In a large interior room, all the Anchors were talking to each other or choosing their weapons. Despite the apparent tranquility in the room, all of them were nervous and in constant tension.
Telos, who was sitting in the corner of the room, looked at the weapon in his hand. A double-edged sword, made of a polished, dull metal. It's neither too long nor too short, and it's also quite light, perfect for someone like him. The handle of this one was non-existent, only differentiated from the blade by a thick layer of black bandage.
The young man, moved the strange sword side to side, trying to get a good balance of it.
Telos sighed.
The young man remembered the weapon training. He got beaten in every way. With spears, long and short swords, maces, bows, whips, even simple shields... Luckily they were only wooden and blunt, bringing him only close to death.
His body still felt sore.
But his preoccupations were not that, but were he had to go.
'The Cursed Realm, huh?'
A vast place, abandoned by time and even by the hands of the heavens. A place where no life can endure the nightmares that you have to go through. Literally.
The reason why people gave it that name was simple, every life that enter that place are going to live in constant craziness. Strange murmurs that assault your brain once you enter or the insomnia because if you sleep the thing that you are scared the most is going to appear in your nightmares.
No matter what it is, monsters, ghosts, demons, or even people…
There is no documented data about that place, humans had abandoned that place a while ago.
'Well, thinking about it… Is not that crazy that the source of the abyss is in that place.'
Even right now, the departure of the expedition has been delayed because it seem that the abyss had altered the Cursed Realm, both geographically and faunal. The creatures had already established their territories in that place.
And the most problematic thing, the closer they are to the source, the stronger creatures they have to fight or avoid. Along with the problem that by then there will be fewer anchors to confront them...
The murmurs in the enormous room were silenced. The air became thick, making breathing difficult. In the complete silence of the room, steps echoed through the distant armored walls.
The steps stopped.
After a few moments of complete silence, a deep voice broke it:
"...We… Have the green light. The source is hidden in the Tower of Oblivion, so we have to enter the Cursed Realm…"
Jack's voice sounded solemn, as if he knew that the majority was going to die… maybe all.
His words sounded as if the sharpest weapon was cutting every piece of the soul of each person present. Some even fell on their knees. This was the baddest news they could hear.
The Tower of Oblivion was the the furthest point of the Cursed Realm, what it meant that they have to travel more, fight more and suffer more.
If then, almost all of them were going to die; now, they are only walking corpses. All of them, even the Colonel and the Lieutenant General. There was no exception.
But they have to make that travel, they are obliged to do so, if they don't all humanity is going to die. Well, they're going to do it anyway, but they should at least try.
Colonel Jack explained the simple plan that had now been exchanged:
"Things are now more difficult, so the plan has changed."
The muscular man took a deep breath and continued.
"At first, we were going to divide ourselves into five groups, each one led by a Lieutenant General. The groups would enter in arrow formation, with two groups on the left side and two on the right. I was going to head out with the core group, led by Lieutenant Jin, which was going to try to draw the largest load of creatures while the other four groups surrounded the Cursed Realm."
He made a pause. When he talked back, his voice was filled with hopelessness.
"But that is no longer our plan. If we do that, we are going to die faster, so even if it is more dangerous, we have to enter as a unique and big group. If we have five Lieutenants with us, and we split the strengths good. We have a chance."
Even when his words were hopeful, with his insecure tone and the tense people that probably did not listened to him, the atmosphere became just more oppressive.
Somehow, Telos was the only one who seemed calm and worried. Why should he worry? Finally he can end his cruel and disguisting life…
"We've already delayed this for so long, we must leave now."
A calm and secure voice interrupted the people's thoughts. It came from Lieutenant Jin. A young man in his thirty with an athletic body. His eyes were black and his look was menacing, his face was sharp and attractive. His hair was black, ending in white tips.
"Maybe you won't die, who knows. So move on. Now."
Seconds passed by, the Anchors still in disbelief.
"You want me to finish your lives?"
At that instant, everyone moved to their places. Preparing the transporting and cargo trucks. Long distance weapons like rifles, machine guns, crossbows, but above all, hand weapons like swords, spears, and shields, which were going to be the most commonly used.
Of course, food and water were being loaded too in enormous quantities.
All the military equipment was enchanted by special Anchors, making them at least capable of piercing the creatures body. The effectiveness of it was limited, so in that cases they have to use their own body and battle experience.
After almost half an hour, all was prepared and the Anchors were in their places. The travel to the limits of the Cursed Realm was not too far from where they are, and with the speed they going to travel… In only one hour, they are going to reach that terrifying place.
The engines of the dozens of trucks began to warm up, and their loud sound echoed off the walls of the pavilion, making them sound like war drums.
There was still some time of peace, but the Anchors did not think about that. They only prayed and wished that they would never reach that place.
Telos was sitting in the bench seat, squeezed on both sides by Anchors who seemed to be murmuring some strange words.
The young man was still looking at his weapon, analyzing it.
'My life will depend on whether I can use this... I guess.'
Luckily, this sword was light, but even Telos, who is clearly not the strongest- seemed that at certain moments he was not carrying anything. It looked… fragile.
'This is going to break as soon as they hit it with the first blow….'
With that, the young man let out a sigh.
He started thinking how much his life had changed since the creatures had came to the world… even if it is a little… Telos felt grateful with the abyss.
His eyes started to close, falling into the world of dreams. It felt strangely… warm. His skin felt warm and soft, his mind seemed to be freed from every past moment. His heart beat slower and slower, reassuring his of immense tranquility.
His conscience simply whispered something incomprehensible but strangely oppressive. However, his memory quickly forgot those words.
The world seemed peaceful, as if all the things he had witnessed over the last week were not real.
Just in case, Telos looked to both sides. Maybe this feeling was provoked by some Anchors that wanted to annoy him before they reached the Cursed Realm. But it was not the case.
Like him, all of them were slowly falling into the warm and pleasant darkness of sleep. The young man looked once more at his sword, asking himself:
'Why do I have this?'
There was no reason for him to carry that sword with him. Even the thought of killing the Anchor that molested him did not come to his mind.
He only wanted to fall asleep.
For some reason and no matter how hard he tried, he could not, remaining in limbo. Between the warm embrace of sleep and cold reality.
His crimson eyes were lost in the magnetic edge of his sword.
For every second that passed, the young man became more desparate, he wanted to sleep and nothing else was important to him.
Coincidentally, all the Anchors around him seemed to feel the same, some even seemed to be banging their heads. And, in that moment, the deep voice of Colonel Jack resonated through the speaker installed in the truck, his voice in clear despair:
"Creatures are attacking us! Creatures are attacking us! Do not fall asleep, the creature is going to devour your soul!"
However, even with the desperation the colonel showed, no one seemed to react.
Telos, who still had his gaze on the sword, moved his lips slightly, letting out a few barely audible words:
"I almost got lost in the creature's spell…"
The young man's eyes focused again, making his eyes shine weakly. With a deep breath, he stood up, looking side to side. Nobody reacted, still lost in the creature spell.
Telos walked through the short corridor. He felt all the breath of the dozen Anchors in the cabin of the truck.
Until this moment, he did not know that even the trucks were not moving. Of course, the driver probably got lost in the creature spell.
The young man reached the end of the corridor and, after a few moments, opened the big door.
A desolate view appeared in front of him, nothing like where it had been not long ago… or what he thought it was not long ago.
In that moment, Colonel Jack speaked once more, but this time, he was not advising the people, he was… lamenting.
"We are late… The Cursed Realm started invading us… The whole world is going to be devoured…"