Chapter 1039: Chapter 1037-I Got Your Back.
Chapter 1039: Chapter 1037-I Got Your Back.
Austin POV:
“Baby?”
“Yeah, a fucking clueless naive baby.”
I replied to her questioning words, making her flinch. Though in her eyes anger did burn, a deep, insulting anger. The eyes that seemed to always glaze over due to her alcohol now gained a sense of clarity, shining with burning angry fire.
“You got a second chance. You think that doesn’t come with strings attached? You think you can live your life away like some useless piece of slab that can be wasted away? You think consequences won’t follow?”
My words didn’t mean jack shit to her, as a smirk came to her face.
“Why would I give a shit about a world that I don’t even care about?”
Her gaze gained a certain spark as she looked around, waving her hands around to the world.
“The people I loved, the world I knew, are gone. It all ceased to exist. There is no one here I care about or that remains important to me. It’s just a world that I am living in! Ha! There is nothing here!”
Her words were filled with the conviction of someone living in a different timeline. Who should she be fighting for?
The people she sees now aren’t the people she knew in her world. The people that she knew, fought, bled and died with look at her like a stranger. Will she ever have the same truth-filled connection she had with them again?
I could feel the sheer emotions she had from those words, and I took it all in with a smile. Feeling her disregard for the world. And if fate stayed the same, it would seem that things would happen that would twist and shift to where she finally accepts her place in this world. After all, isn’t that what makes a hero?
Someone who goes through the difficulties of life to grow and to keep growing from hardships. Facing difficulties until they become someone who inspires and leads people. She would have found her way to that with time and patience, but by then, what use would I have in her life? I need to play a bigger role to keep strict control over her. Especially for someone with the talent to touch the divine one day.
A moment of silence fell between the two of us as we stared at each other, her gaze calming down while a smile came to my face.
“You are right, you don’t owe this world anything. And there is indeed nothing that you hold dear. So it shall be fine if I kill that friend of yours over there?”
Saying so, I pointed at Kal, who keeps staring at our interesting division, again and again. The moment she heard my words, Elowen’s eyes glowed in a certain type of pressure, and a heavy killing intent blew out from her, enough to make even hardened soldiers flinch and take a step back. The ground below gave a light quake as plants seemed to start forming.
“Oh? Quite the reaction for someone who doesn’t care.”
I said, my words not eliciting any reaction from Elowen. She just kept staring at me with a certain dangerous vigour in her eyes. Like when you step on a cat’s tail, and it looks at you, deciding if it should attack or retreat. I found that situation cute as I raised my arms, waving them around as I spoke.
“Hey…. hey, cool down. It was just a suggestion to tease you. I have no interest in killing him. But then again, this just shows that even if you think so, deep in your heart you still care for this past which has now become your present.”
“You are pretty annoying for a young man.”
Elowen said, shaking her head as she relaxed her mana and those plants withered away. The same silence stiffening away.
“So, how did I end up in this past? Who are you? And what’s really going on?”
Elowen finally asked.
“It’s as you have guessed. The will of the world brought you to the past to change what is going to happen in the future. And me? Let’s say I am someone saved from my past and walking a very hard path that keeps breaking me both inside and out, making me very tired. And what’s going on? Let’s say your situation has made things pretty irritating for the will.”
My rapid words made Elowen quiet.
“Why me?”
“Beats me. Beings like that see more than you can expect, and as you guessed, you weren’t the only one.”
This made her narrow her eyes. A certain hope bloomed in her eyes, which she quickly hid, a desire maybe for beings she knows, which I crushed remorselessly.
“These others are from the surface, spread across different situations and species. They are working hard to prevent a future that could destroy this world, and here you are sitting and sniffling in your own shit like a baby.”
My words didn’t hurt her at all. She took it in stride.
“So you came here to what, make me work hard? To give me a motivational push?”
Sarcasm filled her words, to which I shook my head.
“Not at all. Not gonna lie, that was my first instinct. But for someone like you, better than the carrot it was the stick…..”
My words made her eyes narrow.
“What did you do?”
A wide smile filled my face at her words. Quite the happy smile, I might add.
“I fucked your life right up.”
“…..”
Seeing her stunned, I continued.
“What, you think these 4 guys are the end? Nah…. nah…. It’s just the beginning, my lovely older sister. All the corrupted beings within the 4 district connections will be rushing here to end your life and mine. And if you push them hard, as you know, they might even corrupt your entire family and hunt everything and everyone you love.”
“You bastard…..”
Elowen replied, understanding the genius of my words.
“Of course, your family is safe. They don’t know much about you. If we handle the 4 here, it will be done. But that doesn’t mean they will stop hunting me, and since we were seen last together, they won’t stop at all~”
“You fucker!”
With that shout, Elowen threw a punch towards my face, which I easily dodged, and punched her back in the face.
Boom!
Which was met with her flying off and hitting the barrier I placed before, bouncing right back to the ground. A small black eye on her face. While her punch to me before didn’t even tickle, it doesn’t mean I liked it. Gotta pay it back whenever you can.
“Cough…. cough….”
Elowen coughed out loud, her expression not at all good as she straightened herself on the ground, trying to sit up as I walked closer to her, looking down at her as I spoke.
“Tsk…. tsk…. You should have just played it all well. And don’t think you will escape this situation. I made a tight net.”
“You…..”
“Please do not think I am someone weak you can be played around with. I gave you the fun of messing around with me to see how well you do under pressure. Just because I know where you came from doesn’t mean I know what all you went through, and truly, I am not interested in knowing it.”
[A lie.]
‘Of course it’s a lie. Who tells the truth here?’
Shuffling away, I kept looking down at Elowen.
“If you don’t like it, then get stronger. Push against what’s coming….”
Reaching this far, I squatted a bit, making direct eye contact with Elowen as I spoke.
“You fear you will lose again if we try, right?”
“!?”
As my words struck through the deepest of her walls, Elowen paused. As someone who was in that war, she knew how dirty and how hopeless it was. And the root of her current situation came from her knowing that it’s a fight that cannot be won. Seeing so, I just need to give her a reason for her to win.
“Our timeline is different. Different from the failure you came from. Unlike the past, you have me. I can erase your greatest fear, the fear of the people you loved turning against you. Even if they did, they would come back as normal as possible….”
As I said, I pointed to the 4 lying on the ground, the corruption shuffling around them as they lay there. Finished with a single snap of my finger. A gentle blue light flew into their bodies, and under the shocked eyes of Elowen and Kal, who had no idea what was happening, the corruption from them completely disappeared.
As someone more attuned to this, Elowen could clearly feel it. They were no longer corrupted. She did indeed know about my unique ability, but hey, you know what they say: seeing is believing.
“See. In this timeline, I am still alive, and I will stand with you. I will fight with you, and with me together, you will never have to fear what’s gonna come your way. The betrayals and losses you fear will not happen. I promise you that in the name of the Lionheart. You shall fight, and you shall win….”