Chapter 183: Fate

"What?" Hugh asked as he looked up at the devilish face.

This was the first time that he had heard the face talk. However, its mouth and face did not move as it talked.

"To be or not to be. Follow fate to its demise, or try to defy it?"

Hugh frowned. He did not know what the devilish face was talking about. What fate? He did not connect it to his alternate life at all.

"You are Luci, aren't you?" Serena asked as she looked up at the devilish face.

The devilish face was silent after Serena figured out his real identity. Even Hugh was surprised at the revelation.

"What?! He is Luci?" Hugh said as he looked up with a surprised face.

As he observed the devilish face, he suddenly remembered a very vivid vision of Luci when he was conquering the world.

The face, the red and black lines, everything looked the same. It truly was Luci right before their eyes.

However, why was he here? Was that alternate life real? Did that happen? Did he and Serena have a preset fate in their hands?

"You had it hard, didn't you?" Serena uttered as she raised her hand and tried to touch the devilish face.

However, the face was out of reach. It was in the ceiling, but Serena felt like she would not reach the face even if she tried her hardest to jump.

The height difference is as vast as heaven and earth. Serena was a mortal, while the devilish face was a godlike creature.

"Choose," the devilish face uttered, ignoring the words of Serena.

However, how could Serena and Hugh answer the question so easily? The fate of the world rested on their hands, and it was not so easy to throw it away.

Even though it was an alternate reality, Serena still loved Luci dearly. He was just a misunderstood and mistreated kid in a world where he was alone.

Due to that, he was led down the wrong path.

Hugh and Serena could not do easily kill off their son. Something deep inside their bodies and mud was preceding that, their parental instincts.

"Choose or I will bestow upon you a burden you cannot bear," said the voice.

No matter what the voice said, Serena did not dare to choose anything. Her whole mind was conflicted and she could not think of anything.

"Fine," the voice said with a heavy voice. "I will choose for you."

Then, Hugh and Serena were both surrounded by a strange power that they could not escape from.

A red light suddenly appeared on their fingers. When they looked down, they saw a red string connecting their little fingers.

This was the red string of fate.

Their fates were sealed together, destined to never be apart from each other.

"Soon, you will meld, and I will have my reincarnation," the voice uttered as the face suddenly moved.

"You cannot escape."

The voice echoed along with the room as the face moved away from the room, never to be seen ever again.

Hugh and Serena looked at their fingers and saw a red ring tattooed around their pinky finger.

That was not an illusion, but a source of power created than anything they had ever seen. They both felt a connection ever since they got their fates intertwined with each other.

After that, silence reigned upon the room as Hugh and Serena looked down.

With their inability and hesitation to choose, they might have unleashed a greater evil upon the world. They might have signed the contract that will destroy the whole world.

Then, a bright light suddenly appeared in front of them. When they looked at it, they saw a tunnel that led to the outside.

Without hesitation, they both stepped foot outside and never looked back.

——————

Aric and Jane were both looking at a strange building in front of them.

This was the same building that the Shark Loan Company had when they were back in the town.

"This must be the place," Jane said as she looked at the bald guards roaming around the place.

"Do you think Mia is in there?" Aric asked as he saw the impenetrable defenses of the whole building.

"We'll just have to try," Jane said as she soon sneaked closer to the building.

Aric had no choice but to follow Jane in their quest to try and break Mia out of the prison. Although, Aric was not even sure that Mia was in there.

However, as Jane and Aric moved closer, they suddenly saw the door burst wide open. They quickly hid in the corner so as not to be spotted.

Then, they took a peek around the corner to see who had come out.

"Where are we going?"

Aric and Jane both heard this voice, and they realized that it was familiar. It was Darren's voice.

When they peeked around the corner, they saw Darren, Miser, and other strangers walk away from the building.

From what they could see, Miser and Darren had shackles around their arms so that they could not escape. It was clear that the other men around them were their kidnappers.

"Let's go!" Aric said as he got ready to save both Miser and Darren from the shackles.

However, Jane stopped Aric from advancing any further as she covered his mouth.

"What are you doing?!" she whispered. "We should wait before we act."

"%^*+€€," Aric mumbled.

"What?" Jane asked. Then, she realized that she still had her hand on Aric's mouth.

"Why should we wait?" Aric asked now that his mouth was free from Jane's deathly grip.

"There are still many guards here. We should follow them and wait until they are away from their base," Jane stated as she looked at the group.

Aric nodded as he realized the plan.

As Miser's group started to move, Aric and Jane both moved stealthily behind. They made sure to follow at an appropriate distance so as not to be noticed.

They watched as the group moved on a slap once on their carriage towards the distance. From their direction, it looked like they were heading towards the Cheroque kingdom.

Jane and Aric followed shortly after. Thankfully, they were both fit and healthy students. They could follow the carriage without getting tired at all.

Finally, the carriage stopped. The guards let the horses take a rest and gave them food.

When Jane surveyed the situation, she saw that there were ten bald guards in total, and they all wore fully plated armor.

However, Jane was not worried about them. She was worried at the strange-looking man sitting in the carriage.

The man was relaxed even though he did not have any weapon on his waist. However plain he looked, he felt like the strongest being out there.

The man also never left Darren and Miser's side. He stuck to them like glue, and nothing Darren of Miser did was out of the man's eyesight.

Jane and Aric waited for the perfect opportunity. Then, they saw Darren pick up something from the ground.

Then, Jane signaled Aric to envelop himself with black fire.

Aric was like a large beacon that could not be ignored. As Darren picked up something off the ground, he quickly noticed Aric and Jane out there.

His eyes widened, but he did not behave any differently. He kept going on his business as if he had not seen anything.

"Did he see us?" Aric asked.

Jane nodded. As expected of a veteran like Darren, he knew how to react properly when the time came.

If Darren had reacted differently, the guards and the man would have noticed something weird. Then, Jane and Aric's position would be compromised.

"My leg hurts from being inside all the time," Darren commented as he stomped his foot on the ground.

Thankfully, nobody seemed to have noticed his actions. This was exactly what he wanted.

Soon enough, the carriage got ready to depart once again.

As the carriage left the area, Aric and Jane showed themselves. Then, they looked towards where Darren had stomped on the ground.

As they expected, there was a hidden message in the ground. Darren had stomped it before they all left.

From their perspective, the lines and steps seemed like random things. However, Jane knew that there was something more.

She looked at every part and she changed her perspective on the matter.

As she squatted down a few meters away from the drawing, she suddenly saw a pattern. The random squiggles formed into something more concrete.

She smiled as she saw a castle-like drawing. This was presumably the Cheroque kingdom.

Then, there was a letter on the inside of this castle drawing. The letter M.

Mia. The decoded message of the letter meant that Mia was inside the castle of the Cheroque kingdom. She was presumably abducted by the ones that captured Miser and Darren.

"Let's go!" Aric said as they both set their way towards the Cheroque kingdom to rescue Mia.