I Am The Heroine's Father: The Cannon Fodder's Ascent
Chapter 106: Can we Talk?

Chapter 106: Can we Talk?

Johan’s breath was caught in his throat as he immediately forced himself to get up.

Sebastian, and Olivia were already standing, staring at her with half part horror, half part shock in their eyes.

In contrast to the entire dungeon, this place smelled of jasmine flowers, and freshly watered trees, and under their feet was also lush plain ground. Though there were no trees, just the scent of them.

The first thing everyone’s eyes were drawn to Selene—

She sat on the soft, wet ground casually with her back against the damp stone wall, legs crossed—left over right, her ocean-like blue eyes staring at the not visible sky.

Her hair was a pure, snowy white, falling straight to her waist like silk spun from winter itself, untouched by any curl or styling. Though at top they were messy, and unkempt, sticking to her face due to sweat.

It framed a pale face that seemed almost too perfect for her age—sharp but soft, like a doll carved with care but left unfinished to keep its innocence.

She wore a deep red Victorian-style dress that reached her ankles, its fabric rich, but it was torn at the hem and stained with dirt and dried blood, but it still held its shape—tight at the waist, heavy at the sleeves, and lined with old-fashioned buttons that glinted faintly in the dim light.

The dress looked too formal for a girl so young, but somehow it fit her, as if she had grown up too fast.

"Why are you here?" Johan, suppressing his heart that was becoming a mess of extreme emotions, and thoughts of hugging her, and telling her he missed her, or knock her out, and kidnap her away from Leor, asked coldly.

"Why? Leor ordered me to protect this place from any invaders... I am living here for more than eight days." Selene said with a voice that revealed no emotion, just calm.

Johan’s expression hardened, "So... Are you going to stop me?" He thought of telling her that the entire house Matilda was going to die on the other side. He obviously believed she didn’t know about their situation, and even thought she will join him if she knew.

’After all, she is a kind heroine who loves her family the most. Even though she seemed weird at the moment, she wouldn’t actually change that much, even with Leor’s manipulations.’

Suddenly, Sebastian, and Johan’s eyes widened as they felt extreme danger—

"[Reflect]" Sebastian yelled instantly, turning to Johan who was standing there completely still, and then... He was split in half from waist down.

Sebastian’s pupils dilated as Johan’s upper body fell on the ground with a thud.

But, quickly he calmed down. He remembered that no one could even kill weak Johan like this, and the one with numerous abilities? It was almost impossible.

And, he was right. Johan’s body was right beside Selene’s who still looked completely unbothered, but, in his right hand’s grip, he was holding an old man from the throat, very close to strangling him to death.

Johan’s mouth twitched as he realised who he was holding, his grip loosening a little bit which was enough for the white-haired old man to escape to the left side of Selene.

"You should’ve most likely died..." Johan said with a voice that barely suppressed his shock. He had actually predicted what would happen to Vexeley, but had no power at all to interfere with them, and even felt a bit of regret about this.

He was ’dead’. Radhaan, and Leor would’ve been the ones who came to check on Vexeley. There was just no other way to abandon them, he did what he could, but the rest was on their luck.

"That’s no way to start a conversation, James." Marino shook his head with a grim face, rubbing his throat that was bleeding from Johan’s grip alone.

"Cutting me in half is?" Johan retorted with a frown, looking at his clone’s condition, a bit surprised by his clone actually losing to someone like Marino.

"So... you ate the rest of Olivia’s body?" Johan’s frown deepened, making sense of things before Marino even had a chance to explain himself.

His face looked ugly, his fist clenched so tight that his knuckles were white.

Marino’s expression shifted completely at this reaction from Johan. ’He is... angry?’ He didn’t know what he had done wrong besides eating a corpse.

Johan himself didn’t know why he felt this way, but he wanted to be the only one who ate Olivia? That definitely sounded weird, but maybe due to the corruption, he felt an urge to grab Marino from his throat again, and then keep slamming him on the ground like how Olivia did with Radhaan’s clone.

Selene sighed, not wanting anymore of this. She raised her left arm, which made both Orihime, and Lukas raise their guards—aiming their strongest attacks at Selene’s small body, until they saw how calm Sebastian, Olivia, and Johan were.

Johan, and Sebastian could tell from Selene’s face, and Marino’s presence that she meant no harm, and could be trusted. Piecing together how Marino survived was simple enough.

’Cause there was no way even if Marino could wield every bit of power of the God Tree to defeat Radhaan, and Leor, or even escape from them. Maybe if God Tree gained consciousness, and used a wormhole to travel billions of kilometers away in the universe, then he could, but Leor could just cancel even that with his ability.’

’He was alive because Selene did something.’

Olivia on the other hand just trusted Selene, and knew she wouldn’t actually harm them, even with the vivid memory of her chasing Johan with a sword. She still trusted her.

The world changed, which made everyone flinch, and close their eyes.

But the next second they opened their eyes, they were under a completely different world.

The sky was dark, but filled with infinite stars. The ground was a red brick pathway.

But the most weird part was, there were tens of beautiful hut-like houses, and a street filled with bustling people, all laughing, talking. Children running around with bright smiles, with the dim lighting of giant lanterns brightening the parts of that street.

It looked almost like a prospering city.

Selene finally walked up to Johan, forced to stare up due to Johan’s height. "Can we talk?" she asked softly, her voice finally breaking a little, which made Johan smile warmly.