Her damp ocean-blue eyes stared at him helplessly. Her slender eyebrows perfectly arched themselves above her eyes. Her dark fringed velvety lashes elongated from the bottom of her eyelid. Sea nymph ears stood elegantly at either side of her head. Her dainty nose and the glossy bow-shaped lips that followed became the cynosure of her face. Her face was of utter perfection that complemented her white hair.
She looked nothing older than the age of 17, the same age as him.
The blade in his hand halted in the air.
"You're this young?" He squinted his eyes in question.
The young girl ignored his question and the flow of tears from her eyes increased.
"I thought I could do it. I thought I could become it," She rushed her words pulling at her hair like someone who had gone crazy.
Max sighed. He lifted his sword and placed its sharp tip against her tender neck.
"Your tears cannot make up for your sins," He said as soon as he had snapped out of the daze her astounding beauty had trapped him in.
"That I know. Perhaps this will make up for it."
Dark smog flowed from under their feet before enveloping them into it. They were back at the ground where the pit of blue flame was. The fire outbreak as a result of Max's skill had worn off and only a few corners crackled with low burning flames.
Melanie, who was now a step away from the pit had her back facing it while Max stood in front of her with his blade still against her throat.
"How do we get out of here?" He asked.
"Through the means I had earlier planned to," Melanie uninterestedly replied.
"But you brought us here," Max said.
"I've never tried getting anyone out before I only got them here and that was it. I am not the authorities," She replied and heaved a sigh.
"Don't tell me that shit!" Max shouted.
"I never even had any plans of letting anyone go. I built my empire here, I made the people here my people, and I gained their trust. I made them believe I could get them out with my powers. After the execution of the last set of Vagrants who also attempted to escape exile, I was the first and only prisoner here until more persons were placed here. He came to me when I was still alone here. He promised me the world with the magic he had granted me. He made me believe I could live the life I always dreamt of," Melanie said amidst tears.
"Who is he?" Max asked out of curiosity.
"He is known as the rebel once a tyrant member of the authorities. He was someone driven by his unreasonable craze for power. Being the first person from the game verse to discover dark abilities later on described as forbidden magic by the world, he was overwhelmed by his discovery, and that led to him becoming a showoff. The show-off soon metamorphosed into something evil. People began to figure out that this dark magic was cursed. It unraveled abilities into elements of massive destruction. The other members discussed this with the Lord of the authorities and they concluded. The Lord banished him from the world. But then to me, this guy wasn't a villain, we both wanted the same thing. To rule. To be powerful."
"You say he was banished from the world, where then did he go?" Max asked.
"No one knows," Melanie replied. She sighed once again. "I think my work here is done. I made a promise to the people here and so I must leave a legendary mark behind."
Before Max could even understand what was going on, she took a step back and allowed herself to fall freely into the pit of blue flames.
Max froze, not knowing if to laugh or cry. He was bare of any emotions as his gaze darted into the flames through which her body had disappeared. Did she just kill herself or there was more to that?
As if answering his questions, the ground began to shake violently. Cracks surrounded the pit of flames and it immediately sunk into the ground. A glass ball filled with black energy shot out from the hole in the ground where the flames had been.
"What the f*ck is that?"
Just then, a blast of the energy within it shot out to the red sky. It was then Max realized that the red surface above wasn't a sky but the barrier over the place and the ball was trying to break through it.
The skill, and fury of a thousand blades unleashed the stored blades on the ball all to no avail.
' So this was why she sacrificed herself, the energy stored in her soul was enough to charge up this ball to set them free,' He thought.
[ You have received a new quest ]
[ Destroy the ornament of forbidden magic ]
[ Reward: 1000 gems ]
[ Reward: +95XP ]
*. *. *.
From every area in the Backlands, all eyes were able to witness the black energy that was driving into the barrier.
"She is doing it," One of the Vagrants alive spoke. His eyes shimmered with hope.
"All hail the Lady Melanie!" A voice thundered.
Every face of a Vagrant dropped to the ground in respect and worship.
The captives stood gazing at the sky. They would be free if the barrier could be destroyed but the Vagrants will also have the chance to escape. The ball that produced the energy needed to be destroyed.
"Come on!" Clyde shouted to the other captives. The Vagrants knew the captives wouldn't allow the ball to succeed in helping them out of this exile. A fight broke out once again.
*. *. *.
Back where the authorities held a meeting, a woman dressed in a white body-hugging dress that revealed her curves, with an enormous golden sword strapped to her back, stood before the panel.
"We want you to be on standby until the job is done," A man said to the woman who simply nodded in reply.
"Take action as planned. These present Vagrants are way more of trouble than the ones to have ever been there," Another man said.
"Punishment is my job and execution of sinners gives me comfort. With my sword of death shall I seize the breath of defying beings," The woman said with a plain expression on her face.
"Be gone," A female spoke.
The woman slightly bowed and she disappeared into thin air.
*. *. *.
Moving about the air with his body engulfed in flames, he equipped the weapons he owned one after the other after each weapon failed to penetrate the ball. Lava spewed, and fireballs charged but none proved effective against the ball. Why did everything concerning the forbidden magic have to be so difficult to deal with?
He had soon run out of ideas that he repeatedly used every attack over. Even Monthenia proved useless in this situation as the ball was not a beast so it didn't take over him.
Max pondered on several solutions as the ball continued pushing its energy into the sky which was slowly weakening. Perhaps the Lunar blades would have proven a match for the ball because there was a moon stationed in the red barrier but he didn't have it with him.
He continued repeating his attacks while the ball emptied itself of the energy within it. Half of the energy had gone to the sky and the half left in the ball continued striking the sky.
For the first time since he entered the game, Max was lost on how to complete a mission. This being the hardest he had received placed him over the edge. How did the system suppose him to destroy a ball filled with energy that was probably a hundred times stronger than his mana points? Was the system trying to give him tasks that would help him grow stronger or was it unreasonably bombarding him with things impossible for him to achieve?
As he struggled to get at least a crack on the glass, he felt a strong presence from above. Paying attention to his instincts, he quickly moved away from the ball as the burning sensation he felt all over his body unbearably increased.
He looked up and found the cause of the goosebumps coursing through his skin. A woman with red hair and fierce red eyes that had no iris was coming down from the sky at an inhuman speed with a large golden sword held above her head. How was that possible? Was this woman strong enough to easily fall through the barrier?
As soon as the glass ball was within the woman's reach, her sword sliced through it with ease allowing it to fall on the ground and break into shards of glass. She landed on the ground safely and lifted her palm towards the sky. In the blink of an eye, the black energy that had so far made its way to the barrier withdrew into her palm in the shape of a ball. From her palm surged a blazing red energy that swarmed around the ball in her hand and it exploded into dust particles.
[ Quest has been completed by someone else ]
[ Quest failed ]
[ All rewards have been withheld ]
He swallowed hard at his failure.
Despite how long he stared at the woman he believed to be a bot, the system did not reveal her stats just like it had done with Melanie and Nicole.
[ ??? ]
[ ??? ]
[ ??? ]
...But why?