Mysterious Organization

An attendant bowed towards everyone before proceeding to hand a report chart to Felix. 

After a brief check, Felix nodded and scribbled down some notes on a small pad. 

"The meeting for today would be about the Ruined King's Tomb in Italy."

Everyone inhaled deeply as Felix elaborated every possible event detail. Although they already knew it, no one dared to say anything and just willfully listened. 

"As we all know, three of the five items required to enter have been robbed."

The moment Felix spoke those words. Everyone exchanged meaningful glances and their faces turned grim.

It's been 6 days since the tragedy happened and to this day, the people, more specifically, the Awakened held a grudge towards that. 

"We also lost a hero and people were expecting us, Awakened, to do something."

Phoenix Guild, Guild Master, Billy, raised his finger and asked, "Are we moving then? Or do we need to find the other 2 items?" 

Felix leaned to his chair and answered, "Yes, we're moving because the other 2 items are likely to be here in the US."

"Wait, are you sure!?" 

"Uhh, no but uhh…" Felix shrugged his shoulders, "... call it a gut feeling." 

In fact, Felix has been finding those 2 items per the Director's orders. It wasn't until he managed to find the ruins with a book about the legend of the Ruined King. 

All pages besides the last one are written in an unknown language. He tried to appraise it to those interpreters but to no avail, they failed. In the end, the only clue he had was the last page with the name of all 5 items. 

After 6 years of investigation, his hard work came to fruition. 

Felix pinpointed the location of the 4th item, 'The Golden Crown'. It was owned by a rich company CEO after an expedition inside of a Blue Colored Dungeon. 

He tried to negotiate and offered some good trades but the CEO didn't want to let go of such a precious item. In the end, it was given to the CEO's son who has a strong potential as an Awakened. 

With the immediate decline to his offer, Felix had no choice but to let it go. The CEO seems capable so at least he'll be able to protect it if ever something goes wrong. 

'Sigh—, I'm getting too old for this shit.'

On the other hand, no matter how much time is spent on finding the last item, 'Ruined King's Cover', Felix still has no idea where it is. He didn't even know its appearance. 

Was it a weapon? Or a suit? 

All the clues he had were nothing more than its name. 

"If we can find them, maybe we could borrow it?" 

"Borrow? It's bound to the owner, brother."

"Why are the first 3 items robbed then? I even heard those items even willfully surrendered."

Felix took a short glimpse of the outside world towards the window before looking back at the now arguing members. 

"Alright, please shut your mouths." 

"..." 

"..." 

Felix nodded and continued, "Although I said we're moving, I would be the only one going to Venice while you guys were going to New York as reinforcements." 

"Why don't we just abandon the state?" One of the Awakened present complained, "I mean… It's pretty much hopeless now. We're just defending an empty and destroyed land. That doesn't… that doesn't make sense." 

"I agree with him, Felix." Lotus Guild's Representative, Hannah Luther, followed. 

She had seen and fought the monsters in New York. In her opinion, the USA would just be wasting manpower if they occasionally send even more troops towards the front lines. 

Due to the number of monsters and their individual strengths, it was just too hard to hold back. The previous grand state has now become nothing but a land washed away by the battles. 

Felix held his chin and reconsidered his orders. However, in the end, he still stuck to his previous choice. 

"No, I'm not going to change the orders. All of you will go there."

Even though they wanted to complain, everyone just shook their heads in helplessness. Although private organizations such as guilds were detached from the government, they still needed to comply with orders that involved national disasters and threats. 

"Well, you don't have to worry about the compensation. The association will pay you handsomely." 

With that, the first topic for today's meeting has ended. Felix rolled the sheet in his hand and scribbled a few letters. Next, he picked up his cane and it projected a holographic video. 

"This is a leaked video we found on the internet yesterday. We already took it down from the surface web but it's still roaming around the deep web." 

Shortly afterward, the video played. The members watched it with enthusiasm but as it progressed forward, their expressions suddenly crumbled. 

"What in the—?" 

"This is not some edited shits, right?" 

Felix immediately took down the video before the situation got worse. 

"Well, as you can see. The victim was skinned alive. There are even more gruesome things which happened next but I won't play it cause it's too long."

"So who's this motherfuckers?" 

Felix nodded seeing everyone interested in this topic. 

"For starters, this is a mysterious organization that operates in the underground black market."

"Any clues other than that?" 

"Oh, yes we have." Felix picked up one sheet of paper with a complex logo drawn in it, "They call themselves 'Illuminati'."

.........

The sound of fire sizzling awakened Hans from his deep thinking. As his eyes shot open, what greeted him was Light who was sitting around the bonfire while roasting a rabbit skewered on a stick. 

"You're awake." 

"Yeah, how long have I been out?" 

"Hmm… 5 hours, I suppose." 

Hans lightly nodded and looked around the vicinity. Light observed Hans's movements before handing him a piece of meat he already roasted. 

"Want some?" 

"Nah, I'm good." As he said those words, Hans' stomach grumbled. Light shook his head and asked once again. 

"Just take it. I still have plenty."

Hans helplessly received and offered his gratitude, "Thanks."

As he bit through the meat, Hans only tasted bland tasteless meat. However, due to his hunger, Hans gnawed the meat like a madman. 

"You seem hungry."

"Yeah."

"Anyways, have you found the answer you're looking for?" 

Hans chewing gradually slowed down and replied, "No." 

The two silently converse about their thoughts regarding the battle earlier. Light gave him some advice on how to improve mentality and battle awareness. 

"Once you're in a battle, consider all people around you as neutral." 

"Even allies?" 

"Yeah, you don't know their state of mind. They might just attack you out of nowhere when you're at your weakness."

However, Hans reasoned, "Wouldn't that affect the team chemistry?" 

"You can still trust them but always have your back guarded against them."

"Isn't that a bit contradictory to being neutral?" 

"Humans are a fragile race. At the brink of death, they would show their true colors."

Light smiled and patted his shoulder. 

"You don't have to follow my words. I'm just giving you knowledge so you won't be unprepared if ever that happens to you." 

Hans nodded and kept it inside his mind. Indeed, although Light's words seemed edgy, it has facts into them. He had been betrayed many times now and only because he was prepared that he managed to make it out alive. 

"Uhm, I just wanna ask."

"Go on." 

"Your brother, what happened?" 

At that moment, Light's gentle expression softened even more. He raised his head and reminisced his memories about his older brother. 

"Aka, my older brother was a nice man."

"Huh? Then what happened?" Hans immediately inquired. Aka's madness shocked him. 

Who wouldn't? That guy flattened the whole world. 

To think he wasn't a madman in his younger days was even more surprising. 

"This world…" Light's eyes swept around the surroundings, "... is a beautiful world before its destruction." 

Hans did not speak and let the words flow by themselves. 

"We were born from the Saintess and the Saint of the Temple. Aka was 4 years older than me, so as an older brother, he would take me in strolls and walk around the Temple."

Light pulled a folded photo from his pocket, smiled, and continued, "My brother was a good boy. Even when the Temple condemned us, he was always worried about us. Even after receiving many threats from the Temple, he would always visit me every day." 

The photo which was kept for many millennia started crumbling until all that was left was the dust swirling in the air. 

"He made a rapier and gave it to me as a gift after I told him my dream. It was the happiest day of my life. But…" 

"..." 

"But as I can't feel pain, I couldn't understand why his eyes look so lonely every time we meet. Even then, I just ignored it."

Hans sighed deeply and listened to every word. With the fire sizzling near their place, the cold breeze immediately vanished. 

"I am an unwanted child. After I finished my training and my mother died, I left the house and ran as far as I could."

"Where did you go?" 

"I don't know. Before I knew it, I arrived in an unknown place full of plants and towering mountains. There, I saw a lone old man swinging a wooden sword. I felt a strange sensation as I saw him. He's a dragon amongst men."

"..."

"That day, I was adopted and I devoted my life to training."

Hans took notes as he listened to how Light trained with the old man. His sword proficiency progressed at a slow rate and this training regime might help him speed up his process. 

"After like 15 years or 16, I went back to the Temple and killed my father. I wanted to find my brother as soon as possible but I found out he also left the Temple after me. Having hope that he would eventually go back, I accepted the Saint title and served the Heaven King."

"Uhm, may I ask. Who is the Heaven King?" 

"I don't know but he's a powerful guy."

"W-what?" 

However, before Hans could even follow up, Light continued. Having no choice but to shut up, Hans swallowed his words. 

"And then I just received the news that my brother had gone mad. He would kidnap humans and test them for those gruesome experiments. As a brother, it pains me."

"..." 

"Even with unrivaled strength, my heart is still weak when it comes to him. That's why I didn't kill him at that time and secretly let him go. Because of my softness, many people died."

"It's not your fault. You just followed your heart."

"No, you don't understand. After he escaped, in just a few years, he swept the entire world using his experiments. Many people asked for help but I didn't move until he came close to the Temple." 

"..." 

"We fought for a week and it was a draw. It wasn't until he used a million lives as a sacrifice to seal me that he won."

Sizzle—, sizzle—

Light moved his gaze towards the Temple and muttered, "My brother knows many secrets and I still remember his final words to me." 

The world seemed to slow down as Light uttered those words. 

"He said, 'They are coming here to end us, my dear brother. The creatures of reality are coming!'. I don't know what that means but it must have a deeper meaning."

Hans straightened his back and bowed towards the man. 

"Thank you, Light."

"No, I should be the one thanking you." Shortly, Light springs up from his seat and bowed his head. 

After a brief conversation, Light excused himself. Now, Hans was left alone to think about something again. 

With the clues provided by Light, he was able to build an unknown puzzle. 

He didn't know how it came to that. It just suddenly popped out in his mind. 

'All of this…' As Hans' gaze scanned around, he muttered. 

'...might just be an illusion.'

...........

Author Announcement:

I might not be able to update tomorrow because I'm showing symptoms of covid. Later, I would go to the hospital for a check-up. 

Hopefully, it's not covid and just a normal sickness. 

Ps: If it wasn't covid, I will update tomorrow. Thank you!!!