The East PacificBoard

Aozora finally recovered from her bout of insane laughter. Her face was now covered by a wide, sadistic grin. When she spoke, it was in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper. “Death. Death will stop him. Agonising, brutal painful death will stop him, if only would could find a chance to murder him before it’s too late to intercept...he wants destruction, it seems. Death on a massive scale. So we have to match him. The suffering of every single person he’s attacked, slain, tormented...he’ll experience it tenfold.” Her voice grew louder as she continued. “The culmination of their agony will be a fraction of his own when I get my hands on him. Setsuko can play with him. Aiko can play with him. I’ll break each and every bone, one by one, then I’ll shove into a a machine and break his mind, thought by thought...” Aozora grabbed the last piece of meat from her pate, holding it in her hands. “I’ll make him and his little lover torture each other for hours in end, and then...I’ll place my hand right against his chest, and watch...as...it...bursts!”

The steak in her hand began to twist and warp, folding upon itself and rupturing, chunks of meat scattered across the room as Aozora laughed one more time. Then, she conjured arcane fire, the purple blaze turning the mess into ashes, and the ashes into nothingness. Finally, after a few deep breathes, she seemed to regain some semblance of sanity. “Ah...I’m...sorry, about that. I...lost it a little...haha...listen. I know how it feels to seem helpless...but trust me. No matter how much damage he does...we will find him. We will take him. And we will avenge ourselves. That is the fate I demand this world I follow. And since I’m a goddess, reality must obey me soon enough...” She knew this wasn’t comforting. It wasn’t even true. But she too was infuriated by this turn of her events, and she was determined to transform this inability to do anything into taking every opportunity to find the path to the Demon Whisperer’s demise.

Malice just stares and says "You're fine, I've heard worse, from him... I just wish I could... wait..." She reads the letter from Demon Whisperer again. Her jaw drops, and she says "No f*cking way. No f*cking way." She gets up and quickly dashes out, running towards a random bookcase in the hallway and out of view from Aozora.

Malice pops out from the bookshelf, literally coming from it, and she says "Quick! Follow me! The bookshelf doesn't really exist, it is just to reveal the entrance." She quickly disappears behind it again.

Ah...a secret entrance. I should have suspected... As instructed, Aozora entered. It felt strange, passing through what appeared to be solid matter, but sure enough, she was able to get through in her pursuit of Malice. Now the question is...what’s in here? And what’s going on...

Right behind the "bookshelf", a stone brick spiral staircase plummeted down into the underground. Malice was gone, probably down the stairs. It is dark as the black of night, barely any visibility.

Aozora was reminded of her Labyrinth as she descended down the stairway. A secret area, somewhere beneath the complex, hiding something important...what awaited her at the bottom? Ancient technology? Documents? Some kind of information? She had no idea. Aozora conjured a small purple flame, kept in her hand, to give herself some illumination as she walked down the stairs.