Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 7 The Red Ceremony

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Haibo covered his head, which felt like it was being torn apart, with both hands, roaring like a putrid, twisted monster in the night.

The strange bright red power stirred unbridledly in Haibo's brain like a sharp blade, leading him to extreme pain.

This kind of pain belongs to the spirit and soul and has nothing to do with the body.

Physical pain can be countered with extreme mental strength, but mental pain will make the person feel twice as much.

Especially this kind of ultimate power that transcends human physical cognition and belongs to the category of magic and mysticism.

"What, you want to back down? Impossible!" Yatuo roared:
  "I must follow the instructions of the Chooser and the Dark Night. The last ritual was only halfway through. After the emblem was burned out, it may not have successfully summoned the 'Apostle of the Gods', but it brought new power that can touch the gods. It is in your body The red magic source power, Mr. Wright. Besides, my ceremony is very gentle!"

He seemed dissatisfied with Haibo's screams of resistance. As a lost person of the [Seducer] profession, he could make Haibo feel happy during this "journey" through the blessing of burning liquid or other powers.

He did indeed do this. His dark tentacles had been reduced to almost the size of a human fist. Coupled with the control and guidance of his mind, Haibo should feel happy.

Those should be a pair of gentle hands, the hands of an extremely white and gentle girl. Such distortion and pain are obviously abnormal!
  "This is a pair of real hands, it is touching you, you will feel pleasure and happiness, the red magic source power is the gentle sunset, you are now enjoying a good life on the beach of Putoa outside the dome." Tuo muttered rapidly, trying to guide Haibo further.

But as the red power continued to pour in, the pain Haibo felt did not diminish. On the contrary, the feeling of mental tearing continued to increase exponentially.

Yatuo didn't know that Haibo's body was the product of a strange combination of Wright's "vessel" and Haibo's soul. If the remaining rituals were interrupted now, the bright red power would conflict with this strange combination. As for the result, there is no fixed result. possible.

As the red glow around them grew fainter, the remaining half of the ritual neared its end.

Finally, when the mental and physical torture reached its extreme, Haibo's eyes finally changed from pitch black similar to the surrounding environment to a bright red color like a strange rat in the sewer.

The painful feeling just now finally came to an end here.

Seeing Haibo swaying and slowly supporting his body to stand up, Yatuo lost all the pride and anger he had just now.

On the contrary, staring at Haibo's red eyes and the terrifying aura that seemed to come from hell after the ritual was completed, Yato felt an extreme sense of fear that penetrated into his spirit and soul.

Immediately afterwards, he slowly retracted his tentacles from his body, even the heavy tail that was used to defend against sneak attacks from behind.

After hundreds of years of evolution, the powerful Lost Ones who even formed some kind of primitive civilization turned out to be like a mouse meeting a tiger, and came up with the idea of ​​​​escape derived from animal instinct.

"You...your ritual is completed, Mr. Wright. This is...the red magic source power. It is the product of the joint creation of the Creator and the Lord of the Night. You are its owner. Now I will help you guide it. Now that you can contact it alone. Then, I hope you can uncover the mystery of the red magic source power and find the mechanical god. Now, I am leaving here." Yato suppressed the trembling of his body and said the emotion of fear.

His eyes were looking at the nearby area warily, not daring to look into Haibo's red eyes again. He was afraid, and he longed to escape from here.

"Wait, Yatuo." Haibo shook his head vigorously, trying to wake himself up from the pain just now.

Then, he asked with pain on his face:
  "Tell me the red magic source power. What exactly is it?"

That was Wright's last cry before death. Since the lost man in front of me knew this and even used rituals to forcibly activate the existing red magic source power, which caused me so much pain, I must ask clearly.

"Haha." Yato suddenly laughed maliciously. In the dark water of Sogra underground, this sound seemed particularly strange and scary.

"This is a mystery, I said. You don't need to know this now. Regarding the knowledge about the magic source power, the Socra City Library, the magicians of the Tenin Sect and the Hope Church can all answer it for you.

But as for the power of the red magic source, you will naturally know it when you can get in touch with the extraordinary core. I am just a lost person with the profession of [Seducer]. I admit, from everything just now, it seems that your mental strength is much stronger than mine. So now, I decided to run away from Sokra. Yato said "without losing any elegance", put the hoodie of the cloak back on, and stepped back with some power hidden in the darkness surging slightly in his right hand.

"You have to tell me." Haibo took out the "Crazy Bear" pistol and stepped forward quickly, pointing the gun at Yato's chest, which was as hard as a steel machine.

He tried to threaten Yato, but as a powerful Lost One, although Yato lost the will to fight, his escape instinct as an animal would not weaken.

If you sneaked in through the waterway leading outside Sogra City before, you can escape from here again.

However, when Haibo approached him with the "Wild Bear" pistol, and looking at Haibo's strange state, the Determinator's description of the power of the red magic source flashed in his mind, as well as the legendary man from Apostle of the realm of gods.

Then, he turned around and raised his hands in the air in front of the large metal valve at the outlet of the waterway, and stopped in a gesture of surrender.

He did not dare to look directly into Haibo's red eyes. Instead, he stared at the "Long Sword and Hammer" medal on Haibo's chest and asked with interest:
  "Have you ever thought about who you are?"

"Who am I?" Haibo was suddenly stunned.

He has been searching for information on this issue since he traveled to this world. His soul is Haibo, and his body and identity are Wright Sugra. But if he is now asked to think about who his "self" is and who his "id" is, he will not be able to answer it for a while.

But Yatuo took advantage of Haibo's distraction and jumped towards the exit of Waterway No. 25.

With splashing water and gradually spreading ripples, it disappeared in front of him in an instant.

At this moment, Haibo, who had gone through a series of events such as the execution of the unintentional man, the battle with Yato's tentacles, and the torture of the red magic source, could no longer bear the dual feeling of physical and mental exhaustion and fainted.

……

A crimson mist enveloped Haibo, and the feeling of solemnity and tightness made Haibo unable to maintain his dazed state and sat up straight away.

This is a desert without light. The crimson color combines with the earthy yellow of the original ground to form a strange pink color. I don't know how many meters away there are a few extremely withered trees growing, as if this is a forbidden area for some life.

"Where is this?" Haibo looked around in shock.

On the left side of his body was an endless desert, while on his right side was a pure white thick fog. There was a bright red thin line in the middle, which perfectly separated the two scenes.

The sun not far away was glowing with faint sparks under its crimson color. Looking at this weird scene, Haibo covered his throat and tried desperately to shout something, but his throat felt stinging and anxious as if it had been burned, making it difficult to make a sound.

Until, an ethereal voice came from behind him.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

who am I?
  who am I?
  Haibo murmured in astonishment.

Then, he roared like crazy: "I am Haibo, the hard-working student preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination, the migrant worker who can't make any money, the underappreciated online writer, and the haggard otaku.

No, I still have another identity. I am Wright Socra, the wasteland youth who was born in the outer area, a member of the Socra Guard who has been through life and death, a lost person who prays to unlock the fog, and the owner of the red magic source power. .

Yes, I am Wright Socra, I am Wright Socra! "

Immediately afterwards, the fog receded and the crimson color disappeared!
  Immediately afterwards, a red flame emerged from his chest and gradually enveloped his body.

He felt extremely hot and extremely relaxed!
  ……

Zine Empire, capital Sogra, slum area on the edge of Zone Z.

The city of Socra in the early morning is still not much different from the darkness at night, but as the "Blood Night Ritual" approaches two months later, in recent days, the safety of the dome will be tested between 6 and 12 o'clock.

Accompanied by the huge roar of machinery, several small and medium-sized holes were opened at the top of the dome of Sogra City.

Several big airships "Suchla" wrapped in silver-white coating were slowly taking off from the runway. The dust rising around them really gave this rare bright moment a grayish-yellow color.

It was precisely because of this that a golden ray of sunlight shone on Haibo's withered face, stained with some blood.

If he were in the original world, Haibo would immediately start enjoying the rare morning time and then go back to sleep. However, the fatigue from yesterday's battle and the hazy consciousness made him not want to get out of bed at all.

Until the landlady Reina's sharp beast-like voice came from downstairs.

"Wright? Wright? The commander of the escort is here. You have to go downstairs. They won't wait for you."

"Are you bothered? I got it!" Haibo replied perfunctorily.

He yawned irritably, took out his glasses from the dark table beside him and put them on.

Then, he shook his head, trying to wake himself up completely.

But just for a moment, he felt strange.

The closed room, the chirping of machinery outside the window, the sour and rotten smell, as well as the unknown machinery and the dying fireplace in front of me.

Wait, wasn't he just underground in Sogra? Weren't you still fighting that lost man named Yato just now?

Why are you back at Wright's house now? Virtue, where is Virtue? Oh, yeah, he was wounded and covered in blood fighting the Lost Ones, and he was about to mutate into a Heartless, so I executed him.

But who was so kind as to send me back?

Could it be said that I have traveled through time again?
  Haibo observed the surroundings vigilantly. It seemed that there was not much difference from when he first woke up. If there was any difference, there was a package in a yellow paper bag on the table.

Wait, I want to take another look at myself.

Thinking of this, Haibo stumbled, holding on to the edge of the obsidian table, and crawled to the mirror that was slightly yellowish and slightly cracked at the edge.

Black pupils, black hair, withered cheeks, and blood stains on the corners of his mouth from the battle yesterday.

"I'm still Wright."

Haibo touched his face and looked at the person in the mirror. After thinking for a while, he made a crucial decision.

"Since you committed suicide in such despair, and you summoned me here because of a strange ritual. Now that I occupy your body, then I am Wright Sugra. As for your despair, I will help you figure it out. , I will also dig out the truth about the red magic source power and this wasteland world for you."

Haibo, no, Wright clenched his fists and said seriously in the mirror:

"I am the owner of the red magic source power, a member of the Sokra Guards who has been through life and death, an explorer of the wasteland world, and a man of prayer who unravels the fog!"

"Wright, how many times do I have to tell you that the guard captain is waiting for you? Why are you so ignorant?"

Landlady Raina's disgusting voice came again, and after letting out a perfunctory "Oh" again, Wright playfully stuck out his tongue in front of the mirror that was speckled with black particles.

Immediately, he quickly slid down the old wooden stairs that were still rickety and creaking to the first floor, and finally saw the man that Reina had repeatedly urged him to see.

Before Wright could stand still, the man hugged his arm and said with a smile in a sunny voice:

"Let me tell you, brother Wright, why did you drink so much after finishing the mission last night? If Hit hadn't asked me to come and pick you up, you would have been naked and laughed at."

"What???" Wright blurted out in shock.

　Today's chapter update is a bit of a headache, and I will slowly start to abandon the world view in the future.
  　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)