Chapter 501: Meeting X
Chapter 501: Meeting X
In the wolfman’s hands was Lorelei. He hadn’t gone for Mei Gui or Amane, both of which were skilled enough to handle themselves, but instead the defenseless Lorelei.
“Tch…” I narrowed my eyes. I had forgotten to store her in my soul earlier. A grave mistake indeed.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” the wolfman said, waving off my anger as if it were nothing. “I won’t hurt this pet of yours. You see, I’m fond of animals, being demihuman myself. I’m only keeping her as hostage in case you try to kill yourself again to threaten me or something. As long as you fulfill your end of the deal and come with me quietly, I won’t hurt you, your pet, the two other presences in here I’m smelling, and any of those villagers.”
“…” I clenched my fists tightly, but then, I heard a voice in my head.
“Lorelei senses it, master. You do not have to worry about this man going back on his word. Although against us, his soul is kind, deep down, but has sadly been distorted through some kind of tragic incident. Lorelei will be fine. Master need not be concerned. Besides… if Lorelei goes with you, she can provide good information.”
I see… in that case…
“… Fine,” I said at last, sighing. “Let’s go now, then.”
The wolfman smirked. “That’s what I like to hear.”
*****
After descending from the mountain, the wolfman, Lorelei, and I took a helicopter to head to the Fortress. I offered to simply teleport, but the wolfman refused as if disgusted with the idea of using magic for whatever reason.
On the way, I sent a telepathic message to Mei Gui telling her to inform the other girls of what happened, and to go to Amane’s place in the Fortress to wait for my return. Since I was able to come back from even the Death Realm, this was nothing.
The wolfman had really came here alone by driving this helicopter, and Lorelei was strapped to the front seat beside him while I was in the back. He promised that once we got to where we were supposed to go, I could have Lorelei back—since by then, his mission would be complete, and X would take over from there. Lorelei was right—this guy wasn’t truly evil…
… But then again, was the entire Midnight Syndicate truly evil?
After hearing that Deacon’s story inside the Fortress, I couldn’t be sure. What is the Syndicate’s goal anyway? What is the person named X trying to achieve by establishing such a big organization in the underground, and now with this antimagic…?
I didn’t know. But perhaps, after meeting X, I would find out.
I had an idea of what he wanted from me. After all, from the very beginning, it was the Midnight Syndicate who wanted my power. They even conspired with the rest of the Xuan family to murder my father and mother all to catch me, back before I even knew what my power was.
It was clear—whoever this X person was, wanted my Chaos power. That’s why they needed me alive. But that didn’t explain why this wolfman was ordered not to hurt me at all…
I shook my head. This was all too much consideration before the meeting even happened. Without a doubt, once I actually met X, many things would become clear, and many questions would become answered.
*****
About an hour or so later, we arrived. I was sure the wolfman was steering the helicopter overspeed, but as it was about 3 in the morning and me we were talking about, I couldn’t care less. It made sense the wolfman wanted this mission done and over with as soon as possible, with so much resting on his shoulders.
“Here we are,” he said, opening the helicopter doors for me. “Come on out.”
I hesitantly got out of the helicopter and looked around. We were in some kind of abandoned subway station that appeared to be in the Fortress. The sky was characteristically a mixture of neon blue and purple, which confirmed my assumption.
“In here,” the wolfman said, leading me down below. I followed and held my breath, ready for anything.
Down below, there was actually still electricity. Given how old the place looked, I had expected it to be abandoned and long cut from any power, but the lights were still on—dim, but still on.
“I brought him here just as you requested, Boss,” the wolfman said respectfully, bowing down. “Didn’t touch a hair on his head.”
“… Very well. You may leave,” a deep, dark male voice came from the man sitting in the chair ahead of us. Even though the back of the chair was to us and we couldn’t see his face, his identity was clear:
This man was X, founder and leader of the Midnight Syndicate.
“Yes sir,” the wolfman said, then turned around and left after patting me on the shoulder and handing me Lorelei in her fox form. He kept up his promise after all.
Once he left and the subway station’s doors closed, setting the place into a calm silence, the man named X spoke.
“Take a seat.”
His voice, although deep and synthetic (possibly due to his helmet) was not hostile at all. Instead, it was gentle—almost… familial.
Hesitantly, I did as told, walking past him and taking the open seat on the other end. Then, I let Lorelei safely enter my soul once more, and observed the man across from me.
He looked ominous, to say the least.
A pitch-black mask with demon-like curved red visors marked his mask, and the rest of his body was completely covered in black armor. Spikes lined his shoulderguards, and thorns wrapped around his wrists. He extruded an aura of death and danger, making it difficult for people to even look at him without enough guts, much less approach him or speak with him.
“… So, what do you want from me?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at those visors of his, as if trying to search for the face that lay behind them.
But rather than giving me a cold answer like I expected, the man laughed.
Yes, this man, who probably never even so much as chuckled in the past ten years, laughed.
“Straight-forward as ever, I see,” the man said. “Always cautious, always on-guard… good.”
I frowned. “… What?”
Why did he sound like he’s met me in the past? And why did his voice sound so strangely familiar, the more I hear it…?
Even beyond that synthetic voice changing mask… I could sense it. This man and I were no strangers. But at the same time, I was certain I had never met the leader of the Midnight Syndicate before—if I had, I certainly would’ve remembered for life.
So why the hell did this man seem so familiar?
Or rather… familial?
The two words were able to be used interchangeably here, though I didn’t know why. I was curious, I wanted to know more, but at the same time, some inner voice deep within my own heart was telling me coming here was a mistake, and I didn’t want to hear the remaining content of this conversation.
Still, the majority of me wanted to hear. And so, I continued pressing the matter.
“… Be forward with me,” I said. “What do you want? My power? Is that it? The same power your organization killed my parents over just to hunt me dow-“
“Your parents are not dead, Xuan Kai.”
“Wha…”
I felt as if a bomb had been just dropped on my head, and my mind had just exploded like a volcano.
What the hell did this man just say? Not to mention the way he says my name so affectionately…
I clenched my fists. I already had a good idea of who this man was. I just… didn’t want to believe it. It was impossible. Or at least… it should’ve been impossible. And yet… I asked anyway, just to be sure.
“… How can you say that for certain?”
My voice was quiet, almost inaudible. I could feel the emotions surging through my heart. And the man’s next words… took me apart.
“Because… of this, Xuan Kai.”
Saying this, he took his mask of, allowing me to see the face that was underneath.
Yes, that unmistakable, unforgettable face. Black hair, red eyes, just like myself. Wrinkles lined the edges of his face that marked his age, and some of his hair strands were grey rather than black. His high cheekbones, slightly sad smile—all of that, was exactly how I remembered them to be.
The similarities between myself and this man was not a coincidence. It simply could not be. I did not want to believe it, but sometimes, you had to accept the truth, however hard it may be.
Yes… this man, X, the leader of the Midnight Syndicate that I had been working so hard to enact revenge on, was none other than my very own father.