Hunt [5]

A large mansion. 

A familiar feeling washed over me. Yet again, I felt present, but at the same time not. I could see and move, but I wasn't... 'here'. 

'.....Will I be able to gain anything?' 

I looked around me. 

The place was finely decorated with furniture and paintings all over. Clearly, whoever lived here was rather well off. 

I focused my attention on one of the paintings hanging by the wall. 

'A family of four.' 

Two adults, and two kids. Two males and two females. 

'....Are these the owners of the mansion?' 

"H-help...!" 

It was then that I heard it. A young voice. One that seemed to belong to a child. 

Crackle—!

"I-I can't breathe..." 

Flames engulfed the surroundings. 

"B-rother... I can't breathe." 

Two children huddled by the corner of the room. They stared at the raging flames in fear. 

I felt a familiar sensation as information flooded my mind. 

A high-class family. One that was highly respected within the Empire. The two children in the room were the sole heirs of the estate. One year older than the girl, the boy was the older brother. 

In these raging flames. 

"Mom and Dad will come..." 

His instincts took over and he protected the girl. 

"It hurts... It hurts..." 

The sister cowered in his arms. 

"Don't worry, mom and dad are coming... Just wait a little..." 

Though he said that, the boy didn't seem sure. I felt every emotion he felt. He was primarily dominated by fear, but he did his best to keep himself from showing it. 

For the sake of his sister... 

"I'm going to protect you."

He was prepared to push away his fears. 

Crackle! 

"Akhhh...!" 

But the flames continued to rage on. 

"It hurts...! B-brother." 

"Stay behind me." 

He covered her with his arms. 

The heat of the fire burned him. 

He was just eight years old, and yet... 

"Ukh."

He understood his duty all too well. 

"...." 

I stared blankly at the scene in front of me. 

The scene hit harder than I thought it would. It reminded me a lot of myself. No, it was a perfect reflection of what I tried to be. 

But... 

'I ran away from my duty.'

"Hah."

My chest tumbled as it was pierced by an all too familiar pain. 

"Eli! Emily!" 

A voice broke me out of my thoughts. 

In the distance, a figure appeared. Her appearance was haggard and she seemed to be in distress. 

Crackle! 

The flames continued to burn. 

But amidst the flames, the faces of the two children lit up. 

'She's finally here.' 

Just in time. 

"Mommy!" 

The children hastily stood up to head to where their mother was. 

But.... 

Bang—! 

"Ahhhh!" 

The ceiling fell apart and the fire spread. 

"Eli! Emily....!!" 

The mother's scream echoed within the sea of flames as the two children ducked down in fear.

'It hurts.' 

'I don't want to die.' 

'Mommy.'

'Daddy.'

'Save us.'

Their voices entered my consciousness as they held their heads. 

'....Please save me.'

'Mom!' 

'I'm scared.'

'I'm so scared...'

The fire intensified and the walls burned. The crackling of the fire echoed. The roof collapsed inwards. Embers scattered in all directions, and smoke covered everything. 

"Cough...! Cough....!" 

In the struggle, the pair of siblings held each other. As if they were the only thing left to rely on. 

Bang! 

Bang! 

The structure started to collapse. 

All hope seemed to have been lost when. 

"Grab my hand!" 

A hand reached out from behind the flames. The faces of their mother appeared from behind. 

"Grab it!" 

"Mom!" 

"Mom...!" 

Hope ignited within the children's minds as they reached for the outstretched hand. 

They both reached for it at the same time, but... 

Only one hand grasped the outstretched hand. 

The boy stared at his mother who was looking at him with open eyes. The arm pulled back and he felt his sister disappear. 

Crackle! 

Shortly after, the flames fully engulfed his vision, flooding his body with intense pain.

But the only thing that the boy could think about was his mother. 

'It hurts...'

'Mom.'

'....Where are you?' 

He waited for her. 

'I'm here...'

'Are you coming back?'

'Mom.'

For her hand to reach out for him again. 

But... 

It never did. 

Even as he felt his entire body burn. 

The hope. 

It still lingered, and I felt it. 

But it never came. 

∎| Lvl 1. [Anger] EXP + 3% 

Darkness took over from then. Only for it to be shattered shortly after as the heat that had been invading every part of the child's body disappeared and he felt someone's presence. 

'Mommy...?' 

Had she finally come? 

A sense of relief washed over the child's body as the darkness embraced his consciousness 

That sense of relief was short-lived, however. 

"Wake up." 

A voice brought the young boy back. 

It was a rough and detached voice. When his eyes opened again, the boy found himself inside a large cave. 

He wasn't alone. There were several other children around him. All of them huddled together, scared. 

"Mom?" 

He called for his mother but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Forget about all you've known. Your identity no longer matters. If you want freedom, then you've got to earn it." 

The man smiled. It was a smile that seemed warm to those looking. But it was also the same smile that forced the children to starvation. 

"Work harder." 

He was a total bastard. 

"You didn't work enough. You won't be eating today!" 

'No... I'm hungry... I will work harder... Please... Just a little bit...' 

"Shut up!" 

'Ahhhh—!'

Even as the children's cheeks sunk in due to the hunger, he didn't care. 

".....For the Inverted Sky! Pray!" 

A fanatic. 

"Not enough!" 

A lunatic who enjoyed torturing the little children. 

"You useless things! You won't be of use at this rate!" 

Starving them. 

'I am useless...' 

Brainwashing them. 

'It hurts... It hurts... But it's for the Inverted Sky.' 

'I'm hungry...'

That was who he was. 

'....All is for the inverted sky.'

The children gradually forgot about the pain and hunger. Even as they passed out due to starvation and pain, the only thing they muttered was...

"For the Inverted Sky." 

It was as if their lives were no longer important. 

I watched this happen over and over again. Thousands of children came and went. By the end, all that was left were mindless puppets who only believed in one thing. 

"Long live the Inverted Sky." 

Their identity had been stripped. 

So had their humanity. 

The only thing left was their voice. 

"H-hungry... H-hurts..." 

But even that was starting to fade. 

Only one child hadn't lost his voice. 

"...." 

In the silence, I approached him. 

"Hurts... Hungry... Mom..." 

Even now, he clung to the past. To his mother who had left him in the flames. 

Gradually my steps stopped and he turned his head. 

A familiar burned visage. His eyes, though innocent, carried a certain clarity to them as they looked at me. 

".....You're not Julien." 

I closed my eyes before nodding. 

"I am not." 

The child nodded his head as if understanding the situation. 

He looked around him. 

"These were memories I had long forgotten." 

"...." 

I listened in silence. 

"My memories of my family are rather fuzzy. How are they doing right now? Are they healthy? Is my sister okay? Do they still think about me...?" 

His face suddenly changed and I felt my jaw clench. 

"You saw my memories, right? How I got my face." 

The way he was looking at me... 

It made my skin crawl. 

"That hand..." 

His head tilted and I felt my breath stop. 

A variety of emotions flooded my chest all of a sudden. 

But primarily... 

"....Was it for me or my sister?"

All I felt was anger. 

A strange suffocating feeling overtook me as my chest grew heavy. 

"You've seen her face. Who was the one she was trying to save?" 

His face remained stoic and unchanging, but his anger didn't. It boiled even more ferociously. 

"Was it because she reached faster than me? Was that it? What would've happened had I reached for the hand first?" 

My chest felt like it was ripping apart as his eyes remained glued to me. 

"....Would she have taken my place? Or would I still have been discarded?" 

He disappeared right then as the world turned dark. 

But even then, his face didn't. 

It remained stuck in my mind. His voice whispering at the back of my mind. 

'Who was she trying to save?'

'Me?'

'...Or her?' 

In the end... 

∎| Lvl 1. [Anger] EXP + 13% 

I was never able to answer his question. 

"...." 

But I had no time to dwell on the question. The moment I regained my vision, I was met with a dozen different eyes staring in my direction from the distance. 

I knew then that my path was blocked. 

But I didn't care. 

I brought my hand forward where five threads slowly came out. A purple magic circle floated above as the threads changed color. 

Then... 

Staring at the incoming creatures, I clenched my hand. 

Swoosh—! 

*** 

"....Do you think they're waiting for us down there?" 

Evelyn's voice echoed through the empty tunnels, mingling with the sound of their footsteps as they rushed towards the hole up ahead.

She was the furthest one back as Leon led the group from the front. 

His expression was hard to read. However, it was clear that he was concerned.

"I don't know." 

Leon shook his head. 

It had been just a minute since they had managed to defeat the Junior Ranked Nyxfernal. 

They held off on collecting the fungi and directly headed down the hole to search for Julien and Wesley. 

Thud. Thud. 

The moment they touched the ground, all they were met with was darkness. The air was moist, and a putrid smell lingered in the air. 

"Ugh..." 

"What is this smell?" 

The smell was so horrid that Evelyn had to cover her nose to prevent herself from gagging.

Though she didn't show it directly, Aoife also appeared to dislike it as her nose wrinkled. 

Drip... Drip...! 

There was a faint rippling sound in the distance that caught everyone's attention. It shattered the silence that gripped the surroundings. 

Without hesitation, Leon reached out for his bag to take out his torch. He wanted to get a better look at his surroundings. 

....And when the light finally shined, he froze. 

So did everybody else. 

"Ah..." 

Looking at the corpses that were littered on the floor, Leon's head slowly raised to stare at the person sitting on top of them. 

Drenched from head to toe with blood, his figure twitched the moment light shined upon him. 

Then... 

His head slowly raised to stare at them and his hoarse voice echoed. 

"You're here..."