Chapter 8
192.
The setting is currently in a tight spot, the group is in a frozen state while King Luke turns his attention toward them. The group is aware that King Luke might know what they could do next, which puts everyone in a state of paranoia, making them overthink what will happen next. This also proves that King Luke's talent can influence others' actions even just by his presence alone, allowing him to pave the way toward the present day.
To agitate the situation, Hideo nervously speaks up, "King Luke, do you remember me? A few years ago, I helped you at the Underworld."
It's evident that King Luke has aged a lot, his long braided hair turned white, and fully bearded with a mustache almost covering his face. "Hideo… I see, looks like nyu also paved your path, reaching the timeline nyu are part of. In most of the timelines, nyu were just in the Underworld. Only 4 of those possibilities showed me that nyu would also be here. I commend nyu for pursuing the statistically impossible." King Luke said in an old husky voice.
With that response, Hideo's claim was proven. King Luke is still in full control of his consciousness, though it gets more confusing when the King continues his speech, "I know nyu have a lot of questions and I'll answer all of them since this is the fastest way to move forward. First of all, yes, I've been corrupted by a violet Rune for more than a decade now. No, I'm not corrupting the core, in fact, I'm separating it from the altar as I perform the reset constantly. The corruption wasn't that potent a few months ago when I arrived here, only needed to reset the core once in a while. But everything went drastically absurd this morning. Yes, I needed to transfer the Sentient Kemis to different realms so they could help them while I was fixing this mess, though it wasn't my intention to erase their memories, it was part of the influence of the Sacred Rune when used to anyone. Oh, also yes, I wrote those notes in the cave of BijouTerra, discovering the Templarites." The King oddly answered everyone's questions on mind.
"Your talent is seeing the future? Is it the past destruction, present rebirth, and then leading to another doom?" FeLinE:1000X questioned.
"Indeed…" King Luke confusedly responded. For him, this timeline never played out, but he must retain his composure. "Are nyu knowledgable about the Rune that I fused?" The King asked.
"All of the Runes have blood encryptions of Guardian Kemis, that's why Kemis who fused with those unlock their talents. Your talent resembles one of the top Guardian Kemis in the hierarchy, it's Ouro's talent, the Ouroboros of the Guardian Kemis…" FeLinE:1000X explained.
"Then that could probably be the reason why I'm still in control." King Luke replied.
"Not only that, FeLine thinks that nyu might be the perfect vessel for him, allowing nyu to be Ouro's direct descendant despite the unstable Rune. This is also the reason why the King was able to wield the Sacred Rune back then since Ouro's blood matches yours..." FeLinE:1000X responded. "If that's the case… Then we should follow your lead. Guide us to the best timeline." She added.
Catching King Luke off guard, he quickly tries to recall what timeline is the closest to their situation. He spent more than a decade mastering his talent, King Luke thought he was already efficient with his talent, forcing a daydream that guided him all those times. He tried to use his talent in that instant but mysteriously for him, no other timeline was shown. It looks like the one that they are threading is connected to all three endings, and his actions will lead to only one of those outcomes.
"Hold this orb and reset it every 10 seconds. There are various buttons on the orb though I'm sure a Sentient Kemi knows how to operate this. Just don't let this orb die." King Luke started to explain his plan.
"Leave it to FeLinE," FeLinE:1000X quickly responded as she approached the orb and took over.
Finally free from the orb duty, King Luke opened up the passage beneath the altar. It's a hidden metal door camouflaging on the floor, with stairs leading to the Mainframe of the Realm Sanctuary. That alone tells FeLinE that King Luke knows what he's doing. Not all Sentient Kemis were aware of the emergency door towards the Mainframe, only those who were related to maintenance knew about the passage. VesTris taught FeLinE various ways how to fix the Mainframe depending on its damage, though this time, FeLinE wanted to let the King take charge of the operation mainly because of his talent.
The rest of the group followed King Luke while FeLinE stayed with the orb and watched them from the surface. Upon reaching the Mainframe, they saw a giant hole in front of them. The group approached the edge to look further, and that's when they witnessed a colorless kaleidoscopic sphere in the center of what seemed like an upside-down cone, with hundreds of threads connecting the sphere and the Mainframe. It is called the Sphaira Kykloma, the matrix binding all connections, and it doesn't look good.
Every thread is the connection from the sphere to each Ruin in the UniPaws, allowing them to connect all realms. This means the gates connecting the Ruins and realms are the extension of the threads from the sphere and the Mainframe. This allows the Realm Sanctuary to sustain and deliver the energy from its core, all the way to the realms. The efficiency is definitely remarkable but there's also a downside to this setup. When a realm is infected, the corruption also travels through the gates which are then cleansed in the threads. However, with the current state of the UniPaws, the threads can no longer suppress the corruption.
The features of the sphere should be clear and crystalized, though due to the corrupted threads, most of the areas were violet too. As of now, the Sphaira Kykloma is already massively corrupted. No amount of troubleshooting can solve this madness. If the Sphaira Kykloma crashes from the corruption, the threads and the gates will break, disconnecting every realm from the UniPaws and at the same time flooding them with duplicated Forbidden Runes created by Cerono. This catastrophe will unlock an unlimited power source for Cerono, giving her the ability to create everything she wants. Cerono could even surpass the Guardian Kemis when this moment happens.
193.
Commotions are currently happening all over the realms simultaneously, but despite the mayhem, there's one thing that remains unsolvable. No matter what happens, Cerono's true identity has never been fully revealed. For starters, Cerono is a Narhwalgirl who appeared in the Underworld and was crowned Centurial Genius. Every time someone thought they cornered Cerono, another mystery bursts into the scene. At this point, no one knows if she's even a Kemi at all. Duplicating the Forbidden Runes adds another layer of mystery, one could only speculate that maybe Cerono has a connection to the Guardian Kemis.
As the group faced the dying Sphaira Kykloma, King Luke thoroughly scanned the area. The King was extra wary of the situation since they were threading an unknown timeline. Shortly, they spotted the supercomputer on the left side with other apparatus, it's the machinery that helps the Sentient Kemis regulate the matrix. King Luke rushed towards it and tried to operate the said machinery.
"How's everything down there?" FeLinE:1000X loudly asked.
"Aaaa… The crystal sphere thingy in the middle is getting corrupted!" Kita reported back.
"Oh no… There's only one way to fix this…" FeLinE:1000X whispered to herself. "Everyone, listen carefully. There's a reset command for the Sphaira Kykloma, it will close all gates for 10 minutes and cleanse the foreign substances as it reboots to its original state. This procedure can only be performed once every 100 years, doing it more than the said time duration will erase everything from the matrix instead of the unwanted programs only." FeLinE:1000X explained to the group from the surface.
"That's good news, are we allowed to perform it now?" Yuna responded, further clarifying the instructions.
"Hai, but we need the DNA from a Guardian Kemi for the supercomputer to accept the reset command. Each Guardian Kemi has a set of Runes related to them. Their blood can create from a hundred to a thousand Runes, depending on how strong their encryption is. The higher the Guardian Kemi's rank, the stronger they are. So normally, tons of Runes that belong to the same Guardian Kemi can be a replacement to meet the quota, regardless if it's Forbidden Rune or Runecrystal as long as it's not the fabricated ones that Cerono made. Unfortunately, we don't have any of those right now. We let VesTris use them to heal the Kemis in the UniPaws. The laboratory can create the said Runes since we have a database of all Guardian Kemis, but years are needed to carefully craft those." FeLinE:1000X answered.
"So the only solution is to find Runes immediately," Kita mentioned.
"We can utilize Hideo's talent to gather Runes quickly. Maybe VesTris has some left." Hana suggested.
"We don't have enough time, that's why FeLinE needs nyu all to listen attentively. Sentient Kemis are the second generation after the Guardian Kemis, in a simpler explanation, we are a watered-down version of them. We may not have talents, but our physical features and intelligence match theirs. Needless to say, FeLinE's DNA can suffice what's needed. So here's the plan; King Luke needs to retake FeLinE's position in this orb, FeLinE will preset the reset command, and then FeLinE will enter the chamber beside the supercomputer. Nyu can press the enter button once the chamber closes." FeLinE:1000X thoroughly instructed.
"Wait… That chamber looks scary, what will happen to nyu when we press the button?" Lulu asked FeLinE with great concern.
"The chamber was supposedly an alley that would deliver the Runes directly to the Mainframe. Those Runes will be disintegrated so the Mainframe can absorb the encryption inside. It was not made for what FeLinE suggested, but FeLinE thinks it's the only way for us to access the reset command. FeLinE's only request is to tell other Sentient Kemis to innovate this place once the dust settles." FeLinE:1000X answered.
The group was weakened by FeLinE's plan, it was by far the most outrageous one they heard from her. "We cannot end it like this, there must be another way!" Kita argued.
"The longer we argue about this, the harder it will get. Only the one with the DNA of a Guardian Kemi can pull it off. This is solely our chance, one must sacrifice." FeLinE:1000X calmly said. Her words silenced everyone, each one of them was ready to jump in that chamber if only they possessed the required DNA. But because of the conversation, King Luke realized the difference between the 2 remaining endings other than the destruction. King Luke believes that fusing with the Forbidden Rune related to Ouro is not just an accident, let alone being the perfect vessel for the Guardian Kemi. Just like what FeLinE said, one must sacrifice, and that is what King Luke has been doing.
"There will be no more sacrifices… It ends with me." King Luke stated. While everyone is lost, King Luke immediately presets the reset command.
"King Luke… What are nyu doing?" Hana asked but the King didn't respond.
"King Luke is the descendant of Ouro, the perfect vessel… " Hideo mentioned. From that moment, everyone finally grasped the King's plan.
"We promised to bring nyu back to Queen Grace! That's part of our quest, longer before we assisted FeLinE!" Kita emotionally said as she approached the King.
The news melted the King's heart, finally shedding a tear after a long journey, "I see… She's the Queen of Kemitopia now…" King Luke responded. "She'll do good… She'll do good…" He added while in tears. It reminded King Luke why he committed to this quest in the first place. King Luke wants to protect the world his daughter is living in, and hearing an update about Queen Grace further solidifies his decision. All the struggles that he singlehandedly faced, created a path that would benefit everyone except himself. It was a huge relief for him, knowing that none of his efforts were wasted, King Luke is now certain that he did the right thing.
"King Luke, listen, it's the job of Sentient Kemis to look out for the Kemis. FeLinE must be the one who should enter the chamber. So please, hold on to this orb and FeLinE will fulfill our duty." FeLinE:1000X continued to argue, trying to convince King Luke.
"Nyu can still fulfill your duties as the Sentient Kemi later, but right now, it's my time to complete my purpose. This is the best ending, and I'm sure all of nyu will bring a brighter tomorrow for everyone." King Luke answered and then entered the chamber.
194.
Weighing whom to sacrifice other than yourself is a different type of burden for the one who's going to decide, especially when you don't want to lose either one of them. Even with the reassurance that they are both willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the future, it will still hurt everyone involved in the situation. One must offer his life while the rest will carry the burden of doing so, in a sense, everyone will sacrifice in this situation.
It was a hard scene for the group to watch, FeLinE still insists on stopping the current setup while King Luke instructs them to press the enter button and send him to the Mainframe. Both of the options will save the UniPaws, but the group must decide how they will do so. One way or the other, they must pull the trigger before it's too late. This has to be the biggest decision that Kita, Hana, Yuna, and Lulu will ever make in their journey.
With a heavy heart, the group looked at each other and pressed the enter button, sending King Luke directly to the Mainframe. After a couple of seconds, the system granted access. The whole place shut down as it entered the restoration process. The situation also indicated that the Mainframe acknowledged the King's DNA, proving he is truly the descendant of Ouro and his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.
The orb is the only light source that there is, only lighting up the near vicinity. The orb can operate alone without the Mainframe, but it won't be the same case if it's the other way around. The place was covered in darkness, just like the sorrow they felt from the King's absence. It all happened too quickly and everything felt like it was a bad nightmare that they wanted to escape. If only they could just wake up from this madness, but sadly, it is the reality that the group is facing.
While the reset occurred, no one could even speak a word. Everyone stood as their tears fell from their eyes. Even Hideo was stunned by what they had witnessed. The silence was deafening, it was the least that they could do to pay respect to the King. A noble act that will be cemented in the history of the realms, especially in the UniPaws.
One after the other, the realms are getting cleansed. The duplicated Forbidden Runes were disappearing, turning into violet ashes that eventually evaporated. The corruption from the threads and the gates were purified, meaning the core of the realms would follow through, slowly killing the infection in every place. This also cured all of the Kemis around the realms since the corruptions were from the duplicated Forbidden Runes. However, it would be a different discussion if they got corrupted by a real Forbidden Rune like King Luke. The power went back into the Realm Sanctuary and it looks like the Sphaira Kykloma finally returned to its original state.
On the other hand, Cerono's influence was entirely removed from all realms, losing the connection to her clones in different areas. All of her stored power went to zero, fully destroying Cerono's great plan. "That Guardian Kemi… Has always been a problem for me… You win this time…" Cerono muttered in darkness while in unknown territory.
During the events in the Realm Sanctuary, the Kemis in the UniPaws were all desperately trying to weather the storm. VesTris was working the whole time, creating multiple Revitalizing Rain formulas to be distributed to the three nations. She was the head of manufacturing alongside the other scientists. Raven and Darli took charge of the delivery with the help of the Dragons. Maiko and Zela with the tribe Leaders led the operation in Kemitopia. Eve and Rubi were the ones in charge of Zenshin. Rin, Aoi, Lisa, Mae, Mittsy, and Celeste were the bridge for communicating the list of requests around the nations. And lastly, Queen Grace monitors the overall progress. Everyone played their roles efficiently, giving up was not an option for them.
Hours of nonstop work plus the high pressure that they are in surely drains everyone. But their trust in Kita's group remains strong. Rained poured in the UniPaws when the formulas reached the clouds. They managed to heal some of the Kemis for a while, however, everything went back to the same state as soon as the rain stopped. Despite the unsuccessful attempt, the Kemis were still willing to try again.
While they were in the middle of repeating their previous act, the skies finally returned to normal. Everyone was surprised, they felt like the curse had been lifted. The citizens started to go outside to check if the catastrophe was over, though it wasn't exactly what they had in mind. The corruption made the Kemis occupied, almost forgetting the fact that there were tons of Giant Beasts roaming around the Rivarania, Kemitopia, and Zenshin. Maiko reported the state of Riverania to Queen Grace, and Eve did the same thing for Zenshin. After having a quick call with the members of UniKemis, they finally declared that the crisis had been averted. All they had to do was repair the damage made by the uncontrolled Kemis earlier and calm everyone down.
VesTris walked out of the laboratory when she heard the announcement. "They saved the realms…" She said upon seeing the bright blue sky.
"IT'S OVEEEER!" Darli celebrated while Padra flew through the clouds. "I knew they could do it," Raven added.
"Finally, we can rest!" Coco said as she sat down on the floor of the castle.
"Mittsy is already sleeping," Mae responded. Mittsy immediately slept on the floor upon hearing the announcement.
A lot of emotions showered across the UniPaws, and the majority celebrated because they survived the catastrophe that was meant to be the end of all realms. Considering how horrifying the threat was, their survival was a massive success. Even so, the triumphant state doesn't tell the full story. Others were grieving the loss of their loved ones because it was too late for them. All of the damaged infrastructure from the chaos can be rebuilt, though the lives taken will never return. The Kemis won against the biggest threat to them, but it cost a hefty price.
195.
Almost an hour passed, and the group returned to the UniPaws. Hideo escorted everyone to Kemitopia while they were in a dreadful state. All of them were clueless regarding their next step, all they could think of was Queen Grace should be informed about the King's sacrifice, and doing so would be like pulling the torn out of their chest.
Shortly, the maids spotted the group walking through the castle. Rin and Aoi welcomed them while Mae, Mittsy, and Lisa called the rest of the group. At first, Rin and Aoi thought the group was just exhausted, but that was not the case, the sadness was clear in their eyes. Rin and Aoi assisted the group to the meeting room while waiting for their friends.
With the help of the Dragons, everyone eventually arrived. They charged through the door, electrified by their success, though the mood quickly changed when they noticed the atmosphere of the room.
"Is there something wrong?" Raven asked.
"We… We need to discuss something…" Yuna answered melancholically.
The group doesn't know how to start explaining what happened. It smashes the group's hearts, especially because they knew that Queen Grace strongly believed her father would return someday even before they met her. The pieces of evidence they found along their journey gave Queen Grace more hope. They, themselves, met the Queen's father, but sadly Queen Grace will never experience the same thing.
To start the discussion, the group told the Queen that she was right, King Luke was indeed alive throughout the previous years. With the confirmation from the group, Queen Grace was exhilarated.
"Nyu met my father? I knew it! Where is he? Did he stay in the Realm Sanctuary for now? I hope we can inform him that I'll patiently wait here, no need to rush things if his quest is not yet over." Queen Grace excitedly said since her father was not with the group.
Hana approached Queen Grace, held her hands, and said, "As much as we want that to be the reality, that is not how things ended up…" The sorrowful tone of Hana gave Queen Grace a hint for the rest of the story, Kita, Hana, and FeLinE also showed deep remorse.
"We're sorry Queen Grace… We can no longer fulfill your request… We failed…" Kita added while in tears. Because of the gloomy situation, everyone sat down around the table first, and then Kita's group continued their narrative.
Kita, Hana, Yuna, and Lulu did their best to share every detail that they heard from the previous King, the reason why he didn't return and went to extreme measures of doing things by himself. They may not know the whole story, but the group successfully delivered the gist of it. The information also matches the story of Shiin and others when they had a conversation with Queen Grace back in Blizshore. Kita's group also shared the exact words of King Luke when he heard an update about Grace, being the new ruler of Kemitopia, sadly, it was part of his last words.
"According to FeLinE, King Luke was the descendant of Ouro, a Guardian Kemi. That was the reason why his body managed to keep up with the corruption, it could have been a different story if it was a Runecrystal. But I guess it's pointless to theorize another path at this point…" Yuna said.
"King Luke also told us that was the best outcome out of all the timelines he saw," Lulu mentioned.
"Only King Luke and FeLinE have the DNA of the Guardian Kemi and we were heavily against the time, we couldn't look for Runecrystals as a subsidy…" Hana explained.
"As much as we hated the idea, we pressed the button to send King Luke to the Mainframe…" Kita regrettably said. Everyone in the room was shocked when the group finally revealed what the King did to save the UniPaws.
"FeLinE couldn't leave the orb and stop King Luke. It should have been FeLinE, but King Luke insisted on completing his purpose. It was a noble act from him, FeLinE apologizes for the ineptitude of the Sentient Kemis, causing the life of your father." FeLinE:1000X sincerely said as she kneeled in front of the Queen.
VesTris also stood up and joined FeLinE, feeling guilty for failing to prevent the unfortunate event. "I also bow to fix our system so this won't happen again," VesTris:1100F added.
Tears are flowing, Queen Grace is having a hard time accepting the fact that she didn't have a chance to meet her father while he was still alive. Despite the despair, there's still a small sigh of relief for Queen Grace, at least now King Luke will no longer suffer alone. Different feelings spiral through the Queen's head, and delivering this message to her mother would also be painful. However, deep down Queen Grace is aware that none of them are really at fault, no one wants this tragic ending. This way of thinking helped the Queen to retain her composure, showing a huge growth in navigating her emotions.
Queen Grace wiped her tears and said, "If my father believed this is the best ending, then we must fulfill our part too…" She then assisted FeLinE and VesTris in standing up, "Let his noble act be known, and inspire everyone that we all have a purpose." The Queen added.
"Hai." Everyone firmly responded.
It was a bitter end for the group, if there was an alternative wherein no one had to sacrifice themselves, they would choose that path in a heartbeat. Even so, the King himself, stated it was the best ending among the 3 outcomes. Even though King Luke did not specify what are the other endings, the group had a gut feeling about the other ones. Ouro's talent proves that no one can escape death, but as the cycle continues, life will blossom again.
Kita's adventure all started upon stumbling into a Runecrystal, and it seemed like an accidental encounter. Who would have thought that moment would transpire into a whole wide experience. Going back to what Strigi believes, there is no such thing as coincidence. The Runes will either lead you to a better purpose or use you as a catalyst for others. It shows that even without the presence of the Guardian Kemis, they still play a role in helping the Kemis. Now it's time for the group to fulfill their duties and guide the Kemis to a better future.
End of the Tale of Underworld & Realm Sanctuary