Fated Encounter-II

‡Go away from here; there is nothing here for you; if you love your life, then get out of this place and never come back here.‡

Where the iron thorns were installed in the ceiling above, that ceiling was coming down slowly. And in that place, only the voice of a woman was coming.

It was impossible to know where the woman was and from where she was speaking all this.

Some of the iron thorns on the ceiling above were falling down to Roy on the ground. Roy was unable to stand, but he was avoiding those thorns while spinning on the ground.

But wherever those thorns came from the ceiling, other new thorns would automatically come and fall back close to Roy.

‡There is nothing here for you. Run away from here soon, or else you will lose your life‡ 

The same woman's voice was coming again and again, but that woman was nowhere to be seen.

Roy's condition was slowly getting worse and worse. He had bruises all over his body, and he was surviving from those thorns by spinning on the ground. He couldn't even able to stand.

He was in great pain and was completely exhausted. 

'Where is this woman speaking from? And is there any connection between this woman speaking and this ceiling coming down?'

As far as I saw in the game, if we didn't cross that spot by jumping over the flying stones within the time limit, then the game was over.

My friends had made a big rant while crossing it many times. Many times they were unable to cross that place, that too only because of the time limit. 

If we look at it keeping an eye on it, then perhaps this scenario is of game over, and hence the question of this scene coming into the game does not even arise.

So now, how will I get out of here, and if I don't do anything to stop it, I might get killed.

‡Behind you is the way to go outside. I am giving you one last chance. If you want to save your life, then run away. You have been able to reach here anyway because of the message written by me‡ 

As soon as the woman said that, the ceiling that was coming down stopped in one place, and the iron thorns in that ceiling also stopped.

Seeing this, Roy stopped on the ground at one place and was watching this view.

‡I will count only up to three; if you go out of here, it is okay; if you do not go, you will be killed here. Your condition is such that you are about to die; you have reached this far after working so hard, so go away, and you will be saved‡ 

There were iron thorns all over the ceiling. There was no hole or anything visible from which it could be known how Roy fell here.

There was a way out behind Roy from where the light was coming. But apart from the light, nothing was visible there.

Roy was listening very carefully to that voice.

'How did she know that I came here after working very hard?' 

Was she watching over me? But how? I didn't see any person around me, so how did she keep an eye on me? And did she write that poem?

But where is this voice coming from? There is no place to hide here.

Where Roy was located, if we try to describe it in simple language, then there is a big closed room made of stones where there is only one way out, which is behind Roy, and it is closed from all places. 

Neither there was any hole for any air to go out there nor a way to go forward, so it was impossible for anyone to hide there, but the woman whose voice was coming was nowhere to be seen.

‡You have only three moments to think about whether you will run away or die here, it will depend only on your decision…..three‡ 

The woman began to count, and Roy was listening to that voice with bruises on the body, exhausted on the ground below.

He could not see any way to go forward, he could only see the way out behind, and it was difficult for Roy to go even further due to the injuries in his body.

'Do I have to go back now?' 

Time has passed, and if I go out from here at this time and come back to this cave again, then a lot of time will pass by; it is sure that Amelia will also be dead by then.

And I don't have much faith in myself now that if I get out of here, then I will be able to reach here again or not.

I did not see this in the game, and I am not able to understand what this woman is and this place. How do I proceed from here? 

‡Get out, run away quickly, what are you thinking? Your age is nothing now, why do you want to die at this age, go away...….Two‡

From the woman's voice, it seems that the woman wants Roy to leave that place.

It seemed from her voice that she did not want to kill Roy but wanted to test Roy as to what decision Roy would take at such a time.

But why it could not be known. 

'Do I have no choice but to go out?'

If Amelia dies, who will be hurt the most, Hugh? That he couldn't save his sister's life or Daniel? That he let an innocent person die because of a problem in his territory.

And what will happen to Andrew? He will lose his purpose of living, His love Amelia, whom he is empowered to save so that he can kill Roy. 

Despite being a knight, he fought the Marquis only for Amelia, so what would happen if he found out that Amelia was no longer alive?

And how did I forget Amelia herself, what would she even think about her life? Due to not being able to speak since childhood, she must have definitely faced many problems.

When she grew up, she found her love, Andrew, and she had to leave that too for the people of her territory. 

Had to marry a lousy man like Roy and die because of that without experiencing any happiness.

‡I am saying this for the last time; if you have gone, it is okay; otherwise, you have invited your own death. You will be responsible for your own death‡ 

Many things were coming to Roy's mind, and he was also listening carefully to the words of that woman. He was thinking carefully about the consequence of his decision. 

'Isn't it wrong that I sacrifice someone else to save myself from death'

According to the game, Roy eventually dies fighting Andrew's party. To avoid that, I sent Amelia and Hugh in monster subjugation.

I wanted to remove Harrison's sentence and didn't want Daniel's family and the people of his territory to die because I knew the root of the disease and how it was spreading. 

I could have solved it in a simple way by going with them in monster subjugation, but I sent Amelia with them for my own benefit so that they all think that I don't care about Amelia.

And this will allows Daniel to reunite with Andrew through Hugh and save Amelia, as the anime showed. 

I tried to do everything according to the game's plot, which turned out to be my biggest mistake. I should have handled the matter differently.

So if seen, if anyone is responsible for her condition of Amelia, then it is probably me.

When Roy was thinking about all this, he remembered the same boy's words again. 

{I will always hope that someone of yours will say goodbye to this world in front of your eyes, and you will not be able to do anything.} 

But when Roy started remembering this thing, there was a smile on his face, but that smile was not of happiness, but some deep pain was hidden in that smile.

'I could not say this at that time, but if I ever meet you again, then I definitely want to say that you do not need to ask such a prayer because-'

‡So I am going to say this last count now. I understand that you won't go and will be ready to die here….One-‡ 

The woman stopped in the middle as soon as she spoke, and as soon as she stopped, she started speaking again.

‡Oh, so after all, you gave up, and you agreed to get out of here, as I thought you would run away, so now stand up and leave before I change my mind‡

Roy seemed to stand up with all his life as he had left. His bleeding had not stopped, and his condition was looking bad, but he was still standing with all his courage. 

'You don't need to pray this because-'

Roy stood up from his place with his whole life, putting one hand on the ground. And where his sword had fallen a short distance away, he staggered and started going towards there.

'Because-' 

‡I expected the same from you. I thought that you would be different from all the others who came here, but after all, a person is a human; when he is faced with death, he runs away in fear, and you too are not a little different-‡

"Which fool has said that I am scared and am going to go back from here."

The woman stopped speaking as soon as she heard Roy's voice. Roy raised his sword from the ground down and took it out of his sheath, and stood with the sword in front. 

He stood up, pointing his sword towards the wall in front of him as if he was challenging the one who gave that voice.

"If you have the courage, then I dare you to get me out of here and show me. I have come here of my own free will and will also go on my own. No one has the right to even dare to throw me out without my consent." 

'-The God has already fulfilled your prayer.'

Roy had many injuries on his body, but no pain was visible on his face; rather, he was roaring at the woman to show him by making him go away. 

Looking at Roy's face, it was clear he had no intention of leaving without taking what he had come so far for with him.

'I promise that because of me I will not let anyone go through the same experience that I am going through now. I will not return empty handed without taking the Night Queen flower.'

Roy was challenging the voice by raising the tip of the sword, and as soon as Roy said these words, the woman's voice stopped for a moment.

And after a few moments, the sound of the woman's laughter started coming very loudly.

‡Seeing you, I had the feeling that you are really stubborn, but this turned out to be more than my expectation. Let's see how long you will be able to stay here‡

As soon as that woman said that, iron thorns started coming out automatically in all the walls ahead, right, and left of Roy. 

And the ceiling, which had been kept at the top, also started coming down, and the iron thorns in the surrounding walls were also coming closer to Roy from all three sides in front, right, and left, as if wanting to crush him.

‡Are you still not thinking of leaving here? Will you still stay here, despite seeing all this?‡

The walls, which had iron thorns on all sides, were coming closer to crush Roy. There was only one way to escape from which the walls did not coming in the direction of the way out behind.

Now Roy had no other way but to go out of here, but Roy stood in his place.

He had no intention of leaving from there. But seeing all this wall approaching him, he had a mocking smile.

Roy had not lowered the tip of his sword, but even though he saw that all the three walls with thorns were coming closer to him.

Even then, he stood fearless.

"Without doing the work for which I have come, I am not going to go anywhere from here. Running away in fear is the job of a person like you who hesitates to even come in front of me. Because you know that you are very weak. No matter how hard you try, I will not go anywhere from here."

Roy was not ready to back down even after knowing that the circumstances were against him; he was mocking that voice and provoking her with all his might to get him out of there. 

‡If this is the case, then you have accepted your own death; except you, no one else is responsible for your death‡

With that woman's voice, all those walls quickly started coming closer to Roy to push him in their midst.

The thorns in those walls were also shining.

‡There is still time to run away; you will be saved quickly. I don't want to kill you; go away‡ 

From that woman's voice, it seemed that she wanted to drive Roy out of here. She does not want Roy to stay here. The woman told Roy to go again and again, but Roy did not budge from his words.

He stood in his place. 

"Do whatever you want to do, you can't even move me away from my place. You are so timid that you are afraid to even come in front of me and you are making me think that I will be scared seeing all this? Along with being coward, you have no brain."

It was a very weird thing; despite having such a situation, neither Roy did not use any magic nor was he attacking to save himself. 

Far from attacking, where people first think to save their lives in such a situation, Roy was provoking her further by making fun of that voice.

If someone else had seen this, he would have felt at least once that Roy's balance of mind was shaken, but something else was going on in his mind.

He was thinking something while looking at the walls coming around him. 

'If this is what I'm thinking, then I won't even need to attack.'

I must believe in myself. If these three walls already have thorns in them, couldn't this woman kill me very easily?

Of course, she would have killed me if she wanted to kill me. But why didn't she kill me? Because either she has no intention of killing me, or she can't kill me. 

So if my second guess out of these is correct, then it clearly means that this woman's voice and all that in front of me is-

"I dare you to kill me, you cannot even touch my body. Only by hiding you, you can scare those who are cowards, not an aristocrat like me."

‡Run away from here; I am not a coward. I am telling you to run away only for your own good. If you do not run, you will be killed. Go away ‡ 

The walls started coming very quickly to kill Roy with iron thorns inside them.

In view of this, Roy did not move from his place; he stood in his place without doing any means of defending himself. Neither was he attacking with his sword, nor was he using magic. He was just in his place.

Roy was not scared even for a moment, nor did he close his eyes. 

‡Go away from here‡

One last time the woman's voice came as loudly as it had been heard throughout the cave, and as soon as that voice came, the walls were about to push Roy's body through the iron thorns on them.

Roy still did not move from his place; he stood in his place with a mocking smile on his face. 

Just as the walls were about to crush Roy from all three sides, then only a finger's distance would be in the iron thorns in those walls, and in Roy's body, those walls stopped there.

Seeing the walls pausing, Roy's smiling face grew as if he was making fun of someone.

"What happened? You were about to kill me, now why did you stop the walls? Don't want to kill me, what happened got scared? Do you really want to kill me or-" 

As soon as Roy spoke this, he started putting his hand inwards on the iron thorn walls. And as soon as Roy touched those thorns with his hand, the thorns went through Roy's hand, and his hand also went inside the wall.

"-You can't kill me even if you want, because all this is an illusion which is not there in reality, and maybe you yourself are also an illusion, due to which you cannot come in front of me. Did you really think that you could be successful in deceiving me?" 

Roy was saying all this while making fun of that voice.

Roy had a smile on his face but inside, he was really scared. After all, if there was a single mistake in his probability, then Roy's life could also have been lost.

'I am really glad that my guess turned out to be correct.' 

There is magic in this world, but I have not seen this type of magic in the game nor in the anime, nor have my friends told me anything that there is also such an attack, which can hide anything in such a clean way that it looks like it is real.

First, how could it be hidden if it had thorns in the walls? We knew that thorns were already inside them, and they also started coming into the wall as soon as it was a threat. 

Second, these walls were also coming so fast that as if she just wanted to scare me away from here that I should not stay here and leave quickly.

Which was very strange.

The third and biggest thing is the name of this place is Dungeon of Myth, how can I forget that. While coming here, I have faced many illusions everywhere, so can't it also be an illusion?

I am really glad that I could believe my doubts; otherwise, I would have faced a lot of troubles. 

‡You are really a buffoon, but I like your confidence in yourself. You are a little right, and you remind me of myself; I was also like that. ‡

As soon as that woman spoke, the thorns in the walls and the roof above disappeared. And all of them started returning to where they were before.

Suddenly everything went back to its place as if they had never moved from their place. 

Roy was watching all this with joy in his heart. He was glad that his guess was correct.

Everything had gone to its place, but still, no hole could be seen anywhere in the ceiling or walls so that it could be ascertained from where Roy came here.

"Whatever you may be now, whether it is a human, a ghost or something else, now your illusion has exploded, so now removed this remaining illusion and tell me the way forward. I don't have time to argue with you." 

Time was short; now, Roy could not waste any more time. Now even the slightest delay could lead to many dreadful coincidences, so Roy wanted to get out of here as soon as possible without delay.

When Roy asked that voice to show the way forward, an unexpected reply came, which Roy did not believe.

‡I can't do this‡ 

Roy was stunned to hear the woman's answer. Whatever it was, it was from the illusion of that woman, and perhaps she herself was a form of illusion. She is saying that she cannot erase the remaining illusion.

How can this be possible?

"What do you mean by saying you can't?" 

When Roy clearly followed that voice, a platform was created in front of him. And on top of that platform was a visible thing, like a bracelet.

There was a gap in the middle of that bracelet's arms, and a purple-colored gem was kept between the arms of the bracelet.

The bracelet was so attractive as if anyone looking at it would crave for that bracelet.

Roy also looking at the bracelet. 

‡I can change the illusion of this cave according to me, but I cannot eliminate it completely. This illusion is created because of this power, and this power is capable of destroying it completely‡

The bracelet was shining as if it was attracting Roy to it.

Roy's eyes fell on the bracelet as if the bracelet had hypnotized Roy.

Roy had several injuries on his body, but despite those injuries, Roy was dragging towards the bracelet, dropping his sword to the ground. 

‡This power has its own ego; if someone likes it, either it belongs to this power, or it becomes its power. I wanted to name this power, but I died before that. But if this power could have a name, it could have only one, which was-‡

The woman's voice could not be heard in Roy's ears, nor could Roy see anything else, he could only see that bracelet, and he was moving towards that bracelet.

When Roy was about to touch the bracelet, the image of Amelia started appearing in front of him.

Amelia was groaning in pain on the ground below.

Roy came to his senses as soon as he saw this image, as if he had come out of some hypnosis.

'….What was this I doing…and what is this?' 

As soon as Roy's hand started going backward from that bracelet, that bracelet automatically started getting stuck in Roy's wrist. 

"What is all this-"

As soon as the sound started coming out of Roy's mouth, he started getting severe pain, he was trying to remove that bracelet from his wrist, but it was so tight that he could not even able to remove it from his wrist.

The veins in Roy's hand were visible; the light was also coming into his eyes, due to which he was in a lot of pain. And out of all the ostias in Roy's body, the stream of blood slowly started pouring out of them. 

Roy, in this pain, held one hand on the other hand, on which he had a bracelet; while holding this hand, he fell down on his feet.

His pain was unbearable.

‡– Power of Phantom‡

Roy was on the ground in pain, so much pain that he could not even open his eyes.

'…..Phantom…?' 

*************