Chapter 69
I was quite shocked by Othello’s words.
Vanessa Halo—the cheerful head of the Halo family—was the mastermind behind it all.
― Shasha, the Halos are trying to kill you. I captured one of her subordinates and got the truth out of him.
― Couldn’t it just be a false confession?
At Ricardo’s question, Othello shook his head.
― No. And we also have proof.
From his blood-stained chest, Othello pulled out the hide of a Behemoth.
Engraved on the hide was Kaiza’s mark, and embedded in it was a white magic stone that could only be mined in Halo territory.
I was confused.
Why would Vanessa want to kill me?
The original story had already been twisted far beyond recognition, but in the version I read, Vanessa was nothing more than a hearty, good-natured family head.
She acted as mediator between the Winchesters and the Taylors, and when the Winchesters crossed the line, she sided with the Taylors. The Halos also provided much aid to Evan.
So then why…?
― Vanessa always had a child.
While I was lost in my thoughts, Evan entered the room and spoke.
Standing by the window, looking outside, he continued.
― A child?
― Yes. But the child always died.
The memories I had seen through the “Blue Hawk’s Secret” were edited around the major incidents. Trivial details were glossed over.
So this story Evan told was something he had personally witnessed countless times through his regressions.
― Sometimes the child died of illness, sometimes by accident. Always before the age of five.
― You could have told me this. Then to Vanessa…
― Would it have changed anything if I had?
Evan’s cold gaze met mine.
And then I understood what he meant.
― Even if the child survived, the apocalypse would come and claim them anyway.
Through endless regressions, death had ceased to move Evan.
There was no point in growing attached to things that were doomed to vanish.
The once righteous heart that had burned for the weak had gradually grown numb.
― You’re right.
I admitted to Evan.
Just because you see someone’s memories doesn’t mean you can truly understand them.
Just as Vanessa or anyone else couldn’t understand me just by witnessing what happened to me, I couldn’t fully understand Evan either.
― Some things don’t change, I suppose.
But still, I thought, there are things that can change.
― But just as this twenty-seventh round is different from the last, I don’t think fate is set in stone.
At my words, Evan’s eyebrows twitched.
― Just as I am different now from the me in previous rounds.
Reflected in his blue eyes, I saw my own image.
I didn’t know what thoughts were running through his mind, but I pressed on.
― If what you truly want is change, then you need to start moving too.
Because—
― Change is far more visible when you move than when you stand still.
The blue light in Evan’s eyes deepened.
Vanessa’s torrent of water pierced through Ricardo’s black flames and bound Chenoa’s Azure Bright.
That a Halo’s ability could wield such power?
The ground trembled as if in an earthquake, the heavens quaking in response.
It hardly seemed like a battle between humans. I clenched my fists tight.
“You were told not to come out, weren’t you?”
Jin muttered calmly as he walked down the crumbling path.
Everyone had opposed my plan to draw Vanessa out.
Only Elysion had sided with me, calling it “the way to minimize casualties,” allowing me to meet her.
Since Risonia was with Evan, the Taylor retainers lay in ambush to cover me.
Truth be told, when Ricardo and Chenoa had clashed, Vanessa’s reason for sending Risonia with us was obvious: if she could kill just me, she’d also take down the Taylor heir in the process. Two birds with one stone.
Unknowingly, all the families had been dancing in the palm of the true mastermind’s hand.
“Kh…”
But in the end, Vanessa Halo couldn’t withstand Ricardo and Chenoa’s combined assault.
To be precise, the black flames filling the earth were not something she could endure.
Her water was being completely vaporized.
“Give up.”
Ricardo’s dry voice rang out.
Chenoa muttered, “It’s over,” as she withdrew Azure Bright.
Hundreds of blades of black flame hovered just centimeters from Vanessa’s body.
With the slightest flick of Ricardo’s hand, she would be annihilated.
“…Ha…”
At last, Vanessa lowered her hands.
Resignation filled her eyes.
The beautiful flower field lay in ruins, but somehow it seemed an apt backdrop for this moment.
Her gaze fell on me.
“Let’s hear it now. Why target this insignificant child? Was that why you kidnapped even the Taylors’ bloodline, Vanessa?”
Chenoa frowned as she strode toward her.
Under the crushing pressure, Vanessa was forced to her knees.
Her bloodied face showed no pain—only regret.
“…Of the Four Great Houses, only our Halo family can directly hear the messages of the dragons.”
Her voice trembled.
It was true—only the Halos could exchange words with the water dragons.
Though it happened so rarely it was practically ceremonial, it was still something the other families could not do.
Thus, the Halos usually acted as mediators.
For who better to weigh in than the ones chosen to hear a dragon’s words, rather than human-born lords or dragon descendants?
“The water dragon said that child is the key.”
Her lips twisted.
“Prosperity, glory, peace… I couldn’t hear what exactly. But Mekius clearly chose that child.”
“Vanessa, you haven’t gone mad, have you? A mere child like this—”
Chenoa’s words of disbelief were cut short.
“Trisha Quell said the same thing before she left.”
It was Ricardo who spoke.
Though not one of the Four Great Houses, the Quells were known to have been blessed by Mekius.
They were spiritually linked to dragons and dreamed strange dreams.
Trisha Quell, orphaned young and raised by her uncle, was said to be the most pure-blooded among them.
Now everyone’s eyes turned to me.
“…”
I couldn’t understand. The Key of Mekius—the very phrase I’d once glimpsed in my status window.
I, once nothing more than a background extra in the original story, was supposed to be someone special?
Then what about Evan? He, a regressor, was much closer to being a savior.
“I couldn’t accept it. At first, I only meant to test the child. How was she any different from my own child…!”
Vanessa’s desperate scream was aimed at me.
Her eyes brimmed with despair unlike anything I had ever seen.
A heavy silence spread like a plague across the battlefield.
“Mekius chose that child! Why was the cursed day my child died a day of glory for Winchester?!”
Ricardo, Chenoa, even Elysion stayed silent.
“In my torment… someone whispered to me. If I killed Shasha, my dead child would return and become Mekius’s key.”
Then came an incoherent shriek, and blood burst from Vanessa’s lips.
I ran to her side.
Jin tried to hold me back, but I shook him off with all my strength.
Ricardo’s brows twitched faintly.
I said to Vanessa:
“You saw your baby die that day….”
Her eyes fixed on me.
“I saw my mother die that day.”
“…”
I had thought about Vanessa often.
She was the mastermind behind all this, and deserved death.
“But the difference between you and me… is that I can’t use an ability to see that moment again.”
At those words, Vanessa’s eyes shook violently.
She had been able to read memories through water.
But in this round, unlike the previous ones, the only memory she could ever return to was… that single moment when her baby died.
“…Ah…”
A broken moan slipped from her lips.
“Ahh…”
She covered her face with her hands.
She must have replayed that memory countless times.
The baby’s first cry. And its final breath.
Even in the previous rounds, Vanessa must have yearned for her child.
But at least then, she had the chance to see the child smile.
“…I couldn’t stop.”
And so she drowned in endless loneliness.
At some point, rain had begun to fall from the sky.
Her tears mingled with the raindrops.
I reached out my hand to her.
“Stop it now. Even if it’s late.”
Vanessa had tried to kill me, but in this moment she was only a mother—I couldn’t bring myself to hate her.
She would have to pay for her crimes, but… I did not wish her dead.
“It isn’t over yet.”
But Vanessa only looked at me with a sad smile.
After a pause, she whispered:
“When I first held you and said you were lovely…”
“…”
I instinctively knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t stop it.
“…I meant it, Shasha.”
Blood gushed from her lips.
Then she pulled something from her clothes and pressed it into my hands.
“There’s no one left to take it in Halo… So for now, you hold onto it, Shasha.”
It was the Key of the Water Tower—the Halo family’s heirloom, akin to the Winchester’s Key of the Black Tower.
Moments later, Vanessa collapsed to the wet earth, pressing her forehead into the ground.
I could barely make out her lips forming the words: I’m sorry. And be careful.
“She reversed her blood flow.”
Ricardo only watched her with a cold gaze.
Jin removed his jacket and placed it over my head.
It was damp… and my heart felt empty.
I turned my head, sensing a gaze from somewhere.
But when I looked to the window, there was no one there.
