Chapter 92
A muffled laugh broke out. Pession blinked at the clear laugh that echoed through the empty space.
Then a pale light cut through the barrier, and a loving hand stroked Pession’s hair.
[Decisions made in the heat of the moment are bound to be regretted].
More Bone-Inspired Advice.
[And yet, is it good?]
He knows he’s speaking for himself, but…
Pession nodded.
“Still, fine.”
Suddenly, when it came to Arellin, Pession had no choice. He was in a position of complete underdog.
Even if it meant giving everything and getting nothing in return, as long as Arellin was happy, so was he.
Because he likes it.
“It’s better to risk everything and say anything than to do nothing and lose.”
How can he not love something so desperate?
[You’re so cute, kid.]
Nathan lamented.
[Why did I have to get involved with such a freak of fate…]
He can see the future clearly, but he can’t help but cheer.
[Okay, I’ll help you with that].
“Really?!”
[Yes].
There was a faint note of affection in his laugh.
[I just happened to have someone who wanted to kick in the nuts].
***
BANG-!
In an instant, the aftermath of the two colliding forces swept through the surroundings. Floors and walls cracked, debris flew, and dust rose.
It was close.
Arellin almost swooned.
“That’s weird.”
It was unmistakably a qualitative being that appeared against the distorting background.
“I’m here to see my daughter.”
“…”
“Why is there something strange?”
Valar narrowed his eyes.
His ability to see secrets was working, but he couldn’t make out his opponent’s true form.
All he could make out was a pair of golden eyes that glowed like the eyes of an animal.
“Oh.”
The man, noticing that Valar’s gaze was fixed on him, laughed amusedly.
“Can you see me?”
“No.”
Valar made the first move. The man parried the attack effortlessly.
For a brief moment, dozens of blows were exchanged.
A bang!
The place modeled after the Imperial Palace had long since been blown to smithereens, leaving only the man and Valar standing on the ruined rubble.
The man took a step back and laughed as he tried his best to use his strength, but it didn’t work.
“That’s annoying.”
‘Tsk, I have a lot of work to do.’
Valar’s judgment was swift, as he held his retreating opponent in check.
“You’re the one who crossed the line.”
Smoke wafted from the man’s body like wings, matching the aura that was slowly tainting the area.
The underworld, the realm of sloth, had been strangely transformed into an unpredictable place by the pollution.
“Ah.”
The man’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You must be the Archduke of Halbern this time.”
“You know me.”
“How could I not? You’re so famous.”
It was getting annoying. He hadn’t expected Archduke Halbern himself to enter the Otherworld.
Even to him, Halbern’s power was a bit off-putting. The source of that power, to be exact.
“What are you doing in someone else’s territory?”
“Looking for something.”
“Why are you touching my daughter?”
“Oh, don’t you know?”
The man laughed.
Suddenly, Valar’s body froze.
“My power didn’t work.”
“…”
“It was the first ‘human’ to see through my cloak and see me.”
He was so fragile that he could die instantly if he touched it with the wrong force, but he was strong enough to drive even the strongest men in the world insane and suicidal.
The strongest mind in the weakest body.
“I’ve never seen anything so interesting in my life.”
Valar’s expression hardened.
The man shrugged, looking sad that his good intentions had been misunderstood.
“I’m not here for an accident.”
“Well said.”
The man who’d deflected Valar’s attack chuckled.
Naturally, the man’s excuse didn’t work.
It could be done with full force, but neither man was willing to do that.
“Come on, you can’t put a scratch on me anyway.”
“I should probably get going, I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I’m a busy man.”
“I don’t think they’ll let you get away that easily.”
“Shouldn’t you be running away as well? You’re going to be tied up here, and it won’t be easy for Halbern to escape.”
“I think it’s more important to stop you.”
“Oh, no.”
For a moment, Valar reflexively defended himself against the feral menace.
The golden eyes glowed with a glint.
“Then so be it.”
He expected a devastating attack, but the smoke that had risen as if to consume him vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
“…Did I miss it.”
Valar narrowed his eyes.
He hadn’t expected him to be so easily manipulated.
‘Immortal.’
Valar sighed softly as he tried to deduce the man’s identity.
He couldn’t go after this unknown foe, so he should find his daughter and bring her back.
Perhaps that was the plan.
-Valar.
“Ah.”
Yeah, he couldn’t have just left.
-Valar, come here.
The visions of the tainted Underworld have taken on substance and lured Valar.
He knew he shouldn’t be possessed, that it was an illusion, and that if he was caught, he would be doomed.
He can’t escape the outstretched hand of a phantom with his sister’s face and hid sister’s body.
-My sweet sister.
It’s a vision, but not a good one.
He knows in his head that he should root it out and kill it.
It’s like it’s alive.
So.
“Sister.”
Valar suddenly lost all resolve and was disarmed.
His eyes closed as he covered the hand that touched his cheek with his own, rubbing his cheek against his palm.
Even if he knew this was an illusion.
“How could I kill my sister?”
***
She was the only one alive in the darkness of the saccharine bay.
She stood in the distance, holding a white silver compass that glowed dimly. Tears welled up in her eyes.
‘What happened to my dad?’
She was so worried about a subject she didn’t even consider her real father. She felt like she could have a real dad now.
Even though he’s too young to be a dad, and he looks like a 19-year-old gold male lead, she doesn’t know what he’s thinking there, and he’s a weird guy.
He came to her rescue.
She knew she was being too easy on herself, but she couldn’t help thinking of her father from her previous life.
Her real father abandoned her as soon as her mom abandoned her and never looked in on her.
In comparison, the Archduke of Halbern came looking for her.
He tried to save it.
He wouldn’t leave her alone.
She didn’t even think of him as a father…
“Are you going to be okay?”
She doesn’t know about anything else, but Mehen said she was strong enough to bounce back from anything he threw at her. She won’t get hurt or killed, will she?
The darkness has always made her weak.
She didn’t know if it was because it reminded her of the time she was abandoned by her mother and left alone, or if she was just that weak to begin with, but she tried to move her shaking body.
“Look ahead, don’t answer anyone who calls, think only of happy memories, think of the person you miss the most…”
She wanted to remember her dad’s words, but it wasn’t easy to put them into practice.
She kept thinking about him.
She remembered how he laughed when she asked him if she should call him “dad” anymore, and how it was so important to call him “dad”.
“Looking ahead, not answering, happy memories, someone I miss.”
“You’ll call me dad when you go back.”
She’ll call him that until she gets sick of it.
She huffed and shifted.
The bag her father had given her could only move because the compass was still emitting a faint glow, showing her the way.
“I wonder where they got these artifacts.”
She was more worried about the fact that he looked amazing. She wondered if he’d be okay without it.
She knows her nose is a master, but if something were to go wrong…
Giggles.
Perhaps it was the repetition of unhappy thoughts, but she heard an unpleasant chuckle from beyond the darkness.
Crisp.
The spinning compass cracked.
“Ouch.”
She clutched the compass again and tried to think of happy thoughts and people she wanted to see.
She was pretty sure she did.
-New Spring.
She stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of a voice she shouldn’t have heard, a name she shouldn’t have been called.
“Ah.”
Crisp.
The compass cracked again.
-New spring, this is new spring!
“Huh?”
She answered before she could stop herself.
As she did, a ripple rippled through the darkness.
‘Oh, I’m screwed.’
No.
Here, isn’t her past life name cheating?
