”What is the message?” Aria asked impatiently.
[I just said it…]
”Oh…”
”How is that a message?” Victoria commented.
[I can hear and sense everything from my liege’s shadow, so when I heard you two trying to wake him up, I was curious because my liege didn’t wake up. I assumed something was wrong, and I wanted to come out from his shadow, but you were in the room, and my size is bigger than the room. So if I had emerged from his shadow in the room, I would have destroyed not only the room but the inn too.]
[I waited for you two to carry him out of the inn, and here I am,] Cerberus said in a calm voice.
He looked at unconscious Zach on Aria’s back and said, [Please, make use of me, and climb on top of me. I will take you to the church.]
Cerberus placed his head on the ground so Aria and Victoria could climb on top of him without having any need to jump.
Aria carried Zach in her arms and sat on top of Cerberus. Victoria sat beside Aria, and they both placed Zach on their laps.
”Cerberus…” Aria called out to Cerberus and asked, “You said you can hear and sense everything from Zach’s shadow all the time, right?”
[Not all the time since I need to rest too, but most of the time, yes,] Cerberus responded as he started walking towards the church.
The NPCs and players who were walking around, doing their daily routine, were baffled after seeing Cerberus walking on the street.
No one dared to come in between, and everyone stepped back in fear.
”So did you hear or sensed anything strange at night?” Aria asked Cerberus.
[I am afraid I didn’t. I was awake when my liege went to sleep, and he was perfectly fine at that time.] After a brief pause, Cerberus said, [But I can hear and sense to a certain limit.]
”What do you mean? Like only between a certain distance or something?” Victoria asked curiously.
[Yes. You can say I can sense and hear everything in the room if my liege was on the bed. So there are chances that something or someone did this to my liege outside my range,] Cerberus stated with anger in his voice.
However, he was angry at himself for not being able to save his liege.
”Still, you should be able to know if someone did something to him, right?” Aria asked.
[Perhaps, you are right.]
”Wait, there are chances that Zach was already affected by it before that? Maybe he ate something weird?” Victoria wondered.
”That’s not possible. The dinner was served by Zach’s loyal worshipers, and we ate from the same dish,” Aria retorted.
”Could it be that was the reason why Zach was acting extra strange last night…?” Victoria wondered.
[I don’t believe that’s the case,] Cerberus quipped.
”Why…?”
Cerberus regretted quipping, but he did that to defend Zach since he knew the reason why Zach was acting strange.
Zach had used necromancy on Thomas’ Chick, on a player who was a human, and Aria had warned him not to. But curiosity got the best out of Zach, and he ended up doing the unforgivable
With the series of events one after another, Zach interfered with the cosmic flow of life and triggered the fourth impact.
Of course, Zach wasn’t aware of that, and he felt a little guilty after going against Aria’s warning. Because of that, he couldn’t look into Aria’s eyes, as he had betrayed her trust.
However, according to Cerberus, that had nothing to do with Zach’s current condition.
After reaching the church, Victoria immediately jumped from the top of Cerberus and rushed to the Church’s door.
Surprisingly, it was open, so she dashed in without knocking and yelled, “Is someone there?!”
The church was empty, but the candles were lit near the altar. Victoria wasn’t sure if it was normal or not, since she had never been in the church, not in the game or in the real world.
However, it wasn’t as though she didn’t believe in god. She had faith, and she was certain that there was someone out there who created the world and humankind, But, she never considered that someone a god.
”Is anyone here?!” Victoria asked again, this time in an even louder voice.
A few seconds later, Ninia walked out of the chamber and stared at Victoria with a confused look on her face.
”You are…” Ninia recognized Victoria, as she had seen her many times with Zach. “Why are you here?”
Ninia glanced around to look for Zach and asked, “Where is my Lord?”
”We need your help.” After saying that, Victoria pointed her finger toward the door and said, “fast.”
Ninia sensed the panic in Victoria’s voice, so she rushed to the door and saw Zach lying unconscious in Aria’s arms.
”My Lord!” Ninia yelled. “What happened to him?”
”We are here, so you can examine him,” Aria responded.
”Quickly! Get him inside!”
Aria followed Ninia into the church and entered a small room with a bed in it. She placed Zach on the bed and turned to Ninia before asking, “Can you examine him?”
”I need time.” Ninia placed her hand on Zach’s forehead and checked his eyes, but everything seemed normal.
She then started taking off Zach’s clothes without saying anything, and that startled Aria and Victoria.
”What are you doing?” Victoria asked.
”Shut up! I am performing a body check-up on him!” Ninia shouted at Victoria.
”You can just say it or ask us before doing anything!” Victoria yelled back.
Ninia glared at Aria and Victoria and said, “You are always with him. He loves you so much. He trusts you so much! Yet, you failed to protect him! If it was me with him, I would never let him get hurt!”
”…”
It was at that time when Aria realized, that Ninia’s dedication and devotion towards Zach had far surpassed the normal boundaries.
***
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