Chapitre 20: Chapter 20
Effie was the first human the cohort encountered on their way to the City. Her laid-back and carefree nature made it easy for the cohort members to befriend her. Unlike many others, she actually enjoyed being in the Dream Realm. Kiyotaka still vividly remembered the conversation between her and Sunny, her words still echoing in his mind.
"...I don't think this place is as bad as all of you seem to believe. Everyone in this city is convinced that this is hell. But to me, it's a paradise. You wouldn't understand. But for some of us, the real world was more of a hell than the Dream Realm."
Her words made Kiyotaka evaluate her differently and find parallels within himself. For him, the real world of the White Room was also akin to hell. Compared to it, the Dream Realm was a paradise.
There were many things Kiyotaka and Effie had in common. For example, his Aspect ability and her Dormant ability both involved the augmentation of their bodies. The only difference was that Kiyotaka could choose which parts of his attributes to boost more with the help of Essence, a trick he learned after he reached 500/1000 War fragments.
Yes, in the span of two months, Kiyotaka actively worked as a Hunter, accumulating more War fragments and soul shards. Hunting different creatures also helped him collect various meats. Why would that matter? Because he often brought them to the Gluttonous Huntress next to him.
Taking out his bag, he threw it to her.
"Here, meat from a delicious two-meter-high lobster I killed."
Effie's eyes shone with happiness as she began consuming the meat.
"Thank you, Kiyopon! I felt today was going to be a special day!"
As she consumed the meat, she didn't forget to return a "part" to Kiyotaka—well, if 5% of the original could still be classified as a part.
Looking at Kiyotaka's expression, Effie couldn't help but tease him a bit.
"How are you liking it here, Kiyopon? Alone, with a beautiful woman like me... aren't you feeling butterflies?"
Ayanokouji looked at her with the same indifferent expression that masked whatever thoughts he had.
Effie was disappointed and dramatically faked sadness.
"You are no fun! That doofus Sunny was quite fun and easy to tease. I swear I will break that cold exterior of yours one day. What would you do then?"
Kiyotaka gazed at Dark City in the distance and spoke.
"Who knows?"
Effie's eyebrows twitched a little at his vague answer as she sighed and spoke.
"As vague as always... anyways, I hope that doofus is doing great. Some people speculate he went mad in there."
They both looked at Dark City in the distance with somber faces.
---
Sunny looked grimly at the corpse of the Blood Fiend, then in the direction of the approaching footsteps.
Who was crazy enough to remain in this cursed city during the night? Only a complete lunatic would do something that stupid. All the sane people were long gone from the streets, not to mention that very few were willing to enter the ruins to begin with.
As he retrieved the soul shard from his prey, he heard faint footsteps. Sending his shadow to investigate, he saw a man in a red tunic carrying the Bloodsword. The man stopped and looked directly at where Sunny's shadow hid itself.
'Curses! It's that emotionless Kiyotaka!'
Kiyotaka stopped a few steps away from Sunny, his cold gaze meeting Sunny's wary eyes. For a moment, neither spoke. Then, Kiyotaka broke the silence.
"Sunny," he said calmly, "it's good to see you."
Sunny raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming on his lips despite the tension.
"Good to see you too, Kiyotaka. Surprised you came all the way here just to say hi."
The silence returned as neither spoke . Unable to hold back his curiosity Sunny broke the silence.
"Why have you come? I thought you had quite a position being under that Bright Lord bastard? Why come to a madman?"
Kiyotaka didnt answer him and just silently looked at Sunny's eyes . Then he turned back and left the ruins, leaving Sunny dumbfounded by whole encounter.
'What the hell is happening? Did i hallicunate or did he just left?'
---
At night, Cassie was helping out the people in the tents outside the castle, spreading the word of hope. She talked about Lady Changing Star's true name and how she was their savior from this hell. Caster , who also survived to this point was maintaining the order .
Nephis herself helped to defend the tents from Nightmare Creatures of the night and heal those who were wounded. Her mighty look and cold exterior added an aura of a commander one could trust. All of that, coupled with the growing hate towards Gunlaug's rule, made people secretly gather and talk about possible rebellion.
As Nephis looked at the progress they had made, she couldn't help but feel satisfied. As she killed another Fallen Beast, her footsteps came to a halt. In the distance, a lone figure of a man could be seen walking towards the castle. The man wore a crude-looking monocle on his right eye. It was none other than Kiyotaka, returning from his trip. Before entering the castle, his eyes met Nephis's. There was a certain mutual understanding in their eyes.
They knew that the calm before the storm was about to end.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Rick_playback
Rick_playback Thats it for today . Do not expect any chapter tommorrow as i will spend my time mostly researching the Forgotten Shore , its lore and everything else.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone