The lonely Dante stood in the forest, astonished by the disappearance of his soulmate. He tried to think of how he did it. The only thing he could think of was that he teleported far away, where he couldn't sense the connection between their minds.
"Why? Why did you leave me here alone? Didn't you want to know me? To know a person like yourself, someone oppressed by the world, to fight with our pure souls and hearts on the line. To kill the other and grant him a beautiful death."
His fist began to shake with resentment and anxiety. He felt so much anger that he started to slash the trees in the forest with the scythe of condemn.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" he screamed at nothingness as he brought down the trees with fury. His outrage began to subside under the tears forming in his eyes. Only a deep and melancholic loneliness remained in his heart.
"Then... the next time we meet, promise me we'll have a long conversation. Until both of us feel ready to face our demise." He talked to the air without receiving a response back, but Dante felt the answer inside his soul and smiled…
Castess was passing back and forth in the house in the border of the nation of Los. The previous owner, Ennis, was dead, and after killing the remaining servants, this house became a new foothold in the nation of Los. The problem was that Thanatos had disappeared two days ago.
He had gone missing after infiltrating the base of the army of Los. Castess warned him of the dangers of infiltrating alone. Even if he was posing as another high-ranking member, the risk was too great. These were the consequences of going against his warning.
Stupid, why did you do it? I'm an even bigger idiot for letting you go alone instead of stopping you. The day that Thanatos failed to return Castess knew the back up plan, they agree to go and regroup in the house in the border of the country in case of anything happening.
After two days as a sitting duck, Castess was getting worried about Thanatos. In the worst-case scenario, he would already have been captured, tortured for information, and killed. The horrible scenarios moved in and out of his mind. He didn't know what to do. He certainly couldn't abandon the country and leave him alone.
Castess wasn't a fighter, and the men that he took were mainly merchants of Underworld not fighters. He could go back to the Republic and let the others know the situation, but it would probably be too late by then.
What do I do? I'm too weak and useless without connections here. Why am I so pathetic the moment he needs me the most? I can't do anything for him. "AAAHHH!"
BANG… He punched the wall of the house, making his hand bleed. A knock on the door and a voice calling his name drew his attention.
"Sir Castess, come quick!" It was the voice of one of the men of Underworld. He gave them instructions to only disturb him when something important required his attention.
"What is it?" He opened the door and saw the surprised expression of the man.
"Sir, he is back! In the entrance!"
"…!" Castess ran to the front without paying attention to anything else. His heart beat like a war drum in the middle of a battlefield.
He saw him standing in front of the doors. He had a blank expression and was wounded a bit, but he was Thanatos without doubt.
"AH… YOU FOOL!" Castess ran toward him and hugged him in a tight embrace. He grabbed Thanatos's face and looked at him in the eyes.
Those green eyes were empty, and his gaze was vacant, like he wasn't there. After making eye contact for a moment, Thanatos' eyes regain a spark of life. He moved his eyes all around him, trying to discern what was happening.
"Did it work? Where am I? Castess!" He regained consciousness as he collapsed on the carpet.
"Yes, it is me. Where have you been the past two days? What happened?"
"I want to tell you, but I'm dying of thirst. Please give me water or something…"
They took him by the shoulders and dragged him to the kitchen. One of the men brought a healing potion and the rest brought him a jar of fresh water with food. Thanatos drank and devoured like a hungry animal. After taking some minutes to eat and drink after having had no substance for two days, he recovered his energy.
"Oh… Thank you. I have never had my stomach hurt that badly in my entire life."
"Can you tell what happened?" Castess asked while sitting with his arms crossed.
"Sure. Thanks for the help, guys, but I'm fine. The information I'm about to give Castess is only for his ears." The rest of the underlings left the kitchen. After the two of them were left alone for a moment, Thanatos made sure that no one was spying on them before speaking.
"I'm sure you remember my plan to infiltrate the Order, right? It turned out great. I met the new recruits of the Black Order and learned their powers. Until a certain person noticed my presence."
"So they found you? Was it a high ranking solider or priest that discovered you?"
"I'm not sure. I can tell you he wasn't a normal person. His strength was something else. I didn't have a chance in a fight. I couldn't escape either. There was some type of psychic connection between our minds. We could tell how far the other person was.
"Then what did you do? Or is the connection still present? Should we leave this place and go back to the main base?" He said with a worried tone.
"Don't worry, since I woke up in the entrance, I didn't feel the connection. I can't tell where he is, but at least he's not close to me. Or maybe he discovered the same thing I did. If he did that, then he's not in a condition to fight. He would need allies backing him up, but I got the impression he wasn't the type to ask for help."
"How did you break the connection then, and why did it take so long to come back here?"
"My theory was that we could read each other's thoughts. The closer we got, the stronger the psychic link was. I had to hide my thoughts from him, but it is not easy to do 'I'm going to stop thinking right now'. I had to use a spell, [Hypnosis]."
"Hypnosis?"
"Yes, I focused my mana to hypnotize myself. I gave myself an order to stop thinking and go back to this house as we agreed. That way, I stopped thinking I was only doing subconscious things like breathing."
"If you don't think he can't read your thoughts."
"I'm not sure of that. He could probably still feel my thoughts even if they were only basic things like breathing. I had to make sure my mind was undecipherable. I had to hypnotize myself to think I was another person. In this case, I choose you."
"Me?"
"Yes, the [Hypnosis] spell is pretty weak on its own. Only a person with the talent to control minds can make people do complicated things. So, I had to use all my mana to brainwash myself into thinking I was you and then walk back to the house. I set the trigger to undo the hypnosis when I saw your face."
"That's why your eyes were so weird. Wait, so you walked all the way from the Capital to here through the woods? That's why it took so long, and the scratches and bites were probably from animals. They could have killed you!"
"I told you it was a risky plan, but it worked, and I'm alive."
Thanatos felt victorious. His plan worked and he managed to escape from his dark haired pursuer. He took a moment to feel his own body. He was alive. The plan could have backfired, and his mind could still be able to be read by his opponent. In that case, he could have killed him or captured him for interrogation. Those white eyes were ingrained in his mind.
"Anyway, I'm glad you are okay. Please listen to my warnings before you do something like that again."
"Yes, yes... Tell me how the business went."
"You just ignore my feelings whenever it is convenient for you, uh… The business went as well as we expected. I made a few offers to some trustworthy people. They don't have a big presence on the dark side of the country, but they don't deal with demi human slaves."
"Nice, I'm going to have to withdraw from this country. The risk of getting found out by that guy is too big. I'm letting you be in charge of the contact."
"What kind of person was he?"
"I don't know, the power I felt probably meant he was a member of the Black Order. It was only for a few minutes, but the sensation I felt was weird."
"Weird in what sense?"
"He felt like drowning under a big lake. He was sinking to the bottom of the lake without moving or resisting. His heart was filled with water, but the moment he saw me, his eyes lit up, and he tried to swim back to the surface. He extended his hand toward me, but I couldn't grab him. I was scared…"
"It was probably some effect of the magic connection, is good that you got away so soon. It may have side effects if you stay too close to that guy for too long."
"Yeah…" Thanatos wasn't sure of why he felt like he left him behind. It was almost like letting a friend suffer alone. What was the connection? From all the people he met in this world, that was the only time something like that had ever happened.
He heard a whisper. It wasn't coming from the outside or Castess. It came from his heart, inviting him to a nice and long conversation the next time they met. Thanatos responded with a sad voice.
"Yes, next time we'll talk properly, I promise."
They spent the next couple of days leaving things secure and assigning new butlers, maids, and guards to the property. After having organized the report of new business partners and prospects in the nation of Los. Thanatos decided it was time to leave.
He left his underlings in charge of the house and, along with Castess, returned to the base of Underworld in the city of Raind.
The Nation of Los didn't leave a strong impression on him. Maybe it was because he was getting used to living in this world, but the children and the strange man were the most prominent figures in his mind.
"Man, I'm going to miss those kids." He said while looking outside the carriage toward the sky.
"You only met them for half a day and got so attached to them. What does that mean for me or the other members of your group?"
"Sorry, I don't mean to undervalue any of you. I was just happy to see such abilities. Thanks for waiting for me."
"Don't go thanking me now. I just did what was expected of me."
"Yeah, thanks Castess, you're a friend." He gave him a wide smile.
"Don't go making this awkward... The rest of your friends are waiting for us." Castess blushed as he put his hand to cover his face.
"Yes, I have missed them too."