Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1208 - 1208: The Web of Time [Monthly Bonus 3]
Reliant Immortality.
Existences with this type of immortality gain the benefits of one or more other kinds of Immortality as long as a certain being, object, place, or concept provides those benefits, losing them if it no longer does.
In Artemisia’s case, that ‘object’ was the entire ‘Planet Aidos’.
“No fucking way you should be able to link a whole planet to become your lifeli—!”
Evan couldn’t bring himself to believe what he’d just heard, but mid-sentence, he froze, eyes widening as he remembered Artemisia’s words about Valmone’s indulgence of her.
“Wait…the universe let you do that?!”
Because of that indulgence, Artemisia could perform the absurd act of tying her life to a Prime World.
“It’s a fair deal. Planets eventually die, even if it takes billions of years. I, however, possess an eternal lifespan that would outlast any planet. So I traded with Aidos. It would share my eternal lifespan, and its continued existence would ensure mine could never end.”
Artemisia calmly explained the logic of the exchange, though it didn’t make the concept any less unbelievable.
“Only four others besides myself are aware of this: ‘Aidos’, EOTD, Kirone, and now, you,” Artemisia said, her words clarifying exactly why Beatrix wanted Aidos removed.
“Beatrix has to take out Aidos first before you can actually die…” Evan muttered.
He recalled the descriptions Artemisia had given when revealing this, a faint frown forming on his face.
‘It doesn’t matter even if you rip out my heart, burn my body to ash or roast my soul atop the heat of a thousand stars…’
Those words sounded far less like random statements and more like personal experiences, especially the last part, considering the prison the Old Gods had kept her in during the Divine Civil War was inside a star.
“But wait a goddamn minute,” Evan suddenly said, his expression confused as he looked up at Artemisia. “If Beatrix knows Aidos is the source of your Reliant Immortality, why doesn’t she just blow the planet to smithereens?”
Sure, Aidos was a Prime World brimming with cosmic energy, making it even more durable than some stars in deep space, but Beatrix was strong enough to be considered a ‘Supreme’ god Queen.
She was as powerful as Artemisia, and Evan was certain Artemisia could destroy Aidos if she wanted to.
So why was Beatrix relying on her son to invade and destroy Aidos?
“Because she cannot destroy Aidos herself,” Artemisia replied.
“Huh?”
“Kirone can destroy planets even larger and more durable than Aidos, but she cannot destroy ‘Prime World Aidos’ directly, especially if the intent is ‘To Eliminate Artemisia Delgasso’s Immortality.'”
Evan was silent for a moment after her words, then leaned forward and said, “Elaborate.”
“Kirone made two binding oaths after she discovered my arrangement with ‘Aidos.’
One, she could never speak of it, willingly or unwillingly.
Two, she would be completely unable to take any direct action that leads to the destruction of Aidos. Not even framing it as ‘destruction through collateral damage’ would work.”
Those oaths still bound Beatrix even now, preventing her from destroying Aidos or revealing Artemisia’s secret. That’s why she sicced Gozon on Aidos to handle the task for her.
“I see,” Evan muttered, nodding in understanding. “And I was in the way of that since you called me over to use my godslayer powers to deal with Ginaroad if it came down to it, so she sent me to the past to get me out of the way.”
Hearing him, Artemisia turned to him with a raised eyebrow, not commenting on his deduction about why she brought him to Aidos, and instead asked about the latter half of his statement.
“Surely you don’t think that’s the only reason she sent you back in time, do you?”
“Of course not,” Evan replied almost immediately.
If removing him from the equation was the goal, then killing him would have been far simpler. That would have guaranteed he wouldn’t return later to interfere.
But instead, Beatrix had chosen an expulsion across space and time, and Evan was certain there had to be another purpose behind it.
“Care to enlighten me on that reason?” he asked, wanting to confirm whether his own suspicions were correct.
“It’s simple. Kirone sent you through time so you could meet her past self,” Artemisia explained.
“We benefited from your presence on Aramis more than you realise. The main advantage came from the ‘reward’ we received from the Eternal of Space and Reality following Cruotis Prime’s Apocalypse.”
Artemisia then revealed something about his trip to the past that he hadn’t known.
“The EOSR would have left Valmone and gone elsewhere if you, bearing EOTD’s Blessing of Destruction, hadn’t arrived from the future.
Your presence drew his attention to us, giving him reason to remain long enough to witness the events of Cruotis Prime’s Apocalypse. That led him to call us all and offer to grant our wishes.
Kirone sent you back in time so you could attract his attention, which allowed us to gain benefits that increased our power and survivability during the Great Valmone War and the War against the Old gods.”
Artemisia paused for a moment, then concluded.
“It’s a paradox, in a sense. Kirone sent you back in time so you could create the reason she gains the powers that ultimately help her send you back in time.”
“A full-on closed loop, huh?” Evan muttered, sighing softly.
“But there had to be some kind of starting point for this, right?”
At his question, Artemisia wore a faintly pensive expression before replying. “I suppose you acquiring EOTD’s Blessing of Destruction can serve as that starting point.”
Just as she spoke, another voice echoed through the nearly empty cinema hall.
[Did anyone call for me?]
Artemisia sighed at the sound, and Evan quietly turned his head toward it, his eyes landing on a man in a suit, his face obscured by a circular mosaic blur, waving at them. He adjusted his tie and slipped his hands into his pockets as he descended the stairs along the sides of the hall, speaking as he walked.
[Hello, Evan. How was your trip back to the present?]
“Just about as horrible as my unwilling trip to the past,” Evan replied, following the man with his gaze as he came down the stairs.
“And after going back in time 10,000 years and returning, I now have a few questions. Particularly about you,” he added.
EOTD turned his head slightly, and without hesitation, Evan went straight to the point.
“You’re Arthur, aren’t you?”
The hall fell silent at Evan’s direct question.
Artemisia seemed to have expected it, her reaction calm, while EOTD appeared genuinely surprised.
The man then laughed loudly, his laughter tapering into a quiet sigh as he spoke.
[I understand why you’d think that, given the similarities in characteristics and powers. Unfortunately, you’re mistaken.]
Evan’s surprise showed as he raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his seat. “I’m mistaken, you say?”
[Yes,] EOTD replied. [You are.]
He raised his left hand, pointing somewhere to the north as he continued.
[Arthur Vaughn is currently 324,723 light-years in that direction, on Planet Aramis, and is in conversation with Beatrix Xagna.]
Now, this line elicited a reaction from the silent Artemisia, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
[Oh? He just said I should stop pointing at him,] EOTD added with a laugh, implying that Arthur could sense him pointing across such an immense distance.
Evan frowned lightly, his expression revealing his disbelief, which seemed to amuse EOTD.
“You’re lying, aren’t you?” Evan asked.
In response, EOTD pulled his other hand from his pocket and said, [Bet.]
He clapped, and immediately, cosmic energy swirled through the cinema hall, condensing beside him and tearing open a Cosmic Gate.
Through the gate, Evan saw the familiar silver-haired young man, his appearance still fresh in his memory, not a single day older than the last time they’d met on the day they all left Aramis.
The only differences were a few strands of gold mixed in his hair, and his eyes were now plain obsidian black instead of heterochromatic.
As Evan’s brain processed the images his eyes sent it, the silver-haired man, seated on a couch while pouring wine from a bottle into a glass, sighed and spoke.
“I said to stop pointing, and you decided this was better?”
He set down the bottle, then turned to Evan. “Hello, Evan. Welcome back to the future.”
Turning his gaze to Artemisia, he added, “Layla said she wants to talk to you later.”
With those words, he waved his free hand and space shattered, the Cosmic Gate crumbling as the energy sustaining it was forcefully dispersed.
“…”
But even after the gate collapsed, Evan just stared at the empty space in silence before quietly shifting his gaze to Artemisia, who shook her head without a word.
At that, EOTD laughed and said, [Told ya I’m not Arthur.]
Evan remained silent, still trying to process what had just been revealed.
‘If he isn’t Arthur, then…who the hell is he?’
He wanted to see the face behind the mosaic, but EOTD clearly had no intention of showing it.
[Now then, I believe your Q&A session is over. I need to borrow Artemisia for something important, and your presence is required on Aidos right now, Evan.]
Unclasping his hands, he extended his right toward Evan, and faster than Evan could speak, he snapped his fingers.
“Wa—!”
[Bye.]
A burst of cosmic energy enveloped Evan, sending him back to Aidos, across time, to several hours earlier, just after he had left to come to Earth V, shortly after the end of the showdown in Tarse.
Then EOTD turned to Artemisia, who shook her head and asked, “Why didn’t you just give him a straight answer?”
[Huh? I did give him one. And I wasn’t lying either. You know I can’t lie.]
The mosaic covering his face shimmered for a moment before fading, revealing the features that had been hidden behind it.
His silver hair caught the light of the hall, framing a handsome face with a pair of mismatched blue and red irises surrounding black slit pupils.
[I may look like this,] he began, his tone changing to something deeper as he continued, [but you should know that I have never been, am not, and will never be ‘Arthur Vaughn’.]
