91 Chapter 81: The pupil's conviction
The long silence befell the chamber, amplifying the eerie sound of water droplets dripping down onto the concrete ground from the ceiling's slight cracks. The flickering shadows of the three motionless individuals seemed to expand and contract as the torches' flames rhythmically flapped back and forth.
「...」Kibadios took a small breath before opening his mouth, trying to say something before he stopped short. 「... Then what about you, Matelus?」Kibadios finally asked. 「If what you told me is true, what is your so-called "answer" to this dilemma?... How did you learn of this secret history? And more importantly, how are you still alive, ageless after 10 thousands years? The "you" appeared in front of me is no illusion or cheap tricks, isn't it? It's truly your real flesh and bone.」
「Yes.」admitted Matelus.「You see, since your pupil is a coward, I survived the Great War and the subsequent Harvest by hiding from the forces of the Astral… I am sincerely sorry that I did not come to your aid at the time, Shisou. Even after Sylvia san personally sought me out and asked for my help… I cowardly ignored her plea, hoping that I can peacefully live out my days… After all, I did not ask to be reborn in this crazy world, nor to possess power that rivaled your own. I was just a normal college student living in the comfort of the 21st century. My cowardice led to the death of many of those whom I loved… Sheron…Alas… Tyros… Karen… But then, at the end of the Harvest, when I thought everything was over and that I could at least protect the one who I cherished the most, they cut her down right in front of my eyes…」
「... Aurola?」Kibadios simply asked with a painful expression.
「Yes.」Matelus nodded.「She spent years hating me for not joining in the war to help you, for allowing so many of our friends to die. Her hatred for the Astral was what led her to seek them out for revenge once she was old enough, only to be struck down by Azragon. In my rage and grief, I sought out your master, Seri the Eternal, and begged her to open a portal leading to the Modun realm. Since the heavenly gate was destroyed by Adeus during the war, aside from using portals that directly linked this world to the Modun, there was no other way that one could infiltrate the realm.」
「... and that loli obaasan did use magic to open a portal for you?」Kibadios was surprised.
「She probably had her reason… she wanted me to find out about the hidden history.」Matelus explained.「and so, I did. As I lurked in the shadow of the Modun, I learned everything, all the secrets that Seri and the Astrals were hiding. At that moment, I came to a realization.」Matelus turned grim.「That, no one bears the fault for what happened to this world, for all the events that had transpired, from Kadesha's betrayal of the Astrals, to the great holy war that was stirred up by your capture, to the Harvest carried out by the Astrals that witnessed the demise of majority of the inhabitants of Esthar… It's not Seri's fault, nor Kadesha's, nor yours, nor even the Astrals. Everyone simply had arrived at different answers regarding the fate of this doomed world. They all acted in accordance to what they thought was necessary. And so, right then and there, I had also arrived at my own answer: to finally end the prolong suffering of this dying world and bring it to a fitting end.」
「You don't mean…」horrified Kibadios.
「Yes. If someone… or something must bear the blame for all the tragedies that occurred, it's the world itself. This world was supposed to be destroyed, to be swept away into the endless incarnation of the gods' wrath… and I will make sure it won't be able to escape its fate anymore.」Matelus solemnly declared. Despite such a ruthless statement, his companion's expression was as stoic as ever, which indicated to the hybrid that she, too, must have known about Matelus' intention. 「To achieve my goal, I know I need to act and put things into motion. That's why I decided to steal a primordial spirit from under the Astrals' noses, along with the primordial seeds for <Space> and <Time>.」
「What? You stole a Primordial Spirit?」Kibadios suddenly recalled Ryan had told him about how the Astrals had lost more than just one Primordial Spirit.「Wait a minute… primordial seeds for <Space> and <Time>?」The hybrid quickly pieced together all the information he had learned, then shot the girl standing next to Matelus with a puzzling look. 「Don't tell me, that girl is…」
「Yes, she's possessing the seed of <Space>.」admitted Matelus.「That's why her skill would punctured the fabric of space itself, instead of merely relying on things like spatial magics and their <Portals.>」
… That would explain a lot , Kibadios thought to himself.「So, does it mean that you're still looking like you did 10k years ago is because…」
「Yes.」interjected Matelus.「Her twin brother had possessed the Seed of <Time> and the fact that both this girl and I still look like we did 10 millennia ago was due to his intervention. The time that the two of us experienced was simply stopped. In short, we're virtually immortal since the passage of time would not affect us. It's something that the Astrals yearned for, yet could never achieve outside of the Realm of Modun.」
「... That's impossible… for one to be able to activate such lasting and permanent skill, the repercussions must be severe.」Kibadios deduced.
「Indeed… Activated such skill on the two of us was his last act, before he crumbled away from the tolls that the skill took.」Both Matelus and the girl briefly showed a hint of sadness.「But thanks to him, we now had all the time in the world to carry out our plan. It also allowed me to be able to meet you again, Shisou. "A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one."」
「... If the holder of the seed of <Time> had passed away, what happened to it, then?」asked Kibadios.
「I'm glad you asked, Shisou.」Matelus grinned.「Much like the Astrals cultivating the inhabitants of Esthar, I needed to cultivate the primordial seed of <Time> since Soril had exhausted most of its power to stop the follow of time on us. That's why I pulled a Madara and gave out the seed to individuals throughout history, allowing them to unknowingly replenish the Seed's power. Of course, since I don't want those individuals to attract the attention of others with their rare skills relating to <temporal> elements, I tend to choose those who lived in remote areas to nurture it. Had any of them become too well known for their peculiar skills, I simply ended their lives and retrieved the seed back… I believe, in this current era, I had entrusted the Seed to an infant I met in this remote village in Maeg… He grew up into such a fine young man. What was his name again?」
「Rowan.」The girl softly reminded Matelus, though such revelation caused the hybrid to widen his eyes.
「That's right. The boy's name was Rowan, your very so-called property, Shisou.」nodded Matelus before fixing his gaze at his old teacher, trying to study his reaction.
…That… would explain a lot… Kibadios acknowledged.「Is that why you sent that man to attack Rowan's village?」
「Yes. I was trying to force the boy into a life or death situation so that he could awaken his dormant power. But funnily enough, even though you spoiled my plan, it worked out perfectly since you actually helped him to awaken it in the end.」smiled Matelus. 「Don't worry, Shisou. I'll let you have some fun with the boy before reclaiming him. After all, being with you would further help him develop the primordial seed's power. Since you have acquired so many different toys who follow you around now, you won't mind, will you?」With his provocative question met with silence from the hybrid, the man continued.「So, anyways, now it's your turn to give me your answer… What would you do now, knowing that your action would also simply condemn this world to its destruction? Will you help me in achieving my dream of ending the suffering of this world then, Shisou?」Matelus seemed to be excited for a moment, anticipating his old teacher would take his side.
「... What an idiotic dream that you're yearning for, Matelus.」Kibadios outright refuted his pupil, causing the man's jaw to drop down in disappointment. 「Your thinking is like that of a suicidal man, who simply resort to dying in order to eleviate his own pain and suffering. Are you really that weak?」
「Then what would you do? Continue your quest to deprive the Astrals' of their sacrificial souls for Yggdrasil? Your action would also doom this world in the end.」Matelus irritatedly pointed out the fact.
「... I don't know what I would do.」Kibadios casually admitted.「I'm only a person, you can't reasonably expect me to come up with an answer for this conundrum at a moment's notice as if I'm a main character in a shounen manga whose conviction is set in stone and always has an answer to argue back to the villain's point of view. Heck, I'm still processing everything you have just told me. Though, one thing I know for sure: I will not actively seek to destroy it like what you're doing.」
「Ha… Hahaha… I should not have expected anything less from my stubborn teacher.」Matelus shook his head.「Fine, I will patiently await your answer… I don't mind if you continue on the path that you have set out, though. Let's hope we will not be facing off against each other in the future, Shisou…」Matelus signaled to the girl, who swiftly opened a circular warp in space right behind them.「Until we meet again, my dear teacher.」
「... Matelus!」called out Kibadios.
「Yes?」The man turned around after half-walking into the portal.
「One thing I need to warn you though: Rowan is mine and mine alone!」Kibadios solemnly declared, his unrestricted Nen aura swirling around his body like a raging vortex.「If you ever try to take him away from me, do not ask why I don't show you any mercy.」
「... Is that so…」Matelus nodded then disappeared completely along with the girl, before the portal slowly closed off behind them.
「... What's my answer, huh?」Kibadios looked intensely at his shaking palm after his pupil finally left. For the first time in a while, the hybrid found his self doubt began to grow within him.
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「Matelus sama, you're shaking.」The expressionless girl reached out, holding onto her companion's arm.
「Am I?」asked Matelus.「You see how mad my old teacher got, don't you? He still has yet regained his former power, yet, he's as scary as ever. Sometimes, I wonder, just who… or what is he?」
「... What do you mean?」
「Seri was the one who swapped his soul during the Astrals' summoning ritual and brought him to this world. Since you have known her for a long time now, do you think she would just randomly bring some soul of some stranger to this world without a reason?」
「... No.」
「Exactly. She has yet confided in me her reason for bringing Shisou here, but considering the great impact he had already left on this world, I don't think bringing him here is just another of Seri's random acts… There's something strange about him and his existence and only time can tell.」
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Unable to shake away the eerily familiar feeling he was experiencing, the hybrid spent some time studying the ancient temple underneath the hidden lake before reluctantly exited the place and swam up to the surface. As Kibadios emerged from the water, gasping for air, the hybrid quickly noticed the presence of two other individuals standing close by. Hastingly wiping away the water on his face, Kibadios slowly opened his eyes, only to realize that in front of him, at the shallow bank of the lake stood two naked elves, who were as surprised at his presence as he was at theirs. Under the dimming moonlight, he could still clearly see the glistening droplets of water rolling down the two elvens' smooth, soft skin. It took a moment before Kibadios recognized the pair, who were the twins that had just arrived at the Fyeran's capital city on the same day he decided to leave and hunt for Desmond three moons ago. At the time, due to him being deep in thought about his decision of reanimating Adela's homunculus body with Reuk's soul that he could not appreciate their beautiful features but now, the hybrid found himself mesmerized by the twins' fully exposed bodies. Both of them possessed sensual curves at their hips, with their light pinkish nipples stood perky in the cold water of the night.
「Who… Aren't you that hybrid that helped Yllaner dono?」The young elven teenager shot the Kibadios a horrified look before his supposed calmness evaporated into anger.「What the hell are you doing here?? How dare you!」It seemed as though both the boy and his sister had just finally processed what happened, for they swiftly used their arms to cover parts of their bodies.
「Nii sama…」The girl turned to her brother, bearing a concerned look.
「Don't worry, Yue!」reassured the brother. 「I'll take care of this!」Before Kibadios could think of his responses, the brother swiftly made his way toward the hybrid, his eyes burning with rage, his legs moving so elegantly through the body of water that it did not look like there was any resistance against his movement. In mere seconds, the male elf already stood right in front of the hybrid, before he swung his arm and aimed for the hybrid's blank face.
「Hey there, young elven shaman!」In the millisecond before the slap would slam against his face, Kibadios instantaneously reacted by reaching out and grabbing his would-be assailant's wrist, stopping the slap in mid air before it could hit him.「I'm sorry for my intrusion…」Kibadios leered at the young man's flawless, tempting body. His incubus blood would have dictated him to simply pin the elf down and fuck him right at the moment, yet, he knew better and tried his best to show some restraints.「but there's a pretty good explanation for this. Trust me, I didn't mean to peak on you and your sister over there.」
「You… You…」The brother's body trembled uncontrollably in anger, much to the hybrid's confusion. 「DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID, YOU IDIOT???」
「... What?」Kibadios tilted his head puzzling. 「What's going on?」
