Read Novel Full Chapter 422: New name
Chapter 422: Chapter 422: New name
Chapter 422 – New name
Kaden and Rea stood outside the room of Rudolph, the man sleeping like a newborn baby thanks to Kaden influencing his brain with his intent, temporarily killing his consciousness.
Now here they were, Kaden leaning against the rough-surfaced door of the room with his back; Rea staring at him, grimacing.
It was starting to become a habit.
"I don’t understand why you are thinking so hard about this." Rea said, sighing, "I am used to convincing people. I can convince this man to just accept death while you kill the Alchemist."
She shrugged, uncaring,
"What is there else to think about?"
Einar inside her mind nodded, agreeing with her beautiful Rea. This kind of thing, gently convincing people, was a piece of cake for Rea. She was known as the Hollow Judge. That title was not just to sound edgy.
She could make one choose death by oneself, and do it with a smile plastered on their face.
However,
"Well, Rea, that’s a lovely plan there." Kaden rolled his eyes, "However, I think you miss an important point here. We are about to condemn a man through the gate of death without the ability to achieve his dream; death without ever learning how to walk..."
Kaden halted on those words, inwardly surprised by such a simple, mundane dream.
Rudolph only wished to walk. Walk.
Kaden never would have thought that there was a being who would have such an aspiration.
Yet here he was, dreaming of being the strongest, of doing this and that...
Meanwhile, others just wished to walk normally in the same way he had been doing naturally since toddlerhood, without a second thought.
Unknown even to himself, Kaden’s perception began to shift. His mind began to expand, understanding the cruel complexities of reality.
He sucked in a deep breath, seeking a sense of solace, then continued,
"Let’s just do it right." He said at last, looking deeply into Rea, "If we are going to lie openly to him, saying we will save him but instead we are here to doom him, then let’s do it right."
"You already lied." Rea replied, voice devoid of any empathy, "How can you do right something you began with falsehood? Besides, tell me, is there any way to kill someone rightly?"
Kaden smiled thinly. There was truth in Rea’s words, and it hurt deep.
If it was not because he knew what kind of person Rudolph was going to become, Kaden would have, at least, tried to help him through his fire and blood skills and even synthesis.
However, he would be the Devourer of Souls with—!
That was when something hit Kaden like a piercing blow to the brain.
His eyes dilated as he looked at Rea. He moved faster than she could follow, clenching her shoulders tightly in his excited hands.
Rea’s eyes jerked wide at the sudden contact of flesh.
"Rea, tell me!" Kaden’s face was an inch from hers, causing the hollow eyes of the young maiden to wash away like ink in water, her face blushing furiously.
Kaden didn’t even notice, his mind in a trance-like state, continuing his words,
"Let’s say, first case, I saved you and later you changed and became someone else." He said, making Rea nod gingerly,
"Y-Yes?"
"Now, second case, someone else saved you, and later you changed and became someone else."
He bored his eyes deep into hers,
"Will your selves from the first and second case be the same?"
Rea’s brow furrowed. Her mind tried to think about the question seriously. However, Kaden’s eyes didn’t leave her face, making her unable to focus properly.
She felt her heart pounding against her chest, her stomach twisting strangely and her blood pressure rising.
These were bodily reactions she would normally experience when she was fearful of something.
But then, why was her body reacting the same, while her emotions flooding her heart were completely different?
Before the question even received an answer from her conscious thought, Rea found herself answering Kaden instead,
"No," Rea muttered, shaking her head, "I won’t be the same person."
Kaden’s smile blossomed like a sunflower after enough sunlight.
At that instant, Rea’s heart literally skipped a beat, her jaw almost dropping as she witnessed such an honest, beautiful smile from Kaden.
"I knew it!" Kaden whispered, letting Rea go and turning away, pacing around, his thoughts spiraling in dizzying circles, finally finding a way out of the situation.
If Kaden had not been sure he could save Rudolph, he would have decided to let him die instead of becoming someone like the Devourer of Souls.
But he could save him. And somehow, Kaden wanted to try.
Rea immediately guessed his intention. She grimaced, shaking her head, inwardly ordering Einar to use her power to keep her heart steady in front of Kaden.
Then she took a step closer to him and spoke,
"Please, prove me wrong. Don’t tell me you plan to help him?" Rea’s voice regained its hollow edge. She sighed internally in relief.
"You have read the orders of The Will well."
"Who cares." Kaden said, "The Will wishes me to do something, who said I need to do it if I don’t feel like it?"
"Are you in your hero mode now?" Rea rolled her eyes, "Sorrow burn me, just let him die, Kaden. Death is way better than this sorrowful life. You know it. I know it. So—!"
"I do know it." Kaden cut her off, looking at her over his shoulder, "but Rudolph wishes to live. Who am I to take that away from him?"
Rea’s lips pressed into a thin line, glaring annoyedly at Kaden. The more time passed, the more the God-Touched realized how much trouble Kaden was.
The man was making things difficult for himself — and by extension her — where there was no need to.
"Then how?" Rea asked wearily, "How will you save him with The Will seeking another result?" She looked around, "Do you want us to be trapped here forever? Kaden, I have goals to achieve. And now, you are holding me back."
Kaden nodded, acknowledging her words, "I know. But it won’t take that long. The Will wants us to teach Rudolph to accept his fate. We will do exactly that, in our own way."
Rea fell silent, watching him for a while before clicking her tongue, "Damn, Kaden!"
She muttered, passing a hand through her ringed hair. A clanking sound boomed around them.
Kaden chuckled, then shook his head, "Not Kaden." He said, suddenly feeling a strange impulse inside his mind and heart, "Here, I am no longer Kaden."
"Huh?" Rea felt the urge to slap him.
"Now I am an Alchemist, one with unique abilities to heal the broken, the wounded, the dead."
Kaden spared Rea a low grin,
"Call me Asclepius."
Rea scowled.
...
Meanwhile, in the Wolves’ Kingdom, inside the throne room of King Fenrir, the man himself sat upon his throne.
His face could not be seen except for his beastly eyes. Everything else was a dark mass of writhing shadow that refused to disappear even under the glaring light of the room.
At his feet sat his wolf — his messenger — growling, grunting, snarling at the two men standing inside the room.
One was Bari, the First Fang, his head ducked low in shame and fear.
The other was an older man, wolfish in nature like any other, wearing a pink nightgown. His orange eyes were filled with confusion, staring at the hidden face of the King in obvious terror.
At that instant, the ground shrouded by the soft, black fur of an unknown mythical beast felt as if it were parting away, about to swallow them down into a pit.
The atmosphere was heavy, and there was a distinct scent of terror blanketing the room, whose walls were adorned with claw-like scratches enough to chill one’s bones.
Finally, the King — or rather the wolf — spoke.
"You have been the chosen card, Koftilo, son of Mamut Radal." The wolf’s voice was like a howl, "Do you know the fate you have been bestowed?"
Koftilo didn’t even know what to say, his mind frozen in complete daze. His lips opened and closed, finding no words to express the sinking feeling gnawing at him.
The wolf was not, however, a patient creature.
"Bari, First Fang, as the creator of this game," the wolf seemed to grin, "this life shall be taken by you, his warm blood yours to remember, just as you have taken her life."
The wolf settled back, delivering its final words while the King watched with dark glee burning in his eyes,
"Thirty seconds. Beyond that time, you will be the next chosen card."
The words felt like the sky crashing down upon Bari’s shoulders. His posture stooped, hunched under an unseen burden.
He turned his head toward Koftilo, his eyes sunken with sorrow and pain.
"I am sorry, old friend."
His sword slid from its scabbard, its edge glowing beneath the crimson light of the room.
Koftilo looked at it and, for the last time, saw his own reflection upon the immaculate blade. It was a face twisted by terror.
Seconds later, Bari wiped his friend’s blood from the sword, refusing to look at the dead body sprawled beneath his feet.
And so,
"The next chosen card will be in two weeks, if the finger of the King remains naked."
The wolf howled. And all the other wolves in Fenrir’s City followed.
—End of Chapter 422—