Sven moved closer to Arlo and declared, "Well, hate to say it, but I'm your subordinate from now on."
Arlo was taken aback by Sven's sudden declaration. He was baffled and wondered, 'Why would someone who was just trying to end my life a few minutes ago, now want to serve under me?'
Sven offered his hand to help Arlo up, but Arlo was wary.
"CAWWW!"
"Don't worry, even Yoshi is vouching for me," Sven reassured him.
Arlo was skeptical, 'Is this guy genuinely interpreting the Crystal Egg's message, or is he just twisting it to his advantage?'
Growing impatient, Sven reached out, grabbed Arlo by the shoulder, and hoisted him up.
Suddenly, a prompt appeared:
[New tab created in People Slot: Subordinate]
Several more prompts overlapped:
[Sven, Tyrant of Constellation]
[? Increase level to unlock Sven's info]
[Ash Bird]
[Child of Player 1:]
[? Increase level to unlock Ash Bird's info]
Seeing the prompts, Arlo felt a bit more at ease but was still puzzled as to why Sven had chosen him as his leader.
"Let's get to why you're here," Sven gestured, and a chest materialized before them. Just as he was about to open it,
"COUGH!"
Arlo started coughing up blood, his hand resting on the chest. "Not again," he groaned.
This was not the first time, and Arlo had a sinking feeling about what was happening to him. "I'm cursed."
A golden prompt appeared outside the system:
[Main Quest Failed]
[Agnes's Vengeance]
[Kill Sven, Tyrant of Constellation]
[Inscription: Nearly all of Agnes's children were killed by Sven, one of the fallen constellations. You have proved your worth and faith to Agnes; she trusts you completely. Agnes sees you as one of her children and wants you to take revenge for the others who have fallen.]
[Reward: Agnes's Will]
[Quest Failed:]
[Betrayed Agnes's Trust; she no longer sees you as her child anymore.]
[Agnes's Wrath]
[Agnes is punishing you with eternal pain for teaming with Sven and breaking her trust.]
[Feel the pain and agony of her every child, and then slowly wither.]
"AHH…"
Arlo let out a scream of agony as Sven casually chatted with Ash Bird.
"Do you remember when you did the same to me? Ah, those were the days," Sven chuckled.
"Help me," Arlo reached out, pleading for help.
"Oh. You're seriously dying; you really are weak, aren't you?"
Sven taunted Arlo and then turned to Yoshi, "Yoshi, use your curse removal to save this kid."
"CAWWW!"
"What? You can't heal him because you were born prematurely?" Sven was taken aback. He sighed, "Kid, that's some seriously poor parenting."
In agony, Arlo wondered, 'Whose fault is this premature birth?'
"Shut up," Arlo managed to say as his body began to disintegrate from below.
Arlo rolled over and lay on his back, gazing at the sky, and whimpered, "Agnes, Agnessss… No, Mother, it hurts. My entire body hurts."
"COUGH!"
As his body slowly turned to dust, Arlo cried out,
"You said you see me as your child. Once I acted against your wishes, you cursed me. You may not see me as your child anymore, but I still see you as my mother, even if it is for a short time."
Arlo's lower body had turned to dust, but he couldn't feel anything. The pain he had felt earlier had turned into numbness.
"You talk about your trust in me, what about my trust in you? You betrayed me just now, lied to me, saying you would protect me. How can you hurt your own child? I'm done with people hurting their own children. You truly are a woman of many lies."
Suddenly, a brilliant golden light shone down on Arlo, and the dark clouds began to scatter.
In the reflection of the light, Arlo saw the light morph into a woman. She knelt down, kissed Arlo's forehead, and slowly vanished.
A prompt appeared:
[Main Quest Updated]
[Agnes's Love: Agnes deeply regrets punishing her child. She places her utmost trust in you. Carry Agnes's will.]
[Reward: Agnes's Will.]
Another prompt surfaced:
[Agnes's Will]
[Inscription: Agnes entrusted her will to you because she trusts you the most. She entrusts her children to your care.]
[Activation: Invoke Agnes's name and ask for her blessing.]
[Consume: Trust 100.]
Arlo's body began to reform, and he regained consciousness. A new miracle had just unfolded before him, bringing tears to his eyes as he felt her warmth.
"CRUNCH!"
Arlo turned to see what the noise was. Sven and Ash Bird were munching on popcorn made of clouds and commenting,
"What cheesy dialogues that kid just said. Only that woman would have fallen for it."
"THWACK!" Arlo punched Sven in the face for his disrespectful comment about Agnes.
Sven didn't even flinch from Arlo's punch but grinned and replied,
"Kid, it's a good thing I can't harm my master, otherwise you would be in pieces."
Arlo was scared, but Sven's mockery seemed inappropriate, and he retorted,
"How could you mock her? How could you mock the dead?"
Sven smirked, "Then if it's okay when they're alive, for your information, Agnes is still alive. She's also chained and sealed somewhere, just like me and Yoshi."
"Agnes is alive?" Arlo exclaimed with excitement. "Let's save her then. Tell me where she is, and we will save her."
"I don't know. Even I don't know where I am. How would I know about that woman?" Sven snapped back, clearly annoyed at talking about Agnes.
"How do you know she is alive? Don't lie to me," Arlo pressed Sven.
"Yawn… Me and my fellow constellations were sealed at the same time. If I'm alive, then she is alive too," Sven yawned while responding.
"Agnes is one of the constellations," Arlo said, stunned.
Sven sighed, "Kid, it's a long story. Just open the chest so we can leave this place. I've been waiting for more than 10,000 years."
Arlo was still confused. "10,000 years!" but he opened the purple chest.
Suddenly, a prompt appeared:
[Sven's Armor]
[Inscription: Sven, Tyrant of Constellation, known for his unyielding will and his attacking power, but his Armor is also second to none.]
[Activation: Press the Armor insignia]
[Duration: Unlimited]
[Consume:
Defense 20 per use.
Dexterity 15 per use.]
Arlo picked up a hollow disk. He already knew what the disk was; the Wings of Life reward had a similar disk. So, he lifted his hoodie and placed it on his chest.
"AHHH.."
The disk melted into his body, and inside the black burnt mark, a red mark appeared.
"Hhhhmmmm… Do you like my reward?" Sven inquired pridefully.
"Yeah, sure," Arlo replied, seeming preoccupied with various questions.
"This ungrateful kid," Sven grumbled at Arlo's reaction, ignoring Sven.
Confused, Arlo went to retrieve the sword he had thrown earlier. As he picked it up,
"CRUMBLE!"
The sword disintegrated into dust in his hands.
[End of Chapter]