324 [Witch of Unending Fates] (3)

"Emilia, huh," I said with a troubled smile. Few things can make me feel so troubled like her.

Just by closing my eyes, I can remember her appearance. Her red-blood eyes, golden-red hair, and beautiful fox ears and tail waving with the wind.

Across the universe, she is perhaps the person I owe the most to.

The problem is that I don't know how to repay this debt.

At the very least, I can't give her what she wants of me.

Because even if to Emilia I'm her dad. To me, she is not my daughter.

I can't bring myself to see her as my daughter.

Besides, Emilia... She is not a very reasonable person.

That has caused a lot of trouble. The times I have met her after our first life have never had a good ending.

Due to that reason, instead of becoming closer to her, the distance between us has only increased.

I sighed. "Where is she?"

"In the Beastkin Alliance," Ysnay replied. "I went to see her before meeting you… She is as unreasonable as always."

"I can imagine it." I smiled wryly. Yeah, if it's Emilia, I can imagine how she reacted when she met Ysnay.

"You are aware of it, right?" Ysnay spoke up with a smile. "If Emilia learns of your plans, she will do everything in her might to stop you. She is the last person that wants to see you succeed. Besides… I'm not sure if the current you can defeat her."

I smiled wryly again. Yeah, if the current me goes head-on against that little fox, I'll probably lose.

Of course, I can escape if I want. But escaping means abandoning everything here.

… That is something I can't do.

I took a deep breath. Instantly, my gaze turned firm, and my eyes shone with determination.

"I will stop her," I said to Ysnay.

"Oh? Are you planning to kill her? Otherwise, there is no way she will stop."

"No." I shook my head. "I will convince her to stop."

Ysnay was startled. Then, she erupted in laughter.

"That is a good joke, Willian. Stop Emilia? That dad-con daughter with possessive tendencies? What? Are you going to brainwash her or something like that? I'm sorry, but I think that is impossible even for you."

I shook my head. It's not that.

"I have decided, Ysnay. I will not reincarnate anymore."

Ysnay froze. Then, she looked at me in disbelief.

"You…"

"This will be my last life. If I succeed, I will continue forward as an Immortal. If I fail, I'll simply stop existing."

Ysnay fell silent. Then, she laughed bitterly.

"So even you can't endure anymore, huh. How many years have you lived until now? Two hundred thousand? No, it should a bit more."

My lips curved in a mocking smile. "… What is the point of keeping like this? I have already done practically everything someone can dream to do. I have already lived for too long."

I then looked in the direction of the Beastkin Alliance. My gaze pierced through space, arriving at the palace where the Blood Empress lived.

As expected, Emilia was there.

As soon as she felt my gaze, her ears twitched and her eyes opened in surprise to search for me.

I cut off my gaze at that moment. Now is not the time to confront her.

"If Emilia can't accept my arrangements, then I will simply die, this time forever."

Ysnay nodded with a troubled smile.

"… Well, that is a good idea. Who knows? Perhaps it will work."

She then stared at the distance with a melancholic expression.

"Willian, there is something I want to tell you as well."

"Mm?"

"… I can't endure it anymore either, Willian. This time, I came to try for the last time and… to bid you farewell."

… So it was it, huh.

I knew this day was going to come eventually.

For an instant, I was filled with nostalgia. Regardless of our relationship, Ysnay can be considered one of my few old friends.

"… How long are you going to stay?" I asked after several seconds of silence.

"I don't know," Ysany replied while using her black eyes to gaze at the blue sky. "I think I will stay until you succeed or die. If I have not managed to regain your trust by then, I'll disappear."

"… I see. That is unfortunate."

Ysnay nodded and turned towards me.

"I always regretted my actions of back then, Willian. That is my greatest regret, a regret that has accompanied me by tens of thousands of years."

"… You could have chosen to forget too."

"But I don't want," Ysany shook her head self-deprecatingly. "My memories of you are the only thing I find solace in. Ironically, even the times when you killed me are things I remember dearly now."

I forced a smile out. "I think I should feel flattered then."

"You should." Ysnay chuckled. "Any other men would kill to get a glance from me. You can get my everything if you want."

If I want, huh.

If I want...

"Anyway, let's stop talking about depressing things." Ysnay suddenly said. "About your injury… I think I can do something about it. Can I try?"

"Go ahead." I agreed easily. Ysnay is good for this kind of thing.

Besides, it's unlikely that she will take advantage of this opportunity to hurt me. Of course, I kept my guard up against her regardless, but the probabilities of she attacking me are very, very low.

With a smile, Ysnay walked towards me. She then extended her index finger and touched my forehead.

Instantly, my soul left my body and floated over my head.

My soul was very beautiful and bright. Strangely, it seemed like a stone instead of something intangible. A bright and beautiful transparent stone.

And in the stone, there was a hair-sized crack.

The crack went through half of the stone, reaching the stone's core. Moreover, it glowed with strange destructive forces that stopped my soul from healing.

"… I thought it was impossible to damage your soul, Willian. but even your soul is unable to go against the Universe's Laws." Ysnay smilingly said.

"It was a new experience for me too."

Ysnay chuckled a waved her hand. Instantly, several threads appeared around her. The threads of fate shook softly, slowly coming under Ysnay's control and wrapping around her index finger.

Finally, the tip of her finger turned into a very fine needle-like object.

"I need your help, otherwise I'll unable to pierce your soul," Ysnay commented.

"Don't worry about that," I said and willed my soul to become weaker. Weak enough to be perforated by Ysnay's needle.

When that was done, Ysnay used her needle to stitch my soul together.

The process was long, hard, and painful. Incredibly painful. The pain of having your soul pierced by threads of fate was more painful than anything imaginable.

But the results were immediate. As Ysnay's needle stitched my soul, the remains of the Universe's laws on it disappeared slowly, allowing my soul to heal little by little.

When she finished, my soul was eighty percent healed.

"It's everything I can do. The rest depends on you."

I examined my soul and nodded. This was better than I expected.

"Thank you very much."

"It's nothing. Although I don't mind if you pay me with a kiss."

I smiled wryly. And to think that usually I'm the one taking advantage of others.

...

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