The night sky was pitch black, scattered with countless stars.
Astrachior sat by the window, a fountain pen clenched in his hand. The tip glided softly across a sheet of parchnt. His handwriting flowed like running water, every character alive, as if breathing and pulsing on the page.
"To Zayne."
"Zayne, before you read this letter, I owe you an apology. I am sorry."
"From the mont I first t you, I had already begun laying out my plan. I was the planner. You were inside the ga. I held the pieces. You were one of them. And the opponent I was playing against was the heavens themselves."
"I want to win against fate. I want to change the future. I do not want the human race to be wiped out. I do not want Aurelion to perish. And more than anything, I do not want to see my daughter die the way I foresaw."
"I dare not divine the future of humanity. The karmic weight involved is too great. It is beyond what I can bear."
"So I only divined two people. One was you. The other was Nia."
"I have already told you Nia’s outco. As for yours, I cannot see it clearly. I can only glimpse fragnts, broken and incomplete."
"I originally planned to write everything I saw and tell you, but I was afraid. If you knew the future, you would instinctively avoid danger or events you believed were bad. That would trigger a butterfly effect and could alter the final outco."
"So after much thought, I left you seven pouches. At key turning points in your life, these pouches will open on their own. If you do not wish to follow my advice, you may discard them."
"As for Double J, aside from being too lustful and prone to causing trouble, there is nothing seriously wrong with him. You can trust him. If you remove the root of his problems completely, he will beco your right hand and left hand."
"And lastly... please bury together with my wife."
"Astrachior."
The wind outside the window brushed past, drying the ink on the parchnt and scattering Astrachior’s thoughts.
He set down the pen and gently rubbed his temples. Behind his gold rimd glasses, his gaze was deep and resolute as he calmly looked up at the stars.
Three days later, this letter appeared in Zayne’s hands.
After reading it, Zayne took a deep breath, steadying the storm of emotions inside him.
He took out the smaller pouch that had fallen from the larger one. Just as Astrachior said, the seven pouches were nested, one inside another.
Only by opening the first could he obtain the next.
Now that he had opened the first, was this what Astrachior ant by a key turning point?
If so, then this turning point likely referred to Double J.
"So? I didn’t lie to you, did I? What did Astrachior say?"
Seeing the killing intent fade from Zayne, Double J finally dared to speak.
Zayne gave him a strange look.
"Astrachior said I should castrate you."
"..."
"T then... then what do you think?"
Double J swallowed hard and cautiously backed away several steps, terror written all over his face.
He was genuinely scared.
For a man, if that thing was gone, what aning did life even have?
Zayne frowned, feeling a headache coming on.
Cutting off soone like Double J, who lived and breathed lust, would probably be more painful than killing him outright.
If he really did that, Double J not trying to kill him afterward would already be a miracle. Becoming his trusted aide would be impossible.
But Astrachior had no reason to deceive him.
Did this an there was sothing he still did not know?
Zayne put away the Raging Fla Staff and silently took out Starfall Skytrace.
Practice was the only way to test the truth.
"Don’t co any closer!"
Seeing the massive blade nearly as tall as a person in Zayne’s hands, Double J completely lost it.
It was just a couple of inches. Did he really need such a huge blade?
"Don’t worry. My blade will be quick."
Zayne walked toward Double J with the saber. Astrachior had always calculated everything flawlessly. There was no reason this ti would be any different.
It was deep night. Starfall Skytrace’s bonus had risen from 300 to 600. Combined with Zayne’s own Strength, it totaled 965 points.
With one swing, not to ntion a normal man, even a deep sea leviathan would not be able to withstand it.
"I should be terrified, damn it! You’re actually doing it?"
Seeing Zayne truly prepare to strike, every hair on Double J’s body stood on end.
"This was my teacher’s will, Double J. You wouldn’t want to go against Astrachior’s final wishes, would you?"
Zayne raised Starfall Skytrace and began to aim.
Double J instantly felt himself locked by a terrifying killing intent.
Slash.
A streak of starlight flashed past, crashing into the ground with a clang, sparks flying everywhere.
"Afterimage?"
Zayne was genuinely surprised.
The Double J in front of him slowly dissipated, while the real Double J had already appeared dozens of ters away.
Although Zayne had known Double J for quite so ti, he had never once seen him fight seriously.
Judging by that speed alone, Double J’s strength was far more terrifying than Zayne had imagined.
"You actually swung at . You bastard!"
Double J cursed furiously, clutching his hair with a look of complete breakdown.
"I knew it. I knew things wouldn’t be this simple."
Zayne raised an eyebrow. He had known it.
There was no way it was that straightforward.
He did not pursue. Instead, he waited for Double J to continue.
"Zayne, so mistakes should never be made. So mistakes really do cost an entire lifeti."
When Double J looked up again, tears were already streaming down his face.
"Back then, Astrachior told that as long as I accompanied him on a trip to the Gate of Apocalypse, he would set free and wipe away all past grudges. I thought I was about to be liberated early."
"Who would have thought this was what he was waiting for?"
As Double J spoke, he spread out a yellowed sheet of paper.
On it was an extrely complex magic array. Ancient characters were inscribed at its center, faintly glowing with starlight.
"Here. Sign your na."
Double J looked completely dead inside.
"What is this?"
Zayne asked, curious.
"My indenture contract. Astrachior personally made it. According to its terms, I have to work for him for free for thirty years to regain my freedom."
"I cannot betray my employer during that ti. If my employer dies, I die too."
Double J’s voice trembled. He took out a cigarette, lit it with a snap, and exhaled slowly, his eyes heavy with sorrow.
"This year was the tenth year. Before coming here, Astrachior suddenly nullified the contract and returned it to . I thought my ten years of hard work had finally moved him."
"But no. Turns out he planned to give my remaining twenty years to you."
Double J crushed the cigarette under his foot.
"Damn capitalist."
"Huh?"
Zayne froze.
So when Astrachior said that once Double J was cut, he would beco Zayne’s right hand and left hand, this was what he ant?
"Then why did you sell yourself to Astrachior for thirty years in the first place?"
Zayne asked curiously.
Double J glanced at him, his eyes filled with a complicated mix of regret, lingering fear, and deep resentnt.
Then he spoke.
"Back then... I set my sights on Astrachior’s wife."
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