Advent of the Three Calamities - Chapter 840: Hypocrite [3]

Chapter 840: Hypocrite [3]

“W-what?”

Evelyn’s whimpers came to a stop as she stared at the pair of hazel eyes.

“What did you just say…?”

Her eyes flashed with coldness for a brief moment, but the gaze had no effect on the pair of hazel eyes calmly staring back at her.

“That cleric who ended up helping you… You killed him in the end, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

The trembling had long left Evelyn’s voice, replaced by a certain chill that matched the surroundings. Staring at her, the pair of hazel eyes moved back a little, revealing a thin smile.

“…It looks like you’re still not fully free.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I just want to ask you something. If you’re the one who didn’t kill the Cleric, then who did it?”

“I don’t know, but it’s not me. Everyone said that it was an accident. I don’t quite know. But it wasn’t me.”

Pausing, she added.

“I’m telling you that it isn’t me.”

“…And how are you so sure of that?”

“What?”

Evelyn was starting to boil with anger, her face twisting menacingly, but before she could act, Julien stepped forward and pressed a hand down on her head, stopping her in place.

“What are you—!!”

“Just making sure you aren’t doing anything stupid,” Julien replied softly, his hand clutching against her head. Evelyn tried to struggle, but it was to no avail. Julien’s grip was far too strong, and all of the energy inside of her body had long been spent.

She was at Julien’s complete mercy.

“Stop! Let me go!!”

Of course, just because she couldn’t force herself free didn’t mean Evelyn was going to let Julien have his way. She continued to struggle, grabbing his hand with both of hers and digging her nails into his skin.

“Let go!!”

Her shouts filled the surroundings, dark veins appearing all over her pale face.

“What the fuck are you even doing!? What is wrong with you!!”

In her rage, she didn’t even notice the darkness that was taking place within her eyes. Slowly but surely, the darkness was crawling.

Corrupting her.

“…..”

Julien took all of this in silence, his gaze remaining clear as he ignored Evelyn’s cries and struggles.

Evelyn didn’t stop.

She continued to shout, each scream louder than the last.

“Let go, damn it!”

“I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!!”

“Why aren’t you listening to me? Damn it! Damn it!!”

Her nails dug deeply into his skin, forcing out blood. In spite of this, Julien didn’t let go.

He just stared at her.

“I hate you! I hate you!!! I fucking hate you!!”

“Let me… go!!”

But soon, even her complaints started to dwindle.

“I.. told you to… let go!”

“Stop. I told… stop… stop.”

“…Why…?”

“Why… don’t you stop?”

“S-stop.”

“Please.”

Evelyn’s voice grew softer and softer until, perhaps too tired or realizing that she couldn’t do a single thing, she stopped.

Even the darkness within her gaze momentarily halted.

Julien’s hand softened at the sight. But not his voice, cold as it had always been.

“You may not realize it, but your mind has long been corrupted. The things that I’ve previously talked with you about with the others…They’ve finally caught up to you, and this is the result. You might not realize it yourself, or perhaps you’ve forgotten, but you were the one to have killed the very same Cleric that once helped you.”

“S-stop.”

Evelyn shook her head, trying to deny his words. Her voice came out weak and unsteady, exhaustion weighing heavily on her face. But it didn’t matter to Julien.

He had seen it all. He knew the truth that was buried deep down in her mind.

“…All because he wouldn’t teach you more. Because you were so desperate to be something. Do something that you allowed the darkness to corrupt you for a moment. You might not remember, but you did it. You… killed him.”

Evelyn’s lips trembled, her head shaking as she mumbled things like, ’No, that makes no sense. I didn’t do it. I know I didn’t. You’re… lying.’

“You yourself may not realize, but…”

Julien flicked his free hand.

Swooosh!

Immediately, the darkness surrounding faded, replaced by a different scenery. One that Evelyn felt was vaguely familiar.

This place…

“What… are you doing?”

“If you don’t want to acknowledge it, I’ll just show it to you.”

“Show me what? What are you…”

Evelyn’s words came to an abrupt stop as she felt her lips get sealed together. Her eyes widened as she looked at Julien, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking somewhere else.

Somewhere distant.

And when Evelyn followed his line of sight, her face froze.

A lone girl walked through a long stretch of yellow flowers, her head kept low as strands of purple hair draped over her face, concealing her features. She moved slowly between the blossoms, her lips murmuring the same words again and again, over and over, as if afraid to stop.

“Why can’t you? Why can’t you…? Why can’t you?”

The girl looked to be around fifteen years old. The moment Evelyn’s eyes settled on her, a jolt ran through her body, like electricity surging along her nerves. The darkness creeping into her gaze halted completely, leaving her staring at the scene with her mouth slightly open.

This place…

This scene…

Her breathing started to grow heavier, her lips trembling as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

But before she could, her head flinched.

’Fake.’

’It’s all fake.’

Voices began to whisper in her mind.

’Do not… fall for his tricks. He’s trying to manipulate you with fake memories. None of this is real. All of it is fake!’

“H-ha.”

Evelyn’s chest trembled, the darkness that had stopped spreading across her eyes once again beginning to move. But this time, it was different. The darkness wasn’t as deep as it once had been. It was a lot slower, and as Evelyn stared at the scene in front of her, doubt started to creep in.

’This is fake, right? This has to be fake. I don’t recall any of this. This must be Julien trying to fake things… Yes, it has to be.’

Despite telling herself that all of this was fake, the lingering doubt that Julien had planted still remained at the back of her mind. It stopped the darkness from further consuming her mind as Evelyn focused her attention on the girl.

And soon—

“What are you doing here?”

A familiar voice echoed across the surroundings.

The young girl standing among the flowers came to a halt, her gaze still lowered as a figure emerged in the distance.

Dressed in dark robes marked by a striking red cross at the center of his chest, the Cleric regarded her with clear displeasure, his expression hard and unwelcoming as he took in her presence.

“Did I not tell you that we were going to stop here? Why have you decided to come?”

His tone was stern, and there was clear anger written across his features as he looked at her.

“Do you know how far you are from your own estate? It makes no sense for you to be here. I already told you that you’re not cut out for this. I’ve also taught you a spell as I promised. In fact, you being here is already delaying me quite a bit. What are you going to do if one of my patients ends up dying because of the delay?”

“…..”

Despite his words, the young girl didn’t move.

Her head remained lowered, her expression still hidden by her draping hair.

Seeing this, the Cleric didn’t grow angrier. Instead, his face eventually softened as he walked up towards the young girl and reached for her shoulder, lowering his body to meet her at eye level.

“Listen…”

His tone softened as well.

“…I understand that you want to help. While I don’t understand what is driving you to be so desperate, I can understand your wishes. I really do. However, there are steps to things. Right now, you’re trying to rush things a little too quickly. You’re still not ready yet.”

The Cleric paused, his unusually soft face softening even further.

“You want to achieve something, don’t you? You want to help someone dear to you. You want to prove that you can be useful. But you need to understand this… wanting to help isn’t enough. Without the ability, you can’t do anything. You have to be patient. You have to learn. You’re still young. You’ve got so much to lea—”

SPURT—!

It was abrupt.

Nobody really saw it coming.

Be it the Cleric or the Evelyn that was staring at it all.

Nobody saw it coming.

Thud!

Blood stained the green grass as a body collapsed onto the ground. Its eyes remained wide open, shock frozen across its face. Nearby, the little girl stood still, her small hand slick with blood. Slowly, she lifted her head, revealing a pair of dark, hollow eyes staring ahead.

Soon—

“He… He. He. He.”

Laughter began to echo out from her lips, her eyes turning darker and darker with each passing second. It was obvious that she was starting to lose it.

Staring at the scene, Julien waved his hand.

He stopped the scene and turned to look at the present Evelyn.

This wasn’t the end of the scene. There was more to it, but he couldn’t show it to her. He couldn’t show her Noel. Or to be more precise, Aldric. He had been watching the entire time, letting the scene play out.

Even Julien didn’t quite understand the reason for it. He wanted to ask him, but he couldn’t. He had to wait until he saw him again.

Once more, the surroundings turned dark.

A heavy silence fell across the two as neither spoke.

But soon—

“It’s… fake.”

Evelyn’s hoarse voice rang out.

Her eyes looked hollow, but the darkness was no longer as prominent. Julien could sense it. The doubt in her gaze. She screamed ’fake’, but deep down, she knew that it was all real. That none of the things he had shown her were fake.

“It can’t… be. H-how is this possible? It must be fake. I… would—”

“Take a look.”

Julien didn’t say anything fancy. He didn’t lecture her, nor did he do anything beyond simply waving his hand.

Swooosh—!

As he did, a mirror appeared.

It was just a simple mirror, but the moment Evelyn looked into it, her expression froze. She took in everything at once. From her disheveled hair to her pale face. But more than anything else, her attention lingered on her eyes.

Those dark eyes of hers.

Evelyn’s eyes trembled uncontrollably, her emotions fluctuating wildly.

Julien stood before her, his lips slowly opening.

“I think this is enough.”

He reached his hand towards her.

“…It’s time for you to finally snap out of it. “