The Walker Of Voids

It had been a week since Lloyd had left the dungeon, yet despite it being the only thing they talked about when they were in the dungeon, he could not have felt more alone when leaving it.

Three of his friends had died, two were in a coma, one betrayed all of them and was the cause of this mess, and the last... Well...

"Hmm. I never thought Void Walkers could be created that way." Rex chuckled to himself while taking a puff from his cigarette.

They were both sitting on the roof's edge, looking down at the people below them, living their lives happily and without a care in the world.

While Rex had bags under his that could have only come from

After everything that happened, Lloyd had decided to tell Rex the whole truth. He was the only one conscious that knew his secrets.

Of course, Hime and Tina would most likely wake up any day now, but while Lloyd knew Tina would never rat on him, Null and he were still contemplating what to do with Hime.

"I never knew you smoked." Lloyd commented while taking a side glance at Rex.

"I just started. It's quite relaxing; wanna try?" Rex tried to hand his cigarette to Lloyd, yet Lloyd quickly pushed it back.

"I think I'm good." Lloyd sighed.

"What are you worrying about? It's not like you have lungs anymore. Even if you didn't, I'm sure you can afford a lung restoration."

"True, but I think it smells terrible." Lloyd shrugged, causing Rex to chuckle.

They didn't say anything for a while, yet the silence between the two of them was comforting, while all the background noise from the cars and people on the streets didn't make it feel that silent.

"Lloyd, I understand why you kept such a secret from us. I would have done the same. But, call me a hypocrite, but no matter how hard I try, I don't think I can forgive you."

"..."

"..."

"I understand." Lloyd sighed before leaning back and laying on the roof of the building.

Silence again, yet it felt a little more melancholic than the first one.

"I think I'm going to travel." Rex closed his eyes and leaned back too.

"Where?" Lloyd asked, his eyes darting between the stars and planets in the sky.

"Anywhere. I'm going to take some time off from the army. I've never been on a mission for as long as the one we went to, nor have I failed a mission as badly we did. I just want to go around this galaxy." Rex sighed.

"When do you think you're going to go?" Lloyd asked.

"Probably tomorrow. We've already gotten the whole funeral thing out of the way, and the Raven Family hasn't killed us yet so I think we're good on that end too." Rex chuckled.

"I'll make sure to call you when Tina wakes up. Maybe you can try finding a way to fix her life force." Lloyd said.

"Unlikely, but I'm going to try. That's the least I can do... She held off Veronica for us; hell, we owe our lives to her." Rex smiled while Lloyd nodded.

"I guess we still have to worry about Veronica, though." Rex continued.

"Man, if only she had killed her," Lloyd replied almost coldly, the image of her splattered brains making a smile tuck at the corners of his lips.

"Tina did more than enough already. We can only thank the gods that the bitch demon didn't choose to pursue us further."

"Mhm..."

"Are you going to tell your family?"

"About what?" Lloyd raised a brow.

"You being a void walker."

"I don't think I should tell them?"

"The longer you keep it from them, the more they'll be hurt when they find out. Look at me... Look at Tina.

Tina was willing to sacrifice her life for you, and even though I'm angry at you, I'm still more than willing to keep your secret. We've only known you for 3 months, and most of us have been quite accepting.

Your family has known you for your entire life; do you not think they would be accepting too?" Rex asked.

"Its not just that. I'm a part of a race people use in curses. I'm considered a demon in the eyes of quite literally everyone. My parents, and even Ben and Layla, they are all military people. They have a duty to serve their race, and I am the very incarnation of everything they are protecting humanity from.

I know it would hurt them if they found out the wrong way, but I can't do that to them right now. So much is changing in my life and in theirs. They constantly worry about me, and I don't understand the smallest thing about myself.

Telling them would only burden them, which is not something I want my parents to deal with so early into my awakening." Lloyd explained, making their conversation go completely silent again.

***

Another week had passed, and not much of importance had occurred... Well, except for a few things.

Over the week, Lloyd's survival story had gotten out, and the news did not waste another second to capitalize on such a big story. Lloyd's story was quickly known throughout the planet.

He was on the cover of every newspaper, known as the kid who survived an interplanetary dungeon.

Every day Lloyd would get thousands of emails asking him to come onto a news broadcast and talk about his experience and how he had survived something that most would not have.

While he would usually mark them under spam, eventually, he got too tired of dealing with them and switched to using his adventurer's association email.

Lloyd told his family about all his abilities and affinities, shocking them again despite thinking that nothing could ever surprise them again after hearing about how Lloyd faced an amethyst seal boss monster for several minutes without dying.

Lloyd's mother almost fainted throughout Rex telling her the story, of course, with a few key details taken out. While they didn't understand how such a thing was possible, when Lloyd told them of his different affinities and abilities, it was as if it all clicked in their heads.

However, it was not all flowers, sunshine, and rainbows. Despite the army fighting against the dungeon break, they couldn't keep it locked any longer.

The interplanetary dungeon was connected to five planets. Only two planets discovered the spatial tear, and while no one knew why this was the case, Lloyd had a feeling that Veronica had something to do with it.

Anyway, despite the army's efforts, they were only capable of cutting the damage in half.

At the same time, they were barely holding the dungeon break back. It was estimated that within the next few weeks, all the cities in the expected area of damage had to evacuate.

The evacuation method was simple. The cities would either rearrange themselves around the planet, or they would simply create a forcefield around themselves before launching the city into outer space.

The interplanetary dungeon was expected to cover around 40-45% of the planet. Benjamin and Layla asked Lloyd's family to live with them.

Lloyd's older brother already had a family of his own and lived on another planet, so it didn't really affect him, yet after finding out about what happened to Lloyd, he made sure to spend at least a week with them before returning home.

"So... What do you think of your new home." Layla asked while grabbing Lloyd's shoulders from behind.

Hearing her words, Lloyd could not help but think of the floating palace in the lightning world, so he said the first thing that came to his head.

"Eh... I've seen bigger." Lloyd replied, getting a hard smack from Elana to the back of his head the moment he said those words.

"That's what she said." Zach casually strolled by, making Lloyd want to face-palm while making Layla and Olivia laugh.

"I think he means he appreciates his temporary home. Thank you, Aunty Layla." Elana smiled whiled pinching Lloyd's ear with enough force to make it feel like she was trying to rip it off.

'Well... I do start the academy next week, don't I.' Lloyd thought to himself, happy to finally get a chance to take some time away from his family.