Chapter 169 Volume IV - Chapter 14: The True Apocalypse
He appeared thirteen times.
Only thirteen times, and from the first to the last, he was seen as the demon who brought about the apocalypse. He appeared only thirteen times, each time at least two million people died. He wore a mask, so no one saw his face. There was no clue who he was, except for his voice. And his voice was useless.
Each time he came as if from nothing, slaughtered, and then left. Not once was he defeated, not once was he seriously wounded. There was no one who could fight him alone. The only thing the strongest people on the field could do was to evacuate as many civilians as they could.
Wherever he set foot, the place was devastated as if a nuclear bomb had fallen.
Dungeons? Creatures? Those who used their skills to abuse the system? Terrorist organizations? Large-scale wars and the like?
None was as great a catastrophe for the world as he was. He was the true apocalypse of this world.
Yet after his thirteenth appearance, he went silent. No one knew what happened to him. Some thought he was dead, some thought he might have gotten bored.
Yet no one has forgotten his mark on history. If he ever showed up again, there was no telling what he would do this time. And so, all the citizens of Lunerra, except perhaps one race, continued to live in fear.
These were all... things that happened in the game. And now…
My feet trembled, my body released itself and I just stared at the silhouette in front of me.
The voice is the same, I'm sure.
Dozens of thoughts began to bloom in my mind, then fade.
His first appearance is still a long way off, a year and a half if I'm not mistaken. So, he shouldn't be too strong yet...
I swallowed with these thoughts.
It must not be that strong but... why are my knees weak? Why can't I speak? Why can't I move? Why... the thought that I can fight him doesn't even cross my mind?
Am I... am I afraid?
In spite of the Absolute Mind, despite that stupid skill, am I afraid?
Does this person, who may be no more than two years older than me, scare me even more than my wiera side?
As the thoughts raced through my mind, I realized something was wrong. My vision blurred for a moment and I felt dizzy. Then suddenly my mouth opened and I realized that I was gasping for breath.
Did I... forget how to breathe?
"Let's get started. Come on, ru-"
I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder, but I didn't dare to turn around. I couldn't take my eyes off the silhouette. But then, something unexpected happened.
A strange wave spread around us, as if... it was refracting the light in the air. Cracks appeared in the air, they expanded to form fractures, and then these fractures suddenly enveloped our whole body in intense light.
The last thing I saw just before this happened was a slight look of disappointment on the face of the silhouette that had just stood in front of us. And then, at the tip of my nose, a dark dagger.
I didn't have a chance to react, I couldn't move a muscle. It was only when I noticed the dagger that I realized my fate. Perhaps for the first time, I was this close to death, time literally froze. I couldn't even see my reflection on it, because it was just... dark.
Yet the dagger didn't pierce my face or stab into it. Instead, I found myself... floating.
No, not floating in the air. Floating... in the vacuum of space, with millions of stars in front of me. No, I'm not even floating at all. I'm moving, but it's... a weird movement. It's nauseating, I feel like I'm passing by planets in the vacuum of space at the speed of light.
And yet... It's beautiful, spectacular even. The view of space, especially for a sightseer like me, is like the simulation that Sue and I watched about two days ago...
It's an image that makes me forget that only a few seconds ago I was literally in the face of death.
I... I can't take my eyes off them.
Despite these thoughts, this image suddenly fogged up. I don't know what happened, suddenly cracks appeared in front of me, just like before. As if repeating the same process for the second time, the cracks opened again, enveloped my whole body and I suddenly found myself in the air.
No, not in outer space. This time I was truly in the air.
"Huh?"
With the strange sound that came out of my mouth, I slammed to the ground.
I... what happened?
I looked up, I was in a dark room of a building, and in front of me... was Lucas.
I slowly sat up when I noticed him.
"What... What happened-"
My voice trailed off as I saw the look on Lucas's face.
His face was pale. Too pale even for a corpse. His nose was bleeding, and his whole body was trembling. His eyes slowly returned to mine and his lips moved weakly.
"C- Contact... some... one..."
The moment those words left his lips, blood literally poured out of his nose and his eyes slid back to show the whites of his eyes as he dropped his body to the floor.
Reality penetrated my mind in an instant. I remembered what happened at that last moment, and then I understood.
Of course... Lucas is the one who acquired the ability of spatial distortion that was sold when I bought Sith's orb a long time ago. Or rather, his father gave it to him. He must have teleported us somewhere.
I was so scared when that... thing showed up that I forgot all about it. Still, Lucas still hasn't gotten used to his ability, which is why it backfired so badly.
I took a deep breath, then opened my watch and quickly dialed a number. It didn't take long to get my answer.
"Hello?"
I took a deep breath. Absolute Mind was active again and I could think quite clearly and calmly.
"Ulka, I need your help."
*******
As I sat with my arms crossed, lifting my left ankle and resting it on my right knee, I began to feel bored.
Not because I wanted to. On the contrary... I'm under surveillance. When we left the city in a car, thanks to Ulka, and returned to the academy, and I was informed that Prince Lucas had fainted in my presence, the guards suddenly jumped on me.
I wanted to ask them where they were before, but they were probably already there. It was only when they were about to move that they encountered an obstacle. The dark dome that surrounded us was already formed.
He already has the power to create a dome that can block the prince's bodyguards...
I started to think, not caring that I was in custody.
Stopping him, killing him with the best option, would be one of the greatest favors I could do this world. There's no way I can draw him to me like I thought I could with Alysia. He... already crossed that line. Maybe he never had that line in the first place, I don't know.
He was one of the disasters I wanted to prevent in the future, but if he's already so strong... How can I even stop him?
It's ridiculous that he is so powerful in the first place. How can someone so young become a being that no one in the world can stand up to properly?
I've thought about this a long time ago, but it doesn't make sense.
Is the only thing I can do is to save my life by avoiding the thirteen regions he will destroy in the future?
My brow furrowed at this thought, and frankly, I was frustrated.
It bothers me that there is nothing I can do.
I don't want to disregard my destiny, the destiny of this world, and the lives of the forty million people who are going to die. I may have said that I would think of myself rather than others, but this catastrophe... There must be a way for me to stop it.
A year and a half... There's no way I have done anything to change it. I haven't really done anything to impress him, to interest him, to make him change his mind. So that should be it.
Although... There's today's issue, but he won't be able to act early just because of that. Because he's not that strong yet.
Yes, he's really powerful, but he's not powerful enough to just walk into a city, kill anyone who tries to stop him, or doesn't try to stop him, whether they're women, children, or old people, and just wave goodbye when he's done.
His previous rate of development was already terrifying, there's no way he can develop even faster just because Lucas and I managed to escape his grasp.
He may be crazy, but he's not stupid, and he won't show up until he's strong enough.
"Aiden Tenebra."
I looked up at the sound of a deep voice in front of me. There was a man in front of me who looked a little older, and he was dressed in what could be called civilian but looked good. He was one of the prince's bodyguards.
"With the prince's testimony, your innocence has been proven. We apologize for the inconvenience."
I stood up, walked to the door with a sigh, and spoke.
"Is the Prince all right?"
"Yes, he just used more mana than he should have and more skill than he should have."
I guessed that much.
"Got it, thanks."
I bowed slightly, the man did the same, and with that, I finally left the room.
The cold wind blew in my face, which I didn't mind as I couldn't feel cold even if I wanted to. I started walking straight ahead. The rain was drizzling very lightly. Soon it would pick up speed. A thick layer of clouds covered the sky, hiding the stars. It was a dark night, just like when I was under that dome.
I gritted my teeth, although I didn't head for my room or some random spot in the woods where I rested my head. It was straight to the training building.
Even if there's a class, I don't really care because I have a day off.
I know that I've been obsessing about it a lot lately, I even think about it every day, but... I need to get stronger.
Every time I start trying harder and harder to get stronger, something comes up that requires me to get stronger and stronger. I need to speed up my plans, or I'm afraid I'll fall behind.
I clenched my fist and quickened my pace. I didn't care about anything, I didn't even think about visiting the prince, which they wouldn't have allowed anyway. I just kept moving toward my destination and grabbed a sword as soon as I entered the room.
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