「Broken Compass」The Soterice Trials 「Trial I」

"The Blade Of Thieves" -Part VI-

Chapter 33

Fleur's form imploded, rending itself apart just as Juno's had.

Hoku eyed the muted glint of her arrows on the platform, slipping the compass back into his robe.

"She must be preparing to change again," he observed.

His hand instinctively moved to his stomach, as concern fell across his face. 

He took a deep breath before he rushed through the water, and stepped onto the foundation.

However, as he uncurled his fingers, nothing transpired. 

The burning in his palm persisted. 

Baffled, Hoku's eyebrows knitted together and he glanced upward.

The stars above continued to constrict, rearranging into new patterns.

They converged into a small circle overhead before stabilizing.

He was unaware that the trial's procedures were changing.

Narrowing his eyes, Hoku forced himself to assess the change, resisting the weight of his recent actions.

Even his body still ached; residual burns seared his skin where the compass had scorched him, and the phantom force of the binds lingered around his neck. 

He exhaled wearily, and murmured to himself, "I won't be able to go on much longer if I can't be healed."

Suddenly, the water began to sway. 

Looking down, Hoku noticed ripples forming as if something beneath the surface was shuddering. 

The tremors intensified, reaching the foundation beneath his feet. 

Panic surged within him. "What's going on?"

With Ollie still incapacitated, Lamb responded, irritation evident in her tone, "Seems one of your companions has reached the end of a trial. That, or another one has begun."

Hoku's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Is everyone partaking in a 'trial'?" he inquired.

"Yes," Lamb confirmed. "Regardless of whether they require the rewards for completion, all must be completed for your group to leave this place."

Lowering his head, Hoku pondered for a moment. 

His hand trembled at his side, while the sword he held in the other dripped with black ooze. 

Nearby, he could still hear Ollie struggling to break free, grunting and splashing in the water.

'Perhaps they are also growing weary,' he mused. 'They didn't seem to exert much effort initially.'

Swallowing hard, he posed a spontaneous question. "Are you truly human?"

A moment of silence ensued; even Ollie's noises ceased briefly before Lamb responded, "I am."

"Then why are you doing this?" Hoku pressed on. "That means we are the same. So then, why act like a monster?"

Lamb chuckled, raising a hand to her forehead and slowly dragging it down her face. "You know, Hoku, people here don't just exist. They're written into something greater, like ink set before it dries. If they don't carve their place, they won't walk these grounds. It's unlike where we came from, where it's normal to be an unimportant figure, quietly marching through the streets without an expectation of where we might end up."

'Written?' 

Hoku tilted his head, a corner of his mouth curving up. "Are you suggesting that your role is to kill people?"

Lamb replied directly, "Not entirely. Though I do have a part to play. If it were up to me, I wouldn't mind letting you go, but doing so would put everyone else, myself included, in danger."

Hoku frowned, 'These rules… what do they have to do with me?'

SPLASH!

Hoku jolted, hearing a large mass fall into the water before an all-too-familiar voice replaced Lamb's.

"The ever-abundant Creator of our universe is adamant about adherence to rules." 

There was a temporary pause. "We are observed at every turn. One misstep, and we face punishment."

Hoku's grip tightened around his weapon as his gaze fixed upon the figure before him, horror filling his eyes. 

Li strode forward, as if he had been present for a while. 

His white hair, tousled and damp from the moisture in the air, framed an expression that remained unreadable, and the coldest amongst everyone else.

Though Hoku maintained outward composure, a far worse sensation churned within his chest; like a warning of acknowledgement beyond mere shock.

His eyes fell upon the jade-hilted sword at Li's side, worn from use yet steady in his grip. Though unsheathed, its mere presence bore weight, signaling that once drawn, the battle's dynamics would irrevocably shift.

The trial's environment reacted to Li's arrival, and its structure began moving the web into a singular circle. 

A resonant chime echoed through the recesses, jolting Hoku's heart into a frantic rhythm.

He gritted his teeth, shuffling backward as he peered overhead. 

His pupils contracted against the brilliance of a descending ring of stars approaching him.

Li's dry remark pulled Hoku's attention back. "Fortunately for you, the foundation is now obsolete. It seems you've impressed the mechanisms greatly—they've decided to award you with a crown!"

"A crown?" Hoku repeated, bewildered.

Another strange sensation washed over his injured palm, prompting him to inspect it. 

The skin on his hand was mending at last. 

In his peripheral vision, the radiance intensified as the web vanished entirely. 

Tentatively raising a hand to his head, he felt a strange energy shock his fingers, followed by the familiar sound of a small bell. 

He quickly withdrew his hand, and discerned with disbelief, 'They're on my head now—'

Li cleared his throat, casually twirling the hilt of his sword. "You'll face greater challenges, but try to avoid striking me in the chest again. It becomes tedious when the same spot is targeted repeatedly."

Hoku remained silent, altering his stance.

"Another thing," Li continued, gesturing toward the broken sword in Hoku's hand. "Have you ever wondered why it's called 'The Sword of Thieves'?"

"No," Hoku replied.

Li hummed thoughtfully. "Shall I demonstrate?"

Before Hoku could respond, Li ran the tip of his blade through the water, then lifted it. 

A droplet clung to the sword's tip before falling. 

The moment it touched the water, it billowed, sending a tidal wave that knocked Hoku off his feet.

Hoku plunged into the water, a sharp sting grazing his shoulder before warmth trickled down.

His eyes widened, and he instinctively leaned back, narrowly evading a swift sword strike aimed at his head. 

A droplet splashed onto his face as the blade sliced overhead. 

Scrambling away from the rocks, he wiped his face and found blood smeared across his hand instead of water. 

He glanced at his torn sleeve, and discovered a deep cut beneath the fabric.

'So damn fast!' He thought, biting the inside of his cheek.

Hoku's gaze darted around the now-settled water.

 Li stood where Hoku had been moments earlier, unexpectedly close.

Hoku flinched, retreating several steps, his free hand clenched into a fist.

Li raised his sword as if presenting it. "Thanks for the tip," he said coolly.

"You only managed to scratch me, and you call that a tip?" Hoku scoffed.

Li smirked. "I wasn't referring to the size of the injury, but to the blood."

Hoku frowned, eyeing Li's sword. 

The star-shaped pommel flickered with a darker hue, a thick liquid oozing down its surface. 

He took cautious steps back as Li began rotating his sword, faster and faster, until it blurred. 

The blade seemed to extend, and Hoku squinted, unsure if his eyes deceived him. 

But as the blur faded, a heavy splash echoed. Li stood there, an enormous curved jade blade hefted over his shoulder.

"A scythe?" Hoku's tone carried his astonishment.

Li's smirk widened into a menacing grin as he extended his clenched fist. 

Unfurling his fingers, Hoku's heart stopped. 

He reached up, and grazed his fingers atop the star objects, ignoring the fluctuating energy. 

His index finger slipped into a larger gap where his arm had been sliced.

"You—!" he began, but Li interjected.

"Before I came here, I was a skilled pickpocket," Li said. "But such a role held no meaning. My purpose has always been to bring grievances upon others."

Hoku's voice was tinged with annoyance, as he pulled his arm back to his side. "What use would you have with them? They were working against you just moments ago; why take them from me?"

Li tapped his pinky thoughtfully on the scythe's handle, his expression contemplative. "To stop them for the same reason you need them, of course," he replied simply. "If you continue to regenerate, what's the point of trying to fight you?"

With that, he rolled the glowing droplet between his fingers, pinched it, then tilted his head back and opened his mouth. 

Hoku watched in bewilderment as Li dropped it onto his tongue and swallowed.

His eyes drooped as he grimaced. "Tasteless as always. Now, I simply need the rest." 

Hoku swallowed hard, raising his sword defensively. "Well, I'm not just going to hand them over.

Li's grip tightened on the scythe's handle as he swung it off his shoulder with unsettling ease, the blade scraping across the water's surface. 

The motion sent a shiver down Hoku's spine, his skin prickling with anxiety. 

He swallowed hard as Li balanced the blade overhead, then arced it downward, striking the ground. "I wouldn't dare expect less." 

The ground trembled beneath Hoku's feet, a subtle, cavernous crack echoing around them.

Suddenly, his stance faltered as his feet were pulled further apart. 

"What the hell?!" Hoku shouted urgently. 

He slid his foot across the shifting ground, desperately seeking stable footing. 

His foot caught in a widening gap, prompting him to stab the ridged end of his sword into the ground for leverage, straining to free himself.

As he flung himself to the side, Li was already upon him, sprinting with lethal intent. 

Pushing off his back foot, Li leaped closer, swinging his scythe in a horizontal arc aimed at Hoku. 

The blade sliced through the air with a chilling whistle. 

Water droplets flew from their hair as Hoku clenched his jaw, raising his sword to intercept the attack. 

Dodging was futile; he had to confront the assault from the first breach. 

Grunting with exertion, he pushed back against the larger weapon, muscles straining under the force of the clash.

As Hoku felt the scythe's weight shift, the blade scraping closer, he swiftly seized the top of the blade with his other hand. Li's expression was intense as he pressed forward. 

Hoku's grip weakened, as his own blood dripped from his sword.

 Suddenly, his blood seeped into the jade scythe, revealing hidden fractures like veins before the streams thinned. 'Did it just absorb my blood?!'

Li exhaled heavily, suppressing a laugh, then applied the slightest pressure. 

Hoku's sword was instantly knocked from his grasp, plunging into the water. 

He ducked, expecting a blow, however, Li instead grazed the scythe's blade over his head, scattering the stars above him like beads from a broken string.

Before Li could raise the scythe again, Hoku's fingers closed around his submerged sword. He pulled it from the water and struck Li's side.

Li choked on the pain, and his scythe slipped from his grasp into the water, crashing mere centimeters from Hoku's leg.

Li clutched his side, blood seeping between his fingers. As Hoku rose from the water, using his blade for support, he glanced at his palm. The skin was healing painfully slowly.

Hoku grimaced, facing Li once more. This time, he approached with his blade angled intentionally at his side.

The posture was a subtle mimicry of how the real Li had once severed a moth's wing with a single stroke.

Li's breath came in ragged gasps as he dragged his scythe through the water, attempting another diversion. 

But Hoku saw through the ploy and rushed forward, piercing the broken blade into Li's abdomen and driving him downward. 

Instead of withdrawing, Hoku pressed the blade deeper, following Li's descent until he knelt over his legs.

Li's head tilted slightly, revealing half of his face.

Each breath was laborious, yet to Hoku's surprise, he still managed to speak.

"I don't know if it's the weapon or if this man is inherently weak, but I've never—" A fit of coughing interrupted him, blood splattering his chin. "I've never lasted long in his form. At most, I managed to steal your entire crown, but I always anticipated pain in this body."

Hoku's expression twisted with disgust.

Li drew a trembling breath. "It's almost as if… he was meant to die. Even in his replicas."

Hoku sighed, keeping his hand firm on the hilt. "Clearly, you've only faced him yourself. Li is far from weak. Everyone respects him. I've known him mere hours and already witnessed his indifference to unimaginable danger. He's swift, powerful, and skilled, and I've only seen him fight once!" He paused, hearing Li's coughing beneath him, and his brows furrowed with bitterness. 'Damn it! Was I praising a bastard like him?'

Li's lips curled into a wry smile. "You seem to admire the lad quite well."

Hoku's gaze hardened. He dragged the sword down Li's abdomen. A guttural scream tore from Li's throat, followed by choking coughs.

Hoku muttered under his breath, "Shut up. I would never respect someone with such a vile personality. I only called you clueless."

Ollie seemed to have lost his voice, leaving Lamb to continue from behind him.

"My mistake, Hoku. You two certainly have an… unconventional relationship."

Hoku clicked his tongue, muttering a bitter phrase under his breath.

Seeing their reflection in the slightly discolored water beside Li, he withdrew the sword from Li's body and raised it before him.

The remaining stars looming over Hoku flared before a fragment of light separated from the over the foundation and descended. 

The broken Sword of Thieves shuddered as the jagged blade extended toward it.

Hoku adjusted his grip, noting the improved balance, though the blade remained incomplete. 

The new extension seemed functional, but he couldn't be sure of its durability against another elixir. 

After the third piece integrated imperfectly, a faint, flickering sequence of zeros appeared above the blade, resembling a broken hologram. 

Tilting his head, Hoku lifted the sword to better light, confirming the eerie display.

"What is…" he murmured.

A sudden pressure between his knees jolted Hoku. He glanced down to find Li's lifeless body beneath him, the face grotesquely split and hollow where the skull should be. Hoku's breath caught; he scrambled to his feet, suppressing the rising bile.

"When did he—"

Hoku's ears caught a subtle shift from the left; a low, dragging sound beneath the water, like a stone being moved. 

Reacting swiftly, he pivoted, raising his sword in a defensive stance.

But far across from him lay only Juno's dismantled corpse.

A creeping dread seeped into Hoku's bones as he surveyed the room. His voice, tinged with unease, broke the silence: "Where are you? Is this over? Can I leave?" The stillness that followed was absolute.

Hoku turned, his eyes twitching as he registered the absence of Juno's body from the water. 

'Damn it! Don't tell me he can revive them?' Hoku's heartbeat resonated in his ears.

Before Hoku could search for Juno or Ollie, a voice, eerily identical to his own, mocked him from the shadows. 

A terror, deeper than what he had felt at the trial's onset, gripped Hoku.

Then, a dry scraping sound whirled through the silence, an unsettling anomaly amidst the expanse of water.

Hoku's eyes widened in alarm. 'The foundation!'

He spun around, halting abruptly before taking a step forward. 

Before him stood a figure identical to himself, holding a long golden chain taut over the tip of his index finger, connected to the very same compass concealed within Hoku's garments.

"On the contrary, everyone else who has died in this trial met their end due to this form," the mirror image intoned. "

Hoku's face turned ashen, and his expression froze in shock.

"Who would have guessed," the mirror image continued, "that my most valuable puppet would be you."

To be continued…