A familiar voice that seemed to come from the deepest abyss echoed in Stingham’s head, “Stingham…… Wake up…… Stingham…… Wake up……”
“Run! Moss! Ferguillo! Shanna! Run! Run away……”
Stingham suddenly woke up. He sat up in his bed soaked in sweat.
“Where am I?”
As the first ray of light entered his eyes, he felt everything that happened was unreal. He was in a clean and empty room, the curtains fluttering under the breeze.
Then, he noticed he was completely bandaged up and saw Ciaran sitting in front of his bed, “Teacher Ciaran?”
Ciaran watched the awoken Stingham and gently spoke, “Don’t worry, we are in the Holy Dawn Academy.”
“Holy Dawn Academy? We have already returned to the Holy Dawn Academy?” Stingham mumbled. Suddenly, he tensed up, “Jeriya! Where’s that Jeriya, the girl transporting Rinsyi’s body?”
“She escaped, we have temporarily lost track of her.” Ciaran answered.
“What about Moss, Shanna and Ferguillo?”
Stingham suddenly became nervous again and trembled.
Ciaran’s gaze flickered. She could not bear it, but still spoke in a serious tone, “Stop selectively forgetting.”
Stingham was drenched in cold sweat. “Selectively forgetting?” He absentmindedly repeated.
Footsteps could be heard.
Stingham was like a fish out of water. His body was soaked, but his lips were dried up. He raised his head and panted, as if he could not take in any air.
“Teacher Rui…… Moss…… Ferguillo……”
In his panting and mumbling, Rui, Moss and Ferguillo walked into the room.
The silent Rui entered and took a glance at Stingham. Then, he looked at Ciaran and asked, “Must we do this?”
“We can only do this. Otherwise, he will keep repeating this process.” Ciaran nodded.
Stingham suddenly panicked and shouted, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand!”
“You only needed one day to wake up from your injuries, but you remained unconscious for eight days before waking up. Then, you asked the same questions each time and faint again. You have repeated this process five times already.” Ferguillo, who was similarly bandaged up, took a deep breath and stared at Stingham, “Shanna is dead.”
Stingham opened his mouth wide, even his breathing seemed to stop.
“Stop running away.” Ferguillo continued, “Shanna sacrificed her life to save us. If you still choose to look away or selectively forget, her sacrifice will lose all meaning.”
Stingham remained zoned out like a statue.
Ferguillo looked into his eyes and continued, “As for the Spectre Castle, news of Ayrin has reached us.”
“The real Rinsyi’s body was delivered before Ayrin’s group reached the castle. After they jeopardized the Evil Dragon’s resurrection, the Evil Dragon’s consciousness possessed Rinloran.”
“What? Rinloran!”
Stingham’s face suddenly twisted and he was drenched in sweat again.
“Rinloran’s body had already fused with the Evil Dragon’s consciousness. You can even say the current Rinloran is the Evil Dragon. With an arcane master’s physical body, the Evil Dragon will become unimaginably strong.” Ferguillo looked deeply into Stingham, “So…… Stop running away.”
“Even Rinloran……” Sweat profusely flowed down on Stingham’s face like tears.
Moss lost control of his emotions and shouted, “Stingham! Stop running away! Please, wake up! Most of the arcane masters in the world want to kill Rinloran. Ayrin has antagonized many factions in order to prevent them from killing Rinloran! Now, we must all put our lives on the line to get a chance to defeat the Evil Dragon and save Rinloran!”
“I……” Stingham squeezed out only a single word with all his strength. Then, he mumbled, “Teacher Ciaran, I want to be alone.”
“Bastard! Just like before……”
Moss was about to blow his top. His body uncontrollably enlarged as if he was about to beat Stingham up, but he was stopped by Ferguillo.
After making eye contact with Ciaran and the others, Ferguillo told Moss, “Let him be alone for a while.”
At the end of the long walkway, the silent Rui suddenly asked Ciaran, “Do you think he will change?”
“In theory, when the brain receives intense stimulation, some receptive functions would automatically cease activity. This is basically severe mental strength and brain damage. In addition, he suffered from a mental forbidden skill for a long time, so the possibility of a complete recovery is very small.”
Ciaran took a deep breath, but light dwelled in her eyes, “But I believe he can…… Because even while unconscious, he has been shouting for Moss and Shanna to run away during the time he felt was the most dangerous. He was only in a state of inability to accept the truth and self blame. He is actually very brave, but he just did not know how to express his bravery. He always felt that with Ayrin and Rinloran at the front, there was no need for him to do anything.”
“I hope so.” Rui slowly spoke, then stopped talking.
……
“Sleep, just sleep…… This is just a nightmare, once I sleep, everything will return to normal……”
“Shanna is already dead! Rinloran is possessed by the Evil Dragon’s consciousness…… Just Ayrin alone cannot defeat so many enemies. He cannot defeat the ever stronger Evil Dragon! Stop running away!”
In the quiet infirmary, Stingham’s trembling was getting more and more severe. His hands clutched the bed sheets tighter and tighter.
In his head, there were two voices echoing.
“Uncle Hai…… carry them and escape!”
In the end, the two voices vanished and were replaced with Shanna’s voice.
The scene flashing across his mind was the two sparkling green teardrops that flowed down her cheeks.
“If Ayrin and the others were here, the result would have been different.”
“Why…… Why are you so useless? When can you become a little more useful and mature?”
“Can you stop slacking to the point you don’t even want to think?”
“I beg you…… Please become more useful in future.”
Her voice echoed in Stingham’s head.
“Ah!” Stingham grabbed his head and cried out like a wild beast.
“Rinloran……”
He hugged the Green Dragon Spear leaning next to his bed and cried.
On the roof of a building opposite of the infirmary, Liszt laid on a stone block and looked up at the sky. Hearing the faint crying sound, he shook his head and sighed.
Can Stingham only mature after his companions sacrifice themselves?
……
Taimille Village, Goblin Store.
Although it was also located in the east of the Kingdom of Doa, it was mostly left untouched by the flames of war. This was because there were no influential lords or Corps strongholds in this territory. Life in this rural village was no different than before.
The owner of this ancient goblin shop was the descendant of a goblin and human. He was a short old man with green-colored skin.
Based on his appearance, the old man was really old and could die at any moment. However, he knew very well if nothing went wrong, the unique power in his body would let him live for a long time. There would not be a problem for another few centuries.
Ring…… Ring…… Ring……
The bell at the door rang.
An unfamiliar youth entered the ancient goblin shop.
After sensing a trace of the familiar aura, the shop owner began trembling.
“Where’s the item I entrusted to you?”
The old man kneeled down in reply and kissed the shoe tip of the youth.
“My master, your loyal servant Preggin has been waiting for your arrival.”
He retrieved a metal box from the secret chamber under his seat.
Whoosh!
The moment the metal box was opened, evil purplish black particles filled the entire shop.
“Well done!” The sonorous and greedy voice said.
The purplish black particles were instantly devoured by the youth’s body.
Within the metal box, there was a piece of a grey Dragon Crystal shard and a cross-shaped key reflecting a mysterious light.
Psst!
A chain condensed from grey light connected to the Dragon Crystal shard.
The shard rapidly dissolved and seeped into the youth’s body.
The arcane energy fluctuation released by the youth grew stronger at an astonishing speed. Meanwhile, he showed a pained look.
A moonlight-like mark dimly shone on his forehead.
“Bastard!” He roared out.
The old man did not know the source of the youth’s anger and stuck to the ground with even greater fear, not daring to raise his head.
The sonorous voice said to the old man, “As a reward for your loyalty, I will grant you great strength and glory!”
“Your name will be recorded in history for future generations!”
Whoosh!
A grey halo landed on the old man.
The old man’s body instantly vaporized. A twisting light flew up and landed on the cross-shaped key.
