Reborn as the Failed Lord with my Resource Gathering System.-Chapter 257: Your wives are merely vessels.

Dorian clutched the side of his face, a mask of terror etched onto his features.

Every single thing Yahoshi had just told him was enough to make anyone's heart hammer against their ribs like a trapped bird.

Rather than looking straight at her, his gaze was focused directly on the ground, watching the dark, rippling water beneath the boat.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?" he blurted out.

For some reason, as Yahoshi told the story, he could feel fragments of memory returning to him. They were right at the tip of his tongue, the smell of blood in the ravine, the heat of the fire, the cold touch of the void blade, and yet, he could not fully grasp them.

It was like trying to hold smoke with his bare hands.

Finally able to calm himself down, he slightly raised his head to look at Yahoshi.

All she did was sit there and stare at him, her hands folded neatly on her lap, giving him the time he needed to process the bomb she had just dropped.

"So I should believe you lived that long? Several thousand years ago?"

Yahoshi smiled at his question. It was a sad, weary smile.

"I can understand why that would be hard to believe. I do look the same age as you do." She leaned forward a bit, a somewhat apathetic look on her face. "But you have to understand, Jacob. After your death, after I was able to grasp your power and control the Dead Mana, I changed."

She raised her hand, letting dark energy dance between her fingers.

"I wanted revenge. I fought against humanity and the gods. I created over a thousand witches to fight alongside me. After all of that, do you truly believe my body would remain the same? Time does not exist for me. Not anymore."

"..."

Yahoshi sighed. She didn't like the look of doubt she was seeing on Dorian's face.

"For the longest time, I believed if I killed the High God of Creation, I would be able to bring you back to life. But I lost that fight. I was weakened, broken, and forced into hiding. But your soul was still with me. I just needed to find a worthy vessel."

She gestured to the air around them.

"This pushed me to create another world separate from this one. A pocket dimension. Another feat that cost me most of my remaining powers, but it was worth it. After all, in that world, your soul was safe. I made a world different from the one of magic and war. A place where I could rest with you, and only you."

A deep frown showed on Dorian's face.

He looked to the side, checking his interface. The System had not notified him of any deception. Which, of course, meant that every single word leaving Yahoshi's mouth was the truth.

Realizing this, Dorian sighed and leaned back, trying his best to regain his composure.

"You're saying my original world… Earth… was fake?"

"Yes. You had no friends. There was no 'business,' no family, no basketball court. Every person that existed in that world was a construct born from my own mana to fill up the empty world I had brought you into. The power to create spaces was something you gifted me with eons ago; I only mastered it with the help of the Dead Mana."

Dorian chuckled. A very short, dry chuckle devoid of humor.

"So Ren… my best friend…"

"A simple illusion like the rest of the people around you," Yahoshi answered softly. "I gave him a personality that would complement yours so you wouldn't be lonely when I wasn't there."

Dorian felt a chill run down his spine. His entire existence prior to waking up in this world was a lie. A dollhouse built by a grieving, insane god.

"There is no reason for you to panic, my love. It's fine," Yahoshi cooed, misinterpreting his silence. "That world doesn't matter anyway. This is what matters: this current world. The family of humans and gods that betrayed you even after you so selflessly fought for them. I refuse to forgive them. Not in a million years."

Dorian raised a hand to stop her.

"Wait. One more thing. This body… Dorian Aurelian. Was he also an illusion made by you? Is this world also an illusion?"

Yahoshi looked even sadder now, because from where she sat, she could tell Dorian's grasp on reality was crumbling.

"No. This world is real. And the original Dorian Aurelian… he was someone I handpicked to be the perfect vessel for you. He was the only one whose soul essence was both weakened enough to be displaced and compatible enough to match yours."

She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"I was able to do this because of the tiny crack in this reality. I offered the original Dorian a deal. To live in the fake world, the 'Earth' I created, where he could be free of his responsibilities and his weak body. And in return, you would take his body and live here."

"The original Dorian is… alive?"

"More or less," Yahoshi shrugged. "He is nothing but a soul now. As long as he remains in that simulation I made, he will live like normal, eat like normal, and eventually die like normal. He is happier there, Jacob. He was a miserable boy here."

A look of relief played on Dorian's face.

For a while there, he assumed his crazy ex had somehow stolen the life of an innocent man just to complete her ideal. Knowing the original Dorian consented to the swap, and was currently living out a modern life on the fake Earth—made the pill slightly easier to swallow.

"Do you really care for a human that much?" Yahoshi tilted her head, genuinely confused. "I just told you how they betrayed and condemned you. Even after your death, they all forgot all you did for them. They are livestock, Jacob."

"What can I say? The Lumberg Kingdom didn't have so much as an issue with the presence of the Dragon Monarch."

"That is only because they are from a long line of your servants," Yahoshi scoffed. "Nothing more. Which is why I will spare them from my plan."

"What is your plan exactly?"

Yahoshi paused.

Of everything she had told him, this was by far the most important part. The culmination of thousands of years of planning.

Once she had made up her mind, a calm look played on her face, quickly turning into one of absolute seriousness.

"To kill the gods. All of them. And make you the rightful ruler of this world, as you were meant to be. But to do that… I am currently too weak. I need to become whole again."

"Whole?"

"Yes. First, I would need to take my powers back from those… vessels."

"Wait—" Dorian sensed a shift in the conversation. A dangerous one.

"That should be easy for me to do," Yahoshi continued, oblivious to his rising tension. "In order for me to sneak into this world without being noticed by the High Gods, I needed to split myself into multiple parts. I couldn't carry my full divinity, or they would have sensed me instantly."

She looked him dead in the eye.

"So, I hid my essence inside others. Each of your so-called wives… they all harbor a piece of me inside them."

Dorian froze. The air in his lungs seemed to vanish.

"What?"

"I had to make my choices well," Yahoshi confessed, acting as if she were discussing the weather. "But I have to admit, I didn't think there would be a chance where you would get married to them. Fate works in funny ways, doesn't it? It seems even without your memories, you were subconsciously drawn to the women who carried my scent."

She began to count on her fingers.

"Yelena carries my aspect of obsession. That is why she was able to be around you so much, and why she felt so familiar to you. The pact she made? She made it with me, to save you, and in exchange, I planted a seed of my power in her soul."

Dorian's mind flashed back to Yelena. She had mentioned a pact with a witch she couldn't remember. It wasn't just a deal; she was a living phylactery for Yahoshi.

"Seraphina," Yahoshi continued. "She carries my aspect of Authority. Why do you think a Dragon Princess would be so submissive to a human, even before she knew you were the Monarch? Because the piece of me inside her recognized you as her master."

"And Ishtar... Maria..."

"All of them," Yahoshi confirmed. "They are merely containers I used to smuggle my power past the barrier of the gods."

Dorian gripped the edge of the boat, his knuckles turning white.

"So… what happens when you 'take back' your power?"

Yahoshi smiled benevolently.

"No matter. When I extract my essence from them, the containers will break. Their souls will be erased, and my powers will return to me. I will be the Evernight Witch God once more, and together, we will burn the heavens."

She reached out to touch his hand.

"Don't worry, love. You won't need them anymore. You'll have me. I am the only wife you ever needed."

Dorian pulled his hand away as if she were made of fire.

It was all starting to make sense.

Yelena's memory gaps. Seraphina's sudden sadness this morning—she must have subconsciously felt Yahoshi's presence drawing near, sensing her own impending doom. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

To think even his own wives were part of Yahoshi's plans. They were walking sacrifices, unaware that they were born to die for a war they didn't start.

Dorian looked at Yahoshi. Really looked at her.

He saw the tragedy of Yaho, the girl who loved him. But he also saw the madness of the Witch God who saw other lives as disposable currency.

"You're not touching them," Dorian said. His voice was low, vibrating with a growl that wasn't entirely human.

Yahoshi blinked, surprised by his tone.