Chapter 69

This book got 5 power stones in the last 24 hours. Is anyone still reading?

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The two had fought, Ethan guessed, as he observed the two. The hems of Henry's sleeves were slightly burned, while Rakepick had a slight limp to her gait.

It may have been traps, but not only did Ethan doubt that his father and the best Curse Breaker in the world would be caught off guard by traps his group had managed to bypass safely, but the way the two acted also gave it away.

They both looked ready to attack each other at any moment, yet they refrained from doing so. Rakepick approached Snyde and Weasley, who had stopped arguing, while Henry joined his family, with two sides clearly forming.

Ethan chose to remain silent, though internally he was feeling shocked at the discovery he had made. Things finally started to make sense to him, and he could not help but tighten his grip on his wand as he took it all in.

His vision had not been a trap. He did not know how it came to him, but it had told him what would happen. Sealed, or rather hidden, within the pyramid was a spirit, or a soul. Ramesses II's, if Ethan would bet.

The pyramid had not been used to seal him either, but instead to preserve his spirit through time and spread its influence over the entire tomb. As for its aim, it had been revealed to Ethan in his vision, and it was none other than to possess someone. Him.

In other words, Ethan was fated to die by possession today. Maybe this was what triggered the vision.

He also understood why his parents acted in such a weird fashion; it was the spirit within the pyramid they were wary of, as it was capable of spying on them through magic. Ramesses II was a renowned Mind Mage, and even if it was not him, to manage to persevere inside the pyramid for possibly thousands of years, it had to be someone very accomplished in the Mind Arts.

This meant that with the means of the pyramid, maybe they would be capable of intercepting telepathy, which would explain why his parents refrained from doing so. Maybe they had encountered a similar situation before, which was why they only needed to say one word to understand the situation.

There still remained some questions left unanswered, such as why his parents had even agreed to come in the first place if they knew of the danger behind this place.

After all, while his parents had never said anything, Ethan knew they had been very scared by the encounter with the Kitsunes back when he was four.

They had agreed to bring him along at first only because an Oni was easily managed and the mountains they had entered were not very dangerous. Even if there had somehow been a dragon hiding in there, they could have fled.

But they had been taken by surprise by the Kitsune. Although they were native to Japan, they were extremely rare, much more so than dragons. Perhaps to compensate for their immense potential, Kitsunes would struggle to reproduce, which was why it was estimated there were less than ten in the world, and that was because they had extremely long lifespans and some might have been hiding for centuries.

So it was not a situation his parents could have possibly expected, so bringing Ethan to the hunt should not have been a real danger. But things did go awry, and since then, Ethan always knew that his parents feared putting him in danger again.

Now, not only was there Ethan himself, but they also had Tracey under their responsibility, so Ethan was convinced that at the slightest possibility of real danger, they would have backed away.

Yet they had decided to go straight in. Did that mean that by the time they felt it, it was already too late to back away? Ethan found it astonishing that anyone could force his parents to face the danger head-on rather than flee.

Maybe they had underestimated the danger and believed there was no real danger? Ethan himself did not believe in his theory; they would not have been so careful if there had been no danger, and they would not have taken unnecessary risks in the current situation.

It was not like they were greedy or hurriedly needed any kind of money or fame, or whatever magical artefact was supposedly hidden in this temple.

There was also an element of his vision that confused Ethan. Four people had been fighting when the pyramid opened, which Ethan assumed had to be his parents, Rakepick, and possibly Snyde.

However, while the pyramid had opened and someone had come out of it, there had been a woman kneeling by the pyramid. She seemed to be an adult, so even as her face was covered by a blue light, Ethan dismissed her as a stranger.

But Ethan had discovered that his vision was more symbolic than a precise, one-to-one representation of what was to happen. He had discovered this with the three flames, and the pyramid was also not made to house a body but only a spirit, while it had been a man who had left the pyramid in his vision.

This gave Ethan an inkling as to whom the woman kneeling by the pyramid may have been. His friend, Tracey, who had somehow been important enough in this whole situation to have a close-up in his vision.

Yet at the same time, there had to be something wrong with her. Her changed body indicated there was something wrong with her, possibly possession as well. There was also that blue light that had shielded her face, though…

There was obviously something wrong with Tracey ever since they discovered the earrings, and it had something to do with them. She seemed to be herself, yet at the same time, she also possessed knowledge she should not have.

If the fact that her body had been turned into a grown woman in his vision meant that she had been possessed by the very same woman, then what could the blue light signify? The blue light was the same colour as the earrings, so did it mean they could shield one from visions?

Ethan quickly dismissed this possibility, as he had been shown them directly before. Then, could they be a form of protection instead? The woman had somehow looked straight at him in the vision as well, which had to have a meaning as well.

He would have thought she was an enemy, but towards the end of his vision, as he was clearly in the process of being dominated by the spirit trapped within the pyramid, the very same blue light had been fighting against it, doing its best to save him from it. Then, the blue light disappeared, and the woman kept her form, but her features remained shadowed by darkness instead of the blue light this time.

Suddenly, Ethan felt enlightened. Every hint seemed to fit together like a thousand-piece puzzle as his gaze turned to Tracey, who was looking tense.

"Rakepick, how about you stop your games? Is a treasure really worth so much to you?"

Rakepick smirked arrogantly at Henry's words. "You speak of it like it was any treasure. It allowed a man to create one of the most prosperous kingdoms in history."

Everyone had their hand at the ready and was feeling tense. While this happened, Ethan turned to look at Miyuki, who was still on his shoulder, and communicated telepathically, using Japanese, "Miyuki, when the pyramid starts opening, use Tsukuyomi on me."

Ethan felt surprise and shock from her, but she held her gaze, and after a second, she nodded, though still feeling confused.