R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 37 (Patreon)

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 37 (in editing-v1)

“Yes. You’re a Clone.” Micheal gave a clear response to Constantine’s question, deciding to take the initiative.

Constantine simply nodded, his face impassive. Rather than have an existential crisis, the Vile King took the revelation surprisingly well. Nothing in his gaze betrayed even the slightest hint of shock or worry.

“I see. It’s the most probable of all possible outcomes. I take it you are here as a Challenger to the Fourth Gate?” The Vile King rubbed his chin as he looked at Micheal.

“Or are you here just for me?”

Micheal blinked slowly before returning,

“I am here for the Gate of Trials. Your appearance here was an… unexpected diversion.”

Constantine grinned at Micheal’s description.

“That’s certainly an apt description…” After a moment, Constantine quirked an eyebrow at Micheal.

“So how do you know me? I’m curious. It can’t hurt to answer a mere Clone, right?”

Micheal frowned, but then slowly nodded.

Indeed… it couldn’t hurt him. After all, Micheal would have to kill the Clone in front of him, regardless of what he said. Nothing he said here would ultimately matter. This was a valuable chance to deepen his understanding of Constantine.

The Recorded Clones were just that: Clones. They would cease to exist the moment Micheal left the Fourth Gate.

No matter how intelligent the Clone was, it wouldn't be able to establish a connection with the real Constantine from inside the Soul King's Inheritance by itself.

After Constantine observed Micheal’s shifting expressions, the man added one last line.

“You might as well explain why you hate me before we fight.”

Micheal’s eyes flashed as made a decision, an idea striking him then and there.

“Why do I hate you? Well...” Micheal’s expressionless face took on a grim smile.

“It’s because I have seen what you’ve done… I’ve witnessed the consequences of your actions... and the results from your decisions.”

Constantine frowned as he heard Micheal’s reply.

“...just how many years have passed since we were Chosen?” The Vile King rubbed his chin in thought.

“I had always thought the work I put in would’ve gone unnoticed.”

“Unnoticed?” Micheal grit his teeth for a moment before he caught himself, blaming the lapse on the unusual Aura surrounding Constantine’s every action.

“If I had left things alone this time around, that would be the case.”

“This time around?” The Vile King’s eyes widened and then immediately narrowed as he repeated what Micheal said, his gaze turning sharp as he stared at Micheal.

“This time around… of all the variables… the knowledge you possess…” Constantine muttered quietly to himself, a myriad of emotions flitting across his face so quickly that even Micheal couldn’t track them.

“I know about the Seeds you use to control people. I know about the actions you took to seize control of the Godfather Organization and the First Layer as a whole. I know about the Beasts of Providence you have created to surreptitiously manipulate the Second Layer.” Micheal listed off the actions the Vile King had taken on the First and Second Layers, ticking them down one by one.

“My, my… you do know quite a lot.” A dangerous glint appeared in Constantine’s eyes for a split second and vanished, disappearing so quickly that one would have to possess Master-class senses to notice.

“The Beasts of Providence… that’s a good name. It has a nice conspiratorial ring to it, the kind that people would hear about and dismiss as fake.” Constantine nodded as he complimented his future self.

After half a second, however, all signs of levity vanished from the Vile King’s face as he studied Micheal, speaking aloud once more.

“The most probable scenario here would be that you possess an Ability similar to Hansama’s Global Blind Seer Ability…” Constantine looked down at his hands and muttered, mentioning the famous Seer that lived on the First Layer.

“But even then… the knowledge you possess is something that I would never let go public… it’s something that would have taken a massive group years and years of effort to uncover, if at all.”

Micheal simply nodded in response.

“That’s right. It did.” It did indeed.

Constantine looked back up, staring at Micheal eye to eye. For a tiny moment, a hint of rainbow light flashed in his gaze.

Abruptly, Micheal leapt backward, stamping the ground so hard he cratered it. A small explosion of dirt, dust, and rock flew up, leaving a 5 meters long trail following Micheal through the air.

“What did you just do?” Micheal flared his Ki, his eyes blazing with energy. Lightshorn flew up into his grip, glowing with golden Master Tier Sword Energy as he prepared to attack at even a moments notice.

Constantine gave Micheal a sardonic grin.

“You can scan me but I can’t scan you?”

Micheal frowned, his senses tingling as he focused every iota of his being outward.

In the moment he saw the flash of rainbow light from Constantine’s eyes, a subtle, unsettling sensation had swept over him. It was as if an enormous, gigantic being had turned its head from far away to look at Micheal for a split moment.

As soon as that sensation appeared, Micheal’s Heartflame Physique exploded into action within him, warm flames of energy fluttering through his body. His Physique had the property of greatly enhancing his resistance to curses, mental attacks, and spiritual attacks, something Constantine appeared to have triggered.

The eerie feeling had vanished almost instantly, but Micheal’s perfect memory allowed him to recreate and study it without issue.

“Well, well. This is a first.” Constantine returned to speaking to himself as he watched Micheal, his eyes widening.

“The Providence of your Soul is a complete mess. I can’t get a full reading but…” The man frowned,

“It’s possible. You could be someone who travelled through time.”

For a moment, Constantine was silent.

“If I accept that as true, then… I see.” The Vile King folded his hands together, the deck of cards he was holding seemingly vanishing into thin air.

He nodded to himself, and then to Micheal.

“I can understand why you hate me.” He sighed.

“I take it my plans failed.”

“Failed?” Micheal clenched his fists, barely able to hold himself back.

“Your actions led to the slaughter of hundreds of millions of innocent humans!”

Constantine tilted his head to the side.

“Hundreds of millions...? Ah. Will other humans be Chosen at some point down the line? There were some that hypothesized that.”

Micheal lost control of his Aura for a moment, his Ki merging with his emotions in an explosive display of rage. The ground beneath him shattered, forming a 10 meters wide crater around a half a meter deep. A small shockwave rippled out in the aftermath, stirring Constantine’s hair.

“Do you think nothing of that loss?! Have you ever considered the incredible good you could have done?! You were blessed with an incredible opportunity and you squandered it! Why on Earth did you have to become a mass-murdering psychopath?!” Micheal’s eyes grew bloodshot as he spat out words he had been holding in for years.

For the first time since Micheal started talking to him, the Vile King’s face cracked. His closely guarded, and carefully constructed, image shattered as raw emotion stained his face, his mouth twisting in anger. The odd, unsettling Aura around him shuddered out into the air, writhing tentacles of darkness swarming the ground beneath him.

“Do I think nothing of the lives lost because of me...” A cold smile rose on Constantine’s lips as he glared at Micheal.

“Let me ask you a question, friend.” Constantine’s voice turned terse and sharp, cutting into the air like a jagged knife.

“Do you think this is a game?”

A vein in Micheal’s neck throbbed as he glared back at Constantine.

“No justification you make can-” Before he could finish, he was interrupted.

“Do.”

“You.

“Think.”

“This.”

“Is.

“A.”

“Game.”

The air itself seemed to freeze. Waves of darkness fluttered across the ground as Constantine spat his words out aloud, threatening to engulf the entire arena.

“Do you understand the responsibility we bear?” The Vile King’s gaze drilled into Micheal as he continued,

“I don’t know the future that you have witnessed. I only know the past I have seen in the months I remember.” Constantine’s voice grew even darker as he went on,

“And what I have seen is not enough. Humanity is not growing strong enough, fast enough. The threats we face, the enemies in our future… it is not enough.”

“And so you think mass murder is the solution? You think that's right and fair?” Micheal returned, his voice laced with sarcasm.

Constantine’s eyes vibrated for a moment as he stared silently at Micheal.

“Do you take me for a fool?” His response brought Micheal pause for a second.

“Do you think I don’t know what I’m doing is immoral?” Constantine’s words began to build up a strange momentum, resounding in the air.

“I am not a child. I know well what I have done.” The power in his speech, the overwhelming charisma and absolute confidence in his Aura, nearly caused Micheal to stumble.

“And when the day comes where humanity may rest her gentle cheek in a world free from doom and despair, I will atone for my sins, even if it means my death.”

Micheal’s mind flashed back to the memories he had of the first timeline.

To the chaotic wars, the mass violence, and, in the end, to ultimate ruin.

“I have witnessed what came of your actions...“ Micheal began, his voice rocketing out just as explosively as Constantine’s.

“Do you know how humanity met her end in the world I saw?” He continued, his eyes blazing with righteous fury.

“Battered and broken, divided and defeated.” The air resounded with Micheal’s words.

“Your plans ended in failure. The world you envisioned never came to pass. And if we follow the same path, humanity will meet her end once more!”

The spreading darkness was forced back by the golden hue of Micheal’s Master Class Sword Energy, the pulsating power slicing through the world around him unconsciously as he finished.

For a few long seconds, Constantine was silent as he looked at Micheal. Gradually, the cracks in his facade vanished as he covered up the boiling emotions within him, his expression going back to normal.

“That may be so...” The Vile King took a deep breath as, with a wave of his hand, he retracted the swarming dark tentacles back into the earth, causing them all to vanish.

“Or it may not. Your very existence now means that you have already altered the timeline and changed the future. The world you once knew is now merely one of countless possibilities. Nothing is set in stone.”

Micheal took a deep breath in response, regaining control of himself.

Constantine held up a hand before Micheal could reply, shaking his head.

“I’m afraid our discussion will have to be put on hold.”

“On hold?” Micheal frowned.

“You will cease to exist the moment I leave this Gate. Our discussion here is final. You can’t just stop it.”

The Vile King shrugged.

“You must be here for a reason, no? You need something that’s at the end of this Gate. If you concede to me, then you won’t be able to re-enter.” Constantine’s eyes flashed.

“Who said I would concede to you?” Micheal returned, shifting his sword until it was out in front of him.

“Good.” Constantine smiled casually, twirling his right hand in response.

“We can continue our discussion…” Above his right hand, a black dot of undulating darkness gradually spawned into existence, something Micheal instantly recognized.

“After I integrate this Seed into your Soul.”

Micheal curled his lips as he saw that, a mix of disdain and disgust twisting within them.

“Your actions are as deplorable as I remember, stripping away free will like it's nothing.”

The energy within Micheal began to fluctuate as he pulled on the Ki within him, the powerful, Sky-Tier Energy making his pupils glow blue. Golden Master Tier Sword Energy began to condense on his sword, causing the air itself to ripple as small, temporal fluctuations began to appear in front of him, the beginnings of a Time Bubble.

“I don’t think you fully understand me.” Constantine replied, his voice cool and calm.

The very fabric of space surrounding Constantine began to twist and distort as he crouched down, a dozen silver playing cards appearing in his hands. A mix of bright gold and dark red energy began to fluctuate around those cards, shuddering ominously as black darkness pooled beneath his feet.

“I will do whatever it takes to ensure humanity survives.”

.