BXBX NOVEL Chapter 135 - Old Friend
The carriage drove them deep into the city, following the path that Master Edward, disguised as an old driver, took. However, they couldn\'t know which routes he took, so they had to ask around.
"A royal carriage?" the florist pondered as a blush covered her cheeks. The young man the reason behind that, as his charm seemed to bewitch the woman. "I think it went that way, and it smashed one of my pots."
"Ah, I\'m sorry for that," the young man sounded apologetic. "How about I make it up to you?" he tried to take out some money, but the florist was red-faced as she refused him.
Their carriage followed the route she pointed at, and Nikolai spent the time looking at the young man as he racked his brain. However, he couldn\'t match the face and features with anyone.
\'Should I ask for his name?\' Nikolai wondered, but he didn\'t want to mess the timeline any further. Master Edward was already out there, driving the divergence to 26%.
"You didn\'t tell me, Lyle," the young man turned to him. "Why are you looking for Master Edward?"
"I need to prevent him from attending the ritual because he has a habit of disturbing ceremonies," Nikolai said without missing a beat. "Furthermore, did you see the one-horned Minotaur? That was the doing of Master Edward. If they meet, there will be no such thing as peace, and the princess will be devastated."
Nikolai didn\'t want to manipulate the young man, but it was necessary to ensure that he helped him. In return, his face turned grave the mention of Princess Maria being sad.
"I see," he said before spreading his arms. "Then I need to get serious."
As he said so, his mana exploded to open a portal beside the carriage, from where the eagle came out. Then, the elemental mana spread everywhere from the summoned monster before he flew in the air.
Nikolai looked through the carriage and could see the eagle making rounds around the city. But then, the eagle disappeared as the young man frowned.
"There is a carriage leaving the city, and it has the emblem of the royal family," the young man said. "These horses are running as if their lives depended on them."
"That\'s him!" Nikolai almost jumped from his carriage. "We need to follow them!"
"Then let\'s abandon this carriage and ride my eagle once more," as he said that, the man threw the door open as he jumped to land on his eagle, which has magically been recalled. Nikolai followed suit and jumped on the eagle before they soared toward the sky.
"Sir Lyle, take care!" the driver shouted as the two left him behind with a broken carriage\'s door, which was the result of the young man\'s uncontrolled strength.
"Dammit, the wind is against us," Nikolai frowned as they soared above the city walls again, and the archers at the walls grew frightened by the majestic monster.
"Let me help you," Nikolai used his darkness to hide them since nothing of this was real. However, as the darkness emerged, the divergence began accelerating.
"28... 29... 30!"
As they hid from the archers of the city, the eagle soared high enough to escape their notice. His darkness retracted as the young man glanced at him with an intrigued expression.
"It\'s better if you don\'t ask," Nikolai said as he looked at the divergence meter not slowing down whatsoever. The young man shrugged before he turned toward the carriage.
Because they were flying against the wind, it was hard to catch up. However, another explosion of mana from the eagle pushed them forward again, causing a sonic boom to go off.
Nikolai had to grab the eagle\'s wings tightly just to balance himself. The young man was even more relentless than Nikolai, which was probably the power of a one-sided crush.
They were on top of the carriage after a few minutes, and Nikolai got to see that red energy was controlling the horses as they raced toward the ritual grounds. With each maniac gallop of the creatures, the divergence increased.
"We need to stop them!"
"Then jump!" the young man grabbed his arm and jumped from the eagle, which dived straight down toward the carriage. Then, the eagle crashed to the horses without stopping as the two began free-falling from the sky.
The young man used the wind for the two to land safely on the ground, descending as the carriage went off route and crashed to a nearby tree. Before the crash, two figures jumped out of the carriage.
Nikolai and the young man landed tens of meters away from the two figures, but they could see that they were unharmed. The two in question were a man and a woman, and they were looking at Nikolai and the young man with interest.
"Lyle?" Master Edward squinted his eyes at Nikolai. "And... young master," he said to the man. "What is the meaning of this attack? No, you were also pulled into this world," the strategist turned to Nikolai. "You know that this is the future."
[DIVERGENCE: 47%]
"I don\'t know what you are talking about, but I thought you weren\'t going to make it to the ritual. However, this friend of yours is..."
At first, Nikolai couldn\'t get a good look at Master Edward\'s friend because she was looking at the carriage, but she turned around when she heard his words.
The moment that their eyes met, Nikolai couldn\'t speak anymore. His mind couldn\'t process that she would be here, and his body couldn\'t move either. He gulped as she stared into his eyes with interest but no recognition.
"My friend?" Master Edward noticed the fear in Nikolai\'s eyes when he looked at her, and his interest was increasing. "I met her when I woke up, and she agreed that we need to visit the ritual for answers."
"She... believes you?"
"Address me properly, young man," she said with a grin as she took a few steps forward, her short black hair fluttering in the wind. "Do you know me?"
"I do not," Nikolai shook his head as he reminded himself that this was a fate vision, but he couldn\'t understand how Master Edward knew his tormentor, Lilith. "However, I ask that you go back to the city, both of you."
"You are lying, Lyle," Master Edward had his crazy grin again. "You are a hundred years too young to be able to lie to me. Tell me, what do you know about this world? Why are we in the future at the time of the ritual?"
Nikolai hated how sharp this strategist was. Nevertheless, he concluded that this phenomenon had something with the ritual as soon as he arrived at this vision, and he wanted to see why it happened.
"Trust me, Master Edward," Nikolai began, but the divergence rose 48%, and it made him change what he wanted to say. "I just need you to stay here, for all of our sakes."
Nikolai was sure that a termination of a branch wasn\'t something any of them would want, but saying anything about that would make the divergence increase.
His hair stood up as he felt the interest Lilith looked at him with, which made his heartbeat increase rapidly. If she takes an interest in him, she\'ll turn him into one of her pets.
\'No, this isn\'t real life. Master Edward is the only anomaly here, and I just need this vision to end. There\'s no way that the system will allow him to retain his memories in the vision as long as the divergence didn\'t exceed 50%.\'
"Forget it," Master Edward turned back toward the ritual. "I will go there and see it for myself. You are nothing but a frozen chicken."
As he said that, Master Edward sprinted toward the ritual. As the divergence reached 49%, the young man beside Nikolai took a step forward.
"Wait, Master Edward," he simply called out, but the master obliged to stop. "I trust that Lyle has his reasons, so how about you listen to what he says?"
Nikolai had no idea who this young man was and why he could ask such a thing from the king\'s brother. However, Master Edward seemed to consider it before shaking his head.
"You aren\'t the same person as the young master, so I\'ll have to decline."
"Then, I have no choice but to stop you with force," the young man smiled. "I never thought that you would refuse a request of mine, so I\'ll apologize for being disrespectful in advance."
As he said these words, a pair of giant wings appeared behind the young man\'s back. Nikolai stared with amazement as a crown of mana appeared on his head, and recognition dawned on him.
However, Master Edward sprinted toward the ritual before the young man could say anything more, and the latter followed after him. The speed of the two was beyond what Nikolai could pick up, and he wanted to sprint after them.
However, Lilith blocked his path.