Chereads / Pangya / Chapter 25 - Shackles of Fate

Chapter 25 - Shackles of Fate

Both Queen Chloe and Leonard had arrived at the palace's front gate, where there is a demon commoner waiting on a horse with a carriage. With things being rushed by Queen Chloe, Leonard felt uneasy about cooperating with her plan. With frustration going through his mind, he immediately asked,

"M-Mom, where are they taking me, I…I-I'm sc-"

"Listen to me"

Interrupted Queen Chloe as she holds Leonard's face with a teary eye and assurance visible on her face.

"When you arrived there, Look for the Doctor, He'll know what to do."

"B-but.."

"It's okay, my dear, this will not be the last time that I'm going to see you, I promise you that. Live… Live the life that you wanted. Change not just this world, do it for me. I love you, my son…Go…"

"Mom, please! Come with-"

"Go!..GO!..GO!"

The commoner then proceeds towards the destination, leaving Queen Chloe in front of the gate alone. As the carriage leaves the palace, Leonard looks back at her mother silently and contemplates why this is happening to him. As soon as the Queen waved her last goodbye and turned her back from the carriage, Leonard burst into tears and cried until he completely left the kingdom. Leonard is baffled by what has happened, as he cannot think straight at the time. Due to his current injuries, he still felt weak and knew that he needed rest right away, but unfortunately, he failed to stay awake and fell asleep all throughout the journey.

Within Leonard's dreams, is him being in a black room again but this time a more older version of him is what he is seeing. Three-small horns are coming out of its head and the figure's feet are now visible to the eyes of Leonard.

"I-Its you again!... You haven't answered me! How?...H-How can I improve myself"

Asked Leonard with uneasiness, but the figure suddenly smiled and said,

"...Su..ffer.."

"W-what? What are you saying?"

Then the room became silent, and Leonard gave up trying to know what he intended to prove. After a while, the figure slowly laughed and laughed until he laughed out of his lungs, making Leonard angry.

"S-SHUT UP!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH…break….Break…Break…BREAK…BREAKKKK....HAHAHAHAHAH"

"JUST SHUT UP-"

Leonard then tries to punch the figure but fails to do so as it vanishes into thin air every time his skin touches the figure, but the figure is showing appreciation by continuously laughing at Leonard.

"YES…YES…THAT'S RIGHT!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! THAT'S IT!!...BREAK…BREAK YOURSELF!! DESTROY YOURSELF!! DESTROY YOUR MIND!! DESTROY YOUR BONDS!! DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU LOVE!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!"

Shouted The figure as Leonard then got petrified as he understood the means of the figure. After a while, Leonard rests in front of the figure and sadly listens to him. The figure then whispers,

"...destroy…the…world"

The figure then vanished out of nowhere, and Leonard felt uneasy. In a complete instant, Leonard then sinks through the floor of the room, leading him to complete nothingness. As Leonard sank down, he saw three small glowing particles that slowly got close to his head. Leonard then stares at these three small glowing particles and proceeds to touch just one, and as soon as he touches the one on the left, it rapidly attaches to his head and provides him with great pain, causing him to wake up back to reality.

Leonard then wakes up in complete shock, with his left side of the head hurting. He then started to inspect his surroundings, trying to see if the carriage was still there, but failed to do so. Leonard then saw a bag full of goods that could make him survive for a week and a trail leading to a dark, unknown forest. Baffled by what he dreamed, Leonard grabbed the bag and remembered what Queen Chloe said to her.

"*sighs*...she only said to find the doctor because he'll know what to do. *sighs* then there is no other way but to go forward then"

Leonard then started to walk towards the unknown dark forest, but as soon as he took a step into the forest, he heard different kinds of creatures and monsters lurking around him, which immediately put him in complete fear and made him decide to just run as fast as possible.

As Leonard ran deeply into the forest, avoiding all of the noises he could hear close to him, he reached a quiet and solemn area where nothing could be heard. Leonard, as he caught his breaths, decided to rest under a tree and felt a great rumble in his stomach.

"Oops! I think it's time to eat, now, let's see what we have in this backpack"

After looking through what was inside the backpack, Leonard was shocked at what he saw.

"WHAT?! IS THIS IT?! NINE APPLES! FIVE BANANAS? AND TWO CARROTS?! WHAT IS THIS MISSERY!!"

Shouting all his anger out, Leonard slowly closes his bag and decides to sleep off the hunger he is feeling and also to quickly recover his strength from his previous dream. After several hours of sleep, Leonard wakes up and decides to continue his journey toward finding the Doctor that he was supposed to find. Leonard then suddenly remembered, as soon as he thought about the word 'Doctor', the man who cured him from his fight with his brother.

"Hmmm? I wonder if that man is what I am looking for… Hold on, he was with me in the locker room the time I fight off the duo, right?... yeah...Yeah, now I remember! Well, that's the last time I saw him…all right! I'll find him because I believe, and I hope, that he is what I'm looking for"

Leonard then proceeded on his journey to find the Doctor. As he travels to the dark and unknown forest, Leonard cautiously studies his surroundings to see if he can find something to eat or, more preferably, something to defend himself with. Leonard then traveled and traveled, and in his first week, Leonard almost learned most of the basics within the dark and unknown forest, but his resources are slowly fading away, and Leonard's survivability is at stake. As Leonard again took a rest under a tree before falling asleep, he saw smoke far in front of him, signaling that someone was there. Leonard then hurriedly grabbed his things and his spirits and hoped that it was the Doctor.

As Leonard rushes to the smoke, he hopes for lots and lots of food that will be offered to him. Leonard daydreamed of being surrounded by large meats and many fruits. Furthermore, as soon as he saw the bonfire from up close, he was shocked to see that no one was there. Leonard, feeling defeated, decided to show rage and kicked the bonfire multiple times. At the same time, when Leonard was continuously kicking the bonfire, he heard a noise coming from his surroundings. Leonard is then petrified in his position and all of a sudden he hears a growl coming from the bushes. He prepared his made-up weapon and proceeded in a defensive stance. Leonard faced every noise that he heard from every bush that surrounds him, but then, in an instant, Leonard was captured by a net, making him hang up in the air.

"Who is there? Show yourselves!"

Shouted Leonard with complete fear visible on his face,

"Oh! Why hello there mister, it's another human! Hahaha!.. say, it's about more than five years since I saw AND heard a human. Oh! Hahahaha!"

Responded by an unknown person from the ground,

"Come out! And fight me like a man!"

"Oh! Well, we don't want to start a fight, should we not? You don't want to be messing with Ignisar, don't you?"

Asked the unknown person on the ground making Leonard feel more unease

"I-I don't care who that is! Show yours-"

Ignisar then launches towards Leonard with its mouth wide open making him shocked.

"...Oh…shit"