Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son-Chapter 256 [Inder Sephtis] [11]

CLANG!!!

The crimson marking burned hot against Azariah's forehead.

The mana around him trembled as he dug his feet deep into the ground, stopping himself from being propelled back.

"Huff...Huff..."

His ragged breath echoed, the sweet smell of the rain dampening the ground engulfed him.

"...Why are you doing this?"

A tired voice echoed within the heavy rainfall, his blue eyes moving up as he looked at the boy.

"Why are you trying to kill him?" Oliver asked, his body trembling as he tried to suppress his anger.

"Stay out of this," Azariah groaned weakly as he swung his sword in the air.

CLANG!!!

The sword collided with the spear, stopping it mid-air.

The spear shivered before exploding into countless pieces.

"Tch."

Aimar clicked his tongue in frustration as he looked at his broken spear.

His body moved again, engulfing him within a portal before he emerged beside Oliver.

Next to the twins stood a girl, behind a layer of mana barrier.

Ashlyn trembled.

Her eyes, swollen from crying too much, looked at Azariah as he slowly walked toward them.

"Stop it, Azariah," she whispered softly, her voice tearing through the heavy rain.

"Move aside," Azariah snarled, glaring at them.

"I said stop it!"

She yelled as thunder crashed, her hand moving.

Azariah stepped back as a sun disk emerged in front of him, absorbing the light spear she threw.

The crimson sun disk flipped upside-down before a bolt of light shot through it.

BOOM!!!

It collided with Ashlyn's barrier, shattering it into countless pieces, grazing her body.

The air around Azariah grew heavy as the mark of the crimson sun on his forehead burned brightly, traditional tattoos of chains covering the rest.

A portal emerged on either side of him.

But he remained calm.

Instead, Oliver's and Aimar's eyes dilated, and the hair on their heads stood on end.

"Return To Zero."

Azariah whispered.

The sound of a clock ticking echoed within the forest.

Oliver and Aimar, who were just beside him, turned foggy.

Their bodies blurred, showing signs of vanishing before an incomprehensible scene occurred.

The destiny changed.

The twins returned to their original position beside Ashlyn as if they hadn't moved.

Their bodies numb from the sudden shift in reality.

And before they could come to their senses, Azariah was standing in front of them.

"Arghh!"

A kick to Oliver's stomach coiled him up like a cat, and a chop to the back of his neck knocked him unconscious.

Azariah turned to look at Aimar, who glared at him.

"First form: naqsal."

Aimar's twisted body stopped in place as Azariah used Amun-Ra's blessing.

Without wasting any time, he punched Aimar straight in the jaw, knocking him unconscious.

...Finally, he turned to look at Ashlyn, who slowly stood back up.

Tears streamed down her face, blood dripping down her cheeks as she glared at him.

"...Why?" she asked, her voice broken. "...Why are you killing everyone?"

"....."

Azariah didn't reply; he just looked down at her quietly.

...He could clearly see concern in her eyes.

...Concern for him that she tried so hard to remove from her life but couldn't.

"I am sorry," Azariah whispered softly.

But his words seemed to have an adverse effect as a cloak of burning light coiled around Ashlyn, light spreading out like a web across the floor.

"Absolute reversal."

Azariah whispered.

His eyes turned pitch black, and a dome covered him and Ashlyn.

For just a fleeting moment, he changed Ashlyn's destiny.

Forcing a destiny onto her in which she never awakened, in which she wasn't Gabriel's incarnation but just a normal human.

"Huh?"

He walked towards Ashlyn, whose hair turned from golden to brown, and her mana depleted to nothing.

A quick chop to her neck made her unconscious as he slowly helped her lay on the ground.

"Sigh."

Azariah sighed as he looked at Ashlyn returning to her normal awakened form.

He glanced at them one last time before creating a sturdy barrier of mana around them.

He turned around and walked further into the forest.

The heavy rain soaked his body, his tired blue eyes looking around.

[<Why are you doing this, Qais?>]

Inna's disappointed voice echoed in his head.

And Azariah could clearly sense it.

"...Sabaoth asked me to kill Anastasia's Avatar before the first trumpet, but I can't do that."

He replied, anxiety slowly gripping his heart as he remembered his words.

[<Killing Elohim's Avatar and her Avatar are different things, Qais!!>]

Inna yelled, not hiding her frustration.

"All Sabaoth wants is the death of a fucking Avatar!!" Azariah snapped back. "And I am giving him one."

[<Sabaoth wants an Avatar who has matured, and the only one who has is Anastasia's Avatar. Killing Ethan won't change a thing.>]

Azariah's step halted abruptly as he drew in deep breaths. "...Are you saying there's no way to change my destiny?"

[<.....>]

"So, no matter what I do... I will watch the world burn." He let out a hollow laugh, "...While standing side by side with Esmeray?"

[<...The more you try to deny your destiny, the faster it becomes reality.>]

"Bullshit!" Azariah groaned as he started to walk again. "I won't let that happen."

[<...You destroyed a lot of lives today.>]

"They were annoying," he replied, taking in deep breaths.

[<...Even Miley? Her brother? Half of your class? Were all of them so annoying for you to kill them?>]

"....."

He kept his mouth shut, the throbbing headache creeping in once again.

The space around him twisted as he found himself in a different place.

Pitter-patter

drip-drop

Step..step.

In the heavy rainfall, he walked, the rain hitting his clothes, soaking them, while droplets fell from his hair, hitting the ground.

Even the heavy rainfall wasn't able to clear the blood that stained his clothes.

From head to toe, his clothes were dyed a crimson color.

...A sense of déjà vu hit Azariah.

Gurgling...

As he continued walking, something blocked his path.

He looked up, his piercing purple eyes meeting the gaze of the monster in front of him.

It had an octopus-like face, three times his height , with ridges on its back, scaly skin, palpitating gills on its neck, long claws on its hind and forefeet, and narrow wings behind.

From its half-open mouth, a human hand hung low as the monster displayed its last hunt.

Growl...

"....No."

Azariah whispered shakily as he killed the monster without thinking.

...Inna's voice in his head started to dim out.

He slowly walked.

And he found her once again.

"Hey... Az...ariah."

A soft yet trembling and hoarse, feminine voice echoed in the heavy rainfall.

"...Why?"

Azariah asked as he looked at Christina.

The mark on his forehead started to shine brightly.

...The loop started once again.

And 'that being' once again influenced Inder to be in the place where he wanted him.

***

***

"Haah!"

A boy abruptly sat up, struggling to breathe.

His blue eyes frantically looked around the place, hardly focused on anything.

"Inder!"

A girl's voice echoed beside him, making him snap out of his panicked state.

"What happened!?" Senara asked, concernedly, wiping the sweat from his face.

"Huff... Huff..."

Inder drew in deep breaths as he looked at her with trembling eyes.

Without saying a word, he leaned forward, hugging Senara.

"...Are you alright?" Senara gently asked, caressing his head.

"I don't feel good," Inder whispered softly, breathing in her scent deeply.

"It's alright." Senara whispered with a smile, patting his head. "You are fine."

"..."

Inder took a few minutes to come back to his senses as he gently moved his body back.

"Feeling better?" Senara asked, smiling at him as she picked up a glass of water.

"...Yeah." Inder replied, gulping down the water.

With his mind calming down, he looked around the living room decorated with different lights.

A floating happy birthday sign hung on the wall.

"...What's the time now?" Inder asked tiredly as he looked at Senara.

"11:55," Senara pointed to the watch on the table.

Inder nodded, rubbing his throbbing head.

"...Where is Mother?" he asked, looking around.

"Don't know," Senara replied, shrugging. "Last I saw, she was arguing with Father about something."

"...I see," Inder mumbled as he stood up from the sofa.

His gaze moved, eyes stopping on the TV—or more on the character staring at him.

"..."

He quietly looked at the woman with platinum hair and grey eyes on the TV screen.

"What happened?" Senara asked, shaking him a little.

"...Were you playing the game?" He asked as he picked up the remote.

"Yeah, what about it?" She replied, blinking innocently.

Flick!

"...Nothing," he groaned, feeling his headache growing as he switched the TV off.

"Inder! Senara! Come here!" A voice echoed within the room, making them turn toward the door.

"Let's go." Senara smiled as she grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Slow down," Inder groaned as she dragged him away.

The living room turned silent as they moved toward the kitchen.

Flick!

The TV screen flickered back to life.

A woman appeared on the screen.

.....Her lifeless grey eyes stared into nothingness.