Chapter 291: Careful of what you wish for [2]
She easily noticed his pupils widening slightly, the tension on his throat, and the sound of his heartbeat all increasing rapidly at that very smile of hers. She narrowed her eyes, and a dreamy look appeared on her face, but that small moment of mutual appreciation passed in less than a second. The very next moment, Tyler showed her a disgusted look, very artificial, yes, a forced attempt not to show his obsessive side, perhaps. But that still made her pout in displeasure nonetheless.
Glaring at him in apparent anger, she started walking ahead, leaving him behind. His exasperated voice was heard from behind, "Quit overreacting, and what’s with those clothes? Why do you always have to be an attention whore? I mean, all the fucking time?"
He was the only one who could even talk to her in that nonchalant manner; in fact, he would speak to her more insultingly whenever Tyler was smitten by her appearance or gestures in any way. She knew this was his way of hiding his real emotions. But the sadness in her wanted to surface again. Brushing it down forcefully, she smiled and grabbed his arms, taking him through a carefully selected roadway.
Tyler stated in an annoyed voice, "Damn it, you bitch. It’s already bad that everyone in the school thinks we’re a couple."
"Hehe, that’s exactly what I want. At least I don’t have to receive confessions daily because of that, and all those damn pests won’t continue to annoy me." Sophia added in a mix of relief and disgust.
Tyler’s expression changed for a moment. She knew how much he hated the fact that boys would constantly leave her love letters. However, it had decreased considerably since every time someone ever proposed to her, they always found themselves or their families in a sudden, precarious situation, and no one knew how. But, Sophia obviously knew who was behind it, as she gave a silent but intense look towards whose hand she was holding.
Tyler cursed in a barely audible voice. Sophia asked, having not paid attention to him for a moment, "Did you say something?"
"Of course not, my beautiful lady. How dare I say something?" he added in a sarcastic tone. But that only brought a slight smile to her lips.
Suddenly, she felt something. Though she hadn’t unlocked much of her strength yet, her senses remained far beyond human standards, thanks to her intact memories in this particular life—a speeding Jeep, the one that was supposed to do the job. In the end, she wasn’t strong enough yet mentally to stab a sword right through his heart. And give him the quickest death, she couldn’t bring herself to do it, to be so cruel to him.
But suddenly she noticed another anomaly; everything around her —the entire world — seemed to have stopped. The phantom appeared in front of her again. It first appeared in the same appearance as her post-summoning self, similar to the valkyrie’s, but its face and body changed until it looked absolutely identical to her.
The phantom’s usual mocking expression was also nowhere to be seen; instead, a grave expression replaced it, and there were traces of desperation in it as well. She started speaking, having the same voice as Sophia’s current self,
"This is the last chance. Stop this madness. I will erase his memories of you. Let him be at peace. Don’t be so selfish, don’t drag him into your own hell. You have no idea of how much torture, pain, and suffering he would have to go through if you bring him into the hell named Eldarion continent. A world where the whole of humanity can be wiped out at any given moment."
"Even you, the one with the most significant potential, have no guarantee of surviving the next day. So, what makes you think that Tyler will survive that long and become powerful enough that you two are free? And can live a happy life. Just accept it; you can never be together with him. That’s just destiny. It is the truth."
"YOU TWO WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE TOGETHER. ACCEPT IT. PLEASE....." the phantoms tone was almost pleading as if warning about the grave future. Fortelling the disgusting fate that awaited the two of them.
Sophia’s expression turned spine-chillingly cold, hearing all that nonsense; all the bloodlust accumulated over all the reincarnations through killing billions of humans, she let out every single ounce of it. Unfortunately, that didn’t even affect the phantom standing in front of her, even in the slightest. Nor did it make the phantom’s expression change.
The phantom pleaded again, "Please, Sophia, let go, let go of your possessiveness, let go of your greed. Let him go, let him be free, for the last time. Don’t drag him to the firepit where life is nothing but a constant struggle."
"The place where being weak is a Sin."
No matter what she spoke, how gravely the phantom warned Sophia, her face remained utterly cold and emotionless, a state she learned to adapt throughout her many reincarnations, so none of the pleading words of the phantom would get to her now, no matter what.
Sophia finally stated one thing with a tone of unyielding resolve, "I don’t care. I want him with me, even if I have to drag him into hell alongside me. If fate stands in the way of my wish, I will destroy it with my own hands."
The phantom was stunned for a moment by the response, but then it laughed hysterically. There was a deep sadness to that laughter. "Oh, you bitch, you have no fucking idea. No matter how many times I warn you, no matter how desperately I plead to you on his behalf. You remain the same selfish bitch as always. That you would rather kill him and take him into the living hell, just for an impossible dream of a false peace, rather than let him live a good life on his own."
Sophia’s expression remained stone cold, uncaring of her words. The phantom sighed, and a look of boundless despair spread over its face. It said one last time, "CAREFUL OF WHAT YOU WISH FOR, SOPHIA EVERCREST."
As its last words reverberated through Sophia’s mind, the figure started to disappear into smoke, her expression suddenly cracked as if noticing something only now, she shouted desperately, "YOU?? WHO ARE YOU???"
The phantom did not respond, and only showed the same spine-chilling cold look she herself was wearing just a moment ago. The realization hit her like an avalanche. It was so obvious, the phantom was never the avatar of Prime Nexus, but it was... herself.
And before she could think any further, the flow of time resumed around her.