Read Novel Full Chapter 421: Rudolph
Chapter 421: Chapter 421: Rudolph
Chapter 421 – Rudolph
Kaden and Rea stood side by side, their eyes darting around their current environment like hawks, taking in a sight none of them truly expected.
Kaden had believed he would fall into a bone-chilling home of souls, with most of them dancing, swirling, crying in his ears like banshees.
It was none of that.
They were indeed in a home. But it was a home like any other, if not less opulent than what Kaden and Rea were used to.
They were nobles, after all.
They stood on a floor made of jagged stones, the house made of the same materials. There were scarcely any pieces of furniture around, making the space almost too desolate for a home.
That sensation was not only visual. There was something in the air, a horrid herb-like stench, draping around them like a blanket.
Rea’s white brows were furrowed, her face twisting into a scowl as she snapped her head towards Kaden, glaring at him.
"Damn Kaden!" She growled, an inch from doing more than just curse, "What kind of place did you bring us to now?"
Rea felt her head drowsy, her perception groggy since the instant she appeared inside this place.
Just a moment ago she was at the verge of finding the very source of fear of the bridge.
With that, they would have successfully gone through the Frosted Bridge, continuing their long journey towards the dungeon with no problems whatsoever.
Of course, her lovely fiancé just needed to do something again.
Now there was no fear around her.
It was as if everything was hidden by a curtain so thick and powerful that even she — Rea Thornspire, God-Touched of the Woeful One — could not pierce through and grasp those fears.
She didn’t like it. And she didn’t like it even less when coupled with the calm, almost amused face of Kaden.
"Well, you see, Rea, it’s not me who caused all of this, you know." Kaden said, sweeping his eyes across the house.
His crimson star-lot eyes paused on two room-like doors, separated by ten or so feet with a snuffed-out torch of flame plastered between them.
Kaden felt like examining them.
"If not you, then who?" Rea replied. Kaden peeled away his eyes from those doors, watching Rea.
"It’s a trait of mine that acted on its own. Without my permission. You cannot blame me for it, you see?" He said, his tone almost like a shrug.
"I think you are taking it too lightly for a dungeon at Epithet or even Elderling rank." Rea said, narrowing her eyes, "First, Sorrow take my soul, what is Elderling? Second, Kaden, are you that confident in your strength?"
"Enough to know I won’t die easily."
"That doesn’t sound convincing."
Kaden laughed, "Let’s focus, shall we? Don’t forget the words The Will told us."
He paused, licking his lips, staring at the house.
"We are in a dungeon, Rea. It means this house is the dungeon. Or maybe a part of it if we can get out of. But can we even get out?"
"There is no door except those two," Rea said, walking with her feet scraping the floor, "and I don’t believe any of them is a door to the outside of this house."
Kaden followed.
"The weird thing is the lack of instruction. Dungeons usually have a very specific way to clear them given by The Will."
"That’s why I think we are missing something." Rea replied, halting in front of the door.
Kaden stood at her right.
The door was made of black stone, with crimson inscriptions etched on it in a strange language.
It was neither runes nor any kind of language both Rea and Kaden were acquainted with. To them, the words looked like gibberish made by a child.
They briefly locked their eyes together.
Rea stretched her hand, grasping the door handle tightly, then twisted—!
"What are you doing?"
A warm voice interrupted both Kaden and Rea, sending a strange chill through their spines at the unexpected interruption.
They twisted their heads toward the voice so fast and briskly that their necks creaked in protest.
Their eyes rested on the culprit himself.
It was a young man with handsome features, short white hair coupled with golden eyes sunken with tiredness and worry.
He was standing upright with two canes at each side. He had only one leg — the left one — and even then, Kaden almost thought it was a stick instead of a proper leg.
It was devoid of any kind of muscles or anything of that sort. The sight was quietly unnerving.
But there was one thing Kaden was mostly concerned about. And it was the fact that the face of this young man was like the perfect copy of Soulless, that hypocrite bastard.
Kaden suppressed a frown on his face, trying to not show any kind of reaction.
Rea did the same, watching with neutral, hollow-like eyes at the man. Kaden was not surprised. Rea seemed to show real emotions only when she was being annoyed by him.
In every other time, she was like a hollow piece of paper.
"You still didn’t answer my question." The young man said again, his voice so sweet and warm it was enough to make a grown man sleep, "or are you the ones sent by The Bridgehunters to heal me?"
"Heal you?" Kaden echoed, cocking his head.
The young man’s voice suddenly turned bright, "Yes," he yelled, trying with immense difficulty to walk towards them, "Yes, to heal my leg! I have heard that there is a Prominent Alchemist in Milieu, the Second Coming of The Witch! I have heard he can heal me perfectly!"
He fixed Kaden, his eyes glowing with sickening hope,
"Are you the famed Alchemist? You look younger! But as expected of a Prominent Alchemist!"
Kaden and Rea were completely taken aback by the weird turn of this situation.
Yet before they got the time to ponder about it, The Will finally chimed.
DING!!
[Dungeon: Dwelling of Souls]
[Difficulty: Epithet ~ Elderling]
[Description: Rudolph was born with the incapacity of walking. Later, one of his legs was cut due to the illness advancing a stage, and the other one about to suffer the same fate. And once that happens, his life will end. But Rudolph has only one wish. And that is to walk. Nothing else, nothing more.]
[However, one could wish something that would cause its own downfall, and the downfall of many other people.]
[Dungeon Quest: Teach Rudolph to make peace with his fate, let the agonized Souls dwelling inside of him return to TheTree, and kill The Alchemist.]
[Rewards: Soul Cores, Research Book of The Alchemist, Bloodline of The Devourer of Souls.]
Kaden and Rea read the quest, their faces struggling to hide any sign of surprise, each one of them having a different set of rewards perfectly tailored for them.
However, none of them were in any kind of mood to even be excited about it.
Rea simply because she was a simple Master about to go against a possibly Epithet or even Elderling-ranked being.
And Kaden because he painfully realized the identity of the Alchemist they needed to fight. One didn’t need to be a genius to connect the dots after so many clues laid out in front of them.
’The Forbidden Alchemist,’ Kaden thought with a strange trepidation, ’Am I finally going to meet with him? The one who created...’
He didn’t finish his thoughts as he stared at the young man, Rudolph.
The young man was looking at him with eagerness, asking like a child if Kaden would heal him.
Kaden watched how he struggled to walk with these two canes, how his golden eyes seemed like rusted steel, exhausted and drought of energy.
However, the man was smiling at them openly, his eyes dancing with hope so thick it was almost sickening.
And then Kaden realized, his stomach churning as if a ball of frost was dropped inside, that he was looking at the one who would be known as...
The Devourer of Souls.
That realization sent him reeling.
How could an innocent-looking young man like Rudolph become such a vile person?
Kaden didn’t know, but what he did know was that it was certainly related to the Forbidden Alchemist.
Nonetheless, the difficulty of the quest was glaring, if not cruel.
They needed to tell this man, on the verge of ecstasy, that in fact, it would be better for him to stay just like how he was.
Handicapped.
Unable to walk without the help of tools, and soon about to be legless, then die helplessly.
As the understanding dawned upon them like a sun bathing the world, Kaden and Rea stared at each other.
"Will you help me?" Rudolph said again, breaking the contest of stares between Rea and Kaden.
Rea parted her lips to speak. However, Kaden hurriedly spoke first, knowing well how Rea could be heartless and without tact.
"Of course," Kaden said, trying to sound as confident as he could. "We will help you."
He smiled.
"We definitely will."
He felt like shit.
—End of Chapter 421—