As relative peace returned to Baiyi’s location, in a far, unknown corner of the realm where the Basilica of the Godsfall cult stood, sounds of frantic wings-flapping echoed through the air.
Three pitch-black ravens oozing thick black mist flew into the empty grand hall. They circled the hall once and landed, emitting even more black mist. When the thick cloud of black mist dissipated, three figures were standing in the same spot that the three ravens had landed.
“Umbra has come to inform us that they have failed their mission, and also, that they have no interest in retaking it in the future. The money was even returned,” the second shadowy figure spoke first.
“Giving up right after their first attempt? Have they discovered something?” The first figure asked.
The second shadow did not answer his question directly. He just continued, “There’s a very interesting factoid about the way they handled this mission, though. Umbra sent out one of their very best assassins and three apprentices, who had not even completed their training. Hmm-hmm, isn’t that interesting?”
“They are protesting against us in such a way? Very interesting indeed! They, somehow, saw through your little ploy, didn’t they? I suppose they even discovered our agent within their organization?” The third shadow replied. Even with his mechanical voice, one could still hear the amusement in his tone.
“I supposed it was expected of Umbra, though. When were they established? Who founded them? All everyone knows is that they have always existed; for millennia, even! An organization like this must possess their own brand of wisdom, don’t they? It’s not ridiculous that they saw through our scheme easily1 .”
“Oh no, my friend. This was no scheme. It was an open deal; at least, as open as an organization like Umbra could manage. As long as they still need business, they will always accept a mission. They worked nicely as our litmus test, gathering as much information about that Hope as we pleased,” the first figure said. “We did not even need to send any of our own. Wasn’t that just the perfect deal?”
“Unfortunately, however, such great deals only last once. Umbra has reiterated that there will be no second time, neither will they accept any job that revolves around that man,” the second figure explained.
“I see, but that doesn’t matter. They must have discovered something, didn’t they? What were their excuses for aborting the mission and their complete resignation?” the first figure asked.
“The target is out of their league. He also appears to have some history with the organization themselves; this was the explanation that Umbra gave,” the second figure replied. “They weren’t being very elaborative, but I’m sure it was enough.”
“Ha. Will you look at that; a sorcerer adept in Ancient Rohserlian formations, who also mastered the war druids’ melee prowess, who was the Apostle’s best friend, and now has some connection with Umbra?” the first figure’s amusement sounded barren, even in his synthesized voice. “Oh, let’s not forget that he is also from the Doors of Conundrum. Could someone like him even come from a group of street-dumb scholars like those people?”
“With these individual pieces of information, I’m sure his true identity would easily come to light, yes? How many people would fit all of these descriptions in eons?” the second figure said. “The most potent power that Hope has is the mystery involving his identity. He conceals everything about him, and hides his true strength from us; these little things make the two of you feel some form of unrest. However, once we strip that mystery off him, he will be nothing but another incredible pawn for our master strike.”
“I agree that it’s great we earned a piece of his puzzle through Umbra, but this has cost us our partnership with Umbra. They may no longer accept our requests, which—considering the distant future—may not be very smart,” the third figure cautiously warned the second figure.
“Oh please. Umbra is just an underground organization. Before our power and money, they should be grateful that they could even be considered lackeys in our plan. Why would you care about the opinion of such unimportant characters?” the second figure retorted indignantly. “Besides, Hope is our greatest enemy. As long as we can vanquish that man, why would we care if we lost our partnership with such a little assassin organization?”
“It’s infuriating that we cannot directly participate in this with our own power, seeing as our men are too incompetent; if not, we would not have to keep watching that contemptible rat tear our plan apart piece by piece!” The second figure’s malice was evident in his mechanical voice. It was certain that he harbored nothing but abhorrence for Baiyi.
The third shadow, however, seemed more reserved in his opinion. He did not comment on the second figure’s sentiment; instead, he asked, “What about those assassins? Did they die? Did you successfully started a blood feud between them and the target?”
“No! Those four sorry pieces of trash were let off in one piece. Hope has let someone off the hook again!” The second shadow snapped.
“Maybe he, too, realized something was missing. The assassins that Umbra sent after him were too atypical, so that may have served as a hint. Of course, this shows that he really does have some connection with Umbra, because he knows them well enough to understand them,” the first shadow said.
“Then we will continue drawing out his secrets. Once he is completely bared before us, it’ll be our turn to strike him right where it hurts the most,” the second figure concluded their meeting.
Black smog began to leak out of them, and soon, the black smog reverted back into ravens. The raves then melted into the shadows that enveloped the Basilica.
Meanwhile, the very man that the three enigmatic figures had been talking about was sitting in his own lab, with one leg crossed on top of the other, as he wrapped up his speech to the Voidwalkers, “So that’s what I think this was. Those assassins weren’t here for my life; they were here for information on me. I mean, I’m not sure what anyone can find from someone with as a clean a slate as I have; however, I think it was settled pretty well in retrospect; all thanks in no small part to our very own Assassin Walker.”
He divided a little of his consciousness to lightly jab the lady Walker who was holding her own conversation. Her only response was a sharp stab back without any verbal replies. She was probably really mad, cause she was acting like an enraged kitten biting the hand that pats.
“All I’m saying is: Miss Assassin was right in her rationale. I have no reason to enter a feud with the ever-so-secretive Umbra. However, showing off a little of my skills, and leaving the door open for negotiations between both of us may very well work to our advantage in the future. We might not need their strength, but we can count on their accurate, efficient, and complete intel to plan our next moves,” Baiyi continued, hoping to provoke a verbal response from the Assassin.
The girl, however, was either tired of retaliating against his endless pokes, or she realized that her retaliatory jabs did not deter Baiyi, seeing she stopped responding to his pokes and let him did whatever he wanted.
“You may be right, but don’t you think showing off Umbra’s own assassination technique adds more unwanted attention to your true identity? Everyone is starting to work on figuring that out, you know?” The Engineer interjected suddenly.
‘Whoa! This was one of those rare times he isn’t saying out what his balls are thinking!’ Baiyi thought, feeling impressed with the sobriety that Engineer had displayed; hence, he explained patiently, “Don’t worry. Those people would have to go through all sorts of plausible or implausible theories first before they even think of the Void. And that is if—and that’s a big if—they believe that people can survive the Void and becomes Voidwalkers.”
The consensus had always been similar: the Void symbolized eternal darkness and coldness, the purgatory for all souls to vanish on its own, and the absolute end zone for all manner of life. According to the Church’s teachings, only the most contemptible of scums, the worst of the worst, the assholes, and the bastards would be sent into the Void, facing true death.
If these monsters managed to come back to reality by escaping that nightmarish prison, the consequence would be an Armageddon. Just think: those who got sent to the Void were already considered deplorable. What would become of them after they’ve faced eternal torment and darkness? These exiled being would not possess even a single shred of kindness and rationale anymore! They would look at Isythre—and other realms—in envy and fury, and proceed to destroy everything straight away! Everyone who crossed their paths would die; the deaths would continue until every world was gone!
Of course, this could only happen if any who was exiled to the void escaped from it. However, thousands of years had passed, and no one had ever broken out from the Void; including the heretics who had dared try to investigate, research, and study the Void in details, hoping to harness its abilities. If even these Void scholars could not come back from there, who else could?
To most people, the monsters that lurked in the Void were no more real than the ghouls and monsters that earthlings talk about. The monsters in the void were similar to vampires, zombies, aliens, and moderate fundamentalists; they sound creepy, but they were basically nonexistent.
“Look, my true identity is basically similar to an otherkin, you know? Even fewer people would ever imagine that there are a bunch of us who have been living in the Void for thousands of years. Every study has shown that it was impossible for anyone to exist in the Void — at most, we’re just a backdrop for someone’s nightmare,” Baiyi explained. “Even if I ran on the streets tomorrow, telling everyone that I’m actually a Voidwalker, most would only think that I smoked something really good. It’s like telling people you’re a time traveler, you know?”
“Alright, I get ya,” the Engineer replied, and after a brief pause, he asked, “You’re… You’re not really gonna tell everyone about your identity, right?”
“What? Am I supposed to be that daft?” Baiyi replied snappily. “I wasn’t serious about exposing my identity! I still need to lie low—and lie, actually. If I don’t suggest the Void, no one would even think of that; but once I do, well, the conspiracy nutters among them might just get some ideas. By then it would be uncontrollable!”
“If they realized that what they considered fiction was, in fact, real—the amount of terror that would arise right after the realization would be devastating,” Baiyi added.
That was what salvation meant to Baiyi. He did not just want to rescue the Voidwalkers from the Void, he also wanted to rescue them from the discrimination and fear that these people harbor for the Voidwalkers. Doing that would need even more time and effort.
And just like that, the discussion-of-the-day ended. Baiyi turned his effort back to trying to appease the Assassin, and one of the efforts was to privately message her. “Hey, I reminded of your tremendous contribution to our last victory. Is that… Is that good enough?”
The only response he received was, “Hmph!”
‘Bloody hell! Et tu , Miss Assassin?’