Chapter 33: The Drive Home

The conversation faded, leaving only the steady hum of the engine and the occasional sound of passing traffic.

I rested my head against the window, watching the city drift by.

Finding another Vibranium deposit would solve one problem, but it wouldn’t solve the one that concerned me the most.

Mutants.

According to the information Malik had gathered, mutant conducted a worldwide search roughly once every month, looking for newly awakened mutants.

If that information was accurate, then today’s incident might not remain hidden forever.

Whether it was Charles Xavier himself or another telepath performing the search, there was always a chance they would eventually notice me.

That uncertainty bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

After several minutes, I finally broke the silence.

“Diablo… how much do you think Charles Xavier can actually read from someone’s mind?”

He considered the question before answering.

“I cannot say with certainty, My Lord. My knowledge of mutants is limited, so I can only make an educated guess based on what you’ve told me. However, I do not believe he can instantly perceive every memory a person possesses. If that were possible, there would be little need for conversation or interrogation. I believe he perceives surface thoughts first. Strong emotions such as fear, anger, excitement, or panic would naturally stand out, while memories connected to those emotions might surface if they are actively being recalled or triggered by conversation. Beyond that, I suspect deliberately searching through someone’s entire mind would require far more effort than simply reading their immediate thoughts.”

I quietly considered his explanation.

It matched my own conclusions almost perfectly.

If Charles Xavier could effortlessly read every memory from every person he encountered, there would be very little privacy left in the world.

Governments, intelligence agencies, corporations, and countless hidden organizations would constantly be at risk of having their secrets exposed.

The fact that those organizations still managed to operate told me there had to be practical limitations to even a telepath as powerful as Xavier.

“That actually makes things easier,” I said with a faint sigh.

“Still… extra preparation never hurt anyone.”

“It rarely does, My Lord. Hope has its place, but preparation is almost always the wiser investment.”

Silence settled over the car once more.

I glanced at the dashboard clock.

It was just before nine.

My thoughts inevitably drifted toward Helen.

“Do you think I should tell her about today?”

Diablo remained thoughtful for a few seconds before answering.

“Ultimately, the decision is yours, My Lord. However, if you wish to hear my opinion, I believe telling her would be the wiser course.”

I turned my attention toward him, waiting for him to continue.

“We still know very little about Charles Xavier or the mutant community. If today’s events eventually attract their attention, they may choose to approach you. Helen is your legal guardian. Whether she wishes to become involved or not, her connection to you already makes her part of this situation. If she understands the truth beforehand, she will have time to prepare herself. If she only learns after they arrive, she will be forced to react without understanding what is happening.”

His reasoning was difficult to argue against.

Keeping secrets only protected people until those secrets inevitably caught up with them.

If Helen was going to remain my guardian, then she deserved to understand the kind of world she had unknowingly stepped into.

That line of thought naturally led me to another concern.

“Once you recover enough strength and I unlock magic, would it be possible for you to bring other demons from your world here?”

Diablo’s eyes met mine briefly through the rear-view mirror before returning to the road.

“It would, My Lord, but not immediately. To establish a stable connection between worlds, I would first need to recover at least twenty percent of my original strength. Until then, summoning other demons would remain beyond my capabilities.”

I accepted the answer with a slow nod.

It wasn’t unexpected, though it was still disappointing.

“If mutants become involved, there will inevitably be times when both of us have to leave,” I said after a moment.

“Helen isn’t a fighter. Gwen isn’t either, and neither are the people working for us. The easiest way to hurt someone isn’t always through a direct attack. More often than not, it’s by going after the people they care about.”

My gaze returned to the passing traffic outside.

“If I could bring over demons whose loyalty could never be questioned, they could stay behind and protect everyone while we’re dealing with whatever comes next. Knowing they were safe would let me focus on the real threat instead of dividing my attention between the battlefield and the people waiting for me back home.”

Diablo gave a slight nod.

“It is a sensible objective, My Lord. Trusted subordinates who can protect those important to you are often more valuable than additional personal strength. Unfortunately, until I recover enough of my original power, that objective will have to wait.”

I smiled faintly as I looked back out the window.

“Then we’ll simply have another reason to grow stronger.”

“And another goal to work toward,” Diablo replied calmly.

The conversation faded, leaving only the steady hum of the engine and the occasional sound of passing traffic.

I rested my head against the window, watching the city drift by.

I couldn’t understand why my thoughts kept wandering today.

Ever since we had left the warehouse, one concern had simply flowed into another.

First it had been Vibranium, then Charles Xavier, then Helen, then demons, and now…

this.

Maybe it was because today had been my first time taking a life.

Maybe it was because I’d finally seen how dangerous this world really was.

Or maybe everything that had happened since morning was finally catching up to me.

Whatever the reason, I couldn’t stop thinking.

Eventually, my attention shifted to Diablo.

It was strange.

Out of everyone in this world, he was the person I trusted the most.

I had never questioned his loyalty, not even for a second.

If there was one person I could rely on without reservation, it was him.

Even so, I always found myself speaking more carefully around him than I did around Helen or Gwen.

Around them, conversations happened naturally.

Around Diablo, I always seemed to think before every question, as though I was afraid of asking something I shouldn’t.

After sitting with that thought for a while, I finally spoke.

“Diablo… can I ask you something?”

He looked at me through the rear-view mirror for a brief moment before returning his attention to the road.

“Of course, My Lord.”

I took a slow breath.

“You inherited another life’s memories. You remember everything that Diablo experienced before coming to this world.”

“I do.”

“Have you ever regretted it? Being born here, I mean. Have you ever felt like something was taken away from you?”

Diablo didn’t answer immediately.

Not because he was uncertain, but because he appeared to be considering the meaning behind my question.

When he finally spoke, his voice was as calm as ever.

“No, My Lord. The memories I inherited are undeniably mine, but they are still memories. They allow me to understand another life, but they do not make that life my own.”

He drove in silence for another few moments before continuing.

“When I opened my eyes in this world, my life began. Everything that has happened since then—every decision, every experience, every choice—belongs to me. The memories I carry did not take anything from me. If anything, they simply gave me knowledge I would not otherwise possess.”

I listened quietly without interrupting.

“It would be inaccurate to say that I lost another life, because that life was never mine. I inherited its memories, not its existence. There is an important distinction between the two.”

I frowned slightly as I considered his words.

“So you’ve never felt… incomplete?”

A faint smile appeared on Diablo’s face, subtle enough that most people would have missed it.

“I have never considered that possibility. I know who I am, My Lord. The memories I inherited helped shape my understanding of myself, but they do not define my identity. My identity has been built through the choices I have made since arriving in this world.”

His answer was so simple that it caught me off guard.

There was no dramatic declaration.

No attempt to reassure me.

He wasn’t trying to convince either of us.

He was simply stating what, to him, was an obvious truth.

For some reason, hearing it eased a tension I hadn’t even realized I’d been carrying.

“I guess… I was worried you’d feel like you were living someone else’s life.”

Diablo shook his head ever so slightly.

“I have never thought of it that way. A person’s memories are part of them, but they are not the entirety of who they are. If they were, no one would ever change. Every day we live adds another memory, another experience, another decision. That is what forms a life.”

I couldn’t find anything to argue with.

“…Thanks.”

“There is no need to thank me, My Lord.”

The conversation came to a natural end after that.

Neither of us spoke again as the city slowly gave way to familiar streets.

Before long, the car turned through the front gates, rolled up the driveway, and came to a smooth stop in front of the house.

“We’ve reached home, My Lord,” Diablo said as he shifted the car into park.