Chapter 818 The Lost Children
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After a lot of explanations, clarifications, and giving the kids a lot of tasty food, we got a bit more of their trust. It also helped Catarina had become some sort of legend in the desert, and with her reputation, the oldest kid of this group, named Fabian, ended trusting us much better.
"I formed this band because we had nowhere to go, and we always had to hide." Sighed Fabian. "Sorry… if I got too violent, it is hard to control my emotions… sometimes. For a moment I thought Silva betrayed us."
"Sorry Fabian… T-The guards tricked me and gave me food, and I couldn't resist because I was very hungry… And then they took away the stone a-and they almost… they almost…"
Silva recalled those memories and started weeping. My little Nyx sat next to her and hugger her shoulders, trying to comfort her even if a little bit. My daughter was certainly a little angel.
"Hahh… Don't worry about that, sorry, Silva. I shouldn't had jumped on you." Sighed Fabian. "It just that… It reminded me of the time it actually happened when a friend sold us out… And half of the group was captured."
"It's fine, we can all be friends now!" Nyx smiled. "Let's beat down the baddies!"
"Hahaha, you're sure cheerful but you don't look any older than Silva." Fabian laughed. "Actually you look much tinier, are you a baby?"
"No baby!" Nyx said angrily. In fact, she was indeed a baby. "I'm strong… I beat baddies."
"Really? Have you beaten baddies?" Silva asked innocently.
"Yesh! I beat the worms, did you not see? I can bring phantom dragon frens to fight, we combine, and go boom! Kaboom! Destruction!" Said Nyx with a huge smile while eating a meat sandwich.
"I didn't see anything…" Silva said, a bit disappointed.
"I-I'll show you!" Nyx said while nodding. "Whenever baddies show up…"
lightsΝοvel.cοm "Well, see? My little girl got your back!" I smiled proudly. "Anyways, now that you all have your bellies full, it seems your minds are much clearer. First of all, is this dungeon active?"
"It is." Said Fabian. "We've been living in this dungeon for a while… As long as I remember. Any of us that had tried braving the sands was found dead later on by guards or caravans. We're stuck here, even when the labs where we were being experimented at are so close by."
"That's a pity…" Lucifer sighed. "This Dungeon, is it spread across the entire city? And about that lab… Are you all kids from there too? All… experimented?"
"Yeah." Fabian nodded. "Security there is tight, but because they keep giving us crazy powers, sometimes someone make a huge explosion and we escape… Though, all of us survivors are a few among all the ones that had died from the experiments. Every day I remember seeing dozens of corpses, most of the time of kids no older than Silva."
"…" I remained in silence while clenching my fists. "What… do they do with these corpses? And their souls? Since I entered this place that I haven't sensed a single one. There's no way they're not using them for something.
"I-I have no idea…" Fabian sighed. "We just know that… there are unspeakable horrors that we've only heard. Monstrous screams, the sounds of creatures moving… Ugh, my head. Just remember the rotten smell of that place makes me want to puke."
"It's fine, that's enough for now." Emeraldine sighed, embracing Fabian with some revitalizing light. "It is quite obvious what we'll do now, but it would be better if we can secure your safety first, before anything."
"Hmmm, you kids could come along with Maria." Said Catarina. "She got a place, a village to the frozen south, where all kinds of people that she rescues gather. Former slaves, oppressed tribes, and victims like you, and undead, lots of those."
"Undead?!" Fabian asked.
"Yeah, there are Undead." I laughed. "I'm actually a ghost! Wooooh!" I became slightly translucent. Not only Fabian but everyone else in the room panicked.
"S-She's really a ghost, Fabian?!"
"W-What the hell?!"
"A ghost like that girl, Spectra?"
"First time I see someone do that though! I don't remember anybody like her…"
"Amazing, s-so you're a ghost, okay." Fabian sighed. "You… Do you really intend to do what you're talking about though? Our city… this place, since that damn Sanctus became the Lord that it has gone to the shitter these last years. Those red eyed bastards indiscriminately kidnap kids now, and use us as experiments for the monstrosities they make… We don't have anywhere to escape, nor we are strong enough to fight back against them… Those red eyed bastards, I've seen them kill one of us with a wave of their hands, cut to pieces in a second. No matter how much we level up, we can't face them."
"The Vampires in this place seem especially rotten." Lucifer sighed. "I guess there's little point in feeling pity for them then, even less have mercy." He showed his draconic claws.
"Yeah." I nodded. "We'll do everything we said we'll do, right, Catarina? You're up for it too?"
"Sure." Catarina nodded. "I've been planning to do something, but my strength was neve enough, at most I could come here, save some lives, fuck some bastards, and get out before the big shots caught me… It has been such life for a while, I've been trying my best to level up and get stronger on my own, but it is a hard and slow process, especially in this vast desert."
"You've been doing more than enough." Emeraldine smiled. "My view of you has changed a lot, Catarina, you're truly a heroic woman."
"Even I, who was labeled as a hero, would admit defeat before your heroism." Jonathan said, bowing his head.
"I-I well- Just who is this dumbass anyways?" Asked Catarina, looking at the handsome blonde man that seemed so out of place in a team of monsters… Well, except Emeraldine, but even she had wings.
"Hey, don't call my Jonathan a dumbass, he might be a bit silly, but he has such a nice heart." I said, giving him a head pat.
"Hahaha! It's fine, I am quite a stupid person for all the mistakes I've committed through my life." Jonathan sighed. "Such words are only the truth at the end."
"I guess I'll explain…" I sighed.
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