"Wait, Rin." Aria pulled him quickly before he moved away.

"What's the meaning of this? Where did you get that dagger?" She asked in a hurry, clearly distressed.

"It's a long story. I will explain later. Now, I need to follow them before they vanish completely."

As he was about to vanish inside his shadow, Aria spoke.

"I will go with you."

"Huh? No way!"

"Why not? I can't just let you do such a dangerous thing alone."

"It's exactly for that reason. I can escape easily if they catch me. I can't guarantee your escape, Aria. Besides, my shadow moves faster if I'm the only one inside. I can't risk putting your life in danger just because of that."

"You can't just…" She said.

"Listen…" He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"I won't take long. If I don't come back in 15 minutes, you can track me, fine?"

Aria looked at him for a few seconds with a complicated gaze. Then, she smacked him on the head.

"Ouch!"

"You are a huge, reckless idiot!"

"Hehe! I have no choice."

Then, she quickly pulled him into a tight hug.

"Don't get too close to them and return immediately after taking a small peek. You have to promise me that."

"Sigh, fine, I promise."

"Good. You better do or I will find you and punish you."

"Scarryyy~~"

Then, Rin disappeared, leaving Aria with an extremely worried look.

Rin's shadow moved sneakily under the moonlight as he crossed the road. He wasn't feeling their presence at all but he had seen where they went so he didn't have a hard time finding them. They weren't moving at a fast speed and instead were seemingly taking a stroll.

'Where are they going?' Rin thought as he kept following them from far away.

He made sure not to get close at all as the risk of him getting exposed will be high the more he tried to approach them.

This continued for the next 5 minutes as they took turns left and right, until they reached the outskirts of the city, just near the city walls.

There, right in a dark corner, the three of them halted out of nowhere and turned around. One of them then looked at his hand as if he was checking time.

'Are they waiting for someone?'

Rin couldn't hear them speaking so he had no idea what was going on. Luckily, they didn't seem to be conversing at all so he wasn't missing out on anything important. Time moved slowly as they stood there, motionless, like old statues. Their abnormal behavior sent a chill down Rin's spine and made him hesitate about staying any longer.

'No! I still have time so it should be fine. I feel like something will happen anytime soon.'

Then, as if fate was approving of his words, another person appeared walking toward them. In contrast to them, this person seemed to be in normal clothes but with a covered face. Rin couldn't identify him at all. But, for some reason, he felt that this person was vaguely familiar.

When he reached them, he said.

"Was that offer true?" He was clearly trying to change his voice as much as possible.

"Do you accept?" One of them asked.

"No, before that…"

The same man opened his mouth to cut this mysterious intruder off. However, another one of the three men was the first to speak.

"Our invitation was clear. Follow us and you shall find what you yearn for."

"By following you, what do you mean?"

"The true path is the path created by our lord. Those who seek it shall be glorified and those who try to oppose it shall be despised by the Shadow Monarch. You, child, are one of those chosen by our lord to carry his will to the future. We invited you under his order."

"Shadow Monarch? Lord? You guys are definitely not normal. I don-"

"You are feeling pain, aren't you?" The man cut him off again.

"I can feel it. You are lost, your soul and mind are in shambles. You don't know right and wrong and you also don't know what you should do, am I right?"

"Huh… How did you know that?""

It seemed that the man's words were spot on as the mysterious fourth party looked quite shocked in his reaction.

"You aren't any different than most of us. We are all lost souls, floating in this dark, scummy world, trying to find a greater purpose or in this case… Reaching a goal and fulfilling a dream."

"Every dream and desire of yours are only within our lord's hands. His merciful arms shall bless you with everything you want. All that you have to do is to follow him and carry his will. If you want power, wealth, love, and even greater things. It's all within your reach. All you have to do is extend your arm… and grab it."

"..."

The fourth party fell silent as if he was contemplating whether he should really trust the words of this stranger or not.

As for Rin's, his face turned grimmer and grimmer as he listened to their conversation more and more.

'Those words… are eerily familiar.'

He was sure he heard similar things said to him before. They were basically carbon copies of each other. They all promised strength and wealth. They all were trying to convince and to glorify. As for what thing they were trying to glorify…

'The shadow monarch…' Rin reached his conclusion.

These same words were said to him by the last will of the shadow monarch back in the awakening room and again in the D-Rank dungeon. Since then, the will has never spoken to him again and he quickly forgot the matter.

'What is going on?' Rin's eyes widened from shock.

'Were these people some kind of cult followers for the shadow monarch?'

It was the most likely possibility. From their clothes down to their words and everything around them.

'But, why would a cult of these people exist? And why did they never appear in the game before? Oh wait, the shadow element doesn't even exist in this world. So, this…'

The more Rin thought about it, the more his mind felt chaotic. The shock was just too big. He really didn't know what to do with this information. Are they his enemies? Are they the ones responsible for the death of the king of Aviresion and the top 100-Rank student?

'They are most likely the culprits. Tsk, this isn't good at all! Things are getting out of control.'

*Tick*

Suddenly, as Rin was deep in his thoughts, his shadow which was hidden behind a thick bush, moved a little bit closer and rustled some of the leaves on the bush. This happened for two main reasons: Rin's lack of focus on his shadow element and also because of the cold wind that kept moving the leaves closer and closer to him.

The three men instantly looked and Rin's direction, poring through the bush and seemingly staring directly at him.

'Fuck!'

Without waiting, he quickly dashed away as fast as he could. He didn't look back or even tried to check whether he was caught or not.

His heart was beating loudly and his breathing was erratic as if he just came out of a marathon. He knew this feeling… this desire to get away as quickly as possible, the chill that runs down his spine, the adrenaline that keeps pumping into his heart endlessly. It was fear.

*Swish*

One of the men vanished and appeared behind the bush. His speed was way faster than the blink of an eye. It was a realm of speed Rin couldn't comprehend.

Looking around him, he tried to detect any presence close by. But, luckily for Rin who was still hiding in the shadows, the man wasn't able to feel his aura at all.

"We are being followed."

"Tsk. Not good. Follow whoever it is and kill them."

Then, the bulky man vanished somewhere quickly.

"H-Huh? Followed?! What if they saw me?! shit!!" The fourth party panicked as he tried to run away.

However, the man he was speaking to grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.

"Let me go!! I'm screwed!!"

"Listen."

"No! I need to go!!"

"I said shut up and listen."

The man's domineering aura made the fourth party shut his mouth in fear. Gazing at the man's veiled face, he could only shudder fearfully in his grasp.

"I will warn you. This is your last chance for you. If you run away, it's over. You will stay the same loser, a coward, that has no strength. You will never be able to get what you want. I'm giving you this opportunity for you to fix your miserable life.

Think about it."

As he spoke, the wind blew on the man's face, revealing a few of his hidden features under the veil.

This small glimpse, as small as it was, was more than enough to shock the fourth party to the core. His eyes widened and his heart seemingly stopped beating for a good 3 seconds.

"You are…"

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Thanks for reading. Any support you give me is always appreciated no matter how small it was. Let's all keep it up :)