V2 Chapter 20: When the Red Moon is still on the sky (4)

The Observer has been by the Prince’s side from the very moment he woke up on that altar. Too short of a time to understand everything about the Prince, his thought or the reason of his strange behaviors. But she was there, by his side, from the very beginning. She has been by his side longer than any being and closer to him than anyone else in the world of Escana. She watched him and made reports. That was her mission. That was the sole reason for her existence.

So, when her mistress, the Goddess of Light Eogaill instructed the Observer to leave the Prince’s side and hide until she receives further instruction, the Observer found herself at a loss.

She could not understand that instruction. She could not understand her mistress’ intention, as usual. But this time, the Observer has completely failed to comprehend the intention of her creator. She could not help but doubt.

The Observer has always been asking herself a strange question. Why am I allowed to have emotions? The Observer has always found that fact was strange. If her job was only to make observation and reports, emotions were completely unnecessary. If the Goddess Eogaill has crafted the Observer like a golem of light and shadow, or a robot solely created to observe and report, there would be no difference to the result of the task.

It was at this moment that such doubt resurfaced and strengthened within the Observer’s heart. The Prince was dying as she watched. He was suffocating himself with his own gag. And yet, her mistress instructed the Observer to stay away from the Prince for the moment, a most conflicting order to both the Observer’s interest. The Observer could vividly see that her emotions were getting in the way of her mission. Her emotions, as the Observer has surmised, were an unnecessary part. It was impeding her mission.

If the Observer had no emotion, she could have executed her mission perfectly. If she wasn’t afraid of the loss of her one and only purpose, and her own mortality, the Observer could execute her mission perfectly. It was almost strange to the Observer that she was able to develop her emotions. The Observer has thought that if she was given the capacity to understand emotions, her mistress must have intended to create her like this.

The Observer could not help but doubt if her mistress was devising a test for her. The Observer was doubting that her own creator was testing her loyalty by devising a test in the manner that the Prince often did, being infected by his thought and method. But there was no need for that if her creator, the Goddess Eogaill took away her capacity for emotion or assigning the task to another creation of hers.

From the first moment that the Observer asked that question, “Why am I allowed to have emotions?” She has been expecting this very moment. The moment when her own emotions would conflict with her missions. But, she did not expect such great conflict. Her preparation was not adequate.

The Observer had the wisdom and memories of mortals stored inside her wealth of wisdom. But today was the day she felt and understood what it meant to be a mortal.

The Prince has been a central part of her life. He was the reason she existed. If he died, she would have lost her only purpose.

The Observer feared that Prince would die and her purpose would end. She feared that her mistress would reduce her to mere light and darkness as before if she failed her task.

What is the correct choice? The Observer did not know. None of the knowledge from her wealth of wisdom could support her to make this decision.

It’s terrible to be born a mortal.

The Observer made a risky bet in the end. She chose to obey her instruction, leaving the Prince’s side for the first time in her life. She chose her mission over her emotions.

It was a gamble, but not so much of gamble at the same time. Despite her fear and doubts, the Observer believed that her mistress had reasons for giving such an instruction. She believed that her creator had a perfect plan and made the correct decision. The Observer simply clung to her faith. It was almost as if the Observer was talking herself to believing it.

The Observer straddled the Prince, brushing his sweaty forehead with her ethereal hand. She could not touch him still. She pretended that she could, the kind of make-believe game that mortals often played. She put her faith in him.

The Prince was a prideful person, exceedingly arrogant even. So of course, if he chose to commit suicide to win the moral battle over these immortals, it made sense. The Prince was smart but he made the most foolish of choices for the most foolish of reasons.

So, it made sense that he would play a role in the destruction of Kharigan and then kill himself to mock these Demon Lords. He would die knowing that he was being the “Ultimate Troll” to the Demon Lords. He has to one-up them and they could do nothing to even that result. Once he has killed himself, he would be one of Mistress Death’s subjects, he would be safe from their wrath and vengeance. It made sense that the Prince would do something like that. It was in his character to do something so absurd.

But he was not the type to give up without a fight.

The Observer put her faith in that. She made a gamble, but it was not so much of a gamble. The odds were on her side of the bet, not against her, the Observer knew that. Her true test has not come. Not yet. Not today, or so she hoped. She put her faith in her mistress and the Prince.

The Observer left the Prince’s side as she has been instructed. She descended the tower, turning her head back once. That swordsman was still awake as he has been instructed. He was sitting at the bottom of the tower, armed with swords, and spears, faithfully executing his task. He was waiting for the Prince to come down of the tower and relieved him of his task.

The Prince has told him that everyone who tries to approach the tower during this time would be an enemy. “Anyone but Atuc. Man, woman, the young, the old, pregnant or not, cripple or not, even if that person is Erinys, kill them all.” The Prince has instructed him to kill, but at his own choice.

There would be no way that any normal human, who was not chosen to be involved with the Reign of Chaos, could understand the meaning of that instruction.

A succubus could charm a man and make that man committed a crime that he would never commit.

A shadow demon could possess a child and turn that child into a killer.

Divine Dream could be used to turn people into pawns and puppets.

Who to trust, who not to trust? Who is an enemy, who is not?

Instead of asking such questions, trust nobody. It was better to mistakenly kill an innocent person than to be killed by sparing the wrong person. It was a common strategy that the past Champions of the Reign of Chaos have employed to protect themselves.

But the Prince did not even bother to explain himself or his action. “If you cannot do that, do not bother. Leave or do whatever you want.” He said.

It was a miracle that anyone would follow that kind of command as faithfully as this swordsman actually existed.

Back then, the Observer did not understand what the Prince was thinking. Now, she still could not. It was difficult to understand if the Prince wanted to fight or not. His words and actions made very little sense.

But then, my mistress is the same.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Her mistress has instructed the Observer to hide herself.

The Observer was invisible. Invisible to most. Therefore, the Observer could only deduct that someone or something was coming, and they could see through her invisibility. They could see through both light and darkness.

The Observer chose to hide at where it began, that abandoned temple of her mistress.

, one sentence remained on the altar, still, written upside down. The Prince did not bother to write them in Titan. He wrote them while fornicating with that woman. He did not bother to look at this sentence once. Only three people knew that. The Prince himself, the Observer and her mistress.

If her mistress, the Goddess Eogaill could not foresee this event from the very beginning, she would not assign the Observer for her task.

To a being with many closely guarded secrets as her mistress, the Observer doubted that there was a better-written line to catch her attention. Which secrets? There was no better hook to catch her mistress’s attention.

For a person who was as great at the art of misdirection as the Prince, the Divine Dream was an imperfect and flawed medium to explore the inner world of the Prince, and above all, to observe him and spy on his strategies. It was a high-risk and little-reward path.

Until the Prince appeared, the Divine Dream was supposed to be safe for all Immortals. Until this day, the risk of being discovered and trapped by the inside the very Divine Dream they have conjured has remained unknown to most Immortals. The Prince was the first person who could expose this risk to any immortal who entered his dream. The Prince was probably the only person who was insane enough to do that.

No, not probably. He would definitely do that for sure.

The Observer thought that if she asked the Prince why he would do something so stupid, the one and only obvious “I am Fearless,” would be his explanation.

Why would you do something so insane?

Why would you do that?

Why would you do something so stupid?

“Because I’m Fearless.” This kind of reply was so inappropriate that it had to be illegal.

Looking back, the Observer realized that the person who alerted the Prince of the dangers and the nature of his test was the little lady, the Goddess Clariciel. Base on that conclusion alone, the Observer has deduced that the person who sent the little lady, the Goddess Clariciel on that seemingly-innocent errand was probably her mistress.

So who hooks who first? The Observer gave up on answering that question.

Due to the fact that the memories that an immortal could view from a Divine Dream are reconstructed memories, there were far from perfect. They were far from the ultimate truth. That kind of knowledge, only someone who can conjure a Divine Dream would know. Only an immortal would know.

And the Prince.

The Prince was someone who understood what Divine Dream was, how a Divine Dream operated and even experienced the flaws of a Divine Dream in person. Until now, there has never been a human who could exploit the imperfectness and major flaws of a Divine Dream to such an extent like the Prince.

A Divine Dream used the information base on what a person see or hear more than what a person feels to reconstruct that person’s memory. A normal dream was often the result of a person’s subconscious sending messages to his consciousness. But a Divine Dream was created from the consciousness of an immortal meeting with the consciousness of a mortal.

Thus, if a mortal could cleverly misdirect his own consciousness from reality, he could misdirect an immortal’s attention from discovering the truth.

Misdirection was a form of deception in which the performer draws audience attention to one thing to distract it from another. It was easy to miss out what the Prince was really doing due to the amount of misdirection that he employed in his everyday activities. Every magician knew at least a few variations of misdirection to be able to perform his magic tricks. The Prince just happened to be very good at this.

He delivered a speech while writing something on the floor with the sole of his shoe. He played some leaf music while boldly writing his entire battle plan on the ground with his finger. He already assumed that the Observer’s mistress would not miss any of his signals. He already assumed that he has been strictly monitored since the moment he wrote that sentence.

The Prince often mixed his warnings for the Demon Lords in his speeches. He fired his warning shots in the open for every Demon Lord to listen to. But in reality, he was doing something completely different. He used his surroundings and situations to fire his warning shots in every direction. And then, he used his warning shots to mask his attempt to converse with the Observer’s mistress. It was his usual triple layered illusion.

URLOX did not make a mistake when they chose the Prince as their representative.

The Observer would say that her Mistress was the only person who was prepared to deal with someone like the Prince. The other immortals, gods, goddesses, demon lords, they were ill-prepared and ill-equipped. They were caught completely unprepared.

Ah, the Observer muttered quietly. A Demon Lord has been released.

Lust, the Beautiful Demon Lord was the first captive to be released. That was the signal of the Prince’s plan has been a success.

Then another one. Envy. The Thousand Faces Demon Lord. And another one. Magnamor of the Thousand Burning Eyes.

It was not the Observer’s imagination, but it was apparent to her that Magnamor has seen through her form despite the distance and obstacles between her and him. He shuddered, looking the opposite direction, pretending that he has not seen her with that look of damned and regret.

The Observer took note of the event and prepared to send her report to her mistress as thus.

After that, they split. Magnamor’s astral form returned to Kharigan with Envy. Lust remained on Escana, flying South.

Wonten, the God of Strength and Justice was the only one after that to be released. He did not waste any of his time and returned to Coeles.

With that, the countdown for the destruction Kharigan has started.

The Observer weaved her message to a thread of light and sent her report to her mistress.

When the Observer received permission to return to the Prince’s side, she did so with urgency. The Prince was still alive. Of course, if he died, she would know. He was finding his breath now, still sleeping with the rest of the immortals trapped inside his dream.

Either one of the Demon Lords or Wonten have removed that gag from his mouth. Who? It doesn’t matter. The Observer was glad that she has returned to her rightful place.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The dream was red. Hyrios was without a doubt seeing red. But blackness eroded that blazing redness. The Red Queen took a step back and allowed that man to be the center of Hyrios’ focus.

“I am Fearless, the Prince of The Alliance. My friends call me Fearless. You can call me Fearless as well. Firstly, forgive me for introducing myself to you in this ugly manner. I would rather stand before you to introduce myself to you, face to face, a man to another man. Not like this. Not through this kind of gimmick. Once again, I ask you for forgiveness.”

For a man who called himself a prince, he was humble and cultured. Yet, he commanded more gravitas than the Red Queen herself. He lowered his head as he asked for forgiveness. His right fist was in front of his heart, the way a Child of the Green Sky asking for forgiveness and showing respect to another man.

Hyrios tried to converse, but he was unable to. He could not speak. He could not even move.

“This Divine Dream is pre-recorded thanks to my companion’s power. Worry not, she means no harm to you. This Demon Lord is a friend of mine and a friend of men. Thanks to her power, I can speak to you but not converse with you or listen to your reply. Therefore, I appreciate it if you could listen to my words and take my apologies for such becomingness.”

The prince lowered his head with his fist on his chest again.

“Hyrios Tigre of the Saber Tooth tribe, I would not contact you in this manner if the situation did not call for it. A Demon Lord is coming to this land. His target is the villagers that I saved from the evil clutches of Bloodbeard and his bandits. I have heard of your talent. You have never missed a target in your entire life. I need that talent of yours to kill this Demon Lord.”

The prince was looking into Hyrios’ eyes. He spoke slowly with earnest in his voice.

“Normally, it is my duty to deal with demons and Demon Lords. However, I am currently being locked in a very dire situation at the moment. I am holding back an army of demons right now and my power is being at its weakest. Holding back this army of demons, defending my people and dealing with this Demon Lord is too much for me. I can only request your cooperation in order to dispatch this Demon Lord.

I come to meet you with the power of a Demon Lord. I know that I am not a trustworthy man. But, I don’t know how else I could reach you. You are the only one within the area who can help me to dispatch this Demon Lord. You are the only one who can save these poor people, these villagers who have been at the mercy of Bloodbeard and his evil minions. I don’t ask you to trust my words completely. I only ask you to save these innocent people, these victims of Bloodbeard and White Winter’s scourge of war.

If you do not help them, these people are doomed. The entire Golden Triangle is doomed. Madukat is doomed. Zard is doomed. Escana is doomed. I only ask you to help these people. I only ask you to help me kill this Demon Lord. I only ask you to do the right thing. I ask nothing more. I urge you to do the right thing.

I know that you are fighting a war with the kingdom of White Winter. But I urge you to leave that matter aside to kill this Demon Lord first. If you help me kill this Demon Lord, I give you my words that you shall have my strength and my banner. I will help you push these invaders back to their lands.

If you accept my offer, please move to the Bundor Bastion with haste. In three more nights, the sky will spit fire stars. This Demon Lord would appear and it would strike the bastion. Normal weapons and arrows would not work on him. Your army would not help you. So, keep them from this battle and away from the Bastion for their safety and best interest. I have prepared a suitable weapon for you to deal with this Demon Lord.

Go to the Bastion and look for Narik. He will deliver this weapon to you.

A magic arrow of Titanite, smeared with Dragon Bane. This weapon will help you in your endeavor.

When that day comes, I will battle this Demon Lord. I will fight him. I will create an opportunity for you to fire this arrow. When that time comes, you will know. I will trust you on the timing. I will trust my life and the future of Escana to you, Hyrios Tigre of the Saber Tooth tribe.”

Hyrios did not realize that that humble prince has stopped talking until the Red Queen spoke in a haze of fever. “You have heard him. This is not a dream. This is real.” Her arms wrapped around that dark prince and burned his frame with her ardent thought in open. "If you allow him to die, I will curse you and your entire tribe the most painful and undignify death."

That was the last image that Hyrios saw from that strange dream. He woke up.