Advent of the Three Calamities

“Ukh…1”

Leon continued to scream, his hand clutching his shirt as saliva spilled from his mouth. “Hey, hey, hey!”

I tried to keep him steady, but my efforts were in vain. Regardless of what I did, Leon didn’t seem to get better at all. In fact, his condition only grew worse as his face paled even further.

“L-leave.”

He continued to mumble the same thing over and over again. I had long understood that this was most likely his innate skill at play.

But why was he reacting like this?

From the previous times, it had never been like this. Staring at Leon and seeing the utter dread on his face, my heart squeezed.

Just one look and I could see that this situation was beyond serious.

But…

I looked ahead. Towards the area where the event was going to be hosted, and I bit my lips. This was supposed to be an important day. One where the entire world would know about my relationship with Delilah, and we’d no longer have to hide it.

However, it became painfully clear that I couldn’t stay any longer.

I had to leave.

This was the first time that I had ever seen Leon like this.

Even though a good part of me told me to stay, I knew that I couldn’t do that. That’d be irresponsible of me.

I have to leave. I have to—’

“W-wait.”

Just as I turned to face the opposite direction, Leon grasped my shoulder. I raised my brow in surprise, and just before I could mutter any words, Leon spoke.

“N-not… there.”

“Huh?”

I looked back at Leon.

“What are you…2″

My shock only heightened when I saw Leon look around. His face grew even paler as his eyes started to shake. Thereafter, he began to mumble things to himself, “No, not there as well. Why not there as well? No, where…

His breathing grew more and more frantic.

He was starting to hyperventilate. Content originally comes from NoveI-Fire.et

“Leon.”

I tried to snap him out of it, but he brushed me away as he continued to look around, his hair sticking to his forehead as sweat poured down from the side of his face.

Staring at him, I found myself at a loss.

This was the first time that I had ever seen him like this.

But I also knew that I had to act quickly. Without waiting for Leon to say anything, I pressed my hand against his shoulder. I opened my eyes wide while staring at the purple that dominated his entire body.

“I need to calm him down. At this current state, I can’t understand what is happening.’ Taking deep and steady breaths, I poured other emotions inside his body, from joy to even surprise. I tried my best to combat the fear that had taken over his body.

But—

“What the hell…”

It was to my utter shock to see just how deep the fear ran through his body. It was primal, and settled deep inside his body. Just by how much his body was shaking, I could tell that it had rooted deeply inside of his mind.

Just what the hell is going ont?”

I started to worry myself. I poured even more emotions inside his body, but it was almost as if he were a bottomless pit. The emotions I poured into him, the greater the fear became. It had gotten to the point where I had no choice but to step back while staring at him.

“D-don’t…. c-an’t leave. N-not there. Not anywhere. I…”

He started to slur on his words, but despite that, I managed to get the message clearly. A small breath escaped my body as I started to feel weak all of a sudden.

Staring towards the sky that was starting to darken, the fading lights of the sun bathed my entire body in them.

I didn’t know when, but I unknowingly started to shiver.

And that was when Leon’s words fully dawned on me.

“Regardless of where I go, I can’t escape it.”

Something was coming for me.

Something that I couldn’t escape. Regardless of where I went.

I swallowed silently.

++Ba… Thump! Ba… Thumpts+

But what…?

What was coming for me?

I took another breath and looked towards the distance.

++Rustle! Rustlet+

it wasn’t long before the bushes rustied and several figures came out. A black cat appeared behind them.

“What happened?”

“What’s going on…2″

They spotted Leon at once and hurried to his side without hesitation. I just stood there, staring at them while also looking at my surroundings.

Thereafter, I looked at my hands.

My shivering hands.

“..I can get out of this, right?”

I hoped so.

But why..?

Why did my heart feel so heavy?

“

“Please stay here. The event has yet to start. We’re currently monitoring your knight’s situation. Other than a bit of shock, he looks to be fine. It shouldn’t take long for him to recover.”

“… see. Thank you.”

immediately after the people came to help, we were escorted into the Duke’s main residence, and the place where the event was going to be hosted. The place was grand. Almost as grand as the royal estate.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to properly explore the place.

Everything felt like a blur to me.

Before I knew it, I was escorted to a different room and taken care of by the staff. While none of them seemed to be aware of the fact that I was soon to be part of this family, they still treated me well.

They had most likely been told to take good care of me.

“I’ll give you more information when he wakes up. For now, you should take some rest. There’s still some time before the event starts. I’d also suggest that you calm down so that you can enjoy the event without any problems.”

“…I’l do that.”

I nodded softly, watching the man slowly leave the room.

*%Clank–1%*

A tense silence followed right after.

I remained seated on the chair, blankly staring at the ceiling while thinking about the situation.

In the end, I still ended up here.”

Leon had warned me to leave. I planned to leave, but…

“There’s nowhere that I can run to.”

From Leon’s expression or words, I couldn’t run away from whatever was coming at me. “Yes, things had been too quiet recently. Everything had been going extremely smoothly after my return from the Mirror Dimension. It was bound to come.’

I had long been aware of this.

But at the same time, I wanted things to progress smoothly for a little bit longer. I wanted my life not to be a constant struggle. I wanted to rest.

I wanted to—

“Who am I kidding…2”

I rubbed my hair while leaning forward. It was obvious that I wasn’t someone who could afford the leisure known as resting.

“Yeah, let’s stop thinking about resting. Let me figure out the situation first.”

There was no use thinking about nonsense like resting. Since I was presented with this situation, I needed to quickly figure out what was going to happen and how to deal with t.

“Let’s see.”

I sat back on the chair and closed my eyes, musing over all of my skills.

“It’s been a while since I’ve used [Eyes of the Seer]. The cool down is off, and even if it isn’t, I can just ask Leon to give me the Chalice. That way, I can figure out if anything happens before it happens. In fact, I should ask him later when he wakes up.”

The skill lasted for an hour.

I’d have to time it carefully.

But what else could I do in order to better understand the situation?

I’d be nice if I could have a vision. It’s been a while since I’ve had a vision about the future. Did I lose the ability to see the future since I’ve yet to receive all of the blood? Or is the timing just not right yet?”

I was extremely curious about this aspect.

When exactly would I experience a vision? Not only that, but would I be able to control the visions in the future?

But when would that happen…2

Is it when [Eyes of the Seer] evolves? Maybe that’s when.’

It had happened before when I had absorbed the blood from the pope. My skill evolved to [Eyes of the Seer]. In that case, the next step became obvious to me. I needed to absorb the remaining blood from Sithrus in order for the skill to evolve.

Once that happened, I’d be able to use the visions as I willed.

Or at least, that was what I’d hoped would happen. It would help me out quite a lot. “Okay, since I don’t have a vision. What should I do? How should I proceed?”

Leaning forward, I ruffled my hair in frustration. The unease grew with each passing second, and I unknowingly started to panic as I continued to recall Leon’s expressions and words just moments prior.

This was the very first time I had ever seen him like this.

“Was he even like this when something happened to me and I supposedly died?”

I started chewing on my nails, my heart speeding up.

“Let’s think. Let’s think. Let’s—” My words suddenly came to a pause as the world around me suddenly froze.

Huh…2

++Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump

My heart started to race inside my chest. It was loud, taking over the entire surroundings as it was all that I could hear. The hair on my body stood on end, and just as the breath inside of my body began to fade, my vision changed completely.

Co

By the time my vision returned, I found myself before an all too familiar setting.

“Wait, this…”

Buildings lay in ruin. A heavy scent of blood and ash filled the air.

I recognized this place. I had seen it more than once.

No, not this place.

This vision.

It was…

The very first vision that I had experienced.

Wha… Why? Why was I seeing this?

—

** Rumble! Rumble! **

A distant rumble immediately caught my attention, prompting my head to turn in the direction of the sound. It was also then that I heard a voice.

“It’s about time… I thought they’d be slower.”

That of my own.

++BOOOM—l#%

A distant building shattered not long after, and from within, a particular figure emerged. Aoife…

“I… finally found yout”

Her voice screeched, the hatred contained within it more evident than ever. I stared at her, finding myself unable to move or react.

The only thing I could do was stare.

Stare as the vision continued. It played exactly as I had remembered.

All until that moment.

“H-haa…”

The moment when it all finally clicked inside my mind.

The moment when I understood the reason for Leon’s reaction, and the moment that the vision ended.

Sitting on the familiar chair and staring towards the ceiling, I smiled.

Not out of happiness, but out of resignation.

This was the moment I understood.

“There’s no escaping it.”

What was about to happen was inevitable.

I couldn’t run from it.

This was my fate.

But thankfully, I had time.

Time to properly enjoy this gathering.

“H-ha.”

I held onto my face, feeling my chest tremble.

.. (More chapters in Buyers club for TMT)