Chapter 7 7
At this time, Tenku dreamed that he was in an unknown place. as far as his eyes could see, there was only darkness around him. He kept walking aimlessly, searching for a way out of that dreadful area.
"Dad! Mom! Haruna! Where are you!? Please stop hiding from me!" Tenku shouted while crying. He thought that his family was playing with him. But no matter how loud he screamed, he didn't receive a single reply, making him even more sad and scared.
"Dad… mom… hics… hics… Please stop… I'm scared. Haruna! Come out! I don't want to play anymore… hics… hics…" Tenku's tears flowed freely from his eyes. His little face was wet because he was constantly crying.
"Mom! Dad!" After walking a few steps, Tenku saw Naoki and Hanako smiling and waving at him. But when he ran to the two of them, Tenku saw an orc suddenly appear and swing his spiked club at them.
"Dad! Mom! Watch out!" Tenku screamed from deep within his lungs to warn his parents, But it was already too late as both of their bodies were crushed into minced meat, and blood splattered on Tenku's face.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! Dad! Mom!" Tenku screamed hysterically. When the two bodies disappeared into the darkness, Haruna's petite figure suddenly appeared where her parents died.
"Haruna! Get out of there! There's a monster hiding in that place!" Tenku screamed with all his might until his voice almost disappeared. But no matter how many times and loud he shouted, Haruna didn't hear him and seemed to ignore him.
Tenku ran and tried to approach Haruna, but the distance between them strangely didn't decrease. Then a horde of goblins appeared and surrounded Haruna. After that, Tenku saw the goblins do terrible things to his sister and then kill her.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! No! No! No! No!" Tenku knelt, and tears of blood flowed profusely from his eyes.
KILL! ELIMINATE ALL THOSE MONSTERS! THEY HAVE TAKEN VALUABLE PEOPLE FROM YOU. IT'S YOUR TURN TO TAKE EVERYTHING FROM THEM! KILL THEM ALL!!
"I will kill those monsters!!!" Tenku clenched his small fist. Then he raised his head and showed determined eyes. He stood up and intended to approach the goblins who had killed Haruna. But before he could take a step, something suddenly wrapped around his leg, and it was a huge centipede.
"What's this!?" Tenku panicked and shook his legs to get the centipede off his feet. But instead of letting go, the centipede's coils grew tighter.
"What!?" Tenku tried to free himself, but the centipede quickly wrapped around his body and made him unable to move.
After being wrapped around his body, the head of the centipede looked directly at Tenku's face, making him tremble in fear.
"What are you…" Tenku wanted to ask about the purpose of the centipede, but before he could finish his sentence, the centipede opened its mouth and devoured Tenku's head.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Tenku opens his eyes and wakes up from his nightmare. He was breathing heavily, and his face was pale. His whole body was drenched in a cold sweat.
"Eh? I'm still alive?" Tenku said in confusion and examined all parts of his body, especially his head.
"Fortunately, it was just a dream." Tenku sighed in relief. But after looking around, he felt confused because he didn't recognize the room.
Tenku thinks that he is still dreaming. But then, the door opened, and a beautiful middle-aged woman entered the room carrying a tray with food.
"Are you awake?" The woman asked softly.
"Who are you, aunt? Then where am I?" Tenku asked.
"I am Misora. You're in my house now." Misora smiled and placed the tray on the small table beside the bed.
"Where's my dad? Where is my mother? Where's Haruna?" Tenku asked frantically. He thought his parents' death and Haruna's disappearance were a dream. Misora looked at Tenku sadly and then hugged him.
"I don't know the person you mentioned. I know what I'm saying will be too much for you. But everyone in the area you live in is dead, and you are the only survivor." Misora said while rubbing Tenku's back.
"You are lying! They can't die! It was just a dream! You're a bad person!" Tenku shouted hysterically and pushed Misora away. Even though he experienced it firsthand, he stubbornly rejected that fact.
Misora felt pity when she saw Tenku crying and trying to escape reality. Just as she was drowning in that feeling, the door opened again, and a long-haired girl who looked about the same age as Tenku entered.
"Hey! What have you done to my mother!?" The little girl put her hands on her waist and glared at Tenku.
"Akina, what did you do to enter this room suddenly!? That's rude!" Misora was displeased with the little girl's impolite behavior. She was Akina, the only daughter of Misora and Kouta.
"But, mom… he screamed loud, and I heard from outside that he was shouting you as a liar! I'm not happy to hear that!" Akina looked at Misora with teary eyes because her mother was scolding her.
"You don't have to make excuses. However, your behavior is impolite. I will talk to you about this later. Right now, I have to talk to this boy first." Misora warned Akina and then ignored her.
"Uuuuhhhhhhh!" Akina cried and came out of the room by slamming the door. Misora could only shake her head when she saw that.
"I apologize for Akina's behavior. But, what I said earlier is the truth. Your family was most likely killed, and we could only find you in that place." Misora tried to explain to Tenku carefully. But Tenku glared at her, thinking that Misora was lying to him.
"You liar! I'll find them myself if you don't want to say it!" Tenku got up from his bed and intended to leave the room. But Misora quickly caught him and knocked him unconscious.
"Haa… I have to do this." Misora sighed and carried Tenku back to his bed. After that, she turned off the light and left the room.
***
"Hmm..." Tenku woke up and slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the ceiling above him, he quickly recalled the events before losing consciousness.
"Have you calmed down a little bit?" Misora asked. Besides her, Tenku could also see a middle-aged man and a little girl who had previously barged into the room.
"Yes." Tenku answered curtly. Not long after, tears spilled from his eyes upon learning that his parents had died and Haruna had disappeared. Misora, Kouta, and Akina fell silent when they saw him crying. But Misora couldn't bear to see Tenku like that and decided to talk to him.
"What's your name?" Misora asked.
"Tenku. Tenku Okuihara." Tenku replied. With that answer, the atmosphere returned to silence.
"Is everything you said true?" Tenku asked weakly and tried to reconfirm Misora's words.
"That's right. He is my husband, Kouta Karitoshi. This little girl is my daughter, Akina. We are Realizers. At that time, we were on a mission in the area where you live. All the residents were dead when we checked around the place, and only you survived." Misora explained. Kouta was silent because he wasn't good at dealing with children.
"You are Realizers? Then why didn't you come earlier to save us!? If you come before the monsters come down from the mountain, my parents won't die, and Haruna won't disappear! Why!? Why!? Hics.. hics..." Tenku complained while wiping her tears.
"Hey...hmph!" Haruna wanted to complain that Tenku was blaming her parents, but Kouta quickly covered her mouth with his hand to prevent her from speaking further.
"We apologize that we came late." Misora bowed her head. She seemed to apologize sincerely, which made Tenku not have the heart to blame her. After that, Tenku continued to cry until he fell asleep. When Misora approached him to check on him, she smiled and covered Tenku's body with the blanket.
"He fell asleep?" Kouta asked dryly. He sounded not very fond of Tenku's presence in the house from his voice.
"Yes. Let's go outside so as not to disturb him." Misora answered calmly. Kouta just nodded, and Akina pouted while looking at Tenku.
After the door closed, Tenku, who was previously asleep, suddenly opened his eyes. He was pretending to get Misora and the others out of the room because he wanted to be alone.
"Dad… Mom… Haruna…" Tenku muttered while looking at the bracelet on his wrist. But he felt something when he focused on his parents' birthday present.
"This feeling is as described by mom and dad at the time. My consciousness connected with Haruna. If I can still feel it, doesn't that mean Haruna is still alive somewhere?" Tenku was shocked and suddenly got up from his bed
"I have to find Haruna! She was swallowed into the portal, so I had to find Space Collapse and enter it. If what I've experienced isn't just a dream, then I have that power!" Tenku recalled the power he used to slaughter those monsters. He clenched his fists, and his eyes glowed green.