Chapter 492: Reader’s Vengeance

Sighing, he watched as a soul changed bodies and ran towards him... it was funny; he could see the outline of the clones even without a soul. If he had to guess, it was because of how fast he was changing between them that a remnant of his soul still remained.

Soul energy flowing through the body.

It was a bit funny how he could sense everything but relics... since they were the only things without a soul, but he could see the man’s blade, since it wasn’t a relic, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

As the bodies came at him, he followed them, watching which one had the soul, before blocking its attack. He could feel Merwin’s confusion... Eden had nothing to do with it; he just had a gut feeling. He was surprised by him blocking even while blind.

But it didn’t last long, as his soul left the body, going to another... but this time, he had instantly noticed it, turning to block the attack of the other body too.

"What the-" Merwin tried to say, but before he could, Aether tried attacking that body, leaving a hand behind him towards the other body on the opposite side. He managed to do so, but as he did, the man switched bodies.

...

But he hadn’t left that hand there just for it to be there. As the soul left, he didn’t even check to see which one it had gone to; of course, it was going to be the one furthest away, and that had a clear view of his unprotected back... at least that was what it thought.

From his palm, a giant spike came out, obliterating his brain, making his body and the other two limp to the ground.

Aether opened his eyes, looking at Merwin’s dead body. "I told you, I was going to kill you quickly. And I didn’t lie." Once he understood his powers well enough and got an idea of how to counter them, while also being able to fight his body with Eden, it wasn’t that hard.

Still, he was annoyed that his right shoulder and left arm had gotten injured; he was going to have to heal them at night.

Plus, he had wasted essence on that sneak spike attack, as annoying as it was. If he continued like this, he was going to run out of essence before the battle finished. "Really need to ascend to Bearer; that way I can get my essence amount up."

Looking into the distance, he saw a lot of fights; from what he saw... as ironic as it was, the people of the Kingdom were wearing the Abyss’s mark. Funny, since not even Aeriel had it.

But it was also nice, since he could blend in easily. Taking off his sleeve so that his mark was shown, Aether dashed forward, intercepting an attack that was about to kill one of his men who was on the floor.

Catching his opponent off guard, he used his chains to wrap around his neck and pulled on them to drag his face into the ground. Planting his foot on his head, Aether looked at his ally. "It was a man, one old enough to be a father... which he probably was.

...

As much as he didn’t want to, since he wasn’t one to be this sensitive... it did hurt him a bit. After all, he knew the man probably had nothing to do with the blade or fighting in general, yet he was forced to; that way he could protect his family.

’How many share the same story as him... I wonder.’ Many... probably a majority of the men fighting were fathers, after all. Aeriel didn’t allow minors to fight... ironic when both he and him were underage.

...

He couldn’t save them all. Even if he had saved this man, and his family didn’t have to suffer, who knew how many had already died... that was the reality, one he had accepted...

"Kill him," Aether said to the father, while pushing his foot on the enemy’s face. He knew it was hard for the man; he didn’t know if he had ever killed a person... but it was something everyone had to go through in this world... as much as he hated to admit it, he was lucky his first was when he was a child. Since he got used to death more easily... it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt him, but at least now he was so used to it.

It was easy.

"I... can’t. He has a family just like me..." The father said... looking into the ground.

Aether... hadn’t considered it... that his allies weren’t the only people with families, but also the enemies... what was he going to do now...

...

"Fine..."

The father looked up at him, surprised. "You will spare him-"

Before he could finish, Aether took his foot off the man’s head and thrust Voidpiercer right into his skull, blood splashing onto the father’s face.

Turning back to him, Aether didn’t smile. "Us Readers also have families and friends... do they care? Not at all."

After that, he left the man before his curse could kill him too. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he had left so quickly; there were many others he was going to have to help on the way to Aeriel, and if he took too long, more were going to die.

There was no point in waiting and trying to console the man.

’If he really can’t get up after that... then there’s no hope for him.

Hardship is the thing that makes us stronger, but you have to know how to use it...

I don’t mean to say it doesn’t hurt, or that it’s good. I would choose to never experience it if I can.

But that’s not possible."

...

As the battle continued, Aether also saved more people, while also seeing others die, not being able to reach them in time... but after a while.

He finally reached Aeriel... but the situation looked nothing like he thought it was going to look.