World of Women - World of Women – V4 – Chapter 36

“Madison. Rosey!”

Once the island started moving, there was no hiding what we were going to do. Roxanne and Hannah came up with the idea of using the island’s loudspeaker system to make an island-wide announcement. Such a system had been built to make announcements to the male district when the occasion arose. Roxanne knew where a nearby terminal was and had access to it. As a result, an announcement reached every ear present.

The announcement started with the recording of what the prime minister had said that I had also recorded. I then proceeded to explain that we were dragging this island out of Amaryllis territory. I stated anyone who wanted to leave was welcome to leave, but we were seceding from the country, and any man who didn’t want to end up in a milk farm, this was their chance to get out. After that, Roxanne got on and delivered orders to her troops. She didn’t ask them to join her.

She gave a final order to withdraw from the island. Anyone who stayed and joined her would be a traitor to the country. I had been hoping that she’d have tried to convince the police force to protect the men, but she refused to do such a thing. Hannah then gave a meeting point, a highly defensible area that the airships couldn’t reach easily. Naturally, I also informed her about the airships, and those loyal to Hannah had already taken them over, as well as sent people to gather up the men from earlier and bring them to a safer location.

Thus, only thirty minutes later, our group had met at the rendezvous. There, I saw not only the largest gathering of men I had ever seen on Amaryllis but also a large chunk of the police force. Despite Roxanne’s protests, a large portion of women had ripped off their badges and came to stand by Roxanne’s side. They had been tasked with protecting the men, and now that they knew which side was trying to protect them, they were even willing to betray their captains. Just as I had predicted, many of the leaders were WRA. Mutinies had been carried out in a dozen different places.

Remarkably, such an event occurred on one of the airships too, which had joined with the one I had taken. The pair now flew defensively above us, keeping any other ships from coming near us.

It was then that I found a small party cautiously approaching the rendezvous area and I called to them. Although Lilith was leading them, it was my sister and aunt whom I noticed first. I hadn’t seen them before, and I wasn’t sure if they had gotten away from Amaryllis. If the government did capture them and used them to threaten me, I wasn’t sure what I would have done. However, it seemed like Lilith had succeeded in getting my family and bringing them here.

“The children?” I asked worriedly.

“We weren’t sure if this area would be safe, so the rest are waiting back with them,” Madison explained.

“Get them. We’ll put them somewhere safe.” I immediately declared while hugging the two women.

I turned to Hannah, but she was busy giving out orders and didn’t seem concerned her sister came. I felt slightly annoyed. I wanted her to be happy her family was safe too, but it had always been clear the only one Hannah seemed to focus on was me. Rosy went back, and soon Mia, Brooke, and the children were returning as well.

I knew that I had other work that needed to be done, but the joy of reuniting with my family had temporarily left me reluctant to leave. Once the island started moving and Roxanne gave the retreat order, the enemy had fled the island, creating a lull period. We had already left the sky above the city of Amaryllis, and we were starting to enter an area of farmland. The movement was slow, but we were steadily picking up speed.

It was too much to hope that the government would just let us leave though. They were likely coming up with an offensive at the moment. This was merely the calm before the storm. That was why I didn’t bother Hannah. I knew how busy she must have been. Women were coming and leaving just as quickly. Several men, especially those who knew how to handle a weapon, also insisted on participating.

At first, the women tried to shove every man below to protect them. However, the men refused. They insisted they could fight as well. There were vehement that this was their fight. I didn’t even need to step in or say anything. I could see the fervent desire to prove themselves in every man’s eye. Thus, the men were integrated into the groups as well. A man was grouped into every group of women, so if he struggled, they could compensate for his weaknesses, and if trouble arose, they’d be able to sacrifice themselves so that he had a chance at escape. It was the best compromise the groups could come up with.

As a result, it was only the old, feeble, and the unable to fight that were sheltered below in the underground tunnels. That would include my children, Nada, and the other servants who weren’t ready to flee.

I was still smiling and chatting with my family when my hands covered my eyes. “Guess who?”

“Are you done acting now?” I asked, pulling off her hands and looking back at Lyra.

She flushed. “That… I am sorry about before. I brought a gift, so I hope you can forgive me for trying to trick you.”

She gestured, and I let out a cry as I saw a woman approaching me. “Mako!”

She had an arm sling on and was using a cane, but she was the same beautiful, olive-skinned beauty she always was. I should have realized she was close through the Lilith contract that bonded us, but I had been focused on so many other things I hadn’t even noticed. I walked over and hugged her as well. Everyone was finally back together and safe. I had been so scared that I’d lose someone, but all of the girls had made it.

Madison was lamenting that her internet career was over. As a public traitor, how could she continue to blog about babies anymore? I told her that she could become the voice of the men, telling women what a society of equals was truly like. She had grown thoughtful about that. Lilith ahas pulled away, taking Mia with her, to help cast defensive spells in preparation for the attack.

“We’ve brought everyone from the mansion, however, Kemala was gone,” Madison explained worriedly.

“Don’t worry about her,” I responded. “She can take care of herself.”

The girls looked at each other, but I didn’t say any more. Kemala had her job to worry about. I wasn’t worried. There was someone I was concerned about though.

“What about Mother?” I finally asked the question that had been burning in my mind.

If she was still in the Amaryllis prison, I didn’t know what I would do. The girls glanced at each other, but no one offered up any information. No one knew where she went. I let out a sigh.

Madison hesitantly put an arm on my shoulder. “She’ll turn up. Mother is… too stubborn to be hurt.”

Both Madison and Hannah had somewhat strained relationships when it came to our Mother, so that was the closest she’d ever get to expressing her worry. I still appreciated it, patting her shoulder.

“Clyburn, we need to get moving.” It was Cornelia who spoke up.

She had kept her distance while I was reuniting with my family, but she had finally spoken now that it seemed like I had a chance to at least hug and kiss everyone. She had a serious expression on her face. Her focus that had once gone into her job as an agent seemed to have become directed at what was happening now. Since her entire worldview had been flipped on its head, she decided to dedicate herself to this cause, it seemed.

“You’re coming with me?” I asked.

“Did you think I’d let you go alone?”

“You’re going somewhere?” Mako asked with a frown. “You’ve already done enough. You should just let someone else do it.”

Madison and Lyra nodded, fully agreeing with her. They had all thought I had been lost too many times. Now that we were all together again, they didn’t want me to leave. However, Cornelia was right. I had to go. I was the only one other than Lilith who would know what to do with the summoning circle. Lilith’s strong magic was far too useful on the surface for protecting the island, so that left me.

“I need to go…” I responded defiantly.

“You might need to go, but you’re not going alone.” A voice cut in as a woman approached us.

Cornelia glanced at her and bit her lip and didn’t say anything else. I glanced at Roxanne as she approached me. I had asked Cornelia earlier if we could trust Roxanne now that she had flipped sides. She said that she would trust Roxanne with her life. I may not have had trust in Roxanne, but I did have trust in Cornelia, thus I had told everyone to treat her as one of us. There was a chance someone might betray us in the middle of the battle, but we weren’t in a situation where we could refuse help. Since I had decided to trust Roxanne, I had to give her my full trust.

However, bringing her along with us did still caused me to hesitate. Roxanne sensed this and walked up to me, straightening.

“I may not have always seen eye to eye with you, Clyburn, but I have always struggled to keep you and every other man safe. I’m not sure how much I believe all of this supernatural crap, but if Cornelia believes there is a threat, then I’m willing to listen. The worst-case scenario is that we get down there and find nothing. So, let’s find out if there is a threat, and then decide what to do about it. You’ll want a small armed team, and that’s what I’m giving you.”

I had always been used to venturing off on my own, fighting my own battles, and nearly dying in the process. However, this wasn’t like those times. There were armed women with experience. Even though I didn’t know what to expect, they should be trained to handle stuff. I gave a nod and held up three fingers.

“Cornelia, me, and three of you.” I declared.

I wasn’t going to bring more. This was going to be a small, strategic team. Besides, she said it herself. There might be nothing. We couldn’t afford to pull too many people off the front lines.

Roxanne immediately picked out two trustworthy women and then went to Grace. “We’ll be going. Keep the girls topside focused.”

Grace saluted. “Y-yes ma’am!”

She winked at me one last time before turning away and focusing on her orders. With that, I also said goodbye to my girls, and the five of us left. Cornelia came because I wasn’t sure I could get her to leave if I wanted to. She had stuck to me like glue since this entire thing had begun. We had come this far. It was just a little longer than we had to go. Three women with guns and swords, me, and Cornelia. It should be enough. Whether we ran into a cultist or a demon, it should be enough. I was still hoping we ran into nothing. Hannah’s act of launching the island may have completely interrupted the entire ceremony.

We entered the underground tunnels. The area that most of the people were staying was in the front portion of the island, or at least what I had designated as the front. This area had a lot of well-lit hallways and was mostly complete. The area we were heading to was more toward the center. The lights were on red emergency settings. There were various cave-ins and overall, it had a feeling of not being complete. This must have been the part that had still been being worked on before the project was abandoned.

The worrisome part of that was this was also the portion that contained the engines. If the engines weren’t finished or tested, just how long would they keep this island afloat. I’m sure Amaryllis could justify taking us down to the rest of the country just by saying we were a fall risk. If we fell, not only would all of the men die, but the damage to Amaryllis could be catastrophic.

It was the control room that we were heading to, which was honestly an area Hannah should have secured earlier. I think the only reason she didn’t claim it was because of trauma from the last time she ended up in the control room. Furthermore, she hadn’t known at the time the extent of the corruption. It was a lot to swallow that the government was intending a mass slaughter. According to her, she thought that they were going after the men, and were going to use the prisoners as a scapegoat. She had never imagined they planned to sacrifice the prisoners to turn the men into demons.

The other reason I suspected the control room was the area we needed to go to was that it was the center of the island, and would almost certainly be the focal point of whatever massive circle was being carried out. As we grew closer, the hair on my arms began to stiffen.

“Damn,” I muttered under my breath.

“What is it?” Roxanne asked.

“I feel mana being used. A lot of it. I hate it when I’m right.”

“It could just be the engine leaking mana or something.” Roxanne declared.

I gave her a dubious look. I would know the difference between mana being cast and an energy link. I had been in the control room of one of these islands before. However, I didn’t say anything. Instead, we quickened our pace. Roxanne and one of the other girls took the lead, while the third girl stayed back. We finally reached the control room. As soon as we stepped into it, I could smell sulfur and blood. This was a bad combination, and it reminded me of the Day of Wrath.

Roxanne didn’t stop walking. With her gun up, she immediately began to look over the room. It was shockingly empty. She gestured to the other two girls, who went to secure the other entrance. As Roxanne went to check behind the control panel, I began to hear something dripping. Suddenly having a bad feeling, I spun around to see someone pressed up against the wall near the entrance we had just come in from.

They weren’t just up against the wall. They were mounted to it. Long spikes had been hammed through their hands and feet. They were crucified. Below them was a basin of blood. All the blood that leaked from them was redirected down into that basin. It was then I noticed the basin fed into something under the walkway. That something was capillaries, stretched out across the island. That was how the circle was done. There was a thin tube-shaped capillary in the shape of a rune and then filled with blood. Who’s blood? It would have been the blood from the sacrifices.

Yet, there weren’t any sacrifices. There was only one. I looked up to the person on the wall, this time seeing their face. With the hair across her face, I hadn’t noticed originally. I let out a cry of shock.

“Becky!”

Rebecca, the demon, was strapped to the wall and being bled dry. This left me extremely confused. Wasn’t Rebecca the one running this circle? Wasn’t she trying to bring about the demons? Why would she be the one being bled?

Speaking her name seemed to be enough to spurn Rebecca back to consciousness. Her eyes opened, and when she saw me, she let out a chuckle. Roxanne returned, holding her gun up, but she was just as stunned as everyone else.

“What in the world?”

“Clyburn… it seems we’re destined to keep meeting.”

“What are you doing?” I asked, but before she could answer I started thinking about it. “Wait… the sacrifice…”

“To summon demons, one needs a bunch of demon blood,” Rebecca explained hoarsely. “You’d normally do that by killing a lot of humans, extracting that drop of blood from them.”

Calling it demon blood was a bit confusing. Whatever it was, spirit, mana, magic, essence… it was what a demon needed to remain in this world, and in general, it seemed attached to our blood. Men were the ones who carried the demon blood in amounts needed to become possessed. Women also carried it, but it always ended up more concentrated in men. However, a woman could have enough to be possessed. Rebecca was an example of such a woman.

To summon demons that last time, Diba Monic had sacrificed countless women, extracting their blood and taking the little bit of demon blood to get enough for the ceremony. Of course, Diba Monic had believed it required virgin blood and hadn’t been certain about the exact requirements. I had the feeling the government wasn’t so clumsy.

Once a demon managed to possess a host, a lot of its strength was dependent on how much demon blood the host had. A drop might be enough to possess someone, but the more demonic the body was, the stronger they became. It was likely Rebecca had been growing stronger by extracting demon blood. The person she had been eating when I last found her was likely being used for exactly that purpose. So, what did that mean?

It meant that the person with the absolute most demon blood in them was Rebecca! The government must have realized this, and when everything else failed, they must have decided to sacrifice her in the hopes that she alone would be enough to activate the demon circle. Of course, Rebecca herself would never have agreed to this. It was a catch twenty-two since demons were selfish and would never sacrifice themselves, even to bring more demons.

It was a complicated interplay between the government and Rebecca, and the group of us had stumbled right into it. Thankfully, it seemed like Rebecca had nearly been bled out, and she didn’t have enough demon blood in the end to initiate the ceremony. It was close though. If we arrived another hour later, Rebecca would be dead, and they might have succeeded. At least, I could sense it ebbing and waning, the portal wanting to open.

I took a knife from Roxanne’s utility belt, walked up to Rebecca, and then cut my palm. I squeezed my hand, and blood dripped down into the basin below. My blood destroyed demonic blood. With my blood polluting the circle, there was no longer any way this thing could be cast. I was the one thing the government hadn’t accounted for.

Watching the blood drip down into the formation, negating everything, Rebecca let out a harsh laugh. After I was sure I had contaminated the well enough, I turned back to the others.

“It’s done. We’re safe.” As I said that, the entire island shuttered, and I could hear what sounded like a distant explosion.

“It looks like the attack has begun,” Roxanne said thoughtfully.

“Is it really done?” Cornelia asked cautiously.

“My blood mixed into it will make it impossible for that portal to open.”

“The only question is, even if they were able to get enough, who was going to activate it? It should have needed a final sacrifice, right?” Cornelia asked, and when we both looked at her, she blushed. “I had used some of my government power to at least understand what they were trying to do that day.”

That was right. Back then, it had been Lyra that she tried to sacrifice that ended up opening the portal. Did they just think when Rebecca died, it’d open? There was ultimately still a lot I didn’t understand about this summoning. If it was easy to do, it wouldn’t have failed so many times in the past. All we truly knew is that it involved a lot of death and blood.

“What do we do about her?” Cornelia asked, nodding to Rebecca who was still giggling to herself in a half craze.

The battle above was steadily growing more intense, as the island was continually shaking now, even in the depths of the island where we were protected.

“We’ll cut her down and tie her up.” I declared.

I remember what Ashton had told me. I didn’t know if she was on the island either. Supposedly, she was with her mother right now. However, she had said that if I impregnated Rebecca, her demonic side would be destroyed, and slowly her mind would return. This would probably be my best chance, but did I want to do such a thing with a half-dead demon?

“Ah… it’s too late.” Rebecca sighed.

“Hmm?”

Bang! I jerked at the sudden sound, spinning around to look for the source. That’s when my eyes landed on Cornelia. Blood started to fall from her mouth, and a wound started to appear in her abdomen, forming out in a blood circle. She had just been shot. I reached out as she fell, catching her and guiding her to the ground. I immediately looked up to see Roxanne standing there, but she didn’t say anything. A moment later, she collapsed as well.

Another uniformed woman stepped forward from behind Roxanne. She had a gun in one hand, and a syringe in the other. She dropped the syringe and then smiled at me.

“To answer your question, you all will be my final sacrifice.”

It was Grace standing there, a pleased smile on her face. Was there another demon besides Rebecca?