Chapter 2677 – 2677. God’S Atlantis

The place I was dragged to by the young Elena was the study of the Valdert mansion. I had been in and out a few times, so it was familiar to me. The layout of the room, the atmosphere of the sunlight coming through the windows, it was all so similar.

“The Valdert family’s study, I see.”

“To be precise, it’s the study from about 17 years ago. A time before I knew of my father’s anguish or my mother’s debauchery. Because I knew nothing, it’s the happiest time in my memories.”

I saw the world where Kang Myungjin, Rilsne, and Joo Seohyun were. Everyone was in their past. As Elena said, it must be the time when they felt the happiest.

But why was I in the snowy field?

I suspect it’s the influence of the Absolute Spirit. Since the Absolute Spirit is blocking my mind, I wouldn’t be able to see my past. And if I can’t know my past, I wouldn’t be able to manifest it.

I glanced behind me. There was a mirror. A small mirror on the desk. I had come from there. The mirror reflected me and Elena. It seemed a bit difficult to return to that snowy field.

“Did you know where this place is, that it’s fake? But why are you still here? Is it because you’re too young to use your powers?”

“My body is younger, but my powers are the same. This younger body is just an appearance. The 7-year-old me had just started learning the basics of magic and didn’t even know about illusion magic.”

Yet, she very naturally created wine with illusion magic and took a sip. A 7-year-old drinking wine. It was an incongruous sight. Fortunately, her stats were the same, so she didn’t seem to get drunk.

Elena offered me wine as well. I accepted and drank. The wine she gives is always delicious.

“Before you came, I wandered around the mansion. There were many things I didn’t know. From the small decorations in the mansion to the servants I didn’t recognize.”

“Even things you didn’t know were manifested?”

“Yes. This space isn’t just a world created based on my memories. It’s closer to something that brought the information from that time and manifested it.”

“In the end, it’s a fake world. Even if you change the past, it won’t apply to reality. Even if it were possible, the system and the gods wouldn’t allow it.”

“I don’t intend to change the past. I just want to know. The information I didn’t know 17 years ago.”

“Why?”

“…About five years after this time, when I was 12, I lost my father and killed my mother. I was quite young back then. I couldn’t think as broadly and deeply as I do now. I just hated my mother and thought she was dangerous. But as time passed… I started to think that it might not have been just my mother’s fault. Like, maybe someone incited her.”

Elena’s eyes turned cold. Seeing those eyes, I couldn’t help but cooperate with Elena. If I refused here, I’d be nagged for a long time.

“Alright. I’ll help you. If, as you say, someone intervened… the most likely culprit is probably the Emperor.”

“No. It wouldn’t be the Emperor. The Crown Prince would also be a fledgling who can’t even take care of himself at this time. My father, the current head of the family, was quite friendly to the Imperial Family. You could even say he was loyal to the Emperor. So, there’s no reason for the Imperial Family to interfere with the Valdert family.”

I nodded at Elena’s words.

The Empire’s Five Dukes. The five dukes who protect the Empire. From the Emperor’s perspective, there’s no reason to completely alienate the Empire’s Five Dukes. Well, he might keep them in check politically, but that’s about it. Without the Empire’s Five Dukes, the Ustia Empire would become very unstable.

Tap tap.

I sensed a presence approaching through my senses. Elena also seemed to notice the presence and erased the wine she was holding in the air.

“Elena. What should we do? Should we subdue them?”

“…This presence is my mother. Hide for now. My mother has the blood of the fairy race, but… she’s not capable of seeing through your deception.”

My deception is an SSS-rank unique trait. It would be stranger if she could see through it.

「Deception hides your presence.」

My body became transparent. I positioned myself behind Elena.

Elena, who had been sitting crookedly, straightened her posture and looked down at a thick book.

The study door opened, and a woman entered.

She was a woman in a pure white dress. She had shiny blonde hair and blue eyes like Elena. The tips of her ears were slightly pointed, and her skin was pure white. She was a slender woman with a gentle aura. A beautiful woman with a soft impression, who seemed incapable of harming even a small animal, let alone picking a flower.

However, she was adorned with expensive jewelry on her ears, neck, arms, and hands. They looked like expensive jewels, and all together, they must have weighed at least 5kg.

“Elena. Are you studying well? Is it not too difficult?”

“…Yes, Mother. I’m doing well.”

Elena said. Her voice trembled slightly. Elena’s mother didn’t seem to notice and looked around. Her eyes moved here and there as if searching for someone.

“Elena. Where is your tutor?”

“…I saw him heading towards the garden, saying he felt stuffy.”

“I see. I see. Just in case, your tutor is a special person invited from the capital. You must listen to him well.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Elena’s mother left.

Elena let out a small sigh. I canceled my deception and appeared next to her.

“Is that your mother? She’s a beauty?”

“…Only on the outside. Her inside is rotten. The tutor my mother just mentioned is also her lover. I didn’t know well back then because I was young, but I’m sure now. Ah, I suddenly remember. I was locked in my room for two days and starved for complaining about the tutor’s stupidity. If my father hadn’t returned urgently, I would have been locked up for two more days.”

“That crazy bitch. How dare she abuse my woman… Should I go cut off her limbs? She’s fake anyway.”

“It’s fine. My revenge ended that day, the day I killed my mother with my own hands. What’s important now is whether there’s someone who incited my mother. The current tutor is also one of the suspects.”

“But was your mother always like that?”

“…No. She started to change at some point. It was around when I was three years old? There’s a record from my father that my mother changed from then. Even if my father was blinded by my mother, there’s no way he would have brought a debauched woman as the mistress of the family. That’s why I suspect someone’s intervention.”

“It doesn’t make sense for a person to suddenly change without any reason.”

I glanced at Elena’s mood. The wrinkles on her forehead didn’t look good.

I picked up the small Elena and pulled her into my arms.

“Ugh? What, what are you doing?”

“No, you’re just the perfect size to hold in my arms.”

“……”

Elena hesitated for a moment, then hugged me tightly. I gently stroked her head.

“…Haa. How did I end up loving a man like my mother?”

“Isn’t that a bit rude?”

“Did I say anything wrong?”

Elena looked at me sulkily and pinched my cheek with her small hand. It didn’t hurt much. Normally, I would have retaliated by pinching her butt, but… she was a young Elena, so I didn’t feel like it. Instead, I patted her butt.

Twitch. Elena was slightly surprised.

“Hmm. Don’t tell me you’re interested in this young body?”

“No. You don’t even have a chest.”

“That’s a relief. I can understand other things, but I can’t stand someone messing with a young girl.”

“I won’t.”

I was spending time joking around with Elena when…

Grumble.

A loud sound came from Elena’s stomach. Elena’s cheeks turned red.

“It’s not my fault. It’s the characteristic of this space. I get hungry quickly in this space.”

“It’s the power of the Black Knight of Famine. As long as we’re in this space, the cycle of getting hungry will get faster and faster, and eventually…”

“Even if we eat, we’ll starve to death?”

“Probably.”

We couldn’t stay here indefinitely.

Fortunately, Kang Myungjin had told us the method. The mirror. We could escape this world through the mirror.

We ate the food we took out from our inventory and made a plan.

“I’ll investigate my mother’s actions. You investigate my mother’s lovers outside the mansion.”

“Alright. Should I start by investigating that tutor?”

I investigated the tutor. According to the basic information Elena gave me, he was a man in his 30s who had worked as a tax collector in the Imperial Family. I went into the tutor’s quarters and rummaged through his belongings. Nothing significant came out.

The day the tutor went out of the mansion, I secretly followed him, but the results were not good this time either.

‘How did this tutor meet Elena’s mother, Erica?’

Erica was the wife of a great noble, and the tutor was a lower noble. There was a difference in their status, so it was unlikely they met by chance.

‘I’ll find out if I interrogate him.’

After agreeing with Elena, we decided to go all out. After all, this wasn’t real. More than anything else, we decided to prioritize getting clues.

Bone Crushing Strike knew the answer.

“I was introduced by Baron Dumple! Please, please spare me!”

“Baron Dumple? Who the hell is that?”

“He’s a merchant who became a noble after offering ancient artifacts to the Imperial Family! He’s a noble who runs a luxury goods business targeting the great nobles, including the Valdert family!”

I killed the tutor by splitting him in half and went to find Baron Dumple.

Dumple Trading Company.

I stormed into a trading company I had never heard of and captured Baron Dumple. I tied him up with rope and punched him in the head. But Baron Dumple didn’t back down.

“You… Do you know who I am? Untie me right now!”

“What’s your relationship with Erica Valdert?”

“…Did you come from the Valdert family? No, that can’t be! Who are you?!”

“You’re answering my question with a question. It seems like you don’t understand the situation. I understand. It’s possible. I’ll help you understand the situation better.”

I dragged Baron Dumple’s wife from the next room. She was quite pretty, as befitting a noble’s wife.

“Kyaaaaaaaaak!”

She was too loud, so I smashed her face with my fist. I usually don’t touch women’s faces, but… she was a disposable toy, so I treated her roughly.

“You bastard!!”

“Don’t call me a bastard, just answer my question.”

Even though his wife was being violated in front of him, Baron Dumple didn’t speak. After finishing, I cut off the woman’s neck and threw it outside. Baron Dumple’s eyes shook.

“You didn’t open your mouth even when your wife died. You’re a tough one. Next is the fried human.”

I prepared to put Baron Dumple’s young children into boiling oil.

Baron Dumple was terrified!

“Stop! Stop it! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!! Don’t touch my children!!”

“It’s too late. I’ve already prepared the oil, it’s a waste to throw it away.”

Splash.

Baron Dumple’s two sons became crispy fried humans.

“They’re your children, so you eat them.”

“Aaaaaaaak!! Stooooooop!!”

「The King of the Demonic Sky laughs with joy!」

Baron Dumple, who vomited several times while eating the fried human, told me everything he knew. I saved myself the trouble of frying Dumple’s parents.

‘As Elena said, some bastard really did intervene.’

There was no reason to keep Dumple and his parents alive, so I fried them to death. I had run a chicken restaurant in the Dark Moon world, so I was good at frying them crispy.

‘Should I practice the Heavenly Demon Divine Art for a while? It’s not my world anyway.’

I killed 30,000 men and women of all ages in the city with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Among them, I violated the pretty women before killing them.

「The Heavenly Demon Body (S) grows slightly.」

‘Oh. That’s a win. But it’s not enough to raise the rank.’

I found a way to raise the rank of the Heavenly Demon Body.

‘I should try killing the Emperor once when I have time.’

「The King of the Demonic Sky is very pleased.」