The Grand Duelist

"Wake up..."

Amidst the darkness, a soft familiar whisper entered Joseph's ears. 

"Wake up..."

Who the hell is disturbing my sleep? Can't you see that I'm in True Sleep Mode right now? All that thinking early in the day burned me out so, please. Just let me sleep peacefully.

Joseph inwardly complained, he didn't even bat an eyelid nor opened his eyes. He rolled to face the other side of the stone bed, all while taking all of the blanker for his own use.

"Hey, wake up!" 

The familiar whisper turned fierce. This time, a pushing force accompanied the whisper and Joseph couldn't help but be irritated.

"What is wrong? Can you just let me sleep? Why are you trying to wake me up in the middle of the night!" He angrily whispered and when he opened his eyes, Alice was staring right at him.

"As I thought, it's you, Alice... What's going on? Wait, did you sleep beside me?" 

"I can feel people approaching this place." Alice didn't mind respond to what he said.

Instead, she said these words in a solemn manner which instantly awakened Joseph from his reverie.

"People are approaching us? Could they be the other residents of this place?" 

Alice nodded her head, "That is most likely the answer. Stand up, wake up both Julie and Hulie." 

Joseph didn't argue with her anymore.

He stood up and walked towards the direction of the two sisters.

As for the reason why Alice didn't wake up the twin sisters by herself. It was because she was afraid that her capabilities in combat would be hindered by the miasma emanating from the bodies of the two sisters.

Since Joseph was immune to abnormal statuses, he was the right man for the job.

Joseph ignored the hideous wounds on both sisters as he gently nudged them awake.

Julie who had always been a light sleeper quickly awakened from her sleep.

Although she still looked quite groggy and it was obvious that she didn't have a good sleep...

When she saw the solemn look on Joseph's face. She suppressed her complaints and asked in concern.

"What is going on, Kuya? Are the others approaching us?"

As I expected, she's really quick to catch on hints. This will be quick.

Joseph nodded his head and gestured to Hulie who was sleeping peacefully, ignorant of what was happening outside of her dream world.

Julie swiftly understood what he meant. She moved closer to her sister Hulie and pulled her into an embrace. She didn't wake up the young lass for she was afraid that she may cause a ruckus.

After all, Hulie really wasn't someone who liked early mornings. If she was awakened at this time in the day, then mayhem may happen. 

"Julie! Hulie!" 

A voice that clearly came from a youth came from the outside.

Julie's eyes widened in shock when she heard the voice, but when she remembered the fanatic look of the owner of that voice back then while he was praying the God of Everything that Moves and Exists.

She managed to suppress her emotions as she calmed down and continued on hugging her sister.

"City Chief! There's a stone blocking the entrance of the cave!" The youth cried out.

"Good work, Jacob. But it would be better for us to wait here..."

"If we acquired their ire, then they may try to escape once again." The City Chief replied.

"No, we cannot do that, City Chief! You have done a lot of work since yesterday, trying to find Julie and Hulie..."

"Yesterday, you didn't even sleep just so you could find them before they fall into the darkness. We must capture them now, City Chief!" Jacob fiercely replied. A fanatic look appeared on his face as he praised the City Chief.

The City Chief revealed a light smile, "I suppose you are right, Jacob. But how can we convince those thick-headed friends of yours to voluntarily surrender themselves?" 

Jacob was taken aback when he heard this question.

But when he saw the light of encouragement within the First, and the Second Elder's eyes...

Determination flashed on his face as he cried out, "I will go and convince them, Elders! I will try my best! I am very close to Julie and Hulie so I am confident that they will listen to my words!"

"Good, good boy... Okay, we will wait here for your good news. I know that it is pretty depressing for you to do something like this since it involves the lives of your friends, but I hope that you understand..."

"I am only doing this for the sake of everyone. I am sure that those sisters were only befuddled by fear at that moment back then. Now, they may have calmed down." The City Chief revealed a kind smile and lovingly ruffled Jacob's hair. 

"Mhmm! I will try my best!" Jacob replied in delight. He then walked towards the disc-like stone covering the entrance of the underground cave. He placed both of his hands on the stone and tried rolling it sideways so he could open the cave.

Unfortunately, his strength was too lacking and not only he didn't manage to open the entrance of the cave, he only made himself tired as he stood there, huffing and puffing while panting.

But he didn't have any intentions of giving up. He stood there and instead of trying his best on rolling the disc-like stone that covered the entrance of the cave...

He took a deep breath and shouted.

"Julie! Hulie! I know that you two are in there! Come out, I have something to talk with the two of you! The honorable Elders are here with me! They are not mad at all that the two of you escaped back then! We understand what you feel so please, please come out!" 

"Julie, Hulie! Death is not the end! Please come out! Come out here and obey the orders of the elders before all you are corrupted by the dark! When that happens, it will really be impossible for us to save the two of you! Please, I know that both of you know what I am talking about!"

"Don't be afraid of death! You will only return to the embrace of the Creator! You will only enter his Tenebrous Kingdom and live there for eternity!" Tears streamed down Jacob's cheeks as he plopped down on his knees.

He shouted as loud as he could that he tore his own vocal cords. 

Inside the underground safe house. 

Joseph glanced at Julie and found that she looked quite pale.

"Hey, are you all right? Don't be affected by his words. He is now nothing but a mere follower of the God of Everything that Moves and Exists. You cannot be swayed by his words, that person is not your friend anymore."

From the description that Joseph heard about Jacob from Julie. He found out that Jacob was a timid, and tame boy who wasn't confrontational at all. But what was going on right now?

How did the Jacob that Julie described as a scaredy-cat acquired the guts that he was using right now to convince them to come out?

It didn't make sense at all and was too far away from how the real Jacob should act.

In other words, the Jacob that stood in front of the cave entrance right now wasn't really the Jacob that Julie knew. He was now nothing but a mere puppet of the so-called Compassionate God or the God of Everything that Moves and Exists.

But...

Tears streamed down Julie's cheeks as a pained look appeared on her face...

Why was it so painful? Why is the realization that Jacob is not the Jacob that I know anymore too painful? 

Mama, Papa... Julie inwardly cried out. Even she wasn't so sure about what was going on anymore. All she knew was that her friend abandoned her and even the person whom she considered as a husband candidate turned against her and right now, he was even begging her to kill herself so that he could return to the embrace of the bullshit Creator.

But then...

"It's fine..."

She felt an embrace.

"It's fine, you can cry... You can cry as much as you want. Kuya Joseph will be here."

It was an embrace so tight that it generated warmth that was far too familiar for Julie. 

"Mama... Papa... Erika... Jacob... Why? Why did you have to abandon me... Why was I even born in this place? What did I do to deserve this suffering?" Julie immediately suppressed the cry that was about to come out of her throat.

She was afraid that Hulie may wake up. If Hulie woke up then she would certainly cry if she saw her crying like this. If that happened then the two of them may not be able to stop crying for the entire day. 

Alice stared at Joseph, a complicated look flashed on her face.

Even though Joseph was immune to abnormal statuses due to his passive. That didn't mean that he was immune to the damage that those abnormal statuses inflicted...

Say, an attack that caused a Stun effect landed on Joseph's face. He wouldn't be affected by the Stun Debuff, but he would still suffer damage from the attack that landed on his face.

It was impossible for Joseph to not know about this fact, yet...

Why was he insisting on embracing Julie? Is he courting death?

Alice stared at Joseph's face and found that he was silently suffering from the miasma.

An appreciative look appeared on Alice's face. She soon sighed and stared at Joseph with a smile. 

But right now, Joseph was complaining.

What the fuck this doesn't make sense at all! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts... It really hurts! I am immune to the corrosion of the miasma, but why am I feeling pain? Why am I being damaged? This isn't logical at all! Once everything is done and over, I will definitely file a complaint against P.H Works! 

Since I am immune then I shouldn't be affected by anything!

Joseph glanced at his Health Bar and found that it wasn't moving.

Wait, my Health Bar didn't go down? What is going on? I am only feeling pain, but I am not actually suffering any damage that will lead to my death? That is more like it!

But why do I have to feel pain? Are those bastards from P.H Works, a bunch of sadistic bastards that are envious of the fact that I have the Mythical Class so they are doing this to me?

Aaaah! I will definitely file a complaint against them!

Jacob's screams outside of the cave continued for a long time.

But Julie's crying finally stopped...

She raised her head and stared at Joseph.

"Pffft, Julie... Wipe that snot off your face! It ruins your beauty!" Joseph teased.

Julie puffed her cheeks, a blush spread on her cheeks but she swiftly wiped the snot that formed underneath her nose. 

But afterwards, she revealed a smile and asked: "Kuya Joseph. Am I really beautiful?"

Joseph was taken aback by the sudden question.

But when he saw how serious Julie was when she asked, he couldn't help but laugh as he said, "Of course, you are! Although crying really ruins your beauty, in the future. You should not cry anymore, all right!"

He stretched his hand and ruffled Julie's hair.

"If Kuya Joseph doesn't want to see me cry, then it shall be done! I will not cry anymore!" Julie even formed a fist with her right hand and raised it into the air. A refreshing determined look could be seen on her face as Joseph honestly praised.

"That's more like it! That's the Julie that I know! That's my benefactor that I know!" Joseph also raised his fist into the air and copied Julie's mannerisms, eliciting laughter from the young maiden.

"Pffft! What is that Kuya Joseph? Is that my face? Hahaha, that looks ugly!"

Julie chuckled as he pointed at Joseph's distorted face.

But then her cheeks suddenly blushed in embarrassment when she realized what she did.

She said that Joseph was ugly when he was mimicking her face!

Wasn't that equal to admitting that she was ugly?

"Hahaha, now you realized that you just stubbed yourself on your toe?"

Joseph chuckled, he ruffled Julie's hair and said.

"But no worries, the reason why I look so ugly when trying to copy your face is that there is no way that someone in this world can actually copy your face and look beautiful at the same time..."

"You are beautifully unique, Julie. That is why in the future, you shouldn't really cry anymore. It ruins your beauty." 

A furious blush appeared on Julie's cheeks.

Meanwhile, Alice who was observing everything at the side couldn't help but stare suspiciously at Joseph. She felt somewhat weird when she heard Joseph's sweet nothings towards the petite and small Julie who could be considered as a loli.

She wanted to say something, but when he found out that the atmosphere between the two was too good for her to interrupt. She could do nothing other than bitterly smile and observe everything from the side.

"Mhmm! I will not cry again! I promise!" Julie pursed her lips and promised.

Joseph was delighted, "Good, now... Let Kuya here take care of those people outside." 

Joseph stood up and Julie was astonished by this change.

"Eh? Kuya! What are you going to do?! You can't go out! The City Chief, the First Elder and the Second Elder are too strong! You cannot handle them alone!"

Alice was also taken aback and she couldn't help but stand up.

She had the intention of helping Joseph, whatever decision he planned on making.

But...

"All of you do not worry... Even though I am quite weak right now, when it comes to acting tough and being a charlatan, if I claimed first then none may even dare to claim that they are second. Just wait here for the good news and my return, I will be sure to come back unscathed."

... It seemed like Joseph didn't have the intention of asking Alice's help at all.

Alice revealed a slight smile. She had no doubts about Joseph. After all, he was someone who managed to rescue her from the hands of the entire Kingdom of Nether. Anyone who had the same capabilities as Joseph shouldn't be judged via common sense, and shouldn't be taken at face value. 

Alice knew that he must have a lot of trump cards hidden in his sleeves, and that was the reason why he was acting so bold right now.

"Okay then, confront them. But remember, you need to come back alive." Alice replied.

Joseph stopped on his tracks, a confident smile appeared on his lips as he uttered.

"Mhmm, just sit back and relax."

He then opened the door and exited the room.

But neither did Julie and Alice knew that once Joseph closed the door behind him, Joseph's confident smile collapsed, replaced with a bitter one as he shivered in anxiety and apprehension.

If one looked closely, you could also see cold sweat running down his back.

Fuck, now I've done it! What should I do?

Joseph loitered outside the door for a while before he sighed and walked towards the entrance of the underground cave. His footsteps were incomparably heavy as if he was walking towards his own death.