Chereads / Wicked Crown / Chapter 31 - Final Stage

Chapter 31 - Final Stage

"What is your purpose in entering this game by the way?" Angus asks while they continue to walk, he's still in his black crow form.

"I need to protect my family, I want the sword that is the prize if I will win this game." She answered.

"And you think you'll win? Frankly you'll not, not even a slightest chance." 

"How did you know?"

"I feel the power of the man you fought before, good thing you use your brain. Don't be so full to yourself, yes you're assassin to your previous life but let me tell  you something. People here is not ordinary, they are ten or hundred  times more stronger than a average human being in your previous life. And the man you fought before is not even equally strong like the other players I feel. You have no chance."

"But you'll help me right." 

"Huh, don't be a foolish. It will took ten years to a person like you to control one element. It's not easy as you think, even if I train you now that's not enough. You still need more time." Ten more years? It's that long? Anyway he has a point, she almost forget that this is not again an ordinary world. 

"I like your tenacity but admit it or not. You're weak." 

"Then what can I do?" 

"If you want to protect your family I suggest you give up that sword and find another weapon instead. As I told you before, this dungeon is full of hidden treasures. You just need to find them. And if you want to fight someone with their potential then be fair, get stronger like them or surpass them." 

Katara becomes silent and thinks about what she will do next. Why does this core spirit words so accurate?!

"And also once you own that sword, you'll never live an ordinary life like you always wanted. Now I want you to start inhaling, try to relax your body and balance everything while you are moving. First we will need to figure out what elements you can control easily and then we will focus on that." Katara closed her eyes and started to balance her body, and everything. As soon as she did that, she instantly felt the energy coming to her and she became more aware. 

"Now try summoning your force Energy." He said, and she followed. She forms her finger into a triangle shape again and summons her force energy. She immediately felt energy flowing through her veins, and they're running towards her fingers. As felt heaviness again, she couldn't control her finger. 

"Again!" He said, and she doesn't have any choice but to obey. After several hours she still can't control her force energy. Her energy was like a bird in the cage wanting to be free, it was aggressive and didn't have control. She can't command it at all, controlling it was like controlling your body using your mind. If you want to pick things using your hand, you'll have to put strength on your palm and fingers. And now she felt like she was disabled person, wanting to mobilize her body but she can't do it.  

She felt frustrated. 

"Relax, you need to take time. The process shouldn't be in a hurry, we need to focus on the game too. Maintain the balance on your body, and let's hunt some treasures." Angus reminded her, she nodded and relaxed herself. That's right, she needs time. There's no such thing that will be created in just an overnight, she shouldn't let herself stress about it. 

They finally reach the 5th area in the dungeon after walking for hours and encountering different kinds of monsters and collecting treasures, unlike the previous this place is so much different. The whole area was blazing with fire, it's hot. So she can't help but to take off her longsleeve and the only thing left in her upper body clothes is her white sleeveless corset. They saw a bridge and at the bottom of it was a hot river lava. Angus vanishes in the air and goes back inside to her body. 

"Then where should we start looking for the treasures?" She asked, and for an instant she saw a map in her mind that is much more detailed. She scan the map, she saw 

"Woah." She says.

"Told you, there's nothing I can't do." He said proudly with full confidence. She just ignored him and started to cross the bridge. She is careful, the bridge is 15 meters wide and 1 meter high. The bridge seems durable since it was made of stone. 

"Your balance." She heard a reminder, oh she almost forgot about it. She realizes that she balance herself not that much without knowing. so this is what he means. She was about to take a step when she felt something, she immediately jumped back as the arrow flew to her and was about to hit her. 

"That was close again..." She whispered, she felt she stepped on something. She looked at her feet and saw a piece of brick. She accidentally pressed it and the bridge began to move, Katara didn't waste seconds and moved her body. She ran as the bridge gradually crumbled, what a cliché! She already saw this type of trap many times in movies. But damn, this is hard! Duh this is not a movie, if she falls into this lava she'll die. She runs for her life as the bridge continues to crumble, she finally reaches to the other side catching her own breath. 

She can't really relate to all the female protagonists who run for their life but manage to look sexy and hot. Literally her face looks eating shit while running. If the crown prince saw her face, he'd probably turn it off. Ahhhhhhh! Thinking of that, Katara already feels her frustration. Because what if he is not going to choose her?!  Although it seems like the prince isn't that kind of person.

Shoot! She forgot to balance! She immediately closed her eyes to return, balancing her body and mind. While she's trying to focus she hears a loud high pitched scream, she opens her eyes and realizes she's standing at the top of a huge boulder. And in front of her a blazing temple, a fire running to place seems from the temple because it has a waterfall splitting fire. The temple is beautiful, although it's quite terrifying thinking the devil might be staying there. It has a dark aura, and she heard the loud roar inside of it. 

All the bricks of the bridge earlier continue to crumble, that's why she didn't realize it was all gone! How could she reach the temple in fire now? 

"Can you transform into a giant bird and fly me to the temple?" She asks Angus.

"No, It will cost too much energy. You're not strong enough, it will drain you." 

"So you can't?"

"Yes, not because of me but because of you. If you're much stronger. We spirits can't exist in this world if we don't have anyone to posses or guide, there is only few people who's gifted that's why it's rare here to see spirit but in our realm many are waiting for their turn., We will guide you, we will support you, we will be there for you until your last breath and so you do. We are one." Katara nodded because she understood she needed to be stronger to catch up with him.

"Can we perhaps fight?" She asked.

"Yes, in our realm. Do you want to duel with me? Then be stronger." Katara smiled.

"That's a promise right?" 

"Whatever." 

"Okay, then let's get move forward." Katara estimated the distance between each of the boulders, and as she calculated it she had a conclusion that she could jump from where she was standing. She looks at the bottom again, the fire is flowing like a river. Just looking at it you can feel the hot temperatures, and the pain if it will touch your skin. She took a deep breath and stretched her arm in trapezius and groin position,she can do this. She ready herself, she steps back, runs, takes aim and jumps. 

She felt the air coming from the bottom, it was hot. As she jumped, she immediately took a grip on the stone and started to climb up. She used her feet to find something to cling on, after she found a small chunk in the boulder so she put her feet there and then pushed herself. She finally reached the top and stood straight, okay one down and four to go. Next is, distance wasn't a problem, the height was. She remembers she had a rope inside of her pouch that's why she pulled it out and then called angus. 

"Can you tie this to the other side?" She ask,this what we call work smart, but she's dumb enough to think this way just now. Angus granted her request, he flew to the next boulder and then tied it around it tightly. After that she also tied the other side of the rope, and she started to climb up using the rope. Her body is heavy, but she managed to move forward. Her breathing is heavy, it's hard. After pulling herself she finally reach to the other side of the boulder. 

⚔ ⚔ ⚔  ⚔ ⚔ ⚔

Katara wandered her eyes around the temple, after thousand years, After hardships and life threatening she finally arrived. She fakekly wiped her tears, she's so proud of herself. 

This temple is really like a kingdom of Lucifer, she only sees this kind of place on Pinterest and now she's standing inside. She look at the massive chandelier, she's just making sure if it will not be going to fall. She is sure she heard the loud scream head earlier, she continue to walk carefully in the entrance. As she walk through the hallway, she saw a statue of a dragon that was emitting fire. This temple is very detailed, Professor Alan really deserve an award for creating this realm.

She moves forward even further, as she reaches the hall area of the temple there's a sword floating in the air. It's beautiful, it's stunning. Her eyes were hooked up on it, she can't take her eyes off. The color of  the blade has a color of fire, the hilt has designed of dragon wings. As it was moving graciously the gold iridescent light hit her, she walked towards the sword. It was a blink of an eye, she was about to reach it when she heard a loud voice in her head. 

"Don't touch that!" It was Angus, she snapped. His sharp voice thundered inside of her head, her ears ached and it seemed she woke up from a good dream. 

"You fool! Do you want to die?" He screams again, Katara blinks her eyes for a few times before taking a step back away from the sword. And she just realized she was being hypnotized, what the hell?!!!

"You almost burn alive." Angus said Katara picked some rock and then threw it into the sword. The rock vanishes in just a blink of an eye and turns into dust. Goodness! She almost toasted like a fire chicken and turned into dust. Katara notices something under the sword, a white public that has a number on it. It was covered in dust and by its owner's ash.  

How the hell would she get that without getting barbecue by the hot temperatures surrounding the sword, she heavily sighs. Plus she's hesitating if she'll get the fabric, gosh! Her conscience is eating her alive, how could she be so selfish? How could the fabric didn't burn? 

"It's because it has an incantation, will you get that fabric or not?" She heard angus ask, she took a deep breath. 

"But how?" She asked.

"Elementias are fireproof, waterproof, and etc to their own elemental power." That's right. If a person is a water user, a water user like her can't touch her unless she or he is much stronger. It's common that water can defeat fire easily, but if the fire user is more powerful water can be useless because it will be devoured. 

"Since you are user of four elemental user, that means you are prone to any elements power. Now, prove it to me that you are more stronger. User your force energy to gather your fire elemental power." Katara can see Angus smirking, she felt she was being look down. This brat, he knows how to get her nerve! He's challenging her. She didn't respond, she closed her eyes and focused on her balance. She form her finger, and started to summon her force energy. 

She felt the energy flowing to her body, as she relaxed and balanced her mind more. Gradually she saw four different colors of her Force energy. It was like a knotted thread, this what he means. She wishes to summon the force energy that belongs to fire, and for her surprise. It smoothly moved to her finger and for just a blink of eye she was covered in fire. 

Her body was on fire, but she didn't feel anything. It's warm, it's comfortable. So this is the feeling of having an elemental power? She felt excitement, she felt like she could conquer the world. She can't believe it, oh my god! She looked at the fabric and started to approach it. Slowly she moved her hand closer to the sword, she didn't hesitate. She trusts herself, her strength because if she does not then no one will, Risk or die, that's the only thing she could do. 

She entered her hand on the surface, and to her surprise she didn't feel anything. It seems like her own fire is protecting her, so she took the fabric. It has a number of 002. Seems like she managed to summon her fire elemental powers because of this place. 

She looks at the sword and gets it, she holds it's hilt and her eyes widen when she feels the heat to her palm, but instead of letting the sword go she holds it tightly. It was trying to get out of her hand but she held it more. She put all of her strength and then pulled it out. As she successfully pulled it out, a strong impact of power broke out causing a strong wind and strength resulting from the explosion. 

Katara catching her breath, woah! She can't believe she managed to pull it out. She heard a loud sound of falling rocks, her eyes widened more. She needs to get out of here! 

She holds the fabric and runs, but then she just vanishes to the place like she was summoned or something and appears. She looks around, this place is the last place of the dungeon. It was an arena, she saw a massive screen showing the place she's been slowly crumbling. She watches it fall and ruin. Phew! There's four screens around the area showing the last place they've been. Thank god She's not there anymore, wait how she gets here? Nevermind, as long as she's here. 

She saw Desmond, she immediately smiled when their eyes met. He ran into her.

"You're alive." He said. 

"Of course I am." She said and rolled her eyes.

"And that's thanks to me." It was Angus. 

"I'm glad." Desmond said she can see how he was relieved. She tapped his shoulder.

"Me too." They both turn around when a massive screen build by a water magic show Prof. Alan face. 

"Congratulations for reaching the final Stage, now shall we start the game?" 

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