CRASH!
Solol kicks open the door of a large house, entering with several unnecessary somersaults. After ensuring the perimeter was secure, he silently signals Sophie to enter.
She walks in casually. "Y'know that most of them are unlocked, right?"
The player makes a shushing gesture, "SHHHH! You're ruining my stealth approach!"
"Stealth? You literally broke down the front door!"
"Question my methods, but never my results." Using what he learned from his 5 favorite ninja movies, Solol only moves by doing somersaults.
The elf rolls her eyes and follows her friend—glad that at least he's keeping his mind occupied with something other than regret—she opens every compartment she finds in the house. Only finding items useless for their main objective, and for everything else, the little food that was there was so spoiled that one bite could kill them in ten different ways.
Returning with more somersaults, Solol says, "Nothing upstairs either. Any useful book?"
She picks a random book she found—it turns to dust when pulled. "Nothing. Unless you know how to revive books."
They leave and continue wandering the streets, trying to find a likely house in good condition, something practically impossible in those ruins.
"Isn't it sad?" asks Sophie, met with a confused grunt from Solol. "I mean, all these houses once sheltered a family, and now, there's nothing left. This place is so beautiful and… so neglected."
"You can blame the devs for that. They were the ones who created such horrible lore for this place."
"Oh, right. Sometimes I forget that, you know, everything is just code here. Actually, I think since we're seeing from the perspective of those who live here, we have a more immersive view of everything."
"Say it for yourself, this place is still a game for me, and always will be."
Blomph. Blomph.
The grunt echoes and catches the attention of both. They turn back to back with their weapons at the ready, scanning the environment to find the source of the sound.
Blomph. Blomph.
The sound came from the sky, from a white bird... Wait, that wasn't a bird.
['Virtue' LvL. 15]
[Description: (Exclusive information for Knights of Aerion)]
That thing was an eye with yellow pupils, and a pair of wings, flying over the players like a hawk. Both are confused about what to do, whether that thing was friendly or not.
Until it looks at the two intently, while vocalizing its thoughts with a calm and composed voice...
First, Solol: "Young Angel Soldier… Identity unknown… Priority: Extinguish the imposter."
Then Sophie: "Young… ELF!?!?!?!?!?", its pupil shrinks and changes color to orange, "Override priority: Capture the Elf!"
[Light Ray]
From the center of its eye, a thin and instant beam of light emanates. Passing between the two and causing an explosion upon contact with the ground. Sophie is thrown to the right, her vision dominated by smoke.
[Light Shape]
Suddenly, the elf is surrounded by 3 light triangles, which close in on her, creating a magical prison. She is horrified to remember this skill, a tier C for advanced players, but tier SSS for beginners. "Get. Me. Off!", she futilely punches the barrier, there are only 3 ways to escape this skill: with anti-magic, the target being a level equal to or higher than the creator, the creator running out of mana, or becoming incapacitated.
Solol gets up coughing amidst the smoke, "Damn…" He immediately searches for his ally, who was being lifted into the air by Virtue. She hits her cell, screaming for him to do something.
"Don't worry!" he pulls his revolver and aims right at the eye. But something makes his hand tremble, "You can't do it." whispers return to his mind, "You will fail again", his arm no longer responds, refusing to pull the trigger. "It will be your fault."
Seeing his friend being taken away, his fury transcends the whispers, and with all his willpower, he pulls the trigger, BANG!
Virtue is hit on the wing—and now unbalanced, it falls to the ground along with the light prison, which bounces on the ground before disappearing and freeing Sophie.
"SOPHIE!" Solol runs. But a light barrier emerges in front of him, pushing him back—he collides with the house, but Virtue continues to put pressure on him, to the point the walls crack.
[Fiery Arrow: Explosion]
The elf fires an arrow at the enemy, exploding it and raising a huge cloud of smoke. But before the explosion occurs, the wall releases Solol and vanishes.
"No EXP? It's still alive? But how?"
The smoke dissipates, revealing that it used [Light Shape] to create a barrier around itself. Virtue floats in the air, its eyes fixed on Solol and Sophie, "Strong Elf. Need to contact Aerion."
"DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE, POINTY EARS!"
Virtue, realizing the players' aggression, opens its glowing wings and launches upwards, gaining altitude quickly.
[Solar Flare]
A blinding light radiates from Virtue, temporarily blinding Solol and Sophie. Taking advantage, Virtue begins to retreat to the skies.
"Damn, I can't see anything!" he shouts, trying to orient himself.
When the brightness passes, they both look up and see Virtue almost disappearing into the clouds. Sophie tries to fire an arrow, but it arcs and falls short of the creature.
Feeling the weight of Sophie's safety in his hands, Solol carefully aims upward, trying to adapt to the creature's timing.
"You still insist? Haven't you failed enough?" His hand trembles again, the voices echoing loudly in his mind. He can't hear anything but the whispers, his hand starting to lower.
"You could've killed it earlier, you pathetic fool. Now, you will regret this, forever—"
Sophie's voice breaks the trance, "SOLOL! YOU CAN DO IT!"
He takes a deep breath, returning to reality, aiming at the creature again. "You—" "Shut the fuck up, Whispers!"
BANG!
The creature disappears into the clouds…
…
But soon falls, its eye pierced by the bullet—its body turns into fragments of light during the fall, disintegrating completely before reaching the ground.
Mouth agape, incredulous that his shot was accurate, he jumps with joy and pride, "HOLY SHIT! DID YOU SEE THAT! THAT WAS MY SHOT!" he flips the bird to the sky, "Take that, Aerion!"
Sophie collapses onto the ground, feeling the tension leave her heart. "Oh my god… We did it! You did this! You were amaz—"
"AAAAARGGHH!" he falls to the ground, feeling his scar burning his entire body.
(Did you think that motivational words from that idiot would make you get rid of me?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I was just going easy because I know you wouldn't withstand it. But since you don't want to play my game…)
"Solol! Please, stay here!" the elf rushes to help. Solol continued convulsing almost unconsciously. "This is bad, this really really bad!"
His pupils disappear, his body stops moving.
"SOLOL! WAKE UP! SOLOL—"
Suddenly, her ally wakes up and aggressively grabs Sophie by the neck. "Sorry, darling. He's not here, would you like to leave a message?" he smiles like a maniac, his eyes completely dark as night, the aura of that being had no trace of Solol.
With disturbing strength, he throws Sophie against a house. She bounces and is thrown to the ground, "Cough Who are you?"
Walking toward her, he gleefully extends a finger, "Take a guess. Hint: Not Solol."
She murmurs scared, "...Whisper."
"BINGO! As your reward…" he extends his left arm, which is soon taken over by the dark matter of the scar, giving the limb a hand with blade-like fingers. "I will keep your face intact."
He jumps at Sophie, throwing his dark fist down. She dodges with a spin and immediately draws her bow. "Solol! Come back! I know you are stronger!"
"If he's so strong, why isn't he fighting me?" he mocks, walking slowly toward her, "Because he's a pathetic coward, who knows his place very well."
She releases the arrow, aiming at his leg—intending only to immobilize him—but instead of feeling pain, he responds with loud laughter. And keeps walking normally, "Such lack of hesitation. He is indeed disposable to you."
"N-no! Don't listen to him!"
"Yeah, listen to the traitor who hurt you. Oh wait, he's not even listening, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You're a liar, Sophie. I'm the only one honest with Solol, I'm his only true friend."
Taking advantage of the distraction, he grabs Sophie by the neck—tearing the bow from her hands. "You have no idea how much I want you to DISAPPEAR!"
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Not now, Regret. He said we will need the elf." This voice emanated a presence more terrifying than Whisper.
Beatrix approaches the two—carrying an umbrella
to shield herself from the sun—she stares at the elf and traces her finger along her face. "Oh, such smooth skin, how sad that I can't fully enjoy it, I wish I could play with you just a little bit. OneShot."
Upon hearing her nickname in Arcadia, Sophie comes to a single conclusion: "...You're a player?"
She makes a peace sign, "Yeah! Vamprincess of Vantablack! But since you're cute, I'll let you call me Bea. We'll be best friends forever!" Bea flicks Sophie's forehead, but thanks to her vampiric strength, that's more than enough to knock her out instantly.
Whisper drops the elf into the vampire's arms—who gently cradles her. "Oh, about the other one, we will need her coin, so you know what to do, right?"
He nods.
"Well then... I wish you a wonderful night."