“Before anything else, I should warn you that monsters from the third phase area will respawn unlike these two… easy levels. I have already defeated the third phase for you. You can escape… But I want to see you try,” Obsidian explained, whilst in the midst of battle.I had no idea why the masked man shared such valuable information, but it only meant one thing. And that was how some people could escape this place. But the only problem that was obstructing that route was the masked man wanting to kill me and the survivors. Obsidian must have already known that I was willing to protect these people because of my shaken conscience. Little did he know that I couldn’t care much about these survivors, but saving them would buy me some respect from Elena and my sister. If I turned out to be the heartless guy I wanted to become, those two women would turn their backs against me and see me in a different light. But if the worst comes to worst, I would play the villain for them to escape this
But when the fog disappeared, he was still standing there, unfazed and intact. Not a single limb was cut or taken out. The masked man seemed unharm, as he stretched his arms and flashed me a smug look on his face. “Those bullets don’t do shit against me. You should probably know that by now.”He wasn’t kidding. When Obsidian said those words and presented it to me, none of the detonating leads did anything to his skin. I thought bringing out the big guns would do the trick. But after what I had seen, I guessed the masked man was just a monster.Maybe that explained why nobody could kill him. And that he freely shot my parents without even suffering the consequences. But despite the horrifying image before me, Obsidian wasn’t enough to scare me off. In fact, I was more thrilled than ever, wishing to put a bullet inside his skill with his name on it. I also couldn’t wait to reveal his identity in front of the entire world. If I wanted to kill this man, I needed to know his name and th
Time moved slow… slower than usual. I strained my brain thinking of something to do, and yet everything was just too late. There was no saving myself now. So as the bullet flew over, I closed my eyes and wished my life could end quickly. But the bullet never came. It would only take one lead from the masked man to kill me. However, it didn't happen. When I opened my eyes, a wall of some sort blocked the attack. My system had also announced that a spell of some sort was cast beside me. And magic touched my skin.I remembered this wall. The spell had the same vast arcane surrounding the environment. And the only person I knew who had this ocean-like mana was Akai and my sister. I always reminded Hina to leave this place and save herself from all the dangers of this world, but she didn’t listen. She never did. The barricade Hina made was enough to keep my soul intact inside my body. When the bullet crashed against the panel, the wall became its cushion and put to an end from its moment
Time wasn’t on our side. Obsidian tried hitting us with his sniper, but Hina continued lifting me up and creating walls in front of me. It was as if she was reading my movements. When the masked man pulled the trigger and launched a set of bullets in my direction, I went to the side despite having no platform for me to step on. But I trusted my sister. By the time I jumped above ground, I trusted my instincts and rolled on the side. Like I had said, there was no ground to catch me when I fell. But as soon as I gyrated my body, a floor made of soil immediately materialised and cushioned my feet. The next thing I knew, I tumbled to the side and evaded almost every bullet coming in my way. The shells that I couldn’t dodge still didn’t hit me. The moment those leads from the masked man could take me out, Hina summoned a wall in front of me and protected my face.I didn’t have the time to thank my sister and carried onwards with the fight. Time was also our enemy. So when I found an open
As I glanced on my side, Hina still wanted to fight. She stood up and used the rock beside him, but her legs kept shaking as if an earthquake struck us. But the ground remained still. There was no earthquake. And when I appraised her status, my system described her with a fatigue ailment in addition to her drained mana right beside his health bar.[Iron Maiden has been deactivated. Obsidian is too powerful to be compressed!]Those were the words that marked our doom. The moment Obsidian broke free from the [Iron Maiden] all hope was lost. I had no idea how to win now, especially when my sister was on the ground. She couldn’t me right now. But Hina had already assisted me until her body fell on the ground. Although she desperately forced herself to move and stand with the help of a rock, Hina couldn’t cast any more magic and would remain sluggish until she could recover her mana. Obsidian stood on the other side of the map, unscathed and unbothered from the spell. The [Iron Maiden] wa
Hina’s Perspective_____________________All my life, Aoi did nothing but help me with my problems, regardless if it involved him or me. As long as he noticed, which he always did, my brother would rush towards me and help. Aoi really forced himself so hard until he could see me smile. And even though I pushed him countless times, he continued crawling his way back in my arms. I could still remember those days when we were together, especially when these portals hadn’t shown up. Life was simple back then. If only Aoi’s parents didn’t die, maybe he could’ve lived the life he deserved. But his life was taken away by a murderer and the portal. And now, we were given the chance to confront the man who stole his life away. But even so, we couldn’t defeat him. I… couldn’t do a thing. Aoi did everything he could to stop the madman from hurting everyone, despite knowing none of the strangers, but he failed. And the only thing I could do was to watch him suffer.Maybe if I trained hard enoug
Hina’s Perspective _____________________ “Come with me.” With one phrase, the masked man offered his hand to me. He used his other hand to lift Aoi’s body and cast a spell that changed our surroundings. “I’ll show you something.” Obsidian showed no signs of hostility. And the voice behind the masked man soothed my ears as if it was some sort of music with perfect beat and lyrics. I gazed at the man’s hand, wondering if I should take it. I had seen something like this before. But something was off. And at the same time, there was a peculiar feeling of calm and genuineness. He almost reminded me of my brother. In spite of these feelings twirling inside my mind, I shook my head and answered, “I don’t… want to... I won’t leave…. My brother! You… Want… to kill him… I’ll…. Stay by…. His side…. Until you… can kill me…” There was a chance that the masked man wanted to pull me apart from Aoi. And I never wanted that to happen. The moment the masked man heard my words for the umpteenth ti
Hina’s Perspective_____________________“It’s okay… Don’t cry. There, there…. It’s going to be okay… It’s going to be alright….”And then, I said the words. “I forgive you… I forgive you, Aoi… You don’t have to cry anymore… It’s going to be okay…”I said the words Aoi wanted to hear. Even though he was Obsidian, the face of my brother carved itself on the man beside me. It was as if Aoi two was a dog barking and biting people left and right only to realise he needed someone’s help… He needed my help. And now he had faced his fear and listened to the words Aoi two wanted to hear, his ears calmed down. His ears discerned what was important.‘But what now? What are we going to do now?’ I thought, and looked at the downcasted face of Aoi two. As if knowing the question inside my head, Aoi two returned my gaze and uttered, “I know… you are confused. But we don’t have much time now. As soon as I fought Aoi in this world, the entities behind these portals were already high on alert. And I