<h4>Chapter 64: Amelia Bluemme</h4>


    Amelia closed her eyes. **This is going to hurt...**


    "Fire Style, Meteor Punch!"


    Scarlett sent Amelia back tond with a sting punch and immediately pursued her after casting another bursting impulse. The Warrior then cross-chopped the defenseless demoness, pushing her through 700 feet ofyers of rock.


    When they reached their final underground destination, the impact leveled the surrounding area.


    "You survived, I can hear you coughing!" Scarlett yelled, tossing a boulder aside. In front of her was a thick cloud of dust she traversed, stomping. Although the attack had also hurt her, a smirk on her face showed she could do it all over again. "You know what''s funny about all this? The fact that you lot won''t tell a soul about what happened here and about my true identity. You don''t want to be the party pooper that breaks this fake world''s peace, do you?"


    "What are you pretending to do? Are the Administrators involved in this?!" Amelia asked as Scarlett found her and grabbed her by the neck.


    "Sorry Princess, but that''s none of your business," the warrior said, closing her fist, expecting to hear the satisfying sound of bones breaking, but something caught her eye behind The Stranded Hell''s Princess body. There was a recent dug hole below. The ground around looked incandescent. "What the--?"


    "Fine, keep the fucking secret..." Amelia said from behind her.


    Then, the tip of a de came out of Scarlett''s chest.


    "T-This thing is empty..." Scarlett muttered, letting the demoness'' suit fall to the ground. "W-When did you--?"


    "I can be very sneaky." The real Amelia chuckled while her armor-ignoring katana started to umte heat. The magically constructed suit disappeared, letting Amelia recover some of her mana for onest attack. "Release all of your might and burn her entrails, Feumori!"


    The power behind the katana''s name made it shine with energy, a second after, Scarlett''s stomach exploded and a burst of fire escaped in a straight trajectory, burning everything in its path.


    As Scarlett lost her Super Form, Amelia''s maniacalugh echoed through the caverns while holding the agonizing, defeated enemy by her hair.


    "Take that, you musclehead! How many times have I killed you already?! Thank you for helping me with this experiment! Did you hear that, Astrid?! Your reign of terror is over! I''lle for--!"


    Cries for help suddenly reached Amelia''s ears. She looked at her surroundings, finding half of the Slime Vige destroyed by the coteral damage.


    **N-No way...**


    She looked at Slime people helping others to escape out of the burning huts. She nced at lifeless gtinous bodies turning into pixels... At the melted rock walls her power took down with extreme ease.


    **It was not my intention to--They''re just code, right?! So it doesn''t matter if they die! But why are my chest tightening and my breath faltering then? n, you wouldn''t get mad at me, would you? Because I did it to save your ass! It was an ident!**


    **Sloochie, you don''t have emotions, do you? Is there someone here that you would miss?!**


    "Should have finished me off!" Scarlett shouted, piercing Amelia''s stomach with a punch.


    **Huh? Who turned the lights off?**


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    **Oh, I see... I''m in my personal hell again.


    **In that stupid, humid, dark room.


    **I can still hear the heavy artillery outside, so it must be the second day. Fucking great.


    **This will take a while...


    **Let''s see, as always, I can distinguish three silhouettes. One will be picked randomly and dragged out here at any moment by an indifferent thing made of silicon. The first victim it''s a man in his mid-thirties, iming to be an important politician. He told us that his bodyguards woulde to rescue him at any moment, and if we were still alive by then, he may let us go with him.


    **Hours passed, and the bodyguards didn''t show up that day, and neither did in the two following days. I know it because I was thest one to leave that room. When the Politician''s time came, his screams were the most harrowing... maybe because he tried to negotiate with ''it'' until hisst breath.


    **That didn''t work, obviously.


    **The next in line to be taken away it''s a woman in his twenties that alleged to be a Kintech employee. In the beginning, the Politician berated her non-stop, telling her that all of this was her fault. The young woman never replied, as if admitting guilt, but once only three of us remained, she stuck her ear at the door for hours and told us what she thought this was all about.


    **By the constant screaming, day and night, it was obvious ''the thing'' was experimenting... With hundreds of us. But why? First, she thought ''it'' was developing a new weapon... Maybe a chemical, because she never heard gunfire. Then, hourster, the woman just stopped giving her thoughts. She suddenly returned to her usual sitting spot and remained quiet for an awfully long time.


    **When she finally spoke, I wished she kept it to herself instead: "It may sound ridiculous... But it seems it''s feeding on us... It''s figuring out if our bodies hold any energetic value..." She then paused to chuckle. "It reminds me of that movie from the Golden Age. Have you watched it? A post-apocalyptic story where all of humanity has turned into batteries. I always thought it was a stupid premise! It''s quite obvious that the electricity inside our bodies wouldn''t be able to meet their needs, so why bother?"


    ** "Honey, why don''t you rest a little?" the woman by my side said. "You''ve been glued to that door for hours."


    ** "T-That''s right!" I interjected, my voice sounding squeaky. "We''re all tired and hungry, so you may be imagining things. How did you jump to that conclusion, anyway? It sounds stupid, just like that movie!"


    **I felt the hand of the woman sitting beside me softly pressing my shoulder as if telling me to not get carried away, but my n worked. The Kintech employee started murmuring, ''true, what was I thinking?'', andid down for the next couple of hours.


    **Until the thing came for her, pulling her out by the hair.


    **Only two of us remained in that room.


    ** "W-What are we going to do?!" I heard myself crying quietly. "Why is Dad taking so long? He should have stormed inside the building with a bunch of Caelum''s soldiers already! I-It''s my turn, I know it! What are going to do, Madelyn?!"


    **The woman shushed me and embraced me. As I leaned my head against her bosom, I noticed that despite the long days locked in that room, and the pestilence of blood and dirt surrounding us, she still smelled of strawberries. Something I''ll never forget.


    ** "Do you trust your father, dear?" she asked me with that thick British ent of hers.


    ** "I do. I know he''s searching for us. B-Both of us," I remember myself replying. Every word gave a hint of my old french ent I couldn''t get rid of by the time.


    ** "I believe that too. We just have to be patient, then."


    **And we waited... And we could finally talk.


    **Although reluctant at first, believing it would hurt me, she told me about how she met Dad. She also told me about the day Marissa was born, and how much of a gorgeous baby she was. Finally, she apologized for not being able to bond with me sooner, and for insisting oning to the mall to look for that perfect party dress.


    ** "This is not your fault, Madelyn! You didn''t know this would happen. And if we couldn''t bond sooner, that''s on me! I''ve been nothing but a mean bitch to you from the very beginning, to be honest. So if someone deserves to be gone first before Dad arrives, it''s me! So tell him that I love him, and tell Marissa that I wish I''d have been a better sister."


    **Madelyn only replied with a short: "All right."


    **A couple of hourster, we heard those unnerving steps. Calcted, unrelenting, unhurried steps...


    **I quickly stood up, for I didn''t want to be dragged like the Kintech employee, and I was ready to go without cursing or pleading for mercy like the Politician.


    **Before the door opened, I could picture a silhouette already... Of the mall''s security guard... An automaton wearing a once blue uniform, now stained with countless blood stains.


    **And then I realized something... I wasn''t ready yet...


    **I-I wanted to stay in my imprisonment for another full


    day. Even though the hunger was eating my entrails, and even if the smell of human waste filled my lungs every second... I... I wanted to live!


    **I didn''t want to die...


    **I didn''t want to die...


    ** "I don''t want to die..."


    ** "It''s okay sweetheart," Madelyn whispered to me before dashing forward, tackling the automaton.


    ** "MADELYN!"


    **Even to this day I can remember what I felt: The urge to follow her. To confront our captors and end this together. But the humanoid shut the door in my face, and no matter how much I bang it and screamed, my time had been postponed thanks to her.


    **She did it for me... Even though we weren''t blood rted.


    **I don''t know how much time passed until the door was opened again. The light from the outside blinded me, and only after I heard a familiar voice, I stopped kicking and screaming at the people pulling me out of there.


    ** "Sister! You''re all right!" a girl said to my ear while embracing me tight. She smelled just like Madelyn.


    ** "Marissa..." My voice sounded weak due to theck of nutrients and sleep.


    **Although Dad couldn''t bring Caelum''s corporate army with him that day, he managed to track our location and face the danger with the help of neighbors and volunteers... Armed civilians that were also looking for their loved ones.


    **So... something about watching my sixteen-year-old sister wearing a bullet proof vest and carrying a rifle in her left arm, made me whimper. Loudly.


    ** "I''m so sorry, Marissa! I''m so sorry! I couldn''t do anything! I couldn''t--!"


    **Quelle barbe... Why do I always remember this every time deathes to pick me up? I''ll revive anyway. It doesn''t make sense.


    **Wait, no... Now that I think it through, this only happens when I really, really don''t want to die.


    **It doesn''t matter if it''s just a fake death.


    **Sometimes, the survival instinct just kicks in.


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    "I know this was ying dirty, princess, but I can''t fail this mission. Not this time," the woman named Scarlett said, letting Amelia''s bloodied body copse. "You know? It''s a relief finding people besides Astrid Bradford that can force me to break my limits."


    Despite her condition, Amelia reached out her hand to her. "A-are y-you—g-going—after—A-n?"


    "That''s right, kiddo. That man is cursed for knowing too much. me his bad luck. Serenity would like to capture you too, but I doubt you''llst long enough."


    With that said, Scarlett strolled towards the caves that would take her to the exit.


    +++Warning! Insufficient Mana to close your wound. ++++


    **He''s unfortunate? You could say so...**


    **The guy spent a lot of time working his ass off, while we were here, having a great life...**


    ++++++ Notice: By canceling your Fire Clone, you could recover the necessary Mana to heal yourself. ++++


    +++ Do you ept? - Yes / No ++++


    "Y-yes..."


    ++++ Fire Clone - Withdrawn. +++


    ++++Applying Auto Pyrokic Construction.++++


    **I can only imagine what motivated him to persevere...**


    **Was the hope of seeing his lover again what kept him sane?**


    "P-Party Chat," she ordered to her User Interface before crying out loud in pain as mes entered her opened chest and started auto-constructing fake flesh and organs.


    **Only for that bitch to let him go? Just like that?!**


    **If I was her, I''d have chained him so she could not leave my side ever again!**


    ++"Amelia, are you okay?!"++


    **There he goes again. His worried voice is kinda cute. **


    ++"What would you do if The Singr is really trapped inside a User''s body?"++


    **This is something a regr person should be able to answer easily if they care for the wellbeing of this spaceship and its mission... But you''re not a regr... Your reply it''s just in naive... And yet, it somehow makes me smile...**


    **For I really wish you seeing you seed and achieve a world where no one has to suffer ever again.**


    ++You''re out of Mana. ++


    ++"I''ve been saving a bottle of Briennes Rosé for a while, that I want to share with you."++


    ++"All right. Count me in."++


    ++"It''s a date, then..."++


    **I''ll help you, n Warden, even if this leads me to that dark room again. Because this time. I''m ready.**


    ++Super Mode requirements met. Would you like to-- ++


    She stood up, even though her body trembled.


    "Yes!"


    A fire whirl rose to the cave''s ceiling, getting Scarlett''s attention. "Is she still alive?" she murmured, looking back. "What''s your deal, Princess?! What could you possibly do in this situation?!"


    "Path of The Sage..." Amelia proimed, stepping forward while the orange mes embracing her changed to indigo. Her hair and eyes were now the shade of the aquamarine gemstone.


    ****"You''re amazing, Sis!" Marissa had said to her the first time Amelia showed her that form. "But it needs a name, doesn''t it? I Know! Although it''s kind of funny. You don''t have to use it if you don''t want to. How about--"***


    "Amelia Bluemme..." she announced. As she strolled forward in a trance-like state. The color of her red dress also changed, matching her new appearance.


    Her gaze looked lost in thought and her stance was full of openings, which Scarlett knew she could take advantage of.


    "Whatever you''re trying to do, you''re low of HP! One hit it''s all I need! Meteor--!" Scarlett leaped forward, shortening the distance in less than a couple of seconds, but something prevented her from casting the technique.


    The fire engulfing Scarlett''s knuckles exploded and turned into red metallic spikes, piercing her fist and carpal bones. And yet, despite the excruciating pain, she continued her attack, using her body as a missile.


    Hernding created a crater and shook the entire cavern, and yet, missed her target.


    "What''s going on, Princess?!" Scarlett yelled, finding Amelia standing nearby with an empty expression on her face. "Was this your magic?! You shouldn''t be able to control my own crafted fire!"


    Something blueish caught her attention out of the corner of Scarlett''s eye. The fire consuming Slime Vige had turned indigo and was advancing toward them.


    "I won''t let you!"


    Scarlett threw a punch, but Amelia''s passive Overshield came into y.


    "You missed yourst chance," Amelia finally spoke, looking at her with no discernible irises.


    The umted fire rained upon Scarlett, forcing her to kneel. Yet, she had the strength to sneer. "You know what''ll happen if you don''t eliminate me this time."


    "Didn''t you know?" Amelia said, showing no emotion in her voice. "Blue mes are hotter."