Across the documents that Quimora have read, Gaul Illiadarne still had a family member that’s currently alive, his brother Raul. He shares the same surname with him and was the one who put the red mark signature on the last page. Knowing the project, he may have the clue on where the stones were being used.
Beneath the chirps of birds in the absence of the morning Sun, Xenos, who had just been released after a 24-hour detention, accompanied Guinelle as they searched for an isolated cabin in the forest outside the kingdom. As an additional security, they’re currently in their disguises as Shade and Saint, covering their faces with a mask. Quimora already provided their mission hours after she was kidnapped.
“Pretty derby sunshine, a moment of freedom! It’s better to accompany a bullheaded blue gem under the bright Sun’s burn than to jail yourself with an omega-maniac sexual offender. However, it feels like I’ve been followed by Eternity’s temple.”
“I told you not to mention the temple in front of me! Hmph! But… I’m proud you did the right thing once. It’s unusual, yet very moral. What motivated you in helping Gavin?”
“Good question, Miss Morals. It’s just a grudge against filthy pigs and lady tryhards. Their aristocratitudes feed their brains with nothing but rusty round coins. If you’re once a commoner, you should know the real definition of societal revolutions.”
“I’m once a commoner, and don’t start me with that. Weren’t you a part of a noble family before? Throwing all these anger issues feels like you’re attacking yourself. You’re a hypocrite.”
“Hey, I’ve spent millions of gold coins not to remember that. Don’t turn the tables to me. Classic move. I told you, most nobles only greed about cash and tips. They’re the roots of all evil. That’s the universal reason to hunt them and put ‘filthy pigs’ in their tombs.”
“You’re the sole definition of immoral.”
“Thanks! Also, we may have hit the jackpot.” The two stopped after encountering an aged cabin made entirely of wood. Judging from its outside appearance, it may only have a single huge room. “Far from what I imagined, I’m expecting the shut-in we’re looking for had a gorgeous manor with internet.”
“Shade, from now on, I request you to zipper your mouth. I’ll be doing the talking.”
The two ventured into the wooden door that seemed unlocked. Over the wooden birch flooring, a 60-year-old man sat on a rocking chair facing the open-air window. His hair, beard and mustache included, reached down his chest, a sole proof that he’d been isolated in the wild for a long time.
Saint approached the man and asked, “Raul Illiadarne… I hope you’re the man we’re looking for.”
The man replied with a cracking voice, “At last, you’re here to kill me. I already expected this day would come. Does this mean the knowledge of the experimentation already became public?”
“It’s immoral for us to murder someone who’s doing us a favor. We’re here only for the specifics of our mission.”
“I’m surprised,” he laughed. “All those that approached me had a cruel way of thinking. Those masks, they’re far the most menacing I’ve ever encountered in my life, far more dangerous from a rusty metal helmet.”
“Can you tell me more about your brother, Gaul Illiadarne? Only you may have the real meaning of these texts,” Saint asked as she showed him the image of the ancient writings she encountered at the Obsidian Asylum’s underground.
From the ashes of life's final breath, a radiant dawn shall arise—a generation of children, their eyes sparkling with newfound might. They will emerge as the kingdom's salvation, their tiny fists clenching the power to conquer the shadows of destruction.
As Raul wandered across the text, drops of tears crawled out of his eyeballs. “For the last 50 years… The gems will soon meet their ends… The last full moon that will appear at midnight… It will unveil a mystery, a shroud of terror. The kids… They need help.”
Shade inserted himself in the conversation, “Really? They needed help from those doctor-cursive letters? All I can understand was their thirst for punching faces.”
“Of course, you wouldn’t know… For the first thirty years since we’re born, I knew how indirect my brother was. He may have shown his might as the King’s military captain with might, but everytime he does home, I see him locking himself in his room and weeping, regretting every decision he made… wishing to die. I have the ability to save them; that’s what he always cries at midnight.”
“We heard that he was once a captain across all ranks. What did he do deserving of prison?” Saint asked.
“No one believed his word. Those stones were all the cause of this. Before he had the whole absurd experimentation reported to the royal bodies, his world turned upside down. Someone carved our names through that sinful document. We’re both red-tagged into an alliance to overthrow the kingdom. People called us crazy. My brother spent his entire life behind bars, while I spent mine hiding.”
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“That’s crazy, far worse than what happened to Julius Caesar,” Shade exclaimed. “Should those royal spaceships be held responsible for this?”
The old man shook his head. “We can’t blame the kingdom. We lost the race. I don’t have any personal grudge against them. We knew the risk of the stones, and we accepted the outcome. We may have taken a step, but it angers me knowing that no one can stop the crisis after decades. Contrary to my brother, I’m not the courageous type.”
“You mentioned the stones. They’re the Resurgence Gems that we’re looking for. Where are they?” Saint asked.
“Before I say anything, please let me know if the stones will be safe from dirty hands. I can rest easy if I know I can trust you.”
Saint kneeled down the ground, removed her mask, and clasped his hand. “Only we know where those stones belong. You can put your faith in us.”
The moment the old man noticed the embedded gem on Guinelle’s forehead, he chuckled, “It’s ironic for an Eternity’s saint to ask for faith.”
Guinelle put her mask back and replied, “I’ve been banished not long ago.”
Shade inserted, “Banished? You’re the first who went AWOL. You’re the sole proponent of antidisestablishmentarianism, a self-loathing traitor like me. Don’t you have the intention of changing the emblem of your magic staff?”
“Did I tell you to shut up? You’re not helping!” Saint stood up and exclaimed.
Raul laughed, like he’d been watching a romantic comedy. “When I watched you two, I remembered the past of arguing with my wife. You gained my trust.”
With her cheeks appearing red, Saint squealed. “O–Old man! You’re not helping too! I would never spend my life with this left-wing lunatic and hypocrite!”
“Oh, really!? I would also never give my life to some one-sided stiff-necked and controlling Hataria in disguise,” Shade replied.
“Who are you calling an imp!?”
“Hohoho! Back on track, were you after the stones, correct? I would personally appreciate it if you also ended this crisis, since they’re both connected.”
“Connected? Like industrial piercing or Jack and Jill connected?” Shade asked. “What a subtle change of joke atmosphere to terrifyingly serious.”
“The moment Gaul and I were born, it was already the start of the experimentation. For each stone, the expectancy of the plan extends for every thirty years. There should be four stones at the start, 120 years for the experimentation to evolve the ungifted subjects to dual-ability mutants. This project once involved Gaul who became the king of the hill of elimination, forcing to kill fellow children who don’t have a choice. With his borrowed abilities from the experimentation, he was noticed by the king and became his right hand man.
“But he never felt easy about the way the experimentation runs. His way of whistleblowing didn’t go through the king, but he successfully reclaimed the amethyst. The proponent of the whole thing doesn’t want the public to know the real reason, which is why he made succeeding charges against Gaul to send him to prison. We might be selfish if we want to destroy the experimentation as soon as possible, but the children’s lives also depend on that 120-year time span. Since you encountered his jail room, I suppose the amethyst is already in your possession. Right now, it’s the sixtieth year, and anytime now, the nightmare may begin.”
“Anytime now? Didn’t you say that only one of the gems went missing? That still makes it 90 years,” Saint asked.
“I never said that only one went missing. Look at the drawer.”
Shade and Saint looked at the drawer on the far corner of the room. As they pulled it out open, a wooden box appearing old welcomed them. As they opened it, the reflection of the red-bright octagonal ruby blinded them.
“I told you, it's a jackpot!” Shade exclaimed while putting the gem in his pocket. “You’re a player, gramps. Upright playing with us, I think you’re surrounded with gorgeous blonde chicks in the past.”
“That wasn’t a gift, but a message to you. I don’t want the kingdom to suffer longer in this cynanthropy. I would like to witness its end myself, before I die. Those stones should return to where they belong.”
“I’m still confused. If these stones would shorten the experimentation, what are its cons to them?” Saint asked.
“Cons? They might not think of it, but the final product of those experiments after 120 years will create god-like monsters no person can defeat. They’ll be able to take over the world with ease. With the lack of stones, those monsters would only retain half of their power. But even those, it would still be difficult for an army of knights to face them.”
“Understandable,” Shade nodded in agreement. “But dreary outdated gramps, you didn’t explain yet the hidden code behind those doctor texts on walls.”
“That’s–”
Before Raul had a chance to explain, a flying dagger from the window pierced through his heart, pinning his back on his chair. He lost his voice in an instance. The gleam of his pupils vanished into a blank flat stare as his body became a ragdoll of a lost soul.
Shade and Saint’s mouth fell open as they gasped. It’s the sole notice that the enemy may have tracked their whereabouts. “Gramps!” Saint squealed, but Shade covered her mouth.
“If you wash out your screams, expect those blades to multiply to hundreds and follow us. We already got our objective.”
Saint mumbled, “Let me go! There’s no way I’d let someone die in front of me!”
“Stubborn aren’t you? You could do as you wish, but you have no chance of buying his soul back to life. This isn’t a MOBA game. Soften your hardened skull and think.”
Saint, with her healing abilities, could only heal injuries if someone’s pulse was still beating. If a vital organ was hit, including the heart and the brain, her abilities are useless. Knowing this, she inhaled as much air as she could to calm herself while her mouth hid her gritting teeth.
Saint pulled out Shade's hand from her mouth and darted her furrowed eyebrows at him. “It’s an immoral act to touch me without my permission. I’ll forgive you this once. It seems that we have a group of displacement where I can vent my anger out.”
Shade grinned, “That’s what you call a violent reaction.”
As they set out of the cabin’s door, an army of men in notable helmets surrounding the cabin greeted them. Saint extended her hand in the open air. Soon, a swarm of glittering dotted lights, looking like fireflies, combined together below her palm until it summoned a staff with a crystal ball on its end and a haloed eagle emblem on its center handle.
Shade uttered, “Killing a likable character… Maybe we’re nearing the climax.”