A Story of Evil

Chapter 120: Preparations II

The preparations for the upcoming fight continued with everyone working their hardest. This became a big factor in speeding up all that needed to be done. Creating the desired output on the expected date.

Hence,  three days passed. With the walls finally being finished. This was all the team could afford though. They were not able to add watchtowers on top of the newly constructed walls anymore. Lilia simply settled on placing the weaponry there for the moment.Thinking of tidying things up as soon as the next order of business was done with. That is, the activation of [Michael].

Hence, King Jubilee, Lilia, Sol and Alice flew towards the teleportation area. One which was placed in a secluded area which only the king could access. A spot which  is still within the newly established lands outside the domains. And since there was some time, Sol decided to ask some questions.

"My liege, excuse me for asking but, what is this [Michael] anyway?"

"Yeah, we've been working for days but neither of us knows of what it is." Alice added.

"Oh that's right, I haven't told anything about it to you guys yet huh? Let's see now" King Jubilee began scratching his chin. Thinking of the best answer he could provide at that moment.

"If one was to define what it is, it could be called as a barrier in simple terms.  However, it's actually more sophisticated than this. 

"A barrier? Just like the ones used on the ten domains?"

"Precisely!" King Jubilee remarked, with Lilia continuing from where he left off.

"Actually, the reason why King Jubilee commanded the deactivation of the barriers on all of the domains was actually because, he needed to collect the runes placed on these."

"Wait, you can actually do that?" Alice asked in surprise.

"Normally no. It's not something we humans are capable of doing. But, because of Pandora, this was made possible." Lilia began.

"So Pandora passed down the knowledge on how to extract runes?"

"Yeah, although it was quite difficult to learn." Jubilee said in reply, remembering that he required the use of [S.W.] just to do this.

"Unlike spells casted by humans and monsters, the runes on buildings are like enchantments with the mana used on it lingering. Thus, the ones used on the domains are extra special because, it is the Seraphims who placed this." Jubilee furthered, making it Lilia's turn to speak again.

"By collecting all of that. Reverse engineering it and, adding more mana to it, we can turn it into something better. Rather than just being a barrier for the chaos air and for weak monsters, Jubilee and I made sure that it's strong enough to withstand any form of attack."

"How strong are we talking about?" Sol asked.

"Theoretically, it can even handle the full breath of a dragon."

"A dragon?!?" Alice exclaimed, as if the idea was too grand to grasp.

"Yup. That's why we need it now. We can expect that some form of heavy retaliation will be done after taking out someone of high ranking." King Jubilee said in reply.

"But where did you put it?"

"Where else? It's in Pandora's Core."

"What?" 

"Unfortunately, although we can deactivate the said rune barrier and collect the runes, humans cannot reactivate it. Only Seraphims have command over the runes they create and so, she is the key we'll use in order to do so." King Jubilee said and following up by saying:

"That's the end of the questions. We're finally here."

The group descended in the middle of another huge garden. One which had the trees growing to full length. Making it difficult to see anything from above. As soon as they got through the thick multitude of leaves and branches, they saw nothing but grass below. 

"Hey Sol."

"Yeah?"

"I don't see anything here. You think that [Michael] thing is invisible?"

"Beats me. Let's just wait and see." The boy said in reply as they watched King Jubilee walk a few meters away from them.

There was a short moment of silence. One where only the rustling of the leaves brought by the evening breeze was heard. That is, until King Jubilee began to speak.

"Ethereal Doorway."

The trees shook even more violently and the winds began howling. Sol and Alice saw the shadows slither their way toward the King's location. Circling just bellow him and extending larger with each passing second.

Sol and Alice felt a cold shudder hit them as this happened. Almost evil and malevolent yet, this ended as soon as it was felt. Making them forget of the ordeal altogether as, they watched the next phase of what King Jubilee was doing.

The shadows below him began rising and, slowly turned into runes. One by one this moved in front of the king. Sticking together once again. Melting as they bound together. Until, after three more minutes, it turned into a shadowy doorway.

"Alright, it's done." King Jubilee said. Moving back to where everyone else was and leaving the ominous door in place.

"Are we going to step inside of that?" Alice asked, wanting nothing to do with the thing in front of them.

"No. of course not." King Jubilee said with a grin on his face, relieving Alice as the Void king furthered:

"Pandora will come out of it." 

There was not even any time for Alice to process what was just said. The door began creaking open, revealing nothing but pure darkness from the other side. Until a whole arm, devoid of any blood in its whiteness came out. Pushing the door even further as a full figure finally came out.  Revealing a human form of the Seraphim Pandora.

"She can do that?!?" Alice exclaimed, the same thing which Sol would've done if he didn't have [Cold Blooded]

"A lot of stuff happened during these past five months you know. We didn't sit idly by while you risked your lives for the domains." Lilia replied, giving a reassuring smile to Alice.

"But she looks different. Is that really her my liege?" Sol asked, remembering exactly how the Seraphim looked like whenever he visited her domain.

"Of course it's me silly. The one and only Shadoweaver in the flesh!" Pandora gleefully answered. Having her nose bleed and wiping it right away.

"This is just a temporary shell. My real body is still a mess and, there's no way I'm getting out of there I think. This is just until we activated [Michael]."

"Yeah about that. I don't see any sort of machine here. How are we starting [Michael] exactly?" Alice asked.

"Of course there won't be any machine. That's just how we refer to all the runes placed on the new wall. All we need now is for me to activate it. So, shall we begin?"

"After you." King Jubilee said as the door shifted in appearance once again. Turning into a staff which the Seraphim held and thus, the activation began.

All the shadows within the area gathered around them. Stealing it from every entity that was nearby. Sol and Alice felt pressure beyond anything they ever experienced. Stronger than that of Herald.

Wings started sprouting out of Pandora's back. Made of nothing but the shadows that began growing more and more. Increasing in number until there were six. With the Seraphim floating in mid air as the staff she held to finally dissolved into runes once again.

Gradually, the runes lighted up. With each being a different symbol. All spiraling around the Seraphim. Until, finally, with all of these completely lightning up, Pandora released them.

Each rune flew to the wall. Sticking at an equal distance away from all the rest. As soon as these made contact, the walls glowed in a sun like yellow. With lines showing up and moving all around the structure. This continued going on, with the barrier slowly rising from the ground up. In a shade that was easy for everyone to see.

Meanwhile, Pandora continued chanting. Her body slowly breaking down. Literally. As her skin started peeling and her veins began to show. With her shadows keeping her body parts in place until the whole ordeal could be finished. 

She screamed from the immensity of the pain that went along with it. With Sol and Alice thinking that she might not even be able to hold on.

But she did.

After five excruciating minutes., [Michael]w as finally finished. Securing everyone just in time because, at that exact moment, the monsters finally reached them.