"You know," Artemis said, not looking up from the docunts on her desk, "whenever you stand outside in silence like that, it's always because you're about to ask for sothing stupid."
She finally glanced up, just in ti to see Rio exhale deeply before stepping inside. His deanour, dull and quiet, nowhere near the charisma and confidence he carried normally.
Artemis sighed and dropped her work, moving toward the sofa as if preparing for the talk she knew would be a tough one. "Tell , what request do you have now?"
Rio heard her words and took a deep breath before walking towards her. His hands now empty of the gift he had prepared earlier.
Instead of sitting beside her on the sofa like he usually would, he just sat down on the floor. His sudden move startled her, causing her to pause, but before she could react further, he gently took her hand and gestured for her to sit back down.
He rested his back against her legs, while leaning his head on her knees. Artemis, though montarily surprised, softened as her hands instinctively began to comb through his hair, massaging his scalp gently as she used to when he was just a little boy.
He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, as though finally feeling peace after years of struggle.
"When did father leave?" He asked, without opening his eyes.
"Few hours ago." Artemis confird, "He had so urgent work that couldn't be delayed any longer."
"A dungeon?"
"Yeah." Artemis answered and explained, "If the guild didn't clear it soon, it'll crash or evolve out, so he had to go."
Rio nodded his head and stayed like that, enjoying the rare tranquillity of peace.
He didn't know how much ti had passed, but after a while, he finally found the courage to start talking about his entry at this late hour.
"I brought you a gift." He said, taking out the box, without opening his eyes.
"Yeah, what is it?" Artemis asked, taking the box from his hands. She looked at its design and woodwork, wondering where her son found it, as it felt 'unique'. But ignoring the cover, moved on to what was stored inside. Only to widen her eyes in surprise after seeing its content.
"A world's core?" She muttered, feeling the boundless power of laws still lingering in the air, even though she just opened the box for literally half a second, before closing it imdiately.
"The dungeon we entered wasn't normal, mother. It was a ru dungeon." Rio explained before she could ask anything.
"I know," Artemis replied, suppressing her surprise, before turning her eyes to look at him again, "But what I don't know is why you felt the need to lie to your father?"
"Why did you tell him that it was a professor who got the core and then handed it over to the elders of the academy?" Artemis asked, but despite pestering him for an answer, she got no response from him. Much like the ti when he refused to let her tell his father about his fate's blessing, or the dozens of other secrets he kept from everyone over the years.
"...."
Seeing no answer coming, Artemis sighed to herself.
"Whatever it is, this is yours, so I'm not taking it." She said, and pushed the box back into his hands.
"I've brought it for you, mother." Rio said, turning his head and eting her gaze. "And besides, I'm still a lot of years away from being able to use this thing, so just keep it."
"It's not a random equipnt or skill you found, son, that I can accept easily and not question you about it. This is a world's core. You don't just give sothing like this away because you think you can't use it. " Artemis said, still adamant on her answer. "Plus ru dungeons are rare, very rare. There's no guarantee if they'll appear once a year, a decade later, or a century later.
You could wait a lifeti and never see another. _ Not to ntion finding one in this large empty space of arcadia, securing it among the heavy competition, and then clearing it with all kinds of limitations on ti and power."
"Since you managed to get this core, you should use it. If not now, then when you're able to." Artemis replied, and added, "I'm not gonna be selfish and do sothing for a little strength that can have a large effect on my son's path in the future."
"It won't change a thing, mother. You know how talented I am, and how Amy is blessed. Both of us are also very lucky. We'll manage just fine, so this_ is for you." Rio tried to reason, only to be stumped as Artemis shot back a remark.
"So, what, I'm not talented enough for you?"
Rio groaned, rolling his eyes. "Don't twist my words, Mother. And Don't change the topic, either."
He shoved the box back into her hands. "This is my gift to you, and you're not allowed to refuse, or return."
"I also don't want you to store it away or leave it in the treasury for 'later.' I want you to use it, as soon as possible, and grow stronger than ever before." Rio said in one long breath before turning his head to avoid her piercing gaze.
Artemis stared at him for a long mont, before she thought of sothing and bit her lower lip in anger. "_ Is it still about the vision from your fate?" She asked, her voice losing the luster of softness and turning chilly for so reason.
"...."
"A simple flap of wings from a butterfly can change the weather and bring forth storms that can shatter the sky. Changing the destinies and bringing destruction to many. Not to ntion the hundreds of things you've changed and removed over the years." Artemis tried to reason, to explain that if fate was too obsolete, the gods controlling it wouldn't be dead and buried in the history of ti.
"You've already left that fate behind, son."
Hearing her words, Rio just smiled deprecatingly and answered. "Not this one, mother. Not this one."
Her answer causing Artemis's actions to stop for a second, as her hands froze.
"..You've been running around all these years, asking to prepare for a fight, yet never satisfied with my current strength. _ Who am I supposed to fight , that you have so little faith in my victory, son?" Artemis asked, her fists getting tightened and breathing heavier. "Who is it that can shake away all the confidence I've given you?"
He flinched at her question, yet still prepared himself to speak.
"You know I can't answer you that, mother." Rio replied, still hiding behind the cover of limitations of fate's blessing. "Just promise that you'll do everything to win, mother, and will never hesitate."
"... And how will I know which fight you're talking about?" Artemis asked, opening her hands and caressing his head.
"You'll know. Trust , _you will." Rio said, as he grabbed her hand for a second, before standing up and leaving the room without looking back.
Artemis stared at him speeding steps, not averting her eyes until he disappeared from her sight.
[Phonoi says you've given birth to a good son. Not everyone is as loyal or dutiful as he is. He'll surely _ .]
'Shut up.'
[...]
After silencing her God with a shout, Artemis finally withdrew her gaze and stared at the mysterious box holding the world's core in front of her. She couldn't sense a single scent of aura outside of it, nor could her spirit penetrate the shell and gaze inside.
But the power of laws she felt so ti ago was real.
"No matter who it is that scares you, son, but I promise you, I'll make sure he pays its price with his life." Artemis swore and then placed the world's core into her storage ring.
Her mood, already too sour and angry to go back to the duchy and guild's paper work again, so she just looked out the window and disappeared from her place.
As for where she went, well, the newspaper next morning reporting sightings of several corpses at all the dark corners of Damascus would be the answer.
…
After leaving his mother's office, Rio just walked towards his room and stared out at the night sky. Lighting a cigarette and getting lost in thoughts.
[Host, you don't have to worry, we CAN change the event of you two fighting each other. Just like the multitudes of events we already did.]
"And that's exactly what I'm worried about, system." Rio replied, taking a puff, "Of the things we changed."
"We'll never know which one would turn around to bite us in the ass and ss up our plans." Rio said and stared at the blurry shadow flashing by the secret passage, "She was supposed to live until much later in the story, as fate needed her alive so I never loose myself completely."
"The only guiding light for the otherwise dood devil, _ but we don't know that now? Maybe it'll be her, or Alia, or Katherine, or Saisha _ we don't know who fate thinks is needed for , and who else is replaceable." He spoke closing his eyes, as death scenes of everyone even remotely close to the original Rio flashed in his mind.
The two dinsional lines of novel, playing in his head, like a life he had lived. Like mories burned into his soul.
System watched its surroundings, feeling the aura of dread covering the mindscape, sothing which was a sign of his arrival. The mysterious entity living in the darkness of his mind, with a hollow heart filled with hatred and hunger, and red eyes asking nothing but blood and death.
[I can protect her, host. As long as you have enough points, I can protect everyone.]
"You couldn't even protect yourself and had to go offline for years. How am I supposed to trust you with their lives?" Rio said and smiled contemptuously. "I just need to prepare them all myself, so they are all ready for what's to co."
[Host… .] System tried to speak, but felt it's mouth covered by a hand.
'Shhhh,' The voice echoed near its ears, a hissing sound freezing him in place. "Didn't I tell you little light ball, Words _Have _Consequences. So don't ever make promises, that we both know you can't keep."
[.... … .. Who are you?] System asked, gathering its courage for one question that's been haunting it for the past 4 months every now and then, [You're not Erebus, nor are you the demon Lord, so who are you?]
"A brave little one, aren't you?" The voice said playfully, removing its control and coming in front of the system. "So listen carefully to who I am.." As the voice spoke, the heavenly mindscape started cracking and breaking at several places, leaving empty space for the endless darkness to seep in.
Until the only things visible in the infinite void were a blue ball of light, and two red eyes staring back at it.
"I _Am _THE DEVIL."
[...]
########
Author note -
So for those dum dums who haven't understood it yet, the entity in his head with red eyes is called "The devil."
As shown the last 3-4 tis, it's super strong. Can whoop the system's ass, and thinks gods are ants.
And as Rio ntioned before, there's a voice which he's been hearing ever since he was trapped in the dungeon alone. Appearing to mock him, asking him to give up, whenever he was at his most vulnerable and weak death-like states. The sa voice he heard when he entered the Phronesia dungeon and was surrounded by the army of godmother. --- That's also the devil speaking.
As for where he ca from, why's he in his head, how's he so op, or what he wants from mc and what's their relation etc etc etc - all these questions along with mc's past, him getting isekaid into Arcadia, other girls coming here behind him, and the overall story of LOAN, who wrote that novel, who's story are we really in, Leon's, Rio's, or Devil's -- all these kinds of questions will soon be answered.
Devil is a patient person (not really) so he'll explain everything clearly (aning author will make him break his character for plot purposes) - so by then you will understand everything.
It's not actually much far now. We are at chapter 400 sothing, and every mystery haunting and hinting all this ti, will be answered one by one, by one, in the next 100 chapters.
When we reach chapter 500 you will have all the answers, and know the true aning and path this novel is going to take in the future.
So just hold on a little more.
Adios
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