Blake, Mary, Alice, and Aria listened intently as Ashton told them the reason behind his disappearance.
As it turns out, Ashton was connected to a higher being, which explains his rather absurd sense of responsibility. This higher being was the one who taught Ashton everything that he knows, and it was also the one who helped him and humanity immensely during those years.
Ashton told them how this entity saved him from certain death when he faced the Celestial God. He also revealed the stipulations behind his Karmic Debt and how he needed to repay it to live and return to his proper time.
Then, the story went to the part where Ashton woke up and found himself in the world of Fey.
He told them about his new identity, the things he saw, heard, did, and so on. He also told them his astounding discovery that he was sent back in the past. Which meant that everything he did there affected their present.
Ashton also told them about the existence of Demons in that world, and the things he did to eliminate the threat of that world all so that he can return home.
He was there for five years, which translated into ten years in this current timeline. He destroyed the plots of these Hypogeans to Elstar and expelled them completely before he left.
"...and that's about it I guess. I didn't bid any farewell to anyone since I thought it was unnecessary. Plus, I was itching to go home anyway so there's that."
Ashton drank his slurpee to comfort his parched throat. It's been an hour since he talked so drinking something definitely helped.
He noticed that the people around him became so silent that it was uncomfortable. He silently shrugged and let them process the information he just dropped out of literally nowhere.
"That's...wow...I uh, huh!" Blake couldn't form sentences properly due to how gobsmacked he was. "Sorry, the entire thing seemed unbelievable, but knowing you I know you were telling the truth."
"...so like, you were thrown in the distant past where the Fey still walked these lands to save them from the threat of demons? This was the requirement for you to repay that Karmic Debt?" Mary asked with a trace of disbelief evident in her voice.
"Yup, that sounds about right!" Ashton perkily replied as he bit into his burger. "Damn, I missed this thing. Feys and their 'healthy' diets are just...ugh!"
"Dude, you fought a God!" Alice exclaimed after digesting everything.
"I like how that's the thing you focused on." Ashton chuckled.
"How can it not!?" Alice exasperatedly exclaimed, "You fought a GOD! 'The' Demon God! Actually, that is not it. You fought the Demon God AND the Holy Spirit back to back and won! What the fuck, Ashton!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Staph it! You're making me blush!" Ashton shamelessly replied.
"But the thing is..." Ashton's smile faded slightly as continued: "That wasn't much of a fight really. They were the stupid ones for falling into my trap. If it weren't for me doing preparations just in case, things would've been more uncertain for me."
"I guess the trauma brought by my experience with the Celestial God paid off." Ashton shrugged, "But honestly, I don't know if I could be brave enough to do it again. It's nerve wracking you know?"
"Yeah, I could very well imagine! We just fought the incarnation of the Celestial God a few days ago remember?" Alice replied.
"Ah, right. That happened." Ashton chuckled. "Well, since that's out of the way, I guess we don't have to worry about it anymore. After all, the chances of them having another thing that could summon the incarnation was abysmally low."
"As for the Demons well...it's even more unlikely. The Demon God's been dealt with anyway so who will they call?"
"Yeah, that also concerns me too," Blake interjected. "Did the Hypogeans not know that their God is dead? If we follow the timeline, it doesn't seem right now, does it?"
"...it's the Celestial God." Mary whispered, looking slightly aghast.
"Bingo." Ashton replied in a sing-song voice.
"What do you mean?" Blake asked her.
"This whole thing is just an elaborate scheme of the Celestial God." Mary elaborates, "The rivalry between Hypogeans and Celestials was just a front to hide the truth that it is the Celestial God who's behind it all."
"Why else would he instill the Holy Spirit, a facet of his entire being, into the Demon God of all things if he wasn't planning something big?"
"If the rivalry between those two races were true, then making them work together should've been the real challenge instead of us Humans. But judging on how they easily fell into it, it becomes obvious that it was indeed just an elaborate lie." Mary concluded.
"Bingo, again!" Ashton chimed in while still wolfing down his burger.
"Damn! All this time we believed...aish! Whatever! My head hurts thinking about it." Alice complained as she too took a bite of her food.
"So the real enemy we must deal with is the Celestial God, then!?" Blake cracked his knuckles. "What are we waiting for? Let's deal with him, once and for all!"
"Not so fast, dummy. Don't be reckless." Alice pulled Blake back down to his seat.
"Why? Don't we have Ashton already? He already dealt with a God. If he could just trap the Celestial God like how he did with the Demon God, then we can kill him easily!" Blake reasoned out.
He then heard Ashton sigh and focused on him.
"It's not that easy, Blake." He said while wiping his mouth. "Forget about trapping him, do you even know which part of the vast galaxy Paradiso is at?"
"..."
"You can argue that we could interrogate some Celestials to learn where it's at but the question is, do we have the proper tools to go there?"
"..."
"Our technology might've already advanced this far, but I'm afraid that it's still nowhere near sufficient for expeditions of that scale. You're not thinking of exploring the vast universes with just us, don't you? If we ever decide to go there, it's no different from us waging a direct war with them."
"..."
"We will have to bring our army if we do that. But again, our technology isn't enough for that kind of burden so it's useless to even think about it."
"Even if we say that our technology was enough, we'd be going into their territory. Who knows what kind of nasty surprises we'll meet on the way there? And it's not like the Celestials would just watch us land into their territory. They're not conquerors for no reason, Blake. So calm down and don't be in a rush."
"...right, I'm sorry. I'm just...I just want this to end, really." Blake softly said.
"And we're on our way to that outcome, Blake. Trust me, with how things are progressing? We are very close to that." Ashton elaborated. "But it's precisely because we're near the finish line that we cannot afford to rush it."
"We've already come this far to fail. We're up against an eons-old monster. One mistake on our side might spell our doom if he capitalizes on it, so we can't risk it."
"Time is on our side. More so now, than ever. There are lots of improvements to be made and we will achieve them. Just be patient for now. Let's not rush things so that we can minimize the chances of failure." Ashton finished his explanation so he went back to his food.
Blake, for the most part, seemed satisfied with this. He recognized his recklessness when faced with Ashton's cold logic. The fires of enthusiasm in him died when Ashton began talking.
Ashton really couldn't blame him though. Just a reminder that Blake had been reincarnated a total of 9 times at this point, and he remembers everything about his previous lives.
Mentally, he's already old enough. He was already very exhausted since he had been fighting for ages now, so truly, Ashton couldn't blame him for being anxious.
That's why he explained his thought process to him. By doing so, Blake would recognize the errors in his thought process. It also helps him calm down sufficiently so that he wouldn't do anything that will put them in a tight spot.
"Not gonna lie, I missed the way how you concoct plans on the spot." Mary pointed out amidst the silence.
"Yeah. I mean, we could do it too but it's way different and efficient if you're the one doing it." Alice added on the side.
"I, on the other hand, don't miss it." Ashton snorted playfully. "It's stressful to be a schemer you know? It hurts my brain."
"Aww, does that mean that you're not going to take the position back?" Mary asked. Half-joking and half-serious.
"Hmm." He hummed while finishing his drink. "I mean, nothing really has to change just because I'm back, right?"
That got the Big 3 thinking.
"You guys have been doing a fantastic job so far. The work ethic is already etched in your bones. I don't want to disrupt anything by forcing my existence into this.
"..."
"And you guys were supposed to be where you are right now, anyway. I raised you with that intention. So why the hell would I take it back when you're doing great? Sounds counter-productive for me."
