The one with shadow - I

Swoosh

The air brushed past the man's cheeks violently. He could feel his hands instinctively clenched onto the shoulders of the person in front of him.

The beautiful view he was gazing at was being interrupted by a sense of terror due to the speed at which he was travelling.

His eyes squinted, trying to resist the wind flow. It had been just a few hours since he and the two people alongside him started to head for the Aranthia Kingdom.

"COULDN'T YOU WARN US BEFOREHAND?!"

Before he could yell those words, someone else had stolen them from him. His emerald-green eyes displayed nothing but terror. That man was a strong person, yet he lost his composure quite easily.

'So even he is scared of this, hm?'

Jaden thought to himself with no expression visible on his face.

His gaze averted towards the woman standing in the front most. That was right before he took a look at the black surface they were standing on.

Jaden was unaware of various forms of magic that existed. Not to mention the magic Aliana had shown him during his time in that world. He never remembered writing about those kinds of magic.

No, that wasn't it. The biggest reason was that the villainess Aliana in the original story was never able to use magic. Jaden had no way of knowing what more she could do.

That was why he ended up concluding that the black surface beneath their feet was also Aliana's magic. In truth, it was something totally different.

It was nothing else but Rudia's shadow arts he had witnessed during the day of Lenon's birthday banquet. Of course, he won't possibly know that.

The vast sky filled with stars became clear as their speed suddenly came to a complete stop. A huge tree came into his sight, surrounded by glimmering lights over a huge area.

The flickers of light looked like fireflies moving over a grass field. That was the first time Jaden had observed that world from the sky.

'So that is...'

"Aranthia Kingdom... We've reached our destination, it seems."

Rudia completed the words Jaden had on his mind. The destination Aliana had given them was just around the corner. Yet there was something all three of them were aware of.

The green translucent layer slowly became visible as they approached the city. As blinding lights on the ground grew dull momentarily, the three of them looked at each other.

"What now?"

Blaise folded his hands across his chest with an intense frown on his eyebrows. Rudia silently looked around for a bit instead of replying. Meanwhile, Jaden was simply observing the situation.

He could remember the details he had written in the original story.

-The barriers encompassing the whole main city of the Aranthia Kingdom were impenetrable.

The whole continent knew that there existed a barrier that blocked outsiders from intruding the Aranthia Kingdom. Getting past that barrier was, simply put, impossible.

The only way to be able to enter the Aranthia Kingdom was to have permission from its ruler. Then again, someone had gotten past it once before.

It was Lenon from the original story. How exactly did he do that? There was a certain situation that allowed him to run into an opportunity to enter the kingdom.

'If we had Lenon along with us, we might've been able to walk in there...'

Assuming everything prior to the different epilogue he witnessed was still the same, Lenon must've entered the Aranthia Kingdom about a few months ago. But at the moment, Jaden had no idea where Lenon was.

He wasn't even sure if the story he remembered writing was the same as the one he was watching from up close.

FWEEW

A blue ball of light rose up in the sky while leaving a faint trail behind it. Rudia stayed silent for a moment, and just when she was about to speak, another sound came from behind them.

'A flare...?'

Trrr

As soon as he turned around, Jaden was able to recognise what it was. A magic he was familiar with.

"You both should walk through it, I suppose..."

Rudia's hair, which was always of different shades, suddenly became a lustrous black colour. Jaden was uncertain why her hair and eyes would always change colours now and then.

Since others around him never questioned about it, Jaden decided not to ask a thing either.

Her eyes, which were of a brown hue, changed into an orange colour. Jaden wouldn't possibly know that it was Rudia's original appearance.

Jaden let out a soft sigh before glancing at the watery bubble floating above the black surface. It was the teleportation magic Aliana had used to escape the auction house back in the Dragonaria Kingdom.

---------------------

Sigh

Watching the two people walk into the bubble, Rudia blinked her eyes twice. The usual expressionless face of hers had become more discernible.

Usually, one would have a hard time trying to describe her face. That was because Rudia was using a certain magic to interrupt the viewers gaze. Similar to what Jack from Terminus Consortium was using.

Naturally, Julianne, the very person who employed Rudia, had allowed her to do so. What was the story behind it? That was something that would be later in a later future.

Those things were on one side. And then there was something that made Rudia speak up.

"Why don't you stop hiding now?"

As soon as those words came out of her mouth, another bubble appeared behind her. A foot stepped out of it, followed by another.

A person covered in black clothes walked out of the bubble. No, it was just a see-through copy of the person.

The black robe covering her head got pulled down by her own hands. Her violet hair fluttered as the gentle wind flowed.

Rudia's face grimaced at the sight of Aliana standing there. As usual, Rudia had sharp senses to tell who was near her.

Yet she wasn't able to sense much of the presence from Aliana's cloning magic. She barely figured out that there was someone hiding near them.

That was because Aliana's magic simply made a copy of her with some amount of her own conscience poured into it. Theoretically speaking, that was possible.

But practically? No. That was simply absurd. No one would understand the logic behind that magic of hers.

-"[Is that your real appearance...?]"

Aliana's question was answered by Rudia with a light nod of her head. She had not many options either way.

-"[Anyway... the next thing you need to do is...]"

"I know that."

Aliana couldn't complete her words because Rudia interfered. A light smile surfaced on Aliana's lips.

"I just need to distract them using my shadow arts, right?"

-"[Well...]"

Surprisingly, Rudia was fast to catch on to what Aliana was planning.

Aliana hadn't expected that much from Rudia. An odd sense of surprise made Aliana fall silent for a moment. Then she spoke calmly.

-"[If you understand that, then do it already. We have no time to spare.]"

Aliana had just said that when the shadows began to wrap around Rudia's body. The black clothes that covered her from tip of toe to head.

Even the colour of her eyes was barely visible. The wide surface beneath her feet grew smaller. Despite her mouth not being visible, Aliana could tell what kind of expression Rudia had on her face.

Surely, it was a mix of annoyance and uneasiness.

"I shall believe your words for this once..."

Rudia's stern and monotone voice pointed daggers at Aliana. Aliana could feel the sharp gaze on her.

"But..."

The bloodthirst directed towards Aliana became intense for a moment.

"If you try to go back on your words later on, you better be prepared for the worst..."

With those words, the surface beneath the two's feet disappeared completely. Rudia was the only one falling towards the ground head-on. Aliana's clone kept on floating in the air.

-"[That makes it three...]"

Aliana's clone mumbled to itself while disappearing into a thin air. The pieces of bright fragments looking like glass shards spread around. Aliana's magic had worn out.

The sight of Aliana disappearing became clear to Rudia from the distance. And with time, the distance was only increasing. The ground was closing in.

Rudia stared at the ground silently before flipping her body to make her feet face the ground. The clothes of shadows on her body slowly extended outwards.

That was an attempt to grab tree branches nearby to reduce her speed and impact.

Swissh

The tip of her foot touched the ground softly, making her land like a cat. All thanks to the shadows grabbing the branches successfully. Rudia had landed right near the barrier.

'Next is...'

She stared at her own fist. But then again... why was she doing all that when she had been laying low all this while?

The answer to that question could possibly be only answered if one happened to remember the conversation Aliana held with Rudia. And that was before Rudia left to bring Blaise and Jaden to the Aranthia Kingdom.