Point of No Return (part 1)

Ch. XVI - Point of No Return (Rake)

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The nightmare continues.

I dreamt about everything that happened that night.

Those memories were being replayed to me, as if I was forced to see everything once again.

How…? How did I allow all of that to happen?

How can I be so stupid…?

Before long, the nightmare came to an end. I woke up and immediately lifted my upper body up, fully drenched in sweat.

The first thing I realize is my face is completely wet from both tears and sweat. The next thing I realize is how cold the room is.

Air conditioning…?

Where am I?

I began looking around while still under the shock from the nightmares. I realize that I was not in my own room, and I can't help but realize that I am not alone.

I turned to my left, and found a familiar man sitting on the chair next to my bed.

He is just there. Studying me, in silence.

SRINGG!!!!

I conjured a dagger out of light magic, and I pointed the blade at his neck. Funnily, the old man didn't flinch.

"You seem to be quite high on your horse, lately… is it the praises from the people?"

Gilbert said coldly without moving a single inch, and he calmly stared back at my eyes full of bloodlust.

"Calm yourself. You can actually kill me with those eyes if you don't be careful."

"I'll kill you swiftly right now if you don't tell me everything."

Hearing that, Gilbert let out a long sigh. He lifted both his hands as if saying that he had surrendered, and I retracted the light magic sword afterwards.

"I saw you unconscious and took you in… I helped you, and now you're threatening me?"

"You and I know very well the reason why you kept helping me."

Gilbert stayed silent, and I slanted my eyes even more.

"You were using me…"

"By the command of his highness, himself. Your holy mission was in fact a stepping stone for a much larger cause, and I am merely there as the person who will then take the baton after you."

"My mission… was never to slaughter an entire race."

"It was never, indeed. That was my mission."

My eyes grew wider slightly, and Gilbert finally admitted it. He let out a long sigh and stood up.

"My mission wasn't really a holy mission. The king already gave me a holy mission a long time ago, and since I failed to complete it, he lost his trust in me.

But right after he gave you the holy mission, he approached me with a new mission. One which the success is completely reliant on yours. The mission to annihilate all ethelens.

You completed your mission. You caused a massive explosion in Velborn, causing many things to occur, such as the fall of Velborn's strongest barrier. Not only that, you also called out all the knights that were stationed at Masqueren, to leave the said trading town completely unprotected and left to support Velborn.

All I did was… fit in."

Fit in, he says… more like he already knew that those events are going to happen in the first place. Or most likely, he already expected it, and may have gone out of his way to support it even further so that it actually happened.

"The knights of Masqueren leaving the city completely unprotected allows the men that were on standby outside of Masqueren to attack them so easily. The Masqueren knights were ambushed by two of the strongest individuals of Ardjestyn, leaving them with only less than a quarter. And the leftovers of the said knights were then welcomed by the five thousand army that had been attacking Velborn long before they arrived.

Everything came from my planning. Because you successfully finished your mission, I was able to fulfill mine. It was all thanks to you--"

BAAKK!!!!

I couldn't hold it back anymore… my ears are already burning up from hearing him talk.

A fist arrived at his right cheek, and he definitely lost quite a few teeth from that. He landed his shoulder on the left wall, and he coughed out quite a lot of blood from his mouth.

His eyes sharply turned towards me, but what he found was an eye even sharper than his.

My eyes are already glowing red with my entire body glowing. I am now already outside of the bed, standing completely still as I stared towards him.

He can see the red light that was my eyes, and he also noticed the red retinas surrounding it which came from the stress. He knew that my condition is not so good right now, and if this continues, a battle might just occur right here and then.

Noticing all of these, Gilbert closed his eyes.

"I see. You are feeling it…"

He said as he wiped the blood out of his mouth. He gradually stood back up straight again, and he spat blood one last time from his mouth.

"The king is currently handing out his rewards to the heroes that contributed in the war. Your friend Jack was included, and so are the other heroes.

As for you… the butler said the king wants to have a private rewarding session with you. Just you, and probably a few other people including me. You are missing the other heroes being rewarded."

He said to me as he walked to the door, and once he arrived, he turned his gaze back to me.

"I must thank you… once again. Without you, my grudge would've never been paid. At least now, you are being praised even more by the people, right?"

I continued to stare sharply at him as he opened the door. He left the completely silenced room, leaving me all alone.

I studied my condition, and found that my body is completely fine. Aside from the fact that I am so fully drenched in sweat, nothing seemed to be wrong with me physically.

Mentally, however…

Once again, I pushed all those thoughts into the deepest part of my mind. I turned my tired gaze to the door, and I began walking.

I can see that this place is the knights headquarters. A very few knights are currently stationed, possibly because most of the knights are out there, looking for any leftovers from the ethelens.

Since my clothes have become smelly thanks to the sweat, I have decided that I need to go back to my house. I talked with the desk lady at the lobby and requested a carriage to help me return to my house quickly and safely.

Right now, I don't have the mental capacity to see people. I just want to go in and out of my house, and finally come back to the White Cathedral for the meeting with the king.

The carriage that they got for me was quite simple, but I understand since I am only one person.

I boarded the carriage that was right outside the lobby, and began making my way to the house with the driver. The driver waited outside of my house while I went and got changed. I then returned to the driver again and began riding back to the White Cathedral, to meet the king.

"The king is currently awaiting your presence at his throne room."

The butler who was waiting for me by the door said when he saw me arriving. He then led the way to the throne room, and we both entered right away.

"The Paladin Hero has arrived."

The butler announced to the whole room, and he stood by the door as I entered. I began turning my gaze around, and found that the air in the room seemed the same as before.

Tense.