Chapter 144: [144] Distant Past

At first, everything was dark. Eliron still had no feeling in his limbs, but seconds later, the world around him changed.

Everything became immensely bright, and then slowly, an image took shape.

Eliron was suspended high up in the sky, right above a bustling village, one that was nestled in the midst of a forest.

He stared at his hands, only to discover that they were transparent. He wasn’t really there…

’Is this a dream? Or rather a vision?’

“What do you think of these people, Yorochi?” A gentle voice from beside him.

Eliron froze, his gaze immediately snapping to two figures by his side.

The first was a wood elf that looked no older than twelve. He had shimmering silver hair, and azure blue eyes that bore a fierce, but somewhat gentle glow.

And wrapped around his neck was a white mythical serpent. Its scales seemed harder than diamonds, and concentrated mana was swirling within it giving it a glassy appearance.

“What do you mean?” The spirit asked. Its mouth did not move, yet Eliron could tell exactly when it spoke.

The unknown elf stared at the people below. They were currently erecting two large statues at either side of a river.

From what Eliron could see, the village seemed ancient. The architecture was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and the building style was distinct.

Still…

’Why does it seem familiar…’

Eliron’s eyes widened when he suddnely made the connection. How could he forget when he had visited this exact location a few months back?

The two statues were of Jugo and the high elven queen. And if that was the case, that meant—

’This is the old Artaris…’

The houses he had seen in the past had long been destroyed by time, but Eliron could still see some resemblances here and there.

By why was he seeing this? Why had the great spirit gone out of its way to show this to him?

“These people, why do they spend their lives doing trivial things? They rise at the break of dawn, summon their strength and go on to chase after their goals and dreams…” the elf said nonchalantly.

He let out a long tired breath then stretched. “Uhummm—! Yet…” he mumbled sleepishly.

“Their life’s work is bound to be eroded by the ever present passage of time. Their ambitions, far too minuscule to leave a mark on this world or the true world beyond.”

“How boring.”

Eliron gave the boy a deadpan stare. ’Who’s kid is this?’

The boy acted like the type who hadn’t received much spanking when growing up.

The spirit shook its head as it turned to face him. “Such is the nature of mortals. Life is a never ending wheel, a cog that we must all go through…”

“What would you have them do? Sit on their ases all day like you do?” The spirit sneered.

The wood elf raised both hands defensively and shrugged. “At least I don’t spend my time carving stone all day.”

The spirit sighed and shook its head tiredly. “They do that to honour you…”

“Pfft!” The elf clicked his tongue.

Eliron stroked his transparent chin. ’In honour of you? Wait, does that mean…’

He had finally realised who the odd elf was. He was a man who all wood elves had grown up hearing tales of his exploits…

’Is that really Jugo??’

According to what Ash told him the day they saw those statues, the statues were of two people, the first being Jugo and the second the high elf queen.

The boy in front of him was clearly not the elven Queen, meaning it had to be Jugo!

Eliron floated closer to the elf and took in his features. ’I see…’

Now that he had gotten a closer look, he could tell that their faces were indeed similar.

But the statues seemed to have been build with an older version of him in mind.

The wood elf crossed his legs while floating mid air.

“They waste their time on such trivial things, and yet, they cannot see that destruction marches upon their very gates…”

The world suddenly glitched, the peaceful image of the bustling city in front of him, fizzling away, transforming into something entirely different, something so morbid, that it would plague Eliron’s nightmares without fail.

The scent of smoke was heavy in the air, houses were on fire and wood elves ran helter-skelter, all while being chased by high elves in golden armour.

Wood elves fell like flies…

Magic whistled through the wind, ancient structures crumbled, blood flowed through the streets like a flood, and smoke, mixed up with the wails of the people, drifted into the air.

’Is this…?’

Eliron’s fingers tightened into a fist, his nostrils flared, and although he could not feel it, he bit the insides of his cheeks in rage.

The scene in front of him, it was the fall of his people.

Standing amidst the bloodshed was Jugo, his face twisted with grief. His silver hair had been tilted red from blood, and his hands were caked in it, the blood of the countless adversaries he had killed.

And yet, it was not enough…

He was not enough.

A cavalry man raced towards him, a crazed grin on his face as he lifted a shimmering sword into the air, seconds away from looping Jugo’s head right off.

“NO!” Reflexively, Eliron screamed out, his hands reaching for the boy—

And then the world froze.

The fires were static, the crumbling buildings hung in the air, the Calvary man was right next to the boy, mouth open, sword half way down, but frozen in time.

’What is going on?’ Eliron thought as he looked from place to place. ’Is this the end of the vison?’

Badump—

Eliron suddenly felt his heart pound in his chest, cold sweat running down his back as a presence descended upon the frozen world.

’W-what is this sinister feeling?!’

Something was wrong, terribly so.

A large quantity of dark mana suddenly began bubbling out of Jugo’s small frame, clinging onto everything like a festering corruption.

And then the pained expression on Jugo’s face changed into one tinted with rage.

“Who dares gaze upon my past?”

His voice was as smooth as honey, but laced with unfathomable malice.

Jugo glanced up, his eyes locking Eliron’s.

He smiled.

“Ah, it is you.

Tell me young one…”

He suddenly appeared right next to Eliron, his evil mana biting into Eliron’s skin.

It was as though his very existence was rejecting Eliron, repelling both the world and everything within it.

Eliron gritted his teeth, a look of rage on his face as he stared right into Jugo’s blue eyes.

“Do you think you can stop it from happening a second time?” Jugo whispered.

Jugo then reached forward, his hands slowly moving towards Eliron’s eyes.

Eliron tried to move, but it was as though he had now become frozen along with the rest of the world.

Just as Jugo’s fingers were seconds away from his eyes, and the smirk on his face had grown.

There was a loud hissing sound, and then the world fractured like glass.

<••••>

“Eliron?” Yen grabbed his shoulder, giving him a gentle shake. “Are you alright?”

Eliron suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, blinking as he stared at Yennefer.

’Yen? It looks like the vision is over…’ Eliron thought, his mind going back to what had happened earlier.

’To think an apparition from a vision would come alive, just how powerful was Jugo when he was alive?’ Eliron thought.

And if he truly was that powerful, how then did the wood elves lose their utopia?

Although the vision had been rather informative, at the same time, it left Eliron with far more questions than he earlier had.

Deciding to look into it at a later date, Eliron smiled at Yen who seemed a little worried.

“Ah, I’m fine… the teleportation was just really weird.”

Yen nodded. “Alright then.”

Artie stared at him from the side, noticing the sweat that had formed on his neck, but chose to say nothing about it.

“Now that we are all present!” Cassie said loudly, raising her hands at her sides.

She was standing by the railings that oversaw the large bustling estate below.

“Allow me to welcome you to the City of Demons!”

The place was more than beautiful. Buildings were painted off-white with a touch of gold highlights here and there.

Dozens of large staircases went up colossal towers that stretched up into the skies, creating an otherworldly feeling.

And on these stairs were tons of people, different groups being led by several folks in a demonic mask.

’I guess this is really their headquarters…’

“Woah!” Yennefer walked up to the edge and peered down. “It is beautiful!”

“Of course it is, this is the biggest base for us demonic merchants. You should be proud, I only bring my best customers here.”

Once they had gotten a good look at the place, Cassandra began walking, urging them to follow her.

“I’m not yet up on the merchant rankings, so my office isn’t all that great yet, but it is decent.”

They stopped in front of a large double door and Cassie unlocked it, letting them in.

As opposed to what Cassie had said, the room was rather large and spacious.

There were weapons lined all over the place, monster parts that had been tagged for shipping and a variety of other weird, questionable items.

Cassandra made sure to shut the door behind them tightly before she spoke, “Shall we begin? I’ll appraise your goods and offer you a price…”

She licked her lips.

“And when we are done, mind spending some of your riches on this humble merchant’s shack?”

She snapped her finger and all the lights in the room turned on, illuminating the place in a bright glow.

But while other things were under the normal white lighting, at one portion of the shop, crimson light was glowing over a series of sophisticated weapons.

Swords that looked like they could cut through mountains, arrows that could puncture the hide of stone golems, and daggers that glowed with fierce curse energy.

’All of them are special grade items…’ Eliron had a small smile on his face.

Cassie folded her arms across her chest, a snug look on her face as she leaned on the wall.

“I heard you are in need of a sword?”

..

A/N

Sickness got worse so I’ll omly be able to do one Chapter for now, at least u til I get batter. (It shouldn’t take more than a week, hopefully.)

Thanks for reading!

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