CHAPTER 33: THE DREAD OF THE ECLIPSE

[Ten Years Prior...]

The fiery-haired boy peered out the window, only for the wooden doors to close around it, forcing him away. He looked up, finding his mother huffing as she sealed the window shut completely, leaving no room for peeking.

"Phoenix, I told you to stay away from the windows. Under no circumstances should anybody leave their homes unless attended by a guard. Got it?" The woman of the same shade of scarlet hair said, lightly jabbing her finger against the child’s cheek.

He nodded, "--Got it..."

["I’ve always had boundless energy, like a fire igniting me...So, the Nebula Eclipse, three days of nightfall, kept locked inside my home...It was excruciatingly boring for a kid like me."]

Being regulated to his bedroom for hours on end, he sat up against the wall, glancing towards the sealed window. While there were books at his side, he couldn’t reel his mind in to focus for no more than a handful of pages at a time.

As he pressed his ear against the wall, he could make out muffled noises, somewhere on the streets of the rainy town. Focusing in on the sounds, he listened in before–knock, knock.

A distinct knocking sound arrived on the other side of the window; a gentle, light greeting, though it still made him jump.

With some hesitance, the boy picked himself up, gulping as he grabbed the handles of the window.

Knock. Knock.

Curiously, he opened the timber slabs that covered the window, ignoring the small bit of hesitation embedded in his mind. As it was sprung open, his eyes met with what awaited on the other side of the glass panes–

A humanoid of skin as black as the night sky, with eyes that resembled white scratches, waving at him with a chilling grin.

["I remember it vividly. That monster–when my eyes laid on it, I lost all control over my actions."]

His hands moved to the hold of the window, unable to avert from eye contact with the nebulous gaze as he lifted the glass barrier. The cold outside air came in with a quiet whisper, brushing against his hair.

The boy stood there, blinking at the inexplicable creature that met him with a smile. It stretched its hand out, just beyond the opened window, unraveling its long, jagged fingers. An invitation, accompanied by an ear-to-ear grin, as if promising excitement for the child.

He slowly reached out, hindered by what little sense was left in his curious mind. As his fingertips passed the boundaries of the window, he snapped out of it:

"Ah–" The boy gasped.

Attempting to withdraw his hand, it was caught in the grasp of the pitch-black entity. As the scream left his mouth, the air was taken from his lungs as he was yanked from the bounds of his bedroom, hoisted into the air.

The boy screamed and cried, looking down as he found himself being dragged into the air by the phantom. As he looked back up, fighting at its grasp on his wrist, it smiled back at him, not budging in the slightest as it flew into the nightly abyss.

"Let go–!" The boy shouted, though found his ability to speak being sapped by the moment.

It was fear; complete, primordial fear, rising within him like the goosebumps on his skin. As his voice was lost, the desperate call was seemingly heard–"Help me."

["I thought it was over. I was helpless–that was, until I saw that light. It was the brightest I’d ever seen in my life."]

A shine illuminated from below, glancing down at the now distant, cobblestone streets beneath as he squinted, blinded by the burst of light. The very moment his eyes closed from the glaring brightness within the long night, the wind rippled as if a presence passed by him.

"You can open your eyes now."

"Ah–?"

As his eyelids parted, he found the nebulous creature left cut into a dozen pieces, fading into the darkness as he was instead held by a man dressed in a snow-white uniform. An obsidian insignia hung from the figure’s neck; a man with snow-white, slicked back hair and crystalline, violet eyes.

"I’ve got you," the stranger said, drifting upon tangible light with the boy in his hold. "You can breathe now, y’know." The kind man laughed.

["I couldn’t even mutter a word. I was utterly in awe of the hero that had saved me. That man, a void-ranked adventurer. A paramount of human strength."]

The boy was carried back down to the street in the arms of the light-wielding man, returned to his home, greeted by his worried parents. He cried, they cried, and a lesson was learned that night.

["Phantom Greeter: a nebulous monster that comes out only at night, tapping on the windows of children’ s rooms. It is unable to forcibly enter homes, however it manipulates the children into opening their window, allowing it to abduct them once given access."]

[--]

"So, that’s how it went down. For the rest of the Eclipse, I didn’t so much as look towards a window," Phoenix explained with a laugh, reminiscing.

Listening to the story, Leon felt as though it was straight out of some kind of horrific folklore meant to frighten children, only all too real. He continued walking along the quiet road, absent of any carriage that didn’t dare travel under the impending Nebula Eclipse.

"That adventurer you mentioned–ever meet him afterwards? He sounded really strong," Leon asked curiously.

"Trying to hire him, too?" Phoenix laughed, putting his arms behind his head as he marched. "Well, truthfully, I never even learned his name. By the next morning, he was already gone from my town. From what I heard, he went from place to place, helping defend people during the Eclipse."

"Sounds like a pretty awesome guy, then," he said.

"Yup," Phoenix nodded with a smile before stopping. "Hey, see that?"

Pausing amidst the reconnaissance, he looked ahead, seeing the same thing his companion did–a toppled-over carriage in the near distance on the side of the road. The two moved together, quickly running over to check on the trashed vehicle.

"Hey! Is anyone in there?!" Phoenix shouted, tapping on the bottom of the flipped carriage.

There was no response, and no sign of the horses that would’ve led it up to that point, only abandoned reins and puddles of blood alongside them. With how fresh the crimson liquid was, still pooling through the gaps in the stone, it left an obvious conclusion:

’Whatever did this is still close by,’ he thought.

"Shit...This doesn’t look good," Phoenix muttered, drawing his sword.

Leon turned to look at the man beside him, finding a silhouette behind his companion. In that moment, he moved faster than any words could process, dashing over as he pushed the adventurer out of the way.

"Haah—?!" Phoenix gasped.

In a quick motion, the youthful lord drew his sword, intercepting the strike that was meant for his friend. His blade collided with the black-steel axe, met with tremendous force as the air howled outward.

As their weapons met, he got a good look at the assailant; a humanoid creature clad in stone-gray skin, bound in abundant muscle with a vicious underbite.

["Deathbringer Orc"] [Level: 24]

’An orc—? That level—’ He thought.