{|} Chapter 6: The Past Come Back to Attack {|}
} A-Part {
"I don't know how it happened, but we've somehow been sent to Laga Mergo, the onetime center of the Arkt faith... and my original hometown!"
"EH?"
squealed Aqua loudly, making Kazuma, who had just walked over to join them, cover her mouth suddenly. This had surprised Chris and had definitely surprised Aqua, a surprise that quickly turns to anger as she tries to force his hand off her mouth while complaining up a storm.
"Hey, you damn NEET. What are you trying to do to me. If you think I'm going to let you just touch a sacred goddess like me in this manner, you'll find..."
"Shut up. Keep it down, both of you!"
The forceful nature of his tone was enough to indeed silence Aqua, but only because of a sudden wave of fear he had made her feel. Chris was also caught off guard by his words though she is quick to realize and understand that something was going on for him to go say that.
Chris moves in closer as Kazuma uses his free hand to make a silence gesture to Aqua, getting her to nod quickly. Kazuma then takes his hand off her mouth before beckoning them to lean in close. Once they had done that, he whispers to the both of them-
"We need to keep our voices as low as possible. We're not alone here in this place!"
Upon hearing that, Aqua's eyes go wide, and she quickly begins to look around every which way with a hint of terror in her eyes. While Kazuma saying they weren't alone didn't necessarily mean there were monsters about, Aqua's natural defensive nature made her assume that was the reason and thus, go on high alert.
Chris, for her part, was also looking around, though unlike Aqua, she was doing so with a more cool and level headed purpose. Given they were currently unable to use any kind of magic, skill, or divine power, a fight against anything that would be living on Arbel now wouldn't likely end well for them.
Seeing nothing, Chris leans in close to Kazuma again and asks in a whisper-
"Are you sure we're not alone, Kazuma? I can't sense or see any danger around us."
Aqua leans in too, also asking with a whisper though a tad bit louder than Chris-
"How can YOU possibly sense anything here when neither me or Eris, who are both goddess's can't... did I just spoil a big secret for you, Eris?"
Aqua just realizes Kazuma may not have actually known about Chris's secret identity, making her clam up from her potential booboo there.
Chris pats her on the back, gives her a comforting smile, then says-
"Letting your mouth do the talking before letting your brain do the thinking. That's so like you, Aqua."
"(louder than she should be talking) What did you just say, goddess of padded che..."
Chris quickly covers her mouth to silence her again, then nervously looks around for any sign of movement. She then says with a quiet tone-
"Idiot. Remember, we need to keep QUIET here. (Aqua nods quickly, making Chris let her go) Anyways, as I was going to say. You don't need to worry about revealing my big secret here, Aqua. Kazuma already knows my true identity. He's known it for a while now."
"Seriously, how did you find that out? It wasn't because Eris decided to tell you her secret, was it, because if it was, then I'm pretty sure that's a serious breach of protocol there."
Kazuma can't help himself but smirk as he says-
"A breach of protocol, huh. I'm sure that's something you've NEVER-EVER done before yourself, am I right. (Aqua goes to retort, but is silenced by Chris) How I learned Eris's secret is a long story but for now, lets just say I went on a little adventure in another timeline and that's when I learned it."
"Another timeline. But that shouldn't be possible, right Eris?"
"Forget all that right now, you two. Kazuma, getting back to the original question. Tell us just how you know we're not alone here in this place."
Kazuma is quiet for a moment, perhaps thinking on how to answer the question. Finally, he says-
"I... don't really know, boss. This may sound strange but... I can sense it, them. I'm picking up the presence of three different entities besides the three of us. I can sense two nearby, watching us from the shadows and one more a little further way but still within the walls that surround this place we're in."
Not far away, hiding behind an invisibility field, [Glutton] Komekko goes stiff at the idea that Kazuma could sense them as she was confident nothing would be able to detect them from where they currently at, watching over them from their high vantage point. [Know-It-All] Eris remains silent on the matter.
Aqua is quick to ask-
"Three of them? Are they dangerous, Kazuma?"
Kazuma shakes his head, then says-
"I can say with confidence that the two who are close by, watching us, aren't a fret... at least I don't think so. I think we're just being observed by them right now. Nothing more."
'Could they be responsible for us being teleported from the camp to Laga Mergo? If so, then what could there game be.'
"As for the other one, I can't be sure yet. It's nature is unknown to me at the moment, probably because it feels like its sleeping, hence the need for silence. If at all possible, we should continue being as quiet as a mouse for now, until we're done with whatever reason we're here for and have made an exit of the place."
"I agree with Kazuma on this one, Eris. Let's just hurry up and get out of here before anything bad happens because if we do end up getting attacked, we will be SO screwed without our powers."
Chris nods her head before taking a quick look around once more, this time with the intention of determining their current location. After a few moments, she says-
"OK, I think I know where it is we're currently at here. The two of you follow me and stay close. If I am right in my guess that this is indeed Laga Mergo, then we'll make directly for the old house so I can check for Rubrikt's clue he supposedly left for us. Let's get going... before anything else happens to us."
"Yeah, let's be quick about it too. In a place like this, I can't help but feel being indoors would be better than being outside in the open like we are now."
"Chris... Aqua, this goes without saying, but we should avoid touching anything while we're here as well, unless it's absolutely necessary. Who knows what could possible alert that third presence I felt earlier into knowing it isn't alone in this place now."
"Good suggestion, Kazuma."
"Talk about stating the obvious, NEET. Like you would need to go telling an intelligent goddess like myself something like..."
"That goes double for you, Aqua!" (x2)
Aqua begins to pout at hearing Kazuma and Chris's words. Chris, meanwhile, looks over to Kazuma, and sends him a look of concern.
'Kazuma, are you doing OK here. You sounded fine, sounded like you were back to your old self already. Are you really though? Are you REALLY back to normal now or was all that just an act meant to keep us, to keep ME, from worrying about your true state of being? I'll need to have a little one on one with him as soon as the opportunity presents itself.'
Chris then motions for Kazuma to come closer, which he does, allowing her to whisper into his ear-
"Kazuma, your ability to sense those other three entities before. Was that because of your Lich Power... or perhaps because of Entropy?"
"... I... I don't really know, boss. I haven't given that much thought. Trying not to, really. All I can say is that I CAN feel them out there. That's it."
Chris nods before going back into her thoughts. Having access to mana was out of the question, as Arbel's tree was essentially dead, or at least dead enough that what mana it could still produce was far to small and weak for anything and anyone to tap into. This also meant no access to anima as a divine being walking around in a mortal shell needed at least some mana to mix together with the anima in order to do anything with it.
But was the same true for arcana? If they did come under attack, could Kazuma call up his Lich Reap power to protect them? Did that power need mana present in order to be used?
Chris shakes her head at that thought. Even if Kazuma could still us his Lich Reap power here, it would be too dangerous for him. In a world without mana, he would be tapping into a greater amount of arcana than he ever had before, outside of Hell that was and unlike during that incident, he was back inside his mortal body now and Chris understood just how bad it was to mix pure arcana with a mortal body. It could, and likely would, kill him instantly... and that's if he was very lucky too.
Lucky because it could also do so many more worse things instead to him than kill him.
'No, no matter what. I can't let him tap into that power while we're here. I don't care what danger would could find ourselves facing off against, I'd rather die than see him do something that could... I won't let him do it, no matter what.'
Chris also wondered if it had been the Entropy inside Kazuma that had been the one to sense those three entities earlier and if it had been, then what could that potentially mean for them. In truth, she really didn't want to think about it.
As Kazuma and Chris walked, Aqua had fallen a few steps behind them, her attention focused on looking every which way for any signs of danger or potential attacks. She was so focused on this that she hadn't realized she was falling behind. She was so focused on keeping a look out...
That she fails to notice the strange looking root like thing emerging from between two stones that made up the road. Because of that, she ends up tripping over said root, hitting the ground hard.
"Owie, what the hell was...?"
complained Aqua, rubbing the tiny pump she had on her head. She awaits Kazuma and Chris running back over to her, to make sure she was alright and to help her up, but quickly realizes they weren't coming. She looks around, finding them moving further and further away from her, neither appearing to have taken notice of her little tumble.
This causes a vein to pop in Aqua's head as she quickly gets to her feet and grits her teeth in anger.
'Hey you two, pay more attention to someone who was in need, why don't you. Sure, I should have been paying more attention to the road too, but that's still... Wait, don't leave me behind. I'm sorry, I'm sorry here.'
Aqua goes to walk swiftly so she can catch up to them, but stops a moment to look back and glare at the strange looking root that had tripped her up.
"Stupid little... daring to trip up a goddess like me. How do you like this as a punishment?"
She then kicks the root, rather hard too. Hard enough to make more of it emerge from the ground. She then goes running after Kazuma and Chris as they had nearly left her line of sight. As she gets further away from the root, she fails to notice a series of lines upon it start to light up.
Elsewhere within Laga Mergo, within a massive crater that has once been the spot where the Arkt Cathedral had been located, more of the roots which were present there begin to light up, revealing the outline of a creature that had been hidden by the darkness.
The body of the creature remains motionless for a moment before it begins to stir, a low growl emerging from it as well as a miasma like mist leaking from its mouth and nostrils. Creaking sounds come from it as it becomes active for the first time in centuries.
Arbel's last surviving resident had finally awakened again. And it was ready to begin a brand-new hunt!
} B-Part {
"Are we there yet? My legs are getting tired."
whined Aqua as they made their way across the city streets of Laga Mergo. Chris sighs as she looks back at Aqua and says with a measured tone-
"First Aqua, please try not to be so loud when your whining around here. Your voice is actually reverberating around us. Second, we haven't even been walking all that long here."
Kazuma is quick to add-
"In fact, if you turn around and look behind us, you'll find that we can still see the building we stepped out of... rather easily too."
Kazuma wasn't wrong there as they had probably only gone about two or three blocks away from where they had started and yet, Aqua was...
Aqua comes to a stop, sniffs a little, then says-
"I know, I know. I can't help it. I'm still tired, I'm hungry, and I'm missing all that booze I found that didn't come along with us when we somehow ended up being sent here to this city."
she cried out her complaint, rather loudly at that.
Believe it or not, Aqua was aware she was being annoying here. Now that she had gotten all her old memories back, she could easily see the faults in her words, thoughts, and actions, she still couldn't help herself but act as she had done in the past.
After all, just because you regain lost memories, that doesn't mean you won't suddenly change your present way of acting and reacting to things happening to be like you were in the past, when you had been at your best. No, a change like that will take time to get back into being the norm for you again.
Especially when the current you has been your go-to way of doing things for a few centuries. Remembering you old you and how that you did things will need time to become the current you again.
Chris sighs, then walks back over to Aqua and places a hand on her shoulder, then says-
"Just try to bare with all of this for a little bit longer. Once we reach my old home, you can sit back, kick back, and rest all you want till we get out of here, OK."
Kazuma then joins them and adds-
"And Aqua, remember to keep your voice down. We don't know if we're truly alone here and given our current status, I don't think any one of us would want to be getting into a fight right now. Especially against whatever would still call this world in its current state home."
"You're worry to much, you damn NEET. I'm pretty sure it's just the three of us that are here. And if I'm wrong, I'll... I'll... I'll become your personal maid and do anything you say without question or complaint for the next ten years."
"I want that in writing, Aqua!"
said Chris, a hint of amusement in her tone as she begins looking through her pouch, hoping beyond hope she had a pen and paper she could use for Aqua to sign and make her words official.
Kazuma, for his part, is less than amused as he says-
"As... interesting as that sounds, I think I'd rather you simply go around for the next decade telling everyone you see, both mortal and divine, that you are the weakest and most pathetic goddess that has ever lived."
"Why would I do that, go around and lie to everyone. Surely Eris here has told you that we gods can't tell lies. Our divine and pure natures prevent us from being able to do so."
"(not sounding so convinced) That has actually become debatable since I first met you, Aqua."
Aqua looks hurt at hearing Chris say that, making her tear up all over again. She also looked a little mad, saying with a hurt tone-
"I can't believe you, Eris. Doubting your sempai like you are now. I can understand that kind of doubt coming from... from THAT! But from you too? That does it, I'll shout it out as loudly as I can so that even everyone up in Heaven can here it. Here I go (intakes a lot of air)."
"Wait, Aqua. You don't need to do that..."
cried Eris as she and Kazuma go to cover Aqua's mouth with their hands, but they just aren't quick enough as Aqua shouts out as loudly as she can.
"I, THE GODDESS AQUA, HAVE NEVER ONCE TOLD A LIE SINCE BECOMING A GODDESS AND IF THAT'S A LIE, THEN MAY I SPEND ONE ENTIRE MORTAL LIFETIME AS SATOU KAZUMA'S PERSONAL SLA..."
A sudden roar rings out across the city, making all three mortals pale. Kazuma and Chris then turn to a still surprised Aqua, looks of annoyance on their faces, as Kazuma says-
"So, what was that about being certain that the three of us are alone here?"
"... You know, this is all YOUR fault, you know. Because of your bad luck, we now have a..."
Another roar rings out, this one much closer than the last. The three of them look at each other for a moment, then they break into a run, hoping to find someplace they can hide from whatever it was Aqua had just called to their location.
"Aqua, what the hell? Didn't we just tell you..."
"Don't be going around, blaming others when bad things happen, NEET. Like I said before, because of your bad luck..."
"That's the pot calling the kettle black. And for the record, my luck stat is the highest stat I have. If I ever find myself suffering any amount of bad luck, it's because of the people around me, not because of anything I have done myself. If you have any doubts about whose really to blame here, then pull out your adventurer's card and we'll compare our stats. Then we'll see whose luck is the worst here."
"Why am I not surprised. Of course YOU would try to deflect the blame off yourself and onto someone else. I think you need to experience some form of divine punishment here from yours tru..."
"Will you two give it a rest already. Damn, it's like listening to an old married couple having themselves a bicker fest... and at the worst possible time too. (pause) Here, let's just hide out inside here till the danger has passed."
The three of them quickly enter a building, finding the door unlocked which they were thankful for. They then push a shelf next to the door over onto its side in order to act as a barricade before huddling behind the horizontal shelf, hands over their mouths to better improve their silence.
A few moments later, the sound of stone cracking and shattering from outside could be heard, followed by the wound of a deep growl cutting through the silence.
Chris, unable to repress her curiosity, moves away from the others, slinking over to a window and takes a chance to push herself up so she can take a peek at what had arrived. Was she taking a big risk here? Sure, or course she was. But that oh so human need to know was just to strong to ignore here.
Aqua had wanted to yell at her, tell her to stop what she was doing and get back over to her and Kazuma, but she nearly squeals out aloud when Kazuma moves to join Chris in the peeking.
When Kazuma was finally able to see the creature, he realizes he had seen something like this before. Chris looks at Kazuma and sees the look of recognition in his eyes, making her ask with a much a whisper as she could manage.
"Do you know what that thing is, Kazuma?"
"Yeah, I know what it is... sort of. While this one looks a bit different than the one Anna assimilated into herself, but there's no doubt that this thing is part of the brood. That's a Geist."
"A Geist, huh?"
Chris looks at it again and realizes she had seen that before when Anna had morphed into the thinner, more angular version of what they were seeing now. What's more, she realizes she had indeed seen something like this before.
Back in her early days as a goddess, she had seen such being making up the Praegem's private army. She couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that any were still walking around on this world. She had truly believed that the Praegem had taken all the survivors with him when departing this world and even if he hadn't, then surely the ones left behind wouldn't be able to survive long without their master being around.
Aqua, meanwhile, didn't know what to think. She had heard the name though didn't know what kind of creature it could be/ Now curious herself, she moves over to another window and pokes her head up enough to be able to see it.
Its limbs were long, as long as the standard Geist if not longer. Unlike the standard Geist, the organic center was larger and much more muscular, with fully developed hands and feet, something the regular Geist seriously lacked. The bone like exoskeleton was also different, like there were two sets of of exoskeletons covering the organic center, like the organic bits needed the extra support. The face of this Geist was also different, having six sets of eyes and a series of massive horns growing all over.
Aqua leaned in closer, wanting to get a better look through the glass, causing the glass in question to crack from the unexpected pressure her cheeks were putting on the fragile glass. This causes her to duck down the same instant the Prime Geist turns its head towards the now cracked class.
Kazuma and Chris also duck their heads back down, before sending Aqua a look that says "We'll deal with you later." A few moments later, a shadow comes over the window Aqua had been at and the sound of sniffing can be heard.
Aqua instinctively into a fetal position while shaking in fear. The shadow remains at Aqua's window for a few moments more before moving over to the window Kazuma and Chris had been at. It does some more sniffing before its shadow fades away.
After a few moments, Chris dares to peek up and out the window, looking for the Prime Geist. It was no longer present, as far as she could tell. She then lets herself slide back down before breathing out a sigh of relief.
"I think it's gone... at least for now."
Kazuma also lets out a relieved sigh.
"Good, that's good to hear. So, what's the plan now?"
Chris takes a moment to think about it, then says-
"Let's wait here for a few hours, then we'll make our way over to my old home using the back alleys. We then do a quick search then we get the hell out of Laga Mergo as quickly as possible."
"Sounds like a plan. You hear all that, Aqua? Aqua?"
"That wasn't my fault... that wasn't my fault... that wasn't my..."
Chris and Kazuma crawl over to Aqua, giving her a little shake to snap her back to reality. Well, Chris did the shaking while Kazuma prepared himself to cover her mouth which ended up being a good idea as the moment Chris touched Aqua's shoulder to shake her, Aqua let out a loud scream, which Kazuma barely had a chance to muffle.
"Shut up, you idiot. Do you want it to come back?"
Aqua goes silent at once at hearing that. Chris then tells Aqua what she had told Kazuma, then Kazuma takes his hands off Aqua's mouth. Once they were all sitting again, all huddled together, Aqua looks at Chris and asks her-
"Question, going through the back alleys, how long do you think it'll take for us to reach your old home, Eris?"
"Not really sure. While I know what direction we need to go in, I've never actually walked through those back alleys before. That's something my sister would know better than I as she liked taking 'short cuts' when walking around."
"At least we'll have some cover from that oversized Geist. With a body like that, it'll have trouble moving through the backstreets, what with how cramped it'll likely be."
"I agree with Kazuma... I can't believe I just said that. Anyways, why the need to wait. Can't we just go now and get this search over with?"
"It's too soon for us to make a move, Aqua. Surely you know that?"
"You worry too much, Eris. I'm sure he's already a few blocks away from us by..."
Before Aqua could finish, the ceiling above and before them comes crashing down, followed by the Prime Geist appearing before them, unleashing a deafening roar that has enough force behind it that it makes their hair blow all over the place.
"OK, I'll admit it. This was my fault and I really need to stop saying things that can jinx us!"
{|} Intermission {|}
It had been a long walk for the Outsiders, a walk that allowed them to see many strange and curious sights. But at last, they stood before the massive spiraling vortex of raw power they had decided to call the Storm!
[Complex] Iris is the first to speak up, saying-
"OK, we're here... and we haven't been attacked by Entropy yet. What happens now?"
[Ego] Aqua was already scanning the area surrounding the Storm, looking for anything that might allow them safe passage within it.
"We get inside that thing, obviously. Even if we don't find Entropy in there at the moment, we may at least find a clue as to what its greater plan could potentially be here."
"Any ideas how we can enter this thing. I'm guessing just taking our chances with running straight through the vortex isn't an option we can explore."
Of course [Passion] Darkness would want to try something like that. [Complex] Iris looks at [Ego] Aqua and asks-
"Any chance one of your divine barrier breakers could open the way. I ask because from just looking at this thing, I can't help but think it might be just one big barrier meant to protect something important."
[Ego] Aqua considers this, taking a moment to carefully study the energies that made up the Storm. She finally says-
"Guess it couldn't hurt to try it, though I'm worried that the attempt could alert Entropy to our presence here. Yunyun, be ready to open a gate out of here for us should... Yunyun?"
Everyone finally realizes that [Shy] Yunyun wasn't with them, making them begin to panic. That panic is short lived however as the hear her voice calling out to them from not too far away.
"Hey, everyone. Over here. I think I found our way inside."
The three girls look at each other, sigh, then run over to join [Shy] Yunyun. As they get closer, they find what she had found was a a trench carved from stone into the ground, maybe some kind of large water drainage tunnel. Regardless of what it was originally, it seemed to pass safely under the Storm without any signs that it was influencing the tunnel at all.
After a quick scolding session was brought down onto [Shy] Yunyun's head, they enter the tunnel and begin to walk it. The next few moments were tense ones as they feared the possibility that the tunnel could suddenly collapse upon them and bury them all alive.
Luckily, that didn't happen, and they soon found the tunnels exit point. Upon reaching it, they carefully emerged and found they had managed to pass safely through the Storm and were now inside and able to see just what exactly it had been protecting.
The first thing they noticed was the strange crystal-like structure located smack dab in the middle of the area. Made from what appeared to be crystals of ruby, sapphire, and topaz; the structure shimmered as it released a strange kind of light which filled the entire space in an ever-changing radiance of red, blue, and yellow.
But it's what they saw next that really caught them off guard. All over the place, both hovering off the ground and floating all across the air, were these large gemstones. And inside each of these gems was...
"Kazuma... hundreds... no, tens of thousands of Kazuma's."
It was true for each gemstone they saw, each just slightly bigger than an adult human, held within them the motionless form of Satou Kazuma. There were so many different Satou Kazuma's in fact that they couldn't be sure just how many of them there actually was. Only that there was a LOT of him.
[Passion] Darkness let's out an impressed whistle before saying-
"Damn, someone must sure have the hots for our boy here. I mean, I'm totally down for having multiple Kazuma's appear and ravage me endlessly. But this, these numbers? Hah, even I, as degenerate as I am, wouldn't ever want to try having this many to work with. If I even tried to do it would see me dead before I got even a quarter of the way through them all."
"I can second that."
agrees [Complex] Iris while [Shy] Yunyun quickly asks-
"Why are there so many Kazuma's here to begin with? It doesn't make any sense. I thought Entropy was simply looking for HER Kazuma specifically. Why go to all this trouble to kidnap so many of them if they weren't the one she was looking for?"
"Maybe she thought each of them were her Kazuma... at first. It was only after bringing them here did she realize that she was wrong. Then, rather than take them back home, she just sealed them up inside those gemstone thingies and moved on with her search."
offered [Complex] Iris with [Passion] Darkness nodding in agreement.
[Ego] Aqua, not quite so sure about that, steps forward and comes to stand before the nearest floating gemstone. She looks at the Kazuma floating within and thinks he might be sleeping or was being kept within a sleep like state, before reaching out with her hand and touching the gemstone.
For the next few seconds, her mind was assaulted with endless images and spoken words before it all came to an end and she stumbles backwards, being caught by [Passion] Darkness before she could fall onto the ground.
"Wow, now that's what I call a trip."
"Aqua... Aqua, what the hell... what happened just now?"
asked [Passion] Darkness as the others joined them. [Ego] Aqua lets a moment pass so her mind can process what she had just seen, then says-
"I... I think I just experienced some parts of that Kazuma's life when I touch the gemstone he's sealed in. If what I saw, and understand, is true, I think... I think we all betrayed him."
"We did what?" x3
"Well, not ALL of us as I didn't see you two there, Yunyun and Iris. I didn't see Eris anywhere either. What I saw was me, you Darkness, and Megumin approach Kazuma at the guild one day and told him we were leaving the party, going to join Mitsurugi's team because we been given a 'better offer.'"
"There's no way in hell the three of us would ever do that."
argued [Passion] Darkness. Aqua nods her agreement, then says-
"You're right. WE wouldn't. But it seems our counterparts from this Kazuma's timeline did do that to him. Anyways, after we all left him behind. He decided to turn the mansion into an orphanage for the homeless kids around Axel, placed Wiz in charge of it, then set off on some kind of journey in order to find his place in the world, or something like that."
The others just stand there for a moment, still not wanting to believe what [Ego] Aqua had just seen; what she had just told them. Then, one by one, the three girls pull away from Aqua and move over to their own gemstones. Like [Ego] Aqua had, they each reach out and touch their stones and after a moment, they finally came back to themselves while falling on their own butts as a result.
"What happened? What did you all see?"
[asked [Ego] Aqua. [Complex] Iris goes first, saying-
"This Kazuma, and the rest of you, were on a mission that went wrong. He was separated from you all and, using a magic device that allowed long range communication, he gave you orders to pass onto the others, Aqua. You seemed to not be concerned though, constantly cutting in, then ending the communication with him. He thinks you weren't seeing just how bad and serious the situation actually was."
[Passion] Darkness goes next, saying-
"Mine was a familiar one. Remember that Snow Sprite kill quest, Aqua. I saw that play out though unlike when it happened with us, you didn't heal Kazuma's dead body then revive him. He instead waited several hours in Eris's empty throne. Eris soon returned, having just gotten back from doing her usual mortal stuff when she realized she had an awaiting soul and was just about to send Kazuma off when you finally made contact. I think you forgot you could heal and resurrect him for a bit before remembering it, then the three of you raced back to see if there was still time to save you. I also saw mine and Megumin's counterparts seriously scolding you after Kazuma was finally revived."
[Ego] Aqua takes a moment to think about it, then says-
"You know, based on those first two, I would say Entropy may not have taken all these Kazuma's because she thought each one could have been HER Kazuma, but instead was going after Kazuma's who had suffered betrayal in his life. But after hearing about that third one's memories..."
"Maybe Entropy saw what happened to him as a form of betrayal!"
[Ego] Aqua and [Passion] Darkness look at [Complex] Iris, waiting for her to clarify.
"I mean, think about it. What you just told us, Darkness, could be seen by some as a form of betrayal. I mean, it wasn't exactly a betrayal but rather one hell of a goof on the part of the Aqua from that timeline. But from Entropy's perspective, depending on her personal standards, maybe she saw that goof as a betrayal, hence why he was brought here."
"Hm... maybe. What about you, Yunyun? What did the Kazuma you look at... have to..."
They all pause as they look at [Shy] Yunyun. The first thing they saw was that the Kazuma she had interacted with wasn't a young Kazuma, but an older one. Like, Kazuma the old man old. He appeared to be in his seventies, perhaps even his eighties. The second thing they noticed was that Yunyun was crying. She looks at them, her tears continuing to fall, as she says-
"I think Aqua may be right about all these Kazuma that are here are those who suffered from some form of betrayal... because this Kazuma here... he was betrayed too. At least, I think he was... kinda?"
{|} Chapter 6-B: Vengeance of a Goddess {|}
} A-Part {
After changing out her usual adventurer attire and into the formal high priestess attire. Serena began working on apply the ceremonial make-up that was also required for her to wear in the forthcoming ritual.
Serena actually hated having to doll herself up like this. For one thing, the robes of the high priestess didn't quite fit her. It was tight not only around her waist, but also around her chest too, though that was probably the fault of her own body for being so busty and all that.
The make-up, too, was a pain as it made her skin one hell of a serious itch to the point that she wanted to go to town with scratching. Still, it was required if the tomes that spoke of this ritual were telling the truth. Once she had finished, she looks at herself in a mirror for a moment before smiling, nodding.
She then leaves the preparation room and begins walking through the halls of the ancient city. She wondered what this place might have looked like back in the day, when it had still been in better shape. To wander these halls during the city's heyday; oh, what fun would that have been.
She shakes those thoughts from her head, instead forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. Lady Regina had spent far too long being sealed down here in this place and it was high time for her to finally be free once more. Also, the sooner she could get this ritual finished, the sooner she could get this annoying make-up washed off her face and get out of this way to tight outfit too.
Once reaching the end of the hall, she finds Melissa awaiting her, leaning back against the wall with her eyes closed; like she always liked to do. Serena didn't need to say anything to her as Melissa always had this talent of knowing when she had arrived and would respond without the need for words.
"You look like you're enjoying that look."
"Hardly. Let's just go and get the sacrifices already so we can go and get this done. The sooner we're done here, the sooner I can get myself out of this stupid costume."
"Agreed. No offense, old friend, but that getup makes you look like some kind of clownish idiot! Good thing the only ones who'll see you like that won't be around much longer here."
"I know, I know. If anyone else, besides you all, saw me dressed like this, I'd probably die from the embarrassment I would be feeling. Anyways, let's go... oh right, almost forgot."
Serena begins to dig through her robes, finally finding and pulling out a choker of unusual design which she then offers to Melissa. The treasure hunter looks at the item with confusion, perhaps even suspicion for a few moments, then back at Serena and asks-
"What's that for?"
"Your protection. In truth, I have no idea exactly how effective the ritual is actually going to be. As far as either of us can know, the ritual could fill the ENTIRE room, not just the ritual circles I've already drawn out early for those five. In case I was wrong about the effect radius, this choker should keep you safe from being made a sacrifice yourself. As you can see, I am also wearing one for my own safety."
Serena then tilts her head up, better showing the choker that she herself was wearing. Melissa looks at the choker Serena was wearing, then asks-
"I'm actually being allowed into the inner chamber this time. I thought that room could only be entered by the high priest or priestess."
"And by any sacrifices when it comes time to fill their roles. Under normal conditions, you would be correct. However, I have found that there can be guards present as well within the holiest of holiest of our religion's locations, but only during these specific rituals we're about to hold."
"But I'm not a guard. I'm a treasure hunter, surely that means..."
"Oh, quit being difficult. I'm sure the guard position isn't meant to be taken literally. Just someone to fill the GUARD role; protect the ritual masters and such. I'm sure it doesn't require an actual knight class or something similar. What's wrong, old friend? I thought you wanted to see what lay within that chamber. Are you... does this mean you don't trust me here? I'm hurt."
Melissa studies Serena for a few moments more, then sighs before reaching out and taking the choker from Serena. She then puts it on, making Serena smile before clapping her shoulder gently as she goes walking past.
"Now, what do you say we go get those five and escort them to the ceremonial chamber. The sooner we can get this done, the sooner we can see lady Regina freed, be rewarded by her, and I can finally ditch this humiliating look."
The two of them then go for a little walk, soon arriving at the cell they had left their offerings in. Serena goes to unlock the door, but stops as Melissa asks-
"Out of curiosity, you think anything perverted happened since we last checked in on them. I mean, with the kind of libido that Dust guy has, one would think he would have made a move on at least one of those girls..."
"I doubt anything happened. Sure, you're right about Dust there. About him probably wanting to do something perverted before the end. I doubt he would be able too though. Trust me when I say that those two Crimson Demons are way too into Kazuma to let another guy ever bed them. The same could be said for Cielo, on top of the fact that men specific phobia of hers wouldn't allow any man to touch her without repercussions happening. As for Darkness... well, maybe with her..."
"Only one way to find out, I guess."
said Melissa as she goes to open the door. Before it could finish opening, Darkness forces the door to open the rest of the way, making Melissa stumble back, as she lunges from within the room with her hands spread wide before her. Darkness's intentions were clear; she was aiming to strangle Serena to death, even if the Vengeance curse resulted in her sharing the same fate in the end.
"Stop!"
said Serena, her voice colder than what she normally spoke with. Darkness comes to a stop immediately, standing motionless while a look of surprise and confusion present on her face.
Cielo is next, flying over the motionless Darkness with the intention of sending a punch down upon the arch priestess. If that wasn't enough, Dust and Yunyun followed after her, both coming in low as they maneuvered around the unmoving Darkness to strike at Serena from down low.
"Stand down!"
Serena commands them all, making them stop dead as well. Like with Darkness, the threesome also had looks on their faces that implied a mixture of confusion and surprise. Megumin finally came into view though unlike the others, she wasn't attempting to attack Serena. Just walking casually out of the cell, then stops and says-
"I knew that wasn't going to work, you guys. I told you as much but NO, clearly the smartest person in the room wouldn't know what she's talking about. And if there's any doubt about me being the smartest, then let's all bring out our adventurer's cards and compare our intellect stats with one another."
"We get it, Megumin. You're the best and brightest out of everyone around you."
yelled Yunyun, with Cielo quickly saying-
"Now's not the time for this, you two. We have a bigger problem here."
"No, don't stop them yet. Maybe they'll end up getting into a little cat fight with one another which would be nice. After all, when two girls get into a cat fight, that usually means torn clothes and sometimes... even hotter things happening."
Of course, Dust would still find a way to turn even a situation like this into a chance for perversity.
Darkness rolls her eyes, then turns her attention to Serena and asks-
"May I ask how you managed to stop all out attacks with just a single word spoken."
"Simple, those collars you are all wearing. Were any of you aware of the fact that, in addition to the collars sealing up one's mana, they also provide another useful function to them; obedience... of a sort. Just in case any criminals try to do anything funny, their jailers can speak a series of specific words to make them stop and obey without question. Luckily, these things can't be used for just anything though. Only to help keep a prisoner in line, really. You can't use them to do other things, more obscene to someone."
"Makes sense. I guess that means you had to add some of your own mana into each collar before placing them on us to register yourself as our jailer, am I right."
asked Cielo, earning a nod from Serena.
"That is correct, lady Accord. Now, if the five of you would be so kind. FOLLOW ME!"
Serena then turns and begins to walk back down the streets. Darkness, Cielo, Yunyun, Megumin, and Dust do as commanded, thanks to the power of the collars they were wearing, and follow after her. Melissa takes up the rear, making sure none of them somehow managed to break free from the control and make a break for it.
After a long walk, which included a trek up a very long flight of stairs, they finally reached the top where a massive temple like structure awaited them. Once they had stepped inside the temple, Serena guided them down several more halls till they had entered one final room; one that held a rather large and ornate sarcophagus sitting within its center.
Serena then walks around the room, in a circle, commanding each of the five to stop and kneel down upon a drawn seal painted upon the ground. Once she had finished, she beckons Melissa to stand at her side before turning her gaze to look at her five offerings.
"Now then... what say you all to getting started here."
} B-Part {
"For far too long, this world has been out of balance. There has been a lack of TRUE justice to be found anywhere. It is said that at one time, there existed an equilibrium between two deities that helped to maintain the balance."
Serena then steps forward and makes a sweeping motion with her arms.
"Was it due to fear, or a belief that there only needed to be one divine force watching over the world? Who can really say. All that is known is that the people made a decision was made and a goddess was wrongfully sealed away in this place. This unfairness cannot be allowed to stand."
Serena then walks around the room, allowing her fingers to dance across the faces of her sacrifices who scowled at her in response. Once she had finished, she returns to her original spot beside Melissa, then says-
"And so tonight, we will write the wrongs of the past. Undo a great sin that has brought great harm onto the world. We shall release and restore the goddess Regina to her rightful place as a power within this world and it will be through the offering that shall be made by all of you. For that, you have my eternal gratitude."
"Like we're doing this of our own free will. If it wasn't for these damn collars you placed on us, we'd..."
"SILENCE, all of you!"
commanded Serena, causing Darkness's outburst to come to a stop. She could see them struggling, putting everything they had into overpowering the collars power over them so they could do something here. Anything, really. But it was pointless as the power of the collars, combined with the presence of of the anti-mana particles still present in the air, if not greatly reduced than what had been present within the catacombs, kept them from taking action.
Serena does notice one of them didn't appear to be making any attempt at fighting for her freedom, which makes her smirk just a little.
'It seems Megumin has already accepted her fate. Funny, I thought she would be the most defiant of them all. Guess that shows even she knows when the struggle would be in vain.'
"Now then, we should finally begin... ah, I almost forgot the most important part. I still need one last offering here..."
Serena goes to look at Melissa who had suddenly jumped into action, dagger in hand, as she went to strike her own friend down. Serena allows the dagger to stab her in the stomach, knowing Melissa would also suffer the same injury due to the power of Vengeance.
Both women grunt as they glare at each other. Serena speaks first, saying-
"So, I guess this means I was right in my suspicions. You did enter this chamber after I returned to the surface to collect the offerings. No wonder those Draugr appeared as they did, in response to the violation. Such a treacherous friend you are, Melissa."
"What do you want me to say, old friend. I was able to see it, ya know. The writing beneath the writing, the TRUE history left behind in this place. Serena, you must know the truth..."
"Truth? And what truth would that be exactly. If it was something you believed to be true, then surely you would have told me what you read once we had reunited. But you didn't, which means even you didn't believe a word of it."
"I didn't tell you because I had any doubt about it being true. I didn't tell you because I knew you would never believe it even if I did tell you. Serena, you need to accept the facts. The goddess Regina, she..."
"Enough!"
shouted Serena, pushing Melissa away while her body begins to glow with healing magic.
"You're such a fool, old friend. Did you forget I would be able to heal myself while you couldn't. In fact, did you even forget about..."
Serena stops dead, her body becoming very cold. This is followed by an intense pain, one so strong that it makes her double over while Melissa uses a healing potion to fix her up from the Vengeance created stab wound.
"No, I didn't forget about that, about either actually. That's why I coated my dagger in a special poison beforehand, one that can actually turn any healing magic into its own kind of poison. This madness is over, Serena. I had hoped to save you, to steer you away from this foolish path you're walking, but I fear even telling you the truth written upon these walls will not do. As such, I have no other choice other than to..."
"Command... STRANGLE!"
growled Serena, making Melissa's choker light up. It then begins to squeeze tighter, making her bring her hands to her neck in an attempt to pull it off. Serena chuckles as she gets up and pulls out her own potion that she quickly drinks, quickly recovering from the special poison that had been used on her.
"I had a feeling you would have a nifty trick up your sleeve. It is a good thing I came prepared as well. Don't worry, old friend. I'm not going to kill you... yet. That will only cut off the flow of oxygen long enough to make you pass out. In truth, I am sorry it had to come to this but if I have to choose between you, my oldest friend, and my goddess, then... well, I think you know the answer already."
Melissa tries to say something, but her voice can only manage a gargle. A few moments later, her eye's role into the back of her head as she collapses onto the ground. Serena walks over to her, examines her, then smiles before moving her over to the last, unoccupied seal.
"You really are a monster, Serena."
"How could you do that to your own friend?"
"Yeah, especially seeing as she still had so much to offer the world with that smoking hot bod... what?"
Yunyun and Cielo glare at Dust who, even now at a time like this, was still acting like an idiot.
"You know you won't get away with this, don't you."
"And whose gonna stop me, Darkness? I mean, seriously. What, do you all think that Kazuma is just going to magically show up and save you all at the last second, like some fairytale hero would? That might be fun to see happen."
Serena then realizes Megumin still hadn't said anything, making her walk over to the crimson mage.
"You've been awfully quiet since this whole thing started. And here I thought you'd be the most outspoken of the bunch. (leans in close) What, are you telling me that you have actually accepted your ultimate fate here... what did I hear you get called once? LEGAL DWARF!"
Megumin turns to look at Serena, a big, happy smile present on her face.
"No, I just really wanted you to get as close as you are now to me... so I could do THIS!"
Before Serena could respond or react, Megumin lunges forward and headbutts Serena has hard as she could. This causes Serena to stumble backwards as a large red mark appears on her forehead. The same mark also appears on Megumin's forehead, not that such a thing appeared to matter as she was already on the move with her next action.
Megumin reaches out and grabs Serena by her shoulders, then leaps into the air and releases her hold while thrusting her legs outwards to kick Serena hard in her chest, sending her flying back to make a powerful and painful impact against the sarcophagus.
This makes Serena cry out in pain as she coughs up blood. As for Megumin, she didn't appear to have suffered any retribution from the power of Vengeance like she had with that headbutt which confused everyone, even Serena as she was quick to recover, then say-
"How... how did you break free from the power of the collar I placed on you? And how is it that last action you did against me didn't rebound and hurt you too?"
"Your first question is easy. I don't have any mana flowing around inside my body right now, remember. Something like this collar... kind of needs one to have mana present in order to do its job. As for the other, you tell me. Maybe your Vengeance will only work when the injury is of the direct kind, not indirect as I felt my own kick against my chest but not the follow-up impact against that stone coffin. That means... I've discovered a workaround that I can use against you."
Megumin then thrust both arms out with her hands opens wide. She closes her eyes and puts all her focus into calling it forth, the small amount of Reiki power she had managed to draw forth before. Her arms shift into a crimson glow while a ball of light forms in her open hands.
She then fires it, though she turns the angle away from Serena at the last moment to instead hit the wall. This was her plan as she hoped doing a series of rebounds would save her from feeling the effects of the forthcoming hit.
And it did at that as, while she did her best to follow the motion of the light ball, Serena was unable to react in time as it was just too damn fast. It slams into her stomach, sending her flying forward into Megumin's awaiting foot, which she had raised up to meet Serena's face, leaving the Death Priestess to collapse onto the ground while Megumin stumbles back from the impression of her own foot hitting her face.
"Ow... I can really do a number on someone, huh?"
"Megumin, how did you..."
asked Yunyun. Megumin collects herself, then says as she walks back over to the downed Serena.
"I'll explain it all in a minute. First, let me take care of this bitch."
Megumin then reaches up and, after a few seconds of working with it, manages to get the collar off from around her neck. Cielo goes to move, to help Megumin by making sure Serena isn't able to do anything should she reawaken quickly but finds her body still under the influence of Serena's command.
"Megumin, be careful. I think she might still be..."
Before Megumin could react or respond, Serena opens her eyes and delivers a powerful punch to Megumin's face, sending her flying to the ground. Serena then aims her hand at Megumin and says with venom in her tone-
"Sleep!"
Megumin is immediately knocked out from that, and Serena gets herself back onto her feet. She was glad she was also able to utilize status affecting magics like sleep. She then walks over to Megumin and, for a second, considers doing some dark things to her. However...
"Be thankful that I need you alive, otherwise I would so enjoy using Torture and Death upon you. Now, before you can reawaken, I'll..."
Serena goes to bend down, to grab onto Megumin so she could pull her back onto the seal, but finds herself being attacked again, this time by Chomusuke who finally appears, flies onto Serena's face, and begins scratching her like crazy.
Serena screams out in pain as she tries desperately to grab the little furball and get it off her. Chomusuke proves difficult, by is finally pulled away then being violently thrown against the side wall. Now seething, maybe because she might have lost an eye there, Serena raises a hand up so she can cast Death on the black cat like creature.
But she stops when she realizes something.
"That thing attacked me, injured me, and yet... no of that damage was shared with... how?"
That didn't make any sense to her. Being injured herself shouldn't even be a thing for her to worry about. What with how the power of Vengeance works, it would be her attacker that suffers, never her. And yet, she had felt, could still feel, Megumin's attacks against her and now, that damn cat hadn't even shared the injuries at all. What could that possible mean?
"I'll deal with in a minute, a little beast."
she growled out before grabbing Megumin and dragging the unconscious girl onto the seal. Serena then takes her place and begins to chant aloud, not wanting to waste another second. The others struggle, do everything in their power to resist and fight back, but it was all in vain as the seals beneath them being to activate and they could feel their very life force being drained from their bodies.
"Like I told you all before, I had planned on asking the goddess to revive you all once this was all over with... but I've changed my mind. For what I just had to deal with, I think you can all go rot within whatever afterlife you end up having. Now, goddess Regina... AWAKEN!"
The others continue to struggle, to fight, but their eyes slowly began to close as they finally collapsed onto their respective seals. Serena laughs as she turns, seeing their energies flowing into the sarcophagus, making it light up...
And then cracks start to form, followed by the lid slowly sliding off and over to the side till it finally falls off onto the ground. Serena doesn't bother to check on the status of her sacrifices, to see if they're dead or not. She instead moves closer and closer to the sarcophagus, to see what lay within.
"Lady Regina? Have you awakened..."
Before she could finish, a hand shoots out from the darkness, grabbing and gripping Serena by the throat with a deadly tightness to it. Moments later, the owner of that hand finally emerges as well, revealing the dark truth of this entire place.
"A...aaa... a Drau..."
"At long last... freedom... thank you, foolish child... for releasing me... Draugr Lord!"
It was not Regina, Goddess of Vengeance, that had been sealed here. It was instead the Draugr Lord, a nightmarish king of the undead.
{|} to be continued... {|}
