February 4, 2023, Past Midnight
"One."
"心染邪惡,生驕矜.
Xīn rǎn xié'è, shēng jiāojīn.
(A heart steeped in evil gives birth to pride.)"
"Two."
"身染驕矜,生傲慢.
Shēn rǎn jiāojīn, shēng àomàn.
(A body steeped in pride gives birth to arrogance.)"
"Three!"
"魂沉傲慢,致毀滅.
Hún chén àomàn, zhì huǐmiè.
(A soul steeped in arrogance gives birth to destruction.)"
Thud! Amon's fiery fist struck against the staff, forcing its wielder back three steps.
"惟夜主之影,惟宇主之虛,惟獄主之刑.
賜我一室,以刃斬光,令塵世生靈受苦.
Wéi yè zhǔ zhī yǐng, wéi yǔ zhǔ zhī xū, wéi yù zhǔ zhī xíng. Cì wǒ yī shì, yǐ rèn zhǎn guāng, lìng chénshì shēnglíng shòukǔ.
(Only the shadow of the master of night's darkness, only the void of the master of the universe, only the torment of the master of hell. Grant me a chamber, for my blade to sever the light, to bring torment upon the creatures of earth.)"
"Sizhu!" Elizabeth screamed as Sizhu dashed forward, clashing once more with Amon. Reza's hand reached out, grasping for the flagpole planted firmly in the open ground of the mountain forest.
"領域展開:屠戮之室
Lǐngyù Zhǎnkāi: Túlù zhī Shì
Reality Marble; Slaughter Chamber."
As the incantation concluded, as Elizabeth's cry for her friend echoed, as Reza's fingers clenched around the flagpole—
White mist rose around their calves. And in the very next second…
Like the snap of fingers, in that same instant, the five youths no longer recognized their surroundings. All they could see was a vast chamber, its walls of pale yellow stone stained with streaks of fresh, glistening blood. In the corners twitched scattered scraps of flesh, still quivering.
Various instruments of torture hung from the walls, dimly illuminated by a brownish-yellow lamp. The place reeked of the breath of a cursed being—a Witch. The butcher's knives clutched in both hands were its closest companions. The rattling chains were the bonds tying it to them. And the smile stretched across its pallid, corpse-like face made the five young souls shiver. Wide-eyed, they felt the oppressive, monstrous presence in this grotesque, unfamiliar place.
"Hueek!" Elizabeth and Mei Mei vomited in unison at the sight around them. Their faces turned ghastly pale, for they could sense the putrid mana surging beneath the bloodstained floor.
Not only the flow of mana, but also the stench—foul and nauseating—burned their noses, twisting their guts and clouding their minds.
Amon, Sizhu, and Reza braced themselves with tense stances. Their faces were as pale, their stomachs as unsettled, as the girls who had collapsed against the other side of the wall.
Then said the rasp, a shrill, oily voice that croaked like from a throat drenched in grease:
"Welcome! MY CHOSEN FRESH MEATS!!
WELCOME… TO MY SLAUGHTERHOUSE!"
***
"I feel Witch's aura rising from the mountains. I'll go check it out."
Jianying rose from his chair. Across the marblewood table, An Haocun also stood.
"I'll come too. Besides, it's unbearably boring sitting alone, waiting for someone to arrive. Only three groups have managed to bring back flags. Waiting for the remaining seventeen feels like it could put me to sleep."
An yawned widely, covering his mouth with his gloved right hand.
Jianying glanced his way, then leapt from the balcony to the top of the stone wall enclosing the field. From there, he darted into the pitch-black mountains.
"Tch, at least say something."
An then followed Jianying into the forested peaks.
...
"There's a reek stench rising from the mountains." The dark-pink-haired old man slid his go rook forward, capturing a pawn in the center of the board.
Tak. The rook was instantly ensnared by the snow-white-haired woman's bishop. Her violet eyes glowed beneath the shadows of the central tower's balcony of the Hunter Agency headquarters.
That bishop move put his king in checkmate. No way out. The king was fated to fall, soon to be executed by the bishop—and from the distance behind, her queen lay in wait, unmoving, ready to deliver the final blow.
The man hissed, slapping his thigh in frustration. "I've lost again. But I won't give up until I defeat you, Luxia!"
The long white snowy-haired woman let out a soft laugh without moving her lips.
"War, in truth, is no different than the game we play, Chancellor Lang. On the battlefield, it isn't sheer numbers that decide victory, but strategy and such tricks that catch one's enemy carelessness."
Lang Zen stroked his thick, long, pink beard. He frowned slightly at Luxia's words. All his life, the only methods he knew to solve problems were through sword and sorcery. Rarely did he resolve anything with smart way like Luxia did.
In all his years as Emperor, bearer of the Taurus constellation, ruling all of China from east to west, his achievements paled beside Luxia's. The achievements he has achieved are only half after dozens of years in office compared to Luxia who has only served for two years.
Luxia had pioneered mana stone technology, fusing magic with modern science. Using mana stones as renewable energy shook the world to its core. For centuries, sorcery and science had been irreconcilable, at odds with one another.
Although there are some places that regard magic as the foundation of their civilizational development, such as in Egypt, the Arabian desert, Indonesia, Japan, and the Nordic people on the island of Greenland.
Science, however, is far easier for humans to use and spreads more evenly—such as the various kingdoms in Europe that made science the spearhead of their civilization. Likewise, Africa with its great surrounding wall, and Russia with its snow-covered forested plains.
But only China had achieved the unthinkable—melding both science and magic into one. With mana stones as a renewable fuel, technology leapt forward. One of Luxia's crowning achievements: flying vehicles, hovering cars and motorcycles.
A mana stone installed within the car served as its core engine. Inscribed with levitation runes, it enabled the vehicle to float. Then, modern mechanics provided propulsion, acceleration, braking, ascent and descent.
The automotive industry soared overnight. So too did mining, feeding the demand for mana stones.
Back then, mana stones were only used as a means for gifted magic users to create weapons capable of killing Witches. Or to craft runes with specific magic that granted effects to certain objects or areas.
Muzhe's barrier village, for instance, where crossing its ward would implant a larval hornet inside one's belly, set to hatch within three days unless they returned. Or the famous pyramids, or floating isles of the Middle East.
"Know your enemy as well. Without knowledge of who you face, your struggle will end in futility."
Luxia reset the go board calmly.
Lang Zen stroked his beard again. He had lost thirteen times that night. Still, his eyes shone with stubborn resolve.
"My opponent is simply too clever. That's the real problem."
"Ara~ Thank you for the compliment, Chancellor Lang."
"But," Lang moved his pawn forward, "Cleverness will always bow before persistence and conviction."
Luxia gave a faint smile, moving her piece to the board's center.
"Every human—no, every living being—carries their own struggles, their own tale. That is what makes them so sweet, so delicious. The harder they fight, the finer their flavor." She licked her pink lips, her violet eyes flickering toward the mountains.
Lang Zen, utterly absorbed in the board before him, paid no mind to her strange words. His brows furrowed deeply, as if pondering the greatest question of his life.
"Fight, my sweet boy. Become a strong pieces worthy of the game."
Her smile grew odd, chilling.
**
"Reality Marble?" Reza, Amon, Elizabeth, and Mei Mei echoed in disbelief. They wanted to confirm this was not some illusion. Unfortunately—it was not.
Even Sizhu, gripping his wooden staff, stood confused at this unforeseen horror.
"What is a Reality Marble?" Sizhu asked innocently, pointing his staff toward the butcher Witch in the center of the room, his body angled beside Amon's guarded stance.
The Witch's chamber was vast, the size of a basketball court, square in shape, with four black iron doors mounted into each wall, not knowing what hidden behind.
Reza, recognizing Sizhu's green eyes and unique energy say;
"A Reality Marble is the highest form of sorcery humans can achieve. It require some skill, experience, and talent to create one. Only one in ten million gifted in magic person can reach this level.
And if a Witch wields it… that means they have devoured thousands—no, perhaps tens of thousands—of human mana cores." his explaining, with trembling hands.
Amon, four steps away, extended his left fist toward Sizhu. His right hand aimed at the butcher Witch. Like his comrade, his legs trembled. They all knew: they were standing before an Arch Witch, that powerful enough to kill even a five-star Hunter.
There was a saying all Hunters knew well:
"If you encounter an Arch Witch, run. If you cannot, there are only two choices: death, or kill it. Between you and the Arch Witch, only one will leave alive."
Mei Mei shivered, recalling her master's tale—how she escaped by abandoning six companions as bait, and only she survived.
Elizabeth, kneeling with one leg in the pool of blood, her white gown stained crimson, reeled from nausea and dizziness in the rancid air.
She has high sensitivity to dark mana, making her the quickest to recognize how bad is her opponent's threat as soon as they appear.
"Lisa… I'll heal you.. We must find a way out of this Reality Marble as soon as possible…"
"Mei Mei…"
Mei Mei cast a low grade healing spell to soothe Elizabeth's mana flow. The blonde girl rose to her feet when she had been healed, steady once more.
But blood trickled from Mei Mei's nose. Elizabeth noticed—Mei Mei had overexerted herself. Healing magic was the most demanding of all arts, consuming more mana than any other.
It required intense focus, when touching the patient's body, reconstructing their mana flow within one's mind, and mending it with surgical precision. Most healers could only manage three mid-tier spells to an adult men or one high-tier spell per day.
Tonight, Mei Mei had already used three mid-tier heals and several low ones against the hooded man earlier.
"Your nose…" Elizabeth pointed out, her eyes still warily on the butcher Witch. The Witch, strangely enough, seemed to savor their fear, its gaze drifting leisurely across each of its five prey.
Mei Mei wiped the blood with her sleeve, then forced a smile.
"It's just a nosebleed. Doesn't really matters…" She pointed to the four doors. "I think.. This Witch's Reality Marble isn't perfect.. Maybe one of those doors leads out from here.. Our chances to survive are better if we get out than waiting for help—or fighting until the Witch runs out of mana.."
Elizabeth nodded. She conjured two water blades in her hands for preparation.
"Then…" she inhaled, shouting, "Everyone! There are four doors in every walls! We must check them one by one! This Witch's Reality Marble isn't perfect! If we can find the right door—"
As she almost finish her word.
Just centimeters from her blue eyes, a massive cleaver on a chain swung, its speed blinding, about to split her face in two.
But Mei Mei yanked Elizabeth backward, kicking her legs out so she fell. The blade sliced only a strand of her blonde fringe.
ZRRAT!
A long clean scar was carved into the wall behind them. Everyone could see—the butcher's swing was lethally fast. A single mistake meant death.
"Elizabeth!" Sizhu stomped forward, staff in hand. He struck hard from the side just as the Witch reeled back its chained cleaver that had throwed.
TRANG!
The clash rang out, Sizhu's blow striking the Witch's weapon. The two meter tall and big fat Witch was forced sideways, by Sizhu blow strength.
Even so, just a single swing was enough to hurl Sizhu five steps backward onto his back. His feet landed, but because the floor was slick with blood, he nearly slipped—and in that very moment, he almost lost his footing.
"Sizhu!"
A chain cleaver whipped past, and with a wet slice—
Half his left ear was gone. A few strands of his long black hair fell to the ground.
"CUT! CUT! THE NOISY MEAT!!"
***