"Hmm?" Eve looked back, stunned. "How did the door close on its own?"
"Master Chi, are you here?" she called out.
There was no response to her call, which prompted her to ask again. "Master Chi? Are you here? I need to talk to you urgently!"
"Urgently?" A calm voice came from all around Eve. "What's the hurry?"
Hearing the voice, Eve's pupils dilated. She recognized the voice, and it wasn't who she was looking for.
"Xaen, it seems like you were expecting us here."
"I just had a feeling. I knew the importance of those stones for Lucifer. It wasn't hard to guess that someone was going to come to the island to take the stone from me."
" I just had to wait. There was no way he wasn't going to come meet the old man after all."
"Honestly, though, I expected him to come personally, not send someone random. I read the entire data I received from Uprising. Your name wasn't even mentioned in the upper echelon."
"Why would he send you instead of coming personally?"
As the voices were coming from every direction, Eve couldn't pinpoint the location. However, she soon calmed down.
Since she got used to Adaptation, she was clear on what to do. She didn't even need to turn into Lucifer. All she needed was to turn into Xaen and leave, but before doing that, she wanted to talk to Xaen first.
"Xaen, it's good that you're here. Please stop hiding. I want to talk to you. Please try to understand. War isn't good for anyone. If possible, I don't want any violence."
"Please return the two stones you took from Lucifer, and don't forget to add the third one that you already possessed. Don't increase the conflict more than needed."
"After much struggle, we managed to make Lucifer less destructive. Don't bring the old him back. The city and the entire Island can't afford it."
"You mean I should just let him do as he pleases?" Xaen asked, finally showing himself.
He was dressed in the same attire that he was wearing back on the island, but there wasn't even a single speck of dust on it.
A ten year old's physique in those clothes could've made anyone look funny, but it wasn't the case with him. No one found him cute even though his face and looks were that of a cute child. In fact, he seemed slightly intimidating.
"Just because you don't want him to fight, I should return the stones and let him destroy the world?"
"Who says the stones are going to destroy the world? It's not true. The stones are just a gateway and nothing more."
"A gateway is always two-way. I wouldn't have cared if it was just a one way gateway that only allows Lucifer to leave, but it's not. You know how dangerous it can be if he opens the portal again?" Xaen asked.
"However, before even getting to that point, how many nations would he conquer to collect the stones? How many lives will he take? I didn't want to kill him, but if it's for the greater good, I wouldn't care for longer," he further stated, turning his back on Eve.
"I wanted to take the powers of Lucifer Azarel and not kill him. However, that didn't work out. Instead, my motives were exposed. All I can do is kill the guy now before he tells the truth to the old man."
" I barely managed to bring the old man to the right side. I can't let two of my worst enemies work together?"
"I understand what you're trying to say, but still. It doesn't have to be that way. If you're worried about lives being lost in the conquest, work with Lucifer. Guide him like I try to do! Instead, you just want to kill him? I can't let you do that."
"I already gave you the benefit of the greater good when you killed the innocent family members of the old man, but not anymore. I can't watch."
"Hmm? How do you know about that? That's certainly interesting. You must be a Variant who can see people's history. I always thought this was a possibility that someone would know, but even then, what can you do?" Xaen asked, smirking. "
"Even if you know, you can't do anything to me!"
"I can't, but they can! I don't personally kill people, but this time, I won't stop them. I won't let you get away with it. Your biggest fear is that the two of them will work together? This time I promise you. That will happen," Eve declared.n
"You talk really big. Fine. Go ahead and tell the old man. I won't stop you. Leave," Xaen smirked, glancing back.
He started walking away without even trying to stop Eve.
Eve seemed a bit stunned. She expected Xaen to kill her. That's why she was prepared to use Adaptation on Xaen and disappear, but he didn't even attempt.
Still, she went along with her plan to use Adaptation and started trying to adapt to Xaen.
"What? It doesn't work?" she exclaimed.
She started adapting to Lucifer since that often worked, but it didn't work this time either.
She kept trying different people, but nothing worked.
She didn't immediately understand what was happening, only wondering if she had reached her limitation for the day. However, she also had a different doubt.
Xaen was waiting here. He expected Lucifer to come here. Was it really possible that he didn't make a trap here? Something wasn't right. Was it her limitation or something else?
Just as she was lost in thoughts, she heard the voice of Xaen again.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you something. I expected Lucifer to come here, so I prepared this place accordingly. You can't use any abilities here. If you want to leave, you can only leave through the gate. I would suggest you to act fast."
After finishing his warning, Xaen disappeared along with his voice.
Eve went to the door, trying to open it, but the door seemed locked from outside. She tried hitting it and applying some force, but she couldn't break it.
She didn't have enough brute strength, and she couldn't use any abilities. Without that, breaking a door didn't seem plausible.
She didn't know why Xaen told her to hurry, but she didn't want to take a risk. She picked a nearby chair and ran to the window.
She raised the chair above her head, preparing to throw it at the window.
Boom~
Before the chair could leave the hand of Eve, an explosion took place in the middle of the house, taking out everything!