SSS Ranked Shadow Monarch: Summoning Infinite Shadows-Chapter 188: Marching through the city

After what happened, Aren came to the realization that what Elena told him held water. It wasn’t just meaningless words; she saw something, and now he saw it too. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Being tied to a group gave him a sense of purpose, allowed him to feel like there was more to his bleak existence. But it also made it a good target for those that hate him.

’Should I leave? Their lives are in constant danger with me, every day that they walk with me.

I’ve become too attached to the hip with them, and I lack the ability to constantly protect them, maybe the right choice is to walk away, maybe’

"Hope you aren’t thinking of leaving us." Aidan’s voice cut through the solemn moment like a sharp spear through flesh. Aren’s gaze shifted, landing on Aiden, who stood a few meters away, a faint smile on his lips, leaning against a wall in a nonchalant way.

He propped himself off the wall and walked toward Aren. Aren heard each step and wished Aiden would get further away. Every step that Aiden took tugged at his heart, reminding him that he had failed the group, that he had failed Aiden.

Aiden arrived next to Aren, his shadow looming over him like the bringer of judgment, but then it turned warm as Aiden slowly sat down beside Aren.

"Ahh, the breeze here is quite good, allows for good thinking," Aiden said.

"Yeah, I guess," Aren replied without emotion, his head facing the ground, eyes empty.

"I said for good thinking, you dumbass, not for whatever it is that you are doing now," Aiden shot, eyes rolling as he spoke. "You really think you can find the solution to everyone’s issues?" Aiden asked. He stretched his hands, picking two pieces of stone, and tossed them one after the other into the air.

"What you are doing will only hurt more," Aiden said. "I get it, you are angry, mad, enraged, and sad. Your emotions are all over the place, especially guilt for what Raze caused."

"Because it was my fault."

"How?" Aiden asked. He leaned forward and looked at Aren, his eyes holding a genuine question. He wanted to understand the way Aren was thinking right now.

"Because I let him in."

"When did you let him in? Give me a moment that you said, hey Raze, come with us," Aiden asked.

Aren opened his mouth, but then he froze. After a solid ten seconds, he couldn’t find a single moment that he said that.

"Great," Aiden said and then got up. He stood in front of Aren and stretched out a hand. "Raze joined of his own accord, and we all accepted him. He fooled me, he fooled you, he fooled all of us. The blame rests on every one of us.

If I am to say anything, I’d say that we take the most blame because we were unable to do anything against him," Aiden said, letting out a dry chuckle.

Aren looked at Aiden’s outstretched hand. Aiden was right; dwelling on what had already happened was of no use at all. The only thing that mattered now was stepping ahead.

Sure, changes had happened. The group isn’t the same as before, and so was his heart, but at the end of the day, change is what fostered development.

He stretched out his hand and grabbed Aiden’s hand. Aiden smiled and pulled Aren up before hugging him tight.

"Thank you for saving me, man. I owe you my life, and I mean that sincerely," Aiden said, and then let go.

"Alright, something is cooking downstairs and everyone is waiting eagerly to eat, so stop thinking and come down," Aiden said and started walking, then he stopped and looked back.

"What about Flo? Haven’t seen her in a bit."

"Oh yeah," Aren replied and summoned her.

"Ahhhh, finally," Flo said as soon as she came out, stretching her body like a couch potato that had finally stood up after a full day of laying down.

She sniffed the air twice, her eyes widening as she shot downstairs for the food. Seeing this, Aren couldn’t help but smile. He watched Aiden also go down before he finally followed behind.

[.....]

"The master must be awakened.

The master must be awakened.

The master must be awakened."

A chant loud enough to shake walls could be heard inside the Geisha Ruins, as more than fifty awakened were walking like mindless zombies through the city, their bodies disfigured in grotesque manners. Some had extra-long black limbs, others had disfigured, pulsing faces.

It looked like a marching band made of beings from a horror movie. Every group of awakened that spotted them ran as fast as they could, not wanting to face whatever this was.

Despite their monstrous differences, there was one thing that they all had in common: the bracelet with an eye on it. The eye twitched and looked around constantly.

All of them were marching toward the center of the city. Their pace wasn’t fast, but neither was it slow.

On a rooftop, Elena sat down, legs crossed, eyes on them. Beside her was Luka. He stood there with an empty stare, arms folded.

"What do you think is happening?" Elena asked.

"I’m not sure, but whatever it is, I’m not sure it was part of the main tournament," he said. He was about to suggest investigating when suddenly, about four of the awakened snapped their heads back, looking right at the two on the roof.

"Shit," Elena cursed.

"I’m sure I suppressed our presence. They shouldn’t be able to sense us," Luka said.

"Well, they did. Tch, we have to fight now," she said and got up.

The four that looked at them lunged forward. The one in the front had two extra-long black grotesque arms. He used them like a monkey, rushing up the building, but as soon as it came up, Luka snapped his fingers as a terrifying invisible force slammed into the chest of the awakened. Blood gushed out as the awakened was thrown back.

The other three ignored their falling member and rushed ahead.