Chapter 226: Timeless [6]
Chapter 226: Timeless [6]
***
[3 Days Later]
It was raining in the form of a heavy downpour.
The cold streets, shops, apartments, and parks were closed and empty today.
It could be said that there was an eternal silence over the whole academy if not for the continuous spatter of the rain.
But, the academy's silence wasn't attributed to the heavy rain.
No.
Rather, in a certain part of the academy, all that could be heard were the loud sobs and cries of families.
Amon stood with a solemn and grave face, his expression masked by the umbrella in his hand. He was wearing a black suit, standing amongst the thousands of people in the graveyard. All of them observed silence along with the women, who stood on the other side. Everyone's eyes were focused on the rows of the tall and polished white graves in front. It went on and on, as far as the eye could see.
Today was one of the saddest and most critical days in the history of Eldergrove.
All of them stood witness as the ashes of above 1000 patients were buried in the sand today, encapsulated in a safe coffin.
No such loss had been seen like this in the Academy for a long long time.
Ever since Arthur, the strongest man in the world had been appointed principal.
But today, the whole world looked for him, hating him and asking him for answers.
Answers on how, how could a group of 50 men, ranked so weak could not only escape the academy's security...
But also outsmart and win against the strongest man in the world.
It didn't make sense.
But yet, when the world asked for answers, he failed to appear in front of the public.
3 days ago, when Arthur was found guilty of the mass massacre in the Infirmary of the Eldergrove, an arrest order had been quickly issued out for him.
Fortunately, it took no time for the Imperial Military to find him as he himself waited for them to come.
Being found in a graveyard as well, Arthur gave no signs of resistance and cleanly allowed himself to be put in prison.
Even though incidents like this would give the criminal endless amounts of torture and then a painful death...
The Imperiac was too scared to take this action against Arthur.
Even though he didn't show any signs of anger or struggle, the last thing the Imperiac wanted was their strongest weapon to turn against them.
Especially in such a dire situation where even their neighboring empires were a threat to them. Not to mention, the advancement of the Black Tear as well.
It was obvious to everyone in the higher echelon of the human domain that there was not a single prison or force that could contain Arthur.
Maybe an artifact but such an artifact never existed. At least not among the humans or that the Imperiac knew of.
Fortunately, in the whole 3 days, Arthur had not once shown any signs of resistance.
He had been completely silent, refusing to talk to anyone or even eat.
His silence had been ridiculed and hated by the world, who were informed of the reason behind the deaths of the masses.
Amon's exhausted black eyes watched all of the weeping families through his umbrella.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
However, his gaze was only focused on one family.
A small and humble family of four in the distance that wept more than any other family in the area.
A middle-aged man, roughly about 40 with greying hair cried continuously.
He made no effort to wipe the tears that streamed down his cheek, not that he could.
The two crying small daughters in his arms cried just as much, drenching the already wet shirt of the man even more.
They were so little. Their ages not more than Lily's.
Yet, they were suffering from such a big loss in their life at such a young point.
The man's back from afar looked utterly lonely and powerless.
Maybe once, once in a time, he was hailed as a respected and powerful nobleman.
A nobleman who was so humble in his dealings that he became a victim of other's schemes and jealousy, ending up in the state that he is today.
But...
Even the three's sadness, cries, and sobs could not compare to the young man on the ground.
His black suit and face were covered in dirt as he wailed and mourned as loud as he could, his body over his mother's grave.
His features could be considered above average if not for the awful amount of tears and dirt that marred them.
He screamed to the point that his voice was completely hoarse in the cold hard rain.
His eyes were so red and bloodshot that one might think they would bulge and burst at any moment.
And his expression conveyed such a sense of sadness and regret that dwarfed any other in the whole graveyard.
This young boy was Klein. A boy had freshly turned 18 but was forced to bear such a sudden loss in his life.
A loss of a person that was half the reason he was alive in this world.
A major reason why he was able to continuously through the harshness of this world.
His guide through the roughness of this world.
The one he promised to that she would once see him being on top of the world.
That she would be treated with the same respect and love as before by everyone in the world.
That was the only thing that he had asked from the world. From fate.
He had no high aims such as destroying the ghouls or becoming the king of the empire.
His only wish was to remove such debts from his family and allow them to live a normal life.
A life where they would be given respect and love from others like before. A life where people wouldn't look at them with disgust and repulsiveness anymore.
Just...a normal life.
But then...
Why?
Why was it that when he gave it his all, his whole blood and sweat to keep the fire in his mother's heart running, he was presented with her ashes?
Where had he gone wrong?
Those were the thoughts that ran through the youth's mind as he cried over his mother.
And yet...
Even on the day of his mother's death, even at the biggest loss in the family's life.
None stood around them to bear this loss with them.
Nobody spared them a glance.
After all, why would they? They are just a weak and powerless family of 4.
Unable to even get revenge for the group that caused this all.
Amon's tired and bloodshot eyes twitched as he found himself staring without blinking again.
These past three days, he had never slept. Not a wink.
The black bags under his eyes were the proof of it.
Just like Arthur, he had isolated himself from everyone in those three words.
It wasn't that he didn't want to meet his family or friends.
He didn't want everyone to see him in this state.
He didn't want everyone to witness him going insane.
Because just like Arthur, he blamed himself for all these deaths as well.
Every second of rest, every blink reminded him of their deaths.
Every thought haunted his brain of that day.
What were they expecting from Arthur and Amon that day while being held hostage?
Most of them at least held a small flame of hope expecting themselves to be saved.
But...
Amon's whole form shuddered as he suddenly saw the souls of everyone in the graves staring
at him.
His grip turned loose and the umbrella slipped out of his hand on the floor.
The few men beside him gave him a few glances but turned when they couldn't recognize him
of any importance.
Amon ignored them.
He did not attempt to grab his umbrella as well as he ruffled his messy and wet hair hard now.
Quickly taking out a bottle of pills from his pocket, he took out two into his hand and popped
them into his mouth.
But even then, like always, the thoughts didn't stop.
What were the last expressions on their faces?
What were their last thoughts?
All of them, some very young and some very old, having their lives forcibly taken from them.
Their faces overlapped with the faces of the children from back then and Amon's form shook
again.
His foot slipped a little in the wet mud and he fell, his black suit being covered in mud now.
But again, Amon did not attempt to stand up, remaining down on the ground, drenching
himself in the rain.
He was oblivious to the gazes that he got from the people, still staring at Klein in the
distance.
But then, he suddenly saw a female standing beside the grave, staring at him.
Klein's mother.
Amon's eyes widened with fear as he struggled in the mud, trying to grab onto it with his dirty
hands.
He quickly got out of the group, resting against a tree as he tried to calm down the racing
visions and thoughts in his mind.
There was no other doubt in Amon's mind.
He was going insane. It was to the point that he would even snap at Zephyra and Vain.
As he took deep breaths in the rain, Amon massaged his eyes with his muddy hands.
He couldn't care about anything right now.
Staring at the graves and hearing their cries again, another thought ran through his mind.
One that was the cause of this all in front of him.
Decimated Heavens...
The organization responsible for this massacre.
The ones that had killed Klein's mother.
A cold, seething rage grew in Amon's heart.
A rage devouring his whole body as it finally turned limp.
All the thoughts inside his mind stopped now. Every sound died out.
There was only one thing that mattered to him now.
His hands clenched against the wet soil of the ground as rain continuously spattered on him.
Standing up, Amon, for the first time, opened the watch on his arm.
[Cryptic 1: Greetings Sir, how can we help you?] Amon stared at the message for a solid second before typing his reply and sending it.
Summoning the cracked white mask from his inventory, Amon put it on his face and started to
walk away from the graveyard into the forest.
This organization...
[Anonymous: This is James Corleone. Get me every single piece of information available on
Decimated Heavens. The price and effort don't matter.]
Decimated Heavens.
He wouldn't rest till every single member was burned and tortured to death.
Their families, their possessions, everything.
Amon's black eyes momentarily turned purple through his mask.