Ronny and Edgar entered the world of the Doors, which resembled a great cemetery for buried demons.
Its ground breathed dust,and its houses were devoid of life except for distant screams resembling the echo of memories.
Edgar slowly opened his eyes and saw Ronny beside him, standing erect like a statue of steel, staring into the void with indescribable arrogance. The green light emanating from the ground reflected off his body, giving him the appearance of a demon emerged from the deepest hell.
And suddenly...
Ding!
The System interface appeared before them,digital letters dancing amidst the purple mist, whispering in languages understood only by the Cleaners themselves.
Ronny said coldly, touching the air with his large hand:
"Press exit... without looking at anything."
Edgar frowned, stared at him, and said confusedly:
"And why would I do that?"
Ronny slowly stepped back, his voice echoing through the space like a heavy roar:
"Because that... is not the reason we entered."
Edgar looked bewildered at the interface, then closed it with a short sigh. He followed Ronny, who was advancing ahead of him with confident steps on a bright green road stretching through the void, shining as if the ground itself was made of blazing emerald.
The road wasn't straight, but twisted in the sky like a luminous serpent leading to an unknown place.
And at its end...there was a dark door, isolated in the mist.
Tap... tap... tap...
Their footsteps approached until Ronny saw the door and said slowly:
"That is the Tavern's Door."
He entered the door without hesitation, not knowing what awaited them. Edgar followed immediately.
Inside, the darkness turned into false light. Edgar found no walls or seats, but a vibrant green world: trees swaying as if breathing, and strangely shaped birds filling the horizon with intermittent sounds, like rusty musical instruments.
But far away,amidst the white clouds, rose a massive black castle, perched atop a mountain reachable only by a long, dilapidated bridge, swaying in the wind like a thread of dust.
Edgar held his breath for a moment at the sight, before hearing a violent inhale behind him.
He turned slowly...and saw Ronny smiling a smile that foretold a storm.
"Come on, boy..."
He said it in a coarse voice that made the birds disappear.
"Show me your best!"
Edgar clenched his fist, planting his feet into the ground until the soil cracked beneath them.
Fshshshsh!
He drew from the screen a glowing red sword, moaning as if alive. He gripped it tightly, his eyes sparking with determination.
Ronny laughed loudly, like the sound of a hammer striking iron:
"Marvelous... you have an amazing weapon! I don't know why the System didn't give me one like it, perhaps because it knows my fists are enough!"
Then he reached into his thick hair and pulled out Rat, the gray rat accompanying him.
He placed it gently on the ground,saying:
"Stay safe, my friend... and if I forget why I fight, remind me."
Then he took a step back, spread his arms, and shouted with a voice that filled the artificial forest:
"Before I beat you soundly, boy, answer me honestly... what is the real reason you continue in this System? Your life is at stake, yet you're still here! Tell me the real reason, not some money fairy tale!"
Edgar's eyes widened, his voice trembling as he whispered:
"The reason?... I don't know."
He paused a little, then continued, his voice growing stronger:
"Maybe revenge against Grandfather, or maybe to discover who I really am... or maybe just to stir some stagnant blood within me."
Ronny laughed with a voice that shook the ground:
"Hahaha! So you don't have a clear reason... I think you're lost, boy. But don't worry, I'll teach you the harshness of this System, and the picture will become clear to you!"
He suddenly stretched out his arm, Fshshsh!
The air around him moved violently,the grass bent, the soil scattered.
Then Ronny ran with speed towards Edgar that made the ground shake under his feet.
Doom... doom... doom...
Every step left a crater!
He leaped into the sky,his shadow covering Edgar as if a false sun had been extinguished.
"Haaaaaah!"
His scream shook the horizon as he descended with his fist towards Edgar.
Dooooom!
The blow split the earth, dust flew, the suspended bridge trembled.
But when the dust cleared,there was no one... except a red flicker dancing amidst the dust.
Ronny raised his head, smiling:
"You really are fast..."
But before he could finish, Edgar ambushed him from behind —
Shraaaaakh!
A swift sword strike, gleaming like lightning, which Ronny blocked with his bare forearm as if it were nothing.
Red sparks flew between them, the air compressed between their bodies.
Their breaths were heavy, different from each other:
Ronny said sarcastically,
"Do you realize now why they call me the Angry Steel?"
Edgar breathed with tired insistence,
and Ronny breathed with mad euphoria.
"Playtime is over."
Ronny said it seriously, then stomped on Edgar's foot with all his weight.
Crack!
The scream of bones filled the place.
He tore the sword from Edgar's hand and threw it far away.
Then he began hitting him with his iron fists.
Booosh!
Boooom!
Booooosh!
Each punch shook the ground, and Edgar's clinging blood splattered, his face bleeding but he wouldn't fall.
He finally raised his head with difficulty and said,panting:
"Rat... he..."
Ronny turned quickly, saying with worry:
"What's wrong with him?!"
But the rat was perfectly fine, sitting on a rock cleaning its small face.
And when Ronny looked back at Edgar,he found him crawling towards his sword, gripping it with a trembling hand and a face covered in blood.
[]The System...[]
[The emotional charge is present...[]
[]Red Thunder power... activated.[]
[]Summon Thunder Ally![]
In a moment, the entire sky shook.
The color red covered the clouds,with red lightning bolts dancing in the air, and the sound of thunder splitting the dilapidated bridge.
Ronny spread his arms with mad enthusiasm, shouting amidst the storm:
"Hahaha! Now things have gotten interesting!"
Then he bent towards the ground, thrust his hand into it forcefully, and the soil began to tremble.
Ggggggggggg!
The sound summoned from the sky by Edgar now emerged from the earth because of Ronny, as if an earthquake rose from the depths to meet the lightning descending from the sky.
In a nearby place, kilometers away from the battlefield...
In the heart of the black castle,inside what is called the Palace of Dreams,
A man sat on a dark throne adorned with intricate carvings.
He wore black armor intersected with red lines like veins of blood, and from his back extended white horns like a wild dragon.
200 years ago, they called him the Wild Knight.
He sat confidently,one leg over the other, a black sword with red streaks in his right hand,
while resting his chin on the palm of his left hand.
When he heard the rumble of battle coming from afar, he smiled a faint smile and said in a hoarse voice, as if speaking to the void:
"It seems we have... some guests."
He rose slowly, the echo of his metallic footsteps filling the palace.
Tang... tang... tang...
And with each step, the walls seemed to whisper amongst themselves, and the ground trembled under the weight of iron.
"Let's see..."
He said it as he descended the dark staircase towards the great door.