Chapter 174: All The Help We Can Get.
It felt like his consciousness was forcefully transported back into the real world as he landed back on the seat of the carriage with a loud thudding sound.
The sound was loud enough that it woke Xenia up from her slumber. Even Leon was jolted awake as the carriage vibrated along the path.
"W-What are you doing?" Xenia inquired, rubbing her eyes slowly. She looked up at Jacob, who had a concerned, and worried look on his face.
"What is the matter?" She asked again.
Jacob turned to her and smiled, he had to tell her the truth. He was taking her somewhere and she had to know what she was walking into. He didn’t necessarily have to tell her the source of his information, but they had to be prepared no matter what.
"Xenia, I just had a dream..." Jacob said. "And we have to get to the World Tree as fast as we possibly can, there is no time."
"What do you mean there is no time. What’s the rush?"
"Xenia, tell me—What do you know about the Demon King." Jacob asked her, seriousness occupying his facial expression. He clasped both hands together and held his index fingers against his lips, appearing to contemplate over a plethora of things.
Xenia remained silent, she didn’t particularly understand the question, or why he would bring up the topic of the Demon King all of a sudden.
"We didn’t talk about him much back then. It was told that he was cast into an eternal prison by the gods..." she started, her gaze fixed on the ground, as though she were recalling some form of traumatic experience. "...some even said that he had a hand in the dragon tide that consumed the Zoltha clan."
Jacob let out a low breath.
"In my dream, I saw the Demon King escape from that prison, he used some liquid containing his essence to corrupt the World Tree and essentially free himself from captivity.... Xenia, he is powerful... very powerful."
Xenia’s eyes widened, but after a moment they closed again. "How are you sure this is not just a nightmare?"
Jacob sighed, he inched closer to her, his eyes icy cold, their blue and gold hue a magnificent sight to behold. One she had just noticed for the first time. "I have never been more sure about anything in my entire life, Xenia. He’s coming—and if I—if we let it happen. It will spell doom for the entire world...." Jacob said matter-of-factly.
Xenia swallowed a lump that had begun to rise in her throat, she had never seen the young man more serious in his life. She knew in that moment that even if what he was saying eventually turned out to be not entirely accurate, there was some atom of truth in it.
"How do we stop it?" She asked after a long pause. The thought of facing the Demon King occupied her head and struck fear in her heart. The Demon King was an entity similar to Death itself, stories of his exploits were used to scare children all over the world. Her included.
"He will send two delegates and an army of demons to do his bidding. We need to nip it in the bud before he is released. If we manage to do that then he will remain sealed." Jacob responded.
"And if we fail to hold them back?" She asked.
"Then we fail, and the world is plunged into darkness."
"This is a lot to process all at once." She said, heaving a sigh.
She had just woke up from a long nap, so he understood how it was a little heavy to dump it all on her. But he knew if he tried waiting for the perfect time, it would never arrive.
"I saw grandmother and grandfather die in that vision." He said, his expression crestfallen. He was stil shaken by what he witnessed in the library of life. He knew he had no option but to succeed, otherwise he would lose everything he loves.
"Oh! Heavens! Not them!" Xenia gasped as she placed her hands over her face. She was rendered completely speechless.
"Leon!" Jacob called out to the coachman, who was still struggling to stay awake on the box seat. He could not wait until nightfall to get a proper rest.
"Y-Yes! Young master." Leon was jolted awake for the umpteenth time, his eyes were red, a sign of an obvious lack of sleep. His hair was messy as the wind had blown it every which way.
"Can this carriage go any faster? We no longer have any time left."
"I’ll do my best sir!" Leon did a salute in the air and with another "Hyah!" The horses picked up the pace.
The carriage started to move even more smoothly as the horses now ran along the path.
"I think you should send a letter to Light." Xenia spoke up after pondering for a while.
"Why?" Jacob asked.
"We need all the help we can get, the more we are fighting against this evil, the higher out chance of victory."
"As much as that makes sense, I don’t want to bother him with such a thing. He is already going through his own struggles..." Jacob started.
"Nonsense! I’m sure he would be completely happy to be part of such an expedition. Send a letter to him." She cut him off.
"I don’t want to bother him."
"Jacob, you are aware that it hasn’t been two days yet, are you not?"
"..."
"This is an order." She said with a straight face, and somehow managed to pull out a piece of paper and a pen, all decorated with the Ironfell sigil.
Jacob grumbled but she was right. He knew that Light would not refuse and he would rush there as fast as he could, he was only worried about the man. Once he was there he could not guarantee his safety.
The situation at hand was dire, all what Jacob saw in the Library of Life happened in less than five minutes.
That meant that if they happened to be late by six minutes, the world as they knew it would be gone. Jacob would have to face the Demon King himself.