บท 18: Teleportation

Eleanor's POV

When we stepped outside, the streets were teeming with people, all frozen in place, their faces painted with expressions of sheer terror and disbelief. Their collective gaze was fixed skyward, and as I followed their line of sight, an icy chill gripped my heart. A massive shadow loomed over the entire city, blanketing it in an oppressive darkness.

I craned my neck to see its source, and my breath caught in my throat. Hanging in the sky, grinning maliciously, was the very same demon face etched onto Ethan's back. It was gargantuan, easily spanning a hundred meters in width, its malevolent features seemingly alive with dark energy. The pressure it exerted was suffocating, an overwhelming force that felt as though a supreme devil had cast its gaze upon the city, ready to obliterate it in an instant.

The face cackled, its laughter reverberating like thunder, sending waves of terror rippling through the crowd. It radiated an aura of pure evil, celebrating something unfathomable while inducing panic and despair in every soul who beheld it. My heart sank as I realized the implications that any hope of concealing Ethan's awakening ceremony had now been utterly dashed.

Still, a small flicker of optimism surfaced in my mind. The authorities in Dark North City and Ice Emperor City might struggle to link this epic phenomenon to the awakening of a mere human boy. It was far more plausible that they would attribute it to something else surely a resurgence of the demon clans, the birth of a sinister artifact, or the unsealing of an ancient, otherworldly horror. These possibilities, though grim, were less likely to lead them to Ethan.

I drew a steadying breath, trying to calm my nerves, but the demon face shifted. Its gaze seemed to lock onto us directly, a wicked glint in its glowing eyes. It let out one final, bone-chilling laugh before dissolving into tendrils of smoke and dissipating into the air, leaving behind an oppressive silence.

The weight in my chest refused to lift. Though the apparition had vanished, the sense of foreboding remained, a grim reminder that our lives had been irrevocably altered. I, father, Duke Aelric and Aurelia moved to our castle to suppress the news of Ethan's disappearance as everyone in the castle knew about Ethan's awakening ceremony and the magic association could relate the two incidents even if the possibilities were low.

Ethan's POV

Am I dead? Have I been reincarnated again? What will happen to Mama and Aurelia now that I'm gone? These fragmented thoughts flitted through my mind as I drifted between semiconsciousness and the engulfing void of darkness. My memories were hazy, my awareness slipping in and out like waves against a battered shoreline.

When I finally regained consciousness, an unbearable pain racked through my body, so intense it felt as if every bone had been shattered into pieces. Yet, amidst the agony, one thing became clear that I wasn't dead. But I was no longer with my family. The realization made me a little sad but I recovered quickly as I was not a small boy with little emotional maturity.

I struggled to open my eyes, forcing my lids apart, but all I was greeted with was an oppressive darkness. My body refused to obey me; every attempt to move was met with searing pain. It was then I became aware of the injuries that riddled me. Numerous gashes and tears marred my skin, the dried remnants of blood forming a crusty barrier over my wounds. I noticed the heavy, metallic scent of blood lingering in the air and realized with a start that I was lying in a pool of my own blood. It was a miracle that I was still alive.

The environment around me was suffocating and eerie. The faint, damp echoes hinted that I was in a dark, desolate cave. The still air carried a faint metallic tang, mingling with the heavy silence that pressed down on me. My body refused to move, the pain anchoring me to the cold, hard ground. Left with no other choice, I resolved to remain where I was until my body healed enough to allow me to stand and walk.

As I lay there, enveloped in darkness, my thoughts turned to the events surrounding my awakening. The memory was fragmented, but I carefully sifted through the pieces, trying to make sense of what had happened. My awakening had been extraordinary and it was something that seemed to defy the norm. I had not only awakened the ice element with an affinity of the legendary grade, but also, to my shock, the dark element.

The dark element was infamous and feared in the four regions beyond the Southern Shadowlands. Those who awakened it outside the Shadowlands were seen as aberrations and cursed beings who brought calamity wherever they went. Exile to the Shadowlands was often their only fate. But the grade of my dark element affinity wasn't ordinary, it too seemed to be legendary, perhaps even higher.

My brows furrowed as I dug deeper into the last moments before my consciousness gave way. I recalled a surreal and uncontrollable transformation. My body had begun to grow, expanding unnaturally, and an overwhelming surge of power had coursed through me, nearly tearing me apart. My mind raced as I pieced together the clues, and a conclusion formed in my head.

My affinity with the dark element didn't seem to be random but it could be attributed to my lineage, to my demon father and the bloodline of the noble demon clan I carried. It explained the unnatural growth I experienced as the dormant demon half of me had awakened, marking me as more than human. This revelation should have filled me with clarity, but instead, it left me grappling with the enormity of what I had become.

As I wrestled with my thoughts, a sudden shrill ghost like voice shattered the silence, reverberating through the cavern,

"Have you thought enough, boy?"

The evil contained behind the tone sent shivers down my spine.