Chapter 145 Hidden In The Shadows



The dome appeared around Red Feather City as the main road became the major battleground against the rising silhouettes.

Everyone who could, from simple soldiers or knights to mages and commanders, took part in the battle. Among them were also Players, who fought more fiercely than others. They could afford to make mistakes and die, but they had to do everything to get the desired reward.

"Well, well, it's a true undead army... although that's not quite the right term, after all, they're not dead yet, are they?" A young man with long black hair, blue eyes, and a silver cross bracelet muttered as a smirk appeared on his face.

"Hey, you should pay less attention to those things we don't take part in." A quiet voice came out. It came from a short girl leaning against a tree whose shadow hid her. She had red hair and amber eyes as sharp as blades.

The young man shook his head, exhaled cold steam, and said, "Alice... Instead of raising your level, you spent a hell of a lot of time and money to spy on Zayne Fellen and finally track him down... I doubt you can blame me for anything."

"Pffft!" Alice snorted, "Luke... I found out what I needed to know and I don't regret it one bit. Then, in the store, I made sure that he, like us, realized that the power from Fallen Fate, was transferring to the real world."

Luke smirked insidiously as his eyes narrowed, "Heh, didn't you want to recruit him? I've heard from people I know that Platinum Post is interested in him."

"And...?" Alice muttered, staring at Luke with an icy stare, "You think that's going to stop me? The strongest always rise from the bottom, so he's worth fighting for."

Luke waved his hand, "Whatever, do what you want, but if you have to confront Alex Weil for it, you can't count on me."

Alice frowned, but said nothing; instead, she stepped away from the tree and glanced toward the field among the dense forest. For some time now, there, a silhouette had been trying to climb out of the ground, but unlike all the others, this one was not human.

Long claws, leaving trails on the ground, trying to get out. Fate affected not only humans but wild beasts as well as dangerous monsters.

"Oh... Looks like we'll have to take part in this event soon, too." Luke smirked as his ring sparkled and a long silver sword appeared in his hand, "You know, it kind of hurts me that we have to deal with cleaning up the consequences of his actions."

"Shut up. We weren't going into those ruins anyway." Alice waved her hand, "Let's deal with this beast and get back to business." All the while, Alice held a compass in her hand, white flames emanating from its edges and an arrow pointing directly to the silhouette in front of them.

...

The moon was slowly heading toward the horizon, but there was still a long way to go before it was completely gone. When the moon, was directly over the ruins and its light fell on Zayne, he awoke for a brief period, opening his eyes slightly.

"Agh... I must rest... Right now..." Zayne muttered with difficulty as his silhouette lit up and he exited Fallen Fate.

Crackling.

The lid of the capsule opened as a silhouette slowly emerged from it. Zayne felt much better here, so he took a leisurely step toward the bathroom.

'Hmm... I get the power I have in Fallen Fate and the real world, but wounds and other effects don't transfer... Is that even possible?' Zayne pondered, looking at his hands, which a moment ago were covered in blood and cuts.

Zayne shook his head and looked into the mirror, it was large and wide, in a marble frame. 

In the reflection he saw an ordinary young man, but with deep eyes within which, almost imperceptibly, scarlet flames tried to burst forth.

"Damn... This house is a real treasure, I definitely owe Alex for this." Zayne smiled slightly and headed toward the bath.

Whoooooooooosh.

Suddenly, a crimson flame lit up in front of him as an amber coin with an eye sign hovered in the air. Zayne's eyes went wide since he didn't understand what was happening, then his face turned pale.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

All over Zayne's body were hundreds of wounds, scratches, cuts, and lacerations from which blood gushed. In seconds, he had lost as much blood as a normal human wouldn't have to if he wanted to survive.

Zayne tried to do something, but his strength was only enough to reach for the coin, then, the darkness consumed him.

...

"Shit... How did this even happen?" A grown-up, muffled voice sounded.

"Agh... I don't know, he was certainly never attacked, I would have noticed that." A second voice, calm and measured, "Anyway, let's wait until he wakes up. Considering what happened to him, we might find ourselves in the same situation in the future."

Zayne slowly opened his eyes and tried to get up, but the sharp pulse of pain that ran through his body made him stop those attempts.

"Hm?" Galahan glanced, then his eyes went wide, "Zayne! You're awake! How do you feel?"

Zayne turned around. He was in the hospital room, with only Galahan and Alex there except him.

"Fuck... What a headache..." Zayne said his first words as he looked out the window, from which the bright sunlight was coming, "What time is it?"

"Lunchtime. You've been asleep for a little over ten hours." Alex calmly replied with a shrug.

There was silence for a while, Galahan and Alex understood that Zayne needed time to recover, but they wanted answers.

"I fought. At night, I fought against a very strong opponent." Zayne muttered with a deep look, staring out the window, "I was wounded, seriously wounded, and I quit Fallen Fate. However, because of one thing, all my wounds opened at once, and now here I am."