What Was That?!

The land began to be sucked towards them with the ground trembling underneath them. Shin no longer was himself. Clara grabbed Ren and Ezra’s body and ran as fast as she could while Ren broke a Verdant Chaplet to make Clara quicker as the darkness even extended to where they were.

Ren: “I’m out of Yellow Egress Chaplets!”

Clara: “Reach into my pouch. I should have one!

Ren: You don’t! You’re out!”

Clara: “Dammit! Hang on tight Ren.”

When Clara looked back, she could see a silhouette of something inside the massive beam of darkness. A skeleton’s face that looked at them and extended his hand out.

Clara: “Huh! Th-That’s Kastor!”

Kastor: “Darkness Level 10: Tyrant’s Domain!”

Clara tried her hardest to block the incoming waves of darkness that would render them dead immediately. Once they were captured by this, they would turn into skeletons and serve him forever. She was no help with the overwhelming strength though.

Clara used her moon again and bolted forward faster than the help of the chaplet. Ren saw a legendary chaplet inside her pouch called an Acinium Chaplet that was black, spiky, and wrapped with a gold chain. He broke it, knowing that even Clara couldn’t outrun this darkness even with her moon. It was faster than light and started to envelope the land. Knowing she would be pissed, he did it anyways, only thinking about protecting themselves so they could challenge God. If they died here, then they couldn’t do anything.

He broke it.

The Acinium Chaplet cancelled out any one ability that a user has. It was mainly used when your opponent was going to release their strongest power, so Ren had no choice but to use it at this moment.

The darkness reached them, but the chaplet stopped its effect. Clara ran as fast as possible with Ezra’s body in her hand, completely going into “The Zone.”

Ezra’s orbs dispersed, knowing she couldn’t keep up with Clara and would meet up with her later. Finally, they burst through the barrier back outside Deceased Paradise, but Clara didn’t stop. Her moon state followed her intuition and she continued far away from the Land of the Stiff. She released her moon eventually, but started panting hard. ‘Kastor,’ she thought. ‘I knew it.’

Ren: “What was that, Clara? That was Kastor, wasn’t it? That’s the true ruler of Deceased Paradise. What happened when I was getting Ezra’s body?”

Ezra appeared randomly and shifted into her body, creating an animated version of what she should have looked like. Her sword appeared out of thin air, a sword that layered with three different colors consisting of black, gold, and white. The handle was pink and the sword was wrapped in pink ribbon around the three colors. Her long white hair was glossy that brought out her bright blue eyes and the black and red dress that she wore.

Clara: “Ah, Ezra you’re back. Good. You look refreshed.”

Ezra: “This feels a lot better. Thank you both. Hold on. I need to put enough power into this barrier to make sure Kastor doesn’t invade this world. I don’t know who to compare his strength to, but he currently could probably kill all 3 of us. He’s almost at the level of a God…Soul Barrier: Warped Orbs Boundary.”

In doing this, a golden barrier formed throughout the miles and miles of land all the way around, ensuring that Kastor would not be able to leave for an extended time.

Ezra: “He might break through that eventually, but that barrier is made from souls gathered for many years. It will still take him a while despite his power.”

Ren: “Clara, answer my question. I need to know if that was sent here by God. I need to know! I was easily overtaken and if that wasn’t a servant of God, then I stand no chance against him!”

Ezra: “Calm down please, Ren. Clara is struggling right now as well with the fight she had. Not her mana, but her emotions. Understand that.”

Ren: “Emotions? Are you insane? We don’t need emotions to fight against a deity. Clara, what the hell happened when I went to get Ezra?”

Clara: “Thank you Ezra for your compassion, but I am fine. I was just thinking about what happened. My moon state made me keep running, meaning that internally I was scared to face Kastor. Did you hear what that child said in the mirror, Ezra?”

Ezra: “Yeah. Shin had no idea who that child was. Something about, did we sacrifice enough and a woman bested them 300 years ago. What does that mean? I’ve been around far longer than Kastor, but I don’t recall ever even peering into there until Shin took over because my sword forced me to fight him. I left Deceased Paradise alone because of its horrorful sights and never wanted to see it again. When I came to fight, it was Shin that was there, not Kastor. I didn’t even question it at the time.”

Ren: “So nobody knows what or who this guy is? Not anybody in this entire world know? None of the Great Swordsmen have tried to defeat him?”

Clara: “The Great Swordsmen are not who you think they are. They aren’t mighty heroes that can defeat anybody. They only act when there are problems. The Association has fallen since Iki took charge. I left before he took over. Not that he is a bad leader, but he isn’t great by any means. He doesn’t even know that I exist. Regardless of that, Kastor has never posed a problem for anybody, only those that enter into his land. A warning has been out since I was born about entering that land. As you can see, he can even rival me not at his full power.”

Ren: “Then who the hell can beat him? If we can’t, then we stand no chance against God! We need someone who is untouchable. Clara, I believe in you and your abilities and you held your ground, but that is not enough to fight God. Even with Ezra, I don’t know how this will go now.”

Clara: “Ren, what did I tell you a long time ago? You doubted yourself even back then when trying to learn healing abilities. I told you that there is no hope without belief. If you don’t believe in yourself enough along with others, then we mine as well let God take over the world. You have to put trust in yourself and your friends to prevail. I’m going to try to talk to a friend. The 1st Reverend of the Great Swordsmen, Michiaki Sen. If this world is going to be destroyed, then he might pick up his sword again.”

Ezra: “I can take you all there. I know where he is.”

Clara: “No need. I know where he is too. I’ve been there. We just need to go get a Yellow Egress Chaplet and I can get us all there. Don’t go there without us, Ezra. I would like to speak to him alone. After all, it’s been a few years. Let’s head back to Moonshadow Village for right now. I know they have extra Egress Chaplets.”