Chapter 84 84: Shock

As Corey's body was wrecked in serious pain, the state he was in automatically deactivated and he reverted back to his normal state, his eyes and expression also reverted back to their normal states.

"Arghh."

He grunted while gritting his teeth, forcefully trying to endure the immense pain he was feeling.

"Oh, so you survived the side effects?

You must be lucky."

Just as he was trying to endure the pain he was going through, he heard a familiar voice and he forced himself to look up.

Though when he looked up, he was slightly startled when he saw the plain black mask of the leader just a few centimeters from his face.

"Sir, can you tell us what the side effects of the Transparent World and the Selfless State is?"

The same young man who asked their leader the previous questions concerning the Martial Clan spoke once more.

Corey glanced at him before he removed his gaze and looked at Anna who was in the man's arms.

'Anna.'

He tried to speak but he realized that he didn't have the energy to do so, he didn't have any mana left, his stamina was beyond empty and his body and mind felt extremely weak.

The only thing that was keeping him awake was his will to save his sister, to just do something but alas, sometimes, will was not just enough for a miracle to happen.

"You still can't see what the side effects of the two abilities are?"

Despite the fact that Corey's intense desire to save his sister was showing on his face, the leader ignored it and looked at the young man with a disappointed gaze behind the mask, his tone also showing the disappointment he was feeling.

"Forgive me for my incompetence Sir."

The young man bowed while apologizing and the leader just turned back, his eyes observing Corey through his mask.

"When somebody who has not mastered the selfless state enters the selfless state, the person stops breathing and the main problem with it, is that, most of the times, the person in the selfless state would not be able to willingly deactivate or come out of the selfless state, and because of that, death due to lack of breath is not uncommon for those who were in the selfless state, though, some get lucky, like this young man here."

The leader gestured towards Corey whose breathing was slightly heavier than normal.

"As for the side effect of the transparent world, the user's eyesight would deteriorate the longer he or she stays in that state."

The young man and the remaining nine glanced at Corey's eyes but they couldn't see any difference in his eyes.

"Should I kill him Sir?"

The young man asked with a calm tone and Corey glanced at the young man for a second before he looked at the unconscious Anna in his arms, an expression of sadness appeared in his eyes when he realized that he had failed to save Anna.

At the moment, he was not afraid of death.

No!

He was extremely worried about Anna's well being after he died.

What did this people want with Anna?

Why did they attack her and kill their parents and every other person in their neighborhood?

What was their goal?

Numerous thoughts appeared in his mind as he readily accepted his inevitable death.

"Don't kill him. I've already lost the clone of the Right Guardian, losing one of you would affect my future plans."

Much to the shock of Corey, the leader did not give the death sentence.

"Who- Who are you guys?"

Corey asked one of the questions that had been bugging him ever since his sister told him about the group.

The best option might have been for him to remain silent and listen to the words of the group while getting information from the group in the process.

But the problem was that, Corey's could feel his consciousness rapidly fading and he needed to at least know what this group was.

He wasn't sure if the group would reveal who they were, but he wanted to at least try.

"Oh yeah, you can't recognize me, my voice changed ever since mana was awakened in your world."

The leader spoke while rubbing his chin and surprisingly he removed the mask on his face and as soon as Corey saw the face behind the mask, his heart and mind shook, and his eyes widened with immense shock and confusion.

"P-Po-Pope?"

Corey stuttered and just as he did, something clicked in his mind.

He now remembered why the crossed black metal axes seemed familiar to him.

It was because he had seen it as the pendant of the neck chain of the Pope, the ten people who were there the time he was invited to scriptural study when he went to the Temple of Flames, and the last person he remembered having this pendant... was the merchant.

'What is happening?'

Just as Corey had this thought, a smile formed on the lips of the Pope of the Temple of Flames due to his previous words.

"Oh, so you still recognize me. I guess the difference was not as much as I expected."

The pope spoke while rubbing his face softly with a smile.

As Corey looked at the Pope in front of him with his heart and mind shaken, numerous questions appeared in his mind.

The first and most important was why?

Why did the Pope attack his family?

Why did he capture his sister?

The second question which normally would have been the most important question assuming he met the Pope in a much better situation, was how?

How come the Pope looked much younger than the first time he met him?

The first time he met the Pope, the Pope looked like somebody in his sixties, but now?

He looked like somebody in his late twenties with pure white hair.

"You know, I'm surprised you're still alive and i'm curious on what your wish was."

"I wish I could just check out your status window but unfortunately, I can't, unless I want to suffer."

The Pope spoke causing Corey to look at him with confusion clear in his eyes.

"Why?"

With an extremely low and deep voice filled with confusion, rage and slight madness, Corey asked causing the Pope to glance at Corey.

He tilted his head slightly and with a voice filled with confusion and slight disdain, the Pope spoke.

"And why should I tell you?"

Without asking what exactly Corey meant by 'why?', the Pope replied, knowing full well what exactly Corey meant, by 'Why?'.

Meanwhile, Corey hearing the words of the Pope gritted his teeth in anger and clenched his fists.

"Why?

Why the fuck did you kill my parents?

Why the fuck did you attack my sister?

What do you want with her?

Did me or anybody in my family offend you?

Why the fuck are you doing all of this?!"

With eyes full of madness and rage, Corey spoke with a low guttural voice, but the Pope just looked at Corey calmly and indifferently.

"I don't know if you're deaf or stupid, but like I said before.

Why should I tell you?

Do I gain anything from telling you?"

With a calm tone, the Pope spoke and Corey's anger spiked, he opened his mouth to shout, to scream in rage, but as his lips opened, what came out were not words, but a mouthful of blood.

Cough!

Thud

The world spun in Corey's eyes and with a thud his head hit the ground.

His mind felt heavy and his consciousness was fading, making his eyes to close slightly.

"Oh, he's finally becoming unconscious. Took him long enough."

The Pope spoke with a calm tone and just as he spoke, the young man who was carrying Anna spoke:

"Sir Pope, are you sure showing him your face was the best decision?"

The Pope looked at the young man who currently had his head bowed low after speaking.

With a soft wave of is hand, the Pope signaled for the young man's head to be raised.

"I agree that it's not the best decision, but what can somebody like him do or accomplish?"

The Pope paused then gestured towards Corey who was still fighting to stay awake and due to that, he could hear the words spoken by the young man and the Pope.

Meanwhile the young man glanced at Corey and a slight frown appeared on his face behind the mask.

"I'm just worried that he might become a calamity to the Temple in the future."

The young man spoke and a smile of ridicule appeared on the Pope's face.

"He's got the mentality of a child and doesn't know anything about the world or how dark the world is. He has zero experience and it's most likely he'd die very soon.

Somebody like him can never be a threat."

Hearing the words of the Pope, something snapped in Corey's mind and he went unconscious immediately.

But just before he did, the words of the emotionless Corey he previously encountered rang out in his ears.

'You can't escape me.

You can't run away from me.

I'll be back.'

----

[A/N: So you guys, I just realized something and I need to tell you guys.

I can't set the prices of locked chapters and unfortunately, I don't even know how many Webnovel coins you guys have to use to unlock a locked chapter.

So can somebody tell me how much this chapter is and if possible, how much the previous chapters were, so that I'll see what I can do about it, that's if too expensive.]