Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 97: Do you remember?

Purrre!

Alaric nearly fell off the chair as blood poured from his mouth.

Everyone who witnessed it was shocked, including Meren, whose first thought was the typhoid Alaric claimed he had healed.

Standing up from where she was sitting, she hastily pointed at her knight.

"Quick! Call the doctor!!!" Her voice was laced with urgency.

Immediately, the knight charged out of the room while Ava ran towards Alaric, holding him for support.

"Are you alright? Lord Alaric, speak to me!" She was worried, her hands cupping his cheeks.

Alaric could barely say a word. His entire body had gone stiff, and his eyes were red, almost as if every drop of blood in his body had found its way there.

And it wasn’t just that...

[System detects foreign object.]

[Error!!!]

[System detects foreign object.]

[Error!!!]

’What the hell...’

Alaric barely understood what was happening.

But one thing was certain—he could feel his life slowly slipping through his fingers.

Until eventually, there was nothing there—nothing to grab, and nothing he could feel.

His limbs fell, every muscle in his body going to sleep.

At first, there was total darkness, one that spread infinitely.

And then it was followed by a lonely voice—

"So you’ve come," the voice whispered into the darkness.

Alaric was still trying to collect himself, his body floating in an empty space.

"I’ve been waiting for you," the voice spoke again, this time with a hint of joy.

Suddenly, Alaric’s eyes snapped open, and there he was, kneeling at the center of an empty void.

While everywhere around him was covered in total darkness, only the place he knelt was spared from this fate. That, and the chained woman before him.

Though he was confused about his current condition, Alaric could not deny the beauty before him.

Long chains stretching deep into the darkness bound her to the ground. Her long purple hair flowed like a river, slightly covering her alluring amber eyes.

"You’ve finally come to meet me," the woman said, her head still facing the ground.

It wasn’t certain if she was afraid to look at him or was simply avoiding him in general.

"Where am I?" Alaric asked, his first curiosity.

The last thing he remembered was passing out in the Duchess’s waiting room.

"The Zone."

Alaric raised a brow. "Is that supposed to be the name of this place?"

"That is correct."

Not that the response was any help to Alaric.

"And where exactly is the Zone? I remember coughing up blood a while ago."

Silence took over for a while.

"You died," said the strange woman. "I used the last of my authority to pull you here. If you return, your soul will be lost to the void."

Hearing of his death should have struck some kind of shock within him.

Instead, Alaric was calm, almost a bit sad.

"So I died again," he whispered to himself.

As a soldier in his former life, Alaric had learned a thing or two about being ready to die when the situation called for it.

And while he wasn’t especially shocked about his death, he was too curious as to how he had died.

"Was I assassinated?" he asked.

"I guess you could say that. A subordinate of yours followed my orders and did what I asked. It was the only way I could get your attention."

"My subordinate?"

A screen showed up in front of Alaric, displaying the image of Hina Olivia.

Now, Alaric was shocked.

The woman spoke.

"I do believe this is her. She carries the blood of the ancient tradition. Thanks to you and upgrading her to her full potential, I was able to communicate with her, even though it took a couple of tries and failures."

Alaric pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself for the next question he was going to ask.

"Are you saying you instructed her to kill me?"

"Precisely. Already, she has come for your body. Already, you will be placed in slumber until I release you. This is your home, until I see the world safe and fit for your return." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Alaric sneered.

"Pretty sure her relationship with me was good—very good. What did you offer her to make her want to kill me?"

The woman smiled—it was easy to tell, even with her face shrouded by her long hair.

"She wants the same thing I want. To see you safe, to protect you."

"Protect me from what?"

"He has awakened. The one who devours and creates. With his awakening comes your suffering. Only darkness awaits you, and death for those who follow. Your suffering will bring his birth and the world’s downfall."

"What?"

"You should have noticed it by now—everything going on around you. The war of the rulers, the soldiers from Velmo sent to kill you. All these were set in place for you to suffer. It cannot be avoided, not as long as you exist in that world."

For a brief second, Alaric could have sworn he saw the beautiful face of the woman.

"I only want to protect you."

This made Alaric bite his lip a bit. Nothing made sense to him at the moment.

"Who are you?"

He finally asked the one question that had been lingering at the back of his mind for a while.

Once a single glance, now a full view—as the woman raised her head to look at Alaric clearly.

The moment he made eye contact with her, a smaller version of Alaric appeared.

No—it was Henry Bartholomew.

He was dressed in a white vest and black trousers. In his hands, a small knife, dripping with what seemed to be blood.

With shock evident in his eyes, Alaric warned as Henry moved closer, looking down at him with detachment in his gaze.

Henry’s eyes were filled with darkness, a familiar sight he had forgotten.

"Oh? Have you forgotten about me that easily?"

Not anymore, looking deep into those black gloomy eyes, anyone with a past such as his would remember.

...

[A/N: If you find this plot forward boring, you can skip it. It was rused due to my intent to end the book but I had a change of mind.]