PART 10 :-
CLASH AGAINST THE PROBLEM
MC perspective :-
[Erebus attacks a restaurant. Bright and Mini are there.]
"Is he Erebus?" Mini asked me.
"He looks so different, with those black eyes and dark smoke and clouds coming from his body."
"Maybe there's a chance it's someone else using his face. That kind of thing has happened before."
Mini told me.
"We have to stop him. Otherwise, he's going to destroy that shop."
[They both go to face Erebus.]
"Hey—is that you, Erebus? Relax, buddy. There are children inside. Let's talk."
I tried to talk to him.
"You!! There's nothing to talk about anymore."
"There is. You remember—you said I don't understand you. I want to understand you. You can tell me anything. I'm going to listen."
"Where were you when I needed someone to hear my voice?? I tried to live by their rules… I trusted them… and look where it got me. Nobody listens to me. This society avoids me, hates me—wants to kill me. Things like love and kindness don't exist in this reality. Only hate exists. And I'm going to kill that hatred today. If people like us want to live, then we must kill those who can't accept us. This world doesn't need saving… it needs erasing."
"But that's not the solution… by killed other you can't stop the hate towards you."
"Get out of my way." He pushed me aside before I could finish.
"It looks like he's not in a state to understand you, Bright. We need to stop him."
Mini told me.
A black arrow shot forward, aiming to kill the owner and his child.
"Mini, save the child!"
After saying that, I rushed to save the owner. I grabbed him and dodged the attack just in time. He was completely out of his mind now.
"Go and call the Night Watchers immediately!"
"Why are you trying to save someone who disrespected me? What benefit do you get from him?"
"I don't need any reason to save a life."
"You don't have to fight alone. I'm with you."
Mini said that and stood beside me.
"Active all sences!"
What's that. What move she use.
"Now I can sense his every movement and attack."
That's good. We both summoned aura in our hands.
"If you want to die that badly, I'll fulfill your wish."
He came in for an attack. I started with a fire punch, but it wasn't effective against him. Mini hit him with electric bullets, and it damaged him quite a bit. It was obvious—she had trained for much longer than me. But it wasn't enough.
He summoned his dark aura in his hand as well.
"Dark slash!"
His punches came with dark aura. Mini was able to dodge every attack with her senses, and I started using instant dodge movements.
"The amount of aura he's using in his attacks is too much. A normal person would have run out of aura by now."
Mini told me.
"Maybe it's because he's cursed like me. That's why he's so effective."
"What should we do now?"
"We have to keep him under control until the guards arrive. My attacks aren't very effective. You summon your power for a strong attack. Until then, I'll distract him."
I summoned fire again in my hand and went in for an attack. He responded with dark lightning. It was really difficult for me to dodge that attack.
I created a shield of rock using my green aura. Although it broke instantly, it gave me enough time to land my attack on him.
"Fireslash!" I hit him with a fire slash. I created that attack by combining fire and wind, though I haven't fully mastered it yet.
"Bright, I'm ready."
What?! He recovered from that so fast. Mini went in for the attack, but it needed to hit him perfectly. I had to do something.
"Your attack is useless,"
He tried to dodge, but—
"What?!"
Both his hands were suddenly bound by chains. He couldn't move.
It was them—Bond and Dex. They had locked him down from different directions.
"Eco lightning slash!"
It's an attack using electric lightning with water strike. He is down now.
"I sensed both of you a long time ago. Why are you guys so late?"
"At first, we were going to ignore it, but after noticing you two, we stepped in."
Bond replied to Mini's question.
"At least the problem is solved," I said, hoping everything was under control.
"Uh… I don't think so."
Dex said, and we looked at Erebus. His body started growing bigger, turning completely dark, with glowing red eyes.
[The Machimoi group reunites… and now it's Machimoi vs. Erebus—the Darkness.]
......….
PART 11 :-
MACHIMOI GROUP VS EREBUS
Bond perspective :-
[After delivering the boxes to their destination.]
"Uff… finally, it's delivered."
"My hands hurt so much. That guy is pure evil."
"For the first time, I agree with you."
I answered Dex's call.
"Run… run… there's a monster!"
People were running, screaming in fear like they had seen a monster.
"What's going on?!"
"I don't know."
"Hey, you—what's happening here?"
Dex asked a stranger.
"There's a cursed boy who's gone out of control and is trying to destroy everything around him."
After saying that, he ran away.
We looked at each other, and the first thought that came to our minds was Bright. We ran toward where everything was happening.
[After reaching nearby.]
"It's not Bright… then maybe it's Erebus."
"Then maybe it's better if we don't get involved."
"Why?" I asked Dex for a reason.
"Look, if it's not Bright, then we should call the Night Watchers. We're no match for an out-of-control cursed entity."
"Well, you have a point. But what if someone needs help? What if a child is in danger? We can't take that risk."
"Fire slash!"
We heard a voice, and then we saw a wave of fire hit Erebus.
"What was that?!"
We were both surprised.
"Hey, look—Bright and Minidra are there!"
Erebus stood up again. This isn't good.
"Minidra is going in for an attack. It must land perfectly on Erebus. We have to lock him down."
"But how?"
"Look, there's a chain over there. Transfer your aura into it and bind him."
I told Dex what to do.
"Eco Lightning Slash!"
It worked perfectly… and then everything went still.
"What?! What is this?!"
He transformed into a black monster.
......….
MC perspective :-
"That attack didn't work on him either!!"
"Hey guys, it looks like we made him angry."
"Then we just have to stop him."
"Saying it is easy, but doing it isn't."
"We have to fight as a team. Otherwise, we don't stand a chance against him in this form."
Bond told me.
"Then how?"
"Minidra is the only one here who has complete mastery over aura and technique. So you'll go for your strongest attack. Dex and I will distract him, and Bright will assist you."
"But my aura will run out soon."
Mini told us she was at her limit.
"How many attacks will you be able to perform?"
"Maybe just two more vital attacks."
"Let's go with the first plan. If it doesn't work, then in the final phase, we'll all attack together."
Bond and Dex picked up steel bars as their weapons and transferred their aura into them.
"Aaaaa…!"
He screamed and fired dark bullets at us. Both Bond and Dex covered for us.
"Mini, are you okay? Are you ready for this?"
"Yeah."
I covered Mini while the two of them engaged Erebus in close hand-to-hand combat. When he was distracted by them, we combined our attacks and launched them at him.
"FireAirStrike!"
An attack where I combined my fire with her wind, creating a sharp air blade that could cut anything while burning its surroundings.
It landed on him perfectly.
"What do you think? Did it work?"
Dex asked us.
"He stopped moving… maybe we managed to damage him."
"But something feels unusual. It's too quiet."
Bond said that.
"That's not a good sign, everyone…"
Before Mini could finish her sentence, invisible attacks struck us—like unseen bullets hitting our bodies.
"What's happening…?"
Dex asked in a low voice.
"Everyone, cover your ears! It's his curse power—MuteSong. He releases his attacks through silent sound. We can't hear it, but if the vibrations reach our ears, we'll feel the damage. Like his painful memories… we'll suffer them too."
What?! That's not a good sign. Mini's senses were heightened, so it affected her much more than us.
"Bright, what are you doing?!"
I grabbed her tightly and covered her ears with my hands.
"I can't let you get hurt."
"But it's going to affect you!"
"It's okay… this is nothing compared to what I felt in my childhood. There's nothing more painful than that."
It felt like thousands of people were hitting me, stabbing me… it was far worse than I had imagined.
......….
PART 12 :-
VICTORY OR THE FAILURE
[From the shadows, the Night guards observe.]
"Sir, should we go and save them?"
"A guard is no match for that creature. We need a proper warrior—one of our Faris—to take him down."
"But sir, if the situation doesn't change, they might die in the worst case."
"Our priority is saving the princess. We don't care about the others. Most of the high-ranking figures have already been evacuated from the market, and they are safe. So there's nothing to worry about. Wait for the perfect moment."
"Okay, sir."
......….
Bond perspective :-
Why aren't the guards coming?
"Erebus—can you hear me? You have to listen to me!"
"There's no use. He can't sense you. He's completely blank now."
Bright tried to talk to him, but Dex told him it wasn't possible.
If things keep going like this, we have no chance. Bright might fall soon. I have to think of something to stop him.
Wait a minute!!
"Listen, guys—he's filled with dark aura right now. Sagurd told me we can counter one aura with another. Like water counters fire, and earth counters lightning. In the same way, we need light to counter darkness."
"We don't have much aura left. There's no way we can summon enough light. There's no way we can handle him together."
Bright told us, making a valid point.
"Then we have to transfer our aura."
"To whom?"
"We're not in a condition to launch the kind of attack we need. Minidra—you're our only hope."
"No, she's not doing that. She's already exhausted. The guards will be here soon."
"No, Bright… they're not coming."
"What?!"
"I sensed them standing far away in the shadows for a long time. Our lives don't matter to them."
"Then I'll be the one to do it—not you."
"It's okay. I'm not weak."
"I know that, but I can't let you get hurt."
"It's alright, Bright. I'm glad you care about me that much."
"We have to decide. This is going to be our last attack, and it has to be effective. Bright, I know you're concerned, but this is the only way."
I told Bright,
"But what if he dodges that?"
Dex asked.
"The user can't move his body while performing Mute Song. That's the disadvantage he has."
Minidra told us. We all transferred our aura to her. She summoned light into her fist, but the Mute Song was affecting her too much.
Bright held her from behind.
"I won't let you fall. I'm going with you."
Sensing the danger, Erebus intensified his curse power.
They both ran toward him—we couldn't hold on much longer.
"You two, do it quickly!"
Minidra leaped over Erebus and delivered the final strike.
"Lightfall!"
A powerful light punch struck Erebus. The force pushed Minidra away, but Bright caught her perfectly—and finally, the Mute Song ended.
All of us were out of aura. We couldn't even stand. Bright was more injured than any of us because he had been protecting Minidra instead of himself.
The guards appeared.
"Madam, we are here to save you."
"For the sake of God—if any of you touch me, I swear I'll kill you all. You watched this whole mess and did nothing. If anything happens to my friends, I'll make you all pay for it."
She said this while lying on the ground, half-conscious.
"But, madam… their lives are not as valuable as yours—"
Before he could finish his sentence, all of us were suddenly paralyzed. We couldn't move.
It was the same feeling we had experienced years ago in the market.
"Erebus… he's recovering! His dark aura is coming back!!"
"What should we do now, sir? We took him too lightly. Now he's using LivingPrison. A kid using that is impossible."
We were out of power. It looked like our group had failed to stop him.
Is this how it's going to end? Why am I so useless?
[The Machimoi group has lost against Erebus.]
......….