บท 21: Chapter 21: Planning Ahead {Rewritten}
"Hah… Hah… Well… Hah… This is bad," panted Eren, staring at the cavernous ceiling above him. His eyes traveled to his trembling palms. He heaved a sigh and closed his eyes in silence.
He had been trying to draw the magic circle for about three whole hours, and now, he realized just how screwed he was—completely out of mana. He placed his quivering hands back onto the ground and tried to stand, but then…
"Argh…" he groaned in pain, realizing the dire situation he was in. He was out of stamina and even a ounce of strenght— fucked beyond measure.
'Tsk, I messed up. I should have stopped when I noticed how futile my attempts were,' he thought to himself in annoyance, clicking his tongue in frustration.
Arrays are fully drawn magic circles programmed to perform specific functions. There are many types of arrays in this world, but among them is the trap array. This was Eren's goal: to create—or rather, replicate—the same type of array he frequently used in the game. An array capable of emitting immense bloodlust, scaring off any mana beasts that happened to pass by this cave.
But no… Luck just seemed to Looooooooove seeing him try.
"Fucking bad luck," he cursed angrily. He had never been fortunate; in fact, he was the embodiment of "bad luck." From being despised by his family and society to somehow turning into a psychopathic killer… He had no idea why he did it. Why had he become the very monster he despised? The same monster he detested whenever he looked at the game's villain, Eren.
Why…? There was no answer. He didn't derive any pleasure from seeing them suffer. In fact, he felt nothing. But for some messed up reason… He kept doing it. He kept taking revenge for reasons he didn't understand.
She tried to stop him. She cried for him to end it… She said she loved him. But… He just couldn't.
"Hah, what am I thinking again?" he asked no one but himself. Unbeknownst to him, a glistening bead of tears trailed down his left eye to his neck. Now…? He finally understood. After all, he could now feel everything.
"Hah. Let's just hope I make it past today," he said to himself, closing his eyes to calm his mind. He took this time to think about his plans.
From what he could gather, considering the time and his current condition, there was little time left for him to strategize or even figure out why Eren was here. The moment that damn neck chain decided it was time to head to the academy, everything would fall apart. He would experience tremendous pain from it, his mana flow would become chaotic, his location would be revealed to whoever was responsible for bringing him to the academy, and he'd be screwed beyond measure given his current location.
If he lost his mana in this wretched forest, it might be wiser to end his own life quickly rather than wait for some crazed beast to do it for him. Before his guardian could find him, he would probably be long gone, as mana beasts would easily detect him due to his chaotic mana discharge.
"Tsk. It just keeps getting worse," he sighed.
'Hmm. Kira should be somewhere around the eastern part of the human territory by now. That should be where she came into contact with that thing ,' he thought, contemplating his next move.
Though he thought that, he wasn't absolutely sure she would be there, as he had little to no knowledge of the background events before the main events began. But… during his gameplay, he did catch glimpses of scenes hinting at what really turned Kira into the sadistic villainess she would later become. It had something to do with hunting for a relic in one of the conquered worlds.
Conquered worlds were somewhat like dungeons. But they weren't; instead, they were other worlds linked to this one through portals. The guardians had explored these worlds before the mana beasts could escape through the portals, conquering them with no casualties.
However, unlike others, these worlds didn't disappear; something seemed to anchor them to this world. This wasn't unusual, as some portals just remained open, but since no one could pinpoint what kept them tethered to this world—and since all the dangerous mana beasts had been dealt with—these worlds became training grounds for the younger generation, giving them a taste of what they might face in the future.
And it was in one of these conquered worlds that Kira encountered that thing.
"I have to hurry; I can't let her get that relic…."
…
Well, it seems his true motive somehow leaked out.
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