Rise of the Lustful Evil Monarch (Re)-Chapter 342: The Abyssal Sanctum (3)

Third Person’s POV

She paused and looked down, and her hands started twisting her dress.

"We come from the DeepGorge region, in the Empire of Abyssal Dominion.

Our family was once a Count’s house, but now it has faded from its peak era significantly. We were the only hope of our family, and in return, our only hope to fulfill our family’s hope was strength and recognition.

This journey, this city, was supposed to be our chance to rise again." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Her words became fainter while her shoulders trembled even harder.

"But now... everything is ruined."

Tears brimmed again in her eyes, and though she tried to blink them away, her voice cracked at the last sentence, and she stared down at her lap while visibly struggling to maintain her composure.

Ethan watched her and couldn’t help but feel a mix of sympathy and inner amusement.

Her sudden shift from the trauma of her brother’s death to her family’s political decline made him inwardly roll his eyes, but he kept his face neutral.

Still, he couldn’t help but think,

She really took a detour there.

"When we reached halfway up the climb, we encountered a group of seven or eight young figures, or what we presumed to be young men dressed in matching dark robes.

At first, they seemed indifferent to us two trailing behind them, and merely climbed up as if we were invisible. But that illusion shattered the moment we got closer.

One of them, who looked around my age, leaned toward a taller companion and whispered something.

After receiving what I assumed to be some sort of approval, he turned to face us while wearing a twisted smile that sent a chill crawling up my spine."

She visibly shuddered on remembering that, but under their encouraging gazes continued,

"Sensing his vile intentions, my brother and I immediately grew alert, and I still remember asking him in a whisper about who they were.

But I wouldn’t have thought that it would be my last talk with him, and even now, I can still recall his uncertain expression that showed that he had no clue, none at all.

And there was a reason for it. All of them, their faces and forms, were cloaked in an unnatural darkness that seemed to absorb the light itself. It was like trying to look into a dark void.

But the most puzzling thing I found was that aside from that one smirking youth, the others didn’t even glance our way, and I could feel their detached, cold, and dismissive attitude towards all of this.

But then it began, the very thing I had been silently dreading since the time I saw them."

The girl’s voice faltered momentarily, and her fingers tightened around the hem of her dress. Ethan and the others listened quietly with suspense as the room became heavy with unspoken tension.

"He spoke to my brother, and I didn’t catch what he said as it was some sort of whisper or direct soul transmission.

But whatever he said, my brother’s refusal was clear from his expression. In the next instant, the air shifted between us and thickened with almost visible hostility, and then the fight broke out.

My brother fought back as best he could, but while also trying to save and defend me, he was outmatched.

I tried to help. I really did. I summoned a barrier to deflect those dark arrows and reduce the pressure on my elder brother, but before I could do more, that man suddenly appeared in front of me."

She frowned while beads of sweat appeared on her face, and her eyes widened.

Seeing that, the trio could feel the sudden horror this girl would have experienced, and Ethan also presumed that she didn’t have killing and real fighting experience prior to this encounter, leading to such an adverse reaction in her first moment of crisis.

"My body had frozen due to the fear and pressure his aura had put on me. I was unable to even move a single finger when his hand shot toward my throat.

In that instant, I still remember the thought in my mind that this was it.

But my elder brother had suddenly appeared beside me and pushed me away, just in time, while he took the hit meant for me."

Her voice cracked at this point, and her eyes welled up again.

"Due to his push and my being unprepared, I lost my balance and slipped off the rope, and that’s when everything became a blur. I was falling... and then, darkness had overtaken my vision after that glance where I spotted my elder brother falling off the rope.

As for what happened next, you already know. My brother... he..."

She didn’t finish the sentence, and as her eyes shifted to Ethan, the silent grief in her gaze made her appear much smaller and more fragile than she had moments ago.

Meanwhile, Ethan started sifting through his memory and couldn’t help but feel that her description of that mysterious seven matched unsettlingly well with what he assumed to be the young members’ delegation from the Abyssal Dominion’s royal family.

Such reckless and goon-like behavior didn’t align with their usual public image, but perhaps one among them, an arrogant heir or reckless youth, had acted impulsively or worse, deliberately.

Sighing, Ethan stepped forward and gently placed a hand on her head and started to pat it in an attempt to comfort her.

This gesture of his was instinctive and was meant to offer quiet reassurance, but in the next second, he couldn’t help but feel that something felt... off.

He looked down and saw her frozen in place, her eyes wide with a mixture of surprise and something unreadable.

At the same time, a blush started creeping across her cheeks and painted the pale skin of her face and neck to a vivid shade of red.

Realizing the implication of what he had said, Ethan’s face became laced with awkwardness.

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