"Deeper."
Seven ordered.
Two days had passed, and they were still eating the meat that the wolves gave while digging a grave.
Iria's grave.
'I almost fucked up.'
Lythian thought as he dug the ground with a shovel.
Almost.
If the wolves didn't appear, he might seriously have ended up feeding Seven with his personal maid's meat.
'Who knew what that fucker would do?'
By that, he meant Seven.
In the process of digging, Lythian's gaze wandered to the sword stuck on the anvil—the founder's tomb.
Seven decided the spot near it to be Iria's tomb.
"Seven."
"Shut up and just dig."
Seven's tone was still as cold as it was two days ago. Force-feeding. Although he doesn't show it on the surface, he's actually disgusted by it.
And so was Lythian.
"Black Rose. When are you gonna take it?"
Seven halted his movements.
For a moment, he shifted his gaze at the sword, but then resumed to shovel the ground right after without giving a response.
"Fuck. Hey, I asked—"
"Shut your fudge mouth."
Lythian frowned. Sure, he may be stronger than Seven and would win if they fight one more time, but that is no oath is there to protect Seven.
'...To serve, …obey, …never betray…'
Lythian thought.
"Fuck that."
Instead, he just shoves the shovel into the ground.
Seven did the same thing.
Clang.
The metal strikes a rock, sending a dull vibration up his arms. But he continued anyways.
Dig.
Finally, it was deep enough.
Seven paused, staring down at the hole, as if it might swallow more than just what he's about to bury—heavier than the weight of the shovel in his hands.
"Iria…"
The reason for his coldness, his silence, wasn't just because of the force-feeding.
Iria.
Memories of the original 'Seven' spent with Iria repeatedly flashed inside his mind—from how she first entered the household, and to how she first bathed him.
Putting the bathing aside, the original 'Seven' didn't have any bad memories with Iria.
It's not like he hated that fact; he was just curious about the reaction the original would've made if the 'original' knew that Iria was the one responsible for his poor health.
He was curious about the reaction Iria would've made if she knew that the one she served now was Seojin.
Ding!
In the middle of his thoughts, a system window flashed before him.
[Anomaly detected.]
[Eden Hart, the seventh sword, left the continent one year early. A revision is required.]
[Revising…]
[Replacing the original storyline…]
[Revision complete.]
[You have obtained 7777 Narrative Points.]
"Already? Does that mean Ciae also—"
Ding!
[Anomaly detected.]
[The Crowned Sovereign has successfully possessed a soul. The current soul of Ciae Arventis, the reader's soul, is declining the Sovereign's soul. A revision is required.]
[Revising…]
[Replacing the original storyline…]
[Error. Revision failed.]
[Revising…]
[Revision failed.]
[Revising…]
Seven gripped the hilt of the wooden shovel tightly. He wasn't dumb to not know the meaning behind the system's message.
Ciae Arventis.
His body now possesses two souls: Kyle Hudas, that psychopathic reader, and Crowned Sovereign, the strongest person of the first era.
'Fudge…'
Seven threw the shovel like a spear, and it almost hit Lythian if he wasn't fast enough to dodge.
"The fuck are you…?"
Lythian reacted, but stopped his words after seeing Seven's serious expression and the state of the tree the shovel hit.
'Full-on God mode…'
'A cheat character…'
'Double overpowering…'
Seven tried to think of word combinations to describe the current situation.
Not only Kyle Hudas, the reader who possessed the protagonist with an already overpowered talent, but he even got powered up now.
At first, he had a thought that since a new soul possessed the body, the reincarnation of the 'Crowned Sovereign' would fail and it would find a new body.
But it didn't.
"Doesn't it make him like… Yuji…?"
Seven was referring to an anime character who also possesses the soul of the 'King of Curses'.
'Do I have to face someone like him?"
"Him?"
Lythian interrupted, as he stepped in front of Seven with a smirk that practically dared him to try.
Seven didn't hesitate.
His fist shot forward, aimed squarely for Lythian's face, but Lythian was faster as he had two gates opened.
With a fluid step back, the punch sliced through empty air, leaving Seven off balance.
"Fuck. Calm down."
Lythian tilted his head, tossing the shovel he held away.
"Your maid. It's time to dump… bury her."
"Oh, right."
Seven nodded, and took a deep breath.
"Hah…"
Ding!
[Revision complete.]
[You have obtained 77777 Narrative Points.]
[Total Narrative Points: 991, 540 NP]
System notifications flooded Seven's line of sight, but he ignored all of them.
Right now, there was nothing as important as Iria's proper funeral.
"3… 2… 1…"
Lythian's word was steady as they both carried Iria's body.
"Drop."
At his command, they gently lowered Iria onto the grave.
As if in response, a cold breeze swept past them, carrying with it a delicate flurry of white flowers. The petals drifted down, settling around the grave.
It was as if the world was calling Iria home.
Lythian picked up the shovel he had tossed earlier, ready to cover the body.
"Wait."
Seven said, and Lythian stopped.
Stepping forward, Seven knelt, his eyes catching the fallen flowers that the wind had brought. He gathered them carefully, his fingers brushing over each one before he stood.
Seven now held seven flowers in his hands.
With a steady hand, Seven kneeled beside Iria, his gaze lingering on her peaceful, pale face for a moment before he carefully placed the seven flowers across her chest.
"Rest easy, Iria."
His fingers brushed the soft petals one last time.
"I'll carry everything forward."
Slowly, Seven brushed off the non-existent tears before he stood up and walked away.
Lythian remained silent.
'Where are you going? Fucking help me here.'
Was what Lythian wanted to say as he watched Seven walk away, but he stopped himself.
Instead, he alone began to shovel the dirt back to the grave.
Dig.
When the last shovelful was in place, Lythian stood back, wiping the sweat from his brow, and gazed up at the sky.
Iria's grave was now sealed.