"...So in the end, we really only ended up eting one person. Turns out, everyone else we t was not even real. They were rely a product of Velar’s loneliness and idea of not wanting to be alone during his last monts."
I listened quietly as Evelyn sat in the snow, her arms resting on her knees while she stared blankly into the distance.
Her voice was soft, forcing to strain my ears to listen to her.
"It’s surprising, right? Neither of us noticed how they were fake. Even when I injected my mana inside their body, I didn’t realize it. But turns out, Velar was using their real body and injecting his mana into them to replicate the feeling of warmth. He also used the ice built up inside their body to make them move. By controlling the ice, he could control their movents and make it seem like they were alive. Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone with such fine control over their elent."
Crackle~
Evelyn held her hand forward, lightning crackling as a magic circle ford. I looked at the scene in surprise, amazed by how the simple bolt of lightning moved around her hand and coiled around it like a sort of snake with its own consciousness.
’Her control has gotten this good? Just how long did she practice for?’
Clenching her fist, the magic circle shattered as Evelyn took a deep breath and looked towards the distance once more.
Towards the nurous statues that stood before her, as their icy bodies glimred under the bright light of the sun.
She had cald down considerably since before, but I could still feel the sadness that lingered inside her body. Especially when I thought back to her words about ’sumr’.
That...
Looking up towards the gray sky, I knew that it was impossible.
There existed no such thing as sumr in this area.
But...
"It’s not... impossible."
Every ti I spoke, it felt as though sothing was scraping at the back of my throat. It wasn’t unbearable, but it wasn’t pleasant.
Evelyn remained silent while looking ahead.
"...Sumr."
I swallowed, looking in the sa direction she was.
"It’s... possible to... bring it here."
Evelyn’s shoulders trembled slightly as she tilted her head upward, staring at the sky above.
In the end, she nodded.
She didn’t say anything, but rely nodded.
I took a deep breath and quietly collected my mana as I tried my best to recuperate. But as I did, Evelyn’s voice reached my ears once more.
"I think I know why the two of us weren’t affected like the others."
"You know?"
Her words caught off guard as I looked at her. To be honest, I had been wondering too. Why did everyone suddenly turn into a statue while the two of us didn’t? Was there sothing that I didn’t know? Were we targeted?
"...It’s simpler than you think."
Evelyn continued, her purple hair fluttering as a breeze followed.
She tapped her chest.
"It’s because the two of us are not as cursed as the others are."
"What?"
Not as cursed...?
What could she—Ah.
Sothing hit .
"I couldn’t feel it before, but now that I’ve experienced it and managed to increase my general control, I’ve beco aware of the darkness that lingers inside of my body. It’s also like this that I was able to feel the darkness inside of everyone else’s body."
That darkness...
She was talking about the Outer Being energy.
"The darkness that lingers inside of Kiera and Aoife is even denser than the one that lingers inside of my body. But not that much deeper. I... guess my attribute helped to so extent."
"But what about... the others?"
"They also contain the darkness."
Evelyn muttered, her eyes hazing.
"...I’m not surprised by An’as and Anne. By living here, it’s only natural that their bodies are exposed to it. But I’m more surprised by Leon. There’s quite a lot of that darkness inside his body. If left unchecked, the situation might turn dangerous for him."
Pausing, Evelyn turned her attention towards .
"But what I’m most surprised about is you."
"...."
"You are different from everybody else. The amount of darkness that is inside your body is almost non-existent. There’s so little of it. How?"
How?
I wanted to laugh.
The answer... I was all too clear about. And it was for this reason that I found it ironic.
’Who else could it have been but Sithrus?’
I thought back to the monts before everything had happened. During the ti the two of us t for the last ti, he was disappointed in finding corrupted.
He was disappointed in how I had allowed myself to get corrupted by the darkness. After which, everything happened, and Julien took over. If there was anybody capable of removing the darkness, it had to be him.
’Ironically, he saved my life.’
I didn’t really know how to feel about this. But then again, I still ended up being a statue in the end.
’...I guess there’s a limit to his help.’
"I had a little bit of help from soone."
In the end, I gave Evelyn an ambiguous answer.
"Oh."
She didn’t show much of a reaction and rely nodded, shifting her attention back towards the nurous statues before speaking again.
"The people who live in the Mirror Dinsion are really unfortunate."
Reaching her hand up to feel the wind, Evelyn brushed her hair behind her ear as she continued, "They live in a world where temperatures are in the extre, and it is designed to make their life as difficult as possible. There’s little to no food, and monsters run rampant in all directions. It’s like a prison."
That’s exactly what it is...
"But as if that wasn’t enough, their bodies all contain this disgusting darkness that lingers inside of their bodies."
With her hand still raised, Evelyn opened up her palm as a certain darkness began to creep out of it. The mont the darkness appeared, my entire body began to tense up as I felt my instincts scream at .
"I’m not quite sure what it does to their bodies, but I know it isn’t good. I think the more there is, the more it corrupts the mind. I know this much because I’ve felt it firsthand, and..."
Pausing, Evelyn raised her head to look at the sky, her expression finally changing into a grim one.
"...Alongside it, I also felt my strength increase. I felt the power that I never thought was possible. Enough to make everything feel insignificant. It’s... scary. To wield such power and not be able to control it. J-just... how are we supposed to deal with being of this strength? I don’t think it’s possible, Julien."
A knot ford in my throat as I tried to reply. I wanted to tell her that it was possible. That I had planned for everything since the very start, but after witnessing everything first-hand, I couldn’t quite bring myself to say that.
’Is it even possible for to defeat the Outer Beings?’
There were eight Outer Beings.
Eight... beings of such power. Even though Noel and Pathea had taken care of one, and Sithrus had reached a level where he could deal with one, in the end, I was still far off from that level.
And taking into account the fact that I had turned into a statue after failing to figure out a solution, I... realized just how much I was still lagging.
’I know I can get stronger. I... just don’t know if I have enough ti to beco stronger. I’ve rely reached the Eighth Tier after coming back into this body, but there were still so ways before I reached the Ninth Tier, let alone the Zenith. The only thing I have is the runes. Yeah, the runes.’
I needed to learn more about them. Figure out how to collect more.
That was the key to it all.
The runes.
"Haa."
Letting out a long breath, I relaxed my shoulders while looking back at Evelyn. There was sothing else that I was curious about.
"How did you do it?"
"....How?"
Evelyn’s gaze remained fixed on the sky.
"Turns out that Velar had been mistaken from the start. The reason why this place beca so cold wasn’t that there was no longer the protection of the Goddess Clora. In reality, whoever this ’God Hunter’ was, they planted a curse in this city and turned everyone into statues."
Evelyn’s expression started to distort slightly.
"The goal? All to collect the lingering darkness within the bodies of the people to later absorb. That’s also why the statues moved. They were designed to keep anyone from leaving so that the orb could absorb the darkness in their bodies, too."
"—!"
My heart skipped a beat.
"I couldn’t tell before, but after destroying the seed planted inside the sky, I’m almost certain of it. The curse was planted in this place to absorb all of the lingering darkness inside of the people’s bodies to later be absorbed by this ’God Hunter’. They must be using it to grow their strength."
Shit...
I suddenly started to worry.
Especially as a certain woman appeared in my mind.
If she really was...
’No, at this rate, things might beco irreversible.’
Damn it!
Unable to keep my composure, I pushed myself to stand, or at least, I tried. The mont I rose, Evelyn lifted her hand again, threads of Outer Being energy circling her arm as her eyes narrowed.
"...But here’s the funny thing."
Evelyn’s hand clenched tightly, her lips pulling into a smile.
"They must likely be aware of what I’ve done. This ’God Hunter’ might just be coming for us not far from now. After all, I have what they want."
The darkness lingering around Evelyn’s hand retreated as she finally stood up, stretching her back while looking back towards the nurous statues and then the hazy white sun in the sky.
"Then again, it’s not like I can’t look for them either. Since they can find , I can also find them. Especially since I can still feel the lingering connection of the seed that they planted in the sky. Maybe I should look for them. Maybe—"
"If you can, look for them."
"Hm?"
Evelyn stopped, her head turning back in my direction as her brow rose.
"You want to look for them?"
"Yes."
"...I was rely saying. I know my limit. If the ’God Hunter’ can really fight against gods, then we’re no match for them. Do you really want to fight against it?"
"I have my ways."
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed, her gaze containing a certain pressure that had never been present before.
Ah, really...
She really had gotten much stronger.
"Alright."
Pulling her gaze away from , Evelyn shrugged.
"If that is your wish, then we can do that."
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