Chapter 131: Another World

Chapter 131: Another World

Erec did a slow turn, his eyes roaming over the blackened marks on the ground and the bits of blood splattered among steel wreckage. His breath came in waves, his heart still beating out of his chest. The silver flame that served as a cloak against the bullets and pain was long gone.

After it left had come nausea, but it was enough to push down in the thrall of Fury now. His body was getting attuned to it.

That unrealness that came with it was still problematic. Combined with Fury, it was like watching himself move through a lens, tearing things apart and blowing things up. A certain euphoria came with the freedom. Even the sickness that grounded him in reality was suppressed as long as Fury burned.

Erec sank to his knees, slamming a hand on his visor and vomiting up putrid black all over the remains of one of the mobile-tank-like robots.

He sat there, gasping for air as the last of his fire burned off. His skin felt numb, and his eyes ran over the destruction with a new understanding. All of this was him. Those behind him contributed, but the majority of this battle was his.

Robin was further down the tunnel, back with the Pendragons. She’d kept them safe and let him charge ahead.

Erec wiped his mouth with the back of his steel gauntlet, tapping on the side of his helmet to bring back the visor.

A moment later, he was stumbling back to the other humans.

He passed by fires with a dim awareness of the torn-apart steel and flames left in his wake. Erec felt as if he were made of clouds, and not even aware he willed it; a notification ran across his vision on his arduous trek.

Strength: Rank D - Tier 6 → Rank D - Tier 7

Vigor: Rank E - Tier 8 → Rank E - Tier 9

Soul (Aspect: Fire): Rank E - Tier 3 → Rank E - Tier 4

With each step, his body shook more and grew colder. The feeling of blood running down his right arm was a welcome warmth; it held onto an axe that trailed on the ground. He hadn’t the strength to lift it back to where it belonged, nor the care.

“Erec!” a voice yelled. Enide. She appeared in front of him as if from nowhere. A ghost, a flickering presence that may or may not exist. So close, yet paradoxically far away, his stomach twisted in knots again. Somewhere deep down, a voice screamed to bottle it away. Not in front of her.

Why care?

Why did he care what this person thought? Was she real, anyway? All that mattered was he won, wrapped his control over his fire, and brought it out to cause destruction.

Erec slid from the girl, or perhaps she guided him. It was tough to track. Though, he did feel the wall press against his back as he slipped down it to sit. More blood dripped down his fingers. That’d need repair, surely.

The girl fluttered around him like the wind, her voice a soothing note that kept him anchored to reality. She’d convinced him to take his helmet off. She pressed her hand to his forehead, leaned in, and whispered to him praise. As he deserved, a victor of his battle. All was right then. Surely.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.

Until the bile won out, he asked the girl to look away, embarrassed and vomited his insides out for the second time.

When he looked back for her, she was gone. Taken by the wind.

Olivia was staring back at him, her face scrunched up and her palm glowing with light.

“Where is she?” Erec croaked out, the world stitching back together, strings in a grand tapestry.

“You’re asking about Enide? Really? She told you she went with the others down the tunnel fifteen minutes ago,” Olivia shook her head. “What I don’t understand is your wounds. She said none of them could heal, but half were closed, and by how things look, you lost a lot of blood.”

“All tracks and traces you’ve found, and our investigation shows that Seven-Snakes managed to operate this machine, opened the rift, then walked through it. Why?” Boldwick asked.

“Dunno. They had a tech with him and scrubbed as much data as possible. With how haphazard the job was, though, the guy wasn’t good at it.” Corey sighed. “Might be able to pick up the pieces and rerun it, but that doesn’t change the fact we need to use an old-world device to go through a Rift to get him, now.”

Rochester shook his head and laughed. “Well, we have to do it, don’t we?”

“You’re going through a Rift to track a bounty target?” Boldwick asked, voice dripping with pessimism. “Since their exit closed on them, why not go to your Magi and tell them what happened? Scarcely seems worth the risk. He can’t return now. As good as dead.”

“Well, about that...” Rochester rubbed his hand. “To get a favor from the Magi, they wanted him alive. Dead is just payment. That and our reputation is at stake, along with his. He’s known to slip away at the last minute; they’ll assume he evaded us like everyone else. But the favor is vital. Corey, if we open this Rift, we’ll be headed to the same place?”

Corey nodded. “That’s why they left people to operate this side. No idea how the old-world accomplished this, but it’s stable enough. A Rift that opens and closes in the same spot, all it takes is to induce it.”

“Simple then. We go through. Same plan as he had, only I have far more confidence in our people to maintain our position here.” Rochester nodded.

“Madness. You don’t even have Armor.” Boldwick pointed out.

“Neither did Seven-Snakes. We wander the wasteland without need for steel; I see nothing different here. I appreciate the concern, and obviously, I won’t ask you, our new friends, to follow us through a Rift. It is enough to get us this far, disable the security and the men Seven-Snakes left behind. We’ll handle the rest. I’ll pick our people to go through. Then we can pay you what we owe from our side of the deal.”

“I’m going.” Enide declared, finally breaking her attention from Erec.

“Damn it, Enide!” Yniol hit a table, “There’s no need. Don’t throw yourself into this; the idea of getting back into that vault is foolish, to begin with, and you know it!”

“I’m the most suited to this. We don’t know what’s on the other side, and Seven-Snakes does now. You can’t argue that I’m the best scout in the family,” Enide argued, her voice rising. “And it is worth it. We need that favor. If nothing else, then to pull them out and give them the send-off they fucking deserve!”

“I agree,” Rochester said. “Her bravery is undeniable, Yniol. Let her be; this is right. We’ll find this man, bring him to Vega, and then we can finally free our people.”

“Damn you both,” Yniol stormed out of the room with a snarl. “They’re dead, Rochester. Make peace with that, you and the rest of the damn fools who can’t move off from the past.”

“Sorry,” Enide said quietly to her father's back.

This was it then. She was going to head into a Rift, to think she’d made the decision so easily. For what? They planned to go into a vault to save her Uncle and Retrieve his body? That was the favor they wanted from the Magi? Erec saw his mother’s face, that feeling in him that always welled when he thought of finding her again, saying what he wanted to say about how it felt to have a piece of him ripped away. These people were just like him; they wanted closure on their lost family. And to get it, they needed to track down the scum that was Seven-Snakes.

“Sir,” Erec spoke up, his heart hammering, burning as he thought about it all. There wasn’t a choice here. He knew what he had to do. If all it cost was to get these people to achieve a wish he held himself, which was to go through this Rift, the decision was easy.

His eyes snapped to Enide and took away power from how the girl flowed through life. This decision didn’t have to be complicated.

“I’m going through the Rift with them. They shouldn’t go alone.”

Boldwick rubbed the back of his head. “Goddess, damn it. I knew you’d say that. It’s the sort of hot-headed declaration... Worse is that I agree.”

“What? You want to come after all that?” Rochester asked.

“I need to meet with my Knights. After that, we can talk,” Boldwick waved Rochester off before addressing Erec directly. “Since you’re walking and talking loud enough to rope yourself into dangerous decisions, I suppose you’re fine enough to follow along for a bit longer. On me.” The Master Knight walked off, not cutting any slack in his pace for Erec.

With one last look at Enide, he followed, burning a bit of Fury to catch up.