"How can this be — why did that guard obey that man's command?!" Everyone in the hall was struck with shock at the sight. The Emperor, upon witnessing the guard's suicide, seemed to grasp what was happening. He shouted, "Guards — seize him at once!"
The guards in the hall immediately raised their weapons and advanced toward Rulu. Rulu fixed his hatred-filled gaze upon the guards striding swiftly toward him and said coldly, "All of you — go ahead and die."
Upon hearing Rulu's words, the guards stopped in their tracks one by one. They raised their spears, longswords, and other weapons, aimed them at the vital points on their own bodies — their hearts, their throats — and drove them in with full force. The blades pierced into their flesh, severing their necks and inflicting fatal wounds. A series of heavy thuds rang out as the guards collapsed to the ground, their bodies going completely still.
"What in the world is happening — have they all gone mad? How could they actually obey that man's command and kill themselves?!" The people in the hall exchanged bewildered glances, their faces etched with shock and confusion, utterly unable to comprehend what was unfolding before them.
"Ha ha ha — you bastards, every last one of you — die!" A savage grin spread across Rulu's face as he swept his gaze across the remaining people in the hall and issued death command after death command. The moment any person's eyes met Rulu's, it was as though they had been possessed — some drew blades and turned them on themselves, others drove their heads into the stone pillars of the hall. In an instant, the great hall descended into chaos. Blood pooled across the floor as person after person, seized by Rulu's Spiritual-power, fell to the ground.
"Everyone — leave this place at once! Do not make any eye contact with him!" the Emperor bellowed. He turned his head away from Rulu, and using his Magic and Psionic power, caused a nearby stone slab from the floor to rise into the air and position itself between him and Rulu. Rising from his seat, the Emperor used the floating slab as cover and swiftly withdrew from the hall.
Upon hearing the Emperor's words, the others hurriedly covered their eyes with their hands, turned their faces away, and fled the hall without daring to glance toward Rulu. Within less than a minute, nearly everyone had escaped. Only those who had been seized by Rulu's Spiritual-power and driven to self-harm remained, collapsed on the ground, letting out faint groans.
"Enough, Rulu — they've all gone. Nana is still here." C.C., seeing that everyone in the hall had fled, hurriedly spoke up to bring Rulu back to his senses.
At the sound of Nana's name, Rulu's frenzied state subsided slightly. He stopped unleashing his Spiritual-power against the few people who hadn't managed to escape in time, and strode quickly to Nana's side on the high platform, untying the ropes bound around her wrists. Nana, having witnessed the carnage in the hall, stood pale with fright, clinging tightly to Rulu, unable to speak a single word.
"It's over now, Nana. You don't have to be afraid." Rulu gently patted Nana on the back and asked C.C. to support her, then made his way to Shari, who lay collapsed in a pool of blood. The white light-spear had pierced clean through her chest, and she had lost too much blood. Though her eyes were still open, her breathing was now desperately faint — she could stop at any moment.
"Shari…" Rulu murmured, his face heavy with grief as he gazed down at her. He knelt beside her, reached out with trembling hands, and cradled her neck and waist, lifting her blood-soaked body up from the ground.
Shari's vacant eyes shifted slightly, finding Rulu's face. She drew a deep breath and forced out a whisper: "Rulu…"
"I'm right here…" Rulu said, his voice breaking, fighting with everything he had to hold back his tears.
Shari looked up at Rulu's face and gathered every last ounce of her strength to raise her right hand toward him. Rulu, understanding what she wanted, reached out and took her hand, pressing her palm gently against his cheek.
Shari slowly traced her fingers across Rulu's face, a faint look of peace settling over her expression. She struggled to keep her eyes open, straining to hold his face in her sight — but she was like someone slipping helplessly toward sleep, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Her lips moved. The words came out soft and blurred: "Ru… Rulu… I really… like you so much…"
With those words spoken, Shari's right hand fell lifelessly to her side. Her eyes closed slowly. She stopped breathing. Holding her in his arms, Rulu could feel it — Shari's heart had ceased to beat.
When the reality that Shari was gone settled over him, Rulu's mind went completely blank. He stared dumbly at her pale, peaceful face, unable to think of what to do next. C.C.'s calm voice reached him from nearby: "There's no time to grieve. We have to leave this place immediately. The Emperor will not let us go."
"Right… right, we can't stay here. I have to get Nana out." Rulu snapped back to his senses. Still cradling Shari's body, he made his way out of the hall. C.C. supported Nana and followed. They left the hall and emerged into the open air of the palace grounds. As Rulu began to think about which direction to flee, a sharp cry pierced the sky — a massive orange-yellow bird appeared high above and came swooping down toward him.
"You damned beast — get away from me!" Rulu shouted up at the great bird, attempting to use his Spiritual-power to control it. But the bird paid his words no heed and continued diving toward him at full speed.
"It's useless," C.C. said. "I told you before — Spiritual-power has no effect on this bird."
"Damn it." Rulu cursed under his breath. He quickly took in his surroundings, then moved with Shari in his arms to a sheltered corner of the wall beneath an overhanging eave. C.C. and Nana followed, taking cover in the same corner beside him.
The bird's attack path was blocked by the wall and the eave. Forced to pull up, it beat its great wings and climbed back into the sky, circling at altitude and searching for an angle from which to strike down at Rulu and the others.
"I have to find a way to bring this bird down. Otherwise there's no hope of escaping from here." Rulu watched the bird from below, rapidly searching through his returned memories and knowledge for any means of dealing with it. Suddenly something seemed to come to him, and he turned to C.C. and Nana at his side: "Nana, C.C. — do either of you have any gold jewelry or gold objects on you? As much as possible."
Nana shook her head. C.C. said, "I don't have any gold. What do you need it for?"
Rulu said, "To use Magic or Psionic power of the fifth level or above, gold must serve as a medium. Without gold, I have no way to defeat this bird."
"But where are we supposed to find gold at a time like this?" C.C. said, her brow creased with worry — then something seemed to strike her, and her expression brightened. "I have an idea. Rulu, follow me." She took Nana by the hand and ran toward a wide open expanse of ground outside the palace.
Rulu didn't know what C.C. had in mind, but asked no questions. He held Shari's body close and ran after C.C. toward the open ground.
The bird circling overhead saw Rulu and the others emerge from their hiding place into the open, and immediately plunged from the sky toward Rulu below. Rulu sensed the bird closing in and called out urgently to C.C., "It's coming — what do we do now?"
"It's all right — just hold on a little longer. Trust me," C.C. said, pulling Nana along as she kept running.
"How am I supposed to trust you with this?!" Rulu complained, running across the open ground while repeatedly glancing back at the great bird bearing down on them from behind. With Shari's body in his arms, his movement was badly hindered — there was no way to shake the bird. It was almost upon them.
A dull whoosh tore through the air. A boulder nearly three meters across came hurtling from ahead, flying straight and true toward the orange bird. It struck the creature square on with tremendous force, shattering its right wing and crushing its breastbone. The bird crashed from the sky and hit the ground, thrashing its broken wings and screaming in pain.
"Forgive me, Lady C.C. — I arrived late." A woman's voice sounded close to Rulu and C.C. They turned to look, and there — having appeared at their side without either of them noticing — was a woman with a human face and a serpent's body, her long black hair falling around her as she hovered suspended in the air. At the sight of her, Rulu and C.C. both let out a long breath of relief — for the woman was none other than W.W.