Waking up with a headache, he looked around to find no one around his room. Still, he was laying in the bed instead of on the floor. His suit is ripped open and a symbol of the half-moon is etched in his chest. It was like a silver tattoo as he tried to rub it off.

‘What is this? Did the true Lawrence put the freaking moon diamond on my food?! Why the hell would he do that? and what is this tattoo?’

The door opened as Catalinna walked towards him solemnly. He gazed at her with confusion in his eyes as she grabs a chair and put it beside the bed. A sigh escaped from her mouth before gazing at the silver tattoo on Lawrence’s chest.

“You are the successor of the silver moon..”

“What do you mean?”

“The silver moon organization is a cult of moon believers that worships the moon goddess. They are a terrorist group that thinks that Lucarius is their hero. They’re full of mad people with innate hate for society and the monarchy. Their goal is the collision of the moon and the continent so their goddess can descend. Practically, they want to destroy the human continent and conquer the whole world with their goddess.”

“And the successor is the one chosen by the moon goddess to do her bidding while giving them a part of her powers. She will start to influence your behavior, beliefs, and even your emotions the longer you use moonlight. Basically, you will surely turn into the final boss no matter what you do as long as you have that silver tattoo” she informed as Lawrence nodded. He didn’t know any of this. Most of this happened in the third boss of the novel in which Lawrence didn’t read. He looked at the silver tattoo once more before sighing deeply.

He knew he fucked up, he shouldn’t have trusted a man who stabs the hero and has a violent and spoiled persona in the novel. He was too blinded with greed for power that he didn’t think the possibility that true Lawrence would use him for his motivations. He didn’t trust the man but he actively agreed and he ate the food without checking it. It was his fault.

He realized that Catalinna wanted to kill him upon noticing that he has the silver tattoo but she didn’t do it. Knowing this, he decided to trust Catalinna before thinking about what to do next. In the novel, there are three huge arcs which are the demon king invasion, the chaotic one’s rampage, and the convergence of heaven and hell. Lawrence only knows what happen in the first two arcs and there wasn’t anything mentioned on the silver moon cult and the moon goddess in both arcs. There isn’t even an artifact that can help him get rid of the tattoo. His only way to solve the problem now is Catalinna. The creator of this novel.

“What can I do to remove her control over me? When I drank the enlighten potion, an older me appeared claiming to be the true Lawrence and he guided me on how to reach mastery on the moonlight beam.” he informed Catalinna who has a grim expression.

“Older you who claims to be the true Lawrence? that shouldn’t be possible. Dream conversion only happens when someone reaches the height of power in this continent to speak to a god but instead of a god, an older you appeared. Usually, Gods can only use their champions to do their dream conversion when recruiting a talented warrior that has a low star. That is why it isn’t possible, you are Lawrence. I see you right now. It shouldn’t be possible that an older you are the champion of the moon goddess. Champion of the gods means they are the strongest member of their religion that enforces the rule of their gods to the mortals. Even gods can’t control time” confusion is clear on her face as Lawrence started to get a headache about this too. If that isn’t possible, then what and who did he perceive in that dream?

“In the novel, is a different dimension a concept or a reality when you wrote it?” Lawrence asked

“No, I figured that it would include Cain going to different dimensions to kill monsters and new enemies. It would be boring with no end to the adventure. That’s why there wasn’t a part of the story where Cain went to hell or heaven before the convergence.” she answered

“Let’s change this topic, with our current information. We wouldn’t reach a conclusion. The novel become the reality so it isn’t an impossibility anymore that different dimensions exist or there is a god that can control time. For now, we need to solve this.” Lawrence pointed at the silver tattoo

“I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to become a final boss right?” he smiled weakly

“It’s true, you’re more dangerous as a villain since you have a lot of information that can derail Cain and everyone’s fate. I’m warning you. I will hunt you until I die if you become a traitor of mankind” she stared at Lawrence deeply before she shrugs

“For your problem. Grab the mask and it would solve your problem temporarily”

“Temporarily?” he asked

“Yup, you’ll be hunted by the- a glint of dagger appeared besides Catalinna’s neck as Lawrence grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her towards him as the dagger missed. She was about to yell but she felt an overwhelming feeling of danger before flame raged in her arms. With a quick turnaround, she punches forward as fire engulfed the attacker or hope she would be able to but a rustling sound followed as a man wearing a cloak suddenly appeared in front of both of them. An insignia of the black syndicate can be clearly seen in the man’s cloak as dagger twirled in his fingers. Without speaking a word, the man rushes forward.

Five spheres of light surrounded the cloaked man before rushing towards him in different directions. Lawrence was about to grab his spear only to find his vision robbed. With no way of seeing, he was like a headless chicken. Unable to do anything, he decided to shout for help but his mouth wouldn’t move. His mouth is completely shut. It’s like his body doesn’t allow him to shout for help. A yell in pain rang beside him as someone crashes into the furniture.

“Forgive me duke but this is for the good of mankind” the cloaked man muttered before grabbing Lawrence by the collar. He’s helpless in this situation. His eyesight is gone and his body wouldn’t move. There wasn’t fear in his heart but disappointment. He would’ve done a lot more but because of a single mistake. His life is forfeited.

“Ask for my help and I’ll give you the power to get away of this” a woman whispered in his ears. Her majestic voice is laced with poisonous intonation. Her tone of amusement and nonchalant annoyed Lawrence. He’d rather die than side with the moon goddess who tricked him. A chuckle emerged from the disembodied voice, still full of amusement

“Let’s see if you can keep your useless bravado~”

“How did you become the successor of the silver moon and what do you know about them?” the man asked coldly. There weren’t any emotions leaking in his voice.

“I was tricked by the moon goddess. I don’t have any information other than the one you have heard from us.” he said calmly

“Then I shall kill you now” the man replied before swinging the dagger towards Lawrence’s neck. He waited and waited but nothing happen. A sudden clanging appeared as the man tried swinging the dagger over and over again. The nonstop clanging is getting louder and louder before an earth-shattering explosion pushed back Lawrence and the cloaked man. Injured and with all of his dagger shattered from the weird golden bubble that surrounds Lawrence. He can only click his tongue in annoyance before vanishing into the shadow. Lawrence regains back his eyesight as he saw he is inside a golden bubble full of runes floating on the surface of it. With a gentle push, the bubble shattered into golden pieces before vanishing. The bracelet cracks as it stopped glowing.

‘Isn’t this what my mom gave me? What is this item? I have never seen an artifact like this that summons a golden bubble to protect the wearer. Just what is happening?!’

“Stop gazing at your bracelet…and help me asshole” Catalinna’s weak voice can be heard behind him as she is full of wounds around her body. A particular large gash caught his attention as it’s just above where her chest is. A skilled assassin especially in the black syndicate wouldn’t miss their target’s heart. This means that the man stopped going for the kill once he realizes it was Catalinna after the initial strike. With a sigh, he helped her to his bed as Legor opens the door with his weapon drawn. He surveyed the room as there is a clear sign of battle. He hurriedly called the healers as they rushed to heal Catalinna. Lawrence also hid the silver tattoo with the blanket to avoid trouble.

“What happened?” he asked with a sigh. Every time something happened in the mansion, it was always this two.

“There was a cloaked man who tried to attack us but luckily my artifact saved us.” he told the truth but he didn’t say that the attacker is from the black syndicate. He figured it was one of his father’s subordinates.

‘I’m sure he’s the one we met at the snowy plains. That means that either he has been spying on us or protecting us. It seems that he works for father. Once i go back home, i have to ask father about this. No…if my father decided to kill me for becoming the successor of the silver moon, it would be a stupid mistake. I can only wait for Catalinna to recover to find out where the mask is’

Lawrence went outside of his room as he passed Katarina, Lesha, and Melissa. Worry covered their faces as they rushed towards Catalinna once the news reached them. With how loud the battle is, it wasn’t unusual for those nearer to the room to hear it. Gazing at the snow, he pondered on what to do.

‘I didn’t think that someone can even know who the silver moon cult is. They didn’t even appear in the novel until the death of the chaos one according to Catalinna. This means that the black syndicate knows about the cult and actively hunts them. Getting hunted by the black syndicate would mean that I can’t enter any kingdoms that are controlled by humans. Should I go to the west continent where the beast tribes live? or to the middle continent where the exiled and criminals live?’

In the world of The Swordsman of the End. There are five continents each controlled by other races except for the middle continent. The north continent is controlled by the humans, the western continent is controlled by the beast kin, the eastern continent is controlled by the elves, and the southern continent is controlled by the dwarfs. These are the four major races in the world of Terra. Ever since the war of the four races a thousand years ago in the middle continent, a peace treaty was signed that the four races control the remaining four continents while the other lesser races can live in each continent freely and without prejudice.

After the war, the middle continent isn’t suited for living for the destruction made on the land. Only the criminals and the exiled live in the middle continent to avoid prosecution. It became a lawless continent where no one cares what happens to anybody. Multiple atrocities are made in the middle continent every day from killing, experimenting on human lives, the frequent use of dark magic, and everything in between. Still, the silver moon might have a base there so it isn’t an ideal place to hide and grow stronger. He needs more information and he has less time than he hopes.

‘There might be multiple assassinations while i stay here and the ice monarch might hunt me if the information reaches her. It should be by tomorrow that the information reaches my father and the rest of the black syndicate. Should i leave now or should i wait? This is a gamble, I don’t have 2 months to stay here. The black syndicate might not give the information to the public but that assassin will tell father about the information. There’s a chance father will hunt me or will question me first depending on how he cherishes his son. Still, i don’t want to take any chances. I’ll leave this place in midnight and grab the unfinished rebirth potion’

During the night, Lawrence decided to leave the fourth wall. Catalinna didn’t wake up yet and the feeling of imminent danger is wrapping around his neck. He knows he needs to leave, with the spear in his hand and the ring he took from Catalinna while she’s sleeping. He’s ready to brave to woods and head to the northern valley to reach the previous hideout of the ice witch of calamity. The first thing he needs to do is get his hands on the rebirth potion which changes his affinity randomly. There is an unfinished rebirth potion in the witch’s hut. The rebirth potion only changes his affinity and doesn’t affect his low 3-star mana heart and high 2-star meridians meaning that he doesn’t need to cultivate again. He needs another source of power since using the moonlight affinity isn’t beneficial at all. Even the Celestial domination art uses the moonlight to channel its powers. It will hopefully fix the problem temporarily as long he doesn’t have the moonlight affinity anymore.

He knows all of his time training is useless, he’s deeply frustrated but what can he do? He can’t continue using it both the spear art and the moonlight beam. Even the light sky step shouldn’t be used. Walking for two hours straight, he grumbled like an old man on how frustrated he was and how stupid most of his decision is. He should’ve listened to his father and not trained the spear art. He was too optimistic to think that nothing is gonna happen. With a sigh, he gazed upwards to see hills and valleys stretched throughout the land.

“Since i am gonna be running away from the black syndicate, i can only rely on Catalinna to guide Cain and to oversee the whole plot if i messed up the fate of someone important. I hope this doesn’t have any complications in the near future” after climbing the tallest valley for three hours straight, he sat at the top panting and breathing heavily. He glanced at the nearby surroundings to find an old wooden hut with some of its parts covered with snow. Walking forward, he opened the door slowly to see the dark interior of the hut. Breaking the floorboards, a large opening appeared as he walked calmly inside the cave. Inside, there are bottles of potions laid on the ground. Checking each one, he grabbed only the health potion, the unfinished rebirth potion, and three of the appearance-changing potions. He left the remaining potions as he doesn’t need anything other than the five potions he grabbed.

Luckily for him, the witch has to hurriedly leave her hut to avoid getting hunted by the ice monarch. This is why there is no protection on the hut or even in the potions. With one of the things he needed, he went outside just in time to see the sun peeking on the horizon. He smiled briefly before breathing in the cold air. The feeling of solace welled in his heart as he sighed deeply and started heading back to the bottom of the valley.