The Seeker | Volume 2

My eyes widened upon seeing this projection of myself. Suddenly, at the foot of the mountain, a wormhole opened. A figure clad in all black and red armor walked out, carrying a massive spear twice their height. They had long red hair and red stubble. It was Khorvath!

"He" suddenly raised his spear and shouted in an angry voice. "I can't help but feel disappointed in you, Isaeik."

I was suddenly pulled from the vision, and back into Cheyenne's hut. When my eyes opened, I saw him looking down at me with a worried expression. I wasn't lying on the ground when I drank the potion, but I was now.

My head was pounding like a drum when I leaned up, and my sigil was burning away at my forehead.

"Are you ok? I didn't know the mixture would garner such a strange reaction." Cheyenne said with shock in his voice.

I felt my forehead and the burning sigil. "Why did I see "him?" I asked. 

"Who?" Cheyenne replied, confused by my question. His brows knit in concern.

"Khorvath..." 

Upon hearing "his" name, Cheyenne gasped softly. "Him?" 

I nodded. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

Cheyenne nodded, looking towards the tall mountain with the cloud over it. "Of course! We've all sensed a strange accumulation of energy at the mountain's peak, and the storm has grown more ferocious, who knows...it could be him!"

"Isn't Khorvath dead, how could "he" affect the real world?" I was confused while also very worried about the current situation. Is Raymond doing something?

"That bastard..." I mumbled.

Cheyenne suddenly looked back at me, confused. "What?"

"Raymond, he's going to bring "him" back!" I shouted.

Cheyenne's expression suddenly turned serious as he grabbed his spear learning outside the hut. "You know Raymond?" He asked with gritted teeth.

"You do?..." I asked him, also confused on how he knew such a name.

Cheyenne nodded. "Yes. Raymond's been alive for thousands of years. The first time he came here with his brother, he wanted to massacure us. But of course, Raymond's brother didn't want to do such a thing, instead he wanted to be peaceful with us."

"He had a brother?" I felt my gut sink slightly.

Cheyenne nodded. "I'm only about 30 years old, so I wasn't alive when he came to us. But it's a story passed from generation to generation on how the Tyrant Angel wanted to destroy us. Raymond's brother was an Angel of the Apocalypse Routeway, or in simple terms, Khorvath."

"They're related? No wonder Raymond would want to bring him back..." My heart started to pound faster. I suddenly turned my head and looked at the storm on top of the mountain, the crimson lightning continued to assault the mountain with ferocious intent. 

Suddenly, Cheyenne shouted something in his native language, and a group of men and women emerged from their huts gathering in front of Cheynne's tent. He then looked back at me before speaking in english.

"Tomorrow, we will voyage to the mountain peak!"

"You're investigating the energy accumulation without valid proof that it's worrisome?" I was confused by Cheyenne's sudden change in motivation. 

"We're lived here for thousands of years, any threat to this island is a threat to its people." Cheyenne proclaimed solemnly as he grabbed his bag and began packing. 

"But are you sure it's a serious problem?" I remembered what Raymond had previously said. He discussed an "angelic battle" with two opposing factors in the wake of "his" revival. I didn't know any angels besides De-Taylel and Khorvath, but since Khorvath is dead, who would De-Taylel's opponent be?

...

When the ship arrived in the harbor, everyone quickly left the boat, of course, the rich and noble departed first. Olive took off her sunhat due to the lack of sunlight entering the kingdom, a thick layer of dark clouds seemed to always hang over the grim atmosphere.

Suddenly, a group of men wearing black and orange armor approached the boat. They all carried spears in their hands. One of the taller guards spoke in a low and collected voice.

"Does anyone here know about this individual?" He suddenly pulled out the rolled up newspaper. When Shinso and Aizawa caught sight of my face, they exchanged glances.

"We do, that's our accomplice." Cattleya said as she approached the guard, standing beside Carter.

The guard examined the two before nodding. 

Carter cleared his throat. "We hope he arrived here, did you ever see him get off a boat?" 

The guard fell silent, scratching his chin, after a few moments he sighed. "Unfortunately, no."

Ling and Palsy weaved through the crowd before approaching a group of guards. "I hope this isn't a bad time, but Emperor Katsuki would most likely want our presence immediately since he dispatched us to Seraphis Kingdom to begin with."

One of the guards nodded with understanding before leading the duo towards a carriage and departing.

Aizawa and Olive watched the carriage leave before walking up to Cattleya and Carter.

"Since our identities have been properly identified, shouldn't we visit the Emperor?" Carter asked.

The guard nodded. "Yes, he's been expecting you for quite a while."

...

He opened the tall and gothic doors of the palace and let the group in. Shinso looked down the long hallway with a little trepidation upon seeing Katsuki sitting on his throne, his crimson eyes flickering with ambition that could be seen even from a distance.

Aizawa took a protective step next to him as they all started walking to the Emperor. The halfway was lined with numerous portraits of nobles and barons. Some looked like his classmates back in his reality, and it began to make him feel familiar. 

He suddenly caught sight of a portrait of a boy with neatly combed indigo hair, eyebags and wearing a vest with a button up shirt sitting in a chair. It looked awfully like him. Shinso nudged Aizawa's elbow, making him turn to look at the painting as well.

Before Aizawa could say anything, Katsuki cleared his throat, the sound echoing through the loud chamber. 

"So, you're the nerds who are connected to this bastard, eh?" Katsuki asked loudly as he showed the newspaper article. 

Cattleya shakily cleared her throat and nodded. "Yes, your majesty."

The blonde haired young man looked towards the young woman and nodded his head. He then shot a glance back at Shinso and Aizawa, his eyes widening slightly. 

"Shouldn't you be in the lab, dumbass?" Katsuki asked.

Shinso and Aizawa were off put by the question. What lab?" Shinso asked in confusion.

"I don't have an ass for brains, sleepy-ass. I'm talking to Aizawa, he's supposed to be concocting medicine or whatever bullshit he does down there." Katsuki replied.

"I don't concoct medicine, I've never been here before..." Aizawa said.

Katsuki rubbed his temples while sighing in annoyance. "I'll let you off just this once, eyebags. If you forgot, it's down the left chamber, third door on the left side, down the stairs and you'll find it. Better?"

Aizawa nodded with uncertainty, attempting not to piss him off anymore. Aizawa never went to the Katshin Empire, so the immediate order to go back to his lab was unsettling, but it also intrigued him.

...

The storm atop the mountain has gotten so ferocious to the point where no sunlight was able to break through. Cheyenne and a group of villagers had begun to rustle through their own huts, gathering weapons, food, or anything they could use to enhance their probability for survival. 

I leaned against one of the trees with burning leaves, watching the ashes descend and land onto the ground. Soon, a young woman and crimson red hair with white roots approached me. 

"You're the outsider Cheyenne brought in, I assume?" She asked as she took out a hunting knife and began chopping off the crimson bark. 

I nodded. "Yeah. I think he trusts me now. After all, I've done nothing to garner any unwanted attention."

She looked me up and down, before meeting my gaze as she put some bark into her satchel. "I see you have no supplies; you'll either die of heat or starvation."

Cheyenne, who had just emerged from his hut, said with a smile. "Don't worry, Montella, I have his back." He reached into his bag and took out some tree bark that he just chopped off. 

"Here, eat this." Cheyenne said with a welcoming smile.

I raised an eyebrow as I took the strange wood. "Are you sure this is safe for consumption?"

Cheyenne nodded, biting into it. "Over the course of hundreds of years, since the Elkritcht have been eating these, they've adapted with a special scent that would ward them off. That scent, we've discovered, is actually very tasty and not poisonous at all."

His reassurance only moved me a little bit, but I could feel my stomach grumbling like a dragon, so I bit into the bark. To my surprise, it tasted like a mix of chicken and garlic. 

I gobbled down the bark quickly, and wiped the residue off my face. "I assume we're ready to go now?" Cheyenne asked as he turned back, gazing upon the small group of tribesmen and women who had volunteered to go. 

"I...guess we are." I said.