Chapter 347: Awkward

Ethan’s eyes snapped open.

He immediately sucked in a sharp breath, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to orient himself. The strange darkness of the mental space was gone, replaced by the dim interior of the luxury van.

At almost the same moment, Elara jolted awake beside him.

She sucked in a breath of her own, looking just as disoriented as he did.

For several seconds, neither of them said anything.

They simply stared ahead, still trying to process everything they had seen and heard.

Then Kaela’s voice broke the silence.

"So..."

She looked between the two of them with a mischievous grin.

"Did you two fuck in your minds or something?"

Ethan slowly turned toward her.

Elara’s face immediately reddened.

"What?!"

Kaela shrugged innocently.

"If you did, that was quick."

Ethan opened his mouth to respond, but Mark’s voice suddenly came from nearby.

"That definitely wasn’t fucking."

Everyone turned towards him.

Mark’s eyes were open, and he slowly pushed himself upright, one hand immediately going to his head as a grimace crossed his face.

"You’re awake!"

Mark groaned in response.

"My head feels like someone dropped a building on it."

Kaela’s surprise quickly turned into an exaggerated pout as she pieced things together.

"Wow. So everyone got to visit the weird mental space except me?"

Ethan laughed.

"No dykes allowed."

Elara immediately elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow."

She gave him a disapproving look before turning her attention back to Mark. Rather than getting distracted by Ethan’s remark, she quickly explained what had happened.

Elara told Kaela about the Demon, the strange mental space, their conversation, and the truth they had learned about Gates and Titles. Highlighting that Titled were actually vessels and the possibility that the entire system surrounding their world existed for reasons far darker than any of them had imagined.

Kaela listened without interrupting.

Her usual grin slowly disappeared as the explanation continued.

And by the time Ethan and Elara finished, she sat there in stunned silence.

She slowly shook her head.

"Now that’s some crazy shit I didn’t think I’d hear."

Mark frowned.

"I don’t think I was there for that part, right?"

Ethan looked toward him.

"What do you remember?"

Mark rubbed his temple, trying to force the fragmented memories back together.

"I took those two guys down."

He paused, his brow furrowing as he searched through the haze in his mind.

"Then I was dragged into that place."

Another pause.

"After that, everything became a blur."

Kaela leaned closer.

"So you don’t remember that rampage you went on?"

Mark looked at her.

"No..."

She then began explaining to him what had happened, and he found it hard to believe. Looking at Ethan and Elara to confirm she was telling the truth, Mark was dumbfounded.

"I was a giant that was attacking you guys."

He wasn’t sure how to take it, though he was impressively calm.

"Yup. Does that mean you’re a Titled now?" she asked.

Mark was silent for several seconds.

"I honestly don’t know."

Despite the uncertainty, despite the ache gnawing through his body and the strange emptiness lingering in his mind, the corner of his mouth slowly lifted.

A smile appeared.

Kaela noticed immediately.

"What’s that look for?"

Mark shrugged.

"I don’t know."

But Ethan knew that smile.

He had seen it before.

It was the same slightly unhinged grin Ethan himself wore in the face of thrilling danger, especially since receiving his Title. That dangerous expression definitely wasn’t a good sign for someone in his predicament.

Ethan stared at his brother.

’Oh, fuck.’

But maybe Mark really had become one of them, and things weren’t all bad.

As long as he retained control of himself.

Whatever had happened inside that mental space seemed, at first glance, like the Demon had simply been toying with Mark. But the more Ethan thought about it, the harder that conclusion became to accept.

The Demon likely could have destroyed Mark.

Instead, it had beaten him into submission and somehow pulled him out of his berserk state. Whether it had done so out of the kindness of its heart or simply accomplished something for its own reasons, Ethan couldn’t say.

But one thing was certain.

’It helped him.’

That raised another question.

’But how long will it last?’

Mark seemed normal now, but Ethan couldn’t forget what he had witnessed.

A man who could suddenly transform into a twenty-metre-tall monster, possess physical strength approaching the level of an A Rank, and continue adapting every time he was injured was not something they could simply ignore.

’Mark is a danger to himself and everyone around him until we understand exactly what his abilities are and how they work.’

And there was only one way to start figuring that out.

They needed answers, answers that only the man who had supposedly lost his memory about what happened could provide.

Ethan’s eyes remained locked onto him.

"Just how many of those pills did you take?"

Mark looked at him.

Ethan’s expression hardened.

"There’s no way that was just one."

He paused.

"And why did you take them in the first place?"

His tone had taken on the unmistakable quality of a worried mother interrogating a child who had just done something incredibly stupid.

Mark frowned.

"Not that many."

He shrugged.

"And only because I was shot."

Ethan’s eyes immediately shifted toward Elara.

She gave him an apologetic look since she was supposed to have been protecting Mark.

"In my defence," Elara began, "he really wanted me to leave him alone."

She glanced at Mark.

"And I made sure there was nobody else in the vicinity who could hurt him."

"Only after I had already been shot," Mark added.

Elara’s expression fell.

"Oh..."

She looked genuinely regretful.

The fact that Mark had been shot was her responsibility.

His transformation afterwards, however, clearly wasn’t something she could have predicted.

Ethan sighed.

"But you still took more after that, right?"

Mark hesitated.

"That wasn’t me."

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

Mark quickly corrected himself.

"I mean, it was me."

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"But... I don’t know how to explain it."

His expression became frustrated.

"I just couldn’t stop myself."

Ethan stared at him for a moment.

"Sure, buddy."

Mark’s eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You don’t believe me."

"I believe you."

Ethan paused.

"I just think you’re an idiot, like that Greg dude."

Mark’s expression immediately hardened.

"You’re really going to say that?"

"Yes."

"After everything that just happened?"

"Especially after everything that just happened."

Kaela and Elara exchanged a glance.

Neither said anything.

They both knew better than to get involved in the exchange between brothers that was quickly becoming heated.

Mark leaned forward.

"You know, coming from you, that’s pretty fucking rich."

"What does that mean?"

"You really want me to explain?"

Mark pointed at him.

"You’re the most reckless, selfish person I’ve ever met."

Ethan scoffed.

"Selfish?"

"Yes, selfish."

Mark’s voice rose.

"Even before you got your Title, you were always taking unnecessary risks and doing stupid shit just because you thought you could get away with it."

Ethan folded his arms.

"And I always did... well, almost."

"That’s not the point!"

Mark threw his hands up.

"You’ve always been like this. You see something dangerous and immediately think, ’I can handle it.’"

Ethan shrugged.

"And I’m usually right."

"You’re proving my point!"

Mark stared at him.

"How many times have you nearly gotten yourself killed?"

Ethan opened his mouth, then closed it.

Mark nodded.

"Exactly."

Ethan leaned forward.

"At least I don’t swallow mystery drugs."

Mark’s eye twitched.

"I was shot!"

"Fair enough. But then you decided to eat even more of those pills."

"It had to!"

"No, you didn’t!"

Even though doing so had technically saved him from the exploding compound, he had no way of knowing that was going to happen when he had done so.

The van suddenly felt considerably smaller.

Kaela quietly continued eating, doing her best not to look like she was listening.

Elara sat beside Ethan, feeling the tension steadily climbing.

Mark pointed at Ethan again.

"You don’t get to lecture me about substance abuse or doing stupid things."

Ethan’s expression shifted.

"Oh yeah?"

He leaned forward.

"And who was always right behind me when I was doing those ’stupid’ things?"

Mark stared back.

"You were dragging me into that shit!"

"And you followed me."

"Because somebody had to stop you from getting yourself killed!"

"Then why are you complaining?"

"Because you are and always were fucking impossible!"

Their voices continued rising.

Neither brother seemed willing to back down, the tension between them reaching its breaking point.

That’s when the van slowed before coming to a complete stop.

The sudden silence was almost jarring.

Kaela looked between them, suppressing a laugh.

"Awkward."

Neither brother responded.

Mark climbed out first, and Ethan followed, both stepping onto the ground with their fists clenched. They didn’t say another word, walking out of the van side by side, the argument apparently far from over...