Truth of Swain (2)

Tartarus, Underground.

In the surface depths of Tartarus, Elias stopped in front of a locked metal door. He took out the keys in his pocket and inserted one of them into the door.

Click!

The door gave out a click as it was unlocked. He quickly pushed it open and entered. As soon as he entered, he paused and looked at his surroundings.

Beyond the door was not a room, but a spiraling stairway that led to the very bottom of the underground.

The spiraling stairway seemed endless. It was like a stairway to hell, leading to a bottomless pit of no return.

Elias gazed below the endless stairway, seeing no end in sight.

This place was also known as the "Infernal Stairway", the stairs of Tartarus that lead to the most dangerous sealed prisoner.

Elias observed for a moment before he decisively ran down the stairs. The further he ran, the more he realized how long the stairs were.

Shook!

However, a large tremor suddenly erupted on the entire prison facility making him slow down.

Elias suddenly stopped and looked at the ceiling. His eyes sharply narrowed as though looking through it.

'...It has begun, huh?

He had faintly guessed the reason for the tremor this time. Most likely, Voxen and Swain had already met and started fighting against each other.

But he only took a quick look before continuing to run again. He can't waste any more time or untimely accidents could happen.

At this point, he could only hope that Swain would succeed in stalling for time enough for them to escape.

Of course, it would be more delightful if Swain were to win and defeat Voxen.

'Swain…'

On the topic of Swain, Elias couldn't help but feel complicated emotions within him. As he had once said, the story and legend of Andolinio Castellano was written by him in the passing.

Naturally, even Andolinio's eventual demise was also part of his writing. That's why he not only knew everything about his father but also what happened during the war last month, and how his father died.

In truth, the whole matter of his father's death was very complicated.

The Ghost King and the Five Families allied together to kill his father and started a war in the process, leading to his father's tragic demise.

At least that was what was known by the others.

That information was correct for the most part. But it was just the surface truth and was lacking in many details.

For one, only a few know that Swain didn't participate in that war and indirectly let his father die.

However, there was a reason for it.

Swain had a family.

The Ghost King and Five Families discovered Swain's family and threatened him, making Swain submit to their demands and forcing him to not participate in the war.

If it was in the past, Swain would've still helped The Godfather despite his family being threatened by his enemies. It would not even take him a second to decide to help The Godfather.

That was how grateful and loyal Swain was to his father, and yet why did he ultimately betray the man?

It was simple.

The Godfather, Andolinio Castellano was a man that advocated family above all else. He taught all of his subordinates the importance of family.

In his words, what was a man if they abandoned their own family?

Influenced by the Godfather's teachings, Swain found a new reason to live other than to serve his master.

Swain had found a new family in recent years, making him discover a new goal in his life. However, he couldn't have expected he would be forced into a corner by his own family.

The Ghost King and The Five Families exploited his weakness and threatened him to either join in killing The Godfather or not participate in the war at all.

Forced to a cruel decision, Swain, who was influenced by Andolinio, ultimately chose to protect his new family rather than help the Godfather.

At that time, he forced himself to believe that the Godfather was strong enough and that he was not needed for the fight at all to cope with his decision.

But above all else, the truth was… he submitted because he was internally terrified of losing his family once more.

Swain, the right-hand man of The Godfather, known as the cold sword of Castellano, was terrified of losing his family once more.

At the end of the war, the Godfather died and Swain was captured by the United-Government Alliance, and thus Swain continued to live in shame, guilt, and rage for his decision.

It was a tragic ending for the man who only wished for a good life.

"If I could've known that this world was real, would I have still written such a tragic story…?"

Elias asked himself quietly. Faced with such a question, he fell silent as he didn't know what to answer.

***

After a while of running, he finally reached the end of the stairs. He came down the stairs and looked at the underground floor.

As soon as he walked down the stairs, he caught a glimpse of five familiar figures standing in front of a closed elevator.

As though waiting for his arrival, Donato and the rest already had their gazes turned to look at him as soon as he appeared.

"It seems I was the last one to arrive. Alexus should've told you the details already, I was obstructed by something earlier. But it was already resolved."

Elias said as he slowed down his steps. He approached them and stopped in front of the elevator

As soon as Donato and the rest heard his words, they sighed in relief as the slight anxiety present in their expressions vanished.

Elias stepped up and took out the key in his pocket, waving it slightly.

"We'll have a change of plans. I managed to obtain the master key, we'll skip step three and directly go to step four."

His plan was simple and had five steps in total.

Step 1, get the keys to the underground.

Step 2, reach the underground.

Step 3, get the keys to the underground rooms.

Step 4, directly go to that "place" and activate the hidden mechanism.

And at the end, Step 5, escape Tartarus.

But among them, step 3 was the most time consuming. Skipping it meant he could escape faster!

Elias looked at the elevator and pressed a button. As the elevator opened for them, he walked inside.

"Let's go."

Behind him, Donato and the rest nodded as they followed inside.

TNG!

As soon as they entered, the elevator closed. The underground returned to its desolate silence.