More footsteps is heard on the Front door of the Church.
The Students holds their breathe and freaks silently while their mouths is covered by their classmates.
Ryuu reloads his crossbow with green stun arrows and Mitsou starts chanting his Ice Prison Magic on his Magic Cards.
Asami gets up and starts watching the sides the team doesn't cover of.
As for Tamotsu, he acts as the vanguard.
"Shit." he says
"Something is off" said silently by Ryuu as he kneeled with his crossbow aimed at the door
"Yeah, right" followed by Tamotsu
"Adventurer type demons can sense magic, remember that" said by Mitsou
Seconds later, they heard a knock. Followed by a two continues knock.
"It's them" sighed by Tamotsu
The students stood in the back, drawing their swords
"Whose them?" asked by Andrew
"Unit Number!" Yelled by Ryuu
Shocking the students.
"Black Alpha-001" said by the man
The Players(Ryuu, etc) sheathed their swords when they heard the code
The door opened, a gush of wind went inside.
"Major?!" said by the man with the mask
The voice was muffled by the gas mask making the voice deep in tone
There were 12 people in mask with rifles and hooks attached to the barrels. Each of them wore a a black Demon Hunter suit with a hood, it covered their whole body for protection from the Dust and Mist Inhalation. They had a trenchcoat, on the wearer's back inside the coat is a cooling crystal, protection crystal, and agility crystal, embedded on the sides of the waist.
The Oracles on the church was filled with relief, the SpecOps squad trained into Demon Hunting was there to pick them up.
They surrounded the entrance, and more came on the windows.
The Students looked with fear, as the Men wore masks that frightened them, not to mention the deep voice.
"uhmm... who are they?" asked by Andrew
"It's none of your business, but they're on our side"
He looks outside the door
"Seems the Dust has cleared" said by Ryuu
"I thought they were demons" said by Lisa
"Grey Team is here, and it's safe outside. Yet, the Dust accumulated on the ground but were clearing it out now" said by the man with the hood.
"Well, that's good too hear"
Said by Mitsou
"Where's is he?!" said by the girl
It was Kei
"Over here" said by Sen.
On the middle of the group opened up as Sen walks towards Kei
"Huh.. You can walk?!" said by Asami
Sen wore a bandage on his left arm, that went over his neck for support.
He walks towards the figure
They neared each other.
Rio and Sen neared each other.
She slapped him.
"Ouch" he says
"I was expecting a welcome back reply, Rio-san" he gently said
"How wonder you can still walk even though you lost lots of blood, commander " Said by Kei
Rio took of her mask
She was tearing slightly
She says softly
"I'll kill you personally if you turn into a Demon. I'd have your corpse experimented with alcohol"
"You damn yandere" he says
She then punches him in the stomach, making him lay on Rio
"Stretcher" she says to Kei
Men with stretcher appeared and carried him on the stretcher.
"RIO-CHANNN" Said by Tamotsu
He ran towards Rio, he hugged her.
"Stop it. You're too close" she said
He stopped hugging her and asked
"Where's the others?"
"They're looking for survivors in the houses. Also helping with the fire" she said
"Oh."
"Whose them?" she looks toward the Students
"Students of Magic Academy of Cenaria" said by the kid
"Oh, students. I'm Rio Hayashi, nice to meet you" she said normally
They walked outside the church
Tamotsu, Ryuu, Mitsou walks away towards the other silhouettes of the other Players.
A boy looks towards them
"Oh, right! What's their name Rio-san?" asked by the boy whose looks like a noble
She points and explains
"Guardian Oracle, Marksman Oracle, and the Stealth Oracle. The one i punched earlier is The Blade Oracle. The men with masks are Demon Hunters under the command of The Sword Oracle; Black Rangers" she explained briefly
She turns toward the students she was asked by Louise
"And you? Are you one of them?"
She giggled, as she smiles, she softly answered.
"They call me the Wizard Oracle"
The students were amazed.
"Ri, Lith, Nio, get them escort them to the other survivors " thus, she departed towards the Tent where Sen was brought.
"uh..uhm.. Thank you for saving us Rio-san!" said by the kid
She turned back to them, and nodded.
---
It was nightime, around 9 PM.
"Finished magic transportation" softly said by Rio
"Ohh, it worked!" said by Kei
They were transporting blood to Sen's body for bloodloss treatment. Luckily, the clothing and the mask that covered his face helped him with pain reduction.
Slowly by slowly, Sen opened his Eyes. He saw Kei holding his hands and... Rio
He immediately got up away from Rio.
"It's not like I'd hit you again" she said
Sen sighed with relief.
"Oh my.. you were able to get up that fast? "said by Kei
"That's our Demon Hunter" said by Rio
"Guys... uhm..you're too close.."
Rio was on the right side of Sen and Kei was on the left side.
"aren't we friends?" asked by Kei
"Well... uhm.. we are but... "
"Ehhh... Are you thinking about something else, Sen-kun?" asked by Kei
"He's thinking about something lewd" said by Rio
"You guys already know that i always do that. What are you? Fakes?" he said as he mocks the two
The two moved stepped back away from Sen.
He smiled.
"Thank you for whoever did the blood transfer-
wait. what "
Kei giggled and Rio explains as she gestures her fingers
"There are 4 types of blood in this world: Player, Terran, Elf, Demi-Human. That blood was yours, you donated that for testing, right?" said by Rio
"I know about the blood crap. But i was worried if you putted shit on mine" he said
"We can do it if yooou agreee" said by Kei
Sen sat, and equipped his Al' Arbitrs on the table. He sighed,
"You're not going to kill us aren't you?" asked by Kei as she gestures
"No. Just gonna walk around"
"C-can i accompany you? Sen?" asked by Rio
Kei slowly said in a monotone slow voice
"Oh! Right! Actually... Sen.. Rio was pushing us to come over here when she heard that you almost died" said by Kei as she holds her chin and stares at Rio
Rio's face turns red
"N-no! it's not what you think!"
she desperately replied
"I'll take a stroll around" Sen said as he leaves the tent
"You're ignoring her?!" asked by Kei
"I already knew that Rio worried. That's Rio for you"
Rio's face turns red and swiftly hides behind Kei's back.
Kei laughed and teased Rio.
"Even though, Sen, be careful next time. Who knows what'll happen if we lose you"
Sen sighed and looks to his sword that hangs on his left sheathe
"I had the ability to do it. If i didn't, then I'd be regretting it." he smug with a smile
Thus Sen walked to the Clocktower. On the way he found two 4 wheeler LUV/Humvees and two trucks.
While walking he was greeted by the Rangers.
He wasn't using his hood instead used his hoodless uniform.
He saw soldiers collecting Demonized Dust and putting them inside a magical black box that devoured the dust.
He also saw more survivors and adventurers meeting up with their friends and loved ones.
He felt pity towards them. He stopped and thougt
"It felt real"
"This pain...The backgrounds of each Terran....This world is real."
"The boundary that separated Virtual from Reality, has gone thinner."
He continued to walked, but he bumped to a student.
It was a beautiful, young, red haired, blue eyed girl carrying a staff with a blue gem on top.
"Oh! sorry!" she apologized
"No, it's my fault. I apologize for my carelessness ."
"No-no! Judging from your looks, you must be one of the Oracles! i should apologi-"
"I'm telling you, i wasn't looking that time. By the way, you need help?" he interrupted
"uhmm... I'm lost" she smiled
"I saw students of the same uniform last time near the Clocktower."
"oh..thank you! Uhm.. can i ask for your name, mister?" she asked while pointing her index finger to her finger
"I don't think you'll going to need my name. Just refer to me as the Phantom Oracle."
"okay?"
He grabs her hand and walked with her, she was behind his back and Sen was tapping his Sword's handle
"It's such a great honor to be accompanied by one of the Heroes" she commented
"Want to know why we call ourselves as Oracles instead of Heroes?" he said
"uhm... why?"
"We didn't want to call ourselves as Heroes, heh, we didn't yet do anything heroic."
"But you guys are the propheted Heroes for The Demon Invasion!" she yelled
"Are you sure we can defeat that Demon Army? That stupid sheer size is overkill for us to handle"
"Anyways, if that's our purpose, then we'd do it. Atleast we have a purpose in this world."
He lets go of his hands to her and she asks
"Do you live in the lost lands of Eastoria?"
"We don't . We aren't from this world."
She followed
"Huh? I don't get it" she replied
"We came on the world of Creators. Earth, from a country called Japan"
They reached the intersection where the clocktower is on the middle. They saw more students standing near the church and was waving for her.
"World of gods?"
Sen patted her gently and said
"That's why we're called Arbiters. Call us Heroes once we did something Heroic."
"In our world, Heroes did exist. They were called Heroes because they did something Heroic, that should be the system not those propethed words"
"Sorry"
"It's alright, it's the job of entities to take care of the world they created. Luckily, in my world, we're experts in war and battle" he laughed
"Go and regroup with your friends and don't touch the Dust, it's a demon corpse"
"Why we're you called the Phantom... Oracle.."
She asked but she was too late, Sen already disappeared
"Who was that?" asked by Del
"The Phantom Oracle" she replied
"I thought he was the Blade Oracle" said by the girl
"Weird. I thought Phantoms wear hooded uniforms and Blade users wear collared ones" said by the boy
Sen teleported/Leaped into the Clocktower and saw the other Oracles.
He felt Mitsou's telepathy
"Sen, He's here" he said
----
----
The group was a building near the Clocktower. All of the Players were there and there was Deus sitting on a chair. The group surrounded him in a half circle.
"Lots of people died, why didn't you tell us" said by Masao
"Atleast lend us a hand in cities, Deus-sama" said by Ayami/Asami
Deus sighed
"We only have eyes on the Capital."
"Then how did you know we were here?" said by Haruki
"We noticed a level increase in Sen, Asami, Tamotsu, Ryuu and Mitsou. Not just that, a demonoid was reversed into a human state."
"Too be honest, we don't really care if NPCs die."
Sen uttered
"We can just replace this world with a new one. But, if we do that, that planet or world won't have any culture than this one. That'll be the worst case scenario"
"Why... does it.. feel real?" asked by Sen
Deus stood up.
"If you teach a Deep Learning AI to learn and copy our world, what'll happen?"
"Just the same?" said by Rio
"Correct. But what'll happen if we do it a fantasy manner?"
"This world.." said by Sen
"Correct! We taught that AI to copy our world. Our Earth. Our fundamental rules. You are in a simulation world of that AI.
So we tried adding fantasy based materials, so thus this world is born. This world, is Terra, and Terra is the world God."
Everything is a simulation.
Yet it feels real because we're... Human.
" My schedule is tight, and I'm the only one on the company capable of diving, so my contact with you will be severed"
He lowers his hat and says
"I also have something else to tell you"
----
----
It's 5:18 in the morning.
Sen is standing again on the Clocktower. He's laying his back near the door while he watches the Sun rise.
As he watch the sun rise from the horizon, he hears footsteps from the stone stairs,Lei arrives.
"You're up early, Sen"
"Same goes to you"
"It's the same for your world isn't?" she asks
"Everything is almost the same to our world. But in our world, Magic doesn't exist."
"Ohh, hahaha, i see"
He looks down and asks
"Lei, what would you do after the war ends?"
She walks into the doorway, she looks towards Sen and said
"I don't know. You?"
"I don't know either" he asked with a frown.
"you alright? Sensei?"
"Yeah. It's alright"
She looked behind and asked
"It?"
"Do you resent us, beings, who created this world?"
"Maybe."
She walks towards the railing outside and followed;
I didn't knew my parents. They say they died because the emperor and his men ordered to kill them. I was taken as a slave and served under a noble.
I hoped they created a world where peace is experienced by everyone
He was shocked
Sen replied
"Hearing that wants me to make this world better"
"I wonder, what'll happen if bad things didn't exist?"
He stares into her chest and says
"Then your flat chest wouldn't exist"
She uttered, "be serious" she asks
"Want to hear some words of wisdom?"
"do it while I can still enjoy the sunrise, please"
He layed on the wall with his left leg supporting his body, he took a deep breathe and says
"What's the meaning of Life if negatives didn't exist? What's the point of it?
Life and Death compromises the Present. How can Man fine tune it's morality if conflicts didn't exist?
Man will not know everlasting bliss in their life. The same applies to Creators and Players.
(I had to persuade my fellow Oracles to not call themselves Heroes as they might use those statuses for greed)
Greed, Lust, Violence, Sadness, Joy, Interest, all of it, all of it are human emotions.
Without those, you aren't human. That's what makes us human.
You are what you are today.
The past is the past, focus on the present" he sighed
"I wonder how many recitations it took you to just do that" she mocks
"are you going to leave after this war?" she asks
I don't think we Oracles will be still here after the War."
He looks with sadness to Lei as he says his last stance
Lei walked towards Sen and asks
"What do you mean?"
"There's a good chance that we might die in the war"
"Well it's because-" she said
He hugged her tightly and said
"You guys are lucky. You can be..... anyone, anything ..you want. Yet.. Terra has already set ..mine and their fates for the upcoming war.
Brighter light raced towards the clocktower as he talks.
He took two steps away from Lei and said
"This world, is originally meant for the entertainment and experiments of the Creators"
Lei uttered, and took a shocked face expression to Sen
"Everyone in Arcaea knows it"
"why?" she asked
"The Creators are also referred to us Developers.
They are also... human."
she gasped
"We came from a technologically advanced civilization. It granted us the power to create simulated or virtual worlds. We used that to create Terra, the god herself."
"no..way." she denied
"This world is the first virtual world that precisely harbors our world's fundamental laws...well sort of."
"The Creators didn't expect that life can also exist here. And damn
This world.. followed my world's footstep, more like mimicked it."
Lei looked with anger, she looked down, gripping her katana.
"Entertainment, huh"
"Terra mimicked my world."
"And we weren't the first ones who came from the heavens"
"Alpha Testers, that is the term referring to the very first divers of this world"
He laughed
"Those Alpha Testers acted like they were sent on an expedition or something. Thus, more Alpha Testers dived in, the very first humans on Terra, cool isn't?"
"They were fascinated about this world, they praised Terra, some even worshipped her"
"They thought that this world is just a game, so they tried to reproduce, then consequences happened. The first Terran is born, Player-Terran.
The first village, the first city, the first country.
Lei was shocked, her anger cooled down slowly.
"The Ancient Era or which the Creators call, the Alpha Test was full of errors, so years ago, this land is... Isn't what it is now"
"An Alpha Tester life here was bad, everyhour, they had to report everything bad they see"
" Want to hear how demi humans got here? Listen closely
Those alpha testers had bodies similar to that of todays Demis. So they induced reproduction and multiplication happened, in a year
Then now to the Elves.
The Elves were originally from a group of Alpha Testers whom appearances resemble Elf like, they had the highest affinity for magic so they cab protect their fellow testers.
Two group of Alpha Testers were the first Adventurers.
The first combat orientated guilds.
I can even imagine how they looked like.
The Elves are them, descendents of those guilds.
Gladius, swords guild. Literally meaning Sword.
Magi, mage guild. Literally meaning Magic.
Those were the names of the first guild.
They reproduced with their Elvish characters and the first Elf is born.
They were even granted wings by the Creators themselves.
The two guilds merged, thus calling themselves as... Elves.
The name of the first country was unknown, the Alpha Testers didn't made a name for that village.
That's the tale of the Races of Terra, Heh, Deus told us that.
Basically, you guys are here because of us, Players."
He stepped towards Lei
Lei was looking him in the eye
"All races here on Terra are descendants of the first players, descendants of Alpha Testers"
Lei looked down and asked
"Are they immortal?"
"Yes, and if they die, they'll reappear at their called spawn point"
Lei looked up and said
"Then they left this world?"
"There were fifty Alpha Testers,
38 Testers logged out.
The remaining Twelve remained."
"What happened to the remaining twelve?" she asked
"Wait.. don't tell me.. you're one of them?!" she followed
"They died" he replied bluntly while he looks into the sunrise on the horizon
"Huh?! You said they were like immortal. "
Sen stepped towards the railing and holds it as he says
"They died"
He grinned his teeth as he spitted those words, with anger
"What? I don't get it"
"They... were.. murdered by an assailant that went inside the buildings of the Creators"
"That assailant's agenda is also the same one that sent us here on this world. "
"That organization murdered hundreds of people that time"
Sen took a breathe again and looked towards the sky
"The Demons... weren't taught by the Creators to not invade that time. So the infiltrators taught them, a teaching, to the program, making them by today's demon.
That god, or program , is Terra's brother"
"The infiltrators wanted to destroy Terra, so they modified, they changed that program, that AI, to by today's demon. They taught It... to destroy Terra."
"They tried destroying Terra but Terra attacked them. They did ....everything. Eventually they were killed by Terra and the Creators, except her brother"
Sen took a breathe again and continued
"The Ancients and Alphas launched an attacked to the Demon's newly formed homeworld"
"Fifty alpha testers. Fifty thousand soldiers, went to to the Demon's homeworld and killed the inhabitants of that world. They succeeded until... one of the Alpha Testers dropped dead"
"The twelve died on the our world but their bodies remained intact here. Eventually... that body lost its grasp on our world.. and turned into a Terran, making them transform into Demonoids.
50 thousand soldiers alongside those twelve turned into a Demon, the other remainingt Alpha's committed suicide as they were unable disconnect, they tried to.. kill their own comrades but they were too many.. so.. they used used their own explosives to.. Tsk"
Sen took a deep breathe and continued :
"One of the Alpha Testers... were my father"
"Oh, sorry to hear that" she apologized
"Why do you guys even apologize when you hear the death of someone you didn't ask?" he laughed as he looked to the sun
"That's just what happens"
Lei holds his hands on the cold railing as cold breeze blowed their hairs, she said
"I guess even worlds created by gods can bring despair among themselves"
He laughed slightly
"As long as we're human, mistakes like this will continue to happen. Life is a b*tch"
Lei laughed and hugged him from the side
"If you have the chance to leave this world, are going to do it?" she asked
"I... no.. we, just got outside the Valley, and it's too late to stop now."
He looks forward to Lei and asks
"Why are asking that?"
"Huh?"
"We just met for a day and you're acting personal. Don't tell me you're..."
She backed off "N-no! It's not what you think!"
"It's just, corrupted people might put your work down.."
"Don't worry, I'll have the Creators deal with it"
"Just kidding! If you want to leave after things settle down then do it"
He walks into the doorway and said
"I was hoping you would say that" he laughs
"Err... Why?"
"We.. were hoping we could stay longer on this world."
"Huh? Wait! I didn't mean to be like that!"
"Life is really a b*tch."
H
e said
"Why? What do you mean you were hoping you could sta-"
"Sen?" she asked
Sen was stuttering before he could exit the doorway
He was breathing heavily
On his HUD, a red glitchy text appears:
"This world is a game"
"This is just a game"
"THIS IS A GAME"
"THIS IS NOT REAL"
Everything turns black in his perceptive.
"Where am i?" he said
The scenery turns into a dark landscape where the soil is purple.
It was like a horror land.
When he turns his back he saw an army behind him and three people with a sword and a rifle, oh, is it a rifle?
They were pointing it on a injured demon with a horn similar to that of a goat
The demon was decapitated by a man with a sword and looks behind
a person drops dead followed by another one.
until one goes rampage and stabs everyone near him and started screamed violently.
the rest followed.
he started shaking and unsheathed his sword, and seemed everyone was ignoring him, more like couldn't see him.
A red glitchy text appears again, saying
"This world shouldn't exist"
"You are not gods"
He returns into the present..
gasping for breathe, he hears and see Lei in a blurred state until his vision and hearing returns to normal.
Lei was standing towards Sen, her head is below his chin and she was holding his clothing saying "Sensei! Sensei!"
"What happened?" he asked
"I should be the one asking that, idiot!" she said as she was almost crying
He hugged her swiftly and he
breathed
"Don't tell anyone about what happened."
"Sorry for what i said earlier, Sensei, as an apology... You can do anything you want to me.." she muttered
"For your own sake, don't tell them that i hugged the floor, okay? " he mocked
she uttered and pushed him and said
"Personality matters, not just the chest. dummy"
She looked to her chest and said
"I'm not flat though"
"Lolita with big boobs" he replied
She drawed her sword, pointing it to Sen
He holds the sword by the tips using his fingers and said
"A sword is a tool of self defense, stupid, not a toy"
"Let's go"
He grabbed her waist and
carried her on his shoulder
"Ah! Sen! What do you think you're doing!"
"Sandwich me with your legs, Lei-chan"
Lei's face turns red and yelled
"BAKAAA! /IDIOTT"
The two walked downstairs as he carries Lei on his shoulders
"You're really enjoying my things huh!"
"thick.. grrrr" he said
"f-fine I'll let you get away this time.. idiot"
---TO BE CONTINUED
---Thank you for reading!