"Die with the Viscount?" Luciana pulled a chair and sat on it, her legs spread wide. Her thong barely concealed her body from Ali's eyes.
"You think you can defeat us?" Luciana pointed at the players behind her. "The Magic Tower, with its Four Star Mage?" She continued, and players around her nodded in agreement.
"And a level five Aura Knight. Oh, and I don't know how many level four knights…" Luciana added.
"You think you can win against all of that?" Luciana stared at Ali. The players around her seemed more confident now, some activating their aura – a power most players who escaped this world alive would have attained.
Out of all of them, Mark was the only one who stepped back. His eyes flickered between Ali and the stairs, calculating his escape route as the tension built up.
Ali didn't answer immediately. He took back his elbows from the counter and straightened up on the chair.
He looked at Luciana, his black eyes slowly losing their colour and transforming before their eyes.
A deep violet spread from the centre of his iris, and he blinked. When he opened his eyes again, his human eyes were replaced with a black slit surrounded by deep violet that glowed ominously and flowed like violet fire trapped in his eye socket.
"Bahamut," Ali said the word.
Luciana immediately jumped from the chair, which burned to ash as she essentially phased through it, her body covered in a terrible red flame.
Her hand took the shape of a claw and reached out to Ali, but…
OPEN
On the ceiling, a purple draconic eye opened and shone a light over every player in a split second.
They all froze, their eyes losing their colour as they experienced their deepest fear before them – an instinctual fear that took over their bodies and broke through any mental protection they had.
The humans of Earth on the second level of Paradise could never escape the hold of an ancient Dragon like Bahamut, who had grasped the essence of darkness and fear.
Ali slowly stood up and moved forward, avoiding Luciana's arm. He faced her frozen body. Her eyes had turned to burning fire as she struggled just to twitch her eyelids, the most resistance any player in the tavern could muster.
Ali raised his hand and held her neck with his right hand. Ignoring the burning sensation on his skin, he tightened his grip, his black aura now covering his hand to combat the fire.
"You are weak," Ali whispered into her ear, his gaze fixed on her eyes as he released some of his own killing intent, instilling fear into her soul.
"You will leave before sunrise… Consider this mercy," Ali said, removing his hand from her neck and walking out of the tavern.
As the doors closed behind him, Bahamut's eye closed and vanished, allowing the players to escape the horror.
HAAAAAH HA HAH HA!
A loud noise of people grasping for air reverberated in the tavern as the players fell to their knees, clutching their heads in fear, struggling to regain their sanity.
Except for Luciana, who simply stood there, touching her neck, which now bore a handprint. It was a gift left behind by Ali.
"What happened?" Claire shouted as she descended the stairs, her eyes wide with confusion. She looked at her guild-mates lying on the floor in pain, her own eyes red from her vampiric bloodline.
No one answered, so she approached Luciana, who held her hand up, keeping Claire at a distance. Luciana sat down on the same chair Ali had been sitting on, leaning on the counter as she tried to think straight.
But then her eyes darted behind the counter, where four pretty tavern girls lay limp over each other. Their eyes had turned purple, blood escaping from the edges of their sockets. None of them was breathing.
"FUCK!" Luciana shouted, swiping the counter with her arm and throwing the drinks and plates at the wall, shattering them. She stood there, tightening her grip with anger before opening her eyes again and looking back at the players slowly getting back on their feet.
"We're leaving… NOW!" she announced, and none of them complained. They didn't want to experience such horror ever again. The feeling of losing control and their lives in the hands of someone else was traumatic to them now.
Meanwhile, in an alley near the city centre, a soft blue light shone from the magic lamps. These lamps had a thin blue trail from their base through the pavement and to the magic tower that powered them at night.
In the alley, a pretty bunny-girl stood over a bloodied pair of drunk men. They had broken bones and internal bleeding as they breathed their last breaths. Death was closing in by the second, but she simply stood there with cold brown eyes, watching the humans lose their lives.
'Satisfaction? Revenge?' Liza struggled with the emotions she was feeling.
'Ali told me to go rest, but I just couldn't resist…,' she thought, looking at the two men who had tried claiming her as a lost slave so They could have their fun with her, but what they got instead was a pair of aura-enforced kicks.
"Hey, kid, what are you doing?" a strong female voice came from behind. Liza's instincts immediately acted on their own. She exploded behind her, her leg raised high, ready to crush whoever it was.
But what met her was a deep green aura that blocked her attack easily. A strong hand caught her leg and smashed her onto the stone pavement.
Liza struggled with the pain coming from her back as she opened her eyes to see something that eased her slightly.
"Your…," Liza said, looking up at the deer-girl whose small antlers and deer ears cast a shadow on her as she pressed her onto the ground with her strong peak-level three green aura.
"A demi-human, you fool…," the deer-girl looked annoyed as she looked up at the pair of men drowning in their own blood.
"Do you know what you just did? And where's your master? Did you run away?" she asked, looking at the now flustered Liza.
"I—", Liza hesitated, unsure of what to say. The deer-girl sighed and helped her to her feet.
"My name is Bona. Follow me," Bona said, holding Liza's arm and guiding her through a series of dark alleys back into the city's slums.
"It's strange, so quiet. Usually, those loud scum would be all over at this hour," Bona said, peeking from an alley with Liza behind her quiet.
"So, what's your name? You must be a warrior slave, nurtured from a young age with aura like that at your age," Bona said, looking back at Liza.
"My name is Liza, and yes, I was trained in combat from a young age," Liza replied, and Bona nodded at her brief answer. 'I hope she didn't kill her master, or she'll bring heat on us… But I can't just leave her…,' Bona thought as she led Liza further to the city's edge, near the walls, where they sneaked to the back door of a worn-down warehouse.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Bona gave three quick knocks, and a small window opened, revealing an eye peering down at them. "It's Bona, open up," a young voice called from inside, and the door unlocked.
"Come inside," Bona said, pulling Liza with her.
Liza curiously looked around the warehouse, which had been transformed into a safe haven for demi-humans. There were young and old, sick and pregnant, many males missing limbs, and females sitting on their beds with vacant eyes, like empty husks.
"What is this place?" Liza asked, drawing stares from everyone around her.
"Bona, YOUR BACK!" a dog-girl child jumped into Bona's arms with excitement.
"Who's this?" the child asked, pointing at Liza, Bona smiled and was about to answer…
"Bona, what did it tell you? We're barely surviving, and you bring in another stray? And she's chained, Bona!" an old wolf-man said sternly.
"Come on, you old fool, let me introduce her first before you complain," Bona said, gently setting the child back down.
"Everyone, I want you to meet Liza. She's with us now, and I want you to take care of her, okay?" Bona said aloud. A crowd of demi-humans surrounded Liza with smiles, especially the women who held her hands, trying to show her a warm welcome.
Most of them looked at Liza's pretty face and thought of the horrible torture she had endured as a slave, as many of them had lived it too. They thought she was a sex slave.
Bona walked away with the elderly wolf-man, who was missing a leg and used a wood stump as a substitute.
They entered the only room in the warehouse and closed the door behind them. "Bona, how many times do I have to tell you? The more you push the limit, the more you risk us all, think of the kids for once Bona!!" Jack said.
"Jack, I found her standing over two dead humans," Bona said, and Jack froze.
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