Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 773: Goodbye [3]

It was different compared to before.

If before he gave me a deep sense of dread whenever he appeared, it wasn’t the case this time. He looked calm, just like the surroundings.

And yet—

It was the strange calmness with which he carried himself that made my heart palpitate the most.

“I came as soon as I managed to absorb all of the blood. You know why I’m here, right?”

His voice was soft, too.

Staring into the distance and then back to him, I took a good look at his real appearance for once. Or at least, what I thought was his real appearance.

“Ha.”

So that’s how it was…

“It’s been a while, Inquisitor Hollowe.”

Toren smiled.

“It has indeed been a while, Julien.”

His smile was the same as it was in the past. That calm, yet very reassuring smile of his. I thought back to my past interactions with him and started to understand better.

“You knew from the start, right?”

“…More or less. I can’t say that I was certain, but there aren’t many people who enjoy the same type of comedy that I do.”

“It was indeed nice to know that there was someone out there who enjoyed the same type of comedy that I do.”

“Right?”

It felt almost like I was speaking with an old friend, and for a brief moment, the warmth of that thought made it seem real. Yet the memory of why he was here crept back into my mind, and the smile slowly drained from my face, leaving behind a heaviness I could no longer ignore.

“You’re here to take the remaining blood, is that correct?”

“Yes, and no.”

Toren replied, turning his gaze towards the distant venue.

“While I would love to, I’m not in any state to do so. It already took a great deal out of me to absorb what belonged to that puppet you created from the church. I doubt I could take in any more blood even if I wanted to. It may be at least five years before I’m able to attempt something like this again.”

“…Oh.”

This was a little unexpected.

However, when I thought about it, it began to make sense.

‘For me and Noel to do everything that we wanted, without him interfering or doing anything, I guess it must’ve taken a heavy toll on him just to try and absorb my blood. It’ll likely be the same when he absorbs the next half.’

In that case…

“Are you here just to collect it before it’s too late?”

Toren’s smile widened at my words.

“…That’s exactly it.”

He laughed a little while looking at me.

“You’re too much of a variable. Your growth is also astounding. I can’t let you keep growing stronger. It’ll be too dangerous for me.”

“I’m a little touched you think of me that way.”

Then again, he wasn’t wrong. I was indeed quite the astounding talent.

There were hardly any people, if any at all, who had reached the same rank as me at my age.

Of course, it wasn’t like I had done so without any help. I had plenty of help in order to reach the state that I was in.

“You don’t need to be touched about a little praise. In the end, this is just the truth. You should also be aware of the fact that you’re not just anybody.”

“…If you say so.”

The conversation between the two of us was still light.

However, the more I talked, the more I could feel the air of finality within the conversation. It was drawing closer and closer to the end that I couldn’t stop. These right here were probably going to be my last moments for quite some time.

I planned on asking everything that I could.

“Why did you do the things that you did to her…?”

“Hm?”

Raising his brow, Toren blinked his eyes. He looked confused at first. But soon, he showed a look of understanding.

“Right, right. You just had an engagement. I heard all about it. Congratulations!”

He looked rather amused.

“…I was a little taken aback when I found out about your engagement. I found out a few hours ago, just a little bit before I could make my way here. You can’t believe how shocked I was when I heard about your engagement. It came as a massive surprise to me, but I also realized that it made sense.”

Toren suddenly leaned closer to me, his eyes glued to my face as his voice lowered into a whisper.

“You are trying to reach the same goal as I am. It’s only natural that you’d want to experience love. I also do admit that the little girl is quite pretty.”

His lips suddenly pulled into a wide and creepy smile.

“…I just didn’t think you’d truly go for someone like he—”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

I cut Toren off before he could go on with his nonsense.

“Why did you do what you did?”

I just really wanted to understand the true motives behind his actions. Was it simply because he wanted to create someone who was capable of fighting against the Outer Beings? Or was there more to it than I knew?

“…..”

The smile on Toren’s face faded slightly.

He just stared at me for a couple of seconds before sighing and moving back.

“There were many reasons I did what I did. Above all, I wanted to fashion a weapon that could be used against them.”

By ‘them’, he meant the Outer Beings.

“And you didn’t think it’d backfire on you?”

“Oh, many times.”

Toren replied, his voice light.

“The thought truly crossed my mind many times.”

“Then…?”

“Then what?” Toren tilted his head, “Are you asking me why I’d keep her alive even if there was a possibility of all of this backfiring on me?”

“…..”

“It’s simple, really.”

Toren’s voice lowered.

“…I just didn’t think of her as a threat. Besides you, there’s no one who can threaten me. This isn’t arrogance. This is the simple truth. In this world, there’s no one stronger than me or who will ever be stronger than me. To some extent, you can even think of her as a failure. While she was indeed able to become strong, and she might very well reach the Zenith too, at the end of the day, she can’t grasp the source. There’s little she can do when she can’t grasp the source. She isn’t a threat.”

“But what if she can?”

“Then that would mean that my experiment worked.”

Toren’s face suddenly pulled into a happy smile, his eyes flickering with a certain excitement as his voice grew loud.

“Even if she does end up being a threat further down the line, the fact that she managed to touch upon the source means that the experiment went well. It means that I can create even more like her!”

Tapping onto his chest, his words hastened.

“If I can replicate the experiment and make more like her, I could produce countless beings to fight them. They might not be as strong individually, but an army of such creations would soon be enough to overthrow them and free the world from their tyranny.”

Toren’s gaze flickered with madness as he spoke.

“…This is why it’s so important that she’s allowed to roam free. She might be a failure for now, but if she manages to succeed? If that’s the case, then it would mean that the path that I’m pursuing is correct. Either way, I don’t lose!”

The madness was all too clear in his gaze. And yet, despite the madness, I could see a certain clarity within them. I could see that he had thoroughly thought about things carefully, and even though I wanted to argue against him, I found that I couldn’t.

His words…

They made sense.

And it was the realization that made my heart clench.

“It’s a pity, though.”

Toren’s voice lowered, bringing me out of my thoughts as I looked at him.

“What’s a pity?”

“Your body.”

Toren replied, pointing at me and prompting me to raise my brow. What could he…

“It’s a mess. I can see that you’ve allowed yourself to be polluted by them.”

He shook his head, and I finally understood. He was talking about the weird black tendrils that had clouded my body. I thought about the discovery and how I had originally planned on asking Delilah about it.

This was the original plan.

However, given everything that had happened, I knew that asking would lead to nothing. Not because she didn’t know, but because it was useless. There was no stopping what was about to happen to me.

I’d just be wasting time.

“Are you ready…?”

Toren’s soft words whispered next to my ear, bringing chills down my entire body as I froze. My lips trembled, and I wanted to shake my head. However, I knew that this wasn’t something that I could avoid.

I was simply too weak.

I couldn’t escape him even if I wanted to.

In the end, the only thing I could do was close my eyes and mumble, “…Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Me? Sure…?”

His tone almost sounded mocking as he paused.

“Why wouldn’t I be sure? You should know very well that I must do this in order to accomplish my goal.”

“No, I’m not talking about that.”

My face grew relaxed as I looked at him, my voice growing colder at the same time. Although I wasn’t sure, it almost felt as though a certain figure had appeared beside me, pressing his hand onto my shoulder as I spoke his direct words.

“There’s nothing that can escape my grasp. I’ve seen and witnessed everything there is to witness. When I ask if you’re sure you want to do this, what I’m really asking is whether you’ve considered if this was something I had planned in advanc—”

I stopped right at the end of my sentence as a thought settled in my mind. In the end, I smiled and laughed.

“Never mind. Regardless of what you do, you’ll always dance inside the palm of my hand. Do what you wish, I’ll—”

I never had the chance to finish my sentence.

My vision turned black right after.

***

Thump!

A body limply fell on the floor.

A pair of cold eyes stared at the body.

Toren’s face was cold. So cold that it seemed to chill the surroundings.

Swoosh!

Not long after, a figure appeared behind him. His expression was complicated as he stared at the body on the floor. He could tell that he was still alive, his chest rising and falling slowly.

Just as Atlas opened his mouth, Toren opened his mouth.

“It’s gone…”

His expression turned colder upon muttering those words.

The temperature plummeted further, and for a moment, Atlas felt his heart clench, an overwhelming fear gripping his heart.

Thankfully, the sensation didn’t last for long as Toren calmed down shortly after.

He turned his attention towards Atlas.

“Isn’t he your disciple…?”

“…Ah, yes.” Atlas nodded slowly, his chest tensing further under Toren’s gaze. Just when he found the tension unbearable, Toren spoke up. “I’ve broken the seal inside his body. Take good care of him. He might not be the same person, but the body is the same. The talents should still be there. Make sure he doesn’t die since I still need his body further down the line.”

With those words, Toren’s body began to fade.

“Oh.”

But right as his body completely faded, as if recalling something, Toren added, “It’s time that we stop being so passive. Get everything ready. From this moment forth, the Inverted Sky and every sister organization should do their best to leave an imprint on this world. It’s about time we set our plans in motion.”

His body disappeared completely right after that.

“…..”

Atlas stood in silence, struggling to process the words.

But soon—

Twitch! Twitch!

Julien’s body began to twitch.

Atlas’s gaze fell on the body, and not long after, the eyes snapped open.

“Huaaaa!”

Julien took a deep breath, his expression twisting at the same time as he hastily looked around.

“Where the fuck is this?! What’s going on!?”

His shouts echoed within the forest as his gaze wandered from left to right. In the end, his gaze fell on Atlas as his gaze contorted.

“Hey, bastard. Where the fuc—”

“Shh.”

Atlas pressed his finger on his mouth, stripping Julien of his voice as he quietly stared at him. Julien’s eyes widened at the sight, his face changing as he tried to say something, but Atlas didn’t allow him as he quietly spoke up.

“My name is Atlas, and I’ve been tasked to train you.”

Looking at Julien and seeing his current defiant expression, Atlas closed his eyes and sighed.

‘…This will take a long time.’

Waving his hand, the two disappeared shortly after that.

From that day, the Inverted Sky made its name known to the world. The same was true for each sister organization.

They rapidly spread their influence throughout the world.

Unknown superpowers began to emerge across the world, completely upending the established powers, seizing territory from empires, and igniting a prolonged war that led to many casualties.

Of such power, one became especially infamous.

Julien Dacre Evenus.

The Low Seat of Madness.