He ripped off his tunic with a sharp yank.
It was indeed Lucas, sporting his usual smile.
His blue eyes gleamed in the dim light, and at that moment, I realized it had been a very long time since I had last seen him.
“Drey, listen,” he began, his voice trembling.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
But after you left, Lord Callis ordered me to follow you because he didn’t trust you.
And the more I tracked you from the shadows, the more I realized just how…
different we are, you and I.
You never hesitate.
In fact, if it’s to reach your goal, you’re ready for anything.
But I also know you’re a good person, otherwise we wouldn’t be friends…
Me, on the other hand, I’m just a coward.
Lord Callis, the organization…
they terrify me.”
“I was desperately looking for a way to run away, so at the last second, when I saw you, I came up with this plan.
I wanted to take everything from you and get far away from them.
But I knew very well that if I did that and let you fail, they would kill you.
That’s why I came here to wait for you and ask you to run away with me, Drey.”
Listening to him, I could see just how terrified he was of the organization.
Tears were now streaming down his face, and I didn’t really know what to say in the moment.
Deep down, I knew Lucas wasn’t a bad guy and that living in this darkness was incredibly hard for him.
But I couldn’t accept his offer.
This was the one and only path I saw that would allow me to grow strong and get my vengeance.
I couldn’t back out now.
“…I’m sorry, Lucas…
I can’t go with you,” I said after a heavy silence.
“But you’re right about one thing—we are friends.
I’m not letting you leave with the money because I need it, but I will help you escape the city.
And who knows, maybe we’ll meet again down the road.”
As I said this, a rare, genuine smile appeared on my face, and Lucas smiled back, wiping his cheeks.
We were friends, and despite my cold nature, I didn’t want him to die.
A few moments later, he stepped forward and meekly handed over the bag containing all the money.
Now, I had to think fast about how to help him escape without getting caught by Eresboros’s radar.
But just as I began to brainstorm ways to achieve this, an incredibly violent event occurred.
The church roof suddenly shattered with a monumental crash.
The noise sounded like a massive explosion, shaking the stone walls and sending debris flying everywhere. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Completely caught off guard, I wondered what had just happened.
After a moment, through the heavy fog of dust caused by the brutal destruction of the roof, I felt a murderous aura wash over the room.
It was suffocating.
My legs refused to move, freezing under the pressure, and goosebumps broke out across my entire body.
I had felt this presence before, and this sensation of almost supernatural terror could only come from one single person.
That was when I saw him emerge through the dust: Déva Callis.
He stood before us, staring with that same calm smile he always wore.
With incredibly fluid and rapid steps that defied the eye, he approached Lucas and seized him violently by the throat.
With a single arm, he lifted him high into the air.
Lucas’s feet instantly left the stone floor.
My friend stared at me, his eyes wide with panic and filled with tears, trying to struggle with all his might, bringing his hands up to Déva’s to try and break the iron grip.
But his efforts were utterly futile.
That was when Callis began to speak in a soft, terrifying voice:
“Ohhhh…
Sweet Lucas.
And here I thought you would be a good boy…
But you tried to betray us, and you even tried to rob us…
What a disappointment.”
He slowly turned his gaze toward me, delivering a piercing look that pinned me to the spot.
“Now, what am I going to do with you, Drey?”
I couldn’t even breathe properly; the pressure of his aura was crushing my lungs.
And in the midst of this total chaos…
he was smiling.
Déva was smiling, clearly amused by the situation.
I felt a visceral fear.
The man standing proudly before me easily possessed the strength to kill both Lucas and me with a single flick of his wrist if the whim struck him.
He broke the silence, asking me a direct question:
“My dear Drey, tell me…
what did you plan to do, hm?
Were you too…
even before joining our ‘Arya,’ planning to betray it like this dog?”
My mind raced amid the panic.
I didn’t know exactly what to say, but I knew one thing: if I stayed quiet, my silence would be the perfect excuse to execute me right here.
“No…
I…
I didn’t have any clues for the final location,” I began to explain, stammering slightly to sound convincing.
“The map didn’t show anything coherent at the end, and even when I arrived at the farm’s location, there was absolutely nothing there.
So, since I hadn’t gathered the required sum, and you had told me that I absolutely had to bring it all back to find you, I was at a loss.
I decided to return to the place where everything started—right here—to wait for new instructions.”
His facial expression remained calm, almost severe, analyzing my every micro-expression to detect a lie.
“I see,” he replied in a neutral tone.
“But what is Lucas doing here?
Because, based on the few words I overheard before entering, he was planning to flee far from here, wasn’t he?”
Through his expression and the tone of his voice, he was sending a crystal-clear message: Don’t you dare lie to me, kid.
I had to find another counter-move immediately.
“Well…
I simply asked Lucas for help to understand the map, through a good friend,” I blurted out, risking it all.
“What friend?” Callis asked immediately, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
“I’m sorry…
I can’t tell you,” I replied, pretending to protect a source.
As I said this, I could tell by his scowl that he was annoyed by my refusal.
But to my great surprise, he suddenly released his grip.
Lucas thudded to the ground with a groan, choking and gasping for air.
“Fine, I won’t hold it against you this time,” Callis declared, dusting off his clothes.
“And up until now, it is true that you have recovered practically all the requested loot.
But as for you, Lucas…
I decently cannot overlook your words of treason.”
He plunged his dark eyes back into mine, and his sadistic smile widened.
“Dear Drey, here is the final trial to validate your entrance test.
You will have to kill this traitor with your own hands.”
Hearing these barbaric words, I froze completely, my body rigid, deeply shocked and horrified by what he had just uttered.
Without giving me time to react, he slid his hand under his coat and handed me a Fantasia weapon, its metal gleaming with a sinister luster in the shadows of the nave.
“So, my dear…
either you take care of it yourself and prove your worth by officially becoming a member of our organization…
or I handle it personally, and I don’t think it will be very pretty for either of you to watch.
So, choose.”