Chapter 771: Goodbye [1]

The atmosphere froze over.

It was almost as if time itself had stopped.

The shift was noticeable as Delilah’s gaze slowly turned in my direction. Her eyes, which had previously warmed up, suddenly turned different. It made my heart freeze, but I knew that I couldn’t let that affect me.

I had to come clean.

Not just because I wanted to, but because I had to.

For my future.

“If I were—”

“It’s not funny.”

Delilah cut me off, her body moving slightly away from me.

I didn’t pursue her and just kept my gaze on her as she moved several steps back while keeping her gaze on me.

“This is not funny.”

She repeated.

The only thing I could do was smile at her.

“…I know it isn’t.”

Her eyes trembled for a moment, her eyes frosting over. I didn’t pay any mind to it and just shifted my attention towards the distant moon.

“I’m sure you suspected that something has been wrong with me for quite some time now. You never said anything after some point, but you’ve always kept close tabs on me. I know that.”

“Stop.”

“…I’m sure you’re also aware of the fact that this isn’t my true body. That I’m an external soul that has entered and taken over the entity known as Julien Dacre Evenus. You’ve probably figured it out a while back, but just never said anything about it. I could tell.”

This had most likely happened during the time when my body had been possessed by ‘Julien’ at the academy following the Pope incident.

I had sensed a subtle change in her, but it wasn’t obvious.

It was clear to me now that this was most likely the moment she first realized the truth.

“It hasn’t been long since I found out the truth myself. Probably a couple of years by now. I wanted to tell you, but…”

I cracked a smile, placing my hands onto the handrail and leaning back.

“I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea, considering the state you had been in not long ago. With your hatred for the gods and everything they had done to you, it seemed more than justified.”

It truly did…

“I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to kill all of the gods. I had been trying to do that myself.”

I forced out a laugh and shifted my gaze back to Delilah, who stood motionless in the moonlight, her hair stirring in the breeze, her eyes fixed intently on me.

She didn’t say a word.

Nothing.

She just stared at me with her cold black eyes.

I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but I was prepared for anything. Even if she tried to kill me on the spot, I was ready for it. I had gone through all the simulations in my mind and realized that I had no choice but to tell her the truth.

I also realized why, up until now, Sithrus had been keeping her alive.

‘While he may say that he’s ‘discarded’ her, he still holds onto the hope that something might change in the future.’

His absolute trust in his strength was what made him dismiss her strength.

In some sort of way, Delilah was a key.

…A key to hurting the Outer Beings.

“I—”

“Did you know?”

Delilah’s voice broke in before I had the chance to say anything. It sounded steady, and yet, beneath the calmness, I caught the faint trembling that she tried so hard to disguise in her tone.

“Did I…”

“Did you know about what happened to me?”

“…..”

To that, I wasn’t able to respond.

Did I know…?

To some extent. However, I didn’t know the details. I had only just learned it recently.

“…To some exten—!?”

A terrifying pressure suddenly enveloped the surroundings. It was so powerful that for a moment, I almost completely forgot how to breathe. If not for the fact that Delilah wasn’t trying to kill me, I’d have probably died on the spot.

“You know?”

I opened my mouth, trying my best to say something to de-escalate the situation, but in the end, I nodded my head.

“…Yes.”

Delilah’s face twisted, and for the first time, I saw an expression that was truly filled with hatred. My heart seemed to stop, and the world around me fell into complete stillness.

And yet, despite how the situation was turning out to be, I didn’t panic.

I knew that I didn’t have to panic.

I was quickly proven right as Delilah’s face continued to change, switching from hatred to confusion to sadness, and then silence.

“…..”

In the end, she just stopped moving.

I knew that this was my time to speak.

“I only found out recently. Back in the Mirror Dimension, when I talked with Panthea.”

Delilah’s head twitched. She had most likely been aware of Panthea’s presence back in the Mirror Dimension, or at least had an inkling.

“She didn’t explicitly tell me that it was you, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. She’s also not aware of my true identity since I never revealed it to her, nor did I have the necessary means to be recognized as Oracleus.”

I had been thinking about it for quite some time. About the reason I had to die and give my blood away. While one of the reasons was because of Sithrus, another one was probably so that I wouldn’t arouse any suspicion from Panthea.

About my real identity and my goal.

It had all been especially planned in advance so that it wouldn’t happen.

‘If I’m not the traitor, and the same is true for Noel, then this makes sense. This was probably done in order to remain cautious against the other Gods. There’s no one that I can trust amongst the six others besides Noel.’

But these were all thoughts for later. Right now, there was nothing more important than the woman in front of me as I took a step forward.

However, the moment I did, Delilah stepped back.

She shook her head, and my hands dropped.

I opened my mouth, ready to say something, but Delilah beat me to it.

“Is this what you meant before…?”

“About?”

“About it being hard to be with you.”

“Ah…”

I opened my mouth, closing it a moment later before eventually nodding.

“Yes.”

This was exactly why I said what I did. Being with me wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, it would probably be incredibly hard.

“There’s a lot weighing on me right now. A part of my past has caught up with me. One I can’t avoid, even if I tried.”

“What do you mean?”

I smiled at Delilah. Or at least, tried to smile.

Despite my best efforts to reassure her, all that came out was a poor excuse for comfort.

“…I’ll be leaving soon.”

“Leaving?”

Delilah’s face changed. Her previously tense expression faded, and in its place was a worried one.

“Where are you going? For how long are you going…?”

Her voice grew quicker with each question she asked, seemingly understanding that the reason why I was saying all of this wasn’t just because I wanted to come clean, but rather, because I was going to say goodbye to her.

“You’re not going to…” Delilah stopped, biting her lips forcefully as her cold exterior began to fade. “You’re not going to—”

“I’m not going to die.”

I reassured her with a smile. This time, the smile was a lot more genuine.

“I’ll just be gone for quite some time.”

“How… How long?”

“I don’t know. Probably a while.”

“How long is a while?”

“A year? Two years? Maybe more…”

I didn’t know myself. I’d hope for it to be less, but I wasn’t sure. This was something that I couldn’t escape. No, this was more like fate.

This was something that I had to do regardless of my will.

“That… long?”

“That long.”

I nodded, and the surroundings fell into a sudden silence. Delilah stood completely still, her expression turning distant, almost numb. I watched her for a moment, then took a step forward. This time, unlike before, she didn’t move.

I took another step, drawing closer to her.

And then another, and then—

I stood right before her, wrapping my hands around her body and bringing her closer to mine.

She didn’t resist, and that was all I needed.

In some way, this was her way of showing she was willing to wait. As I pulled her close, holding her tightly, trying to memorize the feeling, Delilah’s soft voice whispered in my ear.

“You’re selfish.”

I paused, unsure of how to reply. But then, I nodded.

“…I am.”

“You’re a liar.”

“I am.”

“You’re…”

Her body trembled, her arms moving as they clung to my back, squeezing just as hard as I did. I reciprocated her actions, bringing her body closer to me as I felt my chest squeeze. Not from joy, but from pain.

I didn’t want to go.

I didn’t want to leave her. Not when we had just established our relationship.

But… I had to.

This right here was our goodbye.

As I pulled my head back, our eyes met for the last time, and moments later, our lips found each other once more.

We fell into the pleasure for one last time.

***

Clank—!

Delilah closed the door quietly behind her and stood still, unmoving. Her face was cold, drained of any emotion, while her eyes flickered with something unreadable.

It hadn’t been long since Julien left, but with every passing minute, she felt her emotions slipping further away, fading into a cold emptiness. Her body trembled, and she understood exactly what was happening.

‘I’m about to reach the Zenith.’

The barrier that had been blocking her path for so long had started to break.

Taking a few steps into the room, Delilah paused. For a brief moment, her heart clenched. A flood of memories surged back, overwhelming her and settling into her chest as she trembled.

In truth, she still had a hard time accepting Julien’s words. She… didn’t want to believe his words. How could he be Oracleus? A student… Someone she had seen for the past years. The man who had managed to conquer her heart.

But the more she thought about it, the more the possibility seemed real. Slowly, the dots began to connect, shedding light on so many of his past actions.

In those last moments between the two of them, he had tried to explain a bit about his past, but Delilah stopped him before he could continue.

She still wasn’t ready to hear it.

Not yet.

Not in her current state, as she clutched her chest, her face growing paler with each passing second.

Despite her best attempts at trying to hold the pain back, she wasn’t able to as she covered her mouth with her trembling hand.

‘No, it’s not his fault. He didn’t lie to me.’

Delilah mumbled in her mind, stumbling forward.

‘…Even if he is, it’s clear that he’s not the one who did it! He’s a liar, but he had good reason not to tell.’

‘I can just kill the other ones. I don’t have to kill him.’

‘I can. I can…’

“I…”

The trembling of Delilah’s hands intensified as her eyes grew moist. An overwhelming sense of pain and guilt settled in her chest as she stumbled towards her bed, and warm streaks fell down the side of her cheeks.

“H-ha.”

Her chest trembled.

She, too… hadn’t been honest.

Her hatred for the gods didn’t just stem from the fact that she hated them for what they had done to her.

No…

Truth was, their death meant her survival.

She couldn’t live unless they all died. For that reason, they needed to die.