Chapter 146: The Life We Choose

The Garden had finally become quiet.

There was still destruction everywhere, broken stone covering the paths, entire sections of the old buildings collapsed, the once-beautiful trees torn apart during the battle.

The air still carried traces of Blood Mana, but the overwhelming pressure that had filled the Garden for so long was gone, leaving behind a silence that felt almost strange after everything that had happened.

Emily stood beside Reinhard, staring at her hands.

Her Crimson Protector E.G.O. had disappeared, and the crimson markings that had covered her body were gone. Her crimson eyes had returned to their usual silver, her blond hair had turned back to white, and even the strange Bloodkin aura that had surrounded her was no longer visible.

She looked like the Emily everyone knew.

"Looks like everything went back to normal," Reinhard said quietly, glancing at her.

"For now," Emily nodded.

They both understood what that meant.

What had happened to Emily couldn’t simply be revealed here, not with so many people around them, including the Association members, the Nephilim, the Spears, and the Ashcrofts themselves.

Maki, Lily, and Yuna were eventually going to need to know about her Bloodkin heritage, the Heir of Tepes, and everything else Vlad had left inside her, but this wasn’t the place for that conversation.

Reinhard leaned slightly closer and lowered his voice. "We keep this between us until later."

"Then we’ll tell them together," Emily smiled.

"Sounds good."

It was a small agreement, but it carried more weight than either of them said aloud. Emily was no longer carrying this secret alone. Reinhard knew, and that meant they would deal with whatever came next together.

Before they could say anything else, a voice echoed through the Garden. "The Heart of Origin has been destroyed!"

The Association’s announcement spread through the remaining teams as several phones activated at once.

The official confirmation followed almost immediately, reporting that the Heart had been destroyed, the Blood Mana network had collapsed, and the Singularity surrounding the Garden had finally been neutralized.

The surviving Awakeners were being recovered, the remaining Bloodkin threat was rapidly losing its ability to regenerate, and the Challenge-Class Expedition had officially been declared a success.

The reaction was immediate.

The Ashcrofts had already been gaining attention before entering the Garden, but this mission pushed their reputation somewhere entirely different.

They had taken part in an expedition involving a Calamity-level threat, Bloodkin activity, an Abnormality, hostile Awakeners, and the Heart of Origin itself, and they had walked out alive.

The Nephilim weren’t ignored either.

The Spears, who had initially treated them as an unfamiliar group of professionals, openly acknowledged their contribution to the mission.

Rhea looked almost ready to celebrate on the spot, while Mara immediately began discussing what the recognition could mean for their team’s future.

Seraphine was already asking questions about the mission records, Rika looked more relieved than impressed, and both Kael and Adrian looked like they would happily sleep for an entire day if someone gave them the opportunity.

Even Archon remained with them instead of leaving immediately, which alone was enough to make Rhea suspicious.

"You’re actually staying?" Rhea asked.

"Do you want me to leave?" Archon glanced at her.

"No."

"Then I’m staying."

"You’re getting nicer," Rhea smiled.

"I can still leave."

Rhea immediately stopped smiling.

Emily heard the conversation but barely reacted, her attention already drifting back toward the ruined Garden. The Heart was gone. The Bloodkin threat was over. The mission was complete.

Vlad was gone.

She looked at the place where he had disappeared, remembering his final smile and the words he had left her with. Don’t come too soon.

Reinhard noticed her expression and quietly moved beside her. She stayed silent for a few seconds before asking, "Reinhard?"

"Hmm?"

She looked toward the ruined Garden. "Do you think he was proud of me?"

"Absolutely," Reinhard didn’t hesitate.

She looked at him. His expression stayed calm as he continued, "You defeated him when you needed to. You saved him when you could. You forgave him without pretending that everything he did was right, and when he was gone, you chose to keep living." He gave her a small smile. "If I were your father, I’d be proud too."

Her eyes grew wet again, but this time she smiled. "Thank you."

"You don’t have to thank me for telling the truth."

After the Association finished coordinating the surviving teams, Emily and Reinhard quietly separated from the others and began walking through the Garden.

She pointed toward a ruined section of stone. "That used to be where I trained with Camillia."

"I can see why she made you train there," Reinhard said, looking at the remains.

"Why?" Emily asked, confused.

"Because there wasn’t anything around you to destroy."

She stared at him for a moment before laughing. "You really haven’t learned when to stop teasing people."

"I learned. I simply decided not to use that knowledge."

They continued walking. Emily stopped beside a broken patch of ground where only the remains of an old tree were left. "There was a tree here."

"Was it important?"

"I used to climb it whenever Camillia wasn’t looking."

"And did she catch you?" Reinhard raised a brow.

"Every single time."

"That sounds like Camillia."

Emily smiled and pointed toward another part of the Garden. "Father used to sit over there whenever Maria was angry with him."

Reinhard glanced toward the spot. "So he was regularly in danger?"

"Very regularly." Emily laughed again.

The Garden was still ruined, but with Emily beside him, Reinhard could almost see what it had once been. Every broken path seemed to hold another memory, and every memory showed him a little more of the life Emily had once lived there.

Eventually she stopped walking, her expression changing as she looked toward a partially collapsed section of the Garden as though she had sensed something.

"What is it?" Reinhard asked.

She didn’t answer immediately and simply walked toward the ruins, and he followed. They reached a quiet area where the remains of an old stone structure had collapsed into the earth. Something metallic was partially buried beneath the rubble, almost completely hidden from sight.

Emily crouched down and brushed away the dirt.

A strange weapon rested beneath it, one that didn’t radiate the overwhelming pressure of of a Singularity. In fact, it looked almost dormant, as though it had been waiting there for someone to find it.

She reached toward it and nothing sent her flying.

Then her fingers touched the weapon, and a faint crimson light spread across its surface. Mana flowed through it, and the surrounding Garden seemed to react to its presence.

She slowly pulled it free.

"Emily?" Reinhard raised a brow.

She stared at the weapon for several seconds before smiling. "Tepes." The weapon responded to her voice with another pulse of light.

"So this is the Singularity weapon Vlad mentioned," Reinhard said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

She nodded, then looked at him. Instead of keeping the weapon for herself, she reached out and grabbed both of his hands.

He looked down at their hands, then back at her. "What are you doing?"

Emily smiled as she gently brought one of his hands toward the weapon, making a small cut across the surface of the blade and letting a tiny amount of his blood touch it. Tepes shone, the crimson light spreading farther than before.

"Emily?" Reinhard raised a brow.

"I want both of us to be able to use it." There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in her voice.

He stared at her for a moment before a shameless smile appeared on his face. "What yours is mine, and what mine is yours."

"That’s true," her face brightened.

Reinhard looked toward Tepes and willed for it, and the weapon immediately disappeared from Emily’s hands.

A crimson flash crossed the air, and it appeared directly in his hands. He caught it effortlessly and examined it with interest. "What an interesting thing."

Emily nodded. She wasn’t worried about giving away her father’s inheritance. To her, they were husband and wife. There was no reason to separate what belonged to her from what belonged to him.

After a few more moments, her expression changed again. She glanced around the Garden, the smile slowly disappearing from her face, replaced by a quiet mixture of nostalgia and sorrow.

Reinhard noticed but didn’t ask what was wrong. Instead, he looked toward a quieter part of the Garden. "Let’s make a grave for them."

"For who?" she paused.

"Vlad, Maria, and Selene." He continued, "We can make another one at home, but for now, we can do one here."

Her fingers trembled slightly before she smiled and nodded. "Okay."

They found a quiet section of the Garden that had survived most of the destruction. Together, they cleared the broken stones and gathered several pieces of clean stone from the surrounding ruins. It wasn’t anything elaborate.

They simply made three small markers and placed them side by side.

Then Reinhard remembered something. He reached into his inventory and pulled out several items he had picked up during the shopping trip with Lily.

Emily stared at them, flowers, small decorative items, a few simple things that could have belonged in a quiet garden like this. They weren’t important treasures, but they were things that could make the grave feel less empty.

"You still had those?" Emily looked at him.

"Of course."

"Why?"

"I figured they’d be useful eventually," Reinhard shrugged.

She knew perfectly well that he hadn’t known this would happen, and she laughed softly. "You’re ridiculous."

"Handsome and ridiculous."

"You’re definitely ridiculous."

They placed the items carefully in front of the three markers. Emily added a few flowers of her own, then stood beside Reinhard and looked at the small grave and for a while, neither of them spoke.

Reinhard finally looked at the markers. "I think I understand why Vlad went crazy."

She turned toward him.

"If the same thing happened to me..." he paused briefly before looking at her. "If I lost you like that, I’d probably be worse."

"Even though Maki, Lily, and Yuna would still be here?" she asked, giving him a slightly amused look.

"Of course," Reinhard replied as though the answer were obvious. "Because, duh. Aren’t you?"

Emily blinked, then a faint blush appeared on her face. "Well..." She looked away with a small smile. "Now it seems I have another reason not to die."

"Indeed." He looked at her seriously for a moment before adding, "The world is blessed when you’re alive."

"You really know how to say embarrassing things without getting embarrassed yourself," she laughed softly.

"It’s a talent."

Emily leaned against him, and Reinhard wrapped an arm around her, gently playing with her white hair. For a few moments, they simply stood there together, watching the grave.

Then he glanced at her. "Although, I have to admit..."

"What?" she looked up.

"Your new transformation was pretty impressive."

She immediately knew where he was going. "Don’t start."

"The crimson eyes were especially dramatic."

"Reinhard."

"And those stars were nice too."

Emily lightly hit his chest. He laughed before running his fingers through her normal white hair. "I still like this one."

She smiled and rested against him again, feeling the warmth of his body beside hers. For the first time since entering the Garden, she wasn’t thinking about what she had lost. She was thinking about what remained and her future.

Then a familiar voice suddenly exploded across the Garden. "ARE YOU TWO SERIOUSLY DITCHING US?!"

Emily froze and Reinhard laughed.

Lily came rushing toward them with Yuna and Maki following behind her. "We’ve been looking everywhere!" she complained as she approached. "You two just disappeared!"

Yuna was laughing quietly behind her, while Maki adjusted her glasses and looked between the two of them. "We should have regrouped ten minutes ago."

"Hahah, sorry." Emily smiles at them.

Before Reinhard could say anything, the Nephilim came rushing.

"We need to leave soon," Mara said immediately, looking toward the group.

"We really should hurry," Rhea nodded and then she glanced backwards with a worried look. "Before Archon drives away without us again."

Everyone went silent.

"She has done it before," Mara sighed.

"Twice," Rika nodded.

"Three times," Kael added calmly.

"Why did you count?" Rhea’s expression changed.

From somewhere farther away, Archon’s voice suddenly echoed through the Garden. "If you’re not in the vehicle in thirty seconds, I’m leaving."

Rhea immediately turned around. "SEE?!"

She began running, Adrian following after her while Mara shook her head and started walking in the same direction.

Emily couldn’t help laughing, and the heaviness that had surrounded her finally broke. She looked back at the grave one last time, and this time there was no desperation in her expression, only peace.

Her father was gone but she had said goodbye and she had honored him. And now she had somewhere else to go.

Home.

Back to Reinhard. Back to Maki, Yuna, and Lily. Back to the life she had built.

Emily turned around and began walking, Reinhard following beside her. They had only taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" she looked back.

His expression changed as a familiar notification appeared in front of him.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

[SS-Grade Investment Successful.]

[Calculating Rewards...]