Gify gives us a massage to finish our treatment for "broken heart" and helps us get back into fighting shape.
"Are you sure we should go straight back to the mansion? Shouldn't we investigate the Mayor's Office a bit more?" Yunia asks.
"What, scared?" I ask with a cheeky grin.
"Me? Scared of a monster that uses your own fear of your parents to drive you insane? Ohohohoh, of course not!" She exclaims and shows an angry smile.
"But you're not even going into the mansion," Ciel says, confused.
Yunia clenches her fist and frowns. "My [Disruption Field] could be useful against The Lady," she says.
"Ooh… how does that spell work, anyway?" I ask.
"First, I draw a circle of blood on the ground, then, when someone enters it, I can disrupt their flow of mana and prevent them from casting spells. I can even kill magical beings if I disrupt them strongly enough."
"Hm… that's quite a useful ability. Couldn't Ciel carry a vial of your blood and make the circle herself, then?"
"I still have to be close to it to activate it."
"Oh…"
"'Oh' indeed." She smiles wryly and sighs.
"Anyway, there wasn't much in the Mayor's Office from what they saw. In fact, the only room that seemed to be fully furnished was the mayor's personal office," I continue, and Alissa nods.
"You could send in a Holly to investigate. The guards didn't seem to react to her," Lina says.
"Good idea."
--
We enter the Residential district and start sneaking. We don't want to risk drawing the attention of the Possessed Mannequins.
With everything made of concrete, the streets have a rather modern air to them. All that's missing is the black asphalt and we'd be set. There aren't any sidewalks or obvious lanes, but everywhere except for the middle of the street seems worn-out, indicating some form of separation of the flow of traffic.
The buildings are mostly apartment complexes, but there's still a large amount of empty space above them, so this district doesn't feel claustrophobic like the administration corridors did. Every once in a while, we see a dead green space, but it's still mostly a concrete jungle.
There are a few windows in the ceiling letting in some light, but they are far too few to properly illuminate the entire district, creating a very moody atmosphere.
"This place looks similar to my town back on Earth," I comment.
But it reminds me more of Brazil than Canada since every house is gated.
"Your home isn't a very pretty place," Yunia says.
"Polished rock is better, but these concrete buildings are really nice," Lina says.
"Really?" I ask.
She nods emphatically and says, "If only the air weren't so stale and we had more illumination, then this would be a good place for dwarves to live in."
"Ho~h. I can't even fathom how dwarves are capable of living in such small and closed off places," Yunia says.
"An elf that doesn't understand the coziness of a small and sturdy house is just another monster for the Lord," Lina says and shakes her head.
The two share a brief glare without any mean feelings behind it.
--
We give the shopping center a wide berth, but we still end up encountering a mannequin standing still in the middle of the street.
"I can't sense their presence," Alissa whispers, worriedly.
"Don't make any loud noises, they seem to react to sound," I whisper, and we cautiously continue forward.
Roxanne shows her tongue to the mannequin as we pass by it.
"I think I can use [Chain Life] on them if they start to move," Yunia says.
"Good, I have a feeling that we'll need it," Hana says and chuckles nervously.
As we walk deeper in, the district starts to become mossy and ruined, but even more so than when Hana and Roxanne passed through here previously.
"We are too loud," Alissa says as we pass by another mannequin.
"I'll store Jarn for now," I say.
The other two golems can float, so they never make that much noise.
"I can try to fix that," Yunia says.
Alissa grabs Lina and lifts the little dwarf onto her shoulders, surprising her, then she turns into a fox with Lina already on top of her.
"That felt really weird," Lina says.
"You must be more sensitive to mana, like Wolfy," Alissa says, then she turns to Yunia. "Just try to make Aoi and Ciel silent."
Yunia nods and starts concentrating. Her fingers subtly move around, as if they were typing something. I feel mana gathering within her, then it starts to surround us before pooling closely around Ciel and Aoi. I stop sensing the mana right when I stop hearing their footsteps. Even the soft jingle of their padded armor vanishes.
Ciel's mouth moves, but no sound comes out.
That spell must be really useful for assassination.
"I can't hear anything," Ciel says in my soul space.
"I'll share my hearing with you, then," I reply.
"This feels really weird," she says with a chuckle.
I also notice a change in the volume of the sounds that we're making. With Alissa being completely silent, and Yunia barely making a sound, the loudest sound we're producing is when we move too quickly, making our armor jingle.
It's fortunate for us that we have Yunia since the number of mannequins in the streets rises quickly.
We avoid them all without a problem, then they suddenly stop appearing.
"Are we safe, now?" Aoi asks in a low tone.
"We aren't that close to the mansion yet," Roxanne says, and I nod.
A few meters further in, our [Spirit Light]s illuminate a line of mannequins blocking our way.
"Spoke too soon," Lina whispers dejectedly.
I look to the side and see another line blocking our alternate path. Yunia suddenly looks behind us, and we follow her sight, then we see a third line of mannequins blocking our way.
"Uh… those weren't there before," I say, and the girls frown.
I look forward again and notice that the line has moved closer to us.
Oh, Gods, no!
I make Hana look behind us and have Roxanne look to the side. Now both of these lines have come closer, too.
"Their webs of Life are coming closer whenever no one's looking at them," Yunia says.
Ugh… does this count as plagiarism?
There's a gate ajar beside us, so I guide the girls there. We enter the front garden of an apartment complex with a few dozen mannequins spread around.
"Roxanne, watch the left; Lina, watch the right; Ted and Suzy, watch behind us," I order.
We move close to the wall and circle around the building to the other entrance. Then we take the streets again and continue avoiding the mannequin blockades.
Creepy-ass place. I'm starting to get tired of this shit.
On a particularly dark street, the road suddenly curves in a way that I haven't seen before in this almost perfectly grid-like district. This place just doesn't make any sense, and now it's changing things up to mess with us.
Down the curve, a blockade stops us, forcing us to double-back.
Oh, boy…
We don't get far before another blockade stops us. Now we are sandwiched between two walls of mannequins. There's no gate for us to escape this, but we can still climb the walls flanking us.
Suddenly, our [Spirit Light]s blink, plunging us into darkness for a moment, and when they come back on, the mannequins have moved closer. Even the Hollys "blinked."
Okay, we're getting into SCP territory now…
"What is going on?" Alissa anxiously whispers.
"Something is messing with our [Spirit Light]s," Ciel says, a hint of fear leaking into her voice.
"We can't stay here," Yunia says and looks at me, starting to get desperate.
"Climb up there," I say and point to a wall.
"This will be… hard," Aoi says.
"We'll dismount and cross over it on our own," I respond.
"Okay."
Alissa jumps across the wall with little difficulty, though she did make Lina scared for a moment. Yunia and Ciel quickly vault over top while we carefully dismount and use our abilities to cross over it. Roxanne, the golems, and I can simply float while Aoi and Hana have to use their wings.
On the other side, Alissa is getting cornered by four mannequins as our [Spirit Light]s start flickering every few seconds.
I keep my eyes on them as she runs around, then we run across a large dead yard and towards a gate that leads to another street. The few spread out mannequins follow us slowly due to the flickering of our lights.
We exit onto the street, and the duration that our lights stay "off" increases, allowing the mannequins to move a longer distance with each blink.
The blockades disappear, but they're replaced by mannequins sparsely spread out, forcing us to play a game of cat and mouse as we repeatedly dodge them.
Then we see a single mannequin that gives me chills. Laying down in the middle of the street is a white baby doll with an oversized head, nearly half a meter long. Its body is covered with splattered blood.
The light flickers, and it reappears a meter closer to us, now standing on its two chubby legs.
"Uh~…" Ciel lets out a sound filled with anxiety.
"W-wolfy…" Lina calls to me, sounding frightened.
The light flickers again, and it comes even closer, now fallen on the ground with its face down, as if it had tripped.
Okay, now this is plagiarism, right?
"By the Gods, that's creepy," Alissa says.
"I really don't like that," Yunia says.
The light flickers once more, the time it stays "on" getting shorter still, and the baby reappears closer to us, now standing up again.
"Fuck. That," I say, and order Roxanne.
"[Ice Lance]," she casts, and the spell punts the doll far, far away.
Our [Spirit Light]s dim, barely allowing us to see a meter ahead.
"They are coming…" Yunia whispers, almost stunned.
"Run," I order.
--
The mannequins don't appear anymore in the streets, but now there's a group of them running after us. They start to catch up just as we near the mansion, but we have to shake them off if we want to explore it safely.
Yunia casts a quick [Chain Life] on the ones leading the charge, quickly creating a pile as the mannequins fail to avoid the first ones that fell. Then Ciel casts a [Windstorm] to push the survivors away. This gives me an idea.
"The alley!" I exclaim, and we take a detour. "Lina, close it!"
She casts [Earth Wall], blocking the only entrance to it.
We repeat that maneuver a few more times and then hide inside a house beside the mansion.
Minutes pass, and we see no sign of the mannequins, allowing us to slowly relax. Our [Spirit Light]s gradually return to their previous brightness, a possible sign that the mannequins aren't after us anymore.
Alissa sighs and lays down, tired of being in her fox form for so long. Ciel casts a [Refresh] on her, wiping away most of the tiredness. Aoi is just slightly tired; a dragon's stamina is truly impressive.
This house is so comfy that I feel like stealing the sofas. Unfortunately, when I store them in my "Items," they simply disappear without creating another entry, then they grow back from a white sludge that oozes out of the ground.
Once I deem us all rested enough, I get up and say, "Alright, it's time to deal with The Lady."
Yunia suddenly jumps off of the sofa and stands up straight, frozen with tension.
I get up and walk over to her. I stop right in front of her and look up at her face, then I grab her hand and remove our gauntlets, allowing our bare skin to touch eachother.
I delicately caress her hand, with just the faintest touch of my spirit. She looks down at me, and her stern expression softens a little.
"I'll use [Bind] on you so that I can summon you back to me the very moment you get caught by The Lady," I state.
"No!" She exclaims and grips my hands, her blue eyes wide open in surprise.
"Why?" I ask immediately.
She bites her lip and says, "I'll… find the strength to resist her."
"You didn't answer my question," I say in a calm tone.
She looks away. "It's embarrassing."
"Hm…?" I knit my eyebrows at her.
Her tone lowers to almost a whisper. "I'm just… really scared…"
"Well…" I hold back my grin and use a soft tone. "That's why I'm going to use [Bind]. To make sure that I can bring you back safely even if you don't resist her."
"I feel like a child…" She mumbles.
"Oh, hey. That makes two of us!" Roxanne says and grins.
Lina shyly lifts her hands. "I'm also scared."
"I almost pissed myself when I met The Lady, so…" Hana says with a wry smile.
"I don't think you're helping," Ciel says to Hana and chuckles nervously.
"It's not just that. With [Mask], I can always hide my fear, but it never works with you, and now you'll know exactly what I feel," Yunia says and anxiously looks at me from the side of her eye.
I sit down on the sofa and make her sit beside me.
"I promise that I won't make fun of your feelings," I say.
"That's not re-…"
"I'll also stop Roxanne from making fun of you," I interrupt her.
"Okay, that's a bit better," she says and chuckles softly.
"H-hey!" Roxanne complains.
"I'll also take control of your bladder and prevent you from pissing yourself, just like I did for Hana," I add.
"Wait, seriously?" Hana asks, her mouth hanging open.
I just grin and don't answer.
"That's a bit weird," Yunia says, and softly shakes her head while smiling.
"I could possibly turn off your brain if you get caught by The Lady. Maybe even take control of your body and force you to walk away," I continue and rub my chin in thought.
"Wolfy, stop," Ciel says and laughs along with the girls.
Yunia awkwardly rubs her right ear while blushing slightly.
Laughing is always good for lightening the mood and reducing tension.
A few awkward silent seconds pass, then she breathes in deeply and straightens her posture. "Alright, I'm ready," she says.
I look at Roxanne and smile apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to remove your [Bind] for now," I say.
She pouts and her dagger-tail points towards me threateningly. "I demand compensation."
"I only have my body to offer," I say and lower my head.
"Then I'll only need your hands," she says and grins excitedly.
"Disappointing…" I whisper, then I nod and say, "But I accept."
"Hmph!" She points her chin up snobbishly like Yunia.
"I think she's making fun of me," Yunia whispers and narrows her eyes.
I poke Roxanne's soul, and she yelps, then I release her from the [Bind] before she can retaliate.
"Awn…" Roxanne deflates, and Hana, Lina, and Aoi start to console her.
I turn to Yunia and cast [Bind]. "Here we go," I say, and she tenses up.
I grab her soul and drop it into my soul space, then I pick up her blanket and dive in.
I see a cute little elven princess having a privileged childhood, then her training starts, and she slowly becomes more and more responsible. I see how dearly she loves her parents and how happy she was with them.
I also see a countless number of faces. Servants, friends, classmates, teachers, commoners, and many others. Then a face stands out: an androgynous elven boy, her first love. A pure and heartwarming love. The marriage proposal happens, and they drown in each other's bodies.
Then things suddenly turn sour. She loses all hope in her parents, breaks off the engagement, and retreats into a shell with only her brothers. Then I kill her parents, and everything goes gray.
The last few memories she has of us are so short that I can only get a brief glimpse, but that's not enough to say how well she's recovering. Then I find her inner voice.
"Yunia?" I ask.
"Ah!" She yelps, and a wave of anxiety hits me.
Things start to go dark, and her mind starts to squeeze down on me. She's rejecting me.
"Remember to breathe," I say.
I look at her in real life and see that she's biting her lip while her hands are shaking.
The pressure increases, and I get restless as her anxiety becomes too disruptive.
"You're rejecting me," I say.
She closes her eyes and breathes in, but it doesn't help.
"I feel weird," she says in real life.
Suddenly, the anxiety and the pressure are gone, then I start to feel lethargic. I lose the motivation to act, and it takes a lot of willpower to make myself grab her inner voice and pull it back into my mind space.
Once I'm back, the lethargy instantly goes away. I look her in the eye and hear the ringing of glass. She's using [Mask] again.
"I'm sorry. This is the only way that I could calm myself," she says, feeling my slight disappointment.
"It's… fine. Now, go with Ciel," I respond.
She nods, and the two of them depart.
Yunia didn't learn how to control her emotions to not let them bleed through the [Bind]. [Mask] has only diminished the intensity of her emotions. She's "numbing" herself to the world, allowing her to use her will alone to drive her actions.
The lethargy I felt must've been the [Mask] starting to take effect. And if that's how it feels to use it, then it must be really tiring to keep it up for a long time.
--
The mansion had its windows boarded shut when Roxanne and Hana first came here, but now, almost all of them are broken. The mansion itself seems like it aged a hundred years, with blotches that are either dirt or blood staining most of its surface.
"This station gets even creepier the more we explore," Ciel comments, and Yunia nods stoically.
They cautiously open the double door at the entrance, making it creak loudly, then stare into the main hall, wary of any movements.
"I'll start to set up over here," Yunia says.
"Alright…" Ciel says, a little tense.
The hall is wide and open, devoid of any furniture. There's only a wide staircase that splits in two halfway up to the second floor and doors to the other corridors of the mansion.
"How dull," Yunia whispers.
"Everything around here is dull," Ciel whispers.
"True."
The white tiled floor is completely covered in dust, making it look rather gray.
Yunia cuts her hand with a dagger and lets the blood drip all over the hall. Ciel goes upstairs and takes a right turn, towards The Lady's room.
Satisfied with the amount of blood spilled everywhere, Yunia starts making a large, uninterrupted circle of blood in the middle.
Ciel powers up her [Spirit Light] and makes her [Holy Spirit] walk beside her. She draws her shortsword since her glaive is too long for these narrow corridors.
A tense minute goes by as Yunia continues her work, and Ciel cautiously walks forward. Beads of sweat start to form on her forehead due to the tension; her sword arm trembles, making her armor rattle slightly; and her jaw shivers, making her teeth begin to chatter.
Her anxious breathing sounds a bit loud amid the complete silence of the mansion; her slow, quiet steps become quick, heavy stomps; the soft jingle of her armor now seems like the scraping of a wire brush against a wall; her heart is beating so fast that she feels it slamming against her rib cage.
Yunia starts to walk away from her circle of blood, but she suddenly freezes in place, and her head snaps to the balcony. Her [Mask] instantly breaks, and she shrieks in terror.
"CIEL, GO BACK! SHE'S AT THE LEFT WING!" I yell through [Bind].
Ciel sucks in a sharp breath and starts a mad dash back to the main hall.
Yunia runs in the opposite direction of The Lady, fleeing towards the right wing of the first floor. She crashes into a room and hurriedly closes the door, then locks it shut. She drops to her knees, and five sharp claws burst through the door a few centimeters above her head.
"HYAAAAAAAAAH!" Yunia shrieks and falls down on her ass.
The Lady starts to hack at the door, making splinters and chunks of wood fly everywhere. She opens a hole, then looks through it.
"YUNIA! LISTEN TO ME!" I yell through [Bind].
Yunia stands still, frozen in shock.
"YUNIA, CIEL NEEDS YOU! YOU NEED TO GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!" I plead to her.
The Lady grabs the rough edges of the hole and pries it apart, making the door crack.
Ciel jumps off of the balcony and lands in the main hall, then she sees The Lady down the corridor.
"I'M YOUR OPPONENT, YOU HATEFUL WOMAN!" Ciel bellows.
The Lady turns her gaze away from Yunia, allowing her to breathe again, and stares at Ciel.
Her [Spirit Light] and [Holy Spirit] shine like the sun, working hard to repel the hate of The Lady trying to break her heart.
"HRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" A shrill wail hurts Ciel's ears and stuns her for a moment.
Yunia goes limp on the floor, catatonic.
"YUNIA! WAKE UP! GET UP! CIEL NEEDS YOU!" I try to force her to move, but she's resisting the [Bind].
Ciel recovers, then she sees the five long claws rushing towards her. She activates [Wind Shield], and The Lady is pushed back.
Gify, hit me with the good stuff.
Gih!
Visions of dragons mating, killing, eating, and flying fill my mind. Power, glory, majesty, confidence, these feelings fill me with endless energy. My dick tries to escape out of my armor, but I control my lust, then I redirect all of my feelings towards Yunia.
I don't know how to cast [Disruption Field], I need her to wake up!
"YUNIA, GET UP! CIEL NEEDS YOU! I NEED YOU…! WE… NEED… YOU…!"
Yunia trembles, the overwhelming energy of my emotions stunning her for a second.
"Okay," she responds and gets up. "I'M COMING TO GET YOU, YOU LOATHSOME GRUDGE-FESTERING MASS OF EXISTENTIAL IMPOTENCE!" She bellows.
Ciel trades blows with The Lady, but her body is completely incorporeal, except for her claws and her eyes. The only thing that affects her is Ciel's [Wind Shield], for some reason.
Yunia races down the corridor and The Lady turns to her. Instead of stopping, Yunia seemingly speeds up and yells, "I KILLED YOU ONCE, I'LL KILL YOU A THOUSAND TIMES, MOM!"
Then she leaps and lands with her hand on the circle of blood.
A storm of mana suddenly appears and wracks through both The Lady and Ciel. The [Spirit Light] and the [Holy Spirit] disappear, the [Wind Shield] stops working, and The Lady shrieks, almost stunning Yunia and interrupting the [Disruption Field].
A naked crone with sickly, pale skin and hair, and a half-rotten, half-skeletal body suddenly becomes visible. Her nails are long, wickedly sharp claws caked with blood. Her hair thankfully covers most of her hideously twisted face.
"GET HEE~R!" I order Ciel.
She doesn't waste a second before driving her sword through the crone's heart. A heavy tension suddenly lifts from my shoulders, making me notice how tired I really am. Ciel and Yunia suddenly calm down, their minds are confused, but their hearts are light, now freed from the cold grip of The Lady.
The crone goes limp and falls backward on the floor.
Alissa frowns. "I can sense her now, and she's not dead yet," she says.
Oh boy.
--
--
Hall of Fame of Patrons
The patrons who support Rupegia shall have their names sung by the bards for they deserve the glory and honor. Their names are:
Oracle Maximillian Hübner.
Prince PreownedFIN.
Lord Andrew Meyers.
Lord Hope.
Lord Samuel Lim.
Lord Bill.
Lord Novgarod.
Lord DJ.
Lord Ashadun.
Lord Michale Erwin.
Lord Enrique Peña Gomez.
Lord Braidborn.
Lord Bakerdea.
Lord Yeeteris Dedmeem.
Lord D4rk Sheep.
Lord Nathan Vanbrunt.
Lord Andrew Heffelbower.
Lord Markus.
Lord Maurice.
Lord Badger.
Lord Krawn.
Lord Remco.
Noble Salty Panda.
Noble Yamibomb112.
Noble Mild Fracas.
Noble EESDESESESRDT.
Noble Aclys.