They were already outside of the library when Cygnus came to them with half lidded eyes. He looked at the royal guards and at the holy knight who was being escorted out together with the butler and Sir Aberleign. He acted confused and silently listened to them.
When he heard the word demon, he couldn't help but speak up. "What demon?" He tilted his head to the side as he looked at them in confusion.
After reading all those books, he decided to take a nap and was woken up because of the commotion. Cygnus already got so used to acting weak and pitiful that all of them looked behind him. His naïve and innocent look made them stop and fixed themselves.
"Haven't you felt anything out of place inside the library a while ago?" Onyx decided to ask. It was no use hiding these kinds of things to a person who could give him information.
Cygnus shook his head. "I did not feel anything. If I did, I would have woken up already," he answered. "Did a demon really appear?" He turned around to look at the inside of the library but there was nothing in plain sight.
Without hesitation, he released his mana and started to scour every nook and cranny of the room. This action took the people aback. They did not expect the young man to suddenly release a large amount of mana and even use it to check the library.
"It's there, something weird. Something different." He spoke without turning back to look at them. He was focused on what he was doing.
The holy knight stepped forward. "Where?" He asked as he too stood beside him. Since the young man was already using his mana, there was no need for him to interfere.
Cygnus raised his hand and pointed to the left. "Behind that bookshelf. I could sense something dark in that place."
Onyx did not waste time. He flashed towards the back of the bookshelf but he saw nothing. "There's nothing in here!" He shouted back to let the young man know but after a while, he heard no response.
He walked out from behind the shelf and saw that there was no one. The place where the young man had been standing was empty and when he walked towards the door, he saw that the royal guards and the guests were not there.
His hand went to the hilt of his sword and pulled it. Onyx held the sword in front of him as he looked around. He slowly explored every in between of the shelves but found nothing. Behind the mask, he was already frowning because he wasn't sure of what was happening. He was still trying to figure out why the other's disappeared.
Onyx rounded the whole library but found that nothing was amiss. The only thing that made this unsettling for him was the fact that his surroundings were silent, very silent. He decided to walk back to the door and leave but when he got back, the door disappeared.
He then felt a cold wind that passed behind him. This was much like those horror stories he heard so much about. If he was not a knight, he would have believed that it must be a ghost. He turned around but found that no one was there, just some smoke.
After that a deep laugh echoed in the room and the once well-lit library slowly turned dark. The bookshelves started to melt into a puddle that disappeared on the ground that had turned into black water. Even all the furniture inside slowly disappeared until only blackness was left.
Because Onyx was a holy knight, his body started to emit a glow that gave him at least some semblance of idea on where he was. The deep laughter that sounded like it came from deep inside a cave, resounded once again. This time it was louder and more pronounced. It felt like the owner of the voice was beside him.
"A coward." The voice finally talked but it was still followed by a laugh. "Weak. Hundreds of years have already passed and yet cannot destroy me." The voice started to taunt the holy knight.
"World Breaker," Onyx growled. He started to infuse mana on his sword and it started to glow a golden light which made his surroundings even brighter.
Onyx did not see anything but smoke. From not a far, he saw that the smoke formed into the shape of a person. On its black smoky face, two red eyes were staring at him. Onyx was familiar with those gaze as he had seen it so many times but even so, the waves of fear still affected him.
"I am not weak and coward. I will definitely kill you this time!" Onyx's body also glowed bright in an intensity that can blind a man. The whole area was illuminated and the darkness was chased away.
The smoke that was initially there also disappeared but the feeling of someone watching him was still there. Even though the whole place was already filled with light, he knew that the World Breaker was looking at him. Onyx could feel the heavy presence still pressing around him.
"Yes, you are. You even fell for this simple trick." A large ball of black flames appeared above the holy knight. It casted a shadow and this shadow grew bigger as the ball grew larger.
Onyx did not flinch; instead he jumped and sliced the ball of fire into two. Once the ball was cut in half, it slowly faded away. The holy knight landed on the ground which immediately cracked and plunged him into an abyss.
From the bottom of it came hundreds of tree sturdy vines that coiled around the holy knight's limbs and body. He tried his best to move his hands and use his sword but the vines were holding onto him tightly. He was slowly dragged into a black water and plunged underneath where more vines coiled around him and locked him in place.
For a few seconds after his last struggle, there was no movement from the vines. It took a couple of minutes before the ball of vines that surrounded the holy knight exploded. The vines were torn into pieces as Onyx tried his best to swim up but it was difficult.
Aside from the water's black color, every movement of his arms were heavy and no matter how he used his feet to propel him up, he couldn't move an inch. Before he could do anything, he was suddenly swept in a big wave that pushed him further below the water.
Onyx opened his eyes and he woke up on a river bank. He looked around but he saw nothing. He was really in an illusion created by the World Breaker and if he could not get out, he would die. He touched his waist and felt that his sword was still with him.
In an illusion like this, the creator had the right to change everything depending on his mood or choice. There was no way that he couldn't get out. He knew that there would always be a way for him to wake up in the real world.
"Can you do it though? And I'm getting bored already," the voice spoke again. It had been sending the man to different parts of the illusion but he was getting tire of it. "I'm sure that we will meet again so I'll let you go for now because I need to prepare my gift for you." It laughed and slowly faded away.
Onyx was confused for a moment before he was violently whisked away and brought back to reality. He opened his eyes and was surprised that he was actually in his room. He looked at the window and saw that it was already evening. He was a bit disoriented because he really thought that that was reality.
He shook his head as he got up. He put on his armor and helmet before he got out. The halls were silent but it was understandable because it was already dinner time. He instead went to the dinning room to make sure that no one was missing. And yes, they were all there and eating their food.
"Is there a problem, Sir Holy Knight?" One of the servants walked up to him when he saw that the holy knight was in the kitchen.
"Nothing," he shook his head. "Please enjoy your meal." He turned around and left. 'That must have been a very bad dream,' he thought to himself.
In the royal library, Cygnus opened his eyes and laughed. He stood up and stretched out his hands before he decided to leave the library. Although it had already passed the time that was given to him, it was still alright. He looked on the floor and saw that the demon he was fighting a while ago was still there. He waved his hand and the body was burned.
