Artificial Happiness (Part 1)

Chapter 9

Artificial Happiness (Part 1)

In the basement of Georgies' castle, the guards were leaning on the wall, passed out sleeping and unguarded.

Three children nimbly passed through them.

It was Royce, Loyd, and Keith, the three boys with the leader position among the children. According to Nameless, there are only five guards in the whole castle and four maids.

All of them were conscious.

But maybe the Goddess was on their side because two of the five guards were seen dragged away to the forest, gagged and bloody.

"Are you sure the [Artificial Happiness] is somewhere around here?" Loyd turned to Keith while he grabbed weapons from the guards and packed it inside the knapsack he brought.

"Yes." Keith paused in his track and scanned the corridor. 

The three of them reached the kitchen, its floor had a black and white box design, like a chessboard. "...This castle has the same blueprint as the capital's main palace. Even the Saintess confirmed it."

[ From the door walk to the fifth tile, if its black then move to the sixth and that's the hidden passage. But the fifth tile is white, then move to the right until you reach the wall. ] This was the puzzle to reach the dark relic. 

As a mindless puppet, the hidden room was found on instinct, reaching it even without any knowledge but without the trance they had to remember it.

Loyd was assigned to the kitchen, Royce was for cleaning up dead bodies, while Keith was from the archives. The latter assisted and checked on the plans with his sole superior Pearce. He was one of the few aides, five in total, chosen because they were naturally smart.

In fact Four might have remembered him.

When he was observing the children his gaze landed on Keith for a moment.

"It's a cold storage..."

"Even from outside you can tell you'll freeze to death after a few minutes."

"Don't be dramatic, Royce."

Keith sighed, placing his hand on the doorknob to the cold storage. The knob looked frozen with visible wind emitting from it however it was warm to the touch.

An illusion. Or rather the chilling aura didn't come from anything cold inside...

He hesitated to open the door. Even when he barely touched it, as if cold air existed from it, there were goosebumps crawling up from his arm.

When Keith didn't move, Royce sighed and took over, "We don't have time." Royce did not hesitate in opening the door even if goosebumps rose. "Nameless said to finish the job before sunrise."

Royce opened the door wide.

It was a stairway leading downwards. 

"Fine... Let's go." Keith took a deep breath and ventured down first, the two following closely.

As they descended, the dim glow of the corridor lights faded until they were engulfed in near darkness. Only a faint, sickly red hue spilled from somewhere deeper down.

It was casting eerie shadows along the cold, damp stone walls.

Royce kept his gaze ahead, his steps steady.

Keith hesitated now and then, the weight of the silence pressing down on him, but Royce's quick pace forced him forward.

Loyd, bringing up the rear, tried to keep his breathing calm, though the darkness felt like it was closing in around him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they reached the bottom of the staircase, which opened into a wide, cavernous room. In the center, half-buried in the cracked stone floor, stood the [Artificial Happiness] relic—a narrow, pole-like structure with the crimson gem embedded at the top like a head.

It pulsated faintly, casting an unsteady red glow over the room.

Keith's mouth went dry at the sight.

The gem was enormous, far larger than Royce had described.

What Royce encountered before was the size of a fist, but this was a head. Given there were two dark relics on the capital while this area only had one despite its large land, the crimson gem that commanded the puppets everywhere should be bigger.

Loyd shifted uncomfortably. Everytime the gem flicker, the whole room seem to throb with it.

It seemed almost alive, its surface shifting as though something within was trapped, writhing, trying to escape.

Faint whispers drifted from it, curling into the air like smoke, filling the room with soft, enticing promises of paradise, fulfillment, happiness.

Royce's expression hardened; he knew those whispers too well, but maybe because he destroyed two of these before, they had no effect on him now.

One was destroyed for chaos and one before escaping the capital of Gashu.

Keith, however, felt the lure pull at him. As his eyes locked onto the gem, images began to stir in his mind—visions of a life he'd always dreamed of, free from fear, filled with purpose and belonging, all while commanding him to touch it.

You want to be free.

Be happy.

Take me in your hands.

His feet started to shuffle forward, and he found his hand reaching out before he even realized what he was doing.

"Keith!" Royce's voice snapped him back.

Keith blinked, shook his head, and took a step back, away from the gem's pull.

Royce's face was grim, understanding but firm. "Don't look too long. This thing plays on our deepest wants, but they're lies. Remember why we're here."

Keith swallowed hard and nodded, his fingers trembling as he forced his hands to his sides.

Royce examined the gem carefully, his mind running through what he knew. The relic would be stronger than those he had broken in the capital, and judging by the gem's unnatural size and the deep hum of power filling the room, it would likely be much harder to shatter.

He recalled Nameless's instructions: Finish the job before sunrise. Royce knew why... When the sun comes up, the mindless puppets resume their state. 

At night the gem of the relic slowly sips the remaining life out of the brainwashed people and by morning, it commands them again to do whatever it was programmed to do. If they don't finish by sunrise, Four will notice the decreased trace of brainwashing magic among them and command the tranced beings to take us.

Royce shuddered at the thought. He didn't want to hurt others, especially those who didn't know what they were doing.

"Alright," Royce took a deep breath, his voice low and steady. "We need to hit the gem, hard and fast. But stay alert; if it feels threatened, it might strengthen its' magic."

Loyd's eyes darted between Royce and the gem. "Are you sure it'll work, like in the capital?"

Royce gave a brief nod. "It's risky, but it's all we've got. Just keep your focus, and don't listen to what it's telling you. Keith, Loyd—let's end this."

Taking a deep breath, Royce steadied the sword handed by Loyd.

The three of them nodded in unison, raising up an axe, a sword and a shovel, and struck the gem.

Loyd knew they struck the gem at least before he closed his eyes. He could feel the strong vibration coming from the impact...

However there was no sound that followed. Except...

"Y-You dare!!!"

Loyd's eyes flashed open and at the same time, Royce grabbed him away.

A sword passed right above his head, chipping a bit of his long hair blonde hair. "Oh! God!" He exclaimed in fear, his life flashed before his eyes as he crawled on the ground, crouched down behind Royce who took the swing.

It was Georgies.

They didn't know he'd wake up early, but seeing the spilt ores from a knapsack behind him, it was obvious he woke up specially early to check the 'gifts' presented earlier. They were in a storage, a few rooms past the kitchen.

Seeing as Georgies was half-dressed, he must've been at the storage when with bloodshot eyes carrying a greatsword as big as him.

"You dirty rats! How dare you trick me!"

When Georgies raised his sword again, Keith from the side pulled Loyd aside while Royce dodges the strike. The greatsword penetrated the floor where Loyd had been.

The boy shuddered.

He realized late that Royce would not manage to face a second strike from a big sword like that and he wanted to dodge too but was frozen in fear. Thank the Goddess for Keith's quick thinking, he survived.

"W-What do we do now?" Loyd clutched Keith's shirt.

The latter took hold of his axe and watched as Royce kept Georgies at bay.

"It's okay. The relic is on feeding mode right now so the puppets wouldn't be alerted. We just have to destroy it before sunrise like the original plan..." Keith explained.

"But what about Ro—"

"Are you sure you can get away?!" Georgies yelled again, his voice carried terror that shook Loyd's conviction. "I'll give you a chance to surrender! Offer your body to the crimson gem and to the Demon King, and I'll at least let you dream happily!"

However Georgies' threat fell on deaf ears.

Loyd swallowed hard, the words pounding against his resolve, but he pushed down the dread that clawed at him. His fear was only growing, yet he couldn't—wouldn't—allow Georgies' threats to take root.

Together, Loyd and Keith swung their weapons toward the gem, striking its surface again and again.

But the crimson stone remained untouched, its glow unwavering, and each attempt left their arms weaker, hope slipping further away.

Keith and Loyd noticed Royce faltering under Georgies' relentless assault.

Despite Royce's good build and tall stature, he knew that it was only because he was part of the mining team and survived all this time. However that kid was one of the youngest in the group and yet he didn't hesitate in taking on an enemy alone, twice his size.

Given that Georgies had probably never held a sword before due to his obvious lack of technique, he was still strong enough to carry a greatsword and swing it around.

With a quick glance, Loyd made a decision but he was a step late.

Keith sighed, handing him his shovel while he took up the axe. "You handle the gem," he said, his tone commanding despite his own exhaustion. "I'll help Royce."

Before Loyd could protest or react Keith had already left him, rushing to Royce's side, and leaving Loyd alone before the crimson gem.

His green eyes followed Keith's figure, dazed.

'Oh shit, what should I do now...???'

He shifted his gaze back to his mission, feeling its pull and its insidious promises clawing at his mind with soft, deceitful whispers.

Loyd gripped the shovel tighter, his hands slick with sweat.

As the gem's voice echoed in his head, whispering of the happiness it could offer him, a perfect reality where all his fears vanished... Loyd felt sick.

His green eyes quivered as he tried to focus, tried to block out the whispers that felt as real as the sound of Georgies' roars.

But the gem's voice only grew louder, digging into his doubts, tugging at his deepest fears.

He bit his lips drawing blood, pushed his fears aside, and struck the crimson gem.

As Loyd gripped the shovel tighter, frustration bubbled over.

The gem's whispers, layered over Georgies' angry shouts, created a cacophony that clouded his mind.

Each time he swung at the gem, its whispers grew louder, needling at his insecurities making his chest tighten with fear. It seemed to taunt him, each failed strike echoing with the relic's cruel promises of "happiness" and "escape."

Keith and Royce struggled nearby, blocking Georgies' continuous strikes, their breaths ragged from the effort. However it wasn't only the kids who was tired, even Georgies looked ill.

The rich man, son of a Count in the old days, was breathing hard. He had never moved around so much except for when he serves the numbered children and the Demon King. Georgies clutched his stomach, he felt sick from moving too much.

But he swung the greatsword again. Something scarier than that relic will come for him if he let them break it. 

"Loyd! Just break the damn thing!" Keith shouted, his voice strained. But Loyd could barely hear him over the insidious whispers and Georgies' thunderous threats.

"Stop this nonsense!" Georgies' furious eyes landed on Loyd, and with a sneer, he bellowed,

No, it isn't nonsense.

You can be free.

"You're nothing but rats playing with forces you don't understand! Do you really think you can escape? The Demon King won't sit around! He'll catch all of you by the throat!"

Be free for me.

Be free with me.

Loyd felt something snap inside him. He swung again, but the gem remained intact, its whispers flooding his mind until his vision blurred with rage and desperation.

"Enough!" he yelled, clutching his head as the voices blended into one maddening, unrelenting noise. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

The whispers, Georgies' jeers, the weight of his own doubt—he couldn't take it anymore. His grip tightened on the shovel, but he no longer aimed at the gem.

Without thinking, Loyd turned and hurled the shovel straight at Georgies.

The throw surprised everyone. The heavy wooden handle struck Georgies' wrist with a loud crack, sending the greatsword clattering to the ground. He staggered back, clutching his wrist, his expression twisting with shock and pain.

For a split second, everything went silent.

The relic's whispers faded, as if even it was shocked by the defiance.