Chapter 286 It's time for a forced checkmate?
White Dragon Labyrinth Exploration Arc.
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(POV: Akashic Records)
Ravenna nodded solemnly.
Complete confirmation that the young girl before them was indeed her.
Lumiere, baffled by her earlier silence, couldn't help but question her motives.
"Why didn't you just tell us who you were from the start?" he asked.
He was frustrated.
It felt like they'd been going in a maze so far, if she'd said so from the beginning, there were chances they'd have found a better way to approach it.
However, even in his frustration, he felt sympathy for her.
She wiped out her own village against her best wishes.
Ravenna's response heavily leaned on bitterness.
"Would it have made a difference?" she retorted.
Her eyes were fixed on the devastated girl in front of them.
Lumiere, at a loss for words, turned his gaze back to the child.
It made sense to him now why this place felt familiar, it was somewhere in the Cross Kingdom. One of the smaller villages that experienced something now known as the "Period of Blank Death".
A historic recording that occurred nearly 300 years ago.
About a village that had everything and everyone within it completely shriveled to dust and reduced to rotten mounds of flesh.
No one knew the cause of the death.
Because of this, it was referred to as the— "Period of Blank Death".
There was a public holiday to honor them.
However, Lumiere never partook in it, but now... maybe he had a reason to.
As if overwhelmed by the weight of her grief, the little girl sank to the ground, her legs drawn together and her chin resting on her knees. She wrapped her arms tightly around her legs and unleashed a torrent of tears.
"I'm so scared."
The girl sobbed.
"Mommy, daddy, brother... they're all... they're all gone..."
The magnitude of her loss intensified her cries, her voice breaking with each syllable.
There was nothing Lumiere could say.
Nothing.
It didn't matter how much power you had— if it was beyond your power, then so be it.
And yet...
In the midst of her tears, the girl's attention was drawn towards a figure approaching.
A man dressed in a black suit adorned with a flowing black overcoat, a top hat perched elegantly on his head, and a walking stick embellished with a skull-shaped handle.
The scene was desolate.
However, the air he gave off... elegant.
Crouching near the trembling child, the man asked, "How're you doing... little girl?"
His crimson eyes met her black eyes.
Through tear-stained eyes, she managed to speak.
"My parents... brother... everyone... they're gone, all of them..."
Her voice choked with sorrow.
Her words were punctuated with hiccups, making her speech nearly inaudible.
The adjusted the monocle adorning his right eye, a thoughtful expression flickering across his face.
"Hmmm."
A small, smooth and gentle chuckle followed.
Placing his gloved right hand gently on her head, he offered a semblance of solace.
"Crying won't solve anything, my dear," he murmured.
Though her tears continued to flow, their volume diminished slightly at his words.
"And besides, little girl, you're not alone... I'm here with you... I'll be your friend..."
He tilted his head and smiled.
"W... Who are... you...?" she asked.
The man tapped a finger on his chin. "I guess you could say I'm just like you."
"Just... Like me?"
"Yes, we're called Curse Kings..."
"Curse... King..."
"Indeed, and my name is Balrog.."
"Bal... Rog..."
He extended his hand to her, offering a handshake.
Slowly, she took his offer.
"I hope we can be friends." His eyes gently closed and he smiled.
The girl gently nodded. "O... Okay..."
It looked like the perfect ending.
However, to Lumiere it was just a reminder of who caused the grygans' downfall.
He completely despised Balrog for what he did.
And yet, Lumiere still knew there was no use addressing the matter.
Balrog was all ready dead — killed by Rivka, the Ancestral Binder.
The scene before him seemed to dissolve into thin air, and he found himself back in the dimly lit tunnels of the labyrinth alongside Ravenna.
Ravenna let out a heavy sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping as the weight of their previous encounter lifted from her.
All the pure emotions of sadness she showed just vanished.
Almost like it wasn't her who suffered the pains of such a loss some centuries ago.
It was possible she was trying to act in this manner to crumble the worth of that scene.
The scene that decided a good portion of her life.
Lumiere turned to her. "Are you... Alright?"
She nodded slowly, a small smile playing on her lips. "Yes," she replied, sounding more like her normal self. "I'm pretty alright."
"Hm, well that's a positive answer."
"Why not?" she dressed her hair.
"So," Lumiere took a quick glance at his surroundings. "Where do we go from here?"
She smiled at him. Then, she placed an index finger on her bottom lip in contemplation. "I'm not entirely sure," she admitted. "But I believe we should keep moving forward."
"Hah~ it's always forward..."
After a nod, he pushed onward.
However, unbeknownst to Ravenna, he held his right hand out, a small, black, viscous substance swirling in the center of his palm. The matter moved in a circular motion, like a whirlpool of darkness, as Lumiere focused intently on it.
His concentration never wavered, even as they navigated the labyrinth.
Suddenly, Ravenna's voice broke through the silence.
"You've been doing that for quite some time," she observed. "What exactly are you trying to achieve?"
His eyes closed halfway. "Nothing, really," he replied nonchalantly. "I'm just bored, and this helps me pass the time."
A sneaky smile appeared on Ravenna?s face.
"Oh, so you weren't bored when you were checking out my panties?"
A sheepish look appeared on his face.
"You... you caught me," he admitted.
Ravenna chuckled softly. She closed her eyes, basking in her advantage over him.
She wanted to play it off.
"Of course, with the way you were ogling them, who wouldn't...?"
"Hey! I didn't ogle anything," his voice dropped in volume. "I just took a... moderate look..."
"Moderate, sure."
Gently, Lumiere combed his hair with his fingers. "Jeez, you don't have to make a big deal about it."
Ravenna's smile widened, and she gently laid a hand on Lumiere's arm.
"It may not seem like a big deal to you, Lumiere, but it really means a lot to me," she said.
Lumiere's face softened. "I should've known," he murmured a tad sarcastically.
Ravenna chuckled softly, her voice teasing.
"Well, I'm happy that at least one boy has had the chance to sneak a peek," she confessed playfully. "It's one of those things a girl should experience in her life, right?"
Lumiere's eyes widened, and he stumbled over his words.
"Eh, not really..." he hesitated, unsure of how to respond.
Ravenna's smile didn't waver, and she leaned closer to Lumiere.
"Either way, it was a special moment for me," she said.
She then placed her hands on her chest, her smile turning fond.
Lumiere's heart skipped a beat at her proximity, feeling a warmth spread through him.
"She's actually kinda..."
...
Laura observed their conversation from within the orb, her expression unreadable.
She sighed softly. "Aaron," she called out.
"Yes, milady?"
Laura cast her gaze towards the chessboard labyrinth, her fingers tracing the delicate curves of a knight piece.
"It seems our plans have hit a bit of a snag," Laura admitted. "I didn't expect that trifect to be able to bypass my antimagic barrier."
Aaron nodded, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Well, she's a goddess," she mused.
Laura tapped the knight piece against her bottom lip, lost in thought.
"I suppose it's time for a forced checkmate..."
Aaron's voice broke the silence. "What are your commands, milady?"
Laura's face remained serious. Slowly, she slammed the knight piece next to the king and queen pieces on the board.
"Incapacitate them."
Aaron's nod was firm, the sharp sound of her gleaming sword unsheathing filled the air.
"Excellent..."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l