Shadow Monarch: Heroines Could Hear My Thoughts?!

Chapter 156- Somi Clearsky (Part 2)

Being one of the most talented mages of his generation, Letum was obviously one of the trusted ones chosen for this huge mission as not only was he quite capable, but he also had nerves stronger than steel and composure like no one.

Even those present couldn't compare to him when it comes to keeping their calm no matter how bad the situation is or how much danger they were facing. He is an unfeeling, unperturbed person who most likely lacks any form of human emotions for an odd reason that no one knows about.

"Why always so grim, Letum?! Hahahah! Here, have a cookie." The only man left, who was the most noticeable one out of the three for his extremely obese body. He had a huge, fluffy body that was akin to a bear rather than a human. In his hands was a bowl filled with chocolate chip cookies that was he gluttonously eating as if he was famished. A huge, pure smile filled his face like that of an innocent child. His name was Bulbos and even though he looked that fat, he was actually the fastest person out of them all by a far margin. Because of his element, even Somi wouldn't dare to say that she can compete against him in a race. It was said that at his top speed, the world would start going in slow motion.

Letum ignored the generous offer from Bulbos and nodding his head at Somi and Rophian, he didn't say anything and merely looked somewhere else, drowned in his own unknown thoughts.

"Somi, Rophian. It's nice seeing you again." One of the women stepped out and gave a courteous smile at the two. She was a middle-aged woman, most likely in her mid-40s but still looked quite young for her age. Her aura was friendly and amicable but also seemed serious enough to not let people just treat her casually.

This was Ina, the best healer in the world. It was rumored that this woman could basically heal any injury or any sickness as long as her target still has a single breath in his lung before their eventual demise.

Her powers were nothing short of miraculous, to say the least, and could even be considered the most important part of this mission. These people were going to fight the complete unknown so having a capable healer that can basically give them many extra lives was crucial.

The two other women were Sina, Ina's younger sister and also an extremely strong water user, and Lifi, an extremely talented metal element user.

Now, the full group was completed and all was left was for the mission to officially start. However, before that, Somi stepped up and said.

"Before anything, I want to first properly thank you all for accepting to put your lives on the line for this expedition for the sake of the greater good. With great power, comes great responsibility. So, we have the hope of every human in Divine Sapphire on our backs and their future. The success of this expedition will mean a great step for our race toward ending this pointless war. It's time to stop this bloodshed of lives."

Her voice coupled with her extremely charismatic aura made every word she says attractive to the ear. Even the expressionless Letum showed a little interest in her words.

"I know that it's dangerous and I know that we could die. But, the bigger the risk, the higher the reward. Our mission is simple, gather as much information about the demon realm and kill at least one of the great demon generals if possible."

From the little information the academy extracted from the demons they have as slaves, the demon realm was now ruled by one supreme being… the demon monarch. This existence was able to somehow recuperate from the strong hit the demon realm sustained after the war and made that domain stand on its two feet again. As much as the academy tried to get more information about this supposed Demon Monarch, they couldn't find any so all they had was this small thing to consider and nothing else.

The other thing they knew was that this Demon Monarch also had his followers, 10 of them to be exact. These demons were all able to survive teh war and run away to hide. Now, hundreds of years later, they had grown stronger than ever. Each one of them had endless might and strength that rivaled the powerhouses of the Human realm. That fact alone made the higher-ups of the academy feel fear and worry so they decided to do this expedition in hopes of revealing more truth.

They already were anticipating the occurrence of another war. However, whether that war will be a year from that time or 100 years later, they didn't know.

All that was important now was to try and gather information and if possible, give the demons a strong blow that will take them ages to recover from. These 10 generals and the demon monarch were the most important individuals in the whole demon realm and getting rid of one of them was.

"Are you ready?" Somi asked.

Everyone nodded their head confidently and then, they all moved toward the place where they could enter the demon realm… The gate of Alacrya. The entrance

The huge black hole was as intimidating as ever, scaring everything away from it. The eerie sound of the wind howling as the night sky with its stars and the beautiful moon illuminated the world. However, even that light failed to show anything deep inside that hole. It was as if light was repulsed by the idea of entering this hole which wasn't an exaggeration to say it was the truth. The demon realm was a lightless world despised by the sun and moon of Divine Sapphire.

Looking down at the endless abyss, Somi took a deep breath before she looked back and said.

"It's time."

*Swish*

Then, she threw herself inside the hole without any hesitation. Everyone followed suit and they all eventually disappeared inside the hole, never to be seen again.

***

"That's it?" Rin asked as he looked at Emilia with a confused gaze.

Her story stopped at the moment when everything should've started.

"That's all I know… from what that bastard Letum revealed to me a long time ago."

"Wait, so when it was rumored that no one survived from that expedition… it was a lie?" Rin rubbed his chin contemplatingly.

"Yes, it's a lie."

"But why would the academy hide this? In fact, why is this expedition in and out of itself a mystery that no one knows about?"

After listening to Emilia's uncompleted story, all Rin had was even more confusion than before. There was simply no proper reason for all of this.

"It's not the academy that did this out of their own will… Letum did that."

"He asked them to hide any traces that he participated in that expedition and even erased any records of his link to this mission from its roots. He basically shed himself out of it." Emilia explained with a serious look on her beautiful face.

"I tried to get a clear answer from him but he never answered. I couldn't even know how my own sister died."

It was already painful enough to hear that your sister died without even seeing her again. But, it was even more painful when she couldn't even know how she died. The only people in this world that knew what actually happened were Letum who was present there and Sorophi because of her link with her parents and neither of them can provide a clear answer to this question.

"This has been my biggest regret. I tried for years and years to find out what happened but all I got was nothing. It's…" Adjusting her glasses, Emilia looked down, hiding her face from Rin. But, the latter didn't need to see her face.

Staying silent for a few seconds, Rin clenched his fists and looked at Emilia.

"I will… definitely find out the truth. Don't worry, master."

"..." The beautiful woman didn't say anything in response but Rin understood that she gave him the sign to do whatever he wanted. She didn't expect much from Rin anyway as she already tried every possible thing to find out what happened.

"Well, If Sorophi has the book, it can be helpful. This can trigger her memory and maybe she would be able to recall something."

Emilia then stood up again and walked to the exit, followed by Rin. Both of them had the same goal albeit with varying degrees of desire. One still had lingering feelings of regret while the other was guided by the instinct that told him that whatever happened that day will be extremely crucial in the future.

(A//N: The PoV will continue soon :) )

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Thanks for reading. Any support you give me is always appreciated no matter how small it was. Let's all keep it up :)