Chapitre 16: Summoned Creatures and the Champions

A minute or two passed. Hal finally moved his face away and beamed at Eli like a boasting toddler.

"We're like super heroes, you know!" he proudly declared, both hands on his hips.

"Huh?"

"We're in a mission to protect peace and order in this academy. You see, supernatural occurrences had been occurring here lately. I don't know about ghosts, but in reality, they were caused by different magical entities that are not from this universe. Said entities were actually fictional characters like us. They've been wreaking havoc for a while now, which made them the baddies. On the other hand, we, the good guys, were tasked to keep everyone safe from them."

"Magical... entities? Baddies? You mean to say, there are more Venuses out there?!"

"If you mean villains and villainesses, yes, there are tons of them lurking in the shadows. Anyways, have you noticed why the Book of Metis was titled as it was?"

"Uh...no. Even though I finished reading it, I had no idea."

"Metis was the author of that book, and she was the last descendant of the Great Archmage whose clan once protected the world like we do now. After the entire lineage was wiped out a long time ago, Metis created the book and casted a magic spell on it. She made a selected group of characters in her book come to life in order to continue protecting the world and preserving the Great Archmage's legacy in their place. However, that magic could only activate once those baddies reappear, which kinda happened about a year ago. And then- Umm... Eli? You still with me?"

First, a revengeful empress. Second, a gunman with royal blood. Now, a spell caster and Archmage.

Eli couldn't seem to take a break.

Her head was overheating from information overload.

As a sane human being, she can't grasp the idea that magic actually exists. As someone who almost died because of it, she's desperate to cling onto any possible explanations there are, thus finding it difficult to not believe what Hal was saying. As a bookworm, she was, at the very least, interested in the concept of real life fictional characters.

Yet, despite all these, she remained befuddled about everything, which led to her silence and spacey expression at the moment.

"Was that too much? I'm sorry if I'm not really making any sense right now..." he apologized, much to her surprise. He then averted his gaze and scratched the back of his head – a habit of his she eventually came to know of.

Her eyes then softened at this, thinking that despite his unusual demeanour today, he's still that considerate Hal.

Even with his stern tone, she knew how hard he's trying to explain everything, and going by how burdened he looked earlier, she also knew none of them wanted this complicated situation.

"I see, so that's why you're here now... You have a mission to accomplish, which required you to disguise as a student. You only got here during seventh grade. That means those villains and villainesses only appeared a year ago as well... Is that right?"

Hal was a bit taken aback at this.

Eli just seemed so focused at processing his words that he felt like hitting himself for thinking she wouldn't take everything he said seriously.

Somehow, her believing eased his worries a bit.

"But, Hal, was it also Metis who sent those baddies out?" she continued, now completely intrigued.

"No, it's the Summoner. All the characters from the Book of Metis that came to life were playing good roles in the story. We're called 'Champions'. On the other hand, the Summoner used different books and sent their stories' villains and villainesses out. He had first summoned them centuries ago, but the Great Archmage got rid of them, brought them back to their original worlds, and sealed each of the book he used so they wouldn't escape again. However, the Summoner vowed to come back and take revenge, so here we are, planning one heck of a welcome back party for that guy while eliminating every creature that he summoned again."

"Summoner, huh... All his summoned were villains and villainesses. Metis's summoned were good people... Then, what about Venus?"

Hal visibly stiffened at that.

The air then suddenly thickened, heavy silence weighing upon them.

Eli had no idea what she did this time. She just kept pushing Hal's buttons today - unknowingly, that is.

After asking about Venus, his body just turned rigid and he's now unresponsive.

"That's..." he trailed off after a disconcerting pause.

Eli brightened at this, relieved that she hadn't upset him by talking about that rival of his. Her expectant eyes now glistened with curiosity as she waited for his answer, but for some reason, Hal seemed to be shrinking at her eager expression.

"I don't know."

And Eli slumped.

Groaning, she just stared at him with a straight face.

She didn't know he's capable of such humour.

"Come on, don't look at me like that. I'm also in the dark here," he reasoned.

"It's actually weird. Abnormal, even. First of all, every summoned creature appeared a year ago – both the Champions and those baddies. That made the Empress somewhat a late bloomer. I'm not sure if it was the Summoner's newest summoning spell or something, but the Book of Metis should be off limits. Only Metis could use it. Second, the Empress is sharing a body with a normal person. That shouldn't be possible," he continued, pacing back and forth with a finger on his chin and looking deep in thought.

"Third, she's like a newborn baby! She doesn't know why she's here nor how she got here, which made her presence easy to track. She even believed she's reincarnated! Pfft...! Metis wasn't a Buddhist or something!"

Eli just watched him guffaw like there's no tomorrow.

He's really having fun making a fool out of Venus right now.

She bet he'd been holding himself back from pointing that out ever since their discussion began.

She also felt a little offended. After all, she theorized that Venus was indeed reincarnated so that she could live a second life and start a new beginning in this world.

Now, it turned out that it wasn't the case after all.

In the end, Eli felt disappointed that she wasn't able to prove that those reincarnation stories were possible to happen in real life.

"So that's that, your case is abnormal. I still had no clue how to approach it, but I really do wanna eliminate her as soon as possible..."

Then, the air suddenly turned chilly.

Looking at Hal's half-lidded eyes, a venomous glint barely visible, and heinous smile, Eli sensed a blizzard coming – one that would probably lead to a funeral.

"B-By e-eliminate, you m-mean... As in kill?" she stuttered, dread pooling at the pit of her stomach. Her fear seemed to amplify when Hal just tilted his head and showed an innocent smile.

"B-But if you do that, then I'll also..." she trailed off, eventually breaking into a cold sweat as he remained silent.

"He's finally showing his true colors, huh?" Eli just mentally grimaced.

Hal then scooted closer to her, arms folded on his back, and matched her eye level.

Silver grey eyes meet golden yellow ones.

Eli felt like being devoured by the enigmatic gleam glazing his amber irises.

The bookworm recalled how moments like this were supposed to be romantic and breath-taking – those that used to happen in storybooks where a girl melts in a puddle of goo while hogging a certain guy's attention. But thanks to Hal, she was once again reminded that they're living in a nonfictional reality.

Instead of melting, she's downright freezing.

"So, is that a yes?"

"Huh?"

Too lost in her myriad of thoughts, she failed to make out that he just said something.

Hal then grinned at her mischievously, squinting his eyes and pointing an accusing finger to her. "Don't tell me... you're thinking of naughty things? You're so sly, Eli~" he teased, mimicking a flustered teenage girl.

Eli only gave a deadpan look in reply, feeling a sudden urge to headbutt him right now.

"No, I'm not. You're such a creep, Hal."

"Says the one who's daydreaming all the time~"

"Wha-?! No, I wasn't! And can you please stop squirming like that?"

He just chuckled while batting his hand dismissively before eventually straightening himself and settling down.

"Okay then, I'll repeat what I said. Since I can't eliminate Venus while she's still in your body, I'll just have to watch over you and make sure she's not going to lose control again, at the very least. We'll also try to come up with a solution to this as soon as possible. Villains aren't allowed to stay in this world for too long," he explained.

Eli wanted to ask if they could just spare Venus somehow, but she'll just probably sound naïve and selfish.

When she promised her a new beginning, she really meant it. So, it saddened her that it's not going to be as easy as she thought.

After all, these people, whom she wished to consider as allies someday, are after her life. She's also in no position to dictate how they should deal with this whole sharing-of-body thing for she is still nothing but an outsider at this point.

"That's a lot of favours from me, yeah? So, in return of my good intentions, I want you to be my errand girl."

Dumbfounded, Eli just blinked twice before eyeing him incredulously.

"Oh, don't worry. I can take no as an answer."

"Then, it's a no-"

"If you want me to do it the easier way, that is."

It took a few seconds before the threat fully registered in her head.

Then, with a startled look, Eli nodded furiously, begging to be spared.

"I mean yes, yes! I'll be your errand girl or whatever!" she replied with a high-pitched voice.

Seriously, she couldn't take a break.

"That's good. Here's to working business together, then," Hal greeted with a wide grin, catching Eli off guard.

Under the red rays of twilight, his masculine frame appeared more conspicuous despite his short build. Lustrous jet black hair highlights his benignant facets despite how unkempt it is. Eyes, as bright as sunlight on a stream, smile at her amicably.

Eli isn't sure at what part of their agreement he's enjoying, but for some reason, he looked very delighted.

Now, what she really hopes to happen is that this once gallant classmate of hers will not pull off any trick at their new arrangement.

Forget all those fictional baddies, this inscrutable guy in front of her shouts nothing but trouble. What's more, he could actually shot a bullet at her any second, especially now that they'll be spending more time together.

However, for now, she decided to focus on a more crucial situation.

"Hal, may I ask something?"

"What is it?"

"Do you mind if I dirty the floor for a bit?"

"Huh?"

But it was much too late.

Eli, after staying suspended in mid-air for half an hour, suddenly threw up.

L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Aciee_GelaTin

This is the END of the First Arc (The Fallen Empress - Chapters 1 to 16)

Character Design Reference - David and Saul

The stories of Hal's ascendance as the new Emperor of Aristia and Venus's suicide are written after a significant event on the Bible. David (Hal) was proclaimed as the new king in replacement of Saul (Venus). In the end, Saul killed himself using his own sword, and was then named as the king who fell on his own blade - similarly, Venus committed suicide.

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