Chapter 273: Feelings [2]

Chapter 272

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Episode 71 - Feelings [2]

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Instinctively, I closed my eyes, since I had kept them open even when I was blind.

The moment I did, I heard footsteps approaching, followed shortly by Veronica’s voice.

"Good morning... no, good afternoon, older brother. And I know you’re awake."

"......!"

’Why am I pretending to be asleep?’

The question arose so naturally that, for a moment, I became disconnected from what I was doing.

I didn’t remember ever being the kind of person who, after suffering an accident, would receive a visitor and then pretend to be asleep.

"How do you know I just woke up?"

When I asked her, Veronica answered without hesitation.

"Seriously, I know you like the back of my hand. How could I not know you were pretending?"

"....."

I closed my mouth before even attempting to refute her words.

In a sense, she knew practically everything about me.

Especially since she claimed to know all of my past lives.

"I suppose you’re right."

Veronica’s arrogant voice immediately responded:

"Of course I am. Who do you think you’re talking to?"

"An immature idiot."

"......"

My attack was so direct that Veronica fell completely silent, as if she had turned into a statue.

Regardless, I sighed and decided to change the subject.

"Why haven’t I fully healed yet?"

My body still had several broken bones and severely damaged organs.

If two days had passed, my natural regeneration should have been enough to recover, even considering the negative effects of the Eyes of the End.

After all, I possessed the Divine Body, whose regenerative abilities were overwhelming even on their own.

So why hadn’t I recovered yet?

At my question, Veronica answered:

"That’s... because your consciousness was gone for two days, and your body simply thought you were dead."

"A dead body simply stops functioning, but now that your consciousness has returned, your body should be able to heal all the damage."

She was right.

Although my Nine Heavens Sense Trait was currently sealed, I could faintly feel that much of my body had already recovered.

Without realizing it, I had also stopped feeling as much pain.

I still felt some discomfort, of course, but it was far less than before.

"....."

"......"

Without realizing it, I remained silent for what felt like several minutes.

Veronica didn’t say a single word either.

’Now that I think about it, her voice sounded different.’

The tone was still the same, but there was something strange about it.

It carried negative emotions.

It was difficult to interpret them because I couldn’t directly perceive her emotions at that moment.

However, after listening to her for so long, I knew something was wrong.

She seemed sad.

And somehow, even a little desperate.

I didn’t know why I couldn’t clearly perceive her emotions this time.

Even so, I decided to speak.

"Thank you."

"......"

Upon hearing my words, Veronica probably opened her eyes in surprise.

A moment later, as if she had finally processed what I had just said, she asked:

"Why are you thanking me?"

I shrugged and answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Because you’ve taken care of me all this time."

"What? No, I didn’t..."

"I asked Lumina about a few things."

My words caused silence to settle over the room once again.

When I questioned Lumina about her 9999th regression several months ago, I discovered that Veronica didn’t exist in that regression.

Coincidentally, during that same regression, my ’self’ at the time had gone through extremely difficult situations.

In contrast, in this timeline, I had barely experienced any truly dangerous ’events.’

Well, except for what happened two days ago at the Holy Church and in Black City.

However...

’For Veronica to appear in this timeline, the 10,000th regression, and for me to have avoided so many dangers...’

The conclusion was fairly simple.

Veronica had arranged things so that I would avoid most of the dangers that threatened my life.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out.

There were times when Veronica would disappear, and coincidentally, it always happened right before a Main Mission officially began.

That’s why I had thanked her.

"Honestly, older brother, I didn’t think you’d interrogate Lumina using Mind Control."

’She even knows that I can control people’s minds.’

I was slightly surprised to hear that, and then a question arose in my mind.

"By any chance, do you have access to my Status Window?"

Veronica’s answer came immediately.

"That’s not possible, just so you know. The System is something created by the Origin. Every Chosen One of the Origin has their own Status Window. I have one too, in case you’re wondering."

"....."

I had asked a single question, but I hadn’t expected her to reveal more information than I was looking for.

"That was unexpected. Whenever I ask you something, you usually don’t answer."

"That’s because you’re just around the corner from completing the Main Mission related to your memories. Anyway, you’ll learn a lot about the System after you recover your memories."

It would undoubtedly be important information.

But, as she had said, I would soon be able to recover my memories.

So I let out a deep sigh.

"Anyway, this will probably be the last time I thank you."

"Who knows? The future can be unpredictable."

Hearing her voice, I remained silent for a moment.

Honestly, from the very beginning, I’d had the feeling that whenever Veronica spoke, she was carrying emotions that, for some reason, I couldn’t understand.

She was normally quite energetic around me.

She would ramble about one ridiculous thing after another, or simply tease me whenever she got the chance.

However, this time, she was strangely quieter.

And, for some reason I couldn’t even understand myself, that began to frustrate me.

"Is something wrong?"

I finally decided to ask her.

But I received no answer.

Instead, the silence simply lingered.

’I guess you won’t tell me anything, will you?’

I knew that silence very well.

It was the same silence that appeared whenever Veronica had decided not to answer any of my questions.

Sometimes I wondered why she couldn’t answer such simple things, questions that didn’t even seem to have any important purpose.

"Aah!"

I let out a sigh.

When I received no response, I simply closed my eyes.

***

Two days ago.

Veronica had approached the place where Adel had killed the three Cardinals just a few seconds earlier.

Her intention was to check whether, by some chance, they were still alive.

She searched the surrounding area for a few seconds until, all of a sudden, she received a notification.

〖■■■■ says you need to hurry and run toward where "He" is. Something has happened that ■■■■ did not foresee.〗

".....!?"

After reading the notification, Veronica didn’t hesitate.

She crossed the terrain at full speed and, in an instant, appeared where Adel was.

However, she had arrived too late.

"...."

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Adel lying on the ground, on the verge of death.

There was a massive hole in his chest, large enough for a human head to fit through.

Veronica crouched beside him and, using her senses, searched for the sound of his heartbeat.

But...

"A-Adel... N-no, please, don’t go..."

"Damn it, Adel, wake up."

At the same time Veronica tried to check his condition, Rinna approached with tears in her eyes.

Veronica acted as though she hadn’t seen Rinna.

All of her attention was focused on Adel.

Her heart began beating faster and faster as her vision blurred with tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Just then...

〖■■■■ says the effect of the Fable has activated; however, there isn’t enough Causality.〗

".....!?"

Veronica reacted immediately.

’H-how many points of Causality...?’

The mental voice echoing inside her mind sounded desperate and broken.

Barely a moment after she asked, one final notification appeared before her eyes.

〖■■■■ says there are only two points, but we’re talking about Causality.〗

"....."

Veronica pressed her lips together so hard that they began to bleed.

Her thoughts accelerated.

In the span of a single second, thousands of ways to solve the problem flashed through her mind.

But one after another, she discarded every possibility.

No matter how much she thought about it, there was no way to obtain more Causality in time.

And, in the end, she reached only one conclusion.

There was only one way to save him.

"......"

’I’ll use my Authority.’

The instant she made her decision, a new notification appeared.

〖■■■■ says that if you use your Authority, you might be erased.〗

"....."

For several seconds, absolute silence filled her mind.

However, Veronica didn’t hesitate.

’I don’t care.’

At that moment, several notifications appeared before her eyes.

〖You have used your Authority: Circle of Sacrifice.〗

〖According to the Law of Authority, you may Sacrifice anything and receive anything, regardless of the Sacrifice.〗

〖What do you wish to Sacrifice?〗

After reading the final notification, Veronica thought for a second.

Then she answered:

’Sacrifice my First Fable and my Third Fable for two Points of Causality.’

〖■■■■’s First Fable and ■■■■’s Third Fable have been Sacrificed.〗

〖Two Points of Causality have been granted.〗

’I want to transfer the Causality points to Adel.’

〖Two Points of Causality have been transferred.〗

"......"

After that final notification, nothing else appeared.

However, Veronica’s senses picked up on something.

"....."

Adel’s heart.

It had stopped beating a few seconds earlier.

But suddenly, it began beating again.

Weakly at first, but with increasing regularity.

However, it wasn’t all good news.

’He’s on the verge of death.’

Veronica raised her gaze and, for the first time, looked directly at Rinna.

Then she shouted:

"Use everything you have to heal him! Now!"

Rinna flinched at the shout, but didn’t waste a second.

She quickly used her most powerful Magic.

A white light emerged from her hands and, in an instant, enveloped Adel’s entire body.

A short while later, Adel’s heart began beating normally.

His consciousness, however, still hadn’t returned.

But at least he was no longer in immediate danger.

Veronica let out an internal sigh of relief.

Her heart, which had been racing from panic and desperation, finally began to calm down.

But it lasted only for an instant.

Crack!

".....!?"

Veronica lowered her gaze toward her chest.

Right where her heart was.

The instant she looked at the area, thin cracks appeared across her skin.

They slowly spread across her chest.

Extremely slowly.

But fast enough for her to watch them advance.

".....!?"

Veronica stared more intently.

As the cracks spread, tiny fragments of her skin began to break away.

And before her very eyes, those fragments faded into particles of dust.

"....."

Veronica remained silent as she gazed at the cracks covering her chest.

She didn’t need any explanation.

Those cracks could only mean one thing.

The person known as Veronica had begun the process of "ceasing to exist."