Free Web NovelChapter 239: _He Died
Pantheon Underground Base
"You actually went through with it." Wukong shook his head with utter disbelief as he watched the scrawny-looking lord of chaos walking in with a handsome young man slung over his shoulder.
And not just any handsome man either.
"We’re running out of options." Loki barely spared him a glance, dropping Ambrose on a sofa at the side of the room. "What choice did I have?"
"Other than kidnapping someone affiliated with this country’s Federation?" Yemoja got on her feet, squinting hard at the Guide from the round table.
Loki’s lips parted, ready for something sarcastic. But a baritone beat them to it.
"I directed him to do this," Apollo stepped out of the shadows of another room, eyes sliding past every face in the room. "Because we indeed have no other choice. It’s not as if he would’ve agreed to come if we asked nicely."
That made Loki chuckle. "Tell me about it," they drawled, folding their arms slowly across their chest. "He declined my offer for a dinner date. Usually I could get anyone with an attraction for the male form answering my beck and call without having to use a fraction of my powers."
"Tch. Gross overstatement." Wukong snorted.
"Enough." Kali slammed a palm on the table as she rose to her feet.
The silver silk robe she wore shimmered like stars made liquid as she took calm steps toward the unconscious Guide.
Her violet eyes narrowed. "We have him now and that’s all that matters. We can’t afford to waste any more time."
"And you think this... Guide," Yemoja gestured at him, taking in his pitiful state. "Is somehow connected to the Void Entity? That he could help us find it?"
Silence stretched in the room as the five of them exchanged glances. Then all eyes naturally moved to Kali.
With a light breath, her chest fell. "Only one way to find out."
Loki stepped back as she got to Ambrose.
She stretched a hand, hovering it over his forehead. Then to his eyes. And his chest. Her fingers rested on them as she extended her aether.
"Well, Loki is at least right." She murmured. "I can’t see his aether at all... but his past..."
A spark lit up between each digit—then spread, covering his chest and going deeper. Her eyes fluttered shut. The lights in the room flickered as a silver, ghostly projection of herself peeled out of her body—
—Then fell into him.
Kali’s body twitched, the world around her disappearing momentarily as the projection took her mind to the past.
Ambrose’s past.
★★★★★
Kali’s projection arrived in one of Ambrose’s many lived past timelines. The earliest one, to be more precise.
The moment of his birth.
The cries of the baby and its mother barely fazed her as she shifted into another timeline.
Next she was standing under the rain, watching a little boy no older than three crying for his mother. Asking out loud why she abandoned him.
Something stirred in her when she witnessed this particular timeline. But then she moved further.
"There has to be something useful."
Gradually she started experiencing different points in the Guide’s life.
From his awakening as a Guide when he was seventeen. To when he gained a scholarship thanks to his Guide abilities and eventually joined Phoenix Flight after an act of bravery noticed by Magnus Ferguson himself.
Months and years passed. Different experiences dissolved past her like she was actively living them.
And then—she stumbled upon something that made her stop her searching.
It was a dark alleyway, close to the Phoenix Flight HQ. Nothing out of the ordinary at first glance. Until she spun around and saw it.
The scene of Guide Han Jae-won beating up Ambrose mercilessly alongside a few other men. It became so much that her brows actually furrowed as she watched.
When it stopped—silence fell upon the alleyway.
Kali’s head tilted as she strode toward Ambrose’s limp form on the floor. When she got close enough she sensed it.
His heart slowed drastically.
Then stopped altogether.
"... He died?" She couldn’t believe what she was seeing yet the evidence was clear.
As she struggled to accept her own sight, the delinquents responsible were in the middle of discussing if they should call for help.
Each passing second made the cold reality of what happened to this C-Rank set in.
And then—it happened.
Guide Ambrose Hale gasped, his eyes opening wide. His heart began beating like he hadn’t raced into death’s arms seconds ago.
The Hunters around him flinched with a mix of surprise and confusion.
Kali frowned.
Before she could make another move, the Guide who wasn’t supposed to be aware of her presence in this timeline... snapped his neck in her direction.
Her heart skipped a beat.
A mere C-Rank Guide actually made her body stiffen with pure dread. Because for the briefest second, she didn’t see an ordinary Guide.
’You aren’t supposed to be here.’ A voice seeped into her mind, making her inch back a few steps. ’I believe it’s time you leave. Back to your own timeline.’
She shook her head, about to shift into another timeline.
All she managed to catch were the faint giggles of a little boy.
Then her projection was pulled sharply out of the timeline, searing the image of those silver eyes pinned on her deep in her head.
★★★★★
Back in the present, Kali stumbled backwards, nearly falling butt first on the marble floor. The other members of the Pantheon noticed her distress and immediately moved to assist.
"Kali?"
"Are you—"
She stepped away from their attempts to grab her, straightening off the ground. With shaky fingers, she smoothed her robe, head swerving to Loki.
And then to Apollo.
"Well?" Wukong broke the silence first. "What did you see?"
"At least give her some time to process," Yemoja scowled at him. Then her eyes softened when they darted to her. "Kali, you can take your time. Whatever you saw—"
"H–He died." She stuttered, her throat nearly closing up as she tried catching her breath. "Heavens, he died. I heard his heart stop. He was dead and then... he came back."
Apollo’s brows knitted. "So you saw resurrection?"
"No."
Silence settled for a beat.
Her neck angled to the still unconscious Guide, her gaze following his breathing as though she was afraid he would wake up.
"No. What I saw was replacement."
