Scumbag Fate System-Chapter 50: Find Her

Sirin spoke quickly. "I think Yor must have left after waking up and finding out what happened in the mall with all those students."

Everyone’s expressions turned grim.

Alice stepped forward with her hands clenched. "But Doctor Adam said he didn’t tell her anything about the incident. So how did she find out?"

"Maybe she overheard it from a staff member talking in the hallway." Rika suggested.

Reinhard frowned slightly.

If that was true...

Then Yor already knew how many students had collapsed.

"Or maybe she sneaked out of the medical wing to find out what happened on her own." Sirin furrowed her brows and said.

Silence descended on the group like a heavy blanket.

They processed this before Rika’s voice rose in panic. "Then what should we do? The trial is today!"

"Of course, we need to find her," Reinhard said firmly. "Is there a way to track where she went?"

The three of them paused while thinking before Sirin snapped her fingers with sudden realization. "Louis should be able to help us! His Sigil ability can track things."

Rika blinked in surprise. "He’s back from the tournament already?"

Sirin nodded. "He said he was going to come to the club later because he had to drop some things off at the Engineering Department first."

Reinhard held his chin. "Since he can help track Yor. Then, Sirin should stay here and help with the trial. While the rest of us will go after her."

Sirin’s brows furrowed while she turned to face him. "Are you sure? I could be more useful coming with—" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Reinhard shook his head. "You’ve been helping the professors the most, and you know their entire plan for the trial today. It’s best if you stay and continue supporting them since you understand all the details."

Sirin fell silent while clearly wanting to argue, but seeing the logic, she finally sighed and nodded her head. "Be careful then. And bring her back safely."

They said quick goodbyes before rushing off to find Louis while their footsteps echoed through the empty morning hallways. They spotted him walking on the main pathway toward the club building. Louis was a man with brown curly hair that bounced with each step and hazel eyes that brightened when he saw them approaching.

"Morning, everyone!" Louis called out cheerfully.

Alice smiled, but it was strained while she quickly made introductions. "Louis, this is Reinhard. Reinhard, Louis. We don’t have time for proper greetings because Yor’s missing and the trial is in less than two hours."

Louis’s eyes widened while his cheerful expression vanished and was replaced by concern. "Missing? What happened?"

Alice explained the situation rapidly, with words tumbling over each other, and Louis listened with growing alarm before nodding decisively. "I can track her. My Sigil is called Link, and it lets me see the connections between objects and people."

"How does that help us find Yor?" Rika asked.

"My ability becomes much stronger if there’s a personal connection between me and the object," Louis explained while gesturing with his hands. "Based on me upgrading it or holding it for extended periods like two months or more."

Rika’s eyes widened with realization. "Didn’t you have Yor’s weapon for a full month when you were modifying it?"

Louis grinned, and the expression was confident. "Correct! I kept her sword for a while to add some improvements. Because of that, I can see the link that connects to her weapon no matter where it is."

Alice perked up immediately. "Then we know where she is right now?"

"I can feel the connection, and wow, it’s really far away." Louis said while his eyes unfocused slightly. "She must have left hours ago to get that far."

Which meant something worse.

Yor had already decided where she was going. Reinhard shivers in dread for some reason, he really hopes it wasn’t anything bad.

"Distance doesn’t matter." Reinhard clenched his fist. "We’re bringing her back. No matter where she ran."

Louis blinked before smiling while Alice nodded and said with a grin. "Since we know where she is, we can go get her and bring her back."

Everyone nodded and ran to the Engineering Department’s armory. Reinhard took a pair of modified gauntlets and a plain sword. Rika grabbed her purple bow and arrows. Alice hefted her bronze sledgehammer with ease. Louis chose a spear with strange circular devices built into its shaft.

At the academy gates, Louis pointed to his waiting carriage. Magic crystals studded its sides, and odd metal contraptions were fixed to the back wheels.

"Turbo upgrades," Louis said, climbing into the driver’s seat. "Three times faster than normal with fire propelling you!"

They jumped in.

The carriage shot forward, pushing them back against their seats. Outside, buildings and trees became streaks of color. Louis drove with half-closed eyes, following a path only he could see.

Louis suddenly frowned after a bit.

"That’s strange..."

"What?" Alice asked.

"The link just... moved."

Everyone’s expressions changed and Reinhard quickly asked. "Is she moving?"

"Maybe..."

"Louis!"

"I know!" Louis fully unleashed the turbo, pushing the carriage to even faster.

After thirty minutes of racing through open countryside. The ruins of Noctyne rose on the horizon. Reinhard, Alice, and Rika gasped.

The ruins had transformed since their last visit.

The once-sprawling structure had folded in on itself like a giant seashell. The previously wide-open Silent gate was now sealed by layers of black stone. Beyond it, buildings warped and twisted as if being sucked toward the center, reality itself bending inward to a single point.

"This isn’t normal," Rika muttered while her face went pale. "Could we be inside a fully manifested Void Distortion?"

"Most likely." Louis said in surprise while grabbing his spear.

"It doesn’t matter." Alice said while hefting her hammer. "We need to get through it to reach Yor."

"Since we are inside one," Reinhard said while drawing his sword. "What will we most likely encounter?"

"Fiends will be the biggest obstacles," Louis replied while his spear’s mechanisms clicked as he adjusted them. "And the weird environment itself will be the next problem since spatial distortions can trap or disorient us."

Alice added while her expression was serious. "Don’t forget that we can’t stay here too long or our willpower will be completely drained. Void Distortions eat away at mental energy."

He opened up the status screen.

[Reinhard Malvin]

[Gender: Male]

[Rank: Initiate]

[Sigil: (Precognition), (Spatial Lord)]

[Stats:

Strength: Very High

Defense: Average

Stamina: Very High

Agility: High

Magic Reserve: Extremely High

Magic Potency: Extremely High]

They aren’t bad and should be enough.

Nodding to himself, Reinhard took the first step towards the gate with the others following. Alice moved past them as her magic flared bright bronze around her. She swung her sledgehammer with both hands while her Crush ability activated.

The force of the blow shattered the compressed stone like breaking glass. Fragments exploded outward before dissolving into black mist, while an opening appeared large enough for them to pass through.

Inside the ruins, everything was wrong.

The sky above showed dusk instead of morning, while objects and rubble floated upward, defying gravity. Black stone structures lined twisted streets while veined with faint blue light that pulsed like a heartbeat. Broken towers hung frozen mid-collapse at impossible angles while symbols embedded in walls glowed like fresh scars.

Buildings curved inward toward a central point. Everyone frowned at this sight, but they pushed on as their desire to find Yor outweighed anything.

The Hollow Streets stretched ahead while tilting upward into the darkening sky. And soon figures emerged from between buildings.

Void Echoes.

Purplish-black humanoid shadows that moved with jerky, unnatural motions, while their forms were barely solid enough to be seen. They carried weapons made of the same shadow material, and their mouths moved with whispered phrases.

"It’s easier this way."

"Don’t want to."

"It’s easier this way."

More appeared, leading to dozens of them surrounding the group while raising shadow blades, spears, and clubs.

"Here they come!" Rika shouted while her eyes glowed purple with precognition. "The left side strikes first! Three seconds!"

Alice moved immediately when the Echoes rushed forward. She met them with a devastating swing of her hammer. Her Crush ability activated on impact, while the force didn’t just hit the shadows. But obliterated them completely through overwhelming magical superiority.

Reinhard appeared beside her, his sword cutting through the shadow front. The Echoes swung their weapons, but he dodged while staying just ahead of their strikes. Before slashing and chopping out, splitting them into pieces.

Louis spun his spear while the circular mechanism clicked, and fire crystals embedded in the shaft flared bright. He thrust forward while flames erupted from the spear tip and burned through multiple Echoes in a straight line. He rotated the mechanism again while the fire faded and wind crystals activated. And his next strike became a piercing thrust that moved faster than the eye could follow.

Rika stayed back while her bow sang with each release and her purple-glowing arrows found weak points in the shadow forms. "Behind you!" She called to Reinhard while releasing another arrow. "Two more coming from the right in five seconds!"

He turned when the Echoes appeared exactly where and when she’d predicted.

The battle was brief but intense while shadow weapons clanged against real steel and magic flared in bursts of color. The Echoes tried to use numbers to overwhelm them, but coordination and superior skill won out.

The last Echo fell while its form dissolved and its final words echoed. "It’s easier... this way..."

"Is everyone-"

Rika suddenly froze. "Wait..."

She slowly turned toward the deeper ruins. "Why are they all facing the same direction?"

Reinhard and the others saw the buildings were pointing straight forward. As if it was inviting them further inside, which only made them grimace.

"Is Yor still in here?"

"Yes... And she has stopped moving. But she is deeper inside."

"Then deeper we go. We are finding our friend, no matter what." Reinhard said with his eyes narrowed.