Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 267: Can I be real too?

Chapter 267: Can I be real too?

Silence reigned in the underground city as the conversation between Elena and Alex entered a lull.

After an indefinite amount of time, Alex’s lips curled into a smirk as he inquired. "Tell me something though, I want to believe that your real self isn’t as naive as you make it out to be. So I’d like to know what exactly spurred your true self to believe that as long as she meets me, her problems would be solved."

"..." Elena didn’t immediately respond, her lips trembling for a moment before she finally let out a sigh, her gaze shifting away from Alex as she replied. "Because you are a Mystic of the Human Wheel."

"Oh?" Alex raised a curious brow as he inquired. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Elena pursed her lips as she muttered. "You don’t know."

"Huh?"

"The Immortal Wheels are like this; the Monster Wheel causes its Mystics to become fiends, the Devil Wheel makes its own Mystics to be embodiments of evil, the Divine Wheel births fanatic war addicts, and the Abyss Wheel is responsible for a good number of mentally ill patients."

"And the Human Wheel?" Alex pressed.

Elena met his gaze as she replied. "All Mystics of the Human Wheel have always been heroes, people that placed their lives on the line for the greater good of mankind."

Alex furrowed his brows at the revelation as he glanced at Arthur to see if he could corroborate her explanation.

Arthur nodded. "It does make sense. Legends told about Human Wheel Mystics made them out to be heroes and individuals that were always willing to ensure mankind’s safety. I can’t be completely certain but if majority of them were around during the Dark Ages, it wouldn’t have been as bad as it was for the Kingdoms of Men."

Alex remained silent as he fell into his thoughts, ruminating over the information he’d received.

Considering the trials he’d been given by Adam so far, it did indeed make sense that the Human Wheel would be seen as some hero path but then it made him ponder something.

Perhaps a selfless and heroic spirit was what was required for a person to become a Human Wheel Mystic.

If that were the case, it hardly made sense that he would be chosen as one of them.

He had no plans of being a hero or even acting selfless.

Shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts, he remarked. "Well then, in that case, sorry to break it to you but I am no hero and I don’t dare to claim myself as such."

"But..."

"But nothing, Elena. You will return with me to ensure that nothing goes wrong with the plan I’ve put in place. Once all is settled, then I’d be more than happy to let you go."

Elena hesitated, seemingly pondering something before finally speaking up. "What do you wish to do with Ashtyx?"

"Does it matter?"

"... No."

"Good, now let’s go."

"Wait!"

"..." Alex clenched his fist instinctively, slightly peeved at the time wasted on the pointless conversation.

Elena noticed this and indeed took a step back in fright but after a few seconds of silence, she spoke up. "Will you kill me once you no longer need me?"

"I’m not exactly trigger-happy, why?"

"I... I want to live." Elena muttered softly, almost as though she were speaking to herself.

Of course, both Alex and Arthur heard it with the duo regarding her with interest.

Realizing they were staring at her, Elena quickly explained. "I... If the princess and the others return, then I’d surely die since I’m only here to fill up the space the princess left behind. I don’t want that, I want to live, to experience the world."

Alex stayed silent, his gaze scrutinizing her keenly with vague interest.

"So... I want to come with you."

After staying silent for a bit longer, Alex replied. "You seek to steal Ashtyx after I’ve done the heavy lifting?"

"That..."

"You can come." Alex calmly cut her off.

"What?" Elena’s eyes shook at the response.

Alex chuckled. "What?... Did you think I’d stop you?... Ah, don’t worry, I don’t plan to take you with me but there’s no way I’m leaving you by yourself so my dear friend Arthur would look after you."

"I didn’t agree to that." Arthur immediately said with Alex ignoring him as he continued.

"So is that okay by you or are there any other plans your real self plans to utilize to convince me?"

"... I don’t know." Elena bowed her head meekly, having realized that the man before her was nothing like she expected.

Regarding her momentarily, Alex remarked. "I do pity you though."

"What?"

"You look quite real to me. Is it worth dying just to free a bygone era?... If I were you, I’d rather think of a way to save myself considering the chance you have."

"I... I’m not sure what to do."

"As I said, pathetic."

"..."

"Anyway, let’s go."

"I can’t stay away from the city for too long." Elena suddenly said, causing Alex to pause yet again.

Closing his eyes, he inquired. "Why?"

"... I don’t know. All I know is even if I try, I end up back in the city."

"It’s most likely because of the accident. Since it happened in Thebes, she can’t exist outside of it." Arthur quickly came up with a conjecture.

Alex nodded, seeing how it did make sense.

"So I guess..."

"Absolutely not, I have work back in Livermore."

"Hah, fine. Nadia and Arwen will have to accompany her then."

"Aren’t they the weak links of your team?" Arthur couldn’t help but point out.

Alex shrugged. "They already know what they signed up for so I’m not about to overthink things."

Turning to Elena, he remarked. "You can stay here. You’ll be receiving some guests shortly."

Leaving those words behind, he walked over to Arthur, and with a snap, the duo disappeared in a flash of black and white.

Elena remained in the underground city, alone and unable to make sense of what had just transpired.

After an indefinite amount of time passed, she muttered. "Can I be real too?"