Re: Timeless Apocalypse

Chapter 266: Brother(II): Sorry

As much as the Sin tried to break Uriel, it rarely, if ever, managed to do so.

The Sin burdened him with an endless load of emotion, made him feel pain much more deeply, but also crave it like a drug. It fed off his illness, too, corrupting every part of him.

And yet Uriel was fine. He’d tempered his Will, formed the runic scar to seal the emotions, and worked tirelessly to remain beyond its influence.

In a sense, spiritually, he was the epitome of control. freёweɓnovel.com

But at that moment, he lost all control.

His seven gigantic cores went awry, exploding with an aether pressure the likes of which none in the room had ever seen from a mortal.

His Star Rings followed the cadence of his beating heart, and the Spirits and Wills of his rings infused across his form; light, darkness, wood, and sand rose around him, turning the world into a heaven of these elements.

But then... he lost control of his mind.

His Simple domain exploded outward, blanketing the entire room, and his resonant dominance followed, painting the void with his Will and shaping it in his image.

In such a state, rather than impeding him, the Sin boosted him to untold levels, and nothing—not even the laws of the world—could contain him.

The white room turned into a field of shadows and blinding rays of light, of tall trees and looming pillars of glass and sand.

It was chaos.

And yet Uriel still wasn’t calm.

His chest heaved up and down, and his eyes flickered from crimson to ivory without end. His left arm began to morph, and his illness and corruption—which had been put to sleep by the evolution his past self had orchestrated—rose to inhabit it.

His left arm became a vessel for both his Sin and illness, jagged crimson lines rising to entirely cover it in a ruby hue that was as infernal as it was corrosive.

"Y-you can’t be real!" Uriel screamed, pointing at Ariel, then looking away and clutching his head as he shut his eyes.

The laughter of his Sin echoed as his mind fractured, and countless streams of memories emerged all at once, driving him mad in a single instant.

"..."

Ariel stood not far away, his arms still crossed and his expression unchanged, smiling and seemingly unbothered by Uriel’s descent into madness.

’How dramatic.’

Surely, meeting members of one’s family thought dead for more than a decade was casual news at this point, no?

’Okay, maybe not. Maybe that’s the right reaction.’ Ariel chuckled to himself. ’Still a tad bit dramatic.’

He shook his head, then sighed.

"Alright, time to calm down."

...

Uriel was angry.

"BE QUIET!"

Uriel’s Will erupted like a geyser, echoing across his body and taking control of all layers of his form and existence.

The wrath of his Will bore down on his Sin, illness, and even the Hound Wills, which had taken the opportunity to try and seize control.

His Will tore it all apart and regained control. Unfortunately, he’d taken too long, so his arm was already perfectly moulded as a vessel.

Still, it would be fine for now.

Uriel bit one of his fingers, using the blood that spilled from it to draw a formation inspired by Kael’s own. He conjured a formation that drew upon that, his Will, and timeless Resonance to form a novel kind of seal.

A seal that constantly used his Will to minimise the effects of the Sin and all else contained within his arm.

WHOOSH!

Sharp ivory runic lines appeared on his arm to contrast the jagged crimson ones, forming a harmonious pattern that mellowed everything down.

Uriel’s Will echoed.

The Hounds were sealed and bound, their calls for madness and wrath falling silent, followed by his Sin, forced into dormancy by Uriel’s overwhelming Will. The memories and pain clouding his mind came to a halt.

Finally, the awakening ebbs of his illness faded, and the itch crawling up his throat tore apart.

He then undid his Simple domain, resonant dominance, and all other deployed techniques.

He exhaled, then rose to his feet.

"..."

—

Seeing Uriel calm down, Ariel nodded.

"Ah, here we go. Calm and rational, as always, hm?"

Ariel spoke casually, without an ounce of clear emotion or seriousness, as if Uriel were just anyone. The smile he flashed only deepened the air of indifference that his mischievous tone contrasted.

"..."

Uriel, however, simply stared at the man. He didn’t utter a word, remaining silent even as the white room returned and settled into stillness.

In the distance, both Korynth and Samael—or whoever she or he truly was—stood with grave expressions.

Samael, especially, seemed worried. Her pupils trembled and her breaths came unevenly as her body shook, her eyes moistening by the second.

’...please...!’

Ariel met Uriel’s frigid gaze and shook his head. "Oh, come on, Ciel. Give me something."

He took a step forward.

"Am I not your beloved big brother? Aren’t you supposed to be happy? Excited? Confused? Shocked?"

He took another step.

"Usually, after you get angry—like you were a moment ago—you’re either even more angry and we fight, or we hug and all that nonsense. You know?"

He took a couple more steps.

"We forget the past, and we move forward. Like a tale out of a book—the two brothers reunite and begin facing the challenges of the oh-so-cruel tower they’re trapped in."

"And then, we live happily ever after."

Uriel still didn’t speak. He didn’t even react as Ariel drew closer.

"You didn’t miss me? I know I did, at least. I missed you, mom, dad, Ma, Arthur, Lilith, Coco—everybody. I missed you all."

He chuckled. "I even missed Pa, as annoying as he was."

Ariel and Uriel stood face to face, no more than a few inches between them.

Ivory and amethyst reflected in one another.

"At least insult me." Ariel reached out, grabbed Uriel’s tunic, and pulled him closer, his gaze gaining a manic edge.

"Call me a coward for leaving, a bastard for never coming back, and an idiot for not thinking of something better."

He laughed, the sound hollow and broken. "Come on, say it. I’ve been preparing myself for it. Let me hear the truth."

"Speak, tell me—SAY SOMETHING!" he roared in Uriel’s face, his voice so powerful that heavy winds rose around them, sweeping across the vast white room.

Ariel’s outburst was so sudden that both Korynth and Samael flinched, his expression shifting from calm indifference to manic rage and obsession so quickly that they expected a battle to erupt at any moment.

The tension was suffocating.

’...?’

Korynth, in particular, couldn’t understand what was happening. The two boys looked... identical. If not for their clearly different personalities, it would’ve been uncanny.

’Twins?’ she frowned, casting a furtive glance at the woman nervously fidgeting beside her, a wreck ready to collapse at any moment. ’Then that means she’s their...?’

She sighed.

"DO SOMETHING!" Ariel roared again, his teeth grinding, his heart slamming against his rib cage, breath ragged and control completely gone.

His aether pressure erupted—just as mighty as Uriel’s—his Will flickering wildly under the empty gaze of his little brother.

He almost wished Uriel had fully lost himself so they could fight and avoid whatever this was.

He’d hoped Uriel would be consumed by wrath so he could absolve himself by letting him pummel him, but... no.

He’d even hoped that maybe Uriel, as kind as he remembered, would forgive him instantly, but... no.

And when Uriel finally spoke, the words broke him even more.

Uriel’s empty gaze sharpened as it settled on him.

"When you left," Uriel said slowly, "mom got sicker. It started consuming her mind. And Ma got worried."

"We tried to hide that you were gone, but she eventually learned the truth. And then it got worse. She couldn’t walk anymore."

Ariel’s pupils shook.

"I took care of her. Every day. Even as I got sicker myself, I stayed. I was there for her. And so was dad, but he couldn’t stay long, so it was mostly me."

Uriel paused. "Lilith was there most of the time too."

"Is she—"

"But then," Uriel cut him off, "one day, she..." He smiled faintly, his gaze darkening. "...she left."

"She left to find you. Somehow."

Ariel’s eyes widened, his breath hitching, his grip loosening.

"I was there for her every day. And yet she still chose you."

There was no anger or jealousy in Uriel’s voice, but the sorrow in his eyes was unmistakable.

"But seeing as she didn’t make it to you, she must’ve died along the way. She was very sick, after all."

Uriel sighed and brushed Ariel’s hands off, straightening his tunic.

"Ma went mad. She went looking for her too. But she couldn’t find her. After that, she became meaner. More cruel."

"For a time, it was just me and dad." Uriel looked away. "But something happened. I don’t know what, but something happened."

"Dad died. Or maybe the government took him. I’m not sure. What I do know is that he wasn’t there anymore."

Ariel collapsed to his knees. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Unable to even hold his head up, he bowed forward as if in prayer.

He clutched his head, face hidden, faint sobs echoing through the white room.

The Spire Spirit, Korynth, and Samael all watched him with complicated expressions, each carrying their own storm of emotion.

"I thought I was alone," Uriel said.

But Ariel’s sobs didn’t stop.

"I’m... sorry...I’m sorry...I’m..."