Chapter 771: Goodbye [1]
The atmosphere froze over.
It was almost as if ti itself had stopped.
The shift was noticeable as Delilah’s gaze slowly turned in my direction. Her eyes, which had previously ward up, suddenly turned different. It made my heart freeze, but I knew that I couldn’t let that affect .
I had to co clean.
Not just because I wanted to, but because I had to.
For my future.
“If I were—”
“It’s not funny.”
Delilah cut off, her body moving slightly away from .
I didn’t pursue her and just kept my gaze on her as she moved several steps back while keeping her gaze on .
“This is not funny.”
She repeated.
The only thing I could do was smile at her.
“…I know it isn’t.”
Her eyes trembled for a mont, her eyes frosting over. I didn’t pay any mind to it and just shifted my attention towards the distant moon.
“I’m sure you suspected that sothing has been wrong with for quite so ti now. You never said anything after so point, but you’ve always kept close tabs on . I know that.”
“Stop.”
“…I’m sure you’re also aware of the fact that this isn’t my true body. That I’m an external soul that has entered and taken over the entity known as Julien Dacre Evenus. You’ve probably figured it out a while back, but just never said anything about it. I could tell.”
This had most likely happened during the ti when my body had been possessed by ‘Julien’ at the academy following the Pope incident.
I had sensed a subtle change in her, but it wasn’t obvious.
It was clear to now that this was most likely the mont she first realized the truth.
“It hasn’t been long since I found out the truth myself. Probably a couple of years by now. I wanted to tell you, but…”
I cracked a smile, placing my hands onto the handrail and leaning back.
“I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea, considering the state you had been in not long ago. With your hatred for the gods and everything they had done to you, it seed more than justified.”
It truly did…
“I wouldn’t bla you for wanting to kill all of the gods. I had been trying to do that myself.”
I forced out a laugh and shifted my gaze back to Delilah, who stood motionless in the moonlight, her hair stirring in the breeze, her eyes fixed intently on .
She didn’t say a word.
Nothing.
She just stared at with her cold black eyes.
I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but I was prepared for anything. Even if she tried to kill on the spot, I was ready for it. I had gone through all the simulations in my mind and realized that I had no choice but to tell her the truth.
I also realized why, up until now, Sithrus had been keeping her alive.
‘While he may say that he’s ‘discarded’ her, he still holds onto the hope that sothing might change in the future.’
His absolute trust in his strength was what made him dismiss her strength.
In so sort of way, Delilah was a key.
…A key to hurting the Outer Beings.
“I—”
“Did you know?”
Delilah’s voice broke in before I had the chance to say anything. It sounded steady, and yet, beneath the calmness, I caught the faint trembling that she tried so hard to disguise in her tone.
“Did I…”
“Did you know about what happened to ?”
“…..”
To that, I wasn’t able to respond.
Did I know…?
To so extent. However, I didn’t know the details. I had only just learned it recently.
“…To so exten—!?”
A terrifying pressure suddenly enveloped the surroundings. It was so powerful that for a mont, I almost completely forgot how to breathe. If not for the fact that Delilah wasn’t trying to kill , I’d have probably died on the spot.
“You know?”
I opened my mouth, trying my best to say sothing to de-escalate the situation, but in the end, I nodded my head.
“…Yes.”
Delilah’s face twisted, and for the first ti, I saw an expression that was truly filled with hatred. My heart seed to stop, and the world around fell into complete stillness.
And yet, despite how the situation was turning out to be, I didn’t panic.
I knew that I didn’t have to panic.
I was quickly proven right as Delilah’s face continued to change, switching from hatred to confusion to sadness, and then silence.
“…..”
In the end, she just stopped moving.
I knew that this was my ti to speak.
“I only found out recently. Back in the Mirror Dinsion, when I talked with Panthea.”
Delilah’s head twitched. She had most likely been aware of Panthea’s presence back in the Mirror Dinsion, or at least had an inkling.
“She didn’t explicitly tell that it was you, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. She’s also not aware of my true identity since I never revealed it to her, nor did I have the necessary ans to be recognized as Oracleus.”
I had been thinking about it for quite so ti. About the reason I had to die and give my blood away. While one of the reasons was because of Sithrus, another one was probably so that I wouldn’t arouse any suspicion from Panthea.
About my real identity and my goal.
It had all been especially planned in advance so that it wouldn’t happen.
‘If I’m not the traitor, and the sa is true for Noel, then this makes sense. This was probably done in order to remain cautious against the other Gods. There’s no one that I can trust amongst the six others besides Noel.’
But these were all thoughts for later. Right now, there was nothing more important than the woman in front of as I took a step forward.
However, the mont I did, Delilah stepped back.
She shook her head, and my hands dropped.
I opened my mouth, ready to say sothing, but Delilah beat to it.
“Is this what you ant before…?”
“About?”
“About it being hard to be with you.”
“Ah…”
I opened my mouth, closing it a mont later before eventually nodding.
“Yes.”
This was exactly why I said what I did. Being with wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, it would probably be incredibly hard.
“There’s a lot weighing on right now. A part of my past has caught up with . One I can’t avoid, even if I tried.”
“What do you an?”
I smiled at Delilah. Or at least, tried to smile.
Despite my best efforts to reassure her, all that ca out was a poor excuse for comfort.
“…I’ll be leaving soon.”
“Leaving?”
Delilah’s face changed. Her previously tense expression faded, and in its place was a worried one.
“Where are you going? For how long are you going…?”
Her voice grew quicker with each question she asked, seemingly understanding that the reason why I was saying all of this wasn’t just because I wanted to co clean, but rather, because I was going to say goodbye to her.
“You’re not going to…” Delilah stopped, biting her lips forcefully as her cold exterior began to fade. “You’re not going to—”
“I’m not going to die.”
I reassured her with a smile. This ti, the smile was a lot more genuine.
“I’ll just be gone for quite so ti.”
“How… How long?”
“I don’t know. Probably a while.”
“How long is a while?”
“A year? Two years? Maybe more…”
I didn’t know myself. I’d hope for it to be less, but I wasn’t sure. This was sothing that I couldn’t escape. No, this was more like fate.
This was sothing that I had to do regardless of my will.
“That… long?”
“That long.”
I nodded, and the surroundings fell into a sudden silence. Delilah stood completely still, her expression turning distant, almost numb. I watched her for a mont, then took a step forward. This ti, unlike before, she didn’t move.
I took another step, drawing closer to her.
And then another, and then—
I stood right before her, wrapping my hands around her body and bringing her closer to mine.
She didn’t resist, and that was all I needed.
In so way, this was her way of showing she was willing to wait. As I pulled her close, holding her tightly, trying to morize the feeling, Delilah’s soft voice whispered in my ear.
“You’re selfish.”
I paused, unsure of how to reply. But then, I nodded.
“…I am.”
“You’re a liar.”
“I am.”
“You’re…”
Her body trembled, her arms moving as they clung to my back, squeezing just as hard as I did. I reciprocated her actions, bringing her body closer to as I felt my chest squeeze. Not from joy, but from pain.
I didn’t want to go.
I didn’t want to leave her. Not when we had just established our relationship.
But… I had to.
This right here was our goodbye.
As I pulled my head back, our eyes t for the last ti, and monts later, our lips found each other once more.
We fell into the pleasure for one last ti.
***
Clank—!
Delilah closed the door quietly behind her and stood still, unmoving. Her face was cold, drained of any emotion, while her eyes flickered with sothing unreadable.
It hadn’t been long since Julien left, but with every passing minute, she felt her emotions slipping further away, fading into a cold emptiness. Her body trembled, and she understood exactly what was happening.
‘I’m about to reach the Zenith.’
The barrier that had been blocking her path for so long had started to break.
Taking a few steps into the room, Delilah paused. For a brief mont, her heart clenched. A flood of mories surged back, overwhelming her and settling into her chest as she trembled.
In truth, she still had a hard ti accepting Julien’s words. She… didn’t want to believe his words. How could he be Oracleus? A student… Soone she had seen for the past years. The man who had managed to conquer her heart.
But the more she thought about it, the more the possibility seed real. Slowly, the dots began to connect, shedding light on so many of his past actions.
In those last monts between the two of them, he had tried to explain a bit about his past, but Delilah stopped him before he could continue.
She still wasn’t ready to hear it.
Not yet.
Not in her current state, as she clutched her chest, her face growing paler with each passing second.
Despite her best attempts at trying to hold the pain back, she wasn’t able to as she covered her mouth with her trembling hand.
‘No, it’s not his fault. He didn’t lie to .’
Delilah mumbled in her mind, stumbling forward.
‘…Even if he is, it’s clear that he’s not the one who did it! He’s a liar, but he had good reason not to tell.’
‘I can just kill the other ones. I don’t have to kill him.’
‘I can. I can…’
“I…”
The trembling of Delilah’s hands intensified as her eyes grew moist. An overwhelming sense of pain and guilt settled in her chest as she stumbled towards her bed, and warm streaks fell down the side of her cheeks.
“H-ha.”
Her chest trembled.
She, too… hadn’t been honest.
Her hatred for the gods didn’t just stem from the fact that she hated them for what they had done to her.
No…
Truth was, their death ant her survival.
She couldn’t live unless they all died. For that reason, they needed to die.
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