The revelation took a moment to sink in.
Then Ardyn laughed.
If Evan ever told him right now that this was all just a prank, he would believe him in an instant. He wouldn’t even be mad, because something this elaborate needed to be given an award.
Why else would something this ridiculous be said out loud?
“No way,” he finally said after his laughter died down. “You’re telling me that I’m a Guardian?”
Evan nodded warily. “Yes…”
Ardyn’s lips stretched into a thin line, all traces of humor now gone from his expression. “Why would you say something like that?”
“Because you’re an Otherworlder. All Otherworlders are Guardians.”
“No. No, no,” Ardyn said, shaking his head. “I’m not one of those.”
“How certain are you?” Evan asked gently.
“I’m sure of it because I don’t have the capabilities,” Ardyn said. Then, as if to prove a point, he opened his palm to show Evan. “I can’t use magic like you. I don’t know how to use any weapon. I’m not fit for this… Guardian task. It’s just not for me.”
“Yes, you are,” Evan said, standing up from the bed and approaching him. “You’re a Guardian, Ardyn. I can feel it. You need to follow your destiny.”
“Can’t my destiny just be to live peacefully and not have to worry about some monster?!” Ardyn said angrily, all the pent-up frustration inside of him exploding like lava from a volcano. “Why are you doing this to me? I’m already dead.”
“You’re not dead, Ardyn,” Evan tried.
“Why should I be a Guardian, anyway?” Ardyn muttered, reaching out to rub at his throbbing temples. “That monster is still sealed up in the skies, isn’t it? There are many other Guardians out there that can do my job for me. I’m not anybody special. I’m better off going into hiding or something like that.”
Suddenly, the room went silent.
Ardyn raised his head to look at them in a mixture of confusion and exasperation. “What? Was it something I said?”
Evan hesitated, but then Mathias finally spoke up, his voice low and grave.
“It’s not gonna be up there for long.”
Ardyn frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The Calamity,” Mathias clarified. “It’s not going to stay sealed for much longer.”
Dread stabbed at his chest. “Wait a second. When did you say you guys in this planet last sealed away that monster?”
“Three years ago,” Evan said, discomfort lacing his tone.
“Huh? But you said eight years. There are five more years left,” Ardyn pointed out.
“Yes, but…”
“It’s because of you,” Mathias interjected in a hardened tone.
Ardyn’s frown grew deeper. “What do you mean it’s because of me?”
“Matty,” Evan said, and there was a hint of warning in his tone.
However, Mathias didn’t pay him any mind. “Do you have any idea what happens when Otherworlders arrive on this planet? Like the Prince said earlier, everything gets disturbed. Everything shifts. And that includes the seal.”
The color slowly drained from Ardyn’s face. The implication was starting to dawn on him. “Don’t tell me…”
“The Calamity will break out from the seal within 24 hours of the Otherworlder’s arrival,” Evan said quietly. “That means that by tomorrow, everyone needs to be evacuated from the city. Otherwise, they will all die.”
Including me, Ardyn realized.
Oh. So that was why Evan had given him the traveling backpack.
But…
“Wait a second,” Ardyn said. “Then shouldn’t you evacuate everyone right now? It’s a big city, isn’t it? It would take hours for the evacuation process to be completed.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not so easy to accomplish,” Evan said slowly. “Of course, we will start the evacuation process, but not right now. Not when there are important factors to consider.”
“Like what?”
“Like you,” Mathias answered with a vacant expression on his face.
Ardyn blinked at him. “Me?”
“At this moment, only the Prince and I know that you are here. Nobody else.” Mathias sent him a sharp look, all the friendly countenance from earlier gone as though it had vanished into thin air. “If anybody catches a whiff of your existence, you will die.”
“Excuse me?” Ardyn squawked.
“Not immediately,” Mathias clarified in a deadpan tone. “They might torture you first and imprison you, or perhaps trap you on an isolated island, but in the end, death is imminent—”
“Hey. Stop it,” Evan said in a reprimanding tone. “Don’t scare him like that.”
“Your Highness,” Mathias said patiently. “I did not say a single lie. You know what happens to Otherworlders whose existences have been made known. They’re crucified by the public.”
“Still!” Evan said, narrowing his eyes. “There’s a time and place to say these things. Right now, we must focus on what’s important, and that’s to—”
“Otherworlders are viewed as the harbinger of destruction. They bring unwarranted danger and chaos to the planet, Your Highness,” Mathias reminded. “Have you forgotten what the Oracle’s words were?”
“That’s…”
“When a person of legend — a person that comes from another world — graces this land, they will either be this world’s savior, or its destruction,” Mathias recounted in a grave tone. “And the history books tell it all.”
Evan fell silent. Mathias took that as his cue to continue.
“When the first Otherworlder arrived, they thought that the person of legend would finally be able to break the vicious cycle,” he relayed. “But they thought wrong. These Otherworlders were actually the cause of the destruction. Their energy attracts the Calamity, of all entities!”
“Hold on,” Ardyn said, narrowing his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”
Mathias turned to him with cold eyes. “It means that the monster is attracted to your energy. If it’s unsealed, it will follow you at all costs.”
That caused another explosion inside of Ardyn.
“What the hell?!” he demanded. “I didn’t sign up for this! Why couldn’t you have told me that sooner?”
“Ardyn—” Evan tried.
But Ardyn was already upset. He could no longer control his temper.
“No. What kind of bullshit is this?” he cursed. “Why am I even brought here? I already died! Are you all trying to kill me a second time?”