Chapter 780: Dark Rash

“A… puppeteer?” asked Julia with a frown. Arthur nodded, and the woman pondered. “I haven’t heard such a thing except for the incident you mentioned in the ruins. It might be an external enemy that has such an ability.”

“I doubt such an enemy would be a member of Runera’s echelons,” said Arthur with a pondering expression. “I couldn’t know who it was, but there was twelve members total, including the family heads.”

“The Reverse Family is still choosing a new heir, so we can a.s.sume that one of its vice-heads or a deputy family head. However, the rest can be honorable heads or vice heads. We have no way of knowing. Many explore different ruins instead of sitting around in Runera.”

“What are honorable heads?”

“Retired ones, who chose to research instead of running the family. We have no method of investigating it since I have been kicked from Runera.”

“You have been kicked?”

“Rumors reached them that I am the current vice-guild leader, so an announcement came through that I betrayed Runera. I have also been linked to the recent attack against it, which ended the Runic Guards and Grandmaster Jumana repelling it.”

“I guess they need a scapegoat,” frowned Arthur as he stared at her. “It seems that joining me has greatly damaged you. Are you still sure about this?”

“I was hesitant until I saw this place,” said Julia as she spread her arms. “This is a great feat of runic science. Every inch of this fortress has more runes than I can get my hands on in Runera. I might become the youngest runic grandmaster!” she said excitedly until her eyes fell on Arthur. “Well, besides you.”

“You can have that t.i.tle because I’m not sure I can be counted as a runemaster anymore. I create them, not research them.”

“The more you learn about runes, the more you grow stronger,” said Julia as she rose and her necklace swayed before her. “For example, this fortress has runes to hide its presence. If you can understand how this happens, you will have more runes to use.”

“I learned the runic language long ago,” frowned Arthur, but Julia smiled and shook her head. She removed her silver robes and took out a ring from her blue jeans.

“This is a game sold in Runera, and it demonstrates the power of runes,” said Julia as she activated it. A hologram appeared in front of her big round eyes, which she turned toward Arthur. “It is called Runes Mixer.”

Arthur could see different runes available to be mixed. As he raised his finger, the screen reacted, and one of the runes entered the two boxes below. Then, he placed another. The game then did an animation where the runes broke down, and half of them merged, creating the third rune.

[Collapse!]

A warning appeared, and the rune collapsed. Arthur was confused as Julia started laughing. Her face turned red, and her tied hair almost fell out of her bun.

“This is what makes this game so fun. You have to understand these runes before you make a selection. The more successful merges you make, the higher your score will be.”

“You say that even if I know how to write runic lines, I still need time to figure out possible combinations.”

Julia nodded before she closed the game and walked to hand him the ring. Then, she stood behind Arthur, caressing his shoulders with a deep sigh.

“Oren told me about your father,” she suddenly said, making Arthur shift in his place. “It seems that you still hold something against him. However, isn’t it the best revenge to let go? Your powers are destined to create something for this world and to save it. Does it matter what he did?”

“The best revenge is to let go?” repeated Arthur for a second before he held her forearm and turned his head to look at her. “The best revenge is to stop his actions, which endanger millions for glory. Seref chose to be the villain so I could be the savior in his name.”

“It’s your name,” she answered while placing her other hand on his knuckles. “No one knows or cares who your father is. All they could think about are the feats you accomplished so far.”

“I know that this name he gave me used to be his own, and that’s enough to hate him,” said Arthur. “I will let go, eventually, when I kill him for what he did to mom and me.”

“…I understand,” sighed Julia before pulling her hand away. “It just hurts to see you like this. You haven’t smiled since we created this guild. And this is not the way to live.”

“I survive,” muttered Arthur as he watched her go toward the door. “Wait for a second. Do you think that rune exists?”

“What rune?” asked Julia with a frown as she turned around. Arthur paused to phrase his question correctly, and a smile appeared.

“A single rune to create everything,” said Arthur, his eyes glowing golden. The light in the room dimmed until all Julia could see were his eyes. She shivered a bit before rubbing her forearm.

“Isn’t that the grand pursuit?” said Julia with a shrug before leaving the room. Arthur watched the doors close before he sighed.

“Do I need to act happy for them?” wondered Arthur allowed. The cold steel around him couldn’t answer his question. “How can one act happy?”

The back of his neck tingled as he mulled over such an existential question. Then, finally, Arthur realized it was the alarm rune he had installed near the Shadow Meadow. His eyes widened before his arm slashed the empty air to create a portal. Then, he jumped.

Arthur would need a full minute to reach the meadow like on his earlier trip. However, it took half of that time since he was in a hurry, expanding the limits of his rune. When he finally arrived, the place was quiet.

“There is nothing here?” wondered Arthur as he looked around. The meadow was empty, and the stream was flowing smoothly. Then, however, a small opening in the previously-closed door made his heart tremble.

Arthur rushed inside to find Suyin convulsing on the bed. Her eyes were bloodshot and open as her back arched. Suyin let out several groans as if she couldn’t breathe, even holding her throat in pain.

“Yin!” shouted Arthur as he rushed forward. He found a dark spot on her throat that kept spreading to the rest of her body. So, he took out his Heal-IV rune and infused it with all the mana he could.

The rune healed all her previous injuries, but the dark rash on her neck was still spreading. Arthur looked at it with confusion and shock as he tried to use more mana, but nothing changed. Tears leaked from her eyes as they turned toward Arthur, and her throat let out a hoa.r.s.e sound.

“Ar… thur…” she said while crying, and it broke Arthur’s heart to see her like this. First, however, he needed to calm down to understand how to heal her.

“Yin, yin! What happened? Tell me what happened while I was gone?” he asked while holding her body. “What is this dark rash?”

“I…”

Suyin tried speaking, but her body started convulsing harder. Arthur wanted to hold her down, but the pain seemed too much for her to speak. Then, as he tried to think of a rune that could save her, he heard a voice from behind him.

“It seems I was right. This girl does matter for the one and only Arthur Silvera,” said a m.u.f.fled voice from the table. Arthur turned around slowly to stare at the small device that appeared there. “Do you recognize this voice?”

His tone was teasing as if an old friend was playing a prank on him. Arthur glared at the device as he tried to prevent her from hurting herself. Finally, a chuckle from the machine broke the silence.

“I guess not. After all, we barely talked during the fight in the Mansell Mansion. Who would have thought the great Arthur Silvera would have such a weak spot for women?”

“Hartman!” shouted Arthur as his rage exploded, making the hut creak. “Show yourself! What have you done to her?!”

“There is no need to grow agitated, wiseman. I merely demonstrated my astral weapon for you since I never got the chance for that. There is no use healing her because her injuries are not physical. It is her soul.”

“Her soul?” muttered Arthur as he turned toward Yin and thought about how to treat such an injury. All he could think about was infusing her with his spiritual energy, which he did.

“AAAAH!” shrieked Suyin in pain, making Arthur stop with confusion. A snicker came from the device behind him as if he expected that Arthur would try such a thing.

“A small reminder that spiritual powers will only make her suffer and make the rash spread faster,” said Hartman from the device. “Furthermore, any strain on her body will make it fall apart. After all, her soul is under attack!”