Free Web NovelChapter 241: _Before Gods
Downtown Aurelia
Outside a mall, Valentine paused when he got outside with stuff he bought. He’d been living longer at his place in Aurelia these days.
Not that he minded much.
But that also meant he’d have to start stocking up the place more compared to his other houses across the country.
The things he bought weren’t exactly much but they should be enough for another week at least.
Back to why he stopped.
His eyes dimmed under his sunglasses as a familiar burn hit his chest. Not exactly piercing or enough to hurt. But sharp enough to call his attention to something.
The only Necrotic Mark he had active on someone currently. And by someone he meant none other than Ambrose.
Through the mark, he felt a powerful interference in every aspect of the Guide’s being—soul, mind and otherwise. Whoever had him right now was digging way too deep into him.
His head rose skyward.
With a little more concentration, he was able to deduce something dreadful.
Ambrose wasn’t in the city.
Or anywhere close to it actually.
"What the actual..." he acted quickly, pulling out his phone. The person he was about to call would probably HATE that he tried at all.
But he couldn’t care less.
Soon enough he picked up the call. "... Who’s this?"
"Vikky," Valentine smiled even though the ice Prince couldn’t see him. "I know you must be surprised to hear my voice. It’s—"
"Valentine?" He could almost imagine the surprise and confusion on his face. "H–How did you get my number? What the—"
"All irrelevant questions right now."
Viktor cursed in Russian before speaking. "I swear to God I’ll hang up if you don’t—"
"It’s about Ambrose," Valentine decided he’d pulled around the S-Rank’s strings enough. "I was wondering when last you saw him today. I mean, you two live together, right?"
There was a short pause at the other end.
Then Viktor answered. "We saw him this morning. Devon and I."
"Where was he?"
"He was with us at first but had to go to work. I believe he’s told you about Steel Falcon by now."
"And have you bothered calling him since then?"
"Have I bothered—Valentine, what is this? Don’t you have a Necrology Mark on him or something?"
"Necrotic," Valentine corrected, moving toward a shadow away from the mall building. "And that’s exactly why I’m calling. According to the feedback the Mark is sending me, Ambrose isn’t in Aurelia."
"... What?"
"He’s not in a dungeon either—if not the feedback would’ve been fainter."
"S–So where is he?"
Before Valentine could answer another voice joined in from the background.
Devon.
"I’m calling him right now and he’s not responding."
"Of course he’s not," Valentine sighed. "I doubt he’s hurt or anything of the sort. But whoever has him is doing something to ’scan’ him. Like they’re trying to dig into his soul and more."
He could feel the rage rolling off Viktor’s next words. "President Josiah?"
"For once I doubt it’s him." Valentine pulled the phone away from his ear, already scrolling to another contact. "I have to go now. I’ll call Gabriel and see if he can come take us there—assuming this means you two will tag along."
"The fuck we aren’t!" Devon snapped. "We’re expecting an update."
"Right." As Valentine hung up and dialled Gabriel’s number, he found himself thinking back to the one time Josiah attempted using Sovereign Tongue on Ambrose.
He’d resisted him then even before he came in.
Hopefully he could resist whatever this was too.
★★★★★
Pantheon Underground Base
"He’s waking up."
"Shouldn’t Loki get him out of here before he does that?"
"No. There’s no use hiding ourselves anymore."
Ambrose heard all these being bounced around him as his eyes slowly opened.
He knew he was sitting somewhere. And that there were people—definitely the Pantheon—standing around him, staring so intensely that he could sense it without opening his eyes fully.
This was happening.
This was actually fucking happening.
Not only was he surrounded by the most powerful people on the planet right now... but he also had to make a hell of a good first impression.
’Aura?’ he called out. ’You there?’
[System online...]
[Up and running, sweetheart. And—yikes. Well, looks like you’ve got yourself a problem.]
’You think? My spatial awareness is confusing the heck out of me. From the look of things I’m under a... mountain range of sorts?’
[Indeed, you are. The host is underneath the Appalachian Mountains. The Monongahela National Forest to be precise.]
Above him, spatial awareness revealed a vast stretch of endless mountains and trees so thick that it went beyond what the ability could reveal to him.
’Looks like I can’t pretend to be unconscious forever.’
[Nope.]
With a light sigh, Ambrose let his eyes open fully.
His breath hitched.
The room looked exactly like something ripped out of a mythology textbook and fused with a military command centre.
A circular chamber stretched around him, illuminated by soft golden lights embedded into the walls. Ancient carvings ran along the stone surface while holographic screens floated above them.
And standing around him... Were the Pantheon.
His eyes landed on Leon first.
That’s if that was his actual name.
He looked totally different right now.
The same energy signature Aura had identified beneath the C-Rank Esper disguise practically screamed at him now. Gone was the harmless Hunter persona he’d grown familiar with.
In its place stood something older.
Stranger.
Then his eyes wandered to Apollo.
Calm. Silent. Watching.
Yemoja stood nearby with her arms folded, studying him like she was trying to decide whether he was dangerous or merely annoying.
Wukong lounged against a wall with all the seriousness of a man attending a funeral he hadn’t wanted to come to.
And finally Kali.
The woman whose eyes still carried traces of whatever she’d witnessed inside his past.
"Glad you could wake up," Wukong drawled.
Ambrose swallowed.
"Well," he rubbed the back of his neck. "This is awkward."
No one laughed.
"Right..." he cleared his throat. "Mind explaining why I’m here?"
Loki’s lips curled. "We believe you already know why."
The answer made his stomach sink.
Of course.
At this point, his life had apparently become one giant cosmic joke.
Before he could formulate a response, Kali stepped forward.
Straight to the point.
"We know your soul doesn’t belong to this world."
The room instantly became colder.
Apollo’s gaze sharpened.
Even Wukong lost some of his amusement.
Meanwhile, Ambrose just sat there. Completely still and silent.
Kali’s violet eyes locked onto his.
"So," she said quietly. "You should start talking."
