Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 297 Run Down

"You do not need to bother, I would add you — I've actually been meaning to. But… you do have to pay for my phone, Descendant of Eros because I know it is already forever lost once you summoned me here."

Olga was completely confused as to what was happening — she could not really understand what Rhys and Arachnea were talking about, but why was she feeling sort of jealous? It wasn't right, not right at all.

They were currently on a mission to retreat, and the sudden appearance of the Arachnea was a welcome distraction for the enemies, or at least it should be. But right now, Olga was the one finding Arachnea completely distracting with the way she seemed to be talking to Rhys while being filled with familiarity.

"What… what is she saying to you, Commander?" Olga whispered, "And I do not know if I am recalling it properly, but you called her name right before she appeared right in front of us — could it be you also have the ability to summon monsters? No… Arachnea is a god."

"She's… asking me to pay for her phone."

"...What? Is… that some sort of metaphor?"

"No."

"Well, as I said — all of you are really lucky that I just had my fill," Arachnea then let out a short but very deep sigh while looking around the metal hall, "How about this then, Descendant of Eros — I help you out in your very desperate situation, and in return, you do something for me?"

"I can pay you back for the phone," Rhys quickly said.

"Oh my, it is not your place to haggle," Arachnea covered her lips and softly giggled, "Paying me back for my lost phone is already a given. I will come to you, Rhys — and you will do as I ask. And trust me, when the time comes… you will have no choice but to agree."

"W—" And before Rhys could even say another word, Arachnea suddenly pointed her hands toward the floor and the ceiling — and then with a smile on her face, several threads were released from her fingers and shot toward the floor and the ceiling, piercing through them like they were nothing.

"Well then…" Arachnea smiled at Rhys, "...Off you go."

Arachnea then waved her hand and pulled her hands together, and as she did so, the gravity within the metal hall started to go amok as a hole through the surface was made — but it was not exactly a complete Hole, but rather a Dig.

And with Orpheus and his men digging a spiral from the surface and all the way down, the gravity within the metal hall became completely erratic… causing all the earth and debris to just move almost in a cycle — there was also the fact that Arachnea seemed to have dug down and was slowly reaching the Underworld with her threads, adding to the debris.

Orpheus just started strumming his guitar to get rid of all the debris that was moving toward him and Eurydice, all the while protecting her at the same time.

As for Rhys, he did not really have the time to be gentle as he just carried Olga like a princess, who also immediately wrapped her arms around his neck tight. How could she not, when Rhys just started leaping from debris to debris up to the Surface?"

"We'll see each other again very, very soon, Descendant of Eros," Rhys could hear Arachnea's voice fade away as she slowly returned to the Underworld; her giggles, however, seemed to be following him even as he tried his best to jump up toward the Surface.

"..." Rhys did not even bother to look down to see what Orpheus was doing — he was sure, however, that he would survive this. He and Olga did not really try to fight Orpheus to the best of their abilities — he might have been able to win, but he was sure that one of them would be gravely wounded, perhaps even dead.

No, they made the right decision to tread very carefully — because even if they did manage to subdue Orpheus, in the end, Eurydice would have killed them since they wouldn't know that she was actually truly on his side.

"Commander, please hold onto Aengela tight."

"Don't worry, I've got her," Olga made sure that Aengela was safely tucked between her and Rhys so that her petrified body would not fall or be hit by any of the debris as Rhys started punching his way through all the rocks and dirt.

And finally, after what seemed like forever for the two of them, Rhys managed to jump to the Surface; slightly losing his balance due to the weird gravity shift. But Rhys did not stop moving as he leaped through the window, which he found was actually tempered glass as it broke the wall it was attached to with it.

Rhys did not heed it any mind at all, however, as he just continued to rush to get away from the school and be as far away as he could as possible — even climbing up into the hills that surrounded the humble village.

And as soon as he was sure they were already at a safe distance, he finally let out a sigh of relief; turning around and letting go of Olga as he looked at the school.

"Commander."

"What is it?" Olga turned to look at Rhys as he called for her.

"...You can let go now."

"O…oh, right," Olga, whose arms were actually still wrapped around Rhys's neck, cleared her throat and finally let go of him; being extra careful so as not to drop Aengela, "Wh—!!!"

Before Olga could make an excuse or say what she wanted, however, he and Rhys watched as the entire school just exploded as a colossal tree emerged from the ground—no. It wasn't only the school that was destroyed…

…the entire village was swallowed up by the tree that almost covered the sky.

"...The elderly were still—"

And all of a sudden, the leaves of the colossal tree started glowing — gold, almost as if replicating a setting sun as it veiled the entire forest and hills with its brilliance.

"It's… it's beautiful," Olga could not help but whisper out.

"It is."

"We—" Olga turned to look at Rhys, only to see him actually looking at her, "W…wha…uh…"

Only stutters could escape Olga's lips as she found herself suddenly lost in Rhys's silver eyes; his silver eyes which also reflected the gold leaves veiling over them. Her eyes then very slowly strayed toward Rhys's lips, only for her head to also very slowly lean closer to him.

"Commander."

"!!!" Olga's eyes widened as she quickly leaned her head away, "I—I didn't know why I was—I thought we were going to die there, so my emotions are a little—"

Before she could finish her words, Rhys very gently grabbed her by the back of her head and leaned in closer. Rhys did not place his lips upon hers, however, as Olga was the one to do that and just kissed Rhys.

But of course, she was extremely careful not to drop Aengela at all; her lips and tongue, however, were the complete opposite; the only thing she wasn't doing was literally eating Rhys's mouth.

[C…Commander! Commander!]

Unfortunately, their moment was cut short as someone began calling her on her radio.

"W… what is it!?" Olga quickly pulled away from Rhys, handing him Aengela as she answered the radio.

[Retreat! Run! Get—Recruit!? You need to get as far away from there as possible—no… get out of the country if you can!]

"...Ayesha? What is—"

"!!!"

And before Rhys could even ask, the ground started to quake violently; causing the glowing golden leaves to start to shower from the heavens. And very soon, Rhys and Olga watched as the ground from the distance collapsed into a perfect circle… creating a Hole.

And without even letting them breathe, another Hole opened up… and then another, and another.

"Oh no…" Olga's eyes widened, "...That's not… that's not Arachnea's doing, is it?"

"That…" Rhys's eyebrows started to lower.

[Recruit! Drag your balls out of there now!] Ayesha continued to scream on the radio, [It's the freaking nymphs! They all suddenly appeared out of nowhere and just started killing everyone! We managed to get out, but the Nihons weren't as lucky. Recruit, wherever you are — get away from there as fast as possible because they are on their way there.]

"No…" Rhys shook his head as he saw extremely small silhouettes coming out of the Holes, "...They're already here."

[What!?]

"They're opening up Holes, Ayesha…" Rhys whispered as he looked at the more than a dozen Holes that formed across the horizon, "...I don't think the Nihons would be able to close them anytime soon."

[That's…]

"Men," Olga then spoke to the radio with her eyes closed, "We'll rendezvous back in the base…

…Mission failed."

Olga then turned to look at the glowing tree, and then back to the Holes that were now scattered everywhere,

"This place…

…it's going to be run down by monsters soon."