[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 98: Viator Knight

...****************...

It was a dream.

A dream that he had seen too often, so he was sick of seeing it.

He didn't know why he dreamed it. However, the dream kept playing in his head every time he slept. As if, the dream was the only recording his brain could show him.

There's nothing special here. There are only sins and regrets that keep him spinning in a vicious cycle. However, he did not know what the dream meant.

Because, he had absolutely no memories as the dream had shown him.

The endless overcast sky that continued to let out extremely loud cries, accompanied by deafening screams of light, and the ruins of a gigantic building that was burned by eternal flames.

It was the first thing he always saw in his dreams.

Every time he saw that, he could only shout and curse at the gods who had given this kind of life to him.

The roars of anger, the screams of death, and the pool of blood that had always filled his mind were so painful that he would be crushed if he was off guard.

In both of his hands, he was carrying a little girl with her beautiful black hair. He was asleep with a plain face in his arms.

He doesn't know why. But, he felt that the girl was the only reason to keep her sanity until now.

To her, the girl was like the only storehouse of hope she had, her only reason for staying alive in that terrible dream.

He strengthened his embrace of the girl, as if he would not let her loose.

To keep his promise with someone who is very valuable to him.

...****************...

He ran, and kept running. Trying to avoid all those nightmares.

No matter how tired he was here, he kept running. All that tiredness means nothing here, because it's just a dreamland.

While occasionally spewing out a certain amount of blood from his mouth, he continued to run down the dark forest and was filled with enemies.

The extremely strong and stinging smell and sensation of iron from his blood actually made him nauseous. But he ignored all that.

Why is this all happening? Why did it get like this? Is this his destiny? Even though he had already asked that in his mind a million times, he still could not find the answer.

This is a very misleading dream. How long should he suffer like this? Why should he be the one experiencing this? He really doesn't understand.

His feet are getting faster. He no longer cared where his feet would take him. He could only follow the steps triggered by the reflective unit present in his brain. The only thing he wanted right now was to protect the girl he had in his arms. However, his chaotic head really gave him no room to pay attention to the surrounding environment.

A rock and a tree root that was large enough to make his movements interrupted. He fell and rolled on the ground, and made his head hit the tree very strongly.

Fortunately, his embrace of the girl did not slacken at all. He used his own body to keep the girl safe.

With the rest of his consciousness slowly fading away, he tightened his embrace at the girl and shed a tear of regret.

Before long, his consciousness that had disappeared before suddenly led him into a large room with many beautiful ornaments.

-–Ahh, this again ….

That's how he thinks. There was absolutely no curiosity or even question over this sudden situation.

He could only make a disappointed look on his face.

He had seen this passage so many times that he could not count it. Whenever he lost consciousness in his dreams, he always returned to this point.

He stood up while staring at a man sitting on the floor, staring at an old man before him furiously.

Face, posture, expression, and overall appearance. There's no mistake, that man is himself.

He wasn't surprised. This view he also often saw.

Shortly after, the self sitting there spoke in an almost snapping tone at the old man before him.

"Master! Please, think again! That was a crazy move! "

Despite being yelled at by a person who was clearly much younger than him, the old man simply smiled as he stroked his extremely long black beard.

The old man had the appearance of someone who looked extremely wise. With his hair, mustache, and beard still in deep black despite his old age, and wearing clothes that look like a type of sokutai kimono ( ⁇ ), he said, accompanied by a shaku ritual stick ( ⁇ ) in his other hand.

From his appearance, it was clear that the man was no ordinary person. The appearance and aura of authority that he exuded really accentuated himself as a person who stood on the highest throne in a system of government that was still classified as ancient.

The man smiled, and patted the head of the man who was looking at him angrily before him, then spoke.

"Unfortunately, that's impossible. We've already lost. There's nothing more we can do. Our enemies are too strong, even with all the power our clan has, there is no way we can defeat them."

Hearing that, his other self showed a very pitiful face. A desperate expression, without hope.

"That's impossible, isn't it?! We can still win! Right, if I become a diversion to buy time, Master and the others can escape and build new strength! "

Hearing the answer from him, the old man showed a sad face for a moment. However, his expression returned firmly.

The old man looked at the man sitting before him.

"You don't have to sacrifice yourself for us. You are not from this clan, therefore .. You do not have to take this responsibility with us. Just do the job I gave you, and take the Princess away to a place far away from here."

The old man then stood up, and walked towards the large window that was behind him.

He looked at the situation outside with a sad face.

The world outside that window was truly terrifying. The collapsed stone and wood buildings seemed to be burning by the massive black flames that could not be extinguished.

The death screams from the hundreds of people who were outside the window were truly ear-painful.

Their bodies were burnt to a scorch, and part of their bodies had been lost from being cut off by something very sharp. It was the condition of most of the people who were outside the window.

"There's no need to hide it from everyone. We have already lost, and everyone in the clan knows that. Our only wish is for you to keep the Princess alive in peace. It was our only wish, and our hope."

"Although so! There must be another way! "

The man continued to stomp with a look full of despair on his face.

"Harald! I have long considered you my own son. You've been serving my family ever since I saved you that day. Please, fulfill my expectations. Go and take our Princess—your sister away from here. Make him live a normal life, and don't let him remember anything painful about us. I don't want to ruin his life just by remembering us."

His stern face made the man, Harold felt goosebumps, he reflexively straightened his shoulders and looked at the man in disbelief.

"That's impossible, isn't it?! There's no way I can leave you! "

The man did not answer anymore, he just walked towards the wooden cabinet in the corner of the room. As soon as he opened the door of the cupboard, he immediately took out a long sword wrapped in a pitch-black sword sheath with a golden ornament pattern.

He then returned to Harold who was still staring at him in disbelief. Then give the sword to him.

"This is my request, and my command as a father, and as a leader. Take this sword, and get out of here with 'your brother'. You have to keep your life, Harold."

" ……… "

Harold gnashed his teeth in anger. He decided to never take the sword.

If he received the sword, then he would have no choice but to obey the words of the man before him.

Realizing that Harold would not receive his sword, the man smiled resolutely.

"This is my command, Harold. You must obey him. And also .. When compared to the suffering you will feel in the future, the pain we are now receiving will be nothing" said the man, stroking Harold's head.

Silent for a moment, the man then continued, "Keep forward and face forward, make your past a lesson, do not let your regrets stand in your way, and live according to your beliefs! ', that's the motto I taught you, isn't it? Then live according to that motto, my knight, Harold."

He then looked at the man with a face that was almost crying.

Harold reluctantly accepted the sword and stood up, slowly walking away from the room where the man was.

" … Goodbye, Father."

Leaving the words spoken in a trembling voice, Harold then ran away from the room.

The man who was left in the room only smiled sadly as he looked at the place where Harold had stood before.

" … You stupid kid."

With those words, the dream scene once again changed.

He, the original Harold who saw all those sights did not move his expression in the slightest.

He just continued to watch every dream scene that continued to play endlessly.

The scene has changed. The dark room had previously been replaced into a view of the overcast night sky with a rainstorm in the middle of the forest.

He ran as fast as he could while holding a girl in his arms.

This is the previous scene.

He's seen this over and over again. But he still felt nothing.

His pitiful appearance was running through the forest while carrying a girl did not even make him feel the slightest deja vu.

How long did he run? Ten minutes? An hour? He doesn't know. His sense of time is dead since he left someone he already considers his own family.

To him, this was nothing more than an act of treason. That's unforgivable. He was a loyal knight, his duty was to protect everyone from harm.

At this crucial moment, he was ordered to flee and live in peace. There's no way he could take it.

His footsteps slowly weakened. He stopped at a wooden hut with a size large enough in the mountain area where he fled.

He doesn't know who lives there. However, he could only give up his hope to the person who lived in the large hut.

He firmly knocked on the wooden door that was wet from the splash of rain, then waited for a while.

Based on the light coming out from the window of the cottage, there should be people living in it. Therefore, he decided to wait until the occupants came out by themselves.

Even so, he could not wait any longer.

He knocked on the door again, and waited a while.

The door finally opened, and an old man walked out of the cottage, staring at Harold with his sharp eyes.

"Who are you? " ask the man.

Harold gulped his saliva nervously, then shook his head.

He wanted to say something to the man. However, his gaze instantly distorted and his body fell down helplessly.

" … Pathetic."

Saying that, the man then helped Harold to get inside the hut and lean against the wall. He also brought the girl that Harold had been carrying since earlier to sleep on the sofa.

He went to his room for a moment, then returned with a bottle of water which he finally poured into Harold's face.

The water instantly brought Harold's consciousness back to the surface and made him breathe in a painful manner.

"Hold on, you'll recover soon. For now, eat this" said the man, handing Harold a loaf of bread.

Harold without saying anything else took the bread and ate it in silence.

After finishing all his bread, he asked the old man.

"Hey, old man, what's your name? "

"That's a slightly disrespectful way to call me. But, my name is Daran Vanpille. You can call me whatever you want."

"So, yeah .. Hey, can I ask you something? "

"Whatis that? "

"Please, take care of the girl, my only sister."

" … What is his name? "

Silent for a moment, Harold then replied.

"Chloe .. Her name is Chloe. That's all, he doesn't have a family name anymore. Therefore, I leave him to you. I will repay all your kindness someday. Please ... Please, take care of my sister."

Harold tried to strengthen himself and said all those words. However, he could not help the tears that began to drip down his face.

The dam that tried to hold back her tears would break soon. To hold it back, he forced himself to stand up and took out the sword lying on the floor.

"Where are you going? " ask Darkan while looking at Harold.

" … I ... Don't know .. I just want to protect all my family."

Saying that, he immediately opened the door and exited the hut.

In the moment before he actually left, he turned around and turned to look at Daran.

"thank you. The bread .. Very good."

He then looked at the only sister he had, Chloe with a sad smile.

(Goodbye, Chloe.)

He immediately ran down the road he had passed before. Time and again almost tripped because of the rocks and roots of the trees that filled his path. Even so, he did not stop.

While swinging his sword to finish off the monsters that were bothering him, he continued running with determination to get back where he should be.

But it's all too late.

He stood up and silently looked at the terrifying sight before him.

The magnificent castle where he had grown up before had been shattered into small rubble so that his original form was already invisible.

The bodies of his comrades who fought with him for years were hung on a cross in a state of charred body and lost some of his organs.

The people he loved and wanted to protect, everything was gone.

More than that, right above all, he saw, the figure of the man he already regarded as his own father was killed in a terrible state with a woman beside him.

The bodies of the two of them were hung together on one giant cross. Their faces had been completely destroyed, and their legs were gone. Their stomachs split open and made all the internal organs they had spit out.

Harold who saw all of that immediately shouted hysterically in disbelief.

He began to lose his consciousness and rampaged through the rubble. With his circumstances like that, there was no way he could come back again.

He burned all the bodies of his loved ones to ashes and let them all merge with the ground.

His desperate screams became a harbinger for the emergence of a knight who had lost everything.

...****************...