“Don’t bother asking any questions. This is merely a recording.”
Just like that, I managed to recompose myself. For a moment, I almost thought I was directly talking to my past self, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
“Since you managed to see this recording, it must mean you’ve gotten your hands on the Astral Mirror. That’s good.”
He appeared pleased by the development.
…Or at least, it looked like it. Although it was my face, I couldn’t read my own expression at all.
Was I really like this in the past?
“A lot of things may not make sense right now, but they’ll do eventually. Just know one thing…”
The visage in the mirror paused and stared right at me.
“…We’re not the good guys. I seek no virtue. I only seek power. I am filled with sins, but my conscience is clear. We’re… I am… simply doing what I am meant to do. Whether we’re good or bad, that’s irrelevant.”
What is this even supposed to mean?
I took a moment to try and digest the words as my lips pressed tightly.
“All I know is that I see too much. Past, present, future… I see it all, and this power… it’s consuming me.”
A sudden change occurred to the visage within the mirror.
Gradually, his eyes started to turn bloodshot as my visage started to sunken.
“This power… It’s not something that we’re supposed to be able to control. It’s overwhelming and exhausting, and it’s slowly destroying me. The more I witness, the more I comprehend… and with each realization, I realize just how little time I have left.”
By now, I could see the face behind the mirror change into a very familiar one.
That…
“I’m dying.”
His voice was hoarse.
I tried to pay close attention to his words, but couldn’t.
Something about his current state drew my mind out of any thought.
“I… don’t want to die.”
Something pressed against my chest.
“But I must die.”
“…..”
A tense silence followed shortly after.
Staring at my old visage and seeing my expression finally show signs of cracking, I could tell…
I could see the despair and fear within my eyes.
“I’m not scared of death, but I’m scared of losing myself. To live in defeat means to die a thousand times over. A man’s fate is not forged by fate or those who will their path; it is taken with his own hands. That’s why even though I see, I act. Even though it kills me, I act.”
He stopped, his face trembling slightly.
Gradually, however, he shook his head and raised his head again to look at me.
“That’s why even though I can’t see you, I know you will act.”
He sounded relieved, yet I could still sense the exhaustion that lingered beneath my words.
In a way, he sort of reminded me of Kiera’s mom.
She too looked like this.
‘Ah, so this is why I felt her expression so familiar.’
It was because she reminded me of how I once was.
“Hooh.”
Closing his eyes, my visage took a deep breath before staring back at me.
“The Extractor of Containment, Astral Mirror, Oracle’s Eyes, and the Chalice of Collection. I need you to collect all four of the relics I left behind.”
Uh?
I left behind?
“To ensure things unfold as they should, you must gather them. I know you currently hold two—the extractor and the mirror. But that’s not enough. I need you to collect all four of them. Once you do, everything… and I mean everything, will become clear to you. Why I did what I did, and… where Noel is.”
My breath stopped at the mention of Noel.
Ding—!
It was also then that a notification flashed across my vision, stunning me on the spot.
[ ◆ Main Quest Activated: Collect all Four Relics]
: Character Progression + ◆◆◆
: Game Progression + ◆◆◆
Failure
: Calamity 1 + ◆◆◆
: Calamity 2 + ◆◆◆
: Calamity 3 + ◆◆◆
“Wait, wait…?”
I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
‘…Why can’t I still see the numbers?’
Seeing the new quest and the obscured numbers alongside it, I didn’t know how to react. What sort of situation was this? This was the first time something like this had occurred, and I was genuinely confused.
But more than anything, my thoughts were somewhere else.
Noel…
Where is he?
How was he doing? He was still alive, right? He…
As if sensing my thoughts, a sad smile crossed the visage within the mirror.
“If you think our life sucks, just know that… It’s nothing compared to what he’s experiencing. There’s nothing more haunting than being used as a tool for the survival of humanity.”
A surge of genuine hatred washed over my visage in an instant, causing his already bloodshot eyes to redden further as his face contorted.
That…
“That’s why we have to do it.”
That was the moment that I saw it.
“We have to kill them all.”
Madness.
“All the gods… We have to kill them.”
True Madness.
…And seeing the state that I was in, I found myself biting my lips tightly. This was especially after realizing that this madness came from the power that I wielded.
I suddenly had a thought.
‘Am I going to turn mad after I completely inherit all my memories and powers?’
No, in the first place, was the reason for my death cancer or…?
“I’m sure you’re confused. About everything, and the bits and pieces that I’ve told you… It’s frustrating, isn’t it? Knowing that I could be telling you everything right now, but amn’t.”
My visage smirked.
“As I said, collect all four artifacts, and the answers will reveal themselves. If I were to explain everything now, it would take days—and neither of us has that kind of time, nor do you need to know everything. It won’t change how powerless you currently are. It’s better if you see everything for yourself. Only then will you truly understand.”
I opened my mouth, almost reflexively forgetting that this was a recording, and just as I was about to speak, I stopped.
In the end, the only thing I could do was stare at my old visage as it stared back at me.
By now, he looked different than before.
His face was sunken, and his hair had all fallen. He looked just like I did before coming to this world.
The entire time, he didn’t say anything and just let me see his state.
This continued for the next several seconds before his image faded and my own reflection appeared.
But even then, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the mirror.
I couldn’t.
How could I, after everything that I had just heard?
I…
“Human.”
Suddenly recalling that I wasn’t the only one present, I turned to look at Pebble, who was resting over my shoulder.
I opened my mouth once more, my mind gearing in all sorts of ways as I thought of a way to explain what had happened to Pebble when…
“Why does it show my true appearance in the mirror?”
Ah.
It was then that realization suddenly dawned on me as I looked in the mirror.
Licking my lips, I carefully asked,
“Is that all you see?”
“Eh?”
Pebble looked at me with confusion.
“Was I supposed to see something else?”
“Do you not see me?”
“I do.”
“Then…?”
“I’m already aware that this isn’t your true body, human. I am not very surprised by your change in appearance.”
“That’s not it… Did you—Never mind.”
It didn’t matter to me whether Pebble saw it or not. Either way, Pebble already knew my secret, just like Owl-Mighty did.
Even if Pebble had overheard the conversation I had with the mirror, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference, given all that it already knew.
…And more than anything, there were more pressing matters that I needed to focus on.
Like…
‘Collecting the four artifacts.’
I was still unsure of their importance and what they did exactly, but given the information I had received, collecting them was a must.
There was just one problem…
‘How exactly do I get the chalice from Leon?’
Indeed, Leon was the one in possession of the third artifact, the Chalice of Collection. What made things worse was the fact that I was the one to have given him the Chalice.
Now that I needed it, finding a way to take it from him felt a little problematic…
How exactly was I going to do that?
And what about the Oracleus Eye? Where was that?
“Ukh.”
I suddenly sighed in annoyance.
Things had just gotten more troublesome, but at the very least, I now had a more concrete goal to work towards.
‘But I wonder exactly what I’ll find out once I collect all four artifacts.’
In fact, were answers the only thing I was going to find?
There had to be more to the artifacts than what I was being told… After all, if Sithrus coveted them so much, there had to be something beyond what I knew, something they weren’t letting me in on.
But whatever.
I was going to find one way or another.
“Putting that aside, how exactly do I use this thing?”
Holding onto the mirror, I poured more mana into it. I could feel changes happening to my body outside, but given that I was now stuck in the ring, I couldn’t exactly tell what was happening.
The only thing I knew was that Julien was probably having a tough time outside.
‘I’ve already poured so much mana into this thing, and yet, the only thing I’ve gotten so far is a video message. How exactly do I—’
My thoughts came to an abrupt halt as a sudden shift occurred—the mirror began to glow with a blinding white light.
Startled by the sudden situation, I almost let go of the mirror, but just managed to keep it from falling as my eyes were blinded from the light.
It took a good couple of seconds for my sight to recover, and when I did, my eyes immediately fell on the mirror as a visible change occurred.
“This…”
Staring at the mirror, my jaw opened into an ‘O’ shape as I found the words slip away from me.
It was only after a few seconds that I finally closed my mouth as my lips gently pulled up.
“…Forget about just sealing Julien. This thing might be a lot more useful than I expected.”
I slowly turned my head to look at Pebble, who seemed to have had a sudden epiphany.
“Human…”
“I know.”
I slowly nodded, looking back towards the mirror.
“…You might be able to get a body sooner than expected.”