Read Novel Full Chapter 497: Contingency Plan
Chapter 497: Contingency Plan
"Is this what we’ve become?" A soft, sorrowful voice made Jon groan. He tilted his head to the shelves.
There, shuffling through the brightly coloured book was himself, back when he still had hair. There was this soft, bitter smile this him always had. It pissed Jon immensely.
This again? His hallucinations were getting worse. Everything had been growing worse ever since Cain gave him those Obsidians that locked the souls of their kills in their inner worlds of damnation.
"Look at what we’ve lost. All for a girl who’s long dead and never even had affection for us. Isn’t that the truth, older me?" The young Jon stared pointedly at him.
’Adonis, Godfrey, Adonis, God...’ Jon began to recite names in his mind.
"We should have let go when we still had the chance. Had I known my path would lead down here, I would never have taken it and put you through this. We once fought against Fanatics, now we lead a deadly bunch, abducting adults and children alike. Once we stopped groups like these. Once we—!"
"Shut up!" Jon grabbed the desk like it weighed no more than a ball and tossed it at the shelves. It went through his younger self and shattered the shelves. Books scattered across the classroom, some half-open, others still closed.
"It’s Godfrey’s fault," he whispered, unaware he was speaking aloud. The Crusaders by the door looked at each other. His episode had begun... once again.
The young Jon scoffed, squatted, and began to pick up the books. "We both know it’s our fault. Godfrey isn’t in control of our emotions. We are. We went too deep, didn’t we? That’s why I’m here and why you’re insane."
Jon began to kick and rip the books apart. He realized he’d gone too deep. There was no going back, the line had been crossed.
It was awful, he had cried, hated his earlier reaction. Maybe if he was softer, Isolde wouldn’t have backed away, maybe, maybe—
Regardless, he would claim what he had become, embrace it. Yes, he was the man a younger version of himself once hated.
Yes, jealousy had thrown him over the cliff, but what was the use of sulking over it at this point?
’I’m damned,’ a part of him whispered. "No. I’m liberated!" He bellowed. Wasn’t it true? Wasn’t he damned to live as Harrowing Omen, tormented by his own flesh and monstrosity after death?
So why not drag down Adonis and Godfrey with him? With what all three of them had done, they’d all end up with the same fate.
There was no use letting them go.
He was a failure to his parents. Jon wished they’d never given birth to him, and this... drove him to kill them. His entire family.
"Jon!" His mother’s high-pitched scream rang in his ears once more. As loud as it was back then. Did he really murder his family because of his pain?
No, that wasn’t the only reason. He also wanted to remove a weakness. It was better that they died by his hand than Snow’s. This way, Snow would never find vengeance.
It was better this way, he told himself, but that action might have fully triggered his mental instability.
Jon snapped, eyeing the Crusaders. "What are you looking at?! Find him!!" Veins bulged along the length of his throat, his voice harsh and cold.
***
Percival, seated in the small, round meeting hall in Pathan, eyed Godfrey with his jaw clamped shut. He never thought Godfrey would one day be wounded so badly he would lose a limb and an eye.
"I’ll be on my way to Paradise soon. They’ll be restored," Godfrey said with a knowing look. "There’s no need to be so concerned."
Percival stared pointedly at him. "I’ll clear the trial."
"Percival—"
"I’ve seen where my trial will be. I also heard a rumour that you could bring a team along. Let us face my trial. Me, you, Lucy, Isolde, Isaac. We could even get your father, Arthur, the Elders in Paradise. You... don’t have to take the worst way out," Percival said, his voice growing agitated.
Godfrey sighed. "Where is it?"
"The Bermuda Triangle."
"That’s the ocean. Your trial might be in the water, where most of us are much weaker. It could be worse, it could be underwater. And...!"
Godfrey raised his voice when Percival was about to interrupt.
"... And..." He emphasized. "Even if you have some way to make us breathe underwater, my summons are knights. Isolde’s are dragons. Isaac has a spider. Lucy has a big cat and a chimeric elf. Everyone you mentioned will be nothing but victims before a Monarch in the sea. I won’t also advise you to go on your own. Those trials will kill those who try to clear them. My method is better, I am taking advantage of death to end this Ruination."
Percival snorted through all that. "You want to sacrifice yourself, pinning your hope on a whim. You, with all those visions of the future, still will never be able to truly ascertain what it will bring. I do not stand by this idea. How has Isolde not discouraged you from this madness?!"
"It’s not madness—"
"You’re marching straight into the maws of death. Whatever happens in there, it’s not you stepping out. It’s... it’s not my friend." Percival watched his face, appalled as he saw that the light in Godfrey’s one eye remained unchanged.
"It’s better than you and the others sacrificing yourselves because I’m afraid."
A fierce glow burst from Percival’s eyes. He shot to his feet, glaring at him. "Godfrey! Are you trying to be unreasonable for the sake of it?!"
Godfrey would be lying if he said Percival’s outburst didn’t shock him. Percival wasn’t that kind of person. To make him flare up like this... it had to be about a choice such as this.
He would also react like this, maybe even worse, if these words came from Percival’s lips. Especially when he thought there was a better solution. But now, he had to convince Percival properly to ensure the blue-haired man wouldn’t jump to face the Bermuda Triangle trial.
"We have a contingency plan. An elaborate one to restore me after the trial, and I’m positive it would work."
Percival lifted an eyebrow.
"I’ll be the decider of that. What’s this plan?"
Godfrey was baffled. It felt like he was reporting himself to his elder brother.