Chapter 860: Recovery
Salazar raced against time to get back to the room where he left Milena. The flooding water trailed behind him ruthlessly, non-stop.
Salazar reached the room and unlocked the door. He entered the room and hastily picked up Milena before running out. He kept running away from the water, trying to find the high ground where he could keep Milena safe.
He glanced back as he kept running, wondering how far the water was from him. "Hah?"
He slowed down and ultimately stopped running as he noticed the water pressure slow down. The water was still coming toward him, but the intensity wasn't there. The flood had become a calm stream of water as if the source of water had turned empty.
Frowning, he observed the water for a long time, seeing if it was just temporary. After making sure the water wasn't coming, he started walking towards the water.
"Looks like you found the sword." A calm voice fell in the ears of Salazar.
Recognizing that voice, Salazar turned back. Lucifer was floating before him. However, something was different about him. His eyes were stark white, unlike their usual color. Moreover, his skin was slightly darker.
"It's the real you?" Salazar inquired.
Lucifer didn't reply. He just reached out his hand, making a circle with his finger. A portal opened near Lucifer of human shape. "That will take you back."
"Are you coming with us? Did you kill that one?" Salazar inquired.
"He's still alive. I'll come back later after I'm done dealing with him. Take Milena back and wait for me." Lucifer commanded.
Salazar didn't ask any more questions as he noticed Lucifer becoming annoyed. His skin also kept turning darker, even if very minutely. It was as if something was happening to him.
Salazar stepped towards the Portal.
"Salazar?"
"Yes?" Salazar stepped before he could step inside the Portal.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Lucifer inquired.
"Oh!" As if realizing something, Salazar tossed the sword toward Lucifer.
Lucifer grabbed the sword. Salazar entered the portal, which closed.
As soon as Lucifer held the sword, he felt a strange familiarity with the sword, as if it belonged to him and it was a part of him. The sword was so light for him as if it was made of paper.
He swung the sword above him lazily.
~~~~
Licorice came out of the sea, feeling the first ray of sun fall on his face. It had been decades since he last felt the warmth of the sun.
He glanced towards the sky above him, soaking in all the heat and the fresh air. "So this is what freedom feels like! It's so good."
"Why should I taste freedom alone though? Everyone needs to!"
He raised his right palm towards the sky. "Let the world witness the true strength of Baltics! We have returned, and we will find our way! We will have our revenge on the people who stopped us last time."
Dark red clouds started appearing all around the world, slowly clouding the entire sky of the earth. No matter from where a person looked up, they all saw red clouds above him.
The red clouds started raining blood, only in select locations though. If one were to notice carefully, they would have noticed that the blood rain was only occurring in the places that had Dungeons. The rain kept destroying the Dungeons, one after another. All the Dungeon Dwellers were getting free.
The weaker dungeons were destroyed instantly, while stronger Dungeons room a few seconds longer.
Now that Licorice was out of the Dungeon, his strength was free of any restrictions. He was like a god of this world!
Boom~
The destruction of Dungeons all around the world alerted all Variant Organizations that were keeping an eye on them, especially now that all the beasts were free and running towards the city.
"Go ahead, kids! Kill them! Make the stones again! Kill as many as you can! Have your fill!" Licorice roared. His voice was heard far and wide.
"Umm?" Suddenly, a frown graced his forehead as he looked down as if noticing something.
The water under him rose abruptly as a beam of energy shot out. The man suddenly moved, avoiding the beam.
"You still live?" Licorice muttered, frowning. "The attack was certainly very strong. I don't know how you still had energy left. But if you think that can stop me now that I'm out, you're too naive!"
He didn't realize that it wasn't even Lucifer's attack that he just experienced. It was just a casual flick of his sword that he saw.
Back in the Dungeon, Lucifer stood in amazement, looking at his sword. "Was that strength of the sword alone, or was that my strength? I don't think I used any strength. Just what is this sword?"
The water started flooding down once again from the new opening that was made, bathing Lucifer in it.
This time, Lucifer didn't close the opening. The Dungeon was empty. He didn't care whatever happened to the Dungeon now.
He was as amazed about the sword as he was concerned about his skin darkening. His body was becoming more rigid as time passed, and he could feel it. This made him remember the words of the man where he talked about some borrowed strength which he needed to get out if he wanted to live.
"Is it because of that strength? The surreal feeling I get is because of that?" He thought, surrounded by water from all sides.
He closed his eyes and observed his body from the inside, wondering about the changes. Soon, he noticed a small white sphere that wasn't an ability core. It was inside his body, shining brightly.
"So that's it. This must be the strength that Licorice needed to break the Dungeon. Some of it must've been left in the other Lucifer and ended up inside me. But if it's that strength which even Licorice wanted, it would help me a lot."
He opened his eyes and shot straight up, ending up in the sea. He didn't stop flying and kept going to and up, ultimately getting out of the sea to find Licorice waiting for him.
"You finally came out. Want to see the new world order? All the Baltics are out and roaming free. Soon I'll open the portal and kill that bastard as well. Then things will go back to normal. But I suppose you'll want to stop me even now?" Licorice enquired, smiling.
Lucifer shook his hands. "I won't stop you. Just like you wanted me to watch your new world order, I'll make you watch mine."
Two spatial chains appeared around Licorice, trapping his arms, making him unable to move. At the same time, his legs froze in time.
"You're not the one who got some extra strength today. I should thank you for bringing this strength to me."