Harriet patted Glenn's back with a slight smile.

  "Congratulations. Archmagi is the highest some people reach after hundreds of years, and you did it in twenty-something years."

  Glenn smirked. 'More like a year and a half, but I'll keep that to myself.'

  "Thanks. Why don't we go back to King's Rise now that all this mess is over?" He looked down at the blood covering his clothes and grimaced. "I need a bath or two. Probably more."

  Harriet frowned. "Do you not know a cleaning spell? I thought Mundare was one of the first a Magi learns."

  Glenn shook his head. "Aqua Mundare." The filth disappeared off his clothes, leaving them as clean as when they were first made. "It's more a matter of mentally cleaning myself. Helps to avoid going crazy."

  The King's Blade shrugged. "If you say so. Let us rest for a couple more minutes before meeting up with His Highness the Prince and your comrades."

  "Sure."

  'What a peaceful ending. Ahh, we would almost forget that you died and came back to life thanks to me!' Diamanes cackled within Glenn's mind.

  'Talking about that.' Glenn's face hardened. 'What the fuck was this about? You can take over my body?'

  Diamanes cleared his throat. 'Remember when I told you that if you die, I die? That's still very, very true, unfortunately. When your body stops functioning, I used most of my strength to pump back some energy into it and find a solution. It's a temporary fix and kind of last resort one, and it leaves the both of us in terrible conditions.'

  'I don't give a shit if you did that to save me. I was starting—shit, I WAS trusting you, Diamanes, and you shoved my trust back up my ass. You attacked the pets and my friends, and you think I'll just let that go?' Glenn's anger kept on rising, like the pressure in a boiling kettle.

  'These were all calculated moves,' explained Diamanes with a very matter-of-fact tone. 'The first thing I did was eliminate the threat, Laurance. I took from him what would save your life, Regeneration, then focused on making you grow even further. Pebble's ability to change its density at will would be incredible in your hands, as would the skills from the other pets.'

  Glenn rubbed his forehead, trying to chase away an emerging headache. 'Diamanes, I think there's something you don't understand about me. If otherworldly forces and brain-fucked cultists did not threaten the lives of everyone around me, I wouldn't care as much as I do about power! Learning magic is incredible, but I would much rather spend time trying to make cool stuff out of it instead of more and more powerful spells to fight progressively more insane enemies.'

  He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. 'At first, I thought it was fun. Learning, fighting, growing stronger... Diamanes, I've probably killed enough things to fill up a dozen graveyards by myself.'

  Diamanes clicked his tongue. 'You should be proud of what you're becoming instead of rejecting it. Show a moment of weakness, and you'll be devoured in minutes.'

  Glenn sighed. 'And that's the problem, you bastard. This is not a life. This is survival. Always. Every day. Because of forces beyond my control, everything is always hanging from a string. We killed the Thorn's Church Pope, but then an Apostle who came straight out of my nightmares arrived. Let's say I kill him one day, what's next? Killing Epinos, a God?'

  Diamanes laughed wickedly. 'I guess so. You'll rest when you're dead, or when you'll be the strongest around! Like me!'

  'Like you...' Glenn looked at his purple left hand. He had gotten used to finding his entire arm purple, so it felt a little weird to find the color restrained up to the wrist. 'That's the next thing I wanted to ask about. Who the hell are you really, Diamanes?'

  'I told you, that's secret information you'll only get when you reach the Newborn Ruler level.' Diamanes smacked his lips. 'That's the rules, my dear host. No can do.'

  Glenn pressed his hands together with a cold expression. 'Let's talk about what I know, then. Why did you split your souls in three? What's the name of the Original? What was that thing you met in space before being sucked away into the Moon Rift?'

  Diamanes stammered for an instant, shocked. 'T- That's a lot you shouldn't have known. Crap, I forgot you saw all that. Fucking visions. Okay. So...' He drew a deep breath, carefully putting together his words. 'I...Don't remember everything from before we split in three, but I know that it was necessary if I wanted to... go back? Wait... No?' Diamanes' voice suddenly turned into rare confusion. 'Why would I go back to Limbo if I never went there before? My world was... another one, right? Wait... I can't...'

  Glenn raised an eyebrow. 'Stop faking this shit, Diamanes. This is painfully obvious.'

  Diamanes hissed painfully. 'No, no, you don't get it. These, these memories, they aren't mine... or are they? No, then... Argh...'

  Glenn listened to Diamanes mumbling painfully for a moment before mentally turning the volume to zero. There was no need to bother with his nonsense. If Diamanes didn't want to tell him the truth, there was nothing he could do to force it out of him. He looked up just in time to see the group walking toward them. Nelg was watching over Liara, who was floating right beside Tuleam, her eyes closed and a healing magic spell covering her.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Lucian was supporting Sahro, who had a hard time walking. Raijin, Sahro's fox, was sleeping on top of his master's head, snoring. Milena was looking at her second pair of arms, robotic ones, wondering what to do with them. Lina was following along with a guilty look, fiddling with her thumbs.

  Glenn rubbed his eyes, closing and opening them up a few times in disbelief.

  "Looks like it's finally over," sighed Tuleam in relief. "I'm telling you, you can promise me anything you want, I am not coming out of the Manor again. Never."

  "Shut up," said Glenn, with his eyes stuck on Lina. "The fuck are you doing here? Shouldn't you be safe in King's Rise? Nelg, I didn't give you the communication band for you to call her on a fucking battlefield!"

  Milena raised her four hands in a placating manner. "She's fine, so why don't you leave her be for now? She already got more than her dose of punishment, trust me."

  Glenn snapped at Milena. "You punished my sister?"

  Lucian dropped Sahro on the ground and dusted his hands off. "No, I did." He took a step back when Glenn's Sun became a little too hot for his taste. "She disobeyed everyone's orders and basically put her life and everyone else's in jeopardy. Harriet, don't stab him, I'm fine."

  Glenn glared at the knight, who was already ready to turn him into Swiss cheese. He dismissed his spell with a grunt and walked to Lina, checking her up and down.

  "You're not hurt? What happened? Hey, when did you become a True Initiate? Congratulations! But you better not fucking put your life in danger again or I'll kill you myself—" He stopped and took a double take at Sahro, his eyes widening.

  "...The fuck happened to you?"

  The Black Heir's skin had turned completely dark, and his ears had become unnaturally sharp at the tips. The mark on his forehead, the Inheritance Sigil, was glowing with a soft white hue. Sahro weakly pushed himself up and patted his fox. "I... I think I became a dark elf. Or something along those lines. I realized the true meaning of... well, 'Black Heirs', heh."

  Glenn whistled in awe. "Well, fuck me sideways."

  Milena sighed. "I couldn't have said that better."

  Glenn looked at her. "Yeah, what's the deal with the robotic arms? Is that your grandfather's gift?"

  She nodded. "That's my best guess, yes. That and other things, I suppose."

  Before Glenn could ask any more questions, Lucian clapped his hands together. "What do you guys say we first go back to King's Rise, then talk about all the merry things that happened to us? I and Harriet have a few reports to make, I believe, and a hundred times more orders to give."

  Glenn stretched and sighed heavily. "Let's do that. By Onnea, I really want to be back home."

  Lina sneaked in with a sheepish smile. "Before that, we need to stop by Satidipug."

  Glenn's eyebrows rose. "Why?"

  "Uhh..." Lina cleared her throat awkwardly. "It would be better for you to see 'it' with your own eyes."

  ***

  "A well?" Glenn questioned, already quite concerned with the surrounding destruction. Satidipug looked like it had been going through demolition and development, only the workers left the job half-done and completely abandoned the development part.

  Lina nodded and suddenly twisted away in a visually disturbing movement.

  "Yeah, follow me!" Her voice called from down the well. Glenn scratched the back of his head and jumped down, not even bothering to slow down his fall with Gravity Manipulation. He landed in a dimly lit cavern. Lina was waiting for him impatiently, her arms crossed.

  "What are we even supposed to find down here?" Glenn asked with a dubious tone.

  "Boring, boring, boring! Why don't we sit far away from the brat so I can give you all of my Sixth Circle-locked knowledge?" Diamanes quipped, only for Glenn to forcefully shut him down. Glenn shoved his hand in his pocket and followed behind Lina, walking through the damp cave.

  'Apparently, whatever we're going to see here doesn't need the others. Let's hope it is nothing too aggravating. I kind of want to see that flying boat Lucian spoke of...'

  The hallway dug into the cave led to a new, massive cavern filled with worried whispers and muffled cries of pain. Lina entered without hesitation, heading straight through the bunk beds and the patients toward one of the medics. Glenn walked in carefully, his eyes widening at the sight of all the victims. Most still wore soldier uniforms, their wounds still seeping out with blood.

  'They must be the survivors of the war between Satidipug and Eari. Shit, I can't believe the two Counts collaborated to sacrifice both of their cities for some divine summoning bullshit. This is insane.' Glenn gritted his teeth, his nails burying in his palm. 'This fucking world...'

  He hesitated for a moment to use Regeneration on the folks down there, but his Mana reserve wasn't exactly at an all-time high. And nobody looked like they were about to die, with the few priests and doctors on site looking like they had everything in hand.

  'We need to get a healer in our party,' he thought. 'We'd finally be the perfect DnD party. Lucian is the magician, Milena the rogue, Sahro the barbarian, and Milena the fighter. And... I'd be the bard, probably.'

  Diamanes sneered. 'With what charisma?'

  Glenn didn't reply. A woman he'd buried appeared in front of him before he could. She looked exactly like he remembered, with her auburn hair cut in a practical, no-fuss style, and her brown eyes both soft and lively, the same ones he'd had before being plagued by Diamanes.

  'Hey!'

  "M- Mom?" Glenn stammered. He took a step back as a vise tightened around his chest.

  'No.'

  'No way.'

  His thoughts raced in panicked fragments, his heart beating fast and loud. 'I buried her. I saw the casket close. I... I've done my mourning!'

  "Glenn?" His mom reached out for him, tears welling up in her eyes. Glenn took another step back. Too real. Too familiar. His mind reeled, suddenly coming to conclusions by itself.

  'I landed in this world. Lina did too. Now my mom?'

  He hid his mouth in his hand, trying to stop himself from gagging. His bowels moved uncomfortably as the world spun around him.

  'Does that mean he could be here too?'

  Glenn's eyes widened in fear. He fell to his knees, struggling to breathe. Lina and his mother's mouths were moving, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. He couldn't even attempt to comprehend them. He could only think about what could be.

  Warmth suddenly embraced him, pulling him out of the dark abyss he was falling into. Glenn felt the tears trickle down his cheeks as the soft scent of provincial herbs seemed to soothe away the fear.

  In the end, it did not matter.

  Glenn buried his face in his mother's lap, the leftover tension from the fight leaving his body.

  His father could come back. This time...

  'This time, things will go my way.'

  Real man cries in his mother's lap ??