Helio froze where he was on his knees a few feet away. His hand extending slightly to reach out to her in shock and panic, but holding back to avoid blowing his cover. Then a bitter frustration took over him.
Why couldn't I move?! What was wrong with me?! At this rate, losing even one person would cause a huge difference!
And to top it of... A reader. We only have three to depend on, where one is already in danger... And to even survive this facility, we need the readers' help!
His jaw clenched tightly, his fingers curling inward into a fist.
Nada and Sasha in the distance froze, watching in horror as their limbs got trapped in place to keep them where they were.
"I have to admit though. Your team is rather strong. Even with only two people fighting, I felt quite the damage. Though I managed to heal and protect my vitals."
The auctioneer took a step backward, turning on her heels and beginning to walk towards Nada and Sasha, holding out her hand at either sides of her in a shrugging motion.
"You know... HU-0075-HBV(BH)... You label says that you are a Vampire... A Vampire Mutilant. And I know for a fact..." She turned her head over her shoulder to where Aefia was. "That you have a healing attribute. Why not drink some blood, heal yourself and return back to battle? That way... It would be more fun."
Aefia's eyes were rapidly losing their light, turning foggy as her breath grew extreme shallow. Her head felt heavy, and her body lighter. Slowly, she toppled forward and onto the ground where her blood was already pooling beneath her.
Should I have... used my... ultimate... at least? I think... it would have... saved me... My Life.
Her arm rested right in front of her face. Her sleeve had ridden up to show her the faint red ink that read her experimental number. A drop of drop escaped the corner of her eyes. She gasped violently at the pain.
So much agony... it feels like a blessing... to die.
Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Shouts from Nada and Sasha grew more muffled, as if from underwater.
But a second later, a blood-stained hand clamped right over her mouth. The taste of the blood exploded right through her lips like a bitter medicine.
Wait...
Her gaze swept up to Helio, who held his bleeding hand pressed right over her mouth. His lips pursed into a straight line in deep focus.
"If what the auctioneer said was correct, and you can heal yourself, you have a chance of survival. And if I contribute a bit of my own healing magic, your vitals should be able to heal fast enough." He explained with a grim face. His mask discarded somewhere.
"Don't expect that I am truce though... I am just thinking for everyone of our safety. Losing even one person in this facility including only fifteen people is like trading a power card for a death card."
Aefia's eyes widened. This guy... Sharp.
She shifted her focus back to his palm, her pupils contracting into a slit as she absorbed as much healing energy as possible. Then violently shoved his hand away, while wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve.
"Just so you know... I am only a half-blood. So my healing can only work fifty percent at a time. Don't really on me much, and stay in the corner near the other candidates just in case they get injured. I will have to figure something out in the meantime." She explained while slowly standing up, dusting her clothes which was stained with blood.
With a flick of her wrist, her clothes returned to their original state—repairing all of the blood stains and even a bit of frayed hem.
Then held out a hand to Helio, who reluctantly took it and stood himself up.
"If I am correct, Nada's ultimate can deal massive physical damage. The boss of this dungoen is a 'mental damage'. And if we use the logic that only mental and physical deal damages, then we have to think it that Nada will have to take the first hit, and the second. It should cut the health bar to one-of-sixth of the original. And if we reach the mid-point, the boss will heal herself and change forms. And even if... The mental and physical damage is only a knowledge you need to keep in mind... We still need to reach the mid-point of the health bar in as short amount go time and damage as possible."
She tilted her head to the side a bit. "I have already taken the massive damage. Which means that we can't afford another massive injury—and we need to hurry."
"Are you even sure this is going to work?" He asked, folding his arms skeptically.
"This is a video game to begin with. If it were a normal dungoen, we won't have had a solid plan or any idea of what is about to happen next. Games like these always have the same outcome and goal. You said it yourself."
"Alright, fine. I get it. So we go all in and attack to deal as much damage as possible till we reach the half-way point and the phase changes. Then what?"
"Leave that for later. We need results in the first half first," she said, turning her head away to the auctioneer before stepping forward.
"If you are so after me..." she begun, clenching her hands into fists at her side. "Then why are you still idling by...?"
The woman's eyes shot wide open. She turned her head over her shoulder in shock.
"You... you actually...?" Her voice wavered.
Beside her, the sanity bar was flickering. The numbers dropped a full three percent. Her health bar was still full above her head.
Slowly, she gritted her teeth, smirked, and raised her hand at her direction.
"Very well..."
Multiple beasts shot out of the ground, lunging at her direction. But she stayed completely still—until they were inches from her nose.
She twisted herself to the side, missing the claw reached out for her by inches. In the same breath, she gripped that extended arm and threw her knee to its solar plexus.
But one in time-out wasn't going to stop the ten others summoning from thin air. She snapped her finger at Nada—and immediately—a red fabric-like texture wrapped itself around her weapon before dissolving.
Nada planted her heels to the ground, extending when bare palm to the top of her spear and caving inwards.
"Frostbites!"
Her appearance changed. Her hair turning greyish-white and her eyes a pale blue. The skin around her arms dissolved to reveal a glowing crystal surface that shown like jewels. It acted like an armor for her arms, while making her look majestic.
Alongside her, the weapon collapsed on itself, warping into a glowing shape of a sword—which she swept it across the air violently. The ground beneath her froze over.
A two shockwaves rippled through the air towards the direction of the beasts. All of them froze mid-way to whatever they were doing.
At the same time, Aefia stepped forward, extending a hand to melt away the residues of the wave that were headed towards her.
The beasts crumpled to the ground like powder.
The auctioneer winced, taking a shocked step back as her sanity bar dropped to fifty. Her hands trembling violently as it was her who took the damage.
Nada's Ultimate.
It allowed her to deal fourty-two percent damage if Aefia were to resonate it at the right time—mostly when fully charged. It worked well and according to plan.
Aefia glanced at the auctioneer—who was frantically reaching out to the powers, and absorbed any residual energy left. Her health bar bounced back up to the three-quater mark from where it had rested at half-way previously.
Ah... So I was right. Those lackeys were supplying power to their boss. Aefia thought to herself. The health bar is making progress, and the sanity bar is mid-way empty. I am assuming that she doesn't have enough strength to continue summoning more of those meager beasts. This means the main fight is just beginning.
She let out a sigh as Helio came out to step a short distance beside her. Sasha on the other hand was blocking for the other candidates.
"The main method this round is relying on, is basically to get rid of the lackeys first. They were supplying energy to their boss and that was why we couldn't make progress. If we spam all of our ultimates together, I am thinking we can reach a point of conclusion." She called out to where Nada was enveloped behind a thick fog.
Slowly, a figure walked out.
She was wearing a pale blue dress completely to her element, with faux fur lining the shoulders and the hem of the dress. The back part was longer and dragging across the ground.
A halo levitated above her head, which took a shape of a crown. And her footsteps left ice forming every step she took.
She looked more then just ethereal.
"What is that supposed to be?" Helio asked, awe-struck and confused at the same time.
"Her ultimate. Being a reader gives you privellages like that," she answered, folding she arms while taking measured steps forward. "Given she has exceeded the level of power she did in the novel, you could say she is one of those few characters in RPG games who are powerful and guards or leads a nation. I don't know how to put it in words anymore."
Helio stood speechless for a while. His breath catching in his throat at the absurdity of how normally she said it.
Aefia came to a stop in front of Nada, folding she arms as a solemn look took over her face. Then turning slightly to face the auctioneer who was finally transforming.
"Aaaarrrgh!" The scream echoed like a curse to everyone's ears.
Black wings sprouted from her back, spreading out its entire span. A black mask covered her eyes, her fingers were stained black. The nails were shiny as if someone rubbed a layer of oil over them.
They all stared in horror.
"Though I don't have a plan in mind... I think that while you charge up, Sasha and Helio will use their ultimates respective and consequetively to each other's. Then you will use your ultimate one more time, and if I can charge up by then... I should be able to use my ultimate to finish the rest."
Aefia finally said, looking towards Nada.
Her face turned blank as she turned to face her cousin, her eyes squinting in concern.
"But Fia... Won't using your Ultimate... be a bit dangerous?"
Aefia sighed, shaking her head. "It can't be helped if we have to leave this wrenched place."
Almost instantly, the ground beneath them shook with enough force to knock them off balance. They started taking aggresive steps backward.
"What is going on?!" Sasha shouted, racing towards them.
Aefia swept her head around frantically, but found nothing. She gritted her teeth.
What is going on?! Even I can't tell! Don't tell me she is about to summon a whole army now! Her tactic is to kill time?!
The auctioneer slowly raised her hand to the sky. "You all have shown quite the power... But can your powers stop this?!"
Aefia finally glanced up—then froze.
A tremble went through her skin as she watched the moon creeping down on the domain really fast. So fast, even a baby would notice that the moon was slowly growing in size.
Her mouth hang open. So she is going to throw a literal moon at us?! Her sanity bar isn't even thirty!
That was only true until she looked closely, her throat locking up.
The bar was resting at twenty-eight. For God knows what reasons.
But she could easily conclude that even seeing her face made the auctioneer lose her mind.
Aefia gulped, forcing her hands to steady as she narrowed her eyes at the boss.
"So you are envious of me for being the facility's treasured experiment. What are you? A high school bully?" She muttered to herself.
She turned her head to Helio, and without a second of hesitation, she pushed him at the back.
He glanced back with a betrayed looked on his face. His jaw clenching right. The harsh wind whipping against him.
"Concentrate your powers! Then use your Ultimate!" She shouted back at him, pointing at his blade. "I have already amplified your powers, it should be easier for you by now!"
"I don't even know how to use my special skill!"
"Your veins will throb if you are fully charged! Just focus your powers into a concentrated pile and then let it out! And name it whatever you want!" Sasha frustratingly shouted at him, taking two strides forward.
"I can only heal!" He shouted back, holding out his own wrists absent-mindedly.
"The healing element grants you two or more extra elements for combat! You should be fine!" She shouted back, drawing her own weapon. "And Sasha is there to back-up in case you fail anyways!"
He turned his head around, glancing at the auctioneer who was smirking down at them.
He pulled up his longsword at his side, trying to follow Nada's motion from earlier.
Fine... I should be fine...
He did as he was told.
His veins throbbed, and he pushed as much of his powers to the tip of his fingers as possible.
"Storm... Bringer."
Something crackled, and light up in jagged tree-branch pattern from the sky. Then a loud explosion.
The ice on the ground from Nada's earlier attack evaporated.
Helio skidded backward, standing up while looking down at his hand. He smirked as a few lightnings still flickered at his fingers. His purple-turned eyes tracked backward to the three petrified readers thruimphantly. A lock of hair at his head was the same shade of his eyes.
"Well? Did I do it?" He asked with a smug expression.
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First draft: 16.11.2025
Rewritten: 26.10.2026