Resentment (2)
Chapter 302
“Here is hell.”
The frozen voice of the woman carried with it remnants of pain that had long eroded, losing all form.
“All Ray left me with was suffering. To him, I was merely a useful tool, but I mistook the warmth of that day for affection.”
The aimless resentment lingered endlessly, never dissipating no matter how much she tried to vent it.
Ray looked at the woman, his lips trembling as he was enveloped in confusion.
Yes, our relationship’s beginning was undoubtedly impure. I cannot outright deny your reproach that I saw you as nothing more than a tool.
Still, we built memories together and became family to each other.
Even if this world were redeemed and your value as a tool were to diminish…
I wanted to help your talents bloom.
I wanted to give you opportunities and provide a foundation for carving out your own future.
I wished for your happiness.
I never desired your pain.
I never once wanted this… this future…
“…”
Ray glanced around again.
He knew this scenery wasn’t real—it was an illusion.
But could the future shown by this illusion truly be real? Surely not.
Ray couldn’t accept the idea that such a future could come to pass.
He had undone countless schemes prepared by the forces of evil deities.
In the original history, the Empire resisted without faltering, never being overwhelmingly overpowered by the rising forces of darkness.
Thus, humanity’s strength at this point should undeniably have been capable of suppressing the dark forces.
It was incomprehensible that there would be a future where humanity risked everything against these dark forces.
This vision was merely an illusion.
There was no need to waste energy on the false future depicted by this illusion… yet Ray couldn’t definitively conclude so.
After all, Ray hadn’t been able to perceive the ‘true future’ meant to arrive in this world, so he couldn’t confidently assert that the future shown by the illusion was fabricated.
Amidst his anguish and confusion, the words swirling in his chest couldn’t form into sound.
While Ray’s lips quivered, the woman adjusted her twisted expression back to normal.
Behind the endless venting of hollow emotions lay only extreme exhaustion and melancholy.
Standing before the deep abyss of emotion, the woman always wanted to throw herself down, yet somehow never did.
“…Sorry.”
It was always the same pattern.
A brief apology for her tantrum.
And then muttering akin to self-brainwashing.
“It’s fine. It’s fine now… Everything is fine.”
Far off, buildings resembling barracks came into view.
As the woman headed toward them, she touched the necklace in her bosom, pressing it against her cheek.
The necklace seemed oddly familiar to Ray.
A necklace adorned with a beautiful blue gemstone. The blue gemstone… Its name was unmistakable—Aquanix.
“…”
After much deliberation, Ray recalled a memory from the past.
When he had visited Osiris Countdom long ago… He had stripped Clemens’ trading caravan of some jewelry, taking a few pieces for himself.
He had casually picked one of those trinkets and handed it to Johanna.
He couldn’t bring himself to call it a gift.
It was just something tossed at her without any thoughtful packaging or effort.
Johanna had worn the necklace a few times in front of Ray, but eventually stopped.
Did she dislike it? Or had she perhaps lost it?
Though it might have been worth asking, Ray hadn’t paid much attention when Johanna didn’t mention anything, eventually forgetting about the necklace entirely.
Yes, it was that necklace.
The very one Ray had nearly forgotten, requiring much effort to recall, which the woman still clutched in her hand.
“…”
Ray let out a silent groan.
His chest felt constricted.
So tight that he feared suffocation.
“Johanna!”
Unable to suppress his impulse, Ray called out to the woman as he breathed heavily.
But the woman coldly drew a line between them.
“It’s fine. I said it’s fine. So don’t say anything.”
She didn’t seek comfort.
Empty consolations only led her back to the edge of the abyss.
Clutching the necklace, the woman forced herself to think of something else.
After wandering mentally, she forcibly brought up a new topic.
“Ah… By the way… Is there any new news? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“…News?”
“Yeah, news. How long has it been since the last contact? I can’t quite remember.”
“Who are you talking about… contacting?”
“Whose? Obviously…”
The woman paused mid-sentence, stopping in her tracks.
Then she slowly turned toward Ray.
“You…”
Before she could fully process it, the atmosphere shifted dramatically.
What felt like a chill wrapping around her skin suddenly transformed into a harsh, cutting hostility directed at Ray.
Her sword was drawn in an instant.
“Are you Delun?”
“Johanna, I am…!!!”
Ray shouted again, unable to restrain himself.
But before he could finish his sentence, the scene warped.
The landscape melted away, reshaping itself into a completely new setting.
Thrown off balance, Ray stumbled forward, falling to his knees.
Groping the ground as he struggled to stand, he cried out repeatedly.
“Yo… Johanna! Johanna, I would never…!!”
After several attempts to rise and fall, Ray finally regained his footing.
However, when he looked around, Johanna was gone.
Instead, Ray faced a completely different landscape.
Reaching out into the empty air, his hand grasping at nothing, Ray eventually slumped to the ground.
“Johanna…”
*
The illusions continued to present different scenes.
Ray found himself stumbling through unknown places, embodying unfamiliar people.
However, certain elements remained constant across the shifting landscapes.
Firstly, the unpleasant sensation of floating never disappeared.
Additionally, the sky was always red, and the land barren wherever he went.
Some of the visions showed locations far removed from battlefields, yet they were equally desolate.
“Hmph.”
Ray let out a bitter laugh.
Had he been shown abandoned places devoid of life, he might have felt better.
Perhaps he could have wandered around, pretending to explore ancient ruins and enjoying the experience.
Yet in every scene he’d encountered so far, people were still alive.
Because of this, the heavy atmosphere persisted, weighing down on Ray’s shoulders and gradually exhausting him.
“Haa…”
Forcing himself upright, Ray called out to a random passerby.
“Hey.”
“What do you want?”
“When will this ‘war’ end?”
The man chuckled derisively after a long pause, tapping his head lightly.
“Have you gone crazy from eating something strange again?”
“When do you think it’ll end?”
“Hah! It’ll end someday, I guess.”
But…
“Not before we’re dead.”
With a loud crash, the scenery changed again.
Each shift was unsettling, but Ray had started to adapt somewhat.
“…”
Exhaustion evident in his breathing, Ray sighed.
He had no idea how long these cursed illusions would persist.
Ray wasn’t entirely powerless to resist, but he intended to endure them until his mind could take no more, hoping to gain whatever insights he could.
He didn’t know whether these visions were mere illusions or glimpses of a possible future.
Nor did he understand why the World Tree was tormenting him like this.
Because he knew nothing…
Ray resolved to persevere and extract as much as possible.
“Aaugh…”
His body felt heavy, as if crushed beneath an invisible weight.
Forcing himself to stand, Ray examined his palm.
The relatively small and pale hand didn’t seem like that of a man.
Bowing his head, strands of red hair fell over his face, which he brushed aside.
“Let’s see…”
Looking around, Ray furrowed his brow.
He stood in the middle of a forest, and though the crimson sky and corrupted aura made the place uncomfortable, it stirred a strange sense of nostalgia within him.
Continuing to observe his surroundings, Ray soon burst into laughter.
“Haha, damn it, really…”
Muttering a curse laced with amusement, Ray approached a nearby gravestone.
Made from expensive blue steel, the gravestone commemorated none other than…
“In honor of the noble sacrifice of Lord David, hero of the Empire!”
A memorial for David, who successfully eliminated the Dark Spirit Locust but ultimately perished in the process.
“Truly bizarre.”
Shaking his head with disbelief, Ray sat atop the pedestal of the monument.
“So… Phillips County must be over there.”
As Ray slowly oriented himself, rustling sounds came from the nearby bushes.
Turning his head, Ray tilted it curiously.
“Oh, you piece-of-shit wild boar.”
It was a Wildboar.
Aside from its unusually large size compared to what Ray remembered, it was eerily familiar.
To confirm his senses weren’t deceiving him, Ray compared the sizes of the monument and the Wildboar, confirming the latter was indeed larger than average.
Waving his hand at the snorting Wildboar, Ray called out.
“Don’t hesitate, piggy. Come on in.”
Honestly, he doubted he could evade the beast’s charge, but it wouldn’t retreat just because he told it to.
True to form, the Wildboar charged forward with a roar.
As Ray prepared to dodge, someone dropped down from above.
KABOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion sent dirt flying everywhere.
Simultaneously, the Wildboar split into two and rolled away.
Ray calmly watched the rolling creature when a knight wearing a helmet screeched loudly.
“Heyyyyyy!!!!”
Judging by the voice, it was a young woman.
She continued shouting.
“I told you not to go charging off alone!!! What the heck?! You’re risking yourself unnecessarily!!”
Oh, my apologies for that. Truly regrettable.
Ray silently muttered this to himself while staring blankly at her, causing her apparent frustration to intensify.
“Hey!! Why are you staring at me like that?!”
“…”
“Did I do something wrong?!”
“…”
“Hey!!! Aren’t you going to answer?!!”
“…”
“Ugh, puberty is driving me insane!!! Who does she take after?! And don’t make things harder for your mom, who already has enough trouble with you!!!”
Grumbling irritably, the woman eventually vented her feelings.
Removing her helmet, she revealed black-dyed hair and striking red eyes filled with an unusual energy.
“You shouldn’t act like this, even during puberty…!”
Despite being unfamiliar, the woman evoked a strong sense of déjà vu deep within Ray’s chest.
She continued her nagging.
“Every single day, I’m dealing with this because of you…”
“Hey.”
Interrupted by Ray’s simple call, the woman abruptly stopped her rant and widened her eyes.
Pointing at her, Ray furrowed his brows and asked.
“Could you possibly be Lea?”
“…Huh, hahaha… Huh…!”
The woman approached Ray, gripping her neck as if her blood pressure had risen.
“Hey? Heyyy? Heyyyy?! What kind of talk is that to your aunt?!”
Aunt?
Before Ray could question the title, he instinctively smacked Lea’s head.
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