Chapter 103: Cha.103 Last Standing (7)

While the nobles and kings remained stunned, drowning in fear, Rafael had already left the Beastkin castle and was heading back to the Carwata Kingdom.

He rested his head against one hand as he watched animals and plants pass by the carriage window, his mind focused on a much more important meeting that was about to take place.

As soon as he reached the royal castle, he ordered the servants not to disturb him.

He entered his room, closed the door behind him, sat comfortably in his chair, and closed his eyes.

In the next moment, he opened them again.

He was somewhere else.

A place covered in endless white fog.

The fog had no smell, and he couldn’t see through it no matter how hard he tried. Behind the fog stood five other people, each sitting around a circular table made of an unknown black material.

The material was so dark that it seemed capable of hiding whoever sat behind it.

Rafael lifted his head and casually looked around.

The other five did the same.

Then a deep voice echoed through the fog.

"Let’s start the meeting."

Rafael looked to his left.

A short silhouette sat there, seemingly male, with what appeared to be a long beard. Nothing else about him could be seen clearly.

Another person spoke with a cheerful voice, completely different from the first.

"It’s been so long. How is everyone doing?"

The voice came from a huge silhouette with several horns on his head.

Unlike the first person, Rafael knew this one.

In fact, he knew two people in this place.

But he didn’t need reminders of the past, so he tried to ignore them.

"I see you’re as cheerful as always, meathead."

Rafael looked toward another figure.

This one appeared shorter than him and had a high-pitched voice.

He didn’t know this person.

But he didn’t need to know her to hate her.

The huge man immediately replied with a mocking tone.

"Being happy is free, you know? Isn’t it better than wasting your time manipulating poor Beastkin, little girl?"

Before she could reply, the short man spoke again, his voice serious and annoyed.

"Enough already. Let’s talk about the important things."

He paused for a moment.

"Did you find a way to reach the next step?"

Silence filled the place.

No one had an answer.

"Haven told me to go farther north."

Rafael looked to his right.

A tall woman sat there.

She was the second person he knew well.

The little girl spoke with surprise.

"Isn’t the north their territory? The One in White?"

The short figure answered with concern.

"If Haven said it, then it’s true."

He paused.

"Our only way to reach the new step is there."

He thought for a moment before asking another question.

"How well is your avatar doing?"

Rafael answered casually, his voice cold.

"If you’re hinting at going together, then I have to pass. Mine is all the way in the south."

Suddenly, the huge man turned toward him.

"You’re near the Abyss? Why?"

Rafael narrowed his eyes.

"None of your business."

The short figure nodded calmly.

"That’s right. You are not allowed to directly ask another person about their avatar’s actions in that place. Please don’t forget that next time."

The huge man crossed his arms, clearly unsatisfied but unable to argue further.

"Then... mind if I ask what you’re doing in your territory?"

Rafael heard the voice of the tall woman beside him.

He turned toward her.

Although he couldn’t see her eyes, he knew exactly what kind of expression she was making.

With a curious yet suspicious tone, she spoke.

"I heard that some ignorant people are dying around you, and you didn’t help..."

She paused for a second before her tone became colder.

More threatening.

"Do you want me to send the Court to help?"

Rafael answered with the same threatening tone.

"Is this a new way of saying you want to invade my territory?"

The short man quickly interrupted them.

"We don’t have time for this. Every second we spend here consumes our power, so let’s focus on what’s important."

The little girl suddenly spoke again, as if she had just remembered something.

"Speaking of the fake world... Did you two feel that something strange happened?"

She sounded surprised.

"I swear it felt like I lived almost the same day twice."

The huge man raised his head.

"Indeed. Either something entered the fake world..."

He paused.

"...or someone with Fate power awakened."

The others nodded in agreement.

Rafael looked around at them.

None of them seemed to know anything more about the phenomenon.

Either they’re hiding the truth... or that boy really was related to that power.

The short figure spoke again.

"Well, it’s time for me to stop here. If you’re planning to go north, let me know."

He disappeared from the place.

The chair he had occupied was left completely empty, as if no one had ever been sitting there.

Right after him, the sixth person, who had remained silent throughout the entire meeting, also disappeared.

The little girl called the meeting a waste of time before leaving as well.

Only three remained.

The huge man looked at the other two and laughed warmly.

"Well, it’s only us left. Just like the old days."

The tall woman ignored him.

Instead, she focused on Rafael.

"If you really did care about her, then you wouldn’t let more innocents die."

Then she disappeared.

Rafael stared at the empty seat for a moment before sighing.

He was about to leave as well when the huge man suddenly stopped him.

"W-Wait, Raf! I have a question..."

Rafael looked at him for a moment.

Then he calmly replied.

"Calling my name here is prohibited, Jady."

Jady scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Oh, right. I’m sorry..."

He paused.

"Wait. You said my name too!"

"Whatever."

Jady’s expression didn’t change.

"I want to ask about your plan for the ritual..."

...

Far away from the physical world, something else was happening.

A big black flesh monster covered in multiple yellow eyes chased someone through a forest of crimson spikes.

Each spike had a human face growing from its trunk.

Each face screamed.

The monster was completely focused on catching the snow-white-haired boy running ahead of it.

So focused that it failed to notice the black-haired girl standing on one of the spikes.

The moment the monster entered her range—

She jumped.

With an obsidian dagger, she struck the monster’s head with tremendous force.

The monster died instantly.

Its body disappeared into colorful dust, leaving behind a single colored core.

Unlike the monster’s dark flesh, the core was its complete opposite.

Countless colors danced inside it.

Yasmin picked up the core from the ground and handed it to Qasim.

He gave her a small smile before turning back toward the crimson forest.

He looked at the countless small towers stretching into the distance.

"One down..."

He tightened his grip around the core.

"Nine more to go."

End of Volume One

<anno data-annotation-id="f1d54b1d-19ea-e921-019c-c1090eb4fba5" data-title="VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ MY COMMENT ON THIS PHRASE!">VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ MY COMMENT ON THIS PHRASE!¹</anno>

<annotations style="display: none;">First, thank you for reading this story so far . With this Chapter, Volume 1 is done!. 1/ It is very important to notice that the next 5 Chapters will be side stories about the old Team Four , so if you are not interested, please skip to Chapter 109, where Volume 2 starts . ( Honestly, I won’t lie; I didn’t write these five Chapters well because I am sick and mentally tired, so I actually recommend skipping them.) But if you are interested, then I have to thank you so much for your time and support!. 2/ I have made a survey for you to help me understand what I did right and where I missed (T×T). So please check the comments to get the link for the survey!( It will only be available for 2 weeks after I write this Chapter, which means readers who purchased the privilege will get early access.)</annotations>