SHAMAN PROTOCOL
Chapter 110: An Echo Of The Past

Chapter 110: An Echo Of The Past

Outside the Old Building, a fight broke out. Two against countless robed figures, attacking them nonstop.

Three talismans flew like shurikens, hitting three robed figures right in the head. The talismans’ tips instantly turned to flames, burning the robed figures into dark mist.

Meanwhile, Mister Nocty slid back, the tip of his shoes creating shallow tracks until he came to a full halt.

At the same time, Mikel punched the last robed man who came to his side, burning it with just a punch. Unlike Mister Nocty, who used a talisman drawn out of nowhere to fight, Mikel was simply using his fists with barely any spiritual energy to stay undetected.

"Mister Nocty, there’s no end to these guys!" Mikel huffed as he paused, watching the remaining wave of robed figures come at him. He punched and kicked them, dodging their attacks in between.

Even though these robed figures were weaker than he expected, their numbers were making them break a sweat. Mister Nocty also took down another three just when Mikel was able to take a break.

"We have to take them all down before—" the rest of Mister Nocty’s words stopped when the remaining robed figures leapt at them. But that wasn’t what made him stop, but rather, the chanting from that singular robed figure.

There were only a few now, but if that robed figure finished his chant, it would summon more.

Mister Nocty panicked, sprinting toward the robed men coming at him. He flung his fingers, and in that instant, talismans in between each finger materialized. As he shot the talismans to the other figures on his way, he leaped to reach the last remaining robed figure.

His eyes constricted as a red talisman slowly appeared between his index and middle fingers. "You’re not..." he breathed out, eyes glinting malevolently. "...summoning more of your kind!"

At the same time, Mikel’s hand had just slammed one of the robed figures on the ground, which quickly turned into nothing but dust. When he looked up, he saw Mister Nocty floating a few meters above the ground, red energy coming from his fingers, until a red talisman came into sight.

[Skill Summoning Detected: Labyrinth’s Echo.]

Mikel’s breath was suspended for a second, and without thinking twice, his feet stomped on the ground.

"Mister Nocty — wait!"

Time slowed for both of them as Mister Nocty came to deliver the final blow to the last standing robed figure. Meanwhile, Mikel leapt to stop him.

Sensing the ominous presence that was starting to seep out from where the robed figure was standing, Mikel’s pupils constricted. He reached out, but there was no way he could reach Mister Nocty just in time.

For a moment, Mikel watched as this small barrier took form around Mister Nocty and the robed figure. His breathing slowed as his heart pumped, making his entire body throb. And for some reason, this image brought back the memories of that night against the Humunculous.

That night where he also reached out to save a ghost, but only witnessed their total death.

Suddenly, Doom’s screen glowed in bright red with a darker black undertone.

[Master.]

Doom’s call oddly brought this clarity to Mikel’s mind. Until now, even when he was surrounded, he had barely exuded any spiritual energy or aura to keep his White Stripe.

But was that more important than everything he had been standing up for since embracing the protocol?

Losing those ghosts and losing against the mere effigies of Type X entities had given him a huge lesson. If he couldn’t protect himself, how else would he be able to protect those around him? Even if Mister Nocty was biased and Mikel had no clear emotional attachment to his teacher, he respected the teacher’s mission and purpose as an instructor in the academy.

Besides, he had lost against effigies before.

He’d be damned to lose to such again.

As clarity dawned on him, the corners of his eyes sharpened. His hand still reached out to Mister Nocty, and he breathed out.

"Carnage, chain."

SNAP!

Upon his call, the beaded bracelet around his wrist snapped into a straight line under Mikel’s palm. When he grabbed it, the beaded bracelet shone in dark red before each of its beads and string turned into chains.

The Bloodchain stretched at the speed of light toward Mister Nocty.

Meanwhile, Mister Nocty flicked the red talisman toward the robed figure. But as soon as he did that, he caught the smirk in the robed figure. That very second, Mister Nocty knew he was in deep trouble.

It’s a trap!

But it was too late when he realized he had fallen into a trap, or late to realize the barrier growing around him and his opponent. His breath hitched, listening to the robed figure’s inaudible mumbling.

"Ye sa la," the robed figure uttered, a language even Mister Nocty was hearing for the first time. "Begone."

Then, he clapped his hands, but not without noticing a surge of malevolent energy slipping into the barrier.

CLAP!

As the clap rang out in the area, it was followed by a soft wind. Fallen leaves rolled on the hushed grass, stopping on the track left behind the fierce battle that occurred.

Yet, no one was there anymore. Not Mikel, not Mister Nocty, and not the robed figure.

Just that clap, and they had disappeared without a trace.

Moments later, a figure appeared outside the building. Butler Basil stopped several meters from the building, staring at the traces of battle outside the premises.

Shallow tracks—not from wheels, but seemingly something else—were left on the lawn. Some parts had withered grass as if someone had burned small portions of the area. The air was thick and pungent, making Butler Basil look around the same place where Mikel and Mister Nocty disappeared.

Slowly, Butler Basil squatted and plucked the withered leaves. As he rubbed them on his finger, the leaves turned into dust. He then took a whiff of it, his expression solemn at the smell.

"Nocty," he whispered, his sharp eyes lifting at the old building.

Butler Basil rose to his feet, his mouth pressed into a hard line. Clearing his mind of anything for now, he marched toward the building, still holding a long and black scythe.

And for some reason, the building let him in without a problem.

---

"Ugh..." Mister Nocty and Mikel grunted in pain, hitting themselves into something.

Mikel touched the side of his head as his hand pressed on a flat surface. He winced because somehow, getting dragged into that barrier hurt like hell. Although the pain was very brief, their fall felt like they had fallen from a few storeys below.

"Where did we...?" he trailed off as he opened his eyes, knitting his brows in confusion.

A few meters from him, Mister Nocty also pushed himself up. And just like Mikel, when he opened his eyes, he was stunned to see the place they had been pulled into.

The school’s gymnasium.

"Huh?" Mikel’s knitted brows deepened, looking around once more to make sure. "Why here?"

He had expected that robed figure would take them elsewhere. But the school gymnasium? Why? Did he want to play some sports? As far as he knew, they didn’t have P.E. today.

Doom, you there?

Doom’s screen instantly popped up before him, almost making Mikel heave a sigh of relief.

[Status Plane: Cursed Zone Echo.]

[System Notice: Time within the Echo is distorted. Minutes inside could be hours or days outside the Anima, or the other way around.]

[Side Effect in this realm is one: depending on how much longer you stay in here, you may be older by the time you walk out of it. Worst-case scenario, you’d be at your last breath once you walk out of it.]

[System Note: Time is crucial.]

Of course, Doom didn’t give Mikel a break and instantly gave him the risk, which was something Mikel would not complain about. Given the situation, he would rather know his variable immediately than read Doom’s pettiness.

"Mikel, are you alright?" Mister Nocty turned to Mikel as he got up to his feet.

"Yeah."

He glanced at Mikel, who was also rising back to his feet. He had no idea how Mikel was sent to this place with him, considering the barrier only had him and the robed figure. But he didn’t dwell much on it as he looked around the school gymnasium.

The second he saw a sigil drawn on one of the pillars in the gymnasium, he furrowed his brows. Looking around once again, Mister Nocty blurted out.

"No, this isn’t the same gym."

Mikel shot him a side-eye. "Mister Nocty, of course it’s not the same gymnasium even if it looks like one."

"That’s not what I mean," Mister Nocty whispered, marching to the entrance of the gym.

The door creaked louder as if its hinges were missing some oil. He pushed it wider, and as he did, light from outside the gymnasium shone on him. When Mister Nocty looked out, his eyes widened as his breath hitched.

Curious, Mikel followed his teacher. But as he approached closer, he caught sight of what was outside. He stopped in his tracks, eyes wide, staring at the students and the slightly different structure of the academy. Some students just walked past the gymnasium without a glance, others were happily idling with their own group, and a few were just fighting using wooden swords.

But what stood out the most was the different style of uniforms and the slight difference in structure outside.

"Where is this?" Mikel blurted out.

Mister Nocty didn’t answer immediately as he studied what was before him.

"It’s the academy," he whispered, staring at a group of students hanging out on one of the benches from a distance. "...decades ago."

How did he know? Because the students he was staring at were familiar faces — the students he once called classmates.