【Story】Underground Chapter 1: Swamp of Grudge
Ch. 1 Swamp of Grudge
Part 1
“Color of Wraiths”
Enoch and his fellows went deep underground to the heart of the Mech City, where the residential area of Machinas was situated. Metal cottages of different sizes were everywhere. Green lawns were paved between the houses to show their ingenuity.
This beautiful place, however, was war-torn, covered with destroyed buildings and withered plants; skulls and broken mechanical limbs were lying on the passages.
Xilocient: This is…a disaster…What have they done?
Enoch: I…don’t know…Perhaps I just don’t understand it…No, even if I do, I…
Ingrid: Hey you two! Would you quit racking your brain on the things beyond your comprehension? Endor and Duncan have found the way down. Let’s get going.
Urged by Ingrid, Enoch and Xilocient headed to the center of the residential area, a spacious square for functional purposes. The bottom looked as if it was painted with pitch black oil, expressing a deep and bottomless gloom.
Duncan: Down we go across the square. Let’s take a detour from above.
Enoch: Alright! The passage is narrow. Be careful.
Walking around the spiral corridor at the top of the square, Enoch could not help but keep looking at the bottom. An ominous feeling surged in his heart owing to the darkness.
Enoch: “Hm? Something is coming out…targeting Xilocient! I have to protect her!”
Xilocient: Ahh!
Enoch: Emm!
Ingrid: That was…a wraith! It possessed Enoch!
Haunted by timeless pain and sorrow in a moment, Enoch could feel an immense yet nerve-racking sense of solitude corrupting his mind. In agony, he covered his head to let out a hysterical shout. Then two figures surrounded Enoch and conjured their power.
Duncan: Souls of terra and mother nature, may you listen to my call and lend me your strength to manifest the life cycle!
Endor: Allow me to take all your hesitation, fear and anxiety. You shall have your own nature, and your soul will pass down under the laws.
Wraith: Urgh…
As Duncan and Endor prayed, the wraith was exorcised from Enoch’s body and eventually vanished with the blessings of necromancer and druid. Getting rid of the possession, Enoch knelt down on his knee in gasps. Then, Ingrid and Xilocient came to help at once.
Xilocient: Principal, take some mint. It makes you feel better.
Enoch: …Thank you. The wraith was purified in a short time thanks to Endor and Duncan, so I’m good.
Ingrid: Humph, it was careless of you to be possessed by the wraith so easily.
Xilocient: Ingrid, don’t blame the principal. He just wanted to protect me. It was all my fault…
The guiltiness of Xilocient made Ingrid put away her stern attitude. She touched Xilocient’s head gently and comforted her in a rare, gentle voice.
Ingrid: I understand, so don’t blame yourself anymore, Xilocient.
Enoch: Uh…I can see the discrimination…
Ingrid: What did you just say?
When Ingrid glared at Enoch, he kept shaking his head to deny. So apparently Ingrid won the talk, and her bright smile had stolen Enoch’s heart, which began to beat faster in an instant. Such peculiar sense of tingling caught Enoch off guard, who was blushing with his hands in sweat.
Enoch: “The feeling is exactly the same as my voyage to the North last time. Why do I have such a strange emotion when I see Ingrid laugh?”
Xilocient: Enoch, didn’t you just say you’re alright? Your face looks red. Are you having a fever?
Enoch: Oh! I’m fine. Back when I was possessed, the wraith left its inner emotions and memories to me. I just feel a bit uncomfortable…
Endor: Usually wraiths are not aggressive towards mortals. I could feel that spirit was having an extreme fear at that moment. So what was it afraid of?
Enoch: …This.
Enoch pointed his finger at the pitch black bottom of the square. At the same time, he raised his wand to cast a fireball, lighting up the torches nearby.
Under the light, that pool of darkness was creeping. Its slimy surface was covered with painful and twisted faces. Those were the real faces of the wraiths.
Part 2
“Unignorable”
Trapped in the darkness, the wraiths were struggling to escape, but their effort was all in vain. Soon some were dragged down by other wraiths beneath, and then the next batch repeated again, as if they were stuck in an endless nightmare.
Ingrid: It’s horrible. This is completely a swamp of the dead…If the world ever had a purgatory, that would be the place…
Xilocient: …Why are they trapped?
Endor: …The wraiths are confined by some kind of mighty yet dark existence. They’re bound to be engulfed by this everlasting curse…
Xilocient: That’s too much for them…
Ingrid: I sympathize with them, but this thing is beyond our strength to resolve…As long as we take a detour from above, we can skip this swamp and head to the underground…Enoch, what do you think?
Enoch: I…
Enoch: “Ingrid is right that we don’t have spare time to handle the wraiths. Even if we did it, our energy would be depleted. In the face of unknown dangers ahead, saving stamina seems to be the right thing to do…”
Enoch: …But I can’t leave the wraiths behind to suffer. I just can’t do it!
Ingrid: …Pfff! I knew it! Enoch is such a doormat.
Ingrid seemed to be mocking at him, however Enoch simply could not take his eyes off her, whose face was brightened up by her lovely smile. Enoch had already lost count of the times he had held his breath for Ingrid’s beam.
Gazing at her captivating heterochromatic eyes, Enoch got a feeling that Ingrid had held back from telling him of her own thoughts, and somehow he wished Ingrid could be frank with him.
Ingrid: What are you doing!
Not until then did Enoch realize that his arm was wrapping around Ingrid’s neck; her face and his chest were so close at hand that Ingrid could possibly hear his thundery heartbeat had she been an inch closer. While Enoch stepped back abruptly to sort his mind out, he was unaware that Ingrid’s blushing cheeks were as red as roses.
Enoch: Cough! Sorry I’m just a little bit excited. Right-right…We must find a way to purify these wraiths!
Endor: Then let me try with Duncan.
Duncan: Right, maybe we can fix the astray spirits with the power of the earth.
Making up his mind, Enoch led everyone down to the floor next to the swamp.
After nodding at Enoch, Endor and Duncan circulated their power to form an iridescent barrier by drawing the elements nearby. The wraiths then began to swarm towards their direction as if they were thousands of light-chasing moths.
Enoch: Well done! That should do it…Wait! Wh-what is it?
In the darkness, a gigantic flower bud bloomed in the blink of an eye, stretching out petals with razor-sharp teeth. Before long, the coming wraiths were all swallowed.
Ingrid: Tut! So that is the thing trapping those spirits!
Endor: Sorry, I’m afraid we cannot purify the wraiths solely by us in this situation…
Enoch: No, it’s not Endor’s and Duncan’s fault.
Enoch: “Damn it! What can I do to help these innocent spirits…Wait!…Perhaps I might do it in this way…Right! It’s gonna work!”
Enoch: I have an idea!
Part 3
“Total Purification”
Enoch was immobilized by the possession of the wraiths. While he was about to be engulfed by the flower bud, two figures jumped down to cast a light shield.
Enoch: In…Ingrid! Xi…Xilocient!
Ingrid: Save…save your energy. Hurry up…We can’t hold it any longer…
An agony was written on Ingrid’s and Xilocient’s face. Although Vulthoom was weakened by the seal, she was still lethal as an ancient demon.
Xilocient: I…I can’t take this anymore…
Endor: Oh wraiths, let the love and hatred go into oblivion…
Duncan: Let the earth guide you to the place of destiny!
Enoch: Phew…finally finished——
Ingrid: AHHH——!
The shield of Ingrid and Xilocient was broken. Just when the gigantic flower bud opened its bloody mouth, an attack of heroic spirit was released in time to burn it to ashes.
Exhausted, Enoch stood up with his wand, but fury could be seen through his eyes. Glaring at Vulthoom, he approached step by step, exuding an intimidating aura that froze her action.
Enoch: I…can’t forgive how you manipulated the spirits! This punch is for them!
While Enoch was charging at Vulthoom, all those despair, hatred and anger he had felt as a vessel of the wraiths concentrated on his fist, which knocked her away and she eventually passed out on the ground.
Enoch: Phew…I feel much better…Hey Endor! Duncan! Your bodies are disappearing!
Enoch looked back and found that they were fading away. Despite his utter shock, Endor and Duncan were perfectly calm, as if they had already seen this coming.
Endor: Just now the purification of the undead has exhausted the power she gave us, we have to return to the elements.
Enoch: No! We still need your help.
Duncan: I believe one day we will meet each other in the cycle of nature, for the earth and our pledge.
Endor: Nature reproduces by rebirth, soul continues by death, this is what life is about. Enoch, the chosen one, we’re counting on you, for the undead and our pledge.
Smiling at Enoch, Endor and Duncan slowly shattered into shiny dusts, eventually becoming two cards on Enoch’s hand.
As soon as he touched the cards, the memories of Endor and Duncan flushed into Enoch’s consciousness at once: their battles, their thoughts and their hopes made him feel like he was on the scene. Tears began to well up in his eyes for these unspeakable sentiments.
Enoch: For peace and our pledge.
Part 4
“Reunion with Old Pals”
The departure of Endor and Duncan saddened Enoch. However, to uphold the entrusted pledge, Enoch pulled himself together to proceed, bypassing the square of the residential area to go down.
On their way, they saw two shadows casted onto the wall afar, and a quarrel was heard nearby. It seemed they had got a new company. Enoch stopped to discuss with Ingrid and Xilocient in a whisper.
Xilocient: Could it be enemies sent by Khaos? What should we do now?
Enoch: There is a detour to go further forward.
Ingrid: Okay! Xilocient and I will take this shortcut to ambush them.
Enoch: Really? Um…are you sure? Maybe I can do it——
Ingrid gave Enoch’s forehead a flick, painful enough to make him stop talking.
Ingrid: You see? Don’t pretend to be a hero if you couldn’t even dodge this. Xilocient and I will handle this.
Xilocient: I got this. I have to take my responsibility to protect the principal.
Ingrid: Huh? Why?
Xilocient: It’s because I kissed——Mmmm.
Enoch: Not-nothing. It’s just the…responsibility as agent of the magic agency.
Ingrid: …So be it. Let’s go, Xilocient.
Enoch: “Sigh…Why am I nervous? I have a feeling that I’d be doomed if Ingrid finds out what it’s about.”
Relieved, Enoch stayed low to proceed, until he saw the two suspicious figures. Then he hid somewhere to observe in the dark.
Enoch: Umm…they look familiar…
???: Whoa! Who, who is it! My neck, my neck hurts!
???: Ugh…It stinks…I’m feeling dizzy…
Ingrid: Who’re you? Say it!
When Enoch figured out who they were, Ingrid and Xilocient had already attacked to subdue the two. Therefore he immediately came over to explain.
Enoch: Hold…hold on! They’re not enemies…Let go of them first.
Despite her puzzlement, Ingrid eventually obeyed the order to let the man go, while Xilocient also put away her stinky elixir. Then Enoch caught his breath to come to a man and a woman with a bright smile.
Enoch: Delta, Sonata! It’s good to see you!
Standing in front of Enoch were Delta the feminine-type machina and Sonata the Mussong elf. Earlier, they met Enoch at the entrance of the Mech City, and acted together owing to a common goal.
During the journey, they encountered many difficultiesIn the end, the three cooperated to overcome numerous obstacles. When they prepared to go to the Mech City, they accidentally got lost due to the pursuit of the gods.
Sonata: Enoch! I knew you’re still alive!
Delta: Good to see you in one piece.
Enoch: All thanks to your help. We could never make it without you.
Holding Sonata’s and Delta’s hand out of gratitude, Enoch expressed his gratefulness genuinely. Such a pleasant vibe of reunion was supposed to go on, but Enoch ruined everything because of one sentence.
Enoch: Oh right, what were you arguing about?
Ingrid: Hey! You idiot——Sigh, he messed up again…
Enoch’s words had reminded Delta and Sonata of the quarrel before. Putting away their smiles, they began to glare at each other, which turned the atmosphere intense.
Sonata: It’s her fault! She’s not listening and being too stubborn! I’ve had enough!
Delta: Oh, me too! I’ve had enough of your cocky attitude already. Anyways there are two paths ahead. Let’s just split up.
Sonata: You——Very well then. Enoch, who are you going with?
Enoch: “WHATTTT! How-how come…What should I do then?”
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