Chapter 292: Widespread
After yelling at the sky, there was a heavy silence. Would the gods listen to what a single human had to say? Well, they did, because after a few more minutes, the system notification came.
[the third trial has come to an end]
Everyone that was inside stared at their screens. Was the trial really over?
Everyone started vanishing instantly, and when they appeared outside the trial, they were at different statues of Elton.
Aren looked around the moment he appeared. There were thousands of awakened around him, and instantly everyone that was around him stared at him, because standing beside him was Lucy, the fallen angel.
They all saw him and instantly knew that he was Shadow. After all, he was the one with the angel, and seemingly no one had been able to kill him.
Aren had recovered quite a bit by now, so he wasn’t even worried about anyone.
"Anyone of you have an issue, please speak up now and die," Aren said calmly. His voice was so steady, like death was something easy to do.
No one wanted to step forward now. They could feel the bloodlust in Aren; no one wanted to be the first to touch him.
Aren saw that no one was willing to touch or do anything to him, so he walked off with Lucy following behind. He and her together were far too much of a threat.
"It’s only a matter of time before they come for you," Lucy whispered.
"I understand that. There is no escaping that for certain," Aren replied.
"So what’s your plan?" she asked.
"Get out of here and go deeper into the domain until they can’t touch me. That’s the first part, but before that I have to find a way to heal my friends and ensure that they are okay."
By this time they had made it out and were now walking free. There was the Wargod City ahead, but Aren had no plan of heading there. He made his way towards the mountains that were behind.
"I can heal your friends," Lucy said when they got far enough.
"Really?" Aren asked.
"Yes, I can," she replied.
Aren wasted no time after confirming. He brought all of them back. The effect of his world wore off the very moment that they came out, and their injuries returned.
She saw their state and very quickly spread her hands. A golden light shined and immediately started affecting their wounds. A few beads of sweat formed on her head, but she managed to keep cool and heal them completely.
Aren watched with eager eyes as their wounds healed, and after what seemed like a very long minute, they were fully healed. The pain stopped and their eyes opened slowly. Each of them looked at him, then slowly got back to their feet, all their wounds completely gone, including Aiden, who looked close to death at that point.
"Seems you saved us again," Aiden said with a smile.
"It’s only right I do," Aren replied.
"Isn’t she the angel?" Zero asked, looking at Lucy behind.
"Yes, she is," Aren replied, and immediately he saw the look in their eyes. They wanted to know the details of everything. Aren took a deep breath and recounted everything and his plans as well.
When he was finally done, Elena stepped up to speak first, but then something happened, a system message.
[Shadow is not an enemy of the trial. He has caused an issue in the system and refused to listen]
[a message to all awakened, take down Shadow for the sake of humanity’s survival]
[the longer he stays alive, the greater the risk of destruction of the entire human race]
Everyone stared at their screen with confusion and shock.
They all looked up at Aren, waiting for him to say something.
"I guess that’s what you get for standing against the trials," Aren said.
"This isn’t a joke," Kira said to him.
"I know it’s not a joke," Aren replied. "I’m now the number one target of all humanity. That’s definitely not a joke, and I know that," Aren stated.
"So what do we do now?" Aiden asked.
"That’s left for you to decide," Aren said. He looked at them. "Right now I am an enemy to all of you, and a risk to your life.
I need you to understand that no matter what you decide, I’m not going to stop until I stop this trial and kill everyone behind it," Aren said.
"Is this really necessary? What you are doing now?" Kira asked. The worry in her eyes was heavy. She wanted Aren to stop; there was no way that he would run from everyone forever.
"I’ve stated my stance. I’m not backing down no matter what happens. I’m not allowing us to remain as tools for the angels," Aren stated.
"Aren, rethink this," Elena said. She stepped forward, standing right in front of him.
"You’ll not only be up against the new awakened, but all of humanity. You’ll be the enemy of everyone. This path you want to walk on is not one you can survive." She spoke genuinely.
Aren placed his hands on her shoulder and looked Elena right in the eye. "You met me from the very first day that I’m never going to do what I’m meant to do. I understand if you don’t accept what I want to do. I understand for all of you that you can’t possibly want to follow me to fight against the gods."
"Speak for others, not me," Aiden stepped forward and said.
"What’s the point of everything if I stop following you now? I owe you my life after all," Aiden declared. He walked forward and stood beside Aren.
Kira let out a sigh. She walked and stood beside Aren as well. Zero and Athena needed no convincing; it was them against the world as long as Aren was there. The only person that was left now was Elena. She looked at Aren with hesitation.
"I don’t know what to do. I can’t throw everything away and run and become an enemy of everyone," Elena stated.
Aren gave her a bright smile. "I know, Elena. You should go back. I understand fully," he said.
She looked at him, still hesitating. She stepped forward and hugged Aren, then she whispered something into his ears, something that only he heard. Then she let go and walked away.
Everyone watched until she was far away, and then they all turned to leave.
"So what do we do now?" Aiden asked as they walked up the mountain.
"A few things: get a gate back home. Expensive, yes, but I should have enough to cover it, and then explore the gods’ domain. This is the only chance that we might get for that, leaving on the run, learning about the domain and finding out the ways that we can take down the system as a whole."
"That’s one massively ridiculous plan," Kira said.
"But do you trust me to pull it off?" Aren asked.
"Sadly, it’s impossible not to trust you at this point, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a rough road ahead."
"Definitely," Aren replied.
[....:]
Around the domain and the world at large, the notification about Shadow spread.
This was basically a warning to the whole world: kill this person or all of humanity will suffer for it, and when the system is the one that said they would suffer, it meant it for sure. It could lead to the wiping out of the entire race.
So for many, they wanted to know who Shadow was first, and for those that knew or had researched it, they started making plans to search for Aren.
Massive organizations like the Sky Palace had already started their own side of things. Being one of the biggest organizations, they had to pioneer this search. It was either them or the Sacred Palace that got involved, and for sure they would get involved if Aren wasn’t caught fast enough.
In the history of all the trials, there had never been anyone that caused any widespread panic and worry to this level, placing the fate of everyone on their selfish desires. But Aren didn’t care for that. He knew the risk he was taking, but he wanted to go through with it, no, he had to go through with it.
It might not benefit anyone else, it might only be for his own good, and might also be the end of humanity if anything goes wrong, but he wasn’t stopping, because if at the end he managed to succeed, he would be free and so would everyone else. They would all be free from this reality they lived in. It was a gamble of world-shattering magnitude.
(End of this Arc. Thank you for coming this far with this novel, but as you can see, Aren is nowhere done, so join for the next arc, where he battles fate, humanity, and the domain as a whole.)