Illya chewed on her nails, eyes bloodshot as she stared at the bane of her existence. She hadn't slept in days. The artifact—the massive, mummified arm of crimson skin and wicked nails—defied every attempt to even as much as mute its aura of bloodthirst.
Several of their members stood anxiously around the intimidating object, similarly displaying signs of stress and severe exhaustion. The situation wasn't helped by the mountain of rancid, rotting flesh, which smelled so bad it would make a mortal faint.
The situation was starting to fray everyone's nerves, and she felt the influence gnaw at her, demanding that she claw someone's throat out with her bare fingers.
They tried, repeatedly, from runic inscriptions to shackles to wards, but nothing worked. Ether constructs simply couldn't maintain their form in the presence of the limb.
Naturally, an artifact as powerful as this had to be worth a lot of money. But its no doubt significant monetary value was hardly of consequence when its mere presence was enough to thoroughly derail their plans.
The lack of living bait shouldn't have been a significant problem. The smell of blood alone was already enough to maintain a trickle of starving monsters through the passages.
The problem was that they instantly lost their minds, rushing towards the limb standing before her like moths flying into a flame. And when they came here, they slaughtered each other.
It was hardly possible to cause a break with a pile of monster corpses.
At this rate, their plan would be a failure.
But that didn't have to be the case.
This object was dangerous enough on its own. If they just figured out how to best utilize it, the damage it could cause might very well surpass anything their previous plan was capable of doing.
The only problem was that it might be too effective. Their plan didn't involve razing the barbaric city to the ground. This was just the first step to sending their message. It was supposed to plant a seed of dissatisfaction and create a ripe opportunity for a rebellion.
Sowing seeds of despair would only serve to reinforce the status quo as the people swarmed around the familiar scent of the blood-soaked striped flag.
Taking a frustrated breath, she made an executive decision. "Fall back, everyone," she said, sighing tiredly. "We have exhausted our options for the time being. We will take a day off to recuperate and then continue our—"
An ear-piercing, shattering sound echoed through the entire realm, and the cloaked men and women turned to face the source as one.
Standing upon the mount of flesh, they had an elevated vantage point and could clearly and easily identify the origin of the deafening noise.
It came from the passage—the entrance to the realm.
A massive, bone-white arm of chiseled muscle protruded through the now-broken barrier. It was so thick that it barely even fit the wide opening, stretching at least fifteen meters in length. Its horrifying size made the gigantic limb before them look like a toddler's arm.
"Oh... boy," Damian croaked, lifting his arm to scratch the back of his head. "That's not good."
Illya shot the burly man a lethal stare.
"Sorry, boss," the man said, stepping back.
The gigantic arm suddenly shrank, deflating like a balloon as it receded back through the passage. Illya recognized the look of that limb. Everyone present did.
That was the Avatar of Dominion. One of the most famous talents in this part of the world.
Its call to fame?
The owner—the empress of the American Empire.
"We took the gamble knowing this might happen," Illya stated resolutely. "Do not falter. Master will call for us soon. Do your best, everyone. Resist until your last breath.
"Do not die in vain."
***
Freddy summoned his Gore Knuckles before he even saw who was shouting. Both he and Sophia kept their forms concealed behind thick branches, keeping most of their bodies out of the view of whoever might decide to throw a projectile their way.
"Please identify yourselves!" the voice shouted. It was a man's voice, and it sounded distinctly... militaristic?
Freddy raised an eyebrow. Despite his better judgment, he peeked behind a branch and took a look at the people surrounding them.
Numerous compound bows were aimed at them, and their users were all clad in military-style camo. Rather than despair at the sight, Freddy felt elated. "Don't shoot!" he shouted. "We're civilians!" He promptly retracted his Gore Knuckles and gestured to Sophia, telling her to put her sword down.
"Stay put!" the man yelled authoritatively. "Prepare your identification cards and throw them down!"
"All right!"
After retracting his Gore Knuckles, Freddy took his ID out of his storage ring, and Sophia followed his example. They threw them to the ground, and one of the people surrounding them rushed to pick them up.
"We are going to prepare a safety cushion for you," the man said. "Please jump off the tree with your arms placed behind your head. Do not resist. If you show any signs of hostility, we are authorized to use lethal force."
"Okay!" Freddy confirmed.
The uniformed men threw a ball beneath the tree, and within a second, it inflated into a large cushion. Sophia went first, hands placed on the back of her head. As soon as she got off the cushion, one of the nearby men used a metal manipulation ability to shackle her.
A chain extended from the man's hands, attached to a pair of arm cuffs which glowed with a runic seal.
"Hey!" she shouted in protest, causing several of the nearby soldiers to raise their bows and aim them at her.
"Do not resist!" the man shouted again. "You have nothing to fear if you are innocent. This is just a precaution."
Freddy soon followed after her, and just like Sophia, he, too, was shackled once he got off the cushion. Rather than tense up, he was visibly relieved. "Never thought getting arrested could feel this good."
"Let's go," the man said, nodding at the others present.
The person manipulating their shackles gave them a polite tug. "Please do not resist."
A short hour later, they were regrouped just outside the passage that returned to the gorel realm. Following one after another, they went through.
As soon as they stepped past the passage, gasps could be heard from most of them.
The blood-red sky above clearly triggered some unwelcome memories from Jack and Jean. Everyone knew what this sky meant. It was the Crimson Twilight—and it was way too early for it to appear.
Still, if this realm was known for anything, it was the inconsistent intervals at which stuff happened. That, on its own, wasn't too strange, even if the timing was bizarre.
What had them truly shocked was the abhorrent stench—as well as the image of the mound of flesh in the distance. Whatever had happened here, it was... horrifying.
Jacob gazed upon the destruction with a dead look. The ecosystem had been irreparably damaged, and it would take a long time for this realm to become usable again.
However, the implications of the cascading damage this could cause were put out of his mind. They had more than enough capital to make it past this. The actual disaster for him had nothing to do with money.
After a nauseating trek through the forest, through which rivers of rotten blood ran, they reached a clearing close to the main passage.
What he saw there was... quite a surprise.
His name was... Liam? It was the guy who bagged Theo's wife. He was shirtless and heavily restrained, likely because he, much like the old man, didn't have his ID with him when the soldiers found him.
The sight of that, as well as the sight of Theodore and Beatrice looking at the man with shocked and ashamed expressions, brought just a tiny shred of joy into Jacob's life.
He also recognized the woman standing next to the man—it was the chick he had brought with him to the club that one time. Goddamn, what a piece of ass!
Maybe he could try... avenging his good friend, Theodore? Tit for tat, as they said. It sounded like a fun distraction from the bullshit he'd been through.
The thoughts about Liam were quickly wiped from Jacob's mind as he spotted another person. A woman was walking down a path, flanked by two guards.
His jaw dropped.
The woman was nearly as tall as he was, clad in royal clothing and eyeing their group like a hawk. He had seen her plenty of times—her face was plastered on quite a few things and broadcasted almost daily. It was the empress. What the hell was the empress doing there!?
As soon as they stepped into the clearing, Jacob, Karen, and Phillip knelt before the intimidating woman.
Liam, the nervous man, looked at them with confusion, as if wondering why they were kneeling. Then he turned to face the incoming woman. "Holy shit!" he shouted, nearly prompting Jacob to break into laughter.
The man rushed to get on his knees, and the woman beside him soon followed suit.
***
Freddy cursed himself up and down as sweat erupted from every pore on his body.
Why is the empress here!? Why did I shout like that!? Aaaaah! he screamed internally.
Just when he thought his day couldn't possibly get any worse, something like this happened. That was just great.
Needless to say, the odds of successfully escaping with his life intact were shrinking by the moment. As if the thick metallic shackles weren't enough, one of the—if not the most powerful person in the empire—was standing guard.
To his absolute horror, the woman suddenly turned and looked at him. The weight of her gaze felt like trying to balance an anvil on his head. A single twitch of a wrong muscle, and he felt like he was in for a lot of pain.
The woman suddenly began gesturing with her fingers. A secret code?
Suddenly, the man holding Freddy's leash tugged on it and pulled him back, drawing him into the forest.
What the—
The men holding the other hostages seemed to do the same thing. However, one person was left alone in the clearing. A fully armored man, with more shackles on his body than even Freddy, stood alone in the center of the clearing as everyone distanced themselves from him.
"Oh, dear," the man uttered.
Suddenly, with a flash of white light, a figure appeared. Freddy's jaw dropped.
A white titan with runic formations inscribed upon its skin—a physical manifestation of the empress's authority—flashed into existence behind her. It was a giant standing even taller than Bloodshed had been when he summoned it a few days ago.
Then it pulled its fist back and brought it down on the armored man.
A shockwave blasted in all directions, pushing the trees and blowing the retreating people away. Every leaf on every nearby tree was torn off, leaving the canopy barren. The ground beneath their feet sank slightly before bouncing back up, tripping everyone over while the gale blew them away.
Freddy was pushed back, falling to the ground as his ears pulsed with the blast. For several seconds, he heard nothing but a high-pitched buzz.
He didn't see what was happening. A storm of leaves and dust covered his vision, and a stray shard of stone embedded into his nose. He coughed, spitting brown spit and freeing his lungs of the dust he inhaled.
Another shockwave made the realm tremble, and the sounds of explosions got louder.
With the numerous restraints, getting up was difficult, but he didn't have to do it alone. The soldier pulled him to his feet and shouted something—most likely a command to follow along.
Whatever the hell was happening, Freddy couldn't be happier to get as far away from it as possible. The cloud of dust slowly cleared, and he looked around to see where Sophia was.
He quickly spotted her. She was standing just a few meters away from him, but finding her gave him no relief. "Sophia...?" he called.
She stood frozen, eyes wide open as her mouth flapped.
"This isn't the time to—" he tried, but his words were interrupted as a ritual circle appeared on Sophia's forehead.
"F-Freddy... What's happening?" she asked, panic evident in her expression.
Then her eyes rolled back as a pulse of power echoed through her body.