#Clara Aether#
"He's heading into an office. The head librarian is meeting him," I tell Vincent who's been conversing with Isla, "we should go."
Vincent ends the line with Isla and we both head out.
"I checked before. The hallways here are empty. There're just two, one left one right at the end of this corridor."
Vincent nods and we both take a side. We step silently, taking care not to make noise, and we attack.
I unsheathe my rapier and before the cultist could raise the weapon in his hand, I disarm him with a thrust and I charge, rushing in with my hilt towards his solar plexus. He slumps to the ground without making sound. Vincent finishes with his prey with his martial arts, throwing a haymaker at the poor cultist's head, resulting in a short groan before he collapses.
We make our way where the white robed cultist went. The walls which were made of wood gradually transitioned to a dishevelled, rocky formation with spikes impaling through the floor, the air becomes damp and the light which was abundant earlier becomes a scarce resource for me to use. From here on out, my sword-art was useless, I will have to fight behind Vincent.
We make it outside the room in which the white robes man was meeting the head librarian. I tried bending the light inside the room but only a few strands came out. There's not much light in there. What kind of office doesn't have light? I thought in annoyance. We put our ears close to the door, just barely making out their secret conversation.
"How is the lockdown procedure coming on?" I hear the head librarians voice.
"It's going as planned sir. There was a small outbreak at the front gate but everything's been resolved," the other person which I could only assume was the white robes man responds with a militaristic tone.
"Good, then the bomb should be ready in about 10 minutes…"
10 minutes? But Marcus is still there!
"You are dismissed."
"Might I ask sir," Vincent speaks, "who is the one controlling the bomb, he has yet to know about this situation."
"Amada is in the academy. Now leave."
That quickly? I panic as I rushed behind a large boulder. Vincent finds a similar spot and the white robed man exits the office, closing the door behind him. He stops.
He looks around. He must've heard us hide.
He comes to me. Should I fight back?
He walks closer. But the head librarian will notice. I'm powerless and Vincent has to face two.
He starts inspecting the rock.
I shut my eyes and I hope he doesn't find me. The world around me darkens I stay as still as a statue. I silently pray and hold my breath. I hear him look around the boulder but to my surprise, he walks away after saying something about his age.
How did I survive?
Vincent, I saw, was panting with his head drooped. He had saved me. But how? There wasn't time, there were other matters to attend to. The librarian was still inside, and we have yet to interrogate him.
We knock on the door, the librarian says, "Come in!"
I keep my head down and stretch the hood to cover most of my face, Vincent follows suit and we walk through into the heart of the enemy. The head librarian, barely visible, was shrouded with a dark aura, his presence and demeanour changed from my brief encounter earlier. His white, ripped , attire juxtaposes with his skin under the dim light. He no longer seemed composed like he was before. He was a different person. I could tell.
Since there was a horn protruding from his head.
The head librarian, noticing our reactions, eyes us suspiciously. "Never seen a horn before?" He stands up.
I hesitate to answer. I couldn't find the right words in the moment. The appearance of a demon, this can't be real.
We cannot defeat him.
"We were just in awe at your magnanimous appearance," Vincent speaks up, "We were told to relay the situation at the academy to you."
The Head Librarian sits down with his legs crossed, his tilting head supported by the palm of his hands to which his elbow leaned on. Authority, they say, allows the treatment of people in one's eyes be indifferent to another. They do not know, nor would they care.
That describes the current situation. Vincent was probably reluctant to spread false information, if someone had come before him and the Head Librarian finds out, we will be caught and executed on the spot without words to spare. And most importantly, he knows how strong a demon is.
This timing, the place is a disadvantage for me.
"The academy's students are starting to rally against us," Vincent says it without a hint of doubt, "what should we do?"
"They are gathering teachers and students on an expedition," I play along with Vincent's charade. His kneeling body was below the Head librarian's sight. Vincent gives me a signal with his fingers.
He thinks we can win.
"Have them put a restraint on them, our little spy can do their job perfectly fine. They'll die with the bomb anyways."
Spy?
"Besides, your leader is there. What is there to fret? You are dismissed."
"Thank you, sir," Vincent quickly gathers mana before the Head Librarian could notice, "Thank you for being an asshole!"
He suddenly springs from his position, and he pulls his fist back in a flash. The head librarian who just realized the situation, dodges with his head in the nick of time but Vincent connects his attack with the librarian's body. He rolls and crashes into the mass of furniture in the room, spreading a cloud of dust and wood splinters everywhere.
I run forward and draw my sword. We have to finish him before he can fight back! I think as I thrust my sword through the smoke. A fleshy substance meets the tip of my sword, and it pierces, driving its blade through layers of skin and flesh. It abruptly stops, meeting a hard bone in its way to slice off a limb.
My sword was stuck and the Librarian, no, the demon rises back up. The smoke clears and I see my sword lodged into his chest, bleeding enough to fill a river. It trickles down my sword, dripping on the floor. I stabbed his heart. So why is he not dying? He's not slumping, nor is he screaming.
"Clara, get back!" Vincent shouts and it takes me a full second before I could pull out my sword from his slime-like flesh. The demon stays weirdly stationary, almost as if he was taunting me.
"Demons have nine hearts!"
My mind shudders at the thought. I didn't even know if I had stabbed one.
The demon returns with animation. He claps and he comes out of the dust, revealing his pale-blue skin and his eyes that looked like a black marble. He laughs like a maniac and slowly calms down, his face turning into an expression of madness and insanity as he glares at Vincent.
"How do you know that?" He says but Vincent doesn't respond, "who am I kidding… It wouldn't matter if you knew," the demon plunges his hands into his own body, not showing any signs of pain despite inflicting self-harm. He pulls his arm out of his body, covered with his inside and within his clutches was a glistening, grotesque, sword made from the inside of his body.
Its blade was moving and twitching, still partly alive and moving. Just looking at it made me internally throw up. Vincent strikes first, his fist paving way for its second round. This time, the demon doesn't flinch and takes the strike head on. A clearly audible sound could be heard but the demon still doesn't budge. Instead, the demon lashes out his sword at Vincent and he barely ducks away. The impact from the demon's sword rips through the air and hits the wall, carving a scar deep into the structure. It reveals a black stone, searing hot from the slash.
I need some light if I want to use my sword arts.
"Vincent how deep underground are we?"
"We're only a story down," Vincent says, "why?"
"We need to go outside."
We run towards our exit, but the office door starts to collapse from the previous attack, blocking our way out.
"Where are you trying to go?" the demon's voice rings throughout the small room. He advances towards us through the rubble. His sword pointing at us full of malice and hostility. There was no time to think, we had to act if we even wanted a chance at surviving.
Crash! Splinters fly everywhere as the demon continues his onslaught of attacks. The demon chases after me, his speed matching mine but the force behind his attacks could decapitate me at any second. He catches up and I chant to myself.
Aether Style, Halo Strike!
But nothing comes out; not the light or the path it makes. I still thrust, hoping for it to activate. The demon, slightly surprised by my attack, dashes backwards.
There's not enough light in here.
I look around in desperation for any tactics or strategies that could prolong my inevitable demise. I needed light, but now that we're trapped in this dim lit room.
Come on Clara, think!
Abruptly, the demon slammed his sword into the ground, shaking and causing the floor to shake violently, causing us to lose our footing.
The demon lunges after me with his sword but Vincent charges at him and they begin to brawl and wrestle.
This destructive power… I look at the ceiling, if I can get him to hit the roof, it will surely crumble. Then we can escape! The only problem was whether I was skilful enough to dodge the falling objects.
"Vincent!" I cry out, "I have a plan!" Vincent and the demon push each other away, Vincent flying further; sustaining his scars whereas the demon's regenerated quickly. "We need to make him break the roof."
Vincent nods in agreement. Seconds later, the demon comes back for more.
"What are you two talking about?" he asks in a playful tone, "you two don't happen to be talking about escaping are you? You should know not to think that." He puts his blade across his mouth, and he licks it.
Vincent approaches the demon first.
"You want to play with me?" The demon says.
"Sure, I'll play along."
The two go at it again, this time Vincent goes on the defensive. Blocking heavy hits from the demon's blade. Vincent ducks, dodges, and dives past all his attacks. The demon, who's patience was thin, starts to attack more and more aggressively.
"Rat!" The demon says as he flails his sword around in annoyance.
I see the impact of his slashes reach the roof, its structure vibrating from the intense force of the attack.
The demon gives up and comes at me. He thinks I'm an easier target.
He's gravely mistaken.
The demon's heavy sword makes his swings powerful but easier to dodge. If I don't confront it, I will be safe.
Then his patience runs out. He starts screaming and cursing with many words and phrases. He starts to leak a dreadful aura.
Wrong choice.
His aura entangles the surroundings, it shatters the frames in which holds the roof together. His aura leaks into the stone and it forces its way to the surface. The roof starts to fall apart, large stones and rocks alike fall with high velocity, driving into the floor one by one in quick succession. A bright light appears above us.
The surface.
The demon's cries of agony as falling rocks pelt him and crush his body with the weight of a mountain. Vincent defends us from the falling rocks using his punches. When the rocks had stopped falling, we scaled out the hole to the top of a small hill. We sit outside the massive hole. We were relieved, but the sky that was filled with smoke still reminded us that it was not over. The ruptures from the demon's aura would also attract attention soon.
Marcus is in danger. I realize after a brief moment of victory. I pull out my stone and I tap it, waiting for Isla's response.
Isla's voice comes in, but this time it was noisy on her end. Sounds of fighting transmitted through the stone.
"Isla?" I speak into the stone and after a few muffles, she speaks.
"Clara, where are you? I'm in trouble."
"I'm at a hill near the library. Where should we meet up?"