บท 17: Domain Expansion
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**Blackthorn Security Company**
"Aaaarghhhh!" A blood-curdling shriek pierced through the building, sending chills down the spines of everyone within earshot. The terror in that voice was palpable, driving the panicked employees to flee, their footsteps echoing through the corridors as they ran as far as possible from the source of the noise.
Inside the building, chaos reigned. Three men in dark coats, their faces set with grim determination, struggled to contain a wild, frenzied woman. Her eyes blazed with a madness that seemed otherworldly, and her strength was unnervingly formidable.
"Klein, shoot her!" Dunn's voice was urgent, almost desperate, cutting through the tumult.
Klein, his heart pounding in his chest, pulled out his revolver and aimed at Megose. His hands trembled slightly, but he steadied his aim and fired.
Bang! Bang!
The bullets flew true but seemed to dissolve into nothing before they could even graze Megose.
"This is bad," Klein thought, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He had never faced an opponent like this, an opponent who was not only unnaturally strong but also carried an evil god's vessel in the form of a baby.
Megose's actions were erratic and terrifying. She tore at her own flesh, ripping deep enough to expose her bones as she pulled out clumps of her blond hair, her eyes wild with rage and pain.
It was as if something had set her off. Abruptly, she rose and pointed at Klein, who stood frozen in his black windcheater. "You want to kill my child!" she screamed, her voice a crescendo of madness. "You're trying to kill my kid!"
Her voice echoed, high-pitched and terrifying, reverberating through Klein's skull like a sledgehammer. His vision blurred, and he felt a warm trickle of blood from his nose. He glanced sideways at Leonard Mitchell, whose own condition mirrored his. Blood oozed from Leonard's lips and nose, his body trembling as if about to collapse.
Regaining a semblance of clarity, Klein reached for the Flaming Sun Charm and threw it at Megose with all his might.
The charm flew straight and true, shattering upon impact and disintegrating Megose's head in a blinding flash of light and heat.
"Is it over?" Klein pondered aloud, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"Waaa..." The cry of a baby filled the room, its sound piercing Klein's ears with such intensity that his eardrums bled. He glanced at Leonard, who had already fainted. His vision darkened, his body teetering on the brink of collapse.
Dunn, witnessing this, steeled himself for a desperate act. He plunged his hand into his chest, clawing out his heart and placing it in the St. Selena Ash. This artifact was his last hope against Megose, but he knew the cost.
"Captain!" Klein muttered, his voice thick with sorrow as he watched Dunn's sacrifice.
Dunn's heart pulsed in the ash, its beat slowing ominously. Klein, summoning the last of his strength, channeled all his remaining spirituality into another Flaming Sun Charm and hurled it toward the baby.
Boom!
The explosion obliterated everything, leaving not even a trace of the evil god's vessel. At that moment, Klein's strength gave out, and he collapsed to the ground. From the corner of his eye, he saw Dunn's heart in the ash slow to a near stop.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed through the room. Who could it be? Klein wondered, his vision blurring further. Had the mastermind finally revealed himself?
An elderly man in a robe, holding a book, approached with deliberate steps. His presence exuded an aura of malevolence.
"You did better than I expected, but this is your end," Ince Zangwill said, raising his hand to deliver the final blow.
Am I going to die? Klein thought, a mix of resignation and defiance swirling within him.
Just before unconsciousness claimed him, he heard a voice, clear and commanding:
"Domain Expansion: Chamber of Stars."
Everything stopped. Time itself seemed to freeze. Dunn's heart, Klein, Leonard, even the quill suspended in mid-air, all held in stasis. Ince Zangwill found himself transported to another realm, a vast expanse of starry sky stretching into infinity.
He couldn't feel nervous, he realized with a start. This space blocked all his perceptions, numbing his senses to the danger he was in. As awareness dawned, he saw a figure in a robe, flanked by two others, standing before him. The figure's golden mask hid any trace of emotion, but the weight of its gaze bore down on him with an almost physical force.
"This is not right," he thought, panic slowly creeping into his mind. "I can't feel nervous. I can't feel anything. This space... it's blocking all my perceptions."
He glanced down at the quill in his hand, its tip frozen mid-air. Even it, the powerful artifact, seemed powerless in this place. He turned his gaze upward and saw a figure, majestic and imposing, draped in a robe that shimmered like the night sky itself.
"Who is this? What kind of power can do this?" Ince Zangwill's thoughts raced, trying to piece together the fragments of knowledge he possessed. "This place... it feels like a prison, a domain where the rules of reality are rewritten."
He tried to muster his will, to break free from the paralysis that held him, but it was futile. The figure before him vanished, and before he could react, he felt a hand on his head.
Thushhhh!
His vision went dark as his head was severed from his body. The last thoughts that flickered through his mind were confusion and disbelief. "Who... who could possess such power...?"
Arthur pulled out Ince Zangwill's head from his body.
Thud.
Arthur just watched as Ince Zangwill's body fell to the ground.
He then glanced toward Klein and the others. "Uriel, save those men," Arthur said, pointing to Dunn and Leonard.
"What about this man?" Uriel asked, looking at Klein.
"Leave him," Arthur replied, picking up Klein's Beyonder characteristic and the quill from Ince Zangwill.
Arthur's decision was clear. Klein's kind nature and deep ties to his family would be shackles in the perilous path ahead. Becoming the 'Fool' would attract many enemies, and Arthur knew that Klein's loved ones would be at risk. The stakes were too high, and Arthur had to ensure Klein could rise without such burdens.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Hurried footsteps approached—the backup team from the Holy Cathedral.
"Quickly, save the ones still breathing!" Crestet Crismir ordered, his voice urgent.
Arriving at the scene, they were shocked to find Ince Zangwill's corpse, his Beyonder characteristics still intact. The team worked swiftly to administer emergency treatment to Leonard and Dunn.
"Deacon, this one has already stopped breathing," a member reported, looking at Klein.
Crismir turned his gaze to the fallen young man. Klein had been a prodigy, advancing quickly to Sequence 8. His loss was a tragic blow.
"May the Evernight Goddess bless your soul, brave man," Crismir prayed, his heart heavy.
"Hey, look at this!" One of the team members pointed to Ince Zangwill's corpse.
Crismir and the others rushed over, their eyes widening at the sight of a golden crest symbol neatly carved into the body.
The aftermath of the encounter left a heavy silence in the air. The members of the Holy Cathedral, tending to the wounded and surveying the scene, felt an unspoken understanding that this battle was only a prelude to greater conflicts yet to come. The golden crest symbol carved into Ince Zangwill's body was a sign, a marker of forces at play far beyond their understanding.
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