Black String of Fate

"W-what… How? Why? Why them?"

Xavier stuttered while looking at Thomas and Adam's fingers. He was stunned silent, with thoughts running in his head at extreme speed.

'Why them? I was obviously the weaker target. Why not the easy pickings? I'm sure nobody on the enemy side really knows the extent of my strength, so why did they risk a 1v2? This doesn't make sense…'

"If we knew why, we wouldn't be standing around here." Lafia said with a weak voice. Xavier could see in her eyes, she wanted to cry, but somehow she held her tears back. The former demon king perfectly understood her feelings, the feeling of losing those who had trusted their back to you.

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'It might sound cruel, but she was ready to accept losing just one member. It was an unfortunate, unexpected casualty. But this… her party just got decimated. There's no way she could still stand strong in this situation. This mission is a failure.

So, even a Pure Nature Spirit can have bad intuitions… Turns out there was a reason they were endangered even with such a powerful ability.'

"Lafia… Stay strong, we have to survive. You becoming weak here is certain death. Think about what we've gone through to obtain this freedom. We can't let it end like this." Alina said to Lafia with a stern tone. She cannot let Lafia give up or fall right now, both she and Lafia herself needed the strong, charismatic Lafia.

Lafia's eyes were hollow, her emotions unreadable. Suddenly, she flared up her magical aura, revealing her hidden magical prowess she kept a secret to protect her Pure Nature Spirit identity.

"I'll kill this bastard. I'll definitely kill this fucking bastard!" Lafia whispered with an icy rage, and Xavier could see that she was tethering on the edge of a breakdown.

'A Spirit in rage… I wish it never comes to that, otherwise, it will birth a monster that could put this whole province in danger. I need to kill this murderer before that happens.'

"In this situation, it's best to be direct. Where is that kid Lilly?"

"I'm right here."

Once again, with everyone unaware, Lilly just popped out of nowhere. Xavier was sure at this point that it was his Innate Gift that somehow gave him the ability to do this.

'To deceive even the Celestial Mind, he has an incredible gift. Why didn't I hear of him in my previous life? Or was he never able to realize his potential? With fate being a cruel mistress, it isn't much of a surprise.

I'll get him out of here, he'll be a valuable ally.'

"Lilly, lead us to the room of the director."

"But it won't be of any use. As I told you, everyone just forgets-"

"Then we'll force him to remember something. Be it persuading him peacefully or putting a sword up his throat, he's the only one capable of giving me answers."

"Okay then, follow me, I'll be moving ahead." Saying that, Lilly left them behind, far from his earshot. Despite being a kid, he understood they needed some privacy. Also, he could feel that even though Xavier had not said anything much yet, his ability was unpleasant to him.

Xavier was certain of this. Even though Lafia said that the director was clean, it was proven by now that her hunches were not working properly when it came to this quest. It was best to do things in his own way from now on.

"Lafia, I'll take command. It is your wish whether you follow me or not."

"...Will you avenge their deaths?"

"No, I'm going to inflict my wrath on them, that'll be more than enough."

Lafia was weirded out by that statement, but she felt compelled to follow him. It was one more time her instincts were screaming at her, and she decided to trust them one last time. It was all she had right now.

"Alina. I feel like we should follow him."

"As you say, your highness."

Both Xavier and Lafia turned around in shock, both for different reasons. Xavier was mostly confused as to why Alina of all people called her that, and Lafia wondered why Alina called her that in front of Xavier of all people.

"Your Highness? Lafia, you're a Nature Spirit royalty?" Xavier exclaimed with surprise. Despite his years of experience, it was a reveal he never expected. He saw Lafia being flabbergasted and speechless and figured out this was something she never intended for him to know.

Well, she never intended for him to know about her race in the first place, but such is fate.

"Hm? I expected him to know the truth about our identities, so that's why I used my usual tone with you, your highness. Was I wrong?"

"You were half wrong. I figured out that she was a Pure Nature Spirit, but never did I imagine that she would be royalty. I assume you're her… maid? Or something similar?"

"I'm her attendant. While I was born a half-blood, she never treated me as below her. I request you to not put such misleading titles on our relationship that Her Highness has granted me."

Xavier was caught off guard by the sudden change in tone. He weirdly looked at her, but she ignored her gaze.

"Don't mind her too much. Yes, I'm a royalty, but that doesn't change anything. Let's not get distracted from our current task, and that is to avenge Rolan, Adam, and Thomas."

"No, it's not just that. They have truly made me angry, I'll inflict my wrath upon them."

"It's not that I don't trust your capabilities, but dying due to mistakes from anger would be a pathetic way to die." Alina commented from the side, but Xavier replied back.

"You know, I may seem like a reckless child who has a short temper, but I'll let you know that I've never shown you my true rage, my true madness. I came close to it when I heard this party's name, but it was still not true.

Believe me, it's not something you want to witness. Even I don't want to use it once again, but this situation is compelling me."

Saying that, Xavier walked off. While those lines may seem corny to many, the vibe that Xavier gave off at that moment somehow completely justified it.