The Gamer's POV-Chapter 218: An End To Everything

Cedric stopped in the middle of the chamber, then he turned around to look at Argentos, who was still watching him in stunned silence.

Slowly, Cedric lowered himself to the floor and sat down with his legs crossed. Then, he signaled with his hand again for Argentos to come closer.

Argentos finally snapped out of his trance, and as he began walking, Cedric smiled and tapped the cold stone ground in front of him.

"I recall you prefer sitting on the ground," Cedric said, keeping his tone casual and light. "So, if you don’t mind, please, have a seat."

Argentos halted in front of Cedric, then after studying him for a brief moment, he let out a long breath. Then slowly, he lowered his massive frame, mirroring Cedric’s posture until he was sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"What in the name of the gods are you?" Argentos asked after barely a few seconds of heavy, suffocating silence.

Cedric didn’t reply immediately, seemingly lost in thought. After a few seconds, he closed his left eye, raised a single finger, and replied. "I’m just a tragic human that has grown quite fond of the comedy."

He let his finger drop and opened his eye, then added, "You can call me, Cedric, by the way."

Argentos was still in disbelief and it was visible on his face. After a moment, though, he sighed, tried to compose himself, and asked.

"What brings you back here... Cedric?"

Cedric narrowed his eyes, staring into Argentos for a moment, then he said calmly, "Since you were gracious enough to make me an offer the last time, let me make you an offer as well."

Argentos arched a brow questioningly.

Cedric then continued after a few long seconds, "You hate the lords, don’t you? Those strangers who strutted into your home and began to act like they own the place. I’m sure as a people who just wanted to be left alone to their own affairs, you hate them even more now for bringing the red bridge over to your territory, and causing the death of so many of your people."

He paused for a bit before adding, "You even said it yourself, if I were stronger, you’d be tempted to fully defy them."

Argentos’s expression remained unchanged. He had managed to fully regain his composure and had gone back to being an unreadable wall of cold metal.

After a few moments of silence, he exhaled and replied, "Yes, you are right. I do hate them. But what does that have to do with you?"

"Everything," Cedric replied coldly. "I’m here to put an end to everything, once and for all. I’ll put an end to the lords, and I’ll put an end to all the bridges connecting this realm to the cradle."

Argentos’s expression cracked again and a mix of shock and disbelief crossed his face. He leaned forward and searched Cedric’s dull eyes for any sign of a joke, but he found none.

"Do you even understand the scale of what you’re saying? You plan on killing the lords and putting an end to the bridges? How are you even going to do something like that?"

...Of course, this just proved that the hollow ones had no idea that in order to stop the bridges from appearing, they needed to challenge and destroy the lords of the first ring. To them, the bridges were an inevitable curse, not a mechanic that could be dismantled.

The people from the empire, however, knew this information. They knew this because a long time ago, after the first bridges appeared, the oracles of the churches received visions. Among those visions, it was revealed that in order to stop the monsters from pouring in from their world into the empires, dominants needed to cross the veil and destroy the red bridge before it matured. It was also revealed that if they wanted to stop the bridges from appearing permanently, they needed to also destroy the lords of the first ring.

At first, many dominants tried, but after many years of failing to destroy the lords, they chose to settle on just destroying the red bridge every eclipse.

Now, to be honest, destroying the lords wasn’t in Cedric’s plans before coming to this realm. Before now, his personal plan for this lunar eclipse was just to survive until the end of it, while also growing his power to the best of his ability.

He didn’t plan on any noble duty or playing the role of a savior.

But as fate would have it, things never go the way one expects.

Who would have thought that he’d be forced to challenge the lords of the rings?

Even though they might let the rest of the cadets pass through the blue bridge, there was no way they would let him go, so he decided to take them head on. He decided that since he had been backed into a corner, he might as well destroy them and put an end to everything.

Cedric sighed.

After a moment, he finally replied, "Just as we had to destroy some of your kind in order to collapse the red bridge, we must destroy those who hold the position of lords to stop the bridges from ever appearing again."

Argentos’s eyes widened and he leaned back. He looked so lost in the weight of that realization that he even muttered to himself, "Could that be why they asked me to get rid of you?"

It was quiet after that for a moment.

Then, seeing that Argentos was finally starting to see the logic, Cedric decided to press the advantage.

"I know that you also want an end to all of this. You want the cycles to stop so that your realm doesn’t eventually collapse under the weight of them."

Argentos fixed his attention back on Cedric.

Cedric smiled and leaned in slightly, his gaze fixed on Argentos’s eyes. "So why not work with me, Argentos? Let us put an end to everything."

Argentos stared at him for a moment, and then a frown crept up his face.

"Even though that may be the case, it is impossible for us to challenge the lords. We are under their authority," he said as the memory of his own helplessness resurfaced. He remembered how he could do nothing but kneel, forced to watch as his daughter fell to her death.

Cedric leaned back and his expression suddenly became unreadable. "I know. But the thing is, you don’t need to be the ones to strike them down. All your people need to do is defend mine from the nagas. You lot have an immunity to magic, so having your people fight alongside us would be more than helpful. Leave the lords to us who are not under their authority."

Argentos rubbed his chin slightly and grew deep in thought.

Cedric was about to say that Argentos didn’t need to give an answer right away, when suddenly, Argentos tapped his own chest, then raised the hand and tapped his forehead before raising his hand to the side.

Then he said, "If you promise to take down the lords and put an end to this eternal nightmare, I promise that my people will stand as your vanguard."

Cedric grinned.

He leaned back slightly, tapped his chest, then his forehead, before raising his hand to the side in the same manner.

"I’m glad we could come to an agreement, Argentos," Cedric said as he extended his hand forward.

Argentos looked at it briefly, then as he reached out to shake it, all the ravens in the hall let out a sharp caw and flapped their wings in a sudden, heavy rhythm. The sound echoed off the high stone ceilings as a dark benediction for the war to come.