Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 747: A bone chilling hatred [1]

The sun dipped beneath the horizon, leaving behind a blanket of darkness as the moon rose slowly, casting a pale, muted glow over the estate.

Shadows stretched across the marble pathways, and the faint rustle of leaves whispered in the cool evening air. I moved deliberately along the grounds, my steps barely disturbing the silence, before coming to a halt at a certain balcony.

A woman stood behind the balcony, her hand resting lightly on the marble railing, while her hair stirred softly in the night breeze under the pale glow of the moon.

She was beautiful...

She seemed to notice me as well, turning her head to meet my gaze. I pursed my lips quietly and stepped forward to stand beside her.

Neither of us spoke as a comforting silence bathed the two of us.

But then—

"Show it to me."

Delilah’s voice echoed, and I blinked my eyes in confusion.

Show it...?

I hesitated for a moment before looking at her.

Delilah’s black eyes stared straight at me as she extended her hand.

"Show it to me."

I pursed my lips again, looking at her in confusion.

What in the world was she talking about?

Wait, she couldn’t possibly...

Just as I was starting to worry, Delilah reached forward with her hand and grasped my hand, pulling it up as she stared at the ring on my finger.

Oh...

I tried to hide my embarrassment with a small cough as I looked away.

"...It’s broken."

Turning my attention back to her, I glanced at the ring on my finger. I hadn’t noticed it before, but a thin crack ran across its surface. I scratched the side of my face absentmindedly.

"That happened, yes."

She quietly pursed her lips before looking back at me.

"How did it break?"

"...Let’s just say that I did something reckless."

Her deep black eyes continued to linger on me, seemingly expecting more. However, I didn’t say anything more. I didn’t want to say anything more.

I was fine with telling Leon.

But her...?

I wasn’t really sure.

Too many thoughts drowned my head whenever I thought about telling her the truth. Would she still accept me? What would she think if she knew that I was the same person who had meddled with her past?

I simply couldn’t find my voice when it came to her.

’I shouldn’t be like this.’

I knew that it was irresponsible of me, and that if I really wanted to, I’d be able to shut down the lingering emotions that were preventing me from telling her the truth, but I was still hesitant. I liked what I had.

...I really did.

This was my first time in both lives that I had experienced something like this.

I didn’t want to ruin it.

But at the same time, I also understood that by not telling her the truth, I’d have a good chance at ruining what I had already built.

In that case, the answer was obvious.

I had to tell her the truth.

...At least something.

About my real identity. That I wasn’t Julien.

"You’re not going to tell me?"

Delilah’s voice didn’t change, but I could see a subtle shift in her gaze. It was noticeable enough to make me pause as the atmosphere changed subtly.

I...

"...I will soon reach the Zenith."

Delilah’s next words completely shook me.

The atmosphere also took an unexpected change as the surrounding temperature dropped considerably.

Lifting my head up to stare at her directly, and seeing her body glow gently from the dim glow of the moon behind, I found myself unable to react at all.

She...

"I’m not sure how long it will take, but it won’t be long until I break through. I have been feeling the barrier weaken with each passing day. It all started the moment I went to the Mirror Dimension and fought the monster."

Delilah’s pitch-black eyes lowered to stare at her hand.

Slowly, she clenched it.

"When the time comes, I’ll be gone for a while."

My breath paused.

"Gone? Where will you go?"

"....."

Delilah didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she looked directly at me. Feeling her gaze as it grew more and more intense with each passing second, reaching a point where it started to feel suffocating as sweat began to drip down the side of my face, I swallowed nervously.

’What’s going on with her? Why is she looking at me like that...?’

My heart raced, and for a split second, I saw a version of Delilah that I had barely caught glimpses of in the past.

I opened my mouth, trying to get some words out, but just before I could do so, her hand reached forward to grasp my other hand as she pulled down the sleeve to display an all-too-familiar tattoo.

"Here."

She pressed her hand against my arm.

I froze the moment she did so as I felt her cold gaze on me.

I swallowed yet again, feeling a weird sensation running through me. I wasn’t used to the cold way that she was looking at me. She felt like a completely different person, and seeing her like this made me uncomfortable.

"...I’m going here."

She tapped her finger against the tattoo once more.

"The same organization that you belong to."

Delilah’s grip over my hand tightened. Not to the point where it hurt, but just the idea of her looking at me with such intensity made my heart tighten.

Eventually, I opened my mouth.

"For how long have you known?"

"...Since the start."

I nodded quietly. I had known for quite some time that she suspected me of being a part of the Inverted Sky. However, nothing really ever came from that. I thought she had forgotten all about it, but I was clearly wrong.

Staring at her and seeing the deep-seated hatred in her gaze, I knew that she had hardly forgotten about it.

In fact, her gaze seemed to burn far deeper than I had ever expected.

For a moment, the coldness in Delilah’s gaze flickered as she looked at me.

"I don’t understand. I really don’t understand."

"Don’t understand?"

"Yes, I don’t."

I stared at Delilah numbly. What was she saying all of a sudden?

My heart squeezed for a moment.

As the night breeze brushed the air, Delilah’s eyes flickered once more as she let go of my arm.

"...I really don’t understand why I like you."

I paused.

"Wha—"

"Is it because you give me chocolates? Is it because you are handsome? Is it because you can understand me better than others?"

Delilah blinked her eyes while looking at me. She looked genuinely confused at the moment.

I was completely taken aback by her current behavior. It came out of left field. I expected a nice reunion with a little bit of teasing, and yet what I received was the complete opposite. The air was so tense that even breathing seemed difficult.

But more importantly...

My heart ached while listening to her words.

"What about you makes me like you so much?"

Delilah’s eyes narrowed further while she looked at me.

"Even though I don’t understand, I know that I like you."

She reached for my hand and pressed it against the top of her chest.

"My heart beats when I see you. My mood improves when I see you. I like to be with you. And..."

Her lips pursed as she took a moment to pause.

"...You make me forget about my hatred for a moment."

Everything turned quiet right after that.

It was just me and Delilah as we stood in front of each other, staring closely at one another as Delilah pulled my hand away.

"What have you done to me?"

Her obsidian eyes flickered.

"Why... am I like this? You are like poison to me. A poison that I can’t seem to be able to discard. What is your relationship with them?"

Though not obvious, I felt a subtle trembling coming from Delilah’s hand, indicating her current emotional turmoil. I opened my mouth and hesitated.

But seeing how she was looking at me, I forced myself to speak.

"I am not sure myself."

I came to like her because of everything that happened between the two of us. She was silly, she was pretty, and most importantly, she was my main source of joy.

I myself wasn’t entirely sure why I liked her.

But all that mattered was that I liked her. She also appeared to understand this.

...And it was her words that also made me understand something.

I looked at the marking on my hand.

"My relationship with them is somewhat complicated."

I spoke softly, trying my best to keep my voice even. To push down the fear that was slowly rising from deep within my chest.

"I used to be a part of them. Or at least, that was until a while ago. I’m not even sure what my relationship with them is anymore. Do they still accept me, or are they planning on killing me?"

I laughed to myself while thinking about them.

So far, they had yet to move. They had been strangely silent. Atlas was also gone.

It was for this reason that I started moving without any fear. However, it was their lack of action that made me feel unsettled. They weren’t usually like this. The more silent they were, the more apprehensive I was about the situation.

Still...

"The organization is called the Inverted Sky. I’m sure you’re already familiar with them."

I paused to look at Delilah. She just stared at me with her large eyes.

"They’re currently ruled by several High Seats, and I’m supposed to be the disciple taken in by the High Seat of Dawn."

I paused again.

"...Atlas."

I looked up to check on Delilah. I was surprised to see her looking completely unaffected by my words, almost as though she was well aware of this. This left me surprised.

I nonetheless continued.

"There are several other organizations within each Empire. I’m sure you’re well-versed with the organizations. Although they have different names and somewhat different structures, in reality, they are all the same organization. They belong to and follow the same person."

I paused yet again and looked back at Delilah.

Seeing how she didn’t react again, it looked like she was also aware of this.

I was just about to continue when Delilah’s voice echoed quietly in the air.

"...Sithrus."

Her words were soft, but they carried an undeniable depth that made me shiver involuntarily as I quietly nodded my head.

"Yes, him."

I took a quiet breath before continuing.

"He’s the one in charge of the organizations. He’s the mastermind behind it all. And he—"

"That’s not true."

Delilah’s voice suddenly cut mine.

Pausing, I looked at her.

She stared right into me as she mumbled, "The mastermind behind it all isn’t Sithrus." Her gaze turned a few shades colder as I felt the surrounding temperature freeze. Enough to make me shudder as I momentarily forgot how to breathe.

Her next words, however, were what took all the air out of my body.

"...It’s the gods."

Her gaze turned pitch black, even darker than the night itself.

"All of them. They need to die."