Xing Tian unceremoniously plops down on the rock floor, a sigh of relief escapes from her lips as the battle ends for now. The day has not been the best for her, but she feels alive from being able to rest on this exhaustive day.
Officers and firefighters are spread out in different parts of the ruins to clean up the area. Those who are involved in the last combat are being taken care of by the medical teams. The girl notices a water bottle dangling on her before taking it and greedily consumes its content.
"You're really that thirsty huh?" Jace joins her in resting on the floor on her right side. "Still, good job at holding the fort when it counts." He raises his fist to her with a good-natured smile before Xing Tian returns it by bumping with her fist.
"It's my job, isn't it?" She takes another swig of water before continuing speaking. "And I can't leave the people alone…" She trails off at the end, staring into the space with a solemn expression.
Jace notices a red error in her eyes before leaning in. The action surprises her, causing the warning to disappear and her leaning back with a light blush. "J-Jace?" She doesn't know why the man suddenly leans in, but she definitely doesn't have a crush on the man.
"Sorry," the man quickly pulls himself away from her with an embarrassed blush. "I thought I noticed an error sign in your eyes." He looks away from her and ponders whether it is a reflection in the eyes or something else.
"Errors? Are you sure I'm the only tired one here?" There is no way something like an error sign would appear in her eyes. Even if it does, she would have seen it in her vision at many points in her life.
The man shakes his head before sighing. "I guess I am? I'm not as bad as you are when it comes to being tired." Regardless, now it is the time for reprieve and they silently enjoy their rest despite the disastrous scenery.
A moment later, Xing Tian suddenly speaks up. "Hey, do you mind accompanying me into the underground?" Jace has to take a moment to let the request sink in before replying, "Excuse me?"
"The thing I'm looking for is in the underground." She explains with an uncharacteristic seriousness on her face. "And I'm sorta worried that it would be destroyed from the battle." She looks at the man with a hopeful glint in her eyes, silently wishing he would accept it.
For a moment, Jace is ready to reject her request without question. However, a part of him becomes curious of what she is looking for in the ruins. The problem is that the place might not be accessible.
'Unless…' He thought to himself before suddenly standing up. Seeing that as an indication to move, she follows the man towards a direction. As the steps continued, she could see Aquila and Noelle in the distance talking to another officer before sending the man off.
"Commander," the man greets Aquila with a salute, and Xing Tian follows suit. "Xing Tian here wishes to gain permission to enter the ruins to examine something in it." Xing Tian looks at the man with surprise on her face.
The commander thinks about his request for a moment, making Xing Tian feel nervous as time ticks. After a while, Aquila nods and answers them, "As long as all of us go to the underground ruins together. Just now I was told that it's safe to enter and they have saved those who were trapped there."
Xing Tian lets out a sigh of relief, feeling happy that the commander even allows her to enter. The group starts making their way into the underground, carefully navigating through any debris on the staircase.
The sound of their steps are drowned by people moving about, removing debris and coordinating with others to finish their job. They avoid anyone who is doing heavy lifting and tries to be less of an obstacle as possible. The journey takes longer than last time Xing Tian descent, but it is obviously understandable.
When they finally arrive at the hall, they see the full effect of the devastation of the battle for the ruins. Equipment, glasses, broken lamps, and debris litter everywhere, painting the hall in a grim image. The glass barrier that once stood strong is now all gone, evident from the broken glasses.
Despite all that, there is one thing that captures the attention of all four of them. A man with a glitch texture mask is standing at the platform, in front of the altar where the Glitched Heart lies. The mask shows glowing red eyes, giving an ominous vibe for the observers. He wears a heavily torn up lab coat, with similarly torn up jeans and black business shirt. His messy, jet black hair gives off a wild vibe for the observers and places them on edge.
Everyone except Xing Tian immediately takes out their Magia, aiming at the mysterious man. "Freeze! You are in a restricted area! Leave the premises immediately!" Aquila commanded the man as they slowly got closer. At the corner of Xing Tian's eye, there is no one in this room for some reason.
"Guys…" she glances around worryingly. She slowly reaches into her pocket, feeling the cold metal of Downloader at her fingertips. To her, the entire situation is somehow weird. The upper level is busy all around and yet the hall is completely haunted except for the five people in the hall.
The man suddenly chuckles like he is hearing a good joke as he turns around to face the group of officers. "Sorry, I was just trying to get a good look at the Glitched Heart." He slowly speaks in a distorted voice, but still clear enough to make out what he is saying.
"Sorry buddy, but visitation time is over." Jace retorts the man, gripping his Magia tighter. "You have to go home now."
"A pity…" The masked man sighs before ripping off his mask. A gust of wind erupts from him as glitch texture flames engulf the mask. The humans watch in disbelief at the scene happening in front of them.
Exposed black fur covers any body part that is not protected by contrasting white armor plates. Scaly armor parts cover his forearm and leg with sharp ends on the finger and toe, giving him a beastly feature. His shoulder pads and chest plate have a wolf head pattern on it, some scratches can be seen on it if close enough. The former mysterious man now has a black wolf head with a snarl on its face. His red eyes eventually lay on the group of humans.
"I must eliminate all of you before retrieving our kingdom's treasure." He immediately leaps towards the humans with a howl, his sharp claws ready to rip the life out of them.
[MATERIALIZING DEFENDER SET]
A barrier stops the 'werewolf' in his tracks to eliminate them before pushing him back. He snarls as Defender materializes and is combat ready. "You heathens! You used our core as a weapon?"
"Only to defend ourselves!" Defender declares before charging at the 'werewolf'. Their fist clashes together, cracking the floor under them through force. The corner of her eye catches an incoming slash, which she counters by taking hold of his wrist. Quick on her thoughts, she pulls the 'werewolf' and knee him on his solar plexus.
Saliva and air left the mouth of the wolf before he kicks Defender's leg, causing her to lose her balance and release her hold. Using his available leg, he knees the face of Defender with enough force to crack her helmet and fling her into the air.
"Defender!" Jace yells out before he and the other officers morph, equipping their A.V.E. Casper-sky takes into the sky and bombardes the monster with her assault rifle while Arvast melt into her shadow. Torton, the slowest one, slams his fist to the ground to create a small quake.
The werewolf leaps to the air once more, evading the bullet storm and the quaking. He spins for a moment before planting his feet on the ceiling and shoots himself towards Casper-sky like a freight train.
Dread rises in Torton as he watches Casper-sky slam into the wall, completely embedded in it. 'She lost consciousness!' He thought to himself before quickly blocking an incoming slash from the fast 'werewolf'.
'He has great agility and strength at his disposal, all of us are too slow to keep up!' Torton feels his forearm breaking from the force of the attack despite being a slash. Whatever it is, he can tell they will lose.
And losing is not an option now! He activates his cannon and does a point-blank attack blast. His vision is obscure by the smoke before a claw takes hold of his head and smashes into the ground, knocking him out.
Arvast emerges from the monster's shadow at his back, her small trident millimeters away from successfully piercing his abdomen. She immediately feels pain in her right eye and loses vision. Her mind registers the damage before she screams from excruciating pain on her eye. The monster jabs her throat, causing her to choke before laying down on the floor.
With all of them defeated, the 'werewolf' flicks his right hand with a scoff to get rid of the blood. "Even with our core's power, none of you can draw out their potential." He made his way to the platform as his body turned into black mass and corrugated on his face, forming the glitch texture mask. He reaches out to the Glitched Heart, only to be stopped by a silver gauntlet holding his wrist.
"Don't… take my memory…" Defender, who now has a cracked helmet revealing Xing Tian's eyes, grips harder as the man narrows his red eyes. "It's… mine…" The man's eyes widened when he noticed an error sign in her eye.
"So, you are his PC now…" the man said in disbelief before snarling and shoves her away. "All the more reason for you not to have it!" He didn't hesitate to snatch the artifact from the altar before looking back at the girl.
"You won't remember this, girl, but I shall tell you this. Your Creator is a selfish fool." He turns away from her and snaps his finger, a tear in the air opens before he steps into it. "Good luck in the next Reset."
Xing Tian helplessly watches the man leave, before a small black mass suddenly appears on top of the altar. The mass slowly grows bigger it devours the hall, alongside all her c̸̮̽̓̿ò̷͕̹̤̾̏͌m̵͔̠̾̌̊͝ŗ̶̱̙̦̀̓̿͆ä̷̭̦́́d̴̡̜̒͒e̸̢̛͉͕̜͌s̷̪͌̓̏.
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BAD END ACHIEVED: RESETTING WORLD.