Chapter 8: The System?!

The rain of blood intensifies, the wind and the rumblings of thunder accompany it, and a very dangerous confrontation is about to break out in the ruins of an ancient city
Ao and the prophet look at each other intensely, waiting to see who will make the first move..

Ao: “If you really are a prophet.. then surely you must know that you're making a grave mistake in trying to hinder me!”
Prophet: Sneering mouth closed, calm
“Let me introduce myself.. I am the prophet 「Alpha」 of the blood!
I can see the future, by looking at the blood of the person concerned..” Points at Ao
“Your blood.. Show me your blood!” Frightening smile, trembles with excitement and anticipation

This prophet.. Why do I feel like.. I've seen him somewhere before?!
Plus, he exudes star power... abnormal?
If I have to fight him, under the Pendragons' cameras..
I'm sure that's what they want.. for the best fighters in this tournament to show off all their skills, to better counter them when the time comes!
Tss.. It doesn't hurt to try!

Ao crunches his right index finger and blood drips from it, showing it to the prophet from afar
Ao: “What do you see in my future, eh?!”
Prophet: Comes up to Ao very quickly with a wild thirsty look, and looks at his index finger very closely, holding his wrist tightly
“Huh.. No system, no trace of engram and soul poisoning.... Oooooh~”
Starts to cry, and gently releases Ao's wrist
“You're one of us.. Ooooooh~”
He.. knows of the existence of engram and soul magic.. Who is this guy?!
Ao looks in shock at the prophet

As the prophet cries louder and louder.. the assassins behind him also begin to cry, get down on their knees and pray with their hands
Prophet: “You.. You must join us!!! Aotahi !!”
Closes in on Ao's face with a sad look
Ao: “...” Embarrassed look.. and empathetic “I'm not a blood fanatic like you.. but.. I understand-”Gets interrupted
Prophet: Suddenly gets angry “IT'S BECAUSE OF THIS BENEDICTION... MALEDICTION... BENEDICTION..”

The prophet shakes more and more, and seems to be more and more mentally unstable
What is he talking about..!!
Ao looks at the young woman mourning the body of her orc friend
I won't be able to fight and protect them, I'll have to prepare an escape plan, and fast!

The prophet starts to get agitated, shout, get angry, panic, get irritated, get dangerously excited and scratch his skin heavily... to the point where he starts to bleed.. more and more

Prophet: Shouts frantically, looks at Ao with yellow eyes, and starts crying blood

“CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED CURSED BLESSED Ç̸̡̪͙̲̺̠͍͎͒͋͆͐͗͑͑̇͝U̸̧̡̯̟̹̦̤͂͜ͅR̶͕̲͑͊̑̇S̸̘͐́̿̾̕̕̚͝E̴̦͕͚̻̠̪͌͌D̸͍̞̥̮̩͙͉͍͜͠ ̴̨̛͖̟̮̞̰̭͒̾͗̈́́̄̕̚͠B̵̨̫͔̼̰͓̹̹̖̽͋̿̀L̴͔͌͂̃ͅE̷̟̤̻̠̘̔̿̾́̈̐Š̵̡̥̕S̴̖̯̺͚̪̮̹͋̿͑̋̒̈Ȩ̴̬̜̞̫͕̺͚͎̞̓̾̽́͛͠D̴̛̦̫͐͆̈́̽̄̾̚̕͠ ̸̤̱̰̇̆͆̈͘̚͠C̸̡̟̲̊̽̌͊̅̇ͅỤ̸̢̨͚͉̰͉̱͑͆̓̔̎̽̚R̴̛͓̮̅̈͒̎̎̔̿S̸̨̺̼̻̗̫͎̝̓̂̃̿̍̀̅̈̕͘͜Ę̴͎̣͓̪̜̹̒͒͛̿͛͊̽͜ͅD̵̡̰͑̔̌̉͑ ̴͓̾͆B̷̧͇̼̓͊̔̈L̴̗͖͔̀͗͘͝É̴̼͝Š̴̛̩͖̬͎̝̝̹̬̗͋̊̀̕͘͝S̵̰̣̘̦̝͔̔̉͑͌̑͌͛Ȩ̵̡̠̇͜D̶̥̙̭͂ͅ ̶̥̤̭̠̟̠͓̥́̈̊̂̆͘͠C̴̹͉̥̹̩̱̏̆͆̕͠Ṳ̷̢̪̮̈̏̋̈́̅̈̿͜R̶͚̓̓͊͗̔͗͋̄́S̷̥̗͍̯̞̳̃̊̓̃̐̈͝E̶̛̳͇͑̚̚Ď̴̛̹̌̈͋͑͝ ̵̢̭͖̯͖̥̥͍̜͒̏̒̍͗̑̀̐͒́͜B̶̮̥̬̖͓͉͉̤͍͗͊͌̈́̐̏͗̀̋̍L̷̛̙͍̪̯̪̞̃̅͆͒̕͜E̵̖͊̑̒͛͒͒͘͜S̵͎̤̥͖̽S̵̲̒͠E̸̛͖͓̺̭̲̥̥̘̰̔̓͒̑͐͒̀̾̚D̶̢̜̥͎͎̬̻̤̆͌̓ ̵̯̳̲̼̻́̾̈́͛̂͗C̶̢̛̪͚͙̜̻͂̾̋̒̓ͅͅṶ̷̧͎̤̫̟̩͉̝̘̉R̵͚̘̞͔̭̥̼̹͐́̏̀͜͜Ś̷̨̫̗̟̟̠͐͋̎̄̆E̵̻͌̌̉̓D̷̙͍̘̘̖͛̀ͅͅ ̸̜̳̣̻̹͊̏̽́B̸̖̗̳̄̅͗̋͠L̷̳͙̠͎̗̪̎Ẽ̸̩̻̳͇̋̀͌̔S̷̹͇̰͇͂͊̏̑̃S̶̢̟̭̋̚E̶̯̝͈̥̼̙̠͕͙̠̾͌͂̿D̷̠̃ ̷̛̦̺͂͑̔͆̾̈́C̶̡̧̼̞̾͐͠Ȕ̸̜̙̞̪͍̫̑̕͠R̵̜͈̜̱͈̟̺̹͓̂̈̇̋S̴̥̖̜̻̞̺͙̆͛̀̂̏͑Ḙ̴̡̋̇̐͂̍̍̽͝͠͠ͅD̷͙̝̤͙̩̣̖̐̀̄͊͌͌́̚̕̕͜ͅ ̷̧̼͔̗͍͈͇͉͓̞̈́͋̒̌̈̋̈̎͘͝B̷̡̡̯͑̅͊Ĺ̸̢̡̥̘̣̣͂̋E̴̡̹̝̯͒͝S̴͎̪̬͕̆̓͑Ș̸̣̱͉̹̦̲̖̯͎͌̈́͐̊̓͑̊̾̓È̵̯̮̗̠͙͕͓̱͉̃̌̊̍D̸̘͇̞̻̪̲͂̋͑̌̽́͌̐̚͜ ̸̢̩̰̮̟̤̗̱͊̊͜ͅC̴̟͍͉̭̉͗̏͊̉̈̋̌͠͠Ư̴̺̝̟̜̯̤̫̰͙̭͛̈́̓̊̀̈͗̇R̸̢̝̭̜̜͇͈̣̊Ş̵̣͔̬̄̐̊̉̓̐̈́̋͊̑͜E̴̠̓͛͐D̴͉̲͉̲̠̙̜̂͜ ̵͈̩͉̤͇̒͐͠Ḃ̴̭͠ͅL̶̳͕̣̊E̸͔͋S̷̳͒̇S̸̳͈̬͉͂̉̉̽͒̈͌̃̃͝Ĕ̷̬͂͛̾̂͑́͗̍͜͝D̵̨̹̤͕̰̺̲͔̞̂̑̚̚ͅ ̴̨̼̥͎͎͖̜͇̲̹͐͑̂Ć̵̨̩͖̹͖̩̼͕͋͛̂͛͌̃̂̿ͅU̶̡̖̥̼͖̥̣͖̯͓̒͒͑̈́͆̾̔͘R̴͉͇͔̳̥͉͙͖̍ͅŞ̸̢̨̢̼̹̤̙̑͜E̵̳̠̻͙̊̒̈́D̸̢̼̮̊̆̑̓̌̾̑̈́̂ ̷̧̪̭̯͍̖͚͓̳̙͌̈́̈́͐̐͝͝͝B̶̩͎̪͍̙̝̈́̿̾̍̆͠͠L̸̲̝̃͒̃̉͂͝͝͝Ę̴̪̝͖̔̎ͅS̴̠̺̖̻̘͕̻̓͒͂̈́̈́͘̚S̶͔̣̈́̍͐̀̾Ę̶̡͍̼̟̓͊͗̌͛̉ͅḐ̷̡͕̩̹͓̐̋̄̓̒̑̚ͅ”

Suddenly, Kin and Gin arrive at the ruins, and view the scene from a dilapidated rooftop
Gin: Shouts “YUMI!!!”
Wh.. GIN?!! Ao looks in the direction of the voice, and sees Gin and his brother on a roof
Yumi: Cries out “Mu.. THEY KILLED MU!!!” Hugs the rest of the orc's battered body
Kin wears a face of sadness and great anger... and directs his gaze at the prophet and Ao, ready to attack them

Damn it! What the hell is Gin doing here?! And that crying woman's name is Yumi? The dead orc, Mu, and the big one next to Gin...
Looks at Kin... and realizes he's about to attack the prophet in the middle of a psychotic break

Kin leaps from the roof, appears next to the prophet, and throws a powerful punch
Kin: “Enhance: Right Punch MAXIMUM OUTPUT”

As Kin throws his punch.. the prophet stops it with a wave of his hand, without any difficulty, completely immobilizing Kin's body
Prophet: Turns his bloody head towards Kin
“Kin Shakespeare.. Do you want to end up like your brother Mu?!”
The Prophet releases a red aura, and displays an absolutely terrifying power that seems insurmountable to Kin, Gin and Yumi

Kin: Turns to Gin “Gin!!! GET OUT OF HERE!!!”
As the prophet lunges to throw a fatal punch at Kin...
His blow is stopped by an earthen structure that appears in front of him

Gin: Appears behind Kin and incants “Chikyu: Wall”

However, the earthen structure that Gin had incanted is instantly destroyed by the prophet's blow, and rushes towards them to deliver the final blow...
But a blue light appears in front of them and takes the blow

Ao: Stands between Gin, Kin and the prophet, head down, and stops the prophet's punch with both arms
“If you want to kill them...” Lifts his head and looks at the prophet with a look of blue fire
“You'll have to beat me first!!!”

Silence fills the scene... and Ao prepares to have to fight a serious opponent
Prophet: Growls and shouts in a broken voice “Rivers of Blood”

The rain intensifies very strongly, and all the blood on the ground quickly gathers to create great currents that head towards Ao and the others
Ao throws a super-powerful punch in front of him, causing the earth to rise with a great shockwave to stop the currents advancing towards them and temporarily hide from the prophet and his assassins

He then runs very quickly towards Yumi and grabs her by force, leaving Mu's body behind them. He then reappears towards Kin and Gin and throws Yumi to the ground

Ao: “You three, buy me some time while I prepare a teleportation!!!”
Closes his eyes and concentrates
Suddenly, a red and black silhouette appears above them, and prepares to hit Ao with a flying kick, but is intercepted by Kin

Kin: “Enhance: Full Body MAXIMUM OUTPUT” Punches the figure
Another red and black silhouette appears next to Kin and is about to hit him, but Yumi intercepts it
Yumi: “DA DA DA DA DA DA” Rush the silhouette with punches
Author's note: This is not a technique, it's just Yumi going wild

The prophet starts to destroy the great uprising of earth that Ao has caused, and Gin tries to hold him back as best he can with his earthbending techniques
Kin: “Is that teleportation coming?!!”
Prophet: Arises from the earthen wall, rushes at Ao and the group, and shouts “GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD!!!”
Ao: Places his hands on the ground, conjures a circle around them and incants
“Teleportation”

A blinding light envelops the group in the circle, and they disappear... leaving a great ball of blue energy behind them, which explodes just after their teleportation

The group is swept away into what looks like an endless tunnel, without light or darkness..
They're bewildered.. Has the teleportation gone wrong?!
Gin tries to open his eyes, but can't see anything.. but he feels something deep inside him..
Something, someone, is holding him back.. He feels a great, inexplicable unease, as if he's remembering.. someone else's life?
He hears a voice... familiar, maternal
??? : “Pass the ball, boy!”
Gin hears a child laughing.. who is this child?
He wonders why, he remembers this

The descent of the endless tunnel suddenly stops... and the uneasiness intensifies, more deeply, like a forced tearing away of something vital
It's as if.. he feels his mind twisting and freeing itself from chains, anchored in his memories, his appearance, his..
CONSCIOUSNESS|EXISTENCE
Gin cries out in.. pain?! or does he cries out in.. joy?!
What's his name? Gin? or...
??? : Good night.. Hikaru”

...
That should be enough...
Ao: “Teleportation”

Ao and the group find themselves.. in the air, high above the red desert of Artand
Crap.. I miscalculated this axis, we're in freefall!!
And these 3.. They're going to be unconscious for a while now, so I've got to catch them and hide them until they come to their senses!

Ao moves through the air, carrying the 3 companions as best he can, and descends at full speed over the red desert, next to what looks like the entrance to a canyon cave
He lands, cushioning the fall by emitting a shockwave with his legs, then throws his 3 companions into the cave entrance

The rain is much calmer here.. We must be pretty far from the red cult
I didn't expect to run into Gin again so soon... but I'd already planned to start with him...
Let's see.. Gently approaches the cave entrance, and takes a closer look at Gin's face

Damn... They must be using some pretty big machines in Kamelott for him to be so disfigured!
Ao looks at Yumi and Kin's faces, and sees the same disfigurement
He sees a device protruding from Kin's pocket, like an augmented-reality telescope

What's that thing? Passes his eye over the scope, and sees a computerized and holographic window

Welcome to the system skills analysis,
Move your gaze over a person to analyze his or her skills

Hmm.. Looks at Gin, and statistics appear

Gin Shakespeare, Third Class
Vigor: 20
Stamina: 13
Speed: 14
Strength: 11
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 22

Pendragon recommendation: ANOMALY DETECTED, Please return to your place, insect, ANOMALY DETECTED

Statistics.. A system, are they playing a video game in Kamelott or what?!
And what does it say if I play it on myself? Shows his face in the bezel, and puts it back on to see the statistics

▓▓▓▓▓▓, UNKNOWN ENTITY
Vigor: 8th+20
Endurance: 9th+54
Speed: O̵̡͎͉̝̬͖͚̗͆̓̄̈́̔̿͑̌͝͝Ô̷̦̮̺͈͍̏͐͌O̶̡̠̦̟̖̣̹͑̿̽O̷̼͑̉̌̄͑̂̾̀̕͜O̵̧̨̤̫͙͍̥̠̳͐̽͗̀̀̈O̵̤͓̥͔̰͐͜O̷̰̪̱̦̗̮̱̎͌ͅͅO̶̗̭͎̻͖͉͌͜Ȍ̸̢̨̢̳͍̖̜̲̯̜̀͠O̴̯̜̜̦̲̙̥͂̑̈͗̀O̸̜̥̯̳̟̐O̵̢̧̡͖͇̝͚͉̟̔̔͑̊͝0̷͎͍̮͑͐̌͗͛͐̃̈́̐͝1̵̘̐͛̈̏1̷̗̑̔̌̌̒̈0̵͓̰̠͍̖͕̟̭͓͖́̌́̉͘͝͝1̷̨͈̜͖̫̝̘̰͍̊̋̍̑0̸̫̟̮̩̙̤̩̈́̃̃́̑͆0̷̻͔̙͎̣̳̂̂1̵̢̰̔̈̈́ ̵̢̠͇̬̻̖̐0̵̢̝͇̺͔̦͓̆̋͐̓̂͐́̈́̊0̴̡͉̫̺͖̘̼̈́̈̀͝1̷͍̪̦͙͔̗̝̩͓͊̂̈̐͛͋̋̈́̚͜0̷̨̳͉̞͎̓̎0̴̧̨̲̝̫͔̆̏̅̚̚0̷̡̢̛̠̜̭̲͋0̷̗̤̙̔0̴̧͔͓͓͂̄̉̀̐̃̈́ͅǪ̶̛̲̳̭̬̠̱̬̮͊̇̓̿̚͠ͅỢ̴͚̆̐͑̒̂̉̚͠͠ͅƠ̷̗ͅO̴̢͙̖̰̲͇̭̙̾͑̏͜͠O̷̺̱͙͇̪̐̄̌̔͜͠ͅO̸̮̻̯̬̓̌͝͝O̶͇̥͕̪͓̩̪͇͋͌̅͝Ȍ̶̡͉̯̈́O̶̡͕̲̲͔̠̯̰̯͌̾̚Ǫ̶̢͓̪̩̣͎̼̍̒͑̓̿̔̀̋̈̇Ọ̵̰͔̫͙͔̿́͋̆̚̚͝
ERROR REPORT: STATISTICS NOT IN LINE WITH PENDRAGON STANDARDS

I understand now.. That's how they keep control, by limiting their ability to evolve with a “system”
Sigh Maybe I'm actually wrong...

Suddenly, someone stands behind Ao, and lunges to attack
??? “Enhance: Right” Throws a right punch
Ao stops the person's fist with his palm, and sighs in exasperation

Ao: “Kin, is it? Or, it's probably another name that's starting to run through your head..”
Kin: Crunching his teeth hard “YOU MONSTER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO US?!”
Ao: “I've woken you up” Pushes back fist with palm and makes Kin back away hard

Kin: Gets into fighting stance “Enhance: Full Body MAXIMUM OUTPUT”
Ao: “Good..” Snaps fingers and neck, and slowly approaches Kin
“We're going to go over the basics of the basics... starting with taking away your dirty habits!”
Kin: “You're going to undo what you did to my brother and sister, you freak!!!”
Ao: “Believe me, in a few minutes you'll be thinking just the opposite!
Come on.. Lesson number 1: How to start in life!”
Kin: “Huh?!”

Ao looks at Kin with a goofy grin, he thinks this lesson is a joke...
But Ao is very serious... I think?