Chapter 43

Since childhood, Carl had been raised in a pool of honey.

He was born with riches and privileges, anything he desired was within his reach. His status was high, and his strength was remarkable. Although he had a violent and bad temper, as soon as he waved his hand, anyone who wanted to be his friend would swarm around him, eager to do anything for him.

He had a powerful father, a beautiful and gentle mother, and a kind and lovely sister.

Although, compared to his mother, the other two in his memories were like faint silhouettes.

He lacked nothing.

His life was perfect.

Until the year he turned seven, when his mother died in the bathtub.

The veil of his perfect life was finally torn, and everything slowly started to surface.

As a way to channel his emotions for his mother, he shifted all his attention to his sister Theresa.

Since childhood, his sister, who had always been gentle yet distant, and somewhat indifferent toward him, suddenly changed after their mother’s death and became kind and tender toward him.

Carl gradually became very dependent on her.

But at the same time, his heart was deeply tortured by his mother’s death.

“I must have done something wrong.”

Carl often thought to himself, “I was too rebellious and bad, I disappointed her.”

Whenever he held his head in deep pain, his sister would always be there, gently stroking his back and comforting him: “It’s okay, Carl has already done very well, and you’re getting better and better. I believe if mom saw it from above, she would feel very comforted.”

Under her comfort, Carl’s heart gradually became calm.

For all these years, he had lived this way.

His mother’s death felt like a sturdy chain, firmly binding his hands and feet, making him timid. On the surface, he seemed rebellious, but deep inside, he was fragile and reclusive.

However, under Theresa’s comfort and companionship, this scar began to slowly heal.

Until the day he met Talli, when the scab was ruthlessly torn open by the girl who had the same violet eyes as his mother.

The pain and shock felt as though someone had scraped his heart roughly, exposing the past he least wanted to face, forcing him to reexamine the mistakes he had made.

What was even more infuriating was…

“She is also your sister, Carl.”

His father’s face was hidden in the shadows, “You should get along well with her, don’t cause conflicts.”

…Oh.

The dirty illegitimate daughter.

Carl thought this as his gaze turned to one of contempt.

Disgusting.

…Indeed, disgusting.

Carl looked at Theresa in front of him, her eyes filled with tears, her golden hair somewhat messy, and her pale violet eyes filled with disbelief, as if the person before her had become a stranger.

He felt disgusted by the fact that he had the same golden hair as her.

Old master Fred and the mages behind him had already left. After confirming that the ceremony had no issues, he needed to return to his study to handle many tasks, and he also had to hurry to the palace to report the successful completion of the ceremony. He didn’t have time to waste on these two younger people.

The only ones left here were the two of them and a few frightened servants.

They tried to step forward to intervene but were intimidated by the tense situation and dared not approach.

“Carl… Carl, please let me explain…” Theresa had never felt so panicked.

In her eyes, even though Carl was a reckless and foolish little brother who couldn’t do anything right, he had always been on her side.

Even though his relationship with Talli had improved somewhat before, in his heart, she was still his sister, someone he had been with for over ten years.

But for him to learn this truth meant that the bond of blood they shared was overturned.

They weren’t from the same mother, and this was something he couldn’t accept.

“Shut up.”

Carl didn’t lower his sword. His eyes became distant and cold. “You know how she died, don’t you?”

“—I, how could I know something like that? I only found out today that mom…”

Theresa clutched her chest, wanting to step forward, but the cold light of the sword forced her to take a step back.

“You don’t deserve to call her ‘mom.’“

Carl interrupted her, his tone as cold as ice, “She’s not your mother.”

Theresa was startled by the flashing sword light. She staggered and fell to the ground, pain making her tears flow immediately.

“What did I do wrong!! I wasn’t even born back then, I didn’t know anything! Besides, Carl, are you really going to erase all our years of love and bond just because of a little bit of blood relation now?”

The servants, scared by the situation, froze in place, even forgetting to help Theresa.

“You…”

Carl seemed completely enraged by her words, “How dare you bring this up!? Are you really going to say you didn’t know at all?”

“When mom was still alive, you were distant with me because of jealousy over me receiving all of mom’s love. After she left because of you, you openly pretended to be a kind and gentle sister, but secretly you instilled in me the idea that ‘my misbehavior caused mom’s death’… I don’t know whether you were trying to make me dependent on you or soothe your ridiculous guilt, but I… I ended up hurting the person I should have been protecting because of you!”

Carl’s eyes were bloodshot. The wounds on his hand cracked as his muscles and veins bulged with force, and blood slowly filled his entire hand, dripping down the sword’s blade.

The drops fell, landing right in front of Theresa.

Theresa was terrified by his appearance, her heart racing to the point of almost suffocating, and she even forgot to cry.

She couldn’t say a single word.

She couldn’t argue back.

After a while, Carl’s chest, which had been violently heaving, finally began to calm down.

He sheathed his sword, sliding it back into its scabbard.

His cold, menacing gaze finally lingered on the pitiful girl on the ground.

“From now on, I’ll treat you as a stranger living in the same mansion. Don’t come near me again.”

“…Carl…”

Theresa weakly whispered.

“Don’t call my name either.”

Carl turned around and walked down the steps, not sparing her even a glance. “It’s disgusting to hear my name from your mouth.”

His figure gradually disappeared into the darkness of the staircase.

Carl clenched the sword hilt with his injured hand as he navigated through the complex hallways and returned to his room.

Before entering, he slowly turned his head, his crimson eyes gazing deeply at the room at the end of the corridor, his gaze devoid of any light.

That was Old Master Fred’s study.

—

As soon as Talli fell out of the teleportation vortex from the magic circle, she crashed to the ground.

She spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling like her internal organs were about to tear apart from the pain.

Before the teleportation, she had secretly loosened the ropes. When she fell into the vortex, she had freed herself from the restraints and pulled out the storage scroll Carl had bought for her, taking out a healing potion and drinking it.

Her wounds quickly began to heal.

Talli staggered to her feet, and some of the fractures from her fall also began to heal, indicating that the healing potion Carl gave her was no ordinary one.

But internal injuries would still take some time to heal.

Talli wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and took out a crossbow from the scroll, remaining vigilant without letting her guard down for a moment.

The place she had been teleported to was indeed the desolate wasteland on the outskirts of the Abyss.

As soon as she arrived, she felt the thick magical energy corroding her body.

If her body were still human, she probably wouldn’t survive more than two or three hours.

However, because the seal on her Elven bloodline had been lifted, her body now had an innate purification effect against the magical energy. Although the injuries she had sustained hadn’t fully healed yet, in such a harsh environment, her chances of survival had increased.

As she was thinking about this, her hand brushed against a cubic box in the storage space of the teleportation scroll.

She gently took it out.

Inside the transparent, rotating cubic box, a red rune floated quietly.

This was the power she had taken from Kristen for Dusk.

She had never had the chance to give it to him.

If she could make it through this wasteland area and reach the Abyssal City, where she and Dusk had gone the last time they were carried by the flying magical beast, she might be able to find him and return this power to him.

Dusk had left without a word—perhaps he had urgent business, or maybe he had been forced back to the Abyss by the Lord of the Abyss.

Holding onto this hope, Talli put the power away.

She took a deep breath, the smell of blood filling her nose.

Dark clouds gathered on the horizon—this was the familiar sky of the wasteland. Occasionally, faint glimmers of light flickered through the layers of dark clouds, the air dry and the soil devoid of life.

It was a desolate, lifeless wasteland.

Talli tilted her head back.

In the distance, there was a particularly dark cloud moving toward her, accompanied by thunder and lightning. In no time, a storm and a hurricane would sweep through this area, greatly reducing visibility.

At the same time…

The scent of rare humans was detected, and ancient creatures, which had been left to roam this wasteland, surged toward her like a tidal wave, causing a violent tremor in the ground.

Talli closed her eyes, countless images flashing before her.

There was the scene in the ancient temple, where she had transformed into a butterfly and saw Deritz weaving through the ancient creatures in the heavy rain. Then there was the final night before the illusion closed, where Dusk was carrying her and they ran swiftly beneath the moonlit blue flames.

She pulled out a bandage from the scroll and wrapped it around the palm and joints of the hand holding the crossbow, tightening it and tying a knot.

Magic bolts were loaded.

She aimed the crossbow, raising her hand, and closed one eye.

The pain from her wounds was intense, but the arm holding the weapon remained steady and unwavering, her gaze determined.

It was as if, in the wasteland, she had become the embodiment of the storm.

—She would survive, reach the Abyssal City, and see Dusk.

At the top of the tower in the center of the world.

Deritz spread the water mirror, and the scene of the wasteland under the heavy rain slowly materialized before him.

As he had thought, after being triggered by the scent of humans, the ancient creatures lost their sanity and began to rush in groups toward the vulnerable human girl.

The prophecy of the Crimson Witch said: “The storm in the wasteland will last for the next three days, and by then, the low-lying areas will be submerged by floods.”

Deritz smiled with satisfaction.

Talli. The method of self-destruction you spoke of is just the beginning.

He watched the girl on the screen, chasing, fighting, struggling, and wounded. He squinted one eye and slowly extended both of his hands, as if to gather something in between them.

The girl’s small, desperate figure was enclosed within his hands, like a prisoner struggling inside a cage.

He looked at Talli through the gap between his hands, slowly closing his hands together as he watched.

Until they were completely closed, the girl’s figure vanished from his sight, as if trapped and suffocated within the cage of his hands.