Lord of Myths: I Can Summon and Fuse Divine Powers.-Chapter 34: The Old Woman. (1)

[Aurudil — Before nightfall.]

"Oh, hello youngsters," said a kind, elderly voice. "Would you like a candy?"

Alioth turned to see who was speaking.

It was a little old lady with a kind gaze and graying hair. The wrinkles on her face were witnesses to her age, as was her body, which trembled slightly.

Though there was something that caught Alioth’s attention, the spirits, which normally filled the air with their light were now scattered, far from the old lady, as if they didn’t want to be near her.

What could that be about?

Alioth decided not to give it too much importance.

"Excuse me, ma’am, though we appreciate the offer, we’re busy looking for a friend," Alioth said as politely as possible.

The old lady simply smiled, as if she didn’t care about those words.

"Oh? You’re looking for your friend? How interesting, yes," she said, as she stroked her chin.

Alioth let out a small sigh, he didn’t have time to deal with old ladies, he wanted to find Nora as soon as possible.

Not that he was worried about her either, he just wanted that matter settled as quickly as possible.

The boy turned around but then, the old lady’s hand rested on his shoulder.

"You know, just a while ago, a girl your age, very pretty by the way, she had very beautiful blonde hair, I had hair that pretty at her age. Hahaha, though I can barely remember it. Oh right, I’m mixing apples and oranges. She was very cheerful, you know? Yes yes, when I saw her I wanted to give her a candy, because she was very skinny, yes poor thing, they should feed her more at home, she was skin and bones, and she’s so pretty! Yes, they should feed her more."

Alioth felt a vein in his neck swelling, but he couldn’t yell at an old lady, that would be wrong.

The boy took a deep breath, then interrupted the old lady.

"Blonde and cheerful? Sounds like who we’re looking for," Alioth said with a fake smile.

The old lady nodded cheerfully.

"Yes yes, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. That girl was also looking for something, and I pointed her in the right direction, though it was a while ago, I don’t know if she’ll still be there," the old lady said with a smile.

Alioth’s face lit up upon hearing that, though he wasn’t the only one who felt excited by that news.

"Really? Please tell us where she is, we’re very worried," Lisbeth said with excitement.

Regulus also seemed very intrigued, though he just leaned forward shyly to hear better.

"Oh, what lovely children, worrying about your friend like that," the old lady said with a smile drawn on her face. "She said she was heading to an abandoned cabin on a hill, where stories have been circulating lately. Hahaha, she looked very adventurous, at her age I was very energetic too, you know? I really liked those kinds of adventures."

The old lady commented with nostalgia, making Alioth feel annoyed again, but he couldn’t do anything about it either.

After rambling a few times, the old lady finally said where Nora was, Alioth didn’t waste time and headed there, leaving his group with the old lady, giving them the mission to ask the templars and Tata for help.

"Alright, Regulus, you take Caligo and go back to Mom, I’ll go notify the templars, I hope they take me seriously," Lisbeth indicated with concern, she felt bad about what had happened with Nora.

Deep down she felt guilty for having been so hard on her, maybe if her words had been different, she wouldn’t have acted like that.

The old lady nodded at Lisbeth’s words.

"Yes, you’re right, being a demon I doubt very much those guards will take you seriously," the old lady affirmed.

A long silence fell, Lisbeth had felt a chill hearing those words.

However, they didn’t have to be malicious, maybe she was just saying it with pity, it could even be that she was proposing to help.

The black-haired demon slowly turned toward the old lady, to respond, however upon seeing her, she was petrified.

The old lady’s aura had completely changed from a few moments ago.

She had an ominous aura, dark and gloomy, practically chilling.

The girl swallowed before speaking, feeling an intense urge to run.

"M-maybe you could come with me to the templars, ma’am, if it’s not too much trouble," she said with a trembling voice.

Regulus also felt that something was going very wrong, even the shy Caligo, who had been still doing nothing until now, looked nervous in the face of the old lady’s recent change in attitude.

"Ohhh, I’m sorry, I have many things to do now, I’m a very busy person, you know?" she said, as she tilted her head.

Her eyes black as two abysses of immeasurable depth fixed on Lisbeth.

She was going to say something but that gaze instinctively shut her mouth.

"Ohhh, what pretty eyes you have, are they to see me better?" the old lady said, with a big smile, almost unnatural. "Hahaha, sorry, but it’s just rare to see an ocular mutation like that, the last celestial sense I saw was touch, though it caused its user many problems."

Lisbeth took a few steps back, trembling at those words.

How could she know about her eyes?

"U-uh... we’d better be going," she said, instinctively putting herself in front of Regulus.

The light of sunset reflected on the rooftops, creating a veil of orange light.

Something like that would normally have been seen as beautiful, but now it only accentuated how gloomy the scene was.

"Does it cause you problems too, dear? Wouldn’t you like me to take care of that little problem?" the old lady said, as she approached Lisbeth with a look that would turn anyone’s stomach.

Lisbeth shook her head, increasingly frightened. She didn’t understand what was happening.

Why had that old lady’s aura suddenly become so terrifying?

Why had her attitude changed so suddenly?

What the hell was happening?

Lisbeth felt her heart pounding hard inside her chest, they had to flee now.

"Come on, don’t be shy, it’ll be quick," the old lady insisted.

Regulus looked at his sister with fear, his body trembled from the terror he felt, he didn’t know what was happening either.

"Regulus, ru—"

But before finishing her sentence, the girl was interrupted.

It happened fast, almost in a blink.

The old lady’s hand went through the bandage covering Lisbeth’s eyes, and one of her eyes was ripped out.