The rumbling of the underground club continued, taking the fakes with it one after the other as it crumbled down. Explosions from the arena set off nonstop. Hordes of fake Black Wolves crowded the hallways and through the doors of the place, cramming and climbing over each other just to escape. Some used their magic to fly, others to teleport out, but the rest were not so lucky. Ryo and I tried to escape every which way, but all the exits were blocked, and the place was a clustered mess beyond comprehension.
We had found a passageway with closed double doors, as many fakes passed through it one after the other, flinging open each time. I had closed my eyes just to rub off some dust as we passed, but when I opened them, the sounds of the riot around us stopped completely, and the tense pressure of the place was nowhere to be felt. I looked up, and we weren't even in the same place anymore…
"Uh, Ryo… where are we?"
"I was just about to ask you that," he replied from in front of me, looking around the room we were in.
The room was pink and looked like the walls were beyond reach. There were huge stuffed animals and other things like blocks and random doors laid out and stationed all around us. Some of them seemed to even float in mid-air. We… were floating in mid-air.
"Oh shit! Where the fuck is the ground?!" I shouted, tossing the young girl up and then catching her again.
"You can put me down now! I'm completely capable of walking on my own. Thank you very much!" the young girl pouted. Her face was red as she released herself.
I panicked for a second as she did, thinking I had dropped her, but her feet stopped in mid-air like mine and Ryo's, as if there was actually a floor there where we were standing on.
"What the fuck?" I said with both disbelief and amusement. Ryo and I, like children in this moment, explored the seemingly endless room.
The young girl turned red again, a feeling of annoyance building up inside her. "WILL YOU TWO DIMWITS PLEASE STOP ACTING LIKE CHILDREN?!" She stabbed.
Both Ryo and I gave her a scowl as we crab-walked our way back to her. The sight of us was almost comical.
"What'd you call us pipsqueak?" I said as I hunched over her with an extended, ignorant bottom lip. Ryo, with his eyes closed in a sarcastically cheerful way, wore a dimpled smile as his forehead tightened.
Doubling Ryo's vein-shaped squares, she tightened her forehead as well and said, "My name is Alice, NOT Pipsqueak and…" she stopped herself and pouted again, looking to her side. Pigeon-toed and arms behind her back nervously, she continued, "And thank you for saving me."
Ryo and I looked at each other, relieved, wearing half smiles on our faces.
"Don't mention it. Really. This never happened, alright?" I said to her coolly.
"But why? You should get some recognition for this! My sister is—"
I stuck my hand out and patted her on the head. She stopped talking completely and blushed. I could have sworn she turned red, like those girls in teleserias, unsure if she wanted to see me as someone to look up to or a love interest. But shortly, she realized how she was responding to it and then shook her head.
"Well, if you won't let me recognize you, then at least let me join your Guild!"
I stopped what I was doing and had an oblivious look on my face…
"Ha?"
Silence filled the space…
"Yeah, not a chance!" I mocked her, laughing at the end.
Ryo watched us, now sitting on a pink chair he found out of nowhere, pouring himself some tea from a pink teapot on a pink table.
"YOU ARE SUCH A DICK! WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!" she yelled angrily, her blush fading.
"You went and got kidnapped, and we had to save you! Now you wanna join my crew? Are you TRYING to make extra work for us?" I countered, picking my ears with my pinky.
"YOU LISTEN HERE, I CONTRIBUTED BACK THERE! MY MAGIC ABILITY IS ROOM MAGIC, SO I CAN COME IN AND OUT OF THIS ROOM AT MY WILL THROUGH ANY DOOR OPENING! IF IT WASN'T FOR ME, WE'D BE STUCK IN THERE WITH THE REST OF THOSE WEIRDOS AND MAYBE EVEN CRUSHED!" she continued yelling at me, my hair flying back from the wind her voice was making.
"If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have had to escape from anywhere! Ryo and I would still be eating noodles, and it would have been a good night… And if you could use magic, why didn't you escape the first chance you got? Keeper… Do better." A mean jest.
"YOU ARE SO INFURIATING, I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS ACTUALLY GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR A SECOND! THERE WERE NO DOORS ANYWHERE FOR ME TO GO THROUGH WHEN I GOT TAKEN! WHEN WE FINALLY WENT THROUGH ONE EARLIER, I TOOK THE OPPORTU— ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!"
She trailed off as our bickering continued, and Ryo enjoyed his tea. Wherever we were, it really was thanks to this girl, Alice. And we were safe… for now.
***
Somewhere underground at a grand hallway, two figures stood across each other as the crumbling walls and ceiling continued to fall.
"I was right to follow you here. I knew you were behind the fake Black Wolves. I just needed proof." Code said casually to Syemore, who stood yards before him.
"You're an intuitive one, aren't you, Code? Truly fitting of your Vice Captain title," Syemore said slyly before continuing his thought. "Your ability allows you to manipulate yourself and anything within a certain extent of a field you cast, am I correct? Honestly, your skills are wasted in that Guild of yours."
A loud muffled rumble shook the area for a second. The two of them were unfazed. Syemore went on, "What are you fighting for anyway? What benefit or advantage do you think you have just because you found me here? Even if you report me, who will the kingdom believe? The Blue Phoenix Knights on a reconnaissance mission, or you, a Black Wolf, and your Captain—here at an illegal, organized Black Wolf Knights gathering?"
Code, calm and aloof, stared down Syemore and said, "You sure do like to hear yourself talk, don't you?"
Syemore chuckled, then added after a slight pause, "Join me."
Code stayed silent.
"I could use someone of your abilities, and your ties to the Black Wolves would benefit in the grand scheme of things. You could help me orchestrate the fake Black Wolves and rid the Valley of its weed—all the while, securing your spot with the new and improved Valley Kingdom under the Mountains' control. Fake Black Wolves… real Black Wolves… they are all the same. In my plan, they are nothing but scapegoats for a bigger cause. When the Mountain Kingdom absorbs the Valley, we will have better, stronger mages take the place of the fallen. And when that time comes, I will need someone of your caliber to step up and take the ranks. What say you, Code? Will you ditch the circus and join the new kingdom?"
"Will you make me 3rd Vice Captain?" Code inquired.
"No. I will dispose of Terek; he served his purpose, and you will be my new Vice Captain along with Henza. Together, we will be the new rulers of this Kingdom." Syemore finished.
Code kept his head down and the bill of his cap shadowed his eyes.
"Well, with an offer like that, who can refuse?" he jested. "Really now, you think you can poach me after my captain beat one of yours and I got you backed into a corner? Is this what you've resorted to? Cheap and empty words with no weight. You lack tact, Syemore. Like a cheater who's only sorry because they got caught… I can't follow someone as sloppy as you are."
He smiled, "Yet here you are following a muscle-headed buffoon and get yourselves kicked out of the Kingdom's Guild meeting fifteen minutes in? I'm the sloppy one…" Syemore jeered playfully back.
"At least he doesn't plot behind the Kingdom's back, frame a Guild, or discard his friends like they're nothing," Code countered.
Syemore continued to give Code a half smile, then shrugged with his eyes closed. "The strong do what is necessary. You cannot go far if you are constantly holding on to the weak."
"You still consider yourself strong if you do such a thing? We should just stop talking, Syemore. This failed attempt at a negotiation just proves how different our views are. And it's simply embarrassing to witness firsthand."
"Well, Code… you cannot say I didn't give you a chance to come over to the winning side. Seems you've made your decision, as foolish as it may be. Typical dog… loyal to a fault," he said, then pointed three fingers in the air consecutively, and the air rippled each time he touched it.
At this time, three giant titanium blue cubes appeared out of nowhere and shot directly in Code's direction. He timed himself as the cubes rushed him.
Snap…
He switched places with the cube in the middle, and one-eighty slashed the other two in between him in mid-air. He had sliced them both in half with his two long swords, one blade black and the other red.
When Code switches places with a person or object, he also inherits their movement and momentum, so naturally, he flew back—like the motion the cube he switched with took—and landed, standing on top of the cube that took his place.
The cubes that were cut stopped in mid-air, floating there now.
Another thing his ability could do was manipulate objects once it had been touched, cut, or switched within his field.
"I see. So you've already marked this area under your control. Everything within this invisible pentagram on the floor is fair game for you, isn't it?" Syemore observed.
Code then threw one of his long swords down onto the cube he stood on, standing upright from where the blade had stuck, and made a pointing gesture with his finger. When he did this, one by one, the sliced cube pieces flew back at Syemore.
Syemore dodged the first one and then the second with ease, all the while commenting on Code's battle performance as he jumped away from the second thrown piece. "Wonderful display of intellectual combat. I will regret putting you down."
As he was about to land from the jump, Code spread two of his own fingers apart, holding them up in front of him. The last two pieces of sliced titanium cube maneuvered to both sides of Syemore on his left and right swiftly and honed in. The last two pieces rushed him, looking as if they had crushed him on impact. But Syemore had disappeared completely, and the two sliced cubes crashed into each other, slowly falling onto the nearby ground. He then reappeared in front of the impact and began strolling toward Code, the grand hallway they fought in still crumbling as they continued their duel.
Syemore then touched the air again, this time four times above himself, pointing up. Each time, rippling the air as he pointed with each of his fingers. Four of the same titanium cubes appeared again, but this time, they were a red color. Each one appeared in line behind the other from the ceiling as he continued to saunter forward.
Code readied a slash from both his blades, crossing his arms, but Syemore disappeared again. He looked from every angle before realizing Syemore had reappeared behind him on the cube he stood on and stuck out a hand. At this moment, Code realized he shouldn't let Syemore touch him. It seemed he could compress any person or object by touch alone—himself included. And his "disappearing" was simply him compressing himself and decompressing at will.
Code didn't waver his strike. Syemore, although behind him, was in the perfect position…
Snap.
They switched places. Syemore where Code was, facing away, and Code behind him now, right on target. The blades connected, cutting him clean in half.
Slash!
But something about it was off…
The severed torso rotated in the air, and Code's face turned pale.
"Fucking n—"
It was too late. What he sliced was a puppet, and more specifically—a bomb.
BOOM!
The puppet exploded. And as it did, the four cubes that were in the air fell slowly the whole time down to the ground—starting from the one furthest back. As they fell, they exploded one by one until they reached Code, who was already amidst the explosion from the puppet. He sheathed his left blade and raised his left hand quickly, palm facing up and fingers slightly curled in. He flipped the cube he was standing on backward, blocking the immediate blast from the puppet. Next, the impending explosions that were piling down headed toward him. The explosions were so huge, they engulfed the room, and just barely, he had blocked them using the sheer size of the cube he flipped, using it as a shield.
The flames from the blast almost burned him from each side and from overhead, but he hardened a barrier around himself, altering the particles in the air with his magic to create yet another shield.
The explosions continued to set off, not stopping as the thick walls of the grand hallway began to crack, causing the area to be buried in debris. Syemore had ended up back to where he originally was when the battle started, bowing his head with an arm crossed over himself.
"Goodbye, Vice Captain of the Black Wolves…" he said as he then turned around and walked away. With one finger, he touched the air again upward and behind him, summoning a giant wall with a demon's face on it.
The wall had torches and giant chains that ended with iron weights wrapped all over itself. The demon's face on the wall had its mouth gaping and looked as if it were in agony. It kept growing ever so larger until it completely separated the scene where Code was and Syemore himself, covering all openings to get past. The wall then began to move toward Code slowly, inching toward him as the explosions and debris continued to cave him in.
With his mana low, Code was trapped, left to be buried alive. "Well, this is shitty…" he said to himself.
"I've only got one shot at this, and my mana is low. If I miss, I'm fucked. Damn it, stop thinking and just do it! The only thing worse than a mistake—" he said, remembering Asura's words as if it was him talking, telling himself simultaneously, "—is inaction! Make a fucking choice!"
As he said this, he expanded the pentagram he had set from the beginning of the battle by twisting his foot, and it began to widen and go through the walls. Even Code had no idea how large it was. He looked at the demon wall and closed his eyes, envisioning where Syemore might be. Without knowing where his target was, he was forced to push past his limits. In this moment, his pentagram continued to grow, still unaware of its size, and his magic had an awakening.
On the other side of the demon wall, Syemore walked. A white pentagram passed through from behind him and expanded just before his next steps, continuing to spread. He looked down just slightly before he could comprehend, then…
Snap…
When Syemore looked up, the air was hot and thick, smoke filled his lungs, explosions were sounding off, and the walls were crumbling all around him. The demon wall closed in right in front of him. Its demon face was crying for him now.
Code, now on the other side of the demon wall where Syemore just was, stood up from his crouch and faced the direction of it. He stuck out his left hand and chanted,
"Space Manipulation Magic: Reaper's Coffin."
He closed his palm, and on the other side, where Syemore now was, the walls, ceiling, debris, and demon wall caved in on him at a rapid motion, crushing him. All of it was now under his control, regardless of whether he had touched or switched with the object. If it was within his pentagram, he could sense it, and it was his to manipulate. This was his awakening.
CRASH!
The shockwave of it coursed through to where he was now, so he began to make his escape.
As he ran, he pulled out a voice recorder and held it up to his ear.
"Perfect," he said to himself, heading toward the exit, which led to a long haul of stairs leading upward and out into the open. He teleported himself out the minute he knew it led to the outside.
Code found himself now just beyond the Valley Kingdom walls, probably about eight or eleven kilometers away from the south of the Kingdom.
It was night and partly cloudy in the sky, the stars barely visible. As he began to make his way back to the Kingdom with the evidence he got from Syemore, the ground began to shake below his feet…
"What?" he spat. Stunned.
The ground and area behind him caved in and created a massive crater in the ground, spanning acres. It made an earthquake, and the ground shook like it was never going to stop.
Right then, giant transparent-looking ghost dragons spewed out from the massive crater.
"What the hell?!"
From where the dragons emerged, a figure of a man crawled out.
Having lost his robes, Syemore stood there at the center of the crater, wearing only tattered pants and was barefoot. His whole body was scathed, but his brown skin still glowed golden, sheen under the moonlight. His long white hair also glowed, haunting as it flowed in the breeze. The braid from the side of his head, undone.
The ghost dragons that were present were enormous, and there were hordes of them protruding from his back, as it looked like a door to another dimension.
From his chest, two faces could be seen—one on his left and the other on his right pectoral. They were both a lighter color than the rest of his body. The one on his left was awake, glowing from its eyes and mouth, as the other on the right continued to slumber.
"Well, now, Code. It appears I greatly underestimated you…" He said as the ghost dragons swirled in the sky and the wind pressure thickened.
Code, noticing the disfigured form he took on, shouted, "What the hell are you?!"
Silent for a moment, Syemore faced his dragons toward Code before replying, "Redemption."
The dragons charged onto Code. The scene afterward left only the empty space with the massive crater and the night sky, without a trace of either mage.