Chapter 137: Where will our next destination be?
Liyana, who was looking at the moon, imagining the life she had with Kael, but when she sensed Gabriel’s presence, her expression turned to annoyance.
She looked away from the window and into Gabriel’s blue eyes, and said irritably.
"You’re still here. Why don’t you get lost?"
"Liyana, why are you so cold to me? We’ve been friends since childhood, and I’ve always been in love with you. And now you’re falling in love with a man your daughter’s age."
Liyana’s expression distorted with rage.
"Gabriel, I tolerate you simply because you’re my childhood friend and I’ve known you for a long time. And I’ve told you many times, I don’t give a damn that you’re in love with me, I’ll never see you as a man, so give it up, I have to hold on until I hear news from my husband Kael, so give it up."
Liyana’s words were extremely cruel. Gabriel clenched his fists tightly, knowing he couldn’t do anything, but not wanting to give up on his love for her. To him, she was his perfect woman, the mother of his future children.
So without further ado, Gabriel left the room.
...
Watching blankly as Kael and Michel disappeared into the clouds, Aiden stood motionless at the edge of the cliff. He did not scream, curse, or roar at the sky. Silence was his only response. His figure, upright and still, resembled a statue that had witnessed the collapse of the world.
Only when the shadows of those two had completely faded did Aiden turn around. Calmly, he began to walk toward his daughter. Or what was once his daughter.
The grotesque cauldron awaited him, an amalgam of flesh, bone, and melted organs, an abominable vessel in which Elizabeth’s deformed heart beat. Aiden took it in his arms. The tears of blood, now dry on his cheeks, meant nothing; there was no trace of emotion in his eyes, only an unfathomable emptiness.
Her voice, soft and sharp, broke the silence.
"I’m sorry, daughter... for being so weak. Your death is my fault, and mine alone. Not Kael’s, not that platonic love you once called Michel... but mine. It was my weakness, my arrogance, my useless highest sense of superiority that led you to this end."
Although his words might have sounded sad, they were actually hollow. There was no regret, not even remorse: just a cold observation, a judgment passed by the executioner against himself. Natalia shuddered as she listened. The person speaking was not her husband; before her eyes stood someone much darker.
Aiden’s voice echoed throughout the chamber, like an echo that did not belong to a human being, but to something deeper.
"That is why, my daughter, I will bear this mistake until the end of time."
He caressed what had once been Elizabeth’s face. It was nothing more than deformed flesh, bulging eyes, and the remains of organs still pulsating. Yet his gesture was delicate, almost reverent.
With slow, ceremonial movements, he removed a rope from his space rune ring. He attached it to the cauldron and hung it on his back.
The image was grotesque and heartbreaking at the same time: a father carrying what had been his daughter, not as a burden, but as a sacred reliquary, a reminder of his shame and his crime.
"Darling, let’s go back," he said calmly.
Natalia blinked. Her thoughts were spinning, but she followed him anyway. She couldn’t help but shudder; Aiden’s calmness was more terrifying than any outburst of rage.
Everything had changed too quickly, to the point where she could barely comprehend the magnitude of what had happened. But one thing was clear to her: Kael was to blame. That ordinary-looking young man had played with everyone as if they were pieces on a board, puppets destined to be broken in his hands.
Natalia clenched her fists silently, holding back the rage boiling in her chest.
Wait, you bastard... I’ll make you pay for this.
She swore in the depths of her heart that one day, Kael would pay the price for every tear, every drop of blood, every scream he had wrung from them.
...
After a few minutes, Aiden and Natalia emerged from the Star Lord’s magical inheritance. Their expressions were completely indifferent.
Max, the old butler who had accompanied Aiden for decades, didn’t dare open his mouth. His eyes, weathered by years of experience, immediately noticed the difference: the man now walking in front of him was no longer his master. Someone else had returned. Someone much more dangerous.
The questions arose in his mind with the force of a storm.
What had happened at that inheritance?
How was it possible that, in a few hours, Aiden’s gaze had become so cold, as if he had witnessed horrors that no mortal should ever see?
But Max didn’t need verbal answers. When his eyes fell on his master’s back, the blood in his veins ran cold. The load Aiden carried on his shoulders had an all too familiar outline. The hair, the proportions, and the remains are still visible. He recognized, with a chill that left him speechless, the silhouette of the young lady Elizabeth.
Max understood. He understood suddenly, and that understanding almost tore him in two. His master’s change was no mystery; it was the inevitable consequence of what had happened with that inheritance.
At his side, Milwar prepared to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth and felt the tension in the air, he knew it would be suicide. The atmosphere was suffocating, heavy, as if the moon itself were refusing to shine its light on them. So he kept quiet. He just clenched his teeth and lowered his head, waiting for everything to unfold.
Aiden walked between them without even glancing at them. Natalia followed him, her expression just as cold.
When he spoke, his voice was like an icy dagger.
"Form three groups and explore the inheritance. The first chamber is destroyed; ignore it."
His tone was cold, devoid of any human trace. It was an order that brooked no reply, as if it were an imperial decree.
Then he continued walking. Each step crushed the purple grass under his boots, leaving footprints that looked like fresh wounds on the earth. The sound of his footsteps mingled with the silence.
"Yes, sir!" Max and Milwar replied in unison, though their voices trembled slightly. Inside, a whirlwind of confusion consumed them. They wanted to ask questions, they wanted to understand, but their master’s orders were absolute.
They quickly began to organize the men, dividing them into three groups. None of them dared to raise their voices too much.
Meanwhile, Aiden and Natalia disappeared into the trees and bushes, vanishing under the pale moonlight. From a distance, the scene was unsettling: two figures advancing silently.
And although everyone present tried to convince themselves that they were still following their lord, deep down, each of them knew the truth.
What had emerged from the magical inheritance... was no longer the master they once knew, but something much more unknown.
...
The night breeze blew strongly against their faces. Kael and Michel, high above the sky, traveled on a bird made of stars.
It was not a real animal, but magic: a skeleton of constellations that flew through the sky, slowly disintegrating with each flap of its wings, as if it were doomed to die from the moment it was born.
Below them, the world was a black ocean of shadows. Above them, the moon hung immense, enormous, illuminating everything with a pale glow.
Kael sat cross-legged on the bird’s back. His eyes, as cold as steel, scanned the horizon. The beautiful night scene evoked neither wonder nor peace in him; to Kael, it was like watching ashes floating in the wind. Everything he saw was transient, ephemeral, useless.
His mind was elsewhere: calculating, planning, evaluating his next steps.
He had already obtained the unique magic. Now he just had to take one more step: reach rank 7. He was so close he could feel it pulsing in his veins, but he knew it wasn’t enough. Power was never enough.
The next move should be the Southern Jungle Region. He might learn more about his transmigration there.
"Where will our next destination be?" Michel’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
Kael turned his face slightly and looked at him silently, with the expressionless gaze of someone who saw through everything.
After a few seconds, Kael replied:
"I don’t know."
The answer was simple. But in reality, a clear destination already existed in his mind. Only it was too far away, too difficult, and Kael didn’t waste words.
Michel frowned. He didn’t insist. He knew that look well. Kael had already made up his mind, but he wouldn’t share his thoughts with anyone. Still, he changed the subject, aware that silence could be heavier than conversation.
"How long will this bird made of stars last?" he asked.
He knew it wasn’t a real animal. It was magic.
"Three hours," Kael replied.
A smile appeared on his lips, but it wasn’t a warm smile.
Michel understood the hidden message: three hours of flight, three hours of respite, and then... the fall.
Silence fell between them once more. The wind whistled, the moon watched them from above, and the star bird crunched beneath their feet, as if it could disintegrate at any moment.
At that moment, amid the silence, Michel remembered something: traveling with Kael was like riding a hungry beast. It could guide you to the summit... or devour you when you needed it most.