Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 294 The Bard of Tragedy

"The Bard of Tragedy… Orpheus."

"...Should we know who that is?"

Both Rhys and Olga did not take their eyes off the disheveled and seemingly exhausted man, Orpheus, even for one second. There was a certain silence permitting in the air, which should not be the case at all as Orpheus was actually playing some sort of tune on his guitar.

He was playing a sort of joyful tune, which was completely out of place as Orpheus was walking over several corpses. He wasn't really doing anything else — and even though he was approaching Olga and Rhys, he had not looked at them or acknowledged their existence at all.

There were a lot of computers there, and large screens on the wall. But all of them were either cracked or just showing some sort of blue screen.

Most importantly, however, Rhys could feel something incredibly sinister crawling across the back of his neck.

Rhys did not fear death at all, his concept of it disappeared when he jumped from the roof of his high school — but the abnormal increase in his senses that he received from Arachnea was telling him that the man in front of him was dangerous, incredibly so.

"Is… the name not familiar to you?" Rhys readied himself to either attack or dodge if the situation called for it.

"First time I've heard of it," Olga shook her head as she also put up her guard, "The nymph clearly knows who it is, ask her."

"She's… saying that he was once a friend of the nymphs," Rhys squinted his eyes.

"...I'm guessing he's not anymore, then?" Olga let out a small breath as she raised her eyebrow, "What else can—"

"Duck!"

And as soon as Rhys said that, Olga did not hesitate at all to do as he said — and it was a good thing she did, as Olga watched as a few inches of her hair just suddenly split from the rest. She then quickly ran to the side so that she could move behind Orpheus, but then noticed Orpheus actually following her with his eyes.

And with a strum of his finger, the ground beneath Olga suddenly cracked. If it wasn't for her quickly lifting her feet and skipping, she would have tripped at Mach speed — unfortunately for her, more and more of the floor cracked, leaving her no choice but to just run toward the wall and run across it back to Rhys.

"Rhys…" Olga quickly moved behind Rhys and patted him on the shoulder, "...I think we should do as the nymph says and retreat."

"Hm…" Rhys squinted his eyes as he looked at the damage that Orpheus had done in a split second. He initially thought that his abilities were like Talia's — an invisible blade; but no. The way the metal ground cracked made it seem like he also had the ability to control the elements… or perhaps did it have something to do with sound?

"But the nymph is right there," Rhys then gestured to Olga to look behind Orpheus, only for her to see a nymph sleeping on top of what seemed to be some type of incubator.

"He's dangerous, Commander," Olga shook her head, "As the officer leading this mission, I'm calling retreat."

"...Okay," Rhys stared at Orpheus for a few seconds before nodding, "We—"

"A descendant of Hermes — I do not see a lot of you quite often."

Before the two could actually plan their escape, however, Orpheus finally opened his mouth — and almost as to be expected, his voice was as lazy and as tired as he looked. There was, however, a sort of rhythmic cadence in his tone, a hum And even as he spoke, he still kept playing the guitar; this time offering a sort of somber tune.

"And you, I do not even know what you are — but you can also converse with them. Hm… peculiar." Orpheus squinted his already small eyes as he stared at Rhys.

"Who are you and what do you hope to achieve by abducting a nymph?" Rhys pointed at the nymph in the incubator while signaling Olga to grab his hand so they could retreat.

This subtlety, however, was quickly noticed by Orpheus as he tilted his head to the side to look at Olga holding Rhys's hand.

"You plan to leave already?" Orpheus slightly hummed as he turned his back on Rhys and Olga before approaching the nymph in the incubator, "I do not know the circumstances that led the two of you here — but for you to give up already, it would seem that your resolution is not as solid as mine. But…

…I can not let you leave."

"Rhys!" And as another strum rang in the air, Olga quickly tightened his hold on Rhys and started running to the door — but before she could even take 3 steps, however, the tunnel that led them there just suddenly collapsed, almost instantly. And the weirdest thing about it is that it did not even make any noise… Orpheus's guitar remains the loudest sound in the large hall.

"What country are you from and why are you doing this in Nihon territory?" And with nowhere to escape, Olga let go of Rhys's hand and just fixed her clothes and hair before carefully approaching Orpheus. Rhys blocked her, but Olga shook her head — leaving Rhys no choice but to just lead the way and also approach Orpheus.

"They have the technology I needed," And to Olga's shock, Orpheus let go of his guitar and just placed it beside the pedestal of the incubator before he placed both his palms on the glass, "Or at least I thought so. Apparently, it was not ready yet — my mistake was not waiting another few centuries."

"...And what exactly did you need this… technology for?" Olga looked around the hall as she checked the broken screens, hoping to see some sort of clue — but alas, all of them were just that — broken, "You are risking the lives of millions—no, billions of people by doing what you did."

"I am doing it for love, Madam," Orpheus then rested his head on the incubator; almost hugging it with a smile on his face, "My Eurydice."

"...Love?" Olga raised an eyebrow before glancing at Rhys and then at Aengela.

Rhys also squinted his eyes before glancing at Aengela who was sitting on his shoulder.

"It is useless to ask her," Orpheus shook his head, "They know things, but at the same time, they do not — they live and share their thoughts in dreams, after all — and what are dreams, but soon to be forgotten? She knows me, but at the same time, she does not."

"...Are you saying you are doing all of this because you love that—Eurydice?" Olga looked at the sleeping nymph again.

"You would not understand," Orpheus shook his head while still resting it on the incubator, "Because you have not truly loved before. The nymphs are powerful beings, that is the common tale about them — they are beautiful, especially my Eurydice — but all that comes with a price. A lifespan akin to a firefly."

"A firefly?" Rhys once again glanced at Aengela, "Nymphs live for thousands of years, or more than."

"They dream for thousands of years," Orpheus took in a very long and deep breath, "The time they spend awake, however, is but a blink of an eye; a short whisper that would fade away all so soon — for if they open their eyes for too long, then their lives are to be short."

"Then are you saying that the Nihon developed some sort of technology to… lengthen a nymph's lifespan?" Olga squinted her eyes.

"We started it 20 years ago," Orpheus once again sighed and closed his eyes, "And yet when the time came, they told me it did not work at all. My Eurydice and I, even after thousands of years, still can not be togethe—Stop."

"Kh!" A loud pulse then suddenly exploded around Orpheus, blowing away Olga who was actually using the chance to run and rush toward Orpheus in hopes of getting his guitar — unfortunately, it would seem he did not need the guitar at all.

"Commander," Rhys quickly ran to catch Olga before she could hit the wall.

"Why?" Orpheus then let out a very long and disappointed sigh as he leaned away from the incubator and once again grabbed his guitar, "Why would you ask for a tale and not let me finish it? If you were not interested, then you should not have listened at all."

"You… say you've been alive for thousands of years," Rhys gently let go of Olga and once again stood in front of her, "Then… are you saying that you're a god?"

"A god?" Orpheus smiled, "I am far from it — I do not even share the blood of gods unlike all of you — I, Orpheus, am merely a human in search of love. And if the two of you will get in the way of that…

…then I shall sing you your last song."