The Ultimate Awakener

Mist Outbreak

Soon they all headed out to the east, where they had promised Elion the castle would be. The entire journey was silent; all the men were dragging their injured selves forward, and then all of a sudden Brian spoke:

“What could have been the cause? Those things aren’t supposed to follow us… I thought we killed it.”“What do you expect… probably the one that attacked us could be another one that tracked us, maybe because of our injuries…” Derick sighed as he explained.

“This is a good sign that we are close to the Dark Temple…” Ziko smiled as he spoke.

Derick shot him a glare, a silent warning to keep his mouth shut, and it was as though they were hiding something from Elion.

Elion got confused. He heard what Ziko had said, and curiosity urged him to ask, “I thought we were heading to the castle.”

Derick stared at Elion over his shoulder as he replied, a grin spreading across his face:

“Of course we are heading to the Awakening Castle… don’t mind what Ziko said. Remember what I told you earlier—we are like guardians, helping awakeners reach the castle so they can awaken their core.”

Elion still felt something was off, but he didn’t react. He acted cool.

Soon they arrived at a deserted area. Everywhere was snowy, but this specific place felt dry, and within that perimeter no sign of snow could be seen, as though cursed. Ahead of them stood a building with towering pillars and a visible entrance.

The building looked like a temple, yet at the same time it felt forgotten.

Elion halted in his steps. He remembered what Sheldon had told him—the castle was supposed to be glowing, and what lay before him wasn’t a castle. Worst of all, it looked creepy.

“Are you sure this is the castle you told me about?”

Derick noticed Elion refusing to move forward, so he stopped and turned to him. “Why aren’t you believing what I’ve told you? I already said we are heading the right way.”

“This doesn’t seem like the right way… can’t you see? We are heading to a place that doesn’t even look like a castle,” Elion shot back angrily. Never would he get deceived by three foolish men.

Derick sighed and walked toward Elion, but Elion pulled out a knife he had secretly taken and pointed it at Derick. “Don’t come any closer to me. Step back.”

Earlier, Elion had made sure to stay on the safer side by stealing one of the knives from the men. He had done that from the moment they made camp in the cave.

Derick stopped and stepped back. “Don’t worry, I won’t force you to come with us. But at the same time, you know there is no other way to the castle. Look around—do you see any sign of a castle nearby?”

Derick then shook his head, disappointed, placing his hands on his forehead before continuing:

“The only way to the castle I told you about is by passing through this building.”

Brian pulled out a bottle from his back and drank water, then gasped before speaking. “Yes, loser… that’s the only way. You either come with us or die here—either freezing in the cold or getting eaten by one of those things.”

Derick moved a little closer, and Elion instinctively pushed the knife forward. “Stay back, you liars.”

“You saw what happened earlier, how two of my friends were devoured by those monsters. If you don’t want your fate to be like that, then come with us. I’m saying this again—there is no other way to the castle except passing through that temple,” Derick said calmly, pointing at the terrifying deserted temple in front of them.

Ziko stepped forward. “Derick, if the boy isn’t cooperating, we have no option but to drag him into the temple. We have no time to waste here. Those creatures will be here soon—don’t forget we’re drenched in blood, and they can smell it.”

Derick shot Ziko a glare, but then he sighed and shoved his hands into the air before giving the instruction:

“Drag the boy into the temple. We have to extract his core now. Kid, it looks like you want us to end this the hard way.”

It was at that moment Elion realized he had encountered something that would lead to his sudden death. Extracting his core meant death.

So I've been with the monsters all this while. Damn you bastards.

Elion gritted his teeth as the thought hit him hard.

He tightened his grip on the knife and pointed it at the two men approaching him, warning, “You bastards, get away from me, or I’ll kill you.”

Elion had never killed a human before, so his words were just blabbing—he was scared to the bone.

Both men laughed as though they didn’t give a fuck about what he had said.

“Don’t worry, we won’t get close to you. All we have to do is use our ability on you.”

“Don’t worry, the extraction pain doesn’t last long. All it takes is a sharp pain, and then everything ends.”

“Death… the only thing that will remain is death. Hehe.”

The men kept taunting him as they moved closer. Elion kept stepping back, and just as he was about to run, Brian raised his hand, and Elion felt his entire body suspended midair.

In the next moment, he saw his body floating, moving side by side with the two men until they entered the temple.

The men were also awakeners, and Brian’s attribute was levitation as well as gravitation magic.

They took Elion inside the temple and placed him on a concrete, square-carved altar fused with ancient encrypted writings.

The platform had handcuffs; when a victim was placed on it, the chains would restrain them until their core was extracted.