Chapter 907: Alternate Timeline: Arceus’ escape (2)
Fear exploded across Arceus’ eyes while his body instinctively struggled, but before he could react further, the cold edge of the dagger touched lightly against his throat.
Noah lowered his voice into a whisper.
"Shhh, Quiet."
The word carried no emotion.
No anger.
No cruelty.
Which somehow made it more frightening.
"Do not make noise," Noah continued softly, "or you may lose the ability to make noise forever. I only need answers."
Arceus’ breathing became uneven. His heartbeat rose significantly.
Because he had no idea who stood beside him.
No idea why this intruder came.
No idea whether this night would become his final night.
Still, despite the fear, he forced himself to calm down slowly.
Kidnappings among noble houses were not unheard of.
Political schemes existed everywhere.
Since the intruder claimed to seek information only, cooperation seemed safest.
Noah then spoke again. "Shake your head sideways for no. Nod for yes. Understood?"
Arceus nodded quickly.
The questioning began immediately.
"Was your marriage arranged with Jennifer Drake?"
Nod.
"Are you against this marriage?"
Another quick nod followed.
"Do you wish for the marriage to stop?"
Nod.
Noah’s eyes remained fixed upon him.
Then came the next question.
"If the marriage cannot be stopped... and an opportunity appears... are you willing to leave this house and run away?"
This time, Arceus froze.
His thoughts spiraled rapidly.
Who sent this person?
An enemy of House Drake?
An enemy of House Silver?
Did they intend to disgrace his father publicly?
Or perhaps abduct him and create the appearance of elopement?
Every possibility carried danger.
Yet another thought slowly rose above the others.
What difference did any of it make anymore?
His future was already being traded like a contract between clans.
And it’s not even a simple marriage. His father is sending him away. The only heir to House Silver is being sent as a matrilocal son-in-law to House Drake. For Arceus, it is nothing short of a lifetime humiliation.
Right now, he is nothing but a bird in a golden cage.
And a caged bird doesn’t ask why the cage exists and only dreams of open sky.
Noah’s quiet voice interrupted his thoughts.
"I am waiting for your answer, Young Lord Arceus."
Slowly...
Arceus Silver nodded.
Only then did Noah remove his hand from his mouth.
The dagger lowered slightly.
And for the first time, Noah spoke properly.
"I apologize for frightening you. The mission required silence." He paused briefly before continuing. "My name is Noah. I came under orders from my master."
Arceus stared at him cautiously.
Then Noah revealed the name.
"You know her as Kiara."
The moment that name entered the room, surprise flashed visibly across Arceus Silver’s face.
Meanwhile, Noah continued calmly.
"If you truly wish to leave," he said, "I can take you away right now without causing disturbance."
After a while;
Noah was seen carrying him on his back and stepped toward the open window.
The night breeze drifted through the curtains and brushed against Arceus’s face, cool and sharp. Beyond the window lay a dizzying drop to the courtyard below, and the silver light made the ground seem farther away than it truly was.
Arceus tightened his fingers around Noah’s chest, his voice trembling as he asked, "Uhhh... what are you doing, brother?" He was only a 2-star rank Spirit Warrior. If he falls from this height, he might not die, but Arceus was sure that his bones would be fractured.
Noah did not answer immediately.
His mechanical eyes were fixed on the dark street outside, scanning angles and distances. To him, the problem was simple. His skill, Short Teleportation, could move him anywhere within a hundred-meter radius, and he could bring another person along.
Yet two conditions stood like invisible gatekeepers before that power.
The first was that the destination needed a clear, unobstructed path. He cannot go through the walls.
The second was that the passenger needed a body strong enough to endure the abrupt displacement.
Otherwise, headaches, dizziness, and vomiting would follow. And Arceus was already a feeble person. Now, his condition is even worse than usual.
To Noah, these facts were as obvious as the sky being above and the earth below.
To Arceus, who knew none of this, Noah’s silence only deepened his fear.
When Arceus asked again, "How are we going to escape from all these guards?" Noah finally replied in his usual flat tone.
"The plan is simple," he said. "First, I will throw you out of the window."
For a moment, Arceus thought he had misheard.
"Huh? What did you say?"
Noah’s expression remained unchanged.
Arceus immediately slipped from his back and rushed to the window. The moment he looked down and saw the dark courtyard below, his face drained of color.
"Ahhhh!"
Before his startled cry could rise further, Noah’s hand swiftly covered his mouth.
"Be silent," Noah whispered. "If you raise your voice, everyone will know."
Arceus glared at him the moment Noah loosened his grip.
"Are you here to save me," he whispered angrily, "or are you planning to break my bones first so the wedding gets postponed?"
Noah considered the question with unsettling seriousness.
"The second option is efficient," he admitted after a brief pause. "But my master ordered that this mission be completed without harming anyone."
Without waiting for permission, he lifted Arceus again and explained as though describing the steps of a recipe.
"After I throw you, I will catch you in midair. Then we will teleport outside the compound. After that, we will fly away."
Arceus wriggled free once more and stepped back.
"No way," he hissed. "I am not jumping out of this window. I don’t trust you. What if you miss? And even if I take a leap of faith, I will scream involuntarily before I reach the ground."
Noah tilted his head.
After a moment of thought, he nodded.
"Hm. You are right."
The words should have been reassuring.
Instead, Arceus felt a shiver.
Noah’s expression carried the same mild inconvenience one might show when a key did not fit a lock. It was clear he found weak humans more troublesome than dangerous.
Arceus then said, "I have a better path. Let’s get out of here first..."
Noah followed the instructions, first opening the bedroom door.
The hinges gave a faint creak, and both of them froze like deer listening for hunters.
No sound followed.
Slowly, they stepped into the corridor, placing each foot with exaggerated care. The polished wooden floor felt cool beneath their soles. Their breaths remained shallow as they made their way to the kitchen on the same floor.
Noah glanced around in confusion.
The room contained shelves, utensils, and a small window no larger than the one in Arceus’s bedroom.
"What is your plan?" Noah asked.
Arceus said nothing.
Instead, he took a fire torch from the wall outside the kitchen and raised it toward the ceiling while remaining near the doorway, careful not to step too close to the gas stoves and metallic cylinders that contained a spell that converts the fuel into air that is inflammable. With a lighter, one could then use the gas stove.
The flickering light revealed a square hatch above them.
Noah followed the direction of the flame.
Understanding dawned in his eyes.
"The attic."
Arceus lowered the torch and whispered, "From there, we can reach the roof. If your teleportation needs open sky, this is the safest way."
Noah nodded once.
For the first time that night, he was mildly impressed.
"Put the torch away," he said. "The attic entrance is directly above the gas cylinders."
Arceus quickly returned the torch to its bracket.
Because Noah could see perfectly in the darkness, he strode through the kitchen without hesitation, then crouched slightly.
"Climb on."
Arceus hesitated only for a moment before wrapping his arms around Noah’s shoulders.
Noah’s back felt firm and cold, more like steel beneath cloth than flesh.
"Grip tightly," Noah said. "Do not scream. I am going to jump."
Arceus swallowed.
"Alright."
With a single effortless leap, Noah shot upward.
Arceus felt his stomach lurch as they rose, and before he could gasp, Noah had already grasped the attic hatch, twisted the latch open, and landed lightly on the gas cylinder platform below.
Dust rained over their heads.
Arceus squeezed his eyes shut and fought the urge to cough.
Noah jumped again.
The second leap carried them through the opening and into the attic.
Arceus closed the hatch behind them.
The attic was vast enough to equal three rooms, yet it looked as though no one had cared for it in years.
Dust lay thick over every surface.
Rust-eaten armor leaned against one wall like fallen soldiers forgotten by history.
Broken trunks and worm-eaten furniture sat in silence.
But the most overwhelming thing was the smell.
A rotten stench hung in the air so heavily that it seemed to cling to the throat.
It was the kind of odor that made one wonder whether some animal had died here... or whether some family secret had been hidden and left to decay.
Neither Arceus nor Noah wished to investigate.
Arceus pressed his sleeve over his nose and breathed through his mouth, his eyes watering.
Together they hurried to the far side of the attic, where a large window opened toward the roof.
Arceus unlatched it.
The moment he pushed it outward, a strong gust of night air swept into the attic, washing away some of the foulness and whipping his hair across his face.
He staggered back.
Noah lifted him again as easily as if he weighed nothing.
Stepping through the window, Noah landed on the roof tiles with catlike balance.
The moonlight silvered the curved tiles beneath his feet.
He remained there only for a fraction of a second.
Then he activated Short Teleportation.
The world blurred.
For Arceus, it felt as though his body had been folded like paper and unfolded somewhere else.