Read Novel Full Chapter 496: Crazed Jon
Chapter 496: Crazed Jon
It’s cold. Unbearably so.
Dry, chilled air slipped in with every breath, slipping into Aurelia’s lungs like shards of broken glass. Each inhale once stung. Now, not as much.
Each exhale vanished into the wind before it could become mist. Every step was heavy for Aurelia, and walking endlessly in this land with no end in sight made her hollow.
The land stretched without end, flat and barren. It wasn’t snow that covered it but pale, powdery sand, frozen hard beneath her bare, chipped feet.
Back hunched, Aurelia moved in the line. Cuffs attached to thick chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles. It stretched to the others in front and behind her. The line was long. Once she cared, once she was frightened, calling out for her parents, for her brother, that never came.
But now...
Their steps crunched softly before the relentless wind erased the footprints. Here, the wind never rested. It screamed across the empty plain, lifting countless grains of frozen sand into the air. They lashed against the bodies of the chained bunch, needling every patch of exposed skin until it felt as though the desert itself was slowly flaying them.
Once she feared what a human could do to her, but this place had proven her previous fears were like a teardrop in the boundless ocean. She had collapsed several times and quickly regretted it.
No one listened to your tears here, no one cared if you were just a young girl. Mercy was the lashing of whips. The back of her clothes was in shreds, scars hidden behind the fresh bleeding gashes she received some days back.
Aurelia lifted her eyes to the sky. The flesh around her eyes had sunk, so had the flesh on her cheekbones. Bone pressed against thin flesh.
Above them hung a sky the colour of tarnished silver. Thick clouds rolled across it in slow, endless waves, swallowing what little light remained until the world seemed trapped between dusk and night.
The chains clinked, pulling her. Aurelia stumbled yet resumed her pace. What use was there in being angry that she couldn’t even be granted a second to gaze at the sky?
What even was anger?
Monoliths of black stone rose from the wasteland without warning. Some leaned like broken towers, others vanished into the low clouds, their jagged faces carved by the merciless wind.
Chains dragged behind every prisoner. Yes, they were prisoners. What else?
Iron links scraped over frozen stone and buried themselves in the sand before being jerked free again. No one spoke, your mind did what your mouth wanted.
Besides, the howl of the wind swallowed every breath, every cough, and every exhausted stumble would earn the ire of the creatures in this ungodly wind.
Then, her ears picked up something. The clinking of iron. Had they met another batch once more?
She tilted her neck stiffly. As she had assumed. There was another batch emerging from the other side of a monolith.
Aurelia’s irises shook. Men and women in proper clothes. They dressed like teachers and... were recent victims.
Too recent, almost as if they hadn’t even lasted an hour here.
They looked around, caught between shock, disbelief, and horror. This was just the beginning of a terrible, endless journey, unfortunately.
Pity and relief flashed in her eyes. Aurelia didn’t have the strength to ponder over her conflicted heart. She just felt glad it wasn’t her brother. Hopefully, he stayed far away from that monstrous summoner.
It would be best if he became a coward. She would like it.
Because it was better than here. A place to be tortured for eternity.
***
Jon sat on a teacher’s desk. He faced the door, one leg resting on the other. A large whiteboard lay flat against the wall on his left, and on his right was a classroom.
With kidney desks fit for small individuals and tiny plastic chairs. Alphabet posters, number charts, and educational posters about science, reading, and mathematics decorated the bright walls.
As usual, due to the darkness outside, the lights were exceptionally bright. Jon’s eyes lazily went to the shelves, and he scoffed.
’Waste of time.’
He scratched his shaven head, blinking one eye too often to be normal. Then, he snapped his head toward the left and right, composing himself right after.
A scar went down one part of his handsome face. Now, his smile that inspired others could weaken people’s control over their bladders.
It wasn’t because his face changed, but the black bags under his crazed eyes made the signals of a sane person ring loud.
Two figures walked into the classroom. They looked so similar that one would think this being could duplicate itself. They wore pitch-black cloaks. The cloaks wrapped around their necks and flowed down, obscuring their feet.
These cloaks were like rags. They were ripped into different parts. It seemed like an accumulation of thick linen ribbons. The many layers of the cloaks proved enough to keep the true forms of these two individuals hidden.
Horns came out of the sides of their heads, tarnishing any sign that they were human. Well, unless this was the work of Echo. But this time, it wasn’t.
Their horns were short, similar to those of a young deer. And their faces were hidden behind white masks with countless vertical cracks.
The wide holes for their eyes were dark and hollow. These were an eerie bunch, even for the crazed Jon.
They were summoners in Eclipsal State. Setting eyes on them allowed him to realise there were over two hundred of these beings. They had this strange ability that made one forget they existed but It was exhilarating... leading two hundred of Sanctuary’s secret forces.
Oh, how tastefully sweet it was to ascend to the ranks of Disciple. Now, he led two hundred Crusaders.
"We’ve done what our god demands as Crusaders. This hunt has brought us gain, and these children will rise in the new era, under a god they shall be blessed to serve. But now... now is the time to bring an end to the man we are chasing. This chase has gone on long enough."
Jon stood.
"Snow will not leave this town alive."
"Your order gets in the way. Give us the permission to kill him on sight. Last time, we tried bringing him to you, and it ended in his escape."
Jon slammed his hand on the shoulder of the Crusader that spoke, his crazed eyes wide open.
"I will kill Snow. Do not bring this up again. Get me that white-haired freak and hurry. The more we delay, the stronger the other freak gets." Jon covered his face, his fingers spread wide.
"... I’m coming..."