Chapter 30: The Endless Loop
## Chapter 30: The Endless Loop
"Mh? What's wrong? Why are you suddenly so quiet? Don't you love talking?"
The words belonged to Lucien. He strolled casually through the silent streets, walking around the village as if he didn't notice a single abnormal thing about his surroundings.
Moreover, the hollow villagers actively seemed to be terrified of Lucien. They watched him from the shadows, tracking his movements as if they feared a monster who could easily burn them alive at any given moment.
Mo didn't respond to Lucien's mocking question. The small charm seemed to be deeply contemplating what was happening around it.
Is this normal?
It honestly couldn't understand why these townspeople were acting like this, but it knew with absolute certainty that this terrifying person possessed the answer to everything. As it dangled helplessly from Lucien's umbrella, it waited patiently for an answer.
"Are you that curious? Is it because the more you learn, the more your memories become clearer?"
This person... he had hit the mark flawlessly.
Mo shifted uncomfortably. Could you really hide anything from him? The more time Mo spent in his presence, the more it realized that maybe staying right next to this person was its safest available option. It didn't know why, but it could feel the truth of it deep down. If it wanted to escape their watchful eyes, then it had to stay glued to Lucien.
"Hah... it's simple. Something ate away their souls," Lucien said, stopping mid-stride. He reached out with a lightning-fast movement and grabbed a passing villager tightly by the neck. "See its eyes? They're hollow, meaning all of their magic was sucked completely dry, or in other words... their soul."
Lucien casually reached up and touched the gripped villager's bulging, unblinking eye.
"But how is that possible?" asked Mo. It fundamentally didn't understand how you could take away somebody's entire soul, yet still have them keep walking around the streets as if nothing had happened.
"Simple. After taking their soul, the culprit uses their own magic to make them function like a human," Lucien explained. He let go of the villager's throat, causing the empty shell to collapse limply onto the ground.
He slowly reached up and tied his hair back, methodically fixing the loose strands that had been blown around by the howling wind.
"How is that possible?" asked Mo, its curiosity getting the better of its fear.
"I don't know. I'm not interested in this kind of magic. I don't like controlling people... it reminds me of something I really hate."
Mo could instantly feel it. Lucien was getting genuinely angry. Although the rage didn't show on his smooth face for a second, Mo could sense the underlying malice radiating from him. It quickly decided it was better not to bring up the subject ever again.
"What are we gonna do now?" asked Mo, desperately trying to change the subject before things got dangerous.
"Well, let's see. I know. We should save our friend, no? I'm sure he's scared."
Friend?
What friend on earth was he talking about? Who were they supposedly going to save? Wait... since when did this man care a single bit about saving people?
Although it was just a simple charm in the shape of a bear, you could almost feel it rolling its nonexistent eyes at Lucien. Slowly but surely, it seemed to be getting more comfortable around him.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Lucien walked lazily toward an old timber cabin. Mo quickly noticed that there were an unusual number of unblinking villagers gathered tightly around the perimeter. Was there something interesting inside? It couldn't tell, because the exact moment the villagers sensed Lucien's approaching presence, they turned and ran away in a panic.
Even their running style was incredibly awkward. You could hear bones cracking loudly with every frantic movement they made. It seemed that whoever was controlling them from afar was deeply afraid of Lucien.
As he approached the cabin door, he reached out and tried opening it, but it was firmly locked. He tried a few more times, thinking it might just be jammed, but the wood didn't budge an inch. So, he chose the peaceful approach.
He knocked politely on the door and loudly asked if someone was inside. For a while, there was absolutely no answer from within. Then, Mo suddenly heard a loud, violent bang echo from the other side.
The front door flew open.
It was Alina standing defiantly in front of Lucien. "I told you! I could recognize this voice anywhere."
Standing right next to Alina was Nuri. The poor kid looked as pale as a white sheet. It honestly seemed like he was actively contemplating whether he should turn around and run away as fast as his legs could carry him. Looking at his horrified face, Mo couldn't help but deeply sympathize with him. It understood his exact pain. It was also stuck with this monster, after all.
"Alina, are you crazy?! Why would you open the door? What if the villagers came in? Where are they?"
Elina pushed past Lucien, her weapon drawn as she scanned the immediate area. But the creepy villagers were nowhere to be seen. Her mouth slowly fell open in absolute disbelief. Then, she turned her gaze toward Lucien. "Did you see them?"
"Who? I didn't see anyone on my way here," Lucien said smoothly as he placed a hand on his chin, making it look like he was genuinely, deeply thinking about it. He looked directly at Elina with innocent eyes, like someone who had absolutely no idea what was going on.
But the act didn't work on Nuri for a second. He had already witnessed this man's raw wickedness firsthand. He wanted to scream out and warn Alina and Elina, but his throat trapped the words. The sheer helplessness ate away at him as he pressed a trembling hand against the wall, biting his lip in pure frustration.
He had known this terrifying person would appear eventually. But that didn't mean he actually wanted to see him. ...Although, having him here would admittedly make escaping this hellhole a lot easier. Hmm.
"Lucien, what are you doing here?" Alina asked carefully.
"I actually came here for study purposes, but when I arrived, nobody was at the front gate. Which was strange, because I had heard that it was almost impossible to enter the main village due to how closed off it is. Although, calling this place a village would be a massive understatement."
Alina didn't question a single word. She accepted his explanation immediately. Seeing that Alina trusted Lucien implicitly, Elina didn't think much of it either, accepting the convenient excuse as well.
Mo looked at the two female knights pitifully with its nonexistent eyes. How incredibly cruel.
"Actually, we were going to the main church. Would you like to come with us?" Elina suggested. Looking at Lucien's elegant yet simple attire, she blindly assumed he was just an ordinary civilian, so she figured it would be safer for everyone to bring him along.
"I see. I'll gladly come with you guys," Lucien said. He looked at Elina with such incredibly warm, kind eyes that the senior knight became slightly flustered. She really hadn't met a gentleman like him in a very long time.
Mo desperately wanted to warn her. It wanted to scream at her face not to fall for this horrific act. Yet, it valued its own life significantly more. Some things were simply better left unsaid.
As the four of them slowly began walking down the street toward the main church, Nuri intentionally stayed slightly behind the group.
"What are you doing? Come and talk to your friend a bit more!" Alina said cheerfully, reaching back and pushing Nuri right into the biggest psychological battlefield imaginable.
He didn't know what to say. Cold sweat poured down his face as his eyes desperately searched for literally anywhere else to look.
"How have you been?"
It was Lucien who broke the heavy silence first. Direct as always, leaving absolutely no room for the boy to avoid the question.
"I've been okay..."
Nuri really, truly didn't want to talk to this person right now. Not because he hated him. Well, maybe a little. No. This person was dangerous. But more than anything else, he made Nuri realize dark things about the world that he was better off never knowing.
"So, what do you think about this world now?"
There it was. Lucien had asked the exact, terrifying question Nuri had been deeply afraid of. Did this person genuinely enjoy tormenting people's minds? Just why?
"Guys... don't you think something is strange? We've been walking for a while, but why are we back at the cabin?"
It was Elina who suddenly asked the question, halting the group. And she was entirely right. They had been walking forward in a straight line for nearly ten minutes. Yet somehow, they had ended up right back at the exact same rundown cabin they had just left.
That shouldn't have been physically possible.
"Is it similar to what happened at the river?" Elina asked as she looked at Nuri, because he was the only one in the group adept at using magic.