Forsaken Starfall

00?

That name. I've heard it.

That's the name of 000's leader. The man with a bounty of almost four hundred thousand gold coins! Zaefal thought inwardly.

He immediately pointed his broken sword at 00.

Illya, Cyhas, and Eutas also looked horrified upon hearing the mysterious man's name. Illya's face was deathly pale.

Fyar just stood silently. He readied his pistol, his eyes unblinking, observing the man's every move.

"Ohooo?" 00 smiled. "It seems someone here already knows me."

"Yeeeeeee!" 00 raised both his hands,

Zaefal's face become cold. "You're the one who made the Guardians disappear from the city and hired Whitening?!" he asked.

"Correct!" 00 answered cheerfully. "I'm also the one who hired Whitening and made all the 00 members disappear! Cool, right!"

Sst!

00 teleported.

He disappeared from the center of the square and appeared instantly right in front of Cyhas.

Fyar and Zaefal were shocked, unable to react in time.

"Hmm, you're still here. Means 06 and 05 didn't manage to kidnap you. Well, no matter. The one who wanted you is already dead anyway."

00's eyes glanced at Fyar and Zaefal, who now had their weapons aimed at him.

"And oh, please don't do anything stupid like attacking me. You want to live, right?"

Zaefal and Fyar froze.

Sst!

00 teleported back to the center of the square.

Click!

He snapped his fingers. Instantly, a simple wooden chair and a table appeared on the stone. On the table were several foods like fruits and cold drinks.

"Huff. Lucky I managed to save these."

00 looked at the dragon's head in his hand.

"You know, pretty girl." 00 looked at Cyhas.

"Their race really wanted to kidnap you. So bad , so they stupildy asked for my help."

"And the one over there?"

"That is the dragon kingdom's general!"

Cyhas flinched slightly. "Th-the Dragon race wanted to kidnap me?"

Eutas just stood silently. His face hardened, his eyes stared intently at the ground.

"Yep!" 00 said.

He then threw the dragon general's head forward. The head landed on the stone floor, rolled a few meters, and stopped right in front of Fyar.

Fyar, Illya, and Zaefal stared at the dragon's head in horror. Its eyes were still wide open, staring blankly at the red sky.

The Dragon race wanted to kidnap Cyhas? The Dragon race? Zaefal thought. His heart beat faster. Damn it. What is he really planning? Why did he kill the Dragon General? Does he know what the fuck he's actually do?!

Zaefal bit his lip. He stared at 00 with a furious expression. His eyes bulged.

"IDIOT!"

"Ohh?!" 00, who was just about to enjoy a piece of meat, turned towards Zaefal.

Zaefal took one step forward. He thrust his broken sword out.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'VE ACTUALLY DONE, YOU USELESS TRASH?!" Zaefal shouted.

00 calmly nodded. "Yep, I know! I'm trying to level up!"

Zaefal's face grew more twisted. A vein bulged in his neck. His face flushed red with rage.

"YOU JUST KILLED A GENERAL FROM THE DRAGON KINGDOM!"

He paused, catching his ragged breath.

"Did your stupid brain not think about the consequences of that, huh?! You just triggered an inter-kingdom war, you idiot!"

This is bad.. Zaefal seems so triggered. He could die if he keeps this up, Fyar thought. He looked at Illya, who seemed just as confused.

Fyar then looked at Cyhas, who was staring at 00 in horror while clutching the necklace at her throat.

Eutas just stood silently, his arm around his daughter's shoulder.

00 let out a long sigh, feigning boredom.

"I know, you stupid," he said. "But it's his own fault for trusting me."

"And hey!"

Sst!

He teleported, appearing suddenly right in front of Zaefal's face.

"Do you really think they'll announce this to the public? That their general was working with a human criminal organization just to kidnap a girl?"

00 burst out laughing. "Hahahaha,brooo just imagine it! All the kingdoms in the world finding out that the DRAGON RACE, famous for being anti-human, was working with humans!"

"And criminals at that! Hahahaha that so fucking funyyyy!" 00 laughed again.

Sst!

He then teleported back to his chair.

00 looked up at the sky, which was covered by the red shield.

"They won't announce this. Don't worry. Relax, buddy!"

"Besides, I only killed him because I had no other choice."

00 paused for a moment.

"Alright."

He looked at Fyar and his companions.

"Enjoy your time. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you!"

"You say that because we're all going to die in the next hour anyway, right." Eutas, who had been silent, finally spoke. His voice was heavy.

00 smiled again, tilting his head. "Who knows."

"What does that mean, Mister Eutas?" Fyar asked.

Illya, Zaefal, and Cyhas also looked at Eutas, waiting for an answer.

Eutas was silent for a moment. He clenched his fists.

"Th-this is a ritual magic. For a mage's level 100 ascension."

Eutas's voice trembled. "This magic will absorb the souls of every human inside it. Within one hour of its activation."

"A-and..." Eutas stammered. "There's nothing we can do... Th-the only way to make this ritual fail is to kill the one who activated it or..."

Sst!

"Ohhh!" 00 teleported again, appearing in front of Eutas.

"You know about this?!"

"Sshhh! No spoilers!" 00 covered Eutas's mouth with his hand. Instantly, Eutas's mouth seemed to be stitched shut. He could no longer speak.

Sst!

00 returned to his chair.

A ritual? Was his goal in destroying the city also for the ritual?! Bastard. This. He's planning to sacrifice the entire city to level up! Zaefal's rage intensified. The hand holding his broken sword trembled violently.

"Alright, since you already know," 00 said. "Well, you're all going to die in an hour anyway."

00 then stood up. "But you're missing one thing!"

00 looked at the dragon's head. "There are three conditions for me to perform this ritual."

"You're going to tell us?" Fyar looked confused.

"Well, you already know part of it. And you'll be dead in an hour anyway."

00 spread his hands wide.

"I need someone to talk to for the next hour. And..."

"I want your opinion on what I've done. Was it genius or not? You can rate me later."