NOVEL NEXT Chapter 196 Skeleton
196 Skeleton
Adam thought, "How cliché, but it's expected. I strongly doubt that under these conditions, our young lad could win the victory." In the room, there was only Lily and him, of course. She sat in front of the mirror, trying to conceal her lifeless expression, but she failed. Her gaze shifted downward, and the man noticed a vial in her hand, containing green liquid sealed with a cork. She grabbed the cork and pulled it out – "Pop," a sound echoed.
"Ho-o?" Adam raised an eyebrow as he sensed the sharp scent of the liquid, making even him frown. It was something familiar, and he was certain he had encountered this liquid before. After a few seconds, he concluded that it was poison, demonic poison.
He was greatly surprised by this fact. There was a special reason for this: demonic poison could only be obtained either from a demon's corpse or by requesting it, which was considerably more difficult. Moreover, this poison had the particularity of destroying the body of anyone who drank it. And considering that she was bringing the vial to her mouth...
"Should I say that such a move is expected?" He muttered, sitting down on a chair next to Lily. He only looked at how she brought the poison to her mouth with fear and hesitated – to drink or not. The man shook his head and sighed in irritation, feeling like he was forced to watch a foolish love story: "How cliché. Decided to end it just to avoid falling into another man's hands? I don't know what to call it... bravery or foolishness."
He didn't have any sympathy for her, considering that all their actions were poorly thought out and childish. They created problems for themselves, didn't attempt to cover their weak points, and hoped that their fiery love would help them in everything. In one of their conversations, Alexander swore that he would marry her.
Boom!
A dull thud resounded as her body hit the floor. Adam looked disappointedly at Lily, who had fallen lifelessly. Her body began to decay before his eyes, while her lips trembled, uttering her lover's name. She called him until there was nothing left of her but her clothes.
The room had become empty, with only a faint scent of perfume and the sharp smell of poison with a hint of decay lingering, telling a peculiar tale of events.
"Well... if my observations are correct, could this be the dream of the guy who built the cemetery of memories? There was devoted love, sincere love, and an oath here. I suppose the episode of loneliness will start soon," Adam thought as he got up from his seat and looked towards the door, where a nun had entered and screamed.
Observing the general panic, Adam put his hands in his pants pockets, gazing out the window. There was a familiar face – our young hero was running towards the church, looking visibly transformed.
His appearance had become more grotesque, with horns on his head and a pentagram glowing on his forehead, closely resembling what demons use for contracts. After this brief observation, Adam concluded that Alexander had made a contract with a demon, thus gaining immense power. However, unfortunately, it was already too late.
The events unfolded like a scene from a novel. Alexander encountered Klaus, they battled, and the young hero emerged victorious. However, he soon learned about the death of his beloved and froze in shock.
"It can't be..."
His voice was filled with disbelief, while in his hands, he held her wedding dress. Despair, refusal to accept reality, and irritation marked his face. These emotions made him even more grotesque, frightening the nuns and guards who stood in fear.
"You... you promised me!" Suddenly, Alexander roared, turning towards Adam out of the blue.
"Me? Are you talking to me, little boy?"
Adam was slightly taken aback as the participant of this illusion spoke to him for the first time, so to verify, he decided to engage, which ended quite positively. Alexander indeed saw him and was irritated, talking to him.
"Damn demons! You promised me that by gaining this power, I could protect her! You said that by giving my soul, you would protect her!"
"Huh? Are you serious? Maybe I'm getting old, but I didn't make such promises, did I?" Adam said in confusion, skillfully intercepting the boy's attack, holding the tip of the blade between two fingers. Tilting his head to the side, he infused demonic energy into Alexander's body, paralyzing him. Adam asked, "But, you know, how about you answer my question instead? Why can you see me, and where am I?"
"What the hell are you talking about? You promised me! P-R-O-M-I-S-E-D!!"
"Shut the hell up. Your voice annoys me."
Adam frowned in puzzlement when he couldn't get a satisfactory answer to his question. It felt like the situation was becoming increasingly uncontrollable. When he grabbed Alexander by the throat, he noticed that his hand had returned to normal, and everyone else in the room could also see him. It was strange...
"Someone is controlling the course of the illusion," Adam concluded, then grinned and looked into Alexander's eyes.
There, he saw pure terror, resentment, and hatred. The guy looked as if his world had collapsed and everything inside him had burned to ashes. These emotions were genuine, but Casanova's ability showed nothing. Was all of this staged? Or was it implanted in him?
"How interesting. At first, it was a dull melodrama, and now it's a damn puzzle game. I don't even know how to react to this," he muttered, smirking and narrowing his eyes, the sclera of which turned black. Looking at Alexander, the man asked, "Are you the one who dragged me into this illusion? If so, here's a friendly piece of advice... stop this crap."
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
Once again, he didn't get a proper response. It seemed that the entity within this space was hiding, unwilling to reveal itself. This made Adam sigh and shake his head, dismissing Alexander.
"Inventory," Adam muttered, and a glow appeared in his hand, gradually materializing into a full-fledged sword.
Immediately, there was a hissing sound, and an unpleasant odor emanated. Light magic particles began to affect his skin, attempting to harm him, although they only succeeded on the surface. This was a sword capable of countering undead creatures, precisely what Adam needed in this situation.
Swinging the sword without hesitation, he pierced Alexander's heart, who didn't even notice the movement. Emitting creaking sounds, he looked at Adam in disbelief, and then his body crumbled into dust.
"AAAAAAAH!"
"KYAAAAAH!"
The nuns began to scream, panic, and run away as the room filled with darkness. Adam smiled at this darkness, where he spotted a skull with glowing red eyes. This was the opponent he had been waiting for.
"You took your sweet time, undead."
***
Outside the illusion. Veronica frowned as she looked at the barrier surrounding Adam and appeared so angry that even Sierra refrained from joking in this situation. Here's the situation: they hadn't found anything remotely resembling a map, so they decided to return to the designated spot, but there was no sign of Adam. Naturally, they started searching and soon found him in this situation.
"How damn annoying... I'll find that damn skeleton and stick his bony leg up-!" Veronica angrily exclaimed, stomping on the floor, leaving an imprint on her shoe.
"Calm down... this illusion can't harm him because the opponent isn't that strong. Besides, if we pull him out of it now, we might only harm him," Dereris reassured her, sitting about five centimeters from the barrier.
"I know, but... how dare that bastard test my patience?!"
The situation was getting heated. Veronica didn't have a reputation for being level-headed, so there was a high chance she would simply destroy everything when Adam finished and came out of the illusion. During this excruciating wait...
Adam suddenly reached out his hand and opened his eyes. His hand clenched, giving the impression that he was trying to steal the work of mimes. However, the women soon saw that he was holding the throat of a skeleton, dressed only in tattered leather armor.
The man smirked and looked into the eyes of the skeleton, or what should have been its eyes. Instead, there were two glowing lights that Adam peered into.
"So, Alexander, what's the matter? Why are you so silent?"
All this time, the mist was Alexander himself. He was trying to hide his existence in this way, which worked. He managed to deceive even Veronica, who was known for her detection abilities. Such an unusual revelation greatly surprised the women.
"So this is the undead himself, isn't it? And how do you know his name, son-in-law?" Sierra asked with surprise, poking the skeleton and sealing off all sources of magic with a seal. She grinned and narrowed her eyes, "He looks interesting. What an unusual skeleton."
Getting up from his seat, Adam still held the skeleton by the throat. He handed it over to Veronica, who had been asking for it, looking at it with a burning gaze. After that, the skeleton went through not the best of times.
In short, they interrogated and extracted information from him. Adam watched this, crossing his arms on his chest, lost in thought, and recalling their brief conversation.
***
"So, you are the undead, right?" Adam asked, tilting his head with curiosity. He examined the skeleton, which was only wearing a leather chest plate. Raising an eyebrow, he inquired, "I wonder, where could I have seen you before? You bear a striking resemblance to our young hero... judging by the skeleton."
"..."
The skeleton didn't answer and just stared at him, creating an awkward situation. Adam felt like he was in a biology class, talking to a skeleton model.
To be continued...