I'll take this magic for myself.
"Rubrum do the same as me!"
"Yes!" Rubrum replied.
I closed my eyes and started to concentrate. I could feel it! In various rooms of the institute, various magic items, on this same floor, above and below us, rooms and more rooms full of magic items. I want that power! I need that power! So with a lot of effort, I started to absorb the institute's magic.
Inside the Institute of Magic, something strange was happening, all things within the Institute that possessed magic were losing their power. Magic weapons began to rust, magic books began to crumble, potions turned into a disgusting black slime, organs of magical beings that retained their power even after their owner's death began to rot, mages began to die of weakness, and all magic of the institute was being absorbed to a single place, including the magic of a certain pair of chains.
Alan's POV
I felt something different, I felt a little stronger. It must be my impression, Bartas probably abandoned me here. The cell door opened and my "best friend" came in, I was facing the man in the black hood.
"Hello, my friend! Unfortunately, I bring bad news! It seems our time has come to an end. Lady Caerula got tired of waiting, so she asked me to get this over with. But don't worry, all the good times we spent together will be kept in my memory, if it's any consolation, you lasted longer than the others." The hooded one said as he approached me with a dagger.
It seems that this is the end, as the hooded man approached, I couldn't help but think about everything that happened to lead me to the current situation. Meet Nier and Yonah; get sent to Midgard, meet Noir, Rubrum, and Rose. Rose. Thinking about her makes me sad, I hope her suffering ends soon, maybe when we die we will find ourselves on the other side, that is, whatever awaits us after death.
Death. I never stopped to think about it, getting killed in Shinjuku was always a possibility, whether, from hunger, thirst, illness, or getting into a fight with other survivors, I didn't worry about my death. After all, who would care if I died? I had no friends or family, maybe I'd be stabbed to death in an alley or starved to death in my apartment, just another corpse in that damn city.
That thought changed when I met my new family, I started to care that if I died there would be someone to miss me, and now I will never see them again. Wants to know? It was good while it lasted.
The moment the hooded man was going to cut my throat, the entire institute trembled, the hooded man fell back, and I stumbled forward when I tripped the chain that held my right wrist broke.
I looked at this with wide eyes, I opened and closed my right hand, looking at the chain that held my left wrist, I pulled my wrist forward with strength, and the chain broke, looking at my legs I saw the chains that held me by the shins, giving a strong pull with my legs, the chains broke, I ripped the metal rings that were left on my wrists and shins.
"What was that?" The hooded man said as he stood up when he saw me the hooded man walked a few steps back in fright.
"Wait!"
I didn't let him finish, I raised my right fist and punched him in the face, his head exploded in a shower of blood, and pieces of eyes, brains, and bones flew across the cell. I looked at my right hand, there was something different, I was strong, but not to the point of blowing someone's head off. I approached the cell door, lifted my left leg, and kicked the door.
The door flew off its hinges and hit a guard who was on the other side, smashing him against the wall in the hallway, there was my footprint on the door, and the wall the door hit was cracked and stained with the blood of the guard who had been crushed.
I suddenly winced in pain, looking at my hands I saw something that worried me, it was as if my skin was cracking, the tip of my right index finger fell to the ground and disappeared in red particles, in the place where the skin used to be there was a black colored finger, it was as if I had dipped my finger in a can of oil, red lines were going up from my hands to my biceps.
Taking a step forward I felt something falling to the ground, looking down I saw that it was a piece of my foot, where the skin used to be there was the same black color, red lines went up from my foot to my hip.
"What is this?!"
I heard someone scream, looking to the side saw a group of guards coming towards me, there were five guards in total, and I started to run in the opposite direction.
"Stop!" The guards yelled after me.
I continued walking through the stone corridors of the Institute of Magic dungeons, a group of guards appeared in front of me, I turned towards the left entering a corridor, passing through this corridor I saw a set of stairs, I started to climb the circular stairs, while As I went up the stairs I came face to face with a group of guards coming in the opposite direction.
The guards looked at me in surprise, not expecting someone to suddenly appear.
I grabbed the first guard by the head and smashed him against the wall, his head disappeared in an explosion of blood, and the guards behind him jumped back in fright with their faces covered in blood, I grabbed one of the guards by his armor, my fingers sinking in the metal.
"AAAHHH!"
The guard started screaming in pain, looking at the guard's chest I saw blood coming out of the place where my fingers sank, it seems I managed to get to the flesh, lifting the guard over my head; I threw him down the stairs towards the group of guards that came after me.
So I kept going up, killing all the guards I found in front of me, when I finished going up the stairs I came to a corridor, at the end of the corridor there was a door, I ran towards the door, I raised my left fist and punched the door with all my strength. With force, the metal door flew through the air, kicking up a wave of dust as it hit the wall on the far side.
When the dust settled I saw a line of blood and crushed bodies, looking around there were several guards wearing armor, carrying swords and shields. But what was going on? I just ran away, how did the guards get here so fast? Unless they're not after me. They must have come after what made the institute shake.
Suddenly the institute shook once more, the chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling fell in the middle of the hallway, and this was followed by more tremors and screams.
"What is this?"
"Somebody stops that book!"
"Where are the mages?"
Book? Noir! Rubrum! I ignored the guards who were in the hallway with me and started to run towards the screams, the institute hallways were decorated like a mansion, golden chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling, red wallpaper covered the walls, and the windows were made of stained glass representing wizards and scholarly, brown rugs covered the floor.
"Call more men!"
"Raise your shields!"
I turned left heading towards the screams, but when I entered the hallway I was met with a strong shield blow to my face, I grabbed my face in pain, and when I took my hands away I saw something falling to the floor, it was the skin of my nose, looking forward I saw a guard carrying a spear and shield.
The guard pushed the spear towards my heart, dodging to the left I grabbed the spear and pulled him forward, the guard lost his balance and fell forward, as he fell I raised my left fist and punched his head, the metal of his helmet sank into his skull, I saw blood pouring out of the helmet, the guard then dropped dead.
I kept running until I reached a pair of double wooden doors, knocking the door down I saw that I was in a large square room, specifically in an elevated part, the room was decorated with marble pillars and a large golden chandelier was hanging from the ceiling, shelves full of books lined the walls.
I jumped off the elevated part and landed on the ground.
Further down, in front of me was a set of large wooden doors, probably the exit, the doors opened and several guards entered.
There were guards carrying swords, shields, spears, halberds, and bows, looking around I saw that there were doors to my right and left, but I doubted I'll get to them before the guards reach me, well I just have to fight, but I don't know if I'll make it, they outnumber me.
"So who will be the first?" I asked as I got into a fighting stance.
One of the armored guards took a step forward, but before we could start fighting, the institute started to shake again, looking up I saw that the ceiling was cracking, once again the institute shook, and the chandelier fell to the floor crushing some guards.
Suddenly a large black and red hand destroyed the ceiling and smashed several guards to the ground, I jumped back to avoid being crushed by the falling pieces of the ceiling.
A double-bladed great ax fell at my feet and its blade stuck in the ground, I gripped the ax with both hands, despite being larger than I was, the ax was as light as a feather in my hands.
"Lord Alan! Are you okay?" I couldn't help but smile when I heard that familiar voice.
As the dust settled, I saw Noir and Rubrum floating in front of me.
"Noir! Rubrum!" I ran towards them.
"Lord Alan!" Noir and Rubrum began to circle me.
"Are you okay? What did they do to you? When I find these worms, I will…"
I interrupted Noir, giving him and Rubrum a hug.
"I'm fine Noir! I'm fine since I found you two!" I said while smiling.
"Lord Alan I…"
Our little moment was interrupted by the shaking institute, this time it was the floor that started to crack, we moved away from the center of the room, and the floor gave way, and from it came a skeletal hand, and then another, using both hands to support a giant body came out of the hole, I gripped the ax tightly, my eyes widened, and my mouth dropped open at what I was seeing.
Then the thing in front of me let out a roar.
"RROOOAAARRR!"
A few minutes ago
Noir's POV
Rubrum and I continued to absorb the institute's magic, suddenly the doors to the room opened and a group of mages entered.
"What are you doing?" One of the mages demanded.
Rubrum responded to the mage by launching an orb of magic at his head, the orb generated an explosion as it hit the mage's head; his body fell to the ground, spilling blood and organs.
"How…"
I didn't let the other mage finish, using my magic I shot a Dark Spear toward his heart, the magic projectile pierced his chest and made him fly until it hit a wall where his body was hanging.
Now there are three left, Rubrum enveloped one of the mages in a bubble of magic and began to shrink the bubble's size, the mage began to scream in agony as he was slowly crushed, when Rubrum finished a ball of flesh fell to the ground.
Two left, I decided to test one more of my new spells, concentrating I made a stake come out of the ground impaling one of the last mages, but while using the spell the remaining mage ran out of the room screaming.
"PREPARE WEAPON NUMBER 16!"
Weapon number 16? What is this? Doesn't matter, at that moment, I started to float with Rubrum by my side.
"Rubrum, we need to find Lord Alan and Miss Rose!" Rubrum gave me a nod.
Creating a Dark Hand I destroyed the metal door of the laboratory; the doors were marked with the Dark Hand and flew through the air, crushing everything that was in the way.
"SHOOT THE ARROWS!"
A volley of arrows was fired toward us, Rubrum floated in front of me and created a red barrier, while Rubrum protected us I used Dark Execution, several stakes came out of the ground piercing all the archers in front of us.
"Rubrum let's go!"
Rubrum nodded yes, and we continued floating down the halls of the institute, a group of guards came out from the end of the hall, and I created a Dark Hand, the hand flew through the air closed in a fist, the punch sending all the guards flying through the air, Rubrum and I continue forward until we reach a set of stairs, we go down the stairs.
On the floor below, we find more guards.
"STOP!" One of the guards yelled as they ran towards us, Rubrum created a magic barrier, the guard's sword broke into several pieces upon hitting the barrier, and right after that Rubrum fired an orb of magic into the guard's chest, the resulting explosion made the guard fly through the air.
Together we continued running through the institute, in the corridor several guards began to appear, I used one more of my spells, Dark Whirlwind, and magic circles appeared around me magic spikes came out of them, and the circles began to spin around me.
So I ran towards the guards, they seemed to realize the danger of the situation they were in, they tried to turn around, but they weren't fast enough, the guards in my way were shredded, blood and guts stained the windows and walls of the corridor, the magic spikes traced a straight line along the walls.
When the spell ended Rubrum and I entered a room, it looked like a museum room, armor decorated the walls, glass cases filled with artifacts were on wooden stands lining the room, and paintings depicting historical scenes were hanging on the walls.
In the center of the room, inside a large glass box, there was a great axe, the ax was made of black metal, and its handle had golden ornaments that represented soldiers marching, the soldiers marched towards the blade of the axe, which was adorned with dragon designs on both sides, the edge of the ax blades were a red color that "dripped" towards the ax handle, giving the impression of being stained with blood, at the end of the ax handle was the adornment of a flower blooming and from inside that flower came out a metal spike made to pierce.
There was something written on the handle of the axe.
Charlemagne Vincens Victoriam.
Victoria certa sit iis qui ultimi imperatoris securim feriunt.
I would have liked to have explored the room more, but I didn't get the chance due to a large number of soldiers that came through all the doors around the room, we were surrounded.
"Rubrum get ready!"
"Yes!" Rubrum replied.
I created a big Dark Hand, I raised this hand until it hit the ceiling, and then I lowered it to the floor, the hand destroyed the floor below us and only stopped on the floor below, the soldiers started to retreat to avoid falling into the hole, objects around the room began to fall into the hole including the axe.
Rubrum and I went down the hole and what I saw filled us with joy. It was Lord Alan! But he was different, his skin was "cracking", what was just below was skin as black as night, with red, and yellow lines covering his body.
"Lord Alan! Are you okay?"
Alan's POV
How did the situation get so bad? I couldn't deny it, I was scared. I wasn't sure I could fight the thing in front of me.
The thing was a giant skeleton, it must have been about five meters tall, its feet, legs, hips, torso, arms, and hands were shaped like a human skeleton, but the most disturbing part was its head, its head was shaped like a sphere and disproportionate to the body, its body should not be able to support the head. And her face was a disturbing image, a permanent smile stretching from ear to ear and above two round eyes that glowed red.
"Behold the fruit of our experiments!" Looking right, there was a man on the monster's shoulder. It was a man wearing a metal mask.
"What is this thing?" I asked.
"Hm! You must be, Alan. I would like to thank you, thanks to you and your books we were able to develop the most powerful weapon there is."
"Thanks to me? So you mean… My blood!"
"Yes! Your blood! Thanks to the magic in your blood we were able to create the ultimate weapon, but due to you and your books going around killing everyone at the institute I will have to finish you off, unfortunately! Weapon 16 finishes them off!"
The creature began to shudder, the red light in its eyes intensified, and the creature let out another roar.
"RROOOAAARRR!"
Then the creature ran towards us.
Alan's POV
(Nier Replicant ver 1.22 OST/ The Ultimate Weapon)
"Noir shoot the mage!"
"Yes Lord Alan!"
Noir started shooting magic projectiles towards the mage on the monster's shoulder; the shots were blocked by a magic barrier.
"Only that? If that's the extent of the power of your books then I shouldn't have wasted so much time trying to open them!" the wizard said.
The monster then raised its left hand and tried to crush me to the ground, I ran out of the way and using the ax I cut the monster's arm, but the cut didn't go deep enough.
"Rubrum shoot that thing in the head! Noir, we need something stronger to take down the mage!"
Rubrum gave me a nod and started shooting red orbs at the monster's head, Noir opened its pages and energy began to build up in them, with a burst of magic Noir fired five large magic projectiles towards the mage, the monster raised its arm right trying to protect his face, due to Rubrum's attack the monster took a few steps back, causing Noir's attack to miss the mage.
But the projectiles turned around in the air and went towards the mage, the magic barrier managed to attack, but some cracks formed in the barrier.
"How?! Number 16 kill them!" The mage screamed as his hand glowed red, Number 16 screamed in pain as bolts of magic electrocuted his body.
Number 16 then opened his mouth and threw himself towards me; I rolled to the right avoiding the bite, taking advantage of Number 16's head close to the ground I started to cut him with my axe, two diagonal blows forming an X on the left side from the head.
"AAAHHH!" I was thrown backwards hit by a magical beam; I saw the mage with his hand outstretched.
"Apparently I will have to interfere." The mage started casting spell after spell, fireballs flew towards me, and I ran across the room dodging the spells.
"Noir! Rubrum! Don't stop shooting!"
Noir and Rubrum continued shooting at the mage and Number 16, but once Noir launched the magic projectiles, the projectiles hit the barrier and cracked it even more.
Number 16 then stood up, raised his right fist and tried to smash Rubrum to the ground, Rubrum moved out of the way but continued shooting orbs at the monster's head.
The monster then jumped on its back hitting the ceiling and when it hit the floor red shock waves spread across the room, I jumped over the first wave, taking a few steps back I jumped over the second and third.
Number 16 was lying on the floor, his rib cage was exposed to me, and using the metal spike on the tip of the ax I pierced the center of his rib cage, the monster let out a roar of pain.
"RROOOAAARRR!"
"Number 16 what are you doing?! You are the ultimate weapon, start acting like one!" The mage's hand glowed again and Number 16 screamed in pain.
Number 16's mouth opened and a flurry of red orbs flew towards us.
"Lord Alan!" I heard Noir scream.
Noir flew in front of me, its pages opened and four barriers formed around us, the orbs were absorbed, red magic circles appeared and began to spin forming a giant orb.
"Noir shoot the mage!"
"As you wish!"
The giant orb flew towards the mage, I could see his eyes widen behind the mask, the orb hit the barrier then.
BOOM!
A large explosion took place at the site.
"AAAHHH!" The mage screamed as he flew and hit the ground, he rolled for a few seconds but finally stopped.
"Noir help Rubrum! I take care of the mage!"
"Understood Lord Alan." Noir then floated to Rubrum's side and together they began to fight the monster.
Well time to do my part, I thought as I approached the mage.
"You…you…you are going to pay for this! I will not allow myself to be killed, not when I have the ultimate weapon ready!" The mage took two metal rings from his back, the rings glowed red and he threw them towards me.
I ducked dodging the rings and ran towards the mage, strangely he didn't try to fight he just stretched out both his hands, his hands started to glow red.
I know this may sound strange, but have you ever had the feeling of feeling something coming after you? Well, that's what I was feeling right now. I jumped left, the two rings passed me but cut my right arm and hip.
The skin on my arm and hip fell away revealing the same black color. What was happening to me?
The mage then did an acrobatic level jump and grabbed the two rings, and then he made another tricky leap and threw both rings in my direction. I think I've seen this movie before.
I took a right jump dodging one of the rings and ducked dodging the second, the mage again stretched his arms and the rings started to come back, I had to stop my attack once more to be able to dodge the rings.
This won't get me anywhere; I need to change my strategy. Once again the mage jumped up and released his rings. Thanks to my heightened senses I could see the rings coming, to a normal person they should look like a blur. I raised my ax and swung the rings away.
The mage took the rings back and threw them again towards me and again I deflected them with my axe, the process was repeated several times, but slowly, one step at a time, I managed to get closer to the mage.
I swung my ax towards his neck, the mage bent down and tried to trip me, I jumped over his leg and while falling I brought the ax down towards him, the mage rolled to the right dodging the blow, I jumped back dodging the ring that came towards my neck and ran towards the mage before he could cast the second.
I swung the ax towards his stomach, the mage took a step back and when my blow ended he advanced with the remaining ring raised and lowered it towards my head; I raised the axe, placing the handle between me and the blow. , the blow bounced off the handle of the ax causing the wizard's arm to be thrown back, taking my chance I kicked the wizard in the chest making him fly backwards.
"AAAHHH!" The mage screamed in pain as he slid across the floor, I could see blood oozing out of his mask.
"I will not be defeated so easily!" The mage stretched out his arm, knowing what was going to happen I threw myself on the ground letting the ring pass over me.
Soon after I ran towards the mage, he got up quickly with a ring in each hand, then we started exchanging blows, the mage tried to cut my eyes using the ring on his left hand, I leaned back the ring made a cut above from my nose, turning my body I swung the ax diagonally from bottom to top trying to cut the mage in two.
The mage jumped back dodging the blow, taking advantage of the moment of my blow, I lowered the ax towards the mage, and again he jumped back and threw the rings.
This isn't going to get me anywhere, time to end this fight when the rings closed in on me I raised my ax and slammed it against the ground with all my might, a ninth of dust took over the place.
When the dust cloud dissipated the mage couldn't find Alan, he quickly called his rings, the mage stretched out both his hands and the rings started to come back, suddenly the mage felt something grabbing his arms by the biceps.
"Hello!"
The mage heard a voice behind him, turning his head the mage could see Alan out of the corner of his eye.
Alan then forced the mage's arms open in a T position, the mage then looked ahead seeing the rings he had summoned flying towards him.
"Let me go!"
Alan's response was to sink his fingers into the mage's flesh, holding him tighter. Soon the discs hit the mage and the expected happened.
"AAAHHH!" The mage screamed in agony as both of his arms were cut off at the elbow, the arms flew through the air and fell behind Alan and the mage.
Alan then released the mage, dropping him to his knees on the floor.
"You bastard! It can't end like this! I will not let my research be in vain I will not die here! Not when I was so close to being the greatest mage in the world!"
"Of course, of course, keep dreaming." Alan mockingly replied as he grabbed his ax and prepared to chop off the mage's head, unfortunately he was interrupted by Number 16 who flew past them and hit a wall on the far side of the room.
"Lord Alan!" Noir yelled as he and Rubrum approached Alan.
Noir's POV
While Lord Alan dealt with the mage Rubrum and I will have to take care of weapon Number 16, the creature let out a roar, its mouth opened and orbs flew towards us, I used Black Gluttony to absorb all the orbs and form a giant orb, but Number 16 raised his right fist trying to punch me.
Rubrum then flew in front of me and blocked the punch with a magic barrier; Number 16 threw punch after punch.
"Rubrum hold on a little longer!"
I could feel that Rubrum said yes.
The orb of magic began to swell, as Number 16 raised his fist again I said.
"Rubrum breaks down the barrier!"
And Rubrum did just that, when the barrier broke I launched the great orb towards the monster's rotten face.
BOOM!
"RROOOAAARRR!"
Number 16 grabbed his face in pain, his hands covered both of his eyes, but I could see a purple light escaping between his fingers, Number 16 then took his hands away from his eyes and big purple rays of magic flew towards us.
Rubrum and I were hit by surprise and the lightning sent us towards a wall across the room, Number 16 then jumped towards us with its mouth open, Rubrum and I moved out of the way, Number 16's head ended up getting stuck on the wall, I used Black Spear five spears made of magic appeared around me, I fired them towards Number 16.
The spears pierced Number 16 in his torso, Number 16 then managed to detach his head from the wall and looked at us, and his eyes began to glow again, before he could shoot, Rubrum created a ball of magic around him and flew at high speeds. Heading for Number 16, Rubrum hit him in the chest and carried Number 16 across the room.
It wasn't enough to stop Number 16's attack, but it was enough to make him miss his attack, the rays of magic pierced the ceiling reaching the upper floors and splitting the clouds in the sky, rain began to enter the institute.
Rubrum then walked away from Number 16, but he wasn't fast enough so he ended up getting slapped and flew away, Number 16 came running towards me with both hands outstretched, I created two Black Hands and grabbed him in his hands, we were testing our strength against each other.
So I created a third Black Hand by punching Number 16 in the chin, Number 16 leaned back due to the blow, this gave Rubrum the opportunity to create another ball of magic around himself and hit Number 16 in his chest.
Number 16 flew through the air until it hit a wall near where Lord Alan was fighting the mage; I saw Number 16's eyes sparkle again. Not this time! I created two Black Spears and threw them into Number 16's eyes; he roared in pain and finally fell to the ground motionless.
Alan's POV
"Noir! Rubrum! Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yes Lord Alan! But you?"
"I'm fine Noir, thanks for asking." He said to Noir as Rubrum floated around me.
"No, no, no!" The mage started to scream, he was still alive.
"You should be the ultimate weapon! You shouldn't be defeated by anyone! You useless piece of junk! Stand up!" The mage yelled as he approached Number 16.
Number 16 then stood up, but instead of following the mage's orders, Number 16 grabbed the mage with his left hand, opened his mouth and began to lead the mage towards him.
"Stop!" The mage screamed, but it was no use.
Number 16 bit the mage up to the waist area.
"AAAHHH!" The mage screamed in pain.
Number 16 then pulled the mage's legs apart, breaking him in two, and then devoured the legs.
Blood trickled between Number 16's teeth, making his permanent smile even more disturbing. Number 16 then started sniffing the air as both of his eyes were rendered useless.
"RROOOAAARRR!" Number 16 roared as he ran towards us.
Rubrum created a magic shield around us; Number 16 then started head-butting the shield, with each hit the shield cracked more and more.
"Noir I know this isn't the best time to ask, but how did you and Rubrum get so strong? How did I get so strong?"
"Rubrum and I have absorbed the magic of various magic items around the Lord Alan Institute."
"Hmm! Is there any magic left in the institute?"
Noir seemed to concentrate for a few seconds.
"Yes." He replied.
"Then absorb it all up! Every drop of magic from the institute!"
"As you wish." Noir said with hesitation in his voice.
Noir started to absorb the institute's magic and I started to feel something different, at first it was a tingling, but it ended up growing into a searing pain, looking at my hands and feet, the red lines were getting bigger, my skin was cracking more and more .
I felt something wanting to come out of my back. Were those wings? The pain was getting worse and worse, all I could do was scream.
Midgard, Cathedral City, 995
Institute of Magic
Weapon Number 16 constantly tried to break the shield that protected Alan and Noir. Rubrum used all his strength to hold the shield, but the house blow the shield cracked, suddenly a strong red light began to shine inside the shield.
Number 16 delivered one more blow and the shield shattered Number 16 then pulled his head back preparing to deliver the final blow, but the blow never came.
From within the red glow a giant hand came out and grabbed Number 16 by the head, the hand started squeezing Number 16's head until it crushed it completely, then Number 16 crumbled into red particles which were absorbed into the book.
More hands came out of the glow, those hands went up through the institute's ceiling until reaching the heavens, and one of those hands flew forward and destroyed the entrance to the magic institute.
When the glow disappeared, there was an angel inside a crater, this angel carried a large black ax and was accompanied by two magic books that floated beside him.
In the room where the angel was, doors opened and from them came the institute researchers, seeing the angel the researchers tried to run through the destroyed entrance of the institute, but they couldn't go very far, the angel raised his right hand and stakes came out of the ground piercing the researchers.
The angel then started to walk out of the institute, upon arriving outside the angel stretched out his hand while looking up, feeling the rain running down his body.
Looking ahead the angel saw something that caught his attention, on a platform there was a girl with white hair and pink eyes, the angel started to walk towards the girl, all he had to do was pass the guards on his way, and this he did the guards were no problem for the angel.
Upon reaching the platform the angel saw the girl being surrounded by flower petals, at the girl's feet there was a flower, the angel felt several things when seeing this flower, curiosity, a flaming anger, a revolting disgust and an overwhelming hunger, the angel then he raised his ax and brought it down towards the flower.
In the end all the angel saw was a white light followed by an explosion.
END OF CHAPTER
Hi! Thanks for reading this far! This chapter was a lot of work to write, I believe it was the biggest chapter I've written so far, I just want to say that I'm happy with the direction this story is taking.
Have a nice day and until the next chapter.
