Chapter 224: The Other Side

Dust floated around the vicinity, cobwebs being destroyed once the impact was made. As soon as the group landed back to reality, Harvard, Stolas, and Zazel were absolutely tired. Their breath was rough, due to the amount of spells they casted, nearing the limit from dealing with an army, having to go one hundred percent of their abilities in order to take them down. Harvard would be quick in casting a spell, a Potion to try and get his energy back, as well as tossing one towards his two friends, whilst Solomon prepared to summon one of the Harbringers, since he was the least taxed in the group. They can hear the groans and grunts of Mari, struggling to get back up, coughing like mad within the cloud of debris scattered around. "My work.....My world....You ruined it all. I was going to be famous. I was going to be the greatest writer who ever lived. You squandered it. You ruined my entire world with your grubby, little-" He'd start, before being cut off as the Card Magician casted a spell of lightning, nearly striking at the man's head.

"Will you just shut up?" Harvard began. "You're the one who trapped us in a literal prison! You should NOT be complaining when you almost managed to kill us all off! I don't wanna hear your complaining. I want to see you pick up a book and RUN IT!" As he finished, his words being triggered with adrenaline, Solomon would be quick in summoning Famine, allowing Harvard to cast Fusion and prepare himself, saving his new magic for the Author himself, since he never had the proper chance to wield it against the tyrant. The Author, in response, tried to grab himself one of the books that fell down: "The Legend of the Night Marchers." Based on the cover, which is of people with helmets and torches walking along a beach in a midnight sky, Harvard was quick to deduce that it was going to be another army. He wasted no time in casting Fusion and taking in Famine, having his body began to corrode and harden in such darkened carbon.

"For your insolence....For your deeds....You will not go UNPUNISHED, BRAT! BY MY MASTER-"

SHIKK!!

A Slash, right at Mari's tongue, preventing him from speaking further. The children grew confused, wondering who struck him down, watching Valmond squirm around, his aged body being fully visible, his blue and silver cloak being stained and his white hair being an absolute mess as it picks up any debris when he rolled around. As he tended to his wound, one of the books began to act up, floating freely and throwing itself mid-air, a piece of parchment being unveiled, and a voice booming from it. A Voice that is completely distorted, but familiar. Solomon and Zazel hold Harvard back to let it speak, seeing what they wanted to do, whilst Stolas armed himself in case. "You.....have breached it." The voice spoke, to which Mari began to wallow in fear. He desperately looked up and tried to talk, his tongue somewhat repaired.

"MY MASTER! W-Wait! I can explai-"

"The agreement was that, by sealing away the children, you would be blessed with fortunes untold through your art. Your writing. By trying to kill them, and by merely attempting to say my name, you have breached it."

"I-It was an accident! In the heat of the moment! Please, I didn't mean to-"

"Enough. I've grown weary of your squabbling." The voice somehow remained calm, despite Mari's desperations being audible. "You have already ruined your one chance. Our time is through, our contract is severed. Judgement awaits you." 

FWOOSH!!

Pages upon pages began to flutter, books upon books began to open, silhouettes escaping from its pages, bringing the Author with worry. He'd quickly get up and tries to leave, before being met with a cleaver on his back, pinning him down. He'd look back to see who was responsible, being met with two apparitions: A Woman and a Man, salivating, as if they've never eaten in their lifetime. "GET AWAY FROM ME!!" He'd scream, punching the man straight in the face and using the woman as a body shield, before being met with further stabbings: A Large blade embedded into half of his body from a high schooler, a shorter blade aimed squarely in his left lung by a man in white, a trident lodged into his abdomen, spewing concentrated water to wound him further, and a set of tendrils and wicked teeth that stab into his shoulders to hold him down, laughing gleefully at the misfortune. He'd desperately try to escape its grasp, pulling himself away from such artillery. As he did, however, more violence is enacted upon him, all to keep him down and drag him away.

A man in an orange Gi socking him in the jaw, another man in a white suit dropkicking him in the stomach, propelling him to the ground, away from those that held him down. A Woman with scissor-like blades holding him at his neck, pinning him to the creaky floors, as well as an oil slick from a shorter individual, their appearance being akin to a signpost, attempting to trap the Author. A Man that threw knives directly onto his chest, barraging him and screaming as he did, causing his neck to be cut through by complete accident, and his back being severely damaged from the slick, knocked straight into a bookcase. A Man in a poncho with a small child on his shoulder joining in the fray and beating him senseless, accompanied further by a man with glasses and arms as strong as metal, a hero in black and red, utilizing his cape to further damage the man, and a green ogre, using his innate strength to keep him up so they continue their pummeling. He'd desperately tried to escape again, only to be pulled back by a blue orb from another character, and being struck down with slashes across his body by yet another.

He tries to look up and see who they were, but their faces, as well as their upper bodies, were shaded, never giving away their true appearance. They were familiar, but they were also nothing more than mirages, figures that only exist to keep him at bay. Golden chains at his legs and stomach, chained arms at his shoulders and torso, even a green tail from what he believed was an alien held its grip around Mari's neck. Off of the distance, he can see many other people watching over, some writing his obituary in a notebook, others changing the contract directly to make the fine print go against him. Lawyers, Doctors, and even the very Judge himself. The page that served as his contract quickly opened up as a door, slowly attempting to swallow the man whole, the air pulling him in, hands of more fictional beings grabbing whatever they could to prevent his escape. "LET ME GO! PLEASE! SOMEONE, HELP ME!! I BEG YOU!!! I DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS!! ANYONE, PLEASE!! I WON'T BREAK THE CONTRACT AGAIN! I PROMISE! JUST PLEASE, GET ME OUT OF HEEEEERE!!!" He'd scream, pleading for his life, reaching out to the children in a desperate act of freedom.

Harvard and the others couldn't help but watch this unfold.

Spider webs here, bat-shaped projectiles there, and even a fishing line or two hooking onto his body, coiling around his arms to act as binds even further. It was a mess. The lawyers that changed the contract quickly joined in on bringing him to his new prison, whilst the ones writing his epitaph disappeared within the confines of the library. "I CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT! PROMISE! I CAN GET YOU FAME! FORTUNE! WEALTH! ALL OF THAT AND THEN SOME!! JUST PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING, SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" Mari would scream, before all the characters in their respective media dragged him away to the parchment, closing upon him into a book, falling into the ground with a harsh thud.

Mari was no more.