Chapter 80: The Fall of a Frozen World(15)

He can’t remember the last time something like this had happened, someone trying to go against the Queen. There had been the army, but it had fallen relatively quickly. And then it was him and the other Children of Praise, who had gotten close, but in the end ended up like everyone else had done.

He thought that it would be clear to everyone that, after their defeat, it was impossible to win against the Abyss. Everyone knew this, so why…

“Why are you back, Aether!”

The Fool smiled at him, as if he had no idea what kind of danger he was in. Every Knight was after him; the Queen wanted him dead. If she just got off her throne, he was dead. Luckily, she didn’t consider him such a threat. The biggest so far, yes, killing three Knights wasn’t something she could overlook, but not enough either to come herself. It was the weakest one after all. And the ones she barely cared about. But if people like The Nine, Jack, and King died, she wouldn’t stay still anymore.

He was making a grave mistake, so how did he come here and smile at him like nothing happened?

“How can you bleed and challenge me, Aether. You could hardly get past my trials!”

He had gone crazy, or had he always been crazy?

From the day he had given him his path.

He remembered that day quite well, like it had happened yesterday. He hated it; he should never have been part of Praise, not when the Abyss called his name. It was better to be a Knight; at least he didn’t have to save useless lives.

The day when his life changed, not a pleasant memory.

He had been bullied a lot as a child; he cried, fell from the pain, and bled. He had considered ending it many times, but never had the courage to do it. He was too scared to do anything about it, and even his family had gotten tired of it. How easily he was shaken.

He wanted to change.

That was when he appeared, Aether, The Fool.

His name had already spread around, from somehow getting people to get a path, even as readers. But his fame was more from gossip. That he was Praise’s vessel. Being called a symbol of hope, he couldn’t believe his eyes when he appeared.

He granted him his wish, to be stronger, to change. To be unshakable.

When time froze, many believed that he would try and defeat the Queen, but instead, he finished collecting Children of Praise and disappeared when the world needed him most. When they started their research, he sometimes came and helped. But most years, he wouldn’t even visit once.

But he was there, that day, when everything went wrong.

He still doesn’t know why The Jack would do such a thing as destroy their work, The Sun. He had put most work out of all, so had he found something about it? Either way, The Sun was destroyed, blowing up most of the place with it.

He hadn’t seen Aether after everyone had awakened; he had disappeared yet again, and not long after, they were turned into what they were today. He wondered what he had been doing all this time.

But he wasn’t expecting him to finally come and do the job he had been meant to do since the beginning, to kill the Queen.

Sadly for him, he was going to have to go through everyone he had betrayed and left behind before he could fight her. And it was rightfully so; he had no right to do it, not when he was this weak. It would be an insult to her majesty.

“You shouldn’t have come, or maybe you wanted to join us. The Abyss is very welcoming, much more than Praise.”

…

“Sorry to break it to you, but I won’t join the Abyss. And… I don’t belong to Praise anymore either. I’m not a Fool anymore. I am the Promise Child.”

…

…

Aether gripped his blade, blood flowing from under his cloak onto the black steel. But yet, he still smiled. Did it hurt? A heck of a lot. But he had been training to endure it better. It has been taking a toll on his mental health, but he didn’t have his thresholds anymore, so he didn’t have to worry.

He used his marks, as the pain that they inflicted was way stronger than any other.

Even know he can’t ignore the pain, he can keep it inside, just a little, but he can.

While he was bleeding, his wounds were as bad as they seemed. The monsters on the earlier floor had been powerful, but he had also gotten better at killing them. And not to mention stronger.

From the trials he had to endure, he developed an idea that The Four was someone with abilities related to endurance, or similar. Which would be hard to deal with…

normally.

But, he doubted he was resistant to soul attacks.

He wasn’t worthy enough to get the Abyss’s protection against it. Only The Jack and Queen had gotten it from what he knew, so he could still use it until that point.

Tensing the muscles in his feet, he jerked forward, with the tip of his blade pointed forward. But before he could get close to The Four’s body, it felt as if his blade had hit an invisible shield.

The recoil was back, throwing him back and open. The Four had taken advantage of to get close to him, grab him by his head, and throw him around like he was a rat not worth killing.

“Why do you think you can beat her, a Breaker, when you are only a reader. What God, what relic, what power could you have to fill in the gap in class?”

But to his surprise, Aether had caught himself and was already running to him.

Had he not learned his lesson?

But this time, before his blade could hit the Shield, Aether put it back and stopped running, walking up to him. This confused The Four.

“You talk too much.”

Aether looked up at him.

“I’m beyond the shield here, right, thanks.”

Within the blink of an eye, before he could finish what he was saying, he had already pierced his chest, only slightly, but he had done it. For what, he had no idea, for what had this helped him? What could it do? It had barely gotten through; it wasn’t going to kill him.

…

“You guys should start learning more about your own God’s abilities.”

…

[You have killed a Seeker Devil, The Four]

[You have gained a relic]

“And to put your pride aside when fighting.”

He had gotten used to this. The feeling of winning.

…He was scared. That it would get to his head, and fall just like he had done.

As much as he hated it, The Jack showing him how weak he truly was had been really helpful; that way, he took things seriously. This way, the idea of winning didn’t get into his head.

Four of the thirteen were done, and since every time he cleared the next Knight, their rank rose, The Fifth was either a Titan.

…Or a Breaker.

He doubted that it would be the same rank, and it couldn’t get to godspawn, so it left Titan, which he hoped was the case, since the class mattered a lot more, or that he was a breaker, probably of the beast rank or even higher.

Maybe it was a Breaker Titan, but since there were more and stronger Knights after him, he doubted it.

Even if he was of the Fragment rank, it was still a huge step to take. His blade was only of the Seeker rank after all. So, not even it could help him that much…

But he couldn’t give up, not now. When he has come this far.

…

…

He had left the zone before it could collapse, going back to the first zone he had cleared, where a new building had been born not long after he had gotten it. He had no idea of how it appeared, but the same ruin that was opened by his card and held the sword was here. It had come out of nowhere, and he didn’t hate that it did. But it was still strange.

Either way, he was exhausted and should tell Azel that he was alive.

She lived with him, since he didn’t want to leave her on the street because of him. And she has started to do her job recently. It was weird how she was always happy.

…

That was why he was worried when he saw her crying.

He rushed over to her, trying to see why she was curled up in a corner, crying like he had lost her dearest person.

“What happened, Azel?”

He was worried, very worried.

…

“I-I was so scared. The Queen… she visited. When she saw that you weren’t here, she said to tell you that she… wants to talk to you.”

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