-Chapter Fifty-Seven-

The Holy Capital - Part Three

The vision that flashed before Aelius’ eyes was a murky one. Blurred. Unclear. It was but like a faded echo.

In it, he felt… love. Motherly love. He saw purple hair, and an older woman’s voice echoed in his ears. He couldn’t make out what she was saying. Just that she was laughing, and a wide, beaming smile sat on her face.

He followed the vision to the place it called out to him from. And as Saki and his feet hit the ground, they found themselves arriving before a grave, within a large cemetery.

Aelius stared at the words on the grave with conflicted emotions battling within him.

“In loving memory of a beloved mother, wife, and peerless doctor…” he read. This is not Violet’s grave, he thought with a deep exhalation.

“It wasn’t something living that resonated with you it seems,” Saki remarked, standing close as her fingers wrapped around Aelius’ arm tightly. “The echo of someone who passed away… a vestige. Whoever this person was… she left behind a strong will. But, it’s also fresh. I can tell from observing,” Saki’s glowing, pink eyes darted around them. “This grave was laid fresh. Within a few months.”

Aelius clenched his fists.

“So something happened in the last few months,” he deduced with a sigh. “If only I had come earlier then.”

He knelt down at the grave, observing the portrait and the name engraved on the stone.

“The person laying here… is Violet’s mother.”

—-----------------------

Aelius took some time to pray and honour the mother of Violet. Clearly, something happened. If they were a clan of Immortals, how come one of them was in a grave?

As he finished, he glanced to the adjacent tombstone and froze. There was a second one.

In loving memory of a father, a husband, and a peerless doctor.

“...Violet’s father.”

“Also fresh,” Saki grimaced.

Aelius bit his lip in frustration.

“Both Violet’s parents died recently. If I had arrived earlier… perhaps I could have prevented her from becoming an orphan.” He rose to his feet.

“At least we know that Violet must be in this city now, thanks to the traces left behind by her mother’s will. And the fact that we did not sense Violet directly means simply one thing. Her presence is concealed from Awakening Arts by a barrier capable of doing so.”

“And the only one in the city is the one that surrounds the Royal Palace…” Aelius clenched his fists. “Just what does the Holy Royal Family desire with my Violet?” he growled. “Yet again, we’ve run into Origin energy.”

“I think I understand now,” Saki spoke, and Aelius turned to her. “I arrived here two weeks ago. At the time, the entire Capital was in turmoil. Royal Guards and Holy Knights roamed the streets, clearly in search of something. And there were newspaper articles speaking of the miraculous recovery of the sickly Holy Emperor.”

Aelius listened to the words, unsure of what exactly the full story could have been.

“But I didn’t pay attention to it, so I don’t know the details. But there’s somewhere we can test this theory,” Saki said firmly, and reached out with a soft hand. “Aelius… it might be unpleasant news awaiting you.”

—-----------------------

The Information Guild. At first, during its founding ages, it was an underground circle of which only few customers knew the existence of. They could arrive and discreetly carry out transactions of guaranteed value.

Overtime, they grew in size and became incredibly mainstream, building branches in virtually every major populace. It was at such a branch that Aelius broodingly followed Saki in, and listened in silence as she requested information on a certain news article from a week ago.

They were met with a ‘handler’ who saw their case, and the harmless looking man explained to them that this news was actually already well spread across the Holy Capital. They didn’t even need a private room to carry out this request, so did so directly at the counter.

Firstly, the handler of their request explained to Saki and Aelius the event that began it all - the Emperor falling ill. Afflicted with sickness, the Royal Family and his consulates searched all over the Holy Empire for a doctor who could cure his illness.

After sometime, that was when the grand engagement of the Holy Prince was suddenly announced. Aelius’s fists clenched.

To who? Not to some esteemed, well-known Noble lady, but rather to an unknown daughter of some sort of secluded clan.

Aelius was exuding an aura of rage as he listened, causing the nervous handler to fall silent for a moment, but Saki assured him to continue.

Merely three days after the marriage, the Emperor makes a miraculous recovery. And then only a day after that, wanted posters were sent out all across the city, with the face of the supposed bride painted on it with magic.

The handler procured one for Aelius, and as his shaking hands received the parchment, he saw her. There she was, appearing so ethereally beautiful, painted down perfectly in her portrait on this wanted poster.

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His Violet. So it was true. She had been wife to the Holy Prince.

The handler finished his story by saying, the Holy Capital was thrown upside down for weeks until finally, the chaos died down and Holy Knights stopped patrolling the streets in search of the escaped Princess.

And from that moment onward, no one heard of the matter again.

—-----------------------

Aelius felt his breathing gradually spiral out of control, as he looked at his beautiful, young Violet’s face.

The Holy Prince was a handsome, but otherwise useless sleazebag. He was a lustful dog that used his status of Royalty to coerce women into his bed, and he would target almost any woman.

Now Aelius knew what Violet had been running from in his past life. But the thought of that dog putting his hands on her… his Violet… Aelius felt rage coursing through his veins.

A million thoughts were racing through Aelius’ mind. What to do? How to do it? Is it okay to act on these emotions?

After his thoughts went in circles and circles, all arriving at the same point, he began to laugh.

“Ha. Hahahaha!” Clutching his temple, his laugh bellowed outwards. He didn’t know what else to do with these emotions.

Fuck this. I don’t care anymore. I’ll destroy this Empire.

“Aelius?” Saki nervously asked. Around them, the other customers of the pub were rising from their seats as a result of the commotion.

All wearing cold glares, they fetched their weapons and began to approach.

“Hey, what’s your problem, you two kids?” A skinny but tall, menacing man began to say, and Saki nervously stumbled back, grappling onto Aelius’ arm.

“First, you children come in here, and now you’re making noise. Do you think this is the type of place for you to do as you please? This is a place for adults.” Another slammed his fists together intimidatingly.

“A-Aelius… what do we do…?” Saki’s lips trembled as she turned to glance at him. But as Saki saw the look in his eyes as he turned around, she thought, oh shit. He’s completely lost it.

Aelius calmly closed his eyes. Like a volcano just before eruption, there was no activity. In his mind, he was taking deep breaths, questioning himself.

Is this really okay?

Deep down, he wished nothing more than to destroy this Empire. But would that make him a villain?

Am I a hero? Am I the emissary of the Goddess? Aelius looked up the ceiling, and past it, with his X-Ray vision, taking in the clear, blue skies overhead. In my past life, I cursed the Goddess. I lost all respect for her. But at one point, I was also hailed as the hero of mankind.

Aelius felt his hands clench into a fist.

And… my Divine Power became corrupted, because I came to realise the truth. Mankind was not worth saving. So what am I, exactly?

Am I a saint? Am I a hero? Am I the saviour of Vertex?

…No. I’m no hero. I do not act in the name of ‘justice’.

I am only acting for myself. It just so happens that saving the world aligns with my goals. But… in the world that I desire and I envision, there is no place for this Holy Empire. I have decided such.

Aelius’ eyes fluttered open, a new, bone-chilling determination resolved within him.

The moment I chose to eradicate this nation… was the moment all lives within it are forfeit to me.

Aelius looked down at the palms of his hands.

I am no god. But this place, known as the so-called ‘Holy City’... has made me realise my true nature. I am no god, but… I am a ruler.

I am not taking lives, thinking that I have some sort of divine privilege. No, I am only enacting my own justice. The cycle of hatred… I am unable to break free of it.

Aelius considered forgiving them. All the people who hurt him. The things he experienced that were yet to happen in this life, have not happened after all. He thought, perhaps only when those people make the same choice to harm him and his loved ones, will he react and retaliate.

For example, Quarren Leos. Should he kill Quarren, when Quarren was yet to murder Violet in this life? What if he saves Violet from that fate? Is Quarren Leos still guilty of that sin?

Because, just as these lives before him are as insignificant as ants to him, they are important to their own loved ones. Just as Aria, Violet’s and Claire’s life are as insignificant as ants to their murderers in their past life, they are important to Aelius.

The value in life is not determined by Aelius’ subjective perception. There is always someone who loves the person he kills, and feels no emotion for.

But… no, Aelius decided that he can’t break this cycle of hatred. He is going to relish every second of his revenge. He no longer cares for the greater good. Because… he was never a hero.

He was only a man driven to insanity by grief in his past life. That same man was standing in this room. Truth be told, even though Aelius returned to the past, he never stopped being that broken, desperate, weak and anxious man.

The trauma of his past life will never leave him. It wasn’t that he was an evil person. It was just that the world had already turned him into someone incapable of redemption.

So why would he try to be benevolent? If someone raises their sword at him, why should he spare them? Forget that, even if he dislikes someone, why should he spare them?

If not only he wants someone dead, but even if someone annoys him, why should he spare them?

Why spare them, when Aelius already knew that he is someone incapable of redemption?

Even if it’s just a petty squabble among childish adults, not worth the loss of life over, why should he spare them? It’s easier to kill them than it is to spare them.

One single slash of his sword and they’d all be dead… and yet, Aelius found himself calming down.

Without a word, he took Saki’s hand into his, and the two disappeared in a flash of light. The threatening men in the tavern bewilderedly looked around them, not realising how close they were to death.

And despite everything Aelius felt in that moment as they had their swords placed to his face, they had kept their lives.

Why? It was so inexplicable. But he didn’t care. He didn’t care about some random men in a tavern.

There was only one thing in his mind, as Aelius reappeared in a flash in the sky, floating over the Holy Empire.

It was the thought that a serial rapist had married his own lover.