Chapter 242 Despair [4]

242 Despair [4]

"...."

Delilah's body gently hovered over a large forest. Her face was expressionless as she scanned the surroundings.

"....Nothing."

And it was much to her disappointment that she saw nothing. As if all the students had disappeared, there were hardly any traces of them.

She felt her head throb at the thought.

'Why does this keep happening?'

She had entertained the thought before, but now it was clearer to her than ever.

Julien.

He shouldn't be allowed to leave the Academy. He was a walking disaster. Whenever he was present, trouble occurred. The fact that the last five months had been the most peaceful she had had over the past year was the perfect proof of this. Delilah closed her eyes and sighed.

She was just about to leave when her expression changed slightly as her gaze flicked back.

"Oh."

A powerful aura burst forth from the distance, heading straight towards her.

Looking at it, Delilah felt her heart sink but she remained firm on the spot without making any rash movements.

"You....!"

A figure soon stopped in front of her. With a rough, muscular body covered in scars, fiery red hair that seemed to crackle like flames, and piercing yellow eyes that burned with intensity, he looked at her with a menacing glare.

"What are you doing here?"

His tone was anything but friendly as he addressed her, and Delilah could only lower her head slightly.

"One of the Seven Monarchs, Delilah Vahe Rosenberg greets the Royal Guard, Joseph Megrail."

Despite her actions, her tone was anything but subservient as the man before her frowned.

Although he was a member of the branch family, he was still a member of the Megrail family. He knew all about Delilah's deeds and what she had done on 'that' day.

There was no one from the Megrail family that didn't know about her.

It was for that reason that he didn't look kindly upon her.

"Let me repeat myself."

His deep voice echoed quietly throughout the surroundings as the air around him stirred.

"....What are you doing here?"

Delilah wasn't necessarily banned from Bremmer, but she knew better than to come here.

Unless called for, nobody wanted to deal with her.

Her appearance usually required her to send a letter in advance to call upon the presence of another Monarch. Only then would the Royal family feel better about her appearance. No one knew what this crazy bitch would do.

"...."

Delilah stood still, her face unmoved. Looking down, she raised her head slightly.

"Are you going to pretend like you don't know why I'm here?"

"That's not something that should be concerning you."

"Is it?"

Delilah's eyes narrowed, and her inky black irises darkened further, becoming an abyssal black color. Staring into those eyes, Joseph felt his mind sink into them, and for a moment, he almost did. But it was only brief as he was quick to free himself.

"Hoo." He proceeded to glare at Delilah.

"We have everything sorted. Do not poke your nose into our business. You of all people should understand this best."

The situation was extremely delicate at the moment. Not only were the students from Haven missing, but so were the people from the Aurora Empire.

News of the situation had still not made its way out to the other Empires, and things were still somewhat calm, but Joseph knew that it was only a matter of time.

....This was merely the calm before the storm.

Once everything was revealed, the situation would turn into a diplomatic disaster.

And if that wasn't all, the princess was missing as well. A large portion of the Royal Guard Unit had been sent to the forest to look for any clues.

These were the elites of the elites of the Empire.

".....Please return from where you came from. I will only say it once, you are not welcome here. If you have a problem with it, you can directly head to the main family."

"....."

Delilah's expression remained unmoved at his words, and the pressure that came out of her body rose several notches. In spite of that, Joseph remained firm.

He could hardly breathe, but he didn't let it show.

"Fine."

Leon's first mistake was ever thinking that the mysterious cadet was strong. The reality was that he was no different than the others. He had been tricked by his appearance back then due to his sensitivity over Julien's possible return, but he was wrong.

So wrong.

"Let's start with you. I want all of you to see what will happen to all of you shortly."

The Archbishop went on to grab Emmet by the hair, dragging him forward in front of everyone.

"Ugh...!" "Look!"

He shouted, his gaze falling in front of everyone.

"Ukh...!"

In his grasp, the cadet struggled with all his might as he tried to free himself from the Archbishop's grip, but it was no use. No matter how much he struggled, the Arcbihsop's grip remained firm.

Kiera, Aoife, Evelyn, Aiden, Jessica, and everyone presented stared at the scene as despair slowly started to crawl up into their hearts.

'It's over.'

'....How can we escape this?'

'Will this be me?'

'I don't want to die like this.'

'Help.'

The Archbishop spoke as if he knew exactly what they were thinking about, relishing their expression as he pressed his hand over the cadets.

Immediately, his hand glowed and the Emmet stopped struggling.

His body limped over and a projection soon appeared for everyone to see.

"Look!"

The Archbishop shouted in a fanatical manner.

"....This is what happens when you cross me! Repent for what you've done! Pay for your sins!"

He soon started to laugh in a maniacal manner.

"Repent!"

The Archbishop's words echoed throughout. Meanwhile, everyone's attention focused on Emmet who found himself standing before a familiar white world.

'This is...?'

He looked around him and his heart started to sink. '....It's this place again.'

Instantly, Emmet understood the gravity of his situation and his mouth went dry.

The Ring of Nothingness.

He had fallen under its power.

"Soon! Soon you will completely lose sense of yourself."

14:46

Indeed, the more Emmet walked, the more his eyes became muddled. To everyone watching they could see him slowly start to lose sight of himself.

"So, after all that... I still failed." No longer did he have any life as his blood was gone, and even if he did, once this was over, all that would be left of him would be nothing. 'It's over.' He slowly started to lose his expression. No, it was more like he couldn't make an expression at all.

He understood that it was over.

How could he get out?

Emmet raised his head and looked at the white world. Unknowingly, he took a step forward and the floor beneath him rippled. Tak—

"Good, good...! Keep going!"

Outside, the Archbishop shouted, his expression twisting with glee.

"Soon! Soon you will completely lose sense of yourself."

Indeed, the more Emmet walked, the more his eyes became muddled. To everyone watching they could see him slowly start to lose sight of himself.

The worst part...? He could do nothing but continue forward. Slowly, and carefully, he continued to move. In the endless world of white, he walked.

But despite how far he walked, Emmet didn't completely lose sight of himself.

Mainly because this wasn't the first time he had felt like this.

"This familiar sense of despair... I've felt it before."

Back on earth, when he was stuck in his home with the cancer slowly eating away at his mind.

Back then, he had endured the pain.

And the same was true at this moment.

Be it past, present, or future.

Nothing had changed.