The sun now set off on the horizon, the moon overhead as darkness swept forward. Dry sands blew whilst stars came into view not but moments later, the wind dry and gentle. Scorpions moved as snakes slithered to their dens, few creatures stirring at this present point, that is all except for a few humanoids. Two were on the move dressed in black coats dotted with red stars. Purple hair blew from the one, long and flowing while beside her simple white fluff danced with strands flailing.
Their feet sunk beneath the sands as they moved, the wind failing to bother them. Both moved in near unison, the woman’s arms moving back and forth while the man’s failed to move in the slightest. Over a dune they climbed, before them flat rock with strands of boulders littered around.
“Shadow you’re late,” came a call.
Seven figures dotted the rocks, all dressed similarly. Dustin stood among them with crossed arms, his eyes glowing as the last bit of sunlight vanishes over the horizon. The two stopped walking, both looking to Dustin. Shadow nodded, “Yes well, I had to help take care of Holly. My subordinates are already tending to that problem though.”
“And what of the Ripper’s Gate lead by Dewy?”
“Oh, you know.”474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gurQRcnjy
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Blood lay scattered around an open field, bodies lay scattered. Heads cut off, arms torn apart, torsos blown open. Dozens of bodies lay scattered around a single massive crater, around which were many more craters. Laying in the middle of the biggest one was Dewy, his eyes curled back into his head.474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmnJVgmSkk
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Shadow looked up from the ground to Dustin, giving a nod, “They won’t be bothering us anytime soon.”
“Then let’s get on with it. Leon has been waiting and I’d hate to continue to make him wait,” came a response straight from Xander.
“Right.”
A metallic liquid echo could be heard, the sound of many bugs scattering all at the same time as at once a form appeared, “I do hate to be kept waiting, how wise of you to remember.”
“Now that I’ve seen to everything we can begin on the barrier.”
“Pft, and how are you so certain of this damn barrier? I don’t see a damn thing and I walked all around where you said it would be.”
“Heh heh. For one, Xander, those of you with only Darkness in your blood will never be able to sense it, let alone see it. And the other reason is that this barrier uses the properties of light to make you think you’re moving inside when in reality you may only get a few feet. Anyone from the outside will see you proceed as will anyone inside but in reality the barrier is making you walk in circles. It’s powerful as it works on all physical entities. That’s why we’re gathering to tend to it.”
“And you’re positive that the map is inside?”
“Why would they leave Holly nearby with an elite unit if it weren’t true?”
“And we’re supposed to just trust you? A man who naturally can use Light Energy? I don’t much care for that idea. An enemy is always an enemy.”
“Oh? I wonder about that. Perhaps I was truly born with it, perhaps I simply stole it, perhaps I can mimic it. My secrets will not be unlocked so easily Xander so you should simply choose to ignore it. All that need be said is that I seek the destruction of the Lightonians.”
Xander’s head quickly turned to Shadow and tilted to the left, “You want to kill all of the Lightonians? That’s never been our goal to my understanding, eh, Leon?”
“Hmph. Shadow is a curious breed with many unique talents. He is to be respected due to his power yet feared by allies alike. At any rate we should get on with this before the Tribe suspects anything. Before I forget though, you did give Winston that experimental drug of yours right Shadow?”
“I did.”
“Good. Then that will get rid of Holly for us. Now, gather!”
At once the same echoing liquid metal sound could be heard with the scattering of bugs from all around, a wave of nineteen projections appearing. A variety of colors, a variety of shapes, a variety of noises. Leon’s projection turned round facing the variety of newcomers, his eyes shifting around.
“Now then, I’m going to go over it once and only once.”
“What, not going to let Shadow do it for you this time?” Dustin chuckled.
Leon slowly turned his head, slowly allowing his eyes to glance back, “Shadow has been good at getting us this far as that is what he was tasked with doing. Leadership of this operation still falls to me, do not forget that Dustin.”
“Right right,” Dustin replied glancing away.
“Now then, I’m going to go over this once and only once so pay attention. We are up against a Level Five Tetra Seal Barrier. Breaking it alone could take months. With all of us working together on this though this will most likely take three days to a week.”
“A whole week? How in the name of Lucifer is something that strong? Can’t we just blow it up?”
“Tetra Seals are special seals that reflect the opposite of Lightonian Philosophy. They suck out the life of everything within their range in addition to natural light to sustain themselves, and the longer they stand the harder they are to destroy. As you know they use light to lead people astray so that they never truly interact with the contents within, applying to even our direction of attacks no matter how hard we try. In addition, the barrier is still a barrier so you’d need to destroy it regardless.”
“Right so how are we going to destroy the damn thing if attacks are worthless?” Xander barked.
“We’ll be using the Tataran Sigmacus Ultraminicus Curse. It is a Curse that binds the target and strips it of its life. It is one of the few ways to destroy a barrier of this scale.”
“The downside though is that the Curse is slow under normal circumstances, let alone on something the size of a large city. Even with as many of us as there are, such a task will take significant time. During that time we must not falter for the Curse will break if even one of us fails. As a result of that I’ve ordered Shadow to tend to any foreseeable circumstance as far as Holly is concerned, while leaving the rest to our assets by way of Dustin. In any event though, I want to station Basilisx at the appropriate placements as discussed.”
“I am aware milord,” came a slithering response.
“Your abilities are best suited for long range patrolling though in the event of anything else going wrong, I want Revan to stand as a backup. Your abilities will suit us well for this task.”
“I know they will. Dustin, what of your two lackeys?”
“You mean Toby and Szayel? Yeah they’ll have us covered. It’s nothing to worry about Revan.”
“Hmph, a blind child and an old goofy are the ones we’re letting be our last line of defense. How stupid.”
“Hold your tongue Xander. Szayel is a powerful warlock all in his own right and Toby Tazaki isn’t far behind. He has enough potential to one day match even the strongest of you I’d say.”
“Whatever, can we get on with this?”
“That’s the plan,” Leon murmured, “Now let’s get to it.”
“Right,” Cortez murmured.
All turned to face away from Shadow, all flashing and disappearing for a brief instance only to reappear. Now spread out they in turn looked around and nodded. Their arms slowly moved outwards and rested before them, their hands outstretched and fully open glowing with darkness.
“Now begin the Tataran Sigmacus Ultraminicus Curse,” Leon commanded, symbols appearing all around the feet of those gathered quickly stretching outwards. Clouds of dark mist moved from the hands of the many, the Astral Projections included, and began to hover around. At once from all shot black lightning with a red tint.
The lightning crashed forward many meters in the blink of an eye and immediately hit a wall of nothingness. Whiteness began to appear as the darkness stretched and spanned outwards from its impact points. Black hands weaved and stretched out from the impact points of the lightning, a low pitched moaning heard followed by a roar unlike any other. Puffs of white dust quickly began to erode as the hands stretched and in turn began to reveal a wall of whiteness.
“Seals of the darkness in our hearts form, the cracks of our souls spewing, the crimson crest of destruction, the crawling angel of corruption, revolt, rejoice as your own life slips. Begone, be laid to waste, lost in the void, given no rejoice, feel your own powerlessness, and cry your heart out!”
At once the darkness leaving the many exploded in size, the color turning blood red with a black aura surrounding it. While their cloud remained the same and the lightning changed, the hands simply continued with ruins dancing around them. Sparks flew from the hands the color of blood as bit by bit the white of the barrier turned dark into a red of its own.
“From here on out, The Hive shall rule this world, and then the whole universe will be ours!” Leon shouted out.474Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPlAwfgGEM
