Bab 84: Hunger for the Departed
Noah opened his eyes slowly after feeling the scary pressure of the level eight attack. Soon, he recognized the swimming figures in his direction. Great, it was his least favorite sister. He didn't keep the cane from them and just held onto it, albeit lowering the weapon. "Was that you?"
"Did I scare you?" Gianna smiled before swimming past him. "The weak point should be around here, but there's no end to this—"
Before Gianna could finish speaking, a tear in the space underwater appeared. Claws ripped it apart, and the water was flushed out. Along came the three who got entangled in the spiral on their way down. Noah landed on his stomach, but he got hit by the two girls when they fell.
Caliga blinked his eyes as he looked at the three. Tabitha started checking herself as she missed air kissing her skin while Gianna had most of her dress flipped over her head. It's a good thing that she was wearing tights underneath.
Noah, however, was stuck under them. He even felt like Gianna's hair was getting on his face as well.
"We're out!" Tabitha finally cheered before realizing that the other two were not as optimistic as she was. She got off of Noah and took off her coat to squeeze it, relieving excess water from the fabric. Before wearing it, she flipped Gianna's skirt off of her head. "Lady Gianna… here, I'll help you."
"At least we don't need to be cold anymore." Gianna got off of Noah, even not caring if she stepped on his hand. She then whipped her skirt up and squeezed it as well. Even her cardigan was so heavy with all of that water.
Caliga then nudged at Noah who only glared at the dog. Even if Caliga's face wasn't stretchy, he still reached out and pulled on the dog's cheek. "You, where did you go?"
The hellhound only pawed Noah's face in return before doing it again and again as if asking him to get to his feet. Noah didn't have the choice but to take off his drenched white jacket and tossed it at Caliga… who dried it using his readjusted body temperature in turn.
It wasn't too late for Caliga to learn new things especially when Noah didn't like getting wet by cold water. After he fell off of that bridge, Caliga knew he had to cater to those events. Right now, the greatness of a hellhound was being misused… the black dog now reduced to a steamer.
Noah took off his black shirt as well, leaving his skin to dry on its own. Of course, he had his back turned on those girls who had their own—ehem, inefficient, ehem—way to dry themselves. He also ran his hands through his hair to wring water off of the strands.
If he was alone or with Luca only, he would have taken off everything. However, he wasn't… so he had to deal with the pants.
"Now there's a good boy…"
His ears perked up as he heard Gianna's voice. When he turned to Caliga, the dog was being used as a steamer not only by his master but even by the two women who saw what was happening. He glared at the woman who had her back turned on him.
Gianna didn't take a look at him, but she smiled as she felt his stare going up and down her back view. She was only in her underwear after all. "Turn away, Noah. You're not being decent…"
However, she mistook Noah's gaze. He only had one thought as he repeatedly gave once-overs at the two women. That audacity…
His eye then twitched. "Oh. Who said I care?"
In the end, the three only sat on the dry marble floor in their underwear while waiting for their clothes to dry on Caliga's body. Even to a hellhound, the sight was surreal.
…
Luca was already sitting on the diamond platform when he saw three figures drop from the ceiling. Before he could make a sound, they had already created a loud plop against the mud. He still got up and waved his hands. "Sisters! Come to my voice!"
A white barrier emerged from the mud, and Isla was holding up a sphere to protect them from the mud. She saw Luca and rolled the barrier like a hamster ball, Winona not managing to get up while Alessa only trying to keep up with the rolling.
It climbed onto the diamond platform, and Isla released the two other ladies. She then smiled at Luca before using her sleeves to clear his face from dirt. "Gosh, you look so pitiful. Here, here, Sister Isla would like to reward you for letting her see Alessa do the hamster run."
"Why would he be rewarded for that?" Alessa huffed before running her hand through his hair to take off the mud from the strands. "Are you hurt? What are we standing on?"
"I actually have no idea, but someone helped me. He's gone now though." Luca only raised his hands to stop his sisters, but they both grabbed Luca's wrists to stop him from stopping them.
Winona managed to get to her feet now and only watched the two sisters dote on their little brother without words. They probably were very worried about him… then again, Winona wondered what actually happened to Luca. He… never did she think that he would be reduced to only level three.
After a few more minutes, the four began walking along the diamond path. They ended up with a tear in space which was preserved by the arch around it built with diamonds. Alessa walked on ahead and then found herself in another room.
As she took a few looks around the place, she then nodded at herself. She looked over her shoulder to find the other three. "This must be the room on the sixth level."
"Yes, we're already here." Isla then saw that the map was once again jammed. "The realm is already back to normal. Though I last saw Gianna lead the rest to the lower floor. A hellhound was also with them. They should be able to tear down to this room without fail."
Plop!
Alessa, Isla, and Winona turned behind them, but only Winona went to face that direction. Isla pulled Luca closer while Alessa faced the front as if she was trying to catch the smallest sound and sign of something else around them.
Winona, however, continued to watch the darkness past the tear that they came out of. Soon, she spotted movements, and a figure began walking towards them. Winona then whispered, "Hostile… I can only see one, but I can't sense anything from it."
Isla checked her netbook and glared at the result. "It's not showing up in mine either."
"The illusions are made to be more realistic than the truth." Alessa huffed as she looked forward and saw nothing. She had always kept in mind not to look for something in particular in this illusory maze realm. That was sure to impede the reality that she was experiencing.
Winona only glanced at Alessa before she stared at the woman. Unlike earlier, she was now clear-headed after Isla's demonstration. She could only rely on what she really saw rather than what she thought she saw. This kind of illusion was the worst.
Luca turned to see what was behind them, and he saw Genevieve's figure walking towards them. She was still wearing that gray dress and blue jacket that she had on. However, her head was lowered, and she was making some kind of low sound.
Whispers then came to their ears as they heard Genevieve's voice echoing. She was calling for her husband and was asking for him to come home. Some voices were about her asking herself where she had failed him, and some were only cries coming from the depths of her heart.
"She must have felt so broken when Randy died…" Luca whispered. Even if he had his own thoughts, he knew how to differentiate his conceptions from reality. The trap on the sixth floor was worse than the mud world, but Luca had skipped the illusions in an instant. He didn't even know he did.
"Be careful. The demon could read our minds and turn our thoughts against us." Alessa readied her blade, soon spotting the same figure from upfront. "It's starting. She didn't have any presence; she could be the real enemy."
"No, these are… these are not real…" Luca's eyes quivered. Perhaps it was different from the other rooms that they had gone to. More and more Genevieves walked in, but they were more or less the same as the first one they saw. "I can feel something from her… it's like she's hungry…"
"She hungered for her departed husband."
A clearer voice came from the ceiling, and Genevieve descended from the darkness. Her feet hovered on the floor, and she then chuckled as she eyed the four. She soon examined her arms as if admiring the vessel. "How convenient was it that she was already like this? Such a very… very poor woman…"
Genevieve then looked straight at Luca's eyes. "Greetings. Since you've reached this far, I should stop underestimating you. Do you know who I am, Luca?"
Luca steeled himself and clenched his jaws, but Alessa stepped in front of him to shield him from the demon's eyes. Her scimitar was then aimed at the demon's face. "Don't you dare instill fear in my brother. Who are you? Why would you possess Genevieve Connor just to show yourself to us?"
"Ugh, I've always hated the White Magi. He should just get rid of you���" Genevieve gritted her teeth as her face almost changed. The black in her eyes then covered the white, and it started to resemble a fly's eyes. Even her voice had shifted octaves as if speaking in two different voices.
"No matter. I'll just do it myself!"
Alessa moved to attack, but Genevieve only swiped her hand away. Something felt like it slapped against Alessa's body and slammed her against the wall of the room. In so much force, she felt some of her bones crack, and she couldn't help choking out blood.
She then fell to the floor… "Dammit… level nine…"
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