Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 782: Darkness of Resentment [1]

"Hooo."

Coming back into the room, I sat down on the chair and took a deep breath. I was exhausted, and the mana was completely drained out of my body. Just remaining standing was difficult for me, but I understood that things were still not over.

But at the same time...

’I’ve completed the most difficult step.’

I had finally managed to set everything in motion. My transmigration, and everything that was related to it.

It all became clear to me, and so did the next steps that I needed to take.

I planned on taking the little time that I had left here to recover as much as possible. I knew that the moment I returned to the future, things were going to be quite hectic. While I wasn’t fully aware of what had happened in the time that I was gone, I knew that several years had passed, and in those years, ’Julien’ had most likely done a lot of things with the body.

Thinking about all of the misunderstandings and damage that had occurred to my reputation, I felt my heart sink.

"Ugh."

I couldn’t help but groan. To me, it had all happened in matters of minutes, but for everyone else, it was clear that a lot of time had passed.

I hoped they’d believe in my nonsense.

Nonetheless, this was something that I had expected beforehand.

’Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about Delilah.’

I had already told her about what would happen. At least, it gave her an idea. Furthermore, I knew that Delilah could see through ’Julien’. It had happened before.

But then again...

She was most likely busy with other things.

’I wonder if she’s managed to reach the Zenith in the end.’

She had been quite close to reaching it before I left her. If my estimates were correct, she should’ve already reached such a tier.

"Now that I think about it, she’s not far from where I am."

I directed my gaze in a certain direction.

For a moment, I almost felt the urge to go see her. However, I managed to restrain myself. I knew that was going to be a stupid idea. She didn’t know who I was, and given how she’d see through my strength, I’d be restrained by her instantly.

Thankfully, my presence was extremely thin at the moment.

Otherwise, I would’ve been afraid of being found out.

"Hoo."

Taking another breath, I continued to remain seated. Slowly, I could feel myself starting to recover. While I was still not in the most optimal state, I had reached a point where I felt a lot more at ease. The next and final step of the plan was going to be crucial, and soon—

"Already....?"

Fuck.

The world before me darkened.

The effect of the third leaf ended abruptly, and I found myself back in a familiar place. The scent of dust hung in the air, and faint traces of warmth drifted down from above. I felt it all.

A head appeared in my grasp as Leon stood on the opposite end, his gaze fixed on me.

The world was still completely frozen.

I didn’t know the reason for this, but I knew that it likely had to do with the sword.

Staring at the head in my grasp, I lowered my hand and carefully extracted the eye embedded within it.

Spurt!

Blood spurted all over my hand.

I tossed the head away, moving towards the corpse on the floor before taking the last bit of Noel’s blood and dropping it on the body. Instantly, tendrils shot out from the decapitated section of the neck, the outline of a head slowly forming.

I stared at the sight without saying a word, my eyes narrowing faintly as I took in the scene in silence.

Though a few things still didn’t quite make sense to me, I knew this wasn’t the moment to get lost in questions. The blood had already begun to work its way through, and before long, a head reformed where there had been none.

As I watched the body slowly knit itself back together, the wounds fading with unnatural ease, a creeping sense of unease settled in.

’I hope I won’t have to lose my memories once I enter it again.’

Having just used Noel’s blood, I was aware of the possibility. Thankfully, it wasn’t like I wasn’t unprepared. This wasn’t the first time I had experienced something like this.

That was when my eyes finally fell on the sword that was impaled on the body.

Taking a deep breath, I placed my hand over it.

"...A-are you?"

I paused for a moment, lifting my head to stare at the trembling figure before me.

Our eyes met for a brief moment, and soon I smiled.

"Yees."

I poured the last of my mana into it, feeling a powerful suction pull at me, drawing me into the sword.

The world suddenly changed.

Suddenly, everything went bright. The world around me vanished, replaced by pure, blinding white.

After the initial wave of confusion, a brief clarity settled over me as I stared at the figure before me, his expression twisted and his gaze fixed squarely on me.

"Why...?"

He only said one word.

However, I could feel the raw emotion in his voice as he spoke.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

From anger and resentment to reluctant acceptance, I could feel a storm of emotions coursing through him, his face twisting ever further with each passing moment.

"W-what did I do that is so wrong? I know... I wasn’t the greatest of people, but I’ve changed. I’m not... the same person that I used to be in the past. I—"

"Are you really, though?"

The words flowed out of my mouth freely as I looked at Julien.

I knew that this was most likely going to be the last time that the two of us were going to see each other. In a way, this was going to be the end of an ill-fated relationship.

It was time for the two of us to have one last conversation.

"Wha... What do you mean? I’ve changed, I’ve..."

"You haven’t changed."

I shook my head, keeping my gaze fixed on Julien standing before me. His mouth began to move, but I didn’t let the words come.

"While I don’t understand what you’ve done in the time that I was gone, I can see that you haven’t changed at all."

I suddenly pointed at my eyes while staring at him.

"You of all people should be aware of my power. I can see things that other people can’t see."

Emotions.

I could see the emotions of the people that I laid my eyes on, and...

"You’re black."

The man who stood before me was entirely painted in black.

Anger, fear... He was a mass of every negative emotion, fused together. I could see it more clearly than ever. He was the very embodiment of all that was dark and destructive within the human heart.

It was enough to send chills down my body.

Just how could someone...

"You may think you’ve changed, but the truth is you’ve only learned to contain the resentment and darkness that dwell within you. At your core, you’re still the same person you were before."

"...."

A heavy silence settled over the surroundings as Julien fixed his gaze on me, his features twisting in countless ways. The delicate mask that had hidden his face began to crack, revealing the truth beneath... A mask forged from pure resentment, contorting his face into something almost unrecognizable.

"Are you really going to try and take what’s mine until the end?" His voice came out hoarse, the hair on my skin starting to rise.

"....."

I didn’t answer.

However, that silence was all that needed to be said between the two of us as Julien’s face contorted significantly.

Eventually, a smile played at his lips as he nodded.

"Very well."

The surrounding temperature dropped considerably following his words. Moments later, purple hands began to emerge from every direction, and the world around me was swallowed by complete darkness.

I stared at the scene in silence, remaining still as I looked around.

Now that I was back in the body, the mana that I had access to was a lot more than before. If I wanted to, I could’ve probably fought him.

But—

’There’s no need to do that.’

Swooosh! Swoosh!

The hands shot past my body, fading shortly after.

"Huh...? What—" Julien’s face paused, his eyes widening in confusion. "How is this...? Wait..."

I shook my head.

"There’s no point in the two of us fighting. I’ve long arranged all of this. The only reason why the two of us are even talking with one another is because I allowed it to happen. Not because you had the chance of taking over."

Julien’s lips trembled, soft words came out of his mouth, ’What are you talking about? What do you mean? Wait, this is my body...’

The darkness that latched onto his body grew.

If before there was even a little bit of light in the darkness, the darkness had completely taken over his entire body. He had become darkness itself.

"No, I can’t allow this. This is my body. How can you think of taking my body? Why do you want my body? This is mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!"

His eyes turned completely red, his chest rising and falling continuously as he directed his gaze towards me, sending soft chills down my body as I kept my eyes on him.

"No, this can’t happen. I won’t allow it to happen! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow! Won’t allow!"

He looked to have completely lost it, the resentment boiling down on his chest having taken complete hold of his mind. I stared at the scene for a brief moment until—

Tak!

I took a step forward, causing Julien to pause as he looked at me.

The resentment in his gaze only grew, but I dismissed it completely as I took another step, inching closer to him.

"Yes, come to me...."

As if finally understanding that there was no way out for him, he stopped struggling. Instead, he seemed to welcome me as his lips pulled into a creepy smile.

"Come. Come. Come. Come. Come."

The closer I arrived to him, the greater the chills that I felt. At this very moment, I had the power to end it all completely.

But—

’I can’t let go of this opportunity.’

The resentment. The anger...

All of it.

I wanted it.

I had never seen such negative emotions so condensed and packed tightly together. I wanted to absorb them to fuel the growth of my emotive magic, and as I arrived before him, I paused.

The world fell silent in an instant, our eyes locking for a brief moment before I lifted my hand and pressed it against his head.

That was the moment I did it.

That was the moment I...

Absorbed him.