CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE!
────the cartenon temple (2).

❝FROM THE MOMENT EVERYTHING WAS DESIGNED.❞

THE TWO PLAYERS WATCHED as the angel statue suddenly gained four more arms, six in total.

[y/n] gets into position to fight. 'that doesn't make any difference, we'll finish this—'

her thoughts were interrupted when the statue was right at her side. her blood runs cold as she blocks three of its arms but the punch was so powerful that it quite literally sent her flying.

she crashes into the wall with an echoing crack, she chokes out blood from the impact.

"[Y/N]!" jin-woo screams, his voice full of worry. he didn't have the time to run over to her as he also blocked an attack from the angel statue.

he shared the same fate as his girlfriend, he grits his teeth as he feels blood trickle down from his lips.

he didn't even have time to recover when the statue charged for another attack. but before jin-woo can even dodge, the angel statue was kicked away by [y/n].

she stands in front of her boyfriend protectively with a glare, she spits out the blood that drew from her mouth.

"remember, your dealing with two players. don't think this will be an easy fight for you." she sneers her voice spilling venom.

jin-woo was a bit surprised at her confidence. 'that was hot.'

he feels heat rise to his cheeks and shakes his head ridding of the thought, he quickly joins her side.

the angel statue only ignored her taunt and doesn't waste another second as it began throwing punches at them.

the attack was ceaseless, each punch powerful enough to even defeat the strongest of hunters. that's when the statue noticed something odd and its eyes widen.

THE TWO WERE BLOCKING EACH ATTACK.

it could see the determination in their glowing eyes and it grinned. "what a surprise! you two are exceeding my expectations!"

the angel statue continued to send attacks to the players, it punched [y/n] in the gut and jin-woo across the face.

angered, the two readied their fist punched the statue right square in the face, the force sending it flying back on the other side of the room.

it took a direct hit from the two players, but despite that, it still stood tall and strong. cracks formed on its stone face as half of was already gone. instead, his real face was revealed it was a whitish-light blue color. 

"who knew fighting humans would be so interesting?" the statue grins again. "not once in my long life did i ever believe that a human could ever be a worthy opponent. how interesting."

[y/n] wipes the blood spilling from her mouth with the back of her hand. "and i don't give a shit. what's interesting is that you haven't answered any of our questions, architect."

"exactly, about why you designed the system, why we were chosen as players... about what's happening to the world."  jin-woo followed through labored breaths, blood spilling from his forehead and down his face.

"do you want an answer?" the architect asks, flying right at them like a bullet swung its fists at them. "i see... you might be thinking that your questions won't be answered if you kill me."

the two knew melee attacks were useless, so they opted for a different type of attack. [y/n] raised her hand to use ruler's authority and the architect took notice of it and raised its own arm.

"are you going to attack from that distance? it's pointless." he taunts, using its own ruler's authority to create a big white dome pushing towards them.

'it can use the same skills as us. that means ranged attacks are useless.' jin-woo thinks, as he stands his ground from the force.

then, the two moved out of the way and regrouped, they didn't want to give the architect the chance to separate them.

"it doesn't matter whether you kill me or not..." the architect starts as it spreads out its arms.

"THE ANSWER THAT YOU TWO WILL RECEIVE HAS ALREADY BEEN DECIDED."

weapons that were scattered throughout the room flew into it hands. he grins, thinking he had the advantage.

"FROM THE MOMENT THAT I DESIGNED EVERYTHING!"

"just how we're you able to plan everything and how we're you able to give us this kind of power?" jin-woo questions as he summons his daggers.

"i got a better question."

[y/n] speaks as she grabs her own daggers and glares down at the architect with an indescribable rage that even it was surprised.

"when you rewarded us with the system. for me, why did you wait until after it happened?" she interrogates, her voice full of disgust.

the dark-haired player furrows his eyebrows at her question but it clicks on what she speaking of. his eyes widened in shock, part of him thought she wouldn't even bring it up to save herself from reliving her trauma.

"are you referring to when that man forced sexual intercourse onto your body?" the architect points out almost laughing.

she grits her teeth. "yes, that's what i'm referring to."

it widely grins at her as if it knew something she didn't, but since she asked so nicely.

"FOR ENTERTAINMENT."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE [H/C] HAIRED player's body froze at its words.

'...for what?'

her body wanted to shut down, it needed to shut down. she need to pass out and let the words said to her be processed.

what was she expecting? she was fighting a being that went past moral code, basic humanity, and common sense.

it was only natural for it to see her suffering as mere entertainment.

but that didn't make the pain any better.

she wanted to cry, scream, do anything but she was so in shock she could barely move.

jin-woo quickly brings her body into his arms, holding her protectively.

he was furious.

his anger was unmatched. he didn't blame [y/n] for asking, she wanted closure, she didn't want to relive memories she would rather forget.

the answer she received was one she didn't need, it disgusted him.

"to answer the rest of your questions, i didn't choose you two. it was the opposite. i was simply the designer of the player leveling system." the architect continues.

the dark-haired player checks how much time they have left and clicks his tongue.

TIME REMAINING: 6:19

he feels the [h/c] haired player clutch his shirt and he could feel her body shake.

"we don't have much time left. can you push through it sunshine?" he whispers, rubbing her shoulder in a comforting manner. she hesitantly nods, saying yes. she couldn't fall apart, especially not now.

it was time to finish this.

"let us fight to the utmost in the remaining time!" the architect charged at them at lightning speed. swinging its's weapons at them.

but something incredible had happened.

their senses, the two players could see its movements. each different weapon and every swing. gradually, they could even counterattack the architect. their speed was increasing.

THEY KNEW THEY COULD WIN THIS FIGHT.

the two players each sliced an arm off and soon backed off to create a distance.

the architect narrows his eyes but they widen when he realizes something. there was a reason why they were chosen to become players.

'ITS JUST A LITTLE A BIT. BUT THEY HAVE IT.'

angry at this fact, he revives the other stone statue thinking it'll slow them down.

their glowing eyes meet and instantly their minds worked as one.

the two separate, jin-woo would deal with statues while [y/n] would deal with the architect.

he swings his weapons towards her with great accuracy but she dodges just as accurately. he narrowly misses the blade of her dagger and he chuckles at the angry look on her face.

"coming for revenge for what i said? i only merely answered your question." he taunts with a grin.

"OH SHUT THE FUCK UP! I DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER YOU!" she curses, cutting an arm off and running away.

the dark-haired player smirks at her crude yelling. she was the true definition of the sun.

then, the two players ran passed each other and high five each other as to tag out or tag in.

this was their plan, they take turns in fighting the architect mid-fight. they noticed that it couldn't switch up with the way it fights. its reaction time will slow down if switched mid-fight.

it couldn't deal with two different styles of the two players.

[y/n] was nimble like an acrobat. her style was elegant and graceful. while jin-woo was forceful like a boxer. his style was precise and powerful.

they switched places mid-fight, surprising the architect each time. when there was one arm left, the two players joined together to take it down.

with one powerful move, the two knocked it down with a loud boom. they had their daggers to its neck to make sure it didn't do anything sneaky.

"i lost," it spoke. "the test is over." 

the countdown stopped at 2 minutes.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

HEARING IT'S WORDS, [y/n] fell to her knees. not from physical exhaustion but emotional.

with his free hand, jin-woo caught her by her arm pulling her body towards him and letting her lean on his body.

he kisses the top of her head. "that's my girl, you did an amazing job." he praises her in a low voice.

she could only nod and snuggled her face into his chest, it seemed that all she wanted was to go back home and cuddle.

"THE ANSWER IS INSIDE YOU."

the architect states, pointing at them.

this catches their attention but they were confused as to what it meant.

"inside us?" the dark-haired player repeats as a mechanical beep rings in their heads.

[THE DATA STORED IN YOUR MEMORY WILL BE RETRIEVED.]
[WILL YOU ACCEPT?]

"i will give you a choice." the architect offers with a grin.

the two players look at each other and back to the system notification.

they wanted to know. they came all this way to find out. it was too late to stop here and not accept its offer.

the [h/c] haired player slides her hand into her lover's, squeezing it. he looks down at her and she looks back, nodding.

their glowing eyes stare at the system window again, determined looks on their faces.

"yes, we accept." they reply in unison.

[DATA HAS BEEN RETRIEVED.]

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE TWO WERE greeted with blinding light. they felt their bodies go at speed that couldn't be calculated.

then there was a sudden stop.

[y/n] open her eyes startled, she looks around to not see jin-woo at her side. but when she looks below, her breath hitches. she couldn't believe what laid before her.

thousand upon thousands of monsters roamed the ground, the army looked endless.

'now i know i'm not on earth. cause there's no possible way for this many monster to spawn.' she concludes looking down at them with furrowed eyebrows.

she noticed they were looking up and she followed their line of sight. when she did, her eyes widened.

up in the purple sky, we're hundreds of gigantic gates.

'holy shit...'

there were different monster of all kinds, ranging from ice eleves, high orcs, goblins and giants. she knew that if all these monster come out of the gates all at once...

HUMANITY WOULDN'T STAND A CHANCE.

but the monsters weren't there to fight humans but rather something or someone that is otherworldly.

a nearby gate cracked open out came something she didn't expect.

FOR WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? [Y/N] WOULD SOON FIND OUT.

hundreds over hundreds of sliver soliders with brilliant white wings fly out of the gates, all with spears in hand.

IT WAS WAR.

soon, the sound of a horn was blown and the winged soldiers engaged war with the monsters.

the monsters had combined their strengths to fight against the sliver soldiers. the sound of weapons clashing was absolutely deafening and shouts of victory soon turned into screams of agony.

the winged soldiers dyed the battle ground red as if to show their strength was unmatched. when the complete annihilation of the monsters seemed inevitable...

THE APPEARANCE OF TWO PEOPLE CHANGED THE TIED OF THE WAR.

"ARISE."

unwavering and unshakable force entered the battlefield. [y/n] could sense their mana from where she stood.

what was once a mountain of corpses, half of it was dyed black and purple and shadows rose from the corpses.

'th-that... that's jin-woo's power?! shadow extraction and monarch territory!' the female player assumes, looking down at the shadow army.

'that means... he's the shadow monarch?!'

but then she furrowed noticing something odd. 'why did he leave half of the battlefield untouched. he would gotten a way bigger shadow army if he just—"

"AWAKEN."

the ever so familiar command caught [y/n]'s attention and she whipped to the direction it came from. the other half of the battle field was covered in white and gold, mixing well with the black and purple.

the female player's eyes shake at the sight before her, knowing exactly who she was looking at.

the force was blinding and burning. there, riding a white and gold horse was a woman.

her long blonde hair whipped behind her and she wore elegant looking armor. her sun army followed her as she gone in the same direction as the shadow monarch.

'she's...!'

she then suddenly took off her helmet, giving [y/n] a good look at her face and her words get caught in her throat.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

RE-INTRODUCING...

AURORA, THE (PERVIOUS) SUN MONARCH

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

'she's the sun monarch?!' the female player shrieks, watching the ethereal woman join the shadow monarch's side with a warm smile.

instantly, the shadow monarch looked down at his lover with soft eyes, that look was reserved for her and only her.

then, [y/n] watched as the two monarch's armies fight the winged soldiers. but soon, the two monarchs joined the battlefield.

the flow of the battle changed completely.

wherever the shadow monarch swung his sword, hundreds of monsters fell to their knees dead and without a doubt, the dead monsters had become loyal servants of the shadow army.

wherever the sun monarch danced, a trail of blazing fire would lay behind her, killing all those who stood in her way. just like before, dead monsters had become loyal knights to the sun army.

'amazing... the numbers of their armies. i don't think me and woo could even compare to that number.' [y/n] thinks as she watched the two monarch tear through the battle ground.

suddenly she felt a chill go up her spine, a ominous wind blew from somewhere behind her. it seemed like the two monarchs felt it as well, as they stopped in their tracks and turned around.

two gigantic gates formed ways behind the sun and shadow army, from those two gates, came out two vastly different armies.

one side was of the beast type creatures that was lead by a tall and monstrous white wolf. the other gate, knights and soldiers poured out with countless banners raised proudly announcing their clans.

[y/n]'s eyes widen recognizing the symbols of the demon clan, including azazel me esil's clan symbol. 'you got to be kidding...'

then another war begun, this time with the newly arrived enemies. they killed both armies without much less of a thought. the shadow soldiers and sun knights had to endlessly repeat the cycle of destruction and regeneration. 

'this doesn't even make any sense?! i thought the war was between the sliver soliders and the monsters?! there shouldn't be any reason to fight anymore!' the female player thinks as she watches the battle continue.

that's when she feels something roll down her cheeks. she goes to touch her face and her eyes widen.

WHY WAS SHE CRYING?

instinctively, [y/n] goes to look over at aurora and could almost feel her heart crack.

AURORA WAS ALSO CRYING.

as she faced the demons and the beasts, she shed tears but continue fighting. but why was she crying? did she not want to fight the two armies?

'does that mean... that there's an internal conflict?!'

what seemed like persistent battle that had no end, it was finally reaching its inevitable conclusion.

the sun monarch had lost her horse during the battle but she wasn't hindered in any way. she walked over to a body that belonged to a women that sat against a rock formation.

aurora's magenta eyes looked puffy from crying, her expression was broken. "why did you do it ei? why have you chosen to betray me and my lover. i've always consider you my closest friend!"

[y/n] could hear her voice cracking, she could feel her own tears prick her eyes and her heart ached as if she could feel what aurora was feeling.

"what a waste. me and my husband should have ended you and ashborn." demon woman named 'ei' scoffed, her voice full of malice.

"tell me ei, please! why have you decided that our friendship was nothing more than a hopeless shattered dream?!" aurora pleaded, clutching her hands to her chest as tears spilled down her cheeks.

ei could only painfully laugh at blonde woman in front of her, she looked up at her with narrowed eyes. she started speaking but for some reason, [y/n] couldn't hear it.

whatever the reply was, the expression on aurora's face drastically changed. what was once a delicate warmth towards a friend was now a blazing, scorching heat. she grabbed her sword and plunged it right through her neck, killing ei instantly.

the demon woman spat out a mouthful of its blood and that was precisely when [y/n]'s gaze met with the demon's eyes staring at her from within the broken helmet. she feels her blood run cold, she recognized the eyes staring back at her.

it scared her so much that she fell to her knees but she had to confirm it. she crawled towards the dead demon and hastily went took off her helmet, her breathe hitches.

she throws the helmet to ground as violet tresses were released down from it and [y/n]'s eyes shake. 'that's... that's the queen of demons... arcane?! why is she here—'

that's when she looked down at her hands and saw she was wearing a golden armor. she stands up and inspects the rest of her body and just like with her hands, she wearing the elegant armor that aurora wore.

at some point, she must of switched places with her but why didn't she notice until now?

[y/n] clutches her chest, feeling a surge of power go through her.

it felt like another heartbeat.

then her armor begins to fade away and she was almost back in her normal body. wisps of white and gold surround her back as her now glowing golden eyes look up to the sky.

the sliver angels filled the sky again but she longer payed attention to that as there something, more importantly someone who took most of her attention.

from across the battlefield was jin-woo, his eyes glowing purple. he reached out for [y/n] instantly and she did the same. as she was about to take a step forward.

[THE RECALLED DATA HAS FINISHED.]

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE! END!
────the cartenon temple (2).