Trying to Save my Favorite Character from His Tragic Fate

Chapter 45: The Witch's Game: What is going on?

Saskia is busy looking at her crystal ball when the door of her room slams open. She lazily turns around towards Sil, coming in without asking for permission. Saskia, annoyed, snaps her fingers to light up the room. With a threatening stare, Sil comes next to her and then side glances at the crystal ball that showed Kyrie with Ian together. Sensing that something is wrong, Saskia walks in front of Sil to cover the crystal ball and screams at him for entering her room without asking for permission. Saskia is trying to redirect Sil's attention but fails. Looking at Kyrie together with Ian makes Sil's mood from bad to worse in an instant. Sensing the boiling anger inside Sil, she turns off her crystal ball. Then, she cautiously retreats towards the door.

Saskia smirks and says, "Don't blame me that you could not tame your little boyfriend! I already did you a favour to inform you! They broke my enchantments for gathering life sacrifices that I spend so much time casting! I just ..."

Saskia couldn't finish her words before she gets hit by Sil's fist full force on the face with the back of his hand. She flies away, crashing to the floor and sliding away till the wall stops her. Trembling from the sudden assault, Saskia struggles to get up as her vision spins. Blood comes out of her mouth and drips to the floor. The side of her face that got hit immediately starts to puff up and bruise. She touches her injured face and shudders from the pain.

"Let me tell you again, Saskia. You don't touch what is mine, and I won't give you trouble," says Sil with a threatening voice.

Saskia cringes every time she hears the stepping sound of Sil's shoes coming closer to her. However, she looks at Sil entertained and starts to chuckle despite the pain from the cuts inside her mouth. She spits the blood that tasted metallic in her mouth and stands up, leaning against the wall as support. Although Saskia is a bit shocked at the sudden and violent fluctuations of Sil's mood, she tries to hold an unperturbed face. This is a Sil that she never saw before. How usually Sil acted is always with some kind of politeness or just plain rude but harmless, and that makes her think that she can just get her way with him. However, Sil is different than she thought. Sil is more dangerous and unstable when it comes to the boy that he is so obsessed about.

"Kyrie..." Saskia murmurs with a spreading smile on her face.

Although Saskia knows that she is going to get into deep trouble, she still has the guts to utter that boy's name. This brought her the thrill that she wants. Her face reveals that she is flooded in ecstasy, almost as if she is high and addicted to Sil's mood swings and violent outbursts. She extends her shaky arm towards Sil, ready to cast a spell, but nothing came out.

Is she too excited at what she is seeing that her magic is not responding? No, that is not it. This is some kind of restriction that she is experiencing.

Sil cracks a cruel smile when he sees Saskia getting surprised that she can't cast any magic.

"You can only blame yourself for touching what you should not touch, Saskia. You even had the guts to touch at our master's wounds with that petty game of yours," Sil side glances at the crystal ball again, "You knew that the topic regarding that goddess is strictly forbidden even if you are greatly favoured. Now, you have to pay your price for your stupidity. Erebus sent me to educate you and beat some sense into you. After all, this little head of yours needs some fixing. That screw needs to get tightened in that stupid brain of yours."

---

When Kyrie and the rest jump up through the opening that leads towards the stairs to the second floor, the building suddenly starts to rotate again. They slide sideways, and Nate almost falls to the first floor. Nate has a hard time balancing in his child form and would stumble as the building rotates. Kyrie takes the dizzy kid around his left arm and supports Ian with his right. They are confused about why the building is circling back to its original position. Imogen jumps back when the stone door that leads to the hall from the second floor almost slams into her.

A light blue fire inscribes on the stone door writing, "This floor will be revealed tomorrow."

The sudden announcement throws all of them off. It is as if the gamemaster decides to have a vacation when the game is still progressing. The scraping sound of the stone doors dragging on the floor draws their attention. They walk towards the hall from the first floor and see the stone doors opened all the way. Looking at the horizon that is encased by the doorframe, the sun starts to hideaway into the montage of buildings. The sky is showered in orange soda.

[It's almost like they are kicking us out!]

They walk out through the doors and catch on the peripheral of their eyes, something on the stone doors. They look up towards the doors and are staggered at what happened to the carvings on them. As if a monster clawed violently on the stone doors, the beautifully carved goddess is now merely a collection of red claw marks. The ones who are responsible for such destruction seems to not even pay a bit of attention to their own claws like they were not even bothered that they were bleeding as they destroyed the beautiful carvings.

When they walk out, and the doors are closing behind them, everyone turns around one last time to observed the bell tower. The tower lost its former glory; it lost the beauty and otherworldly qualities to it. Those unappreciative individuals have destroyed its artistic creations and carvings.

Then, the bell tower gets wrapped by a gray mist that disappears when the clouds of mist dispersed.

[Something is going on... Why the hell did we stop mid-game?]

"Something is fishy... Like why did we stop all of a sudden?" Nate questions.

"Yeah... It indeed feels like something has happened," Laurel comments.

"That witch brought it to herself," says Imogen.

"Ah, I see... So she got herself in trouble for touching a sore spot," Kyrie realizes.

"What? Wait, can someone explain to me why you two understand what is going on while I seem not to be able to grasp anything?" Nate complains.

"Saskia has touched her master's sore spot. Of course, she will get into trouble," replies Kyrie.

"Her master? Can you guys give better explanations?" Nate protests.

"Her master... Her master is Erebus?" asks Ian in shock, "The fallen god that you mentioned before is Erebus?"

"Yes, we are fighting against Erebus," says Kyrie.

Ian turns his head and looks at the spot where the bell tower was. It is still too shocking for him to hear that a god like Erebus went through devastation and became a fallen god. Erebus, in the scriptures left behind, was described as a god beloved by the king of gods and most gods in the god realm. A god who is quiet, calm, and sincere towards his counterparts. Although the king of gods did not want Erebus to inherit his place, he still wanted Erebus to come into the succession line through marriage. The king of gods saw that Erebus was too soft to rule, so he decided that all the candidates and successors were female for that very reason.

"There is no way... The demigod Erebus who managed to become a full-fledged god through accomplishing numerous deeds in the mortal world? The Erebus, who was cared for by the king of gods?" says Ian, "are we talking about the same Erebus?"

"Yes," says Imogen.

"Do you know why?" asks Kyrie to Imogen.

"No. It happened way before my time," answers Imogen.

"Way before your time?" Nate asks, muddled by the wording.

However, there is silence. Imogen does not answer the questioning look that Nate is shooting towards her.

"Let's go back to the inn. There is no point staying in the open streets with guests around," says Kyrie knowing that Imogen was trying to avoid that question. Even in the novel, Imogen's beginning is a complete mystery. She never even told this to Laurel, whom she loved with all her heart. Kyrie scans the surroundings, and he draws out his sword.

Laurel looks around, discovering that they were surrounded.

She whispers, "I did not even notice..."

On the hidden corners of the street, ghouls are waiting for them in a horde. Knowing that they were noticed, the ghouls come out of their hiding. One ghoul, in particular, stands tall amongst the rest of the horde at the front. Laurel recognizes him with one look. Her eyes widened with horror. That ghoul used to be the man who stood by her in the good and the bad times. He used to be a man who guarded her back from danger, and she did the same for him. He was a close friend and a brother. However, now, he stands in front of her as a ghoul and a potential enemy. That man is Tobias. He is no longer a human. He is a ghoul - a ghoul who might have betrayed his comrades for his own sake.