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Battle Toran Royale
Chapter 2: Death lies around every corner
[Location: Sakai Island – Building – F9
Time: 16:45
Day 1]
"Now… the first to be leaving is that foolish kid who wouldn't hand me the Souleater… Tir McDohl. Go grab your bag, boy and be gone," snarled Windy who was flashing deadly glares towards Tir as he went to grab his bag. It was no surprise that the sorceress had a grudge towards the leader of the Liberation Army; after all he did wound her a few times and totally crushed her plans. But not this time… She'll have him dead before she can lie under the ground having people put flowers on her grave.
"Next…"
1 hour later…
[Location: Sakai Island – Building – F9
Time: 17:45
Day 1]
Chandler nervously stepped out of the building as he was the last person to leave, mainly because he was the last person on the list. His legs wouldn't stop shaking, teeth wouldn't stop trembling and he was sweating heavily that it seemed as if he just jumped into the sea and came back out.
With the map in his hands, trembling, he decided to try and find the safest area. He decided in the end to head over towards B2 where a lighthouse was standing, in assumption that it was the safest place to hide out. Step by step, quietly and sly he made his west. Within minutes, he disappeared into the mist.
"This should be interesting…" Windy said chuckling. She was hiding in a room which was surrounded by computers all over the place, and each computer was monitoring the action of each member of the Liberation army. Her mind was determined on getting revenge on the whole Liberation army, and now she had succeeded. She couldn't wait to see them kill one another. After all, man fears for his own life the most when he's in danger. They are only human, their fears will come and haunt them at one extent, and this was the perfect idea. Killing one another to survive. This was her ultimate plan, and now it was being put into action.
[Location: Sakai Island – Dyingtum Forest – D5
Time: 17:50
Day 1]
The forest was a quiet and peaceful place; small mammals like Squirrels roamed the area as if the forest only belonged to them. Fukien who often spent his time meditating, was now meditating under a tree just on the outskirts of the forest. Sitting right beside him was the bag he had received which contained some daily necessities and his weapon, a sickle. Qlon was a very peaceful man, one who was always calm and therefore instead of trying to find someone to hack at with his sickle, he decided to retreat to the forest. Sitting in the same position as the Buddha, Qlon mumbled hymns over and over again. His voice although somewhat deep and hazy, sounded peaceful when it reached the ear. To him, and many other people around him this was the magic of holy hymns, it would relieve the anger and hatred in one's mind, and also calm the heart. However, sadly, these types of hymns only tend to work on supernatural beings and a portion of people, but those who are filled with different ambitions in life, those who are ruthless and possessed by the devil to achieve their goal by any means, will not be able to hear the hymns.
Off in the distance, Lorelai had her eyes fixed on the priest. Hiding behind some bushes, she could catch sight of the priest's weapon. The urge for a better weapon, began to help her devise a plan to murder the priest without having to physically contact him. She began to stare at the rope which she held in her hand, although it would hurt if you were hit by it, the priest would probably cut right through the rope and that would leave her defenseless. How could she get rid of him?
Suddenly, she heard the sound of something dropping out
of her pocket, but luckily, it didn't make much noise as it hit the fertile
soil. She turned around to check what fell out, only to find the necklace that
she slipped into her pocket 3 days ago because it was straining her neck. She
decided to see if the necklace still fit, and without hesitating she struggled
to get the necklace onto her neck, but because of the collar on her neck, the
necklace wouldn't fit. Suddenly, as she pulled the necklace further and as it
become tighter around her, she thought of a way to kill. Her weapon was none
other than the rope; the method to kill would be none other than to hang the
person.
Without wasting another minute, Lorelai silently jumped onto a tree that was slightly farther away from the priest. The trees rustled a bit, but only silently which made the sound inaudible to the priest… Holding her breath, she leaped onto the branch right above the priest and with a bit of luck, although the branch was shaking a little bit, it made no sound. Sitting atop the branch, Lorelai quickly tied a knot in the rope that was big enough to go through the head and fit the neck. She knew that when a monk was chanting hymns, that they always had their eyes closed, making them visually unconscious of everything around them. Slowly and silently, she slid the rope down inch by inch, until the rope was millimeters above the priest's head. Lorelai's hand was shaking at this stage, it was uncontrollably shaking. The facts that she was nervous, and feeling a bit guilty over this assassination didn't help her achieve her goal either. She had her mind set though, if she didn't kill him, than he would just kill her. It's a one way road, and you can't do anything about it, she thought to herself. Suddenly, she threw the small hoop around Fukien's neck and jumped down from the tree in the opposite direction with the rope in her hand.
The monk opened his eyes only to see that he was suddenly in mid-air with something strangling him. Panic began to fill the monk's mind, as he tried to pull the rope away and flinging his legs around in mid-air but to no avail. A few seconds later, his face started to grow extremely red as blood rushed into his head like a flood at a river. The murderer stood on the ground, as she just looked deep into the man's eyes. The monk, being a victim of this girl, took one last glance at her before falling into the eternal slumber. Pity, Sympathy, Guilt and Relief filled the girl all at the same time as she let go of the rope. The lifeless body dropped onto the ground with a big thud, eyes still wide open.
[Fukien – Dead,
105 to go]
"Goodbye…" whispered the girl who all of a sudden became a murderer. She picked up the weapon which lay beside Fukien's dead body and slipped it into her bag. To her, it was like a miniature version of the weapon Kirke had just given her.
"This should do for now…" she thought to herself. She quickly retreated into the fog, as she began to make her way south in order to hide out at the chapel there.
[Location: Sakai Island – Abandoned House – D8
Time: 18:00
Day 1]
"So… someone used to live here, eh?" a middle aged man thought to himself. Tai Ho was always an observant person, but he was never good around women. For that reason, Esmeralda managed to tag along with him, forcing him to bring him along with her narcissistic feminine charm.
"So, I guess we have to stay here tonight then… there seems to be nobody here and it seems safe" Tai Ho said to Esmeralda in a casual voice. It was pretty clear that Esmeralda didn't like this place, but she didn't seem to have a choice. She always feared being alone, or more like she feared death. Whatever it was, she didn't dare do anything on her own.
"What, I, the beautiful and noble Esmeralda shall have to sleep in this… this… garbage dump?" exclaimed Esmeralda, unaware of the attention that it would attract. Luckily for her though, no one seemed to have heard her. Esmeralda seemed to have gotten to use to expensive future that this was a problem for her. Although the abandoned house seemed quite normal, with just a bedroom and a lounge, she couldn't stand the cramp space and the normal furniture. She was used to big rooms with lots of expensive and comfortable furniture.
"Um, it's not that bad. Ha ha, you can sleep on the bed if you like…" Tai Ho replied while scratching his head, as if he were a bit embarrassed or something in front of the narcissistic girl.
He was always a polite person when in presence of a lady, and that's how he earned the reputation in being a "gentlemen". He knew better than anything that he actually wanted the bed though, of course… He couldn't just leave a lady sleeping on the ground, especially one as picky as Esmeralda.
"Of course I'll sleep on the bed! I can't afford to sully my dress in all that dirt and filth! I'm not like you fisherman. You stinking sardine!" insulted the narcissistic blonde. It was obvious that she was a bit too full of herself, but that's the way she was. Most aristocratic people in Gregminister were raised to be arrogant brats, they were only so few every now and than that could resist being corrupted by the money and the status, and Esmeralda definitely wasn't one of them.
"Girls these days… she's even worse than Kimberly when it comes to attitude…" Tai Ho thought to himself as he picked up a few blankets and pillows from another room. His best idea for the time being was to gather a few blankets and find a place to rest on the floor. Esmeralda quickly jumped onto the bed, but the girl's weight caused the bed to creek over and over again.
"You don't cross this line. This is my territory, ok? You can stay in that filthy little territory of yours with the cockroaches and the lizards…" the girl demanded with her finger pointing at the fisherman. She obviously didn't seem to like him, even though considering the fact that he did save her just half an hour ago from becoming an evening snack for Milich's carnivore spores.
"Well, I'm going to sleep… Bad night to you, Fisherman!" said the aristocrat, her voice in a deep and cursing tone. Instantly right after that, the girl dozed off into a slumber, her head falling first onto the cushion and then the body following into the bed.
Flashback (Half an hour ago)
Time: 17:30
Location: Sakai Island - Storage House – F10
"Why, Milich? What have I done?" screamed the girl, who stood at the door of the old and broken down storage house. The house stood right by the seaside and for that reason when typhoons or tsunami's approached the island, it would break nearly instantaneously. Standing calmly amongst the ruins of the storage house, stood one of the 6 generals of the Scarlet Moon Empire. His appearance stood out more than any other general, but his fashion sense was commonly referred as "Sissy" by some people or "Weird" by others. Despite all of the insults that were awarded to him upon his appearance, when it came to war, he was just as furious as any other general. His specialty, was to use the deadly flowers as his weapon. Therefore, the nickname "The Flower General".
"Beautiful as a rose, elegant as an orchid… Yet, like any real flower… your existence is only merely for a short time… Now perish, Esmeralda… Die!" said the man with a high pitched scream. Although Milich was discarded of his weapon, the rapier, he kept certain types of different spores especially for emergency. One of them was the deadly Antonite which he had created amongst the Gate Rune wars.
"What? Why? Oh my, what have I done?" the girl shrieked in panic. She only held a pocket knife, and she was an inexperienced user of the weapon. If she tried to approach Milich, she'd be consumed by his spores as soon as he opened the lid to the bottle, and if she ran away than she'd probably be killed off by some other men. Hesitatingly, she took a few steps back, as she slowly approached the broken door behind her.
"Your mere presence here in-front of me in this game is a sin. Those who oppose me shall all die, and you are one of them…" Milich mumbled in a low voice. Unlike other narcissist like Vincent or Esmeralda, he had experience in war and for that matter, he never felt guilt over a death as long as he felt it was right. As long as his life was on the line, Milich would do his best to survive.
"Now… Perish and fall into the depths of hell! Goodbye… Esmeralda" Milich said. However, when he said the last few words, he seemed somewhat sad. Infact, he whispered those words in a small and silent tone. Back at the castle, Esmeralda was a friend who constantly spent time with him, just like Vincent. Even in war, they fought in the same unit… After joining the game, he didn't wish to kill them with his own hands… but if Fate was to take such a cruel step for friends to kill one another, then he would accept and move on. He placed his hands on-top of the lid of a small bottle that he took out of his pocket, and inside was filled with small little spores, shaking around like crazy. Suddenly, an arrow suddenly impaled itself into the ground right before Milich's feet.
"RUN!" screamed a voice from afar, and seeing that it was her chance to escape, Esmeralda did as she was told…
[Flashback – End
Time: 18:05
Location: Sakai Island – Abandoned House – D8]
"Everyone is fighting for survival you know… There is no one you can trust…" whispered the fisherman who was sleeping on the floor. Somehow, Esmeralda managed to hear him and woke up… Those words made her concerned, she couldn't imagine to see everyone's dead bodies here and there… She didn't want to know what would happen next… She doesn't even know if she'll survive…
"It's hard to trust someone… Infact, you should never trust anyone" continued the fisherman. His eyes didn't give out any clues of distrust or betrayal, but his words seemed to hit Esmeralda on the spot. Should I trust him? Or will he end up killing me as well as soon as everyone's dead? Questions like these passed through Esmeralda's mind over and over again, as if her head was like a sushi bar, and the questions were the sushi that was revolving on the moving plate. However… she was too tired to think, slowly she started to fall asleep without even realizing it…
Few hours later…
Esmeralda's eyes flew wide open as she heard the floor began to creak, she could feel the presence of another person in the room, but she couldn't tell who. It seemed as if the eerie shadow of death had crept up behind her, even the thought itself gave her chills. Suddenly, a thought passed through her mind… Maybe it was Tai Ho, and maybe he was going to try and kill her. After all, everyone is only fighting for one thing in this game… and that's survival. Suddenly, the motions stopped and Esmeralda could practically feel the presence standing over her. Her hands wouldn't stop trembling… it trembled so much that it clattered against the bed so often that it was creaking. Suddenly, she felt something cold and solid under her arm… feeling it more carefully, she could feel the sharp edges…
"A knife" Esmeralda thought to herself. This was going to be her only chance for survival, maybe if she was lucky Tai Ho wouldn't possess any weapon, which would do any harm to her while she stabbed him. It was her last chance for survival; it's her last chance… her one and only last chance…
-To be continued-