Chapter 168 Volume IV - Chapter 13: The Terrifying Voice
Lucas tensed, his eyes squinting slightly. He realized what I had specifically emphasized among the things I had told him and sighed.
"The current king, you say..."
Lucas quickly deduced the meaning behind what I said. Then he looked around, but this time the look in his eyes was slightly different. His previous blank, shocked look had given way to a slightly more sober one. He had come to his senses, so much so that I was sure he wouldn't do anything as reckless as he had just done. After all, he was a smart person.
"I'm going to fix this... No, I'm going to fix all the places that look like this."
He was also determined and pursued his goals, like Adrian. At least like the current Adrian.
I said nothing and turned away again, but Lucas didn't finish his speech.
"Thank you, Aiden. I... I really needed that. I didn't even realize my kingdom was the way it was. I thought I was a good prince, I thought I was admired by my people, I thought I was successful, but... All I did was look at the world through blinders. I just followed what I was told, I disguised myself to watch my people, but the only places I thought to visit were the academies and the streets of the developed cities. I'm... I'm stupid, and you showed me that. Thank you again."
Well, it had more of an impact than I thought it would. That's a good thing. I mean... I hope so. Knowing him, I'm almost certain he wouldn't do something like that, but I hope he doesn't do something unnecessary and drive himself to his own end.
"I would like to show you the deeper parts. Because even this is not 'everything'. But I think you get the point. And it can be dangerous."
After all, our clothes are too clean for this place.
Lucas didn't react much to the phrase 'deeper'. He had already guessed that.
"Are we going back?"
"Yes."
Lucas nodded without saying anything. And I looked at him for a while, reluctantly.
Lucas is a genuinely good person. Even if bad things are happening to him in the future... I have the knowledge to stop it, to support Lucas. And I will have the power in the future.
I'm going to save this kingdom, I'm going to fix it, I'm going to rebuild it if I have to. I'm going to create a paradise for my sister, for those I love and those I will love, and when it's all over... I'll have a good life, 'we' will.
"You smiled for the first time since you came here."
Huh? Ah... I was smiling, huh...? Thinking about the dark atmosphere here and what happened in the game... I was a bit pessimistic. Did I look that soulless from the outside?
"I was just ima-"
~whoosh!
The sound of the wind twisted unnaturally as I heard a voice in my mind.
'Aiden, duck!'
I didn't question what it was, I didn't have time. I quickly bent down, and not only that, I pushed Lucas to the ground. With that, the sound of the wind passed over us.
It was not the sound of the wind being sliced by a knife. It was like a big object went straight through us, and it was fast. Really fast.
"Lucas, we're under attack."
Lucas had a blank look on his face when he was suddenly pushed to the ground by me. However, as soon as I said what I said to him, his expression calmed down and he nodded and quickly jumped to his feet with me.
We both looked at what had been thrown at us for a moment. Then both of our faces turned pale and our eyes widened. What had been thrown at us... was a person... or rather the body of a woman.
Lucas was the prince of this kingdom. The crown prince. No matter how many years he had lived in the palace, no matter how many times in his life he had been provided with the highest security, he had been subjected to assassination and trained for it. I, on the other hand... have a ridiculous passive skill. Still, we were both shocked by the sight before us.
'Sith, scan the area.'
Quickly, Lucas and I were back-to-back, our eyes separated from the corpse that had been thrown at us. We couldn't focus on it in a situation like this.
Both of our eyes began to look around, paying attention to every detail, and Sith closed his eyes, flying slightly upward.
A light breeze began to swirl around us.
"It disappeared."
Lucas spoke in a low voice. It was close to impossible for anyone outside to hear us, but it was at a level I could easily hear.
"He must be hiding, we're not sure how many there are. It could be a trap. Let's move slowly toward the city, we don't have to fight."
Lucas's next sentence sounded a little surprised.
"You made a quick decision. I didn't expect that."
What? Did you think I was too scared to move or something?
"Let's just say I have my own experience."
No other dialog passed between us. We started to step slowly and cautiously toward the city.
There were no more people on the street, if there had been any before. They had fled quickly as fights were normal in such places. After all, no one wanted to get caught up in a fight.
As we continued walking slowly, Sith's voice echoed in my mind.
'Building at two o'clock, second floor, the third window on the left.'
'Are there any others?'
'None for now.'
Even though I had received information, my eyes did not shift to that building. I slowly continued to look around. And without looking at that building, I told Lucas in a whisper where the enemy was.
Lucas didn't react, but I knew he heard me so I didn't say anything.
After a short while, I began to think that we were safe because their first move had failed. Such assassins usually retreated after failing.
Of course, what I thought did not happen.
Just when I started to think that I was no longer under the helicopter... the sky suddenly darkened, the ground trembled. Before I knew what was happening, a dark substance began to ooze from the ground. This substance quickly rose into the sky and took the shape of a dome.
My eyes widened as I began to scan my surroundings even faster, but no matter where I looked, all I could see was darkness.
"This..."
I heard Lucas's confused voice, but I couldn't think too much about it.
'The wind is... too strange inside the sphere. I can't control it, I might not be able to detect the enemy, Aiden.'
'It's okay.'
I opened my mouth to speak to Lucas, but a voice suddenly echoed through the sphere.
"You should try a little harder to disguise yourself, how can you come here dressed like that?"
I paused when I heard the voice. When it echoed in my mind, I realized that it was a familiar one... It was a frighteningly familiar one at that.
One of the most desperate, most terrifying moments in the game... that uncaring, even joyful voice echoing as an entire city was plunged into true darkness, as people's screams rose from everywhere, as the sky itself seemed to be literally collapsing... how could I forget that?
This person hadn't come for Lucas, I knew that for sure. His voice was familiar to me, with an unmistakable pleasure in it. It brought old memories to the surface of my mind.
Memories from the game. Memories involving one character in particular. A symbol representing a future catastrophe, foretelling doom for the hearer.
"I've never listened to the cries of nobles before, though I've only just started..."
The darkness and the pleasure in the tone of voice... it was the voice of someone who, if I had known his real identity, his name, if he had appeared in only one scene in the game, in a book, a text, a speech, or any other source of information, I would have done everything I could to eradicate him the first day I came into this world.
"What melody will you offer me?"
The darkness around us suddenly began to tremble, as if it was growing impatient. My eyes should have gotten used to the darkness by now, but there was still the same, deep darkness in front of me. It was as if the darkness was like a black hole, pulling and trapping the light around it, preventing me from seeing.
So, in the middle of the darkness, in the middle of this nothingness, the sound of footsteps began to echo. Both Lucas and I turned in the direction of the sound at the same time.
In the darkness, the silhouette of a man dressed almost entirely in black appeared before us, making it even more difficult to see. He looked more like a young man with his build. He must have been between Lucas' and my age. He was also not wearing a mask or anything to hide his face. Still, I couldn't make out his face because of the darkness.
Despite all this, even in the darkness, I could see a big smile on his face. Then the darkness, which had been trembling as if excited, suddenly returned to its previous calm and stillness.
"I'm sorry, I got excited."
In this way, the person who would shake the whole world in the future was in front of me. He was a walking catastrophe that in the future, even more than dungeons or wierras, would make humanity despair.
Such a catastrophe that he was afraid to be named, so he was referred to throughout history as 'that man'.
"Please entertain me... with your pain and suffering."
And now… as we heard his voice, we were doomed too… just like any other creature in the world.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l