[Hill Near Eldion Empire]
Walking up inside the small cottage of Hibiki, one could see his own holy armor as a hero was tossed to the side
Not only that but one could also somehow notice that the small cottage was seldom being cleaned as dust slightly accumulated on Ingrid's fingers the moment she swipe them on the surface of the table
But worse of all they could somehow notice Hibiki's pale complexion as he slowly walked around in ragged clothes, messy hair, baggy eyes, thinning body, paling complexion
It must be noted that such a thing could happen to a person which had undergone through such terrifying trauma and depression
Offering some seat on his dining table, Kaido, Ingrid, and Lily then walked up as they sorted around the table, while Evelyn and Sarah stepped outside since this talk is between the four of them only
As they settled down, Hibiki then shakily seated down and offered water on a wooden cup which was clearly made by him during his free time
"Here... I... Don't have much but please... Enjoy" said Hibiki as he forced himself to smile
Seeing him like this even Lily missed the old happy go lucky Hibiki of the past, but such glorious days couldn't be brought back as several hardship have already happened
"Hibiki..." Muttered Lily
In this past 1 year has been an eventful year they've ever had, as many things occured during this year's
If Kaido somehow still remember his past, then he would notice that this day was the very same day that he first started to walk on this planet, the day he was reincarnated in his original body
"This is our first meeting in a long time and this is how you act to greet me?" Bluffed Kaido as he actually doesn't remember Hibiki at all
But based on what Lily described to him and from it's limited information, he had deducted that he once had been acquaintaned himself with Hibiki in the distant past
Hearing that Hibiki slightly flinch as he smiled
"Please... Don't lie... Ka-kaido... I know you lost your... Memories, you don't... Have to pretend" said Hibiki weakly
Hearing that weak reply Kaido couldn't help but get irritated somehow as he smeared at him
"It must... Have been nice... Losing your memories... How envious..." Added Hibiki
At that Lily patted Hibiki's hand as she was worried for him
"I wish I could've... Lost my memories"
At that Ingrid glanced at Hibiki then at the irritated face of Kaido as she advices the latter to calm down
But obviously Kaido didn't like such attitude
"Do you think this is a game? Losing your memories is envious? Are you belittling me? Are you saying that what I had experience is a blessing from the heavens? Are you really telling me that?" Growled Kaido
"Kaido!" Called out Ingrid
"Shut it!" Cussed back Kaido as he turned his gaze back at the surprised Hibiki and worried Lily
"Trauma? PTSD? Don't give me that shit, are you telling me that you have been in this state because you've killed a few? Then what about me then? I've killed far more people than you, much more innocent that the people you've killed so far"
"But... I've killed Alda and Mia... Including Jack if you... Included him... They're close to me... Like my real friends and yet... They died cause of me"
The moment Hibiki said that Kaido seemed to somehow vaugely remember him carrassing a dead body of his female friend as she died in his arms, ever since then he blamed himself for letting her die
In face of this horrifying memory which took away his innocence, Kaido instantly clicked his tongue as he lifted his hands and used his psychic ability to lift Hibiki off the ground and slammed him against the wall, causing the latter to feel a slight pain from it
Of course when this happened the people outside became alarmed as they went in and saw Kaido lifting Hibiki up using his ability
"Kaido!" Called out Sarah
"Kaido-dono! Calm down!" Called out Evelyn
"Kaido! Put him down" said Lily
"Calm down for now Kaido!" Said Ingrid
But instead of calming down, Kaido begun to feel irritated even more
"Shut up!"
At this moment his Calamity Mana bursted open inside the room, thus instantly turning the atmosphere heavier than before
"You... Showcasing your depression, and despair is like making a joke out of my experience, you had no idea how much I've come through just to get to this moment"
Hearing that Hibiki suddenly said weakly
"So you think my despair is a joke?"
At that Hibiki suddenly released his aura which forced Kaido to back away a little as his ability got undone
With that said Hibiki immediately dashed towards Kaido and grabbed the latter's collar as he pulled them up in a curl
Of course with this heated situation, the other four tried to dissuade them from doing that to each other, but Hibiki is a hero with unimaginable strength and Kaido was a overpowered villain who could kill a celestial being, such existence was beyond their control as a mere citizens of this world
"My experience is no joke too!!!" Shouted Hibiki hoarsely
"Don't.. compare me to you, were completely different... You may have been able to endure it... But I who have once had nothing, then lost everything, then lost everything once more in this third lifetime of mine, is now tired... I'm too tired of feeling this... No matter what I do, what world I came into... Why would my life would always end up this way? I can't take it anymore" said Hibiki as his voice cracked as he started crying
"Your heart is burning with revenge... That's why you could say that, but... I'm different... My mind is too tired for such things...all o just wanted is a happy life in which I could've lived without any worry about my surroundings being killed... Is that too much to ask?" Teared up Hibiki
At this moment even Kaido seemed to have lost his anger due to hearing his words, through this he seemed to have visualize his old self on Hibiki
At that Kaido then revealed a part of surprising information which immediately broke the atmosphere of the room
"Alda and Mia, someone reanimated their body"
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
Not only did Hibiki stepped back in surprise with tears on his face, but Ingrid and Lily were surprised by this fact while Evelyn and Sarah were alarmed
"...wa-what did you say? Reanimated?" Asked Hibiki as he couldn't believe such information
"No how can that be? Are you saying that someone desecrated their corpses?" Asked Lily as she too couldn't believe it
As for Ingrid she so surprised that she forgot to read Kaido's mind for any answers
At that Kaido replied
"It's just my speculations, but we'll see if it's true once we dig up their coffins... Also they reanimated Jack"
At this mention Hibiki lost strength of his feet as he slumped down unto the ground in disbelief
At that Lily immediately ordered some knight that came with them and stayed a few meters back from the cottage to dig up the place where both Mia and Alda has been buried
With her authority as the new Queen Empress the knights immediately did what she said and pulled out two light coffins from the ground
With a wench they undid the lock and opened the cover only to see an empty coffin
Seeing this everyone couldn't believe that no one actually notices the changes that happened here, while Hibiki slumped down and murmured
"So all this time... I've been lamenting over an empty grave?"
At this moment it felt like the whole reality that Hibiki believed in has been shattered by this reality
Whole Kaido on the other hand smeared at the empty coffin as he murmured
"That sneaky bastard, he did all of this right under my nose"
But with this this Kaido's speculations has been proven
But Hibiki couldn't take it anymore as he further plunged into despair
"It's all been a lie? My reality was really a joke after all..."
At this moment he begun to laugh like a broken doll as he slowly went crazy
"Ha... Hahaha... Hahahahaha... Hahahahahaha..."
Stepping up he grabbed unto Kaido's clothes as he begged
"I can't live this life anymore, please... Kill me, relieve me of this fake reality, just kill me... " Begged Hibiki
Soon he saw a sword hanging by a knights belt, when suddenly Hibiki lounged at it, with an intention to kill himself, when suddenly Kaido pulled his shoulder and gave him a big punch on the face
This in turn shocked the surroundings as Kaido said
"I would've have killed you already if you weren't such a precious asset at the moment, your strength is too precious just to let go"
Slowly getting up from the ground Hibiki replied as if such punch did little to no damage to him
"So you want me to live for your sake only? That's no worse than a puppet"
"It's better than seeing you waste away your usefulness, remember your strength is the only reason I've kept you alive, in fact if it weren't for that your whole life would've have been a complete useless"
Hearing that everyone somehow fell silent as somehow Kaido belittled Hibiki's sufferings
"Your importance is what I need to deal in my current situation, in it you will be able to right your wrong, while of course removing obstacles in my way... In other words I'm a villain who controls the hero to do my bidding"
At that Hibiki fell silent on the ground as he said later on
"So you'll disregard my life? Your really..."
But before he could've finish his words, Kaido immediately interjected in
"Huh? I'm really what? Come on! Speak up! I won't understand you if you don't speak up..."
But in faced with that Hibiki was immediately overwhelmed as he gritted his teeth
With that Kaido turned his back on him and said
"You'll be able to see them, i let you live to kill them once more, since they've been used by another person similar to me, isn't it the Hero's job to liberate them? Think about it, and if your ready then get rid of them for me, after all that's what your worth at this moment, for me your as good as dead"
With that Kaido walked away as he implanted the seed of hatred in Hibiki once more
"The person who desecrated them is named Asuto! Remember that you useless of an excuse Hero"
With that Kaido left the area as Ingrid bowed to Evelyn and Lily as she hurried over to Kaido together with Sarah
As for Hibiki the moment he heard the perpetrators name, he then begun to repeat it on his mind
"Asuto! Asuto! Asuto!"
But moments later he soon lost his motivation as he murmured
"It won't do, it's still useless anyway"
With that Hibiki was then left behind in that stagnant situation
*********
Meanwhile after a while of walking away from that irritating place, Kaido then stood in an open plane as he face Ingrid and Lily
"I've got to do something first... You guys will be brought by me in this special place to guard me till I'm done on my stuff"
"Really? Then how long will that take?"
"Few days"
At that Kaido once more activated the stone that Aileene's gave him while both Sarah and Ingrid entered the teleportation circle
With a thought from Kaido, all three of them disappeared bon that plane
*********
[Demon Continent, Arkham Capital, Aileene's Black Castle]
Arriving at this place both Ingrid and Sarah saw the red sky and desolate ground as a bustling city can be seen below it's high ground
Following Kaido they then entered the black castle as Ingrid asks
"This castle is wreck apart... Who's castle is this?"
"It's from one of my companion's" replied Kaido as he soon opened a secret doorway leading underground
Soon after the three of them walked down the dark stairs with only few torches lighting up the way as they further went inside the darkness
Later on they saw a huge pool of black liquid lying below the ground with weird pillars protruding out in the surface
Seeing this even Sarah and Ingrid was tempted to touch the black liquid when suddenly Kaido stopped them
"Don't! If you touch it, there is a high chance you'll go crazy and die"
Hearing that Sarah immediately retracted her hand as Kaido soon turned to the black pool and slowly undressed his clothes
Seeing this ingrid immediately ordered Sarah to turn around as she held her head high up to avoid looking down
Soon after Kaido went near ingrid and handed her his clothes and said
"Guard this place!"
"Su-sure!" Said Ingrid as she struggled to keep her sight on Kaido's face and not dating to look down
With that Kaido nodded and slowly dived into the pool until his whole body got engulfed by it as he walked deeper and didn't resurface for quite awhile