Chapter 392: Father’s Corpse

Several moments later, Atlas and his mother could be seen sitting together in the endless darkness, with the Codex floating before them and continuously releasing its crimson glow. The atmosphere remained quiet as Atlas rested his head on Maerith’s lap, allowing her to gently caress his hair.

He had finally managed to accept everything as his own: the memories that had resurfaced, the truth Maerith had revealed, and the fact that the woman sitting beside him was truly his mother.

However, reaching that point hadn’t been easy. It had taken him a considerable amount of time to settle his thoughts and acknowledge everything without letting his doubts overwhelm him. He had to accept that his own ability was treating every statement Maerith made as the truth.

He also couldn’t ignore how those brief, hazy memories had stirred something deep within his soul, bringing emotions he had never experienced before to the surface. Even now, the feeling remained, quietly reminding him that there was something about his past he had yet to understand.

And he wanted to understand it.

He wanted to know more about himself, about those memories from an unknown past, and about the life he had apparently lived before everything he currently knew. Yet, more importantly, he wanted to know about the woman whose lap he was resting on.

If she really was his mother, then why had she vanished? Where had she been all this time? Why had he been left to suffer without her presence? These questions had remained in his mind ever since she revealed her identity, and although he had managed to accept her as his mother, that didn’t mean his curiosity or the questions troubling him had disappeared.

His gaze remained fixed on her smiling expression for several moments. Maerith continued to run her fingers through his hair, treating him with the same affection one would show a young child. Atlas didn’t resist her touch. He simply remained there, quietly observing her, as though he were trying to become familiar with the feeling of having a mother beside him.

Eventually, he decided that he had waited long enough.

"When are you going to answer my questions?" His voice was calm, but his translucent eyes carried a seriousness that didn’t escape Maerith’s attention. The smile gradually disappeared from her face, and her hand slowed as she looked down at him.

For a brief moment, she didn’t say anything. She simply stared at her son before slowly exhaling.

"Although I didn’t want to reveal anything to you this quickly because your mind can’t bear the pressure from those beings, it seems I have had no choice from the beginning."

Atlas remained silent. He noticed the defeated expression that had appeared on her face, but he didn’t interrupt her. There was something about the way she spoke that made it clear she wasn’t particularly pleased with having to explain things to him now.

Nevertheless, he had already decided to listen to everything she was willing to tell him.

"The thing is that I don’t have the capabilities to unseal all your memories. Your memories are sealed in a way that only you can unseal them as you grow stronger. However, there are some exceptions to this rule, as you just saw." She paused, and Atlas slowly lifted his head from her lap.

He turned his attention toward her, waiting for her to explain what she meant by those exceptions. "My name triggered some of your memories to unseal to some extent, but that’s all it could do. The rest of them would need to be unsealed through the normal method, which is you growing stronger."

Atlas slowly nodded. He could understand what she meant, especially after experiencing those memories himself. They hadn’t appeared clearly or remained long enough for him to understand what was happening. Instead, they had surfaced for only a few moments, remaining foggy and incomplete before disappearing again.

It was clear that hearing her name had only triggered a small portion of what was hidden within him. Whatever else had been sealed away would remain beyond his reach until he became stronger. He didn’t particularly like that restriction, but he understood that Maerith wasn’t capable of changing it.

"Still, I should at least tell you the gist of what happened without revealing too much, so that you can have a peace of mind and... also start resenting me." Her voice became quieter toward the end, and she lowered her head slightly. Atlas noticed the change, but he didn’t immediately respond. He simply looked at her, processing her words one by one.

She had already mentioned that she wanted him to hold resentment and unforgiveness toward her before revealing the truth. Now, she was saying it again, making him wonder what exactly had happened between them.

Even so, he didn’t intend to decide how he should feel before hearing her explanation. Whether he would resent her or forgive her was something he wanted to determine for himself. For now, listening came first.

"It all started in an entirely different world. In that world, you and I lived a normal life, Atlas." Maerith paused again. Her hands slowly moved toward her chest, and her expression became slightly painful as she recalled something from that distant past. Atlas watched her without interrupting, carefully following every change in her expression.

"Your father had gone far away at that time, to do something necessary to protect both of us without constantly struggling and surviving." Atlas arched an eyebrow. That was the first time he had heard anything about his father, and the revelation immediately caught his attention.

He had apparently lived a normal life alongside Maerith in an entirely different world, and there had also been a father who had left to protect them. Although he wanted to ask more about him, he held back and allowed her to continue.

"At that time, I was nothing more than a normal human. I had no powers, nor any abilities, nor anything comparable to what I currently possess. You were the same, and I was happy that we were living happily that way." She closed her eyes tightly, as though recalling that period brought both happiness and pain. Atlas remained quiet, trying to imagine the life she was describing.

A world where neither of them possessed any special abilities, where she was simply a normal human, and where he had been nothing more than a child living with his parents.

It was difficult to connect that description with the person he was now, but he continued listening.

"However, after a few years, some people came into our house. Although they were wearing suits and looking like how an ordinary person would look, I knew the moment I saw them that they were ’them’." Atlas frowned slightly at the word she used.

He remembered her mentioning those beings earlier, particularly when she explained why she hadn’t wanted to reveal the truth to him so quickly. Their presence seemed to be connected to whatever had happened in that other world.

Maerith noticed his expression and opened her eyes.

"Sorry, but I can’t speak their names to you, Atlas." Atlas nodded immediately. He had already suspected that there was some kind of restriction preventing her from revealing certain information. Her inability to speak their names only reinforced that suspicion.

’Then this ’them’ must be those beings she was speaking of earlier.’

He didn’t press her for an explanation. If she couldn’t reveal their names, asking again wouldn’t accomplish anything. Instead, he waited for her to continue, keeping his attention fixed on her.

"When they did arrive at our door and I recognized them, they showed me something." Maerith’s expression gradually changed. Her hands, which had been resting near her chest, clenched into fists. She closed her eyes tightly, and the pain on her face became more apparent.

"Something that immediately drove me into madness." Atlas’s gaze narrowed. He could see how strongly the memory affected her, even after all this time. Her clenched fists and strained expression suggested that whatever those people had shown her was something she still struggled to recall.

"Th-They showed me your father’s corpse."

In an instant, Atlas’s eyes widened.