“Big brother! Big brother! Please wake up!” sobbed SS. “Please wake up!”

Erik watched the crying girl from above. Her tiny hands pulled and pushed his unresponsive body by its bloodied clothing. Sadly, unlike his unit, he could not select or interact with her. His body, having its heart destroyed, could not sustain his consciousness. He could not tell her everything was fine.

“How long is this going to take?” Erik asked. He couldn’t bear to see her crying. True, he’d only met her, but his now missing heart wasn’t made of stone.

[Regenerating a vital organ will takes a substantial amount of time]

Erik winced. “I asked how long, Dell, not an analysis. If you don’t know, just give me an estimate. A day, a week, a month?”

[3 days]

“Fuck!” Erik cursed. It had been two days since he came into his power, and in that time, he wasted one day sleeping. It was to heal the burnt flesh – but still. And now, three days would be wasted on recovery. It was unacceptable. “Is there a way to speed things up?”

[Kill her and absorb her essence]

Erik froze. “Say what?”

[Consuming her essence will empower you with greater healing factor]

“Dell,” Erik said calmly despite the growing fury within. “I didn’t risk my life to save her, so I can just kill her and harvest her soul! I’m not a fucking demon like you!”

[…]

Erik fumed and returned his attention to SS. Seeing the girl brought a bit of happiness. He managed to save someone despite his powerlessness. If it wasn’t for that lightning guy named Zeus, he would not have the chance to get away from the crazy bitch. In her eyes, he and SS were something to be exterminated.

“What was that aura? She suddenly gets a power-up,” Erik asked once he becomes calmer. While he couldn’t defeat Victoria outright, he could slow her down. Just long enough for him to escape. With her increased strength and speed, it was impossible to follow and dodge her attacks.

[It is her essence. Spiritual energy. Releasing one’s spiritual energy can have many effects. The most common is vastly superior strength and speed.]

Erik nodded at the thoughtful reply. “I thought it was something like that. Can I also do the same?”

[Yes, with practice. Your essence is too insignificant to make a difference, however]

Erik nodded again and brought up Astrid’s display. He had to check up on her. A black screen greeted him, causing his immaterial heart stopped for a moment. “Shit. Don’t tell me –?”

Erik quickly noticed a faint glowed around the edges. He zoomed out and saw red light illuminating the hallways, bringing much needed relief. He had thought Astrid got herself killed somehow. If she dies, his connection to the outside world would be lost. He would be trapped in the inner world.

Erik gave Astrid an order to leave the hospital. With SS now safe and sounded, he had to find a good place to camp out. The unit obeyed his command and began moving towards the front entrance. The screen suddenly shook as emergency lighting flickered. There was a thunderous boom, coming from the west entrance. Another boom followed by another. Then utter silence.

People resting along the hallways were startled. Those that were asleep pulled themselves up. How they managed to stay asleep with all that fighting outside remained a mystery. It must have had to do with the barrier the priest erected.

“What’s going on?” one of the patients asked. The doctors rushed passed Astrid. A handful of nurses followed closely behind. On the screen, their names appeared below their feet, indicating Astrid had just learned their names. She read it off their name tags.

“Everyone, please stay calm. It must have been the storm,” Doctor L. Johnson assured while one of her colleagues ushered startled people away from the door. She peeked through the small window in the door and becomes speechless. She was visibly shaken when she returned her attention back to everyone inside.

“What happened, Lily?”

“The old building has collapsed,” Doctor Lily Johnson announced with a pale face. The other doctors immediately rushed to the door to have a look. As they did, so did everyone else. It quickly became a mob, pushing people out of the door. Astrid was amongst them, going with the flow.

Outside, in the pouring rains, people were bewildered at the scene.

Through Astrid’s line of sight, Erik could see the area between the west wing of the hospital and the old building. The ground was overturned. Broken pavement and concrete were scattered. A handful of trees were ripped from the ground and burning faintly. The old building looked like it was hit with a heavenly sledgehammer. The front area of the building had collapsed completely.

It hadn’t been more than a handful of minutes since Erik escaped into his inner world, yet the battle was already over. From the raging thunderstorm and drenching rains, the victor was obvious. What remained was what happened to the defeated. Did Victoria and Joseph die or have been captured?

Erik didn’t know about Victoria’s escape and assumed she fought alongside with her mentor against Zeus, but since there were no bodies remained other than a half-burnt priest robes, they must have captured by the lightning teenager.

Near the bush, something shimmering caught his eyes. Erik zoomed in to have a closer look. It was a book – the bible that Joseph had. There was a question mark hovering above it.

“This one has found something of interest. It appears to be a book, but it clearly isn’t an ordinary book.” – Astrid Silvermoon. This appeared in the notification window.

Erik felt his immaterial heart beating rapidly. Despite being a spirit in his inner world, he could feel all his organs and limbs were still there. “This is a loot! Holy shit!”

No one seemed to take note of the supernatural book, hidden in plain sight. Once the masses were being ushered back inside by the doctors and nurses, Astrid was ordered to pick it up and re-joined the people. Without anyone looking, the bible was transferred into the inner world for safe keeping.

Wrapped tightly in a towel, the holy bible landed with a thump next to SS, startling her. With teary eyes she turned around and saw the huge doors of the only building in sight was opened fully. There was a woman descending the stone steps.

“Please keep it safe for me, SS,” Astrid said, causing the girl to flinch. SS turned invisible and hidden from view. Even Erik could not see her. “I promised I will never hurt you, SS. This is my avatar, Astrid Silvermoon. I cannot talk with you directly without my body. So, until it is fully healed, can you stay here? I will bring you some food when I am abled.”

Erik waited and watched the swirling purple mist beyond the doorways of the Headquarter, checking for any sign of anyone passing through. He just hoped SS hadn’t bolted at the sight of Astrid.

It took a moment for SS to become visible again. She nodded and tried to smile. Astrid – under Erik’s order – gave the best smile she could mustered. She then exited the inner world. It was too risky to let her stay while keeping the waypoint opened. The double doors of the Headquarter closed behind her.

When Astrid left, SS picked up the book and held it tightly against her chest. She then sat next to his body, waiting for his resurrection. Watching her watching over him, the exclamation mark hovering over the book didn’t seem so important.

“This isn’t so bad. It’s like watching Eva before she becomes all bitchy.” Erik reminiscence about his younger sister. As a child, she was darn adorable, following him around and demanding him to play with her. Too bad, she was no longer a little kid. Now grown up, her interests were boys and parties and whatever teenage girl were into.

Erik sighed and tapped the exclamation icon on the book to see what it says. A window appeared, forcing a chuckle out of him.

Item: The First Bible (Damaged)

Type: Accessory

Class: God Artefact

Affinity: Holy

[?]

“That’s more like it!” Erik called out and touched the question mark. Nothing happened. He tried it a couple more times to make sure. “What is this question mark thing, Dell?”

[Its attributes and stats are hidden. You will need a unit with holy affinity to appraise it]

“I guess I can’t use it then,” Erik muttered. He had thought as much. It was the reason why the bible was bounded in a towel. Direct touch would harm SS just like the blessed cross did to him. He gave the cross to one of the families sleeping along the hallway since throwing it in the trashcan didn’t sit right with him. “By the way, my affinity is demonic right?”

[I have never heard of Demonic affinity. Yours is Unholy]

“Is that so?” Erik pondered. It was strange that his unit could have holy affinity while he himself was unholy. It was even stranger that William and Astrid could touch holy artefact without problem. “Is there Unholy Artefact?”

[Yes]

“Know where I can get one?” Erik asked. Having an unholy weapon at his disposal would benefit him greatly.

[No. It is likely they were all destroyed. You could…]

Erik raised his brow. “Dell? You just trailed off there for a second.”

[You could create one with demon bloods. The number required is in the thousands]

“Woah, woah, woah! You mean they can be created?” Erik was surprised. In games, specifically role-playing games (RPG), artefacts were usually found, not created or crafted. They were game-changer, giving the players huge bonuses. “I thought they were… well created but by God or Demon God or something.”

[Most of them were. The rest were created by humans. They bled and killed millions of their kinds in the hope to obtain power]

Erik narrowed his eyes as he felt the emotions behind those words. It was disgust. “You mean they can be made by –

Erik shook his head and cleared the horrifying thought. He had seen first-hand how someone could be a monster. From his friend to people from the church. Didn’t Victoria, in the name of her God, try to murder SS, a child? Aside from frighting people from the morgue and wanting to be left alone, SS didn’t commit any kind of atrocities.

Then there was William. What if he was artificial person – a Homunculus? He didn’t do anything to her to be ripped into pieces like that. Erik couldn’t even give the man a proper burial with his parts smeared all over the room. He was already dead. Victoria must have known. There was no point in desecrated a corpse.

Without saying anything, Erik turned his attention to Astrid. She headed out of the hospital and into the street. He zoomed out to get a good look at the surrounding, but all he could see was darkness. Aside from the hospital with its back-up generator, the entire town was dark. It was a blackout.

“Was it because of Zeus or something else?” Erik questioned as dozens of questions mark appeared all over the map. He clicked on them, bringing up the notification window.

「This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow」– Astrid Silvermoon.

「This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow」– Astrid Silvermoon.

「This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow」– Astrid Silvermoon.

「This one can feel something is there. Something is hiding in the shadow」– Astrid Silvermoon.

“They are all the same,” Erik said as several of the question marks moved about, encircling Astrid as if she was a prey. His mind clicked. “Shadow!?”