Chapter 180 - 180)Wake Up...

(A/N: Gomen gomen. I'm back home now and I have good network so I can write and publish properly. Plis do not kill me. With that being said, we're getting close to chapter two hundred so let me know how the novel was so far?)

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"Yes, Master"

There were many things Night had to learn, no matter how one-sided the matches against other players were, he was nowhere close to reaching Noel's level. So just the thought of him actually training under Noel was exciting. Although that was his job as Night's master, Noel found the entire situation with Night slightly dicey. Initially, he thought of Night as this glass cannon that was filled with potential, however, a single crack would prove to be deadly, which is why he never pushed Night too far.

However, all of that changed the moment Night began accumulating achievements, him interrupting the fight against Neo was simply the cherry on the top. Noel always trusted Night, but now he gained more trust in himself as well. He knew that no matter how hard he pushed his only disciple, Night would never break.

Of course, it isn't as if they would drop everything and start the practice at the very second. It would be dishonorable and rude to do so, especially with Blade's body right there, which is why even talking about it made Night feel a little weird.

"Let's give him the honor a warrior deserves..." Noel said as he glanced at Blade. As the disciple of the future king of Vraun, Blade was bound to have a grand ceremony. Although it couldn't be done immediately, the first step was to take his body to the kingdom.

"....." 

Night simply stayed quiet and stared at his senior. He wanted to honor Blade but the idea of them carrying him into the Kingdom and then giving him a proper funeral seemed a little annoying. Perhaps it was because Night couldn't wrap his head over what happened, naturally, considering it's literally only been a few minutes.

He simply raised Blade and carried him with both his hands underneath the body. One of Blade's lifeless hands fell loosely while the other gently touched Night's body every time the latter moved. His eyes were closed and the blood started drying up, however, the smile. His smile. Never faded. Even when his chest was pierced, he was strong enough to hold that expression of satisfaction.

'I don't like this.....I don't understand this....'

Night's mind was a mess. Even as the two of them continued walking towards the Kingdom, he couldn't get over his senior's death. Especially because Blade was in his hands. memories of the little, but vital, times he spent with Blade, flashed through his mind. However, it was all brought to a stop when he heard a loud cry.

It was one of the civilians of Vraun, Noel and Night had been walking in complete silence for the past two hours. It seemed like only a few minutes but they were so overwhelmed by everything that they failed to realize they were right in front of the royale castle.

"I-it...can't....b-" Cassandra could barely finish her sentence as she choked on her own tears. She fell to her knees, her hands covering her face as tears fell uncontrollably. Pythia stood right behind her as she looked distraught. She looked down at Blade and could more or less predict what happened. In truth, she slightly blamed herself. She knew where both Noel's disciples were and yet she couldn't connect two and two. 

"Blade..." Alaric muttered. A golden wave of energy shot out from him, instantly disarming everyone within a 10m radius. His red cape of royalty was levitating as he closed his eyes, tears rolled down slowly. As he walked towards the body of his son-in-law's disciple, who was like family to him. 

"....I see...."

"Alright then. As of this moment, we are officially at war with the Imperial Kingdom. So far we've been a rather peaceful nation but from this moment onward, that changes. Generals and army heads are required to train their soldiers harder, we need to get stronger, the Imperial Kingdom is no joke, and taking them on is going to be nearly impossible, but what was done, today, is something that we can never forgive. Does anyone have any issues with what was said?"

Alaric waited for a minute or so, thousands of people gathered around the royal castle and nobody dared to say a word. Not only because it was their King that was talking but because they completely agreed with what was said.

"Good. With that being said, for the next 3 years, every soldier here is going to go through hell. I hope you understand that, if you wish to back out, then now is the time to do so. Because once we begin, there's nothing that's going to stop us. Now that that's clear, I'll be in my chambers,"

Cassandra was still on her knees as she hugged Blade's corpse that Night laid down. Pythia simply looked at Alaric with wide eyes before following him back into the castle. Noel and his disciple, Night were completely indifferent to what the King of Vraun just announced, after all, they shared the same feelings.

"Master....about the training..."

"Go. I understand. Besides, I'll be busy with scrubbing the soldiers here, so go do what you have to do..." Noel said as he looked straight into the castle before walking over to Cassandra. He tried to get her up to her feet and the second she did, she buried her face into his arms. "Just make sure the next time we see the son of a bitvh, will be the last,"

"Thank you....." Night said as he looked at Nate and the others arriving, the crowd parted as they walked, after all, they were war heroes. However, as unfortunate as it was, this wasn't the time for their deeds to be celebrated, and everyone there understood that once they looked at the body in front of Night.

While the others didn't instantly recognize who it was, Nate did, after all, he was the only one to have met Blade, however, the others heard of him and pieced the fragments together and realized what had happened.

"You have my deepest condolences, My Lord..." Shade said as he knelt in front of Night. Due to the connection they shared, Shade could feel a part of what Night felt, and through that he understood how grateful His Lord was to the person on the floor.

"Ah Shade...." Night patted his subject's head, he was glad Shade was safe. By the looks of it, it looked like he was more than just safe, he was nearly spotless while the others were covered in dust and blood with their armors covered in scratches and dents. "Let's go, we have a lot of work to do...." he continued as he waved at his best friend with eyes filled with grief, a forceful smile, Night didn't even try to hide the fact that he was in pain. Losing Blade felt like reality to him. It felt like he had actually lost someone in reality.

'We don't have too much time, we need to get stronger for the monster wave. Master's friend, I'll make sure nothing goes wrong this time. Damianos and the magic towers huh.....I'll save you, I'll save everyone. Just wait. Please.' 

Night had one last thought before he returned to reality. He got up and felt stains underneath his eyes, his throat hurt and his chest throbbed. Although, it wasn't serious, Luke felt lethargic, so he simply went straight to bed.

"You're here," a voice echoed the second he drifted into the realm of dreams. It was confusing but Luke felt as if he had heard it somewhere. Although, he couldn't pinpoint if it belonged to a female or male.

"Hmm?" he turned around only to be met with nothingess. The room was completely dark and even with his night vision he couldn't see anything. However, for some reason he was ease. There was nothing that triggered him.

"Tell me, why do you know how to do that? No. Forget about that, how is it that you're capable of learning that?"

"Who are you?"

"Urgh, don't you hate it when you're question is met with another question? Besides, it's interesting to see that you don't know who I am. You're not yet ready, and you're supposed to be our beacon, our ray of light in the darkness. Yet here you are, representing darkness itself. Haha, that's ironic in a way,"

"It seems as if you haven't explored enough but I have to say, you're truly cursed aren't you? Your luck is just atrocious, to the point where I think Tyche has something to do with this, but even then it wouldn't make sense. Anyway, we'll meet again, although I can't promise you when but hopefully it's soon. Now then,"

"Wake up,"