It glistened and shone under the troubling light of the moon.
Like the beautiful hazy glare of Wraileza, the gem shared the same dark lavender hue and shone with a lively aura of hatred and confusion. Under it were the pesky hands of a boy cloaked in shadow and clothing.
He raced across the hills and dodged the bright, potent attacks unleashed by the vengeful-fueled woman who watched the one that raised her all her life to be absorbed and trapped inside a glowing jewel.
"I'll kill you!"
"Just… a little more."
As his feet flew across the walls and skidded across the blurry trees flying over the rivers and towering brown terrain, the boy tossed the glistening gem necklace into the air, across a border of solid stone.
"I got it!"
It was caught by the hands of a young girl cloaked in an upside-down dress, bouncing and jumping from wall to wall before she dove into a lake, swimming underground and evading the twisted fountains that emerged from thin air. The platinum-haired woman had no hesitation in jumping into the cavern with her.
But as her hands reached and skimmed the rim of the cliff, a glistening purple forcefield propelled her into the air, coupled with the swift attack of a red laser striking her straight in the chest.
(SHING)
She flew and rolled down the hill.
The boy dashed over and kicked her head, then her body, taunting Sally as two shadow-veiled figures emerged from the dome.
"That'll teach you not to mess with the cult."
Sally's pink eyes trembled in shock as she saw him strike and thrash her into a glistening lake, crying and screaming in pain, rolling over on the grass and shouting with a look of hatred freezing her face.
"I'll… kill… you."
Footsteps sounded in the distance. Her corrupted purple eyes focused straight at Sally; she licked her fingernails and gave a begrudging smile, knocking and infiltrating the boy's space.
"My… my… my… look at the poor soul who lies on the shore gracefully."
Her hair was as dark as night, gleaming in the moonlight as she battered and slapped Sally's bruised face.
"You should always know never to mess with what we need. And especially, never interfere with the cult. My my…"
She pierced her extraordinarily long fingernails through the fleshy skin of the woman, tearing her platinum hair one by one and puncturing her heart. A sadistic grin whipped up on the woman's face as she thrust and ejected a red luminance through the boy's face.
"Give me that, pipsqueak." The woman curled her lip with defiant scorn and quickly bolted over and snatched The Necklace straight from the girl, forcing her to disintegrate into dust, along with the boy.
She released a stentorian chuckle of absolute insanity and smacked Sally, exclaiming with a shuddering fascination as she fiddled with the gem.
"This right here is mine and mine only. I can't believe you would chase after it knowing well that you are under my power. Do you know the power residing within this gem?"
Sally quivered her arms, unable to reply because of the pain. The woman chuckled and rubbed her head.
"This is The Perfect Darkness. It's a catalyst from a soul that originates from the deepest love for battling. The essence will transmit toward a capsule when the soul has perished, giving it a beautiful aura."
Waves crashed and swept Sally away from shore.
"With this, anyone or anything that possesses it will be able to transform anyone until the most compelling, strongest, and adjacent fighter. Anyone can become the Twisted Fantasy of their dreams. They can become a war machine with just the touch of this crystal! Anything, even that dragon up there, could be The Ultimate and most Perfect Warrior with just this crystal. It's all connected to The Orb."
She licked her lips with interest and wrapped her slender fingers over Sally, dragging her across the brittle shore and shoving The Perfect Darkness on the platinum-haired woman's pale hand. Something emerged from thin air. Sally
The entire aura, her body, was consumed by a dark purple luminance in the form of millions of purple circles. The essence and its glittering particles molded into every single crevice in Sally's skin, altering her height and growing purple crystals around her.
"Ah, my my my… look at your shoulders, so broad and excellent. This is your vision?"
Purple lines were strapped around and stitched into Sally's arms, transforming her skin into hard solid metal. The particles overran and consumed her before tossing her into the air and encircling Sally's body with its vivid aura.
A beautiful look came from Sally's eyes as she felt every hint of energy and strength bloom and shine inside her. The woman smiled and yanked The Perfect Darkness away, snapping her fingers and screaming.
"Yes, the most brilliant, excellent creation! War creation of all! Imagine if I, Lamia, held this. Imagine the greatest possibilities if my allies held this! Truly, one of the most transformative elements since The Prism!"
Sally's body was entangled and wrapped with purple, blue, and green strings; all quickly detached themselves as its luminescent glow retreated and returned to the purple gem.
Lamia hastily dashed to it toward the shore and grabbed its metal surface.
She muttered as her feet crossed paths with the piles of dust on the shore.
"Ever since The Forbidden Book was sealed, The Perfect Darkness could not have found a host. The essence within those two couldn't connect without the other. My my my, now that I know it has been released, I can't imagine how much attraction I can get for holding it!"
Sally crumbled and crawled toward the grass. Her eyes caught the devious woman wrapping the shimmering necklace around her neck, and the purple strands emerged from the crystal.
As her face was encased by a purple shadow, her legs transformed into blue steel, Lamia erupted with excitement.
"Yes! Indeed! Just imagine how much I and The Ending can do with this beautiful piece! A power so great that, if duplicated, it can transform our entire army into UNSTOPPABLE beings!"
Lamia's entire body transformed before the world's eyes.
The crimson glow on her back glowed even brighter, her legs extended several meters, and her body was as giant as a statue.
With so much power at her disposal and released to the world's hands, could The Perfect Darkness possibly do with its utterly transmogrifying power?
How would it be tossed around, and who could possibly be worthy enough to withstand the threshold of their own dreams?
A new danger had been introduced.
If held in the wrong hands, The Perfect Darkness could be absolutely devastating. And with a demon so vengeful and chaotic, heaven knows what would happen next with The Perfect Darkness in her hands…
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
The birds chirped as loud as Aletha remembered them to be. Instead of the tall, misty, and towering mountains that Asahi traveled to, Aletha and her group rode their carriage across a relatively peaceful valley of flora.
It was basked and shrouded in the sunshine, with bunnies, ground dragons, and other fascinating creatures roaming around the hills. The sky was as clear as
In Aletha's head, she had always desired a thrilling time in her journey. As she recalled the frantic energy she had experienced while battling that robotic thing, the power of The Sealed Beatific piqued her interest.
Fortunately, the bubbly, cherry-haired girl known as Kali sat next to the white-haired girl and was interested in learning about her past. She slid against the comfortable dark oak bench, turned over to Kali, and asked with a kind expression.
"Hey!"
The girl winked.
"You can just call me Kali. I believe we've met before, right?"
Aletha responded sarcastically, making a pouty face.
"Well… yeah. Before the carriage."
"No, no, no. That's not what I meant! Ha ha. I mean that we never actually had a chance to talk until now. And, ever since I met your brother, I have been interested in you and your personality. So… now that we have all the time in the world…." Kali bent her legs and released a fake cough. Her smooth cyan eyes crossed Aletha's gaze. "How about you introduce yourself and tell me who you are."
Aletha scratched her head.
"Well, I wanted to ask you what the Sealed Beatific is and why I feel weird ever since I got here. But… I guess you're busy on--
Kali's cheeks blushed red.
"OH! I'm sorry! If you want to know, I'm happy to inform you. After all, I know the most about this nation."
"Thank you, you're so kind!"
Now that Aletha had Kali's attention, she immediately started.
"Okay, what I wanted to ask is just how The Sealed Beatific works. I've… experienced that same forceful feeling before… but…." Aletha scratched her head and released a low sigh. "It was crazy for me. I felt out of this world when I fought something with it. I even sprung in the air and did some super weird stunts!"
Kali looked down to the floor and then back to Aletha. She saw a compelling look of curiosity flood within her aura. As Emine and the others were talking in the background, Kali bent over and replied.
"Super weird stunts? Ha ha, that's just your happiness. It's tough to explain, but I can try and summarize The Sealed Beatific for you if you want.."
A broad expression of likeness came from Aletha.
"Oh my goodness, of course, I want you two! That's why I asked."
Kali nodded and fixed her collar.
"All right, so The Sealed Beatific is essentially the source of all special magic in The Nation of Linuxinia. Magic used in combat is dependent on your level of happiness! No, you can't pretend to be happy; to unleash powerful attacks, you genuinely need to be joyful."
"Oh, so all I have to do is be happy to release it? Then… how can I gather the essence of happiness?"
Kali released a chuckle and tapped Aletha's chest, answering with a smile.
"Umm… Well, there's an easy way of explaining it." Suddenly, as Kali's fingers rubbed against Aletha's chest, she felt a pulse break in her heart. A green luminance sparked for a millisecond before vanishing back into Aletha's skin. Kali's eyes rounded in awe as she jumped up and squealed with amazement.
"Woah! Aletha, I notice you have a vein of power pulsating near your heart! It's… it's… what is it? Oh, right, it's um… a Joyroot! Basically, you receive it when you come in contact with The Sealed Beatific itself. It's much more powerful when you fight, but… this is unnatural." A tremor of faint amusement came from Kali's glossy lips.
"It matches my sister's power, if not… all of it!"
Before anymore was said, the carriage abruptly stopped. Everyone in the carriage looked over to the window and knew they had reached their destination. As Kali and Aletha stood up, the cheerful girl gave a sightful wink to the white-haired girl and grabbed her hand.
"Don't worry, I'll be able to tell you more later. Grab your sword before you forget it!"
As Aletha rushed to the wooden swords that rested on the wooden wall, Kali chuckled lightly and grinned.
"Come on!"
"H… Hold on!"
* * * * * * *
[Wow, such a sight. I can't comprehend how much I enjoy seeing the environment. Even the clouds are beneath my toes. The mountains in the distance had peaks that seemed as cruel as a hag's teeth. I guess those are from the other nation. They look so out-of-place with all of this green.]
The pencil, and the notebook paper, all drifted into the bitter scent of flowers.
Asahi rested against a rock among the high, chilly temperature of the morning and wrote in his notebook as the glistening ball of light rise from the distant horizon.
[It wasn't just the sights that pleased my senses. The sounds, smells, and tastes were out of this world also. The sky above the view was a feast for my eyes. It stretched as far as the eye could see in a dome of cocktail-blue, punched with fluffy clouds. Squeaking swallows chased whirring dragonflies in a dance of life and death. I didn't even know that they existed here! Oh wait, I just realized now I'm writing strangely. ]
He tapped his pencil as he heard someone awaken from slumber.
[A neon-blue ribbon of the river ran through the center of the meadow atop the mountain. I could smell the sweetness of cherry blossoms and the soft caramel scent of flowers in the air. When I awoke, I was starving, so I dug up some wild onions near the carriage and made myself a sandwich. I hope that Joshilyn doesn't mind.]
His gray eyes turned to the petite brown-haired girl sleeping on the soft grass bed, seeing the silver spoon on top of her mouth. Asahi continued recording his thoughts and turned the page.
[I guess the scent of my sandwich was enough to awaken everyone up. Soon after, Chloe rushed toward me and asked if I could teach her the language. I wanted to.]
He wrote while he was walking.
[However, Joshilyn immediately forced us toward the rock obstacle course, almost as if she was going to hurt someone if one were to do something wrong. What is her actual act? The first thing you see is her giving us "rice-flavored rice." Next thing you know, you find your face pummeled because you haven't awakened in time. The audacity.]
While approaching a mist-shrouded area high above the mountain, Asahi rubbed his fingers against the parched surface and mumbled.
"Hmm, dry as coal."
A shrieking voice echoed behind.
"Hey, that's not where you're supposed to go! Get yourself up here, now! Or else you will start over your training session from zero."
Asahi's gray eyes broadened.
"NO! But, I thought this was the start."
Canyon resisted adding.
"Just listen to her orders, or else you won't get your Adventurer's License."
"Okay, okay. I understand."
While a fuss was being made within the stone hedges, far at the top was a...
"My... my... my... my nemesis stands before me like a weakling. Let's see what The Perfect Darkness can do!"