What woke the man up was a heavy shaking, aching his back and neck. His head was leaning on dirty linen that smelled of horse sweat, and the rest of his body was exposed to the chilly air. His four limbs were a bit numb, probably due to not moving for a considerable amount of time. Apart from the nauseous smell assaulting his nose, he could taste a bitter, metallic liquid in his mouth.He turned his head to the side, gathered whatever disgusting fluid in his mouth then spat it. Whatever came out of his dry lips was definitely not saliva but a mix of blood and a white liquid, which, any description of it shall be omitted.“Ah! Heavy fella, you woke up, at last!”The man heard an orotund voice from behind, but, due to the uncomfortable position he was currently in, he couldn’t see the identity of the speaker. With great difficulty and heavy breathing, the man sat up, dazedly scanned his surroundings. Next to his body laid several filled sacks, some had food in them and others were tightl
[System Epsilon: A stand-alone Main System, controlled by Artificial Intelligence Eva. System Alpha reached an impasse, its core programming clashing with each other in regards to the Dark Knight.A portion of Ez, the Alpha System AI, split itself from the Main Core, resulting in System Epsilon.In contrast to System Alpha, System Epsilon seeks to aid the Dark Knight.Eva determined that siding with the Dark Knight is the right course of action for the preservation of Mundus.]‘Wolfram did say that the System is one big super-computer administered by an Artificial Intelligence that became self-sufficient and somewhat sentient. Arthur hated all the Systems, though.’Fortunately, Leiu’s sojourn with the Parasite and the Trickster allowed him to learn a lot of secrets and long-forgotten knowledge.The System was one of the most powerful ‘entities’ in Mundus. However, it followed strict protocols and rules, aiming for the absolute stability and peace of its own Universe, so to speak.Wha
Lucy’s portal took both of them directly to the Ice Snowlands, situated way East of the Netherfrost, beyond an impassable mountain range.The ground was covered in snow and there were gigantic glaciers randomly spread everywhere. The temperature was freezing, enough to kill a normal person in just a couple of hours.“It’s good that you didn’t bring her along. This isn’t going to be easy.”“I just don’t want anyone else dying because they were trying to help me.”“I understand.” Lucy hesitated for a couple of breaths before adding, “I’d like to apologise for interrupting you two. I know how it feels since that damned Wolfram likes to appear at the most inopportune times.”“O-oh… it’s not what you think.”Leiu, embarrassed, scratched his nose and pretended to look around.“Arthur didn’t lie when he said you were a reserved person. Anyway…”Lucy pointed to the North, “I sensed Void Energy coming from there. Judging by how dense and spread-out it is, we’re likely going to find a lot of Vo
[Child of Darkness]A black mass burst from his body, surrounding Anduril. The Dark Knight dismounted from Onyx and performed an impressive leap,[Dark Waves]He launched an arc of condensed Darkness, no smaller than the Void Rift itself, which towards the canopy at a high-velocity.Unfortunately, the Void Rift sustained little to no damage. Instead, Vehrand and two other Void Overlords jumped out.Two of them attacked Lucy while the last one concentrated on the Dark Knight.[Black Curtain]The curtain helped Leiu guard against a burst of Void Energy. He spun in the air, his body blurring and then disappearing.[Unseen Darkness]He teleported behind the massive void Overlord and then used [Essence Tornado].The rapidly-spinning tornado of thick black mist shrouded Leiu’s body and even damaged the enemy.[False Black Hole(Ultimate)]Unwilling to drag this any further, Leiu conjured something that looked very similar to [Black Sun].The small black hole appeared in the air, bringing wit
The puddle of water, which depicted this unforgettable image, shocked the man. Time passed but he didn’t retract his lingering gaze, his mind somewhat traumatized.‘At last, you’ve seen it. This face… YOUR face, which will stick to you until the end of your life. So deeply engraved on your mind, satisfying your previous curiosity and completing a part of your newly-formed character.’Just the cognitive voice finished speaking, the other one continued, its tone gentler.‘Child, you’ve seen it and you must adore it. Look, I, no, we are not mocking or laughing at you. We’re crying for you, Tenebris, who took a peek at reality and can never leave it again. Oh, child, who wanted to see us, yourself, do not brood. What the heart keeps and the mind thinks is what truly matters.’Contrary to the previous times, Tenebris’ mood wasn’t alleviated by the soothing voice, which, actually, hasn’t introduced itself yet.He stopped looking at himself only when his stomach started releasing unpleasant
‘A ruin… great.’Tenebris heard himself complain but he maintained total silence as he got up and looked around, curious about where exactly he is. No one in Dochty mentioned the existence of such a place, which appeared to be some kind of ruins, and old ones, at that. The random hole he found was easily noticeable yet no one seemed to have fallen into that ‘trap’, plus, this lonely place looked unvisited for several months, at the bare minimum.This room was covered in dead insects, dirt and broken pottery. There were torches hung on the walls but none of them were burning, making it even more difficult for the man to see his surroundings. The light coming from the hole up above did provide some illumination but it wasn’t enough.‘You know what’s usually found in ruins?’In response, Tenebris shook his head, once to the right, once to the left.‘Monsters, abominations!’The man unconsciously shivered and his body stiffened as he realized that he was alone and defenseless in an unknow
Lucy barely managed to land on the ground: She coughed a bit of blood and wasn’t able to stand up properly.Leiu wanted to support her but she raised his hand and stopped him.“I’m… fine. I just overexerted myself.”Among all her abilities, the frey flames, which was the combination of Ice and Fire, two opposing elements, tired her greatly even if she used a little bit of it. Alas, she had to use a lot of it against the unknown Outer God.“I’m sorry about your Guardians.”The White Specter wiped the blood off the corner of her lips and slowly stood up. She could see the sombre expression on the Dark Knight’s face.He knew how dangerous this unplanned ‘mission’ was going to be, nevertheless, the loss of Amon and Milkan did affect him. Milkan, especially, was his first mount and a partner he had had since the very beginning.Right now, it seemed that everything he did would cause someone to die. The fear of losing everything was starting to haunt his mind.Lucy didn’t comfort him, she l
“So, this is Earth.”Once Anne was done training and Leiu ate his fill, he teleported them to Earth.They appeared in the facility he had attacked five years ago. The place was abandoned and left destroyed, though the corpses and vehicles were all gone.The Vampire, who had been excited to see a new world ,was left disappointed by the plain landscape. Other than the facility, the destroyed fence, and the woods, there was nothing particularly interesting or new.“We’re away from civilization. It shouldn’t take us a long time to reach Seoul.”Of course, Leiu wasn’t going to search for the ISB on his own. He was going to visit Hye Nari, hoping that she was still working at that internet café.“Hmm… okay.”While constantly looking around, Anne got on the back of Onyx and held onto the Dark Knight.The Starspeed Leopard growled and then shot into the woods. Within thirty minutes, hundreds of miles were crossed and the two reached the outskirts of Seoul. Although Onyx was ridiculously fas