Chapter 616: Making An Entrance
At the very center of the hollow building lay a pitch-black circle, one so large that it could almost be confused for a black hole.
Pzzt! Pzzt!
Occasionally, black and red sparks flashed out of the circle like small strikes of lightning, taking its fearsome aura to the next level.
’Finally.’
Members of New Team Aurora, now reduced back to four, all stared at the terror-inducing portal with a deep sense of longing.
To others, even just seeing something like this would be a prelude to disaster, but for them, their dearest goals lay beyond that portal.
For Aurora, this Gate didn’t just carry monsters or obstacles; most importantly of all, it carried the keys to her shackles and the promise of freedom.
Similarly, but in a different way, the Thorn Duo’s sole path of escape could only be found through that Gate.
The process of going in and out couldn’t be expected to be easy, but enduring a lifetime of suffering couldn’t be exactly compared to the short-term suffering they would undergo inside that Gate.
In short, for both cases...
’I/We can be set free.’
Only by going in could their stopped time flow once again!
As for Kara, although she didn’t share the same sentiments, the longing in her eyes appeared to be the deepest.
Among the four, she was the most impatient about jumping into the Gate right away!
"Clearance had been granted. You may enter the Gate."
While everyone was at the cusp of making a mental breakthrough, the guide who brought them here came back.
They could finally go in and end it all, once and for all!
"Let’s go."
Naturally, the one taking the lead was Aurora.
With the new abilities that she had obtained recently, she was confident in decimating even something as hard as the White Gate in less than an hour.
Whether the difficulty would be greater or not was still unknown, but Aurora was more than ready to challenge her limits.
’Even if I don’t survive this, it would still be fine.’
She was no longer raiding Gates as the City Council’s loyal puppy. Instead, this was something that she was doing on her own terms.
Just the act of entering the Gate itself was the first sign that her shackles were being shaken loose.
However, as soon as her feet crossed the threshold, something that surpassed her expectations echoed into her ears.
{ Native Contenders have entered the Main Encroachment Center... }
"Huh?"
The space they entered was as black as the portal that led to it; it felt like they were standing in the void, but the ground under their feet was smooth and solid like a luxurious home floor.
And above it all, a brightly lit orb made of white light floated high in the air, illuminating this conceptual space of nullness.
{ Preparing the Trial of Ascension... }
"This Gate is so special that it talks? What is this Trial of Ascension supposed to be?"
Surprised by the sudden emergence of the cold, eerie voice, Viva spoke out of habit.
A second later, she remembered her standing within this makeshift team and looked at Aurora with apprehension, only to see a ghastly face that was on the verge of crumbling.
’Seriously?’
The familiar liveliness of the portal finally started making sense to Aurora.
The final colored Gate was just like the cleared Green Gate, a special case that couldn’t be classified among other Gates.
’Stay calm.’
Feeling her breath quickening, Aurora tried her best to keep herself together. It felt like she was going to have a panic attack.
Having recently become more aware of her surroundings, Aurora could look back at that disastrous event and realize that many things weren’t what they seemed.
However, regardless of the conscious mind’s recognitions, her unconscious mind only recognized the deep-seated trauma that took root that day, sending her heart into a spiral!
’Calm down!’
Since trying a soft approach didn’t work, Aurora immediately switched to a rougher one. She had to convince herself that there was nothing worth being traumatised about.
’None of it was real!’
Her so-called teammates... Her failure to protect them... None of it had any relation to reality.
Those useless guys weren’t teammates; they were irresponsible people who intentionally chose to become her burden for the sake of their personal gain.
Moreover, rather than failing to protect them, she had been way too overprotective, all the way to the point of spoiling any intention they might have had of helping.
Much like its new version, Team Aurora was nothing but a parasitic relationship that sacrificed everything for the sake of the parasite, a total joke.
’Yes, that’s the reality of the matter.’
Although she was ultimately the one telling herself all of this, Aurora felt like she was coming to this realization for the first time.
In the end, it turned out she never really understood what happened there until she had a heartfelt one-to-one with herself.
Once she did, her mind cleared, and her heart went back to being slow but steady.
’Cassian was actually-’
However, when she tried to conclude that day’s events by trying to understand why Cassian did what he did, her heart almost turned chaotic once again.
’Forget it.’
As such, Aurora could only temporarily pause this subject.
She wasn’t sure what kind of emotion this intense tribulation signified, but Aurora guessed that it was some kind of unshakeable fear generated by the trauma’s stubborn roots.
In any case...
’It’s not like he is going to be here this time as well.’
Just because this was another special Gate didn’t mean that Cassian would appear.
In fact, the likelihood of such a possibility was almost in the negative.
After all, even if he did want to enter. It would be hard for him to pass through all the security points leading into the Gate.
{ Challengers acknowledged... 5 Entry Points have been created. }
’Hmm?’
With the voice’s final announcement, the area was illuminated further as light dropped from the non-existent roof, forming five uniform pillars of light.
"Five? Is this thing so smart that it counted Yvonne even in her absence? Or is it just faulty?"
Seeing that Aurora was dealing with her own problems instead of paying her any heed, Viva openly expressed her curiosity. It was almost as if that voice knew that New Team Aurora originally consisted of 5 members... Or so she thought.
"Hello."
As if answering her question, the actual fifth member suddenly appeared in front of Viva, almost causing her heart to stop.
"Ca-"
However, before she could even verbally react, the sudden guest reached out with both arms as black tendrils extended out of his fingers.
Seeing this, Vera tried to react by pulling out her Thorn Sword. However, by the time it manifested into her grasp, the tendrils had not only enveloped Viva’s Enigma Stone but even her own!
"Actually, I was hoping that you would get to experience this together as sisters. It’s really a shame... what happened in the last Gate, I mean."
Both Viva and Vera thought to resist, but from the moment their Enigma Stones fell into the tendrils’ grasp, both their bodies and their Enigma refused to obey in any form or shape.
Not too long ago, Viva had thought that Aurora’s light rope was simply too extreme, but now, she experienced true powerlessness; not even a single particle of Enigma could slip through.
"That being said, there is really no need to worry. After all, your big sister had already received her share, so now, it’s your turn."
Viva’s eyes turned wide open at the mention of Yvonne. If they were immobilized this easily, she could only imagine the terrifying things that could have happened to her in her frail state.
"Easy now, it’s almost over."
A few seconds later, however, Viva no longer had the luxury to worry about Yvonne as her death glare broke into warm tears.
A sense of complete weakness washed over her body as she felt like something precious was being stripped away from her.
"Done."
By the time the whole thing was over, she collapsed weakly to the ground, instantly losing consciousness.
To her left, her younger sister stayed standing for one extra second before collapsing next to her.
"It’s nice seeing you again, Aurora. Let’s catch up later, though, I’m kind of in a rush."
Flashing a smile at the silent protagonist, Leo disappeared on the spot only to rise up from the ground right in front of the central pillar of light.
"Bye."
Stepping into the light, Leo finally disappeared for good, leaving Aurora staring into the void as if she had lost all ability to react...
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