บท 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.

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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.

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'...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.