Galaxy's First Ruler

Betrayal; the first thing that would come to mind after hearing this would be love.

If anything could claim the right over the most usage of this word, then that would be love and friendship. But the boundaries of the word 'Betrayal' weren't limited to only these two relationships. The core meaning of this word had its roots in the feeling people call 'Expectations.'

*

A purple flash of light took over the darkness within the chamber for a second. Even Aldrich's mask couldn't stop the outline of the mark on his forehead. It almost felt like with him, the Item 'Oldest Change' has also got marked. But the visible changes hadn't concerned Aldrich as much as the other feeling.

Aldrich looked up, seeming to look through the rocky ceiling of the hall within the volcano's depth. He had become sensitive about being looked at and getting observed by a being that shouldn't exist in the concept of reality. And the sense of crisis being observed by a thing of the same level as unnamed beings, he had come across so far, overtook Aldrich's mind.

Aldrich, fortunately, or unfortunately, didn't get transported to strange places this time. But he knew that something or some being had locked onto him through the mark on his forehead. The only thing that comforted him was the existence of the two black seeds within his head. The unseen and unfelt tentacles of the seeds had seemed to reach out towards the mark. They entangled it and toned down the reception it was getting from that unknown being.

Aldrich knew something was wrong with this Skill the moment he had realized that he couldn't read its description. That was the only reason that he had told Boomie to not go with the death blow on the Crawler. Aldrich took a breath of relief and focused his attention on the notifications and the changes in the Stat window.

[…

You have killed 1 Rare Chimera

ExPs obtained: 15000

You have leveled up

…

Quest 3 (Party-optional) has been completed

Rewards:

1. Skill Points: +4

2. Entrance Permit to the Boss's Chamber

…]

Aldrich realized that the RECORD must have disturbed the Skill Points and Experience Points among the Party members. And their contributions were the prime factor for the base of this distribution. Otherwise, there was no way he could get only 4 Skill Points from completing a Quest related to Rare Crawler. Assigning 5 of his 9 Skill points to the Skill Banish, he brought the Skill to level 3.

Aldrich was about to approach the rewards when he smelled the scent of blood. Aldrich looked towards Boomie and found him encircled by an illusory river of blood. Tiny streams from the blood-river entered Boomie and his veins seemed to wriggle with joy.

Aldrich watched in amazement as the river, with no end, turned into a Red Armillary Sash around Boomie's shoulders. A noble aura filled the entire chamber as the Sash fluttered. Boomie slowly opened his eyes and a red-golden glow came out of them.

"Evolution," Aldrich mumbled, seeing the incredible scene.

Boomie approached Aldrich and Sash disappeared within him. For a moment, both friends looked at each other as Aldrich scanned Boomie in his entirety. A smile came upon their faces and a burst of resounding laughter emerged in the cave's solitude.

"HAHAHAHA… "

But Baron Bernard's laughter soon became a frown as he saw the purple tattoo on Aldrich's mask.

"Don't worry, I have ways to take care of it," Aldrich reassured Boomie.

Even after becoming a Baron, Boomie still believed Aldrich's every word. If he said he could take care of it, then there wasn't anything to be worried about. The pair of friends approached the hovering rewards and checked them out one by one.

Aldrich put away the shining Mana core and touched one of the two black glowing balls.

[…

Item: Heartburn Venom (3)

Type: Potion

Rank: Rare

Durability: NA

Minimum Usage Condition: Strength 55

Description: +25% Strength, +25% Agility, -50% HP

Warning: Dreamer would die if the potion is consumed when the current HP is less than 20% of the Max HP

Warning: Item would occupy 1 Unit of Inventory

Do you want to equip the Item?

…]

"Give it to me. It suits me better," said Boomie.

A crazed look shone in Baron's eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by Aldrich. The idea of losing 50% HP was truly an absurd one for any Dreamer. And the fact that the Potion was a Venom, could only justify this loss. But Boomie didn't seem to mind it. Aldrich also felt that the potions suited Boomie, seeing his Stats.

"Ok, you can have two," Aldrich said, handing over two of them to Boomie and keeping one for himself.

As Boomie stored the Items in his Inventory, Aldrich touched the last reward.

[…

Skill: Devil's Whisper (Rare)

Nature: Active

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Minimum Usage Condition: Correspondence 60

Consumption: 700

Description:

1. Dreamer can inflict the target's mind with illusions

2. This Skill is indefensible

Warning: Continuous use of the Skill might bring unwarranted attention from a foreign being

Do you want to equip the Skill?

…]

"What's foreign being?" Boomie asked, scratching his chin.

But before Boomie could do anything, Aldrich replied to the System.

"Yes."

Aldrich and Boomie came out of the long tunnel and eyed the vast open rocky plain from the top of the volcano. An invisible Mana film had covered the entire plain. But Boomie's expression was quite visible, and it was ugly beyond reason.

"Why did you remove the Party Status?"

"It's necessary," Aldrich spat out.

Aldrich gave Boomie a look and jumped down into the field. Boomie, though mad at not being a Party member anymore, followed Aldrich. But even before the pair of friends could land on the hard ground, two soft and sultry giggling sounds reached into their ears.

"This is impossible!" Aldrich's eyes became wide as he saw the appearance of the Bosses.

The renowned slayer of the beasts and the hero, Bellerophon, was a woman.

*

The betrayal for the scholars depended on their expectations. And scholars had high expectations only from the documented facts and figures.

For them, the betrayal of history was undeniably paramount.