Chapter 122: Concern, Sorrow, and Regret
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In a large medieval Japanese-styled palace, a beautiful woman sat down, surrounded by several old men kneeling around her in reverence.
Her Aura exuded an air of divinity and brightness, comparable to that of the sun itself, if she stayed still, she would look more like a majestic statue, yet she was a person.
Although someone with Divine Power was not a normal person at all.
"We apologize! This is… our fault!"
"We have been too irresponsible!"
"We could not act in time, we thought that we could do things slowly with the kid…!"
"To think that… He…"
"We deeply apologize, Great Ancestor-sama!"
"Please, take any punishment against us, our irresponsibility as clan elders provoked this to happen to the kid…!"
The old men, namely the Clan Elders of the Monk Clan, kneeled over their Great Ancestor, the descendant of Amaterasu, the Japanese Goddess of the Sun.
However, the woman sitting in front of them smiled bitterly, waving her head.
"No, please, stand up… It is I the one at fault on this… To think that Gaia herself told me to take good care of Frank… And I end up screwing everything over… I should have told him to stay the moment they fought the Oni… I just did not want to make the rest of the clan think that we had some sort of preference over Frank… I wanted him to grow at the same pace as everyone so he could be accepted more… But clearly… his powers alone… he was not someone normal… I should have treated him like Gaia told me instead of denying her request…" said the Great Ancestor, her shiny yellow gold eyes filled with bitter regret.
"Great Ancestor-sama, you can't…!"
"Please, don't think like that…!"
"Your thoughts were perfectly understandable for the situation, it is us who are at fault for not wanting to take more safety measurements…"
"We let Frank's father leave several magic seals to protect Frank's family…"
"But against an SS-Rank Hitman like Wasp…"
"It was clearly not enough…"
"Wasp… That damn psychopath!"
"No, this is something I will only carry. I am the only one capable of weighing all these sins… Now the Source is gone, and there might be no hope for our world… All of this, I am the only one who will carry it…" said the Great Ancestor.
"But!"
"Great Ancestor-sama!"
"You simply can't weigh it all!"
"You've done it plenty of times!"
"This is the duty of the clan head. I would never make my clan members weigh for my mistakes. It is a code of honor that has been passed through my family, my ancestor, Amaterasu-sama would have never wanted this to happen…" said the Great Ancestor, closing her eyes.
As the Clan Elders were about to try to comfort the Great Ancestor once more, a young boy with bright eyes and chestnut-blonde hair entered the room.
"Great Ancestor-sama… T-The… Corpses have been secured…" said the boy, Matsuo.
Although, unlike other times, his eyes were not glowing with bright conviction, but were empty of any light, and seemingly deep into an abyss.
"What about Frank?" asked the Great Ancestor.
"We could… not find him… Not even his corpse. His sister as well… she was missing too…" said Matsuo.
The room suddenly fell into silence.
"Not even the corpse? Perhaps… Could they had kidnaped him?" wondered one of the Clan Elders.
"But wouldn't it be more efficient to kill the boy and extract the source out of his soul? Why would they kidnap him?" wondered a Clan Elder.
"And his sister… She didn't have anything to do with him!"
"Nor his parents but… they were…"
"Silence…" said the Great Ancestor.
"Great Ancestor-sama…! I…!" said Matsuo, approaching the Great Ancestor as if he intended to say something.
"I'm sorry Matsuo, but I cannot let you chase Wasp," said the Great Ancestor.
"But…! Let me…! I have to… I have to avenge Frank and his family…! I can't simply!" cried Matsuo.
"Matsuo-kun, it's not a matter of will. It is a matter of strength. And also, several other factors. Wasp is an SS-Rank Hitman, a… being, more than a human. He has existed for over five hundred years, he's a vicious demon that has always worked in the shadows, his resourcefulness and abilities are outstanding even amongst other SS-Rank and even SSS-Rank. I would believe he is an SSS-Rank but has not been qualified as a higher ranking because of how much he hides from the underworld, it has been over three hundred years since he registered in any kind of clan or organization… He's not a being you can fight. I believe that not even those above you stand a chance… And even I… Perhaps wouldn't be able to get a victory without taking large injuries that may endanger my life…" said the Great Ancestor.
"Who could have employed such a monster?! Frank isn't even that strong, was there any need to send him someone so overwhelmingly strong?!" asked Matsuo.
"The ones that caused the Source to slip off Gaia's grasp and fall into Frank's body, probably did this…" said the Great Ancestor.
"You mean…?!" asked Matsuo.
"Indeed… The agent of Chaos. The ones who desire this world to end for the new one to emerge," said the Great Ancestor.
"Those beings…" muttered Frank.
"They're the only ones with enough strength and power to be able to employ such a being as Wasp. But even then, I believe that Wasp wants something out of this as well… He could not possibly hand them the Source happily. After all, it is an enormous source of power…" said the Great Ancestor.
"He probably wants the world to end too! For the Apocalypse to begin! He is a maniac, he might even feast in such a chaotic era…!" said one of the Clan Elders.
"Tch…! How… powerless am I…? How could I…?! Maybe if I… got earlier…! Maybe if I… Was faster or stronger… If I had… noticed in time…" cried Matsuo, falling into the ground as tears began to flow from his golden eyes.
"Matsuo-kun…"
The Elders glanced at Matsuo, their golden boy, with pity.
Matsuo was one of the most talented clan members in a long time, and his efforts and correct and righteous personality, alongside his gentle and responsible nature, had made him fond of even figures of high authority such as the Clan Elders, who all saw him as something close to a grandson.
Even the Great Ancestor felt pain as she saw the bright Matsuo cry in sorrow.
However, just as she was about to comfort Matsuo, a sudden oracle was sent to her.
"Gaia…!"
"Great Ancestor-sama?" asked the Elders.
"Gaia?" asked Matsuo.
"Gaia… has sent me another oracle… She says… 'The Boy is alive, but not in this world'…" said the Great Ancestor.
"What?" asked the Elders in bewilderment.
"Frank… is alive?! Really…?! But… not in this world? What does this mean?" asked Matsuo.
"I… Do not know. The oracle was only that… But this… If Gaia herself, the personification of our planet and also the one who has all the knowledge of the world through the Origin Core knows that he is not dead… Then it must be the truth," said the Great Ancestor.
"These are great news!"
"There is still hope for this world!"
"But where might he be?"
"What does Gaia-sama means by another world?"
"I… This oracle might mean more than we can imagine, we must seek it further and examine any clues… Perhaps we might be able to learn where Frank could be…" said the Great Ancestor.
Matsuo's eyes were once more filled with a dim glow, perhaps, there was hope.
Meanwhile, the notices about what happened to Frank reached Harumi through Matsuo's messages.
Although Harumi had not interacted much with Frank, she had seen him for an entire week, and she always thought of him as quite strange… but also that he held something that not many had.
She sat down on her bed, as she glanced at the ceiling of her room.
"Frank… is he dead?" she wondered.
Although she did not want to admit it, she felt sorrow.
She always thought that their relationship might one day improve as they met every day…
Although she would rather die than admit it, she was looking forward to meeting him today as well at school.
There was always something warm within his smile and the personality that Made Harumi feel oddly close with him.
And she did not want to admit it at all… But she even had desires to know him more.
Her crimson eyes glanced at the window, as the black gardens of the outside of her manor revealed themselves, it was already night and the moon shined brightly atop the night sky.
"Frank…"
Ding!
Suddenly, her phone released a dinging sound, as Matsuo once more sent her a message.
It said something about an oracle of Gaia herself… and that Frank was not dead but in another… world.
"Another world…?"
Harumi rested her head into a pillow, glancing once more at the ceiling.
Although now, she seemed a bit more relieved.
However, as she recalled what happened to Frank's parents, she could not help but feel sad.
She knew exactly how it felt to lose her beloved ones…
For some reason, Harumi felt deep within her heart a burning sensation.
Something that should not be possible for her, who was a Vampire.
She wanted to comfort Frank.
She wanted to tell him that everything would be alright.
She did not know why she was having such thoughts now.
Perhaps they would be something of the moment as her emotions were exploding in her head.
But she wanted to do something to bring a bit of brightness to the life of such an unfortunate person.
Even if by a little bit…
"Frank, in what kind of world are you?"
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