Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss Chapter 407: Tampered Gifts

Sothing nagged at the back of Ren's mind, a thread he'd been avoiding tugging on because he was dreading what he'd find at the end.

But right now, the thought refused to go away. And he would detest himself if he didn't ask.

With his heart thudding in his chest, and his hands trembling minutely, he raised his head to look at the blurred figure before him.

"Tell sothing… Lilith's Divine Gift... has it been tampered with?"

The Blurred Man didn't even hesitate. "Yes. Both of yours have."

Ren staggered back a half step, the answer hitting him like a brick had been chucked aggressively at his chest. His heart sped up, trying its best to beat its way out of his chest.

He'd expected that answer, and deep down, he'd even known, but hearing it aloud was still like a gut punch. "Both…?"

The Blurred Man nodded slowly. "Yours, by Yggdrasil. Hers, by us."

Ren's voice turned cold. "Explain."

"Your Unfettered Enhancent was chained the mont it was given to you." The Blurred Man said. "Not by accident. Not by flaw."

"Yggdrasil did it intentionally, because your purpose is to stop the Calamities before it awakens fully. You are a… failsafe. A weapon on standby. And the chains were necessary, because Yggdrasil doesn't want you to beco a weapon that can be aid against it. It doesn't want you to beco strong enough to stand against it when the ti cos."

Ren's brow furrowed. "So, the limit breaks… the way it makes out my powers when I face soone like you or the Chained Man…"

"That," the Blurred Man said, "was also Yggdrasil's work. It fitted your Gift with an automatic trigger, to break its own limiters when in the presence of an otherworlder, like myself, or any of the Three. It is a survival asure, ensuring you live long enough to do what needs to be done."

Ren's grip tightened on the sword in his hand. "And Lilith?"

The Blurred Man's tone shifted to sothing casual, almost conversational. "We created… connections between her Gift and her emotions, from the mont she was still in her mother's womb."

"We made her power reflect her heart. The more her family shunned her, the more unstable she beca. Every slight, every rejection, every mont she felt alone, it fed the instability, pushed her closer to becoming what we needed her to be."

Ren's mouth was dry. "The Third Great Calamity."

"Yes." The Blurred Man confird without sha. "She was to be the final blow to weaken Yggdrasil enough for us to finish it. A living weapon, prid to erupt at the perfect mont."

Ren's knuckles whitened. His chest burned with a mix of rage and sothing more dangerous. "And when I arrived…?"

The blurred figure tilted his head, almost smiling though Ren couldn't see his face.

"We placed you with her. Not Yggdrasil. Us. Because we saw the good in you. We saw how you could steady her. Shape her. Temper the instability we had woven into her. We wondered… could you both survive what was coming? Could you beco the force that kills Yggdrasil without the need to destroy the world itself?"

Ren's voice was low and dangerous. "You kept alive."

"Of course. We've spared your life more than once, Ren." The Blurred Man admitted easily. "Because we had hoped you would side with us in the end. That you would choose to help us defeat Yggdrasil, rather than be forced into it."

Ren's eyes narrowed. "And if I don't?"

The Blurred Man gave a slow shrug, as if it made no difference. "Then you will still fight it. You'll have to. Because as long as you remain the Anchor, your death will destroy the world. And despite what you think of us, we do not want the world gone if there's another path."

Ren took a step forward, his voice iron. "You're not telling everything. What is Yggdrasil, really?"

The blurred edges of the man's form pulsed faintly, like ripples on a lake. "Yggdrasil is the World Tree. A Tree of Knowledge, rather like the Internet you have back on Earth. But Yggdrasil is far... special.

"It is an entity that is now entrenched so deeply into this world's fabric that it is the world. And it is not benevolent. It has devoured a world before this one, and we couldn't stop it. This ti, we will, and we'll use whatever thod we can."

Ren's fingers dug into the sword hilt. "So it's using the world… using us… to gather strength."

"Yes." The Blurred Man said. "And when it has enough, it will awaken fully. That is why the Calamities exist, our way of wounding it before that mont arrives. If we can cripple it, we can kill it. And if the only way to cripple it is to break the world apart, then so be it."

Ren's glare hardened. "But you said there's another way."

The Blurred Man's blurred form leaned slightly forward. "There is. A dangerous, narrow, fragile way. If you can separate Yggdrasil from the world, tear its roots from the foundation it has embedded itself in, we can strike it down without destroying everything. But make no mistake, Ren… that will be harder than killing it with fire and ruin."

Ren exhaled slowly, his thoughts a storm. Lilith's tampered Gift. His chained power. The weight of being the Anchor. And now, this impossible task. Uproot the thing that had stolen him from his ho, that had played with his life like a piece on a board.

His jaw set. "Then tell how to do it."

The Blurred Man's form almost seed to solidify. "Not yet. You're not ready."

Ren took a step closer, anger sparking in his green eyes. "Then make ready."

The Blurred Man's voice carried that sa maddening calm. "Oh, we will. But readiness… takes ti. And ti, Ren Ross, is the one thing you are rapidly running out of."

"That is why we organized this... little ga."