
The battle—if Anna could even call it that—became a one-sided massacre. Thagrin, Jaxon, Samir, and the announcer from day one of the academy were too strong. It ended in less than five minutes after they began clearing the horde.
But that was only the beginning.
“Should we go outside?” Samir asked, softly landing on the rails overlooking the first floor.
Blasts of thunder, blades of green wind, and booming collisions echoed from the floor below.
“No,” Alisha said. She hadn’t fought, and the violet hue from her ability had faded before the fight started. “They don’t know we’re here, and I don’t want them fleeing. Just ensure all of their bodies don’t fly out, okay?”
Otherwise, they might realize there were more people in the library. Thankfully, Samir had some kind of wind spell throwing bodies away from the gate. But he occasionally let some through to avoid suspicion.
“They’ll probably start sending in stronger ones any minute,” Anna added.
“The question, then, is whether they’re stronger corrupted match the Barbarian in strength,” Alisha said.
“Don’t forget barriers!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Alisha looked down. “Barriers…”
“A dreadful development that we can only pray does not leave Sorana,” Samir said. He didn’t wait, jumping off the rails and returning to the first floor.
He moved like a flowing wind, heading to the gate where the battle had been brought.
“Could that be it?” Anna asked. “I mean, if we kill both the sentient corrupted… will the barrier evolution stop here?”
“Most likely not,” Alisha said. “We had reports of the cores growing before Sorana.”
“Even the sentient corrupted?”
“No,” Alisha sighed. “This is a first—but we already know that didn’t stem from Sorana.”
Right.
One of the sentient corrupted was a human. That same being was the one who brought the Barbarian and likely the one who got everything moving. Sorana could very well have been a coincidence. They found out it had Zeruphirin and the library, which made them stay.
“So… it’s likely accur— corrupted with barriers and even with sentience will start becoming common.”
“Unfortunately.”
Anna couldn’t tell how Alisha actually felt about it. She didn’t sound concerned, but she was a high-ranking member of Bastion—a soldier fighting a war.
“What do we do?”
She turned toward Anna, her piercing blue eyes freezing Anna. “We fight, of course.”
“Y-yeah.”
When she said it with that gaze… it was almost like what they were dealing with wasn’t much of a concern at all.
That was why she led people.
Could Anna be like that someday?
Alisha softly laughed as her soft hand landed on Anna’s shoulder. “You’re still far too young to have the weight you bear. But don’t worry, Annabelle, we have never been without hope.”
“The… the weight… I bear?”
She did know about Anna’s apex sigil and maybe even about Anavel! That was obviously what those words meant!
It wasn’t the time to be asking questions about Bastion’s intentions. But god, she wanted answers.
“We have quite the conversation to have, don’t we?” Alisha turned back to the battle by the gate. “But it looks like we’re seeing the stronger ones.”
Anna followed her gaze.
Thagrin was fighting at the front, pretty much killing everything himself with his giant axes and tornado-like slashes. Samir, Jaxon, and the other man were just picking off the pieces.
But there were accursed with a barrier coming through the gate. She saw one of Thagrin’s slashes shatter one as it cleaved the accursed in two.
Powerful Firebolts the size of an average human roared in the air. They were able to form those projectiles before Thagrin could rip them apart.
But there was more.
Abilities Anna had never seen before flashed at the edge of the gate. There was roaring thunder struck instantly, tornados tearing through the floor, drops of water that seemed to create lakes, and humanoid infernos charging forward.
More importantly… many of the new accursed that stepped through the gate had a barrier.
And they were getting stronger.
“Those waypoint stones are absurd,” came the voice of Gromak, who landed on the ground from… the top floor—completely unharmed. “Checked ‘em all out, and they got some ridiculous power.”
“Can you help accelerate it?” Alisha asked.
“Who do you think I am, girlie?”
“A future member of my camp!” came her instant reply, one that only received a snort from Gromak.
That aroused Anna’s curiosity, but what had she not seen that day that hadn’t?
“How long are you gonna keep this up?” Gromak asked. “They could be sendin’ millions—even we will get exhausted eventually.”
“Well…” Alisha tilted her head at the gate. “I’m fairly certain there’s a trap on the other end of that gate—one strong enough to capture Elyanthra.”
“Duh.”
Right… Anna didn’t think of that. But it was a ruthless strategy. If they kept the accursed piling in, they might just force them to leave the library to kill them at the source. The sentient obviously knew that.
It was a good thing they didn’t flee!
“What do we do?” Anna asked.
“There’s a common saying amongst Barbarians,” Alisha said, a mischievous trace to her tone. Anna could feel her smiling behind that mask. “Schemes mean nothing in the face of absolute strength.”
“That…”
That was it? Just brute force it? She was supposed to be a Vanguard, right?
“Fittin’ phrase for the overgrown orcs,” Gromak said. But he wryly chuckled, shaking his head. “But it works, don’t it?”
“Yep! They will come in here themselves, just a matter of—” she stopped as a rustling noise came from behind.
In other words…
“Aria!” Anna ran up to her as Aria groggily lifted her body while rubbing her forehead. Anna aided her, helping her lay her back against the wall behind.
“Wha…” Her amber eyes became like saucers as she registered what was in her vision. “A-Alisha… Gromak?” She rubbed her eyes as though she thought she was dreaming.
Gromak’s smile grew. “Mornin’, girlie.”
“Hey, Aria! Happy to see me?”
“Are you okay? How do you feel?” Anna quickly asked.
“Like… I’m dreaming… an illusion.”
“Nope—all real!” Alisha said. She suddenly knelt and pulled Aria into her arms, earning a jolt from the still somewhat groggy woman.
That made her fully wake up.
“Alisha…” Aria looked like she didn’t know what to do with her hands.
“Even I couldn’t predict what would come of me sending you to Sorana,” Alisha quietly said.
Seeing Aria’s eyes… it was only then that Anna realized how significant of a person Alisha was in her life. She wrapped her arms around Alisha as her eyes wettened. But she quickly shut them to hide it.
It made Anna’s heart warm… and maybe sting just a little bit. She placed her hand atop her chest.
Gromak stood by, too, simply watching. But he couldn’t fool Anna’s senses—he was ecstatic to see her.
“Thank you,” Aria whispered. “If you didn’t send me… Annabelle would have—”
“I did what I knew would be best for you, Aria.” Alisha interrupted. “And I see that my decision was not incorrect.”
Anna would have died that day.
If Aria didn’t wake up when she did—if she was never there in the first place—Anna would have been killed in that cave.
Aria nodded. “I’m stronger—Annabelle is stronger. We… we’ve grown.”
Alisha slowly released Aria from her grasp but kept her hands on her shoulders. She looked over her body like a parent who saw how much their child had grown. It hadn’t been that long, but so much had happened.
“I know, Aria,” Alisha said. She released her hands and stood up, backing away a few steps to allow the other reunion.
Gromak immediately took her place, offering Aria a hand. “Girlie, look at you now.”
“Gromak!” Aria took his hand and used it to stand. But she still needed to use the wall for stabilization.
“I’m not a hugger, but I’m glad to see you’re alright girlie,” Gromak said, a big grin on his face. “More than alright, I’d say.”
Aria wiped her eyes. “We never stopped training.”
“As expected of you!” Gromak patted her shoulder a few times. “You’ve overcome the chains that tried to bind you and leaped ahead.”
“Yes—I am… strong.”
“Yeah, but about that…” Gromak’s eyes went to her head.
That was not the time to be bringing that up.
“Aria, how are you feeling?” Anna interrupted, moving before Aria once again. “You used stage two, right? We don’t know what that does to your body.” Once the words came out, Anna felt her eyes get wet. “You… you even tried to go to stage three! You were so damn reckless! If… if you had died down there—”
Instead, she just found herself in Aria’s arms.
“I’m fine.”
A lie—the ramifications of going up a stage were absolute. There was no way to avoid it and no method to nullify it.
She sniffled, biting back the tears that threatened to spill.
“We’re… we’re fine now, Aria—everyone is here.”
“I know.”
“Thagrin killed the Barbarian, and they’re fighting by the gate right now.”
“I can hear it.”
Anna briefly giggled. “Yeah, they’re not exactly subtle.”
Fiery explosions, cracking ice, roaring thunder, and crumbling Earth; there were all kinds of sounds resounding from behind.
But all of it had faded from Anna’s ears as her focus stayed on who was before her.
Aria released Anna and tried to step forward… but it was a shaky step.
“Aria, what’s wrong?” Alisha asked. There was no mischievousness or smile in that tone. “We saw your ability, but what is it doing to you?”
“What are the aftereffects?” Anna asked as she offered Aria her hand as an aid.
They walked to the front rail.
“Physically… I’m recovering quickly,” Aria said, her eyes glued to the battle by the gate. “But my mana is unstable and… weak.”
That was almost exactly what Anna felt when she exhausted her mana in that chamber.
“What does that mean, girlie?”
“Like… it’s trying to fix something. And it feels like I would not get as much power from it as I would before.”
“Boost?” Alisha asked, but she didn’t sound confident in her answer. “But that wouldn’t explain the weak mana. That ability only makes you physically weak for a bit when you go up a stage.”
“It’s not boost,” Anna said. “Aria, can you feel it recovering?”
“Yes.”
Anna released a breath of relief—that was what mattered. Of course, ignoring that slight indentation on Aria’s head…
“So, you’re just going to be temporarily weaker.”
“I think so.”
Thank god Alisha and her people were there.
“Girlies, you’re hidin’ somethin’ from us,” Gromak said.
“Elyanthra didn’t say anything about you guys, so we’re completely in the dark,” Alisha added. “But we aren’t stupid—something’s up, isn’t it?”
Aria exchanged a glance with Anna.
“I don’t want to talk about it until we’re done,” Anna said. “But, yes—we have a lot to share.”
“Yes,” Aria said, nodding. “It is not bad.”
“I’d hardly call—”
“We’ll talk about it later!” Anna interrupted Gromak. She wanted to tell him, but that would be a heavy discussion!
Alisha chuckled, wryly shaking her head. “Fine, fine.” She turned her gaze to the first floor. “In the meantime, I expect we will be seeing the sentient—” she stopped.
Gromak reacted, too—his body tensed as his gaze darted around.
A sharp, cold shiver ran through Anna’s spine, a feeling she recognized.
“Anna—” Aria started, reaching for her.
“With me around? Arrogant fools,” Alisha darkly said. She reacted even faster, a purple hue drowning the vicinity.
But it was already too late—whatever appeared beneath Anna was beyond even that power.
The ground beneath her twisted and darkened, a void tearing open without warning. It moved too quickly for anyone to react, a shadowy maw swallowing her whole instantly.
One moment, she was there, her hand starting to reach out toward Aria, and the next, she was gone. It hadn’t even been a second.
The sound of the space collapsing was deafening—a sharp, unnatural crack reverberating through the air.
Silence followed.
But she could still hear beyond…
“Anna!” Aria’s voice rang out, filled with fury and desperation. She lunged toward the space where Anna had been.
“Aria!” Anna shouted. She could see her, but it felt like she was underneath them!
“Slimy bastard!” Gromak roared, a shining bronze ring around his forehead and a large hammer above his head. The hammer slammed into the ground, even damaging the library floors with its metallic clang as a pulse extended from its impact point.
But it didn’t do anything.
Whatever had taken Anna was beyond their reach.
“An artifact,” she heard Alisha say, her tone grim. “They used an artifact. Why?”
“Doesn't matter. We need to find her, now!” Gromak shouted.
Anna saw Aria collapse onto her knees, her desperate eyes locked to where Anna disappeared.
“We'll tear this whole planet apart,” Alisha darkly said, her fists tightly clenched by her side. She moved immediately after, jumping off the floor with Gromak closely behind.
Then, the void pulled on Anna once more.
She wasn’t in the library anymore.
TFTC!
Why did she not use her apex sigil at end ?
On Aria or against the Barbarian?
She didn't do it on Aria because she didn't find it worthwhile. It doesn't make either of them stronger.
As for using it on the Barbarian? Because her apex sigil doesn't let her combine with just anyone. We haven't explored the entire mechanism behind it, but we know that if the subject doesn't wholly consent, their souls will battle for the body. There is a high, unpredictable chance that Anna will die.
Edit, in case you meant the hole: The whole thing with the hole happened in a few seconds. She couldn't have used her apex sigil to escape in time since that takes a few seconds to activate and latch on to someone.