World of Women-Chapter 34Volume 5 –

We headed down to the front of the demon castle. The gothic structure towered over us, giving off an imposing shadow that placed us in relative darkness. One of the girls gulped in what I could only guess was anxiousness. Even I felt a bit cautious. I had been to two of these places already, but they had both been buried with most of the structure hidden underground.

This was the first time I saw one of these castles in all of its glory. Even though the snow was covering a large part of it, as an avalanche had partially buried it, the entire front was still visible. It reached up into the sky, practically a mountain onto itself except this one was made from dark black rocks that seemed to suck in the light.

“So… do we just go in?” Brianna asked, letting out a misty breath into the dry, chilly air.

Rebecca and Ash glanced at me as if waiting for my synopsis. I looked the entrance up and down one last time.

“There is an entrance on the unburied side. We’ll enter from there,” I finally spoke.

The two girls glanced at each other but didn’t say anything as they followed me to the side of the castle. There was a doorway there It was identical to the one I had seen in my dream, the entrance that Mia and Lilith had used. It was a much less conspicuous entrance than the massive front doors that seemed designed to let an army through, but that also made the door more approachable. The ground near the entrance wasn’t snowy enough so it was difficult to see if Mia and Lilith had entered from this direction, presuming they had entered at all.

I couldn’t help but remember the second part of that dream. The door slammed shut and I was trapped in darkness.

“Get out your lights. Stick together,” I warned the girls.

I reached into my pack pulled out a light stick and broke it. It gave off a neon glow for hours after it was broken. Although Syph quickly cast a light source, I didn’t want to depend on any light that was electric or mana-based. I had a feeling that such things could be disrupted inside the castle.

Taking one last breath, I put my hand on the door and pushed it open. It resisted several times, but after adding a little mana into my hands, I was able to force it open with a grinding sound. It creaked and groaned like a door that hadn’t been moved in countless years.

The door finally jammed, but I had made it large enough that all of us fit through. Reaching back, I took the closest hand, which turned out to be Rebecca. She seemed a bit surprised when I took her hand, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she seemed to get my intention, and so she reached back and grabbed Ash’s hand. Like that, we created a daisy chain of people, with me taking the lead, a glowing stick held out in front of me.

Once entering the castle, it remained dark, almost like the darkness was pushing against and trying to overcome the light. Although Syph’s casted light didn’t snuff out, it remained far darker than it should have been. There were some flashlights too that ran on mana, but they started flickering and died almost immediately.

“Mana absorption?” Syph spoke quietly. “For what?”

“We don’t need to stay long enough to care,” I responded. “Rebecca? Ash? This is where you come in.”

Ash and Rebecca nodded, and we readjusted our positions so they were at the head. Rebecca shot a look at the two guards.

“Don’t touch anything, and don’t let go of your Master. If you do either, you might not make it out of this place. These castles are covered in ancient traps that will kill you no matter how skilled you think you are.”

Brianna and Syph both gave snorts, perhaps not happy with her attitude. They both had experienced quite a bit, so perhaps it was an insult to their pride to treat them like children. However, I also knew Rebecca’s words were completely true. This wasn’t like the first two I had entered. One of them had already been excavated by the government and the other I had been escorted through.

“Remember the last time we were in one of these?” Ash spoke up.

“I try to forget those days.” Rebecca shook her head.

“Clyburn tricked us into thinking he was the reincarnated Demon King. I know we were under the influence of demons, but I like to think the demons inhabiting us had a bit fewer brain cells than our true selves.”

“It’s possible. No one ever said that demons were smart.” Rebecca shrugged. “Although, I do recall I was still smarter than you.”

Ash chuckled. “Hey, who abandoned their demon ways and returned to Clyburn first?”

“Isn’t that just because you spread your legs first and got pregnant?”

“Hehe, don’t act like you didn’t sleep with him too. I was just lucky enough to get pregnant first.”

“Tch… back then, I never thought I’d ever have a baby.” Rebecca shook her head.

I knew the girls were just talking to fill the silence. The entire building was stuffy and foreboding. However, I trusted them enough to know they were paying proper attention. They were taking us past trap after trap. There were even a few I was able to detect, although I had to admit I wasn’t that good at it. As we traveled deeper into the castle, the darkness and silence became even more stifling.

“Brooke entered one of these places. We can handle it.” Brianna mumbled, but the acoustics in the place made her words come out clearly. “Ah!”

“It’s okay.” Syph tried patting the embarrassed Brianna on the back of her hand.

“The legacy should be just past those doors,” Rebecca suddenly announced.

We looked down a long hallway, which had at the end of it a pair of double doors. I tried to compare it to the place I had been in the other castles, but I couldn’t quite put them together. It was clear the layout of every castle was different.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

Both girls nodded, but Ash spoke up. “I can… feel it, can’t you?”

Now that she mentioned it, the closer I got, the more I felt the pull. Something was pulling me toward that door, although that made part of me want to run away in fear. However, we had already come this far. If I left now, I knew that I’d never be able to forgive myself. My life would be full of questions, and I’d never have the answers.

“Let’s go.” I gave the order, and then as a group all holding hands, we walked down the long, ominous hallway.

Syph’s light spell flickered and then went out. Brianna broke a second lightstick one and more light came from behind. The light from the lightsticks, being orange, lit the entire hallways in this ominous pseudo-red light that didn’t help things at all. We still moved forward at a constant pace and reached the door, although it was hard to say how long it took.

I looked at the girls and then nodded before grabbing the knob. I pulled the door open rapidly like ripping off a bandage. I was immediately struck with a cold wind that rushed out of the room. As my eyes regained focus in the low light, I could make out an altar not unfamiliar to the one I had seen in the previous. On that altar was sitting an open book glowing ominously with a dark light. However, no sooner had I processed that than my eyes fell on two people lying unconscious at the foot of the altar.

“Mia, Lilith!” I let go of Rebecca and raced forward.

“W-wait!” she cried out.

As soon as my foot hit the step, a formation on the floor began to glow. I could feel the air around me suddenly stiffening, and I was locked into place. The door slammed closed behind me. In the end, I didn’t listen to my advice.

“You are too predictable,” a familiar voice called, causing my entire body to shudder.

A young girl stepped out from the shadows behind the altar. She seemed to have grown since the last time I saw her, or maybe that was just my imagination. The girl had appeared to be ten when I first saw her, but if I had to put an age on her now, it was probably 13. She looked a lot like Charlie, but I knew her by another name.

“Jenji.”

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Jenji had short hair and red eyes. Her body looked thin, nearly to the point of being sickly, but she moved like someone used to the shadows.

“You did show up.” Jenji chuckled, approaching the altar.

I tensed as I saw her walk up to the book. That was the legacy. We had come all of this way, and she was just going to take it like that? She reached out for it, but her hand suddenly seemed to strike some kind of mana barrier. She let out a soft chuckle before throwing me a smirk.

“I can’t take it. I’ve always known where it is, but I can’t just get it myself. That would break the rules.”

“Whose rules?” I asked.

“Of course, it isn’t that hard to convince humans to do the work for me.” Jenji ignored my question. “When you absorbed the 2nd legacy, you could say that awakened me. I realized what my mischievous sister was trying to do behind my back. So, I ended up having to take a more proactive role. I convinced them to excavate the third castle. The only thing I didn’t anticipate is my sister getting directly involved.”

“Charlie? What did you do with Charlie?”

“She’s gone,” she responded, leaving her place behind the altar casually. “We had been at a standstill for so long, her and I. Longer than you could imagine. However, she was not as strong as she had been once. She used up all of her energy on a chance… she used it all up on you.”

“Y-you killed her?” I demanded.

She cocked her head. “Killed her? Why would I kill myself?”

“Y-you…” I didn’t know how to respond. Her words confused me. “How are you… Charlie?”

She let out a giggle. “Come on, you had to hear about things like split personalities, right? Charlie and I… we’re two sides of the same coin. Well, we used to be once. Equals. Yet, she went and got sentimental, and in the end, I simply absorbed her.”

“A-absorbed her?”

“It was always going to happen one way or another. Either I absorbed her, or she’d absorb me. Which personality gets to win… that was always the deal.”

“What are you? Are you angels?”

“Angels?” She giggled again. “Well, that’s certainly a thought.”

“Then…”

“No, we’re not angels,” she responded. “If you had to describe us… I guess you could say we’re the doorway.”

“D-doorway?”

“I am the boundary between the hell dimension and your world.” She shrugged. “I don’t know how I came to be, I just know my purpose was to keep these two worlds apart.”

“Then… why aren’t you helping Charlie?”

“That’s the thing about a doorway to hell, one side gets to face heaven, while the other side has no choice but to face hell. The Demon King ruined me. For countless years, he broke me down. While my sister got to live peacefully on this side, I was tortured day and night, bruised and battered. Well, it’s nothing so dramatic as that. I just grew tired of the same old, and so I stopped guarding my side.”

“That’s how the demons got through,” I realized it out loud.

“Initially… this world nearly fell, but that was when Charlie lashed back. She used the power of this world to expel the demons and seal the gateway between our worlds.”

“So…what? You’re going to bring down the gateway now?” I asked.

“No,” She smirked. “She is.”

She looked down at a redhead girl on the floor, and I couldn’t help but tense up. “What are you saying?”

“Once Lilith absorbs the legacy, she’ll have the power to tear down the seal,” she declared, leaning over the other girl. “Come on, wake up now.”

She waved something aromatic in front of Lilith’s nose. The girl sniffed it, and then made a face, shaking her head. A few moments later, her eyes started to flutter open.

“You think she’ll help you?” I demanded. “She hates everything you stand for!”

“Perhaps.” Jenji nodded while still watching her wake up. “Or, maybe she will act better if I threaten her. How will she feel with her friend Mia’s life on the line? What about yours?”

Her eyes went up to mine, and a knowing smirk appeared on her lips.

“Do you think this will work?” I asked darkly.

“Oh?” Jenji looked amused, “Do you think you can stop me?”

“If Lilith could undo the seal with one inheritance, then you would have used her then,” I responded. “I’m betting even two inheritances might not be enough. You’re probably only hoping.”

“Is that right?” She seemed amused. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe not. It doesn’t matter. It’s not like you can do anything from there.”

“You know… I was always curious about your background. Charlie and you always seemed so mysterious. I was thinking you were gods or angels or something. I came all this way to find Charlie, to find out the truth. Honestly, I’m kind of disappointed.”

“Were you expecting some grand spectacle? Did you think you were some hero?” Jenji laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re nothing more than Charlie’s fuckboy. Once Lilith summons the demon king, nothing you’ve done will amount to anything. Your life, your very purpose, will amount to nothing.”

“Yeah?” I lifted my head. “Well, all of this time you spent talking…. I’ve been deconstructing your rune formation!”

I let out a roar as the ground under me suddenly cracked. At this point, Lilith was awake, and she jumped up in confusion.

“Quick! The legacy!” Jenji pointed toward the book on the pedestal.

The confused and disorientated Lilith immediately started moving toward it. However, I had broken through Jenji’s spell and could move just as well myself. I immediately raced toward the pedestal. Lilith was closer, but I was faster. I threw a spell together in my head and immediately enhanced my speed. Just as her hand was about to cross the barrier, I snatched the legacy from under her.

“You…” Jenji’s eyes flashed.

I laughed for a moment until the explosion of information and power flowed into me. Like always, that power seemed to fall into a black hole, almost like it was being erased from existence. With the power entering the black hole, so was any hope of Jenji being able to punch open that seal between the worlds she was talking about. As the last of the power disappeared from the legacy, the book slammed closed and then turned into dust. I grabbed onto the pedestal to keep from falling over.

“There, I did it.” I declared.

Lilith was standing next to me with wide eyes, and even Mia seemed to have woken up after I destroyed the runes on the ground. Jenji was watching me carefully. After a moment, she threw back her head and laughed.

“Finally!” She laughed. “Finally, the last seal is undone.”

“Wh-what?” I blinked.

As she looked at me, her body started to change. Horns began to grow from her head, and a long spade tail came out from behind.

“I already said it before.” Jenji continued to laugh hysterically. “You’re too predictable!”

The ground started to shake. No, it was more accurate to say that the entire castle was shaking. The door finally burst open where Ash, Rebecca, and the guards were trying to break in.

“What happened?” Rebecca cried out.

“The legacy….” I spoke in disbelief.

“Legacy?” Jenji smirked. “It was the seals. These castles were built to protect them, to protect the border between worlds.”

I took a step back. “That… that can’t be. Y-you were the gateway… You were lying?”

“No, I spoke the truth. I was the boundary between worlds. To cross into this world, the Demon King absorbed me… became me. When Charlie kicked us out, I became trapped between worlds, my power being used to restrain me. However, now that you have consumed that power, I am finally free.” As she spoke, her eyes glowed red and she floated up into the air. “That’s right, I’m the Demon King, and now I’m free!”

“Master, we need to go!” Brianna cried out.

I nodded, grabbing Lilith who was still a bit disorientated as Syph helped Mia to her feet. The group of us fled the room as the ground continued to shake.

“Run all you like!” Jenji continued to laugh. “Soon, there will be nowhere left to go.”

The seven of us continued running down the hallway. We didn’t watch out for any traps, but with the castle feeling like it was breaking down around us, it didn’t seem like we needed to. We finally came out of the entrance where we arrived, the door still managing to stay open even as the walls around it crumbled. We ran out into the cold, making it a few dozen meters away from the castle before finally slowing down and looking back. The castle was collapsing on itself. The side covered in snow was coming down creating a mini-avalanche that quickly took out the rest.

“Clyburn…. Look.” Syph had been keeping a lookout, and she pointed out to the incline of one of the mountains.

I looked in the direction she pointed, and what I saw was a group of women racing toward us.

“It’s a rescue!” Brianna spoke up excitedly.

“No…” Rebecca shook her head. “Those are villagers from the town. They must have followed the airship.”

“The queen’s guards?” Mia gasped.

I took a few steps forward, noting they were moving way too fast, and some of them were even running on all fours. Realization struck me like a cold finger up my spine.

“Not… anymore.”