"I didn't mean to kill her! It was an accident...." Mandeleine hesitated. She knew that no matter how much she tried to explain to Joakim...it would be impossible now that Karmen was dead, and now that Joakim was furious. "My threads shouldn't...they shouldn't have hurt her but...suddenly their pure energy turned into..."
Impure energy.
Now, his threads are no longer pure.
And that was an opportunity for Joakim.
Now he could cut Mandeleine's threads.
"Scalybur!" The powerful sword was enveloped in a dark energy as it detected the impure energy that now surrounded Mandeleine. Scalybur, a sword so powerful and mysterious, only allowing itself to be wielded by those who could withstand the maximum pressure it released.
He gripped the sword's hilt with both hands as he raised Scalybur to the sky. Immediately, Mandeleine left the mountain, using his threads to run over them.
However, that wouldn't help him.
The sword released overwhelming pressure, causing the threads Mandeleine was fleeing on to snap, and even the trees around Joakim to be crushed.
And at the top of the mountain, there was Joakim, impenetrable, who, seeing Mandeleine fall, slashed with his sword. "KILL HIM!"
And at Joakim's powerful voice, his magic of words was activated.
All the pressure shifted until it became as fine as a powerful cut, moving towards where Mandeleine continued to fall.
As he approached, Mandeleine raised a shield, but it was weak, only softening the cut, yet still slashing through his chest and sending him crashing to the ground.
The impure energy from Mandeleine's body flowed out like blood, yet the fluid moved in the same direction; east. Right where Randy Bornman was fighting.
Joakim wasted no time in attacking Mandeleine, leaping down from the mountain, cloak in hand. "Reverse!" He spoke, and the cloak in his hand was exchanged for Mandeleine.
As they both fell, Joakim used his sword to try to snatch Karmen's hand from Mandeleine, the hand that was still holding the rose.
Mandeleine tightened his grip, then quickly moved his strings to create a temporary web, falling into it along with Joakim. "Don't try to stop us, Mr. Joakim Hans!" Mandeleine said, kicking Joakim; once he had him away, he stepped back. "If Mr. Randy isn't the one to save this world...none of us will be able to be reborn in the next life!"
Joakim clung to a thread when Mandeleine kicked him, then stood on top of the thread. "Are you an idiot?! You dare to believe the man who killed his own leader?!"
However, Mandeleine did not appear upset or surprised by the revelation.
And for some reason, it made Joakim afraid for a moment.
"There was a reason why Miss Layla's second personality appeared despite being on the verge of death, and why she murdered me, Mr. Joakim," Mandeleine's words made Joakim lower his guard for a moment. "You...must think that Miss Layla could never have hurt her…'family'...doesn't that right?"
Of course. Joakim was trying to convince himself that Layla wasn't a cold-blooded killer, but rather...that her second personality was just…Layla's true power. A power she concealed to prevent it from spiraling out of control; however, that power was always directed towards her enemies, never her allies.
She could never have killed Mandeleine just for the sake of it.
"Are you trying to manipulate me? Me? The heir to the magic of Manipulation? Don't make me laugh!"
"I just want to tell you the truth, Joakim," And that froze Joakim. "The night I died, Huoho Marco, that magician...revealed something to me."
Suddenly, Joakim remembered something.
Ji Noo had told him that Marco had something to do with Layla's death, however, Joakim had sincerely doubted it, until now.
Eager to know what really happened, he put his sword away.
"…He told me that the resetter would return to this world, and that we would all die unless Randy died."
Joakim frowned, even thinking that what that man said was real...why was Randy altering what was supposed to be the original story so much? "So why are you helping him instead of killing him? I don't understand why he's doing all this…"
He was even willing to watch his beloved Sherly die. And for what? To die in the end? Why didn't he die with him then?
"Because if Randy is able to change the present...that will mean that in our next life, not only we Rosicrucians, but all of Anarxie will not die the day after Anser kills Randy! We can go on living even if Randy dies!"
Joakim frowned; sacrifice today...to win tomorrow?
"When Randy died in their past lives..." Joakim's monologue began. "…Did the world...die with him?"
Mandeleine nodded. "Randy is...the only variable that hasn't changed throughout the entire story. We live in a draft; Randy hasn't reached the true ending yet, and we don't know how many more lives we need until we get there," Then he looked at the rose. "When Randy dies...our world behaves like a snake biting its tail; the head is the future, and the tail is the past. The snake advances and stretches so fast that it reaches the other end of its body; the future catches up with the past, and that is when the life of all of us repeats itself."
"And do you think that if we change something now, it will be reflected later?" Joakim's tone turned aggressive; he didn't care at all about futures and pasts, he lived in the present. "I want to live in this world, even if it ends in a few hours...I won't let Randy destroy my present just for his utopian future!"
Mandeleine sighed. "Not many people think that way..."
"Anyone who doesn't do it, I'll smash their head in!"
Then, Joakim lunged at Mandeleine, brandishing his sword to try and cut off Mandeleine's head at once, taking advantage of the fact that he was wounded.
"Jeon Kwonoo thinks the same way as Randy."
Joakim stopped, and Mandeleine saw the hesitation in Joakim, managing to penetrate his back with a thread. Joakim cut the thread and went to the other end of the web made with threads.
"What the hell are you talking about? You know that brat is my ally, right?" Joakim said, smiling, although, really, what Mandeleine said baffled him.
Was Ji Noo trying to improve the future instead of living in the present? If so... then why was he fighting Randy?
Mandeleine sensed doubt in Joakim; he had managed to enter his mind. "Jeon Kwonoo's goal is to save Anser Ciro from his own fate, and Randy's goal is to live a 'normal' life in the future, both are fighting against fate, both are seeking a better good...which will not happen in this present, but in the future."
Joakim already knew that Ji Noo was fighting for Anser, but... "You're wrong, if Jeon wins today... his goal will be achieved! He wouldn't necessarily need…" Wouldn't he need to change this world? This world is dangerous, but if he remove the threat causing all this chaos, Randy... wouldn't that be altering the world? "…"
"You realized," Mandeleine stood behind Joakim, already preparing a thread that would pierce Joakim's heart. "Jeon Kwonoo, no, Ji Noo...he really won't do anything different from what Randy will do. Ji Noo will end up altering history, even if we lose...we'll still win, because Ji Noo will alter this story."
Joakim realized that. If everything that's happening now is because of changes in history...why didn't anyone realize that Ji Noo was aiming for exactly that? He was trying to change the entire world, with rules and demons...so that a guy could live comfortably?
All those deaths, all his dead friends...in exchange for just one person? Isn't that selfish? Joakim also wanted to retire, go fishing, see what his sect members were doing with their lives...
"…"
And yet here he is, risking his life for it, and in the end, will Ji Noo be the only one who benefits?
"What if this is the real story? What if this is the true ending Randy is looking for? What if there is no 'next life' after this one?" The question made Mandeleine stop. "Even so, will you win?"
Mandeleine did not know. "It won't happen." But he didn't have to doubt, it was Joakim who had to doubt!
"If the resetter comes, and we all die for it, including Randy... won't everything repeat itself as it was originally meant to be? Isn't it better to wait for the resetter than to wait for Randy to do all the work?"
"No, the resetter is—"
"What if what that guy, 'Marco', implied to you..." Slowly, Joakim turned to look at him. "Do we really have no choice? Are we really going to die either from the resetter, or with Randy dying? We're all going to die anyway, and our life will repeat itself."
Mandeleine frowned.
Joakim smiled.
Doubt.
He grabbed Scalybur, and in a swift cut, he cut off Mandeleine's head, ending Randy's reincarnation spell once and for all. "Trying to make a leader who spends his days warning his men about the enemy doubt himself..." He rose up on the now weak threads, while Mandeleine's body fell from the web of threads he created. "…Isn't that a bit arrogant of you?"
Joakim jumped from the web, going after Mandeleine's body, where she was still holding Karmen's arm with the rose. Once he managed to snatch it away, he kicked Mandeleine's body to the side, and fell to the ground on his feet.
Once he landed...he stood up.
"…" He looked at the rose, gently taking it from Karmen's severed hand. "I suppose my next target will be Ji Noo…" Then he threw the rose to the ground and squashed it with his foot. "Ji Noo…in the end, you were only thinking about yourself? What a surprise! What a fucking surprise!" Then he kicked the rose, the petals flying. "You damned traitor! You damned demon! You wretched, fucking demon, I'm going to kill you with my own hands!"
However, he soon heard a noise among the fallen logs, immediately moving Scalybur behind him; managing to block a hand that was about to hurt him.
"…?!"
He stepped back, then hurriedly pulled out his Identifier; he quickly moved it toward the man who was about to kill him.
[Information Not Available]
"What the hell is that guy supposed to be?" Joakim muttered, tossing his Identifier aside. "Who are you?! Reveal yourself!"
The being in question was a man as pale as a vampire, with red eyes that gleamed in the scant shade cast by the fallen trees, and distinctive white hair with a gradient of red at the tips. Perhaps it was human blood; he stank of blood and decay.
"Heart…" Joakim frowned upon hearing the man's murmur.
He looked more like a starving man than a human being, yet he possessed demonic strength!
"Tsk…so, you're nothing more than a filthy demon?" However, when he tried to use Scalybur's pressure powers...Scalybur did not react; that man did not possess impure energy. "What?"
Someone who killed did not possess impure energy...
"That's a good joke...come on, tell me who you are..."
The man slowly walked towards Joakim, his gaze fixed on him, while a liquid mixed with saliva and blood came out of his mouth.
"■■■■."
That censorship again, a censorship that Joakim didn't understand why it appeared, and yet, it gave him a bad feeling.
"What the fuck…"
Then the man lunged at Joakim, stretching out his blood-stained hands with long claws. "■■■■■■! ■■■…■…■■■?" The man continued speaking things incomprehensible to Joakim, while Joakim blocked him and cut with his sword, but it didn't seem to do much damage.
"Still!" He used his word magic, knocking the man to the ground, as if something very heavy had fallen on him. "What the hell, what the hell...this is bad...I don't seem to be hurting him at all!"
For the first time, Joakim was worried, even a little afraid, but if he really wanted to continue living... he had to get rid of this demon before it reached his men!
"Leadership Skill: All for One, One for all!" He raised his sword, taking advantage of the fact that the man was on the ground, and cut him down with his sword.
The sword buried itself in the man's back, an overload of power so strong that even the ground cracked, causing a crater.
Once the man was buried under the rubble, Joakim moved; he walked away from him. "…" He glanced to the side; Karmen's amputated hand lay on the ground. "…I'm sorry I let you down this time, Karmen."
But there was no time to mourn; the ground shook, and from the rubble, a giant hand emerged, gripping the ground, as something rose.
Joakim stared, completely astonished; the hand of that thing was as big as the town of Anarxie! If it was even bigger... Joakim wouldn't have a chance to kill it until the next day!
"Damn—" But, surprisingly, that was just a trap; the man's hand had already pierced his chest. "…!"
The man's hand held his heart, but with the strength he had left, Joakim grasped Scalybur and shook it, until he managed to cut off the arm with which the man had taken out his heart.
"Come back!" At the command, Joakim's heart returned to his chest, the wound healing, and then, he clicked his tongue. "That was a scare, I thought you were that giant thing, at least with that shape you have... I can kill you faster."
The man remained still, staring at his severed arm, which suddenly grew back. "…" And to Joakim's surprise, the man smiled, lunging at Joakim again.
While Joakim turned his attacks around with Scalybur, he used his other hand to pull a pistol from inside his shirt.
When the man hit Scalybur, Joakim shot him in the head, the man immediately regenerating and running towards Joakim again.
The cycle continued for the next few minutes, the man hurting Joakim, and Joakim healing himself thanks to his magic.
"To be strong, you're stupid…" Joakim said, while looking for a weak point, but...the man didn't seem to be harmed by any bullet anywhere on his body.
Suddenly, the man grabbed Joakim by the neck; Joakim knew he would try to strangle him, so he cut off his arm.
"Ack!" But to Joakim's surprise, the man pulled out his heart again. "Co—" And before he could heal, the man's hand on his neck moved, burying his nail in his throat, penetrating it completely.
Joakim began to bleed out, but before he could even think about dying, he used his last trick up his sleeve.
He muttered something incomprehensible, and suddenly, an unbearable pressure appeared throughout the place, causing both Joakim and the man to fall to the ground.
Both were being crushed by something invisible, so heavy even for Joakim who had lived half his life in a place with that same pressure. However, it was also thanks to the pressure that his body felt that he bled out faster.
With his last seconds of life, he reached his heart, taking it out of the reach of man.
But the man did not allow it.
"…?!"
Despite all the pressure, capable of crushing any human, the man slowly rose from the ground.
It was then that Joakim realized...that this guy was more than just a human and a demon...he was...a god.
"…Goodbye." That was the last thing I heard and saw of the man, before he died.
The pressure did not disappear, and the man lifted Joakim's heart and devoured it, definitively ending his existence.
Then he started walking; he wasn't wandering around, he was going after his next victim, or rather, his next target.
***
A night in which misfortune would strike.
Although, in truth, he had already resigned himself to that a long time ago. "…" He was taking care of Layla J. Everest; she was likely to die soon, so why was Randy trying to save her?
That had surprised him too; he thought that man didn't worry about such things, but perhaps...he misjudged his sect leader?
He wished it was a kind side of his leader, but he was surely up to something.
"Knock knock, who is it?" An unfamiliar voice made him turn around immediately; it was a person with a terrifying smile; shoulder-length black hair. But one thing was obvious: they were not allies. "Wow, that's serious, and I thought you'd be the most mature of them…"
Mandeleine frowned. "What are you doing here? Wasn't it enough that you killed Mr. Sherly...you also cursed Miss Layla?"
"I'm Huoho Marco, and no, I had no idea about that woman's curse, so I'm innocent in that respect!" He said, putting on a child's face, but he looked more like a demon child. "But, if it's between us? I'll accept your help with Hyung to kill the guy with the shield."
Marco's words penetrated Mandeleine's morale very quickly and deeply, and he was shouting at him to kick that guy out.
"But that's not why I came here!" Then he took out a small notebook. "I have a feeling I'm going to be fired soon...so, don't you want to know something very, very secret?"
Mandeleine didn't want to play along, so he ignored him and instead continued giving Layla pure energy.
"Okay, okay! By popular demand...I'll say it!" Then Marco threw the notebook at Mandeleine, where there were scribbles. "All of you will die, not by us...but by the resetter! He will return, and he will take the hearts of those who defied their destiny!"
Mandeleine's gaze fell on Marco, slightly...confused. "It's impossible."
"Nothing is impossible in a purely fictional world...tell me, when you dream, what do you think happens to those lovely dreams of yours? Why is it that you don't remember them when you wake up? It's the same with this story…" Then Marco sat by the open window, looking at his fingernails. "Once it ends, everything will restart, beginning as it will end; if the story begins with the world after the reset, the story will be the world before the reset, and will end when the reset arrives."
Mandeleine moved, going towards Marco, to hand him his little notebook. "It's stupid, if Randy dies, we'll avoid that."
Marco looked at him, took his notebook, and then smiled. "That means there are two paths! The good one is that Randy dies and you're all saved, and the bad one is when the resetter arrives...unbelievable, right?"
Mandeleine knew little that Marco was only playing with him; Marco knew that with either of those two options, both would end the same.
However, playing with the 'innocence' of a broken man like Mandeleine...was better for him than giving a clear answer.
"…!"
Mandeleine suddenly moved, standing in front of Marco; Marco opened his eyes, surprised.
"Hey, apparently your friend already noticed me, huh?" Marco said, more amused than worried, especially when he saw that Mandeleine had been pierced with a spear in order to protect him.
Layla removed the spear, and Mandeleine's body healed itself with his threads. "Miss Layla!" Mandeleine went towards her, but…
"Miss Layla! Have you met my partner yet? Yes! It's this guy! We both worked together...we killed Sherly together, actually!" Marco's words reached Layla directly, and upon hearing that... "Please don't kill him! He's still needed by us...right?"
Actually, Marco had been tasked with 'keeping Mandeleine busy' while Enver, Yanshan, and Hyung went to the third world, but well...Marco considered 'keeping busy' to mean killing the enemy.
So, as Layla lost control, her senses blinded by the curse, and manipulated by Marco's words, she began to stab and scratch Mandeleine with hatred, rage, fear...and sadness.
"The best part about this? It's how easy it is to get inside the human mind, don't you think, Mandeleine? Once you plant the seed of doubt... all you have to do is wait for them to completely lose it." From his pants pocket, Marco took out a small bottle of Enver's poison, throwing it at Mandeleine's body, preventing him from regenerating. "From here on out...you will be of no use to us…"
And once Layla fainted from the effort, but having managed to kill Mandeleine, Marco smiled, satisfied.
"That's it! Good girl..."
He said, walking through the bloody mess, before starting to 'work' on manipulating the grotesque scene into something more...decent.
The foolish song of a bird made him turn to look at Renato.
"Oh, a witness..." He got up and went towards Renato's cage, with a wide smile. "That will be a secret between you and me, right?"
He mocked even more when he saw Renato flapping his wings desperately, trying to escape the cage, perhaps to save Mandeleine, or to attack Marco.
"Stupid bird."
However, without strength or power, it was just what it was, a bird.