Yuria's chin quivered as Damien hugged her while she buried her face against his chest, firmly clutching his robes.
One could hear soft, muffled cries as her body trembled.
Damien knew Yuria was pretending to stay strong for his sake, but right now, he didn't want her to suppress her feelings and just let them out.
He knew what she had gone through in her past life, losing her family right in front of her.
And now, seeing her father like this must have triggered those painful memories.
He was feeling a tightness in his chest the more he saw his wives sad like this. He had just made the vow to make them happy, but he failed on the first day.
He blamed himself for being too careless and overconfident.
He thought he underestimated Ruthren despite the warnings Reva gave.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Maybe he should have used Shadows of Time and saved everyone instead of—
"Can you stop blaming yourself like a loser and think about stupid thoughts? What part of don't use the Shadows of Time didn't you understand?" Luna vehemently said, making Damien come out of his daze.
"W-What? I don't understand…how did you—"
"That does not matter. What you have to know is that the Heavens won't simply target the ones you saved but would even try to eliminate you since you are the cause. Wouldn't it be easier to get rid of the cause rather than try to correct things? Of course, this is the worst-case scenario but not one you would want to bring upon yourself, trust me. That is a scenario where you will definitely die, and I won't be able to help you if you are expecting otherwise. You will just bring us both and even Kalypso down."
Kalypso chimed in, "I don't like to say this, but Luna is right. I don't mind if Master puts me in a situation where I might die, but I don't want anything bad to happen to Master."
"The main problem is you are still thinking about the easiest way out and blaming yourself instead of doing what's necessary. There was no way you could have guessed Ruthren's moves without knowing what cards he was holding. Did you really expect him to control a corpse like that?" Luna asked with crossed arms.
"If only I could use my senses, I could have found that out," Kalypso said with a sigh.
Damien pulled his brows together as he asked, "No…how did he even do that? Does he have a similar ability to mine? It's not even remotely perfect as mine, but he still did it. Wait a second…there was one person who actually planned to take control of a dead man…dead Tristen, as I recall. Farah…she said she is a Spirit Walker who can puppeteer corpses. I think I have to have a good talk with her."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})He still had a puzzled look as he mumbled, "But Ruthren personally made an appearance later, and the nethereal energy around him didn't seem to make him feel unpleasant. He was too strong for me to scan his body, but—"
"Atta boy. You are finally thinking straight. There is a weird worm wrapped around his ethereal core. I don't know what it is but what I know is that it is absorbing and expelling the nethereal energy that comes into his body. So it is like his ethereal core never has to deal with the nethereal energy. Strange…I wonder where he got that from," Luna mused.
Damien's eyes brightened a little as he asked, "Doesn't that mean he is still susceptible to getting weakened near nethereal energy? Of course, it isn't a problem if he is not doing anything. But…what if he is in a fight? A fight where he will definitely have to take in as much energy as he can to recharge. The air here isn't pure nethereal energy but mixed with part ethereal energy. Surely his body will at some point absorb more nethereal energy than what that worm can handle."
"He probably doesn't care about that disadvantage since it would be easy to put down others who would be truly weakened and dying. But he knows nethereal energy has no effect on me. And that is probably why he has an army waiting outside…" Damien's eyes narrowed as he thought about it.
"Master…it means he is really scared of you. At least he doesn't take you lightly. Hmph, he didn't fight you here just because he wanted to make you feel 'alone' and blah blah but because he doesn't want to take the risk and be put into a disadvantageous situation," Kalypso said in a tone of ridicule.
"I can't believe it…That cunning bastard…He really had me fooled, and I didn't even see it coming," Damien thought he knew how humans think, but he realized being up against someone who lived for almost a thousand years was a slightly different game.
But he also knew at that moment he was too overwhelmed and distracted by seeing all those people die and his wives sad. And Ruthen took advantage of that.
"Wait, Luna, why didn't you tell me this at that time? I could have tried to take him down, even if it meant risking my life. Now he is back there safely with his army," Damien asked, his tone slightly vexed.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Luna clicked her tongue as she said, "Tsk, what are you getting angry at me for? Even if I told you at that time, you shouldn't fight him here unless you want your wives to die down there. They can't even conjure up enough ethereal defensive energy to protect themselves from the collateral damage, and then you will be busy using your energy to protect them. You will be the one at a disadvantage then. Not him."
"Haa…I am sorry….I don't know why but I am finding it hard to think straight now. It feels like I am losing control and that I might…lose everything…" Damien mumbled weakly as certain painful memories from his past life flashed in his mind.
