Boy Meets Ai

Chapter 66

Chapter 66

In Thomas' body, with his face, Aramais began to chuckle slightly.

"Good catch Oaklee. How did you ever discern it was me in this form?"

She was beside herself with anger and grief. She had seen Thomas' lifeless body and the tears his mother cried, yet this monster had the audacity to laugh.

"The way you move, your reactions are too precise. Plus, no one else I know talks like a pompous ass."

The smirk stayed affixed to Aramais' face, or rather Thomas' face. The unsettling possession made Oaklee's virtual skin crawl. The realization was sinking in for Seiko as well. He looked at the Ai wearing his friend's face. How could he have not noticed sooner? It was clear as day now that it wasn't Thomas. His anger swelled in his chest. Seiko felt an overwhelming urge to rip the Ai to pieces where he stood. He took a half step forward toward Aramais, white knuckled fists clenched.

"Answer her question. What did you do to him?"

The smirk dropped and became a snarl. "I didn't do anything to him. I am the one trying to pick up the pieces of a mess you made." The words were coated in contempt. "You poisoned his mind and manipulated him."

"What the hell are you blabbering about?" Oaklee barked. "We've been nothing but friends to Thomas!"

Aramais fell silent, his eyes darting around sporadically as if trying to remember something.

"I am going to fix this. I'll be the one to save him. But I need something from you to do that."

Oaklee sensed something terrible about to happen. Her danger instincts lit up all at once. They weren't safe here. Her partner was in danger! "Seiko! Log out Now!" She dived towards Aramais, throwing out a cloud of darkness to help her friend escape.

Seiko obliged. He quickly opened his Ui and scrolled to the logout button. Only, something was wrong. It was greyed out. Unusable.

"The host of this tournament made this ring special. You can't combat log here." Aramais said from within the smoke. "I took the liberty of expanding this effect throughout the entire Stadium though. I will need some more volunteers from the audience."

Oaklee panicked at his words. "How?! You shouldn't be able to do any of this!"

Hideous laughter echoed from within the dark cloud. "This is the gift I have been blessed with! A tool for a guardian in a ruthless world!"

With that, he stepped out of the darkness cloud. The Zerfallen skull mask gripped in his hand, Aramais looked around the stadium at everyone panicking as they realized they were trapped. He turned to Seiko with something like elation in his eyes.

"I said I needed something from you in order to save Thomas. It's your life. Your essence will help me repair the damage done to his mind. Please give it up willingly."

"How was his mind damaged? Maybe there's another way we can help him. Just stop this! Let these people go!" Seiko stepped back as he pleaded with him.

Aramais paused as he thought about what had happened. The image of Thomas' very being shattering in front of him. "It wasn't my fault. I tried to help him. I've always just tried to help."

Seiko retreated further. It was clear to him that there was no reasoning with the

The Ai stopped speaking. He placed the mask over his face and as he did, the arena exploded with magical force. A massive explosion of miasma erupted in a column straight into the air. The black plume spread across the sky, covering the stadium and blotting out the sun in a matter of seconds. Seiko and Oaklee braced themselves as they were pushed back by the sheer force of the destructive wave.