Chapter 14: Sacrifices

           

            Shuyin was still struggling inside his steel cage.  He attempted to rip its bars apart, but it seemed useless; he was only wasting his energy.  With the constant noise he was making, the guard was starting to get annoyed.  The guard stood up from his position and hit the cage with his metal tonfa.

"Won't you SHUT up!? I'm trying to get some sleep here!" the soldier shouted.

"Let ME OUT!"

"Tch! In your dreams!" he laughed.

            With one last kick, Shuyin gave up and sat on the ground.  The soldier taunted him and walked away.  Shuyin rubbed his face as he thought about Lenne.  The simple thought that he could not do anything to save her made him feel agony inside.  He wanted to do something for her; he wanted to save her.  However, with his present condition, it seemed far from possible.

            Suddenly, with a slight glance, he saw something shimmering on the ground.  He crawled towards it.  His eyes began to widen and a smile crossed his face.  He saw a key shaped item lying on the ground; the soldier must have dropped it out of carelessness.  He quickly tried to reach for it.  He was not going to give up; this might be his only chance.  With the tip of his fingers touching the key, it slowly moved nearer to him until finally, he was able to grab hold of it.  Arms trembling, he tried to fit the key from the lock; it was a perfect fit.  He slowly turned the key clockwise and a faint clicking sound was heard.  Cautiously, he opened to door, tiptoed towards the guard, and grabbed his neck.  The guard yelped a groan as Shuyin choked him to death from behind.  After some time, the guard submitted and fell on the ground.  He grabbed his shimmering blade and headed straight for the omnipotent weapon he longed to use…       

           

Lenne, riding on Odin's horse, passed through the mazelike chamber of Bevelle.  Numerous soldiers attempted to stop them inside, but Odin, being extremely powerful, was able to penetrate them.  As time passed by, a myriad of sanguinary corpses lay on the ground.  Reaching the end of the chamber, a crimson scaly reptilian fiend confronted them; it was a Ruby Dragon. 

Making them leap backwards, it breathed fire on them.  Lenne jumped down on the ground as both Odin and his stag galloped towards the fiend. The fiend spit balls of pyre against them, but with Odin's swift and graceful maneuver, he was able to evade them with ease.  The fiend backed and readied its huge tail to swipe them.  With a strong turn, Odin's horse was hit within the range of its tail.  His horse fell tripped on the ground, and was unable to move.  Odin jumped away as soon as his horse fell down.  He got down and continued to move towards the threatening fiend.  Spit after spit, the Ruby Dragon fought Odin desperately as he effortlessly evaded and deflected its moves.  Reaching the fiend, he swung his sword against it, but at the same time, the fiend jumped on him and bit his shoulder. Odin being bitten while the fiend slit on its neck, both fell on the ground.  The fiend dissolved into pyreflies.  Odin, on the other hand, survived the attack, and was using his sword to support himself to stand up. 

"Are you alright?" Lenne came running towards her Aeon.

            Odin nodded.  His horse dissolved into thin air as it neighed one last time.  With it gone, they continued to explore the vast area on foot.  Many soldiers still came to confront them.  It was as if Bevelle had a never-ending reserve of men at her disposal.  Despite Lenne's constant healing, Odin's life force was starting to fade away as each soldier opposed them.  They finally reached another chamber.  It looked like a prison room; there were cages everywhere.  Lenne explored the area, and saw a soldier, pulse less, lying on the ground.   Going further, Lenne saw an old man, Maechan, trapped inside a cage.

"Uncle Maechan?"

            He turned his head and saw his friend's daughter. As his eyes shed tears, he ran towards her, and tried to hug her.

"Oh Lenne… You better leave this place!" Maechan said.

"No. I've gone far to go back… I must stop Shuyin…"

"How did you…?"

"In dreams, I travel to find the answers… That's all I can say." Lenne interrupted.

"I see. Well… I'll tell you more details, but first let me get out of here."

"Right."

Odin slashed the metal cage in half.  They left the prison, and headed straight for Shuyin.  There was only one destination for Shuyin to go, Vegnagun.  With Maechan leading the way, they left the area quickly and took the central door.

"Where's Shuyin?" she asked.

"I do not know, but I heard a commotion a while ago not far from this chamber… Must be headed for Vegnagun right now."

"Then we better move quickly."

            As they exited the prison, a hoard of soldiers confronted them.  They were forced to stop.  The captain ordered his men to fire at them. Lenne and Maechan went behind Odin as he, again, simultaneously deflected the fast approaching bullets.  In no time, they were on the move again, heading quickly to Vegnagun.

            Moving swiftly, Shuyin was able to sneak from the soldiers patrolling around the dark halls of the Bevelle underground.  Suddenly, he saw a guard going towards him.  He quickly hid himself behind a thick metallic pillar as he anticipated for the guard to pass him.  Waiting for the right moment to arrive, Shuyin readied his blade.  Slowly, the guard was passing Shuyin's point when finally the guard walked pass by him.  Moving stealthily from behind, Shuyin grabbed the guard's body and slit his throat.  He fell to the ground as blood gushed out from his neck.  Shuyin continued to run.

            Reaching the last lift, Shuyin headed to the upper floor.  Scratching his head, he wondered why there was not much security as before and walked away.  He finally reached Vegnagun's dwelling place once again.  His heart started pounding…

"At last… There's no stopping now." Shuyin thought.

            Inside, there were at least ten guards securing Vegnagun.  They caught Shuyin as he entered.  They quickly formed a formation and pointed their rifles at him.

"You there! This is a restricted area!" a guard shouted.

"Man… Are you that dense? No matter, I'll put your miseries away." Shuyin taunted.

            Infuriated, they started to shoot at him.  Performing a swift zigzag movement, Shuyin evaded the bullets. Shocked with Shuyin's tremendous speed, the guards backed a little.  Suddenly, Shuyin disappeared and only faint glimpses of him could be seen. 

"Absurd! What magic is this!?" a guard exclaimed.

            His figure started to go nearer to them when suddenly, without noticing, Shuyin was already in front of them.  Slash after slash, Shuyin massacred the group.  They were no match for his extreme speed and swiftness.  They attempted to retreat, but failed.  In a matter of time, all of them were on the ground, dead.

"Hah. No challenge at all." Shuyin clapped his hands.

            Shuyin was about to board Vegnagun's cockpit on its head when suddenly, a humanoid figure jumped out of nowhere and slashed him. Deflecting its blade with his, Shuyin tripped on the ground on his back.  The humanoid figure stood there coolly; it was an android machina. It had no specific face, but only eyes that were glowing.  Slowly, it walked nearer towards him as its slim metallic silver body made a clank sound every time it made a step.  It pointed its right hand shaped like a long blade at Shuyin's neck.  It was about to cut his throat when Shuyin tripped it with his foot.  Jumping, he got up and positioned himself.  The mech started rushing again at him and attacked him once more.  Clangs of the swords echoed throughout the domed shape chamber as they attempted to kill each other.  They were equally matched. Jumping to the wall, the mech sprung itself towards Shuyin as it executed a whirling move. Its body turned like a drill as it approached Shuyin. On the other end, Shuyin back flipped to gain enough distance and rushed towards the mech.  Both bodies approached each other in a fast rate.  As the mech's body collided with his, he grasped his blade with his two hands and slashed it vertically to it body. Penetrating the mech's body, the blade sliced it into half as he fell on the ground because of the strong impact. A jolt of electricity burst out from the body and died away.  On the other hand, Shuyin's blade shattered into pieces.  Breathing heavily, Shuyin grasped his torso to prevent more blood to come out from a cut. Finally, he climbed Vegnagun's body.

            Upon reaching the cockpit, he saw a piano-like device.  He figured it must be the control mechanism of the demon machina.  Slowly, he began to play an angst melody.  It started to respond. Its eyes started to glow as its body vibrated.  In a matter of time, Shuyin would be able to control Vegnagun soon.

            Lenne and the others finally reached the last lift before Vegnagun's area.  The whole place was glowing red, because the alarm was sounded. A group of what seemed like an army of soldier approached them. Stupefied, they came to a stop.

"This is it… We have to pass them…" Lenne whispered.

"Hmmm… Behind them is the final lift before Vegnagun… We'll try to distract them while you head straight for the lift." Maechan planned.

"But what about you…?" Lenne cried.

"Don't worry… I'm an old man. Hoho… We'll handle this."

            Shedding tears, Lenne nodded.  Odin took out his blade from the hilt and started to dash towards the army.  The army concentrated at him, and shot all their ammunition against him.  Their plan worked.  From a corner, Odin provoked them giving Lenne a path towards the lift.  Maechan accompanied her as they both ran as quickly as possible.  Reaching the lift, Lenne rode it as Maechan operated it.  Suddenly from behind, Maechan saw a soldier aiming at Lenne.

"Watch out!!!" He shouted.

            He jumped towards Lenne and blocked the approaching bullet.  It hit him on his back.  Maechan's body jutted forward.  Lenne gasped as she helped her uncle stand up.  Odin headed for the soldier and slashed him from behind.  Limping, Maechan continued to operate the lift.

"Maechan… Stop it… It's all over…"

"No… Cough… It isn't… There… All done… This is good bye then… I'll stay here and stall the guards… Cough." He pushed one final button.

            The lift started to operate.  With his remaining energy, Maechan jumped from the lift and grabbed the rifle on the ground. Before Lenne could reply, the lift took her away.      He started to shoot.  At that time, Odin's energy was all drained out and dissolved into pyreflies.  Maechan was the only one left behind. Caught by his attention, the soldiers started to retaliate and slaughtered his body with bullets.  He did not give up until his final breath… Finally, his body could not take the injury any longer and fell on the ground…

"… Forgive me…" he whispered softly.