Chapter 842: Hypocrite [5]

The voices inside Evelyn’s mind echoed loudly.

So loudly that she could barely make sense of anything around her. But above all the whispers clawing at her thoughts, one voice stood out. It shattered the rest and cut straight through to the core of her mind.

Free...?

"I’ll free you if you want me to. I have the power to do it. Whatever is currently torment you, I can get rid of it for you."

Slowly, Evelyn lifted her head.

Her lips quivered.

Do it.

Get rid of it all.

"...I can free you, but you’ll never be free. You’ll just end up relying on me like usual. Is that what you really want?"

Evelyn felt something heavy press against her chest.

’We want that...’

’Get rid of all the pain. All the annoyance. You want to get rid of the voices, right?’

’You’ve always relied on him. What different is it going to be from the past? Just accept his offer.’

’Yeah, he may be the cause of it all, but—’

"Shut up!!!"

Evelyn’s scream shattered all of the voices in her mind.

Clenching her teeth, she slowly stood up as she reached her hands over to her head.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!!!"

As if possessed, she started to curse at the top of her lungs.

"I fucking hate this! I fucking hate this!!!"

To who she directed her screams, even she didn’t know. Was it Julien for saying those words to her? Was it herself for wanting to accept his words? ...Or was it towards everything that led to the situation?

"Fuck!!"

Whatever the case was, she just wanted to curse.

"I fucking hate this!!"

Her screams were raw, and her voice grew strained as she screamed. But above all... those screams helped her release a great deal of the frustration she had been holding in.

"I... haa..."

Clutching her chest, Evelyn looked at Julien, her breath coming in quick, uneven rises and falls. There were so many things that she wanted to say to him.

But the moment she opened her mouth, the only words that came out of her mouth were..

"You’re a hypocrite."

Evelyn’s face quickly changed the moment those words left her mouth.

Even she didn’t understand why she suddenly said them, but soon enough, she saw Julien’s lips pull into a smile.

"...So are you."

Evelyn’s lips quivered once more, her chest boiling with what she could only describe as anger. But before she could scream. Curse, or even say anything, Julien began speaking.

"I don’t really like myself."

"....."

Evelyn’s words came to an abrupt halt, her eyes widening slightly.

"...But I’ve come to love and appreciate the person that I’ve become."

"I..."

"I say that I don’t care, but I care far more than I’d like to show it."

Julien’s closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I like to speak a lot, but I never speak for myself."

Listening to his words, Evelyn didn’t know how to react. She stood frozen, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

"I always try to gauge a person’s heart, but never try to gauge my own."

And then—

"You’re right, I’m a hypocrite."

He opened his eyes again and Evelyn turned quiet.

"But so are you."

"That’s not..."

"Is it not?"

Julien cocked his head.

"You’re not much different from me in that regard. You say that you want to change. You say that you want to be useful, but can’t stop thinking about having me help you."

"But that’s—"

"That’s what? Is it not the truth?"

Evelyn opened her mouth.

She tried to refute, but the moment she tried, she realized something.

No word came out of her lips.

As if a limp had formed at the back of her throat, she suddenly found it impossible to speak. Her mind drew a blank, and the voices that once invaded her mind came to a complete and utter stop.

"You’re a hypocrite, and so am I. We’re—"

"Spare me the lecture."

Gritting her teeth, Evelyn glared at Julien.

"Fuck!!"

The curses returned.

But this time, unbeknownst to her, the darkness that had invaded her eyes had long faded.

Right now, her eyes were clear.

Clearer than they had ever been.

"I know I’m a hypocrite. You don’t have to tell me that much. The reason why I was cursing is that I know I’m a fucking hypocrite."

Evelyn’s voice was no longer hoarse.

Her mind was similarly clear.

"...The reason why I’m cursing is that for a moment, I thought about asking for your help."

Lowering her head slightly, Evelyn let out a mocking laugh. Not to Julien, but to herself.

"It’s funny. I always say that I want to be useful. That I want to amount to something, but in the end, I just blame everything else but myself. Even when you and the others have bailed me out repeatedly. I know that. I fucking know that. And..."

Clenching both of her fists before her, Evelyn’s expression twisted.

"...And even knowing all of that, I thought about asking for your help. It’s fucking depressing. Especially when the answer is right before my very eyes."

Evelyn continued to mock herself, but despite all of this, her resolve grew.

Lifting her head to stare at Julien again, she took a deep breath.

"I don’t need your help."

Pointing at her temple, she spat.

"I can take care of my fucked up mind myself."

"....."

The surroundings grew silent right after that.

Julien simply stared at Evelyn. It was hard to make out what he was thinking, but eventually, he nodded.

"Alright."

He raised both hands.

"I won’t help you, but..."

"But what?"

"You’re starting to sound like Kiera with the way that you’re speaking."

"...Ah."

Evelyn froze. But only for a moment as she forced a smile.

"Seems like it."

She then looked around.

Towards the darkness that was surrounding the two of them.

It was thick and felt utterly foreign to her. And yet, at the same time, it felt like something she could control. Almost as if it were an extension of her body, and closing her eyes, Evelyn began to gradually control the darkness.

Swoooosh—!

She wasn’t quite sure if she was doing a good job, but the moment a certain cold prickled her body, she knew that she had at least done something correct.

And when she opened her eyes, a world of ice met her gaze.

Finally...

The two were out.

***

’This can be called progress, right?’

Watching the darkness retreat and feeling the cold return, I finally felt a heavy weight lift off my chest. For a moment, I thought that everything was over.

I thought that I could finally leave this darned place.

But soon, I realized that things were still not over.

That there were things that needed to be taken care of.

"Julien...?"

"I know."

I stared in the same direction of where Evelyn was staring.

Towards the body lying in the middle of the cold.

My heart pressed heavily against my chest once more, my expression stiffening slightly as I felt the power coming from the body.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be conscious.

However, his face was deathly pale, and a thin layer of ice had begun creeping up from his feet, slowly encasing them. The ice was starting to spread faster, and if we didn’t do anything soon, his entire body would turn into ice.

I exchanged a tense glance with Evelyn.

"...What do you think we should do?"

Evelyn asked, looking worried.

I stared back at her, similarly at a loss. I didn’t know either. I knew that we couldn’t leave him like this, but at the same time, thinking about how he reacted after her found out about Evelyn, I knew that if we helped him, there was a high chance he’d attack Evelyn.

...And I wasn’t sure if I could stop him.

In fact, I probably wouldn’t be able to. He was that much stronger than me

The only reason he was even in this state was due to the absurd power that lay dormant within Evelyn’s body.

’No, that might actually not be the case anymore.’

Taking note of his current condition, I realized that we might not necessarily lose.

"For now, it’s best if you help him."

"But what if..."

"We’ll sort it out later. Either way, even if he does wake up, he won’t be able to do anything against the two of us. At least, not in the state that he’s currently in. We’ll reason with him when he wakes up."

"Alright."

Evelyn took a deep breath, turning her attention back towards Velar’s body.

Lightning began to crackle around her body as she hurried towards him and started to treat him.

Cra Crack! Cra Crack!

The ice cracked quickly as she got to work, and as I watched her, I couldn’t help but notice the clear improvement in Evelyn’s mana control.

’She’s gotten a lot better after coming out of this.’

The rate at which the ice shattered was a lot faster than before, and I even caught a glimpse of recovering from Velar’s body.

But...

’It’s still not enough.’

Evelyn’s control had improved, but it was still far from enough to treat him of his condition. I looked at her, then shifted my gaze to our surroundings, taking in the city of ice around me.

From the towering buildings carved from frozen crystal to the drifting fog that enveloped everything.

The fog had visibly thinned following the events with Evelyn, but it was still thick. The cold was still biting, with no signs of ceasing.

Looking around, I grew concerned.

’Just how in the world are we going to get out of this situation?’

I had dealt with one problem, but the real one still remained. Leon and the others were frozen in place, their life slowly being drained away. There wasn’t much time left.

I needed to quickly figure out something.

Otherwise—

"Julien."

A soft voice broke me out of my thoughts.

Turning my head, I watched as Evelyn removed her hands from Velar’s body as she stood up.

Taking note of her serious expression, I turned to look in Velar’s direction.

That was also the moment his eyes started to flutter.

Soon—

His eyes snapped open, and my entire body tensed.