บท 91: Chapter 91 - A Vow of Preemptive Revenge
— Leon Greyrat —
After Oldeus had passed, Rudy quickly cremated him into a pile of ash, deciding to bury him in his garden while I went upstairs and rocked Aria back to sleep, my mind plagued with various troubling thoughts as my daughter eventually calmed down and fell back into a deep slumber.
This beautiful girl… my beautiful, baby girl… she was being targeted?
This being that I had never seen wanted her dead? My Aria? My family?
Even just the thought of it made me want to kill this Man-God, and that was without him actually accomplishing his goals in a previous timeline.
I wouldn't let him win.
He might have made Rudy his enemy in another world, but to make me one as well… that was his greatest mistake.
I would have to talk to Shizuka to see if she knew how to reach the Dragon God, just like Oldeus had told me, but that could wait until later.
With the sound of Rudy closing the front door once again, signifying his return, I placed Aria back in her crib, ignoring her small murmurs as I then checked in on Sylphy and Roxy, seeing them both resting in my bed, cuddled close together, but with a small space ready for me to climb into.
Dammit… I wanted nothing more to climb into their embrace and tell them how much I loved them, but there was something else I had to do first.
Something we had to do first.
Marching back down to the study, I took a seat next to Rudy as we stared at the old and weathered diary that was eerily similar to Rudy's.
"Well… I think we know what this is," Rudy said. "So… I'll just open it."
I nodded in agreement.
Turning the stone slate to the first page, we were instantly met with the sight of… a mess of scribbles.
"The hell?" Rudy said, pointing down at the mess of scribbles. "I can see part of my first entry, but… there's something else there."
Narrowing my eyes, I saw that the date was from today's, but there was also another year scribbled next to it.
How confusing… was it from the other timeline?
But… in the other timeline, he shouldn't have written it, right?
They should be completely separate.
But it made sense, if this was the date Oldeus used as a guide to return to…
Never mind, this wasn't getting us anywhere.
"It's probably something to do with the mess of timelines," I said. "It's not really important, and thinking about it more will hurt my head, so let's continue."
And so, that's what we did, flipping to the next page.
Luckily, it seemed that only the first entry was a mess, so the rest was relatively easier to decipher.
And so, we began to read the story of one Rudeus Greyrat from another life.
A sad, broken man who had lost everything and became a monster in his path for revenge.
At least… that's what he called himself before he died.
'Aisha was pretty down this morning. She found some "weird mouse" dead, I guess. Maybe she's not a fan of rodents.'
'Apparently, someone found a cat with Petrification Syndrome in the neighbourhood. Scary stuff. I'll have to remind my family to wash their hands and rinse their mouths carefully.'
'We just found out that Elinalise is pregnant! Cliff looked…'
It seemed that Lina and Cliff were fated to each other, which was nice to know, but other than a few similarities, Oldeus' timeline was truly quite different from our own.
Apparently, Rudy had somehow met Perugius and had even learned some summoning magic from him. Not to mention roaming the floating fortress with Zanoba to appreciate the art and sculptures.
Mundane stuff like that.
There were also a few entries I would rather not see, such as Rudy explaining some things he did with Roxy and Sylphy, and then the odd reminder of how our father had died and Mama was in a nearly comatose state.
I had already known that Oldeus' journey to Begaritt was a lot less successful than ours, but it was painful to read nonetheless, even if Lilia was able to walk in this timeline.
Not even mentioning having to hear the details of my women with another man… but I was able to get through it.
It was important to read this, after all.
We had to see what we could use from that old man's vast array of experiences to ensure we didn't make any of those mistakes.
Aisha was apparently a stay-at-home maid in this timeline, following her mother's footsteps.
She seemed happy, but I was glad my Aisha was able to pursue her own dreams without feeling like a mistress' child.
Life continued fairly happily like that, but then… Roxy collapsed.
They soon discovered that she had contracted Petrification Syndrome, which could only be cured by a God-ranked detoxification spell, which was a closely guarded secret of the Millis Church.
Why that was so?
I could only assume it was to be the only ones to cure certain powerful people, giving them a monopoly that they could easily exploit.
The damn bastards.
Cliff and Zanoba joined Rudy as he went into Millishion to take it, but as they sneaked out, they were found by the knights of the Millis Church, where a string of disasters quickly struck the group.
Cliff died, and as Oldeus returned home, he discovered that he was too late.
Roxy was dead.
Such a thought… I couldn't stand it, even if it was another world, another time, another Roxy, and a woman who loved another man…
That was my fucking lover, dammit.
To think she had died… it pissed me off to no end.
After that, Rudy sunk into depression, getting drunk and neglecting Sylphy as she tried to help, ignoring Eris as she tried to talk to him, and growing distant from Norn as he became more self-destructive.
I… could understand him.
I would be broken if any of the people I cared for died like she did, after all.
But… ignoring his duty as a father and husband… I couldn't understand that.
What I had left would be the only things I could focus on.
If anything, I would be too overprotective after something like that, to the point where they would get annoyed with me.
But I suppose it was easier for me to say that without experiencing it, so I held off on my judgment for now as I continued reading.
His spiral continued, leading to him fucking a prostitute, breaking Sylphy's heart, and causing even the ever-loyal Lilia and Aisha to think less of him.
And there hadn't been any mention of his child, Lucie, in the past few entries… was he really so far gone?
Either way, Sylphy disappeared soon after, leaving with Ariel's group back to the Asura Kingdom, even though it was earlier than planned.
And then, as he chased after them, he encountered Eris again… it seems they had a complicated history, one that I didn't completely understand.
I knew from Oldeus that he and Eris had been transported to the Demon Continent instead of me, Eris, and my sisters… and I guess love blossomed before… something happened.
Wait.
Eris, Sylphy, and Roxy… did I really end up with the same women he did?
And in the same order?
That… was quite a coincidence.
But from how pathetic he was acting in the diary, I would like to think I was doing a bit better.
He then reached the Asura Kingdom, and after some time spent searching for Sylphy in the Notos Greyrat's territory, he returned to the capital after hearing of Ariel's attempted coup, only to realize that once again… he was too late.
He mentioned the Water God and North Emperor protecting the princes, and while I could assume that the North Emperor was Auber, who was already no longer an issue, I realized once again that I would have to fight Master.
Well… if she had caused the death of Sylphy, even in another timeline… perhaps it would be a bit easier for me to dispose of her.
And then, with the corpses of Ariel's faction put on display, Sylphy's maimed body was berated and pummelled with stones from the populace.
The Asura Kingdom… the fucking Asura Kingdom, and all their filthy ilk…
While I didn't agree with most of his choices, I did internally praise this Rudeus for burning everyone he could.
But at least now… now I have a reason to destroy every single one of Ariel's enemies.
"L-Leon, calm down," Rudy said, patting my shoulder.
Oh… I had been unconsciously releasing my bloodlust.
"Sorry," I said, reining it in.
"That's fine, but remember… these aren't your Roxy, Sylphy, and Eris. They love you dearly, not… me," he said, grimacing. "Though I don't know why, reading this…"
"That's not what I'm pissed about," I said. "They… the fucking…"
They were dead.
"Yeah, but they aren't yours," he said. "This never happened. They're alive. You can go upstairs and see that, if you want. You can check on Ariel as well, if you need to."
That wasn't really what I was getting at… but whatever.
My anger wasn't something I expected Rudy to understand.
He wasn't in love with Sylphy or Roxy in this life, after all.
Returning to the diary, we continued to read through it.
It seemed that some time had passed since the last entry, and from what I read, I was quite disgusted by the man this Rudeus had grown into.
Women… it was all about women… how nice a woman's ass looked, how they were in bed, how easily he seduced them… there was even a retelling of one of his more forceful escapades that made Rudy and I grimace with the details.
I was pissed.
More than pissed, I was incensed.
Losing Roxy… I couldn't blame him.
Falling into depression… I hated reading it, but I could sympathize.
Falling deeper into depression after losing Sylphy too… I wish it was something like that, not whatever the fuck this was.
After losing Sylphy, he should have realized… he needed to be there for what he had left.
Where the fuck was Lucie?
His daughter! She should have meant everything to him at this point, but all he did was drink, fuck, and complain!
This… fucking bastard.
Past Lucie, I didn't even see anything about the rest of his living family.
The only names I had recognized were Zanoba and Julie, but that… to think he would sink his teeth into her as well.
Disgusting.
I didn't want to read it anymore, but still, I pressed forward.
I needed to get to the point where he began his path for revenge and getting stronger, as well as finding information that could prove useful.
Such as in one entry, it recounted him being in bed with an ex-girlfriend of Luke's, where she explained that shortly before Ariel's departure back to Asura, he had gotten a 'revelation from God'.
Luke was… what did Orsted call it?
An apostle.
A follower of the Man-God.
An… enemy.
I knew it wasn't that simple, especially with Rudy being right beside me despite hearing the Man-God in his dreams, but still… I already had a reason to be wary of him due to his father's betrayal.
So I would need to watch out for him.
There were also more encounters with Eris, though none of them ended well.
It seemed Eris lacked quite a bit of communication skills compared to the one I knew, but even then, the Rudeus she had fallen in love with was no longer there.
This pathetic sack of shit… if they didn't have a history, I would hope that Eris wouldn't fall in love with such a man.
That would look quite bad on me.
Some more time passed, and it seemed that the Millis Church still hated his guts for his theft, and Zanoba was also able to complete his own automaton.
To think he could do it without Cliff's help… well, I'm sure Perugius gave some advice with the magic circles, but I was still impressed.
And past that, it seemed that Norn had used her passion for writing to help with Ruijerd and the Superd's reputation… perhaps I should bring that idea up to her.
Yeah… these useful glimpses of knowledge were the only thing that made reading this pathetic saga worth it.
"Zanoba is a good friend, it seems," I said idly as we flipped past another page. "He was by your side even when you turned into a piece of shit… You shouldn't betray that."
"T-That's… this isn't me, but… I get it," he said. "I'll be sure to live up to his dedication."
"Good."
And with that, we continued, the time passing in a blur as we continued going through the diary.
Finally, after some more mostly useless entries, I found what I was looking for.
The reveal of the Man-God's betrayal, and consequent seed for revenge.
It was also then that he finally talked about his family, and as it turned out, they had all left, with only Aisha returning to help him.
His daughter… at least it seemed that he hadn't completely forgotten her and realized his past mistakes, but still… it left a bad taste in my mouth.
I ensured Rudy knew that if he did something similar to Lana, I would beat him within an inch of his life, before healing him, and doing the same thing over and over again until he got the point, but alas… as Rudy had said, it wasn't my brother.
Either way, it was then that the diary Rudy began searching for power, leading to him attempting to create an armour like the legendary Fighting God, likely to make up for his lack of physical abilities.
"Rudy… with Cliff's help, you could make something better," I said, reading over some details about the completed armour's strength. "What do you think?"
Not hearing an answer, I turned to him.
"Rudy?" I asked, watching his eyes twinkling in excitement as he stared at the page.
"Ah! Sorry," he said, shaking his head. "But… yeah. I want to do this too. A mecha… a fantasy mecha…"
…I guess he was also excited.
In the diary, Rudeus had gushed about how cool it looked as well, even though he was focused on function, so I guess they truly were the same person at heart.
That didn't matter to me, though.
I didn't need any Magic Armour.
Instead, I wanted to see those spells Oldeus had used.
Gravity and telekinesis.
If I could get a hint… I think I could get it and grow stronger after mastering it.
He mentioned magic and mana being all-powerful… it seems that I needed to rethink my understanding of magical combat once again.
Oldeus then began searching the world with his new strength, and I made sure to place a bookmark at the beginning of his travels so that I could easily return to it later.
I would have to write a lot of this down and cross-reference everything, but we were finally getting some useful information, from people and their situations to different places.
It was also then that Oldeus theorized that Roxy became infected from a rat, which had likely come from Perugius' floating fortress, so it was good to know I didn't need to worry about that.
Now that I learned they could be so deadly, I would have to create a new barrier to keep rodents and stuff out of the house.
Especially with how unsanitary children were.
There were also entries about new spell ideas that Oldeus had gained, most notably being gravity-manipulation magic, as well as a bunch of lightning spells.
From his experiences, it seemed that both of those were the best magic to use in combat, likely due to their mix of usefulness and rarity, and soon after, he discovered telekinesis once he realized the true nature of magic being 'all-powerful'.
As a human, this Rudeus was deplorable, but as a mage… he was exceptional.
I should aim to imitate him.
And calling him a deplorable human wasn't an exaggeration.
No… if anything, it was an understatement.
Even ignoring his past behaviour, this Rudeus fought people for fun, bedded any women he could, and when they refused… he forced them to.
It was bad enough that Rudy was beginning to get depressed with every pridefully boasted 'conquest'.
Eris then appeared yet again, beating him up for being a sack of shit, and Oldeus, with his new-found hatred, thought she was an agent of the Man-God for getting in his way.
An apostle.
But then, he made her cry… made that Eris cry… the one who I had only seen cry after my near-death to Orsted…
And not only that, he had captured her and placed her in the basement, torturing her in an attempt to gain some information before she eventually escaped.
Truly a despicable man… if he hadn't already died, I don't think I would have been able to stop myself from killing him.
A life of mistakes… that was an understatement.
And then, as if from a tragic tale, she sacrificed to save him against the Demon King Atofe, leading to him learning the error of his ways once again once he realized the truth of Eris' love after her death.
A vague thought entered my mind, spreading a pain like no other through my heart.
For Eris to love this Rudy that much… was I just a victim of circumstance?
Did she… really love me?
Roxy and Sylphy too, for that matter.
I knew I loved them dearly, and I had never had eyes for another woman, well… ever.
But if Rudy and I had swapped places during one of our encounters… Roxy in the labyrinth… Sylphy in the ambush… Eris in the Demon Continent… would we still be together?
I suppose it didn't matter, since this world was already different from the diary ever since Mama picked me up, but still… it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
I felt… like an outsider… just a bit.
But then, I reached another event that made me shake in anger.
A unit of Temple Knights sent by the Millis Church had sneaked into Sharia, and as a result, had killed Zanoba, Ginger, Julie, and Aisha… cutting up their bodies before setting the mansion aflame.
The fucking Millis Church… I would destroy them.
Keeping the God-ranked spell away was already pissing me off, and I still hated them from their enslavement and hypocritical morals, but now… I would absolutely destroy them.
Even if she wasn't from my timeline, that was still my damn sister.
A sister they had mercilessly butchered, all while likely touting themselves as righteous warriors.
I would destroy the Millis Church, as well as that detestable country.
But senseless destruction wouldn't do anything… or rather, that wasn't the only option.
Hmm… Cliff was a pope candidate, right?
Maybe I could get him to his rightful position a bit faster and smoother, and with my strength backing him, I'd ensure he changed the Millis Church into something respectable.
And if he couldn't… well, I'd decide when the time came, if it ever did.
But after that, a few more years passed, when we finally found the greatest discovery in this miserable diary.
The truth of the world.
It was divided into six sides: the world of dragons, the world of men, the world of demons, the world of beasts, the ocean world, and the sky world.
They were arranged like the sides of a cube, with the only way to reach other sides being certain methods that this Rudeus had yet to know of.
And more importantly, at the centre of this world, was the barren world, where the Man-God lived.
To think our world was like that… how amusing.
That would explain some odd phenomenon, such as the feeling of sinking when I used the teleportation ruins, but I did wonder what would happen if someone reached an edge of this cube.
Perhaps they would go to the other world? Would it be a barrier? Would they get sent back to the opposite side of their current world?
Either way, while it was interesting, aside from the Man-God's location, it didn't really matter.
So we continued reading, with me glossing over the weird, unrecognizable symbols that would show up now and then.
It took a while, but eventually, this Rudeus also found a way to reach the barren world through another ruin.
Apparently, there were five sacred treasures of the Dragon race, and each one sent you to another world, another side of the cube.
But by using all five… it took you right to the barren world.
This was the key to getting that annoying thorn out of my family's side, but unfortunately, Oldeus did not know where these sacred treasures were, nor how to properly activate them.
And unfortunately… he was running out of time with his limited lifespan.
Orsted probably knew of the method to activate the sacred treasures, and Shizuka should know how to get in touch with him, but as for finding the treasures themselves… that might be an issue.
Hopefully Orsted would have a hint, but… I guess I would only know for sure after meeting him again.
Hopefully on friendlier terms this time.
It was then that the diary went over Rudeus' discovery of time travel, and his concern at the spell working, as well as what to do before he finally got sent to our time, and… that was it.
"Wow," Rudy said, leaning back into his chair as he rubbed his eyes. "That was… a lot."
"That's one way to put it," I said. "But at least it proved useful."
Fuck… with all the new information, the stressful situation, and not to mention that we had spent the whole night reading… I was exhausted.
"Yeah, but… what do we do now?" Rudy asked. "I… the Man-God is unreachable, at least for us. You read that, right? And not to mention all the apostles he could have… I still think we should try to kill the Dragon God instead."
"No," I refused. "Orsted may be able to fill in the blanks that your past self had, and more importantly… I want to kill the Man-God with my bare hands."
It was personal now.
Not only to keep my family safe now and in the future, I now had the same seed of revenge Oldeus had after reading what he put my family through.
Taking a breath to calm my anger, I continued, "So I'll meet Orsted instead. And past the man god, it seems that I have other enemies to take care of."
Rudy shifted in his chair uncomfortably.
"But brother… they aren't our enemies, at least not now, and we shouldn't be making any unnecessarily," he said.
"That's wrong," I said, shaking my head. "The Man-God and Asura Kingdom already are our enemies, and the Millis Church could easily become one."
Especially if the Man-God decided to influence them.
Thinking about it now… how Darius knew of me and was so wary… it must have been the Man-God telling him, right?
So he had already moved against me…
"Haa… if you say so," Rudy said, shaking his head.
It was then that the door to the study opened, revealing Sylphy and Roxy, who were both clad in their nightdresses.
I felt my heart clench at the sight.
They were as beautiful as ever, but after hearing of their demise in another timeline… and how they had loved Rudy like they loved me… I felt some new feelings blossoming in my heart.
But more than that, I was simply relieved.
"Leon… Rudeus… what are you two doing?" Roxy asked. "It's morning, you know?"
"We noticed when Aria woke up that you were still downstairs," Sylphy said, looking at me with a pout. "You didn't come to bed at all last night, did you?"
Taking a deep breath to calm my emotions, I stood up and walked over to them, pulling both of them into an embrace as I kissed both of their heads.
"Yeah… sorry," I said. "Just… some stuff came up."
"Still… it's not good to stay up all night," Roxy said, rubbing my back. "Are you tired?"
"Haha… yeah… I'm really tired," I said, hugging them closer as I rested my head on Sylphy's. "So… can you two come sleep with me?"
Both seemingly realizing something was wrong, they then wrapped their arms around me, each giving me a kiss on the cheek as they soothingly rubbed my back.
"Well… I don't think we'll be able to sleep, but we can stay in bed with you," Sylphy said. "Just let me get Ariel prepared for the day first."
"That's fine," I said, my voice muffled from their shoulders. "I just want to be with you two right now."
"Hmm… well, I certainly don't mind," Roxy said, detaching from me as she then planted a kiss on my lips. "But only because it's a weekend, alright?"
"Got it," I said, smiling.
Turning back to see Rudy holding his head in his hands, the three of us then made our way back up to our room, my arms remaining wrapped around their sides as my mind went over everything that had happened.
But out of those various thoughts and turbulent emotions… I had gained a set of goals.
Tomorrow, I would go to Shizuka to set up a meeting with the Dragon God Orsted.
And then, after that, I would have to fulfill some vows that I had just made to myself.
First, I would get Ariel to the throne, destroy the current Asura Kingdom, and save the princess and Sylphy from their fates.
Then, I would change the Millis Church, destroying the current institution of hypocrisy that had dared kill my sister by placing Cliff as its leader.
And lastly… once I met Orsted and gained some more information… I would kill the Man-God.
This, I swore to myself.
So if this Man-God could hear me, just know… I am coming for you.
…
And so, though I was unaware at the time, this moment would mark the beginning of the greatest battle that the six-faced world had ever witnessed.
— End of Arc 5 - Family Matters —
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