56. Beware the Deity of Gods part 5

When rituals are mentioned, people would jump to the conclusion it's a matter related to a community or a religion. Sometimes just hearing that word would send the listener to the freezing lands in a second making them shiver and turn white as ghosts.

That exactly was the case for Cleo, she was laying on a big bed, but she was unable to move her body, even a finger was hard to move. The gravity seemed to be very heavy for her to escape it, her eyes were the only thing moving which was good enough so she can at least know where she is.

The room was huge and extravagant, it was filled with gold, silver and many other stuffs that not any warrior can get easily, where she's laying proved her, she's in no ordinary place for no ordinary person, in case it's a person and not something else.

"Ah! She's awake!" A voice echoed in the room making Cleo snap out of her daze and search for the voice's owner, her eyes looked around, but she found no one. What bothered her the most was the fact she can't move anything to protect herself in case the speaker was someone dangerous.

A shadow came out of a corner, nothing can be seen from the darkness, but she managed to comprehend some parts of the thing in front of her. Her tensed muscles relaxed, her worries decreased and for some reason, she felt sense of familiarity with that shadow.

Cleo gave the small shadow her relaxed face and even tried to force her frozen body to give any sign for it to come closer, luckily it worked, and it came toward her but was still a bit reluctant to get any closer, so it kept few feet between them, "uhm, are you... M- Master?" It said still hiding under the shadow coat not daring to reveal itself.

The voice was for someone who seems to be small and very young, but she still needs to see what's hidden beneath so she could confirm her theory.

But what she had in her mind right now was the "Master" part, she doesn't remember she had met someone like that not in her old life nor in the current one, even inside herself, she didn't meet anything like that.

Cleo tried to open her mouth and ask about her current situation before asking about other things, but gravity still held her back from doing that, so she gritted her teeth and grumbled scaring by that the little shadow that retreated thinking it had angered its so-called master.

She sighed internally but she halted when she heard a sound inside her head, "I'm sorry master" the shadow said its voice clear as sky while it uttered those words giving Cleo hope to communicate with it "Fear me not" she smiled and her eyes turned to crescent moon, "I won't harm you, after all I'm your master"

The shadow came back to the light and walked toward her slowly with a bit of hesitation, "so, will you help your master out of this... Cage?" She looked it straight in the eyes with hope to get its help as its master's servant.

"Master isn't mad?" It asked as if it's about to cry, "no I'm not" she sighed and gave it small smile to assure it.

"Th- Then will master take Cheche with her?" Its small grey eyes sparkled from excitement; it was very happy that it might jump to the sky and explode like fireworks.

Cleo giggled and nodded her head before the little shadow jumped toward her and hugged her tightly before it kissed her. Cleo was shocked at first, but she later ignored the discomfort from Cheche's behavior and focused on the fact that her body was getting lighter and was moving around easily.

After Cheche moved away, Cleo released the dark mana within her to regain what she had lost from her mana. After she finished, she turned to look at Cheche who kept its head down the whole time, it was afraid because the dark mana Cleo had was huger and scarier compared to its old master's.

"Cheche?" She called for it, but it flinched, and its muscles tensed from the tune Cleo used.

She didn't notice until she recalled what System 0 had told her about her voice and how it should be around others. She sighed, shook her and rubbed her forehead before she nodded her head slowly and repeated her call again but in a calmer way, "Cheche?" She said calmly with a small smile on her face.

Cheche looked up and stared at her waiting for what she'll say next, "let's go" she smirked lending it her hand to take it. Something warm grew within Cheche making it blush before it ran to her arms to get held by the warm darkness.

[ Unlocked Secret Quest ]

[ Quest: Defeat Destruction (incomplete)

Duration: 24 Hours left

prize: ???

Penalty: Death ]