Llingn!
The familiar notification sound rang once more, disrupted his thoughts, and dispersed his intense emotions.
He frowned and looked up with a stubborn gaze.
[Jupiter: Are you really going to go to the south as he told you?]
His gaze lingered on the interface for a moment, before he turned away, putting away his sword in the meantime.
"I can't possibly keep staying here, can I? Although I have enough mana, the miasma is still affecting me," he responded in a low voice and a light tone, which could not hide the slight sarcasm or annoyance in his words.
[Jupiter: But the miasma is even more absurd over there!]
Jupiter argued back and he could almost hear his incredulous voice and see his exaggerated actions.
'So naggy.'
He finally broke his straight face and let out a slight chuckle.
Turning to the interface once more with an amused expression, he pointed out.
"I'll survive, Jupiter. Your damned plotter still exists doesn't he…"
His voice faded off, as he read the newly received message.
[Jupiter: Don't tell me you're really going to trust him.]
His uniquely blue coloured eyes stared at the contents of Jupiter's message.
The playfulness in them receded and was instead replaced with an uncanny coldness, reminiscent of a soul stone.
And with an echoey but extremely grand laugh, he responded, "Trust him? That isn't a good joke Jupiter. But when I get out of here, I'll find that bastard and make sure he knows what the full consequences of a bad decision are."
Llingn!
[Midey: I'm right here, y'know?]
An odd silver coloured interface with a green hue appeared in front of him, and he could almost hear the satisfaction in the Plotter's voice, through the non audible interface.
He laughed forcefully at the Plotter's grand entrance through their conversation. And his mood soured even more when he spotted a demon lurking within the forest.
Disregarding the demon, he spoke to the Plotter in a surprisingly calm voice.
"It's good you heard, so start running. Run as far as you can, and hide as well as you can – reminiscent of your desperate desire to live-"
The neglected demon sprang out and attacked Az as he spoke, interrupting him and effectively catching him off back.
He was thrown back by the hit of the demon and barely caught a good landing.
Summoning his sword, he stabbed it into the ground and used it as a purchase to stand up, his cold gaze on the demonic creature.
It was a creature reminiscent of a crocodile but it possessed two thin heads, harder scales, and a short tail filled with unnaturally formed spikes.
What was most unique about this creature was its hump.
It was a hump, but it looked like an unbloomed flower.
The creature seemed to possess some intelligence, as it only attacked Az when he was off his guard and just observed him from afar.
Az stood up and approached it with a murderous gaze, but the moment he took a step, the hump on the demon's back bloomed and a mysterious mist was spread from it.
Due to his experience with the grime, he moved away and the demon ran but-
"Spatial interfere-"
[Jupiter: Az, don't!]
He paused and stared at those words, but it wasn't Jupiter's silver interface that caught his attention, it was the lime coloured one beside it.
[Midey: Yes, don't. Weren't we having a conversation? Y'know, unlike Jupiter over here, I don't have the luxury of spending all day with you, Az.]
"I didn't ask you to be here.", Az said quietly, his grip on his sword exceptionally tight.
The force he exerted was so much it would have broken his sword if it wasn't made of mana.
[Midey: But you know if I wasn't here, you wouldn't be either. Shouldn't that make you thankful?]
Az read dully. It felt as though he could hear the taunts and mockery in the Plotter's obvious teasing words.
"Thankful, huh?", He muttered, letting go of whatever self restraint he had, and laughed, his voice echoed
"I hate you, you bastard", He muttered, his words evoked buried memories of the past, causing his mood to sour even further, and his frustration to reach its peak due to his helplessness.
'Damn it!'
He cursed, feeling intense frustration and ran his hand through his hair as a form of release.
But it didn't feel enough, nothing would ever make ease his frustration, nothing but the blood of that bastard and his pawn on the damned ground he walked.
Llingn!
The crisp notification sound rang in his ear, shifting his focus but giving him the reminder that he was being watched.
At the thought of that, he turned to the lime coloured interface, and ignored its contents.
Instead, he raised his blade in a grand gesture and pointed it at the Plotter's interface.
"You best pray to whomever it is you worship, pray you live another day and not to be safe, because I will find you and get my revenge you sadistic bastard."
The plotter, wherever he was, leaned back with a smile, his glimmering coloured eyes lit up with interest as he stared at Az make his threat.
'Another one, huh?', he must have thought. But he quickly snapped out of it, or he just worked on command, and with a-
Llingn!
Another interface appeared in front of Az, overlapping with the previous interface the plotter had sent.
He frowned slightly as he read it, probably not expecting a response so soon.
But as soon as his dark blue eyes fell upon the interface, his emotions spiralled out of control.
[Midey: That's a lot of talk for someone who couldn't protect a few people. Tell me, are you truly a demon who knows just how to kill and make threats?]
Anger boiled in him as he stared at those words with gloomy and dark eyes.
Llingn!
He received another message, but he was fixated on to the Plotter's message. Its words repeating itself over and over again in his mind.
Llingn!
Another interface blocked his view, it was Jupiter's, but it was censored out, an ability of the damned Plotter.
Staring, completely, helpless at the interface. His anger merely turned into frustration and he let out a deep laugh filled with immense sorrow.
If he hadn't been so stupid, if he had just looked clearly and stepped out of his infatuation.
Then how much was a village that he could not protect, not to mention a single person.
Shatter-…
***
Watching as his emotions shifted, and his thoughts and attention diverted away from them.
The plotter, Midey, smiled with deep satisfaction.
'Such an interesting story. Hm, it was worth going against those damned capitalists for this.'
He closed his eyes as he thought to himself.
"Now th… ah yes, I can't say that."
He laughed at his slip up, he had almost revealed important information that could have gotten him killed.
"So complicated…", he groaned weakly.
As a plotter, spoilers were something they were fond of, but now he couldn't even share or relish in his spoilers because of their visitor.
"But it's all worth it. Haa… what a journey I've been on."
It had been approximately 2 years since they invited this pitiful visitor of theirs.
And they had been through one hell of a battle, to keep him there.
"Yet he talks about killing me, hmph."
Smiling cheekily to himself, Midey moved away from his PC and instead activated a holographic screen.
"Let's watch all this again. Just one more time."
He murmured as he turned it on, and as it began he thought;
'…14 …15 …16? Yeah, it'd be 16.'
"16 years ago…"