The Great Spirit explained to Rita and Lily what was happening. The truth about everything. Rita was still coping about it. She simply couldn't believe it. She needed more proof for it.
"You couldn't log off before, don't you remember when we all tried to log off?" I asked her. "Also… Mark…"
"Mark? What's wrong with Mark?" Rita asked. "Is he… Oh wait, he's…"
"Yeah, he's Titan." I sighed. "But that doesn't matter now! The Demon King has the power to pierce the soul and kill us even if we are Players, he almost destroyed Mark's soul completely. I had to cut down my own soul and add it to his so he could recover, but even now, the body that has remained from him is… this."
I showed everyone the seed I've been carrying for a while now. It had the size of an almond seed and was slightly green on top and white below. It emanated a faint, magical presence. But Mark's soul was completely… asleep.
"Is he Titan? What has happened to him?"
Suddenly, we heard Acorn's voice.
"Acorn! Yeah, he's… hey you're awake?!"
"Ah! Y-Yeah… My body hurts all over though."
Acorn seemed to be alright, but his entire body hurt.
"I am also awake, is there anything I can help?" Nieve wondered.
"Sister! You're okay?" Florie flew towards Nieve.
"Yeah, despite having felt like the connection with me and the tree of beginnings was cut, I feel completely alright, you too, Florie?" Asked Nieve.
"I don't know why, but yeah." Florie said. "I think its because of the Player Title? I got it as a reward some time ago… when we defeated Jeremias."
"Eh? So you got rewards?" I wondered.
"I did, but it was just that. I heard the voice of someone telling me to use it well… And it also said I had… some sort of power within me?" Wondered Florie. "Something special."
"Anyways!" Rita quickly interrupted. "I'm… going to log off for now, I've had enough of this craziness. Elayne I never took you for someone that was so immersed into games you would begin thinking this is all real!"
"Rita stop! Please wait! Help us!" I cried.
"Help you? But this is a game…" She sighed. "Come on, let's log off for now, we can let things cool down for a bit. Also I bet Mark's alright, that should be some sort of… game debuff or whatever."
"Rita I cut down my soul, it hurt so much! It was real, I gave it to him and saved his life!" I complained to her, but she seemed adamant.
I guess I can't help it…
"Okay I'm going to just… Huh? I can't log off?! Come on you stupid machine!"
Rita tried to log off but couldn't.
Wait, then why can I and she can't?
So she's still being affected by the Demon King somehow, and I am the only one that can freely move?
Something… seems odd.
"What do you mean my soul's stuck and there's a dark force interrupting it?" Rita cried angrily, kneeling in the floor. She was obviously complaining about the system windows showing up that said all those weird things.
"Rita I told you… this is weird I know, but its all real. I am sure you saw my fight too; you were paralyzed in there but you saw all the strange things happening. The Demon king knows about our world as well, why would game characters know about our world to begin with?" I asked her.
"I… I've been trying to find a reason to deny this…" She sighed.
Ah, so she actually saw everything… I guess she was in denial like me.
"But… is this real? Really? this whole world… these people all dying… this forest?" Rita suddenly broke.
"Y-Yeah…" I sighed, hugging her back. "Calm down… I won't ask you to do anything risky if you don't want to. I'll handle things on my own."
"What? But… what if they do something like what happened to Mark?!" Rita asked. "I don't want to lose you… not you!"
"Rita… I… I just can't turn my back to these people. I just can't… give up yet, right? You've taught me that several times. You were always there for me in my hardest moments as well." I said, caressing her face. "You always told me to keep standing up no matter how much life throws me into the floor… that you'll always be there to lend me a hand too."
Rita's eyes continued flowing with tears, as they shone brightly.
"You dummy, using what I said to inspire me now… Ugh, fine!"
Rita quickly cleansed her tears with her arm and nodded.
A dark aura emerged from within her body, as a sphere began absorbing the nearby miasma.
Combined with my own Terrain expansion and cleansing, the two abilities suddenly began working on tandem, a synergy!
"I'll absorb this malice, all of it! And you clean the rest…" She said with a smile. "Fuck it, let's do this. I can't let my little Elayne go off alone into the tiger's den."
"Rita!" I felt happy. With her, I always feel like I can do anything.
"I am also helping." Lily quickly said behind us. "I've only come here for a day but… this feels like a life-changing event. My whole life has always been so dull, I've always had so many regrets. Secretly, I often hoped I could one day get spirited away to the fantasy worlds I liked reading when I was a little girl. I love this world already. And if its real… then even more! I'll help too, Elayne, I owe you a lot as well."
"Lily! Thanks…" I hugged her again. "Huh? You feel slightly different."
Lily had grown around a centimeter taller, not really much. But she also had stronger muscles in her arms, and legs. Her chest grew slightly bigger too for some reason. But the thing that I noticed was the golden, brown-colored crystal growing from her forehead. It was a horn!
"I think I evolved when I passed out… Anyways, let's get going for now. We only have as much as an hour, right?"
"Yeah, let's go girls!" Rita said, her sphere of Malice growing larger.
