- Three Routes; Three Trials : Part 6 -

"You said that you were trapped inside a Chrysanthemum Tree where your power got suppressed as weak as D- rank regular?" The pink- haired lady concluded the story that she told her.

"Do you have any idea what could that power be?" Charlotte asked her.

The pink- haired lady was quiet for a moment. Her expression had changed to solemn and Charlotte could feel the tension on the air. She tried to ignore it and acted calm, waiting for the answer that she was looking for.

"Charlotte."

When her name was called, she expected the answer to fulfill her curiosity. But the pink- haired lady, instead of giving her the answers that she wanted, she gave her a warning instead.

"If you ever encounter that kind of power, run away."

"Why?!" Charlotte asked her, surprised.

"Because with the current level of your strength, you won't be able to win against it," she explained. "I've fought that power once. It's very troublesome."

"If it's because of my strength is lacking, then you have to train me harder so that I could live up your expectations and learn the truth of that mysterious power! Give me the power to defend myself."

The pink- haired lady looked at her in worry. Though it was nice to see her eyes brimmed with determination, but as young as she was, she was unaware what kind of monster she was actually facing.

Even so, what she said was not wrong either. Given to her talent and determination, it will just be a matter of time for the truth to be revealed towards her. And she needed something that would be able to protect herself until she had proven her strength.

"I could teach you a method, just in case you encounter one of them." The pink- lady said towards her. "This method is created by me, and it's called [ Cleanse ]."

≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫

The [ Shinsu Black- Hole Sphere ] that Charlotte created managed to hit the puppet.

After reading the manhwa, Charlotte knew that the [ Shinsu Black- Hole Sphere ] had an interesting effect to remove poisons or things similar with "debuffs", but when it came to the puppet, the [ Shinsu Black- Hole Sphere ] seemed to have no use. The puppet was still standing, incapable of feeling pain after she gave up her sanity.

'As long as I can pull her back to my domain, then I can still overpower her!'

Charlotte was sure that the cause of the sudden increase of the puppet's power and her lost of sanity was related with the tattoo of black lotus on her arm. Ever since it started to glow and emanated black smoke, Charlotte was sure that there was something suspicious with it. And the only way to confirm her suspicion is to win the fight quickly.

'But the problem is that the more I attack her, the more she gets wilder and the stronger the black mist becomes.'

The puppet managed to scratch her cheek when she tried to dodge her sharp claws.

Charlotte knew how amazing her own lotus could be in terms of healing. The lotus was lacking in offensive and defensive power, but its healing was fast and comforting. But just like the day when she was trapped in the Chrysanthemum Tree, there seemed to be something stopping her healing.

'I'm sure of it, that this energy is the same with the one that threatened Khun and me.'

Charlotte could feel that her stamina was at the edge of being depleted.

'The effects of [ Domain ] are amazing, but in the same time, it's very tiring.'

The [ Domain ] put a heavy toll at her body. She had just activated it, but the remaining of power that she had first vanished quickly.

'I have to finish this soon quickly.'

Charlotte changed her sword into a spear.

[ Charlotte's Style Lotus Manipulation : Lotus Boost ]

The pink aura of the lotus covered her spear as she aimed it to the puppet who was coming to her direction and threw it.

"GO!"

The puppet dodged the spear easily and jumped towards her. She swung her nails towards her head as if she wanted to tear it off and Charlotte jumped backward.

"RETURN!"

[ Charlotte's Style Time Manipulation : Acceleration ]

The spear changed its direction smoothly to return to her hand. The puppet appeared to be surprised when she saw the spear coming towards her in greater speed. And without having the chance to avoid it, the spear succeed in making a hole at her shoulder.

The puppet stumbled, looking at her injury. Charlotte clicked her tongue, thinking that she should learn from Altaira how to throw a spear better next time.

She leapt towards the puppet and put her palm on her face, smashing her head to the ground.

"[ Xing Lian's Style Lotus Manipulation ]!"

She spoke as she tried to keep the puppet down. The puppet struggled to break free. She swung her left arm towards her, only for Charlotte to catch her wrist and held it tightly.

"[ CLEANSE ]!" She shouted.

Pink lotus petals appeared and surrounded them from all directions, locking the two of them inside the barrier guarded by those petals. In the same time, from the puppet herself, the black mist suddenly exploded, trying to destroy everything around them. The grasses created by her [ Morning Forest] were slowly withering away into ashes and dusts, and the black mist itself seemed to be trying to swallow the two of them together.

The puppet roared in pain and Charlotte could feel her power draining from her. She gritted her teeth.

'No matter what happens, I can't let my hands off!'

In the middle of the chaos and struggles, she was unaware that the lotus bud on her forehead was glowing. All she could feel was dizzy and exhaustion because her power was now flowing endlessly.

"Remember. Once you activated the [ Cleanse ], don't ever give up in the middle and let go your hands, otherwise you'll lose. Because the moment you attack your enemy with [ Cleanse ], they also have a way to defend themselves. "

She tried to fight against the black mist with her lotus power. The puppet wasn't surrendering either. The more she struggled, the powerful the black mist was. Charlotte held the puppet's wrist tighter and tighter, to the point that she accidentally broke her bones.

Charlotte was startled and accidentally let go of her hand. And the pain that the puppet suffered didn't seem to make her stop. Rather, it made her gone crazier and the black mist was getting stronger.

"[ Tarnish ]"

And after that, the puppet swung her right arm and covered both of her eyes.

"AHHHHHH!"

"It is a method to lure you to the abyss. And once you fall for it, you will cease to be who you are, and you may also cease to exist."

Her eyes, they felt like they have been burned by flames. Crimson red blood dropped a little by little to the ground as she screamed in pain.

"Do not ever withdraw your hands."

With her left hand, in a moment of fury, she made her sword lift and changed into a dagger, stabbing the puppet's hand with it.

"Agh!"

She stabbed her wrist and made sure that she wouldn't be able to raise her hand again.

"I WON'T LOSE HERE!" She declared.

'EVEN IF I HAVE TO LOSE MY EYES AS THE PRICE!'

Charlotte felt that her desire to win has never been this strong just like that day. On her way climbing to the peak, she had seen a lot of people and faced many challenges. So she knew that if she gives up in the middle because of the pain of a moment, she wouldn't be able to strive forward.

Instead, she will be pushed backward, down and down to the abyss and enter the gate of hell once more.

So, she couldn't her hands go, not when there were some people waiting for her triumphant return.

"I'll wait."

The promise that she made must not be broken.

"VICTORY.... BELONGS TO ME!"

"I'll look for the places that you will like after this."

She waited for a day of break. A short holiday to make her temporary forget of her pains and struggles as well as her worries about the future.

"Consider it as a bonus, in addition to our promise."

His sincere words and longing, she couldn't let him disappointed.

She couldn't let him go.

"SO I WOULD NEVER LET MY HAND GO!"

Pale hands appeared from the black mist and pulled her inside.

When both of her eyes that were supposed to be blind worked, Charlotte was quite shocked.

She was sure that both of her eyes were melted by the damned puppet. But now, she could still things just like before.

In a quiet forest with the scent of blood, there was a man stood with his lonely purple eyes, looking at a silver- haired woman resembling someone who she knew.

Both of her hands were trembling in fear and hatred. She could never take her eyes away from the man who she once loved dearly, and now he was someone who she must kill.

'Celeste?! Noah?!'

≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫

The thorn enlarged in size and suddenly stabbed Bam, much to Khun Edahn's and Zahard's surprises.

Khun Edahn knew that the thorn belonged to Bam and the one who can use it was only Bam. It was no way in hell Zahard's doing and there was no way that the thorn would suddenly betray Bam, being that it was simply a weapon for Bam to wield and use for his own benefits. He knew that it was Bam's decision to stab himself with the thorn, an act that he couldn't understand.

"HEY KID! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

But afterwards, there was a tremendous force that could make him feel shiver. The black shinsu belonged to Bam became more powerful and the shinsu around them was trembling.

For a moment, and as faint as the feeling could be, the two of them sensed the power of administrator coming from the boy with golden eyes.

And he himself was aware that after stabbing himself with the thorn, his power seemed to have increased.

[ Bam's Style Shinsu Control Skill : Endless Sky ]

Large amount of shinsu was released towards Zahard. Although he noticed that Bam's attack was getting stronger, he still found his attacks were similar with one another. But when he prepared to counter- attack, he discovered that he was wrong when he lost one of his arms because of it.

His arm was destroyed in one hit.

Zahard stopped and looked at his arm. As expected from the data of the King of the Tower, even when he suddenly lost his arm and was surprised, he still handled his emotions very well as not to hinder him in fight, so that he could make a rational judgement.

'As the ruler of this data world, once my arm is destroyed, it does not regenerate. This power... even goes against the system here...'

He was surprised, but in the same time, he was once again fascinated. He grinned.

[ Second Cosmos ]

Same large yellow spheres like [ Cosmos ] appeared, but this time, there were more of them. And as there were more of them, Bam was sure that they were going to be more powerful and destructive, but he no longer felt fear.

"Bring it on." Bam was confused when he heard what Zahard said. "I want to feel that mysterious power of yours."

Bam said nothing and his right hand was ready with his black shinsu as he flew towards Zahard.

[ Bam's Style Shinsu Control Skill - Rapid Fire Shinsu Cannon ]

As he released his black shinsu, like a whirlwind, it destroyed the [ Second Cosmos ] and went straight to attack Zahard.

Zahard evaded that attack, 'He took out [ Second Cosmos ] in just one hit...! Amazing....!!'

He looked at Bam with his determined eyes. Just before he had gained upper hand against the boy, but now he was definitely standing on the same stage with him.

'How long has it been since I laughed like this?'

The main purpose of this fight was actually to figure out how Bam knew about Arlene's name and kill him. But now, it seemed like he had found something else during their fight.

'How long has it been since I met an opponent who makes my heart races like this?'

Being on the top was too lonely. He was the strongest one. There was no one else he could defeat. The feeling that he felt right now was the feeling that he felt when he climbed the tower. Curiosity and excitement. He was curious to see how powerful his opponent could be and excited at the fight that made him felt thirsty for victory.

"BE CAREFUL!" Khun Edahn shouted. "IT'S COELACANTH!"

Inside the black shinsu that he used to block Coelacanth, an orb containing [ Shinsu Black- Hole Sphere] floated on his palms. Three more orbs floated in front of him.

[ Triple Orb ]

Zahard looked at the orbs in front of Bam. His rapid growth was supposed to be a threat for him, but seeing how this child grew in front of him, he started to feel happier.

'How long has it been since my heart has beat so hard from being surprised at seeing something new like this?'

"Three this time?" Zahard asked. "I'm stunned...."

[ Lecalicus' Third Form - Leviathan ]

The weapon changed into a long red sword. In the same time, Bam closed his eyes and let the power flew within him.

'It's truly incredible. Everything about that kid--'

[ First Thorn Fragment Transcendental Skill ]

'Is new.'

Zahard knew that the power in front of him was dangerous. But he held no fear as he rushed towards him.

'It's as if he's telling me to start another adventure.'

[ Remnants of Star -- Stardust ]