Chapter 70

Lullabies of the Damned

They hung by their necks, struggling to breathe.

The world had learned of the proper way to hang a person centuries ago–drop them from an appropriate height to immediately break their necks, causing them to lose consciousness and die shortly after. It was humane and far more efficient, as well as a generally accepted mode of execution worldwide. However, they were short-dropped.

Twelve of them, all humans, all youths barely out of their teens, hung by tight ropes that wound tightly around their necks due to their own weight, causing slow, agonising asphyxiation. Their faces were red, the skin around their lips blue, and their heads appeared swollen. Some had tiny, pinpoint red spots around their eyes, some yet had bloodshot eyes, and some had dark, wet spots on their crotch. It was an unseemly, horrid sight unfit for the civilised, but those basking in it were enjoying it.

A’stul sat at the front, his tall frame bathed by the light of the campfire, his gaze appearing vacant. The others around him snickered at the sight, gleeful at the suffering, some even tossing stones or embers of wood at the hanging humans.

There was a thick scent of blood in the air awash with the primordial hunger within their souls. The whole world would condemn the sight, their methods, their glee, but they did not care–their rage wasn't momentary, born out of a spur. It was deeper than the humans could possibly imagine. It was a stirring volcano that remained dormant for thousands of years, biding its time. And now… now it was erupting.

After all, what they were doing was a mirror of what was done to them–from the onset, they were hunted down by humans and enslaved, deprived of life. Beaten. Abused. Exploited. Tormented for their sadistic musings. Not once, not twice. Not for a year, or for two. But for thousands of years. For as long as there were human Empires strewn about the lands. Yes, it all began with them. With the humans.

“Dear Ser, what about the… human women?” one of the young boys woke A’stul from his daze.

“What about them?”

“Before… before we hang them, could, could we… enjoy them? He he~”

“... enjoy them?” A’stul’s expression darkened, his voice kindling with rage.

“S-Ser, no, I–”

“Enjoy them?!" a roar blistered out as A'stul reached out and grabbed the boy by his throat, lifting him up. The boy struggled, but it was a pointless struggle. He could only flay his legs in a desperate bid to touch the ground. "You want to enjoy those filthy mutts? Sure. Enjoy them." A'stul squeezed his fingers tightly and squashed the flesh and tendons, decapitating the boy swiftly. The motionless body fell as the shriek of blood sprayed out omnidirectionally. His dark gaze shifted away from the eyeless head and onto the rest. "Is there anyone else who wishes to enjoy humans?"

“N-no, Holy One…”

“Who, who would enjoy those filthy things?”

“That’s right. Kyet must have been bewitched by one of those vile whores!”

“Yes, yes, definitely! Not the rest of us, Holy One!”

They were lying–of course, they were lying. A'stul saw it, in their eyes. He'd been seeing it for a long time now… that barbaric desire. It was the passage of time, the waning of years, the taming of aeons–even the Noble Blood of Spryaes has been diluted, disharmonized over the passage of years. They yearned for the wants of a mortal, for the filth itself.

Looking at their terrified expressions, A’stul sighed inwardly and tossed away the head, retreating. It didn’t matter. After all, unlike what the children believed, this was not the Rekindling. This was not the Noble Bloods taking back the world and ushering in a new era. This… was the last whimper of a rotted yearning, of a thing that sold itself to live.

A'stul, after all, was the last of his kind. The rest did not know–they lived a lie, a scripture, a belief that held their heads high. Spryaes… would be no more. He was, after all, the last pure blood. A child born of two Nobles. Humans have long since doused their lineage with filth… mixed-bloods were everywhere. Day after day, year after year, A'stul fought his deepest desires to eradicate them all. They were all a reminder, after all, of what his Blood had been through.

But… soon, it would all be over.

He was the last one. He was not on a mission to reclaim reality–it was a dream he sold to the lesser ones, to use them, to make them soldiers for his cause. The Cause of Dying. He sang to them the lullaby of the damned and they all believed. They believed in a lie. A story.

Dear Child, he recalled his father’s parting words. Burn it all. Them, us, the rest. Life… is undeserving. End it.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

My love, he recalled his mother’s parting words. Kill them. Avenge me. Bear the burden of the King. Let our Blood wear the Crown one last time… and end it all.

He would be the last. And the world would know it.

**

Ethan cringed inwardly at the picture–a spiralling pillar of light blazing out of a vortex… sorted in the middle of his hometown. Not only had the Tunnel opened earlier than expected, it also opened in a completely different location. But, far more importantly, once again… the reality changed. It wasn’t just a Tunnel. It was a Field Tunnel.

It’s impossible, Ethan had already concluded as soon as Ronald showed him the picture. Even if he was five times stronger than right now, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to that monster. This was doomed from the onset–in some number of days… it would spill out, and that thing would come out… and it would be over. Over before it even began.

But, did it make any sense? Why? Why were these changes, so monumental that they dwarfed his own middling with the timeline, happening consecutively? Once was expected, and perhaps explainable as a random coincidence. Twice? A staggering pattern. Thrice?

"... someone's fucking with me," there was no other explanation. Someone or something was going out of their way to undermine this timeline. To undo any chance of things going better for humanity. "Tian. How many things would be aware of your actions?" Ethan asked.

“I… I don’t know,” the fairy replied anxiously. Layla had realised that something was terribly wrong and had turned silent. Ronald, on the other hand, also recognised that something was monumentally off. He’d never seen Ethan so… distraught. Almost defeated, even.

“Think. Hard,” Ethan said. “This makes absolutely no sense. You should know as much.”

“I know… I know it makes no sense.”

“Even if my theory that some other people ‘came back’ with me and were fucking with the timeline far more than me was true,” Ethan added. “It still wouldn’t explain this. You know what monster lives in that place. The only reason the world didn’t fall apart was because it was an ordinary Tunnel.”

“Eight.”

“Hm’”

“Eight… Existences should be aware…” Tian mumbled. “I, I don’t know if there are ‘others’ like you. But if there are not… eight… should be aware.”

“Eight, huh?” Ethan sat down, exhaling deeply. “Who?”

“Ethan–”

“Who?” Ethan interrupted. “At this point, does it even matter? Unless we can figure out who it is and why they are fucking with us, none of this matters. If that thing gets out of the Tunnel, the world’s finished.”

Silence fell over them. Ethan knew that Tian, even if he wanted to relay ‘who’ the eight were, likely couldn’t. After all, whatever ‘they’ were, to be able to resist the effects of time-reversion meant that, for Ethan, they were untouchable. Even if they did want to just mess with him and end his second life as quickly as it began, what else could he do? At this point, it seemed his best bet was to take Layla, find some fertile land, dig a mile-deep tunnel beneath it and live out their lives there.

“Hm?” a notification window appeared abruptly, causing him to frown. Once again… it was another anomaly. A thing that previously did not exist.

[Emergency Quest!]

[A new Tunnel, ‘Noble’s Last Roar’, has appeared! Due to a strange manifestation of Mana, its nature has completely changed! However, there is a way to reverse it!]

[Gather the following: [Wildtree Seed], [Dimensional Flux], [Warping Needle], and [Destabilising Stone]. Once you have gathered all four, Quest will be updated]

[Materials Gathered: 0/4]

[Time Remaining: 1356:44:39]

“Eh? Ethan, I just got something called an Emergency Quest,” Ronald said.

“I’m pretty sure everyone did…”

Ethan’s frown had relaxed, however. There was a way, in the end, a way to prevent the second cataclysm. He was aware of all four items, though how precisely those four items themselves could undo the Tunnel back into an ordinary one… he had absolutely no idea. There were about two months left until the Tunnel blew open, but it wasn't as though it would be a walk in the park either. Ethan had already recognised that the changes in pace were brutal, which likely meant that the Tunnels where the other four items were got would also be much, much more difficult.

Another one of his worries was that all four of the items were of [Unique] category, meaning that only one of each existed. If someone else somehow managed to grab one and simply refused to come forward believing they could get rich with it somehow… Can’t let that shit happen. More so now than ever before, he desperately needed Delilah and needed her to have gotten good enough to maintain at least two portals.

Only one of the four Tunnels–the one that rewarded [Warping Needle]--was in the U.S., while the other three were rather scattered. One, in particular–the one which yielded [Destabilising Stone]--was situated in Australia, deep inside the Simpson Desert, one of the most inhospitable places of the Australian Outback.

However, that Tunnel worried him the least–because it was so far away from any civilization and basically dab smack in the middle of nowhere, chances were that nobody would come up on it, let alone be strong enough to clear it. The other two, however, were different stories.

‘Lonely Eden’ was the Tunnel that yielded [Wildtree Seed] as one of its rewards and would appear in the middle of Shanghai in about a week or so if nothing changed. Ethan had deliberated to some extent on whether he'd attempt to gain access to the Tunnel even before today as it dropped a couple of nice Vitality-based items but ultimately gave up on it as he felt it would be too much work and too risky. However… he no longer had a choice. Even if it was risky, he'd have to go over and clear it and then do his best to run away from the Chinese military.

‘Sea of Void’ was the last of the four Tunnels and the one where there was a chance to get [Dimensional Flux]. It was also the first Tunnel of its kind, the so-called ‘Grinding Tunnels’, that could never be closed. Instead, they were turned into training fields for Second Generation Awakened and onwards. There weren’t many of them and a lot of heads rolled over who would be the owner of those Tunnels due to just how valuable they were. Nonetheless, it was still the most difficult one to access for no other reason than the country it would spawn in: North Korea.

The single saving grace was the Tunnel spawned well north-east into the country’s borders, some forty miles from its border with Russia.

It would be far from easy, but at least he had just shy of two months to do it. However, it would become that much easier if Delilah had the ability to create the portals–at the very least one, for China, but preferably two or more–as it would cut down on travel tremendously. As such, it was time to visit ‘Michael’ and start planning.

“Ethan?” Ronald looked up and asked.

“... you’ll have to get over your trauma a bit faster than expected,” Ethan said. “We’re gonna get real busy for the next two months.”