Chapter 11
A Totally Expected Betrayal That Could've Been Avoided if He Just Saw The Signs
It was still early morning. In Ester's commercial district a single store was surrounded by a dozen knights with guns fixed on a single store. The atmosphere at the Moonlight Storefront was suffocating. The boxes inside the store, which were filled to the brim with items that once adorned the shelves of the store, seemed to yearn for salvation. For an escape from the situation taking place.
Ginevra's face turned pale at the sight of the boy being held at knife point by his employer. The elderly man kept his grip tightened around the boy's shoulder, his blade pressed so close to the boy's neck that the was slight bleeding coming from it. Reiya's face clouded. Neither she nor Ginevra expected the situation to escalate so quickly.
Ginevra had anticipated some resistance from Luck. Hence the dozen knights, but she never expected him to take Eden hostage. Reiya on the other hand felt her heart rate quicken. Luck maintained a calm demeanour. His face betrayed no emotion. As for Eden, his reaction was difficult to say the least. His eyes were clouded over, hidden beneath his bangs. His fists clenched intensely and he bit his lower lip.
A crippling silence befell the room. Eden finally broke the silence by drawing a deep breath before asking Luck an obvious question.
"Old man, what are you doing?" he demanded with a slightly shaky voice.
Luck's response came quickly without delay. "I'm taking you hostage."
"Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? Because I'm the one responsible for the destruction of Plaas."
Reiya gasped at Luck's words. Ginevra shut her eyes in resignation, realizing that her hunches were indeed correct.
"So it was you who distributed those potions containing monster essence?" Ginevra asked.
"Monster essence?" Luck echoed. "Right. He did say that he wouldn't let any of this trace back to him. Doesn't matter, I was gonna be found out anyway."
Ginevra and Reiya turned to each other in confusion.
"Yes. I am the one who spread the potions throughout the kingdom and I'm the one responsible for the destruction of that village." Luck admitted.
"Why!?" Ginevra screamed.
"Revenge, I guess? The destruction of Plaas was accidental, my real goal was to create an unkillable monster . Not to destroy that village."
In that instant, Luck's gaze drifted to Reiya who flinched reflexively. He shut his eyes, recalling the events that took place in the Tribal Territory, before it was officially established as the Tribal Territory.
"That was you?" Eden growled.
"Easy there kid. Wouldn't want your head to start rolling now would you?"
Despite Luck's warning Eden clenched his fist even tighter. He turned his chin upwards in order to glare at Luck. "Answer the question you old shit. Are you the one who made that monster that destroyed Plaas?"
"I am."
"I see."
Eden continued glaring at Luck and the man stared right back at Eden. Visible drops of water started forming on the store ceiling, the room's humidity continued rising steadily. Ginevra caught on this sudden change of atmospheric pressure then readied her sword to spring to action. Luck too caught on this shift.
"You sure you wanna do this kid? Truth be told I had no plans of killing you, I was just gonna use you as my ticket out of this place."
"I don't care."
"Alright then." Luck said in resignation. "Scorch my enemies bird of fire." He chanted. "Release a blazing fire and burn!"
"Pierce him! Ice blades!" Eden chanted.
As the two of them chanted simultaneously, a raging flame ignited from beneath Eden's feet while sharp blades formed on the ceiling and headed straight for Luck. The two contrasting elements collided, creating a cloud of fog that covered the store.
Reiya emerged from the cloud of fog, she immediately spotted Luck who was trapped between the ice that was formed by Eden. She lunged her hand towards him, hoping to pierce through his heart with her razor sharp, claw-like nails.
Luck smashed his head against her hand, which broke as a result. Startled by what transpired, Reiya felt herself lose her balance to which Luck used to his advantage. He broke his hand free from the ice and used it to grab Reiya by the neck crushing it all the while.
"Guh." She coughed.
"Before you die I want you to know something." Luck said with all the malevolence in the world. "Your uncle isn't far behind you."
Luck's grip on Reiya's neck grew tighter and tighter. The girl asphyxiated, her breath struggled to make it's way through her oesophagus. In an act of finishing her off, Luck grabbed one of the broken blades of ice and ran it straight through Reiya's chest. A pool of blood formed in her mouth, it flowed down her chin.
When the fog cleared it revealed a nearly unconscious Eden with visibly burned feet. His mind snapped awake when he bore witness to the sight in front of him. When he witnessed the sight of his beloved being impaled by his employer.
Luck's eyes met with Eden's. The crimson burned within the elder's eyes while the blue roared within Eden's. A message was shared between the two eyes, a message that only the two of them would understand. A lesson delivered from Luck to Eden, one that was carved into each of them by the other.
"Know you'll know the pain of loss. Just like I did."
Luck's words stabbed at Eden's heart. "Why...why would you do this?"
"Like I said at the start. It was for the sake of reven-!!!"
Luck was cut off mid sentence, and he'd very nearly been cut in two by a furious Ginevra. He tossed Reiya at Eden, bent down to dodge Ginevra's attack and landed a counter on her before jumping towards the front door. Ginevra positioned herself between Eden and Luck.
"Blood! She needs blood, quickly!" Ginevra commanded.
"What?"
"Cannibals can regenerate their injuries by ingesting blood! I'll handle the traitor, you focus on her!"
"You make it sound so easy, Ginevra." Luck retorted. "Tell me, how long have those potions been in the market?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Think about it. They've only been in sale for a week at best and yet I've already managed to sell out. Strange isn't it?"
Ginevra thought to herself for a moment. Her face lost all colour when Luck's words finally registered in her mind. When she finally grasped what luck was insinuating, her teeth clattered violently, her gaze grew ever so deadly.
"What have you done?" she growled.
"I think...I've successfully managed to start an invasion on the capital of one of the most prominent counties in the world."
With the snap of a finger, dozens and dozens of lights emerged from within the streets of the capital. The lights let out deafening roars that rung across the city, each scream signalling the emergence of a new monster. A monster that was nearly identical to the one that Eden fought in the village of Plaas.
In only a few seconds, the streets were thrown into complete chaos. The newly emerged monsters began thrashing about, destroying anything that was in sight, making a complete massacre of anyone unlucky enough to cross paths with them.
Eden watched this chaos unfold and a single thought flashed across his mind.
This is it...…this is...the End Of Days.