After all was said and done, the undead were still scourging the streets. As long as the folio continued to exist, then their limitless numbers would never die out. Lloyd, along with the others, stood in the intersection that was just formed as the trap for the dragooun. It was no wonder why many undead were especially surrounding that place.
That would be the case if their objective was just the location… but, in fact, it was the dragooun itself, just exactly as Lloyd pictured. They were mindless creatures, so even if the dragooun was sealed; they not having it meant that their mission was not over yet.
“I think it’s time to bring a conclusion to all this, Lloyd.” Shogo yawned, “As much as I’d like to stick around and relive House of the Dead, I’m more inclined on resting first.”
Lloyd himself had grown tiresome of it all.
— No wonder demon kings strive further.
He held his pen back up to write an epilogue to the scenario… but the paragraphs weren’t there.
The scenario itself had disappeared from his sight.
Normally, a world-builder would continue to see their scenario as long as it was still active, enabling them to alter it, add to it, and even finish it. For a scenario to completely disappear, that was impossible.
Be that as it may, panicking was way too early. Lloyd brushed it off and wrote the concluding paragraph as if nothing was wrong.
Nothing happened.
— Maybe it’s not convincing enough?
This folio being a chasm for the dead, he had written a conclusion that the inner dungeon had called for the undead, summoning them back to the underworld. It was very much aligning well within the boundaries of the original scenario.
But the words disintegrated into nothing. The effect had died out. If it was a matter of spectral energy, then Lloyd was still in his prime and could very much go on for another scenario. He failed to understand what was going on.
Of course, with him, if one problem was done then another would arise.
Time was running out. The undead were closing in once again on the intersection. All of the team backed away into a circle in the middle, they were cornered.
“Uh… Why are they coming towards us?” Zoe was frightened.
“Could they still be after the little fella?” Shogo took another look at the sphere, the dragooun was there, safe and sound.
“Hey, Lloyd! We’re waiting on you. How much time is this going to take?” Nathan was fed up. He disliked this idea from the start as he already foresaw this problem from the moment he saw those unsightly creatures walk.
“I-I’m trying… I swear.”
No matter how many times he would write and rewrite the scenario, there was no effect whatsoever. It was all stitched to the folio with no change.
[Scenario Missing]
Seeing those words before him sent shivers down his spine. They were trapped within. If the undead did not eat them like they were instructed to before, then they would certainly die from being trapped inside.
Lloyd backed away, joining the others, “I can’t… I can’t do anything. Nothing’s happening.”
“What— Your pen out of ink?” Erina asked, although it was her trying to crack a joke to make light of the situation that was going downhill faster than an arrow from a bow.
Realizing that, Nathan acted on instinct and manipulated the poles around to form a fence separating them from the horde. In that second as well, he used the debris from the surrounding buildings to attack the undead from behind. But with every creature that was down, three more would rise up to replace it.
“(Could it be? A block?)” Shogo sensed a far greater danger than the rest of them, and decided to act. “Zoe, take the sphere and be careful with it.”
He pushed Lloyd back and gave him a wry smile, reassuring him that everything was going to be fine.
That was right. Shogo Kuroiwa was there. There was no need to be afraid.
Giving it much thought, he pulled his pen forward in the direction of the horde, before pulling another pen as well. He had two pens in his possession that both belonged to him. It was important for him to have another pen, not as a back-up, but for this one specific move.
However, fate would deem his secret within again. For now… help was coming from another path.
*CRACK*
Everything stopped. The team turned their heads up, they could see the sky, the end of the folio, cracking like glass would. However, that was not the work of any of them from the inside. Someone was breaking it from the outside. Another crack emerged, this time spreading the cracks throughout the sky like wildfire. And before they knew it, the entire shell shattered, leaving the sky shards to rain down.
From that strike, a person broke right through, jumping down at light speed right to their location.
Before them was a young woman, dressed in awfully casual attire, with a white overcoat covering the top of her body up until almost her mouth.
Without saying anything to the team, she proceeded further and faced the horde on her own, leaving Shogo fazed in the back by what was happening along with everyone. She was an author; one could easily tell, if not from the method she broke in with, it was certainly from the fancy pen she held in her hand.
She did not attack. She did not write a paragraph. She did not write a script. All she did was stand before the endless horde and wrote a single word.
“Redact!!”
Like a droplet in water, the ink flew out of the words. One touch from the ink to one of the undead and it disintegrated it, followed by another, and another. In a matter of seconds, the entire horde was withering away from a single drop of ink, being erased from the surface as if they never existed. It was like a wave of light purging the darkness.
Before long, the entirety of the folio perished into the abyss.
When they came to, the clouded dark sky had turned into clear twilight. The demolished buildings reverted back to slightly less ruined ones. And the empty district was soon crowded by not only civilians but by a large scale of authorities as well. The quiet town turned boisterous immediately. It was as if they were thrown right onto the front stage that has been playing for hours.
The barrier was down, and all was said and done.
The woman turned around and popped a gum in her mouth.
“Who did all of this then?” She said in a monotonous tone, almost mimicking Juno’s.
No one moved an inch — even Shogo, the leader — they all stood in silence… until the peevish Erina pointed fingers at Lloyd.
Lloyd moved aback from the shock. Even though one was injured and in need of medical assistance, the two reverted back to their usual demeanor toward one another and eyed each other death stares.
— I will kill you.
[— Bring it!]
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