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4.86% Path of the Extra / Chapter 9: The Crying Fog

Chapter 9: The Crying Fog

"Lord Ragnar, we have lost visual and audio from the drone. However, the other sensors are still active," the operator informed as Ragnar and Thomas's eyes remained fixed on the holographic screen, which was currently only showing black.

"How long will it take for the nearest drone to reach his location?" Ragnar asked.

"It would take at least 20 minutes for the nearest drone to arrive at his location, my lord."

A frown appeared on Ragnar's face.

'Saint Solomon would reach there before that time... I need to see what is happening.'

"Are there any active soldiers currently in Paris?"

The operator merely shook his head in response to Ragnar's question, making him scowl in annoyance.

He was already starting to lean towards the possibility that it really was Azriel instead of a skinwalker.

No, he was sure of it—it really was Azriel.

'No matter how Saint Solomon is, he wouldn't act this carefree, not with how much he favors Azriel.'

Ragnar grit his teeth as he waited for the drone to show footage again.

"It was spotted at the border of Germany and France a month ago by Major Hendricks," another operator informed.

The void creature that attacked Azriel was well-known in France.

Or perhaps the reason the void creature was so well-known was because nothing was known about it at all.

"The Crying Fog..."

An operator handed a file to Thomas, who then handed it to Ragnar.

----------------------------------------------

Void Creature #1247

Name: The Crying Fog

Rank: Unknown

Type: Unknown

First Seen: 26 April 2144

Last Seen: 14 September 2148

Victims: 86 active soldiers gone missing, among them being Captain Harold, a Grade 1 Expert.

Description: The Crying Fog, an unknown void creature, was first spotted in France 4 years ago. It is unknown from what phase void rift it came from. Its true form is still unknown, whether the void creature is the fog itself or the fog is just one of its abilities. The void creature has never left France. It is reported that the sound of a sobbing little girl always resounds inside and outside of the fog range before the victims go missing.

----------------------------------------------

'...How did it get to Paris so quickly without anyone noticing?'

Ragnar thought, reading the information they had on the void creature.

Which was basically nothing.

The void creature barely showed itself, but whenever it did, the person encountering it would go missing after the fog disappeared.

Only twice had they seen the fog through a drone before losing connection.

'This marks the third time we have gotten footage of it... we need to update the file, huh?'

'Azriel... will Saint Solomon make it in time?'

Perhaps noticing Ragnar's emotions, Thomas spoke softly.

"If he truly did survive for the past 2 years in the void realm, then I doubt that this will be enough to take him down... probably."

Ragnar merely hummed in response to Thomas's attempt to cheer him up.

'I really hope he is right...'

******

There was no mention of this void creature ever in the book, meaning that the protagonist never had to face this creature before.

Or perhaps he did, but in the later half.

Azriel knew that, at least in the first half, the protagonist didn't go to Europe.

But the system did, a few times, send him to the void realm with its mysterious powers for a few quests.

'Calm down...'

Azriel's eyes never left the silhouette of the sobbing girl.

Not even once did he blink as his eyes were fixed, wide-eyed, on her—or it.

The void creature he was facing was perhaps the most dreadful type you could encounter.

It didn't attack physically; instead, it attacked mentally.

The worst type of attacks one could encounter in battle are, after all, mental attacks.

The constant whispers of the void creatures were enough to almost make Azriel scream.

His eyes were hurting as he didn't dare to look away or blink for even a second.

His right shoulder was stinging with unbearable pain from his previous fight.

His body and mind were so tired that he felt like he could collapse if he relaxed even for a single second.

"Please... don't go"

"Please don't leave me..."

"I don't want to be alone anymore..."

"Don't go..."

Azriel kept hearing the constant, silent pleas of the girl everywhere.

'P-please, dammit... just shut up, please.'

Azriel murmured.

He was scared.

Not because of her sobbing.

No.

He was scared of himself.

The fuzzy feeling that was silently rising in his chest. He felt compelled to walk over to the girl's silhouette and soothe her, to tell her it was okay, that he wouldn't leave her.

To never let go of her...

Azriel was so afraid that he didn't even dare to breathe. The cold fog that was touching his skin felt like torture.

'Don't go, dammit, don't fucking move!'

Screaming inside his mind, he kept staring at the dark silhouette. He could feel his knees starting to become numb.

"Don't go... Don't go... Don't go... Don't go..."

And then, when he almost gave in to exhaustion...

The sobbing whispers stopped. It felt like the world was suddenly frozen in time. There was no sound anymore coming from anywhere.

The dark silhouette disappeared into the fog, making him exhale the breath he was holding. Azriel fell to his knees, unable to stand any longer.

'Thank God...'

He felt tired. So tired.

Closing his eyes, Azriel tried to stabilize his breathing as his heart was still beating like crazy.

"Good job, Azriel. You managed to survive. The fog has disappeared with the creature. Open your eyes now. Saint Solomon should be here in 15 minutes."

Hearing Ragnar's clear voice next to him felt so comforting right now.

"Y-yeah, thanks."

Just when Azriel was about to do what he said and open his eyes...

He froze.

Ragnar's voice didn't sound at all like a girl sobbing and whispering. It even came from a single direction that was right next to his face.

His voice was instead clear as day, and Azriel could feel his breath against his face.

"!?"

Azriel clenched his eyes tighter shut, not daring to open them in the slightest. Something was wrong... terribly wrong.

Why would he hear Ragnar's voice so clearly? Why could he feel his breath against his face?

And...

'15 m-minutes? T-that is impossible...'

He was sure that more than enough time had already passed unless the fog or the void creature had an ability to actually freeze time, which he highly doubted.

"Azriel Crimson? What is it? Open your eyes. Saint Solomon will be here in 15 minutes."

Azriel shuddered each time he felt the cold breath of whatever was next to him speaking calmly to him.

'Don't open them! Don't open them! No matter what!'

"Azriel... Crimson... open your eyes... open... eyes."

The voice next to him didn't sound like Ragnar anymore. It became distorted and sounded like glass scraping against his ears. Gritting his teeth, he kept clenching his eyes shut, trying to ignore the harrowing voice next to him.

"Open, open, open, open!"

"OPEN YOUR EYES! OPEN YOUR EYES! OPEN YOUR EYES!"

The voice became louder and louder, screaming, making his ears literally bleed. It didn't sound human at all—no human was capable of producing such harrowing sounds in the slightest.

"Open... eyes... Saint... Solomon... 15 minutes."

Seconds kept passing, feeling like an eternity, until Azriel felt the inhuman shrieks growing more distant. The cold breath didn't touch his face anymore, making him release the breath he was holding.

Still, Azriel didn't dare to open his eyes.

Until...

"Brother."

"...Huh?"

He heard a familiar voice speak further ahead of him. Despite everything that he just went through, his eyes opened before he could think about what he was doing.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Crypthh Crypthh

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!

Chapter 10: Don’t go...

"Ah..."

A weak, barely audible sound escaped Azriel's lips as he gazed at the figure standing in front of him.

A girl...

A young girl, no older than nine, with beautiful, long brown hair cascading down to her waist. Her emerald eyes, which once sparkled like stars in the vast night sky, had lost their shine. Blood stains covered her face and clothes.

"L-Lia..."

Void Eater slipped through his fingers, dropping to the ground. Strangely enough, the moment Void Eater touched the ground, it didn't make any sound.

Standing in front of Azriel was his little sister...

Lia Karumi.

He would have given anything to see her one more time, to see that big smile on her face again. The moments where they bickered with each other about who would sit in front of the car, the times when he helped her with her studies. 

Seeing his little sister in front of him again, Azriel was paralyzed, unable to move a muscle.

Deep down, he knew... He knew that the girl in front of him wasn't his little sister but the void creature.

Yet even then... it didn't matter to him. The person he wished to see the most was in front of him again.

His mouth kept opening and closing repeatedly.

He couldn't find the right words to say to her. He wanted to apologize to her so badly.

That if only he was there, he might have changed the outcome of that accident.

That if only he had told them to stay at home.

That if only he had done anything different that day, she would still be alive.

That if only he didn't have a fight with them that day...

"Brother, why did you leave me?"

Azriel's eyes trembled as he gazed at her. Her voice was exactly as he still remembered it to be.

"I..."

He couldn't say anything. His words got stuck in his throat. Tears started streaming down her face as her sobbing could be heard.

"Why... why did you leave me?"

"Why did you let me die?"

"You were my brother, but you killed me..."

"You pushed us away and killed us!"

She screamed at Azriel, making him bite his bottom lip, tasting iron.

"Lia..."

His voice cracked as he tried to say her name.

"I-I'm sorry.... I swear."

Azriel's voice became hoarse as his vision got blurry, yet he never stopped looking at his little sister.

"I am so sorry... I would do anything to change what happened."

"Please... please believe me."

"I never hated you... nor Mom and Dad, I swear."

His voice trembled with each word he spoke, tears streaming down his eyes.

His eyes were stinging so much, yet he didn't even blink once.

"Liar!"

"Brother is a liar!"

"You hate us! You told us that yourself!"

She kept screaming at him. His heart felt like it was stabbed by a knife, only for the knife to twist over and over again.

"N-no... I swear I didn't. I swear I never hated you, Lia!"

"I never hated you or Mom and Dad!"

"I would do anything! Anything to go back and save you and Mom and Dad!"

"I swear I am so sorry! Not a day goes by where I don't regret when you died!"

"I-if I could, I would trade my life for yours and Mom and Dad's."

Azriel's voice got louder with each word as he tried to convince her.

"Please believe me..."

he murmured silently in the end.

"Then..."

"Don't leave us anymore, Brother."

"Huh?"

She started walking slowly towards Azriel until she was close enough for him to stretch his arm out and grab her if he wanted to.

"Don't abandon me, Brother."

"Stay with me—with us."

"Don't leave us anymore..."

Her voice started to distort at the end, yet her appearance never changed. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse from behind her.

Azriel could see people a little bit behind her, all facing him, yet there were no heads on them... It was like someone or something tore them off.

They were all standing there wearing typical black military uniforms.

Strangely, Azriel didn't feel anything gazing at them as his eyes met those of Lia again. As if it was a mere dream, he already forgot about those soldiers behind her.

She stretched her small, delicate hand in front of Azriel with a small smile on her face.

"Join us..."

"Brother."

"We can be together again."

"You, me, Mom and Dad—all of us again, a happy family."

"All you have to do is accept me..."

"We will be together for all of eternity, I promise."

Her voice was again the normal one he always remembered it to be. Slowly, he raised his right hand towards hers.

'Can I really be with her again?'

'Does that mean she forgives me...?'

'If I joined her, would that mean we can be together again?'

'As a family again? With Mom and Dad sitting at the same table, eating together?'

Hope started filling his broken heart as he raised his hand until it was mere inches from touching hers. For a second, he hesitated for some odd reason. He didn't know why, but he felt something was odd. But...

In the end, he merely shook his head.

'Right... she is my little sister. Of course, I should be with her.'

Saying that, he was about to grasp her small hand again. A small smile appeared on his face, but then...

She was gone.

The fog was gone.

Everything around him was suddenly gone.

The buildings, the debris, the abandoned cars, and the bodies of the four void wolves.

All of them were gone, consumed by the fog.

Appearing out of nowhere just to disappear the same way. The only thing left was Void Eater on the ground next to him, and in front of him, he could see the tall monument gazing down at him.

Realizing what had just happened, his heart trembled.

"Lia... no."

"Please..."

"Don't go..."


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Crypthh Crypthh

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!

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