Angry, the beast slams into the wall making them flinch.
It growls, recovering and then moves around.
"Where is Charlotte?" stresses Neo, "Xzina! I thought you had h–"
"I did," she snapped, her tone frustrated, "but that damned thing attached to her started misbehaving and spazzing violently, which loosened my grip enough for her to be pulled into that thing's mouth,"
"We have to go get her back!" Neo prepares to launch himself at the beast.
"Wait!"
Neo's body is about to move, ignoring Xzina's warnings, and as he is about to go, a memory is forced to play in his head . . . he pauses as the events of his behavior when he met One run through his head.
. . .
He hesitates, and turns to her, "Be quick, what is it?"
As he says that, the large creature moves around, fixating one of its eyes on them, peeking through the large hole and glaring down at them.
Xzina launches a full-power attack on its eye but the creature closes its eyelids as if anticipating the attack, and the slashes don't cut through.
"See? It blocked our strongest attack with an eyelid. Do you think we stand a chance against it in our current state?"
"We don't have to defeat it! We just have to save Charlotte," he insists.
The creature opens its eye again, looking at them.
"That would be impossible in our current state as well,"
"Then what do we do?!"
"We push through . . . to obtain what Habil once sealed away. With that, we will be able to bring her back,"
Neo grits his teeth, looking at the creature's eye in frustration.
"Now, Neo! Go and obtain more to reach her!"
The creature moves, and its slithering large body now blocks the path with its hard skin.
. . .
Hiss!
A faint hissing fills the air around them . . . something . . . something is leaking from the creature's skin. The creature's skin begins to release a gas into the cave-like structure.
"I don't know if we can handle that! Move, Neo!" stresses Xzina.
All of Neo's focus shifts from fighting to retreating.
He called it . . . to obtain more . . . this is all he could handle . . . and he left the other questions lingering in his subconscious . . . where is the sword? Did it get swallowed with Charlotte? How can I see clearly without light? All these questions he had to care about later.
They venture deeper into the cave as the gas released by the creature's skin fills the place and rapidly pursues them.
The creature roars loudly and stuck between its many sharp terrifying teeth, is Neo's sword, keeping Charlotte's unconscious body from the beast's mouth.
. . .
The information she sent her two spies on no longer have a perceiver to analyze them yet the two continue their pre-set mission and observe, and what one of them is seeing now, is the three mechanical beasts turned to scrap and Adora elegantly landing on her feet.
She cracks her neck and stretches out her body a little.
I made progress in understanding what I can do and how to fight instead of just assassinate, but I still need more work . . . getting to experience what it's like to have abnormal strengths and abilities ever since my first experience on the island . . . quite an exhilarating experience now that I had the chance to take it in for once.
She glances at her armor.
Kind of wonder if I can take thing off at all though. Like it's–
The armor starts to retract as the fiery links connecting its pieces retract them to the back of her neck.
"Oh, never mind! It can!"
"Thanks for your help! I don't think we would have been able to take them down without you!" says Sharara as she approaches with Dara.
"Where did you get that armor from, Madam Adora? I've never seen you fight like this before!"
Adora smiles at her, ". . . a perfect gift . . . from my most precious . . ."
Sharara and Dara glance at each other, and then back at her, their heads tilted in confusion.
"Now, let's update each other quickly before we make our next move. First off, what's happening here? Why is this place a wreck?"
Sharara looks at Dara and he nods at her.
"I'll relay what Dara is saying,"
"The marks of the people who choose to go with the Rope have appeared. The sign that the rise of the Rope taking us with it, has come to pass. Soon, we, People of the Rope, will leave this existence," Sharara pulls up her trouser leg, showing the mark of light on her right leg.
"And in response, maybe because they realized what would happen to them when the rise goes through, that places like this Castle would disappear . . . so most of the people who didn't have the mark of light, especially the round table that hates Pilots and have been in wars with us before, launched a full-scale attack. In response, the Pilots here had to fight back . . . well . . . we tried at least,"
Adora raises an eyebrow, "Tried?"
"Well . . . the weapons used by the enemy . . . just like these beasts, they had counters to all the combat Pilots' abilities. Just like these three were countering Dara and I, just now in the fight, and were pinning us down so much heavy fire that it was difficult to regenerate . . . even for us . . . so all the Pilots; combat, support, normal, or evacuation along with the peaceful civilians are in the large plane parking area evacuating and defending the place from any enemy, "
Adora hum, "And what about my Kayn?"
"Well . . . he was the only one that stayed within the Castle. I think he is probably clearing the third floor by now,"
"Well . . . he was the only one that stayed within the castle. I think he is probably clearing the third floor by now. We last met him on the first floor and he told us to stay and search around floor zero for you, Haco, and Daki and commanded Iza to stay with us for protection. But we didn't get attacked at all till now,"
"I see . . ."
"So yeah, that's what's been going on here,"
. . .
"Fine, fine"
"Hm!"
"Sorry, but Dara has just been asking. Um, he's wondering . . . where are Daki and Haco?"
. . .
"Damn . . ."
"Yeah . . . that's what happened,"
"Sorry to hear that . . ."
What did she go up against? For it to defeat Adora having Haco's powers and aided by the troops from the game . . .
Dara remains silent, losing focus on the news.
"The letter," murmurs Adora.
"Dara!" She places her hands gently on Dara's cheeks, throwing him a branch to hold on to . . . if not temporarily from the fall.
"The letter Sharara has . . . it's time to open it. That should be the next step,"
Sharara takes it out of her pocket, "it's glowing!" she exclaims, pointing at the seal.
Adora looks at Sharara and gestures for her to give it to him.
"H– here, Dara. He said only you and Kayn are allowed to see its contents," she says, handing it to him.
He reluctantly takes it, and then opens it. Unintelligible letters were glowing on it, they started to re-arrange and move around the paper in front of his eyes.
Please place any of your fingers on the fingerprint below.
Dara places his right index finger on it.
. . .
Where am I?
. . .
This place . . . there is nothing here.
He looks around.
And turns, finding his brother standing in front of him.