CORE
Chapter 26 - "Alpha"

"You've greatly enamored me,"

"And I am disgusted by you, a thousand times more,"

"Regardless..."

"It is time,"

...

Hero sprung to life, jumping up slightly as he landed on both of his feet softly, creating a small thud on the ground as he then cracked his knuckles, for he had already grown numb to the feeling of waking up to a new Area, he decided it was best to start warming up.

Immediately, Hero took a deep breath, closing his eyes and relaxing, focusing and healing what little bits of magic he had lost, even the tiniest grain would be important, after that, he slowly opened his eyes, and he began to look left and right, front and back to check the new location.

The entirety of Area 6, much to his surprise, was a completely pitch-black void, with no gradient, and no shadows, it was just ultra-black, and before him was a large, foreboding Castle, far larger than the one in Area 4, and before it, were multiple large meteors, seemingly acting as its pathway to the entrance.

After that short evaluation, Hero turned his focus and attention to Justice, his only ally now, he thought, who he saw was sitting on the edge of the grey, rocky platform they stood on, they seemed to be staring down at the void below, Hero had believed they were also preparing themselves for the upcoming fight, not only physically but mentally, which would indeed be needed now.

"...So," Justice blurted, already sensing Hero's presence, smiling as he used his arms to push himself upwards, performing a backflip as he landed perfectly on his legs, before looking at Hero directly, the two sharing a gaze of preparation.

"Are you ready?"

Hero nodded in response as the two twisted their body to look at The Castle in front of them, standing at 5 stories, and yet far larger than any other structure they had seen along their journey, covered in moss and dirt, and yet despite it all, it remained its elegance.

"Without further ado..." Justice spoke as Hero walked in first, taking the first step onto the meteor pathway, it shook violently at first, but slowly calmed down, yet despite the initial reaction it did not upset Hero's balance once.

"Let's save what remains," Hero said, the familiar aura of a lost hero taking him for a split second, but then drifted away as the two were marching and focusing on what was beyond the meteor pathway, the large thick entrance doors at the end of it, and the moment they went in, there would be no such thing as turning back now.

The atmosphere grew denser as the sound of their cold, unbridled footsteps was the only sound in that lifeless void to contrast its dull nature, and yet the two only felt dread and nervousness as they trekked closer.

"So, Is there anything you can tell me going into this?" Hero froze momentarily, speaking with a tone of curiosity while the two stood idly on the meteor that held them up.

"Ah, well... A lot of assassins and guards, all of which are... Hm... Simply, The King dislikes unwelcome visitors, that alone should be enough explanation," Justice replied, Hero letting out a small breath escape in approval as they two continued to walk along the path, almost halfway through.

"Why does this place seem so familiar..?" Hero questioned himself in his thoughts, as both he and Justice finally made it, and stood in front of the Entrance Door.

The two took one deep breath, closing their eyes and opening them back up as their magical aura leaked throughout their body, they got into a back stance, staring at the door, hopes and despairs filling the atmosphere as they charged and blasted through the door, opening it wide as it's old frame creaked loudly, but yet softly as the two slid across the marble, grey floor due to how fast they had ran into the entrance.

They were met with a long hallway, large smooth walls and pillars of granite, chandeliers hung from the top, illuminating what could have been the deep dark, and lastly, a fabric red carpet that etched and showed the pathway of what was beyond.

"It's still the same..." Justice muttered, looking over to Hero, who, rather ominously, stood there in slight shock as they stared at the end of the hallway, it was not just shock now that Justice realized it, confusion was also on the board.

"Hero?" Justice questioned, causing Hero to shake his head and snap back to reality, turning his head back at Justice whose face was just as puzzled.

"This hallway is the exact same one that thing in Area 3 sent me to, I didn't think it actually existed in reality, but... Why did it choose this place specifically?" Hero questioned himself, raising his head at the long halls as one of his eyelids squinted, but there for a moment, Justice's eyes slightly widened as their jaw ever so slightly dropped, but as Hero turned to look at Justice, taking an accidental step forward, their face was neutral, also viewing their front.

"Ha... Perhaps it's just a coincidence, they were a Guardian's Puppet after all, they would know lots of this place," Justice commented, raising his hand and smiling before advancing into the hallway.

"...If you say so," Hero whispered to himself, with slight skepticism as he followed along Justice's way.

But the moment they did so, one of the pillars, precisely to their right suddenly was lifted off the floor, crumbling and shaking the ground as it suddenly fell on Justice and Hero, with such force and power it sent multiple gusts of wind outward and caused what could be described as a mini-earthquake.

Luckily, both of them were able to escape just in time, Justice splitting himself into two halves before reforming, and Hero simply sliding away on a path of ice, the way that pillar lifted and fell was far too random, it must have been the work of a magic user, the two thought as they turned their attention to the end of the hallway, to where they saw a strange individual, tall yet thin, in a suit and wearing a tophat as their face, no, not just their face, their entire body was a void black color, they had no eyes or a mouth, they appeared like a statue, yet was very much alive.

Immediately, the two got into a fighting stance, and not only that, careened over to The Man, trying to get the kill to stop any tricks, but unexpectedly...

"Magic Ultimatum: House of Corrections," The Man muttered in a cold, yet elegant voice, as seemingly out of nowhere, hundreds of chains covered the surrounding area sticking into the ground and ceiling, thus trapping both Hero and Justice in that there 'prison', to which they looked around and about, trying to find a way out.

"Deepest apologies, as a part of The King's guard I have been given direct orders to exterminate you, I hold no grudge or personal hatred," The Man said, but were met with only silence as Justice raised their hand, tried to send a light bullet at the man, however, it was suddenly deflected away by a chain that stemmed out of the ground simultaneously, and so more chains began to sprout out from the ground, causing the light bullet to ricochet as fast it was released, until it unexpectedly bounced over to Hero, almost blowing off their head had they not dodged in time.

"My bad," Justice remarked seriously, Hero slowly nodding as the two then viewed cautiously at The Man, who laughed in an echoey voice as more chains began to grow from the ground, slowly obscuring their vision of The Man from afar.

The chains burst forth at the duo, sending waves of magic and wind as they jumped out of the way, making the chains collide with the barrier made of its own, and with this short opportunity, Hero grabbed onto the chains, flash-freezing it which spread over to a portion of the walls, shattering not only the chains but the walls made of it, and with this, Justice and Hero flew out of the Chained Dome.

But as the two landed on the ground, multiple more chains sprouted as they were in hot pursuit of the duo, The Man becoming visible once more as they jumped out of their Chained Dome.

"Ricochet..." Hero whispered to himself, and indirectly to Justice as his eyes narrowed down to one of the chains, to which he suddenly kicked out of the ground, freezing it and making it his attack which traveled to The Man, who swiftly stepped to the side, the Ice Chain being crunched into bits, turning into a Hailstorm as it turned its direction back to The Man, who used the excess chains from their dome to build semi-cage which deflected all the tiny bits of the Hailstorm with ease.

"It's quite futile," The Man remarked, however, they were met with a surprise when they noticed a small glint of light emerging from the fine ice, supposedly ricocheting as it suddenly burst forth into a larger beam and directly shot The Man in the head, pushing them into a wall as their magic chains disappeared.

"Egos that don't have any discipline end up suffering a fall just as big as their ego!" Justice remarked, grinning as both he and Hero dashed over, turning to the left hallway to where The Man was shot, in which all they saw were small streaks of black blood and the clothing The Man once wore.

"I'm guessing that is only the beginning?" Hero asked as he took a deep breath, letting out the icy fog as Justice's grin slightly turned down, nevertheless, it was still a smile.

"I told you that already, didn't I?" Justice spoke sarcastically as they both turned around to the right hallway, where they felt the most magical energy, it seemed there would be more trouble up ahead, but regardless if there were more, they would for sure overpower them.

"Let's get started!" Justice yelled out as the both of them collectively built up strength in their legs instantly and dashed forth the hallway they were facing, the magical energy drawing and growing closer as the both of them in rapid succession, the pillars shivering and the carpets wrinkled onto themselves...

And so immense calamity treks deep into The King's Castle!

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"Beyond is nothing,"

"Nothing but the cold harsh void that you so fear,"

"Truly, have you overcome your fears?"

"Or perhaps it is all merely one massive deception to yourself?"

"Nevertheless..."

...

Hero sat down comfortably on one of the knight's backs while they were unconscious, one that was fighting quite bravely, Hero thought, Hero's hands were on the ground, which spread an icy path that froze the other knight's body, with only their heads being exposed to allow them to breathe.

"Is the 1st floor cleared, Justice?" Hero questioned, turning in a random direction as Justice, seemingly out of nowhere reformed with a yellow afterglow, holding two knights in both of his hands as he rolled one of his shoulders.

"Not sure, but I'm leaning on yes," Justice said, slightly smiling, he then sighed before dropping both of the knights to the icy floor, freezing them to the ground, and leaving only their heads exposed like the rest.

"Alright, then let's head off to the second floor," Hero stood up, leaving a small smile as he stretched and cracked his knuckles.

"Though, one thing I will warn, however..." Justice blurted out, catching Hero off-guard for a moment, as they were now fully attentive.

"It seems each floor has a Guardian, similar to how each Area has one as well," Justice snickered as Hero's head raised up to the ceiling above, seemingly pondering about something.

"So..."

"Are you intimidated?" Justice asked, both out of playfulness and curiosity, with Hero staring back at him, for a moment, with silence.

"Why would I?" Hero responded, with a far more determined look on his face.

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