Chapter 99 - Ninety-Five

I knew that face, those bright blue eyes that shone like two pair of glass globes put against the sunny sky, that smooth white skin and slim tall body, and the blond hair that gets brighter at the tips, falling in small waves as if they were threads of gold.

And it takes me only a few seconds to remember where I remember him from.

The castle, the party, when I was still acting as a servant and serving the nobles; déjà vu on that part, ironically.

What was his name again…?

I forget that line of thought once he opens his bright plump lips to speak in a soft voice:

"My name is Cain, your humble guide, and I'm delighted to finally meet you all." He says while intertwining his fingers at his front around the wooden cable of the big brush, a soft smile playing on his lips and curving his bright eyes in crescent moons.

He seemed genially happy to see us, without a doubt, and for some reason a man's presence here is not questioned by anyone, or rather, was accepted rather calmly, but I could understand why; he was very welcoming, very charming, his presence was very bright, who would want to cast him away?

He extends his hand while his white teeth appear between each word spoken, and all the Sisters watch in silent awe as he speaks:

"Thank you for bringing them in Sister." He says in a rather casual way, and even more abnormal it is once I realize that he is actually talking with the High Priestess.

And worse of it all, she gets closer to him with a bright smile and kisses the back of his hand.

What?! Her expression wrinkles weirdly with a smile that hasn't reached her face for many past years.

But weirdly enough the other sisters weren't shocked by the act, they were more… flabbergasted, or rather, transfixed by him.

No one could take their eyes away from him, or rather, no one wanted to tear their eyes away afraid that they would miss something, even the smallest movement  or word he would say and do.

He pulls a blond lock of hair back with smooth actions, and all eyes accompany his movements, mine included, his long fingers stopping at the side of his face, a gentle look in his eyes.

"I know that all of this most sound weird and surprising for you all, but worry not, I'm here to ease your minds."

"For the last years these lands have suffered a lot, 'you' have suffered a lot, from the war, from famine, innocent lives lost… and what for?" He says, looking at each other's eyes and holding their gaze at each word spoken, bringing them in and sometimes even getting closer and touching their faces ever so slightly as he talks.

"The Goodness has bestowed upon me the greatest honor of reuniting the nations once more, like the time when she walked these lands, to end all suffering."

He sounded so genuinely concerned… his words really resonated with me, and he sounds very reasonable, in fact, all he said is true, no doubt about that.

As he continues to speak my mind wonders to the glory of a wonderful peaceful place, a place where me and my brother could live at harmony, a place were no harm would be done to us, a beautiful land with only laugh and joy.

Such a place that I wanted to build on my own… our objectives were the same after all, weren't they?

A place where I did not have to fear for my life, neither would my brother… a place where we could finally settle in.

"You have been running for so long, scared and alone, but now you are not alone anymore, we are in this together, I'm here together with you to put an end to it."

Yes, we have been running our entire lives, from humans, from magical creatures, from them all, and I was tired of it, really done with this unforgiving world.

"Together, we can unite our hands in such a strong bond that none will be able to tear us apart. Together we are stronger; together we can put an end to this. We can make the world a better place for our children to live in, without fear, without suffering, we only have to believe."

Everybody was ecstasy, smiling from ear to ear and eyes glimmering at his words, almost as if we could all see that world in front of us, all believing in this, together.

That's when, in my wondering daydreaming mind, an annoying sound resonates at the back of my mind.

Ding –$7%M48&in$#d(*C&%*[email protected]!$n4%8tr¨&*[email protected] R2$%e¨&@s%[email protected]%*$t#$!a%&n8&ce level up –

That sound is far off and about, and even though it ended a long time ago it keeps ringing in my mind, like a buzzing sound inside my brain.

Ding, ding, ding.

I blink a few times, my vision a little turvy and Cain's voice being muffled by my confusion, and as I put my hand over my eyes, closing them, and focus my drunken mind I finally notice why.

That sound… it has being a while since I heard it, but there was a time that I was thrilled by the upcoming skills that it brought with it.

I evolved, gain another skill, but what? And why? I was only hearing him talk… wait… for how long was I here, watching him? And what was he talking about anyway?

Is… is confusing… as if I had dozed off for a little while…

Blinking, confused, I open my eyes and look beyond my hand but I could only see a blur of a massive creature in front of me, a white… no, black? A void-less figure that was all eyes and locked gaze with all creatures beside it, pairs of black holes that sucked the others in.

One of them focuses on me as I quickly rise my hand again, the mere millisecond that took me to close my eyes again was enough to make me sweat, my heartbeat pumping inside my chest loudly enough to ring in my ears.

Ding.

Once more I hear the sound, but now, a little away from the stupor, I manage to identify what it was.

That's when I check my own status:

-Appraisal completed-

Name: Palarran Thilgon Mìnaothon

Gender: Male

Race: Terror Hell Hound

Age: 18

Level: 160--160

HP: 3560—3560

MP: 870--870

SP: 6750--6750

Attributes: Fire, Shadow

Titles: The Wise, Angry One, Reincarnated, Older Brother, Divine Voice, Strategist, Definitely Forbidden from the Kitchen, King's Might, The Terror, Feared One, Savior, Avenger

Corporeal: Claw 161, Bite 162, Swim 110, Sneak 172, Dodge 182, Dash 198, Sing 280, Tail Whip 80, Mix Martial Arts 143

Magic: Third Eye 300(Appraisal), Possessed Mode 5, Voice of the Night MAX, Healing Saliva 133, Telepathy (Younger Brother), Intimidation 340, Hell Army 115, Voice of command 123, Humanoid Transformation MAX, Rage Fuel 220

Fire Magic: Terror Mountain Bone Form, Fire Manipulation 144, Fire Jump 146, Fire Dash 148, Fire Shield 132, Black Flame 154, Lava Breath 120, Fire Personification 85, Fireball 150, Fire Breath 147,

Shadow Magic: Shadow Veil 197, Shadow Merge 186, Shadow Manipulation 167, Shadow Pocket 130, Shadow Tentacles 137, Shadow Illusion 132, Shadow Slash 148, Shadow Spikes 158, Shadow Intimidation 200, Clone Shadow 120, Sentient Shadow 133(Darkjaw,

Deadbite), Shadow Arrow 100, Sense Robber 130, Shadow Dash 135, Shadow Blade(Bolo Machete) 110

Resistances: Fire 202, Fatigue 150, Hunger 147, Water 20, Cold 30, Earth 122, Poison 110, Bleed 246, Paralyze 85, Mind Control 5

Language: Hound Language MAX, Common Language MAX, Elven Language MAX, Ancient Elf Language MAX, Devil Language 4, Dwarves Language 5

Ineptitudes: Cook – 1000, High Value, Fear of the deeps, Too scary to be pet

Status: Confusedly thrilled?

I quickly cover those so familiar lines until I find something new, something out of place; and when I find I feel a shiver run down my spine as if my heart had turned into ice.

That one, over the resistance line…

Mind Control Resistance!

My brain works quickly; I have never encountered such magic before, and to create resistance to something you have to put up with it over and over again, like resistance to hunger where you have to stay long periods of time without eating, or the pain that I trained with my brother before.

Which means… that he was trying to mind control us all!

And I don't know how yet I was able to escape his grasp, perhaps the resistance helped in some sort of way as it increased as he speaks, but I know that closing my eyes had some effect over it as well…

But what to do now! I could always enter my shadow, but Isa was there under his powers!

That's when it hit me; you cannot mind control something that does not have a mind, can you?

That's when I use one of my favorite abilities, one that I don't use very often for it brings a lot of destruction upon its path and costs me a lot of magic.

I call upon my fire army.