On a far coast, deep within a cave, a young man sat shivering.
His legs were huddled together and his eyes were bulging as he trembled violently.
He muttered incoherent words—a sign that he could be mad—and his face clearly told of the horrors he had seen.
Everything about him, from his emaciated form to his ever-shaking body, proved to be very miserable. His dark cloak hung loosely on his body as he sat in despondency.
Once or twice, he would bite his nails, but he was usually just huddled miserably in this cave… recounting the trauma of the past and the life he had lived right up to this moment.
The glorious life he was meant to live.
The reason it got shattered.
The one who shattered it.
"M-Maria… J-Jared… damnit…" He muttered incoherently and with a trembling tone.
As he uttered these statements, two figures suddenly appeared within the cave. From a patch of darkness, they surged forth, looking at the young boy with contrasting expressions.
The female had a look of indifference, with a hint of contempt. As for the man, he had a very wide grin on his face.
"It seems you've not completely lost your mind, despite the Nether deprivation." He said, finally getting the young man to stop muttering.
"Stefan Netherlore… it's been a while."
With widened eyes, he looked at his two visitors. Their familiar faces were deeply etched into his memory that he couldn't forget—or at least, one was.
"L-Legris… Damien…?"
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Curing Stefan wasn't too difficult a task.
By providing some Nether to soothe his needy body, he became stabilized. Still, however, he wasn't completely cured of the trauma.
Despite the constant ringing in his head, though, he was still capable of telling his tale and conversing with his former colleagues.
Apparently, a Special Magic Tool activated right when his Arcana got taken from him and he was forcibly teleported to a safe zone—this cave.
The cave had special properties, considering it was within a Mana-dense territory. It would easily mask his weak presence, especially when he got stripped of his Nether.
"But now… ah… I feel much better. Thank you, Legris." Stefan sighed, clutching his head and wincing at the pain.
He would have surely died in this cave if no one had intervened. After fighting Maria, he had completely lost his will.
Somehow, Legris had changed that.
"You don't need to thank me, Stefan. I came here with a proposition for you. If you'd like to show your gratitude, then maybe you should join me."
The fact that the Cult Leader's Maiden was now working for Legris—based on the little he saw—could he assume that the Cult Leader was dead? Or perhaps they defected from the Nether Cult?
"The Nether Cult is no more. Its members are gone too. Ciel and I are the only ones left. And yeah, we're no longer the Nether Cult. We have a new goal and you can join us."
Hearing all this new information fazed Stefan a little.
It was bittersweet to hear that he wasn't the only one who failed in the Cult. It seemed none of them had been able to stop Jared and his allies.
It could have been self-patronizing, but he felt less of a loser now.
"Why go out of your way to seek me? I don't understand. Am I integral to your goals?" Stefan asked earnestly, wincing slightly once more.
"Not really. Without you, I think I'd do just fine. However, I just thought it would be fun to have you along. Besides… it's not a bad deal for you, right?"
Stefan heaved a sigh. Legris had always been like this since they had known each other. He just wished he'd known how powerful, or rather, skilful this man was while they had been in the Nether Cult.
"What is your goal exactly?" He asked.
"Everything. I want to obtain everything. If you join me, I can give you a good portion of that. You can have power that defies anything you've ever dreamed of. A power that trumps Maria's or Jared's."
Upon hearing Legris's offer, Stefan sighed heavily and slightly shook his head. He knew Legris had perfectly hit the nail on the head, but there was something fundamentally different now.
He was different.
"Back then… I thought of myself as special—deserving of power. I thought it was my right. When I was compatible with the Nether element, I was overjoyed, because I thought I was special."
However, after his defeat at the hands of Maria, Stefan was ready to face the ugly truth.
"I'm not special. I never was. I really have nothing going for me, and I don't consider myself gifted in any way. Everything I had built up for myself turned out to be a lie."
Legris and Ciel patiently watched as Stefan rose to his feet, on his still-trembling legs.
His slightly bulging eyes displayed a kind of light that hadn't been present there before.
"I… I would simply like to find a new purpose for my life. Whether that leads to power or destruction. I want a path I can take. A path that will lead me to the answers I never knew I wanted to obtain."
Power was superficial. In the end, everyone had it to a certain level. What Stefan sought was something he could call his and his alone.
"You sound like a greedy brat." Legris also stood on his feet, his smile broadening as he looked at Stefan.
"Yeah. Maybe you're right…"
"Don't worry, Stefan. You'll find that purpose you seek with us. I can guarantee that."
Both individuals stared at each other in silence and Ciel simply watched them quietly—a little disturbed by their expression.
"But… what of Jared and the others? They'll get in the way. I'm not doubting your capabilities or plans, but…"
"Jared, Neron, and the other major threats are currently not present. I made sure of that."
"W-what?!" Stefan's eyes widened further than before.
He didn't understand when this happened. However, if Legris was telling the truth, then this world's power to resist had just fallen to a very terrifying low.
"Serah, Maria, and a few others are still present. However, they won't prove to be a threat on their own. In the end, things will proceed according to the plan."
Hearing all of this made Stefan excited, though he did his best to hide it.
"Okay, Legris. I'm in. Where do we start?"
Legris grinned upon hearing those words. His dark brown hair fluttered with the air in the cave and his gleaming eyes expressed pleasure.
"The first order of business would have been to initiate the Amalgamation Process. Unfortunately, Neron badly damaged my Domain, so I don't have enough power to start it."
Stefan didn't understand what Legris was implying by 'The Amalgamation Process' and one look at Ciel showed that even she didn't get it.
"We'll need a very powerful source to achieve it. Fortunately, I already have the perfect plan for obtaining it."
And the best part about his plan was simple.
"With Jared and the other pesky pests gone… there's no one who can stop me."
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[The Lost Worlds Arc has commenced]
Welcome, and prepare yourselves. This is going to be a rather… strange (but interesting) Arc.
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Cheers!
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶