Chapter 171: Monochrome Future
Her lips trembled, and she opened her mouth several times, trying to utter those sweet couple of words.
And finally, she took a deep breath and worked up the courage to reply.
But then again, when was he ever so lucky?
Suddenly, both of them sank into the weird substance. Yet they continued holding their hands. Even more so, Rael realized he could move in that substance and even breathe.
The only negative was that he couldn’t see, but so long as she was beside him, he could pull her closer.
And that was exactly what he did.
He clasped her hand tightly, pulled her closer to his body, and gently embraced her.
And then, he opened the premium shop, ready to buy an escape token. However, before he could do that, he felt as though the substance began loosening up.
Rael tilted his head in confusion, making sure Zafira was still with him.
Suddenly, his vision returned, and instead of that murky dungeon from a moment ago, he was met with a clear blue sky.
It felt as though he was standing on a puffy cloud, and as he looked down, he realized he actually was.
The entire place seemed a bit strange, and even more so as he stared ahead.
There was some kind of giant butterfly floating in the sky, circling them slowly.
Rael tried to open his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
And as he turned toward Zafira, who was in his arms, he realized her eyes were blank, almost as though she had lost consciousness.
You fucking rainbow moth… Rael glared at the giant butterfly and inspected it.
—Mono, the Monochrome Butterfly (Duke Class Boss) [Level 2773] [2,461T/2,461T]
The level was high, sure, but if he just hit it a couple hundred times, it would die.
Rael gently set Zafira down on the cloud below and then took out his violin blade.
He was fully ready to start killing this giant butterfly.
However, before he could do that, he felt a breeze sweep over him.
He didn’t think much of it at first as he stared at the butterfly, who, for some reason, was beginning to distort.
All sorts of colors swirled, making him dizzy.
And when he finally realized what was happening, he found himself standing in Celestara’s throne room.
What…? Rael’s eyes widened.
He was met with surprises left and right, especially this one. The boss monster, who was nearly level 3000, just killed itself to show him the future.
I guess thanks for your patronage, rainbow moth. I’ll decide whether I owe you or not after what you’re about to show me.
With that, he looked around. Frankly, the throne room seemed slightly dirtier than he was used to seeing.
This naturally wouldn’t fly under Zafira’s eyes, so there had to be a reason for this.
Yet as he turned toward the throne, he saw her.
Zafira sat there with a frown on her face, tapping the armrest with one hand and biting her nails with the other.
She wore black armor, which had tiny cracks scattered all over it. There was also dried blood everywhere.
As he looked toward the ground, he realized there was a trail of blood leading to the throne, and it was obvious the blood didn’t belong to her but to her enemies.
But who are her enemies…? If this is the future, then could it be Yrgon? Aztera? Even the Holy Kingdom, maybe? Rael pondered as he tried to take a step toward the windows.
However, it seemed like he was confined in some small area, with the only path he was allowed to take being the one leading up to Zafira.
Therefore, he did just that, arriving right before her.
Zafira’s hair was a little messy, and he could even see some black outlines, which caused him to halt.
Black outlines… he trailed off, falling in thought.
Right after Sketa Online came out, and Zafira became a boss they could fight, her appearance looked similar to what he was seeing now.
The only difference was that her hair was still white, whereas in Sketa Online, it had turned pitch black.
He reached out, trying to touch her, but like earlier, he was met with an invisible barrier.
Rael put that annoyance aside for now as he took a few glances around and noticed something a little off.
But… where am I? This is the future, so shouldn’t I still be here?
He couldn’t even fathom the idea of him dying. It was simply unrealistic.
Rael was a pay-to-win boss monster, so there was a high chance he’d be revived if he spent Trell.
But as he was lost in those thoughts, the throne room’s doors suddenly swung open.
He could hear quiet yet authoritative footsteps approach, and for a single moment, Rael thought that was him coming.
Yet as he glanced toward the figure, he was only met with disappointment.
It had no clothes and no features, only a blank white face. More so, he couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman.
But one thing did stick out like a sore thumb: the symbol of a blazing sun etched onto its forearm.
Blazing sun… blazing sun… fuck. Rael groaned.
He knew this. There was so much lore regarding the faction that worshipped the sun. However, almost like a dam, his memories regarding that faction were blocked, and only the trembling of his fingers remained.
Nonetheless, that strange being approached her, and the moment it did, Zafira stood up, pulled out her sword, and tried slashing at the being.
But with a mere flick of its fingers, time seemingly stopped, and so did she.
Zafira’s figure remained frozen, her sword stretched out.
The being didn’t even turn to look at her as it walked past her and sat on the throne slowly.
And then, in a hoarse, cold voice, it spoke.
“You’ve failed your quest, Zafira Sutekh.”