Eternal Elysium

The last few days were not kind to me or anyone.

Meeting a wave of monsters. Then fighting a corrupted beast, barely surviving both of them.

And then seeing an avenger-rank creature wreaking havoc while fighting Commander Alos.

Did someone place a curse on me?

I was very curious about that; after all, I have met a witch, an evil witch, and a very terrifying witch who could possibly do anything. The possibility of her cursing me with misfortune wasn't clearly out of the question after we made contact.

However, I quickly dismissed that idea. After all, Elias Walker, the Saint of Paths, was also present at that time. He wouldn't have let that happen; I was sure of that.

But then again, I should get myself checked once if I were to ever get the chance.

"I should just read it."

I took out the letter and held it softly between my fingers.

Currently it was nighttime; well, the sky doesn't change, but a sleep schedule still exists for soldiers. And currently many were doing just that.

That's why it was the perfect time to read the letter and test my theory.

Just then my gaze paused over my scars… I didn't know why, but my gaze would partially freeze there, and I would fall into deep thoughts.

The injuries have mostly healed already, so I should be able to leave tomorrow.

With a small sigh, I pulled the paper out and held it.

Sure, not much.

The letter was short and precise with words, not holding any unnecessary greeting.

'Morgan, she wrote this letter.'

I was sure of it, but still my lips curled slightly into a smile as a chuckle left my mouth.

[Asher, I hope you are doing alright in Kalista. It's a place not for the weak, but I am sure you will prevail there as well; you are my student after all.]

I paused, my lips twitching as I was unable to keep a straight face.

She… She is taking the teacher thing very seriously.

[Your friends should have informed you about the situation regarding the house of Orgus and the house of Vail. I will inform you about the other details, but make sure to keep it secretive. As in the wrong hands it will be dangerous for you.]

The words arranged neatly now started to look ominous with each word that I read.

Suddenly I felt a sense of unease and that I should not read any further.

But I knew that not all feelings should be followed by the heart.

Pursing my lips, I read the next line with anticipation.

[The head of Vail is dead; that's indeed true, and his death is related to you. The head of Pandrix has confirmed this. He had died shortly after attempting to kill you, but how he died is still unknown. The temple has taken care of his servant; you don't need to worry about that. We are trying to cover it as much as possible.]

"Ah."

I let out a strange sound unknowingly and blinked twice.

What… What even is this bullshit?

The words were so outrageous that I was left with more questions than answers!

Why did Antra die?

How can the head of Pandrix confirm that he died because he attempted to kill me?

And why is the head even involved in this?

So many questions… I felt like I was back to zero.

I sighed, feeling frustration swell up inside me.

'At least temple is trying to protect me.'

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I will find it out eventually." I whispered to myself without any hope and continued to read the letter.

[Currently you can't deal with any noble houses, so don't dwell on it for long. You will eventually reach the answers you are seeking. I was told this by the head of Pandrix, and I trust them. They have done a lot for this world and sacrificed many things to get to this point. By now you should have your own thoughts regarding the situation. So, I won't sway your judgement any longer.]

I stared at the words for a long time without thinking much. I could clearly see Morgana attempt to make the Pandrx a little more favorable in my view.

But that was not easy. The more I look and find out about the head, the more they look like a puppeteer and a shrewd person.

It wouldn't be wrong to call me a pawn in their game.

But even then my value seems to change and vary from time to time.

Only time could tell if I was a piece that needed to be protected or something that would be left to sacrifice for a greater scheme.

Shutting down my wavering emotions, I continued to read with a blank expression.

[Now that you are aware about whats happening in the world outside Kalista, let me tell you how to solve the problem inside Kalista.]

"Huh, what?"

The moment I thought I wouldn't be surprised anymore, another shock hit me.

[First of all, let me clarify something: the one who is making the soldiers go missing and erasing their existence from people's minds is a monster, a calamity called Plague, not a human.]

'A calamity?!'

I frowned.

This… This is not something I could deal with. A calamity was a rank–4 creature of beyond.

But it should have been able to wipe out all of us by now.

However, since it has not done it yet… Does it mean we have a chance? Otherwise I couldn't see a reason for sending us on a suicide mission.

[Lord Undying has been dealing with this creature for a long time, as it has several bodies roaming around the world. He has given an in-depth detail regarding this monster to help you. The plague has several abilities; one of them is partial erasure. He can eat a person and remove the memory of their existence from people's minds and take the person's memory for himself. He can also steal someone's existence and take their place; this also gives him the ability to create clones of himself, but they will be as strong as the existence he has stolen.]

I shuddered reading this as my face went pale.

A chill went down my spine, making my hand shiver.

"What kind of dreadful creature is this?" I whispered to myself.

While I had managed to deduct at least half of its first ability. The rest of it was simply disastrous. This creature was undoubtedly a calamity.

The only saving grace I even saw was that Kalista most likely has a clone of this monster, and it should be either as strong as an awakened or… a transcendent. But that was most likely for ability strength; otherwise, its status was still that of calamity.

[It also has an ability called mental plague. An ability to destroy someone's mind. That's all the information we had regarding this monster. The reason we didn't tell you about this before was because there was a chance it would have found it out, but right now the Plague should have already found all the information regarding you through consuming others; right now the Plague should be satisfied. So by giving you this information now, you are safe for some time.]

I see… it made sense. If a monster could eat human memories, it would have already found so many things about me. And I should also have forgotten someone… This has made a gap in my memory.

But I do remember things that happened in the past few days…

'But it's… blurry.'

My frown deepened as I found my head aching slightly as if it was clashing with something I had been unaware of.

Is this monster also the reason Lord Undying is injured? While not told explicitly, I could guess he was injured from the talk between Saint of Paths and Morgana.

This monster was dangerous, and I certainly wasn't even aware how many of its vessels were spread inside the base. It could be anyone… It could also be in hundreds.

How mortifying.

[You must have several new questions? Especially why the temple chose you for this mission. The answer to this question I have been given was rather simple, as the higher-up stated it was because of your 'will' It's special; you are special. For your other questions, why we had not taken any actions till now and why no transcendent is aware of it, I can't tell you right now. However we do want others to be aware of it, just in a way thats right to us.]

[I pray that the path you take from now on will be the right one.]

I looked at the sentence for a few seconds, then suddenly the letters twitched and the paper burned, making my eyes widen in surprise. Before I could even do something, the letter had turned into dust.

'Is this also done by ruinic magic?' I thought but didn't fret for long; the content of the letter was more astonishing than the letter burning.

I sighed and then turned to glance at my left palm, where a single number was written.

'19'

My theory was correct… My will was the answer after all.

The monster has several mind-related abilities, each one more dangerous than the other.

However, will was something everyone needed in the path of ascension. It was like a barrier that kept us human, a mental barrier. So, it could also work against mind attacks, right?

And currently I was also under a mental attack from the monster.

My will was currently vague, not defending against it properly because I had been unaware of it all the time.

But now things were different.

My will was strong and extremely robust.

My will was a wish to remain the same, to be eternal.

As I closed my eyes and focused deeply, I could feel something change. It was like a tug-of-war, like strings were unraveling inside me. A weight, as if fog has covered my mind. Then finally it stopped, and something cracked inside of me as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

I sighed and leaned back on the pillow behind me.

A sad smile lingered on my lips as I whispered.

"I see… I did it."