Scumbag Fate System-Chapter 53: Descending Blade

They descended to what remained of the first floor.

Navigating through collapsed sections and twisted hallways that no longer followed any logical layout. The invisible drain continued over them, pulling at them like invisible weights tied to their limbs and making each step require conscious effort.

After passing a room, they blinked and then saw Void Echoes standing motionless in the hallway ahead.

They weren’t attacking or moving, but were speaking as words echoed through the area.

"Her power makes her a key." The father’s voice came from one Echo’s mouth while the form gestured toward an unseen daughter.

"A key that can either set the existence sealed below free or keep them locked forever." The mother’s voice from another Echo, while fear colored every syllable.

"We must do everything in our power to keep her safe. No one can know what she is. If they discover the truth, her life will be in constant danger."

"People will try to use her. Or destroy her to prevent the seal from breaking."

Reinhard stopped walking while his hand tightened on his sword hilt. "The seal... Wait, isn’t that-"

Alice nodded and said. "What we talked about at the club..."

"Hm? You guys found something related to what they said?" Louis asked in surprise.

Rika nodded and said. "There was a note that talked about something being sealed underneath. We aren’t sure what, or if it meant literally under this ruin. But..."

"We didn’t think the key to open the seal would be Yor." Reinhard said with a frown.

"I’m guessing Yor didn’t know... Until now, then." Louis said just as the Echoes dissolved.

"Unfortunately," Alice muttered as they kept moving where more figures waited.

Four Echoes this time arranged as if in a heated conversation while their forms gestured and their voices rose in argument.

"Aldric, we must go to Silent Peak!" The grandmother’s voice was desperate and pleading while her Echo reached toward another.

"Helena, it’s too dangerous!" The grandfather responded as his form shook with worry.

"We have no choice, Marcus! Our granddaughter suffers every day! Silent Peak has information about people like her. There might be a way to help her!" The grandmother, Helena shakes her head.

"And what happens when the people there learn what she is?" The father Aldric’s voice was sharp and fearful while his Echo turned away. "You’ll reveal to the entire world that our daughter is the key to an ancient seal! You’ll put a target on her back that we can never remove!"

"Then what do we do?" Miya’s voice cracked while her Echo’s hands clasped together. "We can’t just leave her like this, Aldric. She’s our daughter."

"The people at Silent Peak might force us to give up Yor completely," Aldric continued while his words rushed and panicked. "Or worse, they might lock her away in the peaks until she dies to ensure the seal stays intact. Is that what you want for her?"

"If nothing is done, then Yor will continue living this painful life!" Helena’s voice rose, anger mixing with grief. "Never being allowed to be happy! Never being allowed to have friends or love or any of the normal things children deserve! What kind of life is that?"

"A life!" Aldric shouted back. "Any life is better than being a prisoner or a corpse!"

The Echoes froze and then dissolved while the argument cut off mid-sentence.

Alice wiped her eyes while tears streamed down her face. "They were all trying to save her. Every one of them."

"But they couldn’t agree on how," Louis said softly.

"And it tore the family apart," Rika added while her own eyes were wet.

"I suppose each of them is right in their own way," Reinhard muttered before taking a step forward.

All four entered another room but paused as the atmosphere felt heavier.

A young voice screamed through the space.

"It’s your fault! Grandma and Grandpa are dead because of you!" Young Yor sobbed, rage and grief twisted together in her words.

"They went to Silent Peak because you wouldn’t do anything! Because you were too scared! And now they’re gone!"

"Yor, please-" Miya pleaded.

"Don’t talk to me! I hate you! I hate both of you!"

The sound of a door slamming echoed, followed by more sobbing that faded into silence. The group said nothing and only continued, finding the study room at the end of the hallway.

Yor’s voice filled the room, but it was a bit older now, filled with rage and pain. "Why did you have to make me like this? Why couldn’t I just be normal?"

"Yor, calm down-" Aldric was trying to reach her.

"Don’t tell me to calm down! You’ve been telling me that my entire life! Control yourself! Hide your feelings! Don’t let anyone close! I’m so tired of it!"

"We’re trying to protect you-" Miya started, but Yor interjected.

"By making my life miserable? By taking everything away from me? Friends, freedom, happiness, everything!" Her voice climbed higher.

"Grandma and Grandpa died trying to find a real solution! While you two just locked me away and hoped I’d be fine! Well, I’m not fine! I’ll never be fine!"

"That isn’t what we want-"

"Shut up! I wish you would just disappear! I wish I’d been born to another family! I wish-"

A scream tore through the air, and then the sound of something crashing echoed out. Then silence fell, but it made all four of them grimace.

All of them realize this was the fallout and something Yor probably had to experience once more. None of them said anything, not knowing what to even say or commenting on that wouldn’t create more questions.

They stepped out of the room but realized something.

"She’s not here," Rika said with hints of panic. "We’ve looked everywhere."

Louis closed his eyes while focusing on the link. When he opened them, his expression was troubled. "The connection is pointing downward. She must be in the basement."

"Then let’s go quickly."

They found the basement entrance behind a collapsed wall while the stairs descended into darkness that seemed to swallow light. The harmonic hum was louder here while resonating up from below and making their bones ache.

"Are these memories appearing because Yor came here?" Alice asked while they descended carefully.

Reinhard was quiet for several steps before responding. "The area itself might be reacting to her presence. There’s a high chance she was the one who turned this place into ruins during that breakdown we heard."

His words made everyone fall silent. But all of them grimace because they’d all been thinking the same thing, but hadn’t wanted to voice it.

"But is that even possible? The entire city-"

"I don’t know if it’s true. But Victoria even said Yor power was a danger to the professors." Reinhard’s words made Rika fall silent while Alice and Louis grimaced even more.

The basement opened up before them. The space was larger than expected, and filled with shadows that moved wrong.

Bodies littered the floor.

Null Hounds lay crushed while their shadowed glass forms shattered into fragments. Void Echoes were split cleanly in half while their purple-black material dissolved. Resonance Sentinels had been bisected while their construct bodies scattered across the stone.

"It must be Yor!" Rika said while her eyes scanned the carnage. "She should be around here somewhere!"

Alice nodded while gripping her hammer tighter. "She got attacked by all of these-"

"Then we should hurry," Louis interrupted while already moving forward.

They followed the trail of destroyed bodies while navigating around shifting rubble. The path led deeper, and the basement seemed to stretch impossibly far.

After a few seconds, they saw movement ahead.

Two figures clashing, blades meeting with sounds like breaking glass.

Yor fought with her black sword while her opponent looked exactly like her, but wrong in every way.

The corrupted version had two massive wings spreading from its back. A mask covered the right side of its face while leaving the left exposed and twisted in an expression of pure anguish. Black-purple energy crackled around its body while arcing between fingers and blade, and a thick black smoke poured off it like water.

The two Yors clashed once more while their swords met in a shower of sparks.

The corrupted version pressed forward while overwhelming Yor’s defense with raw power, and she stumbled backward while her feet slid across the stone floor. She tried to recover, but her exhaustion was clear, and the corrupted Yor struck hard.

Its blade was hammering down, and Yor’s sword was knocked from her grip. The weapon clattered across the floor while spinning away and leaving her defenseless.

Yor fell to her knees while her head bowed and her breathing ragged.

The corrupted version stood over her while raising its sword high, and black-purple energy gathered along the blade’s length. The sword began its descent while aimed directly at Yor’s bowed head.