Damned Desire

Chapter 8: Re-Encounter

After listening to Mysta's plan, they resolved themselves and prepared one last time before the fight.

"Alright, I've reapplied the Curse of Adrenaline on you, Luca. You can activate it with the same keyword for your shield," said Shu.

Before Luca could say a word, Shu added, "If you say the word 'activate' accidentally, I'll hit you."

"Oh come on, trust me a little!" Luca protested.

Shu stared at Luca silently in response; his gaze clearly showed his fatigue from Luca's previous near-mishap.

"I-I'll be more careful..." Luca relented under Shu's piercing gaze.

Satisfied by his answer, Shu turned towards Vox, "I've put the Curse of Amplification for you. It should help boost your Voice Demon power quite a bit. You'll be left with a sore throat after I dispel it, though."

"Hm, at least the side effect sounds sensible for once," muttered Vox.

"But if you overdo it, you'll lose your voice for a few days," Shu added.

"Right, I shouldn't have spoken too soon. Lose my voice for a few days, why not?" grumbled Vox.

Finally, Shu turned towards Mysta, "And you... Are you really sure about this plan, Mysta?"

Everyone looked at Mysta worriedly. He took it upon himself to take the riskiest part of the plan, which was based solely on his hypothesis. Although his explanation sounded convincing, they couldn't help but be worried for Mysta.

"I'll have a better chance at doing this than fighting with you guys, anyway. Trust me." Mysta patted his chest with confidence.

"That's all we needed to hear. We'll trust you, so you can trust us to do our part," Shu responded to Mysta's remark.

Mysta smiled as he looked at his friends. Their gaze was filled with conviction, trust, and resolve, without a single hint of doubt. He could tell that they were ready to run out and save Ike right now.

He turned towards the door that leads back to the hallway and held the door knob with his hand.

"Are you guys ready?" asked Mysta.

Everybody responded in unison.

"Yeah!"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"All good!"

Mysta nodded after hearing everyone's response, "Alright, let's go!"

"I'm ready too."

A familiar, cold voice interrupted them before they could leave. Chills went down their spines as they looked around in bewilderment, but his figure was nowhere to be seen inside the room.

"Impossible, my isolation curse and Hakka's wards should've kept us hidden!" proclaimed Shu.

"Those tricks might have pulled the wool over my eyes for a moment, but with rats like you hiding within them? It was only a matter of time before your reeking stench broke the illusion," mocked Novus.

Crack!

The sound of something cracking resounded within the room. The lights floating around the wards began to falter as jet-black ink corroded them.

Before panic could spread, Mysta yelled out loud to everyone, "It's fine, guys! Now we don't have to spend our time looking for this bastard! Get your shit together and prepare yourselves!"

Their minds calmed down from hearing Mysta's words, and they started moving into position. Shu and Mysta gathered together in the back while Vox and Luca stood in front of them with their weapons ready.