Everything was frozen.
From the burly man to the fire that crackled behind.
All... besides the dark mist before . The dark mist that took the outline of a human, and had no face. It was faceless.
This was a sight I had seen in the past, and, recalling the mories of back then, I realized that I had co a long way since then. I was so much stronger and was no longer as clueless about the truth of the world. And yet, the primal sense of fear that I felt back then from the faceless figure and the one before remained the sa.
Just how big was the gap between us?
'I'm?'
I felt sothing change within .
The cage that had trapped started to shatter, and I could feel myself moving again.
Suddenly, I was no longer confined within the ring. The world around sharpened into focus, and so did the man standing before ; from the faint wrinkles etched across his face to the deep red that colored his thick hair.
Everything was much clearer to .
But despite it all, I couldn't focus on my surroundings.
All my attention was drawn to the dark mist in front of .
It didn't do anything, but just by standing before , I could feel an intangible, almost terrifying pressure bearing down on .
"...Seeing how you're relieving this mory, I assu that you've got your hands on the ring and have started to look at its past."
Sithrus calmly walked around the room.
Everything was frozen in that mont. The flas. The clock. The old man. That was all I needed to understand that this was a point beyond the vision.
Eventually, the mist paused before the ring on the man's hand.
"Seven. That's how many relics we managed to coat with the remaining blood from the Outer Beings." He calmly muttered while reaching forward to grab the ring, only for his hand to phase right through.
He smiled in amusent at the sight.
"It looks like we aren't really in the past."
What...?
I stared at Sithrus in confusion.
However, now that he ntioned it, I could tell that there was sothing off about this current situation. Usually, when I used the third leaf, I'd be sent to the past to so extent.
And yet-
"Seems like my sudden interference has caused this change. What a pity."
He didn't look at all remorseful.
Sithrus pulled his hand away from the ring and then looked back at .
His gaze swept over and in that fleeting instant, it felt as though I had been cast into the deepest sea, sinking helplessly while a crushing suffocation closed in on my chest.
That mont only lasted for a brief second.
"No, not yet..." He mumbled while turning his attention towards the ring.
"The initial goal of this experint was to create artifacts that had the ability to fight against the Outer Beings. Their blood isn't normal. I'm sure you must've realized this by now. Just like our blood. It isn't normal."
Sithrus's gaze remained fixed on the ring.
"To those who chance upon the source, the deeper they understand it, the more their bodies change. The Outer Beings understand the source more than we do, which hence why they're stronger. But what exactly are they? Protectors, or parasites like us?"
This was the first ti that I had ever seen Sithrus serious.
It threw off a little, but I knew that this was important information. Why he was telling all of this, I wasn't sure, but I wasn't planning on letting the information go to waste. I planned on hearing it all.
"The experint failed."
Sithrus's gaze pulled away from the ring and back towards .
That was when its deanor returned to how it usually was as the faceless man cracked a smile.
"The relics gradually corrupted whoever wore them. At first, the effect was almost insignificant, but the more one relied on the artifacts, the deeper the corruption sank. No matter how hard I tried to change that outco, it beca clear it was impossible. The corruption was unstoppable."
Unstoppable...?
For so reason, I lowered my head to stare at my hand. But it was in that mont that I realized sothing.
My body...
It was also a dark mist.
"Of course, there are exceptions to the corruption. Given how you're in possession of the ring, I assu that you've been using it. You're probably wondering why it hasn't corrupted you, but I'm sure I don't need to tell you why, right?"
Blood...
My blood.
"That's right. Our blood is different. We can suppress the corruption that cos from their blood. The sa can't be said for regular humans. That is why the artifacts were considered to be a failure. Just like..."
Sithrus stopped there, but the aning behind his last words was clear.
In that mont, I felt sothing inside of starting to rise.
I just barely suppressed it.
"Still, I'm quite surprised that you managed to get your hands on the ring. It's been quite a while since I last saw it."
Been a while...?
Thinking about it, sothing didn't add up.
While the artifacts were technically considered failures, that only applied to regular people. But what about the gods?
'Surely they'd find them useful.'
I thought back to the Ring of Nothingness and the Book of Enhancent. Both were incredibly powerful in their own right. I could only imagine what the other five artifacts could do.
...No, I already more or less know.'
I had studied them after I had gotten the ring.
I knew that they were all extrely powerful. But not just powerful, but useful as well. I just didn't see
how the 'Gods' would discard them just because they corrupted the minds of regular people.
And as if reading my thoughts, the faceless man suddenly laughed.
"So you don't know..."
I looked at him, unable to hide my confusion.
Know what?
"I guess it makes sense. You should still be at a phase where you're slowly recovering your mories. In
that case, I'll just give you an idea of what happened."
Pausing, Sithrus turned his attention back towards the ring.
"The Seven Artifacts... They were all stolen."
A smile marred the faceless man's face.
"We had a traitor in our midst."
11
-!"
I suddenly thought back to the words written by Noel to , and realization quickly dawned on .
"I do not know their motives, nor do I know the one who had stolen the artifacts, but if there's one thing I know, it's that they stole all the relics and released them to the outer world. I'm still trying to figure out who that traitor is, and..."
Gradually, Sithrus turned his attention towards .
His smile turned mocking.
"...I've got a pri suspect standing right before . Of course, you might not rember as you currently are, but if there's one person I'd suspect, it'd be you or Noel."
I remained quiet in this mont.
I wanted to argue, but I couldn't. I knew myself well enough to understand that there was a basis behind
his accusation. In the past, when Noel had ntioned sothing like a traitor, I had suspected myself as
well.
This was definitely sothing that I'd do.
Certainly, I also understood that I owed nothing to these 'Gods'.
To call it betrayal...
"But I'm not quite sure anymore."
Raising his hand to touch his chin, Sithrus calmly looked in my direction.
"I used to think that you were the one who had stolen all of the relics and released them to the world, but
I'm starting to doubt this now. I've also started to doubt Noel. Back then, it shouldn't have been possible
for him to do so. In that case..." Sithrus paused, but the aning behind his pause was clear.
One of the other Gods must've done it.
But who...?
Who was the traitor, and why would they do this?
"I'm still trying to figure out the motive behind the theft. While the relics are indeed a little strong, they aren't anything particularly noteworthy for people like us. There must've been so sort of goal..." Sithrus's voice sounded rather serious as he spoke.
And yet-
'He's smiling.'
I could see its lips spreading open in that faceless face of his. I could tell that he was enjoying the
situation, and I felt a cold chill run down my spine at the sight of him.
"Well, that's all speculation for now."
Sithrus turned his attention back to .
*Step*
He took a step forward, drawing closer to .
I felt an invisible pressure bear down on , leaving completely suffocated
I tried to remain indifferent to it all, but it was hard.
The pressure...
It wasn't sothing that I could withstand.
Thankfully, he didn't seem to be planning on doing anything more than this as he stopped right before
.
"There's no need to fear ." He said, his words soft.
"Even if I wanted to, I can't do anything to you here. Neither of us is in our physical forms. It would just be
a waste of energy."
I didn't reply, but I felt a lot more relieved knowing this.
"I just wanted to have a nice chat with you to see how you were doing since it's been a while since the
last ti we saw and interacted with one another."
He spoke as if we had interacted more than the few tis I had actually encountered him.
As far as I was aware, I had hardly interacted with him.
"I miss the tis when we used to talk with one another without you fearing ."
# Huh...?
What was he-
!...!?'
Sithrus's lips pulled so wide that they seed to reach his forehead.
"That's right. We used to talk quite a bit. You just don't know that we did."
A small laugh escaped Sithrus's lips as I felt my mind get plunged into a deep and suffocating darkness.
"Well, then..."
Turning around, Sithrus suddenly clapped his hands.
"This is enough for now. I got what I wanted. I'm sure this was a productive talk for you as well."
Clap!
The world turned dark.
By the ti I snapped out of it, I found myself standing in the familiar alley, with both Leon and Linus
looking at .
"Julien...?"
Feeling control of my body again, I looked at Leon and then Linus.
They both had weird expressions on their faces.
"Did sothing happen? Your face paled all of a sudden. Are you "
"I'm fine."
I cut Leon off, taking a small breath and looking towards the distance.
"I've just figured out the reason why the blacksmith is refusing to repair my ring. The sa for those from
this Empire."
But that wasn't the biggest discovery.
The biggest discovery was...
'The Aetheria Empire. It's most likely linked to the traitor Noel and Sithrus were talking about.' (More
chapters in Buyers club for TMT)
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