I Refuse To Be Fate’s Puppet - Chapter 75

The Old Infirmary was a rundown building that in the Royal Institute that was planned to be demolished sometime in the next year. It had been abandoned a few years ago as students stopped going there after the larger Infirmary was built. So the building was now just a relic of the past, collecting dust as it waited to be destroyed. It had an eerie vibe to it as it was completely empty and devoid of life. Damien waited nervously by a tree, close to the Old Infirmary. Hyosuke was standing in the shadows, looking around to ensure that no one was around. Damien muttered nervously.

“S-So why don’t we j-just catch Seth n-n-now?”

Hyosuke shook his head.

“He isn’t the one we want. We need to get to the people behind him. The one’s pulling the strings. If we take him now, they will go for a new plan, and then we will be clueless as to when and how they will strike. This way, we can slowly bait out the big fish and catch them when they are least expecting it.”

Damien nodded slowly as he began to understand.

“So w-we are using their trap to trap them.”

Hyosuke smirked.

“That’s a pretty good way to phrase it. Heads up, here they come.”

Arata and Eamon walked towards the two of them. Ryouma and Eva stayed back at the room as they believed that it would be too dangerous for them all to come. This was only a scouting mission, there was no need to bring everyone. Eamon smiled warmly at Damien.

“You did well, Damien.”

Arata nodded as he grinned.

“You gained his trust. And your control of the Source is at another level. You really have come a long way in the past few weeks.”

Damien went red as he bowed. A small grin on his face.

“T-Thank you Masters E-Eamon and Arata. I wouldn’t have e-ever thought that I would be able t-to control my power to th-this degree.”

A warm glow came from Arata’s eyes as he looked at Damien. A few weeks ago, he was completely terrified of himself and everything around him. Now, although he still stuttered, he was clearly filled with more confidence and a lot more optimistic about the future. Eamon looked at Hyosuke.

“So what do you think is the best way to approach the situation?”

Although Eamon was someone of more importance and higher standing, he turned to Hyosuke who had more experience as Azrail’s Shadowguard. Hyosuke noticed this and nodded.

“I think we should let him do what he wants with Damien. I’ll stay in his shadow to protect him if things go sideways. But if it comes down to them activating the portal and letting the Demon’s come, I don’t think that would be a bad idea.”

Eamon nodded as he thought things over.

“Having them come to us and fighting them on our turf, we will have the advantage. But the question will be when we should strike. We obviously want those that are higher up to come through so we can defeat, or even capture them. But we also can’t let them complete their plans and have them activate the seal. We will need to play this one by ear.”

Arata nodded.

“The two of us will be able to hide our presence as we follow the two of you down. We won’t act unless absolutely necessary. I doubt that any of the people in charge will come tonight, but we need to be prepared for anything.”

The four nodded in understanding. Eamon and Hosuke gave a quick rundown of potential scenarios before they headed into the building. Damien walked into the Old Infirmary, following the instructions that Seth gave him. He walked downstairs to the basement. As he walked down, he saw lights coming from one of the rooms. As he reached the room, a large area opened up before him. There were large machines that seemed to be for medical tests and experiments. Some of them seemed to be dismantled, parts taken from them. In the center of the room was a large machine in the form of a giant circle.

By the machine was Seth, tinkering with some of the wires on the side. He looked up and saw Damien and nodded before continuing with his tinkering. Damien stood there patiently as he waited for Seth to finish. After a few minutes, Seth nodded in satisfaction. He closed the opening and walked over to Damien.

“I’ve made the necessary adjustments. With you here, we can get this thing up and running. I just need you to go over there and channel your Energy into that rod.”

Damien looked over to where Seth was pointing and saw a large metal rod sticking out the side of the large circular machine. Damien nodded as he made his way over. He placed his hand on the rod and felt the cold metallic touch of the machine. Seth had moved over to a panel on the side as he looked over to Damien.

“OK, let’s start this up.”

Seth began pressing some buttons on the panel as Damien began to channel the Demonic Source into the machine. The machine lit up and the symbols on it began to glow. The machine began to vibrate before it started to move. The inner part of the large circle began to move, rotating clockwise within the circle. Black sparks flew out of the circle as it began to power up. Seth nodded his he looked at the screen on the panel.

“Everything seems good so far. Try putting in a bit more Energy.”

Damien nodded as he directed more of the Source into the machine. The machine began to move faster as the inner piece of the circle began to whirl faster and faster. Orbs of Demonic Energy began to form in the center of the circle, growing slowly as the machine spun faster and faster. The look in Seth’s eyes seemed to go manic with excitement.

“It’s working. Keep pushing it.”

As the two boys continued working, in the shadows by the door, two silhouettes could be seen. Eamon looked towards Arata with a serious gaze. Arata nodded. This was similar to Azrail’s Black Hole Scrolls, down to some of the symbols on the machine. A teleportation device. But from the looks of it, it was to maintain a bridge between two points instead of a simple one way, one use teleportation like the Black Hole Scrolls. However, the symbols were too reminiscent of the Black Hole Scrolls.

This wasn’t a coincidence.

Somehow, they had gotten a hold of a Black Hole Scroll and figured out some of the symbols on it. Although there was a few differences, most likely made through experimenting over the missing pieces that they didn’t have, it was practically the same. Eamon and Arata moved in the shadows, staying out of sight. Eamon utilized his Truth Energy to cover them, hiding their Energies and blurring the light and shadows around them, making them see-through in the darkness.

The Energy within the circle grew larger, filling up the entire circle. As the Energy surge, a figure could be seen within it. Arata realized that this portal was more like a widow of sorts. Using the Demonic Realm as a bridge, it lessened the distance between the two places. Azrail had made a similar portal before, but it wasn’t wise to use it as you would have a direct encounter with the Realm’s Source Energy, which could corrupt and pollute your Elemental Reservoir.

The Black Hole Scrolls allowed you to travel through the Realm with a barrier protecting you, but this way was quicker, but also more deadly. Arata waited anxiously. The figure on the other side stepped forward. As he passed through the barrier, he seemed to shake and distort before appearing as flesh, no longer a shadowy image. He slowly came out of the window of Energy the machine had produced. As the man’s head passed through, the sound of yelling was heard. The man was screaming as he passed through the portal.

He stopped as he finally passed through, falling to his knee. He was breathing heavily as he did his best to hold himself up. The large man was wearing black leather with golden skulls embroidered onto it. Seth rushed over to the man to help him up.

“Uncle! Are you OK?”

The man looked at Seth with a sinister grin, putting his arm over the young boy’s shoulder.

“You did it, kid. You made us a bridge.”

He then looked back at the portal as he threw a small gem back into the portal. As it passed through, more shadowy figures appeared on the other side of the window. They began to pass through, screaming and yelling in pain as they came through, collapsing on the ground as they did. Some were able to get up straight away, while others were clearly more drained. The first man that passed through watched as more people came through.

“It seems that the Demonic Realm takes a toll on those that have another type of Energy within them. But they should recover in a day or two.”

Arata and Eamon went wide eyed as they saw more and more men come through the portal, the room filling up with a dark and evil aura, as the Demon’s all had an evil touch to their Energies. Arata could feel Eamon shaking as he looked at all the Demons that were gathering. With Eamon’s Truth, he could obviously see and feel the acts that they had committed, could see the types of people they were. And he was clearly angered by it.

The man that Seth called Uncle looked at the men in the room, they were all looking at him with sick and twisted grins. The man chuckled.

“Tonight, we will scout and rest. Then the next few days, we will finish the preparations for the ritual. And then….”

The man and all the Demon’s smiled evilly.

“Then the Demon’s will bring hell to this pitiful school.”

The Demon’s began to nod and murmur in agreement. Seth moved over to the panel and began pressing buttons, to the side, Damien withdrew his Energy as the portal disappeared. The man noticed Damien and walked over to him.

“Who are you?”

Seth came forward with a letter in hand.

“He was sent by Khamen. He helped power the machine, which is we were able to get you here today.”

The man read the letter and seemed interested.

“I wasn’t informed about this. But he must be truly strong to have powered the….”

The man paused as he finally noticed Damien’s Energy. He placed his hand on Damien’s shoulder and his eyes widened for a moment before he started laughing.

“A Child of the Source. No wonder you were able to finish so soon. A truly wonderful gift from the higher ups.”

The man grinned at Damien.

“I am Lucian, the leader of the Demon’s Rune Crafters. For someone so young to have such a pure power is impressive.”

Damien bowed simply.

“Damien.”

Lucian nodded as he walked over to the other Demon’s. He discussed briefly about how they would stay down here and they would have more people come through tomorrow, and the higher ups come in a day before the Seniors match, the day of the operation. The Demon’s dispersed as they went to find places to cultivate and hide within the building. Seth walked over to Damien.

“Be back here tomorrow night and we will continue then. Stay out of sight.”

Damien nodded as he walked out. After he left, he went behind the trees and bushes once more. Hyosuke rose from the shadows with a grim look on his face.

“Judging by the strength and abilities of thise Demon’s, this is going to get ugly quick.”

“So we will need to be ready to wipe them out in one fell swoop.”

Eamon and Arata came out from behind a tree. Eamon’s face was one of rage.

“I was able to see through the Demon’s as they didn’t have the same protection as Seth. These men, no…..these Demon’s have a truly sick plan. We will strike on the night before, as the higher ups enter and are weakened by the portal. That will be our best shot.”

He looked back in the direction of the Old Infirmary, his eyes glowing as he looked over the building and those inside.

“From what I can see of who they are bringing, we may need the full power of the Sato Clan afterall.”