Novel Full Chapter 838: Hypocrite [1]
Chapter 838: Hypocrite [1]
It was only a blink of an eye.
But for me, it was almost like an eternity.
From the third leaf to the eye, and then to the first leaf.
How much time had passed?
I had long lost count. I wasn’t sure. However, I knew that I didn’t have time to dwell on this any longer.
A bright light flashed across my vision as I opened my eyes.
A biting cold pierced my skin.
[+1]
[+1]
Notifications flashed, and a pair of dark eyes stared right at me.
“Why? Why…?”
Evelyn’s voice reverberated across the surroundings as she glared at me. I could feel a cold chill run down the back of my spine as her eyes locked directly at me. I… pursed my lips, momentarily unable to react under the weight of her gaze.
But that was only for a moment.
The notifications were like a reminder.
A reminder… of my situation.
“Hoo…”
Mist flowed out of my mouth, the raging storm around me making it hard for me to see properly. But despite it, I could still see her eyes.
It was almost as if my instincts had taken over. Without even thinking, my palm opened up and a magic circle formed. The activation was immediate, and in the blink of an eye, my entire hand turned completely black.
I had yet to test the spell.
I didn’t know how it worked or what it did.
But for some reason, it felt like… I knew. And without much thought, I pressed my hand forward.
The space around Evelyn warped.
“Huh?”
For just a moment, I even noticed hints of surprise in Evelyn’s expression as she noticed the changes around her. But that surprise was soon replaced by anger as notifications continued to flash across my vision.
I could feel the sweat pouring out from my back as the air around Evelyn continued to warp.
’This is… too fast!’
Staring at the notifications that were appearing before my eyes, it almost felt like I was on the verge of having a heart attack.
[+1]
[+1]
I poured all of my mana into the spell.
But as if she could predict what was going on, several magic circles formed around Evelyn, each one pointed in the direction of the areas where the ’hands’ were coming from. And sure enough, dark hands began to emerge in the same exact spot that she was pointing at.
The floating magic circles around her spun, lightning crackling out of them and shooting towards the hands.
Craka! Craka!
Her actions were swift and precise.
In less than a breath’s time, she targeted each spell precisely.
Even the ones coming from beneath her.
Craka!!
“——!”
To make matters worse, the spell shattered the instant they made contact with her spells, breaking into hundreds of dark speckles.
[+1]
[+1]
The storm grew colder.
A dark veil followed after, shrouding the surroundings as black veins started to crawl all over Evelyn’s face.
I could feel the weight of a certain presence in the air.
Staring…
Waiting for the right moment to appear.
Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump!
My heart beat faster.
So fast that it almost felt like it was trying to leap out of my body.
The cold around me grew piercing, and soon—
Cra Crack!
A crack split open in the air, and an overwhelming pressure surged out from its depths. I felt a gaze anchor onto me from within that rift. It was immense, and in an instant, it was as if I’d been dragged into the deepest part of the ocean, the weight crushing down on me, the air ripping straight out of my lungs.
It was coming.
The Outer Being…
It was coming, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.
But thankfully—
Swoosh! Swoosh!
My spell wasn’t so simple.
Catching a glimpse of Evelyn, I saw the dark speckles, the remnants of the shattered spells, writhe in the air. They twisted, coiling over one another until they shaped themselves into a hand, which then shot straight toward her.
The hands were smaller than before, but also much more numerous.
“….?”
Evelyn’s brows furrowed at the sight, the veins crawling around her face pulsing with life as even more spells formed right before her.
Cra Crack!
The crack in the air expanded in the meantime, the pressure turning terrifying. It was enough to make me want to kneel, but—
’Not… yet! Not… yet!’
I maintained my gaze over the small hands as they shot towards Evelyn, sweat pooling down the side of my face as I tried my best to control each individual hand.
This being the first time using the spell, my control wasn’t too great.
But it was just enough.
Craka! Craka!
Just like before, the spells shattered under the power of her attacks, turning into small dark speckles.
But it was here that the same thing repeated.
The small speckles squirmed in the air before shifting into smaller hands that shot in her direction.
This time, Evelyn’s expression couldn’t help but change.
“You…”
Her deep black eyes tried to search for all of the hands, but it quickly became obvious that there were too many. Without a second thought, she cast another spell. I recognized the spell.
Just by looking at the Runes, I could tell.
’A… barrier type spell.’
She was trying to seal herself inside of it.
But could she really?
Swoosh! Swooosh—!
The hands glowed faintly, becoming even faster. They shot towards Evelyn from all directions. Despite Evelyn’s best attempts to stop them, new, smaller ones would appear, shooting at her at even faster speeds.
It quickly became impossible for her to stop all of them.
In spite of this, her face remained calm.
She was probably trying to assess the situation. Trying ot think of a way to stop this situation.
But there was no stopping it.
That one fraction of a second of thought was enough for one of the hands to touch her.
The moment it did, Evelyn’s brow raised in alert.
Right as she began to react, the hand glowed, growing in size. Evelyn’s face paled slightly, and as that happened, the hand multiplied. Then, another hand came from behind her, recreating the entire thing.
This all happened in the time it took for one to blink.
I maintained my gaze over the distant crack, no longer paying attention to Evelyn.
That was the only thing I could do.
I couldn’t move at all under the weight of the gaze that was locked on me.
Cra Crack—!
[+1]
The last bits of notifications were flashing right before my very eyes.
96%
97%
The meter also rose.
And yet, I remained calm.
I had no choice but to remain calm as I met the Outer Being’s gaze.
It was pressuring.
Overpowering.
But soon—
97%
The meter stopped moving.
The notifications similarly stopped.
And so did the expansion of the crack.
In that moment, the darkness also appeared to come to a stop.
For just a moment, everything appeared to turn silent. I couldn’t even hear the sound of my own heart. It was as if time had stopped.
Or at least, that was how it felt.
For a moment, everything went silent. I couldn’t even hear my own heartbeat. It was as if time itself had stopped.
I watched as dark hands shot toward her from every direction, latching onto her desperately. They clawed at her clothes and hair, dragging at her limbs, pulling her down inch by inch, as if trying to drag her straight down the earth with them.
Turning back towards the crack in the sky, feeling the gaze still locked on me, the corner of my mouth curled faintly.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The crack shook, an ear-piercing whistle reverberating through the air.
Long, thin, dark hands began to claw the edges of the crack, trying to force it open.
But it was no use.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I established a connection with the Source.
I didn’t know how to properly use the ’Source’ in the past, but now I know. In order to use Source power, one needed to have a medium for it. I didn’t in the past, but now I did as I opened my eyes again and stared at Evelyn, a dark hand firmly latched onto every part of her body.
They pulled her further and further down, and despite her best attempts at trying to pry herself away from the hands, she couldn’t.
Her face grew visibly paler as the strength in her body sapped.
’…The skill may have changed compared to the past, but its main element is still curse.’
I didn’t waste any more time.
Without a second thought, I channeled the Source’s power into the magic circle forming in my grasp.
Throb—
In that exact moment, the spell throbbed.
It was as if the circle suddenly came alive, the two Runes embedded in the innermost ring spinning at a speed unlike anything I’d ever seen. Alongside their changes, something began to occur to me.
My head…
It started to feel extremely light.
“——!”
The feeling was impossible to put into words. It was as if my head had been torn free from my skull, drifting outside my body while everything else lagged far behind. At the same time this happened, the surroundings around me changed.
Visions.
Memories that I had long forgotten about replaced the background.
’…Remember Noel. When you do eventually meet me, do not reveal yourself to me at any given moment. There’s a time and place for everything.’
’But—!’
’Noel.’
Familiar faces.
’Why are you betraying us?! You… of all people!! Why!? Why!?’
Familiar voices.
And—
’In death, you see things others can’t see. There’s no right or wrong path, Toren. You can hate me. You can loathe me, but… In the end, nothing matters more than the result.’
Familiar emotions.
The memories slammed into my mind at once.
There were many of them, some incomplete, while others were extremely vivid.
I could tell that they weren’t all of the memories that used to belong to me.
But at the same time…
They were enough to overload my mind.
“Ahhhhhh—!”
A scream tore from my throat before I even realized it, my mind twisting in agony as a sharp, clawing pain burrowed deep into my skull. Memories dug deep into my mind, forcing themselves in as I struggled to maintain my sanity.
The entire sensation…
It felt as though it had lasted an eternity. But I knew…
It was all instant.
And sure enough….
“…..”
The pain stopped.
No, it didn’t stop.
It changed.
Instead of being intense, it was more…
Subdued.
It was there, but a lot more bearable.
By the time I managed to register what was happening, I found myself surrounded by darkness again.
One that was different compared to the darkness that had enshrouded the world a moment prior.
Voices and memories continued to flash in my mind at the same time, threatening to take over my mind.
’No…’
Clenching my teeth, I tried my best to pay them no mind.
When I looked up, my gaze stopped before a certain figure.
A certain…
Someone that I knew.
“Why…? Why…? Why do you always…?”