SL Chapter 24 Escape
The establishment, no- the ground beneath their feet trembled, causing many of the customers to fall off their chairs, with Bora, who instantly used her spiritual energy to keep herself from falling off her chair, wondering why an earthquake would appear just at this time when it had never happened before within this world. Had something shifted, or was it an update of the servers?
The tremors only lasted for a few seconds before coming to a stop, yet had left behind many bewildered people. Bora observed those that were supposed to be the inhabitants of this world closely, and found something deeply unsettling. Each and everyone of them, was slumped over, as if dead, yet their bodies were anything but.
"Iris! I think we need to take a look at the situation outside." spoke Bora. This entire situation was making her nervous.
"Where is the log out button?!" A bewildered voice pierced through the veil of silence that had settled upon the place, attracting each and everyone's attention. Bora decided to take that time to check her status, with her face paling a few shades upon confirming that the presence of the log out tab had vanished from her menu. As a Spirit Lord, she could try to awaken herself because she could feel her body, even in this world, but because she was uncertain of the consequences that might arise with that, she chose to keep that as a last resort. She exchanged glances with Iris, upon which they both nodded before simultaneously standing up and walking out the establishment.
"Why are you following us?" asked an irritated Iris, causing Bora to stop in place and look at the other woman. There was panic on her face. She was trying very hard to hold it together, but as a pampered brat, the signs were too obvious to skip. Her two cronies had also stuck around, which wasn't ideal in this situation.
"Should we try whether right now you could be logged out the moment one of you dies?" Bora asked with a cold voice and expression. The two cronies shivered.
"C-come now sister. Shouldn't we stick together during this period? Surely you must know that there is merit in numbers. With the chaos about to descend, we weak women need to stick together."
"Oh please! Which part of you is weak? You are a fully fledged Spirit Lord. And last I checked, our powers can be used in this world! Bug off!" shouted out Iris.
Bora had gotten silent, gazing at the trio before her with contemplative eyes. If this was about to devolve into chaos, then they needed bodies that they could sacrifice in case of something bad happening. They were volunteers they could use to test out some things in the future... If Bo-ram died though, that might prove to be troublesome, but her cronies, as far as she could remember, weren't from any truly prominent families. Meaning, they could be sacrificed.
"Let's go." Bora finally said, though not before exchanging a glance with Iris filled with hidden meaning.
They traversed the monolith's corridors, coming across signs of chaos mixed in with bodies of the natives. At one point Bora acted to kill a man who had been about to rape one of the unconscious natives. This was the ugly nature of humanity in its full form.
"If I may be so bold as to ask, what's the plan?" asked Bo-ram.
"To get out of the monolith. Such a cramped space wouldn't be good if something were to go awry. Have some common sense!" berated Iris.
"Your status doesn't allow you to speak directly to me. I could have you killed and your boss wouldn't be able to save you." threatened Bo-ram.
"You could try. But we both know that only your brother can save you in case of any mishap. And I don't see him anywhere near here. Do you?" Bora didn't fail to catch the menacing grin on her friends face, or the paling of Bo-ram's face at those words. She even put almost a meter of distance between them to hung back with her equally intimidated cronies.
"Do we really need these people?" whispered Iris.
"They might come in handy should a dangerous situation manifest itself. We might need all the bodies we can get."
This wasn't because she was callous, but because the world, her world, had always been this way. Bo-ram and her brother hadn't been the only ones to viciously attack her at every turn. There had been others among her siblings who had also attempted many things. Even now, she still had nightmares about some of those things. And most of them had happened when she had been younger.
After a few minutes of navigating through the monolithic structure, they finally burst out into the streets, where their attires changed to match the medieval nature of the outside world. Bora narrowed her eyes on the ongoing chaos around her. Because of the unnatural fainting of the natives, there had been many collisions on the road, with some of the beasts pulling the carriages themselves, dying straight away. People were brawling, stealing, raping, and everything else. It was a scene that had frozen her in place, one she had thought, she would be capable of shrugging off. Yet in reality, it couldn't be brushed aside that easily.
(Dear citizens, if you want to log out, you will have to make your way outside the city gates... And it won't be an easy endeavor since there will be obstacles in your way. Enjoy!)
"What the hell are those people thinking?!" shrieked Bo-ram.
something
Bora felt an oncoming headache. Maintaining calmness after listening to those words was she was struggling to maintain. She balled her hands into fists and clenched, trying to prevent herself from shaking like a leaf in the wind. This... Was simply too overwhelming.
"We should contact those people outside." Iris' words cut through the fog that had been about to envelop her mind like a knife. How could she have forgotten about them? About her safety? Wasn't this a God given chance for her traitor to strike?
A few minutes later, after arranging everything, a sigh of relief was released from her, with most of the tension leaving her. Now all she needed to do was reach the city gates. Considering they were in the northern district, exiting through the corresponding gate was the only option.
'I need to survive this. Bo-ram is going to be a problem. She will be able to inform her brother of my whereabouts, thereby increasing the chances of attaining my mother's Spiritual Vestige. What should I do with her?' wondered Bora. She was now going to fully focus on the task at hand. Which was getting out of the city. What was interesting about this virtual world was the fact that all of humanity capable of logging in, had ended up in this city, with a very small percentage having attempted to make their way outside of it.
"W-Wh-What is this? The water is floating? For real! Am I really controlling it?!"
An exclamation from one of the men made Bora swivel her head towards the person. She became momentarily dazed by the scene before trying to search for the true culprit hidden within the crowds, yet, no one was acting suspicious. So, she poured some of her spiritual energy into her eyes and became stunned at that very moment.
Everyone! That's right! Everyone, from the unconscious natives to the humans, were radiating with spiritual energy, a sign that they had just awakened, or were in the middle of awakening.
"Is this a virtual event of some sort?" wondered Iris.
"No, their auras feel genuine. What is the owner of this world truly up to?" said Bora before picking the Northern direction and starting sprinting, then leaping onto one of the fallen carriages, one whose opulence designated the person inside as some sort of noble from outside the city, a native.
"Iris, let's go." with that order, Bora leapt to the next fallen carriage, and like that, they managed to traverse a couple hundred meters before something happened, something unexpected. Something that made her eyes widen to their limits.
"Is that... a vampire?" disbelief was thick within Bo-ram's voice when she spoke.
Yet, before anyone could answer her, something lunged towards Bora from her right side. And when she caught it from the corner of her eyes, it flickered for a moment...
'Everything I see is an illusion'
With that simple phrase, the lunging figure passed through her body after which it regained its form in reality a second later, with the prepared Bora instantly capturing its foot and punching a hole through its back, whereupon it lost all signs of life and fell onto the cracked pavement.
"This is most definitely a werewolf. Are these kinds of transformations going to be limited to the natives?" wondered Iris aloud.
"What we do know is the fact that the natives have become feral after awakening. Their rationality and sapience is being suppressed." analyzed Bora while gazing at the rampaging vampire.