Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 219: Ch217. End of the world

Chapter 219: Ch217. End of the world

The smoke had barely settled.

Miles stood near the edge of the ruined clearing, where the last of the twisted forest had finally stopped bleeding shadow, with Dee nestled gently on his shoulder, still snoring ever so slightly.

The monsters were dead, and the rot they left behind was already beginning to dissolve into dust. But it didn’t feel like victory.

It felt like a warning.

Jake sat on a broken root nearby, his knuckles and arms bandaged and wrapped around his knees. His armor was dented in three places, and dried blood streaked the side of his face, but his eyes weren’t dull. They were sharp, focused, despite the devastating pain of having lost all his group.

Or perhaps that was why his eyes gleamed like that.

Because he could not afford to waste precious seconds being swallowed by the emptiness.

After half a day, part of the camp had already been rebuilt, and the players who were able to move took a small break to eat and drink, to refill their energy for the second bout of reconstruction.

Sarissa moved between the wounded, checking pulses, muttering quietly to those who could still listen. Cheshire played with the younger players who had no one to stand for them anymore.

After the battle, most of them had lost their parents, and now, they were fully and utterly alone in the world, only able to rely on themselves and each other to ease the strange shock that loneliness caused them.

And Cheshire chose to become a simple, yet intriguing pet for the time being, if it could help them ease the burden.

Sarissa hadn’t stopped moving.

Miles inhaled deeply. Even the air felt thinner now, hollow, even though fresh, after Dee had purged whatever darkness had haunted the [Dark Forest] with its light.

"How many more did we lose?" He asked, his face an unreadable mask that covered the blatant feeling of defeat.

Sarissa looked up from a still figure and wiped sweat from her brow.

"Twelve... Three more are in critical, one still missing."

"Damn it! We pushed too far..." Jake said, cursing under his breath. "We saw the Dungeon turning into something it wasn’t, and we kept going. We should’ve stopped."

Miles didn’t respond right away. He stared into the tree line, where the last remnants of [Dark Forest] corruption were breaking apart into floating motes of black light.

The kind that never faded, just scattered.

"No." Miles said finally, breaking the silence. "We were meant to come here. We just didn’t arrive in time."

"What do you mean?" Jake tilted his head.

"You probably don’t know this, but something’s been building up to this. First, it was the [Mouth of the Abyss], the first Dungeon to emerge from whatever hell it had been trapped in. Then, other unique Dungeons like that began appearing across the world, and then, the Broodmother your team ran into. Now, this. You were never meant to be caught up in this crossfire, or maybe you were, I don’t know."

After a small pause, he added.

"But one thing is for sure... Shinji is not going to stop until he achieves his goal, and it’s probably related to all the unique Dungeons that have appeared out there, and somehow, I think he’s trying to turn all the other Dungeons into the likes of the [Mouth of the Abyss]..."

"You think it’s-." Sarissa nodded slowly.

"The so-called Crawling Chaos."

The moment he said it, thunder rumbled across the sky, and he felt the weight of it settle into his chest.

Then, his bracelet came to life again, a high-pitched buzz breaking through the frequency, followed by static, and then Mara’s voice came through.

She didn’t sound calm or composed like she always used to.

"Miles, are you receiving this?"

"I’m here." He touched the bracelet, turning toward the others.

"You need to come back, now. Something’s changed. The ichor, it went dormant. No, not dormant. Drained, dead. Something pulled its essence out. And then... I saw something. I think... I think I saw the end of the world."

Miles stiffened. Even Dee tossed and turned on Miles’ shoulder at that.

"About the ichor, it’s probably related to Dee’s hatching." Miles retorted, trying to ease the weight from Mara’s urgency. "He kind of purified whatever that had been corrupting the [Dark Forest]. Oh, he’s a tiny salamander now..."

Mara fell silent for a while, and Miles could sense the almost palpable perplexity, the frowning of her brows, and the inhaling that preceded a frustrated comment.

And as if on cue, she finally broke the silence.

"I can’t with you..." She clicked her tongue. "Sarissa being a Paladin from a fairytale land, and now, your best friend, your family, reincarnated into a... No, you have to be kidding, but anyway, the end of the world."

After a brief pause filled with an unwilling chuckle from both Sarissa and Miles, Mara continued.

"The sky went dark, like night, and there was a voice. It said that the child isn’t enough anymore, that Beginning and End must converge to the true source. To stop the Old One before it reaches its conduit."

"We’re going back. Now." Miles was already moving.

"You think it’s about you? Beginning and End?" Jake scrambled up behind him.

Miles didn’t answer immediately, he just clenched his fists.

"Whatever the voice means, yes, it is about us. Sarissa and me." He lingered for a moment, and then added. "She’s the Beginning, I’m the End."

Jake fell silent, his mouth agape as Miles turned towards him and said, after looking at Sarissa and receiving a nod of approval.

"You’re in command now, Jake. You fought well and stood, when most people would’ve run away with their tail between their legs. The worst is over for now, so, I think you’ll be able to hold the fort until the event begins. Okay?"

They left, leaving Jake speechless as he turned around. A few players looked at him, and before he could say anything, his hands shaking like green branches in the wind, they broke the silence.

"We heard him. Give the orders, guild master."

***

The journey back to the city was eerily quiet, as if something had passed through the land and drained it dry.

When they finally reached the outer gates, after half a day of sprinting without pausing for food or water, Mara was already waiting for them.

Her eyes were red-rimmed from exhaustion. Her work apron was gone, replaced by her old scout coat, worn, and she wore an armor that they never seen before, ready for travel.

"So, do you know where this so-called source is?" Sarissa asked, her tone full of unasked questions.

"No, but I though that maybe, if we went to the First Dungeon, we might find some answers there." Mara retorted, letting out a deep sigh.

"We don’t need to." Miles rebuked. "I think the Professor might know what we’re looking for."