CHAPTER 35: BETRAYAL AND A DOG

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

(Special thanks to hmalmorished)

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"Despicable brats," He muttered with tears in his eyes.

The marquis collapsed on the ground, completely helpless. He’d driven his mana to its absolute limit, and he was now bearing the consequences.

His whole body ached, fatigue clouding his consciousness, threatening to knock him out, yet he resisted; he knew what was coming next, and he refused to take his last breath unconscious.

The fate of traitors was always cruel; he knew he’d betrayed them, and as much as he’d tried to resist the inevitable, he knew only death awaited him.

’Maybe dying to these youngsters isn’t so bad after all,’ He thought.

It soon dawned on him that they’d sent these youngsters to end him to save his family from the humiliation; they had to end the traitor, but they had mercy enough to spare his entire line from the stigma of betrayal, hence the terrorist attack.

Ans sure enough, he saw him, the instigator of the whole plan, Erevan Chronos; he had no doubt, the man was as ruthless as he was merciful.

He had his suspicions about the man’s unusual attendance. But he couldn’t refuse the man, although he was curious about why he attended himself; he even brought his heir, but that was the least of his concerns right now.

Erevan stared at the marquis, his eyes penetrating as though unraveling all his deepest secrets. The marquis stared back. Erevan unnerved him, but he was steadfast; he was already dying, what was the worst that could happen?

Erevan finally opened his mouth, "There are so many questions I could ask you right now, but I believe the most efficient would be ’Do you regret it, Evan?’" He asked, his eyes still on the marquis.

The marquis was silent for a while. His body was weak right now, but that wasn’t the reason for his silence. His thoughts roamed for a while, for Erevan to call a question most efficient meant he had the most to gain out of whatever answer he gave, and he considered deceiving him.

But he didn’t; there was no point, they’d offered mercy for his lineage, the least he could do was be compliant, besides, something told him, Erevan would see through the lie.

"If I were put in the same situation, a million times over, I would do it every single time," The marquis croaked out, his eyes blazing with conviction.

"They will pay," Erevan said evenly, his expression unchanged, yet the pressure he exuded was palpable.

’As expected, he figured it out,’ The marquis thought, a small smile on his face.

"Thank you, I know how presumptuous this might sound, but you have shown mercy. My daughter, please watch over her," The marquis said, while struggling.

Erevan didn’t give any reaction; he simply turned his head towards Aria, who flinched like a deer in headlamps.

He didn’t speak, but she could tell what he wanted her to do, and she was happy to oblige.

A five-meter-long icicle formed in her palms. She walked towards the marquis’s body; his eyes were wide open, staring at her like someone carrying the weight of the world; he wished to die with his eyes open.

But Aria didn’t care, however he wished to die or whatever sentimental situation just occurred between him and the duke, she was just happy to be able to end his life; she couldn’t count how many times this traitor had been close to ending her.

She swiped the icicle once, taking his head off in one clean stroke. And so came the end of the wielder of Ymir.

She breathed out and turned to her companions, who looked like they had gone through a war and survived.

Their thoughts synchronised into one decision, they had to leave, and soon, the Ivory warriors would be arriving anytime soon, but they hesitated, the duke was still here, there was the off chance he might want to silence them for what they witnessed or what they had done.

"Leave, I don’t believe I need to threaten you; you three are wise enough to know the consequences of your actions," Erevan said before taking a step and vanishing.

The three involuntarily gulped without realizing, if that wasn’t a threat, what was. But they didn’t linger, a quick tinker to the teleportation station in the city, and they were out of the Ivory domain.

{Less than 24 hours later, miles away}

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STATUS

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NAME: Barnes Randyll

AGE: 25

GENDER: MALE

RACE: HUMAN

ATTRIBUTES:???

ABILITIES:???

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"Of course, Harry," Orion said, with a smile. The memory of the smell returning.

’Pent up,’ Orion thought, immediately.

’For some reason, he masturbates, and from the look of things, it’s not a once-in-a-while action. Does he not have access to women? He’s a grown man. And from his status, he should have some degree of power.’ Orion thought, his mind analysing.

’Pedophile?’ He thought, part intrigued, part disturbed.

’That would explain the way he looks at Alice and why he might be sexually frustrated. Still, I doubt this world would be short of little girls, someone with his power among commoners could easily-’ Orion’s eyes narrowed, his mind coming to a dangerous deduction.

’This is a prison,’ He realized.

’The name he mentioned should have been a dead giveaway; it’s a literal prison for dogs. The fucker is trapped here probably for his disgusting taste’ Orion thought, chastising himself.

’Of all the places we could have teleported to, we ended up trapped in a literal prison with a pedo,’ Orion thought, exasperated. A scowl marred his face.

"You okay, young man?" Harry asked with mock concern.

"I’m fine, I just recalled the terrible situation that led to our arrival here," Orion replied with a sad face.

"Oh, I’m sorry if you don’t want to talk about it. We can wait," The man said out of courtesy.

"Thank you very much, it’s too hard to say now, when I’m ready, I’ll say it out," Orion said, tears lingering at the edge of his eyes. His age makes the act more believable.

Harry was caught off guard; he had only said that, expecting Orion to insist on explaining their situation.

A wry smile spread on his face, "Of course."

’He’s wary of someone coming for us,’ Orion deduced.

’The noble clothes were a great help after all,’ He thought.

’If he confirms no one is coming for us, he’ll make his move. Problem is, even I don’t know if anyone is coming for us,’ Orion thought, the grim reality settling on him.

He’d never fought a hostile human before, much less someone stronger than him.

’I can stall for a while, but he’d eventually figure it out. We need a plan’ Orion thought, his mind scanning for solutions.

’We need this Nexcraft to escape, so we have to find a way to get him off it. It won’t be easy, and we need more info’ Orion decided.

"Harry, you mentioned something about a great haul," Orion said while sniffling, trying to change the topic.

Alice and Michael watched Orion, perplexed at why he was crying. They could tell he was hesitating to inform the man about how they got here, but they didn’t think it was necessary to fake crying; the man had been nothing but friendly so far, and while they still didn’t trust him fully, he was still helping them. But they stayed silent, just watching.

"Oh, I’m an excavator," The man said with a smile on his face. It seemed he was proud of his work.

"Excavator for what?" Orion asked, curious.

"Mana stones, rare minerals, ores, special rocks, you name it. But I mostly look out for mana stones, they are more profitable, and they are quite common here, at least compared to all other places," The man replied.

"What are mana stones?" Orion asked another question.

"Hmmm.. I’m not too sure, but I heard they have many uses for those who deal with them and are very expensive. My most recent haul was mostly mana stones, so you can understand my joy," He explained.

’He sells in a prison,’ Orion thought, perplexed and already second-guessing his conjecture.

"Is there a market you sell to?" Orion asked.

"Well, aren’t you a curious one. I believe you’ve questioned me enough, boy. I don’t even know your name." He said with a raised brow,

’Tch,’ Orion clicked his tongue internally.

"It’s John," Orion replied, with a smile.

’For some reason, he doesn’t recognize me or my hair colour, so it’s either we’re no longer in the Chronos dukedom or he believes I can’t be from the Chronos family, maybe my eye colour. Either way, I can’t risk it’ Orion thought.

Harry turned his gaze towards Alice and Michael. "Well, John, I think we should give your friends a chance to talk; I haven’t heard them speak a word," He said.

"They are kind of shy," Orion said with a wry grin.

"Tha-" Harry was about to talk.

"Alice," My name’s Alice.