Surviving as the Second Main Lead: Second Lead's POV

‘I cannot breathe. The pressure. Something is pressing on my chest.’

The giant eyeball continued to look at Horas and he continued to be short of breath. He could feel tremendous pressure being put on his chest, making it almost impossible for him to respond.

He quickly looked up, only to see the eye still looking at him.

“Ah, look. The agent of the demon king is here already. We should hurry up and mark this girl so that the ceremony can be carried out more efficiently.”

Eureka sounded happy when she spoke. There was cheer in her voice as she happily condemned someone to die for her wish.

Whatever small amount of sympathy Horas had made up for her as a likely victim vanished in a single second.

‘I need to act now while those two are distracted. I will cut Emma’s binds and take her out of this alter.’

Horas now had a plan and he swiftly moved toward Emma. He needed to take her out before the other two noticed his plan. He was on short notice here and his time was running out.

*shaaaaa*

Horas took a few steps and then stopped. The giant eye was not only looking at him, it was following his movements. Its soulless black iris was tracking Horas down and keeping an eye on him simultaneously.

“My lord, I hope you find our sacrifice worth it. We sacrifice the body of a young child to you. Now, descend on this world and grant me my wish- hey, come back here. Boris, don’t let them escape.”

Horas threw all caution out of the window as soon as the mana around the room began to fluctuate.

His head felt like it was being split apart due to all the fluctuation and he could not look straight. But he still did his best to keep on walking until he reached Emma and freed her.

Horas tried to pick Emma and run but his young body turned out to be a hindrance in that regard as well. Before he knew it, he was being held back by Boris and Eureka had been taken away from him.

“Eureka, was this the other kid was were talking about? The one who managed to escape your grasp? He’s a good find as well, almost better than the girl we have. Look, he even has a system.”

Boris sounded satisfied as he observed Horas. His wrist was stretched out and his information screen made to appear.

Boris did not show any surprise when he noticed Horas’s affiliation with Esper’s academy.

“Eureka, how about we change our sacrifice? We have not started the ceremony yet so we still have time. I am sure the demon king would also appreciate it if we give him a functional body rather than one that needs to finish developing, right?”

Boris stood up and stretched Horas’s hand high above his head. Horas’s feet barely touched the ground and his stomach even revolted, pushing bile up his throat.

All the time, that huge eye in the sky did not stop looking at Yohan. The eye did not look away from Yohan no matter what happened.

“Alright, if you say so Boris, then I guess we can make an exception this time. Immobilize the kid so that I can carve the Sigel into his back.”

Invisible hands held Horas down and then a sharp knife was digging into his back. No, not one but several sharp knives were digging into his back. It hurt but it also tickled some kind of memory in his brain.

This sensation of burning felt familiar but Horas was in no condition to think why it felt familiar.

And then the torture was over too soon and too late. Horas had lost his breath halfway and he was now trying to just keep on breathing.

“Well then Boris, it’s finally time. Our lord shall get a new body.”

Horas felt water touch his back as he was placed in a small coffin-like space on top of the altar. The water barely touched Horas’s back but it was slowly rising. Horas had a sinking feeling that he would die by suffocation.

And all this time, that disgusting eye was looking at him from the open sky.

‘....cannot….escape….me…’

The silent whispers reached Horas’s ears. The voice he was hearing was unlike any human voice Horas had heard before. But despite that, he felt familiar to him.

Just the essence of that voice filled Horas’s entire being with fear and dread. Breathing became harder and Horas felt the air being squeezed out of his body

‘...back…not…escape…my…hold…hand…over…’

‘I cannot give in. H-Help should be on the way.’

Horas’s back was burning and his mana seemed to be out of control as well. Horas was losing control of his body slowly and it was a horrible realization to have.

[[[Emergency: Major organs slowing down. Immediate treatment is recommended]]]

[[[Emergency: Major organs slowing down. Immediate treatment is recommended]]]

[[[Emergency: Major organs slowing down. Immediate treatment is recommended]]]

Horas’s system was up in alarm, trying to issue all this warning to him. It made Horas’s headache just that much worse. But he was not able to do anything to help himself.

His body just did not feel like his own.

‘...you…dare…try…and…escape…me…’

The eyeball seemed to be closing in on Horas. He wanted to at least turn his head away but even that seemed to be impossible. And the corresponding water level also seemed to have risen above his chest.

And then, Horas finally went under. The dungeon slipped from around him and he was plunged into darkness.

But it was unlike any darkness he had seen before. This one was cold and heavy, allowing Horas not to move as he pleased. It also gave a slimy feeling when it touched the skin.

Horas was sinking down and down until his back touched something rock solid. He finally was able to feel and move his body a little, so he decided to look up.

Right into a pair of bright red eyes. They looked familiar and their sinister energy also gave Horas goosebumps.

“I…am…back…Did…you…miss…me…little…human…?”

It was the same unhuman voice Horas had been hearing all this while but it became much more clear once that shadow was in front of him.

Hands strangled his neck and Horas stopped breathing. But just as he was at his most desperate, something happened and his body jolted.

[[[??? - releasing. Special skill acquired]]]

The useless cheat Horas had picked up finally ended up breaking out of its shell. But the demon king easily tore the protection apart.

“Now…fulfil…your…contract…hand…it…over…your…body…”

“No, stay away.”

In a desperate attempt to free himself, Horas thrashed around for the last time but it did not work. The demon did not let him go and Horas felt the most horrible pain in his life as the demon tried to rip his soul apart.

“Oi, hang in there kid. We finally got you out.”

Jack Hollow’s familiar voice called out and finally, Horas was pulled out of that nightmare. The demon in the darkness cried out but Horas could no longer hear it.

It spoke about ‘deals’ and ‘rewards’ but Horas did his best to tune the demon out. And then, he was finally coughing and had control of his body.

“Jesus kid, what is wrong with you? You almost died there for a sec and gave us all a heart attack.”

All around Horas were medics as well as other police staff. They had captured Eureka and her partner and were not taking them away. Some other people had been caught by the police.

“You are a lucky kid. The dungeon was misclassified as F-class. We will need to investigate more but that’s something you do not need to concern yourself with.”

Horas was not concerned. His eyes felt heavy with sleep and he wanted to close them. But he also wanted to know what happened to Emma and Howard. Were the kids alright?

“K-Kids?”

Horas’s voice barely came out but he needed to know. He needed to know that his ticket home was alright.

And maybe, just maybe, he was worried about those kids as well. He was not heartless after all and those kids were important.

“They’re alright, if not a little traumatized. Well, the girl slept through everything but Howard might need future therapy to get through this incident. Even then, they both are young enough to forget about it happening.”

Horas hoped that Jack was right. It would not be good if Horas had managed to traumatize the future hero.

Horas felt eyes on him and he stiffened. That gaze reminded him of that gigantic eyeball in the demon-kind summoning ceremony and Horas quickly looked at the source of that stare.

The familiar blue of Howard’s eyes met his and his brother looked away instantly as soon as he was noticed. Horas finally relaxed once he knew that it was not an enemy who was looking at him.

“Horas Spencer, we will record your statement later. For now, you should rest and recover.”

That was Horas’s plan. Well, this and getting stronger.

He did not know what kind of dungeon that will appear in the future, but Horas was sure of one thing - he could not rely on his incomplete knowledge to know what will happen. He will have to try and find out more about it.

And just like that, 11 years passed. The academy changed, Horas grew up and it was finally time for the real story to start.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Finally, the real story will start in the next chapter. This is the end of the first arc.