“YOU!” shouted Wrath, pointing his sword up at me.
He swung his sword and a sharp arc of aura ripped through the air in my direction. It was still high enough in the air that I had time to dodge, but only barely. Seeing me still unharmed, Wrath screamed in rage and leapt at me, brandishing his sword. I used [Blink] to get out of his path, but he instantly spun to face me, bringing the blade in a full circle, and sending another aura arc at me. He undershot, only hitting my legs, but the force behind the blow was almost enough to dispel the [Astral Projection]
He landed hard on the roof of one of the castle’s towers, raining pieces of the roof tiles on the ground below.
“Come out and fight me yourself, coward!” he shouted as my illusory feet reformed.
“Is Patience really dead?” I asked
“You have eyes, don’t you?” he spat. “Where are you? You came back quickly, so your real body must be nearby.”
I flinched as his aura pulsed. He was trying to locate my real body. It was far enough away that I still had time, but as powerful as he was, he would eventually figure out where it was. Patience told me not to bother fighting him, and I didn’t plan to, but I needed answers to what had just happened. She promised that Wrath wouldn’t be a problem, and then went and died to him. Why did she say those things to him? Was she trying to antagonize him? Did her power fail somehow?
“What did she say to you?” I demanded.
He ignored me, focusing his attention on expanding his search.
“Answer me!” I shouted, sending a [Greater Magic Missile] at his head.
While the spell was only at half power, since I was sending it from my [Astral Projection] rather than my main body, I still expected him to at least react to it, and distract him, but he completely ignored it. I watched as the invisible projectile turned his face into a bloody hole before crashing into the tower behind him. Seconds later, his head was whole again, looking no worse for wear, aside from the few drops of blood that managed to escape the wound and drip down his neck.
“What the fuck?” I said.
I tried a different tactic, casting [Suffocate], creating a vacuum around his head, but he didn’t react to that either. He completely stopped breathing, but his heartbeat never faltered, and his aura continued shifting around him. Seeing that trying to kill him was pointless, and that his search area was getting wider by the second, I dispelled my illusion, and teleported back to the clearing in the forest outside Bizet. He was clearly not going to answer any of my questions, and staying in the area would be pointlessly dangerous.
I started pacing the clearing, as I fumed over what had just happened. His ability was bullshit. I obliterated his brain, but he didn’t even flinch, and apparently he didn’t need oxygen either. How come he got to be immortal, while all I got was a stupid mind shield? There had to be conditions, right? Pride wouldn’t have given me such a weak ability if they knew that the other Sins would have abilities like this, right? No, maybe they would. Something about me not needing a super strong ability because I’m already the best. Fucking hell.
And what the hell was Patience doing? Why did she go and get herself killed like that? She promised to take care of Wrath, but Wrath didn’t look very taken care of to me. If anything, she just made him stronger by giving him the experience for killing her. Was she actually on his side the whole time?
Anatoly would know something, right? She was staying with him, and he seemed to know the plan. Was he in on it? If so, was he really on my side? He claimed to be, and I believed him, but Patience said she was on my side too…
I would need to talk to him again, but was it safe? If he betrayed me too, it could be dangerous. I wasn’t even strong enough to challenge Natalya yet, and from what I had gathered from our conversations, Anatoly was over a thousand years older than her. He didn’t fight Demon Kings like Natalya did, but he could have in the past, so I had no idea how strong he really was.
It was probably still worth a shot to go talk to him. Even if he betrayed me, he was no monster. He wouldn’t start a fight with me in the middle of the city. The only danger would be if Sylvia were there, but I could scan for that before engaging. Without the element of surprise, she would not pose a problem.
I stopped my pacing and prepared to head back to Bizet, but before I could teleport away, I saw a glint out of the corner of my eye. My head snapped toward the stump that Patience had been sitting on just a couple hours earlier. Nestled between the peeling bark and dry wood, there was a small green crystal.
Guessing what it might have been, I walked over and picked it up, feeling the mana circuits within before imbuing it with mana of my own. An illusion of Angelina a tenth the size of the original appeared in front of me.
“I’m sorry you had to see that, but it had to be done,” she said. “And do not worry. I did not betray you, nor did I lie to you about Wrath. He won’t be a problem for you anymore.”
“It sure as hell didn’t feel that way,” I said.
I knew she couldn’t hear me, but I figured that if she could see the future, she would already know, and would have prepared a response.
“I know, but trust me. Give it some time. It won’t be immediate, but if you ignore him, eventually, he will disappear.”
“Couldn’t you have just killed him outright?” I asked. “Or at least told me how to do it?”
“No,” she said. “And I will not elaborate.”
“Bitch.”
“Says the one who wanted to make me her Thrall. How would you have explained that one to the church?”
“It would be for the greater good,” I said.
“For your greater good, perhaps,” she said. “But I do not have time to debate morals with you. This crystal only has a few minutes of recording, and it is quickly running out.
“Since becoming the Godly Emissary of Patience, I have seen countless futures. Of all of them, the best ones are the ones where you are the victor of this Demonic contest. During my year in prison, I spent nearly all my time sifting through futures, trying to find the perfect one with the least casualties. I finally found it, and since then, every single move I’ve made has been calculated. Even within this message, every word was chosen with the utmost care so as not to do anything that might alter the future I’ve envisioned. A future where you succeed.
“I know you do not like me very much, and you trust me even less, but every word I’ve spoken is the truth, and I think you know that. So go. Get stronger. Defeat the Demon Kings. Become what you already know you are capable of. And try to think of others from time to time. I know you’re capable of it, no matter how much you pretend otherwise. Goodbye, and thank you for your efforts to ensure Astraeus’ future.”
The illusion disappeared, and the crystal broke into pieces in my hand. For a moment, I stood still, watching the green shards slip between my fingers and decorate the dust at my feet.
“Goddammit,” I said.
I stomped the glittering green rocks into the dirt in anger and curse the seer under my breath. That stupid crystal was worse than just being left to wonder. Why had she even left it behind in the first place? Was it just to rub it in my face that I was dancing in the palm of her hand, even after death? And what the hell did she mean, ‘think of others’?
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“If you weren’t already dead, I’d pray for you to get struck by lightning,” I muttered, kicking the dirt.
The worst part was that there was nothing I could do. She set everything up so that it would go the way she wanted it to, and no matter what I did, I would be playing right into her hands.
I sat down on the stump and took a deep breath to calm myself. What’s done is done. There was no point in getting angry and irrational over it. In fact, it wasn’t worth thinking about at all. If she had already predicted everything I did, then thinking about it would be a waste of time. It would be best to just continue acting the way I always have, trusting myself and using my own mind to come up with solutions. If I was just doing what she wanted, who cares? She’s dead.
The important thing now was not her, but what I would do next. She had advised going to the West to find the Baek clan, but she didn’t say anything more. That may very well be the best option, but I wouldn’t just blindly act on that. I would need to talk to Anatoly first, like I originally planned to, and see if that was truly the best option, or if maybe there was somewhere else I could go to level up faster. Maybe he would know where one of those deep sea Dungeons were so I could get some levels fighting sea monsters.
I returned to Bizet with a new disguise and soon found myself back in front of Anatoly’s bookstore. The ‘Closed’ sign had been flipped to ‘Open’, and through the window, I could see him showing someone inside some books. It was a little annoying that I would have to wait for him to be done talking to ask him my questions, but maybe it was a good thing. It had been a while since I’d gotten to browse the shelves.
I pushed the door open and walked inside. A bell above me rang, and Anatoly and the woman he was with turned to look at me, and I nearly panicked when I saw her face. It was Ji-Soo.
“Ah, don’t mind me,” I said, casually strolling to the opposite side of the store from them. “I’ll just be browsing. Take your time.”
I was disguised as my roommate, Ilsa, and was even using her voice. Neither would recognize me, though Anatoly would probably guess who I was. It was fine though, as long as he didn’t-
“Ah, Lucy,” he said. “You’re here.”
I flinched, and turned back to face them. Anatoly was smiling as usual, and Ji-Soo had her trademark expressionless face on, though this time, her eyes were somewhat vacant, and devoid of their usual focus. She didn’t seem to fully comprehend what Anatoly had said, and seeing her like that reminded me of what Anatoly had told me about her mental condition following Ingrid’s death. Maybe it was fine, but calling out my name like that was still reckless.
“Yes, hello,” I said. “Could we talk somewhere more private?”
“Oh, it’s fine,” he said, waving his hand, causing the sign on the door to flip back to ‘Closed’. “We’ve been waiting for you. I was just showing Ji-Soo the ropes so she can start her new job.”
“New job?” I asked.
“Yes, she’ll be starting as my assistant in the very near future,” he replied cheerily.
“That’s nice, I guess…” I looked at Ji-Soo, who’s expression was still blank. “But I’d like to talk with you in private.”
“We can if you wish, but I keep no secrets from my assistant,” he said. “I will relay to her whatever we say.”
“Fine. Whatever,” I conceded. “I need to know what the best way to level up quickly is at my level. None of the Dungeons pose a threat to me anymore, and the experience they give is tiny. It would take years to get where I need to be.”
“Are you not going to follow Angelina’s advice and go to the Baek Clan?” he asked.
For the first time, Ji-Soo’s eyes showed life as she flinched at the mention of the name.
“I might, but I won’t do it blindly,” I said, eyeing the tall spearwoman with curiosity. “I don’t know what’s there that she wanted me to do, and I don’t know what my other options might be. I need information before I can make a decision. Also… you are aware of what has happened, right?”
Anatoly’s face fell. “Yes. She told me last night...” He was silent for a moment. “It’s a shame, but we must do our best to make certain that her sacrifice was not in vain. I would be more than happy to provide you with the information you need.
“The Baek clan-” Ji-Soo twitched again, “-is one of the largest and most influential clans on the entire western continent. They are very powerful warriors, and it’s said that the last time that the head of the clan was below level 100 was a thousand years ago. It’s possible that Angelina wanted you to go train your aura there. If you managed to get them to teach you, you would most definitely benefit greatly. However, I have not been there in over a century, and aura was never my specialty, so I don’t know the specifics about how the clan works.’
“It’s also possible that she wanted you to enter the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“The Cave of Ten Thousand Demons is the most famous Sealed Dungeon in the world,” he explained. “In the past, it was known to give out incredible rewards to anyone who cleared it. In fact, the Baek clan was founded by a group made up of those who had survived the Dungeon. However, over the years, the Dungeon only grew in power, and eventually, those who went in stopped emerging. Not long after that, it broke, releasing a wave of powerful monsters who nearly wiped out the Baek Clan who had settled there. They managed to fight them off, but only barely, and they were force to seal the Dungeon to prevent future breaks.
“Every now and then, some fool tries to break the seal and enter, hoping to gain whatever treasures the Dungeon contains, but the Baek Clan always fights them off. Normally, I would not advise trying to enter, but it may be that that Dungeon is precisely what Angelina believed that you need.”
“Hmmmm…” I pondered. “Interesting. That is certainly an option. I was thinking about looking for Sealed Dungeons to clear. If they’re sealed for the same reason that the Tomb of the Ancient Mariner was, then clearing them wouldn’t be a problem for me. Do you have anything else in mind?”
His expression darkened. “I do not recommend going that route,” he said. “You may have gotten lucky in the Tomb, but Sealed Dungeons are always sealed for a reason, and for many of them, the reason has been long forgotten. Poking around in them is a good way to get yourself killed. I only bring up the Cave of 10000 Demons because its contents are known, and because when it was sealed, it was still at a level that could be considered manageable, even if only barely.”
“Then are there any that you have enough information on that you think I could go into them relatively safely?” I asked.
He thought for a moment. “No,” he concluded. “I know of a few that are similar to the Cave, but at an even higher level. Perhaps in another 10 levels you could survive them, but at the moment, it’s not worth the risk of a Dungeon break to unseal them for you.”
“What about underwater Dungeons?” I asked. “There are strong aquatic monsters roaming around them, right?”
“Powerful aquatic creatures do emerge from the underwater Dungeons, yes, but they do not stay near the Dungeon. You would no doubt be able to find monsters strong enough to grant experience, but they would be few and far between. They live deep in the ocean, and have large territories. You would spend most of your time searching, and very little time leveling.”
“Damn,” I said. “Is there any other way to level?”
“In ordinary times, if you found a war, that would be the fastest, but at the moment, any war you find will heavily involve the Demon Kings, and the reason you ask is because you don’t think you’re strong enough to face them yet.”
“Shit.”
“I believe that taking Angelina’s advice would be the best course of action at the moment,” he continued.
“Yeah, that’s what it looks like,” I muttered grumpily.
“Then would you like a portal there?” he asked.
“Ye- wait no,” I said. “I want to take a boat.”
If I took a boat, there was a chance I could get caught in a storm, in which case, I would be free of Patience’s prophecy.
“Are you certain?” he asked, looking confused. “Boats are slow, and dangerous.”
“Yeah, but I might be able to find one of those powerful sea monsters on the way.”
“Hmmmm… I suppose… Well, if that is what you wish. It may take some time to find a boat. Transcontinental journeys are difficult, so they are not common. I could make you a portal to a port city so you can start searching sooner though.”
“Yeah, that would be good,” I said.
“Though you could stay here a bit longer if you’d like,” he added. “I’m sure Ji-Soo would appreciate the company.”
I looked over at Ji-Soo. Her blank stare was gone now, and she had been deep in thought since our discussion of the Baek clan. I didn’t dislike her, but I didn’t really see a point in staying any longer.
Think about others from time to time.
As I opened my mouth to reject his offer, Patience’s words drifted to the front of my mind.
Shut the hell up, I thought back.
“No thanks,” I said. “I’m already using up enough time by taking a boat instead of a portal. I should get going as soon as possible.”
He nodded, then started forming the portal.
“This will take you to the city of Rossini at the edge of Vivaldi,” he said. “While it is the beast kingdom, it is the most active port city and one of the most important trade routes in the world, so your human disguise will not raise any suspicion.” The portal finally stabilized. “I wish you luck.”
“Thank you,” I said. “And goodbye. When I get back, I’ll come visit again.”
“I look forward to it.”