43rd chapter : longing to see what’s around.
After getting to pass a lot of events, the month of June was filled with joy for the red mermaid members who exceeded the expectations of Alba, the man who was training them to become more powerful and skillful.
On Alex and Carla’s side,
“Man it’s already tiring but I’m getting excited to fight inside the dungeon since the last time we went was just mapping!” Carla shouted as the two were walking. “Well, not like it was a pleasant memory” she frowned at the end of her words.
“Don’t be that gloomy, it’s Marco’s bit to be gloomy and plus, it’s a good timing I guess” Alex responded trying to cheer the mood up.
“Say senpai, why did you accept his order to pass the same training as us ? I mean you’re considered a non-combatant holder, right?” Carla asked out of the blue.
“It’s not that important I guess and you know that Alba sensei forced it on me anyway. I’m not like you all and I don’t have any basic skills for fighting like y’all do so the least I can contribute about is this, I’m not lucky in real life anyway”.
Alex answered the question then released her serment.
Both of them were surprised by the pressure that the serment has unleashed, Carla looked at Alex for a second as she felt the resemblance to how Marco once unleashed his serment.
“Even my perception about the area has been enhanced to another level, is this because we passed the second phase of this training!?”.
Alex mumbled to herself in joy before she got the notice that monsters started spawning around.
“Carla! Prepare for a fight!!” she yelled as Carla felt the same.
In that instant, a big monster appeared out of nowhere.
The monster was like a humanoid statue with a big lance about 3,6m tall.
It didn’t waste time rushing towards Carla and Alex at once as it determined by pure euro reserves level that Alex was the best suited target. The monster threw its lance therefore Carla was fast to act. Carla deflected the trajectory of the lance then instantly blew it back using the shield as a hammer to smack the monsters.
Things went fast as Carla jumped back to where Alex was standing so she would go back to protect her.
“What just happened?” Alex asked as she was surprised by how supple Carla's moves were.
“I myself don’t know but I guess the training paid off!! and the shield seems more loose!!” Carla replied.
Carla got more pumped up from what she did, not letting her guard down because of it. She was waiting for the monster to get up again.
“The monster is bigger than us so making the lance hit him is a good idea. I’ll play decoy and you try to pierce through his arm with your shield ok!!”.
Alex gave a proper plan then dashed to the other side as Carla was waiting for the good timing. As she dashed on her own Alex was already releasing her serment in that aspect she had observed a good amount of moves from the monster to determine its trajectory.
“You’ll follow me now!!”.
Alex said as she unleashed a euro cloak rather than a euro pressure for two seconds so the monster would target her instead of Carla.
And so the monster did what Alex was waiting for, Carla took her chance smacking its head to the left side after using the wall as a stepping stone to reach it. Right after making it lose its balance Carla jumped up again positioning herself on the roof then blew up its arm with one push down towards the ground,
“I did it!!”.
she roared with a happy face seeing the monster being crushed onto the floor.
“Carla!! Guards up!!”.
Alex was late to notice her as a sudden monster from the same type appeared trying to punch Carla down. Carla was fast enough to put the shield up although the hit went through slamming Carla to the wall,
“Tsk, I was all happy that I leveled up a bit!!” She clicked her tongue, standing up, She seemed like the hit didn’t affect her either.
Alex was relieved after seeing that Carla was quick to seal and release the serment fast enough to change its position to her back.
“Are you ok?” Alex asked.
“Yeah I’m good…” Carla replied.
The two saw the monster getting crushed on the wall suddenly just as Marco appeared after pushing his dark sword onto the chest of the monster more to finish it off.
The two of them sighed as they realized that the level up they reached wasn’t much of a thing against the current Marco.
“That was our Prey!!” Alex yelled mad at Marco.
“Hmm, you’re here. I didn’t see you around nor sensing you”
Marco responded boldly before dodging a shield thrown at him by Carla.
“Sorry for that, ok. I’ll be going now”.
He apologized and was about to go again but Carla stopped him as she mentioned what Alba talked about earlier.
“Just stick around already!!”.
Selicia and Yuna said as they appeared out of nowhere around Marco.
Carla and Alex were startled by the sudden appearance making a shocked face. The two of Carla and Alex felt an ominous presence from Selicia and Yuna as if death had appeared in front of them while Marco looked at Yuna and Selicia calmly then sighed.
“You know you took a long time to appear, where were you?”.
Marco asked not knowing that Yuna and Selicia were actually seen by Alex and Carla just now. He continued with the thought of they didn’t see the two of them therefore Carla stunned him, she stepped ahead of him then released her serment.
“Enemies appeared out of nowhere and you’re acting like you do know them !?!?!” Carla roared at him.
Marco looked at Alex and Carla’s reaction then saw the smiling faces of both Yuna and Selicia as understood that they can see them now.
In that moment of confusion Marco took a deep breath then calmly asked.
“Can you see these two women?”.
“Of course we do!!”.
Alex was frightened about the presence that Yuna and Selicia have, Marco heaved a sigh after that then got closer to Yuna and Selicia who was still smiling
“You guys need to bow when meeting someone new, you know!!”.
Marco yelled as he made Selicia and Yuna bow, he showed a rather different reaction from what Carla and Alex were expecting.
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Upon seeing how Marco acted, Selicia pouted looking at Marco, trying to hug him with everything she got.
“Is this how you treat your big sis Selicia after not meeting her for a whole week!! Big sis is mad!!” Selicia pleaded.
On the other side Yuna got closer to Alex and Carla.
“I’m Yuna, Yuna Deca. Marco’s ancestor, and that childish woman there is Selicia, we’re both Marco’s ancestors but she’s older” Yuna presented herself as Selicia didn’t want to accept what Yuna had said about her.
“Hey don’t mention the age stuff!! You know I hate when we talk about it!!” She protested.
The situation has become rather weird for both Carla and Alex as Cedric suddenly appeared out of nowhere too giving his say on this.
“Well, looking at the confusion on your faces makes me remember the time when we sent a monster to kill Marco!!”.
“So you’re the ones who sent that dude!!” Marco was caught in the moment.
“Stop!! care to explain again!! I don’t understand a shit and who’re these people!?!?” Alex also snapped out of it as the four of them looked at her.
Marco had to explain as he spoke briefly.
“Ah, well, I don’t have a proper explanation but these three always roam around me in the human realm. Yuna nee here is the one who was training me the whole time, so basically this forces my words when I said I always train with her. As for Cedric nii I guess you met him before when he opened the portals” he pointed at Cedric after Yuna. “As for… Where’s Selicia neechan?” Marco noticed that she went away.
“Oh shit!! SELICIA!! GET BACK HERE!! I TOLD YOU THEY’RE NOT FOOD!!” Yuna ran off after Selicia on her own as the situation became weirder.
Carla and Alex resigned from understanding the situation anymore.
“Yuna!! make sure to do what we talked about earlier!! Now let’s see!! Emilis san!! Can you stop watching from afar and come here for a second!!” Cedric said as if he was speaking on his own.
The next second they realized a sudden other portal was opened to see Emilis crossing it while holding Sophie on him.
“Sigh man you’re making me look like I’m obeying orders now” Emilis answered as he grinned back at Cedric.
The two’s expressions towards each other was so devious that even Sophie understood the heaviness of this meeting.
“The situation has become weirder again!! When did you get back, master?!” Alex asked.
“He’ll explain that later, Marco go follow Yuna please, Carla chan should be going too right?” Cedric responded as Marco did what he was asked.
Upon hearing his words Marco patted Sophie’s head, he saw that she wanted to hug Cedric.
“Man !! I can finally hug my great granddaughter!!” Cedric was acting like a grandpa despite his young looks.
“Wait for me too!” Alex said but got stopped by Cedric.
“You’re going to stay with me actually. There are things I want you to do for me!!” Cedric spoke as Marco also stopped looking back.
he didn’t understand what Cedric meant at first as he asked.
After hearing Marco’s question Cedric grinned an awkward smile about it then answered him
“First! what I meant by my granddaughter! just to make it clear! Sophie is really the biological sister for both you and Arthur!! I guess you clearly know why right!!”.
The given response didn’t answer Marco’s question although it shocked the other three as he saw that Marco wasn’t surprised by that and instead he smiled at Sophie.
“Second! it’s not your business for now!! So go ahead and follow the rest of your way!!”.
Cedric’s smile showed a threat and Marco didn’t really oppose it.
He went on his way along with Carla as he took Sophie with him too. Emilis watched them go on their way, away enough for the talk he looked back at Cedric.
“So what do you need from me?” Emilis asked him after making sure that Marco was out of range to hear the conversation.
“Ah, sorry I took a long time for you. Well, you see I wanted to personally speak with you. As for Alex chan!! I have something special to teach you” by the end of his words he saw that Alex had a smug face on her.
“You see, I didn’t reveal anything to him, neither Selicia nor Yuna did. Despite that he still has those dead eyes, more or less, I’m the second founder of the family and the real reason for his curse. So even after death I witnessed many deaths of my own kind without even being able to talk to them. Eventually, after her death Selicia followed me and even my son followed me to be cursed by the same curse”
Cedric put on a sad smile as the three of them took a seat on the ground so they could talk freely.
After saying the first part, Emilis and Alex couldn’t help it but to stay silent and listen to the rest of the story.
“I’ll explain why Marco is able to see us, unlike the others in our family who had a curse. More or less, a story spread after my death that there will be only nine cursed rulers who will be remembered even after death” cedric took a small pause, leaving Emilis and Alex to their minds so they can process what he said.
“The story goes on like this. The moon that goes on to be full and disappear by the time it windes up, is the moon that has the image of the light and shadow, where there will be the island of the goddesses, and so one nine shall hold into the pillars of the moon, one shall shed the moonlight upon the world, and one shall see the island from the shadows, that’s the fate of whom are born rulers of this world”.
The cold chill of death lingered in the spines of Emilis and Alex upon hearing this story whilst Cedric had a composed serious expression knitted to his face. He heaved a sigh continuing the talk.
“From the nine I spoke about, I was the first and Selicia was the second, my son who didn’t show his face even now is third. The three of us had contributed more than anyone to help the curse grow. As it was my origin, you saw that body of our boy, right. That big scar is Selicia’s doing, or how she contributed to the growth of the curse along with my own son too. Generations have passed and eventually Yuna chan was born too, she ended up creating the weapons you guys call serments now. In other words, she was the reason to make the whole experience worse for our family. And thus the wars for our family were just at the brim of our necks”.
Cedric stopped after that for a moment so both of them would process what he wanted them to know.
Seeing their shocked faces Cedric smiled at them.
“Eventually you’ll understand right. Despite each generation, There was always one who would be the ruler that history won’t forget, Yuna was the forth, and Albert Marco’s grandpa was the fifth. I don’t know where he is but let’s not focus on it. Albert started to hold auctions to sell his own family and ruled with brute force for thousands of years”.
“Then why is Marco considered one of you?!” Emilis asked.
“I’ll get to that point, because before Marco, the last one who would see and communicate with us was their mother Nana. The sixth cursed ruler, then it was time for Marco to come up as he…”
Cedric smiled as he told them the reason behind Marco’s sudden loss of memories although he kept it skeptical.
“You’re surprised right, It’s not something we would really control, and I really hate to be blunt about it but things are good as they are now. He doesn’t have to suffer at all with you guys on the game, anyway, things aren’t the same as these dark times, I’m sure that Marco would make a wonderful world for Sophie and Arthur at least.” The words ended with a sad smile again before he would look up again. “For now Alex chan!! Give me your serment!!” Cedric changed the topic by the end of his words, making a happy face.
To process the things better, both Alex and Emilis took a small silent moment and looked at the happy face that Cedric was pulling up. Upon seeing his face they saw the similarities between him and Marco, they realized that what he said was true at most. Then it hit Alex.
“Stop!! Why do I need to give you my serment!!” Alex responded after that, finding it weird to ask for something personal.
“Ah don't worry!! Don’t worry!! me and the two other little girls decided to make you guys stronger, in other words make the red mermaid members a fit family for the three siblings much more than the way they are now!!” He answered her curiosity.
Cedric explained his side and eventually had Emilis to speak up.
“Do you regret what you did after all this time?” Emilis asked what he had in mind.
“Ah, not even in one bit and so the other two. Each of us died with no regrets at some point, and believe it or not I witnessed many great things because I did that!!” Cedric smiled at the end of his answer.
“Do you mean that seeing your grandchildren suffer is a pleasure to you?” Emilis asked, applying as if he got mad.
Cedric looked at him and with just a smile, he made Emilis take a seat again as well as calming down then responded.
“I’m not the only one who would be really answering the question mister red mermaid master Emilis Vengeance, after all just like you trust Marco, I would like to make you remember that I’m always around him, no matter where he goes, I and the other two are always behind him”.
The atmosphere was tense to a certain level that made even Alex breathing heavily at the sight of it before she could see her own master calm down from a simple smile.
To sooth the mood it was Alex’s turn to play childish so she would not ruin the mood. She said,
“Well!! I won’t mind what you wanna do but please don’t ruin my serment!! ahahaha!!”.
After that she sealed back her serment putting it next to Cedric, just like Marco Alex’s sealed state is her own glasses.
After holding them close Cedric made a surprised face.
“Is there something?!” she asked.
“Nah I’m just a little bit surprised to see Elfen scriptures around one of the human realm serments. that kid Eyezar is really cocky huh”.
Cedric responded then Emilis asked whether he knew Eyezar.
“Ah right, he looks like an old man now. When I knew him he was about 15 years old” Cedric smiled as he answered. “And yeah, he’s that old! normally I thought Marco would’ve told you?!” The question made them a little hesitant to answer as Cedric giggled at them.
“For now I see that you’re the scouter type of navigators, and looking at how you gave detailed tactics, if I was still alive by now I would have certainly made you my apprentice!! You’re amazing!!” Cedric praised her as Alex started to blush.
“Tehehehe!! You heard that master!!” she said with a happy tone.
“Well, sorry to disappoint you but I can’t teach you everything in a short time so” Cedric took a deep breath as the things calmed down.
The second he exhaled all his breaths he continued his words.
“ I, the one who guides, open the scripts and show me the path, as I command you by the name Cedric Deca”.
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