Game World's Awakening

Chapter 212: Charles, the Little Griffin.

Unedited*

"I think we’re ready for this. We beat him last time, Mr. Soac; I hope you kept your word," said Elliot, greeting him.

"Hahaha." Soac burst out laughing and welcomed them. "Of course I did. A Nurotauro never goes back on his word."

He walked into the main room, and in one corner was a Griffin, lying down and at ease. He had resigned himself to just one Nurotauro, but when he saw another god appear, he simply gave up body and soul.

There wasn’t a single part of him that wanted to resist at that moment.

’Is this some kind of costume party with gods?’ he complained inwardly and lay back down. In fact, he ignored the new god who had appeared.

Not because he wasn’t interested, but because, if he was with that human and was human himself, then he would surely be one of his masters soon. He would inevitably get to know him.

However, Mikael didn’t ignore him.

"Little Charles?" he asked suddenly, shocked to find a familiar face down here.

The griffin seemed to frown and raised its head. Then it stared intently at the god who had just arrived.

For a brief moment, it was confused, but then it suddenly stood up.

"L-l-Lord Mikael." It ran toward him. "W-what are you doing here?"

His eyes sparkled, and before Mikael could answer, he looked at the Nurotaur and then back at Mikael. "Did you come to save me? These are the ones who’ve captured me, sir! That’s why..."

Smack!

"Ouch?" The griffin Charles felt a blow to the head then.

Mikael was glaring at him. "What the hell did you do? Why are you in a Nurotaur’s house?"

"N-no, sir. It’s—it’s a misunderstanding, I didn’t..."

Mikael cut him off. "I didn’t ask you to apologize. I want explanations."

The griffin lowered its head and suddenly felt a twinge of despair. However, everyone was staring at him, and it was Elliot who spoke up.

"A while back, Jenna and I got trapped in this forest while being chased by our enemies. At that time, we encountered the griffin, and it wanted to eat us. By mistake, we ended up inside this ruin, undergoing some trials," he said.

"Some trials?" Mikael frowned and looked at the Nurotaur. "The Trials of the Sarcophagus of Soac... I thought that was just mythology."

The Nurotaur smiled slightly. "I lost in those trials, so don’t think of it as something amazing. This is the second time in 400 years that I’ve lost to humans."

Mikael’s eyes widened in shock. "I’d heard that Nurotauros were honest beings, but I didn’t expect you to admit that you lost to two little humans. It seems I’ve misjudged them."

"Hahaha, humans have this habit of judging without knowing the facts. It’s nothing new," said Soac, then shifted his attention from Mikael to Elliot.

Among those present, that Divine One wasn’t the most interesting to this Nurotauro. It was Elliot.

"The bet was that, if he won, I would grant him this Griffin as a prize. So, I hope you don’t intend to object." Soac turned his gaze toward Mikael.

A faint trace of spiritual energy flashed across his eyes... Mikael had to get serious.

’What a dangerous man,’ he thought.

"Charles is the son of the Chief of the Griffin Clan. A powerful clan on the continent, which works with us and for us. Since Elliot is now our prized disciple, naturally I won’t object. The more powerful Elliot is, the faster he’ll complete his missions," Mikael replied.

"All right." Soac looked back at Elliot. "Have you been doing well? I can see you’ve grown much stronger in this short time."

Elliot smiled. "I’ve been doing well. Even though it’s been tough, I’m ready to collect on that bet we made back then."

Soac nodded. "Very well, if you already feel ready and think there won’t be any problems, then let’s do it. Though I don’t think you’ll need much. That boy has already resigned himself to it."

Elliot turned to look at the griffin, whose name was Charles. "I don’t think he regrets being my pet. Even Lord Mikael knows that."

Mikael shrugged. It wasn’t a big deal. This little Charles was good at what he did and had royal blood. Son of the Clan leader and also one of the most outstanding young men, if he could accompany the most talented Summoner they could have on their journey, then everything would go better.

"Let’s get started," Soac declared.

--

In the Kingdom’s capital, the Royal Castle.

The entire high command was assembled, with the exception of a few ministers. The King was present.

Behind him stood his son Christian, still recovering from his wounds.

"The City of Loen has been very active recently. I’ve heard all the relevant news. Some top-tier geniuses have appeared, including a summoner who got into trouble with the guilds but managed to defeat them in every tournament. Even the legendary Clark family was destroyed." The King spoke.

He knew many things because his son had informed him, but he wanted to see if his subordinates had the same information or additional information that he did, since the most well-informed minister was not present.

"Yes, King. We could wait for the Minister of the Awakened to return so he can give us all the information, but what we have so far is that the Clarks were victims of a millennia-old curse."

"A curse..." The King frowned. "I heard that first, that summoner attacked them head-on and killed a lot of them. Apparently he did it out of revenge, since he was also a Clark who had been expelled."

One of the high-ranking military officers turned to look at him. "Don’t you know, Lord? He is Skydome’s son. Weren’t you informed?"

The King stared intently at the man in question. "That man’s son? That little..." He glanced back at his son with a reproachful look.

Why on earth didn’t he tell him something so important?

Christian, for his part, thought the king already knew, since, to begin with, that mission had been given to him by the king.

Although the king was upset with Christian, he looked at his subordinates, and they began to speak.

"After the attack by Skydome’s son and his allies—a battle that left many dead—and following revelations about the Clarks’ shady dealings and a court struggle, the strange curse was revealed."

"The Clarks were practically wiped out. But that young son of Skydome, Elliot Clark, seems to have survived."

The king nodded thoughtfully. "Where did that curse come from?"

"No one knows. It is speculated that it came from antiquity, from long, long ago."

"Antiquity?" The King’s body tensed. "Do you mean... from the gods?"

"...That is exactly what I mean."

Gods. They do not refer to the current ones, but to those of bygone eras.

The gods of today may not even be gods, as the story goes.

Yet they still wield unprecedented power, capable of wiping out entire continents.

How powerful, then, are those gods of the past?

’Powerful enough to curse the present from a distant past.’

’Powerful enough to transcend the ages.’

While today’s gods have limited lives and powers, those of that era seem to have no limitations.

Perhaps they are as universal... as the System itself.

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