"What…is this place?" Acht muttered with a dazed look. His surroundings were all clad in darkness and filled with nothingness.
He was floating in a sea of emptiness, a place that he couldn't comprehend nor did he want to comprehend. Every fiber of his body was at the mercy of this domain where even his mind ceased to work.
Then, as he was floating there, trying to regain his vigor and move, a small ember of light shined not so far away from him. His surroundings made that ember of light even more strong and more pronounced than it actually was. Yet, this light kept getting closer and closer or to be more precise, increasing in size faster and faster.
His mind didn't try to question why this was here or why it was getting bigger and bigger by the second, it just made Acht believe that it was something good.
And indeed it was, as the moment the light became very strong, a warm feeling engulfed Acht's body filling his pores with a heavenly feeling that was so addictive to the point where it could make him want to stay there forever.
"Let…me rest…for longer…" He muttered under his breath with a blissful look that translated his feelings quite well.
Unfortunately, his wish was not fulfilled since a few moments later, the warm feeling disappeared and he was submerged in the cold darkness again. He frowned slightly with the small energy he could muster and tried to speak again. What ended up happening, however, is that his body started moving on its own as if it was getting pulled into the middle of this domain of nothingness.
Sadness crept into his heart like a torrent of water, destroying everything in its way and filling up every part of his heart to the brim.
The body kept moving and moving for seemingly an eternity.
Then, suddenly, he lost all feeling in this world and found himself eying a weird ceiling the next second.
His senses were still numb but they started to come back to normal gradually. The first thing he heard when his ears could work again was the ticking sound of a heart rate machine that was not that far away from him.
The other thing he felt the next moment was the warm blanket tucked under him that kept him comfortable. Then, he could finally look around and see where he was.
'Is…an ambulance?' He thought with some difficulty.
Then, he released himself from the mask of oxygen he was wearing and tried to wake up.
"You have finally woken up, young man." A voice suddenly spoke to him from a distance of a few meters.
He felt alert from this sudden call but he was still not in the shape to react properly so he just gazed at this newcomer with clear wariness.
"I had to wait for a few hours here. But, it's all worth it, isn't it?" He continued.
When Acht was able to clearly look at who seemed to be an old man, his eyes immediately widened with surprise. He knew that old man very well.
He was the same old man who he met a few months ago when he first came to this world. He recalls how absurdly strong he was and how he could easily appear behind Acht without the latter feeling anything at all.
"You…." Acht muttered with a husky voice.
"Hahaha! You have finally remembered me. I was scared that you might completely forget me. Anyway, nice to meet you. My name is Lenny." The man said as he tapped his cane on the ground.
"What's this place? Where-"
"Shhh." Lenny hushed him with his cane and gestured for him to listen quietly to the outside.
Acht didn't understand the purpose but he still did what he was told to.
Not that long after that, the sound of explosions of fire and swords clashing coupled with the shouts of people reached his ear.
He wanted to ask what was going on but the old man interrupted him again.
"You hear that? Those are my subordinates fighting outside."
"Subordinates?" Acht asked.
"Yeah, subordinates. I'm not as simple as you think. Now, listen closely again."
Acht listened again and he now could hear someone speaking. It wasn't clear to him who it was at first but he was able to recognize them immediately.
"Leislet?" He said.
"Let me get to the point quickly, Acht. I don't have much time and my subordinates don't seem to be enjoying pretending to fight for that long either. I am the leader of a quite famous group."
He then smiled slightly.
"It's called the Nightingale. Are you perhaps familiar with that name?"
His words were like a bombshell dropped on Acht. He didn't even know how to react for a split second before he immediately tried to pull out his sword.
His mind was in shambles as he thought a million thoughts at the same time.
'Nightingale reader? This old man?! But, he never appeared in the book? What's going on?'
His mind worked like a tireless machine trying to figure out the situation. However, all he was capable of doing was trying to defend himself until Leislet or anyone else came and helped him out. Or so he thought.
The man didn't allow him to continue his frantic movements.
"Wo Wo Wo! Calm down, young man. I am not here to fight. As I said when we first met, if I wanted to, I could've killed you at any moment whenever I wanted don't try to start a useless fight." He said.
"Then what do you want?" Acht asked coldly.
"It's simple. I want you to join Nightingale."
"Huh? Why would I do that?"
"Well, to be honest. You don't have a choice here. If I wanted to, I could've kidnapped you easily. But, I want you to go with me willingly."
Acht scoffed and responded.
"You think I will agree to join Nightingale?"
"As I said, you don't have a choice here…if you want your and the two women's well-being."
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