Small villain's Viewpoint

Chapter 12

Hope

Inside, a pale old man lay in a spacious white bed. His hair were as white as snow, devoid of any luster. Patches of purple abraisions littered his skinny arms, completely visible under his white sleeves. Beside him were attendants, carrying buckets of warm water and herbal teas, its scents wafted through the air.

Julian look even more depress, his eyes gazing away from the patient. Ruiz bowed respectfully towards the old man, leaving with the butler. Seeing them, the servants wordlessly left, understanding the situation.

Julius approach the old man, opting to stay silent. The sight was to ghastly for him to say anything. If he weren't wrong, this man, was Jeralt Achinuss. The head knight of the royal family.

Before he transmigrated, Ling Chen only know of him as the "hero who turned evil". It was never mentioned in the novel that Jeralt had been the former patriach of the Achinuss family. However, as someone who could be regarded as one of the major antagonist of the story, he had huge parts in the plotline, with him challenging Michael. Despite being an antagonist, Jeralt did possess heroic qualities, as a honorable knight who fight fair and square.

It was mentioned that Jeralt was once considered as a hero; the knight who fought off Belial's forces out of the eastern border. He was also the head royal knight, even becoming the current king's mentor. When the demonic forces came to reclaim the border, he accompanied the former king to defend the border. What came after was a tragedy.

No one knew what happen, but when the gates opened, only the king and his few vassals came back, with a handfull of knight; all looking like they had seen a nightmare. Jeralt came back alive, but without his former vigour. Later on, he became an undead knight, with his reason intact. Rampaging in the midst of a major city, the guilds offered bounties to stop the undead knight from his killing spree.

Sighing, Julius could guess the reason for his rampage. Jeralt was a valiant knight, he was a hero. Looking at his current state; Julius could guess what had transpired inside the eastern border. It was mentioned one time by a passing traveler that a new tower was created. Unlike the previous towers, it came under the surface, emitting black smog upon its creation. The novel was quite sloppy with its setting, making Ling Chen extremely frustrated.

Perhaps when Jeralt's troops came in, they were caught up in the tower's miasma. So whatever artifact resides inside it, Julius was quite sure it was something malicious, creating such a dreadful scenario. So with the tragic death of his troops, his powerlessness and the hallucination emitted by the miasma,which caused Jeralt to fell from grace.

With this unknown sickness, Jeralt was supposed to be consumed by the corruption, killing him and turning him into an undead knight in the process. Corrupted beings tend to be violent, irregardless of their former nature, completely turning them into beasts.

"Father, elder brother is here.He had come back," Julian knelt beside his father, holding unto his weak arms. Unlike his strong past self, the current Jeralt look like a wilting plant. The man tried to open his eyes, his already degenerating eyesight fail to see his eldest son's figure. Frail arms reaches out in an empty space, trying to grasp Julius.

Julius held his father's hand. Jeralt mumble, his voice unclear. Ling Chen silently stand beside him. He doesn't know what to say. He wasn't the original Julius. He was an outsider; but to Jeralt, he was his eldest son. Julius might had regarded himself as a failure,but no one in the family treated him as such. He was frail and weak, so Jeralt treasures him more than he did with his other children. It was just the original Julius could not see that, so he thought that his father was neglecting him. He fail to understand that in fact, the Achinuss household tried to shelter him as much as they could, forbiding him from practicing swordsmanship and any form of martial arts least that he injured himself. Consumed by envy, he left,giving Jeralt extreme grief over the lost of his son. He might be a hero and a knight, to Jeralt; he fail as a father.

Ling Chen stared at the griefing Julian. As someone who grew without his parents, he was someone detach from parental warmth. The only family he knew was his aunt. But his aunt couldn't exactly become his parent; she also had a family of her own. So Ling Chen remained like that, he was part of someone else's family, but at the same time; he isn't.

He was someone who would act kind and friendly as much as possible, to avoid being dislike; to avoid being completely discarded. At times he was apathetic, like an outsider uninvolved to anything and to anyone.

Right now, Ling Chen could not understand Julian.

"Julius, my son", Jeralt hold unto Julius, his eyes blurry. He could see him. His white clad figure, like he had always been. Julius looked at his father. The man had fainted. Clearly, he had recognize him. No. He had recognize Julius.

"Should I cast a spell on him?",he looked at Julian. The latter nodded, still unable to stand the sight of his sickly father. White light envelops Jeralt, effectively removing the corruption from his body. His breathing stabilizes. The purple patches was removed, despite that, his complexion still remained deathly pale.

Juluis concluded that Jeralt had contracted an unknown illness; probably brought over by the corruption on his body. Purification could only cleanse the soul and body, it could not heal it. Julian felt despair. He knew it would turn like this, but he wasn't ready to accept it.

"Panacea"

Julius murmured, in deep thought. He did promise to avoid towers; however, this was different. The person was the original's father. He owe him the life he had suddenly occupied. As for the former Julius, the guy had probably flew somewhere else.

Patting Julian's back, Julius fake a smile. This is the only thing he could do for the Achinuss family.

"Perhaps we could still save him"

______________________________________

Thanks for reading!!!

Stay safe  everyone!!!!