XElenea
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MT - 87 Evil
🕑 Added 2025-01-26 16:00:03 +0000 UTCHe was an old, hunched man. Though his back no longer stood tall and his movements had lost their former agility, in this moment, he remained unmistakably a swordsman.
A chilling, bone-deep killing intent spread through the dark night. The drunkards, feeling the weight of it, instinctively shivered. The haze of alcohol lifted slightly as they gulped nervously, raising their hands in an exaggerated display of innocence.
The old man scoffed, his cold snort carrying a warning. Without another word, he continued following his daughter, walking closely behind to shield her from harm.
The streets were eerily quiet, their earlier encounter still replaying vividly in his mind.
By the time Elena and her father arrived at the appointed place, the night remained desolate, and only the wind whispered against their cheeks.
The old man turned to Elena, his eyes questioning. Elena thought for a moment before speaking, "Didn't he say we should meet here at three-quarters past noon?"
"Noon? Three-quarters past?" Her father frowned, his brows furrowing in confusion. The terms puzzled him; he had never heard of such a way to measure time.
Nearby, concealed in the shadows, Roy inwardly cursed himself. He had carelessly used timekeeping phrases from his former life, relics of an ancient civilization. Fortunately, he had been bored enough to arrive early. Otherwise, had he come precisely "on time" to an empty street, the misunderstanding would surely have soured things.
Despite his confusion, the old man quickly deduced a rough estimate of the meeting time. "Noon" narrowed the options significantly, and Roy's early arrival meant he wasn't late—if anything, he was far ahead of schedule.
Still, he hesitated. Should he continue waiting in the dark?
After a moment of thought, Roy decided to stay. Investing time to secure an opportunity was worth the effort. Having grown up without a mentor, he understood all too well the value of a strong and reliable teacher—someone who could save a student from countless missteps.
And so, the two waited silently.
Roy, meanwhile, watched them with growing curiosity. He wanted to see just how long they would wait. After all, as the saying goes, only those who struggle for something truly learn to cherish it.
Deliberately keeping them on edge, Roy lingered in the shadows, observing them with a faint smirk.
Time dragged on. Elena stifled a yawn, her face drooping with boredom. Finally, she plopped down on the ground, resting her head in an odd position. Moments later, she had fallen asleep in a peculiar, crumpled posture.
Roy raised an eyebrow at the sight. Judging by the time, he figured it was finally appropriate to make his entrance.
Emerging from the darkness, his black coat swirled ominously, blending seamlessly with the night. Roy made no effort to show his face, nor did he assume the identity of the conspicuous blond-haired persona he sometimes used.
The father, who had been on the verge of dozing off himself, suddenly stiffened. Seeing Roy appear out of nowhere sent a chill through his heart.
It wasn't until Roy stood directly before him that the man even registered his presence.
Instinctively, the old man's hand gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist as his wary eyes sized up the stranger.
Roy paid no heed to the man's suspicion. His voice was calm yet commanding as he said, "Weak one, I've come to take your daughter as my disciple."
Elena jolted awake at the sound of his voice. She blinked at the figure cloaked in black and hesitantly asked, "Are you the person from this morning?"
Roy gave no further explanation, his silence serving as an enigmatic confirmation.
In truth, his reticence was intentional. Shifting perspective, Roy reminded himself that even gods—be they dragon or human—battled for centuries over lesser matters. Presenting himself this way wasn't too far-fetched.
The old man fell into a pensive silence, while Elena's once-drowsy face lit up with excitement.
"Evil's final hope?" Elena whispered, her wide eyes brimming with curiosity.
"This world suffers from immense pain and countless disasters," Roy said, his tone cold and distant. "But all of that is nothing compared to the devastation that awaits if this world truly falls to ruin."
His somber voice drifted through the quiet street, carried by the soft spring breeze. Yet even the gentle wind couldn't dispel the weight of his words, heavy with sorrow and experience.
Roy's warning wasn't an exaggeration. The schemes of the Human God, Hitogami, were as vile as they were sinister. Roy, having researched diligently—even consulting legends and archives from his former life—knew all too well the dark depths of their plans.
This guy had the dark legacy of having destroyed four worlds.
Yet the man before her spoke with a calm, commanding voice, laced with an inexplicable charisma. To bolster the credibility of his words, Roy went a step further, summoning the shadowy visage of a demon god.
The colossal, pitch-black apparition began to solidify, radiating an overwhelming aura of malice. The air seemed to burn with infernal flames, filling the surroundings with an oppressive sense of dread.
Roy's black coat flared dramatically in the unnatural wind, the suffocating presence spilling out in waves. Nearby, Elena's father could feel his eyelid twitch involuntarily, a sign of his growing unease.
"Hitogami!" The black-robed figure answered, his voice laced with both pity and loathing.
Elena's father felt a surge of regret. Allowing his daughter to seek a so-called protector now seemed like a terrible mistake. Had she found not a guardian, but a demon lord?
The cloaked man extended a hand toward the white-haired girl, his voice carrying a deep resonance that demanded attention. "Become my disciple. Join us. Together, we will strike at the root of this world's evil."
Elena's cowlick seemed to twitch in response, and her wine-red eyes shimmered like aged liquor, alluring and intoxicating.
Her instincts urged her to reach out, to grasp the hand of the enigmatic figure before her. Deep down, she knew that doing so would irrevocably change her life. But reason screamed at her to stop. This black-robed man was like Pandora's box—opening it might bring unimaginable gifts, but it would inevitably demand a heavy price.
Her father opened his mouth to protest, but his words faltered as his gaze fell upon the five-meter-tall apparition of the demon god standing behind Roy. Its faint divine aura silenced him.
The situation had already spiraled far beyond anything he could have imagined.
A simple man by nature, Elena's father couldn't begin to comprehend Roy's talk of Hitogami. He only knew the world's seven great powers,
The Technique God Laplace
The Dragon God Orsted
The Fighting God
The Demon God Laplace
The Death God Randolph Marian
The Sword God
The North God.
These were names he had stumbled upon in an old book, but he had never heard of Hitogami. Regardless, none of these figures, nor their rivalries, were things a man of his standing could involve himself in. Instinctively, he wanted to tell Elena, Let's go home.
Roy, seeing the girl hesitate to take his hand, allowed his gaze to sharpen. The black flames surrounding him flared, engulfing his entire figure. His voice was steady as he continued, "This is a one-time opportunity. You only get one chance at this. I am not an unreasonable man, Elena. I have seen your future. It is grim, to say the least—so much so that 'tragic' is the only word to describe it. I know what's holding you back.
"Join me, and I will give you strength—the strength to protect your loved ones, the strength to live as you please. Whatever you wish to do, I will not restrain you. All I ask is that you complete the tasks I assign to you. That is my only condition."
Elena remained silent. The more Roy spoke, the more his presence unsettled her. There was something both terrifying and otherworldly about him, something beyond her comprehension.
