While they were in the middle of a duel, Voltaire and I entered the room, which was still as colorful as before. While I intended to watch the duel, perhaps because they sensed us, they stopped immediately and turned towards us.
Their eyes reached to me first, and they smiled a little before they looked at Voltaire and their eyes popped out of their sockets. They observed Voltaire as if they had seen some ghost…
For a few moments, they just kept blankly gawking at Voltaire while both of us moved towards them.
"Hey Armes, sorry to keep you waiting," I spoke first to break the ice while Armes just looked at me and asked,"did you pull another unbelievable sh*t again?"
I don't know what he wanted to hear, but I just told him a single sentence,"this was the reason I came to this dungeon."
And this single sentence turned both Armes and Enkonomiya silent for a few seconds as they looked at me questioning whether I was in my right mind. Before they turned to Voltaire.
Enkonomiya then glared at Voltaire and Armes just sighed as he looked at me and spoke,"well… I have little to no words for this situation… I'm too tired for this thing."
Armes then turned to Voltaire and asked,"what do you want now my King? Even at your best, you couldn't protect anything. The kingdom is gone and so are the people. There are only three of us left on this forsaken planet. What exactly were you trying to do all by yourself when you aren't even at one tenth of your prime power right now? "
Voltaire looked at Armes and spoke,"Well. 'He' shouldn't be bothered by us now, so I was thinking of going for an adventure to look out how the world is. It was getting boring to spend eternity in that place, you know?"
"Is that really all there is to it?" Armes looked deep into Voltaire's eyes and Voltaire looked away with a wry smile as he spoke,"yeah… what else could I be doing all by myself?"
"Really?" Armes pressed more and Voltaire just made a dry chuckle as he spoke,"yeah… it is."
"Dad… why are you talking to him so friendly? You do know what he has done to us, right?" Enkonomiya spoke with her eyes still glaring at Voltaire.
"Now now, Miya. He had his reasons to do so and let's face the fact, you and I both have made the same decision, no matter how much we hate this. You know that right?" spoke Armes as he reasoned with Enkonimiya.
Enkonomiya tried reasoning with the Armes, but it felt like Armes had an answer to all the statements that Enkonimiya was making. It was kind of funny to look at the interaction which the two were making.
After the conversation was done, Armes then looked at Voltaire and then at me as he asked,"so? What's next? What's the big plan?"
At his question, Voltaire was the one to answer,"as I said before. I will be going on an adventure outside. I was planning to go alone, but since you two are here, want to join?"
"I would rather die," Enkonomiya spoke as she looked at Voltaire while Armes spoke,"I don't exactly mind."
"But father!" Enkonimiya was going to speak, but Armes stopped her,"you know that I can see through the intentions of people, right? Trust me, Enkonomiya, there was no one who was more hurt than King Voltaire himself after pressing us through those conditions."
Enkonomiya turned quiet as she looked at her father. Then, after a moment of silence, Armes spoke,"Michael. Can I ask you for something?"
A bit curious, I nodded, and he spoke,"can you take my daughter with you?"
"..."
"..." Both me and Enkonomiya were stumped at his decision. Armes then continued,"as a guardian of Nexus, it is my duty to be with the King of Nexus. While I would love to take her with me, I know that King Voltaire is going to attract trouble that she won't be able to handle.
But I can't let her go alone by herself as well. As someone who has witnessed your prowess first hand, I can believe that you will be able to take care of her; while she herself is strong enough to be your companion."
Once he finished his sentence, all of us looked at Enkonomiya for a few seconds as she looked at her father with a really taken aback look.
"No. I am com-" though before she could speak,"King Voltaire if you please," Armes spoke and Voltaire clicked his fingers, making her unconscious in a second.
"So what will be your answer, Michael?" Armes asked with a serious look.
"I… don't really mind, but… are you sure?" I questioned. It wasn't a decision that I really should make honestly.
"Thank you," he spoke and then Voltaire turned at me and smiled,"well. I guess I never thanked you for what you have done. So, here it is… use it properly. It is one of my most prized possessions."
A certain energy flew out of his fingers and entered my chest.
[You have gained a new Skill!]
[The Illusionist(Unique)]
[Can create 3 illusions that share the power of the user and can deal as much damage as much as the user is capable of. The illusion's health and powers are connected to each other. If any of the illusion dies, the others die as well.
Cooldown: Until any of the illusions die out!]
Before I could even comprehend what kind of game breaking ability I got, I heard Voltaire speaking,
"From your expression, it seems like you like it. This ability has little to no limit, except that if even one illusion dies, the others die out as well. Anyway, I guess I will be leaving then. See you again, little kid. Don't die too early."
And then he started moving out, with Armes nodding at me and following behind Voltaire.
"Who is Aether?" I asked, as this question was something that was bugging me and I knew that if I didn't get the answer now, I might never will.
"Well… to put it in simple words. He was our Guardian. Someone who saved our entire race once upon a time… well, I haven't met him before. But only once have I seen him. The rest is for you to find out… if you have the capability to find that is," he spoke before finally vanishing from there. Leaving me here all by myself… and an unconscious girl in my hands.
"Wait!" Enkonimiya suddenly woke up as she shouted, but then as she realized something was wrong, she looked around left and right before her gaze fell on me.
"They left," I said, and she first glared at me, then took a really deep sigh as she made a really sad expression.
"But we were only together for 3 and a half millennia," she spoke and I observed her with a wry look on my face. That's not only… how long do they live for, anyway?
"So what's next?" I asked as I looked at her. While I have made my decision, it is better to ask her opinion on that as well. If she doesn't want to come with me, there is little I can do about it.
"What do you mean by that? Won't I be coming with you?" she asked as her expression turned confused a little while she was still sad.
"Eh? I thought you would be trying to find your father, maybe?" I spoke my mind.
"After Voltaire took him? It would be impossible for me to catch up. And it doesn't seem like you are going to follow him as well. You must have some other business to attend to as well," she spoke as she looked at me while her expression changed from sad to a bit serious.
"Guess so. So I guess you really decided to come with me, huh? Is it because of your father's ability?" I asked curiously and she nodded,"yeah. He is never wrong when it comes to judging someone's character. I would die faster if I would go against his words, than to follow it."
After that, we sat in silence for the next few minutes before she asked again,
"Are we going to sit here all day and do nothing?"
I looked at her with slight hesitation and spoke,
"Ummm…. But I don't know how to get out of this place…"