Chapter 45: System Take-Over

As the ring was placed on her hand, she felt as though the weight of a thousand suns was lifted off her shoulders. Her previously frail bones and muscles became the opposite, instilling her with incredible energy and power. Her frail joints became fortified, and her lungs opened up, allowing her to finally take deep breaths.

Her vision returned, the first thing she saw in nearly 6 years was the black-haired kneeling in front of her, holding her hand. It was as if a prince had just saved the sleeping beauty from her slumber, or at least that was how she saw it.

Tears began flowing out of her eyes, but she didn't blink. She wanted to look while she could, scared that her vision would go back if she blinked. She stared at Clyde's orange eyes, her tears beginning to obscure her vision. Too scared to wipe them off, she let them rest, but before she knew it, Clyde had put his hand up to her eyes, drying her tears.

"You do not have to worry. As long as this ring rests on your finger, you will never lose strength," Clyde reassured her as she continued to stare at him in awe.

"The hell did you just do? Did you cure the mystical curse?!" Galo reacted, surprised.

"Hmph, this was not my doing. It is the fruition of Quint's resolve, and the creation of the 'white-haired brat' you are so obsessed with," Clyde said as he stood back up to face Galo.

"Well, that's not good. My orders said to kill you if you got close to escaping… Man, I wish it didn't have to come to this," Galo spoke regretfully, scratching the back of his neck as he looked up at the ceiling.

"And how will you manage that? Your gold has amalgamated. It is now virtually worthless," asked Clyde curiously.

"Gold isn't the only valuable thing you know?"

Galo sighed, then crossed his arms again, releasing a tsunami of liquid mercury towards Clyde and Xenia. The wave was incredibly wide, encasing their entire surrounding so that they could not escape. It was a gaping attack, the mercury slowly approaching as Clyde activated his Spring.

"Tch, I was too complacent. Think, Clyde! Think!" He started squeezing his brain, thinking of a way the two of them could escape. Suddenly, the hospital-robed girl stood up from behind him and grabbed his tachi, holding it in the worst form that Clyde had ever seen.

"I'm gonna borrow your sword for a sec, k?" The question had no weight, as she had already taken his sword without his consent. As he was about to protest, he felt a weight of overwhelming power emanating from her, making him take a step back.

She slashed vertically, the shockwave created by her strike being enough to part the wave of mercury that approached them, splitting them into the pool of lava on both sides of them. The mercury burned in the magma as Clyde's Spring wore off, who was standing behind her in awe, her orange hair flowing in the wind produced by her slash.

"Incredible... I was thinking of possible escape methods, but you simply blew it away…" Clyde complimented. She blushed and gave him his sword back.

"Oh, i-it was nothing!" She replied, flustered. "I-it's all thanks to you..." She stuttered, mumbling her words together.

"Well shit, guess I'm done for. *sigh*, I'll be taking my leave now. Got no more ammo in here anyways. Take care of your unconscious friend here," said Galo unamused, approaching a secret tunnel that lead to the surface.

"Hold it! Where do you think you're going?" Clyde yelled from across the cavern.

"Cut me some slack dude, your friend is about to die. Take care of him and get off my ass," was Galo's way of saying that he gave up. Clyde began speaking as Xenia was still catching her breath behind him.

"I just have one question for you before you leave… Wh—"

"Oh shit… Get off of that plate! Now!" Galo interrupted, as the plate the two were standing on began glowing an azure light, creating a beacon of blue that reached the ceiling of the cave.

The two had no time to react, Clyde being too exhausted to activate his Spring, and Xenia still catching her breath, as she was not used to her newly inversed Spring. The two were wisped away, teleported to another location.

Galo ran to the plate, trying to follow them, but the blue glow had faded away by that time.

"Shit, this is gonna be a pain in the ass to explain…"

*************************************************************************************************************

Earlier, above the volcano.

Rein sleepily awakened to a hazy black void, feeling that it was somehow a familiar place. It felt the same as the depths of his mind, where he usually talked with Versys. However, when he looked around, he saw nobody. Versys was nowhere to be seen. It was simply a pitch-black void as far as the eye can see. He felt a red glow above him, looking up to see two words written in English, a language he never learned. Two glowing crimson words that he could not decipher.

"*** ****"

"The hell do those words mean? And where am I..?"

After looking around for a little longer, his eyes were blinded by a white light that glowed behind the red words above him, instilling the black void with a snowy glow.

[New Skill]

System Take Over

He was lifted into the white void, the pitch-black space that he was in combined into his hair, the glow of the red words reflected off his eyes as he felt himself awaken in the crater that he was in when he fell unconscious, feeling overflowed with power.

He clenched his fist, creating a dome of earth, encasing himself with Luther. As he stood up and grabbed his sword, he noticed that one of the blades had blood at the tip. Before he could inspect it, he saw Luther appear in front of him, with his hair not yellow anymore. He had a smile plastered across his face and an excited expression.

"You continue to impress me, Rein Alister!"

Within the same syllable that Luther spoke, Rein had moved at lightspeed, slashing Luther across the chest, causing blood to gush out. He slashed with the sword that was clean of any blood, now staining it with Luther's.

Luther's chest continued gushing out blood, grabbing it out of pain as he coughed.

"Well shit… Look's like you can penetrate my skin now," he said as he felt his health dropping.

Health: 4125/5130 (regenerating…)

Energy: 2423/2565

"Guess I've gotta try now. Maybe you're worth my time after all!"