Chapter 178 Ch 176: The Decoy [Pt1]

"Are you not done yet? It had been almost an hour since you said you were about to be done. Just what is taking a genius like you eons to complete?"

Liza had been patient for over an hour at this point but had not gotten anything in return. So her frustration was obvious for anyone to see. And the object of her unhappiness was her brother.

Khole had said that he would be done an hour ago but he had yet to move from his place. And unless he moved, Liza was sure she would not be able to crack this illusion.

'Ugh, big brothers are such a pain. I wonder what I can do to make Khole respond to me?'

Liza had a few ideas but ultimately, she had to put all of them on hold because Khole stood up. He pocketed the small black device he had been using to take notes all this while and then he took out a small pill.

"Close your nose. The smell might sting your nose if you are sensitive."

And that was the only warning liza got before Khole broke the small pill-like containment on the concrete floor. Green gas filled the space and the illusion began to fade away.

Liza's head swam as she tried not to inhale the gas. But she was a human and she needed to breathe some time so she likely inhaled an unhealthy dose of that green thing.

"Here, chew this to make yourself feel better. It will help your head feel more grounded."

Khole offered a small candy to Liza which she inhaled at lightning speed. It was a good mixture of sweet and sour, sending shivers down Liza's spine. She had never had anything this unique before and she doubted if she ever would again.

She was also hesitant to ask what she had been fed since she was sure it was not made up of normal ingredients. Her brother was not a normal human after all.

"Looks like your experiment was a success. Well then, where should we head next toward?"

Liza asked as she looked at the empty white corridor in front of her. It had taken all but a minute for the illusion to disperse. Somehow it had not seemed like her brother had used magic craft to deal with the illusion.

Then, had a new form of magic been discovered? It was a big discovery if that did happen. And it would also cause their dependence on the central cord to be lessened.

It was something monumental in the history of their world. And still, her brother did not look thrilled in the least. Instead, he looked a little sick as he tried to make sense of what happened.

"Another failure. But at least I am getting closer to the final product I want to make."

Liza had no idea what her brother was trying to achieve but she knew enough not to ask him what he was doing. Knowing Khole, he would make fun of her and sour her mood if she did ask him.

"So, are you done moping on your own? Can you tell us what we have to do next?"

Liza was not able to stop her annoyed tone from escaping her lips and Khole finally noticed her existence. He looked a little taken aback by her but quickly rightened himself.

"Yeah, right we need to find Yohan and regroup with him. If the illusion faded so easily, then chances are that the central cord had already been moved. We will need to find it again."

Liza's heart sank once she heard those words. All this effort had gone down the drain in a single go. And it all happened because of bad timing on their part. How was it fair at all?

"Ugh, such bad luck we just had. So what should we do now? We cannot keep on sitting here and waiting for things to end. We have to do something to help Yohan out, right?"

Liza was fracking out a little but her brother was calm. His calmness and confidence put Liza in a bad mood but she was not able to express herself fully with him there in front of her. She wanted to rage but knew it would be better to calm down.

Besides, she could see that Khole had a planing brewing in his mind and if there was one way out of this situation, Khole would be able to find it.

////////////////////////////////

They had finally managed to make their escape from the horrifying lab and Diantha had no idea how they finally managed to do it. Shizue was the deciding factor behind their escape and she was currently running after Diantha through the white halls of this place.

She had decided to put her past behind her and live an honest life. Coming back to the past had not been half as liberating as Shizur had hoped it to be. Instead, it was a burden she needed to get rid of.

Shizue was ready to go chase after Diantha when she stopped short. She had a feeling that someone was tugging at her sleeve and asking her to come closer.

She knew she needed to keep an eye on Diantha but the feeling in her heart was telling her to follow after it. And the more Diantha tried to resist, the more she was not able to resist it.

In the end, she decided to walk toward the powerful waves of emotions she felt and her hand closed around a shining stone-like thing. It disappeared into her palm and the light faded away as well/

Diantha, who had noticed Shizue's abrupt change, decided to follow after her and enter the small room as well. She looked a little spooked out by the place but overall she was not impressed.

"Woahhh, what is this place? It's so small and dark to see anything. And Shizue, are you alright? You look a little pale."

Diantha tried to touch Shizue to make sure she was alright but Shizur took a violent step back. She seemed shocked at her body's unconscious action before taking a deep breath and correcting her posture.

"Ah, I am alright. I don't know what came over me but it would be better for you to not touch me for the time being."

Shizue warned Diantha, knowing fully well that something was wrong with her. There was foreign energy inside her body, threatening to take over her.

Shizue knew that it was not her choice to run and to follow Diatha. Something else was trying to get out of this facility and using her as a medium. She needed to resist this power at all costs.

"Shizue, how dare you try to trick me? Did you seriously think I would not get to know about it?"

And then, the worst thing that could have happened did happen. Bernetta, the one person Sizue did not want to see made her way around the corridor. It caused Shizue to lose her focus on reality.

The power burning inside her surged outward and Shizue felt like she was burning apart at an incredible speed. She did not want to experience such agony again.

"Ahhhhhhh-"

Unknown to her, a scream was torn out of Shizue's mouth as soon as her focus had been lost. And both Diantha and Bernetta looked shocked to see her collapsing at that moment. They tried to get to her but some kind of energy barrier stopped them.

"Fuck. what the hell is this? what should we do to get Shizue out of there? Do you have any idea what this is Diantha?"

Bernetta asked as she watched her partner being swallowed by a ray of light. She needed to get to Shizue right then and there but her body would not listen.

Threw as a greater power that was stopping Bernetta from moving and it was beyond frustrating how she could not help her partner when she needed Bernetta the most.

"I don't know what this is about but this energy seems familiar. What should we do now? Should we risk touching Shizue?"

Diantha was worried as well but she was more concerned about what this mission would end up being now.

There was only one thing in the facility that could emit such power and it was the central cord. But that things should not be easy to get hold of at all.

The sound of footsteps was also getting closer, so they had to make a split-second decision. So Diantha decided to take Bernetta's arm into her own and drag her out for the time being.

It was a risk and it would cause Shizue to be discovered for sure. But having a conscious partner was better than a dangerous one like Shizue.

"Hey, what are you doing? Let go of me right now. I said, let go of me right this second and -"

By the time Bernetta realized what had happened, it had been too late. Shizue had been picked up and taken away by the doctor. She would likely be studied as a test subject but Diantha had at least managed to buy them some time.

However, not everyone seemed to think the same, and Bernetta had a severe problem with Diantha's actions