Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 920 - 920: Two Truths and a Lie II

“I didn’t.”

Evan finally replied and Artemisia nodded in silence. This confirmed what she had suspected ever since that day she scanned Evan after detecting traces of her Divinity on him.

Her suspicions were now fact— Evan had two hearts.

When Evan mentioned losing his heart, Artemisia couldn’t help but wonder: Did he lose just one? Or was it his original heart that was destroyed…?

She already knew that Evan wasn’t born a Draconic Human but had transformed into one after through the aid of her future self’s power—specifically, the ‘Adaptive Evolution’ skill, which contained a hidden charge of her ‘Authority of Evolution.’

Artemisia’s realization prompted Evan to silently sigh, recognizing that she had figured out the connection.

‘It’s things like that that are probably why she didn’t want me to meet her younger self. Well, I may have also said too much.

Did I originally meet the younger her? Or is this creating a new timeline or something?’

His eyes drifted toward Arthur, who was badgering Artemisia for details, but the goddess remained tight-lipped.

“Hmm? Wait a sec, it’s my turn now, isn’t it?”

Artemisia said, trying to shift the attention away.

“You’re not changing the topic so easily, Arty!”

Beatrix called out, instantly seeing through her, but Artemisia, unbothered, simply placed her hand on Beatrix’s head and pushed her aside.

“Let’s get on with mine.

For starters, I hate Beatrix’s guts.”

“BUT WHY?!”

Beatrix shrieked, momentarily forgetting all about Evan’s mysterious hearts, while the boys burst into laughter at her exaggerated reaction.

Unperturbed by Beatrix’s dramatic outburst, Artemisia continued.

“Secondly, I once tamed a wild Chimera and kept it as a pet for a year.

And lastly, I don’t see guys taller than me by more than 5 inches as potential romantic partners. It’s a hassle to be craning my neck up all the time.”

Her face tightened as she finished the last sentence, as if she hadn’t meant to reveal that much.

Evan’s eyes gleamed with interest, sensing there was more to the story. He leaned in, his gaze practically demanding that she explain the oddly specific height requirement.

Artemisia, however, quickly averted her gaze, shutting down any hope of further details.

“Oh, no. You’re not getting away with silence.”

Evan moved over from Beatrix’s side, approaching Artemisia and the goddess instinctively scooted back, trying to retreat, but ended up with her back against Arthur.

She turned to him for some kind of escape, but the silver-haired teen simply smiled and spoke.

“I would not deny my interest…”

With Evan blocking her from one end and Arthur keeping her pinned from the other, Artemisia had no choice but to confess—about her embarrassing near-first kiss that had failed spectacularly, all due to a certain height difference.

“…it was during a summer festival on the Gamma Continent in Aidos. I was about to have my first kiss with my first crush.”

Evan raised a brow in confusion when he heard of the ‘Gamma Continent’.

As far as he knew, ‘Alpha’ ‘Beta’ and ‘Delta’ were the names of Aidos’ continents. He didn’t know anything about a ‘Gamma Continent’.

Were things that much different 10,000 years ago? Or were the names of the continents simply changed?

“…we were standing on a bridge, and when he leaned in, I had to stand on my tiptoes to reach him. But just as we were about to kiss, I lost my balance and fell into the river below.”

As she finished her story, her cheeks turned a rare shade of pink—an unfamiliar sight for the normally composed goddess.

Arthur’s reaction, however, was unlike anything anyone expected. He stared at her as though she had suddenly transformed into an alien.

“Who the heck are you?! What did you do with the real Artemisia?!”

“Bwahahaha!!!”

Beatrix collapsed into fits of laughter instantly. It was the exact reaction she had expected from Arthur.

Evan, who had been the one to pressure Artemisia into sharing, was utterly flabbergasted.

“…Artemisia…is capable of love?”

“…what sort of image of me do you two have in your heads?”

Artemisia’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Evan, then at Arthur, who was still appraising her, as though trying to verify if she was an imposter.

It took a moment for Evan, whose worldview seemed shattered, to come back to his senses. Arthur, after some internal struggle, finally accepted that the Artemisia before them was, indeed, the real deal.

“Hahaha…everyone always acts like this when they hear this story…”

Beatrix laughed, glancing at Artemisia, who looked genuinely confused.

“You’re always so serious, Arty. You’re really pretty but your expression’s always blank and it honestly scares most guys away.

Anyone who has known you for even a little bit would assume that you’re incapable of feeling emotions like ‘romantic love’.”

“…I’d like to believe I’m very capable of such since I’m a perfectly normal girl, and secondly, it was just a crush. It wasn’t that deep.”

Artemisia’s curt reply silenced Beatrix for a second, but before she could respond, Arthur cut in.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t yet identified Artemisia’s ‘Lie’.”

“True…which one of them is the lie between the other two.”

Evan, propping his chin on his palm, nodded thoughtfully. As he stared off in deep thought, Beatrix couldn’t hold back.

“The first one is obviously the ‘Lie’.”

She turned to Artemisia, who was calmly roasting another set of meat over the fire and continued with confidence.

“Right?”

“…”

“Arty…the first one is the lie, right?”

Silence.

Beatrix’s confident expression faltered as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Arthur, sensing her despair, spoke up.

“I’m guessing that the second one is the lie.

“Correct.”

“!?”

Beatrix’s face crumpled in utter despair, and once again, Evan found himself comforting the tearful goddess, though he wondered how she never seemed to run out of tears.

Arthur, watching the scene unfold, turned back to Artemisia with a knowing look.

“The first’s the real lie, isn’t it? Despite what you say, you don’t actually hate Beatrix.”

Artemisia’s gaze drifted to Beatrix, who was still sniffling in Evan’s arms before she gave a subtle nod.

“No, I don’t. On the contrary, it’s actually the opposite.”

The moment the words left Artemisia’s mouth, Beatrix’s ears perked up, her tears vanishing as if they were never there. She whipped around, locking eyes with Artemisia.

“What did you just say?”

“What did I say?”

Artemisia’s confusion was palpable, but Beatrix moved closer, her expression now intent.

“Repeat what you just said.”

“I don’t follow. Exactly what do you want me to repeat?”

“You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?!”

“Like I said, I don’t follow.”

Despite Beatrix’s attempts to pry out the confession again, Artemisia calmly deflected, maintaining her composure.

Meanwhile, Evan and Arthur exchanged glances, their thoughts aligning.

‘Yep, definitely best friends.’

As Beatrix continued her fruitless mission, Artemisia deftly shifted the attention away from herself, turning toward Arthur.

“Arthur, you’re up next? Your turn for 2 Truths and 1 Lie.”

Though he knew Artemisia was using him to avoid having to deal with Beatrix, Arthur merely chuckled, playing along.

He raised his right hand, pointing to himself as he began.

“First, I’ve never been to my dad’s house.”

He crossed his arms, gaze drifting thoughtfully toward the sky.

“Second, the me you’re speaking to is actually a ‘Soul Clone’ and my real body is back in my Home Universe.”

Lastly, he grinned mischievously.

“And third, my grandpa has a pet Three-Headed Hellhound.”

“Wait…what?”

Evan’s reaction was immediate, his face a mixture of confusion and surprise. Arthur’s grin only widened—he had picked that last one just to mess with Evan.

On Earth-V, the myths of Olympians were rather famous, and it wasn’t too long since Arthur had claimed his father was Hades and referred to Poseidon as ‘Uncle’.

Evan, aware that Hades had the infamous Hellhound Cerberus, initially thought that Arthur’s statement about having a pet Hellhound was the lie.

However, he soon found himself uncertain, as the other two statements also lingered in his mind.

The two girls were equally confused, unable to determine which statement was the lie.

“This is an interesting mix you got there, Arthur…”

Artemisia mused, her brows furrowed in contemplation and Beatrix nodded in agreement.

“Tell me about it.”

After a moment, Beatrix made her guess.

“I’m gonna go with the first one!”

Artemisia took a different route.

“I pick the Second.”

“…”

Both girls had cast their votes, but Evan remained silent, staring at Arthur with a skeptical gaze.

“What? Did you think I’d make it so easy? You know a bit about my family, I phrased things that way to throw you off on purpose.”

“…is that allowed?”

Evan asked, now questioning the game’s integrity.

“I brought up the idea, so I make the rules.

And I say your time is running out…”

Arthur just laughed, tapping his wrist where a watch would be, as if to pressure Evan further.

“Number 3.

One of us has to get it right.”

Evan finally made his pick and Arthur’s grin grew wider.

“True, one of you did get it right.”

All eyes were on him as he slowly turned toward Artemisia, who had a satisfied look on her face.

Beatrix was shocked that Arthur had never been to his dad’s house, prompting him to explain.

Arthur revealed that his father was a god from a universe ruled by “gods” who didn’t want a “godslayer” like him around due to a prophecy that he could end the god race.

As a result, he grew up with his mother in her universe—Hell. Though Hades wanted to take him to Olympus, it had to be kept secret and only possible when Zeus wasn’t present.

Hearing this, Evan felt sympathy for Arthur’s situation.

“…damn, that’s rough.”

“I guess It is? I’ve grown up knowing my Uncle’s been out for my head so It’s normal for me.”

“Awwn…poor Arthur.”

Beatrix wasted no time, pulling Arthur into a tight hug, and patting his back with exaggerated affection.

“Wait, dude. Explain how the third is a lie.”

Evan questioned Arthur about his third statement, mentioning that Hades was known for having a three-headed Hellhound, Cerberus.

Arthur confirmed this but clarified that his maternal grandfather, the King of Hell, also had his own pet Hellhound.

He emphasized Hell, pointing out that it wasn’t surprising for the King of Hell to have a pet Hellhound, highlighting a detail Evan had overlooked due to prior knowledge of Cerberus.

◇　◇　◇

As twilight deepened into night, the four teenagers settled into a serene calmness around the crackling campfire.

Beatrix, the first to succumb to sleep, leaned her head gently against Artemisia’s shoulder, her breaths steady and soft in the flickering light.

Evan noticed her drifting off and wordlessly set up their tents, after which Artemisia gently guided Beatrix into her tent.

When Artemisia tried to leave, Beatrix, still fast asleep, grabbed her arm and pulled her down, snuggling into her like a body pillow.

Arthur and Evan, witnessing this scene, exchanged amused glances. The two chatted a bit more before finally retiring to their tents.

As Evan drifted off, the fire’s glow faded, leaving only the tranquillity of the starlit night.

◇　◇　◇

As dawn’s light filtered through the trees, the four teenagers awoke and efficiently packed their gear before heading to the last set of Pre-Historic Ruins in this section of Plomux-North.

Upon reaching the imposing remnants of an ancient city, Arthur used his Time Powers to discover that the ruins were over 1,000 years old.

They entered through a crumbling archway, surrounded by moss-covered stone walls adorned with faded carvings of battles and rituals.

Arthur expressed a desire to examine these carvings up close, but he couldn’t rewind their time due to the overwhelming amount of information embedded in the site.

Evan and the others didn’t understand, so Arthur had to share a bit of his comprehension of the law with them, explaining that the more a place changed, the more energy was required to manipulate its time.

For instance, constantly inhabited cities accumulated extensive time data, making time manipulation energy-intensive. In contrast, desolate areas like ruins held minimal information, allowing for easier time manipulation.

Unfortunately, because many had explored the ruins over the centuries, Arthur couldn’t go back further.

With no other option, they set about studying the faded carvings as they were, a task that consumed a considerable amount of time.

In their exploration of the ruins, the group discerned that the faded carvings were likely related to a religion, depicting people worshipping a glowing humanoid figure. From the surviving text, they inferred the existence of a ‘deity’ that the inhabitants revered.

In the city’s centre, they discovered a monument inscribed with commandments, including rejecting outsiders, limiting childbirth to specific holy years, and prohibiting the killing of one of their own.

However, the ruined city’s commandments seemed irrelevant to the group since the city was already destroyed, so they pressed on toward a temple-like structure in the city centre.

As they approached, various monsters emerged from the shadows, but unfortunately…for the monsters, they posed zero threat.

Within seconds, Beatrix, Artemisia and Evan wiped out all the monsters and they carried on to the central hall of the temple.

Upon entering the temple’s central hall, Arthur and Beatrix suddenly halted, sensing a strange spatial fluctuation.

Arthur focused his cosmic energy and confirmed it a second later.

“Oh, it’s a Dimensional Rift.”