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Chapter 294: Siva and Gabriel (1)
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Alexandria’s solitary peak…
Chillingly cold in the morning and bone-stabbingly unkind during the night, the temperature drops by the tens the higher you seek the wondrous sight in the mountain tops.
But just like the colorful mountainous peaks of the Ungoverned Afghanistan during the winter and summer seasons, the higher you go the heights, the more beautiful the sights will be.
…though the current situation doesn’t allow these people to go and sightsee.
Following the snowy path, as led by Siva, Eleanor, Kathleen Brew, FlowerLord, Scion, Fuma, Thorn, Volt, and Pitou all wore thick fur coats just so they could cancel out the cold. Their destination was the top and they were already freezing.
Nobody can climb this mountain using other tools, not even Centipedes who specialized in cold, icy terrains could do so. Only with one’s feet while following this certain path could one be able to traverse this cold mountain and reach the place that they wish to at the top.
This was a mountain with a unique barrier that, if the five youths could see it, would know that it was a barrier that did not exist here before.
Therefore, it was a barrier placed here much later.
…perhaps even just a few days ago.
For who-knows-how-long, they reached another turn, aside from Scion and Eleanor who held very high concentration of Mana and thus had naturally more defense against this biting cold, the rest had their teeth clattering at each other and making a sound that could tell you just how cold it is.
“Are we there yet?” asked Kathleen who looked like a red-colored snowball with arms and legs. A single glance could tell you just how many layers of coats she was wearing.
“We should be close.” Siva assured for, perhaps, the 47th-49th time. He lost count already and she wasn’t the first to complain—
In fact, Siva was the one who wanted to complain.
Just who told you guys to follow me?
Alas, he could only inwardly grumble. Scion was the one who first insisted and Siva can’t say no to her for some reason; so FlowerLord will also not stay put while Kathleen’s ability to sniff something exciting was top-notched.
Since Kathleen was going, Thorn and Volt will also not miss this game; Fuma came for the sake of research and documentary; while Pitou was pulled by Kathleen Brew for the sake of ‘dismantling traps’, if any (although Pitou just happens to enter the meeting room after Scion insisted on coming).
—and all of them asked the same questions and Siva had answered them all the same way.
Siva’s curse had an extra ability to cancel half of the cold, as it turns out. And so, he was the least thickly dressed and so his pace was the fastest.
When they turned this curve, the booming edge of the mountain assaulted their eyes and they saw the mid-day view of Alexandria in the not too far a distance.
“Wow.”
“Beautiful…”
“What a grand sight.”
“It’s a perfect background for a groufie.”
“Say cheese!”
“““Cheese!!”””
“Say mountain top!”
“““Mountain top!!”””
“Again, again! Say Siva’s a douchebag!”
“““Siva’s a….. wait… what?”””
“What? I didn’t say anything.”
“““…….”””
It was a good thing that Siva was far away and was not minding their pictorials. It was also easy to tell just who prompted that hate-filled comment.
Scion had only participated in the initial groufie and then started to walk towards Siva who was in the edge of the cliff that overlooked the scene of the large city.
Wisps of thin clouds floated as far as the eye could see, creating a sea of white cotton candies, with the city’s edges stretching far and wide. At this current height, the horizon looked like a curved piece of land and it was because of this that one could imagine just how high they were.
Scion stopped 10 paces away from him.
For some reason, his back with the background of such a grand sight created a lonely mood; like a sadness of a heart that longed for someone or something; or the lonesome feelings of seeing a soldier that survive a war on his sword alone.
It was a desolate feeling.
Siva wore his ragged grey cloak, the ‘standard’ of what the world knew as The Destroyer.
The cold wind battered the dress; the hem and tattered edges created a feeling of solitude as it fluttered and flittered, and flickered, and flapped.
Every wave of his cloak created a unique feeling in Scion’s heart and she was perfectly aware that for some reason, whenever Siva was in this kind of mood, he was thinking of his brother…. or perhaps of something else… something sad…
Something far in the distance…
Perhaps of time and not of a physical place…
Maybe an event in the past…
Possibly an important memory he had forgotten…
Or choose to forget…
Or had no choice but to forget…
No matter…
No matter what it was, it pains Scion that she couldn’t help Siva at moments like these. It pains her so much that she couldn’t even guess at what he was thinking.
She wanted to be his ‘home’, just like what she had promised Janus.
But she knew she was still inadequate.
She lacked something. And that something was not something she could just force nor could she attain. It was something she could only wait to come to her…
Something that she cannot snatch no matter how strong she may become; it was something that will automatically come to her when Rex Kingsley is ready to move on…
And so she could only gaze at his back while he delved into that feeling. She could only wait. She had no choice but to wait and that’s what she was going to do.
Time flowed and minutes fleeted like the flittering of the moments. A strong gale of wind blew with a light whistle, Siva’s grey cloak flapped once with a strong sound and this attracted the models’ attention as they turned their heads to gaze at his direction.
Siva’s solitary figure moved after a long time and his upper face from the nose that’s covered in a red-black mask —his The Destroyer persona— faced Scion, ostensibly distant, and more aloof.
Her heart ached but before she could tear up, a glove-covered hand stretched and caressed her left cheek. And it felt warm and gentle, soft and caring; it was Rex and his heart. She knew she has been acknowledged.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
They didn’t speak a word as Siva walked passed her; and she smiled and turned, quietly following from behind.
The group was flabbergasted, confused, and a bit even bewildered.
Is he trying to play mysterious?
Since when did he wear his black mask?
Right now, Siva was “The Destroyer” and this was his persona that they haven’t seen in a seemingly very long, long time.
They proceeded to walk up, passed the snow and the unruly biting winds that battered their faces; passed the blowing chill that kept assaulting their sanity and mind; and eventually reaching a place with a flat ground with a temple entrance that was embedded on the stiff rocky wall.
It was a square and not the kind that welcomed visitors, but the kind where it had a feeling that it was used to train something a long, long time ago.
An obelisk with a shiny gem on atop was in the forefront of this square, serving like a lighthouse that signaled and guided the visitors; from where they came from, this flat ground was a sanctuary.
“It’s warmer here…”
“The cold wind is not entering that region…”
“Brrrrr…. I wanna go to that place…”
“Get your wits together, you silly cat!”
“This is an isolation barrier!”
“How could an isolation barrier exist here?”
“Usually, isolation barriers protect something… so maybe what’s inside those large doors is some sort of treasure vault…”
“Is this the reason why Siva brought us here?”
While they stood there at the edge of the deeply blue-colored rocky floor, they all could feel those subtle differences between the here and there.
On their left was the snowy mountain; on their right was the steep cliff. In front of them was the wide-open temple door while at the edge of that cliff was a lone man with silver hair wearing a very eye-catching Eastern Scarlet Imperial Robes, with an emblem of a golden dragon; having his back against their group, staring blankly towards the city from afar.
From the strong resonance of the surrounding Mana, they could tell that he was an NPC. But this imperial-robed NPC was not an ordinary character since he could create such phenomena that could render these gamers unwilling to take that single step to enter the zone with a warm climate.
A long while passed, it was Siva who took the first brave step. But—
BANG~!!
As soon as he did, he half-knelt on the ground as if something heavy suddenly fell on his shoulders.
“Rex!”
“Siva!”
He didn’t let out even a single groan, nor did he make any sound of pain as he fell.
He slowly stood up and released his own [Spirit].
Siva’s mood, for some reason, after the [Sync], as soon as he felt the kind of Mana that Akhenaton and Gabriel was releasing, an instinctual will to [kill] had sprouted on his subconsciousness.
And this ‘will’ prompt him, helped him, gave him a reason to not kneel down because of this man.
When he stood up, the [Killing Zone] was also released and it solely focused on Gabriel and Siva clearly felt that this was also not part of him but of the will that sleeps within his soul.
“I subconsciously hate him?” even he himself had found this fact very intriguing. And yet, for some odd reason, this feeling didn’t feel alien to his cognition.
Siva had long decided to trust the [memory] after the synchronization but this is the first time since then that he doubted it again.
It’s because at this very moment… he has no idea why he was feeling this ‘hate’ towards Gabriel.
Shouldn’t I be thankful that he saved me?
Shouldn’t I be asking him questions and him giving it to me just like he said?
But for some reason, there were images in my mind telling me to hate him… to hate his kind… to hate every single one of them.
Why?
Whose will is this?
Unwilling to bend to the [will], Siva grit his teeth as he stood up, took another step, then another, and then another… then another… and another… and then another step….. until he was right behind the man, within a distance of three meters.
The man slowly turned to face him and as soon as their gazes met, Siva and the rest of them also discovered that there was a look of hate also embedded on the face of the man.
“Did you remember?” Gabriel asked.
“….”
“I guess not. If you remembered everything, you should have easily broken through my [territory], but if you don’t then you should be lying on your belly right now. And although there was a hint of that hatred in your aura right now, there was also doubt and unwillingness… like you’re a completely different person than what I had anticipated you would be… so it means… you’re in the middle of those two things. Like a ship, lost in the sea…”
Siva was lost, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I do think that this ‘will’ that’s dictating me to hate you is something important and is a big part of the [me] that had forgotten something…”
“…”
“…”
The two of them glared at each other.
A while after, Gabriel let out a helpless sigh and the pressure that he had been releasing since earlier vanished. Siva’s trembling body seems to have been released from something. He moaned and almost fell to his knee from great exhaustion.
Again, Volt and Thorn, Fuma, and Kathleen, the three of them thought at the same time: “This is just a game but why does it feel like Siva had just finished a 100km sprint-marathon?”
Scion ran over to his side, not waiting for any kind of prompt.
She helped him up and looked at Gabriel with a complicated expression, while the rest could only stare at Gabriel with fear and a bit of trepidation.
Gabriel wore a helpless smile as he looked at the group at the edge of the temple grounds. Then he gazed at Scion, seemingly trying to look in her eyes and deeper into her soul…. or whatever it is that he was trying to find in her personality.
Gabriel took a step, vanished, and rematerialized next to the temple doors.
“Come in.” he said, and flicked his fingers.
FLASH!!
One moment, the group was in the boundary of the temple, now, they were inside and they could clearly see the spot where they were just a breath ago outside the temple grounds; with even their footprints still visible on the snowy earth.
“Forced Teleportation?!” FlowerLord was dazed.
“No.” Fuma countered and felt ecstatic, fixing his glasses as he stared at Gabriel. “This is the direct space manipulation. The distance is too short to be a teleportation phenomenon and there was no Magic Circle whatsoever. This is [Bloodline Ability] that only a few Terrans have! It’s just like our initial ability, but of a higher Tier…. just like Siva’s Killing Zone!”
When Fuma spoke like this as if he was some sort of fanatic, Eleanor stepped forward and opened her mouth to introduce the imperial-robed person to the rest of them.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you the Immortal Emperor of the Empire of Tiara, Emperor Gabriel Etrama De Raizel… otherwise known to the world as the Magus of the Magus Archive.”
“““…!!!”””
Every one of them, including Siva, was surprised beyond any doubt and unreasonable exception.
The North was once home to the Empire of Tiara and their Emperor was none other than Gabriel.
Hero of the Tuscan Battle
Conqueror of Chambal
Grand Magus of the Magus Archive
Emperor of the Unified Continent of Tiara
He had so many titles from across the Cycles, but these were his most renowned titles and greatest lifetime achievements.
The written Terran History has 25 Cycles and he, Gabriel, had started to create history on the 8th Cycle until 22nd before he decided to bury himself on his Archive.
Just how long has it been since Siva wanted to get in touch with the Magus Archive?
And now, he was face to face with the Magus…
He felt conflicted. Why did his instinct suddenly erupted into a hostile stance as soon as he felt the ‘kind’ of Mana circulating on this person?
Siva felt really confused. Although this ‘hateful’ feeling did not erupt during their first meeting, but he felt this at that time when he was saved from Sefirah.
He was only too weakened and in pain to pay too much attention to it but he knew that perhaps it has something to do with what Sefirah said at the time…. that Gabriel is an Immortal.
“Immortal…” Siva murmured.
Gabriel’s ears picked this up and he turned to face him, looking at him with a frown, before he turned his gaze back to Eleanor and then the group that came with Siva.
………………or, to be exact, he turned to Scion.
“Archmage Scion of the Circle of Magi.” He called.
Gabriel did not layer his voice with Mana but it still sounded magnetic, charismatic, and had a sense of authority unique to those who had an ‘imperial’ disposition embedded to their bones.
He wasn’t even trying to sound cool or trying to be someone that’s overbearing, but everyone else in Sivas group, especially the observant cat, felt that this was really a terrifying discovery.
“To think that a mere NPC can create such a very ‘lively’ feeling… if I don’t know he’s an NPC, then I would’ve been dazed by his charisma by now.”
It was scary to think that a mere NPC could carry a certain degree of influence that affects a User.
Was this the consequences of the universal rule applied to this world?
That: no NLD-User is allowed to tell an NPC that he or she is an NPC, or else, they will be struck by lightning.
Since there is no clear distinction between NPCs and Users, players differentiate themselves in the game as “Users” and “Citizens”.
Although it is troublesome, there was really no way to visually tell the difference between the two and so the direct method is to ask a person “Are you a Citizen?”
If that person replies “No” then that person is a player and they can talk to each other regarding matters that concerned the real world.
Besides, “Citizens” regard themselves as such so an observant person could easily tell the large difference. But visually… it was impossible to tell a User from a Citizen.
Thus, Gabriel’s presence and words had such an emotional and mental impact on the Users of The Company that they felt goosebumps creeping over their skins just thinking about it.
“Yet, on that same regard….” As if they all thought on the same wavelength on that moment, twelve pairs of eyes then started turning towards Siva, asking the same question in their minds.
Siva….. was regarded as a God in this world…
How is that even possible?
Is he a pioneer?
Did he take an H-Class Quest already and changed the history of this world to his name?
It’s like Gabriel’s mystery happened in reverse in regards to Siva… he was a User regarded as a Citizen, an NPC, of this game world.
“Please do not be alarmed. I merely ask if you are Lady Scion that my Teacher deemed worthy to hold his Legacy…”
“T-Teacher?” Scion was startled when called. “I-I don’t think I…”
“My Teacher…. did he leave you any message?”
Scion felt conflicted and confused and before her bestfriend could even support her, an immediate question rose from his heart towards Gabriel.
“Please, wait a moment. Just who is this Teacher that you’re talking about?”
Gabriel made a pained expression as his furrowed face twisted into grief and deep sorrow.
“Janus… Master Janus… he is my Teacher. Did he perhaps say anything? At least a few words he wanted you to tell me before he left?”
.
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In their first official face off, their ‘hate’ against each other clashes!!
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