Chapter 25: The desolation
'And among other things, it seems they also recorded our note abilities into the system, perhaps that was why they needed us to reveal the information in the first place…. Anyhow,' Seth placed his hand into his pocket, a smile curled up on his face.
He pulled out his hand, holding within them a small black pouch, seemingly made from leather and other tiny specks of white light.
'They actually recorded my chapter? At least they didn't take it away from me.' Seth opened the pouch, an indescribable endless darkness within it.
"Everything seems intact." Seth scrutinized the pouch.
But then, at that moment, Seth's perception instantly alerted him! Quickly, he sidestepped, dodging the abrupt slash that glittered with a silver tint.
With a single stride backwards, he created a distance between his attacker and himself, then, he quickly placed his sword in-between his armpits, using that opportunity, he placed his hand into his abyssal pouch, pulling out a white sand like material that seemed to glisten like the moonlight.
Holding his breath, he threw the dust into the air- the dome was immediately further illuminated by tiny crystalline starlight dust. Gleaming all around him, it was like he had been suddenly transported into the most glorious nexus of stars.
Nonetheless, the star lit surroundings instantly revealed a monster that stood where Seth originally was.
It was a roughly 2 meter tall monstrosity; Its body was wrapped in a white blood stained bandage, in-between the tissue were rotten decaying flesh which each time it moved, a black sticky goo would leak out. Furthermore, the creature held two rusty swords in his hands.
At that moment, a notification popped up;
[Spotted The forgotten soldier. Worth 10 cores]
Dismissing the screen, Seth immediately tapped his forehead, his eyes immediately shown with the amalgamation of starlight. With that, he quickly "Peered" information about the monster.
It seems to have been created from deriving information from traditional mummies!
A second later, the mummy dashed towards Seth at a terrifying speed, its hand holding the two rusty blades.
Seth, without the adequate physical attribute to execute multiple dodges opted for a means that was best suited for him. At that moment, he immediately threw an eerily gray dust substance into the air, which as a consequence stirred the surrounding air, which propelled the mummy backwards and crashed into the wall.
It was another of Seth's dust, this he called: Aero sand. It had the basic ability of stirring the surrounding wind to whoever he chooses, gaining a sort of propelling effect. It was made using special materials and ingredients found in the world and within scenes. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of this particular sand.
Reining in his thoughts, he simultaneously gripped his sword while sprinkling it with a blood red sand. The intricate symbols on his blade quickly shown with an ethereal red glow.
Holding the blade, he immediately rushed towards the monster which seemed incapacitated amidst the rubble. Reaching it, he swung his blade at the monster, cutting deep into the stomach area.
Abyssal blood spattered on the ground.
Of course, the small wound did insignificant damage to the creature, but as a result, it immediately shot up and swung his blade at Seth, who narrowly avoided by dunking to the right. Nonetheless, with surprising agility, it twisted and delivered a crushing sideway slash. Seth, who was barely getting his footing, had no choice but to deflect the blow with his sword. However, without the necessary strength, he was immediately sent hurling into the air.
Before he came crashing down, the mummy had already closed the distance, the second slash came crashing down. Realizing he couldn't accurately defend against the attack, Seth went with the fall and somersaulted over, ending up distancing himself from the monster.
His eyes still shining with the nexus starlight. He had yet to acquire what he wanted… He was still 'Analyzing'
Suddenly, he saw himself barely a few feet away from the monster, the Sword came crashing down again. 'What?' his mind quickly raced.
In the last moment, Seth's eyes quickly constricted, from his palms a golden dust spread through the room, the mummy was instantly bathed by a golden radiance!
A loud shriek echoing through the room, as the mummy screamed, its body glowing and sizzling with a bright golden light.
This was another sand that Seth had made from 'analyzing' the sunlight powers of Blair. It allowed him to replicate the effect but at a far weaker state.
Since the monster appeared, Seth had been analyzing it in order to figure out its weakness. The conclusion: The Monster was exactly like a mummy in mysticism terms, and in mysticism, sunlight was seen as a true source of purification. As such, using the 'Sunlight sand.' was the best option. Even though that was his only amount. To make another, he would have to see Blair use his powers to the same intensity as it was when he fought with Adelard.
Rolling on the ground, the mummy attempted to extinguish the sunlight that burnt on his body. However, that wasn't possible, And after a few minutes of screaming, the monster finally crashed to the ground.
[Killed the Forgotten Soldier. Worth 10 cores.]
Seth swiped away the notification, before kneeling before the charred corpse of the mummy.
"Considering it's dead, I wonder if I can perhaps channel his spirit? It wouldn't be real of course, but the simulation should have accounted for such things."
Seth, nodding in affirmation, placed his hands into his pouch, bringing out a glass bottle, with a silver cap. The bottle in question had contained a bubbling black liquid which seemed to suck in the surrounding light.
This was one of Seth's priced Potions, he called it the 'After gate.'
Uncapping the potion, Seth emptied the bubbling liquid atop the dead mummy. And that moment, Seth's eyes quickly flashed with countless different visions.
This lasted for 3 minutes, and at the end, Seth gasped, his eyes flashed with an epiphany. But before he could speak, his lips opened up and muttered in a whispery voice
"Hugs are for everyone…"
The ground began to shake.
....
Traversing through the forest, Ciel in the company of Circe luckily did not encounter any monsters or readers. However, they both had to be vigilant of the other, as in every 10 minutes, one of them would expectedly mutter.
"You need a hug." Ciel exclaimed.
"Bam!
Hitting him with her scabbard, Circe knocked Ciel back to his senses.
"Thank you." Ciel genuinely expressed, while rubbing his head from the pain.
Unfortunately, Ciel had yet to decipher the reason for their sudden actions. Out of many theories, he had eliminated the possibility of this being caused by some reader's powers; since if that was true, the perpetrator would have already revealed himself. Equally this applies to monsters, as the same outcome would occur if it was caused by one.
Pondering on any possible thing that he perhaps missed about the situation, Ciel suddenly spotted two readers seemingly in an argument.
Standing in a rather small clearing in the forest, a reader crawled backwards on the ground, his eyes wide open in horror. While another reader slowly approached him, his hands parted into an inviting hug.
"Come here you, don't you want a hug."
"Get away from me!" The terrified reader exclaimed. Quickly, he summoned a blade into his hands, swinging it at the other, he abruptly jumped on his feet and dashed towards Ciel, yelling like a madman.
"Run! Run away. The world is a monster. It makes you lose your mind!" the reader exclaimed, while running frightfully for his life.
Ciel watched him dash past him, with the next moment, the very earth began shaking.
A trembling quake emanated on the ground.
Ciel at this moment had a realization of the reason the scene was called: A world gone beautiful.
How could the world truly become beautiful? How could anything become beautiful? The answer was when the very thing that causes it not to be is removed.
And on the earth, humans were such things.
Ciel's eyes flashed with a bolt of lightning
"The world kills the people on it!"
"What?" Circe expressed her perplexity. However, she quickly reined in any other thoughts, as the ground began to vibrate incisively.
Trying to maintain his balance amidst the turmoil of earthquakes, Ciel swiftly unsheathed his blade-Poised for any abrupt attack.
The trees surrounding them quickly began slacking downward, sinking into the ground as if it were quicksand.
The bushes were pulled in the earth at a terrifying speed, the birds that filled the sky quickly flew downwards colliding with the earth, before then sinking in alongside everything else.
In less than a minute, the last forest had quickly been swallowed by the earth, leaving behind a vast desolate landscape, devoid of any forest life. The sun showed more intensely, bathing the vast desolation in the vibrant desert hue.
Quickly glancing around for any potential anomaly, Ciel spotted countless readers all scattered around the scale- dazed and confused.
However, everyone had their eye at a structure not far in the distance, atop a mountain cliff that suddenly appeared.
It was a vast ancient dome structure, shimmering with ghostly pale blackness that even the light of the sun could not pierce into.
"That?" Ciel eyes dilated.
In the next second, all readers within the vast desolation received an announcement in the form of the holographic screen:
[The final act of the scene has begun.
The world has lost its beauty.
Restore the beauty of the land.
The first five people to reach the Dome will be Victorious.
The time limit is 10 minutes.
After that time, elimination will be done based on proximity to the dome.]
Ciel swiped away the screen. His eyes slowly glanced through the desolation; the countless readers, and the ancient dome at the top of a cliff.
With that, he understood an unspoken message within the announcement.
'Basically, eliminate as many opposing readers as possible.' and it seemed it wasn't just him. Cause in the next moment, everyone quickly drew out their weapons,their eyes holding a hint of murderous intentions.
Ciel turned his gaze to Circe, the thorny beauty who stood beside him. However, his gaze suddenly froze when he saw the lady parting her arms into an inviting hug. A warm smile surfacing on her pale face as she muttered in a light tone.
"Let's enjoy the sunset…."
Ciel instinctively took a step back, his eyes quickly constricted as a thought conceived in his mind.
'She Changed! This isn't what the effect causes you to say. It usually has a reference to hugs. What happened? Is it because the forest sunk into the earth?' Ciel attempted to formulate a theory.
However, Circe seemed to not want to give such a chance. Suddenly unsheathing her blade, she swung down on Ciel, slashing him down to the middle.
Crimson blood splattered into the air, Ciel's face contorted and pale with a sense of confusion.
His body dropped to the ground, blood bumbling up on his throat as he attempted to speak. However, Circe had a blank slightly confused expression. She stared at her blade, her brows knitted at the sight of blood on her sword. But regardless of the frown on her face, her lips held a maniacal smile as she stared.
But, It was at that moment, the pale corpse of Ciel suddenly developed white cracks all over. In the next second, his body shattered into tiny ethereal silver shards.
Surprised by this, Circe quickly raised her blade to strike at the nearest movement, however after a few minutes- nothing expectedly happened.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone