Dragon Sage Thesis

CHAPTER 50

CHAPTER 50

I never would have expected that the future, that one timeline where I survive, could be too dark.

When I opened my eyes, I saw myself in the middle of the Dragon Sage Library Garden, three months from now. The beautiful garden that was always taken care of by the beautiful young maids is now nothing but dry land, shattered debris, and withered flowers.

There are traces of dried blood everywhere, and there are even skeletons lying in the corner. Some dried garden plants caught some fire.

It's just the tip of the iceberg. When I looked at the Dragon Sage Library, I saw ruins. The upper right part of the castle-like facility was blasted open, and bricks are falling from the roof now and then. The entrance is also wide open, and a trail of blood goes inside.

I walked towards the entrance and so nobody was alive. Aside from the stench that seemed to come from corpses, the books and grimoires are all scattered on the floor. Most of them are burning. I tried to pick up one of the books and realized that my hand had just passed through. This is just a simulation of a future timeline after all, so I have no way of interrupting this event.

The entrance to the library proper was blocked by some fallen pillars. I can still peek at the inside through the holes, and all I can see there are burning bookshelves and abandoned tables. The magical platform we used as an elevator has been destroyed.

I looked back and noticed the blood trail on my foot. I tried to follow it until it lead me to the corridors I have never gone into until I reached stairs leading downwards.

I can hear a faint cry.

I decided to move downwards, following the blood trail. The basement part of the Dragon Sage Library, which is off-limits to everyone, is now being discovered by me. The area is well-lit for an abandoned building so I figured out that there must be people hiding in here.

It was a long spiral stair. It took a while until I reached the end of it.

The room is just covered with darkness. All of a sudden, torches from the sides of the wall lit up, making it a little bit clearer.

What I saw is what surprised me the most. This room is like a huge torture chamber, with chains and skeletons hung on the sides. Some bookshelves divide the giant room, with books just accumulating dust. There are also some magical apparatuses of some sort. This is not a torture chamber. It's more like a hidden place made for illegal experiments of Dragon Sages.

"Mmmph! Mmmph!" I heard a nearby noise.

When I turned around, I saw a man hung upside down, and fully naked. There is a poisonous barbed wire constricting his whole body. His long silver hair brushed on my face. I noticed his crimson eyes. Even though his face is full of bruises and cuts, I immediately recognized the person.

"Ross?" I muttered.

"Mmmmph!" Ross answered. His mouth is gagged with the same quality of rusty toxic barbed wires, and his mouth is gushing with blood.

"This is so terrible! Who did this to you!?" I cried out loud. I tried to touch him, but my hand just passes through. "I swear, I will kill everyone who did this!"

"Mph!" Ross' eyes opened wide as he gasped. He seems like he just saw someone behind me. A chill went down my spine.

"You're still alive, eh?"

It was a familiar feminine voice. When I looked back, I was taken aback and froze in fear. Her crimson eyes with golden pupils scared the shit out of me. She has long black horns, long silver-blue hair, and her bodysuit and fairy dress decals are all tattered up. Nevertheless, she is the woman I know.