Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Chapter 137: The cost of carelessness

The moment he saw them, Adrian rushed forward, not willing to miss this opportunity.

As he got closer, he was able to get a clearer view of the human he saw. And...

’A little girl?’

It was a little girl, looking around his own age, wearing an oversized bluish-black cloak. She had deep brown hair tied into a braid and brown eyes.

Adrian tilted his head.

’What is a little girl doing here?’

The girl also seemed to have noticed him, causing her to tilt her head in confusion, mirroring him.

"A human? And a child at that... hmm..."

He moved closer to her and asked while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Are you the child of a hunter? If so, could you bring me to your parents? I need their help."

But the girl didn’t seem to have focused on his words, muttering something to herself.

"Hmm... we didn’t really get orders not to touch a human. And one is still missing, so..."

She looked at him and smiled brightly as she asked in a warm tone.

"Excuse me, I have something I want to ask you. Do you believe in The Truth?"

Adrian furrowed his brow.

"I... what? I don’t really understand what you are saying. Could you please lead me to your parents first? We can talk more there."

The girl narrowed her eyes.

"Do you... not believe in the Truth?"

Adrian unconsciously clicked his tongue. He didn’t want to stay in one place and allow another being to track him using his scent. He didn’t want to risk that.

He was in a hurry.

But this girl just had to ask him strange questions.

He shook his head.

"I don’t quite get what you are referring to, but I most likely don’t believe in it."

But the moment he said those words, the bright smile disappeared from the girl’s face, and the warm atmosphere around her suddenly turned sharp.

"Is that so...? I guess there is no problem, then."

Adrian suddenly sensed that something was very wrong about the situation, causing him to instinctively cast space implosion and aim it at her.

But just as he was about to shoot the starlit sphere, he suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, and his vision began to darken.

Just before his vision faded, he saw the blurry image of a man with white hair standing behind him, holding a wooden club.

And then, his vision darkened completely.

***

Rolf stared at the unconscious young boy he had just knocked out. The boy’s appearance alone was enough to tell that he wasn’t some ordinary child.

He frowned.

’I don’t like this...’

He turned to the little girl standing in front of him.

"Nell, did we really have to do this? We still had time before ‌sunset; we could’ve found some humanoid monster by then. Doing this to humans just doesn’t sit right with me."

The girl, Nell, turned away and started walking.

"And what if we weren’t able to secure the missing sacrifice by then? What would we tell the Prophet if that were to happen? Besides, it doesn’t matter if the sacrifice is human or not as long as they aren’t a believer."

Rolf sighed as he picked up the child and began following behind Nell.

After walking for half an hour, they got out of the maze of trees. Before them stretched a vast land filled with debris of demolished buildings as far as they could see.

Like the ruins of an ancient city.

It looked like the view of a large city that had been struck by some calamity in the past, leaving nothing but ruin behind.

The two of them navigated the debris with practiced efficiency and arrived in front of a building that looked the least damaged. Its architecture made it look like a cathedral.

A woman was standing beside the half-broken gate of the cathedral, carrying a large greatsword on her back that looked too big for her size.

Seeing them, she smiled at Nell and turned to him.

"So you’re finally back, ’old man’? Well, color me surprised. I didn’t know you’d return before sunset. And is that the last sacrifice in your hand?"

Rolf grumbled.

"For the last time, I am not an old man. And yes, this is the last sacrifice. We should be able to conduct this month’s ritual without any problem."

The woman inspected the boy in his hands for a bit, then nodded.

"Well, that’s good then. I was a bit worried about you, to be honest, but it seems like you pulled it off."

Then, she gestured towards the door.

"Anyways, go inside. The ritual should be starting soon."

***

Standing beside a street lamp in the immutable world, Adrian had a frown on his face.

’This doesn’t look good.’

He was certain that someone had knocked him out from behind before he could even sense them. And if he combined that with the girl’s behavior, it was clear that he had gotten himself into a bad situation.

’I should’ve been more careful.’

He knew better than anyone how dangerous humans could be. He should have watched and evaluated them from a distance before trying to interact with them.

Maybe his interaction with that vampire, as well as the exhaustion, had caused him to forget about those things briefly.

Well, there was no point in thinking about it since it had already happened. Thinking in that direction was not going to help him in any way.

He twisted the dial of the analog wristwatch, increasing the rate at which time passed here to its maximum, intending to skip ahead to the point where his body woke up.

And the next moment, his eyelids turned heavy, forcing him to close them.

As Adrian opened his eyes, he found himself in a massive dark hall supported by multiple cylindrical pillars. There were torches attached to the walls at intervals, illuminating the place just enough to make out the surroundings.

His arms and legs were tied with metal chains, and he was lying on the hard surface of the ground.

All around him, figures wearing bluish-black cloaks stood motionless, looking in his direction.

’Hmm... I don’t have a good feeling.’

More than a dozen other people were lying on the ground beside him, all bound in chains just as he was. No, maybe calling them ’people’ was wrong.

Some of them had dark horns growing out of their heads, some had glowing crimson eyes, and some had red skin and three pairs of arms instead of one.

At the center of the dark hall stood an altar. It looked ancient, yet well-maintained. Something was floating above it, producing a pure white light that was brighter than the illumination of the torches on the walls.

A person stood a few steps away from the altar. It was an elderly man with long white hair flowing down his back and a long white beard reaching below his stomach.

The elderly man looked weak and feeble, as though he didn’t have many years to live. But contrary to how he looked, the nature of his presence told Adrian that he was at least a Phase Five.

He was the strongest individual present in this hall.

Adrian was just about to channel mana through his body and break free of the chains binding him, but that thought disappeared the moment he measured the old man’s strength.

There was no way he would be able to accomplish anything by using force.

The old man turned to one of the people standing in the hall and spoke in a deep, commanding voice.

"Bring the first sacrifice."