10 Chapter : 10 A little pain?

The air filled with the hushed symphony of rustling as Liridian, surrounded by a chaotic pile of metallic objects and assorted items, fervently scoured for something. Meanwhile, Dylan reclined peacefully on a chair, absorbing the surroundings that eerily resembled the interior of a spaceship.

"Finally found it," Liridian declared, extracting a briefcase from the jumble. With a click, the case autonomously opened, revealing a ten-inch syringe. A sly grin adorned Liridian's lips as he carefully lifted the injection from its metallic cocoon.

Approaching Dylan, Liridian held the imposing syringe, catching glimmers of uncertainty in Dylan's eyes. "What's that for?" queried Dylan, his message projected above his head by a mysterious device.

"It's a genetic serum that will reshape your body's very essence," Liridian explained, triggering a pallor in Dylan's face. "You're not seriously injecting me with that," Dylan protested.

"Of course, I am," Liridian asserted, causing dread to etch across Dylan's features. "How could I survive with that massive thing inside me?" Dylan retorted in horror.

Ignoring Dylan's protests, Liridian placed the syringe on a counter table, splitting it open to reveal a smaller syringe inside. Dylan, watching the process, finally calmed down. "You're lucky," Liridian chuckled, "if the big syringe wasn't a mechanical one with a smaller syringe inside, I might have used the large one on you." Dylan swallowed nervously.

"Look, the moment I inject this serum, it might hurt a bit since it will pretty much reconstruct your body. So, hold on tight. If you're successful, then we can continue our conversation about Almenia," Liridian declared, injecting the syringe into Dylan's wrist without asking for permission.

"Whoa, I was not ready," Dylan exclaimed.

"Not ready? Well, get ready, because the pain is coming soon," Liridian warned.

Dylan waited patiently, but suddenly, his heart throbbed, almost making him unconscious. His red blood cells were now covered by a bluish lining, a torrent of current passing through his cells.

Unable to endure the pain, Dylan burst into cries like a child, filling the atmosphere with his anguish.

Meanwhile, outside the orphanage where Dylan was abandoned, something suspicious was happening. Priests were lining up kids and leading them away in an organized manner inside a van and departing.

What they didn't know was that someone was hiding and watching from the trees, their face covered with a black scarf and long hair suggesting a female. 'I didn't know I could encounter child smuggling now, but I need to find young master,' a lady's voice muttered. She was about to leave but stopped, contemplating, 'What if young master could be among them?'

She waited patiently, watching everything unfold. Her hypothesis was wrong; the priests weren't smuggling children. As they were brought back but looking exhausted. By noon, she decided to investigate the orphanage. Peeking through a slightly opened window, she overheard a conversation: 'Hey, where are the other children? Haven't they brought them back?' 'No, they haven't.'

Retreating to the trees, she pondered, "I scouted almost every area but couldn't find the young master. According to the information, he went missing in the forest, and this orphanage is quite near. Maybe the young master is here." She muttered with a sense of longing, gazing at the blue sky. "Where are you, young master?"

While inside Almenia, Dylan writhed in agonizing pain, his body seemingly undergoing a relentless process of breaking down and reconstructing. Even in unconsciousness, the pain held his eyes wide open for hours, until finally, his cries subsided, and he found solace in sleep.

When Dylan awoke, he found himself beneath a night sky adorned with stars. Puzzled, he wondered, "Where did Liridian go?" Turning his gaze, he discovered a shattered orphanage, its walls and roof in ruins, surrounded by debris. "What's going on?" Dylan pondered, perplexed.

Suddenly, he was lifted into someone's arms. A soft female voice, accompanied by the moonlight, revealed Emma's face as she removed her black scarf. Dylan recognized her immediately.

"Why is she here?" he thought, adding to the confusion enveloping him.

From the shadows, a male voice resonated, "Seems like you found him." Dylan turned toward the source, and in the night sky, a figure with twelve wings floated.

"Azazel," Emma uttered.

To be continued...

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