Chapter 669: Meeting Again [3]

The moment she appeared, it was as if the world stopped breathing.

Her presence appeared to suck the very light from the sun itself as she gracefully walked towards the bow of the ship before stopping. That was when she raised her head to stare at the massive creature that loomed before her in the distance.

All noise ceased.

In its place was a terrifying silence that seemed to stretch throughout the surroundings.

All eyes focused on her as she stood by the bow of the ship, her black hair fluttering in silence.

’She’s here...’

Staring at her, Lazarus’s face changed very subtly.

But it was only faintly.

The current him wasn’t Julien. He... didn’t feel much for her. To the current him, she was just the woman from the Empire.

The one beneath the Zenith.

The Chancellor of Haven.

A chocolate addict.

A...

Lazarus’s thoughts stopped the moment he felt a gaze directed in his direction. Looking up slightly, a pair of deep black eyes stared directly at him, and he felt his entire breath leave his body.

Did she notice something? Was she aware of who he was...? Could it be that Xa’hurl had no influence on her? That made sense considering her abilities. If she truly remembered, then...

No.

Staring back at her, and seeing the confused and lost expression on her face, Lazarus understood that she didn’t know who he was.

He could tell that she felt something, but he could see from her eyes that she couldn’t recall at all.

She was struggling to recall, and Lazarus understood that she had also been affected by Xa’hurl’s skill.

’Yes, this makes sense. My existence should probably have been erased from her mind. To her, I’m probably just an above-average person with a little bit of strength.’

In a way, this made him feel relieved.

If she were to figure something out, then things would become complicated.

This was for the best.

...This was what Lazarus told himself.

And yet...

Even though he tried his best not to feel a thing, why did he feel... so bitter about it?

’It looks like I haven’t completely converted myself. There’s still some lingering attachments.’

Closing his eyes, Lazarus calmed his thoughts down.

Right now wasn’t the time for him to have such useless thoughts. While it was true that the woman from the empire was here, there was no guarantee that she would be able to defeat Xa’hurl. In fact, there was nothing that said she would even fight it.

The situation felt more like a standoff, with neither party moving.

It seemed like even Xa’hurl had acknowledged her strength. Delilah also appeared hesitant.

She was probably here to check out the situation, but would she interfere?

Lazarus didn’t know.

That was why he had to take this chance to act fast.

’I’m no longer suppressed by the primordial one’s pressure. In that case, I should use this chance to collect the eye.’

His main goal in coming to the Mirror Dimension was the eye.

It was so close, and yet so far from him.

Lazarus understood that Delilah’s presence was his last true opportunity to take the eye. If he wasted this opportunity, then he wasn’t even sure he’d be able to live for much longer.

As such, turning his attention towards Anne, he extended his hand in her direction.

"What...?"

His sudden actions confused Anne. However, Lazarus kept his face straight as he muttered.

"Grab my hand. This is our chance."

"Ah, but..."

"No, there’s no guarantee that she will help us. She might just be here to see how the situation is unfolding. We can’t waste this opportunity. Let’s go."

"....."

Listening to his words, Anne closed her mouth and looked in the direction of the strange woman who had appeared from out of nowhere. Her strength was terrifying, and her appearance... It was something that felt otherworldly. So much so that for a moment, Anne thought she was Panthea, the Goddess of Light.

However, given her dark nature, she quickly dismissed such thoughts.

More importantly...

For whatever reason, she was staring right at them.

Anne didn’t know why, but her gaze felt extremely uncomfortable.

So much so that she found herself hesitating whether to take the merchant’s hand or not. However, thinking about the current situation, she understood that she had no other choice but to take it.

He was right.

They didn’t know her current motives, nor whether she would help them or not.

If the key to solving the situation was beating Sylas, then she was going to do her best to help him.

As such...

After a brief clash of her inner thoughts, she brought her hand forward and grasped his hand.

Her vision grew black a moment later, and the two faded from the spot.

By the time Anne recovered her vision, she found herself standing on top of a large surface of water. Looking down, hundreds of different fragments appeared beneath her, and that was when she understood where they were.

’We’re deep within the Maw.’

She had been here enough times to recognize the place, and as she looked around, all she saw was an endless darkness that stretched throughout her vision.

Anne was just about to cast a light when Lazarus squeezed her hand.

".....?"

Anne stopped whatever she was doing, confused by his actions. However, Lazarus didn’t elaborate. Or it was more like... he couldn’t elaborate.

Using [Mana Sense], his eyes settled towards a certain direction where he felt the presence of a certain figure.

’Sylas...’

He seemed unaware of their presence, or at least... that was how things looked to be.

However, Lazarus wasn’t so sure if that was the truth.

Xa’hurl could’ve warned him about their sudden ’disappearance’, and he was trying to lay a trap for them. This was a very real possibility.

One that Lazarus couldn’t ignore.

As such, he was trying to be careful.

...At least, as carefully as he possibly could be in his time constraint. He knew that he didn’t have much time to handle the current situation.

At most, a couple of minutes.

If by then he didn’t figure out the location of the eye, then...

Lazarus took a deep breath, finally letting go of Anne’s hand as he tossed a coral towards the back of her neck.

’Attack him when I tell you to.’

His figure faded shortly after, leaving Anne at a loss.

***

"....."

Delilah’s gaze remained fixed on the spot where the two figures had faded. She didn’t recognize either of them, with this being her first time seeing them. And yet...

For some strange reason, recalling the scene from before... or more specifically, recalling the two figures who suddenly disappeared as they held hands together, Delilah felt a slight pang in her heart.

’But why...?’

Why did she feel this way?

Why did the sight hurt?

She didn’t recognize either of the figures that had just left.

And yet...

Something about the man-made her insides stir. Why was she acting like this? Who was he? She had so many questions, and yet so few answers.

Regardless of how hard Delilah tried to recall, she couldn’t remember ever seeing or meeting him. It was as if this was the first time she had met him.

But how could a stranger move her unmovable heart?

It made no sense.

’No, why am I even here...?’

Delilah touched her forehead, feeling a subtle prickle.

The entire situation made no sense, and slowly, craning her neck towards the gigantic creature that stood before her, she found herself closing her eyes.

Her previously disturbed heart started to relax.

A certain calm settled over her mind, and her eyes opened to reveal a pair of deep black eyes. A pressure that seemed no smaller than the Xa’hurl’s burst out from her body as her hair and clothes fluttered silently.

It was her pressure that made Xa’hurl stop whatever it was doing, its presence lingering in the distance like some sort of fog.

It just stood there, and yet... its momentum appeared to be growing.

’What should I do?’

Delilah didn’t come here to fight.

However, Leon had told her that what they were looking for was there.

That the answer to her questions was going to be here.

It was for that reason that she faced the creature head-on. Because... she was desperate for answers.

"Are you here to help us?"

Catching Delilah’s attention was a warm voice as she slowly turned her head to see a man with striking yellow hair staring at her. Delilah had been so distracted by the massive creature in the distance and the weird man from before that she didn’t even notice him.

However, one look was enough to tell her that he was strong.

Raising her head back up to stare at the monster, Delilah’s lips parted as she replied.

"....I’m not sure."

Was she...?

She herself was still confused about her current involvement in the situation. Right now, she was merely here because she didn’t want the aftermath of whatever was happening here to affect the cadets back in the Remnant South.

"I’ve never heard of someone as strong as you before. You must come from far away."

"Hm?"

Delilah fixed her gaze back on the blonde man. Although his face was pale, his expression was still somewhat calm.

Could he know something about the situation?

He probably did considering how he was present. As such, she asked, "Do you know what is happening here?"

"I don’t know."

But contrary to her expectations, he didn’t know.

This prompted Delilah to frown.

He didn’t know? Then—

"But that’s mainly because my memories of the situation have probably been erased."

Pointing at his temple, the man brought out a certain journal from his pocket. From how relaxed he was acting, it was almost as if he was treating the current situation as something light. As if the monster before them didn’t exist.

Even Delilah wasn’t so relaxed before such beast.

And yet...

"Hmm, I see."

Reading through the contents of the journal, the Saint nodded his head before closing it down. Then, turning his attention towards Delilah, he smiled.

"So it seems like the reason we’re here is because of the Goddess. We are supposed to help a man named Lazarus, although I don’t quite remember meeting such figure before."

".....?"

The more the man before her spoke, the more confused Delilah became.

But then his next words made her mind pause.

"It’s very likely because the memories of the situation have been erased. Or more like, his existence had been erased from my memories."

The Saint looked back at her.

"Judging from how you looked at him the moment you came, you probably knew him but also forgot. Or could I be reading things wrong?"

"...What?"

"Hmm, so you don’t seem to be aware."

The Saint turned his attention back towards the distant Xa’hurl.

"That monster... It has the ability to completely erase a person’s existence from the minds of everyone in the world. That is the power of the great primordial one, Xa’hurl."

Slowly, he turned to look at her.

"If you felt something while looking at the man from before, it is very likely that you might actually know him. It’s just that you forgot about him "