“I’m afraid that’s not up to me.”
The firewood in the fireplace crackled and popped.
The black-armored knight looked at the probing Elias and shrugged. A hint of helplessness appeared on his overly handsome face.
“But as for you right now...”
The knight sized Elias up, his tone undisguisedly blunt.
“You are indeed still far too weak.”
“Uh...”
Elias was choked up, the retort he had ready getting stuck in his throat. I mean, come on, buddy, isn't that a bit hurtful?
He stared at the tin can in front of him, the situation feeling more absurd the more he looked at it.
“Do we know each other?”
Elias finally couldn't help but ask, his curiosity getting the better of him.
The way this guy had approached him was with the familiarity of an old friend who hadn't seen him in ages. It made it feel as if Elias was the one with the bad memory.
But thinking about it carefully...
He did have a bit of a track record.
The mysterious little girl he had seen during his Audience—her name was still a total blur in his mind. Forgetting the names of incomprehensible big shots immediately after meeting them seemed to happen quite often in this cursed world.
Plus, he still had that lethal dream demon curse hanging over him.
There was no telling if the person before him was another powerful deity or hidden master. For safety's sake, it was better not to be disrespectful.
Up until now...
Elias frantically searched through his memories. His only impression of this man was that eerie scene he had witnessed while sleepwalking.
In that dream, he had even seen through the man's perspective, wearing this very armor. Perhaps it was just as Old Ed, that old charlatan, had said.
While sleepwalking, his spiritual body had accidentally come into contact with ancient spiritual substances floating in the spirit world. And those substances just happened to contain memory fragments of this black-armored knight.
While Elias was lost in thought, the knight spoke again.
“I know you,” the black-armored knight said, his low, magnetic voice sounding as casual as if they were chatting in a tavern.
“But you might not necessarily know me.”
“What do you mean?”
Elias frowned. However, his contrarian nature wouldn't allow him to just follow the other man's lead. He couldn't lose the battle of presence.
Elias crossed his arms and tilted his chin up slightly, forcing a profound and enigmatic expression onto his face.
“I know you too.”
“Oh?”
The black-armored knight looked at Elias with interest, a flash of amusement in his deep eyes.
“You know me?” The knight's lips curled into a slight arc. “From your dreams?”
Holy crap!
Elias was startled, nearly losing his composure. Does this guy have mind-reading powers?! He just stripped away my facade without a second thought!
But since he had already started acting the part, he had to see it through.
“What if it's not?” Elias continued to be stubborn, trying to regain some initiative.
“Alright.”
The black-armored knight seemed to see through his hollow bravado. He smiled and waved a hand, cutting off the pointless back-and-forth.
“Because you have no other way to see me.”
The knight's voice remained calm, but his next words were like a bolt from the blue.
“Strictly speaking, I’ve been dead for a long time.”
“...”
Elias’s expression froze instantly.
What the hell?! Another dead person?
Since he had transmigrated to this hellish world, hadn't he seen a few too many dead people? Old Ed was dead, John was dead, and now even the tin can in his dreams was dead!
Is this world managed directly by the underworld?!
Wait. If that was the case...
Elias’s brain suddenly caught the key point.
“So, am I dead now too?”
He suddenly realized the implication, and his voice unconsciously jumped an octave.
Under what circumstances could a living person see a dead person so clearly? Either you could see ghosts, or—congratulations—you were dead too.
The black-armored knight didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Elias with interest and asked a philosophical question: “Do you wish to be dead, or do you wish to be alive?”
“That's a stupid question!”
“Alive, obviously!”
Elias nearly jumped up in anxiety, his face flushing as he shouted. “I just poured that potion into my sister's mouth! There’s a mountain of mess outside waiting for me to clean up! I still have people I want to see!”
Dead? What a joke! If he bit the dust here, what would happen to Charlotte?!
“Then you shall be alive.”
The black-armored knight shrugged nonchalantly. His tone was so light it was as if he could casually decide the fundamental logic of life and death on a whim.
“It’s just that...” He looked at Elias’s frantic state and added slowly, “You’re probably very close to dying.”
“...”
Elias took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to punch the tin can. Don't you know that pausing like that between sentences can kill a man?!
Just then, the black-armored knight suddenly acted as if he had discovered a new toy.
He took a sudden step forward, his tall frame leaning in with heavy pressure. His sharp gaze swept over Elias.
“The Moon Lord?”
A flash of surprise crossed the knight's eyes, followed by a meaningful smile. “Interesting!”
“So who exactly are you?”
Elias felt a bit creeped out by the stare and couldn't help but take a half-step back.
He really didn't understand. Why would a man he had only dreamed of while sleepwalking appear in the depths of his consciousness when he was on the verge of death from the backlash of ten stacks of Soul Screams?
The black-armored knight’s smile faded.
“Galahad Midnight.”
The man slowly uttered an ancient name. Then, seeing Elias’s confused 'who are you, I really don't know you' expression, he smiled helplessly.
“Like I said, you might not necessarily know me. But you will in the future.”
Galahad Midnight’s eyes suddenly became incredibly deep, as if piercing through void time and space.
“But remember my words...”
His tone became more serious than ever before.
However!
The moment those words left his mouth.
“Rumble—!”
Elias suddenly felt the massive, unknown building he was in begin to tremble! The stone slabs overhead began to peel away. The fire in the fireplace flickered wildly, looking like it might go out at any moment. Space began to twist and shatter.
Again?!
Elias cursed frantically in his heart. He felt like he had some kind of disease where he was forced to log out every time a conversation reached the important part!
It was like this every single time!
“Go... to... sat... isfy...!”
As the space collapsed, Galahad Midnight’s words became extremely blurred and intermittent, like static from an old radio. Elias couldn't hear what on earth he was saying at the beginning.
However, Galahad Midnight seemed to realize this as well.
He didn't waste any more words. He strode forward and reached out with a large hand encased in cold, heavy armor.
With a smack, he pressed it firmly onto Elias’s shoulder.
A surge of pure power instantly flowed from his palm, clearing Elias’s mind for a brief moment!
“Drink another Scale One potion!”
The knight’s voice pierced through the roar of the collapse, booming in Elias’s mind like a great bell.
“Find the Firebearer!”
“Find the twelve... veins!”
The last few words were completely drowned out by the deafening sound of space tearing apart.
Darkness flooded in like a tide. Elias’s consciousness began to fall rapidly, as if being forcibly pulled back into that broken shell of a body by an invisible force.
In the final second before his consciousness was swallowed by the darkness, he heard the final promise left by the other man.
The voice seemed to cross life and death, echoing in the void for a long time:
“We... will meet again!”
Rate on N.U.
