Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 732: Start of the Rite [2]

“…Focus.”

Coming into my room, I sat down on the ground and closed my eyes.

I needed to be as prepared as possible for tomorrow. I planned on pushing my body to the absolute limit.

I wanted to test myself. My abilities and everything that I knew.

‘There’s likely going to be people a lot stronger than me, and they’ll likely overpower me if I go head-on, but I don’t have to go head-on.’

I could take care of a few slowly before focusing on the stronger ones. I was confident in my stealthiness and my Emotive Magic.

The main issue was my tier.

I was still Tier 6.

“I’m only a little bit away from reaching Tier 7. I just need a little push.”

I was hoping that this entire situation would give me the necessary push that I needed in order to advance to the next tier.

After absorbing the blood, my strength had grown tremendously, bringing me to the brink of Tier 7. I wasn’t sure of the exact reason, but it seemed to be due to a mix of some of the unfinished quests, and the blood itself.

‘Thinking about it, there are still some quests that are active. Some are completed too, but I’ve yet to receive anything.’

Did I need to wait before getting the rewards, or was it because this was the other half of the blood?

I wasn’t entirely sure, nor did I have the time to think about it.

I now needed to focus entirely on the upcoming match.

‘…Let’s focus.’

Six orbs materialized in my mind, each embodying a different emotion. From beneath them, hands began to emerge, seizing the orbs and shifting into their corresponding colors.

‘My progress with my domain is going well, but there’s still something that’s missing to fully merge with my other domain.’

I could feel that there was something missing in my joint domain. It was almost complete, but there was still a little something that it needed.

But what…?

‘I can’t seem to think of it.’

I spent several hours experimenting with my domain, searching for any way to enhance it, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t make any progress. This proved to be a much more difficult task than I had originally anticipated.

By the time I opened up my eyes again, I realised that it was dark outside.

“…That’s unexpected. It looks like I’ve trained more than I thought.”

I could feel that my body was slightly stiff from how long I had been sitting down. Helping myself up, I placed my hands behind my back and stretched.

“Uhmmm…”

I had grown incredibly stiff.

I was about to head downstairs for some food when a certain pair of eyes drew my attention away from the door.

They appeared near the curtains, and they stared right at me from their.

“Can I help you…?”

A black cat emerged from behind the curtain as its tail wagged slightly in the air.

Pebble calmly walked towards the nearby bed and jumped up before turning its attention back to me.

“Let me participate.”

It’s voice calmly drifted in the air, prompting me to pause.

“You want to participate?”

I looked at the cat in surprise. What suddenly brought about the request? Given how Pebble had been behaving lately, I’d assumed it wouldn’t want to participate in stuff like this.

‘Is it because of what happened? No, I doubt that…’

“I want to be like you.”

“….?”

What?

Like me…?

What did this—

“I want to use the opportunity to grow. Maybe if I help you, I’ll be able to reach the Destroyer Rank.”

Destroyer Rank…

So it was still thinking about the failure it had experienced a while back.

‘It’s true that Pebble has been strangely quiet since the incident. Owl-Mighty and Wobbles both left to do their own thing, so I was never able to understand what the cat was thinking, but it’s most likely been thinking about the incident the entire time.’

It became all too clear to me right now as I looked at Pebble.

The desperation in its gaze as it looked at me, almost begging. I could see how much the cat wanted this, and staring at its eyes, I knew that I couldn’t refuse.

Even if I wanted to do this alone.

“Well…”

I sighed and scratched the back of my head.

“Honestly, I originally planned on doing this solo, but it looks like I’ll have to contact my father-in-law and ask whether you can participate or not.”

***

At the same time.

“Are you sure about your decision?”

Orson stood by the entrance of a large balcony, his gaze fixed on his adoptive daughter as a dim light spilled beneath his feet.

Delilah lingered by the marble railing, one hand resting lightly upon it, her posture poised yet distant. Her obsidian hair caught the cool night breeze, streaming behind her until it merged with the starless sky, as if the darkness itself had claimed her.

She stood in silence, embracing the surroundings before nodding.

“It can only be him.”

It can only be him… Orson found it hard to believe that such words had come from his usually detached, almost emotionless daughter.

A bitter smile tugged at his lips at the thought, but in the end, he merely shook his head and resigned himself to the situation.

“I understand. We can make the formal announcement after the Rite is over. I’m sure this is also the reason why you dropped everything to be here.”

“…Not really.”

Hm?

“So you didn’t come here because of the engagement?”

“No.”

“Then…?”

Delilah turned back and looked at him with an innocent expression. The look she gave him seemed to say, ‘Isn’t it obvious?’

“I just wanted to see him.”

“Oh…” Orson’s face stiffened as his lips twitched.

“I… I see.”

The bitterness in his smile deepened as his eyes lingered on her. He truly couldn’t fathom how Julien had managed to win her over. It couldn’t possibly be his looks… could it?

It had to be his looks.

“I take it that the reason you haven’t visited him is because you don’t want to distrac—”

A faint vibration from his communication device made Orson pause. He retrieved it, and the moment his eyes fell on the message displayed, his brows knitted tightly.

“Yes.”

He didn’t get a chance to reply before a voice whispered next to him.

Noticing Delilah’s gaze fixed on his communication device, he was about to step forward, but she swiftly grabbed it and began scrolling through the messages.

The sudden move startled Orson, but before he could say a word, she handed the device back and walked away.

“…..”

Orson stood in his place, his face at a complete loss.

What just happened?

Did his daughter just…?

***

The next day.

I woke up early in the morning. The sun was already up, and I could feel a certain fervour in the air.

Despite the event not being broadcast to the entire Empire, I was well aware of the fact that a lot of people were going to be present to witness the entire event.

This event wasn’t just one among several noble houses. It was also the first true ‘conflict’ between the royal factions, with me being a part of Aofie’s camp.

Taking a couple of minutes to stretch my body, I walked down the stairs where Leon, Kiera, and Evelyn were waiting.

The three looked to have woken up even before me.

“You ready?”

Leon asked while dunking a biscuit into his milk. He looked the most relaxed out of everyone.

Kiera and Evelyn, on the other hand, weren’t as relaxed.

I understood why.

They both belonged to Aoife’s camp, so if I failed, it wouldn’t just be me in trouble. The consequences would ripple out, putting them and everyone else in her camp at risk.

“…There’s something that I’m curious about.” Kiera suddenly spoke up while grabbing one of Leon’s biscuits. His movements paused for a short moment before he got back to enjoying his breakfast.

Taking a bite out of the biscuit, Kiera leaned against the kitchen counter.

“You’re planning on taking this entire thing by yourself.” She waved the cookie, “I can see that you’re confident, or at least, have some means to potentially do this.”

No, not really.

I actually wasn’t confident at all.

I just didn’t say it.

Didn’t want them to panic.

“I get all of that, but what I’m most curious about is whether Aofie is aware of your plans. Tell me she is…”

“Nope.”

I shook my head. I didn’t tell her anything at all.

“The plan wasn’t really a plan until recently. I decided just two days ago. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

I originally really did plan to bring seven other people with me, but after everything that had happened after I ‘restored’ my memories, I decided to go solo.

I had a certain boiling sensation deep within my chest that pushed me into doing this. I couldn’t quite explain it, but I just had to.

“You…”

Kiera looked at a total loss before pursing her lips.

“She’s going to tear her hair out.”

Kiera suddenly mumbled while grabbing another one of Leon’s biscuits. He paused yet again, brows furrowing further as he scooted the bowl closer to him.

“This… Haa,” Kiera sighed while waving the cookie again, “Aofie is going to flip shit once she finds out what you’re planning on doing. That… poor girl.”

Kiera sounded concerned. But only sounded. She was really smiling while saying all of this.

“I feel—”

“Can you be serious for a moment?”

Evelyn slapped Kiera on the shoulder.

“You’re clearly enjoying this, but she really will flip when she finds out.”

“True, but… when has she never not flipped?”

“That’s also true.”

Evelyn nodded while subconsciously reaching for the bowl next to Leon and taking his biscuit.

She then took a bite of it, and shook her head.

“Well, so long as Julien wins, there won’t be any problems. I can totally see her fainting, though.

“That’s a given.”

Kiera nodded alongside Evelyn as the two reached for Leon’s bowl and grabbed the last two biscuits.

“I guess we’ll just have to sit away from her.”

“That’s a pla—”

Smash—

A loud, smashing sound echoed across the entire room, startling everyone present.

“What is wrong with you?!”

“…!?”

Ignoring their words, Leon turned his attention towards me.

“I’ve had enough!”

“…Eh?”

Why was he glaring at me?

As if that wasn’t confusing enough, he stared at the bowl on the ground and then back at me.

“You fat fuck!”

“….?”

What the hell did I do??