Chapter 8:
Chapter 8 : Into the Unknown (pt.3)
Re:Sen no Remon
"It's strange, we've been walking for a while now and haven't seen a single Arcanus," Rin spoke up in confusion, puffs of white smoke escaping his mouth with each movement of his lips.
"Yeah, it really is strange..." Continuing Rin's puzzlement, the mysterious young man Drake lightly furrowed his brows. A clear look of wariness flashed in his emerald-green eyes, but those gestures made Annie feel like something was... very fake.
"We've been here for four days already, but it's really weird that we haven't even seen a single corpse..." he continued.
Snowflakes kept falling endlessly, burying the two sets of footprints deeply imprinted on the cloud-white ground. It seemed as if time didn't exist in this space; not even a gentle breeze appeared, the clouds stood still no matter how long had passed, blocking the sunlight like a beautiful painting that was forever unfinished.
*Gulp*
Annie unconsciously swallowed her saliva. For some reason, her spine kept tingling with chills, cold sweat pouring out like a stream without stopping, and the hairs on her body stood on end for no apparent reason.
"Um... Hey, what are your Books?"
Like a random question that had nothing to do with the current situation, but at least Drake had somewhat eased the stifling atmosphere. Annie cooperated with Drake; clearly, she didn't want to drown in this thick air any longer.
"Oh, um... Mine is Mind Control. Well... basically, it's just controlling minds..."
"That sounds like an interesting ability. So... um... Rin, what about yours?"
"Me? I'm powerless," the white-haired guy said, his tone flat as if he wasn't afraid of anything, his eyes not even bothering to glance over but staring straight ahead.
"Oh, is that so... Haha... I see."
Annie slightly tilted her head toward Rin, suspicion rising in her heart, wondering why he was lying. Though she didn't know what Rin's Book was, she was sure he wasn't powerless based on the time he punched that wolf to death. Her eyes, full of doubt, turned to Rin as she wondered to herself,
"What is he talking about?"
"My Book is Shadow Gate; it's the ability to move through shadows."
Saying that, he looked over at Hiyori and said,
"Let me introduce as well, is that okay, Hiyori?"
Hiyori slowly nodded, seeming too lazy to speak. After getting her consent, Drake turned to Jinnie.
"So... What about you?"
Without any hesitation, the blue-haired "genie" guy immediately said,
"Agreed! Go ahead, Drake-kun!"
"Great... Hiyori's Book is Gourmet, which allows her to eat anything as long as it provides the necessary nutrients. And Jinnie's is Perfect Wish; she gets 3 free wishes per day but only within her capabilities, and after the 3, if you want more, you have to offer something equivalent."
Each time he introduced someone else, he pointed at them and smiled, as if showing off his own possessions.
"Is that so. Hey Jinnie, how many wishes have you used today?" Rin suddenly spoke up, his drowsy eyes looking at the short Jinnie. But for some reason, Jinnie smiled—a sly, mischievous grin hidden within.
"Today? Just 1 so far. Do you want to make a wish, Rin-san?"
"Yeah, I have a wish; I hope you'll fulfill it for me."
"Um! Go ahead, Rin-san."
"It's simple: get us all out of here, or at least me and Annie."
"Sorry, Rin-san... But this is a space isolated from the outside world, so... Sorry!"
"Um, then... I want my body to be warmer. Can you do that?"
"Oh, yeah... Sure!"
As soon as the words were spoken, it felt like there was a heater inside Rin's body, making him much warmer. But... that warmth had something... 'very industrial' about it.
"Oh... So it really works..."
"Thank you..."
*Rustle... Rustle...*
There was no wind blowing, but suddenly strange sounds came from a bush by the roadside, as if something was moving inside, ready to attack its prey at any moment.
"Hey... It seems like there's something in that bush... right?"
Annie shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, her index finger pointing at the bush making the noise, her eyes showing some worry. Her deep blue eyes kept staring at it, not daring to move.
1 second
2 seconds
3 seconds
5 seconds
10 seconds
And then...
*Whoosh!*
*Slash!*
With a single decisive and clean slash, the sharp sword was stained a dark purple on its blade, even splattering onto his face and clothes. Drake's sharp eyes looked at the grotesque head that was still twitching, his gaze clearly showing utter contempt for this monster...
*Stab!*
The sword thrust straight through its head in one go, making the head completely still. From his pocket, Drake took out a disposable wipe, cleaned the blood off his face, and threw it straight to the ground.
He slowly pulled the sword out, looked at everyone with a smile, and gently said,
"Let's keep going."
Those gentle words felt like they weighed a thousand pounds coming from his mouth, especially since he had just coldly sent an Arcanus with a bizarre appearance to the underworld.
Without waiting for anyone, he sheathed his sword and walked forward, leaving behind Jinnie with a grinning mouth, the silent-as-a-sheet Hiyori, and Rin and Annie with pale faces still in shock.
"Come on, everyone! Let's go!"
Jinnie continued with a bright smile on her face, then skipped along after Drake. Rin and Annie followed silently, but their hearts were full of caution. Only Hiyori remained standing.
The grotesque form of it was reflected in her jet-black eyes. Its body was extraordinarily bizarre: it had the shape of a snail, leaving corrosive slime with every movement; the spiral shells on both sides were its arms, or rather, two crab claws. And the head was a human head, but the skin was gray and wrinkled, with bulging frog-like eyes.
Hiyori kept staring at it, staring for a long time, then slowly squatted down, her hand gradually touching the head with a stab wound. Unconsciously, the corner of her mouth curled into a smile, and... she ate it raw. The sounds of tearing flesh echoed in a frantic rhythm—from the eyes, the two claws, then smashing the snail shell, devouring it whole without leaving anything. Puddles of dark purple blood flowed out, staining the pure white snow.
"Huh? Where's Hiyori-san?"
Only when Annie's question rang out did everyone suddenly realize the group was missing one person, but very quickly, that question was answered.
"I'm here."
Somehow, Hiyori had appeared behind Annie mysteriously, with a bit of fresh blood still on the corner of her lips, but it was quickly licked away.
"You... Where were you..."
Annie warily backed closer to Rin as she spoke, her pupils contracting in fear, her shoulders unconsciously trembling.
"Me? Oh... I just felt sorry for that Arcanus earlier. So... I took some time to build a grave for it."
"I... I see... Let's go... Keep going... Ha..."
Even though she nodded, Annie couldn't stop sweating; she suddenly felt a chill down her spine again.
"Oh... We're here."
After walking a bit more, a little boy appeared before the group—or rather, an Arcanus in the form of a human.
"Hello... Drake-kun, Jinnie-kun, Hiyori-chan! You brought these two big brother and sister to me, right?"
"That's right, Igor. Open the door."
"Yes, sir."
With that, the Arcanus named Igor drew strange glowing blue symbols in the air, and then before them, a portal identical to the initial one appeared, slowly rising and then swinging open.
"Hey! Don't think you can leave!"
As soon as the words were spoken, Rin collapsed onto the snow, his body rigid and aching, unable to move, forcing Annie to help him up. He felt... the Arkion in his body had been completely drained!
"A little reminder, Rin. No wish is free... You burned your Arkion for us to get that warmth..."
Saying that, the guy and his companions entered the portal, disappearing from this space along with it. Leaving only Rin and Annie to face this monster.
"Hello! Let me introduce myself..."
"I'm Igor, I'm 152 years old! I'm 1m55 tall, and I want more big brother and sister to be part of my family!"
The Arcanus spoke loudly through its mouth. It only came up to Rin's shoulder, with two completely white eyes, pale green skin, and six pairs of pointed ears. Its hair was snow-white, with a crescent-shaped sapphire horn growing from its forehead. It wore a fur coat that fit perfectly, high leather boots, and carried a silver sword on its back bearing the marks of thousands of years.
"So... Big brother and sister, please be my family! I promise I won't hurt you!" It said while extending its right hand, its mouth stretching into a creepy grin from ear to ear, revealing each sharp tooth like a razor blade.
"No fucking way, you perverted old freak."
Rin forced himself to speak, using all his strength to roughly push Igor's hand away and struggling to stand up, his golden eyes staring straight at him with contempt.
"Huh? You don't like it? That's fine, let's play a game instead."
*Snap*
He snapped his fingers loudly. From high in the vast sky, an object plunged down, piercing through the clouds. It was a gigantic hourglass.
*Boom!*
Thick layers of snow were flung up, the hourglass standing majestically before them, filled entirely with sand—ash-like sand.
"Let's play hide and seek. Time limit is 10 minutes; make sure I don't find you..."
"The game... begins!!"
As Igor spoke, the hourglass flipped over. Tiny grains of sand began to fall, starting the timer for this unfair game.
No more hesitation; every second that passed brought them closer to death. With his body barely able to stand, Rin could only hold Annie's hand to reluctantly keep walking.
Heavy footprints trampled through the snow, quickly covered by new flakes. For some reason, both Rin and Annie felt the snow falling faster and heavier than before.
"Ding! Time's up!"
Igor said as the last grain fell. He clapped his hands a few times with loud smacks, his mouth shouting at the top of its lungs, so loud that his two prey, even from a fair distance, could hear clearly.
"FAMILY! LET'S GO FIND OUR NEW BIG BROTHER AND SISTER!!"
"Tch! Calling the family now, huh..."
Behind a random pine tree in the forest, Rin sat down at the base, quietly complaining. To his right was Annie, huddled under another tree just like Rin currently.
*Glug glug*
In one breath, Rin chugged the 50ml recovery potion. It was really painful, but to restore the lost Arkion, he gritted his teeth and endured.
"Hey! Your Book is mind control type, right? Do something!"
"I can't! It only works on targets with weaker mental strength than me within 20 meters..."
"Why only 2—"
"Careful!"
Almost instantly, Rin pulled Annie into his arms, his urgent breathing suppressed to the max, fearing the monster that had knocked down the tree beside them. It was over 3.5 meters tall, with ashy gray skin, horrifying blood-red eyes, bulging muscles like layers of flesh piled on, six arms, and jagged sharp fangs.
*Thump thump... Thump thump...*
The frantic heartbeat echoed from within Rin's chest, pounding hard as if trying to escape. His pupils contracted, his breaths heavy and hot, and the one feeling every beat, every breath, was none other than Annie.
Her face turned red as a tomato, her head feeling like it was about to steam, her heartbeat racing even faster than an engine. For someone like Annie, experiencing being in a man's arms for the first time, she couldn't avoid such reactions.
A moment later, the terrifying monster had left with footsteps like mild earthquakes. Rin could finally relax a bit, but before he could sigh in relief...
"Big bro... Big sis... Where are you~"
From afar, the searching calls kept ringing out. The snow fell thicker, as if wanting to drown everything in a sea of white, accompanied by the urgent sounds of footsteps.
The snow fell heavier, the footsteps grew louder, and then...
"Found you!"
Almost immediately, Rin hugged Annie tightly and spun around, just as Igor used his power to attack.
*Boom!*
The tree branch exploded instantly, wood dust like compressed mist flying out endlessly, tiny wood fragments scattering everywhere; the entire tree had vanished completely.
"Oh... So you're still alive."
As the wood dust gradually cleared, before Igor appeared Rin hugging Annie tightly in his arms. On the pure white snow were drag marks up to 15 meters long, stained with some red blood.
*Clang!*
The invisible green Arkion layer that Rin had created in an instant shattered completely—but of course, that green barrier was really thin; it wasn't formed in standard time but only instantaneously.
"I'm not that easy to kill..."
"You're pretty tough-talking, huh."
"Ha, of course..."
The white-haired Rin said as he struggled to stand up with Annie's help. He stared straight at the Arcanus—or rather, the mutated humans behind Igor.
"Soon... you big brother and sister will become part of this big family..."
"Is that so? Too bad... because that will never fucking happen."
No more words needed; the battle was truly beginning now.
"Dad! Take care of him for me!"
Like an obedient robot, the six-armed thing called "Dad" by Igor charged straight at Rin with unimaginable speed.
"You bull, I'm not red!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Rin was punched flying dozens of meters away, his back slamming straight into a tree trunk with a crisp crack.
Slowly, the second Arkion shield shattered again, layers of Arkion breaking into green dust particles that dissipated into the air. On the other side with his teammate, Annie was also struggling to fight another Arcanus that Igor called "Mom."
His "Mom" had ashy gray skin with many necrotic and decaying wounds, wriggling with maggots and bugs. That thing had empty eyes, nails sharp to the crevices; it didn't look anything like a healthy human, but Annie didn't want to attack it.
In her hand was a mid-grade black-handled dagger; besides being decent for slicing meat, it had no other advantages.
*Clang clang*
*Clang clang*
*Clang clang*
All Annie could do was try to predict "Mom's" attack directions and use the dagger to defend.
On the other side, Rin was having just as much trouble fighting the "Dad."
Each punch was like a sledgehammer striking down, so powerful that the shield layers couldn't hold and quickly shattered into green light fragments.
Rin staggered to stay on his feet; the world spun in his eyes, countless cracks appearing in space, and a pair of eyes still staring at him fixedly.
"What drug are you on to be this strong!?" Rin said as he staggered back.
"Hey Annie! Get out of the way so I can handle these two for now. You know what to do, right!?"
His urgent tone rang out strongly; without waiting, he attacked to draw "Mom" away from Annie with a blow that knocked it far back.
"Come on... 'young couple'..." A light smile appeared on his lips, and at the same time, 20 meters away, layers upon layers of deep green Arkion appeared under Annie's feet.
Rin's eyes gradually glowed with a faint gold, his hand raised; veins and blood vessels appeared on his arm, emitting the beautiful sparkling green light of Arkion and the deep red of blood.
*Whoosh!*
Almost simultaneously, both monsters charged at Rin without any signal. But now, with the speed that had knocked him back earlier, Rin could gracefully dodge. He lightly twisted his body to slip past the two shadows, perfectly evading the attack.
*Thud*
"Come on, you rotten old man, don't play dirty."
Rin tilted his head, his golden eyes meeting directly with the four white eyes. The hand that had just caught the ice arrow Igor shot now crushed it into pieces like shattered glass, converting it all into new Arkion.
"I don't think taking advantage of the moment is dirty..."
The elf-like Igor said as he used his power; dozens of magic circles with incomprehensible ancient runes appeared in front of him.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
From them shot thousands of arrows straight at Rin, like a powerful storm wanting to drown him in a vast sea.
Standing before tens of thousands of razor-sharp arrows, his heartbeat remained average, his cold eyes staring straight ahead without a trace of fear.
He lifted his foot to step forward, but strangely, among the myriad arrows, not a drop of blood appeared; he was like a traveler in a closed space, as if what passed through the arrow rain was just an illusion.
The corner of Igor's mouth stiffened, his eyes bulging as he watched Rin's figure glide past each arrow like slipping through narrow gaps, and then...
"Surprise!"
*Smack!*
A sky-shaking punch flew straight into Igor's face while he was still confused; the punch broke his nose, his back slamming into the tree trunk with a powerful thud.
From both sides of his nose, warm green liquid flowed out, dripping onto the pure snow. Igor lifted his face, the corner of his mocking mouth also stained with green blood.
"Nice... big brother..." Igor said.
"Big brother, big sister! It's time!"
As soon as the call ended, booming sounds echoed from deep in the forest; the ground began to shake, pairs of glowing eyes appeared as if waking from sleep, roars, growls, and footsteps trampling snow blended into one, like a herd of horses galloping toward them.
Igor's "big brothers and sisters" had arrived—mutated Arcanus of various sizes and shapes, the largest over 2 meters tall, the smallest only 70 cm. And while Rin was still stunned, suddenly...
*Whoosh!*
The sound of wind tearing came from right behind Rin; from his shadow leaped three other Arcanus with equally distorted forms.
"Damn it!"
Rin spun around, his golden eyes contracting, but before he could react...
*Boom!*
Suddenly, a giant wolf charged in, ramming straight into those Arcanus, easily hurling them into tree trunks. White snow flew up like a blizzard; amid the snow, a pair of beautiful blue eyes appeared.
"Perfect timing, Kamiyama-san..."
"Nice timing," Rin replied.
The battle between Igor, Rin, and Annie was truly beginning now.
"Yeah, it really is strange..." Continuing Rin's puzzlement, the mysterious young man Drake lightly furrowed his brows. A clear look of wariness flashed in his emerald-green eyes, but those gestures made Annie feel like something was... very fake.
"We've been here for four days already, but it's really weird that we haven't even seen a single corpse..." he continued.
Snowflakes kept falling endlessly, burying the two sets of footprints deeply imprinted on the cloud-white ground. It seemed as if time didn't exist in this space; not even a gentle breeze appeared, the clouds stood still no matter how long had passed, blocking the sunlight like a beautiful painting that was forever unfinished.
*Gulp*
Annie unconsciously swallowed her saliva. For some reason, her spine kept tingling with chills, cold sweat pouring out like a stream without stopping, and the hairs on her body stood on end for no apparent reason.
"Um... Hey, what are your Books?"
Like a random question that had nothing to do with the current situation, but at least Drake had somewhat eased the stifling atmosphere. Annie cooperated with Drake; clearly, she didn't want to drown in this thick air any longer.
"Oh, um... Mine is Mind Control. Well... basically, it's just controlling minds..."
"That sounds like an interesting ability. So... um... Rin, what about yours?"
"Me? I'm powerless," the white-haired guy said, his tone flat as if he wasn't afraid of anything, his eyes not even bothering to glance over but staring straight ahead.
"Oh, is that so... Haha... I see."
Annie slightly tilted her head toward Rin, suspicion rising in her heart, wondering why he was lying. Though she didn't know what Rin's Book was, she was sure he wasn't powerless based on the time he punched that wolf to death. Her eyes, full of doubt, turned to Rin as she wondered to herself,
"What is he talking about?"
"My Book is Shadow Gate; it's the ability to move through shadows."
Saying that, he looked over at Hiyori and said,
"Let me introduce as well, is that okay, Hiyori?"
Hiyori slowly nodded, seeming too lazy to speak. After getting her consent, Drake turned to Jinnie.
"So... What about you?"
Without any hesitation, the blue-haired "genie" guy immediately said,
"Agreed! Go ahead, Drake-kun!"
"Great... Hiyori's Book is Gourmet, which allows her to eat anything as long as it provides the necessary nutrients. And Jinnie's is Perfect Wish; she gets 3 free wishes per day but only within her capabilities, and after the 3, if you want more, you have to offer something equivalent."
Each time he introduced someone else, he pointed at them and smiled, as if showing off his own possessions.
"Is that so. Hey Jinnie, how many wishes have you used today?" Rin suddenly spoke up, his drowsy eyes looking at the short Jinnie. But for some reason, Jinnie smiled—a sly, mischievous grin hidden within.
"Today? Just 1 so far. Do you want to make a wish, Rin-san?"
"Yeah, I have a wish; I hope you'll fulfill it for me."
"Um! Go ahead, Rin-san."
"It's simple: get us all out of here, or at least me and Annie."
"Sorry, Rin-san... But this is a space isolated from the outside world, so... Sorry!"
"Um, then... I want my body to be warmer. Can you do that?"
"Oh, yeah... Sure!"
As soon as the words were spoken, it felt like there was a heater inside Rin's body, making him much warmer. But... that warmth had something... 'very industrial' about it.
"Oh... So it really works..."
"Thank you..."
*Rustle... Rustle...*
There was no wind blowing, but suddenly strange sounds came from a bush by the roadside, as if something was moving inside, ready to attack its prey at any moment.
"Hey... It seems like there's something in that bush... right?"
Annie shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, her index finger pointing at the bush making the noise, her eyes showing some worry. Her deep blue eyes kept staring at it, not daring to move.
1 second
2 seconds
3 seconds
5 seconds
10 seconds
And then...
*Whoosh!*
*Slash!*
With a single decisive and clean slash, the sharp sword was stained a dark purple on its blade, even splattering onto his face and clothes. Drake's sharp eyes looked at the grotesque head that was still twitching, his gaze clearly showing utter contempt for this monster...
*Stab!*
The sword thrust straight through its head in one go, making the head completely still. From his pocket, Drake took out a disposable wipe, cleaned the blood off his face, and threw it straight to the ground.
He slowly pulled the sword out, looked at everyone with a smile, and gently said,
"Let's keep going."
Those gentle words felt like they weighed a thousand pounds coming from his mouth, especially since he had just coldly sent an Arcanus with a bizarre appearance to the underworld.
Without waiting for anyone, he sheathed his sword and walked forward, leaving behind Jinnie with a grinning mouth, the silent-as-a-sheet Hiyori, and Rin and Annie with pale faces still in shock.
"Come on, everyone! Let's go!"
Jinnie continued with a bright smile on her face, then skipped along after Drake. Rin and Annie followed silently, but their hearts were full of caution. Only Hiyori remained standing.
The grotesque form of it was reflected in her jet-black eyes. Its body was extraordinarily bizarre: it had the shape of a snail, leaving corrosive slime with every movement; the spiral shells on both sides were its arms, or rather, two crab claws. And the head was a human head, but the skin was gray and wrinkled, with bulging frog-like eyes.
Hiyori kept staring at it, staring for a long time, then slowly squatted down, her hand gradually touching the head with a stab wound. Unconsciously, the corner of her mouth curled into a smile, and... she ate it raw. The sounds of tearing flesh echoed in a frantic rhythm—from the eyes, the two claws, then smashing the snail shell, devouring it whole without leaving anything. Puddles of dark purple blood flowed out, staining the pure white snow.
"Huh? Where's Hiyori-san?"
Only when Annie's question rang out did everyone suddenly realize the group was missing one person, but very quickly, that question was answered.
"I'm here."
Somehow, Hiyori had appeared behind Annie mysteriously, with a bit of fresh blood still on the corner of her lips, but it was quickly licked away.
"You... Where were you..."
Annie warily backed closer to Rin as she spoke, her pupils contracting in fear, her shoulders unconsciously trembling.
"Me? Oh... I just felt sorry for that Arcanus earlier. So... I took some time to build a grave for it."
"I... I see... Let's go... Keep going... Ha..."
Even though she nodded, Annie couldn't stop sweating; she suddenly felt a chill down her spine again.
"Oh... We're here."
After walking a bit more, a little boy appeared before the group—or rather, an Arcanus in the form of a human.
"Hello... Drake-kun, Jinnie-kun, Hiyori-chan! You brought these two big brother and sister to me, right?"
"That's right, Igor. Open the door."
"Yes, sir."
With that, the Arcanus named Igor drew strange glowing blue symbols in the air, and then before them, a portal identical to the initial one appeared, slowly rising and then swinging open.
"Hey! Don't think you can leave!"
As soon as the words were spoken, Rin collapsed onto the snow, his body rigid and aching, unable to move, forcing Annie to help him up. He felt... the Arkion in his body had been completely drained!
"A little reminder, Rin. No wish is free... You burned your Arkion for us to get that warmth..."
Saying that, the guy and his companions entered the portal, disappearing from this space along with it. Leaving only Rin and Annie to face this monster.
"Hello! Let me introduce myself..."
"I'm Igor, I'm 152 years old! I'm 1m55 tall, and I want more big brother and sister to be part of my family!"
The Arcanus spoke loudly through its mouth. It only came up to Rin's shoulder, with two completely white eyes, pale green skin, and six pairs of pointed ears. Its hair was snow-white, with a crescent-shaped sapphire horn growing from its forehead. It wore a fur coat that fit perfectly, high leather boots, and carried a silver sword on its back bearing the marks of thousands of years.
"So... Big brother and sister, please be my family! I promise I won't hurt you!" It said while extending its right hand, its mouth stretching into a creepy grin from ear to ear, revealing each sharp tooth like a razor blade.
"No fucking way, you perverted old freak."
Rin forced himself to speak, using all his strength to roughly push Igor's hand away and struggling to stand up, his golden eyes staring straight at him with contempt.
"Huh? You don't like it? That's fine, let's play a game instead."
*Snap*
He snapped his fingers loudly. From high in the vast sky, an object plunged down, piercing through the clouds. It was a gigantic hourglass.
*Boom!*
Thick layers of snow were flung up, the hourglass standing majestically before them, filled entirely with sand—ash-like sand.
"Let's play hide and seek. Time limit is 10 minutes; make sure I don't find you..."
"The game... begins!!"
As Igor spoke, the hourglass flipped over. Tiny grains of sand began to fall, starting the timer for this unfair game.
No more hesitation; every second that passed brought them closer to death. With his body barely able to stand, Rin could only hold Annie's hand to reluctantly keep walking.
Heavy footprints trampled through the snow, quickly covered by new flakes. For some reason, both Rin and Annie felt the snow falling faster and heavier than before.
"Ding! Time's up!"
Igor said as the last grain fell. He clapped his hands a few times with loud smacks, his mouth shouting at the top of its lungs, so loud that his two prey, even from a fair distance, could hear clearly.
"FAMILY! LET'S GO FIND OUR NEW BIG BROTHER AND SISTER!!"
"Tch! Calling the family now, huh..."
Behind a random pine tree in the forest, Rin sat down at the base, quietly complaining. To his right was Annie, huddled under another tree just like Rin currently.
*Glug glug*
In one breath, Rin chugged the 50ml recovery potion. It was really painful, but to restore the lost Arkion, he gritted his teeth and endured.
"Hey! Your Book is mind control type, right? Do something!"
"I can't! It only works on targets with weaker mental strength than me within 20 meters..."
"Why only 2—"
"Careful!"
Almost instantly, Rin pulled Annie into his arms, his urgent breathing suppressed to the max, fearing the monster that had knocked down the tree beside them. It was over 3.5 meters tall, with ashy gray skin, horrifying blood-red eyes, bulging muscles like layers of flesh piled on, six arms, and jagged sharp fangs.
*Thump thump... Thump thump...*
The frantic heartbeat echoed from within Rin's chest, pounding hard as if trying to escape. His pupils contracted, his breaths heavy and hot, and the one feeling every beat, every breath, was none other than Annie.
Her face turned red as a tomato, her head feeling like it was about to steam, her heartbeat racing even faster than an engine. For someone like Annie, experiencing being in a man's arms for the first time, she couldn't avoid such reactions.
A moment later, the terrifying monster had left with footsteps like mild earthquakes. Rin could finally relax a bit, but before he could sigh in relief...
"Big bro... Big sis... Where are you~"
From afar, the searching calls kept ringing out. The snow fell thicker, as if wanting to drown everything in a sea of white, accompanied by the urgent sounds of footsteps.
The snow fell heavier, the footsteps grew louder, and then...
"Found you!"
Almost immediately, Rin hugged Annie tightly and spun around, just as Igor used his power to attack.
*Boom!*
The tree branch exploded instantly, wood dust like compressed mist flying out endlessly, tiny wood fragments scattering everywhere; the entire tree had vanished completely.
"Oh... So you're still alive."
As the wood dust gradually cleared, before Igor appeared Rin hugging Annie tightly in his arms. On the pure white snow were drag marks up to 15 meters long, stained with some red blood.
*Clang!*
The invisible green Arkion layer that Rin had created in an instant shattered completely—but of course, that green barrier was really thin; it wasn't formed in standard time but only instantaneously.
"I'm not that easy to kill..."
"You're pretty tough-talking, huh."
"Ha, of course..."
The white-haired Rin said as he struggled to stand up with Annie's help. He stared straight at the Arcanus—or rather, the mutated humans behind Igor.
"Soon... you big brother and sister will become part of this big family..."
"Is that so? Too bad... because that will never fucking happen."
No more words needed; the battle was truly beginning now.
"Dad! Take care of him for me!"
Like an obedient robot, the six-armed thing called "Dad" by Igor charged straight at Rin with unimaginable speed.
"You bull, I'm not red!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Rin was punched flying dozens of meters away, his back slamming straight into a tree trunk with a crisp crack.
Slowly, the second Arkion shield shattered again, layers of Arkion breaking into green dust particles that dissipated into the air. On the other side with his teammate, Annie was also struggling to fight another Arcanus that Igor called "Mom."
His "Mom" had ashy gray skin with many necrotic and decaying wounds, wriggling with maggots and bugs. That thing had empty eyes, nails sharp to the crevices; it didn't look anything like a healthy human, but Annie didn't want to attack it.
In her hand was a mid-grade black-handled dagger; besides being decent for slicing meat, it had no other advantages.
*Clang clang*
*Clang clang*
*Clang clang*
All Annie could do was try to predict "Mom's" attack directions and use the dagger to defend.
On the other side, Rin was having just as much trouble fighting the "Dad."
Each punch was like a sledgehammer striking down, so powerful that the shield layers couldn't hold and quickly shattered into green light fragments.
Rin staggered to stay on his feet; the world spun in his eyes, countless cracks appearing in space, and a pair of eyes still staring at him fixedly.
"What drug are you on to be this strong!?" Rin said as he staggered back.
"Hey Annie! Get out of the way so I can handle these two for now. You know what to do, right!?"
His urgent tone rang out strongly; without waiting, he attacked to draw "Mom" away from Annie with a blow that knocked it far back.
"Come on... 'young couple'..." A light smile appeared on his lips, and at the same time, 20 meters away, layers upon layers of deep green Arkion appeared under Annie's feet.
Rin's eyes gradually glowed with a faint gold, his hand raised; veins and blood vessels appeared on his arm, emitting the beautiful sparkling green light of Arkion and the deep red of blood.
*Whoosh!*
Almost simultaneously, both monsters charged at Rin without any signal. But now, with the speed that had knocked him back earlier, Rin could gracefully dodge. He lightly twisted his body to slip past the two shadows, perfectly evading the attack.
*Thud*
"Come on, you rotten old man, don't play dirty."
Rin tilted his head, his golden eyes meeting directly with the four white eyes. The hand that had just caught the ice arrow Igor shot now crushed it into pieces like shattered glass, converting it all into new Arkion.
"I don't think taking advantage of the moment is dirty..."
The elf-like Igor said as he used his power; dozens of magic circles with incomprehensible ancient runes appeared in front of him.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
From them shot thousands of arrows straight at Rin, like a powerful storm wanting to drown him in a vast sea.
Standing before tens of thousands of razor-sharp arrows, his heartbeat remained average, his cold eyes staring straight ahead without a trace of fear.
He lifted his foot to step forward, but strangely, among the myriad arrows, not a drop of blood appeared; he was like a traveler in a closed space, as if what passed through the arrow rain was just an illusion.
The corner of Igor's mouth stiffened, his eyes bulging as he watched Rin's figure glide past each arrow like slipping through narrow gaps, and then...
"Surprise!"
*Smack!*
A sky-shaking punch flew straight into Igor's face while he was still confused; the punch broke his nose, his back slamming into the tree trunk with a powerful thud.
From both sides of his nose, warm green liquid flowed out, dripping onto the pure snow. Igor lifted his face, the corner of his mocking mouth also stained with green blood.
"Nice... big brother..." Igor said.
"Big brother, big sister! It's time!"
As soon as the call ended, booming sounds echoed from deep in the forest; the ground began to shake, pairs of glowing eyes appeared as if waking from sleep, roars, growls, and footsteps trampling snow blended into one, like a herd of horses galloping toward them.
Igor's "big brothers and sisters" had arrived—mutated Arcanus of various sizes and shapes, the largest over 2 meters tall, the smallest only 70 cm. And while Rin was still stunned, suddenly...
*Whoosh!*
The sound of wind tearing came from right behind Rin; from his shadow leaped three other Arcanus with equally distorted forms.
"Damn it!"
Rin spun around, his golden eyes contracting, but before he could react...
*Boom!*
Suddenly, a giant wolf charged in, ramming straight into those Arcanus, easily hurling them into tree trunks. White snow flew up like a blizzard; amid the snow, a pair of beautiful blue eyes appeared.
"Perfect timing, Kamiyama-san..."
"Nice timing," Rin replied.
The battle between Igor, Rin, and Annie was truly beginning now.
Please sign in to leave a comment.