Chronicles of Forgotten Extra - Chapter 295

Chapter 295: A Pathetic Adult.
Alden watched the fading figure of Cipher disappear down the corridor.

What had it been, a few minutes since he was complaining about not getting any sleep? Of course the world took that personally and threw him another problem.

Jeremy Voidforge.

According to Cipher, Jeremy wasn’t going to act until the very last day of the tournament… and she wanted him to help stop that.

She was practically dragging him, someone who was supposedly weak, unimportant and absolutely not meant for this level of bullshit, straight into a mess of power he had no business touching.

How laughable…

Not that he minded.

He didn’t doubt his chances, whether it was surviving Jeremy’s attempt to take over his body… or even accidentally killing Jeremy in the process.

But that kind of “victory” would come at a cost.

A heavy one.

Too many lives would be thrown into the fire before it was over.

And that… that was where Cipher’s request came in.

She had handed him a small and simple red button but it had an ability which would teleport one person to his location.

Not just anyone but one of the strongest beings in the Luminous Accord.

The one Cipher called The Father.

But why couldn’t she have given this job to some other low-level member?

Alden frowned.

He wasn’t stupid. There was no way the Luminous Accord didn’t have dozens of spies scattered across the artificial island.

So why me?

Why place something this important and this dangerous in my hands?

The more he thought about it, the heavier the unease he felt in his chest.

Alden felt suspicious.

But he couldn’t understand why.

What would Cipher possibly gain by misleading him?

He was part of the Luminous Accord.

He had even signed their loyalty contract even if his skill quietly nullified it, they didn’t know that.

So then… Why give me this mission?

Or am I just… overthinking everything again?

Just then he heard an announcement from outside calling all students in the arena for the Initiation Ceremony.

Shit, I need to wear a uniform first.

With a sigh, Alden shoved his thoughts to the back of his mind almost instinctively and almost too easily as if something… or someone… wanted him to stop thinking about it.

—

Meanwhile, Cipher walked down the staircase, one that stretched endlessly into a suffocating dark.

Her face twisted in anger… and something else….Something nameless and dangerous.

Her heart pounded in her chest, each beat loud with worry… and guilt. But she buried the guilt with every step she took and forced it deeper where it couldn’t reach her.

Eventually, the stairs ended and she stopped in front of a massive door.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside.

He wore a plain white mask without an eyehole or mouth with just a wide, permanent smile carved across its face. He had no aura, sound or even a flicker of presence.

It was as if he didn’t exist at all.

“I did what you asked,” Cipher said, gritting her teeth, her anger barely hidden behind her worry. “Now leave my daughter alone.”

Vanyaa.

Her only child.

The one this masked monster had taken.

She didn’t know who he was or what he wanted but she knew one thing—

He was strong… stronger than her.

“What’s the rush, Ms. Cypheria…?” The masked man tilted his head, his voice light and playful. “Or should I just call you Cipher now?”

He let out a short giggle, a sound far too cheerful for the dark room as if this entire nightmare was nothing but a game to him.

“Cut the crap. You said you would give my daughter back once I handed over the red button and told those lies to Alden.” Cipher snapped, anger finally breaking through her restraint.

But the masked man didn’t lose his smile. He didn’t even flinch.

“Did I?” he murmured, tilting his head as if genuinely confused.

Then he tapped the side of his mask lightly.

“Ahh. Right. I did say that, didn’t I?”

His voice brightened with amusement like this entire situation was some private joke he couldn’t get enough of.

“But you see, Ms. Cipher…” he continued softly, almost kindly. “I can’t have you ruin my master’s plans by returning your daughter immediately.”

A burst of aura exploded from Cipher instinctively but it vanished instantly with a single lazy snap of the masked man’s fingers.

“Now, now… don’t get so worked up, Ms. Cipher,” he spoke lightly. “We never wanted to play with you or your daughter. Truly, we didn’t.”

His head tilted, that carved smile on his mask somehow feeling even wider.

“But we had no choice. You were one of the very few the boy trusted… for reasons we still don’t understand.”

Cipher’s expression twisted again.

The guilt she had shoved deep, deep down began climbing its way back up.

But she forced herself to breathe because she couldn’t do anything.

The masked man had already made it clear, they wouldn’t kill Alden or Vanyaa.

Not because of mercy… but because if one died, the other would too.

That was what the Alden had told her.

A chain of life and death… binding the two.

The masked man had even promised to break those chains after he received what he wanted.

She knew better than to trust kidnappers.

But she was helpless.

She had strength.

She had connections.

She had influence far beyond most agents in the Accord.

Yet none of that mattered.

Because she was a mother…. A mother who couldn’t bear the thought of her child dying before she did.

So she forced herself to believe the lie… to accept the masked man’s promise.

She didn’t know what the masked man had planned for Alden… didn’t know what nightmare she had just pushed him into.

And she avoided thinking about it because the more she thought… the heavier the guilt suffocated her.

I am sorry, Alden… I am really sorry for being such a pathetic adult.

Her voice didn’t leave her lips but the words screamed inside her head.

Cipher didn’t respond to the masked man and just lowered her head, her shoulders trembling ever so slightly in a silent admission of defeat.