Chapter 50: Chapter 40: Dark Presence and an Enraged Old Man.

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 40: Dark Presence and an Enraged Old Man.

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A few moments ago, in the slums of Mutm…

In one of the many dark and moist alleyways of the slums of the capital city of the Empire, an enormous shadow with multiple mouths and eyes all over its body hovered in front of a haggard-looking and malnourished child of indistinguishable gender…

"Tell me, child, do you desire power? The power to escape from this hellish place filled with misery and pain and to finally make something out of your life?" The shadow whispered sweet words to the child.

"Who… Who…. Who are you…?" The child, with whatever strength they have left, barely managed to utter those words.

The child thought that the shadow was nothing more than an illusion, after all, the last time the child had eaten anything was a week ago, and even then, it wasn't anything more than a single piece of hard bread with a glass of water that a kind old lady had given to them. The child was sure that this was going to be their end and the Goddess of Death came to claim them.

"Who? Me? I suppose it is understandable that you wouldn't recognize me. My name is Agmos and I am here to save you." The shadow introduced itself.

"Agmos…?" The child said with confusion. The child knew about a god with that name, but they were too hungry and lightheaded to remember the details about that deity.

"Indeed, I am god and I have come to save you. You'll get whatever that little tender heart of yours desires, little girl." All of the mouths of the shadow smiled. "As much food as your little tummy can hold, as much money that you'll never know how to spend it all! You'll get a family and servants to take care of every single one of your needs! So many toys that you'll never be bored again! And power! You'll obtain power beyond belief! Enough to put the people who have made you suffer in this place where they all belong, beneath the soles of your feet!" Agmos continued talking while smiling eerily.

The girl fell silent upon the one in a lifetime offer that the god in front of her was proposing to her, out of all people suffering here in the slums… In her hungry state, she didn't want to bother to ask what he wanted in exchange… All she wanted was to escape from the hellhole that she called home.

"That's not good, little girl. Before striking a deal with someone, you need to ask for the conditions! You don't wanna get fooled, after all. Hihihihi~!" Agmos laughed playfully after reading her mind. "My conditions are very very simple~! You see… You will become my apostle! Your duties will be not too overly complicated, really. You will just need to live a normal and fulfilling life, telling me about any interesting events in this city and doing a few little unimportant tasks for me every now and then. How does that sound? It is a pretty good offer if you ask me." Agmos explained his conditions.

"I… I accept… I'll be your servant… Please help me… Lord Agmos…" The little girl didn't care about his explanation and accepted his proposal immediately.

"Good! Then let's not waste any time and seal our deal!" Agmos said joyfully. He placed a shadowy hand on the forehead of the girl.

As soon as he did that, a dark red crest in the shape of a laughing mouth and an open eye appeared on the girl's forehead. It was the Crest of the God of Deceit.

"Wonderful! Now, listen carefully. You'll fall asleep now and when you wake up, you'll be living as a noble lady. A knight will come to pick you up shortly." Agmos said as he waved his hand in front of the eyes of the girl.

The girl looked at him with confusion for a moment. Her eyelids suddenly felt very heavy and in the blink of an eye, she was asleep.

"Phew… With this, the groundwork in both continents for my plans should be done." Agmos said as if he was tired. "Now I have pawns in every major city of both halves of Hresviae which should make it easier for me to give every single country the secret to summoning heroes from another world!" Agmos smiled from ear to ear.

Ever since Melius's imprisonment, the Schism, and the defeat of the demons, Agmos had been bored out of his mind. Even going to other worlds to mess with the mortals and pissing off other deities there didn't fulfill him anymore, with the exception of one occasion where he made the family of a man kill said man a decade ago, but Agmos had long forgotten about it by now… He was more interested in his new plot, which was something that would relieve his boredom for good.

"I can hardly wait! I'm so unbelievably excited that my whole body is twitching! I'm so excited that my body is dancing on its own!" Agmos immediately started dancing in front of the unconscious little girl. His shadowy tendrils and shapeless body would make anyone faint if they could see him dancing… "The War of Heroes! I love how that sounds! It will be the ultimate spectacle of carnage and despair!" Agmos grinned maliciously.

Agmos' plan was to grant every country in Hresviae the ability to summon not one, not two, definitely not three, but hundreds of people from other worlds so they could fight in an all-out war. All for his own sick entertainment, of course. 

He didn't care in the slightest that his plan could get the gods of other worlds to invade this world as retribution, or the number of lives that would need to be sacrificed to make his plan come to fruition… Agmos just wanted to get rid of his boredom and experience the ultimate pleasures while doing so.

Agmos was a hedonist to his very core. He only cared about fulfilling his desires and despised being bored with a passion.

"Huh…?" Agmos immediately stopped dancing the moment something else caught his attention and made him snap out of his thoughts. He was looking with all of his eyes in a single direction. "That’s odd… I can't see what's happening over there… I can look around the general area and even see what's happening in the rest of the city, but I can't lay my eyes on that particular location…" Agmos said with suspicion.

After desperately trying to figure out what was happening, in just a split second, he was able to feel a very familiar presence, which was trying to investigate the city, searching for Agmos himself.…

"Oh! I see! Lia, what a pleasant surprise~! You finally come out from your little hiding place and it seems like you're protecting someone~!" All of Agmos' mouths smiled joyfully in a way that could only be described as nightmare fuel.

If the little girl was awake, she would surely die from a heart attack from the fear provoked by Agmos' horrible smile.

"I'm so happy! You're finally rejoining our little game! How exciting! The pieces are falling on the board on their own~!" Agmos hid his presence from Lia's divine gaze... "I can assure you that this will be the greatest game we'll ever have, dear Lia!" Agmos said before he started cackling while leaving the material world.

Agmos had left just in time. Just like he had said to the little girl, a man in plate armor with a blue cape, came to patrol this particular alleyway.

The only thing that the man could see in the alley beside the puddles of piss and vomit, and the empty bottles of booze, courtesy of the local drunkards, was that little malnourished girl, barely older than ten years of age, laying on the ground…

The holy symbol that Agmos had carved on her forehead had faded away just like her interaction with the God of Deceit had faded from her mind…

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-----Julius' POV-----

Currently…

After being invited inside by Bruno, my mom's adoptive grandfather, we all found ourselves sitting in the middle of a large dining room.

Just like many times before during this trip, all of the girls decided who would sit by my side through a quick rock-paper-scissors game. Luna and Liliana won this time. The former is sitting by my right side while the latter is sitting on my left.

There was a large number of tables spread evenly across the room. The kitchen was just beside this room and there's even a bar in here! The floors were made out of cobblestone and the walls were made out of bricks, while the ceiling was made out of wood.

The walls were filled with hunting trophies with the heads of several different monsters and animals and there were some paintings of a gorgeous dwarven woman who was wearing some purple robes and a huge witch hat. In all of the paintings, the woman appeared in a different pose.

And no, before you ask, dwarven women surprisingly don't have beards as people say on the internet.

Anyhow, all in all, the decorations made the place look like a lovely and cozy rural restaurant. It also looks a lot like the inns we stayed in during our trip here.

"Here you go. I am sorry for the mess, but as you can imagine, I wasn't expecting you to come and visit with the whole family, little Lili…" Bruno said apologetically as he placed a tray on the table with enough teacups for all of us.

Despite the apologetic attitude of the old man, there wasn't any mess to speak of... The room was pretty much spotless.

We also tried to help him set up the table and help him with the tray, but he vehemently refused and told us to sit down while he went to the kitchen to get everything.

I was a little curious about the women he had yelled at a few moments ago, but there was no one here beside us and Bruno… Maybe they were upstairs or maybe it could be that Bruno was suffering from dementia.

Either way, it was a little spooky…

"Grandpa, you know that I don't really care about that. In fact, it is my fault for not saying anything in the last letter I sent you. I really wanted to surprise you!" My mom said happily and reassured Bruno.

"Hehehe. There's no point for any of us to take the blame, so let's forget about it. You know that you come and go as you please since this is your house too. I'm just happy to be able to see you and the family again." Bruno was smiling from ear to ear. He was genuinely overjoyed by our visit. "By the way, who are all these children? Huh… There's even a fairy too…" Bruno looked at Mia, Klein, Neris, Elissa, Leaf, and me with curiosity. He didn't seem too shocked to see a genuine fairy.

The first ones to speak were both Neris and Elissa. They immediately stood up and bowed politely.

"Greetings. My name is Neris Anastasia Shtrel. I am an esquire of the order of the Roses of Nebandia and a student of the Blaise Academy. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." As expected of a daughter of the nobility, Neris introduced herself elegantly and with a graceful smile.

"Nice to meet you, I am Elissa Arnault. Just like Neris, I am also an esquire of the Roses of Nebandia, but I am not from any prestigious family or anything like it. Please treat me well!" Elissa introduced herself just as politely as Neris.

"Hoh… I wasn't expecting to meet Ophelia's niece today, nice to meet the two of you. How is Ophelia doing now? It's been a while since I last saw her." Bruno said while rubbing his chin.

"She's doing good actually. Things happened on our way here, and we ended up traveling together with her, hence why Neris and Elissa are currently accompanying us." My mom replied instead of Neris. "And you are well aware why she doesn't like this place… Remember that creepy talk you two had before we moved away?" My mom was suddenly very pissed off.

"Hehehe! What can I say? Even at my age, I am a ladies' man!" Bruno said with pride. "Anyway, I don't think we should talk about that topic in front of the children… Speaking of which, who are the rest of these kids?" The old man looked at us with increasing interest.

"Klein Arante." Klein was not very interested in the conversation… He just said his name and resumed daydreaming about Elissa.

"Klein! Introduce yourself properly! You're embarrassing mom, dad, and the professor with your attitude!" Mia got angry at her little brother. Her ears were moving furiously… "I'm really sorry about my brother! My name is Mia Arante. I'm the best friend of the twins and Julius's future wife!" Mia stood proudly and immediately introduced herself as my future wife…

Not gonna lie, it was a little embarrassing but it did make me happy to hear it.

"Don't worry missy, he's just a man of few words, nothing wrong with that." Bruno dismissed her apology. 

I'd like to doubt that... He is only like that when he's not talking about ruins.

Everyone in the room besides Bruno looked at Klein with amusement, Elissa included.

"I'm Leaf! The twins and Mia are also my best friends! It is so nice to meet you!" Leaf stood on Mia's shoulder and introduced herself with her friendliest smile.

"Mia, Leaf, since you both are a friend of my dear great-grandchildren, you are welcome to use this house as you please." Bruno seemed moved by their self-introductions and smiled at the two of them. "I suppose you must be the future husband Mia is talking about…" His smile disappeared when my turn came. His smile was replaced by a look of disdain…

Oh? Shit, did I do anything to piss him off? I haven't even opened my mouth to talk to him yet!

(You didn't do anything. Just wait and see the old man embarrassing himself!) Thiasis said with amusement.

"Grandpa?" My mom was a little dumbfounded by Bruno's attitude.

"Lilia, who the fuck is this bastard of a child and why is he acting so touchy-feely with the twins!? You already have a cute fiancée and you're playing around with my great-granddaughters!? I know the kind of guy you will be! I will do this world a favor and I will destroy your ass so hard with my cane that your mother will feel envious!!!" Much to everyone's horror, especially my mom's, Bruno started screaming at me.

Ah… I see… So the reason why he was screaming at me was that the twins were being as affectionate as usual. They were sitting really close to me and leaning their heads against my shoulders and they were holding my hands on top of that.

Normally, I would ignore his screams or fight back, but this time, however, I'm barely holding my urge to roll on the floor and laugh due to the ironic words of the old man…

(Pffft! That was a very poor choice of words, don't you think?) Lilia said before she started cackling.

(Please don't remind me of that! I'm barely preventing myself from losing it!) I said to Lia with amusement. Tears were quickly forming in the corners of my eyes while I tried to contain my laughter, which unintentionally made the whole situation worse…

"Oh!? You're gonna cry now!? That shit won't fly with me! You fucked around and you're about to find out, punk! I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget, pretty boy!" The old man raised his cane and started walking angrily toward me.

Immediately after he raised his cane, he was stopped by my mom and the twins who all basically rushed to stop him.

Everyone else was looking in horror while Thiasis and I looked at the scene with amusement.

"Grandpa, stop!" Liliana shouted in a panic.

"I won't let you hurt him!" Luna said with determination and started pushing back Bruno.

"Grandpa, what are you trying to do to my child!? I'll send you to see Granny Arentia in the afterlife if you even dare to touch a single hair strand of his!" My mom went full mama bear mode and held Bruno from behind. "In fact, who the hell gave you the right to curse in front of my children!? I'll kick your dementia-ridden ass, old man!" As expected, my mother was not amused in the slightest by her grandfather's actions.

Me? I was actually about to laugh thanks to this whole situation…

(Jeez… Now I see where Mom got her temper from! It all makes sense now.) I thought.

"Wait… He's your child? But… I thought you couldn't have any more children…" Bruno was left stunned with his cane over his head.

Wait… Did I hear that correctly? Mom can't have more children?

I couldn't help but look at her with sadness…

"Yes! He is my child!" My mom replied. She was exasperated.

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"Huh… Now that you mention it, he has the same hair color as Fred…" Bruno fell deep in thought. 

Oh… I forgot to take my ring off like mom asked…

Unfortunately, I was about to find out that I made the situation worse again…

"That bastard cheated on you, didn't he!? Let me go! I'm gonna tear him a new butthole! I don't care if I die trying, I'm gonna take his cheating ass to the afterlife with me!" Bruno was even more furious than ever before. So much so that he was hitting the ceiling with his cane. "To cheat on you and make you raise his affair child… He's a fucking dead man! I told you he wasn't any good for you!" Bruno said to my mother while enraged.

"Where the fuck did you get that from!?" My mom shouted with a confused expression. "For Melius's sake! We adopted him! We found him in the forest and adopted him! Julius, take that godforsaken ring off please…" My mom yelled back at Bruno before looking at me with a pleading expression.

"Alright…" I said with a flat tone while still doing my best to not laugh.

The moment I took the ring off of my finger, my hair quickly regained its natural black color in less than an instant. I could see Neris and Elissa look at me with both confusion and surprise while Bruno looked at me with embarrassment… The moment he saw my black hair, he quickly realized his mistake.

I was a little worried about the reactions of both Neris and Elissa since I was told that nobles and people who live in the capital tend to discriminate against people with my hair color a lot more than commoners… 

I have been called Demon-touched by a handful of people, mostly by other commoners in the past and I didn't really care, since it is true that I am the child of a demon. But I have to admit that it would really sting if I was called that by someone I became friends with…

"Ahh… Umm…" Bruno was flustered and pretty much speechless. I couldn't imagine how embarrassed he must be feeling.

(See? I told you it would be good!) Thiasis was satisfied.

(You can be really mean to other people at times, you know? It was really funny though.) I replied.

(He got what was coming for him. He should have just sat down and listened instead of blowing up at you. He deserved it.) Lia said nonchalantly.

"See? He has genuine black hair, which should be proof enough that neither Fred nor myself have cheated on each other. Well… That's also proof that I didn't give birth to him, but he's still my child nonetheless!" My mom said as if it was natural. "This situation should be enough to teach you not to act like a rash angry old man and jump to conclusions like you always do!" My mom said before she let out a deep and heavy sigh.

If mom wasn't tired from our journey, she was now… My mom and the twins quickly stopped holding Bruno, who was still stunned and walked over to me.

"I'm sorry about that, Julius… I know that you usually don't get affected by this kind of thing, but what Grandpa did was unforgivable and I'm very ashamed that I let it happen... I would totally understand if you want to leave and look for another place to stay." My mom said while patting my head. She had an apologetic expression on her face.

"Don't cry! Your older sisters are here with you! Everything is okay! There's no need to cry!" Liliana was still panicking a little while looking for a handkerchief to give to me.

"Grandpa is the worst…" Luna just stared at Bruno very coldly while muttering those words.

It was amazing how Luna could go from having a caring gaze to one of absolute disdain… I should be careful and not piss her off at all in the future…

"It's fine, Mom. As you just said, it didn't affect me that much. Truth to be told, I'm the one who should be ashamed… I felt way more amused by this whole situation than I should have been…" I started to awkwardly scratch the back of my neck just like my dad usually does. "But I'm not angry or anything. In fact, I think just letting him embarrass himself like just he did is good enough as a punishment. So let bygones be bygones, okay? Thank you for defending me, though." I smiled warmly at the three of them.

I mean, if Bruno hadn't been stopped by the three of them, I think I'd be more than enough to handle an old man like him. Though, it does make me enormously happy to know the fact that my mom and my sisters would stand up for me even to someone who has been in their family for longer than me…

"What are you talking about? Your mom will always defend you no matter what!" My mom immediately smiled back and ruffled my hair. "You look cute with brown hair, but this color definitely suits you best. I wish you didn't have to hide it… I'm so sorry…" My mom apologized with a sad expression.

"It is not your fault, mom. You don't need to apologize." I ended up giving her a hug.

"That's right! Julius looks better with black hair!" Liliana was full of confidence.

"If people don't know how to appreciate it, we'll just have to appreciate it more to compensate." Luna said as she started to play around with my hair.

"In the first place, I don't really get why people care and get so upset by something as simple as hair color. It isn't like it makes a difference in who you are anyway." Klein said with a bored look on his face.

"That's true! Though I prefer Julius' natural black too! It makes him look super interesting!" Mia said with a warm smile as she walked over to us.

"I love his hair because it makes him a little spooky at night and he's really good at hide-and-seek because of it! " Leaf also chimed in with her thoughts about me and my hair…

Spooky huh… I don't know what to think of that…

"Wow… This is the first time I have met someone with natural black hair… It is a little strange to look at but it is also so mesmerizing…" Neris also came closer and started to shyly play with my hair. She was looking at me with increasing curiosity.

"Yeah, it is impossible to meet someone with this color in my village, so it is a very refreshing thing to see! But rather than the hair… I'm more interested in the tool Julius was using to change his hair color! I have never seen anything like it!" Elissa said enthusiastically while examining the ring I had left on the table. 

Contrary to my expectations and fears, the two of them had positive thoughts about my hair color, so a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Even though I didn't really feel about what happened, everyone had come to reassure me… It really makes me want to give them something to show my appreciation…

Oh! Since this is a city known for being a trade center with a huge port and an enormous market, there should be an abundance of ingredients to buy, so that means that I could make whatever I want as long as I manage to find the ingredients!

It is decided! I will be making a delicious meal for everyone! Even for Bruno, to show that there are no hard feelings. 

But what should I make though…? Hmm…

While I was lost in thought, I had failed to notice the fire that had been ignited in Bruno’s eyes… I was totally oblivious to what was about to happen.

In the blink of an eye, he quickly ran towards me and stood in front of me, looking straight into my eyes with a very serious expression.

Naturally, my mom and my sisters were already prepared to stop him just in case. All three of them were silently glaring at him.

"Your name was Julius, right?" He asked with a serious look on his face.

"Yep. My name is Julius Navar, it is nice to meet you, grandfather." I couldn't help myself but tease him.

"I see… Umm… Sigh… I apologize for what I said to you… I was in the wrong and I'm sorry for my actions…" He apologized awkwardly.

"As I said to my mom, we should let bygones be bygones. I was about to laugh at what you said, so you can forget about it." I offered him my hand for a handshake.

He just stared at me with a blank look on his face for a few moments before accepting my handshake.

"After decades and decades looking, I finally found it… A worthy successor! And it is my new grandchild no less!" Bruno was beaming with happiness once again.

"Successor? Umm… What do you mean?" I was very confused.

"Yes, grandpa, what exactly do you mean by that?" My mom asked with a raised eyebrow.

He ignored both of us and placed both of his hands on my shoulders.

"My boy, I, your great-grandfather, shall teach you my ways! I will not leave this world until you're prepared to take my place as a ladies' man!" The old man was full of fire, he had a new purpose to fulfill…

Umm… Excuse me? 

"That's forbidden. I won't allow you to turn my innocent boy into a womanizer like you." My mother immediately denied his new purpose.

"Even if you are against it, I will teach him! The boy is a diamond in the making and he'll need my teachings for a prosperous future!" Bruno insisted on teaching me the way of a ladies' man… 

(Heh. It is not like you need his help anyway.) Thiasis quipped.

(And what exactly do you mean by that?) I asked with a raised eyebrow.

(Nothing~! Don't worry about it, my little devil~.) Thiasis dodged the question.

"I don't wanna hear about a prosperous future from someone who got divorced six fucking times!" My mom shouted with annoyance.

"It doesn't matter what you say little Lili, my mind is made. I shall teach the boy my craft as a way to gain his forgiveness!" Bruno shook his head, not caring about my mother's opinion. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's something I need to announce to the world. Please make yourselves at home." He smiled at all of us before suddenly bolting towards the front door.

Everyone in the room was left stunned again by how quick the old man was…

"Listen up, motherfuckers! I have a new great-grandson! You better guard up your daughters, your sisters, and your wives, cuz he'll come for all of them in the future! Bwahahahahaha!" We could hear Bruno scream and laugh evilly at the top of his lungs while he ran further down the street.

"…" All of us just stared at each other in silence while we heard his screams rapidly fading away.

I couldn't help but just look at my mom, doubting the sanity of my new grandfather.

"Well, how about we drink the tea before it gets cold?" My mom averted her gaze, trying to avoid the topic.

"It is for the better." I let out an awkward laugh.

"I'd like a cup if you don't mind…" My dad said with a flat tone as he came into the room from the back door of the house.

Again, all of us just stared at him in disbelief. He was covered from head to toe in dust and food waste.

"Fred, dear… What happened to you? I thought you were parking the wagons." My mom asked with a curious expression.

"And that's exactly what I was doing… However, the gods apparently decided that it was a good day for a rain of dust, food waste, and dirty women's clothing when I was on my way here…" My dad looked almost as if his soul had left his body.

My dad's explanation didn't make any sense…

"I think you should take a bath instead of a cup of tea… You kinda stink… I'll prepare everything for you." My mom laughed awkwardly before standing up and walking over to my father. "Kids, have fun by yourselves while we are gone. You can use the house as you please and if you need anything, just come and look for me. The twins know where everything is either way, but just in case you know where to find us." My mom said as left while dragging my father upstairs, leaving all of us on our own.

This is certainly not what I imagined how meeting my adoptive great-grandfather would go a few minutes ago… 

Hell, I'm still waiting for an explanation about what happened to dad!

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Chapter 40: Dark Presence and an Enraged Old Man.

END

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