Chapter 306

Chapter 306

Translator: yun

The light had been so overpowering that the light the emperor showed moments earlier paled in comparison.

A shadow of a man had been sliced down. Blood splattered. The smell of red blood. The familiar stench stung my nose. But no one could put up a fight. No, it was because they had been so starstruck by the display of divinity that they could not move.

I tried to move slowly.

‘I can move.’

When I glanced to the side, I noticed Soricks and Rebecca who seemed to have found themselves in similar situations.

‘Perhaps the Power of the Lord doesn’t work as effectively on other Templars of the Lord?”

If that was the case, I was the only one in this hall who could move.

From some point, more than half the people in the hall had fallen. Did everyone who collapsed die? I made a hasty conclusion. The fact that I could still hear people’s moans seemed to tell me otherwise.

‘Why did he stop?’

Castor stared at the scene before me unimpressed. Then, he turned his head. His eyes turned to face mine almost unrealistically.

“Ashley.”

His eyes were soaked in another level of madness.

“If everything... everything in this palace disappears, will you look at me?”

His whispers sounded like a roar.

“I have no need to go to you.”

My voice was neither loud nor soft.

But Castor seemed to have heard what I said nonetheless. At a moment’s time, he had already crossed half the hall.

“Will you not call me brother anymore?”

He held me tightly. When he tilted his head, his black hair cascaded down.

“You’re not even my real brother, are you?”

Rebecca flinched at my words. Soricks looked surprised too.

“So, you knew.”

“Did you not want me to know?”

I smiled with my chin caught in his grip.

“If you hadn’t wanted me to know, why didn’t you hide it? The truth I have been seeking has only been revealed to me in bits and pieces.”

I continued as I stared straight into his eyes.

“You already knew I wasn’t genuine anyway.”

Castor smirked.

“You’re right.”

His golden eyes swirled with immense energy.

“I wanted you to know. At the same time, I didn’t want you to. I also wanted you to be my bird and stay trapped in my cage,”

On the night of the Founding Festival, he confessed that he wanted me to be like a bird in his palace for the rest of my life. He would grant me anything I wished so he requested me to stay confined for the rest of my life.

“I thought seeing you without your memories wasn’t bad either. Since you looked so lovely when you smiled without knowing anything.”

He pulled on my chin. His long fingers descended from my chin before stopping at my throat.

“But, just as I thought, it’s best you remember everything and continue looking at me like this.”

Only his fingers had touched me so far but still, goosebumps dotted my skin. Or perhaps it was the giddy way he was staring at me.

“Ashley. Do you loathe me?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I smiled as I placed my hands together. For a long time, I had forced myself to place this smile in front of him.

“What answer were you expecting from me?”

I murmured dryly in a thin, naive voice. As he lowered my head, he stretched a sneer on his face.

“You don’t have to answer.”Rread latest chapters at novelhall.com

He lifted my chin slowly. Our eyes met with intensity.

“You already know the answer, don’t you, brother?”

I spoke, without wiping the expression off my face.

“Castor Dje.”

His eyes stiffened slightly when I spoke his name.

“I loathe you.”

Though he might be facing me with a sword just as he did back in that month of Habermia, with an expression completely different from back then, I smiled.

“I had been so disgusted with you, I could barely stand you.”

I acted like a moron so as to survive. I pretended to like and care for the murderer who killed me. I had been so desperate to survive.

I was the monster you created.

I closed my eyes. A long time ago, he had intruded into my mind and made me feel emotions that weren’t my own.

‘Is this possible because his powers were stronger?’

As Castor looked on, another man fell to the ground.

“Ashley.”

Castor peered over at me.

“All that were present here today will die.”

For some reason, I was reminded of the Founding Festival. The words he had spoken as he grabbed onto me the moment I regained my memories.

“... You’ll come to me on your own. Because I can see the future.”

Was this the future he saw? Amidst the many people dying and in pain, there were people I loved. No, this wasn’t horrible because my loved ones were dying, it was because these were innocent lives.

“Is there any way to stop this? There must be since you keep reminding me of death. Right?”

“.....”

“... Will you save these innocent lives if I become yours?”

Slowly, he raised his head. Groans of pain resonated throughout the hall.

“If you find meaning in them living for a few days, I will.”

Castor spoke gently yet firmly.

“Nobody would be able to live in destroyed lands anyway.”

He lowered his waist before caressing my cheek, touching me as if I was fragile.

“Other than you and me, I mean.”

Eyes holding different warmths met. I narrowed the distance between us.

“Castor. That kind of life means nothing to me.”

“The way you call my name is music to my ears. I want to hear it forever.”

”Castor.”

The name I loathed the most, the name I gritted my teeth as though I was sharpening my sword with them to utter. I stared at Soricks who was struggling not to raise his sword. I spotted Rebecca who had been seated next to me, pointing a blade towards herself.

“Do you love me?”

He lifted the hands that had been resting on my cheek. This was my first time seeing him flustered.

“You turned a blind eye to me even when I cried for help and begged for mercy.”

He never failed to come and kill me. Just as he did to me, I wiped off the sweat on his face. Blood that had been partially hardened was left on my fingers.

From the moment he killed me to the moment I would have my revenge. I was slowly taking after him. I had used my life to change the future and used my life to save people.

‘To be honest, I don’t feel particularly perturbed by this scene either.’

I have forgotten the importance of life. The fact that the lives of my loved ones were precious. My hope that they would never die. But why were theirs so precious?

“From you, I learnt to give up and be resigned. From some point on, I only lived with hate and vengeance as fuel.”

At some point, I had become broken. I had taken my life for granted and treated it like a fly’s.

I had Fleon, Dane, Ray and Rebecca. I had gathered such kind people around me but nevertheless, I continued to break piece by piece.

“At the rate I was going on, I might have turned out the same as you. After slowly breaking... I ended up the way you wanted me to.”

I could see him better now. The tyrant I could never understand, the cruel murderer. I could see him.

The fact that I now could meant that I had changed.

‘Like how when you stare into the abyss, it would stare back at you?’

A part of me had been stained by him as I tried to catch him.

“But Castor. We might be similar but I don’t think we can ever be the same. Do you know why?”

A bright purple flower bloomed at the tips of my fingers. The light that gradually spread throughout the hall created an intense beam of light.

Castor hurriedly retreated.

“Even when I was stuck in despair, I was never alone.”

Just then. Through a cluster of purple lights, a mysterious green one pierced through. Hundreds of vines rushed through the cracks in the doors.

Vines even managed to enter through windows, and even the walls and the ceiling to immobilise the templars. Those who did not stop and tried to resist were forced motionless by the roots that burst through the floor.

The door swung open.

Someone stumbled into this bloody landscape. His white tunic sparkled as his interestingly sky-coloured hair fluttered in waves.

The man lowered his head.

“It’s been a while.”

Flowers bloomed on all the stalks present in the room.

“Brother.”

The sight of flowers in bloom. And there Amor was, standing in the middle of it all. He looked up to stare at Castor who was standing on the steps.

“Amor.”

Amor tilted his head slightly upon Castor’s call. A piercing smile spread on his face.

“The 4th Branch, Amor Noche Kaltanias. You’re a little late for the ceremony.”