The End Of The Simulation
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Chapter XVII - The End Of The Simulation

The final bit of land the siblings hadn't touched yet was the crater directly outside the city.

While people would think of a crater as something catastrophically huge the moment they heard it, this crater in question was only about 200 or so meters wide. 

The siblings had purposely avoided the crater due to the large mana fluctuations emanating from it. There was bound to be something sinister hiding inside its rocky surface.

But with nothing to lose, they fearlessly headed for the gaping hole in the earth. 

***

"Why, you…" Shrugging off a blow a beast inflicted on him, Lucas returned the favor twice, driving his fist into the monster's skull. 

"Are you all done over here?" Lena's voice came up from behind him. It sounded raspy and a bit hoarse. 

"Yeah. What about you? You don't look too good." 

"Slight mana exhaustion. Don't worry, I'll get back to perfect shape once I refill my Core."

Lena did not bother cutting corners with her spells and had gone for the fastest way to kill the beasts. 

It was only natural, of course, as the ones here were much stronger than the ones back in the main city. 

"Still, when Kenneth told me the beasts here were much stronger than the ones before, I didn't think the scaling in power would be this huge." Lucas began wiping off the bits and pieces of monster flesh stuck to his clothes. 

"Where is he, anyway?" He asked Lena. 

"Little brother should be with Tyrone. He had to take a bit of time to recharge himself, so it's understandable for them to be behind by a fair distance." 

"Uh-huh. Go ahead then, why don't you head back and help Tyrone escort Kenneth over here?" The last half of Lucas' sentence carried a hint of seriousness in it, which his sister did not miss. 

Nodding her head, she Blinked out of the area. 

"Grh… hold on. I've got to stretch." Feeling the ground beneath him starting to shake, Lucas leapt out of the way just in time for a worm, similar to the one he had fought earlier appeared. 

"You sure brought your friends with you, huh? I guess I just have to hold on for a bit, so it won't be too much of a bother. Come on!" 

***

While on their way to the crater, Kenneth had always been connected to his siblings via Mind Link. Whenever he needed to relay information, a second or two was all it would take for him to do so. 

Yet now, why wasn't his Link working? 

"I can tell, this isn't like earlier. There's no static noises." 

Kenneth had figured out that his Mind Link operated on a certain factor, which was distance. The closer he was to his target, the more "clear" his connection with them would be. 

But he had made sure he and Tyrone were always in the five hundred meter range. Kenneth noted this as the "safe" distance. 

As long as he was within half a kilometer of his target, he could willingly transfer a part of his consciousness outside his body and send it to said person. There would be no issues during the process. 

He was sure he was somewhere between the six to seven hundred meter range. While this was a fair bit farther than he would've hoped, it wasn't so far that he would be unable to start the Link. 

Which meant this was caused by some outside interference. 

"Is it another one of those Jamming Birds? I don't think I can afford having Tyrone as my AA gun any longer." Kenneth looked to his dog, who was resting on a nearby concrete wall. 

"But it seems too strong to be a Jamming Bird. I'm literally unable to even start the Link without receiving a mild headache." 

"And most of all, there's not even a single peep." Kenneth turned around, just to make sure. 

He was right. The clear sky harbored no dangerous beasts in his line of sight, and the air was devoid of any sound, other than his own voice and Tyrone's snores. 

"What could it be…" 

***

"That's odd. Kenneth and Tyrone should only be a short distance away from us, but why can't I see them?"

Blinking through the remains of the broken buildings, Lena made her way towards where she last felt her brother's mana signature. 

It was faint, but she could still sense his mark in the surroundings. 

*crack* 

Spotting a hole in the wall beside her beginning to form, Lena Blinked away just in time for a part of the building to be forced out. 

Dozens of oversized insects crawled out of the hole in the wall and made their way towards Lena. With their numbers and size, they were able to surround her in a circle. 

Each of the insects had two large forearms that stretched off the sides of their body. Their claws were shaped like that of a lobster and had spikes running down the interior. 

Using their lengthy limbs, the insects stretched their two arms together to form a small arc that soon merged with the others to form a circular shield that acted as a barrier around Lena. 

"This shouldn't be too hard. A Light Beam should blast these guys backward." 

The latter was what would've happened if Lena was in her peak form. 

Unfortunately for her, the moment the insects appeared, she started feeling like there was a barrier placed on her Mana Core, preventing her from releasing her full power.

If one was to imagine the mana in her body flowing through her veins, then there would be a small but sturdy wall that sealed off a large area, leaving a small hole for the mana to pass through.

"In that case… a Blink should work…?"

Her words were cut short as Lena felt her legs weakening. The mana that was able to flow there felt so minimal that she might've as well not used it. 

The insects looked like they wouldn't be moving anytime soon after a short observation. But the problem was her limited mana output. 

"Why aren't they attacking? Is their goal something else?" 

No matter how much she fired her spells, they didn't seem to do much against the seemingly impenetrable wall made of insects. 

She had thought of using her mana to form another light sword in her hands, but the weakening feeling she felt on her body said otherwise. It would be a waste of mana to use something that strong when she probably wouldn't be able to bring out half of her power. 

"I guess I'll have to use this here. I was saving it for later since Kenneth wanted to see it…" Looking at her opened palm, she clenched it into a fist before chanting the spell with all her mind. 

Once the circular ball of light had revealed itself in her enclosed hand, Lena stared at the wall of insects surrounding her. They did not show the slightest bit of intention to move, even after the spell she had created. 

Without another word spoken, she threw the Flashbang directly above her head. 

*bang!*

The deafening sound of the ball exploding erupted upon the area, masking the insects' cries of pain that ensued. 

But amongst the insects' screams, Lena heard one distinct sound. And it was one Kenneth had told her about before. 

"That familiar screech… there's a Jamming Bird nearby, isn't there?" Turning her body in the direction of the bird's cries, Lena took advantage of the insects who were still blinded by the burst of light from earlier, and Blinked away.

"I knew it!"

There was no more feeling of weakness in Lena's body, allowing her to Blink out of the insect circle and follow the source of the sound. 

"I know you're here! I don't need to see you to defeat you!" 

While she somehow wasn't able to see the body of the bird, she could hear its all too familiar cries close by. And now that she wasn't restricted like earlier, she was free to blast the whole area in numerous Light Beams, hoping for one of them to make contact.

A short while after Lena had begun casting her Light Beam onslaught, the whole place was now up in flames. Objects that weren't supposed to be flammable burned as harshly as those that were. 

And in the middle of the chaos she heard one last cry, louder than the one from before, and a silence after it. 

Amidst the burning flames, Lena felt many more mana signatures, all belonging to beasts. 

And when she turned around, they were there. 

It was odd. When she tried to steal a glance at the beasts in question, she could not maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds before their bodies began looking blurry in her eyes. 

Their appearances looked hazy, and their screeches would change tones.

"I don't understand why this is happening, but now that there's no restraints on my magic, I should take this opportunity to meet up with Kenneth."

Not bothering to stare at the beasts any longer, she Blinked out of the area, heading for the faint mana sign she had last felt earlier. 

***

"Oh… that's odd. That weakening feeling seems to be subsiding. I wonder what happened." 

Taking deep breaths, Kenneth found that the mana was able to circulate around his body much quicker and easier. There was no more obstructing feeling that prevented him from bringing out his full power. 

Tyrone seemed well off, too. The dog too felt the same debilitating feeling as his master, just that he wasn't as affected as the baby. 

"I don't get it, but now that I can cast my spells, then maybe my Link should work. Give me a minute to contact my siblings, Tyrone."

After a few minutes, Kenneth was successful in connecting him and his siblings. Lena's mana print was not far away from his location, and so the two of them headed for her. 

"There you are! What happened, and how did you two get split up from us?" 

"I don't know either, actually. I clearly remember walking behind you, but when I turned my gaze back, I noticed you were gone." 

"I see… Maybe its the same thing? Did you feel your powers weakening as well?"

"Oh, you too? Yeah. I figured it was another one of those Jamming Birds, but I didn't hear a single peep."

"I had to fight a whole group of them, you know! There were dozens of birds there! I think there was even one that could affect your senses."

"There's a bird that affects your senses? Why? Were you, like… unable to see?"

"No, not to that extent. But their bodies were very blurry. I couldn't stare at them for too long because I felt something odd about it." 

"It's probably a type of Bird species I haven't read about yet, because I don't recall hearing anything related to a bird that uses sensory weakening spells."

"But enough of that. Why don't we continue on? You left Lucas somewhere near the edge of the crater, no?" 

"I did. He said he could handle his own, so I left him to do his thing. Come on, I'll lead you to him!" 

This time the three of them had stayed within each other's line of sight. If anything had tried to launch an ambush, they would know immediately.

Soon they reached Lucas, who was calmly resting beside a slanted boulder. It looked like it would tip over at any moment, but he spared no energy and rested his entire body onto it. 

"We're back. How's your "back" doing?" Kenneth started, cracking a joke. 

"Ah, it's fine. Hurts like hell though. If I could find a better place to put it, I would've done so."

"What happened here, anyway? The place looks a bit… bloody." 

"Ah, just some grunts that wouldn't give up. How about you guys?"

"Same here. We both ran into an issue concerning some birds, but everything worked out well in the end." 

"I never really did get to see your Flashbang in action," Kenneth continued. "But with what just happened, I think I'm good." 

"You sure? I wouldn't mind heading further, if even for just a little bit."

"Nah. It'd be a different story if those birds didn't mess up our plan and derail us from the original objective, but I think we've gained enough experience from this, don't you think so?" 

"I agree with Kenneth. You must be tired as well, Lena."

"Well… fine. Let's head on back then." 

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