'Solomon Dragonheart... to think he would be here as well with Ragnar Frost.' Azriel was deep in thought as he gazed at the drone hovering in front of him.
It was already a shock to him that his father's best friend Ragnar was here, but not only him, also one of the most talented humans in history.
Ragnar Frost, a rival of his father since childhood, was not just that but also the youngest head among the four great clans.
He didn't blame Ragnar for being so cautious since he would have done the same.
Besides...
'He lost his parents to skinwalkers seven years ago.'
Ragnar's mother was killed by a Grade 1 Titan-ranked skinwalker that, after taking her life, took her place and infiltrated the Frost estate, killing Ragnar's father and many other members of the Frost clan.
It was still known as one of Asia's greatest tragedies, but luckily they managed to take the skinwalker down. After that, Ragnar took the position of his father as the head of the Frost Clan.
1,259 people lost their lives because of a single skinwalker that took everyone by surprise.
'You can never know what might happen in this world, I suppose.'
Solomon Dragonheart was already a Grade 2 Saint at the age of 26, breaking the record of becoming the youngest saint in the entire world.
'A monster...'
He remembered that even though he didn't attend a lot of banquets or other social gatherings, the few he did attend, Solomon was always there as well.
And for some reason, the man always talked with Azriel.
'No, I know the reason very well...'
It was simply because Azriel was talented.
Yet, he never tried to show himself too much to the public or reveal his talent.
He'd rather train in secret or as much as he could. Of course, it was impossible to hide most things from his father or someone at the same level as him.
Like Ragnar and Solomon, who easily discovered how talented Azriel was but never tried to talk about it.
The reason for hiding his talent was simple.
Azriel just didn't want to bother competing with others and wanted to rather live a peaceful life instead.
There was no need for him to follow the same path as those close to him.
But of course, that didn't mean he slacked off entirely.
He trained diligently always, as his father understood his reason and made sure that he was still someone who could handle himself in combat when the need arose.
'Still, a lot of misunderstandings have come forth because of the previous Azriel's attitude...'
'Not that I don't understand him.'
Because of trying to hide his talents, obviously, people like Solomon got curious and always tried to talk to him and ask why he never revealed himself like his sister Jasmine.
Whenever Azriel talked with Solomon, he had one thought on his mind...
He was scary!
'That fucking creepy smile of his! And that look in his eyes!'
Shouting inside his mind, he suddenly heard Ragnar speaking through the drone.
"Azriel, Saint Solomon should arrive at your location in approximately 15 minutes."
'Fifteen minutes... good. I am really feeling tired and just want to sleep, dammit.
To think so many things would happen in such a short amount of time.'
Just for wanting to get a glass of water, he got transported into another world!
"I see, that is good to hear by the—?"
Azriel suddenly stopped talking as he noticed that the ground was enveloped in fog.
"The fuck?"
"Uncle Ragnar, do you know what is happening...?" The drone was luckily still close to him so he could still communicate with Ragnar.
Or so he at least hoped, but for some reason, he didn't hear any response from Ragnar.
A chill ran down his spine as he suddenly shot up and picked Void Eater, gripping it tightly.
'Dammit, what the hell is happening now?'
"Azri... can... hear me!? ...sten... un! ...ast!"
Suddenly he heard the voice of Ragnar through the drone, but he couldn't make out what he was saying as his voice kept getting cut off.
"What are you saying? I can't hear you. Your voice keeps cutting off!"
He could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he gripped his katana even tighter.
'...I should have moved to another location. Shit.'
The only sound was the wind howling, the drone next to him barely audible because of its advanced equipment.
The fog had already reached his knees and was rising slowly, steadily.
It seemed endless, an infinite blanket of gray.
Azriel's eyes darted everywhere, the silence around him becoming increasingly oppressive.
Ragnar's voice from the drone was gone.
'Fifteen minutes... just survive for fifteen minutes.'
Repeating this in his mind, he suddenly felt every hair on his body stand on end.
"Don't go."
"!?"
A voice suddenly whispered in his ear. He didn't waste time, leaping forward to distance himself.
Turning around quickly, he saw nothing where he had been standing.
The drone was gone too, consumed by the ever-rising fog, now up to his waist.
"W-what..."
Whoever had whispered in his ear was nowhere to be found.
His heart was beating so loudly it felt like it might explode.
He felt his blood run cold as he grit his teeth, trying to prevent his legs from shaking.
'R-run. I need to run and survive... Fifteen minutes. Ragnar said fifteen minutes until Solomon gets here. No way am I dying now and using [Redo].'
In the first place, he didn't even know how [Redo] would work.
Would it send him back in time, or would it regenerate his body?
He'd rather not find out.
"Azriel, can you hear me!? Azriel!"
Suddenly, Ragnar's voice came through, but he couldn't pinpoint its location.
It was as if Ragnar's voice was coming from everywhere around him.
'Just what the hell is happening!?'
"If you hear me, get out of there immediately! Don't stay in that fog no matter what!"
Ragnar's shout was enough to propel Azriel into a desperate sprint.
Yet it was too late.
The fog had risen to a level that obscured everything.
'Damn it! There has to be an end somewhere!'
He kept running straight, but no matter how far he went, nothing changed.
His surroundings were enveloped in a thick, unyielding fog.
He didn't know what void creature it belonged to, but he didn't want to find out.
'Run! Just keep running! Don't look back!'
"!?"
Azriel stopped in his tracks as he suddenly saw a dark silhouette ahead.
"W-what is that..."
Another chill ran down his spine, every fiber of his being telling him to run.
Yet he couldn't.
His feet were firmly planted on the ground, his eyes unable to look away from the dark silhouette.
Something told him...
If he looked away for even a second, he would die.
He couldn't make out the figure except for its shape.
It looked like a small child holding a stuffed teddy bear.
The little child was seated on the ground, hugging the bear and... sobbing.
"Don't go..."
"...please."
"Please don't leave me."
"Don't go..."
The sound of a little girl sobbing, repeating the same words over and over.
Her voice seemed to come from everywhere, just like Ragnar's.
Wherever the fog was, the voice was too.
"Don't go."
"!?"
Just like before, he suddenly heard the girl whispering behind his ear.
He didn't dare turn around this time.
Gripping Void Eater so tight his knuckles turned white.
'Don't look away... don't look away... Damn it, how many minutes have passed!?'
"Don't go." "Don't go." "Don't go." "Don't go." "Don't go." "Don't go."
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
"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.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen
Kommentar absatzweise anzeigen
Die Absatzkommentarfunktion ist jetzt im Web! Bewegen Sie den Mauszeiger über einen beliebigen Absatz und klicken Sie auf das Symbol, um Ihren Kommentar hinzuzufügen.
Außerdem können Sie es jederzeit in den Einstellungen aus- und einschalten.
ICH HAB ES