Chapter 183: Tepes

The Black Moon Heart continued to distort the space around the platform, its countless strands stretching through the walls of Mensus.

Emily stood nearby and she was no longer clutching her head. Her brows furrow as she studies the strange fluctuations while trying to understand how they could interfere with the connection without triggering another dangerous reaction.

Reinhard approached her and gently caressed her cheek, drawing her attention away from the Heart. "You’ve been thinking so hard that you’ve barely looked at me. Whatever you’re planning, don’t forget that you don’t have to handle everything alone."

Emily smiled and placed her hand over his. "Trust me, Reinhard. Like you always have, I need you to trust me this time, too."

He gave her a helpless look. "You always ask the most of me. Every time I think you’ve finally decided to take a break, you find another impossible problem and expect me to stand beside you while you solve it."

"She really does!" Lily chimed in. "Where does she get it from? It’s not like we’re encouraging her or anything!"

Maki adjusted her glasses and shook her head. "We really need to rein her in, but unfortunately, this probably isn’t the time." Yuna giggled at their exchange while Emily gave them an amused look.

Reinhard brushed his thumb across Emily’s cheek before letting his hand fall. "Fine. I’ll trust you. Just don’t expect me to stand around doing nothing while you put yourself in danger."

"I wouldn’t dream of it," Emily replied, smiling as she turned back toward the Heart.

She examined the space surrounding the sphere, recalling how Reinhard’s attacks had passed through it and how the connections had twisted away from his attempts to sever them. The Heart resisted direct interference, but that didn’t mean every part of its connection was beyond their reach.

Her gaze settled on Tepes, the black blade Vlad had left behind.

Reinhard’s attacks had failed because they couldn’t establish contact with the Heart, and even the connections twisted away whenever he tried to sever them.

But Tepes governed the spatial concept itself. Rather than striking something occupying space, Emily might be able to cut the space connecting the Heart to the phenomenon.

Vlad’s final word returned to her.

Choose.

She had once struggled to understand what he expected her to choose, but she no longer needed to find an answer that would satisfy him.

Vlad had left her the weapon, and what she did with it now belonged to her. She couldn’t promise that severing the connection would save everyone, nor could she claim to understand what waited beyond the Black Moon.

She could only decide what she was willing to risk to protect the people standing beside her.

Emily tightened her grip around Tepes. "If I cut the spatial connection linking the Heart to the phenomenon, I might be able to stop the overlap without destroying the Heart itself."

Maki examined the readings again. "That would explain why your approach could work where Reinhard’s attacks failed. You’re targeting the space connecting the Heart to the phenomenon, not the sphere itself. We still don’t know how the network will react, though."

"Neither do I," Emily admitted, looking toward the Heart. "But leaving it alone means letting the situation get worse. I’d rather act on something we can try than wait for the disaster to decide what happens to us."

Reinhard nodded without attempting to take the decision away from her. "Tell us what you need. We’ll make sure you get the chance to do it."

Before Emily could approach the Heart, shouting erupted from the damaged corridors. Baal’s Guards and Collectors burst into the chamber, rushing toward the platform as they realized the Ashcrofts were preparing to interfere with the Heart.

"Don’t let them near Emily!" Reinhard shouted as the first wave charged through the entrance.

He reached into his storage and pulled out his Magic Paper Bombs, hurling a large cluster toward the advancing enemies. The bombs scattered through the entrance before detonating in rapid succession, filling the corridor with explosions that forced the Guards and Collectors to scatter.

More attackers pushed through the smoke, attempting to reach the platform from different angles. Reinhard immediately threw his Mana Flood relic into their path, and the relic unleashed an enormous quantity of Mana-infused water that surged through the corridor like a lake suddenly released from its banks.

The flood swept the advancing enemies off their feet and carried them down the corridor. Several Guards slammed against the walls, while the Collectors struggled to keep their weapons from being torn out of their hands. For a moment, the entire entrance was swallowed by rushing water, and the remaining attackers had no choice but to retreat.

Lily watched the chaos with widening eyes before turning toward Reinhard. "You have more of those paper bombs, right?"

Reinhard glanced at her. "Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret giving you any?"

"Because you know me so well!"

He handed her a bundle, and Lily immediately began throwing the bombs toward the enemies regrouping beyond the flood. Explosions erupted along the corridor, scattering the attackers and preventing them from organizing another charge.

"Try not to blow up the entire building!" Maki called out.

"I’ll try!" Lily answered, throwing another handful.

"That isn’t reassuring!"

Before Lily could throw the next batch, a Guard forced his way through the rushing water.

He drove his weapon into the floor to keep himself upright, then pushed forward against the current with strength that should have been impossible. Yuna intercepted him before he could reach the platform, but his first swing forced her to retreat several steps.

Reinhard’s expression sharpened. The flood had stopped the ordinary attackers, but some of Baal’s forces were still strong enough to fight through it. "Yuna, keep him away from Emily! Lily, don’t let the others get past the entrance!"

"On it!" Lily replied, throwing the remaining bombs toward the advancing Collectors while Yuna engaged the Guard.

The explosions forced the other attackers back, but the Guard continued pressing Yuna, giving Reinhard a clear reason to remain between the enemy and Emily rather than assuming the flood had solved everything.

Yuna intercepted the attackers who managed to push through the chaos, keeping them away from the platform while Reinhard continued disrupting their advance.

With the entrance temporarily contained, Emily finally had the opening she needed.

She moved toward the Black Moon Heart, raising Tepes as the space around the blade began to distort.

Instead of focusing on the sphere’s surface, she concentrated on the connection that extended from it, trying to identify the precise point where the weapon could sever the space linking the Heart to the phenomenon.

Maki noticed the readings change. "Emily, the spatial fluctuations are responding to the blade!"

Emily tightened her grip and brought Tepes down, aiming to cut the connection.

The Black Moon Heart reacted before the strike could finish.

A terrible scream erupted from the sphere, shaking the chamber and drowning out the sounds of the battle.

The remaining Guards and Collectors froze as the sound passed through them, their bodies trembling while their eyes turned completely black, leaving only stark white pupils staring from their faces.

Blackness spread across their skin in irregular patterns, and their hair turned white.

Strange black-and-white energy erupted from their bodies, coating their limbs and weapons with a power that felt fundamentally different from the Mana they had used before.

The transformed enemies raised their heads toward Emily, and the black-and-white energy surrounding them surged.

The Guard fighting Yuna suddenly accelerated, forcing her to block a strike that drove her backward across the platform. Before she could regain her footing, he swung again, and she had to twist aside to avoid taking the blow directly.

"These things got a lot stronger!" Yuna called, her earlier confidence giving way to concentration.

Another transformed Guard charged through the corridor. Reinhard moved to intercept him, but the enemy’s weapon collided with his defense hard enough to force him to brace himself.

The black-and-white magic crawled across the weapon at the point of impact, and Reinhard immediately pushed the attacker away before the strange energy could spread any farther.

"Lily, keep the Collectors away from Emily!" he shouted. "Yuna and I will handle the ones who get through!"

Lily threw another cluster of paper bombs, forcing two Collectors to scatter as the explosions tore through the corridor.

One of them stumbled, but the black-and-white energy flared around his body and drove him forward again.

Lily’s smile disappeared as she realized that the same tactic that had worked moments earlier was no longer enough to keep every enemy down.

"Seriously? They were already annoying before they started glowing!"

Maki watched the readings climb while keeping an eye on Emily. "The Heart is releasing more energy into them. Don’t let them reach the platform!"

Reinhard struck the advancing Guard back, then glanced toward Emily to make sure she still had room to act. "We have to stop them from getting to her!"

"Agreed!" the others shouted, shifting their positions to keep the transformed enemies away from Emily while she continued focusing on Tepes.

Reinhard intercepted the nearest Guard while Yuna engaged another attacker approaching from the side.

Lily threw another barrage of paper bombs to keep the Collectors away from Emily, her earlier excitement replaced by fierce determination as the explosions failed to stop every transformed enemy.

Maki looked toward the Heart and saw the readings climbing rapidly. The sphere was releasing more of the strange energy into the chamber, and the walls began turning black and white as the distortion spread through the building.

The phenomenon was no longer confined to the Heart or the people it had transformed; Mensus itself was beginning to change.

Emily kept Tepes raised, determined to finish what she had started, when the air above her suddenly fractured.

A massive crack appeared overhead, and a cube of distorted light began emerging through it. Its edges flickered and broke apart as though the object were being rendered incorrectly, while its surface shifted in jagged fragments resembling corrupted data.

The light inside continually changed shape, and the surrounding space bent so severely that its true size and distance became impossible to judge.

The pressure from the fracture struck the chamber.

Reinhard’s next movement faltered as the space around him twisted, and the transformed Guard in front of him staggered sideways when his attack suddenly veered away from its intended target.

Even the black-and-white energy surrounding the enemies flickered as the cube continued to emerge.

"What is that thing?" Lily exclaimed, momentarily forgetting the Collectors she had been keeping at bay.

Maki stared at the readings as they climbed beyond anything the console could properly display. "I don’t know, but the spatial distortion is spreading from the fracture. Everyone, be careful!"

A dreadful aura spilled from the opening, making the family shiver despite the battle raging around them.

Reinhard immediately looked toward Emily, who remained beneath the crack with Tepes in her hand.

The space around her was becoming increasingly unstable, and whatever the Heart was bringing forth threatened to disrupt her attempt before she could complete it.

The walls of Mensus turned increasingly black and white as the distorted cube continued emerging above Emily.

Reinhard moved toward her, forcing his way through the shifting space while the Black Moon Heart released another surge of energy into the chamber.